Hanover Township (part 21 of 29)

In Whose Favor On What Account

has been of immense value to the people of this section. Its usefulness, however, has been much lessened by the railroad, and those who are best informed on the subject look forward to the day as not far distant when the tolls will not pay the expense of keeping it in order, and it consequently will be abandoned. The dimensions of the channel are twenty-six feet at the bottom and forty feet at the top. In depth it varies in different sections from four feet to five feet. The locks are eighty feet long, and fourteen feet inside chamber. The maximum size of

The Warren County Canal Company was organized February 22, 1830, and led from Middletown to Lebanon, a distance including the feeder, of twenty miles. There were six locks upon it, - four at or near Lebanon, with an aggregate lift of twenty-eight feet, locking up into the western part of the town; two locks were located at Middletown, each with a fall of eight feet, locking down into the Miami and Erie Canal. At Lebanon was a dam on Turtle Creck about one hundred feet long, and also a reservoir of forty-five acres, the water from which, together with water furnished by the pool of the dam, supplied lockage water to the canal. To supply the canal from Middletown to the locks at Lebanon, two thousand cubic feet of water per minute was brought from Mad River by the Miami and Erie Canal, then known as the Miami Canal, and introduced into the Warren County Canal feeder above the second lock, north of Middletown. This canal was commenced by a company, and estimated in 1833 to cost $123,861. By an act of the General Assembly dated February 20, 1836, the canal was made an appendage and part of the Miami Canal, and placed in charge of the canal commissioners. The canal cost, when finished, the sum .of two hundred and seventeen thousand, five hundred and fifty-two dollars and sixtcen cents. The reservoir, situated in the north-west part of Lebanon, when full of water, is very much elevated above the old dam site, and the water, when drawn therefrom for lockage pur- poses, was used to propel machinery in its descent to the canal. The canal was suffered to go into disuse, and in 1855 was sold and abandoned. At the time the company turned over the canal to the State they had expended $21,742.33.

Leaders Of The Half Century

WE have found it expedient under this head to group together a list of names of those who, in the earlier half of the century, were the leaders of public opinion in this remote Western country. It only includes a few persons, and others as eminent are to be found outside of this roll. All are now dead. The list begins with the venerable president of Miami University,

Robert H. Bishop

Robert Hamilton Bishop, D. D., first president of Miami University, was the son of William and Margaret Bishop. He was born in the parish of Whitburn, Linlithgowshire, North Britain, on the 26th of July, 1777. Having early evinced a fondness for books, as well as a mind of more than ordinary vigor, he entered on a course of classical study, and in November, 1794, became a member of the University of Edinburgh. After completing his course at the university, he entered the Divinity Hall at Selkirk, under the Rey. George Lawson, in August, 1798. Here he passed through the prescribed course of theological study, and on the 28th of June, 1802, was licensed -to preach the Gospel by the Associate Burgher Presbytery of Perth.

In the Spring and Summer of 1801, the Rev. (afterwards Dr.) John M. Mason, of the city of New York, visited the Burgher Synod of Scotland, as the commissioner from the Associate Reformed Synod of North America, partly with a view to obtain a supply of preachers for the American Synod. Mr. Bishop, being at that time a student under Professor Lawson, was casually introduced to Dr. Mason, and the brief interview which he had with him led, some two months after, to a partial engagement to accompany Dr. Mason to America, provided the synod, at whose disposal he was, should so direct.

The synod met in April, 1802; and, under their special order, he was licensed to preach, with a view to his engaging in the contemplated mission. In September following, he, with five other ordained ministers, embarked with Dr. Mason at Greenock, and arrived at New York before the close of October. Having attended a meeting of the Associate Reformed Synod, which took place shortly after his arrival, he set out with two other clergymen for Kentucky; but, being left to supply two new congregations in Adams County, Ohio, for two months, he did not arrive there until March, 1803. He had been appointed to labor in Kentucky by the casting vote of the moderator of the synod - what was then called the Second Congregation of New York having made application for his services. Five years afterwards - the same congregation sent him a pressing invitation to return to them, which, however, he did not accept.

In the Summer of 1803 he had three calls presented to him in due form; but that which he finally accepted was from Ebenezer, in Jessamine County, which was connected with New Providence, in Mercer County. The two congregations united contained about thirty families spread over a tract of country at least fifteen miles square ; and, as the Kentucky River and the Kentucky cliffs intervened between the two places of worship, the two Churches were not expected to worship together much oftener than twice in a year. About the same time a professorship in Transylvania University was offered him, and, accepting it, he combined the duties of that office with those of his charge.

Having accepted the call from the above-mentioned Churches in the Autumn of 1804, subjects were given him for his trial discourses to be delivered in the Spring ; but at the Spring meeting he was informed that he could not be admitted to trial for ordination till he should dissolve his connection with the Transylvania University. The reasons assigned for this were that the presbytery had the exclusive disposal of his time, and that his duties in connection with the university were of such a nature as to interfere greatly with his usefulness to the Associate Reformed Church. This brought him into unpleasant relations with the presbytery; and ultimately he was regularly prosecuted upon a charge of disobedience, the result of which was that he received-a presbyterial rebuke, by which the matter was considered as judicially settled. The case, however, being subsequently referred to the synod, it was decided that the resignation of his place in the university should not be an indispensable condition of his ordination, and that the Presbytery of Kentucky should proceed to ordain him as soon as circumstances would permit. This decision was given in June, 1807; but, owing to certain circumstances, his ordination did not take place till June, 1808. Thus, for nearly four years he was virtually under ecclesiastical process ; and, although only a probationer, had yet the charge of two congregations, to which he preached alternately every Sabbath - the one fifteen miles, the other twenty-seven miles distant from his residence.

For some time after his ordination, Mr. Bishop seems to have exercised his ministry with a good degree of comfort and success. In the year 1810 the presbytery appointed him, in connection with the Rey. Adam Rankin, of polemic notoriety, to prepare an address to the Churches, in the form of a pastoral letter, designed to illustrate the obligation of sustaining Christian institutions, and especially the ministry of the Gospel. The document was written by Mr. Bishop, assented to by Mr. Rankin, and passed without opposition by the presbytery, though it gave great offense in certain quarters, and especially in Mr. Bishop's own congregation. 'The presbytery, with a view to prevent erroneous impressions and to avert threatening evil, directed their clerk to address an official letter to the Ebenezer congregation, distinctly stating that the offensive circular was to be considered the act of the presbytery, and not of an individual. This letter Mr. Bishop caused to be printed, with some explanatory remarks of his own, in the close of which he made an allusion to the conduct of Mr. Rankin, which he afterward pronounced '' imprudent and unnecessary," and which occasioned him great embarrassment in his ecclesiastical relations. His original connection with the pastoral letter led to the dissolution of his relation to the Ebenezer congregation in October, 1814.

In the Autumn of 1811 Mr. Bishop entered into an arrangement with two or three other clergymen for conducting a monthly religious publication, to be called the Evangelical Record and Western Review. This was the first thing of the kind ever attempted in Kentucky, and the second west of the mountains. The work, however, owing chiefly to a deficiency in the subscriptions, was discontinued at the close of the second year.

In the second volume of this work Mr. Bishop published, as part of the history of religion in the State of Kentucky, an article entitled '"' The Origin of the Rankinites," which gave great offense in various circles, and which he himself subsequently regarded as extremely illjudged and unfortunate. After considerable private and extra-judicial conference on the subject, a regular judicial inquiry was entered into by his presbytery, and in October, 1815, he was brought to trial on a charge of slander; the result of which was, he was regularly suspended from the ministry. An appeal to the General Synod from the sentence was immediately taken. The synod met in Philadelphia in May, 1816, and, on an examination of the case presented by documents, they decided that Mr. Bishop should be publicly rebuked by the presbytery for the offensive publications ; that the presbytery should use means to bring the parties immediately concerned into harmonious relations with each other; and that, if this could not be effected, there should be a regular trial instituted, and that the presbytery should make one of the parties prosecutor and the other the defendant; and that, the presbytery should be reversed. Nothing, however, was satisfactorily accomplished under this decision, and the case came again before the synod in 1817. At this meeting a committee was appointed to proceed to Kentucky to take whatever depusitions might be considered necessary; but that committee, after some correspondence with the parties and others concerned, concluded not synod. This commission, consisting of John M. Mason, Ebenezer Dickey, and John Linn, ministers, and Silas E. Weir, an elder from Philadelphia, proceeded to Lexington in September following, and in the execution of their trust made Bishop the prosecutor and Rankin the defendant. The latter claimed his legal ten days to prepare for his defense ; but when the time had expired, he declined the jurisdiction of the court. The trial, however, went on in his absence, and the decision was, "' that the prosecutor should be publicly rebuked for the publications he had issued, and that the defendant, being convicted of lying and slander, be, as he hereby is, suspended from the Gospel ministry." It is honorable to Mr. Bishop, considering the relations into which he was brought by Rankin, that he has left the following testimony concerning him: '*Mr. Rankin, with all his bitterness on particular subjects and on particular occasions, was also, in all other matters and on all occasions, a kind-hearted, benevolent man."

