700 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO

April 7 ; the first regular cars between Springfield and Yellow Springs were started on June 17, and the first between Xenia and Yellow Springs started on August 17. While these four separate lines have been constructed within the county, there have been others projected, the most prominent being the one btween Xenia and Cedarville. A franchise was granted by the county commissioners for this line and it was even surveyed. Then there was considerable talk of a line from Xenia east through Jamestown, but it likewise failed to materialize.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

THE CITY OF XENIA.

The city of Xenia, the county seat of Greene county, was laid out as the seat of justice in the fall of 1803, the same year the county was 0rganized. The facts concerned with its selection as the county seat and certain other facts connected with its early history are set forth in the chapter on the organization of the county and need not be repeated here. It is interesting to note that there are three other towns of the same name in the United States—Powell county, Kentucky ; Clay county, Illinois ; Bourbon county, Kansas. It is certain that the Xenias of Illinois and Kansas were founded after the Ohio Xenia, but there is a probability that the Kentucky Xenia was in existence in 1803 and that some of the Kentuckians who came to Greene c0unty knew of it.

Xenia is in latitude 39 degrees, 41 minutes north, and longtitude 83 degrees, 56 minutes west. The center of the city at Detroit and Main streets, is 935.15 feet above sea level. The city as it stands today contains 2.21 square miles, or approximately 1,414 acres. There are 22.32 miles of streets within the corporate limits, and 12.12 miles of sidewalks. Of the street mileage, there are 8.4 miles paved-3.24 miles with brick and 5.16 miles with asphalt.

The first house to be built in the town was erected in 1804 by John Marshall, his little log cabin in the midst of a dense forest being the nucleus of the present city of nine thousand. There appears to have been another log cabin raised prior to the hewed log cabin of the Rev. James Fowler, but it is not known who erected it. That the little village rapidly filled up with settlers is evidenced by the fact that in 1805 a log school house was erected. The first frame building was owned by David A. Sanders. William A. Beatty, the director of the town for several years after John Paul, the original proprietor and first director, had left for Indiana, was definitely located on East Main street in the fall of 1805. Beatty's tavern, as has been stated in another chapter, housed the first courts in Xenia, and continued to be so used until the first court house was ready for use in 1807.

XENIA IN 1811.

The order in which the first settlers arrived in the town will never be known, but there has very fortunately been preserved a vivid description of the town as it appeared in 1811, this being a reminiscent article by Samuel Wright, one of the first settlers of the town, who in 1856, then being ninety

702 - GREENE COUNTY, OHO

years of age, gave the data for an article in which he described the town as it appeared to him in 1811 and a resume of which is here reproduced from Robinson's 1902 history of Greene county :

Xenia was a stumpy, struggling village in 1811. The first house in it was built by one John Marshall on the southwest corner lot of the then corporation of Xenia, Lot No. 193. It was raised on the 27th day of April, 1804. On Main street there was at that time twenty-three structures ; two of those were of brick, four of frame, the balance hewed-log houses and four. log shops.

On Detroit street there were two log currying shops, seven one-story log houses, only two of them having shingle roofs and brick chimneys, and two frame houses two stories high. In 1856, the year Wright gave the data for this article, only two of these houses on Detroit street were still standing. One stood on the present site of the mill south of the upper depot, then belonging to Jonathan Wallace ; the other stood on the corner of Second and Detroit streets. This house was standing in 1900 on West Main street, being at that time the first house west of John Lutz's blacksmith shop. It was bought by Major John Heaton and moved to that place.

On Main street was the Gowdy two-story frame house, afterward used as a tin-shop by James Nigh. In front of this building was the only brick pavement in the place. The streets had no gravel on them, were level from side to side, without gutters to carry off the water, and in rainy weather were a mass of mud, deep at that, from one side to the other. There were two ponds of water on Main street, one opposite, or near where Charles Trader's grocery stood in 'g00; the other and larger pond was opposite the residence of Dr. C. M. Galloway.

Remembrance Williams erected the first cabin near where is now the city of Xenia. He emigrated from Virginia to Kentucky in 1790, thence to what is now Greene county in 1800, crossing the Ohio at the mouth of the Licking. He entered a section of land where is now Robert's Villa, and north of that he erected his cabin and continued to live there until 1814, when he sold the largest part of that land to David Connelly and removed to near Madison, Indiana. He gave to his son, John Williams, a portion of the farm on the east side of said section. That cabin was built almost three years before Xenia was laid out, and he and his family were alone in what is now Xenia.

John Marshall had the honor of building the first cabin inside of the corporation limits of Xenia. He purchased lots Nos. 193 and 194, and the 27th day of April, 1804, his cabin was raised on what is now known on the town plat as lot No. 193. Two grandsons of the old poneer were living in 1900, William and James Marshall, their father, Robert T. Marshall, being born in that cabin on the 4th day of September, 1804. He was the first white, child born in the town.

William A. Beatty, who had come from Georgetown, Kentucky, some time previous to 1803, was the first to keep a tavern in Xenia. He was next to follow in the line of improvements, and yet it was a matter of doubt which house would be completed first, his or the one that was being built at the same time for the Rev. James Towler, both of which were two-story log houses. But the evidence seems to be in favor of Mr. Beatty. One thing we do know that Mr. Beatty was doing all that he could to get his, done first. Noah Strong was on hand with his two oxen that he had brought with him from the far away hills of Vermont, namely, "Buck and Brandy," 'and, more than that, the honorable court had engaged the west room upstairs in which to hold court, and they must have it by the 15th of November, 1804. The building was finished and opened as a tavern on the first day of October, 1804, on lot No. 14, opposite the public square, on the lot next to the present Xenia National Bank, the lot and building now thereon being the property of C. P. Dowling.

The Rev. Towler did not have long to wait for his new building. He had purchased

GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 703

lots Nos. 39 and 4o. He was a native of Prince Edwards county, Virginia, and emigrated to Greene county in 1803. This house was better known as the Crumbaugh house, and stood on the north side of Main street. He was the first postmaster of Xenia.

Josiah Grover was the second clerk of courts . of Greene county, accepting that position in 1808 after his brother-in-law, John Paul, had resigned. His first cabin was erected on lot No. 592, West Third street, on the corner opposite the home occupied in 1900 by Timothy O'Connell. He came to Xenia previous to 1803.

Benjamin Grover, a brother of Josiah, was the first schoolteacher of Xenia. The school house was on West Third street, and stood on the lot that was the home of Mrs. James Kyle in later years. It was a one-story log house, and was built in 1805. It was used as a school .house for several years, Hugh Hamill, who came to Xenia in 1810, teaching in that house.

Col. James Collier was one of the first to come into the Northwest Territory in the year 1796. He stopped at what was called Holes station (Miamisburg), and from there went to the Wilson settlement, thence to the farm of Capt. Nathan Lamme, and finally to Xenia in the early part of 1805. In that year he erected his cabin on lot No. 6o, on Detroit street. When he built his first cabin in 1805, he set it back about twenty feet from the in-line of the sidewalk so that in 1813, when he erected his noted tavern, that was in the rear and became the kitchen. When in later years the march of improvement made way with the old to be replaced with the new, that old hewed-log cabin home, then weather-boarded, was moved to East Market street, and located on the lot immediately west of. the East Market street high school. It was not torn down until 1900.

