250 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY site of the Young foundry and machine shops. It was torn down in 1852, and much of the material put into the new structure. It was a large brick building, about 58 feet long by 42 in width. The pulpit was elevated nearly to the ceiling with a lower desk just in front of it for the precentor. The aisles were paved with large square bricks. The seats were made high from the floor, and the backs very straight and so elevated as completely to hide the children from view; and neither cushions nor stoves (in the earlier years) were allowed. And this, be it remembered, was a church edifice of more than ordinary pretensions for those times. In the year 1811 the congregation asked and obtained from the presbytery the whole of Doctor Wilson's services ; and, in the same year, the name of the church was changed from New Hope to First Chillicothe. Thus was firmly established the first religious organization of Ross County. PIONEER HISTORICAL EVENTS Among the names of the first settlers, who came out in the spring of 1796, the following have been collected and preserved in a manuscript left by Judge Thomas Scott : Joseph McCoy, Benjamin and William Rodgers, David Shelby, James Harrod, Bazil and Reuben Abrams, William Jamison, James Crawford, Samuel, Anthony and Robert Smith, Thomas Dick, William and James Kerr, George and James Kilgore, John Brown, Samuel and Robert Templeton, Ferguson Moore, William Nicholson, and J. B. Finley, afterwards a Methodist clergyman. The latter was the son of Rev. Robert W. Finley, though he himself did not join the settlement till the spring of 1797. The son, James B., was born in July, 1781, and consequently was not quite fifteen when he joined the first colony. What proportion of this colony became residents of Chillicothe we are not informed, but probably all the adults became owners of lots, as the offer of donations was made to the first 100 settlers in the town or vicinity. John McCoy, the pioneer merchant, cut down the first tree, and Benjamin Rodgers cut off the first log after the laying out of the town. An Irishman named James Kedior (or Keder) commenced the first cabin, but the John McCoy who afterward settled in Union Township, finished his first, and so had the honor of building the first house in Chillicothe. Thomas McCoy opened the first tavern in the later part of 1796. The first marriage solemnized in the city was that of George Kilgore and Elizabeth Cochran, in 1798. As this must have been nearly or quite two years after the town was laid out, we conclude HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 251 that most of the young people got married before they arrived at Chillicothe. The parents of the first white child born in Chillicothe were Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox; date of birth about 1797. When the settlers first came, whiskey was $4.50 per gallon, but in the spring of 1797, when the keel boats began to run, the Monongahela whiskey makers, having found a good market for their firewater, rushed it in such quantities that the cabins were crowded with it, and it soon fell to 50 cents. Men, women and children, with some exceptions, drank it freely, and many who had been respectable and temperate became inebriates. Many of Wayne's soldiers and camp-women settled in the town, so that for a time Chillicothe became a town of drunkards and a sink of corruption. Thomas James arrived in February, 1798, bringing with him the first load of bar-iron in the Scioto Valley, and about the same time arrived Maj. Elias Langhain already introduced. Doctor Tiffin and his brother Joseph arrived the same month from Virginia, and opened a store not far from the log meeting-house. A store was also opened previously by John McDougal. On the 17th of April, the families of Colonel Worthington and Doctor Tiffin arrived. Mrs. Joseph Yates, George Haines, and two or three others also arrived with the families of Tiffin and Worthington. Doctor Tiffin and his wife were the first Methodists that resided in the Scioto Valley. He was a local preacher. In the fall Worthington's grist and sawmills, on the North Fork of the Paint, were finished—the first mills worthy of the name in the valley. Chillicothe was the point from which the settlements in the valley diverged. In May, 1799, a postoffice was established at Chillicothe. and Joseph Tiffin and Thomas Gregg opened taverns ; the first, under the sign of "Gen. Anthony Wayne," was at the corner of Water and Walnut streets, and the last, under the sign of the "Green Tree," was on the corner of Paint and Water streets. In the spring of 1800, Nathaniel Willis, father of the poet, N. P. Willis, established the Scioto Gazette, which was the first newspaper published in the Scioto Valley, and which has been issued by various individuals and firms, but without interruption from that date to the present. CHURCH HISTORY CONTINUED In 1806 was organized, at Chillicothe, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, which subsequently became the United Presbyterian and the Third Presbyterian Church. The Second Presbyterian Church was a direct offshoot of the old First, the division occurring in 1832. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 253 St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church was organized in 1821, and not long afterward erected a small brick building on South Walnut Street near Main. It was consecrated by Right Rev. Philander Chase, was the first Episcopal Church west of the Alleghany Mountains and is now occupied as a private residence. WALNUT STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH The Walnut Street Methodist Episcopal Church was an outgrowth of the class organized several years after the founding of Chillicothe. Among the first and most prominent representatives of the faith were Edward Tiffin and Thomas Scott. In 1804 a little church was built on the north side of Second Street, between Paint and Walnut ; previously, the society met in Abrams' Big House. Chillicothe was at first in the bounds of Deer Creek Circuit, but in 1818 was made a station by the presiding elder, Rev. John Collins. He appointed Rev. William Swayze to fill the station for that year. In the year 1819 the station built a new church in the rear of the old one on Second Street. In the fall of that year the old building was destroyed by fire and the roof of the new church burned off. The site of the old Methodist Church is now occupied by a livery stable. In the early '20s the colored people of Chillicothe organized both Methodist and Baptist churches, the former founding Quinn Chapel in 1821. ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH It was not until the late '30s that the Catholics and the German Evangelical Protestants founded churches. St. Mary's is the pioneer Catholic organization of Chillicothe. Previous to 1836 there were few members of that faith in town, and were ministered to by Dominican priests who visited the place occasionally and said mass in the Washington Hotel, kept by Martin Bowman, a good, practical Catholic. At long intervals other clergymen visited the small flock, among whom was Father Baden, the first priest ordained in the United States. In 1837, a small building on Walnut Street was purchased from the Episcopalians, and used as a church for some years. Father Junker, afterwards Bishop of Alton, Illinois, was the first resident pastor of Chillicothe. Among the members of the congregation at that time were Martin Bowman, Marshall Anderson, John McNally, Roger Cull, Charley Cull, Michael Rigney and George Barman. The German Evangelical Protestant Church was organized in 1837. The society worshiped for some months in the dwelling of 254 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Mr. Pfeiderer, one of the members living on Water Street, but in 1838 the society purchased a lot on the north side of West Main, between Walnut and High, on which stood a large two-story frame house. The upper part was arranged as a place of worship, while the pastor resided in the lower part of the building. The foregoing are the various religious bodies which came into existence previous to the incorporation of Chillicothe as a town. They are noted somewhat in detail, because (and it is a good sign) there is no subject in which more general interest is taken than that covering the establishment of churches in a new community. Business matters interest only the merchants; financial matters, the bankers and capitalists; educational matters, teachers and scholars; political matters, the politicians, or those ambitious to become public figures—but the majority of people, young, old and middle-aged—are interested in some church, or religious movement, past or present, active or quiescent. COMPETITOR FOR THE WESTERN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Presbyterianism was so strongly established at Chillicothe by the middle '20s that when the denomination was considering the founding and location of a Western Theological Seminary, that city was a strong competitor for its site. In June, 1825, the following notice was issued by the general assembly of the church : "I, Ezra Stiles Ely, stated clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, do hereby certify to all whom it may concern, that said assembly having resolved to establish a Western Theological Seminary, did on the 30th day of May last, appoint "Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee. "Hon. Benjamin Mills, of Paris, Ky. "Hon. John Thompson, of Chillicothe, Ohio. "Rev. Obadiah Jennings, of Washington, Pa. "Rev. Andrew Wylie, president of Washington College, Pennsylvania. "To be commissioners of the assembly to examine carefully the several sites which may be proposed for the contemplated seminary, as to the healthfulness of the region, &c. These commissioners are to report to the Board of Directors of the Western Theological Seminary the proposals that shall have been made to them, and their opinion on the whole subject of the location of the seminary, that the said board, after considering the report of the commissioners, may recommend to the next General Assembly the most suitable place in their judgment for the establishment of the Western Theological Seminary. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 255 " Of these commissioners, General Andrew Jackson is chairman, and they, as well as the directors, are appointed first to meet in Chillicothe, Ohio, on the third Friday of July next, at 2 o'clock p. In., and subsequently on their own adjournment." Among the directors named in the rest of the notice appear those of Rev. William Speer and John Thompson. Mr. Thompson was also a commissioner. Other directors were Rev. Drs. Gideon Blackburn, Mathew Brown, Francis Herron, Robert G. Wilson, James Blythe, Rev. Messrs. Duncan Brown, Randolph Stone, William Wylie, James Scott, James Hoge, John T. Edgar, Allen D. Campbell, Obadiah Jennings, Elisha P. Swift, John Breckenridge, John Seward, James Culbertson, Murdock Murphy, Donald McIntosh ; Elders Edward Ward, George Plumer, Walter Dun, Samuel Hudson, M. B. Lowrie, John Milligan, T. T. Skillman, Samuel F. McCracken and T. P. Smith. The commissioners met in Chillicothe and called for proposals for the site, made arrangements for subscriptions and attended to various other business, after which they adjourned to meet in Washington, Pennsylvania, on the 25th of November, 1825. The Chillicothe meeting was held on the 15th of July, at which time the directors met also. The meetings lasted three days, at the conclusion of which the directors adjourned to meet in Wheeling on the third Thursday of April, 1826. The proposed seminary was finally located at Cincinnati, on Walnut Hills, because a gift of land and a liberal subscription were made for that place. PIONEER SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS The year when the first school was opened in Chillicothe is not a certainty, but its location is stated to have been on the northeast corner of Fourth and Paint streets. "Built in the last years of the eighteenth century" is as definite a birthday as can be announced for this first local schoolhouse. Nathaniel Johnston is generally credited with the honor of being the first school teacher of any consequence. Some time after the crude log schoolhouse was occupied, a large frame building was erected near it, boasting of real windows and considerable of a bell, and with these improved accommodations Mr. Johnston added to his reputation. In 1802, according to the advertisements of the Gazette, he had a school for boys in "an apartment commodiously fitted up" in his own house. He announces that "great care will be paid not only to learning, but to the morals of the students," for which he humbly expects to "merit the favour of the public." Mr. Johnston taught English grammar, reading, writing, arithmetic, bookkeeping and mensura- 256 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY tion. After residing for many years in Chillicothe he retired to a farm in Springfield Township, where he died about 1837. Mr. and Mrs. John Hutt, in March, 1802, opened a school for girls "in the house occupied by McLandburgh & Candlish." Johnston was an uncle of Mrs. McLandburgh, which may account for the location. In the Hutt School the young ladies were taught "reading, writing, arithmetick, English grammar, needlework, both plain and open, tambouring and embroidery." The wife of the schoolmaster taught the needlework branches ; and the prospectus states that "Mrs. Hutt will be particular in attending to the morals of the school." A little later N. R. Smith opened a more pretentious school which he called the " Chillicothe Academy and Boarding School." He respectfully informed the public that he had started a select, school for young ladies in the "Borough of Chillicothe," "in which will be taught, on principles strictly analytical, the following general circle of literature." The list is too long to reprint, but besides the common branches, the course included Greek and Latin ; the Use of the Globes; theoretical and practical mathematicks; astronomical calculations, rhetorical criticism and logick ; the philosophy of natural history, with lectures on philosophy and elocution. Boarding, washing, lodging, mending and tuition, $230 a year. Boarders to supply all beds and bedding and to be charged with all firewood, books and stationery. The Old Chillicothe Academy was built about 1808 at the northwest corner of Sixth and Paint streets, and was the leading educational institutional of the town and the city for more than forty years. An English school was first established in the front lower room of the building, the first teacher being Mr. Dunn, an Irishman. Mr. Dunn was succeeded in the English school by Peter Patterson. A Lancastrian School was also established in the largest