623 - LEMON

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LEMON.

This township is irregular in contour, caused by the diagonal direction of the Miami River, but its roads and farms are regularly laid out, and the country in general is under the highest state of improvement. It has not only good pikes, but the advantages of the river, the canal, and the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis Railway, which traverse its entire length. The Miami Valley here furnishes some of the best soil for agricultural purposes in the Symmes purchase. Dick's Creek is the principal stream of the interior of the township, and in former times was highly important for its little saw-mills, grist-mills, and occasionally a distillery. The land was rich. Corn was always raised in abundance, and to take care of the crops, of course, was enjoined as a duty. For titre purpose distilleries were established in many places. Since that time not only the interior, but the creeks, the river, and especially the first settlements were favored with the presence of these stills, which were deemed indispensable for the consumption of the vast crops of corn raised each year.

Among the early settlers of Lemon Township were the Dotys, Enochs, Shafors, Dicks, Freemans, Reeds, Stewarts, Taylors, Hugheses, Balls, Wards, Clarks, Van- nests, Vails, Potters, Johnstons, and hosts of others. They frequently came without any thing save what they wore, and had nothing except land afterward. The work consisted mainly in felling the forest trees, raising corn for bread and flax for clothing, and in improving their land as well as circumstances would permit. Of those who were very early on the ground should be mentioned the Fishers, Dotys, Freemans, Potters, Reeds, Vails, and some others, who were on the ground before 1800, and were in companionship with the brave red man of the forest.

The villages of the township are Middletown, Amanda, Excello, Lesourdsville, Monroe, and Blue Ball. The beginning of settlement was on the Little Prairie, a natural meadow that extended on both sides of the river, more than a mile in length and half a mile in breadth, the northern end coming up to. where Middletown now is. The rest of the township was covered with great forests. Symmes's northern line is in the south part of

624 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

this township. He was finally allowed as much Territory as he had paid for, and the dividing line is two miles and a quarter north of the south line of the township, and is a little south of Dick's Creek. When Daniel Doty moved in this neighborhood there was a block-house inclosed by pickets, and a few cabins on the south side of the prairie, near Dick's Creek, a little west of where the crossroads now are. His neighbors were Mr. Brady, Mr. Carson, John Reed, and John Henry.

Thomas Irwin entered and settled, in the Spring of 1,795, on the farm which he continued to own and on which he died in 1847. The lands comprising the greater part of the farms now owned by Abraham Simpson and Daniel McClellan, and all the farm belonging to the heirs of Robert Carr, were entered by David Logan about 1795, and were settled and improved by him. These lands lie south and adjoining the Irwin farm David Logan sold to Andrew Carr (father of Robert Carr alluded to above) in 1806. What is now called the Denise farm and also the Marsh farm were entered and settled by Joseph Williamson in 1796.

John Fisher, father of Robert Fisher, who died in Middletown about fifteen years ago, at a very great age, entered and settled that part of the Simpson farm which lies west of the Irwin farm in 1806. The farm recently sold by Abraham Sutphin to George W. Marsh, immediately west of what was the Williamson tract, was entered and settled by Alexander McConnell in 1796. The half section immediately west of the McConnell tract was entered and settled by Moses Rotter.

James McClellan entered and settled the half section south of the McConnell and Williamson tracts in 1807 or 1808. Several of his descendants now own and live on these lands, which they have rescued from an apparent worthless swamp, by a system of extensive draining, and brought to the highest degree of fertility. Thomas Vail built a log-house at what is now the Blue Ball, in 1821, and kept entertainment. He sold to Jonathan Emmons in 1823, who erected a sign in front of his house, which was simply a round ball painted blue. The place derived its name from this circumstance. The blue ball has been conspicuously displayed continuously ever since.

The earliest church in this township was the Little Prairie Church, of the Baptist denomination. Its site is now unknown. Local antiquaries, however, believe it was either near Mr. James Baird's place, north of Middletown, or at the lower end of the prairie, not far from Amanda. There is a discrepancy in the date of the admission of this Church. Judge Dunlavy makes it 1800, and the minutes of the Old School Baptist Association places it in 1801. In the latter year, according to the minutes, it had eleven members. The messenger was Philip Sutton. In 1805 difficulties existed between this Church and Elk Creek Church, now at Trenton, which the association could not settle. This appears to be the last notice of its existence. The present Baptist Church of Middletown was organized three years later, and has no knowledge of any earlier organization.

David Heaton was born in Morris Connty, New Jersey, December 15, 1742, and married Phebe Johnson, of New Jersey, in 1776, and in 1778 removed to Martinsburg, Berkeley County, Virginia, now West Virginia, where James Heaton was born, January 15, 1779. David Heaton, with his family, removed about the year 1783 t3 Greene County, Pennsylvania, where his son James Heaton received a common school education and studied surveying. He was married January 22, 1801, to Mary Morrell, born December 11, 1782, daughter of Jacob Morrell, of Chatham, New Jersey, and sister of Dr. Calvin Morrell of Shaker notoriety near Lebanon, Ohio. Hannah W. Heaton, daughter of James and Mary Heaton, was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, December 14, 1801, and afterwards married Rev. Henry Baker in 1821, and resided for many years in- Lebanon, Ohio, where she died August 11, 1839.

In the Fall of 1802 David Heaton and James Heaton, with their families, removed to Butler Connty, Ohio, traveling in what was known as the " Family Barge," a flat-bottomed boat, down the Ohio River from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, landing at Cincinnati, Ohio—quite a perilous trip in those early days—and soon after settled in Butler County, near Middletown, where Mr. David Heaton purchased an eighty-acre farm, partly improved, where he resided until his death, which occurred on the 11th of September, 1839, aged ninety-six years and nine months—a ripe old age.

James Heaton, with his family, also settled temporarily below Middletown, near Dick's Creek, where for a year or two he taught school, then removing to Hamilton, and entering the service of John Reily, clerk of the Circuit Court. Here he remained for several years. About the year 1808 or 1809 he was elected a justice of the peace, and in May, 1811, was appointed to succeed John Reily as recorder of the county of Butler ; he also at the same time held the office of county surveyor.

In the War of 1812 he entered the army under General William Henry Harrison, but under the immediate command of Brigadier-general John Wingate. While in the army he was, on the 8th of April, 1813, appointed by General Wingate brigade quarter-master. The army, under command of General Wingate, was stationed at Fort Saint Mary's, Ohio; and on the 13th of May, 1813, a garrison order was issued, by command of the general, creating a court-martial for the trial of such prisoners as might be brought before it. The court consisted of Lieutenat Thomas Kirkpatrick, president; Lieutenant James Sherrard and Ensign Lewis Moore, members; and Major James Heaton, judge advocate. On the back of this order is found, indorsed by the judge advocate, "On the trial held on Thomas Spencer for mutiny, etc. He got clear, thank God !"

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On the 24th of August, 1814, he was appointed brigade quarter-master, by James Mills, brigadier-general; and again on the 25th of October, 1816, was appointed to the same office by Daniel Millikin, brigadier-general. Indorsed on the back of this appointment is his resignation, as follows :

" To DANIEL MILLIKIN, Brigadier-general, Third Brigade, First Division, Ohio Militia:

" Sir,—Please accept this as my resignation of the office of brigade quarter-master to said brigade. Reason 1st. Because it is out of my power to procure the necessary equipage appertaining to said office., as pointed out by the adjutant-general. Reason 2. Because I can not see the propriety of wearing the black cockade, and am not able to see the likeness, similitude, nationality, or appropriate relevancy that cockade has to our national flag. Which reasons with me are weighty. Knowing there are gentlemen with whom my first reason would be no inconvenience, and who have no scruples as to the second, the general will not hesitate to accept my resignation.

"May 16, 1818.

" Accepted January 6, 1819.

" DANIEL MILLIKIN, Brigadier-general."

He was also appointed, September 4, 18I9, by Ethan A. Brown, governor of Ohio, paymaster of the First Regiment in the Third Brigade and First Division of Ohio militia. He was also a member of the Ohio State Senate at the time the seat of government was located at Chillicothe, and for several years after it was removed to Columbus. He was also one of the presidential electors on the Henry Clay ticket in 1824, and was appointed by the electors to convey the result to Washington City, D. Q., which was done on horseback.

James Heaton, with his family, in 1823, removed from Hamilton to the farm on which his father, David Heaton, resided, near Middletown, to take care of him and his wife in their old age, where he resided until his death, March 3, 1841, in the, sixty-second year of his age. During all the course of his active life, and in all the different positions he was placed, and in the fulfillment of all the duties of the various offices which he held, there were many to commend and none to censure.

James and Mary Heaton had born to them thirteen children, but two of whom are now living. Charles M. Heaton was born at Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio, March 7, 1805, and is now residing in Washington City, D. C. James Heaton, Jr., was born at the same place, November 20, 1808, and was lately residing in Crawfordsville, Indiana. He died on the 5th of July, 1882. David Heaton, born at the same place, March 10, 1823, now deceased, entered into public life more conspicuously than either of his brothers. He received an academical education, read law, and was admitted to the bar. In 1855 he was elected to the Ohio Senate ; in 1857 removed to Minnesota, and was chosen to the Senate of that State ; was twice re-elected ; was also postmaster at Minneapolis. In 1863 he removed to Newbern, North Carolina, where he held a position as special agent of the United States Treasury Department. In 1867 he was elected a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention, and in 1868 was chosen a. representative from North Carolina to the Fortieth Congress, and served on the Committee on the Census ; was re-elected to the Forty-first Congress, and served on the Committee on Elections, and was chairman of that on Coinage, Weights, and Measures. He was renominated for the Forty-second Congress without opposition but a few days before his death, which occurred in Washington, June 25, 1870. His last words were, " God bless the colored people !"

John Reed, the grandfather of William Reed, and the ancestor of the Reed family in this neighborhood, cut his way through from Pennsylvanra first to Kentucky, in 1793, settling near Crab Orchard. His wife's brother, whose name was Brotherton, Was killed by the Tories in the Revolutionary War. He remained here but a year or two, and then, with his wife and family, struck out for Cincinnati. This was in 1797, and from here he moved up the Miami, and here, three miles below Middletown, at the mouth of Dick's Creek, he located. The children were David, Robert, William, and John, Jane, Christian, Margaret, and Martha.

David Reed, the father of William Reed, was married in Pennsylvania to Miss Ruth Carricks, September 30, 1766, while yet in Pennsylvania. Her people were from the north of Ireland. Their son John, their oldest child, was born in 1794, when they went to Kentucky on horseback. They brought some fine horses with them to Ohio, but four of these were stolen one night by the Indians. David, Robert, and their father followed them two days, but failing to catch the thieves, Robert and the father returned home, and David continued the search singly for three days longer, and was gone five days and nights. Upon reaching the Miami River at night, on his return, having no skiff, he took off his clothing, lashed his gun, powder-horn, and clothes to his back and swam across the stream. He was not fond of the noble red man, and, it was said, would occasionally shoot them down without much provocation. He died in 1812, and left five sons and four daughters: John, Thomas, William, Robert, David, Margaret, Jane, Elizabeth, and Ruth.

John, born 1794, was a soldier of the 'War of 1812. He was a stock raiser, giving his attention to thoroughbred animals only. This was so of all his animals, horses and cattle, sheep, fowls, hogs, and every thing, even in dogs. He raised the best breeds to be found in America, and in this way did much to elevate stock-raising in this country. Thomas C. Reed; the next son, was born September 3, 1797, and was reputed to be the first male white child born in the county. This idea was errone-

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ous, however ; he was the earliest born in Lemon Township. He was 'a carpenter, and was also a fine raiser of thoroughbred stock. He married Polly Dickey, and died in 1876. Robert Reed was born in 1804. He was also a lover of thoroughbred stock, and took a herd of short-horns with him to Illinois. He afterwards moved to Keokuk, Iowa. William Reed was born November 5, 1802. David B., the youngest, born June 12, 1812, is a farmer in Sangamon County, Illinois. Elizabeth, now living near William Reed, was born May 27, 1806. She was never married. Jane, Margaret, and Mary are dead. Three out of the five of these brothers were ruling elders in the Church to which they belonged.

William Reed was born November 5, 1802, on the old Reed 'farm, in Lemon Township. He was married to Miss Margaret Sigerson, March 28, 1820. She was a daughter of Captain Robert Sigerson. He commenced housekeeping with the usnal outfit, a spinning-wheel, a few split-bottomed chairs, a large chest, and wooden mould-board plow, but still they were happy. He subsequently purchased the farm of his uncle Robert Reed, in full view of where he was born, and paid about forty dollars per acre for it. He raised A. family of seven sons and three daughters : Mary, David Wallace, Robert S., Martha E., William, Nancy M., Thomas E., Jane E., and Alexander C. Mary died of typhoid fever when eighteen years of age. Robert S. was in Sherman's army, and was taken prisoner and starved in the Andersonville prison, from the effects of which he died July 27, 1865. Three years ago William Reed and wife celebrated their golden wedding. This was March 29, 1879. The children living were all present, except Robert S. and family, of Collinsville, Illinois, and Mrs. Bradshaw, of Mattoon, Illinois.

Mr. Reed is one of the oldest men living who were born in the county, and the venerable couple have undergone many hardships not dreamed of by the present generation, and there are few women to-day who can show finer specimens of linens blankets, and coverlets, spun and woven by her own hands, than Mrs. William Reed can do. Mr. and Mrs. Reed have been consistent members of the Associate Reformed Church, near Monroe. Mr. Reed formerly had a distillery, but being satisfied of the evil of intemperance, abandoned the business, and became an organizer of the temperance movement. He also quit the use of tobacco, and has lived to see his six sons grown to manhood free from these vices, and to fill places of honor and respectability.

Mrs. Reed's grandfather was John Wallace, who was born in 1732. He left his birth-place in Virginia in 1783, and went to Kentucky, where he remained until 1800, when he came to Ohio, and settled two and a half miles south-east of Monroe, on a farm subsequently belonging to John Robinson. Polly Wallace married Captain Robert Sigerson in 180I, and raised five children. The Wallace family is a large one, and now considerably scattered. They were prominent settlers in Butler County in an early day.

John Parker Reynolds, an esteemed citizen of this township, was born in the town of Nine Partners (now Amenia), Dutchess County, New York, September 21, 1782. His paternal ancestors came from Devonshire, England, about 1650. They were stout defenders of liberty of conscience, and some of them Friends, or, as we now say, Quakers. His father, the Rev. Parker Reynolds, a Baptist clergyman, settled at Saratoga, New York, about 1790, in time for the subject of this notice to see and recollect the placing of a potash kettle to separate the water of the celebrated Congress Spring from non-medicinal water flowing into it. He was a sturdy boy, fair complexion, large, dark grey eyes, auburn hair, and a temperament of delicate sensibility. Thrown upon his own resources at an early age, though not until he had acquired a fair education, he entered the printing-office of Southwick, Bostwick & Co., of Albany, New York, in which he found a fellow-worker and life-long friend, in the late John C. Wright, of Cincinnati. While becoming a skilled practical printer, he studied the higher mathematics, some of the languages, law, and music.

In 1805 he became the proprietor of what in that day was a large printing and publishing house, with book-store attached, in Salem, Washington County, in that State, and started a newspaper styled the Washington Register, continuing it until 18I7—the work all being done upon the old-time Ramage press. A Jeffersonian Democrat in politics, he adhered to principle, ultimately becoming a Whig. When leaving for the West, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons conferred upon him as a parting compliment the degree of Knight Templar, Chancellor Livingston being then the Grand Master of the order for the State of New York.

In 1818 he came with his wife to Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio, and in 1820 to Middletown, in this county, there entering into the hotel and soon afterward into the first forwarding and commission business in the place. As a man and a citizen he was distinguished for his uncompromising integrity, practical common sense, intelligence, philanthropy, conscientious discharge of every moral obligation, and most thorough contempt for any thing mean or questionable; and no public enterprise was undertaken without his participation and assistance. He retired from business in 1839, removing to Cincinnati in 1845, remaining there until 1849, after which he made his home in Hamilton until his death, March 21, 1858. His life was a useful one by precept and example ; his cast of mind judicial, reflective, and philosophical. With, doubtless, the frailties of human nature, in all matters of conscience he was emphatically the " stuff of which martyrs are made," never hesitating at any sacrifice when duty called. He was a thorough believer in the doctrine of personal individual responsibility, both here and here-

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after, a strong religious feeling manifesting itself, not in ritual, but by deep reverence for God and most practical philanthropy.

In the year 1827 the Legislature passed a law authorizing Jonathan Martin, Robert L. Campbell, James F. Death, John P. Reynolds, John Shafer, Carlton Waldo, and Israel F. Gibson to build a toll-bridge over the Great Miami River at the town of Middletown. Afterwards, in the year 1829, an amendatory law was passed, changing the place at which it was to be erected, and in the year 1830 another amendatory law was passed, which resulted in the building of the bridge.

The following have been the justices of the peace : Henry Weaver, William McClure, 1803; William Squier, Squier Littell, 1805 ; Ezekiel Ball, William Barkalow, 1806 ; Thomas C. Wade, 1807 ; Stephen Clark, James Tapscott, 1809 ; James Clark, Daniel Strickland, 1810 ; William Harvey, 1813 ; James Clark, 1814 ; William Harvey, James Clark, 1816; William Harvey, James Clark, 1819 ; Ezekiel Ball, 1821 ; William McClure, James Clark, 1822 ; Thomas Irwin, 1823 ; Israel T. Gibson, 1824 ; James Clark, 1825 ; John Clark, Thomas Irwin, 1826 ; David Clarkson, James Heaton, 1827 ; Thomas Irwin, 1829 ; James Clark, James Heaton, 1830; Thomas Irwin, 1832 ; James Clark, James Heaton, 1833; Thomas Irwin, 1835; James Clark, Israel T. Gibson, 1836 ; William Cotterell, 1838 ; Thomas Irwin, Hugh Alexander, 1839 ; Benjamin Co;, 1840 ; James Cook, Hugh Alexander, Anthony Noble, William W. Lightfoot, 1842; David H. Tullis, 1844; and since that date, James Cook, Anthony Noble, William Lightfoot, David H. Tullis, John H. Gordon, John L. Todhunter, David Heaton, P. P. LaTourrette, Daniel Helwig, Samuel B. Holmes, Thomas N. Russell, A. M. Sentney, John McClelland, A. Crider, R. D. Booth, M. Simpson, H. L. Henkle, John S. Todd, Edward Kimball, W. B. Hedding, James A. Johnson, F. W. Whittaker, William M. Murphy.

The postmasters have been :

Middletown - Ezekiel Ball, April 6, 1819 ; John Hughes, April 11, 1825 ; John Shafer, September 1, 1827 ; John M. Barnett, June 24, 1841; Jacob P. Achey, January 12, 1843; John J. Storms, January 13, 1844; William S. Storms, August 24, 1844; Isaac Robertson, March 8, 1845; David Heaton, April 27, 1849 ; John Harnish, December 24, 1852; Charles H. Brock, April 3, 1861 ; Lewis L. Lambright, February 5, 1872.

Blue Ball-Robert McChesney, August 15, 1844 ; John Auld, November 1, 1845 ; James R. Morrison, January 19, 1853; James Logan, September 4, 1854 ; Jesse Bond, July 30, 1858; Jones Logan, May 6, 1861 ; Benew D. Shurte, February 28, 1868 i Elder W. Piper, June 22, 1868 ; Peter D. McChesney, May 10, 1869 ; Sanford Young, September 9, 1870.

Clinton-James Ayers, May 17, 1826. Discontinued November 27, 1827. This post-office was erected at the solicitation of Colonel James Ayers and other contractors on the Miami Canal, and moved with the work.

Excello. -J. T. Gardner, November 10, 1870; discontinued September 11, 187I; re-established October 12, 1881; Robert Y. Magenerty, October 12, 1881.

Lesourdsville. -Benjamin Lesourd, May 11, 1838 ; 'Thomas Ward, Sen., August 28, 1839; discontinued February 4, 1842; re-established May 11, 1850; John S. Hankins, May 11, 1850; Wesley B. Hedding, April 3, 1851; Jacob Simpson, July 9, 1853; Lewis Emmens, October 10, 1855 ; John S. McCrary, September 3, 1857; Squire Berry, December 27, 1859; Perry Wright, January 7, 1861; James K. Webster, July 30, 1862; discontinued April 23, 1864; re-established November 10, 1870; Albert Potter, November 10, 1870; discontinued September 29, 1871.

Lemon.-Joseph S. Page, March 18, 1878.

Monroe.-Andrew Boyd, May 22, 1822; George P. Williamson, October 27, 1825; John P. Williamson, January 12, 1831; Reuben Thompson, April 30, 1833; George P. Williamson, August 9, 1833; Thomas Armour, August 8, 1835; William A. Sackett, July 27, 1837; William W. Caldwell, September 16, 1841; Peter Vlereborne, June 3, 1845; Eciward Kimball, October 24, 1849; Peter Vlereborne, November 21, 1853; Abraham Hoagland, January 5, 1858 ; Reuben V. Roll, August 9, 1859 ; Samuel W. Wilson, February 14, 1872 ; Henry C. Hill, April 13, 1874; David Keyt, November 5, 1874; David Caldwell, April 28, 1875.

MIDDLETOWN.

The original town plat of Middletown, laid out in 1802 by Stephen Vail and James Sutton, reads a# follows: "The above town is laid out in the fractional section No. 28, in township and fourth range, between the Miami Rivers. Each lot is six poles one way, agreeably to the plan, except the lots Nos. 43, 46, 47, and 50, which are six poles square. The streets are each four poles wide. The course of those running from the river is south, sixty degrees east. Water and Main Streets cross the other at right angles. North Alley and South Alley are each two poles wide. East Alley and West Alley are each one pole wide. The alleys are parallel with the streets. The streets and alleys to be perpetually kept open for public use. The lots Nos. 10 and 11, which are colored green, are set aside for the public, to be appropriated to county purposes. First, Second, and Third Streets are always to be kept open to the river."

In 1816 the first addition was laid out, as follows: "In addition to Middletown, in the county of Butler, the subscribers have laid off fifty-seven lots, of the same. dimensions of the whole lots in the old plat, excepting Lot 65, containing one hundred and fifty-six poles and four- fifths. Broad Street is five poles wide. What was called South Alley is made three poles wide and called Fourth Street, and the one south of it three poles wide and

628 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

called Fifth Street. What is called East Alley, in the old part of the town, between the lots on Broadway Street and Main Street, is continued at one Tole wide and called Middle Alley ; and the one east of the lots, on the east side of Broadway, is one pole wide and called East Alley. The streets and alleys are parallel with those of the old town plat, as recorded, and are to be opened at any time a majority of the subscribers may think necessary, as witness our hands this the twenty- seventh day of March, 1816. Broad Street is to be continued at each end thereof the same course until it intersects the county road to Franklin and the one south to Middletown, leading to Reading and thence to Cincinnati.", This It signed by Hugh Vail, Shobal Vail, John Cummings, Daniel Doty, and Abner Enoch.

Among the first settlers of Middletown are names yet familiar—Ezekiel Ball, Daniel Doty, Stephen Vail, Garret Van Vost, Moses Potter, and David Enoch. All these except Enoch were from New Jersey. He came about the year 1800, and settled on Section 23 and a fraction of 24, with his father. Abner Enoch obtained these lands by a deed in 1816, from James Monroe, then the President of the United States. Abner Enoch was one of the most remarkable men in this part of the country. He possessed natural abilities, was very energetic, and had an nnusual tenacity of purpose. He engaged in manufacturing and farming. He built one of the first mills ever on the Miami River, which consisted of a saw-mill, grist-mill, and a woolen factory, and he also built a distillery. All these mills *received water from the same race. Abner Enoch married first a Miss Piper, who died early. He then married her brother's widow. His first wife's father kept a hotel in Middletown, on the corner of Second and Main Streets. In the same house Mr. Enoch had a store at the same time. The hotel and the store were about the first of the kind in the town.

Probably the first settler in Middletown was Daniel Doty, one of the Western pioneers, who died on Monday, the eighth day of May, 1848, at his residence near Middletown, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. Daniel Doty was one of the first settlers of Butler County, and amoug the first pioneers of the Miami country. He was born in Essex County, State of New Jersey, on the twenty-third day of March, 1765. His parents were respectable, honest people, in the humble walks of life, who were unable to give their children any education other than that which could be acquired at a common country school. They, however, taught them their duty to their Creator and fellow-beings, and brought them up to habits of honest industry on which, with their own exertions, they had to depend to make their way through life.

Having heard of the fine fertile country then opening in the far West, Daniel formed the resolution of exploring it and judging for himself. -Accordingly, on the tenth day of September, 1790, he left his home in the State of New Jersey and proceeded to Fort Pitt (now Pittsburg), from whence he descended the Ohio River to Columbia, six miles below Fort Washington, situated where Cincinnati now is. He landed at Columbia on the twenty-third day of October following. At that time there were but two hewed-log houses in the town. They stood near the bank of the Ohio River. One of them was occupied by Major Benjamin Stites, the other by John S. Gano. Gano was captain of the militia, and Ephraim Kibby was lieutenant The company consisted of about seventy men, good and true, who were willing to risk their lives for the defense of the country.

At that time General Harmar was commander-in-chief of the military forces of the country, and John Cleves Symmes, the proprietor of the Miami country, was chief magistrate and head of the civil department. At the time Daniel Doty landed at Columbia, General Harmar was out on his expedition against the Indians, and returned to Fort Washington with his army about ten days afterward. A number of his men were wounded, among whom were George Adams and Thomas Bailey. During the years 1791 and 1792 the country was in an almost continual state of alarm on account of the Indians. Three men were killed and scalped by the Indians near Covalt's Station, on the Little Miami River, about ten miles from Columbia. Their names were Covalt, Hinkle and Abel Cook. Daniel Doty and some others went from Columbia to the relief of the station and guarded the graves while the dead were buried.

In the latter part of December, 1790, the Indians made an attack on the fort at Colerain, eight miles from Fort Hamilton, killed two men, and took some horses and cattle. An express was sent to Columbia, and the company to which Mr. Doty belonged got ready immediately and started on the run. When they got over to Fort Washington, the commandant of the fort ordered Lieutenant Kingsbury and twelve private soldiers to join them. That evening they marched four miles and encamped on Mill Creek until next morning, when they continued their march to Colerain, but upon reaching the place found the enemy gone. About two weeks after this the fort was attacked by a large body of Indians, supposed to consist of three hundred or four hundred warriors, and who invested it closely for three or four days, then withdrawing without doing much injury.

Mr. Doty was instrumental in bringing the second minister of the Gospel into the Miami country. The first preacher was the Rev. Daniel Clark, a licensed minister of the Baptist profession, who came from Pennsylvania in the Spring of 1791. The second preacher who came was the Rev. James Kemper. He lived near Danville, Kentucky. Daniel Doty and a man named French were chosen by the people to go and bring him and his family to the country. They proceeded on their way with rifles primed, their only road being a bridle-path

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for sixty miles, sleeping in the woods at night. This was in the Spring of 1792.