Hon. John Alexander, grandfather of the late William J. Alexander, at this time owned a whole square on West Market and Church streets. He had emigrated from South Carolina in 1804 and was the first 'lawyer to settle in Xenia. In 1811 his house was appraised at seven hundred and fifty dollars, and was still standing in Two on North King street, the property of C. C. Shearer, a relic of the past, and when moved to its present site was as good as when first erected.

James Bunton (or Bunting) arrived in Xenia in 1805. He was a good carpenter, and we find that he was a man of enterprise. In 1806 he purchased lots No. 124 and 130. Upon the former he erected a two-story log structure on West Second street, better known as the McWhirk property, where David Hutchison later built two brick houses.

Eli Adams came to Xenia in 1808. In 1810 he purchased of William A. Beatty, then director of the town of Xenia, lot No. 140, on the corner of Second and Collier streets. This house will be remembered by the older citizens of the city as the home of Tillbury Jones, marshal of Xenia in the early '50s.

In addition to his tavern on Main street, and which was also the early place of holding the courts of the county, Mr. Beatty was the owner of lot No. 165 on the southwest corner of Second and Collier streets, and on this lot he had built his cabin home. This home was valued for taxable purposes in 1811 at one hundred and sixty dollars.

William Gordon was the owner of lot No. 33 in the year 1807. This lot was situated on the northeast corner' of Main and Whiteman streets. George Gordon, his brother, came up from Warren county with his team to assist in hauling the logs for this building, which was a two-story log structure, forty feet square, and was for many years used by William Gordon as a store room. Major George Gordon had previously moved his brother, William, from Warren county to Xenia in 1805. His brother had at that time 'purchased lot No. 176, situated on the corner of third and Whiteman streets. Mr. Gordon had erected on this lot a small log house, the first brewery of Xenia. This building was once owned by James Brown. The older persons can yet remember when this part of Xenia was known by the name of "Brown Town." He was killed in the gravel pit west of Xenia, June 4, ,1849, aged seventy-three years. His death was caused by the caving in of the surface dirt. When dug out he was dead.

Hugh Hamill came to Xenia from Preble county in 1810, and purchased lots No.

704 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO

197, 198, 199 and 200. These lots fronted on Third street, and were situated between Barrett and Maxwell streets, running thence south to the bank of Shawnee creek. He erected his cabin near the brow of the hill, overlooking Shawnee, on the south end of lot No. 200. In the rear of his cabin on this lot extending west to Barrett street was his tanyard. He erected a brick house in 1845.

Dr. Andrew Davidson, on the 11th day of November, 1808, purchased of Henry Phenix lot No. 38, on which in 1811 he erected a two-story brick house. This lot was on Main street, and the building was on the site later occupied by John Knox's saddlery shop. Dr. Davidson came to Xenia in 1805 and was the first physician to locate in the town.

In the year 1805 James Gowdy first came to Xenia and built his store room, the first one in Xenia, on lot No. 34, first lot east of Greene street on Main, and here in i806 he commenced selling merchandise.

The first court house for Greene county was let to William Kendall in 1806. Previous to this time the county had been paying rent, first for the house of Peter Borders, down on Beaver creek, second to William A. Beatty in Xenia. This latter house was completed in 1807.

Samuel Gamble had erected a small house on lot No. 144, on the corner of Second and Monroe streets, north side, the same lot later being owned by John Kyle. Mr. Gamble, in 1811, also owned one-half of lot No. 15 on Main street.

John Gregg was, in 1811, the owner of the first lot east of the northeast corner of Second and Detroit streets. On this lot, No. 134, he raised and completed a cabin:

Capt. John Hivling, in 1811, was the owner of lot No. 13, upon which he had completed a building on the corner of Main and Detroit street, on the present site of the Xenia National Bank.

Joseph Hamill was the owner, in 1811, of lot No. 14, opposite the court house, and it was here he kept his noted tavern, or what was known as Hamill's Inn. He was one of the early justices of peace of Xenia township. His building was part of what in later years was known as the Puterbaugh store, where Kinney and Steele were murdered and the fire of August 3, 1845, followed.

Abraham Larue was the owner, in 1811, of lots No. 131 and 132, comprising about one-fourth of what was later known as the J. C. McMillan corner. Mr. Larue's lots extended from the corner running west on Second street one-half the distance of the square and from the same corner running north the same, distance on Detroit street. His house was erected on lot 132. He also owned out-lots No. 7 and 8.

David Laughead, Sr., was the owner, in 1811, of lot No. 143, on East Second street, better known as the home in later years of Mrs. Newton, the mother of Chancey and Samuel Newton. Upon that lot he erected a one-story house. The ground was later occupied by the handsome LeSourd and Stewart residences.

Peter Pelham, who came from Boston, Massachusetts, in 1807, and who was the first auditor of Greene county, erected his cabin on lot No. 144, at the corner of Main and Barrett streets. The house he built was still standing in 1900.

Hezekiah Sanders came to Xenia in 1807. He was the owner of lot No. 133 and erected his house, a two-story frame, on the northwest corner of Second and Detroit streets. This corner lot later became the home of the Xenia Bank, the building which was erected for the bank now being the home of the Messenger brothers, physicians. When the bank building was erected, Maj. John Heaton bought the old Sanders building and moved it to his lot on West Main street.

John Sterritt built his cabin on lot No. 8g, at the northwest corner of Market and Whitman streets. This property is better known as the old home of Col. John Duncan. Subsequently it became the home of Mrs. Elias Quinn and daughters.

James Watson, in 1811, was the owner of lot No. 7 on West Main street. He had a cabin erected where the Miami Powder Company later had their local offices.

Henry Barnes, Sr., a native of Virginia, removed to Kentucky in 1799, and came to

GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 705

Xenia in 1807. He was the father of Henry Barnes, Jr., a former sheriff of the county, and the grandfather of Major George Barnes. He was the owner of lots No. 29 and 68. No. 29 was situated at the corner of Main and Collier streets and here he had his cabin home. Lot No. 68 was in the rear of this, fronting on Market street.

Jonathan H. Wallace was at this time the owner of lot No. 180, which was located at the southwest corner of Third and Detroit streets. He came to Xenia in 18o7 and was for many years engaged in the business of making hats. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and after removed to Clark county, Ohio, where he died at the home of Anthony Byers on April 25, 185o, aged seventy years.

Captain Robert Gowdy had a tanyard in 1811 on the corner of Third and Detroit streets. His currying shop, a long one-story log house, stood near that place. Across Detroit street east, where is now located the lumber yard of McDowell & Torrence, was another tanyard, carried on under the firm name of William Alexander and Richard Con-well. Mr. Alexander was a brother of Hon. John Alexander, a native of South Carolina, and who died on June 3, 1824, and is buried on the lot of his brother, John, in Woodland cemetery.

And thus was Xenia, as far as householders were concerned, in the year A. D. 1811.

