(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 350 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. out, in front of an old two-story brick dwelling, near the lower part of the settlement. Dr. Ferris proceeds with these interesting details of the landing : After making fast, they ascended the steep bank and cleared away the underbrush in the midst of a pawpaw thicket, where the women and children sat down. They next, as though to fulfil the commands of the Saviour, "watch and pray," placed sentinels at a small distance from the thicket, and, having first united in a song of praise to Almighty God, to whose providence they ascribed their success (Mr. Wade taking the lead in singing), upon their bended knees they offered thanks fo1 the past and prayer for future protection; and in this manner dedicated themselves (and probably their thicket) to God, as solemnly and acceptably as ever a stately temple, with all the pomp and splendor attending it, was dedicated. There were in this little group six persons, viz: Benjamin Stites, John S. Gano, Thomas C. Wade, Greenbright Bailey, Edward Buxton, and Mrs. Bailey, who were professors of the Christian religion of the Baptist church. Thus, in a little more than one year from his first conception of this great enterprise, Majo1 Stites with his little company was on the ground, prepared to commence that immense labor necessary to change this then vast wilderness into a fruitful field. The first duty was to build a defence against the marauding savage. Plans for this had already been prepared, and without delay the strong arms of the settlers began to make inroads upon the forest, in the preparation of material for a simple military work. Part of the men stood guard, while others toiled, while laborers and guards from time to time exchanged places. The site of the first block-house was selected near the p0int of landing, and about half a mile below the mouth of the Little Miami—just in front, it is said, of the subsequent residence of A. Stites, esq. It is also said that the encroachments of the river long since washed away this site. The work was so far advanced by the twenty-fourth 0f November that the women, children, and portable go0ds 0f the party were moved into it. The troops who came from Limestone soon after, to form a garrison, erected another block-house, below the first--west of the other, as tradition runs, and between the present toll-gate of the New Richmond pike and the river. Some say that four block-houses in all were erected, and so situated as to form, with a stout stockade connecting them, a square fortification, which took twenty months afterwards the name of a work erected by the British on the Maumee about this time, near the scene of Wayne's victory, Fort Miami. Oliver M. Spencer, who was a boy nine years old when he came with his father to Columbia, says in his Narration of Captivity that at that time Columbia was "flanked by a small stockade, nearly half a mile below the mouth of the Miami, with four bl0ck-houses at suit- able distances along the bank." In the immediate neighborhood, but below the fort, cabins were then put up as rapidly as possible, and the settlers housed themselves for the winter. They had scarcely got comfortably located, however, when the inundation of January drove them from every cabin except one, which had fortunately been perched upon the higher ground. The soldiers in the block-house—a garrison of eighteen men and a sergeant, had been sent in December from Captain Kearsey's company at Limestone—were crowded into the loft of the structure by the rapidly rising waters, and were rescued from their uncomfortable and perilous position by a boat, in which they crossed to the hills on the Kentucky side. Much of the loose property of the settlers was lost by the flood. The Hon. A. H. Dunlevy, in his History of the Miami Baptist Association, among other things, says of the consequences of this unhappy experience: A winter of bloody conflict with the Indians was anticipated ; but, contrary to expectation, the colony remained undisturbed during all that winter and until autumn of the next year. The settlers labored incessantly in building cabins for themselves upon the beautiful plain which lies east of most of the present buildings in Columbia ; but on the first of January, 1789, a high flood in the Ohio proved that they had made a bad selection for a town. The whole bottom was overflowed, but one house escaping the deluge. Afterwards improvements were made below and further from the river, on higher ground ; but that flood forever ruined the prospects of Columbia. During the Indian war many stayed there because they could not move furthe1 into the country on account of the savages. But as soon as Wayne's victory, in the fall of 1794, secured the safety of the settlements in more interior localities, the people began to leave Columbia ; and after the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, many more left, and Columbia ever after had the appearance of a deserted town. The sturdy colonists did not abandon the ground at the first flood, however, but returned to them when the waters abated, and meantime provided themselves with such shelters as 'they could. They were often hard pressed for food this first winter, and some suffered much for want of their wonted articles of sustenance. Wild game abounded, but there was no salt or breadstuff to eat with the fresh meat, except what could be had in small quantities from passing boats. The women and children resorted much to Turkey bottom, when the weather and the condition of the ground permitted, to scratch up the bulbous roots of beargrass, which they boiled and mashed, and so ate them, or dried the substance and pounded it into a sort of flour. In the spring, with the growth of vegetables on the Turkey bottom and other fertile tracks, the situation improved, and the abundant crops of the first year rendered starvation thenceforth exceedingly improbable. There was even a surplus for Fort Washington, as the following incident shows: Luke Foster, of the pioneers at Columbia, was one of the lieutenants appointed for the militia of Hamilton county by Governor St. Clair. He performed a most patriotic act in 1789, when the troops at Fort Washington were on particularly short commons, and General Harmar sent two of his officers to Columbia to get supplies. Captain James Flinn had corn t0 sell, but would not let the soldiers have it, saying that, while he lived near Marietta, the year before, he had sold corn to the garrison at Fort Harmar and had never been paid for it. Captain Strong answered that the men at the fort had been living on half rations for nine days, and if they were not supplied they must leave or starve. Mr. Foster, who was standing by, upon this instantly offered to lend them a hundred bushels of corn, which was part of the growth from two and a half acres in Turkey bottom, planted with six and a half quarts of corn, for which he had exchanged the same quantity of corn meal. His offer was gratefully accepted; but so remiss was the garrison afterwards in payment, or so poorly supplied, that, HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 351 when in need himself, he had to ride six times to the fort to get as much as nineteen bushels of it returned. Mr. Foster, it may be of interest here to note, finally settled two miles south of Springdale, in Springfield township, where he lost his life on the tracks of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad, August 28, 1851, being struck by a gravel train. He was eighty-eight years old, had become deaf, and was otherwise greatly enfeebled. For many years he was an associate judge of the court of common pleas, under the old system, and was one of the first appointees to that office in Hamilton county. As soon as practicable after the landing, Stites had his prop0sed city surveyed, which he fondly h0ped might become the metropolis of the west. According to the narrative of Oliver M. Spencer, published long afterwards, it was to occupy the broad and extensive plain between Crawfish creek and the mouth of the Little Miami—a distance along the Ohio of nearly three miles —and to extend up the Miami about the same distance. It was actually laid out over a mile along the Ohio, stretching back about three-quarters of a mile from that stream, and reaching half-way up the high hill which formed in part the eastern and northern lines. This tract was platted, partly in blocks of eight lots, each of half an acre, and the rest in lots of four and five acres each. Nine hundred and forty-five inlots are said to have been staked off by Stites' surveyors. The streets intersected each other at right angles. A different plat of Columbia, corresponding more nearly to the village of recent years, bears date May 5, 1837. Major Stites' title to his entire large tract in this region was afterwards threatened, by the apparent determination of the Government authorities to draw the eastern boundary of the Miami purchase from a point twenty miles up the Ohio from the mouth of the Great Miami, which would have left him outside of the purchase, and altogether destitute of valid title from Symmes. It is to the honor of the judge that in this crisis he stood bravely by his friend, writing to his associates of the East Jersey company: "If Mr. Stites is ousted of the settlement he has made with great danger and difficulty at the mouth of the Little Miami, it cannot be either politic or just." Governor St. Clair at once issued his proclamation warning settlers off the Miami country east of the aforesaid line; but the matter was afterwards arranged, and the east and west boundaries of the purchase were fixed as originally proposed, upon the two Miamis. During its first two years Columbia flourished hopefully, and was then remarked as a larger and more promising place than Losantiville or its successor, Cincinnati. It was the largest settlement in the Miami country, and was expected to increase rapidly; "but," says Dr. Drake, in his picture of Cincinnati, "the bayou which is formed across it from the Little Miami almost every year, and the occasional inundations of nearly the whole site, have destroyed that expectation, and it is now [1815] inhabited chiefly by farmers." The village was not only superior in population, but also in the c0nvenience and appearance of their dwellings. But for the floods, and the establishment of Fort Washington and then the county seat of Cincinnati, which naturally gave it great advantage, it might have been the metropolis of Miamidom. Many excellent citizens, as Colonel Abram and Ezra Ferris, who came December 12, 1789, and Colonel Spencer, who landed a year thereafter, joined the colony during these years. We subjoin some notices of the more noted among the immigrants of the first decade: John Reily, one of the early settlers of Columbia, was but twenty-five years old when the colony came, having been born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, April 10, 1763. He had seen much service, however, in the army of the Revolution; was engaged at Camden, Guilford Court House, Ninety-six, and Eutaw Springs, and served through his eighteen months' term honorably and safely. After a few years in the wilds of Kentucky, he removed from Lincoln county, near the present site of Danville, to the Columbia settlement, December 18, 1789, and the next year taught the first school kept there, or anywhere in the Miami purchase. He took full part in the scouts and expeditions into the Indian country, and in 1794 removed to Cincinnati, where he became successively deputy clerk of the county court, clerk of the territorial legislature, and clerk and collector of the town. He removed to Hamilton in 1803, and there spent the remainder of his days, dying in that place June 7, 1850, after a long and highly honorable career. Judge William Goforth came in the early part of 1789. He is mentioned so often in the course of this history, as associated with affairs here and at Cincinnati, that a biographical sketch of him here seems unnecessary. The judge builded better than he knew in keeping a diary of hi& journey hither and of events for some time afterwards. It is an interesting old document, and the public owes access to it to Mr. Charles Cist, who published it nearly forty years ago in his Cincinnati Miscellany. We correct one or' two patent blunders in the yearly dates: EXTRACTS FROM MEMORANDUM MADE BY JUDGE GOFORTH, 1N HIS DAY-BOOK. 1789. Jan., 2 left our camp and put down the Ohio and on the 8th arrived at Limestone and thence to Washington which is in 38 degrees some minutes North, and had at that time 119 horses. Jan., 12th left Washington (Mason Co., Ky.,) on the 12th and arrived on the 18th at Miami (Columbia). Jan., 23 the first four horses were stolen—by the Indians. April 4 two of Mills' men were killed. April 5 a bark canoe passed the town and five more horses were stolen. April 16 Baily and party returned from pursuing after the Indians. May 3 Met in the shade to worship. May 11 A cat-fish was taken—four feet long, eight inches between the eyes, and weighed 58 pounds. Judge Symmes arrived on the 2nd of February, 1789, as he informed Major Stites at his own post. April 21 traded with the first Indian. April 28 Capt. Samondawat—an Indian, arrived and traded. Aug. 3 Named the Fort " Miami." Aug. 5 Col. Henry Lee arrived and 53 volunteers. Aug. 27 Went to North Bend with Col. Lee. Sep. 3 Captain Flinn retook the horses. Sep. 25 Major Stites, old Mr. Bealer and myself took the depth of the Ohio River when we found there was 57 feet water in: the channel, and that the river was 55 feet lower at that 352 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. time than it was at that uncommonly high fresh last winter. The water at the high flood was 112 feet. Oct. 9 Mr. White set out for the Tiber. Aug. 16 Major Doughty went down the river. Dec. 28 Geld. Harmar passed this post down the River. 1790. Jan. 2 The Governor passed this post down the River.   " 3 received a line desiring my attendance with others.   “ 4 Attended his excellency when the Civil and Military officers were nominated.   “ 6 The officers were sworn in.   “ 13 Doctor David Johns preached.   “ 18 Doctor Gano and Thomaa Sloo came here.  “ 20 The church was constituted—Baptist church at Columbia. +  “ 21 Three persons were baptized.   “ 24 called a church meeting and took unanimous to call the Rev. Stephen Gano to the pastoral charge of the church at Columbia. April 15 General Harmar went on the campaign past this post.   " 19 The Governor went up the River. Aug. 30 Worked at clearing the minister's lot.   “ 2 Mr. Sargent left this post to go up the River together with Judge Turner. Sep. 12 The Mason county militia past this post on their way to headquarters. Sep. 19 200 Militia from Pennsylvania past this post on their way to Cincinnati.   “ 23 The Governor went down to Cincinnati.   “ 25 Major Doughty and Judge Turner also.   “ 30 The main body of the troops marched. 1791. Jan. 2 begun to thaw. Mch. 1 Indians fired at Lt. Baily's boat.   " “ Mrs. Abel Cook was found dead in the Round Bottom.   “ 4 Mrs. Bowman was fired at in the night through a crack in the house.   “ 22 Mr. Strong returned from up the River; had 24 men killed and wounded on the loth March.   “ 27 Mr. Plasket arrived—the 24th in the morning fought the Indians just after daybreak, about 8 miles above Scioto— this the same battle mentioned in Hubble's narative. July 7 Col. Spencer's son taken prisoner.   “ 14 Francis Beadles, Jonathan Coleman, a soldier killed. 1792. Jan. 7 In the evening Samuel Welch was taken. Nov. 2 Last Monday night met at my house to consult on the expediency of founding an academy—Rev. John Smith, Major Gano, Mr. Dunlevy,—afterward Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and myself—Wednesday night met at Mr. Reily's school-house—Mr. Reily then the teacher was for many years Clerk of Butler Common Pleas and Supreme Court—to digest matters respecting the academy, the night being bad, and but few people attending postponed till next night which was 1st of November, met at Mr. Reily's to appoint a committee. Dec. 6 Fall of snow 7 inches on a level. 1793. Sep. 24 The first and fourth Sub-Legions march under General Wayne. The 27th or rather ththe0th the army march. Daniel Doty, of Essex county, New Jersey, was one of the immigrants of 1717 he came on the twenty-third of October, in a flat-boat, from Pittsburgh. He then found, according to his recollections long after, but two hewed-log buildings in the place, one of them occupied by Major Stites, the other by Captain John S. Gano. He enlisted promptly in Captain Gano's company of militia, which every able-bodied man in the settlement had to join, and which now mustered about seventy—a strong and efficient company. He turned out with the parties * Cist's foot-note : "This seems an unaccountable mistake. The flood of 1832 was but 64 feet above low water, and the highest flood ever known at the settlement of the country was but 12 feet higher." +Another mistake, as will appear hereafter. marching to the relief of Covalt's and Dunlap's stations, when the Indian attacks were made upon them; and was secured by the Cincinnati Presbyterians, together with a man named French, to bring their first pastor, the Rev. James Kemper, and his family, through the wilderness from near Danville to his new home. In 1792 Mr. Doty returned to New Jersey, by way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and by sea, but came back to the Miami country in 1796, with his wife and children, and removed to the vicinity of Middletown, Butler coc0unty,here the rest of his life was spent. He was the first collector of taxes for that part of the country, which was then in Hamilton county. McBride's Pioneer Biography says: His district was twelve miles wide from north to south, comprising two ranges of townships, extending from the Great Miami to the Little Miami rivers, comprehending the sites where the towns of Franklin and Waynesville have been laid out, and the immediate country and settlements. The whole amount of the duplicate committed to him for collection was two hundred and forty-four dollars, of which he collected every dollar and paid it over to Jacob Burnet of Cincinnati, who was the treasurer for the county of Hamilton. Mr. Doty's own tax, for some years previous to his death, was upwards of one hundred and thirty-five dollars—more than half of the amount which he then collected from the whole district of which he had been collector. In the discharge of the duties of his office as collector, he must have ridden over more than one thousand miles. For these services, including his time and expenses, he received one per cent. on the amount of the duplicate, two dollars and forty-four cents, and no more. This appears to have satisfied Mr. Doty with public office, as he never afterward, during his whole life, was a candidate for any office. Francis Dunlevy emigrated from Kentucky to Columbia in 1791, and at first was engaged in teaching, in cocompanyith Mr. John Reily. He was then less than thirty years old, having been born near Winchester, Virginia, December 31, 1761. When but a boy he was engaged in Indian, and afterwards in the Revolutionary warfare, and helped to build up Fort McIntosh, the first regular military work within the present bounds of Ohio. He was at Crawford's defeat on the plains of Sandusky, and in the retreat was cut off from the main body of the army, and had to make his way through the wilderness to Pittsburgh. In 1787 he removed with his father's family to Kentucky, and ten years afterwards, having resided six years in Columbia, he removed to the vicinity of LeLebanon,here he died, November 6, 1839. He was fourteen years presiding judge of the court of common pleas of the first circuit, which included Hamilton county, and Was a member of the first Constitutional convention, also of the first legislature that assembled under the State government. The following notice of perhaps the most renowned citizen that Columbia ever had, is extracted from the Life of Senator Morris, by his son, Mr. B. F. Morris: In 1795 Thomas Morris, a young and enterprising adventurer, nineteen years of age, from the mountains of western Virginia, arrived in Columbia. He was immediately employed as a clerk in the store of Rev. John Smith, and became a great favorite with him. During this time his mind became deeply exercised on the subject of personal religion, and his feelings found utterance in frequent poetic effusions, which are all lost. Rev. John Smith and others regarded these productions as of great merit for a youth of his age and limited education. For several years he continued in the employ of Smith, improving, as he could, his mind by reading, and preparing for a wider sphere of action. The plat of ground on which the great commercial city of Cincinnati HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 333 now stands, was frequently traversed by Morris. His feet threaded the forest, then in the wild magnificence of nature, and the crack of his rifle brought down many a wild turkey from the tops of lofty trees which covered the very spot on which now is erected and established that noble building and institution, the Young Men's Mercantile Library association. How wonderful the change in fifty years' Now commerce, arts, sciences, education, Christian institutions, and the highest forms of a refined social civilization, and a prosperous industrial population of over two hundred thousand people, cover with their peaceful and noble triumphs, and their monuments of taste and civilization, and happiness, the same forest where young Morris was accustomed to shoot his wild game. Mr. Morris married Rachel, daughter of Benjamin Davis, a Columbian