second-story room, the first teacher being Daniel W. Hearn. William D. Wesson was afterward at the head of this school, but no record exists as to the time of service of any of the teachers of the old academy. About the year 1813, a school of languages was opened in a smaller room on the second floor, on the west side of the building. These three schools were not departments under a general head, but were entirely independent. The Rev. John McFarland was the first teacher of languages, and taught for many years. The Reverend Mr. McFarland was succeeded by Rev. Dr. Robert G. Wilson, a man of extensive learning and every way calculated to give character to the institution. Other classical teachers were Rev. Joseph Claybaugh and Rev. William T. Finley. Many of the 258 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY students of the Chillicothe Academy distinguished themselves in the various professions, while some occupied high stations in the State and National councils. Their regard for their Alma Mater, after years of separation from the scenes and companions associated with her palmy days, when she was the pride of the ancient capital, was often exemplified by pilgrimages made by her sons for one more sight of her "classic shades" still dear, even though her glory had departed. The old academy and its grounds were absorbed by the city system of public schools in 1852, and many years afterward the building was refitted and modernized as a portion of the Central School. In 1830 a female seminary was founded and in 1835 a building was erected on West Fifth Street between Paint and Walnut. It continued as a popular select school for many years after the public high school was fully organized. The present high school building embraces the site of the original seminary. CHILLICOTHE IN 1807 The most graphic general word-picture of Chillicothe in its early formative period was written by F. Cuming, a Philadelphia traveler who passed up the Scioto Valley and visited the town on August 13, 1807. He describes it thus: " Chillicothe, which signifies town in most of the Indian dialects, is most beautifully situated on the right bank of the Scioto, about forty-five miles by land, and nearly seventy, following its meanderings, from the confluence of that river with the Ohio, between Portsmouth and Alexandria. In all that distance the river has a gentle current, and unimpeded navigation for large keels and other craft for four feet draught of water. It continues navigable for smaller boats and batteaux upwards of one hundred miles above Chillicothe, towards its source to the northward, from whence it glides gently through a naturally rich, level and rapidly improving country. "The situation of the town, which is the capital of the State, is on an elevated and extensive plain, of nearly ten thousand acres of as fine a soil as any in America, partly in cultivation and partly covered with its natural forests. This plain is nearly surrounded by the Scioto, which, turning suddenly to the northeast from its general southerly course, leaves the town to the southward of it, and then forms a great bend to the eastward and southward. "Water street, which runs about east by north, is half a mile long, and contains ninety houses. It is eighty-four feet wide, and would be a fine street had not the river floods caved in the bank in one place, near the middle, almost in the center of it. There is now HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 259 a lottery on foot to raise money for securing the bank against any further encroachments of the river. "Main street, parallel to Water street, is one hundred feet wide, as is Market street, which crosses both at right angles, and in which is the market house, a neat brick building eighty feet long. The courthouse in the same street is neatly built of freestone, on an area of forty-five by forty-two feet, with a semi-circular projection in the rear, in which is the bench for the judges. It has an octangular belfry rising from the roof, painted white, with green lattices, which is an ornament to the town ; as is the small, plain belfry of the Presbyterian meeting house, a handsome brick building on Main street, in which street, also, is a small brick Methodist meeting house. These are the only places of public worship in the town, if I except the court house, which is occasionally used by the Episcopalians and other sects. "The whole number of dwelling houses in Chillicothe, as I counted them, is two hundred and two, besides four brick and a few frame ones, now building. I reckoned six taverns with signs, which small proportion of houses of that description speaks volumes in favor of the place. There are fourteen stores, a post-office, and two printing offices, which each issues a gazette weekly. " The site of the town being on a gravelly soil, the streets are generally clean. The houses are of freestone, brick, or timber clapboarded, the first of which is got in the neighborhood, is of a whitish brown color, and excellent for building. They are mostly very good, and are well painted. On the whole, I think Chillicothe is not exceeded in beauty of plan, situation, or appearance, by any town I have seen in the western part of the United States. "There is a remarkable Indian monument in Mr. Walchup Winsip's garden, in the very heart of the town. Like that at Grave creek, it is circular at the base, about seventy or eighty feet in diameter, but differs from that by being round, instead of flat, on the top, which has an elevation of about thirty feet perpendicular from the level of the plain. It is formed of clay, and though it has been perforated by the proprietor, nothing has been found to justify the common opinion of these mounts having been burrows or cemeteries. They talk of having it leveled, as it projects a little into Market street ; but I think it a pity to destroy any of the very few vestiges of aboriginal population which this country presents to the curious and inquisitive traveler. "From a steep hill, about three hundred feet perpendicular height, just outside the western extremity of the town, is a most charming view of the streets immediately below, under the eye like a plan on paper. Then the Scioto, from one hundred to one hun- 260 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY dred fifty yards wide, winding on the left, and some low hills about two miles beyond it, terminating the view to the northeast—while to the eastward and westward, as far as the eye can reach both ways, is spread a country, partly flat and partly rising in gentle swells, which, if cultivation proceeds in equal proportion to what it has done since Chillicothe was laid out about ten years ago, must, in a very short time, present one of the finest landscapes imaginable. "Colonel McArthur, coming to town, was polite enough to invite me to take a bed at his house, which I had passed about two miles back, in the morning. I found the situation surpassed what I had thought of it then, when I only saw it from the road, it commanding a beautiful and extensive prospect, including the town of Chillicothe, which, however, is now seen rather indistinctly on account of the foliage of some trees on the brow of a small projecting hill, which will probably soon be cut down. "Next morning, Friday, fourteenth August, I walked before breakfast half a mile through the woods to the northward, to an elegant seat belonging to Colonel Worthington. It will be finished