Greene County, Ohio - The whole text, 1902 (part 2 of 25)

The family on first coming to> Ohio in iSoo resided in that part of Hamilton county that is now known as Butler county, on Dick's creek. In the fall of 1801 Mr. Barrett started out to select a location for his future home, where he and his family could go to work and open up a farm of their own. He returned and told his boys that he had found a place which suited him, and he wanted them to go with him and see it. If they were as well pleased with it as he was he would purchase a half-section, and if thev v.ould go with him and settle upon it, it should be theirs. The result was the boys came with their father to what is now known as Greene county, and he purchased the onehalf section of land in Sugarcreek township, r,ow (1900) owned by Mi'. Dinsmore Bigger, Hattie Bigger, Samuel ^^'eller and, I think, what is known as the Robert Tate farm. April u, 1802, they removed to it and commenced making improvements on the southeast half of said section, where they continued to live in common until September I, 1808; Philip was married to Miss Elizabeth Barnes. Previous to this James, the elder son, had married Xancy Mantan. September 17, i8oC). Eleanor was the first of his children to marry. She married Armstrong McCabe, April 12, 1805, and some time later they removed to Vigo county. Indiana. At a later date Hannah was married to David Wilson, son of Daniel, and tliey also remo\-ed to Montgomery count}-. After Philip's marriage he erected his liouse on the other part of said one-half section, and continued to live there until 1826, when he died. Judge James Barrett continued to make his liome with his elder son, James, until May, 1822, when he died leaving his wife, Elsie, a widow. Judge Barrett was buried on the old farm in one corner of the orchard in the rear of what is now the Dinsmore Bigger farm, and there is nothing to mark his grave. Xear by is the grave of Nancy, wife of James Barrett, Jr., who died May ig, 186^, aged seventy-seven years. Her husband, James Barrett, Jr., died in Allen county. His house taking fire, he was found dead in the yard. The first half-section of land spoken of in this sketch was near Coldrain in Hamilton county, and was set ofif in Mr. Barrett's will for Eleanor and Hannah, his daughters. In the city of Xenia, in the old part, are three streets running north and south, from \\'ater (or Third) street to Church street, that were named in honor of Greene couny's first associate judges, James Barrett, William ]\Iaxwell and Benjamin \\"hiteman. The first street east of West street is Barrett, the next street east of Barrett is Maxwell and the first street east of Detroit is W'hiteman. May their names ne\-er l:)e changed is the prayer of the compiler of this sketch.

A good old-fashioned name, and strangely familiar, can there be any storv connected with that lonely grave? Such was the tbought that passed through the mind of the writer of this sketch as one day he was waiting at Harbine's Station on the Xenia and DaA'ton branch of the great Panhandle railroad for the train for Xenia. ^^'e had been conversing about the old pioneers of Beavercreek township and old graveyards.

My companion, V^r. John R. Ridenour, said, pointing in the direction of the building that was used as the first court liraise of Greene county, '"About two hundred yards south of that building are two graves that are not marked. . I do not know whose graves they are, but I have heard that one of them is the grave of one of the first settlers in Beavercreek township. Init his name I cannot recall. "

Looking at my watch, I found that I had one hour to wait, so concluded that I would go and investigate. Arriving at the place, I saw extending up the south line of the Harbine farm a strip of land apjiarently twelve feet wide by one hundred feet long, which looked as if it might have been used as a graveyard. Here and tliere were indications that someone had been Ijuried. Xo mark - save about the length and width of a bod}- - was seen. A hollow or depression of earth showed that someone was sleeping there, the long sleep of deadi. About the middle of this graveyard was the grave of our subject, Jacob Smith, and by his side that of his wife. Patience Smith. Removing the weeds and vines which grew in front of the stone, we observed at first sight that he was a Mason, on the face of the stone being engraved the square and compass, the gavel, the ()])en book and irdwel. and the following inscrii)tion : In memory of Jacob Smith, who died the I2lh of December, 1819, in tile sixty-sixth year of his age. For twelve years he represented the county of Greene in the state senate. He was a useful citizen and diefl lamented. His actions were squared by justice : he kept his passions within compass. Tn him faith, hope and charity were united." Patience Smith survived her husband till Marcli 23, 1835, when

Although these were on the margin of an open field which had been cultivated from time to time, yet from the time that the land had become the property of J\lr. Harbine, the graves had been respected. Yet there were indications showing by tlie near approach of the marks of the plow that it had been a great temptation to the different tenants to take just one more round from the rich earth which had had such a long rest. \\'hen the Masonic brethren were told of this lonely grave, and whose it was, they were not long in making arrangements to have the bodies mo\-ed to their own lot in our own beautiful W'oodlawn, Xenia, which was done October 14, 1898, by the brethren of Xenia lodge. Dr. W. GL. Galloway delivered a fine address at Woodlawn on that occasion. Never can the writer of this sketch forget the morniuig of the above date w hen the people began to assemble near the spot that will ever be historic on account of its being, as it were, the cradle of Greene county's judicial history, near the house of Peter Borders, the county's first court house. They met nut to bury Jacol) Smith, these -Masonic Ijretliren, but to remove whatever might remain of him to a more suitable place for the interment of one who had been of so much niite in the county of his choice, and which he had so highly honored. X^'early eighty years he had been buried and his wife si.xty-three. \\'ou]d there be anything remaining of what had been placed there by loving hands so long ago? And while the cold wind of that early October morning came sweeping across the Beavercreek prairie, chilling those who were standing around and warning them of the near approach of winter, the men employed contniued in silence their work. The remains of Mrs. Smith were first found at a depth of four feet and si.K inches to the bottom of the grave. Those of her illu.strious husband were soon after brought to the light at a depth of six feet. Tradition says "as was the heig-ht of a man so deep should his grave be." Nothing remained in either grave of coffin or casket, except here and there small pieces of wood and a few brass buttons from ^Ir. Smith's coat. After the remains of Mr. Smith had been carefully uncovered they were seen to be complete, a ])erfect skeleton ; the bones of the hands and arms were crossed just lielow the breast, the head turned slightly to one side and a small p\Tamid of bones at each foot. In removing the bones from the grave, of course the skeleton was taken apart. It was with peculiar emotions that the writer held the skull of Jacob Smith and gazed into the sightless eyes and at the mouth and chin which denoted that he had been a man of strong will and great firmness of character. In the "old records of the county" is to be found here and there the following story of his life in part : Jacob Smith was a native of Frederick county, Virginia. Late in the fall of 1798 he and his wife. Patience, with their family turned their footsteps from their old -Virginia home to find a new home in the then far west country. In 1800, after havin.g stopped for about two years at Red Stone and "Old Fort" in Pennsylvania, he reached the Miami valley and located his home in Beavercreek township, Greene county, near the present town of Alpha. There he reared a large family. His eldest son, John Smith, was a charter member of the Nenia lodge (Masonic) and was sheriff of

Greene county. Oliio, from 1819 to 1824. He removed to Springfield, Ohio, where he (lied Mav 4, 1S5J. and was Ijuried with Masonic honors. The other children of Jacoh Smith were: sons, Josiah B., Isaac, Seth and Jacob, Jr. His daughters were : Rachel, wife of James Collier, one of Xenia's pioneers ; Ann, who married Samuel Kyle, grandfather of Harvey and Samuel Kyle, our fellow townsmen, and he was also the great-grandfather of Wilbur O. Maddux, of Xenia. wlio is also a Mason ; Elizabeth, who married Joel Dolby, the grandfather of the Rev. Francis Clemens, who was present the day his grandparents were removed; Sarah was married to Henry Snyder ; Lydia married Jacob Staley ; Hannah married Rev. Edward Flood : Marv married George Tavlor. In all. eleven children reached adult age and all were worthy of their illustrious father and good mother.

The ptilitical life of Jacob Smith was an interesting one. At the first meeting of the court. May 10, 1803, among the number present that day was Jacob Smith. In the meeting of the court, Decemlier term, 1803, we find the names of Jacob Smith and others attached to a petition for the laying out of a road from Springfield to Yellow Springs, thence to Owen Davis' mill to intersect the Pickney road. Although this was not the first road in the county it was the first to be established by the legal authoritv of the county. The act passed by the general assembly, February 14, 1804, creating the ofifice of county commissioner. W'e find Jacob Smith one of the first commissioners chosen for Greene county. On Octo1:)er 8, 1805. Jacob Smith was chosen state senator at tlie annual election by a handsome maj(jrity. .Altogether he served Greene and

Clinton counties as senator nine terms as follows: In fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, tenth, ele\'enth, twelfth, fifteenth and si.\- teenth general assemblies. The last canvass he made for that position was October 13, 1818. when he was defeated by the Hon. William R. Cole, of Clinton county, whn was a son-in-law of Josiah Elam, a soldier of the Revolution. This was about one year l>efore his death. He was also the owner of the Owen Davis mill, which he sold to our old townsman. James A. Scott, in 181 5.

On the early records of Greene count}-, Ohio, the first enumeration taken by James Collier of the free white male inhaliitants over the age of twenty-one years appears the names of James and Jacob Snowden. Of Jacob little can be learned, but of James Sn(j\\den there is much that has been left on record. It has been stated by one that he was one of the first associate judges of Greene county. That is a mistake, he was an associate judge, l>ut not one of the first. He was one of the first commissioners of Greene comity when that ofiice was created, and .served until 1808.

