50 - Pioneer Biography. not then in existence. It was surveyed and laid out by Mr. Reily in 1804, for the proprietors, for whom he afterward acted as agent for the sale of lots, payment of taxes, and other business. The first legislature of Ohio, elected under the new constitution, commenced its first session at Chillicothe on Tuesday, the 1st of March, 1803, and on the 24th day of that month, passed "An act for the division of the counties of Hamilton and Ross." By this act the county of Butler was established, and, until a permanent seat of justice could be erected, the courts were directed to be held at the house of John Torrence in the town of Hamilton, and there, on the l0th of May, 1803, the associate judges of the court of common pleas, who had been appointed for Butler county, met for the purpose of organizing the county. They were James Dunn, John Greer, and John Kitchell. They appointed John Reily their clerk, divided the county into five townships, and ordered an election to be held in each, on the 1st day of June following, for sheriff and coroner, to serve until the general election in October. On that day the associate judges commenced their second session, John Reily still acting as clerk. As the result of the election, James Blackburn was chosen sheriff, and Samuel Dillon coroner. The first regular term for the court of common pleas for Butler county began on Tuesday, 12th of July, 1803, at the John Torrence tavern. The court John Reily - 51 was composed of Francis Dunlvey, presiding judge, the above-mentioned associate judges, Daniel Symmes prosecuting attorney, James Blackburn sheriff, which office he held until the election in October, when William McClellan was chosen. At this court Mr. Reily was appointed clerk, and he held the office under successive reappointments until the 14th day of March, 1840, a period of nearly thirty-seven years, when he declined reappointment. The first term of the Supreme Court of Butler county was opened on the 11th of October, 1803, and was composed of Judges Samuel Huntingdon and William Sprigg, Arthur St. Clair, Jr., prosecuting attorney, William McClellan sheriff. Mr. Reily was appointed clerk of this court also, and retained the office until the 3rd of May, 1842, when he resigned. From that time he spent the remainder of his days in tranquil retirement, having held the office of clerk of the court for a longer period than any other person in the state, with the exception of Mr. Hugh Boyle, of Fairfield county. When Mr. Reily was appointed clerk, he engaged for his office a small log building about twenty feet by eighteen, which had been used as a store-house or sutler's shop by some trader connected with the garrison. It stood south of where the fort had been, outside of the pickets, a few rods south of the present United Presbyterian church. It was two stories high, with a porch fronting on the alley. The lower room he occu- 52 - Pioneer Biography. pied as an office, the upper as a lodging apartment. The building has since been altered and reduced to one story. In this building the offices of the clerk of the court of common pleas and supreme court, the commissioners' office, the recorder's office, and the post office were held, from the time of the organization of the county until 1809 ; and here, in court time, when court was not in session, and in the evenings, assembled the judges, the lawyers, and the elite of the country, to spend their leisure hours and engage themselves with entertaining conversation. In 1809, Mr. Reily removed his office to the south room of his just-completed residence, * east of the public square, where it remained till 1824, when the present court-house buildings were completed. From 1803, when the seat of justice was established at Hamilton, till 1810, the courts were held in one of the old buildings of the fort, which had been used as a store-room or a mess-room. It stood on what is now the center of High street, just where it bends a little to the north to join the suspension bridge. It was a frame building about forty feet long by twenty wide, one story high, roughly weatherboarded, without filling-in or plastering, and set on wooden blocks about three feet high—thus affording an admirable shelter for the * Previous to, and ever since, the death of Mr. Reily, this house has been the home of the Hon. Lewis D. Campbell, his son-in-law. John Reily - 53 hogs and sheep of the village. The judge's seat was a rough platform of unplaned boards erected at the north end of the room. A long table, like a carpenter's work bench, was placed in front of the platform, and around this the lawyers were seated on benches made of slabs. The remaining space was occupied by the suitors, witnesses, and spectators. The old building, which had been the magazine of the fort, was used as a jail. It stood, as stated, in the south angle of the fort, about where the United Presbyterian church now is. It was about fifteen feet square, constructed of heavy logs, hewed square and laid close together, with a floor and ceiling of logs, hewed and laid in the same manner. A hipped roof came to a point in the center, where it was surmounted by a round ball of wood. The door was of heavy two-inch oak plank, and driven full of iron spikes and nails, with a hole in the center, in the shape of a half moon, for the admission of light, air, and food for the occupants. It was fastened with an iron hasp and padlock on the outside. Standing isolated, it was, of course, very insecure, and escapes were almost as frequent as commitments. The only lawyer residing at Hamilton at that time was William Corry, whose office was in the same room in which Mr. Reily kept his various offices. Several other lawyers, however, regularly attended the courts at Hamilton, among whom were Jacob Burnet, 54 - Pioneer Biography. Arthur St. Clair, Jr., Ethan Stone, Nicholas Longworth, George P. Torrence, and Elias Glover, from Cincinnati, and some time later, Joshua Collett and John McLean (afterward Chief Justice of the United States), of Lebanon, and later still, Thomas Freeman and Thomas R. Ross, also from Lebanon. The bar was a very able one, and important cases were advocated in an elaborate and masterly manner. At the time of the establishment of the seat of justice at Hamilton in 1803, the county was destitute of funds, no taxes having, as yet, been levied or collected. The necessity for a more suitable place to accommodate the sittings of the courts, and a more secure place for the confinement of prisoners, was so apparent as to induce the citizens of the county to make an effort to raise funds for the erection of suitable buildings by voluntary subscriptions. A paper was drawn up by Mr. Reily, and was numerously signed to the amount of fifteen hundred dollars. Subscriptions were received in " money, whisky, grain, stone, lime, brick, timber, mechanical work, labor, and hauling." In October, 1804, the commissioners appointed Benjamin F. Randolph and Celadon Symmes to collect the subscriptions, but it was slow work, many of them remaining unpaid as late as 1815. On the 30th of September, 1805, Ezekiel Ball, Matthew Richardson, and Solomon Line, commissioners of the county, contracted with John Torrence and John Reily - 55 John Wingate to furnish materials and build a jail on the south side of the public square. It was to be of stone, thirty-three by twenty feet in size, two stories high, and to be completed by the 1st of September, 1806, for the sum of sixteen hundred dollars. They fulfilled their contract, but the furnishing and completing the interior of the building for the reception of prisoners was not accomplished until December, 1808. In February, 1807, the commissioners contracted with William Squier, for the sum of sixteen hundred dollars, to erect a building adjoining the jail, uniform with it in size, material, and appearance, for the accommodation of the jailOr and his family. It was to have been completed in December, 1807, but he failed in his contract, and it was not finished till early in 1810. A large room in the upper story of this building was used as a courtroom until 1817, when the present court-house was completed. The stone used in these buildings was mostly taken from the bed of the Miami river ; and being small in size and inferior in quality, the jail never was a secure one, many a prisoner working his way out of it at the expense of the county. The present jail was built by Alexander P. Miller, to whom the contract was awarded on the 4th of March, 1846. It cost eight thousand five hundred and eighty-one dollars, and was finished and accepted on the 9th of August, 1848. The old jail was sold at public auction on the 15th of July to Robert E. Duffield for one 56 - Pioneer Biography. hundred and ninety-four dollars, by whom it was pulled down and removed. Mr. Reily was appointed the first recorder of Butler county in 1803, and held the office until May, 1811, when he was succeeded by James Heaton, who had been the first county surveyor, and served many years as a justice of the peace at Hamilton. He afterward removed to Lemon township, where he was elected justice of the peace. He also served a number of years as a member of the house of representatives and of the senate of Ohio. Mr. Riley held the office of clerk of the board of county commissioners from 1803 to 1819, when he resigned. His sterling qualities and thorough practical knowledge of the routine of the office, gave him a great influence with the successive boards. In fact, during