On the 24th of April, 1792, Mr. Doty returned to New Jersey by the way of New Orleans, coming back in 1795, and in the Spring of 1796, with his wife and children, came to Middletown, where he commenced a settlement on a tract of land, where he spent the remaining portion of his life. He built his cabin near the Great Miami River, about one mile below where the town now is. When his cabin was raised and inclosed, he had no table, chairs, bedstead, nor any boards of which to make them. He cut down timber, and split puncheons and clapboards, and made his floors out of the puncheons and doors-out of the clapboards. A table was made of a slab split Blom the tree, and supported by four round legs set in auger holes. Some three-legged stools were made for seats, and a bedstead was constructed out of saplings, with a fork or limb at a proper height from the bottom of the bed ; the lower and upper end fastened to a joist above ; in the fork or limb was placed a round pole, with the bark on, the other end being placed through a crack between the logs in the wall. This front pole was crossed by a shorter one laid within the fork, with its outer end through another crack in the wall. Clapboards were now laid with one end on the front pole and the other end in the crack of the wall, for the bottom of the bed. He also constructed a rude cupboard out of clapboards, in which were kept their pewter dishes, plates, and spoons, but mostly wooden bowls, trenchers, and noggins, using gourds and hard- shelled squashes when gourds were seared. Pegs were inserted in various places on the wall, on which to hang petticoats and hunting-shirts. The buck-horns were fastened to a joist, for the rifle and shot-pouch, which completed the carpenter work of the building. For the accommodation of the babies, Mr. Doty cut down a large sycamore tree, out of which was constructed a cradle.

There were a few settlers in the neighborhood at the time Mr. Doty commenced his improvement, but no crops had been raised, and he went to Cincinnati the first year to buy provisions to support his family. Corn meal was worth one dollar a bushel, which was bought, packed home on horseback, and baked into johnny-cakes on a clapboard before the fire. This was their only bread. Wild game was plenty. Deer, bears, and turkeys were killed when needed.

In the Summer of 1796, while Mr. Doty was on his way to meeting, one Sunday night, he heard his dog bark, crossing the cornfield. It was barking at a wildcat on the fence. On Mr. Doty speaking to the dog, the cat turned round and jumped off the fence towards him, and he ran toward the cat. The corn being thick and high, he lost sight of both deg and cat, but soon heard the dog cry out, when Doty went in that direction, and met the cat, and the dog walking behind him. Doty went straight toward the cat, and when the cat turned round to seize the dog, he kicked the cat over, caught him by the hind leg, and placing his left foot on his breast, pressed him with all his weight upon the ground until-he was dead. Mr. Doty had killed a number of wild-cats, but thought this one was the largest he had ever taken hold of.

Mr. Doty had three encounters also with bears, in all three of which he was successful. In one instance, during the struggle the bear caught hold of him by each of his shoulders with the claws of its forefeet, when he struck it down by a blow of his fist in the bear's throat. Another time he split open a bear's head with an ax, and at another time killed a bear with a club, knocking it down first, then following up the blows until it was killed. This last encounter took place more than twenty miles from any house, and while he was on his way to New Jersey.

Daniel Doty was the first collector of taxes in this part of the country. His district was twelve miles wide from north to south, comprising two ranges of townships extending from the Great Miami to the Little Miami, comprehending the sites where the towns of Franklin and Waynesville are, and the immediate country. The whole amount of tax contained on his duplicate was two hundred and forty-four dollars. He collected it all and paid it over to Jacob Burnett, the treasurer, at Cincinnati. In discharging his duties he must have ridden near a thousand miles. He became a man of wealth and of influence. For several years before his death he himself paid a tax of one hundred and thirty-four dollars per year. He and his wife Betsey lived together on their farm near Middletown, fifty-two years, and raised a family of ten children, and before he died he lived to see the railroad take the place of the Indian trail, and comfortable brick buildings that of the wigwam and the rude cabin.

Moses Potter came in 1796, with his family, and settled first in Cincinnati. The next Spring after the departure of the Indians, he moved near Middletown, settling where Henry Reed now lives. He remained in that locality only a few months. Thence he moved two miles and a half east on a rented farm, where he stayed one year, and then to the farm occupied by Garrett Denise, one mile and a half east of the town, where he died three years after. He bought a half section' of land where he last settled, and here built a double cabin. His family consisted of two children prior to his coming to Ohio. Their names were Levi and Sarah. Jane was born April 2, 1797, being the first white child born in Middletown ; he also had Amos and Jonathan Hoel. All the children are now dead. Jane Potter married John Sutphin, a weaver, from New Jersey. He was born in 1794, came to Ohio in 181I, and was engaged on the canal between Cincinnati and Middletown, holding at first some minor position. Subsequently, for a continuons period of twenty-two years, he was superintendent on the canal,

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and again after a few years interval held the same position some time longer. He raised a family of twelve children, nine of whom are living. The family throughout is noted for its morality and high standing.

Levi Potter has three children living,-John Johnston, Mrs. Maria Sill, and Frances Marian, Amos Potter has two children living,—Mrs. Mary Cramer, of Iowa, and Mrs. Crane, of Middletown. Mr. Moses Potter came from the same neighborhood that Daniel Doty did in New Jersey, and was probably induced by Mr. Doty to emigrate to the wilderness. He also had one brother, Russell Potter, who came at the same time, but settled ter the river, near where Trenton stands.

Stephen Vail was a native of New Jersey, and 'came to Middletown in 1800. Two of his sons and a daughter arrived in Ohio the year before, and settled in Warren County, near Waynesville, temporarily. They were Shobal, Aaron, and Mary Russell, the wife of George Russell.

In September, 1799, Shobal Vail married Miss Mary Bonnell, daughter of parents who were also from New Jersey, and were among the earliest settlers of Warren County. Many of the descendants of the Bonnell family are yet there. Shobal Vail Clevenger, the distinguished sculptor, was of that family. He received his name Shobal Vail in honor of his uncle by marriage.

Stephen Vail, with the remainder of his family, came, as stated above, in 1800. The children who accompanied him were Moses, Lydia, Randall, Hugh, Sarah, and Katharina. Soon after he came he purchased a large tract of land lying on both sides of the Miami River, and commenced the erection of mills, consisting of a grist-mill, a fulling-mill, and a saw-mill. These mills were finished and in use in 1802. A destructive freshet in 1805 carried away or greatly damaged the fulling-mill and the saw-mill. The fulling-mill was rebuilt the next year.

Mr. Vail built his first cabin near the river, not far from where F. Kemp & Co.'s slaughter-house is now. He lived there but a short time, when he built another cabin on the table-land, west of and about one hundred and fifty yards from Edward Jones's present residence, and near what is now the corner of Young and Fourth Streets. This was, doubtless, the first cabin built in Middletown. In this cabin Mr. Vail died in 1808. His son Moses and daughter Lydia were the oldest of the children, and were half brother and sister to the others. Moses and Lydia settled in Warren County, and built a mill near Franklin previous to 1824. He died many years ago, and left children ; but they are scattered, and it is not known where they are. The descendants of the other members of this family settled in Middletown and vicinity.

Shobal Vail Clevenger, the American sculptor, was born in Middletown in 1812, and died September 28, 1843. In his youth he worked as a stone-mason in Cincinnati, where the figure of an angel he carved on a stone attracted attention. From Cincinnati he removed to Boston, where he executed busts of Clay, Van Buren and others. He afterward went to Europe, taking up his residence at Florence, where he executed many busts, which showed a rapid advance and gave promise that he would attain the first rank in his profession. Having been attacked by pulmonary consumption he embarked for America, but died on the passage.

Judge Ezekiel Ball was among the first early settlers, and was a man of considerable importance, holding many township offices, also being associate judge.

John Freeman settled on what was known as Abram Shaefer's farm prior to 1800. His son Thomas some years afterward purchased what has since been known as the Cullum farm and built a residence there. He was commissioned captain in the War of 1812, and took his company to Detroit in 1813. He moved to Middletown in 18I8 and took charge of the Black Horse Tavern, which had been previously kept by Jesse Crane. He remained in the tavern a year or so, and then built a flat-boat and carried a load of produce to New Orleans. John P. Reynolds succeeded him in the tavern and subsequently Mr. Hughes. Mr. Freeman was from Pennsylvania, and his wife was from New Jersey. She was a daughter of Alexander Crane.

After Middletown was laid out and a few cabins erected, Mr. Jonathan Martin came to the village and began blacksmithing. This shop was a frame building, that stood a short distance from the Baptist Church on Main Street. Mr. Simpson rented this shop of Mr. Martin in 1819, when the latter went into the dry goods business in a building where the First National Bank is now, on Main Street. Mark Dixon and Abner Enoch had stores prior to this time. Dixon's room was on the south-east corner of Third and Main Streets, and Enoch's store was on the north-west corner of Main and Second Streets. Soon after this time and as the town began to grow up the number of the stores multiplied very fast.

The first cabin in Middletown was that of Stephen Vail, on the ridge. A log-cabin was built very early near the corner of Main and Third Streets, where Oglesby & Barnitz's bank is now, and afterwards occupied by Amos Potter. Probably one of the oldest standing and the first built frame building in Middletown is the one now seen on the south-east corner of Main and Fourth Streets. .The first brick building in Middletown was the one erected for a school-house in the east part of lot No. 11. This structure was an elegant one for those days, and was about twenty by thirty feet. It was one story high, with a huge fire-place in each end for the burning of wood. In later years one chimney was taken out and the door was moved from the side to the end, while the warmth was provided from a large stove. In this house were day-schools, singing-schools, and religious meetings of different denominations on the Sabbath.

The second brick house was built by Jonathan Tullis.

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It was on the corner of Third and Main Streets, where the Merchants' National Bank is now. The erection of this house caused a little comment, as it was known Mr. Tullis was a little involved. Mr. David Heaton was desirous of expressing his opinion on the matter, and one day, while riding by, he was seen to stop and take more than a casual glance. When asked by Mr. Tullis what new points were discovered, he replied that he thought the walls leaned a little. " What way ?" asked the astonished owner. " Towards Hamilton," was the nonchalant reply. In Hamilton were the courts and the sheriff's offrce. This house was erected in 1818, and in two or three years afterwards David Enyart, who previously lived where Tobias Lefferson now lives, moved into it.

Hotels or houses of entertainment were numerous in earlier ti nes. Their " taverns," " houses of entertainment," and " coffee-houses," now come under the general terms of " hotels," " boarding-houses, with day board or rooms to let," and " saloons." First among these, and one as famous as any, was the " Black Horse," standing on Main Street, about where the post-office is now. This was kept first by Jesse Crane. Following him were John P. Reynolds and Hughes, who was styled Governor Hughes. This was prior to 18I8. John Freeman kept it in 1819. Mr. Piper, father-in-law of Abner Enoch, kept a hotel on a small scale on the north-west corner of Second and Main Streets, in part of the building used by Mr. Enoch as a store. David Enyart kept hotel in his house on Main and Third a few years, and just opposite Mr. Levi Potter kept a few years. This was where Russell's grocery now is. Prominent among the first-class houses dnring the building of the canal, was the building on the corner of Broadway and Third Streets, where the agricultural store now is. This was extensively patronized by those interested in canal contracts, and became the leading hotel for many years. Just above Russell's grocery, and on the same side, between Second and Third Streets, Mr. Phares kept hotel also. This was as early as 1815.

David Enyart came to Ohio in 1802, settling first at Princeton, and then in 1815 came to Middletown. Mr. Aaron Hamner built a one-story brick house on the northwest corner of Main and Fifth Streets in 1819 or 1820, that was afterwards sold to Joseph Treon, who was a cripple. Mr. Simpson built a brick on the south-west corner of Main and Fifth Streets in 1822 that was not only the largest in the town, but was considered the finest. Mr. Martin built the present brick of Oglesby & Barnitz's bank in 1827, and sold goods there for many years. Levi Potter, who lived just opposite, was probably the first brick-mason in Middletown.

The United States Hotel, on Main Street, was built in 1831 for a dwelling-house and coffee-house. It was then but two stories high. The second story was used to live in, while the parlor and bar-room were used for a store and coffee-room. Wilson Gilchrist sold goods in the

parlor for several years, and I. C. Faries and others, at different times, used the present bar-room for a coffeehouse. Cyrus Mitchell was the first to keep hotel. This was near 1845. His brother, James Mitchell, built the third story. Mrs. Furry now keeps the house.

The old Middletown burying-ground is near Kemp & Shafor's slaughter-house, and on the river bank. There are now but two stones the inscriptions on which are readable; that of George Russell, who died May 25, 1814, at forty-one years of age, and Moses Vail, who died at sixty-two years of age. Stephen Vail was also buried here, but his grave is not marked. His interment was in 1808.

The Middletown Cemetery originally contained four acres, in the south-east quarter of section No. 28. This ground was laid off by James Heaton, who surveyed it, thirteen lots being set aside for a potter's-field. The original trustees were Israel Gibson, John M. Barret, and Robert Campbell. This was the 30th of May, 1827.

The Middletown Cemetery Association was organized May 25, 1878. On the 4th of August, 1863, two acres were added, and again, October 11, 1869, five acres were purchased. The association, when organized under the special act of the Legislature, consisted of the following persons : W. B. Oglesby, Jos. S. Kelley, John Corsin, Thos. Wilson, Edward Jones, G. Rathman, S. V. Curtis, G. E. Wampler, C. W. Sutphin, I. C. Faries, A. D. Collins, William Sheels, William Moore, C. S. Barnitz, C. F. Gunckel, J. B. Hartley, J. J. Paller.

Of those who deserve mention in connection with the dead is the Rev. James Grimes. He was a native of the District of Columbia, born January 1, 1760, and died March 16, 1846. He came here after the War of 1812. He had two children, George and Rebecca. George was in that war, and was taken prisoner. Rebecca married William Bridge, and had two children, Ann and Susan. Ann became the mother of James Lummis. She is still living, and is now in Illinois. Susan married J. J. Pettit, and died in the Spring of 1875.

Mr. Grimes was educated at Alexandria, Virginia, became a local Methodist preacher, and was ordained deacon by Francis Asbury, bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was ordained September 17, 1815. He was in the War of the Revolution seven years, and was taken prisoner by the British, but escaped by mounting a horse and riding past the guards, who fired upon him. His son George was in the navy in the War of 1812. The Rev. James Grimes was a carpenter and stair-builder. After the burning of the city of Washington in the War of 1812, he rebuilt the stairs in the capitol. He was a stout, well-built man, and when eighty years old could shingle a roof. He lived near where the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railroad depot is now. The house still stands.

Mr. Grimes had two wives, who were buried in this yard. His first wife, Eliza Grimes, died November,

632 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

1827, when seventy-two years of age. His second wife, Jane Grimes, was born September 27, 1776. She died in August, 1850, seventy-four years of age. Near by the grave of Mr. Grimes lie the remains of another Revolutionary soldier, Daniel Heaton.

The business of Middletown is largely in the manufacturing of all kinds of paper. The paper interest is immense, great enough to make the town one of the principal centers in the country for that kind of business. Seven great paper-mills run in full force, month in and month out, year after year, giving employment to hundreds of men, women, and children.

The first mill on the hydraulic north is that of Oglesby, Moore & Co. The mill manufactures blotting, sized, and super-calendered book, wrapping, and roofing papers. The firm members are W. B. Oglesby, William Moore, George C. Barnitz, and F. J. Tytns. The mill was built in 1833 by J. W. Erwin and brother. After two years Messrs. Tytus, Oglesby, and Barnitz then took the mill, and under the firm name of Oglesby, Barnitz & Tytus, ran it for seven or eight years. Then it passed into the hands of the present company, under - whose management it has been highly successful and prosperous. Eighty to one hundred hands are employed constantly, about twenty-five of whom are women and girls. The annnal sales of manufactured articles amount to $150,000. There are two mills in one. One is furnished with three four-hundred pound and four two-hundred-and-twentyfive-pound engines, and one seventy-two-inch Fourdrinier. It has water-power, and manufactures book and blotting paper, its capacity being five thousand pounds a day, or one million five hundred thousand pounds a year. The wrapping-mill has two four-hundred-and-fifty-pound and one six-hundred-pound engines, one sixty-eight-inch cylinder, water and steam, and makes four thousand five hundred pounds a day of wrapping and roofing paper, or one million three hundred and fifty thousand pounds a year.

The next mill south on the hydraulic is that of A. Hill & Sons. This company also carries on two mills. The first one is the Valley, and the one further down is the Globe. They are designated as No. 1 Valley Mill and No. 2 Globe Mill. The last-named mill has passed into the hands of Oglesby & Co. This mill was started in 1855, and their work was confined to the manufacture of manilla paper, of which they turned out six tons per day, or one thousand eight hundred tons a year. They employed seventy-five hands, among them twelve females, and the annual production was valned at $240,000. In the Valley Mill are six three-hundred to seven-hundred pound and one Gould engines, one fifty-six and one sixty- two inch cylinder power, water and steam. This was the first mill in the West to compete with the Eastern manilla manufactories. It was' started under great discouragements by Messrs Hill & Sons, and run at first on a small scale. The mill was stopped in July, 1881, and their business has been sold out to the Middletown Paper Company.

The next mill south on the hydraulic is that of the Tytus Paper Company F. J. Tytus, president ; W. B. Oglesby, treasurer; J. B. Tytus, secretary. This company manufactures Fourdrinier and cylinder manilla paper. The mill turns out twenty thousand pounds a day, or six million pounds a year, and the sales amount to over four hundred thousand dollars per annum. Eighty hands are employed. It was built in 1873, the firm being George W. Erwin & Co. The mill is run by water and steam, and has six hundred horse power ; fifteen rag engines, three machines. The engine is the largest in the West.

The third paper mill was built in 1855, by James P. Cecil, John L. Martin, and Joseph Sutphin, and is now owned by Sutphin & Wrenn. The firm is composed of Joseph Sutphin and A. S. Wrenn. They manufacture news and book papers, and are now very large manufacturers of heavy grades of blotting-paper. The establishment has never ceased operations since it was first started. Fifty hands are kept at work, thirty of whom are women. Fifty-five hundred pounds a day are made, and the sales are two hundred thousand dollars a year. The mill has one three-hundred pound, three four-hundred-pound, and one eight-hundred-pound engines, and one sixty-eight-inch Fourdrinier. It is run by water and steam, and its productions rank with the best made in the country. This establishment furnishes most of the paper upon which the Cincinnati dailies are printed. All these mills are located along the banks of the hydraulic, in pleasant situations, among the willows and sycamores.

Across the city, upon the canal, stands the mill of Wardlow, Thomas & Co., or the Niagara Paper Mills. The first mill was built in 1868, and burned down in September, 1872, and a new building was erected in 1880. The whole building is four hundred and sixty feet long, and eighty-six feet wide, and one main building sixty feet wide. It has two machine rooms, each thirty-five feet square, and the boiler and steam-engine room seventy feet square. The smoke-stack rises one hundred and five feet from the base. It has ten rag engines, one Gould engine, one eighty-four-inch double cylinder, and one sixty-eight-inch. It uses both water and steam, and makes manilla paper. Its capacity is from twelve to fourteen thousand pounds per day. This mill makes a specialty of flour-sacks and manilla-bag papers. It has six wells and ten driven wells, and a ten-horse-power pump that throws eight hundred gallons per minute. The water is clear and pure, the subsoil of all this locality being a gravel. They employ about forty hands.

The Harding Paper Company own the Excello Mill, which is three miles farther south. They manufacture first-class writing-paper. The officers of this company are- A. E. Harding, president; W. B. Oglesby, treasurer ;

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and William Moore, secretary. The mill is furnished with six four-hundred-pound engines and one sixty-two inch Fourdrinier. The capacity is three thousand pounds of writing paper a day, or nine hundred thousand pounds a year. At the Excello Mill one hundred and twenty- five to one hundred and thirty hands are employed, over eighty of whom are women, and the annual sales amount to two hundred thousand dollars a year. The mill was built in 1865, and the pay-roll averages one thousand dollars a week.

The magnitude of the paper interests of Middletown can be understood when it is known that about four hundred and forty hands are employed therein ; that they put on the market annually about twelve and a third million pounds of first-class goods. and derive a gross revenue of one million one hundred and ninety thousand dollars each year. The paper manufactured here is not excelled anywhere in the country.

There are at present two paper-bag factories in Middletown, both doing a good business. Mr. R. E. Johnston established th enterprise in 1873. The bags were then made by hand, one person being able to manufacture only about seven hundred a day. Mr. Johnston took William Webster into partnership this year, but at the end of six months this firm was dissolved. Subsequently Mr. Webster started up for himself. The Webster patent, or hand-helping machines, are now used by both of these firms. The R. E. Johnston Paper-bag Company employ fifty hands, have two power machines and forty hand- helping machines, and manufacture two hundred thousand bags a day, or sixty millions a year. The pay-roll is two hundred and fifty dollars per week. They manufacture the machine-made satchel-bottom paper bags.

The Webster Paper and Bag Company run a force of seventy hands, and manufacture each day a stack of bags that would make a column sixteen hundred feet high, or four and a half miles high in a year. They also use the hand-helping machines, and do a business of one hundred thousand dollars a year. They manufacture a million of bags each week.

Wilson & McCallay have tobacco works that are 140x144 feet, three stories high. This business was established here in 1870, when they had a capacity of two hundred thousand pounds, and have now increased that capacity to three million pounds per annum, and furnish employment to from three hundred and fifty to four hundred hands. They have in all the enormous floor surface of 66,480 square feet, and a large and well-furnished office. The kilns are two in number, 20x75 feet each, the floors of which are laid with thousands of feet of steam pipe. The spinners' room is 50x100 feet; machine-room, 50x70 feet; wrapping department, 60x100 feet, where all wrappers are put on by hand. The press-room is 60x100 feet, containing twenty presses, and the large engine-room, 60x60, containing an eighty-five horse power engine. The firm employs seven salesmen.

P. J. Sorg & Co. have also an immense establishment for the manufacturing of the best brands of plug tobacco. The building is located at the terminus of Third Street, at the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis depot, and was erected in 1879, the main building being 140x40 feet. In 1880 an addition was made, 50x115 feet, and in 1881 it had another addition of 50x14 feet, making in all a building of 140x395 feet, three stories high, and basement. In 188I they manufactured 1,800,000 pounds of tobacco. They employ from 275 to 300 hands, and pay an internal revenue tax of from $275,000 to $300,000 annually. The firm consists of P. J. Sorg and John Auer.

The Ling & Levoy Buggy Company began operations in 1879, erecting at that time and subsequently a building 140x100 feet. It is now a stock affair, with William Ling as president, and James Johnson as treasurer and secretary. They employ in all fifty hands, and keep two salesmen on the road. They manufacture the platform bed, the three-spring bed, the Kinkin side-bar, also the Brewster side-bar. They also manufacture a new style of spring of their patent, now coming into general use. They make 1,200 buggies annually.

La Tourrette & Co., iron and brass founders, and manufacturers of paper and tobacco machinery, carry on a business of forty thousand dollars. This enterprise was established by P. P. La Tourrette before 1860, since which time the business has constantly grown until now the foundry consists of brass works, repair shops, and a general foundry for the accommodation of all kinds of job work in addition to the manufacture of their specialties. The Middletown Pump Company has now been absorbed in that of La Tourrette & Co. The firm consists of P. P. La Tourrette, C. F. Gunckel, and F. B. Searage. They employ thirty hands.

Mr. John L. Martin and Joseph Sutphin built the flouring mill of Middletown (the only one in the place) in 1853. The mill has a capacity of one hundred and fifty barrels a day, and is managed by C. Sutphin. Joseph Sutphin & Son still own the property, and are supplying the trade, which extends over a vast area of country.

The American Color Printing Company of Middletown was organized in 1880, with a capital stock of $18,000, and color printing made a specialty. Theodore Marston is president, and W. W. Sullivan is secretary of the company. They employ twelve hands, and are the publishers of the Middletown Journal.

There are at present three newspapers in Middletown. Up to 1857 no successful efforts had been made in this direction, although many attempts preceded the one that finally attained success, but each in turn was short lived. The Journal, now published by the American Color Printing Company, is the oldest successful paper in the town, and it dates its birth to the year 1857, and to Mr. C. H. Brock, the grocer of Middletown, as its first proprietor. Mr. Brock carried this paper on successfully for

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fourteen years. During the war he became postmaster of Middletown, but kept its management until 1871, when he sold .out to Mr. Harkrader, and after that it passed through the management of Collins, Bowman & Collins, George H. McKee, McKee & Powell, McKee, James L. Raymond, who leased to Wendell, then to Tucker & Todhunter, then sold to Todhunter & Bonnell, who sold it to the American Color Printing Company in 1880. Mr. Sullivan is its editor. There are two others also. The Signal was brought to bear its influenoe for good on Middletown by L. F. Bowman in 1844. He kept the paper until 1881, when T. J. Ward took its management. It has always been a good, lively paper. The Middletown Herald was started March, 1882. R. M. Threlkeld is proprietor and editor.

The private bank of Oglesby & Barnitz is the oldest bank in Middletown: It was started more than twenty years ago, being at that time simply a place of deposit. On account of the great credit they had among the business community, these deposits so increased on their hands that it was deemed advisable to start a bank. It is strictly private. The Merchants' National Bank was organized September 9, 1872, with a capital stock of $50,000, which has increased since to $150,000. The officers are Charles F. Gunckel, president, and G. F. Stevens, cashier. The First National Bank was organized in 1865, with Mr. Joseph Sutphin as its president, which position he filled for many years. D. W. McCallay is now president, and Joseph R. Allen cashier. Its capital stock was at first $100,000, but it is now increased to $150,000, with a surplus of $50,000.

The Union Loan and Building Association filed its papers with the secretary of state May 6, 1875, and the first payment of dues were made June 23, 1875. The first board of trustees were P. P. La Tourrette, David Newman, James H. Jacoby, J. McFadden, Jacob Shaeffer, I. N. Foote, Robert Johnston, W. Todhunter, and Frederick Siebert. The capital stock of $1,000,000 is divided into 5,000 shares of $200 each. The company has 750 members, a paid up capital of $124,000, and have taken in and disbursed during the year 1881, $108,000. The association has been in existence 350 weeks, and has attained a magnitude second to none in the State. There are 4,700 shares held by 750 members, no one member holding more than twenty shares. It is entirely mutual and equal. The present officers are N. B. Hatch, president; Dr. R. Corson, vice-president; R. E. Johnston, treasurer, and I. N. Foot, secretary.

The building of the Hydraulic laid the foundation for the prosperity of Middleton. This enterprise was set on foot by Messrs. Erwin, Cooper and Henderson, the company organizing in 1857, at a cost of forty thousand dollars. It furnishes water power for six mills and for the Middletown water works. The organization consisted of J. W. Erwin, president; Thomas Sherlock, secretary; and J. B. Oglesby, treasurer, as the executive officers.