EARLY BUSINESS MEN.

The first half of the city's history saw a large number of men engaged in a wide variety of vocations. There was in the ante-bellum days a great number of small business men, such as bakers, tailors, carpenters, cabinetmakers, candle-makers, wheelwrights, chairmakers, tanners, tavern-keepers, grocers, hatters, etc. Scores of these remained in the town only a few years and a large number of them made so slight an impression on the public that their names have not even been preserved for future generations.

The tanner was an essential factor of every new town in those days, and among the many tanners of Xenia in its early days are recalled the following: John Marshall, probably the first one to follow the trade in the town; Hugh Hamill, Robert Gowdy, William Alexander, Richard Conwell and James Steele. Any new town requires carpenters, even though most of the houses are log structures, and Xenia had its share. Henry Barnes, James Bunton (or Bunting), Abraham Larue, Robert Nesbit, Amos Darraugh and Thomas Gillespie were among those who came to the town during the first two decades of its history. Of tavern-keepers there have been a long list. The first man to open a "house of entertainment," an expression which was very common in those days, was William A. Beatty. Soon thereafter came James Collier, Joseph Hamill and a number of small tavern-keepers, most of their revenue being derived from the sale of liquors. Hivling, Ewing and Merrick were of a later date, all, however, coming in before the Civil War. Among several others who are given as "firsts" in their respective callings are the following : William Gordon, brewer ; Jonathan H. Wallace, hatter; John Stull, tailor ; John William, blacksmith; John Mitten, wheelwright and chairmaker.

The first business man in Xenia was William Beatty, who opened his tavern on October 4, 1804. It is probable that he kept a few commodities for

(45)

706 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO

sale in addition to the stock of intoxicating liquors which was to be found in every well-regulated tavern in those days. But the first real merchant of the town was James Gowdy, and the Gowdy family were the most important merchants of the village for the first quarter of a century after the town was established.

James Gowdy was born in Pennsylvania in 1777, May 20, and died in Xenia on December 24, 1853. Some of the Gowdys later settled in Kentucky, where James and Samuel, brothers, opened a store at Mt. Sterling in the fall of 1802. Hearing of the establishment of a new county in Ohio, and of the selection of the county seat, and also the fact that the county seat was still without a store, James Gowdy paid a visit to the county seat in question to see about the advisability of establishing a store in the new town. And so came James Gowdy to Xenia in 1805. Gowdy was a keen business man, and as soon as he saw the infant village he decided that here was a good .location for a store. He returned at once to Kentucky, where he and his brother divided the goods they had in stock, and in the fall of the same year he landed in Xenia and opened the first store in the town. It stood on lot No. 34, the first lot. east of Greene street on Main street. His brother, Samuel, remained at Mt. Sterling until the summer of 1806, when, having. closed out the business there, he came to Xenia with the remainder of his stock. And' so came the second merchant into the town. The two brothers were in .partnership, and also had a younger brother, Ryan, with them, the latter then being a mere youth. The Gowdys prospered from the beginning and soon had a large trade scattered over a wide stretch of territory. The partnership continued until the summer of 1814, when they dissolyed by mutual consent, each taking a part of the goods and conducting separate stores. Samuel quit after about five or six years and sold his store and settled on a farm near the town. James and his brother, Ryan, continued in the store together until Ryan reached his maj0rity, when he left the store. However, before this time James Gowdy had employed a clerk by the name of John Ewing, a relative of his first wife, and when Ryan left he hired a clerk, or apprentice, as they were then called, one William Perkins by name.

James Gowdy had a number of partners before he finally retired from the store in 1838. John R. Gowdy, the oldest son of Samuel, became his partner on July 5, 1833, and continued as such until his death in March, 1834. At that time Alexander G. Zimmerman and John A. Gowdy, a sbn of Robert, were taken into the firm, the title of the new firm being Gowdy, Ewing & Company. Ewing had had an interest in the store for several years before this date. John A. Gowdy disposed of his interest in the firm on August 12, 1836, and moved to Illinois. The next change in the firm was made on July 19, 1838, when James Gowdy sold out his interest in the store to. John

GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 707

Ewing and Alexander G. Zimmerman. It seems that he took as part payment the firm's share in a branch store which had been maintained at Jamestown for the previous eighteen months. James McBride had a full half interest in the Jamestown store, but the old pioneer merchant, then sixty-five years of age, took active charge of the store. The career of James Gowdy in his Jamestown store was not altogether satisfactory. In fact, he lost money, and in 1844 closed out the store. He had then been in the mercantile business since 1802, a period of f0rty-two years. He owned a number of lots in Xenia on which he had several buildings, and besides he was the owner of considerable land in the county. He devoted the last years of his life to the care of his extensive property interests and died in Xenia on December 24, 1853.

Ryan Gowdy, the younger brother of James Gowdy, was even a more prominent business man and of more value to the young town than his elder brother. It has been mentioned that he started in as a clerk with his brother in 1805. He was then only about eleven years of age, and he remained with his brother until he reached his majority. He then commenced business for himself. His first contribution to the town in the way of a building was made in 1827, in which year he erected a large brick business building on the southwest corner of Main and Detroit streets, for years known as the Nunnemaker corner, and now occupied by the Allen building. He next erected a building on the southwest corner of Detroit and Market streets, where he opened a store. His third move took him on Main street, where he purchased a large brick house opposite the court house, it being the one which was burned on the night of August 3, 1845. It was this so-called Puterbaugh fire which followed the murder of two young men in the building, James Kinney, a brother of the poet, Coates Kinney, and William Steele, a son of Thomas Steele, the old schoolmaster.. In this building Ryan Gowdy was in business for several years prior to its destruction by fire. After the loss of the store and building by fire he went t0 Missouri, but he was soon back in Xenia. He now opened his fourth store, a grocery at the corner of Main and Whiteman streets, where he continued in business until 1848. In that year he sold his store, disposed of much of his other property, and set out for the unknown West. He was gone four years, during which time he traveled up and down the Pacific coast prospecting for gold, but added nothing to his worldly possessions. He returned to Xenia in 1852, became a school teacher, and for the next ten years was constantly employed in the school room, teaching up to within three years of his death, his last teaching being done in Richland county, Ohio. He died near Francona, Ohio,. .on June 6, 1863, at the age of sixty-eight. He was treasurer of the county during 1819 and 1820, and served as county commissioner from 1833.

708 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO

to 1836, being on the board when the brick jail and a large two-story brick market house were erected on the public square.

