(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 225 over the tops of the highest hills, without any referenceto grades, while all were what are now called mud roads. The invention of McAdam seemed to come as a special remedy for such highways and a great relief to a people suffering under such evils. It was not; however, until Cincinnati had attained thirty thousand inhabitants, that the macadamized roads were adopted here. Since that time every road of importance leading from the city has been macadamized, generally by chartered companies, and in some instances by the county commissioners. The following are the principal macadamized roads leading from Cincinnati: The Goshen, Wilmington, Washington and Circleville turnpike, one hundred miles; Montgomery, Rochester, Clarksville and Wilmington, fifty miles; Chillicothe and Hillsborough, only fifteen miles finished; Batavia, twenty-one miles; Lebanon, Xenia and Springfield, seventy-two miles, continued through Centreville, twenty-one miles; Great Miami turnpike to Dayton, through Monroe and Franklin, thirty-eight miles; Cincinnati and Hamilton, twenty-one miles; Cotentin, Hamilton and Oxford, thirty-seven miles; Cincinnati, Carthage and Hamilton, twenty-five miles; Dayton and Springfield, twenty-four miles; Harrison turnpike, twenty miles; Covington and Williamstown, Kentucky, thirty-six miles.. Total, fourteen macadamized roads, five hundred and fourteen miles. These roads proceed directly from Cincinnati, but many of them are continued, by their connection with other roads, until they extend through the State. Thus the Dayton and Springfield roads, by their connection with the National road at Springfield, go through the State to Wheeling and over the mountains to Baltimore. Six years after Mr. Cist wrote, there were twenty turnpikes and plank roads in Hamilton county—one hundred and seventy-three miles, covering one thousand two hundred and fifty-seven acres. In 1866 there were but sixteen turnpikes, one hundred and fifty-eight miles, still kept as toll-roads; but in 1862 there were twenty-three, of a total length of one hundred and ninety-five miles. It would be exceedingly tedious to follow the.history of Hamilton county turnpikes down in detail. The county is now full of them, longer and shorter—some near the city but a fraction of a mile in length. Many. of them have been made or bought and improved by the county, whose bonded road indebtedness, on the first of January, 1880, amounted to forty-two thousand eight hundred and ninety-five dollars and forty cents. The roads are mostly free; but there still linger at least thirteen of these toll-roads in the county, with an aggregate length of one hundred and thirty-two miles, and new companies continue to be incorporated. The incorporations of this kind for the last two years have been: The Blue Rock Turnpike company;. road from Six Mile House to New Baltimore; capital stock thirty-five thousand dollars; certificate of incorporation filed May 8, 1878. The State or Cleves Road Turnpike company; road in Green and Miami townships; certificate filed June 4, 1878. THE FIRST FERRY. As an appendix to this chapter, the document by virtue of which the first ferry was established across the Ohio, from any point in the present southern limit of Hamilton county, will be read with interest. On the thirteenth of February, 1792, the secretary of the Northwest Territory, then at Cincinnati, and, in the absence of Governor St. Clair, acting governor, issued the following proclamation: To all persons to whom these presents shall come, greeting:— WHEREAS, it has been represented to me that it is necessary for the public interests, and the convenience of the inhabitants of the county of Hamilton, that a ferry should be established over the river Ohio, nearly opposite the mouth of Licking in the commonwealth of Virginia, and Mr. Robert Benham having requested permission to erect and keep said ferry: Now, know ye that, having duly considered of the said representation and request, I have thought it proper to grant the same, and by these presents do empower the said Robert Benham, of the county of Hamilton, to erect and keep a ferry over the Ohio river, from the landing-place in the vicinity of his house-lot, which is nearly opposite the mouth of Licking, to both points of the said rivulet and upon the Virginia shore; and to ask, demand, recover and receive as a compen- sation for every single person that he may transport over said ferry - 6 cents Fora man and horse - 18 " For a wagon and team. - 100 " For horned cattle, per head - 18 " For hogs, each - 6 " until those rates shall be altered by law or future instructions from the governor of this territory. And he is hereby required to provide good and sufficient flats or boats for the purpose, and to give due attention to the same according to right and common usage, and to govern himself in the premises by all such laws as hereafter may be adopted for the regulation of ferries, as soon as such laws shall be published in the territory. . Given under my hand and seal, at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton, the eighteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, and of the independence of the United States the sixteenth—and to continue in force during the pleasure of the governor of the territory. WINTHROP SARGENT. CHAPTER XVIII. EARLY LEGISLATION AND LEGISLATORS. A CHAPTER may well be devoted here to some notices of the legislators and legislation for the Northwest Territory, a part of which is quite unique in character and object, and much has a direct local interest in this region, as having been enacted by the governor and judges, or by the territorial legislature, in session at Cincinnati. THE GOVERNOR AND JUDGES' LAW. The ordinance of 1787 vested all legislative, executive and judicial powers for the Northwest Territory, in the first instance, in the governor and judges, who were appointed by the President of the United States. This form Of government was to continue until the population of the territory should so increase as to include five thousand free white males of full age, when the second, or more popular form of government, to which alone the people are now accustomed, should come in. The first session of this peculiar legislature, provided for the infancy of the territory, was held at Marietta in September, 1787, and consisted of Governor St. Clair and Judges Parsons and Varnum only, the remaining judge under appointment (Armstrong) not yet having arrived, and, indeed, never taking his seat at all, but resigning instead, Judge Symmes being appointed to his place, as before noted. At the first meeting a very severe law, "respecting crimes and punishments," was enacted. It prescribed whipping as a part of the penalty for acts committed by a mob of three or more persons, for house- 29 226 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. breaking, and for sundry other crimes and misdemean- ors, even for assault upon a parent or master by a child or servant. If the child or servant were simply disobedient to rightful commands of his parent or master, he could be sent to jail or house of correction, and be compelled to remain there until he should humble himself to the satisfaction of his superior. For certain flagrant acts, as perjury, forgery, and arson, the offender was to be set in the pillory after flogging. August 21, 1792, at Cincinnati, a law was passed in correspondence with the former enactment, entitled, "An act directing the building and establishing of a court house, county jail, pillory, whipping post, and stocks in every county." Binding to labor—a virtual selling to slavery—was provided for certain cases of larceny, and afterwards for debt. Drunkenness was punished by a fine of fifty cents for the first offence and one dollar for the second, failing to pay which, with costs, the offender must sit in the stocks "for the space of one hour." Various other penalties of a character quite unusual nowadays were prescribed, and the whole wound up with a sort of preamble or string of whereases at the further end of the code, by means of which it was hoped to check, without the infliction of penalties, certain practices detrimental to good order and Christian observances. These sections, as an interesting and unique relic of the early legislation, although their origin was not especially associated with this part of the State, are well worth reproduction here: SECTION 21. Whereas idle, vain, and obscene conversation, profane cursing and swearing, and more especially the irreverently mentioning, calling upon, or invoking the Sacred or Supreme Being by any of the divine characters in which he bath graciously condescended to reveal his infinite beneficent purposes to mankind, are repugnant to every moral sentiment, subversive of every civil obligation, inconsistent with the ornaments of polished life and abhorrent to the principles of the most benevolen1 religion. It is expected, therefore, that if crimes of this kind should exist, they will not find encouragement, countenance, or approbation in this territory. It is strictly enjoined upon all officers and ministers of justice, upon parents, and others, heads of families, and upon others of every description, that they abstain from practices so vile and irrational, and that by example and precept, to the utmost of their power, they prevent the necessity of adopting and furnishing laws with penalties on this head; and it is hereby declared that Government will consider as unworthy of its confidence all those who may obstinately, violate these injunctions. SECTION 22. Whereas, mankind, in every stage of informed society, have consecrated certain portions of time to the particular cultivation of the social virtues and the public adoration and worship of the common Parent of the universe; and, WHEREAS, a practice so rational in itself and conformable to the --divine precepts is greatly conducive to civilization, as well as morality and piety; and, WHEREAS, for the advancement of such important and interesting purposes most of the Christian world have set apart the first day of the week as a day of rest from common labor and pursuits, it. is therefore enjoined that all service labor, works of necessity and charity only excepted, be wholly abstained from on said day. The Marriage law permitted unions between male persons of seventeen and females of fourteen years of age, upon previous consent of their parents; and without such consent if of the ages of twenty-one and eighteen, respectively. A "publication of the bans" was required fifteen days in advance of the ceremony, at church or some other public assembly; or, in lieu of this, a license could be obtained from the governor. Some of these old documents, granted by Governor St. Clair, are still held in Hamilton county and other parts of the State. LEGISLATION AT CINCINNATI. We now come to the matters more immediately interesting to Hamilton county, and which furnish ample justification for the inserti0n of this chapter here. In June, 1791, the governor and judges met at Cincinnati for .the exercise of the law-making powers; and thereafter, until the institution of the second grade of territorial g0vernment in 1799, they continued to meet at Cincinnati as the capital of the territory. On the twenty-second of that month they passed a law in two sections, the first of which ordained the penalty of a fine, 0r, in default of payment, fixture in the stocks for three hours, for maliciously tearing down or destroying, wholly or partly, any copy or transcript of a law of the territory or of the United States, or any official proclamation of the governor or President. The second section prescribed three hours in the stocks and payment of costs, or commitment to prison until the same were paid, for tearing down or defacing any publication of the bans of matrimony, or estray or other official notices. One of the laws passed by the governor and judges, at their meeting July 2, 1791, entitled, "an act to alter and amend the militia laws," directed that every person enrolled in the militia of the territory should, whenever he attended public worship, arm and equip himself as if "marching to engage the enemy," on penalty of a fine, "as the law directs in cases of default when ordered for guard or other military duty," one half to go to the informer, the rest to the county. If the fine were not paid within five days, levy might be made upon the goods and chattels of the defaulter, to the amount of the fine, with fifty cents additional for the costs, of which the justice got one-third and the constable two-thirds. The militia law of August, 1788, required that all male inhabitants, from the age of sixteen upwards, should arm and equip themselves with musket and bayonet, or with rifle and cartridge box, kept supplied with forty rounds of ammunition, and that thus fully equipped each should assemble with his fellow militiamen at ten o'clock A. M., on the first day of the week, at the place or places occupied for public worship, and there be subject to inspection, drill, and other military discipline. A curiously loose act was passed August 21, 1792, "for the better regulation of prisons," which provided that if a prisoner confined in a civil or quitam action should escape through the insufficiency of the prison or the negligence of the sheriff or jailor, the luckless sheriff could be held for the debt. He was, however, to be indemnified by the county, in a sum to be raised by taxation, equal to the full amount for which the prisoner, and then he, had been held, if the escape resulted from the weakness or insufficiency of the jail. This well-meant law, as might have been expected, often resulted in frauds upon the counties or the sheriffs, by collusion between ostensible plaintiffs and defendants, where no debts were really due, and where, if due, nothing could possibly be collected from the defendant; so that, when the first territorial legislature met in 1799, the statute, or this section of it, was promptly repealed. HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 227 Another provision of the law exacted a penalty of one hundred dollars, or "such corporal punishment, not exceeding forty stripes, as the court shall inflict," for conveying to a prisoner, without the privity or knowledge of the jailor, any instrument, tool, or other thing whereby he might break out and escape. If the implement used was actually successful in accomplishing the prisoner's escape, the person supplying it, says the law, shall be liable to pay all such sums of money as the prisoner stood committed for, and shall also have inflicted upon him, or her, all such punishment as the escaped prisoner would be liable for if a criminal and had been convicted of the charge for which he or she had been committed, unless suCh person would be liable to capital punishment, in which case the person assisting in such escape shall be punished by fine, imprisonment, whipping, or sitting on the gallows with a rope about his or her neck, or any one or more of the said punishments, as the court having cognizance thereof shall think proper to inflict. The governor and judges, also, in the exercise of their legislative functions, instituted a system of limited servitude or slavery for debt (not exceeding seven years), despite the famous provision of the organic act under which they held their official posts, that "there shall be neither slavery or involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." The same law limited imprisonment for debt or fines to a term not to last beyond the second day of the session next after commitment, except in case of fraudulent concealment of property. In 1798 another law, adopted from the Kentucky code, allowed the selling to servitude for not more than five years of an offender convicted of maiming and disfiguring the person of another, in default of his ability to pay the fine and costs. This, however, was soon afterwards held to be unconstitutional, as Kentucky was not in the Union when the territory was formed, and so an act, singular to say, could not be thus adopted bodily from its code. The former act was passed in August, 1795. The sessions of this year—in Cincinnati, of course extended through to June, July, and August, were prolific of legislation. It was evidently intended at this time, in view of the contemplated publication of the body of territorial law, to form a pretty compact and systematic collection of statutes. At the session of the summer of 1795 there passed no less than thirty-four of the sixty-four statutes adopted and promulgated by this gubernatorial and judicial legislature between the years 1790 and 1795, inclusive. They were enacted by Governor St. Clair and Judges Symmes and Turner, but the entire body of territorial laws (the sixty-four) published after the meetings, took the name of the "Maxwell code," from the printer, the first one in Cincinnati, who made what was for the time a neat and typographically fairly accurate book of them. Two small volumes of territorial laws had been printed at Philadelphia in 1792 and 1794. Among the laws the Maxwell code contains is one of July 14, 1795, providing that the common law of England and all statutes or acts of the British parliament in aid thereof, passed prior to the fourth year of the reign of James I, and not local to the kingdom, should be of full force and effect in the territory, until repealed by legislative authority or disapproved of by Congress. The labor of drafting statutes at any time was made light to the governor and judges by the express permission granted them to copy the statutes of any State that was in the Union at the adoption of the ordinance of 1787. Judge Chase says of the system of territorial law as a whole, that notwithstanding many imperfections "it may be doubted whether any colony, at so early a period after its establishment, ever had one so good." Judge Symmes, however, seems to have had some fears of the force and validity of their laws. The following extract from one of his letters, written at Cincinnati June 17, 1795, well exhibits his apprehensions, and also the trials and tribulations experienced by the judicial legislators: "I had not been long at home from Jersey before I was called up the Ohio again to attend Governor St. Clair at Marietta in the capacity of a legislator. On the 20th of February, therefore, I set out on my passage up the river, and was buffeted by high waters, drifting ice, heavy storms of wind and rain, frost and snow, for twenty-three days and nights, without sleeping once in all that time in any house after leaving Columbia. I waited in vain twelve days at Marietta for the coming of the governor, and, he not appearing, I returned home. "The governor has since arrived at this place. About the same time, Judge Turner came up the river from the Illinois, when we were able to form a house and proceed to the consideration of our laws. Their binding force was so enervated by the measures taken against them last session of Congress, that many citizens of lawless principles now revile and treat them as a nullity. How far the safety and happiness of the United States were involved in the downfall of our little code of jurisprudence, affecting few more citizens and scarcely more energetic than • the by-laws of some country corporation—especially' as they had undoubtedly been twice read and ordered by government to be printed--I will not pretend to conjecture. I only say, sir, that I am sorry they were found so exceptionable in the eyes of Congress. We lived tolerably happy under them, and, if I am not mistaken, the happiness of the people is the object of laws. Hardly shall we be able to import and adopt a sufficient number of the laws of the original States to regulate our police before the freemen of the territory will rise in numbers to five thousand, when the government will be new formed and the people make their own laws. I am, with best respects, Your very humble servant, JOHN C. SYMMES. CAPTAIN DAYTON. THE TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE. The first grade of territorial government existed uutil 1799, or for eleven years, when it was superseded by the second grade, the conditions of the ordinance of 1787 having by that time been fulfilled. The governor, having ascertained that it had reached that degree of advancement, in point of population of free white males of legal age, which entitled it to the more popular form of government, on the twenty-ninth day of October, 1798, issued a proclamation directing the qualified electors to hold elections for territorial representatives on the third Monday of December next ensuing. Each voter at said election, under the ordinance, must have been possessed of a freehold of fifty acres of land; and the property qualification of each person elected to membership in the legislature must have reached the measure of three hundred acres. He must have been a resident of the territory for at least three years, and his term of service was for two years. 