Thomas Sherlock's place is now supplied by J. B. Oglesby, who is secretary, agent, and manager. The hydraulic is two miles in length.

Middletown became an incorporated village in 1837, its first mayor being T. T.- Gibson. A magnificent city building was completed by November 1, 1880, at a cost of $10,031.90.— In 1874 the town put in the Holly works at a cost of $72,000 ; and in 1881 introduced the electric light, abandoning the use of gas for municipal purposes. In 1879 permission was granted to the Middletown Street Railway Company to build a road on Third Street, to connect the two depots of Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton, and Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis roads. The present officers of the town are W. B. Hedding, mayor ; Robert A. P. Kaser, clerk ; Jacob Shaffer, treasurer ; William Frost, marshal; Nicholas Graff, William Ling, James H. Cunningham, Joseph Neiderlander, and Joseph Naughton, councilmen ; A. W. Hill, chief of fire department ; W. B. Oglesby, A. W. Hill, P. J. Sorg, trustees of water works.

The Holly Water-works are quite an addition financially, as well as a benefit otherwise, to the town. They were put in at a cost of $72,000, but it supplies the city with water, runs the fire department, and clears several hundred dollars over and above all expenses annually. The water is furnished from a large well, thirty-five feet deep and fourteen feet in diameter, and furnishes an inexhaustible supply of good, cool, clear, and pure water. The pressure is sufficient to throw water one hundred feet high.

The fire department is furnished with a four-wheeled reel, Caswell make, costing $600. It has the patent drop harness, and carries 1,000 feet cotton knit hose of Chelsea manufacture. There are also 2,000 feet of rubber and leather hose in reserve. Besides this there are a hook and ladder truck, a hand-reel, and a hand-engine. The team can be hitched up and ready to leave the building in twenty seconds after the alarm of fire has been given. The pressure of the water is ninety pounds, and twenty-one streams can be brought into requisition. It will throw eight streams one hundred feet high.

The Brush electric light was substituted for gas in the Summer of 1882. The company has put up a wrought- iron tower, made of boiler iron, 210 feet in height, on which are placed eight lights, each having 4,000 candlepower, and also five other lights in different portions of the town, each having 2,000 candle-power, and two street lights. This is at a cost of $2,000 per year, and ten dollars per month for each additional street light. The whole is run by a forty-horse-power engine of P. J. Sorg & Co.'s tobacco works, which operates two machines, one of ten lights, each having a 4,000 candle power, the other sixteen each having 2,000 candle power. The brilliancy of these lights, with its softness, renders them very desirable. The lights cn the large

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tower can be seen for miles, and the power is sufficient to read large print several squares off.

The first school in Middletown was a pay school kept by Mr. Beers, who afterwards became Judge Beers, of Darke County. He started in 1805, and had for a schoolroom a room in a woolen-mill stand* near the present location of the river bridge. Another school was taught by Martha. Wilson, in 1806, in a log-house, one part of which was used as a dwelling. It was located on what was called the "Smoothing Iron," the present premises of J. K. Thomas. For some time afterward Ephraim Gray taught in the same house, and at a later day Joseph Worth. Mr. Ward had a school in a cabin near the site of the machine shop. Mr. Perry and Mr. Piper were also teachers of an early day. Subsequently Ephraim Gray built the house on Broad Street now Awned and occupied by James Wicoff, and taught in the same for some years.

In 1815, the first school-house was built on the east part of the lot, south-east corner of Main and Second Streets. It was twenty by thirty feet in size. In this house were day-schools, singing-schools, and religious meetings on the Sabbath. One of the first teachers was Jeremiah Marston, who taught from 1821 to 1824, inclusive. He was subsequently associate judge, and his son, Theodore Marston, is well-known here. The first school entirely free, was taught by Joseph Gailbreath, a native of the neighborhood, in 1837, but the schools did not continue without the aid of funds from private sources.

Before 1839, the district school had grown too large for one room, and under its auspices a Mr. Elliott taught the younger pupils in a brick building then known as the " Juniata Iron Store," and still standing on Third Street, south side, and west of the bank of Messrs. Oglesby & Barnitz. In the Fall of 1839, in this room, Mrs. Mitchell, then Miss Josephine S. Anderson, carried on this school, with Mary J. Gibson as assistant, now Mrs. Bowen, of Chicago. Mrs. Mitchell has been identified with the schools of Middletown since that time, and her record made of forty-three years in school work is one herself and friends may feel proud of. This part of the school, above mentioned, was soon moved to the barracks, then standing on the present site of the Odd Fellows' building. The barracks are now on the northeast corner of Water and Fifth Streets.

The barracks were vacated in 1849, to occupy the better rooms made vacant by Mr. Furman's removal to Hamilton. These rooms were on the west side of Broad Street, a few steps north of Third Street. In this branch of the district school Mrs. Mitchell taught continuously, excepting a year or two, and, with the help of her assistants, she had the first, graded schools. Her assistants,

after Miss Gibson, were respectively Miss Alice T. Ketchum (now Mrs. Lambright), Miss Eliza Martin (subsequently Mrs. Storms), Misses Virginia Howland, and Susan McQuiety.

In 1855 the organization changed from three directors to a board of education composed of five members. The board consisted of William B. Oglesby, Stephen E. Giffen, Edward Jones, Joseph Sutphin, and William E. Marshall. In 1872 the present noble school-building was completed and furnished at a cost of $61,000. The Middletown people are proud of it, and with reason. There is no finer structure of the kind in Ohio. It is situated in a campus of six acres of ground, beautifully laid off, and ornamented with trees, walks, and shrubbery. The house is magnificently furnished. The pupils have a library parlor, in which they have the choicest literature in the way of periodicals and books, etc. This last commendable feature was inaugurated by the present efficient superintendent, F. J. Barnard.

The growth of the public schools is shown by the following table:

The expenditures were, in 1860, $2,464.69 ; 1865, $5,514.45 ; 1870, $5,958.56 ; 1875, $8,170.05 ; 1880, $11,195.64. The value of school property was, in 1855, $6,250; 1860, $6,250 ; 1865, $6,250; 1870, $6,250; 1875, $75,000 ; 1880, $75,000. The board of education consists of Dr. John Corson, president ; George H. Hinkel, secretary ; J. G. Lummis, treasurer ; James B. Hartley, I. C. Farris, C. A. Bapst.

In the Spring of 1842 a few noble-hearted men conceived the idea of instituting an Odd Fellows' lodge at Middletown. Preparatory to that end I. F. Hand, S. F. Hallman, Lewis Young, W. W. Littell, and Joshua Hunt, made application for and were admitted to membership in Warren Lodge, No. 11, I. O. O. F., at Franklin, and after taking degrees in that lodge all applied for and were granted dismissal cards, when they and brother David Olden, Sen., petitioned the Grand Lodge of Ohio for a charter to establish a lodge in Middletown, with the name of Hope Lodge, No. 16. Odd Fellowship was then so much in its infancy that the Grand Lodge of the State could transact all its business in one evening.

The lodge was instituted on the evening of October 25, 1842, Charles Thomas officiating as grand master, the place of meeting being the second-story of a frame house standing on Third Street. On the same evening there were three applicants initiated,—Anthony Noble, James Butler, and Frederick Shafer. About the sixth applicant accepted was brother Aaron Rodgers, who afterwards made a present to this lodge of a beautiful lot in the cemetery for the express purpose of burying indigent or transient Odd Fellows. It, however, happened by an over-ruling Providence that he was the first one buried on the lot. The lodge commenced under very flattering prospects, considering the size of the town,

636 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

which then was not over one thousand inhabitants, the first year initiating twelve members. A little carelessness is discovered in the way the lodge did the business during those first years. If a brother was behind with his dues, his note was sometimes taken instead. The initiation fee then was six dollars.

In April, 1843, the lodge rented a room on the northwest corner of Broad and Third Streets, where they stayed ten years, working successfully and in loving harmony. They then rented a room of Jacob Leibee, in his three-story building built on the same ground on which the lodge had been instituted, where they stayed until the lodge moved into the building on Main Street they now occupy. The lodge at first elected their officers every three months, but in 1846 the time was changed to six months. During the Winter of 1846 the lodge purchased the lot 'their building now stands on, it being bought first as private property by brother A. Noble and James Bowman, who afterwards sold it to the lodge for six hundred dollars. the same sum that they had given. They also repaired the house at an expense of one hundred dollars, and rented the property, from which they received considerable income.

On February 8, 1858, there was a committee appointed, consisting of W. G. Ball, George Foster, and John Hunt, to receive donations and to ascertain what money could be raised among the members for the building of a new house. A committee, consisting of I. C. Faries, J. B. Cecil, and C. H. Brock, was appointed to ask donations of sister lodges. On November I1 the building committee were instructed to contract for the erection of a building and to have a town hall over the two north store-rooms. James B. Cecil erected the new building, which cost seven thousand three hundred dollars, and the lodge moved into its new quarters about February 1, 1860. The number of shares at first reached two hundred, which was afterwards reduced to one hundred and seventy, and as soon as the house was paid for the stock was purchased for various prices, from fifty dollars to eighty-three dollars, the last to sell being C. W. Sutphin, who received the last named amount. With the exception of eight shares, owned by the Home Encampment, the lodge now owns the building. The lodge is handsomely furnished.

The minutes of the lodge since 1842 have been carefully examined by I. C. Faries for the notes from which this article was taken, and there it is found the lodge has paid out $7,302.61 for the relief of the distressed, education of orphans, and the burial of the dead. This does not include many private donations made by members of the lodge. The lodge shows a healthy and steadily growing increase, having taken into fellowship some three hundred members. The present officers are John Huss, N. G; James Stewart, V. G.; W. B. Andrews, secretary; S. C. Hartley, permanent secretary; H. G. Crowley, treasurer; trustees—David Newman, president; Charles

Sutphin, secretary ; R. S. Johnston, I. F Hand, and Frank Banker.

The Presbyterian Church dates back to 1819. On the 6th of April in that year a petition was presented to the presbytery asking for an occasional preacher and liberty to form a Presbyterian Church. The petition was granted, and the Rev. Francis Monfort was appointed to preach. On the 14th a meeting was held as preliminary to an organization, and a collector and clerk chosen. On the 29th of July, 1820, it was judged that sufficient progress had been made to form a society, and a meeting was accordingly held, at which Mr. Monfort and the -elders of New Jersey Church were present by invitation. A sessional meeting was constituted, which was adjourned to the 6th of August, and received applications for membership. The whole number of those who applied were twelve. Five of these-Mr. Archibald Campbell and his wife, Sarah Campbell; Moses W. Karr and his wife, Ann Karr, and Mrs. Jane Robinson—came by certificate from the Presbyterian Church of Dick's Creek ; four—Nathan Peppard and Mrs. Peppard, David Potter, and Miss Jane Malery-by certificate from the Presbyterian Church at Mt. Pleasant, Kentucky ; three— Mr. John M. Barnett and his wife, Jane Barnett, and Ruth Fisher—by examination. The meetings were probably in a school-room that occupied a part of the present site of the public school building, on the corner of Main and Second Streets. Here the first Sunday-school in the town had been organized on a union basis. Of this the Baptist Sunday-school is the legitimate snccessor.

The Rev. Francis Monfort became the pastor of the new organization, laboring one-half of his time for two years. In June, 1821, fifteen more persons were added, and three elders were chosen,—William McClane, Nathaniel Peppard, and Moses W. Karr. In August, 1828, two additional elders, Archibald Campbell and Ephraim Gray, were chosen. The Rev. Samuel Smith, shortly after, ministered to them, and in 1828 they began the erection of a church. A site was• purchased of Daniel Doty in the southern part of the town, and in 1832 the work was begun under the supervision of William McClane, William Judd, and Moses W. Karr. The building was of brick, forty-five feet long and thirty-five feet wide. The builder was Meeker S. Morton, and he received for it $789.53. Other expenses brought the cost up to about eleven hundred dollars. This edifice still stands, and is occupied by the German Lutheran Church. The pastors after Mr. Smith, who left about 1832, were John Hudson, Alexander Guy, and J. S. Belleville. The latter was a very eloquent and effective preacher, and at the close of the first twenty years of existence the Church had ninety-two members. G. B. Crawford was ordained an elder, April 15, 1837. The Rev. John B. Morton came to Middletown in June, 1840, and well performed his work. He remained until 1847, also preaching a part of his time at other churches

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in the neighborhood. He was succeeded by S. M. Templeton. Mr. Morton, who had not removed far, preached here a portion of his time, and in 1853 supplied the pulpit for six months. At this time the Church became entirely self-sustaining. In 1854 it began a new building, which was finished in 1856. Its probable cost was from ten to twelve thousand dollars, the building committee being Dr. G. E. Wampler, Thomas Wilson, John L. Martin, and William S. Young. About this time Mrs. James Brookfield died, leaving the Church five hundred dollars and a baptismal bowl of silver, which was made in the year 1747.

Mr. Morton continued to supply the Church until 1856, when he was again called to be its pastor, remaining until 1865. He then resigned his charge, and the Rev, G, I. Taylor acted as stated supply. In 1867 the church was remodeled, and a pipe organ added. Joshua L. Russell was made pastor in January, 1867, and on the 29th of July,. 1870, the Church celebrated its semi- centennial. In May, 1873, the Rev. J. W. Clokey became pastor. Those who have been chosen as elders since 1841 are Nathaniel Furman, Patterson Mitchell, William Mitchell, Dr. Samuel R. Evans, Dr. Peter Van Derveer, William H. Mills, Stephen 'E. Giffen, David Mumma, Horace P. Clough, Alexander Ure, Thomas Wilson, J. G. Clarke, and R. K. Mcllhenny. The Church is in a flourishing condition.

The St. Paul Evangelical Church of Middletown was erected in 1877. The society was organized in 1876, with G. Rathman president ; William Sebald, secretary, and Jacob Borger as treasurer ; D. Frisch, Philip Satterner, William Schultz, Steve Hembrauder, and Jacob Gradolph trustees. The present officers are G. Rath- man, president; G. Huff, treasurer, and Chris. Se- bald, secretary; Christ. Muller, David Frisch, Stephen Hembrauder, J. P. Weber, and John Stieber, trustees. The church building is a fine structure, costing about $11,000. This Church was formerly a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The Evangelical Lntheran Church of Middletown was organized August 6, 1854, by Rev. E. A. Shultz, Hiram Henkel, Frederick Siebert, Frederick Berk, and Adam Heiland. The Rev. Mr. Shultz, after staying two years, went to Columbus, Ohio, and the pulpit was filled by Messrs. Ritter, G. H. Treel, Theis Buchols, and C. Huebner. The latter is the present pastor. The society occupies the old Presbyterian Church building which was erected in 1829, and consists of a membership of fifty families. The present officers are C. Satterner, C. Denner, J. Sixt, F. Siebert, J. G. Nichol, H. Behrens, G. Kirschbaum, and J. Frisch. H. Behrens is Sabbath-school superintendent.

The Holy Trinity Catholic Church of Middletown was built about 1851, when there were very few Catholics in the place, since which time it has gradually and steadily grown by natural increase until it now reaches some two hundred families, with excellent parochial schools attached.

The first pastor was the Rev. Mr. O'Conner, who preached from 1851 to 1855 ; Rev. T. Smith, to 1859 ; Rev. T. J. Boulger, to 1873 ; Rev. J. Bowe, to 1874 ; and F. C. Mallon, to 1875. The Rev. W. F. M. O'Rourke has filled the place since that last named date. Among the old members are the Cunninghams, Cummingses, Currans, Coyles, Clanceys, Dowds, Fays, Ferrises, Goldricks, Hannegans, Kelleys, Kanes, Logans, McCues, McCurrys, Mullens, Roaches, Raneys, Sullivans, and Tooleys.

The principal mover in the building of the neat little African Methodist Episcopal Church on First Street was Richard Edwards, one of the first members of the original society. Through his earnest wish, in the Spring of 1874, he had procured over three hundred dollars of good subscriptions. The contract was given to Messrs. Caldwell & Co., in May, 1874, and the church was finished in August of that same year. On Saturday, May 9, 1874, Bishop Payne dedicated the chapel, giving a beautiful discourse. The entire cost of the church was about six hundred dollars, all of which was raised and the church cleared of debt. The Rev. S. C. White is pastor of the little society, which only numbers a very few members. Mr. Richard Edwards is Sabbath-school superintendent.

The organization of the African Baptist Church was effected some fifteen years ago by Elder Shelton, of Cincinnati. Their building was not erected until June, 1876. The society has a membership of twenty-eight and a Sabbath-school of forty-five. Rev. Albert Wayne, a self. educated man, is the pastor.

The German Catholic Church of Middletown had its birth in 1873. Mr. Matthew Hepting, John Ritter, and John Kaiser, with the Rev. Mr. Kilgenstein, set the enterprise on foot at that time, raised a subscription, and erected a church building at a cost of five thousand dollars. Mr. Lytle served the Church as pastor from the beginning till the year 1874, the Rev. Carl Schoeppner then being in charge until 1880. The Rev. Mr. Staunlaus had the pastorate a short time, and the Rev. Angelus Hafertepe has been in charge since May, 1881. The school building was erected in 1876. Sister Boniface has the superintendence of this work. The membership of this congregation numbers about fifty families, all Germans.

There is also a Methodist Episcopal Church, of whose history we are not informed, but which dates back sixty years; and an Episcopalian Church, organized since the war.

The First Baptist Church in Middletown was organized at the house of David Heaton, August 9, 1808. It first bore the title of Salem Church, and its original officers were James Dewise, deacon, and Nathan Canfield, clerk. In June following they extended a call to Elder R. Stapleton and Samuel Dewise to preach to

638 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

them on the first Sunday in each month, attending at the house of Elisha Wade. The Church was received in the Miami Association in the Fall of 1809, On the 26th of June, I8I1, they resolved to build a house of worship, and appointed a committee, consisting of David Enoch, E. Heaton, Isaac Robbins, Jacob Deardorf, and Daniel McDonald, to select the site. They discharged this duty, choosing a place on the road from Middletown to Franklin, a mile from the former place. The contractor made the following agreement :

"I agree to build a meeting-house twenty-four by thirty feet, and thirteen feet high, and to weatherboard thl same, and put on a lap-shingle, or sawed-shingle row, one double door and windows, with sleepers, and Iwo beams for a gallery, and find the nails, for one hundred and sixty dollars, payable in whisky and wheat that is merchantable, delivered at Abner Enoch's mill, on the first day of October next, at the market price it sells for in Franklin, -and to have the said house finished by the first of next October."

The congregation worshiped in this house till October, 1826, when they removed their meetings to Middletown, and met at the house of Thomas Royal. The old frame building after that was converted into a school-house, and occupied as such till 1848. In October,• 1826, the Rev. Jacob Mulford was called to preach one Sabbath in each month. On the 9th of August, 1828, the name of the Church was changed to the First Baptist Church of Middletown. All this time there was no house of worship in Middletown of any denomination. There were three Church organizations— Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist. Each held their meetings alternately in a brick school-house about twenty-four by thirty. The Baptists held about this time some of their meetings in the upper part of a cooper-shop. In the Winter of 1828, however, the Church resolved to build a house, and obtained an act of incorporation, with Jacob Deardorf, Thomas Royal, and David Taylor as trustees. They bought a lot, and in the Spring of 1829 erected a house of forty by eighty feet. It was not finished till the Spring of 1832, its total cost being about $3,000. This building remained in use till the Spring of 1854, when it was taken down and a handsome structure put up on the same foundation. It was ready to worship in on the 1st of September.

Twelve years after this the Church found themselves very much in need of more room for their Sabbath- school. In the Fall of 1867 it added a building sixty- four by twenty-five feet to the rear of the former house, which makes the whole church cruciform in shape, and added fully one-third to its capacity. The church is arranged with especial reference to the Sunday-schools, and is arranged so that all the rooms, six in number, can be thrown into one. The cost of this addition was about $10,000. This left the Church with a debt of about $2,500, which annoyed them for a number of years. They paid it off during the centennial year. In the Fall of 1861 the Church resolved to build a parsonage on the lot they had purchased adjoining their church lot, and in 1862 completed a handsome residence at a cost of about $3,000. The church and parsonage lot is one hundred and forty feet in front, and runs back two hundred feet.

In 1836 the delegates from this Church to the Miami Association were rejected by the majority of that body. The Middletown Church, the Sixth Street Church, of Cincinnati, and the Dayton and Lebanon Churches were thrown out for " aiding and supporting Sunday-schools, Bible, missionary, tract, and temperance societies." These four Churches then met elsewhere and organized themselves as the true association. The next year they met in Middletown. The Church there then consisted of seventy-seven members. About this time six women, members of the association, handed in the following letter at a regular meeting of the Church :

" We, whose names are hereunto set, being met together to consult on matters pertaining to the First Baptist Church in Middletown, and now being of one mind, that we have been burdened with many things in the Church not according to the Word, this we present you because of your departure from the faith and practice of the regular Baptist Church, and following many ways and things burdensome to us, we intend to walk separate from all who will thus continue to walk, and we invite all our brethren and sisters to sit with us who will renounce them. Our meeting will be on Saturday, before the second Sunday in November, next, and we invite all our brothers and sisters who are of the same mind to join with us."

The members who thus protested were promptly excluded, and no further trouble was afterwarls experienced from them or from others. The association has since met in Middletown seven times.

The pastors of the Church since 1828 have been twelve in number. Six of them are dead. Jacob Mulford was pastor on October 14, 1826 ; Daniel Bryant, August 21, 1830; William T. Boynton, January 26, 1839 ; John Finlay, July 27, 1844; J. Blodgett, January, 1847 ; J. A. Ballard, March 1, 1848; J. G. Bowen, October, 1849 ; Albert Guy, November, 1853 ; D. S. Watson, October 9, 1860; F. L. Chapell, July, 1864; J. W. T. Booth, December 10, 1871 ; Thomas Cull, May 17, 1874, and Edward A. Ince, December 12, 1880. Only one member is now living who was connected with the Church when it assumed its present name, and that is Francis J. Tytus, and to him we are indebted for the historical sketch from which we have drawn the above.

A difficulty occurring in the Methodist Episcopal Church, resulted in about thirty members leaving the Church, who were Methodists in doctrine and usages. They met to consult on what was best for them to do under the circumstances. A citizen, who. had heard of

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the meeting, determined, if possible, to influence them to organize a Methodist Protestant Church, which he and a Mr. Hardesty, a minister of that Church, prevailed on them to do. Mr. Hardesty recommended the Rev. W. B. Warrington, residing in Cincinnati, as a suitable person to minister to them until the meeting of the annual conference. Mr. James Butler, being the .only one of their number acquainted with Mr. Warrington, was requested by them to go to the city and secure his services, which he did. A meeting was called in Mr. Jacob Leibee's hall, on Sunday, March 4, 1855, at which Mr. Warrington, assisted by the Rev. J. B. Walker, then pastor of the George Street Methodist Protestant Church, Cincinnati, succeeded in organizing a society, consisting of thirty-eight members. A ball, belonging to Mr. Leibee, was rented and fitted up suitably, and religious services held regularly every Sunday morning and evening. A Sunday-school was organized also, holding its sessions every Sunday morning.

At the session of the annual conference Mr. Warrington was appointed by that body as pastor for the following year, and entered heartily into the work, being determined to succeed in building a permanent Church. In December he commenced a meeting, which was protracted for eleven weeks. This resulted in ninety-seven members being added to the Church. At its close the subject of building a house of worship was agitated, and resulted in one being put up, forty feet front by sixty-five feet deep, of brick, two stories and basement above ground; and also a parsonage, eighteen feet front by thirty-four feet deep, with kitchen, the main part two stories. This also is of brick. The audience-room is finished with white walnut varnished. The basement was opened for divine service in December, 1856, and the auditorium in the Fall of 1858. Mr. Warrington was stationed here for four consecutive years. During his pastorate over three hundred persons were received into the Church. The Rev. R. Rose succeeded him as pastor in 1859, remaining two years. The following named ministers have since served the Church : J. B. Walker, E. J. Winans, T. T. Kendrick, T. J. Evans, J. W. Ellis, J. J. White, J. McFarland, R. Rose, T. B. Graham, W. G. Roberts, N. G. Oglesby, W. R. Parsons, and J. H. Dal- bey, the present pastor.

Jefferson Lodge, F. and A. M., was institnted January 18, 1827, and its charter by the Grand Lodge is dated January 15, 1828. The charter is signed by Thomas Corwin, grand master: The first meeting was held at Mark Dixon's tavern, on the south-east corner of Main and Third Streets. The installation ceremonies were performed by Mr. Corwin. David S. Davies was the worshipful master ; Israel T. Gibson, the senior warden ; John Crane, junior warden ; Charles Starr, senior deacon; John P. Reynolds, junior deacon ; John A. Gano, secretary ; Carlton Waldo, treasurer ; John Yopst, first steward and tyler, and Francis Griffrn, second steward. Besides these there were five other charter members, Squier Littell and Joseph Taylor being two of them. Among other prominent men who have belonged to this society are Vincent D. Enyart, George Dickey, Pliny M. Crume, James Bowman, James Heaton, Byron Kilbourn, Dr. Peter Van Derveer, Colonel H. Dunn, John H. Gordon, D. H. Peck, Richard H. Hendrickson, Dr. W. W. Caldwell, David Heaton, 'Isaac Robertson, L. D. Harlan, Dr. W. Webster, John L. Martin, Rev. D. S. Watson, and W. W. Phares. The third meeting, and all after that date until 1842, were held in a building which had been put up by John P. Reynolds. It is on the northeast corner of Third and Broadway, and is now occupied by Mr. Buehner and Mr. Wagner. Here, in the attic, the Masons met in secrecy during the Morgan excitement. In those times the tyler, sitting at the door with his drawn sword, was the cause of great dismay and terror to the woman servants and children of the Reynolds family, who were afraid to go to bed until the dangerous specter had disappeared for the night. The society has increased in strength and usefulness with its years, and is doing a good work.

MONROE.

The town of Monroe was laid out by John H. Piatt and Nathaniel Sackett in 1817. The house now owned by Dr. E. Kimball stands on the original ground upon which John Baker, the pioneer adventurer, built his log- cabin prior to 1800. It was a double log-house, with at, old-fashioned porch between. Baker kept the farm some years and then sold to Nathaniel Sackett, a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and this house often became the place of worship previous to, the erection of their church building. Mr. Sackett planted an orchard, and a pear tree is still standing in the yard that bears very nice, large Bartlett pears yet each year. Dr. Kimball built the new brick that stands on these grounds in 1860. The old log-house had gone to ruin, and the whole ground was thrown into cultivation years previous to the erection of his residence. John Baker died January 4, 1852, seventy-seven years old, and was buried in the old United Presbyterian Church grave-yard, just north of town. The plan of the town is shown by the following: The main road rnnning through the town from Cincinnati to Dayton, called Main Street, was laid off four poles wide. The cross streets were three poles wide, and were called Elm, Church, and Lebanon. The three alleys . running east and west were one pole wide each. An addition was laid off in January, 1819.

