Dayton City (part 4 of 50)

Chapter Vii

Dayton Incorporated--Form of Government - Taxation to Pay Town Expenses Voted Down - New Settlers - Colonel Robert Petterson - McCullum's Tavern Virst Brick Building - Used as a Conrt Honse - Dayton Library Society - Tirst Great Piood - -Levees - Jonathan Harsbman - Licenses - lTerries - Cooper's New Plat of Dayton - Public Square in the Center of Third and Main Street Crossing - Brick Court House - First Brick Stores - Four Genoral Merchandise Stores - Country Produce Taken Instead of Cash - Difiiculty of the Trip East for Goods - Trouble in Collecting Debts - Mode of Bringing Merchandise to Dayton - Trains of Pack Hlorses - Dayton Academy- - John Folkerth - New Roads Opened - Miserable Condition of Roads - Tirst Brick Private Residence - Advertisements of Business Men in the Reperlory - Troop of Light Dragocns - Taverns - Dr, Welsh - Dr. Elliott - First Drug Store - Abram Darst - Revised Town Plat - Fourth of July, 1808 - Y¥irst Political Convention - Navigation of the Miami, 1S09-1S28 - -Keelboats Between Dayton and Lake Erie - Flatboating to New Orleans- - Fivst Book Published in Dayton - Fourth of July, 1810 - Oration by Joseph Hi. Crane - Militia Drill--Shakers Mobbed - Political Animosity- - -Two Public Dinners, Jaly 4, 1811 - Marthquakes - Prosperity of Town, 1812-1813.

"EBRUARY 12, 1805, the legislature incorporated the town of Dayton. } Lhe town government consisted of seven trustees, a collector, supervisor, and marshal, clected by free-holders, who had lived in Dayton six months. <A president, who acted as mayor, and a recorder were to be elect a treasurer who need not be a member of their board. The board of trustees was called "the select council of the town of Dayton." The first clection under the act of incorporation occurred on the first Monday in May, 1805.

Expenditures were authorized and voted at meetings of the freeholders and householders of the town till 1812-1814, when this section of the law was repealed. For ten years meetings of council were held at the houses of members. A fine of twenty-five cents was imposed on a councilman for being thirty minutes late. The act incorporating Dayton provided, "that such part of the township of Dayton, in the county of Montgomery, as is included within the following limits, that is to say, beginning on the banks of the Miami, where the sectional line between the second and third sections, fifth township and seventh range intersects the same, thence east with said line to the middle of Section 33, second township, seventh range; thence north two miles, thence west to the Miami; thence down the same to the place of beginning, shall be, and the same is hereby, erected into a town corporate, which shall henceforth be known and distinguished by the name and town of Dayton."

In 1805 the expenses of the town were seventy-two dollars, and the council proposed raising the amount by taxation. But at the meeting of voters called to decide the question, the proposition was defeated, thirteen voting in favor of taxation and seventeen against it. An ordinance was passed forbidding the running of hogs and other animals at large on the streets of the town, in September, 1806, but was not enforeed till the spring of 1807. A measure so far in advance of the times would not have been adopted but for the fact that few farms or town lots were . fenced, and horses, cattle, and hogs wandered about without restraint of any kind.

A large number of valuable citizens, principally from New Jersey, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the Ohio company's settlements in Washington County, were added to the population in from 1804-1808. In 1804, Colonel Robert Patterson, famous as an Indian fighter, and as one of the founders of Cincinnati and Lexington, arrived from Kentucky. His biography will be given elsewhere in this history.

In 1805 McCullum's tavern, which, was the first. brick building erected in Dayton, was built on the southwest corner of Main and Second strects. Jt was two stories high, and was the best house in the village. <A bell in the belfry, on the Second Street side of the roof, called regular and transient boarders to meals. Breakfast was served before daylight. On the sign, after 1812, was painted a picture of the capture of the British frigate Guerriere by the American frigate Constitution. A highly colored engraving of this naval battle was a favorite ornament for Ohio parlors at that date.

About 1870 the house ceased to be used as a tavern, but by lowering the floors and other changes, the rooms were adapted for business. It was used as a business block till 1880, when it was torn down, and the Farmer's Insurance Building erected on the site.

The county court, for the fall term of 1805, was held at McCullum's tavern instead of, as formerly, at Newcom's, the commissioners having contracted with McCullum for the use of as much of his house, when completed, as would be needed for holding the courts. They paid him twenty-five dollars per annum.

March, 1805, is noted as the date of the first great flood that occurred here after the settlement of the town. John W. Van Cleve gave the following interesting account of this flood in an address on the "Settlement and Progress of Dayton," delivered before the Dayton Lyceum

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"In the spring of 1805 Dayton was inundated by an extraordinary rise of the river. Jn all ordinary freshets, the water used to pass through the prairie at the east side of the town, where the basin now is, but the flood of 1805 covered a great portion of the town itself. There were only two spots of dry land within the whole place. The water came out of the the east end of Old Market Street, in a stream which a horse could not cross without swimming, leaving an island between it and the mill. A sanoe could be floated at the intersection of First Street with St. Clair, and the first dry land was west of that point. The western extremity of that island was near the crossing of Main and First streets, from whence it bore down in a southern direction towards where the saw mill now stands, leaving a dry strip from a point on the south side of Main Cross Street, between Jefferson Street and the prairie, to the river bank at' theodhieads ormMain "Street." Almost the whole of "the land was under water, with the exception of those two islands, from the river to the hill which circles round south and east of town, from Mad River to the Miami. The water was probably aght feet deep in Main Street, at the court house, where the ground has since been raised several feet.

"Tn consequence of the flood, a considerable portion of the inhabitants became strongly disposed to abandon the present site of the town, and the proposition was made and urged very strenuously that lots should be laid off upon the plain upon the second rise on the southeast of the town, through which the Waynesville road passes, and that the inhabitants should take lots there in exchange for those which they owned upon the present plat, and thus remove the town to a mgher and more secure situation. 'The project, however, was defeated by the unyielding opposition of some of the citizens, and it was no doubt for the advantage and prosperity of the place that it was.

"Sometime afterwards a levee was raised across the low ground at the grist mill, to prevent the passage of the water through the prairie in freshets; but not being built with sufficient strength and elevation, the floods rose over it and washed it away several times, until at length it was made high and strong cnough to resist the greatest rises of water that have occurred since 1805, although one like the one of that year would still pass over it. The last time it was washed away was in August, 1814."

At an early day a levee was built by Silas Broadwell to protect the western part of the town from the overflow of the annual freshets. The levee began at Wilkinson Street, and ran west a considerable distance

Silas Broadwell crt ise m a ane of the levee in payment for building and keepimg it in repair. In the summer of 1805, Jonathan Harshman, one of the earliest

County, Maryland, and purehased a farm five miles from town. He was for many years profitably engaged in farming, milling, and distilling, and roade a large fortune. He also had a store in Dayton, in partnership with John Rench. They traded for country produce, which they sent down the river to Cincinnati and New Orleans. In 1825 he was elected a member of the Ohio legislature. In 1545 he was elected president of the Dayton bank and served till his death, March 31, 1850.

February 18, 1808, he married ae Rok. daughter of John Rench. His wife died December 5, 1839. -They had eight children, all of whom married and settled in this neighborhood. Hlzabeth married Israel Huston; Catharine married Valentine Winters; Jonathan married Abigail Hivling; Mary married George Gorman; Joseph married Caroline Protzman; George W. married Ann Virginia Rohrer; Susannah married Daniel Beckel; Reuben married Mary Protzman, The sons were largely engaged in business, and the husbands of the daughters became wealthy and prominent citizens.

John Rench, the brother-in-law and partner of Jonathan Harshman, was for many years one of the most active and enterprising business men - of Dayton, and did much to promote the prosperity of the town. His descendants are numerous in Dayton and ighly respected.

Ferry rates were fixed by the county commissioners in June, 1805, as follows: For each loaded wagon and team, seventy-five cents; for each empty wagon and team, fifty cents; for cach two-wheel carriage, thirtyseven and a half cents; for each man and horse, twelve and a half cents; for each foot person, six and a quarter cents.

Doctors and lawyers were required to pay a license fee of three dollars each; taverns, nine dollars. The next year) ferry rates were advanced and licenses were increased one dollar. There were two ferries over the Miami at Dayton; one at the foot of First Street, at the old ford on the road to Salem, and another at the foot of Fourth Street, on the road to Germantown. The First Street Ferry was used till 1819, when a bridge was built.

In 1804 Mr. D.C. Cooper made a larger plat of Dayton than that of 1802; but though submitted for record on September 9th, it was not recorded until November 20, 1805. 'The plat of 1805 provided for a public square at the crossing at Main and' Third streets. The center of

Kg History Of Dayton

June, 1805, the om commissioners advertised in Cincinnati and Lexington, J<entucky, papers for proposals for building a brick court house at Dayton, fontyatind by thirty-cight feet in size, and two stories Ineh; ) February 3) 1806) the 'contract' was 'let. " Thotgh not finished, was occupied in the winter of 1807. It stood on the present court house lot instead 'of, as had been contemplated in Mr. Cooper's plat, in the center of the Main and Third Street crossing. It contained jury rooms in the second story and a court room on the first floor. In 1815 a cupola was added, in which in 1816 a bell was hung. Curwen says that the building, as first completed, was but of one story. It was removed about the year 1847. ; |

In 1806 D. C. Cooper built a briel store room on the northeast corner of Main and First streets, and entering into partnership with John Compton, opened a stock of goods there. The same year James Steele, who

.since November 12, 1805, had been in partnership in Dayton with Wilham McClure, built a brick store of two stories on the southeast corner of

Main and First streets. November 30, 1807, McClure and Steele dissolved partitership.'" Mr: ° Steele, on' the) 2d"or December, 1807, entered' into partnership with Joseph Peirce, and they continued the business of general merchandising together in "his new brick house, opposite John Compton's store,' till Mr. Peirce's' death, in 1822." This building remained without alteration till 1865, when it was removed, and Turner's opera house, which was burned in 1869, erected on the site. The bmlding of Cooper's and Steele's stores drew business from the river bank towards the center of town. Brown & Sutherland, and Hf. G. Phillips also had stores on Main Street.

