ROBINSON’S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 75 Bellbrook now stands was a wild unbroken wilderness. Herds of deer roamed through the forest and occasionally a bear was to be seen. The first house in the county had not long been built, and stood about half a mile north of the present village of Clio, or Ferry, on what is now known as the Abner Wilson farm." FIRST HOUSE IN GREENE COUNTY. It was raised on the 7th day of April, 1796, and belonged to Daniel Willson, one of the early pioneers of the county. It was constructed of unhewed logs, and like the other cabins of early days had no floor but that afforded by the broad breast of mother earth. Other cabins of the same kind were, however, soon built. FIRST MILL IN GREENE COUNTY. A mill stood on the southern part of the farm now owned by Thomas Brown and was the first mill of which we have any record in the county. It was a hand mill, and the neighbors from six or seven miles around came here to grind their grist. Sometimes as many as seven and eight met at the mill, and this number in those days was a crowd; but by "spelling each other at the crank" they soon got the grain ground and left contentedly for home. One of the stones of this mill is now in the possession of Mr.. Brown, who has collected 'quite a cabinet of curiosities and relics, and has, it it said, one of the finest collections of min-eralogical and geological specimens in the state. This mill stone is about fourteen inches in diameter, and three inches thick on the circumference. FIRST SETTLERS. Among the first settlers in the vicinity of what is now known as Bellbrook were Joseph C. Vance, Captain Nathan Lamme, John McLean, John C. Hale, Ephraim Bowman, James Barrett and a few others. (For a complete list see Sugarcreek township, first part of the book.) Joseph C. Vance located and settled on the land lying east of the street that leads to Alpha. Here he built a cabin, which was the first dwelling erected on the ground that was long afterward laid out for the town. It was built of rude logs and stood a little to the rear of where Ephraim Bumgardner's paint shop, used to stand. This cabin was afterward sold to James Clancey, and was used by him for a kitchen, he, to meet the growing wants of trade, having erected a finer and more commodious log house, in which he kept tavern. EX-GOVERNOR JOSEPH VANCE. And here we may remark that Joseph Vance, the ex-governor and son of the above Joseph C. Vance, is remembered by the school children of that day as a young man in "buckskin breeches" and the driver of an ox cart on the "Pickney road." What visions of future glory haunted his mind while engaged in this humble occupation we shall never know. But that he, was not entirely disappointed in his aspirations we may safely judge. The "Pickney road" derives its name from "Pickney pond," near Harbine's, by which it ran. It is the same road that is mentioned as leading to Alpha. 76 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. CAPTAIN NATHAN LAMME Entered the land now owned by David Clemmer, John Nave and the widow Lamme. The compiler of this sketch has in his possession a list, or roll, of the officers of the sixteen Virginia regiments of the Continental army who had received land bounties in the Virginia military district in Kentucky and Ohio, and among the number is the name of Captain Nathan Lamme, who received four thousand acres. He came to Sugarcreek township in the year 1797, and entered his land in sections 33 and 27 (3.6), northeast of Bellbrook. He built a cabin on the hill north of the Washington mill. He served as a volunteer in the Lord Dunmore war and participated in the battle of Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, under General Lewis, which lasted from dawn of day until sundown, and it w as a hard fight and bloody battle. And during the war of the Revolution he was found wearing for eight years the uniform of a captain with honor to himself and country. At the organization of Greene county, Ohio, Nathan Lamme was appointed sheriff, but on account of his large land estate he only served three months and resigned. William Maxwell, who was at the time serving as one of the first associate judges, resigned that position and accepted the place made vacant by Mr. Lamme. Mr. Maxwell with his able deputy, James Collier, served two terms, when Mr. Collier was elected. Thus from away back we have the precedent for the deputy to take the place of the principal, which has been kept up with few exceptions to the present time. It is said of Captain Lamme that he was intimately acquainted with Simon Kenton, whom he had often entertained for weeks in his log cabin as the old pioneer passed to and fro from Kentucky to his lands in Champaign county. In the pioneer graveyard in Bellbrook is buried this grand old hero of the war of the Revolution. He died in 1834, aged eighty-nine years. Men of higher rank and less worth have had expensive monuments erected by a great government, while this one is almost forgotten. Mr. Lamme had five sons, Josiah, William, James, Samuel and David; also two daughters, Anna and Martha. Of the five sons, all of them took part in the war of 1812. The following is a sketch of his youngest son : DAVID LAMME, SOLDIER OF 1812. Mr. Lamme was born in Kentucky, January 1, 1791, and removed with his father to the late residence on the banks of the Little Miami in 1797, where he was residing when the tocsin of war was sounded between this country and Great Britain. He joined the citizen soldiery first as' a substitute under Captain Robert McClelland at Xenia, from whence he was marched to Upper Sandusky to meet the northern invaders and their red allies. After his discharge he volunteered under the immortal Harrison to the relief of Fort Wayne, then beseiged by the Indians, after which he volunteered twice, thus serving four distinct campaigns during the war. Notwithstanding his pioneer and Kentucky heroism placed him in the front ranks in defense of his country, he was emphatically a man of peace, a good soldier, a good citizen, a dutiful son, a provident husband, an indulgent parent and ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 77 a kind neighbor. It appears that while the Lammes were Virginians, yet like many from that state who came to Ohio in the late Civil war they were true to the "stars and stripes." We find from good authority that Captain Lamme after the war of the Revolution was shortly afterward in Ken-tucky. and it is no doubt but that is where Ile became acquainted with Simon Kenton. FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE IN BELLBROOK. On the site of the present beautiful residence of Jacob Haines, Jr., and surrounded by a forest of stately oaks and sugar trees stood the first school house in the commu-nity. It was a large log building and had a huge fireplace at either end. Here the future village fathers droned over their &g-eared spelling books, and. between the "rule of three" and the master's "birch" spent many miserable days. The seats were not the varnished comfortable affairs with which school houses are now furnished, but rude plank or puncheons resting on pins at a slight angle. The writing desks were ranged around the walls and were made by driving wooden pins into auger holes bored in the logs, so that they stood at a proper angle; on these pins were placed boards or planks to serve as a rest for the copy book. Glass was very scarce, and altogether too expensive an article to have in a school house, and this temple of learning was innocent of sash or pane, but necessity is the mother of invention, and a large greased paper was stretched over the window, which in a measure supplied the deficiency and admitted some light at least. This house was afterward torn down by Stephen Bell, and a dwelling erected in its stead. The master of this backwood's school house was James Bain. JAMES BAIN. In a sketch written, I think, by Rev. Thomas Beveridge, of the life of Rev. Rob-ert Armstrong, as to the cause of his coming to America, he says: "Four members of the Associate church having settled in the same neighborhood in the vicinity of Lexington, Kentucky, in 1796, namely : James Bain, Adam Goodlett, Thomas Robinson and James Pringle, took council together at a prayer meeting on the best means of obtaining a dispensation of the gospel among them. Among the early records of the county James Bain's name appears on the aforesaid records in 1804. e settled in Sugarcreek township, Greene county, the same year as Mr. Armstrong, which was on the 2d day of September, 1804, which was the date Mr. Bain came into Sugarcreek township. He settled the land now owned by Archibald Berryhill's heirs, north of Bellbrook, northeast section 32 (3.6). He built a cabin near the present farm house. Subsequently he erected a malt house west of the cabin. He was a school master, combining the two avocations of teaching the school and brewing beer. He is a man remembered as combining many other seemingly uncongenial professions. It is related of him that he would rise very early in the morning, proceed to, his "clearing," work until his good wife, Sarah, who died November 17, 1818, at the age of forty-five, would blow the horn for breakfast, after which he would proceed! to his school, and the faithful horn would call him to dinner, and at ewening the sound of the horn echoing through the woods gave welcome warn- 78 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. ing to the boys and girls that the dreary hard day's work of school was done, but called the master to his clearing and the maul and the wedge. