Butler County, Ohio - The whole text, 1882 (part 5 of 39)

'In 1832 the board were encouraged to increase the number of the faculty, by the addition of two new members. My professorship was relieved of the pure mathematics, and a new department of those branches was established, and Samuel W. McCracken, a graduate of the institution of a previous year, was appointed to it. The department of languages was divided into that of Greek, with an appendage of philology and general literature, which Professor McGuffey still retained; and a professorship of Latin and Latin literature, with the addition of Hebrew, to which Rey. Thomas Armstrong, another graduate of the institution, was appointed. Both the young professors had been among our best scholars, and were men of talent, particularly the latter, who gave much early promise, but died, much lamented, in the Summer of 1835, after less than three years' service, in which he had already made his mark.

"On the decease of Professor Armstrong a change was made by which Professor McCracken was transferred from the mathematical department to that of Latin; and Albert T. Bledsoe, a graduate of West Point Military Academy, was appointed professor of mathematics in his place. Professor Bledsoe was a man of vigorous and, except in the department of ancient languages, well trained and well stored mind. He had an especial talent and penchant for metaphysical study and discussion, and was unusually well read and well posted on such topics, as was manifested in a work which he published in more adyanced life, entitled, 'The Theodicy,' in which he undertook to answer President Edwards's celebrated 'Treatise on the Will,' and in which, if he does not. refute the great and world-renowned metaphysician, he shows great skill and resources in matters of abstract in- vestigation and reasoning. He is said to have published also another book to defend, or at least palliate, slavery (as I have been told, for I have never seen the book) from the Bible; although before he went back to his native South, he was very decidedly antislavery in his expressed opinions. Such is sometimes the vacillation and inconsistency of men of great minds. But with all his learning and ability he did not succeed in making himself popular as a professor. His difficulty was in the matter of discipline. Having been educated under the arbitrary rigidity of a military school, he did not seem to realize and appreciate the difference between military discipline and that appropriate to a civil institution.

"'T. must not forget, nor neglect to mention in this historical sketch, that in this successful period of the institution, somewhere about 1833 or 1834, the board took a first step toward making the institution in reality what it was in name, a university, by establishing a medical department in Cincinnati, under the title of the Miami Medical College. Dr. Daniel Drake, of Cincinnati, a gentleman of considerable celebrity in his day, both in medical science and general literature, having fallen out with his co-professors in the Ohio Medical College, applied to the board to establish in Cincinnati, under their university charter, a medical department, which was granted. Accordingly, with a faculty of his selection, consisting, with himself, of Dr. Mussey (the elder), Drs. Rives, Eberle, Stoughton, and Harrison, some of them very eminent in their profession, such a school was commenced, and carried on for some years with considerable spirit and success. What was its final fate I am not apprised of. My impression is that the doctor, in the course of a few years, disagreed with the faculty of his own selection and left it. Whether the organization finally disbanded, or still continues its existence in some one of the medical schools which Cincinnati contains, I am unable to say.

"In the midst of this prosperity a train of untoward influences began to set in. In the Fall of 1836 Professor McGuffey, who had previously shown signs of restiveness and dissatisfaction, resigned, leaving a month or so before commencement, for the professed purpose of visiting Clinton, Mississippi, with the view to the presidency of a new college (which he said had been tendered him), about to be established there. But the whole project of such a college proving a failure, he engaged with Professor O. M. Mitchel, of astronomical celebrity, for a time, in an institution in Cincinnati, under an old charter for a Cincinnati college. Afterwards he was elected to the presidency of the 'Ohio University' at Athens; but after serving there for three or four years, the institution not flourishing, nor likely to flourish to satisfaction, and his social surroundings not being entirely happy, he resigned in 1845, and accepted a professorship of mental and moral philosophy in the Virginia University, at

'At the close of the session Professor Bledsoe, who had never seemed entirely satisfied in the institution, 'followed suit,' as it is said in rather, slang phrase, by handing in his resignation. Having taken orders in the Episcopal Church he went South, having originally come from Kentucky. Whether he devoted himself to the work of the Gospel ministry exclusively or immediately, or not, I am unable to say; but my impression is that he still continued in the educational department in some academy or school in one of the Southern Gulf States. He was afterwards elected to a chair (I believe of mathematics) in the University of Virginia, not very far from the same time with the accession of Professor McGuffey. During the rebellion he is said to have been connécted with the military department of the confederacy in the capacity of chief of ordnance, I think. I have understood, too, that towards the close of the war, he was sent over to England by the Confederate Government, as one of the commissioners to solicit 'comfort and aid' in the straits and penury of its latter day. _ I think also I have heard of his death since the close of the war. The vacancies produced by the resignations of Professors Mc- Guffey and Bledsoe were supplied by the appointment of Samuel 8. Galloway and Chauncey N. Olds, both of them graduates of the institution. The institution still continued to move on prosperously till between 1838 and 1840, as the catalogues of the period, of which I left a pretty complete list with Professor Bishop, I think will show.

'In 1838, perhaps in 1837, for my memory is not very distinct in regard to minutia during that period of numerous and frequent changes, Professors Galloway and Olds resigned. A Rey. John McArthur, of Cadiz, Ohio, was elected to the professorship of Greek, and I believe, at the same time, a Professor John Armstrong was elected professor of mathematics. Professor McArthur was a man of some eminence as a preacher and as a man of literature. Professor Armstrong was an excellent mathematician of the old style, and a very good and worthy man, but hardly modern enough in manners and mode of instruction to exert a commanding influence among our 'Young America' students. After three or: four years he resigned, and was succeeded in the Fall of 1843 (I think) by George A. Westerman, a young gentleman who was highly recommended by Professor O. M. Mitchel. In the mean time other malign influences had begun to operate, to add to the force and effect of the former in disturbing the quiet and prosperity of the institution - entirely extraneous in their character, and which ought not to have been lugged into the college. These were the antislavery agitation, or, as it was called, the abolition excitement; and the troubles in the Presbyterian Church, between old and new school parties, which finally, in 1887-8, split the great Presbyterian Church in the United States into two distinct branches, which remained separate for thirty years, both of which causes were rife, and in some cases very intense about that time. Each had its faction in the board. The one was determined to exterminate all abolitionism, by which was meant all decided antislayery sentiment from the institution, or as I once heard one of the members of the board, at one of their meetings, with a good deal of bitterness, express it, that 'no abolitionist or sympathizer with abolition should ever, with his consent, be a professor in the university.' These were the politicians of the board. The other, or as it might be denominated, the ecclesiastical, faction was composed of a very few members, clerical and laical, of one or two of the older branches of the Presbyterian Church, of strong theological prejudices, who were as decided in their opposition to all newschoolism ; and these two factions, as is related of Herod and Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles and the people of Israel,' on a certain memorable occasion, conspired together ' to effect their particular object.' The other members of the board having no special prejudices or partialities to gratify, in other words 'no axes to grind,' simply yielded unsuspectingly to their plans and management. This I know from one of these same members himself, who in the result had his eyes opened.

"The storm that was thus brewing was destined first to break upon the head of Dr. Bishop, who had incurred the dissatisfaction and suspicion of both, but particularly of the ecclesiastical faction. The resignation of Professor McCracken seemed to present a favorable opportunity for commencing operations under the pretext of a general reorganization. The plan was - and I am sorry to say that I have reason to believe that there were members of the faculty, as already constituted, who were privy to it - for all the faculty to resign, and then elect a new president on the ground of Dr. Bishop's advanced age, and make whatever disposition of the other departments as might seem to be best. Two of the older members of the board, and strong partisans of the ecclesiastical faction, waited upon me, to inform me that all the other members of the faculty except Dr. Bishop and myself had agreed to' tender their resignations; and to ask me to do the same, assuring me that we would all, excepting the doctor, be again immediately re-elected." I replied to their proposition by saying that I had no objection to resigning in case I could see any necessity or just reason for such a course; but if it was merely to make the way easy and quiet for cutting off the head of that noble and venerable old man, the father of the institution, who had by his wise and able management and superintendency, under God, raised it from nothing to what it. was in its palmiest days, and what it still was, although beginning to feel the effects of more troublous times, I would not resign. They might, if they would, cut off my head, and declare my chair vacant, as they had the power, and as I know some of them had the will, as I fell under the same suspicion and ban from both the factions as Dr. Bishop. And. this would, I presume, have been done, but matters were not yet matured for such a result, and I was, therefore, reserved for another and future holocaust.

''This scheme of a general, voluntary resignation not succeeding, the managing spirits in the board went about their work in a more direct way. The presidency was made vacant by the removal of Dr. Bishop to a new professorship of history, with (I believe) some adjuncts in the department of, moral science, created for the purpose, for they could not face public opinion with a direct and absolute removal. Rev. George Junkin, D. D., president of Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, a man perfectly satisfactory to both the factions in regard, and, indeed, selected with a special view, to their two hobbies, was chosen president. James C. Moffat, a talented and scholarly young professor, from the same institution, since a professor in Princeton College, and at present a highly respected professor in Princeton Theological Seminary, and author of a book on esthetics and other minor works, was elected professor of Latin.