Another of the prominent merchants of the first half of the last century was John Hivling. B0rn in 'Pennsylvania 0n July 14, 1779, he came to Greene county in 1809, bought the old Paul mill and operated it a couple of years and then settled in Xenia, where he lived until his death in 1851, for forty years identified with the business life of the town. He first bought the southeast corner lot on Main and Detroit streets, the site of the present Xenia National Bank. There was.a log building then on the corner and in it he kept hotel for two years. He then bought a thousand-acre tract adjoining the town, but never pretended t0 be a farmer. In 1815 he bought the lot, building and a stock of goods from one Davis, a small storekeeper, the lot later being known as the Forsman lot, situated on Main street. He had been elected sheriff of the county in the fall of 1811 and it was undoubtedly this fact that induced him to dispose of his mill and locate in Xenia. He to0k the office in the spring of 1812 and held it for two terms—four years. He has the unique honor of publicly whipping the last man in accordance with an order of the court, October 30, 1812. Hivling held no public office after quitting the office of sheriff. He built the first hotel of any size in the town and for years the Hivling House was the leading hotel of the town. He was active in the construction of the Little Miami railroad and was largely instrumental in having it pass down Detroit street. He was a member of the first board of directors of the railroad and remained on the board until 1840 when he refused re-election. When the Xenia Bank was organized he became its first president, and when it became one of the branches of the State Bank of Ohio he was one of the largest stockholders in the new bank. He was a member of the state board of c0ntrol of the State Bank from 1845 until his death. He died on November 4, 1851, in Xenia. His funeral was in charge of the Masons, of which fraternal organization he was one 0f the charter members in Xenia. Michael Nunnemaker, son-in-law of Hivling, was born in Maryland on August 3, 1790, and settled in Xenia in 1816, shortly afterward entering the employ of Hivling, and for several years was his bookkeeper and principal salesman. He married Mary Hivling, the daughter of his employer, on October 28, 1821. They had one daughter, Sarah A., who became the wife of John B. Allen, another of the prominent business men and one of the first bankers of the town. Nunnemaker eventually acquired a store of his own and continued in the mercantile business until his death, February 27, 1866.

If there was one particular trade that was important to a town in the early days it was that of the edge-tool maker. In the days when all edge tools were made by hand the man who could make an ax which would

GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 709

keep an edge was always sure of all the work he could do. Such a man was Russell Rice, who came to Xenia in 1815 and lived here until his death, December 3, 1879. He came from Connecticut to Dayton with his parents in 1811, served in the War of 1812 and located in Xenia in 1815., He was probably the finest edge-tool maker the town has ever had, to which accomplishment he added that of fife playing. When only thirteen years of age he enlisted in a company organized at Dayton and went to the Canadian frontier as a fife player, his brother, Silas, being a drummer. For years after he settled in Xenia his fife was heard on militia muster days, and to the end of his life he was regarded as a skillful performer on the instrument. But he made his living by making edge tools, and in his little shop which stood where the Grand Hotel now stands, he turned out hundreds and thousands of edge tools of every description. His tools were responsible for the felling of more trees in the county than the tools manufacturer by any other man in the county. He died in his eighty-first year at the home of his daughter, Mrs. M. J. Sheley.

INCORPORATION OF XENIA.

It took two separate acts of the General Assembly of the state to get the town of Xenia incorporated. From the date of its platting in the fall of 1803 to 1817 it had no government of its own, being an integral part of Xenia township up to the latter year. When Jacob Smith was in the Legislature in 1813 he introduced and secured the passage of a bill to incorporate the town. It is not possible at this late day to ascertain why the citizens of the town did not take advantage of this act, since certainly they were behind the movement to incorporate the town or they would not have had the bill introduced. Whatever may have happened, the facts are that nothing was done. It was in the midst of the War of 1812 and this fact may have been the reason why nothing was done at that time.

The second attempt to incorporate the town was made following the passage of a second act in the session of 1817. The bill was introduced again by Smith, then in the state senate, while Joseph Tatman represented the county in the lower house. Following this act a petition was presented to the court of common pleas, a copy of which follows :

To the Honorable Court of Common Pleas for the County of Greene:

The representation and petition of the subscribing inhabitants and householders of Xenia town respectfully showeth that the town of Xenia contains eighty-eight householders, and that the town of Xenia is the county seat of Greene county, and is situated on the north side of Shawnee run, about three miles from its juncture with the Little Miami river. It was laid out by Joseph C. Vance, Esq., late director of said town, in the year 1803, by order of the court of common pleas for the county of Greene.

That the plat of said town was duly recorded in the recorder's office of said county

710 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO

in 1804, and is bounded and described as follows, to-wit : Beginning at a stake standing on the northwest corner of Back street, N. 78 degrees, E. 302 poles, to a stake in Remembrance Williams' land, thence S. 83 degrees, E. 61 poles, to the northeast corner of the out-lots of said town ; thence S. 12 degrees, E. 83 poles, to the corner of lot 27 ; thence S. 7 degrees, W. 30 poles, to a stake on the bank of Shawnee run ; thence down said run with the meanders thereof to the south end of West street ; thence with the west side of said street, N. 12 degrees, W. 127 poles, to the beginning, including all the in-lots and fractional in-lots and all the out-lots numbered and marked on the town plat of said town, as recorded in the office of the recorder of said county, containing two hundred and seventy acres, be the same more or less ; being comprised in one plat as aforesaid, and being a part of a survey for one thousand acres, No. 2243, entered and surveyed for Warren and Addison Lewis, patented to Robert Pollard.

That, on account of the late act for incorporating the said town having become inoperative, many inconveniences have been experienced by reason of disorders, nuisances, which have been openly and secretly created by ignorant or malicious persons, to the great detriment and annoyance of the peaceably disposed citizens, and that so long as the present state of things continues no appropriation can be made of the money collected by taxes for two years, during which the aforesaid law was inoperative, for the benefit of the town, by erecting a market house, improving the streets, or any other public or useful purpose by any existing authority competent thereto.

We therefore pray that the said town of Xenia may be incorporated according to law, and that the honorable court will take all due measures for the accomplishment of this desirable object, and your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray.

This petition with its sixty-six signers was filed with the court on March 24, 1817. It will be noticed that the petitioners claim only eighty-eight householders for the town, but this does not necessarily mean that there were that many voters. Some of the householders may have been women. A number of the residents were young men and had not yet had the time to accumulate a numerous progeny, so that the most extravagant estimate

GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 711

would indicate that the population did not much exceed four hundred. Although this petition was filed in March, 1817, there was evidently no definite action taken on it for several months thereafter. Just what was taking place in the summer and fall of 1817 is not known, but it is certain that the question of incorporation was held in abeyance until the latter part of October. This is proven conclusively from the following records :

THE STATE OF OHIO, GREENE COUNTY.

To the Sheriff of Said County, Greeting:

We command you that you summon Moses Collier, David Douglas and Elijah Ferguson to be and appear before the Court of Common Pleas, at the Court House in Xenia, on Monday, the 27th instant, to testify and the truth to say concerning such matters as shall be then and there inquired of them respecting the petition for the incorporation of said Town of Xenia ; and this they shall in no wise omit under the penalty which may fall thereon. Hereof fail not at your peril and have you them there this writ.

Witness : The Honorable Orris Perish, presiding judge of our said Court, at Xenia, this 22nd day of October, Anno Domini 1817.

JOSIAH GROVER, Clk.

Unfortunately, the village records are missing for the entire period of its existence as a village. In fact there are .no official records of the town until 1834, when the village became a city. This indicates that there are at least seventeen years of the town's early history with no official records. It is not even known when the incorporation of the village took place, but it is evident that it must have taken place before the close of 1817.

XENIA, 1834-1845.