Mr. Bishop's twenty-one years' connection with the Transylvania University was marked by no serious difficulties or disagreeable circumstances, so far as he was personally or officially concerned. Upwards of twenty young men, who were more or less under his special care during this period, afterwards entered the ministry, and several of them rose to eminence. During one of the three years in which he considered himself as virtually suspended from the ministry, he devoted nearly all his Sabbaths to the instruction of the negroes, and organized the first Sabbath-schools ever opened in Lexington for their benefit. He has been heard to say that this was one of the most agreeable enterprises in which he ever engaged ; and that in no othef year of his residence in Kentucky had he so much evidence of the gracious presence of the Holy Spirit in connection with his labors.

In October, 1819, Mr. Bishop, having dissolved his connection with the Associate Reformed Church, joined the West Lexington Presbytery in connection with the General Assembly. From 1820 to 1823 he officiated as stated supply to the Church in Lexington, which had been gathered by the labors of the Rev. James McChord; and his connection with this Church he seems to have considered as highly favorable to both his comfort and usefulness.

In the Autumn of 1824 he accepted the presidency of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and was inaugurated on the 380th of March, 1825. Here he found a few Christian people who had been under the care of the Rev. James Hughes, for some years principal of the grammar school in that place; and the pupils of this he gathered and formed into a Presbyterian Church, and preached to them regularly on the Sabbath in the college chapel, until the year 1831, when, as the result of a revival, in which Dr. Blackburn was the principal in- | strument, the Church gathered so much strength that | they undertook to build a place of worship and call a pastor. In 1825 he was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the college of New Jersey.

Tn the great controversy which divided the Presbyte- | rian Church in 1838 Dr. Bishop's sympathy and action were with the New School. In 1841 he resigned the presidency of Miami University, but held the professor- | ship of History and Political Science until the Autumn |

He then removed to Pleasant Hill, a beautiful spot in the immediate neighborhood of Cincinnati, where there | was already an academy which, partly through his agency, was now enlarged into a college, under the name of the 'Farmers' College." Here he remained actively and usefully employed to the close of life. Dr. Bishop preached regularly in the chapel to the students as long as he retained the presidency of the university, but after that had no stated charge. He preached, however, very frequently during his subsequent years, and his last sermon was preached on the 15th of April, 1855, but two weeks before his death. As he left his house to preach this sermon he distinctly told his wife it would be his last. He heard his classes as usual on Thursday, and was just going to the college on Friday morning, when his strength failed, so that he was no longer capable of making an effort. He lingered until five o'clock Sabbath morning (April 29th), his usual hour of rising, and then died, as he had often expressed a wish to die, ''in the harness."

On the 25th of August, 1802, just as he was on the eve of embarking for America, he was married to Ann Treland, by whom he had eight children, five sons and three daughters. All his sons were graduates of Miami University. Two of them became clergymen, and one of them a professor in the university at which he graduated. Mrs. Bishop survived her husband but two weeks. ;

The following is a list of Dr. Bishop's publications: "Sermons on Various Subjects," 1808. (This was the first volume of sermons printed west of the mountains. ) 'Memorials of David Rice," with an Appendix, 1824; "Elements of Logic, or a Summary of the General Principles and Different Modes of Reasoning," 1833; "Sketches of the Philosophy of the Bible," 1833; 'Elements of the Science of Government," 1839; 'The | Western Peacemaker," 1839. He published, also, several occasional sermons and addresses, among which was a sermon on thé death of the Rev. James McChord, 1820, and the address at his inauguration as president of Miami University in 1825. He contributed, also, liberally to several periodicals.

Half Century

HALF CENTURY. 153 versity - of which he was for a long time president - directors of Farmers' College, instructors and pupils, with a numerous concourse of friends, attended his remains to body to the college chapel, where religious exercises were commenced by Rey. Professor Cary. Dr. Allen, professor of Lane Seminary, delivered an elegant and instructive sermon from the text, Second Timothy, fourth chapter, seventh and eighth verses, 'I have fought a '" ete. In the course of his remarks he read

May, 1855) seventy-four years of age and much reduced in strength, though of sound mind, he first gave, as he always had attempted to do, his soul to God, and he expected to be received as was the thief on the cross. Second, his body after death to the directors of Farmers' College, to be placed in a plain coffin, and then inclosed in a strong square box and deposited in an artificial mound in a designated spot in the college-yard, to consist of suecessive layers of earth and sand, not to be less than eight No artificial monument to be erected on it, unless it should be a few evergreens or shrubbery. Another portion of the will spoke of the aged wife he He commended her, during the few remaining years of her life, to the friends of Farmers' College. During the fifty years she, with him, had assisted in the education of young men, she had, on principle, never spent any thing for entertainments, but devoted all for the tuition and books of those needing assistance.

Dr. Scott, late president of Miami College, and long connected with the deceased in educational efforts, gave personal testimony to the worth and noble efforts of Dr. Bishop. His personal history he gaye with interest, mentioning that, ''during the changes and controversies originating in skeptical views among those controlling that (Miami) university, there was always one who nobly stood by the faithful Christian soldier, Dr. Bishop, and that was the national statesman, Henry Clay. He continued to implore the directors to retain Dr. Bishop, for, if they did not have one praying man in the university it surely would go down."

William Bebb

William Bebb, who was governor of this State during the Mexican war, was born on the Dry Fork of Whitewater, in Morgan Township, December 8, 1802. His father, Edward Bebb, emigrated from Wales, Great Britain, in 1795, traveled across the mountains to the valley of the Miami on foot, purchased in the neighborhood of North Bend an extensive tract of land, returned to Pennsylvania and married Miss Roberts, to whom he had been engaged in Wales, and, with his bride, riding in a suitable conveyance, again crossed the mountains, and settled on his land in what was then but a wilder- ness. mon with many of his countrymen, of a joyous and everhopeful disposition. His wife was a lady of culture and refinement, and her home in the valley of the Miami, with no near neighbors, was a great change from her previous life. There were, of course, no schools near to send her children to, and this was matter of grave concern to the parents, and the son was, in consequence, taught to read at home. In those years the Western Spy, then published in Cincinnati, and distributed by a private post-rider, was taken by his father, and William read with avidity the contents of it, especially the achievements of Napoleon Bonaparte. <A strong desire to acquire a better education induced him to make extraordinary efforts, and in this matter he was much assisted by Mr. David Lloyd, a graduate of a college in Philadelphia, who resided in the neighborhood. Bebb began teaching school at Oury's school-house, in the village of New Haven, Hamilton County, and afterwards at North Bend, the residence of General Harrison. He remained in this latter place a year, during which time he married Miss Sarah Shuck, the daughter of a wealthy German resident of the village.

Proving a success as a teacher of boys, he conceived the idea of extending his usefulness, and resolved to open an extensive boarding-school on part of his father's large place and farm, some two miles north of the Oury's school-house. With the assistance of his father and the encouragement of his neighbors, who had much confidence in him and his learning and ability, and with the goodwill and aid of some Cincinnati friends, he had a large and commodious two-story-and-a-half frame house and additions erected on the banks of the Dry Fork of Whitewater. The large building consisted of a middle two-and-a-half story house, and commodious wings on each side one-and-a-half story high; one of these, the northern wing, being devoted to himself and young family as a dwelling; the other, the southern wing, being the school-house, and dormitory for the boys above. The center building contained a large dining-hall, entered from a beautiful covered portico, reached by a flight of steps extending the whole length of the building, and as large a dormitory for the boys immediately above, and rooms and large kitchen at the rear. The whole house was painted white, adorned with blue. Thus situated, Mr. Bebb began his boarding-school about the year 1827 or 1828, and, being an energetic man, he began to prosper, and his school was soon filled with pupils and boarders from the boys of Cincinnati and elsewhere. This was the first and pioneer boarding-school in the vicinity of Cincinnati. that city, and it was reached by tolerably good roads for those days, either by way of Millcreek and Colerain townships, through the town of Venice on the Great Miami, or through Green and Miami and Crosby townships, through the villages of Cheviot, Miamitown, and

New Haven. In and about the locality, particularly on the Dry Fork Creek, there were a great many large, full-foliaged, and grand sycamore-trees, and Mr. Bebb named the place Sycamore Grove. This name became celebrated in Cincinnati and throughout the country, and Bebb's school and Sycamore Grove became a distinguished place. He carried on his school until the end of the year 1832, when, being filled with ambition to make a. still greater mark before the public eye, he gave up his wellestablished school.