'*Dr. Junkin was a man of ability and scholarship, and a somewhat experienced educator. He had acquired a name and fame as the prosecutor of Rev. Albert Barnes, in the great theological controversy which terminated in the temporary division of the Presbyterian Church into Old and New School; to which, I presume, he owed his election to the presidency of the university. He was a man who had his hobbies, and was not always the most judicious in introducing, and in discussing and defending, them. One of these was the subject of Scripture prophesies, on Which he published quite a celebrated and able work. Professor Bishop will, I presume, recollect his introducing the subject, not very appropriately or in good taste, in his inaugural address, and expatiating, very eloquently and at large, on the great battle of Armageddon, in which the powers of Antichrist are to be finally discomfited and destroyed, which he interpreted in a literal sense. In the fervor and zeal of his declamation he, al] at once, broke out into the apostrophe, 'Where, where will the students of Miami University be on that day? On which side will they be found? And he will also recollect the amusing caricature cartoon, suggested by the circumstance, which some wag among the students executed and placarded on the chapel door afterward, representing 'Captain Junkin, with the students of Miami University, marching to the battle of Armageddon.' Two other of his hobbies were extreme Calvinism, as opposed to Arminianism, and anti-abolitionism, to the extent of the justification and defense of American slavery. Moreover he was a man of such intensities of temperament and dogmatic mold of mind as to render him liable to be embroiled in frequent unpleasant controversy, both public and private, with those of a different opinion from his own. In his very first outset in the college, on one of the evenings of the public exercises preliminary to the commencement on which he was to be inaugurated, he unfortunately got into an open quarrel, in the presence of the assembled audience, with the ushers of one of the literary societies, almost threatening a riot. Although on the abstract point of difference and dispute the doctor was right, yet such was the injudiciousness of his course in raising such an issue at such a time, and such the violence of his manner, that it seemed doubtful to some of the members of the board whether it would be best to proceed with the inauguration.

'"'Indeed, Dr. Junkin did not seem to understand a Western community and the state of things in the college. On these points the men that were especially active and efficient in getting him there, under the influence of their prejudice and distorted views, deceived and did him great disservice by their representation of the state of things, especially in the college. The consequence was that he went, at their call, honestly and mistakenly, in the spirit, and as he supposed, clothed with the functions, of a great and general reformer. But the doctor had the perspicacity and good sense to find out by his experience his mistake; and had it been in his power to have commenced de novo with the stock of knowledge and experience which he had gained at the end of the first two years of his connection with the college, the result would have been different, both to him and it. But if was too late. The result was, that his presidency did not prove a success, and he felt it. After struggling along for three and a half years against difficulties, and a tide of unpopularity on the part of a considerable portion of the students, and also of the general community, he resigned, and went back to Lafayette, in the Fall of 1844, and thence to Washington College, at Lexington, Virginia, of which he had been elected president, where he served for a number of years, till the commencement of the Rebellion. At this period he published a masterly work on what he denominated the 'grand fallacy' - John C. Calhoun's doctrine of States' rights - and redeemed himself nobly in the minds of many in the free States, whom he had formerly greatly dissatisfied by his views and treatment of the subject of slavery; and although his daughters and two of his sons had married Southerners - ' Stonewall' Jackson and a Colonel Preston, of Virginia, both being his sons-in-law - and he had buried his wife, an estimable lady, to whom he was greatly attached, in Lexington, finding he could not control the drift of secessionism in the college, he resigned his presidency, and loyally and indignantly left the State, and came North, shaking off the dust of secession from his feet against it.

''Disappointed in their expectations, and chagrined at the unsuccessful result of their plans, and perhaps more highly exasperated against any members of the faculty whom they suspected of not entirely sympathizing with them in their views, the prime movers of the action by which the presidency was changed, and Dr. Junkin brought there, seem to have come to the determination to make a thorough and short work of it, and eliminate by one fell stroke all unsatisfactory elements from the faculty. Accordingly an adjourned meeting of the board was appointed to be held late in the Fall, away from the seat of the college, at Lebanon. At this meeting the work was done, and the desired reform effected, by the elimination of Dr. Bishop and myself - the doctor, by removing the chair from under him, in the annihilation of his professorship, and me, by removing me from my chair. Professor Watterman was also arbitrarily removed, and an almost entire new organization was effected, leaving only Professor McArthur of the old professors remaining, who was perfectly satisfactory to both the aforesaid factions. This terminated my seventeen and a half years' connection with the institution as a professor. Several years afterward, at the solicitation of Dr. Anderson, in the early part of his presidency, I accepted an appointment as a member of the Board of Trustees, and served several years. Until I left that region I kept myself pretty well posted in regard to matters in general connected with the institution, but my knowledge of them in particular was too second-hand and limited to render me a fit chronicler of its later minute history."

As will be seen by the preceding sketch, the path of the leaders of the university was not free from difficulties. The slavery question had become important; but there were many difficulties connected with it which are not now to be perceived. Dr. Junkin sided with the majority of the electors in this county, and Dr. Bishop and Professor Scott were in the minority. The other question was that of denominational allegiance. The Presbyterians were just then passing through a division on points which now seem very trivial; but which were not then so regarded. But the university, which was to a great extent under their control, was a State institution, and those who belonged to other sects objected to the views which were there taught. Dr. Junkin became involved in a warm contest with the Rev. Thomas E. Thomas, of Rossville, in which the slavery question and the Presbyterian question were prominent. Dr. Junkin made a good defense to the charges against him, but the dissatisfaction continued.

He was succeeded in 1844 by the Rey. E. D. Me- Master, D. D., who held the office until 1849, then resigning, having Rey. W. C. Anderson, D. D., as his successor. Dr. Anderson acted as president until 1854, when the Rev. J. W. Hall, D. D., was called to the presidency by the unanimous voice of the Board of Trustees. Dr. Hall presided over the university for twelve years, resigning in 1866. His administration was successful, and when he left there was twelve thousand dollars in the treasury. The Rev. R. L. Stanton, D. D., succeeded him, and resigned in 1871; and after an interval of one year Rey. A. D. Hepburn was chosen president, holding that position until the suspension of the institution in 1873.

The university derives its revenue from the leasing of the lands of the college township, which are leased for ninety-nine years, renewable forever without revaluation, subject to an annual quit-rent of six per cent on the purchase money. This rent yields an income of nearly six thousand dollars.

An act of the Legislature, passed in February, 1809, directed that the lands should be ''offered at auction for not less than two dollars per acre," and '' the lessees shall pay six per cent per annum on the amount of their purchase." 'The first sale was held in Hamilton on the "fourth Tuesday in May," 1810. The lessees did 'not have originally the right to subdivide their lines; but by an act passed March 22, 1837, they were permitted to do so, the original quit-rent being apportioned pro rata. This was found to work injury to the university, and in March, 1862, the State repealed so much of the act of 1837 as allowed the pro rata division of the quit-rent, and enacted that in all cases of subdivision there should be an increase of the quit-rent, and that no subdivision should be allowed except on the payment of one dollar per annum. Under this premium the income is slowly increasing.

The university has never been aided directly by the State, only indirectly, in that the lands are exempt from State taxes - the quit-rent to the university being reckoned an equivalent. The corporation received the lands in a state of nature, and from these lands and from tuition fees all the money was raised which has been expended in buildings, apparatus, salaries, etc. The buildings, apparatus and library cost upward of $100,000.

From 1824, when the college was opened in the woods, till 1873, when it was temporarily suspended, nearly one thousand young men were graduated, and more than that number received a large part of their education in Miami University. These men have exercised no little influence in giving character and tone to the great West, and not to the West alone, but in other parts of our land, and in other lands, their influence has been felt for good. A gentleman who had had opportunity to know whereof he affirmed, and was competent to give a just decision, remarked, on a public occasion, that in proportion to numbers Miami University had sent forth more useful men than any other college in our land.

Owing to various causes there had been a gradual decline in the number of students since 1860; considerable money had been spent in the repair of the buildings, and a debt of near $10,000 had been inctirred. Under these circumstances, the trustees concluded, in July, 1873, that it would be proper and wise 'to suspend instruction in the university," for a time. :

Since 1873 the debt has been paid in full, and a surplus of $30,000 has been securely invested at eight per cent; and it is hoped that within two years the university will be again opened for the instruction of pupils in all the branches that pertain to a liberal education.

The university was not behind her sisters, or behind the remainder of the county of Butler, in the men she sent to the army. 'They form a noble army, and are to be found on every battle-field in the West and many in the East. They are as follows:

The Roll Of Honor

Davis, Benjamin F., A 86th; M 2d Ohio Cavalry. Douglas, William C., A 86th; K 86th; A 167th Ohio. Druly, Thaddeus C., A 86th Ohio; 9th Indiana Cavalry. Davies, Samuel W,.

