THE ORIGINAL PEOPLE OF THE COUNTY - 25 villages on the Scioto. were attacked, the Old Town Indians. went to their brothers' assistance, and vice versa. In the battle of the Thames in which Tecumseh was killed (October 5th, 1813), if Proctor and the British regulars and the other Indian allies had stood by Tecumseh, his chance of success would have been very favorable. The Shawanoes were of the Algonkin stock, intelligent, progressive, and very decent Indians. There were some bad men among them but on the whole they were less given to drunkenness and debauchery than the roving backswoodmen about which so much fiction has been written. Aside from cruelty, Indians—ethnologists now know—had practically no vices. As aborigines before they were contaminated by white influence, they ranked superior to A frican and Australian or other aboriginal tribes. Of their hospitality, their kindness to captives, and their industry we have no end of testimony. They were not naturally hostile to while people, but they became embittered for reasons which I have not space to set forth in detail. Those who care to follow the subject and regard Ohio Valley history from the Indian point of view, should consult "The Indian Tribes of Ohio, Historically Considered", in Vol. VII, Ohio State Archaeological and Historical publications. However, a few of the reasons why the Indians of Old Town were hostile may be given. Silver Heels was a favorite chief of the Shawanoes. He was murdered near the Ohio river by a backwoodsman from Kentucky. I draw a distinction between backwoodsmen and pioneers. Backwoodsmen were responsible for much of the trouble between the Indians and.the whites. They were ever a lawless class from the days of the good missionaries Heckewelder and Zeisberger down to the present time and no man who thoroughly understands Indian affairs has a good word for the backwoodsmen. They were ever moving, following the frontiers. The type is practically extinct today, but in Indian Territory.and in a. few sections of the West is still to be found the man and his family in the ever present prairie schooner ; moving, moving, eternally moving in the vain hopes of bettering his condition. That man is the survival of the back-woods type. 26 - GREENE COUNTY 1803-1908. The murder of Silver Heels wrought the Shawanoes of Frankfort, Ross County, (Lower Chillicothe) and Old Town to a pitch of fury. Shortly afterwards another prominent Shawano, out of the kindness of his heart, conducted a party of traders from the Scioto to Albany, a distance of 500 miles through the wilderness, and the gratitude of these men was to shoot him through the right lung. The endurance of this. Indian passes our comprehension. Were the record not made by that truthful missionary, John Heckewelder, we would doubt it. The Indian, traveling slowly, reached the United Brethren settlement on the Muskingum river. He was still in such condition that Heckewelder says that the rush of air through the hole in his lung was audible. The Shawano, told Heckewelder that if be could reach Old Town, the Indian doctors would cure him. His prediction was verified and.helived to fight the whites in many an engagement afterwards. The constant raids on Old Town, the Mad River towns and the Scioto villages by adventurers . from Kentucky and Virginia, the failure of the white people to keep treaties and the death of that able Shawano chief, Cornstalk, who was murdered while on a friendly visit with his son to the fort at Port Pleasant—all these things were more than Indians could stand. And they did just what we would haVe done under the. circumstances. They entered Kentucky and Virginia with scalping knife and tomahawk and they exacted an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Even so good a pioneer as Simon Kenton got into trouble through his own fault. He and Montgomery and another man came to Old Town and stole, some of the Indians' best horses. On reaching the Ohio River they were unable to cross because of high winds, which raised waves and frightened the horses. The Shawanoes killed Montgomery and captured Kenton. He was taken to Old Chillicothe, beaten and compelled to run the gauntlet. In later years Kenton was a firm friend of the Shawanoes and he knew very well that had he not been stealing Indian horses, he would not have suffered as he did. It is not surprising, therefore, that Old Town was the rendezvous of many war partieS and that the names of Tecumseh, the Prophet, Blackfish, etc., became a terror to the white settlements, THE ORIGINAL PEOPLE OF THE COUNTY - 27 Daniel Boone during his captivity was well treated. Most of. the captives after being adopted were treated precisely as Indians. When Col. Boquet subdued. the Shawanoes as far back as 1754, more than 200. white people who were in captivity among the Indians at the several Chillicothes, including Old Town, were brought in by the Indians enamoured of the wild, free life of the Photo by W. P. McKay. MEMORIAL STONE AT OLDTOWN. Erected by the Catharine Greene Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, in 1906. Indians and did not wish to return to the settlements. Several of these captives had to be bound in order to compel them to return East. On the return trip many of them fled and rejoined their' Indian friends, choosing the pleasures of Indian life rather than those of civilization. The Old Town Indians' greatest victories were under the leadership of Tecumseh. At Harmar's defeat in 1791, Tecumseh 28 - GREENE COUNTY 1803-1908. fled from the field upon seeing his brother fall. The death of his brother embittered him against the white people. Tecumseh and his warriors set Old Chillicothe on fire on the approach of Harmar and fled to Mad River. As Harmar, in spite of his large .force, had