Brown County, Ohio - Chapter 4, 1883 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 4

BROWN COUNTY lies within the district known as the Virginia Military Lands, sometimes called the Virginia Military Reservation. These lands are bounded on the south by the Ohio, on the east and north by the Scioto, and on the west by the Little Miami, and a line drawn from the source of the Little Miami to the source of the Scioto. They include the whole of Adams, Brown, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, Highland, Madison and Union Counties; one half of Franklin, Hardin and Logan; one-fourth of Champaign; one-sixth of Clark; three-fourths of Greene; two-fifths of Warren and Scioto; three-fifths of Pike; two-thirds of Ross and Pickaway; one- fifth of Delaware and Marion; Anderson Township in Hamilton County; and part of Goshen Township in Auglaize County.

At the time of the Revolution, the charters of some of the States embraced large portions of Western unappropriated lands, and each of them, on becoming sovereign and independent, claimed the right of soil and jurisdiction over the whole region embraced within its charter. Some of the States which had no such charters urged that the Western lands ought to be appropriated for the benefit of all the States, as the title to them had been secured by the common blood and treasure. After much contention, these lands were ceded to the United States. Virginia, in March, 1784, ceded to the General Government the right of soil and jurisdiction to the country embraced in her charter situated northwest of the Ohio, reserving the lands between the Little Miami and the Scioto for the payment of the land warrants of her troops in the Revolution, in case they should be needed for that purpose.

The Claim Of Virginia

The foundation of the claim of Virginia to this region rests upon what i6 called the Virginia charter of 1609. This was not, strictly speaking, as the name now given to it and that by which it is called in the act of cession would seem to imply, a charter to Virginia, or to the colony of Virginia, or to the people of Virginia, but it was a charter by James, in 1609, to a company of gentlemen residing principally in and about the city of London, and who, by that charter, were organized into a corporation under the name and style of " The Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters of the City of London for the First Colony of Virginia." By this charter, the King, in the first place, authorized this company, which was anciently called "the London Company," with his license to purchase and hold " any manner of lands, tenements and hereditaments, goods and chattels, within our realm of England and dominion of W ales. " He, in the next place, grants to the corporation, their successors and assigns, " all those lands, countries and territories situate, lying and being in that part of America called Virginia, from the point of land called Cape or Point Comfort, all along the seacoast to the northward 200 miles, and from the said point of Cape Comfort all along the seacoast to the southward 200 miles, and all that space and circuit of land lying from the seacoast of the precinct aforesaid up into the land throughout, from sea to sea, west and northwest: and, also, all the islands lying within 100 miles along the coast of both seas of the precinct aforesaid."

The following account of the origin of the claim of Virginia to this region is abridged chiefly from a full discussion of the subject by Hon. Samuel F. Vinton, in his argument delivered before the General Court of Virginia at its December term, 1845, for the defendants in the case of the Commonwealth of Virginia versus Peter M. Garner and others for alleged abduction of certain slaves. The pamphlet containing Mr. Vinton's argument is now out of print.

By the words ''from sea to sea," the Atlantic and Pacific are supposed to be meant. The grant begins by drawing a base line of 400 miles in length along the Atlantic coast, of which Point Comfort is the center, the northern extreme of which would be at or near Cape May, in New Jersey, and the southern termination at or near Cape Fear, in North Carolina. From one of these terminations a line was to be drawn west, and from the other northwest, back into the land "from sea to sea;" but from which extremity the west and from which the northwest line is to be run, the grant does not specify. If the west line be drawn from the northern termination of the coast line, and the northwest from its southern termination at Cape Fear, it would leave the State of Ohio west of and beyond the grant; but as these two lines would come together before reaching the sea, the Virginia construction always has been that the west line must be drawn from the southern termination on the coast, and the northwest line from the other extremity of the coast line. If the lines be drawn in this way, the west line would strike the Pacific in the Gulf of California, some eight degrees of latitude south of the present boundary line between the United States and Mexico. The other, or northwest line, would cross into Canada somewhere between Lakes Erie and Ontario, and strike the Pacific in the Arctic Circle, somewhere north of Behring's Straits, embracing a portion of the continent that would make not less than forty-five or fifty States of equal extent of territory with the present State of Virginia.

While the magnitude of this grant to a small colony is calculated to strike us with amazement, it should be remembered that at that time the northwest coast of America was wholly unknown, the interior of the continent had never been penetrated from either ocean, and, except the line of coast along its Atlantic border, the vast region of country embraced within the limits of this grant was a sealed book to the world, of whose contents all civilized men were profoundly ignorant. Sir Francis Drake, not long before, from the top of a mountain in the Isthmus of Darien, had seen both oceans. This naturally led to the inference that the continent was a long and narrow strip of country. Smith, in his History of Virginia, relates a fact which shows that, at that time, it was the belief in England that the South Sea, as the Pacific was then called, was but a short distance from the Atlantic. He states that, in the year 1608, the year before the date of the charter, " they fitted up, in England, a barge for Capt. Newton, who was afterward a Deputy Governor of Virginia, under the charter, which, for convenience of carriage, might be taken into five pieces, and with which he and his company were instructed to go up James River as far as the falls thereof (where the city of Richmond now is), to discover the country of the Monakins; and from thence they were to proceed, carrying their barge beyond the falls, to convey them to the South Sea, being ordered not to return without a lump of gold or a certainty of the said sea. " It thus appears that the ignorance of the geography of North America which existed in England in the early part of the seventeenth century has affected the titles to the lands of a vast portion of Ohio.

The Cession And Reservation Of Virginia

The history of the times of the Revolution shows that nothing, except the war itself, so deeply agitated the whole country as the question to whom prop- erly belonged the vast Western domain, and no question subjected the Union to a greater peril. All the States were greatly straitened for the means of bearing their respective proportions of the expenses of the war. All attached a very great and probably undue importance to these lands, as a source of revenue, or as a fund on which to obtain credit by their hypothecation. Two sets of opinions, or two parties, sprang up about the right to them. One maintained that the States, respectively, had succeeded to the crown lands within their limits. The other, that the confederacy, or nation at large, had succeeded to the rights and property of the crown, as a common fund. Many very distinguished men arrayed themselves on different sides of this question. Mr. Hamilton, for example, held the latter opinion, and Mr. Madison the former. Those States whose colonial limits embraced any considerable amount of these lands claimed that they were the property of the State, and that the right of the crown, by the Declaration of Independence, had passed to the State sovereignties, where the lands happened to be. Those, on the contrary, who had none of these lands within their limits, claimed that all the crown lands and crown property had passed to the nation, on the principle that what was acquired and conquered by the common effort, blood and treasure was, by the law of nations and of justice, the common property of all. Seven States, embracing within their limits large bodies of these lands, insisted on the right of the State sovereignty; the other six strenuously insisted on the right of the nation, and thus the controversy forthwith found its way into the Congress of the Confederation.

In January, 1781, Virginia passed an act yielding to Congress all her right and claim to the country northwest of the Ohio, but this surrender was clogged with various conditions, of which one was that the United States should guarantee to her all of her remaining territory on the southeast side of the river, which included the present States of Tennessee and Kentucky. The acceptance of this act of cession was urged upon Congress for more than two years by the Virginia delegation in Congress, with great perseverance, when, in May, 1783, it was finally refused by Congress.

The act of cession which was accepted by Congress was passed by the General Assembly of Virginia October 20, 1783, and accepted by act of Congress passed March 1, 1784. The latter date is the date of the deed of cession. The following is the reservation in the deed of cession of the lands in Ohio known as the Virginia Military Lands:

That in case the quantity of good lands on the southeast side of the Ohio, upon the waters of the Cumberland River and between the Green River and Tennessee River, which have been reserved by law for the Virginia troops upon Continental establishment, should, from the North Carolina line bearing in further upon the Cumberland lands than was expected, prove insufficient for their legal bounties, the deficiency should be made up to the said troops, in good lands, to be laid off between the Rivers Scioto and Little Miami, on the northwest side of the River Ohio, in such proportions as have been engaged to them by the laws of Virginia.

The titles to the lands in this district rest upon land warrants issued by Virginia for services in the Revolutionary war. A number of acts were passed by the State of Virginia promising bounties to her troops. An act passed in October, 1779, fixed the quantity to be granted at the end of the war as follows: A private was to receive 200 acres; a non-commissioned officer, 400 acres; a subaltern 2,000 acres; a Captain, 3,000 acres: a Major, 4,000 acres: a Lieutenant Colonel, 4,500 acres; a Colonel, 5,000 acres; a Brigadier General, 10,- 000 acres; a Major General, 15,000 acres.

Entry And Survey Of Land Warrants

Gen. Richard 0. Anderson was appointed principal surveyor, and he opened an office for the reception and location of surveys at Louisville, Ky., August 1, 1784. The lands on the Kentucky and Tennessee were to be first surveyed. The deficiency, if any, was to be made up in the lands between the Little Miami and Scioto. Before the close of the year 1786, it became evident that the lands south of the Ohio would not be sufficient to satisfy the warrants, and attention was directed to the reservation north of the Ohio.

