(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 395 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO FAIRFIELD. PHYSICAL FEATURES. Fairfield seems appropriately named. Nowhere in Highland county is there a richer or more lovely landscape than the wooded hills and the long sweeping slopes which this township present to the eye. It is a fair field, indeed, as viewed either by the lover of nature in her gentler forms, or by the husbandman. Not only by their number, but by their beauty, do the farm residences that dot the extended view of country, to be obtained from any one of the elevations, attest the desirableness of this portion of country as a place of residence. The great barns and granaries and the general evidences of plenty abounding on every side, suggest the fertility of the soil and the diligence and thrift with which it is cultivated. No richer or more varied soil is to be found in the county than Fairfield presents, and nowhere has the largess of nature been better supplemented by the industry of man, or her beauty been better enhanced by the humanizing process, The scenery of this part of the county is, with the exception of an occasional glimpse, not wild or romantic, but soft and full of subtle and gentle beauty. The undulations of the surface are so easy that they can better be compared to the long, low swells of the sea than to anything else in nature, and yet, in some cases, these gentle lines sweep up to heights which approach the grand and from which comprehensive views can be obtained, as, for example, the hill south of Leesburgh. Nevertheless, the surface is in most parts of the township of a comparatively level nature, or exhibits that degree of unevenness which may most properly be described as rolling. In the western part it is much more level than in the eastern. The principal streams are Rattlesnake, which forms the eastern boundary; Lees creek, and its branch, which meanders through the township from its extreme western end to find outlet into Rattlesnake; Hardin's creek, which rises in Penn township, and flowing eastwardly, cuts off the southernmost corner of Fairfield, and, flowing across the northernmost corner of Paint, empties into Rattlesnake and Bridgewater, which is properly a branch of Hardin's creek, and which, rising near the township line, south of Lexington, flows along it eastwardly to Hardin's creek. The whole drainage of the township is toward Rattlesnake. This stream affords several bits of scenery which are very picturesque, among them the locally famous falls at Monroe. The water here, after tumbling down some rapids, makes a plunge of twenty-one feet into a deeply worn basin, from which it flows again in rapids over a rocky bed and through a narrow rock wall gorge, on to the southward. The geological features of this township will be found fully described in common with the formation of the county, in the chapter entitled "Physical Features," which appears in the beginning of this work. It is only necessary here to add that the great mass of limestone which underlies the ridge stretching from east to west south of Leesburgh and Lexington, and which frequently appears at the surface, has for years been extensively quarried, and used both as a building stone and for the production of lime. Fairfield is bounded upon the north by Fayette county, on the northwest by Clinton, on the south by Penn and Paint townships, and on the east is divided from Madison township by Rattlesnake creek. ANTIQUITIES. There are no large works or enclosures made by the pre-historic people in Fairfield, but there are a number of isolated mounds or tumuli, and one of them of remarkable interest to the archaeologist. We refer to the mound upon the Eli Cooper farm, near the Hillsborough turnpike, and about two and three-quarter miles south of Leesburgh. It is generally referred to as "the Cooper mound." This was originally a beautiful tumulus, of the utmost evenness and symmetry, and is said by some to have been about forty-five feet high, and of one hundred and forty-five in diameter. These figures are, doubtless, exaggerations. The real diameter was undoubtedly from one hundred to one hundred and twenty feet, and the height twenty-five to thirty feet. But these facts do not materially affect the interest which attaches to this monument of a vanished race. This ancient sanctuary of the dead, for such it seems to have been, has been invaded and some valuable though not unique discoveries made. The most recent work of excavation was begun June 3, 1879, the earth being removed by plowing and scraping, and by pick and shovel, from the base, and the center of the mound slowly approached. It was found that the mound had the regularly stratified composition often noted in similar tumuli, and which by many is supposed to denote that the construction occupied a number of distinct periods, though such an inference is not necessarily deducible from this appearance. The first layer or strata proved to be about two feet of clean earth, free from stone or gravel. Then occurred three feet of a loamy earth, similar to that which may be seen in wet or swampy land, Under this was ten or twelve 396 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. feet of a hard, compacted clay, which may have been brought to its present state by igneous action, and, in fact, which plainly exhibited in some places the effect of intense heat. Under this layer was found three or four feet of ashes, charcoal, calcined bones and fragments of wood, and this strata being removed, there was brought to light a thin layer (about two inches) of a plaster-like substance, in which were found human skeletons, stone implements, ornaments, etc. The skeletons were five in number, and lay with the craniums close together, and the feet wide asunder. The form of the group might be described as like that of a star, or we might say that the skeletons were arranged like the spokes in a wheel, radiating from a center. One of the skeletons was pronounced to be that of a female, and was asserted by some to have been seven feet in height, a statement which seems improbable, and is utterly at variance with the indications discovered by hundreds of investigations elsewhere—but possibly true. At the feet of this skeleton were found a quantity of awl or needle-shaped bone or horn implements, and near by, three copper bracelets, It is also alleged that three strings of pearl beads (or beads of a pearly substance, at least), were found about the neck of this skeleton. A few feet east of these skeletons was found another, which seemed to have been deposited in a wooden case, and which was shrouded in a platted fabric, made in three plats, each a half inch in diameter, and gathered at the edges with a large cord—the whole highly carbonized. Under this rough outer covering occurred one of about the texture of ordinary coffee-sacking, except that the warp occurred at intervals of about half an inch apart. Under this there was layer after layer—some fifteen in all of ranging degrees of fineness, down to that of common muslin, the finest being the one in which the body was first bound. The folds of the cloth seemed to have been wound from the chin downward, and the body was completely covered. The presence of the cloth is well attested. There are several persons who have specimens of it. The work of excavation is to be resumed when favorable opportunity offers. It is a matter of much conjecture whether any great "find" will be discovered at the center of the mound, or rather at the point on a level with the surrounding plain, and directly under the original apex. It is at this place that the most interesting deposits usually occur in the larger tumuli, and it is not unfrequently the case that a chamber exists in mounds of the size of the one under consideration. The chief doubt, as to what may or may not be found, in this case, arises from the fact that many years ago the mound was excavated, by means of a shaft sunk from the top, and that a deposit was reached, and several valuable articles were removed. It is thought by many that this mound may have contained two chambers, or, at least, two places of deposit, and that it was the upper one which the first investigation reached. The early excavation was made by Jeptha and Daniel Johnson and George Upp, of Charlestown, Clarke county. By some their work is said to have been performed in 1832, and by others in 1840: There are circumstances which complicate the difficulty of deciding at which of these dates the excavations were node. It is averred by some of those who set the date of the excavation at 1832, that the Johnson and Upp party found cloth similar to that which has recently been discovered, but this assertion must be very strongly made, indeed, to stand against the statement of Squier and Davis, that the first authentic discovery of a woven fabric in the mounds, was made in Ross county in 1838. THE EARLIEST PIONEERS, AND SOMETHING OF THEIR EXPERIENCE. Let the reader's mind dwell for a moment upon the opening period of the present century, and imagination picture the then appearance of the country. Remember that the great Northwestern territory is a term which scarcely has any significance save as a synonym of the great northwestern wilderness. Reflect that the whole of the vast country, now the State of Ohio, was then less known, more difficult of access, fuller of peril, than is now any portion of the national domain, from sea to sea. This Northwestern Territory has, in the year r 800, only a sparse sprinkling of settlements along its border—mere dots of population, distant from each other, along the Ohio river and its larger tributaries, and a thinner fringe along the shore of Lake Erie. The interior is a trackless, uninhabited wilderness. As an integral portion of this vast terra incognitia the territory now included within the limits of Fairfield township, now so richly improved, so far advanced, is an undulating expanse clothed with the wild forest, in the dusky aisles of which no white man has trod save the hunters and the hardy surveyors, who, at the peril of their lives, have "run lines " and located warrants for owners who were still living back in Virginia, enjoying the immunity from danger, and the well-ordered ease and condition of plenty which the old settlements afforded. Between the two pictures, that which the imagination conceives, and that which the eye actually beholds—the uninhabited forest and the present humanized landscape —there is but a comparatively short interval, one which is almost bridged by the full duration of man's allotted life, and yet how great a change has been wrought—how strong is the contrast presented. THE LEESBURGH SETTLEMENT. The pioneer settlement within the present limits of Fairfield township, then within the bounds of Ross county, was made by Nathaniel Pope, John Walters and James Howard (or Hayworth), Authorities differ as to the time of their arrival, but the preponderance of testimony induces the belief that it was in the spring of 1802. It is interesting to know something of the experience of these pioneers upon their journey hither, and as their history has been preserved we shall briefly relate it, following them in their wanderings to the place of their permanent settlement upon the site of Leesburgh. Nathaniel Pope had set out with his family from Virginia, in the fall of 1796, for the northwestern territory. The vehicle in which his household goods were trans- HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 397 ported was adapted to the country through which he had to travel. It was of strong make, narrow, and had ropes attached to the sides ready to be seized, whenever necessity required, to prevent upsetting. The few portable articles most prized by the family, were stored in the wagon or packed upon horses. Mrs. Pope rode a horse, upon a pack, and the other members of the family walked or rode as opportunity offered. Equipped with a trusty rifle, and followed by three or four good hunting dogs, Pope walked ahead of the wagon, keeping a sharp lockout f0r all possible dangers, and watching for game, which afforded the family a large portion of their sustenance. Their progress, as a matter of course, was slow and loborious. They camped when night came on, sometimes on the mountains and sometimes in the valleys, sleeping soundly by the fire of pine knots, after the fatigue of the day. Towards the close of November they arrived at the falls of the Great Kanawha where, as the weather had become cold and disagreeable, they determined to winter. They were hospitably received by a settler in that region, a Mr. Leonard Maurice. Early in the spring they resumed their journey for the far west, floating down the Kanawha in a rude boat which Pope had made during the winter. Landing at the newly formed French station upon the Ohio—Gallipolis—they obtained some of the necessities of life in the wilderness, such as powder, lead, tomahawks, knives, together with Indian shawls, cotton cloth, etc., which they purchased with the skins of animals killed during the winter. From Gallipolis they continued their journey down the river, camping at night upon the Virginia side, and after several days reached a large fertile bottom, upon the northern side of the river, which Pope recognized as one which he had explored a year or two before, with Thomas Beals and others. It was at the mouth of a little stream called Paddy's run, and about a mile above the mouth of Guyandot. Here they determined to remain for the season, It was upon this bottom that several others, who were afterwards pioneers in Highland county, first settled, and it became known as the Quaker bottom, being the place of the first Friends' settlement in Ohio. Thomas Beals the preacher, and his sons, Jesse Baldwin, and the Hunts, with several others to be hereafter mentioned in this history, were among the early settlers at Quaker bottom. John Walter, and Pope's eldest son, who had been left to drive the horses and cattle through while Pope came by boat, arrived at the Quaker bottom soon after the other party. Remaining at the new settlement for a season or two, the pioneers found that they could not purchase land there at what they considered a fair price, and consequently Pope and John Walters decided to leave their friends and seek homes elsewhere. They accordingly took their famihes and penetrated toward the interior. Their wagons, plows, and all cumbersome articles, were sent upon a flat-boat, up the Scioto, and the stock was driven through the country by way of the Pee Pee bottom, and the Scioto and Sunfish hills to the falls of Paint, where they wintered. Pope sold the most of his stock to General Nathaniel. Massie, for corn and land, the latter to be selected from any of his unsold lands in the Virginia Military district. During the, winter of 1801–1802, Pope explored the land lying on the headwaters of Paint and Rattlesnake, Hardin's and Lee's creeks, and as far west as the east fork of the Miami, and finally selected the land upon which the village of Leesburgh now stands. In 1801 the Popes and Walters were met at the Falls of Paint by a company of pioneers from Tennessee, the father of William Wright, with his wife and family, James Howard (or Hayworth), and Seth Smith. This party met with much hardship on their journey, but came through without serious mishap, bringing with them a drove of sixty or seventy cattle. During the winter the father of William Wright died' at the Falls of Paint. The pioneers remained there until the spring of 1802, hunting and looking out for a favorable location, and when the weather had become moderate, Pope, John Walters and James Howard moved up to the land which had before been selected by the first named of the trio. They were obliged to cut their way through the woods, a greater part of the distance, though a portion of the march was made along the old Indian trail leading from the Chillicothe town on the north fork of Paint (now Frankfort), to the old Chillicothe upon the Miami. The journey was made with great difficulty, but at last the party arrived safely upon the site of Leesburgh, where they immediately began preparations for making permanent homes. The place where the party encamped, was what is now known as lot number six in the Leesburgh town plat, and the location was chosen, because of the presence there of a large spring. It is related that James Howard kindled a fire, upon this spot, to cook supper for the party, and that it was the first fire built by whites in the vicinity. Having encamped for the night, and thoroughly refreshed themselves, each of the men in the morning shouldered his axe, and went in quest of a suitable site for a house. Nathaniel Pope chose on the spot now known as lot number thirty-four, and immediately marked the place by falling a tree (the first one cut down). James Howard marked a place in the same way, on the bluff, now in the Harrison Johnson farm. John Walters did the same at the confluence of the two Lee's creeks, a mile northeast of Leesburgh (on the old Pavey place).. Having marked the site of each home, the pioneers proceeded to build their cabins, one at a time. James Howard's was the first one raised, Nathaniel Pope's the second, and John Walters', last. "These three families," says Scott, "constituted the entire settlement." They had no neighbors but the Indians, who were encamped in large numbers along Rattlesnake creek as far down as the mouth of Fall creek. Many of the Indians became quite sociable, and as they acquired a slight knowledge of English, or the settlers learned some words of their tongues were quite communicative. All were friendly. They pointed out, when on hunting expeditions on the banks of Lee's creek, Rattlesnake and Hardin's creeks, trees to which white prisoners had been tied in former times, 398 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO A hunting adventure in which Nathaniel Pope and an Indian were engaged, serves very well to illustrate the condition in which the pioneers and their red brethren of the woods lived, and the nature of their feeling toward each other. One day, as the Popes were hunting on Hardin's creek, the dogs started a bear, which ran within hearing of an Indian camp, from which a pack of dogs came forth and joined in the chase. The Indians followed, and, meeting the Popes, who were on horseback, one of them intimated, half by words and half by signs, that he would like to join in the sport if one of the whites would dismount, to make the contest equal. William Pope very readily accepted the challenge, and he and the Shawnee started on foot, in a good-natured rivalry, to see who should be "first in at the death!' They soon got ahead of the men on horseback, passed down the hill, where Beverly Milner lived at a later day, Pone ahead and increasing the distance between him and the Indian. In crossing the creek, however, the Shawnee caught up with his white rival, and they reached the place where the dogs had treed bruin about the same time. The Indians liked to save powder by getting close shots, and as this particular redskin crept slowly toward the tree to make sure