the time he held the office, he had the chief management and control of the finances of the county, and conducted them with great prudence. Economy was then the order of the day, and Mr. Reily watched over the financial affairs of the county with such wisdom and success, that at no time were county orders at a discount; nor did it become necessary to contract an onerous debt or subject the people to unreasonable taxes. He was, in fact, as he was often called, the guardian of the people of Butler county. In 1804, under the administration of Thomas Jefferson, a post-office was established at Hamilton, and John Reily - 57 Mr. Reily was appointed first postmaster. His commission was signed by Gideon Granger, postmaster-general, and bears date August 2d, 1804. There was at that time, and for many years afterward, only one mail route established through the interior of the Miami country. The mail was carried on horseback, once a week. Leaving Cincinnati, it passed through Hamilton, Franklin, Dayton, and as far north as Stanton to town on the east bank of the Miami opposite the site of the present town of Troy), thence through Urbana, Yellow Springs, and Lebanon back to Cincinnati. Afterward it was reversed, starting by way of Lebanon and returning by Hamilton, but touching at the same points. There was then no post-office west of the Miami river. Mr. Reily held this office until July, 1832, when he resigned. He was succeeded by James B. Thomas, who held the office till 1851. In February, 1809, an act was passed in the legislature Of Ohio, establishing the Miami university. Mr. Reily was appointed one of the trustees, and was president of the board most of the time until the organization of the college in 1824, when, by law, the president of the college became also president ex officio Of the board of trustees. Mr. Reily was ever a warm friend of the institution, attending punctually the meetings of the board, and doing every thing in his power to promote its interest and advancement. He resigned in 1840, on account of advanced age, 9 58 - Pioneer Biography. and the inconvenience of being so often absent from home. Mr. Reily, during his public life, had charge of the interests of a great many non-resident owners of land in the Miami country, paying their taxes, making sales, leasing land and having a general oversight of them. Although Mr. Reily was possessed of feelings of the most delicate and sensitive nature, he indulged in no extravagant flights of fancy or new-fangled notions or schemes. The leading characteristics of his mind were good common sense and a judgment almost unerring in its decisions in relation to any matter brought before him. In all the important offices and trusts which he was called upon to fill, during his long and useful life, he faithfully discharged the duties they required. He did not look on them as mere sources of profit to himself, but considered them personal trusts conferred for the public good, and requiring at his hands a punctual and thorough performance of the duties they enjoined. He was uniformly at his post, early and late. He was well aware of the importance of system and proper arrangement in conducting the business of an office, and reduced his theory to practice with a degree of success which was at once apparent to all who had business transactions with him, or were in the habit of visiting his office. His books and dockets were kept in the most careful manner, and all his papers neatly endorsed and filed with the utmost regularity and order. No John Reily - 59 paper or entry on his books could be inquired for (although the transaction to which it referred might have taken place more than thirty years before), but he could at once turn to it and give the information required. During his whole life, in all the multifarious business which he transacted, no one could ever justly charge him with malpractice or neglect in the discharge of the duties of his office. His veracity and integrity were never called in question; they were proverbial, and the universal opinion was, that in all his dealings it was his aim to do justice, and in all cases of doubt or dispute to render more than he believed to be due, lest he should ignorantly render less. In the private walks of life, as well as in his official capacity, he afforded an example worthy of imitation. He always acted under the influence of a high moral principle. Against his personal character, nothing could be whispered—it was free from reproach. There was no guile in his heart, no deceit on his lips. In all his engagements he was punctual, strictly honest, and liberal. In his friendships, he was ardent and almost unchangeable. He was plain and unostentatious in his manners and deportment ; always neat and exact in his dress. He was seldom met with in convivial company ; but in the social circle of his friends, he was uniformly cheerful and occasionally animated. To appreciate his character justly, it was only necessary 60 - Pioneer Biography. to know him, and no one could be intimately acquainted with him without recognizing his moral qualities and the goodness of his heart. Mr. Reily was educated in the Presbyterian faith, and although he never made a public profession of religion, he regularly attended public worship and contributed liberally to its support. When the Presbyterians were about building a church in Hamilton, he made them a donation of a lot, and contributed liberally toward the erection of the building. On all proper occasions he advocated the importance of religion, and defended the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures. Notwithstanding the severe trials upon his constitution, in early life, he generally enjoyed a state of uninterrupted good health, until the time of his death. This took place at HamiltOn at three o'clock on the morning of Friday the 7th of June, 1850, at the age of eighty-seven years. The court of common pleas was then in session, and at the opening of the court in the morning, William Bebb, late governor of Ohio, rose and announced the decease of Mr. Reily, and in a feeling manner paid a handsome tribute to his memory, recapitulating the leading features of his eventful life. The court then appointed a committee of the Bar to take suitable action in the case. At four o'clock in the afternoon, the committee made its report to the court, accompanied by a short biographical sketch of his life and prominent John Reily - 61 services, which were ordered to be entered at length on their journal. The court then adjourned till the Monday following. On Sunday, the 9th, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the remains were conveyed from his residence to the Presbyterian church, where an appropriate discourse was delivered by Rev. William Davidson of the United Presbyterian church ; after which, the body was carried tO its last resting place, in Greenwood Cemetery, followed by a larger concourse of friends and citizens than had ever been ,convened in Hamilton on a similar occa- sion. The great number of venerable white-haired men, who had- been the early companions of the old pioneer, who had come from all parts of the country to pay the last tribute of respect to their friend, gave additional interest to the solemnities. It was not a scene of mere empty parade, but the spontaneous tribute of neighbors and friends to the memory of a beloved and respected fellow citizen. All seemed to feel that an upright, honest, and good man had fallen—gone to his last rest full of years and honors. The constitutional convention was at that time in session at Columbus. On Tuesday, June II th, Judge Elijah Vance, a member of the convention from Butler county, arose and said: " MR. SPEAKER : I have been induced, sir, by a letter which has been placed in my hands by an honorable member of this convention, to announce to this body the decease of Mr. John 62 - Pioneer Biography. Reily, late of Butler county. It is known, perhaps, to every member upon this floor, that the deceased was one of the members of the convention which framed the present constitution of Ohio, and that he had been for many years a citizen of the northwest territory of the State of Ohio." After giving a detailed sketch of the life and public services of Mr. Reily, the Judge continued: " He was a man of many peculiarities, but of the most strict and uncompromising integrity. In every department of life he was faithful and scrupulously honest. It is an incident worthy of profound contemplation, that at the very period of time in which our people are seeking to enlarge the sphere of constitutional liberty—while they are about to bid farewell to the constitution under which they have lived and prospered for near fifty years, and to seek enlarged blessings under a new form—the mind that so largely aided in diffusing these blessings under the guarantee afforded by organic law, has been remodeled, regenerated, and prepared for usefulness in a wider and better sphere of existence. " Mr. Speaker : I offer for adoption the following resolutions: " Resolved, That this convention has heard with deep sensibility the annunciation of the death of John Reily, Esquire, late of the county of Butler, a soldier of the Revolution, one of the early pioneers of the West, one who filled important trusts under the territorial government, and one of the framers of the present constitution of Ohio. " Resolved, That this convention deeply sympathize with the family of the deceased on this melancholy