The history of Xenia from 1834 to 1845 was uneventful. The town grew gradually ; better dwellings arose ; business enterprises were started; churches were established ; and in other ways the town began to assume something of the appearance which it has to-day. Many of the brick buildings erected during this period are still standing, some of them around the public square.

But the year 1845 marks a turning point in the history of the town, for in that year the first railroad, the Little Miami, reached the town. It is not difficult to imagine the enthusiasm of the people which followed the coming of the first train into the town. Business immediately became better, not only in the county seat, but over the entire county. The farmers now had a .direct outlet for their grain and livestock, and no longer would they have to drive their livestock on foot to Cincinnati or Toledo. It also meant that manufacturing enterprises could find an outlet for their output, and manufactured goods bearing the stamp of Xenia began to find their way to outside markets. From 1845, therefore, Xenia has been in close communication with the outside world. About half a dozen years later the town had railroad con-

712 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO

nection with Columbus on the east and Dayton on the west, the '50s seeing a railroad across Ohio from east to west through Xenia.

XENIA, 1845-1880.

It is difficult to select another distinctive date in the history of the town; that is, a date which marks an epoch in its history. A cursory view of the city's history for the past seventy years would indicate, however, that the year 1880 might be taken as the beginning of another epoch in its history. The period from 1845 to 1880 is marked by a few outstanding events which may first be noticed.

There are few people now living who can recall the horrors of the year 1848. That was the year of the terrible cholera scourge in the county, a year in which more people died here than in any other year of the county's history. In Xenia and the immediate vicinity alone there were no fewer than eighty-five deaths in a short time, and there were as many if not more in the remainder of the county who succumbed to the dread disease. The railroad between Xenia and Columbus was being graded that year and a large number of the Irish laborers employed on the construction crew were victims of the disease. They were buried by the score along the line of the railroad, and to this day there is a ridge along the railroad between Xenia and Cedarville where it is said that a large number of them found a last resting place. It was about this time that it was decided to abandon all of the cemeteries in Xenia and establish a new one outside the city's limits, and thus came about the present beautiful Woodland cemetery adjoining the county seat.

This same period from 1845 to 1880 saw the rise of the modern system of private, state and national banks. The Civil War period witnessed the beginning of the national bank system, while the General Assembly provided for a system of state banks, as well as placing such restrictions around private banks as would make them responsible instituti0ns. The present city building made its appearance in the latter part of the '60s, although it was completely remodeled in 1880, since which year it has undergone few changes. The court house erected in the '40s received a substantial addition in the '70s, but continued in use until torn down in 1900 to make way for the present. building. The present jail dates from the '60s, the workhouse not being opened until the fall of 1883. The '70s brought the twine industry to the city. The. Central school building was erected in 1880, although the East Main street school building was erected several years prior to that year. All the other school buildings have appeared since 1880. Xenia College, Xenia Theological Seminary and a number of private schools arose during this period, all of which have disappeared except the theologi-

GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 713

cal school. The public school system was introduced in the '50s, although it was about a decade later before the high school was established. The first public library was opened in 1878.

XENIA, 1880-1918.

The decade following 1880 saw the introduction of the first public utilities in the city and the beginning of all the modern city improvements which are to be found in the city in 1918. It is true that artificial gas had been introduced into the city before the Civil War, but its cost was so excessive that it was not extensively used. For several years it was sold at four dollars a thousand cubic feet, which, when compared with the thirty-five cent gas of 1918, will be seen to be a little too expensive for universal use. The natural gas which the city now enjoys did not reach the city until the spring of 1905.

The telephone and electric light were introduced into the city by Lewis H. Whiteman at the beginning of this decade, the telephone arriving in 1879 and .electricity in 1881. The year 1886 marks the beginning of the present waterworks system; that year seeing the issuance of a franchise to John P. Martin for the installation of a waterworks plant. While Martin soon disposed of his plant, the following year saw a foreign company in the field and part of the present plant was soon in operation. The beginning of the waterworks plant also brought in the modern fire department and relegated the old "steamers" to oblivion. The sewerage system had its beginning in 1900, and the eighteen years which have since elapsed have seen the city well covered with a sewerage system and the installation of a modern sewage-disposal plant, the latter being completed in the spring of 1918. Following shortly after the beginning of the sewerage system came the first paved streets, parts of Main and Detroit streets, and there has hardly been a year since then that some paving has not been done, the year 1918 starting off with about eight and a half miles of paved streets out of a total street mileage of twenty-two.

The following paragraphs take up in some detail the more important of the public utilities of the city. In some cases it has been impossible to get exact data for the reason that the utility was a private enterprise and no public records were available to make a study of it. In such cases the historian has been compelled to rely on newspaper accounts and interviews with those who had more or less definite information concerning them.

ARTIFICIAL GAS.

Artificial gas was introduced into Xenia in the middle of the '40s and continued to be manufactured until about a year after the Ohio Fuel Supply Company brought natural gas into the city in 1905, a period of about sixty

714 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO

years. During these many years there were many persons connected at one time or another with the local artificial gas business, but all of the 0riginal owners have long since passed away. The moving spirit of the first gas company was James Allison, the father of M. C. Allison, the son being the chief owner of the local plant for many years.. For several years the principal owners included M. C. Allison, W. B. Fairchild, Judge James J. Winans and a Mrs. William Morris, but of this group M. C. Allison was the most important. After this group retired another set of owners came in, the second group including Eli Millan, Jacob Harbine, Frank McGervey and a few others, the first two named being the chief stockholders. It was this group which sold the local plant to a Chicago company, which, after a few years, went into bankruptcy, after which local capitalists took over the plant and operated it until it was discontinued in 1905, when natural gas was introduced int0 the city.

THE OHIO FUEL SUPPLY COMPANY.

The first natural gas in Xenia was brought in by the Ohio Fuel Supply Company in 1905 and it was only a short time until the manufacture of artificial gas was discontinued. The natural-gas company secured a franchise from the city on March 10, 1905, and has since operated under the franchise granted that year. According to the original agreement between the city and the company, the city was to have gas for the first three years at thirty-five cents a thousand feet, with ten cents off if paid within ten days after the beginning 0f the month. For the next seven years the rate was fixed at thirty-five cents, with five cents off. In 1916 the rate was fixed at forty cents, with five cents off, and this is the rate at the present time.

When the company came into the city it installed new mains and connections throughout the city, not making use of any of the property of the old artificial-gas company. The mains have been extended from year to year until now practically the entire city is covered with piping. The report of the local manager 0n March I, 1918, shows that the company had 2,171 consumers in the city. The same company also supplies Wilberforce and Cedarville, having fifty-one consumers at the former place and two hundred sixty-five at the latter.

The gas is largely derived from the natural-gas fields of Ohio, although there is some gas .piped from West Virginia. The pipe passing through Greene county is eighteen inches in diameter, and this insures the consumers an ample supply of gas. The present manager, R. W. Erwin, has been with the company as local manager since August J0, 1905, which indicates that his service has been entirely satisfactory.

GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 715

ELECTRICITY IN XENIA.