of his game, Pope, taking a rest, fired at long range, and brought the bear down, badly wounded. A desperate fight with the dogs ensued at the foot of the tree, and, at length, as the bear caught a favorite hunter, which Pope was afraid he would kill, he made signs to the Indian, who was nearer than he, to rush in and tomahawk the bear. The Indian waived the right simply saying, "white man kill," and Pope, rushing to the fray, succeeded, with his tomahawk and knife, in slaying the bear and saving the dog's life. The huge carcass was skinned, and, after Pope had given the Shawnee as much of the meat as he chose to take, they parted on the best of terms, often to meet afterwards as friends. Hardin's creek was a favorite range for bears in the early years of the settlement. During the first season of the Pope settlement the first wheat sown in Fairfield township, and the first in Highland county, according to the belief of many, was put in by him on the ground surrounding the old brick school-house of Leesburgh. When the little field of wheat ripened Pope found it necessary not only to send off for hands to cut it, but to add the request that they should bring their sickles with them, as there were none in his neighborhood. He sent two of his sons out with instructions that they should go down Paint creek until they had secured a sufficient number of hands and a keg of whiskey. They arrived at the appointed time in force, went to work with a will, soon cut the wheat, and then gathering it together upon a temporary threshing floor, made flails from hickory saplings and soon had it all cleaned out. They were through with their work before nightfall, and some of them immediately set out upon a hunt to secure venison, while others went in quest of a bee tree. After the evening had come on they gathered in the log cabin and a feast and merry-making were indulged in, which was probably the first of the kind ever had in Fairfield. THE HARDIN'S CREEK SETTLEMENT. Some authorities assert that the Pope settlement upon the site of Lee burgh was not the first in the township, but that there was a prior settlement upon Hardin's creek. Those who assert that this settlement was anterior to the Lee's creek beginning, place the date at 1801. It is said to have been in that year that Alexander Crawford came as a pioneer to the site of Centerfield, a locality which was long known as "Crawford's thicket." The same persons who have always contended that the first settlement was made in the Hardin's creek neighborhood, say that the second family of settlers there were the Beals. Thomas Beals, the Friend preacher, was one of the first settlers at Quaker bottom, and made the first speech before a congregation of his faith that was ever delivered in the Northwestern Territory. He came to Quaker bottom in 1796, but had been in the country twenty-five years before Wayne's treaty was made, seeking converts among the Indians. He removed from the Quaker settlement on the Ohio to Ross county, and there died in 1801, being buried in a coffin made from a white walnut log at the place where is now the village of Richmondale. In 1802 his widow Sarah, with her family, among them two grown sons, John and Daniel, and a nephew, Abel Thornberry (or, as spelled by some, (Thornburg), aged thirteen years, settled where Beverly Burgess' house now is. Abel Thornberry, now a very old man, says that he and the Beals assisted in the building of Pope's, Howard's and Walter's cabins upon Lee's creek. William Wright and Curtiss Beals came in the same year as the above, but in the fall, and the latter settled upon the James Huff place, while the former settled two miles from the mouth of Hardin's creek, upon its south bank. In the spring of 1813, James, Robert and Jonah Stafford, emigrants from North Carohna, who had located a short time before on Buckskin creek, within the present limits of Ross county, cut their way through the heavy timber, making a road as they went, to Hardin's creek. They settled on land afterward owned by Benjamin F. Barrett, John Morrow and Jacob Tompkins. Evan Evans was one of the most prominent of the early settlers of the township, and of the county. He left Culpeper county, Virginia, in the spring of 1800, and, after temporary stoppings at Portsmouth and the High Bank (below Chillicothe), arrived within the present limits of Fairfield in 1803. He settled on Lee's creek, northwest of the site of Leesburgh, and about two miles therefrom. He was the first assessor of the township, and on one occasion the records show that his pay was stopped or withheld by the trustees, "because he neglected to return a proper list of squirrel scalps." Evans was a man of exemplary character, a member of the Society of Friends, and in the early days of the settlement, when the country was still swarming with Indians, he had Much influence among them.. All of the followers of his simple faith, from the time Of William Penn, seem to have commanded the respect and won the affection of the children of the forest. They were accustomed to HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 399 come to Evans for advice and favors. He was a strong friend of Waw-wil-a-way, the Indian chief, an account of whose base murder, committed by Wolf, is given in the chapter upon the Indians, in the general history of this volume. AN INDIAN ALARM. The tragedy of which mention has just been made was the cause of a great panic among the scattered and unprotected white settlers of this part of the State. They feared a general uprising of the Indians to avenge the treacherous and inexcusable killing of Waw-wil-a-way, and there was a wide-spread and terrible anxiety until, after considerable delay, consequent upon the poor facilities for transmitting even the most important news, the report was brought that the great chief, Tecumseh, had made assurances that the Indians were not disposed to retaliate. Before thrs comforting intelligence was brought, and in the course of a few days after the murder of the old chief, the Indians collected to the number of three or four hundred at the forks of Lee's creek. Nathaniel Pope and his family, the nearest settlers, were of course very much alarmed, but did not retreat, even in the face of this threatening demonstration, to the falls of Paint (where Massie's strongly built mill had been converted into a fort), as many others had done. Some of the chiefs went to Pope's cabin, who sent for some of his Quaker neighbors who remained in the country, and they and the chiefs held a council under a spreading elm tree near by. The Indians did not seem to be disposed to resort to actual hostilities, but at the same time they exhibited a decided inclination to take advantage of the general alarm and the weak and unprotected condition of the whites. They proposed that the settlers should divide their property among them, and promised that if their terms were c0mplied with, they would thenceforward hold Pope and his friends sacredly exempt from hostilities, in case war should break out. The Indians wanted half of the Quakers' provisions, and all of their blankets, and in addition the services of the young men as assistants in the search for the murderer. Mrs. Pope did not like the idea of giving up her blankets and flatly refused, and the treaty was on the point of being broken off. One of the Indians then picked up her youngest son (afterwards General J. W. Pope), a lad of ten or twelve years, and standing him up against a tree went through the motions of tomahawking and scalping him, to show her what would be the consequences to the wh0le family should she persist in refusing their terms. Still she did not assent, and the Indian, stepping back ten or fifteen paces, threw his tomahawk, sticking it in the tree an inch or two above the boy's head. This he repeated several times, the other Indians showing a high degree of pleasure in the terrible anxiety under which the mother was suffering. Unable to endure the sight, Mrs. Pope finally consented to the terms the Indians imposed, and the treaty was ratified at once. The Indians soon after went away, taking with them William Pope and some other young men, to assist in hunting down the murderer. We will now return to the record of the early settlement. During the Reason of 1803, and not long after the Indian scare, Nathaniel Pope, not satisfied with the title to the Lee's creek lands, removed to Hardin's creek, and settled a mile west of Wright. We may add here, that this pioneer removed in 1805, to a place near Samantha, where he remained many years. His grandson, Carey Pope, is now a resident of the county seat. During this same year (1803) there were many accessions to the Hardin's creek settlement—among others, Jesse Baldwin, Phineas Hunt, and Uriah Paulding, emigrants from Virginia and North Carolina. Hunt and Baldwin were among the early settlers at Quaker bottom. The former settled on the James Hadley farm, and the latter on the farm lately occupied by Silas George, while Paulding located where Moses Milner now lives. Jacob Smith was also a settler in the present limits of the township this year, but did not remain long. Bowater Bales came at this time, and settled between the sites of Leesburgh and Lexington villages, where he lived for many years, and William Lupt0n and his wife Bathsheba settled on the place lately occupied by James Huff. John Crew came about the same time, also Benjamin Carr, who located upon the Guthrie farm, near the Fairfield meeting house. In 1805 there were quite a number of arrivals, among them being Job Ensley, who settled on Harding creek, Shadrach Stafford and George Matthews. In the same year Abraham Beals settled a mile east of Leesburgh, and Harrison Radcliffe, with his niece Mildred Johnson (afterward the wife of Jonathan Johnson, and mother of Harrison R. and Dudley K.), settled where the residence of Jacob Hilliard now stands, on the main street of Lees- burgh. About this time also, came Jemima, widow of Jesse Wright and sister of James Howard, bringing her sons James, Jesse, John, Joseph, Jonah, Joshua, Joel and Joab, and her daughters Judith, Jane and Jemima. Some one in writing a sketch of the early settlement of Leesburgh and vicinity, adds—either because it was the truth or simply to make the predominance of the J's a little more conspicuous and to further avail himself of apt alliteration's artful aid—that the horse's name was Jack and the dog's, Jowler. Whether such was the fact or not let us hope that the family of juveniles, upon their arrival, were not so thoroughly j-ded, physically, by that joyless jaunt or journey they had just made through the jungle as they were in nomenclature. The Wrights were a very estimable family, and among the most prominent and useful in the community as they grew up. They were from near Charlestown, South Carolina. Dr. Joab Wright, one of the early and popular physicians of the vicinity, and Joel Wright, one of the first merchants of Leesburgh, were twin brothers. Both will be found frequently mentioned in this history, and it is only necessary to say here that Joel married and raised a large family of sons and daughters, of whom two—Edwin W. and Caroline E. (Mrs. Thomas J. Terry)—are now residents of the township. The Johnson family made a quite large and important 400 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. addition to the settlement in 1805. Ashley Johnson was the first settler, and brought with him his wife, Mildred, and ten children, Jephthah, Jonathan, Daniel, William, Nancy, Abner, Martha, Agnes, Ashley, and Thomas. There were born after their settlement three children, James P., Clark, and Ruth. James P., the oldest of the children born in Ohio, was the fourth child born in the township, and is now the oldest man living within it. He was born September 6, 1806. He married Lydia Kinzer, and is now living upon the farm where his father settled. Jonathan Johnson, the second son of Ashley, born in 1785, was a man grown when he came to Ohio. He was twice married, the first time to Rebecca Walter, and the second to Mildred Johnson. Four of his children live in Fairfield township, viz: Harison R., Dudley K., Eliza (Paucy), and Mildred (Cox), and a fifth, Susan, is in Missouri. She married Collins, grandson of Nathaniel Massie. Of the thirteen sons and daughters of Ashley Johnson, but three are living: Ashley, near Harper's station, Ross county ; James P., in Fairfield, and Clark, in Missouri, whither he emigrated in 1840. Ashley Johnson was born in1 756, and died in 1849. In the year 1808 Ashley Johnson's brothers, William and Elijah, and their father, William Johnson, came to the township and settled near the cabin of Ashley Johnson. This family was from Campbell county, Virginia, of English descent, and can trace their genealogy to the Earl of Shaftsbury. In the same year that Ashley Johnson made his settlement (1805), Jonathan Barrett, his brother Richard, and his brother-in-law, Henry Cowgill, came from Virginia, and the frrst named, buying out Nathaniel Pope's place upon Hardin's creek, made there his final settlement. His house stood where Joel Wright, the Quaker preacher, now lives. He raised a family of six children, Benjamin, Jessie, Ellis, Levi, Rachel, and Lydia, all of whom are now dead, except Rachel (Mrs. J. Ladd) of Penn township. Samuel Butler came also in 1805 from Halifax county, Virginia, and settled where Nathaniel Sanders now lives. He had a large family of children. Toward the extreme western portion of the township, as at present bounded, the first settlement was made in 1804, by Jacob Jackson, a Quaker preacher and quite a remarkable man. He located near the spot where now stands the residence of Jacob Thorburg, coming from Tennessee. He was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and went from there to Rowan county, North Carolina, and from there to Tennessee. He remained a resident of this township until 181 r, when he removed to Clinton county, where he died in 1844. He brought up a large family, one of whom, Rachel, married Joseph Thornburg. The Thornburgs were also very early settlers in this part of the township. Joseph was the first of the name who arrived. He located very near Jacob Jackson, in 1806, corning from Guilford county, North Carolina, where he was born in the year 1786. He was married to Lydia Jackson in 182, and they had five children— Hannah (wife of Gerrard Morgan), and Elizabeth (wife of John Morgan), both now living in Iowa; Joel (deceased), Jacob, who lives upon the old place, and Ruth (McVey) of Fayette county. In later years came several brothers of Joseph Thornburg—William, who settled where his son, Edward, now lives; John, who located where his nephew, William Thornburg, now lives; Joel, who settled where Mrs. Phebe A. Driskill resides ; and. Isaac, who followed school teaching, and located in Vienna; also a sister, Hannah (Willis). All of the brothers have long been dead. Joseph Thornburg, the earliest settler of the family, departed life in 1864, Several years after the brothers came to the township, their father and mother, Joseph and Rachel, came from North Carolina, and located in Lexington, where they remained some years, although they finally removed to Indiana. Daniel Huff, sr., came from Surry county, North Caroplina, in 1806, and in the following year brought his family out, and made a permanent settlement. He was a member of the Society of Friends. Some of his descendants still reside in the township. David Terrill, from Campbell county, Virginia, also made his settlement in the western part of the township in 1806. He was a prominent man among the early settlers, and took a very considerable interest in public affairs. He served as justice of the peace for about twenty-five years. He died in 1858, at the age of ninety- three years. He had a large family, all of whom are now dead Pleasant, Christopher, Judith (Haines), Sarah (Wright), David, Polly (Hyatt), Joseph and Elizabeth (Adams). Pleasant Terrill, the father of D. A., was born in 1791, and died in 1840. His wife was Esther Haines, of Greene county. Joseph Terrill married a McPherson for his first wife, and Rebecca Frye for his second. His son, David F., lives upon the old farm, cleared up by David Terrill. John Banks settled in 1806 in the Hardin's creek neighborhood, upon the farm now occupied by the grandson, Joseph Banks. He died in 1862, after seeing a large family of children grown to maturity. He was from Frederick county, Virginia. In 1807 Beverly Milner and his wife Anna, with several of their sons and daughters, some of them, grown and married, came from Halifax county, Virginia, and settled where their grandson, Moses Milner, now lives. Beverly Milner died in 1843. His children were Dudley, Moses, Beverly, Amos, Joseph, John, Oliver, Luke, Ruth (Burgess) and Sallie (Anderson). The only one of them still living, is John, who married Susan Kinzer. He is, and has been for many years, a miller, in which connection he is elsewhere spoken of, Moses Milner was married in Virginia to Sallie Slaughter. He died in 1864, at the age of seventy-nine. His sons, John, Eli and Moses, are substantial citizens of Fairfield. The first named has been twice married ; the first time to Elizabeth Knizer, and the second to Michal, daughter of Jesse Johnson. One daughter, Rebecca (Van Pelt), lives in Clinton county, and another, Delilah, with her aged mother, in Fairfield township. William Chalfant came from Grayson county, Virginia, in the year 1807, and located where his son, Nathan H., HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 401 now lives, having a warrant for about five hundred acres of land. He lived for a year or two prior to his settlement in Fairfield, in Clinton county. William Chalfant was born in 1768, married Ruth Hunt in 1794, and died in 1840. Like most of the early settlers in this township, he was a member of the Society of Friends. Besides farming, he carried on wagon-making, blacksmithing and milling. He reared a large family of children, all of whom married and lived for many years in the c0unty, but some emigrating to the west in after years. Their names were Esther, Abner, Mary, Aaron, William, Jacob, Bulah, Priscilla, Nathan H., and Jonathan B. The only one now living is Nathan H., who is a leading farmer of the township. He married Adeline K. Harris, of Snow Hill, Clinton county. The Ladds made an important addition to the settlement in 1808. They were of Welsh descent, of the Quaker faith, and came from the region of the Chowan river in Virginia and North Carolina. Gerrard Ladd died near Chillicothe, while on the way to make his settlement in Highland county, in the year 1808. His wife, Margaret, . and several children came on, and most of them settled in Fairfield township. They were, Huldah (Sears), Elizabeth (Patterson), who was a Quaker preacher; Ursula (Butler), Agatha (Elza), Prescilla (Griffin), Lydia (Orin), Esther (Butler), Lemuel, and Jacob. Of the above, the first three were residents of Fairfield. Agatha and Prescilla came to the township and soon after moved to Indiana. Lydia and her husband settled near Wilmington, and Esther moved to Indiana. Of the two sons, Lemuel