CHANGE OF COUNTY SEAT - 125 New Market ever being deprived of its honor, yet it was good policy to use every endeavor to fasten the seat of justice to its present locality. As no county buildings had been erected, and the court house was the open air under some wide spreading oak, he suggested the raising of funds for the erection of public buildings, assuring the people if this was done they would hear no more about the removal the county seat. This idea was thought a good one, and the leading men of New Market and vicinity began at once to act upon the suggestion. They did not seem aware that with the exception of their own neighborhood and town, the entire county was against them. After mature reflection and consultation, it was concluded to hold a grand barbecue and invite the entire county to attend, and as there had never been a fourth of July celebration in Highland, they fixed upon that national day for the feast, hoping that while their guests feasting and excited with free whisky and the glorious memories revived by the day, that they would yield the point of moving the seat of justice three or four miles nearer the center of the county. Everything progressed finely. Word was sent to every neighborhood in the county, if not to every family. Glowing accounts were circulated of the good things to eat and drink to be found on the ground. Roast pigs, sheep, turkeys and a great ox, with all the additional delicacies that the land afforded. would be provided. The result was that New Market was crowded to overflowing. The entire county seemed to be there. The tables were set in front of G. W. Barrere's tavern. Here the crowd collected, as the day was to be one of feasting, every lady was anxious to see what was there to eat. New Market had a company of militia which paraded the streets to the soul inspiring music of the fife and drum, waving an old battle torn flag that had belonged to the army of General Wayne, and was present at the battle of the Fallen Timbers. The crowd soon grew so large that the militia could not march, and their presence was disregarded as the people grew hungry and drunk. A platform of rails had been erected on the side of the street near the long table, and about eleven o'clock was occupied as a rostrum. The meeting was organized by electing Morgan Van Meter president by acclamation. The Declaration of Independence was then read, followed by an oration of great length, by one Jesse F. Roysden, an eccentric school master, recently settled in New Market. When these exercises were over it was announced that dinner was ready. By this time the people were very hungry and needed no second invitation to surround the table. The eating was simply a grab game, but there seemed to be enough for all. After the hunger was satisfied, the toast drinking began. The toasts were drunk in strong toddy and julips, brewed in large new cedar tubs. The sentiments expressed were all patriotic and called forth great applause from 126 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. the half-fuddled patriots, while the fife and drum at one end of the table, and the fiddlers three at the other end carried on a continuous rivalry in noise and scraping. Soon those upon the out. side began to scatter, some shooting at a mark, others running foot races, while still others engaged in wrestling. An ugly knock down drew many more from the table, while those who remained became more and more confused and stupid. More fights on the ground convinced the sober and intelligent part of the crowd that it was time to adjourn and those of the crowd that were not too drunk or too badly. whipped to go, took their departure and when the shades of night came down upon the scene, the town of New Market was about the same as ever. The next morning when consciousness had fully returned, they found they had forgotten the main purpose of the meeting, a subscription to build a court house and jail, so the purpose was abandoned, and no effort made to secure the seat of justice by erecting these very necessary buildings. John Carlisle came up from Chillicothe and established a store on Clear creek. The location was near Billy Hill's as the most promising point to erect his building, which was made of hewed logs, and William Kelso and Samuel Swearinger kept the store for Carlisle. The commissioners met upon the 10th day of February, 1806, but did little business save in relation to the roads of the county. The session lasted but a single day. The laying out of roads was a necessity in the economy of the county, as the woods in every direction were rapidly filling up with people who were asking for some means of communication with the outside world, which could only be done by grubbing out the undergrowth and cutting down the trees, so that wagons could pass over the stumps when not too large or dodge between them when they could see them or the mud was not too deep. Some of the ground was low and swampy and when this was the case, the mud and water or rather mud mortar would get so deep that teams could not travel them. Then the supervisors would have poles and logs cut and- placed crosswise over the worst places, and on these half floating timbers they would be compelled to travel. Orders on the county treasurer were drawn for various forms of work amounting in the aggregate to several hundred dollars, but the larger part of this money was expended for road cutting and clearing. The manner of clearing the road way was to roll the logs to each side of the way and pile the brush in the same way until a brush fence of considerable height enclosed this path of stumps through the woods. Wagons were things to excite the curiosity of the `white headed children of the settlers, a much so as a rushing train of cars to some of the dwellers of o own country now. The commissioners of the county "ordered that James Denn Esq., be paid the sum of eighty-eight dollars and fifty cents for sur- CHANGE OF COUNTY SEAT - 127 veying and ascertaining the lines of Highland county and to locate its center, and for other expenses." A similar amount was paid to Nathaniel Beasly for like work. These men were doubtless the commissioners appointed by the legislature to do this work the year before, who having performed their duty as directed, received their compensation. There is quite a contrast in prices between then and now, as the report of the commissioners will clearly show, but the times indicate that civilization is expensive, and that in those early times it cost little for food and clothing, as variety in the one and fashion in the other was not the rage. Trade had languished since Fritz Miller was compelled to quit business on account of the failure of Barngruber to furnish the needed supplies of whisky and tobacco. A Mr. Logan set up a store om the shop of Michael Stroup, but soon closed out his business. In 1807 John Smith came from Maysville, Ky., and opened a store on the east side of Fritz Miller's old stand, just across a large pond in the street which had been called Lake Robinson ever since a citizen of that name when -unsteadied by liquor had fallen into the water from the narrow causeway of logs that led across it to the store. The stock of goods carried by Smith was far better than those of his predecessors, and his business venture was very successful for a year or two. When the town of Hillsboro was established he removed his stock of goods and continued the business of store keeping there. In March, 1806, James Fitzpatrick, from Monroe county, Va., established his home about three and a half miles southeast of Hillsboro. His children were principally grown at the time of leaving his old home on Indian creek and being about sixty years old, it waa severe trial for him to break up the associations of a life time and abandon the old home. He and his children were devout Methodists, and the night before they started from Virginia was devoted to singing and prayer in communion with the neighbors.With nine pack horses laden with necessary goods, followed by some cattle, and all the family on foot save the mother who was given a horse, they came over the mountains. The three sons carried rifles, and the six girls, all young women, assisted in driving the stock. In six weeks they reached Chillicothe, where, the scenery had charms, but the stories of the terrors of malaria persuaded them not to make a permanent settlement. They were talking of a return to Virginia when