An office for the location and survey of the lands between the Little Miami and Scioto was opened by Gen. R. 0. Anderson August 1, 1787. Before this, and as early as the winter and spring of 1787, John O'Bannon and Arthur Fox, two enterprising surveyors from Kentucky, explored the district. Their object was to obtain a knowledge of the region for the purpose of making choice locations of warrants as soon as the office for entries was opened. "They explored the whole extent of country along the Ohio, and passed some distance up the Scioto and Little Miami, and some of the smaller streams which flow into these rivers. It was probably from his exploration that O'Bannon Creek received its name. A white-oak tree at the mouth of this creek was marked " O'B. Cr. " as early as 1787, as is shown by the record of the land entries.

It is said by a writer in the American Pioneer that the first location of lands in the Virginia Military District was made for Mace Clements, being 1.- 000 acres at the mouth of Eagle Creek, and was recorded August 1, 1787.

John O'Bannon was the first to make surveys in the district, and also the first to make a survey within the present limits of Brown County. The first survey in the whole district is said to be that on which the town of Neville, in Clermont County, and on the Ohio, is now situated, which was surveyed by O'Bannon November 13, 1787. On the next day, he made two surveys in Clermont County, one of which includes the present town of Moscow. On the third day, November 15, 1787, O'Bannon made the first survey in Brown, being that opposite Maysville (No. 396) - 1,000 acres, entered by Phillip Slaughter.

Seven different surveys were made by O'Bannon within the limits of Brown County before the close of the year 1787, as well as large quantities of land in Clermont County. At this early period, notwithstanding the winter season and the dangers from the Indians, in a single day he surveyed, in Clermont County, 3,400 acres, in several different tracts, some of them miles apart. John O'Bannon is the name of the only surveyor who returned a survey of lands in Brown County before the close of the year 1788.

On July 17, 1788, Congress, by resolution, declared that all locations and surveys between the Little Miami and the Scioto invalid, for the reason that it had not been officially ascertained that there was a deficiency of good lands in the reservation south of the Ohio. This resolution was repealed by an act of Congress passed August 10, 1790, which declared that the lands on the south of the Ohio were insufficient for the purpose for which they had been reserved.

Adventures Of The Early Surveying Parties

After the removal of obstructions by Congress, the surveys proceeded rapidly. The principal deputy surveyors under Gen. R. C. Anderson, who made surveys in Brown County prior to the close of the year 1800, were John O'Bannon, Nathaniel Massie, William Lytle, Arthur Fox, John Beasley and Joseph Kerr. Among those whose names appear as chain-carriers or markers in the returns of surveys in Brown County are Duncan McArthur, afterward a surveyor, and General and Governor of Ohio; John McDonald, author of " McDonald's

Sketches," whose biographies of Massie and McArthur give much interesting information concerning the dangers and hardships of the early surveyors of this district; and a large number of names familiar to the early settlers of Brown County, and prominent among whom were the Washburns and the Beasleys.

A Virginia statute, fixing the fees of the surveyors, provided that they should be paid in tobacco. The fee for surveying and platting 1,000 acres was 320 pounds of tobacco. However, as the risk of making entries was great, and as it was desirable to possess the best land, the owners of warrants, in most cases, made liberal contracts with the surveyors. One- fourth, one-third, and sometimes as much as one-half, acquired by the entry of good lands were given by the proprietors to the surveyors. If the owners preferred paying money, the usual terms were £10, Virginia currency, for each 1,000 acres entered and surveyed, exclusive of chainmen's expenses. These terms cannot appear extravagant when we consider that, at that * time, the danger encountered was great, the exposure during the winter severe, and that the price of first-rate land in the West was low, and an immense quantity in market.

The locations of land warrants in the Virginia Military District between the Scioto and the Little Miami, prior to 1790, were made by stealth. Every creek which was explored, every line that was run, was at the risk of life from the savage Indians, whose courage and perseverance were only equaled by the perseverance of the whites to push forward their settlements. The winters were selected as the season most secure for the surveys, the Indians then being in winter quarters.

After Gen. Nathaniel Massie had made the first settlement in the district at Manchester, in the winter of 1790, he became the most extensive surveyor and land speculator in Ohio at that time. When seventeen years old, he had been in the Revolutionary war. He then studied surveying, and in 1785, when he was twenty years old, left for Kentucky to seek his fortune.

" Young Massie soon became an expert surveyor, and it was a matter of astonishment (as he was raised in the dense population east of the mountains) how soon he acquired the science and habits of the backwoodsmen. Although he never practiced the art of hunting, he was admitted, by all wh > knew his qualifications as a woodsman, to be of the first order. He could steer his course truly in clear or cloudy weather, and compute distances more correctly th?n most of the old hunters. He could endure fatigue and hunger with more composure than most of those persons who were inured to want on the frontier. He could live upon meat without bread, and bread without meat, and was perfectly cheerful and contented with his fare. In all the perilous situations in which he was placed, he was always conspicuous for his good feeling and the happy temperament of his mind. His courage was of a cool and dispassionate character, which, added to great circumspection in times of danger, gave him a complete ascendancy over hi3 companions, who were always willing to follow when Massie ied the way."

In his surveys, he usually had, besides himself, three assistant surveyors, and six men with each surveyor. The parties all moved with great caution. First went the hunter, looking for game and on the watch for the Indians; next, the surveyor, two chainmen and marker; then the packhorse man with baggage, and, two or three hundred yards in the rear, a watchman, on the trail, to guard against an attack from behind. When night came, four fires were made for cooking - that is, one for each mess. Around these fires, till sleeping time arrived, the company spent their time in the most social glee, singing songs and telling stories. When danger was not apparent or immediate, they were as merry a set of men as ever assembled. Resting time arriving, Massie always gave the signal, and the whole party would then leave their comfortable fires, carrying with them their blankets, their firearms and their little baggage, walking in perfect silence two or three hundred yards from their fires. They would then scrape away the snow and huddle down together for the night. Each mess formed one bed; they would spread down on the ground one-half of the blankets, reserving the other half for covering. The covering blankets were fastened together by skewers, to prevent them from slipping apart. Thus prepared, the whole party crouched down together, with their rifles , in their arms, and their pouches under their heads for pillows; lying spoon fashion, with three heads one way and four the other, their feet extending to about the middle of their bodies. When one turned, the whole mess turned, or else the close range would be broken and the cold let in. In this way they lay till broad daylight, no noise and scarce a whisper being uttered during the night. When it was perfectly light, Massie would call up two of the men in whom he had most confidence, and send them to reconnoiter and make a circuit around the fires, lest an ambuscade might be formed by the Indians to destroy the party as they returned to the fires. This was an invariable custom in every variety of weather. Self-preservation required this circumspection.

During one of his expeditions, which set out from Manchester in the winter of 1794-95, with Nathaniel Beasley, John Beasley and Peter Lee as assistant surveyors, and took the route of Logan's trace to the Deserted Camp, the ground was covered with a sheet of snow from six to ten .inches deep. During the tour, which continued upward of thirty days, the party had no bread. For the first two weeks, a pint of flour was distributed to each mess once a day, to mix with the soup in which meat had been boiled.

After the defeat of the Indians by Wayne, the surveyors were not interrupted by the Indians; but on one of their excursions, still remembered as "the starving tour," the whole party, consisting of twenty -eight men, suffered extremely in a driving snow-storm for about four days. They were in a wilderness, exposed to this severe storm, without hut, tent or covering, and, what was still more appalling, without provision, and without any road or even track to retreat on, and were nearly one hundred miles from any place of shelter. On the third day of the storm, they luckily killed two wild turkeys, which were boiled and divided into twenty-eight parts, and devoured with great avidity, heads, feet, entrails and all.

Gen. William Lytle was one of the most extensive surveyors and landdealers in Clermont and Brown Counties. When only seventeen years old, he passed through Brown County, a volunteer in Col. Logan's expedition against the Indians. He was born in Cumberland, Penn., and, in 1799, his family emigrated to Kentucky, where his boyhood was mostly passed. When a youngman, he began to make surveys and locate land warrants in the Virginia Military District. This business he followed for the greater portion of his life. Before the treaty of Greenville, he was exposed to incessant dangers, suffered great privations, and was sometimes attacked by the Indians. About 1796, he laid out the town of Williamsburg, which at first was known as Lytlestown. Lytle became the first Clerk of Court of Clermont under the Territorial government. In 1810, Gen. Lytle removed from Williamsburg to Cincinnati, where he died in 1810.

