Columbia Township (part 4 of 5)

The Jaw then required every able-bodied man attending meetings for worship to carry his firearms with him, prepared to defend the inhabitants, as well as those at the meeting, from an attack of the Indians. On the first day the house was opened for worship, Colonel Spencer, one of the early settlers at Columbia and at that time the head of the militia, attended the services, and at the close addressed the militia and pointed out the necessity of strict disciptine at these meetings. On another occasion during the same season, when the congregation had assembled for worship, two men came from the woods with an Indian's scalp waich they had just taken;* and during this and the next year two members of the church, Francis Griffin and David Jennings, were killed by the savages. A number more of the inhabitants of Columbia were killed by the Indians during the years 1791-2, and several taken prisoners - among them O. M. Spencer, son of Colonel Spencer above named, and long after a well-known citizen of Cincinnati. All their religious meetings, therefore, until Wayne's victory in the autumn of 1794 (and the treaty of Greenville in the next year) had to be guarded by armed men.

The Columbia church was the vigorous parent, prolific in offspring of other churches scattered up and down the Little Miami valley, at places, where its members settled after the the Greenville treaty. Within little more than a dozen years after its formation, colonies from it had founded, or helped to found, Baptist churches at the Little Miami island, on Carpenter's run, in the present

* On this occasion, as another account states, Colonel Spencer addressed the people again, advising them to close the meeting and go home and prepare for defence; which they obediently did. See McBride's Pioneer Biography, Vol- - vme II, page 186.

Sycamore township; near Ridgeville, Warren county; at Turtle creek, now Lebanon; near Little Prairie, now Middletown; and even at Staunton, near the county seat of Miami county, about seventy miles north of Columbia.

According to the recollections of Mr. David Doty, published in McBride's Pioneer Biography, ''the order then was for every man to meet on parade on Sunday morning, armed and equipped, and after going through the manual exercise, march to the place of worship, stack their guns in one corner of the cabin until divine service was concluded, and then take them and return to their homes."

Elder Smith preached a part of the time in Cincinnati. In April, 1790, the Columbia church formally resolved "that in view of the entire destitution of preaching in Cincinnati, Brother Smith be allowed to spend half his time in that place." In 1795 he resigned at Columbia, and devoted his work to what was known as the Little Miami Island church, on an islet in the river, about eight miles northeast of Columbia. He was assisted at the latter place by Elder Clark, the ordained of the September meeting in 1793, who took sole charge of the church after Smith's retirement, and ministered to it until autumn, 1797, when he removed to the northward and organized, successively, the Deer Creek and Turtle Creek (since Lebanon) churches. For a number of years he preached to both, and "was the only pastor the latter church had from its formation in 1798 until 1829, or thereabouts, when he became superannuated. He lasted five or six years longer, dying December-11, 1834, in his ninetieth year.

Elder Smith ministered to the pioneer church for over ten years, and then dropped into politics. He was a member of the first Constitutional convention, that which organized the State of Ohio, and was one of the first United States Senators from this State. In 1806, when the storm burst over the head of Aaron Burr, Senator Smith shared in Colonel Burt's obloquy, simply, it would appear, from the" hospitality tendered by him to Burr during the latter's visit to Cincinnati, and his firm expression of belief that Burr's projects involved nothing treasonable or injurious to the country.

A few individuals of very bad character, at Cincinnati, who had themselves been intimate with Burr, and several of whom, it was believed, had been fully committed to his plans, when the clamor became great withdrew their familiarity with Burr, and, to screen themselves, joined in accusing Smith of connection with him. Party political strife at that time ran high, and at Cincinnati a secret organization was formed, and oaths of inviolable privacy were taken. The crimination of Senator Smith originated with the secret society. Its members were the principal witnesses against him, and refused on his trial to answer any questions except such as they pleased, and as they supposed, no doubt, would afford evidence against him.

A bill of indictment was actually found against him, though abandoned without trial. He was put upon trial in the Senate, however, and though vindicated, it was bya majority so meagre that he felt virtually condemned, and resigned his seat. The expenses of his defence were so great, and the pressure of his Creditors so persistent, that he was compelled to part with all his property here, and in 1808 retired to an obscure locality in Louisiana, where he owned a tract of land, and where he thenceforth lived until his death, in 1824.

Other early pastors of the Columbia church were: Elder Peter Smith, from Georgia, 1800-4; William Jones, at Duck creek, 1805-14; John Clark, at Duck creek, 1814-16; and James Lyon, who was still living in 1857.

A notable revival occurred under the ministry of the first named, in the spring of 1801, in which nearly one hundred and fifty persons were baptized and admitted to the church, among them several, as James Lynn, afterwards pastor of the same church, Ezra Ferris and Hezekiah Stites,who themselves became useful preachers of the gospel. Later in its history others of its young men have gone out to different paits of the country in similar service.

In 1808 the meeting-place of the membership in this church was removed from Columbia to a more central point two miles north, where it took the name of the Duck Creek church, which it has since borne.

September 23, 1797, the first ecclesiastical gathering of importance in the Miami country took place with this church, in Columbia, to form an association of Baptist churches. It was composed mainly of ministers and delegated laymen from the societies at Columbia, Little Miami Island, Carpenter's run and Clear creek, though two ministers were present from Kentucky. Elder John Smith was elected moderator and David Snodgrass, clerk. After consultation it was resolved 'that the churches in this Northwest Territory, and those adjacent, of the Baptist order, should meet at the Baptist meetinghouse in Columbia, on the first Saturday of November efisuing." At that meeting further arrangements were made to form the Miami association, which was fully constituted at a meeting held with the Island church October 20, 1798, still another meeting having been held meanwhile in June, 1798, at Columbia. Such bodies moved slowly in those days.

A Methodist Episcopal class was formed at Columbia in 1799, by the Rev. John Kobler, the pioneer of Methodism in this region, and Francis McCormick, who lived near the mouth of the East fork of the Little Miami, and died near Mount Washington in 1836.

The Columbia Congregational church was organized December 22, 1867, with twenty-nine members. For some time divine worship was regularly held at the town hall, but in 1870 the present edifice was commenced and completed. It is a neat, frame building, with bell, costing about five thousand dollars. The auditorium or main room has a seating capacity of two hundred and seventy-five; while the room at the rear, which may be thrown open with the other, will comfortably seat sixty or seventy-five more. This is commonly used for the infant department of the Sabbath school, and for prayer meetings. The church has a pipe-organ," which has a distinct and peculiar history: .It was obtained and given to the church by Mrs. H. P. B. Jewett, who now resides in New York city. In the death of

Deacon Jewett, which occurred April 2,° 1877, the church lost an invaluable member, and the community was deprived of a consistent Christian citizen.

The church has'had five pastors, viz: Rev. J. W. Peters, Rev. H. L. Howard, Rev. D. I. Jones, of Pleasant Ridge, Rev. R. M. Thompson, of Mount Washington, and Rev, D. F. Harris, who has been pastor: since the fall of 1876.

Like all suburban churches, this one labors under the disadvantages of a transient population. People -are constantly coming and going, so that stability is almost out of the question. In the last few years the church has suffered on account of the removal of some of its most efficient members, notably Mr. O. W. Nixon, of the Inter-Ocean, Chicago, who was a few years ago the treasurer of Hamilton county. During the four years' pastorate of Rev. Mr. Harris, there have been fifty-seven additions to the church - thirty-two by letter and twentyfive by profession. The present membership is one hundred and thirty-four. The ladies of the church and congregation have two missionary societies, the Home and the Foreign; while a third, in the interest of both, is carried on by the young people. Besides this work, the church regularly contributes her proportion, with sister churches of the Miami conference, toward the Oberlin ministerial fund. The church also contributes toward the support of the great missionary and benevolent societies, such as the American Board, the American Missionary association, the Home Missionary association, and the Congregational Union.

The first school in the county was opened in Columbia June 21, 1790, by John Reily, the settler before noticed. It was a six-months' subscription school, and appears to have been kept right through the warm season. The next year Francis Dunlevy joined his pedagogic interests with Mr. Reiley's, the former taking the classical department, while the other taught the English studies. In 1793 Reily gave the school over altogether to Dunlevy, and went to settle in the Mill Creek valley, seven miles from Cincinnati. The system of "boarding round" must have existed in his time of teaching in Columbia, since he records in his journal: 'In the month of August boarded tweive days with Mr. Patrick Moore; in the month of September boarded twelve days with Hugh Dunn; andin the month of December boarded with John McCulloch six days." He must have had a school-building put up for him, as Dr. Gofroth's diary names ''Reiley's schoolhouse" as a certain place of meeting. If so, this was the first temple of learning in the Miami country.

A little more than eight years after the settlement of Columbia, it entertained a distinguished visitor in the person of a young Englishman named Francis Baily, afterwards an "F. R. S." and president of the Royal Astronomical society. The following extracts are from his journal of a tour, which was not published until 1856, and then appeared as an appendix to a memoir of Baily, by the late Sir John Herschel:

Tuesday, February 28, 1797

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1797. This morning we dropped down the rtver about half a mile to a convenient landing, and here we had a much better view of the town than we had where we lay last night. The houses lie very scattered along the bottom of a hill which is about one-eighth of a mile from the river, The town is laid out on a regular plan, but was never in a very flourishing state. The neighboring and well-settled country round and at Cincinnati prevents it from being a place of any great importance; besides, it lies very low, and is often overflowed from the river, which prevents any -houses being built immediately on the banks, as is customary in these new settlements. One-quarter of the land on which the town was intended to be laid out is now under water.