Tn 1831 he rode to Columbus on horseback, where the supreme court judges examined him and passed him to practice in the State. He then removed to Hamilton, Butler County, and opened a law office, being for a long time in partnership with John. M. Millikin, where he continued quietly and in successful practice fourteen years. During this period he took an active interest in political affairs, and advocated during his first, called the hard-cider campaign, the claims of General Harrison, and no less distinguished himself during that '" Tippecanoe and 'Tyler, too," campaign, in which the persons indicated were successful, and the Whigs, in 1840, for the first time succeeded in electing their candidates. Four years afterward he was elected governor of the State, and the war with Mexico placed him, as the governor of Ohio, in a very trying position. Asa Whig he did not personally favor that war, and this feeling was generally entertained by the party who made him their leader in the State; but he felt that the question was one not of party but of cordial support of the general government, and his earnest recognition of this fact eventually overcame the danger that had followed President Polk's proclamatioir of war. His term of office (1846-48) was distinguished by good money, free-schools, great activity in the construction of railroads and turnpikes ; the arts and industry generally were well rewarded, and high prosperity characterized the whole State. In 1847 Governor Bebb purchased five thousand acres of land in Rock River County, Illinois, of which the location was delightful and the soil rich. Five hundred acres were wooded, and constituted a natural park, while the remainder was prairie of the best quality, with a stream of water fed by perpetual springs. No man of moderate ambition could desire the possession of a more magnificent portion of the earth's surface. Three years after making this purchase he removed to it, taking with him fine horses and a number of the choicest breeds of cattle, and entered upon the cultivation of this fine property. Five years afterward he visited Great Britain and the continent of Europe. In the birthplace of his father he found many desirous to immigrate to America, and, encouraging the enterprise, a company was reer and a tract of one hundred thousand acres purchased for them in East Tennessee, where he agreed to preside over their arrangements and the settlement of this land. In 1856 a party of the colonists arrived on the land, and Governor Bebb resided with them until the war of the Rebellion began, when he left the State with his family. The emigrants, discouraged by the strong pro-slavery sentiment, scattered and settled in various parts of the Northern States. On the inauguration of President Lincoln, Governor Bebb was appointed examiner in the Pension Department at Washington, and held this position until 1869, when he returned to his farm in Illinois, and the peaceful pursuit of agriculture. His scale of farming was the cultivation of two thousand acres in a season, while another thousand formed his cattle pasture. While in Washington he received the appointment of consul at Tangiers, Morocco, but declined.

He took an active part in the election of General Grant, and the first sickness of any consequence he ever ~ experienced was an attack of pneumonia following an exposed ride from Pecatonica, where he had addressed the electors, to his home. From this he never recovered, and, although he spent the following Winter in Washington, occupied mainly as a listener to the debates in the Senate, he felt his vital forces gradually declining. Returning home the next Summer, and feeling that he was no longer able to superintend his farm operations, he purchased a residence at Rockford, and there resided until his death, which happened October 23, 1878. His widow still survives him, and has now reached the age of seventy-eight. She lives in Rockford, Illinois.

David Macdill

The Rev. David MacDill, D. D., was born in the Northern District of South Carolina, December 27, 1790. He was of Scotch-Irish descent. His father, though quite young, served as a soldier in the war of the Revolution, under Colonel Horry. The son in his youth enjoyed the advantages afforded by the Churches and schools which then existed among Scotch-Irish Presbyterians in the South. At the age of sixteen he had studied as much mathematics as was then usually studied in college. He had a thirst for knowledge and a love of books. .

In 1806 the MacDill family removed from South Carolina to what was then regarded as '' the far West," and settled in Preble County, Ohio. The country was almost an unbroken forest. A section of land, consisting of six hundred and forty acres, was purchased, and the work of erecting a log-house and other buildings and of clearing off the timber, mostly beech, was begun. In such work as this young David MacDill spent three years - teaching school, however, for three months during each of those years. about nineteen years old, he commenced the study of languages under the Rey. William Robertson, at Lebanon, Ohio. He finished his literary course in Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky. Among his classmates were the Rey. J. Finley Crowe, D. D., the founder of Hanover College, and the Rey. David Monfort, D. D., pastors for many years of the Presbyterian Church in Hamilton, Ohio. In 1813 he entered the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in New York, then under the care of the celebrated Rev. Dr. J. M. . Mason, one of the ablest pulpit orators of our country. Here he spent four annual sessions, and had as fellowstudents many who afterward became leading ministers in their respective Churches. He spent the Summer vacations in teaching in the vicinity of New York. When he graduated, in 1817, from the Seminary, he delivered by appointment the valedictory address to his class. He was licensed to preach August 6, 1817. He began to preach in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian (United Presbyterian) Church, in Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio, in October, 1817. He was ordained and installed pastor of the congregations of Hamilton and Concord, October, 1818. . He continued in charge of these two congregations for eight or ten years, and then demitted the Concord branch. The Concord meeting-house was about eight miles north of Hamilton, and just this side of Collinsville. He continued pastor of the Hamilton Church until 1848, a period of more than thirty years. During the most of this time he preached three times each Sabbath - twice in his own church, and once in a schoolhouse or unoccupied church. In addition to these labors he edited the Christian Intelligencer, a monthly religious periodical. He was also for many years (about twentyfour in all) a member of the board of trustees of Miami University, and was always punctual in attending its meetings. His influence did much to promote the prosperity of that institution.

In 1848 he removed with his family to Sparta, Randolph County, Illinois. Here he became pastor of the Union congregation, which, in a few years,. became too large, in his opinion, to be cared for by one of his age. He resigned this charge, and removed to Monmouth, in order to edit the Western United Presbyterian, in 1857. He was appointed to this position by the synod of IIlinois. He was now nearly seventy years of age. He continued to discharge the duties of editor until 1862, when he resigned. He died in Monmouth, Illinois, June 15, 1870, in the eightieth year of his age.

Professor Morrison, in his biography, says: ''The fruit of his untiring labors in and about Hamilton is not all seen in the congregation he there collected, or the number of persons brought into that branch of the Church of which he was a member. The influence of Dr. MacDill was felt all over that country. There was perhaps no man in Butler County who did more to mold public opinion for good than Dr. MacDill. He was ever on the lookout for opportunities of doing good to men and advancing the glory of God." (Pp. 18-20.)

a skillful and cultivated logician, a profound and vigorous thinker, a general and accurate scholar, and a courteous and attractive Christian gentleman." The same writer speaks of Dr. MacDill's editorials as being ''among the liveliest and best specimens of thought and style anywhere to be found." (Page 33.) Dr. J. B. Scouller, in the United Presbyterian Manual, says of him: '' He wrote more for the periodical press than any man in the Church, haying written very frequently during forty years for all the papers. The style of his articles was always clear, pointed, and terse, and the matter seasonable and judicious. The same qualities characterized his preaching, while his manner was quiet and subdued. He was reverent and devout in the pulpit, and yet frequently indulged in sarcasm, of which he was a thorough master."

Dr. J. G. Monfort, editor of the Herald and Presbyter, speaks of him as follows: '' Dr. MacDill was one of the ablest and best ministers this country has ever produced. His delivery was slow, and not impressive; but his sermons were models of rich, pure, accurate, and sound thought. For fifteen years, from 1820, we heard him preach almost every other Sabbath in Hamilton, Ohio, and no other minister has so excited our higher affections and veneration. His reputation where he lived and labored is a sweet perfume."

* Of course, such a thinker and writer would be an opponent of injustice and the advocate of true moral progress. Dr, MacDill was among the earliest advocates of temperance and anti-slavery views. It was for the special purpose of advocating anti-slavery principles that the Christian Intelligencer, of which he was the editor, was established in 1825. At that time it required some courage to be an anti-slavery man.

John Woods

Alexander Woods, father of John Woods, was a native of Ireland, born in the county of Tyrone, in 1768. In 1790 he left his native land and came to the United States, and resided for some years in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. He afterwards came to the West, first to Kentucky, and afterwards to Warren County, Ohio; where he purchased a farm a few miles cast of the town of Franklin, which he improved, and on which he resided until the time of his decease. He died on the ninth day of January, 1848. He was married in 1793, in Pennsylvania, to Mary Robinson, who was born in 1762, and who died on the 16th of August, 1828, having become the mother of eight children. John Woods, the oldest son, and the subject of this sketch, was born in Jonestown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on the 18th of October, 1794. When Alexander Woods settled upon his land, in what is now Warren County, in the year 1797, the country was a primitive wilderness; the lofty trees had to be prostrated, and the dense forest cleared by hard labor, before the land could be brought to a fit the farm. He received such an education as the common schools of the country at that time afforded, which, by severe study at nights and such times as he could spare from hard labor on the farm, he improved, much to his advantage in after-life. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812. He was included in the last draft of the Ohio militia which was made in 1814, and was in the garrison at Fort Meigs when peace with Great Britain was proclaimed. On his return from-the army he opened an English school in the neighborhood of Springborough, which he continued for one or two years.

From boyhood Mr. Woods had formed the resolution of acquiring an education and finally becoming a lawyer; and for the purpose of enabling him to carry out his design he contracted, for a certain compensation, to clear a piece of ground adjacent to where his father lived, as a means of support. He built a hut or camp on his clearing, and after chopping and mauling the heavy timber all day, at night he often read, and studied law in his rude cabin while others slept. He pursued his course who had been a member of Congress, and was afterwards one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Woods prosecuted his studies in this manner for some time, and went regularly once a week to Lebanon, where Judge McLean then resided, to recite to him and receive instructions. He afterwards devoted his time more exclusively to the study of law. Having qualified himself for admission to the bar, and having undergone an examination touching his legal knowledge and abilities, he made application to the Supreme Court of the State, sitting at Dayton, in Montgomery County, at their June term, 1819, and was admitted to practice as an attorney and counselor-at-law in the courts of Ohio. Afterwards, in January, 1825, he received a license as attorney and, solicitor-at-law to practice in the courts of the United States. -

In August, 1819, he established himself in Hamilton, and, opening an office on the 19th of that month, commenced the practice of his profession. The courts of Hamilton were then attended by some of the eld and able lawyers from Cincinnati and Lebanon, with whom Mr. Woods had to come in competition. At his first attempts at the bar Mr. Woods said that he sometimes felt himself in rather an awkward predicament, with a confusion of ideas; but, reflecting that but few of a large audience could immediately perceive what was sound sense or the reverse, that those who were capable of thus discriminating were probably the most generous and indulgent to youthful orators, and that it was necessary, at all events, to succeed in his profession, he made it a positive rule never to sit down or to hesitate or halt, but to talk on and go ahead. And he did go ahead. In 1820 he was appointed prosecuting attorney for the county of Butler, in which office he served till 1825, at which time his services as member of Congress commenced, when he resigned.

