Columbia Township (part 3 of 5)

Four hundred yards to the northeast of this mound, and at the junction of the Wooster and Madison turnpikes, can yet be traced a circular work, which has a circumference of six hundred feet; twenty years ago, I am told by an old settler, the circle had an elevation at that time of three feet, and there was a mound four feet in the centre; at present it is almost obliterated. Its northern side in places has an elevation of eight to twelve inches. On the south and eastern side, the work can be traced by the yellow color of the soil. The northeast side is occupied by the Madison turnpike.

Continuing on the southwestward of the small tumuli, and along the previously described sand ridge, we come to what is known as the 'Pottery Field.' Here the ridge slopes gently to the south and southeast, with an elevation of from sixty to eighty feet above the level of the Little Miami river. This field is a plateau of about four acres in extent, sloping back to the higher ground. On this plateau fragments of pottery are found in greatabundance. Flint chips, arrow points, broken bowlders, burnt limestone, and the shells of the freshwater muscle (#70), are found all over the surface. Human remains have been found in the adjoining ravines and on the slopes; the graves were isolated and shallow, and the method of burial was not uniform. Bones of various wild animals are also found.

Two hundred yards north of the Pottery field are several small tumuli. The largest has a circumference at base of about one hundred feet, height five and one-half feet; this mound has been dug into, but not yetexplored. The Pottery Field, and also the tumulus, are situated in sections nine, Columbia township, in what is known as Ferris' woods, in 'Still Home Hollow.' The largest trees on the Pottery Field measure as follows: A walnut, fifteen and one-half feet in circumference; an oak, twelve feet in circumference; a maple, nine and one-half feet in circumference, and an elm twelve feet in circumference.

A quarter of a mile farther west, in section fifteen, on the estate of Joseph Ferris, and just southeast of the family homestead, is a circular work, with an inside ditch and a central elevation. Its circumference is about two hundred feet; diameter from east to west about sixty-five feet. This work is almost obliterated. It is distant from the river half a mile, and elevated above it about eighty feet.

2. The group B is situated partly in sections fifteen and twenty-one, in this township. The remainder of the works belonging to and forming much the larger part of the group are in Spencer township, and will be described in another chapter. Our scientific authority gives a full account of the group, from which we extract at present that portion relating to Columbia township:

One-half mile north of Red Bank station, on the second bottom or plateau of Duck creek, immediately southwest of the western end of the Cincinnati & Eastern railroad trestle, is a mound eight feet high and two hundred feet in circumference at base. It has not been explored, but is cultivated annually. Half a mile to the northwest of this mound is another, with an elevation of five feet and circumference of about one hundred and seventy-five feet. It is on the same level as the foregoing one, and on the lands of the Dr. Duncan estate.

The hill northwest of Red Bank station, and distant about two hundred yards from it, has an elevation of about two hundred and fifty feet. This hill is terraced on its eastern and southern slope; the terraces are five in number, and are undoubtedly the work of human hands. On the top ofthis hill isa mound. Its present elevation is about four feet, and it has not been explored.

3. Dr. Metz's group C lies altogether in Anderson township, and its several works have been described in the chapter devoted to that subdivision of the county. Group D is also mostly in Anderson, comprising the enclosure and mounds in the northeast corner of the township, and also interesting works in southwestern Co-

No. 6 of this group is a small mound, situated in section twenty-two, Columbia township, on an elevated ridge known as Gravelotte, on the estate of T. R. Biggs. It is situated in a corner of a large embankment. Its height is three feet, circumference one hundred and fifty feet.

No. 7 of this group is located in section twenty-nine, Columbia township, one-fourth of a mile west of Camden, just south of the Wooster turnpike. It is now only one-third its former size, it being partly removed in the construction of the Wooster turnpike. Its present dimensions are: Height nine feet, diameter seventy feet.

In the southeast corner of section twenty-nine, at the village of Camden, and three hundred feet east of the, south line of Mr. Galloway's residence, is the corner of an embankment which extends east and south to the river. It extends three-fourths of a mile east, until it reaches the bank of the river, which is here about forty feet high, the other running south until it reaches the edge of the gravel ridge, and then runs east to the river. Itincloses from eight hundred to one thousand acres of ground. This embankment, fifty years ago, was six feet high and twelve feet wide. It is now scarcely traceable; but can be seen in spring time and just after plowing, when the peculiar color of the soil discloses it.

At the northwest corner of section twenty-eight, half a mile south of the mound No. 7, between the two headwaters of a little stream setting into the Miami, is a cluster of seven small mounds.

4. Some miles from any one of these groups, upon the farm of M. C, Benham, on section thirty, near Pleasant ridge, is a fine, large mound, eight feet high, by two hundred in circumference at the base.

5. On the same turnpike, the Montgomery, which passes near the Benham mound, but a mile and a half to the southwest, on Norwood Heights, is the famous mound of observation, one of the most notable ancient works in the county. It is nine feet high and two hundred feet in base circumference; and its summit commands an extensive view of the surrounding country, From it signals could be flashed or otherwise communicated to similar points of observation in the Mill creek valley, and thence rapidly far up and down the valleys of the Great Miami and the Ohio. Many stone implements, as axes, fleshers, gorgets, chissels, flint arrow-heads and chippings, and also mica, have been found in the neighborhood and through the valley.

The Early Day

For the following items of township history we are indebted to the interesting work entitled "Surburban Homes," prepared and published in 1874, by Professor Richard Nelson, now president of Nelson's Business college, Cincinnati:

Though the records of the township have been kept at Madison, we have found it difficult to obtain much information regarding the early settlement of either town or township. The first record of township officers was made April 4, 1803, when Samuel Sheppard was elected chairman, and James Murch, clerk, and James McKnight, N.S, Armstrong, John Seeman, and John Elliott, trustees. Two years afterward, the whole number of votes polled in the township was thirty-two.

During the early history of the township, it was customary to board the poor at the farm houses, the pauper being sold at auction to the lowest bidder. Some of these bids, we noticed, did not exceed one dollar per Week. It was also the province of the constable to notify strangers that were supposed to be in indigent circumstances that the township would not be responsible for their support. The following we extracted from a record made in 1826:

"An order to John Jones, constable, for warning B - - R and family to depart the township; also, for warning five supervisors to attend to be sworn into office."' of the ''ear-marks" for stock. These marks are represented in diagrams, which are accompanied with a key, and in 1791 numbered up to one hundred and seventy. The last record stands thus:

The oldest of these private marks for animals, recorded as No. 1 by Judge William Goforth, February 7, 1791, was "a penny on the left ear, and a half-penny the under side of the same." This is accompanied, as in other cases, by a diagram showing the form and position of these marks upon the ear.

A leaf from one of the old justice dockets, bearing dates of August 22, 26, and 30, 1816, shows for what petty sums suits were sometimes brought in those days. In the case of William Irwin against Singer Smith, judgment was rendered against the defendant for two dollars. In that of Moses Kitchell vs. Christopher Leman, judgment was given the plaintiff for "the amount that I found between them," as the magistrate puts it - which amount was seventy-seven and three-fourths cents! The "bale" and a witness in one of these cases was the well-known Isaac Giffin, who receives further notice under the head of Madisonville. He is but recently deceased, and is remembered, among other characteristics, for his inveterate habit of ruminating, or chewing his cud, the same as a cow.

The following document is an interesting but rather painful reminder of its time, as showing for what trifling delinquencies an unlucky debtor could be lodged in prison. It is some satisfaction, in this particular case,

WHEREAS John Armstrong, treasurer, obtained judgment against John and Rachel Withem, before me, a justice of the peace of said township, for a debt of two dollars eighty-three and one-half cents, - thats lee Eerraae dollars ...... cents costs, on the first day of June last. - You are therefore commanded to levy the said debt and costs, and costs that may accrue, of the goods and chattels of the said John and Rachel Withem, by distress and sale thereof, returning the overplus, if any, to the said John and Rachel Withem, but for want of such property whereon to levy, then take the said John and Rachel Withem to the jail of the county aforesaid, there to be detained until the said debts and costs that may accrue, shall be paid, or...... otherwise legally discharged: And of this writ make legal seivice and due return,

Zach. Briggs

A justice in those days received four cents for swearing a witness, seven for issuing a subpcena, twelve and a half for a writ, and the same sum for rendering a judgment, except p70 confesso, when the fee seems to have been but ten cents. Constables realized twenty to thirty cents costs in a simple case; but a witness was allowed the extravagant sum of fifty cents for a day's attendance.

The following is a partial transcript of the original pauper record of Columbia township, kindly made for this work by Louis W. Clason, esq., of Madisonville, to whom its readers are also indebted for many other favors. He has exhibited an interest and public spirit in the mat- the second day of September, 1801, for the use of the overseeers of the Poor, Columbia Township, Hamilton County, North West of the River Ohio. The Price, one dollar and twenty-five cents, and this Book to be continued and to be delivered over to the next overseeers, and so on from year to year to the overseers for their use of said township.

This is to certify that on the fourth day of May, 1801, we sold Thomas McCormick, one of the poor of said Township, for one year, for fifty-one dollars and ninety-nine cents, George Galaspe, Sen., being the lowest bidder.

Likewise, on the sixteenth day of May aforesaid, we sold Sarah Frier, one of the poor of the township, aforesaid for fifty-nine dollars, until the first Monday in May next, the lowest bidder being Susannah Price. Sold by us, Joseph Reeder, and Wyleys Pierson, overseeers of the poor for the township aforsaid.