After breakfast we went ashore to view the town, and H. introduced me to Mr. [Rev. John] Smith and Dr. Bean. The former gentleman is a man of very good property, which he has acquired in several different ways in this place: he is a farmer, a merchant, and a parson ; all these occupations, though seemingly so different, he carries cn with the greatest regularity and without confusion. The latter isa man of good education and practices physic here, somewhat in the same manner as our country apothecaries in England do, for which he is dubbed doctor. As those gentlemen rank with the first in the place, a description of their habitations, manners, and society will serve, without any great variation, for that of the bulk of emigrants ina similar state of life.

As Dr. Bean would insist upon our sleeping at his house, and in fact stopping with him during our residence here we accompanied him home. His house was built of logs, as all the houses in these new settlements are, and consisted of a ground floor containing two rooms, one of which was appropriated to lumber, the other served all the purposes of parlor, bed-room, shop, and everything else (though there was a little outhouse where they occasionally cooked their victuals and also washed), and it did not appear as if it had been cleaned out this half-year. There were two windows to throw light into the room, but there had been so many of the panes of glass broken, whose places were supplied by old hats and pieces of paper, that it was very little benefitted by the kind intention of the architect. I saw a few phials and gallipots on a shelf in one corner of the room, and near them a few books of different descriptions. Such is the force of example that very few of the emigrants who come into this kind of half-savage, half-civilized, state of life, however neat and cleanly they might have been before, can have resolution to prevent themselves from falling into that slovenly practice which everywhere surrounds them; and it is not till the first class of settlers are moved off, that any of these new countries are at all to a person brought up in different habits of life.

At dinner-table I observed a table prepared in the middle of the room, with some knives and forks and pewter plates placed on it, but without any table-cloth; and when the dinner was ready, two of his servants who were working out in the field were called in, and sat down at the same table and partook of the same provisions as ourselves.

Our provisions consisted of some stewed pork and some beef, together with some wild sort of vegetable which had been gathered out in the woods, as it must be observed that in all these new settlements fresh provisions, both in meat and vegetables, are at some seasons very scarce, particularly at the time we were there. The inhabitants live a great deal upon deer and turkeys, which they shoot wild in the woods, » and upon bacon, which they keep by them ia case of need, and as to vegetables,' they are seldom to be procured, except in summer. The

When the time drew nigh for us to retire to rest, we were shown to one corner of the room where there was a ladder, up which we mounted into a dismal kind of a place without a window, but instead of these there were a number of crevices between the logs, which had never been filled up, and in the room there were three beds, or rather three bedsteads, with a few blankets thrown over them.

I went to breakfast with Mr. Smith, and here I found things a little more in order, though far from that degree of refinement and comfort to be met with in the more civilized parts of this country. This house bore the marks of industry and cleanliness, and we were regaled with tea and coffee and boiled chicken for our breakfast, attended with buckwheat cakes, whichare common in this part of the country.

The farm of this gentleman consists of several acres of land adjoining his house, which he keeps in high cultivation - chiefly meadow ground - and from which he has realized a great deal of money. His warehouse was near the water side. It consisted of but one room, where he brings down the river such articles of European manufacture as are most in demand. There are but two or three other stores of the same kind in Columbia. The profits of this trade are generally one hundred per cent., and sufficiently compensate the trade for the trouble of a journey once or twice a yearto Philadelphia.

That inveterate romancer, Thomas Ashe, who afterwards made away with Dr. Goforth's admirable collection of fossil remains, passed Columbia on his way to Cincinnati in 1807, and made the following note in his book: sickly and subject to insulation, when the waters of the Miami are backed up the country by the rise of the Ohio in the spring, the current of the Ohio being so impetuous as to hinder the Miami from flowing into the stream.[!]

A topographical description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana, by J. Cutler, published in 1810, gives a paragraph to Columbia:

Immediately below the mouth of the Little Miami is the town of Columbia. It was laid out by Colonel Symmes, and is the oldest settlement in the State, on the Ohio river, except Marietta, but has increased © very little in the number of its inhabitants. At present it is only a neat, pleasant village, consisting of about forty houses, built at some distance from each other, on a rich bottom or interval. Nor is it probable, from its situation, that ft will ever become a place of much business.

In 1819 Columbia is noticed in the Ohio State Gazetteer as "'a post town of Hamilton county, six miles eastwardly from Cincinnati. It is situated on the north bank of the Ohio river, one mile below the mouth of the little Miami, and contains about fifty houses."

The first marriages in.Columbia, as reported under the law of the court of general quarter sessions of the peace, are believed to have been those of Captain James Flinn and Jane Newell, June 27, 1790, and of Bethuel Covyalt and Rachel Blackford, December 29, 1790.

Columbia village was regularly incorporated in 1868. By the last census taken before its annexation to Cincinnati, that of 1870, it had a population of one thousand one hundred and sixty-five. It was taken into the city in 1873. Among its mayors have been - J. L. Thompson, 1869; W. J. M. Gordon, 1870; Benneville Kline, 1872-4.

Linwood

This place has a large site - one thousand three hundred and fifteen acres, or over two square miles - comprising four hundred and forty-six acres more than all the rest of Spencer township. It is situated in the northeast part of the township, on the hills west of the Little Miami railroad, and southwest of the observatory at Mount Lookout. It was founded in 1848 for L. A. Chapman, by Israel Wilsoa, and has been greatly enlarged and otherwise improved since by the operations of the Linwood Land company. January 16, 1874, the village was incorporated for general purposes, and its mayor that year was Mr. John. P. Langdon.

It is mainly a place for suburban residence, with Methodist, Congregational and Baptist churches, and a good graded school; but a beginning of manufacturing has been matle with a hame-factéry, etc. It has a population of seven hundred and twenty-two by the census of 1880.

Linwood station is half a mile south of the main part of Linwood, at the junction of the Union Bridge and Wooster turnpikes, and on the Little Miami railroad. A

James L. Langdon settled in Columbia township in 1806. He was born in Orange county, Vermont, in 1792, and emigrated to Ohio, where he still lives. He has followed the business of farming on the Miami bottoms. At times also he has served as a Methodist preacher. His wife, Sarah Phelps, was born in Maine in 1799, and died in 1863. They have three children living in this county: John P.; Elam C., a resident of Linwood; and Mrs. Harriet Williams, of Springfield. Mr. Langdon is one of the oldest men living-in Columbia township; he is eighty-eight years old, has lived a life that commands the respect of all who know him, and his two sons are worthy representatives of himself.

Red Bank Station

is on the Little Miami railroad and river, at the southeast corner of the township, on the Spencer line, about a mile east of the observatory, and two and a half miles northeast of Columbia. Batavia Junction, where the Cincinnati & Eastern narrow guage 'joins the Little Miami, is a few hundred yards northeast of it.

Mount Lookout

is at the extreme northeast corner of Cincinnati, and lies both within and without the city. The observatory attached to the University of Cincinnati is located here, in charge of Director Stone. A fine private park lies just inside the city limits, which is much in request for picnic parties and celebrations. A dummy railroad connects the locality with the horse-cars at Pendleton. O'BRYANVILLE.

"A village on the Madison pike, now included in the First ward of the city, at the northwest corner of the old Spencer township. It was laid out in 1875 by Scarborough & Williams, executors of the will of Benjamin Hey.

Also an old village, but more considerable, lying between the hills and the river, from Fulton to Sportsman's Hall or the East End garden. The Delta station, on the Little Miami railroad, and the termini of the Columbia and Mount Lookout dummy railroads, are at the latter point.

Turkey Bottom

This isa notable track of about one and a half square' miles, between the Little Miami river and Columbia. It was found by the first settlers already cleared, for the most part, by the long cultivation of the Indians, and very likely also of the Mound Builders; but still exceedingly fertile. From nine acres of it planted by Judge Goforth during the first season of white occupancy, nine hundred and sixty-three bushels of corn were raised ; and Captain Benjamin Davis realized a crop of one hundred and fourteen bushels from one acre. There is also a tradition that Benjamin Randolph, having planted a single acre with corn and then compelled to visit New Jersey, came back in the fall and found one hundred bushels of corn, without any attention meanwhile, ready for his ingathering. Major Stites was its first owner, and leased it out in good-sized lots - unmarked by divisions - to six of the colonists, for terms of five years. The first cultivation of it by the whites had to be done under guard, to protect against Indian surprise. It was almost the sole Columbia cornfield of 1789 and '90, and was the favorite resort of the women and children, for procuring the bvargrass root for fuel.

In the matter of the fertility of the Columbia region, an extravagant local item in the Western Spy and Hamitlton Gazette for September 11, 1802, with quotation here:

There is in the garden of Colonel John Armstrong, of Columbia, a peach-tree on which there is fruit nearly as big as a half-bushel, and would weigh, it is supposed, from twenty to twenty-five pounds.