suffered somewhat at the hands of the Indians, he "felt desirous of wiping off in another action the disgrace which his arms had sustained." So he halted eight miles from Old Town and sent Gen. Hardin With 360 men to find the Shawanoes and fight them. Early the next morning Hardin found the Indians in great force at the mouth of Mad River where his detachment was, as in the case of .the first, overwhelmed and nearly destroyed. The survivors reached Fort Washington (Cincinnati.) The total loss in the Harmar expedition must have been over 400 men. The Indian loss was trifling. The following year, 1792, Gen. St. Clair marched against the combined Shawanoes, Delawares, Wyandottes and Miamis. St. Clair lost hundreds of men. Tecumseh shortly afterwards traveled extensively throughout the South and the North in his endeavor to effect a union of all the Indian tribes against the white people. His idea was to make the Ohio river a northern boundary of white men's land and that all above it should belong to the Indians. The activity of Tecumseh was something marvelous. All of his journeys, be it remembered, were on foot or by means of canoe, yet he visited the Creeks, the Cherokees, The Ojibwas, and a dozen other tribes. Were he able to combine them he might have held the Ohio country„ for he twice rolled back the tide of white invasion to the south of the river. His brother, cooperating with him, gained great renown as a magician and prophet. Some of his exhortations were sensible and highly moral. None of them—save that of attacking the whites—can be claimed to have been bad: These two men working together created a profound impression in the mind's. of the 'Indians. They united all the Indians of Ohio against the white people. While Tecumseh was in the South in 1794, Gen. Anthony Wayne defeated them at Fallen Timbers on the Maumee. After this the treaty of Greenville, 1795, was signed. It appeafs that Tecumseh and the Shawanoes for some time adhered faithfully to. that treaty, but the whites did THE ORIGINAL PEOPLE OF THt COUNTY - 29 not and freebooters from Kentucky and Virginia . and from the settlements on the north side of the river began to shoot Indians on one pretext or another. The situation rapidly became tense. At a great council attended by all the Indians, Tecumseh made a remarkable speech some four hours in length. He rehearsed the entire history of the aggression by the whites from the landing of th Pilgrims down to the signing of the Greenville treaty. As an oration delivered in his native tongue, it moved the assembled hundreds to tears. The interpreter confessed himself utterly in- adequate to render it into English for the benefit of the few whites present. Hence we have no record save that the oration is mentioned by writers at that time as something beyond the ordinary, that it made a great impression of the Indians present, and that Tecumseh was reverenced by them. The battle of the Thames, October 5th, 1813, in which Tecumseh was killed, has been often told and it not necessary to describe it here. Because .Proctor and his allies fled, the .great Shawano knew that he must depend upon his own warriors. Tecumseh and his men realized the inevitable, yet. they hardened their hearts- and withstood the shock. Nothing is absolutely. known regarding Tecumseh's death beyond the fact that he fell. Tecumseh was. typical of the best of the Shawano. Indians, and Greene County may lay claim to him not without reason. If he was not born within the confines of our fair region, lie at least spent much of his time there. His peoplecalled Old Chillicothe their capital. Their largest council house, built of logs, was near where the brick schoolhouse now stands in the . center . of. Old Town. There were many houses in this village, for Old Town was larger in 1780, than at any time in its history.. Col. John Bowman and 160 Kentuckians in 1779 attacked Old Town and burned about forty cabins. But .they could not take the council house because the Shawanoes fired upon all who attempted to approach. Bowman's much heralded expedition was a virtual defeat for the whites. It must not be believed for a moment that the Shawanoes at Old Chillicothe were- savages. They lived in comfortable log cabins, were well clothed, had gardens and orchards, and if the OLDTOWN. Photos by W. P. McKay. View from a hill On the east. View showing schoolhouse and memorial stone. THE ORIGINAL PEOPLE OF THE COUNTY - 31 white people had let them alone, they would have been living, in all probability, at the present time much after the fashion of the descendants of the Iroquois in western New York. The darkest spot in Shawano history is the presence of the two renegades, George and Simon Girty. Nothing good can be said of these men. Simon afterwards deserted the Shawanoes and lived with the Mingoes and Wyandottes—Indians morally inferior to the Shawanoes. George resided for some time with the Shawanoes, but most of the tribe had little in common with these two outcasts. Old Chillicothe has been abandoned by Indians for 120 years. The race that the Shawanoes had just reason to hate, tramps unceasingly back and forth over the site where once stood the simple wigwams and the council chamber of this remarkable and interesting tribe. We have all4hat was once theirs. Let us be just and accord them their mud of praise. Tradition has it that in this tree (near the New Jasper pike, about two miles from Xenia) Simon Kenton once hid himself to escape the Indians. 