The Dayton merchants kept a miscellaneous stock of articles, selling dry goods, groceries, medicines, stationery; almanacs, which were In great demand, books, queensware, glass, hardware, iron, uails, and castings. When cash payments could not be obtained, wheat, rye, corn-fed pork, corn, or other merchantable produce, "suitable for the Orleans market,' was taken in payment, if delivered in time for the spring trip south by flatboat. Mechanics were willing to receive sinular articles in payment for their Jabor, if delivered before the work was taken away from the shop. Until as late as 1840 all merchants kept bottles of wine and whisky on their counters, from which customers were expected to help themselves. Ilitching posts and feed boxes were always provided in front of the stores. | journey was usually made on horseback over rough, unimproved. roads and occupied a month. The streams were not bridged, and were diflicult especially during high water, to cross. '"'Is he a good swimmer?' Was a common question when a man was trying to sell a customer a horse.' 'The way occasionally lay for miles through uninhabited woods with no protection for horse or traveler in bad weather but the overhangino' branches: of) a, tree, iv which the rider, having secured his animal, sometimes climbed for the night,'or perhaps he took refuge under a fallen tree top. All travelers carried arms. Women and children, who emigrated to Ohio, or who visited the Hast at this period, usually traveled on horseback. Babies were sometimes "carried in a net swung round the father's neck and rested on the pommel of the saddle." A led horse sometimes carried the clothes of the traveler, but they were generally packed in saddle bags, which were swung across the back of his horse. Often the unbeaten bridle path at the western end of the journey was difficult to follow, as it was merely a narrow track marked by blazed trees. They frequently camped in the woods, often, fearing otherwise to . lose their bearings, close to the path. Vo keep off wild animals, fires were built at night, but what was a protection against one savage foe sometimes attracted the attention of roving bands of Indians, who were even more dangerous to encounter than panthers or wolves. Often the trip between Pittsburg and Cincinnati was made in a flatboat, and part of the journey was sometimes by wagon, but there were no public conveyances. Such appeals as the following, from merchants preparing to make the annual trip across the mountains, frequently appear in the Dayton tepertory: " - - expects to start to Philadelphia in a very few wecks, and will be-very much in want of cash. Any persons in his debt are called upon to make payment before the last day of March. He will stores was brought across the Alleghany mountains from Philadelphia to Pittsburg in huge Conestoga wagons drawn by horses, wearing red yokes hung with jingling bells to warn travelers through the narrow mountain passes of their approach. At Pittsburg the goods were loaded on flatboats, popularly known as broad horns, and floated down to Cincinnati, from whence they were usually poled up the Miami to Dayton in keel boats. They were often brought on pack horses, which was a quicker mode of transit than by water. It was a common sight to see these long "line teams,' often of a dozen horses tied together in single file, the ammunition, axe, and blanket. Phe game in the woods dafiplic' them with food. Men were stationed at each end of the file to take care of the leader and hind horse, keep the train going and watch over the goods. Sometimes the train was made up of loose horses taught by long experience and service to follow each other without being fastened together. At night during the journey up the valley, bells were attached to the necks of all the horses, and they were turned loose to graze till morning.

In July, 1806, Mr. Crane, of Lebanon, eudeavored to establish a newspaper here. After issuing a few numbers, he was attacked with ague, and, in consequence of this illness, abandoned his project and returned to Lebanon. No file of the paper has been preserved, and even its name is forgotten.

In 1807 the Dayton Academy was - Incorporated by the legislature. The corporators were James Welsh, Damel C. Cooper, Wilham MecClu George I. Tennery, John Folkerth, and James Hamer... ~W oe M. Smith was the first teacher. In 1808 a brick een house was built by subscription on the west side of St. Clair, near Third Strect. Mr. D. C. Cooper presented the bell and two lots. During the winter of 1807 and 1808 a debating club was formed. Its mectings and also spelling matches, which were very popular entertainments, were held in the school house for several winters.

John Folkerth, who was one of the incorporators of the academy, eame here from Baltimore among the earliest settlers. Soon after his arrival, he was elected magistrate, which position he held for more than forty years. In 1829, under the amended town charter, he was elected first mayor of Dayton. He was a man of sterling integrity, and a great reader of good books. He was one of the founders of the Dayton Library Association, the first library incorporated by the Ohio legislature. In the early history of the town, much the largest part of the deeds were drawn by him, and no doubt his distinet but peculiar chirography is familiar to many of our citizens. Quiet and unobtrusive in his manner, he was held in the highest esteem by those who knew him best. Four of his children are living in Dayton: Russell, who is engaged in business at the advanced age of eighty-three years; Mrs. Wilham Atkin, and Rebecca and Margaret.

March: 11,0 1807, by* thie omits of Miami County, Montgomery County was reduced to the territory now within both Montgomery and Preble counties.

Dayton Incorporated

deep wagon ruts, and were not much improved till 1839. <A bridle path was, in the winter of 1810-1811, contracted for and cut through from Dayton to Vincennes, a distance of two hundred imiles. The same winter the State Road, known as the "old corduroy road,' which was almost impassable in winter or bad weather, was built, and ran east and' west through the town. Mud holes and low places' were filled with poles, which floated, and through which horses' feet would sink. Travelers were often delayed for ;hhours by such accidents ito their horses... All roads were neglected til 1812, When those from Franklin to Staunton through Dayton, the road south to Lebanon, and the river road from the foot of Fourth Street, Dayton to Alexandersville, which were military roads, were kept in tolerable repair by the quartermaster's department of the army. !

This year Henry Brown erected a two-story brick dwelling on the west side of Main Street, on the alley between Second and Third streets. Mhis.syas,.the first, bricks private residence, built..m, Dayton. 4: It), was occupied till 1863 as a dwelling, and from then till it was torn down as the Journal ofiice.

The first pumber of the Dayton Repertory, a weekly four-page newspaper, was issued September 18, 1808, by William McClure and George Smith, It was printed with old style type on a second-hand press, brought here from the East, and on paper eight by twelve and one half inches in Size, two columns on a page. October 21st, when five numbers had been issued, the paper was suspended tul. February 1, 1809, when it was reissued as a twelve by twenty sheet, Henry Disbrow and William McClure editors. During the suspension, the office wes removed to the south side of Second, between Main and Jefferson streets. The price of the paper was two dollars per year. Abont the first of January, 1810, it was discontinued. It coutained very few local items, but was principally occupied with European news several months old. The advertisements and a few marriage or death notices constitute its chief interest for us. A. files preseryedin the Dayton, Public Library.

As the advertising columns of a newspaper usually furnish a vivid picture of a town or eity, a sketch of the advertisements found in the Repertory of 1808 may give us a glimpse of Dayton at that date.

Yt contains the advertisements of John Compton, I. G. Phillips, and Stecle & Peirce, merchants; John Dodson, carpenter; John Lanna, weaving establishient, south end of Main Street; Jolin and Archibald Burns,

Main, between Monument Avenue and First Street; James Beck, blue dying establishment - cotton dyed at seventy-five cents per pound, linen or woolen at sixty-two anda half cents. David Steele had a cooper shop

1 First Street, near St. Clair. Thomas Nutt. carried on the tailoring ~qlasawe in all its branches, doing work "on the most reasonable terms and at the shortest notice."

In each number of the Mepertory is found the advertisement of Matthew Patton, cabinet-maker, showing that he had something of the modern enterprise in this respect. He lived to old age in Dayton, always bearing an excellent reputation. His son, Captain William Patton, has filled the offices of sheriff of Montgomery County, and captain of the Dayton police. :

Paul D. Butler advertises his house for sale in 1808, which he describes "as large and commodious, and will answer for almost any business; good well and pump at the door; frame stable." In ee 1309, Lenry Disbrow, now one of the editors of the Repertory, advertises two lots and "an elegant two-story frame house, forty-five feet front and twenty-four feet back; a good kitchen adjoining; good well of water at the door; good nail factory and stable; situation good for either tavern or Te, post and rail fence." He offers to take in pay instead of cash, "such produce as will suit the Orleans market."

March 20th the troop of Light Dragoons are requested through the Repertory "to meet at Colonel Grimes' tavern ou Saturday, the Ist of April, at 10 ocloek, A.M.j.im complete uniform; George ei first sergeant." D. C. Cooper informs the farmers that he is prepared to card wool. The publishers of the epertory advertise for sale at their ofhice for cash or clean rags, stationery and school books, Kentucky Preceptors, Webster' spelling books, Murray's first book for children, and primers.

Apprentices, with reputable connections and of good moral character, are several times advertised for, by business men. They did not always prove submissive to their masters. On December 10, 1810, H. D. Disbrow offers through the columns of the Centinal the reward of one cent to any person who will return his runaway apprentice lad.

The only accident reported in the Repertory is the drowning of an unknown man in Mad Niver, June 30, 1809. There were three taverns in Dayton in 1808 - MeCullum's, Grimes', and Keid's, though the latter was ealled Reid's inn. Colonel Reid gave notice in the Repertory that, though he should no longer keep a tavern at his house on Main Street, he would open a house of entertainment there. The change was made to avoid paying the tavern license of ten dollars. Reid's inn was a two-story frame building with a belfry wud stood on the west side of Main Street, at the corner of the anil between First "ina séenil! streets. In a square frame on a post, which stood on the edge of the sidewalk, swung his sign on which at a later date than this was painted the portrait of Commodore Lawrence and a scroll with his last words, "Don't give up the ship."

