Hanover Township (part 26 of 29)

David Beckett, major in the Sixty-first regiment, was born in the year 1838, in Butler County, Ohio, his parents being Robert and Mary Crawford Beckett. He was educated at the Miami University, where he gradu- ated in 1860. In the year of 1861, on the breaking ow of the war of the rebellion, he entered the Union army as a private soldier. In 1862 he was made a captain, and in 1863 was promoted to the rank of major. He participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain, and Kenesaw Mountain. At the battle of Kenesaw Mountain he was killed, leaving behind him a reputation for gallantry and manliness which all might envy, He left a wife, but no children to bear his name.

Colonel Robert Reily, of the Seventy-fifth Ohio, w a native of this county, and in his death the people of this region mourned another martyr to the cause of freedom. He fell, his right knee being badly shattered by a minie ball, at the battle of Chancellorsville, on Satur: day, May 2d, in a gallant effort to check the rout of the Eleventh Corps of Hooker's army, before the overwhelming advance of the rebels under Jackson.

The retreat of our right wing left him in the hands of the enemy. His thigh was amputated the next morn ing, the dd, but he survived the operation only a few hours.

Robert Reily was born in Hamilton, June 1, 1820, and Was the third son of that well known citizen, the late John Reily. He commenced active life in the store of W. P. H. Hulbert, of Cincinnati, as a clerk in 1836 and in 1843 became a partner in the establishment. The financial success of the firm was remarkable - much of it being due to the popular manners and efficient industry of Mr. Reily. In 1852 he retired to a beautiful farm near Lockland, on the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Day ton Railroad. When this rebellion broke out, his glow ing patriotism led him at once to throw all his influence and energy upon the side of his country, and from the first echo of rebel cannon fired against Fort Sumter until the Autumn of that year, he did every thing which as a civilian, was in his power to strengthen the hands of the government in the mighty struggle before it. In September, 1861, he entered with Colonel McLean and others, with his characteristic ardor, into the effort to raise the Seventy-fifth regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, locating the regimental rendezvous near his residence. The success of the undertaking was largely owing to his personal popularity and liberal energy. He voluntarily chose the lowest rank of the field officers; was commissioned major of the regiment, accompanied it into Vir ginia, where, under Milroy, Schenck, Fremont, Sigel, - Burnside, and Hooker, successively, it was continuously engaged in hard marching and hard fighting. Colonel McLean was soon appointed brigadier, and Lieutenant colonel Constable haying been taken prisoner, Major Reily became commander of the regiment; and led it im nearly all the battles, receiving, in 1862, his commission as colonel. ' taken upon himself the character of a soldier, than he showed himself, as have many other men of his class in this war, to possess the characteristics of a hero. In battle he was ever at the post of danger, riding fearlessly up and down the lines where the men needed either his voice or his example. He never asked a soldier to go where he was not willing to lead.

Among the last words uttered to his faithful attending surgeon were these: ''I did not run from the rebels, nor did my regiment flinch under my command." But bravery was not the most valuable of his qualifications as an officer. He carefully and constantly sought and eared for the highest interests of his men, temporal and spiritual, sympathized with them in their hardships and sufferings, and to the utmost of his power provided for their wants, physical and moral. As a natural consequence, the soldiers idolized him. The adjutant-general of his division, in a letter to a friend, says: '' This is the saddest of our misfortunes since the division has been in the army. We have lost many brave and good officers, but none so universally known and respected. He was admired by all, both as an officer and a Christian."

Colonel Reily was firm in discipline. He allowed no drunkenness, profanity, or vulgarity, which he could prevent. Observance of the Sabbath, where practicable, was one of his unfailing requirements. He was a man eminent for piety, generosity, and conscientiousness. He never united with any Church, but was in every sphere a "professor of religion." He had no fondness for a soldier's life. His eyes were turned with longing to his home and family.

Company K, Eighty-sixth Ohio, whose term of service expired in February, 1864, passed through Hamilton, on the way to their homes at Oxford and vicinity. The company was raised by Captain McFarland, who upon the organization of the regiment was elected lieutenantcolonel, a position he continued to hold, being most of the time in command of the regiment. The Eightysixth had a hard time of it their last Winter, being at Cumberland Gap through all the severe weather, and kept on the alert by the proximity of the enemy. Colonel McFarland, after coming home, resumed his duties as professor of mathematics in Miami University.

The agent sent to Annapolis, in November, 1863, to relieve the wants of the Union soldiers lately from Richmond, mentioned the following men from this county ;

John Brooks, Thirty-fifth, Company D, from Hamilton, wounded in left arm, doing well. Alfred W. Harrison, Ninety-third, Company F, from Venice, a Chickamauga prisoner, confined on Belle Island, where, after being robbed of blankets and all private property, with half rations of bread and a little meat, he was left to make his bed upon the damp sand, with the sky for a covering. He was very weak, but was then slowly gaining.

''In my\last you had an account of our march down into Mississippi and back, since which we marched from Moscow, by way of Bolivar and Purdy, to Corinth, nearly one hundred miles, in six days, over miserable roads, and through incessant rain. Arriving in Corinth during the storm, we encamped in an open field, nearly a half mile from the woods, to which we must go for tent poles, as well as fire wood, and this, too, in one of the coldest rain-storms I ever witnessed. That night it snowed an inch, and froze hard enough to bear a man. Many of us nearly froze in our wet clothes, and we could neither get warm nor dry, as it rained out our fires, and we could have none in our tents, as we had no stoves. I had nothing but a tent-fly, which I have used since we left Memphis, and which is like spreading a sheet over a pole to shed the rain, as it is open at both ends, and the wind drives the rain through from end to end. Finding I could not live thus, I found shelter with Dr. Metcalf, of the Seventh Illinois, who kindly compelled me to stay with him while we remained at Corinth.

"Sunday, February 1st, we left Corinth, coming on the railroad by way of Jackson, Tenn., and arrived here the same night in another cold rain-storm, and now, having traveled four hundred miles since November 12th, we are again nearly at our starting place.

'The officers of the Illinois regiments in Corinth, with many other officers, met at Corinth the other night and passed resolutions, denouncing the Illinois traitors at Springfield, and tendering their services to the governor, to,come home, if needed, and put down home traitors, believing them to be more damnable than rebels South. I never saw a more determined spirit in any body of men than they showed, irrespective of party. Many of the best speeches were made by good old Democrats, Colonels Baine and Wilcox making the best speeches T heard."

There were two features of the war here that were entirely different from its manifestations in most of the counties of Ohio. The southern line of this county lies only eleven miles from the Kentucky border, and twice during the four years' conflict were we in danger from the attacks of Confederate troops. Happily, the invader did not touch our soil, although very near us, and we were fortunate that our only losses were of time and money. The first time Butler County was threatened was when Kirby Smith was advancing towards Cincinnati. That city would have supplied every thing he or the Southern States lacked - founderies, machine shops, provisions, arms, and ammunition. On the Ist of September, 1862, he entered Lexington in triumph, and a little later he sent General Heath against Covington and Cincinnati. There were no regular troops there, and nothing to resist him, should he get within gunshot. Every one was frightened, for few Northern people had ever thought that the war might be brought to their own doors. The City Council of Cincinnati at once met, and the whole resources of the city were pledged to meet any expenses that might be incurred. General Lew Wallace took the command, martial law was proclaimed, business was stopped, and the ferry-boats and horse-cars ceased running. He was thoroughly alive to the emergency, and was well supported by public opinion. Back of Newport and Covington breast-works, rifle-pits, and redoubts were thrown up. Governor Tod was soon on hand, and telegraphed for all available troops to be sent down. Companies of men from Preble and Butler Counties at once started for the scene of action, and were warmly received. These were the advance guard of the Squirrel Hunters, a name destined to last as long as Ohio itself. They came in by thousands, from every nook and corner of the State, some with good modern rifles and clean new uniforms, and others with old shot guns and clothes that had long since seen their best days. 'Where the fountain now is was their eating house. Three thousand men, judges, mechanics, clergymen, bankers, clerks, labored each day upon the fortifications. On the 10th and 11th it was believed that the attack, then deferred a week and a half, was about to begin, and the entrenchments were manned, and gun-boats placed in the river. But the advance of Buell caused Bragg to call back Kirby Smith. On the 12th it was known that danger was over, and on the 15th every kind of labor was resumed. Cincinnati owed its salvation to the promptness with which its citizens and those of the interior answered to the call for defense. Of those who thus aided the people of Cincinnati none deserve more eredit than those of Butler County.

But in the next campaign begun by the rebels against Southern Ohio much real damage was done. The path of Morgan was marked with devastation, and that Butler County escaped his presence may be counted among her instances of good luck. John Morgan, one of the most noted of the guerrilla leaders of the last war, was a native of the city of Lexington, Kentucky, and before the war was there engaged as a manufacturer of woolen goods. At about the outbreak of hostilities he was arrested for sending goods through the lines, and in September, 1861, he abandoned. his business and joined the rebel forces, 'acting as captain. His first formidable raid into Kentucky was in July, 1862, and his were some of the troops that caused the consternation at Cincinnati. On the 17th of July he defeated the Union troops at Cynthiana. In September Augusta was captured, and on the 17th of October the forces of the United States at Lexington were defeated. Elizabethtown, on the 27th of December, was captured. During the course of the next season he won several victories, was once or twice beaten off, and once defeated at McMinnville. however, with which Morgan's name is associated is that begun in 1863, in the Summer, which went through the three States of Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. After ravaging Kentucky, he crossed over into Indiana at

Brandenburg, and marched through Corydon, being attacked by the citizens there. No sooner had it been. learned in Indiana that the Confederates had crossed the border than the feeling became intense. Within: fortyeight hours from the time troops were called out sixtyfive thousand men responded, and the victorious march which Morgan had intended became conyerted into a flight. There can be no doubt that this campaign was designed to relieve General Lee, who was then engaged in his Pennsylvania campaign, by causing the Union forces to be divided. Indiana was passed through ip five days, and on his way he avoided the large towns, He reached the Ohio line on Monday, July 15th, at Harrison.