and Jacob, the first named died young. Jacob was the parent stock of the Ladds of Highland county. He was born in 1767, and was twice married. His first wife was a Moorman, by whom he had one child, who died. His second wife was Elizabeth Reams. Jacob, on coming to the State with'his family, settled about two miles north of Leesburgh, on the site of Raney's mill, In 1811, he bought, of Isaac McPherson, a farm, one mile south of Leesburgh, and just north of the Fairfield meeting-house. There he remained until his death, which occurred in 1850, when he was eighty-three years of age. By his wife, Elizabeth, he had twelve children, viz: Asa, Jeremiah, Anna, Sarah, Jordan, Gerrard, Rebecca, Margaret, Jacob, Denson, Elizabeth, and Michal. Asa Ladd, born 1795, married Mary Chalfant, by whom he had eight children : Will, Elizabeth, Rebecca (Alderman), R. C. (George), T. E., Franklin, and M. A. (Pushee). Of his sons, T. E. Ladd has served several terms as township trustee, and Franklin Ladd as township trustee and treasurer; he is now one of the county commissioners. Jeremiah Ladd, born 1797, married Rebecca Moorman, by whom he had thirteen children: Matilda (Duff), Samuel, Jacob, Isaiah, Sidney (Dutton), Alfred, Rachel, Grace, Mahala, Rebecca (Linallen), Lewis, Jeremiah, and Margery (Andrews). Anna Ladd, born 1799, married Ellis Barrett, and Sarah, born 1800, was the wife of John S. Roberts. Jordan Ladd, born 1801, married Rachel Barrett, by whom he had two children: Levi and A. J. (both dead); Gerrard Ladd, born November I 1, 1803, lived, like nearly all of the brothers and sisters, to a good old age, dying in 1875. He filled the office of township trustee and clerk, and for taking the oath of office in the latter capacity he was disowned by the Friends church. He was twice married, His first wife was Bulab Chalfant, by whom he had four children: J, R., M. B. (Huff), W. W., and Margaret. J. R. Ladd is the present township clerk and treasurer of the town of Leesburgh, also postmaster of the same village. Gerrard Ladd's second wife was Martha J. Hethcock, by whom he had eleven children: Henrietta V. (Jones), Elizabeth (Barnes), Benjamin W., Jacob H., Jeremiah, Anna B. (Small), J-. W., F. M., E. E., H. G., and G. A. Of the above sons, Benjamin W. and Jeremiah were soldiers in the late war. Rebecca Ladd, born 1806, married Levi Hutton, and removed to Illinois, where she died; Margaret Ladd, born 1807, died unmarried at the age of fifty-one; Jacob Ladd, born 1809, was twice married. His first wife was Charlotte Kinzer, and his second, Sarah Johnson. He is still living—two miles south of Leesburgh. Denson Ladd, born 1811, is still living on the old homestead. He married Elizabeth Barrett. Elizabeth Ladd, born 1813, married Thomas Dalton. Michal Ladd, born 1817, is deceased. David Terry and his wife Elizabeth (Anderson) came in 1808 from Pittsylvania county, Virginia, and settled where their son, William P., now lives, in the old stone house, near Leesburgh, which was built in 1829. Mr. Terry died in 1837, and his widow survived until 1865. They had nine children, all of whom lived to attain their majority. Sarah C., the eldest, married an Insley, and is living in Indiana. Rachel P. (Austin) is in the same State. John A. is deceased. William P. is in this township. David D. and James W. are both deceased. Elizabeth F. (Umensetter) lives in Leesburgh, and Thomas J. lives near the village; he married Caroline E. Wright, daughter of Joel Wright, the first merchant of Leesburgh. Mary A. (Deaver) is in Kansas. The western part of the township received an accession, in 1808, by the arrival of Solomon Hodson and his wife Chloe (Deer), who settled where their son Joseph now lives. Solomon Hodson was from Guilford county, North Carolina. He was born in 1771, and died in 1837. By occupation, he was a farmer and blacksmith. The descendants of Solomon and Chloe Hodson were John, Elizabeth (Branson), and Mary, all three deceased; Hezekiah, in Clinton county; Moses, in Indiana; Rachel (Haskins), Rebecca (Hodson), and Lydia, deceased, and Joseph, who married Sarah Lamb, and who still resides upon the old homestead. In 1809 John Cox and his wife Elizabeth (Miller) settled upon the Anderson State road, on the farm where Jas. Anderson now lives, Cox was from Virginia. He died soon after the date of his settlement, leaving a family of seven sons and one daughter, all of whom grew to maturity on the old farm. Their names were Elias, Charles, William, John, George, James, Isaac, and Harriet. The first four of this number are dead. George and James are in Iowa, and Isaac and Harriet are dead. Elias Cox married Hannah, daughter of John Eyre, an old settler of Buckskin township, Ross county, and raised a family 402 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. of four children—John, Robert E., Moses M,, Louise E. (Van Pelt), all of whom live in the township. Elias Cox died in 1861. John Cox married Jane Garrett, and also raised a family. He died in 1865, In the year 1810 Daniel Burgess came from Pennsylvania and settled where Beverly Burgess now lives, having bought the land three or four years before. Mr. Burgess attained the remarkable age of one hundred and one years, three months and twelve days, being born March 8, 1771, and dying June 20, 1872. The place of his nativity was Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He was married in Lynchburgh, Virginia, to Ruth, daughter of Beverly Milner. Born of these parents there were nine children Annie (Stalker), now in Iowa, John, deceased, Sarah Ferguson, in Clinton county, Oliver, in Indiana, Joseph, in Fairfield township, Deborah, deceased, 'Lacy, Jeanette (Cowman), in Paint township, Beverly, in Fairfield township, and Mahala, dead. Joseph Burgess married Phebe Ballard, of Clinton county, daughter of Spencer and Rebecca Ballard, who for three years (1803-1806), had been residents on Hardin's creek. Beverly Burgess married Malinda, daughter of John Leonard, an early settler of Clinton county. During the same year that the Burgess settlement was made William Moore settled just over the Clinton county line, from the western end of Fairfield township. He came to Ohio from Kentucky, but was a native of Rock- bridge, county, Virginia, born in 1784. They had ten children, as follows: Margaret and Susan, both deceased, John B., now in Clinton county, J. E., a resident of Fairfield, Margery A. (Patton), in Penn township, William W., in Clinton county, Abraham, deceased, Sarah (Haworth) in Clinton county, Thomas C., in Greene county, and Samuel, on the old place in Wayne township. "Governor" James Johnson came in 1812, from Botetourt (now Bedford) county, Virginia, and bought two to three hundred acres around the site of Leesburgh. By his first wife, who was a Moorman, he had two children, neither of whom, however, were settlers in Fairfield. By his second wife, Penelope Ashley, he reared a large family,—John, Elizabeth, Sarah, Joseph, James, Jesse, Mary, Judith, Penelope (Burgess), Anthony, Agnes, and Rachel (Lupton). Jesse Johnson, who married Mary Burgess, was the father of Elias Johnson, of Lees- burgh, Michal (Milner), Edna (Cox), and Mary (Grice), all of Fairfield township. Of "Governor" we shall have more to say in another department of this chapter. William Garrett came into the township in 182, and took up the farm where Joseph Worthington now lives, though he afterward moved to Walnut creek, Madison township, where he died in 1825. He was a native of Grayson county, Virginia. William Garrett reared a family of fourteen children, of whom five are still living. His son Charles was in the war of 182, under the general call. Four of his daughters are residents of Fairfield township, Jane (Cox), Rebecca (Anderson), Ophelia (Terry), and Mary (Jennings). LATER SETTLERS. Coming down to the years subsequent to 1812, it is, of course, impossible, in a township having so large a population as Fairfield, to mention every settler. It will only be our endeavor here to mention some of the oldest residents who have settled in the country since 182, and who have been among the substantial residents of the township. Samuel McClure may be mentioned under this head, and he came in October, 1813, from Grayson county, Virginia. and located where Samuel Rees now lives, on the Leesburgh and Centerfield road. With him came his wife, Sarah, and a large family of children—Mary, James, Nancy, Rebecca, Martha, Hannah, and Sarah. There were born after their arrival in Ohio, two more Emily and Samuel. James McClure now lives just north of Lexington, and a sister, Nancy (Litter), is at Centerfield. Samuel McClure was born in 1777, and died in 1855. He was, during his life, one of the most influential and public-spirited men in the township, and served for many years as a justice of the peace. John Talbot accompanied Mr. McClure to the township. Gersham Perdue arrived at Fairfield in 1813, in company with his mother, Jemima. He lived near where the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad crosses Lee's creek. We mention Gersham Perdue frrst, because he was the one most widely known, There were several others in the family— Gulielma, Stephen, Bennett, Jacob, Rebecca (wife of Elisha Cowgill), and Mentor Pym. They came from Bedford county, Virginia. Gersham Perdue was born December 28, 1790, and is still living, located at Martinsburgh, Fayette county, since 1836. He can remember John Adams' administration and the death of Washington. He is, and has been, in many respects, a remarkable man. Few, who are a score of years his junior, have as accurate memories, or enjoy fuller possession of their faculties. He has always been connected with the Society of Friends, and has occupied almost every gift known that could be bestowed by the people of his faith, being one of the leading authorities on Quakerism in America. He followed, while in Lees- burgh, the trade of a tanner, sold goods for twenty years, and had a nursery one of the first, if not the first, in Ohio. His first wife was Elizabeth Dukemineer, and his second Abigail Morse. Richard Cherry from Charlestown, Virginia, settled where the village of Monroe now is, in 1817. He was a son of Capt. William Cherry, of Revolutionary fame, who had three thousand acres of land for military services, in Fairfield and Madison townships. By his first wife, Ellen Miles, Mr. Cox had one daughter, Ellen (Cox), now in Iowa, and by his second, Martha Sanders, eight children, all of whom are dead but one, Matthias H.; who now lives in Greenfield. The names of the others were: Julia, Milley, John, Richard, and William. Richard Cherry, jr., died in 1866. He claims to have been the maker of the first file in America, under the following circumstances : During the last war with England, the American supply from the former country being shut off, and files being a very necessary tool for the manufacture and repairing of arms, great inducements were held out to mechanics to remedy the evil. Mr. Cherry HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 403 was then working for the government at Harper's Ferry, and claims there to have produced an article that gave satisfaction, and from that time on there was no lack of files in any of the public works. John Cherry, older brother of Richard, born 1787, and his wife, Alcina (Baldwin), whom he had married in New York, came to the vicinity of Monroe in 1821, floating down the Ohio upon a raft until he reached Portsmouth, and thence overland to his destination. The family consisted of George and Sarah Ellen, both deceased, Isaac B., a resident of the township (forty-three years at his present home), William M., Emily, and Mary Ann, all of them now dead. The Woodmansie family was first represented in the township in 1818. Samuel Woodmansie and his wife, Alice Jeffrey, came in that year from Monmouth county, New Jersey, and settled where Charles P. Woodmansie now lives, and a number of their children came in later years. Samuel Woodmansie died in 1850, at the age of eighty-three years. Isaac Woodmansie was the only one of the sons who preceded his father in the time of settlement. He settled on Lee's creek, where James E. Moors now lives. He had a wife, Abigail, and three children when he came. Samuel Woodmansie, jr., a native of New Jersey, was married when he came to the t0wnship. His wife's name was Abigail Bowker. They had several children John, George, Frank, Elizabeth, and Lydia. David Woodmansie was also a married man when he came to the township. He raised a large family. James married a Terrill. The last one of the family to arrive was Francis. He owned from fifteen to sixteen hundred acres of land between Lexington and Vienna. The only one of the immediate family of Samuel Woodmansie, sr., now living is Phebe A. Driskill. She married, first, Dr. Charles Conway, who was the first physician of Lexington, having come from Jefferson county, Tennessee, about the same time that her father came from New Jersey. He settled where Charles Woodmansie now lives, and owned a large tract of land. He died in 1827. The widow afterwards married John Driskill, who came at an early day from Maryland, and settled near the western line of the township. He built the house where Mrs. Driskill now lives, being a brick- mason by trade. He died in 1850. George Anders and his wife, Hannah Lupton, came from the Shenandoah valley, and settled east of Lees- burgh, where Nathaniel Sanders now lives, in 1819. His wife died early, but Anders lived to be sixty-five years of age, dying in 1845. They raised a family of seven, as follows: Ruth, Samuel and David, who are deceased ; Elizabeth (Mains), in Madison township; Joseph, in Iowa; Abner, in Fairfield township; and also Lovina (Dell). Eleazer Huff came originally from Pennsylvania, but a settler in Harrison county, Ohio, came to Fairfield about 1820, and settled where his son Joseph now lives. He was born in 1782, and died in 1836. William Plunderson, one of the oldest men in this part of the county, was born in 1792. He came to Fairfield in 1822, having spent three years in Indiana. He was originally from Halifax county, Virginia, and had made a visit to Ohio as early as 1809. He was first married to Sarah, a daughter of Beverly Milner, by whom he had one child, Annie. After the death of his first wife, he married Rebecca, daughter of William Garrett, and by her he had nine children, seven of whom are living, viz.: Richard, in Paint township; George, in Missouri; Thomas and Lewis, in this township; Sarah, Jane and Elizabeth (wife of Dr. Beeson). The Worthingtons settled in Fairfield, between the years 1817 and 1828. They were the sons three in number—of Robert Worthington, brother of Governor Thomas Worthington, who settled in the year 1800, five miles west of Chillicothe, on the farm now owned by Henry Snyder. Robert Worthington was born in 1770, and married in 1791 to Ann E. E. Whiting. He died near Chillicothe in 1843, and his wife four years later. Their son Ephraim came in 1817 to Highland county. He married Nancy Long. They had ten children, of whom seven are now tiving, viz: Matthew and Margaret, Elizabeth (Cox), Mary (Milner), Eleanor (Kinzer), in Fairfield township Edward, in Fayette county, and Thomas in Indiana. Ephraim Worthington was born 1794 and died in 1852. John R. Worthington came in 1828, and located beside his brother, in the Cherry survey (1838). He married Nancy Medill before coming to Highland county, by whom he had eight children, six of whom are living, viz : Robert, Nancy (Santee), Elizabeth (Lloyd), in Fairfield township; James, in Iowa; Joseph, in Hardin county, and Elizabeth (Thompson), in the same locality. John R. Worthington was born in 1797, and died in 1871. Of the three brothers who made this settlement, Joseph C. Worthington is the only one living. He resides upon the farm upon which he originally settled. He was born in 1804, and married in 1827 to Harriet, daughter of Thomas and Susan Shields. They have had four children, all of whom are living, except one. Thomas S. is in Fayette county, as is also his brother Robert. Joseph lives in Fairfreld, near his father, and William D. is dead. Thomas Kelley came to the township in 1828 from Culpeper county, Virginia. He was a tanner, and carried on business for some time with Charles Pavey, south of Leesburgh. He went later to Clinton county, but returned and resided in Lexington until his death, which occurred in 1874. He was born in 1797. His wife was Frances Cole. They were the parents of a large family. Their first born were twins, James and Richard. The former is dead, and the latter lives in Missouri. Susan and Mary are also deceased. George W. is in Pike county. Lucinda J. (Moore) resides near Lexington. Charles L. is in Missouri. The youngest son, Le Roy, lives in Lexington, is a farmer by occupation, and has been justice of the peace for the past fifteen years. Rual Beeson came to Leesburgh about 1833. Robert Edwards, a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, born, 1803, came to this township in 1837, and located upon the farm where he now lives. He had four children when he came to Ohio, and four were born after. They are Susannah (McCoy), in Fairfield town- 404 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO ship; Charles, in Penn township; Lydia (Horsman), at Lexington; John, in Missouri; William, Maria (Brabson), Abigail (Larkin), and Jesse, all four in Fairfield. Elwood Brabson, husband of Maria Edwards, came to Ohio in 1851 from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Joseph L. White came from Monmouth county, New Jersey, about 1840, and settled near Petersburgh, in Paint township. He died in 1875, at the age of sixty- three years, He married Cynthia Santee, by whom he had seven children, viz: William S., now in Missouri; Mary (Cuspin), in Iowa; Joseph and Nancy Ann (Grove), both deceased; James W., a substantial farmer of this township, and Eliza and Emily, in Missouri. Elwood Hallowell was born, 1824, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, on the farm where his father, Joseph Hallowell, was born and died, and where his brother still resides—the farm having been in the family more than a century. Mr. Hallowell made three trips to Ohio before settling here. He was married in 1851 to Nancy D. Phillips, of Chester county, Pennsylvania, and came to Fairfield directly after. He has four children living, the oldest, Joseph, doing business in Lessburgh. INITIAL ITEMS. The first child born in the township is said to have been Isaac N. Walter, son of John Walter, who with Pope and Howard made the first settlement on the site of Leesburgh. The child thus accredited with having been the first to come into being within the present limits of Fairfield, was afterwards celebrated as a preacher of the New Light faith. The second child born is generally believed to have been William Horsman. He was born on Horsman's branch of Lee's creek, under a shelter made between two fallen tree trunks, The next birth in this vicinity, though not in what is now Fairfield, was Joshua Horsey, born on Clear creek, within the present limits of Penn township. James P. Johnson was the third child born within