occasion. " Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, signed by the president and secretary of this convention, be forwarded to the family of the deceased." John Reily - 63 Judge George J. Smith, a member of the convention from Warren county, then rose and said : "MR. PRESIDENT : I hope. I may be pardoned for rising to make a few remarks by way of seconding the resolutions offered by the honorable member from Butler. I live in an adjoining county to that in which the deceased resided, and have been intimately acquainted with him for a period of some thirty years. I first became acquainted with Mr. Reily about the year 1821, just after I had commenced the practice of law, and was uniformly in the habit of attending the courts of Butler county, in the practice of my profession, whilst he was clerk of the court of common pleas, and of the supreme court of that county. I know that I speak the sentiments of every member of the profession, who had the good fortune and the pleasure of practising in the court of common pleas of Butler county, during the time he was clerk of the court, when I bear witness to the urbanity of his demeanor, and the politeness and courtesy which he always bestowed upon every member, and especially upon the younger members of the profession. Toward the latter, his deportment was peculiarly kind and paternal. In some respects Mr. Reily was a most extraordinary man ; and, as the gentleman from Butler has well remarked, in the qualities of punctuality and honesty and the most strict and marked integrity, I do not think he had his superior any where. During the whole period of my service on the bench of the court of common pleas, he was clerk of the court, which brought us into official relation. During more than thirty years that he served as clerk of the court, he discharged his duties with the strictest fidelity and utmost punctuality. Indeed, as a clerk, he was a model. As an instance of his rigid punctuality, he never, knowingly, permitted any large amount of fees to accumulate in his office, without paying them over to those who were entitled to receive them. This was a rule with Mr. Reily, which, in my opinion, made him an exception to any other gentleman I have 64 - Pioneer Biography. known who filled that office. He did not usually wait until the witnesses, or other persons having money collected in his office, would call for it, but would seek opportunities of searching for the claimant, and sending it to him as soon as collected. I mention this as an instance of his scrupulous honesty. I have heard it remarked by some of the older citizens of Butler, who, from an early day, have been familiar with the fiscal concerns of that county, that to Mr. Reily more than to any other man, was to be attributed the correct and prudent manner in which the fiscal concerns of that county were always managed during the period in which Mr. Reily, to a very considerable extent, had their oversight and management. Such was the care and attention which he bestowed in the discharge of the duties of every office he was called to fill, that no one ever complained of his neglecting or omitting his official duties. I had the pleasure of an interview with Mr. Reily in the month of March last, at his own residence. I have been uniformly in the habit, since from the infirmities of age he has been almost wholly confined to his house, of calling on him on all proper occasions, when visiting the town in which he resided. The interview to which I refer, was after the passage of the law of the last session of the general assembly which has called this assembly together. Mr. Reily was, emphatically, a gentleman of the old school. He had his principles and opinions, and was firm in the maintenance of them ; at the same time paying due respect and regard to the opinions of others. On the occasion referred to, he spoke of his revolutionary services, and of the proceedings of the convention of 1802. He looked forward with deep interest to the proceedings of this convention, and remarked to me that although he felt the inconveniences and defects of the present constitution, still he looked forward with some forebodings as to what might be the result of the deliberations of this convention. At the same time that he acknowledged the defects in the existing constitution, he was apprehensive that, amidst the turmoil and excitement of con- John Reily - 65 tending parties, the public good might be sacrificed to party feeling, and the organic law of the state despoiled of some of its essential provisions. Mr. Reily, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, was not a partisan. He never obtruded his opinions upon any one. When he formed opinions, he maintained them on all proper occasions with becoming firmness and commendable modesty. "If I am not mistaken, he was originally attached to the federal party. My impression is (though in this I may be in error), that at one period he supported the claims of General Jackson for the presidency. It is proper, also, to remark that in his latter years he was attached to the whig party. But no one ever heard him condemn any man, or set of men, for entertaining and expressing political opinions different from his own. He was perfectly tolerant and gentlemanly in his deportment toward every person with whom he came in contact, amiable and courteous in his manners and in all his social relations. Full of years —honored and respected by all who knew him—he has gone from among us. But his memory will live after him, highly esteemed as he was when living, and revered when dead. Respectable for his intelligence and official qualifications—permit me, Mr. President, to say, that in my estimation the crowning glory of his life, was his spotless purity, his scrupulous honesty, and his unsullied integrity. He lived and died an humble, pious christian." Mr. Edward Archbold, a member of the convention from Monroe county, rose and said, that though an entire stranger to the deceased, he joined heartily in the honorable testimonials which had been offered by the gentlemen from Butler and Warren. He had learned that there were but four or five members of the convention which framed the present constitution of Ohio, 10 66 - Pioneer Biography. now living, and that from the time he was returned a delegate to this convention till he came up to this place, he had indulged the idea of obtaining the services of some one of these time-honored survivors to preside during the preliminary organization, and perform those duties which were so ably discharged by his friend the senior member from the county of Wayne (Mr. Larwell). He had thought that while such a thing would constitute an appropriate expression of respect for those honored and honorable representatives of the past, it might also reflect a very wholesome influence upon the convention itself. The resolutions presented by Judge Vance were then unanimously passed. Mr. John Larwell then moved that as a further testimonial of respect for the memory of the deceased, the convention now adjourn, which was carried. A copy of the resolutions was forwarded to the family of the deceased, accompanied by the following note: " CONVENTION CHAMBER, Columbus, June 11, 1850. " MADAM : Inclosed I have the honor to forward to you, as one of the family and immediate representatives of the late John Reily, Esquire, a copy of a series of resolutions which was this day adopted by the convention now in session, 'to revise, amend or change the constitution' of Ohio, in relation to the decease of that patriotic and distinguished individual. This expression on the part of this body, was eminently due John Reily - 67 to the memory and virtues of one who participated in many of the most important conflicts that resulted in the establishment of our national independence—who aided in forming the present constitution of our State, and whose whole life appears to have been devoted to the honor of his country and the best interest of society. Very respectfully Your obedient servant, W. MEDILL, President. MRS. JANE H. CAMPBELL, Hamilton, Ohio." On the 6th day of February, 1808, Mr. Reily married Miss Nancy Hunter, a daughter of Joseph Hunter, Esq., a respectable farmer residing in the vicinity of Hamilton. The fruits of this marriage were three sOns and two daughters. Joseph H. Riley, the oldest son, born November 8th, 1809, received a liberal education at Miami university. He subsequently devoted his attention to the study of the fine arts, for which his taste and talents seemed to have a peculiar prediliction. Many of his portraits and landscape paintings are yet in the possession of amateurs in the county, and are highly prized. He died at Hamilton, in the same room in which he was born, on the l0th day of March, 1849, in the fortieth year of his age. James Reily, the second son, born July 3, 1811, graduated at Miami university September, 1829. He then studied law under the direction of Hon. John 68 - Pioneer Biography. Woods, of Hamilton, and was licensed to practice as an attorney and counselor-at-law by the supreme court of Ohio about 1832. He embarked in his profession in Mississippi, but subsequently removed to Texas, then a separate republic, from which government he was sent as minister plenipotentiary to the United States. He is now a citizen of Texas, where, by the practice of his profession, and speculating in land, he has acquired a handsome fortune. Robert Reily, the youngest son, born June I, 1820, became a merchant in Cincinnati, where, by his industry and attention to business, he acquired a competent fortune, which he now enjoys, residing in the vicinity of that city.