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, and was in the company of Captain Ammi Maltbie, which was a part of the First Regiment, Second Battalion and First Division, and the fact that he was the owner of a private "still" is no reflection upon him. The most of the old pioneers, leading men in the church and other good works, did not at that time think it a sin to have about and make their own liquors. It is said of him that while teaching that, in addition to that, he would make one hundred rails a day by his, early rising. He laid out and sold to the Associate or Seceder congregation the site for the church and burial place, the strip of land now known as the "Pioneer Associate graveyard." It had been the opinion of some in the neighborhood that this lot was donated with certain peculiar conditions, but this is a mistake; the deed reads thus: "This indenture made and concluded this 8th day of June, 1816, between James Bain, of the county of Greene, etc. Witnessed that said James Bain for and in consideration of the sum of three dollars to him paid doth grant, bargain, etc., a certain lot of ground enclosing the church, known by the name of the Sugarcreek meeting house. The deed is given without reserve." And in that place, first line of graves, near the east line, south corner, he sleeps the long sleep of death. Mr. Bain was born in the year 1748, and died August 9, 1832, at the age of seventy-five years. THE PICKNEY ROAD. One reason why Sugarcreek township was the gateway by which so many of the early residents of the county entered was on account of this road. It was the first beaten track through the wilderness leading from Cincinnati through Lebanon extending north through what is now Main street, Bellbrook, north toward Alpha, past what was arm known as Pickney pond, from which the road is supposed to have taken its name. Over this road the early settlers received their supplies Of salt and iron and such other commodities as they could not produce for themselves. It required long absences from home and laborious travel to go to Cincinnati then with a load of ground corn and exchange it for salt and return home again. After a time this road became more of a thoroughfare, the demand for supplies for the growing settlements continued to increase, and large teams of belled horses began to make regular trips carrying loads of flour and returning with merchandise. Another road leading from this one was called the "Beer road," because it was used mostly by our old pioneer friend, James Bain, to transfer from his place in the hol-low, back of what is known as the Pioneer graveyard, to Day-ton his beer. The main road crossed the Miami at what is now- the "Upper" mill and passed north of where Bellbrook now- is, and. extended toward Centerville. Over this route the mail was carried weekly to Xenia. THE OLD ASSOCIATE, OR PIONEER, GRAVEYARD.—MRS. JAMES COLLIER. It is said the first body buried here was the wife of Colonel James Collier, which must have been some time in the year 1804 ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 79 or 1805, as Mr. Collier removed from Captain Nathan Lamme's farm to Xenia in the summer of 1805. No stone or marker can be found of her grave. JOSEPH ROBINSON, SR. The oldest tombstone standing has inscribed upon it the name of Joseph Robinson, Sr., who died March 6, 1806, aged seventy-two years. This tombstone is of great historical interest to some who are descendants of his, who were at this time living in Xenia. He was the grandfather of the grandfather of our ex-deputy clerk of .courts: Miss Edith. Robinson, and was the great-grandfather to William F. Trader, attorney at law, and others. Mr. Robinson, .Sr., has two sons also buried here, one of whom Joseph, Jr., was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his: brother, Edward, who died October 17, 1845, at the age of seventy-three years. MAJOR WILLIAM ROGERS. Not far from this lot where the pioneer Robinson family are buried is another grave. It also is of local interest to some living at present in Xenia. It is the grave of Major William Rogers, who was a soldier in the war of 1812, and Who was the father of Annuel Rogers and his brother Luke. He was the grandfather of Mrs. Joseph Milburn. On his tombstone is the following record : "Born September 7, 1774. Died December 3, 1815." He built what was called the Roger's mill, the first water power mill erected in Sugarcreek township. ALEXANDER BERRYHILL. This soldier of the Revolutionary war was a native of Augusta county, Virginia, and at the age of nineteen years volunteered in the American army, under the command of General Nathaniel Greene. At the battle of. Guilford Court House, North Carolina, in the heat of the 'engagement his company was surrounded by the merciless, victorious British, commanded to give up their arms, and on doing so he was struck on the head with a sword which produced a severe wound, the scar of which remained until the day of his death. He was held a prisoner by the captors two years, then exchanged, returned to his home, and after some years he married and settled on a farm. Mr. Berryhill's wife was a niece of Charles Thompson, of Revolutionary fame, and secretary to the first continental 'congress, a man of some executive ability and a lover of liberty. To them were born eleven children, eight sons and three daughters. Their names were James, William, John, Alexander, Margaret, Samuel, Archibald, Rachel, Matthew, Elizabeth and Franklin. Mr. Berryhill's father, John, was a native of Ireland, who settled in Virginia at an early date and there reared a family. We have lingered longer at these two historic graves, the graves of those illustrious representatives, than we had intended, so with feelings of almost reverence we take our departure from the tombs of Alexander and Rachel Thompson Berryhill, only stopping long enough to copy the inscriptions that tell of the time of their death. Alexander Berryhill died in September, 1823, aged fifty-nine, his wife, Rachel, in 1838. They came to Ohio in 1814. The next grave that we visited, not far from Mr. Berryhill's, is the grave of 80 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. JAMES BAIN. Along the east line near the south corner apparently in the first tier of lots, hidden by a cedar tree whose branches reach the ground, is the grave of James Bain. After parting the branches his. tombstone appears in sight, and by his side are buried some of his children and his faithful wife, Sarah. As you stand and gaze involuntary you listen if perchance to hear the sound of the horn that Called him from labor in the school and from his work in the clearing. Mr. Bain died August 9, 1832, at the age of seventy-five years. As we have a sketch of his life elsewhere we will proceed to the next, which is the grave of WILLIAM M'CANLAS, Who first came into the county in 1817 and was related to Mr. Bain. He died August 9, 1835, aged forty-seven years. He had also a brother Robert. Not far from this lot, going north, is the grave of WILLIAM BAIN, Who was a son of James Bain, Sr., and was well known in Greene county, and is still remembered by some of the older inhabitants as a genial and well disposed man. Not far from his grave toward the west is the grave of another well known pioneer, WILLIAM LAW, SR. Mr. Law first came into Greene county in 1804 from Kentucky and settled in Sugarcreek township. He has a number of descendants yet living. His son, Jesse Law, who was a soldier in the war of 1812, and who was for years a resident of Xenia township, is still remembered by many in Xenia and throughout the county. William Law, Sr., died January 26, 1826, aged seventy-six years. Not far from where Mr. Law is buried is the grave of GEORGE WATT, SR. This grave is of more than usual interest, and as we take our place in. front of the stone that marks the last resting place of this hardy old pioneer, George Watt, listen to the story of his life. In the year 182o he left his home in Belfast, Ireland, with his family. His destination was the United States of America, state of Ohio, county of Greene, where they arrived the same year. His brother, Hugh, had preceded him to this country. Hugh, who was six years younger, and who was the father of the late Dr. George Watt, of Xenia, had settled in 1817 not far from Cedarville, whilst George, the elder, settled in 1820 on the hilltops west of the Little Miami river between what is known as the "Indian Riffle" and the old Eureka mill. George Watt, Sr., was the father of George Watt, Jr., who lived in the house on the southwest corner of Market and West streets (present home of Mr. Collins, the carpenter), whilst two other sons, Hugh and Andrew, removed to Indiana. James Watt, the fourth son, died in Xenia; he never married. James and Andrew made applications to become citizens of the United States, in 1840, which were granted. He had also four daughters: Mrs. Betsey Dodd, wife of John Dodd, Sr. ; Mrs. Samuel Smeigh ; Mrs. Jane McClellan, wife of William, of ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 81 Sugarcreek ; and Margaret, who was single. Of his children, I think, Mrs. Samuel Smeigh, mother of Mrs. George Kendall, is the only one living. Mr. Watt, who was born in 1765, came to America in 1820, and died in 1845, aged eighty years. THE GOWDY FAMILY. Not far from the grave of George Watt, Sr., is the grave of John Goudy, as the name is spelled on the tombstone. Along side of him is buried his good wife, Ann Gowdy. What time Mr. Gowdy came and settled in Sugarcreek township is not known. This much is known: He was there previous to 1803, as his name and that of his son, Andrew Gowdy, appear on the first enumeration taken of the aforesaid township in 1803. Mr. Gowdy died November 15, 1807, at the age of seventy-seven years. His son, Andrew Gowdy, was married to Mary McConnell, February 7, 1806, by the Rev. Robert Armstrong, and from his tombstone we learn that he was born April 2, 1777, and died September 25, 1818, aged forty-one years. There are living in Xenia ( 1900) one son and one daughter of Andrew Gowdy, namely, our venerable and respected townsmen who has spent so many years of his life in our midst, Alexander Gowdy, now in his eighty-seventh year, living on West Main street, and his sister, Mrs. Jacob Miller, residing on East Main street, mother of Mrs. Joseph M. Milburn. John Gowdy, Sr., was a native of