502 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

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OXFORD.

OXFORD is bounded on the north by the county of Preble, on the east by Milford Township, on the south by Reily Township, and on the west by the State of Indiana.

The township once formed a part of Milford, and before that of St. Clair. The boundary lines were fixed as they now exist in 1811. In 1820 the population was one thousand six hundred and fifty-three; in 1830, two thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight; and in 1840, three thousand three hundred and eighty-eight inhabitants.

The justices of the peace have been Joel Collins and Levi Lee, in 1811; James M. Dorsey, in 1813; James Beck, in 1815; James M. Dorsey, in 1816; James Beck, in 1818; James M. Dorsey, in 1819; Daniel Strickland, in 1820; Abraham Martin, in 1821 ; James M. Dorsey,

in 1822; Abram A. Chittenden, in 1823; Abram Martin, in 1824; James M. Dorsey, in 1825; A. J. Chittenden, in 1826; Abram Martin, in 1827; James Crawford, in 1827; A. J. Chittenden, in 1828; James Ratliff, in 1830; James Crawford, in 1830 ; Abner H. Longley, in 1831; Gideon S. Howe, in 1832; Peter Sutton, in 1833; James Crawford, in 1833; Gideon S. Howe, Peter Sutton, and Wales B. Bonney, in 1835 ; Gideon S. Howe, Peter Sutton, and Wales B. Bonney, in 1838; Joseph Hills, in 1839; Wales B. Bonney and Peter Sutton, in 1841; E. A. McArthur, in 1842 ; James Crawford, in 1844.; and William A. Irwin, in 1845.

The old inhabitants of the township were named Beeler, Collins, Keely, Dorsey, Morris, Ludlow, De Witt, Alger, Minor, Bond, Wadley, Hughes, Chittenden, Aus-

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tin, Adams, McCullough, Greer, Chancy, Temple, Black- leach, Hoag, Weller, Horner, Freeman, Crawford, Ratliff, and Doty. Most of these have passed away.

Oxford Township presents a variety of soils and surfaces. The laud is generally elevated and well adapted to grazing, the growing of wheat, and produce of all kinds. Farms are small, and the agricultural population large for the territory embraced. With the exception of two or more sections, the land belongs to the Miami University, the trustees of that institution leasing the land for ninety-nine years, renewable forever, subject to the annual payment of a quit-rent of six per cent on the purchase money.

Indian Creek runs through the south-west corner of the township, and in places the banks are high and precipitous. The stream here is quite rapid, and in early times afforded many excellent mill-sites.

Four-mile Creek flows through the township diagonally from north-west to south-east. The country bordering this stream is hilly, and in some places almost wholly unfit for agricultural purposes. Bottoms of sonic width and fertility follow the stream, on which fine crops of corn, wheat, and barley are usually grown. Four-mile has streams flowing into it of considerable size, among the most important of which are Cotton's Run, with a bevy of tributaries from the west, Harker's Run, from the north, likewise with many small branches, and other streams of more or less importance from the north. One of the remarkable features of Four-mile Creek is that it is larger in the township of Oxford than in St. Clair. The old settlers tell us it has ever been so, and that probably the water sinks into the sandy soil as it approaches nearer and nearer the Miami, or Seven-mile, into which it empties.

The late Colonel Thomas Irwin, of Butler County, was appointed commissioner to lay out and make a road, which was accordingly executed during 1804 and the following year. James Heaton, who was the county surveyor of this county, assisted in the undertaking. The road terminated at the center of the township, and the timber was cut to that point, but soon grew up in bushes. When the town of Oxford was laid out, in 1810, and began to improve, the direction of the road was changed from a point some distance east of the township, and laid out to the town.

The commissioners of Butler County, at their session in December, 1808, made an order for laying out a road from Rossville to the west boundary of the college township, nearly opposite to where James Crooks then lived, in the State of Indiana. The persons appointed for the work—Samuel Dick, William Blackburn, William Crooks, viewers ; James McBride, surveyor ; Benjamin Davis and Cyrus Timbre!, chain-men, and Hampton Adkins, axman and marker—accordingly met at Rossville on the 9th of February, 1809, and proceeded with their duty. This was the first county road laid out in Oxford Township. For many years it was traveled a great deal by the counties that lay west of the State line.

The December commissioners of 1808 appointed the same viewers to lay out a road from Joel Williams's mill at Millville, to the west boundary of the county and State, at the west side of Section 6, township 4, of range 1.

The next public road laid out was in March, 1811, from Derrough's Ford on the Miami River to the town of Oxford, and thence north-easterly in a direction for the town of Eaton, in Preble County. Joseph Walker, Charles Bruce, and John Maxwell were appointed viewers ; James McBride, surveyor ; John Walker and Darius C. Orcutt, chainmen ; and Harp Tietsort, ax-man and marker.

The north boundary of the county was struck about thirty-five chains west of the north-east corner of the township. The whole length of this road was twenty-one miles and a fraction.

In January, 1830, the Legislature oflOhio passed a law incorporating a company with a capital of $150,000 to make a turnpike from Hamilton, Ohio, to Richmond, Indiana. At the evening session of the Legislature of Ohio, the law was modified and amended so as to authorize the company to make a turnpike road from Hamilton to the north-west corner of the College Township. The directors or managers appointed by the act were John Woods, William Taylor, Daniel Millikin, Robert Hewes, Abraham J. Chittenden, and Joel Collins, who organized themselves, and on the 29th of August, 1831, opened books for the purpose of receiving subscriptions to the capital stock of the company.

In the Summer of 1832 about seven miles of the road was located and staked out by Samuel Forrer, civil engineer, who then resided in Cincinnati.- On Saturday evening he came home to see his family, and the cholera having broken out in the city, he did not return. Afterwards, in consequence of the difficulty in raising money and other embarrassing circumstances, no further progress was made, and the prosecution of the. work was finally abandoned.

The history of the Salem Methodist Episcopal Society is obscure. In 1832 John Stewart, pastor in charge, organized the first Church at the house of Peter Butler, one mile and a half east of where the chapel now stands. The first leader was Isaac Crume, son of the Rev. Moses Crume, who was presiding elder of the district in 1817 and 1818. At the time of the organization, or soon thereafter, the Church consisted of the following members : Isaac and Jane Crume, Peter Butler and wife, Mary, Joshua Leech and wife, Miller and Ann Dorsey, Lucretia Procter, James Finkbine, John Duke and Eliza his Wife, and Mr. Keely and wife. The chapel was built in 1834 or 1835. A local preacher by the name of Wetherby seems to have been more active in the enterprise than any one else.

In 1829 Elijah H. Fields, pastor, organized the first

504 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

Church in the neighborhood of the Zion Methodist Episcopal Church, at the house of Elisha Fay, and appointed Broomfield Boone the first class-leader. In 1834, during the pastorate of C. W. Swain and John Waterman, a log church, " old Zion," was built, three- fourths of a mile west of the present church., On the 2d of March, 1843, the log church was burned to the ground, the origin of the fire being unknown. In the same year the present house was commenced, and was completed in about one year from the time the first house was burned. On the 22d of March, 1844, the new house was dedicated by Zachariah Connell, pastor in charge. At this time the society was very prosperous, but for the last twenty years it has been on the decline. There is no Sabbath-school, no class-meetings nor prayer- meetings, and very small congregations.

The Christian Church in the Doty settlement, three miles and a half north of Oxford, was organized in 1844 by Herrick Burdsell, who was the most prominent of all the early members—Samuel Doty, Job Smith, Samuel Ware, Mrs. Joseph Morris, and others as members, and the Rev. Mr. Campbell and Joel Collins as principals. For the business men of the Church the society had Samuel Doty and Judge Ccilins. John Griggs, a reformed man, came in some time after the first permanent organization, and in after life won the esteem and confidence of his brethren. Solomon Keller was also among the first of the members. The frame church, twenty-four by thirty-six feet, which is now standing unfinished and rarely used, was erected a year or more after the Church was organized. Job Smith donated one acre of land for church and burial purposes, on which there are considerable numbers buried. The grave-yard is in a good condition, quite unlike the church. This congregation never had a regular pastor, but the Rev. Henry Prickett, a son-in-law of Herrick Burdsell, preached here for some time after the organization.

Fifty-five or sixty years ago, a Baptist church was erected on Section No. 31, a few feet distant from the old Girton school-house. This house was a frame building, and is now standing—removed from its original site—on Section 29. The house was, however, used for worship by all the denominations who chanced to be without a church in this neighborhood. The Rev. Firm Vanness, now a Methodist minister in Indiana, was one of the early preachers. Ebenezer Stibbins was also a local preacher and an early member. The Rev. Wilson Thompson, and, in fact, all those who preached from time to time at the Indian Creek Baptist Church, in Reily Township, administered to this people. John Burress was one of the first and most influential members, a man of many good motives and actions.

Christopher Girton's mill, on Indian Creek, in Section 31, was built sixty years ago by Mr. Barnum, a Yankee mill-wright. This flouring establishment passed from the father to son, Jacob Girton, and twenty-eight years ago became the property of Thomas McCullough, a leading citizen of Oxford village. The first mill, an undershot frame, is yet standing, but is now propelled by a turbine water-wheel, and has two sets of buhrs. Thomas McCullough is the son-in-law of Jacob Girton.

Christopher Girton had a still-house about three hundred yards west of the mill, with a wooden still, fifty odd years ago. This pioneer establishment continued to run for a good while, but finally went down. About seventy-five feet north of west of the still-house there was a private burying-ground. A buckeye tree marks the site of this ancient burial place exactly. A Mr. Bake had a still-house on Section 18, on Indian Creek, thirty-five years ago.

While Jacob Girton was in charge of the mill, he also carried on a country store. He continued in this branch of trade for more than twenty years. The house in which the store was kept is 'row standing, and is owned by Mr. McCullough.

Kennedy Brooks's brother, an Irishman, sixty years ago built a saw-mill on Four-mile. This mill was run for about ten years, and then sold to Mitchell & McClure, who erected a new undershot establishment. For six or eight years the firm did a considerable amount of sawing„ but finally the mill went down on their hands. Mr. Mitchell was a son-in-law of McClure, whose given name was John.

There was a fulling-mill above the Brooks saw-mill, on the next farm, owned by James Lee. This manufactory was propelled by water-power, and the, building was a frame. Lee sold the farm on which the fulling-mill stood to Mr. Orr. North of this mill a fourth of a mile Robert Marshall had a frame tread-wheel still-house, propelled by ox-power. All these three last mentioned establishments were in operation at the same time, and all have passed away.

Fifty years ago, on Section 31, a school was taught east of Girton's mill, on the top of the hill, by Maria Burris, a single lady, who now resides in Oxford. Miss Burris afterwards taught in Cincinnati for twenty years. She was an excellent teacher. The second house, which was also a frame building, was erected thirty-five years ago. Colonel French and Jacob Girton, who were the largest tax-payers in this section of country, with others, combined and built the building. Elizabeth, Christopher, Adam, and Phebe Girton were among the scholars. Christopher Girton was afterwards a member of the Legislature in Indiana for two or three terms, and also a county commissioner. Among the other scholars who obtained an education here were Robert Riggs and sisters mad Colonel Dickinson's children. Judge Fisk, now of Brookville, Indiana, was a scholar in the first frame. Four of the Wardwell brothers were also scholars. Mrs. Isaac Wardwell, whose husband is dead, celebrated her eighty-fifth birthday on the 15th of April, 1882, surrounded by over one hundred relatives and friends.

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Near the Doty Christian Church a log school-house was built fifty years ago, on Levi Goodwin's farm. Goodwin was a chair-maker by trade, and many of the old chairs and tables, bedsteads and stands in this township are specimens of his workmanship. The house was removed in 1846 or 1847, after having been in use for ten or twelve years. Some of the early teachers were Robert Orr, who was from Union County, Indiana, Andrew C. and David McDill, all men of much respectability. A one-armed man by the name of Smith was also among the first teachers. The Martins, Adamses, and Dotys were the scholars.

The frame house was built in 1847, one-fourth of a mile south of the church. William Swan and Jay Procter were early teachers in this house. The present brick house was built eight or ten years ago on the foundation of the old frame building.

The township, in 1845, was divided into ten school districts, and about one thousand dollars was annually collected from the citizens and appropriated for educational purposes.

The first frame house and barn erected in the township are now to be seen. These two buildings were put up in 1817 by West Bonney, the Mher of Wales B. Bonney, of Oxford, who was born in 1799, and who is, perhaps, the oldest man in the township. They stand on the College Corner pike, one mile and a quarter from Oxford. The house is eighteen by forty-two, and one and a half stories high ; the barn is thirty by forty feet. Both are in a good state of preservation.

Aaron Austin's grist-mill, on Four-mile, was erected about 1815. This building was a frame, three stories high, and was supplied with power by a sixteen foot over- Allot water-wheel. This mill was used for about thirty years, when it burned down. Some time after the erection of the grist-mill, and its successful operation, a saw-mill was built near by. Both of these establishments stopped at the same time. Franklin Austin, a son of the old gentleman, built the second mill, which was also a frame, three stories high, a year or two after the first mill was consumed by fire. Young Austin was a mill-wright by trade, and, like his father, was possessed of many sterling qualities. The same power was used in the second mill as in the first, though the machinery was greatly improved. Franklin Austin, it appears, had nothing but a son's interest in the grinding department, for we find his father selling out his property, and soon after James Broadberry became the owner. This gentleman carried on the flouring department for about three years, and a little time after, Samuel Mollyneaux conducted the mill. He, in turn, disposed of his interest. J. B. Pugh, the present proprietor, has been in possession for about fourteen years. This mill has four sets of buhrs, and does a large business in country work and merchant flour.

Aaron Austin was an early settler on Section 23, where he owned over two hundred acres of fine bottom land. This portion of the township is very fertile, and in the course of seventy-five years has apparently lost none of its native strength.

COLLEGE CORNER.

The village of College Corner was laid out by Gideon T. Howe, May 5, 1837. It is located mostly in Ohio, in Butler and Preble Counties, but is also partly in Indiana, in Union County. The village, as it was platted, belongs to Butler County, but the various additions have changed the original intentions of the founder somewhat. The land round about is fertile and level. The great thoroughfare, already mentioned in speaking of the roads, was the pike, which afforded an excellent outlet for all the outlying country in the West.

The first house built in College Corner was a log hemp-mill, erected by the neighbors in 1811, or thereabouts, for the purpose of pounding hemp. The site of this mill is now occupied by Ridenour & Bake as a store- lot. This mill was used for eight or ten years. But the mill was built before the land was entered, the farm on which it stood being taken up by Chrisley Kingrey, of Virginia.

There was a blacksmith, a Mr. Bright, here many years ago, who remained for three or four years, a few rods east of the old hemp-mill. Some of those by whom he was succeeded were John Murphy, whose shop stood on the ground now occupied by Ramsey's store, and who stayed with the people for twenty-five years. His residence is now supplanted by the home of Dr. McChristy, who has been here for fifteen years. David Montgomery was here as a blacksmith fifty years ago, in a shop the site of which is now opposite Bake & Ridenour's store.

The first store, however, which was kept in College Corner, was in a hewed-log two-story house, which stood where Samuel Ramsey now lives. Thomas Forbes was the store-keeper. Samuel Ridenour was the second man who engaged in the same branch of trade. He succeeded Forbes by buying him out, remaining three years. The elder Ridenour was followed by his son, J. M., in the same house, for fifteen years. J. M. Ridenour then removed across the street, in the brick house which he built in 1847, and which is now occupied by the Shera Brothers. College Corner was never of any importance until Samuel Ridenour became engaged in mercantile pursuits in this neighborhood. He was a man who dealt largely in hogs and cattle, and in all the industries of the community took a leading and active hand. His sons followed their father in many respects, and are now honored citizens of the place.

For the first tavern-keeper the village had Gideon Howe, who began in the house now occupied by Oscar Schlenk for the same purpose. This house was built in 1830, and Howe continued in it for ten or twelve years. Joseph Beck was also a tavern-keeper in the same building for ten or more years. Ezra Smith was here in

506 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

1852; William H. Ridenour, in 1853, remaining for three years; David Long, Charles Ruffin, and Michael Gavin, the latter in 1872.

The first school-house was a hewed log building, which stood a few feet south of the store of Ridenour & Bake. This building was used for a number of years, and then sold and removed. Some of the teachers here were Mr. Thompson, 'Squire Howe, who was from the East, also his sister Charlotte, and Mr. Macmean. Among the scholars were J. M. and C. P. Ridenour, J. M. C. Howe, James Long, and his sister Sarah. All these persons have since achieved considerable distinction.

The second school-house, a brick building, one story high and twenty-five by thirty feet, stood fifty rods northeast of the first house. Among the prominent• teachers here were James Jones, James Welsh, Franklin B. Brookbank, and Charles B. Ruffin.

The third school-house in College Corner was a brick building the same size as the second house, erected in 1855, or thereabouts, and stood twenty-five rods southeast of the second building. The present school-building was erected in 1872, and is a two-story brick costing $3,000.

The post-office was first kept in a frame building south of Ramsey's store, on the site now occupied by a tin-shop. George Widener, the tinner, has been here for fifteen years. The second post-office was immediately south a few feet of the first. The site is now occupied by a drugstore and town hall, the latter occupying the second story. The building is owned by John Howel, a dealer in real estate, but it was built especially for the purpose for which it is now used. All the other post-office buildings were owned by the postmasters.

Before the War of 1812 Samuel Ridenour resided half a mile south of the village, where he died in 1850, of erysipelas in the hand, contracted while cutting grain with a sickle in the harvest field. His death was deeply lamented by the entire community.

John Miller, of Rockbridge County, Virginia, settled one mile south of College Corner, on a farm now occupied by George Wilson, in 1806. Tobias Miller, of the same place, came in 1809. Jacob Bake came in 1809, and took up his residence one-half mile below Tobias Miller's. Colonel John Miller, of Virginia, came in 1809, and took up his residence among the people in this section of country.

Joseph Kingrey, who came from Virginia, settled one mile and a half north-east of College Corner in 1809. Samuel and James Huston, of Virginia, settled between Kingrey's and the Corner at an early day. John Patterson settled one mile north of College Corner in 1810. Peter Ridenour settled one and a half miles north-east of the village in 1810. Captain Long took up his residence in Indiana, one mile west of town, more than seventy years ago. The farm is now owned by Barney Bright, on which Long lived, and which he, no doubt, entered some time thereafter. Samuel McDill and David Bonner took up their homes south of College Corner many years ago. Jonathan Paxton had a still-house on a branch of Four-mile many years ago. Samuel Ridenour had a similar concern in 1820 at his home. The first saw-mill in this part of the country, was owned by Tobias Miller, in 1820. His mill sawed much of the lumber for the Miami University. Miller also carried on tanning extensively. His tannery was built in 1815, and continued to run until 1837. Both the saw-mill and tan-yard were kept going at the same time.

One of the curiosities of pioneer life is found in a hat shop or manufactory, which existed in a very prosperous manner, in College Corner, soon after it was laid out. Mr. John Tilford was here in 1835 or 1836 in this business, who was from Franklin County, Indiana. He remained but about two years. His place of meeting his customers was in a little frame house where Charles Cokefair's drug store now is.

John Leach was a tailor in the village in 1837, in frame building where Ridenour & Bake's store now is. One of the most distinguished of the early citizens of College Corner was General Ambrose Burnside, who was a tailor here before 1835. General Burnside is remembered by some of the oldest citizens as at that time being a very promising young man.

Odd Fellows' Lodge, No. 224, was chartered March 28, 1861. The charter members were Ira Maxwell, A. S. Hall, Finley Egbert, J. E. Tucker, John Tweedy, J. M. Ridenour, Samuel Ridenour, Jun. The first meetings of this society were held in the present place of assembly, which is a leased building. The first officers were Ira Maxwell, N. G. ; A. S. Hall, V. G. ; H. C. Peters, R. S. ; T. M. Ridenour, Treas. ; John Stephenson, W. ; Joseph E. Tucker, Con. ; E. Howe, I. G. ; John Tweedy, R. S. ; Finley Egbert, L. S. Vice Grand supporters : S. B. McKee, R. S. ; Marion Harter, L. S. Some of the leading present members are George Bargelt, who is now and has been secretary for nine years; George Clark, John Campbell, Finley Egbert, J. C. Gilmore, A. S. Hall, M. C. Judkins, .F. M. Jackson, Philip Jackson, J. D. Johnson, M. C. Keffier, George Handley, George Montgomery, W. H. Shephard, H. Kiger, W. C. Miller, and William Rigsby. At present the membership numbers abOut forty. J. D. Johnson is the present N. G., and H. Kiger, V. G. In January, 1882, six hundred dollars was stolen from the society safe, the combination of which some persons had previously learned. An effort was made to detect the thief, but it proved unsuccessful.

In the Spring of 183.7 the Rev. George M. Beswick, of the Indiana Conference, organized the M. E. Church at College Corner. Beswick has now been dead these twenty years. This Church was organized at the house of John J. Murphey, in a little log house east of Ramsey's store. Thirteen members constituted the original roll, as follows: John and Desire Murphey, Samuel and Barbara Ridenour,

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Brice and Eliza Purcil, Broomfield Boone and wife, Joseph Kitchen, who was a local preacher, and wife, Mrs. Margaret Ridenour, Caleb Shera, and Sarah his wife. Mrs. Barbara Ridenour, Mrs. Boone, Mrs. Kitchen, Mr. and Mrs. Shera are still living. For a few years this point of worship belonged to the Centerville circuit; but was soon changed to the College Corner and Liberty circuit, which name it still retains. The parsonage is located at Liberty.

Among the first preachers were Mr. Hasty, of Indiana, who was. in 1837 ; John Kigers and Landa Havens, both here two years, the former of whom is still living in Indiana ; Greenbury R. Beeks, who was with the people for two years, and who is now dead ; Mr. Kelso, who traveled with Becks ; Joseph Tarkington, who was here for one year, and who now lives in Greensburg, Indiana ; William Hibben, who died in Indianapolis one year ago ; W. W. Snyder, who was here after 1845, and who stayed for two years, now of South Bend, Indiana ; John S. Wingate, another traveling preacher, who was-here for three years altogether, and now of Greensburg, Indiana ; and Mr. Falkinburg, here in 1855, who was the pastor in charge for two years.

The first place of worship this society had was a frame building, erected in 1838, which cost $800 ; the second house, a brick, was put up in 1855, and cost $3,500. It stands on the old site.

This society is a branch of the Oxford Methodist Church. The land on which the house stands was given by Samuel Ridenour. The present preacher is the Rev. R. R. Baldwin. The membership numbers about two hundred.

One mile and a half south of College Corner an old log meeting-house, owned by the Methodists, was in use in 1821. This house stood about nine rods north of the present school building. The second church, a frame building, was erected in 1841. In 1860, on account of deaths and removals, the society divided, part of the members going to Oxford and part to College Corner. The old church is now partly used as a dwelling. Some of the first members of the Bethel Church, the, name by which this society was known,. were John Brown and wife, both of whom are now dead ; old Mr. Dollahan and wife, Wm. Shera and wife Eleanor, Margaret Ridenour, Broomfield Boone, and Joseph Kitchen. This church, from the time of its building to the time it was abandoned, belonged to the Oxford circuit.

In 1845, or thereabouts, the Presbyterian Church was organized in College Corner. Joseph Stewart was a ruling elder for a number of years; so also was Josiah Wilson, who is now dead. Sarah Howe was one of the leading and early members. Professors John W. Scott and Charles Elliott, of Oxford, were instrumental in the organization of this society. When the Church was first formed the professors from Oxford supplied the people with ministers. Before the society was organized the Rev. James Graham often preached to the people. He was a man of considerable ability, and did great good. He belonged to the New School Presbyterians, and was a resident of Oxford. This Church now has about sixty members and a capacity to seat two hundred and fifty people. The Rev. Wilber Chapman, of Lane Seminary, preaches to this people once every fortnight; also at Liberty.

As early as 1840 Samuel Ridenour gave one and a half acres of land for burial purposes, but it was not until 1880 that the heirs of this liberal-minded gentleman deeded the ground to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Samuel Ridenour died June 30, 1850, aged 57 years, 9 months and 3 days. He was in every way a man of the highest order, qualified for almost any undertaking, and so constituted as to win the cordial esteem and regard of his fellow-man. John M. Ridenour, a son, was at the time of his death a captain in the Twenty-eighth United States Infantry.. He was wounded by the explosion of a mine at the battle of Petersburg, Virginia. He was then taken prisoner and held in captivity for three months, and during two months of this time lay in prison at Castle Thunder, dying afterwards from the effects of bad medical treatment. He died November 25, 1869, aged 32 years, 3 months and 23 days. In the cemetery are :

Rev. H. B. Collins, a member of the Southern Indiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, born May 4, 1829 ; died September 4, 1864. Mr. Collins was a fine scholar and preacher, and at the time of his death was highly esteemed by all those who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. Robert Howell, died April 24, 1862; aged 62. Jane Howell, died May 28, 1881 aged 83. Both were natives of England. Dr. Brice Purcil, born December 2, 1795 ; died December 8, 1866. David Montgomery, born June 15, 1809, and died June 12, 1852. Thomas Jones died June 10, 1875; aged 77. William R. Duckett, died December 30, 1866 ; aged 86. Grace, wife of William R. Duckett, died August 25, 1849 ; aged 71. Tilghman Duckett died April 27, 1873; aged 66. Thompson Wilcox was born September 28, 1791, and died September 25, 1876. Caroline Wilcox, his wife, was born January 3, 1821, and died September 25, 1876. .

The Old School Presbyterian burying-ground was given for this purpose by Joseph Harter, a gentleman of many good deeds, but who did not belong to any religious society. He had three wives. We give their lives and his in brief :

Joseph Harter died August 11, 1863, aged 76 ; Rosannah Harter was born March 2, 1800, and died April 21, 1876. Mary Harter died May 3, 1839 ; aged 32. Cathaarine Harter died April 27, 1849 ; aged 36. These other two epitaphs are from the same yard: Calvin B., son of Gideon and Sarah Howe, a member of the Sixty-ninth Ohio Regular Volunteer Infantry, Company B, died March 23, 1862 ; aged 25. Sarah, wife of Ebenezer Howe, died October 25, 1865;

aged 88.

Between the time when those lands were offered for sale and the time the location of this township was

508 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

made, two and a half sections lying on Four-mile had been purchased by individuals. Section No. 25 was entered by Colonel Samuel Beeler, and the west halves of Sections Nos. 11, 14 and 24 were purchased by Matthew Hueston. In the Summer of 1803 Colonel Beeler removed to his lands, and made the first improvements in what is now the Township of Oxford ; and about the same time Colonel Hueston sold off the other halves of the sections which he had purchased in the township to James Adams, Zachariah P. De Witt, Nathan Horner, and Thomas White, who severally made improvements and settled on them about the same time. In the year 1806 Captain Joel Collins purchased a part of Colonel Beeler's section, and settled on it. Colonel Beeler afterwards removed to Illinois.

The location of this township for college purposes having precluded all further purchases, it consequently remained unsettled, with the exception of the families above mentioned and some few squatters who dwelt along the bottoms of Four-mile Creek ; amongst whom were Robert Taylor, called Buffalo Bob, Edward Lytle, Henry Hall, David Lee, John Slack and Mr. Perkins, and perhaps a few others. At this sale some of the above men became purchasers of the land on which they had settled ; others abandoned their improvements and removed farther west.

OXFORD.

The village of Oxford is situated in latitude 39̊ 34' north, and 7̊ 38' west longitude from Washington City. It is thirty-seven miles from Cincinnati, one hundred and ten miles from Columbus, and eighty miles east of Indianapolis.

On the 6th day of February, 1810, the Legislature of Ohio passed a law by which the board of trustees of the Miami University were directed to cause the town of Oxford to be, laid off on the Miami College lands. In pursuance of the instructions contained in this law, the board of trustees, at their meeting in March following, appointed a committee of their body to make the selection and cause the town to be laid out. This committee proceeded, on the, 29th day of March, 1810, to the Miami College lands, and, after a careful examination of the whole township, selected the present site of Oxford for the location of the town, which was laid out on the 10th of the month following. The town is one mile square, and when laid out contained one hundred and twenty-eight in or town lots, and forty four-acre out-lots on the south of the in-lots. In July, 1827, an additional number of lots were laid off, and in November, 1831, a further addition on the east of the former lots and north of the University Square was made.

In the east part of the town is laid off a plat of ground containing fifty-six acres, which is designated the "University Square." It is reserved for the erection of buildings for the use of the institution, to lay out such gardens, avenues, and promenades, as may be found necessary and convenient. In the north-east corner of the town plat is also reserved a tract of about forty acres, designed for a botanical garden.

Oxford is situated half a mile west of Four-mile Creek, on an elevated piece of ground about eighty feet above the level of the channel of the creek. The lots in the town of Oxford were disposed of by the trustees of the University at public sale, in a manner similar to the lands of the township ; only with the exception that the purchaser was required to pay the amount of the price bid for the lot, on which being complied with he receives a lease for ninety-nine years, renewable forever ; subject, however, to the payment, annually, of a quit-rent of six per cent on the purchase price of the lot, in the same manner as the other lands of the township.

The first sale of the lots in Oxford was held at Hamilton, on the 22d and 23d days of May, 1810, when the lots then laid out of an' uneven number were offered for sale. At this sale eleven in-lots and eight four-acre out-lots were sold, the in-lots at prices from $16.661 to $25.90 each ; the four-acre out-lots at the rate of five dollars per acre.

On the 28th and 29th of August ensuing a second sale of lots in Oxford was held in Hamilton, when the residue of the lots then laid out were offered for sale. At this sale only three in-lots and three out-lots were sold, at about the same price as the first sales.