228 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. The scheme of the territorial government provided for the establishment of a law making power to be composed of an elective house of representatives and a legislative council, the latter to consist of five members, who were to be appointed by Congress, from a list of ten persons nominated to that body by the territorial legislature. Such persons were to possess, each, a freehold of five hundred acres of land, and be residents in the territory. Their term of service was five years. If a vacancy occurred in the council, the house of representatives were to nominate two others, one of whom would be selected by Congress to fill the vacancy. The election resulted in the choice of the following named members of the popular branch of the legislature: Hamilton county, William Goforth, William McMillan, John Smith, John Ludlow, Robert Benham, Aaron Caldwell, Isaac Martin. Washington county, Return Jonathan Meigs, Paul Fearing. Ross county, Thomas Worthington, Edward Tiffin, Elias Longhorn, Samuel Findlay. Adams county, Nathaniel Massie, Joseph Darlinton. Wayne county, Solomon Sibley, Jacob Visgar, Charles F. Chabert de Joncaire. Jefferson county, James Pritchard. St. Clair county, Shadrach Bond. Knox county, John Small.' Randolph county, John Edgar. Sixteen of these twenty-two members were residents within the present limits of the State, and had a controlling influence, not only by their numbers, but by their weight of character and knowledge of public affairs, in the deliberations of that branch. So also were three of the five members of the legislative council, which was composed, by appointment from a list selected by the house at its first session held in Cincinnati, beginning February 22, 1799, of Messrs. Jacob Burnet, James Findlay, Henry Vandenburgh, Robert Oliver, and David Vance. Dr. Tiffin, of Ross county, Was chosen speaker of the house. This, the first legislature elect for the Northwest Territory, met in Cincinnati September 16, 1799, to which date it had adjourned, and organized the second grade of civil government for the vast tract of which Ohio was an integral part. William C. Schenck was chosen secretary of the council, Henry Vanderburg, printer; Abraham Cary, sergeant-at-arms; and George Howard, doorkeeper. Of the lower house Dr. Tiffin was speaker, John Reily, clerk; Abraham Cary, sergeant-at-arms; and Joshua Rowland, doorkeeper. The assembled solons, however, did not get a quorum of members together until a week afterwards, and the first regular meeting was held on the twenty-fourth of September. It then remained in session until December 19, 1799, when it was prorogued by the governor until the first Monday in November of the next year, re-assembling then for the second session at Chillicothe, which had meanwhile been made the seat of territorial government by act of Congress. Judge Burnet, who was a member of the legislative council, and therefore intimately acquainted with the proceedings 0f the entire body, includes the following remarks in his "Notes:" This being the first session, it was necessarily a very laborious one. The transition from a colonial to a semi-independent government called for a general revision, as well as a considerable enlargement, of the statute book. Some of the adopted laws were repealed, many others altered and amended, and a long list of new ones added to the code. New offices were to be created and filled, the duties attached to them prescribed, and a plan of ways and means devised to meet the increased expenditures, occasioned by the change which had just taken place. As the number of members in each branch was small, and a large portion of them either unprepared or indisposed to partake largely of the labors of the session, the pressure fell on the shoulders of a few. Although the branch to which I belonged was composed of sensible, strong-minded men, yet they were unaccustomed to the duties of their new station, and not conversant with the science of law. The consequence was that they relied chiefly and almost entirely on me, to draft and prepare the bills and other documents which originated in the council, as will appear by referring to the journal of the session. THE LEGISLATURE'S LAWS. Notwithstanding the abrogation of many of the acts passed by the governor and judges, and the important modification of others, the acts which, looking from a later standpoint, one would presume to have been earliest repealed or amended, were left substantially unchanged. 'The severest enactments, those most abhorrent to our present sense of justice and views of penal legislation, were precisely those that remained untouched. The first laws passed by the new territorial legislature established and continued in force the statutes previously adopted by the governor and judges, in regard to corporal punishment for crime and punishment by the pillory and stocks, as also the law for the erection of these instruments of penalty, with the whipping-post at all the court houses in the territory. The preamble to this confirmatory act sets forth its necessity as springing from the information given to the general assembly by the governor of the territory, that at several times the governor and judges had presumed to enact laws on their own authority, which were of doubtful validity, and had been so mentioned in the rulings and opinions from the bench. The new law was therefore enacted "to confirm and enforce" these laws. Another act of this people's legislature provided the punishment of a heavy fine for maliciously firing woodland, prairie, or other lands. In case the offence was committed by a servant or servants, and the master or mistress of him or them refused or neglected to pay the damages or fine, "then such servant or servants so offending shall be committed to the prison of his, her, or their proper county, until such debt, dues and demands are paid, or be whipped not exceeding thirty-nine stripes, at the discretion of the court having cognizance thereof. There is a little reminiscence of St. Paul's chequered career in this prescription of the number of stripes, which is at least entertaining. Judge Chase, in his Sketch of the History of Ohio, makes the following review of the proceedings of this legislature: The whole number of acts passed and approved by the governor was thirty-seven. Of these the most important related to the militia, to the administration of justice, and to taxation. Provision was made for the efficient organization and discipline of the military force of the territory; justices of the peace were authorized to hear and determine all actions upon the case, except trover, and all actions of debt, except HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 229 upon bonds for the performance of covenants, without limitation as to the amount in controversy: and a regular system of taxation was established. The tax for territorial purposes was levied upon lands; that for county purposes upon persons, personal property, and houses and lots. During this session a bill authorizing a lottery for a public purpose, passed by the council, was rejected by the representatives. Thus early was the policy adopted of interdicting this demoralizing and ruinous !node of gambling and taxation—a policy which, with but a temporary deviation, has ever since honorably characterized the legislature of Ohio. Before adjournment the legislature issued an address to the people, in which they congratulated their constituents upon the change in the form of government, rendered an account of their public conduct as legislators, adverted to the future greatness and importance of this part of the American empire and the provision made by the National Government for secular and religious instruction in the west; and upon these considerations urged upon the people the practice of industry, frugality, temperance, and every moral virtue. "Religion, morality and knowledge," said they, "are necessary to all good governments. Let us, therefore, inculcate the principles of humanity, benevolence, honesty, and punctuality in dealing, sincerity, and charity, and all the social affections." About the same time an address was voted to the President of the United States, expressing the entire confidence of the legislature in the wisdom and purity of his administration, and their warm attachment to the American constitution and government. The vote upon this address proved that the differences of political sentiment, which then agitated all the States, had extended to the territory. The address was carried by eleven ayes against five noes. On the nineteenth of December, this protracted session was terminated by the governor. In his speech on this occasion he enumerated eleven acts, to which, in the course of the session, he had thought fit to apply his absolute veto. These acts he had not returned to the legislature, because the two houses were under no obligation to consider the reasons on which his veto was founded; and, at any rate, as his veto was unqualified, the only effect of such a return would be to bring on a vexatious and probably fruitless altercation between the legislative body and the executive. Of the eleven acts thus negatived, six related to the erection of new counties. These were disapproved for various reasons, but mainly because the governor claimed that the power exercised in enacting them was vested by the ordinance, not in the legislature, but in himself. This free exercise of the veto power excited much dissatisfaction among the people, and the controversy which ensued between the governor and the legislature, as to the extent of their respective powers, tended to confirm and strengthen the popular disaffection. Thereafter, until the formation of the State, the legislature did not make many laws, although it assembled annually, in consequence of these bold assumptions of the governor, who arrogated to himself most of the powers which have since been entrusted to the territorial legislatures. He not only erected new counties and fixed their seats of justice, and arbitrarily put the foot of his veto upon such legislative enactments, as we ,have seen, as he thought to encroach upon his :prerogatives, but even promulgated new laws of his own devised by executive proclamation, without the concurrence of the legislature. These and other high-handed and. unwarranted acts made the administration of Governor St. Clair exceedingly unpopular, so much so that when he proposed, in his official character, to address the constitutional convention, met at Chillicothe in November, 1802, to form the Stale government, he was permitted to do so by only a bare majority of five, which passed a resolution that "Arthur St. Clair, sr., esquire, be permitted to address the convention on those points which he deems of importance." The value put upon his counsels at this time may be inferred from the fact that the policy recommended by him, namely, to postpone the organization of the State until the people of the original eastern division were plainly entitled to demand it, and would not be hampered by conditions—commanded but one vote in its support among the thirty-three members of the convention; and President Jefferson, upon being advised of this action of St. Clair, immediately removed him from the governorship, although he was subsequently reappointed. He left office finally very much under a cloud, and died in great poverty and obscurity. THE LEGISLATORS AS ELECTORS. One of the most interesting and important acts of the first and only territorial legislature which met in Cincinnati was the election of a delegate to represent the territory in Congress. Much canvassing of names and abilities of candidates occurred before the session of the legislature; but by the time it assembled the contest had narrowed to two candidates—the distinguished soldier and citizen of Hamilton county, General William Henry Harrison, and Arthur St. Clair, jr., son of the governor, who naturally gave to his support the whole weight of the gubernatorial influence. The contest was thus made singularly even, considering the contrast in merits and reputation of the candidates; and when the two houses met in joint session for-the selection of the delegate, twenty-one members being present, 'Harrison received but a majority of one vote, he having eleven and the younger St. Clair ten votes. Harrison at once resigned his post as secretary of the Northwest Territory, proceeded to Philadelphia, took his seat in Congress, which was then in session, and was soon influential in securing very important legislation for his constituents. The legislature—of the territory or State—never again met in Cincinnati. Before the time to which the territorial assembly was prorogued had arrived, Congress passed an act, approved on the seventh day of May, creating the Indiana Territory, and making "St. Vincennes, on the Wabash river," the seat of government for that territory, and "Chillicothe, on the Sciota river," the capital of the Northwest Territory. The latter was also the first capital of the State, and remained such, with an interval, until the seat of government was permanently fixed at Columbus. In 1801, however, the legislature of the territory voted to return the capital to Cincinnati, in consequence, it is said, of riotous disturbance and insults offered in Chillicothe to the governor and several members of the legislature. But the law was never executed, by reason of the. measures that were taken to form the State government, and the consequent failure of the territorial legislature to meet upon the next appointed day. 230 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. CHAPTER XIX. COURTS AND COURT HOUSES. Nought is on earth more sacred or divine, That gods and men do equally adore, Than this same virtue, that doth right define ; For the heavens themselves, whence mortal men implore Right in their wrongs, are ruled by righteous lore. EDMUND SPENSER, "Faery Queen." JUDGE LYNCH'S COURTS. The first arrangements in the Miami country for the protection of person and property against lawlessness were necessarily somewhat rude and informal. What Judge Burnet, in his valuable Notes on the Northwestern Territory, says in a general way of the earlier Ohio colonies, is doubtless equally true of those which presently dotted the shore between the beautiful Miamis. His remarks and illustrations are these: When these settlements were commenced by emigrants who resorted to ahem, early in 1788, provision had not been made for the regular administration of justice. Judicial courts had not been organized, and the inhabitants found themselves in an unpleasant situation, as they were exposed to the depredations of dishonest, unprincipled men, without the means of legal redress. To remedy that evil, the people assembled to consult and devise a plan for their common safety ; they chose a chairman and a secretary, and proceeded to business. The meeting resulted in the adoption of a code of by-laws for the government of the settlement, in which they prescribed the punishment to be inflicted for various offences, organized a court, established the trial by jury, appointed Mr. McMillan judge and John Ludlow sheriff. [Judge Burnet here evidently refers to a meeting in Cincinnati, which must have been several months, at least, later than "early in 1788."] To the regulations they all agreed, and each gave a. solemn pledge to aid in carrying them into effect. It was not long before a complaint was made against Paddy Grimes, for robbing a truck-patch, on which the sheriff was commanded to arrest him and summon a jury for his trial. The order was obeyed, and on hearing the evidence the jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to receive twenty-nine lashes, which were inflicted in due form on the same afternoon. Other complaints of a similar character were made ; I at, in consequence of the interference of the officer in command of the garrison, no further decisive proceedings were had, and this useful tribunal, organized for self-protection, on the genuine principles of Judge Lynch, was abandoned-but not without a serious conflict between the citizens and the military, in which Mr. McMillan received very serious and permanent injuries. THE ESTABLISHED COURTS. The first regular court organized for Hamilton, county was that ordained by Governor St. Clair at Fort Washington, when the county was proclaimed, January 4, 1790, and designated in the elaborate old fashion as the court of common pleas and of general quarter sessions of the peace. The first session of the court seems to have been held on the ensuing second of February, at which were present William McMillan, presiding judge, William Wells and William Goforth. William I, II, and III, judges; Jacob Tapping, justice; John Brown, sheriff; Levi.Woodward and Robert Wheelan, constables. Provision had been made for such courts by a law of the territorial government, proclaimed at Marietta, August 23, 1788, which soon superseded, in the settlements rapidly springing up thereafter, the extemporized courts of Judge Lynch. The territorial court was also held from time to time in and for Hamilton county. The " docquet" of the first session held in Cincinnati is still extant, and is a literary as well as judicial curiosity. It is as follows, verbatim: DOCQUET of the first general court, of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, held within and for the county of Hamilton, which commenced at Cincinnati on October the fourth, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and ninety, and of the independence of the United States of America the fifteenth. October 4, 1790, eleven o'clock, A. M., Monday. The Honorable Judge Turner, escorted by the sheriff and attended by the clerk and other judicial officers of the said county, present. Court opened agreeable to proclamation at the instance of the honorable the judge, above mentioned, whose commission being openly read, and the necessary proclamations duly made for the judicial and ministerial officers of the county to make their return, the sheriff presented his list of grand-jurors summoned: Of Cincinnati - 1, Jacob Reeder; 2, James Wallace; 3, James Cunningham; 4, Francis Kennedy; 5, John Cummings; 6, John Vance; 7, John Terry; 8, Seth Cutter; 9, Richard Benham; to, James Burnes; it, Luther Kitchell; 12, Henry Taylor; 13, Nathan Dunnals; 14, Joseph Cutter ; 15, David Logan; 16, Abijah Ward. Of Columbia- 17, Benjamin Davis; 18, Elijah Mills; 19, Samuel Newell; 20, William Gerrard; 21, Eiijah Stites; 22, James Matthews; 23, John Manning; 24, Nathaniel Stokes. Returned to serve, the first sixteen, viz: e, Jacob Reeder; 2, James Wallace; 3, James Cunningham; 4, Francis Kennedy; 5, John Cummings; 6, John Vance; 7, John Terry; 8, Seth Cutter; 9, Richard Benham; so, James Burns; ix, Luther Kitchell; 12, Henry Taylor; 13, Nathan Dunnals; 14, Josiah Cutter; 15, David Logan; 16, Abijah Ward. One judge only attending, court, without proceeding to business, was adjourned until eleven o'clock of to-morrow, A. M. Tuesday, fifth October, 1790. Court opened pursuant to adjournment. Present, Honorable Judge Turner. Absentees (grand-jurors), Francis Kennedy, John Cummings, Luther Kitchell, David Logan. Proclamations duly made, court was adjourned till twelve o'clock at noon to-morrow. Wednesday, sixth October, 1790. Present, honorable Judge Turner. Court opened pursuant to adjournment. Absentees of yesterday obtained a remission of their respective fines. Necessary proclamations being made, court was adjourned, ut supra, until twelve o'clock, at noon, to-morrow. Thursday, seventh October, 1790. Court opened agreeable to adjournment. Present, Honorable Judge Turner. Absentees (grand-jurors), Seth Cutter, Richard Benham, Luther Kitchell, Joseph Cutter. Court adjourned until twelve o'clock, at noon, to-morrow. Friday, eighth October, 1790. Court opened pursuant to adjournment. Present, Honorable Judge Turner. Joseph McHenry attended to serve on the grand jury. The same jurors absent to-day that were yesterday. Court adjourned until twelve o'clock, at noon, to-morrow. Saturday, twelve o'clock, ninth October, 1790. Court opened agreeable to adjournment. Present, Honorable Judge Turner. Grand jurors absent-John Terry, Nathan Dunnals, likewise the absentees of Thursday. Court adjourned until five o'clock of this day, afternoon. Eodem Die, five o'clock, afternoon. None of the judges present, the sheriff proceeded to adjourn the court without delay. No business entered upon at this term by reason of there not being present, of the honorable the judges, a number sufficient to constitute a quorum. [Signed] - W. MCMILLAN, In behalf of John S. Gano, deputy to Israel Ludlow, clerk. Some notes have also been taken for this work from the records of the first session of the general court of quarter sessions of the peace, held in Cincinnati February 2, 1790. Present, Judges Goforth, Wells, and McMillan, Justice Jacob Tapping, Sheriff John Brown, and Constables Levi Woodward and Robert Wheelan. A recognizance was returned against Josiah White, for slandering Jacob Tapping, esquire. The accused put in HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 231 an appearance and offered an excuse, which procured his release. The grand jury brought in no bills, and were discharged. Sheriff Brown protested to the worshipful court against any and all accountability in keeping prisoners, there being as yet no jail. May term, 1790.