ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 125 DR. WILLIAM BELL. Long ago Dr. Bell was a practicing physician at Bellbrook, Ohio. He had quite a local reputation, but in later years he removed to Xenia, where he died. CEDARVILLE, OHIO. Though a neighborhood center, first it was called Newport's mill, then again it was known as Hanna's store, then as the "Burgh," next as Milford, and finally as Cedarville. No physicians there in early days ; Dr. McTume' was there in 1833, and next probably Dr. Andrew Cowden, who removed to Washington, Iowa, where he died. DR. JOSEPH TEMPLETON. In 1826 Dr. Joseph Templeton, from western Pennsylvania, settled in Xenia, and had an extensive practice and great influence outside of professional life. He was one of the early abolitionists, and thus became a valuable support to his pastor, Rev.. Samuel Wilson, D. D. Our young fellow citizens can have but a very indistinct idea of the moral courage necessary to be an abolitionist in those days. Dr. Templeton's wife is said to have been the first to establish schools for colored children in Xenia. On account of family ties, Dr. Templeton returned to Pennsylvania and, was succeeded by Dr. Samuel Martin. But after a lapse of a few years he returned to Xenia, occupying the property known as the R.. F. Howard homestead. In 1843 he again went to Washington, being made very wealthy by the estate of his father-in-law, deceased. In 1865 he made a brief visit to Xenia and died suddenly a few days after his return home. A leading dentist of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, is a namesake and nephew of Dr. Templeton. He is a man six feet, three inches tall, and weighs two hundred and sixty pounds, although he weighed but three pounds at his birth. DR. SAMUEL MARTIN Died at his residence in Xenia, Ohio, on Saturday morning, June 21, 1879, aged eighty-three years. He was a native of Ireland and educated in Glasgow University, Scotland, for the English navy. But on graduating he declined to enter the service, married his first wife and began the practice of his profession in Ireland. In less than a year his wife died, and the young doctor sought the United States as a place for a short sojourn, but soon became so well pleased with the country that he determined to make it his home. He settled in Noblesville, Pennsylvania, where he married Miss Helen Anderson, the mother of his children, and who died in Xenia about 1859. In 1834 Dr. Martin became a resident of Xenia, Ohio, and for forty-five years, with the exception of a few years, he was continually engaged in the successful practice of his profession. He had many generous qualities, and had endeared himself to a large number of friends. His last wife was Miss Nancy Liggett, who during his last days and through his illness waited upon him with great kindness and faithfulness. Dr. George Watt, one of his pupils, has left on record his recollections and tribute of respect to our subject as follows : "Dr. Samuel Martin was no ordinary man and his life in this community no ordinary career. In the prime 426 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. of his manhood he came among us in 1834, and was immediately recognized as a leading physician by the extensive practice accorded to him. He gave his whole mind to the practice of his profession and enlisting into his service an extensive library and the leading medical journals of the day. His patrons recognized him not only as their phyiscian, but their friend." The present generation have no conception of the hardships of the practice at that ,early day. The average roads of that day would be regarded as impassable to-day. A .strong horse with a saddle were the requisites. Day and night through mud and storm did Dr. Martin plod his way till his form became familiar to all, and he continued to be "the man on horseback" till laid aside about five years before his death by paralysis. As a teacher of young men, Dr. Martin was earnest, industrious and faithful. At least some of his pupils can recall "horseback" recitations of twenty to forty miles in length, interrupted only by occassional stops to examine and prescribe for patients. Seven of his pupils attended his funeral, four of them, residents of this city, being pall bearers. At last, however, the silver cord began to loosen and after a long and patient waiting the wheels of life stood still and the old man passed to his rest, John W. Shields also adds his tribute, as follows : "He was kind and generous even to a fault; had he saved his earnings, he would have been rich. I remember, in 1849, when the cholera was so fatal here, that Dr. Martin fitted up part of his stable as a hospital, and there he nursed and doctored homeless Irishmen until they were able to return: to work on the railroad which was -then being built. During the last few years his mind dwelt chiefly on religious matters, and his readings were all of that nature. We will not soon forget him as he sat in the shade by the door reading his Bible, but he has gone to his rest and we will cherish his memory." ROBERT CASBOLT. In connection with this it may not be out of place to add here some history in regard to Dr. Martin's old home, which is still standing on East Main street, Xenia. The house in which the late Dr. Martin lived for forty-five years was built by Robert Casbolt in 1814, and is now among the few remaining monuments of the olden times. Only a few of our oldest citizens will remember Mr. Casbolt, who used to act as constable and tax collector. He had tender eyes and on cold windy days would ride with a vail over his face. Mr. Casbolt and his wife, Polly, came here in 1806, when Xenia was quite new. When he first came to Green county, like many old pioneers, he made Sugarcreek township his first home. He removed from there to Xenia in 1811 and became a resident of Xenia, and, as tradition says, "the course of true love never runs smooth," and Robert Casbolt, who was thirty, found it difficult to marry Polly Todd, a precocious maiden of fourteen. Polly was willing but the old folks were not. An elopment was planned. Polly went out in the shade of the evening to milk, and, setting her pail on the fence, led her father's horse out of the stable, jumped on behind her lover, rode away and they were mar ried. In the early times here Mrs. Casbolt practiced a very useful vocation, as many now living can well attest. On such occasion she would frequently witch for water ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 127 with a peach tree rod, telling how far they would have to dig by the nod of the wand. Mrs. Casboat was a strong-minded woman, and bad she lived in these days when women have organized for their required rights she would have stood high among them. Robert Casbolt was a soldier of the war of 1812, under Captain Robert McClellan, of Sugarcreek township. He was also a soldier of the war of the Revolution, in the Continental army. He was placed on the roll as pensioner for that war, September 27, 1832, at the rate of eighty dollars per year. Sometime in the '40s he removed to Sidney, Ohio. DR. HORACE LAWRENCE. Dr. Horace Lawrence was the first one I ever saw, and I do not recollect at what period of time; he resided near Bloxsoms bridge, where the Columbus pike crosses Massies creek, some five miles east of Cedar-ville; he retired from practice at middle life. Two of his nephews were physicians, Dr. Deluna Lawrence, eldest brother of Mrs. Joseph Brotherton, and Dr. Horace Lawrence, son of Levi L.; the former died young, the victim of consumption; the other was killed by accident at Kenton, Ohio, where he had succeeded the writer in practice. Both were good physicians and gentlemen. DR. MATHIAS WINANS. Dr. Winans came from Maysville, Kentucky, to Greene county in 1820, and purchased land in what is now Silvercreek township, but practiced medicine in Jamestown, and in later years had his son-in-law, Dr. John Dawson, for a partner. He was the father of Judge James Winans, and, I think, two of his sons were physicians. He had a large practice. It was said that he was skeptical in early life, but I can best recollect him as a minister of the Christian or Disciples church. Dr. Harper, a prominent physician of Lima, Ohio, married one of his daughters. He died in Cincinnati in July, 1849, aged fifty-eight years, and was buried at Jamestown. DR. EWLASS BALL. Dr. Ewlass Ball as early as 1827 kept a, store at Clifton, then Patterson's mill, and,. I think, practiced, medicine; also Dr. Joshua Wilson, late of West Second street, Xenia, and Dr. Prescott also practiced at Clifton at a later date. Dr. Prescott afterward be-came a lawyer, still later a preacher. It is stated that a young man asked his advice as to selecting a profession and he recom-mended him to the law, saying- a man will contribute a dime to his soul's salvation, a quarter to be restored to health, but for the satisfaction of having his own way the "al-might dollar" will be sacrificed. PROFESSIONAL MEN OF GREENE COUNTY IN 1830. On the 11th of June, 1830, the commissioners and auditor proceeded to estimate the annual income of the practicing law-yers and physicians, and to charge a tax upon each of them, which tax, as charged, is attached to their respective names on the list returned by the assessors to the auditor. ATTORNEYS AT LAW. John Alexander, William Ellsberry, 128 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Aaron Harlan, Thomas C. Wright, Joseph Sexton and Cornelius Clark. PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. Joshua Martin, Joseph Johnson, Joseph Templeton, Jeremiah Woolsey, William Bell, Matthias Winans, Horace Winans, Robert E. Stevens, Ewlass Ball, Randolph R. Greene, Lenard Rush and NI. P. Baskaville. STEAM DOCTORS. Stacey Haines, Mounce Hawkins, Frederick Beemer, Amassa Reid, James Hays, Childress Askew, Thomas P. Moorman and Abraham Gause. "YE OLDEN TIMES," CONTRIBUTED BY DAVIS HAWKINS. "During my last affliction I thought I might spend a portion of my time in jotting down a little sketch of people and things as they were about Xenia from sixty to seventy-five years ago. It may interest some who know but little about pioneer life in those early days. I was born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, March 14, 1813, and that fall Davis Allen, my grandfather, came to Ohio to look for a new home. He had a couple of brothers-in-law living