* * When the rebellion of 1861—'65 began, Robert Reily had retired from business, and was living at Wyoming, near Lockland, Hamilton county, in the enjoyment of a home life such as few men can conceive and fewer still deserve. When the need came, however, he rose up straightway and turned his back upon all that made his beautiful home most difficult to leave. In connection with Colonel (afterward General) N. C. McLean, he recruited the 75th Ohio Infantry, and at its organization in December, 1861, was commissioned as its major. A month later the regiment was sent into Western Virginia. After months of hard campaigning, Major Reily fought his first battle on the 12th of April, 1862, at Monterey Court House, on the march from Cheat Mountain toward Staunton. On the 8th of May, the brigade, of which his regiment was part, was confronted by Stonewall Jackson with an army of nearly twenty thousand men. Even against this force John Reily - 69 Caroline Reily, born March 27, 1813, died on the 22d of September, 1816. The other daughter, Jane H. Reily, born October 9, 1815, still survives. She married Lewis D. Campbell, and resides at Hamilton. Mr. Campbell is a native of Warren county. He had been brought up to the occupation of a printer, and became editor and publisher of the " Hamilton Intelligencer," a newspaper pub- General Milroy, its commander, assumed the offensive, and led two of his three regiments (the 75th and 25th Ohio) against the enemy. In this unusually severe battle the 75th lost ninety killed and wounded. There, as before, the soldierly bearing and ability of Major Reily gained for him the admiration and thorough confidence of both superiors and subordinates. August 8,1862, he participated in the battle of Cedar Mountain. After months of arduous campaigning came the terrible battle between Pope and Stonewall Jackson at Graveton, near the Bull Run field, August 28-30. On the 3oth the 75th bore the whole weight of the attack of Longstreet's corps, and lost heavily in officers and men—the colors receiving over ninety shots. In December, 1862, Major Reily succeeded to the lieutenant-colonelcy, and in January, 1863, he was made colonel of the regiment. On the 3oth of April, the 75th, as part of the 11th corps, took position on the extreme right of the army of the Potomac, at Chancellorsville. " The th corps, surprised and overwhelmed by the impetuous rebels, fell back in almost complete demoralization. Yet McLean's Ohio brigade merited the highest praise for the bravery of its officers and men, and the cool and steady manner in which it received the enemy under the most trying circumstances. Owing to the peculiar formation of the line, and nature of the ground at this   70 - Pioneer Biography.   lished at Hamilton, which he conducted for several years. He studied law in the mean time, and was admitted to the bar by the supreme court at Wooster, Wayne county, in the summer of 1835, after which he devoted his time and attention to the practice of his profession. In 1848, he was elected member of congress from the district composed of the counties of Butler, Warren, and Clinton. In 1850, he was elected to the same office from the district composed of the counties of Butler, Montgomery, and Preble, and in 1852 and 1854 re-elected from the same district.   point of attack, but few troops could open on the enemy at a time. The 75th changed front under this severe fire, and received the enemy in the most gallant manner."—Reid's Ohio in the War. In vain were this courage and coolness, however. The battle was all in favor of the rebels, and the brigade fell back. In a half hour the 75th lost one hundred and fifty killed and wounded.   And near the close of this terrible day's struggle fell, mortally wounded, the man to whom, more than to any other, belongs the credit of the fine discipline, conduct, and efficiency of the regiment—Colonel Reily. He died of this wound on May 5th, 1863.   It is the lot of few men to be so loved whilst Jiving, so lamented when they die. In business, in private life, in the field, he manifested qualities remarkable in themselves, and yet more remarkable in their beautiful blending into a character strong, chivalrous, pure, earnest, loving, and dutiful. His principles were staunch, his aims noble, his tastes elevated, his attachments strong and tender, his words sincere—his life most pure and his memory cherished with a reverence and a tenderness that not the barely righteous, and but few of the truly good, call forth from them that knew them best. M.   APPENDIX - A.   Judge Jacob Burnet's Letter.*   Cincinnati, June 1, 1843.   JAMES MCBRIDE, ESQ,   Dear Sir: I have read your MS. sketches of our old friend, Mr. Reily, with pleasure.   As he was one of the first of the Western pioneers, his name and his agency in conquering the country from the Indians ought to be preserved and handed down to the future historian. I was not one of the little band of adventurers who with him commenced the occupancy of the Miami valley, in 1788, though I soon followed and became one of their number, before much progress had been made in settling and improving the country.   A person who has traveled through the eastern division of the northwestern territory, composing the State of Ohio, for the first time, at any period within the last forty-five years, can not form an adequate idea of its condition and appearance when Mr. Reily   *A revised copy of this letter, with some additional matter of no special interest, was published, at the request of Judge Burnet, in the Cincinnati Gazette of October 28, 1843. We have preferred to print the letter from the original, which is among the McBride papers.   74 - Pioneer Biographies.   selected it as his permanent home. Then it wore the rich, beautiful garb which nature had given it, not disturbed nor marred by the hand of art.   The great fertility of its soil was discovered in the exuberance and variety of its productions. Its forests and natural meadows abounded with game of the finest variety. Its only inhabitants were the aborigines, whose ancestors owned and had occupied it during a long succession of ages. They had learned from tradition that the country was theirs, and that the white man was an intruder. Nor did they doubt for a moment their ability to defend it. Hence their intercourse with the pioneers was, in the first instance, of a friendly character. They had not then become contaminated by the vice and crimes of the whites, for the reason that their intercourse with them was but just commencing. At that period of their history they were comparatively a moral people. If they professed friendship they were faithful and kind ; but if otherwise, they were ferocious and cruel.   When the first efforts were making to settle the country, it was not a difficult matter to win their confidence ; and that point being gained, the pioneers felt themselves safe. This security, however, continued but for a short time. The British government, which was then withholding from the United States the forts of Mackinac, Detroit, and Maumee in violation of the treaty of 1783, saw the efforts the Americans were making to settle and improve the northwestern territory. They were alarmed at the power and influence which the American government would obtain over the Indians by carrying out that plan, and they saw, as a matter of course, that it would soon compel them to relinquish the posts and retire within their own territory. Hence they determined, if practicable, to defeat it.   John Reily—Appendix - 75   The most effectual way of accomplishing that object was to poison the minds of the Indians by misrepresentation and falsehood. They told them that the people of the United States were their natural enemies ; that they were preparing to seize their lands and drive them beyond the lakes, and in such an emergency that their only chance for safety was to crush the project at its very commencement.   These appeals produced the desired effect, and the consequence was that when the pioneers were just beginning to gain the confidence and friendship of the natives, their progress was suddenly checked by manifestations of hostility at every point where settlements had been commenced. Thus were their hopes dashed, and in place of the friendship they were beginning to anticipate, they were admonished that they had to encounter a deadly foe in every savage they might meet. This being the fact, the great disparity of numbers between the little handful of white adventurers who first crossed the Ohio and the hordes of savages who then occupied the forests into which they penetrated, would lead to the conclusion that the former must have been overwhelmed without even the possibility of a retreat. Such, however, was not the fact. Though in jeopardy every hour, and expecting to meet an enemy at every step, their courage did not desert them, nor did they harbor a thought of abandoning their purpose. Being hourly in danger, and always prepared to meet it, habit soon made their condition familiar, and robbed fear of its distress.   This concise sketch may be taken as an epitome of the life of a pioneer from the first attempt to settle the territory in 1788 till the treaty of General Wayne in 1795.   As our friend, Mr. Reily, was actively engaged in all these   76 - Pioneer Biographies.   