Grimes' tavern was a log building, one and a half stories high, with a log barn and' feed yard on the alley back' of it. It stood on the south corner of the first alley on Main Street, south of Monument Avenue. Several frame ad Riot were built to the tavern some years later, and the Jarge dining-room of wind house became the popular place for dances and balls.

Dayton had now become an enterprising httle town. The taverns, stores, pack-horses, and flatboats were doing a good business. Roads were opened to the dithouitin' settlements. There were three doctors, a minister, a school teacher, and a lawyer, Joseph H. Crane, living in town. A biography of Joseph IH. Crane appears in the chapter on the " Bench and Bar." The west side of Main Street, as far as the alley north of the court house, and a square or two on First Street, cast and west of Main, were occupied by residences. The streets were not graveled, and no pains were taken to keep the sidewalks in order. The fences were usually stake-and-rider, though a few were post and rail.

The Dayton hens in 1808 and 1809 were Rev. James Welsh, M. D.; Desgohn Eihott, Dr. WilhamiMurphy, and Dr P. Wood. Dr. Welsh had practiced medicine here and kept a supply of drugs since his settlement in Dayton, in 1804, as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. December 7, 1809, he opened a drug store. He advertised a long lst of fresh drugs and medicines. Over his signature in the Jtepertory, February 20, 1809, he prints. the following spicy address to delinquent patients. We wonder whether his parishioners were as dilatory in paying for his spiritual as for his medical ministrations:

Aici N Otic

"T must pay my debts. 'To do this is impracticable unless those who are indebted to me pay me what they owe. ATH] such are once more and for the Jast time called on to come forward and make payient before the 25th of March next, or, disagreeable as 1f 1s, compulsory measures may be certainly expected."

'Address on Pioneer Physicians,' delivered 1m Cincinnati: "In the summer of 1804 I saw him in Dayton, a highly accomplished gentleman in a purple silk coat, which contrasted strangely with the surrounding thickets of brush and high bushes." The "purple silk coat" appears rather bizarre when contrasted with the subdued colors now worn by gentlemen; but high colors were the fashion in the time of the Revolution and for some time afterward. Dr. Elhott practiced medicine here for seve 'al years, and was highly esteemed. He died March 26, 1809, and was buried with martial hom one. Jlis remains were e accompanied to the burying ground by Captain Steele' the clergy of the neighborhood and a large concourse of people from town and country, and of the latter. to some considerable distance. An appropriate address was delivered at the grave by one of the ministers. The Repertory contains a long eulogistic obituary of Dr. Elhott. He was a great loss, socially and professionally, to the community. is wife died before he came to Dayton. He had two daughters; Julia, who married Joseph H. Crane, and Harriet, who married Joseph Peirce. They were prominent and useful pioneer ladies.

April 9, 1809, the Mepertory: contains the advertisement of Dr. P. Wood. He pune in Reid's inn an office and a drug store for the sale of "medicine in the small," which was the first apothecary's shop

One of the earliest settlers was Abram Darst, who was born in Franklin County, Virginia, July 25,1782; came to Dayton in 1805, and was at the date we have now reached, and for many years afterwards engaged in business here. Jie was a man of sterling integrity, highly esteemed by the community, and occupied many positions of trust and importance. Ilis wife was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, April 9.1787, and came to Dayton in 1807. Mr. Darst. died February 9, 1865. This wife lived to be ninety-five years old, dying December 12, 1882. Mrs. Darst was a typical pioneer woman, full of energy and gifted with the

Many a lesson of cheerfulness, patience, industry, and thrift might be learued from the laborious but contented lives of the wives of the founders of Dayton, could their biographies be given at length. Que of our old merehants attributed his success lurgely to the assistance of his wite, and ten elnidren: Julia, Christina, Mary, Sarah, Phebe, Martha, Napoleon B., John W., Samuel B., and Alfred Britain. The daughters all married prominent business men. Juha married James Perrine; Christina married WORsS Dax Nay: married Jacob Walt; Sarah. married "W.-C. Davis; Martha marricd George M. Dixon. Napoleon Bb. Darst married Susanna, daughter of Valentine Winters.

In 1809 Mr. Cooper made a revised plat of the town which conformed to deeds and patents, and to the plat made by St. Clair and his associates in 1795. The present town plat is essentially that of 1809, though large additions have been made. 7

On the 4th of July, 1809, the people had a grand celebration. There was a procession of militia aud eitizens from the town and vicinity which formed on the river bank at the head of Main Street and marched to the eourt house, where they listened to appropriate singing and an oration. At the close of the exercises the procession reformed and marched to the house of Henry Disbrow, where an elegant dinner was served, tickets costing fifty cents. A number of patriotic toasts were drunk. Salutes were fired by the Dayton company of infantry, commanded by Captain Paul D. Butler, and by Captain James Steele's troop of Light Dragoons.

Benjamin Van Cleve, Owen Davis, and William M. Smith were the committee of arrangements. They had various sports and games in the afternoon and a dauce in the evening. ; }

This year an ordinance of the select council ordered all males of twenty-one years old and upwards, resident within the corporation, and who had lived in the State three months, and were not a township charge, and not physically incapable, to work for two days every year on the streets and roads under the direction of a supervisor, the penalty | of disobedience to the order being a.fine of one dollar.

September 6, 1809, the first Montgomery County political convention was held at the court house. David Reid was moderator; Benjamin Van Cleve, clerk. The nominations were as follows: For representatives in State legislature, Joseph H. Crane, Montgomery County; David Purviance, Preble County; for sheriff, Jerome Ifolt; coroner, David Squier; commissioner, John Folkerth.. Six hundred votes were east at the election and the whole of this ticket was elected. On the 9th a second convention had been held, and opposition candidates for sheriff and commissioner nominated. David Purviance, in a letter to Wilham McClure, dated Chillicothe, December 29, 1809, makes the following allusion to his colleague: 'Mr. Crane is the only lawyer who 1s a member of the house of representatives. He conducts with prudence, and is in good repute as a member." Isaac G. Burnet was president of the select council this year, and John Folkerth, recorder. The Great Miami was navigable, both above and below Dayton,

) eanal boats, only shghter and sharper, as well as for flatboats till about 1820; when the numerous mill dams, that had by that time been erected, obstructed 'the channel. From' that' date till 1829, when the 'canal was opened, freighting south by water, exeept what was done in fiatboats during floods, was almost abandoned. That some conception of the extent and value of the boating interest during this period may be formed, 'all the facts in regard to it that 'have been collected will be given in this Lis though the account will extend to a date several years in advance of the other events related in this chapter.

having money to deposit in bank or.to invest, were frequently obhged to send cargoes of articles received in place of cash, south or north for sale. Cherry and walnut logs and lumber were brought down the river by rafts. The flatboatmen sold 'their boats when they arrived at New Orleans, and buying a horse, returned home by land. Flatboats were "made of green oak plank fastened by wooden pins to a frame of timber, and ecaulked with tow or any other pliant substance that could be procured," aud were inclosed and roofed with boards. They were only used in descending streams, and floated with the current. Long, sweeping oars fastened at both ends of the boat, worked by men standing on the deck, were employed to keep it in the channel, and in navigating difficult and dangerous places in the river. _

The Dayton Repertory for May 24, 1809, contains the edt notice of a Dayton flatboat published here. It says: "A flat-bottomed boat, owned by Mr. John Compton, of this place, descended the Miami yesterday. She was loaded with pork, flour, bacon, and whisky, and destined for Mort Adams.) Mir. "Compton's" beat cot sarely through "to the"Ohio, though, on account of low water and changes in the channel of the river, at Ilamilton navigation was considered dangerous. Other flatboats also made the trip this year, but it took them two or three wecks to reach the mouth of the Miami. The epertory, noticing the safe passage of Mr. Compton's boat, says: " Notwithstanding the representations made of the danger in navigating the Great Miami, we are well convineed that nothing is wanting but care and attention to take our boats with safety from this place." |

Miami, Mad River, and Stillwater had become so obstructed with brush dams and fish baskets as to elon navigation, aud a petition was presented to the legislature praying that Mad River might be declared ¢ public highway, and that the channel of the Great Miami so far as the mouth of Stony Creek, be declared a state road, and that a part of the three per cent fund set apart by government for the improvement of highways, be appropriated to the opening thereof. An effort was also made to have the chaunel of Stillwater declared a public highway.

Fish baskets, of which frequent mention is made in the newspapers of the day, were made by building a damon the riffles so as to concentrate the water at the middle of the river, where an opening was made into a box constructed of slats and placed at a lower level than the dam. Into this box. the fish ran, but were win to return. <A basket of this kind remained on the riffle at the foot of First Street as late as 1830.

Raul, D. Bntler, onthe 21st of August , 1809, gives notice in the Repertory of his intention to navigate the eat Miami from Dayton to the mouth of Stony Creck as soon as the season will permit, and' forewarns all persons obstructing the navigation by erecting fish baskets or any other obstructions that he is determined to prosecute those who erect them. He and Henry Disbrow soon after proceeded to build two keelboats. They were built during the winter of 1809-1810 in the street in front of the court house, and when finished were moved on rollers up Main Street to the river and launched. They ascended the Miami to the Laramie portage, which was as far as they could go. Then one of thei boats was taken out of the river and drawn across to the St. Mary's.. For some time this boat made regular trips on the Maumee and the other on the Miami, the portage between them being about twelve milesacross. A freight line, which did a good business, was thus established between Dayton and Lake Erie by way of the Miami, Auglaize, and Maumee rivers.