The town of Monroe is two hundred feet above the valley, and consequently towers above the malarial portions of the country. It had a gradual growth and a good country surrounding to support it, and naturally became a center of trade for a few miles around. The earliest settlers, John P. Williamson, Nathan Sackett, and Mr. Conover soon opened up stores to supply the trade.

640 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

Sackett and Williamson probably, began the first. They kept together on the corner of Lebanon and Main Streets, and subsequently Williamson kept on Main Street, south of Conover's. Sackett quit the business in 1840. Caldwell now keeps the drug-store and post-office.

Monroe is on the old Dayton and Cincinnati turnpike road, and just half way. The travel between these points at an early day was considerable, and to accommodate the traveling public, Mr. McClure opened up a hotel on Main Street, on property now owned by Michael Scheik. He established his business as early as the year 1825, and kept tavern until he died, when Colonel Clarkson opened a, hotel on Main Street, just in front of where John P. Carson now owns. He kept a number of years after McClure, and after he died John Clark was in the same business. Elias came between the years 1830 and 1840, and erected a large house On Pike Street, called the Half-way House. It was a two-story frame, in which he entertained travelers twelve or fifteen years. The present brick hotel was built by Daniel Boggs in 1850. It was carried on a few years by him, and then rented to Joseph Boggs, who ran it a while, and since that time has run through a great many hands. Mr. Simpson built just on the opposite corner in 1845, and carried it on until 1855.

During the early period, and after the pike was built, Monroe had the most travel. Then the mail coaches ran between the two cities, while hotels and places of entertainment were scattered all along the road._ This town was one of the principal stopping points. The travel was so great competition soon sprang up, and there were three and four lines of coaches running, all at the same time. Peter and John Voorhes owned the mail-coach line, and Mr. Rucker the stage line. The usual fare from Dayton to Cincinnati was two dollars and a half, but Voorhes put on opposition coaches to the opposition rates offered by others, and the through fare at one time became reduced to fifty cents,. and it was rumored that for a while a good dinner was given besides. The mail and stage coaches had usually four horses, sometimes six, and left Dayton at half-past two o'clock in the afternoon, reaching Monroe for early supper, and from there run to Cincinnati by nine o'clock that night. At one time Messrs. Voorhes, Rucker, and Stevenson had five lines, all at one time. They then had mail twice a week, but now since the railroad has come into operation Monroe receives hers once each day.

Among the manufacturers of Monroe was Peter Jotter, who was here as early as 1840, and made wagons. This business was carried on by him for many years,. and subsequently by William Jotter, his son, now the oldest citizen in Monroe; who took his place about 1872. He employs from three to five hands, and manufactures the Edgar patent gate, and also a furrowing sled or corn-marker. The Paragon Double Plow Works, owned by Charles Warner, have been in operation six years.

The blacksmith's shop was sold as early as 1859 by Peter Jotter, who built it, and it was afterwards rented and then bought by Warner, who uses it in connection with his wood-shop in the manufacture of his plows. He manufactures the one-horse and the double-horse corn plow, a patent of his own, which he is selling in quantities, doing a business of over four thousand dollars yearly, working seven hands about four months each year. He does general custom work also. The buggy factory of C. M. Hiteshue was started by him in 1875, and was bought of Frank Wilson, who built the shops about 1870. He has a paint-shop, wood-working shop, and also a blacksmith's shop, which is carried on the year round, giving employment to about five men and doing a business of five thousand dollars a year. He also does custom work.

The oldest cemetery in Monroe is just north of town, and is called the Monroe Cemetery, and was organized into an association in 1860. Its first officers were Colonel Irwin, Thomas Matson, Mr. Kyle, and Mr. Robinson. It consists of seven acres of ground, and its present officers are William Vanskike, president, and Dr. Kimball, secretary. In this yard were buried some of the earliest settlers.

John Morrow, brother of Governor Morrow, died November 26, 1846; 71 years old. John Baker, January 4, 1852; aged 77. John Lowery, October 20, 1838 ; 59 years old. John Robinson, November 28, 1841 ; aged 62. Peter Williamson, April 7, 1832 ; 65 years old. David Williamson, April 10, 1845 ; aged 78. David Reed, March 18, 1812 ; 46 years of age. Colonel James Clark, August 15, 1853i 80 years of age.

James Steward, who was killed by a tree falling upon him, his wife, and another lady, while on their way in a two-horse wagon to Cincinnati for carpets and other furniture for their new church, was buried here. He was killed May 4, 1835, and at that time was sixty-one years of age. He was a ruling elder of the United Presbyterian Church, of which he had been an active member many years.

The Mound Cemetery, just south of Monroe, but bordering on the town, is a beautiful, well laid out yard, consisting of ten acres of ground, incorporated into an association in 1859. They have, as yet, no vault, but contemplate putting in one this year. The executive officers of this association are Ayers McCreary, president ; William Linn, vice-president ; Charles Warner, treasurer and secretary.

Methodist preaching was had in Monroe as early as 1823. There was at that time no organized society, but a few of the early members petitioned to have appointments. It was then in the Miami Circuit, and preaching was had on nights once every two weeks. Father Sackett's house was then the preachers' home, and during the first year a Church was organized Among the early members of the Methodist Episcopal Church may be

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mentioned Isaac Conover and wife,.now Mrs. Kyle, John Younk and wife, Mrs. Ulm, Mrs. Floyd, Joseph Alexander, and G. P. Williamson. At first they worshiped and had class-meetings wherever they could find a place to meet.

The first appointments were filled by the Rev. Messrs. Baker and W. H. Taylor ; after which Taylor, Davidson, Crum, Adam Poe, A. Eddy, and others followed. When the membership had increased to thirty-five, they determined to build a house, and in this had some opposition, mostly from the New-Lights. The house, however, was built, and the dedication sermon was preached by Dr. Baker. His text was : " The glory of the latter shall be greater than the former house." And well has----this prediction been fulfilled. The Church increased rapidly after this. There were many earnest, devoted Christians connected with this congregation. The sainted Eliza Williams was one of the shining lights of this society, and all was harmony in the early history of the Church. Among the pioneer preachers that deserve honorable mention was W. H. Raper. He devoted his whole soul to the cause for which he labored, and his work was greatly blessed. The new brick church building was erected in 1860. The membership is now one hundred and twenty, having the Rev. James P. Shultz as pastor. The stewards are James Macready, M. D., William Gallagher, J. T. Caldwell, and A. McCreary.

The Mount Pleasant United Presbyterian Church is located in the village of Monroe. The exact date_ of its organization is not known, but must have been prior to the year 1802, for a subscription paper of that date comes down to us, carefully preserved by Mrs. John McLain, of Bethany, 0., whose grandfather, Mr. John Beaty, was the first or one of the first treasurers. As this paper is the oldest record we have, and furnishes a partial list of members at that time, we present it:

SWAMP CREEK BRANCH, October 6, 1802.

We, the subscribers, do promise to pay the several sums annexed to our names yearly, for our equal part for the one- third of Mr. Craig's ministerial service, the year to com-

mence when our call is accepted. N. B.—The place, or places, of worship to be fixed in the most convenient place

for subscribers :

James Kennedy, $1 00

John Beaty, 6 00

John Hannah, l 00

Joseph Stout, 1 00

John Wallace, 2 00

Robert Segerson, 50

Isaac Tullits, 50

James Beaty, 1 00

John H. Williams, 2 00

Thomas Irwin, 1 00

Samuel Gregory, 50

James Morrison, 50

Daniel Nelson, 3 00

John Robison, $3 00

John Lowry, 1 00

William Wilson, 2 00

William Long, 2 00

Johh W. Gery, .50

Andrew Christy, 3 00

Robert Reed, 1 00

John Reed, 1 50

Thomas Davis, 1 00

David Reed, 1 50

John Freeman, 1 50

John Patterson, 1 00

George Gordon, 2 00

This shows that they were an organized congregation in 1802. If they had not been they could not have called a pastor. Two years later a similar paper was prepared, having the same names and thirteen more. In this they speak of themselves as members of Swamp Creek congregation. As many of them were heads of families or represented others within the fold of Christ, it indicates that the young congregation possessed considerable strength. We do not know the exact time when the name was changed, but since 1807 it was called Mount Pleasant Associate Reformed Church, and from 1858 Mount Pleasant United Presbyterian Church.

It is thought that there was no settled pastor until 1808. Before this time the Church was supplied with preaching, and had the sacraments administered by a number of ministers sent to them by the Associate Reformed Presbytery of Kentucky, among whom werp Adam Rankin, the first Presbyterian pastor of Lexington, Kentucky (who was ordained in 1784), Matthew Henderson, David Proudfit, Robert Warwick, John Steele, and Robert H. Bishop. The first settled pastor was Rev. David Risk, 1808 to 1812 or 1813, who gave one-third of his time to Mill Creek (Sycamore) and one- third to Clear Creek congregation at Springborough, Warren County, Ohio. Mr. Risk died in 1818. The second Astor was Rev. S. P. McGaw, April 9, 1818, to March 18, 1840. He gave half his time to Clear Creek Church until 1838, when it was given up, and his whole time was devoted to Mount Pleasant. Death dissolved his relation with this Church. Although Monroe had always been the place of his residence, he was buried at Spring- borough, near the church where he had preached so long. There were added to Mount Pleasant during his pastorate one hundred and fifty-five members, principally on profession of their faith in Christ. But owing to a decrease by death and other causes, the membership now was one hundred and twelve.

In the year 1841 the Church made an unsuccessful call for the pastoral services of Rev. J. M. Gordon. The third pastor was Rev. John M. Graham, who was ordained and installed June 22, 1842. The relation of pastor and people was dissolved June, 1847, making a pastorate of five years, during which twenty-eight persons were received into membership, all on examination, except seven. The number of members was now one hundred. The fourth pastor was Rev. Sam. P. Berry, October, 1849, to December 9, 1850. Death soon removed this pastor. The fifth pastor was Rev. J. S. Robertson, April 6, 1852, to April 3, 1866. The sixth pastor was Rev. Samuel R. Frazier, who was ordained and installed June 11, 1867. The pastoral relation was dissolved January 1, 1872. An unsuccessful call for the pastoral services of Rev. J. Calhoun was presented to presbytery April 8, 1873. The seventh pastor is Rev. A. F. Ashton, who commenced his labors here February 14, 1874. The number added to the Church under his services is thirty-two; but death and removals have reduced the membership to ninety.

The present ruling elders are J. N. Robeson and J. W. D. Stewart, and the following is a partial list of those who have held this offrce: James Piper, John Mor-

642 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

row, Thomas Irwin, Joseph Stewart, Thomas C. Reed, Samuel Barnett, James Clark, Robert Reed, S. W. Stewart, John L. Hammel, James McClellan, Lawrence Monfort, and John Fisher.

The first church was built of logs, but in what year is not known. The second was a frame, larger and more comfortable, but the date of its erection is unknown. The third was brick, and larger than the second, erected . in 1833 or 1834. These were all about half a mile north of the village of Monroe, in what is now known as Mo Pleasant Cemetery. The present house was erected in 1854. It is not as large as the former one.' In 1870 or 1871 the congregation built a fine parsonage, at a cost of almost three thousand dollars. The society is free from debt.

The First Presbyterian Church of Monroe was organized in 1831. It was first called the Harmony Church. The Rev. Matthew G. Wallace and the Rev. J. L. Bell. vine were appointed a committee by the presbytery to visit the neighborhood of Monroe, and organize a Church, -should they deem it expedient. At the meeting of the presbytery, on the 18th of May, it was resolved to organize such a congregation, and Messrs. Wallace and Weaver were appointed a committee for that purpose. The organization took place on the 29th of June, the constituting members being David Williamson and wife Mary, Peter Van Dyke and his wife Anna, Mary Ann Van Dyke, Peter Williamson and wife Christiana, Garret Peterson and wife Margaret, John Williamson and wife Christiana, Christiana Stevens, Peter Bennett and his wife Mary—in all sixteen. David Williamson and John Monfort were chosen elders, having formerly been f ordained at Unity.

Since that time the pulpit has been occupied by fourteen different ministers. The list is as follows: Thomas Barr, 1831; Alexander McFarlane, 1833; James Coe, 1838; N. Bishop, 1851; S. M. Templeton, 1853; James H. Gill, 1854; J. H. Burns, 1856; James H. Gill, 1860; Edward Cooper, 1861; W. G. White, 1864; J. B. Morton, 1866; W: W. Colmery, 1867; J. D. Jones, 1873; S. C. Palmer, 1875i S. F. Sharpless, 1878.

The record of the session is: Elders—John Monfort, David Williamson, Garret Peterson, John Williamson, D. H. Tullis, Lawrence Monfort, Silas Williamson, P. P. La Tourrette, W. W. Caldwell, B. K. McElheny, Isaac Perrine, T. J. Conover, Firman Probasco, David Monfort, John K. Voorhees, John S. Todd, W. W. Compton, of whom seven are dead. The membership by certificate is one hundred and sixty-two, and on profession of faith, two hundred and twenty-four, making three hundred and eighty-six names. It celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last year. For a long time an academy was sustained in connection with the Church.

The Monroe Catholic Church was built in 1869, under the supervision of the Rev. Mr. Smith. The first subscriptions were made by the Brophies, Conlons, Delaneys, Foleys, Conoleys, O'Brians, and Quinlisles. The pastors have been Messrs. T. J. Boulger, Bowe, Mallon, and W. F. M. O'Rourke, the last of whom is the present pastor.. There are about fifty families in this society.

BUTLER AND WARREN COUNTY PIONEER ASSOCIATION.

Dr. Samuel S. Stewart, who resided in Indiana, but who was born and reared to manhood one mile north of Monroe, wished to visit the place of his birth and early manhood and wrote to Mr. Israel B. Carr, one of his earliest and, most intimate associates, in April, 1871, requesting him to call a meeting at the home of some of those of their old boyhood companions for a day that Spring, and bring together all their old associates and he would attend. Mr. Carr called a meeting for the evening of May 5, 1871, at Monroe, of all who favored such a union, which was well attended ; and they determined to have such a gathering, but to hold it in some grove near Monroe, as a basket-meeting, and publish it, inviting all the early settlers of Butler and Warren Counties, with all others who favored it.

On that day, the 19th of May, 1871, the first public or grove-meeting was held, and was a complete success. Fifteen hundred at least were present. The offrcers were as follows, having been elected that morning in the grove: President, Dr. Otho Evans, Sen. ; treasurer, A. Corson ; secretaries, J. W. O'Neal and J. S. Marshall. The main address of the day was by Major J. M. Millikin, but many short ones of scenes and incidents of the early settlement of the beautiful and prolific Miami Valley were made by the oldest persons present, to the edification and amusement of all who attended. At this meeting a permanent organization was begun ; this one having been held as a union of Butler and Warren they adopted the name of " Butler and Warren County Pioneer Association of Monroe, Ohio," and adopted a constitution, and resolved thereafter to hold reunions annually, the latter part of May or forepart of June. They have since been so held.

At this meeting offrcers for 1872 were elected as follows: President, Rudolph Flenner ; treasurer, Andrew Corson ; recording and corresponding secretary, Edward Kimball.

1873.—President, Thomas C. Reed, Sen.; treasurer, William Lynn; secretary, Edward Kimball.

1874.—President, Major William W. Elliott ; treasurer, William Lynn ; secretary, E. Kimball.

1875.-President, Major John M. Millikin; treasurer, William Lynn ; secretary, E. Kimball.

1876.—President, A. Howard Dunlavy ; treasurer, William Lynn; secretary, E. Kimball.

1877.—President, Major W. W. Elliott ; treasurer, William Lynn; secretary, E. Kimball.

1878.—President, Otho Evans, Sen. ; treasurer, William Lynn ; secretary, E. Kimball.

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1879.—President, Francis J. Tylus ; treasurer, William Lynn; secretary, E. Kimball.

1880.—President, Granville W. Stokes, Esq.; treasurer, William Lynn ; secretary, F. Kimball.

1881.– President, Colonel Thomas R. Moore; treasurer, William Lynn ; secretary, Edward Kimball.

They also have five vice-presidents. They have no initiation, monthly or yearly fees or dues, and the society is supported by voluntary contributions by those present at the annual feasts and the proceeds from renting of refreshment stands. No alcoholic, malt, or vinous liquors, or even der, is allowed on or near the grounds. These reunions have been held regularly for ten years, and the yearly attendance ranges from five to seven thousand, and has been some years estimated at over ten thousand. Their regular annual day was the last Thursday of May or the first of June, until 1878, when they changed to August to accommodate the society of Butler County Pioneers, who claimed the Spring time as theirs. They have a membership, including those who have passed away; of over six hundred.

The following is a list of most but not all of those deceased from Butler County: Judge Fergus Anderson, Judge Nehemiah Wade, Rev. Adrian Aten, Rev. J. B. Morton, Dr. Samuel S. Ste,wart, Thomas C. Reed, Sen., Mrs. Betsey Boyd, Matilda Dunn, William McChecknie, Samuel Davis, Colonel Joseph Barnett, Isaac Bennett, Joanna Bennett, Jane Chambers, Captain William Davison and his wife, Milo W. Ammons and wife Mary C., Firman Probasco, Stephen Scudder, William Smith and wife Rachel, William Culbertson, John Beaty, James Beaty and wife, David McChesney, Sarah Avery, Christopher Hughes, Elias Simpson, John D. Todhunter, David Boggs and wife Mary, Mrs. Rebecca Lynn, Joseph Boggs, Noah C. Bennett, Smith Nox, William Shafor, Sen., and wife Eliza, John Chamberlain, Sallie Beaty, Catherine Torbet, Samuel Dickey, Dr. Alfred Ayres, Benjamin Potter, James R. Stewart and wife Ann, Joseph F. Stewart and wife Prudence, John Matson and wife, Naomi Bowman, William Greinner, Aaron Long- street, Sen., Uzel Clark.

All early comers, with their descendants, and all born or permanent settlers within Butler and Warren Counties, Ohio, in or previous to 1820, of good morals, by registering their names, etc., can become members of the society.

BLUE BALL.

This name originated from a tavern sign. The place became one of the principal station-posts for the different lines of mail and stage coaches running between Dayton and Cincinnati, but the size of the town never increased beyond that of a hamlet. It lies partly in Warren County, the Presbyterian Church in Blue Ball being across the line. Sanford Young keeps a general store, and a few houses constitute the village. Red Buck was a tavern about half-way between Blue Ball and Monroe. Mr. Finkle kept hotel in this place many years. He finally moved to Hamilton, where he died.

LESOURDSVILLE.

The early occupant on these grounds was Abraham Freeman, of Pennsylvania, who was probably the first citizen of this part of the county. We 'hear of him being snugly placed, and living in a frame house, prior to 1800. He built himself a saw-mill on his land, of which he had considerable. The saw-mill was one of the first in the township, and went down as early as 1815. His house stood about where the toll-gate now is. He had four sons, John, Abraham, one who was a physician, and one other who was killed. John Freeman built the Red Buck Tavern of Lesourdsville about the year 1815. It lasted for some time.

Abraham Freeman had a half-brother, whose name was Thomas, known as Colonel Thomas Freeman. He went from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, where he settled first; then moved to Lemon Township, and settled on Dick's Creek, on the farm afterward owned by Abraham Shaefer. He raised a family of eight children. John, the oldest, was killed on the Moselle, a steamer plying between Cincinnati and New Orleans, that was blown up April 28, 1838. His body was brought to Middletown, and now lies in the beautiful cemetery of that place. The other children were Julia Ann, Alexander, Thomas, and Archibald C. The youngest and the oldest only are now living. Julia A., the oldest, was born in 1808. Archibald C. was born in 1824, and is now a grocer on Third Street, in Middletown. Colonel Thomas Freeman was a captain of a company in the Second Regiment, Fourth Brigade, commanded by Colonel Zumalt, in the War of 1812. He went to Detroit at the close of the war only.

There were other settlers in this vicinity who were early comers, and of whom may be mentioned Hugheses, Wards, Shafors, Clarks, and others. Durbin Ward, the well-known lawyer, of Cincinnati, was an orphan boy well known in this vicinity. His uncle, Thomas Ward, lived near Lesourdsville. Durbin Ward taught school in this part of the township is his early life, and afterward attended school at Lebann, Ohio. After he had studied law he assisted Tom Corwin in looking up matters pertaining to the correct titles much of this land, formerly owned by A. Freeman and now by Daniel Hughes.

Benjamin Lesourd, of French descent, cane from Baltimore, Maryland, to this place, and purchased considerable land from Freeman for the purpose of laying out a town. He bought sixty acres on the east side of the road, and thirty-five acres on the west side of the road. His effort, however, to build up a great city failed. His attempt in running a big store broke him up, and in two or three years he closed out to Thomas Ward. His store was kept afterward by Peter Wright

644      HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

but for many years there has not been a store of any kind in the village.

The first house in Lesourdsville was the Red Buck tavern kept by John Freeman, and the first house other than this was one built by Thomas Ward. William Ward, a brother of Thomas, lived a little distance below, and after the town was laid out William Hedding purchased some of the lots, and to hurry up matters bought log houses and 'moved them in town. One of these log houses bought of Peter Shepherd is still standing. Benjamin Lesourd afterwards owned the tavern. There is a frame building still standing one-half mile below this tavern, that was built by Colonel Ayers, just after John Freeman built his, and was used as a hotel also. We see by a deed of Abram Freeman, made March 19, 1814, H. Hageman came into possession ,of fifty acres of the original tract, and that he deeded the same to Thomas Ward, May 25, 1816. The town was not laid out until about the time the canal was built.

Lesourdsville never had but one church building, which was erected just previous to the war. It was intended for any mid all denominations, but the Rev. Mr. Maple, the first pastor, coming into the place during the war, produced a great excitement on the political questions of the time, and the organization broke up. In 1876 the Presbyterian Church came into possession of the property, established a society, and have had preaching in the place ever since. The Rev. S. C. Palmer occupied the pulpit from 1876 to 1878, since which time the Rev. S. F. Sharpless, of Monroe, has been the pastor. The membership consists of twenty-four persons.

One of the earliest mills in this county on the river was known as the pin-mill, about two miles above Lesourdsville. It consisted of a saw-mill and a woolen-mill originally, the saw mill being built first. The boards were sawed and pinned on, there being over two thousand wooden pins used to fasten on the weather-boarding. It was very early put into use, but the building of the canal ended its day of usefulness. Adam Dickey also had a mill built very early. It was on Dick’s Creek, and was used until the canal was built. He also had a still-house above Amanda, where the old house of John Dickey now stands.

AMANDA.

The Shafors, Dickeys, Balls, Reeds, and others were the early settlers of this part of the township. The town was duly laid off by Robert Coddington and Samuel Dickey in 1827, John Dickey afterwards added to it. It was formerly a very important grain center, owing probably to the energy of A. E. Johnston, who established this business, and gave the trade an impetus by management. He was succeeded by Curtis & Boyd who operated many years. J. B. Jacoby, grocer of this place now buys the grain. The first store of Amanda in this place by Ebenezer Johnston,

in 1844. He also helped to build the church. The first blacksmith ship was built by Maranda Shafor. He sold out to Ellison Harkrader in 1840, who sold to William Bailey. Robert Maffinety bought out Bailey in July, 1847.

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Amanda was built about 1840. It was a good, substantial frame building and still stands. The leading members of the society who contributed to the Church in its infancy were A. Longstreet, John Shepherd, Charles Starr, John Waldo, William Bailey, and John Fleming. John Dickey donated the lot. The pastors have been the Rev. Messrs. Maley, Swain, Kemper, White, Wheat, and Elsworth. The Rev. William Shultz is the present pastor, and preaching is had every other Sabbath. The trustees of the Church are William Bailey, John Kyle, Luman Whitesell, Robert Maginety, and Henry Fisher. Robert Maginety has been an offrcial member in various Capacities since its organization.

William Shafor was one of the first settlers in this part of the township, and at his death one of the oldest citizens in the county. He was born in Somerset County, New Jersey, in 1783. He died in Middletown in Octo-, ber, 1880, in the ninety-eighth year of his age. When six years of age he came with his father to Lexington, Kentucky, and in 1803 with him to Ohio. He resided in Lemon Township seventy-eight years. He settled on a farm near Amanda, and lived on it during the entire portion of his active life. In 1859 he removed to Middletown, where he resided up to the time of his death. In the twenty-eighth year of his age he married Miss Jane Ryerson, who died in 1859. In 1860 he married Mrs. Elizabeth Hill. When ninety-one years of age he joined the Presbyterian Church. He was remarkable in longevity of life, in being a useful member of society, and in retaining the sprightliness and activity of his youth up to nearly the time of his death.

Among the veteran pioneers who settled near Amanda was Adam Dickey. His family became numerous and children very prosperous. Adam Dickey came from Ireland when sixteen years of age, and in 1801 went to Cincinnati, where he manufactured the first brick used in that place. He then came to Lemon Township, where he died in 1828, at sixty-two years of age. The oldest son of Adam Dickey was Samuel, who assisted his father in one of the first mills on the Miami River, near Amanda, which his father had built. His father also owned a distillery, which consumed the corn raised on about four hundred acres of their land. In 1827 he built the large flouring-mill now owned by Archibald Jewell. This mill has been in the hands of the family since its erection, and has a capacity of seventy-five barrels a day.

EXCELLO

Had its origin in the building of the Excello Paper-mill by Harding, Erwin & Co. in 1865. The village is small and the inhabitants are largely employed at the paper-

LEMON - 645

mill. It has no hotels, but an excellent boarding-house is carried on under the management of Mrs. Susan Anderson. The firm of Harding, Erwin & Co. was dissolved in 1873 and the Harding Paper Company organized. There is a Church of Latter-Day Saints, commonly called Mormons, at Excello. Their pastor is M. B. Williams. This is not a part of the Mormon theocracy which rules at Salt Lake, but followers of Joseph Smith, as he first promulgated the doctrine. They are not polygamists, and are an orderly and well-behaved people.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.

William M. Armstrong was born in this county November 19, 1843, his father being James Martin Armstrong, and his mother Elizabeth Patterson. They came to this county in 1830. Mr. Armstrong enlisted in 1862 as a private, remaining until the end of the war. He was also captain of the Tytus Guards, Company D, Fourth Regiment Ohio National Guards, taking command August 9, 1V7. He has been mayor for a year, councilman two years, captain of the fire department six years under the Holly system, and five years under the old. Miami volunteers. He was married in Middletown August 26, 1878, to Catherine J. Leibee, daughter of Daniel Leibee and Sarah Enyart, who came here in 1820. She was born in Middletown, March 4, 1840. They have four children : Harry B., Fred M., Paul, and Ada.