18or. On the third Tuesday of Noyember we held a town meeting to vote in Freeholders to audit the accounts of the overseers of the poor for the township of Columbia and County of Hamilton, which is to be done every year for the same purpose. On that day was voted in William Logan, Perry Cratchel, and John Mann.

An account of money expended to maintain Moses Trader, according to an order obtained from two Justices of the Peace iy that purpose 29th December, 18or.

The above account for necessaries furnished the poor of Columbia Township, allowed by the Court the 2nd March, 1802. at six dollars and fifty cents.

John Armstrong

This is to certify that, on the third day of May, 1802, we sold Thomas McCormick, one of the poor of said Township, for one year, for the sum of fifty-two dollars, Robert Flack being the lowest bidder.

. Likewise we sold Sara Frier, one of the poor, for one year for seventyfive dollars on the same day as the above, the lowest bidder Susannah Price.

Ohn Comings Ohn Seaman

Hamilton County. Whereas Wylleys Pierson and Joseph Reeder, overseeers of the poor for the township of Columbia, both this day made complaint unto us, county assigned to keep the peace; and hath reported -that Jonathan Covington, of said township, is lying sick with a consumption and hath not enough to support himself; and these are therefore to require you, the said overseeers, to administer relief to the said Covington in such manner as the law in such cases directs. In testimony whereof we have set our hands and fixed our seals at Columbia the 29th day of January, in the year 1803. ; JOHN ARMSTRONG, WILLIAM Brown.

Whereas we obtained an order from John Armstrong and William Brown, Esqrs., two of the Justices for said county aforesaid at Columbia, the 20th day of January, 1803, to sell one of the poor named Jonathan Covington, and we sold him on the eighth day of February, 1803, according to law, until the first Monday of May next, for twentythree dollars and seventy-five cents, the lowest bidder being Elizabeth Ferris. Sold by us, Joseph Reeder and Wylleys Pierson.

The oldest grayeyard in the present township of Columbia is at the foot of West Indian hill, on the premises of the Joseph Morton estate. It has not been used for more than half a century. Some of the first bodies interred therein were taken from Columbia village, as several members of the Ward family, who were among the first settlers in that region. About the same time with them came John Harbaugh, who seems to have been an inveterate enemy of the Wards, since he gave directions before his death that he should not be buried in the old cemetery, where their remains reposed, lest the devil, while searching for the body of a Ward, might make a mistake and get him!

The first church built was probably that put up for the Duck Creek Baptist church in 1804. This society was a colony from the church in Columbia, and the secession

The difficulty was amicably settled by a council, however, before the next meeting of the association. The two earliest pastors were the Rev. William Jones, 1805-14, and Rev. John Clark, 1814-16.

A Station

One of the small fortified stations against the Indians, called Nelson's station, is mentioned hereafter in an account of Madisonville; but it makes very little figure in the annals of the early day, and we suspect was little more than an ordinary settlement, with perhaps some special preparations for defence.

Notes Of Settlement

The McFarland settlement was made in sections twenty-four and thirty, near the northwest corner of the township, in the spring of 1705, by Colonel John McFarland, an emigrant from Fayette county, Pennsylvania. He took here a tract of nearly one thousand acres, comprising the whole of the first-designated section and the east half of the second, upon which the village of Pleasant Ridge now stands in part. Near this site McFarland made his first clearing and put up his cabin, which he seems to have fortified somewhat, as it is sometimes remarked as being the last station established in Hamilton county. Life there was comparatively uneventful until some twelve years after the beginnings, when an incident

Inthe year 1807, on what is now known as Norwood Heights, in the immediate neighborhood of Pleasant Ridge, and almost four miles south of the present village of Reading, then known as Voorheestown, there lived a man named Daniel Wolverton, with a family consisting of a wife and three children - Jemima, about six years of age; John, nearly four; and an infant but afew months old. They lived in an humble cabin on the spot of ground now occupied by the stately residence of Mr. John W. Siebern, a well-known merchant of Cincinnati.

It was the afternoon of a pleasant autumn day that the two children, Jemima and John, by permission of their mother, went out into the woods to gather nuts. This was by no means an unusual occurrence; the children were accustomed to the woods, which at that day surrounded every cabin in the neighborhood - in fact, the whole country was one continued forest, except here and there a spot laid bare by the woodman's axe. The mother took little heed of her children until near the close of the day, when, as twilight set in and they did not return, she grew anxious, and, going into the woods, called loudly for them, but, receiving no answer, her mind became filled with forebodings of evil. Darkness now came, and the husband, who had been absent during the afternoon, having returned, both parents made diligent search through the adjacent woods. Again they called the names of their little ones, until their voices reached the neighboring cabins and alarmed the whole settlement; still no answer came, save the echo of their own voices. Soon the neighbors came and joined the parents, and the entire night was spent in a fruitless search. The woods throughout the settlement resounded with the voices of men and the firing of guns, but all to no purpose; morning came, but no tidings of the lost ones.

The entire neighborhood was now alarmed, and a large assembly of people met at the cabin of the distressed parents and determined to continue the search. That the canvass might be. more thorough and cover a greater territory, they arranged that each person should go alone, or at méstin couples. It was agreed: also that each party should carry, what was then a common article in every cabin in the country, a 'dinner-horn,' which, it was agreed, should not be used until the children were found, and then the successful party should sound a blast that would be responded to by others, and thus the news be conveyed to all exploring parties, and reach as a joyous signal the almost distracted mother. This also served the purpose of keeping all parties upon the search, as all would know that so long as the horns were silent the object of their pursuit had not been found.

Though small bands of Indians passed through the Aevinty occasionally, but little fears were entertained that the children had met with violence at their hands, for they were quite friendly. There was the greater danger from starvation, or death from fright or grief, or from the sting of the deadly serpent. The woods, too, abounded with wild animals. The wolf and the bear were regarded as dangerous; and panthers, though not numerous, had been seen in sufficient numbers to make them a terror to all mothers. With the knowledge that the children had been exposed to all these grave dangers for the entire night, little hope was left of finding them alive. Still, it was thought that whatever their fate, it was better to have it known and put all doubts at rest. Even should they have been devoured by wild animals, it was confidently hoped that at least a portion of their remains would be found within a circuit of a few miles.

With these preparations and these thoughts in their minds, the neighbors went forth again into the forest, some afoot and others on horseback, each party taking different directions; and it would seem that a few hours would crown their efforts with success. But the day wore away, and evening came; some of the hunters returned, bringing, however, no word of cheer to the grief-stricken parents. The footprints of the children had been seen and followed for some distance down a small ravine leading from the settlement into the Mill Creek valley; but soon the tracks turned upon the high ground, after which all traces of them were lost, and, what appeared Stranger still, the children had not been seen by any one, although quite a number of cabins must have been near the range of their travels.

One of the neighbors, named Ralph Auten, had proposed in the outset to put his dog, a fine, noble-looking bloodhound and said to have been a very sagacious animal, on the track of the children, but this was objected to upon the supposition that should the dog find the children, he might attack, or at least frighten them seriously, so the project was abandoned. Notwithstanding the protest of his neighbors, however, Mr.

A second night was spent in the forest, guns were again discharged and fires were kindled, but still the horns hung silent by the side of the hunters, and a pall of grief over the cabin of Daniel Wolverton.

On the approach of morning Auten and his comrade found themselves on the hills east of Reading, near the present site of Mount Notre Dame. The deg had been absent for some time, but now returned and manifested a strange and unusual anxiety. He turned upon his master a sagacious look, and uttering a few whimpering barks, ran again into the forest, but soon returned to repeat his former expressions. The men followed, and had gone but a few hundred yards when they observed the dog leap upon the trunk of a fallen tree, and there sit uttering his plaintive whimperings. On reaching the tree there the men discovered the children ee huddled together, their legs partly covered with leaves.

The signal blast was promptly given, which was taken up and responded to by others, and soon the monotone notes of the dinner horn sounded and reverberated through the forest, along the hills and ig the valley, until the glad tidings reached the home of the distressed parents, bringinging to their hearts for a moment a thiill of joy. These moments of gladness were brief, however, as a second thought saddened their hopes with alternate fears. The children had been found, there was little doubt - but, oh! the momentous question, whether alive or dead, none could answer. :

The suspense that followed for an hour or more was intense and painful, not only to the father and mother of the little ones, but also to the multitude that had assembled to await the return of the successful party, and partake of the joy or sympathize in the grief of the parents. Finally Auten and his party returned and restored to the arms of the mother her babes, alive and, though suffering somewhat from fatigue and the effects of hunger, comparatively well.

When found the children were in a state of partial stupor, though they did not seem to have suffered greatly from hunger. The men gave them water and they were somewhat revived, but they still appeared timid and nervous, and it was some time before Auten and his comrade could gain their confidence ; but on arriving home and receiving the proper care and nourishment they soon fully recovered.

The little girl could give but an imperfect account of their adventure. The first night she said they walked until they became very tired, all the time expecting to reach home; at last the little hoy stopped and could g6 no further. They sat down under a tree and both cried until they fell asleep. When they awoke it was daylight, and they set out They ate some acorns and nuts and drank at a little stream. They again became tired and sat down by the fallen tree where they were found. The little boy complained of being cold and she gathered leaves and put around him.' At one time she heard people calling and saw them pass, but was too weak to answer. After this she remembered nothing more.