During the Summer of 1810 the tall trees which then covered the site of the town began to be cut down, and a few cabins commenced. The first house erected in Oxford was built by Samuel McCullough, on Lot No. 1., being the lot on which Captain Joel Collins's house stood in 1838. It was built of unhewed beech logs, and for several years was the only house of entertainment in the place. It disappeared many years ago. On the lot adjoining the public square was shortly afterward erected a hewed log house by William McMahan, which was also removed many years since. According to the census of 1830, the population of the village amounted to seven hundred and thirty-seven souls.

Oxford had for her first settlers James M. Dorsey, William Ludlow, John Smith, son of Jacob Smith of Green County, Moses Crume, James Parker, Seth Bates, George Davis, Robert Morris, Levi Lee, Stephen Min4, Walter Dickinson, Abraham York, William Allen, Thomas Longley, Benjamin Jones, Aaron Jones, James Ratliff, Elias Farr, Sylvester Lyons, James Beck, and Philip Wiggins. These men constituted what might be properly called the first settlers. But there were others whose influence was as great. Zachariah De Witt settled here in 1808 or 1810; Colonel Samuel Beeler, Captain West Bonney and his son Wales B., coming here about 1816 ; 'Squire Crawford, a merchant, in 1822, justice of the peace for forty years; 'Squire Sutton, now eighty-one years of age, for thirty-six years a justice of the peace ; Eleazar Hoag, settling on Four-mile in 1810, being a

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school-teacher by profession ; Ethan S. Weston, recently deceased, a remarkable man for his age; Thomas Craven, an early Baptist preacher here in 1812 ; John Mollyneaux, a merchant ; Joseph Ward, here in 1822 ; John Demoss and John Parsons ; Elijah Fay and Christopher Girton, the latter already mentioned as having a mill on Indian Creek ; Henry Lewis, a merchant ; John Abel, Deacon White, and Thomas McCullough, the latter the first white male child born in the township, and others. Squire Dorsey was a well-informed early citizen.

Below is given a letter from Dr. John W. Keely, now of Indianapolis. We publish it in his own language, because it will better illustrate those pioneer times :

" I lived all my life, up to 1836, in the town of Oxford, save the first year and a half. My father, John Keely, a brick and stone mason by trade, was induced by one Merrikin Bond to remove from Cincinnati to Oxford, some time iu 1817. My oldest brother, William, died in his eleventh year, on the 2d of May, 1818, and was the first one that was buried in the old graveyard, down by the railroad depot.

" Speaking of the grave-yard, reminds me of an inscription upon the tombstone of Mrs. Phebe Morris, wife of David Morris, a deist. A good many years ago he had a conversation with the Rev. William H. Raper, who was on the Oxford circuit in 1820 or 1821. Mrs. Morris was then sick, and desired to converse with a minister. Mr. Morris would not agree that Mr. Raper should talk personally with his wife, but agreed that the minister should visit the sick lady and converse with him in her presence in regard to the differences in Christianity and Deism. The conversation was had, and at one point she put in a word as to the reasonableness of Mr. Raper's argument. This threw Morris into a passion, and resulted in breaking off the conversation, and the forbidding Mr. Raper the privilege of administering to the dying woman the consolations of religion. Mrs. Morris, I think, had been persuaded to adopt the principles of her hujband, but in her last 'sickness had fears, and desired the presence and services of a minister of the Gospel. The following is the inscription I copied from the tombstone years ago, after my conversation with Mr. Raper :

“1821—Mrs. Phebe Morris, wife of David Morris, died September 6, in the 23d year of her age. She recognized the doctrine of the infinite perfectibility of the human mind, and believed that to be happy we must be virtuous; and to be virtuous, we must do something•to mitigate the woes and increase the happiness of others. To her husband she was most affectionate. To her friends, generous and kind. To her enemies, cold and indifferent. Her greatest desire was the cultivation of her mind. Her principal amusement was reading, and her favorite books " Godwin's Political Justice" and " Condorcet's Human Mind." Her fate and untimely death, which occurred September 6, 1821, was brought about by affliction, which was borne to the last moments of her existence with patience and philosophic fortitude, perhaps never excelled.'

" A man by the name of Kitchen, I think, was a blacksmith in Oxford, and local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1820, or thereabouts. Joseph Shirk was a blacksmith from my earliest recollections. He built a house, a brick building, in which he lived, on the corner of High Street, north of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Shirk was also a Baptist preacher, a man of sterling integrity and a good citizen.

" Among the early merchants I call to mind Bonney, Chamberlain, and Chittenden. The former was also a kind of dealer in real estate and loaned money by taking the interest in advance.

“Among the tavern-keepers I only remember Weller, father of John B. Weller, once governor of California ; also a man by the name of Chauncy, from Maryland. His wife was regarded as one of the finest cooks in town. John McGonigle also kept a tavern and boarding-house. John Huston was a carpenter and builder, employing a great number of hands. He planned and built what was known as the Mansion House, and was a man of integrity and enterprise. The Mansion House was the principal hotel for many years.

" Of Dr. Bishop I can say nothing but good. If he was not a good man there is no use of looking for good men in this world. The Rev. Henry Little, who died in Madison, Indiana, a few months ago, became pastor of the Oxford Presbyterian .Church in or about the beginning of the year 1830. He had not been there long before a very remarkable awakening took place in the Church and throughout the community. A great many young people professed conversion and united with the Church. The Presbyterians, under the pastorate of Mr. Little, held a camp--meeting in a beautiful grove in the north-west corner of the corporation of the town of Oxford, beginning on the first day of September, 1831. It was on Thursday that the first service was held. I have a very pleasant memory of that meeting, the services of which I attended every day, for the reason that it was on the Sabbath, the fourth day of September, 1831, that I was converted down in a big cornfield just north of the camp-ground. The memory of that time is precious to me, and as fresh as though it had transpired but a week since. Of the ministers who assisted in the meeting I can recall only a few : Mr. Little, Mr. Graves, Dr. Blackburn, of Kentucky, and Dr. Bishop. On the day the meeting closed, as they were singing a farewell hymn, Robert Morris, familiarly known as Robby Morris, who was a member of the New Lights' Church, became very much excited and began to shout quite loudly. Mr. Graves and Dr. Bishop were sitting almost touching each other. Mr. Graves made some very severe remarks on the disorder, but the doctor touched him with his elbow and said, Charity, brother, charity.'

" Among the early Universalist preachers of Oxford, in 1832 or 1833, was Jonathan Kidwell, a man of dark- gray eyes and a keen caricaturist.

"My first recollections of Sunday-schools begin with

510 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

about 1824, when I was eight years old. It was a union school, and was held in the south-west corner of the University building, over the ground floor. My father, John Keely, was the superintendent of that school for many years. It was a primitive affair when compared with the schools of the present day. The exercises consisted of reading the Scriptures, singing, recital of verses which had been memorized, and prayers. It often happened that there was not sufficient time to hear all the verses that had been memorized. One girl, I remember, memorized nearly the entire New Testament. Her name was Laura Cross. The scholars were rewarded as follows: For ten verses, a plain white Scripture ticket; when ten of these were obtained the scholar was entitled to a pink ticket, and so on.

"The Presbyterians for many years occupied the chapel of the University for church purposes.

" Dr. Bishop was, I think, the most popular and successful president the college ever had. Prof. McFarland was the only Methodist professor, as I now remember, that was ever employed in the University.

" Mr. Markle carried on the tailoring business for many years ; also Thomas Dollahan, William H. Woodruff, and William Lange. Early in life the last named was very intemperate. He removed to the village of Camden, reformed, was converted, united with the Methodist Episennpal Church, became a local ordained preacher, and died a Christian over forty years ago. I attended a two days' meeting held by the Rev. Moses Crume, in the village, and was entertained at Mr. Logue's. Danforth Wetherby was an early citizen of Oxford. He was engaged in the coopering business. He was also a local preacher, and -a man of more than ordinary ability.

" I must not forget to mention Peter Sampson, an early Merthodist, a colored man. He and his wife were members of the Church and very good- people. Thomas Rollins and wife ; 114 was a mulatto, and a man of very dignified bearing.

"John Baughman, a young man working at the tanning business, was converted at my father's house. He afterward became a preacher of some note. Nehemiah Griffiths, living near Oxford, also became a successful preacher, but died early. The Rev. Samuel Bromer lived in Oxford at an early day. I think he ran a carding machine. It afterwards went into the hands of the Roots, who manufactured cloths and hat felts.

" On the first day of February, 1834, Charles W. Swain gave me license to exhort, and on the ninth day of April, 1834, I was recommended for license to preach as a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church. I was then nineteen years and nine days old.

“Philip D. Matson came to Oxford somewhere near 1832. He and John Ferguson were tinners by trade. They formed a copartnership and remained together for thirty or forty years. They never, I am told, had any falling out ; got along pleasantly and amicably, and wound up their joint interests, Matson retiring, some years ago. These men lived and worked as brothers. They are both respectable men, loved and admired by all good people."

In the year 1811 the trustees of the Miami University made an appropriation for the erection of a school building on the University Square, which was to be used for the time bring by the citizens of the township as an English school. This house was situated about fifteen rods west of where the college building_has since been erected. It was built of large hewed logs, about twenty by thirty feet, one story high, with a stone fire-place and chimney in each end. The building was completed so far as to be occupied in December of that year ; and the citizens of the township having selected James M. Dorsey as the teacher of the school, in the same month he moved into the building. There was a partition run through the house, dividing it into two rooms. Dorsey lived with his family in the room at one end and taught the school in the other room. At that time there was no settlement on any in-lot in the town, and not a road of any description leading to where the town was laid out, and it is believed that not a stick of timber had been cut from any in-lot except what was used in the erection of the school-house. In 1824 a second story was added to the building and prepared for a residence for Robert H. Bishop, then appointed president of the University, in which he and his family resided for many years. The first settlers in the town of Oxford were John Taylor, James M. Dorsey, Merrikin Bond, John C. Irwin, Jacob Webb, Skillman Alger, Enoch Simpson, Fergus Mitchell, and Daniel Hopkins.

About the year 1815 William McMechan, then but a few months from Ireland, put up the first shingled roof house in the town. This building was a two-story hewed log house, and stood on the north side of High Street, on the lots next west of the lots granted for public purposes. James Carlisle moved into this house and kept a tavern, the first in Oxford, in 1816. His wife was Harriet, a daughter of Mrs. Greer, of Hamilton. Her sister Belle married Joseph S. Benham, then a lawyer of Hamilton, afterwards of Cincinnati. The talented Harriet Prentice of Louisville, Kentucky, is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Benham, and consequently niece of Mrs. Carlisle, who died at Defiance, Ohio. Sometime afterwards Samuel McCullough erected a row of frame buildings east of the public ground, in which he kept a tavern until the time of his death, but his widow continued the business for some time thereafter.

For her leading tavern-keepers after Samuel McCullough and his good wife, Oxford had Calvin Ward, here more than fifty-five years ago, in a two-story log house, which was weatherboarded, in the southern part of the town. Ward continued in this business many years. He was followed by Mr. Thompson, who kept in the same building, and at the same time had a museum, the

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first in Oxford. After Thompson gave up his business the old house was used for a dwelling, but is now gone.

After Mrs. Elizabeth McCullough ceased to entertain travelers, Ludwick Weller followed in the same property. He was the father of John B. Weller. Mr. Chancy came in after Weller, who remained about ten years. Chancy was superseded by Dawson, also in the McCullough property. Mr. Dawson left about twenty years ago, after which the tavern-stand was converted into a business block.

The Mansion House was built about 1830, by J. R. Huston, who, unfortunately, died before the house was completed. Harry Lewis and Colonel French bought and completed the house, the latter keeping hotel in the building for a short time. Roberts & DeWitt then rented the house, continuing in the hotel business for several years. These men were followed by William McChesney, here a good many years, and Isaac Worden. James Worden, his son, is now a leader of the famous Chautauqua Sunday-school. Worden was very poor while here, and it is told that many a guest, before he could get his meal, had to advance the money. At the sale of Lewis & French, Daniel Corwin bought the property, and in turn sold to P. II. Cone, who, during the late war, and before and after, was engaged in hotel-keeping. Mr. Cone afterwards sold the house, and it is now used for business purposes.

The Davis Hotel was built by Ludwick Weller. After him came James Adams, here for three or four years, and Roswell Hazleton, who remained with the people for twenty successive seasons. In 1872 Thomas McCullough bought the stand, but the present owner is Mayor B. B. Davis, who has held that office since 1869, and who now conducts it as a public boarding-house under the name of the Girard House. The schools have been noticed somewhat, but Mr. W. H. Stewart kindly furnishes this information :

" In 1817 Dr. Blackleach taught a school in the house our marshal now lives in. 'Squire W. B. Bonney and Godwin Dorsey were among the scholars. About 1833, 'Squire Bonney and a Mr. Morrison taught a public school in the building now known as the old Catholic Church. Lyman Hardin succeeded 'Squire Bonney. Sometime after this the board of education purchased the present site, and erected a building of four rooms. Among the superintendents, or principals, we find the names of Mr. Longnecker, Henry Brown, Charles P. Dennis, and J. W. Zeller. The latter served seven years, and was followed by F. D. Davis, who superintended four years. In 1874 W. H. Stewart, of Connersville, Indiana, was elected superintendent. The Miami University having closed, the board of education thought it advisable to open a high school which, in part, might take the place of the preparatory department of the University. The high school has been in operation for eight - years, and is now more popular than ever before. The course of study is that pursued in the Cincinnati schools, with the exception of the high school, where a few modifications are made."

We add to the history of the taverns this card :

"Thankful for past favors and wishing those favors continued, the subscriber has at considerable expense repaired and enlarged his house in the town of Oxford for the accommodation of travelers. From his experience and strict personal attention he reasonably expects a share of the public patronage, and flatters himself that he will render satisfaction to all who may please to favor him with a call. The stage from Hamilton arrives at this house on Mondays and Fridays, and leaves at one o'clock P. M., for Brookville, via Bath Springs, when desired ; and returns Tdesdays and Saturdays, and leaves at eight o'clock A. M., for Hamilton. Hacks or single horses can be had at all times by travelers or visitors.

A. STILSON.

"OXFORD, OHIO, May 20, 1830."

We add another equally as interesting :

"OXFORD HOTEL.

"John McGonigle respectfully informs his friends and the public generally, that he has opened a house of entertainment in Oxford, Butler County, Ohio. This house is situated on High Street, near the center of the town, commanding a full view of the college yard and buildings of the Miami University. The house is large and convenient, with stabling and out-building nearly new, and in excellent repair. His bar is amply supplied with choice liquors ; his larder will be well furnished and care taken to make the table acceptable. Every attention will be given to render the traveler or visitor comfortable who may favor him with a call. Carriages and hacks for parties wishing to visit the Bath Springs or other places in the neighborhood will be at all times available."

From a memorandum we take the following :

"OXFORD, Ohio, October 20, 1828.—Candles had to be lit in this place at dinner on Sunday, the 19th inst., the air being darkened by an unusual quantity of smoke arising from the woods, which are on fire in this community."

A. V. Flagg was a citizen of Oxford for twenty-five or thirty years, during which time he engaged in the business of a blacksmith. Flagg was here about sixty years ago. The lot where the blacksmith's shop stood is now owned by John Sterns. The shop is now occupied as a shoe-shop. E. D. Smith was here forty years ago, in the same branch of business, in a frame building. B. B. Davis, another blacksmith, was engaged in blacksmithing in Oxford for twenty years, where Mrs. S. V. Hill now lives. Davis was a strong Methodist; he died in Indiana. J. Jellies was also a similar mechanic, on the ground where Charles Watt now is. Jacob Brandenburg has been here for forty years. Edward French was a smith-on lot No. 43, but left many years ago. John Kirkwood was another blacksmith in Oxford fifty years in the past. William Procter, a colored smith, was a mechanic in this village in 1830. He was shot by two drunken soldiers some time during the war, who, in turn, were killed the same night by some of the citizens.

512 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

Oxford Township had for its first distillery one situated on lot No. 42, in the village of Oxford. This still-house was owned by Samuel McCullough, who was from Pennsylvania. McCullough came here from the mill which bore his name, on the Big Miami above Hamilton. One of the largest distilling establishments in the western half of Butler County was owned by Robert Richey, more than fifty years ago, half a mile north of the public square, in Oxford. This still-house was in operation for about twenty years. From Richey the farm on which the still-house stood passed into the hands of the Rev. Mr. Brainard. The widow of James Adams now "owns the main part of the northern half of the old Richey farm.

Joseph Morris, who lived three miles north-west of Oxford, on a farm, made the hauling of whisky to Cincinnati a business at an early day. In returning he brought with him a load of groceries. It took one week to make the trip. The old Richey still-house was torn down and converted into business houses.

David Swing had the first tannery in Oxford, located on lot No. 28, in 1815. Swing was a Yankee ; after carrying on the tanning business for about twenty years, he abandoned his tannery. Dr. Boude, who died in Illinois, had another on lot No. 33 ; also, A. W. Irwin, son of David Irwin, on lot No. 240, forty years ago. The present owners are Surface & Flanagan.

Joshua Davis, a well-known man in the town of Oxford, built a large carriage factory in the place twenty- four years ago ; it was a frame building, and stood on lot No. 88. It had„ a front of eighty-eight feet, sixty-six feet long, and was two stories high. This shop was an extensive affair, containing all the departments necessary for such work. The renters of this establishment were Thomas Davis and George Russell. In 1879 this house burned, with a total loss of $3,000. In 1859 Mr. Davis also lost a store and other buildings, by incendiarism, valued at $1,500.

In 1872 the Davis Hall was erected, which is three stories high, and is seventy-eight by seventy-eight feet. The Odd Fellows' hall occupies the third story in part. Three firms were connected in the erection of this building, Joshua Fry and George Munns, Joshua Davis and the Odd Fellows. This is the best block in Oxford and cost over $12,000. The hall will seat over five hundred people.

On the north-east corner of the public square a very large stable was at one time built out of the frame-work of the Richey still-house. This house had a front of fifty feet. A very large and extensive business was carried on in the way of trading, buying, and barter generally. This was called the Gabriel Cathcart block.

In 1820 George Siple had a distillery on Indian Creek, on Section 31. This establishment had what was known as a wooden still. Siple failed in business in 1844. Below, on the same section, David Gray had a like affair. John Wilson, on Four-mile Creek, was engaged in the same work, but had for his distiller a William Bane, now of Richmond, Indiana. Bane was a great fiddler. In the evenings many of the young men of the surrounding country gathered in to hear his music. This still-house had the reputation of being haunted with ghosts. People came for fifty miles to see the sights. It finally resulted in pickets being posted to watch Bane, who was suspected of being concerned in the matter. On a certain occasion, as the ghost was skipping over the whisky barrels, an ax was thrown through the sheet which the creature wore. It passed very near to Bane's breast, and ever after the ghost was not to be seen.

Risking some things already mentioned perhaps by Dr. Keely, we give an outline of who the store-keepers have been. In 1828 West Bonney was here, where the Citizens' Bank now is. The same year John Smith was also a country merchant in the frame house now used for a bakery. John Johnson was here at the same time, and continued for twenty years. Charles Spinnings was where William H. Johnson now lives, about the same time, remaining for some ten years. The old store-house has since been greatly remodeled. Harry Lewis was also in the same branch of trade, in a frame building where Shera & Brother are now. Mr. Lewis remained in this vocation for fifteen years. Ross Chamberlain occupied two or three houses in as many years. He went from Oxford to California. Colonel Jacob Ogle was a storekeeper for two or three years where the Oxford Bank now is, many years ago ; he was followed by Ratliff & Meridith, in the same house for a year or two. In 1840 'Squire Crawford, who had also been with the people for many years previous, was a merchant. He held the office of justice of the peace for several terms, and died in Oxford three or four years since. Abraham J. Chittenden was here in 1825 in a little frame house on the corner of Cathcart's block. Chittenden removed to Illinois. Mr. Dollahan was before Chittenden, in a little frame north of the public square. Merrikin Bond was also a very early merchant. Robert Mollyneaux was here in 1830, on the corner opposite the Cathcart block.

Invincible Odd Fellows' Lodge, No. 108, of. Oxford, was chartered April 21, 1848, with the following members: Wm. T. Smith, Wm. Brooks, G. W. Churchill, G. W. Keely, I. I. Keely, and S. C. Pearce, and was instituted on the 7th of June of the same year. The first meetings of the organization were held in the third story of the Mansion House, after which they leased for twenty years the Irving building. After this they were for three or four years in the Chatten Hall. The present house was erected the same year as the Davis Hall. For the present officers, Spring of 1882, this lodge has S. P Murray, N. G.; John A. Morrow, V. G. ; H. D. Gath, R. S. ; D. P. Beaton, P. S. ; W. L. Lane, Treasurer. There are about sixty-five active members, with a

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usual attendance of about twenty-five, many of them living at a distance, which prevents their presence.

The first members of this society were men of enterprise and sound judgment. They were Dr. G. W. Keely, Daniel Brooks, John P. Clough, Isaac H. Harmon, I. W. Maclain, B. F. Steele, Ebenezer Warner, I. I. Keely, John E. Chatten, Edward H. Bacon, Mahlon Bacon, W. B. Bonney, R. S. Campbell, John Alexander, Robert A. Finkbine, Christian Sheeler, Albert Adams, John C. Lindley, Wm. H. McChesney, Thomas Warner, Allen Clute, Joseph H. Merridith, and others, all before 1850. Jacob T. Feber, Isaac Cooper, and Dr. Robert C. Huston joined in 1852, and are now prominent as they were thirty years since. John Wray, Erza Bourne, M. W. Duvall, dead ; G. W. Sadler and George Adams joined in 1856. J. E. Chatten, W. B. Bonney, Samuel Guth, Jr., and Sutton C. Richey became members in 1860. P. H. Cone, who came from Connecticut, and who died March 15, 1882, became a member on the presentation of his card. W. L. Lane identified himself with this lodge in 1866, from St. Charles Lodge. This organization owns the third story, which, together with the .society furniture, is valued at $3,000.

There is also an Encampment of Patriarchs, No. 119, instituted on the 4th of June, 1869. The charter members were R. C. Huston, J. E. Chatten, S. C. Richey, A. P. Cox, G. W. Murphey, Joseph McCloskey, A. J. Owens. For present officers: C. P., R. W. De Witt ; S. W., M. H. Beckett ; H. P., Dr. H. M. Logee ; S., H. C. Huston ; Treas., J. E. Chatten. This organization meets in the Odd Fellows' Hall the first and third Thursday evenings of every month.

Oxford Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, No. 67, was organized June 18, 1822, by dispensation. The charter was granted January 16, 1823. The charter members were Abraham J. Chittenden, Joel Collins, Anthony Butler, Charles Newhall, James R. Hughes, Alpheus Sherman, James M. Dorsey, Thomas Walton, and Abner Stilson. Mr. Chittenden was made a Mason in Connecticut ; Messrs. Hughes and Collins, in Ohio ; Messrs. Sherman and Butler, in Vermont ; Messrs. Newhall and Walton, in Massachusetts; Mr. Dorsey, in Maryland ; Mr. Stilson, in New York. Peter H. Butler was the first Mason made in this lodge, 1822. He was followed by Sylvester Lyons. Among the other first members were Herrick Burdsell, John Clark, Asa Newton, Edward Newton, Henry Powers, Asher Fields, Charles W. H. Temple, Asahel Moore, Mr. Anderson, Jacob Markle, and Samuel Gleason.

Abraham J. Chittenden was the first Master, James Hughes, the second, and Alpheus Sherman, the third, In 1876 Sylvester Lyons was the oldest surviving member, having been made a Mason in 1823.

The first meetings of this society were held in the second story of a frame building, where Chatten's store now stands. Some time thereafter the society made the second story of Anderson's building, on. South Main Street, a point of meeting. From there, in 1851, they took up their quarters in the present hall, which cost $1,100. Below we give a list of the three principal officers since 1843:

1843—P. P. Taylor, W. M. ; Alpheus Sherman, S. W. ; Charles Newhall, J. W.

1844—Wm. T. Emmett, W. M. ; Alfred Luce, S. W. ; Sylvester Lyons, J. W. The others will be given in the same order.

1845—Alfred Luce, David Fagan, John R. Kerwood.

1846—David Fagan, William Kennedy, John R. Kerwood.

1847—Alfred Luce, William Kennedy, Wilkerson Higgins.

1848—Alfred Luce, William Kennedy, Peter H. Butler.

1849—Alfred Luce, Wm. H. Crume, Chas. W. H. Temple.

1850—Wm. H. Crume, Chas. W. H. Temple, Christopher Souders.

1851—Wm. H. Crume, David P. Nelson, Christopher Souders.

1852—Christopher Souders, Abraham G. Elliott, R. L. Rea.

1853—William. H. Crume, Abraham G. Elliott, Silas Roll.

1854—Silas Roll, William Kennedy, Samuel Wray.

1855—Same.

1856—Silas Roll, Willis R. De Witt, S. A. Kennedy.

1857-Willis R. De Witt, W. W. Currey, Gideon Wilkinson:

1858—Alfred Luce, Gideon Wilkinson, Wm. R. Crume.

1859—Willis R . De Witt, Silas Roll, Chas. W. H. Temple.    W

1860—Willis R. De Witt, Silas Roll, Allen Clute.

1861—Silas Roll, Gideon Wilkinson, Charles Wright.

1862—Willis R. De Witt, Allen Clute, Robert H. Riggs.

1863—Willis R. De Witt, Allen Clute, Sutton C. Richey.

1864—Willis R. De Witt, Sutton C. Richey, Robert Ratliff.

1865—Alfred Luce, Sutton C. Richey, John W. Roll.

1866—Willis R. De Witt, John W. Roll, Edward L. Hill.

1867—Willis R. De Witt, Charles Wright, George Stork.

1868—Willis R. De Witt, Gideon Wilkinson, Silas Warner.

1869—Edward L Hill, George Stork, Henry Saunders.

1870—George B. Rohrer, Gideon Wilkinson, Robert

514 - HISTORY OF- BUTLER COUNTY.

1871—George B. Rohrer, Gideon Wilkinson, Karl Merz.

1872—George B. Rohrer, Karl Merz, Robert Riggs.

1873—Karl Merz, George Stork, Sutton C. Richey.

1874—Karl Merz, Robert Riggs, Moses DeCamp.

1875—Karl Merz, A. Beaugureau, W. L. Jones.

1876—A. Beaugureau, W. L. Jones, James T. Gray.

1879—Gideon Wilkinson, S. W. Higgins, Caleb Shera.

1880—S. W. Higgins, Caleb Shera, A. Truce.

This lodge ceased working for a few years, but retained their charter. In 1843 they asked permission from the Grand Lodge to resume work, which was granted. The early records of the lodge are lost. The oldest living member is Wilkinson Higgins, who joined in 1844. The leading members at present are Adrian Beaugureau, Samuel Gath, L. E. Grennan, S. W. Higgins, Wilkinson Higgins, Edward L. Hill, George W. Keely, Karl Merz, Caleb A. Shera. Since the reorganization this lodge has had over two hundred and fifty members.

In 1869 the leading citizens of Oxford organized what was known as the Co-operative Loan, Building, and Savings Association. This institution continued in force until 1877, when the society was practically disbanded. Among the members we find W. H. Johnson, P. H. Cone, R. Butler, G. W. Keely, W. H. Smith, John Ferguson, G. W. Murphy, John Miller, J. E. Newton, J. M. D'Arco, J. T. Langstroth, S. C. Richey, R. C. Huston, and J. D. Ringwood. P. H. Cone was their last president. F. J. Cone is the present treasurer. The organization meets but once a year. It holds but one house in trust, or as its proprietor.

Immediately after the above organization went into partial non-existence the Oxford Loan and Building Association was formed. This society had for its leaders R. H. Bishop, president ; H. M. Logee, vice-president ; S. C. Richey, secretary ; F. J. Cone, treasurer; and P. W. Smith, solicitor. P. D. Matson, O. F. Garrod, G. W. Keely, and William Tucker are the trustees, the latter being the only one who has not served since its organization. There are two thousand shares; sixteen hundred in force are taken. The amount loaned is ninety thousand dollars in cash. There are now nearly three hundred members. Both these building associations were chartered by the State.

In the year 1827 the Erodelphian and Union Literary Societies of the Miami University purchased a printing-press, and in June commenced the publication of a journal entitled the Literary Focus. It was edited by and under the superintendence of a joint committee of young men belonging to each of the societies. It was published monthly, in octavo form, of sixteen pages in each number. At the expiration of the first year, the form and title of the paper was changed, and it was published weekly, in quarto form, of eight pages, and called the Literary Register. The editorial department was under the superintendence of the faculty of the college. At the expiration of the year, the publication was discontinued for want of sufficient patronage, as well as a want of leisure on the part of the faculty to attend to the publication. The last number issued bears date of June 27, 1829. The press remained in Oxford in 1838, and was used for job printing. A book-bindery was also attached to the office.

In 1854 a paper was placed before the public by the name of the Oxford Citizen. Charles Bingham, a young man, was the projector of this enterprise. The paper continued with some degree of prosperity, and was finally sold to Richard Butler, who edited the paper for ten or twelve years. He is now in Clinton, Illinois, as postmaster, and editor and proprietor of the Clinton Public. Mr. Butler was very successful with his paper.

After various changes in management, the Hill brothers—Charles, who was eighteen, and Hewitt, who was sixteen—became proprietors in 1877. These two young men at once began to build up the paper. They have since established a paper at Liberty, known as the Union County Democrat, which has a circulation of nearly one thousand subscribers. The Citizen is an independent journal, and is popular with the people.