who came from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, to Mason county, Kentucky, and thence here. He was of Welsh stock and had a fine family of five sons and two daughters. Morris removed to Williams-burgh, and then to Bethel, Clermont county, and became greatly distinguished as a lawyer, legislator, United States Senator, and anti-slavery agitator. From another settler named John Morris, at the time the most prominent man in the settlement, a cluster of houses on the hillside took the name Morristown. By the close of 1790 Columbia contained about fifty cabins. Wickerham's mill, upon floating boats, had been established upon the Little Miami, and yielded supplies of coarse corn meal, but wheat flour was still so scarce that what could be had was generally reserved for the sick. Before Wickerham started his small run of stones, the corn had been pounded by the colonists into hominy or laboriously ground in a hand-mill. The post at Columbia was evidently regarded as of considerable importance, since as many as two hundred soldiers were stationed here in 1794. The need of military protection, however, was then mostly over. There had been demand enough for it before, as the record of Indian murders, captures and robberies in this region abundantly shows. But the first approaches of the Indians to the settlers here, soon after their arrival were thoroughly friendly. The savages came often to the block-houses, expressing great friendship, and calling for Judge Symmes, toward whom they were very favorably disposed, on account of his having saved one of their small camps from the Kentuckians during the surveying expedition the year before. They had seen Stites' boats on the banks of the river, opposite the block-house, and held a council at their hunting camp six miles from the Ohio, at which it was concluded to take the attitude of friends rather than enemies toward the newcomers. A white man named George had been ten or twelve years a prisoner with them, and could speak both English and Indian. At first he accompanied a single savage as near to the block-house as they dared go, and hallooed to the settlers who were at work upon it. He called for some of the whites to go to him, but they took no heed of him, mistaking him for one of their own people. Presently one of them asked "in a blackguarding manner," as the old account puts it, why he didn't come to them, if he had anything to say. Discouraged at this, George went with the Indian back to their camp. He afterwards started out again with a party of five Indians, armed and mounted, fur the block-house. They came upon a trail of a surveyor's party, numbering three, who were hunting, and followed it until the men were overtaken. The latter fled, but could not escape, and prepared for resistence. Two of the three were Robert Hanson and Joseph Cox, from Sussex county, New Jersey. Hanson aimed his gun at the foremost Indian, but the red man took off his cap, trailed his gun, and held out his right hand as a token of friendship. George called out to the other party not to fire, as the Indians were their friends, and did not wish to hurt them, and they would like to be led to the block-house. Affairs were speedily arranged, and all went amicably together to meet Major Stites. Their joint arrival very much surprised the people at the settlement, some of whom were disposed to think them spies, there only to observe the strength of the colony for defence, others thinking them sincere in their peaceful professions. Both sides, however, as the story runs, "began to form a sociable neighborhood," and there was for a while considerable fraternity between the whites and reds, the former frequently visiting and even spending nights at the Indian camps, while the savages with their squaws frequented the settlement, spending days and nights there, principally occupied in drinking whiskey. The messages of Stites to Symmes, in regard to the Indians' professions, and their desire to see him, with his action, were sufficiently set forth in previous chapter. In a very few weeks, however, the status changed, and a war period set in. The journal of Judge Goforth shows that, so early as January 23, 1789, four horses were stolen by the Indians; that two men were killed April 4th; the next day five more horses were stolen, and outrages were frequent thereafter, and the feeling between the hostiles became so envenomed that both sides engaged in killing and scalping with apparently equal activity. Some incidents related of the Columbia scalpers will be found in our chapter on "The Miamese and the Indians." The news of the attack on Dunlap's station greatly excited the settlers at Columbia, who quickly mounted a volunteer party, armed with rifles, under Lieutenant Luke Foster, marched to Cincinnati the same night, and joined the regular and volunteer force there forming for the relief of the station. Before daylight the next morning all were on the move, through several inches of snow, and arrived near the scene of action between ten and eleven o'clock in the forenoon, only to find that the Indians had mostly departed. A relief party was also promptly turned out when the attack near Covall's station was made, and two men murdered. The following is the detailed account of one of the more thrilling events briefly noticed in the Goforth journal: On the night of the fourth of March, 1791, the cabin of Mr. Jonas Bowman, which was further down the river than any other in Columbia, was approached by indians, and an attack made. Mr, Bowman had been up the Licking hunting wild turkeys with Mr. John Reily; and, returning chilled and tired, a large fire was built in the open fireplace, which made the house a conspicuous object in the dark night, as it was not chinked between the logs, and the fire was plainly visible a long distance. The Indians fired through the cracks, but happily without effect, when Mr. Bowman, who was sitting by the fire, instantly threw 41 354 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. a bucket of water on the flames, thus darkening the room and confusing the Indians, who made off, vainly pursued and fired at by Bowman. Mrs. Bowman afterwards found a flattened bullet in the bosom of he1 dress, which had probably glanced and spent its force by the time it reached her. A messenger was dispatched to Fort Washington, with news of the attack, and a party of regulars and volunteers was made up at once, reaching Columbia before daylight; but a thorough scout for many miles into the country failed to discover any Indians. The subjoined narrative, taken from Cist's Miscellany, is a fuller and more interesting account than that previously given in this work of the capture of young Oliver Spencer: Spencer, then a boy of eleven, had been on a visit to Cincinnati, from Columbia where he then lived, to spend the Fourth of July (1790 here, and having stayed until the seventh set out in a canoe with four other persons who were going to Columbia. About a mile above Deer creek, one of the men, much intoxicated, made so many lurches in the canoe as to endanger its safety, and Spencer, who could not swim, becoming alarmed, was at his earnest request set ashore, as was also the drunken man, who was unable to proceed on foot and was accordingly left where landed. The three in the caste and Spencer on shore proceeded on, but had hardly progressed a few rods when they were fired on by two Indians. A Mr. Jacob Light was wounded in the arm, and another man, name unknown, killed on the spot, both falling overboard, the man left on shore tomahawked and scalped, and Spencer, after a vain attempt to escape, was carried off by the savages and taken out to an Indian village, at the mouth of Auglaize, where he remained several months in captivity. Tidings of these events were taken by Light, who swam ashore a short distance below by the aid of his remaining arm, and Mrs. Coleman, the other passenger, who, though an old woman of sixty and of course encumbered with the apparel of her sex, was unable to make any efforts to save herself, but whose clothes floating to the top of the river, probably buoyed her up in safety. It is certain at any rate, incredible as it may be thought by some, that she floated down to Cincinnati where she was assisted to shore by some of the residents here. Spencer, after remaining nearly a year among the Indians, was taken to Detroit, where he was ransomed and finally sent home, after an absence in various places of three years, two of which he passed among his relative§, in New Jersey. He resided subsequently in the city, where he held various offices of trust and honor, and died on May 31, 1838. Upon the occurrence of this exciting event the following dispatch was sent by the commandant at Fort Washington to the chief officer at Fort Hamilton: FORT WASHINGTON, July 7, 1792. JOHN ARMSTRONG, ESQ. : Dear Sir—I send out to apprise you that, this day about noon, a party of savages fired on a party, consisting of two men, a woman, and Colonel Spencer's son—about one and a half miles above this and on this side of the river—one ma's killed, the other wounded, but not mortally, and poor little Spencer carried off a prisoner. I sent out a party who fell in with their trail in General Harmar's trace, about six miles from this, and followed it on the path about two miles farther, when the men failing with fatigue, the sergeant was obliged to return. Master Spencer's trail was upon the path. This is a further answer 1o the pacific overtures, and makes me tremble for your boy. I pray you if possible to redouble your vigilance, and on Monday morning early Captain Peters will march with his company and six wagons to your assistance. Send me twenty horses the moment Peters reaches you, and I will be with you next day—in the meantime your cavalry should scout on both sides of the river, and your riflemen be kept constantly in motion. Adieu. Yours, JAS. WILKINSON, Brig. Gen. The first church organized and the first sermon preached anywhere in the Miami purchase, were at Columbia. So early as December, 1789, the Rev. David Jones, a Baptist clergyman from Chester county, Pennsylvania, while on a visit down the Ohio valley, stopped at Columbiaand pronounced his first sermon in one of the blockhouses at the fort. This place was then larger than Losantiville, and more likely to attract the attention of a visiting stranger. There was a larger Baptist element here, too.* An0ther early preacher to the Columbians, Elder Stephen Gano, had further reasons for interest in the colony, since he had ties of blood connecting him with the Stiteses and the Ganos. Before he came, however, the people had ministerial visits from the Rev. David Rice, a Presbyterian divine of some note fr0m Kentucky, and Elder John Mason, a Virginia Baptist and brother-in-law of Elder John Smith, who soon afterwards, became the first settled pastor among the Little Miamese. Elder Gano came in March, 1790, making one of his many visits to his relatives, and after preaching several sermons organized a Baptist church in Columbia—probably on Saturday, March 31, 1790, though Hon. A. H. Dunlevy, descendant of Judge Dunlevy, and author 0f a History of the Miami Baptist Association, names the twentieth of January, 1790, as the time. Mr. Dunlevy rests upon the diary of Dr. Goforth, then a resioent of Columbia, which we published on another page; but that is believed to have been made up, in part at least, many years after the occurrence narrated, and to be somewhat unreliably. The distinct recollection of persons present at the organization of the church, that it was on the last Saturday of March, is considered better testimony. The place of meeting was no longer a block-house, but the dwelling of Benjamin Davis. After appropriate services, the church was formally constituted by the aid of Elder Gano; Mr. Thomas Sloo, a member of his church in New York city, also being present. Nine persons joined at the time, whose names are given by Mr. Dunlevy as follows: Benjamin Davis, John Ferris, Mary Davis, Isaac Ferris, Jonah Reynolds, Elizabeth Ferris, Amy Reynolds, Thomas C. Wade, John S. Gano. Such was the little band that formed the first 0rganization of Christian institutions in the Miami valleys, from which a thousand church spires now point heavenward. Isaac Ferris was appointed deacon, and John S. Gano, clerk, of the infant church. Elijah Stites, Rhoda Stites, and Sarah Ferris, were received upon experience, and were baptized in the river the next day (Sunday), after a preaching service at the house of Major William Goforth. Three other members, Mrs. Meeks, and Messrs. Smith and Bally, won afterwards joined by letter; so that the church now numbered fifteen. Elder Gano was unanimously chosen pastor; but he was too strongly bound to his work in the older communities of the east, and returned thither. He seems to have been a man of uncommon ability and power, and certainly, as organizer of the first Christian church in the Miami country, demands some further notice here. He was born in New York city December 25, 1762, and was a brother of John S. Gano, of Cloumbia. His father was a clegyman, and * Mr. Dunlevy, in his History of the Miami Baptist Association, says of the first Columbia colony: "Among this little band of some twenty-five persons, there were six Baptists. There names were Benjamin Stites, John S. Gano, Thomas C. Wade, Greenbright Bally, Mrs. Rally his wife, and Edmund Buxton." HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 355 his mother of one of the Stites families. In his twenty-fourth year he was ordained, and served as pastor in the city, in Hillsdale and Hudson, New York, and finally for thirty-six years in Providence, Rhode Island, where he attained considerable distinction, and where he died August 28, 1828. During one of his western tours he preached at Lexington, Kentucky, having in his audience the eloquent Henry Clay, who thus testified of him: "He was a remarkably fervent preacher, and distinguished for a simple, effective manner. And of all preachers I ever listened to, he made me feel the most that religion was a divine reality."* Very soon, however, the church had its pastor—one who also was destined to attain distinction, but in a different field, and at last to end in poverty and obscurity. Elder John Smith, a Virginian by birth and education,. now in the prime of his manhood—"a man," says the volume cited above, "whose personal appearance was noble and commanding, and who was possessed of very popular manners and a remarkably fascinating address—" visited Columbia in June and preached several times s0 acceptably that a unanimous call was given him to settle as pastor. This he accepted, and returned home to arrange his business, which took longer than was expected; and he did not arrive until the spring of 1791; the church meanwhile being served acceptably by Daniel Clark, a licentiate from Whiteley church, Pennsylvania, who had removed to C0lumbia with his own and other Baptist families. He was afterwards fully ordained by Elders Smith and John Gano, a venerable Baptist clergyman from near Lexington, on the twenty-first (0r twenty-third) of September, 1793, after a preaching service by Elder Gano in a grove of elms near the village. It was the first ordination among the Miamese, or in the Northwest Territory, of a Protestant clergyman. In October, 1791, the substantial addition was made to the church of fifteen members by letter and two by experience and baptism. The building 0f a church edifice was the next thing in order, upon a lot given for the purpose by Major Stites, upon a slight eminence in the northern part of Columbia, now near and east of the Little Miami railroad, where a pile of rocks and some ancient graves still mark the spot. The meeting-house was resolved upon in February, 2792, but was more than eighteen months in building, not being regularly occupied, probably; till late the next year, though Mr. Dun-levy says there was preaching in it in the spring of 1793.+ The structure was frame, thirty-six by thirty feet, with galleries and a hipped roof. It stood until 1835, when it was pulled down, having been abandoned for years and become very much dilapidated. A picture of it, in this state, appears in Howe's Historical collections of Ohio, in the first volume of the American Pioneer, and in Mr. Dunlevy's little history. The following lines were written during the later years of the church by an old Columbian: ON VISITING THE OLD CHURCH AT COLUMBIA. Near where the Ohio winds its lovely way Through plains with flowers and herbage richly gay, * McBride's Pioneer Biography, volume II, p. 93. +. History of the Miami Baptist Association. High on a green, luxuriant, sloping sod, In ruinous mantle clad, stands the lone House of God. A strange sensation thrilled across my breast As its drear aisle my wandering footsteps prest; Its sound alone disturbed the pensive scene, That spoke what it was then and told what it had been. The pulpit mould'ring nodded from the wall, From which me thought still rang the watchman's call; Some ancient seats in circles filled the space, And seemed to say, 'A choir has left this vacant place.' But 'tis not so—here owls their vigils keep And driving winds in mournful murmurs sweep; The bat rejoicing flits along the gloom; All else is still, and calm, and tranquil as the tomb. Where are those eyes that traced those sacred lines, Where truth, where majesty, and beauty shines Where are those hearts that have with fervor glowed, When o'e1 Death's vale they viewed the Christian's blest abode? Where is the choir that here so sweetly sang The song of praise to God and peace to man ? Methinks, returning through the lapse of years, I hear their anthem notes soft stealing on my ears. Deep in the grave, around this falling pile, They sweetly sleep, forgetful of their toil ;— Have fled and left behind this loud appeal, 'All, all on earth must die—'tis Heaven's unchanging will!' Then fare thee well! Perhaps my feet again Shall never tread thy silent, black domain, Yes, fare thee well!—for list'ning solitude Waits to resume her throne in dark and frowning mood. Yet may the hand of Time long spare thy brow, Though covered o'er with many a furrow now; That generations yet to come may see Some vestige left—some trace remaining still or thee. Peace to the inmates that around thee sleep! May angel bar ds their slumbering ashes keep, Till Gabriel's trumpet rends the hearing clay, And calls them forth to joys that never shall decay! Mr. Dunlevy supplies the following interesting facts: The law then required every able-bodied man attending meetings for worship to carry his firearms with him, prepared to defend the inhabitants, as well as those at the meeting, from an attack of the Indians. On the first day the house was opened for worship, Colonel Spencer, one of the early settlers at Columbia and at that time the head of the militia, attended the services, and at the close addressed the militia and pointed out the necessity of strict discipline at these meetings. On another occasion during the same season, when the congregation had assembled for worship, two men came from the woods with an Indian's scalp which they had just taken;* and during this and the next year two members of the church, Francis Griffin and David Jennings, were killed by the savages. A number more of the inhabitants of Columbia were killed by the Indians during the years 1791-2, and several taken prisoners—among them 0. M. Spencer, son of Colonel Spencer above named, and long after a well-known citizen of Cincinnati. All their religious meetings, therefore, until Wayne's victory in the autumn of 1794 (and the treaty of Greenville in the next year) had to be guarded by armed men. The Columbia church was the vigorous parent, prolific in offspring of other churches scattered up and down the Little Miami valley, at places, where its members settled after the the Greenville treaty. Within little more than a dozen years after its formation, colonies from it had founded, or helped to found, Baptist churches at the Little Miami island, on Carpenter's run, in the present * On this occasion, as another account states, Colonel Spencer addressed the people again, advising them to close the meeting and go home and prepare for defence; which they obediently did. See McBride's Pioneer Biography, Volume II, page 186. 