in Greene county, and, of course, it was natural for him to make them a visit. One of them, John Haines, lived on a farm now divided into two farms, one owned by John Middleton, and the other by David. S. Harrier. He occupied the house that was known a few years ago as the Chaney house. The house was built three years before he moved into it, making it about seventy years old, a pretty ripe age for a house. The other brother-in-law was Edward Walton, of Spring Valley. There is a representation of his log cabin in the Greene County Atlas. After visiting with those friends, the next thing was to select a new home. He selected a beautiful and fine tract of land lying right by the side of John Haines' farm. It is that portion of land that lies between the iron bridge road and the Dayton pike, now known as the Hawkins, Steele, William Moore a.nd Lucas farms, containing in all a thousand acres, more or less. He then returned to his home in Virginia for his family, consisting of his wife, Elizabeth Allen, and his children, Reuben, Deborah, Davis, John, Obed, Barsheba, Homer, Milo and Jackson Allen. Two other families came with them; the first of these consisted of Mounce Hawkins and his wife Marv, and three children, Reuben, Joseph and Davis, the ,writer of this article. The second family consisted of Frederick Beemer and his wife Sarah and one child, Samuel. A young man by the name of Harve Evans came west with the last family to grow up with the country, and he became clerk of the court in one of our eastern counties. All were now ready for the move and with five wagons, a carriage, several head of cattle, in April, 1814, the line of march was taken up. A journey of six weeks was performed, with no railroads to speed. you on the way. In due time all landed near Xenia, safe without the loss of one of the crew. After passing through Xenia they landed in a couple of log cabins on the big farm that had been bought the fall before. These cabins stood on the William Moore farm, near Shawnee, in which the three families summered. But soon the work of building commenced-. Mr. ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 129 Allen, having started brick-making for a hcuse, expected to winter in it, but the work did not get along far enough, and so he remained in one of the cabins for the winter. Father commenced to cut and hew logs on the site of the cross roads where Homer Hawkins now lives, and got up a story and a half hewed-log house and covered it. It had a stick and mud chimney about half the height of the house; a doorway was cut with no door up, and a coverlid was used for a door. Here father wintered through 1814. "Perhaps the next thing in order would be a description of the country. At that time it was almost a wilderness, no clearing being done on the Hawkins or Steele farms, except what part of the Old Town prairie that runs down across the bottoms. The rest of the farms owned by these two gentlemen was a dense forest with some little barrens of large and heavy timbers. The Haines farm had some cleared land and several acres of prairie on it. Some clearing had been done on a part of the thousand-acre tract that grandfather had reserved for himself. At this time the country abounded in wild animals, such as wolves, wild cats and wild hogs. Our nearest neighbors who were landholders were John Haines and Jonathan Paul, the first named gentleman living on part of the farm now owned by John B. Lucas. James Gill owned what is now the Richard Galloway farm, th.e fair ground, the Crawford, Nesbitt and Woodrow land, also the field adjoining the fair ground on the west side. This James Gill was an Irishman and belonged to what was called 'the whiskey boys,' of whom you have read in history. I have often heard him talk about it in his Irish brogue. He said it was ‘a bad piece of business,' but the old man has long since gone to his rest. "One of our neighbors was James Towler. He owned the lands where David Vorhees and Peter Bankard used to live. He was a local Methodist preacher, and used to go among the Indians as a missionary, and at one time brought a couple of Indian boys home with him to, have them educated. They remained in Xenia for some time, forming many acquaintances, and then returned to their tribes. Mr. Towler was one of the leaders of the Methodist church. "Other neighbors were near us, but they were only renters or leasers. I will come back to my early boyhood days. I was pretty young when I first commenced going tc school, and so did not go regularly. The school was in a little log cabin, located about where John B. Lucas' house now stands, and my teacher's name was Amos Root. The next school that I attended was located where John Purdom now resides on the Boyd farm. The teacher was Julius Hunter. The next school was taught by Israel Hanes, in a little room in the second story of his own house. Still later Ransom Reel taught school at Old Town. The building in which he taught was of frame and was used for both school and church. William Galloway also taught in the same building about 1822. Thomas Steele was then living with his father in the old brick building on the Gordon lot. He taught school in a little frame building on or near where the Center building now stands. The older brothers and myself were sent to him. I will mention some of the prominent scholars as far as I can remember; David W. Connelly and Robert were among them. David was studying surveying, and after- 130 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. wards distinguished himself in surveying for the government in the southern states, especially in Louisiana. Robert died with yellow fever while in the employ of his brother. Then there was James and Benjamin Grover ; James afterward became clerk of the court of Greene county, and later a prominent Methodist preacher. Others among these pupils were Jack and Henry Barnes, the latter ex-sheriff of Greene county, James and Henry Larue and Jackson Allen. It may not be amiss to give some of the names of girls or young women. I will commence with the Connelly family. There were Nancy, Martha and Mary Connelly, Harriet, Abigail and Joanna Hivling, Rachel and Margaret Eyler, Mary and Lydia Eyler and Jennie Barnes. There were a host of other boys and girls ; among them were David and John Rader, and two families of Shaws, many of them are beneath the sod and others soon will be. "I will now speak of the town and its surroundings. The city did not extend beyond Church street on the north side, Monroe street was the east limit, Water street was the south limit, and the boundary line on the west was the Cincinnati pike and West street. 'Most of the buildings were on Main street. John Alexander, the grandfather of William J. Alexander, had his home on a large lot in the vicinity of where Henry H. Eavey's fine residence now stands ; also and close by and belonging to him was an orchard and deer park. The principal merchants were James and Ryan Gowdy, Hivling and Nunamaker and John Dodd. The hotels were the Hivling House, Collier House and the Browder House. This latter house was kept in the hewed-log house that stood on the site where the wholesale gro cery now stands. Quite a contrast between it and the Florence Hotel of to-day. A tan-yard stood on the site of Chandler Brothers' coal office. A small stone building was used as a shop, and Robert Gowdy carried on the business. A blacksmith shop was run by John Williams in a log cabin shop that stood on the lot where Mrs. William B. Fairchild used to reside on Market street. And in this shop the first elephant that was ever shown in Xenia was put on exhibition, and many of us had the chance of seeing our first elephant. The public buildings of the town consisted of a .court house, jail and market house. The court house occupied a part of the same ground that the present one does. It was a plain square building with a cupola to designate its use. In that house I cast my first vote. The jail was a small stone building made of those soft yellow stones, such as lie east of James Rail's slaughter house. These stones proved an easy thing for the prisoners to pick holes through. The market house was a two-story structure, built with pillars, a sufficient distance apart to form stalls on each side and open at each end. This building stood on the public square, on Market street back of the court house." (In revising Mr. Hawkins' "old-time article" for publication the editor of the Gazette, on what was deemed good. authority, made a correction about the market house, and gave a description of Xenia's market house a decade later than the one about which Mr. Hawkins wrote, 'hence the following from him : "Editor Gazette : The market house that I spoke of was on Main street and only one story high, and was nearly in the middle of the street ; its one end was perhaps two or ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 131 three rods east of Detroit street, and ex-tended up in front of the court house, and was so situated that they could drive on either side of it. The one on Market street was of later date. I do not known that I could find a man to prove the above, but nevertheless it is true.