in a few weeks, and will be one of the best and most tasty houses, not only of this State, but to the westward of the Alleghany mountains. It is about sixty feet square, with a square roof, and two large receding wings. It has two lofty stories with six rooms on each floor, and cellars and vaults beneath. The wings contain kitchen, scullery, apartments for servants, etc. "Like Colonel McArthur's, it is built of freestone, but the stone of the front is all hewn and squared, like the generality of the houses in the new part of Glasgow, in Scotland—the stone being very similar, both in color and quality. The situation is like Colonel McArthur's, being on the brow of the same ridge of hills, and affording nearly the same prospects. Both houses were built by two young Virginians of the name of Morris, who are almost self taught masons and architects, and whose work and style does them much credit. "I returned to town on Friday after breakfast, and dined, supped and slept at Muker's (Meeker's), which is a very good and well frequented inn ; and at five o'clock on Saturday, the fifteenth August, I left Chillicothe in the stage with a Mr. McCammon, of Charleston, and two other passengers." Adena and Fruit Hill, the old estates of Colonels Duncan McArthur and Thomas Worthington, are still occupied by descendants of the two governors, and are historic shrines for all who revere these founders of the Ohio commonwealth. They are both located on a plateau in the western edge of the city, and have been already described. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 261 TECUMSEH AND THE CHILLICOTHE COUNCIL About two years after the foregoing description of Chillicothe was written, Tecumseh visited Chillicothe to attend a council at the old state house, probably inaugurated by Thomas Worthington, then enjoying a breathing spell between his two senatorial terms. The General Government had often utilized his unusual talents of diplomacy with the Indians, and though the meeting to be described did not rise to the dignity of a general council called to consider the details of a formal treaty, it was, nevertheless, entirely in accordance with the provisions of the authorities at Washington. The Indian tribes belonging to Tecumseh's Confederacy and under the influence of British gold, maintained a sullen and hostile attitude toward the increasing settlements in the northeastern, as well as in the southern portion of the state, and a general feeling of insecurity prevailed. With a view to ascertaining definitely the feelings and intentions of the Indians, and, if possible, to bring them into more friendly relations with the American settlements, a commission composed of influential persons, prominent military men and others (among whom were Gen. Duncan McArthur and Thomas Worthington), advanced to the frontier and invited Tecumseh, and other chiefs, to a conference, which, if held at Chillicothe, it was thought, would indicate a disposition on the part of the Indians that would tend to allay apprehension. The party was absent so long that serious fears were felt that it had fallen a victim to the treachery and ferocity of the savages, though the prominent men of the commission were known to be in high favor with Tecumseh, whcse power over the red men was almost absolute. It returned, however, accompanied by this renowned chief, Blue Jacket, and others. A council was held in the courthouse, which was filled with citizens, old and young, among whom to the great. disgust of the Indians there were many ladies. Nothing could be more repugnant to the Indian idea of the superiority of the warrior over every other class of humanity whatsoever, than the admission of "squaws" to a council of braves, met to consider questions of peace or war. Capt. William Wells, who had been a captive among the Shawnees for many years in his early life. and who spoke their language well, accompanied them on this visit as interpreter, and occupied the clerk's desk. The Indians were ranged on the north, at right angles with the desk, and on the south facing them sat the white commissioners. Of the incidents and results of this somewhat informal "talk" very little seems to have been left on record, except in the memory of the oldest inhabitants. The Indians did not appear superior to those ordinarily seen, and not as well 262 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY dressed as many often seen in Chillicothe at that time. But one of them wore ornaments, and he only a band of silver around his head, from which hung many pendants. The neglect may be attributed to two causes—first, as they had not very recently been on the war path, their Great Father, over the water, could not be expected to be very profuse with his gold. General McArthur, we are told, opened the talk through the interpreter; the Indians replying through the same medium, and dwelling with great vehemence upon the wrongs they had sustained at the hands of the whites. They claimed that they wished to live in peace, but could not restrain their young men from retaliating. The wily savage here shelters himself under the same plea that called forth his indignant scorn, when used afterwards by Proctor to excuse the massacre of prisoners at Fort Meigs. "Sir," said Proctor, "your Indians cannot be commanded." "Begone," retorted Tecumseh, with the greatest disdain, "you are unfit to command; go and put on petticoats !" His fearlessness, as well as his innocence of circumlocution, is strikingly shown by the following charge, which was made during his impassioned harangue, and which parliamentary etiquette did not forbid the interpreter to reproduce in all its savage terseness : " The white men are bad men. They are liars." POLITICS AND EARTHQUAKE SHOCK "State Chamber, Zanesville, February 7, 1812. "Dear Sir :—I received yours of the fourth inst., but have not had time to answer it. We have just passed a resolution through both houses, directing that a joint committee be appointed to bring in a bill to fix the permanent seat of government at the high bank east of Franklinton, and the temporary seat at Chillicothe, by a majority of five in the house and one in the senate. I think the bill will pass, but you know as well as I the uncertainty of opinion. "The last shock of the earthquake was terrible, but no damage was done here. I hope none has been done in Ross. "DUNCAN MCARTHUR. "To William Creighton, r., Chillicothe." In connection with the above, taken from an old paper, the following extract from the autobiography of the Rev. James B. Finley, may be of interest : "This year (1812) will long be remembered as the one in which this whole region was shaken by a mighty earthquake. On the night of the twelfth of February, I was awakened by a rocking of the house in which I slept. It seemed as if my bedstead was on a rough sea, and the waves were HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 263 rolling under it, so sensible were the undulations. The greatest shock was on the sixteenth day of that month. It commenced at ten o'clock and lasted fifteen minutes. I was then in the town of Putnam, opposite to Zanesville, where the legislature was in session. It was reported that the steeple of the State house vibrated from five to six inches, like the pendulum of a clock. Slight shocks were felt almost every day and night for some time." DR. SAMUEL MCADOW No class of men who became residents of Chillicothe accomplished more to