—Present, the judges, justices, constables, and sheriff. The commissions of the peace and the governor's proclamation were read. The names of grand jury were called; Robert Benham, foreman. Adjourned to 2 SL On sitting again, Abel Cook was called up for breach of the peace; also Josiah White, for selling liquor to soldiers; also Jacob 'lapping, esq., for possessing four shirts and one pair of stockings, bought from a soldier; another count of the same sort appeared against the said Tapping. A call was ordered for Sylvester White and David Strong, for having "on account" public clothing. The same charge was made against Scott Travers, viz : that a pair of overalls and a woolen vest belonging to the Federal service were found in his possession. Abel Cook plead guilty to hitting James Sowards, and was fined fifty cents. Thomas Cochran had fifty cents fine for selling whiskey. Tapping was fined seventy-five cents, and Scott Travers was let off. White failed to put in his appearance. Captain David Strong cleared up the matter as to his acquaintance with Tapping's clothes business, and was dismissed. The jury came in with a bill against Asa Hartshorn, Mahlon Ford, and David Strong for thrashing Isaac Taylor. The court adjourned. We have also the following memoranda from the higher court: 1792. SUPREME COURT OF THE TERRITORY. John C. Symmes, judge. Present, six justice's—William Goforth, William Wells, William MaMillan, John S. Gano, George Cullum and Aaron Caldwell; Joseph Le Sure, clerk pro tea.; Robert Bunten, coroner; John Ludlow, sheriff; Isaac Martin, sub-sheriff; Benjamin Orcutt, crier; Robert Wheelan, Samuel Martin, Sylvanus Runnels, constables. The grand jury was called over, David Davis, foreman. The jury retired. Witnesses were called for the United States court business, assaults and habeas corpus. " Job, a negro man, vs. John Thnner; also United States vs. James Mays, for the murder of Matthew Sullivan; Same vs. Joseph Paxton, as accessory with Mays; Same VS. George Turner, on certiorari; Same vs. Matthew Winton and Matthew Derough, charged with riot. The sheriff called forty. eight names, from which these twelve were chosen to try Mays: Robert Benham, Robert Mitchell, Samuel Dick, Benjamin Jennings, Matthew Winton, Henry Pickle, James Dement, Charles Bruce, William Kelly, Samuel Rolston, James Miller, Steward Wilkins. Mays was convicted and duly hanged by Sheriff Ludiow. In this case Mr. Dunn was prosecutor, and Messrs. Goudy ,and Smith were counsel for Mays. The jury out an hour, and came in with a verdict of "guilty.'' The court received the verdict in the house of Isaac Martin. SOME CHANCES. June 1, 1795, Governor St. Clair and Judges Symmes and Turner, sitting in legislative session at Cincinnati, as noted in Judge Symmes' letter in the last chapter, passed an act reconstructing the courts of general quarter sessions of the peace and of the common pleas, after a plan borrowed from the statutes of Pennsylvania. The former was to meet four times a year, and to be composed of the justices of the county nominated by the governor, sitting together in bank, any three of whom, but not less, might hold a session. This court might hear and determine all criminal cases in which the punishment prescribed did not exceed one year's imprisonment, nor involve life or limb, nor forfeiture of goods and chattels, or lands and tenements to the government of the territory. In and out of sessions, the justices, or any of them, might take all kinds of recognizances, whether for good behavior, keeping the peace, or for appearing at a superior court, or might commit to jail. Any justice, out of sessions, might hear and determine petty crimes and misdemeanors, if punishable by fine only, and that not exceeding three dollars, and might assess and tax costs in such cases. The term of the quarter sessions could not extend beyond three days. The court of common pleas was constituted of justices appointed by the governor, of whom three would make a quorum. Terms were to be held three times a year, and of a length according to the business before them. This court might hold pleas of assize, scire facias, replevin, and sundry suits and causes; might hear and determine all manner of pleas and actions, civil, personal, real, and mixed, according to law. All writs ran in the name of the United States of America, and bore the name of the presiding justice of the court and the prothonotary or clerk. They were executed by the sheriff, or in case of his death or resignation, by the coroner. The common cases before these courts in the early day were on charges of fighting and for debt and trespass. The first State legislature provided for a supreme court and for courts of common pleas—one session of the former and three sessions of the latter to be held in each county every year. The State was divided into three circuits, of which Hamilton, Clermont, Butler, Montgomery, Greene, and Warren constituted the first. The judges were elected on joint ballot by the general assembly, and held their offices for terms of seven years. The common pleas was composed of one presiding judge and three associate judges, the latter chosen from the people at large. By the constitution of 1852, Hamilton county was made one judicial circuit, with its own judges of court of common pleas. THE OLD BENCH AND DESK. The Hamilton county courts of course shared in the changes in the judicial system that prevailed under the State constitution throughout Ohio, whose history it is unnecessary to recite here. By the constitution of 1852 the county was made a judicial district by itself, with three judges of the court of common pleas. Under the old system there had been four judges, but one of whom, the presiding judge, was usually from the ranks of the bar, the remainder, the associate judges, being selected from the community at large, presumably for their general good sense and native judicial qualities. Judge Carter, in his volume of Reminiscences and Anecdotes, furnishes the following recollections of the best known of the old judges in Hamilton county: Of all the judges of former days, perhaps, there was no one so much liked and loved for his genial, generous and whole-souled qualities and characteristics, as Judge Torrence. He was president judge of the old court of common pleas from before the year 1819 up to the year 1832 ; and, although he was not so much of a lawyer, he made a very good judge of the law, and administered justice somewhat like a Solomon or a Daniel. Boy as I was, I remember seeing him presiding on the bench and towering above his associates—for he was the tallest judge, and large and portly in figure and stature ; and he looked upon the bench every inch a judge. He came to this city at a very early day, and soon was a very popular fellow-citizen, for he was fellow-citizen with everybody—men, women, and children, and all. They all liked and loved him, and they always had a good word to say for him, as he always had a good word to say to any of them. ' It has not been very many years since the decease of Judge Torrence 232 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. at a very advanced age ; and citizens of the present day well remember him as one of the cleverest of men. While on the bench he was never known to say an unkind or rough word to any lawyer or officer of court, or any one else. He invariably preserved hil good humor, and his good common sense too. Judge Carter has also a kindly word for the famous old clerk of the courts: Major Daniel Gano, the old long-time clerk of the old court of common pleas and supreme court, and quite as long time clerk of the old superior court--who of the old pioneers of this city does not remember him, the finished and thorough clerk of the courts, and the cultured and polished gentleman? . . He was horn and grew up here, and he lived here, and he died here. Near four-score years of age, he departed this life, which had been rewarded, through the whole long line of it, by the highest regard and esteem of his fellow-citizens. He was a worthy, clever man and most efficient officer, and was certainly one of the best looking men in the city and country. He was distinguished for wearing a large, perfectly white cambric ruffle down the open bosom of his shirt, adorned with a beautiful breastpin, and the old-fashioned, Revolutionary plaited queue of his hair, tied with black ribbon in a how and hanging down his back between his shoulders ; and even for modern times he never gave it up, and retained in his toilet this mark of the old Revolutionary forefathers of this country, to the day of his shroud and coffin. He was buried with it, and no doubt it is in his grave and flourishing still. Another character of the old courts mentioned by Judge Carter, was John Stalee, who was deputy sheriff under many administration for a long series of years, and finally died in office, committing suicide by an overdose of morphine. The old court of common pleas sat three times a year. It licensed ministers to solemnize the rite of marriage, and also licensed auctioneers, ferries and taverns. The court appointed its own clerk and public prosecutor, and the commissioner of insolvents, an official of that day, the commissioner in chancery, county surveyor, and county inspectors. The associate judges had the power of appointment of the recorder, or of a county commissioner, in case of the death, resignation, or removal of the incumbent in office. THE OLD SUPERIOR COURT sat but once a year. It was established in 1838, and organized June l0th of that year. David K. Este was the first judge. He resigned in 1845, and was succeeded, in order, by Charles D. Coffin, William Johnston, Charles P. James, and George Hoadly. The court was abolished in 1853, during the last incumbency, but revived the next year, with three Judges--Oliver M. Spencer, Bellamy Storer, and William N. Gholson --and a jurisdiction concurrent with that of the court of common pleas. Other courts, as district, commercial (opened in 1848) criminal, probate and police courts, have been established from time to time, as the needs for the administration of justice in the city and county have demanded them. THE COURT HOUSES. The early courts, according to Judge Burnet, were held in a rented room in the tavern of George Avery, near the frog-pond at the corner of Main and Fifth streets. The building was accordingly adorned with the prescribed instruments of justice in that day, the pillory, the stocks, and a whipping-post, and sometimes a gallows was added. A strong log building on the north side of the public square was occupied as a jail. The courts in the early day, in part at least, were held in the Gano building on Main street, between Fifth and Sixth. The territorial court met in Yeatman's tavern. The first court house owned by the county was a rude stone building on the public square, near the southwest corner of Fifth and Main streets, fronting on the former, about where Allen & Company's drug store now stands, but somewhat back from the street, giving room for the erecting of a speakers' stand or bower on the fourth of July and other public occasions. It was built in 1802, and its entire cost is said to have been but three thousand dollars. It was built of limestone, after a plan furnished by Judge Turner, in the shape of a parallelogram, with forty-two feet front and fifty-five feet depth. The walls, including the parapet, were forty-two feet high. A wooden cupola, with four projecting faces, arched and balustraded, twenty feet high, terminated by a dome and resting on a base of twenty feet square, surmounted the whole. The 'total height to the top of the cupola was eighty-four feet. There were wings for public offices, two-storied and fireproof, in Judge Turner's original design; but they were not constructed by the county. THE JAIL stood on the site of Cavagna's grocery, west of the court house, also facing Fifth street, with the whipping-post, etc., a little way to the front. "Jail bounds" were allowed in that day, and those for Hamilton county are still to be seen marked upon an old document in the county clerk's office. The first institution of this kind here was moved for as soon as 1792, and was constructed early the next year. Mr. Charles Cist says, in one of his numerous publications: The first jail here was built early in 1793, and, as everything else in the early days of Cincinnati, was located to accommodate the convenience of the bottom interest. It as, therefore, built upon Water street, west of Main street. Although a mere log cabin, of a story and a half in height, and probably sixteen feet square, the ground in its neighborhood being cleared out, it was distinctly visible from the river. Small as it was, it was amply large enough to accommodate the prisoners, most of whom were in for debt. Neither were its inmates kept strictly within its limits, or even those of the yard adjacent; the prisoners visited around the neighborhood throughout the day, taking care to return in time to be locked up at night, and on the appearance of the sheriff scampering home in a great fright, like so many rats to their holes. Judge Symmes wrote from North Bend to Esquire McMillan, December 28, 1792, concerning this proposed institution: DEAR SIR : I hope that by this time the jail is begun and going on briskly.. I hear that the people of Cincinnati are voting on this question—whether the jail shall be built on the first bottom or the second bank? If you will allow us at North Bend to vote also, our voice is for the second bank most decidedly. Our reasons are : The ground will be had much cheaper—fuel will be had easier and at less expense---the situation will be more elevated and healthy, in addition to its more magnificent appearance —the soil is much more dry—the prisoners will at no time be drowned in a fresh like pigs in a sty— a great expense will be saved in carting the timber —it is or soon will be in the centre of the town—it will be more convenient than Cincinnati. for the people of the other villages in the county—water may be had by digging a well, which ought to be within the liberties of the prison, and if it stood on the banks of the Ohio, a well will be necessary that privileged prisoners for debt, allowed the liberty, might draw for themselves. But if interested motives are to direct our votes, the inhabitants of North Bend HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 233 vote that the prison be built on Congress green (the public ground in front of the village of North Bend) a most elegant situation. Sir, your most obedient servant, JOHN CLEVES SYMMES. WILLIAM MCMILLAN, ESQ. This place of confinement is reported also to have been so insecure that it often cost as much for recaptures as for incarceration. At one time, knowing his man would escape from the " board pile," as the jail was called, Sheriff Ludlow allowed him twenty lashes and then dismission from further durance vile. This man had robbed a clothes-line. Mays, the murderer who furnished forth the first non-military execution in Hamilton county, was kept with more care. Sheriff Ludlow's bill for his keeping stands as follows: November 15, 1792. Hamilton county, to John Ludlow, sheriff,— Dr. Boarding James Mays after sentence, execution expense, gallows and grave - £15 8s. 9d This bill was not paid until six years later. A second and larger jail soon became necessary, and a new one was put up late the next year at Stagg's corner, the southeast, of Walnut and Sixth streets. It was in size fifteen by twenty feet only, but was two stories high, built of hewed logs, with "lapt-shingle" roof. About a year thereafter, eight yoke of oxen, belonging to the garrison of Fort Washington, and' in charge of Captain Thorp, quartermaster, assisted by John Richardson, were employed to remove it to the lot at the corner of Church alley and Walnut street, where it remained for some years. The following unique notice, published by an unlucky debtor in the Cincinnati Spy for November 4, 1799, is supposed to have emanated from this miniature bastile: Those indebted to Dr. Hines are desired to remit the sums due—he being confined to jail deprives him of the pleasure of calling personally on his friends—they will therefore oblige their unfortunate friend by complying with this request without loss of time. Hamilton county prison, October 29, 1799. The total cost of jails for the county to and including this year, for building, repairs, etc., is ascertained to have been three thousand and thirty-two dollars. Mr. Cist's Miscellany, a treasure-house of Cincinnati and Miami antiquities, also furnishes the following interesting remarks and reminiscences: As a gallows stood in 1795 on Walnut below Fifth street, the presumption is that it had not unfrequently been made use of, although there is little pioneer lore on the subject, and its victims must have been distinct from the military corps, in which deserters are shot, not hung, But in those days the gallows, the pillory, and the whipping-post, were appendages of civilized society, two of them in the farther advance of civilization driven out of existence, and the third in a rapid process of extinction. Several of our citizens survive [1845] who have witnessed not only these structures, but also the administration of justice under their operation. Jonah Martin, while a youth, was present when Sheriff Goforth inflicted the "forty stripes save one" upon a woman convicted of setting tire to haystacks, and Mr. Samuel Stitt witnessed the same punishment applied to another woman guilty of theft, by the hands of Levi McLean, the deputy sheriff and jailor at that time. It must not be inferred, however, that the infliction was as severe as it appeared to be. Goforth was a man of great humanity, and even McLean, al_ though jailor, pound-keeper, butcher, and constable, four hard-hearted vocations, played on the fiddle and taught singing-school. " Men are not steel, but steel is bent, Men are not flints— even flint is rent." and Levi, unless his prisoners rebelled on his hands, or he had himself taken a glass too much, in which case he would turn in and take a flogging frolic among his pets, without making much distinction between debtors and criminals, was rather a good-natured fellow than otherwise. Thirty-six years later, persons are yet living who saw "many a man," as they express it, tied up and whipped at this post. The following is the court record in one of these cases: At a special court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, holden at Cincinnati, in and for the county of Hamilton, in the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, on the twenty-first day of August, 1792, the grand jury return a bill of indictment against Patrick Dorsey, for feloniously stealing and carrying away from the armorer's shop at Fort Washington, in said county, on Saturday the eighteenth day of August instant, one silver watch, of the value of fifteen dollars. The prisoner, Patrick Dorsey, pleads not guilty, and thereupon trial was had, and the jury say: "We, the jury, do find the prisoner guilty, as stated in the indictment." Thereupon the court sentenced the aforesaid Patrick Dorsey to receive twenty-five stripes on his hare back, and also to pay to Peter Davis, from whom the watch aforesaid was stolen (the said watch being restored to said Peter again), the sum of fifteen dollars, together with the costs of prosecution, herein taxed at eight dollars and twenty-five cents. The whipping-post stood about one hundred feet west of Main and fifty south of Fifth street, near the line of Church alley. The jailer usually did the whipping, and it is said that sometimes, when he was intoxicated, he would take down the cat-o'-nine-tails and, going in among the prisoners, administer an indiscriminate flagellation on general principles. In the matter of executions, the county has been singularly fortunate, considering its population and crime record during the last half century, scarcely more than half a dozen men having been hanged in it, under sentence of the courts, during that period. The third jail, built up town after the burning of the first court-house and the leasing of the county's half of the public square, stood on the west side of Sycamore street, between Hunt and Abigail, not far from the present county prison. It was a more spacious and comfortable affair, built of brick, with fourteen rooms for prisoners, and a yard enclosed with a high brick wall, in which they might take exercise. It was occupied until the construction of the new court house and jail was so far advanced that a transfer of prisoners could be made. THE SECOND COURT HOUSE. The first court house was used as a barrack during part of the War of 1812-15; and the carelessness of some soldiers who were playing cards in one of the rooms or in the garret, resulted in the destruction of the building by fire early in the year 1814. The county commissioners then decided to remove the temple of justice further out—to a point then almost, or quite, out of the village —upon a large lot tendered the county as a gift by Mr. Jesse Hunt, its owner, near the present intersection of Main and Court streets. The new building was soon begun, but, though no great structure for size or elaboration of architecture, it occupied several