356 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. Sycamore township; near Ridgeville, Warren county; at Turtle creek, now Lebanon; near Little Prairie, now Middletown; and even at Staunton, near the county seat of Miami county, about seventy miles north of Columbia. Acc0rding to the recollections of Mr. David Doty, published in McBride's Pioneer Biography, "the order then was for every man to meet on parade on Sunday m0rning, armed and equipped, and after going through the manual exercise, march to the place of worship, stack their guns in one corner of the cabin until divine service was concluded, and then take them and return to their homes." Elder Smith preached a part of the time in Cincinnati. In April, 1790, the Columbia church formally resolved "that in view of the entire destitution of preaching in Cincinnati, Brother Smith be allowed to spend half his time in that place." In 1795 he resigned at Columbia, and devoted his work to what was known as the Little Miami Island church, on an islet in the river, about eight miles northeast of Columbia. He was assisted at the latter place by Elder Clark. the ordained of the September meeting in 1793, who took sole charge of the church after Smith's retirement, and ministered to it until autumn, 1797, when he removed to the northward and organized, successively, the Deer Creek and Turtle Creek (since Lebanon) churches. For a number of years he preached to both, and was the only pastor the latter church had from its formation in 1798 until 1829, or thereabouts, when he became superannuated. He lasted five or six years longer, dying December II, 1834, in his ninetieth year. Elder Smith ministered to the pioneer church for over ten years, and then dropped into politics. He was a member of the first Constitutional convention, that which organized the State of Ohio, and was one of the first United States Senators from this State. In 1806, when the storm burst over the head of Aaron Burr, Senator Smith shared in Colonel Burr's obloquy, simply, it would appear, from the hospitality tendered by him to Burr during the latter's visit to Cincinnati, and his firm expression of belief that Burr's projects involved nothing treasonable or injurious to the country. Mr. Dunlevy says in his History: A few individuals of very bad character, at Cincinnati, who had, themselves been intimate with Burr, and several of whom, it was believed, had been fully committed to his plans, when the clamor became great withdrew their familiarity with Burr, and, to screen themselves, joined in accusing Smith of connection with him. Party political strife at that time ran high, and at Cincinnati a secret organization was formed, and oaths of inviolable privacy were taken. The crimination of Senator Smith originated with the secret society. Its members were the principal witnesses against him, and refused on his trial to answer any questions except such as they pleased, and as they supposed, no doubt, would afford evidence against him. A bill of indictment was actually found against him, though abandoned without trial. He was put upon trial in the Senate, however, and though vindicated, it was by a majority so meagre that he felt virtually condemned, and resigned his seat. The expenses of his defence were so great, and the pressure of his Creditors so persistent, that he was compelled to part with all his property here, and in 1808 retired to an 0bscure locality in Louisiana, where he owned a tract of land, and where he thenceforth lived until his death, in 1824. Other early pastors of the Columbia church were : Elder Peter Smith, from Georgia, 1800-4; William Jones, at Duck creek, 1805-14; John Clark, at Duck creek, 1814-16; and James Lyon, who was still living in 1857. A notable revival occurred under the ministry of the first named, in the spring of 1801, in which nearly one hundred and fifty persons were baptized and admitted to the church, among them several, as James Lynn, afterwards pastor of the same church, Ezra Ferris and Hezekiah Stites,who themselves became useful preachers of the gospel. Later in its history others of its young men have gone out to different pat ts of the country in similar service. In 1808 the. meeting-place of the membership in this church was removed from Columbia to a more central point two miles north, where it took the name of the Duck Creek church, which it has since borne. September 23, 1797, the first ecclesiastical gathering of importance in the Miami country took place with this church, in Columbia, to form an association of Baptist churches. It was composed mainly of ministers and delegated laymen from the societies at Columbia, Little Miami Island, Carpenter's run and Clear creek, though two ministers were present from Kentucky. Elder John Smith was elected moderator and David Snodgrass, clerk. After consultation it was resolved "that the churches in this Northwest Territory, and those adjacent, of the Baptist 0rder, should meet at the Baptist meetinghouse in Columbia, on the first Saturday of November ensuing." At that meeting further arrangements were made to form the Miami association, which was fully constituted at a meeting held with the Island church October 20, 1798, still another meeting having been held meanwhile in June, 1798, at Columbia. Such bodies moved slowly in those days. A Methodist Episcopal class was formed at Columbia in 1799, by the Rev. John Kobler, the pioneer of Methodism in this region, and Francis McCormick, who lived near the mouth of the East fork of the Little Miami, and died near Mount Washington in 1836. The Columbia Congregational church was organized December 22, 1867, with twenty-nine members. For some time divine worship was regularly held at the town hall, but in 1870 the present edifice was commenced and completed. It is a neat, frame building, with bell, costing about five thousand dollars. The auditorium or main room has a seating capacity of two hundred and seventy-five; while the room at the rear, which may be thrown open with the other, will comfortably seat sixty or seventy-five more. This is commonly used for the infant department of the Sabbath school, and for prayer meetings. The church has a pipe-organ,which has a distinct and peculiar history : It was obtained and given to the church by Mrs. H. P. B. Jewett, who now resides in New York city. In the death of HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 357 Deacon Jewett, which occurred April 2, 1877, the church lost an invaluable member, and the community was deprived of a consistent Christian citizen. The church has had five pastors, viz: Rev. J. W. Peters, Rev. H. L Howard, Rev. D. I. Jones, of Pleasant Ridge, Rev. R. M. Thompson, of Mount Washington, and Rev. D. F. Harris, who has been pastor since the fall of 1876. Like all suburban churches, this one labors under the disadvantages of a transient population. People are constantly coming and going, so that stability is almost out of the question. In the last few years the church has suffered on account of the removal of some of its most efficient members, notably Mr. 0. W. Nixon, of the Inter–Ocean, Chicago, who was a few years ago the treasurer of Hamilton county. During the four years' pastorate of Rev. Mr. Harris, there have been fifty-seven additions to the church—thirty-two by letter and twenty-five by profession. The present membership is one hundred and thirty-four. The ladies of the church and congregation have two missionary societies, the Home and the Foreign; while a third, in the interest of both, is carried on by the young people. Besides this work, the church regularly contributes her proportion, with sister churches of the Miami conference, toward the Oberlin ministerial fund. The church also contributes toward the support of the great missionary and benevolent societies, such as the American Board, the American Missionary association, the Home Missionary association, and the Congregational Union. The first school in the county was opened in Columbia June 21, 1790, by John Reily, the settler before noticed. It was a six-months' subscription school, and appears to have been kept right through the warm season. The next year Francis Dunlevy joined his pedagogic interests with Mr. Reiley's, the former taking the classical department, while the other taught the English studies. In 1793 Reily gave the school over altogether to Dunlevy, and went to settle in the Mill Creek valley, seven miles from Cincinnati. The system of "boarding round" must have existed in his time of teaching in Columbia, since he records in his journal: "In the month of August boarded twelve days with Mr. Patrick Moore; in the month of September boarded twelve days with Hugh Dunn; and in the month of December' boarded with John McCulloch six days." He must have had a school-building put up for him, as Dr. Gofroth's diary names "Reiley's schoolhouse" as a certain place of meeting. If so, this was the first temple of learning in the Miami country. A little more than eight years after the settlement of Columbia, it entertained a distinguished visitor in the person of a young Englishman named Francis Baily, afterwards an "F. R. S."' and president of the Royal Astronomical society. The following extracts are from his journal of a tour, which was not published until 1856, and then appeared as an appendix to a memoir of Baily, by the late Sir John Herschel: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1797. This morning we dropped down the Aver about half a mile to a convenient landing, and here we had a much better view of the town than we had where we lay last night. The houses lie very scattered along the bottom of a hill which is about one-eighth of a mile from the river. The town is laid out on a regular plan, but was never in a very flourishing state. The neighboring and well-settled country sound and at Cincinnati prevents it from being a place of any great importance ; besides, it lies very low, and is often overflowed from the river, which prevents any houses being built immediately on the banks, as is customary in these new settlements. One-quarter of the land on which the town was intended to be laid out is now under water. After breakfast we went ashore to view the town, and H. introduced me to Mr. [Rev. John] Smith and Dr. Bean. The former gentleman is a man of very good property, which he has acquired in several different ways in this place : he is a farmer, a merchant, and a parson ; all these occupations, though seemingly so different, he carries on with the greatest regularity and without confusion. The latter is a man of good education and practices physic here, somewhat in the same manner as ou1 country apothecaries in England do, for which he is dubbed doctor. As those gentlemen rank with the first in the place, a description of their habitations, manners, and society will serve, without any great variation, for that of the bulk of emigrants in a similar state of life. As Dr. Bean would insist upon our sleeping at his house, and in fact stopping with him during our residence here we accompanied him home. His house was built of logs, as all the houses in these new settlements are, and consisted of a ground floor containing two rooms, one of which was appropriated to lumber, the other served all the purposes of parlor, bed-room, shop, and everything else (though there was a little, outhouse where they occasionally cooked their victuals and also washed), and it did not appear as if it had been cleaned out this half-year. There were two windows to throw light into the room, but there had been so many of the panes of glass broken, whose places were supplied by old hats and pieces of paper, that It was very little benefitted by the kind intention of the architect. I saw a few phials and gallipots on a shelf in one corner of the room, and near them a few books of different descriptions. . . Such is the force of example that very few of the emigrants who come into this kind of half-savage, half-civilized, state of life, however neat and cleanly they might have been before, can have resolution to prevent themselves from falling into that slovenly practice which everywhere surrounds them; and it is not till the first class of settlers are moved off, that any of these new countries are at all desirable to a person brought up in different habits of life. At dinner-table I observed a table prepared in the middle of the room, with some knives and forks and pewter plates placed on it, but without any table-cloth; and when the dinner was ready, two of his servants who were working out in the field were called in, and sat down at the same table and partook of the same provisions as ourselves. Our provisions consisted of some stewed pork and some beef, together with some wild sort of vegetable which had been gathered out in the woods, as it must be observed that in all these new settlements fresh provisions, both in meat and vegetables, are at some seasons very scarce, particularly at the time we were there. The inhabitants live a great deal upon deer and turkeys, which they shoot wild in the woods, and upon bacon, which they keep by them in case of need, and as to vegetables,' they are seldom to be procured, except in summer. The bread which is made here is chiefly of Indian meal; it is a coarse kind of fare, but after a little use becomes not all unpleasant. When the time drew nigh for us to retire to rest, we were shown to one corner of the room where there was a ladder, up which we mounted into a dismal kind of a place without a window, but instead of these there were a number of crevices between the logs, which had neve1 been filled up, and in the room there were three beds, or rather three bedsteads, with a few blankets thrown over them. I went to breakfast with Mr. Smith, and here I found things a little more in order, though far from that degree of 1efinement and comfort to be met with in the more civilized parts of this country. This house bore the marks of industry and cleanliness, and we were regaled with tea and coffee and boiled chicken for our breakfast, attended with buckwheat cakes, which-are common in this part of the country. . . . The farm of this gentleman consists of several acres of land adjoining his house, which he keeps in high cultivation—chiefly meadow ground—and from which he has realized a great deal of money. His warehouse was near the water side. It consisted of but one room, where he brings down the 1iver such articles of European manufacture as are most in demand. There are but two o1 three other stores of the same kind in Columbia. The profits of this trade are generally one hundred per cent., and sufficiently compensate the trade for the trouble of a journey once or twice a year to Philadelphia. 358 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. Some lots in Columbia sold lately for thirty dollars. That inveterate romancer, Th0mas Ashe, who afterwards made away with Dr. Goforth's admirable collection of fossil remains, passed Columbia on his way to Cincinnati in 1807, and made the following note in his book: Just below the junction of this stream [the Little Miamij with the Ohio is the town of Columbia, which rose out of the woods a few years ago with great rapidity and promise, and now is on the decline, being sickly and subject to insulation, when the waters of the Miami are backed up the country by the rise of the Ohio in the spring, the current of the Ohio being so impetuous as to hinder the Miami from flowing into the stream.[!] A topographical description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana, by J. Cutler, published in 1810, gives a paragraph to Columbia: Immediately below the mouth of the Little Miami is the town of Columbia. It was laid out by Colonel Symmes, and is the oldest settlement in the State, on the Ohio river, except Marietta, but has increased very little in the number of its inhabitants. At present it is only a neat, pleasant village, consisting of about forty houses, built at some distance from each other, on a rich bottom or interval. Nor is it probable, from its situation, that it will ever become a place of much business. In 1819 Columbia is noticed in the Ohio State Gazetteer as "a post town of Hamilton county, six miles eastwardly from Cincinnati. It is situated on the north bank of the Ohio river, one mile bel0w the mouth of the little Miami, and contains about fifty houses." The first marriages in Columbia, as reported under the law of the c0urt of general quarter sessions of the peace, are believed to have been those of Captain James Flinn and Jane Newell, June 27, 1790, and of Bethuel Covalt and Rachel Blackford, December 29, 1790. Columbia village was regularly incorporated in 1868. By the last census taken before its annexation to Cincinnati, that of 1870, it had a population of one thousand one hundred and sixty-five. It was taken into the city in 1873. Among its mayors have been—J. L. Thompson, 1869; W. J. M. Gordon, 1870; Benneville Kline, 1872-4. LINWOOD. This place has a large site—one thousand three hundred and fifteen acres, or over two square 'miles—comprising four hundred and forty-six acres pore than all the rest of Spencer township. It is situated in the northeast part of the township, on the hills west of the Little Miami railroad, and southwest of the observat0ry at Mount Lookout. It was founded in 1848 for L. A. Chapman, by Israel Wilson, and has been greatly enlarged and otherwise improved since by the operations of the Linwood Land company. January 16, 1874, the village was incorporated for general purposes, and its mayor that year was Mr. John. P. Langdon. It is mainly a place for suburban residence, with Methodist, Congregational and Baptist churches, and a good graded school; but a beginning of manufacturing has been made with a hame-factory, etc. It has a population of seven hundred and twenty-two by the census of 1880. Linwood station is half a mile south of the main part of Linwood, at the junction of the Union Bridge and Wooster turnpikes, and on the Little Miami railroad. A considerable settlement has also been made here. The fine Undercliff road passes through it. James L. Langdon settled in Columbia township in 1806. He was born in Orange county, Vermont, in 1792, and emigrated to Ohio, where he still lives. He has followed the business of farming on the Miami bott0ms. At times also he has served as a Methodist preacher. His wife, Sarah Phelps, was born in Maine in 1799, and died in 1863. They have three children living in this county: John P.; Elam C., a resident of Linwood; and Mrs. Harriet Williams, of Springfield. Mr. Langdon is one of the oldest men living in Columbia township; he is eighty-eight years old, has lived a life that commands the respect of all who know him, and his two sons are worthy representatives of himself. RED BANK STATION is on the Little Miami railroad and river, at the southeast corner of the township, on the Spencer line, about a mile east of the observatory, and two and a half miles northeast of Columbia. Batavia Junction, where the Cincinnati & Eastern narrow guage joins the Little Miami, is a few hundred yards northeast of it. MOUNT LOOKOUT is at the extreme northeast corner of Cincinnati, and lies both within and without the city. The observatory attached to the University of Cincinnati is located here, in charge of Director Stone. A fine private park lies just inside the city limits, which is much in request for picnic parties and celebrations. A dummy railroad connects the locality with the horse-cars at Pendleton. O'BRYANVILLE. A village on the Madison pike, now included in the First ward of the city, at the northwest corner of the old Spencer township. It was laid out in 1875 by Scarborough & Williams, executors of the will of Benjamin Hey. PENDLETON. Also an old village, but more considerable, lying between the hills and the river, from Fulton to Sportsman's Hall or the East End garden. The Delta station, on the Little Miami railroad, and the termini of the Columbia and Mount Lookout dummy railroads, are at the latter point. LEWISTON was a former village in Spencer township, laid out in 1828 by William Lewis. It is now included in the Seventeenth ward of the city. UNDERCLIFF AND RUSSELL'S are stations and suburban villages on the Little Miami railroad, between Columbia and Red Bank. TURKEY BOTTOM. This is a notable track of about one and a half square' miles, between the Little Miami river and Columbia. It was found by the first settlers already cleared, for the most part, by the long cultivation of the Indians, and very likely also of the Mound Builders; but still exceedingly fertile. From nine acres of it planted by Judge Goforth during the first season of white occupancy, nine HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 359 hundred and sixty-three bushels of corn were raised ; and Captain Benjamin Davis realized a crop of one hundred and fourteen bushels from one acre. There is also a tradition that Benjamin Randolph, having planted a single acre with corn and then compelled to visit New Jersey, came back in the fall and found one hundred bushels of corn, without any attention meanwhile, ready for his in-gathering. Major Stites was its first owner, and leased it out in good-sized lots—unmarked by divisions—to six of the colonists, for terms of five years. The first cultivation 0f it by the whites had to be done under guard, to protect against Indian surprise. It was almost the sole Columbia cornfield of 1789 and '90, and was the favorite resort of the women and children, for procuring the bear grass root for fuel. In the matter of the fertility of the Columbia region, an extravagant local item in the Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette for September 11, 1802, with quotation here : There is in the garden of Colonel John Armstrong, of Columbia, a peach-tree on which there is fruit nearly as big as a half-bushel, and would weigh, it is supposed, from twenty to twenty-five pounds. TUSCULUM names a station 0n the Little Miami railroad in Eastern Cincinnati, and also a district for suburban residence on the neighboring hill, which is called Mount Tusculum, and closely overlooks Columbia both south and east. Over three hundred acres have been handsomely laid out and improved by Judge Joseph Langworth, the improvements including a fine roadway of about five miles length, called Undercliff avenue, which encircles and intersects the entire quarter. POPULATION. Spencer township—the little tract now lying outside the city—had nine hundred and ninety-five inhabitants by the census of June, 1880. And yet it had as the larger township, a population of two thousand five hundred and forty-three in 1880. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH, THE LANGDON FAMILY. The records of the Langdon family in Linwood go back to Philip Langdon, a mariner from Boston, Massachusetts, who was originally from England, it is supposed. His seventh child and fifth son was Lieutenant Pail Langdon, who was born September 12, 1693, and died December 3, 1761. He married Mrs. Mary Stacy August 18, 1718, in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and they had seven children; the fifth being John Langdon (the grandfather of James D. Langdon). Lieutenant Paul Lang-don and this son John took part in the Revolutionary war. This John was born June 21, 1728, and died October 10, 1822. He married Eunice Torrey, December 29, 1757, and they had a family of eight children, whose names were John W., Artemas, James, Josiah, Joanna, Oliver, Eunice, and Solomon. Of these Artemas died in infancy, and the brothers, excepting Josiah, all came to Ohio with their sister Joanna, and although they were farming, yet they often officiated as preachers and exhorters in the Methodist church. They settled near Cincinnati, and some of their descendants are living in the old homestead. James, the third son, was the father of the subject of the following sketch. He was born March 27, 1762, and died October 3, 1804. lie was married December 15, 1788, to Esther Stebbins, also of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and their children were Richard Chester, James Davenport, Elam Potter, Lorenda, and Joanna. He (the father) died while the children were comparatively young, leaving the cares of the family on the mother, who was a woman of remarkable energy of character. She was usually known as "Aunt Esther," and as friend, nurse, or neighbor, was very often called upon for advice or assistance. In those days the women spun and wove the cloth for bedding and clothing, and Aunt Esther was a wonderful weaver and spinner. Her father was Moses Stebbins, the son of Samuel, who was the son of Samuel, who was the son of Thomas, who was born in 1620, in England, and son of Rowland Stebbins, or Stebbing, as the name was originally, and who came to America in 1634, and settled in Massachusetts. James Davenport Langdon was born June 13, 1792, in Vershire, Vermont. His father was James Langdon, who married Esther Stebbins, December 15, 1788, in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. His parents were both natives of this place, but immediately after their marriage they moved to Vershire, Vermont. He had two brothers, Richard C. and Elam P., and two sisters, Lorenda and Joanna. In October, 1804, his father died whilst away from home on business, after a very short illness of measles. Two years after his death, or in 1806, two of his uncles, John W. and Solomon, with their families, his mother with her family, Andrew Peters and Wales Aldrich and their families, in all about forty souls: moved in wagons from Vermont and came out to Ohio. The journey was tedious and slowly made through the wilderness, there being no roads scarcely, camping at night as they could, sometimes at an occasional tavern or farm house, but oftener in their wagons as night came on. It took about ten weeks to reach the Ohio river at Wellsville, where they embarked on flat boats, taking the wagons aboard, but sending the horses by land down the Ohio side. Floating down the river they landed at Columbia two days before Christmas. That first winter in Ohio his mother and family lived in part of the house of Oliver Spencer—an old building which still stands near the old tanyard. There was only one other house then in Columbia, the McMahon house, and that is still standing near the Columbia railroad station. This Oliver Spencer was the father of Robert, afterwards a Methodist preacher, Henry E., who was for several years mayor of Cincinnati, Oliver, a judge in the Hamilton county courts, and a fourth son who became a farmer in northern Ohio. In the spring of 1807 the family located at what was 360 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. called Red Bank station, on the farms or lands which have ever since been occupied by them and their descendants, on and near the Little Miami river. This land was purchased by his uncle Oliver Langdon, who was the guardian appointed in Vermont, out of tracts originally owned by Benjamin Stites. There were only ten or a dozen families then in all of what is now known as Spencer township; they were Eliphalet, Joseph, Andrew, and John Ferris, brothers, and Henry Ferris their cousin—the families of Larned, Allen Witham, Giffins, Nash, Riggle and Williams. A treaty had been made two or three years before with the Indians, and about all had gone to reservations. The first school-house was built by Joseph Ferris on his farm. The first religious society, Methodist, was formed in 1805 in the McMahon house alluded to, and the Baptists built the first church in Ohio in Columbia a few years later which was destroyed about 1835. The Methodists built their first church in Columbia about 1840, which was accidently burned and rebuilt on another lot. The settlers for the first year or two lived literally on hog and hominy. The first grist-mill was run by two brothers named Hawley, and was on the Miami near the mouth of Clough creek. Afterwards it was owned and run for years by the Turpins until worn out or destroyed. The brothers and sisters of James D. are all dead. The sister Lorenda marrieo Lemuel Snow in September, 1816, and moved to a farm in Indiana; the other sister, Joanna, also married a farmer, Minervus Swift, in September, 1818, and lived four years in Indiana; Elam Potter married Ann Cromwell, a sister of Joseph Cromwell, who kept the famous Broadway hotel so long in Cincinnati. Elam Potter was connected as clerk or assistant postmaster nearly all his life with the Cincinnati post office. Richard was a printer and newspaper publisher, and his widow still lives in Covington, Kentucky. James D., the subject of this sketch, was married to Sarah Phelps December 23, 1818, and has lived on the one spot about sixty-three years. He has always been actively engaged in farming from his early youth, and owes his good health and long years to good habits and regular living. His uncle Oliver was quite a preacher, and officiated at funerals, baptisms and marriages. After his uncle's death, in 1828 or 1829, he began to preach himself; the text of his first sermon was 1 Samuel xii - 24—"Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart, for consider how great things He has done for you"—and was at a service one Sunday at the mouth of the Little Miami river. There being but few ministers in those days it naturally fell to be his lot to take the uncle's place. So from that on he was continually called on to preach, attend funerals, and solemnize marriages for miles all around the country. He was licensed to preach in 1836 and ordained elder in 1842. During the year 1848 he was superintendent of Cincinnati circuit, and for eight years was a member of the annual conference of the Methodist Protestant church. He was president of the first temperance society formed in the year 1833 in Columbia township. For years in succession he was a township trustee and school director, and has all through life been an officer or trustee in Sunday-school. His wife had an experience in coming to Ohio (which was the year before the marriage, or 1817) very similar to that of her husband. She was born in Hollowell, Maine, on May 1, 1797, and was the daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah Phelps. She had four brothers, William, John, Alfred and Nathan, with one sister, Eliza, who came in wagons all the long journey from Hollowell, Maine, to Columbia. The brothers and sister (who married Jonathan Livings) all settled in Indiana, and raised families there. Dr. Ebenezer S. Phelps, the oldest brother, located in Middleton, Massachusetts, where he and his family now reside. James D. and Sarah had a family of nine children—James, Sarah, Cynthia, Harriet, Cyrus, John, Elam, Edwin and Henry. There are now living only the father and three of the children—John P., Elam C., and Harriet. John P. occupies the homestead and is a farmer, and has one son, James W., who lives near his father, and is a.farmer. The old family dwelling had become so out of repair and dilapidated, in 1877, having been used for some sixty years, it was torn down by John P., and a modern and commodious dwelling was built on the site. John P. has been mayor of the village for three successive terms, and been commissioned twice as magistrate for the township. Elam C. resides on part of the homestead farm, has had four children, three now living. These two brothers, from time to time, have been called upon to take part in affairs of the township and village. Elam has served seventeen years as school trustee, several terms in village council, two or three terms as treasurer of township, and both the brothers are members and workers in church and Sabbath-school, taking an active part in all public enterprises. Harriet became the wife of Rev. Charles H. Williams, a minister in the Methodist Protestant church. She has three sons living, and for several years her home has been in Springfield, Ohio, where the sons are connected with railroads, and the husband is an active church officer. The sons James, 'Cyrus and Edwin, and the daughter, Sarah, died young or unmarried. Cynthia married Dr. H. E: Morrill, and her home was in Brooklyn, New York, where an only daughter survives her, and wh0 is now the wife of Dr. Hugh Smith. The son, Henry, became a physician and surgeon, and acted as such during the late war, in the Seventy-ninth regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, which was with General Sherman during that wonderful march through the South, which virtually brought the war to an end. His widow survives him and one son, Willie Carson. The doctor, after the close of the war, practised medicine in Columbia for several years, and his office was within gunshot almost of the old Spencer house, in which his grandmother and father spent the winter of 1806-7. The record of the family of James D. Langdon: James D. Langdon, born June 13, 1792; Sarah Phelps, born May 1, 1797, died September 11, 1863, married December 23, 1818. Their children were : James Harvie, born November 23, 1819, died June 27, 1842; Sarah, born October 1, 1821, died December 15, 1825; Cynthia, born August 23, 1823, died January 9, 1861; HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 361 Harriet, born July 25, 1825, still living in Springfield, Ohio; Cyrus Stebbins, born January 5, 1828, died February 1, 1864; John Phelps, born December 8, 1829, living in Linwood, Ohio; Elam Chester, born March 31, 1832, living in Linwood, Ohio; Edwin Mattoon, born December 20, 1834, died July 26, 1847; Henry Archer, born May 28, 1839, died May 13, 1876. John P. Langdon married, for his first wife, Mary Williams, May, 1855, and James W., a son by this marriage, is living, and married to Lida Durham, and occu pies part of the father's farm. John P.'s second marriage took place in April, 1861, to Keturah Nash, and the couple still occupy the homestead place, and the old father lives with them. Elam C.'s first wife was Cynthia Allen, of New York State. She died in December, 1868, leaving two girls. His second wife was Martha F. Nash (whose sister married as above), a native of the old Columbia township. Two children have been born to them, one living only. SPRINGFIELD. ITS ERECTION. The need of a new township, to be carved from the northern part of the originally great Cincinnati township, was not felt with any pressure or made necessary by the pushing of settlement up the Miami purchase, until after Wayne's victory in 1794. This greatly stimulated removal from the hamlets along the river to the rural districts and invited rapid immigration from abroad. The next year the court of general quarter sessions of the peace for Hamilton county answered a demand of the growing settlements and somewhat numerous stations up the Mill Creek valley for a new municipality. Springfield township was accordingly created, t0 begin at a point in the meridian bounding the east side of township three, in the first entire range, two miles south of the southeast corner of said township three (that is, the present corner of Springfield township); thence north two miles to said southeast corner of township three; thence east two miles to the meridian; thence north six miles to the northern line of the entire range one; thence west to the east boundary of Colerain, which was then as now; thence south along Colerain and South Bend town. ships eight miles; thence east to the place of beginning. This boundary deprived Springfield of its present range of sections on the north, in range two, township two; but south of the south line of that range gave two tiers of sections—twelve in all, to the present south line of Sycamore, also the ranges of sections across what is now the north part of Mill .Creek township. The western boundary of Springfield was the same as now, except that it began one mile south of its present beginning, and extended two miles further south than now. The old township contained just sixty sections. In the general reconstruction of the townships of Hamilton county in 1803, Springfield suffered a change. It was now so bounded as to include the two western tiers of sections in township four, of the first entire range, which it had previously, but which are now in Sycamore township; the two sections next north of them in the second entire range, township three, also in Sycamore, which Springfield did not have before; the five eastern tiers of sections in township three, of the first entire range, all of which Springfield covered previously, but now lost the last tier on the west; one tier of sections immediately north of these, in range two, township two, which was a new acquisition of five sections to Springfield; and the same amount on the south, from what is now Mill Creek, but was only five-twelfths of the former possession of Springfield in this direction. By these changes the township had not greatly altered its form, but had shrunk in size from sixty to fifty-four sections. Springfield now includes the whole of township three, in the first entire range, and the tier of sections next on the north, in township two, range two. It is thus, but for a somewhat broken line, on the north, a regular parallelogram of uniform length, seven sections with Sycamore and Springfield townships, and of even width—six miles —with Mill Creek township. It contains forty-two sections, some of them being Of less than full size, and so yielding altogether but twenty-five thousand eight hundred and ninety-six acres, and is, with the exception of Sycamore, which has the same number of sections but more acres, the largest township in the county. The south, east, and west boundary lines are run straight, with approximate exactness; the first section parallel from the south is also well run, as well as the meridians in general; but the parallels proceeding from the second begin at once to break their regularity and soon become exceedingly uneven, growing more and more so to the north line of the township and county, which is here the most broken of any part of the county line, in places almost equaling the zigzags of a Virginia rail fence. GEOGRAPHY. Springfield township is bounded on the north by Butler county, on the east by Sycamore township, south by Mill Creek township, west by Colerain. The southeast 46 362 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. and eastern parts of the township are in the Mill Creek valley, which pushes some way, in its breadth and picturesque effects, up the West fork, into the interior of the township. The remainder of Springfield has the general character of the Hamilton county plateau. The heads of the West fork of Mill creek are just across the south line of the township, in Mill Creek—one at College Hill, the other a mile and a half east, near the Winton pike. The stream, with its tributaries, thence winds through or touches at least twenty-six sections of this township, with the main waters of Mill creek, which, at the point where they leave the township west of Carthage, approaching within a mile and a quarter of one head of the West fork, from which source the creek is here distant, by the very involved courses of the streams, scarcely less than eighteen miles. The East and West forks unite in this township, about a mile 'north of the southeast corner, and flow two miles and a half to their exit from Springfield, a mile and two-thirds west of the corner. Some of the affluents of the East fork intersect the north part of the township, one of them stretching more than halfway across the northern tier of sections. In the northwest corner flow several of the headwaters of streams that make their way thence into Butler county and to the Great Miami at the northward. By all these the township is very abundantly watered, and has its surface broken into many varied and picturesque forms. The Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad runs through the entire easternmost tier of sections, in a somewhat winding course of about eight miles. The Cincinnati & Springfield railroad, commonly known as the Dayton Short Line, almost bisects section No. 1, in the southeast corner, but does not elsewhere touch the township, except across a corner of the next section north. It has a course in Springfield of only about one and a half miles. The College Hill narrow-gauge railway now runs to a point half a mile west of Mt. Pleasant, entering from the south and having about two miles 0f track within the township. Another narrow-gauge line, called the Cincinnati, Avondale & Hamilton railroad, has been projected, to enter Springfield from the direction of Avondale, where it would form a junction with the Miami Valley (now Cincinnati & Northern), upon section No. 7, nearly half a mile west of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad, and run with a general parallelism to that line to Glendale, where it would strike to the northwest, leaving the township on section No. 19, two miles and a half from the northwest corner. This, however, is believed to be a dead project. The old Hamilton turnpike runs through the township almost on a due north and south line, through Mount Pleasant, one mile east of the Colerain line. The Hamilton, Springfield & Carthage turnpike, on the old military road, or Wayne's trace, strikes a bee line from Carthage, on the first meridian west of the Sycamore boundary througe Hartwell, Wyoming, and to Glendale, whence it diverges to the northwest, passing through Springdale to its exit from the county in the direction of Hamilton. The line due northward from the point of divergence is continued by the Princetown turnpike to the north county line. The Winton pike, and several other fine roads, also aid in the accommodation of the Springfield people. The Lebanon pike barely more than touches the southeast corner. The Miami canal also crosses that angle, but farther in the interior, striking diagonally, in a course of about two miles, through sections Nos. 1 and 2, and passing the villages of Carthage, Hartwell, and Lockland. These with other villages named above, and als0 Springdale, are also the principal places in the township, although many others have been platted, particularly on the railway lines, as will appear near the close of this chapter. TOWNSHIP OFFICERS. The first, nominated by the quarter sessions court in 1795, were: John Ludlow, clerk; James Wallace, overseer of the poor; Henry Tucker, Jacob White, overseers of highways; Isaac Martin, John Vance, Luke Foster, viewers of enclosures and appraisers of damages. Under the order of 1803, defining new boundaries for the township, the voters in Springfield were required to meet at the house of Jonathan Pittman, and elect three justices of the peace. April 24, 1809, under the system then prevailing, Zebulon Foster and Joseph Jenkins were commissioned by the governor of the State as justices of the peace for the township of Springfield, each to hold his office for the term of three years. We find the names of other Springfield justices published as follows: 1819, Abraham Lindlay, William Snodgrass; 1825, Charles Swaim; 1829, Thomas Scott, James Whalon, Alexander Mayhew; 1865-8, Samuel McLean, John L. McGill, R. McGilliard; 1869, McGilliard, McLean, Thomas Evitt; 1870-1, Evitt, McGilliard, C. B. Ruffin; 1872, Evitt, McGilliard, E. P. Newell; 1873, McGilliard, Newell, Joseph O. Durham; 1874, Durham, McGilliard, F. M. Douglass; 1875-6, same, with Jeremiah Gross; 1878, Robert Carson, D. J. Smith, H. P. Mayhew; 1879-80, Smith, Mayhew, R. J. Stauverman. HISTORICAL NOTES. The cattle-brand of the township, fixed by the court of quarter sessions in 1795, was E. It is noted that by 1810 Springfield had already a population of about fifty-eight to the square mile. It had a total number of seven thousand nine hundred and seventy-nine inhabitants by the census of 1880. In the Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette, of Cincinnati—the number for July 9, 1800—William Ludlow advertises his farm in Springfield township, of thirty to forty acres, for sale, and offers to take a brood-mare for part pay. Farming property, evidently, was cheap in those days. The Mound Builders left some remains of interest in this township, although none great in extent. A fine old mound, of considerable size, near the Station spring, was destroyed many years ago, in grading for a turnpike. Mr. Olden says: In cutting through it the earth presented the appearance of having been deposited from vessels little larger than a peck measure, as small heaps of that size and of eutirely different kinds of earth were found HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 363 deposited or thrown promiscuously together, showing that the builders of the work had no knowledge of the domestication or use of the lower animals, and that all their great works were constructed entirely by human hands. Another, said by Mr. Olden to correspond pretty nearly in size to this, still stands on the Maynard French farm, section eleven, southwest of Glendale. He says: It is seventy-three feet in diameter north and south, and sixty-three feet east and west at the base, with an altitude of eight feet. It is covered with forest trees, oak