Hezekiah Stites was born at Scotch Plains, New Jersey. His first settlement in Ohio was made in 1788, in Columbia township. He is said to have been the first actual settler in Hamilton county, was a farmer all his life, and his death occurred in Butler county. Hezekiah Stites, jr., was at first a trader in merchandise on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, going as far south as New Orleans. In 1835 he became identified with pork packers, and continued in that business until his death in 1860. He was a man of great business ability - securing a fine property by his own exertions - and was, like his father, respected by all who knew him. Charles F. Stites, his son, was born in 1831. He married Caroline Stites, daughter: of Benjamin Stites, of Newark, New Jersey. He is now the owner of the old homestead, has abundant wealth, and is a worthy representative of the old family.

Sampson McCullough was born in Chambersburgh, Virginia, but emigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1795, where he first settled in Sycamore township. He came to this State as a surveyor, but in later years turned his attention to farming. He died in the township where he first settled, in 1819. His wife (Miss Rachel Saye) was born in 1780 and died in 1864. James M. McCullough, son of the preceding, was born in 1811. In 1838 he established the business of seeds merchant, with the present firm name of J. M. McCullough's Sons.

Abner Mills Was among the first who settled in Columbia township. He was born in New Jersey, and emigrated from there to Ohio. He died in the same township where he had first settled. Stephen Mills, his son, was born in 1802. His business was always that of a farmer. His wife's name was Sarah Smith. Edward Mills, son of Stephen, was born in 1837. In 1869 he married Harriet Flynn, daughter of Stephen Flynn, and the same year 'built the fine residence where he now lives.

Samuel Muchmore was born in Morristown, New Jersey, from which State he emigrated to Ohio, and settled in Columbia township in 1798. He followed the business of boating on the river to New Orleans, and died on his last trip to that city. He also did much at farming. His wife's name was Sarah Muchmore. His son John was the father of Eli L. Muchmore, who is now the only representative of the family alive. He lives on a part of the old homestead, and is called a worthy scion of the old stock. His birth occurred in the year 1823. For eight years during and after the war, he was township trustee, and has also held the office of district assessor and town clerk. :

Joseph Ferris, born in Fairfield county, Connecticut, emigrated from that State to Ohio, and settled in this township in 1799, where he died May 17, 1831. He followed farming, milling, and distilling- His wife's name was Priscilla Knapp. They have four children, all living

Zadock Williams was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1798, and came from that State to Ohio with his parents when but two years of age. He has always lived in this township - is now eighty-three years old. His wife, born in 1802, is also living. They have six children living. Mr. Williams, in business a farmer, has always been an active and prominent man in the county. He has now a large property, and is well known and widely respected.

Samuel Johnson settled in Hamilton county in 1801. He was born in Virginia in 1767. His wife's name was Rebecca Clark. She was born March 20, 1771. They married April 20, 1795, and have had nine children, only three of whom are living - lIsaiah J., Merrit J., and Patsy Crain. Mr. Johnson died in 1847 and his wife in 1849. Isaiah Johnson, the subject of this sketch, was born Febtuary 9, 1812. His wife's name was Catherine Woodruff. She was born March 15, 1819. _ She was the daughter of Samuel Woodruff. They have seven children living. He has always followed farming, and is a man well known and respected.

Albert Cortelyou first settled at Reading, Hamilton county, among the first. He was born in New Jersey in 1807, and emigrated from New Jersey to Ohio, and died in Sycamore township in 1863. He was a leading farmer and much respected. His wife's name was Margaret

Kennedy. In 1866 he bought the place known as the Wood farm, near Pleasant Ridge - building the fine home where he now lives. é _W. H. Moore first settled in Columbia township in 1811. He was born in Winchester, Virginia, in 1787, and emigrated from that State to Ohio. He died in Columbia township in 1879. He was engaged in the garden and nursery business. He was in the war of 1812, was on the muster roll as "William Moore," and was magistrate for about fifteen years. His wife, Mary Moore, was born in New Jersey in 1794, and died in 1876. 'There are eight of the eleven children living. T. A. Moore was born in 1824, and has always lived in Columbia township, and now owns the old homestead. He has never married, is well known throughout the county and respected. $ Joseph Muchmore, grandfather of Elias G. Muchmore, settled in Columbia township in 1811. His wife's name was Rhoda Muchmore. They had a family of eight children, only one of whom is living at the present time - Mary Heer, of this township. David Muchmore, son of the preceding, was the father of EliasG. There are fopr of the family of five children to which he belonged living, all in Columbia township. E.G. Muchmore married Mehitable Hetzler, daughter of Jacob Hetzler, of Wyoming county, and has followed the business of farming. In 1867 he established his present business, and has charge of the M. and C. R._R. station. In 1867 he was appointed postmaster, which office he now holds. They have seven children living and twenty-six grandchildren. Hiram Smith and his father, Abraham Smith, first settled in Columbia township, in 1815. The latter was born

Ohio. He died in Spencer township in 1815. He followed farming and trading on the river as far as New Orleans. His wife's name was Elizabeth Muchmore. She was born in New Jersey in 1788 and died in 1868. Hiram was born in1810. In 1832 he married Elizabeth Babbett, daughter of Samuel Babbett, of Columbia township. They have two children living. B. F. Smith was

Daniel McGrew, who first settled in Sycamore township in 1815, was born in Ireland, and emigrated from that country to Ohio. He is now living, at the age of sixty-five. Henry McGrew was born in 1842 in Sycamore township. He graduated in- medical surgery in 1875. In 1877 he graduated at the Bellevue Hospital and Medical College in New York City. In 1875 he took charge of the County Infirmary, remaining in charge two years. In 1878 he came to Pleasant Ridge, where he is still practising.

A. S. Butterfield's father, John Butterfield, first settled in Cincinnati about 1818. He was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and emigrated from that State to Ohio, where he died in the year 1822. He was a carpenter by trade. His wife's name was Elizabeth Emerson.

ness of saddlery on Main street, in 1867, and built the residence where he now lives at Madisonville. In 1864 and 1865 he represented the eighteenth ward in the city council of Cincinnati.

Joseph Suttle first settled in Cincinnati in 1818. He was born in England in 1791, and emigrated from England to Ohio. He died in this township October, 1837. He was a blacksmith and whitesmith in Cincinnati in his earlier days, later he moved to Columbia township, and became a farmer. His wife, Hannah, was born in 1800, and is still living, eighty years old.

George J. Suttle, son of the preceding, married Caroline Nash, daughter of Samuel Nash, of Hamilton county, She died in 1858, and Mr. Suttle has never married again. He has secured a fine property, and is well known and respected by a large circle of friends.

Mark Langdon came to Hamilton county in 1819. He was born in England. His wife, Sarah Graham, was also born in England, and died in Hamilton county in 1846. The surviving members of the family are Joseph, Samuel L., Elizabeth Mills and William C. Samuel Langdon, son of the above, was born in Mill Creek township in 1823. He married Martha J. Lyon, daughter of James Lyon. They have four children.

William Durrell first settled in Mill Creek township in 1820. He was born in Bangor, Maine, in 1804, and emigrated from that State to Ohio. He is still living at the age of seventy-seveh. His business has been farming and teaming. His wife's name was Ann Phillips. She was born in 1805, and diedin 1876. 'There are four children living. H.C. Durrell was born in 1826, and in 1852 he married Harriet Wood. For a number of years he was in thelumber business in Cincinnati, now he has a fine farm, and gives his attention mostly to farming.

Anthony Brown settled in Columbia township in 1831. He was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1809, and emigrated from England to Ohio. He has followed the business of farming. In 1870 and 1871 he served as township trustee, for about one half the time for the last twenty years has been one of the supervisors, also one of the school directors for about the same length of time.

.John H. McGowan first settled in Cincinnati in 1838. He was born in Aberdeen, emigrated from Michigan to Ohio, and died in Cincinnati in 1870. He-held offices under the territorial government of Michigan. His wife's name was Amelia Hayes. She was born in 1804. There are five children living. John H. McGowan was born in 1830.

Thomas French first settled in Cincinnati in 1840. He was born in England, but emigrated from New York to Ohio. He is yet living. In 1840 he commenced the dairy business, at the place now known as the '"Zoological gardens." His wife, Ann N., was also born in England. - They have six children. The business is now owned and conducted by his sons in Columbia township. It is the largest in the county. They have conducted their business in such a way as to secure the confidence of all. They have many friends, and are gentlemen in every sense of the word.

Otis Hidden is'a native of Caledonia county, Vermont, born in 1821. In early manhood he resided in the province of Ontario, Canada, whence he removed to Cincinnati in 1847. Here he was engaged as bookkeeper for Henry Marks & Company, R. M Pomeroy & Company, C. Oskamp, and others, until 1841, when he engaged in his present business as dealer in upholstery goods and cabinet hardware, and specialties in carriage trimmings, as a partner with the firm of E. L. Higdon & Company. In 1874, the name and style of the firm was changed to Hidden & Lounsberry, which it still retains. He bears a high reputation in all his business and social relations. His wife's maiden name was Maria L. Neblett. She was born in Prince George county, Virginia. ;

Thomas Swift first settled in Columbia township in 1850. He was born in Derbyshire, England, in 1830, and emigrated from England to Ohio, where he died in Columbia township in 1860, He was a blacksmith by trade. His wife's maiden name was Ann Simpkinson. There are six children living. His son, John Swift, born in 1830, was engaged in the boot and shoe business in Cincinnati for a number of years. He married Miss Williams, daughter of William Williams, of Cincinnati. They have two children, Josephine and Rebecca.