the present limits of Fairfield, and the fourth born in the township as it existed previous to the laving off of Penn. He was born September 6, 1806, and is the only one of the four here named, who is living. The first marriage in the township, was that of Enos Baldwin and Sarah Hunt, married on a Sunday, in November, 1804, at William Lupton's. Both parties to the contract were Quakers, and were the children of the first Quakers who settled in the Northwestern Territory. In 1805 William Pope and Grace Lupton were married; also William Wright and Rachel Stafford. Jonathan Johnson and Rebecca Walter were married in 1807. The same Rebecca Johnson, nee Walter, was one of the first persons who died in the township. She died in child-birth, in the year following her marriage. A Mrs. Ballard was undoubtedly the first person who died in Fairfield. ORIGIN OF THE NAMES OF STREAMS. Hardin's creek derives its name from Colonel Hardin, of Virginia. Hardin, Hougue, Reddick and others, surveyed jointly a very large tract of land extending over a wide scope of country about the mouth of Hardin's creek, containing some fifteen or twenty thousand acres of land. When this survey was divided, Hardin's portion fell on both sides of the creek which bears his name. Lee's creek received its name from one of Massie's assistants, who received land upon the creek for his services. Bridgewater (the north fork of Hardin's creek) was named by Jesse Barrett for his assistance in surveying. CIVIL HISTORY. Fairfield township was one of the original townships of the county, and was created upon the first organization of Highland, in 1805. It was a vast township, and included territory more extensive than that of several counties in the State, as at present divided. Its boundaries were as follows: Beginning at the mouth of Rattlesnake creek on Paint, and thence up said creek six miles above Greenfield (about four miles above the present Fayette county line); thence west, including the southern parts of Fayette and Clinton counties, to Morgan Van Meter's (now Snow hill), including him and all of the inhabitants on Tod's fork and the east fork; thence east to the township line near Mr. Hill's, on Clear creek; thence to Rattlesnake creek, at the mouth of Fall creek, and thence down Rattlesnake to the place of beginning. The present township of Fairfield, a very small portion of the old, contains seventeen or more road districts. The original township had but four, but the whole township did not contain then as many miles of road as any one of the present small districts, and there was not a mile of good road in its limits beside the State roads. There was probably an election of officers in this township in 1805, but the first election of which any record has been kept was that of 1806, of which and a number of succeeding elections we give the abstract. The reader must bear in mind that a number of the names that appear in the following list of officers are those of men who never were settlers within the present limits of Fairfield, The following are extracts from the records : 1806— Election held Monday, April 7th : James Johnson, justice of the peace; Nehemiah Bloomer, clerk; John B. Beals, Isaac Todhunter, Jesse Baldwin, trustees; James Haworth, William Stofford, overseers of poor; Evan Evans, house praiser (sic) and lister; Curtis Beals, house praiser; David Branson, Jonas Stofford, fence viewers ; James Stofford, William Pope, Seth Smith, Israel Nor- dyke, supervisors of highways; John McKibbens, Jacob Beals, jr., William Bloomer, constables; William Lupton, treasurer, The trustees of Fairfield township, at their meeting March 2, 1807, nominated, according to the law then in force, twenty-five men to serve as grand jurors, and twenty-five men to serve as petit jurors, of the court of common pleas. The names of the grand jurors were as follows: Israel Nordyke, Evan Evans, William Pope, Richard Barrett, Seth Smith, Mordacai Ellis, Samuel Litler, Jonathan Barrett, James Johnson, Ennion Williams, Phineas Hunt, William Williams, Jonathan Sanders, 404A - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO JOSEPH C. WORTHINGTON. HARRIET WORTHINGTON. THE WORTHINGTON FAMILY. The Worthingtons are of English descent, and the branch of the family of which Joseph C. Worthington, of Fairfield township, is a representative, was among the earliest and most prominent of Ross county settlers. Robert Worthington came from England about the time Philadelphia was sellled, and after remaining for a time near the infant colony, moved about one hundred miles inland, and settled in the midst of the wilderness, among the Indians, of whom he bought his land, near Charleston, Jefferson county, Virginia. He and his wife reared four children. It was their youngest son, Robert, who was the progenitor of the family, of which we propose to trace the history. He married Margaret Mathis, whose parents had emigrated in early times from Ireland. Four children were the offspring of this marriage: Ephriam, Willram, Robert and Thomas. Of these four sons, three emigrated to the western country, William settling in Kentucky, and Robert and Thomas, in Ohio. Thomas, the youngest, was governor of the State, and resided at Adena, one of the most interesting houses, historically, in Ohio. As an ample biography of Thomas Worthington appears elsewhere, we shall devote the remainder of this sketch to his brother, Robert, and his descendants. Coming to Chillicothe in 1796, on a tour of observation, he was pleased with the country and with the cheering prospect of Massie's colony, and resolved to setlle there or in the vicinity. In 1800, we find him carrying this resolution into effect, and locating permanently five miles west of the pioneer village of the Scioto valley, upon the land now owned by Henry Snyder. Here he lived until his death in 1843. He was born in Virginia, April 21, 177o, and in 1791 married Ann E. E. Whiting, who was of Irish descent, and born January 24, 1773. She survived him three years, dying in 1847. They had a large family of children, of whom three were born in Virginia, and nine in Ohio. The eldest, Elizabeth, was born in 1792, married John Shields, and moved to Louisiana, where she died in 1822. The other children were as follows: Ephriam, John R. W., Thomas (who died an infant), Joseph C., Edward (died in infancy), Eleanor (Mrs. Solomon Dorman, now in New York city), Susannah (Mrs. Anthony Koler, in Fayette county), Margaret (Mrs. Henry Synder, of Ross county), Ann (who first married John P. Boswell, and afterwards Alexander Maharry), Robert and Mary (the widow of James McCrarey, now living in Iowa). Of these three sons, Ephriam, John R. W. and Joseph C., located in Fairfield township—the oldest, Ephriam, coming first. He spent some time in Hillsborough, and then removed to what is still the Worthington neighborhood. He was born in 1794, and died September 26, 1852. His wife was Hannah Long, and he had by her ten children, of whom seven are still living, viz: Matthew, Margaret, Elizabeth (Cox), Mary (Milner), and Eleanor (Kinzer), in Fairfield township; Edward, in Fayette county, and Thomas, in Indiana. John R. W. and Joseph C. Worthington located in the township in 1828. The first named was born in 1797, and died in 1871. He was married, before coming from Ross county, to Mary McDill, by whom he had eight children, six of whom are still living, viz: Robert, Nancy (Santee), and Elizabeth (Lloyd), in Centerfield; James, in Iowa; Joseph, in Hardin county, Ohio, and Elizabeth (Thompson). Joseph C. Worthington (subject of portrait) was born in Ross county in 1804, February 8th. He moved to Fairfield township in 1828, and is the only one of the three brothers now living. He has resided continuously where he now lives ever since the time of his settlement, and has been one of the most widely and well known men of the county, although taking no very active part in politics or other public affairs. His occupation has been farming, and he has been remarkably successful, having accumulated a large property. Although seventy-six years of age, he is still hale and strong, and personally oversees and manages his large business. He was married the year before his removal from Ross county to Harriet Shields (whose portrait appears in connection with that of Mr. Worthington). She was born in 1807, and is still living. Her parents were Thomas and Susan Shields, very early settlers in Ross. Thomas Shields built the old mill, on North fork, about a mile and a half west of Chillicothe, the first located upon the stream, in 1799. It was built for Thomas Worthington, and the old contract made between the parties in 1798 is now in the possession of Joseph C. Worthington. Mr. and Mrs. Worthington have been blessed with four children: Thomas, born August 18, 1829, now lives in Fayette county. He has been twice married—the first lime to Sarilda, daughter of Samuel Pavey, and the second to Margaret Persinger. He has two children: Joseph Burwell and Harriet. Robert, born September 28, 1831, married Catharine, daughter of Elias Cox, for his first wife, and Jenny McDowell for his second. He has three children: Joseph W., Margaret and William. Joseph, born December 27, 1833, married Keturiah, daughter of John Griffith and Nancy Crispin. They have had four children, only one of whom is now living: Elm May. Joseph Worthington lives on the Leesburgh and Centertield road, on a farm adjoining his father's. A sketch of his residence appears in this work. William D. was born January 3, 1837, and died on the fourth day of June, 1854. HISITORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 405 David Branson, Jacob Beals, sr., Morgan Van Meter, William Wright, Uriah Poland, Job Ensley, Stephen Hagg, James Currie, Simon Lackey, James Millikin, Daniel Beals, David Beals. The following named individuals were returned for petit jurors: Joseph Wright, Jonas Stofford, Ashley Johnson, Robert Stofford, Foster Levinton, Solomon Lupton, Samuel Butler, William Willis, David Terrill, Philip Bar. ger, Charles Moorrnan, Thomas Draper, Joseph McKibbens, Jacob Griffin, Jacob Beals, Andrew Hart, Edward Curtiss, George Brock, Curtiss Beals, Benjamin Davis, Jacob Bowers, George Matthews, Isaac Miller, Micajah Nordyke, James Stofford. The officers elected in 1807 were the following: Thomas M. Sanders, clerk; Ashley Johnson, Jonathan Barrett, Jonathan Sanders, trustees; Richard Barnard, Stephen Hoggett, fence viewers; Aaron Hunt, Jacob Bowers, Demcy Capps, William Williams, Solomon Lupton, supervisors; Evan Evans, Benjamin H. Johnson, house appraisers; Philip Stout, William Campbell, John Leonard, constables; William Stofford, James Haworth, overseers of poor; William Lupton, treasurer. The year 1807 was one in which the squirrels were unusually troublesome, and every available means was employed to destroy them, In that year (according to an entry in the old book of township records, now in the possession of Jacob Hilliard, esq,, of Leesburgh), there was made an apportionment of valuesis at which squirrel scalps would be received. The following extract explains the method: "The trustees, Ashley Johnson, Jonathan Barrett, and Jonathan Sanders, taking the act to encourage the killing of squirrels into consideration, do appoint each person's number in the manner following, viz.: That each and every person who is charged with a tax to the amount of fifty cents, and any sum under, shall kill fifteen squirrels; and all oye1 fifty and under one hundred cents, shall kill twenty-five; and all over one hundred and under two hundred cents, shall kill forty-five; and all over two hundred cents shall kill seventy- five squirrels, all of which number shall be produced according to law." The severity of the succeeding winter killed the squirrels, and the law, becoming unnecessary, was, a few years later, repealed. It was practically a dead letter from the time of its enactment. In 1808 the following officers were elected: Thomas M. Sanders, clerk; Jonathan Barrett, Jonathan Sanders and Ashley Johnson, trustees; Aaron Hunt, Matthew Kilgore, Micajah Nordyke, Curtiss Beals and David Terrill, supervisors ; Evan Evans and Israel Nordyke, appraisers; John B. Beals and David Branson, fence viewers; Phineas Hunt and William Johnson, overseers of poor; John Mackly, Jacob Beals and Jonas Stofford, constables; John Sears, treasurer. In October, 1808, it was ordered by the trustees that on the future elections should be held at John Walters'. In the year 1809, the officers chosen (April 3d) were as follows: James Johnson and Samuel Litler, justices of the peace; Jonathan Barrett, Ashley Johnson and Jonathan Sanders, trustees; John Walters, lister of taxable property; Pleasant Arthur, house appraiser; Demcy Capps Curtiss Beals, David Terrill and Aaron. L. Hunt, supervisors; Jesse Barrett and Beverly Milner, jr., fence viewers; Phineas Hunt and Beverly Milner, overseers of the poor; Matthew Sherlock and Jacob Beals, constables; William Pope, treasurer" Fairfield township gave this year (1809) ninety-three votes. In the year 1810, Fayette county was erected, and in the same year the township of Madison was stricken off from Fairfield, though not until after the spring election had been held. This year the officers elected were the following: Isaac McPherson, clerk; Jonathan Barrett and Jonathan Sanders, trustees; Jephthah Johnson and Thomas Sanders, house appraisers; David Terrill, Samuel Butler, Dudley Milner and Curtiss Beals, supervisors; Moses Milner and Nathaniel Pope, overseers of the poor; Nathaniel Pope and Jesse Barrett, fence viewers; Nimrod Ferguson and David Dutton, constables; Win. Pope, treasurer. In 1811 occurred the first election in Fairfreld township after its immense territory had been cut down to include nothing but the present township and Penn, The officers chosen were: Thomas M. Sanders, clerk; Jonathan Barrett, Jonathan Sanders and Ashley Johnson, trustees; David Terrill and Thomas M, Sanders, appraisers; Dudley Milner, David Terrill, Samuel Butler and Curtiss Beals, supervisors; Nathaniel Pope and John C. Sanders, fence viewers; Phineas Hunt and Nathaniel Pope, overseers of the poor; John Stofford and Edward Terrill, constables; William Pope, treasurer. MILITARY COMPANY. The first military company organized in Fairfield township, and the third in the county, was a militia company gotten up in 1807. Richard F. Bernard was elected captain. The company mustered at Charles Clefton's, on the College township road, a mile west of the site of Leesburgh. Jesse Knight was lieutenant of the company. Their music on parade was the fife and drum, and they mustered with their own rifles and uniformed. In 1811 Captain Bernard resigned, and Thomas M. Johnson was chosen in his place, a position which he held for about five years. EARLY MILLING AND MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES. The first mill was erected in this township in 1804, by Phineas Hunt, who settled on Hardin's creek in 1803. The neighbors all came to assist Hunt in building his mill, for it was a great accommodation to them. The services of Alexander Crawford, who lived at the falls of Paint, were brought into requisition in running the mill, and it soon became known far and wide, and did a large business. Previous to the building of this mill, the settlers had to go to the falls of Paint, or to the Miami, or Scioto, to get their corn ground. The mill was located on Hardin's creek, a little above the site on which Huff's fulling mill was afterwards built. Soon after Hunt's mill was built, Jacob Beals put up another, also on Hardin's creek, about a mile below where the Washington road now crosses the stream. It did not, however, prove profitable, and it was not long before it went to decay. About the same time a small mill was put in operation at the falls of Rattlesnake, but 406 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO it was a very flimsy affair, and the waters were not long in dashing it to pieces. In 1805 William Lupton built a saw-mill on Lee's creek, having bought Nathaniel Pope's property. Soon after the first corn-mill on Lee's creek was built by James Howard. In 1809, or the following year, a grist-mill was built near the site of Leesburgh, by Joseph Grice, but it has long since disappeared. About the same time the first tannery was started about a mile and a half south of Leesburgh, by Joseph Hors- man, and kept in successful operation until about 1830. At this period a carding machine was put up by Isaac McPherson on the land known of late as the Borum farm. In 1810 Dudley Milner built a small tub-mill on the Bridgewater, which lasted about two years. Soon after (about 1814, Beverly Milner built another about one hundred yards down the stream, with an overshot wheel. There has been a mill at this creek ever since. The second mill lasted about twenty-five years. The present exact site has been occupied since 1855. John Milner has been for many years the miller, owner and operator. A portion of the time he had a saw-mill, but not since 1874. The present mill was built in 1877, and has two runs of buhrs. In 1811 Daniel Huff; jr., an emigrant from North Carolina, settled upon Tod's fork, and, after remaining there about two years, he purchased of Phineas Hunt his farm and mill on Hardin's creek. Mr. Huff, in 1813, commenced the erection of his woolen factory, which he built about one hundred yards below Hunt's old mill. In 1815 he had it completed and in running order. The settlers flocked in from all sections of the country to have their flannel, which had been spun and woven at home, fulled, colored and dressed into a good article of cloth. Huff's mill became celebrated throughout the whole country, says J. R. Ladd, as one of the most extensive factories of the day. It was of almost incalculable benefit to the citizens of Highland county. It embraced carding and fulling, dressing and finishing of cloth, and the grinding of both wheat and corn. Prior to its establishment, the settlers had to go to a mill on the Little Miami for the purpose of having their flannels dressed. The mill was kept in successful operation until 'recent years. William Chalfant erected his mill on Lee's creek in 1814 (on the same site now owned by George Stearnes. It was both a grist- and saw-mill, did much work, and was of great value to the neighborhood. Mr. Chalfant sold it, about 1835, to his son William, who owned it about four years, and then sold it to John Hickson. He sold to John McKeen, he to Peyton Burton, and he to the present owner, George Stearnes. William and Aaron Chalfant put steam power into this mill, and run it that way for a few years, but the boiler and engine were afterward removed. It was one of the first steam mills in this part of the country. RELIGIOUS MATTERS. Nearly all of the first settlers in Fairfield were Quakers or Friends, and the first religious meetings were held by them. Their simple faith is still predominant in the township and its neighborhood, and has always numbered among its adherents more than all others c0mbined. Methodism did not have an early beginning in the township, and Presbyterianism never gained a regular foothold. Of late years