32 - GREENE COUNTY 1803-1908. A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF GREENE COUNTY. DeETTA GREINER WILSON. OF the thirty-six men who framed the Constitution of the State of Ohio, and took the necessary steps seeking the admission of the same to the Union, were two who, while credited to Hamilton County, were then residing within the boundary of what was afterwards Greene County. They were John Wilson, residing near the present site of Belibrook, and Col. John Paul, afterwards the founder of Xenia, who. resided at what is now known as Trebein's Station. Through the efforts of this body of men, on February 19; 1803, Ohio was admitted to the Union, being the seventeenth state and the first of the Northwest Territory. Previous to this, there had been several counties laid out in the territory, Washington being the first and occupying the entire eastern part of the territory of Ohio. Hamilton, in 1790, was the second, named for Alexander Hamilton, and embraced all the land lying between the Little Miami River. and the boundary line between the lands of the United States and the Indians, made by the treaty of Greenville in 1795. Ross County occupied the land west of Washington County in the .central part of the State, its . western boundary being not far from Cedarville, this county, which was first called Newport. This left a strip about ten miles wide, which was neither Ross nor Hamilton. A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF GREENE COUNTY - 33 In the same year that Ohio was made a state, four counties, by act of the first State Legislature, were organized from por tions of Hamilton and Ross, and the strip above referred to. These four counties, were all, on May 1, 1803, given names of Revolutionary heroes as follows: Warren was named for Gen. Joseph Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill Butler for Gen. Richard Butler who fell in St. Clair's defeat ; Montgomery was named for Gen. Richard Montgomery whose life was given up at the assault of Quebec; and Greene for Gen. Nathaniel Greene, distinguished for his many brave acts during the Revolution. Greene and Montgomery Counties extended originally from their present southern boundaries to the north line of the State, and from the east line of Greene County to the west line of the State. But these broad dimensions were only of short duration as, two years later, Champaign County was organized, thus cutting off the northern expanse of Greene, and in 1817 the county Was reduced to its present boundaries, lying entirely within the Virginia Military Reservation and what is known as the Symmes Purchase. The Virginia Military Reservation consisted of more than 4,000,000 acres reserved by Virginia for her troops in the Clark expedition and for her soldiers in the Continental army. It embraces all the land lying between the Scioto and Little Miami Rivers. That part of the county lying west of the Little Miami is a part of the original Symmes Purchase, a tract of 1,000,000 acres. contracted for, with the government, by John Symmes, for himself and his associates. The Virginia Reservation had already drawn to this locality a considerable 'number of Revolutionary. veterans and others from that State. Any one holding a Virginia land warrant could locate it wherever he desired within the district and in such shape as he pleased, only providing the land had not been previously located. Such a haphazard way naturally led to much litigation in later years. The first tract of land within the present limits of Greene County was entered by John Jamison, August, 1787, sixteen years before Ohio became a state, and nineteen days after the ordinance of 1787. It was a tract of 1200 acres on the Little 34 - GREENE COUNTY 1803-1908. Miami near Oldtown, entered on a military warrant, surveyed by Nathaniel Massie in 1794, and recorded in the land office at Cincinnati in May, 1795. Across the county, east and north of Xenia, was the line of Col.. Logan's march to Chillicothe town, in 1786, in General Clark's campaign against the Indians. Many persons for whom surveys were made not only never occupied but never saw them, among whom were many men of Revolutionary fame. A tract of 2500 acres was entered by Major-General Horatio Gates, who commanded the American forces at Saratoga. It lies but a short distance southeast of Cedarville. TOWNSHIPS. At the organizing of the counties, places were appointed as temporary seats of justice ; that selected for Greene County being the home of Peter Borders on Beaver Creek. On May 10, 1803, court convened for the dividing of Greene county into townships, of which. originally there were but four ; Sugar Creek, Caesar's Creek, Mad River and Beaver Creek. Sugar Creek Township included all that is now Sugar Creek, nearly all of Spring Valley Township and part of what is now Xenia Township. In August, 1803, James Collier, the enumerator, reported living in the township at that time seventy-one free white inhabitants- over twenty-one years of age. The house of James Clancy, on the present site of the town of Bellbrook, was appointed as a place of holding elections. Caesar's Creek Township was about four times as large as Sugar Creek and included all the southeastern part of the county. , The number of free white males over twenty-one years of age, as reported by Joseph Price, the first assessor of this township, was fifty-eight. The site of Xenia was in this township. The voting place appointed was the residence of William I. Stewart. Mad River Township was the third to be organized and the largest in the county. Not any of this township was within the present boundaries of Greene County. Its southern boundary A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF GREENE COUNTY - 35 line was the south boundary of the tenth range of the township, in what is now Clark County, extending east and west the entire width of the county and north to the limits of the State. John Daugherty, of Springfield, was the first enumerator and reported one hundred and fifty-six males over the age of twenty-one. Springfield had