'TUSCULUM names a station on the Little Miami railroad in Eastern Cincinnati, and also a district for suburban residence on the neighboring hill, which is called Mount Tusculum, and closely overlooks Columbia both south and east. Over three hundred acres have been handsomely laid out and improved by Judge Joseph Langworth, the improvements including a fine roadway of about five miles length, called Undercliff avenue, which encircles and intersects the entire quarter.

Population

Spencer township - the little tract now lying outside the city - had nine hundred and _ ninety-five irhabitants by the census of June, 1880. And yet it had as the larger township, a population of two thousand five hundred and forty-three in 1880.

Biographical Sketch The Langdon Family

The records of the Langdon family in Linwood go back to Philip Langdon, a mariner from Boston, Massachusetts, who was originally from England, it is supposed. His seventh child and fifth son was Lieutenant Paul Langdon, who was born September 12, 1693, and died December 3, 1761. He married Mrs. Mary Stacy August 18, 1718, in Wifbraham, Massachusetts, and they had seven children; the fifth being John Langdon (the grandfather of James D. Langdon). Lieutenant Paul Langdon and this son John took part in the Revolutionary war. This John was born June 21, 1728, and died October ro, 1822. He marricd Eunice Torrcy, December 29, 1757, and they had a family of eight children, whose names were John W., Artemas, James, Josiah, Joanna, Oliver, Eunice, and Solomon, Of these Artemas died in infancy, and the brothers, excepting Josiah, all came to Ohio with their sister Joanna, and although they were farming, yet they often officiated as preachers and exhorters in the Methodist church. They settled near Cincinnati, and some of their descendants are living in the old homestead. James, the third son, was the father of the subject of the following sketch. He was born March 27, 1762, and died October 3, 1804. We was married December 15, 1788, to Esther Stebbins, also of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and their children were Richard Chester, James Davenport, Elam Potter, Lorenda, and Joanna. He (the father) died while the children were comparatively young, leaving the cares of the family on the mother, who was a woman of remarkable energy of character. She was usually known as "Aunt Esther," and as friend, nurse, or neighbor, was very often called upon for advice or assistance. In those days the women spun and wove the cloth for bedding and clothing, and Aunt Esther was a wonderful weaver and spinner. Her father was Moses Stebbins, the son of Samuel, who was the son of Samuel, who was the son of Thomas, who was born in 1620, in England, and son of Rowland Stebbins, or Stebbing, as the name was originally, and who came to America in 1634, and settled in Massachusetts.

James Davenport Langdon was born June 13, 1792, in Vershire, Vermont. His father was James Langdon, who married Esther Stebbins, December 15, 1788, in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. His parents were both natives of this place, but immediately after their marriage they moved to Vershire, Vermont. He had two brothers, Richard C. and Elam P., and two sisters, Lorenda and Joanna. In October, 1804, his father died whilst away from home on business, after a very short illness of measles. Two years after his death, or in 1806, two of his uncles, John W. and Solomon, with their families, his mother with her family, Andrew Peters and Wales Aldrich and their families, in all about forty souls, moved in wagons from Vermont and came out to Ohio. The journey was tedious and slowly made through the wilderness, there being no roads scarcely, camping at night as they could, sometimes at an occasional tavern or farm house, but oftener in their wagons as night came on. It took about ten weeks to reach the Ohio river at Wellsville, where they embarked on flat-boats, taking the wagons aboard, but sending the horses by land down the Ohio side. Floating down the river they landed at Columbia two days before Christmas. That first winter in Ohio his mother and family lived in part of the house of Oliver Spencer - an old building which still stands near the old tanyard. There was only one other house then in Columbia, the McMahon house, and that is still standing near the Columbia railroad station.

This Oliver Spencer was the father of Robert, afterwards a Methodist preacher, Henry E., who was for several years mayor of Cincinnati, Oliver, a judge in the Hamilton county courts, and a fourth son who became a farmer in northern Ohio.

called Red Bank station, on the farms or lands which have ever since been occupied' by them and their descendants, on and near the Little Miami river. This land was purchased by his uncle Oliver Langdon, who was the guardian appointed in Vermont, out of tracts originally owned by Benjamin Stites. There were only ten or a dozen families then in all of what is now known as Spencer township; they were Eliphalet, Joseph, Andrew, and John Ferris, brothers, and Henry Ferris their cousin= - the families of Larned, Allen Witham, Giffins, Nash, Riggle and Williams. A treaty had been made two or three years before with the Indians, and about all had gone to reservations. The first school-house was built by Joseph Ferris on his farm. The first religious society, Methodist, was formed in 1805 in the McMahon house alluded to, and the Baptists built the first church in Ohio in Columbia a few years later which was destroyed about 1835. The Methodists built their first church in Columbia about 1840, which was accidently burned and rebuilt on another lot. The settlers for the first year or two lived literally on hog and hominy. The first grist-mill was run by two brothers named Hawley, and was on the Miami near the mouth of Clough creek. Afterwards it was owned and run for years by the Turpins until worn out or destroyed.

The brothers and sisters of James D. are all dead. The sister Lorenda married Lemuel Snow in September, 1816, and moved to a farm in Indiana; the other sister, Joanna, also married a farmer, Minervus Swift, in September, 1818, and lived four years in Indiana; Elam Potter married Ann Cromwell, a sisterof Joseph Crom well, who kept the famous Broadway hotel so long in Cincinnati. Elam Potter was connected as clerk or assistant postmaster nearly all his life with the Cincinnati post office. Richard was a printer and newspaper publisher, and his widow still lives in Covington, Kentucky. James D., the subject of this sketch, was married to Sarah Phelps December 23, 1818, and has lived on the one spot about sixty-three years. He has always been actively engaged in farming from his early youth, and owes his good health and long years to good. habits and regular living. _ His uncle Oliver was quite a preacher, and officiated at funerals, baptisms and marriages. After his uncle's death, in 1828 or 1829, he began to preach himself; the text of his first sermon was 1 Samuel xii- 24 - "Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart, for consider how great things He has done for you" - and was at a service one Sunday at the mouth of the Little Miamiriver. There being but few ministers in those days it naturally fell to be his lot to take the uncle's place. So from that on he was continually called on to preach, attend funerals, and solemnize marriages for miles all around the country. He was licensed to preach in 1836 and ordained elder in 1842. During the year 1848 he was superintendent of Cincinnati circuit, and for eight years was a member of the annual conference of the Methodist Protestant church. He was president of the first temperance society formed in the year 1833 in Columbia township. he was a township trustee and school director, and has all

His wife had an experience in coming to Ohio (which was the year before the marriage, or 1817) very similar to that of her husband. She was born in Hollowell, Maine, on May 1, 1797, and was the daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah Phelps. She had four brothers, William, John, Alfred and Nathan, with one sister, Eliza, who came in wagons all the long journey from Hollowell, Maine, to Columbia. The brothers and sister (who married Jonathan Livings) all settled in Indiana, and raised families there. Dr. Ebenezer S. Phelps, the oldest brother, located in Middleton, Massachusetts, where he and his family now reside. James D. and Sarah had a family of nine children - James, Sarah, Cynthia, Harriet, Cyrus; Jobn, Elam, Edwin and Henry. There are now living only the father and three of the children - John P., Elam C., and Harriet. John P. occupies the homestead and is a farmer, and has one son, James W., who lives near his father, and is a farmer. The old family dwelling had become so out of repair and dilapidated, in 1877, having been used for some sixty years, it was torn down by John P., and a modern and commodious dwelling was built on the site. John P. has been mayor of the village for three successive terms, and been commissioned twice as magistrate for the township. Elam C. resides on part of the homestead farm, has had four children, three now living. These two brothers, from time to time, have been called upon to take part in affairs of the township and village. Elam has served seventeen years as school trustee, several terms in village council, two or three terms as treasurer of township, and 'both the brothers are members and workers in church and Sabbathschool, taking an active part in all public enterprises. Harriet became the wife of Rev. Charles H. Williams, a minister in the Methodist Protestant church. She has three sons living, and for several years her home has been in Springfield, Ohio, where the sons are connected with railroads, and the husband is an active church officer. The sons James, Cyrus and Edwin, and the daughter, Sarah, died young or unmarried. Cynthia married Dr. H. E. Morrill, and her home was in Brooklyn, New York, where an only daughter survives her, and who is now the wife of Dr. Hugh Smith. The son, Henry, became a physician and surgeon, and acted as such during the late war, in the Seventy-ninth regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, which was with General Sherman during that wonderful march through the South, which virtually brought the war to anend. His widow survives him and one son, Willie Carson. The doctor, after'the close of the war, practised medicine in Columbia for several years, and his office was within gunshot almost. of the old Spencer house, in which his grandmother and father spent the winter of 1806-7.

Harriet, born July 25, 1825, still living in Springfield, Ohio; Cyrus Stebbins, born January 5, 1828, died February 1, 1864; John Phelps, born December 8, 18209, living in Linwood, Ohio; Elam Chester, born March 31, 1832, living in Linwood, Ohio; Edwin Mattoon, born December 20, 1834, died July 26, 1847; Henry Archer, born May 28, 1839, died May 13, 1876.

John P. Langdon married, for his first wife, Mary Williams, May, 1855, and James W., a son by this marriage, is living, and married to Lida Durham, and occupies part of the father's farm. John P.'s second marriage took place in April, 1861, to Keturah Nash, and the couple still occupy the homestead place, and the old father lives with them.