In 1869 Thomas McCullough and J. S. Smiley began the Citizens' Bank of Oxford as h private institution. These men continued until March, 1872, when Mr. Smiley bought out Mr. McCullough's interest, continuing in the business himself until 1878, when he died. The heirs of the Smiley estate are now the proprietors, with W. L. Lane as president. Mr. Jewett E. Ricker, the present efficient cashier, has been connected with the institution ever since it first opened its doors to the business public.

Murphy & Fry began the Oxford Bank in 1870— also a private depository. These persons continued for a few months, when Mr. J. J. Fry, one of the original owners, bought Mr. Murphy's interest, in which business he continued alone for one year. The firm then became known as Fry & Munns, who will have been partners eleven years in December, 1882. The capital stock invested was $20,000 ; business for each year amounts to $80,000. This firm own the first and second story of the Bank Block.

Many of the younger as well as the older citizens of Oxford will remember the carding-mill which stood in the south half of the town. This fulling-mill, for it was such, was built by Alanson Roots, who was from New England, in 1840, or about that date. His sons, who were in partnership with their father, established a similar concern at Connersville at the same time. The Oxford carding and fulling mill was a frame building, two stories high, and forty by sixty feet. At the death of Mr. Roots, in 1851, the enterprise was abandoned, and from that time to 1877 was used for various purposes. At the latter date the building took fire and was destroyed.

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Twenty years after Oxford was laid out the village was incorporated. The incorporation papers are dated February 23, 1830. Isaiah Leigh' was the first president. Russell Haseltine was the clerk and recorder for the same year. On the 12th of March, 1832, the election for borough officers was held, which resulted as follows : Edward Foster, president ; Peter Sutton, recorder ; James P. Hughes, Joseph Woodruff, and John McGonigle, trustees. On the 19th of the same month the town council met and appointed these officers for the ensuing year : Treasurer, Isaiah Leigh ; marshal, Warren W. Wetherby ; market-master, S. S. Gleason ; assessor, Russell Haseltine. The old market-house stood on the public square. It was a frame building two stories high, about thirty-two by fifty feet, and had . a ball above, where the mayor's court was held for many years, meat stalls below or on the ground-floor, which were rented, and other fixtures, such as lamps, peanut stands, and so on. The present town hall is a handsome brick building, combined with the fire-engine rooms, mayor's office, and other conveniences. The necessity for a market- house passed away with the old frame.

Among the curious relics of ancient Oxford, we find an ordinance concerning marble playing :

" SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the town council of the town of Oxford, that from and after the 4th day of July next, any person or persons of three years old or upwards, found playing at marbles on any street, alley, sidewalk, or public ground within the bounds of the lots of the town, shall forfeit and pay the sum of twenty-five cents for the first offense ; fifty cents for the second, and one dollar for each subsequent offense ; to be collected on the complaint made to the president or any of the citizens thereof, and by him paid over to the treasurer for the use of the corporation.

"PETER SUTTON, Recorder.

"EDWARD FOSTER, President.

"OXFORD, 0., August 30, 1833."

Mr. Foster filled the office of president from 1832 to 1842. Reuben E. Hills was recorder in 1837; Watkin Williams from 1839 to 1842. From 1842 to 1844 William H. Smith was president. From 1842 to 1844 C. W. H. Crawford was town recorder. Philip D. Matson was president in 1845; S. R. Mollyneaux, in 1847; Peter Sutton, from 1849 to 1855, six terms. From 1845 to 1852 James Crawford was recorder. Hiram Osborn served as recorder from 1853 to 1855. The town officers for the year 1855 were Peter Sutton, mayor; Hiram Osborn, recorder; P. D. Matson, treasurer; S. M. Skinner, marshal; David Oliver, G. W. Keely, J. M. Stern, Thomas McCullough, trustees. From 1856 to 1859, H. A. Smith filled the office as recorder. On the 4th of April, 1859, the election was held. The result was Peter Sutton, mayor; C. A. Burgoyne, recorder; P. D. Matson, treasurer; S. M. Skinner, marshal; W. Higgins, P. D. Matson, and E. A. Smith, fire wardens; Benjamin Wright, J. M. Stern, P. H. Cone, G. W. Keely, and James E. Newton, trustees. For 1861 if B. Mayo was president or mayor, and C. A. Burgoyne, clerk. James Crawford was mayor in 1867, and A. H. Webb, clerk. Crawford was also mayor in 1868. The present mayor is B. B. Davis, who has held the office continuously since 1869, with the exception of a few months. Samuel Richey was elected recorder in 1868, and served four years. James Kennedy has held the office continuously for ten years—since 1872.

Oxford seems to have early considered the question of having a fire company. The first mention we find in the records of such an organization is under date of December 7, 1833, when the office of fire warden was created, with power to examine all chimneys, and in other ways prevent the spreading of fire. This resulted in the first meeting, on the 19th of the above month, at the house of L. Weller, and on the 20th a hook and ladder company was formed. Officers were also elected, and the time fixed that their offices should last.

The first meeting to establish a cemetery was held March 22, 1855. There are thirty-two acres in the ground. It is a portion of sixty acres which was bought as a farm at fifty dollars per acre. For the first trustees the association had Thomas McCullough, J. D. Ringwood, James Smiley, G. W. Keely, Elias Kumler, Peter Sutton Ro Ratliff. The first clerk was H. A. Smith. Some of the prime movers in the matter were : G. W. Keely, P. D. Matson, W. A. Irwin, J. W. Cooper, S. R. Mollyneaux, Alexander Porter, Samuel Gath, Sen., J. E. Newton, G. G. White, Joseph Hills, R. R. McClung. Mrs. Elizabeth Collins, who was born in 1779, and who died August 1, 1855, was the first person buried in the ground ; Mrs. Eliza McVeigh was the second ; and Mrs. Phebe Russell, the third. Dr. G. W. Keely planted the first evergreens in the yard on the grave of Mrs. Collins, wife of Captain Joel Collins.

Many of these inscriptions will convey to the reader the briefest sketch of many of the leading citizens of Oxford and the township :

Catharine McGregor, wife of John Ferguson, born in Campbelltown, Scotland, 1812; died 1869. Orlando Finch, born May 13, 1804 ; died August 9, 1873. Eliza, wife of Orlando Finch, born August 6, 1818. George Merridith, born March 5, 1805; died May 3, 1867. Robert Ratliff, died January 30, 1881; aged 66. Lucinda Lee, wife of Robert Ratliff, , died January 9, 1879; aged 61. Michael Shafer, born August 15, 1804; died March 5, 1846. Mary, wife of Michael Shafer, born February 18, 1812; died November 20, 1848. Eliza, wife of Daniel Shafer, born March 6, 1838; died February 20, 1863. John Duke, died February 7, 1872 ; aged 82. Samuel Lintner, born April 17, 1803 ; died June 11, 1874. Matilda, wife of Samuel Lintner, died September 18, 1869; aged 64. Mary, wife of the Rev. D. K. Flickinger, died September 30, 1851; aged 25. John Lintner, died September 11, 1862; aged 28. William Lintner. member of the 4th 0. V. C., died at Nashville, Tenn., April 10, 1862; aged 22. Peter Lintner, died January 31, 1836; aged 75. Mary, wife of Peter Lintner, died December 13, 1831; aged 69. Joel Collins, born September 16, 1772 ; died November 15, 1860. Henry Noland, died October 3, 1879 ; aged 73. The Mar-

516 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

tindell and Douglass family vault was built in 1856. It is faced with white marble and has several receptacles for the dead. James Gage, Sen., a native of Colerain, Ireland, died November 7, 1847 ; aged 82. Mary, wife of James Gage, Sen., died March 26, 1840; aged 60. In memory of Samuel Mollyneaux, who departed this life August 7, 1823; aged 64. Sarah, his wife, died August 5, 1823 ; aged 54. Abraham Knowlton, died October 23, 1843 ; aged 59. Lucy, his wife, died December 3, 1857 ; aged 73. Sarah Sadler, born April 5, 1806 ; died August 7, 1872. Theda White, died March 25, 1871 ; aged 73. Isaac H. Harmon, died March 25, 1855 ; aged 51. William K. Sadler, surgeon of the Nineteenth Kentucky Volunteers, killed at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, December 3, 1864 ; aged 31. From General Order, No. 27, Ba Rouge, Louisiana, December 3, 1864: " Surgeon Sadler as untiring in his profession, thorough and accurate as a staff officer, an accomplished gentleman,. a noble and generous man: Few offrcers of this command were as generally known—none more universally loved. 'Without an enemy in the world, he fell a victim to the blind revenge intended for another." Alexander Wallace, born June 19, 1800 ; died April 28, 1865. Mary, wife of William Gray, died March 6, 1863; aged 76. Rindelt Maria Glaszen, wife of J. B. Jellies, born April 5, 1801; died December 22, 1869. Rev. Seth Howell, born in Wales, June 4, 1804; died at Oxford, Ohio, February 18, 1858. Thomas Coulter, died. May 5, 1872 ; aged 86. Isabella, wife of Thomas Coulter, died April 16, 1865; aged 79. Ellen, wife of James C. Moffat, of the Miami University, died July 15, 1849; in the 28th year of her age. Caroline A. Neal, assistant principal in the Oxford Female Institute, died June 16, 1853. Her father, John A. Neal, was born at Bristol, England, October 25, 1774 ; died at Oxford, Ohio, November 28, 1854. Sylvester Lyons, died February 3, 1820 ; aged 68. Elizabeth, wife of Sylvester Lyons, died January 13, 1837 ; aged 66. Major James Montgomery, a native of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, died at Oxford, Ohio, August 18, 1844, in the 67th year of his age. Elizabeth, wife of Major James Montgomery, born April 24, -1782 ; died December 16, 1862. Sarah Morrison, wife of John Huston, died January 18, 1854, in the 77th year of her age. Francis Finkbine, died September 16, 1865, in the 71st year of his age. Mrs, Ann Davis, died November 20, 1856, in the 81st year of her age. Jane Montgomery, wife of Dr. R. C. Huston, born February 20, 1813; died December 23, 1871. Henry Alexander, born June 1, 1809; died June 7, 1875. Michael Yeakle, died May 22, 1862; aged 59. This gentleman was a prominent citizen of Hanover Township. Patrick Smiley, died March 28, 1855 ; aged 78. Mary, his wife, died March 4, 1855 ; aged 76. Chrisey, wife of S. L. McDonald, born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, August 17, 1808; died February 14, 1854. Rebecca Amelia Dunn, wife of John G. Langstroth, born at Chestertown, Maryland,. February 2, 1783; died October 12, 1860. Anna Mary Tucker, wife of Rev. L. G. Langstroth, born at Rowley, Massachusetts, March 3, 1813; died January 23, 1873. Samuel Stewart, died July 18, 1866 ; aged 76. Jane Cathcart Newman, died March 17, 1880; aged 82. Asa Newton, born January 6, 1789 ; died May 27, 1833. Elizabeth, wife of William Cathcart, formerly consort of Asa Newton, born October 14, 1795 ; died October 29, 1859. David W. Leach, born September 25, 1839. He enlisted in Company F, Sixty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in September, 1861 ; was killed in the attack on Mission Ridge, November 25, 1863, while nobly performing his duty as a soldier in the army of his country. John Burris, born at Wilmington, Delaware, January 14, 1792 ; died June 22, 1880. Albina Pentacoast, wife of John Burris, born in Loudon County, Virginia, May 25, 1794; died September 4, 1854. Elijah Chamberlain, died October 10, 1837 ; aged 66. William White died April 12, 1821. Ruth Green, consort of William White, died September 1, 1838. Harriet, wife of Dr. R. Morris, died at the Western Female Seminary, October 9, 1858; aged 37. Mary, wife of Rev. David Tenny, born July 29, 1822 ; died August 28, 1866. Emmor Moore, died August 23, 1834; aged 50 years—a native of Pennsylvania. Sarah W. Moore, died November 6, 1867; aged 76 years. Willie Pearce, born April 4, 1861. Lost by the colliding of the steamers United States and America, December 4, 1868. Thomas C. Munns, died April 14, 1868; aged 57. Mary A. Lowes, born September 2, 1802 ; died February 6, 1842. Cynthia C., daughter of the Rev. J. A. Waterman ; wife of Rev. J. A. I. Lowes, born August 19, 1820 ; died January 14, 1871. Elizabeth B., wife of Rev. J. A. I. Lowes, born March 13, 1804 ; died September 4, 1878. John H. Douglass, born June 15, 1867; died January 17, 1878. Margaret K. Douglass, born February 26, 1808; died June 26, 1872. Amos Hoag, a native of Oxford, Ohio, died February 19, 1873; aged 60. Rhoda Brace, born February 25, 1773 ; died March 3, 1862. James M. Brace, born May 6, 1803 ; died July 16, 1865. Oliver J, Stork, killed at the battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863.. Hugh Gilchrist, M. D., horn in Kilmarnock, Scotland, February 5, 1816 ; died August 30, 1878. Elisha S. Burk, born July 2, 1809; died October 8, 1880. Almira S., wife of Elisha S. Burk, born October 24, 1820 ; died June 7, 1877. John Roll, born March 22, 1801 ; died May 26, 1851. Andrew Dodds, died July 31, 1825; aged 70. Margaret, his wife, died August 25, 1826 ; aged 65. Another private vault in this cemetery is the Freeman, which is of modern build and quite handsome. In memory of James R. Hughes, for fourteen years a ruling elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Oxford, who died August 8, 1839 ; aged 46. Phebe, wife of Dr. J. R. Hughes, born March 31, 1801; died December 24, 1833.

Following are inscriptions from the old burying-ground, which was given for this purpose by the trustees of the Miami University :

Mariette Sophia, wife of the Rev. Thomas Goodwin, died April 25, 1843 ; aged 25. Mary A., wife of the Rev. John A. Waterman, died December 14, 1837 ; aged 45. Rev. John A. Waterman, born in Concord, New Hampshire ; died August 6, 1837 ; aged 47. Sacred to the memory of Susan, wife of Dr. J. A. Waterman, and daughter of Luther and Grace Dunn. She died at Oxford, Ohio, November 9, 1839, in the 35th year of her age. Rachel McDonald, wife of Martin McDonald, died May 13, 1844; aged 77. Samuel Brown, born in the County of Londonderry, Ireland, died January 25, 1835; aged 75. Sarah, wife of Samuel Brown, born in Londonderry, Ireland; died July 29, 1844; aged 22. Thomas Barr, a native of Ireland, died September 11, 1848 ; aged 27. John Martin, a native of Ireland, died August 7, 1847 ; aged 23. David Ratthay, born in Paisley, Scotland, November 18, 1792 ; died March 3, 1851. Silas Osgood, died May 16, 1840, in the 78th year of his age. Sarah Ann, consort of Rev. John W. Clark, died February 14, 1833, in the 24th year of her age. West Bonney departed this life on the 26th of September, 1843, in the 72d year of his age. Catharine, wife of Seth Webb, died August 29, 1848 ; aged 100 years, 9 months, and 23 days. Henry Webb died October 6, 1857; aged 72. Townsend D. Peyton, died August

OXFORD - 517

25, 1852; aged 77. Sarah, his wife, died August 11, 1864; aged 77. Dr. Freeman Perry, of Fair Haven, Massachusetts, died in Franklin County, Indiana, after a few days' illness with typhus fever, aged 62. He was born July 27, 1825. Rev. J. J. Tiffany graduated in the Miami University, and was ordained a deacon in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Died December 29, 1857 ; aged 31. Nancy, wife of Joseph Tiffany, afterward wife of Samuel Pollard, died August 26, 1853; aged 78. Sacred to the memory of Ebenezer Howe, a native of Bost n, Massachusetts; born on the 13th of July, 1763, and at Oxford, Ohio, July 10, 1830. Died on the morning o the 16th of October, 1834, at his residence in Oxford, Ohio, Colonel Isaiah Leigh, aged 51. Colonel Leigh was the first Mayor of Oxford. Anthony Butler, a native of Massachusetts, died March 13, 1847, in the 80th year of his age. Rachel Smith, born in Boston, Massachusetts, died June 13, 1834; aged 66. Isaac Harker, died April 25, 1849, in the 56th year of his age. In memory of Ashel Murdock, a Revolutioner of '76, who died January 23, 18377, in the 82d year of his age. Elizabeth, wife of Ashel Murdock, died May 1834, in the 74th year of her age. Abraham Booth, a native of the West Riding, Yorkshire, England, died June 21, 1852, in the 56th year of his age. Isaiah Hall, born November 26, 1761 ; died June' 29, 1831. Phebe Dutton Hall, born March 12, 1768; died October 21, 1827.

The earliest appearance of a Methodist itinerant near Oxford was early in the Spring of 1805. A portly, dignified man, of intellectual appearance, was seen astride of a large, black horse, at the crossing of Four-Mile Creek, near Mr. De Witt's farm. He quietly inquired the nearest route to a certain Indian village, located in the vicinity of Connersville, Indiana. Having gained the information desired, he pushed his course rapidly through the wild, trackless woods skirting the stream, and was soon lost to view. This traveler gave his name as Moses Crume, and the object of his visitation to the wild country was as a missionary of the Methodist. Episcopal Church, sent out by the authorities of that society to the Indians. Mr. Crume died April 1, 1839, aged seventy- three years. In 1787 he became a Christian, and began to preach in 1791. His remains, marked by a plain monument, lie in the old burial-ground in Oxford. Anna, wife of the Rev. Moses Crume (the second wife), died June 5, 1853, aged sixty-seven years and some days. She joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1810, and the following year embraced religion. She was married in 1829 to Mr. Crume. Sarah, Mr. Crume's first wife, died May 10, 1829, aged fifty-seven years, four months, and twenty-four days. Mr. Crume lived in Oxford with his family many years.

Soon after the settlement of the township Mr. Crume made his appearance in Oxford, and left an appointment for preaching. The place of worship was in a log schoolhouse directly opposite and north of the present school building. This house was used by all religious sects for worship, and by the public generally for holding meetings for many years. These appointments were continued irregularly by the Methodists until 1818 or 1819. Mr. Crume, with great faithfulness, continued to minister to the infant Church, planted by his own hand, for a number of years. His appointments were for every sixth Sabbath. This band continued to prosper until the little log-house became too small for their accommodation. In 1813 Mr. Crume was appointed to the Oxford Circuit. He was succeeded in 1814 by the eloquent John Strange.

In 1818 the society selected a site for the new house. Father Weston says that, "at this time, this land was covered with the primeval forest, where, in his youth, he had often hunted squirrels and chopped cord-wood at twenty-five cents a cord." In the Fall of 1818, material was collected for the building. The leading spirit in this work was John Keely, father of the Rev. John W. Keely, of Indianapolis, and Dr. G. W. Keely, of Oxford. The house was begun in the Spring of 1819, its dimensions being thirty by forty-two feet. The building had progressed favorably, when, in the latter part of June, a fearful hurricane blew down the east wall. A large maple-tree was also thrown across the building, so as to crush in one of the side walls. This disaster caused a delay for one year. By the continued effort of Mr. Keely the house was completed in the Fall of 1820, but he came out of the enterprise financially a ruined man. Even his house was given up, and at last his cow and garden-patch were surrendered to liquidate the debt.

In addition to John Keely and his wife Ann, the members of the Church were Laban Holland, Elias Wilson, Sen., Peter Sampson, Thomas Dollahan, Skillman Alger, Charles Robinson, who was an exhorter ; John Strickland, Daniel Dickinson, Samuel Bush, John Griffith, James Ratliff, John Demoss, the Rev. Mr. Cromwell, who was a local preacher ; the Rev. Mr. Crockwell, a local preacher. George Howard, Mr. Wilcox, William Henry, Benjamin Sutton, Joseph Kitchen, the Rev. Elisha Stout, local preacher, and William Crume, were all early members. G. G. White, familiarly known as "Deacon White," came into Oxford as a citizen a year or two after the formal opening of the Church. Many of these brethren had families, and their wives and some of their children were members.

The house stood unplastered for a number of years, as the society was too poor and depressed in spirit to finish it.

Among the most eloquent and logical of the early preachers were Russel Bigelow, Samuel Brown, Allen Wiley, B. F. Cranch, Samuel Baker, Wm. H. Raper, and Levi White. During a part of this time the venerable Deacon White used the house during intervals of worship as a cabinet-maker's salesroom, and some declare as his workshop also. Deacon White was an excellent singer, and much of his time was given to worshiping God in this manner.

The Church pressed forward with varying success until December, 1837, when a committee was appointed to take into consideration the propriety of selling the old house and building a new one. In February, 1838, the

518 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

committee made a verbal report, and recommended a new house fifty by sixty feet, with basement, for $2,000. The quarterly conference decided to build if $1,500 could be raised in addition to the assessed value of the old house and lot. Some time afterwards the old house was improved by additions, which made it double its original length. The building thus enlarged was completed in the Fall of 1839. In the east wall of the addition Deacon White had inclosed a jug filled with various documents and other articles of value and interest, but upon tearing down the wall for the improvements they were found to have moldered to dust. Two or three pieces of metal only were found, which were afterwards deposited in the box of the corner-stone.

By this last improvement the house was made a very neat and commodious building. A heavy debt was incurred, which in time was paid off. A great many have joined the Church since 1839. Among the pastors have been D. D. Davison, John A. Baughman, Robert O. Spencer, John C. Brooks, Elijah H. Fields, John Stewart, James W. Finley, Charles W. Swain, John A. Waterman, B. Westlake, A. W. Musgrave, Granville Moody, M. Dustin, Clinton W. Sears, J. F. Conrey, and J. F. Marlay.

On the 30th of March, 1872, it was decided to build a new house of worship, but not until the old house had become too small to accommodate the rapidly increasing congregation. The following persons were appointed a canvassing committee : P. D. Matson, D. M. Magic, John Shera, George C. Munns, and James Shera. The name of John J. Goff was afterward substituted for James Shera. The canvassing committee was also made the building committee. P. D. Matson was made chairman. Joel Stover was architect for the new building ; Walter Jones superintendent of stone and brick work, and John and William Craig superintendents of the carpenter work.

The old house was torn down the first week in May, 1872. Excavations were begun on the 13th of the same month for the foundations. The corner-stone was laid, with appropriate ceremonies, in the presence of a large concourse of people, with the Rev. Thomas J. Harris as pastor. Prayer by the Rev. W. C. Rogers, of Oxford, Ohio. Reading of Scripture by the Rev. James W. McGregor, of Minneapolis, Minn., and the reading of a historical sketch of the rise and progress of Methodism in Oxford, by the pastor. The Rev. Granville Moody, D. D., preached the sermon. A collection was taken which amounted to over $500, and the corner-stone was laid by Mr. Moody. During the interval between April, 1872, and January, 1873, the society met at the New School Presbyterian Church. The first meeting of a religious nature held in the new house was on the first Sabbath in January, 1873.

On the 6th of July, 1873, the first story or Sunday- school rooms were completed. The dedication sermon was preached by the Rev. S. F. Gillett, D. D., of Greensburg, Indiana. At the close of the services $2,300 was the amount of the indebtedness found to be existing. The pastor then asked for $7,000 to complete the auditorium, which was raised, with an excess of $200. More than one-half of the money was obtained by subscriptions of fifty dollars and under.

The auditorium was dedicated on the 28th of November, 1875. Bishop R. S. Foster conducted the services, assisted by T. J. Harris, J. W. McGee, Dr. J. M. Walden, Dr. R. D. Morris, J. F. Black, and Jacob Norris. On the day of dedication there yet existed a debt of four thousand dollars, but by the excellent way in which Bishop Foster conducted subscription taking, four thousand five hundred dollars was pledged in forty-five minutes, and thus the church was dedicated without a dollar's indebtedness.

P. D. Matson has been Sunday-school superintendent for over thirty-five years, and now holds this office.

Oxford Circuit was organized in 1813 or 1814. The following list of pastors is taken from the General Minutes : 1813, Moses Crume ; 1814, John Strange ; 1815, John Somerville ; 1816, Benjamin Lawrence ; 1817, William Hunt ; 1818, Russel Bigelow and Samuel Brown ; 1819, Russel Bigelow ; 1820, Allen Willey and Benjamin T. Crouch ; 1821, Samuel Baker and William H. Raper ; 1822, Moses Crume and Richard Brandriff ; 1823, James Jones and Levi White ; 1824, Peter Stephens and James Jones; 1825, Daniel D. Davison and John A. Baughman ; 1826, Daniel D. Davison and Robert O. Spencer ; 1827, John C. Brook and Isaac C. Hunter ; 1828, John P. Taylor and Benjamin Lawrence ; 1829, Elijah H. Fields and Robert O. Spencer ; 1830, Robert O. Spencer and Elijah H. Fields ; 1831, John Stewart and A. D. Beasley; 1832, John Stewart and James F. Davison ; 1833, J. W. Clark and J. W. Finley ; 1834, Charles W. Swain and John A. Waterman ; 1835, Burroughs Westlake and Lucien W. Berry, J. A. Waterman, superannuated ; 1836, Burroughs Westlake and Daniel Poe ; 1837, Stephen Holland, for three months, A. W. Musgrove, for nine months ; 1838 and 1839, A. W. Musgrove ; 1840 to 1842, Granville Moody ; 1842 to 1844, Mighill Dustin ; 1844 to 1845, Clinton W. Sears, with Arthur W. Elliott as resident superannuated ; 1845 and 1846, J. A. Waterman, who shortly after went with the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and whose place was supplied by Jonathan F. Conrey; 1846 and 1847, Jonathan F. Conrey ; 1847 to 1849, Charles R. Lowell ; 1849 to 1851, James C. Bontecou ; 1851 to 1853, James F. Chalfant ; 1853 to 1855, John F. Marley ; 1855 and 1856, Thomas D. Crow ; 1858, Robert O. Spencer ; 1858 to 1860, George W. Harris ; 1861, James M. Leavitt ; 1861 to 1863, William H. Hypes ; 1863, William G. W. Lewis; 1864 to 1866, William H, Moler ; 1866, Asbury Lowrey ; 1867, William H. Lawder ; 1868, James L. Grove, eight months, and J. W. McGregor, four months ; 1869, James W.

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McGregor ; 1870 to 1873, Thomas J. Harris ; 1873 to 1876, David C. Vance ; 1876 to 1879, James Murray ; 1879, A. N. Spahr ; 1880, B. F. Dimmick, who is also the present pastor.

In the early history of Oxford a Baptist congregation was formed, the Church purchasing in-lot No. 126, on which they erected a neat frame building as a place of worship. The land where the house stood is now owned by P. D. Matson. The Rev. Mr. Spencer was pastor of this society in 1824. He was a man of many fine qualities, and in all his intercourse with the people won their affectionate regard. There were but a few members, Mr. Farr and wife being among the number. In consequence of death and removals the society ceased to exist practically after 1826.

One peculiarity of the house was that in the middle of it there was a large brick floor on which the fire was built. The smoke escaped through holes in the roof made for that purpose. The house was thirty by forty feet—two stories.

Soon after the Miami University began to assume importance, it seemed as though all the other Churches but the Presbyterian were to have a precarious existence. This was especially true with the Baptist, and since that time the society has never been re-established.

On the 6th of January, 1827, the Legislature of the State of Ohio passed a law authorizing the trustees of the Miami University to lease at nominal rent to the directors of the school district of Oxford, a lot of ground not exceeding one acre, for the location of a school-house. The house, a brick building twenty by forty feet, one- story, was accordingly erected on lot No. 33. This, after it became too small for school purposes, was sold with the lot to the trustees of the Catholic Church, and used by them until 1867, when the present house was erected. Among those who were active in the organization and establishment of this society were Michael Taylor with his brothers, Michael Kiley, Byron Kelly, Nicholas Hester, and Charles Fye. The succession of pastors since 1852 have been: Rev. Messrs. O'Conner, Darco, who led the people in the erection of the present building, which cost $8,000; Daly, who remained nine years, and D. V. Crowley, who came in 1880, from Cumminsville, Ohio. This denomination has about eight hundred and fifty members, many of whom reside at a distance of six or eight miles from their place of worship. A handsome parsonage—a two-story brick—and a cemetery of two or three acres are connected with the church edifice.

In 1818 the Presbyterian congregation was formed in Oxford under the direction of the Rev. James Hughes, of the grammar school. He continued to preach to this people occasionally until his decease in the Spring of 1821, from which time they were only supplied occasionally by traveling preachers, until the year 1825, when the congregation was organized in a more regular

manner by Robert H. Bishop, D. D., who continued to preach to them for several years in the college chapel.

The Rev. James Hughes, A. M., had charge of a congregation at Buffalo and Short Creek, in the State of Virginia, and preached his farewell sermon to them at West Liberty on the 11th of September, 1814. His text was Rom. xv, 13. The sermon was published at Charlestown, Virginia, in 1814, and has this preface: " The .following discourse is presented to the people of the congregation of Short Creek and Lower Buffalo, as a small testimony of the sincere regard of their former pastor—James Hughes."

After the organization of the Church it was several years before it had any particular place of meeting. Sometimes .the Church met in the college chapel, and sometimes at private residences. On the 22d of November, 1831, Joseph Woodruff purchased lot No. 300, at the price of $136; for the use of the congregation, and in 1833 the present or old meeting-house was erected at a cost of a little over ,000. The house is fifty by seventy feet, and has a high basement story. The height from the ground to the eaves is about thirty feet. It has seats capable of holding four hundred and eighty persons. By a law of the State, dated the 15th of January, 1833, Benjamin C. Swan, James Montgomery, Abraham J. Chittenden, John Harding, James R. Hughes, C. H. Spinnings, Charles Barrows, Harry Lewis, and Joseph Woodruff, and their associates, were incorporated under the name of the "First Presbyterian Church of Oxford, in the County of Butler."