The flatboating business yearly increased till 1829. Nine flatboats left the Water Street landing on May 18 and 14, 1811, for New Orleans. They were loaded with flour, grain, salt, pork, whisky, and pelts. All the boats arrived safely at their destination except one which was wrecked at a point twelve miles down the river. <A private letter dated Dayton March 28, 1812, says: "'We had a snow storm,on Sunday last, eight inches deep, but as it went off immediately it ie not swell the river while the flood was at its height. The red warchouse itself was floated off in the freshet of 1828. Boats built up the river landed and tied up at Dayton to join those buiit here, and they all proceeded south in a fleet. The trip to the Ohio usually oceupied about a week, and it often took six or ten weeks more for the remainder of the voyage to New Orleans. Sometimes groceries were brought by river from New Orleans to Cincinnati, and then in wagons to Dayton. Some of the difficulties and delays of the upward trip are deseribed in the following letter, addressed to Steele & Peirce by Baum & Perry, Cincinnati, December 29, 1812:

«We have just had' the siete of our barge from New Orleans. She was delayed at the falls for nearly two weeks before she could over, and after she got over, detained five or six days, waiting for the loading to be hauled from the lower landing to the upper, and finally had to come away with ak of her cargo only, there being no wagons to be had, and ever since she left that place has been obliged to foree her way for two weeks past through the ice. These are the circumstances which prevented her arriving sooner. Knowing that sugar is much wanting at your place, have thought it advisable to load Mr. Mnoch's wagon, and let it proceed to your town with that article, to wit, with six boxes weighing as follows: 488 pounds for Mr. Henry Brown; 448 pounds, Cooper & Burnet; 452 pounds, Isaac Spining; 480 pounds, Robert Wilson; 510 pounds, Steele & Peirce; 480 pounds, Major Churchill."

The sugar was twenty cents a pound by the single box, and eighteen aud three quarters cents per pound, if three boxes were taken by one person. The freightage by wagon was one dollar per hundred weight.

enterprise and capital on the Olio River were making arrangements to import goods from Europe, by way of New Orleans, on ocean stearners and river steamboats. The citizens of Dayton wished to share the advantage of this direct importation from Europe; otherwise they thought their Cincinnati contemporaries would grow rich, while the vast sums of money sent from along the Miami beyond the mountains to buy goods must leave them poor. The farmer could not wagon his produce to the Ohio with advantage. The Miami -.was'a public Inghway, and an individual had the same meht to fence off one of the public roads as to nnpede the navigation of that stream; yet fish traps and mill dams had almost ruined the navigation of the river.

already quoted, says that "the wealth and increased population of the waters of the Great Miami demand immediate attention to the navigation of that stream, without which the country loses half of its value." Will the people tamely submit to suffer a few men so essentially to injure the country? The obstructions in the river must be removed. All are interested in an object so important, and it is hoped the settlers on the waters of the Great Miami will immediately turn their attention to improving its navigation."

As a result of all this agitation of the subject, a navigation board scems to have been appointed, which met for the first time at the house of John C. Tenney, in Franklin, on the fourth Monday of May, 1816. The board consisted of the following gentlemen: William C.. Schenck and Wilham Sayre, of Warren County; James Thomson and James Steele, of Montgomery; Andrew Reed and John Cox, of Greene; Jonah Baldwin and Samuel 'Tibbs, of Champaign; Fielding Loury and John Rogers, of Miami County. All the members were urged to attend the meeting, which was evidently considered of much importance.

During the last week of March, 1819, eight flatboats and one handsome keel-boat loaded here, shoved off from the landing for the markets below, and several flatboats loaded with flour, pork, and whisky established for carrying grain and produce up the Miami. At Laramie it was transferred, after a portage_across the land intervening between the two rivers, to other boats and transported down the Maumee to the rapids, which was the point of transfer from river boats to lake vessels. At the rapids there was a large warchouse for storage of cargoes.

In May Daytonians were gratified to see a large keel-boat, upwards of seventy feet in length aud with twelve tons of merchandise on board, belonging to H. G. Phillips, and Messrs. Smith and Eaker, arrive here from Cincinnati. She was the only keel-boat that had for a number of years been brought this far up the Miami, as the river between here and its mouth had been much obstructed. The Watchman, after announcing below, but impresses upon its readers the fact thatif this anticipation is to be realized, the work of removing null dams and other obstruetions

This year an exporting and importing association, called the "Company of Miami I'armers,"' was organized by citizens of Montgomery County. Among the corporators were b. Van Cleve, John H. Willams, David Lluston, Jerome Iolt, and David Hoover.

For several days previous to the 21st of April, 1821, the Miami was very high, and a number of boats with fine cargoes of the produce of the country passed down the river.

The Watehman, in the spring of this year, contained an article expatiating on the value of the Miami River: " Another advantage which this country possesses is the ease with which its produce may be transported to New York by the improvement of the navigation of the Miami ands thet: eiaer rivers. pa aaa may be made at a very trifling expense... . The markets of New York and New Orleans would be accessible to our produce. The tee wil some day be presented here of avater craft in a eanal that shall unite the waters of Lake Erie with those of the Ohio. The scene of navigation the Miami now presents to Dayton will be then changed to the canal. It is very pleasing to anticipate the time when we shall have boats almost at our doors ready to carry us to the Gulf of Mexico, or the city of New York, and when we shall have stages passing on the National road through Dayton from the remote State of Maine to Missouri." What would the readers of the Watchman have thought had the writer of this communication added to his other prophecies the building of our innumerable lines of railways, an improvement which probably did not suggest itself to the imagination of the most sanguine Daytonian!

In 1822 for the first time the Dayton paper expresses a doubt of the possibility of navigating the Miami. It says that such is the composition of the bed of the river, and so lable is it to change, that every freshet would make it necessary to repeat the work of improvement, and the expense would be very great.

Seven flat-bottom boats and one keel-boat left here on the 16th of March, 1822, for New Orleans. It was thought that they ran great risk in starting, and that the Miami was not high enough to earry them over the mill dams. All. the boats did not get safely through.

eanal,;movements were renewed m 1824 for the navigation of the river. They now hoped that the channel could be so much improved that steamboats might be ran between Dayton and Cincinnati. A large and enthusiastie mecting was held at Reid's inn, "at early candle hght," Saturday, April 24th, for the formation of a central navigation company, with branch companies throughout the Miami country. dames Steele was chairman, George 8S. Houston secretary of the meeting. Various committees were appointed, composed of the following gentlemen: Joseph H. Crane, Alexander Grimes, George W. Smith, H. G. Phillips; William, Grifin, CLR. Greene, and G._S. Eouston., It was suggested that locks might easily be placed in the side of the dams that now obstructed the river, and the channel cleared and deepened, work in which the farmers would no doubt be willing to assist personally, if they could not contribute money to pay laborers. | feet of water, would cost five thousand, four hundred dollars, and could. pass from Dayton to Cincinnati and.back during three months of the year: The remainder of the year it could be run, with profit, between Cincinnati and Pittsburg. The profits for the three months were reckoned at six thousand, four hundred and fiftcen dollars, and fifty cents for freight, and nine hundred and ninety dollars for passengers. The fare would be four dollars down and five dollars up the river; deck passengers, two dollars. It was thought there would be about. six passengers each trip. It was proposed to make five trips per month, each trip requiring five or six days. But the navigation company was a failure, and the little steamboat was not purchased.

The last week in April, 1824, three flat-bottomed boats left for the New Orleans market, and another passed here from sixteen miles further north. All got through safely. One of the boats contained four hundred barrels of flour, forty of whisky, and one thousand pounds of bacon.

Saturday and Sunday, March 26 and 27, 1825, were unusually exciting days in Dayton among boatmen, millers, distillers, farmers, merchants, and teamsters, as a flect of thirty or more boats that had been embargoed here by low water left their moorings bound for New Orleans. Rain had begun to fall on Wednesday and continued till Friday, when the river rose. "The people," says the Watchman, "flocked to the banks, returning with cheerful countenances, saying, 'The. boats will get off' On Saturday all was the busy hum of a seaport; wagons were conveying flour, pork, whisky, ete., to the different boats strung along the river. Several arrived during the day from the north. On Sunday morning others came down, the water began to fa, and the boats earrying about PONY thousand dollars worth of the dneldsies of the country got under way." The whole ralue of the cargoes that left the Miami above and below Dayton during this freshet was estimated as at Jeast one hundred thousand dollars. Some of the boats were stove and the flour damaged, but mest of them passed safely to their destination.

Twelve boats left here for New Orleans in February, 1827, from Montgomery and Miami counties, chiefly loaded with flour, pork, and whisky. Their cargoes were worth about twenty thousand dollars. The river had been high and in fine boating condition for some days. A number of boats also left on the 29th of Apml. Two of them struck on a rock in going over the Broad Ripple and one immediately sunk. The other; belonging to Phillips and Perrine, and chiefly loaded with fiour, was able to proceed, though considerably injured. The editor of the Dayton paper closes his notice of this accident by saying that he believed that the loss on the river during his recollection equaled the amount required to make one sixth of the Miami canal, and that for this as well as other reasons all would rejoice to sce the completion of this ali important improvement. |

In February, 1828, the last boat, loaded with produce for New Orleans, left here by the Miami. The next year freight began to be shipped south by canal. As late as 1836,and perhaps a year later, when the canal was

April 28rd a conference of ministers and laymen, which met at the house of Colonel Robert Patterson, near Dayton, requested Rev. John Thomson, 1n conjunction with David Purviance, Samuel Westerfield, Wilham Snodgrass, and William McClure, to collect and arrange the hymns, and prepare for the press a book, to be called the Christian ITymn Book, containing two hundred and fifty hymns. The price was not to exceed seventy five cents a copy; it was to be printed with good type on good paper, and to be well bound. It was published at the Centinal office, Dayton, as according to a letter written by John Thomson to Wilham McClure on May 10th, they could not "get the work done anywhere on better terms than at Mr. Burnet's." William McClure, of Dayton, received subscriptions. 'This was the first work printed or published in Dayton.