Thomas White first settled in Cincinnati in 1852. He was born in Durham county, England, and emigrated from there to Ohio. He died in Cincinnati in 1868. He established the marble and granite works at No. 255 Fifth street, Cincinnati. His wife's name was Martha English. She was born in 1812 and died in 1870. There are five of the children living, all in Hamilton county. Alfred, son of Thomas White, was born in England in 4835. At the age of seventeen years he came to Hamilton county. In1857 he became one of the firm known as T. White & Sons, now known as Alfred White. He has steadily increased the business, until, at the present time, it stands at the head. He is now introducing the polishing of granite, a work which was first introduced by Mr. White, and for which he deserves great credit. Mr. White has a son, twenty-two years old, who he soon expects will be a member of the firm, under the old name of White & Son.

Leonard Fowler settled in Columbia township. He was born in England in 1818, and emigrated from England to Ohio. His business has been that of a turnpike contractor. His wife's name is Eliza. He has now secured a fine competence, and has held the position of township trustee for two years.

Camden City

This village is on the Little Miami railroad and Cincinnati and Wooster turnpike, on the west side of section twenty-three, a mile and a half from the north line of the township. It was laid out in the year 1857 by William Winters.

This station on the Little Miami railroad, less than a mile southwest of Camden, was platted in 1873 by Mr. Thomas R. Riggs, upon whose extensive property on section twenty-eight it is situated.

Indian Hill

This famous locality, which is not a village, although covered with a quite numerous population, is an eminence or ridge one to three miles northeast of Madisonville, and between Camden City and Madeira Station, on the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad, which passes to the west of it. Many fine views are commanded from points upon this hill, and some beautiful residences are built upon it. Here, it is said, the celebrated Ives Seedling grape took its origin. An extensive experiment was made of it upon Indian Hill by Colonel Waring in 1864, by which a profit of two thousand dollars per acre was realized. The tables were turned the next year, however, when there was almost a total failure/of the grape crop throughout the Miami country.

The name of this highland was derived from the simple circumstance of the burial of an Indian upon it, as is more fully related further on in these pages.

The movements of Major Benjamin Stites, who was not merely the founder of Columbia, but in the first instance of the Miami purchase also, preliminary to his emigration to the west, have been detailed in our chapter on the purchase, in the first part of this work. ; and including, of_ course, the subsequent site of Columbia, and some tracts elsewhere. In July, 1788, he arrived at Limestone with a party of emigrants from the Redstone Old Fort, and there joined a company which had arrived on the fifth of June, having left New York and New Jersey during the spring, accompanied by the Rev. John Gano. They had been attracted to the Miami country by the representations of the Rev. William Wood, of Kentucky, who had visited New York toward the end of 1787, and confirmed the glowing statements which Stites, and then Symmes, had endeavored to spread at the east. Judge Symmes, with his party, arrived soon after, and the now large company of Miami immigrants here remained together until winter e was very near.

The character of Stites's arrangements with Symmes, in part at least, may be learned from the following documents, which we find, all but the last, in Colonel A. E. Jones' valuable address on the pioneers of the Little Miami valley:

Captain Benjamin Stites enters ten thousand acres and the fraction on the Ohio and Little Miami rivers, and is to take in Mr. John Carpenter as one of his company, to be on line or sections on the Ohio and Little Miami from the point, and ten thousand acres on equal lines and sections at the fnill-stream [Mill Creek], falling into the Ohio between the Little and Great Miamis - which, when the certificates thereof are paid and the Record Book open, shall be recorded to him and to such of his company as join therefor.

The last ten (10,000) thousand acres is to be taken in the following manner: 'Two sections at the mouth of Mill creek, and the residue to begin four (4) miles from the Ohio up Mill creek. Captain Stites takes four (4) sections on the Little Miami with the fraction adjoining the ten (10,000) thousand acres where it comes to the Little Miami, ang four sections with the section next above the rarge of township, taken by Daniel , esq., on the Little Miami.

evinces: CINCINNATI, February the 8th, 1793. Received of Benjamin Stites, esq., at different payments, certificates of debts due by the Unlted States, to the amount of ten thousand six hundred and fifty-two dollars and twenty-three-one-hundreths of a dollar, in payment for different parts of the Miami purchase, lying, as may appear by location of Mr. Stites, ten thousand acres round Columbia, seven sections on the waters of Mill creek for different people, as will appear by the Miami records; and about three or four sections in the neighborhood of Covalt's Station, and in cash orders and other articles to the amount of one hundred and fifty-eight pounds, eight shillings, and eight pence, for which lands, accommodated to the several locations, I promise to make a deed in fee simple, so soon as | am enabled by receiving my deed from the United States, Attest: JOHN S. GANO, (Signed. | JouN C. SYMMES. The following letter from Major Stites, written a few months after planting his colony, will be read with interest in this connection: COLUMBIA, June 18, 1789. Str: - After my respects to you and family, I would inform you that, after further deliberation on the subject of the second purchase, that if you should find it valued, that you would endeavor to purchase or come in with the owners of the point, if you can find who they are, $0 that we may hold some lots in and some out. Sir, do what you can, and we will be on the same terms of the article of agreement betwixt us. This from your humble servant, BENJAMIN STITEs. To JouN S. GANO, Washington.

Samuel M. Ferris

Samuel Marsh Ferris, of Linwood, was born October 12, 1817, in the - old Ferris homestead at Mt. Lookout (now Cincinnati), where his mother, now in her eighty-fourth year, still resides.

Isaac Ferris, the great-grandfather, came to Columbia from Connecticut in the year 1789. During the Revolutionary struggle both he and his son Ebenezer were engaged as soldiers under Washington in the battle of White Plains. After coming to Ohio he became one of the constituted members of. the first Baptist church organized in Columbia. He was a faithful member until his death which occurred in 1819, and it may be said of his numerous descendants that they are, so far as known, strict adherents of the Baptist church. Mr. Ferris had five sons - Ebenezer, Isaac, John, Abram and Ezra; the last-named was a practicing physician in Lawrenceburgh, Indiana. John lived in the old homestead. He was a captain first, afterwards a colonel. Abram kept a tanyard in Cincinnati. Ebenezer, the grandfather of S. M. Ferris, moved to Lexington, Kentucky, where he lived and died. He had three children, two girls and one boy - Isaac Ferris, father of the subject of this sketch.

Isaac Ferris was born in Lexington, Kentucky, April 12, 1795, and when only four years of age came to Hamilton county, Ohio, where he «resided up to the time of his death. He came to Ohio to live with his grandfather, and learned the shoemaker's trade with his uncle Abram, Not liking this business he soon afterwards learned the trade of a blacksmith, which he followed successfully fifteen years. Out of this business grew the hame business, which he conducted until his death, and which has since been conducted by his sons.

In the year 1816 he married Phoebe Marsh, who had come to Ohio from New Jersey in r805. From this union there came nine children, five of whom are now living, S. M. Ferris being the eldest. At the early age of sixteen Isaac Ferris became the subject of Divine grace, and soon after united with the Duck Creek church, then almost in its infancy: He was baptized by Elder William Jones. Though an apprentice and residing six miles from the church, such was his love for the communion of the saints, and his delight in the public worship of God, that his place in the sanctuary was seldom vacant.

In the year 1825, in the twenty-ninth year of his age, then having been a growing member for thirteen years, he was licensed to preach; and after his aptness to preach and his ability for usefulness was detegmined by a test of experience, he was ordained to the work of a minister. For ten years he preached to the church in which he was a member. He was afterwards thirteen years pastor of the East Fork church. This was the field in which his labors were most signally blessed, a strong church growing up under his care and an organization effected which was a great power for good in that community. Here eighty converts were baptized by him in a continuous revival of eighteen months, He also led the flocks at Newton, Cloughs, Hammer's Run, andelsewhere, and, as was necessary in those days to meet appointments, many hardships were endured. He still labored all those years at his trade, blacksmithing, and farming, and kept up his religious work - in the cause he loved so well. He was accustomed to manual labor and was an active, energetic man, and in consideration of the arduous work performed was truly a great man at that time. He died, loved and respected, December 22, 1860. Those who knew him credit him with baving a meek, humble disposition, and an unassuming manner. His mind was clear; reasoning and understanding, deep; while his arguments and exhortations were very effective, and upon great occasions, when aroused into action, the power of the man was most fully felt.

The early life of Samuel M. Ferris, the subject of this sketch, was spent on a farm and in the shop with his father, the latter association predominating and forming his life pursuits in business. In the year 1838 he married Miss Mary Z. Ferris, daughter of J. J. Ferris. She was born April 27, 1818; her father was a cousin and brother-in-law of Andrew, Joseph, and Eliphalet Ferris, who came to Ohio from the east in 1811, and who became prominent men. The two families of Ferris were not related, but the ancestry of all are traceable to the days of William I, the conquerer of England.

dark-complexioned, with dark eyes and dark hair. For two years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ferris lived in Mt. Lookout and then moved to Linwood, in 1841, where for forty years they have resided. In 1833 Mr. Ferris was taken into the Duck Creek church, three miles north of Columbia, in which church he has always been a most active and useful member. In this church he was clerk for twenty years; was treasurer and deacon for ten years, and after he moved to Columbia, in 1865, was made deacon in the Baptist church at that place, which position he has held ever since, and in all has had an experience of forty-eight years in church work up to this date. He also took a lively interest and management in the erection of the costly and elegant church building in Columbia in 1866 and 1867. To this work he devoted of his means lavishly, and its success as an organized society is due largely to the efficient and never-tiring labors of Mr. Ferris.