—David Hawkins.") "I will now tell of some prominent gentlemen who were large land owners and whose land bordered on the town. The first of these was James Galloway, who owned a large tract of land bordering on the west and northwest of the town. The next was David Connelly, who owned the large tract of land north and northeast of the town, and now owned by the Silas Roberts' heirs. East from this was the Robert D. Forsman. farm, and the Benjamin Haines farm, or the Henry Conklin farm as it is now. With the southeast and south I was not acquainted until it came to the Judge Grover farm, which has since been nearly all taken into the city. Mr. Grover's house is the present residence of Coleman Heaton. On the southwest was the farm of Henry Hypes, father of Mrs. Maria Drees and Mr. Samuel Hypes ; some of this land bordered on James Galloway's land. Close by James. Galloway's land lay Samuel Gowdy's farm. Not far from these last named farms lay the gravel bank, a large portion of which was' owned by Abraham and John Hivling. Abraham Hivling also owned that portion of land. north of Church street and west of Detroit out as far as the Gordon's. This .was then farm land and contained within its borders a house, barn and such other buildings as pertain to a farm. The Gordon property', except the old brick house and lot that is southeast of them, and all land west to the Richard Galloway line, was owned by James Gowdy. Most of it was farm land, but the north end was forest, including John T. Harbine's lot. But the city has covered this farm land and even the forest. On the lot, where Fawcett's jewelry store now is stood a little one-story brick house, which was first used as a school house, but it was afterward occupied by a man by the name of Tolbert as a hatter's shop, so there has been some change there. "I will now come nearer home; nearly all of Richard Galloway's farm was a forest. We had no public road, but such roads as farmers have in their woodland to haul rails and wood over. A small field was cleared where that race track now is in front of the Galloway house, and the field west close by was also cleared, but from there the remainder of the way home was through the woods, which in some places were pretty thick. When we left Shenandoah county our colony numbered twenty in all. I am the only one left in the county, and all but three of these have been laid beneath the sod. Obed Allen, if living, is in Rochester, Indiana, and Homer Allen is in Bellefontaine, Ohio." JAMES SCOTT, A SOLDIER F 1812. James A. Scott was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1794. In 1812 he was a member of one of the companies composing a brigade of soldiers which left Pennsylvania and started to the scenes of action in which Hull and his forces were then engaged. On arriving- at Pittsburg they learned of Hull's surrender, and were ordered to Erie, where Perry was then engaged in building his fleet.. At Pittsburg they were furnished with tents and other 132 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. necessary equipments for their comfort, having been obliged to sleep in the open air, or sheds, pigpens or whatever old buildings they could find a place of shelter for a time. They remained for a short time and were ordered to Buffalo, when: they were detained until late in December of that year, when they were discharged. They were left to get home as best they could, and young Scott with many others traveled the distance, over two hundred miles, on foot through the forest. They drew one month's pay while at Erie, which was all the wages that Scott received until he had been a resident of this county some time. He again joined the army in 1814. His brigade met once, organized at Danville, Pennsylvania, and proceeded toward Sandy Hook. They reached Northumberland, Pennsylvania, and here learned of the treaty of peace, and were discharged. In October, 1815, he came on a tour of inspection to this and adjoining counties in company with his brother John. They were acquaintances and friends of John Jacoby (who then owned and run the Old Town mills) and his family, and with them they made their headquarters during their stay in this section. General Robert T. Fors-man was then a single man and lived with Henry Jacoby, in partnership with whom he ran a distillery. He sold out his interest to his partner not long after the building of the distillery. During this trip Mr. Scott saw very little of Xenia, making a few short visits to the place. It then contained very few frame or brick buildings. The principal business houses were built of logs, and nearly all the dwellings were log structures of a variety of styles and sizes. At that time there was a tavern about where John Glossinger's saloon used to be, kept by an Englishman. There was another just east of it kept by Thomas Gillespie, who was afterward appointed land commissioner in the northern part of the state by President Jackson. Connelly then kept the tavern near the old Hivling corner. James Collier was then running his famous house on Detroit street and a Mr. Watson was proprietor of another on the south side of Main street, west of Detroit. The first mill built in the county was a small structure erected in 1799 near the site of the Harbine mill at Alpha.. Some years after it proved too small for the increasing trade and was abandoned for a larger one, a frame building erected near by. A woolen mill was also built and put into operation at the same place. It was afterward used as a cotton factory for some time and then again converted into a woolen mill. This mill property then belonged to Jacob Smith, who was a member of the fourth general assembly of the state in 1805, as a senator from this and Clinton counties, which office 'he filled several times afterward. After weeks spent in the inspction of the different mills in this part of the state Mr. Scott and his brother John negotiated for the purchase of this property from Mr. Smith and then started back to Pennsylvania. They had not journeyed as far as the Scioto river when James' horse died. The animal was an excellent one, and as usually found in the west at that time horses were of an inferior stock. Mr. Scott would not purchase one with which to complete his' journey home, but proceeded on foot. Some days he traveled as much as fifty miles, and would very often reach the point designated in the morning as the stopping place for the ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 133 following night some time in advance of his brother who was on horseback. Their average rate of travel during the entire journey was between forty-five and forty-seven miles. Twenty-five miles this side of Pittsburg, at a place then called Bricklings Cross Roads, his brother was taken very ill and they had to remain at this place some six weeks until the sick man was able to proceed on the journey. They arrived home during the holidays. Mr. Scott returned to this county in February, 1816, and assumed charge of the mill purchased of Mr. Smith. Not anticipating the immediate use of a horse after his arrival here, he declined to bring one with him and made the entire journey on foot. In the fall of the year he again returned to Pennsylvania, this time making the trip on horseback. MARRIAGE OF MR. SCOTT. On the 17th of October, 1816, he was married to Elizabeth S. Shannon, who was then living with her parents not far from Milton, Pennsylvania. She was born July 6, 1796. Mrs. Scott had a brother living in Piqua, Ohio, and another in Pennsylvania, these three being the only surviving members of a large family. John Shannon, who once lived at Alpha, this county, was another brother. Soon after their marriage they moved to this county in a wagon. They lived in the house in which the first court. were held in this county, which was then the residence of Peter Borders, and in which he kept a tavern for many years. John Scott, who had accompanied James on his first visit to this county, lived with them here. He was a millwright and erected a number of mills in this and adjoining counties. He afterward settled in Miami county, where he died in the eighty-second year of his age. Captain Casper Snyder, James Fulton and two of James Scott's sons, William and David, learned the trade with him. Mr. Scott tells of a case of sharp practice which occurred in the neighborhood of Alpha some time before he came to the county, but of which he often heard after his arrival here. Jacob Herring was the owner of .a tract of land near Beaver creek, north of Alpha. An adjoining tract lying between his land and the creek contained some very excellent bottom land, and on it there were some very fine springs, and this Herring desired to possess. Benjamin Whiteman learned of this desire and knowing that the land had not yet been entered by any, one went to Herring, assumed the right to sell the land, bargained with him for its sale at five dollars per acre, went immediately to Cincinnati and entered it in his own name at less than half that price, then returned and made Herring a deed for the land, making quite a sum of money in the operation, which Herring could have retained had he known to what party the land belonged. While running the mill Mr. Scott once sent his team to Cincinnati with a load of flour. On the return the driver missed the way and after wandering about in the forests of Clermont and. Brown counties for many days finally reached the mill again after an absence of about three weeks. A few days after moving to this county with his wife Mr. Scott came to Xenia to purchase necessary household goods. He selected a number of articles, among them a "dutch oven" at James Gowdy's store, had 134 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. them set aside, and. then drove his team to John Mitten's chair factory, which stood where the Grand Hotel now stands, to purchase some chairs. Having driven away from the store without paying for what he had selected, or telling Mr. Gowdy where he was going (he presumes that. Gowdy thought he was going to leave the goods on his hands and had gone home without them) Mr. Gowdy sent John Ewing, a clerk in' the store, in search of Mr. Scott and to inquire if he had forgotten the articles set aside for him. Mr. Scott satisfied him, however, by returning to the store after he had gotten the chairs and paying for the articles and taking them home. The German Reformed, as it was called, the Lutheran and New Light were the only church organizations in that part of the county when Mr. and Mrs. Scott lived at Alpha. Their ancestors were Presbyterians, and as there was not then any organization of that denomination near them they at-tended the services of the Reformed and Lutheran churches for a. number of years. These two denominations built a large log church about 1820, near the site of the present brick church edifice on the Dayton and Xenia road near Alpha. The two. congregations occupied the church alternately. Rev. Thomas Winters, who, lived near Dayton, the father of the popular David Winters, now of Dayton, and Rev. Thomas Winters, of Xenia, was then pastor of the Reformed congregation. Rev. David Winters, then a young man, preached the first sermon Mr. Scott ever heard him preach in this church. Mr. Scott knew of but one Methodist family in the township at that time. It was the family of Jacob Nesbitt, father of Benoni Nesbitt, of Xenia. There was then no congregation of Dunkards in the. township, but there were a few persons there of that denomination, and through their ef-forts were induced to settle there, until in later years a congregation was organized,. and