and ash, some of which are more than twenty inches in diameter. Some persons in digging into it years ago left two uneven and ill-looking depressions, which mar the appearance of this otherwise beautiful little mound. A smaller mound, of about forty feet in base-diameter and six feet high, is found on section four, upon the Noah Bab's place. Several others exist upon the estate of Mr. John L. Riddle, in the northwest part of the township, and some elsewhere in Springfield, but none of so marked a character as to call for further description. We do not learn that any enclosures or fortified works have ever been discovered in the township. THE BEGINNINGS OF SETTLEMENT. In 1792, Mr. Henry Tucker, who had come from New Jersey to Columbia the same year with his relative, John Tucker; Henry Weaver, who came to the same place from New York, two years before; Luke and Zebulon Foster, Jonathan Pittman and James McCasken, formed a company to push up the valley of Mill creek, establish a station and improve. a farm. They found a suitable tract on what is now section four of this township, on the west branch of Mill creek, a little below Glendale, half a mile north of the site of the well-known tavern, afterwards kept by Mr. Pittman, and about as far east of the tracks of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad. The site known as Foster's Hill transmits the memory of their occupation here. It was then on the military trace cut through between Forts Washington and Hamilton. East of this, and at a point about a mile and a half northwest of the present Lochland, the party began the erection of a block-house. Mr. Olden says: "The old station-house stood on the east side of the road, immediately opposite the late residence of Manning Tucker, now owned by Mr. Horace Bugher." The farm owned by Mr. Bugher is identical, in part, with the location made by the Tuckers and their company. Cabins were also commenced; but the settlement, although unmolested by the Indians, was presently disturbed by a dissension between Henry Tucker and Luke Foster, the former alleging that Foster, in making the lines of his own division (for the settlers were not to hold in common), had encroached upon the site Tucker had selected for his home. The trouble was serious, and the complainant, unable to obtain satisfaction, seceded from the colony and returned to Columbia. During the winter of 1793-4, however, the difficulty was composed, Luke Foster accepting an offer of ten acres in the southwest corner of the section, and Zebulon Foster five acres next north of it, as compensation for their improvements made on section four. This was now divided again between the two Tuckers and Pittman, while the Fosters, with Weaver and McCashen, and two new men named James Seaward and Ziba Wingent, agreed to settle on sections nine and ten, next on the west and southwest. Under this arrangement Henry Tucker, with the rest, who had also returned to Columbia on the advice of Captain Wells, an experienced Indian fighter, to await the advent of Wayne's army, went out again in the spring of 1794 and recommenced their improvements. Henry Tucker's son, the Manning R. Tucker mentioned above, resided long after upon the tract, and the place continued to be known as Tucker's station, being mentioned by that name in the notes of early travelers, and in other accounts. But the new station-house, made necessary by the division of the original party into the settlements, thus calling for a location central and convenient to both, was called PLEASANT VALLEY STATION. It took its name from the beafitiful grove in picturesque surroundings, amid which it was situated. A spring near still bears the name of "Station spring," and traditionally marks the site as on the line between sections four and ten, on the west bank of Mill creek, and directly on the present Hamilton turnpike, near Woodlawn station. Late in the fall, about two months after Wayne had marched his protecting and avenging "legion" northward, the station-house and cabins being sufficiently near completion, the settlers felt it safe to remove their families to the station. Mr. Olden says: Neither Tucker's nor Pleasant Valley stations suffered any serious trouble with the Indians. No murders or other depredations were committed, and, save one single incident, nothing occurred to cause alarm or apprehension of danger. The event referred to happened one morning during the winter of 1793-4- Mr. James Seward, while down at the spring getting water, heard what he supposed to be turkeys calling some distance beyond the creek, and on going into the station-house spoke to a Mr. Mahan, who had been about the station several days, saying: " If you would like to have a turkey, Mahan, I think you can get one if you hurry out. I heard them calling over on the hill." Mahan at once caught up his gun and started in the direction pointed out by Seaward. He had gone but a short distance when he heard the peculiar calling of turkeys, and followed on in the direction until he was led away near a mile from the station, when suddenly a large Indian stepped from behind a tree not more than twenty yards from him, and said in broken English, "How do?" At the same time he saw a gun pointing towards him from a cluster of spice bushes. The surprise was so great and sudden that he dropped his gun and ran with superhuman speed for the station, followed closely by the Indians. They no doubt intended capturing him without alarming the settlement, and therefore did not fire upon and kill him at once, as they could easily have done. . . . He outstripped his pursuers and reached the station, but so overcome that his eyes were protruding and bloodshot. He swooned from exhaustion, and lay for an hour or more in a complete stupor. When reaction came a fever set in, and for several days his life was despaired of. Mr. Henry Weaver, of this settlement, was appointed by Governor St. Clair; in 1794, one of the justices of the peace for Hamilton county, with a very large jurisdiction, in point of territory, considering the extent of the country at that time. He pushed further to the northward after the treaty of Greenville, settling near the present Middletown, in Butler county, and afterwards on Elk creek, Madison township, where he lived the rest of his days, filling honorably, a part of the time, the post of associate judge of the court of common pleas, and many lesser offices. Luke Foster, one of the Columbia pioneers and a lieutenant under appointment of Governor St. Clair, was 364 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. the patriot who made the offer of a hundred bushels of corn to relieve the garrison at Fort Washington in 1789, as is related elsewhere. He remained with the Pleasant Valley settlement; also became an associate judge of the court of common pleas, and was killed August 28, 1857, at the great age of eighty-eight years, by a gravel train on the Cincinnati 'Hamilton & Dayton railroad, which passed through his farm. Foster Hill, in the south part of section four, midway between Glendale and Lockland, is named after this family. FORTIFIED STATIONS. The territory now covered by Springfield township included a greater number of these than any other tract of equal size in the county. The vigorous pushing of enterprising colonists up the Mill Creek valley, while the necessity for special protection against Indian attacks still existed, sufficiently accounts for this. The most important of these simple fortifications was probably 1. White's Station.—This was formed under the leadership of Captain Jacob White, of Redstone, Pennsylvania, by a number of families, among the heads of whom were Messrs. David Flinn, Andrew and Moses Pryor, Andrew Goble, and Lewis Winans. The exact date is unknown. Local traditions fix the year as 1790; but as Captain White did not locate his land until July 23, 1792, it is believed that he did not go upon it with his settlement until after that date. His location was upon section one in this township, and the block-house was built near the present canal aqueduct, northeast of Carthage, on the southeast bank of Mill creek, at what was then called "the third crossing." Mr. Olden says: "Its particular location, as near as can be described, was where the ice-pond now is, northeast of Carthage." The block-house was a small and feeble defence, and was occupied by White's family alone. Goble and Flinn built cabins for their families near, and a heavy, rough log-fence surrounded all the buildings. It was made, however, rather to turn cattle and hogs, then for protection against Indians. Mr. Thomas M. Dill, of Carthage, in a narrative prepared for the History of Mill Creek Township, gives the following description of this humble fortification: The station stood on the south bank of Mill creek, where the Cincinnati & Springfield railroad bridge now crosses. It was a strong doubled log structure, with a middle hall through between the inner apatments, in the upper projecting stories of which were holes through which to hre. Barricade doors effectually barred all entrance from without, while a palisade strengthened an outer enclosure, into which horses were placed in time of danger. The creek prevented approach from the north and northeast, the bank here being high, and the ford below being within range of the guns in the station. The front of the block-house was towards the southeast, fifty yards from which, along the edge of the bottom, ran a low fence, extending from the great road on the west around east a id north to the bank of the creek, where the Miami aqueduct now stands. On the bank of the creek, above and below the station-house, were the cabins of Andrew Goble and Mr. Flinn, with whom lived his sons, Stephen and Benjamin. On the north side of the creek were the houses of Andrew Pryor, John S. Wallace, and Mr. Winans, and that of Mrs. Moses Pryor, whose husband was killed the year before in the well. Andrew Pryor, Mr. Winans, and Colonel John S. Wallace afterwards built cabins on the other side of the creek, within what are now the limits of Hartwell, but not distant from the station. The tract owned formerly by Moses Pryor was in section six, Mill Creek township, including what are now the county infirmary firm, and his residence, in his lifetime, was more distant from the station, as was that of Mr. John Reily, a school teacher from Columbia, who was on the northeast corner of section twelve, the original site of Carthage. Their history belongs to the annals of Mill Creek township. The principal event at White's station, or elsewhere in the early history of Springfield township, was the desperate attack made by a party of Indians upon the station on the evening of October, 1793, closely following the defeat of an escort to one of Wayne's wagon-trains, a few miles north of Fort St. Clair. The station had been warned of the disaster, and probable consequent danger to it, by a courier from Wayne on the morning of the same day. Mr. Olden thus tells the sad story: Many traditionary accounts have been handed down through the families then belonging to the station concerning the events about to be related, differing, as might be expected, as to the *details ; but the principal facts are well substantiated, and may be relied upon as true. The whole male force about the station at the time consisted of seven men and a boy, viz.: Captain Jacob White, Andrew Goble, David Flinn and his two sons Stephen and Benjamin, both full-grown men, Andrew Pryor, Lewis Winans, and Providence, the son of Captain White, then but ten years of age. John S. Wallace, who resided in a cabin on the north bank of the creek, was at the time on a visit with his family at Cincinnati. The widow of Moses Pryor, with her three children, was residing in the family of her brother-in-law, Andrew Pryor, opposite the station, as before stated. About five o'clock in the evening the dogs belonging to the station kept up a continuous barking on the hill, not far from the present residence of William R. Morris. Andrew Goble, supposing the dogs had treed a coon, proposed to go into the woods and get it ; but Captain White, thinking it possible that there were Indians about, forbade any one going out. Goble, however, persisted, and finally went alone. He had gone but a few hundred yards from the station when he was fired upon and fell, pierced, as it was afterwards discovered, by a number of balls. The Indians then emerged from their cover (some say behind the second bank of the creek ; others assert that they were concealed in the little ravine south of where Mr. Morris' residence now stands). They came down the hill with their accustomed war-whoop, and as they approached the station they observed Mrs. Pryor's little girl, a child of little more than four years old, playing upon the opposite bank of the creek. They at once fired upon it, and it fell mortally wounded. The mother, who and her three children were then the only occupants of the cabins on the north side of the creek—all the other inmates having gone ove1 to the station on a visit—heard the firing, and went to the door of the cabin just in time to witness the fatal shot that struck her child. Her second child, a boy between two and three yeaas old, being sick, she was holding him in her arms, while her babe was lying asleep in the cradle, On seeing her little girl fall she put down the boy and went out, under the fire of the Indians, and bore the child into the house, only, however, to find it silent in death. The savages then opened fire upon the little block-house, which was promptly returned, and the crack of the rifle was incessant for some half-hour. There were a number of surplus guns in the station, and the women were kept busy loading, while the men were thus enabled to keep tip an almost constant fire, making their number appear much greater. Captain White ordered the women to place his hat upon a pole and run it through the roof of the block-house. This ruse was quite successful for a time in drawing the fire of the enemy. The Indians, who numbered about thirty, and up to this time were sheltered behind trees at some distance away, now came down the hill upon the station with furious yells, as if to carry it by storm. They were led on by a large and powerful chief, who approached the blockhouse and, while in the act of scaling the fence, received a fatal shot and fell within the enclosure. The rest of the band, seeing their leader fall, retreated back into the woods, where they kept up an occasional fire for an hour or more, and then withdrew and were heard of no more. HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 365 In the early part of the engagement several Indians detached themselves from the main body, and, crossing the creek some distance above came down in the rear of the three cabins on the opposite bank from the station, in one of which Mrs. Pryor and her children resided. On finding her little girl dead beyond hope, Mrs. Pryor became so distressed over her bereavement that for a time she lost sight of all danger and gave herself up to grief. But the peril was too imminent to allow much time for sorrow. On going to the door of the cabin she saw an Indian approaching but a few hundred yards away, and once her mind reverted to her surviving children. Her first thought was to grasp both and fly for safety, but a second glance at the Indian warned her that time was precious, and, with a gleam of hope that the savage might spare her babe, she caugh up the sick boy and ran with all speed for the station, with the Indian in full pursuit. Without any regard to road or ford, she took the most direct course to the block-house, and, on coming to the creek sprang into the water up to her waist, crossed the stream, and reached the station in safety, where she was compelled to remain in her wet garments during the night.* Soon after the attack began Andrew Pryor was dispatched to Fort Washington for aid. He reached the fort about midnight, and obtained ten dragoons, each bearing an infantryman behind his saddle, who hastened to the relief of the little station, which they reached about daylight, but found that the Indians had left during the night. On going to the cabins over the way it was discovered that the savages had taken Mrs. Pryor's babe from the cradle and dashed out its brains against a stump near the cabin door, where its body was found. + They had entered all three of the cabins, ripped open the feather beds, turned out the feathers, and filled the ticks with clothing, coverlets, blankets, household goods and other valuables, and carried all away. The soldiers followed the trail for several miles but failed to overtake them. Some additional particulars of interest and value are supplied by Mr. Dill's relative, which we subjoin in full, notwithstanding some slight and unimportant discrepancies with Mr. Olden's account: Of the White family it appears that only Captain Jacob White and his son, Providence, a boy of twelve, together with the female portion of the family, were at home on that day. John S. Wallace and wife were away at Cincinnati; so that but six men and a boy comprised the strength of the station. During the day the dogs, in the woods east of the station, had barked a good deal, and Andrew Goble, thinking they had treed a coon, started out about sunset, saying he would have the coon, "Indians or no Indians." The Indians were in the ravine, which ran towards the station on the north side of the graveyard, and along the hilltop (near the aqueduct) overlooking the cabins of Pryor, Winans, and Wallace. On nearing the woods, where the dogs had been noticed barking, Andrew Goble was fired upon by the Indians, and fell, with eight balls through him. The Indians above, on the bluff, immediately fired across the creek, killing one of the Widow Pryor's children. The other child ran fo1 its mother, at Andrew Pryor's. The mother ran to the child, which was shot before her eyes, and with the other endeavored to reach the cabin. A second volley from the Indians on the bluff struck the other child, and when Mrs. Pryor entered the cabin both children were dead in her arms. It was supposed by Captain White and those in the station that it was one of his own children that was first shot, until some time after the attack, when the little ones came out from under the bed, where they had taken 1efuge from the balls of the enemy. Fire was opened effectively upon every Indian who exposed himself, from the cabins of Pryor and Winans, over the creek, and from the rifles of Captain White and the Flinns, in the station. The women put the children under the beds, and, themselves being protected by the strength of the lower rooms and the bullet proof palisades outside, assisted in loading the guns and passing them up to White and the Flinns * Mrs. Pryor was married in 1794 to Samnel Dunn, and immediately returned to the improvements made by her former husband, on what is now the county infirmary farm. There she and her husband resided for many years and raised a family of six children. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Willis, and was a native of New Jersey. She died on the second day of January, 1843, in the seventy-fourth year of her age, and was buried in the old Baptist burying-ground at Duck creek. The late Jeremiah Dunn, who resided north of Lockland, was her eldest son. + Mrs. Pryor was thus trebly bereaved by the Indian marauders. Her husband had been killed by the Indians at Pleasant run near Fort Hamilton, while engaged in conducting pack-trains for the army. above, who, firing rapidly from under the roof, not only did considerable execution, but impressed the savages with the belief that the post contained a greater force than it did. About dark, and after the firing hid continued sharply for over an hour, the Indians prepared to charge on the station and break thei1 way through; but the deadly fire from well directed rifles caused them to hesitate. The chief was recognized by his great stature, his orders, and his dodging continually from tree to tree, working his way towards the fence which extended across the cleared yard, sixty yards from the station. At last he issued his last command, and with a whoop started in advance of the rest to clear the fence. He reached the top of it, when White's rifle cracked, and the Indian fell heavily within the enclosure, dead. The attacking party kept under cover of the trees and the banks of the ravine until darkness prevented further hope of success. No sooner had darkness made it impossible to see the rifle-sights, than those of the Whites beyond the creek came over with their families into the station. Andrew Pryor immediately mounted a horse and started—most probably by way of Ludlow's station—to Cincinnati for aid. He, with Colonel Wallace and twenty men, got to the station before daylight on the twentieth, but found the Indians had withdrawn. Providence White, the boy, long afterwards related that his father, Captain White. "switched one of the horses well to make him lively, and as soon as it was dark put him on the horse's back and started him out of the station gate, telling him to whoop at the brow of the hill, 1o let them know he was still safe on the horse's back, and go quick for help." The boy went, taking the road or trace in the direction of Bonnell's run, Duck creek, and thence to Columbia. The Indians fired at the horse and rider, in the darkness, but did no injury other than to scalp one of Provy's big toes. It has been frequently stated in print that in this attack on White's station the Indians left but one dead —the chief, who was too heavy to be carried off under fire of the station; but this is incorrect. Twenty-five years ago William D. Ludlow stated to the writer of this narrative that he was at White's soon after the occurrence, and saw some of the dead Indians within a half-mile of the station. They were covered but slightly with earth, stalks, and weeds; the weather was warm and their bodies were much swollen, and one of them had on a sort of cotton shirt, and by his side a new rifle. His head was pillowed on the root of a tree, and on his bosom was tipped up a piece of looking-glass, reflecting the ugly features of his dead face. Some years ago some laborers in the vicinity of this site disinterred the parts of several skeletons; and these were, most probably, the remains of the Indians who fell in the attack. 