John Auer was born in Bavaria, Germany, June 7, 1834, and landed in the United States in 1844. He went to work in a tobacco factory at the age of twelve, and worked in it till 1864, beginning a manufactory in that year in Cincinnati. His place of business was moved in 1869 to Middletown, Ohio, where he still remains, conducting a large and extensive business.

Mrs. Susan Anderson, of Excello, was born in Maryland in 1833. When but an infant her grandfather, Samuel Hughes, and her father, Vincent Hughes, with their families and a few others, came to Butler County, where she has lived since that time. Mrs. Anderson obtained a good education when young, and spent eleven years of her life in teaching in public schools, mostly in Butler County. Her father was a farmer and died in 1849. In 1855 she was married to Benjamin F. Harrison, and in 1861 he entered Co. D, Thirty-fifth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and spent three years in the war; afterwards was in the government service, but went to Illinois, where he was injured by a fall, and died from its effects May, 1867. Mollie Anderson, her daughter, is a teacher also, and at this time has charge of a school in Butler County.

Frank J. Barnard, superintendent of schools in Middletown, was born in Medina, Ohio, March 26, 1852. He is the son of Judge S. G. Barnard and Malvina M. Barnard. His great-grandfather, Samuel Barnard, served in the Revolutionary War. He prepared for college at Kenyon Grammar School, Gambier, Ohio, on attaining the age of fourteen, then entering Cornell University, at Ithaca, New York, at sixteen years of age. In the beginning he was in the classical course, but changed this to the course of philosophy, graduating in 1874. After his return to this State he began teaching in country schools in Medina County, boarding around among those who sent their children to him, afterwards being engaged as superintendent of schools in Brooklyn Village, Cuyahoga County, for two years. At Celina, Ohio, he acted as superintendent the next two years. He has now completed his fourth year as superintendent of schools in Middletown, and by a unanimous vote of the board of education has been elected for three years longer. He was married in Cleveland, November 28, 1877, to Anna L. Fish, daughter of Bethuel and Lucy Fish, of that place. Mr. Fish is now dead. His daughter was born in Brooklyn Village, September 30, 1852, and has given her husband one child, Clem T. Barnard, born July 10, 1880.

S. A. Bowman, confectioner, was born in Cincinnati, August 20, 1853, and settled in this county in 1874. He is the son of John Bowman and Kate Elias. He was married in 1875, in Cincinnati, to Hattie Linehart, daughter of Jacob Linehart and Rosa Wolf, who was born April 3, 1856. They have three children. Blanche was born November 10, 1876 ; Sidney S., April 30, 1879, and Ralph S., February 10, 1881. Mr. Bowman was reared in Cincinnati, where he remained with his parents until he was eleven years old, then going to Nashville, Tenn. Then he lived with his grandmother four years, when he came back to Cincinnati, where he obtained a situation in a wholesale candy manufactory. In this employment he remained for three years, until his employer closed up his business, then coming to Middletown, where he was in the store of his brother as dry-goods clerk. He was with him for three years, when he went to Crawfordsville, being in the notion busisness for eleven months. On his return he engaged in present occupation.

C. H. Bundy, attorney and proprietor of the Middletown Telephone Exchange, was born in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, June 11, 1852. His paren George J. Bundy and Rebecca Hoover. His died when he was six years old, and then he lived with his father and grandfather until he was thirteeen years old. At that time his father hired him to a man named Samuel Wolwages, where he stayed four years at ten dollars per month, his wages being taken by his guardian. He also worked for several other men the vicinity of Red Lion. He went to school at intervals during his minority, and saved seventy-five dollars between seventeen and twenty-one. With this money, and what else he earned, he went to school for two years, finally obtaining a certificate authorizing him to teach. He taught for two years in the Jersey settlement, near Carlisle. With the money thus obtained he went to Mont-

646 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

gomery County, where he studied law, being admitted to practice in 1878. On the 9th of April he was sworn in at the district court in Hamilton, and on June 1st removed to Middletown, where he opened an office in the Leibee building. He has been very successful in his practice. In the Spring of 1879 he moved into the Merchants' National Bank Building,. which he is now occupying. Mr. Bundy was the originator of the telephone exchange in this neighborhood. He opened an exchanger in Middletown, and next began exchanges at Lebanon and Franklin. He owns all tkose in Warren County and a part of Butler County. This method of communicating ideas has proved very popular here. He was married September 1, 1881, to Emma A. Jones, daughter of Edward and Emma Jones.

John D. Breeding, builder and contractor, was born in Clermont County, Ohio, May 19, 1819. His father, Thomas H. Breeding, and his mother, Mary Hutchinson, were residents of that county. Mr. Breeding was a soldier during the War of 1812, and after his death his widow received a pension. John D. Breeding was reared on a farm owned by his father until he was sixteen years of age, when his father died. At the age of eighteen he went to Goshen, in the same county, to learn the

trade of mason and bricklayer. He remained at this occupation until he was married, when he came to Hamilton, living here three years, and then going to Warren County. He kept a general country store there at Twenty-Mile Stand for about three years, where he succeeded very well. After this he moved to Monroe, in this county, keeping a country store there also for about three years. About this time the war broke out, and he sold his stock, going to Middletown, where he went in the grocery line. For a brief time he was transportation clerk in the foraging department in Cincinnati. Two years and a half after he disposed of his interest to his partner and commenced to take contracts for building, an occupation he. is following at present. He joined the Masonic fraternity about thirty-five years ago, and a few years later was admitted to the Odd Fellows. He has been a member of the Presbyterian Church since about 1850. His wife was a member before she was married, and the children are also members. Josephine H. Breeding, his daughter, has been a teacher in the high school for about twelve years. She has one sister, Deborah Jane McAdams. Their mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Harper, was born in Hamilton in 1827. Her parents were William Harper and Jane Rowen. Mr. and Mrs. Breeding were united November 21, 1849 in Symmes Township, Hamilton County.

William Bailey was born near Westchester, in this county, January 3, 1817. His father came from Pennsylvania in the year 1816, and settled in the southern part of this county, where he taught school. His mother died when he was ten years of age, and he was put to the blacksmith trade, which he followed until the year 1847, since which time he has been farming. He was married February 21, 1840, near Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, to Eliza Maginety, who was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, September 23, 1821. They have had as children Mary Jane, born December 7, 1843; William, December 3, 1852, died August 16, 1854 ; Sallie E., August 19, 1855, and Joseph H., July 27, 1857, died September 22, 1859. Besides these there was an infant son, born January 21, 1842, and dying the same day. Mr. Bailey's parents were Israel and Catherine Bailey, and Mrs. Bailey's were John and Eleanor Maginety. He connected himself with the Methodists in the year 1844, but is friendly with all Evangelical Churches, believing that on our Churches and schools depend the advancement of our morals and the stability of our country.

Metcalf Bradley Hatch was born in Genesee County, New York, March b, 1835. His father, Timothy Hatch, died March 27, 1844, and his mother, Lucretia Buell, died in 1865. Daniel Buell, an uncle, was a captain of infantry in the War of 1812, and was killed in the battle of Chippewa. His remains were never found. Mr. Hatch settled in this county in 1858, and was married December 30, 1862, to Martha A. Sutphin, daughter of John Sutphin and Jane Potter. Mr. and Mrs. Hatch have three children, Harry S., Metcalf B., and Jennie R. He has been township trustee, being first elected in the Spring of 1877, and continued till 1878, and was re-elected in 1880 for one year. His brother, Hobart Henry Hatch, went out in the war, and was promoted to captain. A nephew was out in the war as general, and is still in the service.

George C. Barnitz, banker, was born in Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania, June 13, 1812. His parents were Charles Barnitz and Rebecca Swope, both natives of that State. Jacob Barnitz, the grandfather, was in the Revolutionary War, and carried a ball in his leg for twenty-one years, when he had his leg amputated, afterwards wearing a false one. When George C. Barnitz first came to this town in 1838, he kept store for Jacob Leibee for two years; in 1840 he commenced with William Young for himself, where the United States Hotel now stands, where he remained for two years. In 1842, with William B. Oglesby, he began where the bank now is in general merchandise, which they carried on for seven or eight years, then buying grain and being

in the milling business. In 1862 he and Mr. Oglesby William Harper began the banking business, which they are still carring on. Mr. Barnitz is the active manager. He has been twice married. Barbara Mumma was his first wife. She was the daughter of John Mumma and Susan Bare. She bore her husband two children - Charles S., born in 1843, died in 1847, and George Henry, born in 1848, still living. The second wife, Elizabeth Bittinger, was the daughter of Henry Bittinger and Julia Shafer. He was married to her October 1, 1856, at York Springs.

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Pennsylvania, of which place she is a native, and has had five children: Louisa A., born in 1857; John S., born 1859; Harry D., born 1866; William O., born 1868, and Ella K., born 1872. The first two are dead.

Frank Cunningham was born in Springfield, Clarke County, Ohio, March 10, 1846. He is the son of John Cunningham and Bridget Doud, who came here in 1856. Mr. Cunningham, the father, built the Montezuma reservoir, about forty-five years ago. He traveled through a large Portion of the Northern States and Canada., making contracts for it. It is the largest artificial/ lake in the United States. He made the deepest cut on the Miami and Erie Canal, when the country was a wilderness, the wolves coming up to the very door. Frank Cunningham, at about eighteen, embarked in the manufacture of cigars, and continued at this for seven or eight years, when he began his present business, that of a dealer in clothing, hats, caps, and gentlemen's furnishing goods. He was city treasurer in 1876.

Horace P. Clough was born in Clermont County, Ohio, in 1825. His parents, John P. Clough and Minerva Pratt, came to Clermont County, from Vermont, in 1820, and to this county in 1837. He was married in 1845 to Mary Leibee, born in Middletown in 1827, the daughter of Daniel Leibee and Sarah Enyart. Mr. Enyart emigrated from New Jersey in 1802, and was in the War of 1812. There are three children to this union—Sarah M., Charles H., and D. L. A. Clough. Two members of the Clough family went out in the late war, Hannibal and William A., both serving in the Fourth Cavalry throughout the struggle. Horace P. Clough is a contractor. He was elected mayor in 1853, and member of the council in 1877, in both of which positions he served with credit to himself and the town. Having gained a reputation as a man of business, and being well acquainted with the workings of our canals,. he was honored at the convention of 1876 by the Democratic party as its nominee on the State ticket for the board of public works. In 1877 he was elected as one of the representatives from Butler County to the General Assembly. He was chairman of the standing committee on public works, and from long experience and practical knowledge of the workings of the canals of the State he was able to lead the committee to the adoption of such means as would add to their business as well as enlarge the trade done upon them. He is an efficient legislator, and was held in high esteem by all his brother members. In 1878 he was appointed by Governor Bishop to adjust all the claims of the State against the general government.

William Culbertson was born in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, in 1806, and came to this county in 1843. His parents were Joseph Culbertson and Nancy Dickson. He was twice married.. By the first marriage he had seven children. James Coe was born December 19, 1840; Joseph W., July 13, 1843; Eliza A. Mitchell, April 23, 1846; Mary B. Hunt, November 19, 1849 ; Anna M., March 21, 1851, died July 10, 1854 ; Fanny J. Eudaly, November 5, 1853; William A., November 19, 1856. He was again married on the 7th of May, 1859, at Blue Ball, to Miss Mary Ann Coe, and by her had one child, Ettie M., born February 16, 1861. The Rev. James Coe was among the first preachers in Miami County, Ohio, where he labored for eighteen and a halt years, when he moved to Blue Ball, where and about Monroe he was for a good number of years. For many years he married the people in Darke, Shelby, Greene, Miami, and Butler Counties. His denomination was Presbyterian. Mr. Culbertson has been an elder in the Church for about fifteen years, and has been a member since 1857. His wife has been a member since she was ten years old. Her mother was Eliza Todd, coming here with her husband in 1859. Mr. Culbertson was a cow.. tractor on the ca'nal, and was very successful, although he had some of the hardest work on the whole line. He would take a contract and make money when others failed. He also put up several locks. He was a man of great perseverance. His oldest son, James C. Culbertson, was in the military service during the war and was discharged on account of ill health, afterwards enlisting, however, again.

Joseph D. Collins, son of Thomas Collins and Mary Ann Bowen, both natives of Virginia, was born in Franklin, Kentucky, October 14, 1815. He was brought up on a farm near Frankfort until he had attained the age of eighteen, when he went to learn the carpenter's trade, following it until 1865, since that time having been engaged in the trade in ice, lime, wood and coal, and in transferring of freights. He has been a resident of this county since 1839. While employed at his trade he did a great deal of traveling, having traveled in three years about five thousand miles in the South, and sometimes going by sea. He was married in December, 1837, at Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey, to Margaret Jackson, who was born in New Jersey, March 9, 1821. She died on the 8th of November, 1876. Her parents were Benjamin and Catherine Jackson. They also became residents of this county, moving here in 1839. Mr. and Mrs. Collins have had twelve children. Their names were Thomas B., Henry II., Elizabeth Pullian, Charles E., Catherine P. Kemp, Margaret A., James S., Ida, Joseph J., Anna G., Charles F.; and Albert G. Six of these children are dead. Charles E. died May 14, 1844; Catherine P. Kemp, August 6, 1871 ; Joseph J., January 14, 1856; Anna G., January 28, 1875 ; Charles F., February 1, 1862, and Albert G., March 24, 1863. Mr. Collins has been a councilman in Middletown for about four years. Both his grandfathers, Robert Collins and William Bowen, were in the Revolutionary War. An uncle, Robert Collins, was in the War of 1812, being at the battle of Orleans and at Fort Wayne, Indiana.

648 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

Samuel Cox was born in this county, June 2, 1835, and was married December 25, 1862, to Mary Ann Paullin, born October 13, 1839. His parents were John M. Cox and Nancy Hilt, and hers were Henry Paullin and Eleanor Williamson. They were all born iu this county. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Cox have been the parents of four children. Ira E. was born August 23, 1869; Samuel F., November 25, 1875; Mary Elizabeth, June 9, 1877; and an infant, now dead, born May, 1866. Three of his bothers-in-law yvere in the hundred-day service in Virginia—Henry Pau111-ff-, Clinton Paullin, and Jacob W. Paullin. Mr. Cox is a farmer.

Stephen V. Curtis, late president of the First National Bank, was born January 7, 1826, in Liberty Township. He left school at the age of fourteen, but worked at home on the farm until eighteen. He then entered a store in Hamilton, and was with his brother Joseph about five years. During the meantime he was in Louisiana, and afterwards went to Cincinnati. In 1849 he was given an interest in a store in Hamilton with N. G. Curtis, on account of his ability. In 1850 he went on a farm in Lemon Township of two hundred and fifty-five acres, of which he bought one hundred and ten. He conducted farming until 1860. In 1855 he began auctioneering, which he followed till 1875, when he abandoned it on account of poor health. He went into banking in 1865, and except one year has been a director, and for eleven years, up to 1882, was the president of the bank.

Edwin Ruthven Campbell was born in Franklin, Warren County, April 27, 1818, and after going to school at that place went to Middletown, living with his brother, Dr. Andrew Campbell, and attended the academy established there by Nathaniel Furman. Having substituted for an active life on his father's farm, near Franklin, one indoors, without the exercise requisite for health, in the course of a year he realized the injurious effects of such neglect. About that time one of the old citizens of Middletown built an old-fashioned flat-boat, which was launched in the Miami Canal, taking aboard a full cargo of provisions and country produce, some of the neighboring farmers joining in the enterprise, for the purpose of trading along the shores of the Ohio and Mississippi, between Cincinnati and New Orleans, and Campbell joined the expedition. While the days when this voyage was made differed very materially from those that preceded them, when the flat-boatmen, manning the historic " broad-born" of earlier times, were of the "half-horse and half-alligator" type, they were at the same time composed of rougher, though none the less warm-hearted and loyal material than that to be found navigating the Western waters to-day.

Returning with health restored by his several months' roughing it, he commenced reading law with Corwin & Campbell, in Hamilton, the firm being composed of Jesse Corwin and Lewis D. Campbell, being admitted to practice at the April term of the Supreme Court, held in Warren County in 1840. Upon the commencement of the publication of the Cincinnati Daily Times, in the Spring of 1840, having had some experience as a writer upon the Hamilton Intelligencer, he was offered the position of editor, and accepted it, and continued in that capaNty for near two years, when failing health compelled its relinquishment. Some years after he again assumed the editorship of a daily paper in Cincinnati, and subsequently, in connection with other parties, commenced the publication of the Cincinnati Daily Dispatch, which, in the course of a few years, achieved a high reputation and standing in the ranks of the newspaper press, but during the general suspension of business attendant upon the fearful devastation caused by the prevalence of the epidemic of 1849, was forced to succumb to the pressure. Losing his wife and child the year after, he made his arrangements to go to California, and arrived in San Francisco in April, 1852. With the exception of the mining experiences, common to the majority of adventurers to the Pacific coast, and two years' service at the California capital, while holding the office of State registrar, he has resided in San Francisco the greater portion of the time, engaged in the profession of journalism. Mr. Campbell early began the writing of verse, and attained a high reputation as a poet long before leaving for the western slope.

Aretas Doty, brick manufacturer, was born in Lemon Township, Butler County, October 13, 1835. He is a son of Daniel C. Doty and Catherine Crane. Mrs. Doty was born near Newark, New Jersey, but Mr. Doty was a native, being the son of Daniel Doty, the pioneer. The grandmother of Aretas Doty had a brother in the battle of Trenton. She was often heard to tell how her brother shot an English trooper in that deadly conflict. With the exception of seven years that he lived in Rock Island, Aretas Doty has always lived in this county. He has been a member of the Masonic order for about twelve years, and is still a member in good standing.

Daniel D. Denise, farmer, was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey, in 1805. His father, William Denise, died in 1839, and his mother, Eleanor Schenck, died in 1852. They came to Butler County in 1814, from New Jersey. Daniel D. Denise was married in 1829, in this county, to Eliza J. Schenck, also a native of New Jersey, where she was born in 1810. Her parents were James Schenck, who died in 1834, and Anna Conover, who died in 1868. They migrated to this section in 1815. Mr. and Mrs. Denise had eight children, four sons and four daughters. John Schenck, the grandfather, was in the Revolutionary War.

Edmund B. DuBois, M. D., was born in Franklin, Warren County, April 3, 1854, and was married September 3, 1877, at Newport, Kentucky, to Anna L. Storms, daughter of John J. Storms and Anna E. Martin. She was born in Wayne County, Indiana, May 7, 1856.

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Samuel R. Evans, M. D., was born in Hillsboro, Highland County, April 21, 1819. His parents were Isaac Evans and Jane Morton. Isaac Evans was out in the War of 1812. The son was brought up on a farm until he was twenty-five, studying at home in part. After leaving the farm he went to a medical school. He practiced some time before he obtained his diploma, having to take charge not only of his own but his brother's business, which delayed him a good deal. He has had a large practice for a great many years, but has had a good deal of opposition to work against. He was brigade surgeon during the late war at Covington Heights. He was married in 1851 to Emma Gaunt, daughter of John Gaunt and Eliza Deeds. She is now dead, having departed this life March 14, 1857. He has one son, ,John Gaunt Evans, M. D., born February 26, 1857.

John J. Eichhorn, manufacturer and dealer in cigars and tobacco, was born in Cincinnati, August 13, 1859. He is the son of John Eichhorn and Louisa Gross, who came here in 1866. John Eichhorn was in the military service of the -United States for three years. John J. Eichhorn, at eleven years of age, went to learn the cigar maker's trade, and at twenty-one years entered into business for himself. He was married on the 27th of April, at Middletown, to Florence McClure, daughter of Jackson McClure and Rachael McGill, who came here in 1860.

Isaac C. Faries was born in Middletown, December 2k, 1816. His father and mother, Joseph Clark Faries and Nancy Fisher, were married in Lemon Township, March 13, 1813. The family came West in 1792. Joseph C. Faries was a wagon-maker, and learned his trade in Franklin. He was in the War of 1812, and came very near being included in the surrender of Hull, but being delayed on the road turned back home. Isaac C. Faries has a day-book which was kept by his grandfather at an early day, in which the amounts are entered in pounds, shillings, and pence, in which appears an account against a governor of this State for a great number of different articles. Isaac C. Faries was married on the 29th of January, 1842, to Mary Selby, daughter of Zachariah and Cassandra Semple, natives of Maryland. By her he had four children. Mary Y., born January 28, 1843 ; Malinda Hedding, November 24, 1844; J. C., April 7, 1847 ; and Eliza Ann, January 8, 1849. His second marriage was to Martha Garrett, on the 27th of March, 1854. By her he has had six children. Charlie M. was born July 24, 1855 ; Kate Swaim, August 22, 1856 ; Joseph T., March 18, 1858 ; Lizzie, May 9, 1859 ; Frank M., July 18, 1861 ; and Cary Heath. Mr. Faries was town treasurer two years; councilman, fourteen years ; member of the school board, nine years ; treasurer of the Jefferson Masonic Lodge for twenty-one years ; and treasurer of the fire department for twenty years.

Archibald C. Freeman, dealer in fruits, confectioner, and manufacturer of fly and fish nets, was born February 12, 1824, in Middletown. He is the son of Thomas J. Freeman and Ruth Campbell. The father was in the second war with Great Britain as a captain. He went out in the Fall of 1813. He went from here to Detroit, and was detailed to do guard duty there. Captain Ross came home sick, and Captain Freeman took command of both companies, keeping that command until discharged. He was in the Second Ohio Regiment and Fourth Brigade. The following is a copy of a receipt given to him :

Received of Captain Thomas Freeman, of the Second Regiment of Ohio Militia, in the United States service, two camp kettles as returned property of the United States, and for which I hold his return. Received by me, at Detroit, this fourth day of November, 1813.

W. B. ARCHER,

Q. M. Sergeant, Second Regiment of Ohio Militia.

COPY OF DISCHARGE.

DETROIT, March 4, 1814.

To CAPTAIN THOMAS FREEMAN:

Sir,—Your manly conduct, strict attention to orders, and duty as an offrcer, are deserving honor, and are worthy of bearing the name of an officer, wherefore you are honorably discharged the service, and are entitled to credit for a six months' tour of duty. Given under my hand and seal, this day and year above written.

THOMAS IRWIN,

Major in the Second Regiment, Fourth Department

of Drafted Ohio Militia.

Mr. Freeman has been township treasurer two terms, and was once elected mayor of Middletown, but lid not serve. He had indicated his unwillingness previous to the election.

Harvey Nelson Gallaher, retired merchant, was born in Warren County, Ohio, August 4, 1816. His father, John Gallaher, is still living in that county, aged ninety-four, but his mother, Elizabeth Nye, died January 1, 1866, aged seventy-six. Mr. John Gallaher was drafted in the War of 1812, and made all his preparations to depart, but as Hull surrendered just then he did not go. Harvey N. Gallaher was brought up in Warren County on a farm, working for his father until he was twenty- two years of age, when Mr. Gallaher gave him a farm of twenty-two acres, which he went on and improved. In three or four years more he bought another eighty-three acres, thus filling out the quarter section, where he lived until 1870. In the early part of March of that year he settled in Middletown, going into the packing business, which he continued for five years. Since then he has not been engaged in any occupation. He was married at Red Lion, Warren County, February 17, 1842, to Elizabeth Todd, daughter of John Todd and Elizabeth Snodgrass, who was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, May 17, 1821. They have had two children. Hattie E. was born July 11, 1843, and Francis L. was born May 15, 1846, dying November 27, 1866.

Peter Gebhart was born in Pennsylvania in the year 1800, and came out here with his parents when only four years old. He is the son of John Gebhart and

650 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

Catherine Geeseman. Mr. Gebhart was in the War of 1812, at Detroit. Peter Gebhart has been twice married. His first union was to Elizabeth Selby, and his second to Nancy Hinkle. The parents of the latter were Joseph Hinkle and Elizabeth Debolt. Mr. Gebhart has had ten children-Susannah, Christiana, Wolverton, Isaac, Andrew J., Peter, Elizabeth Selby, Harriet Wagoner, Catherine Long, Eliza McGee, and Gustavus.

George H. L. Gebhart is a native of Madison Township in this county, as is his wife. Her name was Caroline H. Williamson, daughter of David Williamson and Rachel Compton, and his parents were Daniel Gebhart and Christina Linge. Miss Williamson was married to Mr. Gebhart December 23, 1867, and they have been the parents of six children. Rachel A. was born November 26, 1868 ; Edwin D., July 20, 1870; Lavina Jane, November 20, 1871 ; Bertha, December 29, 1873; Daniel, November 8, 1875; and Emma Gertrude, September 1, 1877. Mr. Gebhart was a member of the Home Guards in the last war.

John Graft was born in Holland, September 10, 1826, and came to this county in 1870, although he landed in this country long before. He was married February 15, 1853, in Red Lion, Warren County, to Anna Barnett, daughter of James Barnett and Sarah Lyons. Mr. Barnett died September 25, 1854, and Mrs. Barnett May 12, 1864. They were buried in Reading cemetery, Hamilton County. They came to this county in 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Graft have had ten children. John was born February 13, 1854; James, August 27, 1855; Moses, April 20, 1857 ; William H., January 27, 1859 ; Sarah Ann, August 29, 1860 ; Martha Jane, August 9, 1861 ; Samuel B., October 31, 1864; Maggie Ann, June 11, 1866 ; Frances Elizabeth, August 16, 1868 ; and Emma Jane, 1871. James died July 10, 1856, and Sarah Ann September 7, 1860. Maggie Ann and Emma are also dead. Samuel Barnett, a brother of Mr. Graft's wife, was killed at Selma, Alabama, during the last war. He was promoted just before the battle for his bravery.

Daniel Gebhart was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1798, and was brought here by his parents, John Gebhart and Catherine Gesamon, in 1810. They got aboard a flat-boat at Pittsburg, and came down the Ohio River, it being so low that they would run on a sand-bar occasionally. They finally arrived at Cincinnati, however. From there they footed it all the way to Middletown, where Mr. Gebhart remained until the day of his death. John Gebhart was drafted in the War of 1812, and served as a private for two years. He took the cold plague and was brought home, but recovered again. Daniel Gebhart was married on the third day of November, 1821, to Christina Lingle, daughter of Leonard Lingle and Nary Gowker, who was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1804, and came out here in 1810. Of this marriage ten children were the fruits. Levi was born December 24, 1822; Catherine, October 12, 1823 ; Hiram, September 3, 1825 ; Eliza, October 31, 1827; Lavina, December 27, 1829; David, March 1, 1832; Amanda, July 22, 1834; George, August 17, 1838 ; William, April 12, 1841, and Sarah, August 23, 1843. Mr. Gebhart is a farmer.

