ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 175 resided, which afterward became his own entirely. He commenced housekeeping near the spot where the dwelling house now stands. Mr. Read was in all the relations of life a most excellent man, of the strictest integrity, moral and upright in his life. He possessed great energy of character and a resolute purpose. His industry was proverbial, his constitution was a vigorous one, and up to within a few clays of his death he engaged in his usual avocation with the .alacrity and vigor of a man twenty years younger in life. In his family he was the kindest of husbands and the best of fathers. He was devoted to his children, six of whom with their mother survive to mourn the loss of a kind husband and father. For many years he had been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and by his exemplary life illustrated the Christian virtues. His -death was the result of injuries received on the 21st of October, 1858, from a fall from a horse. His death was hastened, perhaps, by subsequent exposure. His remains were followed to the tomb in Woodland cemetery in Xenia by a large procession of citizens and members of the Masonic fraternity, to which he belonged, being one of the charter members in Xenia, Ohio. YELLOW SPR(1NGS IN 1804. A writer in. the "Post and Country Man," published at Cincinnati, gives an account of the appearance of Yellow Springs in the summer of 1804. At that time the village was not, and the springs were the resort of invalids rather than pleasure seekers. Lewis Davis was the keeper of the boarding house at that time. The accommodations were few and simple. The writer says : "At that time, as near as I can recollect, there were some dozen patients seeking the healing of those waters. With three of them I was personally acquainted; one was a sad dyspeptic, one had an incontrollable eruption of the skin, which all the doctors had failed to cure, and one was a married woman who had been prostrated with a strange disability for years. The water was an effectual cure for the first two and a present relief for the last. The dyspeptic lived until near ninety years old, active to the last. The second reared a family of twelve or thirteen children. And the last after a few years again sank clown and was bedridden. during the twenty years or more of her life. As to the effect of these waters whether by bath or drinking, on the other patients there at that time I know nothing, as they were strangers to me. At that time a Frenchman whose name I have lost kept a little store at the springs, principally, I think, to trade with the surrounding Indians. He also kept a pack of hounds, the first and last I ever saw. At daylight each morning I was there he loosed his hounds, and such a yelling as immediately followed can be imagined better than described. The master took them on the morning hunt, which usually lasted until ten o'clock, when he returned with them wet and, weary. By this time his Indian customers, I was told, came to trade at his store. But as I then staid but a single night and part of two days, I do not recollect having seen any Indians there, but I understood from visitors there at that time many hundreds came to trade with him, exchanging furs and skins for his articles of ornament and use." The compiler of this sketch can furnish the name of the storekeeper, which was Thomas Fream. General. Benjamin Whiteman at that time undoubtedly owned 176 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. a large part of what is called the Yellow Springs, and from old papers that belong-to the county which have passed through the writer's hands can produce the evidence that such was a fact. And as General Whiteman had married for his wife a daughter of Owen-Davis, who was the father of Lewis Davis, the founder of what k called Yellow Springs, the writer has proof to show that Thomas Fream had leased the land on which he was staying from General Whiteman, and in addition to his having the store, he was also the first postmaster of the aforesaid Yellow Springs. In a deposition' taken at Old Town in the year 1816, General Whiteman states that he first came to Greene county in the year 1799, and settled first in Beavercreek township. He says further that about one year after coming he had occasion to go to the falls of the Little Miami river and .there were at that time ( 'Soo) but three settlements on the Little Miami river. Owen Davis, the proprietor of the first mill in Greene county and the father-in-law of Mr. Whiteman, had sold his mill to Jacob Smith, and in 1805 they removed to Miami township. We will close by giving- a copy of a petition to keep the tavern in Yellow. Springs, the date of which is June 13, 1804: To the Honorable Court of Greene County, now sitting, and for said County : Your petitioners humbly showeth that a license may be issued to Thomas Fream, now living at Yellow or Medicinal Springs, to keep, a tavern or public house, and your petitioners will ever pray, etc. Signed by J. P. Stewart, Lewis Davis, Jacob Smith, Joseph Layton, John Paul, Robert Renick, Robert Layton, John Daughterty, Joseph C. Vance, George Allen, Felix Hover, Joseph Reid, James Scott, Samuel G. Martin and Thomas Wright. JACOB MILLS, ESQ., Died at his residence in- Miami township, July 29, 1850. He was a native of Virginia, emigrated to this state in 1796 and settled near Waynesville. The same year the first log cabin for the residence of a white settler was raised in Greene county. In 1809 he removed to, this county, Miami township, where he continued to reside until his death. He was appointed major by Governor Tiffin on the first organization of the militia, and afterward for years he filled the office of justice of the peace for Miami township. REMINISCENCES OF OLD TOWN. Christmas morning being bright and beautiful we made a pedestrian excursion to Old Town, three miles north of Xenia. It was formerly called Chillicothe, that being the Indian name for town. This peaceful, quiet village is a place of more historical interest than any other in this county. The landscape is of unrivaled beauty. A lovely, prairie stretches away to the west, the view being bounded by a range of wooded hills, skirting the horizon some seven miles distant, whose" summits were rendered indistinct by a Nile, hazy mist. On the north meanders the Little Miami, bounded by undulating highlands ; paralleled hills on the south sidle range round the east end of the prairie to Massies creek, named after Gen. Nathaniel Massie, a brave pioneer who surveyed many of the land entries in this county. The hills on either side of this beautiful vale are adorned with commodious residences, the abode of civiliza- ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 177 tion, neighborly kindness and welcome hospitality. Their elevated situations afford a prospect varied, extensive and delightful, over which the eye may roam with unsated satisfaction. An air of quiet, dreamy repose seems to rest on the landscape, while evidences of good farming, thrift and industry, and their legitimate consequences; the comforts of life, on all sides greet the eyes. What wonderful changes have taken place. The church in which divine precepts of fraternal love are inculcated has taken the place of the council house, in which human beings were doomed to be roasted alive at the stake, in all of the prolonged agony that diabolical ingenuity could suggest. The plowshare passes over the ground on which the gauntlet has been run and unmitigated torture inflicted. The school house in which knowledge is imparted to qualify the living generation to usefulness may occupy ground which has been tramped in the ferocious war dance. Hominy blocks have been superseded by one of the most elegant mills in the state, and the shrill whistle of the iron horse has taken the place of the fierce warwhoop and savage scalp yell. It seems strange and out of character that a place which nature has adorned as if to show a sample of her power should have been a theater of revolting barbarity and moral agony. This was the chief town of that nomadic race, the Shawnees. This was the place of rendezvous for war parties from Piqua, Maumee, Sandusky, Mad River and other towns to carry murder and desolation to settlers on the "dark and bloody ground.'' Here they returned with their prisoners, plunder and scalps before separating for their different villages. The dwellings were constructed with poles and roofed with bark. There was a stockade enclosing several acres of ground, including the village and council house. The late Abner Read's orchard is on part of the ground. Tecumseh, the renowned warrior, was born here, near the spring a short distance west of where the church now is, in 1769. That Tecumseh was born here we have the statement of "Ben" Kelley, his adopted brother, who was a member of Blackfish's family five years at Old Town, and who so informed Thomas H. Hind at a treaty at Chillicothe in 1807. FIRST WHITE MAN KNOWN TO ENTER OLD TOWN. In the year 1773 Captain Bullet unexpectedly entered this town: with a flag of truce. It was a daring but successful adventure. He was on his way down the Ohio on a surveying expedition. In 1778 Daniel Boone was brought here a prisoner and had a shooting match with the Indians, whose vanity he humored by letting them beat him slightly. He ran away on the 16th of June and arrived at Boonsborough, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles in four days, eating but one meal during the whole time. What iron men those times produced! In 1778 Simon Kenton was brought here a prisoner. He was stripped naked, and his hands tied to a stake above his head, his captors intending to burn him: alive, but after torturing him) till past midnight they concluded to defer the pleasure of burning him until another time. Next day they Made him run the gauntlet between ranks of Indians extending nearly a. quarter of a mile, commencing at the foot of the hill near where now stands the brick mill as you pass under the railroad going into Old Town, 178 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. and ending at the council house, near where the church now stands. The place is memorable as being the first point invaded from the Kentucky side of the river in July, 1779. Colonel Bowman arrived here with one hundred and sixty men in the night under cover, but the attack next morning was so badly managed that a retreat was