other denominations than the Friends and Methodists have effected organizations, and some of them, notably the Dunkards and Universalists, have had a church existence dating from the middle period of the history of Fairfield. Several churches have become either defunct or extinct. The total number now having existence in the township is eleven, as follows: Four of the Friends' authorized meetings—one at New Lexington, one at Oak Grove, north of Lexington, one at Fairfield, south of Leesburgh, and one upon . Hardin's creek; four Methodist churches, located at Leesburgh, New Lexington, Monroe, and Centerfield; a Dunkard church south of Lexington, upon the Samantha pike, and very near the Penn township line; a Universalist church at Centerfield, and a Second Advent organization at Leesburgh. Many other forms of religion are represented in the township, but do not have organized existence. There are quite a number of Presbyterians in the township, and Spiritualism has some adherents in the community. In fact, we may add that almost all modern forms of faith have individual exponents, and that in Leesburgh there is a very considerable sprinkling of those who are atheists, or infidel in other and lesser degree to the creeds of orthodoxy. THE FRIENDS coming from Virginia and North Carolina, and some of the earliest with the fresh fervor, awakened by their meetings at Quaker Bottom—the first Friends' settlement in the Northwest Territory were quick to effect the establishment of religious institutions in the new settlement. Elsewhere we have given an account of the pioneer Quakers of Fairfield, Nathaniel Pope, the Beals, Evan Evans, the Luptons, and others. They began to hold meetings as soon as a sufficient number had arrived. Just precisely when the first Friends' meeting was held cannot be discovered, but it was probably late in 1802, or early in 1803. Bathsheba Lupton is accredited with being the founder of the Fairfield meeting. It is said that, noticing the tendency on the part of the young men and others to make Sunday visits to the Indian encampments, she resolved to effect a change in their habits and customs before they were so far perverted by their life in the woods as to make the return to godliness impossible. Accordingly, this solemn mentor of morals in the wilderness, mounted a horse and rode from cabin to cabin, exhorting in some, administering a stern 1ebuke in others, and proclaiming everywhere seemliness of piety and the exceeding wrong of leading worldly lives. The result of Mistress Lupton's zealous action was a meeting, and a beginning having been made, meetings were thereafter regularly held. Up to the time of the building of the meeting-house at Fairfield, the Sunday gatherings of Friends were held alternately at John Beals, on Hardin's creek, and at the Lupton's, in the Fairfield neighborhood. Bathsheba Lupton died in 1847, aged eighty-seven. HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 407 Jacob Jackson, heretofore alluded to, had settled where Jacob Thornburg now lives, west of Lexington, and he was the first preacher the Friends had in the township. It is a matter of record that the first marriage in the township was that of Quakers. Enos Baldwin and Sarah Hunt, respectively the son and daughter of the first Friends (Jesse Baldwin and Phineas Hunt), who settled in the Northwestern Territory. They were married at William Lupton's cabin, on a Sunday, in the month of November, 1804. The first burial made at the little burying ground by the present Fairfield meeting-house, was made in 1804, and was that of a woman, named Ballard. The second was also a woman, named Britton. The church was not built at that time, and the ground now so thickly studded with the long, low mounds and the simple memorial stones, was covered with a dense growth of hazel brush and spicewood. Soon after these burials were made, a small meetinghouse was erected where the present brick edifice now stands. It was the first house of worship of any kind in Fairfield township. Primitive in construction, and small in size, it nevertheless met the need for which it was designed, and served for several years as a place for the Quakers for miles around to meet on Sunday and worship according to their informal system. The house was built of poles or small logs, and covered with large hewn slabs. The fireplace was in the middle of the house. A large hole was left in the floor which was filled up with stones, nearly to a level with the floor. Upon the stones a ring of clay was formed, and in the dish-shaped cavity thus made, charcoal was placed, and a fire was thus afforded which was almost entirely free from smoke. This house remained until a better one was constructed; one made of logs and surmounted by a good roof, the heavy shingles of which were held on by wooden pegs. The second house of worship remained until 1822 or 1823, when the present edifice was built. The builder of the second log house was Jonathan Johnson. In the fall of 1807, Fairfield monthly meeting was established. A preparative meeting was established to be held alternately at Clear Creek and Fairfield, and also a meeting for worship, alternating between these two places. This was by the authority of the Redstone quarterly meeting, at Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Mildred Ratcliffe, the famous Quakeress preacher, who afterward traveled all over the United States, came to Fairfield, as has been heretofore related, and on the removal of Jacob Jackson, succeeded him as the preacher to the large Society of Friends who gathered at the old meeting-house. She left in 1816, and finally settled down for a permanent residence near Brownsville, Pennsylvania, where she died. After her departure the Fairfield meeting had no 1egularly stationed preacher for about forty years. The next person who held that office after the interval was Eiger Brown. He was succeeded by Hazaih Green; he by Louisa Ladd, and she by William Thornburg, who held the place until the present preacher, Joel Wright, was regularly authorized to preach there. Fairfield monthly meeting had, before its division, upwards of one thousand members. During one period of four years it received more than five hundred members. The establishment of other meetings in the township, and the formation of several colonies from the Quaker element of Fairfield, made a large decrease in the number, but it is still a very strong society. Churches were built for the other meetings, one on Hardin's creek, which is still in use; one on Lee's creek, west of Lexington, which has long since disappeared; one at Oak Grove, north of Lexington, on the Urbana pike, and near the county line, and one in the village of Lexington, built within the past few years. METHODISM-THE PLEASANT HILL CHURCH-PREACHER PAVEY. Isaac Pavey, who came out from Kentucky in 1805 or the following year, settled north of Leesburgh, on the place now owned by Manlove Adams, was the pioneer of Methodism in Fairfield township, and we may add, the first clergyman in the county licensed by the court to solemnize the rites of marriage, being licensed at the October term, 1808. The first Methodist meetings were held at his house, and the first class was organized there. He was a very zealous and good man, and labored diligently to bring about the organization of a church, and afterwards to secure a house of worship. The old log house on Pleasant hill was principally the outcome of his generosity and energy. It was built through his efforts, and very largely at his expense. He gave the land on which the church stands, and that which constitutes the Pleasant Hill burying-ground, and the house of worship was erected in 1832. It was the first in the township, after the Fairfield meeting-house. The principal Methodists in the vicinity of Leesburgh at that time were Pavey, the preacher, his brother Charles, Isaac McCoy, and John Rains. These men, and a few others, bore the burden of building the old log church—a burden which many at this day may think to have been a very trifling one, but which for fifty years ago was quite as onerous as the larger church subscriptions of the present era. Very little money was spent in the erection of the building, but those who wished to contribute, did so in labor, or furnished one or two or more logs. The first person buried on Pleasant hill was Mrs, Wilthong, grandmother of Addison Pavey. The old church is still standing, a homely, honored structure, and it serves as a good monument to the life and labors of Isaac Pavey. The pioneer preacher was killed, not far from his home, by a fall from his horse. In the winter of 1867, the old church was used for the last time as a place of religious gathering. During that season a 1evival was held there, which was a notable one in the history of the church, and which resulted in more than seventy-five conversions. Long before this (in 1852), the place of worship had been changed to the village of Leesburgh. In the year mentioned, Matthias H. Cherry purchased of John M. Keen, who held a mortgage upon it, the lot on which the present Methodist Episcopal church stands, then oc- 408 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. cupied by a building erected by the Disciples. Meetings were held in the old church thus bought until the erection of the present beautiful church edifice. The contract for the building of this church was let in the spring of 1869, to Hines and Lupton, and the building was completed in time to be dedicated January 2, 1870. The structure is of brick, tasteful in design, with an eighteen-foot story. Its cost was about five thousand dollars. The building committee consisted of E. P. Johnson, George Matthews and William S. Huff. E. P. Johnson was treasurer. At the time the place of meeting was changed from Pleasant Hill to Leesburgh, Wesley Webster, now in Clarke county, was pastor, and the principal members were Salmon Templin, James S. Templin and wife, George Hays and wife, Shepley Holmes and wife, Thomas A. Pavey, John Rains, David McKay, John Barger, John C. Bottan and Lovina Haines. The church has at present a membership of about one hundred persons. The pastor is the Rev. J. I. Taggart, and the officers are the following : E. P. Johnson, Charles Van Pelt, William S. Huff, M. Redkey, Shepley Holmes, William Williamson and Charles P. Keen, trustees; E. P. Johnson and Charles Van Pelt, stewards and class- leaders. NEW LEXINGTON METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. In the western part of the township the Woodmansies were among the earliest of the Methodists, and the first meetings were held at one of the houses, and sometimes at one of the barns occupied o1 owned by one of this family. The first church was built in 1837, on a lot donated for the purpose by Captain Emson. It was located where the cemetery is, south of Lexington. This church was destroyed by the great storm of 1860 and soon after the present church was built in the village. The Methodist Episcopal church of Lexington is at present in a very good condition—has about ninety members, and a resident pastor, the Rev. R, E. Smith. The local preachers are David Wright, D. S. Ferguson, and Thos. Dillon; the steward, H. B. Hickson; class leaders, David Hensel, H. B. Hickson, Thos. Dillon, and Francis Woodmansie; and the trustees, Thomas Dillon, H. B. Hickson, David Hensel, William Roades, D. A. Terrill, A. A. Patton, Walter Pugsley and Zachariah Horsman. EAST MONROE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. This church was organized in the summer of 1841, the society being formed by exhorters from Greenfield— Samuel Mains and William Shadford. They began holding meetings in an old bar-room, and gradually, a religious feeling was awakened, which culminated in the formation of a church with about twenty members. They were Elias Simmons and his wife Sarah, Mrs. Alcina Cherry, Jacob Nedler, and Jane Nedler, Matthias H. and Harriett H. Cherry, Sarah Baldwin, Margaret Worthington, Elizabeth Cox, Ellen Worthington, Matilda Worthington, Smith, Fanny Baldwin, Matilda, Lydia and Sarah Baldwin, Charles, Alfred and James Cox. The first class leader was Elias Simmons; and the first trustees were Jacob Nedler, William Cox, Elias Simmons, William Simmons and Matthias H. Cherry. The Rev. Bernard A. Cassett, of Washington circuit, was placed in charge of this church. After services had been conducted for two or three years in the old bar-room, and about the year 1845, a log church was built where William Blair's shoe-shop now is. This building was used until 1856, when the present structure, a frame, thirty-six by forty feet, was erected. The church has had as many as a hundred members, and has now from forty to fifty. The present officers are as follows: Elias Simmons, Samuel Rees, Freeman Waugh, Joseph Worthington and William H. Penn, trustees. The class leaders are William H. Penn and George Nedler, and the steward, Samuel Rees. REGULAR (ANTI-MISSION) BAPTIST CHURCH OF MONROE (EXTINCT). Those most consistent of Calvinists, the Anti-mission Baptists, had a church organization in East Monroe village previous to 1840, and worshipped in a log church, under the pastorate of the Rev. John Mott. The trustees of this church were Joseph Walm, Rev. John Mott, William Racer and Wesley Glore. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF CENTERFIELD. This church was organized in 1840, under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Bernard A. Cassett, presiding elder of Washington circuit. The first class leader was Dempsey Garrett; first board of trustees, Abraham Pope, Thomas Grove, James Durnell, Dempsey Garrett and Branson Davis. The church or society, as at first organized, was about one and a half miles northeast of the village of Centerfield, and was christened "Zion Hill." Four or five years after its organization, it was moved to Centerfield, and the present church edifice was built, which was, however, remodeled in 1876. UNIVERSALISM. In Leesburgh and vicinity there were quite a number of persons who were believers in universalism, as early as 1835. The subject of effecting an organization and providing a place of worship began to be agitated, and in 1849 the old frame church, still standing in Leesburgh, was erected. It was not dedicated until 1841. The ceremony took place early in that year, and was conducted by tbe Rev. Thomas Gilmore. The first preacher of the society was a Mr. Weber, who helped considerably in the building of the church, furnished lumber, etc. The church attained a membership of nearly sixty persons, but 'its strength finally waned, because of the establishment of the Universalist church at Centerfreld, which, in later years, seemed to become the most central point for those people of the Universalist faith. The early Universalists and founders of the church at Lees- burgh were James McClure, John Litler, Samuel McClure and Joseph Johnson. Mr. Samuel McClure is the only one of their number remaining, and is the oldest Universalist in the township. Simeon Simpson and wife are about the only old members of the church now living in Leesburgh. RUEL BEESON,. M. D. Ruel Beeson was born and raised, and always lived in Highland county. His father came from Guilford, North Carolina, as early as 1805, and probably a year before, making his settlement on Fall creek, near the present village of New Petersburgh, where his son Ruel was born April 12, 1811. He was of a studious turn of mind, and loathing he farm, 1an away from home, to go to school where he was privately supported by his mother, and an older married sisler, until his fattier, who was something of a character in his way, rough, brush, and eccentric but withal, kind-hearted, finding the boy was determined to get an education, came to his help. The episode had the effect of bringing to the surface the father's latent or hidden love for his son, and he gave it thereafter full expression. He grew to admire the boy in a manner he never had before, and befriended him in almost every manner possible. He was sent to the " Union Academy," a very good school of that time taught at New Petersburgh, and after he had progressed as far in his studies as the academy could advance him, he enlered the office of Dr. Hardy, of the same village, to read medicine. After that, he attended lectures at Cincinnati, and about 1833 came to Leesburgh to engage in the practice of his profession. Soon afterwards, he married Martha, widow of Joel Wright. He did not long continue the practice after his marriage, but went into the mercantile business, and at the same time studied law, and began to engage in politics as a Whig. He never entered fully into the practice of the law, but familiarized himself with it to belter understand and manage his business affairs. However, in whatever business he undertook for others, as an attorney, he was very energetic and efficient, and had he given his whole attention to the profession from the beginning, would certainly have been a leading member of the bar wherever he had chosen to locate. In 1848 he was elected from this district to the State senate. He seems almost to have been disgusted with lhe inner life of politics, for he declined a renomination. A quotation from his diary of January 20, 1849, while he was in the senate chamber at Columbus, reads: "The life lived here is not to my taste. I am not so constituted as to be happy away from home. The remembrance of it will come over me at all times, driving other thoughts far away. I have been here two months in the midst of scenes disgraceful in many respects—surrounded by men who make politics a trade. There is little comfort in it." These few words serve to give a glimpse of the character of the man. Another extract fron his diary furthe1 displays his character. On the night of Decembe1 31, 1848, his store was burned by an incendiary. He writes: "I repaired to town, and found it true. That pile which had cost me so much toil and anxiety and expense, was a smouldering ruin. This is the first time in my life that I have been called upon to bear any considerable loss of property. I did not feel that grief that I have seen others manifest in similar cases, but I did feel a deep and abiding humiriation to think that I had in the wide world an enemy who could do so black a deed." He was an uncompromising and aggressive temperance advocate, and had turned the upper floor of the building into a hall for the Sons of Temperance to hold their meetings in, and he always believed that the fire which destroyed his property was kindled by some of his "tern perance enemies." It was never known to a certainty who the guilty party was. When the people began to feel the need of a railroad through the county, Ruel Beeson engaged in the work of promoting this interest, heart and soul, and in no man can the citizens of Leesburgh consider themselves more deeply under obligations for whatever of value the road has been to them. At the time of the struggle between the partisan friends of the two routes—the Hillsborough and the northern—it was by the work of Ruel Beeson, Judge Dickey, Hugh Smart, James McLean, Seneca W. Ely, and W. P. Cutler, more than any others