years in building, and was not finished until 1819. Judge Carter has supplied an elaborate description of this court house in his recent volume of Reminiscences and Anecdotes, which we copy in full by permission: It was situated, itself and appurtenances, on a circular plat of ground about two hundred feet in diameter—just where our present modern court house stands. It was a substantial and spacious structure, about sixty-two feet in length east and west, and fifty-six feet in breadth north 30 234 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. and south, and elevated to the cornice fifty feet, to the summit of the dome or cupola on the centre of the uprising, four-sided roof, one hundred and twenty feet, and to the top of the spire one hundred and sixty feet. It contained two fire-proof rooms, in' which the clerk of the court of common pleas and the supreme court, and the recorder of deeds kept their offices. On the first floor over the basement was a large, spacious, and commodious court room, finished and furnished in a style of much neatness and even elegance for days- of yore. This great room extended the whole length of the building, and -was near thirty feet in width. On the north side of the court room, before large windows, was the large elevated bench for the judges, and here the presiding judge and his three associates sat and judged, and administered justice according to the law. Immediately before the bench was the lawyers' long table, and at each end was the clerk's and the sheriff's places or desks. The place for the lawyers, or bar of the court room, was separated from the auditory by a long, open, heavy, colonnaded balustrade, about four feet high, reaching the whole length of the room, and entered by a gate attended by the janitor, who sat in a chair by it, and faithfully attended, that no intruders should enter the sacred precincts without leave or license. The space outside and south of the bar was devoted to spectators, lacing open in front and having benches under the gallery for the accommodation of those who had business in and before the court, and who sat in anxious expectation, awaiting call by their lawyers. Above, extending the whole length of the room, was a large 'enclosed gallery filled with seats, also for the accommodation of the people when anything very important was going on, which attracted crowds to the court house. This gallery was supported by some half a dozen columns underneath, in front, and the ceiling of the court room, under a large beam or cross-piece, was supported by one very large corinthian-capped column, and this stood on a large frame-work pedestal built on the floor. The jury so much in use in the courts were accommodated with some fixed arm-chairs, away from the lawyers' table, and just beyond the whitened large column, and were thus in position to be conveniently addressed by the lawyers and by the cart. Immediately before the judges' long bench, on the balustrade of the liar, about the middle of it, was placed the prisoners' dock, or box, an elevated, open-worked, enclosed, white-painted-platform, with a long seat, sufficient to accommodate six or eight prisoners, and, being as high as the bench of the judges, and in juxtaposition to it, it was so conspicuous that it was a continued and continuous eye-sore to the judges, lawyers, and citizens, and an ugly, displayed pillory for the poor-devil prisoners who were placed in it at times and became the closely observed of all observers. The floor of the old court room, within the bar, was usually covered with a large striped rag-carpet; and this was strewn over hither and thither with huge spittoons, for the accommodation of those of the bar and others who had the habit of chewing tobacco, and they were numerous. The court room was well lighted and well ventilated, having three or four large windows thirteen feet long by five feet Wide, on each end, and seven smaller ones on the north side. At the east end was a large chimney, and in it a huge fireplace, which, when containing a large fire, as- it always did in the winter time, kept things considerably warns around about, and besides this, near the centre of the room, was a very large, old fashioned rectangular stove with large extended pipe, so that there was no complaint of cold when fires were completely on and the old sergeant-atarms was in good health and all about. This room, the only court room in the building at first, was a very spacious, convenient, and commodious one for all the purposes of law and justice, and we doubt if there were many better court rooms in the land. For thirty years it proved sufficient and capable, and as 'one room with others would have been quite so to-day for all purposes of bench, bar, and people.- The old people, as well as the old judges and the lawyers, took much pride in the old court room. „Afterwards, about the year 1838, there was another smaller court room constructed in the old court house. This was in the second story, immediately above the one described, and was occupied by a new court, which the exigency of the times seemed to require, called the superior court, and now remembered as the old superior court. The old court house also contained a sheriff's office, not very large, but convenient in its arrangement, on the southwest corner, and a county commissioners' office, and a grand-jury room, and several other jury rooms. The great building had three large outside doors on the east, on the west, and on the south sides, opening out into stoops with stone steps to the ground on the east and west, and wooden porch and steps on the south side. The number of large windows in its walls above and below, and on every side, was about fifty, and all these were ornamented with the old-fashioned green venetian blinds; while the outside walls of the court house were painted a pale cream, or nearly white color, giving to the building a marked, distinctive, and even beautiful appearance as seen from every side, especially as it was adorned with a large central square dome erected on the middle of the ascending four-sided roof, and this dome surmounted by a cupola with green venetian blind windows and a tall spire above it, with long, gilded vane, and the four cardinal points on it with gilded letters, N., S., E., W., and two huge balls above and below, all shining in luminous gold. In former days no court-house could he built and exist and live without a steeple- " Saint Patrick was a gintleman, And came from dacent paple; He built a church in Dublin town, And on it placed a staple." And as with the churches, so with the court houses of former days, they were literally nothing without a spire for aspiring minds. They were of no account without a " staple" for the stable, staple, and steepling ambition of young fledged lawyers, whose flight might reach its highest pinnacle. The dome, spire, and steeple of the old court house were the tallest of the kind in ye ancient days, and commanded the admiration, and almost the adoration, of the old people; and the old court house was the centre of attraction for the judges, the lawyers, and the people. As the old court house was the centre of attraction, so it stood in the centre of a large, circular plat of ground, with the streets forming a capacious way all around. On the periphery or circumference was erected a white painted rail-fence, with four ornamented gates to the yard of the court house, one on each side, with the cardinal points. The yard within was sodded with green grass, slanting and inclining from the basement walls of the court house, and adorned in neat and orderly manner with locust trees and shrubbery; and from each of the gates there were wide pathways leading to the court house doors, and one or two of these were paved with large flat flagstones, so that the "circular square" of the court house had quite a beautiful and attractive appearance. After some years, the necessities of increased business requiring it, there were two separate buildings erected on Main street on the front line of the square, one north and one south of the line of the court house, the former one occupied by the treasurer, auditor, and county commissioners' offices, and the latter by the offices of the clerk of the court of common pleas and the county surveyor; and these were quite neat and eligible buildings for their purposes, adorned with side, covered porticos as they were, and flights of steps leading up to them overthe offices in the first or basement story. They of course added much to the importance and attraction of the court house square, and converted the shape of the grounds from a circle to a larger segment of a circle. The large plat of ground upon which the old court house and its appertaining surroundings stood, was given to the county of Hamilton for the purposes of a court house and county offices by Jesse Hunt, an old, respected, opulent, pioneer, public-spirited citizen of Cincinnati, and the grandfather of our present United States senator, Hon. George H. Pendleton, on the mother's side—about the year 1814 or 1815. But at that time the grounds were considered far out of town, and it was some time before the minds of the citizens of the city could be brought to any unanimity on the subject of locating the public buildings of the county there, so far off from the limits of the stores and dwellings of the town. But at last the gift was accepted, and operations were commenced for the erection of the court house, and they dragged their slow length along, and it was not until the close of the year 1819 that the court house was completely finished and ready for full occupation, and then it was occupied; and then commenced the proper, prosperous, and profound history of the old court house. In the afternoon of Monday, July 9, 1849, this old and noble structure burned up, or down, and nothing was left of it but its thick, blackened walls, and they had been made and builded to last forever. Fire had been communicated to it by a neighboring pork-house conflagration on a warm summer's day. It caught on its exposed tinder roof and cupola, and soon roof, dome, cupola, spire, and steeple were wreathed and enveloped in smoke and flames. I remember intently gazing at the surrounding, wrapping, warping, writhing, enclosing flames from the immense roof, and these whirring, whirling, and curling and leaping amidst the densest black smoke from the now fired frame-work of the dome and steeple, presented a flaming and famous scene for a painter. Dome, spire and steeple and roof soon fell with a tremendous crash into the midst of the enclosing and enveloping walls, which were only blackened and not injured in their structure by the fire in the least, and HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 235 they stood for a long while a sort of ruined monument of former justice and law, for lawyers "to look and admire—rire—rire," and citizens to gaze and wonder at what had been done for so many long years within those now blackened, scorched, and Charred walls. During the burning of the roof and dome and tower of the old court house it was a very curious and interesting sight to see numerous doves or pigeons flying in extended circles about the flames, as near as the fierce heat would permit them. The cupola had been a long-time home for the pigeons of the city. There they had been reared themselves, and there they had been in turn raising their young, many of whom no doubt perished in the flames; and the now-devouring flames they encircled and encircled in their lofty flight in the air, apparently, like the dove of old, without a place whereon to set their feet. It was indeed a sort of romantic tableau. The old court house, it seems, was the home of the pigeons, as well as the judges and lawyers, et illud omne genus. It was a great old court house, and had a great history. in its eventful days. Sorry to part with it. Drake and Mansfield's book, entitled Cincinnati in 1826, has the following derogatory remarks concerning the old court house It presents neither in its domestic economy nor external architecture a model of convenience or elegance. Its removal from the centre of the city is justly a cause for complaint. THE TEMPORARY COURT HOUSES. After the fire the courts and county offices, and the law library, found a temporary home in a large brick building of four stories on the northwest corner of Court street and St. Clair alley, owned by Mr. James Wilson, and afterwards occupied by Messrs. Wilson, Eggleston & Company, as a pork-packing house. The offices went to . the second floor; the four rooms required by the Supreme court, the court of common pleas, the superior and commercial courts, were found on the third floor; and the law library, then very small, was put in a small room on the same floor, near Canal street, and looking out upon the alley. After the common pleas was reorganized and enlarged in 1852, more room was required; and in order to keep the common pleas rooms together, the third floor was given up to them; the superior and commercial courts were provided for on the second floor of a building across the alley, on Court street, the two structures being connected by a bridge from one second floor to the other. Mr. W. W. Scarborough says in his Historical Address on the Bar Library, published in 1865 : It is not to my purpose specially to describe those buildings, or to chronicle the many rich things done and said there. No one of the bar of that time could wish a more felicitous subject. But it was an evil place, - - - no place of seeds, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegrantaes. By the time the new courts had gone in operation under the constitution of 1852, the lower story of the new court house was so far completed that the county commissioners directed the courts to be removed from the packing-house to such rooms as were ready in the new building. They were small, dark, and cold; and the judges and the bar had a generally unpleasant time of it there. Finally, one of the judges had a long siege with sore eyes, as a result of his attendance in these rooms, and, by arrangement with the supreme judge and the three common pleas judges, who together constituted the district court, he secured a peremptory order to the sheriff that other quarters far the courts should be obtained. The sheriff accordingly rented from the owner, Henry Snow, a member of the bar, the large building on the northeast corner of Ninth and Walnut 'streets, which he fitted up in comfortable style for the several courts; and there they were held until the spacious and well lighted court rooms in the second story of the new court house were ready for occupation. The county commissioners, albeit the removal had been accomplished without their sanction, cheerfully indorsed the action, and ordered all bills incurred by it paid by the county. THE NEW COURT HOUSE. In 1851, county commissioners Timanus, Black, and Patton, in pursuance of previous orders, awarded the contract for a new court house, the fine building now occupied by the county officers, the courts, and the bar library, and for the jail, to Messrs. M. H. Cook & Company, for the total sum of six hundred and ninety-five thousand two hundred and fifty-three dollars and twenty-nine cents. The work was to be done according to the plans and specifications submitted by Isaiah Rogers, architect. The work was commenced, but suffered many frequent delays occasioned by change of plans and conflicting views as to style and utility. The building stands on the east side of Main street and faces west at the intersection of Main and Court streets. The length of the front is one hundred and ninety feet, extension back one hundred and ninety feet, and the height sixty feet, being three glories high above the pavement entrance. The ground rooms are occupied by the county treasurer, coroner, sheriff, and surveyor, with apartments in the rear corners alloted to the recorder and county clerk. The main entrance leads up wide iron stairs to the rotunda room on the second floor, wherein the criminal court is held. Around this central court room pass wide halls, from which direct entrances are had to the auditor's, recorder's, and clerk's offices; also to the grand jury rooms and the probate court. On the third floor are the courts of common pleas, superior court, the law library, and the stenographers' quarters. The building is of the most substantial stone and brick work, fireproof, easy of access, well lighted from the outside and centrally from a glass dome in the middle of the building. Immediately back of the court house is the county jail, facing east on Sycamore street and surrounded by a high wall. The jail is connected with the court house by. subterranean passages. Between these main buildings, shut out from public view, the executions by hanging are conducted. The estimated cost of the jail was two hundred and twenty-six thousand five hundred and twenty dollars. It, like the court house, is constructed of Dayton limestone, and was built later than the court house, being commenced in 1861. Its style of architecture is Doric and Corinthian. All the work inside the cells, etc., is made of boiler iron. The number of cells is one hundred and fifty-two. SOME OFFICIAL ANTIQUITIES. The original appointments of justices of the peace for Hamilton county were noted in chapter IX of this work. Among them was William Goforth, who entered upon his duties about one month after appointment. His 236 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. official docket, in part at least, has been preserved; and is a curiosity in its way. We have the pleasure of presenting EXTRACTS FROM JUDGE GOFORTH'S DOCKET. 1790 February 2. Took the oath of allegiance to the United States of America, and the oath of office as a justice of the peace for the county of Hamilton. February 4. Joseph Gerard took the oath of allegiance to the United States of America, and was qualified as constable. August 12. I received a visit from Esq. 'Wells and Mr. Sedam, an officer in the army, who spent most of the day with me, and towards evening, as they were going away and I was walking with them to the boat, Esq. Wells introduced a conversation with me respecting the pernicious practice of retailing spirituous liquors to the troops, and informed me that General Harmar wished me to write to Cochran and some others, in order to prevent such mischiefs as were taking place. I observed to the gentleman that we had more effectual ground to go upon, and that, by virtue of a statute of the territory, a special session might be called, and wished Esq. Wells to meet me on the fore part of the fourteenth of August for that purpose, at Cincinnati. August 14. On Saturday, fourteenth, I arrived at Cincinnati with Esq. Gano—waited upon Esq. McMillan, who was in a low state cf health, but gave me encouragement that he would be able to sit in session. I immediately despatched a messenger to inform Esq. Wells of my arrival, and another to carry the following letter to General Harmar: DEAR SIR:- It has been intimated to me that the persons sanctioned in May term last, 1o keep public houses of entertainment for the accommodation of strangers and travelers, have abused that indulgence in a way that must eventually be detrimental to the public service. by debauching the troops under your command with spirituous liquors. I have, therefore, convened a special session on the occasion, which are now met and ready to proceed on that business; and would therefore thank General Harmar to be so kind as to furnish the session with such evidence as may be an effectual clue to go into a thorough investigation of the matter; and, as the session are now convened, your compliance as speedily as may be with conveniency to yourself will greatly oblige, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant, WILLIAM GOFORTH. Hon. GENERAL HARMAR. Cincinnati, 14th August, 1790. The court being opened, present, William Goforth, William Wells, William McMillan, John S. Gano.