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WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP - 375 T. L. Conrey, O. M. Swope, L. F. Swope, F. J. Miller, William Luck, J. H. Peters, J. Hildebrandt, H. Fitzpatrick, C. L. Smith, S. F. Smith, and William A. Pool. At present there are 36 members, and W. W. Ford, Noble Grand. Other Noble Grands from the organization of the lodge have been J. H. Gates, F. A. Johnson, O. M. Swope, J. Baum, J. H. Gates, Jr., L. F. Swope, John Hildebrand, J. H. Patterson, John W. Smith, William McQuitty, T. L. Conrey, and F. M. Ellis. The lodge is doing a good work, and is generally prosperous. MOSCOW LODGE, No. 511, I. O. O. F., was instituted May 16, 1872, on the petition of Charles Kaiser, F. Hiding, L. Wentzle, J. H. Hartshorn, F. Birkey, F. Armes, J. Boos, H. Stuckert, G. Reinhart, P. T. Cox, John Keller, and soon after this the following became members : Eugene Moore, Charles McMath, Sylvester Shelley, Luther Scott, E. O. Demaris, E. J. Manning, Jesse Bennett, Elijah Armacost, Thomas Purdy, John W. Moorhead, John B. Trees, William Luck, L. A. Kinkead, A. W. Gilfillin, A. A. Trees, A. A. Dorsey, C. L. Harding, Witham Pool, T. M. Hughes, and James Lemar. Fifty-five persons have been initiated, and at present 46 members belong. On the 9th of June, 1874, the lodge was incorporated under the laws of the State with John Manning, A. Gilfillin, and Thomas Fletcher, trustees. The first meetings were held in the Boos Block, but subsequently a very fine hall in the new addition to the school edifice was secured. The main room is 26 by 53 feet, and the usual anterooms are 12 by 13 feet. In its spaciousness and comfortable surroundings the ball is not excelled in the county. The present Noble Grand is James Ingram, and others who have filled this office have been Charles Kaiser, George Reinhard, Joseph Boos, P. T. Cox, Charles Manning, Sylvester Shelley, A. A. Trees, L. S. Kinkead, A. W. Gilfillin, Charles McMath, T. M. Hughes, Thomas Fletcher, W. D. Cole, and James Lemar. GLOBE ENCAMPMENT, No. 215, I. O. O. F. This society was instituted at Moscow, June 10, 1878, with James H. Kinkead, Robert II. Grimes, Aug. W. Gilfillin, P, T. Cox, James W. Ingram, Charles McMath, and E. J. Manning as charter members. Since that time have joined W. D. Cole, James E. Shelley, Frank B. Watson, Homer Howe, James W. Coons, James H. Hartshorn, and H. H. Wetzel]. A. W. Gilfillin was the first Chief Patriarch, and Charles McMath at present fills that office. CLERMONT LODGE, No. 14, A. O. U. W., was organized at Moscow, Oct. 24, 1873, with the following officers : E. L. Moore, P. M. W. ; Charles Kaiser, M. W. ; Joseph Boos, G. F. ; E. J. Manning, R. ; P. T. Cox, F. ; Fred. Hirling, Rec. ; Jesse Bennett, O.; George Peterson, G. ; George Pigman, S.; Hiram Carnes, Anthony Sylvester, and Thomas Fletcher, Trustees. There were besides 16 associate members. At one time the lodge had 43 members, but the present number is only 14. In April, 1878, Philip Reisinger, one of the members, died, and his assurance of $2000 was paid Aug. 2, 1878. Although the membership has decreased, the general interest of the lodge has been well maintained. Joseph Boos has been the Recorder -almost continuously, and the Master Workmen have been Charles Kaiser, Joseph Boos, P. T. Cox, S. L. Garrett, George Pigman, Herman Roedesheimer, Thomas Fletcher, Charles Schmidt, A. Sylvester, Fred, Hirling, and Frank Denkinger. EDUCATIONAL. Under the first school law the trustees of the township of Washington drafted a plan of the township, to consist of eight districts, to be bounded and numbered as follows : No. 1,—To begin at the lower corner of said township, on the Ohio River, running thence up the river to the mouth of Bear Creek ; thence to Alexander Phillips', including him ; thence to Joseph Gwynne's, excluding him ; thence, including Nathan Morgan's, to Monroe township. No. 2.—To begin at the mouth of Bear Creek to the mouth of Willow Creek ; thence, including the same, to Morgan Neville's upper line ; thence, with time same, to the top of the river-hill ; thence, with as straight a line as may be, to include Evan Thomas and Squire Frazee ; thence to Alexander Phillips'. No. 3.-To begin at the mouth of Willow Creek, running up the river to Franklin township line ; thence with the hne to the crossing of Willow Creek ; thence down said creek to the upper hne of district No. 3. No. 4.—To begin at the crossing of Willow Creek on the Franklin township line, running thence with said line to Daniel Camerer's, to exclude him ; thence with the Cincinnati road to Catharine Buchanan's, excluding her ; thence passing John McMacklin's place, excluding it, and including George Maines' ; thence to intersect the back line of No. 2. No. 5.-To begin at Catherine Buchanan's, including her ; thence to George Richard's, including him, to Seaton's ; thence to William Curry's, including him ; thence to Monroe township line ; thence with said line to No. 1. No. 6.—To begin at Seaton's saw-mill ; thence to Richard Sapp, including him ; thence passing and excluding Beckleheimer's mill; thence to Monroe township line, including Isaac Clark ; thence with Monroe township line to the line of No. 5 ; thence with the same to the beginniUg, No. 7.—To begin at Seaton's saw-mill ; thence to Mary Ann Hotter, including her; thence to Nathaniel Glasgow, including him ; thence to Henry Swope, excluding him ; thence on the Franklin township line to David Camerer ; thence with a line of No. 4 to George Richards' land ; thence to the place of beginning. No. 8.-To begin at Henry Swepe's ; thence with the Franklin township line to the northeast corner of Washington township ; thence with the back-line of Washington township to Monroe township, to the corner of No. 6 ; thence with the lines of Nos. 6 and 7 to the place of beginning. Drafted April 29, 1826, by Elijah Larkin, Elijah Fee, and John Buchanan, trustees, and Thomas Fee, clerk. The first school in the township, and probably the first 376 -HISTORY OF CLERMONT COUNTY, OHIO. in the county, was taught in the house of Judge John Wood, from 1805 to 1810, by Charles Humphries, an man, who afterwards became Governor of Louisiana, Among those who attended were Jonathan D. Morris, J. G. Rogers, Robert Fee, and David Wood. He was an excellent Coacher, and inspired his young pupils with an ambition which caused them all to become useful men. Other pioneer teachers were Nathan Keyt, Thomas Fee, Thomas Erskine, 0, C. Evans, and John McWilliams. In 1879 the Washington board of education was composed of N. S. Delano, President ; W. S. Gregg, Secretary ; James E. Slack, Frank Zugg, James M. Cruse, Samuel Garrett, Darius Littleton, John J. Mears, James Ward, George F. McCullough, James H, Gates, and F. M. Trees. In the township, not including Neville and Moscow, $2564.07 were paid to teachers as salary for the twenty-six weeks of school taught, the average salary being $30 per month. The number of pupils attending the different schools were 434 whites and 27 colored, the latter being provided with a school-house near the Calvary church. THE MOSCOW UNION SCHOOL. The first school-house in Moscow was a log building which was put up in 1823, and whioh was abandoned in 1839, when the brick house, which is yet used by Fred Hirling as a bakery, was erected for school purposes. About 1845, Francis Hamlin, of Maine, established the Moscow Seminary in a building which the Moscow school board secured in 1854, and on which the Masons placed the third story soon after. This then became the school building, and continued to be used until 1875, when the fine front to the old house was erected, and which has since been occupied by the four schools of the village. The village decided, June 4, 1875, by a vote of 59 to 11, to erect this addition, giving the Odd-Fellows the privilege to occupy the third story, if they should decide to erect one. In its general appearance the house compares favorably with other school edifices in the county, and has ample capacity to meet a possible demand for more room as the system of the village expands. In 1879 the teachers were paid $1435 for their services, the principal being Professor H. E. Holton, who has occupied that position since 1873. Other principals since 1859 have been Professors Frambes, Tome, McNeal, Dobson, Laycock, Woods, Irwin, and Neal, as well as Miss Lida Keyt. Regarding the organization of the Moscow union school, but little can be said. No records are available prior to 1873, when the board of educati in was composed of E. J. Manning, President ; J. H. Hartshorn, Clerk ; B. F. Fisher, Treasurer ; and Frederick Hirling, William Cushard, and Josiah Woodruff. In 1879 the board was composed of James I. Selby, President ; R. L. Johnston, Clerk ; J. H. Hartshorn, Treasurer ; C. T. McKibben, E. L. Moore, and Edward Hughes. NEVILLE VILLAGE SPECIAL DISTRICT has records from April 14, 1862, when C, W. Short, S, A. Gelvin, and S. M. Wilmarth composed the board of education, the latter serving as clerk. The board has never had more than three members, and the following persons were yearly elected to a place in the board, in the order named from 1863: C. W. Short, E. A. Utter, John P. Levis, N. Y. Bacon, J. M. Johnson, George Schock, Samuel Mc- Math, John Drake, George Short, Thomas Jones, J. 0. Daughters, N. S. Hill, N. Y. Bacon, E. V. Downs, N. S. Hill, John Brophy, E. V. Downs, W. L. Drake. The district maintains two schools in separate buildings, and pays about $600 yearly for, instruction. In 1879 thirty weeks of school were maintained, attended by 104 pupils. Among the teachers are recollected the names of J. P. Norris, Austin Woods, T. M. Barton, Mattie Simons, A. S. Dunn, J. F. Bennett, and Anna Bennett. RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. The Methodists were the first to maintain regular public worship in the township. The earliest settlers entertained that faith, and at the house of one of them, Thomas Fee, the pioneer meetings were held as early as 1800. Although regular preaching was maintained at this place and in the beautiful forests near by, in the summer season, it was some years before a consecrated house of worship was provided, the members attending, as a general thing, the services at the " Old Hopewell Church," in the present township of Franklin, for those times not very remote. Before many years the neighbors united in building a log meeting-house on the farm of' William Buchanan, which became known as THE CALVARY METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, although at first the name ofsi the neighborhood--Indian Creek—attached to the house. A flourishing society now sprang up, the members belonging to the Fee, Fisher, Buchanan, Iler, Gregg, Baum, Richards, Penn, and Phillips families, and in 1830 the old house gave place to a neat brick edifice, both standing on the south side of the public road in the grave-yard which had been located a few years before the first house was built, The wood work of the second house was done by Samuel Buchanan and James Goodwin, and the noted Thomas J. Buchanan helped make the brick in a yard near by. In 1872 the present house of worship was begun on the opposite side of the road, on a lot secured from the farm of J. R, Brown. It was completed the following year, and dedicated by the Rev. Mr. Ferguson, of Cincinnati. The house presents a fine appearance, and the church is yet, as in former years, an important one in the chain of Methodism. The present trustees are J. J. Mears, J. R. Brown, Wm. Padgett, D. B, Moreton, W. H. Buchanan, George Lester, and Wm. Penn. The church is at present a part of Moscow Circuit, and has had the same ministerial supply as the other Methodist Churches of the township. On the farm of George Gregg, in the same neighborhood, a camp-ground was opened in 1822, where for many years were maintained camp-meetings of great interest and unusual attendance, many of the most distinguished ministers often being present. These and others from abroad were entertained with unbounded hospitality by Mr. Gregg. In 1855 the old ground was forsaken and a new one opened in a beautiful woodland near David Moreton's, which was used a dozen years or more, while camp-meetings continued to be held in this part of the county. JACOB FEE. Few names are more familiar or more closely identified with the early history of Southern Clermont than that of the Fee family. Thomas Fee, Sr., so far as has been ascertained, was the progenitor of all bearing the name in Clermont County, with few, if any, exceptions. A descendant of English parentage, he was born in the early part of the year 1763. At this remote day scant means remain for going into particulars regarding the family. No records have been preserved. Tradition which has come down to the present time has preserved a dim and shadowy outline of their origin, but little more. In the social and religious disruptions of Europe during the seventeenth century many broken fortunes were transplanted in America, and the names of settlements here became a touching record of the wrecks of European homes. What seemed then only an adverse stroke of fortune to those upon whom it fell, proved the establishment of many prosperous families, the seed scattered by the storm bearing a hundred-fold on the rich soil of a New World. Thomas Fee, though a member of the Church of England, was possessed with a desire for greater liberty in matters of religious worship and doctrine, and of worshiping God in a manner more simple than was observed in the established church. The persecuted of every creed and clime were invited to the New World, to which ho decided to remove, where the lives, liberties, and properties of his people might be rendered secure, and a foundation laid for the tranquillity and happiness of future generations. The exact time of his arrival in this oountry is not positively known, but from all accounts it must have been soon after the close of the Revolutionary war. The earliest definite traces we have of him (1790) he was an inmate of the old fort at Redstone, now Brownsville, Pa. The great West at that time was an inviting field for every young man who felt stirring within him an ambition to develop with the growing culture of the new country. Yielding to this natural and popular impulse, young Fee removed with his family, consisting of wife and two or three small children, to Bracken Co., Ky., about the year 1793. He remained here until after the " treaty of Greenville," in 1795, when he removed to what is now Washington township, Clermont Co., Ohio. Here he purchased a traot of wild land, and commenced its improvement by building a house in which, with little alteration, he lived until his death in 1831. Thomas Fee had a family of ten children, eight sons and two daughters, viz.: William, James, Thomas, Elias, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Jesse, Sarah, and Rachael. The sons of Thomas Fee were distinguished for good character, sound sense and judgment, and unimpeachable integrity. Entertaining a contempt for the bauble which the world calls ambition, they coveted neither power, office, nor wealth, their aim being to render everybody around them contented and happy, and contribute to the general prosperity of the community in which they lived. Members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, they were earnest laborers, sincere and humble worshipers. We will not dwell upon the excellencies of any one of these, but with truth affirm that, as a type, they were noble specimens of manhood, and those who knew the great labors of these pioneers must venerate their memory. They have all, like most of their associates, long since "entered that port a quiet home." One by one has passed away that noble race of pioneers, to whose industry and enterprise we are mainly indebted for the early and rapid settlement of the western wilds, and whose perseverance, steady habits, and good example have contributed so much toward the formation of the high moral tone and upright character for which the people of our county are so justly distingdished. Jacob Fee, the immediate subject of this sketch, was born in Washington township, Clermont Co., Ohio, March 3, 1804. Elijah Fee, his father, located in this township, on the waters of Indian Creek, about the beginning of the present century, and remained there until his death in 1844. He was a local preacher and a prominent member of Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife's maiden name was Mary Jones, who was a native of Pennsylvania. The family consisted of thirteen children, six sons and seven daughters, viz. : Jacob, Sarah, Polly, Elizabeth, Nancy, Katy, Martha, Rachael, David, Thomas, William, Elijah, and George, all of whom arrived at the age of maturity except two (Rachael and Elijah), and were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, George being a minister of some note. The educational advantages of Jacob Fee were limited, being such as could be obtained at the old log school-house during a few months in the winter season. His first attendance at school was one taught in a small log house on his father's farm by a man named Hayman, who taught there during a part of two winters. He subsequently attended schools taught at Carmel school-house by Andrew Hopkins, Augustus Eddy, and Pollard Simmons, and was also a pupil in schools taught by William Holmes, William Simmons, and John Tevis, on Indian Creek. Schools in those days were necessarily very primitive. The teachers were neither educated in normal schools nor trained in institutes, but were of the rough pioneer sort. The rod was often and freely used. The branohes usually taught were reading, writing, and arithmetic. If a pupil mastered the primary and compound rules of arithmetic, and understood the "single rule of three," he was quite an adept at calculation, and if he should go through " vulgar fractions" and master the " square root" he was a prodigy indeed. The inclinations of our subject from boyhood were those of a farmer. He remained with his father until he arrived at the age of nineteen years, at which time he was married to Elizabeth Cameron, a native of Clermont County, and started out to hew his way to fortune on his own account. His first venture at farming was on land rented from Nathan Manning. He continued renting and farming for a period of eight years, when he was enabled to buy a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, in the vicinity of Moscow, and, by frugal management and the exercise of his good judgment, acquired a competence in reward of his energetic and persistent labors. In 1837 lie united with the Methodist Episcopal Church at Calvary, under the ministry of the Rev. Christy, and for more than forty years has been an active member of the church, exerting an influence for good over his surroundings. His wife, who died in the year 1861, was also an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The family of Jacob Fee consisted of twelve children, ten of whom are living, viz. : Eliza, William, John, Daniel, Elijah, Elizabeth, Thomas, Sarah, Wesley R., and Jacob D., nearly all of whom are prominent members of the church. Politically, Mr. Fee was originally a "Jackson Democrat," acting with the Democrat party until 1832. Then, unable to indorse the actions of his party, he embraced the principles of the Whig party, with which he was identified until the formation of the Republican party, of which he and his sons have always been cordial supporters. He waS married a second time, in 1864, to Phoebe Sentney. In 1864 he sold his farm in Washington township and purchased a home near Laurel, where he still resides, having passed the age of " threescore years and ten," enjoying the respect and admiration of a host of friends. Health good, with face ruddy and full of good humor. He is quiet and unobtrusive in his manners, just in his dealings, and faithful to his engagements, and if he lacks that education which is deemed indispensable in these times, he possesses a fund of practical wisdom, the fruit of long experience and close observation, which gives weight and value to his opinions. Strictly temperate himself, he is a zealous advocate of the temperance cause, using every effort to induce total abstinence on the part of others. He has never sought public notoriety, and desires no higher title than that of en honest man. W. M. FEE. The subject of this sketch is an example of that class of men who, by earnest and honest industry, have achieved success in the battle of life, Without the aid of advantageous circumstances, such as fortune and influential friends, he has arisen from the humbler walks of life not only to an honorable position in society, but also in the commercial arena. W. M. Fee was born in Washington township, Clermont Co,, Ohio, on the 9th day of November, 1826. His first view of life was upon a farm among the yeomanry of the country, and upon which his child] ood and youth were spent. His was the life of the ordinary farm lad, working on the farm in the milder weather, and attending the district school in the winter. His first earnings saved were from chopping cord-wood. At length the critical period in his life arrived. He was twenty- one years of age and a free man. He must now make a decision which would affect his whole future,—he must choose the vocation of his life. His inclinations from boyhood were for merchandising. Farming offered but little inducement to him, a short experience in which, had already proved unsuccessful. He came to Moscow in the spring of 1848, where lie was employed as clerk in the store of Nathan Keyt until October, 1849, when he embarked in the mercantile business in company with J. R. Downs. From that time until 1857 he conducted a successful business with different partners, viz., J. W. Fee, B. F. Fisher, and Robert Smith, at which time ho purchased the interest of his partner, and has since continued the business with like success. In 1851, our subject having formed an acquaintance with and attachment for Miss Emeliza E. Pinney, they concluded it was not best to be alone, and therefore resolved to enter into copartnership as man and wife for the rest of their days. The lady is a daughter of the Hon. H. N. Pinney, and a native of Windsor, Vt. In 1848 he received his first degree in Masonry, from which he passed to the Middle Chamber, and was raised to the Sanctum Sanctorum. He was soon known as an ardent and devoted student of Masonry, and has freqdently held important positions in the lodge. Having a desire within him to unravel the hidden mysteries of the ancient craft, and for " further light," he beoame a member of the Royal Arch Chapter at Felicity, Ohio. A chapter being subsequently organized in Moscow, lie was eleoted " High Priest," and represented the chapter in the session at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1869. He has also represented Moscow Lodge in the Grand Lodge sessions at Columbus and Toledo, Ohio. Masonry to him is more than a mere name : it has a spirit and a power. He became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Moscow, during a revival meeting, under the ministry of the Revs. Edward Estell and Wesley Roe, in April, 1841. His wife was formerly a member of the Presbyterian Church, but after their marriage united, by