Brown County, Ohio - Chapter 1: Pleasant Township, 1883 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 1: Pleasant Township

Pleasant Township was one of the original five into which Clermont County was divided at the first term of the Justices' Court of General Quarter Sessions, February 25, 1801. The other four were Williamsburg, Ohio, Washington and O'Bannon. The records do not reveal its original boundaries or extent, but it is certain that it included much more territory than it contains at present. Washington Township seems to have intervened between it and the river, extending to the old Adams County line, and Lewis Township formed from the eastern end of Washington in 1807, included a part of what is now Pleasant. By the successive formation of neighboring townships, Pleasant has been reduced to its present limits. Its location is in the south central part of the county. Lewis and Clark Townships bound it on the west, Scott and Franklin on the north, and Jefferson and Union on the east; the Ohio forms its southern boundary. Its outlines are irregular. The meandering waters of White Oak Creek encompass it on the west, and the greater part of its eastern line is marked by the channel of Straight Creek, which is straight only in name. In size, it is third in the county. Perry exceeds it considerably, and Lewis slightly. Its area is 23, 153 acres. Topographically, it exhibits all the varieties of surface, from almost perfectly flat and level farms to the deepest and most precipitous gorges found in this region. From the narrow valley that lines the Ohio, the hills rise to an altitude of several hundred feet, but break away within a few miles into rolling land, which, toward the northern part of the township, becomes level. The little runs that drain the township into White Oak and Straight Creeks have cut their way through the limestone strata to a great depth, forming ravines so steep that they are scarcely approachable in places. The soil is usually argillaceous. Along the hills, the limestone, which enters into its composition, yields it the strength which makes it most excellent tobacco land. On the ridges in the southern part of the township, it possesses great fertility, but becomes more shallow and less productive toward the north. Ash, walnut, maple, sugar, linn and other varieties of timber grew luxuriantly in the suuthern portion, but toward the north, save in the bottom lands of the streams, the prevailing types were poplar, beech, hickory and oak. Tobacco is extensively raised, and may be considered the leading crop, though corn and wheat are also produced in considerable quantity. Much land in the northern part is used for hay and grass.

Foremost among the pioneer settlers of Pleasant Township were the Ellises. By general assent, they are regarded as the first white men to make a permanent settlement in the township. Five brothers - Samuel, James, Hezekiah, Jeremiah and Nathan Ellis - in 1796, floated down the Ohio in a keelboat from Virginia, in quest of Western homes. Nathan landed at the site of Aberdeen, and subsequently became its founder, and a prominent citizen. Jeremiah and Hezekiah both settled on Eagle Creek, while James and Samuel continued on down the river in the boat until they reached a point one and a half miles above the mouth of White Oak Creek. Here they stopped and agreed to locate. They retained possession of the boat, using it for a residence until they had erected log cabins. The cabin of James was built farther down, within half a mile of the White Oak Creek bridge. James Here kepfc one of the earliest distilleries in the county. He raised a family of children, but none of them or their posterity now live in that vicinity. Samuel soon puchased the land he settled on, and rose to opulence and prominence. He was tall in stature, possessed a vigorous constitution and indomitable energy. He died in his ninety- third year. At his request, he was interred on the spot where he first pitched his tent on landing in the Northwest Territory in 1796, but so close was it to the shore of the river that subsequently it became necessary to remove the remains to another portion of the farm. His children were James, Noah, Abram, Samuel, Matilda, Mary, Christina, India Ann, Nancy and Rebecca.

William Lyon was among the noted pioneers of Pleasant Township. He was born in Ireland, of Scotch-Irish parentage, his ancestors having settled in Ireland under Cromwell. In early life, William left his well to-do parents and crossed the ocean. So deeply was he attached to them, however, that he three times visited them across the briny deep. He worked at a furnace in Philadelphia awhile, then wandered westward, and became a chain-carrier for Duncan McArthur in the surveys of Southwestern Ohio. During this time, he made his home in Mason County, Ky. From his earnings as surveyor he purchased several tracts of land, and spent a portion of his time on them. He was married to Anna Brown, in Kentucky, several years prior to 1800, and immediately emigrated to his land in the southern part of this township. He had made a little clearing and planted it in corn the spring previous, but, while away, Samuel Ellis' cattle broke in and totally destroyed the crop. While preparing the ground and planting the corn, he slept in a hollow log, returning to Kentucky once a week for provisions. Mrs. Lyon possessed the characteristics of a true pioneer woman. She was reared amidst the dangers of Indian warfare in Kentucky, and the training she received developed the qualities of self-reliance and energy in a high degree. For a number of years after he came to this township, Lyon would boat his farm products to Cincinnati. He was once detained longer than he had expected to be, when the harvest season was at hand. The wheat ripened and must be reaped, but laborers would not work without money wages, and of this rare article Mrs. Lyon did not then possess a dollar. Engaging hands, however, when the cutting could be delayed no longer, and her husband had not yet appeared, she promised that they should be paid, and, ripping open all her beds, she packed the feathers and conveyed them on horseback to Cincinnati, where she sold them and returned in time with the money. Mr. Lyon was a genuine Irishman. He inherited the relish of his countrymen for the flowing bowl, and in early life indulged freely, but afterward became a total abstainer. He was whole-souled and generous -hearted, and, in consequence of bailing his neighbors and paying their debts, as he seemed destined almost invariably to do, his finances were often seriously embarrassed. He possessed the art of coining wealth from his business enterprises, but it melted away under his liberality and the obligations he assumed for his acquaintances. His old age was passed, however, in comfortable circumstances, and he died in 1837. His wife survived him many years. His family consisted of only two children - Mary and Robert. Mary left no posterity, but the descendants of Robert still till the soil of their pioneer ancestor.

Capt. Daniel Feagins was noted not only for being among the earliest settlers in the county, but as well for his prowess as a hunter and Indian scout. He was a native of Virginia, and served through the whole of the Revolutionary war as Captain. About 1786, he emigrated from Loudoun County, Va., to

Kentucky, descending the Ohio in a boat with several other families, and intending to proceed as far as Salt River. On their way down, they landed at Limestone, now Maysville, Ky. , and Capt. Feagins there met Simon Kenton, with whom he was acquainted in early life. Kenton protested against their going farther down the river, declaring that it was almost certain the boat would be attacked by the Indians at a certain point farther down. At his solicitation, Feagins landed, and moved his family and effects out to Kenton's Station, near where Washington now is; the balance of the boat continued down the river, and, as Kenton had predicted, they were attacked by the savages, and all aboard massacred. Feagins remained at Kenton's Station several years, and located a large quantity of land in what is now Bracken County, Ky., but, by some mishap, he afterward lost nearly all of it. In about 1796, he moved to within sight of what is now Georgetown, locating just 'south of the corporation, on the farm adjoining the fair grounds. He had a family of nineteen children. Several of them settled around him, among them Daniel, Fielding and Susan. The last was the sixth child of this large and noted family, and was born May 25, 1780. She was married, April 20, 1803, to Edward Thompson, and lived near Georgetown. Her death occurred in 1855. Capt. Feagins, after opening his farm here, with his sons and their families moved to Paint Creek, in Fayette County, Ohio. So accustomed had he become to the perils and freedom of the extreme frontiersman's life that he was only content when living remote from other human habitations, surrounded only by the wildnesses and solitude of the Virginia forests. He died of "cold plague," in July,* 1815, while on a visit to his old home near Georgetown. His wife, Violet, survived him many years, and lived to be a centenarian. Daniel and Fielding, their eldest children, both settled near Georgetown. While in Kentucky, they were trained in Indian warfare by Simon Kenton, and both participated in many of the expeditions against the savages; they served as spies on the river to watch the hostile movements of the red men in times of apprehended danger from attack. While Fielding was once hunting deer with his brother-in-law, Absalom Craig, near Augusta, Ky., they were tired upon by a party of Indians, and Craig was killed just as he was stooping to drink from a spring of water. Fielding, abandoning his horse and venison, with difficulty made his escape. His hatred against the Indians was ever afterward bitter and intense. The body of Craig was recovered, and found to be horribly mutilated. While Fielding Feagins was living near Georgetown, two roving Indians made their appearance at his cabin and asked for food. Fielding recognized on one of them the shot-pouch that Absalom Craig had worn when he was killed. Instantly, the deep slumbering animosity against them was aroused to a high pitch, and, following them when they departed from the cabin, he raised his unerring rifle and shot one, instantly killing him. The other Indian escaped. This occurred on the west bank of White Oak, about a mile west from Georgetown, between the upper mill and the county infirmary. Fielding buried his victim on the banks of the stream, and threw his rifle into the water. He kept the matter a secret until after the flood of 1832, when the skeleton of the savage was washed out. While on a visit to his sister, Mrs. Thompson, he narrated the circumstance. The residence of Daniel Feagins, Jr., stood about where the Georgetown Presbyterian Church now is. Capt. Feagins had obtained a patent for a large amount of land in the Lawson Survey, February 23, 1807, and the following deeds are found, bearing subsequent dates, from himself and Violet, his wife: March

27, 1807, 100 acres to William White; September 24, 1807, to James Roney, Jr., and John Roney; October 13, 1807, to Joseph Van Meter's executors, 541 acres in the southeast corner of the Lawson Survey, " for and in consideration of the sum of five pepper corns to them the said Daniel Feagins and Violet, his wife, in hand paid; " May 30, 1808, to Allen Woods, 200 acres in the Lawson Survey, adjoining lands previously sold to John Roney; October 17, 1808, also to Allen Woods, fifty acres in addition to his first purchase. Robert Lawson's Survey, IS To. 2,523, was entered on Military Warrant No. 1,921.