On the 20th of June, 1820, John Woods was married to Miss Sarah Ann Lynch, of Springborough, Warren County. She was a native of South Carolina, born on the 29th of December, 1801. They forthwith commenced housekeeping in Hamilton. At the general election in gress from the Second Congressional District, composed of the counties of Butler and Warren, over Thomas R. Ross, of Lebanon, who had been the former representative. His term of service commenced on the 4th of March, 1825, but he was not required to take his seat until the first Monday of December following.

On the 18th of October, 1824, Mr. Woods formed a partnership with Michael B. Sargent in the practice of the law. Mr. Sargent was a fine classical and literary scholar, as well as a thorough lawyer. His qualifications and strict attention to business in superintending the affairs of the office, while, Mr. Woods was absent attending Congress, were of great advantage to Mr. Woods. Mr. Sargent died suddenly on the 19th of May, 1830.

When Mr. Woods's first term in Congress expired he was again elected for a second term, so that he served four years from the 4th of March, 1825, until the 4th of March, 1829. While there he was distinguished for his industry and attention to business. On the 18th of January, 1828, Mr. Woods, from the Committee on Roads and Canals, made a report accompanied by a bill ''to aid the State of Ohio in extending the Miami Canal from Dayton to Lake Erie." The bill was twice read and committed, and finally passed, and became a law on the 4th of May following. By this law there was granted to the State of Ohio a quantity of land equal to the one-half of five sections in width, on each side of that -eanal between Dayton and the Maumee River, at the mouth of the Auglaize. The same law also granted to the State of Ohio the further quantity of five hundred thousand acres of land for the purpose of aiding the

'State in the payment of the debts which had been or might thereafter be contracted in the construction of her canals. Mr. Woods was a warm friend of internal im provements, and while in Congress advocated these meas. ures with all his energy. At the session just referred to, _ the subjects of the tariff, internal improvement, Indian appropriations, and Indian affairs were largely debated, in all of which he took a prominent part. He was decided and ardent in politics as he was in every thing else. He warmly opposed the election of General Jackson to the presidency. This threw him in the minority in Butler County, which was then about three-fourths in favor of Jackson. The consequence was that, at the end of

After Mr. Woods retired from Congress he became the proprietor, publisher, and editor of the Hamilton Intelligencer, which he conducted with great ability for three years, a portion of the latter part of the time in connection with Lewis D. Campbell, who assumed the business management of the concern. Although Mr. Woods was engaged in editing a newspaper and attending to various other kinds of business, he did not relinquish the practice of his profession as a lawyer, but prosecuted it vigorously until the year 1845.

On the 30th of January, 1845, the Legislature of the State of Ohio elected him auditor of state for the term of three years from the 15th of March ensuing, at which time he went to Columbus and entered on the duties of his office. At that time the State of Ohio had been running in debt from year to year, borrowing money to pay the interest on the State debt, and thus compounding it, until the public obligations loomed up in fearful magnitude. John Brough, the former auditor, had vainly endeavored to accomplish a reform in taxation ; fear brooded over the members of the Legislature, and none dared to touch the dreaded subject. It was necessary that something should be done. Mr. Woods represented the condition of affairs to the Legislature, and strongly urged upon them to take measures to remedy the evil; and it was mainly through his instrumentality, and by his courage, industry, and perseverance that the State was saved from repudiation, bankruptcy, and ruin. By virtue of his office, Mr. Woods was one of the board of fund commissioners who contracted the loans on behalf of the State, and had the control of the public debt. When he went into office there was not to be found in any of the offices at Columbus a book in which was entered an account by which the condition of the State debt could be clearly seen. Mr. Woods procured a set of books, and from the loose papers found in the office of the fund commissioners and in the auditor's office he had a set of accounts opened, showing the amount of each description of public debt and the balance remaining standing. He also introduced important reforms in . the mode of keeping some of the accounts in the office, by which they were simplified and rendered more intelligible. As auditor he left indelible marks on the policy ~ and history of the State. He had determined to relinquish his office at the expiration of his first term of three years, but through the persuasion of a number of his influential friends throughout the State, he was induced to serve for another term, and accordingly was re-elected, and remained until March, 1851, when he returned to Hamilton.

His habits of industry and restless energy would not, however, permit him to remain idle. He became president of the Eaton and Hamilton Railroad Company, and brought his strong powers to bear on the prosecution and completion of that work. Previous to the a~ proposition was agitated and advocated by many for the construction of a.branch road from Eaton to Piqua by the Eaton and' Hamilton Company. This Mr. Woods strongly opposed, and, in consequence, was defeated at the second election. Subsequent events have proved the correctness of his judgment on this subject. With some difficulty and trouble the Eaton and Hamilton Railroad Company have since been released from their obligation to construct that branch road. Immediately after retiring from the Eaton and Hamilton Road, Mr. Woods was appointed and accepted the office of president of the Junction Railroad, leading from Hamilton to Oxford, Connersville, and thence to Indianapolis; to the prosecution of which work he brought his energy to bear, and faithfully attended to the business of the office, with honor to himself and to the advantage of the company.

Until the time of his death Mr. Woods was indefatigable and persevering in every thing he undertook. His energy was untiring, and his firmness indomitable. His early course of life had rendered his constitution hardy and capable of great endurance. At the bar his conduct was a model for imitation, despising all low and illiberal practice. To the junior members of the bar he was ever prompt to extend his friendship and patronage; and as an adviser to young men beginning life he won many friends among rising men by his generous treatment and sympathy. To the judges of the court he was polite and respectful ; and to witnesses he was considerate and candid, never attempting to puzzle or embarrass them, except when there were strong signs of falsehood or corruption. No one, it is believed, ever discharged his trusts as a lawyer with more scrupulous fidelity and spotless integrity. The strong mind and energy of Mr. Woods have left their impression on almost every public improvement in and about Hamilton. He was a liberal contrib- -utor to every thing which had for its object the promotion of the happiness of man. Many years ago he took a leading part in founding and establishing the Hamilton and Rossville Female Academy. He was active in the construction of the Cincinnati and Hamilton Turnpike Road, of which he was a director. He was president of the Darrtown and Fairhaven Pike. He was one of the leading spirits in projecting and constructing the Hamilton and Rossville Hydraulic Works. He spent considerable time in procuring subscriptions for the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad, in which he was largely interested, and of which he was a director during his life. Indeed, far more of the energy displayed in carrying forward that great work came from Mr. Woods than from any other man.

In his temperament he Was decidedly amiable, and of a most kind and forgiving disposition. His walk through life was without any deviation from the paths of honor and rectitude. In his dealings and business relations he was prompt, honorable, and expert, and a pattern of integ- rity. Law and order had in him an undeviating advyocate. He was always found on the moral side of every public question. He was a regular attendant at the house of worship of the Associate Reformed Church, of which*he was a consistent member. The purity of his private morals has never been questioned. In the early part of the month of July, 1855, Mr. Woods was attacked with inflammation of the lungs, so severe as to cause strong apprehensions of its fatal termination. However, he became better, and hopes were entertained that his system would rally, but the disease finally terminated in typhoid fever with ulceration of the bowels, which ended his existence on Monday, the thirtieth day of the month, in the sixty-first year of his age. His funeral took place at five o'clock P. M., on Tuesday, the thirty-first. The services on the occasion were by the Rev. William Davidson, of the Associate Reformed Church, of which Mr. Woods was a member; after which the corpse was conyeyed to Greenwood Cemetery, followed by one of the largest concourses of citizens ever assembled in Hamilton on a similar occasion. His remains were consigned to the tomb amid the regrets of numerous friends, and with the respect due to a life of

Mary Woods was born June 3, 1821. She married Dr. Cyrus Falconer, and died September 18, 1870. Sarah Woods was born January 18, 1823, and died Friday, February 21, 1823. Martha Woods, who married William Beckett, was born February 14, 1824. Sarah Woods (second) was born October 10, 1827, and died July 23, 1840.

Rebecca Woods was born February 17, 1831. She married William H. Miller, a lawyer of Hamilton, who went out as lieutenant in the Twelfth Ohio Regiment of infantry, and fell in the Western Virginia campaign under General Rosecrans, in August, 1861. His remains were interred in Greenwood Cemetery.

Rachel Woods was born April 6, 1835, and was married on the 13th of September, 1855, to Samuel Worthington, a commission merchant of Buffalo, New York.