letter, with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of whioh she is an active member, energetic, industrious, and ever ready to lend a helping hand where her services are needed, her health permitting. Both have been long connected with and useful members of the Sabbath- school, and have often united in deeds of charity and the relief of the distressed. Politically, Mr. Fee was a Whig during the days of that party. His generous and sympathizing nature led him instinctively to espouse the cause of the oppressed, and from the beginning of the anti-slavery struggle he was one of its firmest adherents and steadfast defenders. With such feelings, he naturally associated with the Republican party upon its organization. He regards this as the great party of truth and patriotic duty, the party of principles, and the only one that has the ability and integrity successfully to administer a republican government. He keeps himself thoroughly acquainted with the questions and issues of the day, and votes as he talks, intelligently and consistently. During the days of the Rebellion in our land he was a cordial supporter of the Union cause ; and, though he was unable to take an active part in defense of the nation's honor, he rendered substantial aid to the government by his assistanoe in procuring men and liberal donations from his private means. He has been connected with the general merchandising business for nearly thirty-one years. He has also, in addition to his commercial business, been engaged in agricultural pursuits during his later years, being the possessor of a considerable quantity of land. The instructions received in the science of farming during his youth have thus been of practical benefit to him in the later years of his life, and his labors have been substantially rewarded. He has been an active participant in the development and progress of the town with which be has linked his fortunes, and has added to its beauty by the erection recently of a substantial business house and a handsome residence. In company with his wife he has visited important places in nearly one-half of the States of the Union and Canada, including Boston, New York, and the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia. In a lifetime of business activity and oommercial enterprise he has been uniformly successful, and has in the aggregate secured a competency satisfactory to himself. He seeks wealth only for its uses, and while he allows himself but little time to administer to his own personal enjoyment, he neglects none of his domestic duties, nor does he turn an indifferent or impatient ear to the wants of friends or of society. We close this sketch, not because we have exhausted our subject, but because we have said enough to command attention to a man who, by his acts, is entitled to high consideration for what he has done and for what he is doing. He has opened wide paths to industry and enterprise, and extends a helping hand to all honest and well-disposed men who seek labor either for themselves or their families. JAMES MCMATH JAMES MCMATH was born two miles and a half east of Moscow, Washington township, in this county, Aug. 21, 1821, at which place he lived until the spring of 1833, when his father, William McMath, moved to Neville. His father was born near Brownsville, Pa , and married Mary McGee, a native of Ireland, by whom he had the following children : Samuel ; Daniel ; Hannah ; Mary, married to John Hobbs ; John ; Jane, married to John Gilbreath ; and James McMath, the subject of this sketch. His father, thinking James was too delicate for the life of a farmer, hound him, in 1836, to Benjamin Quinlan for five years to learn the tailor's trade. In 1838 he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church under the labors of Rev. Mr. Hance. Benjamin Quinlan moving to Missouri in 1839, James McMath went to Moscow on April 8th of that year, and finished his trade with A. J. Shelley. In the spring of 1842 be was appointed claSs-leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been connected with the quarterly conference of that charge ever since, being its oldest member. In 1845 he was licensed as an exhorter, and has become a popular local preacher in the county. He worked for A. J. Shelley seven years, attending school a portion of the time during the first two years, and working for his board mornings and evenings. Mr. McMath recollects with pleasure the kindness with which Mr. Shelley and his family treated him when a poor boy working for and boarding with them. Mr. McMath was married, April 21, 1846, to Miss Glorvina S. Conrey, and the same summer started a small store in Moscow in connection with his tailor-shop, which was the first merchant tailor-shop in the county. In 1853 he received his license as a local preacher. In 1855 his wife died, and on July 31, 1856, he married again, this trme taking as a companion Miss Abigail R. Senteney. He was .ordained a deacon in the ohurch Sept. 7, 1862, and an elder Sept. 1, 1872. He never sought honors from the church, but ever willingly obeyed its orders, and performed with his might whatever his hands found to do. He has been an untiring and earnest worker in the Sabbath-schools for thirty-five years, and was one of the organizers of the Clermont County Methodist Episcopal Church Sunday-School Union, and himself organized the Washington Township Sunday-School Union. At Chilo Mr. McMath supplied the circuit twice as its preacher by the appointment of the presiding elder, and his two years of useful labors at that point are remembered with pleasure by the church members and people generally of that town. For twenty years continuously he has been recording steward of the Moscow Circuit, and was twice president of Clermont County Metho ,1st Episcopal Sunday-School Convention. Probably no man lives in Clermont who in the last third of a century has been so zealous in behalf of the church as Mr. McMath, or contributed so much in time, money, and work for its spiritual and material growth. He has two living children by his first wife, Charles, a merchant, of the firm of McMath & Grimes, of Moscow, and James C. McMath, a prominent attorney of the Clermont bar, residing at Batavia. By his present wife he has one son, William S., and two daughters, Cora B. and Etta McMath. James McMath has served eighteen years as postmaster of Moscow, a long time as a member of the town school board, acting as its president in 1876, and aided largely in the erection of the present fine school edifice. He served several years as mayor of Moscow. For thirty years he engaged profitably in mercantile pursuits, and was succeeded in his business a short time ago by the firm of McMath (his son, Charles) & Grimes. In later years he has been engaged in the banking business with Jared Lemar, under the firm-name of Lemar & McMath. He came to Moscow with no capital but his industry, resoldte will, and honesty, and possessing but a limited education obtained in the district school, but in forty-onc years he has achieved great financial success, and, what is far better, the name of being an honest, Christian gentleman and business man. The impress of his earnest and able works in the cause of religion and in the interests of good society is plainly perceptible in the growing town of Moscow, the material and moral prosperity of which is largely attributable to his labors and influence. ISAAC DAY M.D. JOHN DAY, a son of Matthew Day, was born Jan. 29,1755, in Maryland, and married, Aug. 1, 1776, Abigail Poe, born April 16,1760. Their children were Martha, Matthew, John, Edward, Mark, Thomas, Isaac, Jesse and Mary (twins), and Joseph B. Day. John Day, with his family, moved to Ohio in 1802, and located on the farm where Joseph B. Day now lives. He died in the year 1817, but his wife Abigail (Poe) lived to the age of eighty-five years, and died April 22,1845. He was one of the earliest pioneers of Clermont, a man of resolute will and strong Christian character. His youngest child, Joseph B. Day, was born June 25, 1800, and was married to Deborah Lambert, born Feb. 12,1800, and whose father, Joshua Lambert, having been a fifer in the British army, born in England in 1743, settled at an early period at Williamsburgh, in this county. To Joseph B. and Deborah (Lambert) Day were born ten children, to wit : Anna L., married to W. H. H. Browning and deceased ; Mary, married to Dr. David Wood, father of County Recorder M. A. Wood ; Joshua L., deceased ; Abigail, married to William Poe ; Jesse ; Martha, married to Henry B. Shinkle ; Isaac H.; Lucretia, married to Samuel Salisbury and deceased ; Malissa, married to Joseph P. Bolender; and Minerva, married to Daniel F. Trout. Joseph B. and his wife, Deborah (Lambert) Day, both yet live, and each in their eightieth year of age. They were married in 1819, and have lived most happily for sixty-one years as man and wife, and reside on the farm their father, John Day, located in 1802. Dr. Isaac H. Day, the subject of this sketch, was the seventh child of his parents, and was born Sept. 17,1833. The doctor was married, Oct. 29,1857, to Nancy E. Wiley, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Richards) Wiley, born in Ohio ; but the father of Samuel was an emigrant from New Jersey, and of Mary, from Maryland. By this marriage the doctor had the following children : Mary C., born Oct. 10,1858 ; Maggie G., born March 20, 1860; Clara D., born June 13, 1862; Samuel C., born Sept. 3,1864, and died June 19,1865. The doctor's wife, Nancy E., died Sept. 19,1865, and July 7,1867, he was married to Mary J. Gray, daughter of Michael and Nancy (Carr) Gray. Michael Gray was born in Kentucky, but his parents were from Pennsylvania, while his wife Nancy (Carr) was born in Ohio, but her parents came from Martinsburg, Va. By this second marriage three children were born,---Walter G., born Nov. 10,1868; Nancy E., born Dec. 29,1871, and Dick G., born Aug. 29, 1873. Dr. Isaac H. Day was educated in the district schools, and worked on the farm until the fall of 1852, when he began reading medicine with Dr. David Wood, of Point Isabel, and after the latter's death he completed his studies with Dr. Robinson, of Henning's Mills. He attended his first course of lectures in the winter of 1854-55 at the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, and graduated at that institution in 1856. In March of that year he located at Point Isabel, where he has ever since resided, and has been engaged in the successful practice of his profession. As a practitioner he has met with eminent success. Being of humane and generous impulses, his very presence in a sickroom inspires the patient with confidence, such is his tender care in speech and action. His practice extends to distant townships, and he is a leading member of the Clermont County Eclectic Medical Association, which holds its annual meetings at Amelia. Dr. Day is also one of the most noted horsemen in Clermont, and perhaps in his knowledge and judgment of horse-flesh he is not equaled in the codnty. At the county fairs he yearly carries off premiums for the best horses, and when not competing for prizes is always selected as a committee-man, owing to his superior qualifications. The Day family has been one of the largest and most favorably known of any in the county, and the doctor is a worthy descendant of a lineage so honorably associated with our annals. His uncle, Thomas Day, was in the war of 1812, under Col. Sumalt, and died at Fort Ball, on the Sandusky River, in 1815, from disease contracted by exposure in the service. Connected with the Poes, Lamberts, Grays, Carrs, Wileys, Richards, Woods, Shinkles, Bolenders, and other leading families of Southern Clermont, the doctor has a very extended relationship, and probably no person in the community stands higher in the public estimation than he, both as a citizen and a physician. JAMES ISREAL SELBY JAMES ISRAEL SELBY, son of James W. and Gertrude (Sturges) Selby, was born in Monroe township, of this county, Nov. 29, 1827. His father came with his family from Worcester Co., Md., to Ohio, in 1823. James I. is the second child born in Ohio and the fourth of ten children, of whom seven are living. His father and mother, aged respectively eighty-two and eighty years, are living in easy retirement at their pleasant home at California, Ky., on the Ohio River. James I. Selby was married, Dec. 3, 1849, by the noted circuit rider, Rev. Benjamin Lakin, to Sarah Demaris. By this union were born five children, of whom his son, James Edward Selby, grown to manhood, is the only one living. His first wife died in October, 1860, and March 12, 1861, he was the second time married, by Rev. Mr. Cassett, to Emma Marshal, of New Richmond. Mr. Selby is one of the most distinguished members of the Masonic order in the county, and was initiated, passed, and raised in Moscow Lodge, No. 122, F. and A. M., in the spring of 1849. Subsequently he took the degrees in Orion Chapter, No. 49, of Felicity, and those of Royal and Select Master in Connell Council, No. 19, in the same town. The Knights Templar degrees were conferred upon him in Cincinnati Commandery, No. 3, on March 11, 1877. He and his family are attendants upon the Christian Church. He has been for ten years a director of the First. National Bank of New Rich mond, and is now vice-president of that institution. He has been for several years a township trustee, deputy county treasurer, and is now president of the school board. He is of English extraction, and the first member of his family in America came over from England about the year 1701, and located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Mr. Selby is a Democrat in his political sentiments, and has been quite prominent in the campaigns and caucuses of his party. His farm embraces over two hundred acres of land lying on the Ohio River, half a mile from the pleasant and enterprising town of Moscow. He is the largest fruit-raiser in Clermont County, and a leading member of the Ohio State Horticultural Society. He cultivates principally berries, peaches, grapes, pears, apples, etc., and has a peach-orchard of eighty acres, the finest in the county. He ships his berries and fruits by steamers to Cincinnati, and in their culture has acquired a marked reputation and amassed a nice fortune. His residence, overlooking the beautiful Ohio River, is a nice two-story frame dwelling, handsomely furnished, and its surroundings ornamented with choice flowers and shrubbery. Mr. Selby is a gentleman of high personal worth and purity of character, and enjoys the esteem of his fellow-men. He has been very successful in life, accumulated a fair share of this world's goods, and enjoys in comfort and peace his beautiful home, the result of his own labors. WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP - 377 THE McKENDREE CHAPEL OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH was built some time before 1840, on an acre of ground donated by John G. Buchanan, on the headwaters of Maple Run, by a board of trustees composed of Enos Richards; Joseph Owens, Erastus Turtin, John G. Buchanan, and John Failan. These and John Kennedy, John and Win. Sargent, the Daughters, the Hill, and Barkley families, were also among the first members, and previously belonged to Hopewell and Calvary. The house is about 30 by 45 feet, of brick, and the present trustees are Elijah, Joseph, and George Marriott, Enos Richards, Erastus Turtin, P. Evans, and R. L. Richards. This charge forms a part of Moscow Circuit, as does also the METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF NEVILLE. Before 1820 there was a flourishing class at this point, which had among its members Israel Foster, James Kain, John Miller, Mathew Hastings, Hiram Manning, Elijah Larkin, Jacob Iler, William Primmer, John Drake, Wesley Larkin, James McMath, John Howell, and a number of females, who worshiped in a brick house, which also served as a school building. Connected with the grounds of the house was the first grave-yard of the village. In 1848 the present brick church edifice was erected by Turpin Daughters, in behalf of the society, at a cost of $2200. It has since been repaired, and is yet in a comfortable condition. The present trustees are John Drake, Harvey Galbreath, Samuel McMath, Ashley Williams, and Lewis Morris. The latter is also superintendent of a Sunday-school which has 140 members. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF MOSCOW. As early as 1823 a class of Methodists was formed at this village, which had James Hartshorn as its leader, and among its members Henry Teater and wife, John Elstun and wife, Mrs. James Hartshorn, James Wilson and wife, and William Hood and wife. The preaching services were held at the houses of some of the members until the fall of 1823, when r. log house was built near where the present mill now is, in which the meetings were held for some time ; but in 1840 the present meeting-house was begun, and dedicated in April, 1841. Jacob Fee, James Hartshorn, and Thomas Fee were the building committee, and at that time the Revs. Edward Esteil and Wesley Rowe were the preachers in charge of White Oak Circuit. On the 8th of April, preceding the consecration of this house by the Rev. Benjamin Lakin, occurred a most remarkable revival, which lasted a score of days, meetings being held day and night, and on the day of dedication 107 persons, nearly all of them heads of families, united with the church. Other revivals occurred, and the church, in the main, has been very prosperous. The meeting-house has been repaired, and yet affords a comfortable place of worship. The present trustees are W. S. Gregg, A. J. Shelley, William Fee, Joseph Dawson, and James MeMath. A cemetery is maintained by the society. The church forms a part of Moscow Circuit, which in 1879 had 425 full and 100 probationary members, constituting eleven classes, and having Rev. James McMath as recording steward. At the same time the stewards for the different charges were: Moscow, George Manning ; Calvary, D. B. Moreton ; McKendree, Elijah Marriott ; and Neville, Ashley Williams. The Methodist societies in Washington township have belonged to various circuits, and had a manifold ministerial service, as is shown below, the dates prefixed indicating the time the appointments were made : MIAMI CIRCUIT. 1799-4800, Henry Smith; 1801-2, E. Bowman, Benjamin Young ; 1803, John Sale, Joseph Oglesby; 1804, John Meek, Abraham Amos; 1805, Benjamin Lakin, Joseph Reggin ; 1806, Benjamin Lakin, John Collins; 1807, Samuel Parker, Hector Sanford. WHITE OAK CIRCUIT. 1808, David Young; 1809, John Johnson; 1810, 1saac Pavey; 1811, Benjamin Lakin, Eli Trentt ; 1812, W. Griffith, Reuben Rowe ; 1813-14, Robert W. Finley, D. Sharp ; 1815, John Strange, S. Chenoweth ; 1816, John Strange, Isaac Pavey ; 1817, W. Griffith, James Simmons ; 1818. B. Westlake, S. T. Wells; 1819, F. Landrum ; 1820, Wm. Page, L. Swormstedt ; 1821, A. W. Elliott, Z. Connell; 1822, Wm. Page, B. Lawrence; 1823, D. D. Davidson, Samuel West; 1824, G. W. Maley, J. Everhart; 1325, G. R. Jones, W. J. Thompson; 1826, G, R. Jones, Levi White ; 1827, A. W. Elliott, Levi White ; 1828, A. W. Elliott, A. F. Baxter, James Smith ; 1820, B. Westlake, A. F. Baxter, J. W. Finley ; 1830, B. Westlake, James Baxter, J. W. Finley ; 1831, Wm. D. Barrett, Joseph Leedrum, B. Frazee; 1832, Wm. Simmons, John M. Goshorn ; 1833, G. W. Maley, H. E. Pitcher; 1834, G. W. Maley, James Parcels; 1835, J. W. Clark, Win. Rowe; 1836, John Collins, Wm. T. Hand; 1837, Ebenezer B. Chase, Alfred Hance; 1838, Ebenezer B. Chase, John Stewart ; 1839, Wm. J. Ellsworth, Edward Estill ; 1840, Wesley Rowe, Edward Estill ; 1841, Wm. Parrish, J. G. Dimmitt; 1842, ISaac Ebert, J. G. Dim- mitt ; 1843, G. R. Jones, James G. Blair; 1845, Wm. S. Morrow, Joseph Gassner; 1846-51, no minutes. WEST WHITE OAK CIRCUIT. 1852, A. Murphy, H. Baker ; 1853, L. P. Miller, Michael Hitler; 1854, L. P. Miller, Wm. E. Hines; 1855, C. R. Lowell, Joseph Blackburn. MOSCOW CIRCUIT. 1856, J. Fitch, J. Shear, T. S. Dunn ; 1857, J. Fitch, P. Glasscock ; 1858, J. Armstrong, P. Glasscock ; 1859, J. Armstrong, D. Call- shan ; 1860, J. C. Maddy, J. P. Shultz ; 1861, J. C. Muddy, J. L. Gregg ; 1862-63, Win. Q. Shannon, T. Head; 1864, W. W. Ramsay, J. Armstrong ; 1865, S. W. Edmiston, J. Armstrong ; 1866, S. W. Edmiston, H. M. Curry ; 1867, E. P. James, H. M. Curry ; 1868, L. P. Miller ; 1869-70, W. Q. Quarry ; 1871-72, J. S. Whitney ; 1873-74, E. C. Smith; 1875, T. J. Evans; 1876, H. Stokes; 1877-79, Win. B. Moler. Rev. James McMath, local preacher on Moscow Circuit. THE SALEM CHRISTIAN CHURCH. After the war of 1812, Elder Mathew Gardner visited the township and preached at the houses of various persons on Indian Creek, and in April, 1819, organized the above church, which had among its constituent members Benjamin Wheeler, Henry Camerer, Thomas and Samuel Mullen, Philip Davis, George Fisher, Otho Pearre, Alonzo Knowles, John T, Powell, and John Trees. Meetings were held every four weeks, and the membership was so much increased that no private house afforded the required room. Accordingly, in 1821, a stone church edifice was erected on a lot given by Henry Camerer ; and near by a graveyard was opened on the land of Benjamin Wheeler. The first trustees of this house were Philip Davis, John Trees, and Thomas Mullen. In the summer it was customary to 378 - HISTORY OF CLERMONT COUNTY, OHIO. hold meetings in the woods near by, which were attended by persons from abroad, who camped out, and much religious iUterest abounded. John Trees was the first deacon, and held that office until his death, in 1866. Thomas Mullen was also an early deacon. Under the ministrations of Elders Gardner, Powell, Lansdown, and others, the church was in a flourishing condition, having a large and healthy membership. But the formation of Christian churches in the adjoining townships, and the withdrawal of other members to connect themselves with the Disciples, so much affected the old Salem Church that it was deemed best to transfer the remaining interest to a more central point. Accordingly, in 1866, was formed THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF POINT ISABEL, and a new house of worship erected about two miles from where the old one stood, under the trusteeship of Isaac Armacost, Jacob Swope, and Oliver P. Trees. Here the ohurch has maintained a flourishing existence ever since, and the present trustees are Aaron B. Armacost, Charles Love, and Marion Trees. In 1860, John Swope and William Armacost were the deacons, and after the death of the latter, in 1867, Charles Love was appointed. In 1875, O. P. Trees and E. J. Prather were appointed additional deacons, there being at present four. In addition to the pastors named the church has had the pastoral labors of Elders Asa Coan, C. S. Manchester, O. J. Wait, George Mefferd, and the present pastor is Rev. J. P. Daugherty. J. L. Trees is clerk of the church, and John Richards treasurer, the latter being also the superintendent of the Sunday-school. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT NEVILLE was organized March 25, 1866, by the Rev. C. S. Manohester, with 54 members. Some of these formerly belonged to the old Salem Church, but more were the fruits of revival at Neville, which continued after the organization of the church, and which brought many more members. The church at Neville agreed to take Christ as the only Master, and the New Testament as the only rule of faith, and practice, and discipline ; and the only test of church fellowship was to be a life of Christian character. The church was to be Congregational in her government, as directed by the spirit of God. The first meetings were held in the Baptist church, which had been repaired for this purpose, but in 1875 a building committee was appointed, consisting of S. Laugh, N. Y. Bacon, and M. G. McCarter, to erect a house of worship on a lot in Neville which had been donated by S. Laugh. This house was dedicated the third Sabbath in July of the same year by Elders McCullough, Manchester, Vermillion, and others. It is a plain frame, and cost $1200. On the 29th of April, 1866, M. G, McCarter and N. Y. Bacon were elected the first deacons, and Elijah Utter clerk. The following year J. H. Wood was elected clerk, and has served ever since. The same time Edward McFarland was elected treasurer, and subsequently Enoch N. Bagby was added to the list of deacons. Elder Manchester served the church nearly four years, and since then the pastoral office has been filled by Elders Mefferd, Vermillion, Wait, and Melissa Timmons, the latter being at present in charge of the interests of the church. THE FIRST REGULAR BAPTIST CHURCH OF NEVILLE was organized in 1841, with eight members, namely, Squire Frazee, Abigail Frazee, Evan Thomas, Rebecca Thomas, W. F. Borrodaile, Harriet Borrodaile, Aaron C. Day, and Rachel Day. The membership increased rapidly, and in 1843 numbered 70. The year before the meeting-house was erected, chiefly through the efforts of Deacon Borrodaile, and was at that time a fine house of worship. Twenty years later a tornado partially destroyed the house, which was soon after placed in good condition, and later again repaired by the foregoing society. The house yet remains, although seldom occupied for religious purposes. Some time before 1850 the church organization was allowed to decline to such an extent that it practically went down ; but in 1875 a reorganization followed, with Harriet Borrodaile, Sarah McCoy, and Rebecca Thomas as members. Soon the number was increased to 16, and the Rev. Joseph Hawkins was the pastor for two years. An abated interest ensued, and lately no preaching has been held. The meeting-house remains in charge of James Cruse and George Larkin, trustees. THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF MOSCOW. This body was organized Sept. 8, 1849, with James B. Miller, Mary Miller, James Barker, D. W. Ritchie, Wm. Carter, A. B. Longshore, Eleanor Garrett, and Rachel Garrett as members, all of whom had been connected with the Presbyterian Church at other points. D. W, Ritchie, Wm. Carter, and James B, Miller were chosen the first ruling elders, and at the first meeting of the sessions Mrs. Catharine Fee made application to become a member of the church. Other ruling elders were Daniel Mahan and Wm. Gilfillin, and the present are George Harvey, J. P. Marvin, and N, B. Kinkead. The church has hardly had a prosperous existence, From 1858 to 1870 no regular worship was maintained, and in the fall of the latter year but three male members were reported, At that time the Rev. James Black commenced his labors with the church, and an increase of members and general interest followed, Since July, 1879, the pulpit has been supplied by the Rev. James Mitchell, who also serves the churches at Felicity and Feesburg, preaching every two weeks, On the 13th of May, 1871, the church became an incorporated body, with J. P. Marvin, W. S, Trout, and F. Neal as trustees; and the two last named, Charles McLean, and Hiram C. McKibben, yet serve in that capacity, A good Sabbath school, having Elder J. P. Marvin as superintendent, is maintained in the Presbyterian house of worship, which is an attractive brick edifice. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST AT MOSCOW. This Society of Disciples was formed March 21, 1859, with members as follows: James Hopple, Julia L. Hopple, Joseph L. Powell, Margaret Powell, David Betker, Alex. WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP - 379 McLean, Ann Scott, Nettie Smith, Messina Briggs, Rachel Garrett. Adaline Baylis, and Jared Lemar. The Revs. B. Franklin and M. O. Moore held a series of meetings about this time, which produced many additions to the membership, and which gave the church a position among the religious societies of the township, which has since been maintained. The meetings were first held in a small house which belonged to Dr. James Hopple ; but in 1865 Jared Lemar, Alex. McLean, and James Hopple were chosen trustees, and under their direction a brick meeting-house was erected the following year at a cost of $3000. The size of the house is 34 by 52 feet, and it was consecrated by the Rev. W. T. Moore, of Cincinnati. It is yet in a good state of preservation. Jared Lemar and James Hopple were chosen the first elders, and Joseph Powell and A. C. Moore the first deacons. The latter office is now held by John E. Motier and W. C. Sargent; and other deacons have been Armstrong Judd, .Joseph Powell, and Wm. A. Young. Jared Lunar and II. E. Holton are the elders, and W. C. Irwin and Albert Toon have also served in that capacity. The church reports 76 members, and has had the ministerial labors of the Revs. J. H. Lockwood, A. A. Knight, L. L. Carpenter, and a number of visiting clergymen. Since 1876 a Sunday-school has been regularly maintained, and which is at present superintended by E. A, Lockwood. THE POINT ISABEL METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. More than fifty years ago the Methodists living in the northern part of the township erected a small brick house of worship, which was called " Wesley Chapel." It stood on ground donated by Aquilla Taylor and N. Higgins, and was occupied by the society until 1866, when the place of meeting was transferred to Point Isabel. Among the pioneer members who used to assemble at the " chapel" were the Thompson, Taylor, Higgins, Ilolter, Purkiser, Altman, Frazier, Plank, Constant, Salt, Wharton, and Stevens families, and before this house of worship was provided the place of meeting was at the house of the veteran Rev. W. J. Thompson, who was one of the most active Methodists in this part of the county. From this society have also originated several useful ministers, among them Gilbert and Henry Purkiser, sons of Henry Purkiser, and Henry Wharton. The present church edifice was erected by a building committee, which was composed of W. H. Holter, Marcus Purkiser, Wesley Purkiser, Daniel Fee, and George W. Thompson. It presents a shapely appearance, and was finished at a cost of $2000. The consecration services were performed by Rev. Langley, of Covington, Ky. The trustees of the church in 1879 were W. H. Holter, D. Fee, J. S. Swope, F. P. Wiley, and Joseph Wiley. The church at Point Isabel belongs to Bethel Circuit, and its statislics and ministerial appointments appear in a history of Bethel Church, in the township of Tate ; and prior to the location of the church at Point Isabel the appointments are the same as those of the Moscow Church. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. BENJAMIN PENN. Early in the eighteenth century there emigrated from England and settled in Baltimore Co., Md , Edward Penn, of pure English extraction, and a collateral branch of the family of which William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, was the most distinguished representative in historic annals. He was a planter and largely identified with the growth and progress of the colony in which he located. One of his sons, Benjamin, the youngest and the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1740, and was married in 1774 to Miss Mary Sargent, of Maryland. She belonged to a family not only noted in the history of that State but afterwards most early and honorably associated with the first settlements of Clermont County. From that union three sons and nine daughters were born, of whom but one is now living,—Nackey, residing in Ripley, Ohio, and who was first married to Joshua Pigman, but after his death to Henry Tenter, whose widow she still remains at the advanced age of ninety-three years. Benjamin, the second son and subject of this sketch, was born April 16, 1776, in Frederick Co., Md., eleven weeks prior to the declaration of American independence, and was married Jan. 7, 1802, to Anna Philips. Benjamin Penn, Sr., came to Clermont County in 1808, and died in 1835, at the venerable age of ninety-five years, at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Nancy Richards, who with her brother, Benjamin Penn, had with loving hands and filial hearts most tenderly and kindly supported and cared for him in his declining years. His wife, Mary (Sargent) Penn, died in 1815, seven years after his removal to Ohio. In the fall of 1811, Benjamin Penn and his wife Anna with their six children, born in Maryland, emigrated to Ohio and settled first on Little Indian Creek, in what is now Franklin township, where on May 12, 1812, lre purchased of Gen. Richard C. Anderson, of Kentucky, two hundred and twenty acres ofsi land in Reuben Taylor's survey, No. 1653, for six hundred and fifty dollars lawful money of the United States. This farm four years subsequently he sold to Jacob Constant, but retained thirty-three and a half acres bought of Gen. Anderson before, and adjoining the lands of Elisha Manning, Benjamin Thrasher, and E. Duke. On Oct. 8, 1814, he purchased of the executors of George Brown one hundred acres, including the famous Brown Mills, the first erected in Southern Clermont, and to which the early settlers came for miles around. Mr. Penn paid three thousand one hundred dollars in cash for this property, an almost fabulous sum for that day, which shows the great value attached to it, at that time in superb condition and reputed the best mills in the Ohio Valley. From that day to the present time the mills have been in successful operation, and are now owned by William Luck, while the farm belongs to the heirs of Stephen Conrey. Besides running the mills, Benjamin Penn kept a good store, and " Indian Springs," the seat of his extensive milling and merchandising operations, as the place was then called, was one of the best business points in Southern 380 - HISTORY OF CLERMONT COUNTY, OHIO. Ohio. Through an unexpected heavy decline in wheat and flour, caused by a monetary revolution in Great Britain, he failed, but in four years lie was able to pay up with interest every dollar he owed of his debts. His failure was not like those too often the case in modern days,—one with hands full, property secreted, and creditors fleeced,—but an honest one, and which in four years he removed by the prompt discharge of every liability, although to accomphsh this he worked hard day and night, practicing the severest economy and dressing in homespun. The children of Benjamin and Anna (Philips) Penn, born in Frederick Co., Md., were William Penn, married to Miss Fisher, of Wheeling, Va., and who was a merchant, succeeding his father in that business until his death in 1842 ; Dr. Samuel W. Penn, who spent thirty- five years of life in Tennessee, where he married Miss Alexander, his present wife, both now living in Batavia, Ohio ; Helen, married to Thomas Fee, both deceased ; John H. T. Penn, died in infancy ; Ann Augusta, married to D. J. Slewart, and living in Georgetown, Ohio ; Mary Ann ; Rebecca, deceased. Of the six children born to Benjamin and Anna (Philips) Penn in Clermont County, Hanson L. Penn was born Sept. 16, 1813, on the Constant farm, settled in Georgetown, Ohio, where he married a Miss King, and died June 29, 1857. He became one of the ablest lawyers in Ohio, and occupied the very foreground of his profession, achieving extraordinary success in business, and by his discriminating judgment and indomitable energy amassed a large fortune. The other five children were born at the " Old Penn Mansion" at Indian Springs, to wit : Nackey E., married to Milton L, Dilts, of Kentucky, and still living; Caroline Philips, married to R. C. Brasher, deceased ; Harriet A., first married to Lewis Broadwell, deceased, and at present wife of Col. William Howard, of Batavia, Ohio ; Benjamin M. Penn, lawyer and unmarried, died in California ; Thomas Granville Penn, married Miss Morris, was an attorney, and died at Georgetown, Brown Co., Ohio, ofsi which he was elected prosecuting attorney. Benjamin Penn died May 21, 1862, and is interred beside his beloved wife—who deceased twelve years later-in the cemetery at Georgetown, Ohio. The last years of his long and noble life were sweetened by the smiles and most loving and tender care of his daughter,—Mrs. Stuart, now Mrs. Col. Win. Howard, who ministered to his every want with most filial and unceasing devotion ; and his happy spirit passed away to his Maker in perfect peace and joy, with smiles on his noble countenance for his loving and aged wife and devoted daughters, who never left a kind office unperformed for his solace and comfort. Mr. Penn having been reared in Maryland, one of the old States, where education had made considerable progress, he became a proficient penman and accountant, and was appointed clerk of the courts of Frederick County. Thus, when quite a young man, he was placed in immediate contact, and was associated with, probably the most famous bar of that day, among whom were many illustrious names, and of whom Reverdy .Johnson and Roger B. Taney acquired national fame in the jurisprudence of the land, the latter becoming chief justice of the United States. Mr. Penn's position as a member of that brilliant court for several years inspired him with those high and enlarged views of human affairs and society which marked his career through life. Though quiet and modest, he possessed all the instincts of a gentleman, and could always rise above the narrow and petty prejudices which frequently disturb the harmony of society. He was for half a century a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was in every sense truly a Christian gentleman. After recovering from the pecuniary embarrassments previously alluded to, by prudent management and good judgment, assisted largely in his financial troubles and through life by his very frugal and industrious wife, he acquired a handsome property, which he distributed to his children at different times before his death, thus administering on his own estate, leaving an ample and large support in money and real estate at the disposal of his beloved wife. Following the example of her husband, she also, during life, distributed her property among her children, so that, at her death, the whole estate was settled up as near as could be by her, and to the entire satisfaction of all the heirs. Benjamin Penn was an honest man of humane disposition and of broad Christian principles, and left an enduring monument in a life of industry and integrity. The impress of his character was never forgotten by his children, or by the business world in which he was a prominent actor, or by society of which he was a bright ornament. A Christian in faith and by practice, his dealings with mankind were in perfect accord with the tenets he believed, and which in all his intercourse with the world he scrupulously carried out. Although generous and kind he was mementhodical in business, and was the most splendid type of the old-school gentlemen and pioneers of active minds and liberal hearts who, at the beginning of the century, contributed so much to civilization in the opening up of the Ohio Valley, and who, after lives of usefulness to humanity, have been gathered at ripe old ages unto their fathers. ANNA (PHILIPS). PENN. Anna (Philips) Penn was the youngest daughter of Samuel Philips, of Frederick Co., Md., and was born Feb. 15,1785, near Frederick City. Her ancestry were English, and among the earliest and best-known families who came to America soon after Lord Baltimore. She was married at Frederick City, Jan. 7, 1802, to Benjamin Penn, a grandson of Edward Penn, an English gentleman of birth and education, who, like her family, had sought a refuge in the Maryland colony for those Quaker principles which were then agitating the English gentry, and which were persecuted as a crime, Annoyed in the exercise of his faith by persecution, he came to America to enjoy his religion under more tolerant and better political and religious tendencies. In the fall of 1811, Anna (Philips) Penn and her husband, Benjamin Penn, with their young family, emigrated to Ohio, crossing the mountains by wagon to Pittsburgh, and descending the Ohio River in a flat-boat, as was then customary, and settled first on Little Indian WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP - 381 Creek, in what is now Franklin township, and two years later at Indian Springs, in Washington township. Indian Springs was the happy home of Mrs. Penn and her husband until 1839, when they removed to Georgetown, where they afterwards resided until their deaths, Here also lived their sons, Hanson L. and Thomas Granville, both attorneys of the Brown County bar, and their daughters, Ann, Augusta Stewart, and Mrs. Harriet A. Broadwell, now Mrs. Col. William Howard, of Balavia. The mothers of both Benjamin Penn and his wife, Anna (Philips) Penn, were descendants of the Sargents, a family eminent both in the political and ecclesiastical history of Maryland and Ohio ; in the early settlement of which latter State it took a conspicuous part. When Anna (Philips) Penn settled with her husband, in 1811, at Indian Springs, in this county, the country was new, hardships frequent, and privations many ; but she engaged zealously in all the active duties of the time and location, and was a noble helpmate to her husband, who was extensively employed in milling, merchandising, and farming. Mrs. Penn was a frail woman in physical structure, but of unfaltering spirit and orderly habits, and made up in force of will what she lacked in physical ruggedness. She became a useful member of that community, and was a worthy representative of those pioneer matrons who did so much in forming the character of our Western civilization. Although of Quaker ancestry, she and her husband having settled in a community where Methodism prevailed, she united herself with that denomination, and in early days her hospitable home was often visited by the circuit riders and preachers in their pilgrimages through the country. Mrs. Penn was more than an ordinary woman, possessing a mind singularly bright and vigorous. She was an acute and interested observer of the political events of our country from the beginning of the present century, in which, so far as a woman might, she took a warm and active part, and saw during the late Rebellion her grandsons go forth as the embodiment of those convictions which were dearer to her than life. She was a warm personal friend of Gen. Grant, whom she had known from his birth, and whom she had lived to see twice elected to the Presidency. Having early connected herself with the Methodist Episcopal Church, as long as she was able to attend the outward ministrations of religion her place in the church was never vacant, and her consistent Christian life was a bright example to all about her. Her society was most instructive and entertaining ; her memory was an inexhaustible store-house of facts, and her habit of reading, kept up to the last, made her as much at home in discussing the topics of the day as she was in relating the trials and struggles of those hardy men whose brave efforts amid exposure, toils, and dangers rescued our fair State from the wild beasts and the equally cruel savage, and planted the rose and the vine on the site of the wigwam and the torture-stake. Of clear perception, with sound judgment, she was ever found on the side of right and justioe. She was the earnest advocate, in word and deed, of enterprises which tended to advance the moral and social welfare of woman, but was unsparing in her opposition to all things that had the opposite tendency. Possessing a firm will, she was yet gentle and sympathetic, but when incited to action was assertive in opinion, yet quiet in manner and most careful not to encroach upon the rights of others in word or action. When, in extreme old age, she could no longer walk or hear well, by reason of the feebleness of physical organs, God preserved to her mental strength, and the clearer vision of the soul to see and know. Benjamin Penn, her loving husband, died May 21, 1862, in his eighty-sixth year, but she was by Providence spared until Aug. 16, 1874, when, in her eighty-ninth year, her sweet spirit returned to God. Anna (Philips) Penn was in her declining years singularly blessed in the loving care of her daughters. It was pleasant to behold how the pilgrimage of her declining years was cheered, sweetened, and made light by the patient, watchful care of filial love. Whilst each daughter was loving, helpful, and kind, in an especial manner were these duties discharged towards her aged mother by the then Mrs. Harriet A. Broadwell, now Mrs. Col. William Howard, a lady of wealth and culture and one of society's brightest ornaments. Her devotion to her mother was untiring, and rendered with most filial and loyal love in Christian faith. The death of Mrs. Penn broke one of the most venerable links that connected Southern Ohio with the past, and left the people of Clermont and Brown Counties the hallowed memory of a long, a useful, and blameless life to admire, as well as to adorn their brightest and grandest historic annals. MONROE. MONROE is one of the river townships, and is bounded on the east by Tate and Washington, on the west by Ohio and Pierce, and on the north by Batavia and Tate. The surface of the township from the centre northward is generally level, or only slightly broken along the streams of Ten- and Twelve-Mile Creeks and Ulrey's Run, whose sources are in Monroe, Along the streams draining into the Ohio the hills are rugged and often precipitous, so as to unfit, them for cultivation. The bottom-hinds along the Ohio are small, the river hills extending close to the stream. in many places they are rocky, and from them an excellent quality of stone is procured, there being several fine quarries. The principal stream flowing southward is Indian Creek, whose main branch comes from Washington, a few miles above its mouth. It empties into the Ohio near the southeastern corner of Monroe ; in the southwestern corner is the mouth of Boat Run, a fine little stream, flowing from the interior of the township. Other small streams abound, and the water-supply is generally sufficient for ordinary purposes. The soil is adapted for a variety of products, and while generally fertile is much better in some localities, which, in consequence, contain finer improvements than other parts of the township. As an agricultural township Monroe ranks well. THE PIONEERS. The first settlement in the township was made at the mouth of Indian Creek, by David Colclazer, as early as 1796, probably in the fall of the previous year. As he removed before 1812, but little is remembered of his history. Ho spent moat of the time hunting, and supplied many of the early settlers of southern Clermont with game, which was no difficult matter at that