His first business venture, owing to small capital, was as a village blacksmith, which, with that of wagon-making, he followed for many years with some success, for by rigid economy and untiring industry he was able, in 1856, from his earnings, to build a hame shop and open business on a larger scale. In this business, with its additions, he has since continued. Prior to 1865 he carried on his business alone, but at that time he took his two brothers into partnership, built a large, new brick factory, thoroughly equipped it with modern machinery, and has

His children, seven of whom are now living - four daughters and three sons - are in prosperous circmstances. Appreciating the advantages of study, Mr. Ferris has given his children liberal educations. Mrs. Anna M. De Armand De Armond, the o'dest daughter, and Mrs. Harriet Smith both live in Linwood. Mrs. Emma Hawkins lives in Clark county, Ohio, her husband being a farmer. Mrs. Clara M. Waters also resides in Linwood, her husband, Charles G. Waters, being engaged in mercantile business in Cincinnati. Mr. De Armand isa member of the firm of S. M. Ferris & Co., and Mr. A. E Smith is a member of the firm of Roots & Co., Cincinnati (commission merchants). Frank Ferris, the oldest son, resides with bis family in Linwood, and is a farmer. Howard, the second son, is an attorney-at-law, practicing in Cincinnati, and is a member of the law firm of Cowan & Ferris. Elmer E. Ferris, the youngest son, is engaged in the hame factory.

an aspirant in that direction, we presume he couid have secured high In his township, for the sake of good government and needed reforms, he has held every office except that of clerk. He helped organize his school district, and for eighteen years following served as one of the trustees on the board of education. He has always believed in the power of the school to elevate society, and so he has been a generous friend to educational interests, all his children, save one, having enjoyed the advantages of collegiate studies at the schools at Granville.

Mr. Ferris, though conservative in his habits of thought and retiring in his disposition, is emphatic and pronounced in: his views. His judg- Tent is formed slowly and his conclusions are generally well regarded by his neighbors. 'Though he has been engaged in active business for over forty years, yet he has not neglected to improve his mind by reading and study. He has been a most faithful student of history, not only of our own but also of other countries, and having enlarged his views by travel in this and foreign countries, he has a fund of information which makes him a most agreeable companion. In business and in church circles Mr. Ferris is highly esteemed; but it is in his home relations that his influence is most deeply felt and appreciated. Here, surrounded by a large family of children and grandchildren, he is the central object of interest.

The original agreement with Judge Symmes, when the project of the Miami purchase was broached to him by Stites, inthe spring or summer of 1787, provided that Stites should have ten thousand acres about the mouth of the Little Miami, lying as nearly in a square as possible, as a reward for his discovery of the country and his consequent scheme of purchase, and should be allowed as much in addition as he could pay for. He appears by the receipts, however, finally to have had to pay for all the lands he acquired.

During the long wait at Limestone, in September, a party of about sixty went down the river, landing at the mouth of the Little Miami, and exploring the back country thoroughly for some distance between that point and the great North Bend, where Symmes afterwards planted his colony. The judge was with them, but Stites was not. .He was busily engaged with preparation for his settlement, making plans for the village plat and the fort, and getting out clapboards for roofs from the woods about Limestone, with the hearts of timber prepared to fill the spaces between the logs of his prospective cabin, cut of boat-plank doors, with their hangings all ready, were also made. He and hi#son Benjamin were mainly engaged in this work, and in storing them ina boat ready for the movement. At this time a sharp lookout had to be kept against Indian attack; and people walked about the streets and vicinity of Limestone habitually with arms in their hands. Nehemiah Stites, indeed, a nephew of the major, was killed by the savages while passing to or from the woods in which his relatives were at work.

tion and signature of an agreement required by Stites, and assented to by about thirty persons, to form a settlement at the mouth of the Little Miami. Some were scared off afterwards, by the persistent rumors of disaffected Kentuckians, pehaps anxious to divert immigrants toward Lexington and other settlements on their side of the Ohio, that a large party of hostile Indians was encamped at or near the point of intended settlement. The majority held to their signatures, however, and it is pretty well settled that the original body of the pioneers of Columbia and the Miami purchase was composed as follows :*

Major Benjamin Stites and family, including Benjamin Stites, jr.; Elijah Stites and family, including Jonathan Stites; Greenbright Bailey and family, including John F. Bailey and Reason Bailey; Abel Cook and family, Jacob Mills and family, Hezekiah Stites, Johh S. Gano, Ephraim Kibby, Elijah Mills, Thomas C. Wade, Edmund Buxton, Daniel Schumacher, Allen Woodruff, Joseph Cox, Benjamin Cox, Evan

Shelby, Mr. Heampstead, twenty stout stalwart men, with two wellgrown, capable boys (the Stites sons), were of this band. "And there was woman's fearless age, Lit by her deep love's truth; There was manhood''s brow, serenely high, And the fiery heart of youth."'

*For the accuracy of this list, as well as for many other facts embraced in this narrative, we confidently rely upon the statement of the Rev. Ezra Ferris, D. D., long of Columbia, afterwards of Lawrenceburgh, as embodied in his communication to the Cincinnati Daily Gasette, date of July 20, 1844. :

The names of Kibby and Schumaker (or Shoemaker) appear in the list of grantees of donation lots at Losantiville, distributed by lottery January 1, 1789. Several other Columbia pioneeys also acquired property, and some made permanent settlements at Cincinnati, their names being identified with the early annals of both places. Colonel Spencer, the Rev. John Smith, Colonel Brown, Captain Jacob White, afterwards of White's station, Mr. H John Reily, the schoolmaster, and others, were also of the early Columbia - all, says Judge Burnet, "men of energy and enterprise."

The Columbia argonauts - ''more numerous," says Burnet's notes, "than either of the parties who commenced the settlements below them on the Ohio" - led by Stites in person, he, as Symmes wrote shortly after to Dayton, 'having a great desire to plant himself down there," floated out upon the broad river from Limestone, it is believed, on the sixteenth of November, 1788. The first stage of their journey took them to the mouth of Bracken creek, on the Kentucky side. An interesting incident of the voyage is thus related by Dr. Ferris:

They descended the river to Bracken creek; and from that place they started, as they supposed, in time to float down the Little Miami by sunrise, so as to have the day before them for labor. Previous to their leaving Maysville, a report had been in circulation that some hunters had returned from the woods who had seen five hundred Indians at the mouth of the Little Miami, and that the Indians had heard the white people were coming there to settle, and intended to kill them all as soon as they should arrive. On its being announced at break of day that they were near the mouth of the Miami, some of the females were very much alarmed on account of the report alluded to. To allay their fears, five men volunteered their services fo go forward in a canoe, and examine. If there were no Indians they were to wave their handkerchiefs, and the boats, which were kept close to the Kentucky shore, were to be crossed over and landed. If there were, the men were to pass by and join the bats below. The token of ''no Indians" Was given, and the boats were crossed over and landed at the first high banks (about three-fourths of a mile) below the mouth of the Little Miami, a

This landing was on the present soil of Spencer township, outside the corporate limits of Columbia, a few hundred yards further up the river, where is still a considerable: settlement, some of the buildings in which are very old. The traditional place of landing is pointed

After making fast, they ascended the steep bank and cleared away the underbrush in the midst of a pawpaw thicket, where the women and children sat down. They next, as though to fulfil the commands of the Saviour, ''watch and pray," placed sentinels at a small distance from the thicket, and, having first united in a song of praise to Almighty God, to whose providence they ascribed their success (Mr. Wade taking the lead in singing), upon their bended knees they offered thanks for the past and prayer for future protection; and in this manner dedicated themselves (and probably their thicket) to God, as solemnly and acceptably as ever a stately temple, with all the pomp and splendor attending it, was dedicated. There were in this little group six persons, viz: Benjamin Stites, John S. Gano, Thomas C. Wade, Greenbright Bailey, Edward Buxton, and Mrs. Bailey, who were professors of the Christian religion of the Baptist church.

Thus, in a little more than one year from his first conception of this great enterprise, Major Stites with his little company was on the ground, prepared to commence that immense labor necessary to change this then vast wilderness into a fruitful field.

The first duty was to build a defence against the marauding savage. Plans for this had already been prepared, and without delay the strong arms of the settlers began to make inroads upon tHe forest, in the preparation of material for a simple military work. Part of the men stood guard, while others toiled, while laborers and guards from time to time exchanged places. The site of the first block-house was selected near the point of landing, and about half a mile below the mouth of the Little Miami - just in front, it is said, of the subsequent residence of A. Stites, esq. It is also said that the encroachments of the river long since-washed away this site. The work was so far advanced by the twenty-fourth of November that the women, children, and portable goods of the party were moved into it. The troops who came from Limestone soon after, to form a garrison, other, as tradition runs, and between the present toll-gate of the New Richmond pike and the river. Some say that four block-houses in all were erected, and so situated as to form, with a stout stockade connecting them, a square fortification, which took twenty months afterwards the name of a work erected by the British on the Maumee about this time, near the scene of Wayne's victory, Fort Miami.