Charles F. Gunckel, president of the Merchants' National Bank, and a lawyer by profession, was born in Germantown, Montgomery County, Ohio, January 4, 1837. Philip and Mary (Loehr) Gunckel, his parents, were both born in Ohio. The Gunckels are associated with the earliest history of Germantown. Philip Gunckel, the grandfather of our subject, was the founder of that village, and named it after Germantown, Pennsylvania, his native State. It was laid out by him in 1814, though he had previously built a saw and grist-mill on Twin Creek, and opened a store at the same place.

Philip Gunckel was a member of the Fifth General Assembly of the State in 1806 and 1807, and also in 1808 and 1809. He was also for many years associate judge and a prominent business man. He died in Germantown, possessed of a large property. Philip Gunckel, a soldier of 1812, the father of Charles F., was a merchant of Germantown, though of retired habits, his father having left his children a considerable estate. His wife died in 1877, at the age of seventy-five. After attending the usual time in the common schools, Mr. Gunckel spent two years in a private academy at Middletown, closing his school period at the age of eighteen. He entered the law office of Mr. L. D. Doty, with whom he remained during two years, and was admitted to the bar in 1862, and began practicing in connection with Mr. Doty, remaining in partnership with him until 1871. Mr. Gunckel has gained an enviable prominence for his shrewdness in the conduct of his cases.

In 1872 Mr. Gunckel organized the Merchants' National Bank of Middletown, of which he has been president ever since. He has been able to attend to the duties connected with this position, and at the same time keep up his law practice, though lately he pays more attention to his banking interests. The original capital of the bank was $50,000. It was afterwards increased to $75,000, and.subsequently to $150,000, its present capital, with $30,000 surplus. It is now carrying upward of $200,000 deposits. The history of this bank has been one of uniform prosperity.

In 1879 Mr. Gunckel built the street railway of Middletown, of which he has since been president, " and in connection with the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad, is the principal stockholder. The road is in excellent condition, and compares favorably with those in large cities. He has laid out several large additions to Middletown, the largest of which consists of forty acres. Mr. Gunckel has for years been largely interested in real estate in and about Middletown. It is worthy of note, that the chief portion of Middletown has been laid out by the members of one family, that of

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Stephen Vail, who made the first plat of the town, Hugh Vail, his son, who continued the work afterwards, and lastly, Mr. Gunckel, son-in-law of the latter, who has performed he supplementary work.

On the 21st of May, 1859, Mr. Gunckel was married to Miss Ida A., daughter of Hugh and Jane Vail. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Gunckel. Ernest M., born March 17, 1860; Lula, born April, 1867; Anna, torn December, 1877.

John Eddy, the son of Alvansy and Nancy Eddy, was born in Knox County, this State, April 7, 1838. He was married December 24, 1859, to the daughter of Henry and Mary ,Kauffman, who was born June 10, 1841. Mr. Eddy served three years in the war, being a member of two different regiments, and came to this county in 1866. He has one child, Minnie, born July 1861. He has been road supervisor, and by occupation is a scale repairer, house-painter, and furniture dresser. His grandfather was in the War of 1812.

J. W. A. Gillespie was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, February-19, 1837, and is the son of James and Catherine Gillespie. He came to this county in 1870. He was married January 11, 1863, at Franklin, Ohio, to Henrietta Wilkinson, daughter of Richard and Mary Jane Wilkinson, who was born April 26, 1842, in Franklin. They have five children. Edwin W. was born June 9, 1864; Frank P., December 5, 1865; Jennie T., October 22, 4,869 ; Willie F., November 2, 1871, and Robert Y., May 3, 1878. Mr. Gillespie was in the service from April 19, 1861, to January 1, 1865. His elder brother, William C. B. Gillespie, was a captain and major in the Forty-first Illinois Regiment, and was afterward on staff duty with General Pugh and General Custer. George, another brother, served in the Ninth Ohio Cavalry. J. W. A. Gillespie was United States store-keeper in 1868 for six months in Montgomery County, and resigned because of an utter dislike to the business. He is now sergeant-at-arms in Columbus, and represents the Gazette and Enquirer.

George H. Henkel was born in Madison Township, Butler County, August 28, 1841. He is the son of Hiram L. Henkel and Amanda Mumma, who came to this county about 1832. He was married in Boone County, Kentucky, near Union, July 24, 1867, to Ellen Foster, daughter of Jedediah Foster and Nancy Wynn, born in that county January 23, 1839. Mr. and Mrs. Henkel have had three sons and two daughters. Hiram J. was born April 24, 1869 ; Nannie A., December 31, 1871; Anna B., June 18, 1873; John J., October 14, 1876; Paul F., December 10, 1878. Mr. Henkel is the editor of the Journal, and engineer and superintendent of the water-works. He was the assessor of Lemon Township in 1866 for one year, is a member of the school board at present, and for three years from April, 1881, and clerk of the board for one year from that date.

Benjamin Hinkle, son of Joseph Hinkle, Sen., and Elizabeth Hinkle, was born in Madison Township, December 24, 1827. He was married September 26, 1850, to Nancy Selby, daughter of Middleton and Rachel Selby, who came here in 1803. They have had seven children. Mary E. was born July 3, 1854 ; Rebecca A., July 21, 1856; George L., June 12, 1858; Louisa, September 10, 1862; Bertha, October 12, 1864; Benjamin, March 12, 1868; Clara B., March 13, 1870. Mr. Hinkle has been trustee of. Madison Township for three years. His people came here in 1807, and his mother is now dead. Four of his father's brothers were in the War of 1812. His step-grandfather, Gabriel Hutchins, was in the Revolutionary War seven years and six months. Mr Hinkle's occupation is that of a farmer and stock-raiser.

Thomas Hetzler was born in Kentucky, February 22, 1852. His father, David Hetzler, and his mother, Mary Ann Thornell, live in Hamilton County, this State. His father's grandparents, on both sides of the house, were in the Revolutionary War, and his great-great-grandfather and two sons were in the battle of Brandywine. Mr. Thomas Hetzler was brought up in the town of Lockland, going to work at the age of thirteen in a paper-mill as a cutter boy. After one year he went in George Fox's starch factory, in Lockland, where he served an apprenticeship of six years, and while there learned telegraphing. At the age of twentysi he took a night office on the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railroad, in Cincinnati, at the Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Lafayette Junction, where he stayed fifteen months, when the offrce was closed. He applied for a place on the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis Railroad on November 27, 1872, and obtained the place two weeks after the application. He worked eight months as night operator at Osborn, and then was transferred to Franklin as day operator. Shortly after he was transferred to Miamisburg, Montgomery County, where he stayed two years, and then was promoted to the agency at Sharon, Hamilton County, being there three years and seven months. He then took the Lockland agency, being there for a year and a half, and then coming to Middletown, where he is still as the agent of the Short Line Railway. He has been a member of the Masons since March, 1872, belonging to Pleasant Ridge Lodge, No. 282, in Hamilton County. He was married October 29, 1874, to Emma Kauffman, daughter of John Kauffman and Susan Mittman, of Greene County, who was born September 26, 1852. They have one child, Grace B., born September 25, 1875.

Isaac T. Hand was born in Essex County, New Jersey, in 1814, and settled in this county in May, 1837. His parents, Ira Hand and Rhoda Crowell, are still living in Newark, New Jersey. His grandfather, David Hand, was in the Revolutionary War, and did some prodigious marching. Ira Hand was in the War of 1812, and Isaac's wife's father, James Littell. Mr. Littell was married early in life to Mary N. Wynan, and his

652 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

daughter, Caroline, was married to Mr. Hand on the 24th of June, 1844. They have two children, Mary Hand and Ella Skillman. He is a retired merchant. He is now treasurer of Lemon Township, to which office he was elected April 4, 1881, having previously held the same position for four or five years. He was a charter member of the lodge of Odd Fellows, which was organized in 1842, being one out of five or six, and has continued a member ever since. He was elected a trustee of this society for two years, on the 1st of January, 1880. His brother, Ira Hand, Jr., was in the late war until its close. He now lives in Newark, New Jersey.

Jeremiah Marston Hunt, physician and farmer, at Blue Ball, is a native of this county, where he was born January 18, 1849. He is a son of Nathaniel Pearson Hunt and Joanna Marston Hunt, who were both natives Of this county. His grandmother came into Ohio in 1802 or 1803, and his grandfather at an early date. His father was born in Butler County, near Miltonville, and lived in that neighborhood all his life, as did the mother, who died near Miltonville, at fifty-two years of age. The grandfather was a tanner, and bought skins of the Indians. Dr. Hunt was married, at Blue Ball, April 9, 1874, to Mary Belle Culbertson, daughter of William and' Mary Ann Culbertson, and has had by her three children, William Nathaniel, Mary Bessie, and Robert Culbertson.

John Hoagland, retired farmer, was born in Lexington, Kentucky, April 29, 1807. He is the son of Levi Hoagland, who died April 27, 1856, and Lucy Mallory, who died February 20, 1861. They came to this county in 1818. John Hoagland had very poor school privileges. He was the main support of his family, and was obliged to stay and work at home. At the age of twenty- one he went to learn the shoemaker's trade, and worked at it and farming for twenty years. With his savings he bought land—at first ten acres, then thirteen, and then fifty. These tracts he sold out, buying seventy-two acres, which he improved. After several changes he became the owner of one hundred and seventeen acres and a half, on which he lived for sixteen or seventeen years, when his health became poor. He sold again, and came to Middletown to live, buying real estate and loaning money. Mr. Hoagland has belonged to the Baptist Church for upward of thirty years. His wife is also a member of the same Church, she having joined in the Spring of 1841, both enjoying the confidence and esteem of all who know them. There is only one house now standing in Middletown which Mr. Hoagland remembers as being erected when he first came to this county. He was married in Lemon Township in 1840 to Sarah Pierce, who was born in West Virginia, July 22, 1819. Her father was Joseph Pierce, and her mother was Polly Surter. They came here in November, 1831. Taylor Pierce Hoagland, her son, was born October 3, 1847.

John H. Jones was born in Eccleshall, Staffordshire, Great Britain, in 1818, and came to this county in 1845. His parents were Richard and Ann Jones. Mr. Jones is a tailor by occupation. He -was married March 25, 1847, in Middletown, to Caroline M. Green, daughter of Peter Davis Green and Mary Stockton, and born in Middletown in 1821. They have four children. Charles John was born April 9, 1848; Robert Green, May 5, 1850; Joseph Ray, May 11, 1853; and Nicholas Edward, in 1861.

F. A, Kennel, who is an agent for all kinds of farming implements at Madison City, was born in the township where he now lives on the 7th of April, 1846. He is the son of John Kennel, Sen., and Anna Augspurger, his father coming to this county in 1842, and his mother being born here. They are members of the Mennonite Church, and are of German descent. He was married on the 25th of March, 1878, to Bertha Kennel, daughter of Peter Kennel and Susannah Iutzi, who came here about 1832. They have had two children,—Alma M. M. Kennel, born August 25, 1874, and Peter F. Kennel, born June 9, 1880. Mr. Kennel was brought up on a farm in Madison Township, staying there until he was eighteen years of age, when he went to Illinois, where he stayed three years, teaching school and acting as clerk in a store. After coming back to Ohio he taught school for two years, then going into the grain business. In December, 1876, he embarked in his present employment. He has been president of the school board in Madison City for two years, being elected in the Spring of 1880. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and the knights of Honor.

Jacob Kemp, farmer and attorney-at-law, was born April 5, 1819. His parents, Jacob and Mary Magdalena Kemp, came here early in the present century. Jacob Kemp, the father, came to this county and entered a section and part of a section of land, upon which his son now lives. It was all in woods, and inhabited along the Great Miami River by Indians. On the farm where Mr. Kemp, Jr., now lives' were at that time wild animals, such as bears, deer, and wolves. There were no roads or markets. Mr. Kemp was a minister in the United Brethren Church, and in addition was a farmer. He practiced medicine also for some years before his decease, which was in 1851, at the age of sixty-two. In 1812 he and his team of four horses were pressed into the service. They were taken north to the lake, where he lost the horses, mostly for want of food, for which he never received any compensation. He and his wife were born and reared in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and were married there. The fruit of this marriage was four children, two sons and two daughters. The oldest, a daughter, was born in Pennsylvania, and is now dead, and the other three in Ohio, all now living. Mrs. Kemp was a member of the United Brethren Church, in which she took a great interest. The meetings then were held in Mr. Kemp's house and

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barn, and others in the neighborhood. His wife took great delight in providing food and lodging for ministers and members of her Church. She died in 1840, aged about fifty. The present Mr. Jacob Kemp has been twice married. His first was to Mary A. Zahring, daughter of Philip and Barbara Zahriug, a native of Montgomery County, and his second was to Mary M. Miltonburger, daughter of William and Mary Ann Miltonburger, born in Warren County. By these wives he had six children-Leonidas Lycurgus, Emma, Charles Edwin, Horace William, John H., and Bertha Brown. Mr. Kemp was elected a justice of the peace in 1854, and served till 1875-twenty-one years; township clerk in 1855, and served till 1875-twenty years; and in 1874 was elected a representative to the Legislature, serving till 1878, making two terms.

Joshua Kemp, son of Joseph and Mary Magdalene Kemp, was born in Frederick County, Maryland, in 1810. His grandfather, Frederick Kemp, of the same county, served as a private soldier in the Revolutionary War. Joshua Kemp settled on a farm bordering on Elk Creek, in Madison Township, where he lived until 1860, during the Spring of that year removing to Middletown. He was married in 1830, in this county, to Elizabeth Kemp, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Ann Kemp, who was born in this county in 1808. They had eight children. Abram Kemp was born April 14, 1831, and died May 16, 1849; Mary Ann Dingler, May 15, 1833 ; Elizabeth Ann Eckert, April 28, 1835 ; Joseph Kemp, July 11, 1837 ; Samuel D. Kemp, June 29, 1839 ; Francis M. Kemp, August 12, 1841 ; Maria Louisa McKechnie, August 26, 1845; Laura Alice Morris, August 25, 1847. Francis M. Kemp served for three years in the late war, fighting as a private soldier in the battle of Chickamauga and many other battles of less importance, never receiving a single wound.

Charles A. Keller, jeweler, of Middletown, was born in Hamilton, April 17, 1854. He is the son of Frank and Mary Keller. At the age of sixteen he began learning the jeweler's trade with S. W. Brock, of Hamilton, going into the business himself in Middletown in 1875, now doing excellently. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and also of the Masons. He was married in Newport, Kentucky, on the 22d of October, 1879, to Louisa M. Sebald, daughter of William and Mary Sebald. They came to Hamilton iu 1851, where their daughter was born May 23, 1861.

Adam Lamb was born in Germany, January 1, 1820, and came to this county in 1848. He was married in 1851 at Hamilton, to Barbara Waller, also born in Germany, in Bavaria, in 1815. They have had six children. Mary Huffman was born September 14, 1852; Emilia Smitley, September 27, 1853; Frank, February 15, 1854; August, September 24, 1855 ; Lena, June 2, 1858, and an infant. The latter is dead, together with Lena, .who died March 2, 1859. Mr. Lamb's parents

were Charles Lamb and Charlotte Synder, and Mrs. Lamb's John Waller and Mary Ann Flagler. None of them ever came to this country. Mr. Lamb was born on the banks of the River Rhine, and went to school until he was fourteen years of age, and staying home with his father until he was drafted in the cavalry at twenty-one. He served two years, when he ran away, with twenty-five other men, and came to the United States, landing in New York, June 1, 1845. He then went to the country and worked in a garden for two years, afterwards going to Easton, Pennsylvania. He worked at the stonemason's trade in this place for one Summer, and then in a large hotel as hostler. In the Summer of 1848 he came to Cincinnati, where he remained a week or ten days, then coming to Hamilton, where he remained until 1854. In that year he went to Middletown. He began in the grocery business, which he has since sold out to his sons. He has,a very pretty garden, about a quarter of a mile from the town, of about twenty acres. He has retired from business now, and rents his land. He has always belonged to the Presbyterian Church, and his children are of the same faith. His wife is a Roman Catholic.

George C. Lamb was born in Bavaria, August 20, 1822. He is the son of Charles Lamb and Charlotte Kramer, who both lived and died in Germany. At the age of fifteen he was bound out by his father to learn the shoemaker's trade, the term being for two years. When half of this time had expired he went traveling from city to city; until he was nearly twenty-one years of age. Then he was drafted into the army, in the cav.filry arm, but before the time came for him to report at head-quarters he came to New 'York city, where he landed on the 1st of July, 1844, and went to work at his trade. He worked there for ten years, and at the expiration of this time came West, stopping at Cincinnati for four or five weeks. Middletown was his next place, where he made a visit to his brother, returning for some seven months to Cincinnati, and then coming back to Middletown. Here he acted as clerk for his brother, remaining half a year. At the end of this time he bought out a store, and went into business for himself, buying a neat home about eighteen months afterward. He brought to Middletown the first billiard-table that was ever seen there. He is a member of the Middletown Maennerchor, and is also a member of the St. Paul Church. He has been a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church all his life, and to it his wife and children also belong.

James G. Lummis was born in Lemon Township in 1830, being the son of John Lummis and Ann Bridge. They were both born in Middletown. Joseph Lummis, his grandfather, who was one of the pioneers in this county, was an old Revolutionary soldier, as was also James G. Lummis's great-grandfather, on his mother's side, the Rev. James Grimes, the pioneer preacher and

654 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

cabinet-maker. Mr. Lummis was married in 1859, at Middletown, to Mary F. Deardorff, daughter of Jacob Deardorffsi and Mary Kennedy. The latter is still living at Dayton. Mrs. Lummis was born in Middletown in 1840. They have had six children. Frank K. Lummis was born June 30, 1860 ; an infant was born April 22, 1862, dying the same day ; George D. was born May 10, 1863 ; Charles A., May 15, 1865 ; John H., August 21, 1874 ; and Harty, M., November 29, 1875. The latter died November 6, 1879. Mr. Lummis was treasurer of Middletown for two years, beginning in 1871, and is also a member of the school board, commencing in 1877, and serving three years. He was not a member in 1880, but was re-elected in the Spring of 1881. His wife's brother, Captain J. K. Deardorff, of the Thirty-fifth Ohio, was killed in the battle of Chickamauga. Mr. Lummis is a merchant.

D. J. McMahon, editor and publisher of the Weekly News, was born on the 6th of May, 1846, in Middletown. He is the son of Cornelius McMahon and Mary A. McGehan. Mr. McMahon was brought up in Middletown, and learned the printer's business nine years ago. He is now publishing a weekly paper, begun February 12, 1881, and has succeeded beyond his expectations. Three of his family were out in the last war-his uncle Richard McMahon, Matthew McMahon, and Daniel McMahon.

William Magie was born in Liberty Township, Butler County, in 1815, on the 12th of September. His parents were Benjamin Magie and Sarah Brown, the father coming here in 1813, and the mother in the same year. He is a farmer and stock dealer. He was married on the 25th of March, 1'e40, to Rachael A. Slade, daughter of Micajah Slade and Temperance Elliott, the former arriving in this county. in 1819, and the latter in 1812. Mrs. Magie was born June 3, 1821. Her father was in the War of 1812, from the beginning to the end. With two other brothers he was present at the surrender of Hull's army. He was trustee of Liberty Township for nineteen years in succession, having the charge of the poor of the township and the widows and orphans. Mr. Magic was brought up on a farm, being forty-one years in one place. He then came to Middletown to live, where he has a fine place. Although his improvements on his farm are of the best in the county, he has three hundred and fifty acres here, besides an improved farm in Kansas, two and a half miles from Beloit, Mitchell County, of eighty acres, with a splendid orchard.

Joseph Mooney, born in Natchez, Mississippi, January 20, 1847, is the son of Joseph Mooney, Sen., and Elizabeth Adler, who live in New York City. He was married September 11, 1872, at Aurora, Indiana, to Carrie Epstein, of that place. Her parents were Abraham Epstein and Betty Myers, and she was born July 26, 1857. Mr. Mooney came to this county March 1, 1881, and carries on a store for dry goods, novelties, and cheap variety. He has one child, Hattie Mooney, who was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, July 23, 1873.

Theodore Marston, retired farmer, and vice-president of the First National Bank of Middletown, was born in Madison Township on. the 26th of January, 1828. He is of an old Revolutionary stock. His grandfather Marston served all through the war of our independence. His father, Jeremiah Marston, came to this county in 1819. He was married to Mary Ann Vail, a native of this county, who was born in 1802. They are now both deceased. Theodore Marston's grandfather, Shobal Vail, came to Middletown from New Jersey as early as the year 1798, and in connection with his father, Stephen Vail, and three brothers, Aaron, Randall, and Hugh, bought the land where Middletown is now situated, on the east shore of the Miami, including Madison City on the west side. Aaron and Randall Vail settled on the western side of the river, and opened up two large farms. Aaron Vail Also built at an early day the large frame mill on the western side of the river, known in later days as the Mumma Mill. It does not now exist. Shobal Vail, in connection with his father, built a fulling mill and grist-mill on the site now occupied by the planing mill, which was the beginning of Middletown. Shobal Vail married Mary Bonnell, of Clear Creek Township, Warren County, in the year 1799, and they lived at Middletown ever afterwards, first in a house just across the canal, about opposite Second Street, and afterwards built and occupied till their death the brick residence now owned by the Catholic Church, and occupied by the Rev. Mr. O'Rourke as a parsonage. Shobal Vail died in 1849, and his wife in 1851. At that time the canal was the western boundary of their farm, and the principal part of what is now called Dublin was embraced in it. It is now all in the corporation. Mary Ann Vail, the mother of Mr. Marston, Was born in May, 1802, and was one of the first white children born in that neighborhood.

Jeremiah Marston was born in Maine in March, 1798, coming to Ohio on reaching his majority. He made the journey principally on horseback, teaching school the Winters of 1819 and 1820 in Monroe. The latter year he went to Middletown, acting as school-master, and there are old men now in that vicinity who recollect being his pupils. He married Mary Ann Vail in 1821, and they lived either in Middletown or close by till March, 1826, when they purchased and moved on what became their future home for life, the farm known as the Marston homestead, situated half a mile west of Miltonville, Madison Township. He was a leading man in the community in which he lived, having received a good education in his youth, and taught school six years. He was always a strong Whig in politics, serving one term as associate judge of the Court of Common Pleas of this county. He died November 17, 1857, and the mother died November 14, 1855.

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Theodore Marston was the third living child of his parents, and the first one born at the old homestead in Madison Township. He was brought up to farm life, and adopted it as a profession, and was married in 1851 to Susan A. Flickinger. After one year's farming on his father's place, he purchased and moved on what was then known as the Parks farm, near Blue Ball, where he lived for six years, or until after the death of his parents. He then purchased and went to live on the old homestead, where he lived until 1879 ; then, having built a new residence on South Main. Street, Middletown, moved into that place. He is now vice-president of the First National Bank of that place, of which he aided the organization, and has been director nearly ever since; and was formerly vice-president two years, and president of the American Color Printing Company. On the 2d of September, 1851, he was married at Seven-Mile, in this county, to Susan A. Flickinger, daughter of Jacob Flickinger and Hannah Kumler, who came to this county in 1819. They have had five children. Mary Alice Good was born August 26, 1852; Jennie, August 26, 1854 ; Lizzie Kirkpatrick, June 12, 1857; Katie, October 28, 1861, and Edna, February 14, 1865. The latter is dead.

Daniel McCallay, president of the First National Bank of Middletown, was born August 10, 1839, at Dayton, Ohio, being the first son of Henry and Anna (McKnight) McCallay. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and his mother of New Jersey. They removed to this State with their parents about 1830. The father early learned the wagon-maker's trade, at which he labored in Miamisburg, that being the place where his parents settled. FIe afterwards followed his trade in Dayton, where the subject of this sketch was born. Rementurning to Miamisburg, he engaged in the hotel business. The McCallay House, of that place, was conducted by him until about 1857, when he removed to Middletown, where he kept what was then and is now known as the United States Hotel. This he conducted till 1861, being compelled to withdraw from business on account of failing health. He died the year following, in 1862, at the age of forty-nine. His widow survived him but three years, dying in the year 1865, at the age of forty-nine, also.

At the age of eighteen, Daniel engaged as clerk in the dry goods store of Jacob Leibee, of Middletown. libe continued in his employment for three years, till 1861, when he was made a partner in the business. The firm of Leibee & McCallay was continued till 1870. Mr. McCallay then withdrew from the dry goods trade, and with the proceeds of nine years' prosperous business, engaged in the lumber and grain trade in the country with Mr. J. M. Robinson, a silent partner. They carried on a large business, both in Middletown and Franklin, till 1877. Mr. McCallay was the first to build a grain-house in Middletown with modern conveniences, constructed so as to admit teams and wagons, by which means the grain could be dumped under a roof.

In 1877 Mr. McCallay, in company with his brother- in-law, Mr. Robert Wilson, bought the tobacco factory then carried on by. Mr. P. J.' Sorg, Mr. John Auer, and Mr. Wilson. Mr. McCallay and Mr. Wilson bought the interest of the other partners. A large addition to the factory was soon built, and the enterprise greatly increased. The original capacity of four hundred thousand pounds per year was increased the first year to nearly a million, and the second year to nearly two million pounds, which is its present annual product. The plug tobacco manufactory of Wilson & McCallay is one of the largest west of the Alleghanies, and gives employment to upward of three hundred operatives. In 1878 Mr. McCallay disposed of his real estate and invested it in stock of the First National Bank of Middletown. The year following he was made (Inc of the directors, and at the election of January, 1882, was chosen its president. The capital of the bank is now one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, with fifty-five thousand dollars of surplus, of which Mr. McCallay owns one-sixth. Mr. McCallay's religious affiliations are with the Presbyterian Church, of which he has been a member since 1875.

On the 23d of October, 1859, Mr. McCallay was married to Miss Mary E. Leibee, daughter of Jacob and Sarah Leibee, of Middletown. Mr. Leibee, who was Mr. McCallay's first employer and partner, died June, 1876. His wife had preceded him but a few months, having died in November, 1875. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McCallay, both living. Mary E. was born July 15, 1862, and Edwin L., born July 30, 1874.