The approach of the Morgan raiders to this city caused the most intense excitement. No desire to make terms with the enemy was manifested, but an almos unanimous intention to fight was shown. Upon receipt of the dispatches on the 12th, the organization of. companies was at once commenced. Monday afternoon five full companies, numbering full six hundred men, marched out on the Venice road to meet the raiders. Of these, three hundred were armed with government arms, one hundred and twenty-five with carbines from Gwyn & Campbell's factory, and some with rifles, etc., while not a few marched with no arms saye such as" nature had provided them with, but with the evident determination to throw stones if they could find no better weapons. If the enemy had carried out his supposed intention of attacking this city Monday night he would

Tuesday night they were again on duty, picketing the roads south of town. No praise can be too great for the men of all classes and of all creeds who left their business and their families to oppose the march of veteran soldiers upon their homes.

Morgan's original object was, doubtless, to scour Indi ana and Ohio, capturing horses, carriages, ete., destroying railroad bridges, mills, and in all respects to eclipse the Grierson raid. By the vigorous action of the Indiana and Ohio home ouards, and the United States troops sent in pursuit, this intention was changed to that of getting across the Ohio as rapidly as possible with his tired out men and their plunder. The rapidity of his march since Sunday, his. evident determination to avoid battle, his neglecting to destroy the Cincinnati, Hamil ton, and Dayton, and the Little Miami Railroads, or other bridges or tracks except in his direct route/ prove this conclusively. The river was patrolled by armed boats, and Hobson's troops were close upon his rear The militia were rising in his front; if turned back his exhausted men and horses must of necessity have fallen an easy prey to the troops in pursuit. If he reached and attempted to cross the swollen Ohio, he would have

Hamilton was crowded during Tuesday and Wednesday, the 14th and 15th, with militia and squirrel rifles from Butler, Montgomery, Preble, and other counties, and from Indiana. The entire Eleventh Indiana militia, under Colonel Gray, the Nineteenth Ohio Battery, part of the Twelfth Michigan Battery, a detachment of the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 'and two companies of cavalry from Indiana, were here. It is estimated that not less than six thousand troops were present.

""We have had a speck of war at home - two days of soldiering; no holiday affair, but real strapping on of accouterments, shouldering of muskets, and marching out to meet the foe; two nights of anxiety, when our roads were guarded and our streets patrolled; our men all out on the expected field of battle, and our women tortured with visions of suffering fathers, husbands, and brothers, and of visits from the rude enemy. Morgan's men have gone, and with them the watching, the feverish expectation of marching our untrained men against his well drilled regiments.

'Our citizens determined to give fight. Some towns had surrendered to the enemy at his approach, others had fallen after a feeble defense; our citizens determined to save Hamilton from either disgrace, and at once made every preparation within their reach. The situation was not very promising. At the first called meeting it was discovered that there were not arms in the city for more than two hundred men, and as yet no promises of help had been made, while Morgan's men were distant but one day's march, and heading directly for our town. But the exigency only hastened the prep- _arations here.

"'As soon as the approach of the enemy became certain, scouts were sent out a full day's march, to gather information of his advance, and so close did our scouts hang on the front of the enemy that several of them were captured. Companies were rapidly organized, till, within two days after the first alarm, our city furnished over seven hundred well armed and equipped men for duty. These men went out Monday afternoon, and were posted where, in the view of the commander of the post, they could most effectually check the enemy.

"Up to this time no considerable force from any other point had re-enforced us, and it is certain that Morgan's intended visit to Hamilton was postponed by reason of the preparations made by our own citizens to. repulse him. It will forever stand to the credit and honor of our town that she beheld the approach of an army of rebels, not with any cowardly desire to capitulate, but with the determination of repulsing the enemy even at the expense of the blood of her best citizens.

arrival of Major Keith from Dayton. Martial law was declared throughout Butler County Monday, and all men ordered to duty. Six companies from this city went out on the Venice road Monday night, and remained till Tuesday morning. The roads east of the river were guarded by Dayton companies, and a detachment of the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. As Morgan's intention was developed by his march eastward, from New Baltimore, the companies were drawn in from the different roads and were held awaiting orders. Tuesday there were at least five thousand men here, three-fourths of them armed, and the enemy only fifteen miles distant, but no attempt was made either to march men or throw them in front of the enemy by railway.

''Finally, Tuesday evening, the Indiana militia were sent to Cincinnati, and the city companies were thrown out on picket on the roads east of town.

'' Wednesday morning they were recalled with a considerable accumulation of grit in their clothing and skins, if not in their souls, and thus ended the active operations of Butler County against Morgan. 'Tuesday and Wednesday the square and our streets were thronged with militia from our town and other counties. These mostly left Wednesday, although some companies from out of town remained till Friday morning."

The following is a statement of the different companies from Butler, Preble, and Montgomery Counties in Hamilton on Tuesday, July 14, 1862. We mention first the companies from Hamilton, and of these we give the number on duty that day:

Madison Township. - Captain Ben. Thomas, 86 men; Captain G. C. Warvel, 67; Captain W. C. Smith, 40; Captain G. H. Gebhart, 80. Total, 273. These men had no arms.

armed; Captain Overpeck, Gratis Township, 60 men, no arms; Captain Dan May, Harrison Township, 97 men, no arms; Captain Whiteside, Camden, 60 men,

Recapitulation

60; Captain Geo. Winder, Miami Township, 71. All armed, RECAPITULATION. Pinnsl (an: City iso ose weet «eas eee 703 Sy eee ee fe ees tie we fe Lan ine 730 Total from Butler County,.......... 1,433 2; Premio County, <0 = care ese 300 Montgomery County,......- 513 Total of Ohio militia present, . ......°... « 2,246 Indiana militia under General Haskel,. . . . 2,600 OMe gions sais ig. ISR ne ee el on eons 4,846 A detachment of the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry,...... 50 Two companies of Indiana Cavalry,.... .- 150 Six gun battery, Nineteenth Ohio,...... 100 Total here Tuesday, July 14th,...... 5,146

Of the Ohio militia a large number were unarmed. Some other companies in this and other counties telegraphed, offering their services, but were not wanted. One full company from Oxford, under Captain Welpley, went on to Cincinnati. It is impossible to get at perfect accuracy in this report, but it is mainly correct.

On Saturday night the city was illuminated in honor of the splendid successes, which, within the previous month, had crowned our arms. The affair was eot up suddenly, and was not so complete as longer notice would have made it; but the crowd out doors was large, while the various decorations, transparencies, etc., reflected much credit on the patriotism and taste of our citizens. The national colors, in every conceivable variety of form, were shining from the windows and yards of most of the residences, and from many of the business howses. Conspicuous among the latter were noticed the stores of Howell, J. W. Davis, Jackson & Co., H. Beardsley, Schwartz's Bakery, Peck's Bank, and others. The telegraph office had the windows fronting on High Street filled with the red, white, and blue, arranged in graceful patterns and bearing various mottoes. The windows of most of our citizens were brilliantly lighted. The most extensive preparations were at the residences of D. Conner, in the First, Thomas Millikin, in the Second, and Thomas V. Howell in the Third Ward. The displays at the houses of Israel Williams, James Boyden, E. G. Dyer, Ezra Potter, J. Snyder, James Thomas, Mrs. Hill, 8. Arnold, Dr. Peck, Dr. Falconer, Russell Potter, Colonel Campbell, D. Conner, Jr., Isaac Robertson, N. Curtis, James WW einer Thomas Sterritt, Captain F'. Landis, S. Shaffer, Lieutenant Andrews, and many others were very pretty. Bonfires burned at the intersections of the principal streets.

A large torch-light procession, with music and transparencies, marched through the city, and finally collected on High Street, near Second, where speeches were made by Colonel Campbell and Phorhs Millikin.

Tt will thus be seen that Morgan made his flying raid through Hamilton County without injuring the lives or property of those in this county. But there were damages done by the State and United States troops, which were laid before the State government, and the amounts paid. A few of his men crossed the Miami River at Venice, but the great bulk of them at New Baltimore. Morgan fled on and on, until it seemed likely that he would reach the Kentucky shore in safety. But at one point the troops came up near enough to give him battle and defeated him, not so badly, however, but that with twelve hundred of his men he was able to escape. Further on he tried to cross the Ohio, but after three hundred had reached the opposite shore in safety he was obliged to return and head the retreat of the remainder of his men on the north shore. He became environed by the militia, and the volunteers and regulars who were following were close upon him. 'Morgan approaches Pennsylvania," says a historian. ''Major ~Rue, of the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry, commanding detachments of the Ninth and Eleventh Kentucky Cavalry, and stragglers from different regiments, freshly mounted and sent ahead by order of General Burnside, on the cars, came

Two roads came to a common road. The struggle is which shall arrive first. Morgan leads; Rue, almost despairing, pursues him. Seeing a road leading off, almost by intuition, he asks a bystander, 'Does that road come into this one again, and is it nearer to the point where they approach than the main road? 'It does, and is much nearer.' With re- -newed hope he dashed off, and ran in ahead about a hundred and fifty yards, and rapidly formed a line of battle. Morgan, with his usual audacity, sends in a flag of truce, and demands an unconditional surrender. Rue indignantly informs the messenger that he does not belong to the militia that he can be deceived in that manner; that he is a major of the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry, and that if Morgan does not surrender at once he will fire upon him. The officer replied, with an oath, that the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry was everywhere. Morgan, finding he could not impose on Rue by the flag of truce, tries another dodge. He now informs him that he had already surrendered to some Ohio militia captain, and that he had paroled them. This captain was a captive in Morgan's hands. He informs Morgan that he will pay no attention to any such surrender, and that he will hold him and his command until his superior, General Shackelford, arrives. In about an hour the general makes his appearance, and then Morgan surrenders, and thus ends the most remarkable chase known in history."