2. Griffin's Station.—This was but about half a mile west of White's, and was probably established in the fall of 1793, or soon afterwards. Lieutenant Daniel Griffin, upon a land warrant, July 23, 1792, entered the. entire section seven, now in this township, and some time after sold three hundred and forty-eight acres of it to James Caldwell. James was one of the sons (the other being Samuel) of Robert Caldwell, who were all among the earliest settlers about this station, together with Robert Griffin, Daniel and Jacob Vorhis, James McCashen, and Daniel Seward. Their main station building was on the present Hamilton, Springfield and Carthage turnpike, where it crosses Mill creek southwest of Hartwell. It seems to have had no particular history. The cabins of the Griffin and Vorhis brothers, and that of Robert Caldwell, were on the south side of the stream; those of Daniel Seward and James McCashen on the north. Seward's is said to have been near the present dwelling of Mr. Cormany, in Hartwell ; McCashen's at the intersection of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad and the turnpike. John Winans is also known to have been an early immigrant near the station, but just where he located is uncertain. A little way below it the Caldwells early built a sax- and grist-mill, with which a little distillery was afterwards connected. Their business was ruined in 1806 by a sudden and unusual freshet in Mill 366 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. creek, which swept off their works ; and it was not found worth while to rebuild them. NOTES OF SETTLEMENT. Luke Foster was born on Long Island in the year 1761, and came to Hamilton county in 1788, where he first made settlement of the farm now occupied by the widow of Algernon Foster. His occupation was that of a farmer, although for a time he served as judge, of the court of common pleas of Hamilton county. As he prospered he kept constantly adding to his first purchase, until he became finally one of the most prominent land holders in the county. He died at the advanced age of ninety-four, being run over by the cars. His companion died nine years previously, and they both are buried near each other in the cemetery at Reading. Further notices of this veteran pioneer appear elsewhere. Algernon Sidney Foster, the subject of the following sketch, was born in the year 1805, on the farm now occupied by his widow, at the age of sixty-one. Ile married Miss Laura T. Rudebock, a native of New Jersey. At about the age of twenty-three he graduated at Oxford school, and afterwards sought the legal profession as his choice, but owing to the indisposition of his parents to have him from home, he was compelled to yield to their wishes, and ever after followed the occupation of farming. He was a gentleman of remarkable ability and intelligence, esteemed and respected wherever known. He was an industrious and hard-working man, although highly cultivated and refined. He died in the year 1880, after having lived a life of usefulness. He left a companion who was ever ready to share alike with him all the cares and disappointments that are so common in life, and his loss to her was irreparable. His remains were interred in the Spring Grove cemetery. Few are they whose names may grace the pages of this volume that were so well worthy as Algernon Foster. Among the first white children born in Hamilton county was one Daniel Cameron, who was born in the year 1786(?). Immediately after attaining his majority he married Miss Sarah S. Haines, daughter of an early pioneer of the county. He and his family experienced all the bitterness and privations of real pioneer life. To Mr. and Mrs. Cameron were born six children: Robert H., Daniel, James H., Caroline, and Betsey. The surviving children of this family are Betsey, and Damel, who was born in the year 1832. His business has been that of farming. He married, in the year 1858, Miss Maria Moore. Seven children have been given them: Watson, Allie, Damel, George B. McClellan, Clara, and two dying in infancy unnamed. Mr. Cameron is one of the industrious citizens of the township, and is pleasantly situated on a farm of one hundred and sixteen acres—the old Haines homestead. Benjamin Perlee was born in the year 1769, in New Jersey. From this State he removed to Cincinnati in 1795. He lived till the year 1845, when he died at his home in Springfield township. His first business was that of tailoring, but he subsequently became a farmer. Mary Peterson, his wife, was born in 1770, and died in 1852. Peter and John are the only surviving children; the latter is now living on the old homestead. On this farm his father made settlement in the year 1795 or 1796. It was there in the woods, with no improvements whatever, John Perlee was born in a 11. In 1835 he was married to Miss Maria Pearson. They have had five children : Caroline, Martha J., Benjamin, Peter, and Eugene; all have died excepting Caroline and Benjamin. Mr. and Mrs. Perlee are both members of the Presbyterian church, to which they have given material aid, as well as sustaining it by their active Christian lives. Dominicus Vandyke was born in New Jersey in the year 1779. In 1795 or 1796 he emigrated to Ohio, where he settled in Springfield township, on which place he died in 1814. By trade he was a carpenter and cabinetmaker. Mary, his wife, was born in 1786, and died in 1876. There are now living only Mary Ann, who resides in Washington, Indiana, and William, the oldest son and subject of the following sketch. He was born in Springfield township in the year 1809. His father died when he was but five years of age, leaving him to fight the battle of life alone. At the age of fourteen he went as an apprentice to Cincinnati to learn the trade of harness-maker and saddler. In the year 1832 he came to Springfield and established himself in business here. He industriously and successfully pursued his occupation for a period of about forty years. He was married in the year 1834 to Miss Martha A. Sentny, and to them were born three children: Mary F., Charles H., and one that died unnamed. Mr. Vandyke has always been one of the business men of Springfield ; a citizen respected and esteemed. This worthy couple are now living a quiet and retired life, and are both remarkably well preserved for their years. William McGilliard, the fourth son of John and Elizabeth McGilliard, of whom a sketch is given elsewhere, was born in Springfield township in the year 1819. He resided with his parents until the time of his marriage, in 1839, to Miss Rebecca Cregar. Eight children have been born—four sons and four daughters: Emeline, John, Hattie, George, Edward, Stanley, Laura, and Ida May. Emeline, Hatti, and George are not now living. Mr. McGilliard is one of the most enterprising farmers of his township and county. He served in the capacity of trustee of the township for thirteen years. He and his companion are reliable members of the Christian church. James Moore was born in Pennsylvania, York county, in the year 1768. In 1796 he settled in Springfield township. At various times he served as school teacher, land surveyor, and justice of the peace. His regular business, however, was that of a farmer. His wife, Jane Moore, was born in 1771, and died in 1855. Those now alive of the original family are David, residing in Springfield township, and Robert W. The father died at his home in the year 1829. Robert was born in 1803, and, now owns and occupies his father's place. In 1832 he was married to Damaris Whallon. They have had nine children—six sons and three daughters: James W., William, Thomas W., Sarah Jane, Robert W., Hat- HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 367 tie A., Frank, Allen J., and Lucy B. Sarah, Robert, Hattie, and Frank, are not living. Mr. Moore and his wife have both been members of a Christian church for a long time, and are zealous supporters of the faith they profess. Mr. Moore has almost reached his four-score years, and but for an injury sustained from a fall in 1878, would have probably survived many years longer. James W. and Allen reside at home superintending the farm and caring for their aged parents in their declining years. James has been married to Miss Elizabeth Field, Thomas to Miss Phoebe A. Roll, and William to Miss Lucretia Hoel. Jacob R. Compton was born in New Jersey, in 1760. In 1796 he made his first settlement in Columbia town_ ship, having emigrated into Ohio from Kentucky. His business was that of a cooper, at one time, and afterward that of a farmer. He died in r821 at his home in Columbia township. Ermina Compton, his wife, was bon in 1760 and died in 1840. Abraham, who was born in 1796, in the State of Kentucky, came with his parents to Hamilton county, with whom he remained till the year 1812, when, a lad of eighteen, he enlisted in the army. Unhurt, he returned to his home, crowned with all the honor our gallant sons justly received. He was married at the age of twenty, to Abigail Philips, by whom he had thirteen children five sons and eight daughters. Oliver died from disease in the war of 1861; Freeman, Alfred, John A. (killed in the Mexican war), Spencer (now deceased), Catharine, Emma (also deceased), Sarah, Elvira and Hetty (both deceased), Hannah, and one dying in infancy unnamed. Mr. Compton is a gentleman remarkable for his memory. His business has been that of a farmer and carpenter, which he has industriously pursued for almost three-quarters of a century. He and his wife are and have been active members of the Baptist church for many years. James Carnahan was born in the year 1773, in the State of Pennsylvama. From this State he emigrated to Springfield township in 1797, or 1798. By occupation he was a farmer during the greater part of his life, but at one time worked as a teamster, and at another time helped in the first pottery in that part of the country. His wife's name was Jane Piatt. He died in the year 1848. Of his family remain Mary Hubbell; Jane, who is still unmarried, and resides at Walnut Hills; and William, the only male representative. He was born on the old homestead, in Springfield township, in 1804. In early life he worked in a pottery, which he afterwards gave up, as it impaired his health. He then followed the grocery business for almost half a century in New Burlington. He married, in the year 1829, Miss Maria L. Davis, of Warren county. To them were born nine children—G. A., Allen W., Piatt, James L., William, Catharine J., Amanda, Evaline, and Mary A. William, Mary and Evaline are not living. Both Mr. and Mrs. Carnahan are members of the Disciple church, and have always been accounted among its best supporters. He and his companion are living--she at the age of seventy-nine, and be in his seventy-sixth year. Fie is postmaster at New Burlington (transit post office), at the present time, Aaron Lane was born in the State of New Jersey, in the year 1763, January 2d. In 1797 or 1798 he, with his family, came to Hamilton county, and first made permanent settlement in Springfield, in the forest. His earnest determinations were to conquer, and the mighty oaks soon yielded to his strong arm, and waving fields of grain told that his intentions had been fully executed. He lost his companion in the year 1800. He was married again to Miss Elizabeth Carnahan, daughter of an early pioneer family. To Mr. and Mrs. Lane were born six children, two sons and four daughters. Their names are: William, Sarah, Abigail, Jane, Hannah, and Garrett. Those dead are: Sarah, Abigail, and Hannah. Our subject departed this life in the year 1845, after passing his four-score years, his companion surviving him until the year 1855, and they both lie buried side by side, in the little burial-ground at New Burlington. Garrett,. the only surviving member of this once happy household, residing within the State, was born in the year 1816, in Springfield township, on the old Lane homestead, which he now owns and occupies. Ire was married, at the age of thirty-one, to Miss Hannah Gantz. The fruit of this union was two children, one son and one daughter, Willie and Mary. Both died in early childhood. The parents are now left alone, and are living in a beautiful and comfortable home near New Burlington. He is one of the prominent and highly respected citizens of the community, in which he lives. John M. Wright settled in Cincinnati in 1798. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, emigrated from the District of Columbia into Ohio, and died at his home in Mount Pleasant. He had a part in the War of r812, and was a school teacher while in Cincinnati. His wife's name was Ann Maria Wright. The surviving members of the family are Joseph F., a resident of Mount Pleasant; Maria Louisa Laboyteaux, also a resident of Mount Pleasant; and F. C., the eldest son. The last mentioned was born in Cincinnati, October 16, 1813. He wad cooper by trade, which he industriously pursued for a period of fifteen years. He married, in the year 1838, Miss Julia Laboyteaux, daughter of an old and important family. To them have been born seven children—five sons and two daughters: Alvin D., John, P. N., F. C., J. F., Mary, and Cornelia. Cornelia and John are not living. In the year 1848 our subject began the mercantile business in Mount Pleasant, and successfully conducted his business until the year 1873. He then retired, and his son, P. N., took possession and is now proprietor. Henry Bolser was a German by birth, which event dates back to the year 1718. Some time prior to 1800 he emigrated to Hamilton county from the State of Pennsylvania. While in his native land he filled the office of high sherriff, his occupation here was that of farming. He died in 1821 at his home, four miles east of Reading. His wife, Mary Bolser, died the same year. Their children were George, Henry, Peter, John, Samuel, Joseph, Mary, Gustave, Elizabeth, and Katie—all now dead. George, the third son, was born in Pennsylvania, at Fredericktown, in 1765, and came with his parents to Hamil 368 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. ton county at an early date. Previous to coming to Ohio he married Miss Rebecca Honnell, by whom he had eleven children: George, John, Felty, Reason, Abram, Sally, Katie, Rebecca, Polly, Ann, and Elizabeth. All died but Reason, who resides in Montgomery county, Indiana, and Felty, who owns and lives on the old Bolser homestead. Felty was born in 1803, and remained with her parents until the time of his marriage, in 1822, to Miss Mary Anderson. They have had nine children: George, Susan, Alexander, Katie, John, Samuel, Sarah, Benjamin, and Mary (deceased). Mr. Bolser lost his wife in 1837. He was again married, to Miss Sarah Anderson, and five children were added to his family, three sons and two daughters: Anderson, Mary, Caroline, Lafayette, and Alonzo. Lafayette died, as did also his mother, in the year 1879. Mr. Bolser, by careful management and industry, is now in possession of a good property. He is not a church member but is well known as one who leads a moral life and brought up his family to love and do the right. His parents are now both dead, and are buried beside each other, in a little burial place on the old homestead. Samuel Seward was born in the State of New Jersey. He married Miss Elsie Jentry, and to them were born ten children : Obediah, Ann, William, James, Samuel, Irwin, Elias, Eliza, Martin G., and Daniel. Those living are Eliza Van Zant, Daniel, and Martin G. Mr. Seward came to Hamilton county previous to 1800. For many days they were obliged to remain in the block-. house at Carthage, so numerous and savage were the Indians at that time. After their fears had somewhat subsided he and his family located on a tract of land situated on Winton road, near Mount Pleasant. He at once set about the clearing of his farm, which he gradually contiued to improve till to-day it is one of the finest farms in the county. His death occurred in r819. The wife and mother survived him till the year 1843. Martin G., the seventh son, was born in r807 on the old Seward homestead. His occupation has been that of a farmer. In 1831 he married Miss Mary Hill. They had born to them nine children: Samuel, James Riley, Viola J., Mary, Hannah, George, Lizzie, William, and one who died in infancy. Samuel also died, after he had reached manhood. The family are pleasantly situated on a beautiful farm adjoining Mount Pleasant. Mr. and Mrs. Seward are both consistent members of the Chris_ tian church in the vicinity. The McCormick family were among the earliest pioneer families of Hamilton county, their settlement being about the year 1800 or prior to that time, but as to exact date there is no certainty. The eldest of the McCormicks were James and Mary. To them were born five children, three sons and two daughters: James, Robert, and John, Evaliza and Catharine. All have died but Evaliza. The immediate descendants of James, the eldest son, were three children, two sons and one daughter—John B., Mary, and Willian. The maiden name of his wife was Hannah Davis, who died in 1860, her husband surviving until 1862, when he died of cancer, after five years of suffering. The only representatives of this once happy household are William, and John B., the subject of the following sketch, who was born in the year 1833. He resided with his parents until the time of their decease, caring for them and attending them in their declining years. He married, in the year 1868, Miss Elizabeth Randolph, and to them was born one son, Perry. Mr. McCormick is one of the prosperous and enterprising young farmers of the community, and comes of a quite prominent and highly respected family. David Sprong, a farmer of Springfield township, at the age of thirty-seven settled in this part of the country as early as 1800. His birthplace was in the State of New York, whence he removed to Ohio. In 1842 he died at the place now owned by his son Cornelius. Louisa Tenney, his wife, was born in 1779 and died in 1851. Of the children, Solomon, James, Ward, Stephen, David, John, and Jeremiah have died; Cornelius, Samuel, and Henry are still living. Cornelius, the subject .of the following sketch, was born in this township in 1802. He made his home with his parents till the time of his marriage, in 1845, to Miss Ruth Perkins. She died shortly after, and the husband married, in 1852, Miss Parmelia D. McCosh, daughter of an important pioneer family. Two children were born of this marriage—Barney C., and Lois, who died in infancy. Mr. Sprong is a substantial farmer and a leading man in the township and county. He and his wife are zealous members of the New Light church. His parents have been dead for some time; they are buried at Finneytown. His only child, Barny, lives with his parents on the old homestead, superintending the farm and caring for his aged parents. He married Miss Delia Cummings. They have two children—Carl C., and Albert J. James Whallon made his first settlement in Sycamore township in the year 1800. He was born in 1770 in New Jersey, from which State he emigrated into Ohio. He died at his home in Springfield township in 1849. He was by occupation a farmer; at one time served six years as justice of the peace, and was an active member of the army in the War of 1812. His wife, 011ie Whal- Ion, was born in 1773 and died in 1847, two years before her husband's death. The surviving members of the family are Nancy Roll, Damaris Moore, Cynthia Stone, Thomas, and Benjamin, the fourth son and subject of the following sketch. Benjamin Whallon was born in Sycamore township in 1807. He made his home with his parents until his marriage, in 1830, to Miss Eliza Moore, daughter of an early pioneer. Two years later his wife died, leaving an infant daughter, Eliza. In 1835 he married Sarah Stone, who became the mother of three children—Nancy, Elizabeth, and James. In 1843 his second wife died. In r847 he was wedded to Margaret S. Griffin. The home in which he now lives with his family joins the old homestead where his father settled in 1811. The Presbyterian church has for a long time received his liberal support, his wife as well as himself being among its best members. It may be added as a matter of interest that Mr. WhalIon has attended one church regularly fifty-eight years; never received a whipping at home or at school (suggest- HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 369 ive to the opposite as the name may be), and has never taken a chew of tobacco or smoked a cigar. William Pierson was born in the State of New Jersey in the year 1788. He came with his parents to Cincinnati in the year 1800. His trade was that of a brick-maker. He was married to Miss Huldah Pierson, who was born in 1791, and was the daughter of an early settler. To Mr. and Mrs. Pierson were born seven children —four sons and three daughters: Sinias, Mary Ann, Harriet, Emily, James, William, and John. John, Sinias, Mary Ann, and Harriet are now dead. Our subject oied in the year 1866, surviving his companion thirty-four years. The only member of the family now residing within the county of Hamilton is William, the third son, who was born in the year 1832. His attention has principally been given to farming. He married, in the year 1852, Miss May E. Cooper. There