ordered. The Indians becoming the aggressors, overtook and surrounded them near Glady, on what used to be called Churchill Jones' entry, and partly owned by Mrs. Lydia. Stanfield.. Their situation was critical, as Indian reinforcements were expected. The' advice, generalship and, courage of Colonel Logan saved them. Mounting some of the bravest men on the baggage horses he made a successful charge and opened a way for the retreat. Bowman lost nine men and a few wounded. In all the accounts of this expedition it is stated that Blackfish was killed here, but that was not true. That noted chief was. killed iii Kentucky. He had broken into a cabin, and while engaged in a struggle on the floor with the owner, his daughter seized a butcher knife and stabbed him to the heart. (For particulars see sketch of James Collier in this- book.) GENERAL ROGER CLARK AT OLD TOWN IN 1780. In 1780 Roger Clarke, at the head -of one thousand men, Made this place a point of invasion. The Indian's fled precipitately, leaving their camp, kettles with beans and hominy cooking over the fires, to the gratification of the hungry soldiers. Next day :some of them were seen sitting on their ponies on the hills north of the Miami gazing at the irresistible invaders, but they took care 'not to come within gunshot. Clarke burned the town and destroyed the crops. DAVID LAUGHEAD AT OLD TOWN IN 1780. What adds interest to this account of the invasion of Clarke's army in 1780 is that the story has been confirmed recently by the discovery of depositions taken at Old Town in the year 1818, which adds local interest to that successful campaign of General Clarke. David Laughead, who was the father of David M. Laughead, who, was the father .of David and Joseph K. Laughead, whom many of the old citizens of Xenia remember, was with General Clarke in this campaign. David Laughead was born in 1757, emigrated from Pennsylvania to Kentucky some time previous to 1780 and was at the time he was with Clarke's army twenty-three years old. In answer to the question, "How' long have you been acquainted with Old Chillicothe, or Old Town?" answered : "On an expedition from Kentucky I was attached to a troop of horse under the command of General Clarke, and we crossed the Ohio river at the mouth of the Licking river on the morning of August 2, 1780, and arrived here at Old Chillicothe on the afternoon of August' 5." He tells us that previous to leaving Kentucky on this expedition they had heard of Old Chillicothe on the Little\ Miami river, of its notoriety as a strong Indian town; had heard it spoken of by his neighbors at his old home in Kentucky. He also says that on their approach the Indians fled, and that night Clarke's army camped on that portion of land that is between what is now called Massies ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 179 creek and the Little Miami. A fact is brought to light in these depositions that perhaps never has been known. Many of Clarke's men after their return to Kentucky often spoke of their old camping ground of that night as a beautiful island comprising about three hundred acres of land. Mr. Laughead says what impressed it upon his mind was the fact that on their return from Old Piqua, where they had been successful in destroying also that town, they camped on the north side of the Little Miami near Old Town, and they had left standing a portion of corn for their use on returning. A detail of fifty men was made to cross over and finish the work, and one of the men thus ,detailed had a sore foot and his messmates took him over and set him down. After a •while he called to them to come and take him over the other branch of the river, which circumstance Mr. Laughead remembered. General Whiteman also stated that he was of the same opinion until he had become a resident of Greene county, which was in the year 1799, when he first settled in Beavercreek township. In the year 1800 He says he had occasion to go to the falls of the Little Miami, and coming up the valley when near Old Town he saw that the stream of water now called Massies creek was not a branch of the Little Miami but a separate stream of water. GENERAL CLARKE'S SECOND INVASION OF OLD TOWN. In September, 1782, General Clarke again invaded Old Town. He marched with celerity from the mouth of the Licking river at the head of one thousand men, but the Indians obtained information of his approach and fled, leaving the town to its fate. Again it was reduced to ashes and the crops destroyed. James Galloway, Sr., father of the late Major Galloway, was in that expedition. It is a singular fact that James Galloway, Sr., who was born May I, 1750, and was at the time of this invasion thirty-two years of age, should fifteen years later (1797) come to this, the Miami country, and settle, just across the Little Miami river from Old Chillicothe or Old Town. No doubt but the remembrance of that part of the Northwest Territory ever after the aforesaid event haunted him and he disposed of his property in Kentucky and removed to the land that for fifteen years had been in his day dreams. And Greene county was the gainer by his coming. He was the efficient treasurer of the county from the organization of the county in 1803 until the middle of June, 1819. He was the custodian of the new county's funds, the mainstay and pillar of the church of his choice, a good man, hating that which was wrong, encouraging all that which was good. He was one of the pioneers of the county that was called to meet at Old Town to tell what he knew of the early history of the aforesaid place. In answer to the question by the attorney, "Mr. Galloway, how long have you known Old Chillicothe on the Little Miami river, where you are now ?" his answer was, "I have known it since the month of October or November, 1782. It was at that time and has continued to be a place of public notoriety in the Miami country." Question : "Are you now sitting at the place called Old Chillicothe?" Answer : "I am now sitting within the bounds of where the pickets were." Question: "Is there not a very large and extensive prairie between the Old Chillicothe where we now sit and the river?" 180 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Answer: "Yes." That short answer of Mr. Galloway's settles beyond cavil the statement that the beautiful valley on the south side of Massies creek as it is to-day so it was in 1782, a prairie, the Indian's cornfield. COL. BENJAMIN LOGAN'S EXPEDITION IN 1786. In the summer of 1786 Col. Benjamin Logan crossed the Ohio river at Limestone, now Maysville, with four hundred men or more. Along with this expedition were Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton, Colonel Trotter, officers in this expedition. The result of this expedition was the burning of eight of their towns, also the destruction of much corn. Twenty warriors were also killed, including a prominent chief of the nation, and about seventy-five prisoners were taken. OLD TOWN ON TILE LINE OF MARCH. While they were encamped on a creek near the site of Jacob Brown's sawmill, Greene county, a negro servant of one of the officers deserted and warned the Indians of approaching danger. The negro's name was "Caesar," from which the creek was named. The trail on which they marched went between the house where Henry Conklin now lives and his barn. THE DEATH OF MULUNTHA AT OLD TOWN. When they arrived at Old Town they found' but one Indian, an old chief named Mulutha. He had dressed himself in the gayest Indian costume, wearing a cocked hat and carrying a tobacco pouch in one hand and a calumet in the other. He boldly approached the men and proposed to smoke the pipe of peace with them. Some of them received him. in a friendly manner and shook hands with him, but on approaching McGarey, whose rashness and folly caused the defeat at the "Blue Licks," the latter drew his tomahawk and cloyed the skull of the old man, swearing that he would kill every Indian he found and would tomahawk any white man who should presume to censure him for doing so. GENERAL HARMAR AT OLD TOWN IN 1790. In 1790, General Harmar, at the head of fourteen hundred and fifty-three men, arrived at this place early in October. While he was sitting on his horse on a knoll reviewing his troops a stampede occurred among pack horses and bullocks, which caused a great uproar and confusion and an immense deal of hard swearing. Harmar advanced on the French trading post, now Fort Wayne, sending on detachments to fight battles, and after losing one 'hundred and thirty men, returned, having effected nothing. On arriving at Old Town on the return an order was issued that the men should cease firing off their guns. One of the Kentucky militia disobeyed the order. He was stripped and tied to a wheel of a cannon carriage and ordered to be flogged. The late General Benjamin Whiteman, who was present,. says that the Kentuckians formed a semi-circle round the .cannon, leveled their guns and put a stop to the punishment. Harmar ordered the regulars to face them with fixed' bayonets, and the drummer to proceed, and to finish the flogging. This was the last expedition to invade this noted village. ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 181 LOOKING BACKWARD. We will conclude our sketches with some scenes from pioneer life. A change has come over the spirit of the scene. The council fires of the red men have gone out. Their rude cabins have been reduced to ashes, the pale face has triumphed and is in possession of the country. Scattered about are round log cabins with mud and stick chimneys. The adjoining cornfields abound in deadened trees. These primitive tenements were inhabited by pioneers, brave, enterprising and thrifty. AMUSEMENTS OF THE PIONEERS. When young men were together they amused themselves by running foot races, wrestling, over and under jumping with or without a pole amid various other feats of strength and agility.. Their habits invigorated their systems, expanded their lungs, increased their muscular power and fitted them for bodily endurance. Bodily strength and activity were highly, appreciated. The man who could fight severely, endure a great deal of punishment and come off victorious was a man of note and had much influence among his admirers. WHO WERE THE SOLDIERS IN THAT DAY Every able-bodied man between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years was a soldier. There was a strictly enforced militia system, with company and battalion, and regimental musters, with court martials, courts of inquiry and courts of appeal. All the men bearing arms in those days in the county formed one regiment. THE OLD-TIME MUSTER AT OLD TOWN, A. D. 1806. Now we have a regimental muster at Old Town. A hardy, rough-looking set of men they are, common dress, blue linsey hunting shirt, secured with a leather belt and buckle, buckskin pants' and tow linen shirt and wool hats. These men have been marching and counter marching, wheeling by platoons, sections and companies, handling, shouldering and presenting their fire-locks and fixing and charging bayonets in a pickwickian sense. Now the muster is o'er and the men are dismissed. They are employing themselves in various ways; some of them are shooting at a mark, others are engaged in a wrestling match for a pint of whiskey. Observe that fine looking man, six feet two inches high. He is as well formed as Apollo, combining strength and activity in great perfection. He is fair skinned, blue eyed, with light auburn hair and sanguine temperament. That is the noted fistic champion, Ben Kizer. He is one of a family of twelve children, all boys. His brothers are stout, resolute men, but he is the stoutest of all Notice his firm step, confident look and manly bearing. He is as full of fight as a game cock. He engages in a fight just as eagerly as a hungry Man' eats his dinner. Every man he whips adds one more sprig to his pugilistic laurels. He estimates success as highly as a prize formerly won in Olympic games. He has had so many fights and come off victorious that it is a hard matter to find a customer. He has been known to pretend at a mere nothing, and knock down a man who would not fight, merely to keep his: hand in practice. He was 182 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. like Mike Fink, a boatman, who lamented while floating down the Ohio that he had not had a fight in a month, and it seemed like an eternity to him, and that if he did not have one soon he would have to be "kivered" up in salt to keep him from spoiling. Kizer has heard of one Aaron Beall, a powerful man, a foeman worthy of his fists, and has made up his mind to Whip him at the first chance; and that is his principal business at Old Town to-day. Beall is of a hardy race, a long bodied man, six feet high, straight as an Indian, round shouldered, with large limbs and muscles like whip cord, weight two hundred and fifteen or two hundred and twenty pounds. His muscles are so indurated and his flesh so firm that comparatively he is insensible to pain. He has florid complexion, sanguine temperament, built for ponderous strength more than activity-, with firmness and unflinching combativeness. When about to engage in a fight he is calm. and deliberate, with a smile on his countenance, but notice those pale lips' and. gleaming eyes. That smile is more ominous than blustering wrath. The two champions are standing some ten yards apart. Kizer begins with a banter that he could outrun; Beall. The latter did not run himself, but he had a brother that could run. In those days it was a common boast for one to say that he had the fastest horse, the best rifle, the ugliest dog and the prettiest sister. The bantering in the present case was ended by Kizer asserting that he could whip Beall. There upon they ran at each other and came in collision. In the shock Beall went clown beneath the gallant "Ben." Now there is tremendous excitement, a wild uproar among the men and a tumultuous rush is made for the combatants, a ring is formed around them, the spirit of combativeness is powerfully excited; hunting shirts are thrown off, and. the shirt sleeves of many brawny arms hastily rolled up.. Kizer appears to have the most friends. They cheer him boisterously : "Hurrah, Ben, that's right, give it to him, whip 'him till his hide. won't hold shucks! Gouge him !" Col.. James Collier was sitting on his horse Outside of the circle. Sheriff Maxwell rushed into the ring to part them, when lie received a blow on the head from the butt of a loaded whip which made the blood spurt. He ran stooping across the arena, butted the ring and fell under Mr. Collier's horse, his head: bleeding profusely. It was never known to-a certainty who struck that blow, but there were good reasons for supposing that Amos. Durrough, who built the first jail in Xenia, was the man.. In the ;meantime sullen sounds, thump, thump, thump, could be dis- tinctly heard above the din and confusion. These were made by Beall's fists playing like a trip-hammer against Kizer's sides. At length some of his friends stopped to examine more closely. Sure enough Kizer was not fighting any; they tore him away ;. he was exhausted and speechless. He was. laid upon one of the temporary tables that had been used for selling refreshments, and efforts made to resusitate him, which were successful after a quantity of blood had been discharged from his mouth and throat. In the meantime the combativeness of Beall had been excited to the highest pitch, his blood thoroughly heated, his great power of wrath awful. He demanded in a loud voice: "Has this man no friend's on the ground ?" He was responded to by one of the Kizer family, who commenced a conflict with him with resolution and. vigor, but was soon ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 183 prostrated by the invincible Beaver creek champion. Kizer was nearly killed; had to be taken home in a wagon, and kept his bed a long time, so it was reported. This was the most noted fight of the kind that ever came off in this county, and was talked of for years afterward. It ended the fighting career of both men. Kizer after this fight quit the. practice. And no one would fight Beall. The account of this fight was obtained by Thomas C. Wright from Col. James Collier and Judge Jacob Haines, who were present. Mr. Wright does not give the date of the above mentioned fight, for the reason, perhaps, that it was so long after it occurred that the parties who told him could not remember the exact time. Recently, however, among the old records of the county has been found the indictment, found by the grand jury, and which makes that notorious fight worse than it has been pictured out. The depositions of Gen. Benjamin Whiteman, William Taylor and William Morgan, who were eye witnesses, are as follows: “May 27, A. D. 1806, personally came before me William Taylor, Benjamin Whiteman and 'William Morgan and made the following oath, to wit : Taylor testifies that he saw Aaron Beall and Benjamin Kizer violently assault and beat each other by fighting. Whiteman testified that he saw the said Aaron Beall violently assault and beat William Kizer. William Morgan testified that he saw the said Aaron Beall after he had assaulted and beaten William Kizer rush through the crowd and pull the above named Benjamin Kizer off a table or bench and violently assault and beat him again. Sworn to before me. John Smith, J. P." And not only has the above been found, but also in the original papers of the grand jury which met four months later, September, A. D. 1806, appear four indictments against Aaron Beall for fighting on that day. ANOTHER ACCOUNT OF OLD CHILLICOTHE. Three miles north of Xenia, the county seat of Greene county, Ohio, was the old Indian town of Chillicothe on the Little Miami. Of its history much has been written and much has been lost of its early history. It was one of the most noted towns, historically speaking, in the state; made so by the many scenes of suffering by torture of the white race at the hands of savages; the birthplace of the noted chief of the Shawnee tribe of Indians, Tecumseh; the temporary prison of those grand old pioneers from Kentucky, Daniel Boone and .Simon Kenton and many others less known in history, who were captured and carried there as prisoners. We read of their sufferings at the hands of their captors, of their courage and escapes and their 'heroism in behalf of this beautiful land that we call ours, and we ofttimes forget what it cost to reclaim it from a wilderness and the labor it took to make it bloom and blossom as a rose, as we see it to-day. It is Said to have had a population of eleven hundred Indians. About three hundred of these were fighting men. The village was about a quarter of a mile long, the huts being set out irregularly. The location of most of the huts was on the little eminence now covered by the school house, frame house, barn and orchard on the left side of the road as' we now go from Xenia to Old Town. The commonest Indians had their huts along the creek bank. The coun- 184 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. cil house was near where the school house now. (1900) stands. It was a long, narrow building, roughly made and hardly water proof. When Girty and the renegade Scotchman, Dixon, came to live with Chief Blackfish, they helped to construct a better council house. Remains of the council house, such as rotten timbers, stood until 1840. THE SHAWNEE INDIANS. Among all the Indians, with but few exceptions, there were no Indians that caused as much trouble to the whites as those of the Shawnees. The main village of the Shawnees was at Chillicothe on the Scioto; their second village was our well known Old Chillicothe. War parties were constantly passing from one village to the other, and though the distance was near one hundred miles, the Indians were all such good walkers and runners that they traveled the trail with incredible rapidity,. THE ALLIES OF THE SHAWNEES. The Shawnees were assisted by the Miamis., the Wyandots and the Delawares. Thus any army attacking would have large numbers to contend with. When General Hamar with his army invaded Ohio, Chief Blackfish, with his three hundred, was aided by the Miamis and by the combined forces Harmar was defeated. Blackfish's band was present and took part in St. Clair's defeat. These two victories gave the Indians great courage and they became very insolent. The renegade, Simon Girty, and the Scotch devil, Dixon, did all in their power to excite the hostility of the Old Chillicothe Indians. When Old Chillicothe on the Scioto was destroyed and the corn burnt, What few of the natives that were left made their way to Old Chillicothe on the Little Miami river, which became a regular rendezvous for villains, both white and red. In order to save' the frontier from utter destruction, General Clarke was dispatched from Fort Washington with a large body of men. He reached our