Elam C.'s first wife was Cynthia Allen, of New York State. She died in December, 1868, leaving two girls. His second wife was Martha F. Nash (whose sister married'as above), a native of the old Columbia township. Two children have been born to them, one living only.

Its Erection

The need of a new township, to be carved from the northern part of the originally great Cincinnati township, was not felt with any pressure or made necessary by the pushing of settlement up the Miami purchase, until after Wayne's victory in 1794. 'This greatly stimulated removal from the hamlets along the river to the rural districts and invited rapid immigration from abroad. The next year the court of general quarter sessions of the peace for Hamilton county answered a demand of the growing settlements and somewhat numerous stations up the Mill Creek valley fora new municipality. Springfield township was accordingly created, to begin at a point in the meridian bounding the east side of township three, in the first entire range, two miles south of the southeast corner of said township three (that is, the present corner of Springfield township); thence north two miles to said southeast corner of township three; thence east two miles to the meridian; thence north six miles to the northern line of the entire range one; thence west to the east boundary of Colerain, which was then as now; thence south along Colerain and South Bend town- . ships eight miles; thence east to the place of beginning.

This boundary deprived Springfield of its present range of sections on the north, in range two, township two; but south of the south line of that range gave two tiers of sections - twelve in all, to the present south line of Sycamore, also the ranges of sections across what is now the north part of Mill Creek township. The western boundary of Springfield was the same as now, except that it began one mile south of its present beginning, and extended two miles further south than now. The old township contained just sixty sections.

In the general reconstruction of the townships of Hamilton county in 1803, Springfield suffered a change. It was now so bounded as to include the two western tiers of sections in township four, of the first entire range, which it had previously, but which are now in Sycamore township; the two sections next north of them in the second entire range, township three, also in Sycamore, which Springfield did not have before; the five eastern tiers of sections in township three, of the first entire range, all of which Springfield covered previously, but now lost the last tier on the west; one tier of sections immediately north of these, in range two, township two, which was a new acquisition of five sections to Springfigid; and the same amount on the south, from what is now Mill Creek, but was cnly five-twelfths of the former possession of Springfield in this direction. By these changes the township had not greatly altered its form, but had shrunk in size from sixty to fifty-four sections. Springfield now includes the whole of township three, in the first entire range, and the tier of sections next on the north, in township two, range two. It is thus, but for a somewhat broken line on the north, a regular parallelogram of uniform length, seven sections with Sycamore and Springfield townships, and of even width - six miles - with Mill Creek township. It contains forty-two sections, some of them being of less than full size, and so yielding altogether but twenty-five thousand eight hundred and ninety-six acres, and is, with the exception of Sycamore, which has the same number of sections but more acres, the largest township in the county. The south, east, and west boundary lines are run straight, with approximate exactness; the first section parallel from the south is also well run, as well as the meriadians in general; but the parallels proceeding from the second begin at once to break their regularity and soon become exceedingly uneven, growing more and more so to the north line of the township and county, which is here the most broken of any part of the county line, in places almost equaling the zigzags of a Virginia rail fence.

Springfield township is bounded on the north by Butler county, on the east by Sycamore township, south by Mill Creek township, west by Colerain. The southeast and eastern parts ot the township are in the Mill Creek valley, which pushes some way, in its breadth and picturesque effects, up the West fork, into the interior of the township. The remainder of Springfield has the general character of the Hamilton county plateau. The heads of the West fork of Mill creek are just across the south line of the township, in Mill Creek - one at College Hill, the other a mile and a half east, near the Winton pike. The stream, with its tributaries, thence winds through or touches at least twenty-six sections of this township, with the main waters of Mill creek, which, at the point where they leave the township west of Carthage, approaching within a mile anda quarter of one head of the West fork, from which source the creek is here distant, by the very involved courses of the streams, scarcely less than eighteen miles. The East and West forks unite in this township, about a mile 'north of the southeast corner, and flow two miles and a half to their exit from Springfield, a mile and two-thirds west of the corner. Some of the affluents of the East fork intersect the north part of the township, one of them stretching more than halfway across the northern tier of sections. In the northwest corner flow several of the headwaters of streams that

Great Miami at the northward. By all these the township is very abundantly watered, and has its surface broken into many varied and picturesque forms.

The Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad runs through the entire easternmost tier of sections, in a somewhat winding course of about eight miles. The Cincinnati & Springfield railroad, commonly known as the Dayton Short Line, almost bisects section No. 1, in the southeast corner, but does not elsewhere touch the township, except across a corner of the next section north. It has a course in Springfield of only about one and a half miles. The College Hill narrow-gauge railway now runs to a point half a mile west of Mt. Pleasant, entering from the south and having about two miles of track within the township. Another narrow-gauge line, called the Cincinnati, Avondale & Hamilton railroad, has been projected, to enter Springfield from the direction of Avondale, where it would form a junction with the Miami Valley (now Cincinnati & Northern), upon section No. 7, nearly half a mile west of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad, and run with a general parallelism to that line to Glendale, where it would strike to the northwest, leaving the township on section No. 19, two miles and a half from the northwest corner. This, however, is believed to be a dead project. The old Hamilton turnpike runs through the township almost on a due north and 'south line, through Mount Pleasant, one mile east of the Colerain line. The Hamilton, Springfield & Carthage turnpike, on the old military road, or Wayne's trace, strikes a bee line from Carthage, on the first meridian west of the Sycamore boundary througe Hartwell, Wyoming, and to Glendale, whence it diverges to the northwest, passing through Springdale to its exit from the county in the direction of Hamilton. The line due northward from the point of divergence is continued by the Princetown turnpike to the north county line. The Winton pike, and several other fine roads, also aid in the accommodation of the Springfield people. The Lebanon pike barely more than touches the southeast corner. The Miami canal also crosses that angle, but farther in the interior, striking diagonally, in a-course of about two miles, through sections Nos. 1 and 2, and passing the villages of Carthage, Hartwell, and Lockland. These with other villages named above, and also Springdale, are also the principal places in the township, although many others have been platted, particularly on the railway lines, as will appear near the close of this chapter. TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.

The first, nominated by the quarter sessions court, in 1795, were: John Ludlow, clerk; James Wallace, overseer of the poor; Henry Tucker, Jacob White, overseers of highways; Isaac Martin, John Vance, Luke Foster, viewers of enclosures and appraisers of damages.

Under the order of 1803, defining new boundaries for the township, the voters in Springfield were required to meet at the house of Jonathan Pittman, and elect three justices of the peace.

April 24, 1809, under the system then prevailing, Zebulon Foster and Joseph Jenkins were commissioned by the governor of the State as justices of the peace for the township of Springfield, each to hold his office for the term of three years.

Historical Notes

It is noted that by 1810 Springfield had already a population of about fifty-eight to the square mile. It had a total number of seven thousand nine hundred and seventy-nine inhabitants by the census of 1880.

In the Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette, of Cincinnati - the number for July 9, 1800 - William Ludlow advertises his farm in Springfield township, of thirty to forty acres, for sale, and offers to take a brood-mare for part pay. Farming property, evidently, was cheap in those days.

The Mound Builders left some remains of interest in this township, although none great in extent. A fine old mound, of considerable size, near the Station spring, was destroyed many years ago, in grading for a turnpike. Mr. Olden says:

In cutting through it the earth presented the appearance of having been deposited from vessels little larger than a peck measure, as small heaps of that size and of eutirely different kinds of earth were found deposited or thrown promiscuously together, showing that the builders of the work had no knowledge of the domestication or-use of the lower animals, and that all their great works were constructed entirely by human hands.

Another, said by Mr. Olden to correspond pretty nearly in size to this, still stands on the Maynard French farm, section eleven, southwest of Glendale. He says:

It is seventy-three feet in diameter north and south, and sixty-three feet east and west at the base, with an altitude of eight feet. It is covered with forest trees, oak and ash, some of which are more than twenty inches in diameter. Some persons in digging into it years ago left two uneven and ill-looking depressions, which mar the appearance of this otherwise beautiful little mound.

A smaller mound, of about forty feet in base-diameter and six feet high, is found on section four, upon the Noah Bab's place. Several others exist upon-the estate of Mr. John L. Riddle, in the northwest part of the township, and some elsewhere in Springfield, but none of so marked a character as to call for further description. We do not learn that any enclosures or fortified works have ever been discovered in the township.