Major George W. Rue is a citizen of Fairfield Township, in this county, and his fame is a matter of importance to us. Since Morgan's capture several attempts have been made to wrest the honor from Major Rue, but without avail. We, therefore, restate the affair, as seen from another standpoint:

"On the evening of the 23d of July, 1863, Major Rue left the barracks at Covington, Kentucky, with a command of three hundred and seventy-five cavalry and three pieces of artillery, from the Fifteenth Indiana Battery. The command departed for Bellaire, via Columbus, arriving there at one o'clock P. M., on Friday, the 24th. On the following day the banks of the Ohio were patrolled, and at one o'clock word was received from Major-general Brooks for Major Rue to proceed with his forces with all possible speed for Steubenville. Not stopping here, he passed on to Shanghee, where he disembarked his command at seven o'clock P. M., Saturday. From this point he proceeded along the public road to Knoxville, where he learned that Morgan had' already passed through Richmond at four o'clock of that day, the 25th, and was still pushing north-east. The major left Knoxville at four o'clock Sunday morning, joining General Shackelford at Hammondsville, and proceeded at once to Salinesville, his command in advance. At this place it was learned that Morgan had been seen last at Mooreville, going eastwardly to Smith's Ford on the Ohio River. General Shackelford sent Rue with the advance to intereept Morgan at some point on this road.

Marching his men at the rate of seven miles an hour, he started forward, his command having been reduced to three hundred men. When within half a mile of the junction of the road, he learned that Morgan was passing that point on a gallop. Discovering a private road, however, they cut over the fields, and came out on the main road just one hundred and fifty yards in advance of the rebels. A detachment of thirty men were attacking their rear, and the enemy was completely surrounded. A. flag of truce was sent by Morgan, demanding Rue's surrender. Major Rue replied that he demanded the unconditional surrender of Morgan and all his men. Major Rue's terms were acceded to. Morgan surrendered, and kept the prisoners until General Shackelford arrived, when they were turned over to his superior officer.

'The number of rebels captured was three hundred and eighty-four, and four hundred horses. In face of these facts, fully authentic and corroborated by reports, how can General Shackelford lay claim to capturing John Morgan? He, at the time of the surrender, was some miles away, and knew nothing of it until he came to the Beaver Creek Road and met the prisoner. The honor belongs to George W. Rue.",

Since writing the above, we have seen the statement of James Burbeck, to whom Morgan claimed that he had surrendered. He was a captain of a squad, elected to that position by his neighbors, and all his men, except eight, had run away and gone home. Morgan, it will be remembered, had three hundred and eighty-four men. After meeting Morgan under the protection of a white flag, the rebel general asked if he would accept his surrender, and then would grant them a parole. He agreed to the proposition, although expressing doubts as to whether the surrender would be binding. Morgan reassured him, and said, ''These are my men, and I can surrender them to a woman if I want to." He pointed in a north-westerly direction, to a cloud of dust rising in the road, and said to Burbeck, ''That's the Union forces." Then he took a white handkerchief, tied it to a stick, and gave it to Burbeck. The Union forces got around by another road and drew up in line of battle. They were Shackelford's men, commanded by Major Rue. One of Morgan's captains and Mr. Burbeck rode forward and explained matters. The major sent word to Colonel Shackelford, who was eating dinner at a farm-house about four miles back. The colonel.came up and accepted the surrender, but made it unconditional. When taken to Columbus he claimed that he had surrendered conditionally to a militia captain, and should' be granted a parole. Governor Tod received Mr. Burbeck's statement of the affair, and as he was not a regularly commissioned officer, Morgan was held. These statements are Burbeck's.

responded: ''I find the facts substantially as follows: A private citizen of New Lisbon, by the name of Burbeck, went out with some fifteen or sixteen others to meet your forces, in advance of a volunteer organized military body from the same place, under the command of Captain Curry. Said Burbeck is not and never was a militia officer in the service of this State. He was captured by you, and traveled with you some considerable distance before your surrender. Upon his discovering the regular military forces of the United States fo be in your advance in line of battle, you surrendered to said Burbeck, then your prisoner. Whether you supposed him to be a captain in the militia service or not is entirely immaterial."

The end of Morgan's raid is soon told. He and his officers were immured, by order of General Halleck, in the Ohio Penitentiary, from which the general and six of his fellow officers escaped on the 27th of November. He was killed before the close of the war.

During his expedition Butler County had in the State service fourteen companies and twelve hundred and two men. There were paid for them $3,220.73. In 1864 the Legislature appointed a commission to examine and pass upon the claims for damages to property in this raid. This county claimed for damages done by the United States forces $4,818; damages done by other Union forces, not under command of United States officers, $666; amount allowed for the first, $4,175, and the second, $516.

Some of those who were unfriendly to the war formed a Mutual Protection Company, but it did not meet with much favor, and was soon abandoned. Secret political societies for the same purpose flourished.

Citizens of Ross, Reily, Hanover, and Morgan Townships, in Butler County, Ohio, met at the township house in Okeana, on the 17th of July, 1863. The meeting was organized by electing John J. Owens, president, William Kinnard, vice-president, John W. Agnew, secretary, and J. B. Vanlew, assistant secretary. The object of the meeting was stated by the president to be for the purpose of organizing a company for the mutual protection of person and property.

The citizens of Whitewater and Springfield Townships, in Franklin County, Indiana, were invited to participate. A committee of one from each township and one from Indiana was appointed to report to an adjourned meeting to be held at Auburn, on Monday, July 20th, at two o'clock, P. M. 2

The meeting reconvened at Auburn, pursuant to adjournment, and the committee appointed by the former meeting, through the president, reported the following:

"We, the undersigned citizens of the townships of Ross, Reily, Hanover, and Morgan, in the county of Butler, in the State of Ohio, and of the townships of Springfield and Whitewater, in the county of Franklin, in the State of Indiana, having been fully convinced of the importance and 'necessity of protecting persons and prop- erty from invasion, by both foreign and domestic enemies of our country, and her laws, do hereby organize ourselves, for the purpose of mutual protection, into an independent company, to be known by the name and style of the Butler County Mutual Protection Company, and to be governed by a constitution and code of by-laws to be hereafter adopted by a majority of those signing this declaration of their determination to protect and defend the rights of our citizens, and to sustain and uphold the supremacy of the laws." The following named gentlemen were appointed a committee to circulate this paper for signature: John W. Owens, John G. Agnew, and John Cregmile, of Reily Township; C. W. Lane, Washington B. Davis, and W. R. Cochran, of Hanover Township; James Gaultney, Joseph Davis, and Samuel Lloyd, of Morgan Township; John Frost, Daniel Brosius, and A. D. Knox, of Ross Township; Dr. A. B. James, James Burtonshaw, and John Davis, of Springfield Township, and John Hall, Wn. Mitchell, and John Jacques, of Whitewater Township, Franklin County, Indiana. 8. D. Lloyd and W. B. Davis the next week wished the newspapers to say that they did not desire to have any thing to do with the '' Butler County Mutual Protection Company" for the townships of Hanover, Ross, Reily, and Morgan. They believed that the laws when enforced were sufficient to protect persons and property, and did not care about seeking any new modes of redress under the lead of men known to sympathize with rebellion and riot. '*The Constitution as it is, and the enforcement of the laws," was their motto. _ An encampment was held in Hamilton in August, 1863, which for more than a week made the town alive with the sounds and paraphernalia of war. It was held on the grounds north of town, between the railroad and the Miami River. No spot could have been found in the State better adapted for the purposes. It was a square tract of land of sixty acres, bounded on all four sides with running water, and with a level plain in the center, well adapted for the purposes of drilling and parade. The camps of the various regiments were pitched on the lower grounds along the sides, and the various head-quarters placed conveniently on higher ground, | Thé number in attendance was very large. Five regimental organizations were complete; the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Sixty-first, and eight companies of the Thirty-fourth, and two companies of the Sixty-fifth, also two companies of cavalry. The officers and sergeants of the reserve militia were out in large force, and occupied the ground on the east side of the square. The volunteer organizations occupied the north-and west side of the square. The camp was under command of Colonel Len. A. Harris, and under his supervision the discipline and drill of the camp progressed rapidly. Up till Monday even ing the officers and sergeants of various organizations were massed into companies, and thoroughly. instructed by competent drill masters. The programme of each day was as follows: Guard mounting at seven A. M.; company drill from nine to eleven A. M.; battalion drill from three to five P. M.; dress parade at six P. M. On Sunday the company drill was omitted, and divine services held at ten A. M. and three P. M.; battalion drill followed at four P. M. that day, and the usual dress parade. Monday afternoon the men of different regiments began pouring in, and that night the entire ground of the camp was specked with their shelter tents and their gleaming camp fires. Tuesday morning the drilling began at five o'clock and continued with short intermissions all day. At three P. M. battalion drill was held, and at five P. M. a grand review. For the purpose of review the regiments were organized into two brigades, with Colonel Fisher of the Eighth in command, and re. viewed by the commander of the post. The brigades were arranged in two lines on the east side of the grounds, facing west, and when passing in review marched entirely round the square. 'The music of several brass bands, and of many field bands, the neat uniforms of most of the men, the gleaming of arms, made the review a fine scene. Most of the marching was well done, and several army officers present expressed surprise at such correct marching and evolutions after so brief a drill, Many of the companies were unarmed. 'The Seventh Cincinnati bore the palm in marching and in the manual of arms, as the regiment was an old and thoroughly drilled one. Much was said in praise of the Butler County volunteers, especially of Companies A, of the Sixty-first, and A, of the Sixty-fifth. Taken altogether the review was a grand success, and satisfied the immense crowd that came to see it.