Old Chillicothe at daybreak, posted his one cannon on the hill northwest of Old Town, and while the cannon knocked over the huts his men charged the natives. Old Chillicothe was entirely destroyed, the lodges burned, the corn cut down and most of the Indians killed. Some say that Blackfish, the chief, fell in this fight, but this is a mistake. BLACKFISH, CHIEF OF THE SHAWNEES. James Collier, one of the early pioneers of Xenia and of Greene county, gives the following story of Blackfish In all histories of the predatory excursions of the Shawnees to Kentucky stands somewhat prominent the name and exploits of Blackfish, a noted chief of that tribe. The position that this chief held among the once powerful Shawnees has caused the question of the time and place of his death to be discussed to some extent by western analysts. The fact that Old Town was the residence of Blackfish gives this question a local interest. Several writers have asserted that he was killed in 1779 while resisting the attack of Colonel Bowman and a company of Kentuckians upon Old Town, the first incursion of the settlers south of the Ohio upon the Shawnee towns in this region to punish the Indians for their murders and robberies in Kentucky. Blackfish was not ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 185 killed then. Some years since the late Col. James Collier gave us the following particulars relative to the death of Blackfish: The evidence upon which Mr. Collier founded his statement he conceived to be such as to place the truth of it beyond dispate. In June, 1788, a party of Shawnee Indians under the command of Blackfish made a marauding expedition to Kentucky, and at the headwaters of Paint Lick creek, then in 'Madison county, they made an attack upon the house of a man named Joseph Stinson. It was Sabbath morning and Stinson's boy, who lived from home, had returned about sunrise. When near the house he gave a shout to arouse the family that they might let him in, and as his sister opened the door for that purpose the Indians rushed in after the boy and shot at Stinson and his wife, who were in bed, mortally wounding the latter and severely wounding the former in the thigh. Stinson jumped from the bed, grappled the leader of the party and threw him, but his wound had so weakened him) that the Indian turned on him. At this instant the boy grasped his father's gun, which frightened the party, some seven or eight in number, and they fled for the door, assisted in their exit by Polly, Stinson's daughter, who violently pushed the last ones upon those ahead and sent them pell mell out of the cabin and barred the entrance. Polly then turned and with a butcher knife stabbed the Indian who was killing her father. At the first blow the Indian raised his arm and knocked her across the room, but she gathered again and gave him a stab that proved fatal. This Indian was Blackfish himself. In the fright of the moment, Jane, another daughter of Stinson, about fourteen .years of age, jumped through the window and was captured by those on the outside. She remained a prisoner among the Indians until 1797, when her liberation was affected at Detroit, and she returned to her friends in Kentucky. The testimony on which Mr. Collier made this statement was this: In 1796 he was in Kentucky in the region where this outrage took place, and previous to his visit Charles, a son of Capt. Israel Hart, had returned from his captivity among the Indians. He, together with a negro boy, had been captured in 1787, and Charles. said he was adopted by Blackfish as his son, who told him that his white father, Captain Hart, was killed. Charles told Mr. Collier that he accompanied Blackfish in 1788 and was in the camp when Jane Stinson was brought in. Jane immediately recognized him. but he said he denied knowing her, and was violently grieved at the death of his adopted father. Jane told him that his own father was living, a fact he did not fully believe until about the time of his return to. Kentucky in 1796. Mr. Collier the same year, but previous to his visit to Kentucky, while down on the Auglaize searching for horses, saw the negro boy who had been captured at the same time as Charles Hart. Mr. Collier says he had a long talk with him, and he stated substantially in regard to Blackfish's death as was stated by Charles Hart afterward. The next year, 1797, while Mr. Collier was on the Little Miami in this county Jim Blue Jacket called upon him, and in the course of the conversation which took place between them) Jim told him that he was in the expedition to Kentucky in 1788, and was one of those whom Polly Stinson so violently thrust out of the door, and he 186 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. reaffirmed what Charles Hart and the negro boy had stated, that it was Blackfish who had led the party and who was killed by Polly Stinson. This fact was not known in Kentucky until the return of Charles Hart, a period of some eight years, and was always suppressed by the Indians, for the reason, as Mr. Collier supposed, that it was a deep disgrace among the Indians to be killed by a woman. There is another fact which we will notice. It has been asserted that Black-fish was the father of Tecumseh. Mr. Collier says that in 1812 he met in the army Stephen Riddle, a very intelligent man, who was taken prisoner by the Indians at the destruction of his father's (Riddle's) station in: Kentucky. He told him that he was almost the constant companion of Tecumseh while a prisoner and was then informed that Tecumseh's father was killed at the battle of Point Pleasant, at which time Tecumseh was about two years old. Mr. Collier said that Mr. Riddle would have been apt to have obtained correct information upon the subject. TECUMSEH'S BIRTHPLACE. Tecumseh, the great Shawnee and Miami chief, was born, according to Benjamin Kelley, Tecumseh's adopted brother, who was five years in Blackfish's family, near Xenia on Mr. Sexton's lot near a spring. Mr. Thomas Hind, who makes the statement that Tecumseh was born on the Sexton farm, states as proof that in the year 1821 he met the Rev. Ben Kelley, then a Baptist minister, and who was taken prisoner the same time as Boone, and had it from his own lips that Kelley was, five years in Blackfish's family. It is said of Tecumseh that at the battle of Tippecanoe he had all the surviving Shawnees in the front ranks for he considered them the bravest of all his men. THE RENEGADE WHITE MEN. Of the renegade white men who lived at Old Town it is known that Simon Girty and Dixon died miserable deaths. They certainly deserved them. Kenton and Boone, both of whom had been captains at Old Chillicothe, lived to be very old men, honored by all. They are reckoned among the. patriots of the country. Simon Kenton's name appears on many of the records. of Greene county, Ohio. Mien the county was first organized, May J0, 1803, he was then a resident of what was then called Mad River township, Greene county, now a part of Logan county, where he died at the ripe old age of eighty-one years. His remains. were afterward taken up and removed to Oakdale cemetery, Urbana, Ohio. Simon Kenton had also two brothers, who were. with him on the headwaters of Mad river, William and Thomas Kenton. We have now in Xenia a descendant of the old hero, Simon Kenton, descended from his brother, Thomas Kenton—Mr. John N. North. Mr.. North's grandfather, now deceased, was. personally acquainted with his honored old uncle, Simon Kenton, and learned the relationship from his own lips. The old Indian trail between the two Chillicothes was trod by thousands of natives. It is said to have passed west of the Old Chillicothe and traversed the plain to Alpha. Here it crossed the hills bordering the river and stretched away in almost a bee line for the Chillicothe on the Scioto. War parties coming up the trail would give a whoop when about a mile from the village ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 187 to let their squaws know' of their coming and their success. ADVENTURES OF COL. DANIEL BOONE. The following is taken from the American Museum, or Repository, published in Philadelphia., October, 1797, and that. part of his adventure which applies to Greene county, Ohio, was written by Boone: "January 1, 1778, I went with thirty men to the 'blue lick' on, the Licking river to make salt for the different garrisons. February 7, hunting by myself to procure meat for the company, I met a party of one hundred and two Indians and two, Frenchmen marching against Boonsborough. They pursued and took me, and that day I capitulated for my men, knowing they could not escape. They were twenty-seven in number, three having gone with salt. The Indians according to the capitulation used us generously. They carried us to the Old Chillicothe on the Little Miami river. On the 18th of February we arrived there, after an uncomfortable j ourney in very severe weather. On the l0th. of March I and ten of my men were conducted to Detroit. On the 30th we arrived there, and were treated by Governor Hamilton, the British commander of the post, with great humanity. The Indians had such a fondness for me that they refused one hundred pounds 'sterling offered them by the governor if they would leave me with the others, on purpose that he might send me home on my parole. Several English gentlemen there, sensible of my adverse life and fortune, and touched with sympathy, generously offered to supply my wants, which I declined with many thanks, adding that I never expected it would be in my power to recompense such unmerited generosity. The Indians left my men in captivity with the British at Detroit. On the l0th of April they brought me toward Old Chillicothe, where we arrived on the 25th day of the same month. This was a long and fatiguing march through an exceeding fertile country, remarkable for fine springs . and streams of water. At Old Chillicothe I spent my time as comfortably as I could expect; was adopted, 'according to their custom, into a family, where I became a son, and had a good share in the affection of my new' parents, brothers, sisters and friends. I was exceedingly familiar and friendly with them, always appearing as cheerful and satisfied as possible, and they put great confidence in me. I. often went hunting with them., and frequently gained their applause for my activity at our shooting matches. I was careful not to exceed many of them in shooting, for no people are more envious than