In 1798, Walter Wall settled on the Heath Survey of 1,000 acres in the south central part of the township. He was from Western Pennsylvania, where he had been engaged in farming, but, for a few years prior to his emigration here, he had been occupied largely in trading and boating between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, it then being an incident of a farmer's life to seek a market for his products. He also operated a heavy distillery in Pennsylvania, and supplied Cincinnati with a fair share of its early popular beverage. He descended the Ohio in a flat-boat, bringing with him his family, a few farm implements, a team and several cows, and landed at the mouth of Straight Creek. Thence he followed an Indian trail northward to his purchase. He had bought the entire Heath Survey, the southern half for himself, and the northern half for the heirs of his deceased brother. They came years after and settled on it. Mr. Wall was accompanied here by two Yankees, names unknown, who were only sight-seeing in the then great West, and by John Davis, his brother-in-law, who settled just east of Wall's place, and who was drowned a few years later in Kentucky. The flat-boat that conveyed them down the Ohio was taken apart by Mr. Wall, hauled to his land and converted into a camp, which served them for shelter for a week or two, until his log cabin was completed. His two New England acquaintances remained with him till he was safely domiciled in his new home, and then returned East. Mr. Wall and his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Applegate, reared a large family of children here, all of whom, except the eldest four, were born in this township. Hester was married to George Vanemon, and removed to near Dayton, Ohio; Abigail remained at home; Sarah died in girlhood; James remained a resident of the farm until his death; Aseneth, the wife of James Young, went to Illinois; Daniel became a citizen of Clermont County; Mary was the wife of Henry Pierce, of this township; John resided in the northwest part of the county; Elizabeth, wife of John Pierce, resided in Clermont County; William still occupies, the old place; and Ann was the wife of Griffith Leming, of Clark Township. Mr. Wall died about 1857, at the age of eighty-three years; his wife survived him several years. In the rude, pioneer times, he was Justice of the Peace for many years.

The elections of Pleasant Township were held for awhile at Mr. Wall's house, but were discontinued there at the request of Mrs. Wall. Certain citizens, it seems, were accustomed to take a good supply of whisky on the day of election to the house, and sell it to the voters there assembled. As election day was regarded as a holiday, the consequence was that a large number of the citizens became so intoxicated that they were unable to get away at nightfall, and remained in a semi-conscious or totally unconscious state upon the premises. The compassionate housewife was loath to leave them to the mercy of the elements without, and provided them with sleeping room in the cabin, but the discomfort arising from this became unbearable, and the elections were held elsewhere.

Jacob Berry and Thomas Berry, two brothers, were living on the Ohio, near the mouth of White Oak, prior to 1798. They were cf Irish descent, and born in Pennsylvania, powerful in physique, but without any considerable means. Jacob Berry, in 1798, married Elizabeth Shick, the daughter 'of Lewis Shick, a German, who had settled just across the line of Pleasant in Scott Township, and he and his brother Thomas took a lease on Walter Wall's land, where they remained about fifteen years. At the expiration of the lease, Jacob purchased a farm near the northwest corner of the township, and spent the remainder of his life there. He had a family of eleven children, the only survivor of whom is Samuel, the second child. He lives on the old place, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. Thomas Berry bought a farm, after he quit the Wall place, just north of Georgetown, but died there soon after. A Mr. Crab had settled on the Jacob Berry place temporarily very early, built a cabin and made some little improvements, but he remained but a short time, and went nobody knows whither.

In the history of Clark Township, by O. P. Ralston, mention is found of Christian Smith, a native of Holland, and a man educated for the Catholic priesthood but subsequently leaving the church, who is said to have came to the site of Georgetown in 1797 or 1798, with Feagins, Ayres, Roney and others, and located on land in the Robert Lawson Survey, No. 2,523. He had settled at Washington, Ky., in 1790. Mr. Ralston states that Daniel Feagins built a " still-house " on the branch, a short distance below Smith's house, a few years after their arrival, and that Smith, in consequence, tracked his farm to William Still for 100 acres of land in what is now Clark Township, and removed to the latter in 1804. Smith was an accomplished scholar, and, after his removal to Clark, held numerous offices of trust. He was often importuned to teach school, but would never consent to do so, although he would generously impart such information as he could to those in search of knowl edge. He died in Clark Township in 1832, aged eighty-four years. He is said to have owned the first sheep ever brought to this part of the country.

In 1801, Robert Curry settled on the James Curry Survey of 1,000 acres just south of Georgetown. Maj. James Curry was an officer in the Revolutionary war, and this survey was made on his warrant for military services, but, not caring to tempt the wilds of the far West himself, he disposed of the tracts to his nephew, Robert, who, in 1799, left his home in Rockingham County, Va., with his wife, Phoebe, and several small children, and with his young brother, John, for the seat of their purchase. They remained two years in Bourbon County, Ky., where John was accidentally killed, and, in 1801, arrived at their future home. Mr. Curry built his cabin in the southern portion of the survey, across the road but not far from the present residence of Mrs. Parker. Until this time, there had been no white occupant on this survey. He spent four years in clearing and improving the place, but had accomplished comparatively little when he was cut off by a sudden attack of fever, leaving his wife with a family of helpless children to struggle on in the wilderness as best she could. Mrs. Curry survived until July, 1822. They had six children - Abigail married William Florer and moved to Kentucky; Mary became the wife of William Moore, of this township; Lucinda married Elijah Evans, and died on the home farm in 1860; William moved to Clermont County; Rebecca married Andrew Moore, and Phoebe, Samuel Colvin, both of Pleasant Township.

Henry Ralston, a relative of Mrs. Curry, came about the time the Currys did, settling just east of them, where John T. Brady now lives. He was originally from Rockingham County, Va., but, like most of the settlers, hadjlived awhile in Kentucky before coming here. He arrived here so late in the spring that the neighbors, who had finished their spring work, " turned in " and helped him clear a piece for corn. He had a family of six children - John, Robert, Jesse, James, Mrs. Abbie Derough and Mrs. Phoebe Jolly.

In 1802, he settled in the western part of the township, where his grandson, A.- W. Davis, now lives. He was a cabinet-maker by trade, and, besides farming, he worked at carpentering, millwrighting and the undertaking business. He lived here over thirty years and died. Seven sons grew to maturity and married - John, Isaac, William, Issachar, Thomas, Solomon and Samuel. One or two daughters died young.

Jonathan Moore was living on the J. McMichael place, north of Davis, in 1801. He was for a long, time Elder in the Presbyterian Church. Joseph Foor, John T. Parker and Stephen Calvin were also early settlers in this vicinity. Mr. Moore was one of the first settlers to possess a team, and took great pride in having a good one. He raised a family in the township, then sold his farm and moved West.

Three brothers, George, John and Daniel Evans, became residents of the township about the close of the last century. They hailed from Jessamine County, Ky., and came separately. George landed on the site of Ripley, where he remained a year and cleared off a portion of the land that now forms the town. He then made a purchase on the Tibbs Survey, two and a half miles southeast from Georgetown, and removed there with his wife, Jane, and two children, John and Anne. He at once made a clearing for his crops, but, when the survey of his purchase was made, learned, to his dismay, that the clearing was not on his land. A second purchase was made, which included the improved ground. Mr. Evans remained here during life. He was twice married, and raised a large family of children. Daniel settled in this neighborhood, but John bought 250 acres off the O'Bannon tract, four miles southwest from Georgetown, where he died in 1828 or 1829, leaving a family of nineteen, whose descendants still own land here.

James Woods was born in Ireland, and emigrated with his family to Washington County, Penn. He afterward removed to Kentucky, and, very soon after, 1800, to Pleasant Township, settling on what is now the William Pangburn farm, about four miles below Georgetown. He possessed deep religious convictions, and was an earnest, God-fearing man. His children were Allen, Nathaniel, Samuel and Anna. Samuel lived in Lewis Township; Allen, on the site of Georgetown; Nathaniel, on the home farm, below Georgetown. Nathaniel, when not engaged in farming, boated a great deal on the river, trading produce, pork, flour, etc., at different points on the Ohio and Mississippi, often extending his trip as far south as New Orleans, and then walking back overland to his home. He was married, in Pennsylvania, to Jane Stewart, and raised his family on the farm, where he died about 1837. His wife survived him many years.

Abel Rees was from Kentucky. He settled, at a very early date, just east of Georgetown, on the farm now owned by H. L. Penn. Though he had little or no education, he was a man of mark in his community. In connection with his farm duties, he labored at the forge and anvil, and wrought out many axes for his neighbors. He was a hearty Methodist - one of the few who devoted themselves heart and soul to its welfare. Preaching was often held at his cabin, and his generous hospitality would never permit those who had gathered there from long distances for the purpose of hearing the word of God preached to return home without first dining at his table.

James Parker was an early settler on the Potterfield Survey, near the river. He came to the place a young married man, and remained the rest of his life. His nationality was purely Irish.

Hugh Maklem and his son J ohn, a youth of about eighteen years, settled on a place of 150 acres in the southern part of the Tibbs Survey, now owned by L. Heizer, in 1802 or 1803. Hugh was a native born Scotchman, who left his home a widower and crossed the ocean with his only child, John. They tarried in Virginia a short time, then came westward to Kentucky, and, after sojourning there for a year or two, crossed the river and settled here. He was a mill-wright by trade, but tilled the soil here. For a few years, he and John kept bachelor's hall, but John probably tired of this mode of living, for, in 1809, he took unto himself a wife, Martha Parker, and raised a large family. He spent his life in this township, and died July 4, 1875, aged ninety years.