still exists at Zimmermanville. Soon after the organization of the first Presby-terian congregation in this city, and when Rev. Moses Swift, now of Allegheny, was its pastor, Mr. and Mrs. Scott united with it, and have since remained members of that church. Mr. Scott was well acquainted with Associate Judges Houston and Haines, who were his neighbors for a long time. Among other personal acquaintances and friends during the. first year of his residence in this county, were Henry Ankeney, Captain Jacob Shingledecker, Captain Robert McClellan and Major James Galloway, who were soldiers in the war of 1812. Mr. Hugh An-drew, Mr. George Wright. and Mr. Scott were the only pensioners of the war of 1812 under the old law that were living in 1879. about Xenia. Mr. Scott said that the people then living in Beavercreek township were the most sociable and hospitable, honorable and upright in all their dealings of any community in which he had ever lived. It was made. up principally of people from Pennsylvania and Maryland. His mill custom then extended to the east and south, east a distance of twenty--five or thirty miles. In addition to attending to the running of the mill he held the office of justice of the peace in that township for five years. After conducting the mill business for over ten years the property was sold to a Mr. Herr, and from him to Mr. John Har-bine, and Mr. Scott then took charge of ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 135 what was then called Staley's, afterwards Tresslar's, mill, a few miles farther down the river, where he remained for a short time. While there he was elected sheriff of the county and assumed the duties of that office in .1828, and held the office for two successive terms. At that time the county jail was an old stone building, which stood on the west side of the present city park. The county did not then provide a residence for the sheriff, and he lived in a small frame house on the same lot on East Second street where he was living at the time of his death. This building was moved in late years. to East Church street. In 1833 he was elected to the state legislature and served one year as representative. Before going to the legislature and after his return from that body he held the office of justice of the peace in Xenia. He was then elected sheriff and reentered that office in 1836, again serving two terms. Soon after the beginning of the first term a new jail was built in connection with a sheriff's residence, on the east side of the public square, was completed, and Mr. Scott and his family settled in the residence thus furnished them. The washing for the prisoners was done at the expense of the sheriff, wh.o also had to furnish all necessary fuel and was paid only twenty-five cents per day for boarding each prisoner confined in the jail. There were then very few sheriff sales ; people then helped each other out of their financial difficulties, and there' were few failures in business. Whatever sheriff sales there were then, were almost exclusively sales in partition.. The law authorizing imprisonment for debt was then in force, and among many others confined in jail on that account while Mr. Scott was sheriff was Dr. Thomas Neal, who was sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. On account of his unusual trustworthy disposition in a matter of that kind he was for awhile allowed the privileges of the jail yard during the day, and some times they permitted him to take a stroll about town. After his release Mr. Scott and others who took an interest in his welfare set him up in business in a small botanical drug store and succeeded in getting him a small practice. His wife, known by all as "Auntie Neal," was a general favorite in the town and especially with the children. The old couple removed to Jamestown some years after and there they died not a great while ago. In 1839 Mr. Scott was again elected representative to the legislature, and this time served two terms. Among others whom he remembered as members of the legislature when he was one of that body, and with whom he was then acquainted, he mentioned Thomas W. Bartley and David Todd, both of whom afterwards became governors of the state; Joseph Vance, who was then in the senate and had been governor ; Seaburry Ford, who afterwards was governor ; Charles Brough, who afterwards' became a very prominent citizen of Cincinnati, and who was a brother of John Brough, who was then auditor of state and was afterward elected governor ; George H. Flood, afterward United States minister to Texas before its annexation ; Judge Smith, of Warren county, father of Judge Smith, so well known in our present courts ; Aaron Harlan, who was once a member of congress from this county ; George D. Hendricks, who was once noted for his ready wit. Once when Hendricks had the floor another member 136 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. arose and said : "Mr. Speaker, is there anything before the house?• When Hendricks, referring to the member that had interrupted him, exclaimed soto voce, "Yes, there is a thing from county before the house." At another time a member, a Baptist preacher, presented a bill providing for the erection of a dam across one of the largest tributaries to the Muskingum river. He was very earnest in urging the passage of the bill and made an unnecessarily frequent use of the name of the structure for which the provision was urged, and when he closed his speech Hendricks arose and said : "Mr. Speaker, I move that the word "dam" be struck from this bill; the frequent use of such profanity is decidedly corrupting to the morals of this august body." While at Columbus Mr. Scott became intimately acquainted with Judge Bellamy Storer, who was often in that city on legal business. During his first term in the legislature he drew up the bill for the incorporation of the first bank ever incorporated in Xenia, called "The Xenia Bank," with John Hivling, president, John Ankeney, James Galloway, John Dodd, James Gowdy, General R. D. Forsman, Silas Roberts and others as incorporators. This bill was presented by George D. Hendricks, and by him its passage was materially aided. While in the legislature the second time Mr. Scott presented a bill for the incorporation of the Dayton and Xenia Turnpike Company. This bill was passed, but he thinks that the road was built under a subsequent incorporation. The first bank in Xenia, however, was organized in 1818, with 'William Elkins cashier. After Mr. Scott's return from his last term in the legislature he moved with his family to the John Ewing farm, just east of Xenia, and there followed the occupation of farming. The farm residence was a log house, which stood near where the brick house stands in which Adam Rader used to live. Mr. Scott remained there for two years and then moved to the Hivling farm, on the west side of Xenia, and lived in the house which has since been enlarged and improved and is now (1899) occupied by Mrs. Jerry Parkhill. Here he continued farming for about two years, when he was elected to the office of county recorder. It was about this time that the great and disastrous Puterbaugh fire occurred. The fire was first discovered by John Crumbaugh, William McDaniel, and Jacob Bazzel, who, being out very late that night, were proceeding toward home, when they stopped at the corner of Main and Detroit streets for a moment's chat. While there their attention was atttracted by peculiar sounds of some one in great distress, and in proceeding in the direction from which the sounds came, they discovered that they were the groans of some one within the Puterbaugh storeroom, and the building was on fire. They gave the alarm and soon hundreds were gathered around the terrible scene, whose revelations of murder and work of destruction stamped a picture so indelibly upon the minds of all who witnessed the scene that time will fail to erase it. The date of this sad occurrence was August 3, 1845. Two young men in the store were murdered, William Steele and James Kinney. The latter is buried in Woodland cemetery. Mr. Steele was buried in the northeastern corner of what is now known as the West Market street school yard, then known as the Associate graveyard. ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 137 While recorder, Mr. Scott introduced a new system of indexing the records, which has ever since aided greatly in facilitating the business of the office. He was continued in this office for nine years. After his third term expired he was elected to the office of county auditor, and filled that position one term. Not many years afterward lie was elected township trustee, and was continued in that office for many years, and until he declined to serve longer on account of his desire to relinquish the labors and responsibilities of active life, in order to live in a more retired manner during his remaining days. He is now in the eighty-sixth year of his age, and has retained the natural faculties of mind and body to an unusual degree. His father died at the age of eighty-six years at the residence of his son, John, near Troy, Ohio, in 1834. His mother died in Pennsylvania some years before. John Scott, his brother, died near Troy, Ohio, after having passed his eighty-second year. And another brother, William Scott, now lives in Troy, and is in his eighty-second year. This similarity in the longevity of the father and the three sons and only children is somewhat remarkable. Mrs. Scott was, at the aforesaid date, in the eighty-third year of her age, and has been blessed with a continuation of health and strength of both body and mind to an extent equal to that of her husband's. They have been married for over sixty-two years. They have survived six of their children, and have but three living: Mrs. John W. Manor, of this city; David Scott, who lives in Indiana ; and James, who resides with his parents on East Second street, this city. Mr. James A. Scott, the subject of this sketch, after a long and useful life, died at his residence on East Second street, Xenia, Ohio, August 12, 1881, aged eighty-seven years, and is buried in our own beautiful Woodland. HISTORY OF THE GALLOWAY CORNER. We find that away back in 1798 it was a part of what is known as survey No. 2243, in the name of Warren and Addison Lewis, patented to Robert Pollard on the 24th of December, 1798, calling for one thousand acres. On