they in this sport. I could observe in their countenances and gestures the greatest expression of joy when they exceeded me, and when the reverse happened, of envy. The Shawnee king took great notice of me and treated me with profound respect and entire friendship, often trusting me to hunt at my liberty. I frequently returned with the spoils of the woods, and as often presented some of what I had taken to him, expressive of duty to my sovereign. My food and lodging was in common with them; not so good, indeed, as I could desire, but necessity made everything acceptable. "I now began to meditate an escape, but carefully avoided suspicion. Until the 3d day of June I continued at Old Chillicothe and was then taken. to the salt springs on the Scioto and kept there for ten days making salt. During this time I had hunted 188 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. with them and found for a great extent above this river to exceed the soil of Kentucky and remarkably well .watered. On my return to Old Chillicothe four hundred and fifty of the choicest Indian warriors were ready to march against Boonsborough, painted, and armed in a fearful manner. This alarmed me and I determined to, escape. On the 16th of June, before sunrise, I went off secretly, and reached Boonsborough on the loth day, a journey of one hundred and sixty miles, during which I only had one meal. I found our fortress in a had state, but we immediately repaired our flanks, gates and posterns and formed a double bastoon, which we completed in ten days. One of my fellow prisoners, escaping after me, brought advice that on account of my flight the Indians had put off their expedition for three weeks. "In July, 1779, during my absence, Colonel Bowman, with one hundred and sixty men, went against the Shawnees of Old Chillicothe. He arrived undiscovered, a battle ensued, which lasted until ten in the morning, when Colonel Bowman retreated thirty miles. The Indians collected all their strength and pursued him, when another engagement ensued for two hours, not to Colonel Bowman's advantage. Colonel Harrod proposed to mount a number of horses and break the. enemy's line, which at this time fought with remarkable fury. This desperate measure had a happy effect and the savages fled an all sides. In these two battles we had nine men killed and one wounded; enemy's loss uncertain, only two scalps taken. The hostile disposition of the savages caused General Clarke, the corn- mandant at the falls of the Ohio, to march with his regiment, and the armed force of the country-, against Piqua, the principal town, of the Shawnees, on a branch of the Great Miami, which he finished with great success, took seventeen. scalps and burned the town to ashes, with the loss of seventeen men." DAVID LAUGHEAD, SR. In connection with what Colonel Boone says in regard to this expedition it is of local interest to add the recollection of David Laughead, who at that time, 1780, was a soldier in the ranks under General Clarke, and was one of the band of Kentuckians who participated in that campaign. This. David Laughead was the father of David M. Laughead, who was the father of David and Joseph Laughead, whom many yet living in Xenia remember. He died January 29, 1824, at the age of sixty-seven years, and is buried in the old Massies Creek churchyard (Stevenson's). He says in answer to the question, "When did you first see Old Chillicothe on the Little Miami river?" "I was attached to a troop of horses on an expedition from Kentucky under 'General Clarke.. We crossed the Ohio river at the mouth of the Licking river August 2, 1780, and arrived at Old Chillicothe on the 5th day of August, 1780. Previous to leaving Kentucky they had heard of Old Chillicothe on the Little Miami river, of its notoriety as a strong Indian town. He had often heard it spoken of by his neighbors and by his comrades in arms in Kentucky. And what impressed it more lastingly upon his mind was an incident that occurred on this expedition. The night after their arrival at Old Chillicothe, the Indians having fled, they camped on that portion of land between the Little Miami and what is now known as Massies creek. And after their ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 189 return from! Old Piqua, where they had been successful in destroying their town and defeating the Indians, they camped on the north bank of the Little Miami on the 7th day of August, 1780. About fifty men were detailed to cross the river and cut down a .lot of corn that they had left standing for their own use on returning. One of the mien of this detail had a sore foot and his comrades took him across the river and set him down, and shortly afterward the lame man had to get them to come back and take him across the other part of the river, which circumstance was also remembered, and after their return to Kentucky they were wont. to speak of their old, camping ground near the Old Chillicothe as an island of about three hundred acres:. General Whiteman, also, who had been up in this section of the country as early as 1790, likewise says that he thought it was an island and did' not find out his mistake until after he had become a resident of this county, when, he says., about the year 1800, he was passing up between the two streams, Massies creek and the Little Miami, and discovered that what is now called Massies creek was not a part of the Little Miami but a separate stream. These facts of history, which are of local interest in the life of our subject, David Laughead, were gathered from the old records of Greene county, depositions being taken of the old pioneers in a case of ejectment where the parties in the case were Peter and Jesse Vandolah vs. Major John: Stevenson, David Laughead and others. The point in dispute was the location. of the beginning of John Jamison's survey. It is a fact in the history of our county that the first town in Greene county of which we have any knowledge (though inhabited by savages and had a population of eleven hundred) Should be near the place where the first entry of land should be made by John Jamison, on the 1st (lay of August, 1787, on part of military warrant No. 192; and surveyed for him by Nathaniel Massie on the loth day of November, 1794, the number of the survey being 387. The starting point of this survey was on the lower end of a small island in the middle of the Little Miami river opposite the Old Chillicothe, about two hundred rods below where Massies creek empties into the Little Miami; original amount, twelve hundred. acres. That island can. be seen there today (1900), although the water does not surround the island, yet the old channel is still to be seen, and from the directions given in this case Jamison's survey can be located. The island is about three rod's wide and one hundred and fifty rods long. Later a family by the name of Vandolah entered four hundred acres of the same tract. The father 'soon after making his entry became uneasy as to his claim being good. He discovered certain marks that some one had been there before, and meeting Major James Galloway one day he told him of his suspicions and asked Mr. Galloway's advice as what to do under the circircumstance. Mr. Galloway told him that he had recently discovered a law that any one making an entry where some one had previously entered that the latter party could have his claim transferred to some other place. Mr. Vandolah thereupon authorized Mr. Galloway to do so with his entry. In the meantime it appears the elder Vandolah knowing the uncertainty of life made al will, willing to his two sons, Peter and Jesse, the aforesaid four hundred acres. In course of time Major :Galloway made the asked 190 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. for entry of the Vandolah claim., three and one-half miles northea'st, and they immediately removed to their land. Some years after the father died and it appears had failed in life to take his boys into his confidence as to his business relations. They remembered the claim where they first had lived, and the father had failed to destroy the will which he had made, and from these facts grew the trouble and the number of .suits of ejectments that followed. SIMON KENTON. About the year 1777 Colonel Bowman sent Simian Kenton and two other men, Montgomery and Clarke, on a scouting expedition to the old Shawanoes town (now Old Town) on the Miami. Stealthily ap- proaching the town at night, they observed a number of horses in an inclosure. These at the time were inestimable prizes, and forgetting their mission, they each mounted .a horse, and, to cripple all pursuit, tied the others together, and started toward the Ohio. The Indians soon discovered their loss, and started in hot pursuit, and though at a distance, still followed the trail. When Kenton and his party arrived at the banks of the Ohio, they found it so rough that their horses would not venture in. A council was held, and in view of the great distance between them and their pursuers, it was resolved to remain until sunset, and .await the probable abatement of the wind. On the contrary, however, the gale increased, and by night the river was absolutely impassable. In the morning while Kenton was standing some distance from his comrades, he observed three Indians and a white man approaching him on horseback. His rifle was at once to his eye, and, aiming at the breast of the foremost Indian he pulled the trigger ; but the gun missed fire. Kenton made good use of his legs, but was soon caught, bound, and brought back. The Indians were very angry 'at the loss of their horses, and manifested their displeasure in no gentle way, 'by seizing Kenton by the hair, and shaking him "till his teeth rattled ;" scourging him over the head with their ramrods, at every blow hissing through their teeth, -"Steel Indian boss, hey!" At this. juncture Montgomery( came bravely to his assistance, when two savages emptied their rifles into his breast, and he fell on the spot, and in a moment his bloody scalp was shaken in the captive's face, with threats of a similar fate. In the meantime Clarke, unobserved by the Indians, who were giving Kenton their sole attention, slipped away and escaped. Kenton was thrown upon his back, his face to the sun, his neck fastened to a sapling by a halter, his arms stretch.ed to their full extent and pinned to the ground by stakes, his legs forced apart and secured in the same way. A stick was placed across his