Jerome Falconer died Saturday night, August 15th, 1863, at eleven o'clock, at the residence of his father in this city. He had languished seven months and fifteen days since receiving his terrible wounds at Stone River, December 31, 1862. His remains were buried from the Presbyterian Church at ten A. M., Monday, August 17th, with military honors.

He had gone in his boyhood to serve in the ranks of the great Union army, and fell at Stone River, pierced with two wounds. He fell into the hands of the enemy, and remained a prisoner until the capture of Murfreesboro by our forces. For more than six months he was at his father's house in this city, receiving the most tender care and the most skillful medical and surgical treatment. But his wounds were too deep for the physicians' art, and each surgical operation, each day's nursing ended in the temporary relief, but not the improvement of his case. He gradually grew worse, till he sank into the sleep that knows no waking. His youth and extreme sufferings enlisted the warm sympathies of our citizens, and a large concourse followed the body to its restingplace.

As a means of aiding the soldiers, fairs were held almost everywhere. The one in this county was very successful in 1863. The two grand novelties of the week were the wood procession and the exhibition at Sohn's Hall.

The wood procession was made a principal feature of the fair. The appeal to the farmers in the county had been general, and the response was glorious and honorable to old Butler. The weather was bad. A storm of sleet and rain set in early in the day, but at ten o'clock the teams, began to straggle in and deposit their contents in the vacant lot adjoining Beardsley's hat store, where the Opera House is now. Soon after ten a procession from Reily, not less than four squares in length, came down High Street, and St. Clair, Morgan, Milford, Hanover, Ross, and Liberty added their delegations, till the lot was: packed with wagons, and the new arrivals began unloading on High Street, filling both sides of the street with huge ricks of wood nearly a square in length. As a drenching rain fell during the whole time, there was no music or ceremony, but the citizens mounted the wagons, helped unload, and hurried the donors off to shelter. A fine dinner had been prepared in a room of Sohn's building, where a sumptuous dinner was served. After a pleasant time at dinner the wagons began to rattle out of town, and at dusk there was no sign of the wood procession but the huge piles, which almost blockaded High Street.

Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, the ladies, nothing daunted, began pressing their preparations for the Soldiers' Aid Fair, with a vigor worthy the patriotic cause. The subscriptions were, in many instances, remarkably generous. Some poor persons, in the depth of their gratitude to the brave and suffering soldiers, gave almost their last dollar. Some remarkable instances occurred where even little boys had given the pennies in their savings-banks, amounting to more than some wealthy persons owning splendid farms had given.

In the third year of the war conscription was used to fill up the wasted ranks of the Union forces. The following officers were appointed to carry out the draft: Captain John Mills, of Dayton, Provost Marshal; M. P. Alston, of Fairfield, Commissioner of Enrollment; Dr. Schenck, of Franklin, Examining Surgeon.

"The medical examiner, and other members of the board of enrollment, have had a busy time in the last three weeks, prescribing for a new and singular malady. Hardly new, either, as it swept over portions. of this State a year since, but its present visit has been unparaleled in violence and extent. It very singularly spared old men, women, and children, and wreaked its violence on males between the ages of twenty and forty-five. The patients were seized with a strong desire to overhaul the dates in old family Bibles, to rub up and irritate old scars and other bodily ailments, to practice hollow coughs, to have fits, blindness, deafness, and every malady known in medicine, and some not found there. Its universal characteristic is paleness, and shuddering at the mention of swords, guns, or battle-fields.

'"The crowd of afflicted throng to the office, and are only kept at a respectful distance by the bayonet. The surgeon is compelled to make short work of most cases, although occasionally giving a few words of explanation to some applicant who is disappointed to learn that he is not as ill as he might be. Most are cut off with a brief 'that will do, sir; next.' Perhaps 'next' is a great stalwart fellow, who begins with a long string about ailments beginning before his birth, but is stopped with, 'I don't care, sir, what happened before you were born; what is the trouble now?) When he drawls out, 'That was what I was going to tell you; when my mother came to this country she got skeered at the shootin' of guns when we landed, and I never could stand shootin' since.' 'That is no ground for exemption.' 'They exempted me before, doctor.' 'I can't help that; next.' 'But; doctor, what shall I do? I never can stand shootin'.' 'You have heard of Rarey, I suppose. When he found a horse that could n't stand firing he so placed him that he could easily manage him, and then shot over him till he got used to it, and he never minded it afterward. We'll Rarey you - place you in the front rank, with a few bayonets behind you, and after you have been shot at a while, you will get over your nervousness. That will do; next.'"

Two persons were arrested in Hamilton for opposing the war. One was Dr. McElwee, and the other George Donges. Dr. McElwee was the conductor of a newspaper, and in it some violent expressions had been found. Donges had hurrahed for Jeff. Davis. We give the trial of Donges, who is still a resident of this place:

'" Charge. - Publicly declaring sympathy with the rebel enemies of the United States Government, contrary to Department General Orders, No. 38, and violently assaulting a loyal citizen, who reproved such declaration of sympathy.

*« Specification. - In this, that on or about the eighteenth day of April, 1868, the said George Donges, at the city of Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio, did publicly huzza for Jeff. Davis, and on being reproved for the same by one Peter Kregenhofer, a loyal citizen, did violently assault said Kregenhofer, strike him in the face with his fists, knock him down with a slung-shot, and kick him in the face, seriously wounding and bruising him, the said Kregenhofer.

'* Finding and sentence. - The commission, after mature deliberation on the evidence adduced, find the accused, George Donges, of Butler County, Ohio, as follows: Of the specification, 'guilty; of the charge 'guilty.' And the commission do, therefore, sentence him, the said George Donges, of Butler County, Ohio, to four months on Johnson's Island, or such other place as the commanding general shall direct, there to be made to do such hard work as the post commander shall direct.

'The prisoners, George Donges, citizen of Butler County, Ohio, and John McElwee, citizen of Jasper County, Illinois, will also be delivered by the military commander of Cincinnati, Ohio, into the custody of the commanding officer on Johnson's Island, who is charged with the execution of their sentence.

Upon Vallandigham's return from the South and from Canada he made his first appearance in Hamilton. His seizure had been a grave mistake on the part of the government, as it made a martyr of him, and his arrest upon his return would have been a still greater error. But the authorities had learned wisdom, and he harangued the faithful to his heart's content without interruption. It was feared that there would be interference by the soldiers, or by zealous Republicans, in which case there would undoubtedly have been bloodshed. Every thing, however, passed off peaceably. The result of the election was an increased majority for the opposers of the war in this county, but through the State no such result prevailed. Lincoln, and not McClellan, carried the electoral vote. This opposition to the war was carried on to the end, and for five. or six years after its - close the local leaders of the party denounced the results. Time has. healed these wounds, and most of those who distinguished themselves during the war and the postbellum period, in violent denunciation of what was done, have accepted the results with equanimity and patience.

The One Hundred and Sixty-seventh Regiment, National Guard, was the third complete, or nearly complete, regiment that went out from this county. It was one intended only for one hundred days' service. It was organized near this city on the 2d of May, 1864, and was sworn ~ into the United States service on the 16th of the same month. On the 18th it received marching orders for West Virginia, and reached Charleston, in that State, on the 21st of May, reporting to Colonel Ewart. Six companies were immediately sent to Camp Piatt, and four to Gauley Bridge. At these points they relieved - the Second, Third, and Seventh regiments of Virginia cavalry. The only duty the regiment was called upon to perform was guarding government stores, and accompanying trains to and from the main bodies of the national forces in that portion of Western Virginia. The posts were posts of supply. At the conclusion of their terms of service the regiment was promptly relieved, mustered out, and transported home. Many of the men joined other regiments, and went out again.

Much ought to be said, in however brief a summary of the war, viewed locally, of the noble efforts of those citizens who stayed behind in upholding the hands of the government and in lessening the sufferings of individuals and families, Relief committees were begun at the out- break of hostilities in almost all localities; and in thousands of families the kindly ministrations of neighbors helped to take off the keen edge of poverty. The relief system lasted through the whole war, fairs being held in connection with it. At one of them, held in Hamilton, ten thousand dollars and over was realized. A committee of citizens was appointed by the government, in each county, to aid in the work of recruiting, and as persons on whom it could rely for assistance. Those in this county in 1863 were: N. C. McFarland, chairman; Israel Williams, secretary; Alexander F. Hume, Henry Beardsley, and J. M. Millikin. Others were joined with these, and preceded and followed them. 'To all these the greatest gratitude is due. In the darkest hour of the nation's trouble they formed a rallying point for the faithful.