The university is situated in the eastern part of the mile square appropriated for the town of Oxford. The situation is elevated, descending by a graded slope from the college building in all directions, except on the west, next to the town, with which it is on a level. The edifices at present erected for the use of the college are three. They consist of the main building, which is sixty feet front and eighty-six feet deep and three stories high, fronting the south and north. The fronts are finished with pediments, having a venetian door in the south front, with venetian windows in the stories above. The stories are over eighteen feet high in the clear. A hall or passage, thirteen feet wide in the clear, runs from east to west through the building, and a passage twelve feet wide runs from the south front door to the middle hall.

The north part of the lower story of the building is undivided, and was fitted up for a chapel. It is now used as a chemical room and as a museum. The rest of the building is divided into spacious rooms. 'The chapel is on the second floor in the new wing. Adjoining on the west was the old building first erected, forming part of awing. There is now a new and large wing here, erected in 1868. The design of the whole, according to the plan, when completed, is to have wings of eighty feet in length on the east and west of the main building, which makes the whole two htndred and twenty feet in length. The center hall or passage is designed to extend from east to west the whole length of the wings, which are to be subdivided into rooms for the accommodation of students. In 1829 another building was completed for the purposes of the institution. It stands east of the main building and distant about two hundred feet therefrom. The intention was that fire might not be communicated from one building to the other. It was called the north-east building, and is one hundred feet in length by forty feet wide and three stories high. It is divided by two halls running from east to west through the building, and divided into rooms for study and lodging rooms for the students. In 1836 another edifice was erected and completed, called the south-east building. It is situated south. and on a line with the building last mentioned. It is one hundred feet long, forty feet wide and three stories high. There is a hall running from the north to the south through the whole length of the building, and the building is divided into rooms of a suitable size for the accommodation of students. These buildings are all substantially built of brick and well calculated for the purposes which they are intended. There is also a brick building south-west of the main building erected for the purposes of a laboratory, The college square is beautiful. About twenty acres of the eastern part of the college grounds yet remain in a state of nature. It is a delightful grove, shaded by the native growth, covered with a grassy carpeting, and is neatly cleared of all that would disfigure its beauty. In this grove, when the weather was pleasant, were held the commencement exercises, and for the students it afforded a delightful promenade for recreation as well as retirement. The cupola on the top of the main college build- which is presented a beautiful and picturesque view of the surrounding country. Near.at hand can be distinctly traced the course of Four-mile Creek, a limpid stream which meanders its serpentine course around the base of the hill and through the valley, along which can distinctly be traced the gentle elevations of the hills for a long distance either way.

Looking around the eye surveys a large extent of beautiful country dotted with its fields and farm houses, and as the view widens the largest of those seem in the distance mere garden spots and inconsiderable specks upon the landscape. Looking to the east, the eye, extending its view, takes in its farthest range the hills along the great Miami River, whose woodland summits present to the observer a blue streak, delicately tinged and apparently elevated but a few inches above the intervening landscape as they grow dimmer and still more dim, until they fade entirely in the extent.

The libraries belonging to the literary societies were united with the college library, and placed in one room. It comprises about ten thousand volumes, in almost every variety of literature and science, both ancient and modern. Some of the books are old and very rare and curious. It contains all the principal standard works, and, particularly, the circle of history is very complete. A fund was appropriated by the trustees for the annual increase of the library, which was open to the students, under certain regulations. It has received 'of late a large number of" documents.

In the year 1825 the Board of Trustees caused to be purchased in London a philosophical apparatus which cost about one thousand dollars, which was deposited in the college, since which time various appropriations have, from time to time, been made for the purpose of purchasing additional chemical, mathematical, and philesophical apparatus.

In the year 1848 the trustees purchased from David Christy a geological cabinet, for which they paid $2,222. These specimens, added to a small collection before possessed by the college, were scientifically arranged, and inclosed in glass cases, in a very tasteful manner, which afford the means of a very complete exhibition of the subjects of geology and mineralogy. They have lately been arranged, and large additions made to them by Professor Osborn.

Literary societies have been formed and organized, belonging to the Miami University. The Erodelphian Society was organized in September, 1825, having for its professed object the cultivation of science, eloquence, and friendship. The members were all students of Miami University.

They occupied a large room in the third story of the main college building, exclusively for their own use, where they held their meetings. The room was fitted up in handsome style, and kept at all times neat and 'clean. The floor was covered with a carpet. On the east was an elevated stand, for the presiding officer of the meetings, and tables and desks for the secretaries. On the opposite side of the room was formerly their library, tastefully arranged on shelves, surmounted by a handsome cornice, and supported by Corinthian columns. The whole was arranged in a style of neatness and elegance rarely surpassed. The members of the society met regularly once every week during the college session, and spent from three to five hours in the investigation of subjects which have a bearing on the business of active life.

State of Ohio, on the third day of February, 1831. The society holds its anniversary on the day preceding the annual commencement of the college, at which time an address is delivered by some individual of distinguished talents, who had previously been invited by the society.

The Miami Union Literary Society had objects similar to that of the Erodelphian Society, and was, in like manner, composed of members who were students in the Miami University. They had also a room in the third story of the main college building, fitted up with the same care and neatness as that of the other society. Over the chairman's stand was a portrait, presenting a good likeness, of the Rev. Robert H. Bishop, president of the university. The library which belonged to the society has been united with the college library. They had cases in their room containing a valuable cabinet of minerals, geological specimens, and natural curiosities.

The society was originally known as the Union Literary Society, but another society sprang up, which maintained an existence for several years. As the university, however, was not large enough to support three societies, the Union and the Miami finally consolidated under the name of Miami Union.

The last meeting of the trustees of the Miami University was held on the 15th of June, 1881, with the president, John W. Herron, in the chair. The members present were: William Beckett, Hamilton; Colonel John G. Lowe, Dayton; David W. McClung, Nelson Sayler, John B. Peaslee, Rev. B. W. Chidlaw, Samuel F. Hunt, H. W. Hughes, Cincinnati; John M. Millikin, James E. Neal, Hamilton; J. McLain Smith, Dayton; Dr. G. W. Keely, L. N. Bonham, Oxford.

Presidents Of Colleges

T. E. Thomas, 1834, South Hanover College, Indiana. D. A. Wallace, 1846, Monmouth College, Ilinois. Samuel 8. Laws, 1845, University of Missouri.

Professors In Colleges

amuel Galloway, 1833, South Hanover College, Indiana. M. Stone; 1834, Hanover College and University of Iowa. N. Olds, 1836, Miami University.

Robert C. Schenck, of Franklin, Ohio, class of 1827, lawyer, Member of Congress, general in the Union army, minister to court of St. James; still living.

Governor Morton, of Indiana, and Governor Yates, of Illinois, also were in the university, but did not graduate. With Dennison of Ohio, these were the war governors of three of the Northern States.

General Anthony Wayne

GeNERAL ANTHONY WAYNE was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, on the Ist of January, 17465. He was the son of an Irishman, who emigrated' to this country in the year 1722, and afterward became a member of the provincial assembly and an officer in the various military expeditions which were fitted out against the Indians. After leaving school, in which his attention to the mathematical sciences was marked, Anthony Wayne became a surveyor. That calling he followed for a number of years, devoting part of his time, however, to various county offices to which he had been chosen. ~ In 1774 he was one of the provincial deputies who met in Philadelphia to deliberate upon the state of affairs, and was also a member of the convention and of the Legislature. In 1775 he was a member of the committee of safety. Before the close of that year he had raised a regiment for immediate service, and, as its commander, he joined General Sullivan for duty in Canada. He was in the engagement of Three Rivers. He had command of five regiments at Ticonderoga and Mount Independence until May, 1777, when he joined General Washington, in New Jersey, and aided in driving the enemy out of that State. He was defeated at Paoli, by a superior force, when in command, as brigadier-general, of fifteen hundred men. General Wayne led the attack of the American right wing at Germantown, and gave much efficient service to the American cause. He fought nobly at the battle of Monmouth. When Stony Point was to be captured, General Wayne was fixed upon by Washington as the proper man for the service, and he fulfilled the expectations of his commander. The place was defended by six hundred men and a strong battery of artillery. At midnight he led his troops with unloaded muskets, flints out, and fixed bayonets, and, without firing a single gun, carried the fort by storm, and took five hundred and forty-three prisoners. He was struck in the attack by a musket ball, in the head, and was supposed to have received a mortal wound. He called to his aids to carry him forward and let him die in the fort. But he did not die. He recovered his health in time to take part in the Southern campaign in 1781. After the surrender of

Cornwallis, General Wayne was assigned to the command of Georgia, and succeeded in driving the enemy from that State. When the war closed he remained in Georgia, being a member of the Constitutional Convention of that State, and also served for a short time as a member of Congress.

After the defeat of St. Clair, General Washington looked for some man who could recover the laurels we had lost by that disaster. His choice was finally fixed upon General Wayne. In the Summer of 1792 that officer repaired to Pittsburg, when he proceeded to recruit and discipline an army. On the 30th of April, 17938, General Wayne moved from his winter-quarters to the neighborhood of Fort Washington. They set out for the North on the 7th of October.