James Snowden settletl first northwest of Bellbrook about 1799. He came from Xcw Jersey and buili a cabin just n(.)rth of the present residence of Henry Harman, being southeast of center of section 2 (2.6). His lands embraced all of the east part of the above section, Ijeing then all the western liart of Bellbrook, which he in 1815 sold to Stephen Bel! and Henry Updyke. ?Ie was appointed associate judge first in 1809, and liis associates on the l^encli were Davitl Huston and James Barrett. It is said in 1810 Presiding Judge Hon. Francis Dunlavey and Mr. Snnwden differed somewhat in regard to an oalli ; ]\Ir. Snowden refused to be sworn, whereujjon the judge ordered the sheriff to lock him up. This Slieriff Colher refused to do, and thereupon the judge liad them l)iith jiut l)eliind tlie "bars" for contempt of court. It is said that he was very punctual in attending court and had an aversion to riding and would walk all the way to Xenia and back through the then unbroken forest. He was once prevailed upon to take a horse, and on starting he neglected to mount, but sli])ping the bridle rein over his arm he proceeded to walk, leading the horse. The judge, no doubt, fell into deep cogitations of legal lore, and the horse coiicludiug his comjiany more ornamental than useful slipped his bridle and turned his attention to the more pleasing prospect of the then unexplored pastures of the ?\liami bottoms. In the meantime the judge pursued his way alone, until reaching the end of his journey he found the empty bridle hanging on his arm. It is said that Mr. Smnvdcn after disposing of his land in 181 5 removed to Indiana, where he died. His trips to Xenia on foot are thus graphically described by one of the early writers of the time, John A. Taylor: "Xow James, the son of Jupiter, got him up early in the mornings, put a few unleavened cakes in his script, grasped his staff and setting his face toward the sunrising took up his march for the great city of X-Zeninia." These chronicles were at the time published in a paper printed in Xenia. and abouufled, it is said, with much genuine wit and pleasant humor. The paper of which we speak was called

"The Greene County Gazetteer." and was edited by Xathaniel JMcLain. The otiice in which it was printed stood on Main street not far from the present book store of Mr. West. It had a go(jd circulation in this ])art of the county, and was carried by a boy on horseback. When it was "muster 'day'" in Xenia, General Whiteman was there bedecked in his glittering regimaitals; and the newsboy for some unaccountable reason never arrived home until after dark.

James Galloway was born in Pennsylvania, May 2, 1750. He emigrated to Kentucky shortly after the commencement of the war of the Revolution and to Ohio in the year 1797. settling in Greene couny. al)oul five miles north of Xenia, and west of the Little Miami river, opposite the present Miami Powder Mills. He died August 6, 1838, at the good old age of eighty-eight years, and was buried in the old Massies creek church yard, four miles northeast of Xenia. He was in the service of the United Stales during the I\evolutionary war eighteen months in the capacity of hunter for the army to procure game. Mr. Galloway is said to have possessed many of the traits of Daniel Boone. He was also with General Roger Clarke in his second expedition against the Indians at Old Chillicothe in 1782. Daniel Boone was also along with this expedition and in his narration states: "When General Clarke, at the falls of the Ohio, heard of it (the defeat of the whites at the Blue Licks), he ordered an expedition to pursue the savages. We overtook them within two miles of their town and we would have obtaned a great \ictory had not some of them met us wlien about two luuidred poles from tlieir cam]3. The savages tied in the utmost confusion and disorder and evacuated all their towns. We burned Old Chillicotlie to ashes, Piqua, Xew Chillicothe. Willstown. entirely destroying their corn ?nd fruits, and spread desolation through their country. We took seven prisoners, ten scalps and two whites." One time he came face to face with that arch traitor to his race, Simon Girty, who, observing that Gallowav was unarmed, accosted him thus : "Xow, Galloway, d - n you, we've got you," and instantly fired. Galloway received a dangerous wound, and was supposed by Girty to have been killed. He, however, wheeled his horse and made for camp, a 'inile distant, which he reached in safety, but in a fainting condition. The ball passed through his shoulder and lodged some place near the back of his neck. He carried the ball manv years and it was extracted by Dr. Josiah Martin.

Mr. GalJDway was first married to Miss Rebecca Junkin, in Cumberland count\-. Pennsylvania, November 2^,. 1778. and to them were given the following children : James. Samuel. \\'iiliam. Andrew, Anthonv, ar.d two daughters, Rebecca and Ann. Anihnny and Ann were born after he came to Ohio. His first wife dying, he afterward married ]\Iiss Tamar Wilson, April 13, 1817. Of this later marriage there was no issue. He was honored bv bis fellow pioneers to an office of trust in the county, that of county treasurer, wliich he continued to fill fr(jm the first organization of the county in 1803 until the middle iif June, i8iy. when he g'lve way to Mr. I^tyan Gowdy. In the year 1810 he erected the old stone house that used to be on the hillside near the powder mills, and which many yet living remember to have seen. He was a man of deep religious convictions, and those convictions he carried out in life by doing acts of kindness to his neighbors and in workuig f(jr the good of humanity. To him is the psalm singing portion of the communit}' under obligation for his untiring efiforts in bringing first to this county the Rev. Robert Armstrong and other preachers of that faith, and making his home theirs. During his long and useful life he was ever ready to help those deserving of help.

The granting of licenses for keeping ta\-ern and selling merchandise was still retained as tl.ie duty of the associate judges, and at the first court of associate judges held in Xenia on the 15th day of Xo\'ember, 1804, four tavern licenses were granted, one to A\'illiam A. Beatty for keeping a ta\-ern in the town of Xenia, "for one year from the first day of October last past, on his paying eight dollars and fees." This was the first tavern in Xenia. and seems to have been opened on the 1st day of October, 1804. This house was a hewed-log, double structure, tw^i stories high. It stood on the south side of Main street, very nearly opixisite the middle point of the pulilic square. The length was from east to west, and width from north to south, and its west end was about forty-five feet east of the southeast corner of Main and Detroit streets, where the Xenia Xational Bank now (190Q) stands. This building was nut iinlv a dwelling house and tavern, but it was also Greene county's second place of holding- court. Courts were held in it from the 15th of Xovember, 1S04, till the completion of the first court house proper on the 4th day of August, 1809. The court was held in the west mom of the second story. August 20. 1805. Xenia township was organized, and the first election for Xenia township and the town was held at the house of William A. Beatty. Previous to this Xenia was in L'aesarscreek township and the few voters then in the town voted at Caesarsville, which was located near the home of the late Paris Peterson, southeast of Xenia. The first court was held in this building X'ovembcr 15, 1804. and continued to be used as such until the completion of the building that had been commenced by Mr. William Kendall in 1806, and wcis completed August 14, 1809.

jNIr. Beatty was also director of the town of Xenia, being the successor of General Joseph C. \'ance, who removed to Champaign county in 1S05. at the organization of said county, and continued to act as sucli until 18 1 7, at v.-hich time lie removed ti.: Brownstuwn, Jackson county. Indiana. He died intestate and insolvent in Xovember, 182 1, leaving, at the time of his death, his widow, Jane Beatty, who afterward married Robert Holmes, a resident of Scott county, Kentucky, also the following children, towit : John A., who died without issue; James F. ; \\'illiam S. : Josiah G. : Samuel M. ; ]\Iarv L. : and Francis. Josiah and James F. remained in Xenia for some years. The balance of the famiy went to Kentucky after the marriage of their mother to Mr. Holmes. William A. Beatty came from Georgetown', Kentucky, to Xenia, Ohio, some time in the summer of 1803.

Owex D.Wis, The Old Miller On Beaver Creek

Xo name is perhaps of more historic interest than that of Owen Davis. In the early settlement of Greene county came men who had the courage and hardihood to face danger and even death, if need be, that this garden spot of the state that we now call Greene county might be reclaimed from its wild and primitive state in its condition as a wilderness and be made to bloom and blossom as a rose. They came, they saw, and as a result of their courage and perseverance we see the forest has disappeared and in its jjlace we belli ild waving fields of grain, beautiful homes, towns grown into cities, with the sounds of industry on every hand, where used to be the solitary path of the Indian. We now liehold roads, pikes, railroads and electric car lines leading from cities to towns and hamlets, and the surface of the earth that less than one hundred years ago was a wilderness, the habitation of wild animals, and a more savage race of ]>eople, now traversed by a net work of impro\'enients, onlv excelled l.iy that which we can see at night in the starry firmament above, which God, the creator of all, has placed there for our admiration and wonder.