John Roney was one of the pioneers, though the exact date of his arrival is not known. He was a native born Irishman, and emigrated to America about 1790. Remaining on James River, Virginia, a few years, he found his way to Limestone, now Maysville, Ky., and lived there and at Washington, Ky., for some time, then settled just east of Georgetown. He afterward bought the place he settled on from Mr. Fagins. He was a millwright, but 'gave his entire attention, after his removal to this township, to developing his farm. His children were James, John, Frank, Rosa and Andrew. James settled on White Oak, in Lewis Township, and became a miller; John remained on the home place, where his son, John, still lives; Frank and Rosa settled six miles north of Georgetown; and Andrew died a young man, from the effects of a rattlesnake bite.

Israel Jennings brought his wife, Charity, and family of twelve children to Brown County from Bardstown, Nelson Co., Ky., in 1802 or 1803. His father's family was farming on Long Island during the Revolutionary war, and, when the British took possession, was given the alternative of swearing allegiance to the King or losing the property. Preferring the latter, the family moved to Chatham, N. H. , and, subsequently, Israel came West. He lived a year in Union Township, then purchased 200 acres off the north part of the Rhea Survey, about two miles east of Georgetown, and moved to it. No clearing had been made on the place, but the deserted cabin of some previous squatter was found, and Mr. Jennings made it his habitation for eighteen months, when he built himself a substantial log cabin. He had been a house carpenter, but devoted himself here exclusively to farm pursuits, and died at the home place at a good old age. William Jennings, the youngest child, still lives on the site of the old cabin, at the advanced age of eighty-two years.

His neighbors, who came shortly before or very soon after him, were Stephen Colvin, who lived north on the S. Huey place; Jacob Slack, on Camp Sun; John Sharp; John Dye and James, his son, on the Rhea Survey; Thomas Scott, on Straight Creek; and John Day, on the Rhea Survey. The latter came in 1804, and died in 1857

Other early pioneers, who settled on what is now the Ripley pike, were James and Francis Thompson, two brothers. They were from Pennsylvania; were Presbyterians; good, steady citizens; raised families and removed to Indiana. James taught several terms of school in this township. James Hamilton came very early in the century; married a daughter of James Woods, but, after awhile, moved farther west. Gideon Dunham settled about two miles south of Georgetown. He made the first improvements on the William Frost place; was from Pennsylvania, and removed from this township to Perry Township, becoming a pioneer there. Francis Daugherty settled on what is now the W. B. Frost farm. He emigrated from Pennsylvania, and, after remaining in Pleasant Township a number of years, continued westward to Illi nois. He was a stone mason, and built most of the rude stone chimneys for the pioneers in his vicinity. He had two sons - Mayberry and James. Andrew Kirkpatrick was a pioneer squatter. He made a clearing a short distance east of Olive Chapel, but changed his habitation frequently. When last heard from, he was in Indiana. James Calvin occupied the Joseph Shepard place.

He belonged to a family of " great fighters " in pioneer times, and, when the country in this vicinity became settled, he removed West. James Kilpatrick was one of the earliest shoemakers. He was a tall, spare individual, and, when not at work at his bench, engaged in agriculture. He afterward removed his family to Illinois.

Levi White, a native of Pennsylvania, emigrated to Kentucky, and there, near Dover, married Elizabeth, daughter of Amos Wood, and, not a great while later, removed to this township, buying and settling on a little farm where Jesse Printy now lives, on " Free-Soil " Ridge. Both he and his eldest son, Amos, were under arms in the war of 1812, in Capt. Shumalt's company. Soon after, he sold his place and removed to Indiana, but, not liking that country, he returned to this county and spent the remainder of his life here. He died about 1819, and his widow survived him about forty years. They had eleven children, only two of whom are now living.

It would be impossible to mention all the early settlers of the township within the limits of this work, even if their names and history could be learned. Each succeeding year, after the emigration once began, brought more and more citizens into the township, until it was fully occupied. Many of those who came first, becoming habituated to the free and independent life of pioneer backwoodsmen, felt the restraint of the increasing settlement around them, and again sought more Western homes, probably continuing to ride on the advance wave of civilization until overtaken by death. As has doubtless been noticed, the earliest settlers, almost without exception, lived awhile in Kentucky, and a greater part of them had emigrated thither frow Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Among the settlers who came somewhat later than most of the above, may be mentioned Moses Hicks, John T. Parker, Jacob, Aaron and Valentine Burgett, James Colvin, Robert Sample, Samuel Ross, Edward Hall, Robert Wright, Robert King, Fielding Martin, James McKinney, John Liggett, John Mefiord, Joshua Jordon, Thomas Rodgers, Abram Sells, Archibald Tweed, John Forsyth, Robert Forsythe, the McKees, the Dugans, Amos Mitchell and Edward Thompson.

The earliest pioneers were obliged at first to convey their corn to mills across the river; but, as time advanced, little horse mills, then water mills, were started in different localities in the county. The two streams that confine Pleasant Township on the east and west each had a number of mills on their banks, but the greater number of them were built on the other sides of the streams, and do not belong properly to this township. On Straight Creek, William Huggins built a mill in Pleasant Township in an early day, in the northern part of the Merri weather Survey. It contained two run of buhrs, and was resorted to very generally for a long time. Besides a large overshot wheel, which communicated the water-power, a tread- wheel was attached and made available during low water, so that the mill was in operation during the greater part of the year. Besides milling, Mr. Huggins gave his attention to farming, blacksmithing and wagon-making. He disposed of the mill to William Barnes. It afterward passed through a number of hands, and was finally abandoned, owing to the diminution of the water supply and the introduction of steam mills.

Another early mill on this stream was built on the now Charles Abbott farm, by John Thompson. After his death, it was purchased by John Abbott, who operated it for awhile, then, in 1832 or 1833, rebuilt it, and afterward sold it to his son. Lewis Abbott. It still grinds a little corn occasionally. Mr. Abbott also built a saw- mill here about 1820, and for many years after converted logs into building lumber.

On White Oak. Henry Pierce built a mill and put it in operation in May, 1842. A fulling and saw mill had previously occupied this site, built by his father. Three run of buhrs were attached to the mill - two for wheat and one for corn. Mr. Pierce not only did custom work, but bought large quantities of wheat, made Hour of it, and shipped the flour down the Ohio. He died in 1881. During the last few years, little grinding has been done, and the mill has been practically abandoned.

The Thompson Mills, on White Oak, just west of Georgetown, were at one time the most important in the county. They are three in number, within a quarter of a mile of each, two in this township, the upper one in Lewis. About 1843, Edward Thompson built the upper and lower mills, and purchased the middle mill, which was built at an early time by John Davidson. It was owned successively by a number of millers before reaching Mr. Thompson's possession, among the proprietors being Samuel Horne and James Sidwell. Mr. Thompson gave each of his three boys a mill, the upper to James, the middle one to John and the lower one to William. The lower one, known as the Tunnel Mill, cost in its erection $2,500. Its water supply is received through a long tunnel, excavated at an immense expense through a hill. It is now owned by Frederick Shuster, and is run by both water and steam power, and does an important business. These throe mills bought a vast amount of grain at one time, extending their purchases even into Highland County. The flour made from it was shipped down the river.

Public cemeteries were unknown for awhile after the first settlers arrived, and, as the members of a family- died, thoy were usually' interred in a seclud ed spot selected on the place. Family burial-grounds thus became common, and are found on almost all of the first-settled farms in the township. One may be seen on the Pangburn farm, another on the Berry place. The Ellises, Dugans, Lyons, Heizers, and many others, each buried their dead in this way. On Wall's farm, adjoining the old Straight Creek Presbyterian Church, is a large cemetery, where rest the remains of many of the old pioneers. Another is adjacent to Hilman's Church.

Within Pleasant Township may bo found some of the best roads in the county, and here also are some which in point of roughness, it would seem difficult to surpass. These latter, however, are not public thoroughfares, but roads opened mainly for the convenience of farmers in getting to the better roads. In the southern part of the township, several descend to the rocky bed of some little run, down a precipitous and rock- jutting hill, and follow its meanderings over exceedingly stony beds to the river. Four well-graveled pikes lead from Georgetown in the four directions of the compass, affording excellent means of ingress aod egress to any part of the county. In very early times, a State road from West Union to Cincinnati passed through the northern part of the township, entering from the east, on the Charles Abbott place, and crossing the township a little north of Georgetown. It was traveled very extensively, being the main road from Cincinnati eastward. Along its route were scattered public inns at no great distance apart. One of these was in Pleasant Township, on the old J. Roney place, in the extreme northeast part of the township. It was kept by Amos Moore, and was a noted rendezvous for settlers in early times. General musterings and various other kinds of gatherings assembled here. Indians frequently passed over the road from 1807 to 1810. Soon after Georgetown was laid out, the road was vacated for the most pare, and the road passing east and west through Georgetown substituted for it by the County Commissioners.

Where the first school in Pleasant Township was held, who taught and who attended it, can never be known. The oldest residents in the township are the youngest members of the second generation of settlers, and their memories are all the light we have in ascertaining something of the early schools, and their remembrance does not and cannot extend back to the period when schools were probably introduced, in their most rudimentary form, it is true, in the pioneer settlement. A Mr. Holmes and Mr. Bartlett, the latter a New Englander, were among the first pedagogues who swayed the ferule and held in subjection the untamed youngsters of this township. Robert McCurdy taught in a schoolhouse about 1818, that stood in the woods near Hilman's Church. He lived in that vicinity, and afterward moved West. School was held in the same house for a few years, and then in a schoolhouse where now stands the church. Alexander Innis was another pioneer teacher, teaching in various localities as opportunity offered. He was from Pennsylvania; married a Miss Kilpatrick here, and moved West. One of his schools was on the Pangburn farm about 1820; another, on the William Wall place, taught probably in 1819. The first schools were held in deserted cabins, stables, or any kind of building that could be obtained; but in a few years, most neighborhoods built houses for school purposes, the rude character of which has been made familiar to all. A blacksmith shop, owned by William Boles, on the Wall tract of land, was utilized for educational purposes very early. Another early schoolhouse stood on John Roney's farm, just below Georgetown. At present, there are nine subdistricts in this township.