have been born to them four sons and three daughters: George W., Laura H., Frank, William H., May, Estella, and Samuel (deceased). Mr. Pierson is one of the first farmers of his township and county, and now owns and occupies the old Pierson homestead. He and his wife are devoted members of the United Brethren church, who supplement by their lives the faith they profess. Benjamin Urmston was born in the State of Pennsylvania in the year 1800. The same year he came with his father to Springfield township, where he remained for a short time, then moving to Butler, where they stayed until after his father's death, in 1821. In the year 1828 he married Miss Rebecca Kennedy, and to them were born five children, four sons and one daughter: Kennedy, Robert, Mary Jane, Benjamin, and Edmund. Kennedy and Mary Jane—the only daughter—are not living. In the year 1837 the family came again to Springfield, and resided here ever since. Both the parents are members of the Baptist church, and have always been among the supporters of the same. This worthy and aged couple now live at ease in a comfortable home at Mount Pleasant. Barnabas Hoel first settled in Springfield township, in 1801. He was born in the State of New Jersey, from which he emigrated to Ohio early in his life. He was a carpenter by trade, but afterwards became a farmer. The following are the names of the surviving members of the family: Abigail Davis, Phoebe, Rosebaum, John, and William, the eldest son and subject of the following sketch. He was born in Springfield township, in a rude log cabin, without chimney or floor, in the year r801. He resided with his parents until the time of his marriage, in the year 1822, to Miss Julia Ann May. To them were born six children, two sons and four daughters: Sarah Ann, Alexander, Emeline, Chamberlain, Maria, Delilah, and Amanda. Those not living are Sarah Ann, Emeline, and Chamberlain. Mr. Hoel lost his companion in the year 1854. He was married again in the year 1855, to Miss Mary Ann Huffman. The occupation of Mr. Hoel has been that of a farmer. He and his wife are both zealous members of the Presbyterian church. Grand. father and Grandmother Hoel are both dead, and lie buried in the Springdale cemetery. John LaRue came to Springfield township December 16, 1802. He was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, in the year 1774, and moved from that State to Ohio. He served in the War of 1812, and was one of the guards stationed at Blennerhasset island. His wife was Catharine Lowe, who was born in the year 1781. The present survivors of the family are James L. LaRue, who resides two miles west of Lockland. He was twice married—first, in 1832, to Miss Elizabeth Simmons, and second, in 1838, to Miss Naomi B. Gardener, daughter of an old and prominent settler. The first wife bore him two children—Louisa, wife of Dr. A. B. Luce, of Carthage, and George, a prominent coal dealer of Lockland, who was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, losing his right arm in the service. He, returned to his native county and was elected, at the close of the war, auditor of Hamilton county. His mother died in 1837. The second wife became the mother of nine children. Those now living are Alexander, John, James M., Jacob, and Eliza. The subject of this sketch has been an active business man for over half a century. He has occupied every position of honor and trust that an appreciative people could confer. He is now becoming an old man, but is strong in body, and in full possession of every faculty. During his life he has acquired a pleasant home and enough of this world's goods to make himself and wife comfortable as long as they shall live. William McCash was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 15, 1783. He married Nancy Ann Dodson, of Greenbrier, Virginia, and to them were born eleven children, six sons and five daughters: Elenord D., Will-ham D., Permelia D., Edward, Margaret, David, Cynthia; Serena, Luther, James and Caroline; Margaret, Edward, Luther, David and James are not living. The wife and mother died in 1869, the husband survived until the year r87i. They are buried at the Spring Grove cemetery. Their first settlement was in the year 1802, in Springfield township, on the Winton road. They settled in the woods, with no improvement excepting a log cabin, and afterwards cleared up the farm. The old homestead is now owned by Mrs. Spring. Peter Laboyteaux was born in the year 1783 in New Jersey, and in 1804 came with his parents to Hamilton county, Ohio. In the fall of the same year, or the following spring, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Packer. Two sons and three daughters were born to them: Samuel, Elizabeth, Catharine, Peter and Keziah. His first permanent settlement was made upon the Miami purchase. Here, in this pioneer home, he cared for his family, with all the obstacles that a pioneer had to encounter. His father died in 1811; his mother lived till a few years later. The wife died also in the year 1813. He was afterward married to Margaret Cameron, who be came the mother of six children—three sons and three daughters, and died in 1833. The year following he married Miss Bedson, after which event three more sons were added to the family. In the year 1848 he died. His wife survived him some years, but died in the next decade. Samuel, the eldest son and subject of the following sketch, was born in Springfield township in 47 370 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. the year 1805. He aided his father in carrying on the farm till he had passed his twentieth birthday, when he left the paternal roof, but returned fifteen months later and learned the cooper's trade with his father. In the year 1827 he was married to Maria Louisa Wright, the daughter of an early pioneer. To them were born five sons and four daughters—Frederick W., Peter, Thomas, Ann Maria, Lucretia, Florien, Monroe, John Murray, Eliza Jane, Lucinda Ellen, and Joseph W. Peter and Lucinda have died. Mr. Laboyteaux carried on the cooper business in the town of Mount Healthy for almost half a century, and has acquired a good property. Although now becoming quite advanced in years, he is well preserved, and looks a hale old man. Among the early settlers of Springfield township none were more prominent than the Johnsons. Cary Johnson came to Springfield township on horseback from Bascom Ridge, New Jersey, in 1804. He was born in the year 1781, and at the age of-twenty-three he started for the land of promise. His first settlement in Ohio was the farm now owned and occupied by his son, Cary Benson. Here he began life. He at once set about erecting a cabin and clearing away the forest. In the year 1805 he was married to Miss Rachel Jessup, by whom he had nine children—four sons and five daughters: Drucilla, Jemima, Jane, John, Abner, Sarah A., Hampton, Augusta, and Cary B. All are now dead, but Sarah Munger and Cary B., who resides in Jackson county, Iowa. The father departed this life in the year 1866, surviving his companion but three years; and they both are buried in the little burial ground near New Burlington. Now the only representative of this household residing in Hamilton county is Cary Benson, wh0 was born in the year 1832. His business has always been that of farming. He married, in the year 1859, Miss Sarah L. Jackson. Mr. Johnson is one of the thrifty farmers of his township. While he has no membership with any church, his sympathies are with the Universalists. He is pleasantly located on a finely improved farm near Mount Pleasant, surrounded by every comfort necessary to his wants. Rachel Jessup, wife of Cary Johnson, was born in 1787 in the State of New Jersey, and came with her parents to Springfield township in the year 1794, coming from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati on a flat-boat. The farm on which the family first settled had been selected some time previous by an older brother, Stephen Jessup, who came from Pennsylvania on foot to seek more suitable and productive lands. Stephen Jessup was grandfather to the noted poets, the Cary sisters. Reuben S. Compton was born in Colerain township, Hamilton county, in the year 1804. His business was farming. His wife, Bathsheba Laboyteaux, was born in 1806. The members of his family still living are Andrew Jackson, Alexander, Chrystalina, Emeline, Eliza, Cornelia and Oliver. The last named was born at the old homestead in Colerain township in 1826. He remained with his parents until he attained his majority. He married, on the thirteenth of April, 1854, Miss Elizabeth Voorhees, of Warren county. They have three children—Flora Ellen, 'Laura Francis, and Alfred R. Both Mr. and Mrs. Compton belong to the Christian Church, to which they give their constant support. His father is buried in a private burial-place onthe old Compton homestead. Benjamin Walden was born in 1757, in the State of Virginia. As early as 1805 he came to Springfield township from Kentucky, and died in 1842. His business was farming. Hannah, his wife, was born in 1757, and died in 1840. The only survivor of his family is William, the youngest son. He was born in 1808, on the farm where he now lives. In the year 1842 he was married to Miss Charlotte Joselyn, who bore him ten children—George W., William, Benjamin, Marcus, Edward J., Josephine, Nancy O., Charlotte, Emma, and Sarah. Mr. Walden is one of the best men of the township and county. With his wife, he has long been connected with the Presbyterian church. He has gradually acquired a competency, and is now is the enjoyment of cheerful surroundings and a comfortable home. Jacob Hoffner was born in the year 1765, in Burke county, Pennsylvania, and from this State he emigrated to Ohio and settled in Springfield township in 1805. His death occurred at Mount Pleasant in 1845. While in Pennsylvania he followed the business of wagonmaker, but was a farmer in Ohio. Mrs. Magdalen Hoffner, wife of Jacob Hoffner, was born in 1768, and died in 1840. The 'members of the family now alive are Eliza Johnston, a resident of Cumminsville; Samuel, who lives at Indianapolis; and Thomas, the third son, and subject of following sketch. Thomas Hoffner was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1796. He came with his parents to Hamilton county in 1805, he and his brother Jacob walking the entire distance, and crossing the river at Wheeling, Virginia. Although but a youth of sixteen, he enlisted in the War of 1812. After an absence of six months, he returned to the parental roof unhurt, and crowned with all the honors .to which our brave sons were justly entitled. After tilt close of the war he returned and aided his father in the cultivation of the pioneer home. In 1815 he was married to Miss Sarah Bolser. To Mr. and Mrs. Hoffner were born eight children—one son and seven daughters: John C., Catharine, Rebecca, Eliza, Elizabeth, Amanda, Sarah, and Mary. Eliza, Amanda, and Mary are dead. In the year 1824 the wife also died. He was married again in the year 1836, to Miss Abigail Smith. They are both active members of the church 0f United Brethren and have always been among its most staunch supporters. In the year 1827, he aided his father in carrying on the farm, and in 1839 returned to Massachusetts, and brought back with him Miss Sarah Adams, whom he soon after married, and who is now his companion. His first purchase was made in the woods, with no improvements whatever to give evidence of his ever having had a predecessor. Here he began Life in reality. As time wore on, six children were born to this pioneer couple—four sons and two daughters: Thomas, Charley, Cynthia, Joseph, Isaac, and Ella. Thomas and Charles are now deceased. The sympathies of Mr. and Mrs. Weston HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 372 have ever been with the Universalist church, to which they give their support. John C. Hoffner, youngest child of Thomas and Sarah Hoffner, was born in the year 1833, in the old Hoffner homestead. At the age of nineteen he went as a clerk to Cincinnati with the firm of Canfield & Moffett, grocers. In the year 1860 he returned to the farm where he has ever since resided. He married in the year 1855, Miss Zorada Harrison, whose father was an early settler of Cincinnati and a noted river pilot. To Mr. and Mrs. Hoffner were born twelve children, six of whom are now living: Valleria W., Mary E., Ada Estella, Rebecca, John H , and William Allen. Mr. Hoffner comes from a family whose record is spotless. He has reached the zenith in Odd Fellowship, having been a member for thirteen years. Henry Rogers, sr., settled in Mill Creek township in the year 1806. He was born in Monmouth county, New Jersey, in 1752, from which State he moved to Pennsylvania, and thence to Ohio. He died in Cincinnati in 1839 or 1840. During the Revolutionary war he was a soldier in the American army. By occupation he was a weaver. His wife, Phoebe Bennet, was born in 1766, and died some time during the War of 1812. Their descendants were Elizabeth, Sarah, Hannah, Phoebe, Jemima, Amos, Samuel, Nancy, Henry, and Maria—all dead except Henry, Amos and Samuel dying in infancy. Elizabeth married Thomas McFeely, of Virginia; Sarah, Michael Burge ; Hannah, Zebulon Strong, of Vermont; Phoebe, Jonathan Holden, of Vermont; Jemima, Richard McFeely ; Nancy, Cyrus Brown, of Ohio; Maria, Levi Pinney, of Ohio ; Henry, Miss Rachel Maria Hill, daughter of Jedediah Hill, of New Jersey. Henry, the only survivor of this large family, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1806, and came with his parents to Hamilton county, Ohio, the fall of the same year. When seventeen years of age, he left his home and went out, a poor boy, to fight the battle of life alone. His life has been occupied in various pursuits. He first learned the trade of cabinetmaking, for which he soon acquired 'a distaste and gave it up. For a time after this he worked out by the month wfienever work could be obtained. In the year 1828 he engaged with Jedediah Hill, who afterwards became his father-in-law, in operating his flouring mill and cultivating his farm. He married in the year 1832, September 22. To Mr. and Mrs. Rogers was born one son, Wilson T. He married, March 15, 1866, Mary Jane Chadwick, who has become the mother of two sons. Our subject now owns and occupies the old Hill homestead. Mr. Rogers is not associated with any church organization, but his wife is a devout Christian, a member of the Baptist church, and has always been one of its best supporters. John M. Wozencraft came to Cincinnati in 1806. He was born in Wales, but emigrated to the State of Ohio from Baltimore, Maryland. In his sixty-fourth year, while in South Carolina and on his way to England, he died. His wife, Hannah, lived to be nearly ninety-two years of age. Her death occurred in San Vermideno, California: Of this family there now remain Dr. O. M. Wozencraft, of San Francisco, California—a man of great professional prominence; and Captain J. J. Wozencraft, who was born in Cincinnati August 6, 1807. Prior to his marriage he was with his father in business. At the age of seventeen he learned the tinner's trade with Mr. Norman Bird, and remained ten years. After completing his trade, his faithful and prompt attention to his employer's wishes was so appreciated that he was given the position of superintendent. In 1828 he married Miss Olivia King, daughter of Alexander King, the first deputy sheriff of Hamilton county. Four sons and three daughters were given them: John M., Anna E., William A., ex-mayor of Paris, Illinois; Oliver, who was killed by the explosion of an engine; Edwin D., who was band master for three years during the late war; Martha M., and Mary Ellen, now wife of John Fisher, an extensive manufacturer of carriages in Cincinnati. The life of our subject has been one of position and prosperity. For eleven successive years he was elected commander of the Fire Company No. 5, of Cincinnati. He was the first grand worthy chief Templar west of the Alleghanies, besides holding other honorable places. He has ever been an active leader in advancing and improving society, and a firm advocate of law and order. His estimable wife has always been a devout Christian. They have acquired a good property that now enables them to live at ease. Their home is at Mount Pleasant. Mr. Jacob Skillman, with his family, made his first settlement in Springfield township, in 18o6. He was born on Long Island, but emigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio. In the Revolutionary war he was a recruiting officer. After coming to Ohio he cleared the farm now owned by his grandson, Henry. His children were six in number: Isaac, Benjamin, Jacob, Thomas, and Abraham, all now deceased. Henry, second son of Abraham and Abigail Skillman, was .born in the Skillman homestead in the year 1824. He was married in 2857, to Miss Augusta Foster, daughter of one of Hamilton county's earliest families, which came to Ohio prior to 1800. Four sons and one daughter were afterward born: Albert, George, Harry, Frank, and Emma. George and Harry have died. Both parents belong to the Presbyterian church, and have always been among the leading and most reliable members. Abiezer Miles settled in Springfield township in 1807. He emigrated from the State of Pennsylvania, where he was born in the year 1768. He was at different times farmer and shoemaker. During the War of 1812, he helped carry the dead from the battlefield. His wife, Judith Miles, was born in 1775, and lived until 1839. His death took place at the old home in the year 1832. The children are Hannah Robinson, living at Batavia, Clermont county, and John J. The latter was born in Pennsylvania in 1801, and came with his parents to Springfield township. The farm now owned and occupied by him was the first permanent place of settlement made by the father. As he was prospered he gradually improved the pioneer home, till it became one of the pleasantest places in the township. John J. resided with ,his parents till their decease, when he became owner of 372 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. the farm. He was twice married, first to Miss Margaret Skillman, October 24, 1822. To them were born nine children: James, Jacob S., John S., George, Sarah, Judith, Susan R., Phoebe, and Mary. Sarah, Margaret, Phoebe, Mary, James and John are dead. In 1845 the wife died. The following year he was married to Miss Matilda Jessup, who afterward was the mother of five children: Margaret and Israel, who have died, and John B., Ella, and Emma. The last two are twins. Mr. and Mrs. Miles are devoted members of the Christian church. William McLean came from Pennsylvania to Ohio, and settled in Springfield in the year 1807. The surviving members of the family are John, Betsey, Sallie, and Samuel. Samuel, the oldest son of William and Isabella McLean, was born in the State of Pennsylvania in the year 1799, and came with his parents to Hamilton county in the year 1807. The family for a while was obliged to occupy the old block-house at Columbia, so hostile were the red men just at that time. The family located in Springfield township, where the father died shortly after, leaving Samuel to superintend the farm. At the age of thirty he married Miss Elizabeth Whitlock, by whom he had seven sons: Jerome B., Jasper, Sylvester, Loami, Arthur, now deceased, John and Stephen. Arthur was a prominent attorney of .Cincinnati, and afterwards a lieutenant in the War of 1861. Here his health became impaired, and he returned to his home and soon after died. Our subject was one who led an active business life, a man of whom his neighbors could boast. He took a very active part in the militia musters, of which our older citizens have vivid recollections. He occupied the position of colonel and general, and became everywhere known as Colonel Samuel McLean. After living a life of usefulness, he departed in the year 1872. He is buried beside his parents in the burial place at Springdale. Samuel Johnson, sr., first settled, in the year 1807, in Springfield township. He was born in 1788, in New Jersey, and from that State he emigrated to Ohio. His death occurred in 1878, at his home in Mount Pleasant. He pursued the business of farming, and his first purchase was the farm now owned by the Riddle heirs. His wife, whose name was Phoebe Jessup, was born in 1793, and died in 1865. She came to Ohio with her parents in the year 1797. The names of surviving members of the family and their places of residence are John, Lydia, Abigail, Jane, Dale, and Samuel. John and his sister Jane reside in Texas. Samuel and two sisters, Lydia and Abigail, reside on the old homestead in Mount Pleasant, which is also owned by them. Major William Cox came from New Jersey to Hamilton county, Colerain township, in 1809. He was a stone mason, and was out in the War of 1812., where he acquired his military title. He had but two children, Tunis and Martha, The former settled in. Springfield, near New Burlington, where he kept the old Eleven-mile House, or Farmer's Rest, on the Hamilton pike, which was known as one of the best hotels of the county outside the city. He had twelve children, evenly divided..,, as to sex, among whom was George Washington Cox, now of Loveland, next to the youngest of the family. He was both December 27, 1837, at New Burlington, and was brought up at the hotel and on the farm connected with it. In 1874 he removed to Lockland, where he is now engaged in keeping a livery stable. He was married December 10, 1858, to Rebecca Ayres, of Springfield township, and again, after her death in 1864, to Mrs. Hartin (Hole) Smith, widow of Oscar Smith, January 22, 1868. He has three children, one, Lenroy, now twenty years old, by his first wife, and the others,. twins, by the second wife, Elva, a son, and Idella, daughter, eleven years old. Elisha C. Walden was born in the year 1800, in the State of Kentucky. He came to Hamilton county when quite a small boy. He was twice married, first to Miss Nancy Ogle, who died about the year 1840. He was married again in the year 1843, to Miss Julia L. Kitchel, daughter of an old family, her parents being Samuel and Margaret Kitchel. The life of Mr. Walden was devoted to various pursuits. At first he was a merchant in Darrtown, and in later years he occupied and superintended the farm in Springfield township, where his widow now resides. He is spoken of by neighbors and friends as a most excellent citizen, a gentleman respected and esteemed wherever known. Years before his death he associated himself with the Presbyterian church, of which his wife has long been a member. He departed this life in the fall of 1876, after several years of severe affliction. Philander Allen settled in Cincinnati in 1811. He was born in Cornwall, Connecticut, in 1779. His wife's name was Hannah Foster. She was born in 1782. The four surviving children are Samuel S., Harriet Townley, Sarah Hilts, and Edward P. Samuel S., fourth son of Philander and Hannah Allen, was born in Hamilton county in the year 1820. He made his home with his parents until the time of their death. He was married in 1849 to Miss Emeline Riddle, daughter of one of the pioneers. There were born to them seven children—four sons and three daughters. Their names are Mary, Jacob, Charles, Henry, George, Anna, and Carrie—all living but Jacob, who died at the age of two years. Our subject resides on and is the owner of the old homestead. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church in Springdale. Daniel Brown settled on section fifteen of Springfield township in 1812. He was born in the year 1779, at Hagerstown, Maryland, but emigrated into Ohio from Pennsylvania. While in the latter State he worked as a mechanic, but his life in Ohio was that of a farmer. His wife was Elizabeth Balm. He died at his home in 1853, and his wife lived but nine years longer. The surviving children are: William, now living in Illinois; Isaac, in Indiana; Mrs. McGilliard and Mrs. Yerkes, both living in Springfield township; and John, who remains on the old Brown homestead. He was born in the year 1812, and came with his parents to Ohio in the same year. He was married in 1839 to Miss Harriet McCoy. They have nine children, six sons and three daughters. Mr. Brown is one of the substantial and enterprising farmers of CARY AND RACHEL JOHNSON Cary Benson Johnson resides at the ancestral home, three-quarters of a mile west of Mount Pleasant He is the fourth son of Cary Johnson, born March 28, 1781, in Somerset county, New Jersey, and died at his home farm near Mount Pleasant February 15, 1866, and buried at Burlington cemetery. Cary was the oldest son of Abner Johnson, who died January 14, 1832, in Colerain township, and who was the son of Samuel, who died May 14, 18o8, and was buried in Basking Ridge cemetery. They were all of Scotch ancestry, and all at some time residents of Basking Ridge, Somerset county, New Jersey; and they were all brought up as members of the old Presbyterian church, whose building (of 1839) still stands at Basking Ridge, upon the site of the log church put up for the society near the beginning of the seventeenth century. Cary Johnson was the first of the family to come to Hamilton county. He immigrated on horseback in 1804, a young carpenter of twenty-three making his beginnings in the world. His father (grandfather of Cary Benson Johnson) had been a wagoner in Washington's army near Morristown, where it spent two winters and lost many men from small-pox and other causes. He received his pay in land warrants covering a half-section of land, which he sent out by Colonel Ludlow, with instructions to locate them favorably within eight or ten miles of Cincinnati. The colonel located with them the west half of section thirty-two, adjoining the present village of Mount Pleasant. Mr. Johnson sent his son Cary to view the tract and improve it; and he, after staying for a short time in Cincinnati, pushed his way through the woods to the site of the property, where he built a log cabin, about one hundred and fifty yards northwest of the present homestead. It stood until 1880, when it was torn down. Its appearance, however, is preserved quite faithfully in the engraving accompanying this notice. An old well, still used, marks the hallowed spot where it stood. Mr. Johnson pursued with energy the clearing and improvement of the which was deeded some time afterwards by the father to him and his brothers Samuel and Andrew, who also came out in 1807 and settled their places. When the elder Johnson came, in 1813, he settled at the former site of Dunlap's station, in Colerain township, near the famous ancient work in the bend of the river, which contains the old cemetery in which Abner Johnson lies buried. Cary Johnson, his son, married Rachel, daughter of John Jessup, of Mill Creek township, September 12, 18o5. Mrs. Johnson was an aunt of Mrs. Robert Cary, mother of the famous Cary sisters. Her grandfather, Stephen Jessup, was a weaver's apprentice in England, but ran away from a hard master and came to the new world in the early part of the eighteenth century. He lived a long time in a log cabin on Long Island, and moved thence to Cumberland, Deerfield township, New Jersey, where he accumulated property and made his will February 17, 1757—a curious old document, now in possession of his great-grandson, Cary B. Johnson. He had three sons, John, Isaac, and Daniel; and two daughters, Sarah and Abigail. John was grandfather of C. B. Johnson. Daniel was father of Daniel Jessup, jr., who became known as " Indian Daniel," from the fact of his capture by the Indians. Isaac went south, and from him was reputed to be descended General Jessup, of the United States army. Abigail came to this county, where she married a Mr. Gallagher, and became the mother of the celebrated poet and magazinist, W. D. Gallagher, thus confirming the notion of the poetic strain in the blood suggested by the talent of the Cary sisters, who were also, on their mother's side, of the Jessup stock. Cary and Rachel Johnson had children as follows: Drusilla, born February 14, 1807; married Samuel Weston October 25, 1828; died September 6, 1849. Jemima Hampton, born August 6, 1810; married Isaac Weston (brother of Samuel) in May, 1829; died July 11, 1831. Jane, born August 26, 1813; married George W. Rice September 26, 1833; died March 19, 1849. John, born April 29, 1815; died July 1st of the same year. Abner, born September 6, 186; was married November 6, 1843, to Mary C. Moran, of Livingston county, Missouri, where he died December 8, 1846. Sarah A., born November 8, 1819; married Joseph E. Munger October 27, 1841, and residing at Maquoketa, Iowa. Hampton, born March 21, 1824; married Harriet Freeman May 22, 1850; died September 17, 1869. Augusta L., born November 1, 1828; died August 4, 1835. Cary Benson, born at the homestead near Mount Pleasant July 10, 1832; married Sarah L. Jackson, daughter of Joseph and Nancy (Riddle) Jackson, September 21, 1859, and residing still at his birth-place. Mrs. Rachel Jessup Johnson was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, September 7, 1787, and came to the Miami country with her parents about six years afterwards. She remained united in wedlock to Mr. Johnson through the long period of nearly fifty-eight years, when, January 15, 1863, she departed this life in hope of a blessed immortality. Her husband died February 5, 1866. He, as also his wife, was a member of the Universalist church. In the year 1813 he made a notable improvement in the building of a large barn upon his place, which was then one of the most capacious in the county, and is still used, with additions, by his son. Seven years afterwards he built the mansion occupied by Cary Benson Johnson, from brick burned by him upon his farm, in the identical shape and interior arrangement in which it now appears, in an excellent state of preservation in every respect. Some of the more difficult portions of the work, as the sash of the windows, were executed by Mr. Johnson himself. Their youngest child, Cary B. Johnson, came into the possession of the paternal homestead upon the death of his father and that of his brother Hampton (in 1869), who was co-heir with him under the will. His uncle Andrew's former homestead has also come into his possession by purchase. He has remained from childhood at the old home, engaged in the peaceful pursuits of the farm, unvexed by political or official life. He took an active part in the extension of the College Hill Narrow Gauge railroad to Mount Pleasant, and was mainly instrumental in securing it. For this purpose he gave the right of way through a mile of his landed possessions and a thousand dollars in cash. He, although of Democratic stock, turned to Republicanism during the early part of the war of the Rebellion, and has since voted steadily with the party of that faith. About 1871 his health was permanently affected by falling from a load of lumber upon his head, which came near costing him his life, and paralyzed him for some time. His general health is otherwise excellent. His married life has been childless. HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO - 373 Hamilton county. By hard labor and wise economy he has acquired a comfortable home. He has occupied various positions of honor and trust that the appreciative people of his neighborhood thought best to confer. He and Mrs. Brown are both earnest members of the Christian church. Joel Brown, the eldest son of Aaron and Cynthia Brown, was born in the State of Connecticut, in 1808. He came with his parents to Ashtabula county in 1814. Here the family settled immediately, in the woods, with no improvements whatever to give evidence of their having a predecessor. Our subject resided with his father. In clearing up the pioneer home much devolved upon him, he being the eldest. At the age of seventeen he began the trade 0f carpenter and joiner, which occupation he has industriously and successfully pursued for more than twenty years. In the year 1829 he married Miss Anna Wright, of Ashtabula count} parents were quite prominent in the early settlement of that county. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown were born eight children—five sons and three daughters—Alphonso, Alonzo, Lorenzo, Alvin, Lovisa, Emma, Alexis, and Emma. Alphonso, Alonzo, Lorenzo, Alvin, Lovisa, and Emma have died. Mr. Brown is one of the substantial and thrifty farmers of the township. While he is not associated with any church organization he ever favors what is good and true. He and his estimable wife live at ease in a pleasant home in Springfield township. Jacob Field was born in New Jersey in 1768. In 1812 he settled in this township. He died in 1841, at the home where he had always lived since coming to Ohio. He taught school in his early years, but later devoted himself to farming. Hester Ross, his wife, was born in 1770, and died in 1856. The only surviving member of the family to-day is John R. Field, who owns and resides on the old Field homestead. He was born in the State of New Jersey in 1810, and came with his parents to Ohio two years later. In 1834 he was married to Miss Harriet Perrine, and to them have been born nine children—Jacob, Martha, Jane, Hester A., Eliza, beth, Charles, Sarah B., Catharine R., and Lydia R. Charles, Sarah, and Elizabeth are still living. Mrs. Field is a member of the Presbyterian church, but her husband has never become identified with any religious organization. John T. Snodgrass was born in Hamilton county October 7, 1812. He remained at his early home till his marriage with Miss Catharine Hoffner, in the spring of 1836. Eleven children were born to them—William, Thomas, John, Jethro, Oliver, Felty A., Mary F., Angeline, Harriet, James B., and Albert. All are dead but Angeline, who married George Laboyteaux, one of the prominent merchants of Mount Pleasant. Mr. Snodgrass served as trustee of the township a number of years. He died in the year 1868, while in Minnesota recruiting his health. He, as well as his wife, was a member of the Christian church. Mrs. Snodgrass, with her son-in-law and daughter, reside in a comfortable home in Mount Pleasant. John Wolverton first settled in Springfield township, in 1814. In 1783 he «as born in New Jersey, from which State he moved to Ohio. His death occurred in Iowa, in the year 1850. Early in his life he carried on the business of weaving, but later became a farmer. Mary Hogland, his wife, was born in 1789, and died in 1835. The children are John, Alfred, William, Milton, Harriet, Neely, Ann Laboyteaux, and Amos, who resides in the township, and is the subject of the following sketch. Amos Wolverton was born in New Jersey, in 1811, and came with his parents to Ohio in 1814. In 1833 he married Miss Rebecca Carl, daughter of a pioneer. The fruit of this union was nine children—three sons and six daughters: David, William, Thomas, Eliza Ann, Eveline, Mary, Harriet, Matilda and one that died in infancy. Mr. Wolverton is one of the few remaining pioneers of Hamilton county, a good and esteemed citizen. While he is not associated with any church organizatior, he is a moral man, and lives what he believes. This worthy couple have now reached their three-score and ten years, and are remarkably well preserved for their years. William Riddle, grandson of the famous pioneer, Colonel John Riddle, eldest son of John and Catharine Riddle, was born March 15, 1815, and made his home with his parents until his marriage, in 1854, to Miss Lemira S. Burdsall, daughter of one of the pioneer families. They have had four children—Lydia A., Edgar B., Alice D., and one that died without name in infancy. He has acquired a comfortable fortune, and his surroundings show more than ordinary thrift and taste. Both are earnest members of the Church of Christ, and staunch supporters of its institutions. Joseph Carman settled in Springfield township, in 1815. He came from New Jersey to Ohio, and remained in the same township, where he made his earliest improvements, till 1831, when his death occurred. The farm first owned by him is now the property of John M. Cochran. The wife, Mary Carman, has long been among the dead. The daughter, Susan Broadwell, living at Smith's Landing, on the Ohio river, is now over eighty-four years of age. Andrew, the only male representative, was born in the year 1804, in the State of New Jersey, and came with his parents to Hamilton county in 1815, and made his home with them until the time of his marriage. He was thrice married—first, in 1830, to Miss Frances Watson, who died twelve years later. They had two children—one infant not named, and Benjamin, who lived to the age of thirty-four years, and died leaving a wife and two children. Mr. Carmen married again in the year 185o, Miss Rebecca Campbell, who died within a year after marriage. When Mr. Carmen again married, he was united to Miss Charity Sharp. He is now in his seventy-seventh year, and childless, but two little grandchildren remain to him. Mr. Carmen lived in log cabin days, and underwent the many disadvantages and hardships with the pioneer fathers. Isaac Lane, the eldest son of John and Rosanna Lane, was born in Springfield township, in the year 1816, at the old Lane homstead. In his youthful days he worked at blacksmithing, and assisted his father in carrying on the farm. Much devolved upon him, he being the eldest 374 - HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. son of his father's family. He resided under the parental roof until the time of his marriage, in 1839, to Miss Margaret Hill, daughter of a pioneer. To Mr. and Mrs. Lane were born eleven children—seven sons and four daughters. Their names are as follows: Mary, Albert, Emma, John, Anna, Frank, Newton, Charlie, Jerome, Nettie and Willie. All are living but Mary and Anna. Both grew to years of womanhood, and their loss to the fond parents was great. Mr. and Mrs. Lane are both earnest members of the Christian church. Grandfather and grandmother Lane are dead, and lie buried side by side in the little churchyard at New Burlington. John Hall was born in the State of Pennsylvania in the year 1794 and came with his parents to Springfield township in the year 1817, and resided with them until the time of his marriage to Miss Sarah Flail, in the year 1827. To them were born two sons—Joseph and John. He lost his companion in the winter of 1827. He was married again in the year r844 to Miss Catharine Chris-man. This second union gave him six children—three sons and three daughters—Charles, Leander, Lovina, Amanda, Henry, and Emeline. Those deceased are Charles and Leander, both dying in early childhood. He and his wife were both members of the Presbyterian church, and were ever consistent to the faith they professed. The father died in 1873. He was a citizen respected and esteemed wherever known, and his loss was keenly felt among family and other friends. He now lies buried in the Springdale cemetery. Elijah Hills came to Cincinnati in 1818. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and emigrated from that State to Ohio. While living in the former State he followed the tailor's trade. After coming to Ohio he was a farmer. His death occurred in 1848. His wife, Rebecca Hills, died the year previous. The surviving members of his family are Townsend, Rebecca Maine, Martha Sprong, Susan, and Alfred, the eldest son, who was born in 1805, in the State of Connecticut. He came to Ohio with his parents, and at the age of thirty he married Ellen McCash, the daughter of an early settler. Three sons were born to them—Townsend, Alfred, and Charles, who died in infancy. Mr. Hills has gained sufficient property to make his old age comfortable, and he and his aged wife can now fully enjoy their pleasant home, and cheerful surroundings. Joshua Yerkes was born in Virginia and .came from that State to Ohio, where he settled in Springfield township in the year 1819. All through his life he followed the business of farming, and was a soldier in the War of 1812. He died in Indiana in his hundredth year. His wife, Margaret Yerkes, died in her eighty-seventh year. The surviving members of the- family are John H., Rachel Reed, Mary Griffith, Margaret Jolly, and Joshua; the second son and subject of this sketch. He was born in Virginia, in the year 1812, and came with his parents to Hamilton county when but a lad of seven summers. He left the parental roof at the age of fourteen; was twice married, first to Miss Eliza McGillard, daughter of an early pioneer. To Mr. and Mrs. Yerkes was born an only son, Howard, who resides in Iowa and has a wife and two children. Mr. Yerkes lost his companion after four years of married life. Mr. Yerkes married for his second wife Miss Elizabeth Brown, who was also of quite an early and prominent family, of whom an extended account will be found elsewhere. To this second marriage were born six children—four sons and two daughters--Susan, Alfred, Elizabeth, Hiram, Martin, and Edward—all living. Benjamin Sterritt was born in the State of Pennsylvania, Franklin county, in 1801, and came to Cincinnati in the year 1820. His business career has been entirely devoted to the mercantile trade in Cincinnati. He has been twice married; first to Jane B. Keys. His second wife was Abigail C. McCoy. Both are dead, and our subject is now living a retired life in a pleasant home in Glendale. Elias Compton was born in New Jersey, and emigrated to Ohio in the year 1820. His settlement was made in Springfield township. He followed shoemaking, and afterward farming. His wife, Bacheba Hill, died in r832; the husband lived till 1866. The children are Joseph, Azariah, Wilson, Mary Ann, Phoebe, and Charles. The last-named was born in 1827, and remained at home until his marriage in 1863, to Miss Margaret Boggs. They had one child only—Ella M. In 1871 his wife died, and he again married in 1873. The second wife was Martha N. Hurst, who has become the mother of a son, Clarence M. The family are now living on the old homestead of the Comptons. They are all connected with the Presbyterian church. His father and mother are buried in the Springfield cemetery. Archibald Brown was born in Argyleshire, Scotland, January 22, 1776. In the year r825 he emigrated to America, and settled in Cincinnati, but subsequently moved into Mill Creek township, where he died May 22, 1858. His aged wife, Ellen Brown, survived him less than a year, dying January 6, 1859. She was born on the twentieth of May, 1779. His business was that of farming. The children were William, Archibald, Isabelle Adams, and Matthew, the youngest son and subject of the following sketch. Matthew Brown was born in Scotland in the year 1821, and four years later came with the family to Hamilton county. He remained with his parents till the time of his marriage to Miss Martha Brown in the year 1847. Nine children have been born to them, eight of whom are now living. Mr. Brown is one of the substantial and enterprising farmers of his region, and a citizen respected and esteemed. He and his wife are both earnest members of the Presbyterian church, and are staunch supporters of the faith they profess. By dint of hard labor and careful management, he has acquired a comfortable property. He is now surrounded by almost every comfort that a gracious heaven can confer, and as he and his estimable lady pass along life's journey, they can look back without regret upon a well-spent life. Grandfather and grandmother Brown lie buried side by side in Spring Grove cemetery. Thomas Weston settled in Springfield township in 1827. He was born in 1769, in Townsend, Massachusetts, and died in 1836, at his home in this township.