Before the organization of the county came Owen Davis, and settled in what is now known as Beavercreek township. The earliest date that we find of the Davis family (those from W'ales, who were related to the subject of this sketch) we find in Mr. John F. Edgar's '"Pioneer life in Dayton and vicinity from 1796 to 1840." It is an able and interesting work of the pioneers of that section. On page 22 he says : "During the winter of 1795 and 1796 forty-six men agreed to settle in Dayton. In the spring of 1796, wlien the time came to start, only nineteen responded, and they set out in three sections, two overland and one by water. On March 21, 1796, the party in which was the Davis family started overland and were about two weeks on the road. Thomas Davis, the senior member of the family, was a native of Wales. He was in the Revolutionary war. was taken prisoner and was exchanged at Philadelphia. He settled near the bluffs two miles south of Dayton, where he died in the fall of 1803, and Hannah Davis, his widdw, was appointed to settle his estate. This Thomas Davis was a brother of Owen Davis, the old miller, who came later in the fall of 1799 and settled in Beavercreek township, Greene county. Owen Davis had married Letitia Phillips, and had but two children, a son, Lewis, who never married, a short sketch of whom will be found in tliis l:)ook, and a daughter, Catherine, who was the wife of General Benjamin Whiteman. They were married in Limestone (or Maysville), Kentucky, in 1793. Mr. Whiteman at tliat time being twenty-three years of age. Thomas Davis had a son. 0\\en Davis, named after his brother Owen, who was married ^larch 16, 1809. to ^liss Jane Henderson, by Rev. Joshua Carman, who was a Baptist preacher and lived in Sugarcreek township, Greene county. Tliis Owen Davis was the grandfather of Mrs. Fredrick Beaver and ifrs. Stillwell. of Dayton, and James Popenoe, senior's, first wife, who died in i8jo, was also of this branch of the family. After the coming of Mr. Davis and his son-in-law, Benjamin Whiteman, in J 799, it was not long uiuil he had his historic mill erected on I>ca\cr creek, and it is said that this mill drew custom from a radius of thirty miles, and we know that the members of the Dutch Station in ^liami county brought their corn here through the woods, camping out at night. Mr. Davis is spoken of by them as having been a genial, accommndating man. often remaining up all night to oblige them. This mill was finished in the winter of 1799. Two block houses were built a little east of the mill with the intention, should danger necessitate, to connect by a Wy.e of i)ickets so as to include the mill. Mr. Davis often started his mill on the Sabbath and ground corn for the customers who had come a long distance. To this some of his extremely religious neighbors protested, even threatening him with prosecution. Mr. Davis replied that as soon as steps were taken in this direction they would gcj without their meal and fiour. This argument proved effective and the subject was dropped. The building known as the house of Peter Borders. where the first courts of Greene county were held, was erected by his son-in-law. Mr. Whiteman, a short distance south of the mill and about one hundred from the south line of what is now known as the Harbine farm, and about two hundred yards east of Beaver creek. A little to the northeast of this building was a small ten by twelve house. which was in the time of holding court used as a jury room. About two hundred yards northeast of the old court house stood the block house, which on the 19th day of August. 1803, was made use of for a jail, the first institution for that ])urpose in the county. Owen Davis and his son-in-law. General Benjamin Whiteman. in the year 1805 disposed of their property in Beavercreeic township and removed to Miami township, where thcv spent the balance of their da\s. Mr.

Davis had not more than settled in his new home, the present site of the town of Chiton, Ohio, until he commenced to erect the first mill in Miami township, the stone foundation of which ( 1900) can be seen near the sawmill east of the present Clifton mill. Previous to his removing from Beavercreek townshi]) he had suld his mill propertv to Jacob Smith, who in 1815 sold the same to our old townsman, James A. Scott, and his brother John. Owen Davis was a soldier of the Revi'lution ;uid a fearless Indian lis;hter, and at a meeting of the first court of common pleas proper, August 2, 1803, we find that he jileads guilty to a charge of assault, and is duly fined eight dollars for the same. The cause of the fight was Air. Davis had charged a man from Warren county of stealing hogs. After the fight he went into the court room and addressing his illustrious son-in-law. General Benjamin Whiteman. who was one of the associate judges, .said: "Well, Ben, Tve v>hi])ped that hog thief; what's the damage?" and farther added, shaking his fist at the judge, "Yes, Ben. if you'd steal a hog. I'd whip you, too."

In enumerating the early settlers of Miami township. Greene county, the name of Owen Davis should not be forgotten. In the old historic graveyard'. Clifton, Ohio, not far from the north line and near the middle of said graveyard, is the grave of Owen Davis, who was a native of Wales, and was born October 13, 1751. and died at his Imme near Clifton. Ohio, t'ebruary 18, 1818, aged sixty-six years, four months and five days. And by his side his wife, I.etitia Phillips Dax'is. who died September 8. 1824. in the :seventv-hfth vear of her age.

The first, trace of the Grover family, the ancestors of Josiah Grover. clerk of courts from 1808 till 1829, was when Josiah and Benjamin (irover had settled and were living near Plarper's Ferry. Virginia. The former was the father of Josiah and Benjamin Grover, who in the year 1804 came and settled in Xenia. Their parents had emigrated to the state of Kentucky and had located near nan\'ille.

Josiah Gro\-er, Sr.. married Aliss Mary Anderson about the year 1720, and to them were given five chidren, two daughter and three sons. The eldest of these was Sarah T., who married Colonel John Paul, the founder of Xenia, Ohio, and Madison, Indiana (a sketch of whom appears in this book). The second, a daughter. Jemima, who married a Mv. Mockley. The third, a son, Josiah. who married Martha Mc- Clure. And in adilition to these were two sons, Benjamin and .\braham. Benjamin came to Xenia with his brother J(_)siah. and was a useful man in the new town. On the lot now owned bv Mrs. James Kvle (mother of Charles Kyle. Escp j. he erected the first school house of logs in 1805, and was the first to teach school in Xenia. He afterward served the county as commissioner in 1813 and 1814. Josiah Grover, the third child and first son ofjosiah and Mary Anderson Grover, was born near Baltimore. Maryland, in 1 770. Josiah Grover and his wife, Martha McClure Grover, had given to them eight cliildren : Abraham, who married Miss Dunham: John Paul, who married Miss Juliet Beall : James Liggett, who married Miss Nancy Ann. youngest daughter of Hon. John Alexander, and who also was the successor in office to his father as clerk of courts of Greene county, Ohio, for seven years, and was a minister of the gospel in the Methodist Episcopal church,' where he was a man of note and loved by all. He was for years the efficient lil)rarian of the state library at Columbus from 1872 until the day before his death, which occurred l\Iay 5, 1897, at the age of ninety-one years. He was born in Xenia, Decemljer u, 1806. His youth and early manhood were spent in Xenia ; at the age of eig-hteen he had graduated from the Xenia Academy. The fourth child was a daughter, Sarah Paul, who was born in Xenia in 18 10 and died at X'ew Albany in 1873, aged sixty-three years. She married George H. Harrison, who was a native of Harrisonburg, Virginia, and who was born in February, 1809, died at Xew Albany in 1854. He is said to have been a teacher of rare ability. He was for some years a resident of Xenia, as his son, James G., was born here September 29, 1834, and they removed to X^w Albany in 1839. The fifth child was a son, Oliver Hazard Perrv. who was killed in the Mexican war. The sixth child, a son, Benjamin Whiteman, married Letitia Sheets. The seventh and eighth sons were twins, Xelson Ira and Reade Ellis.

Josiah Grover is sometimes mentioned as Judge Grover. The reason for that was, under the old constitution of the state, the clerk of courts had all the work to do whicii the probate judge has to do to-day under the new constitution. In addition to the work of clerk of courts he was count\' recorder, master commissioner, that is held court at different points to take depositions, etc. And he was also one of the associate judges for the years 1806, 1807 and 1808. The old Josiah Grover home is yet (^1900) still standing, the house now occupied by Coleman Heaton. Mr. Grover removed from Xenia to Aladison, Indiana, in 1830, to the city on the Ohio river which his honoretl brother-in-law, John Paul, had founded. On the hilltop near Malison is resting all that is mortal of this illustrious man and his loving helpmate, and by his side Colonel John Paul, the founder of the two cities, Xenia, Ohio, and Madison, Indiana.

Rememlirance Williams was born near the Potomac river, Harrison county, \'irginia. He was a soldier of the Revolution, and was with Washington during that distressing winter at Valley Forge. After the close of the war in 1790, he, together with his family, emigrated to Kentucky, settling a few miles back of Louisville, in Xelson county, where he continued to reside until the year 1800, when he removed to Ohio, crossing- the Ohio river at the mouth of Licking river, and from that point came direct to what is now Xenia, and entered a section of land, what is now known as the Silas Roberts' farm, and near what is called the middle spring he built his cabin. That was three years before Xenia was surveyed and laid out as a town. In the fall of 1803, when Joseph C. Vance came to survey and lay off the new county seat for Greene cotmty, part of the niiith line of the new town was the south line of the land of this old pioneer. His family at this time consisted of his wife, Eleanor, and sons John, Remem- brance, Garrett, Jesse and Robert. They had but two daughters, Margaret, who married Thomas Branliam, and Hannah, who married Sidion JNlericreif. In 1814 he removed with his family, with the exception of his eldest son, John, tO' Jefferson county, Indiana, and settled near Dupont. He had disposed of part of his land in Greene county, previous to removing, some to his son John, R}-an Gowdy, Samuel Gamble, and in 1817 he sold the remaining two hundred and sixty-nine acres to David Connelly. His son Rememljrance, Jr., and Jesse later returned to Ohio and settled near Mechanicsburg, Champaign county. Remembrance \Villiams, Sr., died on his farm in Indiana l^ebruary 2, 1843. J'^'^ii ^^ ihiams, liis eldest son, was born in Virginia, April 4, 1783, and died in Xenia, Ohio, April 6, 1826. He was the father of the following children: Alary, who was married to Samuel Gano ; Eleanor, wife of David Medsker : Cassandra; Catlierine, wife nf Wilson B. Mc- Cann ; Margaret, wife of James AlcCarty ; Elizabeth, wife of \\'illiam B. Fairchild. The last named is the only one now ( 1900) living. Four sons of the old pinneer were soldiers in the war of 1812, namely: John, Remembrance'. Garrett and Robert.