The earliest preaching in Pleasant Township of which any knowledge is had consisted of a series of Shaker religious meetings at John Sharp's house, in the northeastern part of the township, on Camp Run. H. Steigler now owns the farm where they were held. William Jennings remembers distinctly that he could hear the wild shouting and dancing in the meetings from his father's cabin, a half-mile or more distant. Mr. Sharp and his entire family, except one son, Benjamin, joined the community, and removed with it to Warren County. One of the boys, Nathan, rose to an important office of trust in the sect, and disappeared with a large amount of money in his possession. The meetings were very successful, for quite a number of families became members of the community. They were mostly, however, from the upper waters of Straight Creek, beyond the limits of this township.

From the best authority available, it is believed that the Presbyterian Church was next to organize a society within the bounds of Pleasant Township as now constituted. Soon after the earliest settlements in the county were made, a Presbyterian congregation was organized in Union Township, on Straight Creek, near the place where the Georgetown & Ripley pike crosses that stream. In a few years, however, it was discovered that most of its members lived way to the west of the church in Pleasant Township, and, for their convenience, the place of worship was changed to a more central location. A spot was selected adjacent Wall's Cemetery, near the center of the Heath Survey, about three miles south of Georgetown. Here a log church was built, about 30x30 in size. The exact date of its erection is not known, as the church records cannot be found, and old members differ somewhat regarding it, but it is thought to have been about 1810. As the membership increased, the building became too contracted in its limits for the comfort of the congregation, and an extension was built to it. Among its prominent early members were George, John and Daniel Evans, John Wiley. James and Francis Thomp- son, Jonathan Moore, John and James Parker, Walter Wall and JohnMaklem. When the old double log church became dilapidated, one was built farther to the west, near the road, and near the present " Free-Soil " Church, occupied by a Methodist society. During all this time, the church retained its original name, Straight Creek, though removed several miles from that stream. Rev. James Gilliland was an early minister. Other names cannot be obtained. The Presbyterians who settled in ^Georgetown, as that town began to grow, joined the Straight Creek Church, and finally became a preponderating element in it. About 1829, the name was changed to Georgetown Presbyterian Church, and the place of holding services removed there, though preaching was jointly held at the old church for a number of years. The subsequent history of the church is given under the mention made of the Georgetown churches.

The Free Presbyterian Church of Straight Creek was organized at the residence of Samuel Martin, October 25, 1848. Its organization was due to a division in Georgetown Church on the question of slavery, which, about that time, produced a disruption of the Presbyterian Church very extensively. Application for dismissal from the Georgetown Church was made by Samuel Martin, William J. Evans and others, for the purpose of organizing a "Free" Presbyterian Church. The application was not granted, and the applicants for dismissal withdrew informally. The records of the Georgetown Church for December 9, 1848, contain a resolution, striking the following names *from the roll of membership for withdrawing and organizing a Free Church: Samuel Martin, Elizabeth Martin, John G. Martin, William J. Evans, Louisa Evans, Sarah Evans, Thomas Salisbury, Martha Salisbury, Rachel A. Salisbury and Mary Ferris. Others who united with these to organize the new church were Absalom King, Mary King, Victor M. King, Alexander Salisbury, Margaret Salisbury, Isaiah Salisbury, Elizabeth Salisbury, John Salisbury and John Parker. In 1850, Rev. D. M. Moore was the regularly installed minister. Rev. A. B. Frazier succeeded, serving from 1852 to 1854. Following him the pastors have been A. Thompson, 1855-56; James W. West, 1857-65; Joseph Swindt, 1866-67; and W. J. Rogers, 1868. Immediately after the organization, measures were taken to build a church. Six leading members subscribed $50 each, and $200 more was raised by general subscription, and a modest frame structure, about 36x48, still standing, was speedily reared. The congregation, small at first, attained a numerical strength of seventy-five. A flourishing Sabbath school was maintained. In 1869, the church consolidated with the Georgetown Church, though for some time afterward services were regularly conducted at the " Free-Soil " Church.

The Elders of the church were Absalom King, D. E. Parker, Samuel Martin, William Evans, William Matthews, James Cumberland and Newton Parker. In the records of the session, the following appears: "July 15, 1863 - In consequence of the Morgan raid, it was impossible to have a meeting of the session at the time appointed."

About three miles southeast from Georgetown, in the northeastern part of J. Tibbs' Survey, stands Hilman's Church. This has been one of the oldest Methodist preaching- places in the county. The first structure on the spot that was used exclusively for religious services was ahewed-log meeting-house, of goodly dimensions for those days, erected as early as 1812. Joseph Hilman donated the land on which it stands, and the church has ever since been known by his name. He was a very zealous Methodist, though his education was meager in the extreme. ' His faculty for accumulating property was well developed, and his good deeds to the church took the shape of substantial offerings, rather than speech -making. The work of constructing the building was performed by him, Abei Bees, Israel Jennings, Isaac Waters and several others. Besides these mentioned, Arter Bonwell, John Dye and perhaps a few more were the first members. Bev. Chinneth, William Finley, John Finley and Bev. Dobbins conducted services here among the earliest. In after years, the old church was torn down and its materials used in building a schoolhouse on an adjacent to. Meetings were continued here regularly for a number of years, then for a few years they were partially discontinued; but about thirty years ago, under the ministry of Bev. Zachariah Wharton, the old-time fervor was restored, and has been kept glowing ever since.

Services have been conducted in the schoolhouse once in two weeks by the Georgetown ministers. In December, 1881, Bev. Jonathan Verity opened a protracted meeting, which resulted in greatly swelling the membership of the class. About the 1st of April last, this people determined to erect a house of worship. A subscription paper was circulated, and as a result a neat frame edifice, 32x44, costing in all about $1,500, was dedicated June 8, 1882 The membership is now forty-nine; the Class-Leaders, John Jennings and William Brady. A successful Sabbath school has been held during summer months for a number of years.

What is known as Straight Creek Methodist Church, several miles south of Georgetown, was organized by Bev. Henry Miller, during his two years' pastorate at Georgetown, from 1876 to 1878. Bev. Edward McHugh succeeded him for two years, and the two years' period of labor of Bev. Jonathan Verity has just closed. Services are held in the old Presbyterian Chinch. Warren C. Bees was the first Class-Leader, succeeded by Joseph Foor. The present membership is forty -two. A flourishing Sabbath school is maintained. The society is a branch of the Georgetown Church, and has services each alternate Sunday.

Olive Chapel, a neat, modest meeting-house, on the Bipley pike, about three miles south of Georgetown, is the home of a Christian or New-Light congregation, which was organized at Woods' Schoolhouse March 12, 1871, by Elder C. W. Garoutte, assisted by Elders T. W. Graybill and Walker Mefford, with a membership of nine, viz., Josiah Perry, Isaac Purdum, Hannah Purdum, Bobert Cochran, Sallie Cochran, Nancy YVallace, Nelson Tucker, Lewis Jones and John Heiser. The church was built the same year. Elder J. W. Mefford was the first pastor. Those succeeding him have been J. P. Daugherty, Bufus McDaniel, G. C. Hill, Jacob Hawk, William' Pangburn, William Bagley and J. Bowman. The membership increased rapidly, and soon reached several hundred. During the last several years, however, the effectiveness of the church has been seriously impaired by church dissensions. A Sunday school is conducted during the summer.

A small society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church worships in a schoolhouse several miles east of Georgetown, on Straight Creek. Bevs. Dillon, Alfred March and Bobert Davis have been recent ministers.

Unfortunately, the records of Pleasant Township have been lost or destroyed, and its official history, consequently, cannot be noticed. Georgetown is the only village within its limits, though one or two attempts to establish towns in other portions of its territory have been made. The site originally selected for the county seat of Brown County lay partly within this township and partly in Jefferson. The Pleasant Township portion was just south of wheie Straight Creek enters the township, on the Charles Abbott place. Bridgewater was the name given to the embryo city, comprising 100 acres of land, forested, but platted and staked. A term of court was held here in the soli- tude, in a hewed-log house; a deserted cabin, which had stood on the Fielding Martin place, a half-mile to the westward, had been hastily torn down and removed to the seat of justice one Saturday, roofed on Sunday, and, the following morning, was in readiness for the tribunal that issued its mandates of law from the midst of most dismal surroundings. But one term of court is said to have been held here, as narrated* elsewhere in this volume, and the virgin forests, preserved intact, bore no evidence that this locality had once been the seat of justice of a populous and wealthy county.

Another attempt at town making was made by Amos Mitchel shortly before Georgetown was laid out. The spot he hoped would attain great municipal power and renown he dubbed Monroe, in honor of the then President. It was located on his farm, two miles below Georgetown, on the Bipley pike, now occupied by Mrs. Frost. A plat of forty-six lots was laid out, surrounded and intersected with all the necessary streets and alleys, but it came to naught. It is not known that a single house was erected there, save the cabin of its proprietor.