The end was at last to come. The heroic exertions of four years were crowned with success, and Rich. mond was ours. The Telegraph of Hamilton had the following head lines :

*"Victory - Richmond Ours and Garrisoned by Negro Troops - Petersburg Evacuated - Davisa Fugitive - Lee in Full Retreat - Grant in Full Pursuit - Four Days' Heavy Fighting - Complete Union Success - The Great Hereafter has Come - Where's Vallandigham ? - Where's the Chicago Platform ? - Where's McClellan ?"

A celebration was held on the Friday following the evacuation of Richmond. The day rose brightly, and seemed of itself to impart gladness to all hearts. At sunrise a national salute from the court-house square spoke joyfully, and this was followed by many pealing bells for the space of an hour. Very early in the day it was manifest it was to be a jubilee, and soon the streets were filled with people whose eyes and cheerful faces told their gladness.

At ten o'clock a very large congregation assembled in the Presbyterian Church, where a sermon was delivered by the Rev. J. J. Thompson, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, from Exodus xv, 1, 2, 21. The reverend speaker drew a most striking parallel between the cause of the Confederacy and the cause of Pharaoh, and the total destruction which overtook them both, manifestly by the hands of the Lord. He closed by referring to the fact that while they were then worshiping Sumter's dishonored flag was honored and floated over the battered walls, upon the ocean breeze; Maryland had washed out their.stains, Louisiana and Tennessee had found mooring in the Union docks, and Georgia, Virginia, and the old North State desired to join their sisters. A new and higher destiny awaited them. Let all say, '' Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting, and let all the people say Amen."

In the afternoon the whole population were abroad, and flags decorated nearly the whole city. At three o'clock P. M. a great crowd assembled at the court-house, where, after the thundering of cannon, music was given

/ . by the city band and the glee club, and eloquent addresses of great ability by L. D. Campbell and by Messrs, Millikin and Moore. They were happily worded and enthusiastically received. ;

At night the whole population were out about the court-house. Men, women, and children swarmed; brilliant fireworks were set off under the direction of Brook Saunders. |

Scarcely had the nation felt its heart throb with gratitude for the closing of the war and the renewal of peace on a solid and enduring basis, than it was called to mourn the death of Abraham Lincoln, slain by the hand of an assassin. So monstrous seemed the report that few could believe it, and it was not until the arrival of the morning papers that citizens were willing to give credence to the story. But with the perusal of the details came unwilling belief, and soon the tolling bells, the half-masted flags, and the drapery of black gave proof of sorrow.

In the evening a large meeting convened at the courthouse, and organized by the selection of Judge Scott as chairman, and Mr. Selby as secretary. Remarks were made by L. D. Campbell, N. C. McFarland, Rev. J. J. Thompson, and Thomas Moore, expressive of their feelings and that of the community generally. Men of all political parties united in this movement. The chairman was authorized to appoint a committee of nine to make suitable arrangements for observance of the funeral ceremonies of the late President. On Sunday large audiences assembled in all of the churches, most, if not all of which were draped in mourning, and the exercises were generally conducted with reference to the solemn lessons of the hour. In the Methodist Episcopal Church, Mr. Thompson had designed an Easter sermon, but in view of the nation's calamity addressed his congregation from 2 Samuel iii, 38: '' Know ye not there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?" His remarks were eloquent and to the point. In the Presbyterian Church, Professor David Swing, of Oxford, now of Chicago, preached from the ninety-seventh Psalm. ~

In accordance with the recommendation of the acting Secretary of State, Wednesday was observed with fitting ceremonies. All the bells tolled for one hour from 10,30 A. M. Funeral ceremonies were in the Presbyterian Church at 12 noon; sermon by the Rev. J. M. Pendleton. There was also a general suspension of business from 10 A. M. until 3 P. M., and a display of flags at - half-mast. The sermon was from Deuteronomy xxxivy, 8.

At Oxford the various bells were tolled for several hours, flags were shrouded in erape, or displayed at half mast, and business was almost entirely suspended. This - was on Saturday, on the reception of the news. In the afternoon, by a general impulse, a large number of citizens assembled in the hall over the market-house, and a meeting was organized, on motion of Professor Swing, - by calling the Rev. Dr. Patterson to the chair. Mr. -

Duval was appointed secretary. The Rey. L. L. Langstroth opened the exercises by prayer, and then made some remarks; after which, on motion of Professor Swing, Professor Stoddard, Professor Swing, and Mr. Zeller were appointed a committee to prepare suitable resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting. An adjourned meeting was fixed at 2 P. M. of the day on which the obsequies should be observed in Washington, in the Third Presbyterian Church. Remarks were made at different times by the Rev. Mr. McSurely, Kumler, and Morris. On Sunday all the public and many of the private buildings were draped in black.

Among those who remained in the army after the close of the war was Colonel Charles Kilgore Smith, the second son of Charles K. Smith, of Hamilton, for a long time one of the leading citizens of this county, and the first secretary of the Territory of Minnesota. He was born in Hamilton on the 22d of October, 1834, and was carefully instructed in all the usual branches of education, receiving in addition a course of training at the military academy at West Point, to which he was appointed in 1850. The rigorous requirements of the place enfeebled his naturally weak constitution, and the idea of a military life was abandoned, he thought, forever; but at the beginning of the civil war, prompted by duty and patriotism, he entered a company, and, as first lieutenant, aided in drilling and disciplining the troops, accompanied them to Columbus, and when this company finally crystallized into one of those forming the Twenty-sixth Regiment, he was made quartermaster. He accompanied it to Louisville, its first trip, and was, in conjunction with Colonel E. P. Fyffe, who commanded, highly complimented by the press for the able manner in which his duties were discharged. His efficiency and eminent abilities soon attracted attention, and he was promoted to a captaincy, acting as chief assistant in the quartermaster's department at Chattanooga before, during, and subsequent to the Atlanta campaign. General Rousseau, an excellent judge of men, placed him upon his staff, and evinced by his conduct that he regarded him as one of the most efficient and trustworthy officers in the service. He followed the army in its vicissitudes and perils during its four years of trials and changes, winning each year higher and higher positions, rising from chief assistant in the quartermaster's department to that of chief quartermaster of the department of Georgia, with the grade of colonel. At this time he was on the staff of Majorgeneral Steadman, who was in command of that department. He was commissioned major by brevet, March 13, 1865, ''for gallant and meritorious services during the war." He did not receive his appointment as major. until he had been commissioned a colonel, the appointment of major having been knocked about in the mails for n arly a year before it reached him, owing to the uncertainties of war.

Washington Lodge, Hamilton, of which his father had so long been an ornament, and carried into his everyday life those principles of honor, good faith, and charity there inculeated. He was naturally a Mason. In the army he aided in 'establishing military lodges, and through his instrumentality in this respect much suffering was alleviated.

He was in public life a model of integrity and industry, but it was in private life that he was justly to be estimated. He was most kind and affectionate. In his deportment to his parents he was respectful, dutiful, and warmly affectionate; to his brothers and sisters he was considerate, loving, generous, and just, and to his friends constant and true. He could be depended upon in all the relations of life to do that which was right and becoming, neither turning away from the weak and afflicted because they were under a cloud, nor courting the society of those favored with this world's géods because their influence might be valuable to him.

His death, from hemorrhage of the lungs, occurred in Columbia, South Carolina, December 30, 1870, when he had barely entered his thirty-seventh year. It cast a deep shade of sorrow over a large circle of friends, and occasioned the deepest anguish in his family cirele. His noble deeds and self-sacrificing devotion have placed his name on the pages of his country's history.

We give the names of the soldiers of our wars buried in Greenwood. Some errors ure among them, undoubtedly, but the list has been submitted to careful revision by a number of well-known citizens.

Soldiers Of The Revolution And The Indian Wars

John Reily, 87; died on the 8th of June, 1859. He enlisted at the age of seventeen, and was actively engaged at the battle of Eutaw Springs.

John Wingate, 78, of Fairfield Township, Ohio; died April 15, 1851. He was in the closing battles of the Revolution, and was also in the war under General Wayne.

Joseph McMaken, 63, of Union Township, Ohio; died February 10, 1818. He was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania; enlisted in the Indian war under General St. Clair and General Anthony Wayne. He came to Ohio in 1789, and in 1795 settled on section 4, Union Township.

William McClellan, 60, of St. Clair Township ; October 2, 1827. Was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania; employed in quartermaster's department as pack horseman.

SOLDIERS OF 1812. Robert: Rosenerans, 75, of Fairfield Township; born in New Jersey; died January 1, 1865. He was in Captain Collins's conipany.

Matthew Hueston, 76; April 16, 1847. Born in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and was buried at Collinsville. Was in quartermaster's department in Wayne's campaign.

Vincent Cohee, 87, of St. Clair Township; November 12, 1868. He served under Captain Collins in the Twentysixth Regiment, United States Infantry.

Alexander Delorac, 83; born in Shepardstown, Pennsylvania; September 1, 1870. Enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Regiment, United States Infantry, under Captain Collins.