bring the town to the favorable notice of the great "outside" than its physicians of the earlier period. Dr. Samuel McAdow was the first settled member of the profession engaged in active practice. He was born in Harford County, Maryland, September 23, 1772. His parents were natives of Scotland and his father was a deacon in the church. Samuel, the youngest of nine children, was carefully educated and trained, and graduated from Cokesburgh College, in his native state. He was -a fine classical scholar and continued reading Greek amidst the arduous duties of a country practitioner. After his graduation at an early age, Doctor McAdow studied medicine under the celebrated Doctor Archer of Maryland and Doctor Rush, of Philadelphia. In 1793, just arrived at his majority, he settled in Cambridge, Bourbon County, Kentucky. Here the young doctor was not long in securing an extensive practice and the hand of Polly Howe, to whom he was united in marriage, October 21, 1794. Mrs. McAdow was the sister of the Revs. Joseph and John Howe, well known in that part of Kentucky. A party of twelve persons from Bourbon County, one of whom was Doctor McAdow, entered the Valley of the Scioto in the fall of 1796 and arriving at the City of Chillicothe, whose street corners were then indicated by blazed trees, pitched their tents on the ground where the courthouse now stands. A large Indian community occupied the land in the vicinity of the mouth of Paint Creek, three miles below the town just laid out in the dense forest by Gen. Nathaniel Massie. The Bourbons, after viewing the prospective city from all points, returned to Kentucky, and in the following spring Doctor McAdow moved to Chillicothe with his family, where he spent the remainder of his life. At the age of twenty-five, he commenced in Chillicothe, the practice of medicine—a practice which continued more than half a century. He is described as a man of fine physical proportions, and possessed of great powers of endurance. But the country was new and the first settlers suffered from the malarial 264 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY fevers, common in the new settlements in the West. His practice was extensive, employing all of his time and taxing his strength to the utmost. Drug stores not having then become a drug in the market, about the year 1802, Doctor McAdow, George Renick, and Nathan Gregg, started on horseback from Chillicothe to the City of Baltimore. The object of this expedition was the purchase of a stock of medicines by Doctor McAdow, and dry goods by Messrs. Renick and Gregg. The purchases were sent by way of the Ohio River to Portsmouth, and thence up the Scioto by keel boats. The doctor was attacked with a fever in Baltimore, and his companions were compelled to leave him, bearing a message to his family that he would start for home as soon as he was able to ride. Think of this! Two weeks must elapse before the message could reach the distant home, 'and then what possibilities of the events of that interval, and how many anxious, weary days, before some chance traveler might bring the hoped for, yet dreaded news. Doctor McAdow was a successful amateur horticulturist, obtaining his fruits from the seeds and propagating fine varieties by budding and grafting, having always an abundance of the rare varieties, and being the first man that inserted a bud into a tree in Chillicothe. Had this early example of scientific horticulture been generally followed, there is no doubt this vicinity would have been famed as the fruit garden of Southern Ohio. Doctor McAdow, Jr., speaks of having, in 1868, fruit trees bearing fruit abundantly, that were originated by his father sixty years before ; and apple trees grafted by him forty years before, full of fruit. A cherry, called the McAdow seedling, originated by Doctor McAdow, Jr., is very popular in this part of Ohio, and an attempt has been made to acclimate it in Minnesota. During the War of 1812 Doctor McAdow was attached to Gen. Duncan McArthur's regiment as surgeon, and he served in that capacity during the war. He was present when General Hull surrendered the American army, and saw the articles of capitulation signed. He was esteemed by all who knew him as a man faithful in all the relations of life, as well as devout and conscientious in his religious duties. He was, for more than thirty years, a faithful and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in whose communion and fellowship he died, on the 5th of April, 1849. The son of the deceased, Dr. Samuel McAdow, Jr., was born in Chillicothe in 1806, was educated in the old academy, and practiced medicine for many years. He was also an elder and a preacher in the Methodist Church. His wife was a daughter of John Kirkpatrick, who came to Chillicothe from Kentucky as a member of the Finley colony. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 265 DR. JOSEPH SCOTT Dr. Joseph Scott, a younger brother of Dr. John Scott, who was with Wayne at the battle of Cross Timbers and the treaty at Greenville, commenced practice at Chillicothe in 1804. He entered immediately upon a large and successful practice, and in a few years purchased the house of Gen. Henry Massie, and thirty-two acres of ground in the northwestern part of the city, now called from him "Scott's Addition." Soon after settling in Chillicothe he married Miss Finley, who was then residing with her uncle, Gen. Samuel Finley, at the place afterward owned by Dr. Albert Douglas. This lady died about 1810, soon after which event Doctor Scott moved to Frankfort, Kentucky, where he purchased property and practiced his profession for about twelve years. He there married Miss Lucy Webb, daughter of Capt. Isaac Webb, an officer of the Revolutionary army and father of Dr. James Webb. Doctor Scott returned to Chillicothe about 1822, and resumed practice, continuing until about 1827. He then located at Lexington, Kentucky, where he died in 1848 or 1849. He was considered one of the most skillful practitioners that have ever distinguished the profession in Chillicothe, and was remarkable for his sound judgment in difficult cases. He also joined to his medical skill an unusual degree of financial ability. OTHER EARLY PHYSICIANS Dr. James Webb located at Chillicothe in 1825 and at one time was in partnership with Dr. Joseph Scott. He was a successful practitioner, and was a victim of the cholera epidemic of 1832. Six years before, he had married Miss Maria Cook, a sister of M. Scott Cook, the well known financier, and left three children ; Lucy, the youngest, became the wife of Rutherford B. Hayes, in 1852. Her birthplace was a plain two-story frame house, which still stands, on the south side of Sixth Street near Walnut. Dr. William McDowell became a resident of Chillicothe about 1805. He was a brother-in-law of Judge James McClintick, the two moving from Virginia together, when young men, and establishing a general store. During his visits to Philadelphia to buy goods, McDowell was in the habit of attending medical lectures, and became so interested in his "side line" of study and investigation that he finally obtained a diploma to practice. The doctor's professional career began in 1816. He stood well, also accumulated a fine property, and, like a number of other leading Chillicotheans, was also an earnest Methodist preacher. 