December 10, 1819, Allen Woods appeared before Henry Chapman, a Justice of the Peace in and for Brown County, and acknowledged a plat of Georgetown, containing twenty-two lots and two outlots, including nine acres and forty- two poles, located] on a part of Robert Lawson's Survey, No. 2,523, and described as follows on the record: " The land contained in the above plat begins at a post near a white oak; thence west sixty-five poles to a walnut post; thence north twenty-two poles and eight-tenths to a walnut post; thence east sixty-five poles to a walnut stake, near a branch; thence south twenty- two poles and eight-tenths to the place of beginning." Lots 2 to 10, 20 to 24, and 26 to 38, inclusive, were four poles wide and eight poles deep; Lot 11, same depth, and one and nine-tenths rods front; Lots 12 to 19, five rods front and six rods deep; Lot 25, two and eight- tenths poles front and eight poles deep. Main street, running north and south, was three poles wide and twenty-two and eight- tenths long; Apple street, same length, two poles wide; North street, one and eight- tenths poles wide, twelve long; Main alley, one pole wide and eight long. Lots 29 and 30 contained respectively 200 and 281 square poles.

May 15, 1820, Henry Newkirk and James Woods made large additions, increasing the whole number of lots to 138, extending Main street and laying out Main Cross street three poles wide. The public square, containing T44 square poles, is in Newkirk's Addition, which was much the larger of the two. An outlot of four acres south of Main Cross street, at its eastern terminus, was occupied at the time by a tanyard. Lots 31 and 138, at the west side of the Newkirk Addition, were donated " for the use of a public school and a meeting house for public worship. "

James Woods' Second Addition was laid out September 27, 1821, " beginning at a stake in the line dividing the lands of Abel Rees and myself," etc.

Henry Newkirk's Second Addition was platted on the following day - September 28, 1821 - on the south side of his former addition, extending the existing streets and alleys. He says, in his deed of the property, " All the streets and alleys herein described is set apart as public ground, with an exception of the privilege to citizens of the town to make walk pavements on the borders of the streets, not to exceed seven feet, to and of which I hereby relinquish all my right, title and interest for the purposes before and herein expressed."

July 30, 1822: Thomas Jennings, May 19, 1842; John G. Marshall, February 28, 1867; G. A. White, April 19, 1867; and John Wills, date not given, made the latest addition, at some time within the past three or four years.

The following are copies of papers which accompanied the report of the Commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice of Brown County. The report will be found elsewhere in this volume, together with a full account of the county seat contest:

No. 1. - I do oblige myself to make sufficient title to the within bounded fifty acres of land, provided the seat of justice be fixed at Georgetown, for the county of Brown, for the sum of $5 per acre, to be paid me out of the proceeds of the sale of the lots, as witness my hand this 12th day of May, 1821.

No. 2. - I do oblige myself to give a donation to the county of Brown, the lot No. 50, or 51, for the purpose of a jail, whichever the Director, when appointed, may see best, provided the Commissioners may select Georgetown for the permanent seat of justice.

No. 3. - I do hereby oblige myself to make a good title to the within bounded lot of land, being ten acres and one-half of the donation, provided the seat of justice is placed at Georgetown, reserving one-half acre to surround my house that is on said land. As witness my hand this 12th day of May, 1821.

No. - I do obligate myself to make a sufficient title to the within bounded forty acres of land, should the seat of justice for Brown County be placed at Georgetown, and this forty acres be received, in preference to the thirteen acres proposed, for the sum of $7 per acre, to be paid out of the ^proceeds of the sale of the lots, the choice of the two lots to be left to the Commissioners.

No. 4. - I do hereby oblige myself to make a sufficient title for the within bounded thirteen and a half acres of land, for the sum of $7 per acre, provided the seat of justice for Brown County be placed at Georgetown, to be paid out of the proceeds of the sale of lots. As witness my hand this 12th day of May, 1821.

No. 5. - I do obligate myself to furnish the county of Brown with a suitable house to hold the court in until one can be built for that purpose, provided the Commissioners do select Georgetown for the seat of justice for said county.

The condition of this obligation is such that we, the undersigned, being the persons to whom the donations for the public buildings for the county of Brown, provided the seat of justice for said county be established at Georgetown, were made payable, do obligate ourselves, our heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, and every of them, to the county of Brown, should the present Commissioners establish the seat of justice at Georgetown, to build a stone jail, thirty-six feet by twenty-two feet, containing two good fire-places ; two stories high, each story to be eight feet in the clear, the first story three feet thick, the second two and one-half ; the foundation sunk two feet under ground, with eighteen-inch thick floor of stone, all to be laid in lime and sand, and each floor to be laid with timber ten by twelve inches thick, set on edge close together and covered with plank two inches thick, spiked down, and to be ceiled with the same with four rows of spikes in each wall, and ceiled overhead in the same manner. There is to be a stone partition through the middle, from top to bottom, two feet thick, ceiled with twoinch plank and spiked in the same manner as aforesaid, and a partition to cut off five feet for an entry off of one end, leaving a room at the same end for a dungeon, seven by fifteen feet in the clear. Said partition is to be of stone, two feet thick, ceiled as the other walls, and a pair of stairs to raise from the entry, giving convenience by two doors to the rooms above; the outer door to come in at the entry and two other doors to give convenience to the two rooms below; the upper doors to be made double, of oak, and well united; the lower doors to be of oak plank, double, well ironed with sheet iron and riveted, with sufficient lock to each door, and four windows of twelve lights in front, and three of six each, well grated with iron. The whole to be under a good joint shingle roof, all of which is to be done in a sufficient workmanlike manner. And we further obligate ourselves to furnish 200,000 brick for the court house, delivered in said town in the kiln. In testimony whereof

In the issue of the Benefactor (published at Levanna, or, as the name is often spelled, Levana) for June 7, 1821, the following notice appeared:

Take Notice, that on Thursday, the 7th day of June next, there will be a public sale of lots in Georgetown, the seat of justice for the county of Brown, Ohio. Those wishing to purchase can probably then suit themselves better than at any other future sale, as the lots intended to be offered are situated near the public square. Terms will be made known at the commencement of the sale by the proprietor.

It seems, from the paragraph which here follows, that Mr. Newkirk's death occurred within a short time after the publication of this notice. The notice appeared the last time on the day of sale, having been published three weeks. The paper in which it appeared was subsequently removed to Georgetown, and its name lengthened to the Benefactor and Georgetown Advocate , and, at the latter place, was edited by Thomas L. Hamer, who subsequently won fame in the National Congress and on the fields of Mexico, his career being cut short by the hand of death before the Mexican war had ended. He is mentioned at length elsewhere in this volume.

By an act of the Legislature of Ohio, passed January 1, 1822, Thomas Morris and William Middleton were appointed Trustees for the town of Georgetown, "with authority to receive conveyances from James Woods, Abel Rees, and the administrators of Henry Newkirk, for their several tracts of land adjoining Georgetown, which lands are given by said Woods, Rees and Newkirk for the use and benefit of the county of Brown, in the State of Ohio; and by the act aforesaid, the said Thomas Morris and William Middleton were empowered to sell and dispose of all lots by them laid off on said land, for the best price that could be had for the same, either at public or private sale, and to convey any lot or lots laid off on said land to any purchaser, and that the deed thus made should vest in the purchaser all the title of the said James Woods and Abel Rees, and the title vested in the said Henry Newkirk at the time of his death." The Trustees appointed accepted the trust reposed in them, and gave bond for the faithful performance of their duty, receiving deeds of warranty from Woods, Rees, and the administrators of Newkirk, on the 21st day of August, 1823. They subsequently made many deeds to purchasers, in each of which the facts concerning their appointment, etc. , were fully set forth.

Gen. Robert Lawson, who owned the 2,000- acre survey on which Georgetown stands, and two of 1,000 acres each in what is now Lewis Township, was a veteran of the Revolution; although he never settled here, he was in the vicinity often, and was wont to linger around the numerous still-houses and dramshops which abounded, and is said to have been in a state of intoxication a great portion of the time. When in that condition, he was often induced to make bargains for the sale of portions of his land, which he probably would never have done if he had been sober. He had no family, and it is not now known what became of him. At one time, in the vicinity of Georgetown, there were twenty- four distilleries. This statement is made on the authority of Peter L. Wilson. Esq., who says that one of them, which was located near his present home in Pleasant Township, east of Georgetown, was kept by John Hall, and was a well-known rendezvous for military men during the war of 1812. They met at the place and held many a carousal, and perhaps some of them fought harder and with greater zeal in settling some private difficulty at the distillery than they ever did in the cause of their country. Besides this distillery, Hall was also proprietor of a small store, and had a small " horsemill " for grinding corn.

Albert Woods, a native of Ireland, came to America when small, and located in the State of Pennsylvania. Upon arriving at maturity, he was married in that State, and removed to Georgetown, Ky., where he resided several years. Soon after Ohio was admitted into the Union, he came to it and located on the site of Georgetown; this was probably in 1803 or 1804. His son, Allen Woods, Jr., now a retired physician of Clermont County, was born here in October, 1805, and a daughter, now the wife of Peter L. Wilson, Esq., was born on the old place in 1808. In the latter year, Mr. Woods purchased 200 acres of land of Daniel Feagins, in Robert Lawson's Survey, No. 2, 523, and it was upon a portion of this purchase that he laid out the original town in 1819, probably naming it from his former residence, Georgetown, Ky. His home at Georgetown, Ohio, was at the lower end of the village. He has been numbered among the dead for many years. His son, J ames W oods, who laid out an addition to the town in 1820, settled here with his father, and there were several other children.