struggles and dangers from their very commencement until their close, he comprehends them well ; but no person can form a just conception of the privations and dangers of a pioneer who has not himself been one.   If my memory be correct, the battle of the Eutaw Springs was the last in which Mr. Reily was engaged, in the Revolutionary war. That brilliant affair occurred near the close of the struggle, and so crippled the enemy in that quarter as to deter him from any further effort. The severe campaigns of General Greene in the south have often furnished interesting topics of conversation between Mr. Reily and myself, from the fact that he knew my brother, who was one of the general's aids, actively engaged in the same conflicts in which he (Mr. Reily) distinguished himself. Intimacies and friendships formed under such circumstances are usually the most durable. They are most frequently adverted to in after life, and the recollections they call up are generally of an interesting character.   Everybody who knows Mr. Reily personally must have remarked the diffidence with which he refers to himself, and with what reluctance he speaks of any of the transactions of his life, especially of those which were attended with personal danger and privation or were productive of beneficial results to the community or to individuals.   It has been often remarked that when his attention has been called by a question or otherwise to any interesting transaction in his life, for the purpose of eliciting information, he has manifested the most sensible embarrassment, resulting from an unwillingness to become the herald of his own fame. Hence it is, in part, that his friends have not learned more of the interesting incidents of his long and useful life.   John Reily—Appendix - 77   The biographical sketches of him given in your MS., though concisely stated, are sufficient to place his name with the names of those who, in all time to come, ought to be remembered as patriots and devoted friends of their country. Services like his, which commenced in the most gloomy period of the Revolution, while he was yet a minor, and which were performed in a quarter of the country where the army was exposed to incessant toil and suffering, in an unhealthy climate, can not be valued too highly or recalled to memory too frequently.   It is now but very seldom that we meet with persons who were agents in the transactions of the great struggle which made our country independent. The mass of them, probably ninety-nine in a hundred, have been gathered to their fathers, and the few who remain, with here and there an exception, are compelled by the debility of age to withdraw from active life. There are, however, some yet living who, at the declaration of independence, had acquired enough of the strength of manhood to enable them to grapple with the enemy on the field ; and the records of the country, as well as the certificate of an honorable discharge, under the sign-manual of Washington, attest that our friend, Mr. Reily, was of that number.   In connection with the transactions detailed in your narrative, in which Mr. Reily participated so largely, it may be added that during the first eight years of his residence in the territory, his life and habits corresponded very much with those of a soldier.   The settlers were so constantly exposed to the enemy that their safety consisted in being ready at a moment's warning to resist an attack. If you inquire of any of the few pioneers who survive, they will tell you that it was as natural for them to carry their rifles to their corn and potato-patches as their hoes   78 - Pioneer Biographies.   or any other instrument of husbandry ; and that when they collected on the Sabbath to engage in religious duties, whether in a cabin or under a tree, it was with loaded rifles at their sides. Indeed, it is impossible for those who have recently come to this country to realize, from such facts as are generally known, the true situation of the pioneer.   They encountered danger, privation, and suffering in forms not easily conceived of, and more appalling than those of hunger and exposure to the elements. But whatever they were, Mr. Reily partook of them all without murmur or complaint. With him it was a matter of calculation. Before he crossed the mountains or placed his foot beyond the limits of civilized society, he counted the cost, and his mind was deliberately made up that he would conform himself to the requirements of his new condition, be they what they might. His fellow adventurers have told us that he redeemed that pledge, and that in the winter of 1791, which was the midnight of the conflict, he manifested no despondency. The defeat of General St. Clair and the ruin of his army, on the fourth of November of that disastrous year, gave the savages unrestricted access to our settlements. The consequences to our citizens of such an exposure are apparent. They were assailed by an enemy outnumbering them twenty to one, and at the same time depended for safety more on their ingenuity and bravery than on anything else. Yet their hearts were resolute and their faces cheerful. Each encouraged his fellow, and all adopted the motto, nil desperandum. In the trials and sufferings of that little band, Mr. Reily had a full share. If a station were attacked, he was among the first to go to its relief. If a murder or other depredation were committed, he was ready to take the trail in pursuit of the enemy without loss of time. In common   John Reily—Appendix - 79   with his hardy companions, he seemed to act as if danger was the natural condition of man, and his duty consisted in meeting it without reluctance or sense of fear.   I incline very much to the opinion that true bravery is the firm exercise of resolution, resulting from calm reflection, rather than any distinguishing property or quality of mind, inherent in some men and not in others. This idea is countenanced by the fact that the bravest men who have ever lived—men who have given evidence time and again that it would be as easy for them to commit suicide as to refuse an act of duty, merely because there was danger attending it, have been as careful to avoid unnecessary exposure as they have been to seek it when it became a duty to do so. It is also corroborated by the fact that there has not been one instance of cowardice among the Western pioneers. Not because their minds or nerves were organized differently from those of other men, but because the circumstances in which they had voluntarily placed themselves were such as identified the exercise of the most heroic courage with both duty and safety. Superficial reasoners are apt to confound caution and prudence with timidity and fear, though there is not the least similitude between them.   A brave man retires as instinctively from danger, when exposure is useless, as he seeks it when it becomes a duty. But whether these reflections be philosophical or otherwise, it must be conceded that there were no cowards among the pioneers, which is enough for my present purpose, let the fact have come to pass how it may.   It is impressed on my mind that immediately after the Revolutionary war, Mr. Reily determined to establish himself in Georgia, and make that State his permanent residence, and that   80 - Pioneer Biographies.   he actually went there with that view. Whether this be literally true or not, I know that shortly after the war he was in Georgia, where he purchased a warrant for a thousand acres of land, with an intention of improving it, but was prevented from doing so by the hostility of the Indians, who denied the right of the State to dispose of the land, and who had the power to prevent it from doing so. After remaining in that State for some time he became convinced that there was no prospect of a speedy termination of the difficulty with the Indians, and being anxious to make a permanent location somewhere, he left his land and came up to Tennessee. And thence he went to Kentucky, and after a short residence in that State he removed to the Miami purchase and settled at Columbia. In fact, he was one of the companions of Major Stites in laying out that village ; and he assisted in erecting the first cabins that were built in it.* There, and at that time, his acquaintance commenced with the venerable Judge Dunlevy, who was also one of the pioneers, eminently distinguished for his energy and zeal in the common cause of the little band of adventurers who, like a forlorn hope, preceded the multitude who were to follow.   A friendship there began between him and Mr. Reily, which continued without interruption to increase and become more confidential till it was terminated by the death of the Judge.   The thought has often crossed my mind that the more intelligent portion of the pioneers was by far too negligent in making and preserving written memoranda of the transactions which took place in the early settlement of the western country. Had each of   * Judge Burnet is in error here, as the settlement was commenced in November, 1788, and Mr. Reily did not arrive at Columbia till December, 1789.   John Reily—Appendix - 81   them preserved a sketch, however simple or concise, of the events in which he was a participant, in the order of their occurrence, these, when collected, would have furnished the material of one of the most interesting and thrilling histories that has yet been published. This, however, was not done, except in a limited degree, and it is now justly apprehended that the great zeal which exists to remedy this deficiency, and the careless manner in which it is done (by receiving without caution statements freshly reduced to writing as being Ex Cathedra), will be the means of imposing on society historical narratives of our early settlements which will be entitled to about as much credit as the history of Gulliver.   