In the summer of 1810, the Indians were encamped at Greenville. There were twenty-four hundred of them living in Ohio, though many had emigrated to the West. Five hundred and fifty-nine of them hved at Wapakoneta. Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, were uniting the Indians in the West and South in a league against the whites, and their movements were watched by Dayton people with much anxiety.

The population of Dayton was three hundred and cighty-three; the population of the county was seven thousand, seven hundred and twentytwo. 'The revenue of the county for 1809-1810 was one thousand, sir hundred and forty-four dollars, and fifteen cents. Curwen exultingly contrasts the small income of the county in 1810 with the ninety thousand dollars raised by taxation in 1850, which seems a small amount when contrasted with 1885, when the amount levied was one million, twenty-one thousand, four hundred and eighty dollars.

An ordinance, passed by council in 1810, indicates the size of the town at that date. The ordinance provided for the improvement of the sidewalks along Monument Avenue, then called Water Street, from Main to Mill Street; along Hirst, from Ludlow to St. Clair, except the south side of First, between Jefferson and St. Clair; and on Main Street, from Monument Avenue to Third Street.. The walks were ordered to be "laid with stone or brick, or to be completely graveled, and a ditch dug along the outer edge of walks,' aud people were forbidden to drive over the walks, except when absolutely necessary. Fines imposed for the infringement of this ordinance were to be expended in making walks across the streets. The Ohio Centinal, which had appeared ons May 10th, when Dayton' had been five months without a newspaper, says, in an editorial, that there will be general rejoicing among. citizens and visitors from the country on account of the passage of this law.

The Centinal succeeded the Fepertory, and was eleven by nine inches in size, and published weekly by Isaac G. Burnet til' 1813, when it was discontinued. The editorials are remarkably interesting and well written, for the editor was a man of talent and education. Editors in those days labored under many difficulties. In consequence of the high water in July, 1810, the eastern mail, due two or three days before, had not arrived here on the 26th, when the Centinal appeared: The same month,. on account of the illness of the private post rider employed by Mr. Burnet and the impossibility of procuring another at the busy season of the year, subscribers out of town were obliged to do without their paper for two weeks. |

The Fourth of July was celebrated as last year by a procession from the river to the court house, where the programme was as follows: Singing of an ode; prayer by Rey. Dr. Welsh; reading of the Deelaration of Independence by Benjamin Van Cleve, and an oration by Joseph I.

Crane. The "oration was eloquent and well adapted to the occasion." The exercises were followed by a dinner under a bower. Seventeen toasts were drunk, and during the drinking of the toasts national salutes were fired.

Though Dayton had grown steadily since its incorporation, it was still too insignificant in 1810 to appear on the maps of the United States in school books; but the people might have consoled themselves by remembering that Cincinnati was also ignored. by the map-makers. In 1810 a' work called) "A New System of Modern' Geography," by Elijah Parish, D. D., Minister of Byfield, was published at Newburyport, Massachusetts. In this curious book, which professes to be very complete, but is full of amusing blunders and omissions, Nenia is spelled

Xenica, and Dayton and the Great Miami River are not mentioned. Marietta, which was founded by New Englanders, has more space devoted to it than that given to all the other towns put together. "No considerable towns are yet reared in this vast wilderness," says Dr. Parish, in the chapter on Ohio; " Xenica, the seat of justice for the county of Greene, lies on the Little Miami, six miles from the celebrated medicinal springs, near which is a mine of copper or gold. Cincinnati is the largest town of Ohio, containing four hundred houses. The public buildings are a court louse, prison, and two places of public worship. It is four hundred and ninety-three miles from Pittsburg." regiment of militia at Dayton for training purposes. Militia trainings were gala occasions. Dusiness was suspended, and crowds flocked into town to. witness the drill and parade. The Dayton troop of Light Dragoons were notified in 'orders, signed by Henry Marquardt, second sergeant, to assemble equipped, as the law requires, at MeCullum's tavern to join the regiment.

In 1811 a colony of Shakers lived in Dayton, and in May of that year they were mobbed and warned several times in insulting placards, placed on their gate-posts, to leave town or suffer the consequences. They seem to have offered no resistance to these attacks of armed men, but made a moderate and sensible reply to their assailants in the Mepertory, and declined to leave Dayton. Soon after they bought a fertile tract of land a few miles southeast of town on which they built a village, where the socicty still lives. It is hard to believe that these inoffensive people were ever hated or feared and mobbed by their neighbors.

This year the 4th of July was celebrated with more than the usual spirit. 'The general committee of arrangements was composed of Dr. N, Edwards, Joseph IH. Crane, and Joseph Peirce.

A sermon was preached at an coe - m neh day by Rev. Dr. Welsh. After divine service the usual procession to the court house formed on the Main Street bank of the river. ('The Declaration of Independence was read by Joseph H. Crane, and an oration was delivered

For many years there was little political excitement or animosity in Dayton. Members of both parties were sometimes nominated on the same ticket. Butin 1811 the opposition of the two parties to each other had become so bitter and extreme that they were unwilling to dine toeecther on the nee a July as in fees years, and drink patriotic toasts ee by a committee appointed at a town meeting. Two public dinners were prepared under bowers erected_for the occasion, one by Mr. Strain and the other by Mr. Graham. Each company drank seventeen toasts, expressing their political opinions, accompanied at Mr. Graham's by a discharge of small arms and ending with an eighteenth volunteer toast, which was in the spirit of those preceding it, and was as follows: «Thomas Jefferson, late President of the United States." The'party at Mr. Strain's drank their toasts "under a discharge of cannon and loud and repeated cheers." The final volunteer toast, which was as follows, indicates their attitude towards the Democratic party: " May our young Americans have firmness enough to detend their rights without joining any Tammany elub or society." In the afternoon the Rifle Company and the Dragoons paraded, and there was a dance in the evening.

Mills, barns, still houses, and all outbuildings, other than dwellings, were in 1811 exempted from taxation. The commissioners ordered a standard half bushel. James Wilson was appointed keeper of the measures, and announces in the Centinal that he will be at his house in Dayton every Satarday to measure and seal half bushels.

This fall croup, or some other throat disease called. by that name, secins to have been epidemic in Dayton, and a large number of children died from it. The disease was attributed to "the sudden changes of this moist and variable climate,' and the people were warned that if they would save the lives of their children, they must carefully guard them against exposure.

A comet was visible in 1811, aud this, together with the series of earthquakes throughout the Ohio valley, which occurred during that and the succeeding year, and neither of which had been experienced before since the settlement of the western country, were regarded with terror by the superstitious, who considered them evil portents, and ominous of private or pubhe misfortune.

which we shall borrow largely in our description of this terrible visitation. On Monday and Tuesday, the 16th and 17th. of December, 1811, the inhabitants of Dayton were kept in continual alarm by repeated shocks. The first and by far the severest shock was felt between two and three o'clock on Monday morning. It was so severe as to rouse almost every person in the village from his slumbers. Some left their houses in affright, and all were terrified at the unusual phenomenon. The 'horses and eattle were equally alarmed, and the fowls left their roosts in great consternation. It was not preceded by the usual token of a rumbling noise. The earth must have been in a constant tremor on. Monday and Tuesday... A. surveyor went out.on Monday. for the purpose of surveying a road in the neighborhood, but being unable to get the needle to settle, he was obliged to desist. He tried it again on Tuesday, with the same effect. | | Between eight and nine o'clock on Thursday morning, January 23, 1812, occurred another shock of earthquake more severe, it was generally supposed, than any of those which had preceded it. Jt was equally alarming at Cincinnati and other adjacent towns. Several considerable shocks followed, the most severe occurring on the morning of the 27th.

About a quarter before four o'clock Friday morning, February 13th, the people were again alarmed by this awful visitor. Two shocks in quiche, succession), were wtelt, The wombling toise, which is the usual precursor and attendant of earthquakes, was distinctly heard to precede and accompany both the shocks. Those who were not awake at the commencement were sensible of but one shock; but there were certainly two, though the intermission was but momentary. There was an intermission both in the noise and the agitation of the earth; not a total one, uta perceptible degree of abatement in both. The noise appeared for a few moments to be subsiding, loudness, and continued till the second shock was nearly or quite at its height. It was by far the most awful, both in its severity and _ the length of its duration, of any that had been felt in Dayton, and left au impression upon the minds of the people which many years did not erase. Persons who experienced if in youth spoke of it in old age with a shudder of horror. The motion on February 138th was from the southwest, and many thought there was also a vertical motion, and that the undulatory motion was shorter and quicker than usual. The air was cold and remarkably clear, but became hazy shortly after. Many of the inhabitants left their houses; the fowls left their roosts, and cattle and horses manifested the same consciousness of danger. a the evening of the same day two other shocks were felt - the first about a quarter to cight o'cloek, and the other about half past ten. It snowed, and the night was cloudy and extremely dark. A dim light in the southwest was seeu by several for some time prior to the first shock in the evening, and disappeared immediately after it.