Pennsylvania, removing from there to Kentucky, and thence to Ohio at the date given. Other children he had beside .Andrew : One son, John, who was a soldier from Greene county in the war of 1812, and William Gowdy, Who went to Kentucky, and removed Rev. Armstrong to this place in 1804. John removed to Franklin, Indiana, as did two other sons, Robert and Thomas. His daughter, Ann, November 8, 1804, was married to Mr. James Bull, and it was an event that was made historical by our old pioneer friend, Hugh Andrew, who was one of the guests at the wedding. He says : "They were there from Dan to Beersheba." Another daughter of John Gowdy, Nancy, born August 14, 1817, was married to Jesse taw', a well known pioneer of Greene county. The children of Andrew Gowdy were John,. Jane, Adam, Susanna, Alexander, Mary Ann and Eliza. But to mention all of the illustrious dead that are buried here would make this article too long, so we pass these graves and go to the next and last that we shall mention, which is the grave of Captain Nathan Lamme, a gallant soldier of the Revolution, and by his side his son, David, a soldier of the war of 1812. A brief sketch of both will be found elsewhere in this book. THE HUTCHISON FAMILY. One of the early settlers of Greene county was John Hutchison. He came from Bourbon county, Kentucky, in 1806. He and Mr. Frazier had married sisters by the name of Finley in Rockbridge county, Virginia, and because of slavery they only remained in Kentucky some ten years. John Hutchison bought a farm one mile southeast of Bellbrook, the east line along the Miami, now known as the Morris farm. He was a weaver and while he worked at his trade his sons George, John, Andrew, Samuel and William cleared and cultivated the farm. 82 - R0BINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. George and Sarah, John and Andrew, William and Martha (Sterrett) were twins. Samuel, May (Jobe) and Jane (McClure) were "not in it." John cultivated the farm after marriage to Ellen Clancey, April 24, 1822, until he bought one hundred acres near Xenia, a half mile northwest of the fair grounds, now the "Shoup farm," which he sold in 1835 and moved to Shelby county, near Sidney, and died in Sidney at the age of eighty-six years. His father and mother died in the same week of fever and are buried in the "Upper graveyard," he at the age of fifty-five years. He belonged to the first board of trustees of the First United church of Xenia, and the family came on horseback to church. And what a task in the absence of conveniences must have been the rearing of such a family. The mother dare not leave one of a pair by itself when she went to the spring to carry water, but 'carried one on the back, another under one arm, leaving one hand for the bucket. Andrew came to Xenia to learn the tailor trade with Mr. Currie, and pursued it until the last day of his life. He died in 1865 at the age of sixty-nine years. He was the father of W. C., the merchant, Mrs. George Ebright and Miss Emma, who are still living in Xenia. SAMUEL LOGAN Died at Bellbrook, Ohio, November 21, 1873, at the age of sixty-eight years. He was an old bachelor, and had made his home with Mr. Samuel Pogue for a long time past. He was one of the most eccentric and peculiar men of our age. One of his oddities that we have no record of any one else copying was that he would not accept any more than seventy-five cents per day from any one for doing work. He was a good workman, and made a good hand at carpenter work. But he always said that seventy-five cents was all that a day's work was worth, and would not accept any more. He began life a poor boy without a dollar, was always industrious, made a good living, wore good clothing and saved six thousand dollars, which he earned by a day's work at seventy-five cents per day. In the western and south-western part of this county are still standing in fair condition houses that he built years ago. He would go to some. of the farms where the residents were living yet in their cabins, cut down the trees and hew the timbers for the frame of a house, and in the fall would have the aforesaid families living in their new homes.. The old maxim would hold good in his case, "It is not what we make, but what we save that makes us wealthy." "Old Honesty" would be a fit in-scription for his monument. In his will he gave Mrs. E. Pogue. seven hundred dollars; William Duck five hundred; Miss Kate Hawkins two hundred dollar, and one hundred dollars to Miss, Bell; and the remainder to the Parker heirs. JOHN TORRENCE, A SOLDIER OF. THE REVOLUTION. He was a pensioner under the act of June 1, 1832. Application was made for same September 15, 1832, he being then seventy-four years of age. The pension was granted May 3, 1833. He was a native of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. At the outbreak of the war of the Revolution in this country he was a member of Colonel Dunlap's regiment, Captain Askew's company, of the ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 83 Pennsylvania militia. He was then a private soldier in that regiment. July 28, 1777, the United States government called his regiment into actual service; he was then promoted to the position of orderly sergeant of his company, which position he filled with honor for seven months and fifteen days. After the war was over he emigrated to the state of Kentucky, locating near Lexington, and from Kentucky he removed to Ohio, where he arrived in 1804, settling in Sugarcreek township, Greene county. The old records of the county show that he was a useful man both in church and state, and lived to a good old age, when he died and was buried in the Associate church yard, West Market street, Xenia, the site now covered by the school house of that name. He was afterward taken up and buried on the lot of his son, Aaron Torrence, in Woodland cemetery, Xenia. His oldest son, William, was a soldier in the war of 1812. He had beside William three sons, Aaron ; John, who was the father of Henry Torrence, ex-recorder of Greene county ; and David, who was the father of Finley Torrence, of the firm of 'McDowell & Torrence ; also four daughters, namely Elizabeth, Ann, Mary and Clarissa. JESSE SANDERS, A SOLDIER OF 1812. He was born on the 3d day of September, 1794, in Stokes county, North Carolina. His parents were Jesse Sanders and Sarah Reddick. They were both natives of North Carolina. On the 15th day of December, 1804, the father of Jesse with his family and household goods departed from old Carolina in wagons via Virginia and Lexington, Kentucky, to Cincinnati, arriving in Greene county on the 13th day of February, 1805, and immediately settling in Sugarcreek township (now Spring Valley township) on what was then called military lands. He bought his land (two hundred and forty acres) of Colonel Nathaniel Massie, one of the first settlers of Ross county, Ohio. In 1806 he died. In December, 1807, his wife followed him. The oldest of the children, Forace, died in Laporte, Indiana, in 1869, having been through life a farmer and mechanic. John died in 1812 in Spring Valley township. Jemima married Jeffrey Saulsbury, a farmer of Warren county, Ohio, and died in 1814. Jane married Isaac Beason, a farmer of Wayne county, Ohio, and died in 1809. Susanna never married, and died in 1809 in Wayne county, Ohio. Jesse, the subject of this sketch, died at his home in Spring Valley township, May 21, 1880, aged eighty-eight, and is buried in Woodland cemetery, Xenia. During the war of 1812 Mr. Sanders performed a conspicuous part as a member of Captain John Clark's company. He had through life followed farming. He was married, on the 5th day of November, 1840, to Elizabeth Simerson, a native of this county. Her parents were natives of Maryland, and very early settlers of Greene county, coming in 1801. They were the parents of, four children. Politically he was a Democrat ; voted first for. General Jackson. Religiously he was by birth and early training a Quaker, but on account of joining the army was expunged, and ever afterward preferred to have a creed not circumscribed by the doctrines of any church. Mr. Sander's name will forever live as one of the pioneers of Greene county, Ohio. 84 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. JOSIAH ELAM, A SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTION. Josiah Elam and his wife, Sarah A. (Porter) Elam, settled in what is now known as Spring Valley township in the spring of 1803. Mr. Elam was a native of Culpeper county, Virginia, and was born in 1753. He had in 1801, previous to his settling in Ohio come out and selected a place for his future home, entering one thousand acres of land on Caesar's creek. He was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and in the French and Indian war held a captain's commission under General St. Clair in the Indian campaign Of 1791. He died February 28, 1821, aged sixty-nine years, and is buried in the Elam graveyard in the orchard in front of what was known as the Ambrose Elam farm. The old home is situated five miles south of Xenia near the Burlington pike. His family consisted of six sons and four daughters ; one of his sons, John, was a soldier in the war of 1812. The wife of Josiah Elam died September 25, 1850, aged seventy-nine years, and is buried at his side; also his wife's mother, Susanna Porter, who died October 21, 1821, aged eighty-four years. THE THREE ORIGINAL FOUNDERS OF BELLBROOK, HENRY UPDYKE, JAMES CLANCEY AND STEPHEN BELL. Henry Updyke was the eldest son of Captain Albert Updyke, a soldier of the Revolution, from New Jersey. Henry was born in Bethlehem, New Jersey, November 16, 1774, and came to an untimely death by an accident in 1825. While digging a well on the Steele farm a mattock fell on him while he was down in the well. He was buried in what was known as the Methodist Episcopal church yard, which was on the southwest corner of Thomas White's farm. Afterward his body was removed with other deceased members of the family to the cemetery at Dayton, Ohio. He