July 6, 1801, Robert Pollard and Jael, his wife, conveyed the same to Thomas Richardson and wife, Elizabeth. On the 27th of June, 1803, John Paul, the founder of Xenia, became the owner of the aforesaid one thousand acres, of which lot No. 37, the Galloway corner, was a part. On the 14th of November the honorable court of the county of Greene had decided that the forks of Shawnee creek was to be the permanent county seat of Greene county, Ohio. Joseph C. Vance had been employed to survey and lay out the county seat and had been selected to act as director for said county seat. Mr. Vance served in that capacity until September, 1805, and at that date reigned and William A. Beatty was chosen as his successor in office. On the 13th of September, 1810, James Galloway, Jr., purchased of William A. Beatty lot No. 37, ninety-nine feet on Chillicothe; or Main, street, and one-half the distance of the square running north on Detroit street, consideration for the same three hundred dollars. Prior to this on the 11 th Of September, 1807, William A. Beatty had conveyed to Henry Phenix, lot No. 38, immediately west of and adjoining Mr. Galloway's lot, 138 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. and on which he had erected a cabin on the present site of what is now (1900) known, as the Drees and Thornhill building, and was keeping tavern. On the 14th of November, 1808, Mr. Phenix sold to Dr. Andrew W. Davidson, Xenia's first physician, lot No. 38. On that lot, present site of the John J. Knox saddler's shop, Mr. Davidson erected a two-story brick house. March 1, 1813, Mr. Davidson conveyed to James Galoway, Jr., the lot, which extended west to what is' known as the Crumbaugh line. The same' year, 1813, that Mr. Galloway purchased lot No. 38, he commenced to build what has been known for almost three-fourths of a century "The, Galloway corner," which gave rise to the subject of this sketch. Mr. Hugh Andrew says that a Mr. Hartsook did the mason work, and that it was the largest brick buildings in Xenia at that time. The other corners at this. time were vacant, and many of the inhabitants of Xenia got their fire wood from the lots on which they lived. The streets at that time were full of stumps and everything- presented a wild appearance. Mr. Galloway had previous to this time completed a large brick house in 1809 on his farm, six miles north of Xenia, on the Fairfield pike, known as "Ramblers' Retreat." The old home is yet standing and owned by William H. Collins. Four of Mr. Galloway's children were. born at this place. The father of Major Galloway had come from Pennsylvania, and had removed and settled in Kentucky, during the most perilous times of Indian warfare, and had participated in the dangers along with Boone, Simon Ken-ton and others, in their struggle to reclaim the land from the savage foe. He was also along with Gen. Roger Clarke, in 1782, in his second expedition to Old Chillicothe, on the Little Miami, and other points. In the year 1797 he removed from Kentucky to his home in Ohio, and located on land west of the Little Miami, opposite the present Miami Powder Mills. About nineteen years previous to his coming to Ohio, November 23, 1778, he had, married Miss. Rebecca Junkin, in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. Maj. James Galloway, his eldest son, and the builder of the Galloway corner, had an eventful life. At the age of twenty years, accompanied by his father, he made a trip back to his old Kentucky home, in 1802, and through the influence of his father, James Galloway, Sr., who had known Col. Richard Anderson in the war of the Revolution, and his uncle, George Pomeroy; he succeeded in getting the appointment of deputy sur-veyor of the Virginia military district of Ohio. And one is filled with surprise and wonder to-day ( 1900) as he looks at and examines his large ledgers, books of surveys, field notes, and the hundreds of letters pertaining to his business in his various transactions, and the thoughts will come, and questions will arise, how could one man accomplish so much, and do it so neatly. And in addition to this work, his home duties, duties to his country in the. war of 1812, in which he took part, sometimes as a. private soldier, other times as captain of a company, and as major of a regiment, and in all the work that was essential to making the conditions of his fellow men better, we find Major Galloway did, his part and did it well. But we will return to our subject, "The Galloway corner." John W. Shields, along about 1877, says: "In 1814 Major Galloway removed from his place, 'Ramblers' Retreat,' to Xenia, and into the. corner aforesaid, where spacious rooms had been ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 139 prepared for the family, in addition to the storerooms on the corner. It is with feelings of regret that a complete list of the parties that transacted business in that corner can not be given. The first to sell merchan dise was the firm of George Townsley & Co., in 1814. The next to occupy the corner probably was the firm of Dodd, Parkison & Lowry. Mr. John Dodd, the senior member of the firm, had been to Philadelphia, and had brought home with him among other articles, which he had purchased, the first lucifer matches that had been brought to Xenia. They were a great curiosity, and were stared at by his 'customers who thought they would be a great thing, enabling them to start a fire without taking a shovel and going half a mile to a neighbor to borrow, but no one thought how universal they would become, and what a help they would be to young boys learning to smoke, and how convenient they would be to incendiaries. A few yet living perhaps still remember Mr. Dodd, his personal appearance in his best days, his energetic, animated face, short neck, and his right shoulder carried higher than the left. Of these old-time merchants only two (1877) remain on our streets, John Ewing and Gen: Casper R. Merrick, who are still 'noted for their quick step and vivacity. Mr. James E. Galloway has in his home a photograph of the old corner which he was thoughtful in 'securing, and it is a valuable picture, and will become more so as time rolls on. In the old building there was a hall entering from Detroit street, and north of this hall were the parlor and, Sitting room, with dining room and .kitchen in the rear. The second story afforded the family chambers, and were more spacious and comfortable than was common in that day. When the family removed to their present mansion the old parlor and sitting room were converted into ,a storeroom for Philip Lauman. After the removal of the family the second story was used for sev eral years as a tailor shop by Andrew Hutchison, as genial and clever a man as ever lived in Xenia. He was the father of Clark Hutchison, yet conducting business in Xenia near the site where his father used to. be. The Galloway coiner is occupied by the present Steele building. The present Galloway mansion (1877) was erected in 1830; the materials were all carefully selected; Gen. Daniel Lewis was the mason, with his two apprentice boys, Aniel Rogers and William C. Robinson, better known as "Bud" Robinson; his carpenter was the late Robert Nesbitt. The family moved into their house in 1831, and there they have remained ever since. It is seldom that any family has remained in one place so long, forty-six years in the same house, and sixty-three on the same lot of ground. But fa ther and mother have passed away, and also brothers and sisters, and now the family is reduced to two. Under those circumstances the old mansion was converted into business purposes. Major Galloway had the sagacity to foresee in the fertile soil of Ohio, and its rapid settlement a fine opportunity for acquiring independence and, perhaps, wealth, he became, as we have seen, a surveyor and pursued his calling diligently for several years. He acquired large tracts of land in what is known as the military. district that had been set aside for the soldiers of the Revolution. We are informed on good authority that Mr. Galloway after having secured the position as deputy surveyor, under Cola Richard C. Anderson, supplied 140 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. himself with all the necessary implements, books, etc., that were required for his business, by taking his trusty rifle and going to the woods hunting, and by the results of such efforts made money enough to pay for all that was needed to perfectly supply his wants in regard to the aforesaid articles. A loft in one of the out buildings at "Ramblers' Retreat" was his office, which he fitted up. It is no wonder that success crowned his efforts. The rapid rise in the value of those lands enabled him to sell and reinvest. His success was, I suppose, much greater than he had at first anticipated. The consequence was, that he was able to support a style of life in Xenia that no other family here has ever maintained. His Glady farm of one thousand acres was the Egypt from which he drew his supplies. His stables were stocked with fine horses, and he kept his carriage and coachman. His sons were graduated from Miami university, and his daughters were graduates of the best schools in Cincinnati. He was a lenient creditor, an indulgent landlord, and it gave him pleasure to' help a poor man to independence, if he thought him worthy of assistance. He was an elder in the Associate church, under Rev. Francis Pringle, away back in 1811. And his home was ever open, as his father's had been, to the itinerate ministers of that church as well as to all of his friends. THOMAS STEELE. Thomas Steele came to the United States in 1812. He was a native of Ireland. Sometimes but a trifle settles the destinies of man, and, it is said, that the ship on which he sailed was stopped at sea by a British man-of-war, in order to press young men in the naval service. Mr. Steele being quick and active hid himself in the hold of the ship so securely that John Bull could not find him, and by this circumstance Great Britain lost a good sailor, but Xenia gained an excellent teacher. Mr. Steele resided at first in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for about two years, then went to Lexington, Kentucky, where he remained one year and in the winter of 1815 came to Xenia, Ohio. In the spring of 1816 he commenced his school in Xenia, which he continued until about 1848, being sustained