When Peter L. Wilson came to Georgetown, in the winter of 1821-22, there was not a finished building in the place. Two or three brick houses were up, but their gable ends were open, and^a frame house stood where the city bakery now is, having in it timber enough for two ordinary structures. There were then but five or six houses in the town in the aggregate. A frame building stood opposite the northeast corner of the court house square, where Mc- Kibben now is, but it was never finished. The boys were accustomed to playing ball against its walls. It was intended for a two-story edifice, but was finally demolished. Very few people had their homes in Georgetown at that day. Others were coming and going, but the attractions of the place were not yet sufficient to induce new-comers to locate. James Woods lived in a small log cabin on Outlot 21, in the northwest part of town. Allen Woods lived at that time in a log house which stood near the northwest corner of Main and Main Cross streets, a little in the rear of the brick building which he put up on the corner, and which constitutes a part of the old American Hotel. Mr. Wilson subsequently removed the log building. William Butt was living here at the same time, in a small, unfinished frame house where the Methodist Episcopal Church now stands. He published the first newspaper in the place, and held several responsible offices - Sheriff, Auditor, etc.

The Benefactor ancl Georgetown Advocate , edited by T. L. Hamer, and printed and published by James J. Smith, in its issue of February 23, 1824, besides giving some account of the county seat controversy, contained numerous advertisements. Victor Larimer advertised a quantity of " Kanhaway " salt for sale, offering to take cash, hides, wheat or pork for pay, the wheat to be delivered at Lemon's mill, and the pork at his house. " The pork must weigh at least 150 pounds to the hog." A notice to the creditors of the estate of Joseph Reynolds, deceased, late of Jackson Township, ordered them to bring in their accounts for settlement. Philip D. Brumbaugh announced that he had commenced the " tailoring business in Georgetown, at the house lately occupied by John Campbell as a tavern, corner of Main and Cherry streets, where all orders in the line of his profession will be duly attended to." John A. Smith, under date of February 5, 1824, advertised that he had "commenced the hatting business in Georgetown, in the brick building north of Allen

Woods' tavern, on Main street." Several petitions for divorce were published in this number, and the proprietors of the paper were in want of an apprentice to the printing business.

In the issue of the same paper for March 3, 1824, William Butt or David Johnson offered for sale Lots 95 and 96 in Georgetown, and S. H. Stitt " respectfully informs the public that he now keeps and intends keeping private entertainment in Georgetown, where his stables are good and well -furnished, and everything else necessary for the accommodation of man and horse in as good order as the nature of the country will admit. The terms as reasonable as can be expected."

June 14, 1824, the paper contained several new advertisements, among others that of a new pressing machine, " applicable to the pressing of apples, tobacco, oil, cotton, cheese, cloth, hay, the packing of flour, etc." -Franklin Shaler was the patentee, and T. L. Hamer was agent in Georgetown. The cheese presses could be obtained of James Firriers, near Georgetown. The following " regimental order " was promulgated: "The conynissioned officers of the Second Regiment, Fourth Brigade and Eighth Division of Ohio Militia, whose commissions are not recorded as the law directs, are hereby ordered to forward the dates to the Adjutant for that purpose, on or before the 20th of June inst. Commandants of companies will forthwith give notice to the commandant of the regiment of all vacancies there may be in their respective commands, that orders for elections to All the same may be issued. By order of the Colonel. James Loudon, Adjutant."

August 9, 1824, under the heading, "Union Inn," Jonathan Yandike "Respectfully informs his friends and the public generally that he has opened a house of public entertainment in Georgetown, in the large frame house formerly occupied by D. Johnson & Co., and lately by F. White & Co., as a store. His house is large and convenient, his beds are new and good, and his table shall be furnished with the best the country affords and the nature of the times will admit. His stabling is entirely new, large and convenient, and shall be constantly supplied with good hay, corn and oats, and shall be attended by an experienced ostler, and he is determined to spare no pains to give general satisfaction to all khose who may favor him with their custom. His charges shall be proportioned to the present pressure of the times." The marriage notice was published of Charles White, of Georgetown, and Miss Amanda Morris, of Bethel, Clermont County, the ceremony occurring August 1, 1824.

August 19, 1824, T. L. Hamer advertised that he wanted a good distiller, single man preferred, to commence business in October following. The publishers of the paper, in September, offered to take wheat on subscription, and were at the same time paying 2f and |3 cents per pound for clean cotton and linen rags. ,

October 1, 1824, William Butt, Postmaster at Georgetown, advertised the following list of letters lying unclaimed in the office: John Archer, Charles

In the Castigator for July 31, 1832, published at Georgetown, the following parties advertise their business in that place: Dr. George B. Bailey, new of the court house, and adjoining Mr. White's tavern." James Ferrier, Colonel Second Regiment, Fourth Brigade, Eighth Division, Ohio Militia, ordered commissioned and staff officers of the regiment to meet on the public square at Georgetown, August 30, armed and equipped, for the purpose of officer drill. Thomas Paskins, blacksmith, shop " fronting the northeast part of the public square, opposite to Col. James Ferrier." D. Johnson & Co., new goods. Clark, Higgins & Co. , new goods, first quality Muskingum salt, by the barrel. John Walker, saddler and harness-maker, returned to Georgetown and opened a shop on south side of public square, " one door west of Charles White's tavern, and adjoining Dr. Bailey's apothecary shop."

The next issue of this paper contained orders from the commanding officers of the First Rifle Battalion. Fourth Brigade, Sixth Division, and the Third Regiment, Fourth Brigade, Eighth Division, Ohio Militia, to the commissioned and staff officers, to meet on the public square at Georgetown, August 30, for officer drill. A meeting was also appointed of the citizens favorable to an amendment of the militia law. William K. Burt had opened a tin shop southwest of the court house, in the building previously occupied by Jonathan German as a w'agon shop.

In the Democratic Standard of Georgetown for October 31, 1839, appeared the following: " Notice is hereby given that a Brigade Court of Inquiry, for the assessment of fines on delinquent commissioned and staff officers of the Second Brigade, Eighth Division, Ohio Militia, will convene at Georgetown on Friday, the 29th day of November next, at 10 o'clock A. M. of said day. By order of the commandant of the brigade. C. F. Campbell, Inspector, Second Brigade, Eighth Division, Ohio Militia."

In the issue of July 6, 1841, David Ferrier announced that he had commenced the hatting business in Georgetown - shop on west side of Main street, three doors south of David Crawford's grocery store. J. Dorsey, " jeweler, and watch and clock maker," also had an advertisement.

May 28, 1842, J. B. Davis, proprietor of the West Union & Cincinnati Mail Stage, had an advertisement in the paper. The stage route lay from Cincinnati through Madison, Milford, Perin's Mills, Batavia, Bantam, Bethel, Hamersville, Georgetown, Russellville and Decatur, to West Union, in Adams County. The stage office at Georgetown was at William Downey's.

P jOn Saturday evening, February 14, 1852, a meeting was held in the Methodist Church at Georgetown, and a society organized called the " Friends of Hungary," for the purpose of raising funds for Louis Kossuth, who was then in the United States, to take back for the relief of his country. The association met again on the 17th, adopted a constitution and chose the following officers: D. G. Devore, President; John McColgin, Vice President; Gideon

Dunham, Treasurer; John Martin, Secretary; John J. Higgins, R. A. Bower, W. P, Allen, Directors, At this meeting the sum of $75 was raised. Kossuth had addressed a large audience at Cincinnati a few evenings before. The association continued but a short time, and but little aid was rendered in the county, except at Georgetown, where subscriptions were raised amounting to over $100.

Col. Robert Higgins, a Revolutionary veteran, and the first settler where Higginsport now is, removed from the latter place to Georgetown a few years before his death, which occurred here in 1825. His oldest son, John J. Higgins, who was born at Higginsport, settled at Georgetown in 1822, and read and practiced law. He was subsequently engaged in mercantile business; served two terms as Sheriff of Brown County (elected first time in 1838); was elected to the Legislature in 1841; became the first Judge of Probate for the county in 1851, and died at Georgetown in 1857. His son, Capt. Robert H. Higgins, became an honored, prominent and respected citizen of the place, and has had a brilliant career.

Joseph Stableton lived within the present limits of the corporation, in the northeast part, years before the town was laid out. He moved from Winchester, Va., to Mason County, Ky., when a child, with his father. He was there married to Mary Purdum, formerly of Greene County, Penn. , and, in 1809, came to what has since become known as Georgetown. He was a stone mason by trade, but directed his attention largely to farming. He was Justice of the Peace for Pleasant Township for about eighteen years, and his house was the scene of many an early trial. In the agitation concerning the location of the county seat, Mr. Stableton worked strenuously for Georgetown. In 1835-36, he served as State Representative, and, for many years, Infirmary Director. He raised a large family, and died in 1854, in the seventieth year of his age.