Cyrus Falconer. Woods was born December'8, 1840, and died November 24, 1844. John Woods, the youngest, was born on the 19th of June, 1838. He graduated. at Miami University in 1860, subsequently studied theology at Alleghany and Princeton seminaries, and was ordained to the ministry in the Old School Presbyterian Church by the presbytery of Oxford.

George Junkin

George Junkin, president of the Miami University, was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, on the Ist of, November, 1790. He was the son of Joseph Junkin and Eleanor Cochran, both descended from Seotch eoy- enanters who had settled in Ireland. Nowhere, probably, have religious duties been more strenuously attended to than among those of this descent, and the Junkin family were no exceptions to the rule. In his eleventh year he became impressed religiously, but made no public acknowledgment of his conversion until his nineteenth year, when he united with the Church.

George Junkin was a boy of exceeding diligence, and as a man he fulfilled in this respect the promise of his youth. There was nothing to help him in his efforts to obtain an education; but, by dint of industry, he qualified himself to enter Jefferson College in 1809. In 1818 he graduated, although not having been the whole term at college. For the sake of lessening his expenses he had been much of the time at home, studying, and keeping pace with his classes.

He had early entertained the idea of becoming a minister, and immediately after graduation entered the Theological Seminary of the Associate Reformed Church, then under the supervision of the illustrious John M. Mason, the great pulpit orator. In this place he stayed the customary three years, and was then licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Monongahela of the Associate Reformed Church, in September, 1816. He was immediately sent to the presbyteries of New York and Saratoga, preaching in various places in 1816, and afterwards laboring in the same way in Pennsylvania and Maryland. In June, 1818, he was ordained at Gettysburg, and was soon invited to take charge of the united congregations of Milton and Pennell, a call which he accepted.

He preached to these flocks about eleven years, but in 1824 changed from the Associate Reformed Church to - the Presbyterian Church. In 1830 he resigned this charge, accepting the position of principal of the Manual Labor Academy at Germantown, near Philadelphia. Two years of successful labor followed. Easton offered him, however, inducements to remove his students to that place, and, taking advantage of the opportunity, a charter was procured from the Legislature of Pennsylvania granting the institution the title of a college, named after the illustrious Lafayette, who had shortly before been in this country on his last visit. The new institution was successful, and it has since performed a great work. Mr. Junkin toiled assiduously. He gave regular instruction in the college, and, besides, preached - on the Sabbath. In 1833 he was made a doctor of divinity by Jefferson College.

In 1841 he came out to Ohio and entered upon the presidency of the Miami University at Oxford. He can not be said to have been very successful in this place. He was a man naturally of an autocratic disposition, and he found in the free West difficulties in maintaining the same discipline that was to be enforced in the East. Many friends of the institution considered him as the choice of a cabal which had ousted Dr. Bishop and the other professors who were not meek-minded, and he was offensive also to some patrons who were not Presbyterians. This was a State institution, and yet entirely controlled by one sect. There was still another grievance which was felt, although not in the university. Dr. Junkin had imbibed a strong friendship for the '' peculiar institution," or at least for its friends, and his politics were tinctured by the Jeffersonian school of State rights. The anti-slavery discussion had then begun, and was not to be stopped. Dr. Junkin became involved in a controversy with the Rev. Thomas E. Thomas, of Rossville, one of the most eloquent preachers of the day, in which these questions were brought up. The discussion was oral, but was afterwards published in a very large volume. No decision, of course, was reached satisfactory to the minds of the public. Each party thought as before. Finally Dr. Junkin concluded to resign and give

There he continued till the Autumn of 1848, when he accepted an invitation to become president of Washington College, Lexington, Virginia, to which he was followed by twenty-six of his former pupils, who thus indicated their high appreciation of his merits. He continued in this place until May, 1861, when he was admonished that it was time to withdraw. The clouds and portents of disunion were thickening fast, and he felt that he could no longer remain in this college, which was a hot-bed of secession, or even occupy an equivocal position. His love for the Union was strong and ardent, and he foresaw the certain ruin that would follow to the inhabitants of the Southern States if they took up arms against the United States. He went from there to Philadelphia, where, for the remainder of his life, he found a home in the family of his son, George Junkin, an eminent lawyer. He did not desist from labor. He preached earnestly and often. To the soldiers he was a friend ; their encampments were visited, their wants inquired into, and their souls' prosperity solicitously regarded. He visited the Southern prisoners at Point Lookout and Fort Delaware, and looked after the unhappy wounded made at the battle of Gettysburg. He also wrote much. For a long time he contributed articles to the newspapers on the proper observance of the Sabbath. He published a '« Treatise on Sanctification," a '' Treatise on the Ancient Tabernacle of the Hebrews," and some smaller works; and he left behind him in manuscript a full commentary on Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews.

He was married in June, 1819, to Julia Rush Miller, of Philadelphia, and by her had five sons and three daughters. One of the daughters married General Jackson ("Stonewall"), of the Confederate army. Mrs. Junkin died in February, 1854.

Dr. Junkin was a man of great general ability. Impatient of contradiction or procrastination, he had an excellent insight into the ways of remedying difficulties, Church matters were thoroughly understood by him, and he was at home in a Church trial. He knew instinctively the measures to be taken. He was well liked by those with whom he was brought into contact unofficially, and his memory will long be cherished by those who had the honor to know him. He died May 20, 1868.

John B. Weller

John B. Weller, who filled more important public stations than any one else who ever lived in this county, was born in the village of Montgomery, Hamilton County, Ohio, on the 22d of February, 1812. He was of German descent, his ancestors originally settling in New York. From that State his parents removed to Ohio some few years before his birth. He was educated at the Miami University, but did not graduate. At the age of eighteen he commenced the study of law in the office of Jesse Corwin, in Hamilton. Lewis D. Campbell, his principal competitor in the polities of this county, came here at the same time, and the two young men slept together in the same bed. They were then of the same politics. Before attaining his majority young Weller was admitted to the bar, and soon after was nominated by the Democrats for the office of prosecuting attorney, his opponent being Jesse Corwin, his old tutor, whom he defeated by a handsome majority. .

In 1838, when barely of legal age, he was elected to represent the Second Congressional District in the lower house of Congress, consisting of the counties of Butler, Preble, and Darke. He held his seat for three terms, twice defeating the Hon. Lewis D. Campbell. | Mr. Weller, though very young, early took a leading part in all debates before the House, and proved himself a ready and powerful speaker.

Mr. Weller, at an early age, had married Miss Ryan, daughter of one of the leading merchants of Hamilton ; but this lady lived but a short time. Early in his congressional career he married Miss Bryan, whose father, the Hon. John A. Bryan, was auditor of the State at that time. His second wife lived but two years. In 1845 he married Miss'Taylor, a niece of Thomas H. Benton, senator from Missouri. She lived three years.

Mr. Weller was not allowed to practice his profession for any length of time; for on the breaking out of the war with Mexico he volunteered as a private, but was elected captain of his company, which became part of the Second Ohio Regiment, of which he was elected lieutenant-colonel. He fought all through the war, and led his regiment in the charge through the streets of Monterey, when the gallant Colonel Mitchell was wounded.

After peace was declared, Colonel Weller returned to his home in Hamilton, and took up his profession, but was called on by the Democrats of Ohio to lead them in the great gubernatorial fight of 1848, the Whig candidate, was Seabury Ford, and the campaign was the fiercest and most bitter ever known in this State. This was virtually a fight to decide the presidential question as far as Ohio was concerned; for it was conceded that if Weller carried the State, Cass would get Ohio's vote. After a canvass carried on in all parts of the State, in which Colonel Weller spoke in seventyeight counties, and after weeks of doubt as to the final result - for it took the official vote to decide - it was found that Weller had been defeated by a majority of three hundred and forty-five votes out of an aggregate of almost three hundred thousand. In one county over four hundred votes were cast for John Weller, which were thrown out. But the great point was won, after all; for Ohio went for Cass.

In January, 1849, President Polk tendered to Colonel Weller the appointment of commissioner under the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, to settle the boundary line between California and Mexico. On President Taylor's accession to the office, Colonel Weller was relieved, and proceeded to San Francisco, where he pursued his profession. In 1852 he was elected United States Senator in the place of John C. Fremont, for the long term ending in 1857. Upon his return to California in that year he was elected governor of the State by a large majority. At the termination of his career as governor he settled in Alameda County, near Oakland, but was sent by President. Buchanan as minister to Mexico in the fall of 1860. When President Lincoln came into office, Colonel Weller was succeeded by his old Ohio friend, Tom Corwin. In 1867 Governor Weller removed to New Orleans, Where he was appointed master in chancery for all of the. Gaines cases. Here he lived until his death, on the 17th ~ day of August, 1875.

Governor Weller left two children, - John B. Weller, Jr., whose mother was Miss Taylor, and Charles L. Weller, Jr., who was the only child by his marriage with Mrs. G. W. Staunton in 1854 - still living.