The Beginnings Of Settlement

In 1792, Mr. Henry Tucker, who had come from New Jersey to Columbia the same year with his relative, John Tucker; Henry Weaver, who came to the same place

Foster, Jonathan Pittman and James McCasken, formed a company to push up the valley of Mill creek, establish a station and improve.a farm. They found a suitable tract on what is now section four of this township, on the west branch of Mill creek, a little below Glendale, half a mile north of the site of the well-known tavern, afterwards kept by Mr. Pittman, and about as far east of the tracks of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad. 'The site known as Foster's Hill transmits the memory of their occupation here. It was then on the military trace cut through between Forts Washington and Hamilton. East of this, and at a point about a mile and a half northwest of the present Lochland, the party began the erection of a block-house. Mr. Olden says: 'The old station-house stood on the east side of the road, immediately opposite the late residence of Manning Tucker, now owned by Mr. Horace Bugher." The farm owned by Mr. Bugher is identical, in part, with the location made by the Tuckers and their company. Cabins were also commenced; but the settlement, although unmolested by the Indians, was presently disturbed by a dissension between Henry Tucker and Luke Foster, the former alleging that Foster, in making the lines of his own division (for the settlers were not to hold in common), had encroached upon the site Tucker had selected for his home. The trouble was serious, and the complainant, unable to obtain satisfaction, seceded from the colony and returned to Columbia. During the winter of 1793-4, however, the difficulty was composed, Luke Foster accepting an offer of ten acres in the southwest corner of the section, and Zebulon Foster five acres next north of it, as compensation for their improvements made on section four. This was now divided again between the two Tuckers and Pittman, while the Fosters, with Weaver and McCashen, and two new men named James Seaward and Ziba Wingent, agreed to settle on sections nine and ten, next on the west and southwest. Under this arrangement Henry Tucker, with the rest, who had also returned to Columbia on the advice of Captain Wells, an experienced Indian fighter, to await the advent of Wayne's army, went out again in the spring of 1794 and recommenced their improvements.

Henry Tucker's son, the Manning R. Tucker mentioned above, resided long after upon the tract, and the place continued to be known as Tucker's station, being mentioned by that name in the notes of early travellers, and in other accounts. But the new station-house, made necessary by the division of the original party into the settlements, thus calling for a location central and convenient to both, was called

Pleasant Valley Station

It took its name from the beafitiful grove in picturesque surroundings, amid which it was situated. A spring near still bears the name of "Station spring," and traditionally marks the site as on the line between sections four and ten, on the west bank of Mill creek, and directly on the present Hamilton turnpike, near Woodlawn station. Late in the fall, about two months after Wayne had marched his protecting and avenging "legion" northward, the station-house and cabins being sufficiently near completion, the settlers felt it safe to remove their families to the station. Mr. Olden says:

Neither Tucker's nor Pleasant Valley stations suffered any serious trouble with the Indians. No murders or other depredations were committed, and, save one single incident, nothing occurred to cause alarm or apprehension of danger. The event referred to happened one morning during the winter of 1793-4. Mr. James Seward, while down at the spring getting water, heard what he supposed to be turkeys calling some distance beyond the creek, and on going into the station-house spoke to a Mr. Mahan, who had been about the station

"Several days, saying: 'If you would like to have a turkey, Mahan, I think you can get one if you hurry out. I heard them calling over on the hill." Mahan at once caught up his gun and started in the direction pointed out by Seaward. He had gone but a short distance when he heard the peculiar calling of turkeys, and followed on in the direction until he was led away near a mile from the station, when suddenly a large Indian stepped from behind a tree not more than twenty yards from him, and said in broken English, ''How do?" At the same time he saw a gun pointing towards him from a cluster of spice bushes. The surprise was so great and sudden that he dropped his gun and ran with superhuman speed for the station, followed closely by the Indians. They no doubt intended capturing him without alarming the settlement, and therefore did not fire upon and kill him at once, as they could easily have done. He outstripped his pursuers and reached the station, but so overcome that his eyes were protruding and bloodshot. He swooned from exhaustion, and lay for an haur or more in a complete stupor. When reaction came a fever set in, and for several days his life was despaired of.

Mr. Henry Weaver, of this settlement, was appointed by Governor St. Clair; in 1794, one of the justices of the peace for Hamilton county, with a very large jurisdiction, in point of territory, considering the extent of the country at that time. He pushed further to the northward after the treaty of Greenville, settling near the present Middletown, in Butler county, and afterwards on Elk creek, Madison township, where he lived the rest of his days, filling honorably, a part of the time, the post of associate judge of the court of common pleas, and many lesser offices.

the patriot who made the offer of a hundred bushels of corn to relieve the garrison at Fort Washington in 1789, as is related elsewhere. He remained with the Pleasant Valley settlement; also became an associate judge of the court of common pleas, and was killed August 28, 1857, at the great age of eighty-eight years, by a gravel train on the Cincinnati Hamilton & Dayton railroad, which passed through his farm.

Fortified Stations

The territory now covered by Springfield township included a greater number of these than any other tract of equal size in the county. The vigorous pushing of enterprising colonists up the Mill Creek valley, while the necessity for special protection against Indian attacks still existed, sufficiently accounts for this. The most important of these simple fortifications was probably

1. White's Station. - This was formed under the leadership of Captain Jacob White, of Redstone, Pennsylvania, by a number of families, among the heads of whom were Messrs. David Flinn, Andrew and Moses Pryor, Andrew Goble, and Lewis Winans. The exact date is unknown. Local traditions fix the year as 1790; but as Captain White did not locate his land until July 23, 1792, it is believed that he did not go upon it with his settlement until after that date. His location was upon section one in this township, and the block-house was built near the present canal aqueduct, northeast of Carthage, on the southeast bank of Mill creek, at what was then called "the third crossing." Mr. Olden says: "Jts particular location, as near as can be described, was where the ice-pond now is, northeast of Carthage." The block-house was a small and feeble defence, and was occupied by White's family alone. Goble and Flinn built cabins for their families near, and a heavy, rough logfence surrounded all the buildings. It was made, however, rather to turn cattle and hogs, then for protection against Indians.

Mr. Thomas M. Dill, of Carthage, in a narative prepared for the History of Mill Creek Township, gives the following description of this humble fortification:

The station stood on the south bank of Mill creek, where the Cincinnati & Springfield railroad bridge now crosses. It was a strong doubled log structure, with a middle hall through between the inner apatments, in the upper projecting stories of which were holes through which to hre. Barricade doors effectually barred all entrance from without, while a palisade strengthened an outer enclosure, into which horses were placed in time of danger. The creek prevented approach from the north and northeast, the bank here being high, and the ford below being within range of the guns in the station. The front of the block-house was towards the southeast, fifty yards from which, along the edge of the bottom, ran a low fence, extending from the great road on the west around east a:id north to the bank of the creek, where the Miami aqueduct now stands. On the bank of the creek, above and below the station-house, were the cabins of Andrew Goble and Mr, Flinn, with whom lived his sons, Stephen and Benjamin. On the north side of the creek were the houses of Andrew Pryor, John S. Wallace, and Mr. Winans, and that of Mrs. Moses Pryor, whose husband was killed the year before in the well. - including what are now the county infirmary firm, and his residence, in his lifetime, was more distant from the station, as was that of Mr. John Reily, a school teacher from Columbia, who was on the northeast corner of section twelve, the original site of Carthage. Their history belongs to the annals of Mill Creek township.

The principal event at White's station, or elsewhere in the early history of Springfield township, was the desperate attack made by a party of Indians upon the station on the evening of October, 1793, closely following the defeat of an escort to one of Wayne's wagon-trains, a few miles north of Fort St. Clair. The station had been warned of the disaster, and probable consequent danger to it, by a courier from Wayne on the morning of the same day. Mr. Olden thus tells the sad story:

Many traditionary accounts have been handed down through the families then belonging to the station concerning the events about to be related, differing, as might be expected, as to the details; but the principal facts are well substantiated, and may be relied upon as true.

The whole male force about the station at the time consisted of seven men and a boy, viz.: Captain Jacob White, Andrew Goble, David Flinn and _ his two sons Stephen and Benjamin, both full-grown men, Andrew Pryor, Lewis Winans, and Providence, the son of Captain White, then but ten years of age. John S. Wallace, who resided in a cabin on the north bank of the creek, was at the time on a visit with his family at Cincinnati. The widow of Moses Pryor, with her three children, was residing in the family of her brother-in-law, Andrew Pryor, opposite the station, as before stated.

About five o'clock in the evening the dogs belonging to the station kept up a continuous barking on the hill, not far from the present residence of William R. Morris. Andrew Goble, supposing the dogs had treed a coon, proposed to go into the woods and get it; but Captain White, thinking it possible that there were Indians about, forbade any one going out. Goble, however, persisted, and finally went alone. He had gone but a few hundred yards from the station when he was fired upon and fell, pierced, as it was afterwards discovered, by a number of balls. 'The Indians then emerged from their cover (some say behind the second bank of the creek ; others assert that they were concealed in the little ravine south of where Mr. Morris' residence now stands). They came down the hill with their accustomed war-whoop, and as they approached the station they observed Mrs. Pryor's little girl, a child of little more than four years old, playing upon the opposite bank of the creek. They at once fired upon it, and it fell mortally wounded. The mother, who and her three children were then the only occupants of the cabins on the north side of the creek - all the other inmates having gone over to the station on a visit - heard the firing, and went to the door of the cabin just in time to witness the fatal shot that struck her child. Her second child, a boy between two and three yeaas old, being sick, she was holding him in her arms, while her babe was lying asleep in the cradle, On seeing her little girl fall she put down the boy and went out, under the fire of the Indians, and bore the child into the house, only, however, to find it silent in death.

The savages then opened fire upon the little block-house, which was promptly returned, and the crack of the rifle was incessant for some half-hour. There were a number of surplus guns in the station, and the women were kept busy loading, while the men were thus enabled to keep up an almost constant fire, making their number appear much greater." Captain White ordered the women to place his hat upon a pole and run it through the roof of the block-house. This ruse was quite successful for a time in drawing the fire of the enemy.