that the road was built where it is, instead of through Hillsborough. By his untiring energy in the work of locating this road through the northern part of the county, Mr. Beeson incurred the bitter enmity of the Hillsborough people, and suffered the estrangement of some life-long friends. When the Republican party was formed Mr. Beeson became one of its adherents, and so remained all the rest of his life. Although always a working member of the party, politics was distasteful to him. During the war he was a strong and uncompromising friend of the Union cause, and like all positive characters in the heat of that crisis, made many enemies in politics. He had one son in the navy and another in the army; yet he hired and fitted out two other soldiers who both served during the war and returned safely. He used to remark that one was a substitute for himself and the othe1 for his wife. The late years of the life of Dr. Beeson were spent in quiet upon his farm, except when he was traveling. After the war he visited the south, the Pacific coast, and western territories, and also traveled through the Canadas and the eastern States, and was anticipating a trip to Europe. The one great desire of hrs life was to travel through Europe and Asia—to make a tour around the earth. Being at the same time positive in his convictions, and aggressive against what he considered wrong, he was reticent and inclined to be suspicious of men, and for these reasons not so much inclined to draw about him admiring friends. So it was that his character was less understood and his virtues less appreciated than they would have been had he been more thoughtful of his own advancement, and taken advantage of circumstances to advance his interests. His first impulse was to repel the advances of satellites, which impulse he acted upon while a less honest man might have used their willing shoulders to climb up higher. He died April 15, 1877, less widely honored, perhaps, than he might have been, but not less thoroughly by those who knew him well, and not less loved by those who had been near to him. Dr. Beeson's children by his first wife were: Benjamin F., now an attorney in Hillsborough; James W., a resident of Fairfield township; and Hanibal A., a well-known physician, who lives in Leesburgh. His second wife, E. R. Loud, daughter of Austin and Mehitable Loud, of Lake county, Ohio, he married August 24, 1871. The offspring of this union were two children—Blanch and Flora L. The late residence of Dr. Beeson, now occupied by his widow, is the subject of our artist's sketch upon another page. It was built about seventy years ago by William, son of Nathaniel Pope, the pioneer of Fairfield, and the late additions were made by Dr. Beeson. HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 409 THE CENTERFIED UNIVERSALIST CHURCH, or the " Church of the Redeemer," was commenced in the summer of 1870, and was finished and dedicated in May, 1871. The building cost about four thousand dollars, and was erected under the management of a building committee, consisting of Joseph Huff; Samuel Banks, Baldwin Huff, D. Crispin, W. B. Litler, John Banks, and J. H. Litler. The church society was organized prior to the erection of the house of worship, and consisted of the following members: Joseph Huff, W. B. Litler, D. Crispin, J. H. Litler, Ann Litler, Nancy Litler, Eliza Crispin, Elisha Beats, Martha Beats, Ada Boysel, M. E. Tyler, James M. Crispin, Mary E. Crispin, John, Samantha, Samuel and Elizabeth Banks, Armstead Brady, William Crispin, sr., William Crispin, jr., Gincora Crispin, Catharine Banks, Albert Crispin, Ashley Frazier, Esther Frazier, and Baldwin Huff. The church has now an active organization, and is in a flourishing condition. The officers are: D. Crispin, Joseph Huff, and John Banks, trustees; J. H, Litler was the first clerk of the society, and still holds that office. THE SECOND ADVENT CHURCH was organized in Leesburgh in the summer of 1879, just after a second advent revival had been concluded. The church was instituted by the Rev. William Cotterell, of Springfield, Ohio. The place of meeting is the Universalist church. LEESBURGH, This is the largest village of the township and the oldest. The older part of the town was laid out by "Governor" James Johnson, March 2, 1814. The plat extended from the present residence of H. R. Johnson to Jacob Hilliard's. On June 23, 1814, an addition was made extending west from Hilliard's to the residence of the late Cplonel Sam. Pike. Gersham Perdue assisted in the survey and was present at the little meeting of citizens who gave the town its name, and the first to write it upon paper after it was adopted. He asserts that the town 1eceived its name from the creek which flows by it; but others say it was named in honor of Leesburgh, Virginia. The town plat, as constituted by "Governor" Johnson, has received several additions from time to time. On the twelfth of June, 1821, Samuel McClure, Abner Chalfant, Chas. Sleeper, Havilah Beardsley, and Ennion Williams, laid off what has since been known as New Leesburgh, extending from Fairfield to the present western limits; and in August, 1837, Jared M. Johnson, Obed A. Borum, Thos. E. Johnson, Isaac. Stought, and John Jewett, made an addition filling the gap between the two plats, from Pike's residence to Fairfield street. Other additions, all of them small and comparatively unimportant, have been made, as follows: January 27, 1854, by Adam Cunningham; March 3, 1854, by James Huff; May 1, 1861, by Benjamin Heller and A. B. Milner, The title to the land upon which the original village of Leesburgh was laid out was disputed, and business men and property owners, feeling insecure, sought a location in which they could make improvements without the danger of having them swept away and out of their pos session by legal technicalities. Hence the laying off of New Leesburgh. The growth of the village was retarded by the uncertainty which attached to the ownership of the land on which the first plat was laid out, and many who would otherwise have remained permanently in the place to have transacted business, left, and located at other places. Many of those who remained moved into the new part of the town. The result of the long continued litigation was two-fold. It doubtless prevented Leesburgh from becoming a town of two or three thousand inhabitants, and made it one of eight hundred population, and it caused the village to develop in a strange and scattered way. Main street, running through the old and the new Leesburgh, is three hundred poles in length, or nearly one mile, and comprises the greater portion of the village. There is an angle in Main street which practically divides it into two streets, and as Fairfield street (the Hillsborough pike) enters town at this point, making, with each division of Main street about the same angle that they have toward each other, the map of the town is very suggestive of the three radiating and running legs that constitute the coat of arms of the Isle of Man. BUSINESS BEGINNINGS, ETC. The first house built in Leesburgh was Harrison Ratcliffe's, upon the ground where Jacob Hilliard's residence is now situated. Charles M. Bentley who came to Leesburgh with his father in the summer of 1814, says that the site of the town was then an almost unbroken forest. There were, perhaps, half a dozen log cabins as follows : Govern0r James Johnson occupied the log structure which is still standing on lot thirty-four; Samuel Terrill had nail factory in the rear of the lot now occupied by the Union house; the Harrison Ratcliffe house, previously mentioned, had just been built; Isaac McPherson was selling goods in a log house on the present site of A. F. Chance's residence; there was a log cabin near the McPherson store, used as a blacksmith shop by Solomon Lupton, and also a carding machine in a log structure, while the Johnsons were keeping private entertainment in the log house still standing in the rear of the Union house stables. Zephaniah Adams was the first tailor in the embryo village. Nathan Butler, son of Samuel Butler, was the first chair-maker, and John R. Poff, the first cobbler. James Greene was the first wagon-maker, and Gersham Perdue, the first tanner. MERCANTILE. As before stated, Isaac McPherson was probably the first store-keeper in the village. He had previously kept a small stock of goods in a log cabin upon the Beeson farm. Soon after he began business in Leesburgh, he had, as rivals, Samuel Sanders and the Wrights—Joel and Jonah. Joel Wright was a man of large native ability and untiring enterprise. A few facts in his history may serve to show the manner of man he was, and the disadvantage- 52 410 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. ous beginning of a successful career. He was one of the sons of the widow, Jemima Wright, elsewhere spoken of, and he came to this township about 1805, when fourteen years of age. He lived with his mother, at what is now the Benjamin Heller farm, until he was twenty- one, and then went out to work for himself. His first job was splitting one thousand rails. He had had only six months' schooling, and he now began to supply himself with the elements of an education. It is said that he gained most of his knowledge of business arithmetic from ciphering upon chips. He gradually advanced in ability and position until he was able to enter business on his own account. He remained constantly and actively engaged in the line of mercantile business in Leesburgh until his death in 1834, and was identified with the best interests of the town during all of the years he spent there. He and his brother, Jonah, were the most active merchants and general business men of this time. Some very substantial brick houses still standing in Leesburgh, attest their enterprise and industry. John Henley came to Leesburgh in 1828, and went into partnership with Samuel Sanders. The latter dying about two years later, sold out the stock, and engaged in the manufacture of the old (then new) fashioned toll- clock cases, which business and that of undertaking he followed from 1830 until his advanced years compelled him to retire. Gersham Perdue went into the mercantile business about 1816, and continued for twenty years, at the end of which period he removed to Martinsburgh. John M. Keen came to the village in 1816, and engaged in the trade of cabinet-making, which he followed until 1825. He then bought a stock of goods of Eli P. Bentley, Allen Lupton and Joseph Burgess, whose store was located where the Union house now is. Keen moved the stock to the west end of town, and carried on the business there about one year, when he removed to Waynesville. After that, he was absent from Lees- burgh for four or five years, but returning, again engaged in business at the Union house, where he sold goods, and kept hotel for about thirty years. About the year 1835, Eli Watson came to Leesburgh and began a business career which only terminated with his death, in 1873. He was the son of Squire John Watson, who came from the James river country, Virginia, to Ohio (Greene county) in 1810, and who, about 1835, came to Fairfield township, having married Anna, daughter of Charles Johnson. Like the other storekeepers of his time, and his predecessors in business, he kept a general stock of goods, and took in payment almost everything except money—produce, ginseng, etc. Following, in chronological order, Eli Watson's beginning, came E. P. Johnson and Jacob Hilliard, both of whom obtained their start with Watson, and both of whom led long and successful mercantile careers. They were cotemporaries in business, and they saw many firms come and go, while they continued smoothly on. They both retired from business recently. E. P. Johnson came to Leesburgh in 1845 from Jamestown, Greene county, where he was born, and began clerking for Eli Watson, who was then keeping store where A. 1'. Chance now is. He continued in the employ of Mr. Watson for four years, at one hundred and ten dollars per year, after the first year doing nearly all the buying and selling. At the expiration of the period of four years, he took an interest in the store, the arrangement being that he should receive one-third of the profits for his services. The partnership continued three years, business being carried on in the building opposite the Union house. In 1852, Watson retiring from the firm, Mr. Johnson bought out his (Watson's) interest in the store, and took as a partner his brother, Jarvis L. Johnson, who remained with him three years. Buying his brother's interest, Mr. Johnson conducted the business alone until 1857, when he sold out to A. E. Leverton, and was out of harness for one year. In the spring of 1858, however, he and Benjamin Heller bought out John M. Keen, and for three years thereafter they carried on business in partnership. In 1861 they made a division of their stock of goods and of their accounts, and each followed the trade alone. Mr. Johnson sold out his dry goods store in the spring of 1875, and in the following year started a grocery, with William J. Holmes as active partner. In 1878 he bought out Holmes' interest, and conducted the business alone until the spring of 1880, when he sold to A. T. Chance. Since then Mr. Johnson has been in no active business. On the organization of the Leesburgh bank, he was elected president, and he still holds that position. Jacob Hilliard, son of William Hilliard, who came from near Richmond, Virginia, to Highland county, in 1830, was born June 29, 1835. He began his business experience when a boy, being bound to his uncle, Eli Watson, from 1843 to 1856. He thus attained, as he grew up, a thorough, practical business knowledge, and when he was nineteen years of age he was able to, and did, take almost the entire charge of the business. Although Mr. Watson 1etained an interest in the store, the business was mostly transacted by Mr. Hilliard, and was carried on under his name. When Mr. Watson died he bequeathed all of his property, real and personal, to his long time factotum and partner. After the decease of Mr. Watson, in 1873, Mr. Hilliard conducted the business until 1879, when he retired. Of the other and younger business men, it is not the province of this work to speak. There are few who have had more than a half dozen years' experience, but they are of the material, judging from experience, which is calculated to hold out as long as their predecessors did, and to lead as successful careers. MANUFACTURING. The most important, and, in fact, about the only manufacturing interests of Leesburgh village, are, and have been, its flouring and woolen mills. A carding-mill was built on Lee's creek in 1822, by David Swain, and worked by him for a year. Then William W. Hardy ran it for one year, and then Swain, Hardy and Isaac McPherson had charge of it as a firm. It was run by water and horse power. Hardy retired, HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 411 and after that the carding factory was run only two or three years. William W. Hardy began roll-carding and fulling in 1832, where Isaac Merchant now lives. He operated this little horse-mill for three years, and then sold out to Benjamin Heller, who run it for several years, and then moved it closer toward the center of the village. In 1837 Mr: Hardy bought twenty-three acres of land surrounding the present mill site, and in the same year built the factory, of which a portion is still standing, incorporated with the present mill building. He carried on carding and fulling here until 1855. In 1840 he put in one of the old-fashioned sixty-spindle machines, known as "Billy and Jenney," and a few years subsequently changed to the "Jaw Jack." In 1854 the old machine was replaced with a one hundred and sixty "roller Jack." By 1855 he had got to making stocking yarn, satinets, jeans, tweeds, cassimeres, flannels, blankets, etc., and had a very large business. About this time he sold out to his sons George T., Aaron B. and Noah W. Business was conducted by this firm until 1873, when a slight change was made, but it has ever since been in the hands of one or more of the sons. It is now the property of George T. Hardy, who in 1878 began the business of making flour, which has since been carried on in connection with the woolen manufacture. The woolen business here had its best days in '63, '64, and '65. The first power used in this mill was water. In 1830 horsepower was also brought into use, and in 1850 steam was adopted, and the mill is now run by the latter, or water power, as circumstances dictate. The steam flouring-mill, now owned by Jonathan Ladd, and situated near the Marietta and Cincinnati station, was built about 1832 by John C. Batton. It has been operated by a number of millers, and has had a long succession of owners. TAVERNS. After the Johnson's "Private Entertainment" afforded at the stone-chimneyed log house, still standing in the rear of the Union House stables, the tavern kept by Joseph Bentley was the first in the village. His house was at the east end of the street, where H. R. Johnson now resides. Mr. Bentley kept hotel here from 1814 until his death. The next hotel was opened by Jonathan Johnson, in the west end of the village, where Shepley Holmes now lives. This was about 1825, John McKeen was the principal hotel keeper from 1830 to 1860. Alexander Bentley kept hotel at his father's old stand from his father's death up to 1866, so that the present residence of Harrison Johnson was a place of public entertainment from 1814 to 1866, or more than half a century. The village at present has two hotels, the Union house and the American house. CORPORATION OFFICERS. On November 23, 1850, the qualified electors of Leesburgh corporation met at the brick school-house and ap pointed Edwin Johnson and Oliver B. Knott judges, and Alexander Bently clerk, of an election to be held then and there. The election was proceeded with and resulted in the choice of the following officers: Thomas E. Johnson, mayor; Silas Irion, recorder; John C. Batten, Gerrard M. Johnson, James S. Templin, trustees. These officers were all duly qualified, except Gerrard M. Johnson, who refused to serve, and in his place, Barney Eldrick was appointed. At a meeting on December 3, 1850, an elaborate set of rules and by-laws for the government of the village were drawn up and approved. The officers of 1879 were: S. H. Beard, mayor; J. T. Guthrie, J. S. Stearn, W. H. Myers, councilmen. SCHOOLS. The first school-house in the village was at the mouth of Huff's lane, and the first teacher was Catharine Bo- rum. Among the pupils were Charles Bentley, Denson Ladd, and Nathan Chalfant. Other schools were held in the village later—some of them affording very good instruction, but all comparatively small and poorly attended until recent years. Under the old school law prior to 1850, the village was divided into two school districts, Fairfield street being the dividing line, On the adoption of the general school law of the State, the village became an independent school district, with power to control its own affairs. The two old school buildings were used until 1867, when ground was purchased of Henry