Francis Monfort

One of the earliest preachers of the Gospel in this neighborhood was Francis Monfort, who, for a long time, was pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Hamilton. He was a descendant of the Huguenots. The founder of the American family fled from France, after seeing the oppressions he would be subject to if he remained a Protestant in that country, first going to Holland, and then coming to the American colonies. The father of Francis Monfort was Lawrence Monfort, and his mother was Elizabeth Cassat, and he was born seven miles north-east of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in what was then York County, but is now Adams, on the 15th of December, 1782. Mr. Monfort moved to the West with his family, in 1799, and arrived in Cincinnati, May 28th. He soon removed to Warren County, remaining for the non, and in November taking a place eight miles west of that town, on the way to Hamilton. Francis Monfort assisted his father on the farm until he was of age. In 1800 he experienced a religious change, and he united with the Presbyterian Church of Turtle Creek, which was the nearest to his house, and which was then under the pastoral charge of the Rey. Richard McNemar. As _ he grew older he determined to enter the ministry, and began his studies under the supervision of his pastor, occupying more than two years. There was then no theological seminary in Ohio, and it was the common plan for those who could not go East and complete their studies to take them up with some approved clergyman in their neighborhood. The one then best known hereabouts was the Rev. John Thompson, of the place now called Springdale. He taught many, and continued in the labor year after year. Previously to going with Mr. Thompson, Mr. Monfort studied for a time with Mr. Malcolm Worley. After being instructed by Mr.

Rey. Barton W. Stone, at Cane Ridge, Bourbon County, Kentucky, and he was six months with the Rey. Robert Marshall, in Fayette County, of the same State. He then considered himself qualified to preach, and on the 31st of July, 1807, he was licensed to preach the Gospel, delivering his first discourse at New Castle, Kentucky. Through the south of Kentucky he soon after went on a preaching tour, extending it into Tennessee, -in the neighborhood of Nashville. Then he came over into Ohio, in the Mad River country, and afterwards preached in Kentucky. He did not at this time belong to the Presbyterians, but from the time he began his studies-was a ''New Light." His Church, with many others, had seceded from its previous denominational relationship and joined the new body, which was then thought to be more thoroughly moved by the grace of God. On the 6th of June, 1809, he was married, in Scott County, Kentucky, to Sophia Glass, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Glass, formerly of Frederick County, Virginia, and sister of Mrs. Marshall, the wife of the Rey. Robert Marshall. After being married he came back to Ohio, being first on Clear Creek and then on Dick's Creek, and preached till October, 1811, when he joined the Presbyterian Church, returning at the same time as the Rey. John Thompson. He was placed on probation for sixteen months, at the same time pursuing additional studies under the direction of the Rev. Daniel Hayden and the Rey. Joshua L. Wilson, D. D. No stop, however, was put to his conducting religious meetings, and he continued them until licensed by the he ig Mahl at Dayton, Ohio, in March, 1813.

Not far from the bounds of Butler County, but located in Warren, was at about that time begun a new congregation, known as the New Jersey congregation, from the fact of most of their members having come from that was settled as pastor of the Church on the 14th of June, 1814. The flock increased and multiplied, and he remained with it until April, 1821, preach in Hamilton and Seven Mile, places left vacant by the removal of the Rev. Matthew G. Wallace. He removed to this place in the following October. Here he stayed for sixteen years, during ten years of which he preached half his time at Seven Mile.

In 1830 a petition was sent to the presbytery by four of the elders, four trustees, and fifty members, asking for a dissolution of the relations existing between them. This was resisted by Mr. Monfort, who appealed to the synod, and received a decision in his favor. The dissatisfied members would not take this answer as conclusive, and organized another Presbyterian Church in Rossville, both of the Churches flourishing. They were finally united in 1842, under the Rev. Thomas E. Thomas. Mr. Monfort resigned his charge in 1837, and removed to Mt. Carmel, Indiana, where he officiated as pastor for nine years. He then preached at St. Omer and Concord, in the Whitewater Presbytery, remaining with them for five years.

His bodily health, however, had grown weak, and he then ceased regularly to preach or take charge of a Church: For four years, however, he preached occasionally, and at two different times, for three months each, he occupied the pulpit of the Church at Greensburg, Indiana. He never was more useful than at these times. Mr. Monfort was a strong and fervent preacher, and to him many have owed their spiritual birth. He was for forty-eight years in the ministry, and he lost no opportunity of doing good. His piety was constant; no one could be in his society, for a few minutes even, without knowing that he was a religious man. He did not grow lax and idle as he grew old, but was willing to undertake new tasks. He began the study of the Hebrew language when sixty-one years of age, and kept it up until his death. He died June 18, 1855, aged seventy-two years. He had one daughter and four sons, all of the sons being ministers of the iS ii eg Church.

Charles K,. Smith

Few of the men who have lived in this county have exerted a greater or better influence upon its future than Charles Kilgore Smith, for many years a well-known resident of Hamilton. He was born at the very beginning of Western civilization, and lived to see the humanizing effects of arts and letters spread over the whole of the Northwestern Territory, as this region was at his birth - now the States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin - and was able to carry them still further, to lands beyond the original limits of the United States, and to help set up there the machinery of government, performing the same duty for Minnesota that was done in Ohio by St. Clair and Sargent.

James Smith was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, then wild as Oregon is now, and removed to Ohio in 1792, in company with General James Findlay, an old friend of his, with whom he formed a copartnership after landing at Cincinnati. Elected to several offices in succession, he was an occupant of the shrievalty when_his son Charles was born, on the 15th of February, 1799. He gave the boy the best instruction the place afforded, and sent him, in 1812, to a ~ grammar-school at Oxford, conducted by the Rev. James Hughes, a Presbyterian minister of excellent repute. Here _for three years he was thoroughly taught in all the common branches and Latin, but was withdrawn, for a brief time, during the second war with Great Britain, in order that he might aid his father in paying off the troops on the frontier. In 1815 he finished going to school; but so great seems to have been his popularity and so solid his claims to respect that he was elected, in 1825, by the Erodelphian Society of Miami University, Oxford, which had succeeded to Mr. Hughes's school, as a member of their body. When he first went out to that town the country was a perfect wilderness; but he lived to see it fally cultivated, and the university strong and respected. James Smith had removed with his family- front Hamilton County to Butler in 1805, settling upon section 21, St. Clair Township, at the confluence of Four-mile Creek and the Miami River.

Charles K. Smith came to Hamilton to live, upon the conclusion of his school-days, and entered the employment of John Reily, then postmaster, clerk of the courts, and agent of several corporations and absentee propertyholders. For two years of this time he acted as deputypostmaster and clerk. In 1821 he was chosen recorder of the county, and continued in that occupation until 1835, being also, from 1827, treasurer of the county. He might have remained longer in these positions had he chosen ; but he voluntarily gave them up to become cashier of the Bank of Hamilton. There were then few banks of unquestioned responsibility in the West, algration in motion.

Bank of Hamilton was begun with large means, and was one of the few which had sufficient strength to resist the pressure put upon moneyed institutions by General Jackson during his war upon the United States Bank. It rode through the storm of 1837 triumphantly; but in 1842, on the 9th of February, it made an assignment. This was in consequence of new and stringent regulations in the law, but was also partly occasioned by: the lack of surplus capital in the community. It is a well-known principle of banking that these institutions are chiefly valuable for acting as a reservoir to collect the spare earnings of the community. But in this case these conditions did not exist. Depositors were comparatively few, as not many had any surplus of funds, and borrowers were needy and importunate.

Mr. Smith was a man of much geniality of disposition, and a great favorite with all classes of society. He became prominent while yet under age for his contribu-_ tions to the newspapers, a habit kept up all his life. He was a member of the Thespian Society, which supported Mr. Forrest and Mrs. and Miss Riddle, on their visit to this town in 1823, and he frequently spoke prologues and made introductory speeches in public assemblies. He was an early member of the Masonic order.

On his retiring from the bank he entered upon legal practice. He had previously studied law under John Woods, and had been admitted to the bar in 1840. In this new calling he attained a fair.measure of success. He was an attorney in the courts.of several of the United States, and also became a member of the American Legal Association of New York. This was in a day when such qualifications were not so common as now.

With his ardent and inquiring disposition it could not be expected that he should remain quiet in political matters. He was heart and soul a Whig. He fought their the pillars of that party in this county. His treatment of opponents, however, was much kinder than is usually the rule, and he never lost or impaired the friendship of any worthy man on that account. He was present at all assemblages of the party, and generally drew up the resolutions, either alone or in conjunction with some one else. In 1848 he was named as an associate judge of the county, and was elected to that position in March by the General Assembly. This office was one of the survivals from an earlier age, but not because of fitness. The associate judge sat on the bench, but was not expected to take any part in the trial of cases, and to leave the management of affairs entirely in the hands of the president judge. , No law compelled it, but only the custom of the incumbents. This position did not suit Mr. Smith, and he speedily asserted his right to an equal share of the business of the court. When occasion required, he manifested his dissent, and was sustained by the Supreme Court on appeal. The office, as it had been conducted, was useless, and was abolished by the constitution of 1851. His position was for seven years, but he resigned it at the end of a year to accept an office from General Taylor, whose warm friend he was, and whose election he had striven with all his might to accomplish. Under the limitation of the new constitution his tenure would have expired in another year. The abolition of this office was a change he was in favor of, and was one of many which he had pressed upon the attention of the Constitutional Convention. He had repeatedly addressed popular audiences upon the necessity of a revision of our organic law.