Soldiers Of The Rebellion

Wm. H. Miller, 38; second lieutenant, B, 12th; killed in West Virginia while scouting, September 15, 1861. He was in the battle of Peters Creek.

Colonel Minor Millikin, 28; colonel First Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. Previously first lieutenant Burdsall's Cavalry Killed at Stone River, December 31, 1862; interred, Janu ary 8, 1863.

Garrett Parker, 17; 1, 159th Illinois Volunteers, of Springfield, Illinois; a prisoner in the hands of the rebels at Nashville, Tennessee, January 13, 1865.

A. P. Cox, 42; K, 69th. Appointed captain Mississippi Brigade by the President. Born in West Chester. - Resided at Oxford. Died September 21, 1872.

The Courts

The following men from Butler County are buried at Chattanooga, in the beautiful national cemetery. Captain Phil. Rothenbush copied the names of the soldiers of the

Thirty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry sleeping their last | We give the names, with the | company to which they belonged, and the place they |

J.C. Perrine, A, Chickamauga. A. Howard, F, Stevenson, Ala. Harry McDonald, D, Pine Michael Shields, A, Resaca. Mountain. J. Vannata, C, Cloud Springs.

Chas. Barrows, ©, 93d. Robert Douglass, A, 86th. Jas. Coe, Missouri Regiment. Thos. ©. Douglass, A, 168th. Randolph B. Crecraft. Wm. M. Ferguson, K, 86th. Jas. N. Crosby, A, 86th. Sampson Gath, D, 47th.

As we have recited, the courts of this county had their first session on the 10th of May, 1803, at the house of John Torrence, in Hamilton. This building is still standing on the ground owned by Henry S. Earhart, but not occupied by him. The judges were James Dunn, John Greer, and John Kitchell. John Reily was the clerk. All these were laymen, chosen for their good sense, but not for their acquirements inthe law. Atthe first election James Blackburn was chosen sheriff, and Samuel Dillon, The first regular term began with Francis Dunlevy as presiding judge, and Daniel Symmes prosecuting attorney. The first term of the Supreme Court was on the 11th of October, 1803, and was composed of Judges Samuel Huntington and Samuel Sprigg ; Arthur St. Clair, Jr., as prosecuting attorney ;

Judge Dunlevy was a man of great strength of character, and possessed wide influence. He had not originally been intended for the bar; nor, indeed, does it seem that he ever studied law in the way in which most persons do. He acquired his knowledge while expounding the principles of jurisprudence from the bench. 'There were, indeed, few regularly bred lawyers in the country. Judge Dunlevy's family were originally from Spain, and haying become Protestants, fled from that country to France, where they remained until the revocation of the edict of

Nantes. From there they went to Ireland, and one of the family, named Anthony, emigrated to the United States in 1745, settling near Winchester, Virginia. He was the father of Francis Dunlevy, who was born in 1761. The family were rigid Presbyterians, and intended to bring up their son to the ministry, but, on the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, removed further West, near Washington, Pennsylvania. There were many dangers in the backwoods then, and the young man took his turn in defending the settlements. When he was fourteen he volunteered to take the place of a neighbor who had been drafted, and who could not well leave home. From 1776 to 1782 he was almost continually in the service of his country. In the latter year he was in Crawford's defeat.

As soon as peace permitted Dunlevy was sent to Dickinson College to prepare for the ministry, and afterwards studied divinity under his uncle, the Rey. James Hoge. Close examination of the Scriptures at that time made him a Baptist, a faith to which he ever afterwards adhered. He gave up his plan of preaching, believing that he had no evidence of a special call in that direction, and became a teacher. He taught a classical school for some time after in Virginia. In 1792 he came to Columbia, in Hamilton County, this State, and, in connection with Mr. John Reily, opened a classical school, the first good one in the country.

"Judge Dunlevy," says his son, from whose account of the Miami Baptist Association we abridge this narrative, '"'was twice a member of the Legislature of the Northwestern Territory, afterwards a member of the convention which formed the first constitution of Ohio. He was also a member of the first State Legislature, and then was elected presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas, whose circuit included at that time all the Miami Valley, from Hamilton and Clermont Counties on the south, to Miami and Champaign on the north. Here he served as judge for fourteen years, and though he had in that time to cross both Miamis at every season of the year, then without any bridges, in all that time he never missed more than one court. He often swam these rivers on horseback when very few others would have ventured to cross them. In his various campaigns and extensive travels in new countries he had become so expert a swimmer that he thought nothing of swimming the Ohio at its greatest floods."

On the bench he was distinguished for diligence and attention. He bent all the faculties of his mind to discover the truth, and to make his decision conform to it. He was not a patient man in technicalities, and had an imperious way about him that would not have been tol_ erated in a weaker man. At the close of his service as presiding judge, being poor, and having involved himself as security for some of his friends, he felt himself compelled to engage in the practice of law for the means of the circuits for four or five counties, but about eight years before his death withdrew from business, and studied those books which he had previously been prevented from doing by lack of time. These were mainly religious. He was a friend of liberty and an enemy of American slavery. His death occurred on the 6th of November, 1839. -

The name of Daniel Symmes appears as that of the first prosecuting attorney. He was at that time, and ever after, a resident of Cincinnati, and was appointed to the position because there was no resident lawyer here. He was a son of Timothy Symmes, and a nephew of Judge John Cleves Symmes, and was born in Sussex Courity, New Jersey, in 1772. He was a graduate of Princeton College, and came West with his father. He was married to Elizabeth Oliver in 1795. He was appointed clerk of the territory northwest of the Ohio River, and while holding this position studied law, and - was admitted to the bar. He was elected a member of the Senate of the State of Ohio, and served as its speaker. during the second and third sessions. He was subsequently appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, on the resignation of Judge Meigs, in 1804, and on the expiration of his term became register of the land office at Cincinnati, holding this position until a few months previous to his death, which occurred May 10, 1817. Mr. Symmes was also sheriff of Hamilton County in 1795 and 1796. :

Arthur St. Clair, Jr., suceeeded him. He was a son of General St. Clair, and a man of considerable attainments and means. Before coming out here he had run away with a Quaker lady, who made him a good wife, and who bore him several children. He was a candidate for territorial delegate, at the very beginning of the history of Ohio, but was defeated by William Henry Harrison, then a captain in the army, but who had the powerful support of the Symmes family. He was possessed of considerable wealth, but lost it by indorsing for a friend. When shown by a lawyer that there was an informality in the document that would release him, he said: '' No; when Arthur St. Clair puts his name to a piece of paper he means it." As a result, his property was all swept away. A son of his, Arthur St. Clair, 3d, came up to Hamilton and began the practice of law with Jehiel Brooks, in 1823. They did not stay long, however. Their card ran thus:

Law Notice Jehiel Brooks And Arthur St. Clair

Having formed a partnership in the practice of the law, inform the public that they may be found at present in thelower corner room of Colonel George Vandegriff's hotel at any hour of the day, where they will attend to the various duties of their profession. They intend to maké permanent arrangements for an oflice elsewhere, and when that shall be effected due notice will be given of the place of removal.

Brooks & St. Clair

Mr. St. Clair died in 1833 or 1834, in Indiana. His family afterwards settled here, and remained in Hamilton for a long time. Arthur St. Clair, 2d, died somewhere about 18265.

William McClellan, the first elected sheriff, was the son of a pioneer farmer, who, at the time of the Revolutionary War, lived near where Mercersburg now is, in Pennsylvania. On reaching suitable age he obtained employment as a pack-horse man. By these horses all goods were brought over the Alleghany Mountains. In this occupation he was engaged until several years after the Revolutionary War, and soon after 1790 left for Ohio, in 1792 coming to Fort Hamilton. He remained in this employment until the close of the war, when he married Miss Mary Sterret, of Mercersburg, and opened a house of entertainment. In 1803 he was elected sheriff of the county, and two years after was re-elected. He was then ineligible by the constitution of Ohio, and was succeeded by John Torrence.

Mr. McClellan was the brother of two other men well known in the history of Hamilton, to one of whom Washington Irving gives a large space in his '" Astoria." He was an excellent scout, hunter, and spy, and was possessed of prodigious muscular power and _ activity. He could leap over a pair of oxen or the tallest Conestoga wagon. He went out to the Rocky Mountains and acted as a hunter for parties there for a long time. Of his exploits Irving's '' Astoria" and McBride's '' Pioneers" give a full account. John, his younger brother, was also a pack-horseman, but did not come out to the Miami country until 1800, then taking up his abode with his brother William, and engaging in trading with the Indians. In 1814 he set out for an expedition among the red men, but was waylaid and killed by them, his goods being taken.

William Corry was the first lawyer who located himself at Hamilton. He was born near the Holstein River, in Washington County, Virginia, on the 14th of ean ber, 1778, and received a liberal education at Parson Duke's academy, in Tennessee. In 1798 (then a minor) he came to the Northwestern Territory and studied law with William McMillan, of Cincinnati, to whom he was distantly related. In 1803 he removed to Hamilton and for the State, which office he held until his removal from Hamilton in the year 1810. In the Fall of 1807 he was elected a member of the General Assembly for Butler County, and served during the ensuing session of the Legislature.

In March, 1810, Mr. Corry was married to Eleanor Fleming, a daughter of Thomas Fleming, an, old settler who had emigrated from Maryland, and lived. on the south side of Butler County. Mr. Corry then determined to abandon the practice of law, and in September following removed from Hamilton and settled on his farm near Cincinnati. But in May, 1811, he removed to the city, where he again resumed the practice of law. He was subsequently elected and represented the county of Hamilton in the General Assembly. He was appointed by the town council to the office of mayor, then first created, and held it until 1819 by appointment. He died in that city on the 16th of December, 1833.