James Popexoe, Sr

His first visit to the present site of Xenia was in the year 1799. when he was one of a number of daring explorers and Indian hgliters from Kentucky who paid this part of the country a visit and passed over the ground where Xenia is now located. ]\Ir. Popenoe, with his l^rother, Peter, came to Greene county to locate permanently some time previous to 1803 and settled in Beavercreek townsliip. His brother Peter took the fij'st enumeration of all free white males over the age of twenty-one in 1803. Peter settled in what is now Clark county and afterward removed to the state of Missouri in 1806, and was killed by the Indians.

James Popenoe's political life was an interesting one. The first elective office w hich he held was that of coroner of Greene county, he being the first to occupy that position, which was in the year 1805. He was also a soldier in the war of 18 12 under General' Harrison. In the year 1815 he was elected sheriff of Greene county, being the successor of Ca])tain John Ilivling, which office he filled with acceptance until 18 19, when he gave way to John Smith, son of Jacob, Smith, who had bought of Owen Davis the first mill that was built in the county, and who was also owner of the house of Peter Borders, where the first courts of Greene county were held. While he was acting as sheriff' in 1816 Mr.- Popenoe built the well known home of Hon. R. F. Howard, which was located on Main street, lot Xo. 19, and which place, April 2, 183 1, he sold and conveyed to Dr. Joseph Templeton. That house was the birthplace of many of his cliildren, and is yet, in 1900, standing and in gnod condition. In the years 18 19 and 1820 Mr. Popenoe represented Greene county in the Ohio legislature (in the house). In the year 1824 he was again elected sheriff' of the county and continued to act as such until 1829. when he gave over the office to James A. Scott. It is said in history that Captain John Hivling and Mr. Popenoe were treasurers of the county. That is a mistake. The sheriff ofttimes acted as collector of taxes, for which he received a percentage in addition

Mr. Poi)enoe reiinived to Centerville in 1830. Peter, his eldest son, removed to Lawrence, Kansas, where many of his descendants are yet living. James Popenoe, Jr., is yet living at Centerville. Ohio, a hale, hearty, old man, aged eighty-two. And still another son, \\'illis Parkison Popenoe, resides at Topeka, Kansas, a,ged eiglityseven, who was born in the house before mentioned.

Mr. Popenoe in addition to other property owned what was called the "Indian Riffle farm." west of Xenia on the Little iliami. He was born August 20, 1777. and died at his home near Centerville, Montgomery ci^unty, Ohio. August 19. 1848, and is buried in the old graveyard near that place.

In the history of Jefferson county. Indiana, is found th.e following history of Lewis Davis, which says that "he was one of the original proprietors of the town of Madisnn, Indiana; was a man of middle age when he met John Paul at the sale of lands at Jeft"ersonville in the spring of 1809. Where he was born or where he died is not known. Pie left Madison some time in 1812 or 181 3 and went to Xenia. Ohio, lo reside. Afterward he resided in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1817 he was there, as- is found by a deed conveying his entire remaining interest of lands in ]^Iadison, Indiana, to Lewis Whiteman. bearing date of X'ovember 24, 1817. On October 8. 1813. Davis had sold onehalf of his interest in Madison to 'Sh. Jacob Burnett, of Cincinnati, he then being a resident of Greene county, Ohio."'

From the history of Greene county, Ohio, and old records we gather the following about Miami township:. Lewis Davis was perhaps the first settler in this township, as he came in the early days of this century. While at Dayton, then a small hamlet, he met an Indian just arrived from the Yellow Springs, by whom he was informed of the extraordinary natural advantages in its immediate \icinity. The sa\age further explained to him that the springs were located near a branch of the Little Miami river. Accompanied by a friend, he followed the instructions gi\-en by his dusky infortuant, and upon the discovery of the springs went to Cincinnati and entered tlie land. He was frequently engaged in surve}'ing land, accumulated consiilerable property, and was considered an upright and enterprising citizen. L'n fortunately he fcil a prey to the wiles of King Alcohol and was completely ruined thereby. He finally removed to Bellfontaine, Ohio, wliere he ended his days. His last resting place is thus described by one who discovered it accidentally: "On the left hand side of the state road, six miles west of Pellfontaine in an open forest, in a sandy knoll surrounded by a rail enclosure and covered by an oval shaped liowlder perhaps six feet in diameter ; beneath this stone reposes all that remains of Lewis Davis, unhonored. unwept and unknown." For years he had lived the life of a pauper, and when he saw the grim vision of death approaching he expressed a desire that this s]X)t should be his last resting place. He was the only son of Owen Davis, the old miller on Beaver.

James Towler And John Mills

Rev. James Towler was born in Prince Edward county. \'irginia. April i8, 1768, and died on his farm nortliwest of Xenia. July I). 1836, aged si.xty-eight years. .\ pinneer in tlie wilderness, he l)uilt the second hiiUse that was erected in Xenia, what was known as the old Cruiubaugh house, where now stands the wholesale grocery of Eavey & Company. Fredrick liimner doing the carpenter work for the same in the fall of 1804. At the recent centennial of the settlement of Greene county held in Xenia in J 897 there were tools that had belonged to Frederick Bonner. Sr., on exhibition as relics, and some of them he had used in finishing this house. The records of the counl\- show that James Towler. of Petersburg. Virgnia. bought of John Cole, of Dinwiddie county. \'irginia. three thousand acres of land situated on the waters of Shawnee creek, and at his coming to Greene county soon after he purchased of Joseph C. Vance lot Xo. 39, on which the aforesaid house was built. Mr. Towler was an earnest Methodist, and in the early records of the First Methodist Episco])al church, Xenia. his name appears as a member of the official Ixjard of said church. He afterward connected himself with what was known as the Radical or Protestant church. He was a preacher in that denomination, and used to go among the Indians, and at one time brought a couple of Indian boys home with him to h.ave diem educated. They remained in Xenia for some time, forming many ac- ([uaintances. and then returned to their tribes. Mr. Towler donated to the Radical church a strip of land for a graveyard, situated near the present residence of Norman Tiffan\-. and nearly two hundred of the residents of Xenia were Inirietl here.

He was the first postmaster of Xenia, Ohio. The following is a copy of a letter th.at was written bv Mr. Towler to an eastern friend and is in the iiossession of Mr. Ira C. Harper, of Allegheny. Pennsylvania. A copy was procured by ]\Ir. Warren K. Moorehead. our youn,g friend, who is searching around for all sorts of antiquities. ]Mr. Towler was at that time postmaster of Xenia :

"This town is the seat of justice of Greene county. It was laid out in the fall of 1803 by Joseph C. Vance, and contains at this time twenty-eight families and one htmdreil and fifty souls, a court house of brick, forty feet square, with a cupola. The town is washed by Shawnee creek, a branch of the Little ]\Iiami ri\-er, from whose mouth we are three miles, and fifty-five miles from Chillicothe. In the county are nine grist mills, nine sawmills, one fulling mill and one nail factorv. Xe\-er failing and excellent springs are numerous. The Yellow Springs, ^\hich are deemed a natural curiosity, are nine miles north of this place. It takes its name from a vellow or pale red sedimenr, which it emits from the water, and of which a large bank in found below the spring, over which the water has a fall of seventy feet into a hollow. It is believed the spring affords a sufficiency of water to turn a grist mill the year round, and is said to be impregnated with copper, copperas and iron. It is considerably visited during the summer season, and afTords relief for sore eyes, rheumatism, etc. It is diuretic, and the sedi- ment when ground in oil. paints as well as Spanish brown. The falls of the Little Miami (which is about three miles distant, falls over a rock twelve feet perpendicular, and the whole distance, two hundred feet) are of considerable importance to this county. There are remains of artificial walls, and mounds, in several parts of the county.

"Our trade is chiefly in hogs and cattle, which are purchased by drovers for the eastern markets and Detroit. There are two stores in the town, which I consider a great -evil, as they keq> our neighborhood drained of cash. We have e.xtensive prairies. Wolves have been bad on our sheep. Corn, wheat and rye are our principal crops. The soil is generally good and pretty equall}- divided into upland and bottom. The settlers are principalh- frcmi I'cnnsyhania, Xew Jersey, Virginia and Kentucky. Religion, Methodist, Seceders and Baptist. The county is twenty miles long, twenty miles broad, and is about one hundred and ten miles from Lake Erie."