When we acquired, in 1803, by Jefferson's purchase, the vast extent of ground west of the Mississippi River, it could scarcely have been expected by the wisest and most discerning man living, that the current of emigrae a) SY be 4 river at the Northwest, and begin a commonwealth which should last as long as the English race. Those of "us who were children when the act was passed making the Territory of Minnesota are not now beyond middle age. Before we shall reach our threescore years and ten that State will embrace more inhabitants than Greece in her palmiest days, or as many as the united colonies had in 1776, when they shook off the yoke of Great Britain. We have no age of cloud and doubt in our history, such head, and are not lost in legends of Theseus, Hercules, and the interference of the gods. Our adventurers are known, and their names will be preserved for centuries. When this act creating the Territory of Minnesota was passed, Charles K. Smith was made its secretary. This office is equivalent to that of lieutenant-governor and secretary of state in older communities, and is charged with responsibility. duty in May, 1849. There were no settlements, exceptiug one at St. Paul, begun a month or two previous, and | one or two military garrisons. The whole engine of government was to be set in motion. In addition to the duties of his office, he, for some six months, discharged those of the governor, who was absent, and whose place he took. He was also superintendent of Indian affairs. He discharged these various obligations with ability and success, receiving, in addition, the approval of the in- he went there, but did not rest until public provision had been made for their establishment, as well as carrying them through the Winter. He was the founder of the Minnesota Historical Society. We are indebted to a friendly pen for a description of his exertions in its behalf :

"The history of the act incorporating this society and the published proceedings show that Mr. Smith was the life and moving spirit of it while he remained in the nance for the government of the university. Congress had made large appropriations of land for its support ; buildings were very soon erected, and shortly after the organization of the Territory the university was in successful operation. Mr. Smith was an active advocate of schools, and made himself very useful in furthering all educational enterprises and means of instruction in the early The Churches also received his assistance. In 1849 there was not a church-building in St. Paul, except one small log house belonging to the Catholics. In the absence of church-buildings Mr. Smith prepared the rooms used for the first territorial Legislature, and permitted the different denominations to hold religious meetings in them.

'' Mr. Smith was president of the board of commissioners of the public buildings of the Territory, and during his services as such all the preliminaries were arranged for the erection of the capitol buildings and the territorial prison.

'The early territorial history of Minnesota is closely connected with the name of C. K. Smith, and we may well say that he had the honor of being one of the most prominent founders of a new empire of the Northwest, from which has sprung the young and vigorous State of Minnesota."

He was an indefatigable worker. He-had a love for public employment, and did an immense amount of gra- He received an excellent training with Mr. Reily, and his subsequent life increased and accent- been remarked that he aided his father as paymaster in the war of 1812. This was with Colonel Richard M. Johnson's mounted Kentuckians, while lying at Fort Defiance. He was the recording secretary of the first dred pages, embracing the transactions of the first two annual meetings of the society, was published and circulated throughout the United States at the sole expense of Mr. Smith. brought about by him, and through his exertions it was incorporated by the first territorial Legislature. Its proceedings were highly spoken of by the press at the time, though it was thought by some to be anomalous to have supposed, the Territory being but just organized. But the Minnesota Historical Society was a success; and since its organization it has published upwards of one thousand pages of valuable information, and it may be added that year 1822. He was an attendant at the services of the United Presbyterian Church, of which his wife was a member, and contributed liberally to its funds. He gave the lot on which the First Presbyterian Church now stands, and assisted the Catholics with money and advice when they first sought to erect a building in Hamilton. In the

_ hard years in which labor nearly ceased and the crops | were deficient, no one gave more largely to the poor than _ he, nor with less pretense.

portunity that might be offered to learn about their hardships and trials and the growth and development of their communities. He gaye many of the papers at his disposal to the Cincinnati Pioneer Society, and gathered newspapers and books from which the future annalist could draw largely for facts relating to the Northwest. He at one time entertained the idea of writing a history of Butler County, and made numberless memoranda with that aim in view. Some of these were published in the Intelligencer forty years ago, under the title of '' Notes on Butler County." They comprise the first systematic attempt to reduce the unwritten memories of the early settlers to form, and to place them in print. And the present writer must acknowledge his obligations to this source, and the uniform courtesy he has met with from the surviving members of the family in the use of these materials. They are both rare and valuable. Mr. Smith also wrote largely on other subjects. Few years passed in which he did not contribute to the local journals, many of these articles producing a marked effect upon the public mind. He never wrote from a love of display, but only from a desire to inform and preserve. In both these aims he was successful. His style was clear and compact, never descending to personality. Among other subjects, he made a report on Irish Repeal; Report of the Debate on Slavery in 1842 between Dr. Junkin and the Rev. Thomas E. Thomas; Biographical Sketches of the Rey. Arthur W. Elliott, Dr. Daniel Millikin, John P. Reynolds, Esq., and historical articles for the Minnesota Historical Society.

Mr. Smith was a popular man in his community. Although sometimes the victim of a pasquinade in the opposition papers, from which he could not well escape, being so prominent a man on his own side, he never was attacked with that envenomed bitterness which other men felt. He loved his friends warmly, but hated his enemies with equal warmth. He would not injure the latter, but he despised them. Those who knew him longest liked him best, and when once he became a friend he was so always. He had a warm affection for fraternal societies. He was admitted into the ancient and honorable order of Free Masons as soon as he arrived at age, and remained with them all his life-time, being advanced to the highest degrees of the order. When in Minnesota he opened a Masonic lodge. In 1841 he united as a charter member in organizing a lodge of the Independent Order* of Odd Fellows, advancing in this through the higher degrees ; and in Minnesota he assisted in establishing a lodge of Odd Fellows there. He was a Knight Templar as a Mason and an encampment member in Odd Fellowship.

Upon his return from Minnesota Mr. Smith came to Hamilton, and beught his father's old homestead, upon which he settled, giving little attention to public affairs, but much to his books and the duties of his farm. He was active and energetic in the prosecution of the war for the Union, and did all that he could to arouse and inform the public mind upon the real merits of the contest. our of his sons went out to the army, one dying soon after peace was assured. Mr. Smith remained at

On the 21st of November, 1827, he married Miss Eleanor A. McMechan, daughter of the Rev. James McMechan, an early Presbyterian minister of this region, and a native of Ireland. Mrs. Smith survived him, dying March 6th, 1879. He had by this marriage five sons and four daughters, of whom but one died before the father. They are as follows: Mrs. Marcella S. Webb; J. William C. was captain of the Butler Pioneers in the Twenty-sixth Regiment O. V. I., in the late Rebellion,

Kilgore, colonel and assistant quartermaster in the war, died in 1870; Edward Hudson, Ellen A., Jesse C., Mary Florence, and Park W. Mary Florence Smith was married to Edward W. Schenck, and had four children, ~

Ginevra Eleanor, Zenaide C., Jessie L., and Charles K. Jessie L. died in August, 1871, and Charles K. in April, 1875, in the third year of his age.

William Davidson

The Associate Reformed Church in Hamilton might have esteemed itself fortunate in its pastors. The Word of Life has rarely been anywhere set forth with more clearness, or its conclusions urged with more thoroughness, than by its first pastor, or by the one who succeeded him, and whose name is at the head of this biographical notice. Their influence was not confined to their own congregations, but extended through the entire county, and beyond its limits.

The Rey. William Davidson was born -on the 2d of October, 1817, in Brooke County, West Virginia. He received little education at schools during his early boyhood, but had the assiduous care and watchfulness of his parents, who grounded him in the most necessary portions of learning. When he had arrived at the age of thirteen he was sent away from home to Liberty, Pennsylvania, where he stayed two years. He then went to Franklin College, New Athens, Ohio, where he completed a regular collegiate course. As he was designed for the ministry he received in addition instruction from the Rev. J. O. Neal, pastor of a Church at Short Creek, Virginia. Here he spent his days and nights over the Bible, acquiring a wonderful knowledge of it, and ever after being able to quote from any portion with telling effect. The Bible and a few other explanatory works constituted the whole of his text-books.

The denomination to which Mr. Davidson belonged was the Reformed Dissenting Church, and to that body he applied for reception, being licensed by the presbytery in 1840, at a meeting held in the old '' Tent Church," near the place of his nativity. To this whole denomination there had never been more than four ministers at one time, and they were scattered far apart. Few instances not altogether unknown. The Old Dissenters, in Scotland, were without a preacher from 1690 to 1706, although they had a number of congregations. Mr. Davidson took earnestly hold of the work which he found to do, and at once began preaching in southwestern Ohio and south-eastern Indiana. His labors were not confined to churches, but he discoursed in school-houses, barns, dwellings, and in the open air, meeting with much success.