* Captain Ferguson, Captain Pratt, Captain Strong, and several other officers appeared, agreeable to General Harmar's orders, and informed the court that, in consequence of the troops being debauched by spirituous liquors, punishment had become frequent in the army, and that the men were sickening fast, and that the sickness, in the opinion of the doctors, was in a great degree brought on by excessive hard drinking, and the officers complained of three houses which had retailed to the troops, to wit: Thomas Cochran, Matthew Winton, and Jan Scutt. These charges were supported by evidence, and Thomas Cochran and Matthew Winton, each with a security, were bound by their recognizance at the next general quarter sessions of the peace, to be holden at Cincinnati, for the county of Hamilton, on the first Tuesday in November next, in the sum of two hundred dollars, and in the meantime to refrain from retailing spirituous liquors to troops without a written permission from their officers; and John Scott in the sum of thirty dollars. The court being adjourned without day. The prompt circumstance with which, after the good old English style, the early courts were opened in this wilderness west, may be inferred from the following court report, which appeared in the Sentinel of the Northwest Territory for April 12, 1794: On Tuesday, the 11th inst., the General Court opened at this place, agreeably to adjournment from October last, before the Honorable Judge Turner. The procession from the Judge's chambers to the public ground was in the following order: Constables, with Batons. *From this quadruple and august presence, it would seem that this was a full session of the court of general quarter sessions of the peace. Sheriff and Coroner, with White Wands. Goaler. The Honorable Judge. Clerk, with a Green Bag. Judges of the Common Pleas. Justices of the Peace. Attorneys, Messengers, etc. While the stalwarts were away fighting the Indians, those pioneers who remained at home, in this county at least, entitled themselves to the pecuniary regards of the county commissioners by killing wolves, panthers and wild-cats. If a boy killed a "big wolf," the scalp, properly certified, would bring two dollars; and if a man killed one of these wild animals less than six months old, he got one dollar and twenty-five cents. If the commissioners thought a man should be engaged in abler business than killing "five-months' wolves or sucking wild-cats," they would beat him down to three scalps for a dollar. In 1797, the commissioners set apart two hundred dollars to kill wolves and wild-cats with. In the year r800 Joseph Moore killed a wolf, James Pelliciew five, John Smith, Rowland Hindle, Joseph Williams, Stephen Wood, Joseph Walker, John Vincent, Robert Terry, John Shaw, Cale Seward, William Smally, John Dearth, James Bunnel, Peter Balfell, Jesse Anthony, and Joseph Sutton, killed one wolf each; James Mills five, Max Parhagon six, James Ross two, Daniel Gibson two, Robert McKinney four, John McCormick two wolves and a wild-cat, Peter Murphy three "old" wolves, John McKain two, William Dowder two, James Dement two, Alexander Huston two, Samuel Gregory three, James Flynn eight, Benjamin Truman two, Elijah Chapman four, Emmanuel Burget and John Spencer one and a half apiece, Nathan Abbott two. The scalps were properly certified, and one hundred and sixty-six dollars and seventy-five cents paid to the slayers. There was money and some fun in the scalp trade; and there was scarcely a boy, doctor, preacher, or lawyer but could relate a personal adventure connected with them and tell how much his "scalp fetched." April 24, 1809, James Lyon, William Cullum, Enos Hurin, James Ewing and John Mahard were severally commissioned justices of the peace for the township of Cincinnati. Job Foster and Joseph Jenkins were similarly commissioned for the township of Springfield; Garah Markland and. Stephen Wood for the township of Miami and Judah Willey for the township of Colerain, all to continue in office for three years from the third day of that month. On the twenty-first of February, 1809, Griffin Yeatman was appointed and commissioned notary public in and for the township of Cincinnati, "to continue in office f0r three years, if he shall so long behave well." HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 237 CHAPTER XX. CIVIL LIST OF HAMILTON COUNTY. THE roll of honor in the public offices of civil life, for the county of Hamilton, is almost as imposing in its way as the military roster. The county has been singularly fortunate ill the eminent usefulness to which its representative citizens have attained, and, in general, in their public and private character. It has furnished to the country one President of the Federal Union, in the person of General William Henry Harrison; and another, General Rutherford B. Hayes, although not elected from Cincinnati, was once a resident of the city, as was also one chief justice of the supreme court of the United States, Hon. Salmon Portland Chase. The number of citizens of this county who have filled high positions in the President's cabinet, in the diplomatic and consular service of the country, in the service of the State otherwise than as governor, and in various capacities too numerous to make a roll of the incumbents practicable in this work, is very great indeed. We present herewith a partial, but sufficiently indicative civil list of the county. All available sources of information, and a vast deal of time, has been exhausted in the effort to make the list complete; but we must rest with the names here given. It is believed that they, with dates, so far 4 given, are noted with approximate exactness, though some errors will doubtless appear. GOVERNORS. Charles Wylling Byrd, secretary of the Northwest Territory, and acting governor of the territory after the removal of General St. Clair, near the close of 1802, until the institution of the State government, March 3, 1803; Othinal Looker, acting governor of the State of Ohio, April 14th to December 8, 1814, by reason of the resignation of Governor R. J. Meigs, to accept the office of postmaster general of the United States. Ethan Allen Brown, governor from December 14, 1818, to January 4, 1822, when he resigned to become United States senator from Ohio. Salmon P. Chase, governor from January 14, 1856, to January 9, 1860. Rutherford B. Hayes, January 13, 1868, to January 8, 1872. When Governor Hayes was re-elected, in 1875, he was a resident of Sandusky county, and resigned March 2, 1877, to accept the office of President of the United States. Edward F. Noyes, from January 8, 1872, to January 12, 1874. Thomas L. Young, March 2, 1877, to January 14, 1878, in place of Governor Hayes, resigned. Richard M. Bishop, January 14, 1878, to January 24, 1880. [Of the thirty-five governors and acting governors which the Northwest Territory and the State of Ohio have had, Hamilton county furnished seven, or just one-fifth. Jeremiah Morrow also, who was elected Governor from Warren c0unty, was originally a citizen of Hamilton county.] TERRITORIAL DELEGATE IN CONGRESS. William Henry Harrison, 1799. Resigned to accept the office of governor of the Territory of Indiana. William McMillan, 1800-01, vice Harrison, resigned. UNITED STATES SENATORS. John Smith, 1803-08.* Ethan Allen Brown, 1822-5, vice William A. Trimble, of Highland county, who died in 1822, from the effects of a wound received at Fort Erie, in the War of 1812. William Henry Harrison, 1825-8. Resigned to accept appointment as minister to Colombia. Jacob Burnet, 1828-31, vice Harrison, resigned. Salmon P. Chase, 1849-55 ; also 1861, but resigned to take a place in the cabinet as Secretary of the United States treasury. George E. Pugh, 185'5-61. Stanley Matthews, 1877-9, vice John Sherman, resigned to take the portfolio of secretary of the treasury. George H. Pendleton, 1879-. REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. William Henry Harrison, 1816-17, vice John McLean, of Warren, resigned; also 1817-19, James W. Gazlay, 1823-5; James Findlay, 1825-33; Robert T. Lytle, 1833-5, resigned October 16, 1834, and reelected November 8, 1834; Bellamy Storer, 1835-7; Alexander Duncan, 1837-41, and 1843-5; Nathaniel G. Pendleton, 1841-3; James J. Faran, 1845-9; David T. Disney, 1849-55; 'Timothy C. Day, Scott Harrison, 1855-57; George H. Pendleton, 1857-65; William S. Groesbeck, 1857-9; John A. Gurley, 1859-63; Alexander Long, 1863-5 ; Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Eggleston, 1865-9; Peter W. Strader, 2869-71; Job E. Stevenson, 1869-73; Aaron F. Perry, 1871-2, resigned; Ozro J. Dodds, 1872-3, vice Perry; Milton Sayler, Henry B. Banning, 1873-9; Benjamin Butterworth, Thomas L. Young, 1879-83. MEMBERS OF THE FIRST STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS. The First Convention, 1802.-Charles W. Boyd, John W. Browne, Francis Dunlavy, William Goforth, John Kitchel, Jeremiah Morrow; John Paul, John Reily, John Smith, John Wilson. The Second Convention, 1851.-William S. Groesbeck, George W. Holmes, J. Daniel Jones, Adam N. Riddle, Charles Reemelin, Edward C. Roll, John Strubel. The Third Convention, 1873.-Rufus King, Richard M. Bishop, Samuel F. Hunt, Charles W. Rowland, Elias * By resolution of the Ohio legislature, passed December 19, 1806, Mr. Smith was requested to resign his seat in the Senate, on the ground that he did not attend to his duties as senator. Tucker's Life of Jefferson has the following note upon the subject : "John Smith, a senator from Ohio, was one of those involved in the conspiracy of Aaron Burr, and was indicted by a grand jury at Richmond. As soon as he attended the Senate, on the twenty-seventh of November, 5807, a committee was appointed to inquire whether he should be permitted to hold his seat in that body. On the thirty-first of December, the committee having made a report against him, he was allowed to defend himself against the report there adduced by counsel and by adducing testimony, both oral and written. After the evidence was heard, and several postponements of the investigation at his instance, the question of his expulsion was taken on the ninth of April, when, there being nineteen yeas and ten nays, and consequently not two-thirds for his expulsion, it was determined in the negative. He kept his seat, and voted during the remainder of the session, and on returning to Ohio resigned his seat." Return J. Meigs, of Marietta, was then elected to fill the vacancy. In 1847, a book entitled "The Victim of Intrigue--A Tale of Burr's Conspiracy," by James W. Taylor, to vindicate the reputation of Senator Smith from the charge of implication in the conspiracy, was published in Cincinnati by Roberts & Jones. 238 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. H. Johnson, Julius Freiberg, George Hoadly, John W. Herron, Joseph P. Carberry, John L. Miner (in place of Josiah L. Keck, resigned). MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF THE TERRITORY. Jacob Burnet, James Findlay. MEMBERS OF THE TERRITORIAL ASSEMBLY. 1799-1800.—William McMillan, William Goforth, John Smith, John Ludlow, Aaron Caldwell, Isaac Martin, Robert Benham; 1801-2.John Ludlow, John Smith, Francis Dunlavy, Moses Miller, Jeremiah Morrow, Daniel Reeder, Jacob White. SPEAKERS IN THE LEGISLATIVE HOUSES; Senate.—Daniel Symmes, Second and Third general assemblies; Samuel R. Miller, Twenty-ninth and Thirty-first; David T. Disney, Thirty-second and Thirty-third, and at the extra session of 1835; James J. Faran, Fortieth and Forty-first. (After the adoption of the constitution of 1852, the lieutenant governor presided over the senate.) House of Representatives.—Micajah T. Williams, Twenty-third general assembly; David T. Disney, Thirty-first; James J. Faran, Thirty-seventh; A. J. Cunningham, Fifty-ninth. STATE SENATORS. First general assembly—Francis Dunlavy, Jeremiah Morrow, John Paul, Daniel Symmes; Second—John Bigger, W. C. Schenck, Daniel Symmes, William Ward; Third — Daniel Symmes; Fourth—Cornelius Snider, Stephen Wood; Fifth—Stephen Wood, William McFarland; Sixth—Stephen Wood, Hezekiah Price (to fill unexpired term of John Taggart, resigned); Seventh and Eighth—Stephen Wood, Hezekiah Price; Ninth—Othniel Looker, Aaron Goforth (to fill the place of Alexander Campbell, resigned); Tenth—Elnathan Stone (to fill vacancy caused by death of Aaron Goforth), Othniel Looker; Eleventh—John Jones, Francis McCormick; Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth—John Jones, Oth niel Looker ; Fifteenth — Othniel Looker, Ephraim Brown; Sixteenth and Seventeenth—Ephraim Brown, George P. Torrence; Eighteenth and Nineteenth--Ephraim Brown, William H. Harrison; Twentieth, Twenty-first, and Twenty-second--Ephraim Brown, Benjamin M. Piatt; Twenty-third—Clayton Webb, Nathaniel Guilford (to fill vacancy of Benjamin M. Piatt, resigned); Twenty-fourth—Clayton Webb, Nathaniel G. Pendleton; Twenty-fifth—N. G. Pendleton, Stephen Wood; Twenty-sixth—Stephen Wood, Andrew Mack; Twenty-seventh, Andrew Mack, Jonathan Cilley ; Twenty-eighth—Jonathan Cilley, Ethan. A. Brown; Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth—Jonathan Cilley, Samuel R. Miller; Thirty-first—Samuel R. Miller, Alexander Duncan; Thirty-second — Alexander Duncan, David T. Disney; Thirty-third and extra session—David T. Disney, Henry Morse; Thirtyfourth—Henry Morse, William Price; Thirty-fifth —John H. Garrard, William Price; Thirty-sixth—John H. Garrard, William Oliver; Thirty-seventh — William Oliver, George W. Holmes; Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, and Fortieth—George W. Holmes, James J. Far-an; Forty-first—James J. Faran, Oliver Jones; Forty- second and Forty-third—Oliver Jones, David T. Disney; Forty-fourth—Oliver Jones, J. H. Ewing; Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth—J. H. Ewing, Charles C. Reemelin; Fortyseventh—J. H. Ewing, John H. Dubbs; Forty-eighth—John H. Dubbs, William F. Johnson (seat of latter contested and given to Lewis Broadwell); Forty-ninth—Lewis Broadwell, William S. Hatch; Fiftieth—Edwin L. Armstrong, Adam N. Riddle, John L. Vattier; Fiftyfirst—George H. Pendleton, John Schiff, William F. Converse; Fifty-second--Stanley Matthews, William F. Converse, George W. Holmes; Fifty-third — William S. Hatch, A. B. Langdon, Charles Thomas; Fifty-fourth—Thomas M. Key, E. A. Ferguson, George W. Holmes; Fifty-fifth—Benjamin Eggleston, Thomas H. Whetstone, William S. Groesbeck; Fifty-sixth—Benjamin Eggleston, Thomas H. Whetstone, Thomas H. Weasnor (at the adjourned session, Joshua H. Bates took the seat of Mr. Weasnor, resigned); Fifty-seventh—Warner M. Bateman, S. L. Hayden, G. B. Hollister; Fifty-eighth—Thomas R. Biggs, Henry Kessler, John F. Torrence; Fifty-ninth--Thomas H. Yeatman, Michael Goepper, Samuel F. Hunt, Nathaniel Lord, jr.; Sixtieth—John Schiff, Joseph F. Wright, Thomas L. Young; Sixty-first—William Pitt Wallace, Vachel Worthington, Stephen H. Burton; Sixty second—Joshua H. Bates, Henry Kessler, E. F. Kleinschmidt, E. P. Ransom; Sixty-third—James M. Armstrong, William T. Forrest, Henry C. Lord, Theodore Marsh; Sixty-fourth — Benjamin Eggleston, Charles Fleischmann, Josiah Kirby. REPRESENTATIVES. First General Assembly—Thomas Brown, John Bigger, James Dunn, William James, Robert McClure, William Maxwell, Thomas McFarlan; Second — Samuel Dick, William Dodds, Abner Garrard, Ephraim Kibby, Ichabod Miller, John Wallace, Stephen Wood, William McClure; Third—Stephen Wood, Hezekiah Price, Judah Willey; Fourth — John Jones, Hezekiah Price, Adrian Hagerman; Fifth — Ethan Stone, John Jones, Hezekiah Price; Sixth—Othniel Looker, Zebulon Foster, John Jones; Seventh--Othniel Looker, William Perry, James Clark; Eighth — Othniel Looker, James Clark, William Ludlow; Ninth-—John Jones, Peter Bell, Samuel McHenry; Tenth—Peter Bell, John Jones, Ogden Ross; Eleventh—Peter Bell, Ogden Ross, William Corry; Twelfth—Zebulon Foster, Peter Bell, Ephraim Brown; Thirteenth and Fourteenth—Jacob Burnet, Ephraim Brown, Peter Bell; Fifteenth—Arthur Henry, Daniel Hosbrook, Benjamin M. Piatt; Sixteenth and Seventeenth—Andrew Mack, Samuel McHenry, Peter Bell ; Eighteenth—Peter Bell, Samuel McHenry, William Corry; Nineteenth—Zaccheus Biggs, Clayton Webb, Micajah T. Williams; Twentieth—Clayt0n Webb, Micajah T. Williams, John T. Short, Samuel R. Miller ; Twentyfirst—Benjamin Ayres, William Disney, Samuel Rees, Micajah T. Williams; Twenty-second---Samuel Rees, William Disney, Daniel Hosbrook, Micajah T. Williams; Twenty-third—Micajah T. Williams, William Corry, Samuel McHenry; Twenty-fourth — Samuel McHenry, Charles G. Swain, Elijah Hayward; Twenty-fifth--Elijah HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 239 Hayward, Charles G. Swain, William Corry; Twentysixth---Elijah Hayward, Peter Bell, John C. Short; Twenty-seventh--Elijah Hayward, Robert T. Lytle, Alexander Duncan; Twenty-eighth—David 'I'. Disney, Samuel Rees, George Graham, jr., Alexander Duncan; Twenty-ninth—Daniel Stone, Samuel Rees, Leonard Armstrong; Thirtieth,---Alexander Duncan, David T. Disney, Daniel H. Hawes, John Burgoyne; Thirty-first ---D. T. Disney, Samuel Bond, Israel Brown, Adam N. Riddle; Thirty-second --Adam N. Riddle, Samuel Bond, William C. Anderson, John Burgoyne; Thirty-third—William C. Anderson, Samuel Bond, John C. Short, Elijah Hotchkiss; Extra session, 1835—Samuel Bond, Elisha Hotchkiss, John C. Sh0rt; Thirty-fourth—William Conclin, James J. Faran, Andrew Porter, Daniel Hosbrook; Thirty-fifth—Israel Brown, George W. Holmes, James Armstrong; Thirty-sixth—James J. Faran, James Given, A. F. Carpenter; Thirty seventh--James J. Faran, Israel Brown; Thirty-eighth—Robert Moore, Thomas J. Henderson; Thirty-ninth—A. F. Carpenter, John M. Cochran, John Reeves; Fortieth—Robert Moore, William Hatch, James H. Ewing, Oliver Jones; Forty-first—Israel Brown, Archibald Gordon, William Wakefield ; Forty-second—James H. Ewing, William Wakefield, John Snyder; Forty-third—Israel Brown, Charles Reemelin, James H. Ewing, Jacob Flinn; Forty-fourth—John McMakin, Chides Reemelin, Thomas J. Gallagher, Jacob Flinn; Forty-fifth—William S._ Smith, William F. Converse, John McMakin, John B. Warren; Forty-sixth--Edward L. Armstrong, William F. Converse, William S. Smith, John B. Warren; Forty-seventh —George E. Pugh, Alexander N. Pierce, Henry Roedter, Alexander Long, Edward L. Armstrong; Forty-eighth —Alexander Long, John Bennett, Henry Roedter, George E. Pugh, Andrew Purdon; Forty-ninth—Peter Zinn, James Iliff, John Bennett, John Schiff, Andrew Davidson; Fiftieth—William H. Lytle, Benjamin T. Dale, James Shuble, Thomas F. Eckhart, John B. Staetler, Andrew Davidson, Richard H. Stone, Oliver Brown. At the adjourned session, Henry Brachman, vice Jacob Struble, deceased; Fifty-first H. B. Brown, Joseph E. Egley, Nelson Cross, John B. Krauth, E. Bassett Lang-don, John N. Ridgway, George Robinson, Thomas Wright; Fifty-second--Joseph E. Egley, E. B. Langdon, William M. Corry, James P. Holmes, George C. Robin son, Charles Thomas, Ebenezer T. Turpin, John P. Slough; Fifty-third—George C. Robinson, Patrick Rodgers, Hunter Brooke, Aaron C. Bagley, Isaac C. Collins, Joseph J. Bobmeyer, James Saffin, Joseph T. Wright; Fifty-fourth —William J. Flagg, John Schiff, Joseph Jonas, Patrick Rodgers, Joseph F. Wright, William Jones, William Jessup; Fifty-fifth—Peter Zinn, George Keck, William Stanton, Milton Sayler, William J. Flagg, James Huston, Amzi McGill, Henry Brachman, Theodore Marsh; Fifty-sixth ,— William Stanton, George Keck, Henry Brachman, Amzi McGill, James Huston, J. M. Cochran, S. L. Hayden, John K. Green, Josiah Kirby ; (adjourned session–N. P. Nixon took the place of George Koch, deceased); Fifty-seventh—Henry Kessler, William Stanton, N. P. Nixon, J. M. Cochran, Gustav Tafel, M. P. Gaddis, Thomas L. Young, F. H. Oberkline, George B. Wright (at the adjourned session, Griffith M. Bunce and Charles E. Cist, to take the places, respectively, of Maxwell P. Gaddis and George B. Wright, resigned); Fifty-eighth—Henry C. Borden, Robert S. Coleman, George Cist, Henry G. Kennett, Frederick W. Moore, William H. Scott, George W. Skaats, Jacob Wolf, Henry Warnkin; Fifty-ninth—Henry M. Bates, Thomas A. Corcoran, A. J. Cunningham, Ozro J. Dodds, Thomas J. Haldeman, James H. Hambleton, George H. Hill, John K. Love; Augustus Ward, Ernest F. Kleinschmidt; Sixtieth -- John M. Brunswick, John M. Cochran, Thomas A. Corcoran, Robert Creighton, John J. Fallis, Thomas J. Haldeman, John A. Shank, Robert 0. Strong, Charles P. Taft, John M. Wilson (at the adjourned session H. F. Brashear and M. W. Olin, vice. respectively, Robert Creighton and R. 0. Strong, resigned); Sixty-first—Chapman C. Archer, George W. Boyce, John J. Geghan, James S. Gordon, Paul A. J. Huston, Edwin W. Miller, Elbert P. Newell, John M. Patterson, Thomas E. Sater, James L. Haven; Sixty-second—S. W. Bard, L. Burckhardt, Gabriel Dirr, H. P. Goebel, John E. Naylor, George W. Skaats, Peter F. Stryker, R. M. White, W. P. Wiltsee, John W. Zumstein; Sixty-third—Lloyd S. Bunn, Milo G. Dodds, William Jessup, Frederick Klimper, Benjamin F. Lovelace, William B. Loder, Joseph G. Sexton, John Sullivan, Irwin B. Wright; Sixty-fourth—Lewis M. Dayton, Charles C. Davis, Joseph E. Heart, William H. Hill, Frank Kirchner, D. Gano Ray, Peter Stryker, Lewis Voight, George W. Williams. JUDGES OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS AND OF THE GENERAL QUARTER SESSIONS OF THE PEACE. William McMillan, William Goforth, William Wells, (appointed by Governor St. Clair, January 4, 1790, under the territorial organization). The first justices of the peace were appointed for the county at large, and sat on the bench with the justices of the quarter sessions. The original appointments of 1790 were John S. Gano and Benjamin Stites, of Columbia; Jacob Tapping, and George McCullum. Others were added from time to time, of whom we have only the name of Henry Weaver, of Tucker's Station, appointed by Governor St. Clair in 1794, and of those whose names appear upon the records of the court from 1790 to 1802, as follows: We give only the year of their first appearance on the record: 1792, Aaron Caldwell; 1793, John Armstrong, James Barrett; 1794, John Mercer; 1795, Stephen Wood, John S. Wallace; 1796, Thomas Gibson, John Beasly; 1797; NathanEllis; 1799, Ignatius Brown, William Bunn, Ichabod B. Miller, Asa Kitchell, Jacob White, Alexander Martin; 1800, Olear Todd; 1801, James Findlay, Joseph Prince, Emanuel Vantrees, Cornelius Sedam; 1802, William Armstrong, Samuel Robb. JUDGES OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. 