266 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Dr. William Fullerton, a Pennsylvanian, was brought to Chillicothe when but two years of age, was fitted for college at Chillicothe Academy, graduated from the medical department of Transylvania University at Lexington, Kentucky, in 1825, and practiced at Chillicothe thereafter until his death in July, 1875. He was a gentleman, a scholar and a strong character, and was especially active as an abolitionist. Dr. L. W. Foulke, son of a leading physician of Pennsylvania, commenced practice in 1836. He married a daughter of John McCoy, the pioneer merchant of Chillicothe. He had a large practice, was prominent in the organization of the city school system, was prominent in the establishment of the beautiful Grandview Cemetery, and after he retired from active practice became quite prominent in local finances. Dr. William Waddle was another old-time physician, who commenced a long and creditable career before the Town of Chillicothe became a city—but only a year before. He was another academy boy. He received his diploma from the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1836, and in the following year located for practice in his native town of Chillicothe. In 1876-77, he served as president of the Chillicothe Medical Society, and his half century of faithful and able practice is a fitting fact with which to conclude these sketches of some of the best known members of the profession of the old Chillicothe school. THE FAMOUS MADEIRA HOTEL In the pioneer days of Chillicothe, as of other American communities, the tavern, or inn, was literally a "public house." Not only was it social and political headquarters for the townsmen, but distinguished visitors were usually entertained therein, particularly if its accommodations were more elaborate than those of the private residences of the place. As Chillicothe was a political center, in a broad sense, for many years, the town was particularly fortunate both in respect to hotel accommodations and large and handsome homes. Adena and Fruit Hill kept open house under the social administration of their distinguished and charming hosts and hostesses, while the Madeira Hotel became one of the most famous public houses in the West. It was originally a residence, but about the year 1816 the Branch Bank of the United States at Chillicothe located in a portion of the building. At that time, John Madeira, a Virginian youth of about eighteen, who had been living in Chillicothe for several years, had become popular around the hotels on Water Street, and before he was twenty-one was proprietor of an inn himself. He was a HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 267 born hotel man, of fine physique, social qualities and great business capacity. Mr. Madeira married a daughter of Felix Renick, one of the most prominent live stock men in the Scioto Valley and a citizen of Chillicothe since the first year of the century, which fact also added to the popularity and influence of the host of the hotel. About 1830, after the branch of the United States Bank was discontinued at Chillicothe, Col. John Madeira (title as an officer of the state militia) purchased the large residence in which it had been doing business, and in 1832 enlarged and remodeled the building into quite an imposing hotel. It was commodious, homelike and well managed. At that time Chillicothe was on the regular line of travel between the East and Southwest, and the Madeira Hotel gained a national reputation. At various periods it numbered among its guests such men as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, William Henry Harrison, DeWitt Clinton and the Mexican general, Santa Anna, on his way to Washington after his capture. The hotel, a large two-story building, stood on the northeast corner of Paint and Second streets, and was destroyed in the great fire of 1852. Colonel Madeira continued in the business for many years. He was also prominent in the building of turnpikes, the Ohio Canal and the railroads. Banking and educational interests received his practical support, and his death in 1873, at the age of seventy-five, was a real loss to the city and county. THE EARLIER CHILLICOTHE INNS Although the most famous of the pioneer taverns, the Madeira Hotel was by no means the first to be established. Following the old English custom, they all had distinctive signs on which were displayed such animals as lions, lambs and oxen—the Red Lion, the Golden Lamb, the Scioto Ox, etc. Sometimes these signs would be devised as a play upon the name of the founder, as in the case of Capt. William Lamb, who built and was long the proprietor of the hotel bearing the sign of the Golden Lamb. In 1798, the Court of Quarter Sessions granted tavern licenses to William Rodgers, Joseph Tiffin, William Lamb and Joseph Patton. A little later in the same year a license was granted to Thomas Gregg. The names of the inns kept by Rodgers and Patton do not appear in the old files of the Scioto Gazette, nor does there seem to be any record of where they were situated. Joseph Tiffin built and kept the "Gen. Anthony Wayne" at the southwest corner of Water and Walnut streets. Water Street was then the most important street in town, and on it were located the most of the taverns. William Keys, proprietor of the Red Lion, was one of the early 268 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY hotel keepers, and inserts the following advertisement in the Scioto Gazette, dated December 3, 1803: "The fubfcriber having built a large addition to his houfe, and all the old and new completely finifhed, which contains twelve rooms, fome of which are private lodging rooms, feperate from the tavern, well furnifhed with good clean beds, and always keeps a fupply of the beft liquors, and every other neceffary that is requifite for the accommodation of a public houfe, and in the heft manner. Likewife, a large ftable laid off in feparate ftalls, fufficient to hold thirty horfes, and well ftored with good timothy hay, corn and oats, together with a good hoftler therefore, he begs leave to inform his friends and the public in general, that his conftant care will be to accommodate thofe who may pleafe to favour him with their cuftom, in the moft agreeable manner. He flatters himfelf, that from his former conduct in this line of bufinefs, and his prefent attention to thofe who may call upon him, their fituation will be quite as agreeable, or more fo, than any other public houfe in town." Of a considerably later date is the following by Joseph Kerr, of the Farmer's Hotel (sign of the Scioto Ox) : "The subscriber has determined to make his charges correspond in future, with the price of articles used in a public house. His charges will be as follows: Horse at hay and grain, or grain alone, the night, 33 cents; horse at hay alone, the night, 20 cts ; horse stabled and fed once, 10 cts ; oats 20, and corn 25 cents per bushel, and stable, or yard to feed it in—Breakfast, dinner or supper, 20 cents—Lodging, IN CLEAN SHEETS, 10 cents; at these prices the different items shall be equal to those in any public house in the western country. His pastures will be extensive and well enclosed, and charges for keeping droves of horses or cattle, low. His stable yard is capable of taking in five teams; his carriage shed is also large, and the house itself so constructed, and subdivided, as to accommodate SEPARATELY, all the grades of company he will entertain. "Assuring those who honor him with a call, that their situation will be made so pleasant during their