built the brick house on the farm and owned the land on which the west part of Bellbrook now stands. He, with Stephen Bell and James Clancey, laid out the town in 1815. In another place in this book is a notice inserted in the "Vehicle," a paper published in Xenia in 1815, Samuel Pelham, editor, in which notice is given of the sale of the aforesaid lots. It is said there was some trouble in selecting a name for the place, but at length Mr. Updyke' suggested the name of Bellbrook, which was at once agreed upon and adopted. As can be seen, the town takes its name in part from the name of one of its founders, Stephen Bell, and the latter part of it from the numerous streams and rivulets in that vicinity. JAMES CLANCEY. In tracing the history of the old pioneers of the county it is a source of regret that our records do not extend farther back than 1803. James Clancey's name appears on the roll of the first enumeration that was taken of the free white male inhabitants over the age of twenty-one. He was a native of Virginia, and had located in what is now known as Sugarcreek township, Greene county, and on the present site of the village of Bellbrook some time previous to 1803. It might be truthfully said of him that he was a tavern keeper from "away back." As has been said elsewhere he had ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 85 purchased the first cabin that had been erected by Joseph, C. Vance, in 1797, to be used as a kitchen to his new tavern, which he had completed, to accommodate his large and growing trade. His bar-room was the resort of the choice spirits, in more senses than one, of the surrounding country. On the long winter evenings they would congregate around the huge fireplace and after sundry visits to the bar would while away many hours in recounting their adventures with the Indians and bears as the case might be. Many a weary traveler slaked his thirst and found a comfortable bed beneath their hospitable roof. Captains Robert McClelland, Ammi Maltbie and Captain John Clark had each recruited and taken from the township full companies of men, and during the war of 1812, and after, Clancey's tavern was made "headquarters," they would often meet here with the rank and file of their companies and fight over their battles again and again. So much can be gleaned and gathered here and there even after so long a time of this historic old township that one hardly knows when to stop. One petition of our subject, Mr. Clancey, to keep tavern in Bellbrook, the original of which the compiler of this sketch, has in his possession as custodian of the county, we will here copy : "To the honorable judges of the court of common pleas of Greene county. The petition of the undersigned free holders of Sugarcreek township humbly represent to your honors that we conceive a public house of entertainment in said township would conduce to the public convenience. We therefore recommend James Clancey, one of our citizens, as a man of good character and in every way calculated to keep a public house. We therefore pray your honors would grant him a license for that purpose and your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. Signed, January the 22d, 1816, John Hutchison, Andrew Bird, Joseph Gillispie, James Gillispie, David Lamme, William Standley and Alexander Armstrong." Rev. Robert Armstrong, on his first ar-rival from Kentucky in answer to a call to become pastor of the Associate or Seceders, as they were then called, preached first at the house of James Clancey, present site of Bellbrook, to he following families : Esq. John and his brother, Joseph McKnight, John and Joseph C. Vance, whose son was afterward governor of Ohio ; Captain Na-than Lamme; William and James Tanner ; the three Snodgrass brothers, William, James and Robert; two Snowdens, James and Jacob; Abraham Van Eaton and others. A few of these were members of. the Asso-ciate Reformed and Presbyterian churches, but were glad to listen to Mr. Armstrong. About 1820 Mr. Clancey removed to near Flat Rock, Indiana, with his family, all but his son, Dr. James Clancey, Jr., who had about one year previous formed an alliance for life. with the daughter of Dr. William Frazier, which event reads as follows : "August 12, 1819, married at the home of the , bride, Mr. James Clancey, Jr., to Miss Sarah Frazier, daughter of Dr. William Frazier." James Clancey, Sr., on his arrival at his new home, Flat Rock, Indiana, purchased eighty acres of land, and not far from the creek erected his cabin, where he continued to reside near two of his former Greene county neighbors, Mr. Van Pelt and Mr. Avery, until 1822, when his life's work was done and he was called home, and was buried in the graveyard not far from his home, where Conn's creek empties into Flat Rock. 86 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Back from the mouth of Conn's creek in the fork thus formed was the graveyard in which was put away all that was mortal of James Clancey, Sr. After his death his two sons, George and William, returned to their old home. Rev. J. F. Hutchison, of Xenia, is a grandson of Mr. Clancey, and many other citizens here and elsewhere are the descendants of this grand old pioneer. The first election ever held in Sugarcreek township was by. order of the court held in the house of James Clancey, and it was for years the voting place of the township. STEPHEN BELL. Stephen Bell was born in New Jersey, August 18, 1774, and was married to Miss Hannah Scudder in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, in 1795. Of this union there were born eleven children, viz. : John S., William, Charles, Aaron, Rebecca, Mary, Naomi, Permelia, Casander, Benjamin and Franklin J. Little is known of his early days except that he learned the trade of a millwright in the east, and there being a demand for that kind of skilled labor in the west he with his family moved. to Ohio in the early part of 1812, stopping- for a short time on the James Towler farm west of Xenia. About 1813 or 1814 he bought out and moved on the farm now owned by Jacob Haines, living- on that property at the time of the marriage of his five daughters, so you can imagine the old property has seen some fun within its walls. He worked at his trade while living there and helped to build several mills on the Miami river, and also built a mill for Henry Updyke on Sugar creek just above the Esq. Ferguson property. The older Bellbrook "boys" can yet remember the old frame where so often they have played "hide and seek" after it played out as a mill. About the year 1815 Stephen Bell. and Henry Updyke purchased of James Snowden the southeast of center of section 2 (2.6) ; the lands embraced all of east part of the above section, being then all the western part of Bellbrook. The town had been surveyed and laid off in lots and a notice sent to Mr. Samuel Pelham, editor of the Vehicle, a paper published in Xenia, calling attention to the new town, and also to the date when the sale would take place. THE VILLAGE OF BELLBROOK. Taken from the "Xenia Vehicle," a paper published in Xenia, 1815, owned by James Galloway, Samuel Pelham, editor : NOTICE. The subscribers having laid out the town of Bellbrook in -the county of Greene, Sugarcreek township, on the great road that leads by James Clancey's tavern, leading from Lebanon to Urbana, and where the road crosses leading from Franklin to Wilmington. The lots in said town will be sold at public sale to the highest bidder on Saturday, the 7th day of October, ensuing. The terms of the sale will be made known on the day of sale. The situation of the town is healthy, and convenient to springs which can be easily conveyed through the town. Saw and grist mills within a mile. Adjoining. the town lands is a stream of water on which all kinds of machinery may be erected. Signed, September 19, 1815. STEPHEN BELL. HENRY UPDYKE. JAMES CLANCEY. Sale to be October 7, 1815. ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 87 The limits of the town as then laid out extended north to the alley that runs between the properties of George. Webb. and Samuel Willoughby. On the west to the street that runs from this alley south. On the south to what is known as the lower street. And on the east to the street that runs from the southeast corner of David Rape's lot north to a large rock that still is to be seen a little west of the two apple trees on "Hopkin's Hill." The lots were in No. 84, each four rods wide and ten rods long on each side of Main street. The first sale of lots on the date above stated took place; Aaron Nutt, an old pioneer of Centerville, Montgomery county, Ohio, was the auctioneer on this occasion. Mr. Bell about the year 1832 or 1833 sold this farm where his children had grown up to manhood and womanhood and bought a farm across the road (reaching from the south line of the new cemetery to the north line of the Lewis Kemp farm, and on which is built all that part of the town east of North Main street) from the venerable Judge John McLane, on which stood the tavern then kept by William Edwards, where the young men and maidens often met to while away the evening hours in the country dance. In 1838 Mr. Bell had a severe attack of western fever, and Iowa then being the Eldorado of North America he sold his farm to Captain John C: Murphy, intending to move there, but his wife dying in May, 1839, changed his plans for his future course in life. He served one term in the legislature of. Ohio as a representative from Greene county. From 1822 to 1828 he served Greene county as one of her county commissioners. In 1839 he married the widow Daughterty, of Springfield, Ohio, and made that place his home, where he was an honored citizen, serving as the first mayor of the city, and afterward living a quiet, unassuming life until the time of his death, May 14, 1852. It is said that Mr. Bell in his old age, knowing that time with him would soon close, and having a mental dread of being laid away in the cold, cold ground, where no kindly eye or loving friends could ever see him again, he had a vault built in the Green Mount cemetery east of the city, corner of Main street and Green Mount avenue, Springfield, Ohio. He was placed therein and there he is today resting to all appearances as natural as the day he fell asleep.