by his merit as a teacher. His old pupils well remember his modest and humble dwelling and school house, on the site now occupied by our Center school building, also the thoroughness of his teaching. He was a devout Christian, religion being with him a calm and abiding conviction and through all his life he remained firmly attached to the Covenantor church. Soon after, coming to Xenia Mr. Steele was united in marriage October 9, 1818, to Miss Maria Gaff, of this county. His eldest daughter, Martha Jane, widow of the late Dr. Adams, of Waynesville, Ohio, in 1876 resided in Kansas City, Mo., with her sister, Mrs.' Louise Trumbull. His son, Dr. Ebenezier Steele, was assistant surgeon of the Seventy-fourth Ohio Infantry during the late Civil war. He died at Nashville, Tennessee. His second daughter, Margaret, was the wife of the late R. F. Howard, one of Xenia's best lawyers, while his daughter, Mrs. Mary A. Patrick, now a widow, resides with her sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Torrence, at Belle Center, Ohio, and his son, William, is now (1876) in the state of Texas. In 1848 Mr. Steele moved to Adams county, Ohio, but his change was un- ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 141 fortunate and he returned to Xenia in 1853, where he remained until 1860, when he went to spend the remainder of his days with his daughter at Belle Center, Ohio. Who of the older people of Xenia but remembers Thomas Steele? Among some of his pupils were Abraham Hivling, Alfred Trader, Thornton Marshall, George Monroe, Benoni Nesbit, Albert Galloway and Thomas P. Townsley, but to enumerate is out of the question. We must take them by families. There were the Starks, Merricks, Roberts, Crumbaughs and from among almost all the old families of Xenia. Peace be to his ashes. He died at Belle Center, August 6, 1875, aged eighty-four years. ROBERT NESBIT Was a carpenter by trade. Many of the first and best houses were built by him in the county at an early date. He came from Indiana county, Pennsylvania, in 1817, and was married to Miss Nancy Townsley, daughter of Thomas Townsley, Sr., who was one of the first settlers near the present site of Cedarville. His wife was a sister to Mrs. Major James Galloway, Jr. He was born in Ireland, December 27, 1790, and died in Xenia, Ohio, Jun-. 26 1876, at the ripe age of eighty-six years. He is buried in Woodland cemetery. SAMUEL CRUMBAUGH, SR., Was a hatter by trade. He came to Xenia in 1817. He purchased the lot now covered by the wholesale house of Eavey & Co. and westward. He was a man that was highly respected! in Xenia, and was the father of the late Samuel Crumbaugh, sheriff of Greene county, and other children who were well known and respected. After spending nearly sixty years of his life in Xenia, on September 6, 1876, word came that the old pioneer had entered into his rest. In the year 1833 he assisted in organizing the Reformed church in this city, of which he was a faithful member. He was a native of Maryland, born August 29, 1791, and was eighty-five years of age at the time of his death. He lies in Woodland cemetery. ABRAHAM LAREW. Mr. Larew was one of the early settlers of Xenia, a carpenter by trade, having located here in the year 1806. About 1834 he removed from Xenia to Logansport, Indiana, where he resided several years, but for some years previous to his death he resided near Cincinnati, with his son-in-law, Stephen Reeder (who was also a former resident of Xenia), where he died April 1858, aged eighty-three years. Some of the houses that he built are still standing in Xenia, notably one that is being used as a school house on West Market street. It is on Detroit street, about where the "famous cheap store" of A. G. Hiller now stands, and served as a grocery store of D. A. Dean & Bro., and the upstairs as the office for many years of the Xenia Torch Light. When the march of improvement took place it had to go, and was removed to its present location. Mr. Larew was also a soldier in the war of 1812 from Greene county, and was likewise a soldier of the Revolution. Thus one by one are the old settlers being gathered to their fathers. 142 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. AN OLD LANDMARK REMOVED. In April, 1857, workmen were engaged in removing the old building that stood on what was called the Jonathan Wallace lot—where now (1899) stands the Trebein mill. This was one of the oldest buildings in town, having been erected by Mr. Wallace in 1811, as a residence. It was built of logs, and when first erected was but one story :high. A few months later another story was added, and it was then looked upon as 'quite a stylish affair. Mr. Wallace occu-pied it for more than thirty years. He. was a hatter by trade. He removed from Xenia, and died at the house of Anthony Byers, Darke county, April 25, 1850, aged seventy-years. EDWARD WATTS Died at his residence one mile east of Xenia June 23, 1859, aged seventy-five years. He was born in Petersburg, Virginia, in 1782, and came to Ohio in 1806. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, serving six months in a tour of duty, and was in the expedition to the Maumee Rapids under the command of General Tupper. He came to Greene county in 1806, and was married in 1821 to Mrs. Margaret (Snavley) Reece, and settled on his farm one mile east of Xenia, where he continued to reside until his death. He was always true to his country and principles, and in politics an unwavering, zealous Whig. His last sickness was of several months' duration. He lies buried in the Watt's family burial ground near the Xenia water works stand-pipe. MAJOR GEORGE GORDON. Mr. Gordon was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, on the 7th of September, 1786. His father decided to move west in 1790, and taking his family, came in a wagon from near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, across the mountain to the river some miles above. where Pittsburg now stands. And. at that point they proceeded down the river in a flat boat, and landed at a place called Limestone, which has since developed into the extensive town of Maysville, Kentucky. Going from there farther back into the state they settled near Lexington, Fayette county, but leaving there in 1802, they came to Ohio, which was then a part of the northwestern, territory, crossing the Ohio river on a flat boat at Cincinnati, making their live stock swim the stream. Mr. Gordon said he remembered crossing the Ohio five times in that way during the year. Proceeding then to Warren county, then a part of Hamilton county, they settled near Lebanon, where Mr. Gordon remained with his father until 1813. Previous to, 1808 Major Gordon was. afflicted with a severe attack of rheumatism, from which he suffered greatly for many years, though during his later years he was not harassed with the accustomed pains of the disease. He said. the disease was first brought on by sleeping in a. "Dutchman's" feather bed. He one day took a load of grain to the mill to be ground, and was forced to remain at the mill over night while the grinding was being done. The miller, a German, slept in the mill and had a bed on the ground floor of the building. This he invited Mr. Gordon to occupy for the night, while he would attend to the mill and have the grist by morning. Being prevailed upon, Mr. Gordon accepted the offer and was soon tucked beneath a huge feather-bed. ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 143 Here he slept soundly, and in a thorough perspiration arose early in the morning and went out into the cold air, harnessed his horses, loaded his wagon and proceeded home, but before he arrived there he was completely chilled, and not long after began to suffer excruciating pains' of rheumatism. In 1808 he went with his mother and a neighbor, also a young man and an invalid, to Yellow Springs, to test the efficacy of the water there as a cure for his disease. The ground around the springs at that time belonged to Mr. Lewis Davis, and one of the buildings., a rude log cabin, the trio occupied. In this they lived, providing and eating their own food, which Mrs. Gordon prepared. For the use of the cabin and the privilege of the water they paid Mr. Davis seventy-five cents per week. And Mr. Gordon said that life then was far more conductive to cam- , fort, happiness and health than it is now, with an immense three-story hotel and fashionable display, at an expense of ten or twelve dollars per week. He was benefited' by the use of the water there, but it did not effect a permanent cure. After Hull's surrender in 1812 he went with a company of "Light Horse" cavalry from Franklin, Ohio, to Ft. Wayne to relieve the garrison there, who were expecting a strong attack from the Indians. No attack was made, however, during his stay, which was short, as sleeping on the ground soon caused a return of the rheumatism, with all of its old force, and he was compelled to return home. Mr. Gordon first saw Xenia in 1805, when he came up from Warren county to help his brother, William Gordon, who was an early settler in Xenia, to move from that .county to Xenia. William Gordon purchased lot No. 176, on the corner of Water and Whiteman streets, and there erected and run the first brewery in Xenia, a small log establishment. Mr. Gordon came again in 1806 or 1807, when he came to assist his brother in hauling the timber for a two-story log house, forty by forty feet, which his brother William erected near the house known as the James Gowdy home, corner lot No. 33. Some years ago, during the time M. D. Gatch, of this city, was a member of the state legislature, while reading the Ohio State Journal, to which he was a regular subscriber, he saw several communications which attempted to fix the date of the noted "cold Friday," each giving a different date. Soon after, when sending the subscription money for the paper, he accompanied it with a note to the editor; in which he referred to the communications .he had read, and stated that the date of that day was Friday, February 14, 1807. He was surprised to see his communication in the following issue of the Journal, together with the editor's remark that Mr. Gordon must be correct, as the 14th of February that year came on Friday, while all dates by others came on some other day of the week. Mr. Gordon said he remembered that day distinctly that the evening preceding he and his brother, 