However desirable it is, and I admit it to be so in a high degree, to preserve to posterity a faithful narrative of the pioneers of the northwest, and of the means by which they were able to sustain themselves, with scarcely anything to rely on. Yet I can not forbear to say, that it will be better to let it all sink into oblivion, than palm on the world, as truth, such fabulous stories as we frequently meet with in respectable prints. If it be our desire to preserve truth, to the exclusion of fable, these statements must be received with increased caution, and be promptly rejected if their authenticity be not attested by unquestionable proof. Society sustains as much and probably more injury from falsehood imposed on them for truth than they do from the suppression or loss of authentic history.   In all periods of the world, men, with but few exceptions, have been pleased with the thought that a knowledge of their useful or brilliant achievements will survive them, and will preserve the memory, both of themselves. and of their deeds, for ages after they are gone. Feelings like these are highly corn-   12   82 - Pioneer Biographies.   mendable, as they are strong incentives to useful and honorable efforts. They should be cherished and encouraged as far as practicable ; and to accomplish this more effectually, there should be such an assurance of the authenticity of history as will give credence to the facts it may contain ; for who can feel ambitious to have his claims to public respect or gratitude, however correctly stated, so mingled with falsehood and fiction as to involve the entire publication which contains them in doubt or ridicule. Those persons, then, who labor faithfully and cautiously to preserve authentic historical knowledge, entitle themselves to the gratitude of the world. It should, however, be borne in mind, that the office of the historian is one of immense responsibility, that it always tells for good or for evil, and that its compiler will be held responsible for the consequences of a want of fidelity.   Very respectfully, your friend, J. BURNET.   B.   General Andrew Lewis.   General Lewis was the son of the first white resident of Augusta county, Va., and was one of four brothers, all of whom were distinguished in the early history of the State. Thomas, the oldest, was for many years a member of the House of Burgesses. He there supported the bold resolutions of Patrick Henry in 1765. He sat in the conventions of 1775 and 1776, and in that by which the constitution of the United States   John Reily-Appendix - 83   was ratified. William served under his brother, the general, against the French and Indians, and gained the rank of colonel by his eminent services during the Revolution. Andrew, the third in age, was born in Ulster, Ireland, in 1730. Very large and sinewy of frame, of commanding presence, well informed with the knowledge of books, of men, and of woodcraft, inured to the hardships and accustomed to the perils of the frontier, quick and clear in his plans, and as quick and thorough in their execution, he soon became one of the prominent men of the border. He was a volunteer in the expedition to the Ohio in 1754 ; was with Washington when he surrendered Fort Necessity, and was in Braddock's army when it was so terribly defeated near Fort Duquesne ; commanded the expedition defeated at Sunday creek in 1756, and in 1774 gained a decisive victory at Point Pleasant over the combined forces of the Delawares, Cayugas, Wyandots, and Shawanese, led by the celebrated Shawanese chief, Cornstalk. Lewis' forces amounted to 1,100 or 1,200 men, and the Indians nearly the same. The fourth brother, Charles, commanded one of the three regiments engaged in this battle, and was killed in the thickest of the fight.   84 - Pioneer Biographies.   C.   Extract from the original Journal, or Day-, Book, of John Reily.   Set out from Lincoln county (Ky.) on the 11th of December, 1789, and arrived at Columbia town on the 18th instant, and there remained with Mr. John Philips to the 24th inst.; then set out for the Great Miami, and returned to Mr. Philips' on the first day of January, 1790.   On the 6th day of January set out to go to Kentucky by the way of Licking river, but being unfortunate was obliged to return the same way, and arrived at Columbia on the first day of February.   On the 15th of February undertook a tourup the Little Miami, and returned in six days. Afterwards spent the greater part of five weeks in reconnoitering the country adjacent to the river Ohio.   1790. In the latter end of March purchased some lots in the town of Columbia, and employed my time in clearing off the same, and planting them with corn.   On the 21st day of June began to teach school in the town of Columbia, having been engaged to teach for six months, during which time I continued to live with Mr. John Philips, with the exception of the few days hereafter mentioned, viz : In the month of August boarded twelve days with Mr. Patrick Moore ; in the month of September boarded twelve days with Hugh Dunn, and in the month of December boarded with John McCulloch six days. Afterwards continued to board with Mr. Philips until the l0th day of May, in the year 1791.   John Reily—Appendix - 8   D.   Dunlop's Station,.   In 1790, John Dunlap, who had been one of Judge Symmes' confidential surveyors, formed a settlement on the east side of the Great Miami river, at a point eight miles from where the town of Hamilton now is, and seventeen miles from Cincinnati. The river there makes a great bend to the west, inclosing in its curve a very fertile tract of land of about a thousand acres, which is bounded on the east by a range of hills almost one hundred feet high. On this bottom is one of those ancient works, supposed to have been constructed by a race of people who inhabited this country previous to the present race of Indians. The embankment, which is of earth, and in some parts is yet eight or ten feet high, incloses near one hundred acres of. land. At the angle of the river below is a hill two hundred and eighty feet high, on the top of which is a mound ten feet high, commanding an extensive view of the surrounding country. On the south side of this tract of bottom land, immediately on the bank of the river where the water is deep, the settlers erected a fortification for their security. It consisted of several block-houses built of logs, and a number of cabins, with pickets in the unoccupied space between them, in the form of a square, inclosing a little more than an acre of ground. On the south side it was protected by the deep waters of the river. The cabins, for the sake of convenience, were built with the roof sloping outward, the very reverse of what   86 - Pioneer Biographies.   they should have been for defense. The outer eaves were so low that it was no uncommon thing for the dogs, when shut out of the fort, to spring from an adjacent stump upon the roofs of the cabins and thence into the enclosure.   The station and settlement were named after Mr. Dunlap. He also laid out a town at this place which he called Colerain, from his native place in Ireland. He failed, however, to perfect his title to the ground, and the settlers who had purchased from him lost their claims. Colerain afterward became the name of the township where the land lies. This was the first settlement in the interior back from the Ohio river.   For some time after the establishment of the station, the Indians gave these pioneer adventurers a great deal of trouble and anxiety. In 1790, David Gibson was taken prisoner by the Indians when passing, one day, along a narrow trace between the base of the hill and the river, a short distance below the station. He remained a prisoner until Wayne's treaty in 1795. During his captivity he married a white woman, who had been taken prisoner sin Pennsylvania ten years previous to his own capture. When released, by the terms of the treaty, they settled in the south part of Butler county, where they resided many years, and finally removed to Indiana. William Cum and Thomas Larrison were chased at the peril of their lives into the station, and the inhabitants hardly dared venture after their cows when they strayed off into the woods. They applied, in the winter of 1790-1791, to General Harmar, then in command at Fort 'Washington, for a detachment of soldiers for their protection, and he detailed for that purpose Lieutenant Kingsbury, with a party of eighteen soldiers.   John Reily—Appendix - 87   E.   The Attach om Dunlap's Station.   It may not be considered a very important matter when and in what manner the attack on Dunlap station was made, and how it was relieved, but a regard for the truth of history, however, induces us here to record the various statements which have been made with reference to it.   The account given in the text is that of Mr. Reily, who, in his whole life, was remarkable for his accuracy and punctillious regard for truth. It corresponds also with the story as often related by John S. Wallace, one of the participants in the affair. The main points in these accounts are as follows :   On Saturday morning, January 8, the surveying party (Sloan, Wallace, Hunt, and Cunningham) was attacked. Sloan and Wallace escaped to the station.   