breast and each end fastened to the ground, so that he could not move his body. This was done, too, in the most accomplished style of savage cruelty—kicks, cuffs and blows, accompanied with imprecations of "a tief," "a hoss steal," "a rascal," "a squaw," etc., prefixed always with "damn." In this uncomfortable condition Kenton remained all day and the next night. In -the morning, the Indians having collected their scattered horses, selected one of the wildest and most vicious colts, placed Kenton upon it, tied his hands behind him, and his feet under its belly, and started him ahead of them, through the thick woods and brambles, on their return. At night they halted ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 191 and untying their prisoner, who was now bloody and scarred from the scratches of the brush and brambles, placed him in the same uncomfortable position as the night before. "Again the horse was brought; T'was but a day he had been caught; And snorting, with erected mane, And struggling fiercely. but in vain. In the full foam of wrath and dread, To me the desert born was led; They bound me on, that menial throng, Then loosed him, with a sudden lash— Away ! Away ! And on we clash." The following day they reached the Indian village of Chillicothe—now Old Town, in this countyon the Little Miami. In the meantime a courier had preceded them and informed the village of their arrival, every member of which came running to look at the illustrious captive. One of the chiefs, Blackfish, with a stout hickory in his. hand approached Kenton and accosted him thus: "You have been stealing our horses, have .you?" "Yes," was Kenton's bold reply. "Did Colonel Boone tell you to steal our horses ?" "No" answered Kenton "I did it of my own accord." Blackfish then applied the hickory so vigorously over the bare head and shoulders of the captive as to cause the rapid flow of blood accompanied with the acutest pain. The whole motley crew, consisting of nearly two hundred men, women and children, now surrounded him, yelling, hooting and screaming like the stygian offspring of the hadean guard, stopping often to beat and kick him, and calling loudly for his immediate execution at the stake, that their savage eyes :might behold the pleasing spectacle. A stake was driven in the ground and Kenton was firmly lashed to it with rawhide thongs. Piece by piece the demoniac hags stripped his clothing off, and danced, yelling fiendishly around till midnight, when he was released to run the gauntlet next morning. Nearly three hundred savages of all ages and of both sexes were assembled for the occasion. Stretching away in two parallel lines about six feet apart the Indians stood, armed with axes, clubs, hickorys and all sorts of weapons. Between these lines the unfortunate victim, naked. and already bleeding, was compelled to run, with the glimmering prospect of safety in the council house. With his arm's above his head he swiftly flies down the line, receiving at each step, kicks, blows, stripes and wounds, until, at the lower extremity, he observes two. warriors with knives to take his life. Breaking through the lines, he rushes for the council house, pursued- by the howling redskins. Just as' he had reached the town, and the council house Was within his reach, he was confronted by an: Indian with his. blanket around him, walking leisurely out of the same. Flinging off his covering he sprang upon Kenton who, exhausted, and wounded, could but feebly resist, and was soon surrounded by the enraged crowd, who kicked and scourged him until he was nearly dead. When he had partially recovered, they brought him food and water and as soon a.s he was able they took him to the council house to decide upon his fate. The warriors disposed themselves in a circle, with an old chief in the center. Many speeches were made, some for burning, and some for mercy, but Kenton soon learned from the ferocious glances cast upon him that his fate was sealed. After the deliberations and speeches; the old chief passed the 192 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. war club to the nearest warrior, and with a knife and a stick prepared to register the votes. Those who were in favor of death struck the ground violently with the club., those to the contrary passed it on; a notch was cut on one side for death, and on the opposite side for mercy. It was soon decided in favor of death at which one prolonged shout arose. The next question was, when and -where ?should the execution take place. Some were in favor of immediate action, and some desired to make it a "solemn national sacrifice." It was finally decided, however, that the place should be Waughcotomoco (now Zanesville, Logan county). On the way to this place Kenton determined to make an effort to escape, knowing his fate could be no worse. At a favorable opportunity he rushed into, the woods with such desperate swiftness that had he not stumbled upon a party of redskins on horseback he would have escaped. All hope now left him, and he felt deserted by God and man. At Piqua he was mockingly tied to a stake. At Waughcotomoco he ran the gauntlet again and was severely hurt: While sitting in gloom among his enemies in the council house, the door was opened and Girty, with his prisoners and scalps, appeared. The anxious gaze of Kenton was met by scowls of savage hatred. Previous to this it is related that Kenton, after his attempted escape, had been given up to the boys and women; who rolled him in the mud and water until he was nearly suffocated', then he was taken out and his face painted black signifying his fate. In this condition Girty, who had formerly been his bosom companion, did not recognize him, until in conversation he revealed his name; when the hardened, wretch, who had murdered men, women and children, threw himself in his arms, and with tears in his eyes promised to use every effort to save his life. He immediately called a council, and earnestly pleaded for the life of his friend. Speeches for and against were made and the scale hung doubtful, until the fiery eloquence of Girty prevailed, and Kenton was saved. He remained with his liberator for some time, until the return of a disappointed war party, which took possession of him again; and despite the appeals of Girty, condemned him to the stake and compelled him again to run the gauntlet. Girty came to him and told him he must die. A halter was then placed around 'his neck and he was led toward the place of execution. On the road they passed an Indian sitting and smoking on a log, directing his wife in her efforts in chopping, who on sight of Kenton seized the ax and struck him a severe blow. He was sharply rebuked by the Indian guards for trying to destroy their material for torture. On their journey they stopped at the village of the humane Logan, who immediately sent runners to Sandusky (his intended' place of execution), to intercede for his life, but on their return Logan informed him that he must go instantly to Sandusky. Thus was the poor soul harrowed with hope and fear. On his arrival an Indian agent named Druyer, at the instigation of Logan, purchased him from the Indians, and in a speech persuaded them: to let him: go to Detroit, where he remained until the following June, when he, with others escaped from the British. In this perilous adventure, he was famed' to run the gauntlet eight time, tied to the stake three times, beaten and kicked, and struck with an ax, rolled ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 193 and wallowed in the mud, and yet his powerful constitution resumed its wonted vigor when released, and he lived to the age of eighty-one. ANDREW GALLOWAY. My father, James Galloway, Sr., emigrated from Bourbon county, Kentucky, in company with two other families!, Adam J McPherson and James M. Galloway (blacksmith), early in the spring, March 20, 1798, and settled on the west side of the Little Miami river, five miles north of where Xenia now is, having formed an acquaintance with. Colonel Richard Anderson in; the army of the United States, during the Revolutionary war, who was appointed by the state of Virginia surveyor general of the military land in this state lying between the. Scioto and Little Miami river, and who had established Louisville, Kentucky, and appointed a number of deputies to locate and survey lands in his district. My brother, James Galloway, being well versed in the science of surveying, wished to engage in the business as a! regular deputy under Colonel Anderson. In the year 1802 or 1803 my father and brother. James went to see Colonel Anderson at Louisville and on their way called for several days on my uncle, Samuel Galloway, !who lived on McConnell's run, near where Mr. Armstrong preached, and was about to dispense the Lord's Supper. They became acquainted, and united with him in communion of the Lord's Supper, after which they went on to Louisville, and my brother, through the influence of my father and uncle, George Pomeroy, succeeded in getting the appointment he sought. On their return they stayed a day or two with my uncle, Samuel Galloway, and waited on the ministry of Mr. Armstrong, and invited and insisted on him to come to Ohio and preach in our neighborhood; George Galloway was urgent in this request, he agreed if they and the people wished it he would come. After their return they consulted with all the people around, for they were few in numbers, but were anxious for preaching and delegated my brother James for him) to go to Kentucky. He went, and shortly afterward wrote to George Galloway to meet him in Dayton to pilot him to our settlement, there being no roads but the one General Wayne had made from Cincinnati to Hamilton, and a "trace" to where Dayton now is. His request was fulfilled. Mr. Armstrong came and preached at my father's home to the following families: Mathew Quinn, Alexander Forbes, William Junkin, Elias Bromagen, Widow Creswell, who united with his congregation in Kentucky and came to Ohio in 1801, Alexander McCoy and sons, James! and John. Stevenson, Thomas, and John Townsley, brothers, George Galloway and James 'Galloway (blacksmith) and afterward soon, Joseph Kyle, Sr., and his two sons; Joseph and Samuel, Colonel James Morrow, David Laughead, Sr., and his family, William and Robert Kendall and perhaps a few others. He also preached at Sugarcreek, in the House of James Clency, who resided where Bellbrook is now situated, to a number of families, of