'anticipating rough weather, had hunted up a young calf belonging to William and placed it in what they supposed very comfortable quarters, secure from the cold, but in the morning they found it frozen to death in spite of their care. Also., that on that cold day the men who had gathered at the huge log tavern, then near the southeast corner of Main and Detroit streets, kept by William A. Beatty, better known as Major Beatty, growing impatient with the fire which was 144 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. made of green wood and would not burn to suit them, carried the contents of the whole large fireplace in the middle of the street, and there piled it up, declaring they would make a fire to suit themselves. He added in this connection that when William. Kendall was building the old brick court house, some of the boarders at this tavern used to steal the wood that he had prepared for the brick kiln, carry it to the tavern and burn it for pure mischief. In February, 1813, Mr. Gordon was married to Miss Agnes McDaniel, who was three years his junior, and who had come from Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, with her parents and settled in Warren county, within a few miles of where Mr. Gordon and his parents then lived. In March of the same year the newly married couple came to Greene county, and settled in the woods in Sugarcreek township, about three miles west of Springvalley on the Centerville pike. Along the line of this road Mr. Gordon and a few others interested tried to have a county road established in 1814 but failed to succeed. Upon arriving at this place he constructed a rude log hut and with his wife continued, for several years to follow the usual avocations and endure the hardships of pioneer life. While living there they attended the Associate church in Xenia, of which they were members until the union, when they united with the second church, of which Mrs. Gordon was a member until her death, which occurred May 11, 1860, and to which M. Gordon was a member until his death, which occurred December 10, 1879, at the ripe old age of ninety-three years. We were informed by Mr. Gordon that the small brick building standing on the northeast corner of his place; facing east on Detroit street, and for many years past used as .a residence, was the first Associate church ever built in Xenia. The congregation was organized in 1810 by Rev. John Steele, who preached occasionally for diem, and afterward became their settled pastor. Not long after the congregation was organized the church was built, Rev. Adam Rankin conducting the first communion service in the summer of 1814. Rev. Porter, then of Preble county, was one of the supplies of this congregation, and h.ere the well known Dr. Pressley, who was licensed to preach and was married before he was twenty-one years of age, preached some of his first sermons. The reporter must have misunderstood Mr. Gordon when he calls it the Associate church. What he has said would apply to the Associate Reform church, of which the Rev. John Steele was pastor, and which is now known as the First United Presbyterian church. Mr. John B. Gowdy, yet living (1899), says in regard to the building, that the brick. of which the house was built were made and burnt where the building now stands in' 1817, and the house was erected soon after. There was a log church stood near by previous to this one. After a few years earnest toil, clearing and improving the farm which he had settled in Sugarcreek township Mr. Gordon was able to possess a good horse team; and finding that he could make more money in that than in any other way, he followed teaming to and from Cincinnati for some years, getting as high as one dollar and twenty-five cents per hundred pounds hauling goods from Cincinnati to Xenia. In 1831 Mr. Gordon purchased a farm ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 145 on Massies creek lately owned by Mr. James, and now the property of enry Conklin, to which he removed with his family in the same year, and soon after erected new buildings on the place. Having in 1851 purchased the ground between North Detroit and King streets, where he died, he raised two large crops of potatoes on it in 1851 and 1852. In the fall of 1852, Austin McDowel, whom he had employed to do the work, began the erection of his present residence, and finished it in the spring of 1853. Mr. Gordon removed from his farm on Mas sies creek to this residence in that year. Mrs. Gordon died in May, 1860, in the seventy-first year of her age. Mr. Gordon at the time of his death left behind him to mourn the loss of a kind and indulgent father three sons, George R., William I. and Andrew A., of Holton), Kansas, and one daughter, the wife of the Rev. D. McDill. REV. MOSES TRADER. Rev. Moses Trader died April 9, 1854, age seventy years, in Lynn county, Missouri. At the time of his birth, his father, who had been a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and one of Morgan's celebrated rifle regiment, resided in Cumberland county, Virginia, sixteen miles southeast of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He emigrated to the Northwest territory in 1792, and landed at the mouth of the Little Miami river on the 19th day of December. A settlement having been there commenced by Major Stitts in 1789, three years previous, and only four years from the first settlement of Ohio at Marietta. His parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. There were no members of that church nor any regular Methodist preaching until the Rev. John Kohler came, who was: the first Methodist Episcopal preacher that crossed the Ohio to preach the gospel to the few hardy pioneers who had pitched their camps in the wilderness. But this did not occur until the death of his father. Hostilities were kept up with the savages from the time of their landing at Columbia until the Indians were defeated by General Wayne August 20, 1794, the war being finally ended by treaty at Greenville the year following. The spirit stirring scenes and dangers through which he had passed in his youth seemed to have inspired him with a fondness for enterprise and adventure. He hunted with the Shawnee Indians, understood their manners and customs, and spoke their language fluently. He was an unerring marksman and a good hunter, to which was united unflinching courage and ability to endure fatigue. Such qualifications made him a great favorite with the Indians. It is not known when he first came to Greene county. It must have been at an early period, as he cleared the first field on made at Caesar's creek. A settlement had been made at Caersarsville (near the present home of Pad Peterson) in 1800, so he must have been here previous to that. He was married: to Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac McDonald, on the 2nd day of September, 1804, by the Rev. Bennet Maxey. It is said that being at one of those social gathering commonly called quiltings, he was desirous of getting up a dance suddenly a -flash of conviction darted through his mind, his levity left him, and gave place to .serious thoughtfulness, and from that time to the end of his earthly existence his life and manners were entirely changed. He attached himself to the Methodist Episcopal church, and was a zealous member from the first. His education had been so neglected that in 146 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. attempting to lead at prayer-meetings he could scarcely give out a hymn without spelling some of the words. But from that time on his progress in the path of knowledge was to be a matter of astonishment to all who knew him. Books were scarce in those days, and cost much money. He had an increasing family to provide for by his own daily labors ; yet such was his midnight industry (reading from light furnished by the scaly bark from hickory trees) and. by the activity of his intellectual faculties that he soon mastered whatever he undertook. His mind seemed to grasp a situation as by intuition. He joined the Ohio conference in 18.12 and continued until 1817, when: bad health compelled him to relocate. Such were his attainments at that time that he ranked as one of the most intelligent and profound members of the Ohio conference. He had made himself well acquainted with history, theology, and was deeply versed in Biblical lore, to which he soon after added knowledge of the Hebrew language. His grammar of that language was copied by his own hand, and was a curiosity for neatness and penmanship. In 1846 he removed to Chillicothe, where his popularity as a preacher was soon established. He was also prospering in business when he met with a stroke of adversity which swept away- all that industry and economy had enabled him to acquire. A traveler stopped at Chillicothe and found one of his slaves that had run away some years previous. The negro, Tom, in the meantime had married, and had a wife and two children. His master had :him arrested, and was going to tear him away from his family and. return him to bondage. In this deplorable condition Tom appealed to Mr. Trader and others to purchase his freedom, promising that he would refund the amount of purchase money if he had to work night and day. It was finally agreed that one John English and Mr. Trader should join in giving their note for the required sum (eight hundred dollars, it is believed). In due time the payment of the note was demanded, when it appeared English had signed the note not as a principal, as had been agreed upon), but as. security. He refused to pay any portion of the amount. The negro had been informed that a promise made by a slave was not binding, and he had the ingratitude to refuse to refund any Part Of the sum. The whole debt fell on Mr. Trader, which-, together with an expensive law suit, cost him fifteen or twenty hundred dollars. In 1819 Mr. Trader moved back to Greene county, and the same year he con-tracted. with the government to furnish timber to build the barracks at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 1820 he descended the. river and went to. the lower Mississippi. From this time he continued on the river for nineteen years. In 1827 he commenced the mercantile business in Xenia. In 1839 he emigrated to Missouri, settling in Lynn county and commenced farming. In a letter written in 1845 he says : I have one hundred and ninety acres of good. land with sixty