time, when the woods were full of wild animals, and fowls were along all the streams. One of his neighbors, whose settlement was effected soon after, was Larry Byrns. a Revolutionary soldier, who died at Point Pleasant, near the beginning of the present century. One of his sons, William, married a daughter of Gen. Presley Neville, and another son, George, married a daughter of Andrew Buchanan ; and both these men died in Washington township. Other early settlers by the name of Jones and Weldon lived along the Boat Run, but it seemed that they were not permanent, and no account of them can here be given. Probably next in the order of time was the settlement made in the northern part of the township by Jacob Ulrey. He located on what is now known as Ulrey's Run, near the Bantam fair-grounds, March II, 1798. He was born near Frederick, Md., Dec. 22, 1768, and when but a boy his anther immigrated to Washington Co., Pa, In April, 1790, he was married to Hannah West, au aunt of Judge William West, of Ohio, and a woman of great worth and many strong traits of character. In 1794, Jacob Ulrey built a flat-boat, and, loading it with provisions, implements, horses, and cattle, started down the Ohio for Louisville, Ky. He was accompanied by his wife, one child, and a hired man, and although the voyage was full of peril, on account of the Indians who infested the shores of the river, nothing transpired to alarm them until near their destination, when the descending ice threatened their destruction. After making a number of unsuccessful attempts to land, a man came to their assistance about ten miles above the falls at Louisville. He was in a pirogue, yet on account of the ice he could not reach the boat by twenty feet. It required but a moment for Ulrey to decide what should be done. Hastily removing the roof of the boat, it was shoved across the ice to the pirogue, and over this frail bridge the family passed in safety to their rescuer, who landed them on the Kentucky shore. The flat-boat being now at the mercy of the ice floated down the river, and was found the next day ten miles below the falls, at the mouth of Salt Creek, but little injured. Gathering up his goods, he started for a small village twenty-five miles from Louisville, where he bought a farm and lived until his settlement in Monroe. He also was a great hunter, and spent the first few years he was in Clermont in hunting, killing, it is said, 100 deer in a single year, the meat of which he divided among his few neighbors, and the skins brought him quite an amount of money. Jacob Ulrey was a brave man, and his valor as a soldier and regulator of the evils of frontier life is elsewhere mentioned. He died in 1838, and his consort in 1842. They had nine children,—George, born in Pennsylvania, in 1792 ; Jacob, in Kentucky, in 1794; Susan, in Monroe, Sept, 12, 1798; Esther, in 1800 ; Daniel, in 1802 ; Stephen, in 1805 ; Hannah, in 1807 ; John, in 1809 ; and William, in 1813. The latter is yet a citizen of Stonelick, and for thirty-five years has been a merchant at Boston. Susan, the first born in Clermont, became the wife of Philip Gatch, and attained a greater age than any other native of the territory now embraced within the limits of the county. William Slye, a native of Virginia, settled on the headwaters of Bear Creek before 1800, but removed to Monroe township, where he died at the age of eighty-five years. He had been in the Revolution, and lost a leg in the service. His family was composed of four sons and two daughters, viz., —Samuel Slye, who carried on a saw-mill on Twelve-Mile Creek ; Jonathan, a tanner, who removed to Missouri ; William removed to Sandusky ; Joseph became a boatman on the Ohio, and yet resides at Portsmouth ; and one of the daughters married George Harvey, of Monroe. Samuel Jackson came from Cumberland, Md., to Cler- - 382 - MONROE TOWNSHIP - 383 mont in 1798, settling on Maple Run, in Washington, where he followed his trade, tanning. About 1810 he moved to Indiana, but in a year returned to Clermont, and settled in Monroe, near Nicholsville, where he died in 1845. He also had a tannery at this place, and about 1820 paid his attention to the nursery business, in which he continued until his death. He was one of the first in this business in the county, and introduced many valuable varieties of fruit. Of his six sons, Jacob is yet a resident of Monroe. In 1734, John Simmons emigrated from England to Pennsylvania, where Adam Simmons was born in 1747, and where, in 1770, he married Mary Hatton. In 1798 they immigrated to Clermont, living temporarily at the mouth of the Bullskin, in the Fee neighborhood, and the same year they formed a Methodist class there, of which Adam Simmons was the leader. Soon after 1800 he moved to Monroe, and settled on the farm now occupied by his grandson, Leonard, west of Laurel, where he died July 23, 1827, at the age of eighty years, and his wife four years later was interred in the same cemetery, Carmel. Their family consisted of children named John, Leonard, James, Adam, Ellen, Margaret, Mary, Nancy, Betsy, and Sally, all of whom attained mature years. John removed from Kentucky to Indiana. James Simmons came with his father to Monroe, and settled on an adjoining farm, but before his death, in 1855, had removed to Laurel. His sons were the Rev. William, a minister among the Methodists for fifty-four years, who died at Xenia in 1874 ; Hatton, born in the county in 1800, and who yet resides at Laurel ; Elisha B., who died in Monroe in 1876 ; James removed to Missouri; Leonard, living on the Adam Simmons place ; Benjamin H., living in Cincinnati ; and John died a young man. His daughters married Robert Nichols, of Monroe, and Thomas Hitch, of Tate. Leonard Simmons, after immigrating from Pennsylvania, hved in Kentucky until 1812, when he moved to Monroe, settling on the farm now owned by John Bainum and others, where he died in 1835. He had sons named Pollard, Wesley, and James B., who removed to Illinois ; and Willis, John A., Leonard, and Sanford, who died in the county. His daughters married into the Bettie, Buchanan, and Gates families. Adam Simmons, the youngest of the Simmons brothers, married Sarah Hitch in 1814, and lived on the homestead until his death, in 1828. e was the father of John H. Simmons, of Felicity, and William Simmons, of Iowa. His four daughters married Joseph P. Molen, and Drs. Small, Ritchie, and Williams. The daughters of Adam Simmons, Sr., were married, Ellen, to Peter Wolf, of Monroe ; Nancy, to John Hitch, of Tate ; Mary, to William Debruler, who lived south of Laurel ; Margaret, Betsy, and Sally, to Joseph, Benjamin, and Thomas Lakin, who were early settlers in the southern part of Monroe, but who removed to Indiana. Other descendants of the Rev. Benjamin Lakin yet live near Point Pleasant. The Doles were of Quaker origin and settled in this country in New Jersey. In the spring of 1805, Joseph Dole and his family came to Clermont, settling at Nicholsville the following year. He died in 1846, having had a family of 16 children, 12 of whom attained mature years. Joshua, who settled in the western part of the county ; Joseph, Jonathan, and Learner removed to the West ; John was a Methodist minister, and died in Indiana ; and Elisha S. is a local minister, residing at Laurel ; and of the daughters, Mary married John Hardin, of Williamsburgh, and Anna, Henry Hutson, of Monroe. Peter McLain, another native of New Jersey, settled two miles south of Nicholsville in 1806. His family consisted of sons named Andrew, who settled north of Laurel, and was for many years an itinerant minister in the Methodist Church, and afterwards held the relation of local preacher ; James, the second son, settled on an adjoining farm, where he yet resided at the age of eighty-four years; John lived in the same neighborhood until his death, being also a Methodist preacher ; Wesley was a merchant at Nicholsville, and Merrick removed before his death. Of the two daughters, Sarah was the wife of George Brown, of Monroe, and Amy of McKendree Thompson, of Washington. About the same time the Widow Winans, with her family, who had lived with the Doles, at Bullskin, settled north of Nicholsville. She had two sons, Obadiah, who became very prominent in local affairs and died in Monroe, and William, who became a Methodist minister and joined the Church South, becoming a doctor of divinity and one of the leading spirits of that branch of Methodists. Of her daughters, Asenath and Martha married John and Daniel McCullom, the latter a soldier in 1812. Peter Frambes immigrated from New Jersey to Monroe township in 1806, settling in the Nicholsville neighborhood. In 1824 he removed to Williamsburgh, where he died in 1873. Ho was a soldier of 1812, and became a very aged man. One of his sons, Andrew, is yet living at Bethel, and Joseph and James in Illinois. Later came William Huling, from New Jersey, and settled on Ulrey's Run. He was a Revolutionary soldier, and died in 1826. Of his sons, Samuel settled on the farm now owned by John Slye ; William on part of the home farm ; Abraham removed to Indiana ; Jacob A., at the age of eighty years, yet lives on the homestead ; and Isaac on the Ohio turnpike north of that place. At the same time, or near that period, John McCullom settled on the present McKown place, George Iler in Tate, and Jacob Tier in Washington, all coming from New Jersey. The Shannon family were also natives of that State, but moved to this part of Monroe from Philadelphia in 1813. In 1839, John Shannon removed to New Richmond, and from there to Cincinnati. E. R. Shannon, a son, yet lives at New Richmond, and other sons removed to the West. The Nichols family came from Virginia to the Miami country some time about the beginning of the present century. In 1807, Nathan Nichols purchased 800 acres of land in the western part of Monroe, which he came on to occupy about that time or soon after. He hved and died on the place now owned by Jonathan B. Nichols, about 1824, aged seventy-five years. His family consisted of sons named Philip, who died on part of the homestead in 1861, and who had sons named Thomas L., Nathan C., Philip A., and but two yet living in the county ; his daughters married Jacob Jackson and Joseph Reed. Wil- 384 - HISTORY OF CLERMONT COUNTY, OHIO. liam, the second son, died on the original purchase, leaving nine children. The third son, John, died a young man at the salt-works at Pomeroy. The fourth son, Elijah, lived in Monroe, where he was born in 1812; his family consisted of sons Jonathan and Thomas B., both living in Monroe; and a daughter married John Ferguson. David, the fifth son, a cabinet-maker, after living on the Big Indian moved to Hamilton County. Of the other sons, Nathan lived and died in the Buchanan settlement in Washington ; Robert H, was a Methodist preacher, and lived at Laurel ; Thomas J. was a physician, who died at the age of twenty-three; and Jonathan B., the youngest, yet lives on the homestead in Monroe. There were in the family two daughters, who married Hatton and James B. Simmons: An account of the Ferguson and Shaw families, some of whom settled in this part of Monroe,—the Franklin neighborhood,—is given in the history of Ohio township. South from here the pioneer was Josiah Carnes, who died on the farm yet occupied by his son, Lewis,—a man upwards of eighty years of age; another son, William, lived at New Richmond many years, but removed to Illinois ; and Josiah is yet living in Indiana. The daughters married James and Elijah Noble and John M. Browning, John, James, and Nathan Corbin, natives of Maryland, settled in the central part of Monroe after 1812. The latter had sons named Abraham, John, and James; and his daughters married Henry Purkiser, William Bainum, John Hutson, and William W. Gardner. At the house of the latter, in Monroe township, Nathan Corbin died May 7, 1876, aged nearly one hundred years. Everett Bettle was of Quaker parentage. In 1807 he came from Philadelphia and purchased a thousand acres of land, extending from the Ohio River northward, along the western line of Monroe, which he and his family occupied, Of his sons, John and Josiah became business men at New Richmond ; Samuel lived on the place now occupied by Thomas Willis ; Everett became a physician, and went South ; one of the daughters married Thomas Glisson and another William McDonald. On a part of the Bettie purchase Absalom Cook settled at a later day, and had sons, who were reared here, named William, Joshua, and George. The daughters married Bennett and Rice. Descendants of William Cook yet live in Monroe. Some time after 1812, David Moreton, a native of Pennsylvania, purchased a tract of land at the mouth of Boat Run, which he improved, and lived there until his death. He had sons named Mathias, Jon Ethan, and Isaac. The former two removed to the West. Isaac, in his younger days, was a trader among the Indians, and was taken captive by a hostile tribe. On being released he went back to Pennsylvania, and afterwards came on to live in Monroe. He was a merchant a few years at Point Pleasant, but returned to Boat Bun, where he died from the effects of being thrown from a horse. He had three sons,—William, who died in Monroe ; Isaac removed to Iowa ; and David, yet living on the old Thomas Fee farm, in Washington. In 1805, James Cooper, a native of Ireland, but who came here from Pennsylvania, settled on the Big Indian, where he lived until 1812, when he moved into Monroe, but in 1825 went to Dayton. His eldest daughter married Wm. Noble, and his son John has been a resident of southern Monroe almost his entire lifetime, and a merchant at Point Pleasant since 1839. In this locality W, H, Bushman settled in 1813, and part of his purchase is yet owned by his sons, Isaac, William, and Abraham ; other sons were David, Daniel, Lewis, and John, who lived in the township until their decease. On Boat Run John Flannegan located about 1810, and the farm is yet in possession of his descendants. Mathew Clark was a pioneer in this section, and lived to be more than ninety-two years of age. Of his two sons, John and William R., the former yet resides near Clermontville. In 1805, Thomas Page moved from Burlington, N. J., to a farm in Tate, which became known as the Simpson place, and on which he erected a brick house in 1807. In 1815 he moved to Point Pleasant, where he had the first store, and after residing there a number of years moved to Cincinnati, where he died in 1855, aged eighty-three years. His family had among other members a son, John, who married Rachel Hartman, of Jackson, Jan. 9, 1817, and who, after living a few years at Point Pleasant, settled east of Laurel, where they yet reside at extreme ages,----eighty-five and eighty-three years. Abner, the third son of Thomas Page, married a daughtcr of Levi Pigman, and settled on the Big Indian, a mile above Point Pleasant, where he died in 1827. Living as a neighbor to John Page was John Boys, who settled here about 1815, and was killed by a falling tree. Farther west John Brown was the pioneer, and one of his sons, E. G. Brown, yet lives in the northern part of Monroe. John Fisher, son of Adam Fisher, of Washington, settled about this period on the farm now owned by his son, F. M. Fisher. John L., another son, lives in Tate. William Pollard came from Kentucky, settling where is now Laurel about 1811. He died about 1858. His sons removed to Kentucky and to Cincinnati. " About the year 1814 the John Woodford survey, No. 1156, was offered for sale by Maj. Parker, of Lexington, Ky., and George Brown, of Ohio,—Parker selling the west half, and James Simmons acting as his agent. Emigration now set in rapidly, and the following settlers soon bought in the woods and began to clear the land. We will name them as near as we can in the order in which they came: Thomas Hitch, Sr., who came from Kentucky ; John Corbin, Sr,, who, I believe, came from Maryland, and settled in the Round Bottom road, near where Cannel Cemetery now is, about the year 1815. His brother, Abram Corbin, settled just north of him, where Joseph Turner now lives, and Nathan Corbin, son of John Corbin, settled just across the road from Abram Corbin. John Marsh, from Kentucky, came next, and then William P. Lakin came, and started a potter-shop at a very early day. William Pollard, from Mason Co., Ky., bought the land where Laurel now stands, and started a rope-walk,—first at Leonard Simmons', and then on his farm. He furnished the country around with bed-cords, cables, plow-lines, fishing-lines, and sometimes with traces for the harness. South of William Pollard purchases were made by William Debruler, Thomas MONROE TOWNSHIP - 385 Lakin, and Michael Huling, and farther north were John Fisher and Ralph Naylor. All the above, I think, bought near the same time,—say about the years 181.4 and 1815. A little later, John Hitch, Hamilton Reed, Nathan Corbin, Sr., and Wesley Simmons bought in the woods and commenced clearing their farms. Samuel Pollard, who came from Kentucky with my father, and purchased land on the McDougal survey, soon after sold to Hezekiah Bainum, and moved back to Kentucky. William and Chambers Stewart, of Cynthiana, Ky., bought and cleared land just north of where Laurel now stands, but never moved over ; but Thomas L. Stewart and Chambers Stewart, Jr., came over and occupied the land. " These all bought land on Parker's part of Woodford's survey. Those who bought of George Brown, who sold the east half of the survey in this neighborhood, were Stephen Bennett, John Boys, Sr., and John McCarty, who was the first blacksmith in that region. The father of John Rogers bought where Dr. Kennedy now lives, and a Mr. Evans, and I believe a Mr. Day, where Rev. Andrew S. McLean afterwards lived. Mr. Evans was the first shoemaker in the neighborhood."* Of the settlements made at a later day, the one so favorably known as " the Scotch settlement" is the most prominent. In 1821, John Porter, Alexander Porter, Janet Johnston, John Johnston, and John McNair, natives of Argyleshire, Scotland, landed at Philadelphia, and crossing the mountains, purchased a flat-boat at Pittsburgh, descended the river to Neville, where they temporarily. lived. In 1823 they settled just north of Nicholsville, where one of the party, Alex. Porter, yet resides, nearly eighty-eight years old. The Clark, Campbell, McKown, and other Scotch families were added to the settlement in time, which extended itself northward and into Tate. Almost without exception the descendants of the above have become among the most useful citizens of the township, distinguished for their industry, intelligence, and integrity. Their well-kept farms, fine buildings, and improved stock have given the settlement a merited reputation and words of praise from all who visit that part of the county, which is one of the most desirable in all Clermont. Monroe having belonged to Ohio and Washington until so late a period (1825), much of its pioneer history is given in those townships, and in addition the names of other pioneers appear among THE PROPERTY-HOLDERS IN 1826. In the list here appended appear the names of all persons who paid taxes on real and personal property in 1826. In case a tax was paid only on real estate the owner was most likely a non-resident of the township at that period, and such names are indicated by an asterisk. Armacost, John. Allen, Marion, No. 1156 ; John Woodford, orig. prop. Alloway, Charles. Archard, John, No. 2497 ; Thos. Overton, original proprietor. *Armstrong, Samuel, No. 913; F. O'Neal, orig. prop. *Avery, Henry, No. 415; L. Butler, original proprietor Boys, William, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Bennett, Stephen Boys, John Barkley, James, No. 2497; Thos. Overton, original proprietor * James B. Simmons. Bainum, Hezekiah, Bushman, John. Byrns, Philip B. Bushman, Henry, No, 415 ; Lawrence Butler, orig. prop. Bushman, Daniel. Bushman, David. Brown, Margaret, No. 1768; John McDougal, orig. prop. Barkley, Henry. Barton, Edward, No. 913; Ferdinand O'Neal, orig. prop. Bettle, Everard, No. 847 ; Robt. Beal, original proprietor. Bettle, Josiah, No. 1761; Samuel McCraw, original proprietor. Bettle, Samuel, No. 646; Alexander Parker, orig. prop. Behymer, Martin. Barkley, George, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Bainum, William. Brown, Sarah. Bailiff, Daniel. Bartholomew, Levi, No. 6222; Hite and Taylor, orig. props. Bailiff, Edmond. *Barkley, William, No. 1768 ; John McDougal, orig. prop. *Brown, George, No. 913; Ferdinand O'Neal, orig. prop. *Bushman and Low, No. 415; Lawrence Butler, orig. prop. *Barber, Nathan, Jr., No. 1761 ; Samuel McCraw, orig. prop. Corbin, John, No. 1156 ; John Woodford, orig. prop. Corbin, John, Jr. Corbin, Abraham S. Clark, Mathew, No. 646; Alex, Parker, original proprietor. Clenney, Joseph. Corbin, Nicholas, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Cook, Absalom. Corbin, Abraham, Sr. Corbin, Nathan, No. 1768; John McDougal, orig. prop. Craig, John. Carnes, Lewis. Corbin, Abraham, Jr. Carnes, Josiah, No. 1768; John McDougal, orig. prop. Cordery, Vincent, No. 939 ; Beverly Roy, original proprietor. Cook, William, No. 913 ; Ferdinand O'Neal, orig. prop. *Chapman, Zechariah, No. 1543; John Harrison, orig. prop. *Chalfant, Robert, No. 1156 ; John Woodford, orig. prop. *Carnes, William, No. 1760 ; Samuel McCraw, orig. prop. Dennis, John, No. 2497 ; Thomas Overton, original proprietor. Dole, Joseph, No. 1199; Lawrence Butler, orig. prop. Debruler, William. Dickson, Polly. Donham, David. Donham, Jonathan. Doughty, Robert, No. 4019 ; John Green, original proprietor. Dickinson, Morgan, No. 1543; John Harrison, orig. prop. Donham, John. Dawson, Joseph, No. 6222 ; Hite and Taylor, orig. props. Dawson, John. Debruler, Jacob. Day, Mark. Dole, Joshua. *Donham, Jonathan S. No. 2497 ; Thomas Overton, orig. prop. Daily, Evi, No. 939; Beverly Roy, original proprietor. Eaton, Ezekiel. Emmons, Elisha, No, 1199; Lawrence Butler, orig. prop, Evans, Joseph, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Eggleston, Joseph, No. 1197 ; Joseph Eggleston, orig. prop. Flanagan, Jane. Fox. Daniel. Freeborn, Jacob. Ferguson, Hugh, No. 1760; Samuel McCraw, orig. prop. Fisher, John, No. 1768; John McDougal, orig. prop. Freed, Israel, No.913; Ferdinand O'Neal, orig. prop. Fitzpatrick, Solomon, No. 1199; Lawrence Butler, orig. prop. Fee, Jacob. Frazee, Stephen. Fee, Elisha. Gilman, John, No. 1768; John McDougal, orig. prop. Gates, JameS H., No. 2497; Thos. Overton, orig. prop. Gilman, James. Gillespie, Chloe. Huling, Michael, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Holing, Isaac. Herron, David. Hoke, Philip H. Ruling, Samuel. Harp, David. Holing, Jacob, No. 939; Beverly Roy, orig. prop. Harvey, George M., No. 1239; Oliver Towles, orig. prop. Hutson, William, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Hutson, David. Hitch, John, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. ,Hitch, Thomas, No. 1156 ; John Woodford, orig. prop. Hancock, David. Hancock, John. Hays, John, No. 913; Ferdinand O'Neal, orig. prop. *Harrison, John, No. 1543; John Harrison, orig. prop. *Hunt, Jesse. Iams, John, No. 939; Beverly Roy, original proprietor. Jones, Enoch. Jackson, Joseph, No. 930; Beverly Roy, orig. prop. Jackson, Henry. Jackson, Samuel, No. 913; Ferdinand O'Neal, orig. prop. Johnston, Janett, No. 1219; Oliver Towles, orig. prop. *Johnston, John, No. 939; Beverly Roy, orig. prop. *Avery, Henry, No. 415 ; L. Butler, original proprietor. Boys, William, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Bennett, Stephen. Boys, John. Barkley, James, No. 2497; ThoS. Overton, original proprietor. 