On the 28th of July, Wayne having been joined by General Scott, with sixteen hundred mounted Kentuckians, moved forward to the Maumee. By the 8th of August the army had arrived near the junction of the Auglaize with that stream, and commenced the erection of Fort Defiance at that pomt. The Indians, having learned from a deserter of the approach of Wayne's army, hastily abandoned their head-quarters at Auglaize, and thus defeated the plan of Wayne to surprise them, for which object he had cut two roads, intending to march by neither. At Fort Defiance, Wayne received full information of the Indians, and the assistance they were to derive from the volunteers at Detroit and vicinity. On the 13th of August, true to the spirit of peace advised by Washington, he sent Christian Miller, who had been naturalized among the Shawnees, as a special messenger to offer terms of friendship. Impatient of delay, he moved forward, and on the 16th met Miller on his return with the message that if the Americans would wait ten days at Grand Glaize [Fort Defiance], they (the Indians) would decide for peace or war. On the 18th the army arrived at Roche de Boeuf, just south of the site of Waterville, where they erected some light works as a place of deposit for their heavy baggage, which was named Fort Deposit. During the 19th the army labored at their works, and about eight o'clock on the morning of the 20th moved forward to attack the Indians, who were encamped on the bank of the Maumee, at and around a hill called Presque Isle, about two miles south of the site of Maumee City, and four south of the British Fort Miami. From Wayne's report of the battle, we make the following extract:

'The legion was on the right, its flank covered by the Maumee; one brigade of mounted volunteers on the left, under Brigadier-general Todd, and the other in the rear, under Brigadier-general Barbee. A select battalion of mounted volunteers moved in front of the legion, commanded by Major Price, who was directed to keep suf- ficiently advanced, so as to give timely notice for the troops to form in case of action, it being yet undetermined whether the Indians would decide for peace or war.

«< After advancing about five miles, Major Price's corps received so severe a fire from the enemy, who were secreted in the woods and high grass, as to compel them to retreat. The legion was immediately formed in two lines, principally in a close thick wood, which extended for miles on our left, and for a very considerable distance in front; the ground being covered with old fallen timber (probably occasioned by a tornado), which rendered it impracticable for the cavalry to act with effect, and afforded the enemy the most favorable covert for their mode of warfare. The savages were formed in three lines, within supporting distance of each other, and extending for near two miles at right angles with the river. I soon discovered, from the weight of the fire and extent of their lines, that the enemy were in full force in front, in possession of their favorite ground, and endeavoring to turn our left flank. I therefore gave orders for the second line to advance and support the first; and directed Majorgeneral Scott to gain and turn the right flank of the savages, with the whole force of the mounted volunteers, by a circuitous route; at the same time I ordered the front line to advance and charge with trailed arms, and rouse the Indians from their coverts at the point of the bayonet, and when up, to deliver a close and well-directed fire on their backs, followed by a brisk charge, so as not to give them time to load again.

"T also ordered Captain Mis Campbell, who commanded the legionary cavalry, to turn the left flank of the enemy next the river, and which afforded a favorable field for that corps to act in. All these orders were obeyed with spirit and promptitude; but such was the impetuosity of the charge by the first line of infantry, that the Indians and Canadian militia and volunteers were drove from all their coverts in so short a time that, although every possible exertion was used by the officers of the second line of the legion, and by Generals Scott, Todd, and Barbee, of the mounted volunteers, to gain their proper positions, but part of each could get up in season to participate in the action ; the enemy being drove, in the course of one hour, more than two miles through the thick woods already mentioned, by less than one-half their numbers. From every account the enemy amounted to two thousand combatants. The troops actually engaged against them were short of nine hundred. This horde of savages, with their allies, abandoned themselves to flight, and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving our victorious army in full and quiet possession of the field of battle, which terminated under the influence of the guns of the British garrison. ;

"The bravery and conduct of every officer belonging to the army, from the generals down to the ensigns, merit my highest approbation. There were, however, some whose rank and situation placed their conduct in a very conspicuous point of view, and which I observed with pleasure and the most lively gratitude. Among whom, I must beg leave to mention Brigadier-general Wilkinson and Colonel Hamtramck, the commandants of the right and left wings of the legion, whose brave example inspired the troops. To those I must add the names of my faithful and gallant aides-de-camp, Captains De Butt and T. Lewis, and Lieutenant Harrison, who, with the adjutant-general, Major Mills, rendered the most essential service by communicating my orders in every direction, and by their conduct and bravery exciting the troops to press for victory. :

'The loss of the enemy was more than that of the Federal army. The woods were strewed for a considerable distance with the dead bodies of Indians and 'their white

''We remained three days and nights on the banks of the Maumee, in front of the field of battle, during which time all the houses and corn-fields were consumed and destroyed for a considerable distance, both above and below Fort Miami, as well as within pistol-shot of the garrison, who were compelled to remain tacit spectators to this general devastation and conflagration, among which were the houses, stores, and property of Colonel McKee, the British Indian agent and principal stimulator of the war now existing between the United States and the savages."

The loss of the Americans in this battle was thirtythree killed and one hundred wounded, including five officers among the killed, and nineteen wounded.

One of the Canadians taken in the action estimated the force of the Indians at about fourteen hundred. He also stated that about seventy Canadians were with them, and that Colonel McKee, Captain Elliott, and Simon Girty were in the field, but at a respectful distance, and near the river. When the broken remains of the Indian army were pursued under the British fort, the soldiers could scarce be restrained from storming it, This, independent of its results in bringing on a war with Great Britain, would have been a desperate measure, as the fort mounted ten pieces of artillery, and was garrisoned by four hundred and fifty men, while Wayne had no armament proper to attack such a strongly fortified place. While the troops remained in the vicinity, there did not appear to be any communication between the garrison and the savages. The gates were shut against them, and their rout and slaughter witnessed with apparent unconcern by the British. The Indians were astonished at the lukewarmness of their allies, and regarded the fort, in case of defeat, as a place of refuge.

On the 27th Wayne's army returned to Fort Defiance, by easy marches, laying waste the villages and corn-fields of the Indians for about fifty miles on each side of the Maumee.

Pioneers And Soldiers

and was followed, the next year, by the treaty of Greenville. This was a substantial and well-observed compact, and the people of Ohio and Eastern Indiana had no cause to complain of the Indian tribes, until just before the war of 1812. It covered the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottowattomies, Kickapoos, Kaskaskias, Weas, the Eel River tribe, and the Piankeshaws.

General Wayne died at Presque Isle (now Erie), Pennsylvania, of gout, while on his way from Detroit to Philadelphia, December 14, 1796, a few days before he was fifty-one years of age. His remains were interred, at his own request, under the flag-staff of the fort on the shore of Lake Erie, but were removed by his son, Colonel Isaac Wayne, in 1809, to Radnor churchyard, near the place of his birth, in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where an elegant monument was erected in his honor by the Cincinnati Society of Pennsylvania. ''Mad Anthony" was one of the best generals of the Revolution. He was a man apparently of great rashness, and yet no one acted, in a time of emergency, with greater coolness and foresight. His name is inseparably connected with this State.

John Reily

Joun Retiy, a member of the constitutional convention which formed the organic law of Ohio, a brave soldier, and a devoted patriot, was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, on the tenth day of April, 1763. His career is interwoven with the whole history of Butler County and Ohio. Mr. Reily's parents were farmers, and removed with him to Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia, when he was about five or six years of age. Just before the outbreak-of the Revolutionary war, this was on the frontier line of settlements, and the pioneers were much exposed to attacks from Indians, who were bloodthirsty and revengeful. Their lands had been taken from them by the whites, and a continual warfare existed between them and the strangers, as far west as Kentucky, which was then just receiving its first emigrants. In each neighborhood a block-house, answering the purpose of a fort, was erectéd, to which all the families fled when danger seemed near. In October, 1774, a battle was fought at the mouth of the Great Kanawha River, between the Indian chief Cornstalk and his warriors, and the Virginia troops under the command of General Andrew Lewis. Mr. Reily distinetly remembered this, although he was at the time only eleven years old, as well as the circumstance that the family retreated for protection to a small fort near Staunton.

The youth matured early in those days. It was necessary to cultivate a habit of self-reliance, as each man needed all his faculties about him. At seventeen, John Reily felt the duty of taking his part in the great struggle Which was going on between his countrymen and the armies of Great Britain. He joined the Southern Department, then under the command of Nathaniel Greene, the Quaker general, who had been appointed to the command on the 22d of October, 1780. The movements of that army were numerous.- It made long marches, it fought many battles, it contested every inch of ground, and finally compelled Cornwallis to retreat for re-enforcements to Yorktown, where later on he was captured by the united American and French forces.

The first battle in which Mr. Reily took an active part was that of Guilford Court-house, which was fought on the 15th of March, 1781. There were about fortyfour hundred on the American side, thirty-one hundred of whom were raw militia or half-equipped regulars, and on the enemy's side there were two thousand four hundred regular troops. They lost six hundred killed and wounded, while the Americans had four hundred and fifty killed and wounded, with eight hundred missing. The British also captured several cannon. 'They claimed the victory, but had no such decided preponderance that they could afford to wait and gather the fruits, and a few days later began to retreat, closely pursued by General Greene.