Henry Massie went to them with the information that he had good uplands in Highland, which he would warrant free from the plague of ague. These lands were looked up by Robert Fitzpatrick and a purchase made, and the family reached Highland. county in the following March. They built their cabin near a very fine spring, and soon had enough land cleared in time for corn planting. The family remained healthy, things prospered with them, and they were pleased and happy in their new home. During the first sum- 128 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. mer they built a neat new house, of small logs, hewed on two sides, chinked, and tightly daubed upon the outside with yellow clay. This building was a story and a half high, the connecting link between the rough round log cabin of early date and song, and the hewed log house of more modern times. The hearth and fireplace were of stone, and the chimney built of sticks, and mortared with clay, a neatly hewed puncheon floor, and joists of peeled hickory poles and covered with wide heavy boards. The doors were neat, and the house had two small glass windows. The home of the Fitzpatricks was a model one, pure, clean, and sweet, where love seasoned their daily toil and devotion crowned their evenings with prayer and praise. In the fall of 1805 the first regular Methodist meeting held in Highland county was at the home of Fitzpatrick. Peter Cartwright, of pioneer fame, and James Quinn, were the circuit preachers, and William Burk was the presiding elder. This circuit was called Scioto, and held within its scope about all of the territory between. the Scioto and Little Miami. Quinn had thirty-one appointments to fill every four weeks, which called for three hundred and sevent• two sermons each year, without taking into account his class meet, ing,s and other religious duties belonging to his profession as a minister of the gospel. One of the members of the Fitzpatrick family tells the following story of their first introduction to the Rev. Mr. Quinn : "He was the first preacher that ever came to our hour he came wandering along through the woods from George Richards', hunting our house late one afternoon. We had nothing but a little bench for a table, but we got him some supper, the best we had, and he seemed satisfied and quite at home in our rough cabin. he remained all night, and sat up late talking and praying with us. The next morning he left, having made an appointment to preach for us in two weeks." For twenty-one years, following this first appointment, the home of the Fitzpatricks remained a regular place of preaching and quarterly meetings. It was a favorite stopping place all these years for the preachers, and when weary and belated the self-sacrificing "circuit rider" made great effort to reach this log cabin home, sure of a kindly welcome and a soft clean bed upon which to repose his tired body. The Methodists were not as yet organized in the county at the time of which we write, but soon, took root and spread rapidly over the county, until it was remarked by Rev. George Maley, an eccentric Methodist preacher, that "Methodism and dog-fennel were bound to take the world." Dog-fennel was introduced in Ohio about the same time as a supposed preventive of malaria. In the fall of 1806 Matthew Creed, a Revolutionary soldier, came with his large and grown up family and settled near Fitzpatrick's. They had been neighbors and warm friends in Virginia, and were CHANGE OF COUNTY SEAT - 129 also devout Methodists. Terry Templin came with the Creed family, and we are not positive whether it was Templin or Creed that was a brother-in-law to Fitzpatrick. The Creeds erected a mill on Rocky fork and the first wheat ground and flour made in that community was at this mill. He had no arrangement for bolting the flour, but he purchased enough bolting cloth to cover an ordinary sieve and fastened it in a hoop. So when one took wheat to have it ground wife or daughter went along to do the bolting. Esther Fitzpatrick said she had worked many a day at the mill bolting flour as it was ground and that this class of flour made excellent bread. While game was still plenty, and old Mr. Creed an excellent hunter, be did not spend much time at this business. He built himself a turkey pen near his house, and kept his table supplied with wild turkey until they grew tired of this toothsome bird. The -wild turkey .while a shy and cunning bird, when hunted for with rifle, is in other ways very stupid and foolish. A turkey pen is built of poles or rails beginning wide at the bottom, and drawing in toward the top, so that the effort to fly out is generally in vain. A trench is then dug, 'beginning at some distance from the pen and leading inside of the structure. Grain is sprinkled freely in the trench and inside the ,pen. The turkeys following. the trench find themselves enclosed, become frightened, run about with heads up, fail to see the opening uder the pen, and remain captive in this simple device. Mr. Creed would often find an entire drove in his pen, and if not needed for food would "turn them out," as he said, "to see them run." At the February term of court, 1807, the journal contains the following entry : "Agreeably to an act of the last legislature, entitled an act establishing the permanent seat of justice in the county of Highland, the court have elected David Hays director." It was made the duty of the commissioners appointed by the legislature to survey and locate the county seat, to report to the court of common pleas, and upon the reception of such report the court was authorized to appoint a director "who after giving sufficient surety for his faithfu1 performance, shall be fully authorized to purchase the land, if the commissioners selected a site not already appropriated by a town, of the proprietor or proprietors, for the use and behoof of the county, and proceed to lay off said land into lots, streets and alleys, under such regulations as the court may prescribe; and the said director is hereby authorized to dispose of said lots, either at public or private sale, as the court may think proper, and to make a legal conveyance of the same in fee simple to the purchaser; provided the land purchased and laid off in lots shall not exceed seven hundred acres." This statute also required that the first sale of the lots should be applied to the payment for the land and necessary expenses of laying off the lots, the residue of the money to be paid into the county treasury, H-9 130 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. The point selected by the commissioners after a careful and thorough survey of the county was believed to be as near the center as practicable, though lying somewhat north of the exact center, which was in a bog near Rocky fork southwest from the site selected about two miles. The commissioners were strongly inclined toward what is now known as the Eagle Spring as being nearer the center, and the small improvement in the residence, clearing and pottery of Iliff. But the ground was thought unsuitable and they wisely selected the beautiful ridge nearly a mile northeast. This ridge was exactly on the trace from New Market to Clear Creek, was well known to all, and every intelligent and impartial mind applauded the judicious The feeling of the New Market people against Jo Kerr was very bitter at this time. He was deeply interested in the permanent location of the county seat at New Market, more so perhaps than any other man, but he had been so confident that New Market was in a mile or so of the center of the county, that while he had been the influential advocate before the legislature for its final stay in that spot, he at last consented to the adoption of a resolution to the effect that, if on a careful survey by the commissioners, New Market was not found within four miles of the center, it might be abandoned. This bound him and his friends to the change, for when the survey was made it was found that New Market was outside the prescribed limit by one-half mile. On the 28th of August, 1807, David Hays, the director, made a survey and plat, and on the 7th of September following, he receive a deed for two hundred acres of land from Benjamin Elliott, throu his attorney, Phineas Hunt, the consideration being one hundr dollars. This land, two hundred acres, deeded to David Ha director, was the land upon which he laid off the town of Hillsbo The name Hillsboro, some declare, was