386 - HISTORY OF CLERMONT COUNTY, OHIO. Johnston, James. ''Johnston, William, No. 1156 ; John Woodford, orig. prop. Kliagler, John. Klingler, Frederick. Lindsey, Thomas, No. 415; Lawrence Butler, orig. prop. Light, Daniel, Jr., No. 913 ; Ferdinand O'Neal, orig. prop. Light, Jacob, Jr:, No. 913; Ferdinand O'Neal, orig. prop. Leeds, Absalom, No. 928; Thos. Pearson, orig. prop. Leeds, John, No. 274; William Green, original proprietor. Lindsey, Elijah. Lakin, William P., No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. *Light, George C., No. 1199 ; Laurance Butler, orig. prop. *Lytle, William, No. 6222; Hite & Taylor, orig. props. *Lane, Shadrach, No. 937; John B. Johnston, orig. prop. McCarter, William, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Marsh, John, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Mitchell, Isaac. Molyneaux & Thompson. Molyneaux, John. Moreton, David, No. 646; Alexander Parker, orig. prop. Moreton, William, No. 646; Alexander Parker, orig. prop. Maloy, Thomas. Moore, Jephtha, No. 11,033; George C. Light, orig. prop. Mitchell, Henry. Marsh, William, Mitchell, James, McNiel, John, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. McNair, John, No.939; Beverly Roy, orig. prop. Monroe, John. Morgan, Samuel. McCollum, John, No. 939; Beverly Roy, orig. prop. McDonald, William, No. 939 ; Beverly Roy, orig. prop. Mitchell, Henry, No. 646; Alexander Parker, orig. prop. McClain, James, Malick, David. McClain, Peter, No. 3206; William Sewell, orig. prop. McClain, Wesley. Marsh, Thomas L., No. 1199; Lawrence Butler, orig. prop. McClain, John. McClain, Andrew, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Morford, Daniel. *Morgan, Abel, No. 939; Beverly Roy, original proprietor. *Moore, Oliver, No. 913; Ferdinand O'Neal, orig. prop. *Morris, Thomas, No. 913; Ferdinand O'Neal, orig. prop. Noble, Jonathan, Sr. Noble, Henry. Noble, Jonathan. Noble, Elijah. Nichols, David. Nichols, Robert H., No. 193 ; Ferdinand O'Neal, orig. prop. Nichols, Hannah, No. 1760; Samuel McCraw, orig. prop. Nichols, Elijah, No. 1760; Samuel McCraw, orig. prop. Nichols; William, No. 1760 ; Samuel McCraw, orig. prop. Nichols, Philip, No. 1760; Samuel McCraw, orig. prop. Noble, James. Naylor, Ralph, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Palmer, George, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop, Page, Thomas. Peoples, William. Porter, Alexander, No. 12:39; Oliver Towles, orig. prop. Purkiser, Marcus. *Porter, William, No. 1239; Oliver Towles, orig. prop. Pollard, William, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Parker, Daniel, No. 646; Alexander Parker, orig. prop. Reed, Hamilton. Richey, D. W., No. 415; Lawrence Butler, orig. prop. Rardin, Timothy, No.1760; Samuel McCraw, orig. prop. Rardin, William. Richardson, John. Rardin, David, No. 2497; Thomas Overton, original proprietor. Riley, John. Rardin, James. Ross, James, No. 939; Beverly Roy, original proprietor. Rogers, John, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Rogers, James. Stewart, Laird P. Surry, John. Simmons, Jas. B., No.1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Simmons, Leonard, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Slivers, Absalom. Sherwin, Abigail. Sherwin, William, No. 415; Lawrence Butler, orig. prop. Smith, James L. Sapp, Ralph. Sapp, Hartley. Stairs, John. Shaw, John, No. 1760; Samuel McCraw, orig. prop. Sill, William, Jr. Sill, George, No. 1760 ; Samuel McCraw, orig. prop. Stibbins, Ebenezer. Sill, William, Sr. Sapp, Edward, No. 913; Ferdinand O'Neal, orig, prop. Slater, Thomas, No. 1768; John McDougal, orig. prop. Smith, Joseph. Scull, John H., No. 1239; Oliver Towles, original proprietor. Slye, Samuel, No. 1239; Oliver Towles, original proprietor. Shannon, John, No. 939 ; Beverly Roy, orig. prop. Shepard, Asa. Shinnaman, Henry, Simmons, Hatton, No. 1156 ; John Woodford, orig. prop. Stewart, Thomas. Stewart, William, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Simmons, James, No.1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Simmons, Westley. Surry, William. *Stewart, Robert, No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. *Swain, Rebecca, No. 2497; Thomas Overton, orig. prop, *Stairs, Noble, No. 646. *Stover, Joseph, No. 1616 ; Henry Bayless, orig. prop. Turner, Joseph C., No. 1156; John Woodford, orig. prop. Thompson, John. Towner,. Abraham. Tompkins, Jesse, No. 913; Ferdinand O'Neal, orig. prop. Townsley, Joseph. Tracey, Henry, No. 6222; Hite & Taylor, orig. props. Thomas, Thomas. *Taylor, James, No. 274; Wm. Green, original proprietor. Ulrey, Jacob, Sr., No. 928; Thomas Pearson, orig. prop. Ulrey, Jacob, Jr. White, Alexander, No. 2497 ; Thomas Overton, orig. prop. Whilden, Martha. Wheeler, John. Winans, Obadiah, No. 939 ; Beverly Roy, orig. prop. Wheeler, David. Wiatt, Joseph. Whitney, Hepsibah. *Whitney, James, No.274 ; Wm. Green, original proprietor. *Whilden, James, No. 246 ; Alexander Parker, orig. prop. Young, Jacob, No. 6222 ; Hite and Taylor, orig. props. At that period the owners of lots in the village of Point Pleasant were Philip B. Byrns, James Bell, Gibbons Bradbury, Andrew Bailey, Henry Bushman, Joseph Clenny, Robert Chalfant, Wm. Dickson, Ezekiel Eaton, Jacob Freeborn, Jesse Fee, James Lindsey, John Molyneaux, Isaac Moreton, Isaac Mitchell, Hart Molloy, Henry Noble, Thomas Page, James Smith, John Thompson, Wilson L. Thompson, Enoch James, Steele, Pigman & Lytle. The village property was valued at $6306, and it was taxed $37.05. The total number of acres in the township were 15,920, valued at $62,548, and taxed at $367.47. The number of horses were 305, worth $12,200 ; cattle 506, worth $4048 ; merchandise capital, $3700 ; and the total tax was only $117.20. CIVIL GOVERNMENT. In pursuance of a notification by the commissioners of Clermont County, the first election of the newly-organized township was held June 25, 1825, at the house of Thomas Hitch, Sr., when the following were elected : John Rogers, John Marsh, and Isaac Mitchell, Trustees ; George Palmer, Clerk ; W. P. Lakin, Treasurer ; Henry Mitchell, Constable ; Leonard Simmons and Thomas Hitch, Sr., Overseers of the Poor ; Abner McLain and Thomas Thomas, Fence-Viewers. At that time Thomas Lindsey was one of the justices of the peace, and the same year Philip B. Byrns and Obadiah Winans were commissioned to that office. . From the records it appears that Feb. 11, 1826, Wm. Carnes, constable, was ordered to warn a black man by the name of Wm. Hood to depart the township. The grand jurors selected for the next few years following the organization of Monroe were as follows: Peter McLain, Joseph Jackson, Thomas Lindsey, Philip Nichols, Daniel Bailiff, James Simmons, Wm. Hutson, Joseph Dole, Sr., Timothy Rardin, Wm. Ross, Sr., Leonard Simmons, and Jephtha Moore ; and the petit jurors for the same period were Nicholas Corbin, Obadiah Winans, John Shaw, Samuel Jackson, Thomas Page, John Boyce, Wilson L. Thompson, Samuel Slye, Edward Sapp, and Laird Stewart. MONROE TOWNSHIP - 387 From the treasurer's report, on the first Monday in March, 1826, we find that seven orders were paid, as follows, showing how moderate were the expenses of the township for the first year : No. 1, to Wm. P. Lakin, Treasurer, $1 ; No. 2, to Vim. Carnes, Constable, 371/2 cents ; No. 3, to John Rogers, Trustee, $3.75 ; No. 4, to George Palmer, Clerk, $3 ; No. 5, to John Marsh, Trustee, $3.75 ; No. 6, to Isaac Mitchell, Trustee, $3.75 ; No. 7, to P. D. Moss, Assistant Clerk, 75 cents,—$16.37 1/2. A township hall was built in 1861. Since the organization the principal officers for each year have been : TRUSTEES. 1825-26.—John Rogers, John Marsh, Isaac Mitchell. 1827.—John Rogers, Obadiah Winans, Isaac Mitchell. 1828.—John Rogers, Obadiah Winans, William P. Lakin. 1829-30.—Isaac Mitchell, Obadiah Winans, Hugh Ferguson. 1831.—Isaac Donham, Evi Daily, John McClutter. 1832.—Isaac Donham, John Riley, John McClutler. 1833.—Isaac Donham, John Riley, 1saac L. Moreton. 1834.—William Herron, John Riley, Isaac L. Moreton. 1835.—William Herron, John Shaw, David Bushman. 1836.—William Herron, Obadiah Winans, Isaac Mitchell. 1837.—Thomas Mulloy, John Clark, Isaac Mitchell. 1838.—Hezekiah Bainum, Obadiah Winans, Isaac Mitchell. 1839.—John Shaw, Solomon Fitzpatrick, William McWilliams. 1840-41.---Enoch Tracy, William Moreton, John Cooper. 1842.—Thomas Mulloy, W. L. Thompson, John Cooper. 1843.—Thomas Mulloy, John Lakin, A. C. Corbin. 1844.—N. B. Nichols, John Lakin, A. C. Corbin. 1845.—R. H. Mitchell, John Phillips, Jesse Pearce. 1846.—Solomon Fitzpatrick, William Moreton, Aaron Fagin. 1847. -Jaha Nichols, John Phillips, John Trees. 1848-49.—Isaac Mitchell, William Shaw, Aaron Fagin. 1850-51.—John Nichols, John McNeil, Aaron Beckleheimer. 1852.—John Phillips, John A. Simmons, Aaron Beckleheimer. 1853.—John Phillips, Newton Bonner, Aaron Beckleheimer. 1854-55.—John A. Simmons, William Bushman, James Archard. 1856.—Aaron Bennett, John Corbin, Daniel Armacost. 1857-60.—Aaron Bennett, John Corbin, P. H. Barkley. 1861-62.—Perry H. Barkley, William W. Gardner, A. Terwilliger. 1863-64.—Samuel Armaeost, William W. Gardner, A. Terwilliger. 1865.—A. Bushman, William W. Gardner, A. Terwilliger. 1866.—A. Bushman, William W. Gardner, John Nichols. 1867.—James Garrett, William W. Gardner, John Nichols. 1868.—W. H. Bushman, William W. Gardner, A. Terwilliger. 1869.—James Garrett, Samuel Armaeost, David Dunham. 1870.—James Garrett, Samuel Armacost, John 1dlet. 1871-72.—David Denham, George F. Armaeost, John Idiot. 1873.—George W. Lakin, Robert Clark, John Idlet. 1874-75.—P. H. Barkley, Robert Clark, George W. Lakin. 1876.—Daniel M. Parker, Thomas W. Hair, Hr. C. Barkley. 1877.—Robert Clark, J. D. Bushman, H. C. Barkley. 1878.—Robert Clark, J. D. Bushman, Hiram McKown. 1879.—Ira Ferguson, J. D. Bushman, Hiram McKown. TOWNSHIP CLERKS. 1825-28, George Palmer; 1829, Henry C. Hutson; 1830-32, John Rogers ; 1833-35, Laird T. Stewart ; 1836, Jonathan Folks ; 1837, Wm. Holmes; 1838, John Rogers; 1839-41, Nathan B. Nichols; 1842, John Slye; 1843-44, Wm. H. Ferguson ; 1845-47, N. B. Nichols; 1848-49, Win. 11. Ferguson ; 1850-52, Geo. J. Nichols; 1853-54, Wm. Shaw ; 1855, C. N. Browning; 1856, Richard Marsh; 1857, Geo. J. Nichols; 1858-60, W. R. Price; 1861-62, Sampson Peppers; 1863-64, T. S. Polter; 1865, D. IL Nichols; 1866-67, T. S. Potter; 1868-73, D. H. Nichols; 1874-75, D. M. Parker; 1876, Wm. E. Nichols; 1877, D. H. Nichols ; 1878-79. Alex. Dunn. TOWNSHIP TREASURERS. 1825-26, Win. P. Lakin; 1827-28, Edward Sapp; 1829-33, Hezekiah Bainum ; 1834-35, Philip Nichols; 1836-38, John Fisher; 1839, Timothy Rardin; 1840-43, Solomon Fitzpatrick ; 1844, Henry Barkley; 1845-46, Josiah Caraes; 1847, Jesse Pierce ; 1848-49, John Slye; 1850-52, Solomon Fitzpatrick ; 1853-54, Wm. Slairs ; 1855-56, .J. R. H. Simmons; 1857-59, Hatton Simmons ; 186064, John D. Widmeyer ; 1865-68, John H. Marsh ; 1869-71, 1ra Ferguson; 1872-73, F. E. Bettle; 1874-78, J. I,. Barkley; 1879, F. E. Bettle. ASSESSORS. 1843-44, E. G. Brown ; 1845, Wm. H. Ferguson; 1846, Isaac Denham ; 1847, James FerguSon ; 1848-54, Abaer Huntington; 1855, J. B. Armacost; 1856, John Slye; 1857-60, Abner Huntington; 1861, Jonathan Dunham; 1862-63, John B. Turner; 1864, J. R. Shaw ; 1865-66, A. W. Armacost; 1867-68, Frank M. Fisher ; 1860, J. W. Simmons; 1870, F. E. Bettie; 1871, Wm. Idiot ; 1872-73, C. C. Brown; 1874-76, E. W. Day ; 1877, James Hendrixson ; 1878-79, S. N. Galbreath. THE PUBLIC HIGHWAYS. Regarding the early roads of Monroe, James B. Simmons says : " When my father, Leonard Simmons, moved upon his new farm southwest of Laurel, in 1812, there were no roads leading to it except such as lre cleared for his own convenience, or blazed the trees so as to find the road or path from place to place. "The only road that was laid out in that section of country was the Round Bottom road, leading from Augusta, Ky., to the Round Bottom on the Little Miami River. This road passed the farm of my grandfather, Adam Simmons, and the farm of Josiah Carnes. We had one blazed road-path from our cabin out to the Round Bottom road to a point called lhe 'Big Bear Wallow,' now Laurel. This led us out to Uncle James Simmons, and to grandfather's, about four miles. We had another blazed road from our cabin out to the Round Bottom road, near where the Carmel Cemetery is located. This opeUed the way to Mr. Carnesl, about three miles. Another blazed path led out by Thomas Lakinls, afterwards Peddicord's, to the mouth of Boat Run, where an old man by the name of Weldon kept the post-office, about three and a half miles distant. There was another blazed road down what we called the dividing ridge, between the forks of Colclazer, then down that stream to Big Indian. This led to the Big 1ndian road. Mr. Colclazer and Larry Byrns, an old Revolutionary soldier, lived on this stream. "The first regularly laid-out read after 1812 was one from the State road, at a point two or three miles west of Bethel, to the Ohio River, at the mouth of Big Indian Creek, crossing the Round Bottom road where Laurel now stands. This was called the Page road, because Thomas Page, Sr., father of John Page, of Laurel, petitioned for the road. The starting-point was near where he lived, and gave him an outlet to Point Pleasant. This was in 1815 or 1816. " The second road laid out was petitioned for by Hezekiah Bainum, beginning at the Round Bottom road, near the old Carmel Cemetery, then passing Bainum's and Peddicord's, striking the waters of Boat Run at William Clark's; thence to the mouth of Boat Run. Leonard Simmons was one of the viewers of this road. Mr. Bainum soon after started a small horse-mill on this road, and then converted it into an inclined wheel ox saw-mill. Here a vast amount of lumber was sawed for the neighborhood, and a great deal was hauled to the river and rafted to Cincinnati for sale. "The third road laid out was petitioned for by William P. Lakin. He and Wilford Wyatt, Sr., of Fleming Co., Ky., having bought the Eggleston survey, south of McDougal's and John Woodfordls surveyS, were selling it out. Those who settled in the woods on the Eggleston survey, were Sanford S. Simmons, John Tatman, Joseph Wyatt, John Hancock, Sr., John Peddicord, John Lakin, and others. They wanted a road through their lands, and W. P. Lakin petitioned fur it to start from John Page's road, about twenty rods south of James B. Simmons' old brick house,—now Dr. Kennedy's; thence southwest by Thomas Hitch, Sr.,—now Turner's; thence southwest by William P. Lakin's potter-shop to Round Bottom road, where Bainum's road started; thence with said road to where the Monroe townShip house now stands; thence by Leonard Simmons' and through tho Eggleston survey, intersecting Page's road again at the mouth of Dry Run. This was about 1829. I was one of the chain-carriers when this road was laid out. "The fourth road laid out in the old Carmel neighborhood started 388 - HISTORY OF CLERMONT COUNTY, OHIO. where Lakin's road struck Colelazer Creek in Eggleston's survey ; thence up said branch along Leonard Simmons' west line and Bainum's west line to Bainum's road; thence to Bainum's saw-mill, and then north through the woods to the Round Bottom road, west of John Fisher's. "The fifth road ran from the left-hand fork of Indian Creek a half-mile above &hyraces mill ; thence by John Page, John Boys, Sr., and Stephen Bennett, crossing Page's road where Jacob Fee now lives, and intersecting the Lakin road south of Thomas Minh, Sr. "It should be remembered that these roads, for the most part, bad to be opened through the woods, and the most that could be done was to fell the logs and cut the stumps low enough for a wagon to pass over. Of course, for several years, the roads were rough and in a very bad condition." In 1826 there were nine road districts, having as supervisors Philip B. Byrns, John Marsh, Nicholas Corbin, John Fisher, Hatton Simmons, Edward Sapp, Samuel Morgan, James Ross, and Jacob Young. In 1880 the township had fourteen road districts, and the appropriations were usually sufficient to place the highways in good repair. In Monroe are two miles of improved roads (free turnpikes) in the northern part ; one mile in the west, towards New Richmond; three miles along Boat Run ; and five miles along the Ohio River. The Cincinnati and Portsmouth Railroad is graded through the northern part of the township eastward, but the people have expressed themselves not favorable towards a railroad along the Ohio, refusing to vote aid. Shipping facilities are afforded by steamers at Point Pleasant and Clermontville. Speaking of the difficulties of transportation to Cincinnati in early times, J. B. Simmons said " that in 1816 the people of the interior of Monroe—Leonard Simmons, William Debruler, Thomas Lakin, John Marsh, John Fisher, and others—decided to construct a large boat, and that for this purpose they went into the woods to find a large tree to hollow out. They found a huge poplar, sixty feet clear of branches and five feet through at the butt, which was shaped into a commodious canoe under the direction of Hugh Barkley. After much effort it was taken to the river at Boat Run and launched, and for five years it bore away the surplus produce of the township. It was worked by poling, and could carry from five to six tons and a number of passengers besides." THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS of Monroe have been limited to the common industries. As already related, pioneer saw-mills were operated by David Moreton and the Stye family. After the former mill went down John Clark and Lewis Bushman built another mill, above the old site and below the State road, at Boat Run, and afterwards a small gristmill was added and operated until 1852, when the diminished flow of the stream no longer afforded power. In 1854, Daniel Parker & Son put up a steam saw-mill at this point, which has been operated by Fridman & Barkley since the fall of 1866. A stave- machine is run in connection and tobacco hogsheads are manufactured. Half a dozen hands are employed. After 1820, Hezekiah Bainum had a saw-mill west of Laurel, which was operated by tread-power, oxen being used. In after-years a mill was put up which was supplied with steam-power, and carding was also done. At Laurel a chair-factory, having steam-power, was carried on a short time by James Tompkins and others. South of Nicholsville Ehsha Emmons had a horse-mill to grind and an ox-power mill to saw, and after steam-power had been used some time the mill was moved to Nicholsville, He also had a carding-machine. The mill at Nicholsville was erected by Fitzpatrick & Emmons, and in time it was destroyed by fire. Better saw- and grist-mills were erected on its site, which were largely operated by W. W. Gardner and others. The machinery of the grist-mill has been removed, and since 1874 more or less has been done working on chair-stuffs and chair-making. The present proprietors are Theodore Steelman and Frank Hewitt. John Donham and others had • mills in former days, but they have long since passed away. At his residence W. W. Gardner had a tile-factory, which was discontinued after a few years' operation. HAMLETS AND VILLAGES. The youngest hamlet in the township is HULINGTON, so named in honor of Albert W. Iluhng, who laid it out where the Cincinnati and Portsmouth Railroad crosses Ulrey's Run, March 5, 1877. The plat embraces 59 lots, forming 8 blocks on an elevated tract of ground, making the site very eligible ; but little progress has as yet been made in improving it. There are but a few houses and no business places, CLERMONTVILLE. This hamlet is on Boat Run, near the mouth of that stream, on the Ohio, in the southwestern part of the township. The site was first owned by a man named Newton, who sold it to David Moreton, a native of Pennsylvania, about 1815, and soon after he erected a saw-mill on the Run, from which time its history as a business point dates. Later, Moreton sold a portion of his purchase to Rev. Daniel Parker, a Restorationist minister, who afterwards here founded the Clermont Academy, the only institution of the kind its the county. Aside from the academy and its adjunct buildings, there are about a dozen houses in the hamlet, which is noted for its moral tone and the beauty of its scenic surroundings. In 1836, John Cooper began selling goods on Boat Run, in a building which has been destroyed by fire. Three years later he sold out to Franklin Fridman, who carried on business ten years at that stand, and in 1849 estabhshed his trade at the academy, or at the present hamlet of Clermontville. Here the firm has been in trade ever since, transacting mercantile, milling, and shipping business, whose aggregate is not excelled by that of any other firm in the county. Formerly boats landed at the mouth of Boat Run, but a landing has been made at Parker's, nearer the place of business of the Fridmans, from which easy shipping facilities are afforded. In 1877, Tatman, Fridman & Robinson succeeded the Fridman Brothers as tobacco dealers, having warehouses at Clermontville and at Saltair, in Tate, and yearly purchasing large quantities. The first post-office in this part of the county was kept about 1820, for a few years, at the house of Muses Bradbury, who lived on what was later better known us the MONROE TOWNSHIP - 389 Moreton farm. The Clermontville post-office was established July 6, 1875, with George H. Fridman postmaster, who yet serves in that capacity. A daily mail is supplied from Cincinnati. NICHOLSVILLE. The original proprietor of the land which forms the site of this hamlet, situated in the northeastern part of the township, was Joseph Dole. About 1825 he sold an acre of ground from his farm, which lay at the forks of the Felicity and New Richmond roads, to Daniel Fee, who built a store and successfully followed merchandising eighteen years, when he sold his business to Nathan B. Nichols. Meantime, land had been sold from the Dole farm to Henry Hutson, saddler ; John Barton, wagon-maker; Thomas Stewart, wheelwright ; Janus Fee, blacksmith ; and Totten-Jackson, cabinet-maker, who put up shops and houses, and the place soon became a thriving business point. About this time the shoemaker, Charles Blackburn, and the tailor, Jacob Barngrover, died of the smallpox, which prevailed in this part of lhe township, In 1842, E. S. Dole, who bad become the proprietor of the home farm, laid out about 6 acres more for village purposes, calhng the whole " Feetown," in honor of the old merchant, Daniel Fee. In a few years Erin Cole became the owner of the Dole interests, and in 1847 replatted the lots, calling the place by its present name in honor of the then merchant, N. B. Nichols, and the post-office estabtablished that year also took the name of Nicholsville. Nichols was succeeded in trade by George T. Layfield, Wesley McLain, and the present William Idiot, the latter being here eight years. At other stands William Slye has been in trade since 1849, and G. W. Rails for the past twelve years, and the three stores transacting, in the aggregate, a very large