The Indians, who numbered about thirty, and up to this time were sheltered behind trees at some distance away, now came down the hill upon the station with furious yells, as if to carry it by storm. They were led on by a large and powerful chief, who approached the blockhouse and, while in the act of scaling the fence, received a fatal shot and fell within the enclosure. The rest of the band, seeing their leader fall, retreated back into the woods, where they kept up an occasional fire for an hour or more, and then withdrew and were heard of no more.

In the early part of the engagement several Indians detached themselves from the main body, and, crossing the creek some distance above came down in the rear of the three cabins on the opposite bank from the station, in one of which Mrs. Pryor and her children resided. On finding her little girl dead beyond hope, Mrs. Pryor became so distressed over her bereavement that for a time she lost sight of all danger and gave herself up to grief. But the peril was too imminent to allow much time for sorrow. On going to the door of the cabin she saw an Indian approaching but a few hundred yards away, and once her mind reverted to her surviving children. Her first thought was to grasp both and fly for safety, but a second glance at the Indian warned her that time was precious, and, with a gleam of hope that the savage might spare her babe, she caugh up the sick boy and ran with all speed for the station, with the Indian in full pursuit. Without any regard to road or ford, she took the most direct course to the block-house, and.on coming to the creek sprang into the water up to her waist, crossed the stream, and reached the station in safety, where she was compelled to remain in her wet garments during the night.*

Soon after the attack began Andrew Pryor was dispatched to Fort Washington for aid. He reached the fort about midnight, and obtained ten dragoons, each bearing an infantryman behind his saddle, who hastened to the relief of the little station, which they reached about daylight, but found that the Indians had left during the night.

On going to the cabins over the way it was discovered that the savages had taken Mrs. Pryor's babe from the cradle and dashed out its brains against a stump near the cabin door, where its body was found. They had entered all three of the cabins, ripped open the feather beds, turned out the feathers, and filled the ticks with clothing, coverlets, blankets, household goods and other valuables, and carried all away. The soldiers followed the trail for several miles but failed to overtake them.

Some additional particulars of interest and value are supplied by Mr. Dill's relative, which we subjoin in full, notwithstanding some slight and unimportant discrepancies with Mr. Olden's account:

Of the White family it appears that only Captain Jacob White and his son, Providence, a boy of twelve, together with the female portion of the family, were at home on that day. John S. Wallace and wife were away at Cincinnati; so that but six men aid a boy comprised the strength of the station. During the day the dogs, in the woods east of the station, had barked a good deal, and Andrew Goble, thinking they had treed a coon, started out about sunset, saying he would have the coon, ''Indians or no Indians." The Indians were in the ravine, which ran towards the station on the north side of the graveyard, and along the hilltop (near the aqueduct) overlooking the cabins of Pryor, Winans, and Wallace. On nearing the woods, where the dogs had been noticed barking, Andrew Goble was fired upon by the Indians, and fell, with eight balls through him. The Indians above, on the bluff, immediately fired across the creek, killing one of the Widow Pryor's children. The other child ran for its mother, at Andrew Pryor's. The mother ran to the child, which was shot before her eyes, and with the other endeavored to reach the cabin. A second volley from the Indians on the bluft struck the other child, and when Mrs. Pryor entered the cabin both children were dead in her arms. It was supposed by Captain White and those in the station that it was one of his own children that was first shot, until some time after the attack, when the little ones came out from under the bed, where they had taken refuge from the balls of the enemy.

Fire was opened effectively upon every Indian who exposed himself, from the cabins of Pryor and Winans, over the creek, and from the rifles of Captain White and the Flinns, in the station. The women put the children under the beds, and, themselves being protected by the strength of the lower rooms and the bullet proof palisades outside, assisted in loading the guns and passing them up to White and the Flinns

* Mrs. Pryor was married in 1794 to Samnel Dunn, and immediately returned to the improvements made by her former husband, on what is now the county infirmary farm. There she and her husband resided for many years and raised a family of six children. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Willis, and was a native of New Jersey. She died on the second day of January, 1843, in the seventy-fourth year of her age, and was buried in the old Baptist burying-ground at Duck creek. The late Jeremiah Dunn, who resided north of Lockland, was her eldest son.

t Mrs. Pryor was thus trebly bereaved by the Indian marauders. Her husband had been killed by the Indians at Pleasant run near Fort Hamilton, while engaged in conducting pack-trains for the army, above, who, firing rapidly from under the roof, not only did considerable execution, but impressed the savages with the belief that the post contained a greater force than it did.

About dark, and after the firing hgd continued sharply for over an hour, the Indians prepared to charge on the station and break their way through; but the deadly fire from well directed rifles caused them to hesitate. The chief was recognized by his great stature, his orders, and his dodging continually from tree to tree, working his way towards the fence which extended across the cleared yard, sixty yards from the station. At last he issued his last command, and with a whoop started in advance of the rest to clear the fence. He reached the top of it, when White's rifle cracked, and the Indian fell heavily within the enclosure, dead. The attacking party kept under cover of the trees and the banks of the ravine until darkness prevented further hope of success. No sooner had darkness made it impossible to see the rifle-sights, than those of the Whites beyond the creek came over with their families into the station. Andrew Pryor immediately mounted a horse and started - most probably by way of Ludlow's station - to Cincinnati for aid. He, with Colonel Wallace and twenty men, got to the station before daylight on the twentieth, but found the Indians had withdrawn.

Providence White, the boy, long afterwards related that his father, Captain White, ''switched one of the horses well to make him lively, and as soon as it was dark put him on the horse's back and started him out of the station gate, telling him to whoop at the brow of the hill, to let them know he was still safe on the horse's back, and go quick for help." The boy went, taking the road or trace in the direction of Bonnell's run, Duck creek, and thence to Columbia. The Indians fired at the horse and rider, in the darkness, but did no injury other than to scalp one of Provy's big toes.

It has been frequently stated in print that in this attack on White's station the Indians left but one dead - the chief, who was too heavy to be carried off under fire of the station; but this is incorrect. Twentyfive years ago William D. Ludlow stated to the writer of this narrative that he was at White's soon after the occurrence, and saw some of the dead Indians within a half-mile of the station. They were covered but slightly with earth, stalks, and weeds; the weather was warm and their bodies were much swollen, and one of them had on a sort of cotton shirt, and by his side a new rifle. His head was pillowed on the root of a tree, and on his bosom was tipped up a piece of looking-glass, re- Some years ago some laborers in the vicinity of this site disinterred the parts of several skeletons; and these were, most probably, the remains of the Indians who fell in the attack.

2, Griffin's Station. - This was but about half a mile west of White's, and was probably established in the fall of 1793, or soon afterwards. Lieutenant Daniel Griffin, upon a land warrant, July 23, 1792, entered the. entire section: seven, now in this township, and some time after sold three hundred and forty-eight acres of it to James Caldwell. James was one of the sons (the other being Samuel) of Robert Caldwell, who were all among the earliest settlers about this station, together with Robert Griffin, Daniel and Jacob Vorhis, James McCashen, and Daniel Seward. Their main station building was on the present Hamilton, Springfield and Carthage turnpike, where it crosses Mill creek southwest of Hartwell. It seems to have had no particular history. The cabins of the Griffin and Vorhis brothers, and that of Robert Caldwell, were on the south side of the stream; those of Daniel Seward and James McCashen on the north. Seward's is said to have been near the present dwelling of Mr. Cormany, in Hartwell ; McCashen's at the intersection of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad and the turnpike. John Winans is also known to have been an early immigrant near the station, but just where he located is uncertain. A little way below it the Caldwells early built a saw- and grist-mill, with which a little distillery was afterwards connected. Their business was

Luke Foster was born on Long Island in the year 1761, and came to Hamilton county in 1788, where he first made settlement of the farm now occupied by the widow of Algernon Foster. His occupation was that of a farmer, although for a time he served as judge: of the court of common pleas of Hamilton county. As he prospered he kept constantly adding to his first purchase, until he became finally one of the most prominent land holders in the county. He died at the advanced age of ninetyfour, being run over by the cars. His companion died nine years previously, and they both are buried near each other in the cemetery at Reading. Further notices of this veteran pioneer appear elsewhere.

Algernon Sidney Foster, the subject of the following sketch, was born in the-year 1805, on the farm now occupied by his widow, at the age of sixty-one. -He married Miss Laura T. Rudebock, a native of New Jersey. At about the age of twenty-three he graduated at Oxford school, and afterwards sought the legal profession as his choice, but owing to the indisposition of his parents to have him from home, he was compelled to yield to their wishes, and ever after followed the occupation of farming. He was a gentleman of remarkable ability and intelligence, esteemed and respected wherever known. He was an industrious and hard-working man, although highly cultivated and refined. He died in the year 1880, after having lived a life of usefulness. He left a companion who was ever ready to share alike with him all the cares and disappointments that are so common in life, and his loss to her was irreparable. His remains were interred in the Spring Grove cemetery. Few are they whose names may grace the pages of this volume that were so well worthy as Algernon Foster.