given by the court for th reason of its situation upon the highest land in the county ; othe claim that it was named in honor of William Hill, "Uncle Bill Hill," as he was called. Others say that Hays named the town a the time it was platted. But this much can be said, Hays desery the honor of naming the town and we wish we could be certain tha he did. Everything connected with this man's work as director evidenced not only, says one, an enlightened gentleman of excellent taste, but a stern sense of justice. He belonged to the New Marke party, and of course would, if he had been an ordinary man, have shared in their passion and prejudices, but the contrary is abundantly manifest. He had the whole control of the matter, for the court, who might, under the law, have dictated to him, declined all action, leaving everything to him, and considering that it was done ninety-five years ago, when it is supposed that enlightenment and refinement in virtue and honesty had not dawned upon the pioneer settlers, we can CHANGE OF COUNTY SEAT - 131 not but express our admiration for one who fills up the measure of that expressive saying "An honest man the noblest work of God." In the laying out of Hillsboro the error of narrow streets and still more narrow alleys, and diminutive lots, which was the unfortunate feature in the early towns of Ohio, was entirely avoided. Hays, who was not only the director but the surveyor as well, seemed to understand and appreciate the beauty, utility and healthfulness of uncramped conditions of town and cities, and the full merits of his plan are now understood and followed in the towns of more recent origin and growth. The two principal streets, Main and High, were laid off ninety-nine feet wide, and all the others sixty-six. The alleys were sixteen and one-half feet. The inlots were ninety-nine feet front., by one hundred and ninety-eight feet back. The director was ordered by the court to offer the lots at public sale. This sale took place on Beech street, east of the present site of the Clifton House. The land purchased for the town was an unbroken forest of dense growth. The timber was oak, hickory, walnut, beech, with dogwood, spice, hazel for undergrowth. Christian Bloom and his wife were present with a full stock of ginger bread and whisky, in a small tent near the stand of the auctioneer. John Davidson, of New Market, was that important personage. Quite a number of lots were sold at prices ranging from twenty to one hundred and fifty dollars. The Smith corner, as it is .called now, was purchased by Allen Trimble for one hundred and fifty dollars; the Johnson corner sold for the same price; other lots on Main and High streets extending out from the center, brought from forty to seventy-five dollars, while the lots on Walnut street and Beech street went at twenty and twenty-five dollars. Hays bid off the Mattill corner, and David Reece bought the corner where the widow of Joseph Woodrow now resides. The lots were sold on tweelve months' credit. The out-lots sold at from twenty to twenty- five dollars, and contained from three to five acres. Almost immediately after the sale was made, preparations for improvement began. John Campton, a tanner from New Market, bought the lot known as the Trimble tanyard, on which he had discovered a spring and had carefully covered it with bushes, to hide it from the eyes of possible bidders. After his purchase he built a little shanty at this spring and was living in it within ten days after sale. This was the first building of any description erected in Hillsboro. The next was a small log cabin with clapboard roof and door, upon the lot on which the Parker House now stands. This cabin was erected by Joseph Knox. Joe had his house completed by the first of November of that year, and it was opened as a tavern. During a term of court following the selection of the new locality for the county seat, the Clear Creek men, feeling their victory over the New Market people, were disposed to exultation. There had 132 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. been bad blood for some time on both sides and some severe fights had occurred when the parties met at courts or other gatherings. At this session of the court the boasting and sneers were louder and more open as the final decision had been reached, and victory was absolutely assured. The New Market men bore the taunts of the Clear Creekers the first day, but with no very good grace, and it was clearly understood that any aggravation or provocation, however, slight, might bring on a fight between the factions. As an outlet for the spirit of rivalry a wrestling match was arranged for the last day of court between a New Market man and a Clear Creek man, in order to settle the question of which section had the best men, a question thought to be very important and its settlement at that time very necessary. They adopted wrestling as the means of settlement for the obvious reason that it would not do to incite a dangerous fight while the court was in session, and the terrors of Barrere's new well stared them in the face. This new well, dug by the Barreres, in the absence of any building for the safe keeping of offenders, was used as a jail. It was some twenty feet deep, dry and unwalled, and the sheriff would place his unruly subjects in this hole in the ground, pull up the ladder, cover the top of the well with heavy fence rails, and leave his unfortunate friends to repentance and tears. So the two champions, Dana from Clear Creek and Gibler from New Market, entered the ring formed by their friends, in the street just in front of the barroom where the court was sitting. Gibler was the stoutest man of the two and the New Market men were certain of the victory. After a most desperate struggle they fell, but Dana was on top. At this unexpected result the Clear Creek men shouted like savages, and gave their well known war whoop. Gibler arose mortified and maddened by the crowing of the opposite party and instantly struck Dana and knocked him down. At this "Billy" Hill quick as lightning knocked down Gibler and Hill was instantly knocked over by Bordon. Then Joe Sweringen pitched in and knocked down some five or six New Market men, in such rapid succession that the first One was just getting up as the last one was going down. The whole crowd by this time was engaged in the fight, and such a general knocking down was never witnessed before in New Market, nor, doubtless, in Ohio. Sweringen was very strong and exceedingly active, and he fought so dexterously as to damage New Market greatly and escaped himself without a scratch. His Honor Judge Belt was compelled to suspend business on account of the roar out doors. He ordered the sheriff to command the peace and arres the offenders. The order was easy but how to execute it was no apparent. Major Franklin, the sheriff, made the effort, but saw tha the game had to be played out then and there, and he wisely desiste The battle finally ended with neither side claiming a decided victory but all, more or less,. bearing the scars of bloody affray. The con CHANGE OF COUNTY SEAT - 133 concluded as there was but one new well in New Market, and that too small to hold the offenders, he would treat the whole thing as a grand exhibition of Highland county chivalry, "equal," the judge remarked, "to twenty Spanish bull fights." At the annual election for state and county officers, on October 13, 1807, Moses Patterson was elected commissioner in the place of Jonathan Boyd. The election in Liberty township was held at the home of Samuel Evans on Clear creek. Augustus Richards was elected sheriff over William Hill. The largest number of votes in the county were cast for Hill, who was very popular, but for some use, cause, not explained upon the record, the entire vote of Fairfield township was thrown out which gave the office to Richards. This, however, was the only office affected by the rejection of the Fairfield vote. There is some mystery about this affair that has never been cleared up, and it is just possible that at that early day the astute politician was enabled to manipulate affairs to suit his interest as adroitly as at the present day. Duncan McArthur was chosen senator Ross and Highland counties, and Jeremiah McLene and John A. Fulton received the highest votes in Highland for representatives. For governor of the state at that election there were four candidates, Nathaniel Massie, Samuel