business. Nathan B. Nichols continued postmaster until 1851, when he was succeeded by William Slye, and his successors have been the following: 1855, N. B. Nichols ; 1863, William Slye ; 1871, Wesley McLain ; 1873, William H. Idlet. The mall is supplied from Clermontville office. Before 1840 Dr. Wilcoxon was the physician of this part of Monroe, and then came Dr. Wilson Thompson, practicing a number of years. Dr. Philip Kennedy and Dr. Richard Marsh were also here located. Dr. John Richardson yet lives near the hamlet ; Dr. C. Monjar died there in the fall of 1879, and the present physician is Dr. L. W. K. Tracy, eclectic. Nicholsville has never attained any size beyond that demanded for the occupation of the foregoing business men, and Archibald McMurchy and Archibald McNair, blacksmiths ; S. T. Dolen, wagon-maker ; and J. Jackson & Sons are the undertakers, west of the hamlet, where is also a good mill. In this locality are Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist church edifices, a good school-house, and an Odd-Fellows' hall. LAUREL. This village is south of the centre of Monroe, near the eastern line of the township, on an elevated plateau. It contains about 400 inhabitants, 2 churches, and the usual adjuncts of a country village. It was laid out as Van Burenville by Wm. Pollard in 1837, and on the 7th of March, 1838, an addition was made by Pollard, increasing the whole number of lots to 67. The present name was applied to the place about 1844. The first house on the village site was erected by James Simmons, and part of the building yet forms the residence of Dr. I. N. Brown. Other houses were soon after built by E. G. Brown, John Anno, and John Anderson. James Fee opened the first store, and James Simmons the second, the latter about 1838. Then followed in trade Hezekiah Bainum, Benjamin Simmons, Daniel Fee, J. R. II. Simmons, James Bainum, John A. Simmons, 0. W. Davis ; and for the past four years J. L. Barkley has been engaged in merchandising, having the only store in the place. He is also postmaster of the Laurel office, which has a daily mail from Clermontville. The office was established Oct. 17, 1842, with the name of Clermont, and had James Simmons as postmaster. But two years later the name was changed to Laurel. In 1845, Benjamin H, Simmons was appointed postmaster ; in 1855, R. McLaughlin ; in 1863, N. C. Bainum ; in 1867, J. R. II. Simmons ; and in 1869, 0. W. Davis. The physicians of Laurel are Drs. S. B. South, I. N. Brown, and Philip Kennedy, the latter being a mile north from Laurel. James Fee was the first blacksmith, following his trade many years ; the present smiths are John S. Boys and Enoch Kelch, the latter, also, being a wagon-maker. In that trade David Bainum was the first at Laurel, but in the vicinity John Willis had a shop years before. The cabinet-maker's trade has been carried on by Elisha Nichols, John Fletcher, and William Tompkins, the latter remaining. POINT PLEASANT. This is the oldest and most historic village in the township. It was laid out in 1813, to contain 62 7/16 acres, at the mouth of Indian Creek, on the Ohio, by Joseph Jackson for the proprietor, Henry Ludlow. The plat embraced 100 in-lots and 13 out-lots, with a reservation on the riverbank for the use of the public, and streets named Indian, Locust, Main, Ohio, North, Maple, and Water. Henry Ludlow lived on the tract of land on which the village was laid out before 1810, and about 1820 removed to Cincinnati, where he died suddenly. In 1815 the place contained only two houses, that of Ludlow's and ono occupied by John Thompson, a blacksmith,- and son of the Rev. W. G. Thompson. The third house was erected soon after by Thomas Page, who opened the first store, built the first warehouse, and established the tannery where Jesse It. Grant was employed in 1822. He had married Miss Simpson, of Tate, the year before, and the young and poor couple resided at Point Pleasant, in the house of Lee Thompson. This house yet remains as built, and is in a well-preserved condition, a lean-to kitchen having been added since its occupancy by the Grants. It is a one-story frame, the main part being 16 by 191 feet, with a steep roof, the pitch being five feet, and on the oulside of the north end is a huge chimney, affording a spacious fireplace. In the front of the house, which is on the upper part of Indian Street and faces Indian Creek, is a door, on each side of which are windows, having small panes ofsi glass, Internally were 390 - HISTORY OF CLERMONT COUNTY, OHIO. a living roora and, at the south end, a bed-chamber, in which was born, April 27, 1822, the distinguished Gen. U. S. Grant. After this event his parents remained at Point Pleasant about a year, removing to Georgetown in 1823. At this period Point Pleasant was, for that country, a place of much importance, and had a most promising future, which, however, has never been wholly realized. In 1837 the owners of houses were Joseph Adamson, John W. Clutter, Joseph Clenney, Archibald Gilbert, John B. Hopper, Michael Huling, Wm. P. Lakin (2), Isaac Mitchell, John Molyneaux, William Page, G. W. Phelps, John Salt, Christopher Smith, Wilson Thompson, John Thompson, David Wheeler, and David Walker. Although a better class of buildings has been erected, the number has not been much increased, and the village to-day only about maintains the position it occupied half a century ago. After being in trade a few years, Thomas Page was succeeded by Isaac Moreton, and he by a man named Ewing, who had John Molyneaux as a clerk. The latter was afterwards an important business man and many years here in trade. Lee Thompson was among the first merchants, and about 1830 there were stores at Point Pleasant carried on by Joseph Clenney, Hunt & Phillips, and John McWilliams. Previous, or soon after, among the active business men were Robert Chalfant, William and John Lakin, and David Ritchie ; and later, among the merchants may be named David Walker, Stephen Fee, James Duncan, Hezekiah Bainum, and John Cooper. The latter has been continuously in trade since 1839, and has at present associated with him a son, the firm-name being J. & S. H. Cooper, and was the only one engaged in merchandising in 1879. There being an excellent landing at Point Pleasant considerable shipping has been done by the various merchants, and at an early day Thomas Page put up a warehouse, which was destroyed by fire while filled with flour waiting shipment. The Lakin Brothers then erected another warehouse, and Lee Thompson had a warehouse and a pork- packing establishment. Of late the principal article shipped has been tobacco, and there are two warehouses for its storage, owned by Ketchum & Bro. and John Idlet. Among the keepers of public-houses are remembered Jonathan Moreton, Michael Ruling, Philip Byrnes, Jesse Tatman, and John Clutterley. No public-house has been kept recently. Among the ordinary mechanics were John Wheeler, Wilham and Elnathan Sherwin, and A. Galbreath, coopers ; David Ritchie and Isaac Huling, cabinet-makers ; John Lakin, brickmaker ; William Riley, saddler ; John C. Kramer, James Duncan, and Samuel Pullman, tailors. William P. Lakin came to this place to establish a pottery, having previously had one near Laurel. The works were burned down, but were rebuilt by Nathan Davis. For the most of the time a pottery has been carried on here, the present owners being Peterson & Co. Lately the product has been smoke-pipes, stove-flues, and drain-tiles, immense quantities of the former article being made. Employment is given to from six to ten hands. In 1820, Thomas Page established a tannery at Point Pleasant, which he placed in charge of Jesse R. Grant, the Either of the ex-President, who conducted it until 1823. Some time after Page sold out to John and Samuel R. Molyneaux, who enlarged the tannery and enabled them to greatly extend the business. The yard was last owned by George Gregg, who used it in connection with his tannery in Washington. The Point Pleasant post-office was established with John Molyneaux as postmaster. He was succeeded in 1835 by S. R. Molyneaux ; in 1839 by J. McWilliams ; in 1841 by William McWilliams ; and since 1844 John Cooper has been the postmaster. Above the mouth of Indian Creek, opposite Point Pleasant, was a paper town, which was laid out June 1, 1818, by William W. Steele and Thomas Danby, and called Point Opolis. The plat embraced 332 lots, and there was a public square reserved, on condition that the county-seat should be located here within two years. Not more than a building or two was ever erected on the site which long ago was vacated, and all the interests there are now regarded as parts of Point Pleasant. GOLDEN RULE LODGE, No. 313, I. O. O. F., was instituted at Nicholsville, Dec. 19, 1856, with these charter members : John Slye, A. Terwilliger, A. D. Fagin, Richard Marsh, William Slye, S. D. Winans, Peter Fagin, Benjamin Fagin, T. D. Husted, Ira Ferguson, N. Bonner, H. McNair, E. Warren, Lewis Fitzpatrick, Henry Hurget, J. II. Brannen, W. H. Altman, and Ticandor Moore. A fine hall was soon after built at Nicholsville, in which the meetings of the lodge have since been held. In 1879 the membership of Golden Rule was 36, an the officers were George Beckleheimer, N. G. ; S. H. Jackson, V. G. ; L. B. Purkiser, R. Sec. ; W. B. Altman, P. Sec. ; and Hugh McNair, Treas. Since the institution of the lodge the Noble Grands have been A. Terwilliger, S. D. Winans, Harry Brannen, Thomas D. Husted, William H. Altman, Hugh McNair, B. F. Fagin, M. A. Leeds, Ira Ferguson, William B. Altman, Thomas Hodges, Abner Fagin, Nelson Light, Peter Fagin, A. D. Fagin, J. R. H. Simmons, W. C. McLain, T. J. Nichols, G. W. Rails, T. H. Phillips, J. P. Richardson, J. F. Hitch, Jonas Hitch, E. Hicks, William F. Hewitt, Theodore Steelman, C. W. Page, John Page, Thomas Page, J. T. Wheeler, S. S. Slye, William Porter, W. W. Gardner, John Tatman, James B. Hodges, G. R. Taylor, H. O. Parkiser, David Shinkle, David Theis, William H. Adams, and Jonathan Emmons. The lodge is one of the best of the order in the county, and has been a valuable means for cultivating the social feelings of the people of Monroe. EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS. In the township history of Ohio, in this book, appears an account of the Franklin school district, which is partly in Monroe, and no further mention of it is here made. At Nicholsville the first school-house was built on Joseph Jackson's land. It was of round logs, with paper windows and ground floor. The seats were of split logs, and here a school was maintained in the winter of 1812-13. In the northern part of the township, the first school house was built on John McCullom's land, and in 1815 had among its patrons Joseph Jackson, James Henderson, Jacob Ulrey, MONROE TOWNSHIP - 391 Daniel Bailiff, John Leeds, George Brown. To this school the Bailiff boys came dressed in buckskin from head to foot. The union school-house was also built in 1815. It was on John Marsh's land, and was built by voluntary labor, of hewed logs. The first teacher there was Jabez Ricker, who was afterwards drowned at the mouth of the Arkansas River. Pollard Simmons, John Lakin, Augustus Eddy, William Fee, Thomas Stewart, Michael Swing, and others also taught there in early times. In 1826 districts were formed, as follows: No. 1, in the southeastern part, with 65 householders ; No. 2, immediately north, with 80 householders; No. 3, in the southwest corner of the township, with 54 householders; No. 4, northeast corner of Monroe, 43 householders ; No. 5, west of No. 4, had 39 householders ; and the remaining district, No. 6, had 25 householders. Under the act forming sub-districts in the township, in 1853, directors were elected in the several districts, and the first board of education formed, the first-named director of each district being a member of that body : No. 1, John Lakin, James Duncan, and George Lindsey ; No. 2, B. H. Simmons, Anlhony Ireton, Henry Barkley ; No. 3, William Shaw, William Cook, J. S. Donham ; No. 4, N. B. Nichols, John F. Brown, Thomas Molloy ; No. 5, E. Lockwood, Abram Terwilliger, John McNair; No. 6, James Archard, William Moreton, William H. Bushman ; No. 7, Silas Dolen, A. D. Fagin, Enoch Tracey ; No. 8, A. Hunlington, J. Sims, Jeremiah Husted. Nathan B. Nichols was appointed president of the board. In 1879 the number of districts in Monroe was eleven. T. M. Willis was president of the board of education, and Alex. Dunn, secretary. The associate members were S. H. Cooper, E. F. Kelch, Hugh McNair, Sr., A. W. Huling, A. Sylvester, David Donham, Albert Leeds, W. B. Altman, John Corbin, and George H. Fridman. The total amount appropriated for the support of schools was $5993.89, of which two-thirds were paid to the teachers. In the high school were 45 pupils, and the number attending the primary schools was 505. There were 11 school-houses and 12 school-rooms, the value of the buildings being reported as $(i500. Thirty-one weeks of school were maintained. In addition to the excellent public schools of Monroe, it contains Clermont Academy, a sketch of which appears in a general chapter. It was established in 1839, and has ever since been a power for good in the county and Southern Ohio. RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. As in most of the other townships of the county, in Monroe the Methodists were the first to organize themselves into a church society ; but, owing to their imperfect system of records, the exact time and the constituent members cannot be given. But an approximate period for the formation of THE CARMEL METHODIST. EPISCOPAL CHURCH places that event soon after the settlement of the township, and among the members who belonged at that early period were the Carnes, Simmons, Corbin, Hitch, Lakin, and other pioneer families, few of the earliest settlers being without some religious convictions, and so generous was the sentiment that many united who formerly adhered to other sects. The meetings were generally held at the house of Josiah Carnes, on Boat Run ; but in 1816 measures were instituted to build a house of worship at some central point. After a somewhat continued discussion, it was decided to locate the church-lot near the pottery of W. P. Lakin, west of the present village of Laurel, where the Carmel Cemetery now is. As this would remove the place of meeting a number of miles from Mr. Carnes, he severed his connection from the church, which thus lost one of its most worthy members. The house was built in 1817, and as the frame was not supplied with girders, an iron rod had to be supplied to keep the roof from filling in. Before the ohurch was fully completed Rev. Peter Hastings, of Felicily, preached in it ; and the second sermon was preached by Rev. Joshua Sargent. In the grove back of the house camp-meetings were sometimes held, and the one in 1825 was largely attended. Among the preachers present were the Revs. Benjamin Lakin, John Collins, John Meek, and Wm. B. Christie, at that time a student of the Augusta College. The horses of the visiting brethren were pastured by Leonard Simmons, and one day as many as ninety head were in the field. In the course of seventeen years the old house became too small, and in 1834 a brick edifice was erected on the same lot by a building committee composed of Rev. B. 11. Nichols, Thomas Hitch, and James B. Simmons. This was damaged by a storm, and Liter 1860 THE LAUREL METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH became the place of worship for the Methodists of this part of the township. The Cannel house was abandoned, but the cemetery, which was also begun in 1817, is still maintained. With the church-lot it originally contained two acres, and the deed for the property was duly recorded in 1822, the trustees at that time being James Simmons, Leonard Simmons, John Corbin, Sr., Thomas Hitch, Sr., and William I'. Lakin. The first interment there was in 1817, and the person buried was a daughter of Michael Huhng. At present the yard contains the remains of more than 600 persons, and here sleep the long unbroken sleep of death many of the pioneers of Monroe, to whose friends the old Cannel church-lot is a sacred spot and is well preserved. The Laurel church building is 38 by 50 feet, of brick, and although plainly finished, presents an inviling appearance. The building committee were Robert H. Nichols, H. Nichols, and William R. Press, and the church was consecrated by Bishop Clark. The present trustees are Alexander Donley, Elisha Dole, J. R. H. Simmons, Julius Potts, Nicholas Dickson, Frank McNeal, John Widmeyer, E. Kelch, and George Armacost. The church, in common with other charges, constitutes the Laurel Circuit, and has an interest in the parsonage at Laurel village, whose trustees in 1879 were E. Dole, E. Kelch, T. M. Willis, Jacob Jackson, and E. Cox. THE POINT PLEASANT METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. As early as 1815 a class of Methodists had its existence in the southern part of Monroe, and among the members 392 HISTORY OF CLERMONT COUNTY, OHIO. were William P. Lakin, John Lakin, Isaac Mitchell, William McWilliams, Wilson L. Thompson, Rev. Benjamin Lakin, Crissie Slater, Jane Rice, Hiram Hooper, and the wives of most of the foregoing, The preaching services were usually held in the school-house, and often in the Page warehouse, Mr. J. B. Simmons relates that in that building he "heard the famous and eccentric Lorenzo Dow preach in 1816, from the text Quench not the spirit.' He preached at three P.M. I had heard him preach in the forenoon of the same day at New Richmond. There were but few houses in New Richmond at that time, but the people of the whole country for many miles around had gathered to see and to hear this strange preacher. He came across the river at New Richmond in a skiff, and walked up to the top of the bank and said, Where is your church?' Being informed that they had none, he looked up and said, We will go to the woods. He started, and the people followed him through the brush until he came to a fallen tree. He went into the top, got on the trunk, and, holding to a limb, began to sing, while the people crowded around him. He then preached, part of the time standing and part of the time sitting on the tree. I followed him to Point Pleasant and heard him again in the afternoon, as I before said. At the Point he announced that he would preach again at daybreak next morning. To hear this morning sermon my father went three or four miles by torch-light through the woods. There Was no road." The present Methodist church is the first and only one at Point Pleasant. It was begun in 1868 by Edward Cox, but was not completed until several years later, and was dedicated by Elder Granville Moody. It is a plain frame, 28 by 42 feet, and cost $1250. The trustees in 1879 were Henry Peterson, George McKibben, Darius Littleton, Edward Cox, W. Van Gilder, John Lakin, and George Noble. The church belongs to Laurel Circuit, as do also the other Methodist Churches in the township. THE SPRING GROVE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. At and around Nicholsville a class of Methodists was formed about 1808. The usual place of preaching was at the house of Thomas Marsh, two miles south from Nicholsville. Among the members here were Peter McLain, Joseph Dole, Joseph Jackson, and members from these and other families to the number of a score or more. After 1830 a small log meeting-house was built on the farm of Solomon Filzpatrick, which was locally called the Elam church. It was used as a place of worship about twenty years, when the meetings were transferred to the school. house near Nicholsville. In 1856 the present church edifice was erected by a committee composed of Jacob Jackson, John F. Brown, and David Hancock, on land formerly owned by J. F. Brown, near Spring Grove, from which the church takes its name. The building is a neat frame, and cost $1600. The present controlling trustees are George W. Rails, Aaron D. Fagin, John Kendall, Abel Sapp, Jacob Jackson, George Light, James D. Morris, Charles W. Hunlley, and William B. Altman. THE FRANKLIN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, in the western part of the township, was built in 1854, through the instrumentality of Philip and John Nichols, Samuel Bettle, Jonathan Donham, and others. It is a plain, substantial brick house of moderate proportions, and stands on land formerly owned by Timothy Rardin. Connected with the church-lot is a grave-yard of three- fourths of an acre in extent, The property is at present controlled by trustees,-Jonathan Nichols, Hamlin Nichols, George Rice, Christopher Jones, Thomas M. Willis, and David H. Nichols. In the northern part of the township THE ZOAR METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH afforded a place of' worship for the Methodists and others. Here the pioneer members were John McCullom, Obadiah Winans, James Moore, William McDonald, Jacob Huling, Senath McCullom, Levi Bartholomew, Henry Tracy, Edmund Bailiff, John Leeds, Wesley Leeds, John Monroe, Evi Daily, Joseph Dole, and Obadiah Dolen. The preaching was first held in the school-house in the present Scotch settlement, but a frame meeting-house was afterwards erected in the Huling neighborhood, which was used as a place of worship twenty-five years. The present house was then erected on the same lot, and meetings were held in it until 1876, when the trustees, John Wiltsee, Howard House, and Nathaniel Daily, sold the property, and the house has been converted into a residence. The society which formerly existed here has disorganized, and the members have connected themselves with the old Bethel Church in Tate and the Mt. Pisgah Church in Ohio. Nearly all the Methodists of the township of Monroe since 1852 have been served as members of a circuit called Laurel, to which the following appointees were sent by the Annual Conference : 1853, Rev. Y. F. Holtsinger ; 1854, Revs. James Armstrong, George Parrott ; 1855, Revs. James Armstrong, T. S. Dunn ; 1856, Revs. J. C. Maddy, J. H. Herron ; 1857, Revs. J, C. Maddy, J. Spence ; 1858, Revs. G. B, Owens, D. C. Benjamin ; 1859, Revs. A. P. Dunlap, D. C. Benjamin ; 1860, Revs. A. P. Dunlap, J. Armstrong; 1861, Revs, Thomas Lee, N. Green ; 1862, Rev, Thomas Lee ; 1863, Revs. William Runyan, Henry M. Keck ; 1864, Revs. William Runyan, W. H, Reed ; 1865, Revs. W. E. Hines, W. P. Jackson ; 1866, Revs. W. T. McMullen, M. A. Head ; 1867, Revs. W. T. McMullen, R. E. Smith ; 1868, Revs. W. T. McMullen, J. Armstrong; 1869, Revs. J. P. Porter, J, Armstrong; 1870, Revs. J. P. Porter, W. M. Boyer ; 1871, Revs. J. H. Middleton, C. H. Kalbfus ; 1872, Revs. S. N. Marsh, C. H. Kalbfus ; 1873, Revs. N. McDonald, G. W, Fee; 1874, Revs. F. Hypes, G. W. Fee; 1875, Revs. John Vance, E. P, James ; 1876, Rev. E. P. James ; 1877, Rev. W, F. Eastman ; 1878, Rev. N. W. Darlington. The circuit has about 300 members, and the ministerial supply before the time above given was from the Miami, White Oak, New Richmond, and Amelia Circuits, to which the reader is referred for the names of other preachers. THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF MONROE was organized in the " Scotch settlement," north of Nicholsville, Nov. 19, 1831, by the Revs. Thomas Cole, of New Richmond, and A. F. Rankin, of Felicity, with the following 21 persons: John