While the early surveys were in progress in Brown and adjoining counties, the Indian depredations upon boats on the Ohio and into the settlements of Kentucky were so numerous and destructive that scouts or spies were engaged to range along the river from Maysville to the mouth of the Big Sandy River, and also, for a part of the time at least, between Maysville and the month of the Little Miami. In the spring of 1792, the four scouts who ranged between Maysville and the month of the Big Sandy, as their names appear in the account given in McDonald's Sketches, were Samuel Davis, Duncan McArthur (afterward Governor of Ohio), Nathaniel Beasley (afterward a prominent citizen of Brown County) and Samuel McDowell. Benjamin Beasley, a brother of Nathaniel, and afterward an early settler of Brown County, although not named by McDonald, was also for a time a scout along the Ohio. " These men," says McDonald, " upon every occasion, proved themselves worthy of the confidence placed in them by their countrymen. Nothing which could reasonably be expected of men but was done by them. Two and two they went together. They made their tours once a week to the mouth of Big Sandy Biver. On Monday morning, two of them would leave Limestone, and reach Sandy by Wednesday evening. On Thursday morning, the other two would leave Limestone for the mouth of Sandy. Thus they would meet or pass each other about opposite the mouth of Scioto Biver; and by this constant vigilance, the two sets of spies would pass the mouth of Scioto, in going and returning, four times each week. This incessant vigilance would be continued till late in November, or the first of December, when hostilities generally ceased, in the later years of the Indian wars. Sometimes the spies would go up and down the Ohio in canoes. In such cases, one of them would push the canoe and the other would go on foot, through the woods, keeping about a mile in advance of the canoe, the footman keeping a sharp lookout for ambuscade or other Indian sign."

Want Of System In The Surveys

In the Virginia Military District, lands to satisfy the military warrants were located in various geometrical figures, and with boundary lines running in every direction. The tract was never laid out into regular townships or sections. The owner of a Virginia military warrant was permitted to locate it in such shape, and in whatever place in the district it pleased him, provided the land had not been previously located. The only limitation of the shape of the location was that of a Virginia statute which required the breadth of each survey to be at least one-third of its length in every part, unless the breadth was restricted by mountains, water-courses or previous locations. In consequence of this want of system, there were interferences and encroachments of one land entry upon another, and great difficulty is to-day experienced in tracing titles in this district.

In addition to the troubles resulting from the overlapping of one survey upon another, sometimes, when a tract was intended to adjoin another, the sur veyors failed to run along the lines of the tract already surveyed, thus leaving a strip of unappropriated land to become the subject of controversy and litigation. A case went to the Supreme Court from Brown County in 1846, in which forty-one and one-fourth acres between two surveys long before located were in controversy. In this case, John Joliffe, Hamer & Johnston and J. H. Johnson were the attorneys. The Supreme Court in this case decided that the survey limits the grant to the calls of the survey, and that, where a discrepancy exists in the calls, the line actually run is to be found by having recourse to the more certain, fixed and natural objects called for in the boundary.

The early settlers, in their haste to locate upon the lands they had bought, and reclaim them from the woods, were often careless about their titles, and frequently were grossly imposed upon. The records and traditions give accounts of some who were compelled to pay twice for their lands; some who paid over again a portion of what they had paid years before; and others who

In consequence of the want of system in the original surveys, the irregularities in the locations of the warrants, the large size of the tracts located, and their remaining in the possession of non-residents for two or more generations, it is believed that more than double the litigation has arisen concerning titles and boundaries in the Virginia Military District than in any other portion of Ohio of equal extent. Time and the statute of limitations, however, have cured most defects of title and settled most questions of disputed boundaries.

The following, from the pen of Hon. Reader W. Clarke, on the subject of land titles in this district, we find in the history of Clermont County, page 49:

" Most persons holding the Virginia land warrants never saw the land upon which they were laid, as surveyors took them to locate, and generally for a share of the land, more or less, as they could drive the bargain. Large tracts of a thousand acres or more were often thus located; the surveyor getting for his pay the larger half, and, being upon the ground, was enabled to secure the best portion. Some of the surveys are large, calling for several thousand acres, and invariably overrunning the quantity named. Breckenridge's Survey, upon which Bethel is situated, called for 4,000 acres, while in fact it contains over six thousand; and thus the Government was cheated out of the surplus of the survey. It was not unfrequently the case that holders of warrants could have them laid upon well-chosen lands by competent surveyors for the surplus, and it often happened in such cases that the surveyor would get the most land. About the year 1835, a land speculator got a small warrant, calling for about one hundred acres, located by a surveyor who was a preacher of the Gospel, and who was to make the location for the surplus; and he did his work well; but the surplus was larger than the quantity called for in the patent. By this method of locating large tracts, to remain in the hands of non-residents, living far away from the lands, and often descending by death to heirs, and the title becoming tangled and difficult to be gathered up into a perfect legal conveyance; and* furthermore, by the very bad practice of speculators selling lands to emigrants upon mere bond for title, without themselves having perfected their right to such lands, or, indeed, often without intending ever to do so, the broad foundation for future trouble was laid. Land was sold very cheap, even so low as $1 per acre for choice selections, and for sometimes 50 cents, 25 cents, and less, if more could not be had; but, cheap as it appeared to the unsuspecting purchaser, it often proved his ruin. He would go upon his land, build his cabin, clear out his fields, and, just as he was beginning to realize some of the fruits of his hard labor, a claimant with a better title would call upon him, and he would have to surrender up all, without a return of his purchase money or pay for improvements. Sometimes the occupants would hold on to their shadow of a title and risk the chances of a law suit; but of course the better title prevailed, and they lost not only their land, but, as be fore narrated, were harassed by lawyers' fees and cost bills, which, in many cases, finished up the administration of the poor man's worldly effects, and left him almost as naked as when he came into the world. Many bought their farms a second and even a third time before they were quieted in their titles.

"Few men contributed more to this ruinous state of things than Gen. Lytle, who was extensively engaged in locating land warrants and selling . lands, and had many and influential friends, and all adventurers into the county who wanted land were recommended to Lytle. He was a man of easy and affable address, not difficult to trade with, and of course the all-confidicg purchaser desired nothing but the word and bond of Gen. Lytle for a deed, and felt secure that all was right, and in his faith paid his money and expend- ed his labor to improve his possessions. Old pioneers say that any person wishing land had only to call on Gen. Lytle, name the quantity and location, and he would at once close the bargain, take the money and give his bond for a deed, although he had no particle of title whatever, or right to sell, but probably he intended to get in the title - a thing not difficult for him, but not always done - and of course the consequence was the poor, confiding settler lost his land and all his labor bestowed upon it, as well as the purchase money; for our information is, very few were ever fully indemnified by Lytle for their losses. Tradition says Gen. Lytle made most of his surveys on horseback, and the well-known historical fact that his surveys, more than those of any other early surveyors, overran in quantity, is to be attributed to this circumstance; for in the saddle he was not able, on account of the thickets, ravines, underbrush and other obstructions, to get around, but stopped short or went beyond the required points to make his surveying accurate; and, as land was cheap as a song, and there was never an expectation that it would all be taken up and farmed, Lytle was not particular, but surveyed his tracts in wanton disregard of the great future trouble and litigation to subsequent owners and occupants."

Chapter Pioxeer History

THE question who was the first white settler in Brown County is an interesting one, but it is one which can now never receive a satisfactory answer. It is very probable that the first white men who built their cabins within the limits of the county were intruders upon the lands of the Government of the United States. Tradition gives accounts of such intruders on the fertile valleys near the Ohio in this county, and official reports of military officers directed to drive off persons attempting to settle on the lands of the United States, without mentioning this region as one which was intruded upon, render the tradition probable. As early as January 24, 1785, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs instructed Col. Harmar "to employ such force as he may judge necessary in driving off persons attempting to settle on the lands of the United States. ' '

From the correspondence published in the St. Clair papers, it appears that the number of persons who had established themselves northwest of the Ohio before the settlement at Marietta was much larger than is usually supposed. John Emerson, on March 12, 1785, took upon himself the authority to issue a proclamation for elections by the inhabitants of the west side of the Ohio for the choosing of members of a convention for forming a constitution - the elec tions to take place on April 10, 1785, one at the mouth of the Miami, one at the mouth of the Scioto, one on the Muskingum and one at the house of Jonas Menzons. Ensign John Armstrong reported early in 1785 to Col. Harmar that, from the best information he could obtain, there were 1,500 persons on the Miami and Scioto, and upward of 300 families on the Hockhocking and the Muskingum, and down the Ohio for a great distance there was scarcely one bottom without one or more families. These intruders were all dispossessed by the Government authorities. There are traditions of some of these early adventurers intruding themselves into what is now Huntington Township, in the vicinity of Aberdeen, but the details of the history of the attempted settlement there are lost.

The location of the best lands and the most fertile valleys had become known to the whites by means of the expeditions of Kentuckians against the Indians, passing from Limestone northward and northeastward through the County; the explorations of the agents of the owners of Virginia military land warrants, and the excursions of hunters and adventurers. Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton and other early adventurers had passed through the county in different directions long before the first surveys were made.

Limestone, now Maysville, was the chief landing place of the early emigrants to Kentucky, who descended the Ohio in their journey to their new homes. So numerous were the flat-boats that descended the Ohio and stopped at this place that they were scarcely of any value, and were frequently sent adrift in order to make room for others. Gen. Harmar, in building Fort Washington, at Cincinnati, which was one of the most substantial and solid wooden fortresses in the whole territory, obtained the planks for its construclion from the flat-boats brought to Limestone.