been appointed as the place of holding elections at the-home of Griffith Foos. Beaver Creek Township was the second in size and Peter Popenoe, the first assessor, reported as residing in the township, one hundred and fifty-four white male inhabitants over the age. of twenty-one. At that time Beaver Creek Township included all the lands lying south of Mad RiVer Township and north of Sugar Creek and Caesar's Creek. The site of the town of Springfield then lay partly in Mad River Township and partly in Beaver Creek. The elections were appointed to be held at the house of Peter Borders ; the same place where was held the first county court. The total number of voters in the entire county at the organization, as reported by the first enumeration, was 439. In 1805 it was .found advisable to organize a new township from parts of Caesar's Creek and Beaver Creek to be known as Xenia Township; and two years later, 1807, Bath Township was organized, being taken wholly from the territory of Beaver Creek. It included part of what is now Champaign County and part of three townships in Clark County. The first election in Bath TOwnship was held at the house of Andrew Read, of Read's Hill, and two justices of the peace were elected, Andrew Read for the western portion and Thomas Fream for the eastern portion of the township. At first both had quarters at what is now the town of Yellow Springs, but later at their residences. The old stone house on Read's Hill is still standing, bearing the date over the doorway, 1819. On the eighth day of June, 1808, Miami Township was organized from portions of Bath and Xenia Townships, and the f. rst election was held at the house of David S. Broderich at Yellow Springs. The first enumeration of this township differs from that of other townships previously organized in that it includes a number of women and is designated as a "list of all tax- 36 - GREENE COUNTY 1803-1908. payers," while the former enumerations were designated as a "list of all free white male inhabitants over twenty-one." Silver Creek Township was organized on March 4th, 1811, . being taken mostly from Caesar's Creek, with a small portion from Xenia Township. It included, originally, all that now is Jefferson and the eastern part of Spring Valley Township. The first election was held at the house of Noah Strong. The same date also marked the organization of Ross Township. It was taken entirely from Xenia Township. The first election was held at the residence of John Bozarth. In 1812 a township was formed from a part of Miami and was called Vance Township in honor of the Honorable Joseph Vance, but after the organizing of Clark County only a fractional part of this township remained in Greene County and that was , attached to Ross Township. The very prosperous township of Cedarville was not organized until December, 1850, and, while of very irregular boundary lines, the form has been but little changed. This was taken from the townships of Xenia, Caesar's Creek, Ross and Miami. It seems to have been the first township formed -against which a protest was entered, the following being a portion of the protest filed with the commissioners by the citizens of Ross Township: "Our reasons we will fully set forth in your presence, only adding here that we are not willing to have any of our township cut off, which is already .too small, to gratify the caprice or spleen of .any." Which protest seems, however, to have failed, for the township was duly organized and place of election appointed at the house of John W. Walker; in the town of Cedarville. In 1852, New Jasper Township was organized, being taken from the townships of Caesar's Creek and Xenia; and 1856 witnessed the organizing of Spring Valley Township, which was formed from adjacent parts of Sugar Creek, Caesar's Creek and Xenia ToWnships. In June, 1858, was organized Jefferson Township, taken entirely from Silver Creek, and for fifty years there has been no change in the number of townships in the county. , A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF GREENE COUNTY - 37 COUNTY COURT. The house in which the first county court was held, breviously spoken of as the Peter Borders house and occupied by Peter Borders, was one of several houses in that locality owned by Owen Davis, and built by his son-in-law, Gen. Benjamin Whiteman. It was on the Harbine farm, near the present railway station of that name, and was built of burr oak logs, hewed on two sides and had a puncheon floor, planed on the upper side. The house had one small window, and a chimney built of small logs, lined with stones, its upper part of sticks lined with clay. It was about twenty-five feet square, with one room below and one above, which was the sleeping apartment. The moss-covered. bucket hung near by on the long well sweep and a huge pet bear was chained to one Corrier: of the house. This was one of the best houses in this part of the country, and was also used as a tavern as well as a. court-room. A little to the east was a smokehouse, ten by twelve, used, during the sessions of court, as a jury room. Northeast, at a little distance, stood one of two block houses, intended for safety should Indians make an attack, but early' appropriated for use as a jail. During the first term of court Peter Borders was .granted license to keep a tavern, for which he paid $4.00. He was required to furnish good entertainment under penalty of $5.00 fine for first offense and $8.00 for each succeeding offense. We well wonder what was meant by good entertainment when the landlord, landlady, children, servants, attorneys, judges and travelers were all lodged in one sleeping apartment, twenty-five feet square, such as Greene County's first tavern and court-house, furnished. In 1825, when the road leading past this