- One of his great-grandsons visited the vault a few days ago, and on coming home remarked, "How much grandfather looks like Uncle Benedict." The body was petrified. Mr. Bell was also a soldier in the war of 1812, under Captain Robert McClelland. EX-ASSOCIATE JUDGE JOHN MC LANE. John McLane entered the land on which William Huston now resides. His cabin, which was erected near the site of the present residence, was rudely constructed of rough logs. He was a bachelor, and here with no other companion but a dog and his rifle he lived. Often at night, while reposing on his lonely couch, he heard coming from the depths of the forest solitude around him the piercing scream of the wild cat and the hungry how 1 of the wolf. To protect himself from these beasts he each night made and kept a large fire in front of the entrance to his abode. Even at that day he was know n as a "queer genius," and many 88 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. are the anecdotes told of his eccentricity. One of these we will relate. While at various log rollings in the surrounding country he had heard the settlers boasting much of the prowness of their dogs in fighting wild cats. This made McLane feel a little envious, and one day while out hunting his dogs treed one of these animals. Nothing could have pleased John better, and he immediately set about to see what kind of wild cat dogs his were. Setting his gun by the side of a tree he began to climb the one "onter was the cat," but he had not climbed within more than ten feet of the "varmint" when it rolled up its back, set its hairs all the wrong way and looked him right in the eye. He tried to draw off its attention, but no, said he, "No whar would it look but right in me eye." He began to descend the tree slowly and cautiously at first but more rapidly as he neared the ground. Once again on solid earth he grasped his rifle and, after quieting the "buck ager" that had taken possession of him, brought it to his shoulder and sent the ball crashing through the brain of his foe. He used to say when relating this adventure that it was the only time in his life that he was "skared," and that it was the first and last time that he ever tried to shake a painter "offen" a tree. John McLane came from Lexington, Kentucky, and entered the land where his body lies buried. He came some time previous to 1803, as his name appears on the records at that date. The associate judges appointed him on the 15th of November, 1804, to be one of the commissioners in place of John Sterritt, who had resigned. We also find that he was one of the associate judges of Greene county, and while he may not have been a well educated man, he was a man of good judgment and sterling worth. It is said of him that being a bachelor, and having no children of his own, he used to speak his mind pretty freely when speaking of our legislators, who would enact a law that would compel him to pay for schooling other people's children, and denominated such as "a set of dung-hill gods," from which he prayed, to be delivered. VISIT TO THE GRAVE OF JOHN MC LANE. The compiler of this sketch paid a visit to his tomb one bright day in June, 1899, and was well repaid for the visit. Leaving the cars at Shoup's Station, on the Panhandle Railroad, I started from there due south toward Mt. Zion church, which is about two miles from said station. I stopped at the home of Capt. Benjamin Darst to inquire as to where was the tomb of John McLane, and was told that it was at least three miles froth his home, and, "Yonder is my horse and in that shed is my buggy ; you shall not walk," and, in almost as short a time as it takes me to write about it, the captain had me seated in his buggy. "And now for the direction : keep right on the direction south, that you have been in coming here; cross the pike that leads past Mt. Zion, continue the same direction until you come to another pike that leads toward Dayton; turn to the right and go about two miles, which will lead you to where, on your right hand, you will find a building that used to be the "toll-gate house :" at that place near you will find a narrow lane on the right ; drive north about one-half mile and in the woods on the left you will find it." I did not forget a single direction that the captain gave me, and was soon there. And, climbing the ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 89 fence, soon had transferred from the tomb-stone to my- book the following: "Here lies the remains of John McLane, who, died October 21, 1848, aged eighty-three years and eleven months. Let no one disturb my humble cot, nor break my peaceful rest,— Till corrupt earth shall be no more, and saints be continuously blest.” With the words that I have copied from his broken tombstone still ringing in my ears " Let no one' disturb my humble cot", it looked as though his wish had been respected, and for fifty-one years no one had been near that lonely grave. Back from the lane, over the fence I had worked my- way among the thick underbrush and vines, and there about twelve feet from the fence was a stone enclosure about four feet in height, the walls two feet thick, the end next to the east about eight feet from out to out, and twelve feet long from out to out, the one acre of ground that had been reserved for a burial place. It looked as though in the past the primitive forest had been cut off, and the present growth of trees had grown to their present height. The walls that kind friends had erected around where his body had been laid were broken and had fallen inward from either side, and had hid from view the grave of John McLane. Out from among the stones had sprung up grape vines at least two inches in diameter. The tombstone was broken, one half of which was supported and kept from falling by the vines aforesaid. The wood in which this one acre of ground had been reserved and in which was the tomb, does not look unlike it did when its owner used to travel through it near one hundred years ago. `Tis true the white man has destroyed the wild game that was so plentiful in the days of Mr. McLane but the face of nature remains unchanged; as you stand and gaze, the silence of this spot seems unbroken and while standing alone you almost expect to see some of the objects. that used to be seen, to hear the cry of the wild cat, or the howling of the wolf. 'Tis a scene both wild. and wierd and well repays a visit. JOHN C. HALE, SR. John C. Hale was a son of James, Hale, who was born in Eng-land in 1737. He first settled in Baltimore county, Maryland, in 1767. He removed to Blair county, Pennsylvania. How long he resided in the latter state is not certain. He removed from Pennsylvania to. Mason county, Kentucky, where he died in 1801 or 1802. His home in Kentucky was on Clark's run not. far from Brant's Station, nine miles from Maysville. John Hale had taken to himself as wife Miss Catherine Baird, who was born in 1774, and was of Welsh descent. Of this marriage there were born eight children : Rebecca, Joseph, Lydia, John, Hannah, James, Thomas and Silas. In 1802 the widow came to what was then the Northwestern territory with her children and settled in that part that is now known as the great state of Ohio, county of Greene and Sugarcreek township. In the first enumeration of the male inhabitants over the age of twenty-one taken by James Collier and completed August 1803, we find the names of three of Mr. Hale's children, who were of the required age, namely : Joseph, John and Thomas. James 90 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. Hale's name appearing first on the list of voters October, 1805, and Silas, the last son, voting for the first time in April, 1826. After 1810 none are left in the county save John and his son, Silas Hale, Jr. In the year 1802 John Hale built a. log cabin on the present site of the residence of William Lansing. In this cabin our late venerable friend, Silas Hale, Jr., was born, and near it, when a child, he made a narrow escape from being devoured by a hungry bear, but through the efforts of his mother he was rescued. The floor of this cabin was made of planks sawed out by hand, there being at that time no sawmills in the neighborhood, and but few in the county. This cabin was afterward. torn down, hauled to Bellbrook and re-erected by Joseph Gillespie at the rear of the house in which Mrs. Vaughn used to live. The method of sawing plank in that day was novel ; the log was first hewn square, then lined on two opposite sides, one end of it was raised to a scaffoling, so that it stood on such an incline as to admit of one standing under and another on top of the log both using the saw with ease. Those days have passed and gone, and the savage "swish" of the saw as it is drawn by steam or water power is now heard in the land. John Hale, the subject of this sketch, removed from the county to Kosciusko. county. Indiana, in 1838. He was born November 25, 1775, and died in Kosciusko county September 25, 1845, and was buried in the Dunkard graveyard in Jackson township, that county. Silas Hale, Jr., son of John, took unto himself as a wife, Miriam Updyke, daughter of Henry and Catherine Updyke. A sketch of Henry Updyke as one of the founders of the town of Bellbrook appears in this book. To Silas Hale and his wife were born ten children, seven sons and three daughters. Mr. Hale was born August 26, 1803, and died June 20, 1889. Mrs. Hale, the widow of Silas, was born February 5, 1814, and was in 1899 still living, and it is hoped that she will be left for many years to be what she ever has been, a source of pleasure to her numerous friends, children and grandchildren. To the descendants yet living of this family it is a pleasure to meet them, and kindly thoughts of them