Alderman and the erection of the present school building was begun. A contract was entered into with John Milner, jr., for the brick-work, in the sum of five thousand one hundred and eighty-seven dollars, and with R. B. Wailey, in a much smaller amount, for the carpenter work. The "old brick school-house" was sold to E. P. Johnson, and the "old white school-house" to George W. McKibben, upon the completion of the present building. This is of brick, two stories in height, of good architectural design, and of ample size, the main building being thirty-two by sixty feet. The total cost of the grounds, building, furniture and fixtures, was not far from ten thousand dollars. The board of education at that time consisted of N. H. Chalfant, E. P. Johnson, and H. S. Grove. The improved facilities that the new building afforded were not secured without a struggle. The proposition to build was strongly combatted, and the friends of the improvement were met at every stage with the most active and earnest opposition by those of the citizens who did not regard the construction of the new building as a necessity. The action taken toward building was actually contested by law, and considerable feeling was engendered among both classes of the community—those who favored and those who opposed the erection of the building. The first superintendent after the new building was opened, was John W. Smith, who had also taught in the old building. He was followed by W. Henderson, who, after a year's engagement, resigned. Mr. Smith then again became superintendent, and remained in that position for two years, at the expiration of which time W. Scott became principal. Smith again returned in the 412 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO fall of 1875, and remained until the present incumbent came in, in the fall of 1876. Professor C. L. Jackson is from Warren county, a graduate of the Lebanon Normal school. His assistants at present are Mr. John R. Horst, and Misses Laura Hodson and Lenna Simpson. The school has an average attendance of about one hundred and seventy-five pupils. PHYSICIANS. The first physician who lived and practiced in Lees- burgh was Dr. Havilah Beardsley. He came to the village in 1816. Following him, from 1816 to 1835, were Drs. Benjamin Doddridge, Joab Wright, — Bradbury, — Noble, Sylvester Hinton, Rool Beeson, and Isaac S. Wright, the latter also a dentist. The physicians from 1835 to 1837 were: M. Holmes, sr., George Dunlap, A. J. Dunlap, Edwin Bruce, Samuel Hopkins, Thomas E. Johnston, Oliver F. Hickson, Noah Hickson, — Hopkins (hydropathic), J. T. Wright (botanic), T. Marvin, Atkins James, Joshua Bennett, Isaac Quinn; and, at a later date than 1843: Alexander McBride, - Scofield, — Shields, — Elster, Samuel Christy, Christopher Moorman, — Sanderson, Cyrus Elwood, James Weaver (eclectic), J. McLaughlin, Jesse Moorman (eclectic), Clinton Brown, Robert Elwood, Clark Elwood, J. M. Speare, M. Holmes, J. W. Holmes, Lawrence Upp, J. D. Nelson (homoeopathic), H. Beeson, and R. E. Holmes. Of this number (forty-four), only one, Dr. Joab Wright, has died in Leesburgh while practicing his profession here. POST-OFFICE. Harrison Ratcliffe is thought by some to have been the first postmaster. It is definitely known that Samuel Sanders was commissioned in 1816, and that he kept the "office" in a drawer under the work bench in his cabinet shop. His successors in the office down to and including the present incumbent, were: Rebecca Sanders, Edwin Bruce, John Jewett, Jarred Johnson, R. B. Wailey, M. N. Poff, Silas Irions, C. M. Bentley, Christian Stevens, J. M. Keen, Jacob Hilliard, and J. R. Ladd. Mr. Ladd was commissioned in 1873. LEESBURGH LODGE, FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS, NO. 78. The Masonic lodge was established in the house where Shepley Holmes now lives, then a hotel, February 7, 1842, The charter members were A. Lockwood, Thos. E. Johnston, James E. Johnson, C. C. Moxley, Simeon Simpson, Michael Holmes, George W. Arick and John Peregrine. Of this number, Simeon Simpson is the only one living and in Leesburgh. The first officers chosen were, A. Lockwood, W. M.; Thomas E. Johnston, S. W.; Michael Holmes, J. W.; George W. Arick, S. D.; Simeon Simpson, J. D.; S. Hopkins, secretary; James E. Johnson, treasurer; C, C. Moxley, tyler. The lodge has now about fifty members, and is in a very prosperous condition. A new and elegant hall has just been completed in the third story of Mrs. Cox's building. It is seventy by thirty-two feet, and will cost, furnished, about two thousand dollars. Following are the present officers of the lodge; F. J. Hodson, W. M.; D. K. Johnson, S. W.; J. F. Barger, J. W.; Taylor Evans, treasurer; C. G. Stun.), secretary; J. M. McPherson, S. D.; Samuel McClure, J. D.; J. S. Templin, tyler. ODD FELLOWS. Alba lodge, I. 0. 0. F., No. 338, was chartered by the grand lodge of Ohio, May 13, 1858, and instituted by Grand Master J. H. Wheeler, June 247 1858. The charter members were C. M. Bentley, M. N. Poff, William McPherson, John Stewart, John Griffith, L. C. Guthrie, R. Beeson, B. Eldrick, J. Burgess, S. J. Stofford, Elias Johnson, J, Johnson, J. I. Weaver, J. M. Keen and J. Borum —fifteen in all. The first officers elected were, Elias Johnson, N. G.; J. I. Weaver, V. G,; R. Beeson, R. S,; J. Stewart, P. S.; B. Eldrick, treasurer. The present number of members is forty-seven. Following are the present officers: J. R. Ladd, N. G.; W. H. Boyle, V. G.; W. T. Covan, Rec. and Per. Sec.; A. Flesher, treasurer. THE LEESBURGH BANK was established December 14, 1876, as a branch of the Vienna bank, and the building now occupied was erected' for the purpose. Its officers are as follows: E. P. John son, president; M. Redkey, cashier; Stephen Hussey, Charles Good, E. M. Woodbury, E. P. Johnson, E. Arthur, John M. Hussey, Ellis Good and J. H. Guthrie, directors. OLD RESIDENTS. The oldest resident of Leesburgh is Charles M. Bentley. He was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1807, and came to the village in the year 1814, with his father, Joseph Bentley. Mr. Bentley is now seventy-three years of age. He was engaged in farming in his early days; was assistant at his father's tavern, and afterwards learned the blacksmithing trade and followed it up in 'Leesburgh for twenty-five years. He was justice of the peace twelve years, and was the first mayor of the town, serving in this office three terms. He has also been postmaster. Mrs. Bentley, nee Margaret Dorsey, was born in Ann Orchard county, Maryland, in 182. They were married in 1828. John McKeen has been a resident of Leesburgh since 1816. He was born in James City county, Virginia, in 1801, and is consequently seventy-nine years of age. He sold goods continuously for thirty years; was postmaster under Lincoln's administration. John Henley, another old resident of the village, was born in South Carolina, Randolph county, in 1799. He removed to Hamilton county, Ohio, with his parents, in 1805, and in the following year to Samantha, Highland county. He came to Leesburgh in 1828. William W. Hardy came to the village in 1823, from Ross county, where his father had settled in ,801, from Delaware, and where he was born, in 1802. When he came to Leesburgh there were but eighteen persons in the place who were regular residents, and engaged in business, as follows: Joseph Bentley, John Burgess, Bennett Farr, Wm. Moore, Joshua Robinson, Banner Bentley, Allen Lupton, Asa Cowgill, Joseph Adams, Joel Wright, Jonah Wright, Jonathan Johnson, Nathan Butler, David Quinn, John M. Keen, Zephaniah Adams, Gersham Perdue, and Jonathan Burgess. For many of the items in the history of Leesburgh HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 413 we are indebted to the painstaking care of the late Leopold Horst. He came to the village only about twenty years previous to his death, and knew but little of its history save that which he took from the lips of older citizens. He was in the habit of jotting down the reminiscences of the pioneers, and so saved many interesting facts from oblivion. He was a man of fine culture, exemplary character, and of high worth as a citizen one who was always laboring to advance the best local interests, and to aid in furthering the general good of his adopted country, which, like many of the immigrants of his nationality, he held in the highest respect and warmest admiration. He lived and died an atheist. The late Mr. Horst was born in the city of Berlin, Prussia, December 21, 1817, and reared in Potsdam, where he obtained his education, and from one of the schools of which he graduated when in his seventeenth year. At the age of twenty he entered the Prussian army, afterwards traveling and following his trade—that of carriage-making, until 1848, when he became a participant in the revolution which at that time began to shake the foundations of the country. He came to America in 1849, and to Leesburgh in 1859. His death occurred on the third day of April, 1879, His family still resides in the town, one son, John R, Horst, being a teacher in the village schools. NEW LEXINGTON is an attractive and neat appearing village, lying half a mile north of the Marietta and Cincinnati railroad, and distant two and a half miles from Leesburgh. It is compactly built and has an unusual number of fine dwellings, a new and beautiful school-building, two churches, excellent stores, and a good class of citizens. There is no little village in the State of Ohio that has a more enviable reputation or a better character. It is picturesquly located upOn the crest of a swelling hill which rises in long and easy line's from Lee's creek. The village was laid out in September, 1816, by John Conner, and he built the first house of any pretension, where Oscar Savage's store now stands. In 1817 the village had ten families, The first store was kept by David Terrill, sr., where Hardle's blacksmith shop now stands. John Savage had a longer career in mercantile business than any other man who has sold goods in Lexington. He began in an humble way as early as 1837, doing a grocery and general business, and in 1858 began selling dry goods. During most of the time he was engaged in mercantile pursuits he occupied a building which stood upon the spot where his son's store now is. This was the building built by Conner. Besides his store, Savage also kept hotel at this stand for many years. The building was burned in 1875, and the present fine two-story brick. was erected very soon after. Solomon Adams built the Highland house (now closed) in 1828, and did business there for many years, keeping a very good place of entertainment. The present hotel keeper is Theodore Mercer, who, in the year 1879, opened the house nearly opposite the old Highland house, POST-OFFICES. The first post-office was kept at David Terrill's store, and he was the postmaster. Solomon Adams was his successor. Following him came James Johnson, and since Johnson's time the succession has been as follows: Gustavus F. Stevens, J, J. Applegate, Gustavus F. Stevens, Wesley M. Nutt, John Savage, Henry Swearingen, Frank M. Rosegate, John Johnson, J. F. Moon, John Bishop, Joseph Cohn, and John Hanley, the present incumbent. PHYSICIANS. The first physician who claimed a residence in Lexington was Dr. Charles Conway, who came to the village in 1818, and then began practice. The next in chronoplogical order was Stanton Judkins, who left, in 1838. His half-brother, Robert P. Judkins, came to the town, it is remembered, upon the third of July, 1837, for upon the Fourth he read the Declaration of Independence at a large and interesting local celebration. He was a native of North Hampton county, North Carolina, was born in 182, and had originally settled in Mount Pleasant, Ohio, from which place he came to Lexington. He practiced in the village until his death in 1864. After Judkins, came Dr. Jerrie, who remained but a short time, and after him, Dr. James Lander in 1844 or '45. He left in 1846, and the next practitioner who followed him was a Dr. Williams, who was also a transient. Then came Dr. Silas Johnson, who, soon after, went to Peters- burgh. There was no physician in the village after that, for many years, save Dr. Judkins, until 1851. The next who came was W. S. Patterson, the present county treasurer, who remained in practice until he was elected in 1876. Cyrus Elwood began practice in Lexington in 1864, after the death of Robert P. Judkins. Dr. E. S. Judkins, son of Robert P., was born in Lexington in 1845, grew up there, and in 1870 graduated from the Miami Medical college of Cincinnati, and after a 'short term of practice in Toledo; returned to his native place, and has been there ever since in the enjoyment of a large patronage. Stanton Judkins, jr., practiced in the village about two years, from 1870. The present physicians of the village, beside Dr. Judkins, are Alex. A. Patton and J. M. Spear, allopathists, and S. W. Trisler, eclectic. THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Since it was incorporated, New Lexington has been a special school district. The present fine school-building was erected in 1875, by Darbyshire & Co., of Wilmington, contractors, upon a lot bought thirty years before of James Williams, and used ever since for school purposes. The old school-house stood upon this lot, southwest of the present structure. Before the present building was erected, the schools were not different from the regular district schools of the township, except that two teachers were employed, and that there was a larger number of pupils than in the country schools. A. J. Hixon, who had been teaching in the old schools, was the first superintendent in the new. He was followed by Abel Briggs, from Clinton county, and he by the present incumbent, 414 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. D. S. Ferguson, from Rainsborough, who has been employed for the past three years. The schools have about one hundred and forty pupils, and are conducted upon the graded system, affording to all who desire it a high school course of three years. The building erected in 1875 is a two-story brick, which fronts upon the Sabina and Hillsborough pike, in the northern part of the village. The building is fifty-six by thirty feet, with a vestibule twelve by thirty feet in front, and was built at a cost of about seven thousand dollars. MILLS The principal manufacturing industry in Lexington and its vicinity has been milling. The mill now owned by James. Earl, and which stands upon Lee's creek, just south of the village, occupies the site of a mill built about 1830, by Pleasant Terrill. After his death, Captain Emson bought the property of the administrator, and, after owning it for several years, sold to a man named Krant. Robert Elwood, James Achor and Wesley Milner were successively the owners after Krant, and the last named of the three sold the property to the present owner, James Earl. Two other mills have been built in the immediate vicinity of Lexington—the Eagle mill, near E. Matthew's place, by Raines, and the old mill upon Lee's creek, where the Leesburgh and Lexington pike crosses it, by Robert Elwood. Neither of these mills has been in operation since 1865. ODD FELLOWS. Chosen Friend Lodge, No. 45, was instituted June 21, 1845, with the following persons as charter members: David Wright, Gustavus F. Stevens, R. P. Judkins, Evan Nichols, Solomon Woodmansie, and John Steward. It has now about forty members, and is officered as follows: J. J. Harris, W. G.; James Patton, V. G.; C. H. Daughters, corresponding secretary; James A. Robbins, permanent secretary; Leonard Pensyl, treasurer; H. S. Adams, warden; Jonathan Adams, conductor ; I. B. Bankson, I. G.; Charles Clark, 0. G.; Elias Adams, R. S. to N. G.; W. M. Terrill, L. S. to N. G.; J. D. Achor, R. S. to V. G.; J. H. Daughters, L. S. to V. G.; E. S. Judkins, R. S. S.; James Winkle, L. S. S. The village is incorporated, but as the records have not been kept complete, we cannot give the roster of officers. The present corporation officers are: Le Roy Kelley, mayor; Theodore Mercer, clerk; S. Pensyl, treasurer; C. H. Daughters, street commissioner; James Earl, marshal; R. S. Bonar, E. T. Rayburn, J. M. Spear, councilrnen. EAST MONROE, situated at the eastern end of Fairfield township, upon the banks of Rattlesnake creek, and upon the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad, was laid out in 1815, by David Reece. The early residents were James Bruce, Richard Cherry, Benjamin Baldwin, and a Mr. Rockenpelter. James Bruce began keeping tavern here in 1815, in the old log house still standing near the creek. He was followed as a landlord by Otho Dowden, ___ Griffith, Whalen Todhunter, and James Wingate. The present hotel was built in 1831, by Austin Adams. It was erected only one story high, and was intended as a private house. It was used soon after, however, as a hotel, by Otho Dowden, who was the second host, of the "old log." After him came David Dowell, then Able Crispin, then Jacob Bainter, then William Durnell, and then Elisha Wingate. Several mills have been built in and near Monroe— the first at the falls, already spoken of. Richard Cherry built a saw-mill in 1831, which is still standing, though run now by steam instead of water-power, as at first. In 1833 Mr. Cherry put one run of buhrs in this mill, for grinding corn, and in the following year was induced to put in wheat-grinding machinery. He also enlarged the mill, and two or three years later put in another run of wheat buhrs, and the mill was then generally considered the best in this part of the county. In 1867 William Cherry son of Richard, made some improvements, and in the following year he took as partner George W. Pope, and the firm then supplemented their water-power with steam. Mr. Cherry dying, the mill became solely the property of George W. Pope, who sold it, in 1879, to his brothers, Lewis and William. The post-offrce at East Monroe was established in 1833. Otho Dowden was the first postmaster. The others, in the order of succession, were as follows: Richard Cherry, Whalen Todhunter, Richard Cherry (second time), James Wingate, Able Crispin, Richard Cherry (third time), Richard Cherry, jr., Henry Wilson, M. H. Cherry, Sol. Fearnow, William Cherry, A. S. Aldridge, Robert Wilson, James 0. Cherry, John Smart, and W. H. Penn. CENTERFIELD is a small village in the southeastern part of the township, and, like Monroe, situated upon Rattlesnake. It was laid out in August, 1830, by John M. Coombs. Although not amounting to much at present as a place of trade, it has seen better days, and there are many who can remember when it had half a dozen stores, all of them doing a good business. It was injured by the construction of the pike to Greenfield, which naturally drew trade from the smaller to the larger place. The old tavern, known as the Dennison house, was the first house built in the village. It was erected about the time the place was laid out, by John M. Coombs. Jesse Lucas was the first tavern keeper. William Barnes kept hotel at a later date in the house built by Nathaniel Lloyd. The first store was kept by Benjamin Brady and Elihu Hiatt, where A. Jennings' grocery