Archard, John Hays, Alexander MONROE TOWNSHIP - 393 Porter, John McNair, William Lytle, Andrew Coombs, Samuel Armstrong, William Johnston, Martha Hays, Rebecca Hays, Nancy Hays, Susan Porter, Janet Johnston, Susan and Ann Johnston, Rachel and Sarah Armstrong, Nancy Brooks, Janet McMurchy, Sarah McNair, and Jane Lytle. Alexander Porter, John Archard, and Andrew Coombs were chosen the first ruling elders, and of all the members the former is the only survivor. After much effort, and doing a large share of the work themselves, a small brick meeting-house was built in 1836, at the grave-yard north of Nicholsville, on land given by Elder Porter. This was used by the congregation until 1861, when the place of meeting was transferred to Bantam ; and a few years later the house was demolished and part of the material used in the construction of the church at that place, which was consecrated Aug. 27, 1865, by the pastor, Rev. J. L. French. For a period the Monroe church flourished greatly, but its prosperity was checked January, 1839,13y the division into the New and Old School Presbyterians, many of the members withdrawing to form a new society in Monroe ; yet the vitality of the congregation was not destroyed, and when the church at Bantam was occupied there had been over 100 members, and the ruling elders at that time were Alexander Porter, William Porter, Sr., and Samuel Simpson. From the organization of the church until that time (1865) the ministers of the church (pastors and supplies) were the Revs. E. Garland, George Beecher, Moses H. Wilder, Jonathan Blanchard, J. B. Walker, A. Dresser, Edward Schofield, O. H. Newton, W. Mitchell, Thomas A. Steele, William J. Essick, and J. L. French. THE OLD-SCHOOL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF MONROE. At the time of the division in 1839, John Johnston, Samuel Armstrong, Janet McMurchy, Sarah Armstrong, Janet Johnston, Susan, Ann, and Helen Johnston, John, Sarah, Robert, and Janet McNair, adhered to the Old School ; and soon Alexander, Robert, and Mary McNair, Nancy A. Black, Nancy, James, and Jane Maitland, James, Agnes, and John Campbell, Robert Clark, and William and Nancy Porter attached themselves to this same branch-of Presbyterians. For a time the meetings were held in the house before mentioned, but in November, 1843, a house of worship for their exclusive use was consecrated, on a lot of ground given for this purpose by Janet Johnston, a little north of Nicholsville. This, in a repaired condition, is yet the place of worship of the united schools of Presbyterians of Monroe, and although plainly built has an inviting appearance. The congregation has had a membership of 140 persons, and at present there arc communicants ; and the house is in charge of William McNair, Samuel Clark, and Robert Clark, Trustees. Robert McNair and John McNair were ordained the first elders, July 25, 1840, and since that time among the elders have been James Maitland, J. J. Scott, Robert Clark, John Johnston, Samuel Clark, and William McNair, Jr. The ministers of the congregation have been the Revs. L. G. Gaines, James Black, J. Wiseman, W. K. Hemmigh, Robert Young, Thomas M. Chestnut, George F. Fitch, S. P. Dillon, William West, and, since 1877, the Rev. D. B. Duncan. THE TWELVE-MILE REGULAR BAPTIST CHURCH was constituted March 21, 1835, with the following members : Isaac Denham, Solomon Fitzpatrick, Hugh Ferguson, James Beagle, Jacob C. Lewis, James Mitchell, Polly Ferguson, Mary Donham, Sarah Fitzpatrick, Betsy Behymer, Nancy Lindsey, Alice Beagle, Rebecca Lewis, Hannah Elstun, Catherine Mitchell, and Ann Banner. Soon after a brick meeting house was erected, near the covered bridge across Twelve-Mile, west from Nicholsville, which was occupied as a place of worship until the present house at Nicholsville was provided, about 1859. On the 19th of March that year new articles of faith were adopted, and the society became known as THE BAPTIST CHURCH AT NICHOLSVILLE. At this time N. B. Nichols was the clerk of the church, James Hodges the treasurer, and S. Fitzpatrick one of the deacons. In 1865 the burying-grounds connected with the meeting-house were purchased of James and John Hodges, and the house itself has since been placed in good repair. In 1879 the deacons of the church were John J. Knowles and George J. Nichols, the former also serving as the clerk of the church. . The number of members were 69, and the Rev. A. K. Sargent was the pastor. Among others who have filled the pastoral office were the Revs. Andrew Smith, A. Sargent, William D. Spaldon, W. H. Dolby, and Joseph Hawkins, all since 1859. At Laurel was formerly a Baptist society, which became too feeble to maintain its existence, and most of the remaining members connected themselves with the church at Nicholsville. The small meeting-house in which these members worshiped has been converted into a private residence. THE BOAT RUN CHRISTIAN CHURCH. The pioneer preachers of this sect,-Christians, or New Lights,—Elder Mathew Gardner and others,—visited Monroe as early as 1820, and preached in the houses of such as were friendly disposed toward them in various localities ; but it does not appear that a society organization was effected until 1842, On the 21st of August that year a meeting was held in a sugar grove on the lands of Lewis and Daniel Bushman, by Elders N. Dawson and Charles Manchester, when the following were united into church fellowship : John Clark, Oliver Stairs, Andrew Keithlen, Thomas Mulloy, W. G. Barkley (deacons), Catherine Clark, Joseph and Sarah Wyatt, Daniel and Rebecca Bushman, Elizabeth Barkley, Franklin, Rebecca, and Mathias Fridman, Sarah Stairs, William and Wilmina Moreton, Mary Kcilhlen, Anna Holmes, Barbara Seaton, Lewis BushmaU, Abagail Clark, Barbara Stewart, John Phillips, john Dennis, Wm. Idlet, Alexander White, John L. Browning, and the wives of the last five. The church has been prosperous, and has had an aggregate membership of nearly 400 ; the present number belonging is 160. The first meeting-house stood at Clermontville, and was a frame building 32 by 40 feet. It was dedicated June 4, 1843, by Elder Mathew Gardner, preaching from Luke xix. 46. The present house of worship is known as 394 - HISTORY OF CLERMONT COUNTY, OHIO. THE MOUNT ZION CHAPEL OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. It is a mile and a half from Clermontville, on two acres of ground secured for church and cemetery purposes from the farm of Wm. R. Clark, Sr. The building is a frame of fine proportions, and was erected at a cost of $3000 by a committee composed of Franklin Fridman, W. L. Moreton, George H. Fridman, P. H. Barkley, and A. Sylvester. It was dedicated Oct. 6, 1872, by Elder J. P. Daugherty. In addition to the deacons at the organization of the church, Isaac Moreton, Perry H. Barkley, Wm. L. Moreton, and Charles Folks were also called to that office, the three last named serving at present; George W. Bushman, Clerk, and J. H. Barkley, Treasurer. As elders there were Wm. Erskine, Edgar C. Abbott, Alex. Humphries, Asa Coan, and A. J. Abbott ; and the ministers have been the Revs. C. S. Manchester, J. T. Linn, E. W. Humphries, Wm. Pangburn, C. W. Wait, J. P. Daugherty, Z. Lansdown, B. H. Crissman, N. Daw, Melissa Timmons, and J. B. Lawill. A flourishing Sunday-school is maintained by the church, the present superintendent being George H. Fridman. THE LAUREL WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH. This house of worship was erected in 1861 by Daniel Fee, James A. Sargent, and 'Wm. Cook as trustees of a society which had been formed at Laurel several years previously, and which, until this period, held its meetings in the school-house. It is a substantial edifice, and cost upwards of $1600, by far the greater amount of which was paid by the trustees, who were also the first members of this faith in Monroe. Until the war removed the cause for the existence of this church the society flourished, and at one time had 40 members. Then came a period of declining interest, and finally complete disorganization. The building was sold after 1870 for a public hall, and in that capacity is now used. At the Clermont Academy a Baptist society was organized in 1869, which ten years later reported a membership of 24 and the Rev. A. K. Sargent as pastor. The Sunday- school here was organized in 1839, and for many years has had J. K. Parker as superintendent. MILITARY. Mr. J, B, Simmons gives the following interesting account of the militia of Monroe, with the scenes and events connected with the parades and general musters: " In those early days the militia of the State was organized, and required to muster. Muster-days were great days of excitement, and attracted vast crowds of people. In 1818 or 1819, the seventh company of the Second Regiment, Third Brigade, Eighth Division of the Ohio militia was organized on my father's farm, and John Marsh was elected Captain; John Fisher, Lieutenant; and John Marsh, Ensign, or Color-Bearer. These officers served five years, when they became exempt from military duty, in time of peace, according to the law, and so they resigned. In the fall of 1824 I had the honor of being elected captain of this company, as the successor of Capt. Marsh. My name was brought forward without my knowledge or consent by Maj. Philip Byrns, of Point Pleasant. Maj. Byrne was in the war of 1812, under Gen. Harrison, in the Northwest, and was taken prisoner by the Indians, but finally escaped by stealing away at night. Being so young—only twenty-oae—I hesitated to undertake it, but being urged by friends, I accepted the command, and received my commission from Governor Lucas in the spring of 1825. I procured Gen. Winfield Scott's Manual on Exercise,' and studied it pretty thoroughly. John Gilman was my lieutenaat, David Light our ensign, and David Bainum, now living at Laurel, was our drummer-boy. "Among this company were many young men that were leading citizens for years. I may mention Henry Barkley, Hugh Barkley, Hatton Simmons, Elisha B., Sanford S., and John A. Simmons, William Pollard, William P. Lakin, Abram C. Corbin, John Andersoa, who still lives in Laurel, David Hancock, who was my successor in office, and who was the father of Professor John Hancock, of Dayton, Nicholas Corbin, who waS the grandfather of Gen. Henry C. Corbin, who commanded the frrst company of colored men raised in the late war, and who was at one time private secretary to President Hayes; and while Gen. Grant had the honor of commanding the armies of the nation, I had the hoUor of drilling his father in my company for three years, and I can say that he was very careful to obey every command. " The company having new officers, a great many came out to see the first drilling. The muster was at Henry Barkley's house. Many ladies were present. -The drummer and fifer beat parade in the front yard so that the ladies could witness the forming of the line. I directed the orderly to call the roll. A number sat on the fence instead of taking their places in the ranks. I told the orderly to mark every man absent that did not answer to his name in the ranks, telling the company at the same time that I would return every man to the court- martial that did not take his place. All took their places except one, who seemed to bid defiance. I stepped up to him with drawn sword, and said, 'Sir, if you do not fall into ranks at once, and answer to your name, I will return you to the court-martial and have you fined,' and turned and left him. As I walked back to the company he said, with an oath, 'He feels mighty big since he has been elected captain.' He took his place, however, and after the orderly had finished calling the roll I brought the company to a shoulder arms; then told them to order arms, and said, ' Now, gentlemen, you have elected me your captain. While on parade I shall expect you to obey me as captain; when off parade I am as one of you.' This settled the matter of trifling with me on parade, and our first day of mustering passed off very pleasantly. "The next summer after David Hancock was elected captain in my place, in 1828, he appointed a muster at Laurel, on William Pollard's farm, and the cavalry met at the same place on the same day. The cavalry was officered, I think, by Maj. Clark, Capt. Powell, and Lieut. John A. Simmons, who was promoted to captain. Before going into the field the two companies, infantry and cavalry, agreed to fight a sham battle to enliven the occasion. Capt. Hancock, being a young offrcer, requested me take charge of the company, and took the vote of the company, which was unanimous. On taking the command I marched the company to a large sycamore-tree standing out in the field, the branches of the tree reaching out fifteen or twenty feet each way, and so low that the horsemen could not ride under without being dragged off their horses. We formed the company into a hollow square around the tree for the double purpose of shade and defense. The cavalry soon made their appearance on the far side of the field. They divided into two divisions, taking opposite directionS around the field to attack us on two sideS at the same time. We made ready for the attack by appointing officers to command on each side of the square, I taking oversight of the whole. " They came up at a full lope, and in good style. They were in single file, and when near us formed into platoons to fire, and then retired by right and left, until the last platoon had discharged its volley, the infantry keeping up its fire at each platoon. "The cavalry, after repeating their attacks, retired to the far side of the field, and determined to give us a running fire. This left every man to fire as he pleased in passing our company. Some came so near their horses took fright, some were thrown and captured, and otherS lost their caps, pistols, etc. They then formed into sections, attacking us on all sides at once, and the men were so determined to break our ranks that it came near being a fight in earneSt. Some did get hurt, but none mortally. Had it not been for the sycamore-tree they would have whipped us, but as it was we got the better of them. That day was remembered for many years as the day of the Battle of the Sycamore-Tree. "Regimental musters were grand occasions, and crowds would gather not only to witness the parades, but to hear the political speeches, which were sure to form a part of the programme on such occasions. The politicians took these opportunities to get the public MONROE TOWNSHIP - 395 ear. As soon as the regiment was dismissed for dinner some small politician was ready to gather a crowd to hear him. " The general parade would close about 3 P.M.; then the strong men would begin to harangue the people on the leading questions of the day. 1n the days of Gen. Jackson politics ran high, and such men as Gen. Thomas L. Hamer, Gen. Finley, Thomas Morris, David Fisher, Thomas Corwin, and later John Brough, Governor Tod, and others would make lively times on muster-days. "In 1829 and 1830 two officers, a brigadier-general and his brigade inspector, in full uniform, with gold epaulets on their shoulders and fine chapeaus trimmed with golden tassels, and finely-trimmed belts, with their gilded swords hanging by their aides, rode up to my cabin and inquired if they could stay all night. I told them we were not very well prepared to entertain them, but would do the best we could, and said, "Light, and walk in.' "After taking care of their equipage and fine horses, the thought came to me, How can I have family worship before these high officials? but I resolved to do my duty at all hazards, and in the barn prayed to God to help me. I determined to call on the general first to lead the devotions, and then on his aid, and then, if both refused, I would do the best I could. So at bedtime I set out the stand, with Bible and hymn-book, and asked the general if he would lead in our devotions, and to my surprise and great satisfaction he led in good earnest, and the brigade inspector led in the morning. This was the beginning of a long and pleasant acquaintance. David Dial was the brigadier-general, and Shadrach Dial was the brigade inspector." BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. IRA FERGUSON. One of the two representatives in the Ohio Legislature from Clermont is Hon. Ira Ferguson, whose ancestors emigrated from Ireland early in the eighteenth century, and were of the house of Fergus, the celebrated Scottish chief. The great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Thomas Ferguson, settled on the Monongahela River, eighteen miles above the then French Fort Duquesne, one of the first lodgments of civilized life west of the Alleghanies, near the present site of Brownsville, in Western Pennsylvania, which settlement was made about the time the English took the above fort (now Pittsburgh) from France, He served in the French and Indian colonial war, and was under Washington at Braddook's defeat, being one of the few brave men who escaped that historic and disastrous rout. The early settlers on the Monongahela were compelled to procure their " store-goods," such as salt, iron, nails, kitchen utensils and wares (calicoes and dry goods were in those days unknown quantities on the frontier settlements), from Philadelphia or Baltimore, in exchange for peltries, furs, ginseng, etc., which commerce was carried on by means of pack-horses. Each horse would have a pack-saddle and bell upon him, and every night the horses would be counted to see if all were present. Henry and Isaac, sons of Thomas Ferguson, made seventy-two trips across the mountains ere there was a wagon-road over them, and often at the peril of their lives from the attacks and incursions of the Indians. Isaac Ferguson, the grandfather of Ira, served throughout the Revolutionary war in the Continental patriot army, and part of the time as a trusted scout to watch the movements of the red-coats. In 1784, Isaac, with his wife (a Miss Elizabeth Leedom, of Revolutionary memory), his three sons, Zachariah, Isaiah, and Hugh, and his daughters, after wards married, Elizabeth to Abel Donham, Nancy to Col. William Lindsey, and Ruth to Robert Donham, together with his horses, farming-tools, hand-mill (cut from the 'conglomerate rock of Laurel Hill, in West Virginia), etc., not omitting his " pack-saddles," all on board a covered bateau, called a " family boat," launched forth on the rapid Monongahela, descended the Ohio, and landed at Limestone (now Maysville), and thence went to Bryant's Station, where he was the companion of Boone, Kenton, Morgan, Bryan, and other early Indian fighters and scouts. While living in Mason Co., Ky., he crossed the Ohio River with the little band, under command of Kenton, in the spring of 1791, that attacked the Indians in camp at the mouth of Grassy Run, in Jackson township of this county, and participated in that sharp fight, from which by sheer force of weakness in numbers the whites were compelled to withdraw. In 1794, Isaac with his family moved to Campbell Co., Ky., some fifteen miles above Cincinnati, and in that and the following years fifteen acres of choice bottom- ground were cleared, a cabin built, and peach and apple orchards planted on the east bank of the Ohio River, and in the spring of 1796 he crossed the Ohio and located in Clermont, some eighteen miles above Cincinnati, and two or three below the present city of New Richmond, where he died in 1818, leaving his wife and ten children,-seven sons—Isaiah, Zachariah, Hugh, Isaac, Francis, James, and Thomas—and three daughters. Isaiah, the eldest son of Isaac Ferguson, was born on the banks of the Monongahela, in 1776, and settled in what is now Pierce township with his father, and there died in 1852, at the age of seventy- five years and twenty-seven days. At the mouth of Nine- Mile or Muddy Creek (first called John's Creek) he established one of the first ferries in Clermont across the Ohio River, and on the call for volunteers at divers times to defend the frontiers against the incursions of the Indians volunteered three times in the war of 1812, and for several months was commander of Fort Meigs, holding the rank of major. He married Mary, daughter of James Johns, by whom he had ten children,—five sons—Isaac, Squire, James, Zachariah, and Ira—and five daughters : Jane, married to Benjamin Behymer ; Margaret, to Ira Tracy ; Mary, to Benjamin Marell ; Nancy, to Washington West; and Elizabeth, unmarried. Ira Ferguson was born Nov. 24, 1818, was reared on a farm, and attended good schools under the old-time teachers, John C. Smith, Thomas Sherman, Isaac Miller, Warren Pease, and Eben S. Ricker, Jan. 21, 1841, he was married by Rev. Whittington Hancock, of the Baptist Church, to Nancy M. Shaw, born Feb. 27, 1820, and a daughter of Hon. John Shaw, a representative from Clermont in the General Assembly for years 1818, 1826-28, and a county commissioner for several years, and who was born in York Co., Pa., July 15, 1779, the night Mad Anthony Wayne captured Stony Point, and who was of Scotch-Irish descent and of Revolutionary war stock, his father, James Shaw, being at the battles of Brandywine, Trenton, etc., while his wife was Nancy Morin, daughter of Edward Morin, of Culpepper Co., Va., who fought under " Light-Horse Harry Lee" in the struggle for independence. Ira Ferguson and his wife have had three children,—Robert S. and John Q. living, and a 396 - HISTORY OF CLERMONT COUNTY, OHIO. daughter, Carrie, deceased. In 1852-53 he was elected land-appraiser of the district composed of Ohio, Pierce, Union, and Miami townships, and has been several years a trustee and treasurer of his (Monroe) township. In the old militia he served eighteen years as lieutenant, captain, and major, and in the war of the Rebellion raised and commanded Company D, Seventh Ohio Cavalry, until his declining health compelled his resignation. In 1862 he took the three degrees in Buckeye Lodge, No. 150, of F. and A. M., of New Richmond, and has belonged to the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows for thirty years, and passed all the chairs in that order in the subordinate lodge. Is a member of no denomination, but with his family attends and aids in supporting the Methodist Church. Was elected a representative to the Legislature in 1871, and served two years, being on the committees on temperance and turnpikes, and was again elected in 1879, and is now on those of claims, fees and salaries, and unfinished business. He sprang from a pioneer family, and he inherits that fidelity to duty and attachment to correct principles which were so characteristic of his ancestors on either side. He is always in his seat in the Legislature, carefully watching and guarding the best interests of' the people of the county he represents, and has the reputation of being one of the most industrious and faithful members of the General Assembly. Strongly attached all his life to agricultural pursuits, he served many years as one of the directors and again as marshal of the Clermont County Agricultural Society at Bantam, in the success and advancement of which he was largely instrumental. He resides on his homestead some three and a half miles from New Richmond, where, in his avocation as a farmer, surrounded with peace and plenty, he is passing the evening of a well-spent and successful life, with