you will have when you say goodbye. MOSES WALTON. Moses Walton, one of the pioneers of Greene county, was horn on the 27th day of June, 1809, in what is now Spring. Valley township. His parents were Edward Walton and Deborah Alen. His father was one :of the earliest pioneers of Greene county, coming in 1806 from Virginia. He was born on the 30th of January, 1777, in Shenandoah county, Virginia, and belonged to a family who bore their part in the Revolution. The Walton family, of four brothers, originally came from England, and in 1664 settled near Philadelphia. They were the advance of William Penn's Quaker colony. The Walton family to-day, on both sides, hold to the creed of their forefathers. The father of the subject of this sketch departed this life on the 0th day of April, 1867, in Spring Valley township, having reached the advanced age of ninety years and seven months, and was buried in the Caesarscreek Friends' churchyard, south of New Burlington. He had through. life been a farmer, and a man of stanch integrity and usefulness in society. At the age of twenty-two ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 91 Moses began life on his own resources as a farmer, in Spring Valley, where he ever afterward resided. On the 30th clay of October, 1834, he was united in marriage to Mary Cook, a daughter of John Cook, one of the first pioneers of Warren county. She died March 15, 1844, aged twenty-eight years, leaving five children. On the 1st of October Mr. Walton was united in marriage to Rachel Reagon, a daughter of Reason Reagon, one of the early pioneers of Warren county, Ohio. She died April 26, 1844, aged twenty-three years, leaving one child. Mr. Walton was united in marriage to Deborah Johnson, a daughter of Joseph A. Johnson, an early pioneer of Highland county, on the 19th of September, 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Walton were the parents of eight children: Mr. \\Talton died January 8, 1887, in his seventy-seventh year. RICHARD CUNNINGHAM, A SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTION. His name is found upon the records of Greene county, Ohio, first in the enumeration of the inhabitants of Sugarcreek township of the year 1820. At that time he was the owner of lots Nos. 9, t0 and 28 in the town of Bellbrook, and afterward ran a hotel in that place, and was also constable in Sugarcreek township. "On the 30th of April, 1827, personally appeared in court ( the court of common pleas for the county of Greene, being a court of record in the seventh circuit of the state of Ohio) Richard Cunningham. a resident of said county, aged seventy years, who first being duly sworn, according to law, doth on his oath say and make the following declaration in order to obtain the provision made by the acts of congress of the 18th of March, 1818, and the 18th of May, 1820, "That he,. the said Richard Cunningham, enlisted for the term of three years, some time in the spring of the year 1777, in Franklin county, in the state of Pennsylvania, in the company commanded by Captain Crawford, in the regiment commanded by Colonel Dunlap, in the line of the state of Pennsylvania on the military continental establishment. As well as his recollection serves him, lie knows that at the battle of Brandywine he was commanded by Colonel Dunlap, but at the battle of Germantown lie was under the command of General Armstrong. Then when that part of the army to which he belonged went into winter quarters at Valley Forge lie was detained to drive a public team, which he followed for a considerable time, after which he was attached to and did duty in a rifle company under various officers, in scouting or spying parties the names of these latter officers lie does not now recollect. That lie continued to serve in this latter species of service until the expiration of his term of service, when he was honorably discharged at the town of Lancaster, in the state of Pennsylvania, having previously received a certificate in the state of New Jersey. Soon after his discharge he volunteered his services for one year, and served as a rifleman for that time in scouting, spying, etc. He was afterwards out for nine months in General McIntosh's campaign against the Indians as a pack-horse man, and served one year in the late war (1812) under Lieutenant John Hopkins, of the corps of rangers (I think from Warren county, Ohio)." He had one son by his second wife, Richard S. 'Cunningham, who at this time (1827) was fifteen years of age. 92 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. His pension was allowed, and he was placed on the roll May 4, 1833. His pension commenced March 4, 1831, at the rate of eighty dollars per year. SACKETT FARM, IN ONE NAME, FROM 1799 TO 1899. The following is taken from the "Bellbrook Moon :" "One hundred years ago Cyrus Sackett, accompanied by his wife and three children, came from Kentucky and settled on what has been known in later years as the Alexander Sackett farm. Mr. Sackett bought this farm of one hundred and fifty acres at two dollars per acre. They arrived there on October 17, at three o'clock in the afternoon. The land was then covered with dense forests. He, however, cleared a small space, where they pitched their tents made of bed clothes, in which they managed to live for some time. Mr. Sackett then built a log cabin, which was called a round-log cabin, in which they lived for several years. He then built a large hewed-log house, which was at that time considered very fine. Here Mr. Sackett and wife spent the remainder of their lives. After their death the farm was divided into two parts and sold. Alexander Sackett bought the eastern part containing eighty acres, and Preston Poague bought the remainder of the farm, which is now owned by the heirs of the late Benjamin Vaughan. Alexander Sackett held this farm in his possession until his death, which occurred April 10, 1893. The farm was then purchased jointly by Phineas Wilson and Emily Sackett, grandchildren of Cyrus Sackett. The farm remained in their possession until the end of the year 1899, when they sold it to Jacob Carey. Thus it passed out of the Sackett name after being in their possession one hundred years, two months and eighteen days. This is a very rare occurance." In the old Baptist graveyard about one mile south of the village of Bellbrook lies all that is mortal of Cyrus Sackett, Sr. Many more of historic worth also are buried there ; among the number are Rev. Josiah Carman, the veteran pioneer Baptist preacher, Captain Ammi Maltbie, who made a name for himself in the war of 1812, Andrew Byrd, ,Sr., and others. Mr. Cyrus Sackett, Sr., died at his home July 13, 1846, aged eighty-three years, leaving his wife, Nancy, and the following children : sons, Alexander, Joseph, Samuel and Cyrus Sackett, Jr.; daughters, Sarah Hand, Mrs. Anna Hoblet and Mrs. Poague. GEORGE HINEY, A SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTION, Was born in 1754 and died May 21, 1849, at the good old age of ninety-five years. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and at the time of the Revolutionary war was a private soldier in the Pennsylvania militia. The records on file in the pension office at Washington, D. C., show that he was drawing a pension, and was then a resident of Greene county, Ohio. His annual allowance was seventy-six dollars and sixty-six cents. He applied for the pension May 4, 1831, being at that time seventy-nine years old, and he was placed on the roll October 12, 1833. After the close of the war he removed first to Virginia, and from that state in 1820 to Ohio, settling in Greene county, where he continued to live until his death. He had quite a large family. His sons ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 93 were a hard-working, honest set of men. Just over the line in Clinton county, near Lumberton, is a beautiful little- cemetery; in that lies all that is mortal of this old hero, George Hiney. At his side lies his wife, Mary, who died September 22, 1858, aged eighty-one years. His son Henry also lies there; he died September 24, 1869, at the age of eighty years. FIRST COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. The gathering of the pioneers of Greene county in what is known as Beavercreek township, August 2, 1803. The wheat har-vest had been gathered by many of the early pioneers in the young county. Work by many had been laid aside, and some had received notice to appear at the house of Owen Davis, which was situated five and one-half miles west of the now city of Xenia, on the farm now ( 1900) known as the Harbine farm. Others came out of curiosity ; some. few had come in the night before, and were the guests of mine host, Peter Borders, who was at that time the tenant of Owen Davis, who was ready to supply the wants of both man and beast with the necessities of life and comfort. Some had traveled far through the trackless forest. Tomorrow would be a great day in the history of the new made county and of Beavercreek township. Three months previous there had been a gathering, May 10, 1803, for the purpose of organizing the county into townships and other matters pertaining to starting the wheels of the county government. But this clay had been spoken of among the few hardy settlers as they would meet to assist each other in the erection of their cabin homes. in the few townships then organized; tomorrow would be a chance to meet hardy men like themselves, representatives from the four townships which constituted Greene county. This day was to be a county reunion. It was to be a great day in the county, and the people were gathered in large numbers; here was the presiding judge, and his associates, prosecuting attorney and grand jury ; here was the court house and jury room, and also the tavern of Peter Borders, whose bar was well Supplied with whisky. What was the meaning of this gathering? The first court of common pleas for the new made county of Greene was to meet to-day. And it had been said on one occasion previous to