Mr. Corry, from a natural timidity and modesty, which he was never able to overcome, did not appear conspicuously at the bar as an orator, but he was highly esteemed as a thoroughly read lawyer and good counselor. Asa member of the bar, legislator, mayor of the city, and private citizen, he maintained a high character. He was distinguished for purity of motive and moral firmness in the discharge of his public and private duties.

David Kk. Este was the second lawyer who settled in Hamilton. He was born at Morristown, New Jersey, on the 21st of October, 1785, where he received the rudiments of his education. He afterwards entered Princeton College, where he graduated in September, 1803. In the Spring of 1804 he began the study of law, and was in due time admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. In May, 1809, he left that State and came to Ohio, and in June following settled in Hamilton, commenced the practice of his profession, and made his maiden speech in the court-house of this county. In 1810 he was appointed prosecuting attorney in the place of William Corry, who had removed to Cincinnati, holding this office until April, 1816, about which time he left Hamilton and went, to Cincinnati. There he continued practice until 1884, when he was appointed President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He held the office until February, 1838, when he was appointed judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati for seven years. In 1845, when his term of service expired, he declined being a candidate for reappointment, and retired to private life.

Mr. Este was a fine classical scholar and a well read lawyer, and by his regular habits and strict attention to business acquired a large fortune.

Among the pioneer members of the bar contemporaneous with the above was John C. McManus. His knowledge of the law and his information on other subjects was limited, but by his bustling manner and _ his attendance at crowds and public meetings he acquired a considerable share of practice. He was a candidate for a seat in the Assembly from Butler County, but failed in his election. In 1817 he retired from the bar and removed to Preble County, where he resided until his death, which occurred in the early part of 1851.

Joseph S. Benham was born near Lebanon, Warren County, and was the son of Robert Benham, one of the pioneers of the western country, whose name is identified with its early history. In 1808 and 1809 he was a boy attending school in Hamilton. He lived with his sister, Mrs. Torrence, afterward Mrs. Wingate, who then kept a tavern. He studied law with David K. Este,

Mr. Benham devoted much of his time to the acquisition of the graces of oratory. He paid particular attention to elocution, and his voice and manner of speech were captivating. Few men could address a jury more eloquently or effectively; and asa popular speaker, fewer yet surpassed him. He remained at the bar of this county until 1821, when he removed to Cincinnati. He practiced in Cincinnati until 1831, when he went to Louisville, Kentucky, and thence to St. Louis, where he remained until 1837. In that year he returned and settled in Covington, Kentucky, and took the professorship of commercial law in the Cincinnati Law School. About this time he became the owner and editor of the Ohio and Kentucky Journal, a weekly Democratic paper, which he published in Cincinnati for about a year, but in August, 1838, sold out. The Winter of 1838-9 he devoted to the study of the civil law at his residence (Elmwood) in Kentucky, opposite Cincinnati, and then removed to New Orleans, where he settled again in the practice of law. The ensuing Summer he was on his way from New Orleans to New York, when he died at the Pearl Street House, Cincinnati, on the 15th of July, 1840.

Mr. Benham was twice married; first, to Isabella Green, of Hamilton, who died in October, 1829, and the second time to Maria L. Slocum, of the District of Columbia.

In the year 1815 Benjamin Collett came from Lebanon, Warren County, opened a law office in Hamilton, and began the practice of his profession. He was a graduate of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and had studied law at Lebanon with his brother, Joshua Collett, and with Judge John McLean. He was a thorough classical scholar, and his information on all subjects extensive for a man of his age. As a well read lawyer he was excelled by none in the State. In declamation he was not eloquent or flowery, but he always understood his subject well and expressed himself in a systematic and logical style, which commanded the attention of the court and jury. He soon acquired a very respectable practice. In April, 1816, he was appointed prosecuting attorney for the county of Butler, and held the office until 1820. A year or two afterwards he re-

George Sargeant, a native of Vermont, came to Hamilton in the year 1816, and studied law with Joseph S, Benham. He was admitted upon the completion of his course of study, and began practice immediately afterwards. Although he had not the advantage of an early education, his native Yankee shrewdness and wit, with a ready flow of words, enabled him to succeed tolerably well at the bar. Where sarcasm or ridicule were admissible he excelled. He continued to practice until about. the year 1826. His habits for a number of years were very intemperate, though he was seldom seen drunk in public. In the evening he would purchase a bottle of whisky and take it to his office, where he would indulge himself during the night, and the next night repeat the same performance. A continuance of this habit finally impaired the faculties of his mind, and in September, 1827, he became so much deranged that he was strictly - confined. The Masonic Fraternity, of which he was a member, appointed a committee of their members to. see the society for about a year, when he was delivered over to the county commissioners. He was afterwards taken to a lunatic asylum in Cincinnati, where he remained several years chained to the floor, and was then removed to the lunatic asylum at Columbus. He never recoyered from his derangement, dying somewhere about 1852.

Among those who frequented the courts here in their earlier days were Jacob Burnet, an accomplished lawyer, afterwards judge, who at a very early age made his mark in the institutions of Ohio; Nicholas Longworth, who became the largest property owner in this region, and was distinguished far and wide for his growth of American wines; George P. Torrence, a man of great grace and dignity; Elias Glover and Ethan Stone of Cincinnati; Thomas Freeman and Thomas R. Ross from Lebanon, and last but not least, John McLean, afterwards a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Joshua Collett was also in frequent attendance. '' Important cases," says Mr. McBride, '' were advocated in an elaborate and - masterly manner."

Mr. Reily became sheriff in 1813, his position lasting till 1817. During his administration of office occurred the only punishment by whipping ever inflicted in this county. wis

A boarder at the tavern of William Murray, on Front Street, went one morning to the stable of the tavern to He found the stable and the stall, but the horse was missing. The sheriff was informed of the facts, and the officers were put upon the scent. After a few days' search horse and thief were found at Leb- - anon, and at once brought back to Hamilton. The thief, whose name was William Gray, was taken before the court, Judge Dunlevy presiding, and his guilt plainly | proved. In those days Ohio had no penitentiary, and the punishment of criminals was generally a public cowhiding. Judge Dunlevy sentenced Gray' to thirty-nine lashes on his bare back, to be inflicted by the sheriff in the court-house square, allowing the culprit a few days to prepare himself for the ordeal. Mr. McBride, after hearing the sentence, took his prisoner to the jail, and then purchased a cowhide. In those days cowhides were the only whips in use, and could be found in bunches of twenty-five and fifty hung up for sale in every grocery. Selecting a good stiff whip, the sheriff returned home and laid it by. His wife, however, began to feel some sympathy for the culprit. She thought the punishment excessive and antichristian, and thought she could devise some method to render the punishment less painful. She thought that if the stiffness should be taken out of the cowhide the blows would be less painful, and the idea no sooner reached her brain than she put it into execution. The cowhide was placed in a pan of grease and thoroughly soaked and then tied up and placed away in greasy rags. The day before the culprit was to undergo his punishment, Mrs. McBride turned over the doctored cowhide to the sheriff. The news of the sentence had been carried for many miles, and the day before it was to be put into execution people began flocking into the village from all pots within a radius of sixty miles. They came in wagons and on foot from Connersville, Liberty, and Brookville, Indiana, and from Warren and Montgomery Counties, Ohio. On the morning on which the sentence was to be carried out, Sheriff McBride arose from his bed before it was light and hastily made all the arrangements necessary, and before the sun was fairly up William Gray was tied to a-scaffold post on the south side of the court-house, which at that date was not finished. The doctored cowhide was brought out, and the horse thief received his thirty-nine lashes while yet half the people were in their beds. Several of the blows brought the blood to the surface, but owing to the wit of Mrs. McBride the punishment was by no means as severe as it could, and _perhaps should, have been. Notwithstanding the early hour, however, the punishment was witnessed by a large number of persons who had reached the square early, anticipating such a move on the part of the sheriff. The strangers, after their hard work in reaching the city, slept late in the morning, and on waking and finding the whole affair ended made the air sulphurous with their curses.

Gray, after his whipping, was taken back to the old jail and kept there several days for his back to heal, when he was discharged, and ordered to leave the county, which it is safe to presume he did at once. Sheriff Me- Bride and his successors were spared the repetition of such duties, and thus Gray was the only man cowhided by order of court in old Butler.

John Woods. He came to this county in 1819, and his progress here was facilitated by the fact that his habits were good. He attended assiduously to business, did not drink, and could always be depended upon. In 1824, when but twenty-seven years of age, he was chosen to the national Legislature, and was probably the first native of the Northwestern Territory who was elected to either house of Congress. Mr. Woods was an extraordinary lawyer. He was engaged in nearly all the great causes that came up in his time, and was usually successful when the affair was at all evenly balanced. He had a rough, earnest eloquence, which carried much weight. It was not polished, but correct. He was strong as a special pleader and chancery lawyer. A fuller account of him is given elsewhere.