his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Robert S. Ferguson, presiding over his establishment, his beloved wife and companion of' thirty-seven years having died May 1, 1878. Mrs. Nancy M. Ferguson was a woman of rare mental power, and her kindness of heart and domestic graces made her beloved in the pleasant home of which for nearly two-score years she was the centre of attraction. Major Ferguson has ever been closely identified with the Democratic party, to whose principles he is strongly attached, and his counsels are often called into requisition by the chieftains of the party. His public life in the legislative halls and in the various stations to which he has frequently been called by the suffrages of the people has ever been one of great honor to himself and of usefulness to the community at large. FRANKLIN FRIDMAN. The leading business man of Clermont County, and hardly excelled by any in wealth, and none in energy and financial character and standing, is Franklin Fridman, of Clermontville, who, from a poor German boy, has in less than half' a century arisen to be the controlling business magnate of the county. He was born Oct. 4, 1816, in Stolhoven, of the then principality of Baden, in Germany, on the river Rhine, in a, locality famous for its great battles fought centuries ago, and where to this day exist the ruins of the ancient castles and fortifications, many of them in an excellent state of preservation. He was the youngest son of George and Elizabeth (daughter of Michael Miller) Fridman, who had six children, to wit: Leonard, Matthias, Franklin, Theresa, Sabina, and Elizabeth. In 1830 his brother Leonard emigrated to America, locating near Baltimore, and was a contractor in building the railroad from that city to Harper's Ferry. His mother and one sister died in the fatherland, and his father died in France, while en route to America with him and his brother Matthias and two remaining sisters, who arrived in Baltimore in 1833. Then they moved to Wheeling, thence to Cincinnati, thence to Louisville, Ky., and finally located near Rockford, Jackson Co., Ind., on White River, near where Seymour now stands. In 1834, Franklin Fridman, a stranger in a strange land and only eighteen years old, came alone to Cincinnati and learned the trade of boiler-making under Thomas Justice and a Mr. Banks. He followed that avocation two years under Richard Dumont and a Mr. Parker. Then for nearly a year ran on the Ohio River as second engineer on the " Lady Scott," the first Maysville steam packet to ply between that town and Cincinnati. Having met with a severe accident that crippled his hand, he began peddling on foot with his pack on his back and traveled over Ohio and Kentucky, stopping with all the best farmers, with whom he tarried of nights and on Sundays. He was a young man of correct habits and fixed principles, and the young German peddler was a universal favorite wherever he went, and every house was open to him for entertainment and lodgings, such was the character he had gained by his honesty and exemplary conduct. But in 1839 he had made quite a little sum from his peddling operations, MONROE TOWNSHIP - 397 and having carefully saved it, located at the mouth of Boat Run, on the Ohio River, in Monroe township, where he now resides, and which has ever since been the scene of his business operations. He was married by Rev. Matthew Gardner, on Sept. 9, 1840, to Rebecca Bushman, daughter of Demos and Elizabeth Bushman, old settlers in the county, and by this marriage the following children were born : George Henry, Lewis L., Franklin Matthias, Lincoln Washington, Charles Abrams (died when young), Elizabeth (married to Noah Tomkins), and Annie. After the death of his first wife he was again married, on Sept. 28, 1859, by Rev. G. B. Owens, to Milly Ann Bushman, a daughter of William and Drucilla Bushman (née Houseman). He has had by his second wife the following children : Calvin D., William McClellan, Alonzo, Fred Walter, Bell, and Gracie. He is a mcmber of the Christian Church, and a Democrat in politics, but has always refused to be a candidate for office, ahhough frequently solicited to run for county treasurer and commissioner, preferring to attend to his constantly increasing business. Ever since the organization of the First National Bank of New Richmond he has been one of its directors, served as its vice-president, and is now its popular and efficient president. He was for years a member of the board of directory of " The Clermont Mutual Fire Insurance Company." He was one of the owners of the " Virginia. Home," a steamboat that plied between Foster's Landing and Cincinnati, and for many years he built and owned a large number of flat-boats trading on the Ohio River. Forty-one years ago he opened a little store at Roat Run, and from that small beginning has grown one of the largest mercantile establishments in the county. He is the largest stockholder of the New Richmond National Bank, and in that city, in connection with Theodore Steelman, owns and runs the largest steam saw-mill in Clermont. He raises on his lands large crops annually of fine leaf tobacco, and besides has a large warehouse where he every year prizes hundreds of hogsheads of tobacco which he buys of the farmers in the surrounding country. In addition to all these he is a very large dealer in coal, lumber, etc. Extending back from his store he has some two hundred and twenty-seven acres of land, excluding the three hundred acres given by him to his children, besides the large number of acres he owns in Kentucky, and his extensive purchases in Missouri. The seat of his business enterprises is at Clermontville, on the Ohio River, two and one-half miles above New Richmond, and right opposite his store is the famous " Parker's Academy," the oldest classical school in Clermont, and one of the best training institutions in Ohio. Mr. Fridman is a self-made man, who by his untiring energy, business tact, unswerving honesty, and methodical habits has arisen to eminence and wealth. Precise in his dealings, he is yet most liberal and public-spirited, and has done much to relieve the distresses of the deserving poor. On 'Change in Cincinnati and in the business and banking circles of Southern Ohio his name and his word are held in high esteem. ANTONY SYLVESTER. Captain Antony Sylvester was born March 24, 1818, on the island of Flores, in the Bay of Biscay, but was raised and educated in Lisbon, Portugal. Ile came, when a lad of thirteen years, to New Bedford, Mass., and for the next twenty-one years was employed on the ocean as a sailor. He traveled twice around the globe, doubled Cape Horn three times, and visited nearly every known habitable chme in the world. He served on whaling vessels, merchant ships, and eighteen months on a man-of-war. From the humblest berth as a poor Portuguese boy he rose to be mate on the largest ships that traversed the seas. Ile was in the East and West Indies, Sandwich Islands, South America, China, and nearly all countries with which commerce was carried on, and saw without price what other people have traveled fir and at great expense to witness. He served in the Mexican war, and was master of a ship in transporting quartermaster stores from New Orleans to Galveston for Gen. Taylor's army. He married, June 9, 1847, in New Orleans, Miss Rosa Killinger, at the grand cathedral. In 1852 he moved to Campbell Co., Ky., and began steamboating on the Ohio River. He moved to Neville, then Moscow, and then to Monroe township. He worked and steamboated for Commodore David Gibson for fourteen years, was mate on the ill-fitted "Magnolia" and " Lancaster," was captain three years on the " Poland," and one year each on the " Lancaster," " Mollie Norton," and " Melrose." He retired in 1868 from the river to the fine farm he had purchased two years previous from David Steelman. This contains fifty acres, lying just back of Clermontville, in Monroe township, on the Boat Run and Laurel road. He has one of the prettiest and most attractive homes in the county, and his beautiful residence, located on a high point, commands the finest view in the Ohio Valley. Capt. Sylvester pays special attention to the culture of tobacco and fruits. The following children have been born to him and his estimable wife: Antonie, Samuel and William (twins), the latter dead, John, Albert, Mary, Rosa (deceased), Rosa, Charles, and Annie. He is a member of the Christian, and his wife of the Roman Catholic, Church. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, and holds his membership in Sigel Lodge, No. 375, of New Richmond, and in Encampment No. 99. He is also a prominent member of Clermont Lodge, No. 14, of Ancient Order of United Workmen at Moscow. He is a Democrat in politics, but has never been an office-seeker or holder, save to serve four years in the township board of education, of which he is now a leading member. His post-office is Clermontville, near "Parker's Academy." When he was a seaman he sailed several times from Great Britain and France, and before his naturalization in the United States he more than twenty times took the oath of allegiance to this government on shipping as mate on merchant vessels. Capt. Sylvester is one of our best citizens, honest, public-spirited, and interested in everything tending to advance the interests of the community. OHIO. This is one of the original townships, and lies on the Ohio west of the centre of the county. On the cast is the township of Monroe, and west and north is Pierce, until thirty ycars ago a part of its territory. Bordering the narrow strip of bottom-lands along the Ohio are high hills, some of them having an altitude of three hundred feet, but whose sides are gently sloping. Their tops are generally level, forming beautiful uplands, which extend to the broken ground along the streams flowing through the interior of the township. The northern part is pleasantly undulated, and in all the township there is but little waste land. The principal stream is Twelve-Mile Creek, flowing from Monroe south of the centre, in a slightly southwestern course, to its mouth, below New Richmond. Ten-Mile Creek, north of the centre, has more of a westerly course, and is a smaller stream. Both received their names from the location of their outlets above the Little Miami. With a little exception the soil of Ohio is fertile, and there are many rich farms, having expensive improvements, and in point of wealth and beauty of surroundings the township is hardly surpassed. THE PIONEERS. Isaac Ferguson and his family were the first to make a permanent settlement in Ohio township, and an account of this pioneer's life is elsewhere given.* In 1784 he left his home, near Pittsburgh, with his wife and three sons,— Zachariah, Isaiah, and Hugh, and their daughters, since Mrs. Abel Donham, Mrs. Col. Wm. Lindsey, and Mrs. Robert Donham, together with his horses, farming-tools, hand-mill (cut from the conglomerate rock of " Laurel Hill" in West Virginia), etc., not omitting his " pack-saddles," all on board a covered bateau, called a " family boat," launched forth on the Monongahela River, landed at Limo Stone, now Maysville, on the Ohio, and thence to Bryant's Station. Here, what Bryant, Morgan, and Boone dared, did, and endured, he did his share, so long as the miscreant and traitor to his race, Simon Girty and the Indians sought their scalps. In 1794 they were raising corn in Campbell Co., Ky., at the mouth of Ten-Mile Creek, and in that and the following years 15 acres of ground were cleared, a cabin built, and apple and peach orchards planted on the east bank of the Ohio River. In the spring of 1796 he moved to his new home, eighteen miles above Cincinnati and two miles below New Richmond. Here, in his quaint, quiet, and unobtrusive way, he spent the evening of his days. His faults were in taxing himself and his family but too much by his generosity and hospitality to others. He died in 1818. * See Chapter XIX. Of what he was as an integer in the make-up of the Northwest Territory may be inferred by those who visited him in his seclusion. Boone, Simon Kenton, and men of their manner of life came. So came also Governors Arthur St. Clair, Worthington, and McArthur. Much of the time from 1797 to 1806 the three brothers—Zachariah, Isaiah, and Hugh—spent in building cabins and clearing ground for pioneer settlers as they came. They thus aided from Bullskin Creek on the south to Mad River on the north. Probably the last job of this kind was done for George Ely, on the southwest part of the town of Batavia, by Hugh Ferguson and the late Col. Jonathan S. Donham ; Ely and his help bivouacking in linen tents, and Mrs. Ely living in the New Jersey wagon-bed. Isaac Ferguson lived on the W. T. Gray farm, where he established a ferry soon afler his settlement, which was maintained many years. Of his sons, Zachariah moved to Indiana at an early day. Isaiah was the father of the Hon. Ira Ferguson, of Monroe, of whom a sketch is elsewhere given. In February, 1805, Hugh Ferguson married Mary Arthur, daughler of James Arthur, a Revolutionary soldier, living in Batavia. The following year he moved to the Franklin Settlement, in Monroe, where he became a prominent citizen. He was the father of the Hon. James Ferguson, of Indiana. The fourth son of Isaac Ferguson, Sr., Isaac, Jr., and his brothers, Thomas and James, also emigrated to Indiana, and Frank died in Ohio. In the fall of 1796 and the following year a number of settlers came into what was the old township of Ohio. James John located at the mouth of Nine-Mile Creek, and Rodham Morin near Isaac Ferguson's, to which place his father, Edward Morin, with a large family, came the following year. Regarding these settlers and the settlements which followed, and the incidents of their pioneer life, the Hon. John Shaw said : "And soon after came Hezekiah Lindsey, Jesse Swom, Archibald Gray, Nathaniel Donham, William Abercrombie, John, Jacob, and Daniel Light, Alexander Robb, and John, Abner, and Joseph Fagin. These were all from Pennsylvania except the Morins, who were from Virginia. Mr. Morin, Mr. Lindsey, and Mr. Swem had been soldiers of the Revolutionary war, and perhaps some of the others named. About the year 1800 there settled near the mouth of Boat Run Messrs. Newton, Ayres, Weldon, and Eldridge. They were from New Jersey. The first settlement in Franklin neighborhood was made by Alexander Robb in 1804; and in 1806, Hugh Ferguson, William McCandless, James Whitaker, and probably Joshua and David Brown; and in 1308, John Shaw, Sr.; and before 1812, Timothy Rardin, Josiah Carnes, Nathan Nichols, Jonathan Rinker, Daniel Derry, Benjamin Morin, William and Archibald Bonnet, Andrew Gray; and soon after John Archard, Jephtha Moore, Everard Bettie, Nathan Layeock, Jonathan S. Donham, James Cates, Nathan and Nicholas Corbin, and Absalom Cook. These are all that 1 now reeollect. They were nearly all intelligent, industrious, frugal, and thrifty - 398 - 399 - OHIO TOWNSHIP citizens, and raised on an average about ten children each, and their numerous progeny are now scattered from here to California. "The first settlers in what is now the northern part of the small territory of Ohio township were Amos and Robert Haiaes, Levi Moss, William and Hezekiah LindSey, Rodham and John Morin, John, Robert, Amos, and Abel Donham, Reuben Laycock, John Snider, John and Abner Fagin, Edmund and Caleb Lindsey, John Cox, Sr., Edward Chapman, William Hardin, David White, Dr. Joshua Porter, Neely Gray, Hamilton Miller, Zebulon Applegate, Mr. WiShart, and Lewis Miller. I recollect all of the above except Alexander Robb, 1saac Ferguson, Nathaniel Denham, William McCandless, James Whitaker, William Abercrombie, and Mr. Wishart ; they died before my day. I think they were all here before 1812. They were nearly all men of integrity and untiring industry, and it seems to me that they were expressly designed for the settlement of a new country. The most of them were uneducated, but they were men of strong intellect and quick perceptive faculties, and were always on the alert to learn; and us knowledge in those days was not made a monopoly of or hid under a bushel, what one knew the others soon learned. I have often seen a half-dozen neighbors assembled around a winter- evening fire to hear the newspaper read, and they generally discussed every artiele in it before they broke np. " In the above I have only given the names of those that were settled here before the war of 1812, as I consider that the first era in the first settlement of the country. It was the era of the leather hunting-shirt and buckskin moccasin ; of the bob-sled, husk collar, aad raw-hide traces, and the bar-shear plow, that would kick a boy over the fence, and probably kick at him after he was over ; before steamboat navigation, and before the application of steam or electricity to any mechanical purpose, and before all the innumerable labor-saving inventions that have sprung up in my day. "In 1815 there was but a very small portion of our dense foreSts cleared, though a large area of it was deadened. I have helped to deaden and burn a great deal of what would now be very valuable timber. I frequently hear it said in these days that the first settlers must have been very improvident and wasteful in destroying so much fine timber. They donlt consider that stern necessity required us to clear the land, and there being 110 sale for it, of course it had to be burned. When a settler selected a piece of land for a home, his first object was to secure a tract that had on it a never-failing spring of water, next a sugar orchard, and next that kind of land best adapted to the production of wheat and rye. Pennsylvanians, particularly, always seemed to be extremely hungry for wheat-bread, and as soon as they got a patch cleared, and tended in one crop of corn, they scratched in between the rows with a shovel-plow their wheat, and if it was not blown down before heading it produced a tolerable fair quality of grain. The thrashing was mostly done with flails, but it was sometimes tramped out with horses, then sifted through a wooden riddle, and the chaff blown from it by two persons, ,itch holding firmly an end of a strong linen sheet, dexterously giving it that artistic flop that was required to raise the wind, almost precisely as the aneient Egyptians did when they first set up housekeeping and farming in Africa. The first wheat-fan I ever saw was bought by my father in 1816, at Maysville, Ky., and shipped to Nevilsville by pirogue, and from thence home ten miles on a sled, and if ever a wind-mill traveled thousands of miles on a sled that old mill did. In that day nothing was considered too good to lend, hence the mill was almost always going. I have known it to be hauled Six to eight miles to clean a few bushels of grain. Some years later another mill was brought into the neighborhood, but it was soon reported and spoken of as a remarkable instance of selfishness that the owner actually refused to loan it to be hauled over the country, but that all were welcome to bring. their grain to his barn and clean it on his Will. It was not long before a man that had been refused the loan of the windmill got his satisfaction. He owned a post auger, and the owner of the milt sent his son to borrow it. He told the boy to tell his father that he could not let him take his auger away from home, but if he would bring his post-holes up to his place he might bore all he had and welcome. "I have known wheat to be carried frequently sixteen miles or more to the Miami millS on horseback. A boy of ten years of ago could ride a horse under a three-bushel sack and lead another carrying the same. The led-horse was generally harnessed under a packsaddle, on which a sack would stick as firmly as if thrown on a rail fence. Amos Haines was always ready to loan his magnificent pi- rogue to any of his neighbors that wished to ship their wheat to the Cincinnati steam-mill, and I have hoard some of them boast they actually got as high as 37i cents per bushel for their wheat in cash, and no store-goods. "During the first year or two after the settlement at Ferguson's ferry all the meal that was used was ground on a hand-mill that was brought by Mr. Ferguson from Pittsburgh, the stones of which were carried over the Alleghany Mountains on a pack-horSe. 1 have semi them often, and they are probably in the neighborhood yet. Mr. James John built a grist-mill on Nine-Mile Creek in 1799, which was the first ia this part of the eounty. I have heard some of the first settlers of Newtown, Hamilton Co., say that lhey bad often carried corn from there to John's mill to have it ground. Light's mill (afterwards Warren's) on Twelve-Mile Creek was built later, but in what year I am unable to say. Salt was procured at Grant's Lick, ten miles from the river, in Kentucky. The capacity of the well was from four to five bushels per day, and it was sold aS fast as it WAS 'Made to waiting customers at from one to three dollars per bushel." Rodham Morin, who was the next to come after the Fergusons, had served in Mad Anthony's campaigns against the Indians, and improved a place a little more than a mile . below New Richmond. He fell from a boat in Cincinnati, in 1830, and was drowned. Of his eight children four were scns, viz. : John and Benjamin (who were in the war of 1812), James and Andrew Jackson. The former moved to Illinois, and the latter yet lives in the township. The other two have deceased. The daughters married Gordon Applegate, Thomas McClelland, Judson Calhoun, and William Calhoun. Hezekiah Lindsey and his family came with Isaac Ferguson from Pennsylvania, and lived near him in Kentucky ; and after coming to Clermont settled below him on the river-bottoms. He died about seventy years ago, leaving sons named Manley, John, Philip, Hezekiah, William, Elijah, and daughters who married Joshua Brown, of Ohio ; John Fisher, of Monroe ; John Gilman, Elijah Mattox, and Jesse Swem, all of Pierce. John Lindsey and his brother Philip settled in Brown County. Hezekiah married a sister of Reuben Laycock, and settled east of Palestine, in Pierce, where he died at the age of eighty-four years. Of his sons Philip removed to Kentucky, John died in Pierce, Levi was drowned in the army, William removed to Illinois, Stephen became a Baptist minister, and Marion still occupies the homestead. Several of the daughters married,—Rachel, David Wheeler, and Nancy, John Reese. Col. William Lindsey was married to Nancy Ferguson, and settled on the present Trump farm, but died at Mount Pisgah in 1864, at the age of eighty two years ; and his widow at New Richmond in 1877, aged ninety-four years. Twelve of their children attained mature years,-John, William, Isaiah, Isaac, Hezekiah, and Ira. The latter resides at Newport ; and all but the former two yet reside in the county. His daughters married David Douham, Martin Behymer, Samuel White, Andrew Hixson, John B. Day, and Peter Myers, all of Southern Clermont. Elijah Lindsey lived in Monroe, but removed to Indiana many years ago. The Fagins—John, Joseph, George, Peter, and Abner lived along Ten-Mile Creek. Joseph was married to Rachel Gray, and settled near Mount Pisgah. He reared a large family. George Fagin finally settled in Hamilton County. Abner Fagin lived in the Mount Pisgah neighborhood the greater part of his life, but died in Monroe. at