this, "there were giants in those days," so could it be said of the court and grand jury truthfully that had assembled at the house of Owen Davis on this oc-casion. And as the court has met, and the business of the day commenced, we will step inside and proceed to introduce the members of the court. First, the presiding judge is the HON. FRANCIS DUNLAVY, OF WARREN COUNTY. This is his first visit to Greene county, which is one of the points on his circuit, which he continued to travel until 1817. A Virginian by birth, he was born near Winchester, December 31, 1761. His father, Anthony Dunlavy, came' from Ireland in 1745, and took for a helpmate Hannah White, sister of Judge Alexander White; of Virginia. Of this marriage there were four sons and four daughters. Francis was the oldest son. He was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, was also twice a member of 94 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. the legislature of the Northwestern territory, and also a member of the convention that formed the first constitution of the state of Ohio, and was also a member of the first legislature of Ohio. The next member of the court is the HON. WILLIAM MAXWELL, One of the associate judges, who was not unknown to the presiding judge, for both of them had been members of the first legislature of Ohio, which had met March 1, 1803, at Chillicothe. Mr. Dunlavy was a member of the senate and Mr. Maxwell a member of the house, but in matters which called for a joint session were brought face to face. This explains another item of history, Mr. Maxwell being a member of the body that formulated and passed the act creating the new counties of Butler, Warren, Montgomery and Greene, whilst in the legislature had received the appointment of associate judge, along with Benjamin Whiteman and James Barrett, and while there had taken the oath of office. When the court met May Do, 1803, he administered the same to his two associates. Mr. Maxwell was also a soldier, and he is said to have published the first paper printed in Cincinnati. He was a resident of what is now known as Beavercreek township, Greene county, at the time he is credited as being a representative from Hamilton county, Ohio. Mr. Maxwell resigned as associate judge and accepted the office of sheriff of Greene county, in place of Captain Nathan Lamme, who had first been appointed and served six months. He continued to act as sheriff until 1807, when he was relieved by Colonel James Collier, who had been his faithful deputy. It was while Mr. Maxwell was sheriff, in 1806, that the notorious fight occurred between Ben Kizer and Aaron Beall. Mr. Maxwell in his attempt to uphold the majesty of the law rushed into the ring to stop the fight, received a blow that sent him reeling and bleeding from the ring. The next one sitting near Mr. Maxwell is one upon whose face if you once gazed you would look again, attracted by his fine military look and bearing; that man was the companion of Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton, and is well known by all present as a brave soldier, GENERAL BENJAMIN WHITEMAN, Another of the three associate judges of Greene county, and son-in-law of Owen Davis, the owner of the building in which the court is being held, which building General Whiteman had erected for his father-in-law in 1799. He is at this time in the prime of life in his thirty-fourth year. He was born on the 12th day of March, 1769, in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When but thirteen years of age he had emigrated to Kentucky, about seven years after the first white settlement had been made by Colonel Daniel Boone, and settled near Limestone (now Maysville). He himself says he came to Beavercreek township in 1799. The next and last associate judge sitting near Mr. Whiteman is JAMES BARRETT, OF SUGARCREEK. He was a native of Virginia, and on coming to this township in 1802 his family consisted of his good wife Elsie and four ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 95 children, two sons, James and, Philip, and daughters Eleanor and Hannah. He was at this time well up in years, and the infirmities of age were beginning to show that he had reached the top of the hill and had com-menced going down. In coming into the township he located on the land better known as the farm of Robert Tate, northwest of the present village of Bellbrook, being south part of section 9 (2.6). His boys were hale, hearty fellows, James at this time being twenty-one years old, and Philip nineteen, and as they, all had their home in common the father and mother were well cared for. Mr. Barrett and his 'family in first coming to Hamilton county settled on Dick creek in what afterward was Butler county. The next member of the court that attracts our attention is that distinguished looking man that is present to act as prosecuting attorney, the HON. DANIEL SYMMS, A former native of New York, who had emigrated early to the Northwestern terri-tory, and had settled in what proved to be Hamilton county. He had been chosen to represent Hamilton county in the first session of the legislature which met at Chillicothe, March 1, 1803, and was a member of the senate of said body, and here it was that "Hon." was first prefixed. to his name. He makes the fourth member of that honorable body that is now present at this first court of common pleas, which met at the house of Peter Borders. The others are His Honor Francis Dunlavy, of Warren county; John Paul, the efficient clerk of the court and whose home was at this time at what is now known as Trebein's Station, where he first settled when, in 1800, he came to Greene county. Here Mr. Paul had, as it were, harnessed the waters of the Little Miami to run his sawmill, and it was known at the time as "Paul's mill." These three, a short time before, were members of the senate, and William Maxwell, of whom we have spoken before, was a member 0f the house of that first legislature. Over the hill southeast of where the honorable court is now sitting is the home, and was when he was in this first legislature of Ohio, of William Maxwell. "Honor to whom honor is due." History says that Messrs. Paul and Maxwell were members from Hamilton county, which was in part true, nevertheless they were residents at the time of what is now known as Greene county. Mr. Symms continued to represent Hamilton county, and was the speaker of the senate for the years 1804 and 1805. THE FIRST GRAND JURY OF GREENE COUNTY. Over in the corner sit the members of the grand jury, a fine looking body of men. Sugarcreek township is well represented on said jury. Out of the fourteen, Sugarcreek has seven, namely, Joseph C. Vance, John Wilson, William Buckles, Abraham Van Eaton, James Snodgrass, Robert Marshall and Alexander Armstrong. Mad River township for some cause was not represented on this first "grand jury." Caesarscreek was represented by 'William I. Stewart, who was chosen as foreman, and Martin Mendenhall and Joseph Wilson. Beavercreek township, in which the court was being held, was represented by John Judy, Evan Morgan, John Buckhannon and Harry Martin. 96 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. REV. MOSES SHOUP, Son of George and Charlotte Shoup, was born in Frederick county, Maryland, on the 1st day of October, 1793, and emigrated to Greene county in the spring of 1805. His life was one of usefulness, and his kind and genial disposition won for him the good will of all. He was a faithful minister in the German- Baptist church for more than fifty years. He was married to Elizabeth Miller in the year 1818, and with whom he lived more than fifty years. She died in 1877. Mr. Shoup died May 7, 1880, in his eighty-seventh year, and is buried at Mt. Zion churchyard. His grandfather, Martin Shoup, was a native of Switzerland, and his three sons, George and Solomon settled in Beavercreek township, whilst Samuel made his home in Bath township the short time that he lived after coming to Ohio. He died at his home in Bath township, July 18, 1812, aged fory years, and is buried along side of his wife, Dorothy, who died March 28, 1837, at the age of sixty-four years. Both are buried in what is known as the "Cost graveyard," in sight of Fairfield, Bath township, Ohio. George Shoup, Sr., father of Moses Shoup, was the father of the following children : Moses, George, Solomon, David, and one daughter, Mary Hawk, living in Frederick county, Maryland. Rev. Moses Shoup's children who arrived at adult age consisted of the following: One son, Daniel M. Shoup, and daughters, Mrs. Charlotte Coy, Mrs. Catharine Gearhart, Mrs. Sarah. Wampler, Mrs. Harriet Brubaker and Mrs. Rebecca Ann Darst. SAMUEL ALLISON, SR. Mr. Allison was a soldier in the war of 1812. He was married to Miss Mary Cadwell in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, December 17, 1816, and in the fall of 1820 he, with his wife and two children, emigrated to Ohio, settling first in Franklin, Warren county. They came in true emigrant style with wagon and four horses attached, and were six weeks making the journey. After residing in Franklin two years the family removed to Beavercreek township, Greene county, in the year 1822, and settled near what is known as Harbine's Station, and continued to live there until the year 1834, when they removed to Shelby county, Ohio, into what might be termed then the back woods of Ohio, and for a number of years endured all the hardships of frontier life. Mr. Allison died and was buried in Shelby county. For a while when they lived in Beavercreek township they resided in that ever to be remembered house, the house of Peter Borders, Greene county's first place of holding courts. And here in this house some of their children were born. After the death of Mr. Allison the mother was left with a family of nine children, the care of which was thrown upon her, and well did she do her part. Mrs. Allison's parents emigrated from the north of .Ireland in 1782 to Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and