January 14, 1790. he wrote the War Department that he had contracted at Limestone for forty or fifty flat-boats at the moderate price of $1 or $2 each.

Gen. Harmar wrote to the Secretary of War from Fort Harmar, May 14, 1787, concerning the number of emigrants passing down the Ohio: "Curiosity prompted me to order the officer of the day to take an account of the number of boats which passed the garrison. From the 10th of October, 1786, until the 12th of May, 1787, 127 boats, 2,689 souls, 1,333 horses, 756 cattle and 102 wagons have passed Muskingum bound for Limestone and the Rapids."

Indian hostilities delayed the settlement of Brown County for several years after the first lands were legally granted to the owners of warrants. More than seven years elapsed from the time the first entry was surveyed and located before it was safe to attempt a settlement in any part of the Virginia Military District without the protection of a fortified station.

First Settlement In The Virginia Military District

The first permanent settlement between the Little Miami and the Scioto was made by Gen. Nathaniel Massie, at Manchester, in Adams County, five miles east of the Brown County line. At this place several of the earliest pioneers of Brown County located themselves until it became safe to settle upon their lands, and from it as a base of operations for the early surveying parties were large tracts of land in this and adjoining counties surveyed. John Mc- Donald, in his interesting volume of biographical sketches, says:

"Massie, in the winter of the year 1790, determined to make a settlement that he might be in the midst of his surveying operations and secure his party from danger and exposure. In order to effect this, he gave general notice in Kentucky of his intention, and offered each of the first twenty-five families, as a donation, one inlot, one outlot and 100 acres of land, provided they would settle in a town he intended to lay off at his settlement. His proffered terms were soon closed in with, and upward of thirty families joined him. After various consultations with his friends, the bottom on the Ohio River, opposite the lower of the Three Islands, was selected as the most eligible spot. Here he fixed his station, and laid off into lots a town, now called Manchester, at this time a small place, about twelve miles above Maysville (formerly Limestone), Ky. This little confederacy, with Massie at the helm (who was the soul of it), went to work with spirit. Cabins were raised, and, by the middle of March, 1791, the whole town was inclosed with strong pickets, firmly fixed in the ground, with block- houses at each angle for defense.

"Thus was the first settlement in the Virginia Military District, and the fourth settlement in the bounds of the State of Ohio, effected. Although this settlement was commenced in the hottest Indian war, it suffered less from depredation, and even interruptions, from the Indians, than any settlement previously made on the Ohio River. This was no doubt owing to the watchful band of brave spirits who guarded the place- - men who were reared in the midst of danger and inured to perils and as watchful as hawks. Here were the Beasleys, the Stouts, the Washburns, the Ledoms, the Edgingtons, the Denings, the Ellisons, the Utts, the McKenzies, the Wades and others, who were equal to the Indians in all the arts and stratagems of border war.

" As soon as Massie had completely prepared his station for defense, the whole population went to work, and cleared the lower of the Three Islands, and planted it in corn. The island was very rich and produced heavy crops. The woods, with a little industry, supplied a choice variety of game. Deer, elk, buffalo, bears and turkeys were abundant, while the river furnished a variety of excellent fish. The wants of the inhabitants, under these circumstances, were few and easily gratified.

were the inhabitants at Columbia, a settlement below the mouth of the Little Miami, five miles above Cincinnati, and at Gallipolis, a French settlement, near the mouth of the Great Kanawha."

The following contract between. Massie and his associates in establishing this settlement illustrates the dangers which were apprehended and the necessity of offering rewards to those who were willing to face the dangers:

Articles of agreement between Nathaniel Massie, of one part, and the several persons that have hereunto subscribed, of the other part, witnesseth : That the subscribers hereunto doth oblige themselves to settle in the town laid off on the northwest side of the Ohio, opposite the lower part of the Two Islands ; and make said town or the neighborhood on the northwest side of the Ohio their permanent seat of residence for the two years from the date hereof. No subscriber shall absent himself more than two months at a time, and during such absence shall furnish a strong able-bodied man sufficient to bear arms at least equal to himself. No subscriber shall absent himself the time above mentioned in case of actual danger ; nor shall such absence be but once a year. No subscriber shall absent himself in case of actual danger ; or, if absent, shall return immediately. Each of the subscribers doth oblige themselves to comply with the rules and regulations that shall be agreed upon by a majority thereof for the support of the settlement.

In consideration whereof, Nathaniel Massie doth bind and oblige himself, his heirs, &c., to make over and convey to such of the subscribers as comply Vitli the above conditions, at the expiration of two years, a good and sufficient title unto one in-lot in said town, containing five poles in front and eleven back ; one out-lot of four acres convenient to said town in the bottom, which the said Massie is to put them in immediate possession of ; also 100 hundred acres of land, which the said Massie has shown to a part of said subscribers, the conveyance to be made to each of the subscribers, their heirs or assignees.

Progress Of Settlements

There were no fortified stations or block-houses for defense against the Indians within the limits of Brown County. The long war which ended with Wayne's treaty at Greenville was a cruel one. The Miami country was known as tho "Miami Slaughter House." Early in the spring of 1794, a committee of the citizens of the settlements protected by Fort Washington and the blockhouses at Columbia published a notice in the Centinel of the Northwest Territory, offering premiums for the scalps of Indians killed in the Miami country. The premiums offered were from $95 to $136 for each scalp " having the right ear appendant" of an Indian killed within the iimits of the district described in the proclamation issued by the committee. The survey of lands and the marking of trees by the surveyors, indicating an intention of permanently occupying the hunting grounds of the Indians, had greatly incensed the savages and increased their cruelty.

W'ayne's victory over the Indians was achieved August 20. 1794. It did not at once reduce the savages to absolute submission. Six months after the victory, there were occasional reports of white men murdered by Indians. The treaty of peace at Greenville, ratified August 3, 1795, put an end to these murders.

tlements in Brown County much before the ratification of the treaty at Greenville, although some of the more daring woodsmen may have ventured to build their huts north of the Ohio without the protection of a fortified station soon after Wayne's victory. If so, they were willing not only to brave dangers from savage foes, but to endure privations of a lonely life in the wilderness.

Family traditions concerning the early settlements sometimes confound the date of the first visit of a pioneer to his lands, or the date of his purchase, with that of his settlement. Many of the pioneers had purchased their lands long before it was safe to settle upon them. They may have made frequent visits to their lands, and perhaps begun the work of clearing and making improvements, before becoming permanent residents thereon. Many of the early settlers had selected choice tracts of land in Brown County for their future homes, and remained in Kentucky, anxiously waiting the subjugation of the savages to render it safe to remove north of the Ohio. Doubtless in some cases crops of corn were raised north of the river by those who still lived in the more secure settlements of Kentucky.

It has been claimed that Belteshazzar Dragoo built the first cabin and was the first permanent settler on Eagle Creek. In the Atlas of Brown County, published in 1876, it states that " the first settlement within the limits of the county, of which any definite account can be obtained, was made by Belteshazzar Dragoo, who settled on Eagle Creek, about three miles from Bipley, in 1794. He had a family of twelve children, of whom only one (Benjamin) is now living, he being the youngest of the family. He is supposed to have built the first house, a log cabin, in the county." The question whether this was the first settlement in the county must be left an open one. It is certain, however, that Dragoo had his attention directed to the lands on Eagle Greek at a very early period, as is shown by a title bond which was among the first documents recorded in the land records of Adams County, Ohio. In the bond, which was dated August 24, 1791, Alexander McIntyre, of the State of Virginia and District of Kentucky, bound himself in the penal sum of £200 lawful currency to make unto Belteshazzar Dragoo, whose residence is not stated, " a good and sufficient deed for 450 acres of first-rate land lying on both sides of and on the waters of Eagle Creek, where it shall be convenient for a mil] seat, with four feet head and fall; the said deed to be made as soon as it can be obtained from the office, and the said lands to lie within ten miles of the river."

The details of the early settlements belong to the histories of the townships. Leaving the questions of the date of the first settlement in the county and the name of the first settler as unsettled, and now impossible to be determined, we may safely assume from known facts that there were few, if any, families within the limits of the county prior to Wayne's treaty of peace and no considerable immigration to the county until the succeeding spring.

The earliest settlers usually established themselves on the- Ohio or the streams flowing into that river. It is certain that in the year 1799, there was a considerable population on Eagle, Bed Oak, Straight and White Oak Creeks. It was in the spring of 1796 that the full tide of emigration to the Northwest Territory began to flow in, and, within a few years from that time, most of the fertile tracts in the southern portion of this county were picked out and occupied by actual settlers.

The first town within the limits of the county was St. Ciairville, laid out by Basil Duke and John Coburn, August 1, 1801. The name was about fifteen years later changed by the Legislature to Decatur.