In connection with what has been said by Mr. Towler, of Xenia and Greene county at that date (1809) we will add yet another testimony, that of John Mills. His father, Jacob, was one of the first to settle near what is now called Greene county, whose coming was in the year 1796. The land he first entered was over the line in \\'arren county. He came from Kentucky with John \\'ilson, and his sons, Amos, Daniel and George, where they located as a colony. \n the subsequent division into states and counties the purchase was found to be in the southwest corner of Greene <:ounty, near Clio, or Ferry, as it is now (1899) called, while the purchase of Daniel fell into Montgomery, and Jacob Mills' into

^^'arren county. And yet they worked together, assisting one another in providing themselves homes. In 1809 Jacob ^lills came with his family from \\'arren county to near where Clifton is now located in Miami township, Greene county, bringing with him his three sons-, John, Daniel and Thomas. History is silent in regard to his parting with his old friends, John Wilson and his sons, and why he had left that part of the state where lie had spent s<ime thirteen years of pioneer life. And yet the distance was not so great but what they could visit one another. We find that shortly after the coming of Jacob ?klills to Miami township in 1809 a singing school had been organized in Xenia, and the teacher of said school was David \\'ilson, oldest son of Daniel Wilson, their old neighbor, and it was no wonder tb.at John Mills, then a lad of fifteen, wanted to go; for three reasons, first, to see his okl playmate, David ; second, to see the Xenia girls: and lastly, to see the ti-iwn. which was ])retty much of a town at that time, with its about thirty log cabins and a brand new court house. The singing school was to be held in that new court house, and as John wanted to go he went. .\nd we are very glad that he did, for it is to him that we are under obligations for furnishing us a descriptif)n of Xenia as he saw it in the year 1809. He must have had a splendid time. Youngfolks in this age think that they have good times, not more so than they, - don't know whether John took his best girl along or not, but we will let him tell his nwn story. Ho says :

"The singing school was held in the new court house, and the girls came with their beau.x on horseback, dressed in linsev. and a few of the elite appeared in calico, then the extreme of fashion, aspired to by a few. And the boys arrived there all right, for the girls who had acted as guards of honor (rear guards) would not let them fall off. 'Oh blessed days' when horses, were made that would carr\- double."' John said that they had a grand time and returned home o\-er about Clifton with enlarged views of life and creation generally. Years afterward, at his home in Jamestown, Ohio, Jiihn, then a stead}- (ild man, gives us from memory his recollections of the long ago. He says : "During the winter of this same year, 1809. while in Xenia, I saw a man selling cider at tweh'e and one-half cents a quart, in front of the court house. A large stump was standing in the street, by the side of which he had a lire, in which he heated several rods of iron, and when he would make a sale he would hold the iron rod in the cider to bring il to a drinkable temperature." He states also at that time all houses in Xenia were built of l<-)gs, except one frame dwelling that stood where now is located the grocerv of Harner & Wolf, the property of James Gowdy. and the brick courthouse. In front of v.hat used to be the Second National Bank, on the southwest corner of Greene street, fronting on Main, was a stag'nant pool of water, a general rendezvous for geese, ducks and hogs. Opposite the courthouse was a two-story hewed log house kept by !vlaj. William A. Beatty as a tavern. On East Main street, on the present site of Trinity church. Henry Barnes, Sr., had built a logcabin in the woods.

In ciMitrast v.ith the price that dry goods are now selling for, and what they cost then, young men of this age are favored. 'Sir. Mills savs the material of which his wedding shirt was made cost a dollar a yard; same material can be bought to-day for six or eight cents per yard. The highest price paid for labor then was fr(jm fifty to seventy-five cents per day, and scarce at that, while every species of merchandise was from ten to twentyfold higher than at present. Salt hauled from Cincinnati was (four barrels by a four-horse team) four dollars per bushel.

The Coming Of The Gowdv F.Xmily

In February. 1845, James Gowdy (then sixty-eight years of age), beng solicited Insome of his children, gave the following account of his ancestry, and contemporary connections : "My progenitors on my father's side were Welsh and Irish. They emigrated from Ireland in A. D. 1707. and settled in the states of Delaware and Pennsylvania. My grandfather's Christian name was James. He had four children wlm Hved to maturity, viz. : Adam, who died young and single: John (my father) ; Robert and Jane. My father was born on the fifth day of November, 1742, in N^ew Castle county, Delaware, and removed, with some others of the family, into Pennsylvania, about 1760, where he married Abigail, the youngest daughter of John Ryan, about 1772, with whom he lived about fort}--two years, and liad eleven children, six sons and five daughters, all of whom li\-ed to marry and raise families, except Mary, who was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the 13th of April, 1775, and died in Greene county, Ohio, the cjth day of June, 18 1 2. James w-as born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on the 20th day of ^lay. 1777: Samuel, born 9th of January, A. D. 1780; jRobert. burn on the 4tli of April. 1782 : .Martha. Ixirn on tlie 27th of January, 1785, married John jii'ily. and h;id one son, James; Jane, born on the 31st of May, 1787; John, born u\\ the 3d of August. 1789; .\lexander, born on the 2d of April. 1792; Ryan, born on the 3d day of February, 1795; Abigail, born on the I7tli of July. 1797; Sarah, born on the 6th of March, 1803. This in brief is the beginning of the large connection of that name, coming to Greene county. Ohio, in icSo;."

James Cio\\d_\', the subject uf this sketch. eldest son of John and Abigail Gowdy. was born in Lancaster county. Penns_\lvania. ijii the 20th day of May,. 1777. and died at his home, in Xenia, Ohio, December 24, 1853, aged seventy-six years, and is buried in the old Associate Reformed graveyard. East Third street. The first trace that we find of Mr. Gowdy as a merchant, is when he entered into partnership with his brother, Samuel, in the mercantile anil cabinet business in the fall of 1802 at Mt. Sterling, Montgomery county, Kentucky. The brotliers carried on the above business on a moderate scale there for three years to some advantage, having the post office to keep part of the time. In the fall of 1805 James took part of the goods and removed to Xenia. Ohio. His brother. Samuel, having closed their business in June. 1800, nl-o cn.me. with the balance of their stock. -lia. They also had their younger III i.-.^r. Ryan, to assist them in their wi rk ill the stcre. he then being a small boy. I hev were the first merchants who made a permanent stand with store goods in Xenia. They continued in business as partners with mutual satisfaction for five or six years, and increased their store capital and gained some real estate in town, anil land in the country, until the spring or summer of 18 14, when they dissolved partnership by mutual consent, and each of them ran stores of their own for five or six years, when Samuel sold his store and settled on a tract of woodland near the town. James Gowd}- continued in the business, with the aid of hs younger brother. Ryan, and an apprentice, John Ewing. who was related to his first wife. When Ryan became of age, he left the store and a second apprentice was taken, William Perkins. Mr. Gowdy had several partners from time to time. John S. Perkins was also one of ]Mr. Gowdy's apprentices. John R. Gowdy (eldest son of Samuel) was taken in as a member of the firm on the 5th of July. 1833, which ijartnership continued until near the time of his death, in ]\Iarch, 1834. Then Alexander G. Zimmerman and John A. Gowdy (son of Robert) were taken into partnership under the firm name of Gowdy. Ewing & Company and continued until the 12th of August, 1836, when John A. Gowdy settled with the firm and moved to Illinois. The above firm continued until the 19th of July. 1838. when Janies Gowdy, Sr., sold out his interest in the firm to John Ewing and Alexander Zimmerman, and took the firm's share in a branch store which they had established in Jamestown, Ohio, about eighteen months before, in which store John McBride had an interest of one-half. James Gowdy attended the store. During the above time of thirty-six years in the mercantile business, he had reason to be thankful that he had had no serious misfortune in busi- ness, excepting some considerable losses sustained by crediting- persons who became insolvent, or proved dishonest. During this time he purchased several lots in Xenia, and his father's farm, two and one-half miles west of town, and a small farm between the two last mentioned places, and put up some valuable buildings in town, and some cheaper ones which he rented at a moderate price. Mr. Gowdy was a loser by his Jamestown store, and it was discontinued in 1844. Altogether he was in the dry goods business for forty-four years. He had married Joanna, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Townsley, January 27, 1814, with whom he lived three and one-half years until her decease and that of their only child, a daughter, which took place on the 25th of July, 1817. His wife was then twenty-eight years old. He married a second time, November 11, 1819, ]Miss Sarah Brown, who resided at the time in Clark county, Ohio. She was the daughter of John and Margaret Brown, late of Xorthuml)erland county, Pennsyh'ania, where she was born and reared, and with whom she Ii\'ed nine years or more, until the time of her death, ^March 6, 1829, at the age of forty years. She was the mother of his children, six sons and one daughter, viz. : John Brown, James Ryan, George W'., Abigail Joanna, Samuel Philander and his twin brother, not named. He was married the third time, on the 23d day of April, 1832, at Mansfield, Ohio, to ]\Iiss Jane Purdy, daughter of Patrick and Jane Purdy, of Richland county, Ohio. They lived a married li^e eleven years until her death on the 24th of July, 1843, aged fifty-one years. Of this marriage there were no children.

was also treasurer c^f the Greene Count\- Bible Society for o\'er thirty years, and during all that time his laljor was untiring and valuable. For twenty-three years he was treasurer of the Greene County Colonizaii(.)n Si ciety, and his zeal in that cause was ardent. He had been a member of the Associate Reformed church since its fir.st organization, and contributed of his means to the erectii.n nf three successive buildings for that church. hi all the benevolent enterprises of the day for the relief of the suffering and the goo-d of his felK.iw men, or the spread of the gospel. Air. Gowdy cnuld be relied upon.

And, nijw. in concluding this sketch of this old pioneer father, listen to his own words : "On a review of my past life, what shall I say, but that goodness and mercy has followed me all my life long? If 1 should Count the instances, thev are more than can be numbered by me. Upon the whole review of my eventful life, I have much reason to set up mv Ebenezer, saying: 'Hitherto hath the Lord helped me.' and trust that He will not leave me wnen I am old and gray-headed grown, till to this age His strength and power to all to come, I have shown."