were of the highest type of Scotch Presbyterians, and she inherited all the traits of character peculiar to that race of people to a very high degree. In 1882 six of her children were living, three sons and three daughters. James, the eldest; when quite a boy, learned the mercantile business with Samuel Puterbaugh ; William, the well known insurance agent ; and Samuel, manufacturer of binder twine; also another son, Robert, who emi- ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 97 grated to Kansas, settling at Olatha, thirty-five miles south of Kansas City, Missouri. THE COMING OF THE HARBINES TO GREENE COUNTY. Few families have been as successful in tracing their ancestors back to "the long ago" as has been the case with this honored family. The history as gleaned here and there reads almost like the beginning of fiction. The Harbine family descended from the Huguenots, and their early ancestors were driven from their native France to lands where they might worship according to the dictates of their own consciences. Three families of that name left their native lands about the year 1700. One family settled in. Algiers, where a small town now now bears their name. The other two came to the United States, one settling in West Virginia, and the other in Berks county, Pennsylvania. Peter Harbine was at the head of the last family spoken of, and was the ancestor of our Greene county Harbines. Briefly following out the Scriptural form, we would say of John Harbine, he was the son of Daniel, who was the son of Adam, who was the son of Peter Harbine, who in 1749 purchased a tract of land from Thomas and William Penn in the then province of Pennsylvania. Daniel Harbine, Sr., had removed to Washington county, Maryland, where, January 17, 1804, the subject of this sketch, John Harbine, was born, and there continued to reside until the year 1828. He was married in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, August 21, 1827, to Miss Hester Herr, and the year following, with his young wife, started for their new home. They drove through in a carriage, and not long after Mr. Harbine's arrival he purchased the land on which stood the first court house for Greene county, in Beavercreek township. They moved into the building thus obtained, and the husband occupied himself as miller and owner of the Owen Davis mill, the first that was built in Greene county. He continued milling for some years, and finally built extensive oil, flour and woolen mills, together with the store, and became largely interested in the grain trade in Xenia. He also had two mills on the Miami river, where was erected the first cotton factory of this section, and was largely interested in the development of the turnpike system, besides being instrumental in securing the building of the Little Miami road. He was warmly interested in the establishment of schools. Politically he was a Whig, and later a Republican. Religiously he was a prominent member of the Reformed church. To him and his estimable wife there was born a family of eight children, all of whom grew to mature years : Daniel R. ; Jacob. H., who is still a resident of the old home ; Mary E., who was married to David G. Steele; Hattie M., who became the wife of the Hon. John Miller ; Sarah J. married Dr.. William Hagenbaugh ; Anna C., the wife of George Smith ; J. Thomas ; and B. F. Harbine. June 8, 1873, after a life of usefulness, the father, John Harbine, died. At the age of eighteen he was received into full communion with the Reformed church at St. Paul's church, near Clear Springs, Maryland. The esteem in which he was held as a citizen and neighbor was evinced by the large procession that followed his remains to their last resting place in Woodland cemetery, Xenia, Ohio. 98 - ROBINSON'S HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY. THOMAS DAVIS, A SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTION. At the September term of the court of common pleas of Greene county, Ohio, in the year 1821 personally appeared in open court before the court of common pleas Thomas Davis, aged sixty-five years last January, a resident of Bath township, in the county of Greene aforesaid, who being sworn according to law doth on his oath declare that he served in the Revolutionary war, as follows : "I served as a private in the company commanded by Captain Thomas Young, Western Battalion, in the regiment commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Crockett, in the service of the United States." Mr. Davis had previous to this made application and was receiving a pension of eight dollars per month under what was termed "the law of 1818," which pension was granted him at the rate of eight dollars per month. He made that application in Clark county, Kentucky, previous to his coming to Ohio. The date of his certificate under the law was No. 7258. He had at the time of making his last application two children living, a son, John Davis, who was then thirty-six years old, and was a cripple in his left arm, not able to help his parents; and one daughter, Nancy Davis, aged sixteen years, who was acting as housekeeper. He farther states that he served five years in the Revolutionary war and three years under General Anthony Wayne. WILLIAM READ Died at "Read's Hill," near Fairfield, December 25, 1862, aged sixty-nine years. He was born in Paris, Kentucky, January 21, 1793, and was the second child of Andrew and Catharine Read. During the year 1799 he removed with his parents to Ohio and settled on Mad river, four miles northeast of Dayton, thence removed in the spring of 1802 to near Fairfield, settling upon what has been called "Read's Hill." During the war with England in 1812 and 1813 he served as a teamster, carrying commissary stores from Dayton to Urbana, Bellefontaine and stations far beyond. Still later he served as a private under Captains Stevenson and McClellan, and was stationed at Fort McArthur, guarding the open frontier and keeping a line of communication open to Fort Meigs. After his return home he was married, in 1814, to Miss Mary Tatman, eldest daughter of Rev. Joseph and Rebecca Tatman. There were born unto them six children. He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was justice of the peace for many years, and a commissioner for six years. He lacked just twenty-eight days of being seventy years old at the time of his death. NIMROD HADDOX. During the year 1800 Nimrod Haddox started from Virginia with two pack horses and came to Chillicothe, Ross county, and while traveling at Deer creek met an old friend from Virginia, with whom he stopped over night, and liking the surroundings he prolonged his stay over winter. In the following spring he and five other families moved up Deer creek to Lamb's purchase, and squatted on it. After having made a little improvement, learning that his nephew had settled on the Little Miami, he came to visit him, and finally moved in with him. ROBINSON'S .HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY - 99 After remaining here a couple of years he learned that his mother and family had moved to Kentucky, and he determined to visit her. Packing up, he started; and about three miles below Dayton he fell in with another old friend from Virginia who persuaded him to remain all winter and teach a school in the vicinity. In March the smallpox appearing in the settlement he moved across the river and began making sugar. Having good success in this direction, a fine lot of sugar was the result. About this time the great flood took place. The water began to rise and he was compelled to cross the 'river with his sugar to a cabin on higher ground. The water still rising, he moved to a house owned by a Mr. Taylor. This, also, being surrounded by water, he put his sugar in the loft, and they all paddled across to. an elevated spot and camped for the night. Mr. Haddox was placed on watch, and about midnight the water reached them and they were compelled as a last resort to cut trees and fall their tops together and climb them, and remain on them from Friday till Monday without food or drink. On Monday the water began to subside, and soon they descended from their perch arid went to, the house, which was turned around. They rowed their. boat to the upper window and crawled in, and finding a large iron kettle in the loft and some meat they made a fire in the kettle and broiled some of it; and also finding a sack of meal stowed away in the loft they mixed this with water and baking it also in the impromptu oven soon had a good meat On looking for his sugar, he found that it had mostly disappeared. Fully satisfied with his visit, he returned to his nephew's house, traded a horse for an improvement, and be-came a citizen of our county. WHAT BECAME OF PETER BORDERS. From the old files of the "Torchlight" under date of October 23, 1851, we find the following: "Died at Irish Grove, Menard county, Illinois, Sylvia Borders, wife of Peter Borders, aged seventy-eight years. Mr. Borders kept the first public house in Greene county, Ohio. And the first courts of said county were held in his house. He was at the time his wife died an old man eighty-four years of age, in good health, and astonishing activity for one of his age. STEPHENSONS OF BATH TOWNSHIP. William Stephenson, Sr., with his wife and four children, namely, William, James, Peter and John, left the state of Kentucky some time previous to 1803 and settled in Bath township, Greene county, one mile and a half east of the present town of Osborn on land which in later years came to be the home of John Dispenett. His son, William, was a 'soldier with the rank of captain in the war of 1812. JOHN HOSIER, SON OF FREDERICK. Mr. John Hosier, of Osborn, Bath township, Greene county, Ohio, died on Friday, December 24, 1869, at the mature age of eighty-one years. He was born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, in 1789, to which place his parents had removed and where they made their home until 1797. They brought up a family of seven children, of