stay as in any public house, he solicits a continuance of public patronage." After reproducing the sign of the Golden Lamb, "the Chillicothe Hotel, formerly kept by Mr. John Watson," the new proprietor, Joseph M'Cutcheon. , advertises that it "is now kept by the subscriber, who formerly kept at his old stand ten miles east of Chillicothe, on the Lancaster road ; where every exertion will be made to accommodate travellers, and others, that may be pleased to favor him with a call. "N. B. The subscriber's former residence is still continued as a public house by his mother." HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 269 FIRST BRIDGE OVER THE SCIOTO It was twenty years after Chillicothe was surveyed before a bridge was thrown across the Scioto at that point. Its completion added much to the standing of the town and was an important event in its early history. When in 1797, Zane, in compliance with his agreement with Congress, cut a road through the wilderness from Wheeling, Virginia, to Limestone, Kentucky, and established a ferry on the Scioto, at the point where that road, or trace, crossed the river, it no doubt seemed to the infant town a piece of good fortune for which to be devoutly thankful. From that date until 1815, the ferry had sufficed for the business and travel of Chillicothe, and that too, during the days of its most rapid growth, and also of its greatest exaltation. The "pleasure of Congress," which was the limit of Zane's obligation to maintain ferries, had ceased long before this date to require it at his hands; and the ferry, for years, had been maintained as a private enterprise. A growing conviction that a bridge would add greatly to the business facilities of the city, culminated, in the last named year, in the formation of a company to erect the first bridge over the Scioto. The following, as near as can be ascertained, are the names of those belonging to the bridge company : John Waddle, John Carlisle, Humphrey Fullerton, William McFarland, James S. Donohue, John McLandburgh and Joseph Miller. John McLandburgh was appointed treasurer and served in that capacity until his death in 1821, after which event, Mrs. Margaret McLandburgh, his widow, and a woman of great business capacity, attended to the duties of that office for some time, until the appointment of Henry Johnston. A Mr. Fox from Zanesville, was the architect, who also had the general supervision of the work. The bridge was commenced in 1816; the iron for its construction being brought from Pittsburgh, down the Ohio, and up the Scioto, in keel boats. Delay in receiving the iron prevented the completion of the bridge the first year, and an unusual rise in the river in the spring of 1817, carried off a portion of the structure. Nothing daunted, however, the company resumed the work at the earliest possible moment, and during the fall of 1817, or early in the winter of 1818, the bridge was completed, and the ferry became at once a thing of the past. For twenty years the Scioto Bridge was private property, and, of course, a toll bridge; but in 1837 it was purchased by the county commissioners and declared free. While it was continued a toll bridge, Barney Lauman was the toll. gatherer. The ferry was about fifty yards below the bridge, and was first for many years kept by Benjamin Urmston, who opened the second tavern in Chillicothe. 270 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY INDUSTRIAL UPRISING At the time of the completion of the bridge over the Scioto, Chillicothe had become quite an industrial center, besides being the market town for a large district. A bank had been established for the accommodation of the townsmen and the neighboring farmers and live stock men, and the future of the place seemed assured even at that day. Thomas Jacobs, James Hill and others had established tanneries, and Joseph Miller and Isaac Cook had nail factories on Water Street and Paint Street—the latter shop, opposite the public square. The nails were made, of course, by hand, but horses and oxen had to be shod, and houses built, and, when there was a rush demand because of such requirements, the two nail factories were truly industries. About 1816, wool-carding machinery was also installed by Abram Thompson in a building located on High Street, and spinning and weaving were afterward added to the business. The proprietor of the factory, who operated it for several years, was Moses Trader, a local Methodist minister. This woolen mill was continued as quite a profitable industry until 1855. In the '30s the slaughtering of hogs and the packing of pork assumed some importance, the most prominent firm being John and George Wood. A few others, such as John McCoy, engaged in the business in a smaller way. The Clinton flouring mills were built in 1832 by David Adams. Although situated north of the city limits they were included in Chillicothe's list of leading industries of the early times. Numerous smaller enterprises were placed on their feet. William McCarroll established a sickle factory on the northwest corner of Water and Deer Creek streets, and made a great many sickles. But that was prior to the McCormick reaper. Adjoining Kirkpatrick's farm, now the southern terminus of Mulberry Street, there was at a very early date, an oil mill, owned by Thomas Davidson, who operated it for several years, and then sold to the merchant, William Ross. In his hands it was a profitable investment. There was also in those days on the corner of Main and Bridge streets, a rope-walk, owned by Johnson Lofland, and this continued in business for many years. Flax and hemp were both used, and were raised in this vicinity. There were also several boot and shoe shops, where manufacturing was carried on in a small way. THE HYDRAULIC ASSOCIATION The '30s exhibited so much activity in various lines of industry that, in 1835, the Hydraulic Association was formed by prominent HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 271 business men of Chillicothe and vicinity to encourage this spirit of enterprise by furnishing adequate water power. Its board of directors comprised the following citizens : George Renick, president ; William Ross, treasurer ; N. W. Thatcher, secretary ; John Madeira, Joseph Miller, James T. Worthington, Nathaniel Sawyer, James McLandburgh and William Carson. A. Bourne was chosen engineer and D. Collins was awarded the contract for the proposed improvements. A dam was built across Paint Creek, about five miles southwest of the city, and a mill-race constructed from that point to the foot of Paint Street, where the water was received into a large basin, with a sufficient elevation for propelling the heaviest machinery. The race followed the south side of the creek for about two miles, where it crossed on an expensive aqueduct. By the time the race (or as it was generally called the "hydraulic canal") was completed—which was some time in 1837 or 1838a large grist mill was erected near Paint Street, by William Silvey, who had made a contract with the company for water power. A few years later a paper mill was erected by the Ingham Brothers, in the place where the present mill of the Mead Company now stands, it also obtaining its power from the canal. These were the only mills ever constructed in connection with the hydraulic canal—and these, sad to say, found it a most unsatisfactory source for the supply of motive power. The dam and the aqueduct were swept away by a flood, in a