Huntington, Thomas Worthington and Return J. Meigs. General Massie was Highland's favorite candidate, and received all the votes in the county except six: Huntington received one vote, Worthington two and Meigs three. In the month of November an event occurred resulting in the death of David Hays, clerk and recorder of the county and director of Hillsboro, which cast a deep gloom over the entire community. Hays was an unmarried man between thirty and thirty-five years of age. On the day the accident occurred he and some others were in Hillsboro on business which detained them until late in the afternoon when the party started out on horseback. Some one of the number bantered the crowd for a race home, which Hays among the rest accepted. They started at a rapid gait along the bridle path, G. W. Barrere in the lead and Hays just behind him, but upon the second rise in the path, some few yards from the Glascock cabin, Hays' horse swerved so that the rider passed close to a sapling, a smal1 dead branch of which entered his eye and penetrated the brain. This ended the race. Hays was taken to New Market and remained at Barrere's some days. There being no surgeon of sufficient skill in reach of the wounded man, he was taken to Chillicothe, and the snag extracted, but death followed soon after. There seems to be some conflict of dates in regard to this sad accident, as the record of the court shows an order in December of that year, "that Morgan Vanmeter, G. W. Barrere and Philip Wilkin be appointed to view a road from New Market to Morgan Vanmeter's and -that David Hays is appointed surveyor." If Hays died some time in November, 134 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. he certainly would not have been appointed surveyor in December afterward. Dates are difficult to determine, when incidents without record are sought for. The removal of the county seat from New Market destroyed all its hopes of future greatness. From that time onward it was doomed to obscurity and neglect. The oldest town of the region, it had, up to that event, been regarded as the social and political center of the promising county of Highland. Nine highways had been opened up, leading to New Market, to-wit, Cincinnati, Chillicothe, West Union, Manchester, Lebanon, Augusta, Maysville, Mead river and Lytle's Saltworks roads, and there were other roads that intersected these main roads at short distances from the place. While the hopes of New Market departed when the county seat was lost, it continued for some time to be a place of some business. The surrounding country was good and had been brought under intelligent cultivation, and corn, wheat and fruit were greatly in advance of home consumption and market. Cattle, sheep, hogs, and horses were raised by the farmers, while the tannery, hatter shop, blacksmith shop and dry goods and grocery stores still drew trade from distant settlements which as yet were unprovided with these conveniences and means of supply. A brief mention of some of the later arrivals in Highland county will show, the different and widely separated localities chosen by families who emigrated from the same state and often from the same locality to settle in the West. Moses Patterson came from Fayette county, Ky., and settled near New Market, where he lived for a few years. He purchased the tract. of land owned by Ulric Sloan. Upon this land some time before, James Smith had erected a small tub-mill, a short distance below where the turnpike now crosses the creek. Patterson ran this mill for some years, his son Robert being the miller, and kept bachelor's hall in a little one-room cabin near by. This mill had an extensive run of custom, and especially was this so in dry weather, as the water supply seemed to be more lasting than at other mill sites scattered over the country. This mill at a more recent date was replaced with a large brick structure, passing into the possession of many different parties, until only a few years ago it was torn down and the only remains is the outline of the dry race which conveyed the water from the old Trimble dam, nearly a mile above. Andrew Shaffer came to New Market in 1805. He was a soldier in the Revolution, and was present at the battles of Germantown, Monmouth, and Trenton. After a short residence in New Market he removed to his farm where he passed a long and useful life, dying in the year 1855 at the age of 94 years. John Roush and Adam Arnott, with their families, came in 1806 and settled near the present town of Danville in the neighborhood of Giblers and Wilkins. One peculiar feature of this year was the remarkable growth of mast. CHANGE OF COUNTY SEAT - 135 So great was the crop that incredible quantities could be gathered under the white oak trees, the ground being covered to the depth of three or four inches. Hogs running at large became so fat that it was impossible to eat the sides, which were so oily that nothing remained after cooking but the skin swimming in great quantities of pure lard oil. The great event of 1807 was the squirrel invasion. Colonel Keys says that early in the spring these animals commenced coming in, and by the middle of May the whole of southern Ohio was overrun or "inundated" by them. They swam the Ohio river in myriads, and the crop just planted was entirely taken by them. They had often been destructive but never so numerous or bad as in this special year 1807, when it seemed that a combination of evils unlooked for was destined to destroy the entire bread supply of the country. Of course replanting was resorted to, but the squirrels were on the alert and would scratch up the grains of corn almost as fast as they were planted. One field of five or six acres belonging to a man by, the name of Sharp was totally destroyed by them, not a single hill remaining. Sharp concluded that as his corn crop was gone he would raise a field of tobacco hills, and he set out the plants, fully persuaded that he could raise that crop in spite of all the animals in the world, as no one used tobacco except fools and "billy goats." But the squirrels evidently reasoned that Master Sharp had hidden some corn under those beautiful hills which he had decorated with a green plant, and so they went to work very industriously and scratched up tobacco plant and hill and poor Sharp had neither corn nor tobacco. After it was all over Sharp grimly told one of his neighbors that he had no doubt that the squirrels did it through mistake, as they never used tobacco. Joined to the squirrel pest was the wolves, wild cats, pole cats and possums, which were all plentiful and played havoc with sheep, ,pigs and chickens. But game was still plenty, deer roamer everywhere, and wild turkey without number. Corn was the crop upon which the farmers depended for bread. Some farmers had commenced to raise wheat, but this year the wheat. was "sick," as it was called. The grain was full and ripe, the flour white and responded quickly to the leaven, and bread looked light and fine. But it could not be eaten, for as soon as taken into the stomach a deathly sickness came on, neusea and vomiting. The cause was unknown, but the fact was established beyond a doubt. A stranger calling at a home asked for some wheat bread, but was told that the flour was sick; wheat flour could not be eaten. The stranger claimed that sick wheat existed only in the imagination of the people, so he had the lady make some warm biscuits of wheat. He ate heartily, sitting for a moment at the table smiling in triumph over his demonstration that sick wheat was only in the imagination, but he suddenly turned pale and started 136 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. for the door. Joined to the squirrel depredations and the sick wheat, two or three frosts caught what little corn the squirrels had left, before the grain had hardened, and soft corn was the result, which could neither be ground or pounded into meal, and bread starvation stared the county in the face. In consequence of the ravages of the squirrels the legislature in December, 1807, passed a law of seven sections, entitled "An act to encourage the killing of squirrels." This made it the duty of all persons within the state who were tax payers, to furnish in addition to their taxes a certain number of squirrel scalps, subject to the same penalties and forfeitures as delinquent tax-payers. Any person pro. ducing a greater number than demanded was to receive two cents for each