The first man to introduce electric lighting in the city 0f Xenia was L. H. Whiteman, who was also the first man to introduce the telephone to the citizens of the city. After Whiteman had made such a success of his telephone, he decided to install an electric-light plant. If he had not taken the initial step for the introduction of electricity in the city, it is doubtful whether the city would have ventured into the same field as early as it did.

An interesting light on the electric-light situation, as well as the gas situation, as it appeared in 1881, is furnished by the following extract from the Democrat News, of Xenia, dated April 23, 1881 :

Xenia would have had the Brush electric light long before Akron if we had a few more Lew Whitemans in town. The cost of lighting this city should not be over $1,000 per year, and that, too, from one end of the corporation to the other, and every alley-will be as light as day. Our gasoline lamps alone cost far more than that. It is simply an infernal outrage to pay out so much money for gas, and be in darkness one-third of the time. Who is the committee on light? We would like to have you show your hand.

The electric light situation in the city is inextricably mixed up with the artificial gas situation. The gas people did not want to see electricity introduced into the city and fought it as long as they could. The gas crowd controlled the city council and it was for this reason that the initial venture of Whiteman into the electric-light field did not meet with the success which attended his telephone business. But be that as it may, in the early spring of 1881 Whiteman decided to show the people of Xenia what electric light really was. They had read about it ; some of them had seen it; many doubted. Accordingly Capt. Whiteman made preparations in the spring of 1881 to install his plant. He bought what was known as a Brush dynamo and equipment and strung a wire the full length of Main street. He installed his dynamo in the old mill of John T. Harbine on West Main street, the mill furnishing the power. His lights were the old-fashioned carbon, sputtering lights, but they lighted up the street as it had never been lighted before. But his efforts to introduce electricity into the city were frowned upon by the powers that ruled the city's affairs, and he was forced to abandon his enterprise after exactly one month of operation. In the meantime the city had decided, or, to be exact, the gas people had decided for the city, that it would install a plant for the purpose of lighting the streets of the city, there being no intention of putting in a plant large enough to furnish current for private consumers. This action on the part of the city 0f course put an end to the effort of Whiteman to go ahead with his venture into the same field.

The winter of 1881-1882 was spent in an investigation by the city council

716 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO

of the electric light plants which had been established in various cities in Ohio and adjoining states. The city council seemed to be bent on really investigating the matter from an impartial standpoint, the Gazette stating in February, 1882, that the "junketing" of the council had cost the city one hundred and fifty-seven dollars up to that time. Experts in electric lighting were brought to the city and open meetings were held to discuss the matter. The final result of the agitation was the ordering of an election for Monday, May 15, 1882, at which time the voters were to say whether they were willing for the city to issue twelve thousand dollars worth of bonds for the installation of a municipal electrk light plant.

The local newspapers had articles on the question for some weeks before the election, the Gazette. uniformly opposing the plan, while the Democrat-News as .consistently favored it. The result of the election showed that the people wanted to let the city go ahead and try its hand in establishing a plant, the final vote standing 647 in favor and 522 against the prop0sal, a majority of 125. The city council on June 12, 1882, following this affirmative vote, authorized the issuance of twelve thousand dollars' worth of bonds to cover the cost of the installation of an electric-light plant. The plant was located on Little street, between Main and Market streets, opposite the workhouse.

The city did not meet with much success in its electric-light venture, and when a purchaser appeared in the person of John P. Martin it was ready to dispose of the plant and retire. It was Martin who was largely instrumental in getting the first waterworks plant in the city, the city entering into a contract with him on July 19, 1886, whereby he was going to install a waterworks system in the city. He paid the city only a nominal sum for the electric-light plant, but the city never realized anything on the sale.

The history of commercial electric lighting in the city is curiously intermingled with the local gas situation. There were thole connected with the old artificial-gas plant who did not want an electric-light plant installed for the reason that it would break into their monopoly of the lighting of the city. Several ineffectual efforts were made to secure franchises in order to install an electric-light plant, but every move of this kind was thwarted by the gas people for several years. The gas people controlled the city council, a control which not only kept the city from extending its plant so that. it would supply private consumers, but also kept private parties from entering the field. However, in the summer of 1888, Charles L. Jobe and H. C. Hardy decided that they would put in a small electric-light plant for their own use, and to this end organized a voluntary association, or rather, entered into a friendly agreement, and began work under the name of Jobe, Hardy & Company. Before they had gone very far with their plans, three other business men of the town asked to be allowed to join in the installation of a plant, the five men to share equally

GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 717

in the installation of the plant. These other three men were R. R. Knowles, R. I. Stewart .and H. E. Schmidt. The firm bought an abandoned machine shop on Collier street and expended about twenty-five thousand dollars in equipping the plant. While it was the original plan to produce only enough current for the five interested promoters, a small additional outlay enabled the company to produce considerably more power than the five men could use and they had no difficulty in obtaining consumers to use all the surplus current they had. Hardy became the general manager of the plant. Wilber Hill, a practical electrician, was brought to the city to take charge of the business, and has beep connected with the electric-light plant of the city from that year down to the present time. The venture did not succeed as well as its promoters had expected and in the following year there was an effort on the part of some of the men to sell their interests, the first to sell out being C. L. Jobe and H. C. Hardy, the purchaser being Robert Davidson, who was really an agent for the local gas company. It was not long before the other men had disposed of their interests to their same company, and thus came to an end the first private electric-light company in Xenia.

The subsequent history of the electric situation in Xenia is somewhat involved. It has been mentioned that Martin bought the city's plant, but he was unable to do anything with it, much less pay the city anything for it. The city's plant was eventually abandoned and P. H. Flynn, the shoe manufacturer, put in a private plant. It was this latter plant which was still in operation when the Dayton Power and Light Company secured a franchise from the city and began furnishing service. The Flynn plant is still maintained, but is used only in a case of emergency. The city is lighted by current furnished by the Dayton Power and Light Company, one hundred and forty-seven arc lights being provided for street lighting.

THE TELEPHONE.

The man who introduced the first telephone .into Xenia is still living in the person of Capt. L. H. Whiteman, and the historian is indebted to him for the early history of the telephone in the city and county. In the' latter part of the '70s, shortly after Bell had perfected the telephone, Captain Whiteman became interested in the business and within a short time had completed negotiations with a firm in Cincinnati to install a switchboard in Xenia and start business.

He rented the third story of the building now occupied by the Criterion Clothing Store on Detroit street and there, in 1879, established the first switchboard in Xenia. Within a short time he had more than two hundred subscribers who were willing to pay him four dollars a month for his service. The first man in the city to install a telephone, or "hello box," as the news-

718 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO

papers liked to call it, was Samuel Newton, the second subscriber being John Little. The business grew so rapidly that Captain Whiteman took in Little as a silent partner and in 1882 organized the Buckeye Telephone Company. Captain Whiteman first operated under the name of the Xenia Telephone Exchange and under this name entered into a contract on June 6, 1881, for the installation of the first telephone in the court house.