famous edifice was closed; the latter was moved upon the ground afterwards the front lawn of Mr. John Harbine, Sr. In 1833 it was torn down, but the excavation left from the chimney was permitted to remain, and now forms a small depression in front of the Harbine residence, a modest but historical monument to the county's first 'hostelry and seat of justice.. On Tuesday, August 2, 1803, the first court of Greene County was held in the Peter Borders house desCribed above, THE OLD COURT HOUSE A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF GREENE COUNTY - 39 with William Maxwell, Benjamin Whiteman and James Barrett as the associate judges, and Francis Dunlavy, presiding judge, and Daniel Symmes, prosecuting attorney. The first grand jury for the county consisted of the following persons: William J. Stewart, foreman, John Wilson, William Buckles, Abrm. Van Eaton, James Snodgrass, John Judy, Evan Morgan, Robert Marshall, Alex. C. Armstrong, Joseph C. Vance, Joseph Wilson, John Buckhannon, Martin Mendenhall and Harry Martin. It is told of this first grand jury, that when they solemnly .retired to an adjoining hut, and went into executive session, there was no evidence' of criminal affairs to be brought before them and there would have been no witnesses examined, and no indictments rendered, had not the crowd assembled in honor of the occasion furnished the material. The occasion was so out of the ordinary that a large crowd had come together, not only from this, but from surrounding counties; if they were to have the luxury of a court, this court must have something to do. A number of fights, assaults and batteries and affrays of different sorts were indulged in during the day and ample material for work was furnished the grand jury. Before the day closed seventeen witnesses were examined and nine indictments found; to these indictments all parties pleaded guilty and were fined, and Greene County court adjourned for the first day. The same session of court on the second day appointed Joseph C. Vance, father of Ex-Governor Vance, to make arrangements, for establishing the county seat. The bond, required of him for faithful performance of duty was $1,500 and his bondsmen were David Huston and Joseph Wilson. The following December "Joseph Vance was allowed $49.25 for laying off the town of Xenia, finding chainmen, and selling. This first session of Greene County court lasted three days. Among other matters transacted James Galloway, Sr., was appointed treasurer, and James Galloway, Jr., surveyor of the county. This same court granted to Archibald Lowry and Griffith Foos license each to keep a tavern in the town of Springfield (later the county seat of Clark County) for the payment of $8.00 for each license, and also to Peter Borders, the owner and occu- 40 - GREENE COUNTY 1803-1908. pant of the house in which court was being held. A later session of the court ordered that fifty cents be paid for every wolf killed in the county. It is told that the narrow valley through which the Little Miami Railroad extends southwest of Xenia toward Cincinnati was literally a den of wolves. These, with catamounts, panthers and bears, caused serious annoyance and made the protecting of the farmer's stock a matter of no small importance. The same session caused the larger of the two block houses near Peter Borders tavern to be prepared to serve for a jail. At one of the earlier sessions of the court of Greene County, it was ordered that the taxes of the inhabitants of Mad River Township be reduced two cents on each horse, and one cent on each cow. The reason assigned was "for erecting public buildings." In vain do we look about for the public buildings they are not to be found within the confines of the then very large County of Greene, and it is still a matter of conjecture as to the exact meaning of this ruling. Records also show that at this time Joseph Vance was paid $6.00 for carrying the election returns to Cincinnati. It is an interesting fact that the earlier cases that came before the courts were almost always cases of assault and battery or cases growing out of personal encounters ; a little later these decreased and civil cases became more frequent. The total amount of taxable property in Greene County returned by the "listers" for the year 1804 was $393.04 and this included "houses and mills, if any." But one house was returned for taxation and it was taxed $1.00. It might be of passing interest to compare with the above modest sum the amount of taxable property listed for the year 1908, which is $19,302,291.00. Supreme Court was also held in the Peter Borders' house in October, 1803, with Samuel Huntingdon and Wm. Spriggs, judges, Wm. Maxwell, sheriff, and John Paul, clerk. Arthur St. Clair of Cincinnati was prosecuting attorney, and it is said quite overawed the plain country folk with his gorgeous costume, appearing in full military array. At the November term of court in 1803, Rev. Albert Armstrong was granted license to solemnize matrimony. Rev. Arm- A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF GREENE COUNTY - 41 strong, with a colleague; had been sent in 1798 by the General Synod of Scotland as a missionary to Kentucky ; but, disliking the institution of slavery, they sought other fields, Rev. Armstrong coming to Greene County, Ohio. EARLY SETTLERS. The historians from whom this paper is compiled agree that John Wilson was the first white man to make a permanent home in what later was known as Greene County. In April, 1796, he, . with his three sons, Amos, Daniel and George, and Jacob Mills, came from Kentucky to make a settlement in the Northwest Territory. Later divisions into counties showed that the land purchased by Wilson and two of his sons was located in Greene, the other son's in