scalp out of the treasury of the county. This law, however necessary at the time, worked badly for the farmer. The intensely severe winter of 1807-8 almost destroyed the squirrel race. Of course-it was impossible to furnish the scalps, as there were no squirrels, and money was more plentiful than the scalps. The law was not enforced and in 1809 was repealed. The winter of 1807-8 was memorable for its severity and deep snow which destroyed nearly all the birds and small animals. The county seat was a dreary, desolate place in the extreme. Few hunters passed through it, and none came to stay, unless forced by some business tranSaction to visit the county town, which consisted of two cabins and a half finished log jail. So this winter passed in undisturbed silence. The choppers could not work for the severity of the cold, and during the coldest part of the season deer nibbled at twig and bush where the court house and jail now stand. Bear tracks were found in the spring in the melting snow in the. low ground where the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern depot now is. All the efforts of man had not thus far been able to redeem nature from its savage state, nor keep the county seat from the presence of the native inhabitants of the forest, who so long had ranged at will over the hills and hollows of Highland, and quietly grazed in the bush where the city ' of Hillsboro was yet to be. "Our spring season," says Colonel Keys, "was always a very busy laborious time of the year. Sugar making was very hard work, then clearing up ground for corn, rolling logs, and burning the heaps." It was not uncommon for hands to attend ten and twelve log-rollings every spring, and with all the numbers employed it was very hard work. Added to this were cabin raisings for newcomers, and house and barn raising for the older settlers. These barns were almost always built of hickory logs peeled. They were built double with a threshing floor in the center, horse and cow stables at each end and mows all over. These barns were covered with clapboards and with the doors of the same class. This peeling of the logs answered in place of hewing and as the logs were selected with some CHANGE OF COUNTY SEAT - 137 care, straight and as nearly of a size as could be obtained, about one foot over (diameter) they made a very neat looking building, but were not very durable. The raising of these barns was very heavy work, and the able-bodied men for miles around would be called out to assist. The work would often consume two days, and generally broke up with a frolic at night, at which the younger part of the laborers with the girls of the neighborhood enjoyed themselves in their own way. This custom continued for a number of years. It was the law of the country that those that wanted help must help others, and if any refused they could get no help. War had been made upon the wolf and panther tribe, which had been so destructive to the pigs, sheep and other animals of the farmer, encouraged by a large bounty from the county treasury for their scalps. At one session of the county commissioners, $52.50 were ordered paid for the scalps of these dangerous animals. One hunter, Edward Curtis, drew fifteen dollars and another, Ashley Johnson, drew ten. The commissioners concluded the price for scalps was too high and reduced the bounty to one dollar and fifty cents for the scalps of old animals, and seventy-five cents for cub scalps. The laying of the foundation of the court house at Hillsboro was begun about August 1, 1808, and the brick work soon. followed. When completed, this first temple of justice was a plain, two-story house, about forty feet square, with large doors fronting on Main and High streets. The first floor was the court room, with the judges' bench in a recess on the west end, and on each side of this a large fire place, in which logs were burned for heating. In front of the court was the enclosure of the bar, and beyond were raised seats for the spectators. Upstairs were jury rooms and court offices. The contract for building the jail in Hillsboro had been awarded to Samuel Williamson. Williamson some time before this had contracted, in connection with William C. Scott, with a Mr. Beasly to cut twelve miles of road, now known as the Old West Union. They were to cut this road so that a wagon could pass, removing all timber under two feet in diameter, and were to receive ten dollars per mile for so doing. They cut six miles of this job in partnership, when Williamson was forced to leave the balance of the distance to Scott, and begin his contract on the jail. Scott continued the road cutting in connection with James Montgomery, whom he hired at fifty cents a day. They were able to cut about a quarter mile each day and in e course of about three weeks arrived at the town of Hillsboro. uite a change had taken place in their absence, for the axe had been y with the stately oaks which covered the ridge. Williamson and partner, named Cain, were nearly ready to commence raising the ail, and prevailed upon the road cutters to remain and assist at the rk.. The jail was built of hewed logs and stood on the northeast rner of the public square. The logs were white oak timber and 138 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. were made square about fourteen inches in diameter and notched down until the sides met. About the first of November the jail was enclosed and Scott returned to George's creek, Adams county. In the following spring he returned to Highland county, making it his permanent home. Scott was a gunsmith by trade, but he was an expert workman in making edge tools of all kinds in use in the west. After settling in Highland he worked at axe making in connection with other smithing. He was very expert in making flax hacklers, making over one hundred in one winter for customers all over the county and was the first general iron worker in the county and his skill was of great benefit to the farmers. He had served in the war of 1812, was a justice of the peace for fifteen years, and served one term as associate judge on the Highland bench. He was not only a pioneer himself but his family before him had been identified with the struggles in the early settlement of the Northwest territory. A maternal uncle, Major Clark, fought through the whole of the Revolution, and had his last battle at St Clair's defeat, where he commanded the Pennsylvania riflemen. Falling wounded in the retreat, he managed to conceal himself and escape the scalping knife, and many days later he reached Fort Washington alone and barely alive. As he ever afterward related, a little man in the uniform of the riflemen, and shining with a dim light that broke the gloom of the forest, appeared nightly to the fever racked and starving man, and led him to a refuge. The first prisoner put in the log jail—a man accused of horse-stealing—broke out, and when he was recaptured the vigilance of John Shields, the first jailer, was aided by a posse of armed citizens until the prisoner could be taken to Chillicothe. In 1811 a new jail was finished, a two-story house, built of stone, including rooms for the jailer, and upper-story cells for debtors, and this jail was used until 1837. The first court house was used until a new one was finished in 1834. The second term of the supreme court in Highland county, be ning October 14, 1808, was held in William Barrett's tavern Hillsboro, where the court of common pleas was also held, before the courthouse was completed. The grand jury, when it retired to deliberate, sat upon the trunk of a fallen tree. Justices Samuel Huntington and William Sprigg presided at this session. Allen Trimble was appointed to succeed David Hays as clerk, James Daniels was admitted to the practice of law, and the first suit for divorce was heard and dismissed. Daniels was the first lawyer who made his home at Hillsboro, . according to Scott's history. The courthouse was not completed, it seems until 1810, and it appears that the first court held in it was the third term of the supreme court, Justices Irwin and Brown sitting. CHANGE OF COUNTY SEAT - 139 There was but little change in the character of the population of the county until after the close of the war of 1812. Up to this time the settlers were in the main natives of some of the older states of the Union, but there now set in a tide of emigration from the old countries, which mingled the rich brogue of the Irish with