Dr. Bishop was succeeded as pastor by the Rev. Henry Little, who continued for two or three years. Then the .Rev. George B. Bishop officiated for about two years ; and after him the Rev. William Graham officiated until about 1840, when he joined the New School. Presbyterians, and severed his connection with the former Church. The Rev. John W. Scott afterward preached to the congregation for a few years, and was succeeded by others. The Rev. Henry Maltby became the pastor some time in 1850, and remained some two years. In 1857 and the earlier part of 1858, the society was supplied by J. R. Burgett, W. Rogers, Dr. Scott, and Professors Swing and Elliott. In 1858 the Rev. J. B. Stewart was called to the pastorate, and was with them some two years and a half, after which the Rev. Wm. Rogers, a returned missionary, who had taken up his residence at Oxford, was engaged as stated supply to 1864, and was followed by Rev. Mr. Haight in a two years' pastorate. The Rev. John Crosier succeeded Mr. Haight, and was pastor until November 23, 1869, at which time the two separate bodies then existing as the First Presbyterian Church of Oxford and the Second Presbyterian Church of Oxford decided to unite in one Church organization, and gave a call, as thus organized, to the Rev. A. H. Young, who held this offrce for nearly three years thereafter. In November, 1872, the Rev. Charles Fuller was

520 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

installed, remaining about two years, and was followed by the Rev. Jacob Norris, who stayed until July 9, 1876, when he resigned to accept the professorship of mathematics in Wabash College, Indiana. On the 13th of the following November the Rev. Francis M. Wood was chosen pastor, who was succeeded in May, 1880, by the Rev. George G. Mitchell, the present incumbent. The present membership is about two hundred and fifty.

“During the month of January, 1841, owing to some division of sentiment on questions of Church polity among the membership of the Presbyterian Church of Oxfbrd, party spirit and strife rose to such a pitch that a large number withdrew themselves therefrom, and on the first of February following organized themselves into a new religious body, under the name of the Second Presbyterian Church of Oxford. Among those thus seceding from the mother Church was the acting pastor, the Rev. William Graham, and him the new Church called to be their first minister. The new society organized with some thirty-two members, which number was increased at the second meeting to seventy. Joseph Woodruff, Joseph Parks, Robert Long, R. E. Hills, G. Y. Roots, and Horace Cross were elected the first board of elders; and Aaron Austin, Harry Lewis, R. E. Hills, Romeo Lewis, William Kennedy, John Adams, James Mayhew, P. H. Roots, and Robert Long were made the first board of trustees. In March Joseph Parks, G. Y. Roots, and R. E. Hills were constituted a building committee to raise funds and superintend the erection of a place of worship for the new Church, which about this time applied for and obtained admission into the Cincinnati Presbytery of the so-called New School Presbyterians. The new body pushed matters vigorously, and in due time were in possession of a comfortable house of worship, on the southwest corner of lot No. 54, bounded west by Main and south by Church Street, and fronting on the latter. Mr. Graham continued to serve the new interest for some three years, and was followed by the Rev. Daniel Tenney (June 30, 1844). Mr. Tenney remained the efficient pastor for nearly twelve years. In July, 1856, the Rev. E. W. Root was installed pastor, being followed, August 11, 1861, by the Rev. J. P. E. Kumler, and in March, 1869, by the Rev. A. H. Young. In the Fall and Winter following the settlement of Mr. Young, a growing fraternal feeling developed itself among the membership of the two existing branches of the Presbyterian Church in Oxford, and in November, 1869, by full and most harmonious concert of action upon the part of both bodies, it was decided to unite the same in one organization, to be known as the First Presbyterian Church of Oxford. The new Church thus strengthened, decided to occupy the house of worship of the Second Church, and retain the pastoral labors and pulpit ministrations of the Rev. Mr. Young, and to enlarge and improve their church edifice to meet the wants of the increased society and congregation, which was accordingly done. The future history

of the body was thus merged into that of the First Church.

From the time Oxford began to attract the attention of the public the Presbyterian Church took a strong hold upon the people. Nearly all the professors of the university belonged to this or the Associate Reformed Church. Many of the students were often sent to college here because of the strict Presbyterian doctrine to which most of the faculty were committed. About the year 1836 the Associate Reformed congregation was organized. It was a branch of the Rev. Alexander Porter's Church of Israel Township, in Preble County, eight miles north. Porter's Church was formed by members who came from South Carolina to avoid slavery. After some years of great success the Oxford Church was organized with the understanding by the synod that a theological institute should there- be opened. The Rev. S. W. McCracken, who was born in Hamilton County, was the organizer. He preached here as " stated supply" for two or three years, during which time he was a professor of mathematics in the university. He afterward removed to Hopewell, in Preble County, and died in 1856 or 1857. The Rev. Joseph Claybaugh, D. D., was the first pastor. He was born in Frederick County, Maryland, July 1, 1803. He received his preparatory education in the Chillicothe Academy, Ohio, and was graduated at Jefferson College, in 1822, and in 1824, May 26th, was licensed to preach. His theological education was obtained under the direction of the Rev. John Steele, of Xenia, Ohio. He served the people as pastor at Chillicothe, Ohro, from 1825 to 1839 ; and of Oxford, Ohio, from 1840 to September, 1855. He was the principal of the Chillicothe Academy from 1825 to 1827, and professor of theology in the Associate Reformed Seminary at this place from 1839 until his death on the 9th of September, 1855, which resulted from scrofula.

The Rev. Mr. Claybaugh was succeeded as pastor of the Church by the Rev. Wm. J. McSurley, who remained about four years. Then came Marcus. Ormond, for four years ; J. S. Black, four years ; James Dodds, for two years, and who was with the people from 1878 to 1880. The Church was then without stated ministration after Mr. Dodd left for over a year. In April, 1882, they extended a call to the Rev. S. R. Frazier, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and the Church, now known as the "United Presbyterian," having taken that name in common with bodies of the same faith in 1858, has been enjoying his labors as settled pastor from the first Sabbath in June. It has a resident membership of about ninety communicants. We find among the early members Kennedy Brooks, William and Alexander Wallace, Hugh Herron, Arthur Orr, John Caldwell, Mr. Beaton and Alexander Young, with their wives and portions of their families.

In November, 1839, the Universalist congregation was organized in Oxford, Ohio ; the number of members who

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associated themselves together at that time was thirteen. Harvey Gifford was their preacher, and officiated as their pastor for some time. In the same year the society purchased lot No. 5, for $350, and erected upon it a frame building for a church, thirty by fifty feet, and sixteen feet to the cave of the roof. The interior was furnished with pews capable of seating two hundred and fifty persons ; the cost of the building was $300. In 1856 the membership numbered thirty ; the pastor or preacher was the Rev. William Curry.

The Rev. Abner Longley, a citizen of Oxford in 1828, was among the early members and preachers. He afterwards removed to Lebanon, Indiana, and died in Kansas a few Years ago. Mr. Longley was a cabinet-maker by trade ; he attended college at the university, but was not a good speaker. Amaziah Dodge was another of the early members, and also exhorted sometimes. Dodge was a farmer; he died thirty years ago. Isaiah Hall, a farmer and music-teacher, was a prominent member.

Peter Sutton, a carpenter and house joiner here in 1828, now living, a justice of the peace for thirty-one years in succession and a term afterwards, and treasurer of the Miami University for thirty years, was also one of the leading early members.

Mr. Lee, Mrs. Withrow, and Mrs. Peter Sutton were also first members.

This Church now has a membership of thirty. There were here for the first preachers the Revs. Messrs. Rogers, Kidwell, and St. John. Kidwell was an itinerant and went throughout the country in all directions. St. John afterwards joined the Methodist Church, and died in Brookville, Indiana. Mr. Emmett was located here as pastor for some years. The Rev. John Gurley, a distinguished minister from Cincinnati, preached to this society some time in the '50's. The Rev. Messrs. Man- ford and Pingree did not reside in Oxford, but preached here as much as a quarter of a century ago. Mr. Polk, who resided in Oxford, remained with the people for seven or eight years. C. L. Haskell came in 1876 and remained for two years. Many of the preachers who administered to this society also preached to the Bunker Hill Church in Reily Township. Their names will appear in the history of that organization.

The Oxford African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized on the 11th of November, 1842, in the house of John Rollins, by the Rev. Robert Johnson of Hillsboro, Ohio. The house in which this Church worships was built by Joel Collins for the Christian Church, which had a partial existence at one time. Collins was the only member of the Church who lived in this neighborhood, and for this reason built the house mainly out of his own means. From the best information at hand, the probabilities are that the Christian Church never had any regular .pastor, but the Rev. John Harrison preached to a small congregation in this and other houses for twenty odd years.

The following are worthy original members of the Colored Church : Martha Roberts, Josiah Alberson, Mother Rollins, Thomas Rollins, Jeremiah Lewis, Simon White, John Banister, George Williams. Martha Roberts and John Banister are still living.

The Rev. Robert Johnson was the first minister, and served for one year, commencing in the Fall of 1842. Watkins Lee followed for one year ; Robert Jones began in the Fall of 1844,_ and served one year ; he was followed by Hiram Revels, Horace B. Smith, Benjamin Hill, Levi Bass, and John Turner, all for one year. At that date this Church was under the control of the Indiana Conference, and remained so until the General Conference which met t Cincinnati in 1856 placed it under the management of the Ohio Conference. Since that time the succession of their ministers have been : In 1857, Matthew J. Newsome ; 1858, David Smith ; 1859, Jeremiah Lewis; 1861,, Turner Roberts ; 1862, Alexander Austin ; 1863, William Davidson ; 1866, Jeremiah Lewis; 1867, Henry A. Jackson ; 1869, George W. Clark ; 1870, Moses W. Walker ; 1872, George H. Shafer ; 1875, Philip Towler ; 1880, Primus Alston.

Its local preachers were Thomas Rollins, William Brown, James Knox, Richard Hastie, and Samuel Burrell. The most useful of the laymen : Albert Russell, Thomas Rollins, Beverly Tyler, Henry McDonald, William Townsend, Beverly Yancy, Ephraim Jones, John S. Jones. Among the faithful workers were Katie Brown, Betsey Jackson, Martha Roberts, Mary Townsend, Eva Sawyer, Cilea Williamson, Mary J. Lewis, Clara Jackson, Elizabeth Lawrence, Margaret Young, Betsey Saunders, Emily Carter, and Jane Yancy.

The original place of worship of this Church was called Bethel, a hewed log-house built by Jeremiah Lewis and Thomas Rollins. In this house the congregation worshiped from 1843 to 1858, when the trustees, under the pastorate of Matthew J. Newsome, purchased the present place of worship for $3,000.

The Christian African Church of Oxford was organized about eighteen years ago. At first this Church met at the colored school-house, but shortly afterwards a frame building was bought of Mr. Constantine McCowen, an early member. This building stood on the site now occupied by the present house, but is removed to the rear of it, for festivals and other purposes. The present house, which cost about $3,000, and which has a seating capacity of three hundred people, was completed in 1881. Hannah Scott, Hardy. Scott, Constantine McCowen and wife, Isaiah Dicson and wife Sarah, William Brassfield and Mary his wife, Jacob Piatt and wife Maria, Ann Wright, • Amanda Anderson, Ceburn Oliver and wife Malinda, Betsey Crawford, Alfred Reed and wife Nancy, Ronson Deviney and wife Fanny, Maria Price, Eliza Mitchell, Polly Tipton and George, her husband; Stephen Piatt and Jane, his wife, were among the early members. At present there are about fifty members on the register.

522 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

The Rev. Rufus Conrad was the first preacher, and also the organizer of the Church, serving for two or three years. The Rev. Isaiah Dicson, who removed to Kansas, and died in 1878, preached for twelve years. The Rev. Benjamin King, of Cincinnati, filled the pulpit for two years. The Rev. William Brown, of Kentucky, served as pastor for three years. He is now in Kentucky engaged in ministerial work. The Rev. Laban S. Locker filled the pastorate for one year. This Church is one of the most enterprising in the village, and bids fair to do much good.

The Baptist African Church, of Oxford, was organized about twelve years ago by the Rev. Mr. Brown, of Cincinnati. James Stroud, Mary Roberts, Mather Tester, Willis Pyle and wife, Jackson Piatt and wife, Ellen Carter, Thomas Jackson, Mother Laney, who is now about eighty years of age, Spencer Young, who was licensed here to preach, but is now in Covington, Kentucky, and wife, were among the leading first members. Persons who are now the support of the Church, are Wesley Calbert, Mary Case, Chrisey Dickinson, Thomas Boston and wife. The membership numbers about twenty-five.

The Rev. Mr. Brown, of Cincinnati was the first pastor who filled the pulpit for two years. He was followed by the Rev. Spencer Young, who served six or seven years, but who was ordained outside of the regular association. Then came the Rev. Mr. Woodley, of the Middle Run Church, near Xenia, Ohio, who remained one year. He was succeeded by the Rev. John Goings, from Shelby County, Ohio, who remained for nearly three years. During the Winter of 1881 and 1882 the Rev. Mr. Clay preached as an irregular minister.

The house in which this society worships was erected in 1875. The builder was Mr. Marshall, now an old man, and one of the first settlers in Oxford. The land on which the house stands was given for this purpose by Dr. Andrew Guy, of Oxford, a gentleman of many excellent parts.

OXFORD FEMALE COLLEGE.

The Oxford Female College was chartered by the State of Ohio on the 19th of January, 1854, and was the outgrowth of the revolution which took place in the Miami University in the Spring of 1845, by which Drs. Bishop and Scott were thrown out of the faculty. Professor Scott was, however, prevented from immediately followipg, the plan of the Female College, which he had previously formed in his mind, by the solicitation of Dr. Bishop and Prof. F. G. Cary, of College Hill, Ohio, to aid them in the establishment of an agricultural institution at that point.

The establishment of the Miami University at Oxford had induced the people to take much interest in the education of their sons, and efforts for the education of their daughters naturally followed.

After Dr. Scott had given some three or four years to Farmers' College, he began to make arrangements to set the Female College in successful operation. Hence, in 1849, a number of the public-spirited citizens of Oxford organized a stock company for the Oxford Female Institute, and secured a special charter from the Legislature of Ohio for that purpose. A handsome two-story brick building, forty by fifty-three feet, was at once erected in the west end of the village, and operations begun. The Rev. John W. Scott, D. D., formerly of the Miami University, was elected principal, with his daughter, now Mrs. Lord, and his sister-in-law,. Miss Neal, who became his first permanent assistant, and continued so until her death in 1852, as helpers. The institute prospered and began to draw students from a distance. Dr. Scott's position at Farmers' College was filled by the Rev. John Covert, who on the foundation which had been laid built the Ohio Female College, an institution which accomplished much good in female education.

On the arrival of Dr. Scott and his assistants from College Hill, operations were begun in the basement of the United Presbyterian Church, while waiting for the completion of the building. But in the Fall these rooms were needed for the theological seminary, and the young institution was compelled to seek quarters elsewhere, which were found by renting rooms over Mr. Mollyneaux's store and the adjoining building, on the corner of Main Street and the public square. In 1850, the institute being finished, the Female College took possession of their new building, with a flourishing school of boarding and day students. But the accommodations were soon found insufficient.

Under these circumstances, Dr. Scott, the Rev. W. S. Rogers, and the Rev. Henry Maltby, Presbyterian clergymen and able educators, along with other friends, offered to raise the money for the much-needed and necessary buildings, provided they could be secured in the general management of the institution. Mr. Rogers's plan was, that the new school should cease to be a private enterprise, and that while it should be open to all, it should be especially adapted for the education of missionaries' daughters ; where, at least, if not altogether, some of the regular expense might be lessened, and the mission boards might be relieved of much care and anxiety. At the same time Mr. Ebenezer Lane, then a resident of Oxford, handsomely offered a tract of thirty-four acres of land, adjoining the eastern edge of the borough of Oxford, as a college site, and in addition a subscription of a liberal sum in money for the endowment of such an institution. After consultation it was decided to go forward with the enterprise. Mr. Lane gave his land and Mr. Rogers took the field to solicit subscriptions.

This change of location produced important results. Great dissatisfaction sprang up among a very large portion of those interested in the institute, and resulted finally in Dr. Scott taking new rooms by renting the old Oxford Hotel, then vacant. The founders of the Female

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College were mainly connected with the First Presbyterian Church of Oxford. The pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, the Rev. David Tenney, and his friends were New School, and determined to found another institution, on the south-eastern borders of Oxford, on the Mt. Holyoke system. The institute then passed under the control of the Rev. J. H. Buchanan and the United Presbyterians. Thus the three schools arose, and were zealously carried forward by their several friends, far and near.

After Mr. Rogers's canvass for a few weeks he reported subscriptions in one form and another, to the amount of fifty thousand dollars, a large proportion of which, however, unfortunately were scholarships. A board of trustees was formed under the sanction and direction of the Synod of Cincinnati, of the Presbyterian Church. A committee was appointed to visit Eastern colleges, and report on some plan for the buildings. Thus the present college was determined upon, and on the 3d of September, 1856, dedicated by appropriate ceremonies. The Rev. Professor Moffat, afterward of the Princeton Theological Seminary, Dr. Joseph Warren, formerly missionary to India, and others delivered addresses. A beautiful poem was also written for the occasion by Mrs. Lydia" H. Sigourney. The school was thus launched into existence, and practically began a new life.

In the commencement of this enterprise, the general intention was to expend some $25,000 or $30,000 in a building, with whatever additional amount might be necessary for its furnishing and apparatus, the remainder to be so used as to lessen the cost of tuition, and for the payment of the faculty. When the proposals came in, however, the lowest amounted to considerably over $40,000. The building was begun, and before its completion, with all the steam-heating and gas-lighting fixtures, cost $60,000 ; and with musical instruments, room furniture, and sundry stables and other out-houses, and general improvements of the grounds, to over $80,000. But the first year opened with two hundred students, one hundred of whom were from a distance. There were, however, many embarrassing circumstances, and the patronage which had fallen to this people, began to be withdrawn and directed toward the Wooster University. The Synod of Cincinnati, after much indifference, finally, by a formal vote, entirely dissolved their connection with it.

Before this, however, some of the debts had become very pressing, and in the exigency of the case some of the members of the board and other friends of the enterprise formed themselves into a joint-stock company to save the institution from failure and bankruptcy. This was some time in the Fall and Winter of 1857. The name of the company was the " Company in trust of the Oxford Female College." This company proposed to assume in trust the debts and obligations of the institution till such time as the obligations and debts were released, and then return it to the synod and its chartered board, to be a public institution for the benefit of the Church and the world forever. But after taking the matter in hand and paying off a considerable portion of the pressing debt, the company found that in consequence of the drawing back of certain parties, who were with some ground of confidence expected to become partners, they were left too weak pecuniarily to manage the whole debt, and were, therefore, compelled to give the property back to the synod, with a small portion of the obligation paid off. Yet there remained a considerable portion of debt still to be met.

In the early Spring of 1859, the Rev. Dr. Chester, one of the secretaries of the General Assembly's board of education, who had distinguished himself in the management of financial matters, by request came, out from Philadelphia to meet with the board, and if possible adopt some measures to relieve their pecuniary embarrassments. The indebtedness was found to over $35,000. A decision was made to send out two new soliciting agents in addition to Mr. Rogers, the regular agent of the college, and to secure if possible the amount needed to save the institution. The condition was that no part should be binding unless the whole amount was subscribed. The three agents were Mr. Rogers, Mr. Stewart, then pastor of the Oxford Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Scott. On making a three months' canvass, the whole amount summed up only to about $20,000. During these troublesome times Mr. Stephen Wade, a gentleman of much Christian benevolence and philanthropic spirit, made a proposition to sustain the boarding establishment at his own expense, for whatever pay the scholars might bring in for tuition.

For ten years the Oxford Female College had undergone many hours of trial. The time had now come for the resignation of President Scott. He had during his connection with the institution sunk some $20,000 or $25,000, and in other ways made for himself enemies and traducers. -

Among those who contributed liberally to the support of the institution in its hours of need were Dr. Alexander Guy, who gave in donations some $15,000 ; Judge Nehemiah Wade, who gave $5,000; Ebenezer Lane, besides the land, a large donation in money ; the Rev. W. S. Rogers, S. R. Mollyneaux, Mrs. Judge Hindman, and perhaps others, who gave from $1,000 to $2,500. And it is worthy of record that the Rev. Samuel Hair did effective service in aiding Mr. Rogers to obtain subscriptions and scholarships. Judge Wade was for a number of years president of the board of directors, of which there were thirty.

When Dr. Scott resigned, in July, 1859, the college was in danger of suspension, if not of direct failure. Students pressed in for instruction and accommodations, and the means were not forthcoming. But it was determined to support the college and look for another presi-

524 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

dent. Under the circumstances the Rev. Robert D. Morris, for some years pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Newtown, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, was induced Lb undertake the task in November following. He had been active in educational work in Ohio, and entered upon his duties here with energy and hope. Henceforward the scholarships were honored and the institution went on with apparent prosperity for thirty- three years.

It, however, suspended this Summer. It was impossible for Dr. Morris longer to keep up the strain necessary to keep it going, and it accordingly closed its doors. It is believed, however, it will open in another building, the present edifice and grounds being retained as a sanitarium. This suspension has been heard of with extreme regret by the friends of the institution.

During its twenty-eight years of life there have been two hundred and seventy graduates, and some two thousand students from all parts of the United States, and some from foreign lands. The tone of education has always been high.

The building and grounds of the Oxford Female College are admirably situated for educational purposes. They have cost about $100,000, and are not surpassed by similar institutions in the West. The main edifice is of brick and stone, cruciform, three stories above the basement, and built in the best manner. It is one hundred and fifty-five feet in front, by one hundred and seventy-one feet and six inches in depth, exclusive of porches. The number of rooms is about one hundred, and they are neatly and uniformly furbished. They will easily accommodate one hundred boarders, together with the family of the president, assistants, and hired help.

In the care and education of the students the president has been assisted by a large corps of teachers, male and female. The students were governed as if they were at home, to remind them that they were daughters of a common family. The president, teachers, and 'all, sat at the same table and ate of the same food. Daily work began with the reading of Scripture, singing, and prayer. Frequent lectures were delivered by the president and others on subjects of history, morals, manners, and religion.

The course of study was intended to embrace every thing essential to the proper development of the intellectual and moral powers of woman, and to give her the education that she really needs. It was not so much to fill the mind with knowledge as to aid in the formation of those habits of patient thought and investigation that in after years will enable them to add to their own store in every or any department that inclination or duty may suggest. The time necessary to complete the course of study after having gained the rudiments in the preparatory department was four years.

There were connected with the institution two literary societies—the Calliopean and Philalethean—with well- furnished halls and libraries adapted to their use. Besides the libraries in the college, the students had access to the library and the mineral cabinet of the Miami University for reference and consultation. Honors were awarded to members of the senior class for superior scholarship in the regular course, and also for marked success in any of the regular branches.

The faculty at the time of suspension consisted of the Rev. Robert D. Morris, D. D., president ; Mrs. Elizabeth Morris, Miss Gertrude E. Wall, Miss Edell Ellis, Miss Phebe Conover, Miss Sallie McKee ; Prof. Karl Merz, vocal and instrumental music ; Prof. A. Beaugureau, French, drawing and painting. The Rev. H. S. Osborn, LL. D., lectured on chemistry and natural philosophy. The officers of the board are the Rev. W. W. Colmery, D. D., president, Osborn, Ohio ; the Rev. L. F. Walker, secretary, College Hill, Ohio ; and the Rev. R. D. Morris, D. D., treasurer, Oxford, Ohio. In 1881 there were seventy-five students.

PROF. JOHN W. SCOTT.

The Rev. John W. Scott, D. D., was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, January 22, 1800. His father was a Presbyterian minister, and in addition to the charge of two pioneer Churches of that day and region, conducted a small grammar school for the preparation of boys for entering Washington and Jefferson Colleges, which were at that day in their incipient and infantile stage. With his father Dr. Scott obtained his early classical and preparatory education, commencing when he was nine years of age. After two or three years, when he had advanced a little in Latin, Greek and lower mathematics, his father used sometimes to set him to hearing the other classes recite. And when he was still further advanced in scholarship he would sometimes leave him in charge of all the classes for a day or so at a time, when he was called away on his parochial duties. The practice that was thus obtained in the field of education was often of much service in after life.

At sixteen years of age, after completing his preparatory education, to which his father had limited his school, and not wishing to graduate at so early and immature an age, he began to teach. The first year was in Eastern Ohio, and the last two years in Beaver and Washington Counties, Pennsylvania, the last eighteen months as principal of the Beaver Academy. In the Fill of 1821 he entered Washington College as a junior, and was graduated in September, 1823. His intention was to go into Kentucky and make a little money teaching, but as he was about to leave, the venerable Dr. Wylie, presi dent of the college, came to him and told him that it was his desire that he should prepare himself for the chair of mathematics and natural sciences, in place of Professor Reed, the incumbent at that time, who was so feeble that Mr. Scott was often employed by the board to give him assistance. Professor Reed died in the course

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of the succeeding Winter. Dr. Wylie proposed that Mr. Scott should proceed at once to Yale, entering as a resident graduate, and prepare himself by taking a course of lectures, more especially in chemistry, under Professor Silliman, who was then at the head of this department in the United States. He accordingly went to Yale, received the necessary aid, and graduated in 1824, with the degree of A. M. ; and in 1826 he returned to Washington and entered upon the duties which had been assigned him in his absence.

During his stay at Washington he married Miss Mary P. Neal, daughter of John Neal, cashier of the Branch Bank of Philadelphia. These two good people lived happily together until about six months after they had celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage, when Mrs. Scott died, March 1, 1876.

Dr. Scott continued in the professorship for four years and a half, and in the \Fall of 1828 received a call to a professorship from the Miami University, the same that he was then occupying in Washington College. He accepted this call, and reached Oxford shortly after the commencement of the Winter term of 1828 and 1829. This position Dr. Scott occupied for seventeen years and a half, till the Spring of J845. In 1830, two years before, the board had created two new professorships, relieving Dr. Scott of the lower mathematics, and he was also licensed and ordained to the Gospel ministry, afterwards preaching occasionally.

But the institution in the midst of its prosperity and high promise fell upon evil times. A variety of unworthy causes and motives produced agitation and commotion, resulting finally in the reconstruction of the faculty, in which Drs. Bishop and Scott were displaced from their former positions. Dr. Bishop was the father of the Miami University ; Dr. Scott was the next in age, and the injustice done to these worthy teachers was very great. Shortly after Professor Bishop was called to assist in Cary's Academy, and insisted that Dr. Scott should give him his aid. He also gave his attention to the female college, as already stated in the history of that institution, but in 1859 resigned, because of the pecuniary embarrassments of that seat of learning,

The year following his resignation he spent partly in travel and resting, and six months of it in supplying the vacant Church of Honesdale, in Northeastern Pennsylvania. In 1860 he received a call to the professorship of natural sciences in Hanover College, Indiana, which he accepted and entered upon in the Fall of the same year. He filled this position for eight years, until July, 1868. He then accepted an invitation to Springfield, Illinois, to begin and take the superintendency of a Presbyterian academy, which it was proposed by the old Presbytery of Sangamon to found in that city. In two years that project was given up, on account of the city establishing and putting in operation a good high school with free tuition. He then returned to Indiana and Ohio, and for a year or more, till the Spring of 1872, preached to vacant Churches throughout the land.

Now, becoming satisfied that it was time to cease active life, he returned with his wife to Princeton, New Jersey, where he had a widowed daughter, to spend the remainder of his pilgrimage in ease and comfort. But in the Fall of 1874, when on an extended visit in Western Pennsylvania, he happened upon the village of Jefferson, where he found a small Presbyterian Church, unable to support a pastor, and a Baptist college just organized wanting a professor of natural sciences, but unable alone to support one. These two, the college and the Church, joined hands in their common necessity, and Mr. Scott remained with them in their common poverty. He was at this point in October, 1880, having been fifty-two years in the Gospel ministry and fifty-six as a teacher in the various grades of school and higher institutions, and shortly, if spared, will be eighty-three years old.

His wife was buried where she was married,/ An unmarried son, who died in 1877, after twelve years of suffering from the results of hardships and exposure in the late war, lies by her side. Here the father and husband hopes to rest until that final awakening when they shall sleep no more.

WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY.

The Western Female Seminary was incorporated in 1853, and opened and dedicated in 1855. It first suggested itself to the minds of a few spirits living in Oxford, led by the Rev. Mr. Tenney and Mrs. Tenney. The conviction forced itself upon these people that the Mt. Holyoke system of education should be duplicated in the West. They set to work, and a site of thirty acres of land was given to the friends of the enterprise by James Fisher, but which is now increased to sixty- five. Gabriel Tichenor and family, of Walnut Hills, Ohio, gave the first $5,000, followed by others, according to their ability.

Success being assured, a board of trustees was appointed in July, 1853, and the building begun. The enterprise was laid before the principal and teachers of the Mt. Holyoke Seminary. They were asked to assist their young Western daughter, and to select the first corps of teachers from the Holyoke ranks. Miss Helen Peabody, then of St. Louis, who had been associated with Mary Lyon, first as pupil and then as teacher, was selected as principal, with an efficient corps of teachers. The institution thus begun was dedicated on the 20th of September, 1855. The house was already full of pupils and the outlook most promising.