Montgomery, while Mills' was in Warren County. One small cabin was erected by Daniel Wilson in 1796—the first house in Greene County, about four miles from where Bellbrook now stands, in the southern- part of Sugar Creek Township. Around this little cabin the timber was cleared and corn, beans and potatoes planted. Then these brave pioneers returned to get their families. One ox team and wagon carried all the "lares et penates" of the five families. They crossed the Ohio at Fort Washington, now Cincinnati, and followed the military road cut by Gen. Wayne in 1793. All five families occupied the one little cabin until each, with united. assistance, could erect a cabin on his own purchase, and from this humble cabin came one of the framers of the State Constitution, John Wilson, the father of the family. To tell of the forming of other homes in the county would only be repeating the story of this first home—all endured the same hardships. Two years later, 1798, Thomas Townsley settled near the falls of Massie's Creek, about eight miles froth Xenia, and this same year James Galloway, Sr., settled on the Little .Miami two miles .north of Oldtown. The old log house, which was later weather boarded over, is still standing, the property of the Miami Powder Co., and bears the date, upon a stone over the door, of 1801. A little west of them, at Old Chillicothe (Oldtown) lay the scene of possibly the most interesting events of this section, 42 - GREENE COUNTY 1803-1908. this being one of the most famous congregating places for the Indians from all directiops. On one of their trails starting from Hocking County and leading direct to Old Chillicothe, for many years there stood a large beech tree on which was cut, in legible characters, "This is the road to hell, 1782," possibly traced by some unfortunate prisoner on his way to Old Chillicothe. Here, in 1778, Daniel Boone was held as prisoner and succeeded so well in ingratiating himself in the good favor of the Indians that they adopted him into their tribe, but he soon escaped from them and fled to Kentucky to .warri. his people of the proposed onslaught by the Indians. Here too, Simon Kenton ran the gauntlet; and 1779 marked in this locality the famous Bowman expedition, all of which are interesting stories in themselves. But the story of Old Chillicothe is told at length in another article. Returning to the early white settlers, the Galloway family was near neighbors to some of the ,best known of the Indians who occupied that part of the county. This fact is worthy of special note as their family traditions are rich in interesting accounts of the friendships with the red men that were formed in those early clays. The distinguished Tecumseh was a frequent and welcome visitor at this home and soon became much infatuated, with the daughter, Rebecca. With the true dignity which. was ever a trait of the character of Tecumseh, he approached the father, who feeling that the daughter could, perhaps, more tactfully find a way out of the embarrassing position and still retain the good will of the Indians, which they greatly desired to keep, he referred him to her. The chief fearlessly appealed to the girl herself, for was not he the great Tecumseh, the leader of his people? He offered her beautiful gifts of silver and ornaments dear to his people. She told him she could not work like the Indian women did, nor lead the wild life they did. He assured her that she need not work. ' Then she changed her tactics and told him she would consider his proposition if he would promise to lead the life of a white man and assume their dress and habits. This matter he took under consideration, but finally told her, most sorrowfully, that he could not possibly do that; that the taking up of the manners and customs of the white man would place him in A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF GREF,NE COUNTY - 43 everlasting disgrace wtih his people and much as he desired the union he could not bear their. reproaches. .And thus we see the womanly daughter of the pioneer fully able to turn aside the undesirable suitor but still retain a very necessary friend, for the friendship between Tecumseh and the family never waned. Isaiah and William Sutton .erected the first house in what was afterwards Caesar's Creek Township as early as 1799. It was erected near the intersection of the Bullskin Road and Caesar's Creek. The first person to settle within the boundaries of Bath Township was a Virginian, named Mercer, possibly as early as 1798. It was customary in those clays to accord a preemption to the first settler, who was also entitled to a premium of twenty-five cents on each acre purchased by him. By taking advantage of this offer Mercer was enabled to purchase a large tract of land. In 1803, John Hosier settled on land near Fairfield, the site of which was then marked by one hut. For his land he paid two shillings per acre for the preemption rights of a man who had preceded him, and to the government $ per acre, with five years' time in which to pay it. The site of a famous old Indian town named Piqua can be located near Fairfield at which Gen. George R. Clark defeated the Indians in 1780. PUBLIC ROADS. To be in the neighborhood of a public road was a matter of great importance to the early settlers. The Pinkney Road was the first beaten track through the wilderness, leading from Cincinnati through Lebanon and extending through what is now Main street, Bellbrook, north toward Alpha. It was over this road that supplies came from Cincinnati and over which came the attorneys and others at the time of holding court. The Pinkney Road was intersected just north of Bellbrook by a road called the "Beer Road," leading to Dayton, as over it much beer was hauled to market. The first public road into