1803, Thomas Gibson, presiding- judge, three associates; 1804, Michael Jones, presiding judge; 1805, Francis Dunlavy, presiding judge for fourteen years; associ- 240 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. ates, James Silvers (to at least 1819), Luke Foster (1803- 10). [Mr. Dunlavy was the first judge on the first circuit, which embraced Hamilton, Butler, Warren, Clermont, Montgomery, and Greene, and afterwards Clinton and Preble counties.] 1804-6, Matthew Malmo, associate; 1807, William McFarland, associate; 1808-10, John Matson, associate; 1810-16, Stephen Wood, associate; 1811, James Clark, associate; 1817, Othniel Looker, ass0ciate; 1818, William Burke, associate; 1819, George P. Torrence, presiding judge until 1832; John C. Short; 1820-22, Othniel Looker, James Silvers, Peter Bell; 1823-4, Samuel R. Miller; 1825-6, Patrick Smith, Benjamin Piatt; 1825-9, Peter Bell, Patrick Smith, John Jolley. [It is quite certain that one or more of these gentlemen held the office before and after these dates; but we only know that they were holding in these years.] 1829-31, Enos Woodruff. [A similar remark is true of Mr. Woodruff, as also of Mr. Rees and many others named below in nearly all cases, probably where but a single year is given in connection with a name. If the dates of their several terms could be completed, many of the gaps observable in the list would doubtless be filled.] 1831, Samuel Rees; 1831-6, Thomas Henderson; 1834, John M. Goodenow; 1834-6, John Burgoyne, Jonathan Cilley; 1836, David K. Este; 1839-40, N. C. Read, Joseph Brown, Richard Ayres; 1839-45, Henry Morse; 1845-6, William B. Caldwell; 1845, Israel Brown; 1845-51, Robert Moore; 1846-51, James Saffin; 1846-51, John A. Wiseman; 1850, Samuel M. Hart; 1851, Robert B. Martin. [Under the New Constitution.] 1852, Stanley Matthews, Donn Piatt; 1852-61, A. G. W. Carter; 1858-67, M. W. Oliver; 1858-61, Patrick Mallon; 1860-1, Isaac C. Collins; 1861-7, Nicholas Headington; 1861-77, Charles C. Mt rdock; 1867-72, Joseph Cox (also 1877, -, in place of Judson Harmon); 1867-77, Manning F. Force; 1872,-, Jacob Burnet, William L. Avery; 1877--8, Judson Harmon; 1877, -, Nicholas Longworth, Robert A. Johnston; 1878; -, Fayette Smith, Frederick W. Moore. [The judges of the superior and other local courts are city officers, and will be named in the civil list of Cincinnati.] Under the new constitution and laws of 1852, all probate business was set over to the probate court, then organized; and all books and papers pertaining thereto were transferred to the care and keeping of the new court. The probate judge is, ex officio, clerk of the court, and appoints all deputies and clerks in his department. There are at present three deputies, six recorders, a messenger, and a janitor in the office. The chief deputy, Daniel Herider, esq., has been connected with the probate court almost continuously from the time of its organization-twenty-eight years. All books and papers in the probate office are vigilantly cared for; and the records are almost perfect, back to the beginning of the "quarter sessions" court in 1790-91. The following is a complete list of the judges: PROBATE JUDGES. 1852-5, John B. Warren; 1855-8, John Burgoyne, sr.; 1858-61, George H. Hilton; 1861-4, Alexander Paddack; 1864-7, Edward Woodruff; 1867-70, Edward F. Noyes; 1870-3, George F. Hoeffer; 1873-4, William Tilden (died in office, and Albert Paddack appointed); 1873-80, Isaac B. Matson. CLERK OF THE COURTS. This office was appointive till the constitution of 1852. 1790-2, Israel Ludlow, prothonotary of the court of common pleas and clerk of the general quarter sessions of the peace; 1792-3, Samuel Swan; 1793-1818, John S. Gano; 1819-1835, Daniel Gano; 1836, William H. Harrison; 1841, J. W. Piatt; 1845, James McMasters; 1846-51, Edward C. Roll; 1854, J. M. McMasters; 1858-61, Richard H. Stone. COUNTY CLERKS. 1861-4, Charles E. Cist; 1864-7, Benjamin J. Horton; 1867-70, T. Bishop Disney; 1870-4, H. H. Tinker; 1874-7, William M. Trevor ; 1877-80, Lewis G. Bernard; 1880-, Samuel W. Ramp. PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS. This office was also appointive till the year 1833. 792-3, Abner Dunn; 1793-4, Ezra Freeman; 1795, Isaac Danville; 1796, John S. Wills; 1797, Arthur St. Clair, jr.; 1798, George W. Burnett; 1799-1807, A. St. Clair, jr.; 1809--10, Ethan A. Brown; Oh 1, Elias Glover; 1812-29, David Wade; 1831-4, Daniel Van Matre; 1836-, N. C. Read; 1841, J. T. Crapsey; 1845-6, Charles H. Brough; 1858, T. A. O'Connor; 1859-63, Theophilus Gaines; 1864-5, E. B. Hutcheson; 1866-7, William H. Kerr; 1867-9, H. W. Thomson; 1869-70, C. H. Blackburn; 1871-3, William M. Ampt; 1873-4, Robert O. Strong; 1875, Clinton W. Gerard; 1876-8, Charles W. Baker; 1879-80, Lewis W. Erwin, Samuel H. Drew; 1881, Miller Outcalt. SHERIFFS. 1790-2, John Brown, gent ; 1791, Isaac Martin (deputy); 1793-4, John Ludlow (R. Wheelan and Martin, deputies); 1795-6, Daniel Symmes; 1797-1804, James Smith. [Also collector of the government revenue, universally known as "Sheriff Smith"] ; 1805-6, William McFarland; 1806-10, Aaron Goforth; 1811-12, Joseph Jenkinson; 1813-14, John S. Wallace ; 1816, Daniel Hosbrook; 1817, William Ruffin; also 1823-5; 1818-22, Richard. Ayres; 1829, John C. Avery; also 1839-42; 1831-4, Ebenezer Hulse; 1836-8, Samuel Fosdick; 1843-6, John. H. Gerard; 1847-8, Thomas S. Weaver; 1849-50, Joseph Cooper; 1851-2, Charles W. Smith; 1853-4, Benjamin Higdon; 1855-6, Gassaway Brashear; 1857-8, Richard Matthews; 1859-60, Henry Kessler; 1861-2, John B. Armstrong; 1863-4, William Long ; 1865-6, Richard Calvin; 1867-8, Henry S. Schotman; 1869-70, Daniel Weber; 1871-2, Joseph E. Heart; 1873-4, George W. Zeigler; 1875-6, Fred Springmeier; 1878-8, William Pitt Wallace; 1879-80, George Weber ; 1881, Samuel Bailey, jr. AUDITORS. This office was created by act of the legislature at the session of 1820-1. It was elective annually until 1824. 1825, John T. Jones; 1829-36, John S. Wallace; 1841-5, Hugh McDougal; 1846, John S. Thorp; 1849-50, A. W. Armstrong; 1858-9, J. Dan. Jones; 1859-61, Howard HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 241 Matthews; 1861-3, William P. Ward; 1863-5, John E. Bell; 1866-7, S. W. Seibern; 1867-9, August Willich; 1869-71, George S. LaRue; 1871-3, W. M. Yeatman; 1873-7, Joseph B. Humphreys; 1877- , William S. Capeller. TREASURERS. This officer, under the first State constitution, was appointed, at first by the associate judges of the court of common pleas, and afterwards by the county commissioners. After 1827 he was elected biennially. 1795-7, Stephen Wood; 1798-1806, Jacob Burnet; 1807, James Ewing; 1809, John H. Armstrong; 1810-14, Joshua L. Wilson; 1815-19, David Wade; 1825-31, Richard Fosdick; 1834-6, George P. Torrence; 1840-1, Samuel Martin; 1845-6, George W. Holmes; 1849-50, Henry Debolt 1857-8, R. Hazlewood; 1859-60, George Fries; 1861-2, E. D. Cruikshank; 1863-4, Oliver H. Geffroy;- 1865-7, 0. W. Nixon; 1867, A. C. Parry; 18678, Miles Greenwood; 1869-70, John Sebastian; 1871-2, Frederick J. Mayer; 1873-4, John Gerke; 1875-6, Ross H. Fenton; 1877-8, James S. Wise; 1879-80, John G. Fratz; 1881, L. A. Staley. RECORDERS. This officer was appointed by the judges of the court of common pleas until 1831. Since that time he has been elected by the people. 1790, fames Burnet (register of deeds); 1802, Oliver Spencer (also 1804); 1803, John W. Brown; 1819, Thomas Henderson ; 1825-41, Griffin Yeatman; 1845, Thomas Heckewelder; 1850, William Horn; 1858, John W. Carlton; 1859-62, Henry Ives; 1863-66, F. H. Oehlman; 1866-68, John E. Rees; 1869-70, Thomas L. Young; 1871-74, George J. Leininger; 1875-79, Frank Bruner; 1880, George 0. Deckebaugh. ASSESSORS. This office was in existence for about twenty years, from 1825. 1829-34, Jonathan Pancoast; 1835-36, Jonah Martin; 1841-42, H. R. Bywaters; 1845-46, Robert Winter. COLLECTOR. This office existed until 1827, when it was abolished and the treasurer was charged with its duties. We find the name of but one incumbent of the office, Thomas Clark, in and about the year 1819. SURVEYORS. The surveyor was appointed by the court of common pleas until 1831. 1802, Benjamin Van Cleve; 1806, Thomas Henderson; 1817-20, Joel Wright; Daniel Hosbrook; 1825-32, Eli Elder; 1833-36, Garrett Vleit; 1836, Mahlon Brown; 1841-51, John L. Hosbrook; 1851-60, James B. Bell; 1861-66, Joseph W. Gilbert; 1870-72, Jacob Ammen; 1873-75, Samuel P. Bowles; 1876-79, George Haire; 1879-80, John H. Welsch; 1880, Peter N. Jonte. CORONERS. 1792, Robert Bunten; 1794-9, George Gordon; 1800, William Austin; 1801-2, William C. Schenck; 1803-4, Joseph Carpenter; 1805-6, Henry Ewing; 1807-10, William Woodward; 1811-19, William Butler; 1820-1, Lot Cooper; 1823-5, David Jackson; 1840, Lewis Day; 1841-5, Charles Hales; 1849-50, Henry Lowry; 1853-4,- Henry Noble (also 1857-8); 1855-6, S. G. Menzies;- 1859-60, M. T. Carey (also 1865-6); 1861-2, F. L. Emmert (also 1867-68); 1863-4, George A. Doherty; 186970, Charles Betscher; 1871-2, J. W. Underhill; 1873-76, P. F. Maley; 1877-8, Ferdinand Stich; 1879-80, Anthony L. Carrick; 1881, John H. Rendigs. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. 1796-7, William McMillan; 1796-7, Robert Wheelan; 1796-9, Robert Benham; 1797-1800, Joseph Prince; 1798-1801, David E. Wade; 1799-1802, Ichabod B. Miller; 1800-5, William Ruffin; 1801, John Bailey; 1802-5, William Ludlow; 1803, John R. Gaston; 1804-7, Zebulon Foster; 1805-8, John Matsen; 1805-12, Jacob Felter; 1806-11, John Riddle; 1811-18, Ezekiel Hall; 1811-19, Clayton Webb; 1812-18, John Elliott; 1818-20, Adam Moore; 1818-25, Isaac Jackson; 1819-25, Richard Fosdick; 1825, Israel Brown; 1829, William Benson, Abraham Ferris; 1829-31, William Snodgrass; 1831, William Wakefield, Samuel Borden; 1834, Garrett Vanosdal (also 1846); 1834, Oliver Jones; 1834-41, Thomas Cooper; 1836-44, E. D. Williams (also 1846); 1836-9, William B. Dodson; 1840-4, Pressly. Kemper; 1840, B. F. Looker; 1841-4, Jonathan Larrison; 1846, Henry Deb0lt; 1850, Levi Buckingham, R. K. Cox; 1850-2, John Patton; 1852, John Black, Jesse Timanus; 1858, John H. Gerard; 1858-9, John McMakin; 1860-5, John N. Ridgeway; 1859-61, Michael Goepper; 1861-3, Leonard Swartz; 1862 4, Frederick J. Mayer; 1864, W. L. Converse; 1865-7, Casper Geist; 1865-6, J. W. Fitzgerald; 1866-8, Amzi McGill; 1867-9, John Ferris; 1868-70, C. V. Bechmann; 1869-71, Robert Simms; 1870-2, William Holmes; 1871-3, John Martin; 1872-5, Joseph E. Sater; 1873-5, Charles Huff; 1874-6, Jacob Baumgardner; 1876-8, Aaron Hopper; 1877-9, Herman Fricke; 1878-80, Joseph M. Reardon; 1879, John Zumstein; 1880, B. F. Hopkins; 1881, Martin Harrell. COMMISSIONERS' CLERKS. No attempt has been made to bring this list down from 1820. 1796-7, Tabor Washburne; 1798, John Kean; 1799- 1800, Reuben Reynolds; 1801-4, Aaron Goforth; 1804-7, John S. Gano; 1807-11, Thomas Rawlins; 1812, Jeremiah Reeder; 1813, David Wade; 1814-15, C. Webb; 1816-19, Micajah. T. Williams; 1820, Aquila Wheeler 31 TOWNSHIPSAND VILLAGES OF HAMILTON COUNTY. ANDERSON. BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY. Anderson, the southeastern most township in Hamilton county, and the only one of this county lying east of the Little Miami river—that is, in the Virginia Military district—is bounded on the south by the Ohio river, on the west by the Ohio and the Little Miami, on the north by the latter stream, which divides it from Columbia and Spencer townships, and on the east by a line drawn from the southeast corner of fractional section numbered twenty-two, in Columbia township, or from the mouth of the East fork of the Little Miami, south of its intersection with the Ohio at the mouth of Eight Mile creek. By this line it is separated from Clermont county on the east, and is the only township of Hamilton which immediately adjoins Clermont, without the intervention of a stream. The greatest length of the township, about nine miles, is on this line, but the length of that portion of the Little Miami that touches Anderson township is very nearly the same. The other sides, being bounded altogether by the Ohio and Little Miami rivers, are exceedingly irregular in their boundary lines; but the township, varying from the breadth of a few yards at its northeastern most and southeastern most points to its greatest breadth of six and a half miles on an east and west line from the mouth of the Little Miami, has an average width of five miles. Its area is equivalent to nearly thirty-seven sections, or twenty-three thousand five hundred and seventy-one acres. A large part of this tract, on the west and north sides of the township, lies in the broad, flat, and fertile valley of the Little Miami, upon which 'the site of Newton lies, and near which, in a commanding position, Mount Washington sits upon the hills, easily overlooking a broad view of the valley. The general level of the hilltops in this township is high, Mount Washington being five hundred feet above low-water mark in the Ohio, and other heights almost as lofty. One or two points in this township are said to be the loftiest in Hamilton county. The ancient plateau of this region has been deeply cut through, n0t only by the greater waters of the Ohio and the Little Miami, but by several small streams, prominent among which is Clough creek, with its two principal headwaters or branches taking their rise, respectively, in the eastern and southern parts of the township, uniting east of Mount Washington, and flowing thence in a general northwesterly and westerly course to the Little Miami below Union bridge. Its valley and the bordering hills are exceedingly picturesque, and comprise many valuable farms and fine farm buildings. Five Mile creek is another stream of some local importance in the south of the township, likewise formed by the junction of two headwaters, one rising a little northeast of Cherry Grove, near the county line, and the other just south of the Ohio turnpike, a mile and a half west of the same place. They unite their waters—like Clough creek, also receiving a very small stream near their point of junction —about a mile north of the Ohio, and after a westerly and southwesterly course of some two miles, reach that river about midway of its course along the southern border of the township. Three or four minor tributaries of the Ohio also aid in breaking down the hills on this side of the township, the highlands here, as in Columbia and all the river districts of Cincinnati east of the old city, crowding closely upon the river, and leaving scarcely room enough for the wagon-road long existing there and the track of the projected Ohio River & Virginia railway. A few rods above the mouth of the Little Miami a petty stream sets into that river, bearing the name of the noted creek that ploughs through the western hills of Cincinnati —Lick run. Three other brooks, more or less ramified toward their sources—two of them bearing the names, respectively, of Little Dry run and Big Dry run—feed the Little Miami at various points in the township above Clough creek; and channels or mill-races of some size, in two instances, connect points on the river northeast, northwest, and north of Newtown, thus virtually forming islands of two and a half to three miles in circumference, which nearly adjpin each other just opposite Plainville, and about a mile due north from Newtown. It is a remark- - 242 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 243 ably well-watered township, pleasingly diversified in its surface, and valuable in the capabilities of its soil and other products. Besides the natural features of Anderson which vary its topography, its broad surface is further intersected by the Batavia turnpike in the northern part, which takes Union bridge and Newtown on its way; the Richmond turnpike on the extreme south, passing California and hugging the river closely until its exit from the county, shortly after which it trends rapidly northeastward; the Salem and Ohio turnpikes, also in the southern half of the township, the latter passing through Mount Washington and Cherry Gr0ve; a number of other good wagon roads; the Cincinnati & Eastern narrow-guage railway, along the valley of the Little Miami, by Newtown, in the north part; with a branch from a point a mile and a half east of Newtown, running up the valley of Dry run, to a point due east of Mount Washington, where it leaves the township; and the Cincinnati & Portsmouth narrow-guage railway, cutting the southern and eastern parts in an exceedingly tortuous line, as compelled by the broken country, from the crossing of the Little Miami southwest of Mount Washington to the departure from the township and county considerably to the northward, near Mount Carmel, in Clermont county. As well as the nature and demands of the township will permit at present, it is served with means of transportation; but other railroads. have been projected, as that already mentioned along the Ohio. ANCIENT WORKS. The observations of an intelligent man, who saw the mounds and other ancient remains in this region in the early day, must ever be of interest. The following re,, marks were made by the Rev. Philip Gatch, who came to Anderson township in 1798, in his autobiographic sketch: This beautiful land has been a hidden space to civilization for many ages. There are traces in many parts of ancient fortifications and other works which could not have been made by the Indians, but by a people much further advanced in civilization than they now are. The growths of timber upon these works, consisting of mounds and elevated embankments, seem to be the same as on the ground generally, which shows their great antiquity. What people or race constructed these works is not now known, and probably never will be. Some think these formations were before the flood ; but this notion, it appears to me, is refuted by timbers being found in the earth to a great, depth. I saw timber that was found on digging a well on high land ; also by salt water shells being found in high places. Nature is 'a grand laboratory, and it is ever in progress— imperceptible it may be to the eye, but its doings are marked by centuries. The process of change in the natural world is ever in progress. Much later, but still so far in the past as to lend some special interest to the narrative—in Mr.. E. D. Mansfield's Monthly Chronicle for August, 1839—one "T. C. D." (said to have been Timothy C. Day) gave an interesting description of the works as they were to be seen in his time: In perhaps no portion of this State are these gigantic vestiges of and unknown Ad populous age so abundant as in the alluvial bottoms and adjacent neighborhoods of the Miami. They are to be met with at almost every step, and in groups so numerous that the eye can scarcely embrace their number. Mounds of every description, size, and shape, circular forts, embankments miles in length, and of great size, point out the immense labors and workmanship of a mysterions people. Allowing for the probable absence of the requisite implements for their erection, and the washing of their friable soil for centuries, they may be truly reckoned as successful rivals to the greatest of their prototypes of the sandy plains of Egypt. Some are even so stupendous that, were it not for the evident signs of human mechanism that mark their construction, they might claim the impress of a mightier hand. About a mile east of Newtown, in this county, on the farm of Levi Martin, is a mound of the largest class. Its shape is an oval oblong, rounding to its apex with the most perfect accuracy. It is situated on a shelf of land about thirty feet above the alluvial bottom of the Little Miami. The soil around it is gravelly, but the material of its structure, as usual, is a brick clay. Near its summit is a large beech, probably two feet in diameter, and its sides are covered with a thick growth of underwood, with several large forest trees. It is within three hundred yards of a high range of hills, and could not, therefore, have been erected as a watch-tower or a place of defence. It has never been opened, but the most probable conjecture is that it is the monument of some mighty chief, who lies interred in its centre. The plain around its base is perfectly level, except within twenty feet of what was probably its original circumference; the washing of rains has filled it up to a considerable height. The dimensions of the mound, from actual ad-measurement, are as follows: Circumference at the base - 600 feet. Width at the base - 150 feet. Length at the base - 250 feet. Perpendicular height - 40 feet. covering an area of about an acre. Last summer the workmen, in procuring gravel for the Batavia turnpike, immediately in the rear of Newtown, in the bank of a small stream called Jennie's run, disinterred an immense number of human skeletons. This ancient burial ground is on a gravelly point that juts out from the bank into the run, forming an acute bend. The graves are not, on an average, more than two feet in depth, though probably they were originally a great deal deeper, as the ridge has evidently washed to a considerable degree. As far as caved, the point is a solid body of coarse gravel till within about two and a half feet of the surface, which is composed of sand and loam. The skeletons lay in the sandy stratum, between the gravel and