Oliver M. Spencer, who was a boy nine years old when he came with his father to Columbia, says in his Narration of Captivity that at that time Columbia was "flanked by a small stockade, nearly half a mile below the mouth of the Miami, with four block-houses at suitable distances along the bank."

In the immediate neighborhood, but below the fort, cabins were then put up as rapidly as possible, and the settlers housed themselves for the winter. They had scarcely got comfortably located, however, when the inundation of January drove them from every cabin except one, which had fortunately been perched upon the higher ground. The soldiers in the block-house - a garrison of eighteen men and a sergeant, had been sent in December from Captain Kearsey's company at Limestone - were crowded into the loft of the structure-by the rapidly rising waters, and were rescued from their uncomfortable and perilous position by a boat, in which they crossed to the hills on the Kentucky side. Much of the loose property of the settlers was lost by the flood. The Hon. A. H. Dunlevy, in his History of the Miami Baptist Association, among other things, says of the consequences of this unhappy experience:

A winter of bloody conflict with the Indians was anticipated ; but, contrary to expectation, the colony remained undisturbed during all that winter and until autumn of the next year. The settlers labored incessantly in building cabins for themselves upon the beautiful plain which lies east of most of the present buildings in Columbia; but on the first of January, 1789, a high flood in the Ohio proved that they had made a bad selection for a town. The whole bottom was overflowed, but-one house escaping the deluge. Afterwards improvements were made below and further from the river, on higher ground; but that flood forever ruined the prospects of Columbia. During the Indian war many stayed there because they could not move further into the country on account of the savages. But as soon as Wayne's victory, in the fall of 1794, secured the safety of the settlements in more interior localities, the people began to leave Columbia; and after the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, many more left, and Columbia ever after had the appearance of a deserted town.

The sturdy colonists did not abandon the ground at the first flood, however, but returned to'them when the waters abated, and meantime provided themselves with such shelters as they could. They were often hard pressed for food this first winter, and some suffered much for want of their wonted articles of sustenance. Wild game abounded, but there was no salt or breadstuff to eat with the fresh meat, except what could be had in small quantities from passing boats. The women and children resorted much to Turkey bottom, when the weather and the condition of the ground permitted, to scratch up the bulbous roots of beargrass, which they biled and mashed, and so ate them, or dried the substance and pounded it into a sort of flour. In the spring, with the growth of vegetables on the Turkey bottom and other fertile tracks, the situation improved, and the abundant crops of the first year rendered starvation thenceforth exceedingly improbable. 'There was even a surplus for Fort Washington, as the following incident shows:

Luke Foster, of the pioneers at Columbia, was one of the lieutenants appointed for the militia of Hamilton county by Governor St. Clair. He performed a most patriotic act in 1789, when the troops at Fort Washington were on particularly short commons, and General Harmar sent two of his officers to Columbia to get supplies. Captain James Flinn had corn to sell, but would not let the soldiers have it, saying that, while he lived near Marietta, the year before, he had sold corn to the garrison at Fort Harmar and had never been paid for it. Captain Strong answered that the men at the fort had been living on half rations for nine days, and if they were not supplied they must leave or starve. Mr. Foster, who was standing by, upon this instantly offered to lend them a hundred bushels of corn, which was part of the growth from two and a half acres in Turkey bottom, planted with six and a half quarts of corn, for which he had exchanged the same quantity of corn meal. His offer was gratefully accepted; but so remiss was the garrison afterwards in payment, or so poorly supplied, that, when in need himself, he had to ride six times to the fort to get as much as nineteen bushels of it returned. Mr. Foster, it may be of interest here to note, finally settled two miles south of Springdale, in Springfield township, where he lost his life on the tracks of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad, August 28, 1851, being struck by a gravel train. He was eighty-eight years old, had become deaf, and was otherwise greatly enfeebled. For many years he was an associate judge of the court of common pleas, under the old system, and was one of the first appointees to that office in Hamilton county.

As soon as practicable after the landing, Stites had his proposed city surveyed, which he fondly hoped might become the metropolis of the west. According to the narrative of Oliver M. Spencer, published long afterwards, it was to occupy the broad and extensive plain between Crawfish creek and the mouth of the Little Miami - a distance along the Ohio of nearly three miles - and to extend up the Miami about the same distance. It was actually laid out over a mile along the Ohio, stretching back about three-quarters of a mile from that stream, and reaching half-way up the high hill which formed in part the eastern and northern lines. This tract was platted, partly in blocks of eight lots, each of half an acre, and the rest in lots of four and five acres each. Nine hundred and forty-five inlots are said to have been staked off by Stites' surveyors. The streets intérsected each other at right angles. A different plat of Columbia, corresponding more nearly to the village of recent years, bears date May 5, 1837.

Major Stites' title to his entire large tract in this region was afterwards threatened, by the apparent determination of the Government authorities to draw the eastern boundary of the Miami purchase from a point twenty miles up the Ohio from the mouth of the Great Miami, which would have left him outside of the purchase, and altogether destitute of valid title from Symmes. It is to the honor of the judge that in this crisis he stood bravely by his friend, writing to his associates of the East Jersey company: "If Mr. Stites is ousted of the settlement he has made with great danger and difficulty at the just." Governor St. Clair at once issued his proclamation warning settlers off the Miami country east of the aforesaid line; but the matter was afterwards arranged, and the east and west boundaries of the purchase were fixed as originally proposed, upon the two Miamis,

During its first two years Columbia flourished hopefully, and was then remarked as a larger and more promising place than Losantiville or its successor, Cincinnati. It was the largest settlement in the Miami country, and was expected to increase rapidly; "but," says Dr. Drake, in his picture of Cincinnati, "the bayou which is formed across it from the Little Miami almost every year, and the occasional inundations of nearly the whole site, have destroyed that expectation, and it is now [1815] inhabited. chiefly by farmers." The village was not only superior in population, but also in the convenience and 'appearance of their dwellings. But for the floods, and the establishment of Fort Washington and then the county seat of Cincinnati, which naturally gave it great advantage, it might have been the metropolis of Miamidom. Many excellent citizens, as Colonel Abram and Ezra Ferris, who came December 12, 1789, and Colonel Spencer, who landed a year thereafter, joined the colony during these years. We subjoin some notices of the more noted among the immigrants of the first decade:

John Reily, one of the early settlers of Columbia, was but twenty-five years old when the colony came, having been born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, April ro, 1763. He had seen much service, however, in the army of the Revolution; was engaged at Camden, Guilford Court House, Ninety-six, and Eutaw Springs, and served through his eighteen months' term honorably and safely. After a few years in the wilds of Kentucky, he removed from Lincoln county, near the present site of Danville, to the Columbia settlement, December 18, 1789, and the next year taught the first school kept there, or anywhere in the Miami purchase. He took full part in the scouts and expeditions into the Indian country, and in 1794 removed to Cincinnati, where he became successively deputy clerk of the county court, clerk of the territorial legislature, and clerk and collector of the town. He removed to Hamilton in 1803, and there spent the remainder of his days, dying in that place June 7, 1850, after a long and highly honorable career.

Judge William Goforth came in the early part of 1789. He is mentioned so often in the course of this history, as associated with affairs here and at Cincinnati, that a biographical sketch of him here seems unnecessary. The judge builded better than he kaew in keeping a diary of his. journey hither and of events for some time afterwards. It is an interesting old document, and the public owes access to it to Mr. Charles Cist, who published it nearly forty years ago in his Cincinnati Miscellany. We correct one or two patent blunders in the yearly dates:

Extracts From Memorandum Made By Judge Goforth, In His Day-Book

1789. Jan. 2 left our camp and put down the Ohio and on the 8th arrived at Limestone and thence to Washington which is in 38 degrees some minutes North, and had at that time 119 horses.

stolen. Baily and party returned from pursuing after the Indians. Met in the shade to worship. A cat-fish was taken - four feet long, eight inches between the eyes, and weighed 58 pounds. Judge Symmes arrived on the 2nd of February, 1789, as he informed Major Stites at his own post. April 21 traded with the first Indian. '© 28 Capt. Samondawat - an Indian, arrived and traded. 3 Named the Fort '' Miami." as 5 Col. Henry Lee arrived and 53 volunteers. '© 27 Went to North Bend with Col. Lee. Sep. 3 Captain Flinn retook the horses. "25 Major Stites, old Mr. Bealer.and myself took the depth. of the Ohio Kiver when we found there was 57 feet water in' the channel, and that the river was 55 feet lower at that marching to the relief of Covalt's and Dunlap's stations, when the Indian attacks were made upon them; and was secured by the Cincinnati Presbyterians, together with a man named French, to bring their first pastor, the Rev. James Kemper, and his family, through the wilderness from near Danville to his newhome. In 1792 Mr. Doty returned to New Jersey, by way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and by sea, but came back to the Miami country in 1796, with his wife and children, and removed to the vicinity of Middletown, Butler county, He was the first collector of taxes for that part of the country, which was then in Hamilton county. McBride's Pioneer Biography

His district was twelve miles wide from north to south, comprising two ranges of townships, extending from the Great Miami to the Little Miami rivers, comprehending the sites where the towns of Franklin and Waynesville have been laid out, and the immediate country and settle- The whole amount of the duplicate committed to him for collection was two hundred and forty-four dollars, of which he collected every dollar and paid it over to Jacob Burnet of Cincinnati, who was Mr. Doty's own tax, for some years previous to his death, was upwards of one hundred and thirtyfive dollars - more than half of the amount which he then collected from the whole district of which he bad been collector. In the discharge of the duties of his office as collector, he must have ridden over more than For these services, including his time and expenses, he received one per cent. on the amount of the duplicate, two This appears to have satisfied Mr. Doty with public office, as he never afterward, during his whole