Xenia, from the south, was the Bullskin Road, now the Burlington.. Pike. It extended from a 44 - GREENE COUNTY 1803-1908. village and ferry on the Ohio River called Bullskin; from which the road took its name, north to Urbana, Ohio. In 1845, the first railroad in this part of the State, the Little Miami, was built across the southern, and western part of the county. Owing to a general opposition to the-enterprise, caused by a lack of faith in the practicability of railroads, for they were yet untried, progress was slow ; aid promised by the State had been withdrawn, and Much of the stock subscribed by the farmers along the line was paid in produce and this sold at a sacrifice. Too much credit cannot be given Governor Jeremiah Morrow, the first president of the road, who not only gave liberally of his Own private means to the enterprise, but devoted several years of his life to a personal supervision of the construction of the road, receiving not one penny for his services. FOUNDING OF THE COUNTY SEAT. Immediately following the order of court, in the autumn of 1803, Joseph C. Vance proceeded to lay out the county seat on the land of John Paul, who gave the public square as it is now known, for the public buildings. The late Captain Benoni Nesbitt related an interesting story as told him in his boyhood days by one Lewis Davis, then an old man, of the foresight of John Paul in acquiring the land where Xenia now lies. Davis was a pioneer and large land owner and seemed at times possessed of an intuitive knowledge as to the direction of development in the new country. It had been a dream of John Paul's that the county seat should be located on the land owned by him about three miles west of Xenia. In conversation with Paul, Davis disagreed with him and taking a map spread it upon the ground and demonstrated his assertion. Placing one end of his riding whip on Cincinnati and the other on Sandusky, where this line crossed the forks of Shawano, or Shawnee, Creek he placed his finger and said, "There will be the county seat !" supporting his assertion by the statement that county seats in this section naturally located themselves upon thoroughfares between points on the Ohio on the south, and Lake Erie On the north. Paul kept his own counsel but within a:few A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF GREENE COUNTY - 46 days journeyed to Cincinnati and entered all the land in the vicinity, upon which Xenia was a little later located. Tradition tells that a little village called Caesarsville was laid nit before the forming of the county with the anticipation of making it the county seat at some future time. It seems to have been laid out with broader ideas of space than were held in the conception of the present county seat. It is recounted that in this embryonic county seat blazed trees were necessary to lead the stranger from one humble dwelling to another, and each cabin was surrounded by a corn field thickly .dotted over with girdled trees: It is also told that one of these primitive buildings, erected by William I. Stewart and used as a voting place, had been designated as the future court house and a public well had been dug. This village of Caesarsville was located on or near the farm of Mr. Paris Peterson, four miles southeast of Xenia. The names Caesarsville, Caesar's Creek, etc., it is said, came from a fugitive slave, Caesar by name, who hid in that vicinity. Dill's history, from which the above was gathered, tells also of the ambitions of Jamestown to be the county seat of this thriving young county. As the story goes, the claims on both sides seemed to be very strong and it was decided to, determine the'question by ballot. The vote was taken at Xenia and resulted. in a tie, or rather, would have been a tie, but for the fact that a solitary rider was seen approaching the voting place just before the voting hour closed. He refused to state his preference, but was importuned by both sides to cast his vote. and decide the contest, which he did, and the result was a. majority of one in favor of Xenia. It was later discovered that three who favored Jamestown, forgetting the date of the election, had failed to be present, else Jamestown would have won. Several interesting stories have been told as to the naming of Xenia but the most authentic one is perhaps the one related in Robinson's history, by a granddaughter of Owen Davis. John Paul, Joseph C. Vance; William Beatty and others invited Owen Davis and his wife, Letitia, with many other pioneers of the county, to meet with them at the "cross-roads" (where Main street now intersects Detroit) and assist them in naming the new 46 - GREENE COUNTY 1808-1908. seat of justice which had been laid out. The invitation was generally accepted and quite a crowd was assembled. Many names were proposed, among them the names of Washington, Wayne and Greenville. It is said that at this time a stranger, a scholarly looking man, stepped forward and said, "Gentlemen, allow me to suggest a.name for your county town. In view of the kind and hospitable manner in which I have been treated whilst a stranger to most of you, allow me to suggest the name of 'Xenia,' taken from the Greek and signifying Hospitality." The naMe was accepted and placed among the names to be balloted upon. Several ballots were taken and, as in the balloting between Jamestown and Xenia, the vote stood a tie between Xenia and one other name. Out of compliment to OWen Davis, who at that time was very prominent in the county, his Wife was asked to cast the deciding vote which she cast in favor of Xenia. It is said that The stranger who suggested the name was the Rev. Robert Armstrong, who, the following year, was made pastor of Massie's Creek and Sugar Creek Associate congregations. EARLY DAYS IN XENIA. The