The number of the Centinal, which describes the shocks on February 15th, contains a frightful account of the earthquake which destroyed New Madrid, on the Mississippi, and the people with awe and dread, it being not impossible that a similar fate awaited them. All winter the newspapers were full of startling earthquake news. On the 27th of June the most violent tornado ever previously known in

Tis yeerr ae yh I. Crane was elected member of congress; George Newcom was elected State senator, and Joseph Peirce representative in the legislature.

The revenue of the county for 1811-1812 dred and forty-eight dollars, and eighty-seven cents, and the expenditures, one thousand, nine hundred and sixty-eight dollars, and sixty-six cents.

In January the government had begun to raise troops for the war with Great Britain. While the Ohio militia were encamped at att D. C. Cooper employed them in digging a race from his old saw mill t Sixth Street, at the intersection of which street with the present line i the basin he erected a saw mill which remained there till 1848.

A letter written from Dayton in 1812 by a prominent merchant to his partner, who had gone east to buy goods, reports "business quite as good as couldibe expected. Groceries, especially coffee, are scarce in town. I think eight or ten barrels would not be too inuch for us if they can be purchased cheap. A good assortment of muslins to sell at twenty-five, thirty-three, thirty-seven and a half, forty-five, and fifty cents would be desirable, and if L. Paseson ean furnish you with them as cheap at four months as for cash, 1 would purchase pretty largely." Soon after the same merchant wrote to a relative that he had becn so overwhelmed with business since the arrival of the 4 troops that he had not had time to attend to his correspondence.

Dayton prospered during the war of 1812. A great deal of money was made in regular trade and in real estate speculations. Working men and mechanics began to buy homes in the spring of 1815, and " land was

Chapter Viii

War of 1812 - Ageressions of Great Britain - Tecumsch and the Prophet - Ohio Militia Ordered to Report at Dayton - General Munger Orders a Draft - Militia Bivouac Without Tents at Library Park - Governor Meigs Arrives - Issues a Call to Citizens for Blankets - Block Houses Built in Montgomery County - - Colonel Johnston Holds Council of Shawnees - Generals Gano and Cass Arrive - Three Regiments. of Infantry Formed - First Troops Organized by Ohio - General Hull and Staff Arrive - Governor Meigs Surrenders Command to Hull - The Governor and General Review Troops - The Three Regiments March Across Mad River to Camp Meigs - Leave Camp Meigs for Detroit - Difficult. March - Arrive at Detroit in Good Spirits - Munger's Brigade Disbanded - Army Contractors Make Purchases at Dayton - Hull's Surrender - Consternation of the People - Hand Bill Issued at Dayton, Calling for Volunteers - Captain Sicele's Company - Suffering of Families of Soldiers - Kentucky Troops Arrive - Harrison Calls for Volunteers and Horses--Dayton Ladies Make 1,800 Shirts for Soldiers - Expedition Against Indians Near Muncictown - War Ended - Returning Troops Encamped on Main Strest - Dayton Companies Welcomed Home.

town, as Dayton was the rendezvous of the Ohio and Kentucky militia called out for service in the war against Great Britain. It might perhaps be correctly said that the treaty of peace signed in 1783 was succeeded by a merely nominal cessation of hostilities between the Enghsh and the Americans. The people of the United States had from the close of the Revolution been exasperated by the aggressions of Great Britain upon the neutral rights of this country, and still more by her encouragement of the barbarities of the savages, who, it was well known, had received not only sympathy, but guns, ammunition, and officers from the forts which she unrightfully held to assist them in their battles with our troops.

The threatening movements of 'Tecumseh and the Prophet had led to a debate in Congress in December, 1811, on the propriety or necessity of invading and seizing. Canada early in the spring of 1812, and by this means securing the western frontier before the savages had begun hostilities. But though Governor Ilull, of Michigan, who from his residence on the border was informed of the plans of the Indians and their sympathizers, and aware of the extent of the danger that threatened, repeatedly urged the necessity of offensive and defensive measures upon

In April, 1812, President Madison issued orders, calling out a force of twelve hundred Ohio militia for one year's service. In obedience to this order, Governor Return J. Meigs ordered the major-generals of the Western and Middle divisions of militia to report, with their respective quotas of men, at Dayton on the 29th of April. General Munger was ordered to raise a company in Dayton. No companies were raised 1n Preble and Miami counties, which were expressly exempted because that quarter was threatened by Indians, and it was not thought advisable to draw men from there.

The commissioned and non-commissioned oflicers of the First Battalion, First fp oul Fifth Brigade, First Division of Ohio Militia, were ordered by Major David Reid, commanding the First Battalion to

-mect at Dayton at the usual parade ground, by ten o'clocl, second 'Tuesday of April, armed and equipped as the law requires, for the purpose of a battalion muster. April 11th, the Centinal announces that Governor Meigs is expected in Dayton on the 20th to inspect the company of rangers that was being raised in this neighborhood, and to give them the eoascrnee orders; and, also, that General Munger has received orders [mentioned above] for raising a company in his brigade to be marched to Detroit. | 7 | In its next issue it states that at the battalion muster, Tuesday, April 14th, advertised on the 11th, the orders were read and also the volunteer bill passed by congress, February 20th. "Tt was expected that a suflicient number would volunteer to obviate the necessity of a draft, but only twenty stepped forth at the call of their country.' This was the only time that the Centinal had occasion to reprove the people for lack of patriotism. Hostilities were now just beginning, and the citizens were not fully roused; soon the war excitement rose to fever heat in Dayton. In consequence of the lack of volunteers, the battalon was ordered to assemble on the 16th at Adams' Prairie, near the mouth of Hole's Creek, five miles from Dayton. Major Adams was also ordered to report with his battalion at that place "to have a draft if necessary." General Munger was determined to raise the new company, which was to. be commanded by Captain Perry, wholly from these two battahons. The law authorized officers to call out all or a part of the militia under their command. In case ot long service, if there were not enough volunteei it became their duty to draft a sufficient number of men to fill the quota

The coats of the soldiers in the army of 1812 were blue, with scarlet collar and cufls, and they wore coclced hats, decorated with a cockade and white feather.

April 29th, a man was killed and sealped near Greenville, and three murdered men were found in the woods near Fort Defiance. This news produced much excitement.

On the first of May, Major Charles Wolverton, of Miami County, who had been ordered to march with Captain Reuben Westfall's company, of that county, from Piqua to Greenville, and kill every Indian they saw, killed two Pottawatomies, wounded one of that nation, and captured two squaws and an Indian boy.

companies arrived, no preparations for their accommodation had been made. They bivouacked on the common, now Library Park, without tents or other camp equipage till the middle of the month. Many of them were without even blankets. By the 7th of the month twelve companies had: arrived, and eight or ten more were expected in afew days. There

Rioreinion Meigs arrived in town to inspect the troops and give orders on the 6th of May. His arrival was announced by a salute of cighteen guns by the citizens. In the afternoon he reviewed the militia. On the Tth he issued the following appeal from his headqua-ters, at MeCullum's tavern, to the men and women of the State:

«The situation of our country has compelled the government to resort to precautionary measures of defense. In obedience to this call, eight hundred men have abandoned the comforts of domestic life, and are here assembled in camp at the distance of some hundred miles from home, eivilized warfare. But the unprecedented celerity with which they have moved, precluded the possibility of properly equipping them. Many, very many, of them are destitute of blankets, and without these indispensable articles, it will be impossible for them to move to their point of destination.

Geol Tod Cti S. War Of 1812

" Crmzens or Onto! This appeal is made to you. Let each family furnish one or more BLANKETS, and the requisite number will be completed. It is not requested as a boon; the moment your blankets. are delivered, you shall receive their full value in money; they are not to be

'"Motuers! Sisters! Wives! Recollect' that the men, in whose favor this appeal is made, have connections as near and dear as any that bind you to life. These they have voluntarily abandoned, trusting that the integrity and patriotism of their fellow-¢itizens will supply every requisite for themselves and their families; and trusting that the same spinit which enabled their fathers to achieve their independence, will - enable their sons to defend it. I. J. Meras,

There were two thousand Indiaus in Ohio in 1812, one thousand, nine hundred and seventy of them being in the northwest corner of the State. The latter were divided into five tribes: Shawnees, seven hundred; Ottawas, five hundred and fifty; Wyandots, three hundred; Senecas, two hundred and twenty; Delawares and Muncies, two hundred.

It became necessary, on.account of the hostile attitude of the Indians, to build two or three bleck houses in Montgomery County, west from the Miami River to Preble County, as rallying places, for the' settlers of Preble, Dark, and Miami couuties were in special danger, and as many as a hundred settlers and their families from that locality fled from their homes. The flight of these families inercased the alarm in other localities. Scouting parties of Miami County militia were constantly out on duty to the north and west of Piqua.