Francis Dunlevy emigrated from Kentucky to Columbia in 1791, and at first was engaged in teaching, in com- He was then less than thirty years old, having been born near Winchester, Virginia, When but a boy he was engaged in Indian, and afterwards in the Revolutionary warfare, and helped to build up Fort McIntosh, the first regular military work within the present bounds of Ohio. He was at Crawford's defeat on the plains of Sandusky, and in the retreat was cut off from the main body of the army, and had to make his way through the wilderness to Pitts- In 1787 he removed with his father's family to Kentucky, and ten years afterwards, having resided six years in Columbia, he removed to the vicinity of Lebanon, where he died, November 6, 1839. He was fourteen years presiding judge of the court of common pleas of the first circuit, which included Hamilton county, and

352 HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO. time than it was at that uncommonly high fresh last winter. The water at the high flood was 112 feet. * Oct. 9 Mr. White set out for the Tiber. Aug. 16 Major Doughty went down the river, Dec. 28 Genl. Harmar passed this post down the River. 1799. Jan. 2 The Governor passed this post down the River. " 3 received a line desiring my attendance with others. ee 4 Attended his excellency when the Civil and Military officers were nominated. es 6 The officers were sworn in. "13 Doctor David Johns preached. "38 Doctor Gano and Thomaa Sloo came here. «a9 The church was constituted - Baptist church at Columbia. + | where the rest of his life was spent. '© 21 Three persons were baptized. «24 called a church meeting and took unanimous to call the Rey. Stephen Gano to the pastoral charge of the church at Columbia. says: April 15 General Harmar went on the campaign past this post. «xg The Governor went up the River. Aug. 30 Worked at clearing the minister's lot. " 2 Mr. Sargent left this post to go up the River together with Judge Turner. ments. Sep. 12 The Mason county militia past this post on their way to headquarters. "19 200 Militia from Pennsylvania past this post on their way to the treasurer for the county of Hamilton. Cincinnati. "23 The Governor went down to Cincinnati. "25 Major Doughty and Judge Turner also. '© 30 The main body of the troops marched. 1791. one thousand miles. Jan. 2 begun to thaw. Mch. 1 Indians fired at Lt. Baily's boat. dollars and forty-four cents, andno more. = "* Mrs. Abel Cook was found dead in the Round Bottom. ns 4 Mrs. Bowman was fired at in the night through a crack in life, was a candidate for any office. the house. "22 Mr. Strong returned from up the River; had 24 men killed and wounded on the r9th March. "97 Mr. Plasket arrived - the 24th in the morning fought the | pany with Mr. John Reily. Indians just after daybreak, about 8 miles above Scioto - this the same battle mentioned in Hubble's narative. July 7 Col. Spencer's son taken prisoner. December citar 76 Ls "« 14 Francis Beadles, Jonathan Coleman, a soldier killed. 1792. Jan. 7 Inthe evening Samuel Welch was taken. Nov. 2 Last Monday night met at my house to consult on the expediency of founding an academy - Rev. John Smith, Major Gano, Mr. Dunlevy, - afterward Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and myself - Wednesday night met at Mr. Reily's school-house - Mr. Reily then the teacher was oreh for many years Clerk of Butler Common Pleas and Supreme argh. Court - to digest matters respecting the academy, the night being bad, and but few people attending postponed till next night which was 1st of November, met at Mr. Reily's to appoint a committee. Dec. 6 Fall of snow 7 inches on a level. 1793: Sep. 24 The first and fourth Sub-Legions march under General

Daniel Doty, of Essex county, New Jersey, was one of the immigrants of 1790. He came on the twenty-third of October, in a flat-boat, from Pittsburgh. He then found, according to his recollections long after, but two hewed-log buildings in the place, one of them occupied by Major Stites, the other by Captain John S, Gano. He enlisted promptly in Captain Gano's company of militia, which every able-bodied man in the settlement had to join, and which now mustered about seventy - a strong and efficient company. He turned out with the parties

* Cist's foot-note: ''This seems an unaccountable mistake. The flood of 1832 was but 64 feet above low water, and the highest flood ever known at the settlement of the country was but 12 feet higher."

The following notice of perhaps the most renowned citizen that Columbia ever had, is extracted from the Life of Senator Morris, by his son, Mr. B. F. Morris:

In 1795 Thomas Morris, a young and enterprising adventurer, nineteen years of age, from the mountains of western Virginia, arrived in Columbia. He was immediately employed asa clerk in the store of Rey. John Smith, and became a great favorite with him. During this time his mind became deeply exercised on the subject of personal religion, and his feelings found utterance in frequent poetic effusions, which are all lost. Rev. John Smith and others regarded these productions as of great merit fora youth of his age and limited education. For several years he continued in the employ of Smith, improving, as he could, his mind by reading, and preparing for a wider sphere of action.

new stands, was frequently traversed by Morris, His feet threaded the forest, then in the wild magnificence of nature, and the crack of his rifle brought down many a wild turkey fram the tops of lofty trees which covered the very spot on which now is erected and established that noble building and institution, the Young Men's Mercantile Library association. How wonderful the change in fifty years' Now commerce, arts, sciences, education, Christian institutions, and the highest forms of a refined social civilization, and a prosperous industrial population of over two hundred thousand people, cover with their peaceful and noble triumphs, and their monuments of taste and civilization, and happiness, the same forest where young Morris was accustomed to shoot his wild game.

Mr. Morris married Rachel, daughter of Benjamin Davis, a Columbian who came from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, to Mason county, Kentucky, and thence here. He was of Welsh stock and had a fine family of five sons and two daughters. Morris removed to Williamsburgh, and then to Bethel, Clermont county, and became greatly distinguished asa lawyer, legislator, United States Senator, and anti-slavery agitator.

From another settler named John Morris, at the time the most prominent man in the settlement, a cluster of houses on the hillside took the name Morristown,

By the close of 1790 Columbia contained about fifty cabins. Wickerham's mill, upon floating boats, had been established upon the Little Miami, and yielded supplies of coarse corn meal, but wheat flour was still so scarce that what could be had was generally reserved for the sick. Before Wickerham started his small run of stones, the corn had been pounded by the colonists into hominy or laboriously ground in a hand-mill.

The post at Columbia was evidently regarded as of considerable importance, since as many as two hundred soldiers were stationed here in 1794. The need of military protection, however, was then mostly over. There had been demand enough for it before, as thé record of Indian murders, captures and robberies in this region abundantly shows. But the first approaches of the Indians to the settlers here, soon after their arrival were thoroughly friendly. The savages came often to the block-houses, expressing great friendship, and calling for Judge Symmes, toward whom they were very favorably disposed, on account of his having saved one of their small camps from the Kentuckians during the surveying ~ expedition the year before. They had seen Stites' boats on the banks of the river, opposite the block-house, and held a council at their hunting camp six miles from the Ohio, at which it was concluded to take the attitude of friends rather than enemies toward the newcomers. A white man named George had been ten or twelve years a prisoner with them, and could speak both English and Indian. At first he accompanied a single savage as near to the block-house as they dared go, and hallooed to the settlers who were at work upon it. He called for some of the whites to go to him, but they took no heed of him, mistaking him for one of their own people. Presently one of them asked ''in a biackguarding manner," as the old account puts it, why he didn't come to them, if he had anything to say. Discouraged at this, George went with the Indian back to their camp. He afterwards started out again with a party of five Indians, armed and mounted, for the block-house, 'They came upon a trail of a surveyor's party, numbering three, who were hunting, and followed it until the men were overtaken, The latter fled, but could not escape, and prepared for resistence. Two of the three were Robert Hanson and Joseph Gox, from Sussex county, New Jersey. Hanson aimed his gun at the foremost Indian, but the red man took off his cap, trailed his gun, and held out his right hand as a token of friendship. George called out to the other party not to fire, as the Indians were their friends, and did not wish to hurt them, and they would like to be led to the block-house. Affairs were speedily arranged, and all went amicably together to meet Major Stites. Their joint arrival very much surprised the people at the settlement, some of whom were disposed to think them spies, there only to observe the strength of the colony for defence, others thinking them sincere in their peaceful professions, Both sides, however, as the story runs, "began to form a sociable neighborhood," and there was for a while considerable fraternity between the whites and reds, the former frequently visiting and even spending nights at the Indian camps, while the savages with their squaws frequented the settlement, spending days and nights there, principally occupied in drinking whiskey.

The messages of Stites to Symmes, in regard to the Indians' professions, and their desire to see him, with his action, were sufficiently set forth in previous chapter.

In a very few weeks, however, the status changed, and a war period setin. The journal of Judge Goforth shows that, so early as January 23, 1789, four horses were stolen by the Indians; that two men were killed Aprll 4th; the next day five more horses were stolen, and outrages were frequent thereafter, and the feeling between the hostiles became so envenomed that both sides engaged in killing and scalping with apparently equal activity. Some incidents related of the Columbia scalpers will be found in our chapter on 'The Miamese and the Indians."