whom the following are recollected : John and Joseph McKnight, Joseph C. Vance, father of Governor Vance, and his brother John:, Captain Nathan Lamle and family, William Tanner, James and Jacob Snowden, three Snodgrass families, James, William and Robert, 194 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Abraham Van Eaton and perhaps a few others; none named were members of the associate church, but were members of the Associate Reform and Presbyterian churches, and were glad' to hear Mr. Armstrong preach. At Dayton, at the time of Mr. Armstrong's first coming, he was insisted upon by Mr. James Lowry, who lived some four miles west of where the town of Enon is now situated, to preach in his house, in a neighborhood west of Mad river, and was piloted to Mr. Lowry's by James McCoy, George Galloway and my father. During his stay among us a number solicited him to come and take the oversight of them as their pastor. This he did not refuse or promise to do, but stated that he was, dissatisfied with Kentucky on account of slavery . He said that slave holders were buying large tracts of land in branches of his congregation, that there was no chance nor probability of increasing. He said if he could get his congregation, or part of them to come to Ohio, he would agree to come, if called. The people took his statements as encouragement and forthwith agreed to petition to the presbytery for the moderation of a call. My brother James presented the petition to the presbytery as a delegate from the congregation. They granted the petition, and oppointed Rev. Andrew Fulton to moderate in the call. A short time after this appointment he preached in my father's barn, and baptized my sister Ann and brother Anthony, it being the first baptism ever administered in Greene county by the Associate church, and took place about the 1st of September, 1804. The call was made out in due form and John McKnight of Sugarcreek and my father were appointed commissioners by the people to meet with the presbytery of Kentucky and urge the acceptance of the call. This they did and Mr. Armstrong accepted it. MR. ARMSTRONG'S SECOND COMING. In the same month Mr. Armstrong went to Tennessee and was married to Miss Nancy Andrew and in October left Tennessee with his wife and her brother Hugh Andrew, who all arrived safely at my father's house and lived in his family all winter and spring, until he got a cabin built and a stone chimney in it, for he was afraid of a wooden one. Mr. Hugh Andrew in later years gives an account of that event as follows : Mr. Armstrong had been married to my sister Nancy two years. Previous to his coming to Xenia he and his wife set out on horseback to visit her father's people, who lived near Nashville, Tennessee. In October they again started for their old' home in Kentucky and their new home in Ohio, it being arranged to take Mrs. Armstrong's young brother Hugh with them, then a lad of some ten years of age. A small saddle was placed on the horse behind Mr. Armstrong, on which young Hugh rode to Kentucky. On their arrival at Mr. Armstrong's home in Kentucky they were met by William Gowdy—an uncle of Alexander Gowdy, yet (1899) living in Xenia, who lived at that time near what is now known as Alpha, who had been sent with a four-horse team to bring Mr. Armstrong's household goods and books. Mr. Armstrong and wife made the journey on horseback, while young Hugh was assigned to the wagon. On their arrival at the end of their journey they stopped at Mr. Galloway's, as has been stated. On the arrival of the wagon, young Hugh, not ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 195 exactly liking the looks of things:, asked and obtained leave to return with Mr. Gowdy to his residence. Mr. Gowdy was a young married man at this time, and his father lived near." My father entered and paid in the land office at Cincinnati, fractional section No. 29, town 4, range 7, between the Great and Little Miami rivers, containing four hundred and sixty-one acres, and sold to Mr. Armstrong three hundred and one acres for the sum of six hundred and twenty dollars, and deeded the same to him in 1812, which can be seen in the recorder's office, Greene county, in book C, volume 3, page 70, executed by George Galloway Esquire. Mr. Armstrong lived on said section to the year 1813, when he sold and deeded to Samuel Goe for the sum) of two hundred and ninety dollars, and bought again on Clark's run forty-eight and three-fourths acres of land from John Hunter, of Ross county, for which he paid one hundred and seventy dollars, and two hundred acres from James Galloway, Jr., for which he paid three hundred dollars. The deeds of these tracts of land can be seers on record, book C, page 377, and book C, page 417. This sale and purchase left Mr. Armstrong sixteen hundred and thirty dollars, no trifling sum in those days, and taking in his personal property and proceeds of his farm he might be considered a rich man. On this farm he lived until his death, which occurred October 14, 1821. It is true that his congregation in Kentucky sent a delegation to Ohio of sixteen or eighteen to view the lands in the neighborhood where Mr. Armstrong was to settle, and were well pleased with it and reported accordingly. In the spring and fall of 1804 and 1805 all, or nearly all, of his congre gation followed him to Ohio and settled under his ministry. The first church edifice of the Associate congregation of Massiescreek was built on three acres of land donated by James Stevenson for church and cemetery. It was built of round hickory logs with the bark peeled off, thirty feet square, covered with clapboards, the spaces between the logs being filled with, clay. It was without a gallery or loft of any kind', and the floor was of earth. In it were neither stoves nor chimney, and there was but one door in the center of one end of the house. There was an aisle running through the center. The pulpit was composed of clapboards on a wooden structure, with a window on each side. It was seated with two rows of puncheons split from poplar, the upper side smoothed off, and in each end as an upright; from. two to. three slabs were pinned and formed quite a comfortable back. This edifice. was on the north side of Massiescreek, about three miles from where it emptied into the Litle Miami river. Men and women would ride or walk twelve or fifteen miles to this church and sit and listen to two sermons without seeing fire in the coldest weather. About the year 1812 or 1813 the second church at Massiescreek was built, of hewed logs, one hundred and fifty feet distant from the first one. At this date the country had improved and several mills had been built. It was about fifty feet wide, was floored and ceiled over head with one-half-inch poplar boards. In it were placed four pews, the balance of the seats being those that had been in the first church. This church became too small for the congregation, and one side was taken out and its width increased about twelve feet. This building 196 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. was used until the stone one was built and occupied by Rev. James P. Smart, about two miles north from the first site. The old site is now used as a cemetery; in it are the remains of Mr. Armstrong and a large majority of the congregation. Out of Massiescreek, Sugarcreek and Xenia congregations of the Associate church, a,nd Xenia Associate Reformed congregation has sprung the nucleus of all the congregations in the United Presbyterian church in the west. Mr. Armstrong became dissatisfied with his location west of the Miami, on account of its frequent floods, that cut him off from his house of worship and disappointed 'his congregation. He was a great walker and frequently walked from his home to Sugarcreek, a distance of thirteen miles, to preach to that branch of his charge, and to Massiescreek, a distance of four miles. At the crossing of the Miami he had a pair of stilts some two feet high, upon which he would mount, and with great care and circumspection cross the river, but would at times get a ducking. REV. ROBERT ARMSTRONG. The name of Robert Armstrong will long be held in honorable remembrance in that branch of the church to which he belonged. If talents devoted to the service of religion and a life of more than common usefulness constitutes a claim to it both conspire to place him in' the front rank of those who have planted, watered and extended the Secession church in western America. Mr. Armstrong was a native of Scotland, and but little is known of his parentage. His mother was a widow at the time of his coming to America, and he was an only child. He is supposed to have been about fifty-five years old at the time of his death. He received a classical education at the University of Edinburg and studied theology at Whitburn under the Rev. Archibald Bruce, professor at that time under the General Associate Synod, the certificate of his ordination to the ministry is dated 15th of June, 1797. He had been licensed to preach some time in the winter preceding by the presbytery of Kelso. He was one of those students who make their professional life by dint of their own resources, and the ardor and enterprise of character which it implies were prominent parts of his. His parents not possessing much worldly affluence were unable to help him. He taught a country school or acted as a private tutor in the families of gentlemen, and by that means; made himself master of very extensive acquirements, both as a scholar and divine. He was licensed and ordained with -a view to his coming to Anterica, the cause of which was as follows : Four members of the church having settled in the same neighborhood in the vicinity of Lexington, Kentucky, namely : James .Bain, Adam Goodlett, Thomas Robinson and James Pringle, took council together in a prayer meeting, on the best means for obtaining a 'dispensation of the Gospel’ among them. This was in the year 1796, at which time the above named branch of the church, in America was small. The Presbytery of New York and Pennsylvania was the only church court, except sessions in the country. And there was but one number of it settled west of the Allegheny mountains, viz. : the Rev. Mathew Henderson, in the vicinity of Pittsburg. It was certain that it would be a long time before this small fountain in the east would rise high enough to extend its water's so far ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 197 