The seminary continued to prosper until the 14th of January, 1860, when the building was destroyed by fire. The new building was not dedicated until May 21, 1862. The general assembly of the Presbyterian Church was at that time in session in Cincinnati, and attended the ex-' ercises by invitation. The dedicatory address was deliv-

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ered by the Rev. H. H. Field, of New York. In June, 1861, the seminary came into possession of a permanent fund of $20,000, the income of which was to be applied to the salaries of teachers. This was the bequest of Gabriel Tichenor, of Walnut Hills, who himself died before the original building was completed.

On the 16th of June, 1880, a family reunion was held. There were present on that occasion the Rev. Dr. J.. P. E. Kumler, president of the board of trustees, of which his father was one of the first and most faithful members, with his wife ; Miss Abbie Golding, of the first corps of teachers ; the Rev. J. M. Bishop, and G. Y. Roots, of the original as well as the present board of trustees, with their wives ; the venerable Dr. Little, of Madison, Indiana, and Dr. Pratt, of Portsmouth, Ohio, whose familiar faces date back to the second anniversary, now trustees; Messrs. Philip Hinkle and Preserved Smith. These, with other trustees and friends, the teachers, and such pupils and alumnae as were to assist in the exercises, occupied seats upon the platform.

" Our young ladies," says the Memorial, " assembled for the first time, on Wednesday, September 19, 1855. W&think them a very fine set of girls from all we have yet seen of them. On Thursday at 2 P. M., the friends and patrons assembled in the seminary hall for the dedicatory services. The distinguished professor, Milton Sayler, of Cincinnati, made a very interesting address to the teachers and pupils, and Dr. Allen, of Lane Seminary, offered the dedicatory prayer. A hymn, composed for the occasion by the Rev. Thomas Spencer, was sung."

" This young hive," as it calls itself, began to operate upon a system which, as yet, the Western people knew nothing about. The domestic department was kept in busy operation during those first days to provide for one hundred and fifty young ladies, who had almost simultaneously arrived, together with many of their parents, some of whom remained a few days, to see the experiment tried. Many of the young men who were at that time attending the Miami University gave the teachers much trouble by frequent visits. One of them called to see not less than six cousins.

The closing exercise of the first year took place in the pleasant grove in the rear of the seminary, on the 17th of July, 1856. The address was delivered by Dr. Samuel Fisher, who chose for his subject " John Calvin and John Wesley." This was the first of many favors received from Dr. Fisher, who was afterward an honored member of the board of trustees.

Nothing of special note occurred in the year 1857. In 1858 the first mention of their missionaries is made— Mrs. Quick, of Ceylon, who was a member of the school in 1856, and Miss Mary Spooner, now Mrs. Worcester, who found her labors among the Cherokees. In 1859 two more were added to the list of missionaries : Mrs. Woodin, formerly Miss Utley, a teacher, sailed in the Fall for China, and Mrs. Shedd, Jenny Dawes, of the class of 1858, for Persia. Dr. Perkins, of Persia, visited the seminary the same year, and left behind him many pleasant memories.

The new year of 1860 found the family busily engaged in preparing one of the members of the senior class to sail in February for Persia—Miss Harriet Newell Crawford. A visitor to Miss Peabody's room would have imagined that she had turned seamstress.

During these early years we find frequent allusions to Christmas gatherings, Thanksgiving festivities, examinations and anniversaries. Interesting lectures are also mentioned. Dr. Rea lectured on physiology ; Dr. Thomas Arnold's life was beautifully portrayed by the Rev. Mr. Root; Dr. Mussey, of Cincinnati, lectured on hygiene, and there were also lectures by the Rev. Mr. Rice and the Rev. F. S. McCabe.

The school year of 1859 and 1860 was brought to a sudden close by the fire of January 14th. The doors of the Oxford Female College were hospitably opened to receive the homeless family, and, turning away from the burning building, the sorrowful procession made its way thither to seek shelter from the snow and sleet. The appearance of the company was grotesque enough to provoke a smile in the midst of sorrow ; the motley garb, the ill-matched suits, table covers, and blankets for wraps, stockingless feet and bare heads.

After the fire it was decided to rent the house of James Fisher in the beautiful grounds next to the seminary, for the use of the senior class the remainder of the year. The class of 1861 also completed its course in this temporary home. The years 1862 and 1863 passed quietly by, with but little to interrupt the school and family life. The Spring of 1864 was another marked era in the history of the school. Before the Spring vacation two girls died. Soon after the opening of the Spring term typhus or spotted fever broke out in the school in a malignant form, and within a few days it was necessary to close temporarily.

During these years the civil war was in progress, and the girls were alive to the needs of the land. At the coming together of the students in the Fall of 1865, it was found that the school had been freed of debt. During the Summer of 1866 Mrs. Tenney died. She had been a scholar of Mary Lyons, and was, perhaps, the mainspring of the institution at the time of its origin.

On the 29th of February, 1868, a negro robber was shot in the building, after many unsuccessful attempts to capture him previously. The whole pursuit scarcely occupied three minutes, and none but those who took part in the capture knew the cause of the alarm. Some of the girls slept through it all, and heard of it for the first time at the breakfast table in the morning.

In 1870 and 1871 there were many important changes. Miss Galb, who for eleven years had filled the position of teacher, was compelled to resign on account of ill- health. During the Fall and Winter the supply of water

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failed and measles made their appearance. On the night of April 6th, 1870, the building was consumed the second time by fire. It is impossible to put in words the horror of these hours. They must be imagined. The new and present building was dedicated on the day before Thanksgiving, 1871.

In the Spring of 1876 members of the first six classes gathered at the seminary for a reunion in honor of the fiftieth birthday of their principal. Many of the alumnae these years treasure among the most pleasant recollections of their school days the memory of an hour or an evening spent at the house of Mrs. Lewis, or Mr. McCord, of Oxford.

The Western Female Seminary has given to the world many noble-minded missionaries.

The whole number of students from 1855 to 1880 has been nineteen hundred and forty-eight ; number of graduates, four hundred and six ; graduates deceased, thirty- seven ; average attendance per year, one hundred and fifty-five ; whole number of teachers, eighty-eight ; number of teachers who were graduates, thirty-two ; deceased, four ; number of missionaries, thirty-eight ; number of missionaries deceased, two ; whole number of trustees, forty-two ; trustees deceased, sixteen ; number of pupils, not graduates, from Ohio, six hundred and thirty-two ; from Indiana, four hundred and ninety ; Illinois, one hundred and fifty. A Memorial Volume, containing a history of the seminary, may be obtained by sending $1 to Miss Mary Milligan, of Oxford, Ohio.

JOHN W. HALL.

John W. Hall, D. D., was president of the Miami University from 1854 to 1866, and during that time a citizen of Oxford, Ohio. He was born January 19, 1802, in Orange County, North Carolina, and was educated chiefly in Harpeth Academy, near Franklin, Tennessee, then under the presidency of the celebrated Rev. Gideon Blackburn, D. D., who was afterward president of Center College, Kentucky, and the founder of Blackburn University, Illinois After completing his academic course, Mr. Hall studied theology under Dr. Blackburn, his former -teacher, and in the year 1824 was licensed to preach as a Presbyterian minister. He became successively pastor of the Presbyterian Churches at Jackson, Murfreesboro, and Gallatin, Tennessee, when, in 1840, he was chosen pastor of the Third Street Presbyterian Church at Dayton, Ohio. His efforts in this field were eminently successful.

In the year 1852 Mr. Hall removed to Huntsville, Alabama, for two reasons: taking charge of the Presbyterian Church and assuming control of the presidency of the North Alabama College, which was about to be located at that place. While here he was elected to the presidency of the Miami University, of Oxford, Ohio. This position was unsought, and Mr. Hall knew nothing of the honor conferred upon him until he received official information of the fact. By the same mail came congratulatory letters from old friends, urging him to accept the situation. After mature deliberation and the advice of his most intimate friends, he removed with his family, in the latter part of 1854, to Oxford, and on the first day of January, 1855, entered upon his duties.

When Dr. Hall took charge of the university he found that the preparatory and normal departments were largely attended by students, but he found that the finances were in a bad condition. He immediately proposed a change, and at the end of his administration, in 1866, there had accumulated a surplus in the treasury of over $10,000.

Notwithstanding the eminently successful presidency of Dr. Hall, a majority of the board of trustees, during 1866, became dissatisfied, and, if possible, would have forced his resignation ; but Mr. Hall, hearing of their intentions, refused to allow his name to go before the board as a candidate for election, and Dr. R. L. Stanton was chosen his successor. Previous to this action the board had been presented with a memorial, signed by nearly all the alumni who had graduated in the twelve preceding years, the students of the university at this time, and the leading citizens of the town, protesting against the change. Dr Hall bade farewell to Old Miami, and has since resided in Covington, Kentucky, honored and respected by all.

On Thursday, July 5, 1866, 3 P. M., the trustees elected a new faculty, all the chairs having been declared vacant at the end of the college year. As soon as the above action was made known the students assembled on the streets and at the depot, when the train was leaving, cheering for Dr. Hall and hooting, yelling, and swearing at the trustees. In the evening Dr. Hall was serenaded by the Oxford brass band.

OXFORD THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.

This institution was established and controlled by the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Synod of the West. The charter bears date January 16, 1838. Rev. Joseph Claybaugh was elected by the synod the first professor. Rev. S. W. McCracken was elected assistant professor to teach Hebrew, but resigned at the close of the first session. The seminary was opened in the Fall of 1839. The synod and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Congregation of Oxford had conjointly erected a building which furnished an audience-room for Church services, on the second floor, and a lecture-room, library room, chapel, and several rooms for students on the first. The library contained about two thousand volumes, to which additions were made from time to time.

Dr. Claybaugh was born in 1803, in Maryland, and was of German descent. He was taken to Ohio when a child, and lived near Chillicothe. He graduated at Jefferson College in 1822, and was ordained and installed pastor of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, of

528 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

Chillicothe, in 1825, and remained pastor until 1839. At Oxford he was both pastor of the Church and professor in the seminary. He was a good scholar, an excellent professor, an eloquent preacher, an accomplished Christian gentleman, and a man of deep piety. He was a diligent student and earnest worker, though an invalid. He died on the 9th of September, 1855, of scrofula, in the fifty- third year of his age. He had labored as professor in Oxford sixteen years.

After his death, Rev. Alexander Young was elected professor of Hebrew and Greek Exegesis, and Rev. William Davidson, pastor of the Hamilton Church, was appointed professor of ecclesiastical history. In view of the increase of population and of the Church in the West, the seminary was removed, in 1858, to Monmouth, in Illinois. Professor Young's connection with the seminary continued after its removal to the West. Partly owing to financial difficulties, the seminary was removed back to Ohio in 1874, and consolidated with the seminary at Xenia.

During the time that it was at Oxford, about nineteen years in all, more than one hundred students received theological instruction in connection with it. Almost all these entered the ministry. Some of them are now prominent in their respective Churches. Among those outside of the United Presbyterian Church may be mentioned Dr. G. L. Kalb, of Bellefontaine, Ohio ; Dr. J. H. Brooks, of St. Louis, and Rev. D. Swing, Chicago.

The following are the names of post-offices and postmasters in Oxford Township :

Contreras.-John R Hand, November 14, 1841; Ezra Bourne, June 3, 1854; John Bake, October 11, 1864.

College Corner, from Preble County, May 19, 1830; John Jones, May 19, 1830; Gideon S. Howe, February 16, 1833 ; Christian Eby, June 24, 1839 ; Joseph L. Nye, September 6, 1841: James McCaw, November 3, 1841; John M. C. Howe, November 13, 1849 ; William A. Weidner, October 24, 1867 ; Samuel R. Ramsey, April 8, 1873 ; John C. Huston, June 8, 1881.

Oxford.-John E. Irwin, April 1, 1817; David Morris, January 12, 1818; James M. Dorsey, September 11, 1822 ; Moses Crume, March 13, 1827 ; Joseph Harris, October 18, 1833; George G. White, December 11, 1833; William J. Mollyneaux, January 21, 1857; Sutton C. Richey, April 13, 1861 ; Daniel P. Beaton, July 15, 1870.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

Ethan A. Allen, the last of his family, was born in Massachusetts, on the 10th of November, 1789, and came to Oxford in 1818. On the 10th of January, 1820, he married Nancy Hazeltine. Oxford had been laid out but a few years previously, and he used to recount the fact that he cut wood where many a fine residence or business house now stands, at twenty-five cents a cord. He afterward engaged in making plows and other agricultural -implements, being very. ingenious

and an adept in the use of tools. He settled on a farm near the village, where he passed his life until a few years since, when he removed to the town, where he resided until the death of his wife in 1876, then removing to the house of Samuel F. Shook, a connection by marriage, where he had an excellent home, and continued until his death.

His wife, four children, and eleven brothers and sisters had all been called away before him. In 1839 he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church at Zion.

G. W. Adams is a native of Butler County, having been born on a farm in Oxford Township, in 1834, and continued there until twenty years of age. He has large business experience, having been engaged in trade during the war period in Springfield, Indiana. He has brought experience, energy and ability to his aid, and has made a decided success. He is doing the largest trade of any merchant in Oxford. His store is located on the northwest corner of the Public Square. His stock occupies two stories, and his business requires six clerks constantly, and in the busy seasons, additional help. Mr. Adams is in the prime of life, active and energetic, and applies himself closely to affairs ; is a member of the Oxford Lodge of Odd Fellows, and also of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and identified with the best interests of the village. His wife is also a native of Oxford Township, and a member of the Sadler family, who are noticed among the early settlers of this township.

Robert H. Bishop was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, near Lexington, August 20, 1815. He came to Oxford in 1824, and during the same year entered the grammar school, and in August, 1831, was graduated. The following Fall, after graduation, he went to South Hanover, Indiana, to attend the Theological Seminary, which opened at that time, and which, after two or three removals, is now at Chicago, Illinois. The professor of mathematics of Hanover College, having resigned in February, 1832, Professor Bishop took charge of the chair for the remainder of the year. He then returned to Oxford and entered a printing office, having learned the art of type-setting in 1828. In 1834 he began his teaching in Burlington, Kentucky, and then again, in 1835, returned to Oxford, purchased a printing-offrce and book-store, which he retained until 1838, when he entered the Miami University as assistant in the grammar department. In 1839 he was married, and in 1841 was elected principal of the school of which he had formerly been assistant. He held this position until 1852, when he was elected a professor of Latin, remaining such until 1873. In 1855 he was elected secretary of the board of trustees, a position he still holds.

Adrian Beaugureau was born in Paris, France, on the 27th of December, 1835, and came to the United States in 1843 with his father and family. His father was an artist, and conducted a boys' French and English school, where his son .completed his education, subsequently

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becoming a teacher there, in the same place, of French, drawing, and painting. After his father's decease in 1852 he became a special teacher of French, drawing, and painting, having classes in many different schools of the city of Philadelphia, and thus continued until December, 1861, when he enlisted in the Ninety-first Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served his full three years. After this he returned to Philadelphia and resumed teaching, being with Professor Phillibert for a while ; but after a year sickness and the death of an older brother caused him to decide to come to Oxford, and accept a similar position at the Female College, a position he still occupied at the close of its last season. In addition to his scholastic duties he conducts, with the aid of his nephew, Mr. Louis Wuille, an art emporium in the village, which is not only one of the prettiest establishments of the kind to be found anywhere, but' is also the means of fostering and developing art ideas. Professor Beaugureau is not only an accomplished teacher of his native tongue and an excellent instructor in drawing, but he is a natural artist, and takes special pride in that department. His work will compare favorably with any of the best teachers. A large number of instructors in art of the South and West received their education in this line from him.

L. N. Bonham is a native of Ohio, born in Elizabethtown, Hamilton County, March 27, 1830. He was brought up on a farm. At the age of seventeen he entered a store and clerked for three years, then entering .college. After five years, during which his vacations were spent in active work on the farm, he graduated from the Miami University, and soon after took charge of the Lebanon Academy, but after a year sold his interest to the Southwestern State Normal Association, and took a position as teacher with them. A year after he severed his connection there and became a teacher in the Dayton High School, with which he remained three years, after which he went to St. Louis and established " Bonham's Female Seminary," starting with three pupils, in 1859. Within six years it grew to a school of three hundred pupils, requiring nineteen teachers, and he continued in its management until the close of the school year of 1871-72, when he abandoned teaching, his health being very much impaired. Mr. Bonham came to Oxford-in the Summer of 1872, and purchased his wife's parents' old homestead, which he leased at first, but as returning health permitted, took charge of and has improved it until he now has one of the best, if not the best, improved farms in Oxford Township. Mr. Bonham is one of the few who have been able so to combine scientific and practical knowledge as to make a success of advanced methods, both as to agriculture and the raising of stock, swine and sheep being his specialty, and quality, rather than numbers, being his object. He was the first breeder in Oxford Township to institute pedigreeing his hogs was also the first to introduce the riding plow and corn- planter. And in many other ways his influence has been felt in elevating the farmers' methods and increasing the intelligence and general tone of the agricultural community. He is the editor of the agricultural department of the Cincinnati Commercial. His enterprise and public spirit make him one of the most valuable citizens of his locality, and he is identified with all important measures for the advancement of the community, whether pertaining to agriculture or education. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, in which he occupies an official position, and is identified with its interests. He married Miss Ellen M. Gere, a native of Northampton, Massachusetts, and a daughter of Isaac and Lucy Gere, old residents of Oxford Township. She is a lady of intelligence and refined culture, whose acquaintance Mr. Bonham formed while a student at the Miami University. Their family consists of one son, Linn, now a young man. Mrs. Bonham's mother, who is also a member of the household, is a worthy representative of the refinement that graced many of the homes of the pioneers.

Daniel A. Brosier was born in Hanover Township, July 4, 1835. His father, Jonathan Brosier, was born near Millville, and was married December 16, 1832, to Elizabeth Rumple, also a native of this county. He learned the blacksmith's trade, and in 1837 moved to Shelby County, saving sufficient to buy two hundred and seventy acres of.land. When the canal was to be dug, he and Mr. Westerfield took a large contract, but through the misconduct of his partner, who had drawn the money, he was ruined. He then removed to Indiana, afterwards returning to Butler County. On a trip to the South he sickened and died, and his remains rest near Nashville, Tennessee. He was a German Lutheran. There were seven children : Daniel A., Peter, James, Mary Ann, Sarah J., Margaret E., and Jonathan. Peter is dead. Daniel A. Brosier has always worked on a farm. He was married October 28, 1858, to Maria E., daughter of Michael W., and Matilda (Bell) Emerick, who was born in this county February 22, 1837. They have had seven children : Alexander E., Frank E., Carrie May, Ida Wood, George E., Amy E., and Charles H.

Daniel P. Beaton, postmaster at Oxford, is of Scotch parentage. The father, Alexander Beaton, was born in 1809, and marrying Miss Mary McMillan, emigrated to this country in 1838, making their residence for a little time at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Thence they came to Cincinnati, and after a couple of years came to Oxford, in 1841. Here he established himself in business as merchant tailor, on the south side of High Street. On the 16th of September, 1843, Daniel P. Beaton was born. When he was but eight years of age, the father left the family at Oxford and started for California, by the way of Panama, but died on the voyage, on shipboard. The youth, thus left fatherless, made good use of the school advantages of his native town, and closed his education with one year in Miami University, in 1858-9. He' then went to work at the trade of a carpenter, which he

530 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

followed until after the first year of the Rebellion. In May, 1862, he enlisted in the three months' service in the infantry, and served in Western Virginia, in a company under Captain McFarland in the Eighty-sixth Ohio. Returning to Oxford in September, he again re-enlisted in October, at Camp Dennison, under Captain William Ullery, in the Second Ohio Cavalry. The December following the company joined the Ninth Army Corps, under Burnside, and was engaged in the campaign in Kentucky. In an engagement at Monticello, on the 9th of June, 1863, Mr. Beaton received a gun-shot wound in the ankle, and was made an inmate of the army hospital at Somerset, Kentucky. From that place he was transferred to Crab Orchard, thence to Camp Nelson, Kentucky, and was finally and honorably discharged at Washington, D. C., October 24, 1864. He was permanently disabled from the effects of the wound, which has made it necessary to make constant use of a crutch or cane. Returning to Oxford, he was employed as clerk for a time in the grocery store of Mr. McCullough, and since then has held the appointment of postmaster at Oxford by continuous reappointment and with much acceptance to the people. September 14, 1866, he was married to Miss Harriet Miller, of Oxford. They have a family of five children.

Wales B. Bonney is a native of Charlestown, New Hampshire, where he was born June 26, 1799. His father, West Bonney, finds a line of family descent from Thomas Bonney, who was born in Dover, England, in 1604, and who came from Sandwich, in Kent, England, in the ship Hercules in 1634 or 1635, and who located in Duxbury, Massachusetts. The mother's maiden name was Lydia Reed—she also being of Welsh-English parentage. In early life the boy Wales, in addition to the advantages offered by the common schools of the day, spent nearly a year in Dartmouth College. In 1816, in company with his parents and an only brother, he came into Ohio, the family settling on a farm about one mile northwest of the village of Oxford. He soon after entered Miami University as a student, boarding with his parents and taking his hand at the work of the farm nights and mornings, riding to and from school on horseback. He continued at the university until the following year, remaining at home afterwards until about twenty-one years of age, when in the Spring of 1820 he made a trip to his native State, making the entire distance on horseback. There he spent the Summer, and in the Fall returned as far as Chautauqua County, New York, where he engaged in teaching school until the next Spring, when he took up his residence for several years at Rochester and Brighton in the same State, and while there formed the acquaintance of and married Miss Lucinda Abbey, whose family were of Massachusetts origin. This was in January, 1829. Two years thereafter Mr. Bonney, with his family, returned to the home of his parents in Oxford, and there they spent the Winter. The next Spring Mr. and Mrs. Bonney emigrated to Texas, landing from a schooner from New Orleans at Brazoria, near the mouth of the Brazos River, then an insignificant collection of low shanties and huts. Their intention had been to make that province their future home, but after living there some months they decided to retrace their steps to their Oxford home, and reached that place late in the Fall following, having lost one of their little children while absent.

But the spirit of unrest was upon the subject of our sketch, and in the Spring of 1845, accompanied by two other younger men by the names of Buell and Worstell, he started for an overland trip to Oregon, a hazardous adventure in those days. Joining another party at Independence, the company were some five months on the way before they reached the Dalles on the Columbia River, their place of destination. Arriving there the earlier part of October niost of the party made this their home the ensuing Winter. But Mr. Bonney was not yet content. He did not discern his desired fortune in the immediate future. So the following Spring, with no company save a couple of horses, one for the saddle and the other to carry his clothing and provisions, a couple of guns, and a bold spirit, he set out for a return to the States, When crossing the plains he fell in with some Indian scouts in advance of a roving tribe, who took from him his horses, pack of provisions, and one gun. The traveler, however, managed to save one gun and a sack containing a large packet of letters which had been intrusted to his care by comrades and others in the West for loved ones at home. He pursued his lonely way on foot for some three days when he was overtaken by a party of returning Californians, with whom he kept company to the States, and reached home early in the Fall of 1846. He soon after settled in the village of Oxford, which place has since been his residence. Here he has many years been honored by his fellow-citizens in repeated elections to the office of justice of the peace, the delicate and responsible duties of which office he has performed with uniform acceptance to the people. Here a family of eleven children has been born to him, of whom a daughter, Julia, and four sons, Franklin, Oregon, Robert, and Edward, are now living, the sons all being engaged in trade in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter residing with the parents.

The Rev. Dennis Vincent Crowley, rector of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Oxford, Ohio, is a native of Cork, Ireland, where he was born September 25, 1844. Mr. Crowley, though a young man in appearance, is old in service. He was early dedicated for the priesthood and began his literary studies at St. Vincent, subsequently pursued philosophical studies at Holy Cross College, Dublin, and completed his theological training at the Catholic University of Louvaine, in Belgium. He received minor orders at the hands of the Papal Nuncio, in the Chapel Royal at Brussels, and was

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ordained priest at Mechlin, Belgium, June 2,1871. After this he traveled extensively on the continent, spending considerable time in its places of interest, and while at Louvaine was thrown in company with Archbishop Purcell, of the United States, then just returning from the Vatican Council. A pleasant acquaintance was the result, and it was through the bishop's influence that the young priest was induced to come to America and take a parish within his jurisdiction. His first charge as pastor was St. Aloysius Church at Cumminsville, afterward consolidated with and becoming St. Patrick's Church, of Cincinnati, Ohio, of which he remained pastor a number of years. The following extract from the local press gives a concise summary of his labors while in this field:

" Rev. D. V. Crowley, for the past nine years pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Cumminsville, has been called to take charge of the Church at Oxford, Butler County. His farewell to his congregation last Sunday was very affecting. He came to Cumminsville direct from college. This charge, the first of his priesthood, he found in debt fifty-nine thousand dollars, thirty-eight thousand of which has been paid by his fortunate and far-sighted management. He has brought to Cincinnati, as lecturers, some of the most distinguished talent of the United States. He is the possessor of abilities that, turned to a worldly purpose, would have long since placed him in a position of independence, Father Crowley takes leave of his congregation no richer in the world than when he came among them, and now, as then, taking no thought for the morrow. His work is an earnest of his faith, and he takes with him the best regards and respect of all who know him."

At his own request for a change on account of ill health, he was made rector, at Oxford, Ohio, in August, 1880, and has within less than a year liquidated more than one thousand dollars of indebtedness, which he found resting on the Church. Bright, hopeful, and intelligent, devoted to his work, a scholar and gentleman, Mr. Crowley can not help but have success and popularity whereever he goes. He has been an indefatigable worker, broad in charity, and abundant in good works.

John Edward Chatten is a descendant of pioneer stock. His grandfather, John Chatten, who was a native of the vicinity of Wilmington, Delaware, came to this part of Ohio in 1811, but in consequence of the War of 1812 returned to the East, and at the close of the war came back in 1814, and permanently located in the southwestern part of Oxford Township, where he continued to reside until about 1848, when he removed to the vicinity of Hartford City, Indiana, where he subsequently died. Kenard Chatten, a son, was the only member of' the family who remained in Butler County. He was born in Delaware in 1802. He married, in 1826, Mary, daughter of William and Esther Davidson, who came from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in 1817, and settled on what is now known as the Howell farm in the northwestern part of Oxford Township. They had a family of ten children—six sons and four daughters. Mrs. David Kennedy and Mrs. Chatten, of Oxford Township, and one son, William, of Clinton County, Indiana, are now the only known survivors. After his marriage, Mr. Chatten settled on a farm in the woods in the north part of Oxford Township, which he improved and continued to own and operate until his sudden death in October, 1862, caused by falling from an apple-tree. His wife still survives him, residing in a house near the village, built by her husband a short time previous to his death. They had ten children—John Edward, William, James, Benjamin, Martha, Samuel, Mary, Sarah, George, and Margaret. The latter three are with their mother. The fourth, sixth, and seventh named died in youth. Martha married George Sadler, and they now reside in Peoria, Illinois William and James are in Kansas.

The subject of ,our sketch was born on the farm, in Oxford Township, in 1827, and grew to manhood during the days of the beginnings of commercial and agricultural improvements, and remembers distinctly the commotion caused by the introduction of steam navigation and railroads. His father introduced the first "endless- chain" thresher used in this vicinity in 1837, and it was then a sufficient curiosity to attract people from a great distance to witness its wonderful workings. Mr. Chatten remained on the farm during his youth, and when twenty years of age began to learn the saddler's trade, in Oxford. He married, in 1850, Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel and Ann Kyger, who were early residents of Milford Township. Mr. Chatten has been a resident of the village of Oxford since he came to learn his trade, with the exception of about five years, one of which was spent on a farm in Morgan Township, and the other four at College Corner. He has now been a continuous resident of Oxford for a quarter of a century; has a family of four children: George W., the only son, is a resident of Illinois; Alice, now Mrs. John Van Arnem; Ida, and Frank. Mr. Chatten helped recruit a company of volunteers in 1862, which became Company C, Ninety-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and of which he was first lieutenant, but after about six months' service, on account of the death of his father, he resigned and returned home. Mr. Chatten still conducts a harness shop, with salesroom attached ; is the Oxford agent for the United States Express Company; has been a member of the Invincible Lodge, No. 108, I. 0. 0. F., since 1849, in which he has twice passed the chairs, and has twice represented his lodge in the Grand Lodge. He is an honored and worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and leader of the choir; is a Republican in politics, having abandoned the Democracy in consequence of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the refusal of President Pierce to protect the well-disposed citizens of Kansas against the lawlessness of the ruffian pro-slavery element. Mr. Chatten's name will be found in the list of officials

532 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

of Oxford Township. He has also been the candidate of his party for county office at different times, but always shared the usual fate of Republican candidates in this Democratic stronghold.