Camden was the next battle. It was a severe and hard-fought contest, in which Greene received the worst of it. He consequently withdrew, but Cornwallis was not in sufficient spirits to follow. Shortly after, he burned his 'works at Camden, and retreated to the North.

Soon after this, the American army invested the town of Ninety-six, which had been strongly fortified. Learning that Lord Rawdon was approaching, Greene determined to carry the works by assault, and made the attempt; but it failed, after much slaughter. The last affair of consequence in which Mr. Reily was engaged was the battle of Eutaw Springs, in South Carolina, on the 8th of September. The Americans attacked the British with great spirit, early in the morning, which was met with courage and determination. After a long hand-to-hand conflict, Lee, who had turned the British left flank, charged them in the rear. They yielded, and their line was completely broken. The company to which Mr. Reily belonged, heated with patriotic fire, pursued them so vigorously that they were divided from their own troops, so that they had to make a wide circuit. The day was so distressingly hot that when the company came to a brook on their way back, they rushed into the stream up to their knees, and dipped the water with their hands, to assuage their thirst. There was a large number engaged on each side, about two thousand. This engagement terminated the active efforts of the British in that portion of the country, and practically was the end of the Southern campaign. The army soon after was dissolved, and Mr. Reily, after eighteen months of service, was discharged, with a certificate of honorable service, signed by George Washington himself.

He returned to his home in Virginia, where he remained about two years. Then, becoming excited by the favorable accounts of the West, which was just then getting settled, he left his father's home in Virginia, and one years of age. His sister lived at that time in Danville, Lincoln County, and at her house he remained for five or six years, making it his home. He labored on the farm each Summer and Winter, excepting when he was employed as a carpenter, although he had never regularly learned that trade. He also made plows, harrows, and other agricultural implements for the use of the settlers, and during the last year of his residence in Kentucky he taught an English school. The settlement of Ohio was then just commencing, and Mr. Reily concluded to cast in his lot with those who were beginning the new commonwealth. He came to Columbia, now the eastern part of Cincinnati, on the 18th of December, 1789.

That place was begun by Major Benjamin Stites. There was little provision in the neighborhood, and the eolonists were obliged to gather roots and bear grass for food. The roots of the latter were pounded up into a kind of flour, which served as a substitute in making bread. Several settlers who were in Columbia subsequently became residents of Butler County, among others Mr. Benjamin Randolph and Mr. James Seward. An attack being made on Dunlap's Station, now Colerain, on the 10th of January, 1791, the patriotic citizens of Columbia turned out in their defense, and among them was Mr. Reily. They armed themselves with rifles, and, mounted on the best horses that could be procured, set out for the relief of the settlement. Mr. Reily and Thomas Moore, who was afterward of Butler County, were directed to proceed a short distance in advance, as pickets, to give notice if the enemy should appear. On reaching the fort, they found that the siege had been abandoned, and that the garrison had sustained but little injury. There had been a vigorous effort to take the place by assault, but the attack had been frustrated.

On the 21st of June, 1790, Mr. Reily opened an English school at Columbia, which was the first one taught in the place (or, indeed, in the whole Miami country), which he continued as long as he resided there. - In 1791, Francis Dunlevy, who was afterward the first judge of the Court of Common Pleas in this county, joined Mr. Reily at Columbia, and took part in the conduct of his school. Mr. Dunlevy taught the classical department, and Mr. Reily the English. This they continued for some time, but it was finally abandoned when Mr. Reily found other and more active occupations. Judge Dunlevy afterward removed to Warren County, where he lived until 1839.

After St. Clair's defeat, General Wilkinson issued a call for volunteers to accompany an expedition he was about to send out for the purpose of burying the dead. A company was formed at Columbia, under command of Captain John 8. Gano, of which Mr. Reily was a member. They were joined by two other companies at Fort Washington, and by two hundred regular soldiers. In one of these companies William Henry Harrison, afterward President, was an ensign. They started on the 25th of January, General James Wilkinson commanding.

There was a very heavy snow on the ground, which obliged them to take sleds along, to carry their provisions and baggage. The first night they encamped near the present site of the college, at College Hill, seven miles from the city; the next morning they arrived at Fort Hamilton, where they stayed a couple of days. John S. Gano acted as major. On the 28th they crossed the river, with their horses and baggage, on the ice, about where the Junction railroad now bridges the river. They took the old trace opened up by General St. Clair, and that night encamped at Seven-mile Creek. The next day they reached Fort Jefferson, which was under the charge of Captain Shaylor.

At this place General Wilkinson issued an order announcing that, in consequence of the depth of the snow and the severity of the weather, he would abandon one object of the expedition, which was to destroy an Indian town, on a branch of the Wabash, fifteen miles below St. Clair's battle-ground, directing the return of the regular soldiers, who were on foot, to Fort Washington, as they would not be needed, and stating that he would proceed with the mounted volunteers and the public sleds to the battle-ground, for the purpose of bringing away such artillery and other property as might be recovered.

The next day they continued their march, and encamped within eight miles of their destination. On the ensuing day, at eleven o'clock, they arrived at the field of the disastrous defeat, and encamped where St. Clair's artillery had stood, with a view of beating down the snow to facilitate their finding the object of their search - cannon and corpses. On their last.day's march, when within four miles of the field of battle, where the pursuit had ceased, the scene, even though covered with snow, was most melancholy. The bodies of the slain laid strewed along the road and in the woods on each side. Many of them had been dragged from under the snow and mutilated by wild beasts. One of the party counted seventy-eight bodies between the point where the pursuit terminated and the battle-field. No doubt there were many more who, finding themselves disabled, crawled to a distance, out of sight of the road, and there perished. The great body of the slain were within an area of forty acres. The snow being deep, the bodies could be discovered only by the elevation of the snow where they lay. They had been scalped and stripped of all their clothing that was of any value. Scarcely any could be identified, as their bodies were blackened by frost and exposure, although there were few signs of decay, the Winter having been unusually early and severe. Major Gano and others supposed one corpse to be that of General Richard Butler, and had little doubt as to its identity. It lay in a group of the slain, where evidently had been the thickest of the carnage.

Having dug a large pit - a work of much labor, as they were poorly supplied with spades and other implements - they proceeded to collect and bury the frozen bodies. Probably not more than one-half, however, were interred, as they worked at it only on the day of their arrival. They were so numerous, however, that when all were piled together and covered with earth, it raised a considerable mound. Here, in the silent gloom of the beech woods, reposes many a heart which once beat warm to every impulse of honor and noble feeling which elevates our race.

They found that the artillery, with the exception of one six-pounder, had been dismounted and carried off or secreted, and some of the carriages had been burned. After encamping on the ground nearly two days and two nights, the party returned to Cincinnati, taking with them the field-piece above mentioned, two uninjured guncarriages, the irons of the carriages that were burnt, and a few muskets. Many of the volunteers were badly frostbitten on the march. Mr. Reily said the snow was so deep that in moving about it gave them great annoyance by getting in at the top of their leggings.

In 1791 Mr. Reily had purchased a tract of land, about seven miles from Cincinnati, in the same quartersection on a part of which the town of Carthage has since been laid out. In 1793 he gave up his interest in the school at Columbia to his friend Mr. Dunlevy, and associated with himself Mr. Prior, the two owning land near each other, and prosecuting their improvements jointly. All did not go well with them, however. Their horses were soon stolen, and they suffered other injuries from the Indians. They had not been long at this new business when Mr. Prior undertook to make a trip from Fort Washington to Fort Hamilton, in company with others. On their way, the men were attacked by the Indians, and Mr. Prior was killed.

Mr. Reily was left alone, and concluded to abandon farming. He-returned to Columbia, and resumed teaching, which he continued until April, 1794, when he went to Cincinnati, and was employed in the office of General John S. Gano, then clerk of the Court of Hamilton County. Here he remained until 1799, acting as deputy, and conducting a large portion of the business of the office. In this situation he received high encomiums from the attorneys and others who had business with the court, for the neatness and accuracy with which his books were kept. ;

The people of the Territory held their first election for representatives to the General Assembly in 1799, and those elected began their sessions at Cincinnati on the 16th of September. John Reily was elected clerk, and served as such until their adjournment on the 19th of December following. He acted in the like capacity for the next two sessions, and was heartily esteemed by those with whom he was associated. He devoted his entire time to the duties of his office, filling them with ability and discretion.

When Cincinnati had a charter granted to it, John Reily was made one of the town trustees, and at the first meeting he was elected the clerk and collector. He became one of the stockholders of the first public library in the Northwest, and, sixty years after, was the next to the last survivor. He was made one of the receivers of money for the United States arising out of the claims of persons residing on Symmes's purchase for relief, and with William Goforth was appointed a board to hear and determine such claims. Mr. Reily acted as clerk of this board, made a map of the country where the claims

In 1802 the Congress of the United States passed 'an act to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to form a constitution and State government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and for other purposes," which was approved the 30th of April. The law fixed the boundaries of the State, and authorized the citizens within its limits to elect representatives to a convention to form a constitution. The election was held on the second Tuesday of October following, and the convention met in Chillicothe on the first Monday of November. Mr. Reily was elected one of the representatives of Hamilton County, which then embraced Butler; and, though he did not take much part in the debates, his industry and strict attention to business, and the confidence placed by his fellow-members in his judgment and experience, gave him a very perceptible influence in the convention. That body conitinued in session twenty-nine days, and formed the first constitution of the State. It met with the approbation of the people, and they lived under it many years.