Incorporation And Mayors

Georgetown was incorporated by act of t^he State Legislature February 8, 1832. The following is a nearly complete list of its Mayors to the presenttime: S. Glaze, 1832; John J. Higgins, 1833-35; Michael N. Ammen, 1835-

Jesse R. Grant, on the 23d of August, 1823, purchased Lot No. 18 in the Georgetown plat, for $50, of Alexander McGaffick. It had first been sold by Allen Woods to Matthew Kelly, who sold it to McGaffick. The deed to Mr. Grant was acknowledged before Thomas L. Hamer, Justice of the Peace. Mr. Grant was at that time a citizen of Brown County, having removed to Georgetown the same year, from Clermont County. October 16, 1824, he purchased Lot No. 147, for $40, of Thomas Morris and William Middleton, who had been appointed by the Legislature as Trustees for the sale of lots in the village. On the same date, he purchased Lot No. 119, for $16, of the same parties, and subsequently became a considerable landholder in the vicinity. He sold Lot 18 to Zachariah Riley February 20, 1824.

corner of Main Gross and Water streets. His tannery was across Main Gross street, on Ontlot 14, where Single's grist-mill now stands. Ulysses S. was but a year old when his father came to Georgetown, and his boyhood and youth were spent here until he received his appointment to West Point in 1839. He assisted his father at the tannery, but was particularly fond of horses, and was usually employed in teaming. His father was a contractor, and Ulysses hauled the stone for many of the old substantially erected buildings, among them the jail on Pleasant street, and the old market house. A prominent attorney of Georgetown recollects that, at a circus exhibiting east of the square, where Judge Biehn's residence now stands, the trick mule was produced, and the boys invited to ride it. Several young men attempted the feat, but were one after another ingloriously landed on the ground. Finally, Ulysses ventured forth, and, mounting the beast, stayed there, notwithstanding the frisky animal's at tempts to unseat him. He often showed his skill in horsemanship by riding a horse at full speed, standiug perfectly erect, sometimes on one foot, to the envy and astonishment of his companions. His school days were passed in the little brick schoolhonse on South Water street. He is remembered as a lively, companionable boy, frank, generous and open-hearted, a leader and favorite among the Georgetown boys, who, at that time, were not very numerous, and "hung together" well. He was studious and faithful in the performance of whatever he undertook. He was regarded as an ordinary, practical boy, of good common sense, without any special marks of genius. Jesse R. Grant was a local politician of considerable note, but so blunt and uncompromising in his nature that he provoked hostility on the part of those whose aims were not the same as Grant's. The appointment to the cadetship was secured through Gen. Hamer, then representing this district in Congress. The young cadet, when visiting his old home during vacations, and long afterward, always sought his old acquaintances. His social feelings forbade him slighting any whom he had known in early life, and many an old resident, who had perhaps almost forgotten him, was traced up and greeted with a hearty hand-shake and pleasant

Wednesday, July 15, 1863, was a day which will not soon be forgotten by the citizens of Georgetown. It was the occasion of the visit of Morgan's raiders, 200 or 300 strong, under the command of Col. Hick Morgan, brother of John Morgan, the famons rebel guerrilla chieftain. The detachment arrived over the Georgetown & New Hope road, about half past 9 o'clock in the morning of the day given, and remained three hours, picketing their horses around the court house square. Several loyal citizens of the town were shot at, among them Lieut. William Hannah, who was at home on a furlough from Vicksburg; no one was hit, although some received close calls from the leaden messengers. The raiders stole a number of horses in and around Georgetown, robbed the post office and took goods from various parties to the estimated value of $3, 105, as follows: C. Theis, groceries, $500; H. Stigler, groceries and three watches, $200; P. Stigler, groceries, $60; H. Brunner, boots, shoes, watch and breast-pin, $50; H. McKibben. dry goods, $30; C. Newkirk, dry goods, $1,500; Evans & Woodward, dry goods, $3050; Adam Shane, clothing, $150; C. Zaumseil, jewelry, $200; Bieves & Taylor, drugs, $50; Louis Weaver, saddlery, $60; C. Hurst, grocer, $5. About 12:30 P. M., the rebels left for Russelville, which they also raided, and proceeded thence to Decatur. The main body had passed through the northern portion of the county via Mt. Oreb and Sardinia.

The Press

The history of the press of Georgetown has been carefully prepared by Dr. T. W. Gordon, and to him are we indebted for the following, published in county was purchased by Louden, Butt & Co., of Morgan, Lodge & Co., in Cincinnati, and a newspaper was published on it in Levanna in June, 1820, called the Benefactor . It continued one year at that place, when a dissolution took place between the owners, and Mr. Louden sold his interest to William Middleton, of Ripley. At that time, a man who was a silent partner is said to have entered the office, and to have taken possession of and carried away a large portion of the material, including the main screw of the press and the platten. These he hid amongst the "dog- fennel" and " Jamestown weeds, " then growing abundantly in and about Levanna. No paper was issued from June, 1821, until November of the same year, when the owners tried to collect the materials thus scattered by a writ of replevin, but failed in their efforts. They, however, gathered up what they could find of the material left, and, adding new material to it, the Benefactor again made its appearance, conducted by Butt & Middleton; but, with the partial change of owners, it made a complete change of location, and, leaving the banks of the Ohio, it found a home at Georgetown. Its publication was continued here by Butt & Middleton until May 16, 1822, when Middleton sold his interest to Hon. Thomas Morris, of Bethel. The Benefactor made its appearance under the management of Butt & Morris until January, 1824, when Hon. Thomas L. Hamer became the editor, aud James J. Smith the publisher. The publication was continned by these gentlemen until 1825, when it was discontinued. For a time prior to its final suspension, it was called the Benefactor and Georgetown Advocate. The size of the paper was 17x22 inches, four pages of four columns each, filled almost exclusively with foreign and political news and local advertisements. In 1824, it advocated the election of Gen. J ackson to the Presidency. The subscription price was $2 per annum, if paid in advance.

In August, 1826, the Castigator, a paper which had been published in Ripley for two years, was removed to Georgetown. Its publisher was David Ammen. It at first rather favored the election of John Q. Adams to the Presidency, but, after another paper was started in the county, which came out in July for Mr. Adams, the Castigator ceased to support or even favor his election, and, at a later period, became an active partisan in favor of the election of Gen. Jackson, and, on his retirement, it hoisted the name of Martin Van Buren, and fought manfully for his election. In May, 1836, Mr. Ammen sold the paper to Benjamin Morris, of Clermont County, who, on July 10 following, resold it to Mr. Ammen, losing nearly one-half the price of the establishment in the speculation.- Mr. Ammen admitted his son, Michael Ammen, into partnership with him, and they published the paper until March 27, 1837, when it was purchased by a purse raised for the purpose. Its politics were changed to Whig, and John Duffy and Thomas H. Lynch continued its publication until June 21, 1837, when its name was changed to the Political Examiner. After the issue of a few numbers, Duffy & Pollock managed the paper, and continued its publication until after the returns of the election in 1838, when it was discontinued. At this time, Preston Sellers owned a share in the press, and he resumed its publication and continued it until August, 1839, when Mr. Lynch sold the material to C. Edwards, of Ripley, and it was removed by him to that village and used in the publication of the Ripley Telegraph. Mr. Sellers then procured new material, and the Examiner was revived by him. He continued at its head, but, in August, 1843, sold out to Isaac N. Walters, who removed the press and fixtures to Clark Countv Sellers then purchased, at Xenia, the printing material from which the Free Press had been there published, and, removing it to Georgetown, once more had the Examiner in process of publication. In

March, 1845, it was removed to Ripley, and there published until August following, when the material was transferred by the Sheriff to Messrs. Shaw, and the Ripley Bee brought into existence.

The Western Philanthropist was a short-lived newspaper, that dated its existence from December 1. 1825. It was published by Daniel F. Barney, of Georgetown, and continued for a few weeks only.

The first number of the Western JEgis was issued June 13, 1827, by A. & J. Butt. Some time in 1828, the office and material were consumed by fire, but new material was purchased and the paper started again. In December of the same year, however, the owners removed it to Waver ly, Pike Co., Ohio.

The Deinocrat and People's Advocate was published at Georgetown by Isaac N. Morris, the first number making its appearance November 12, 1833. Six months later, the proprietor sold the material to C. F. Campbell, who moved it to Ripley, and there published the Ohio Whig.

The next Georgetown paper was Ihe Democratic Standard. Its first issue was made July 4, 1837, by Amos Derrough, who continued the publication until January 9, 1838, when he sold the establishment to L. B. Leeds and Francis M. Allen. They published it until October 12 of the same year, when Mr. Allen retired, and left Mr. Leeds in sole charge. lie, in January, 1839, re-conveyed it to Mr. Derrough, who published it for one year, or until January, 1840. The Standard was revived August 1, 1840, by D. F. Palmer^ who published it until February, 1845. Will Tomlinson then became proprietor, and published it until 1847. In that year, J. H. Smith and C. W. Blair were issuing the paper, and in 1848 J. H. Smith and T. Q. Blair. The year following, D. W. C. Johnson came into possession, and changed its name to the Georgetown Standard. In a short time, Mr. Johnson resold it to Will Tomlinson, who published it until 1850, when the Standard and the Democrat and Journal were consolidated.

The Ohio Freeman was established at Georgetown by John Duffy March 8, 1839. It was neutral in politics, and, after the publication of the thirteenth number, it was discontinued.

The Western Wreath sprang into existence September 6, 1845, with C. W. Blair, G. B. White and J. G. Marshall, editors, and Will Tomlinson, publisher. After ten or twelve numbers were published, the paper was purchased by Tomlinson, who was at that time proprietor of the Standard.

The publication of the Western Literary Journal was commenced at Georgetown September 8, 1849, by W. P. Stewart and G. W. King, Jr., with D. W. C. Johnson as editor. After five or six numbers were issued, P. Mc- Groarty became editor, and William Stewart, entire owner. After the publication of twenty- one numbers, Mr. Stewart became editor and proprietor, and continued its publication. In March, 1850, he changed its name to the Democrat and Journal. Soon after, D. W. Johnson purchased this paper, and, forming a partnership with Will Tomlinson, of the Standard , the two papers were consolidated, and the Democratic Union thereby formed. Its first issue was dated January 1. 1851. This firm published the paper one year, when Tomlinson sold his interest to W. P. Stewart, and the paper was continued in the name of J ohnson & Stewart until May, 1852, when Stewart became the owner, and contiuued its publication until the close of the volume, when D. W. C. Loudon and Abraham Sallee became the owners of the Union office. The first number of the paper issued by them was in January, 1853; they continued until September of the same year, when Sallee retired, and Loudon continued to publish the paper until May, 1854. One-half of the establishmeet was then purchased by S. H. Cook. In October following, Loudon sold his interest to W. EL Sally ards, who also rented Cook's share. The Union soon ceased to exe ist. It was succeeded by the Independent American , the first number of which was issued from the Union material, November 9, 1854. After the first number, Dr. Thomas W. Gordon became editor, and continued in this capacity until the nineteenth number, when he retired, and William Sallyards took charge of it, and conducted it until June 28, 1855, when J. H. Brown purchased Mr. Cook's share in the office and became editor. Mr. Sallyards sold his interest to Brown in November, 1855. The paper was continued under the name of True Jeffersonian , and was conducted by J. H. Brown and W. W. Young.