In August, 1803, a census was taken of the white male inhabitants twentyone years old and upward of the new State of Ohio. The number reported in Adams County was 906; the number in Clermont County, 755. Assuming that the territory now forming Brown County contained one-third of the aggregate population of these two counties, there were in Brown County, the first year of the existence of Ohio as a State, 550 white adult males, or a total population of about 2,200. This is a smaller population than was then found in Butler, Warren or Ross, but larger than that in Montgomery or Greene, and about dou ble that of Scioto.

A large portion of the land in Brown and Clermont Counties was regarded as an interminable swamp, and was settled slowly. These flat lands were covered with water more than half the year, and were called slashes. Much of this land was regarded as worthless. As late as 1828, large tracts of these wet lands lying along the water-shed between White Oak and East Fork had not been surveyed or located.

George Sample, writing in the American Pioneer in 1842, says that in the year 1797 he rode from Manchester to Wood's Mill, on the Little Miami, below Deerfield, and there was then but one house on the trace from Manchester to the Little Miami; that house was situated about seven miles from the site of New Market. As late as 1809, James Finley, writing from West Union, said of Adams County, which then included a large portion of Brown, that the country did not improve very rapidly; that he knew of but one brick or stone building in the country, and that one was unfinished.

The Virginia Military Reservation was not settled and improved as rapidly as many other parts of the State. The Virginians who owned the original surveys were indisposed to settle upon them because of the prohibition of slavery in the ordinance of 1787. At the first session of the Legislature of the Northwest Territory, in 1799, petitions were presented from Virginians who owned lands between the Little Miami and the Scioto, asking for a temporary suspension of the provision of the ordinance which prevented them from removing with their slaves to their lands. The Legislature at once decided that they had no authority to grant the prayer of the petitioners.

There were other causes of a slower increase in the population of this district - first, the large surveys in which the land was generally divided, which prevented persons of small means from seeking farms here; second, the difficulty emigrants experienced in finding the real owners of the surveys, who generally resided in Kentucky or Virginia and frequently had no agents in the district to subdivide, sell or show the lands; and third, the frequent interference of different entries and surveys with each other, rendering titles insecure and giving rise to litigation. Although only a small portion of the lands of Brown County were subject to this last difficulty, yet it cannot be doubted that many persons were thereby deterred from purchasing lands here and settling upon them.

For some years after the whites made their homes in the county, small parties of Indians pncamped occasionally near the settlements. It is believed that no white man was killed by an Indian in this region after the Greenville treaty of peace. The Indians continued to steal horses from the whites long after that treaty. In a note book of Samuel B. Walker, an early surveyor, it is stated that his horse was stolen by the Indians in the neighborhood of Williamsburg, on the night of May 22, 1799, and Robert Dickey's horse was stolen the same night. In the autumn of the same year, both horses were returned to their owners; and Walker in his lifetime stated that they were returned in response to a proclamation of the Territorial governmental authorities, offering rewards for the return of horses stolen by the Indians. In 1796, Judge John Cleves Symmes wrote that he wished Congress would make it a penal offense for a white man to buy a horse from an Indian, as the Indian would steal another to take the place of the one sold - no Indian being willing to walk if he could steal a horse. Oxen were sometimes used by the early pioneers, being much less likely to be run off. There is reason to believe that roving bands of Indians were not so numerous in the settlements of Brown County as they were between the Miami Rivers. An early pioneer used to say that he removed from Columbia to Brown County in order to get out of the way of the Indians.

The following old petitions, preserved by their publication inCist's " Cincinnati Miscellany," in 1845, give the names of some of the earliest settlers in the central portion of Brown County:

Dear Sir - We, a number of inhabitants situated in the aforesaid territory and county of Hamilton, between the waters of Eagle and Straight Creeks, and thereabouts, being at a great distance from a Magistrate, or Justice of the Peace - a grievance which we consider ourselves to labor under - we therefore have thought proper to petition your Honor for Alexander Martin to be commissioned in such an office, as we look upon him to be an honest, well-meaning man, and a citizen here amongst us, whom we have selected for that purpose. This, dear sir, being our grievance, a removal of which, we, your petitioners, humbly pray:

Dear Sir - We, a number of inhabitants situated between the waters of Eagle and Straight Creeks, and thereabouts, in the aforesaid territory and county of Hamilton, being destitute of militia officers, such as Captain/Lieutenant and Ensign, we therefore have thought proper to petition your Honor for such, and have selected Thomas McConnell for Captain, John Mefford, Lieutenant, and Amos Ellis, Ensign, if your Honor shall think proper to commission them in that office. This, dear sir, being the desires for which we, your petitioners, do humbly pray:

In October, 1797, Rev. James Smith, then of Powhatan County, Va., made a journey from his native State through Kentucky to the Northwest Territory. As he rode northward through Mason Couuty, Ky. , the first lands north of the Ohio he saw were the hills of Brown County. He afterward rode through the

"Monday, 2d October, 1797. - Brother McCormick, Brother Teal, Mr. Sewell and myself set out for the Ohio. We traveled about thirty miles and reached a little village called Germantown, about 8 o'clock in the evening, and took up with a Mr. Black.

"Tuesday, 3d. - We pursued our journey and reached a little town on the bank of the Ohio, about 11 o'clock. From a . high eminence, we had a view of that beautiful country beyond the river, and were charmed with its appearance. I longed to be there. We took some refreshment at Augusta, then took boat, and, about 1 o'clock, made the opposite shore. The Ohio River, of all that I ever saw, is the most beautiful stream. It flows in a deep and gentle current; it is from one-half to three-quarters of a mile in width; it is confined in high banks, which it seldom, if ever, overflows. The adjoining hills are lofty, from which a charming view of the river and lower lands presents itself. How delightful will be the scene when these banks shall be covered with towns, these hills with houses and the noble stream with the produce of these fertile and fruitful countries! We rode down the river three or four miles, to the mouth of the Bullskin Creek; then left the river and passed northwardly through a rich and beautiful country. The land after leaving the river lies high and is very level. The trees, which are mostly white and red oak, are the largest and most beautiful timber I ever beheld. The soil appears deep, clear of stone, and wild peavines are abundant. It was very pleasant to see the deer skipping over the bushes and the face of the country clad in a livery of green. We crossed the waters of Bear Creek, Big Indian and arrived at Dunham's Town, on the waters of Poplar Fork of the East Fork. Dunham's Town, or Plainfield, is about twelve miles and a half from the Ohio. Here we saw the fruits of honest industry. Mr. Dunham is a Baptist minister, who left Kentucky on account of its being a land of oppression. He arrived here last April, and since then has reared several houses, cleared a small plantation, has a fine field of corn growing, a number of vines and garden vegetables, an excellent field of wheat and a meadow already green with the rising timothy. The old man seems to possess both grace and talents, with a spirit greatly opposed to slavery. He thinks that God will withdraw His spirit from such countries and persons as having the light resist it. * * * * * *

"Monday, 16th. - Brother McCormick, Brother Howard, Mr. Sewell and myself started for the Scioto. We traveled up the East Fork of the Little Miami about twelve miles and encamped in the woods. The lands on East Fork are very rich, lie well, and are of a soft, light nature when cleared, and easy to cultivate.

"Tuesday, 17th. - We rose a little before day, fed bur horses, and, as soon as it began to be light, pursued our journey. We arrived about 8 o'clock at a little town called Williamsburg, settled last spring by eight or nine families. Here we got breakfast, then set forward, pursuing a course north 75 degrees east, through an amazingly level and sometimes swampy country. It lies about midway between the Miami and the Scioto, on the waters of a creek called White Oak. The growth is mostly gum, maple, white oak, etc. After leaving the waters of White Oak, we fell in upon the waters of the Rocky Fork of Paint Creek. Here night took us and we encamped.

"Wednesday, 18th. - We started as soon as we could see, and about 1 o'clock reached a house on the banks of Paint Creek. This house is the first we have seen for upward of forty miles. Here we stopped and got a little refreshment. Paint Creek is a clear, pure stream, and at this place is about one hundred yards wide. It seems to be a fine stream for fish, as we stood on the

"At this house, I saw a curiosity. It was the under part of the beak of a fowl called a pelican. It was about eighteen inches long and nine inches broad. Underneath this was a natural bag, which, when the bird was killed, held about a peck. The whole together seemed to bear a near resemblance to a fisherman's skimming net, and, this bird being one that feeds on fish, it is more than probable that this net is used in catching them.