The Rev. William Wirt Colmery, D. D., is a native of Chartiers, Washington County, Pennsylvania. His father's name was William, also, and the mother's maiden name was Violet Scott. The paternal line of descent is supposed to date back to an ancestry in Ireland, although this is not full ascertained. The ancestors of the mother came to this country from Scotland, as early as 1700, in the person of Hugh Scott. The father's calling was that of a farmer, and with an earnest desire for the welfare of his family, his effort was to give all a sound and liberal education, and he so far succeeded in this, that five sons, of a family of eight children, completed a collegiate course. The early and preparatory schooling was at select and common schools of the country, the first being where the tutorship was paid for at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per term of three months, and before the system of common or district schools had obtained in that section. William W. Colmery, of whom we write, was the third son, and born October 28, 1819, and finished his course of study at Washington College, Pennsylvania, in 1840. He then taught two years in Clark County, Kentucky, afterwards taking a course in theology at the New Albany Theological Seminary (since incorporated as the Northwestern Seminary, of Chicago). The ancestors of Dr. Colmery were noted for their interest in education, and especially Christian education. A great grandfather; Mr. J. McDowell, was the first to subscribe to the erection of the literary institute, out of which grew Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, and which was afterwards consolidated with the Washington College. It was while engaged in teaching in Kentucky, and attending a Presbyterian camp-meeting, conducted under the leadership of such men as Nathan L. Rice and others, that Mr. Col- mery was made the subject of converting grace. This was in 1841, and thereafter he was led to feel a drawing toward the ministry. He was licensed to preach by the presbytery of Salem, Indiana, and soon after accepted the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church in Hayesville, (then) Richland County, Ohio. The following year, 1846, he was married to Miss Mary C. Scott, of Washington County, Pennsylvania, and in the October following was ordained to the full work of the ministry in the Old School Presbyterian Church. Here he remained some nine years, preaching also to a neighboring Church, at Jeromeville. He was also connected with Vermilion Institute, at the time one of the most flourishing academies of the State of Ohio.

In 1855 he went to Indiana and spent some time preaching to the Presbyterian Church of Lafayette. In 1858 he returned to Ohio, settling with the Church at Lebanon, where he labored in the ministry for nine years. At the meeting of the General Assembly in Lebanon in 1864 he was delegated by the Old School Assembly to present the Christian salutations of that body to the Cumberland Assembly, which duty was so gracefully performed that he was soon after made the recipient of the degree of Doctor of Divinity by one of the colleges of the Cumberland Church. He resigned his charge of the Lebanon Church in 1866, and accepted the pastorate of the Church in Monroe, Butler County, Ohio, with which he remained for six years ; but his health failing, he removed with his family to Oxford, where he has since resided, preaching as his strength has permitted to Churches in the vicinity.

In 1867 he was made stated clerk of the Miami (Old School) Presbytery, and after the reunion of the two schools was continued in the same office in the Dayton Presbytery, which he still occupies. He was elected moderator of the Cincinnati Synod (Old School), at its session in Springfield, in 1865, as also at its last session held in the same city in 1881. Dr. Colmery has been warmly identified with the cause of temperance in its various presentations, and an ardent advocate of advanced and liberal Christian education, and has been (and still is) one of the trustees of Wooster University, Ohio, from its earliest foundation. He refers with pleasure to the fact that Judge Josiah Scott, of Hamilton, was his uncle, as also recalling the military record which he has been enabled to make. His first service in the cause of his country was as a member of the " corn-stalk brigade" in 1842 while residing in Kentucky, and as a one hundred days' man in the late war in the famed " Squirrel Hunters," from which latter service he holds a highly prized discharge in the form of a striking lithograph engraving signed by Governor Tod.

Some time about 1790 a Scotch colony came to America and settled in East Haddam, Connecticut, among them Hezekiah Cone and a large family of the same name. In the same town was Miss Polly Selden, to whom Hezekiah was married, and by whom a family was born to him. Peleg H. Cone, long a citizen of Oxford, was a son of Hezekiah, being born at East Haddam, February 22, 1805. The parents being farmers, the lad, Peleg, in common with the rest of the children, had the education obtainable in the district schools of the day, and tried his hand a little at teaching. When seventeen years of age he went to the city of Hartford and apprenticed himself to a silver-plater to learn the trade. Here he remained several years, and while resident at Hartford was married to Miss Mary Brace on the 21st of February, 1829. He next settled in New Haven, Connecticut, and established himself in his business as silver-plater. Some five years thereafter he was made high sheriff of New Haven County, and sold out his business. He was re-elected sheriff for the second term. At the close of his official term he engaged in a mercantile agency recently established in New York City, tray-

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eling mostly in the West and South, his family still residing at New Haven. Leaving the New York house he accepted a position in the manufacturing concern of Hoadly & Co., a heavy firm in the carriage business in New Haven, and remained connected with the same for some sixteen years. In January, 1852, Mr. Cone moved his family to the village of Oxford, Ohio, where he became the proprietor of the public house known as the Mansion or Cone House, conducting it for about eleven years. After leaving this he opened an office as conveyancer, real estate and insurance agent, in the store under the Mansion House, fronting on High Street. This business he continued until 1868, when he took his son, F. J. Cone, into the office as partner, and the two continued this occupation up to the death of the father, which took place March 14, 1882. Mr. Cone espoused the tenets. of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1849, and had been active in its interests and in efforts for the promotion of its welfare. Mr. Cone was also an active member of Invincible Lodge, No. 108, I. 0. 0. F., of Oxford, and as such was held in high esteem by his brother members. He was for eighteen years a member of the board of education of Oxford, and for many years president of the board of trustees of Oxford Female College, only resigning this position about a year prior to his decease. He was a well wisher to every good work which looked to the growth and well-being Of the city of his adoption, aiding them to the extent of his ability. When Mr. and Mrs. Cone came, to Oxford they had a family of seven children, two of whom have since died. Three of the sons were volunteers in the late war, William and George enlisting and serving in the one hundred days' service, and F. J. in the three years' men. Of the children living H. S. Cone is now residing at Galion, Michigan, and F. J. Cone, the other son, was the partner and continues the business in the old offrce in Oxford; two daughters, Mrs. A. F. Bevis and Mrs. Dr. G. W. Keely, reside in Oxford, while a third is the wife of Dr. A. A. Barnett, of Jerseyville, Illinois.

Benjamin Bassett Davis, mayor of Oxford, is a native of Edgartown, on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, and was born on the 4th of April, 1816. His parents were Zadock and Elizabeth Bassett Davis. He was the third born of a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters, only three of whom are now living. When Benjamin was three years of age the parents, with their family, emigrated to the State of Ohio, and settled on a farm, near the present hamlet of Warsaw, some five miles west of Cincinnati. Here the elder Davis for a few years carried on a small tannery, but relinquished this calling and gave his attention more fully to the cultivation of his farm. In early life Mayor Davis had little, if any, advantages of school education, but was of an active temperament and a quick, discriminating mind. As he came to manhood, while busy assisting his father in the care of the farm, the latter was removed by death,

which event occurred in August, 1834. The son remained on the farm with the mother and the rest of the family for several years thereafter. On attaining his majority, he espoused the politics of the Whigs, and for many years was active in the local interests of that party. He was for some nine years made one of the justices of the peace in the township where he resided. August 6, 1836, he was married to Miss Rhoda Cullom, who bore him seven sons and one daughter. In 1861 Mr. Davis took up his residence in the city of Cincinnati, and having early espoused the cause of the Republican party when it was organized, he was favored by an appointment to the position of chief local agent in the post-office blank department of the West, which was then located at Cincinnati. This position he held with honor to himself and to the interests of the department for over 'a year, when, the office being transferred to Buffalo, New York, he resigned his position and accepted an appointment as superintendent of the local city mail distribution, a position he held for nearly three years. While residing in Cincinnati, January 23, 1865, he lost his wife by death. On the 21st of February, 1867, he was married to Mrs. Sarah (Gath) Horsefall, then of the city.

In March, 1868, Mr. Davis moved with his family to Oxford, Ohio, which place has continued to be .his residence since that date. Not long after becoming a resident the community saw fit to elect him to the highest honor which, as a municipality, it was in their power to bestow, and with so great an acceptance have the responsible and often arduous and unpleasant duties of the office of mayor been administered, that he has been repeatedly re-elected, usually by large majorities, marking no special party distinctions nor lines, so that his continued term of service in this capacity is now some thirteen years, marked by only one interim of about three months. Mr. Davis was not permitted for many years to enjoy the companionship of his wife, Sarah, as she died on the 14th of May, 1871. On February 21, 1872, he was again married, choosing for his third and present wife, Mrs. Elizabeth (Wright) Douglass. Of the children born to the first Mrs. Davis four sons and a daughter are still living. One of the deceased, Carlos, served as a volunteer in the late war with much honor and credit, being mustered out of the service at Columbus at the close, after some three years' enlistment. Mr. Davis has for many years been a firm believer in the doctrines of the Universalists, and is warmly identified with this organization in Oxford. He is of a naturally quiet, reflective turn of mind and has those qualities which are needful to make him a good magistrate and officer of justice. In addition to his official duties, Mayor Davis is now the proprietor of the " Girard House," on the corner of High and Poplar Streets, which his recently been remodeled and the entire house refurnished, making it now one of the most desirable tarrying-places for the traveler or pleasant home for the regular boarder, which can be found in the

534 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

county. Wilson S., the oldest son, is now teaching in Washington, Indiana. Albert G. is in the Times-Star office of Cincinnati. Merrill B., Alexis B., and Darwin F. are residents of Cincinnati also. Elizabeth, the daughter, now Mrs. I. F. Williams, is a skilled music teacher just west of Cincinnati.

Died at his home in Oxford, July 25, 1881, John Douglass, in the 60th year of his age. He was born in Chester District, South Carolina. In 1834, with his parents, five brothers, and five sisters, he removed to the neighborhood three miles north, of Oxford, where he remained on the farm until about fifteen years ago, when he removed to the town. He at first engaged in the grocery business with Mr. Higgins ; afterward he went into the boot and shoe business, and about five years ago retired from active life. Mr. Douglass was for two terms (six years) president of the board of education, and had just been elected to another term. He was an efficient officer and a true friend of education. When only nineteen years of age he united with the Associate Reformed Church at Hopewell, then under the pastorate of the Rev. S. McCracken. For the past twelve years he had been an elder of the United Presbyterian Church, Oxford congregation. For many years he was superintendent of the Sabbath school, and during the seven years preceding his death was actively engaged in religious work. He left behind him a record worthy, of careful and earnest study.

Isaiah Douglass, farmer, is a son of John and Martha Douglass, who were among the early residents of Oxford Township. They emigrated from South Carolina in 1834; and moved on the farm where Isaiah now lives in 1835, and where his parents continued to reside until their decease. Isaiah Douglass was the youngest of a family of eleven children, six sons and five daughters. He was born in South Carolina in 1829, and was there• fore about six years old when his parents moved on the farm in the corner of Section 2, where he has resided ever since, having purchased and received quit-claim deeds from the other heirs about 1856. He has added to his original farm, and now has 240 acres in one body and 132 acres in Section 11. He married, in 1863, Anna Patterson. They have five children living and one who died in infancy—Albert J., Martha E., William C., Samuel L., and Zaidie Maggie.

Israel Dewitt, farmer, was born in Kentucky in 1805. He is the son of Zachariah Price Dewitt and Elizabeth Dewitt. The father served in the Indian wars at the close of the Revolution, and Israel Fowler, one of his grandsons, was in the Mexican War. Zachariah P. Dewitt emigrated from Kentucky to Butler County in 1805, and entered three hundred and twenty acres of laud, situated on Section 24. Here he lived until his death, at the age of eighty-two. His wife died in 1840, at the age of sixty-seven.

Dunham F. Davis, son of Joshua and Elizabeth Davis, was born in Hamilton County, March 30, 1856. He graduated in 1872, at the Oxford High School, and was married October 10, 1876, to Ella S., daughter of William and Mary (Carr) Rumple, who was born in Hanover Township, July 18, 1856. They have one child, William R. Davis. Mr. Davis formerly kept a livery stable, but in the Spring of 1878 moved on his present farm.

Joshua Davis, Sen., of Oxford, is a native of New Jersey, where he was born May 28, 1803. His father emigrated to Ohio in 1805, bringing his family and household goods all the way to Middletown in wagons. He engaged in merchandising and milling at Middletown, but not being suited with the country after a stay of less than two years, he went back to his old home in New Jersey, but again returned to Butler County soon after the close of the, War of 1812. The subject of this sketch was the ninth of a family of ten children, of whom himself and a sister, Mrs. Phoebe Laboyteaux, are the only survivors. Mr. Davis had but little opportunity for education. He learned the cooper's trade, and after his marriage in 1828 purchased his father's farm, near Bevis P. O., where he also carried on the cooper business, in connection with his farm, for a number of years. In 1864, having sold his farm, he removed to Oxford, where he had purchased property, and where he has since lived a retired life, supported by the accumulations of years of toil. He built, in 1872, and now owns, the edifice known as Davis's Hall. Mrs. Davis's maiden name was Elizabeth Bevis. She also comes of a pioneer family. Mr. and Mrs. Davis began married life more than fifty years ago with but little means in the days of limited facilities, and by industry and economy have accumulated a considerable property. They have had twelve children, eleven of whom grew to maturity, and ten of whom are now living. All are respectably and comfortably started in life. Mr. Davis, though beyond age, volunteered in the late war with the forces regularly mustered during Kirby Smith's raid. One son, Joshua, served three years, and two other sons short terms. Mr. Davis's father, whose name was also Joshua, served in the Revolutionary War, and a brother was a volunteer in the War of 1812. Mr. Davis has been an industrious and useful citizen, and has contributed his full share to the general good.

John Ferguson is a native of Scotland, being born in Campbelltown, Argyleshire, April 8, 1810. He learned the tinner's trade in Scotland, and came to the United States in 1832. After a stay of a few months in Cincinnati, during which he was employed at his trade, he came to Oxford in the Spring of 1833, and there being no tinner's establishment in the village at that time, he opened a shop and began business for himself. Though unpretentious in the beginning, he gradually developed, and as the general commercial facilities improved, he was shrewd and thoughtful enough to keep abreast of the times. In the Fall of 1833, Mr. P. D. Matson be-

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came a partner, and so continued until 1868, when he retired, and Mr. Ferguson continued the business alone until 1880, then selling out and withdrawing from active life. His residence is one of the handsomest in the village. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and it a trustee of Oxford Fern    College, and has been thoroughly identified with the growth and general interest of Oxford for almost half a century.

He married in Scotland just previous to embarking for the United States, Catherine McGregor, by whom he had these children : William, Charles, Duncan, David, Isabella, and one infant, deceased. Christina married John B. Morris, who died about 1873. She now resides in Oxford. James S. is a physician of Camden. His first wife dying in 1868; he married in 1869 Miss Isabella McMillan,- also a native of Scotland. They have one infant child-Edward Bruce-living, and one deceased.

John Fisher, a native of Ireland, emigrated to America and located in Pennsylvania, where he married, in 1789, Ruth Mathers. About the year 1796 he removed to Cincinnati, where he followed his trade, that of shoemaker. About 1798 he moved to what is now Lemon Township, and entered a quarter section of land on the north fork of Dick's Creek. On this farm he lived and died, and the remains of himself and wife rest on that place. Of their children there were seven, five boys and two girls. Two remained in Butler County-Robert and Nancy Phares. Robert was born in Pennsylvania in the year 1794,- and learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed most of his life. He was married in 1816 to Sallie Ball, daughter of Ezekiel Ball. Of their family there were six who grew to maturity. These were John, Mary B., Elizabeth R., Almira, Sarah J., and Ezekiel Ball. Robert Fisher died in Middletown, June 4, 1874, aged eighty years. Mrs. Sallie Fisher died September 9, 1831, and is buried in the cemetery at Middletown. John Fisher was born January 6, 1818, in Middletown. By occupation during life he is a farmer. He has been twice married. The first time was to Ruth Mallory, December 25, 1844, the daughter of William and Mary Mabry, of this county. They had two children, Mary J. and William M. The first wife died November 25, 1866, and he married his second wife, Mrs. Rebecca Young, widow of Josiah Young, and daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Riley) Greenwood. She was born in Milford Township, January 27, 1821. The Greenwood and Young families were among the pioneers of Milford Township.

Joshua J. Fry, banker and stock raiser, is a native of Indiana, where he was born, in Franklin County, in 1852. He resided there until the Spring of 1870, when he removed to Oxford. Mr. Fry began trading in stock when a young man, and continued that business in connection with farming, increasing the magnitude of his operations as his means increased. When he came to Oxford he established the Oxford Bank, with which he still retains his connection, but has continued his farming and stock dealing. He now has two farms, containing upwards of three hundred acres, which he keeps well stocked, and is buying and selling constantly. He married January 1, 1857, Miss Sarah J., daughter of James Murphy. They have three children: William L., James G., and Philip 0. Fry. Thus it will be seen, Mr. Fry is a native of this vicinity, and he has been more or less identified from boyhood with Oxford and its commercial interests; for the last ten years he has been the head of one of its most important financial enterprises.

William J. Finch, son of Edward and Elizabeth (Wickard) Finch, was born May 28, 1831, in Hanover Township. Edward Finch was born May 5, 1800, in Orange County, New York, and in 1814 came to Butler County with his parents. Elizabeth Wickard was born February 5, 1806, in Pennsylvania, and came West with her parents. She was united to Mr. Finch November 4, 1824: They had five children : Andrew, Sarah Ann, Jacob W., William J., and Ellen J., now Mrs. Lewis Wool. The three oldest are dead. Mr. Finch was treasurer of Hanover Township for three or four years, and in 1852 moved on the farm where William now lives. He died there on the 17th of July, 1853, but his wife still survives. He was a. generous, kind-hearted man, and was liberal towards all benevolent and charitable enterprises. He and his wife were members of the United Brethren Church. Mr. William J. Finch has followed farming all his life. He was married March 1, 1859, to Abigail, daughter of Gideon and Mary Wilkinson, who was born March 9, 1838. They have seven children : Orlando B., William E., Gideon W., Elmer B., Charles L., Mary E., and Ella L. Mr. Finch is one of the trustees of Oxford Township, being on his fourth year, and has served as school director some twenty years, off and on. He is a member of Oxford Lodge No. 74, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. At the death of his father Mr. Finch bought the farm of seventy acres, and has added to it until now he owns one hundred and eighty-five, which he has made through his own industry and good management.

Thomas Fitzgerald, farmer, of Oxford, is a native of Ireland, born in County Antrim in 1817. He married, in 1847, Maria S. Orr, coming to America in 1849. They lived in Orange County, New York, about fourteen years, then went 'West, having land in Iowa, but after a stay of a few months, removed to Oxford, having traded for the farm he now owns. They removed here in 1871, and have since resided there. His farm contains about one hundred acres, and bears the marks of his industry and thrift, he having lately completed a handsome barn, and contemplating further improvement. Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald have a family of nine children, three sans and six daughters. His oldest son, Thomas, Jr., is a minister of the Presbyterian Church, and is now pastor at Branchville, New 'Jersey. One daughter, Margaret, married George Riggs, and they now

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reside in Franklin County, Ohio. The other five daughters, Lizzie, Hannah, Kate, Agnes, and Ella, and two sons, John and Elmer E., are young people at home. Mrs. Fitzgerald is a member of the United Presbyterian Church, at Oxford, and has given her children good, religious tr ing, and several of them are already identified with lilt Church.

Mr. Fitzgerald was one of five children; his mother died when he was about fourteen years old, and he shortly after found a home wherever he could. He is, therefore, a self-made man. Having begun life for himself when a boy, among strangers, and with all disadvantages to contend with, he succeeded in gaining sufficient to bring him to the United States, where, by continued industry and economy, he, with the help of an excellent wife and children, trained to habits of industry and self-reliance, now lives in a comfortable home, and has become one of the substantial men of the vicinity of Oxford, identified with all the progress and interests of his neighborhood.

Samuel Gath, of Oxford, Ohio, was born in Yorkshire, England, April 5, 1807, taking the name of his father, his mother's maiden name being Sarah Bradley. She was of a Yorkshire family, and her ancestors had traditions indicating some connection with the historic border feuds and Scottish wars. In boyhood Samuel Gath spent portions of three years as a pupil in one of the schools of the Dissenters conducted on the Lancasterian plan, or that by which knowledge was imparted by text cards and diagrams on the wall and orally by the teacher, for which the lad paid one penny per week, one person holding the position of teacher for some 400 pupils. After this the lad worked at " card sticking" for some time, and at thirteen years of age was indentured to Benjamin Wood, of Halifax, as an apprentice at cabinet making, remaining with his employer for some twelve years. In all that time he had but one misunderstanding or unpleasant word from Mr. Wood. He then spent five years in the employment of Samuel Taylor, after which he started in business for himself with a /younger brother, Daniel, as his partner, and with such sagacity and thrift that in a few years the elder brother's portion of the profits amounted to some $3,500, and with this he proposed to emigrate to America. In 1843 Mr. Gath married Miss Mary Fetley, of Yorkshire, and in April, 1844, with his family, and in company with some seventy others, mostly from his native town, he took passage on the ship Patrick Henry, Captain Delano, for New York, which port they made after a voyage of nearly five weeks Many of his companions soon became homesick or dissatisfied and returned to England, but Mr. Gath had come intending to stay and make the United States his future home ; and so, with his family and some six hundred pounds of personal effects, he pushed westward by the Erie Canal to Buffalo, crossing the lake to Toledo, and thence following the canal to Hamilton. With his household he was set down on the morning of the 3d of July, in Oxford, which Mr. Gath describes as being constituted of a motley array of wooden buildings set mostly with their gables on the streets, and the plat of ground which now constitutes the public park was completely overgrown with "dog-fennel," through which a narrow foot-path led diagonally from the south-west to the north-east corner.

Mr. Gath first settled as a farmer some three miles lnorth of the village, on a farm now occupied by Mr. Booth; where he remained for a little time, when Mr. Merrill, a cabinet maker in the village, whose store and shop combined stood on the west side of the public square, offered him a partnership in his business. This offer Mr. Gath at once accepted, and some eight months afterwards bought out his partner's interest and succeeded to the entire business, continuing it most successfully for many years, on the old site, the old shop having given way in the meantime to a fine and substantial brick structure, well designed for the accommodation of the greatly increased demands of its proprietor, who, in his riper and advancing years, has transferred its cares and responsibilities to his son Harry.

Mr. and Mrs. Gath have had eleven children born to them, ten of whom--five sons and five daughters—are now living. Two of the sons, the eldest, Samuel, Jr., and the youngest, are following the calling of the father as manufacturers and dealers in the village of Oxford, the latter at the old stand, and the former but a few rods east, his store fronting on the north side of the park. Mr. Gath is a man of a peculiarly genial, even jovial temperament, upon whom the pressure and anxieties of business and the natural cares of life incident to an active calling seem to have made no very serious impression ; his physique and general health give promise of many years of probable life. Enjoying the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens, he has never sought political preferment from them ; yet, at their solicitation, he has held the office of city marshal for one or more terms, in which capacity, as he says, his greatest emoluments have usually been derived from the fun he has had in some of the official skirmishes into which he has found himself drawn by the young fellows in attendance upon Miami University, as they have been caught when out on their " larks." Mr. Gath has for over fifty years been an active and consistent member of the Methodist Church, having, in the mother country, affiliated with that portion of this general body of Christians called " the New Connection Methodists," who had been striving for lay representation. Ever since his settlement in this country he has been a warm sympathizer with the tenets and politics of the Democratic party, and usually votes with it.–

Among the business men of Oxford who deserve mention is Samuel Gath, Jr. He is a native of Oxford Township, born on January 1, 1847. His parents came to

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the village when he was a boy, and he has been a resident of the village ever since. His father became engaged in the furniture and undertaking business, and the son began his attendance at funerals and assisting in the store and shop at about fourteen years of age.

During the war, though under age, he was a member of the " Squirrel Hunters" organization, in 1862, and was out with the hundred day men, being a sergeant of Company A, One Hundred and Sixty-seventh Ohio National Guards, and soon after the expiration of that term volunteered and became a member of Company D, Forty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war, his discharge dating Washington, D. C., May 31, 1865. In January, 1868, he became a partner with his father, and so continued until August, 1871, when he purchased his father's interest and continued business alone, discontinuing the furniture trade after a few years and turning his attention more exclusively to undertaking, for which he seems to be specially adapted and in which he has been enterprising and very successful. Mr. Gath married, February 20, 1870, Miss Mary, daughter of Smith J. Dancier, who was then a resident of Oxford, but now resides at Camden. Mr. and Mrs. Gath have a family of three children, two daughters and a son—Mary Etta, Jay Dandier, and Jeannetta.

Edward L. Hill, M. D., was born in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, January 23, 1827. His parents were Russel and Lucretia (Bodman) Hill, of the same place. The father was a son of Ephraim, and grandson of Samson Hill, who traced his descent back to an English origin, while the mother, who is still living in Williamsburg, is a daughter of Dr. Joseph Bodman, of a family of German-English extraction. Dr. Hill pursued his preparatory education at Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts, and passed thence into Amherst College. He took his professional course in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York City, receiving his diploma early in 1852. Soon after this he located in the practice of his profession at Chester Factories, in Western Massachusetts. While residing here he warmly espoused the cause of temperance, and while diligent and successful in his calling, he was bold and fearless in the expression of his convictions of the right and of principle, as he held it. It was during his residence here that the organization of a lodge of the Carson League in the place caused open and signal opposition to be raised by the friends of the liquor traffic, which took the desperate form of personal injury and the destruction of the property of many who had identified themselves with the workings of the league, which spirit culminated in 1855. Dr. Hill was among the foremost in the happily successful efforts then made to ferret out the lawless miscreants and to bring them to light and justice, and to establish peace and safety among the community, he being personally instrumental in the arrest, identification and conviction of several of the more prominent of the evil doers.

In 1856 Dr. Hill removed to Columbus, Ohio, where he practiced his profession for the three years following, but in the Spring of 1859 he changed his residence to Oxford, Ohio, succeeding to the practice of Dr. Robert L. Rhea, who had removed to Chicago. On the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, and upon the call for the first one hundred thousand volunteer troops, Dr. Hill enlisted for three months, and was made surgeon of the Twentieth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was among the first to depart for the seat of war, his term of enlistment being from April 9 to August 26, 1861. Returning from this enlistment, he soon after re-entered the army, and was again made surgeon of the reorganized Twentieth Regiment, his commission bearing date of September 18, 1861. He was made senior surgeon on the operating board of the Third Division Seventeenth Army Corps in the Vicksburg campaign ; then surgeon in charge of General Hospital No. 2, at Vicksburg. Afterwards he acted as superintendent of the Seventeenth Army Corps' hospital at Marietta, Georgia, in the Atlanta campaign, returning home in November, 1864. Since that time Dr. Hill has been in the active practice of his profession. •

Dr. Hill was married April 24, 1850, to Hope Lucinda, daughter of Cotton. Hayden, of Williamsburg, Massachusetts, a family whose name is not unknown to eminence and distinction, and among whom we find the late ex-Governor Joel Hayden, of Haydensville, Massachusetts, and Mr. Peter Hayden, of Columbus, Ohio. Dr. and Mrs. Hill have had five children born to them, four sons now living, and a daughter, who died while the father was in the army. The youngest of the sons was the subject of a severe attack of acute diphtheria in November, 1881, and, while lying at the point of death, all other remedies and treatment having failed, the anxious father decided to venture upon the operation of tracheotomy, as a last resort to save the life of his boy. And this he did, ably and intelligently assisted by Dr. H. D. Hinckley, Dr. G. W. Keely, a skilled dental practitioner and neighbor of Dr. Hill, administering the anaesthetic. The operation (one of the most delicate and uncertain known to modern surgery) proved eminently successful, and although the life of the little patient hung trembling in the balance for days, he soon rallied and made a perfect recovery.

Early in 1865 Dr. Hill made a public profession of religion, and united with the (then) Second Presbyterian Church of Oxford. In April, 1866, he was made a ruling elder of the same Church. Dr. Hill was also clerk of the session for some ten years. He is a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Society of Amherst College, Massachusetts; a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1853; was made an honorary member of the Ohio Medical Society, June 3, 1856; and a member of the

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American Medical Association in 1867; he is a member of the Union District Medical Association, and also of the Butler County Medical Society; in 1869 he was Worthy Master of Oxford Lodge, No. 67, F. & A. M. Dr. Hill has ever been a warm and earnest Republican in his political preferences, and, although not active in political strifes, he is of a firm and uncompromising nature, standing fearlessly for his cherished principles. Of an affable and kindly disposition, he easily wins and usually retains the friendship and confidence of the community among whom he moves.

Volney L. Hills was the daughter of Joseph and Margaret Hills, and was born February 6, 1815. She came to Cincinnati with her parents in 1817, from Massachusetts, where she was born. At the time of her death she was in the sixty-sixth year of her age. In the year 1829 she removed with her parents to Oxford, and on the 5th of May, 1833, was married to James D. Ringwood, at the home of her parents. There were born to this couple five children, one of whom died in infancy, and the remainder, three daughters and one son, still survive. Her husband died two years and two months previous to her death, since which time her life seemed to be on the wane.

James H. Howe is descended from an English family of this name, which, on coming to this country, early settled in Massachusetts in the vicinity of Boston. A son by the name of Ebenezer was born July 13, 1765. A Connecticut family named Sears, who afterwards made their home in New York State, had a daughter, Sarah, and to her Ebenezer was married November 9, 1793. The two remained with the father-in-law and had three children born to them. Somewhere in 1800 or 1801 Mr. Sears and his family (with the Howes) emigrated to the valley of the Little Miami and settled near Loveland, where the elder Sears purchased each of his children farms. The good man was spared to be over one hundred years of age. The Howe family remained here till about 1813 or 1814, and then moved to the wilds of Indiana and took up some land upon Hannas Creek. In that neighborhood in 1815, August 7th, James H. Howe was born, and grew to manhood, taking up his residence at the age of eighteen at College Corner. January 2, 1856, he was married to Mrs. Jerusha (King) White, formerly of Massachusetts, but born in Cazenovia, New York, July, 1815, who had been a resident of Ohio since 1834. His father came to Oxford in 1822, and resided on a farm until 1830, the time of his death. Mr. and Mrs. Howe are now residing in a pleasant home in the village of College Corner, enjoying the quiet and serenity of their advancing years. They have no children.