He was married on the 28th of June, 1842, in Greene County, Indiana, to Mrs. Elizabeth Reynolds, and for some time after lived near the State line between Ohio and Indiana. He had congregations at Vienna, Indiana; at College Corner, which is in both States, and at Carthage and Piqua, Ohio. To these places he rode on horseback, the farthest being fifty miles, and two of the others not less than thirty. He counted no labor too inability to administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's-supper, and he returned to West Virginia so that he might be ordained. This was done by the presbytery, and he soon returned to his Churches, where he labored until the close of the year 1847. His health had not been good all of this time, and his physical strength seemed at times overtasked, but he did not desist on that account. He was a man of eloquence, and his burning, fiery words will long be remembered in these places, as well as his shining example. In 1848 Dr. MacDill had grown weak, and determined to remove to Illinois from Hamilton. Mr. Davidson was chosen his successor, and came to this city to live in March of that year. He joined the Associate Reformed Church, leaving the Reformed Dissenting, and ever after was a preacher in the Associate Reformed and United Presbyterian Churches, the latter being the -successor of the former. Dr. MacDill had served this congregation since 1816, and it was no light task to attempt to fill his place. In this, however, Mr. Davidson was successful, and the Church was never more prosperous. He toiled assiduously to strengthen the cause. No labor was too great to be undertaken for his divine Master. He did not content himself alone with his pastoral labor. He went wherever he was called. He did not refuse to visit those in sickness who when well had never listened to him, and he pronounced the solemn words of the Gospel at the grave of those who, when alive, attended no Church. The seed was sown everywhere. i

He was not a mere sectarian. He labored for a union of all Christians in essentials, believing that the saving of souls was of more importance than the promulgation of creeds. Yet, on the other hand, he never uttered any of those phrases which are now so common - phrases which admit every act and every person. The kingdom of heaven was not to be attained without striving for, and its laws were firm and immutable. He compromised with no form of sin, nor did he withhold statements of his own belief because it might be unpopular. Slavery was properly characterized, even in those days before the war, when the truth could hardly be endured in proslavery Butler; intemperance and the use of intoxicating drinks were denounced, although this was common ; nor did his tongue fail to reprove and condemn the other vices of that day and this. He gave an ardent and thorough support to the war, believing it to be the cause of Christianity. He addressed the volunteers as they were going, preaching discourses replete with the soundest patriotism, but saying nothing that was not also tinged by a deep religious feeling. It must not be disguised that the war was not popular here, but was looked upon with disfavor. He fought this tendency, and lost no opportunity of showing the monstrous ingratitude and injustice of those who supported the rebel cause.

Mr. Davidson was well equipped for such a struggle, or for the work of the ministry generally. His mind ranged its knowledge systematically, and when he desired to call up any fact or to pursue a chain of reasoning founded upon that fact, it could be found at once. He spoke well extemporaneously. His arguments, although usually prepared beforehand, did not necessarily require this. The stream never ran turbidly. He had an excellent knowledge of the Scriptures; he had read and studied much besides; he was familiar with the statements of those who sought to overturn Christianity, as well as with those who explain and gloss the whole away. He was familiar with their whole armory, and feared no weapon they could draw from it. It is the modern phase of infidelity that is dreaded by the truly devout clergyman, not the ancient. Voltaire and. Paine do not undermine so insidiously as Strauss, Rénan, or Huxley.

He was attacked, on the 14th of February, 1873, by paralysis, recovering somewhat from it, and preaching a few times afterwards; but his bodily powers were so much lessened that he knew it was time for him to set his house in order. In February, 1874, he gave up his charge, and the pastoral relation was dissolved by the presbytery in April of that year. After that, he prepared for the final hour. In June of 1875 he was confined in-doors, dying on the 21st of July. He had been patient and considerate even in this, his last sickness.

A volume of his sermons was published in 1876 by the Western Tract Society, under the title of '' Sermons on the Parables." It contained, in addition, an essay on Mr. Davidson as an orator, preacher, and pastor, by the Rey. Dr. John Y. Scouller, and an excellent biographical sketch by David W. McClung, who was for many years an attendant upon his ministrations.

Joseph Hough

Among the earlier merchants of Hamilton Joseph Hough is, perhaps, best known. He carried on the largest establishment, and his operations were conducted with a vigor unusual at that day. He did not inherit this trait from his parents, who were Quakers, but it seemed entirely the offspring of his own genius. He was born on a farm near Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylyania, on the 26th of February, 1783. In 1788 the family removed to Washington County, at the extreme south-west part of the State, where Mr. Hough died, in 1798, and his wife eighteen months later. Joseph Hough then resolved to learn the watchmakers' trade from his brother-in-law, Israel Gregg, who afterwards also became a resident of Hamilton, and stayed with him till he was twenty-one. Immediately upon completing his majority he engaged with another watchmaker and silversmith in Brownstown, and wrought as a journeyman for two years, saving in the course of that period over one thousand dollars. At this time his brother Thomas, who had acquired some capital, proposed to Joseph that they should unite their capital, buy a stock of goods, and go West. The suggestion seemed good to him, and the two young men joined their forces and came out to the Miami country, intending to settle at Lebanon, Warren County. They bought their goods in Philadelphia, wagoned them over the mountains, and on the Ist of June, 1806, committed them to the Monongahela River. The water in that stream was very low, as was also the Ohio, and the journey was slow and tedious. Cincinnati was reached in twenty-five days, and from that place they hired wagons to take on their goods to Lebanon. Saddle-horses were scarce, and from the river they followed their wagons on foot. These had started first, and the Hough brothers expected' to overtake them near Reading, but missed their way, being obliged to stop over night at the house of a friendly miller, Jacob White, about nine miles from their starting-place. Mr. White questioned them as to their intentions, and on learning that they meant to go to Lebanon advised against it. There was, he said, no good building to be obtained there; but in Hamilton there was. John Wingate had just given up business in the latter place, and the Houghs could, no doubt, obtain his house. They thanked him for his friendly advice, and determined to follow it. Early in the morning they started out and overtook the wagons, which they turned in the new direction.

They had been just one month on their journey when they reached this town, on the Ist of July. No difficulty was experienced in obtaining the house which Mr. Wingate had used, and they immediately commenced selling goods. Their stand was on Front Street, near the corner of Basin, on the ground now covered by the Catholic church. It was of logs. There was then no other store here, except John Sutherland's, on the east side of Front, between Stable and Dayton Streets. Business went well with them; but in September Thomas was attacked with bilious fever, which was then epidemic, and died on the 17th of 'that month. Four days after his death the surviving brother was taken with the same disease, and for some days his life was despaired of. On his final recoyery he settled up the estate, giving to his younger sisters his share of his brother's estate, and still continuing the trade.

The next Spring he emtered into partnership with Thomas Blair, Robert Clark, and Neil Gillespie, of Brownsville, Pennsylvania, under. the firm name of Hough, Blair & Co. After a time he erected a frame building on the other side of the street, to which he removed. His partnership with Blair, Clark, and Gillespie lasted until 1811. He then, in partnership with James McBride, who was a little younger, but had come to Hamilton the same year, began to buy wheat, which was ground into flour, and, then taken to New Orleans to be sold. He understood thoroughly the method of doing this, and he and Mr. McBride each reaped handsome returns. These journeys were long, and attended with considerable danger. Often when a young man left this neighborhood to go down the Mississippi, he called on all his friends, shook hands, and bade them good-bye, as he now would to go to Australia. Mr. Hough gave, in 1852, an account of the obstacles he met with:

'The difficulties connected with the mercantile business of that early period can not be realized by the merchants of this day. We had to trayel on horseback from Hamilton to Philadelphia, a distance of six hundred miles, to purchase our goods. We were exposed to all kinds of weather, and were compelled to pass over the worst possible roads. When.our goods were purchased, we had to engage wagons to haul them to Pittsburg, a distance by the then roads of three hundred miles. Their transportation over the mountains occupied from twenty to twenty-five days, and cost from six to ten dollars per hundred. Our goods being landed at Pittsburg, we usually bought flat-boats or keel-boats, and hired hands to take our goods to Cincinnati, and we were able to have them hauled to Hamilton at from fifty to seventyfive cents per hundred. We were generally engaged three months in going East, in purchasing our stock of goods and getting them safely delivered at Hamilton. These three months were months of toil and privation, and of expense of every kind.

"In illustration of the truth of the above remark, I may state that, in one of my trips from Pittsburg to Cincinnati, I was thirty-nine days on a keel-boat, with six men besides myself to man the boat. The river was then as low as has ever been known on many of the ripples in the deepest channel, if channel it could be called where there was searcely a foot of water. My boat drew one foot and a half, after taking out all such articles as we could carry over the ripple in a large canoe, which was the only kind of lighter we could procure. Conse- quently, we had to scrape out channels at the low ripples of sufficient width and depth to float our boat. We usually found out the deepest water on the ripple, and all hands would engage in making the channel. When we passed such a ripple we reloaded our goods and proceeded to the next, where the same labor had to be performed and the same exposure endured. The extent of the labor which had to be performed in order to pass our boat can be best understood when I state that we were frequently detained three days at some of the worst ripples.

'' At that early day the road from' Philadelphia to Pittsburg was exceedingly bad. It was only graded and turnpiked to Lancaster. The residue of the road in many places was very steep and exceedingly rough. From thirty to thirty-five hundred pounds was considered a good load for a good five-horse team. There was only a weekly line of stages from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, and the time occupied in going from one place to the other was six days.