' ' On the bank of Paint Creek I saw cut in the bark of a beech tree the letters 4T. L. & T. D., 1750.' From this circumstance, it is evident that some white man had been here as long as forty- seven years ago; but whether English or French, white trader or prisoner, we cannot now determine. We rode down Paint Creek about twenty miles, and, for beauty and fertility, it exceeds anything that ever my eyes beheld. Here we traveled over ancient walls, ditches, monuments, etc., etc., at the sight of which a considerate mind feels lost in silent contemplation. We arrived a little after dark at Chillicothe, and took up at Umpston's tavern.

four hundred miles through the country, I think I can form a tolerable judgment concerning the same, and will, as concisely as possible, give a general description of the same before leaving it. The land naturally claims the first place. Bordering on the rivers, the land exceeds description. Leaving the rivers, a high hill skirts the low ground; reaching the top of this hill, another level presents itself. There is generally but little stone. Quarries of free stone are plenty on the Scioto, and limestone in many places. Indian corn grows to great perfection. Grass of the meadow kind grows all over the country, and white clover and blue grass grow spontaneously wherever the land is cleared. A country so favored for grass must, of course, be excellent for all kinds of stock. Here I saw the finest beef and mutton I ever saw fed on grass. Hogs also increase and fatten in the woods fin a most surpassing manner. Incredible numbers of bees have found their way to this delightful region, and in vast quantities deposit their honey in the trees of the wood, so that it is not uncommon for the people to take their wagon and team and return loaded with honey."

The father of Elder Matthew Gardner emigrated from Stephentown, N. Y., and settled in Brown County in 1800. Elder Gardner, in his autobiography, says:

"It was on a beautiful morning on the 1st of September, A. D. 1800, when we started. I was in my tenth year when we left Stephentown, and well do I remember the scenes of my childhood. We had but one small wagon with three horses, and other means correspondingly limited. We pursued our way patiently, but perseveringly. The mountains were difficult to climb, the streams were dangerous to ford, the undertaking was hazardous and the journey was long; the weather was pleasant, and the journey was as prosperous as we could expect. We reached Pittsburgh by the 1st of October, just one month from the time of starting. We waited two weeks before we found a boat going down the river. Then we embarked on a flat-boat - the boats then used - with four other families, furniture, wagons, horses and all crowded on one small fiat-boat. The river was low; the progress was slow; sometimes we floated rapidly and sometimes we were long aground. We were four weeks coming down to Limestone - a little village on the Kentucky side of the river. It had but few houses then. Limestone is now called Mavsville. Here Henry Hughs, a land trader, came to the boat to sell us land in Ohio. Father went with him to see the land. He liked it and traded him two horses for 100 acres. We then proceeded on with the boat down the river about twelve miles till we came opposite our land, at a landing two miles below where Ripley now stands. We landed within a few miles of our land, and soon reached our future home, where everything seemed new and strange. We were all in good health, except one brother and sister, who had slight attacks of fever and ague, which soon disappeared. My father rented a little cabin to move into, while he and my two older brothers built a cabin on our land. It was now about the last of November, the most pleasant and delightful autumn I have ever known before or since. This tine weather continued until after Christmas. My father and brother having completed our new home house, we moved into it about the 1st of January, 1801. The tine weather continued that year all winter, there being no weather to prevent out-door work.

"There were but two cabins within some two or three miles of us. There was no ground to rent. Provisions were scarce and only to be procured at any price from a great distance. Our money was about all expended. Our land was covered with a heavy forest, principally of beech and poplar, which must immediately be cleared for crops to prevent starvation the coming year. All who were large enough commenced work. By spring, we had nearly five acres cleared, which we planted in corn and potatoes, which sustained us the coming year. One of our greatest difficulties was to procure those things which the land would not produce. Salt cost from $3 to $4 for a bushel of fifty pounds; other merchandise was proportionately high. We were forced to study economy and compelled to practice it. Wild beasts were plenty. There were birds in abundance. Bears, deer and wild turkeys supplied our table with meat till we reared domestic animals. Sheep and wool were not to be had; oar clothing was of flax and hemp. Suits of these served for all seasons, summer and winter alike. Father and the boys prepared the materials, and my mother and sisters manufactured the cloth and made the garments. We wore no shoes, but moccasins, made of dressed deer skins, for we could get no leather. The deer skin, being spongy, absorbed the water from the ground and snow, so that our feet were often wet. Yet we were all stout and healthy. We needed no doctors, which was well, as none were to be had. We did not eat the wheat, because it was called ' sick wheat,' making those sick who ate it. Our swine refused it. We tried other stock, but all animals rejected it. We preferred the corn. It fell to my lot to take care of the cattle. We had no fenced fields, and while they roamed in the forest for food, it was my care to seek them and keep them from straying far away and being lost. Sometimes in cloudy weather I would get lost, and finding the cattle by the tinkling of the bell, they would then pilot me home.'

" Thursday, Friday and Saturday (August 7, 8 and 9, 1808), I was employed in rambling about the woods, exploring and examining a tract of land of 1,000 acres, in the State of Ohio, which I had purchased when in Europe last year, and which had been the principal cause of my present tour. As it was only six miles from Maysville, I crossed the Ohio and went to it on foot. I had expected to have found a mere wilderness, as soon as I should quit the high road, but, to my agreeable surprise, I found my land surrounded on every side by fine farms, some of them ten years settled, and the land itself, both in quality and situation, not exceeded by any in this fine country. The population was also astonishing for the time of the settlement, which a muster of militia while I was there gave me an opportunity of knowing - there being reviewed a battalion of upward of 500 effective men, most expert in the use of the rifle, belonging to the district of ten miles square. And now I experienced among these honest and friendly farmers real hospitality, for they vied with each other in lodging me at their houses, and in giving me a hearty and generous welcome to their best fare. Robert Simpson, from New Hampshire, and Daniel Ker and Thomas Gibson, from Pennsylvania, shall ever be entitled to my grateful remembrance. I had no letters of introduction - I had no claims on their hospitality, other than what any stranger ought to have. But they were farmers, and had not contracted habits which I have observed to prevail very generally amongst the traders in this part of the world.

" On Saturday, I returned to Ellis Ferry, opposite Maysville. On the bank of the Ohio I found Squire Ellis seated on a bench under the shade of two locust, trees, with a table, pen and ink and several papers, holding a Justice's court, which he does every Saturday. Seven or eight men were sitting on the bench with him, awaiting his awards in their several cases. When he had finished, which was soon after I had taken a seat under the same shade, one of the men invited the Squire to drink with them, which he consented to do; some whisky was provided from Landlord Powers, in which all parties made a libation to peace and justice. There was something in the scene so primitive and so simple that I could not help enjoying it with much satisfaction.

li I took up my quarters for the night at Powers', who is an Irishman from Ballibay, in the county of Monaghan. He pays Squire Ellis $800 per annum for his tavern, fine farm and ferry. He and his wife were very civil, attentive and reasonable in their charges, and he insisted much on lending me a horse to carry me the first six miles over a hilly part of the road to Robinson's tavern, but I declined his kindness, and, on Sunday morning, the 9th of August, after taking a delightful bath in the Ohio, I quit its banks. I walked on toward the northeast, along the main post and stage road, seventeen miles to West Union. The road was generally well settled, and the woods between the settlements were alive with squirrels and all the varieties of woodpeckers with their beautiful plumage, which in one species is little inferior to that of the bird of paradise, so much admired in the East Indies."

Pioneer Life

A truthful account of the mode of life among the early settlers of the Ohio forests cannot fail to interest and instruct. As the backwoods period recedes, its interest increases. It is to be regretted that more of the traditions of the pioneers, giving homely but faithful pictures of the everyday life of the early settlers, have not been preserved. Their recollections of their journeys from the older States over the Alleghany Mountains, the^flat-boat voyage down the Ohio, the clearing in the wilderness, the first winter in the rude cabin and the scanty stores of provisions, the cultivation of corn among the roots and stumps, the cabin raisings and log rollings, the home manufacturing of furniture and clothing, the hunting parties and corn huskings, their social customs and the thousand scenes and novel incidents of life in the woods, would form a more entertaining and instructive chapter than their wars with the Indians or their government annals. Far different was the life of the settler on the Ohio from that of the frontiersman of to-day. The railroad, the telegraph and the daily newspaper did not then bring the comforts and luxuries of civilization to the cabin door of the settler; nor was the farm marked out with a furrow and made ready for cultivation by turning over the sod.

The labor of opening a farm in a forest of large oaks, maples and beech was very great, and the difficulty was increased by the thick growing bushes. Not only were the trees to be cut down; the branches were to be cut off from the trunk, and, with the undergrowth of bushes, gathered together for burning. The trunks of the large trees were to be divided and rolled into heaps and reduced to ashes. W ith hard labor the unaided settler could clear and burn an acre of land in three weeks. It usually required six or seven years for the pioneer to open a small farm and build a better house than this first cabin of round logs. The boys had work to do in gathering brush into heaps. A common mode of clearing was to cut down all the trees of the diameter of eighteen inches or less, clear off the undergrowth and deaden the larger trees by girdling them with the ax and allowing them to stand until they decayed and fell. This method delayed the final clearing of the land for eight or ten years, but when the trunks fell they were usually dry enough to be burned into such lengths as to be rolled together.