The Buckeye Telephone Company was a consolidation of the Xenia plant of Captain Whiteman and the Middleton plant of C. H. Bundy. This company secured a contract with the county commissioners for the installation of three telephone "boxes" in the court house on December 4, 1882. The next step in the history of the telephone business in Xenia was made in 1885, when the Buckeye Company was merged into a new company known as the Miami Telephone Company. This new company secured a franchise from the city of Xenia on February 13, 1885, and continued in business under this name until it was absorbed by the Central Union Telephone Company, of Chicago, in 1905. Upon the reorganization in 1885, John Little became president and Captain Whiteman became local manager, a position he retained ,for several years.

OTHER TELEPHONE COMPANIES OF XENIA.

The Miami Telephone Company had the local field to itself until 1898, when the Xenia Telephone Company came into existence. The city records show that this company secured a franchise from the city on December 3, 1898. The Ohio Telephone and Telegraph Company entered the local field with a franchise dated March 29, 1901, being closely foll0wed by the Citizens Telephone Company. The latter, company was granted a franchise by the city council on May 30, 1902. The Central Union Telephone Company of Chicago (usually referred to as the Bell system) came into the city following a franchise granted on April 26, 1905. This new company absorbed the 0ld Miami Telephone Company.

WATERWORKS.

The beginning of the present system of water supply for Xenia may be said to be definitely marked by a contract which the city entered into with John P. Martin on July 16, 1886. Martin was a pump manufacturer, and his famous "Red Jacket" iron pump of the '80s was widely known throughout the country. He came here from Cincinnati. Martin spent the summer of 1886 in prospecting for water, but he had no money to go ahead with his plan, and the spring of 1887 found him ready to turn his contract, or franchise, over to Goodhue & Birnie, of Springfield, Massachusetts. This company immediately began preparation to install a waterworks plant and the spring and summer of 1887 saw the work in active progress under the direction of George F. Cooper, who

GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 719

came to the city from Springfield, Massachusetts, to superintend its construction.

The company chose a location for the plant about a mile and a half north of Xenia, near Oldtown run, where a large number of springs flowed into the run. Tests made showed that the water was clear, cold and pure, and apparently of sufficient volume to furnish an ample supply. A dam was constructed which made a reservoir for the impounding of the water from the springs. A pumping station was erected and at the same time a reservoir, locally known as a standpipe, was erected at the extreme east end of Market street. This standpipe, 115 feet in height and 20 feet in diameter, has a capacity of 275,000 gallons. When the plant was installed in 1887 it was the only one in the state of Ohio which had a pipe of less than six inches, a four-inch pipe such as used in Xenia, being considered by experts at that time as inadequate for fire protection. The plant put into operation in 1887 proved sufficient for all the needs of the city up to 1895, but the severe drought of that year convinced the company that an additional supply of water would have to be provided. Several places were considered before it was finally decided to install a second pumping station on the Cincinnati pike adjoining the city on the south. Here the second plant was erected in 1895, the water being derived from eighteen wells. Thus the city, with two separate plants, located on two sides of the city, is peculiarly well situated with regard to its water supply. The company also owns a couple of acres of land near the Oldtown mill which may be used at some future time for water supply.

The company in 1918 has twenty-three lines of pipe within the limits of the city, their lines reaching to all parts of the city. There are 203 fire hydrants, 500 feet apart, thus insuring the city ample fire protection, no fire ever having overtaxed the available supply of water. The water mains show a pressure varying from 66 to 100 pounds, according to location. The average amount of water pumped every twenty-four hours is 850,000 gallons, or 102 gallons daily for each person living in the city. There are 2,110 water consumers, while 81 per cent. of the stores use the water of the company. Until within the past few years meters have been used only where large quantities of water are consumed, but the policy of the company now is to install meters throughout the city as fast as possible, and there are now 475 meters in 'use. The city has installed five public watering troughs, while the Barber family gave to the city the mountain which stands on East Main street, opposite the court house.

The connection of John P. Martin and the firm of Goodhue & Birnie With the local plant has already been mentioned. The latter firm owned the plant about fifteen years and then disposed of it to the firm of Jones & Phillips, of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This 'company in thin sold The plant in 1904 to

720 - GREENE COUNTY, OHO

Frank M. Green, of Washington, D. C., who was acting for the Shamokin interests. In the fore part of 1907 the control of the company passed into the hands of local people, several of whom had been stockholders in the company for several years. Practically all of the stock of the company is now owned by local investors, fifty-seven of the sixty-one stockholders residing in Xenia.

The present company was granted a perpetual franchise by the city on February 15, 1907, and the rates then established were in use until February 15, 1917, when a new schedule of rates was established by the company. These rates were fixed according t0 the estimate of the value of the property of the company, the engineering firm of Chester & Fleming, of Pittsburgh, fixing the value of the plant at $338,770. At the present time the rates as fixed in 1917 are being reviewed by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, and their report is expected some time in 1918. The city pays the water company $32 per year for each of the 203 fire hydrants now installed, or a total of $6,496 a year. According to the schedule adopted in February, 1917, the city is to pay $40 for each additional hydrant which may be installed in the future. This is a fixed rate.

The officers of the Xenia Water Company in 1918 are the following : George Little, president ; C. E. Arbogust, vice-president ; George F. Cooper, secretary, treasurer and general manager. The directors include the three officers and M. L. Wolf and C. L. Jobe. Mr. Cooper has been the general manager of the local plant since it was installed in 1887, and is now entering into the thirty-first year of his service with the company. It is probable that few public-service corporations in the state have had one man in charge for such a long period of years. The .offices of the company are located on East Market street.

FIRE DEPARTMENT.

The history of Xenia's fire department falls into five periods : First, the period when the town had none at all ; second, the period when there was only &bucket brigade, this lasting until 1837 or 1838; third, the period of the famous hand-pump days, when the water was all pumped by hand power; fourth, the period of the "steamers," engines which threw water as it had never before been thrown in the town; and fifth, the period since the installation of the present system of waterworks in 1887.

There is little known of the fire department prior to 1887. Just fifty years before that time 1837—the Legislature passed an act allowing the town of Xenia to borrow five thousand dollars to purchase fire-fighting apparatus and build an engine house. This house stood on the northwest corner of the public square, the town having a lease of a strip eighty feet wide across the north side of the square. This was removed in the '50s and the fire house was then located on Greene Street, and there it remained for many years. Subsequently

GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 721

there was provision made for two fire-engine houses, or fire stations, one on East Main street where it is now located, the other being at the corner of Cincinnati avenue and Second street.

The present fire station on East Main street was completed in June, 1914, at a cost of $12,500. The other station, known as No. I, is an old brick structure, formerly used as a cooper shop, built before the Civil War. It was donated to the city for use as a fire station by one Maynor. At station No. 1, is a ladder truck and one hose wagon. At the other station is a hose wagon and a combination hose and chemical wagon. There are four horses at No. 2 and two horses at No. 1.