Mr. Reily moved to Hamilton in' 1803, being the agent of the proprietors of Rossville, and resided here until the time of his death. Some of the buildings of the old fort were yet standing, and many of the pickets which had made the inclosure were still to be seen. The inhabitants of the town were few in number, and had been chiefly soldiers of the various armies. After the erection of the county of Butler Mr. Reily acted as the clerk of the court. He held the office under successive reappointments until the fourteenth day of March, 1840, a period of nearly thirty-seven years, when he declined further service. He was also clerk of the Supreme Court of Butler County from the 11th of October, 1803, until the 3d of May, 1842, when he resigned. Judge Burnet states that this was a longer term than any other person had held such an office, with the exception of Mr. Hugh Boyle, of Fairfield County.

The only lawyer residing in Hamilton at that time was William Corry, whose office was in the same room in' which Mr. Reily kept his. Mr. Reily was appointed the first recorder of Butler County in 1803, and held the position until May, 1811, when he was succeeded by James Heaton, who had been the first county surveyor.

Mr. Reily was also clerk of the board of county commissioners from 1803 to 1819, when he resigned. His sterling qualities and thorough practical knowledge of the routine of the office gave him a great influence with the successive boards. In fact, during the time he held the position he had the chief management and control of the finances, of the county, and conducted them with great prudence.

In 1804, under the administration of Thomas Jefferson, a post-office was established in Hamilton, of which Mr. Reily was appointed postmaster. His commission was signed by Gideon Granger, postmaster-general, and bears date August 2, 1804. This was then the westernmost post-office north of the Ohio. He held this place until July, 1832, when he resigned, being succeeded by James B. Thomas.

In 1809, when Oxford University was founded, Mr. Reily was made a trustee, and served in that capacity for many years. He was its president until the organization of the college in 1824, when by law the president of the college, by virtue of his office, became president of the board of trustees. He was always a warm friend of this institution, attending the meetings of the board with regularity. For years his name appears in the newspapers as secretary. He'resigned his trusteeship in 1840, on account of advanced age and the inconvenience of being so often absent from home.

Mr. Reily was a man of the utmost regularity of habits. He came to his room at a certain hour, and departed from it at a certain hour. His papers were all methodically filed away, and he could at any time refer to any paper with which he had any thing to do, although it might have been a quarter of a century before. He trusted nothing to another person which it was possible himself to do. He held office many years, and during the whole course of his life his integrity and veracity were never questioned, nor does the writer' recollect in any of the old newspapers whose files he has examined an attack upon his character - an exemption which no one else enjoyed. His judgment was excellent, his memory good, his patriotism of the highest. He took part in the Revolution while still a mere boy; he was an actor in the scenes of pioneer life when in early manhood, and he discharged important trusts to his fellow-men when he had reached the maturity of his powers. He was frequently a trustee of estates or guardian of children, and occupied other fiduciary positions. He was educated in the Presbyterian faith, and liberally contributed to the support of that denomination. other Churches.

His death occurred in Hamilton on the 7th of June, 1850. He was then eighty-seven years of age. He had enjoyed good health nearly all his life, and his death was not preceded by any long sickness. The decease was announced to the Court of Common Pleas, which was then in session, by Governor Bebb, who paid a feel- ing tribute to his memory. Resolutions were adopted by the bar, which were ordered to be entered upon the journal of the court, and adjournment then took place.

Presbyterian Church, and the body was conveyed to its last resting-place in Greenwood Cemetery, which had been opened only a short time before. The attendance at the funeral was vast. People came from every township in the county, as well as from over the border and from Indiana. 'The solemnities were rendered more im-

The constitutional convention was at that time in session at Columbus. On Tuesday, June 11th, Judge Elijah Vance, a member of the convention from Butler County, arose and said :

''Mr. Speaker, - I have been induced, sir, by a letter which has been placed in my hands by an honorable member of this convention, to announce to this body the decease of Mr. John Reily, late of Butler County. It is known, perhaps, to every member upon this floor that the deceased was one of the members of the convention which framed the present constitution of Ohio, and that he had been for many years a citizen of the Northwest Territory or the State of Ohio."

'' He was a man of many peculiarities, but of the most strict and uncompromising integrity. In every department of life he was faithful and scrupulously honest. It is an incident worthy of profound contemplation that, at the very period of time in which our people are seeking to enlarge the sphere of constitutional liberty - while they are about to bid farewell to the constitution under which they have lived and prospered for near fifty years, and to seek enlarged blessings under a new form - the mind that so largely aided in diffusing these blessings under the guarantee afforded by organic law, has been remodeled, regenerated, and prepared for usefulness in a wider and better sphere of existence.

'* Resolved, That this convention has heard with deep sensibility the annunciation of the death of John Reily, Esquire, late of the county of Butler, a, soldier of the Revolution, one of the early pioneers of the West, one who filled important trusts under the territorial government, and one of the framers of the present constitution of Ohio. X

'Mr. President, - I hope I may be pardoned for rising to make a few remarks by way of seconding the resolutions offered by the honorable member from Butler. I live in an adjoining county to that in which the deceased resided, and have been intimately acquainted with him for a period of some thirty years. I first became acquainted with Mr. Reily about the year 1821, just after I had commenced the practice of law, and was uniformly in the habit of attending the courts of Butler County, in the practice of my profession, whilst he was clerk of the Court of Common Pleas and of the Supreme Court of that county. I know that I speak the sentiments of every member of the profession who had the good fortune and the pleasure of practicing in the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County during the time he was clerk of the the court, when I bear witness to the urbanity of his demeanor and the politeness and courtesy which he always bestowed upon every member, and especially upon the younger members of the profession. Toward the latter his deportment was peculiarly kind and paternal.

''In some respects Mr. Reily was a most extraordinary man; and, as the gentleman from Butler has well remarked, in the qualities of punctuality and honesty and the most strict and marked integrity I do not think he had his superior anywhere. During the whole period of my service on the bench of the Court of Common Pleas he was clerk of the court, which brought us into official relation. During more than thirty years that he served as_clerk of the court, he discharged his duties with the strictest- fidelity and utmost punctuality. Indeed, as a clerk he was a model. As an instance of his rigid punctuality, he never knowingly permitted any large amount of fees to accumulate in his office without paying them over to those who were entitled to receive them. This was a rule with Mr. Reily which, in my opinion, made him an exception to any other gentleman I have known who filled that office. He did not usually wait until the witnesses or other persons having money collected in his office would call for it, but would seek opportunities of searching for the claimant, and sending it to him as soon as collected. I mention this as an instance of his scrupulous honesty.

"I have heard it remarked by some of the older citizens of Butler, who from an early day have been familiar with the fiscal concerns of that county, that to Mr. Reily, more than to any other man, was to be attributed the correct and prudent manner in which the fiscal concerns of that county were always managed during the period in which Mr. Reily, to a ver y considerable extent, had their oversight and management. Such was the care and attention which he bestowed in' the discharge of the duties of every office he was called to fill that no

''T had the pleasure of an interview with Mr. Reily in the month of March last, at his own residence. I have been uniformly in the habit, since, from the infirmities of age, he has been almost wholly confined to his house, of calling on him on all proper occasions when visiting the town in which he resided. The interview to which I refer was after the passage of the law of the last session of the General Assembly which has called this assembly together. {Mr. Reily was emphatically a gentleman of the old school. He had his principles and Opinions, and was firm in the maintenance of them; at the same time paying due respect and regard to the opinions of others. On the occasion referred to he spoke of his Revolutionary services, and of the proceedings of the convention of 1802. He looked forward with deep interest to the proceedings of this convention, and remarked to me that, although he felt the inconveniences and defects of the present constitution, still he looked forward with some forebodings as to what might be the result of the deliberations of this convention. At the same time that he acknowledged the defects in the existing constitution, he was apprehensive that, amidst. the turmoil and excitement of contending parties, the public good might be sacrificed to party feeling, and the organic law of the State despoiled of some of its essential provisions. Mr. Reily, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, was not a partisan. He never obtruded his opinions upon any one. When he formed opinions he maintained them upon all proper occasions with becoming firmness and commendable modesty.

'If I am not mistaken, he was originally attached to the Federal party. My impression is. (though in this I may be in ,error) that at one period he supported the claims of General Jackson for the presidency. It is proper, also, to remark that in his latter years he was attached to the Whig party. But no one ever heard him condemn any man, or set of men, for entertaining and expressing political opinions different from his own. He was perfectly tolerant and gentlemanly in his deportment toward every person with whom he came in contact, amiable and courteous in his manners and in all his social relations. Full of years, honored and respected by all who knew him, he has gone from among us. But his memory will live after him, highly esteemed as he was when living, and revered when dead. Respectable for his intelligence and official qualifications - permit me, Mr. President, to say that, in my estimation, the crowning glory of his life was his spotless purity, his scrupulous honesty, and his unsullied integrity. He lived and died a humble, pious Christian."