Among the first white children born in Hamilton county was one Daniel Cameron, who was born in the year 1786(?). Immediately after attaining his majority he married Miss Sarah S. Haines, daughter of an early pioneer of the county. He and his family experienced all the bitterness and privations of real pioneer life. To Mr. and Mrs. Cameron were born six children: Robert H., Daniel, James H., Caroline, and Betsey. The surviving children of this family are Betsey, and Daniel, who was born in the year 1832. His business has been that of farming. He married, in the year 1858, Miss Maria Moore. 'Seven children have been given them: Watson, Allie, Daniel, George B. McClellan, Clara, and two dying in infancy unnamed. Mr. Cameron is one of the industrious citizens of the township, and is pleasantly situated on a farm of one hundred and sixteen acres - the old Haines homestead.

Benjamin Perlee was born in the year 1769, in New Jersey. From this State he removed to Cincinnati in 1795. He lived till the year 1845, when he died at his home in Springfield township. His first business was that of tailoring, but he subsequently became a farmer. Mary Peterson, his wife, was born in 1770, and died in

1852. Peter and John are the only surviving children; the latter is now living on the old homestead. On this farm his father made settlement in the year 1795 or 1796. It was there in the woods, with no improvements whatever, John Perlee was born in 1811. In 1835 he was married to Miss Maria Pearson. They have had five children: Caroline, Martha J., Benjamin, Peter, and Eugene; all have died excepting Caroline and Benjamin. Mr. and Mrs. Perlee are both members of the Presbyterian church, to which they have given material aid, as well as sustaining it by their active Christian lives.

Dominicus Vandyke was born in New Jersey in the year 1779. In 1795 or 1796 he emigrated to Ohio, where he settled in Springfield township, on which place he died in 1814. By trade he was a carpenter and cabinetmakér. Mary,- his wife, was born in 1786, and died in 1876. There are now living only Mary Ann, who resides in Washington, Indiana, and William, the oldest son and subject of the following sketch. He was born in Springfield township in the year 1809. His father died when he was but five years of age, leaving him to fight the battle of life alone. At the age of fourteen he went as an apprentice to Cincinnati to learn the trade of harnessmaker and saddler. In the year 1832 he came to Springfield and established himself in business here. He industriously and_ successfully pursued his occupation for a period of about forty years. He was married in the year 1834-to Miss Martha A. Sentny, and to them were born three children: Mary F., Charles H., and one that died unnamed. Mr. Vandyke has always been one of the business men of Springfield; a citizen respected and esteemed. This worthy couple are now living a quiet anq_ retired life, and are both remarkably well preserved for their years.

William McGilliard, the fourth son of John and Elizabeth McGilliard, of whom a sketch is given elsewhere, was born in Springfield township in the year 1819. He resided with his parents until the time of his marriage, in 1839, to Miss Rebecca Cregar. Eight children have been born - four sons and four daughters: Emeline, John, Hattie, George, Edward, Stanley, Laura, and Ida May. Emeline, Hattie, and George are not now living. Mr. McGilliard is one of the most enterprising farmers of his township and county. He served in the capacity of trustee of the township for thirteen years. He and

James Moore was born in Pennsylvania, York county, in the year 1768. In 1796 he settled in Springfield township. At various times he served as school teacher, land surveyor, and justice of the peace. His regular business, however, was that of a farmer. His wife, Jane Moore, was born in 1771, and died in 1855. Those now alive of the original family are David, residing in Springfield township, and Robert W. The father died at his home in the year 1829. Robert was born in 1803, and now owns and occupies his father's place. In 1832 he was married to Damaris Whallon. They have had nine children - six sons and three daughters: James W., William, Thomas W., Sarah Jane, Robert W., Hat- tie A., Frank, Allen J.,and Lucy B. Sarah, Robert, Hattie, and Frank, are not living. Mr. Moore and his wife have both been members of a Christian church for a long time, and are zealous supporters of the faith they profess. Mr. Moore has almost reached his four-score years, and but for an injury sustained from a fall in 1878, would have probably survived many years longer. James W. and Allen reside at home superintending the farm and caring for their aged parents in their declining years. James has been married to Miss Elizabeth Field, Thomas to Miss Phoebe A. Roll, and William to Miss Lucretia Hoel.

Jacob R. Compton was born in New Jersey, in 1760 In 1796 he made his first settlement in Columbia town. ship, having emigrated into Ohio from Kentucky. His business was that of a cooper, at one time, and afterward that of a farmer. He died in 1821 at his home in Columbia township. Ermina Compton, his wife, was born in 1760 and died in 1840. Abraham, who was born in 1796, in the State of Kentucky, came with his parents to Hamilton county, with whom he remained till the year 1812, when, a lad of eighteen, he enlisted in the army. Unhurt, he returned to his home, crowned with all the honor our gallant sons justly received. He was married at the age of twenty, to Abigai! Philips, by whom he had thirteen children - five sons and eight daughters. Oliver died from disease in the war of 1861; Freeman, Alfred, John A. (killed in the Mexican war), Spencer (now deceased), Catharine, Emma (also deceased), Sarah, Elvira and Hetty (both deceased), Hannah, and one dying in infancy unnamed. Mr. Compton isa gentleman remarkable for his memory. His business has been that of a farmer and carpenter, which he has industriously pursued for almost three-quarters of a century. He and his wife are and have been active members of the Baptist church for many years.

James Carnahan was born in the year 1773, in the State of Pennsylvania. From this State he emigrated to Springfield township in 1797, or 1798. By occupation he was a farmer during the greater part of his life, but at one time worked as a teamster, and at another time helped in the first pottery in that part of the country.

'His wife's name was Jane Piatt. He died in the year 1848. Of his family remain Mary, Hubbell; Jane, who is still unmarried, and resides at Walnut Hills; and William, the only male representative. He was born on the old homestead, in Springfield township, in 1804. In early life he worked in a pottery, which he afterwards gave up, as it impaired his health. He then followed the grocery business for almost half a century in New Burlington. He married, in the year 1829, Miss Maria L. Davis, of Warren county. To them were born nine children - G. A., Allen W., Piatt, James L., William, Catharine J., Amanda, Evaline, and Mary A. William, Mary and Eyaline are not living. Both Mr. and Mrs. Carnahan are members of the Disciple church, and have always been accounted among its best supporters. He and his companion are living - she at the age of seventy-nine, and be in his seventy-sixth year. He is postmaster at New Burlington (transit post office), at the present time,

Aaron Lané was born in the State of New Jersey, in the year 1763, January 2d. In 1797 or 1798 he, with his family, came to Hamilton county, and first made permanent settlement in Springfield, in the forest. "His earnest determinations were to conquer, and the mighty oaks soon yielded to his strong arm, and waving fields of grain told that his intentions had been fully executed. He lost his companion in the year 1800. He was married again to Miss Elizabeth Carnahan, daughter of an early pioneer family. To Mr. and Mrs. Lane were born six children, two sons and four daughters. Their names are: William, Sarah, Abigail, Jane, Hannah, and Garrett. Those dead are: Sarah, Abigail, and Hannah. Our subject departed this life in the year 1845, after passing his four-score years, his companion surviving him until the year 1855, and they both lie buried side by side, in the little burial-ground at New Burlington. Garrett, the only surviving member of this once happy household, residing within the State, was born in the year 1816, in Springfield township, on the old Lane homestead, which he now owns and occupies. He was married, at the age of thirty-one, to Miss Hannah Gantz. The fruit of this union was two children, one son and one daughter, Willie and Mary. Both died in early childhood. The parents are now left alone, and are living in a beautiful and comfortable home near New Burlington. He is one of the prominent and highly respected citizens of the community in which he lives.

John M. Wright settled in Cincinnati in 1798. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, emigrated from the District of Columbia into Ohio, and died at his home in Mount Pleasant. He had a part in the War of 1812, and was a school teacher while in Cincinnati. His wife's name was The surviving members of the family are Joseph F., a resident of Mount Pleasant; Maria Louisa Laboyteaux, also a resident of Mount Pleasant; and F. C., the eldest son. The last mentioned was born in Cincinnati, October 16, 1813. He wag a cooper by trade, which he industriously pursued for a period of fifteen years. He married, in the year 1838, Miss Julia Laboyteaux, daughter of an old and important family. To them have been born seven children - five sons and two daughters: Alvin D., John, P. N., F. C., J. F., Mary, and Cornelia. Cornelia and John are not living. In the year 1848 our subject began the mercantile business in Mount Pleasant, and successfully conducted his business until the year 1873. He then retired, and his son, P. N., took possession and is now proprietor.

Henry Bolser was a German by birth, which event dates Some time prior to 1800 he emigrated to Hamilton county from the State of Pennsylvania. While in his native land he filled the office of high sherriff, his occupation here was that of farming. He died in 1821 at his home, four miles east of Reading. His wife, Mary Bolser, died the same year. Their children were George, Henry, Peter, John, Samuel, Joseph, Mary, Gustave, Elizabeth, and Katie - all now dead. George, the third son, was born in Pennsylvania, at Fredericktown, in 1765, and came with his parents to Hamil- ton county at an early date. Previous to coming to Ohio he married Miss Rebecca Honnell, by whom he had eleven children: George, John, Felty, Reason, Abram, Sally, Katie, Rebecca, Polly, Ann, and Elizabeth. All died but Reason, who resides in Montgomery county, Indiana, and Felty, who owns and lives on the old Bolser homestead. Felty was born in 1803, and remained with her parents until the time of his marriage, in 1822, to Miss Mary Anderson. They have had nine children: George, Susan, Alexander, Katie, John, Samuel, Sarah, Benjamin, and Mary (deceased). Mr. Bolser lost his wife in 1837. He was again married, to Miss Sarah Anderson, and five children were added to his family, three sons and two daughters: Anderson, Mary, Caroline, Lafayette, and Alonzo. Lafayette died, as did also his mother, in the year 1879. Mr. Bolser, by careful management and industry, is now in possession of a good property. He is not a church member but is well known as one who leads a moral life and brought up his family to love and do the right. His parents are now both dead, and are buried beside each other, in a little burial place on the old homestead.