Robert C. Huston, M. D., is a native of Pennsylvania, and was born in Greene County in 1813. In 1818 his parents, John and Sarah (Morrison) Huston, emigrated to Indiana. When Robert was about eleven years of age an old neighbor and friend, who was visiting the family, and at that time residing near Venice, persuaded Mr. Huston to allow the son to return with him for the purpose of securing some school advantages, and he remained there, having his home with this old neighbor about two years, after which he returned to his parents at Connersville, where he remained enjoying the benefit of the common schools of that day. In 1834 he entered the preparatory school of Miami University, and continued his studies, literary and professional, up to 1840, and the same year commenced practice in connection with Dr. Erasmus Rose, then at Liberty, Union County, Indiana. One year later he opened an office at College Corner, where he practiced his profession ten years. In 1852 he removed to Oxford, where he has since resided, enjoying a practice which requires his full time. He married twice, the first time in 1842, his wife being Jane, daughter of Major James Montgomery, who was originally from the same county in Pennsylvania from which the Huston family came. He obtained his military title by service in the War of 1812, and was an early resident of Oxford. The issue of this marriage was four children, three sons and one daughter. The latter is now the wife of Dr. J. N. Bradley. The sons are all residents of Butler County. The eldest, James W., resides on his father's farm, the old Moretz estate ; R. W. L. is a resident of Oxford, and the youngest, John C , is now in the drug trade at College Corner, and is also the postmaster. His second marriage occurred in 1872, his wife being Sarah W., daughter of Sylvester and Jerusia Lyons, and therefore sister of Mrs. Professor Bishop. His' residence on the north side of High, and at the west corporation line, is a handsome property, and has been his home for the past twenty years. The doctor is a Republican in politics, and takes an honorable part in all matters of public interest. His affiliation and special interest religiously is with the Presbyterians. He has been an active and successful practitioner for forty years, and is a member of the State Medical Society, and also an active and prominent member of the Butler County Medical Society.

Hiram King, farmer, is a native of Butler County, and was born in Oxford Township, in 1832. His parents, Thomas and Nancy King, came from the State of New York about 1819, and lived a number of years in Cincinnati. Mr. King was a carpenter, but when work at his trade was scarce took his ax, in the use of which he was expert, and helped clear a considerable part of the ground now occupied by the city. He had many offers of house-building with town-lots for pay ; but not foreseeing that it was destined to be so great a city, he came to the interior to secure a home, and located in the southern part of Oxford Township, about 1830. A few years later he removed to the farm upon which Hiram now resides. Mr. King had a family of eight children, only two of whom are now living—William S., now a resident of Pettis County, Missouri, and Hiram, who

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now owns a part of the old homestead, upon which he has lived since he was one year old.

Although Mr. King had a very limited education he has taken an active interest in education, and has been of great use in promoting the interests of the schools in his district, in which he has been a director a number of years and until after the building of their present substantial brick house. Mr. King has been an authorized exhorter in the Methodist Episcopal Church for over twenty years past. He has gained his knowledge of books by improving his spare hours and at great disadvantage, and has accumulated a good rural library. He is known as a man of good general information, able to hold his own in ordinary debate, either secular or religious, and has been the leader in maintaining a Sunday-school in the district school-house.

He married, in 1859, Ann E. Booth, by whom he had one child, a daughter, Anna E., who is now a young lady. She graduated at the Oxford High School. His first wife dying, he married, in 1861, Martha E., her sister, by whom he had two children—Thomas L. and Laura B. Mr. King's wife is a daughter of William Booth, who is a native of England, and an old resident of Oxford Township, his farm adjoining Mr. King's. Mr. King comes from a hardy stock, who were noted for longevity. His grandfather, Samuel King, was a soldier of the Revolution, and served during seven years of that memorable struggle. His great-grandfather King and his wife lived to pass more than eighty years of wedded life.

George Washington Keely, D. D. S., is the grandson of John Keely, a German by nativity, born in 1753. He came to this country in 1762 with his parents and settled in Pennsylvania, afterwards becoming a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and being wounded in the battle of Brandywine. His son, John second, was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, January 16, 1779, and died in Oxford, Ohio, May 7, 1848. He married Miss Ann Iddings, a native of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, who was born August 7, 1787. Mr. and Mrs. Keely came to Oxford, Ohio, in 1818, and in 1822, on the 22d of October, George W. Keely was born. The residence of the family was but a short distance south of the university buildings, and the boy had the privileges of the schools of the town, and when but a mere lad of some fourteen entered Miami University. Three years later, the president, Dr. Bishop, retired. Mr. Keely was warmly attached to the doctor, and feeling that the trustees of the institution were dealing unjustly by him, manifested his own sympathy by refusing' longer to be numbered with the students of the school, although it had been his expectation to have pursued a full graduating course.

Not long after this he spent a little time with Dr. J. D. White, then a practicing dentist in the city of Hamilton ; but in the Fall of 1839 entered the office of Dr. John Allen, then a noted dental practitioner of the city of Cincinnati (now of New York), with whom he spent the two following years. Returning to Oxford in 1841, Dr. Keely established himself in the practice of his chosen profession by opening an office in a building at the corner of High and Beach Streets, where he remained for a year and a half, then moving to and occupying an office on Main Street. Afterwards, in 1867, he rented the rooms corner of High and Main Streets, where he has continued his practice ever since. Agreeable to the customs of the day and the practice of many dentists in the early history of the profession, Dr. Keely sustained for some years a series of periodic visits to neighboring towns in the States of Ohio and Indiana, which extended over the years of his early practice.

On the 13th of March, 1851, Dr. Keely was married to Miss Susanna Wells, in the city of Cincinnati, who bore to him three children, only one of whom, a son, Charles I. Keely, D. D. S., is now living, and is a practicing dentist as partner of his father, located in Hamilton. The married life of Doctor and Mrs. Keely was of short duration, as she was taken away by death May 25, 1856. April 21, 1861, Dr. Keely was again married, to Miss Cornelia Cone, of Oxford, who has borne him eight children, three of whom only are now living, two daughters and a son. After having been in active practice for some twelve years he graduated at the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, in March, 1853.

Being of an ingenious and scholarly nature, Doctor Keely has ever been among the foremost in all movements which look toward the elevation and advancement of the interests of the profession of his choice, and has been ready to aid by his presence, councils, and means every organized effort upon the part of his brother practitioners for the advancement of its standards. He was present at the meeting of dentists, first held at Niagara Falls, where the foundations were first laid for the organization of the American Dental Association, in 1859; has been an almost constant attendant upon its annual sessions; was elected its president in Philadelphia, in 1876, and presided as such in Chicago, in 1877. He was an active mover in the organization of the Ohio State Dental Society; was once its president, and has for the last ten years been re-elected to its treasurership. He has been, and now is, either an active or honorary member of the following : Mississippi Valley Dental Society, Mad River Valley Dental Society, and of the Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin State Dental Societies respectively, and was elected a member of the New York Odontological Society.

He has been a trustee of the Ohio College of Dental Surgery for the past twenty years, and often president of the board of trustees, and for the past fifteen years has lectured to the students on the "Cause and Management of Irregularities of the Teeth," which he has made a labor of love for the past twenty-five years.

540 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

He has been a liberal contributor to the literature and periodicals of his profession. From his reports on Dental Education, made in 1874 and 1875 before the American. Dental Association, copious extracts were reproduced in the " History of Dentistry in the United States." He has often accepted invitations to lecture on some of the specialities pertaining to the practice of dentistry, one being " Causes and Prevention of Irregularities of the Teeth."

When twenty-one years of age he became a member of the Masonic fraternity, and was one of the charter members of the lodge of Odd Fellows in Oxford when it was organized, having previously been a member of the Brookville, Indiana, lodge. In addition to his professional activity, Dr. Keely has taken the warmest interest in every thing pertaining to the well-being of his native town. City improvements, the grading of the streets, the embellishment and adornment of the city parks and college campus, improvement of public buildings, etc., have in him a sure promoter and active worker ; while the several educational institutions—Miami University, of which he is a trustee ; Oxford Female Institute, Oxford Female College, and Western Female Seminary—have ever a warm place in his heart, and to their advancement he has contributed liberally of both mental and manual effort and pecuniary means.

The doctor is a man peculiarly social in his nature, a skillful and intelligent practitioner, kind and indulgent in his pleasant household, and a warm and sympathizing companion and friend, having a high place in the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens.

Isaac Iddings Keely, son of John, was born on the twenty-fourth day of August, 1809. In the latter part of 1817 his parents moved to Oxford, with the intention of making it a permanent home, for the benefit of their growing family in the way of schools. Isaac was then a lad of seven years of age. He attended the first session of the first school ever taught on the university grounds, and he made the first speech at the first exhibition ever given in that school. At the proper age he began to work at the bricklaying trade with his father, and soon became a very expert and rapid workman. To show the rapidity of his movements, we mention one instance. There had been some talk as to how many bricks he, could lay in a day. One thousand bricks were considered a day's work in an ordinary wall. He made a wager that he could lay one thousand bricks in two hours. The place was on a wall in a building in Oxford, where the corners were raised and where one hundred bricks made one course. So his wager was that he could lay ten courses in two hours. He began about 10 o'clock in the morning and completed his task in just one hour and thirty-one minutes, having taken into his hands and laid in the wall, smoothing the joints on the outside, one thousand bricks in one hour and thirty-one minutes. Up to that time no one in that part of the country had ever done so well or handled so many bricks in the same time.

In very early life he developed into a trader, and began to deal in cigars, watermelons, and indeed any thing that he could handle, in the way of trade. When very young, not more than twenty, he took charge of the business, relieving his father of the trouble and vexation of the management. It was not long before he had all the family employed and quite a number of men at work for him. He built more houses in Oxford than any other one man. He spent some two or three years in peddling clocks. From this he drifted into the mercantile business. Here he handled dry goods, groceries, boots, shoes, and hats, and all kinds of notions; also, lumber and shingles; and all the time engaged in building and in trading real estate. He was a wholly unselfish man. He would sacrifice every thing for his friends. He would confide in and trust men to any reasonable amount, and had that confidence most shamefully abused by those whom he had befriended the most.

About the year 1844 or 1845 he began to lecture on animal magnetism or mental electricity. He claimed for it that it was a science, and he applied it to the curing of various diseases that prey upon mankind in this world. He did succeed in curing many afflicted people to such an extent that it excited the wonder and astonishment of the communities in which he lectured. Being possessed of strong will and energy, he knew no such word as fail. The late well-known George D. Prentice, then editor of the Louisville, Kentucky, Journal, in his daily of January 15, 1848, said of him :

" We never before saw such a crowd at the Odd Fellows' Hall as was assembled there last night. It was supposed that nearly a thousand persons were present. No great political orator, no popular Methodist preacher, no powerful actor, has ever been able draw such multitudes together in this city as are now drawn nightly by Mr. Keely. The experiments last night were wonderful, and we presume that none who saw them doubted that they were precisely what they seemed to be."

He was compelled to cease lecturing on account of the fearful strain on his nervous system. In 1850 he went to Edinburg, Indiana, and began to build houses, and buy and sell real estate. At one time he sold to the Junction Railroad Company real estate to the value of $18,000, taking in pay their stock, two-thirds of which was a total loss. Here he built a great many houses, bought and sold and engaged in general trade. He had the ability to make a great deal of money, but failed to save his earnings. He did not seem to be able to accumulate or save money, so that after years of toil he died comparatively poor. He commenced to ,operate in Indianapolis about 1854, but did not remain there long. His health began to fail him at Edinburg.

Early in 1857 he with his wife and child returned to Oxford. He was broken in health, and his end was. evidently near. Here among his friends he spent his last days. He was cheerful and hopeful. His mother,

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brother, and sister in turn tenderly nursed him during the last weary months of his life. His disease was laryngitis. He died on the eighteenth day of August, 1857, lacking six days of being forty-eight years of age. The following is from the pen of one who knew him long and intimately :

" A man has recently fallen in our midst whose brief career and sudden demise should prove a profitable lesson, calling our thoughts to the solemn warning, Be ye also ready.' Isaac I. Keely, who departed this life on the evening of the 18th inst., of laryngitis, lacking a few days of being forty-eight years old, was a man of peculiar character. His ambition and energy were as unbounded as his benevolence, neither failing till means and health failed. We knew him from his youth up— from the time he entered college and delivered the first speech ever made in old Miami University, and recited his algebra lessons, till the day the solemn tones of its bell announced his journey to the tomb—and of him we have had but one opinion, and that is, a noble soul imprisoned in a feeble casket. We have often known him to perform deeds of charity to the sick widow and orphan that would have astonished Bishop Heber or the monks of St. Bernard, not letting his right hand know what the left was doing. He was ardently devoted to parents, brothers, and sisters, and all who were allied by consanguinity. Being the oldest of the boys, much devolved on him in educating and settling in life the younger members, and he met this responsibility with a liberality surprising his neighbors.

" A more unselfish man never lived. He gave to his friends beyond endurance. This trait of character caused him to go out as he came into this world—but a few feet different. Nor was his charity confined to those only. He had a heart to feel for human woe and a hand to help in time of need.

" His enterprise was not confined to one State ; he built houses in different States for posterity to enjoy. This community will bear us witness when we say that I. I. Keely did more to make this town what it is than any other one man that ever lived in Oxford. As a religionist he was doubtless misunderstood by many He was no sectarian—liberal and ardent, but sincere in his opinions.

" As a defender of the science of animal magnetism or mental electricity as a curative agent, he was often denounced by ministers and other good men as a charlatan, a mountebank, an infidel in collusion with Beelzebub. This had a natural tendency to sour his mind against all sects. He reverenced the Deity, believed in Jesus Christ as the only Savior of sinners, and trusted in his merits for salvation. He believed in the efficacy of prayer ; and when he could only whisper he said to an old friend, When you pray remember me.' He gratefully received the daily visits of the Rev. Mr. Spencer during his last hours. He had many friends to follow his remains to the grave, and was honored with a Masonic procession, of which fraternity he was an acceptable member."

Glover Laird, Jr., lives near College Corner, Ohio. He is a native of Ireland, being born in the city of Dublin, March 16, 1827. The father, Glover Laird, came to this country, with his wife and four children, in 1830, and located on the farm now occupied by his son. The family afterwards was increased by the birth of six other children, all of whom are still living, but scattered abroad in neighboring townships in Ohio and Indiana. Mr. Laird was married March, 1852, to Miss Caroline Shaffer, a native of Lancaster, Ohio, born September, 1836. To these have been born three sons, of whom one still resides with the parents, one is at Camden, Ohio, and another is in Indiana. Mr. Laird holds his Church connection with the Methodist society, and in his political associations is' a Republican. The farm upon which he was reared, and now makes his home, is about half a mile south-east of College Corner, in the extreme northwest section of the township.

William L. Lane, a native of Butler County, was born in Hanover Township, April 26, 1832. He is a son of Harmon J. and Isabella (Long) Lane, the former being a native of New Jersey, and the latter a native of Hamilton County. Mr. Lane, Sen., was a mason by trade, and came to Cincinnati when a young man, and prosecuted his craft a number of years. After his marriage, in 1818, he settled on the farm in Hanover Township, now owned by Charles Beck, which he improved, and on which he continued to reside until his decease, in 1842. His wife survived him a few years, and died in 1848. They had a family of eight children, five of whom are now living : Ella married Jackson James, now a resident of Missouri ; Sallie married Dr. C. P. Dennis Susan married William McCoy, the latter two now reside at Portsmouth, Ohio ; William L., of Oxford, and Cornelius W., of Hanover Township.

William L. Lane was raised on the farm in Hanover Township and continued actively engaged in farming a number of years. He conducted the Darrtown Mills ten or twelve years in connection with farming. He married, in 1864, Miss Louise, daughter of James S. and Mary (Stackpole) Smiley', who came from Pennsylvania and settled in Hanover Township in 1826, where they continued to reside until 1867, when they removed to the village of Oxford. Mr. Smiley engaged in banking, which he continued until his decease, which occurred in 1878. His wife died in 1873. Three children survived him—Mrs. Lane, Mary J., and Anna, M. Mr. Smiley was an active and respected citizen of his day and .left a valuable estate. The Smiley residence is a handsome property, located at the south-west corner of High and East Streets. At the decease of Mr. Smiley, Mr. Lane succeeded him as president of the Citizens' Bank, and has since continued in charge. He is a care-

542 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

ful, successful business man, and a quiet, unostentatious but useful citizen.

Horace M. Logee, M. D., was born in Douglass, Massachusetts, September 10, 1834. He is descended from the Huguenots who left their native country during the thirty years' war. His ancestor fled to England, and after a little time made his way to the United States, in company with others, and settled in the northern part of the new State of Rhode Island. From this head descended Joseph H. Logee, the father of Dr. Logee, who was born in January, 1804. The mother, Prudence F. Paine, was of English ancestry. It is a family tradition that her grandfather was one of a family which numbered twenty-eight children, all or one parentage. She was born in January, 1804, and died in February, 1857, her native place being in Cumberland Township, Rhode Island. Dr. Logee, after obtaining a common-school education, entered and passed through the curriculum of Lawrence Academy. Not long after this he came West and spent several years in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, first as a book-keeper, then as a student in medicine in the office of Professor T. P. Wilson, and afterwards as matriculant of the Homeopathic Medical College of that city, from which he graduated in the Spring of 1862. Shortly after he commenced practice in Linesville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. In November, 1855, he was married to Miss Harriet E. Martin, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and to them were born one son and a daughter, both of whom are living. Mrs. Logee died January 15, 1861. While resident at Linesville the doctor was once or twice elected mayor of the city. In November, 1866, he was married to Miss Charlotte A. Hamilton, a native of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, who was born December, 1842.

About 1874 Dr. Logee removed from Linesville to Oxford, Ohio, and here established himself in the practice of his profession, in which he has continued with great success from that time until the present, taking a front rank among the practitioners of the town. Since residing here he has often taken active part in the local politics of the day as a Republican, and has twice been made a member of the council. While living in Pennsylvania he was an active member in professional organ: izations, and was in 1870 vice-president of the State Homeopathic Medical Society, and since coming to Ohio he has manifested the same earnest zeal in the advancing of his chosen profession and encouragement of organized effort among its members. As a member of the Ohio State Homeopathic Society he was made its secretary in 1878, and its president in 1880 and 1881. The doctor is also a member of Oxford Lodge, No. 108, I. O. O. F., and of Encampment No. 119; also of Oxford.Lodge A. O. U. W., No. 74. Of medium stature and well knit frame, he is a person of great activity and nerve force, doing with his might what may be the present work in hand. Of quick adaptation and ready in resources, scholarly judgment and skilled professional attainments, he has the make up of one who should be, and evidently is, a successful physician and esteemed citizen in the village of his adoption. Mrs. Logee displays in her studies and efforts in art manifest native genius and talent. Her sketches and crayons, as also her work in colors, evince decided merit, and serve to beautify and adorn their pleasant home.

Richard Martindell was born in New Jersey, May 10, 1791, and about the year 1816 came to Ohio, arriving in Cincinnati without a dollar. He soon found work, however, and became acquainted with and married Nancy Wallace, March 17, 1817. She was born in Hamilton County, October 5, 1798, and was the daughter of James Wallace and Charity Bevis. He then rented a farm in Butler County, in Stillwell's Corners, remaining there for eight years. At the end of this time he traded two horses and a wagon for fifty acres of land, known now as the Dr. Roll farm. On this he lived three years, and then sold it for five hundred dollars, and purchased one hundred and seventy-two acres for a thousand dollars. On this farm he lived some thirty years, when he sold out and moved to Oxford Township, where he died November 8, 1862. His widow removed to Hamilton and afterwards to Oxford, where she now resides at the advanced age of eighty-three years. Of their family there were fifteen children. Their names were Mahlon, Charlotte, Mary Ann, Harriet, John, Miranda, Martha. Ann, Franklin M., David W., Nancy, Richard, Elizabeth F., Louisa M., Alice, and James K. P. Mahlon, Louisa M., Alice, and Martha Ann are dead. Charlotte is now Mrs. John Thompson, Mary Ann is the widow of James Adams, Harriet is Mrs. Adam Miller, Miranda is Mrs. Charles Miller, Nancy is Mrs. James Harter, and Frances is Mrs. George H. Ringwood. John Martindell was born October 14, 1824, and lived at home till the Spring of 1848, when he went to California and mined two years. He went by the overland route, but returned by water. He was married February 19, 1851, to Sarah J. McChesney, daughter of John and Flora (Patterson) McChesney. She was born in Warren County, September 26, 1829. There are now living, descended from John Martindell, Sen., eleven children, thirty-two grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren.

Some time about the year 1800 Aaron Matson, whose birth and former home had been in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, came to Ohio, and located in Milford, Clermont County. He married for his wife Miss Elizabeth Gatch (who came from Virginia), about 1808 or 1809, and to them two sons and three daughters were born, among them Philip D. Matson. He was born in that town October 2, 1814. In boyhood he was a pupil in the common school of the place until about twelve years old, afterwards for several Summers working either upon his father's farm or with his uncle, Thomas Gatch, attending school in the Winters. When about seventeen

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years old he went to the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, whither his parents afterwards removed, and there apprenticed himself in the tinsmith's trade to Sykes & Robeson, with whom he remained for nearly three years. Leaving Cincinnati in the Spring of 1834, he came to Oxford and entered the employment of Mr. J. Ferguson, then engaged in the tinsmith and hardware business. Not long after, however, the two formed a copartnership in trade, and continued the business until November, 1868, some thirty-four years of a harmonious and very successful career, at which time Mr. Matson retired from the firm to private life.

May 5, 1835, shortly after coming to Oxford, Mr. Matson was married to Miss Catharine H. McGhee, whose parents came from Ireland, Mrs. Matson herself being a native of Pennsylvania, but a resident of Oxford at the time of her marriage. To these were born one son, who lived only eight years, and .five daughters, all of whom are married. The mother dying in October, 1866, it has been the privilege of these daughters successively to act as housekeepers for their father, and at the present writing he is finding a pleasant home in his advancing years with the son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Shera.

When but ten years of age Mr. Matson united with the Methodist Church of his native place, changing his relations from that to other Churches of the same faith as his home was changed, his last membership being with the Methodist Episcopal Church of Oxford, with whom he united in 1834. It being Mr. Matson's nature to do whatever his hands found to do with his might, his connection with that Church has proved a life of earnest Christian activity in every department of Church work where his counsel, co-operation, or effort could assist in the advancement of the work. He has held the office of Sunday-school superintendent for over forty consecutive years, a most unparalleled instance of faithful continuance in well-doing. Especially has Mr. Matson's influence been felt and usefulness shown in his position as chairman of the committee of his Church to whom was committed the task of the raising of funds and superintending the erection of the fine and commodious church in which the society has been permitted, for the last seven or eight years, to worship. The burden of the undertaking was upon his shoulders and heart, and most nobly has it been performed.

Not alone in his business relations and Christian work has Mr. Matson been honored. He has been called upon to occupy many offices of trust, among them having been repeatedly elected to the council and trustee of the township. He has also been a school trustee and member of the board of education. He was one of the first committee on building of the Oxford Female Institute.

The family of David M. Magie is of Scotch origin, the grandfather coming over and settling in New Jersey. Here Benjamin was born in 1760, and was married to Miss Sarah Brown, who was born in New Jersey, 1762. To these were born three sons: Josiah, Benjamin, Jr., and David M. When the latter was about two years of age the family emigrated to the Ohio Valley, and first settled on a farm at Walnut Hills, near Cincinnati. There they stayed but a short time, and removed to Lebanon, Warren County, remaining a few years, and then took up their home on a farm near Monroe. The family consisted of six sons and two daughters, of whom three only are still living: David, Mrs. Rhoda Elliott, of Paris, Illinois, and William, residing at Middletown, Ohio. The father, Benjamin, died January, 1842. David M., in boyhood, enjoyed similar advantages to other youth in his day and locality, but while thus obtaining the rudiments of an education in the schools he was an apt scholar in the practical education of his farm life. February 22, 1842, he was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Maria Young, who was born July 22, 1821. The newly married couple for the first three years made their home with Mrs. Magie, then in recent widowhood, and David took the oversight of the farm; then they changed to the farm of Mrs. Magie's father for a couple of years. From here, in the Spring of 1847, Mr. Magie removed with his wife and daughter, Laura Belle, born December 4, 1845, to and occupied a farm about one mile north of Oxford.

As early as 1837 Mr. Magic had turned his attention to the raising of hogs as a special branch of husbandry, and then began the careful study of the animal, and experiments in the improvement of the several breeds in the introduction and crossing of foreign strains with the native variety, which resulted in the origin and propagation of what has become the famous " Magie breed" of hogs, and which are now in such great demand for breeding purposes that from the stock which the firm of Magie & Kumler carry they sell from 500 to 700 head annually, and these are sent not only all over the States and Territories, but many go to fill orders from foreign countries, some even as far as Australia. Some years of attention have been given by Mr. Magie to the raising of choice breeds of cattle, particularly short-horn Durhams, and with much success, as also the breeding and raising of fine horse stock, yet his main reliance has been in the specialty of a first-class breed of hogs.

Mr. and Mrs. Magie have two daughters, Laura Belle, who was married to Mr. Theophilus R. Kumler, of Oxford, May 15, 1866, and Sallie Maria, born July 26, 1847. The son-in-law is Mr. Maggie's partner in conducting the stock farm, both residing in the village of Oxford, to which place Mr. Magic removed in October, 1859, with his family, and in which place the firm have their office. Mr. Magic has for many years been an active and earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Oxford, and a thorough and ardent Republican in his political preferences. Naturally a man of fine physical powers, constant and earnest application to the duties of his calling have made some inroads upon his

544 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

general health, and for the past year he has been a sufferer from a complication of bodily diseases. He still has the care and oversight of his extensive business, assisted by his son-in-law, Mr. Kumler.

John C. McCracken, lumber dealer, is a native of Oxford, and a son of the Rev. S. W. McCracken, who was a native of Kentucky, and a graduate of Miami University, and also occupied the chair of mathematics a number of years subsequently. He was ordained a minister of the United Presbyterian Church, and spent a number of the later years of his life in pastoral work. His decease occurred at Hopewell in 1859. John C. McCracken was born in Oxford in 1833, and attended the university in his youth, but on account of feeble health, did not graduate. He taught at various points, and followed teaching a number of years. In 1856 he engaged in merchandising, and continued in that business at different points until 1863, when being advised that his health depended on out-door exercise, he purchased a farm near Oxford, and continued farming until about three years since, when he became interested in the lumber trade of Oxford, and is now the principal operator in that line of business. He married, in 1860, Miss Jane E. Wilson, of Shelby County. They have two children, George H. and Frank S. Mr. McCracken's office and yard are conveniently located on Beach Street near High. He is an active, successful business man, an active member of the Presbyterian Church, and has been for fifteen years past one of Oxford's most substantial and useful citizens, identified with public activities.

Joseph S. McCord, deceased, though a latter-day resident of Oxford, was so thoroughly identified with public affairs as to have left a lasting influence. He was a native of Pennsylvania, being born there August 9, 1813, and was the son of a farmer. He enjoyed but limited advantages in his youth. He learned the cabinet-maker's trade in Landisburg, in his native State, and subsequently worked at this occupation in Pittsburg, where he became connected with boat-building, which led to a river life for a number of years, and finally to his locating at Cincinnati, where he subsequently, in connection with his brother David, became prominent as contractor and builder, a business he followed a number of years, and until, having acquired a considerable property and his health then being broken, he relinquished business, and, having purchased a handsome residence near the Miami University, he removed with his family to Oxford the Spring of 1866, with a view of rest and recuperation, where his family would have good educational and social privileges.

His business ability and interest in religiousl and educational affairs made his council desirable, and he was soon a member of the board of trustees of the Presbyterian Church, and gave no little time and effort in remodeling and fitting up the present place of worship, and continued one of most active and useful members of that Church until his decease, which occurred November 5, 1879. In 1870 he became a member of the board of the Western Female Seminary, and being the only resident member of the board, a large draft was made on his time, especially during the rebuilding of that institution after the fire of 1871, and his name will be found prominently mentioned in connection with all the prominent public enterprises of his day. In 1872 he was chosen a member of the board of trustees for Miami University, and was actively identified with the building of the east wing, which position he also occupied at the time of his decease. He was twice married. His first wife was Miss Assenath Brown, their marriage dating October 12, 1842. She died in 1847, leaving no children. February 21, 1854, he was united in marriage with Miss C. A. Morehead, of Erie, Pennsylvania, who, with three grown children, Frank, Jennie, and Lizzie, survived him, and now resides at the residence, which fronts the university campus, near the center of the southern boundary. Mrs. McCord, son, and daughters are members of the Presbyterian Church.

Professor Byron F. Marsh was born December 14, 1845, at Dudley, Massachusetts. He prepared for college, intending to enter Harvard, but the war coming on his father was numbered among those whose life was sacrificed in defending the government. This prevented the son from carrying out his aspirations for a college diploma. He resorted to teaching, and has continued that occupation ever since. He was at one time an instructor in Brooklyn, and also taught five years in a private school at Poughkeepsie, and at different academic institutions in Massachusetts, and elsewhere in the East. In 1877 he came to Oxford, associating himself with Professor P. Trufant in building up a classical school for boys, in the buildings of the Miami University. It was to be a training school after the plan of the New England academies, thoroughly preparing a young man for college.