Mr. Edward Archbold, a member of the convention from Monroe County, rose and said that, though an entire stranger to the deceased, he joined heartily in the honorable testimonials which had been offered by the gentlemen from Butler and Warren. He had learned that there were but four or five members of the convention which framed the present constitution of Ohio now living, and that from the time he was returned a delegate to this convention till he came up to this place he had indulged the idea of obtaining the services of some one of these time-honored survivors to preside during the preliminary organization, and perform those duties which were so ably discharged by his friend, the senior member from the county of Wayne (Mr. Larwell). He had thought that while such a thing would constitute an appropriate expression of respect for those honored and honorable representatives of the past, it might also reflect a very wholesome influence upon the convention itself.

Mr. John Larwell then moved that, as a further testimonial of respect for the memory of the deceased, the convention now adjourn, which was carried.

Mr. Reily was married on the sixth day of February, 1808, to Miss Nancy Hunter, a daughter of Joseph Hunter, who was living in the neighborhood of Hamilton. Mrs. Reily died July 18, 1881. They had three sons and two daughters. Joseph H. Reily, who was born November 8, 1809, was educated at the Miami University. He possessed a natural taste for art, and painted many portraits and landscapes, which are still in the possession of our older families. He died at Hamilton, on the twentieth day of March, 1849, in the same room in which he was born.

James Reily was born July 3, 1811, and was graduated at the Miami University in 1829. He studied law with John Woods, of Hamilton, and practiced for a while in Mississippi, but went from there to Texas. During the short life of that republic as a separate government, he was sent to Washington as its minister-plenipotentiary. He became a large landholder, and at the beginning of the Rebellion entered the Confederate service. He was killed at the head of his regiment, when leading them at the battle of Bayou Teche, in 1863. He married a niece of Henry Clay, a Miss Ross, who is now also dead.

Robert Reily was born June 1, 1820, and was in mercantile business in Cincinnati. In the war of the Rebellion he was a field officer in the Seventy-fifth Ohio Infantry, doing much fighting, and receiving deserved encomiums. On the 30th of April, 1362, at the battle of Chancellorsville, Reily, who was then the colonel.of the regiment, received a severe wound at the close of the day, of which he died on the 5th of May, 1863. His troops had been handled admirably, and there was a universal manifestation of regret at his loss.

Caroline Reily, the oldest daughter, died in infancy. The younger, Jane H. Reily, who was born October 9, 1815, is still living. She is the wife of Lewis D. Campbell, formerly Member of Congress, and one of the most influential men in the nation. <A full sketch of him will be found elsewhere. Mrs. Reily made her home with him and her daughter until her decease.

General Richard Butler

RicHarp But ier, after whom this county was named, was born in Ireland. With his brothers, he came to America before 1760, and was for a long time in the Indian trade. Just before the outbreak of the American War he was settled in Pennsylvania, where his courage and knowledge of character made him a man of influence. It was a matter of great importance to persuade the In- © dians not to take up arms against us, and as agent and interpreter he went to Fort Pitt, in April, 1776, hoping to dissuade the Six Nations from entering the field as our antagonists. They were the most powerful of all the Indian tribes, and had been able to maintain their independence against both the French and English. With the latter, however, they had formed an alliance at the close of the war that added Canada to the British dominions, and, while not unfriendly to the Americans, it was feared that the solicitations of English agents would finally turn them from neutrals into enemies. Mr. Butler met the Indians in formal conference, and during their meetings delivered three speeches, two to Kiosola, the leading Indian chief, and one to the Delawares, who were in a sense subsidiary to the Iroquois. His efforts were for the time successful; Kiosola declared himself in favor of the Americans, and every thing promised prosperously, but the current of feeling was too strong for the chief, and he and the Six Nations finally drifted into an alliance with the English, a movement which proved in the end fatal to the confederated tribes.

Butler was made a lieutenant-colonel of the Pennsylyania line at the beginning of the war, and in the Spring of 1777 was lieutenant-colonel of Morgan's rifle corps, which was present at the battle of Saratoga, and distinguished himself by his conduct on several occasions. He was in the battle of Monmouth. While with a de- - tachment commanded by General Lafayette, near Williamsburg, Virginia, on the 26th of January, 1781, he attacked Colonel Simcoe's rangers, gaining the advantage. He held the rank of colonel of the Ninth Pennsylvania regiment at the close of the war, and acted as a commissioner in settling affairs with the Indians at about that time. He took up his residence in Carlisle, where with General Irvine and General Armstrong, and a few others, an agreeable society was formed. In conjunction with these officers, he quelled a mutiny at Fort Pitt.

In 1784 he was one of the United States commissioners at a treaty held at Fort Stanwix, New York. His fellow commissioners were Oliver Wolcott, of Connecticut, and Arthur Lee, of Virginia. It does not appear that they had any particular knowledge of the Indian character, and the bulk of the business fell upon General Butler. New York State sent a commissioner, Peter Schuyler, to thes. "he aAskvives tinmptiatie-OTaweal Swrsou:, | Geserss oiler, and Generel (ierk- - and several tribes of Indians. The honors were with General Butler, who de the principal address to the Indians. Tradition | 'hice imparted to this scene some waiting: particulars: not tobe found coroborated in history, studied medicine. He became a- surgeon in the British. srmy, and in that capacity crossed the evead, Ife served uader Wolfe, at Quebec, actively participating 'in the fighting whén that 'city was taken, and prosinesly being sa General Amherst's army, as a merher of the Sixtieth Britieh Reginent, at the teking of tT» 'nisboung, in 1758. Atte: the peace with France, in 17§3, he was assigned te the caeemmand of Fort Ligonier, 2 Westen Pennst.- vaniny Peeclting there a etant of 2 thous acne alle lend. Ge TTTL te os eunmissioned 23 o justloy of vhe ) pears pte weney. and by views of tt = ig ergebe ef Lise jraclggess. "Ee 1773, aper Six « oe gapncapesretlit protect her interests, as the chief portion of the lands which were indisputably in the possession of the Six Nations were within her limits, and for all west of New York a treaty some twenty years old was in existence. The United States commissioners adopted a very high and lofty tone to the Indians, and but for the conciliatory policy adopted by New York in her treatment it is probable an Indian warfare would have broken out, retarding the settlement of Western New York, as, at the same time, Indian troubles did the territory northwest of the Ohio. The Indians advocated their side at this meeting with much ability.

General Butler subsequently attended at Fort McIntosh, and in September, 1785, left his home in Carlisle to proceed to the Miami, where it was thought desirable a treaty should be made. He kept a journal; which is full of interesting matter. From it we learn that the journey was down the river, and occupied considerable time. James Monroe, afterward President, and then a Member of Congress, accompanied him a considerable part of the way. Three months after starting, at the mouth of the Great Miami, a treaty was concluded between the American commissioners - General Parsons, General Butler, and General Clark - and several tribes of Indians. The honors were with General Butler, who delivered the principal address to the Indians. 'Tradition has imparted to this scene some startling particulars not to be found corroborated in history.

In 1791 he joined the expedition of St. Clair, together with a brother, Colonel Butler. He was appointed second in command, and was charged with the arrangements necessary for the recruiting service. He established a rendezvous at Baltimore, and several points in Pennsy]. vania. Those enlisted east of the mountains assembled at Carlisle, where they were disciplined and. prepared to march for the West. He joined the army at Fort Hamilton, on the 27th of September, and the army was set in motion on the 4th of October, being led by General Butler. They crossed the river by wading. At Fort Hamilton, General St. Clair issued an order prohibiting more than two or three women for each company from proceeding with the army. This, however, was disregarded, and when the men commenced crossing the river they also plunged into the stream, but the water being deep, their progress was considerably obstructed by their clothes. Many of them got out of the water on the artillery carriages, and rode over astride of the cannon.