W. P. Stewart sought to revive the Union, but, after the issue of a single number, sold his prospects to John Reed and A. P. Harrison. Reed & Harrison published the first number of the Brown County Democrat at Georgetown, May 3, 1855, with C. A. White and G. WT. Hamer, editors. August 16, White retired, and, November 22, Reed disposed of his interest to Harrison and withdrew.

August 26, 1858, the Democratic Standard was revived by Sallyards & Taylor, edited by J. P. Fyffe and T. T. Taylor. It made its appearance March 31, 1859, under the name of T. T. Taylor. In May following, Taylor disposed of his interest to A. R. Yancleaf, and it was then published by Sallyards & Yancleaf until Septemder 8, 1859, when Yancleaf retired. A week later, Taylor sold the paper to John G. Doren, who also purchased the Brown County Democrat , and consolidated them under the name of the Southern Ohio Argus. April 6, 1864, Doren sold the Argus to L. B. Leeds, who, in the fall of the same year, changed the name to the Brown County News. In 1868, he associated with him in its publication his son, Thomas J. Leeds, who retired in May, 1874, and since then L. B. Leeds has published the paper. Its politics are Democratic.

The publication of the Union , a Republican organ, was begun late in the year 1860, and continued for several years. W. H. H. Sallyards and William A. Evans were the publishers, and the former, editor.

The Georgetown Sentinel was started as an independent Democratic organ during the summer of 1874, by T. J. Leeds, publisher. Col. John G. Marshall was editor from its first issue until his death, when, for a time, the editorial department was managed by the publisher, and under him the paper supported R. B. Hayes for the Presidency. In April, 1877, Charles N. Mc- Groarty purchased the Sentinel, and has since been its editor and proprietor. Since it has come into his possession, it has been unwaveringly Democratic.

The Georgetown Gazette issued its first number September 11, 1880. W. H. P. Denny was its founder, and is still its editor and publisher. It is the only Republican paper at Georgetown.

Of the early schools of Georgetown, a great deal cannot be said; but, soon after the village was started, the usual subscription school was organized, and those parents who could afford it sent their children to obtain the meager rudiments of knowledge attainable. It is related that one of the earliest village pedagogues, who was of an experimental turn of mind, constructed a Hue under the floor of his school cabin for heating purposes. The value of the invention could scarcely be said to be thoroughly tested, for it burned the school - house very shortly after it was set in operation. This school building stood near where the Union Schools now are. John D. White, the father of Cliiltou A. White, was for many years the village schoolmaster. He came to Georgetown about 1825, from Mason County, Ky. His first schools he held in a little log cabin on his own lot, and. after the little brick schoolhoase was built - on Lot 35, Water street - he held sway there for a long time. Mr. White was also a practical surveyor, and his services in that business were frequently sought. It encroached so much up§n his time that he finally gave up his school. He was elected County Surveyor, and served for thirteen years. Baldwin Summers, then instructed the Georgetown youth. He, too, came directly from Mason County, Ky., and remained in charge of the school till his death. Shepherd F. Norris, a New Hampshire lad, and a law student uader Gen. Hamer, taught a term or two. When admitted, he began practice at Batavia, and was the first Common Pleas Judge elected from that district under the present constitution. Maj. William Wall taught a select school about 1826. JosephN. White taught in the little brick schoolhouse a number of terms. He was an Eastern man, and a graduate of Oberlin College. Within the little brick house on Water street - used for a period of nearly thirty years - most of the influential men of Georgetown and vicinity to-day, as well as many others who have gone to other places, received their education. Among the latter were Gen. Grant, Gen. A. Y. Kautz, Rev. Ezra Boring (a distinguished Methodist Episcopal divine), Gen. Jacob Ammen and Com. Daniel Ammeu. It has not been attempted to give a complete list of the teachers. In the old schoolhouse, one room only was occupied, but in later years, during the winter, two were found to be necessary.

Soon after the passage of the new school laws, the people of Georgetown began to agitate the question of building a new schoolhouse. The enterprise was bitterly opposed by a faction, but a School Board, consisting of Chilton A. White, George D. Evans and Hanson L. Penn, favoring the new schools, was elected, and by a popular vote it was authorized to purchase a lot and erect a building at a cost not exceeding $6,000. Under this management, the present beautiful school building was erected. It contains six apartmants, besides a large assembly room, for chapel exercises and other general meetings. The building, when completed, with the grounds, cost about $L0,000. C. B. White was the first Superintendent. He opened the school in the fall of 1856. His successors have been, with perhaps several others, J. R. C. Brown, E. C. Ellis, William Wilson, D. W. Fite, R. C. Mitchell, Dr. Y. Stephenson, T. C. H. Yance, Miss Lizzie Barnett, O. P. Richards, James R. Conner, and T J. Curry, the present Superintendent, who has now entered upon his fifth year of service. The present School Board consists of D. Y. Pearson, P. S. Moore and Christian Single. The schools are divided into six departments - first, second and third primary, intermediate, grammar and high. The last department has a three-years' course, including, reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar, physical geography, drawing, algebra, geometry, astronomy, natural philosophy, United States history, universal history, Latin, composition and rhetoric. During the last three years, classes have graduated from the high school. A few years ago, a colored school was organized It is held in the old church building on Lot 30, Water street. The school enumeration of the district for 1882 is as follows:

The Georgetown Methodist Episcopal Church was organized within a few years of the location of the county seat here. The earliest preaching was held in a dwelling house of Abel Rees, standing on Main Cross street, just below the C. Hurst Block. The first church, which was also the first in the village, was a small brick edifice, which stood on Outlot 16, Water street. It was erected about 1827. Among the prominent early members may be mentioned

Abel Rees aud wife, Joseph Stableton and wife, John Purdum and wife, Hugh P. Payne and wife, and Thomas H. Lyuch and wife. The present commodious brick house of worship was erected in 1846, and dedicated the following year by Rev. Joseph M. Trimble. Its architect was Hubbard Baker. The cupola of the new building was considered in its day a model of symmetry and beauty. The total cost of the chruch was about $6,000. Thomas L. Hamer and Hanson L. Penn were the heaviest contributors to its erection. Other members and friends of the church who subscribed liberally were David G. Devore, George W. King, Benjamin Penn, John Kay, D. J. Steward, Zaccheus Kay, William Jennings and Benjamin Sells. The membership at this time was about one hundred, and the ministers in charge during the construction of the church were Revs. Wesley Roe and Oliver Peoples. The church then formed a part of a circuit, but soon after Georgetown was made a station. In the old church, Revs. John W. Clark, James B. Finley, John Meek, John Stewart and George W. Maley were noted preachers. The last named was a peculiarly gifted divine, and, abont 1837, held a revival at the Georgetown Church, which was remarkably successful. Some of the most prominent citizens of the vicinity, as well as many hardened sinners, were brought into the church under his effective preaching. Among the former were Thomas L. Hamer and Dr. George B. Bailey. It is supposed that 150 converts united with the church before the protracted meetings closed. Rev. John Stewart's ministerial labors were also blessed with a large ingathering of souls. Since the erection of the new church, the ministers who have built up the numerical strength of the congregation most strongly were Revs. Wesley Roe, Charles Ferguson, and the present pastor, Rev. J. Verity. The present membership exceeds two hundred, fifty-five of whom were received at one time during the summer of 1882. A prosperous and * highly interesting Sabbath school is regularly maintained.

Concerning the origin of the Georgetown Christian Church, Elder Matthew Gardner, in his autobiography, writes: "About this time (1822 or 1823), for some time held in a small schoolhonse; but, as this would not hold the people, as soon as the court house was erected, I preached in it. There was much opposition from the Methodists and Presbyterians, They did not like to see the Christians taking a start with the town. But this did not prevent the people receiving that religion which has the Bible for its only rule of faith and practice, to the txclusion of all sectarian creeds. A church was soon organized, which grew rapidly. In a few years, we ereeted a brick chapel. I was one of the largest subscribers, as I was generally to houses built by churches, which, through divine grace, I had organized. I even went over and labored on the building. I assisted in putting on the roof, to secure the walls before winter came on. This church prospered for several years, increasing to the number of nearly two hundred members." The brick chapel erected is still standing, and is now occupied by the colored school.

When the " reformatory " movement of Alexander Campbell and his cobelievers swept over the country, the majority of the members of this congregation became converted to the new faith, organized a society November 16, 1834, and carried over with them the property of the former Christian Church. The sixteen original members who formed this new society were John D. "White, Nathan Sidweli, Robert Allen, Horace Jones, William Denniston, Sarah Denniston, James Baker, Anna Sidweli, Margaret Baker, Hannah Shepherd, Mary Bentley, Elisha Mount, Sarah Mount, Lucretia Marshall, Margaret R. White and Mary Allen. January 1, 1836, the membership had increased to sixty-six'; seven years later, it reached ninety. March 8, 1835, the first church election resulted in the choice of Robert Allen, Nathan Sidweli and