He was born in ]\Iercer countv. Kentucky, on the 3d of February, 1795, and died near Francona, June 6, 1863, aged sixty-eight years. He came to Xenia, Ohio, with his brother, Samuel, in the spring of 1806. His eldest brother, James Gowdy, had come to Xenia the year previous, and had established himself in the mercantile business near the corner of what is nowknown as Greene and Main streets. He had purcliased lot Xo. 34. and had his caljin store opened and ready tor trade. Young; Ryan, tlien a lad of eleven years, accepted a clerkship in his brother's store, and there continued until he was of age, when he commenced l)usiness for himself. He made his mark in improving Xenia. In 1827 he built that large and substantial brick house on the southwest corner of Main and Detroit streets, known as the "Xunnemaker corner," (present site of the ".\llen building)."' His next move was to the northwest corner of Detroit and Market streets (present site of the Reformed church), where he opened a store and made more improvements. Sulv sequently he purchased a large brick house on Main street, opposite the courthouse (the same buiding that was burned on the night of the 3d of August. 1845. and in which two young men, James Kenney and William Steele were murdered). Here, in partnership with his brother. Col. John Gowdy, he opened another store. A few years later he went to Missouri, but did not remain long in that state. Returning to Xenia he opened a grocery and provision store on the northeast corner of Main and \\'hiteman streets (present site nf William Hannon's grocery). In 1833 he was elected commissioner of Greene county, and on the 4th of July, 1836, he met with the board for the last time. While he was a member of the board a costly and for those days a \ery superior county jail, was erected, a little back of the northeast corner of the public square. It was also mainly through his efforts and influence that a large two-story brick market house on the north side of the public square was built. He was also in the years 1819 and 1820 treasurer of Greeaie countv. In i8-iS ' ;^ --nd up his business in Xenia.

sold out, and the ne.xt year \\ent to California by the overland route, and from thence to Oregon, a flyinig trip, but soon returned to San Francisco. He was unfortunate in the land of gold. In a letter he wrote in 1 85 1, he said he had traveled hundreds of miles in California, and could find nothing which he could do. He returned in 1852. Though a business man of early training and mature experience, he preferred teachirig school, and became a successful instructor. In this j)ursuit he was so successful that he never lacked for employment. He had been teaching in Richland county some three years previous to his death. He was taken ill of typhoid fe\er. During his sickness of five days he was conscious to tlie last, expressed a desire to see his brothers, naming one of them. His last words in declining to take medicine, were: "Xo use; it would not do any good.'' Of his prospects in another state of existence he was entirely reticent. In his younger days without being foppish he went generally elegantly dressed, the ''glass of fashion and the mould of form."' He had some eccentricities, was versatile, fluent in conversaton, of ready wit. original and mirth-inspiring humor, and when he chose, of pungent sarcasm. He had transacted much business, traveled far, gone through many ups and downs in his journey through life, and was well versed in the knowledge of human nature. After life's fitful fever he sleepeth well.

In the first enun"',en';tion of Caesarscreek township, taken in 1803. appears the name of John Heaton. From the old records we find that his place of nativitv was Vir- ginia ; that prcnious to his coming to Ohio he married Sarali, daughter of Jolm Warden ; lie had also purchased in Caesarscreek township eighty acres of land. Some time i,n the year 1823 he died, and was buried in the "Old Mercer graveyard," about four miles south of Xenia, on the Bullskin pike. He left his widow, Sarah Heaton, with the following children: three sons and six tlaughters, namely : Ebenezer, John and Joseph Heaton; Elizabeth (Heaton) Millarfl, Sarah (Heaton) Worrel, Lydia (Heaton) Eaton, Phebe (Heaton) Elam, Parmclia (Heaton) Rogers, Hannah (Heaton) Peterson. His will was recorded May, 1823, in Book E, page 70.

James Collier was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, ou the 4th day of January, 1774. and died in Xenia, Ohio. April 17, 1S51, aged seventy-seven years. In 1786 his family emigrated from Virginia, their destination being Kentucky, but on account of his mother's health, they stopped on the River Holstan, in what is now East TeiTnessee, and there remained until the following summer, when the journey was resumed until they reached their destination in Kenlucky, some eighteen miles north of Crab Orchard. Here he passed his early youth and manhood on the frontiers of what has been so aptly called the "dark and bloody ground,"" among a people who, for enterprise, hardihood and self-reliance and true heroism of character, have never been surpassed in the annals of the human family.

In 1794, being twenty years of age, he served as a spy in the Xich-a-jack campaign. He was with Col. William Whiiley, who had organized in Lincoln county, Kentucky, some six hundred brave Kentuckians. Mr. Collier"s place as a spy was in advance of the army that was advancing against the Chikamongas Indians while General Wayne, with a well appointed and disciplined army from Ohio, was marching to join them. The result of Wayne's victory, at the Maumc'e Rapids, in Ohio, is so well known that it is needless to repeat. But it is a fact of local history that it is well worth preserving that he who is the subject of this sketch and whose body is now laid to rest in our own beautiful Woodland, was also there two years later, March 13, 1796.

At Holes Station, in Montgomery county, Ohio, on the nth of April, 1796, Amos Wilson raised his log cabin, the first ever erected for the residence of a white settler within the present limits of Greene county, and soon after he assisted to raise the third house built in the same neighborhood. This is conclusive evidence that our old pioneer friend and fdlow townsman of Xenia was well acquainted with John Wilson and his boys, and his coming into Greene county was at the time the Wilsons first settled here.

of Bellbrook, Ohio. Two months later :Mr. ColHer made a trip to Fort Defiance, in June, 1796. traveling on Wayne's trail, or military road. He performed the journey alijne and on foot, sleeping on the ground, with no shelter but his blanket; he was well armed, and had no other dependence fur self-protection but his trusty rifle, and his courage and presence of mind. The object of his lonely journey through the wilderness was the recovery of stolen horses, an object which he failed to accomplish. He returned some time during the same month and took up his residence in this county, at which time there were not more than a dozen settlers within its present borders, nor was the county organized until seven years afterward.

There can be no doul)t but what Mr. Collier made his home for a while in the Wilson and Mills settlement, near Clio, or Ferry, as it is now called. We next find him located on the farm of Capt. Xathan Lanime, a soldier of the Revolution, whose land was niirth of the present town of Bellbrook. We have also from the old records of the county evidence that he was present at the house of Peter Borders, on Beaver, when the county was first organized, and was appointed to take the enumeration of Sugarcreek township. He received that appointment May 10, 1803, and commenced the work August 3, 1803, and finished on the loth of the month, reporting the names of seventy-one, wiio, at that time, were residents of what is now Sugarcreek. then comprising all of Spring Valley and a portion of what is now Xenia township, that were over the ages of twenty-one years.

Seven days" work! We are filled with wonder and surprise when we read his report. And think of the condition of the country at that early day ! Covered with the primitive forests, no roads, or pikes, as now - nothing but bridle paths for pack horses, that led from one settlement to another.

First Election Ix Sugarcreek

On the 2 1 St of June, 1803, the electors of Sugarcreek township held the first election in the township, at the house of Mr. James Clancey, whose cabin at that time was located on the present site of the town of Bellbrook. Our honored old pioneer was one of the candidates for the office of township lister, and Joseph C. \'ance, the father of Governor Vance, was a candidate for clerk at the same election.

Moves To Xenia

In the spring of 1805 he takes his departure from Sugarcreek township, and moves to Xenia. He was at this time acting as dqnity sherifY, under William Maxwell, who had on the 17th day of December, 1803, resigned his position as associate judge, and had been elected sherift of the county. Capt. Xathan Lamme had previous to Mr. Maxwell's election been the sheriff (by appointment), but finding that it interfered too much with his large landed interest, had resigned. ]\lr. Collier continued to act as deputy until 1807, when he was elected sheriff.

Mr. Collier served out the constitutional term. While he held this office the county was the temporary residence of certain desperate characters, whose lawless acts of vio- lence and crime, had driven them to the frontiers l:)eyond tlie jurisdiction of laws, or out of reach of tlie ministers of justice. Numbers of them were ronfederated together at different points, forming a chain of communication, all the way from Kentucky to Canada. Tiiey would warn each other of approaching danger; would mutually assist each other in rescues, escapes and concealments. They would receive, conceal and convey stolen property from oaie to the other, which rendered detection and conviction very cliflicult. Several daring robberies were committed in the cuuntv. It was no unusual circumstance in those days for citizens, on retiring to rest, to bar the door securely, and place a gun and ax at the bedside ready for self-defense in case of a nocturnal attack. An instance of their audacity and success may suffice to illustrate the state of the times.

John Wolf Robbed

Thirteen robbers, armed to the teeth, with faces concealed with black crepe, one night entered the house of John \Volf. Sr.. a citizen near the site of the village of Byron, and robbed the owner of about four hundred and fifty dollars in specie. Not satisfied with the amount nf booty obtained, they threatened the owner of the house witli torture, proposing to pinch his fingers in a vise, unless he infnrnied them where more money could be found. They would have carried their threats into execution but for the opposition and influence of one of their number, more human than the rest.

perseverance was such tliat they had neither rest or security. He, with his assistants, hunted them from their hiding places, surrounded their houses in the night season, and arrested every one he could lay his hands on. until, finally, they were all either captured or driven from the county, and the citizens were left in peace and security of life and property.

Coroner Of Greexe Couxtv

He was, in 181 4, elected coroner of Greene county, and continued in that office until the year 1820, when he was succeeded by David Connelly. He was again chosen coroner in 1826. and continued in that office until 1830.

Removes To Xexi.V.

We will now return to the time when Mr. Collier removed from Sugarcreek to Xenia. It is said that the first person buried in the pioneer graveyard at Bellhrook was the wife of James Collier. He afterward married the daughter of Jacob Smith, who was a man of note in the early history of the county. The same Jacob Smith, whose body our Masonic brethren removed from tlie Harblne farm and reinterred in ^^^:lodland cemetery, Xenia, in 1898.