The first dwellings of the settlers were cabins made of round logs notched at the ends, the spaces between the logs filled in with sticks of wood and daubed with clay. The roof was of clapboards, held to their places by poles reaching across the roof called weight-poles. The floor was of puncheons, or planks split from logs, two or three inches in thickness, hewed on the upper side. The fire-place was made of logs lined with clay or with undressed stone, and was at least six feet wide. The chimney was often made of split sticks plastered with clay. The door was of clapboards hung on wooden hinges and fastened with a wooden latch. The opening for the window was not infrequently covered with paper made more translucent with oil or lard. Such a house was built by a neighborhood gathering, with no tools but the ax and the frow, and often was finished in a single day. The raising and the log rolling were labors of the settlers, in which the assistance of neighbors was considered essential and cheerfully given. When a large cabin was to be raised, preparations would be made before the appointed day; the trees would be cut down, the logs dragged in and the foundation laid and the skids and forks made ready. Early in the morning of the day fixed, the neighbors gathered for miles around; the captain and corner men were selected, and the work went on with boisterous hilarity until the walls were up and the roof weighted down.

The cabin of round logs was generally succeeded by a hewed log house, more elegant in appearance and more comfortable. Indeed, houses could be made of logs as comfortable as any other kind of building, and were erected in such manner as to conform to the tastes and means of all descriptions of persons. For large families, a double cabin was common; that is, two houses, ten or twelve fefet apart, with one roof covering the whole, the space between serving as a hall for various uses. Henry Clay, in an early speech on the public lands, referred to the different kinds of dwellings sometimes to be seen standing together, as a gratifying evidence of the progress of the new States ''I have," said he, " often witnessed this gratifying progress. On the same farm, you may sometimes behold, standing together, the first rude cabin of round and unhewn logs, and wooden chimneys; the hewed log house, chinked and shingled, with stone or brick chimneys; and lastly, the comfortable stone or brick dwelling, each denoting the different occupants of the farm or the several stages of the condition of the same occupant. What other nation can boast of such an outlet for its increasing population, such bountiful means of promoting their prosperity and securing their independence?"

The furniture of the first rude dwellings was made of puncheons. Clapboards, seats and tables were thus made by the settler himself. Over the door was placed the trusty flint-lock rifle, next to the ax in usefulness to the pioneer, and near it the powder horn and bullet pouch. Almost every family had its little spinning-wheel for flax and big spinning-wheel for wool. The cooking utensils were few and simple, and the cooking was all done at the fireplace. The long winter evenings were spent in contentment, but not in idleness. There was corn to shell and tow to spin at home, and the corn huskings to attend at the neighbors. There were a few books to read, but newspapers were rare. The buckeye log, because of its incombustibility, was valuable as a back log, and hickory bark cast into the fire place threw a pleasing light over a scene of domestic industry and contentment.

The wearing apparel was chiefly of home manufacture. The flax and wool necessary for clothing were prepared and spun in the family, cotton being comparatively scarce. Carding wool by hand was common. Weaving, spinning, dyeing, tailoring for the family were not infrequently all carried on in the household. Not a few of the early settlers made their own shoes. Wool dyed with walnut bark received the name of butternut. Cloth made of mixed linen and wool, called linsey, or linsey-woolsey, of a light indigo blue color, was common for men's wear. A full suit of buckskin with moccasins was sometimes worn by a hunter, but it was not common. A uniform, much worn in the war of 1812, is described as consisting of a light blue linsey hunting- shirt with a cape, the whole fringed and coming half- way down the thigh, a leather belt, shotpouch, powder-horn, a large knife and tomahawk, or hatchet, in the belt, and rifle at the shoulder. The author of the history of Miami County says he has seen Return J. Meigs, Governor of Ohio, and Jeremiah Morrow, United States Senator, and other high officials, wear this hunting-shirt while on frontier duty during that war.

With the early settlers, almost the only modes of locomotion were on foot and on horseback. The farmer took his corn and wheat to mill on horseback; the wife went to market or visited her distant friends on horseback. Salt, hardware and merchandise were brought to the new settlements on packhorses. The immigrant came to his new home not infrequently with provisions, cook ing utensils and beds packed on a horse, his wife and small children on another horse. Lawyers made the circuit of their courts, doctors visited their patients and preachers attended their preaching stations on horseback. The want of ferries and bridges made the art of swimming a necessary quality in a saddlehorse. "Is he a good swimmer?" was a common question in buying a horse for the saddle. Francis Dunlavy, as President J udge of a district embracing ten counties, made the circuit of his courts on horseback, never missing a court and frequently swimming his horse over the Miamis rather than fail of being present.

In 1803, when Jeremiah Morrow was called to the National Capital as the first Representative in Congress from Ohio, he made the journey on horseback, taking with him his wife and their two children, aged, respectively, three years and eighteen months, to the residence of Mrs. Morrow's parents in the old Redstone country in Pennsylvania. Leaving his wife and children at the home of her parents until the close of the session, he continued his journey over the mountains to W ashington. For sixteen successive years did Mr. Morrow make this annual horseback ride from his home on the Little Miami to attend the sessions of Congress. The journey was more trying to the strength and endurance of the horse than the rider. Especially was the return homeward in the spring slow and difficult. The forests kept the roads moist longer than they now remain, and in the fresh condition of the soil they often became almost impassable. With one favorite and hardy horse, Mr. Morrow made twelve trips over the Alleghanies. But this was exceptional. With no other horse he owned was it deemed advisable to attempt a third journey.

The country was infested with horse-thieves. The unsettled condition of the country made the recovery of stolen horses very difficult. The horsestealing proclivity of the Indians was one of the chief causes of the hatred of the early settlers toward the red men; but, after all depredations by the Indians had ceased, the farmers continued to suffer much from horse-thieves, who were believed to be often organized into gangs. The great value of the horse and the difficulty of recovering one when run away caused the pioneer to look with malignant hatred upon the horse-thief. The early Legislatures were composed almost entirely of farmers, and they endeavored to break up this kind of larceny by laws inflicting severe penalties - corporal punishment, fines, imprisonment and even mutilation. The following is the penalty for horsestealing prescribed in an act passed in 1809: "The person so offending shall, on conviction thereof, for the first offense, be whipped not exceeding one hundred and not less than fifty stripes on his naked back, and on conviction of each succeeding offense of a like nature shall be whipped not exceeding two hundred nor less than one hundred stripes on his naked back; for the third offense shall have both ears cropped, and in either case shall restore to the owner the property stolen or repay him the value thereof, with damages, in either case, and be imprisoned not exceeding two years, and fined not exceeding $1,000 at the discretion of the court, and be ever after the first offense rendered incapable of holding any office of trust, being a juror or giving testimony in any court in this State."

Ear-cropping was prescribed for no other offense, and, as it was the penalty for the third offense of the horse-stealer, it is doubtful whether it was ever actually inflicted in Ohio. The railroad and the telegraph, by affording the means for the more certain detection of the criminal and the recovery of the stolen property, did more to put down this crime than the most severe penalties.

The little copper distillery was to be found in most neighborhoods throughout the county. Rye and corn whisky was a common drink. It was kept in the cupboard or on the shelf of almost every family, and sold at all the licensed taverns, both in the town and country. The early merchants advertised that good rye whisky, at 40 cents a gallon, would be taken in exchange for goods; houses and lots were offered for sale, flour or whisky taken in full payment. It was a part of hospitality to offer the bottle to the visitor. Whisky in a tin cup was passed around at the house-raising, the log-rolling and in the harvest field. It is a mooted question not easily settled whether intemperance was more common then than now. That the spirituous liquors of those days were purer is admitted, but the notion that they were less intoxicating seems net to have been well founded. Excess in drinking then as now brought poverty, want and death. The early settler with the purest of liquors could drink himself to death.

Character Of The Pioneers

The early emigrants to Brown County ma}7 be described as a bold and resolute, rather than a cultivated people It has been laid down as a general truth that a population made up of immigrants will contain the hardy and vigorous elements of character in a far greater proportion than the same number of persons born upon the soil and accustomed to tread in the footsteps of their fathers. It required enterprise and resolution to sever the ties which bound them to the place of their birth, and. upon their arrival in the new country, the stern face of nature and the necessities of their condition made them bold and energetic. Individuality was fostered by the absence of old familiar customs, family alliances and the restraints of old social organizations. The early settlers of Brown County were plain men and women of good sense, without the refinements which luxury brings, and with great contempt for all shams and mere pretense.

A majority of the early settlers belonged to the middle class. Few were, by affluence, placed above the necessity of labor with their hands, and few were so poor that they could not become the owners of small farms. The mass of the settlers were the owners in fee simple of at least a small farm.

Perhaps a majority of the pioneers were opposed to slavery. Although the larger proportion of them had emigrated from slaveholding States, they had fled from the evils of slavery and were opponents of the slave system. As a consequence, that form of pride which looks upon labor as degrading never had a foothold in the county. Rev. James Smith, whose journal is elsewhere quoted, noted this fact. He had been reared in Virginia, but had a great abhorrence for every form of human bondage. Speaking of the inhabitants of the Northwest Territory, he says:

' ' Here the industrious farmer cultivates his farm with his own hands, eats the bread of cheerfulness and rests contented on his pillow at night. The mother instructs her daughters in the useful and pleasing accomplishments of the distaff and the needle, with all things else necessary to constitute them provident mothers and good housewives. The young man, instead of the cowskin, or some other instrument of torture, takes hold of an ax or follows the plow. The ruddy damsel thinks it no disgrace to wash her clothes or milk her cows or dress the food of the family. In a word, it is here no disgrace to engage in any of the honest occupations of life, and the consequence is the people live free from want, free from the perplexity and free from the guilt of keeping slaves."