Fire Chief Buckles has been connected with the department for about thirty-four years, while until the spring of 1918 there were others on the force with about the same number of years service to their credit. Aaron Turner has been at station No. 2 for twenty-nine years. Charles Dill and John Price, both of station No. 1, who had served thirty-four and forty-six years, respectively, were to be displaced in the spring of 1918. These men had given good and faithful service during all of these years, but it was felt that younger men were needed in the department. Charles MaHana has been with the department since December 15, 1916. William Miller is employed as a driver. City Manager Riddle contemplated making several changes in the personnel of the fire department in the spring of 1918, but they had not taken place at the time this volume went to press. The members of the fire department had been designated by the city ordinance of December 8, 1905, the same ordinance setting forth their salaries. This ordinance, however, was being subjected to some very radical changes by City Manager Riddle. All the members of the department will be appointed by the city manager from the civil-service list of applicants.

SOME LARGE FIRES IN XENIA.

Xenia has had its full share of destructive fires. The first fire of any consequence occurred on the night of August 3, 1845, the Puterbaugh fire on East Main street. Two young men, James Kinney and William Steele, were murdered in the building and the murderer evidently set fire to the building to destroy the evidences of his crime.

The Monroe fire of January 26, 1883, was attended with considerable loss of property. It was this fire which resulted in the loss of all the records of the Masonic fraternity. The Eavey wholesale house burned on February 3, 1908, entailing a loss Of $100,000, the heaviest fire loss the county has ever suffered. Two volunteer firemen lost their lives, Martin Ullery and Joseph P. Fletcher. The fire of January 18, 1909, completely destroyed the paper mill, the loss being about $50,000. The next large fire occurred 0n the west side of Detroit street opposite the court house on December 9, 1914. This

(46)

722 - GREENE COUNTY, OHIO

fire, referred to as the Hutchinson & Gibney fire, resulted in a loss of about $80,000. The last fire with a heavy loss occurred on the night of January 24, 1918, when one of the warehouses of the Hooven & Allison Company was completely destroyed with a loss of about $50,000. There were thirty-five fires in 1916 and forty-nine in 1917.

SEWERAGE SYSTEM AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL PLANT.

The present sewerage system dates from the ordinance of June 25, 1900, when a board of commissioners of sewers was appointed by the mayor with a tenure of five years. No compensation was to be allowed the members of the commission. During the past eighteen years the city has been adding sewers year by year until now the city is fairly well provided with storm and sanitary sewers. The old sewage-disposal plant was on the city farm 0f thirty-three acres located about two miles west of the city, but the new plant, completed during the spring of 1918, is located three miles northwest of the city.

There are what are known as four main trunk line sanitary sewers, as follows : Main sewer, fr0m the shoe factory to the outlet; branch No. 1, from King street to Main; branch No. 2, from the corporation line to Main street at the shoe factory and from the Home road to the shoe factory ; branch No. 3, from Church street to the shoe factory ; the total length of these main sewers is 3.75 miles. There are twenty-eight laterals running off from these four main sewers, the total length of the laterals being 11.88 miles, making the total of the sanitary sewers of the city 15.63 miles. There are in addition 5.22 miles of storm sewers. During 1917 there was only one line of sanitary sewer constructed, this being done under the supervision of the city engineer for the trustees of the West End Mission church. The sewer was laid on Orange street, from Bellbrook avenue to the Second street branch, a distance of 525 feet. The total cost of this sewer was $494.96. The repairs on the sewers during 1917, and including the cleaning out of the old sewage-disposal plant, amounted to $527.76.

In the summer of 1915 a- contract was entered into by the city for the construction of a modern sewage-disposal plant. The city purchased land. about three miles northwest of the city as a site for the new plant, and issued bonds in the amount of $68,000 to cover the cost of construction. As a matter of fact, the city will have a plant which could not be duplicated for at least $1 00,000, it being a well-known fact that the original contractor stood to lose between thirty-five and forty thousand dollars on his contract. It is even stated that this was the cause of the death of the contractor. Subsequently, following his death, the contract was assumed by the Bailey Construction Company, of Dayton. The W. J. Sherman Company, of Toledo, designed the

GREENE COUNTY, OHIO - 723

plant and has general charge of its construction. The plant, which will accommodate a city of fifty thousand, was turned over to the city during the spring of 1918.

STREET CLEANING.

The cleaning of the streets of the city has heretofore been let by contract to the lowest bidder, the work for the past two years having been done by Roy Jenks for $218 per 'month. The last contract was let in January, ,1915, at which time the city had only 5.8 miles of paved streets. Since that time there has been an additional 2.6 miles of paving completed, the additional mileage being taken care of by day labor. The workhouse prisoners have been used to do part of this work. In 1916 the cleaning of the streets cost the city $3,050.93, the cost in 1917 having been $3,168.75. In 1916 the city cleaned 140,569 square yards, whereas in 1918 there will be a total of 174,586 square yards to be cleaned. The contract for the street cleaning for 1918 had not been concluded at the time this was written, but it is planned to adopt a different system, and use the street sweepings on the city's farm of thirty-three acres west of the city. There was inaugurated a few years ago what is known as a clean-up campaign, which is held in May of each year. This was started by the city board of health, but during the past two years the actual removal of the debris has been in charge of the engineering department of the city. Teams and men are hired and the city laid out into districts and systematically covered., In 1917 1,235 loads were removed at a cost of $331, an average cost of 26 cents per load.

STREET SPRINKLING.

The street sprinkling in the business district has been let by contract to the lowest bidder, the work in 1917 having been done by Alexander Morgan at $62.90 per month. A total of 4,300 lineal feet of streets was sprinkled at a cost of 7.3 cents per lineal foot. The entire cost, less two per cent. and the intersections, was paid for by the property owners affected. The total cost of the sprinkling for 1917 was $627.97, divided as follows : Labor and materials, $440-30 ; water rent, $109.94 ; legal advertising, $77.74.

STREET REPAIR WORK.

Owing to the fact that much of the repair work done on the streets in 1917 was performed by city prisoners, it is not possible to give the cost data of the work. Most of the repairs were done on the gravel streets. Exact data on the paved street repair work has been kept, as follows : Brick, $77 ; asphalt, $156.85. The total cost of the work on gravel streets for the year 1917 was $1,067.48, making the total cost of all street repair work the sum of $1,301.33.

724 - GREENE COUNTY, OHO.

STREET PAVING.

The following tables exhibit the extent of the street paving in the city of Xenia. the first being the brick pavement :

Street.	From	To.	Feet length	Area
Detroit Main Market Green Whiteman	North Corp. .P C. C. & St. L. Ry. P. C. C. & St. L. Ry. Main Street Market street Car track of East Main street	South Corp Columbus street Columbus street Market street Second street	8,520 3,780 3,777 336 676
Total			17,089
The asphalt pavement is not so extensive as the brick as may be seen by the following table :
Second Third King Church Roger Cross E. Main	Shawnee bridge Cincinnati avenue Third Detroit Detroit Church Columbus	Columbus street Columbus street Ankeny Mill road Mechanic street 900 feet east Third East Corp	4,026 3,320 4,120 1,700 900 8,850 4,330	17,666 8,960 ------- 15,450 1,626 15,692 12,840
Total				72,443
During 1917 the city was engaged in paving several of the streets, a summary of which work is indicated in the following table, the three streets being paved with asphalt and the tracks of the traction line with brick :