It must not be supposed that ^Ir. Collier had nut been in Xenia previous to 1805 : his dutv as deputy sheriff would oftimes bring him to Xenia, and besides that we find in the old records of the county the following: "On the 15th day of November, 1804. Joseph C. Vance conveyed to James Collier lot

No. 60, see book 3, pages 3 and 4, Records of Deeds : and again a year later on tlie 8th day of November, 1805, \\'illia:ii A. Beatty. director of the town of Xenia, conveyed to James Collier lot Xo. 58, book A, page 156.

On lot Xo. 60, facing on Detroit street, about twenty feet back from tlie inside line of the sidewalk, Air. Collier erected in the summer of 1805 his cabin, a one-story, hewed-Iog, witli two windows down stairs, and witli a do(jr in tlie center, witli what is called one-half window up stairs over the two windows to give light into the attic room above. That building is still standing in Xenia to-day (1899) and belongs, I believe, to a Mrs. Middleton, and is the first house east of the colored high schcx)l building, East Market street, Xenia. It has been weatherboarded outside, and is still in prettygood condition. When thev were removing: the old Collier house the original home of Air. Collier was just back of it. and was bought by Mr. Aliddleton and removed to its present site. It was in this building that Mr. Collier and his young wife, nee Raclit.l Smitli. daughter of Jacob Smith, commenced their married life.

Wq find the following in the records of the proliate court, under date of June 5. 1805: "Married by the Rev. Joshua Carman. James Collier to Rachel Smitli."

It seems quite natural to see the name of James Collier enrolled among the nations defenders in the war of 1812. as will be seen from the following taken from the ofiiciul records: "I do hcre1)y certify that James Collier did volunteer under the proclamation of the governor and the circular of General Harrison, on the 15th day of September, 1S12, and the said Collier did act the part of a faithful soldier during his continuance in my company, and is hereby discharged. Given under my hand this the 5th day of January, 1813. Daniel F. Reedev. captain."

This house was built the summer after Jiis return from that tour of duty in the army. W' hen first erected it consisted of one room and hall fronting on Detroit street. V, ith two rooms in the rear. It was a woixlen frame, liuilt over with brick; as was jokingly said at the time of its erection, it was "a frame house weatherboarded with 1-rick." It was opened as a public house before being finished, the front room being the bar-room. In 181 4 the south end was built. Reuben Hixon, who removed to Lebanon, made the bricks, and some l)rickmason5 from Kentucky put them up. Alathew Alexander, the father of Captain John Alexander, (lid the wood work. The north end was built some years later. At the time the first part was erected there were two other brick houses in Xenia. besides the court house: one of them stood wiiere ( 1859) John F. I'atton's drug store used to stand, and the other on the ground now occupied by John Knox's saddle shop, or near that.

The cimrl and l)ar put up at the Collier Plouse from the commencement, and it was far known and noted as a tavern. Recruiting officers boarded at the Collier House in the time of the war of i8i_'. and a British officer and liis servant, who were prisoners 01 war, were there on parole. Court niarslials, courts of inquin,- and courts of appeal were frequently held in this house by militia officers. The office of commissioner of insolvents was kept in it until the law abolishing imprisonment for debt went into operation. The first regular ball in Xenia came oft at the Collier House. Such was the .scarcity of females who could, or would, dance that girls were enquired after, and brought to town from a distance of eight or ten miles. It was kept by Mr. Collier as a public house for twent\--nine years, and for a while the regular mail stage stopped there.

The Iniilding- next to where now stands the Reform church, and which formed an addition to the Collier House, was built by Phillip Good, father of Judge Good, of Sidney, Ohio. Dr. Joshua Martin lived in it when he was first married, and continued to live there until he had a house built, which hfc occupied until the time of his death.

Peter Pelham, Esq., one of the Greene county commissioners in 1812, and for several terms afterwards, and also who was the first auditor of Greene ctxmty in 1820, also lived in this hijuse. He was born in Boston. Massachusetts, in 1747, and he was noted for his ardent piety, benevolence and numerous charities. He died in 1822. Many of the oldest citizens of Xenia still remember the old land mark, extending nordi from the Gallowav buildings to the south line of the present Reform church on Detroit street. In the files of the Torchlight, of July, 1859, appears a notice that it is to be sold, "this noted property w'ill be sold at pultlic sale by the executors of the estate of the late James Collier."

equals in interest the history of this now dilapidated structure. It is a relic of the old times, the times of bridle-paths and corduroy roads, of horseback traveling and saddle bags, dating before turnpikes had entered inthe imagination of men in the west. Mr. and Mrs. Collier never had any children to brighten their home, and the ones we have had in our county by that name were the children of his younger brother, Moses, who was ten years younger than James, a sketch of wliom will appear further along. .Vnd as so much could be said of James Collier, we will for fear of wearing the patience of the reader close this history by adding .1 tribute to his memory as furnished by his old and intimate friend, Thomas Coke Wright, who says, when asked if he had anything to say, after the death of his old friend, in the year 1851 : "He, like many of the old pioneers, had his strong points of character, which stamped iiim with originality. The incidents of his early life evinced that he was enterprising and resolute. He originally had a good constitution and much hardihood and powers of bodily endurance, which enabled him to endure cold and the inclemencies of the seasons with iminmity. If while hunting in the tall woods of the west, night finding him far away from any human habitation oi- shelter it made little or no difference to him. Kindling a fire from a fiint and steel, he would pass the night without a tent or blanket, or other covering than the canopy of heaven. He possessed much firmness and decision of character, and when his mind was made up, his purpose fixed, it was no easy matter to turn his determination. He possessed the faculty of concentration in a great degree, and whate\'er he engaged in he pursued with all his mind and all his miglit. If employcil in scune out-door labor and it came on to rain, and his mind intent on tiie business on hand, he has been known to continue on as though unconscious that any rain was falHng. In all his dealings he was strictly honest, and trutli was an idol with him. Xot one particle would he swer\e from the literal naked facts and woukl tolerate neither ideality nor embellishments, but adhere to the simplicity of truth in all his narrations and statements.

'"Most cordially did he detest falsehood and meanness in every station in life; he was always the good honest worthy citizen, discharging e\ery duty as a public officer and private citizen to the best of his skill and ability, faithfully and honestly. In his friendships he was sincere and true, and hi.s attachments ceased only with life. His men^ory was \ery retentive, and was richly stored with a \ast number of facts and incidents, historical and biographcal, concerning early times in the west, which he could relate with an accuracy and minuteness of detail that was truly surprising. He could point out and correct more errors, which have found a place in western history, than perhaps any other man now livmg, and could his biography have been written, connected with all the information he possessed, it would have pro\-en a treasure to western history. It would have preserved numerous facts, now lost fore\'er, and corrected di\-ers errors in accounts already given to the pul)- lic, which will now go down to history as true. For instance. Butler in his history of Kentucky says: "In the attack of Colonel Bowman made on Old Town in July, 1 779. the Indian chief. Black Fish, the one who had headed an expedition against Harrodsburg. and liad taken Boone prisoner, was killed." Whereas, that same Indian was killed in Kentucky early one Sunday morning, w ithin three miles of where Mr. Collier was at that time. He had broken into a settler's house, and was engaged in a desperate struggle on the flo(ir with the owner of the premises, when his daughter, a brave young woman, seized a hunting knife, flew to the assistance of her father and stabbed the Indian. The Indians were ashamed to have it known that their famous war chief had fallen at the hands of a white squaw, concealed his rank and name at the time, and afterwards countenanced the report that he had fallen in battle.

"Judge Burnet in his notes says that early in 1796 the British government surrendered the northern p'jst, including Miami and Detroit. The posts were delivered to General Wayne, while Air. Collier was at Fort Defiance in June, 1796. General Wilkenson one morning reached that post and sat upon his horse in company with his staff officers on the lianks of the Auglaize river opposite the fort until a salute of fifteen rounds had been fired from a twelve pounder. He had Ijeen to Detroit, and [n conversation with Mr. Collier Informed him that the inhabitants of Detroit treated him with coldness and reserve, except one young Frenchman, who invited him to his mother's house, where he was received with kindness and treated with hospitalitw And farther the post would have been surrendered to him, but for the want of men he could not take possession. In the following September he saw General \\'ilkenson on his way to Detroit with part of two regiments of men to take possession : the surrender was made of course to him in pursuance of the stipulations nf Jay's treaty made in 1793."

For a vear or so previous to his death lie hatl been intinii. and was frequently subject to severe attacks from wiiich liis recovery seemed duuljtful, and it was a common remark among his friends tiiat the old pioneer was failing fast. Still from every attack he recovered again, so as to be up and ahiiul. until about seven weeks previous to his death he was again prostrated with dyspepsia. As the days progressed his system wasted away to a mere shadow ; he took riot a particle of nourishmient for twentythree days, yet he continued to live with a tenacitv beyond any example ever seen by tlie many friends who Wiere in attendance or daily \isitcd him. He continued i)erfcctly in liis senses, and was not only resigned In die, but willing and imjiatient for that event to take place. At length worn out nature viekled. and he fell asleep without a sigh or struggle. And thus he has gone, one of the early pioneers of Greene county, who was here nearby when the first improvement was made within its limits. On each memorial day in our own beautiful Woodland can be seen two flags and the flowers that are still put there to commemorate the brave acts of the two brothers who were both soldiers in the war of i8i J. James and Moses Collier.