On Monday, January 10, the Indians invested the station. Immediately after a parley, Hunt was tortured and killed.   On Tuesday, January I I, at 3 o'clock in the morning, Wallace and Wiseman escaped from the station unnoticed by the Indians, and six miles from Cincinnati met the party from the town going to relieve the station, the alarm having been given by some hunters the evening previous. They returned with them, and between ten and eleven o'clock reached the top of the hills overlooking the station. The Indians had abandoned the siege an hour before.   88 - Pioneer Biographies.   Fifty-nine years after the event (in 1850), Mr. Charles Cist relates that he had the pleasure of bringing together two of the defenders of Dunlap's Station, William 'Wiseman, above referred to, then in his eighty-first year, and Samuel Hahn, over seventy-three years of age. He took down from their lips their accounts of the attack, and published them in his "Cincinnati in 1859." Wiseman's, page 91; Hahn's, page 103.   Mr. Wiseman's statement is briefly as follows:   On Saturday, February 5, the surveying party attacked.   On Monday, February 7, at day dawn, the Indians invest the station. Hunt was tortured at midnight on the night of the 7th and 8th. His screams could be heard till toward daylight.   On Tuesday, February 8th, between seven and ten o'clock, Wiseman started alone across the river amid a shower of bullets from the Indians; reached Cincinnati at four o'clock that afternoon ; remained there all night.   On Wednesday, February 9th, the party started from Cincinnati to relieve the station, which they reached between one and two o'clock. The Indians had raised the siege an hour or two be fore.   Mr. Hahn's account, though less circumstantial than Wiseman's, is substantially the same, except that he says the Indians decamped " early in the morning" on Wednesday.   It will be perceived that there is four weeks difference in the dates; that, according to Wallace, the siege lasted a little over a day; by Wiseman's account, a little over two days.   Thomas Irwin, who was with the relieving party, gave Mr. Cist an account of the affair, which was published in " Gist's Advertiser" for March 21, 1848. He gives the date " between the first and ninth days of January, 1791." He says the news of   John Reily — Appendix - 89   the attack was brought to Cincinnati by a hunter by the name of Cox, who had encamped over night within five or six miles of the station, and in the morning, hearing distinctly the firing at the station, returned to the town to give the alarm. The relief party started early next morning.   B. Van Cleve, a well-known pioneer, who was with the relief party, says the Indians " continued the siege for about twenty-six hours." See American Pioneer, vol. II, page 148.   Henry Howe, in his Historical Collections of Ohio, page 210, follows Mr. Wallace's account.   In the historical sketches prefixed to Farnsworth's Cincinnati Directory for 1819, page 22, is an account of the attack, corroborating Wallace's statement as to the dates and duration of the siege.   In view of the above evidence we are inclined to give credence to Mr. Wallace's statements in every respect except as to the time of the torturing of Hunt. As to that, however, Mr. McBride does not say that it was in the morning, though its place in the narrative—immediately after the conference with the Indians—conveys the idea that it took place at that time. In weighing the testimony of Wiseman and Hahn, it must be borne in mind that it was given when they were both very old men, and fifty-nine years after the event. The statement that Wiseman made his escape from the station in broad daylight, and under a shower of bullets from the Indians, is particularly incredible. They would certainly not have permitted his escape, knowing, as they must, had they seen him, the object of his mission.   We have been unable to find any other mention of the attack, giving details which bear on the disputed points.   13   90 - Pioneer Biographies.   F.   Rev. David Jones.   Rev. David Jones was born in White Clay Creek Hundred, Newcastle county, Delaware, May 12, 1736; was licensed to preach by the Welch Tract Church in 1761, ordained at Freehold, Monmouth county, N. J., December 12, 1766, and remained as pastor of the church at that place till 1772, when he became strongly impressed with a desire to visit the Indians in the territory northwest of the Ohio river. He resigned his charge, and started on his mission May 4, 1772, returning in August. So intent, however, had he become in this mission work, that he made a second trip October 26, 1772. and remained among the Indians in Ohio till the following April. The journal which he kept on these two visits was published at Burlington, N. J., in 1774, and republished, with a biographical sketch by his grandson, Horatio Gates Jones, in New York in 1865, and contains an interesting account of the manners, customs, language, and religious belief of the Indians. In 1775 he became pastor of the Great Valley Baptist church in Chester county, Pa., but resigned the following year, on his appointment as chaplain to a Pennsylvania regiment, of which Colonel (afterward Major-General) St. Clair was commander. He was on duty with him at Ticonderoga, served two campaigns under Major-General Gates, and was brigade chaplain under General Wayne in 1777. At the close of the war he retired to a farm in Eastown, Chester county. In 1786 he became pastor of the   John Reily—Appendix - 91   church at Southampton, Bucks county, but after a pastorate of six years he returned to the Great Valley church. He visited Ohio in 1789, and again returned as chaplain under his old commander, General Wayne, in 1794, serving until the establishment of peace with the Indians. His love of country was so strong that in 1812, though a veteran of seventy-six years of age, he again volunteered his services as chaplain, and served under Generals Brown and Wilkinson until the end of the war. He then ietired to the "Valley," where he died on the 5th of February, 1820, in the eighty-fourth year of his age.   G.   Rev. John Mason.   Elder John Mason was a brother of Elder John Smith's wife, a Virginian by birth and education. He was present at the organization of the First Baptist Association in October, 1798, in which he took a prominent part. In 1806 he appears as a delegate, and was then pastor of Sugar Creek church, where he remained many years. In 1824 he removed to Indiana, on account of some doctrinal disputation with Elder Willson Thompson. He died at a good old age, in Indiana, about the year 1835. See "Dunlevy's History of the Miami Baptist Association," p. 128.   92 - Pioneer Biographies.   H.   Rev. David Rice.   Father Rice, by which name this venerable man was widely known in Kentucky, was born in Hanover county, Va., December 20, 1733, educated at Nassau Hall, studied theology with the Rev. John Todd, ordained by Hanover Presbytery December, 1763, and soon became a popular and successful preacher. After laboring in various fields, he removed to Kentucky in 1783, and organized the churches at Danville, Cane run, and the forks of Dick's river. He took an active part in all public affairs, was chairman of the board of trustees of Transvlvania seminary, and its first teacher while yet a grammar school. He was a member of the convention which met at Danville in 1792 to frame the state constitution, in which he exerted himself for the insertion of an article providing for the gradual emancipation of slaves, but without success. After a faithful ministry of thirty-five years, he resigned his charge, and removed to Greene county in 1798. He did not, however, cease his labors in the church. He preached to vacant congregations, and took an active interest in all church questions. In 1805 and 1806 he undertook an extensive missionary tour through Ohio and Kentucky, by appointment of the general assembly. For the last three years of his life he was prevented from preaching and writing by the gradual decay of nature. He died June 18, 1816, in the eighty-third year of his age. See "An Outline of the History of the Church in the State of Kentucky during a period of forty five years, containing the Memoirs of Rev. David Rice, etc." Collected and arranged by Robert H. Bishop. Lexington, 1824. Also, Davidson's "History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky."   John Reily—Appendix - 93   I.   Rev. Stephen, Gano.   Dr. Stephen Gano, third son of Rev. John and Sarah (Stites) Gano, was born in the city of New York 25th December, 1762, ordained 2d August, 1786. He was successively, for some time, the pastor of the Baptist church at Hillsdale, and at Hudson. In 1792 he accepted the pastorate of the First Baptist church, in Providence, R. I., which he retained till the time of his death, 18th August, 1828.   Dr. Gano had many relatives in the West (the Stites and Gano families), and made them many visits.   In one of his trips he preached at Lexington, Ky. Henry Clay was present, and said of him : "He was a remarkably fervent preacher, and distinguished for a simple, effective manner. And of all preachers I ever listened to, he made me feel the most that religion was a divine reality." For sketch of his life, see Sprague's "Annals of the American Baptist Pulpit," p. 229.   94 - Pioneer Biographies.   J.   Baptist Church at Columbia.   