Edmund L. McCallay, commercial traveler in tobacco, was born in Miamisburg, Montgomery County, Ohio, June 15, 1842. He is the son of Harry McCallay and Lydia Ann McKnight, who came to this county in the Spring of 1857. William McCallay serltd in the Mexican War. Edmund L. McCallay enlisted in Company D, Ninety-third Ohio Volunteers, August 5, 1862, and was taken prisoner at the battle of Stone River, December 31, 1862, being confined in Libby Prison three months. On being paroled, he was sent to Annapolis, Maryland, and from there to Camp Chase, where he acted as a clerk in the office of the provost-marshal, Captain John W. Kyle. He remained there nearly one year. Securing an appointment as second lieutenant United States Colored Infantry, March 4, 1864, and passing a satisfactory examination before a board of regular army officers at Louisville, Kentucky, he was sent on to Camp Delaware, Ohio. He was appointed post quartermaster and commissary in April, 1864. On application, he was relieved by the governor and sent to the front in August, with two hundred and forty recruits. He was ordered to Washington, and appointed assistant aid-de- camp to General Yeoman, being promoted to first lieu-

656 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

tenant, August 10. After being relieved, he was again -appointed an aid-de-camp to General A. M. Blackman, and shortly after made brigade commissary. During the next few months he served as aid-de-camp and acting assistant adjutant-general, being appointed post adjutant at Smithsville, North Carolina, in September, 1865. He was mustered out at Camp Chase, in October, returning to Middletown, where he welit into the dry-goods business. Shortly after he received an appointment as second lieutenant in the regular army, to date from July, 1866. He was ordered to Fort McPherson, where he was till May, 1867, afterward acting as commissary to Major- general John E. Smith. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1867, and was afterward stationed at several military posts. He resigned his position as first lieutenant December 31, 1870. He participated in many engagements with the Indians while stationed at Forts C. F. Smith and Phil. Kearney. At present he is a traveling salesman for Wilson & McCallay, plug tobacco manufacturers.

John Nicol, farmer, was born on the 1st of May, 1831, in Germany. He is the son of Leonard Nicol and Margaret Billman. The former died in Union County and the latter in Germany. He was married on the 28th of October, 1856, in Middletown, to Kunigunda Eichler, born in Germany on the 19th of June, 1828, dying in 1874, on the 4th of October. They had three children- John A., born October 19, 1858; Catherine M., born November 20, 1861; and Anna B., born July 17, 1861. Catherine M. died April 23, 1881. Mr. Nicol came to Middletown in 1854, and worked nine years in the papermill, then buying a farm in Union County, living there six years. He then came back to Butler County, in Lemon Township, where he bought a farm of fifty acres, upon which he still resides with his family. He is a member of the Lutheran Church.

Anton Neuner was born in the North Tyrol, Austria, August 29, 1829, and is the son of John Neuner and Josephine Schefthaler. His occupation at home was that of a miner. He was married in Cincinnati, July 12, 1863, to Sarah Deutschler, who was born in Oberkirch, Baden, October 29, 1831. Her parents were Joseph Deutschler and Eve Veglir. Mr. and Mrs. Neuner have had eight children—Kate, Carrie, Josephine, John, Antony, Emma, Rosa, and Mary. Mr. Neuner stayed with his parents until he was seventeen years old, then going to Steunermacht and working in an iron mine for thirteen years. Then he came to America, and eight years ago went to Middletown, where he has been farming ever since.

William B. Oglesby, treasurer of Butler County, was born January 30, 1815, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He is the second son of Joseph and Mary (Addleman) Oglesby, who reared a family of nine children. Mr. Oglesby's parents were both natives of Pennsylvania. In the year 1818 the family removed to Cincinnati in company with Mrs. Oglesby's parents. In 1823 the

family took up their residence on Elk Creek, about two miles north of Jacksonburg, where they lived until within two years of the death of Mr. Oglesby, in 1860, at the age of seventy-two. His wife died in 1859, aged sixty-eight.

At the age of thirteen, William B. Oglesby left home to clerk in the store of Captain Hiram Potter, of Jacksonburg. In 1830 he went to Middletown and entered the store of Jonathan Martin as clerk in the same room now occupied by himself and Mr. George C. Barnitz as bankers. He remained there about three years till the death of Mr. Martin, who was succeeded in the business by MeAsrs. Tytus & Wrenn, in whose service Mr. Oglesby Continued till 1835, with the exception of six months. In that year Mr. Tytus bought his partner's interest, and Mr. Oglesby was given his former position, which he filled for the next two years. In 1838 Mr. Oglesby became a partner with Mr. Tytus, which was continued till 1840. In the Fall of that year he, with his brother Jacob, bought a stock of goods in Philadelphia, which at Pittsburg were shipped on the steamer Troy for Cincinnati. Near Portsmouth the boat with freight was sunk, and no insurance. Mr. Oglesby succeeded in fishing his goods out of the river after lying at its bottom for ten days. They were dried in the corn-fields near by, and reshipped to Cincinnati, and thence to Dayton, where a store was opened. After two months' experience there the goods were shipped to Sidney, where they succeeded in selling them to good advantage at the end of one year. Mr. Oglesby-sold out his stock and immediately engaged in the grocery trade at Urbana, where he remained for two yearn. He then went to Philadelphia as clerk in a dry go6ds store, remaining there about eight months, at the expiration of which time he married a lady from Hanover, Pennsylvania. In company with his wife he came to Middletown, and in the Spring of 1844 engaged in the dry goods trade again, in company with George C. Barnitz. This partnership was continued till 1857. A great portion of the time frdm 1844 to 1855 the firm was engaged in buying produce, pork- packing, and various other branches, including a kind of banking business.

In 1855 Mr. Oglesby engaged in the manufacture of paper at the mills now owned by Oglesby, Moore & Co., and which is still continued. The business was then carried on by John W. Erwin & Bros., and a half-interest was purchased by Mr. Oglesby and his partner. He is senior member in the present firm, and since it was in- incorporated, in 1867, has been its president and general manager, and attends to all its interests. They carry on a very extensive business, and for many years were the largest in Middletown. He is also interested in the Harding Paper Co., of which he has been treasurer for several years. He owned an interest in the institution years before, under the firm name of Harding-, Erwin & Co. Mr. Oglesby has also been interested for ten years in the Tytus Paper Co., of which he is likewise treasurer.

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William A. Powell was born in Greensburg, Decatur County, Indiana, being the son of Elijah S. Powell and Clarissa A. Sweet. He went out in the war, enlisted as a veteran with the Seventeenth Ohio, was through Sherman's great march to the sea, and was mustered out at the close. Elijah served eighteen months, and was disabled near Atlanta, Georgia, still suffering from the effects. William A. Powell was married in. Oxford, Ohio, in 1868, to Mary J. Moore, daughter of Moses and Charity Moore, who was born in Cumminsville, Hamilton County, by whom he has had two children—Harry W., born March 12, 1869, arid Jennie G., who is dead. Mr. Powell carries on book and job printing in Middletown.

Jonathan J. Pettit, son of Joab Pettit and Nancy Thomas, was born in Loudoun County, Virginia, November 9, 1806. His mother lived to the great age of ninety-nine, her death then being the result of an accident. She was walking on a stone floor, when her cane slipped, and she fell, breaking her hip. She had always been a very active woman, was highly esteemed by all who knew her, and had been a member of the Methodist Church for over sixty' years. Mr. Pettit was married in Middletown, in 1844, to Susan Bridge, who was born in this county, in 1811. She is the daughter of William Bridge and Rebecca Grimes, who came to this county in 1804, and settled in Middletown. James Grimes, the grandfather of Susan Bridge, was a local Methodist Episcopal preacher, the first Methodist sermon that was ever preached in Middletown being delivered in his house, that being used as the church for a number of years. In this part of the country he was a cabinetmaker, and used to make the coffins, and then go and preach the funeral sermon. The house mentioned was 1 yated on what is now known as East Fourth Street, but was then known as East Greet Street. He died at the age of eighty-seven, in March, 1845. Mr. Pettit's grandfather was in the War of 1812. Jonathan J. Pettit came to Middletown in 1843. He is a builder and brickmaker and layer. He has been a member of the Methodist Church for over fifty-four years, having joined in 1828.

John George Rish, farmer, was born in Germany, on the River Rhine, on the 2d of December, 1814. He is the son of Frederick Rish and Katherine Weber, now both dead. He came to this county in 1846, having previously been married, in February, 1837, to Elizabeth Eveningred, born in the same neighborhood as her husband, April 28, 1812. She is the daughter of Conrad Eveningred and Louisa Stoke. Neither the parents of Mr. or Mrs. Rish ever came from Germany. They have had _nine children. Catherine Segalox was born October 18, 1838; Mary Stoke, November 1, 1841, dying in October, 1870; Emma Diver, August 22, 1843; Elizabeth Schriner, August 11, 1845, deceased; Samuel, August 15, 1848; and Sarah Shafer, March 28, 1854. George died in Germany, and the dates of the births of Daniel and Julia Ann have not been preserved. Mr. Rish was made an apprentice to the shoemakers' trade very early in life, being only fifteen years old, giving for the privilege twenty dollars and two years of his time •for nothing, supporting himself. This occupation he has always followed, but he has now a farm in addition.

Nicholas Rushart, born in Bavaria, August 8, 1826, emigrated to this country in 1853, and not long after was married to Margaret Meny Maixner, who was also a native of Bavaria, where she was born on the 15th of June, 1834. The parents of Mr. Rushart were Jacob Rushart and Charlotta, Stuhie, and those of Mrs. Rushart George and Mary Ann Maixner. None of them ever came to this country. Mr. Rushart has six children, Charlotta Eve, George John, Mary Anna, Eliza Catherine, Nicholas John, and Freddie. Mr. Rushart was out in the hundred-days' service.

Stephen V. Russell was both in Lemon Township December 17, 1811, and was reared on a farm, staying there until he was fifteen or sixteen years old. Then he went out to work by day's work and by the month, remaining at this until within the last twelve or fifteen years, when he began dealing in stock, buying and feeding hogs, and then selling them. He is the son of George Russell and Mary Vail. His Sather's people came down the Ohio River in a flat-boat to Cincinnati, and then came on horseback to the Miami River, where they began clearing and building a cabin. George Russell died when his son was a small boy. The mill built by his grandfather Vail was torn away by high water in 1805, when it had stood but two years. Stephen V. Russell has a table made out of the first walnut log sawed in this township. His parents were Friends, and to that belief their son still adheres.

Thomas E. Reed, physician, was born in this county in 1844. He is the son of William Reed and Margaret Sigerson, both born and brought up in this county. After a collegiate education at the Miami University at Oxford, he began reading medicine in the office of Dr. W. D. Linn, of Middletown. He then studied at the Hahnemann 4VIedical College in Philadelphia, where he graduated in the year 1872, afterwards locating in Vincennes, Indiana, in partnership with Dr. S. C. Whiting, where he remained two years, since when he has been in active practice in Middletown. He is a firm believer in the doctrine of similia similibus curantur, and conforms his practice strictly to that of the homeopathic school of medicine.

James Martin Robison was born April 11, 1811, in Butler County. His father, James Robison, was born and brought up in Pennsylvania, and his mother, Jane Parks, was born in Pennsylvania, but when four years of age was removed to Kentucky. They came to this county in 1806. A brother to his father, John Robison, was in the Revolutionary War. At the age of seventeen James M. Robison began learning the wagon

658 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

trade, when his employer broke up business. He again returned to the farm, afterwards was in Middletown in the lumber business, and conducted a planing-mill where Mr. Tytus's paper-mill now stands. He also owns a fine farm two miles north of Middletown, on the Germantown Pike, and a large steam saw-mill, one hundred and forty feet long and forty feet/ wide, three stories high. The first story is bwilt of stone. The mill is of forty- five horse power capacity. There is also a turning-lathe and planer. It is situated where there is business all of the time. He was married on the 14th of September, 1851, to Sarah D. Talbert, who was born in North Carolina in 1825. She is the daughter of William Talbert, who died March 9, 1867, and Willmett Lamb, who died December 7, 1837. The father came in 1837, but the mother never came. She lived and died in Preble County. Mr. Robison has been a member of the New School Baptist Church for about twenty years. His wife is d member of the Protestant Methodist Church, and has a large acquaintance and circle of friends.

Abraham Simpson, retired farmer, was born in Middlesex County, New Jersey, on the fifth of September, 1795. His parents were Thomas Simpson and Margaret Griggs. He came to this country from New Jersey in 1818. His father had left home, in 1799, to come to this region on horseback, by the way of Fort Pitt, and from that place, now known as Pittsburg, started on alone. The man who kept the tavern there persuaded him to trade his horse for a skiff and come down the river, as it was considered very dangerous to travel any other way. So he, and a companion he met in that place, left together, having plenty of provisions, and were never heard of afterwards. Abraham was reared on a farm until he had attained sufficient age to be put as an apprentice to the blacksmith's trade, where he stayed four years. After completing his time he worked for a little while, but could get no steady employment, and determined to go West to Ohio. With his brother- in-law, Seth Dye, who had a wife and one small child, about a year old, they left, and were six weeks and four days on the road. The highways were very muddy, there being no turnpikes then ; but they had a good team of horses, and got through with only one accident. They overtook an Irishman and his family who had four horses to his wagon, and Mrs. Dye was persuaded to get in their wagon, as there was a place to lie down. She had not gone far before they upset, breaking three of her ribs. All thought the child was killed, but it was not, and in fact had scarcely received any injury.

After getting to Middletown Mr. Simpson worked at his trade, blacksmithing, for about twenty years, his shop being the only one in the town. He then sold out and bought a farm of one hundred and thirty acres. He has added to it until it now comprises one hundred and ninety- six. It is one of the best improved farms between Middletown and Lebanon. He has been a member of the

Presbyterian Church for about fifty years, his wife joining at the same time. Nearly all his children are members also. He was married on the 15th of May, 1823, in Warren County, five miles west of Lebanon, to Euphemia Longstreet, born in Middlesex County, New Jersey, in 1799, on the 9th of January. Her parents were Aaron Longstreet, who died June 7, 1858, and Mary Higgins, who died March 20, 1862. Mr. and Mrs. Simpson have had nine children.

Martin Sheets was born in Miami County, Ohio, February 3, 1824. His father, David Sheets, died January 30, 1836, and Sarah Fouts, his mother, died October 28, 1862. He was married November 28, 1848, in Hamilton, to Elizabeth J. Matson, whose parents were Enoch Matson and Mary Direly. She was born in this county, September 20, 1824, and her father died in March, 1847, and her mother, May 5, 1855. They came to the county in i807, but the grandfather came in 1800. His name was Frederick Fouts. He was drafted during the War of 1812, but instead of going out hired a substitute, for whom he paid eighty dollars. Mr. Sheets stayed on the farm until the age of twenty was attained, when he entered a blacksmith's shop as an apprentice, serving two years. Then he labored as a journeyman for a year and half, starting out for himself September 20, 1847, in the village of Amanda, and has been working at the business ever since, with the exception of eight months he spent in Illinois in farming, in 1862, then returning to his old home. He is a member of the Masonic order, and has been so since 1868, holding the office of junior warden and trustee for a good many years. He has also been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since 1853, his wife also joiniqg at the same time. Their children are William Alexander, born February 22, 1850; Da4id H., August 10, 1852; Charles M. and Henry B , twins, born on the 15th of May, 1856, and dying the same day ; Eddie, February 2, 1862, dying January 7, 1863; and two infants, one born on the 25th of December, 1854, and the other on the 1st of April, 1864, both dying on the day of their birth. Mr. Sheets was supervisor in 1851. A brother, Robert Sheets, was in the army as a private, and died of small-pox at Paducah.

Peter P. Schenck, an old and esteemed farmer of Madison Township, was born in Somerset County, New Jersey, on the 3d of May, 1801. He is the son of Garret G. Schenck, who was born April 30, 1758, and died in 1839, and Jane Van Kirk, born September 8, 1769, and dying in 1836. They were both born in Monmouth County, in that State. The father was in the Revolutionary War for four or five years. Peter P. Schenck's birth-place was about forty miles from New York City. It was sold when he was about six years of age, his parents then buying a farm in Monmouth County, within one mile of the lower bay of New York, and six miles from Sandy Hook, where they lived until 1816. That farm was then sold, and his father came to Ohio. Peter was then fifteen

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years of age. They arrived at Franklin, Warren County, on the 22d of June, 1815, the father buying a farm within two miles of that place.

The present Mr. Schenck lived there until he married Catherine Johnson in 1821, and in 1822 moved to Butler County, having lived here ever since, or sixty years. They had five children, one of whom only is living, his youngest, who is forty-six years of age, now living at Peoria, Illinois. Their births and deaths are as follows: Johnson, born December 12, 1821, died September 12, 1839 ; Mary Ann, born February 25, 1823, died July 21, 1854 ; William, born March 24, 1826, died January 26, 1875; Garrett, born July 8, 1830, died July 24, 1830; Henry, born December 14, 1835. Mrs. Schenck's father, John Johnson, came to Ohio in 1810, and died in 1850 ; and Polly Sutphin, her mother, was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Mrs. Schenck died in 1858, and in 1868 Mr. Schenck married Mrs. Elizabeth Heffner, whose maiden-name was Morningstar. He was township trustee for about twelve years. His occupation has been that of a farmer.

William J. Schenck, son of B. G. Schenck and Phoebe J. DuBois, was born in Warren County, Ohio, November 25, 1854. He began the livery business in Middletown in 1879, and has done a good trade. He has a large stock both of horses and carriages. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and has been so for ten years. He was the secretary of its Sunday-school for three years. He is the grandson of a soldier of the Revolutionary War, William Schenck. His brother, A. D. Schenck, was in active service for three years. In 1864 he went to West Point, to school, graduating in 1868, and has been in the service ever since. He has been to California, Mexico, and Texas.

Michael Simpson was born in Yorl County, Pennsylvania, July 24, 1820, being the son of Arthur Simpson and Catherine Butcher. He was raised on a farm, and at the age of fifteen went to Weston, Lewis County, West Virginia, and learned the tailor's trade. He served four years at this, and afterward engaged in buying and selling grain and shipping it to Cincinnati. About ten years ago he came to Middletown, and opened a merchant tailoring establishment. He has been a member of the Methodist Church for twenty- eight years, his wife joining the Church at the same time. Her maiden name was Ellen Warner. She was born in Lewis County, West Virginia, June 13, 1822, and was the daughter of John Warner and Rachel Rush, who came to this county in 1820. Mr. and Mrs. Simpson were married April 25, 1847. They have had ten children. Theodore C. was born February 27, 1848; Frances C., July 23, 1850 ; Henry A., September 22, 1853 ; Joseph H., February 23, 1855; John R., January 24, 1859 ; Carrie E., May 18, 1861; Mamie L., November 14, 1862 ; Ida May, August 19, 1864; Susie R., July 24, 1868; Jean W., October 14, 1872. Mr. Simpson was a justice of the peace for three years, being elected in 1853. His son enlisted in 1862, and was captured and sent to Andersonville Prison for about four months, coming very near dying. He enlisted in the Fifty-third Ohio Regiment. Of Mr. Simpson's children Frances C. has received a very fine education, and for the last twelve years has been teaching school in Jeffersonville. Henry A. Simpson is a cutter in a large tailoring establishment in Columbus, Ohio. John R. is the assistant cutter in the Middletown establishment. Theodore C. Sithpson is book-keeper and paymaster in a large tobacco establishment.

William Sebald was born in Bavaria, Germany, December 10, 1830. His parents are Casper Sebald and Margaret Schalk, the mother coming to this county with William in 1854. He was marked in Hamilton, on the 29th of September, 1857, to Mary Dilg, daughter of Henry Dilg and Louisa Schwab, who was born in Hamilton June 12, 1841. Her parents came here in 1836. Mr. and Mrs. Sebald have had ten children. The first was an infant, dying shortly after its birth, in 1858. Louisa M. Keller was born in May, 1860; Minnie A., June 10, 1861; George H., November 15, 1864; Edward C., August 11, 1866 ; William J., April 15, 1869 ; Charles, September 2, 1871; Frank A., January 26, 1874; Mamie A., April 9, 1876, and Gustavus A., January 28, 1879. Frank A. died April 15, 1875. Mr. Sebald learned carriage painting and trimming in ,Bavaria, and after coming to this county he worked at his trade for about five years, when he built a brewery in Middletown, where he carried on the brewing business until his death, which occurred December 10, 1880, his wife carrying on the business. He was a member of the town council and school board about five years.

Daniel C. Snyder was born in Madison Township, May 3, 1837. His parents were Daniel and Catherine Ann Snyder. He is a farmer. He was married December 10, 1857, to Mary Jane Sinkey, daughter of John Sinkey and Louisa A. Weikel. She was born in Amanda, Lemon Township, April 15, 1838. They have had five children. Sarah C. Snyder was born January 1, 1859 ; John M. Snyder, November 22, 1862; Daniel S. Snyder, November 21, 1866; Clara L. Snyder, December 13, 1871, and William M. Snyder, April 21, 1875. Daniel S. and William M. are dead.

Joseph Sutphin was born in Lemon Township, December 24, 1817. His parents, John Sutphin and Jane Potter, were of the earliest families in the neighborhood. His grandfather, Abraham Sutphin, was in the Revolutionary War, and his father, John Sutphin, in the War of 1812. Moses Potter settled in Lemon Township in 1795, and followed the occupation of a farmer. He was married on the 14th of April, 1840, at Piqua, to Caroline Johnston, born in that town, in 1819. Her father, William Johnston, died in 1823, and her mother, Mary Shaw, is also dead. Three children have been given to

660 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

this marriage—Charles Sutphin, Harriet J. Gunckel, and Mary Belle Pendleton. Charles enlisted in 1861, in the Thirty-fourth Ohio Infantry, and was afterwards appointed as a lieutenant in the Ninety-third, serving three years, and was wounded in the battle of Chickamauga. Mr. Sutphin has been a member of the school board for nine years, and has been a member of the Episcopal Church since 1860. His business is that of a miller and paper manufacturer.

Jacob Schaffer was born in Bavaria, Germany, November 24, 1841, and came to this county in 1860,,and to the United States three years before. His first residence was in Germantown, where he had an uncle living. He began learning a trade there, working at it for three years. In 1860 he came to Middletown, when he went to work at his trade, but went out in the army April 19, 1861, in the Twelfth Ohio Infantry, for three months. He re-enlisted December 2, 1861, in the Sixty-ninth Regiment, and remained' with it until, the close of the war. While he was in the army of the West, he served under General Buel, General Rosecrans,. General George B. Thomas, and General W. T. Sherman. He was with Sherman in the Atlanta campaign, and from there went on the march through Georgia to the sea, to Savannah. After its subsequent marching, he went on to Louisville with his regiment, and was honorably discharged. Mr. Schaffer was in all the Western engagements, and was never exempted from duty, but was always ready. When he first went out he was private under Captain William Patton. He was promoted to corporal within the first six months, and went through the regular promotions until he became the captain of Company G, Sixty- ninth Ohio.

When he came back from the army he went in partnership with Charles Latterner. He was elected secretary of the German Building and Saving Association eight years. He was elected town treasurer in April, 1876, and still holds the office. He now conducts a barber-shop. He was married in Middletown, October 4, 1861, to Eliza Merriman, who was born in Liscuel, Ireland, July 25, 1844, and is the daughter of Stephen Merriman and Elizabeth Regan. Mr. and Mrs. Schaffer have nine children. Jacob Schaffer was born June 20, 1862; William T. S., April 18, 1866; Ulysses G., December 2, 1867; George F., August 2, 1869; Joseph H., February 20, 1871; Anna, March 26, 1873 ; Harry, July 28, 1875 ; Daniel, May 6, 1877 ; and Mamie, July 26, 1879. Jacob Schaffer, the father of Mr. Schaffer, is still living, in Germany, but his mother, Elizabeth Knapp, died November 5, 1877. Mrs. Schaffer's parents are dead.

John R. Shafor, a prominent stock breeder of Middletown, Ohio, was born in Lemon Township, Butler County, Ohio, December 6, 1817, and was the fourth child and first son born to William and Jane Shafor. He remained on his father's farm until he had reached the age of nineteen, when he went to work in a sash-factory carried on at the mouth of Dick's Creek, by Mr. Isaac Gardner. He remained in this occupation three years, at the end of which time he engaged to work a neighboring farm on shares. The product of the first season was principally corn, which did not sell at a remunerative price. This so discouraged the young farmer that he gave up agricultural pursuits and engaged in merchandising in Amanda. After two years of unprofitable business, he sold his small stock of goods at a sacrifice, and engaged to work on an uncle's farm at ten dollars per month. This was during the Summer season of 1843.

On the 6th of December of the same year, having just reached his twenty-sixth birthday, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Davis, daughter of Vincent and Anna Davis, who resided on a farm near Hamilton. Nothing daunted with his past struggle, he went to work in the pork-house, of F. J. Tytus at nine dollars per month, including his board.

The following Spring Mr. Shafor moved to the farm of Mr. P. W. Shepherd in Liberty Township, where be remained one year working the farm on shares. At the end of this time he removed to the farm formerly occupied by. John Mulford, five miles south of Middletown, where he remained one year, and at the expiration of this time found himself in possession of the neat sum of four hundred dollars. With this amount he purchased a farm of fifty acres near Princeton, seven miles northeast of Hamilton. For this farm he agreed to pay one thousand dollars—four hundred dollars down, and the remainder in two installments, covering a space of three years. He remained on this farm one year longer, during which time land advanced in price, and at the expiration of this time he sold his farm for thirty-six dollars per acre. Returning to Amanda with two thousand dollars in cash, he purchased one hundred acres of fine land from John Dickey, agreeing to pay him four thousand one hundred and twenty-five dollars for the same. Making his first payment, three hundred dollars, he gave his notes for the remainder, and on the 1st of January, 1850, received the deed for the farm, and took possession of the same. During the following Summer Mr. Shafor erected a comfortable dwelling, and in October of the same year he moved his family, consisting of his wife and a little four-year-old, daughter, to their new home. She and the infant child died April 29, 1851.

On the 15th day of December, 1852, he was again married, to Miss Rebecca B. Vail, daughter of Randall and Maria Vail, of Madison Township, near Middletown, and in the following March he resumed the charge of his farm, having rented it previously, from the death of his first wife, to a family with whom he boarded. As a result of this union four children were born to them, all of whom died. By the death of his family Mr. Shafor became again discouraged, and for the space of two years there was a cessation from business cares, dur-

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ing which time he sold out his implements and rented his farm. However, in 1859, he again commenced operations in the grain and stock business, in partnership with S. V. Curtis at Amanda. They followed this business during the war, and were very successful. Being at the age that would make him subject, the draft at the commencement of the rebellion, he stood his chances until June 24, 1864, when lie became exempt by law from doing military service. But to show his patriotic spirit and love for his country he furnished a recruit at his own expense, who fought in his stead until peace was declared.

In 1866 Mr. Shafor built what is known as the Shafor Block in Middletown, and in May'', 1872, removed his family to that city. In that year he began dealing in fresh and cured meats, in partnership with F. M. Kemp, with whom he is now associated and doing a thriving business. Mr. Shafor is one of the charter members of the First National Bank of Middletown, arid assisted in its organization. He was one of its largest stockholders for a number of years, and also a director, and for one year its vice-president. :Mr. Shafor has been foremost in all good works, and for the space of about forty years has been a member of the First Baptist Church of Middletown. An enterprise worthy of special notice is that of breeding fine sheep, for which Mr. Shafor has few superiors and a wide reputation. In 1879 he imported from Oxfordshire, England, a few of the celebrated Oxfordshire down sheep, which proved so satisfactory that he was induced, in the Fall of 1880, to make another importation, making his selections from the noted flocks of Adams, Fox, Treadwell and Gillett, who have the largest reputation of any stock-breeders in England. Mr. Shafor's stock farm is situated on Dick's Creek, and consists of three hundred acres. It is conducted by his nephew, W. A. Shafor, under the firm ,name of J. R. and W. A. Shafor, and is well adapted in every respect for this purpose.. Dick's Creek runs through the entire farm, affording plenty of good, clear water for the use of his stock.