west. The brethren therefore resolved to apply to the synod of Scotland for assistance. From prudential motives, Synod in complying with the petition (in which they asked for but one) appointed two Ministers to go to the country, Mr. Armstrong and the worthy Andrew Fulton (who also about four years since rested from his labors). "You might be startled," says a member of synod in a letter to a friend in this country, some years afterward, "at the idea of two ministers coming at once, but we thought, as the synod defrayed, all expenses, if any disappointment as to success should follow, we, not you, would bear the blame. It was a venture in a noble cause, and kind providence has crowned it with success." At the time of receiving the petition and synods Making choice of persons for the mission, Mr. Armstrong had not yet left the ranks of the students, which would imply that they thought him; particularly qualified to undertake the appointment. In an address to the brethren in Kentucky accompanying the mission, they say : "Had you witnessed, dear brethren, our anxious solicitude to have you provided with able and faithful laborers, had you beheld our entire unanimity, and had you heard the expressions of our unfeigned joy, when the two brethren appointed to you modestly signified their acquiescence in our 'choice, you would assuredly gather that you are very dear to the church here, and that these two servants of Christ are called by their Master to preach the Gospel to you." And in no instance has the discrimination and confidence of that synod, in the appointment of foreign missionaries, been more happily exercised' or better placed, as the subsequent character and conduct of these two ministers evinced, and in few instances, we are willing to believe, has such extensive liberality been More gratefully received. At their appointment they were commissioned by the synod to constitute themselves on their arrival, into a court, by the name of Associate Presbytery of Kentucky. They arrived in the summer of 1798, and after casting the net in new waters, in which they were not unsuccessful, on the 28th day of November, following, constituted the court. At this presbytery Mr. Armstrong received a unanimous call to act as pastor to the united congregation of the Dales Fork, Millars Run and Cane Run, and was installed in the charge April 23, 1799, and continued his labors in it until the fall of the year 1804. This year the three congregations, with very few exceptions, emigrated, to the state of Ohio, on account of slavery in Kentucky. If Mr. Armstrong was not the projector of it he took an early interest. A few years observation of its horrors gave experimental force to an opinion, which he doubtless admitted. before in theory, namely: That slavery is unfavorable to religion. Its effects in America seem to warrant the belief that it is incompatible with, the existence of the churches of the reformation. They settled together in Greene county in the confident expectation of his being resettled among them as soon as it could be done in an orderly way. They were organized under the name of the united congregation of Massiescreek and Sugarcreek, and on' the 2nd day of September, the same year, he was ordered by the presbytery to rejoin his charge. Here he labored seventeen years and the handful of corn in the earth appeared with prosperous fruits. His charge was, shortly afterward divided and another minister called to preside over one-half of it, from which time 198 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. his labors were confined to Massiescreek congregation until the 9th of January, 1821, ten months before his decease. Andrew Fulton and his congregation. a few years before his death also moved to the free state of Indiana. Mr. Armstrong was a man of very low stature, but had naturally a strong constitution. During the early part of his ministry his labors were severe, and he had often to dispense the Supper three and four times a year without assistance. He had upwards of one hundred miles to go to the presbytery and between six hundred and seven hundred to the synod, both of which he attended punctually with few exceptions. In compliance with calls to supply vacancies and 'organize churches he had often to go journeys from fifty to two hundred miles through the wilderness, which afforded no other comforts of hospitality than that which his saddlebag and the root of a tree furnished. In the pulpit he had an air of authority which impressed his audience with a feeling of respect and confidence in his judgment, While his talents, though not of the brilliant kind, were above what usually fall to the lot of men. The Rev. Pringle, of Perth, Scotland, speaking of. the two missionaries in a letter to a friend in this country said : "Some are perhaps endowed with more talents, but their qualification's are of the solid', permanent and useful kind; though they don't flash so much at first, they improve on acquaintance." Mr. Armstrong had an aversion to controversy, both in pulpit and out of it, and it was his pracamitice to refute error as an error 'of the heart, which persons might be under the influence, of whatever their profession. And he frequently guarded his people against supposing themselves religious, because they could condemn much in the practice or principles of others. "Beware," was his admonition, "lest these very people rise in judgment against you at last." So strong was his aversion to railing at others that even the memorable tempest of religious fanaticism' which in 1802 burst forth in Kentucky with such fury, threatening to extend its sweep over the whole country and to carry before it the firmest pillars of the church, did not draw from him in his pulpit exercises a condemnatory epithet. The means he employed to counteract its influence were indirect. He took up those points of the word assailed by the delusion and these best calculated to counteract its temper and enforced them. That faith is the product of mere human, power, was the fundamental error of the "new lights." His people will remember the earnestness with which he insisted., at the time, three days successively on the text, "Do ye now believe?" The clearness and force with which he opened up the nature, origin and effects of faith, as he posed the consciences with an answer to the interrogatory. He was a firm friend to the principles of the Reformation, and fully approved of the principles of the society to which he belonged, on the subject of separation of corrupt churches. In his adherence to these principles he was firm but not obstinate. On terms of communion, questions about church order, or other points, when his Bible did -not clearly decide, he was not rigid. In private life he was a social, cheerful and instructive companion. He was self-denied, humble and patient, not from a disposition naturally unambitious, meek and placid, but from a sense of duty and the power of the gospel over his mind. ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 199 In conversation he was particularly fond of anecdotes which contained some useful moral, and of these he had a large fund. From a conviction that religion often suffers both neglect and scandal from men's imprudence in the management of their worldly concerns he frequently took occasion in his familiar intercourse to deal much in maxims of good sense respecting these. It was known to a few that he was rather partial to the civil institution's of his native land, but he never meddled with politics. When the news of General Hull's surrender was received, which was on a Sabbath day in the interval between discourses, he immediately convened the congregation, and after a short admonitory address adapted to the occasion, dismissed them to make preparations for marching the next day, and went part of the day's ride with them. From the day of his arrival among his people in Kentucky till the last period of his ministry in this place, his congregation continued to increase and flourish under his care, until the last year of his life peace, harmony and mutual good will prevailed between him and his flock. At that period, however, and in an evil hour, when men slept, an enemy sowed tares, which sprung up and had like to have choked the wheat. This began by an alarm of fire, and some mischief was done and threatened to be done about the house. An old cabin was burned, and attempts made to set the barn on fire, suspicion arose, and the question was asked, who could do the mischief ? The family suspected some persons in the neighborhood and others suspected some person in or about the house. No one knew and mutual jealousies and criminations arose, and the brand of discord and contention kindled into a' flame, and in this state of things and under very uneasy feelings, lie began to suspect that his usefulness in the congregation was at an end; that his labors would be no longer acceptable. This impression gained strength and on occasion of a congregational meeting he sent in his resignation. The congregation were unwilling to part with him, but lie continued firm in his resolution, and the presbytery granted the prayer of his petition. He brought no charge against the congregation. Shortly before his decease lie went to Black Rock, Indiana, with a view to the removal of his family to that place, but when he returned, which was on the 27th day of September, he took sick that night, and on the Sabbath following sent for Rev. Thomas Beveridge, who visited 'him on Monday in company with Mr. Bain. He looked forward to dying without fear. When speaking of his family he was overcome by his feelings; he felt for them whose only object had been to make him happy. He had no unbelief .respecting them, but could commit them to Him who is the judge of the widow and the fatherless. He had always valued the Gospel, but more now than ever from the support it gave him in his trying hour. To Mr. Adams, a young minister, he said on his death-bed review of the doctrines he had embraced and taught, he found nothing to fault ; they were the ground of his hopes for eternity. For years he had no doubt of his interest in the atoning blood of Christ, and his faith did not fail him now, and on: Sabbath morning, 14th of October, 1821, between the hours of twelve and one o'clock, he died. After his decease on the backs of letters or stray slips of paper, it is said, were found notes of the ground work of some of his best efforts.