Greenville, to inquire into the situation of the frontier settlements." The General returned on Sunday, the 10th of May, and_ reported that an Indian trader, by the name of Conner, who resided at Fort Defiance, had been. advised by friendly Indians to move in from the frontier, and also that the Prophet was seventy miles from Greenville, and that an attack would be made in about six weeks. He also learned that the Prophet was said to be rebuilding his town, and that his party was as strong as ever. The governor immediately ordered a completely equipped company of riflemen from General MeArthut's command, to march at once to Greenville and another to Piqua for the protection of the frontier inhabitants, who were flying in every direction.

ve the Sth Gina Johnston, by order of the governor naka a reduittcil of the Shawnee chiefs from Wapakoneta at Piqua. Great anxicty was felt to know whether the Indians would declare for peace or war. The report of the capture of six Indians and a squaw by the militia. near Troy came on the 14th. On the 15th a party of five or six whites, who were planting corn, was attacked near Greenville by Indians, and one of them wounded. The Indians assembled at Piqua decided for peace, but though Colonel Johnston beheved their professions of friendship, the inhabitants generally distrusted them. All through the war, by means of appeals through the newspapers and various regulations and procelamations, Colonel Johnston endeavored to keep faith with the friendly Shawnees, and at the same time to defend Indians and whites from cach other. The frontiersman could not believe an Indian less treacherous or more worthy of consideration than the wild beasts which he shot whenever they showed themselves within range of his gun. Even the more intelligent and humane inhabitants of Ohio largely shared this distrust and contempt of all Indians; and Indians, professedly friendly, them. Soon after one of Colonel Johnston's appeals for a just and humane treatment of the Indians was printed, an article unjustly laveighing against him and his Indian friends appeared in the Centfinal. Among other statements, it was said that at the time he was assuring the peoples that the Indians would not annoy the whites in any way, he ordered

On Sunday, the 14th of May, Governor Meigs left Dayton for Cincinnati, where he expected to meet General [ull ard return to town in his company, but arrived on the 15th without the general. On Wednesday, the 13th, General Gano and General Cass arrived in Dayton with between six hundred and seven hundred men. There were now about fourteen hundred troops here, a large proportion of whom were volunteers. The Centinal announces that Captain Mansfield's and Captain Sloan's companies of volunteers, and three companies from the eastward, were expected in a few days. Governor Meigs es was making a ¢reat effort to supply the troops with blankets, provisions, and all necessaries. Captain Mansfield arrived from Cincinnati May 20th with his eompany of light infantry. On the 21st three regiments of infantry - the First, Second, and Third - were formed. These troops, numbering fifteen hundred, were the first organized by the authorities of the State of Ohio. Dunean MeArthur was elected colonel of the First, James Denny and

Thomas Moore and Thomas B. Van Horne majors; Lenis Cass cbion dl of the Third, Robert Morrison and Jeremiah R. Munson majors. The First regiment was eucamped south of town, and the other two on the commons. After the assignment of companies and election of officers, a better state of military discipline was maintained than had previously been possible.

Captain William Van Cleve's company of riflemen, of this county, volunteered. their services to the governor, and they and a number of others, as more than the State's quota of troops had already been mustered into the service, were formed into battahons and regiments, and employed in guarding supply trains and keeping open a line of commuinieation with the army.

The Centinal reported that on Pile 21st five or six men, who were covering corn near Greenville, were fired upon by five Indians; one of the men was wounded. They immediately pursued the savages, killed one and wounded another. :

General Hull and his staff, having arrived in town, made MceCullum's tavern headquarters. The usually quiet village was now all animation and noise, as officers, quartermasters, and commissaries were preparing for the departure of the regiments for Detroit. The broad and generally almost deserted streets were alive with bustling citizens and country people, gazing with curiosity at the uniforms and equipments of the passing soldiers, and the stores were full of customers; companies were drilling; camp equipage, coming in from Cincinnati or the neighborhood, and Montgomery County farmers and business men, ever when they were enrolled among the volunteers, were many of them reaping a golden harvest.

Ou the 25th Governor Meigs surrendered the command, the duties of which he had faithfully discharged, to General Tull. In the morning Governor Meigs and General Hull and their staffs rode out to the camp south of town and reviewed the First Ohio. The review was followed by addresses, and then the gencral and governor returned to MeCullum's for dinner. Jn the afternoon they rode to the camp at what is now Library Park, and after making an inspection of arms, accoutrements, and equipments, reviewed the two regiments. After the review the soldiers formed in close column and listened to addresses by the governor and general, which were reported in full in the next number of the Ohio Centinal.

opposite the head of the present Webster Street, and marched to a prairie three miles from town, on the west bank of Mad River. They named their,camp for Governor Meigs. The American flag was run up, the troops forming a hollow square around it, and erecting it with cheers, and expressing their determination not to surrender it but with their lives. Lhe troops, supphed with tents and equipage by the government, were more comfortable at Camp Meigs, and also better drilled and disciplined, than they had been at their other encampments. |

On'the 26th, Governor Meigs ordered Captain William Van Cleve's company of riflemen, then in camp at Adams' Prairie, on Hole's Creek, to march to the frontier of the State west of the Miami, under the direction and charge of Colonel Jerome Holt. Colonel Holt was ordered to assist and to adopt any mode he might think best for the protection of the settlements. The roads fron Camp Meigs to Piqua were kept free from Indians by patrols of militia. Captain Sloan's troop from Cincinnati the government, the Northwestern army, left Camp Meigs on their march for Detroit. The troops were in igh spirits, 7A crowd of people from this vicinity, the governor and his staff, and many strangers from Cincinnati and Kentucky, were assembled to witness the departure of the first army of Ohio for the seat of war. They were not encumbered with artillery, which was to be supphed on their arrival at Detroit. The column was formed as follows: Cavalry on the right; next in line, the Second regiment; then the Third Ohio, and on the extreme left the First regiment, followed by the wagon train and brigades of pack mules.

A crowd of people followed the troops the first day, some of them sleeping in camp the first night and not returning home for a day or two. The regiments marched out what is now the old Troy pike, but was then known-as the Staunton road. They camped the first evening at Staunton, a mile east of Troy. It had been the intention of General Hull to march up the Miami to Laramie, thence over to the Auglaize and then down to the rapids of the Maumee. Bateaux and keel-boats had been loaded here with corn-meal, flour, corn, and pork, which the troops were to escort up the Miami, but the river was so low that the boats strauded on the shoals the day they started. The plans were accordingly changed. The men were paid off and remained in camp till the 6th, when they marched to Urbana, arriving on the 7th and camping in the castern part of the town.

a ae with ATASe of | he Shawnee and Wyandot nations. For the purpose of impressing the chiefs with the power of the United States government, the regiments at Urbana were paraded and reviewed on the afternoon of the 8th by the governor.

The First regiment was ordered on the 11th to cut a road through the woods to the Scioto. On the 16th they began to build two block houses on the south bank of the Scioto and a stockade, which were called

On the 15th the remainder of the army, which had been increased by the arrival of the Fourth regiment of the United States Infantry and several. militia companies to two thousand, five hundred men, left Urbana. They arrived at Fort McArthur on the 19th. They marched with a strong rear guard and with companies of riflemen on the flanks of the army, as the oe were full of hostile Indians.

June 21st the Second regiment was ordered to continue the road to Blanchard's ford of the Auglaize River. A company was Ieft as a garrison at Fort McArthur, and the remainder of the army marched on the 22d. The way lay through the swamps and twelve miles from the fort they "got stuck in the mud." Here they built Fort Necessity. Block houses similar to this were erected all along the route to store provisions,

Twenty miles further on they built Port. Findlay on the site of the town of that name. Here the Third regiment was ordered forward to elear the road for the army, now beginning its march through the Black Swamp, part of which is called at the present day Hull's Prairie. The roac was in places knee-deep in mud, and badly cut up by cavalry and pack horses and the one hundred and six heavily loaded army wagons. Thirteen wagons stuck in the mud and were abandoned. The men plodded wearily along through the deep mire for thirty-five miles, yet reached and crossed the Mauinee on the 80th in fine health and spirits, and continued their march to Detroit. General UWull had, for the protection of stores and public property, and to keep open his line of communication, left garrisons of militia at Dayton, Piqua, Urbana, St. Mary's, Fort McArthur, Fort Findlay, and Fort Greenville. ee Munger was ordered up with his command of militia from Ifole's Creek to Camp Meigs after the departure of the army from Dayton. His duty was to keep the roads to Piqua and Urbana open and to guard the pubhie stores here, a service of some importance, as guartermaster's ordinance, aud commussary's supplies were forwarded to the front by way of Dayton.

killed all their captives. On the 8th of July they were ordered to go as far as Vineennes. The governor in order, if necessary, to organize a second army, kept bodies of Ohio militia in camp in the southern and western parts of the State, and at points along the line of communication with Detroit. A' number were at Fort Meigs ready to report on short notice. On the 10th, Governor Meigs, who was then at Chillicothe, disbanded General Munger's brigade, supposing that their services would no longer be necded.

On the Ist of July, Lieutenant Gwynne, of the United States Army, opened a recruiting office in Dayton. A bounty of sixteen dolars was offered to men enlisting for five years, and three months additional pay and one hundred and sixty acres of land were promised to recruits, or their heirs, serving their time out, wounded, or killed in the service. Men enlisting for eighteen months were to receive the bounty, but no land. Boys, with: the consent of parents or guardians, were enlisted as musicians. 2

Army contractors, during the summer, purchased grain and stock of the farmers at advaneed prices. One of the contractors advertised for six hundred head of cattle, four hundred horses, and three thousand barrels of flour; and another for flour, whisky, beef, cattle, vinegar, and bacon,

At noon on Saturday, August 22d, the news of the surrender of Hull's army reached Dayton. The people of this neighborhood and on the frontier were much alarmed by this terrible disaster. It was supposed that he could not have been induced to surrender, unless compelled to do so by the overwhelming superiority of the enemy. The distress and indignation of the Western people may be imagined - it would be difficult to find words strong enough to express it- - when they learned.that, while Tftull had an army of two thousand, five hundred men well supplied with arms, artillery, ammunition, provisions, cattle, sheep, horses, and stores of all kinds, General Brock, of the British Army, was poorly supphed with artillery, and bad but one thousand, three hundred and thirty men, three hundred and thirty regulars, four hundred militia, and six hundred Indians; yet full surrendered without firing a gun. Our soldiers were released on parole, landed at various points on the shore of Lake Erie, and gradually made their way home. The people throughout the State were panic-stricken. The British Army was known to consist principally of Indians, and it was feared that, instigated by British officers, roving bands of savages would soon begin a barbarous warfare upon the attendance at the council called at Piqua by United States commissioners, and it was very uncertain how they would be affected by the extraordinary reverse at Detroit. Fortunately they remained friendly, 'and their presence, instead of endangering the people aud the public stores, was a protection to the frontier.