Professor Karl Merz is a native of Germany, where he was born near Frankfort-on-the-Main, in the town of Bensheim, the 10th of September, 1834. The father was a teacher, also being organist in the principal church of the place; and quite early in his boyhood young Karl became an apt scholar upon the violin and piano. At the age of eleven he sought for and found occasion to try his proficiency in his studies in music in an attempt at performing upon the great organ of which his father had care. This was so finely accomplished, to the wonderment and gratification of the father, that for several years almost daily was young Karl intrusted with the instrumental portions of the Church service, the performance of which seemed to take deep hold upon his soul's emotions. Being also a skilled performer upon the violin, he was connected with two or three orchestral clubs, and was early thrown into the company and made the acquaintance of many prominent in musical circles in the vicinity. Of Romanist parents, his scholastic education

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was attained in the preparatory and higher schools of this Church, and from these he graduated in 1852, teaching for a year thereafter in a Catholic school at Appenheim, near Bingen-on-the-Rhine.

About this time, while on a visit home, he made the acquaintance of a gentleman from America, who proposed to him that he should return with him to his country. This idea was finally acted upon by Mr. Merz, and after visiting the birth-place of Beethoven, at Bonn, and also Cologne, Brussels, Paris, and London, on the way, he landed in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the September when he was just turned of his twentieth year. Here for a little time he was employed as a clerk in a music store, but afterwards joined a company of musicians, who had a nightly engagement to play at an establishment on Third Street. This employment gave Mr. Merz much time for study, and he made the best use of it in his practice; also venturing upon some compositions, several of which in later days have found their way to an appreciative public, and many yet lie in the portfolio of the artist.

Some time in 1855 he was, all unsolicited by himself, engaged as organist for the Sixth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, and his first service in a Protestant Church is spoken of by the professor as one of the marked events in his history. Nor was his keenly sensitive nature unsusceptible to the new form of worship and the teachings to which he was thus introduced, as after events will show.

In 1856 the position of instructor in the musical department of Dr. Killikelly's school, Eden Hall Seminary, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, being vacant, Professor Merz was invited to take it, which he willingly did, his labors in this place being both pleasant and very satisfactory. While here he made the acquaintance of and married Miss Mary, daughter of Mr. J. Riddle. Shortly after the couple took up their residence for a short time in Salem, Virginia, but not liking the location he entered a seminary under the charge of Mr. Wilson, in Harrisburg, in the same State, as teacher, where he was employed for one year, after which he accepted a professorship in Hollis Institute, near his recent home, at Salem, Virginia. At the outbreak of the war in 1861 Mr. and Mrs. Merz, feeling hearty loyalty to the cause of the Union, decided it to be unwise to attempt to remain at the institution, and went northward, making sacrifice of nearly all that they then were possessed of in their adherence to the principles of their country. The following August Professor Merz had the position of professor of music in the Ohio Female College of Oxford, then under the presidency of the Rev. Dr. R. D. Morris, offered him, and most gladly accepted it, entering at once upon the duties of the position with all the earnest ardor and enthusiasm of his nature, and this position Professor Merz has continued to hold and adorn until this Summer. This year he has been elected professor of music in another institution.

Shortly after coming to America Mr. Merz became an intelligent and thorough convert to the Protestant faith, and ever since has been a firm and outspoken friend to the new truth which he warmly espoused.

In addition to his college duties he has had charge, as musical editor, for many years of Brainard's Musical World, issued in Cleveland, and has a world-wide reputation for the variety and genuine worth of his many musical compositions and publications. He is genial in his companionship, a fluent and interesting conversationalist, and a laborious student in his chosen profession.

The Rev. Robert Desha Morris was born in .Washington, Mason County, Kentucky, August 22, 1814. He is the eldest son of Colonel Joseph Morris, who removed from New Jersey to Kentucky in 1794. The Morris family trace their descent from a chieftain in Wales who flourished in 933. In later times they had important commands, and fought in the battles of Parliament against Charles I., but after the death of Cromwell they were obliged to flee from Monmouthshire to escape the vengeanice of the royalists, taking refuge on the Island of Barbadoes. From this island, the grandfather, Lewis Morris, sailed for New Jersey, and settled in that part now called Monmouth County, where he was one of the first judges. Another branch of the family settled in and gave the name to Morrisania, New York, and became famous in the history of that colony. Dr. Morris's paternal grandfather was in the Revolutionary War, and having been taken prisoner, was, with many other patriots, confined in the old sugar-house prison in Liberty Street, New York, where they endured untold sufferings.

Dr. Morris's maternal ancestors, the Deshas, fled from La Rochelle on the revocation of the edict of Nantes by Louis XIV., in 1685, and came to the shores of Long Island Sound, to a place which they called New Rochelle, in honor of the home they had left. They subsequently settled on the Delaware near the Water Gap. In 1784 the Deshas and Overfields emigrated to Kentucky and were associated with the Kentons in the struggles, privations, and dangers incident to pioneer life in Kentucky. Dr. Morris's mother was descended from Huguenot stock, and held tenaciously to her Calvinistic faith, and her son, having early imbibed the tenets, adhered steadfastly to them.

Having been prepared at Bracken Academy, he entered Augusta College, and after a four years' course graduated August 7, 1834. After this he completed a four years' course at Princeton Theological Seminary, attending lectures at Yale, and traveling extensively during vacations. He was licensed to preach by the Synod of Philadelphia, in that city, April 18, 1838. His first pastorate was with the Second Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, where he remained eighteen years. From that Church he came to Oxford, Ohio, in 1859, and has since been at the head of the Oxford Female College.

546 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

He received the honorary degree of doctor of divinity from Center College, Kentucky, in 1870. He married, May 3, 1842, Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Matthew L. Bevan, an eminent merchant of Philadelphia. Dr. Morris has been an active man, laboring zealously for what he believed to be right, and filled with arduous and self-sacrificing efforts for the cause of religion and education. As a pastor he was diligent in labor, and planted many new Churches by his persistent efforts. He was uniformly prompt and active in attending on the judicatories of his denomination, and often represented his presbytery in the highest court of the Church. He was a member of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church at Louisville in 1844, at Cincinnati in 1850, at New Orleans in 1858, and at Philadelphia in 1870. He was also active in general improvements and in temperance and educational work. He was president of the Pennsylvania State Temperance Convention at Harrisburg in 1846. He served as director in the common schools, and established a superior parochial school and classical academy, now in successful operation, at Newtown, Pennsylvania, and was for years an active trustee of Lafayette College. He helped to raise the endowment and secured many young men as students. In Oxford he has been principally devoted to the Oxford Female College, which, under his management, won a high reputation.

The Rev. James. W. McGregor; M. A., was born in Richmond, Jefferson County, Ohio, September 14, 1837. In his youth he attended Richmond College, then a prosperous institute of learning, and graduated at Miami University in 1863. He entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the Pittsburg Conference in 1865, and subsequently was transferred to the Cincinnati Conference, having charge of the Mount Auburn Church, and afterwards of the one at Oxford. He was then transferred to the Minnesota Conference, and was stationed at Minneapolis. He returned to Oxford in 1874, and located at the east side of the village, near the Oxford Female College, where he has sought to regain his health, previously impaired, by out-door occupation. Though looking after a farm of upwards of one hundred acres, on the Sabbath he is nearly always found in one of the pulpits of the vicinity. He ministered at the Western Female Seminary chapel regularly every Sunday afternoon for two years after his return. He married in 1865 Miss Emily Lane, daughter of Ebenezer Lane, who was the founder of Lane Seminary. She is a native of Oxford, having been born where she with her husband and family still live. They have two children, Lane and Celeste.

Dr. David Oliver was born at Harmon, Ohio, in 1792, eleven years previous to the admission of the State into the Union. It falls to the lot of but few men to lead such varied and stirring lives as was his in the early part of his career. He was in the War of 1812, and served two

years on a privateer, acting under letters of marque from the republic of Columbia, South America, being severely wounded in a naval engagement with a Spanish man-of- war. Afterwards, as a practicing physician at Brookville, Indiana, and Lebanon, Ohio, he spent many active years in doing good, and finally removed to Oxford, where, as a public spirited and generous citizen and a ruling elder in the Church, his loss was severely felt. His death, which was unexpected, was in June, 1869.

Among the many movements looking toward the elevation and better education of the women of America, perhaps none of the special ideas or departures from the old routine, which have assumed form in effort, has attracted more attention or proved more thoroughly practical than that of which Miss Mary Lyon became the exponent. Her ideas took tangible form in the opening of a school at South Hadley, Massachusetts, known as Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, from which hundreds of finely educated and accomplished young women have gone forth to take rank among the foremost educators, philanthropists, and practical women in all stations in life. - Among the early pupils of this school was Miss Helen Peabody, now the head of the Oxford Female Seminary.

Some time in 1635 Francis Peabody, of Hertfordshire, England, came to America in the ship Planter, and settled in Massachusetts. As a descendant from this stock, Ammi Peabody is recorded as having been born July 4, 1769, in Boxford, Essex County, in that State. He was married to Miss Sarah Johnson, then a resident of Newport, New Hampshire, to which place the Peabody family had but a short time before removed. To Mr. and Mrs. Peabody were born a family of fourteen children, of whom four sons and three daughters are now living. The father died at Newport, New Hampshire, in 1845, while the mother was spared till March, 1859.

Helen Peabody, the youngest member of their large ffimily, was born May 6, 1826. Her girlhood was passed in no manner dissimilar to that of other children of her day, her school advantages being those common to the villagers of New England. When fourteen or fifteen years of age she spent about a year at the Concord Literary Institute, at Concord, New Hampshire, of which school another brother, the Rev. Charles Peabody, was then the honored and successful principal. After this Miss Helen was engaged for some two years in teaching in district schools in the vicinity of her Newport home. She then accepted- a position in Kimball Union Academy, in Meriden, New Hampshire, where she remained about a year.

In 1845 she entered Mt. Holyoke Seminary as a pupil under Miss Lyon, and pursued the full curriculum of the graduating courses taking her diploma in the Summer of 1848. For the four following years Miss Peabody was connected with her alma mater as one of the faculty, and her relations to the school were of the pleasantest character, she proving herself very efficient in the duties and

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responsibilities here placed upon her. But in her earnestness and zeal in her work she found her health becoming undermined, and was compelled to relinquish her position, and the following year she took for rest and visitation among her relatives and friends. In the Summer of 1854 she engaged as a teacher in a private seminary for young ladies, in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, making her home with her brother Charles, who, at the time, was a resident of that city, and district secretary for the American Tract Society.

The corporators of the Western Female Seminary, which had been located at Oxford about this time, had their seminary buildings nearly completed, and the trustees were on the outlook for just the right person in whose hands they might, with confidence, place the affairs of the new educational venture, as its head and principal. It had been at the outset decided that the plan, both of the edifice and the school itself, should be modeled on the Mt. Holyoke pattern at South Hadley, and with the faculty of that institution the trustees had frequent correspondence, and it was upon their hearty recommendation that the board first had their attention turned toward Miss Peabody. In the Summer of 1855 a delegation from this body, consisting of the Rev. Mr. Babb, of Cincinnati, and the Rev. Mr. Bonham, of Oxford, went to St. Louis and had a personal conference with this lady, laying their project before her, and in the name of the trustees pressing the position upon her. Miss Peabody asked for a little time in which to consider the matter, and the following morning, although strongly drawn toward and attached to the family of her brother Charles, who at this time were in deep sorrow from the recent demise of the wife and mother, and feeling it a duty and privilege to remain, and, in so far as her noble womanly heart and effort could try and supply the loss, especially in the care of a sweet, motherless infant, yet urged by the brother to look upon the opening as a providential one, pointing to duty, she decided to give the committee a favorable answer, accepting the position.

Soon after she came to Oxford, and at once entered with zeal and enthusiasm upon the work which was thus committed to her care, and with such success that about the middle of September following the school was thrown open to the public, equipped with a fine corps of teachers and starting off with an introductory class of about one hundred and fifty pupils.

The entire machinery could hardly be expected to work perfectly smooth, and the first few weeks of a new school, conducted as this was proposed to be, naturally was subject to some unpleasant friction. The immediate wants of this large family were pressing, but the requisite conveniences were not all just in place. The cooking range was not finished, nor had all its furniture yet arrived, when the one hundred and fifty young ladies, some with their parents, came swooping down upon the faculty. The young ladies were at once assigned posi

tions in the culinary department as well as elsewhere in the curriculum of the institution, and strange and unexpected perplexities suddenly arose. One of these nymphs of the kitchen, referring to these early experiences, gives the following as one of the first problems which confronted her as " freshman" in the first class in the Western Female Seminary : " Given two dripping pans and a brass kettle, it is required to cook meats and vegetables for over one hundred and fifty persons ;" and in addition facetiously remarks, " Never before did we appreciate the capabilities of dripping pans." Of the perplexities and annoyances consequent upon the opening

of the new school, Miss Peabody received and bore her full share, and by the effort thus demanded and nobly performed, she was enabled to send the enterprise prosperously along on its course toward the grand success to which it has attained.

Early in life, probably when about fourteen years of age, Miss Peabody became interested in the subject of personal religion, and about this time made a public profession of her faith in Christ, uniting with the Congregational Church of her native place. But as with every thing else in her life, the profession of a hope in the Savior meant earnest zealous work for the Master whose cause she had thus early in life espoused, and through all of her subsequent career we easily discover a grand Christian substratum underlying her whole educational work, and constantly coming to the surface in her every-day life and intercourse either with the world outside or the hundreds of loving pupils upon whom, in the providence of God, it has been her gracious privilege to exert her personal influence. While the great work of her life thus far has been that of an educator in the popular acceptation of the term, yet to those to whom Miss Peabody is best known, it is acknowledged that it has ever been her great aim to let the thought, which found expression in the class motto of 1878, " Oninia ad Dei Gloriam" (All to the glory of God), be the, ruling principle and motive of her lifework. When she came to reside at Oxford she sought for and found a spiritual home in the Second Presbyterian Church, continuing her membership with it when the two interests were united as the First Presbyterian Church of Oxford.

Probably two of the most trying experiences in her life were the repeated destruction of the seminary buildings by fire, first on the 14th of January, 1860, and again on the 6th of April, 1871. But the friends of the institution stood nobly by their heroic and devoted principal, and since the last rebuilding the school has to pride itself upon having one of the finest and most commodious edifices of which the West can boast, seemingly complete in all its appointments, and over which it is the heartfelt, earnest prayer of every alumna and friend of the school Miss Helen Peabody may long be spared to preside.

548 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

James Brook Pugh has been a resident of Oxford Township about thirteen years, during which time by his energy, intelligence, and enterprise he has won the confidence and respect of the people, and is now serving his second term as a member of the board of trustees of his township. Mr. Pugh is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Montgomery County in 1825. His early life was spent on a farm. His parents came to Warren County, Ohio, in 1835, making the trip in wagons. In 1869 Mr. Pugh came to Oxford and purchased what was then known as the Austin mill property, and without previous experience has, by industry and intelligence, succeeded in building up a large and growing business. He is somewhat original in his methods, grinding merchant flour according to the " patent process," but running the product with his " family flour," which makes his milling very popular with his custom patrons. His mill is run by water-power, and he also has a custom saw-mill in connection, but run by a separate wheel. Mr. Pugh has been twice married, and is now a widower, his second wife, who was a daughter of W. H. Smith, deceased, -having died in July, 1881. His first wife was a native of Pennsylvania. He has a family of four children, two of whom are married. He has recently completed a neat, commodious dwelling, which is a substantial addition to the mill property, and which is occupied by H. S. Chamberlain, who is a son-in-law and " head miller." Mr. Pugh's oldest son, James B., Jr., is also engaged in the mill.

Robert H. Riggs, a native of Butler County, was born in 1821, his birth-place being on the Miami, near the mouth of Indian Creek. His father, Matthew Riggs, a native of New York, came to Butler County in pioneer days, and was a school-teacher and honored with public duties. The mother of Robert was a native of Virginia, and had been previously married to a Mr. Andrews, by whom she had four children, and some time after his death she became the wife of Mr. Riggs. They continued to live in Butler County until their decease, which occurred in Oxford Township, whence they had removed from Reily in 1833. Their remains lie in the old Baptist burying-ground in Reily Township. Robert H. Riggs was raised on the farm and has followed farming all his life. He now owns his father's old homestead, and resides on the tract formerly known as the Dr. Anderson farm, and has one hundred and seventy-two acres near,

which he has under good improvement. He also conducts a meat-shop in Oxford, which is attended by one of his sons. He married, in 1847, Sophronia Wing, who is also a native of Butler County. Her parents, Silas and Lucy Wing, were Massachusetts people, and early residents of Reily Township. They have six children living: Matthew, Lucy (now Mrs. Dr. G. D. Leach, of Muncie, Indiana), William, Edward E., Robert M., and Mary Agnes. Mr. and Mrs. Riggs are direct descendants of the pioneer families and worthy representatives of the hardy energy, integrity, and thrift that characterized the people of olden limes.

Among those who have been identified with Oxford Township is the Sadler family. Elijah and Cordelia Sadler were natives of Massachusetts, and were married at Williamsburg in 1828. He was a carpenter, and not being satisfied with his routine work in the employ of Isaac Gere, as foreman of a box factory, he decided to come West, and in the Winter of 1834, putting his worldly goods into a sleigh, came with his family to Oxford. After a few years residence in the village, he purchased and removed to what is known as the Sadler farm, where he resided at the time of his death, in 1850. His wife and nine children survived him. Mrs. Sadler was a woman of more than ordinary force of character, and she kept her family together, and with the help of her children carried on farming. She was of a family of Kings, and he' was related to the Dwights, of colonial fame in Massachusetts. She was a woman whose excellence of character and life is vindicated in her children, every one of whom grew to adult age. Her two daughters, Sarah R. and Cordelia A., are still living. The former is the wife of G. W. Adams, a merchant of Oxford, and the latter is the wife of C. M. Douglass, of Fowler, Indiana. Of her seven sons five are living, and all have made a worthy record in life. The oldest, George W., is a resident of Peoria, Illinois, where he with three of his brothers have arrangements for feeding stock in large numbers, of which George has immediate supervision. William K., deceased, was a physician and entered the army as regimental surgeon, and at the time of his death, December, 1864, was in charge of the medical department of Baton Rouge Post. Elijah D. is still a resident of Oxford, having entire charge of the Sadler estate. He has been treasurer of Oxford Township for the past six years. Jerome F. is a resident and stockbroker of New York City, and interested in the extensive stock-feeding and dealings of the brothers. Edward W., deceased in 1872, being about thirty years of age, was the most extensive resident stock-dealer known to Oxford. Lewis L. is a resident of Cincinnati, and has been for some time president of the city council. He is also one of the firm of Sadler Brothers, and looks after their extensive interests in Cincinnati. The youngest son, Silas P., resides in Pittsburg, where he does a brokerage business, and attends to the interests of the "Brothers," of which firm he is also a member. Mrs. Sadler's decease occurred in Oxford, February 1, 1881. A memorial pamphlet, containing a short sketch of her life and an account of the funeral services, was published by the children and distributed to all the friends.

About 1810 there came from Martha's Vineyard, and settled in the vicinity of Mixerville, Indiana, Mr. John Smith, who reared a large family, of whom John T. and William H. were residents of Oxford, the latter having

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practiced law here a number of years previous to his death, which occurred in 1876: John T. was a farmer, and lived on the road to College Corner. He was successful in his private business, and active and influential in matters of public concern ; was a leading member of the Universalist Church, and was one of the trustees to whom the first church property was deeded in trust for the congregation. He always took an active interest in education, filled the office of director in his district almost continuously, and five of his children graduated at one or the other of the schools of Oxford. His wife was Miss Anna Slack, a resident of the same neighborhood. Her father was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and a worthy and esteemed citizen. His son, the Rev. Joshua Slack, a Baptist, was a pioneer in higher school education in Cincinnati. The issue of this union was five children, as ffillows : John T., Jr., deceased, who had a large ranch in Arizona, and was a member of the territorial Legislature. Anna S. married Mr. Winder, and is now residing in Grandview, Iowa. Mary married William J. Rounald, a graduate of Miami University, and also resides in Grandview. Arabella married 0. P. Smith, a farmer ' near Wapella, Louisa County, Iowa. Palmer W. is now a successful practitioner of law, having been admitted to the bar in 1870. He married in 1871 Miss Virginia, daughter of Samuel V. Hill, who was a wholesale tobacco merchant of Cincinnati, who removed with his family to Oxford, where his declining years were comfortably and pleasantly spent. His decease occurred in 1876, his first wife having preceded him several years. Mr. and Mrs. P. W. Smith have a family of two children, Hall and Virginia, living, and one, Palmer W., who died in infancy.

John Shera, of this town, was born in County Roscommon, Ireland, December 16, 1815. His father's name was James Shera and his mother was Ann Munns. The family, consisting of the two parents and eight children, emigrated to America in 1821, and took up their home in the West, in Franklin County, Indiana. While helping the father and mother in the work of the farm the children enjoyed the slight advantages of the pioneer school of the day. The mother dying in 1830, and the father in January, 1832, the children remained on the farm, and attended school Winters. When about eighteen years old Mr. Shera went to live with a brother who had bought a farm near by, and was with him some four years. October 18, 1838, he was married to Miss Margaret Shera, and the Spring of the year following the young couple, in all the hopeful enthusiasm of early man and womanhood, took up their home on a farm in Oxford Township, which John had purchased a year or two previous. This farm they continued to cultivate for thirty-two years, having seven children born to them during this time. In 1871 the family broke from the old farm home and moved into the village of Oxford, where they have ever since resided. Two children have been taken away by death. One daughter is married and lives on a farm near the old homestead. The three sons and the other sister are residing in town, two of the former being the firm of Shera Brothers, in the grocery trade, corner of Main and High Streets. Just before the death of the older brother Mr. Shera made a profession of religion, uniting with the Methodist Episcopal Church. To this faith and Church the parents have adhered, and have nurtured their family as they have grown to man and womanhood.

Moritz Schlenck, of College Corner, Oxford Township, Ohio, is a native of the town of Balwick, Bavaria, who came to the United States in 1849, in October. For three or four years he made his home in some of the Atlantic seaboard cities. In 1850 he, with another friend, crossed over the mountains to the Ohio Valley, stopping at Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and so on to St. Louis, Missouri. He also went north as far as Galena, but returned up the Ohio, by the way of St. Louis and Cincinnati, and for about fifteen months resided in Portsmouth. From here he removed to Brookville, Indiana, in the Fall of 1852, and for a year and a half was in this State, returning to Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1854. In the Winter of 1854-5 he was in the towns of Brookfield, Richmond, and Quincy, Indiana, working a portion of this time at his trade as house and sign painter. Returning again to Brookfield, he engaged in the business of brewing until December, 1863. In August, 1856, he was married to Mrs. Charlotte Weidner, then of Brookfield. In 1864 Mr. Schlenck, with his family, was engaged in keeping a public house in. Cincinnati, from which place he removed to College Corner, Ohio, purchasing and taking possession of the hotel property which occupies the extreme north-west corner of the township of Oxford, the house upon which was built in 1828 by Jason Howe. Mr. Schlenck has twice revisited his native country since making America his home.

William H. Stewart was born in Belfast, Ireland, on the 10th of June, 1847, and came to this country in 1850 with his parents, William and -Mary Stewart. They settled on the old Hueston farm, in Hanover Township, and their son went to school at Seven-Mile, and afterwards went to Miami University, where he graduated in the classical course in 1870. He then taught school three years in Indiana, and for the past eight years has been superintendent of the public schools of Oxford. He holds a life certificate from the State board of education. He was married on the 25th of December, 1873, at Connersville, to Miss Belle Coulter, of Oxford. Her parents were Thomas and Lucinda Coulter, and she was born on the 23d of November, 1850. They have three children. Robert Howard was born July 9, 1875; William Thomas, March 17, 1878; and Martha, January 6, 1882.

Professor Isaiah Trufant, of Oxford, Ohio, was born in Harpeswell, Maine, the 18th of December, 1831. His father, William C. Trufant, was a descendant of an En-

550 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

glish family of that name, the earliest American history of whom locates them at Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1635 or 1636. The elder Trufant died in 1879. The mother, Lucy Rich Trufant, who had also an English ancestry, was born in 1813, and is still living as a hale and well preserved woman at Harpeswell, Maine. In boyhood Mr. Trufant enjoyed the privileges of the common schools of the town, after which he entered the Maine State Seminary at Lewiston. After leaving this school he was engaged in teaching occasionally until he was twenty-five years old, when he entered Bowdoin College. Here he remained the next four years, pursuing the full prescribed curriculum of the college, and graduating with +he full honors of his class. It had been the expectation and intention of Mr. Trufant to have entered the profession of law, but circumstances drew him into engagements as a teacher soon after leaving college, and the Fall of 1863 found him in care of Somerset Academy, in Athens, Maine. In the following Spring he was prostrated with a severe attack of typhoid fever, and was obliged to relinquish teaching for a time. January 17, 1865, he was united by marriage to Miss Sarah R. Gross, whose home was in Brunswick, Maine. The following Summer he acccepted the charge of the high school in Castine, Maine, for one year, leaving this position in the Fall of 1866 to accept the position of principal in Nichols Academy in Dudley, Massachusetts. In this school Professor Trufant was very successful, but the health of Mrs. Trufant becoming delicate, and her physicians advising a change of location and climate, he removed with his family to Hackettstown, New Jersey, and took charge of the schools of the place, himself taking the position of teacher of the college preparatory class. Such was the success of Professor Trufant in this relation and through his instrumentality, that the students sent forth from under his hand were enabled to take their positions in the freshman classes of Lafayette College, to which institution the city schools graduated a class of six young men at one time. The professor remained at Hackettstown for ten years, coming to Oxford in the Summer of 1877.

At this time the buildings of Miami University were unused, the college having been suspended in 1873 for want of the requisite funds. Professor Trufant associated with himself his brother-in-law, Professor B. F. Marsh, an experienced and zealous educator, who had for years been connected with some of the finest schools of the East, the last being Pelham Institute at Poughkeepsie, New York, on the Hudson, and in the Fall of 1877 the two undertook the experiment of opening and conducting a boys' collegiate preparatory school in the university buildings, engaging such other assistants in their work as the demands of the school seemed to warrant from time to time. At the commencement of the undertaking, the two earnest projectors of the enterprise, while having the sympathy of the Oxford people, found the effort to start and establish their school a work demanding great patience and perseverance. The opening was made with a class of sixteen or eighteen boys, which number has steadily increased in the five academic years during which the work has been progressing, until the attendance upon the last closing term was seventy-five or eighty pupils, and the class graduated was thirteen.

Professor and Mrs. Trufant have had six children born to them, of whom two daughters and a son are now living, With his family he occupies the south end of the university building, known as Washington Hall, and his colleague, Professor Marsh, with his family, resides in Franklin Hall, which building has been pleasantly fitted up and furnished as a boarding department for the school, the study and recitation rooms being in the main building of the university. The school takes the name of the Miami Classical and Preparatory School, and the curriculum and high standard of graduation have sent their pupils into junior classes in neighboring colleges.

Josiah Wilson, a native of Lewistown, Pennsylvania, was born in 1776, and came to Ohio in 1802, and settled in Butler County, four miles below Rossville, where, with others, he entered land of the government for a home. Three years before coming West he was married to Miss Mary Moore. To them in succeeding years were born two sons and four daughters, two of whom only are living at the time of this writing. One is Mrs. Mary Croscort, residing at College Corner, aged seventy-one years. The other, Mr. George Wilson, was born in 1814, at Rossville, and removed to Union Township, Indiana, as one of the pioneers, March 14, 1831, at which time there were but a half dozen settlers at the hamlet of College Corner. August 25, 1835, the latter was married to Miss Nancy Ridenour, who was born in Preble County in 1818. Five children were born to them while resident upon the farm. Of these two sons and two daughters are living. One of the former, Thomas M., is at present a resident and property owner of College Corner, whose wife was Elizabeth A. Barnum, of Union County, Indiana, born March 12, 1841. They were married February 6, 1861. They have one child, a daughter. The great-grandfather of Thomas M. Wilson was a native of Ireland, who came across the ocean when but twenty-one years old, and for several years made a practice of returning to his native country and bringing to the United States some of the peasantry and poorer class of that country, whom he was accustomed to bind out in service to the Americans for an advance upon the price of their passage money, and in this way made his first start toward a future competency, as he settled in Pennsylvania. George Wilson was the first one to organize a Sunday-school in College Corner.

Nathan Woodruff, son of Nathan and Sarah (Stibbins) Woodruff, was born in Delaware. His father was twice married. To his first union there were born three children, Samuel, Sarah, and Mary. Their mother's

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name was Mofferd. In 1800 he married Sarah Stibbins, and had by her five children, Nathan, Nancy, John K., Margaret, and Katy Ann. The first three were born in Delaware, and the other two in Ohio. The father moved from New Jersey to Delaware, and from there to Ohio, in the Fall of 1817, and located in Warren County, near Waynesville. In the Spring of 1829 he removed to Butler County, and located in Fairfield Township. By occupation he was a farmer. He died in 1849, and his wife the same year. The present Nathan Woodruff was born April 22, 1808, and learned the trade of shoemaker, at which he worked until 1848. In that year he devoted his attention to farming. He was married September 12, 1839, to Lydia Parker, and to them two children have been born, Thomas J. and John. Mrs. Woodruff died in October, 1842, and her child at the same time. He married for his second wife, on the 5th of April, 1846, Mary, daughter of William Fields. To this union there were born two children, Nathan W. and Anna Martha, both dead. Mrs. Woodruff died in May, 1852. Thomas J. Woodruff was born July 5, 1840, and graduated at the Miami University in 1864. He served in the Eighty-sixth Regiment in the three months' service in 1862, and the One Hundred and Sixty-seventh in the hundred days' service in 1864. He was married March 11, 1873, to Susan, daughter of Daniel and Phoebe (Westcott) Dorrett. She was born near Cincinnati, May 18, 1845.