The account given in the text of the organization of the Baptist church at Columbia, the first in the western country, differs somewhat in dates and names from that of Hon. A. H. Dunlevy, in an interesting and valuable little work just published (May, 1869), entitled "A History of the Miami Baptist Association from its Organization," etc. We copy some portions of his statement:   "The first Baptist church in Ohio was constituted by the aid of the Rev. Stephen Gano, afterward of Providence, Rhode Island, on the l0th of January, 1790, at the house of Benjamin Davis, in Columbia, five miles above the present site of Cincinnati. This was on Saturday, and immediately after organizing the church, then consisting of nine persons, viz: Benjamin Davis, Mary Davis, Isaac Ferris, Jonah Reynolds, Elizabeth Ferris, Amy Reynolds, John Ferris, John S. Gano, and Thomas C. Wade, Isaac Ferris was appointed deacon, and John S. Gano clerk. The door of the church was then opened, and Elijah Stites, Rhoda Stites, and Sarah Ferris were received on experience, and baptized by Dr. Gano on the next day. Thomas Sloo, a member of Dr. Gano's church, of New York city, and who had come out West with Dr. Stephen Gano, was present. Both Mr. Sloo and Dr. John Gano afterward moved to Kentucky. Soon after, three others, Mrs. Meek, Smith, and Baily united by letter. * * * * On the 24th of January, 1790, at a called meeting they gave a unanimous invitation to Rev. Stephen Gano to become their pastor, but he declined. * * * * The house was so far completed in the spring of 1793 as to be occupied for preaching * * * on the 21st day of   John Reily—Appendix - 95   September, 1792. Elder Daniel Clark, before a licentiate from Whiteley church, Pa., was ordained at Columbia * * under the shade of some large trees on the bank of the Ohio river."   In a foot note Judge Dunlevy says that his dates are given on the authority of a diary kept by Dr. William Goforth, at that time a resident of Columbia, though Dr. Ezra Ferris, of Lawrenceburgh, Indiana, who was also present at the organization of the church, "is positive that it took place on the last Saturday in March, 1790," which is the date as given by Mr. Reily.   Dr. Goforth's diary was published by Mr. Cist in his "Cincinnati Advertiser." The following are the portions of it relating to this church :   1790.   Jany. 13. Doctor David Jones preached. “ 18. Doctor Gano and Thomas Sloo came here. “ 20. The church was constituted Baptist church at Columbia. “ 21. Three persons were baptized. “ 24. Called a church meeting, and took unanimous to call the Rev'd Stephen Gano to the pastoral charge of the church at Columbia.   This would seem to fix the date definitely, if the diary had been written from time to time as the events occurred. We think, however, that there are anacronisms in the diary which prove that it was made up of memoranda in chronological order many years after the events took place. If Mr. Cist has printed the extracts without interpolation, we have been unable to find the original. Under the date of March 27th, 1791, is the following entry : " Mrs. Plasket arrived—the 24 in the morning fought the Indians just after daybreak, about 3 miles above Scioto—this the same battle mentioned in Hubble's narrative." Hubble's narrative was, however, not published   96 - Pioneer Biographies.   till 1820, when it appeared in the Western Review. It will be found also in McClung's Western Adventure, page 231. Again, under the date of November 2d, 1792, he mentions that a committee "met at Mr. Reily's school-house. Mr. Reily, then a teacher, was for many years clerk of the Butler common pleas and supreme court." This was not till many years after the event recorded. We have here two independent witnesses against one. We are, therefore, inclined to the belief that the dates named by Mr. Reily and Dr. Ferris are the true ones.   With reference to the names of the first members, Mr. Dunlevy writes to us as follows : "I could not find any records of the Columbia church at its organization in 179o, or any time after, while in its early state. To make out the list of its members at its organization, those received immediately afterward, and those who united still later, but at an early period, I had to consult all the persons then living, and known to me as having the more correct knowledge of the subject. Dr. Ezra Ferris, late of Lawrenceburgh, Ind., and the late Mrs. Mary Gano, widow of John S. Gano, one of the first members of the church, they agreed remarkably well in everything but the date of the organization of the church," etc. As Mr. McBride makes one mistake in his account, viz: mentions ten persons, though he says there were only nine, we presume that Judge Dunlevy's list of members is the more correct one.   As to the time when the church building was completed, whether in the spring or autumn of 1793, and the time when Elder Clark was ordained, whether the 21st or 23d September, 1793, we have been unable to find any evidence which would establish either date.   John Reily—Appendix - 97   K.   Rev. John, Smith.   Judge Burnet, an intimate friend of Mr. Smith, gives the following account of his connection with the Burr conspiracy :   "When the colonel (Burr) was on his tour through the western country, in 1806, he spent a week or two in Cincinnati. Mr. Smith was then a senator, and has been a member of that body when Colonel Burr presided in it as vice-president of the United States. He, therefore, very naturally invited him to his house, and tendered to him its hospitality during his stay in the place. This act of respect and kindness, dictated by a generous feeling, was relied on as evidence that he was a partizan of the colonel, and engaged in his project. A number of persons then residing in Cincinnati, who were in constant and intimate intercourse with Colonel Burr, and who were universally believed to be engaged in his undertaking, whatever it might have been, deserted him as soon as the storm began to gather. * * * * It was amusing to see those men, who had so recently been the most devoted attendants on the colonel, and the most vocal in his praise, denouncing him as a traitor, and tendering their services to the governor of the state, to arrest the culprit and bring him to justice. Mr. Smith was a firm, consistent man, not easily alarmed ; he solemnly affirmed his belief that Colonel Burr was not engaged in any project injurious to the country, and refused to join in the outcry against him, or to aid in the measures that were taken to procure his arrest. The consequence was, he was denounced himself, and a bill of indictment found against him, which was, however, abandoned with an attempt to bring him to trial."—Burnet's Notes on the Northwestern Territory, pp. 294, 295.   14   98 - Pioneer Biographies.   He was afterward tried in the senate on the same charges, and though they were not sustained, the vote was so close that he immediately resigned his seat.   The expense of collecting testimony and conducting his defense before the senate had been very great, and his neglected business still further involved him. On his return home, so great was the prejudice against him that his creditors pressed their claims upon him for immediate settlement, and his property was seized and sacrificed. Completely broken down and disheartened by the persecution of his former friends and neighbors, in the spring of 18o8 he removed to St. Francisville, Louisiana, where he owned some land. There he lived in comparative obscurity until the time of his death, in 1824. For an interesting sketch of the life of this remarkable man, see Dun-levy's "History of the Miami Baptist Association," pp. 96-119.   L.   Rev. John, Gano.   Dr. John Gano was born at Hopewell, N. J., 22d July, 1727. His great grandfather, Francis Gerneaux (the original name), was a Huguenot refugee from the Island of Guernsey. He was ordained in May, 1754. He made several missionary trips to the South, was chosen pastor of the newly-organized Baptist church in New York city in 1762, and continued there for twenty-five years, though engaged part of the time during the Revolution as chaplain in the American army. In 1787 he   John Reily—Appendix - 99   removed to Kentucky, reaching Limestone (now Maysville) on the 17th of June. The following year he became pastor of the Town Fork church, near Lexington. In 1798 he lost the use of one of his arms, by a fall from a horse, and afterward suffered a paralytic stroke, which rendered him almost speechless for nearly a year. He died in 1804 in the seventy-eighth year of his age. See Sprague's " Annals of the American Baptist Pulpit," p. 64, and Collins' "Historical Sketches of Kentucky," p. 113.   M.   Rev. Daniel Clark.   "Elder Clark remained connected with the Columbia church as assistant of Elder Smith, who was assigned to preach a part of the time at Cincinnati, until the year 1795, when the latter resigned the care of the Columbia church and took charge of the Island church. Elder Clark continued his labors with this church until the fall of 1797, when he moved about thirty miles northeast, where were organized first, Deer creek, and soon after, Turtle creek (now Lebanon) church. He supplied both with preaching several years, and was the only pastor of the Lebanon church from its organization, in 1798, until about 1829, when he became too feeble to preach. He died December 11, 1834, in the ninetieth year of his age."—Dunlevy's History of the Miami Baptist Association, 1869, p. 2 1 . A more extended notice of Elder Clark will be found on page 142 of the same work.