plat of the town of Xenia, as recorded in the recorder's office in 1804, contained "270 acres, be the same more or less." The first effort to have Xenia incorporated was presented in 1813 to the Legislature by Jacob Smith, then representing. Greene County, in that body. For some reason the law under which the incorporation was made became inoperative and in 1817 a second effort was made by Joseph Tatman, who represented Greene County in the House, and Jacob Smith, who was a member of the Ohio Senate from Greene and Clinton Counties. The thrift of the early county commissioners, while commendable in some instances, we find most alarming at other times, as is shown by the county records when on January 4, 1817, they met for the purpose of surveying and marking different lots to be sold from off the public square, and to make preparations for their sale agreeable to order from the court. Four lots were sold averaging in price about $472, while the fifth lot was bid in by Ryan Gowdy for his brother James and brought $1381. Mr. A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF GREENE COUNTY - 47 Gowdy was the first merchant in Xenia and had previously purchased the first lot lying east of, and adjoining, the public square (Green street being not then opened), and the lot purchased by him at this sale was the one on the extreme east of the public square adjoining his propqrty. Some one other than James Gowdy seems to have considered this a desirable lot, judging from the price paid. It is not for us today to question the motives of Mr. Gowdy as shown by his actions later, whether they indicate selfishness, business tact, shrewdness or what not, but rather to exalt his memory for saving, to the county and Xenia, the public square. Mr. Gowdy argued that in the purchase of the lot on which his business property was erected, he was influenced by the fact that it was next to the public square and, therefore, he would have no competitors near him on the west side ; that in paying this exorbitant price for the lot from the public square he was forced to do so in order to protect himself from competition. He also asked to have the sales all set aside, attempting to show that the commissioners had exceeded their power in selling that which had been donated expressly for public buildings for the county. This was made a test case and in May, 1821, the Supreme Court decided that the sale was not legal and the lots again became the property of the 'county intact as it came from the hands of the donor and as it is today. The first cabin in Xenia was erected in April, 1804, by John Marshall, in the southwest corner of the town near the southeast corner of Third and West streets. The same year quite a rivalry existed in the building of two good log houses on Main street ; one being built by William A. Beatty opposite the public square, to be used as a tavern (this being the first tavern in Xenia), and the other by the Rev. James Fowler on West Main street, on the site of the old Eavey wholesale house. The rivalry as to which house should first be finished ran high, and while it is not positively known, it is thought that the tavern won over the Methodist parsonage. Mr. Fowler seems to have been somewhat of a property holder himself, in the early days, judging from the county, records. He was also the first postmaster in Xenia. In the Beatty tavern was held the first court in Xenia, and Main Entrance, New Court House. (Photo by Canby.) The Old Court House. Spot where the first Court Houseo stood, Harbine yard, Alpha. Memorial Cannon, erected by Albert Galloway Camp, Sons of Veterans. First Court House. A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF GREENE COUNTY - 49 also the first election. This continued to be the leading hostelry of the county until Mr. James Collier built a brick hotel on De-. troit street, about midway of the block, facing the public square, which in grandeur was so beyond anything previously erected in the town that the old tavern faded into insignificance. Many are the interesting stories told of the Collier House and its guests. During the War of 1812 it was headquarters for recruiting officers. Courts-martial and courts of inquiry were frequently hell here and at one time a British officer and his servant (objects of great curiosity), who were prisoners of war, were there on parole. The first public ball in Xenia was held at the Collier House and was a society event of much note. THE COURT HOUSE. The contract for building the first court house was let to William Kendall in 1806, and the building, which was of .brick, was completed in 1809 at a cost of $3396. The contractor was allowed $6 for clearing the timber from the public square. A fence made of oak boards and mulberry posts surrounded the square. The entrance was at first through gates but these gave place to stiles. In 1841-2. was built the second court house, the one usually referred to today as "the old court house." In 1846, this building was considered the most elegant court house in the State. To this . was added, in 1875, quite an extensive addition. No further changes were made until 1901, when this building was lazed to give place to the present handsome and commodious court house, which was erected and furnished within the appropriation of $200,000. THE COUNTY JAIL. In the one hundred and five years since Greene County was Organized, six different jails have been found necessary, increasing in size and accommodations as the demand on the institution increased. The first jail was, by order of court, under date of August 22, 1803, constructed from the larger of two block houses near the Owen Davis mill and adjoining the Peter Borders property, the temporary seat of justice for the county, located in Beaver Creek Township.