We have elsewhere given an account of the march to the fatal field where St. Clair's army was destroyed. General Butler had been active and vigilant, and when the attack came, on the 4th of November, fought bravely. He and Gendeal St. Clair were continually going up and down the lines. As one of them went up one line, the other was going down the other line. About an hour after the charge made by Major Thomas Butler's troops, General Richard Butler was mortally wounded, when passing on the left of that battalion. Four soldiers put him ina blanket, and carried him back to have his wounds dressed by a surgeon. They placed him in a sitting posture on the blanket, leaning against a tree. He was vomiting blood at the time. Almost immediately afterward, while the surgeon was examining General Butler's wounds, a single Indian, who had penetrated the ranks of the regiment, darted forward, and tomahawked and scalped the general before his attendants were aware and could interfere. _

Such was the end of life to this brave soldier. He came of a patriotic family, three of his brothers having been in the service of the United States, fighting nobly for us. His son has caused his journal to be published ; and the other descendants of the family have filled high stations in Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

General St. Clair

ArtuHur St. Crate, once governor of the Northwest Territory, and a soldier of the Revolution, was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, where he was born in the year 1735. He received a classical education, and afterward studied medicine. He became a surgeon in the British army, and in that capacity crossed the ocean. He served under Wolfe, at Quebec, actively participating in the fighting when that city was taken, and previously being in General Amherst's army, as a member of the Sixtieth British Regiment, at the taking of Louisbourg, in 1758. After the peace with France, in 1768, he was assigned to the command of Fort Ligonier, in Western Pennsylvania, receiving there a grant of a thousand acres of land. In 1771 he was commissioned as a justice of the peace of Bedford County, and by virtue of his 6ffice sat as one of the judges. In 1773, upon the organization of Western Pennsylvania into the county of Westmoreland, Arthur St. Clair was appointed prothonotary, or clerk of the court. St. Clair also represented the Penn family in the western portion of the colony, a highly honorable position. When the war broke out, he espoused the cause of the colonists, and was appointed a colonel of Continentals. In six weeks he was ready for the field. A month after the Declaration of Independence he was appointed a brigadier-general, and served as such in the battles of Princeton and Trenton. The next year he was made a major-general, and placed in command of Fort Ticonderoga, which, though garrisoned by two thousand men, he abandoned at the approach of Burgoyne. For this action he was charged with incapacity and cowardice, but after a thorough investigation of the circumstances by a court-martial, he was honorably acquitted, and Congress, by a unanimous vote, indorsed the decision - his action, however unpopular, being justified as a wise one, since an attempt to hold the works must have resulted in defeat, with a useless sacrifice of men whose were needed elsewhere.

Yorktown in 1781, at the surrender of Cornwallis. Subsequently, he joined the army of General Greene, in the South, and when the war closed, returned to his home in Ligonier, and engaged in the labors of his farm. In 1786 he was appointed a delegate to the Continental Congress, and was soon after chosen president of that august body. After the passage of an act for the government of the Northwest Territory, he was appointed the governor, coming to Cincinnati, then Fort Washington, and organizing the county of Hamilton, in 1790. In 1791 he commanded the expedition known by his name, which had for its object the punishment of the Indians who lived on the table-land between the Lake and the Ohio River. -

'General St. Clair," says Mr. Smucker, 'received elaborate instructions from General Knox, the Secretary of War, and in April proceeded to Pittsburg to complete arrangements for raising his army and organizing it. General Richard Butler, of Pennsylvania, a gallant officer in the Revolution, who served with honor in Morgan's rifle corps, and was the ranking officer of the Pennsylvania levies, was appointed the second officer in St. Clair's army. He was actively engaged, in the Spring and early Summer, in recruiting. Slowly the troops gathered at Fort Washington and Ludlow Station, 'six miles distant, when, on the 17th of September, being then 2,300 strong, they marched forward and built Fort Hamilton, the first in the chain of forts to the Maumee, being distant twenty-two miles from Fort Washington. On the 12th of October they commenced the erection of Fort Jefferson, forty-four miles from Fort Hamilton, within the present county of Darke, six miles from Greenville, the county seat. On the 24th of October the march was resumed, the fort having been completed. The commander-in-chief was suffering from sickness, provisions were not abundant, the roads were wet and heavy, the militia were daily deserting, and circumstances generally were unfavorable for a successful campaign, the effective men now numbering only 1,500, not including those that were garrisoning Forts Hamilton and Jefferson and those looking after the deserters and guarding the supply-trains. Such being the condition of things on the evening of November 3d, when the army was encamped on a branch of the Wabash, now in Mercer County, Ohio, within a mile or two of the Indiana State line and in the south-western part of the county, five miles distant from the Darke County line. Here, on the morning of November 4, 1791, was defeated and fearfully cut up the* army of General St. Clair by probably about 2,000 Indians, the militia being first attacked, who gave way. The right wing or first line was commanded by General Butler, and the second line by Colonel Darke. The militia under the command of Colonel Oldham had been marched across the small, fordable stream, a tributary of the Wabash, and encamped on high ground, about fee hundred yards distant from the first line, or right wing,

'"The battle commenced early in the morning, and continued three or four hours. General St. Clair was evidently surprised, both as to the time of the attack and as to the strength of the enemy. He had no idea that the wily savages were present in such overwhelming numbers. In the last personal interview had with President Washington, St. Clair was reminded by him of the character of the enemy he was to encounter, and was, moreover, earnestly and repeatedly admonished against being surprised. No marvel, therefore, at the strong and emphatic expressions and very unusual manifestations of grief and disappointment by the President when hearing of the disastrous defeat of his former gallant and esteemed companion in arms, and of the almost total destruction of his army !

'"'Tt may be urged in extenuation that General St. Clair failed, from some cause, to obtain a knowledge of certain facts that were reported to Colonel Oldham and General Butler by Captain Sloo, as the result of reconnoitering outside of the camp until midnight, and which facts were well calculated to raise the presumption of the presence of the enemy in considerable strength. Had the information obtained by Captain Sloo been communicated promptly to the commander-in-chief he would probably have been more vigilant.

'At about half an hour before sunrise (but after the morning parade), the militia, posted as above indicated and while engaged in preparing their morning meal, were unexpectedly attacked by a large body of Indians, supposed to have been commanded by the infamous renegade, Simon Girty. The distinguished ' Little Turtle,' however, was chief commander of the Indians. An attack upon raw militia under circumstances so well calculated to throw them into confusion was, of course, successful. They made a small show of fight upon the first onslaught, but soon fled (many of them throwing away their arms), ran over the creek and through the first line of the main army, producing there some consternation and disorder. The Indians closely pursued, and in a short time the battle became general, the enemy being in force sufficient to make simultaneous assaults almost around the entire encampment of St. Clair's army. In General St. Clair's official account of the battle it is stated that the great weight of the enemy's fire was directed chiefly against the center of the first and second lines, where he had placed his artillery, and that his artillerists were repeatedly driven from their positions by the enemy, with great slaughter. Great confusion thereupon ensued, and Colonel Darke was ordered to make a bayonet charge upon the enemy, with a view of turning their left flank. This order was executed with great spirit, and the Indians gave way and were driven back three or four hundred yards; but, for want of a sufficient number of riflemen to pursue this advantage, the Indians soon renewed the attack with much vigor, being probably re-enforced, and Colonel Darke and his troops were in turn obliged to | give way and retreat. A similar order, and with the same results, was executed in gallant style by the second regiment, composed of the battalions of Majors Butler and Clark. For several hours these successes and reverses rapidly followed each other, continually resulting, however, in great loss of life, especially among the officers. All the officers of the second regiment were killed or seriously wounded, except three; and when the artillery was all silenced every artillery officer had been killed except Captain Ford, and he was badly wounded.

'* For three hours the battle thus raged, and the conduct of the troops (after the flight of the militia at the commencement) was worthy of all praise. By this time more than half of the army had fallen, and an immediate retreat was decided upon. The remnant of the army was accordingly placed in position to march toward Fort Jefferson; but to get possession of the road leading to that point another bayonet charge had to be made upon the enemy, which was attended with further loss of life. The artillery was all abandoned, of necessity, as not a single artillery horse was left alive. During the entire engagement General St. Clair was in the thickest of the fight, and narrowly escaped with his life, a number of balls having passed through his clothes, and three horses being killed under him or as he was endeavoring to mount them. He left the field at last on a pack-horse, which he had hurriedly mounted after his third horse was shot, just before the retreat was ordered.

"The retreat, of course, was precipitate, a flight rather, the Indians pursuing the routed army for four miles, killing many that were unable, from various causes, to keep up with the main body, which reached Fort Jefferson late in the day..

'"'Six hundred and thirty men were killed, and two hundred and forty were wounded, not counting civilians, such as wagoners, drivers of cattle, pack-horsemen, and others. Quite a number of women - the wives of soldiers - were also killed or wounded. The proportion of officers lost in this disastrous campaign was unusually large. Among the conspicuous officers killed were General Richard Butler, Colonel Oldham, and Majors Ferguson, Hart, and Clark. Adjutant-general Winthrop Sargent, Colonel William Darke, Lieutenant-colonel Gibson, Major Butler, and the Viscount Malartie (the gen eral's aid-de-camp) were of the wounded. Many captains, lieutenants, and other subaltern officers were also killed or wounded.

"At a council of war held at Fort Jefferson on the night of the 4th of November it was decided. to return with all due speed to Fort Washington, which point was reached on the evening of. the 8th of November, the army leaving Fort Jefferson at ten o'clock at night, soon

''The principal tribes which General St. Clair's army encountered were the Delawares, M iamis, Shawnees, Wyandots, and Ottawas, with some Chippewas, and Pottawattomies. The number of warriors in the battle has never been ascertained; their estimated strength generally ranges, however, between one thousand and three thousand. General St. Clair in his special report stated that 'he was overpowered by numbers; that in a few minutes after the attack his whole camp, which extended above three hundred and fifty yards in length, was entirely surrounded and attacked on all quarters.'

'*General St. Clair made an official report of his engagement with the Indians to the Secretary of War, General Knox, under date of November 9th, and on the 12th of December that officer communicated its substance to Congress.