the broad and awkward attempts at English by the Dutch. "I remember," says an old pioneer, "the advent of some of these families. Old man Ferguson, a neat old Irish gentleman, dressed in his Sunday suit of black velveteen, long hose and knee and shoe buckles, called at our cabin to introduce himself as a new comer in the settlement with a large family. He was a weaver by trade, very fond of talking, and could tell much about the troubles, civil, religious and political, of the old country." It is told of Samuel Stitt, another Irishman "fresh from the sod," that in attempting to plow he would put the lines around his neck and try to guide the restive horse by turning his neck in the opposite direction from the way he desired the horse to go. But he was an excellent citizen and raised a family large and respectable in every way. His eldest son, Samuel Stitt, was a man of fine muscular development, and much force of character. He entered the army in the war of 1812 in Captain Trimble's company, Nineteenth regiment, was known as a brave and gallant soldier, and was severely wounded at Lundy's Lane. CHAPTER VIII. THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD. ONE of the first military companies in Highland county was formed at New Market in the summer of 1807, under the command of Capt. George W. Barrere. Doubtless they were inspired to military organization by the fears of foreign aggression and the filibustering expedition of Aaron Burr. This rifle company, the men wearing white hunting shirts as their only uniform, was kept up, with pretty good discipline, until the year 1812, when they answered the call for troops to serve against the British and Indians. In 1807 also, a company was organized in Fairfield township under Capt. Richard F. Bernard, whose successor in 1811 was Capt. Thomas M. Johnson. There was a general muster of the militia of the county in September, 1808, on the meadow of Capt. William Hill, on Clear Creek. There was Barrere's company from New Market, Bernard's from Fairfield, Capt. James Wilson's from Brush Creek, the Liberty township men with Samuel Evans as captain and Allen Trimble as lieutenant, Capt. John Coffee's company from Greenfield, and Captain Berryman's company, the first organized in the county, from New Market. Maj. Anthony Franklin was the commander-in-chief, resplendent in the uniform his father wore at Yorktown, and Captain Barrere was detailed as his adjutant. Captain Barrere's company went out for duty early in the war of 1812, with William Davidson as lieutenant, and another company under C'apt. John Jones and Lieut. James Patterson. William A. Trimble was appointed major in the Twenty-sixth United States infantry, and after he fought with gallantry in the Maumee river campaign he was promoted to colonel. Cary A. Trimble served as captain in the First Rifles, United States army. Under the call of 1813 a regiment of infantry was raised in this region of Ohio, to which Highland contributed four companies, under Capts. John Jones, James Patterson, Hugh Rogers and Joel Berryman, and the following officers : Colonel William Keys, Major Allen Trimble, Adjutant James Daniel, Surgeon Jasper Hand. THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 141 For the Mexican war one infantry company was enlisted and called into service, David Irick, captain ; Jackson Kennipe, first lieutenant, and Samuel D. Stewart second lieutenant. All these officers were from Hillsboro, and the company was enlisted in Highland county. During the war Captain Irick died, and Jackson Kennipe was promoted to captain, and Lieutenant Stewart to first lieutenant, and the company thus officered was attached to the Second Ohio regiment, under the command of Col. George W. Morgan. Stewart was distinguished for brave and gallant conduct .at the battle of San Francisco February 24, 1847. The incident is thus reported : "But being surrounded on every side by the enemy, Col. Morgan thought it prudent to send a courier to overtake Lieutenant Colonel Irwin, and Lieutenant Stewart of Highland county volunteered to discharge this perilous duty. The lancers lined the chaparal within fifty yards of the road, as far as the eye could see. Lieutenant Stewart, with a friendly Mexican and an American dashed out on the road under a heavy fire from both sides of the chaparal. The Mexican was killed, and the American wounded ; but Stewart dashed gallantly on." Congress voted him a gold-mounted sword, and he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the regular army of the United States. The history of Highland county in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-65, covers a much longer period of time, and larger numbers engaged in that terrible struggle to preserve the Union of the states, and show to the world that the sons of those gallant sires that had fought at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill were worthy the high destiny of freemen and could be trusted to perpetuate those principles so dear to every American heart, of liberty, fraternity and equality, the mighty trinity of Anglo-Saxon progress and civilization. Highland county contributed Company K to the TWelfth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, organized for three months' service in response to the first call of President Lincoln, and afterward the company re-enlisted and served three years. They fought in West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland, and made a. fine record. The Highland county officers were James Sloan, captain ; Benjamin R. A. Jones, first lieutenant, and William Peyton Coune, second lieutenant. For three years' service Coune became first lieutenant, and Esau Stevenson second lieutenant. Company I of the Twenty-fourth Ohio infantry regiment was mustered in at Hillsboro, June 14, 1861, and served three years, fighting at Shiloh, Stone River and Chickamauga. Joseph B. Hill was captain ; Burch Foraker, first lieutenant, and William C. Heddleson, second lieutenant. Company H of the twenty-seventh Ohio infantry was raised in Highland county; and they went to St. Louis in August, 1861, beginning a long career of worthy service, at Island No. 10, New Madrid, Shiloh, Corinth, Iuka, Dallas, Kenesaw and Atlanta. Of this High- 142 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. land county company William Sayers was captain first, succeeded by Samuel Thomas, who became colonel of another regiment. William E. Johnston and James P. Simpson were lieutenants. Company A of the Forty-eighth regiment was recruited in Highland county, and Capt. Job Reed Parker, first commander of the company, was promoted to colonel of the regiment. Another field officer, Major J. A. Bering, was a Highland county man, and the county is also to be credited with Captains F. M. Posgate, J. W. Frazee, T. Montgomery, C. W. Musgrave, and Lieutenants T. L. Fields, W. A. Quarterman, Cornelius Conrea and P. Brown. The Forty-eighth fought at Shiloh, Champion's Hill and Vicksburg with Sherman and Grant, and with Banks in Louisiana. Company E of the Fiftieth regiment was recruited in Highland county, with. Levi C. Guthrie captain, and John J. Manker and John A. Borum lieutenants. Manker was promoted to captain. The regiment was in the Perryville, Knoxville, Atlanta, Nashville and North Carolina campaigns, made great marches and fought in many great battles. Highland county contributed a number of men to the Fifty-ninth regiment, organized in October, 1863, and Charles A. Sheafe, of the county, was captain of Company I, and Francis F. Kibler a lieutenant. This regiment fought at Shiloh first, and afterward at Stone River, Chickamauga, and through the Atlanta campaign. The Sixtieth Ohio, originally enlisted for one year, contained a large number of Highland county men, and its roster of officers contained the following Highland county names: Col. William H. Trimble, Lieut.