now is. The firm remained in business for several years, and then Brady bought Hiatt out, and the later left the place. In early times there was an old still-house near where Joseph Fultz's blacksmith shop now stands, at which a great amount of corn whiskey was manufactured, most of which was drank within a radius of half a dozen miles from the village. The old still was numbered among the things of the past, by 1840. The mill in Centerfield, upon the Rattlesnake, is the third which has been built upon the site. The first was 414A - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. PHEBE A. DRISKILL nee Woodmansee, was born April 8, 1802, in Monmouth county, New Jersey, and came to Fairfield township in July, 1818, with her father, Samuel Woodmansee, who settled where James Moore now lives. She was married March 1, 1821, to Dr. Charles W. Conway, the first physician of New Lexington, who came to the township about the same time as the Woodmansees from Jefferson county, Tennessee, intending to make only a temporary stay for the purpose of disposing of the whole or a portion of a large tract of land which his father had received for military services. Dr. Conway was four years the senior of his young bride, born September 17, 1798. Four children were the offspring of this union, viz: Sarah Porter, born May 13, 1822, who married Isaac Cox, and is now a resident of Penn township; Joseph Porter, born July 24, 1823, and now in Tennessee; James W., born November 14, 1825, and now a denizen of Penn township, and George W., born June Tr, 1827, and now in Illinois. Doctor Conway died December 17, 1828, and in July, 1829, Mrs. Conway married John Driskill, jr., who had emigrated with his father, at an early day, from Maryland, and settled where George Licurance now lives. He was born in 1801, and died in 1850, February 26th. Mr. Driskill was a farmer and brickmason by occupation, and many dwellings in the country lying around his late home, attest his thoroughness and skill in the latter avocation. He was a most worthy man, and held in high esteem by all with whom he came in contact. Religiously, his affiliation was with the Methodist Episcopal church. The portrait of his widow appears elsewhere in this volume in connection with a sketch of the old homestead. The children by this marriage were four in number, as follows: Charles Conway, born April 22, 1830, now in Clinton county; John Wesley, born May 5, 1832, also in Clinton county; Thomas Jefferson, born December 28, 1835, now in Iowa, and Ivins Davis, born November 27, 1841, now in Illinois. Mrs. Driskill is still living, and occupies the old home in the western end of Fairfield township. She is in her seventy-eighth year, and enjoys as good health and as full possession of mental faculties as can be expected by one of her age. Her health and strength are such as to augur well for the attainment of a much greater age, and he1 situation in life such as to encourage the anticipation that the years that are still before her may be passed pleasantly and peacefully. And such is the heartfelt hope of a host of friends. THE TERRELL FAMILY-D. A. TERRELL. David Terrell and his wife, Mary (Anthony), were among the earliest settlers in Highland county, coming in the year 1806, from Campbell county, Virginia, and locating on the farm now occupied by their grandson, David F. Terrell, near Lexington station. David Terrell was one of the men of solid worth in Fairfield township, and enjoyed a popularity which was commensurate with his extensive acquaintance. He was a justice of the peace for twenty-five years, and held other offices of trust within the gift of his townsmen. Both David Terrell and his wife died in 1858, the former at the age of ninety-three years. They had reared a large family, consisting of four sons and four daughters- Pleasant, Christopher, Judith, Sarah, David, Polly, Joseph, and Elizabeth-all long since deceased. All married and raised families. Christopher united with Elizabeth Schooley; Judith married Stacey Haines, and removed to Greene county; Sarah married Jonah Wright, of Lees- burgh; David, Hannah Woodmansee; Polly, Samuel Hiatt; Joseph married M. S. Pherson, for his first wife, and Rebecca Frye, as his second; and Elizabeth became the wife of Solomon Adams. The oldest son of David and Mary Terrell, Pleasant, was born in Virginia in 1791, and died in 1840. He was a brick-mason by trade, and a man of great activity. He married Esther Haines, of Greene county, and raised a family of six children-John H. and Israel A., both now located in Clinton county; D. A. and Mary E. (Mrs. J. Borum), now living near Sabina; Narcisse A. (Mrs. Edwin Wright), and Ruth (Mrs. Obed Borum), both of the last named deceased. D. A. Terrell was born December 5, 1820, on the old place (where David F. now lives), and in the present residence, which was built that year. He was married September 3o, 1847, to Mary J. Evans, by whom he had a large family of children, three of whom are now dead. Those living are Hugh E., in Clinton county; Anna E. (Mrs. Frank Roades), in Kentucky; Martha L. (Mrs. William Bonnie), in Missis sippi; Cora F., Henry C., Imogene, and Rutherford. After his marriage, Mr. Terrell lived in Clinton county, until 1867, when he built the residence at New Lexington, of which a beautiful sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. His first wife dying, he married, February 27, 1879, Lizzy Bankson. Mr. Terrell has been engaged in farming, and has been an extensive raiser of, and dealer in, stock. Politically, he has been identified with the Whig and Republican parties, though taking' no active part in the affairs of either, and never seeking any offrcial honors. His chief recreation, and one in which he has always taken great pleasure and been somewhat famous for success, has been fox hunting. In the pursuit of this healthful and exciting sport he has had few, if any, rivals. This mention will recall in the minds of many readers the memory of a once familiar picture-Mr. Terrell and his fleet, fiery horse, Selim, upon which he led the chase across the country after sly Reynard. THE McCLURE FAMILY- JAMES McCLURE. The McClures were orginally eilher from Scotland 01 Ireland. The earliest authentic information concerning the family in this country is that James McClure and Martha, his wife, who was of English descent, settled, during the latter half of the eighteenth century, in Chester county, Pennsylvania. From there they are known to have moved, in 1798, to Grayson county, Virginia, whither the son Samuel, the oldest of five children, followed them, a little later. James McClure was born July 9, 1748, and his wife January 1, 1752; the former died August 16. 1821, aged seventy-three years, one month and seven days, and the latter March 24, 1833, aged eighty-one years and eight months. Their son, Samuel, was born April 13, 1777. The year after their emigration to Virginia-March 4, 1799-Samuel married Sarah Baldwin. They lived in Virginia until 1813, when, with seven children, they removed to Ohio, arriving in Fairfield township November loth, after a long, roundabout, and tedious journey, by way of Limestone (now Maysville), Kentucky, and Hillsborough, which village then contained more stumps than houses. They located permanently in the eastern part of the township, where Samuel Rees now lives. Here Samuel McClure, for many years, carried on farming anti wagon-making-the latter being his regular trade. He was a very ingenious artificier and a natural mechanic, being able to construct almost any article of wood or iron, that was needed in the then new country. After living for many years at the Rees place, he removed to Leesburgh, where he engaged in the mercantile business, in which he was modestly successful. He died April 28, 1855, loved and respected by all, and his mortal remains were laid away for their last rest across the creek from Centerfield. We have already mentioned the fact that Mr. McClure had, when he removed to Ohio, a family of seven children. Besides his own he brought with him several of the children of John Talbot, who was the husband of his eldest sister. These he reared as carefully as his own. Following are the children of Samuel and Sarah McClure, the seven first named being born in Virginia, and the last two after their arrival in Ohio: Polly, born January 8, 1800, married Pleasant Amos, and is now deceased; James, born December 3, 1801, and Nancy, born February 8, 1804, are both living and residents of the township, the latter being the widow of John Litler; Rebecca, born August 2, 1806, married Daniel Hixson, and is deceased; Martha, born August 26, 1808, married William Calhoun, and now lives in Iowa; Hannah, born July 19, 1810, and Sarah, born January 13, 1813, are both dead. The former was the wife of Whalen Todhunter, and the latter of Edward Smithson. Emily, born July 4, 1817, married Andrew Johnston, and is tiving in Iowa; Samuel Pleasant, horn June 10, 1821, is deceased. Samuel McClure's first wife died August 28, 1846, and he married the second time, taking as his wife Helen O. Hixson, by whom he had one child, Harvey L., who is now in Fairbury, Nebraska. James McClure, who was fourteen years of age when he came to Fairfield with his parents, grew up much as the other boys did, in the new setllement, with few advantages and plenty of hard work. The light that fell upon his school books was what struggled dimly through the grimy greased paper that served as glass in the windows of a primitive log cabin. But it was sutficient to see by, and so, with almost infinite painstaking, and by patient adherence to the book, young McClure obtained the crude elements of an education that was afterwards to he improved upon as opportunity offered. The young man was industrious, and worked diligently at farming, both as boy and man, though he learned the trade of wagon-making, and became also a millwright. These occupations he followed, with varying success, and after a few years began to realize the reward of his industry and econ- 414B - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO omy, and gradually accumulated sufficient property to make himself independent. He lived on the Rees place until 1857, when he bought the place where he now resides, just north of New Lexington, and of which a view is given in this work. Mr. McClure is a believer in Universalism, and although not a member of the church, has always given it a liberal share of support, and was in fact one of the leading spirits in bringing the organization into existence and providing a suitable house of worship. Politically he is a Democrat. We have said that Mr. McClure began life under disadvantages. It may be stated that when he married, at the age of twenty-one years, five dollars would have bought all he owned. He had barely money enough to pay the fee for lhe performance of the marriage rite. But hard work and simple living won for him soon a better and a constantly improving condition of affairs. His first marriage was to Mary, daughter of Richard and Rebecca Todhunter, who had come to this part of the country a few years before the McClures, and settled upon Walnut creek. They were married October Du, 1822, and lived togethe1 four years, four months and seven days; the wife dying May 17, 1827, at a little more than twenty years of age, having been born March 17, 1807. Three children were the offspring of this union, namely : Rebecca (Mrs. Andrew E. Leverton), now in Danville, Illinois; Sarah (Mrs. Barney Eldrick), in Fayetle county; and Hannah Ellen (Mrs. Thomas Eyre), now in Iowa. Mr. McClure married as his second wife, Mary Milner, who was born December 18, 1810—the daughter of Moses and Sarah Milner. They were married October 19, 1829, and lived together four years, four months and five days, Mrs. McClure dying on April 3, 1834, and leaving three children—Nancy (Mrs. L. Harbor), now deceased ; Eliza (Mrs. Albert Carson), a resident of Iowa; and Mary Elizabeth, who died an infant. In 1835, upon the twenty-fourth of June, Mr. McClure married his third wife, Hannah Owins, nee Leverton, a daughter of John Foster and Elizabeth Leverton. She was born July 25, 1813, and died October 24, 1879, at the age of sixty-six years, two months and lwenty-nine days, having passed forty-four years and four months of married life. Seven children were the fruit of this union, as follows : Samuel, living at the homestead (married Mary Ermina Gertrude Hixson); Martha J. (Mrs. Armanus Hixson), a resident of the township; James B., a resident of VanWert county (twice married—first, to Cynthia Ann Christenberry, and afterwards to Elizabeth Taylor); William A. married Margaret Leverton, resides in Paint township; Robert T. married Mary Simmons and lives in New Lexington ; Joseph A. married Jane Moore, and lives in Clinton county, and Jay G., who died an infant. CHARLES VANPELT. In the year 1800 Tunis Vanpelt, of Tennessee, became a settler in Adams county, bringing with him a small family. In 1804 he died; and the widow, with her children, moved to Ross county in 1816. Here, in the same year the eldest son, Peter, father of the subject of this sketch, married Mary Row, who is still living, and located in Fayette county. Peter Vanpelt was born in Tennessee, in 1796; was four years old when his parents removed to Ohio; and was twenty years of age when he married Miss Row. Their first child, Charles Vanpelt, was born in Buckskin township, near the village of Greenfield, June 18, 1817. In common with the other children in the new settlements the boy had small opportunities of gaining an education; and that chance was rendered still smaller by the fact that his parents made several changed of location, just at the time when he might otherwise have gained knowledge very rapidly had he been permitted to remain permanently in one place. The family removed to Adams county in 1823, and in 1832 made another change, this time settling in Fayette county, in a neighborhood which was newer and less thrckly inhabited than either of those in which they had dwelt. To his parents, who were poor but industrious, and of exemplary character, Charles was indebted for nothing but the benefit of a good example and the inculcation of proper habits. They were not able to give him a start in'life, and so he made one for himself. Before he was of age he went out into the world empty- handed, but rich in the possession of good health, strength and an indomitable will. He worked by the day and by the month for many years, and finally, by frugal habits, saving the returns of his industry, he was enabled to buy a little farm—fifty acres. He did not long retain possession of this, but selling it used the proceeds to establish himself in business at Staunton, Fayette county. He sold goods at that place until 1864; and having accumulated considerable property, purchased the Charles T. Pavey farm, near Leesburgh, Highland county, where he has ever since resided. Early in life Mr. Vanpelt experienced religion and resolved to conform his whole conduct to its precepts. He is an honest follower of the Christian faith, and an earnest advocate of its claims upon all men. Whatever of success he has attained he regards as the outgrowth of his endeavor to follow the sacred teachings. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and although he joined in 1832, does not date his years of religious life and labor from that period, but from 1835. Ever since the latter date he has been a worker in the church, and during all of the time that has elapsed has held official relations with the organization, serving continuously as steward for nearly forty-seven years. He has also been ordained as a local preacher, and has occasionally labored as an exhorter. Although the subject of our sketch hag such meagre advantages of early schooling, he is nevertheless possessed of a good education, in the liberal meaning of the term ; the result of judicious reading, and a habit of careful and close observation and general inquiry. Mr. Van- pelt is regarded as one of the worthiest and most substantial citizens of his township, and of the county; is a man of perfect probity of character, and a strong and zealous supporter of all lhose projects which tend toward the moral or material improvement of the community in which he lives. And it may be added that all of the interests which receive the benefits of his influence are also aided pecuniarily in a degree which, proportionately to his means, is always liberal. The domestic life of Mr. Vanpelt began in 1843. At that time, after having secured a piece of land, from which, by hard labor, he could make a living, he built a modest home and married Ellen Cox, his pres ent wife. The union was blessed by six children, of whom five are still living. The eldest, Joseph F., lives on a farm adjoining his father's; Miller J., died an infant; Peter A. is a merchant in Leesburgh; Sarah C. (Mrs. Wm. A. Douglass), lives in Greenfield; Elias C. is in Colorado; and Charles Wesley, the youngest, at home. HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 415 a log mill, built by Thomas Stout in the early years of settlement. It was a small affair, and produced much more noise than meal. The miller could put a bushel of corn in the hopper, go to Greenfield and back, and find the mill still grinding. After this mill had been swept away, Joseph Davis built quite a fine structure upon the same site, which was burned in 1852. As soon after the fire as the material could be got together, Mr. Davis built the present large three-story frame, having the pecuniary assistance of many of his neighbors. The mill cost about thirteen or fourteen thousand dollars, Mr. Davis sold out after a few years to William Mains and Thomas Dollarhide, and this firm after a short period of possession sold to Peter Milner. After Milner, the owners were John Wells and Samuel Sellers, and then Sellers alone. Thomas Purdy and Peter Hunter then took the property, but as they did not succeed well, Sellers took it back. It afterwards passed successivly through the hands of a Mr. Walker and one Potter, and in 1875 came into the possession of L. H. Corey, of Cincinnati, who is its present proprietor. It has four runs of French, four foot buhrs, and is in excellent condition. M. H. Cherry is the miller. SYRINGA LODGE, NO. 342, I. 0. 0. F. was instituted August 11, 1858, by Gland Master J. H. Wheeler, with the following charter members: William P. Hughey, William Litler, John M. Litler, Joseph Fultz, Thomas Grove, James McCan, W. B. Litler, William S. Grove, and C. Fortier. Of this number, William S. Grove is the only one dead, and W. B. Litler and Joseph Fultz are the only ones living near Centerfield. The following were the first officers elected: William P. Hughey, N. G.; W. B, Litler, V. G.; Joseph Fultz, recording secretary; William Litler, permanent secretary; John M. Litler, treasurer. The lodge has now a membership of about twenty-five, and is officered as follows: S. W. Santee, N. G., Samuel Stoops, V. G.; W. B. Litler, recording secretary; J. H. Litler, permanent secretary; Carey Brady, treasurer; Joseph Fultz, W. B. Litler, and John S. Johnson, trustees.