Moses C0Li,Ier

The younger brother of James Collier was born in Rockbridge county. Virginia. on the 4th day of January, 1784, In 1786 when he was but two years old his family emigrated from Virginia, their destination being Kentucky, but in consequence of his mother's health thev stopped nn the river Holstan, in what is now east Tennessee, and th.ere remained until the following summer, when the journey was resumed until thev reached the place of destination in Kentucky some eighteen miles north of Crab Orchard. Here he continued to reside with his parents in Lincoln county and spent his earlv youth. The next we hear of our old pioneer friend was in 1797. when he was making his home with his brother James on the land leased from Captain Nathan Lamme. He was then a mere boy, thirteen vears old, and his brother James twentythree, and it is said by a Bellbrook historian that they lived in a cabin near the present residence of John Kable, north of Bellbrook, being central part of section ^^-5, 6. Moses is said to have been remembered as the first assessor of the township. (That is a mistake, as the book which contains that enumeration has been found, and is now in the vault of the auditor's office, and shows that it was James and not Moses.)

In the fall of 1805. at the October election, we find for the first time the two Collier brothers. James and Moses, voting in Xenia township. This was the first vote cast bv Moses in Greene county, and he was now twenty-one years old. A year previous he had bought of Joseph C. Vance, director of the town of Xenia. lot Ko. 128, nowowned by President Fay, as the !\Iiami Powder Company. He was one of the best surveyors that Greene county evei had. and he served the count)' in that cajiacity from 1817 until 1829. when he was elected tri represent Greene county in the lower house of the legislature.

as such until the year 1840. He was married, September 19. 1810, to Miss Elizabeth Small, bv Rev. Joshua Carman, The result of this marriage was six sons and four daughters: P'ranklin, David, James, Jr.. Albert, Theodore and Ira, sons, and daughters. Mrs. Pugh Sterritt, Mrs. Daniel Job. Miss Ruth Collier, residing at Yellow Springs, and Mrs. Joseph Linkhart, of Xenia. After little more than half a century of married life he died at his residence on Clifton road, November 28, 1861. after a brief illness. For more than half a century he resided here, and during the long period had ranked worthily among the best men in the county.

In addition to what has been said before, Moses Collier filled the position of clerk of the coxin of inquiry of the militia of Greene county. Away back in the years 181 oii-ij. when the county was under the old system of valuation, he was assessor of real estate, making his last assessment in 1840. He was among the first men. in tlie then town iif Xenia in 1816 to enroll liis name as a stockholder in the first library association that was organized in the town. Later on, upon the organization of the old Xenia Lyceum, he contributed many valuable works, and contril>utions were more important in that day when books were scarce than it would be now. Of the early settlers of this countv Mr. Collier was about the last one left, and he was at the day of his death standing almost alone as the representative of the men who felled the forest and opened the fields of the ]\Iiami valley. He was a soldier for a brief tour in the war of 1812, under Captain Robert McClelland, to go to the relief of Fort Wayne. At his funeral a large concourse of neighbors and friends

So much can be written of this township that one is at a loss where to commence. We find that on the lofh day of May, 1803. Greene county's first associate judges met in the house of Peter Borders, in Beavercreek township, on the farm known at this time (1900) as the Harbine farm. for the purpose of laying off the county into townships. This township was the place of commencement ; Sugarcreek was designated as No. i. It was and had been the gateway into the county -of almost all of the early pioneers. And in order to avoid repetition of what has been written in the fomier part of this book as to its organization and boundaries and who were the people that were living in the county at that time would refer the reader to that description. ]\Iost of this work has been compiled from the old records of the county that had b>een carted away to different out of the way places in the court house which was this year ( 1900) torn down, as well as in the one that was torn away in 1842, and which had been built in 1806. It has been said that "Moses Collier was remembered as "being the first to take the enumeration of Sugarcreek township."' That is a mistake. James Collier was the one who made that enumeration, as his book has been found, and in it he says. "I commenced the work Augtist 3, 1803. and completed it August 10, 1803." In this connection we quote from a statement furnished by John L. Elcook. assisted by Silas Hale, in 1874. He says: '"Some seventy years ago the spot where

Bellbruok now stands was a wild unbroken wilderness. Herds of deer roamed through the forest and occasionally a bear was to be seen. The first house in the county had not long been built, and stood about half a mile north of the present village of Clio, or Ferry, on what is now known as the Abner Wilson farm."

It was raised on the 7th day of April, 1796, and belonged to Daniel W'illson. one of the early pioneers of the county. It was ciinstructed of unhewed logs, and like the other cabins of early days had no floor but that afforded by the broad breast of mother earth. Other cabins of the same kind were, however, soon built.

.\ mill Stood on the southern part of the farm now owned by Thomas Brown and was the first mill of which we have any record in the Cdunty. It was a hand mill, and the neighbors from si.x or seven miles around came here to grind their grist. Sometimes as many as seven and eight met at the mill, and this number in those days was a crowd ; but by "spelling each other ar the crank" they soon got the grain ground and left contentedly for honw. One of the srones of this mill is now in the possession of ]\Ir. Brown, who has collected quite d cabinet of curiosities and relics, and has, it it said, one of the finest collections of mineralogical and geological specimens in the state. This mill stone is about fourteen inches in diameter, and three inches thick on the circumference.

First Settlers

Among the first settlers in the vicinity of what is now known as Bellbrook were Joseph C. Vance, Captain Nathan Lamme, John McLean, John C. Hale, Ephraim Bowman. James Barrett and a few others. (For a complete list see Sugarcreek township, first part of the book.) Joseph C. Vance located and settled op the land lying east of the street that leads to Alpha. Here he built a cabin, which was the first dwelling erected on the ground that was long afterward laid out for the town. It was built of rude logs and stood a littlj to the rear of where Ephraim Bumgardncr's paint shop used to stand. This cabin was afterward sold to James Clancey, and was used by him for a kStchen^, he, to meet the growfing wants of trade, having erected a finer and more commodious log house, in which he kept tavern.

And here we may remark that Joseph Vance, the e.x-governor and son of the above Joseph C. Vance, is remembered by the school children of that day as a young man in "liuckskin breeches'' and the driver of an ox cart on the "Pickney road." What visions o-f future glory haunted his mind while engaged in this humble occupation' we shall never know. But that he was not cntirelv disappointed in his aspirations we may safely judge. The "Pickney road" derives its name from "Pickney pond," near Harbine's, bv which it ran. It is the same road that is mentioned as leading to Alpha.

Kobixsox'S History Of Greexe Couxty Captain Xathax Lamme

Entered the land now owned by David Clemmer. John Xave and the widow Lamnie. Tlie comi>iler of this sketch has in his possession a list, or roll, of the officers of the sixteen Virginia regiments of the Continental army who had received land bounties in tlie \'irginia military district in Kentuckv and Ohio, and among the number is the name of Captain Xathan Lamme, who received four thousand acres. He came to Sugarcreek townshij) in tlie year 1797. and entered his land in sections 33 and 27 (3.6), northeast of Bellbrook. He built a cabin on the hill north of the Washington mill. He served as a volunteer in the Lord Dunmore war and participated in the battle of Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, under General Lewis, which lasted from dawn of day until sundown, and it was a hard fight and bloody battle. And during the war of the Revolution he was ff und wearing for eight years the uniform of a captain with honor to himself and country. At the organization of Greene county, Ohio, Xathan Lamme was appointed sheriff. but on account of his large land estate lie only served three months and resigned. \\'illiam Maxwell, who was at the time serving- as one of the first associate judges, resigned that position and accepted the place made vacant by Mr. Lamme. Mr. Maxwell with his able deputy. James Collier, served two terms, when Mr. Collier was elected. Thus from away back we have the precedent for the deputy to take the place of the principal, which has been kept up with few exceptions to the present time. It is said of Captain Lamme tliat he was intimately acciuainted with Simon Kenton, whom he had often entertained for weeks in his log cabin as the old pioneer passed to and fro from Kentucky to his lands in Champaign county.

In the pioneer graveyard in Bellbrook is buried this grand old hero of the war of the Revolution. He died in 1834, aged eightynine years, ilen of higher rank and less worth have had expensive monuments erected by a great government, while this one is almost forgotten.

Mr. Lamme had five sons, Josiah, W'illiam, James, Samuel and David ; also two daughters, Anna and Martha. Of the five sons, all of them took part in the war of 1812. The following is a sketch of his } oimgest son :

Mr. Lamme was born in Kentucky. January I. 1 791, and removed with his father to the late residence on the banks of the Little Miami in 1797. where he was residing when the tocsin of war was sounded between this country and Great Britain. He joined the citizen soldiery first as a substitute under Captain Robert McClelland at Xenia, from whence he was marched to Uppei' Sandusky to meet the northern invaders and their red allies. After his discharge he volunteered under the immortal Harrison to the relief of Fort Wayne, then beseiged by the Indians, after which he volunteered twice, thus serving four distinct campaigns during the war. X'otwithstanding his pioneer and Kentucky heroism placed him in the front ranks in defense of his country, he was emphatically a man of peace, a good soldier, "a good citizen, a dutiful son. a provident husband, an indulgent parent and a kind neiglibor. It appears that while the Lammes were Virginians, yet like many from that state who came to Ohio in the late Civil war they were true to the "stars and stri])es." We tind from good authority that Captain Lamme after the war of the Revolution was shortly afterward in Kentucky, and it is no doubt but that is wiiere he became acciuaiiileil with Simon Kenton.