year or two after their construction, but were soon rebuilt on a more substantial and costly plan. A second 272 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY flood, however, of greater size, in 1847, again swept both away, which crushed the enterprise permanently. FIRST TOWN CORPORATION In the meantime the town had been incorporated, its site expanded and various changes made in the body politic, and its population and general growth had reached a point where it sought and obtained the honor of being recognized as a municipality. These transformations covered the period from January, 1802, until March, 1838, so that Chillicothe, as a corporation, is the child both of the Territory and the State of Ohio. The first act to incorporate the Town of Chillicothe was passed by the Legislature of the Northwest Territory. It was signed by Edward Tiffin, speaker of the House of Representatives, and Robert Oliver, president of the council, and approved January 6, 1802, by Arthur St. Clair, governor of the territory. The twelfth section of the act appointed Samuel Finley, Edward Tiffin, James Ferguson, Alexander McLaughlin, Arthur Stewart and Reuben Abrams, members of the "select council" ; Everard Harr, assessor; Isaac Brink, supervisor; William Wallace, collector, and Joseph Tiffin, town marshal—to remain in office until the first election which was appointed to be held on the first Monday of the following November. On the 17th of February, 1804, the State Legislature passed a law to the same general effect as that of the preceding, assigning the same limits as the boundaries of the corporation, fixing the qualifications of voters, which the territorial law had left undefined, giving slightly different names to some of the town officers, and designating the style of the corporation as follows : "The president, recorder and trustees of the Town of Chillicothe." The day for the election of officers was changed to the first Monday in March. The president, recorder and trustees, when convened for business, were to be known as "the Select Council of the Town of Chillicothe." And among the other powers assigned to them, was that of imprisoning tax delinquents for a period not exceeding twenty-four hours. The first officers appointed under this act were elected by the people—those chosen under the former act, of course, holding their offices until their successors were qualified. This act was signed by Elias Langham, speaker of the House of Representatives, and Nathaniel Massie, speaker of the Senate. The boundaries affixed by both of these acts, as the limits of the new town, were as follows: "Beginning at the northeast corner of the out-lot number forty-seven, as numbered on the plat of the out-lots of Chillicothe, thence south, seventy-five degrees west, one HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 273 hundred and five poles and three-tenth parts of a pole, to the northwest corner of out-lot number fifty-six; thence south, fifteen degrees east, three hundred fifty-five and seven-tenth parts of a pole, to the southwest corner of out-lot number one hundred sixty-seven; thence north, seventy-five degrees east, seventy-seven and five-tenth parts of a pole, to the northwest corner of out-lot number one hundred thirty-one ; thence south, fifteen degrees east, twenty-six poles and one-tenth part of a pole, to the southwest corner of out-lot number one hundred and thirty-one ; thence north, seventy-five degrees east, one hundred and sixty-one poles, to the northwest corner of the out-lot number thirty-four ; thence south, fifteen degrees east, twenty-six poles and one-tenth part of a pole, to the southwest corner of the out-lot number thirty-four; thence north, seventy-five degrees east, forty-nine poles, to the southeast corner of the out-lot number thirty-three; thence north, fifteen degrees west, one hundred seventy-eight poles and seven-tenth parts of a pole ; thence north, seventy-five degrees east, one hundred sixty-nine poles and nine-tenth parts of a pole, to the southeast corner of the out-lot number ninety-eight; thence north, fifteen degrees west, two hundred and forty-one poles, to the Scioto river; thence up the said river, with its meanders, to the place of beginning." THE SECOND TOWN CORPORATION The state law was repealed December 28, 1813, and another enacted in its place, differing considerably from the former in some of its details. The 'boundaries of the town were enlarged by taking in "Massie's reserve," and the addition made by Benjamin Urmston. As in the other act, householders alone were declared to be electors; but the day of election was changed to the 2d day of January. Nine common councilmen were to be chosen by the people, and these officers were to choose, from their own number, a mayor, recorder and treasurer—the corporation to be styled the "mayor and commonalty of the town of Chillicothe." The common council, thus organized, were empowered to appoint an assessor, town marshal, clerk of the market, and any other necessary officers; to establish .their fees, and impose such fines for refusing to accept such offices, as to them should appear proper and reasonable. They were authorized to pass all necessary laws, but were humanely forbidden to enact any ordinance "subjecting cattle, sheep or hogs, not belonging to said town, to be abused or taken up and sold, for coming into the bounds of said corporation." This Pact was signed by John Pollock, speaker of the House of Representatives, and Othniel Looker, speaker of the Senate. On the 4th of February, 1825, an amendment to this act was Vol. I-18 274 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY passed by the General Assembly, providing (among other changes) that the mayor, recorder and treasurer should be elected by the people instead of the common councilmen; to define more clearly the permissible amount of taxation; and to extend the powers of the common council—especially in the matter of laying out the town into wards. This amendment was signed by M. T. Williams, speaker of the House, and Allen Trimble, speaker of the Senate. Another amendment was passed March 3, 1831, authorizing the common council "to grant licenses to grocers and retailers of spirituous liquors, porter, beer, ale, and cider, by the less quantity than one quarter." By its grammatical construction (if we understand it) this would imply that the Common Council were permitted to grant licenses to parties named, "by the less quantity than one quart"—which some might regard as rather a small quantity of licenses. But we suppose the Legislature really intended to say that the council might grant licenses to grocers and others to retail the liquors named "by the less quantity than one quart,"—that is, they might grant or refuse license to saloon keepers. But the power to refuse license implies the power to prohibit it from an unlicensed traffic. Hence the Legislature of Ohio committed itself to the legality of prohibition as early as the year 1831. The tax for the license was to be "not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty," and the amendment was signed by James M. Bell, speaker of the House, and Samuel R. Miller, speaker of the Senate. The act incorporating the Town of Chillicothe as a city, was passed by the Legislature March 14, 1838. Section one of this act described the boundaries and powers of the corporation, the development of which will be described in the chapter which follows.