-Col. Noah H. Hixon, Maj. J. K. Marlay, Surgeon David Noble, Assistant Surgeon R. A. Dwyer, Chaplain William H. McReynolds, Captains John S. Hill, Philip Rothrock, Robert Harry, and Milton Cowaill, and Lieutenants G. W. Barrere, William O. Donahoo, Samuel Coleman, E. J. Blount, John M. Barrere, William C. Blair, James W. Gamble, and A. S. Witherington, George W. Davis, Cary T'. Pope and Jacob Lindsey. This regiment served with distinction in the Stonewall Jackson campaign in the Shenandoah valley, but was surrendered by the post commander at Harper's Ferry in the fall of 1862. Among the officers of the Sixty-fifth regiment Highland was represented by W. S. Patterson. The Seventy-third regiment contained many Highland county men, Greenfield being one of the main points of enrollment, and Jacob Hyer, of that town, the first lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. Among the line officers were Captains L. W. Burcott, Silas Irion an W. H. Eckman, and Lieutenants C. W. Trimble and Samuel Fine The Seventy-third fought in West Virginia and the Shenandoah valley, in eastern Virginia at Second Bull Run and Chancellorsville, in Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, in Tennessee and Georgia at Mission- THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 143 ary Ridge and all the way to Atlanta, through Georgia to Savannah and through the Carolinas until the end came. Highland also contributed a number of men to the Eighty-first regiment, and one of the companies was commanded by Capt. James Gibson. In the Eighty-eighth Lieut. S. C. Pembertonrepresented Highland among the line officers. To the Eighty-ninth regiment Highland contributed several companies under the command of Captains W. H. Glenn, D. M. Barrett and Joseph H. Mullenix. Glenn was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and commanded the regiment when it was captured at Chickamauga. Other officers were Adjutant R. W. Spargur, and Lieutenants J. W. Patterson, J. C. Nelson (promoted to captain), Samuel A. Glenn (promoted to captain), John W. Glenn, I. W. Vickars, G. H. Beveridge. Companies A, B and H of the Hundred and Sixty-eighth regiment were enlisted in Highland county, and George W. Barrere was lieutenant-colonel. Captains Joseph Smith, Joseph H. Mullenix, R. J. Hatcher, Henry N. Depoy. The Hundred and Seventy-fifth regiment Ohio National Guard was enlisted in the fall of 1864 with headquarters at Hillsboro, and D. W. lfeCoy, of Highland county, became colonel E. E. Mullenix, a field officer; R. E. Dwyer, surgeon; D. B. Granger, assistant-surgeon. The Highland county line officers were Captains J. M. Hestand, W. H. McCoy (lost on the Sultana), William P. Wolf, J. H. Dennison and C. W. Appley, and Lieutenants F. M. Posegate, T. J. McKeehan, Samuel S. Jolly, William M. Barrere, George Sayler, Samuel A. Leamon, Joseph Ellis and Thomas Elliott. The regiment had serious experiences in war at the battles of Franklin and Nashville, losing heavily in killed and wounded. Company H of the First regiment Ohio cavalry was from Highland county, and Capt, Martin Buck, the first commander of the company, who organized it at Hillsboro, was later promoted to major of the regiment. The lieutenants were Cary A. Doggett, Robert R. Waddle, and David A. Roush, and Waddle became captain. The regiment was in a great many combats with the enemy in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, and won renown. In the Second cavalry H. N. Easton was major, William McReynolds surgeon, T. Fulton assistant-surgeon, McCray Vance, a lieutenant. In the Fourth cavalry B. T. Hathaway was a lieutenant. But the cavalry regiment with which Highland county was most closely associated was the Eleventh, which was partly organized by Col. William O. Collins in the fall of 1861. Besides Colonel Collins the comity furnished the following commissioned officers : Capt. P. W. Vanwinkle, and Lieutenants O. S. Glenn, W. H. Woodrow, G. W. Doggett, and Casper W. Collins. The regiment served mainly 144 - THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND. on the western plains and among the Indians, and in one of the ild encounters Lieutenant Casper Collins, only son of the colonel, lost his life, July 26, 1825, at the place named Fort Casper in his honor. In the Twelfth cavalry Highland county had Capt. William C. Heddleson, and Lieut. Joseph L. Thompson and a few others. The county also made contributions to the First regiment Ohio heavy artillery, including Lieutenants Jacob M. Toner and Hugh S. Fetterson. In the Second heavy artillery Captain William S. Irwin commanded Company A, and was promoted to major, and Capt. Samuel Coleman commanded Company B. Among the lieutenants were Jacob M. Grim, Martin Redkey and James M. Hughey. In other commands Highland county men manifested their devotion to the nation, but these regiments named were the principal ones with which they were associated. We have not attempted to do more than enumerate these and give a roster of the commissioned officers from the county. A list of the men who enlisted would be altogether beyond the scope of this work, and the public records of the State preserve all these names and are accessible. Some of the soldiers of the Union are still living, honored and respected citizens of our county, but the larger part have crossed to the grand camping grounds of the immortal and along the river of life their white tents are gleaming, waiting for the grand review, when the great commander of all worlds shall say, "Well done, and faithful soldiers, your warfare ended, break ranks and rest f ever." Incidents of personal heroism and suffering are numero for the boys in blue from Highland were brave and loyal soldie true to their convictions and above all true to the grand old flag th floats so proudly now over a country all free and united. The prov marshals of Highland county were William Scott and Joseph K. Al ley. Military committee of Highland county during the civil w W. R. Smith, Enos Holmes, John H. Jolly and James G. Thompsia of Hillsboro ; Henry, L. Dickey, of Greenfield. Tinder an act Congress authorizing a draft, J. K. Marley of Hillsboro was prove. marshal ; George B. Gardner, commissioner; E. J. Blount, clerk, a Dr. David Noble, surgeon. Besides the regular enlisted men tha went to the front, there were other local military companies, such the "Eagle Creek expedition." The "Squirrel Hunters" enlisted f the defense of Cincinnati ; but the most noted of all was the regime raised to assist General Hobson in his effort to capture John Mor on his raid through Ohio. This regiment joined Hobson's for and was present at the battle near Buffington's Island, after whi they were disbanded by Hobson with high compliments for their co age and efficiency. Hillsboro and Highland county sent one company to the Spanish American war. This was Company F of the Second regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, Capt. Quinn Bowles ; first lieutenant, Arthur THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 145 Jenkins ; and second lieutenant, John Gorman, who died in Hillsboro the next day after reaching home on furlough. The majority of this company were enlisted in Hillsboro and Greenfield, and did good service for Uncle Sam. H-10 CHAPTER IX. HIGHLAND COUNTY MISCELLANY. WHEN Highland county was a part of Ross, it was, of course, included in townships of that older county. The records have vanished, but it is likely that the founding, of New Market village was soon followed by the establishment of New Market township, with an area of vast extent. In the year 1800 Paxton township was set off in the original Ross county, including a good part of what is now. Highland. The place of elections and militia musters in Paxton was at the home of Christian Platter, near Bainbridge. In 1805 the county of Highland was organized with a much larg territory than it now has. About the same time, in the division o r. the county into townships for local government, that part of it whi now forms Highland county was embraced within four townshi called New Market, including the town of that name; Ebert including the Clear Creek settlement; Fairfield, the Quaker region and a large area northward, and Brush Creek. In forming these new townships it appears that Brush Creek was set off in the southeast corner of the county, and Fairfield on the north, and Liberty in the central area, while the southwestern part of the county was left under its old, name of New Market township. In June, 1808, the township of Richland was formed, embraei about all the territory in the present townships of Dodson and Unio and a. large part of what was originally Fairfield. But as the population increased, and the resources of the locality developed this to ship was broken up and its very name lost to the county. About 1808, the date not being preserved in the records, Pain township was set off Brush Creek. On July 17, 1809, Union w established, with bounds that then included the town of Lynchburg The township