The backwoods age was not a golden age. However pleasing it may be to contemplate the industry and frugality, the hospitality and general sociability of the pioneer times, it would be improper to overlook the less pleasing features of the picture. Hard toil made men old before their time. The means of culture and intellectual improvement were inferior. In the absence of the refinement of literature, music and the drama, men engaged in rude, coarse and sometimes brutal amusements. Public gatherings were often marred by scenes of drunken disorder and fighting. The dockets of the courts show a large proportion of cases of assault and battery and affray. While some of the settlers had books and studied them, the mass of the people had little time for study. Post roads and post offices were few, and the scattered inhabitants rarely saw a newspaper or read a letter from their former homes. Their knowledge of politics was obtained from the bitter discussions of opposing aspirants for office. The traveling preacher was their most cultivated teacher. The tourist from a foreign country or from one of the older States was compelled to admit that life in the backwoods was not favorable to amenity of manners. One of these travelers wrote of the Western people in 1802 : "Their Generals distill whisky, their Colonels keep tavern and their statesmen feed pigs."

Josiah Espy, author of ''Memoranda of a Tour in Ohio and Kentucky in 1805," traveled through the Virginia Military District. In passing from Limestone, Ky., to Chillicothe, Ohio, he traveled over the new State road and over a very rugged and thinly populated portion of the district, and formed an unfavorable opinion of the region. He thus recorded in his journal his impressions of the people of Ohio:

"The emigration to the State of Ohio at this time is truly astonishing. From my own personal observations, compared with the opinion of some gentlemen I have consulted, I have good reason to conclude that, during the pres® ent year, from twenty to thirty thousand souls have entered that State for the purpose of making it their future residence. They are chiefly from Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee, but, on inquiry, you will find some from every State in the Union, including many foreigners. The inhabitants of the State of Ohio, being so lately collected from all the States, have, as yet, obtained no National character. The state of society, however, for some years to come, cannot be very pleasant - the great body of the people being not only poor, but rather illiterate. Their necessities will, however, give them habits of industry ancfTabor, and have a tendency to increase the morals of the rising generation. This, with that respect for the Christian religion which generally prevails among that class of people now emigrating to the State, wili lay the best foundation for their future National character. It is to be regretted, however, that at present few of them have a rational and expanded view of the beauty, excellence and order of that Christian system, the essence of which is divine wisdom. The great body of the people will, therefore, it is to be feared, be a party for some years to priestcraft, fanaticism find religious enthusiasm. "

Gov. St. Clair, in a letter to Paul Fearing, dated at Chillicothe, December 25, 1801, argued that the people of the Territory; were not prepared for selfgovernment. The following is an extract:

" Where is the information necessary for the formation of a constitution for so extended a country, inhabited by people whose manners are so different, and where are the means to support it? Our people are all so poor (a few excepted about this place, who have suddenly raised great fortunes by speculations in lands and many of those not the most honorable), that they can barely live in a very wretched manner; but, of the few towns, there is scarcely a habitation to be seen better than Indian wigwams. The greatest part of the people are new-comers, and you well know that it requires a long time to subdue a country all in forests, and much labor and expense, so that had we even many men of talents and information, as we certainly have some, they have no leisure from the calls to provide for their future welfare, to employ their thought on abstruse questions of government and policy." In an earlier letter to Senator James Koss, Gov. St. Clair said: "A multitude of indigent and ignorant people are but ill -qualified to form a constitution and government for themselves. " ~

The Primitive Forests

It is not easy to describe the forests of Ohio as they appeared in their primitive luxuriance to the eyes of the pioneers. No woodland to-day, even in the most unfrequented spot, wears the rich and exuberant garb which nature gave it. Under the transforming power of civiliziation, the earth assumes a new aspect. Even the^ woods. and the streams are changed. Herbage and shrubs which once grew luxuriantly in our forests have been eaten out by cattle until they can only be found in the most secluded and inaccessible places. Trees cut down are succeeded by others of a different growth.

The general face of the country exhibited to the pioneer a wild luxuriance, which cannot well be described. The native forests covered the whole surface of the county, unrelieved by those open plains or natural meadows so common fifty or seventy- five miles north. Even without the savage war-whoop, it was a wild country. There stood the forests, not, as now, by their contrast with the sunny fields and dusty roads, inviting the traveler and laborer to repose in their shade, but every tree seemed an enemy to be slaughtered by the woodman's steel. Now the grove is the attractive spot; then the clearing which let in the sunlight seemed only inviting.

the Miami woods, were catalogued by Dr. Daniel Drake at the beginning of this century, thirty of which rise to the height of sixty feet or more. There is no dividing line in nature between a tree and a shrub, but most botanists have agreed arbitrarily upon thirty feet as a minimum height of a species entitled to be called a tree. The richness of the Miami woods will be seen when it is stated that in all Germany, embracing the whole of Central Europe, there are but sixty species of trees. In France, the number is given by some at thirty; by others, as thirty-four. In Great Britain, there are but twenty- nine species above thirty feet high, and of these, botanists describe but hfteen as large or moderately high.

The white oak here obtained a remarkable development of size, if it did not quite reach the same strength attained in West Virginia. This noble tree, at the first settlement, was found wherever there was a good clay soil, three or four feet in diameter and three or four hundred years old, but still green and flourishing. Five or six varieties of the oak were found in Brown County. The wild cherry, so valuable to the cabinet-worker, was scattered throughout the county, and, iu some localities, was abundant. Now it is rarely found. Large black walnut trees were cut down and reduced to ashes, a single one of which could now be sold as it stood upon the ground for more than an acre of cultivated land in some parts of the county. Along the margins of the streams were seen the giant sycamores and elms; near by, ou the alluvial bottoms , the camp of sugar-maples, with its undergrowth of papaw, indicative of a rich soil; on higher grounds, the poplars, hickories and white walnuts grew to a stately height. In some places, the beech had almost exclusive possession.

The age of the gigantic denizens of our forests has probably been overstated. Some writers have spoken of them as of many centuries' growth. There are probably very few trees now standing in the Miami Valley which had begun to grow before the discovery of America, in 1492. The greatest portion of even our largest trees are probably less than three hundred years old. Our hardwood species probably attain a diameter of thirty inches in two and a half centuries.

There was beauty, as well as magnificence, in the primeval forests. Under the branches of the giant trees grew shrubs and flowers, as perfect as if they had been cultivated by the skillful florist. There were wild lilies and roses. In the early spring were seen the bright green of the buckeye leaves, the pure, white blossoms of the dogwood, the purple hue of the red-bud, and on the ground the many hues of more than a hundred species of wild flowers. A tall weed covered the fertile bottoms of the streams, growing thick as hemp and overtopping horse and rider.

Wild Animals

The buffalo and elk, probably never numerous in this vicinity, had disappeared before the approach of the white man, but the bear, the deer, the wolf, the panther, the wild cat, the otter, the beaver, the porcupine, the wild turkey, the rattlesnake, racer, moccasin and copperhead of the fauna, which have now disappeared, remained in greater or less numbers for some years after the occupancy by the whites. The streams were infested with leeches. Swine were the chief means of the destruction of poisonous snakes, from which the county has been almost entirely free for fifty years.

Wolves were so numerous and destructive to sheep that several acts were passed by the Territorial and State Legislatures providing premiums for killing them. Considerable sums were allowed by the Commissioners of Adams and Clermont Counties for wolf-scalps, the bounty varying at different times from $2 to $2.50 for each wolf killed over six months old, and half these sums for those under six months. The wolf-killer, before receiving his bounty, was required by law to produce the scalp of each wolf killed, with the ears entire. The first law required the whole head of the wolf, with the ears entire, to be produced. He was also required to take an oath, which, in 1799, was of the following form : of the settlements within the same to the best of my knowledge, and that I have not wittingly or willingly spared the life of any bitch wolf, in my power to kill, with the design of increasing the breed. So help me God.

Premiums for killing panthers were also provided for by the law, but panther scalps were rarely presented to the Commissioners of the two counties from which Brown was formed. The records of the Commissioners of Clermont County show the payment of only four premiums for the killing of panthers; three of those were in the year 1804 and one in 1810. On the other hand, $28 were allowed for killing wolves at a single session of the Commissioners of the same county. The last panther killed in this region is said to have been a huge one, measuring eight feet in length, and killed by the celebrated hunter, Adam Bricker, in the forests not far from Williamsburg. Bricker had been imitating the cries of the fawn to decoy the doe, but instead of the deer, he was confronted with the ferocious panther. It required quick work to save himself from being torn to pieces. Fortunately, at his first fire the panther fell dead.