earth; and so far as preservation is concerned, it has answered the purpose well. Whole anatomies have been exhumed in an excellent state of soundness—the teeth particularly, some of them, as, white as ivory, and perfect in every respect. Forest trees, such as beech, sugar, and oak, some at least two feet in diameter, were growing immediately over the graves, and their gnarled roots twisted fantastically through the skulls of these remnants of an ancient people. A fall of gravel would frequently leave hare the whole front of a grinning skeleton, seemingly thrust in the grave feet foremost; and, in fact, the whole of the bodies bore evidence of a promiscuous burial, some placed horizontally facing the west, others level, anon a group of four heads within the space of two feet, and in every imaginable position. About twenty feet from the first discovery of the bones, the workmen came to a large body of charcoal and the remains of a stone fire-place. An earthen vessel was found by some boys, which was broken and destroyed before an actual description could be obtained. Several of the skulls exhibited traces of violence, such as would lead one to suppose that this had been a scene of carnage, and the dead bodies thus furnished a rude and hasty burial. Several curiosities have been found in the neighborhood, such as pipes, earthen pots, and copper plates. Two small limestones, hollowed out from an inch on the outer edge to an eighth in the center, were found in a ploughed field. They are perfectly round, and are very neatly carved, the one about two-thirds the size of the other. The largest is about four inches in diameter. The principal pre-historic monuments in Anderson township, as previously intimated, are found, like those generally in the eastern parts of Hamilton county, in or near the valley of the Little Miami. They are: 1. A large mound in the doorway of the old Turpin homestead, now occupied by Philip Turpin, esq., about a mile northeast of the Union bridge, on the Batavia turnpike. Although undoubtedly much smaller than when first heaped, it is now ten feet in height, with a circumference at the base of one hundred and seventy-five feet. It is situated directly in a line between the front gate and front door of the premises, and the foot-way between these points runs ar0und it. It thus forms a com- 244 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. manding and very interesting object in the scene, as viewed by the passer-by 0n the turnpike. About it is an ancient cemetery, probably not older than the Indian period, however, from which human remains may be exhumed with almost every lift of spade or shovel. Upon the same premises, it may be here remarked, was the camp of Tod's company of independent scouts, for some time during the Morgan raid and scare of 1863. It was, although bearing an "independent" name, a regularly organized command under the leadership of Captain Wheeler, and named from Governor Tod, then -at the helm of the State. While here it did considerable scouting, marching, and countermarching, but was not called upon to burn much powder in the face of the enemy. The marks of its occupancy are yet to be seen in the boards and fences gnawed by the horses, in the stabs of bayonets upon the house-doors, and otherwise. Some distance south of Union bridge is a rather curious old brick school-house, situated below the roadway to Mount Washington. It was built in 1847, and is still used with tolerable convenience for the needs of the sub-district. 2. Nearly a mile and a half across the hills from the Turpin homestead, and about three-quarters of a mile south of Newtown, in the valley of a small tributary of the Little Dry run, on Colonel Jewett's farm, is a large mound. This reaches fifteen feet in altitude, and is two hundred and twenty-five feet in circumference at the base. It is further in the interior than any of the important tumuli of this part of the valley. 3. In Newtown itself formerly, immediately before the old Methodist church, at the junction of the Plainville road with the Batavia turnpike, was a mound of size enough to make its removal worth while for the sake of the material, which was used in the construction of the Plainville highway. We do not learn that any specially noticeable relics were discovered in the process of removal. 4. Near this spot, east of Newtown, and on the line of the Cincinnati & Eastern railroad, is the Odd Fellows' cemetery, in which is a beautiful mound of ten feet height and a base circumference of two hundred and ten feet. It is a very appropriate mark and ornament of the cemetery. 5. A tumulus existed until recently on the Plainville road, three hundred yards northwest of the cemetery mound. It was about seven feet high and one hundred and fifty feet around at the base. It was thoughtlessly and remorselessly removed two or three years ago, simply to fill hollows in the road; and in the process of removal sundry bones, pieces of charcoal, and other objects came to light, unmistakably identifying it as an artificial work and a veritable relic of the Mound Builders. 6. Southwest of both these, on the bank of the Little Dry run, on the "first bottom" of the Little Miami, and at the foot of the hill cut by the Batavia turnpike, was a mound which was destroyed when that road was built, and some bones. and other relics were found in it, as described in the article of "T. C. D." 7. A few sc0re yards due south of this site is an artificial eminence of about three feet high—much reduced from its ancient height by the long processes of cultivation upon it, its surface having been annually plowed over- for many years. Its site is upon the Levi Martin estate, south of Little Dry run. 8. Upon the same property, three hundred yards south of east from the last mentioned, is the "Big Mound," as it is familiarly known. Says Dr. Metz,- in his article on "The Pre-historic Monuments of the Little Miami Valley" (Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History) October, 1878): This is the largest mound in this vicinity, and in the country. Its present elevation is about thirty-nine feet, with a circumference of six hundred and twenty-five feet at base. It has been cultivated for the last thirty years, with the exception of the last two years, and is now overgrown with blackberry bushes. It was at one time covered with forest trees. A large oak on its top had a diameter of four feet : this I have from reliable authority. It has not been explored ; the proprietor desires to let the dead rest, as he expresses it. 9, Recrossing Little Dry run nearly half a mile north of east, we come upon two low mounds, near the Batavia turnpike—one five feet high and the other three and a half above the general level. 10. North of these, across the turnpike on the estate of William Edwards, is a scattered group of four mounds, but nearly in a line from east to west, with an average distance from each other of two hundred feet. The easternmost of the four is in the first bottom. of the Big Dry run, and but a few yards west of that stream. It is excellently preserved, very regular in its form, eight feet high, and about eighty feet in diameter at the base. Upon an elevation of thirty to forty feet above the level upon which this mound stands—that is, upon the second terrace or bottom of the Miami valley—are the other three mounds. The two in the centre of the group are each about four feet in height; the fourth, or westernmost, is ten feet high, and has a circumference about the same as that of the mound at the foot of this terrace. The smaller tumuli were once, very likely, as high as this; but they have been plowed over annually for a long time. 11. Two miles northeast of this group, almost in the northeastern corner of the township, on the farm of Michael Turner, is another very interesting series of ancient works, consisting of one large and one smaller enclosure and four mounds. The large enclosure, north and west of the Cincinnati & Eastern railroad, which, together with a small stream, passes between this and the other members of the group, is designated as No. r upon Dr. Charles L. Metz's chart of the pre-historic monuments of the Little Miami valley; the smaller. enclosure, about a fifth of a mile north of east of the other, and the northernmost of the four works east of the Cincinnati & Eastern track, as No. 2 ; the two mounds next south of this, in order, as Nos. 3 and 4; and the eminence east of No. 3 as No. 5. This explanation will render intelligible the following 'description, which is extracted from Dr. Metz's article accompanying t tie chart, in the Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, for October, 1878: No. 1 is the largest and most interesting work in the Miami valley. An extract from an article by T. C. Dale, or Day, on the antiquities of the Miami valley, published in the November number of the Monthly Chronicle, in 1839, is as follows: "The site of this stupendous fortification, if we may so call it, is a few rods to the right of the road lead- HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 245 ing from Newtown to Milford, and about midway between them. It is situated on a ridge of land that juts out from the third bottom of the Little Miami, and reaches within three hundred yards of its bed. From the top of the ridge to low-water mark is probably one hundred feet. It terminates with quite a sharp point and its sides are very abrupt, bearing evident marks of having once been swept by some stream of water, probably the Miami. It forms an extremity of an immense bend, curving into what is now called the third bottom, but Which is evidently of alluvial formation. Its probable height is forty feet, and its length about a quarter of a mile before it expands out and forms the third alluvial bottom. About one hundred and fifty yards from the extreme point of this ridge the ancient workmen have cut a ditch directly through it. It is thirty feet in depth; its length, a semicircular curve, is five hundred feet; and its width at the top is eighty feet, having a level base of forty feet. At the time of its formation it was probably cut to the base of the ridge, but the washing of the. rains has filled it up to its present height. Forty feet from the western side of the ditch is placed the low circular wall of the fort, which describes in its circumference an area of about four acres. The wall is probably three feet in mean height, and is composed of the usual brick clay, occasionally intermixed with small flat river stone. It keeps at an exact distance from the top of the ditch, but approaches nearer to the edge of the ridge. The form of the fort is a perfect circle, and is two hundred yards in diameter. Its western side is defended with a ditch, cut through the ridge in the same manner as the one on the eastern side. Its width and depth are the same, but its length is greater by two hundred feet, as the ridge is that much wider than where the other is cut through. The wall of the fort keeps exactly the same distance from the top of this ditch as of the other, viz., forty feet. Its curve is exactly the opposite of that of the other, so as to form two segments of a circle. At the southeastern side of the fort there is an opening in the wall thirty-six yards wide; and opposite this opening is one of the most marked features of this wonderful monument. A causeway extends out from the ridge about three hundred feet in length and one hundred feet in width, with a gradual descent to the alluvial bottom at its base. The material of its construction is evidently a portion of the earth excavated from the ditches. Its easy ascent and breadth would induce the belief that it was formed to facilitate the entrance of some ponderous vehicle or machines into the fort. To defend this entrance they raised a mound of earth seven feet high, forty wide, and seventy-five long. It is placed about one hundred feet from the mouth of the causeway, and is so situated that its garrison could sweep it to its base. The whole area of the fort, the wall and causeway is covered with large forest trees; but there is not a tree growing in either of the ditches, and there are but a few low underbrush on their side. At present the circular wall is almost leveled, but can be readily traced by the color of the soil and the large number of flat river-stones. The ditches can be easily recognized. The mound is still prominent. It measures now in height five and one-half feet, diameter twenty-five yards, circumference seventy-five yards. The causeway is cut through by the Cincinnati & Eastern railroad, the forest cut away, and the soil cultivated annually. No. 2 of this group is a large, circular embankment, with a diameter of about one hundred and twenty-five yards. The material forming the embankment is evidently taken from within the enclosure. This work is a perfect circle, with an opening or gateway thirty feet wide to the south. It is about three hundred yards distant from the fist Work of this group. Two hundred yards to the south of this circle are two mounds, No. 4 on chart being the larger. It has a circumference at base of two hundred and fifty feet and an elevation of twelve feet. One hundred and fifty yards east of these mounds is another of very regular shape (Group D, No. 5, on chart); height, four feet, circumference one hundred and fifty feet. Members of the Madisonville Scientific and Literary society have done much excellent work in the survey and description of the works in this part of Anderson township; and to the chart and accompanying article of Dr Metz, of that society, we acknowledge invaluable aid in preparing the above notice. THE ORIGINAL LAND OWNERS. Anderson township, as already intimated, is distinguished above all other townships as the one subdivision of. Hamilton county which lies on the Virginia military tract, reserved between the Little Miami and Scioto, for land bounties to the soldiers of the Virginia line, serving in the war of the Revolution, on Continental :establishment. The history of this reservation; with many interesting facts pertaining thereto, will be found in the chapter 0n land titles, in the first division of this work. The following memoranda indicate the original owners of the respective surveys noted in that part of the Military tract which is now Anderson township: No. 395. Bennett Tompkins, one thousand six hundred and sixty-six and two-thirds acres. No. 410. Major John Crittenden, one thousand acres. He was the father of John J. Crittenden, the Kentucky statesman, and was an officer in the Revolutionary war, settling afterwards in Woodford county, Kentucky. His tract was one of the finest in the Little Miami valley; and yet, so little was the value of land esteemed in those days, that he traded the whole thousand acres of splendid bottom and hill land to Major John Harris, of Mannicantown, near Richmond, Virginia, for a mosquito bar. Harris in his turn sold it to Dr. Turpin, of the same place, for a pair of blooded mares; and Turpin made a present of it to his son Philip, who settled it, and developed it into a rich estate, which is still held by his descendants. No. 427. John Anderson, seven hundred and fifty acres. No. 500. Holt Richardson, five hundred acres. No. 535. Robert Blair, William Cassel, John Demsey, Benjamin Gray, John Halfpenny, Daniel Sahon, one thousand .acres; also John Green and James Giles. No: 536. John Steele, six hundred and sixty-six and two-thirds acres. No. 552. Robert Powells, six hundred acres. No. 608. Abram Hites, one thousand acres. No. 609. Joseph Egglestone, one thousand acres. No. 618. Robert Morrow, two thousand acres. No. 620. Theodore Bland, one thousand three hundred and thirty-three and one-third acres. No. 624. A. Singleton, five hundred and fifteen acres. No. 637. William Taylor, one thousand acres. No. 706. Jacob Fears, James Friggin, James McDonald, James Payton, one thousand acres ; John Brown, two hundred acres. No. 916. William Moore, one hundred and sixty acres. No. 1,115. William Mosileye, one thousand acres. No. 1,126. John Parke, one thousand acres; James Pendleton, one thousand acres. No. 1,581. General James Taylor, five hundred and fifty acres. This gentleman was the well-known Newport pioneer, father of the venerable Colonel James Taylor, who still resides upon the old place on the Kentucky shore, and retains large landed interests in Anderson township. We here acknowledge much indebtedness to him in the preparation of this work. General Taylor became possessor, first and last, of a very large share of the lands in the township, most of which he re-sold. No. 1,618. Hites and Robinson. No. 1,674. Edward Stevens, one thousand acres. 246 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. No. 1,677. Colonel Richard Clough Anderson, four hundred and fifty-four acres. He was the chief surveyor of the Military district, appointed to that office by the State of Virginia. He resided ten miles south of Louisville, where he kept the office for many years, and until it was removed to Chillicothe, in this State. He was father of the late Hon. L. Anderson, of Cincinnati, and Marshall P. Anderson, of Circleville, also a well-known citizen, more recently deceased. The township takes its name from Colonel Anderson. No. 1,679. Edward Clark, four hundred acres. No. 1,680. Joseph Neville, two hundred acres. No. 1,682. John Mead, four hundred and thirty-four acres. No. 1,775. General George Washington, President of the United States, nine hundred and ninety-seven acres. A very appropriate number for the greatest of Revolutionary heroes to hold. It was in the year 1775 that he took command of the Continental armies, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. His was the triangular tract next the present Clermont county line, the northeastern most survey in the township, the point of it resting on the Batavia turnpike, but a little way from the mouth of the East fork of the little Miami. No. 2,204. Nathaniel Wilson, four hundred acres. No. 2,276. General Nathaniel Massie, six hundred acres. This owner was one of the most active and enterprising surveyors in the Military district, and the founder of the earliest, towns within its borders—Manchester in 1794, and Chillicothe in 1796. No. 3,393. John Nancarrous, two hundred and seventy acres. No. 3,394. P. Higgins, ninety acres. No. 3,817. John Haim, two hundred and fifty acres. No. 4,243. Frank Taylor. No. 6,532. John English, two hundred and fifty acres. No. 8,903. George C. Lights. COVALT'S STATION. The first settlers upon the present soil of Anderson township were probably Abram or Abraham Covalt and companions, who pushed up the Little Miami in 1790 or 1791, and established a station on Round Bottom to protect themselves, about twelve miles from the mouth of the river, as it runs. This was known as Covalt's Station, and was considered important enough in 1791 to secure a garrison of twenty soldiers from Fort Washing- ton. In the absence of the soldiers, however, Mr. Covalt, while hunting with two others, was attacked by the Indians, killed and scalped near the station. Wood was sent to Columbia village, and a relief party started out at once; but without much effect. Mr. Daniel Doty was of this party, and left some interesting notes of the affair. He then saw for the first time a scalped man, and was naturally much shocked. He records that "when a person is killed and scalped by the Indians, the eyebrows fall down over the eyeballs and give them a fearful look." The following account of the killing of Covalt is derived from the narrative of Thomas Fitzwater, a descendent of William Fitzwater, who had personal knowledge of the affair. It is contained in the history of Clermont county: Towards noon on the first day in which Buckingham, Fletcher, and Covalt started on their hunt, Covalt began to get very uneasy and to urge the others to return home, saying there might be Indians about. The other two told him there was no danger, but this did not satisfy him. The nearer night approached the more importunate he became, and the more he urged them to return. This uneasiness in Covalt's mind Buckingham always viewed as a bad omen. His entreaties finally prevailed on the others and they consented to return. So they left the 'licks' in order to reach the station while it was yet daylight. Arriving opposite to where Buckingham's mill now stands, while Covalt and Fletcher were walking close together, and Buckingham about three rods behind, suddenly three guns were fired about twenty yards distant. Buckingham looked forward and saw Covalt and Fletcher start to run down the Miami, and also saw three Indians jump over a log, yelling and screaming like demons. As Buckingham wheeled to run up the river he tried to throw off his blanket, but it hung over his shoulders like a powder-horn, as the strap passed over his head. When he did get it loose it took his hat with it. He ran up but a few poles, then took up the hill, the river and hill being close together. As he went up the hill he looked back several times, but saw no one in pursuit. When he arrived on the top he got his gun ready for emergency, then stopped, looked back, and listened. While thus standing he heard the Indians raise the yell down in the bottom, thirty or forty rods distant, then he knew they had caught one or both of the others. When he found the Indians were that distance from him, he knew that he could make tracks as fast as they could follow him. So he steered over the hills and came to the Miami, at what is now Quail's railroad bridge. Getting to the station he found that Fletcher had got there a few minutes before him. By this time it was night. Fletcher's story of the affair was that he and Covalt ran together some distance, when Fletcher's feet became entangled in a grape-vine, and down he fell, where he laid perfectly still until the Indians passed him. One passed close to him, no doubt thinking he had fallen to rise no more. And they all kept on in hot pursuit of Covalt. As soon as they got out of sight Fletcher made his escape down the river. Next morning a party of men left the station to look for Covalt. Arrived at the {Mace they found his body, his scalp, gun, tomahawk, powder-horn, blanket, knife, hat, and part of his clothes gone, and an old broken rifle left near his body. The Indian traces showed that they had crossed and re-crossed at Indian ripple. They were not traced any farther. Enoch Buckingham (one of this party) continued with his family at Columbia, from the spring of 1790 to 1795. Some time this spring they moved into a log cabin on the banks of the Miami, on the lower Buckingham farm. A FORTIFIED STATION. Probably as early as 1790, the eyes of some of the settlers, or newcomers to Columbia, were turned to the broad and fertile tracts in the valley east of the Little Miami, and a party of colonists soon attempted to make a home there. Their first settlement was opposite Turkey Bottom, at the foot of the hills on survey number five hundred and thirty-six, about a mile below the present site of Union ridge, on the land now owned by Colonel James Taylor. Here, for their protection against the Indians, as the custom then was, they built a small block-house, or stockade, which, from the principal man of the party, the father of the late John H. Gerard, ex-sheriff of Hamilton county, received the name of "Gerard's Station." Other settlers to be protected by it are said, by Colonel Taylor, to have been Joseph Williamson, Stephen Betts, Stephen Davis, Major Stites, Captain Flinn, and others. He says that the block-house stood on the side of the hill near what is called Big spring, and not far from Flinn's ford across the Little Miami, which HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 247 was on the principal land-route, in the early day, from Cincinnati and Columbia eastward. Stites and Flinn are reputed to have had at least one sharp fight with the redskins at this station. S0me traces of it were to be observed until quite recent times. ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIP. Anderson township was erected by the court of general quarter sessions of the peace, in 1793. It was then bounded by the Little Miami to the east fork, from the mouth of which a line was described to a point nine miles east, thence another due south to the Ohio, and from the point of intersection the Ohio formed the boundary to the place of beginning. It must have been afterwards enlarged, as settlements increased, since it is otherwise said* to have included all of Hamilton county between the Little Miami and the Elk river, or Eagle creek. So lately as 1803 it is officially described as "all that part of Hamilton county east of the Little Miami river," which then, however comprised only the present limits of the township, or about the same. The voters were then to meet at the house of Thomas Browne, in Newtown, and elect three justices of the peace. In the latter part of 1799 two townships were set off from the eastern part of the large old township of Anderson—Washington township, which included all the northern part of the present Clermont, and the south part of Warren county; and Deerfield township, which covered all the southern and central portions of Clermont and Brown counties to the aforesaid Eagle creek. The same year a county called Henry was set off by the territorial legislature along the river next east of the present Hamilton, with Durhamstown (now Bethel) as the county seat, but the act was negatived by Governor St. Clair, who pocketed it with several other bills of similar character, as he claimed that the legislature in passing them usurped his own prerogatives; the next year he, by proclamation, erected the desired new county in this direction by the name of Clerrnont, when Anderson township and Hamilton county, on the southeast, were reduced to their present boundaries. Anderson, as the fifth township created in the old Hamilton county, was directed by the court of quarter sessions to take for its cattle-brand the letter E. The first township officers were as follows: John Garrard, clerk ; Jesse Garrard, constable; Richard Hall, overseer of roads; Joseph Frazee, Jacob Backoven, overseers of the poor; Joseph Martin, Jonathan Garrard, viewers of enclosures and appraisers of damages. We have the following notes of justices of the peace in later times : 1819, Jonathan Garrard; 1825, Jonathan Garrard, William E. White, Richard Ayres; 1829, Jonathan Garrard, Clayton Webb; 1865, R. L. Wright, Abner Jones; 186671, R. L. Wright, Abner Jones, A. Durham; 1872-6, R. L. Wright, Abner Jones, K. H. Van Rensselaer;, 1877, Jones, Wright, Van Rensselaer, D. A. Garrett; 1878-9, George W. Jones, George Jones, D. A. Garrett, August Crance; 1880, Jones, Jones, and Crance. * History of Clermont county. EARLY SETTLEMENT. Immigrants to the Miami county did not turn so readily to the Military district as to the Symmes Purchase and the Congress lands, since the titles to the latter were considered better and more reliable, and less likely to involve litigation. As early as 1790, some white settlers are believed to have set down their stakes within the limits 0f the present Anderson township; and, as we have seen, a fortified station against the Indians probably existed upon Anderson soil that year. The first settlements, according to Colonel James Taylor, of Newport, were made upon Bennett Tompkins' survey at the mouth of the Little Miami; Crittenden's survey, settled by Philip Turpin, near the present Union bridge; Powell's, Massie's, Richardson's, John Andersons', Bland's, and Moore's, and the surveys numbered one thousand five hundred and twelve and one thousand seven hundred and twenty-three. Besides those named in connection with Gerrard's station and Philip Turpin, who was among the earliest, there were Isaac Vail, John Grimes, the Edwardses, Corblys, Debolts, Johnsons, Clarks, and Durhams, whose families were upon the soil of Anderson during the closing decade of the last century or the opening one of this. Settlers were not numerous, nor their improvements large, for obvious seasons, until after the pacification of the Indian tribes in 1794, by Wayne's victory at the battle of the Fallen Timbers. Many memoranda of individual settlements in the early day will be found in the paragraphs below: OTHER NOTES OF SETTLEMENT, ETC. Mr. John Betts, grandfather of George M. Betts, came to Anderson township at a very early day. He was of Irish descent, and emigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio. John R. Betts, father of George M., was born in this township. For several years he was in the pork business in Cincinnati. His wife's name was Sarah S. Martin. She was a daughter of George Martin, who died in 1878, at the advanced age of ninety-three years. He was here when the old fort was at Columbia. His wife was a Rigdon. She was the first white child on the north side of the Little Miami river. Mr. John R. Betts had three children: George M., Elizabeth (Mrs. S. Burdsall), and Emma (Mrs. George Rike). The son is now superintendent of the Mount Washington Canning company, which cans from twelve to fifteen thousand cans of fruit and vegetables per year. Aquila Durham was born in Maryland in May, 1779, and died in September, 1870, in his ninety-second year. He was the youngest of a family of eleven children, six of whom lived to be over eighty-five years of age. The family was noted for longevity. His father died at the age of ninety-six, and had six brothers and two sisters, each of whom lived to be over eighty. Their father came from Durham, England, in 1722, and settled in Maryland. Joshua Durham, father of the subject of this sketch, sold his estate and slaves in Maryland soon after the close of the Revoluti0n, and started for the West. But, owing to the depreciation of the continental money, he and his family were obliged to remain in Pennsylvania 248 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. several years. They arrived in Cincinnati in June, 1797, only eight years after its settlement, and pushed right out into the wilderness to make a settlement, and built a cabin in the Miami bottoms, about ten miles from Cincinnati. Aquila was then eighteen years old:- He helped his father open a clearing in the woods, and, being a skilful hunter, kept the family supplied with game. Many hardships were encountered; but they were so accustomed to them that they seemed rather to enjoy the dangers of the chase and the hard labor and privations they had to undergo. When General Harrison was governor of the Indiana Territory, with headquarters at Vincennes, Aquila kept him supplied with sheep and cattle, which had to be driven through the unbroken wilderness. Many thrilling adventures were experienced by his parties when on the road. Wild animals were troublesome at night, and the Indians were constantly on their path. In 1804 he was mareried to Harriet Thompson, daughter of Barnard Thomp son, a Revolutionary soldier. They settled near his father's, and two years later moved upon the farm now owned by Thompson Durham. He lived on that farm for sixty-two years. They raised ten children, all of whom lived to be over forty-five years old. Seven of them still live. His wife died in 1868, after sixty-four years of married life. He voted in 1802 at the first election held in Ohio, and never missed an election as long as he lived. He attended the Cincinnati markets for almost sixty years, at first carrying his produce to market on hoseback, then in wagons to the river and thence in Z boat. After roads were opened, he went through to the city in his wagon. Every Tuesday and Friday found him in the market. Many of the old citizens were his customers, and well remember him. It was his pride and boast that no one eve1 said he was not honest. Walter Johnson settled in Anderson township in 1804, where his death occurred eighteen years after. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1782. He wits a leading farmer, and was several times a member of the board of trustees of the school board. His wife was Anna Bridges. The surviving members of his family are Rebecca Cox, W. W. H. Johnson, Franklin Johnson, Hannah Cord, Charles Johnson, Walter R. Johnson, Anna Johnson, and Sallie Norton. Charles Johnson's birth is dated in the year 1820. He has filled several township offices. He married Rebecca Corbley, and their children are John C., Walter R., Van R., and Leonidas. Francis H. Jewett is the son of David Jewett. His mother's name was Eunice Rider. The father, who was born in Maine, emigrated from New York to Cincinnati in the year 1835. In the last named place, in 1840, the son was born. At the age of twenty-seven he was married to Catharine Henn. Three years later he began the dairy business in Covington, Kentucky, where he remained up to the year 1876, when he 1emoved to his present place in Anderson township. He is said to possess excellent business qualifications—in fact is the successful owner and manager of the largest dairy in the township. David Jones, and his wife, Mary S. Jones, emigrated from Virginia to the State of Ohio, and were among the first settlers in Anderson township, where the former died in 1872. Abner Jones, grandson of the preceding, was born in 1816. In 1849 he was married to Miss Emily Bennett, daughter of Samuel D. Bennett, of the same township. In politics he has always been a Democrat, and for twenty-four years has held the office of justice of the peace. Mr. John Webb was taken to Cincinnati with his family early in 1790. He was born in Monmouth, New Jersey, four years previous to this time. His death occurred in Newtown, in 1 85 7, His wife's maiden name was Has, nab Frost. She was one year her husband's senior; her death occurred in 1857. The surviving members of the family are Sidney Webb, of Delta, Ohio, and L. A. Webb. of Anderson township. The last named son in rk,840 married the daughter of John Frost, of Hamilton county. Ten years later he built the house in which he now resides, the site of which is said to be the highest elevation of land in Hamilton county. Among the leading farmers of the county the subject of our sketch holds a prominent position. Michael Lawyer emigrated from New Jersey to Hamilton county in 1815, and thence to Clermont county in 1819. He was born in that State in 17'71, married Nancy Martin, and remained in New jersey about ten years after marriage, when he took his family across the mountains into Pennsylvania and settled in Green county, where they lived fourteen years. In 1815 they removed to the west, coming down the Ohio on a flatboat, commonly called a "family boat," and stopped at the mouth of the Little Miami. They resided in this valley four years, and then removed to Clermont county, whore the father died in 1835, and the mother ten years afterwards. The surviving children are Catharine Paul, Isabella Becker, and Michael Lawyer. The last-named was born in 1812, and was consequently but three years old when his people landed in the Miami country. In 1839 he married Cynthia Robinson, daughter of John Robinson, and ten years thereafter removed from Clermont county to the farm he now occupies in Anderson township, where, in 1859, he built the fine residence in which he makes his home. Winfield S. Durham was born in 1817. His marriage occurred in 1844. The same year he built the home where he now lives in comfort, having secured a fine competence in the business of farming. His mother was Narcissa Wilmington, the daughter of Joseph Wilmington, of Clermont county. The parents of Mr. Durham first settled near the mouth of the Little Miami. They have six children living at the present time. Isaac Edwards, born in New Jersey in the year 1800, was a settler of Clermont county, where he died in 1855. His wife's name was Alice Sawyer. They have three children now living, of whom William Edwards, jr., was born in 1830. He was married in May, 1863, to Miss Ellen Dole, of Olive Branch, in the same county, by whom he has nine children, all living. The next spring after his marriage he removed to the fine place he now occupies, immediately adjoining the Edwards station on the Cincinnati & Eastern railroad, in a handsome house upon the farm of his uncle, William Edwards, sr. Here HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY OHIO - 249 he has devoted himself closely to his legitimate business of farming, without any turn for speculation or public life. He is now hard upon fifty years old, but is still in the prime of his powers, a strong man and an excellent farmer. Samuel Johnson, father of James 0. Johnson, was among the first who settled on Clough creek, where he remained during the rest of his lifetime. He was born in Virginia, from which State he emigrated to Ohio, and was a leading resident of Anderson township. His wife's name was Nancy Estel. Joseph Martin settled in Anderson township as early as 1790. He was born in Bedford, Pennsylvania, whence he emigrated to Ohio. His death occurred in the same township in the year 1846. He was in the old blockhouse at Gerard Station. His wife was Miss Rebecca Gerard. Four children are still living, of whom their son, Gano Martin, was born in 1811. At the age of twenty-nine, he was married to Elizabeth Curry, the daughter of Colonel William Curry. They still live on the old homestead. Mr. Martin has always been in politics a Republican. Since 1840 he has been an active member of the Baptist church of Newtown, in which he has always taken great interest, and for the support of which his contributions have been no small part. W. H. Markley was born in 1827, at the place where he now resides. He ,married Catharine Silvers, with whom, surrounded by a large circle of friends, he enjoys his large farm and beautiful home. His father, Jacob Markley, first settled in Anderson township in 1814. He was born in West Maryland in 1803, but emigrated from Virginia to Ohio. He died in this township in the year 1879. He was a large land-owner, and also followed the business of boating on the river to New Orleans. His wife's maiden name was Emeline Martin. There are five children living at the present date. Thomas Mears, a native of London, England, came to America and became a resident of Philadelphia about the year 1794. From this city he removed to Cincinnati at a very early date; where he practiced law. His brother John was a coppersmith, at which trade he amassed a large fortune. Some branches of the family still remain in Cincinnati. In 1858 he was killed by being thrown from a carriage. His father, a Physician, was a man of remarkable bravery. He died in the West Indies from yellow fever, where he was practicing at the time. He was a great traveller, and when the country was new is said to have driven from New Orleans to Cincinnati in a gig. The wife of Thomas Mears was Polly S. McCormick, daughter of Rev. Francis McCormick, one of the founders of Methodism in the west. The children of this marriage were William E. Mears; Francis Mears, of Clermont county; John Mears, of Anderson township; and Eliza C. Mears, now Mrs. Stoms, also of Anderson township; Esther Mears, afterwards Mrs. Whetstone, deceased; Isaac Mears, now in Colorado; and Patsy, who died in infancy. William was born in Columbia in 1835. Previous to 1875 he was a merchant a large part of the time. At that date he became a member of the postal c0rps, where he remains at the present. His wife was Miss Hannah A. Sutton. Robert Martin was born in Ireland in 1772. He settled in Sycamore township in 1820, and died in Symmes township in the year 1850. He was educated for the ministry, but was a teacher the greater part of 'his life. His wife was Jane Luckey. The surviving members of the family are Belinda Clemmens, Jonathan T. Martin, and Dr. J. S. Martin. The last-named is a graduate of the Eclectic Medical institute, of Cincinnati, of the class of 1849. Since that time he has been practicing in the town of Mount Washington, with the exception of three or four years spent in the south and west. His present wife was Julia C. Bishop, of Anderson township. The have two children, Matilda Elms and Olive May Martin. Absalom H. Mattox first settled in Springfield, Ohio, in 1840. Before this time he was one of the early settlers of central Ohio, serving as sheriff of Clark county from 1825 to 1830. He came to Cincinnati in 1865, and died ten years later. His business was that of a merchant. His wife was Drusilla Haskell, and the members of his family now living are Absalom H. Mattox. and F. G. Mattox, the latter a lawyer by profession, and at present clerk of the United States court at Columbus. Absalom H. became associated with the editorial corps in 1872, where he still remains, and since 1865 he has been connected with the Cincinnati Gas Light c0mpany. Isaac Turner was born in Virginia in the year 1780, but emigrated from Green county, Pennsylvania, to Ohio. He settled in Columbia township as early as 1816. His death occurred in Anderson township in July, 1833. He was considered a leading farmer at that time, and had a decided reputation for industry. His wife, Sarah Turner, died in 1848. The surviving children are Electa Highland, Rachel Martin, Michael Turner, and Syrena Light. Michael Turner was born in 1809. At twenty-six years of age he was married to Nancy Flinn. They have six children living: Isaac D., J. J., George W., Anna E., John W., and E. J. He has remained on the old homestead and followed the business of farming the greater part of his life. At one time he was extensively engaged in pork-packing, in which he secured a fine competence. Louis Drake was among the pioneers of Columbia township. Born in New Jersey, he emigrated from that State to Ohio, where he died in 1832. He was in the War of 1812, and at different times filled several township offices. His wife's name was Elizabeth Kennedy. They had eleven children, only four of whom are now alive. T. 'I. Drake was born in Columbia in 1818. He has followed the business of farming in a large way, and, having secured a good property, has now retired from active life. His present residence is in Newtown. His wife was Lydia Mills, and there, are two children, Louis D. Drake and Ordelia L. McGill, both of whom are also residents of Newtown. Martin Hess was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1803, from which State he emigrated to Anderson township in 1828, when he took immediate charge of the Turpin mills. He continued in his position, respected by all, for twenty-five years, and died in 1855. His wife—Eliza Flint previous to her marriage—was born 32