name was significant, because it was not long after th expedition of Aaron Burr, and there had been much talk of the secession of the West. On June 10, 1810, the region between Rattlesnake and Pa' creeks was set off from Fairfield and named Madison township, HIGHLAND COUNTY MISCELLANY - 147 honor of the president, James Madison, inaugurated in 1809. In the same year Fayette county was created by. the State government, reducing Fairfield township from its original vast extension northward. Concord township was set off from New Market, March 4, 1811, as a strip off the south side, as far west as the county line. Probably it was named in honor of the first battle ground of the Revolution. Thus there were eight townships in 1811, and so it remained for several years, until after the war of 1812-15. On October 5, 1816, the county commissioners ordered the setting off of a new township from Brush Creek and Concord, and named it Jackson, in honor of the famous victor of the battle of New Orleans, January 9, 1815. Three years passed, and on August 19, 1819, the ancient township of New Market received its final serious pruning, the greater part of what was left of it being set as the township of Salem, which then when included about what is now Salem, Hamer and Dodson, with Danville as the voting place. White Oak, including what is now Clay, was set off from Concord mainly, in 1821, its east and west bounds being the Ripley road and the county line. It was named from White Oak creek. There was no further change for nearly ten years, until June 7, 1830 when the commissioners acceded to the petition of Michael Stroup and others, and set off the township of Dodson from Union, Salem and New Market, including what is now a part of Hamer. Dodson received its name from Dodson creek, and the creek preserves the name of Joshua Dodson of Virginia, who located large tracts of land near its mouth soon after the treaty of Greenville. Clay township, perpetuating the name of the idol of the Whigs of Ohio, the great Kentuckian, Harry of the West, was set off from White Oak December 5, 1831. After that there was no change until January, 1844, when Liberty, Jackson, Brush Creek and Paint yielded up part of their domain to form a new interior township. Within its bounds the village of West Liberty had been platted in 1817, and on petition of the habitants the name had been changed by the legislature in 1836 to Marshall, probably in honor of Chief Justice John Marshall, who died a few months before. The new township created in 1844 was given the same name. After the war with Mexico, another new township was formed, mainly from the original bounds of Salem, and in the order of the commssioners made June 5, 1849, it was given the name of Hamer, in honor of the famous Ohio Congressman, orator and general, Thomas L. Hamer, who died while in the military service of his country. Next year, June 6, 1850, Washington township was established, THE COUNTY OF HIGHLAND - 148 and the father of his country again commemorated in the naming of it. The territory of this new township was taken from Liberty, Concord, Jackson and Marshall. March 5, 1852, the last subdivision was made, and the seventeenth township, embracing parts of Fairfield and Union, was given the name of Penn, in honor of the many Quaker families of that region and William Penn, the pioneer of the Friends in America. THE TOWNS OF HIGHLAND. Within Highland's area of four hundred and seventy square miles are thirty-two towns, villages, and hamlets. These in the order of time, with dates of their original plats and names of the owners of the lands, are as follows : New Market, 1797, Henry Massie and. Joseph Kerr; Greenfield, 1799, Duncan McArthur; Hillsboro, 1807, Benjamin Ellicott; Leesburg, 1814; James Johnson ; East Monroe, 1815, David Reece; Sinking Springs, 1815, Jacob Hiestand; New Lexington (Highland postoffice), 1816, John Conner; New Petersburg, 1817, Peter Mayer; West Liberty, 1817, William Simmons, name changed to Marshall in 1836, and additions made in 1837 by William Head and John Butters ; Leesburg, 1821, S. McClure, A. Chalfont and C. Lupton ; New Vienna, 1827, Thomas Jussev; Mowrytown, 1829, Samuel Bell ; Lynchburg, 1830, Andrew Smith and Coleman Betts; Rainsboro, 1830, George Rains ; Centerfield, 1830, John M. Combs ; Belfast, 1834, James Storer and Lancelot Brown; Buford, 1834, Robert Lindsley, whose wife was a Buford, of Kentucky; Danville, 1835, Daniel P. March ; Dodsonville, 1839, Daniel Shafer and L. L. Cartwright; Allensburg, 1839, Robert Pugh and C. Henderson Boston, 1840, Abraham Pennington and Noah Glasscock ; Sugar Tree Ridge, 1844, John Bunn.; Fairview, Jonah Vanpelt; Fairfax, 1845, B. F. F'ullium •' Samantha, 1845, David Kinzer; Berryville, 1846, Amos Sargent; Taylorsville, 1846 Isaiah Roberts, Jr. ; Pricetown, 1847, Elijah and Daniel Faris A. Murphy; Sicily, 1848, John N. Huggins ; Fallsville, 1848, J. Timberlake; North Uniontown, 1849,Obadiah Countryman ; Russe Station, 1853, A. R. Butler. The surviving towns are situ in fertile spots in the county and their healthy and happy p rejoice in. their common citizenship of a great and growing con Among the blessings enjoyed by the people of Highland co are good government, low taxes and low valuations, good roads kept, excellent schools, and unrivaled church and social influe It may well be said of Highland county that within the Stat Ohio there is no more healthful, happy or fertile spot than the county of Highland. As a native preacher once remarked w preaching the funeral sermon of a departed lady, in mournful to "The dear sister whose mortal remains lie before us has taken HIGHLAND COUNTY MISCELLANY - 149 departure to a better land"—then pausing for a moment—"if there be any land better than that of Highland county." HILLSBORO. Hillsboro, the county seat, is situated upon the dividing ridge between the Miami and Scioto rivers. It was laid out in 1807 on land belonging to Benjamin Ellicott of Baltimore. The site was selected by David Hays, the commissioner appointed by the legislature for that purpose. The original town plat was composed of some two hundred acres, one hundred of which was given to the county, and the remainder sold by Ellicott at two dollars per acre. The site of Hillsboro is one of beauty and health. Standing some seven hundred feet above the Ohio, it is the city set upon a hill; it cannot be hidden. Its people are, progressive and intellectual and moral, with every advantage for culture and refinement. A public library of some seven thousand volumes of choice and standard books make learning easy to the young, who crowd in great numbers the spacious library room in the city building, and who are permitted to carry to their homes such books as interest or fancy prompts them to read. The major portion of the people of Hillsboro are cultured in a high degree, the natural result of the early and efficient advantages of it being an educational center. In the years gone by the Highland Institute and the Hillsboro Conservatory of Music, Rev. G. R. Beecher, president, with some nineteen teachers and some two hundred pupils; also the Hillsboro college which admitted pupils of both sexes, afforded educational advantages equal to any spot in the 'State, for the attainment of a knowledge of science, music, art and elocution, as well as the primary culture as taught in the public schools. While these schools and colleges are not in operation now, e necessity for them is .no longer felt, as the rapid development of e common schools has added all these special branches to their stem of teaching and can give culture of equal merit with any color academy in the State. A complete system of water works ye the city pure cold water from numerous wells sunken near ear creek some three miles from the town, and pumped into a great nd pipe one hundred and thirty-five feet in height and some fifn feet in diameter. The streets are lighted by electricity. Hillsboro can boast of her men of letters and her authors of no can repute. Henry S. Doggett., dead some years ago, wrote a ography of Prof. Isaac Sams ; Samuel P. Scott, author of Travels Spain, a volume of rare merit, "elegant in illustrations, accurate d full in its facts." Charles H. Collins, a leading member of the Oland bar, found leisure from his legal practice to write "Echoes m Highland Hills" and also "From Highland Hills to an peror's Tomb." Henry A. Shepherd, also an able lawyer, wrote