acres under fence. In 1849 the Methodist Episcopal church organized a conference in that state, which he joined. At the time of his death he was presiding elder of Grand River district. On March 5, 1854, he preached his last sermon in Davis county, Missouri, seventy miles from home. WILLIAM TRAMMEL STARK. On Saturday morning, September 11, ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 147 1858, the whole town was ,startled with the information that William T. Stark, Esq., one of our oldest and most generally known and respected citizens, had that morning departed this life. He had attended to his business the day previous in good health, and to a friend observing that he felt as well as he had for years. On Saturday morning he rose at five o'clock to attend. market, and while dressing he complained of a pain in the region of the heart, which induced. him to refrain from going out, and a plaster was applied to his chest when he laid down, and in a very few moments without any evidence of pain he breathed his last. So unexpected was this event that his family was not aware of his condition, and his quiet appearance leading his widow, who was in the room with him, to believe he was sleeping. Mr. Stark at the time of his death had been a resident of Xenia forty-two years, having settled here on the 22d of July, 1816. He was a descendant of General Stark, of the Revolution, and was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, on the 13th of April, 1790. In 1799 his father moved to Maysville, Kentucky, and in 1800 to Lexington, Kentucky. Mr. Stark was a volunteer of the treaty of Greenville in 1813. In June, 1829, he received the appointment of postmaster for Xenia from General Andrew Jackson, and he held that office until 1841. He was a member of the Masonic order for forty years, and for about twenty-five years was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. On the Sabbath following his death his remains were consigned to the tomb, in Woodland cemetery, Xenia, by his brother Masons, and the procession that formed the escort was the largest that was 'ever seen in the town. He was known by all, respected by the whole community for his many. virtues, and the entire community sympathized with the family in their sorrow. CAPTAIN JOHN HIVLING. Colonel Hivling was among the last of the early settlers of Greene county. He was born near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on the 14th of July, 1779, and from that place he moved to Washington county, Maryland, and in the fall of 1809 removed to Greene county, Ohio. His first purchase was what was known as the "Paul Mill," now Trebeins, near Pinkney Pond, where he remained about two years. He then bought of Captain W. A. Beatty, in 1811, the lot on the corner of Main and Detroit streets, now occupied by the Xenia National Bank, down to the south side Of the old Hivling house. Upon this lot there was then standing a log building occupying the ground now occupied by the Leaman block. and there he kept a hotel for two or three years. He then purchased a thousand-acre tract of land from John Paul, lying north and west of the town and including the land now owned by the Manor heirs, Lewis H. Beall, Samuel Galloway, heirs, and others. Upon this tract he resided in a house that stood near the residence of the late Andrew Baughman until 1815, when he purchased from a Mr. Davis his lot and building and a stock of goods and commenced his long and successful career as a merchant. This lot was the one known as the "Forsman," Main street. In 1812 he succeeded the late James. Collier as sheriff of Greene county, and held that office the constitutional term of four years. On the 30th of October, 1812, as the rec- 148 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENS COUNTY. ords indicate, he, in pursuance of the order of court, whipped the last man upon the sentence of whipping was pronounced in this court. Whatever might have been the facts in the case, in this instance the degrading punishment was well deserved, as the crime of which the rascal had been convicted was of the vilest order, and we have heard an old settler, now quietly sleeping after a life. well spent, and who saw the operation, say that the Colonel fairly carried out the sentence of the court in spirit and letter as the scamp hugged a small sugar tree on the public square. The office of sheriff is the only one that the Colonel ever filled. Upon the organization of the old Xenia Bank he was elected as president of that institution, which position he held until 1840, when the old State Bank of Ohio was established and the Xenia Bank became one of the branches. He was elected. one of the members of the State Board of Control, and served that body from 1845 until 1851. When the subject of building a railroad from Cincinnati to Springfield was agitated, and others were hesitating and doubting the feasibility of the undertaking, Colonel Hivling was among the first to give it a favorable consideration, and upon the organization of the Little Miami Company he was selected as one of the board of directors, which position he held until 1840, and, having temporarily removed to a farm which he had purchased east of Cedarvile, he declined further "re-election. In this brief sketch it is impossible to glance at all the business relations with which he was connected, and all the facts of a business and social career, nor is it necessary for us to do so in this case. In all his business connections, in banking, in railroad management and in mercantile matters, he was noted for his clear, practical good sense. 'In private life no man in the community possessed more fully and perfectly the confidence of his fellow citizens. At the time of his death he was just eighty-one years, three months and twenty days old and had been a resident of Xenia and vicinity for fifty-one years. He was borne to his last resting place by his Masonic brothers, being a prominent member of the order from the organization of the lodge in Xenia. He died November 4, 1851, and his body lies buried in Woodland cemetery, Xenia, Ohio. In the war of 1812 he served a tour of duty as a soldier. WILLIAM ELLSBERRY. In 1859 a local writer thus speaks of William Ellsberry : "He resides here at Xenia, in a ripe old age, the venerable William Ellsberry, the honored patriot of the legal profession, now within two years of being an octogenarian. He settled in Xenia in 1811, and his pioneer life and history are replete with romantic interest and instruction. It was a repast, rich and greatly relished, to hear him in his primitive, yet comfortable, mansion, built by himself in 1815, rehearse the reminiscences of the days of the pioneers, fifty years ago. He had mingled in the stirring and adventurous scenes of the dark and bloody ground of Kentucky. He had personal interviews with the chief of the pioneers, Daniel Boone, and with great animation and accuracy narrated many eventful incidents of Indian warfare and of the early settlers of this country, paying an elegant tribute to the integ- ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 149 rity, simplicity and worth, of Simon Kenton, whose pioneer exploits and homely and noble virtues are recognized in the archives of western annals. Mr. Ellsberry himself has borne a distinguished part in the history and progress of Ohio, and contributed largely to the character and prosperity of Xenia, Which he has seen grow from the rude forest village to be quite a city, filled with an intelli-gent and cultured people arid all the arts and elegance of a refined civilization. "He has been a prominent legislator and a leading lawyer of the place, and is greatly-honored and esteemed by his fellow citizens and his brothers of the bar. As a tribute of affection they had completed by Mr. McClurg, an accomplished artist of Pennsylvania, who spent two years in the studies, of the masters of the art in. Italy, a beautiful and perfect portrait of their venerable friend and legal brother, which is to adorn the court room where he displayed his legal learning and wit, and where in after ages it will speak of one who first in the county and place unfolded the mysteries and intri-cacies of the legal profession. That genial, life like portrait will be a speaking memorial of pioneer days, and exert, we trust, a, silent influence in mellowing the asperities coinci-dent with the conflicts' of litigation. "This patriot bids fair to linger years yet among the general generation grown up around him, and to unite in the scenes of actual life. He is now a live young old, man, full of the sap and joyousness of youth, and ready to meet his competitors in the forum of Justice. He still prosecutes his profession with all the ardor and energy of early-manhood, and is genial and happy in his home and social circle. His erect form, elastic step, rapid movements, unimpaired intellect, sparkling vivacity and youthful energy are remarkable for one of his age. How beautiful and grand is age, found with intelligence, graced with virtue and cheer-fulness, beautified with a luster of piety. Their memories, like visions of enchantment and beauty, ever linger around our pathway." He died March 23,1863, aged eighty years, and was buried in Woodland cemetery, Xenia, Ohio. EBENEZER STEELE. Mr. Steele was one of the early settlers of Greene county. e was born in Bartley county; Virginia, on the 18th of December, 1781, arid in 1815 he emigrated to Ohio, settling first on the land owned by Mr. Trebine, where his mill is located on the Little Miami river, upon which he resided five years, when he removed to the farm of E. Steele, Jr., where he resided forty-six years. During his long life in this county he enjoyed the respect of his neighbors and fellow citizens, who showed their confidence in him by conferring upon him. various offices of local nature and by electing him in 1836 to the office of county commissioner. One who knew him long and well writes us : Ebenezer Steele was always a man of strict integrity- and obliging manners. He was not only father, faithful and true, to a large family of children, but was a friend and neighbor to all who proved themselves worthy. He was a member of the German Reform church, and a consistent Christian. He died at Alpha, Ohio, on the 17th of February, 1862, at the age of eighty-two years. THE HAMILLS OF GREENE COUNTY. The first of the name, as shown by the