Mr. Shafor is one of the most prominent citizens of Middletown. His career throughout has been one worthy of emulation, and shows plainly what can be accomplished by industry, good judgment, and a straightforward course. Mr. Shafor is a gentleman of fine social qualities, and has a very genial and aflhble disposition. From a poor farmer boy he has carved his way through adverse circumstances to a position of distinction and affluence, and stands high in the community as a man of sterling qualities. In all his business relations he shows an equitable spirit, and toward all public improvements he manifests a deep interest, and contributes liberally of his means for their support.

Francis J. Tytus, president of the Tytus Paper Company, and for fifty-five years a resident of Middletown, was born in Hampshire County, Virginia, about twenty miles west of Winchester, February 6, 1806, and continued on the farm of his father until he was fourteen years old, when he entered the store of Robert Sheward, in the same neighborhood, with whom he remained four years. Then having reached the age of eighteen years, he went to Winchester, Virginia, and entered the store of Thomas Phillips & Co., in whose employment he remained until May, 1827, when he removed to Ohio, and settled in Middletown, then a small village of a few hundred inhabitants. Mr. Tytus engaged as a clerk with Jonathan L. Martin, who was in the dry-goods business, and four years later married his daughter Sarah, who died in 1840. In 1832 Mr. Martin also died, and Mr. Tytus, in partnership with George. L. Wrenn, purchased the stock of goods formerly owned by his employer, and under the firm name of Tytus & Wrenn conducted the business until 1849. In 1836 he engaged in the pork- packing business, in connection with which he was favorably known for tha space of twenty-four years. In 1854 he associated himself with Oglesby & Barnitz, and purchased two mills, one engaged in the manufacture of white paper, and the other produced brown wrapping paper, erected by John W. Erwin & Brother. Mr. Tytus held an interest in these mills until March, 1882, during which time the buildings were greatly enlarged and improved. In 1873 he purchased another mill, and the same year the corporation of the Tytus Paper Company was formed, and Mr. Tytus owning three-quarters of the stock, was made its president. This corporation is composed of the following gentlemen : F. J. Tytus, president; C. Gardner, vice-president; J. B. Tytus, secretary; and W. B. Oglesby, treasurer. The business of the mill amounts to over half a million tf dollars annually, and turns out twenty thousand pounds of manilla paper every twenty-four hours.

Mr. Tytus is one of the most substantial and influential members of the Baptist Church of Middletown, with which he became associated in 1828, and has been frequently sent as a delegate to the Baptist conventions, and has been prominent in all Church matters. Not only has Mr. Tytus been prominent in religious affairs, but in every good cause and work. He has been active in enhancing the material growth of his adopted city, and has contributed liberally of his means toward the building of turnpikes, public school buildings, churches, and all improvements of the place. In personal appearance he is a fine specimen of physical manhood, being about six feet in height, of noble presence, weighing about two hundred pounds, and in general make-up bears a striking resemblance to General George Washington.

Mr. Tytus was married to Miss Sarah Butler in 1842. By this lady he has had a family of four children, the oldest of which, E. J. Tytus, died in 1880. Those who survive are John B. Tytus, associated with his father in business as secretary of the Tytus Paper Company; Lizzie P., the wife of C. Gardner, vice-president of the above company ; and Emma J. Monjeau, whose husband is vice-

662 - HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.

president and agent of the Red Cliff Silver Mining Company of Colorado, with office and head-quarters in Topeka, Kansas. Formerly he was a clergyman in good standing of the Baptist denomination, but health failing he was compelled to relinquish his position.

Mr. F. J. Tytus is now in his seventy-seventh year, and is a remarkably well-preserved man. He is found almost every day in his office attending to the duties devolving upon him as president of the Tytus Paper Company, and is quite extensively ;mown as " the great paper manufacturer." Mr. Tytus as a fine reputation as a business man, and his career in Middletown stands above reproach. In 1848 he purchased a beautiful farm in the suburbs of the city, on which he erected a handsome and commodious residence, where he now resides, surrounded by every evidence of refinement and affluence.

Daniel Brown Vail was born September 6, 1853, in Madison Township. He is a sign and ornamental painter. His parents were William W. Vail and Lucinda Brown, both natives of this county. He was married October 29, 1879, to Minnie R. Olden, daughter of David Olden and Celia Folk. She was born in Greenville, Darke County, February 13, 1858. To this union one child, Blanche E., was born December 26, 1880. In 1872 he went to Buffalo to learn a trade in the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad shops, where he stayed until the Spring of 1878, when he came back to Middletown, going into business for himself. He also makes excellent portraits.

Hugh P. Vail was born in Middletown September 17, 1843. His parents, Hugh Vail and Jane Porter, came here in 1800. At the age of sixteen he went to farming, continuing at this till he was thirty years old, when he went to teaming. He now constantly employs three teams. He was married December 7, 1871, in Warren County, to Alice R. Crane, who was born in that county May 14, 1851. Her parents were Samuel R. Crane and Ellen Jane Dearth.

William Webster was born in Liberty Township on the 2d of May, 1811, and is the son of William Webster and Mary Marsh; who came to this county from New Jersey in 1806. Mr. Webster was early in life engaged in the hardware business in Hamilton, in conjunction with his brother, Joseph Webster, but for the last forty years has been a resident of Middletown. He has been twice married. His first wife was Maria J. Kennedy, and he was married to her October 5, 1837. Her father's name was Joel Kennedy, and her mother's Esther Moorehouse. By her he had eight children. Albert Webster was born September 26, 1838, and died on the 5th of December, 1851 ; Mary was born April 12, 1840, and died February 7, 1841; Joel K. was born May 29, 1843, and now lives in Kentucky; Laura J. Ford was born December 3, 1845, and lives in Texas ; Charles was born November 30, 1848, and died June 27, 1868 Florence Nunnelly was born July 29, 1852, and lives in Galveston, Texas ; Thomas was born August 15, 1854, and William E. was born October 2, 1856. In a second marriage Mr. Webster was united to Charlotte E. Hook on the 6th of August, 1869, who has one child, Stanley, born September 30, 1876.

George P. Webster, the nephew of Mr. Webster, served during the whole of the Mexican War. He also was in the War of the Rebellion, being shot at the battle of Mill Springs. His rank was that of colonel, but he was in command of the brigade at that time. Mr. Webster is now engaged in the manufacture of paper bags, inventing the machinery himself, and employing sixty or seventy employees, mostly girls. The factory was built in 1873, but was destroyed by fire on the 6th of November, 1880. This was Saturday night, but by a week from Tuesday it was again in motion as before, new quarters having been temporarily found.

Charles M. Williams, teacher, was born in Jo Daviess County, Ill., October 11, 1856. His father is William N. Williams and his mother Elizabeth J. Williams. His grandfather, David Lloyd, was a private soldier under General Taylor in the Mexican War. An uncle, William Lloyd, orderly sergeant of a company in the Guthrie Grays, died of typhoid fever at Bowling Green, Ky., in 1862: James M. Lloyd, another uncle, served three years in the Seventy-fifth Ohio, being in seventeen set battles. Charles M. Williams lived in Illinois until he was six years old, when he was removed to Warren County in this State, then being on a farm until 1875, when on the 26th of October, 1875, he came to Middlementown, where he was for seven years engaged in teaching school. He also teaches elocution, and has been very successful as a public reader. He was married on the 25th of November, 1880, to Louisa Hinkle, (laughter of Benjamin and Nancy Hinkle. They are natives of this county, and she was born here September 10, 1862.

Allen Smith Wrenn, paper manufacturer, was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, March 6, 1815. His parents, who lived and died in Virginia, were Thomas Wrenn and Catherine Brent. He was married in 1845, in Middletown, to Parthenia Taylor, daughter of David Taylor and Joanna Enyart, who are both dead. Mrs. Wrenn was born in Middletown March 22, 1823, and they have had five children, Thomas A., Edward, Mary, Charles L., and Kate B.

Joseph Wickoff was born in New Jersey, on the,12th of December, 1802, coming to this county in 1821. His parents were Samuel Wickoff and Vesta Irton. Mr. Wickoff was married on the 8th of November, 1838, to Eleanor Barklow, daughter of Tobias Barklow and Elizabeth Jeems, who came to Butler in 1806. They have had six children-Vashti, Rebecca, Tobias, Henry, Sarah, and Joseph. Rebecca and Henry are deceased. The latter was in the army, but he was never heard of afterwards, and it is supposed he is dead. Tobias Wickoff was in the hundred-days' service.

LEMON - 663

Uzel CLARK (deceased) came with his father, Jacob CLARK, to Ohio in 1806, and in the Fall of 1807 settled on a farm near Monroe. His father married Miss Sarah BEACH, and raised three children: Mrs. Mary MULFORD, Mrs. Esther KYLE, and Uzel CLARK. Mary married John MULFORD about the tiem of the War of 1812, who was the father of David, Jacob, and Job MULFORD, the well-known citizens of Butler County. David MULFORD now lives in the north part of the State. Esther CLARK was the first wife of James KYLE. She died full fifty years ago, and her children are all dead but Mrs. WYLE, of Jericho. Uzel married Margaret SAMPSON. She died in 1834. He became the father of three children--Eliza, David Parkhurst, and Sarah Jane. All are dead now but Eliza. Uzel CLARK was born Mary 24, 1803, and died March 1, 1882. He lost his father when fourteen years of age, and thus, when a boy, was initiated into the hardships of pioneer life, and without paternal support. He always lived on the farm near Monroe Station, a part of which he sold to the Cincinnati and Springfield Railroad Company, now Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis Railroad Company, for their depot grounds. Mr. Thomas BEACH, his maternal grandfather, was one of the minute-men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War.

Cephas C. FETHERLING was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, September 26, 1837, in which, and in adjoining counties, he spent his early life. His parents were poor, and Mr. FETHERLING educated himself. At nineteen years of age he took charge of a district school in Twin Township, Preble County, and taught in that and other places five years. On the 24th of August, 1862, he joined Company H, Ninety-third Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel ANDERSON, and left for Kentucky, the regiment joining MASON's and NELSON's troops as re-enforcements, but retreating to Louisville. He was disabled by sickness from doing duty, but kept with his regiment until the battle of Perryville, when he was taken prisoner by Kirby SMITH, and immediately exchanged, but on account of sickness did not join his regiment until 1863. He was assigned to an invalid corps, and sent back to the Northern States, where he did duty, and was honorably discharged July 7, 1865. He enlisted as a private, and attained the rank of commissary sergeant when discharged. He subsequently taught school eight years, but in March, 1873, went into the boot and shoe business, and also carried a line of groceries in Winchester, Preble County. In December, 1880, he came to Middletown, where he has done a business the first year of $21,000, and this year of $35,000 in the hardware trade.

His father, Jacob FETHERLING, was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, May 20, 1805. He lost his parents when young, and he thereafter shifted for himself. He married Permelia LUELLEN November, 1829, and came to Ohio. She died October 29, 1864, and he moved to Illinois, then Missouri, and is now engaged in farming in Arkansas, in Boone County, on a spur of the Pea Ridge Mountains. His daughter, Eliza, is with him. Mr. Cephas FETHERLING married Miss Sarah C. HOLLINGER June 27, 1867, daughter of Monroe and Rebecca HOLLINGER, old settlers of Preble County. Her maternal grandfather, Joseph SINGER, received the first marriage certificate on record in Preble County. He settled in Harrison Township, that county, in 1800. He settled in Harrison Township, that county, in 1800. After Mr. FETHERLING's marriage he taught school six years. He has one brother, George H., who was in the army with him, and who is now in Iroquois County, Illinois, farming.

Simon GOLDMAN, dry-goods merchant in Middletown, was born May 12, 1831, in the village of Zeil, Germany. His parents, Max and Jetta GOLDMAN, were both natives of the same place. Simon GOLDMAN was given a common school education, and at the age of sixteen, unaccompanied by any relatives, came to America. He located first in Cincinnati, September, 1847, among a few relatives and acquaintances, and set about finding employment. With what little money he had he bought a few goods and started out in the country selling them. Five years, or until 1852, were spent in this occupation. The proceeds of this period of industrious labor were sufficient to enable him to open a store in Middletown, which he did March 1, 1852, in company with Mr. Joseph BUCHMAN. A stock of dry goods and clothing was purchased, and for and a half years a prosperous business was carried on. At the end of the time Mr. GOLDMAN bought out the interest of Mr. BUCHMAN, and carried on the establishment alone until the Spring of 1856. At that time he sold out and went to Mdison, Wisconsin, there engaging in the same trade. He returned to Middletown in about six months, and opened a store on Third Street, which he conducted till 1858. In the meantime he built the store on Main Street which he has since occupied.

Mr. GOLDMAN was one of the organizers and charter stockholders of the First National Bank of Middletown, and has been one of its directors for the past twelve years. Form 1880 to 1882 he was cashier of the bank, a position he was compelled to resign, in consequence of his other business. He is also a stockholder in the Middletown Gas Company, which he was instrumental in organizing. He has been a Mason since 1852, and a Knight of Honor also..

On the 10th of September, 1857, Mr. GOLDMAN was married to Miss Susan TRINE, of Middletown, whose parents died while Susan was still a child. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. GOLDMAN, all living. Harry H., born March 19, 1859, is now engaged in the store; Joseph R. was born December 12, 1861; Charles T. was born June 26, 1863; Jetta was born November 25, 1865; Emma was born November 8, 1867; and Bertha was born August 31, 1875.

F. C. JACOBY, of Lemon Township, is a son of Henry JACOBY---one of the prominent settlers of the township---and a brother to J. B. JACOBY, the merchant and grain dealer of Amanda. He is a young, enterprising farmer, in the thirtieth year of his age, and owns a fraction over one hundred and eighty- four acres of one of the best farms in the county. His land is under a high state of cultivation, and the best of buildings are on the place. He was married to Miss Susie ZEIGLER in 1879.

Edward KIMBALL, M.D., a retired physician of Monroe, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, November 17, 1810. When six years of age, to the day, his father, with his family, arrived in Cincinnati, where he received his education, graduating from the medical department of the Cincinnati College of Medicine, in 1834. In 1838 he removed to Blue Ball, where he practiced his profession until 1848, when he retired from active life. In 1860 he erected his fine brick residence in the town of Monroe. Since this time the doctor has held the position of magistrate two terms, and is at present notary public. In 1840 he married Miss Mary Jane STEWART, the only living representative of the pioneer James STEWART, who was killed by the falling of a tree in 1835. Mr. STEWART was an elder in the United Presbyterian Church, and while going to Cincinnati in a two-horse wagon on the Dayton road, two miles south of Monroe, and old tree fell while he was passing, and killed himself, wife, and another lady who was sitting on the same seat. He died May 4, 1835, being then sixty-one years old.

Adam LONGSTREET was born in this county December 4, 1838. He is the son of Aaron LONGSTREET and Mary GALLAGHER. He was married on the 1st of October, 1861, to Mary J. BAILEY, daughter of William BAILEY and Eliza Ann MAGINETY, and has had by her four children. Ella was born January 16, 1863; Dora, June 28, 1864; W. B., February 9, 1872; and Mary, May 7, 1875. He is a farmer and stock-raiser.

P. P. LATOURRETTE was born October 3, 1817, in Somerset County, New Jersey. His parents, Peter LATOURRETTE and Mary NITZER, died, the one in January, 1854, and the other in January, 1850. They came out here in April, A 839. His great-uncle, Daniel LAUTOURRETTE, passed all through the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars, and was about one hundred years old when he died. Peter LATOURRETTE was a major in 1812. When in the service he had an altercation with a superior officer respecting the treatment of the men. LATOURRETTE treated them with utmost kindness; the other officer, on the contrary, treated them, with severity. The colonel, in the end, determined to arrest Major LATOURRETTE, and demanded his sword from him, which he refused, saying it could not be had, except point foremost. Recognizing the resolute man he had to deal with, the colonel desisted. Mr. P. P. LATOURRETTE once owned a portable saw-mill, and wdl engaged in mercantile business for over eleven years. He also owned a drug-store in Hamilton for a time. He first became connected with the Middletown Agricultural Works as secretary, and in 1873, he and John HARRISON leased the works, soon after deeming it advisable to abandon the manufacturing of agricultural implements, and gradually changing its character to what it is at present. They now manufacture paper and tobacco machinery, wooden pumps, and have a brass foundry. The death of Mr. HARRISON, February, 1875, left Mr. LATOURRETTE the sole manager and proprietor. On the 1st of January, 1881, C. F. GUNCKEL, who had previously had one-fourth interest in the real estate and machinery, purchased a quarter interest in the business.

Mr. LATOURRETTE has been an elder in the Presbyterian Church for nearly thirty years, and has been a member of the Church for over forty years. His wife and two daughters are also members. He was member of the board of education for about nine years, being secretary for the whole time. He was a member when the large new school building was erected, and has always taken a warm interest in educational affairs. He has been twice married. His first wife was Magdalen MONFORT, married April 19, 1842, died January 2, 1847, and his second wife, Elizabeth MONFORT, married April 9, 1849, second cousin to this first wife. John MONFORT, father of his first wife, was a pioneer of Warren County, settling there in 1798. His wife's name was Mary MONFORT; his second wife's parents were Peter and Elizabeth MONFORT, who died in Pennsylvania. He had no children by his first wife. Mr. LATOURRETTE has had six children by his last wife: Maggie was born February 9, 1850; Mary J., February 20, 1852; Lizzie J., March 27, 1854; David M., March 26, 1856; John M., July2, 1861, a graduate of Cincinnati Law School in 1882; and William S., May 9, 1864. Lizzie J. died March 29, 1866. Mr. LATOURRETTE is a Royal Arch Mason, and has been a Mason since 1848. He was deputy provost marshal during the war.

Robert MAGINETY, of Georgetown, was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, June 9, 1819. His father was a blacksmith, with whom Mr. MAGINETY remained until he learned the trade. When twenty-five years of age he came to Amanda, arriving there in June, 1844. He married Miss Lydia A. RUCH, on the 15th of March, 1846. Her father came here in 1841 from York County, Pennsylvania, and settled first in Preble County, and subsequently two and a half miles east of Amanda, and died in a year after coming to this place. Mr. MAGINETY performed journey work for many years in Amanda, but sold out there in 1864, and went to Darke County, Ohio, where he remained four years, and in 1871 came to this place, in Lemon Township. He joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1848, and has been a prominent member and leader in that society since that time. He is in possession of a good line of custom work, and has a good, comfortable home.

Michael C. MILLER was born in Bavaria, August 17, 1832. He is the son of Ludwig MILLER and Mary Anne MILLER. The father lives in Dayton, but the mother died in Germany. Michael C. MILLER was married in 1861, at Dayton, to Martha NEFF, who was born in Ohio in 1835, and whose parents were George NEFF and Lida SYLVIS. Mr. and Mrs. MILLER have had ten children. Fanny J., was born October 2, 1861; Charles L., March 17, 1863; Walter, deceased, April 5, 1865; Katie May, December 22, 1867; Howard W., March 23, 1869; Ida B., December 3, 1871; Daisy, December 11, 1873; Dorothea, September 2, 1875; Louis, March 5, 1877; and Michael, December 4, 1878.

Charles Lyman PRUGH, of the firm of C. C. Fetherling & Co., was born in Gratis Township, Preble County, March 1, 1857, but did not settle in this township until January 1, 1881, when he came to Middletown, since which time he has been engaged in the hardware business. He was raised on a farm, and remained at home until nineteen year's of age, when he attended the Normal College of Danville, Indiana, taking from the institution a diploma, as a graduate of the scientific department, in the Spring of 1878. Following this he taught school seen months, and during the Winter of 1879 attended college at Oberlin six months, and on the first of the year 1881 came to Middletown. His parents were Daniel and Anna PRUGH.

Hannah PETERS, farmer, settled in this county in 1871. She was married in 1870. Her children are Mary S., born November 28, 1872; James B., born August 31, 1874; Nancy S., born January 8, 1876; and Jacob M., born February 15, 1880. She is the daughter of James FRANKS and Nancy

HEWETT, and was born in Harrison County, Kentucky. Her husband was in the late war.

Andrew WANNENWETSCH, M.D., deceased, was born in Germany, on the 26th of December, 1820. He received in his native country a good education, taking a full course in medicine and also in pharmacy. In 1863 he came to America, and after a short stay in Cincinnati, removed to Trenton, Madison Township, where he practiced his profession until 1872, when he removed to Middletown, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying on the 8th of April, 1879. He was well skilled in the science of his chosen profession, and not only took charge of a large practice but was honored by the government in being appointed to the position of an assistant surgeon of the One Hundred and Seventh Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was in the service six months during the war. He married Anna DEUSCHER, daughter of Michael DEUSCHER and Christina SCHEURER, who came to America in 1832. They remained four years in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where Miss Anna DEUSCHER was born May 3, 1836, after which they came to Butler County, where Mr. DEUSCHER died in 1844. Mrs. DEUSCHER is now past eighty-one years of age. Mrs. WANNENWETSCH is a sister to the well- known Captain H. P. DEUSCHER, of Hamilton.

Elias WEBB, of Middletown, is a native of Butler County, and was born near Poasttown, February 18, 1818. His parents came to this place in 1820, and Mr. WEBB has since that time resided in the place. He was formerly proprietor of a line of boats on the canal, and for twenty-five years was very successful in business. In 1857, he began the lumber business, and for several years followed that pursuit. He now owns considerable land, and is a retired farmer. He was married to Miss Abby BRASHEAR in 1858. His maternal grandmother was Phoebe ENOCH.

William D. SHEELEY was born near Flenner's Corners, July 13, 1822. His parents were Davis and Elizabeth SHEELEY. He was married on the 4th of July, 1873, to Mrs. Abby F. CUMMINS, and has had by her one child, Wilbur, born July 23, 1875. By her previous marriage Mrs. SHEELEY had five children. William CUMMINS was born June 2, 1858; Clara B. CAHILL, March 25, 1860; Annetta CUMMINS, June 7, 1862; Clarence CUMMINS, March 10, 1865; and Birdie CUMMINS, November 12, 1867. Abby F. SHEELEY, the grandmother of Mr. SHEELEY, died at the age of ninety-six.

Mrs. Clara STOUT, of Amanda, daughter of A. LONGSTREET, deceased, was born February 25, 1848. She resides on a good farm of one hundred acres of land, one half mile south-east of Amanda. She was married to Mr. STOUT February 21, 1871, and has two children. Nathan A. STOUT was born May 29, 1874, and Justin Charles STOUT was born January 18, 1878. Mr. STOUT is a self-made man, and a prosperous, well-to-do farmer. Her mother, Mrs. Nancy LONGSTREET, died September 14, 1878, at sixty-two years of age. Her father, Aaron LONGSTREET, died April 9, 1881, at seventy-four years of age. He took an active interest in all that concerned the educational interests of his district, and filled the position of director for many years also.

Mrs. STOUT had a twin sister, Rebecca, who died when eighteen years of age; also another sister, Mrs. Laura SCHENCK. She was married to Mr. Frank SCHENCK of Maroa, Illinois, October 27, 1876, returned home on her bridal tour, and was by accident burned to death. The guests were seated at the table when one of the waiters accidentally ktiocked a gasoline lamp form its socket, and it fell on the shoulders of the bride and exploded, scattering the blazing fluid before the light could be extinguished. Her clothing was burned from her shoulders, and her face, neck and shoulders frightfully burned, so that she died on the 31st of that month. The groom was badly burned also. Just two weeks from that sad event, lacking two hours, Mary Jane LONGSTREET, another sister, died at the age of twenty-five. She joined the Methodist Episcopal Church February 3, 1876, and was the last of fifty to united with that society during the revival of that year, and the first of that number to die.

Abraham SUTPHIN, lumber merchant, of A. Sutphin & Co., Middletown, was born near Franklin, Ohio, July 28, 1816. When eighteen months of age his parents moved to Lemon Township and settled where Mr. Garrett DEHEISSE now lives. When Mr. SUTPHIN was twenty-two years of age he took a contract on the old Lebanon Canal, and dug one and three-quarter miles of that ditch, running a force of fifty men sometimes, but generally only ten or twelve. He was two years thus engaged, and the year following, 1839, went to Logansport, Indiana, and in the Spring of that year bought a little place sixteen miles north of that city, and on December 18th, of that year, married Miss Eliza BROWN. In March, 1840, he moved upon his farm, and lived there until 1847, when he returned to Middletown. In 1872 he went into the hardware business, which he carried on successfully until 1877. In 1878 he entered the lumber business, and is doing a business of about $36,000 a year.

He has six children living and three dead: Mrs. Lavina LONG, Maria Louisa, Mrs. Sarah L. HOLMES (a widow), Mrs. Rhoda M. LUCAS, also a widow. Christopher D. married Miss Alice WILES, daughter of Mayor WILES, of Hamilton. He has two children and live in Hillsboro, Ohio. Francis M. SUTPHIN, the youngest son, married Miss Hattie GEST, of Cincinnati, in 1878. He is clerk for A. Sutphin & Co.

W. H. TODHUNTER was born in Monroe, May 20, 1842. His father, John D. TODHUNTER, was born in Loudoun County, Virginia, April 30, 1814. His mother, Hannah CLARK, was the daughter of John and Maria CLARK. They were married in 1841. Mr. TODHUNTER was educated at the Monroe Academy, and graduated at the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, in 1867. He read law with Doty and Gunckel, and was admitted to practice in 1871, when he entered into partnership with Mr. GUNCKEL, and thus remained for three years. Since then he has been a partner with L. D. DOTY. For two years--1880-1881--he was editor and proprietor of the Middletown "Journal," and he has also been interested in real estate. He is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was married on April 9, 1871, to Jennie WILSON, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth WILSON, of Middletown, and has four children living. James Macready, M.D. of Monroe, is the son of John and Mary HART MACREADY. He was born near Maineville, Warren County, Ohio, March 17, 1835, and came to this county in 1859. His parents never ere residents, and are now both dead. After acquiring a liberal education he began the study of medicine in the office of the late Joshua Stevens, of Lebanon, Ohio, and graduated with the degree of doctor of medicine at the Medical College of OhiO. He immediately began the practice of his profession at Bethany. On the breaking out of the civil war he entered the army, and was assistant surgeon of the Thirteenth Ohio. In February, 1864, he settled at Monroe, where he has been ever since. He was married to Sarah E. KEYT on the 8th of May, 1860. She is the daugher of Edwin and Sarah Ann KEYT. Dr. MACREADY's grandfather was in the Revolutionary War.