Samuel Seward was born in the State of New Jersey. He married Miss Elsie Jentry, and to them were born ten children: Obediah, Ann, William, James, Samuel, Irwin, Elias, Eliza, Martin G., and Daniel. Those liying are Eliza Van Zant, Daniel, and Martin G. Mr. Seward came to Hamilton county previous to 1800. For many days they were obliged to remain in the blockhouse at Carthage, so numerous and savage were the Indians at that time. After their fears had somewhat subsided he and his family located on a tract of land situated on Winton road, near Mount Pleasant. He at once set about the clearing of his farm, which he gradually contiued to improve till to-day it is one of the finest farms in the county. His death occurred in 1819. The wife and mother survived him till the year 1843. .Martin G., the seventh son, was born in 1807 on the old Seward homestead. His occupation has been that of a farmer. In 1831 he married Miss Mary Hill. They had born to them nine children: Samuel, James Riley, Viola J., Mary, Hannah, George, Lizzie, William, and one who died in infancy. Samuel also died, after he had reached manhood. 'The family are pleasantly situated on a beautiful farm adjoining Mount Pleasant. Mr. and

The McCormick family were among the earliest pioneer families of Hamilton county, their settlement being about the year 1800 or prior to that time, but as to exact date there is no certainty. The eldest of the McCormicks were James and Mary. To them were born five children, three sons and two daughters: James, Robert, and John, Evaliza and Catharine. All have died but Evaliza. The immediate descendants of James, the eldest son, were three children, two sons and one daughter - John B., Mary, and Willian. The maiden name of his happy household are William, and John B., the subject of the following sketch, who was born in the year 1833. He resided with his parents until the time of their decease, caring for them and attending them in their declining years. He married, in the year 1868, Miss Elizabeth Randolph, and to them was born one son, Perry. Mr. McCormick is one of the prosperous and enterprising young farmers of the community, and comes of a quite prominent and highly respected family.

David Sprong, a farmer of Springfield township, at the age of thirty-seven settled in this part of the country as early as 1800. His birthplace was in the State of New York, whence he removed to Ohio. In 1842 he died at the place now owned by his son Cornelius. Louisa Tenney, his wife, was born in 1779 and died in 1851. Of the children, Solomon,, James, Ward, Stephen, David, John, and Jeremiah have died; Cornelius, Samuel, and Henry are still living. Cornelius, the subject of the following sketch, was born in this township in 1802. He made his home with his parents till the time of his marriage, in 1845, to Miss Ruth Perkins, She died shortly after, and the husband married, in 1852, Miss Parmelia D. McCosh, daughter of an important pioneer family. Two children were born of this marriage - Barney C., and Lois, who died in infancy. Mr. Sprong is a substantial farmer and a leading man in the township and county. He and his wife are zealous members of the New Light church. His parents have been dead for some time; they are buried at Finneytown. His only child, Barny, lives with his parents on the old homestead, superintending the farm and caring for his aged parents. He married Miss Delia Cummings. They have two children - Carl C., and Albert J.

James Whallon made his first settlement in Sycamore township in the year 1800. He was born in 1770 in New Jersey, from which State he emigrated into Ohio. He died at his home in Springfield township in 1849. He was by occupation a farmer; at one time served six years as justice of the peace, and was an active member of the army in the War of 1812. His wife, Ollie Whallon, was born in 1773 and died in 1847, two years before her husband's death. 'The surviving members of the family are Nancy Roll, Damaris Moore, Cynthia Stone, Thomas, and Benjamin, the fourth son and subject of the following sketch.

Benjamin Whalion was born in Sycamore township in 1807. He made his home with his parents until his marriage, in 1830, to Miss Eliza Moore, daughter of an early pioneer. Two years later his wife died, leaving an infant daughter, Eliza. In 1835 he married Sarah Stone, who became the mother of three children - Nancy, Elizabeth, and James. In 1843 his second wife died. In 1847 he was wedded to Margaret S. Griffin. The home in which he now lives with his family joins the old homestead where his father settled in 1811. The Presbyterian church has for a long time received his liberal support, his wife as well as himself being among its best members. It may be added as a matter of interest that Mr. Whallon has attended one church regularly fifty-eight years ; never received a whipping at home or at school (suggest-

William Pierson was born in the State of New Jersey in the year 1788. He came with his parents to Cincinnati in the year 1800. His trade was that of a brickmaker. He was married to Miss Huldah Pierson, who was born in 1791, and was the daughter of an early settler. To Mr. and Mrs. Pierson were born seven children - four sons and three daughters: Sinias, Mary Ann, Harriet, Emily, James, William, and John. John, Sinias, Mary Ann, and Harriet are now dead. Our subject died in the year 1866, surviving his companion thirty-four years. 'The only member of the family now residing within the county of Hamilton is William, the third son, who was born in the year 1832. His attention has principally been given to farming. He married, in the year 1852, Miss May E. Cooper. There have been born to them four sons and three daughters: George W., Laura H., Frank, William H., May, Estella, and Samuel (dedeased). Mr. Pierson is one of the first farmers of his township and county, and now owns and occupies the old Pierson homestead. He and his wife are devoted members of the United Brethren church, who supplement by their lives the faith they profess.

Benjamin Urmston was born in the State of Pennsylvania'in the year 1800, The same year he came with his father to Springfield township, where he remained for a short time, then moving to Butler, where they stayed until after his father's death, in 1821. In the year 1828 he married Miss Rebecca Kennedy, and to them were born five children, four sons and one daughter: Kennedy, Robert, Mary Jane, Benjamin, and Edmund. Kennedy and Mary Jane - the only daughter - are not living. In the year 1837 the family came again to Springfield, and resided here ever since. Both the parents are members af the Baptist church, and have always been among the supporters of the same. This worthy and aged couple now live at ease in a comfortable home at Mount Pleasant.

which he emigrated to Ohio early in his life. He was a " carpenter by trade, but afterwards became a farmer. The following are the names of the surviving members of the family: Abigail Davis, Phoebe, Rosebaum, John, and

William, the eldest son and subject of the following sketch. He was born in Springfield township, in a rude log cabin, without chimney or floor, in the year 1801, He resided with his parents until the time of his marriage, in the year 1822, to Miss Julia Ann May. 'To them were born six children, two sons and four daughters: Sarah Ann, Alexander, Emeline, Chamberlain, Maria, Delilah, and Amanda. Those not living are Sarah Ann, Emeline, and Chamberlain. Mr. Hoel lost his companion in the year 1854. He was married again in the year 1855, to Miss Mary Ann Huffman. The occupation of Mr. Hoel has been that of a farmer. He and his wife are both zealous members of the Presbyterian church. Grandfather and Grandmother Hoel are both dead, and lie buried in the Springdale cemetery.

John LaRue came to Springfield township December 16, 1802, He was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, in the year 1774, and moved from that State to Ohio. He served in the War of 1812, and was one of the guards stationed at Blennerhasset island. His wife was Catharine Lowe, who was born in the year 1781. The present survivors of the family are James L. LaRue, who residés two miles west of Lockland. He was twice married - first, in 1832, to Miss Elizabeth Simmons, and second, in 1838, to Miss Naomi B. Gardener, daughter of an old and prominent settler. The first wife bore him two children - Louisa, wife of Dr. A. B. Luce, of Carthage, and George, a prominent coal dealer of Lockland, who was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, losing his right arm in the service. He, returned to his native county and was elected, at the close of the war, auditor of Hamilton county. His mother died in 1837. The second wife became the mother of nine children. Those now living are Alexander, John, James M., Jacob, and Eliza. The' subject of this sketch has been an active business man for over half a century. He has occupied every position of honor and trust that an appreciative people could confer. He is now becoming an old man, but is strong in body, and in full possession of every faculty. During his life he has acquired a pleasant home and enough of this world's goods to make himself and wife comfortable as long as they shall live.

William McCash was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 15, 1783. He married Nancy Ann Dodson, of Greenbrier, Virginia, and to them were born eleven children, six sons and Ave daughters: Elenord D., Willliam D., Permelia D., Edward, Margaret, David, Cyn-

"thia, Serena, Luther, James and Caroline; Margaret, Edward, Luther, David and James are not living. The wife and mother died in 1869, the husband survived until the year 1874. They are buried at the Spring Grove cemetery. 'Their first settlement was in the year 1862, in Springfield township, on the Winton road. They settled inthe woods, with no improvement excepting a log cabin, and afterwards cleared up the farm. The old homestead is now owned by Mrs. Spring.