The bar held a meeting on the 20th of September, 1824, in honor of Thomas C. Kelsey, one of its members. The meeting was attended by the officers of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of Butler, the lawyers, and the students at law. John Woods presided, and Jesse Corwin acted as secretary. Resolutions were passed deploring his death, and declaring that the members would attend his funeral. Mr. Kelsey was a native of New England, and was for many years a respected merchant of Hamilton, making and saving in his calling a handsome fortune. In prosperity his friends were numerous and ardent, but many of them vanished with his wealth. When he could no longer continue business as a merchant, and after he had yielded up his last farthing to his creditors, he was enabled by the kindness of a few friends to read law and gain admission to the bar. For this calling he possessed respectable talents, and would undoubtedly have succeeded had his life been spared. He died on the 18th of September, and was buried with Masonic honors. His wife died on the preceding Sunday, the 12th. They left four little children.

Among the earlier sheriffs was William Sheely. He was a man of prodigious size, and well liked by his fellowcitizens. While he was sheriff he was called upon to make preparations for an execution, but after all his labor was done the criminal had his sentence commuted to imprisonment for life. This was in the Summer of 1835. The prisoner's name was Sponsler. He lived in Madison Township, and had a quarrel with his son-in-law, finally killmg him by shooting. For this he was arrested and lodged in the county jail When he was brought to trial John Woods, one of the most skillful members of the bar, was assigned to defend him, and did so with all his powers. But the accused was found guilty of murder in thesfirst degree, and was sentenced to be hung on Friday, June 10, 1836. No efforts to have a new trial or for an arrest of judgment were successful, and Mr. Sheely proceeded to get ready his scaffold. Mr. Woods, however, did not cease his exertions in behalf of his client, and finally procured a commutation of sentence to imprisonment for life. The public, however, were not made acquainted with the matter, and on the day assigned the town was full of men from this and other towns. When they found that the affair would not come off they rebelled, and 'proposed to tear down the jail. They were full of whisky and full of fight. But Mr. Sheely did not propose to be treated thus. He organized a large body of men, and placed himself at their head, dispersing the mob.

Before Sponsler could be taken to Columbus to undergo the penalty of life imprisonment, he managed to commit suicide by cutting his throat in a cell. He had become discouraged. A writer in the Cincinnati Times says that Mr. Woods was so much chagrined at the scenes through which he had been passing that he then and there made a vow that so long as he lived there should never be a man hung in Butler County. We doubt the truth of the story, but no one was hung until after his death, when Griffin was executed.

Michael B. Sargeant was an early and brilliant member of the bar, who was in partnership with Mr. Woods for some time. He was a fine classical scholar, and conversant with elegant literature as well as a thorough lawyer. His qualifications and strict attention to business, while Mr. Woods was absent attending Congress, were of great advantage to the latter. Mr. Sargeant died suddenly on the night of the 19th of April, 1830, aged thirty-three years. He was found in the morning dead in his bed, in the room adjoining their law office, and is supposed to have expired by apoplexy or a similar affection, of which, it is said, he had discovered some previous symptoms. He lies buried in the Fourth Ward burying-ground, now the park. He was a man of large capacity, and had he lived would have had a fame coextensive with the State.

Elijah Vance, for many years judge of the District Court, and an attorney and counselor-at-law, was born in Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland, on the 1st of February, 1801, and came to Ohio in 1816, procuring a situation as clerk in a dry goods store in Cincinnati. After four years of steady labor, and saving his money, he went to Lebanon and began the study of law with Judge Dunlevy, graduating at the bar in June, 1826. He then removed to Hamilton and began practice. He was shortly after elected prosecuting attorney of the county, and was next elected a State Senator, and afterwards re-elected for several terms, and made speaker of the Senate. In 1843, when judges were yet appointed, he was selected as Common Pleas Judge of the judicial district composed of the counties of Greene, Clinton, Warren, and Butler, and held this office for seven years. In 1850 he was appointed a member of the convention which met in Columbus for the purpose of framing a new constitution for Ohio. On account of the cholera, which was then raging in Columbus, the convention adjourned till the Winter of 1851, when it met at Cincinnati. During the sitting of this convention, Judge Vance took a prominent part in the debates which arose on certain questions, and on one in particular he took ground against _ his Democratic: friends in convention. His conduct was severely denounced by them, and among his constituents at home an indignation meeting was held asking him to resign. He immediately yielded to the stern request, came home, and upon the ordering of a new election, went before the people again, and was returned to the con- - vention by an overwhelming majority. He served as president, pro tem., of this body, several times.

From this time until within a few days of his death he practiced law in Hamilton, having, within the last few years, again served for two terms as prosecuting - attorney for Butler County, and holding, at the time of his death, the office of city solicitor. He was frequently a director of the Hamilton Board of Common Schools, and was for a number of years.a trustee of the Miami University.

He died full of honors and labors, after exhibitiae the rare example of a long public life without a single stain - of dishonor upon it, and of an unobtrusive, peaceful, useful, and virtuous private life, on the 11th of January, A. D. 1871, aged seventy years, eleven months, and eleven days.

He was married in June, 1844, to Emily A. Morris, who was born in Bethel, Clermont County, in 1815. By this marriage he had two daughters. His father was a Revolutionary soldier, and his brother was in the Mexican war.

The lawyers resident in Hamilton, in 1842, were Woods & Rigdon, Bebb & Reynolds, Corwin & Thomas, Vance & Millikin, Weller & Ryan, Oliver S. Witherby, Ezekiel Walker, and Thomas H. Wilkins. Major John M. Millikin and Lewis D. Campbell had retired, and of this list only Thomas Millikin, the senior of the bar, remains in practice. Reynolds and Witherby are still living, the one in Chicago and the other in San Francisco.

Bebb was a strong and effective jury lawyer. He was a really eloquent man, and it was his speaking capacities that made him governor of the State. He never took a case in which he did not soon feel in warm sympathy, and his appeals to the jury were very touching. He could weep at any time. Apart from his merits as a jury adyocate he was not strong, although safe. In his set addresses he had a redundancy of ornament, more so than in his extemporaneous speaking. He was a large, goodlooking man, of pleasant and sympathetic address, and

The leading politician of the county, on the Democratic side, was John B. Weller. Nature had gifted him with an easy declamatory eloquence, and his standing at the bar was largely owing to this. He took more interest in politics than in law, but maintained a respectable rank in the latter. He was attractive in appearance.

Alfred C. Thomas was a commissioner of bankruptcy about 1840. He was the brother of the Rev. Thomas E. Thomas, but had not the same skill as a speaker. With the pen, however, he was strong. He was a fine Greek and Latin scholar, being professor of those languages at College Hill, and is now assistant solicitor of the treasury.

John P. Reynolds, now in Illinois, was the commissioner of Illinois to the Paris Exhibition. He is a well known writer for the press, and has been secretary of the Illinois Board of Agriculture, and the editor of an important agricultural newspaper in that State. He is now the secretary of the Chicago Exposition.

Ezekiel Walker, now of Cincinnati, was very odd in appearance. He was employed in a very celebrated case, that of Jones against Mizener, in which he was attorney for the plaintiff. The suit was about a division fence, and was carried on for years, until it became as well known as any cause ever in progress in this county. The verdict was twelve and a half cents. Walker subsequently sued Jones for his fees, but the latter swore - Walker took the case for half what might be collected, and that he had tendered him the full amount agreed upon. He would even give him the whole. This suit occasioned a great deal of mirth for many years. Mr. Walker may be distinguished in Cincinnati now by always carrying an umbrella.

Jesse Corwin was another of the old members of the bar. He was a brother of Governor Thomas Corwin, the most eloquent advocate who ever pleaded at the bar in the Hamilton courts. They were the sons of Matthias Corwin, a pioneer of Warren County, who represented his county in the Legislature for ten consecutive terms from 1804. Jesse Corwin was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, January 30, 1797; removed with his father to Lebanon, Ohio, and in 1822 took up his abode in Hamilton. He was an assiduous student of the law, and early made himself familiar with its principles and the rules which underlie its practice. Soon after coming to this place he was married to Miss Jane McMechan, by whom he had eight children, James, Matthias, Clarence, Eleanor, Thomas, Warren, Henry Clay, Erin Augusta, and Jennie. Three only are now living, Henry C. Corwin, at Salina, Kansas; Mrs. Erin Corwin Miller, wife of Dr. W. ©. Miller, and Miss Jennie, at the old homestead in Hamilton. The three sons living at the breaking out of the rebellion, Thomas, Warren, and Henry C., all enlisted under the national banner at the first call for troops by President Lincoln. He has two grand children, Thomas Corwin, son of Henry C. and Lillie M. Corwin, and William Corwin Miller, son of Dr. and Mrs. Erin ©. Miller.

large share of practice, and in addition received the favor of the people. He was elected to the Legislature of Ohio for the years 1851 and 1852, and was prosecuting attorney for the county from 1825 to 1835, serving in this office with zeal and acceptability. In 1837 he was the Whig candidate for Congress in this, then the Second, District. Though unsuccessful (his party being in the minority), his popularity was so well shown by the great gains he made that he was strongly induced to accept the subsequent nomination, but declined. He was a man of good solid judgment and with generous impulses and frank disposition, of a character upright and honest, an affectionate husband, an indulgent father, and an estimable citizen. He remained in practice all his life, and at the time of his death was the oldest member of the Butler County bar. He died on the 23d of October, 1867.

Among those who frequented the courts here from other places were Thomas Corwin, Charles Anderson, Judge Caldwell, and Charles Fox. Corwin was, for many years, the leading advocate of this section, and his sullies of wit and passages of pathos are yet related by the older residents of the city. He was as well known here as he was at home. He always complained that his abilities as a wit blinded the people as to the real merits of his character.