The citizens who had collected in large numbers at the Centinal office, on August 22d, to hear the news, recommended the immediate issuc of a handbill, containing a statement of the alarming information just received, and requesting every able-bodied mau who could furnish a fireloek to repair to Dayton the next day, for the purpose of marching immediately to the defense of the frontier; to guard the public stores at Piqua, and Watch the movements of 'the Indians in' that "quarter." "The response to this call justified the Centinal in heading its editorial, relating the occurrences of the following two or three days, "Prompt Patriotism," and in challenging "the annals of our country to produce an example of greater promptitude or patriotism." |

The bad news came Saturday noon. The consternation and aston-. ishment were followed by immediate action, and by seven o'clock Sunday morning a company of seventy men was raised, organized, and completely equipped. It was commanded by Captain dames Steele, and marehed

Captain Johnson, from Warren County, arrived here. Captain Caldwell's troop of horse went to Piqua early Monday morning. The other six companies, nu mbering in all upwards of four hundred men, were organized into a battalion. Major Adams, who had been chosen major of the battalion, marched in the afternoon with three hundred and forty-one completely equipped men, all volunteers, the two companies of dratted militia being left here at Camp Meigs, subject to the orders of Governor Meigs. Monday evening and Tuesday several other companies from adjoining counties passed through Dayton for "the frontier." As soon as the news of Ilull's surrender reached Governor Meigs, he ordered forty thousand dollars worth of the public property to be removed from Piqua to Dayton, and part of it had arrived before the 26th. Tuesday afternoon three hundred and fifty men, under the eommand of Captain Jenks, who had volunteered before the news of the surrender of Detroit was received, arrived on their way to the front and camped at Camp Meigs. A brigade from Greene County, commanded by General Benjamin Whiteman, marched on this day.

General Munger, commander of the Fifth Brigade of the First Division of Ohio Militia, was ordered by Governor Meigs, who was now at Urbana, to organize troops and take immediate measures for the defense of the frontier within his command. He was to cause block houses to be erected at suitable places, and to "advise the inhabitants to associate and erect suitable stations of defense in such way as to accom: modate families." "The astonishing fate of General Hull's army," writes the governor, "has exposed the frontier to barbarians. I have written express to the secretary of war on the subject of defense. I hope soon to see the Kentucky army here, when a regular system of operations will be adopted. In the meantime you will direct and advise the most judicious course." : |

In obedience to this command, General Munger marched with his brigade to Piqua, where he superintended the removal of the public stores. Captain Steele's company, which was at Piqua, was ordered by General Munger to march to St. Mary's, which was the most advanced frontier post. Captain Steele was placed in command of the post, and Private Joseph H. Crane was sergeant-major. They built block houses for the defense of St. Mary's.

The following is a copy of the pay-roll of Captain Steele's company while at St. Mary's. It contained but tifty-two names, though seventy were enrolled on August 23rd, so that part of the men were probably at this time engaged in scouting or other duty. Perhaps some did not go farther than Piqua: | .

The accidental preservation and publication in the Dayton Journal of this pay-roll enabled a number of widows and children of the men to obtain land warrants from the government.

It is impossible for the present generation to realize the horrors and sufferings of the first year of the war. In King's "History of Ohio" it is stated that "an eye-witness deseribed the country as depopulated of men, aud the farmer women, weak and sickly as they often were, and surrounded by helpless httle children, were obliged, for want of bread, till their fields until frequently they fell exhausted and dying under if toil. to which they were unequal." 'The people of Dayton and Vicinity had their full share of their trials and labors. ;

Monday afternoon, Aucust 3ist, Colonel Wells arrived with between three and four hundred men of the Seventeenth United States Regiment, lately recruited in Kentueky, and also Captain Garrard, with a volunteer troop of horse, from Bourbon County, Kentucky. They left the next day.

On Tuesday morning, September Ist, General W. H. Harrison, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Kentucky velunteers, arrived in town and remained a few hours, and as a mark of respect and approbation, the citizens announced his arrival by firing a salute of eighteen guns. While they were receiving General Harrison in front of the court house square, Brigadier-General Payne arrived, with three Kentucky regiments, making a foree of cighteen hundred men, and marching up Main Street, halted near Second Street. They were also greeted with a discharge of cannon. "A Mr. Wright, while engaged in firing the salute, had one hand shot off and the other badly injured.

The Centinal, in an editorial in its next issue, says that, "in the present hour of gloom and despondency, no event could have given more general satisfaction than the appointment of General Harrison." "We trust the gallant Kentuckians, under their accomplished leader, will retrieve the tarnished honor of our country." The people congratulated

'he following letter from the Kentucky volunteers, thanking the people of Dayton for the attentions they had received from them, was published in the Centinal on the 2d of September: command for the tribute of respect paid to them in passing through town. They flatter themselves that, in the hour of trial, they will not be found unworthy of the confidence of their country. They feelingly commiserate - with the citizen who, in paying them that tribute, was maimed by the accidental going off of the cannon; and they beg leave to present to him a small sum of money, a voluntary contribution of the officers towards defraying the expenses of his cure. "Ipy order or the general.

At this time two reginitnts of Montgomery "County militia were stationed at Piqua; Major Adams' battalion was ordered to St. Mary's, and Colonel] Jerome Holt and his regiment to Greenville, where they were directed to build a block house and stockade. Meinforcements were sent to Laramie, and the defenses there strengthened. Fort McArthur was garrisoned with Ohio militia, and the works there and at Fort Manary and Urbana were enlarged. As the Indians were threatening Fort Wayne, if became necessary tq obtain reinforcement for Major Adams' battalion, who were about to march from St. Mary's to the relief of that post. The following address and call for troops were thefefore issued by Governor Meigs and General Harrison:

"At a moment like this I appeal to your valor and patriotism. Major General Harrison will rendezvous a respectable force of Kentucky volunteers at Dayton, on the 15th instant, for a short expedition.

"General Harrison desires to add to his troops any number of volunteers from the State of Ohio, who will serve on the expedition, not exceeding thirty days. |

"All those who will embrace this favorable opportunity of distingushing themselves under an able commander, and of rendering to the State of Ohio a valuable service, will, in their equipment and movements, follow the directions of General Harrison hereto subjoined. |

" Any number of volunteers, mounted and prepared for active service, to continue for twenty-five or thirty days, will be accepted to rendezvous at the town of Dayton, on the Big Miami, on the 15th inst. -

War Of 1812

"Those patriotic citizens, who are unable to afford personal assistance, will render essential service to their country by furnishing the horses, which must be dchvered in Dayton on the 14th inst., to a person who will be authorized to receive and receipt for them. | « Wintiam H. Harrison.

" HEADQUARTERS, Piqua, "September 5, 1812, 4 4. M. " Mounted Volunteers: | ~ "T requested you in my last address to rendezvous at Dayton on the 15th: inst.. [ have now a more pressing call-for your services! The British and Indians have invaded our country and are now besieging (perhaps have taken) Fort Wayne. very friend to his country, who is able to do so, will join me as soon as possible, well mounted, with a good rifle and twenty or thirty days' provisions. Ammunition will be furnished at Cincinnati and Dayton, .and the volunteers will draw provisions (to save their salted meat) at all the public deposits. The quartermasters and commissaries will see that this order is executed. WiuiitaM IT. Harrison."

The brigade of Kentuckians, under command of General Payne, who, after a short stay in Dayton, had proceeded to Piqua, were ordered to St. Mary's on Sunday, the 6th, and a thousand men also marched to the saine place from Urbana.

Three hundred mounted infantry from Kentucky, commanded -by Major Richard M. Johnson, arrived here on Sunday. They proceeded to Piqua on Monday, but bivouacked Sunday meght on Main Street.

* On Monday, September 7th, General Ilarrison left Piqua for St. Mary's to take command of the troops, which he had been concentrating there for the expedition to Fort Wayne. Just before he left for his army he issued an address to the people of Ohio, calling for about cight hundred horses, each provided with a saddle and bridle, as he wanted to mount at least one of his regiments of infantry on horseback. The terms the United States should they be lost, or should the horses die any other than a natural death. Jesse Hunt and Peyton Short were authorized to engage the horses, and they issued the following notice:

The army collected at St. Mary's numbered four thousand, and General Harrison marched for Fort Wayne on September 9th. The distance was fifty-five miles, and he arrived on the 12th. The enemy, without awaiting the chances of a battle, fled before him in all directions. He destroyed the Indian villages, and then returned to St. Mary's. Major Adams' battalion, from this county, was discharged, and returned home, where their prompt patriotism shown in volunteering for the defense of the frontier, without an instant's delay, was highly appreciated.

There was no regularly organized hospital here, but many sick and wounded soldiers received medical and surgical care and nursing in Dayton trom our physicians and patriotic women. Dr. Jolin Steele, who settled here in 1812, devoted himself to this work, as did other doctors, who, dying early or removing soon after to other places, are not so well known to our community. }

In September General Harrison was commissioned major-general in the United States Army and commander-in-chief of the troops in the Northwest Territory, and ordered to take Detroit. The courier, who passed through Dayton to St. Mary's with this good news, received a warm weleome.

Brigadier-General Winchester and staff dined in Dayton on Sunday, the 18th. They were on their way to join General Harrison, who, declining to serve as second in command under Winchester, had been made commander-in-chief. Winchester was another old Revolutionary relic of the Hull stamp. The unfortunate Hull was court-martialed, found guilty of cowardice and unsoldier-like conduct, and sentenced to be shot, but was pardoned by the president.