The news of the attack on Dunlap's station greatly excited the settlers at Columbia, who quickly mounted a volunteer party, armed with rifles, under Lieutenant Luke Foster, marched to Cincinnati the same night, and joined the regular and volunteer force there forming for the relief of the station. Before daylight the next morning all were on the move, through several inches of snow, and arrived near the scene of action between ten and eleven o'clock in the forenoon, only to find that the Indians had mostly departed.

On the night of the fourth of March, 1791, the cabin of Mr. Jonas Bowman, which was further down the river than any other in Columbia, was approached by indians, and an attack made. Mr, Bowman had been up the Licking hunting wild turkeys with Mr. John Reily; and, returning chilled and tired, a large fire was built in the open fireplace, which made the house a conspicuous object in the dark night, as it was not chinked between the logs, and the fire was plainly visible a long distance. The Indians fired through the cracks, but happily without effect, when Mr, Bowman, who was sitting by the fire, instantly threw a bucket of water on the flames, thus darkening the room and confusing the Indians, who made off, vainly pursued and fired at by Bowman. Mrs. Bowman afterwards found a flattened bullet in the bosom of her dress, which had probably glanced and spent its force by the time it reached her. A messenger was dispatched to Fort Washington, with news of the attack, and a party of regulars and volunteers was made up at once, reaching Columbia before daylight; but a thorough scout for many miles into the country failed to discover any Indians.

The subjoined narrative, taken from Cist's Miscellany, is a fuller and more interesting account than that previously given in this work of the capture of young Oliver Spencer:

Spencer, then a boy of eleven, had been on a visit to Cincinnati, from Columbia where he then lived, to spend the Fourth of July (1791) here, and having stayed until the seventh set out in a canoe with four other persons who were going to Columbia. About a mile above Deer creek, one of the men, much intoxicated, made so many lurches in the canoe as to endanger its safety, and Spencer, who could not swim, becoming alarmed, was at his earnest request set ashore, as was also the drunken man, who was unable to proceed on foot and was accordingly left where landed. The three in the canoe and Spencer on shore proceeded on, but had hardly progressed a few rods when they were fired on by two Indians. A Mr. Jacob Light was wounded in the arm, and another man, name unknown, killed on the spot, both falling overboard, the man left on shore tomahawked and scalped, and Spencer, after a vain attempt to escape, was carried off by the savages and taken out to an Indian village, at the mouth of Auglaize, where he remained several months in captivity. Tidings of these events were taken by Light, who swam ashore a short distance below by the aid of his remaining arm, and Mrs. Coleman, the other passenger, who, though an old woman of sixty and of course encumbered with the apparel of her sex, was unable to make any efforts to save herself, but whose clothes floating to the top of the river, probably buoyed herup in safety. Itis certain at any rate, incredible as it may be thought by some, that she floated down to Cincinnati where she was assisted to shore by some of the residents here.

Spencer, after remaining nearly a year among the Indians, was taken to Detroit, where he was ransomed and finally~sent home, after an absence in various places of three years, two of which he passed among his relativegin New Jersey. He resided subsequently in the city, where he held various offices of trust and honor, and died on May 31, 1838.

Upon the occurrence of this exciting event the following dispatch was sent by the commandant at Fort Washington to the chief officer at Fort Hamilton:

John Armstrong, Esq

Dear Sir - I send out to apprise you that, this day about noon, a party of savages fired on a party, consisting of two men, a woman, and Colonel Spencer's son - about one and a half miles above this and on this side of the river - one man killed, the other wounded, but not

* mortally, and poor little Spencer carried off a prisoner. I sent outa party who fell in with their trail in General Harmar's trace, about six miles from this, and followed it on the path about two miles farther, when the men failing with fatigue, the sergeant was obliged to return. Master Spencer's trail was upon the path. This is a further answer to the pacific overtures, and makes me tremble for your boy. I pray you if possible to redouble your vigilance, and on Monday morning early Captain Peters will march with his company and six wagons to your assistance. Send me twenty horses the moment Peters reaches you, and I will be with you next day - in the meantime your cavalry should scout on both sides of the river, and your riflemen be kept constantly in motion. Adieu.

The first church organized and the first sermon preached anywhere in the Miami purchase, were at Columbia. So early as December, 1789, the Rev. David Jones, a Baptist clergyman from Chester county, Pennsylvania, while on a visit down the Ohio valley, stopped at Columbia,and pronounced his first sermon in one of the blockhouses at the fort. This place was then larger than

Losantiville, and more likely to attract the attention of a visiting stranger. There was a larger Baptist element here, too.* Another early preacher to the Columbians, Elder Stephen Gano, had further reasons for interest in the colony, since he had ties of blood connecting him with the Stiteses and the Ganos. Before he came, however, the people had ministerial visits from the Rev. David Rice, a Presbyterian divine of some note from Kentucky, and Elder John Mason, a Virginia Baptist and brother-in-law of Elder John Smith, who soon afterwards, became the first settled pastor among the Little Miamese. Elder Gano came in March, 1790, making one of his many visits to his relatives, and after preaching several sermons organized a Baptist church in Columbia - probably on Saturday, March 31, 1790, though Hon. A. H. Dunlevy, descendant of Judge Dunlevy, and author of a History of the Miami Baptist Association, names the twentieth of January, 1790, as the time. Mr. Dunlevy rests upon the diary of Dr. Goforth, then a resident of Columbia, which we published on another page; but that is believed to have been made up, in part at least, many years after the occurrence narrated, and to be somewhat unreliable. The distinct recollection of persons present at the organization of the church, that it was on the last Saturday of March, is considered better testimony.

The place of meeting was no longer a block-house, but the dwelling of Benjamin Davis. After appropriate services, the church was formally constituted by the aid of Elder Gano; Mr. Thomas Sloo, a member of his church in New York city, also being present. | Nine persons joined at the time, whose names are given by Mr. bunlevy as follows: which a thousand church spires now point heavenward. Isaac Ferris was appointed deacon, and John S$. Gano, clerk, of the infant church. Elijah Stites, Rhoda Stites, and Sarah Ferris, were received upon experience, and were baptized in the river the next day (Sunday), after a preaching service at the house of Major William Goforth. Three other members, Mrs. Meeks, and Messrs. Smith and Baily, soon afterwards joined by letter; so that the church now numbered fifteen. Elder Gano was unanimously chosen pastor; but he was too strongly bound to his work in the older communities of the east, and returned thither. He seems to have been a man of uncommon ability-and power, and certainly, as organizer of the first Christian church in the Miami country, demands some further notice here. He was born in New York city December 25, 1762, and was a brother of John S. Gano, of Cloumbia. His father was a clegyman, and

* Mr. Dunlevy, in his History of the Miami Baptist Association, says of the first Columbia colony: ''Among this little band of some twenty-five persons, there were six Baptists. There names were Benjamin Stites, John S. Gano, Thomas C. Wade, Greenbright Baily, Mrs. Baily his wife, and Edmund Buxton." his mother of one of the Stites families. In his twentyfourth year he was ordained, and served as pastor in the city, in Hillsdale and Hudson, New York, and finally for thirty-six years in Providence, Rhode Island, where he attained considerable distinction, and where he died August 18, 1828. During one of his western tours he preached at Lexington, Kentucky, having in his audience

"He was a remarkably fervent preacher, and distinguished for a simple, effective manner. And of all preachers I ever listened to, he made me feel the most that religion was a divine reality."*

Very soon, however, the church had its pastor - one who also was destined to attain distinction, but in a different field, and at last to end in poverty and obscurity. Elder John Smith, a Virginian by birth and education, now in the prime of his manhoood - '"a man," says the volume cited above, "whose personal appearance was noble and commanding, and who was possessed of very popular manners and a remarkably fascinating address - " visited Columbia in June and preached several times so acceptably that a unanimous call was given him to settle as pastor. This he accepted, and returned home to arrange his business, which took longer than was expected ; and he did not arrive until the spring of 1791; the church meanwhile being served acceptably by Daniel Clark, a licentiate from Whiteley church, Pennsylvania, who had removed to Columbia with his own and other Baptist families. He was afterwards fully ordained by Elders Smith and John Gano, a venerable Baptist clergyman from near Lexington, on the twenty-first (or twenty-third) of September, 1793, after a preaching service by Elder Gano in a grove of elms near the village. It was the first ordination among the Miamese, or in the Northwest Territory, of a Protestant clergyman.

In October, 1791, the substantial addition was made to the church of fifteen members by letter and two by experience and baptism. The building of a church edifice was the next thing in order, upon a lot given for the purpose by Major Stites, upon a slight eminence in the northern part of Columbia, now near and east of the Little Miami railroad, where: a pile of rocks and some

. ancient graves still mark the spot. The meeting-house was resolved upon in February, 1792, but was more than eighteen months in building, not being regularly occupied, probably, till late the next year, though Mr. Dunlevy says there was preaching in it in the spring of 1793.+ The structure was frame, thirty-six by thirty feet, with galleries and a hipped roof. It stood until 1835, when it was pulled down, having been abandoned for years and become very much dilapitated. A picture of it, in this state, appears in Howe's Historical collections of Ohio, in the first volume of the American Pioneer, and in Mr. Dunlevy's little history. The following lines were written during the later years of the church by an old Columbian:

On Visiting The Old Church At Columbia

The pulpit mould'ring nodded from the wall, From which me thought still rang the watchman's call; Some ancient seats in circles filled the space, And seemed to say, 'A choir has left this vacant place.'