Lockland Village

Lockland Village

The village of Springfield township next in importance to Glendale is Lockland. It is a much older town, having been laid out May 27, 1829, by Messrs. Nicholas Longworth and Lewis Howell. It took its name from the locks here, built in the Miami canal, which was then a quite new thing. Two houses were here at the time. It grew with reasonable rapidity, and has become a ])rosperous business place. It had one thousand two hundred and thirty-one population in i860; one thousand two hundred and ninety-nine in 1870; and one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six in 1880. Part of this, however, resides in Sycamore township, into which the village extends. Two hundred and twenty acres of it are in Springfield township, sixty-five in Sycamore. It is situated on the township line just west of Reading and northeast of Carthage and Hartwell, about a mile and one-third north of the Columbia and Mill Creek township line. It was incorporated December 20, 1865. Among its mayors were Andrew Thomas, 1869; Charles S. Dunn, 1870-4. The Lockland Building and Savings association was formed here in June, 187 1. A Methodist class was organized near the place so long ago as 1799, by the Rev. Francis McCormick, at the house of a Mr. Ramsey. The churches now are : The Presbyterian, Rev. S. C. Palmer, pastor; Baptist, J. W. Davis, pastor; the Wayne Avenue Methodist Episcopal, Rev. Mr. Vance; Mt. Zion Baptist (colored), Rev. S. P. Young; African Methodist, Rev. M. M. Smithy and the Christian, also a colored congregation. In the Wayne Avenue church is still used, with almost entire satisfaction, the venerable organ which was the first ever played in Cincinnati.

July 2, 1876, an historical discourse was preached by the Rev. W. A. Hutchison, then pastor of the Presbyterian church in Lockland, from which the following facts are obtained:

The Presbyterian church in Reading, organized August 29, 1823, divided January 2, 1839, into New and Old School branches. The Rev. Benjamin Graves, who had

Benjamin Urmston

Benjamin Urmston, fourth son of David and Mary (Enyard) Urmston, of Ligonier valley, New Jersey, is of English stock. They immigrated to Ohio about l8oi, coming first to Cincinnati, then pushing northward to a tract in Butler county, three miles north of Sycamore township, where both lived and died. Their children numbered ten, among whom was the subject of this sketch, born December 20, 1800, in Pennsylvania, and was a babe in arms when brought by his parents down the Ohio river on a raft. His early life was spent on the farm with his father until his marriage, and for some years afterwards, when he removed to a small place given him by his father upon the paternal estate. Here he remained several years, and about 1838 removed to Springfield township, where he has since resided as a farmer. He occupied his present place in 1853. It is about a quarter of a mile south of Mount Pleasant, on the old Hamilton pike, and the residence is that in which Robert Gary, father of Alice and Phoebe Gary, spent his last years. The old Gary residence is near, and a part of the former Gary farm is now the property of Mr. Urmston. Some of his children attended the district school kept by Phcebe Gary in this very neighborhood over thirty years ago. Here he is spending a tranquil and generally healthful old age.

Rebecca Kennedy, wife of Benjamin Urmston, is daughter of Samuel Kennedy, son of Thomas Kennedy, who ran the well known "Kennedy's Ferry" from Gincinnati to the Kentucky shore, and owned the cornfield upon which Govington, in part, now stands. Her mother's maiden name was Jane Richardson, of a Pennsylvania family, whose father came from England at the age of eighteen. Rebecca was born three miles above Hamilton, October 26, 1 801, where her father owned a large farm, which is still kept in the family, and is reckoned one of the finest places in Butler county. About 1822, upon the death of her grandfather, she removed with her parents to the ancestral residence in Govington, in the old Kennedy stone mansion. Here she was married to Mr. Urmston, October 16, 1828, and returned with him to the home of the elder Urmston, in Butler county. She has since shared his fortunes, his joys and sorrows, and all of life's experiences, through the long and . happy union of almost fifty-three years. Their children have been: Kennedy Urmston, born December 30, 1829, died at the age of nearly three years; Robert, born August lO, 1 830, married Sarah Bevis, June 10, 1862, a prosperous farmer, residing near his father, has two sons and one daughter living; Mary Jane, born May 26, 1834, died March 27, 1858; Benjamin, born December 27, 1837, lives at home with his father, and manages the business of the farm ; Edmond born June 25, 1840, married Margaret Butterfield October 12, 1869, resides on a farm opposite the old home in Butler county, has two sons and two daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Urmston have been members of the Old School Baptist church for more than forty years. The former has voted the Democratic' ' ticket steadily for sixty years, and still goes regularly to the polls.

been called and ordained pastor of the original society in 1827, continued to preach to the New School people, and after a few years began to answer a call for Presbyterian preaching in "the neighboring and little village of Lockland," then a hamlet clustered closely about the locks. He says, in a letter to his old congregation, read upon the Centennial occasion above mentioned:

I preached the first semion ever preached in Lockland, in a log cabin standing near by what is now the first lock in the canal. In progress of time the Presbytery, at the request of the people, organized the Presbyterian cliurch of Lockland. Prior to the organization there was no house of worship, and I preached, as did Paul, "from house to house," and in Brother Long's dooryard in the summer and in his workshop in the winter.

April 6, 1850, was the natal day of the Lockland New School Presbyterian church. It numbered twenty-one members. Mr. Graves preached to it until 1853, and then, in order, came the Rev. Messrs. I. De La Mater, Edward Scofield, John Hussey, Silas Hawley, W. A. Hutchison, and S. C. Palmer, the last of whom is present pastor. Under Mr. Hawley's ministrations, in February and March of 1866, a notable revival season occurred which brought thirty-eight into the church.

After the formation of the Lockland society, the New School branch in Reading languished, and in a few years ceased to exist, its members tninsterring their allegiance mainly to the Colony church. To this, many years after, October 14, 1870, in the year succeeding the formal reunion of the Old and New School assemblies of Pittsburgh, the Reading Old School wing also came over and joined the Lockland society, which now took the name of the Reading and Lockland Presbyterian church. The Reading pastor. Rev. James H. Gill, came with his congregation, and ministered to theUnited church for three months, when ill-health compelled him to retire; while the Lockland pastor at the time, the Rev. Mr. Hawley, was dismissed the same day, with sixty-one of the members, to form the Presbyterian church of Wyoming. Many interesting facts concerning the antecedent church in Reading will be found under the proper head in the history of Sycamore township, following this chapter.

From the organization of the church in Reading in 1834 to the centennial observance by the Reading and Lockland Church July 2, 1876, the number of members received on profession was seven hundred and twentyfour; on certificate, three hundred and sixty-eight; total, one thousand and ninety-two. During the five years of Mr. Hutchison's pastorate preceding the latter date, the additions aggregated one hundred and twenty, or an average of twenty-four per year.

Reading is exceedingly fortunate in its industries, for which the four locks furnish an ample water-power, in an average fall of twelve feet each, yielding an equivalent of three hundred and fifty horse-power, or enough to move thirty-five run of stone. There are four papermills here, one of them alone employing about one hundred and fifty hands, with a pay roll of over forty thousand dollars a year and a product in printing paper and fine, plain and tinted book paper, in one recent year, of one million one hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds, worth one hundred'and ten thousand dollars. There are also two woollen mills, a huge cotton-mill recently erected, two starch factories, two flouriiig-mills, one box-factory and planing-mill, one baking-powder factory, and some wagon factories. Factory owners and operatives are thus a very large element in the population of Lockland.

A neat eight-page paper called the Suburban Resident is published here, for Lockland, Reading, Wyoming and Carthage, by Mr. George W. Smith. It is an edition of the Cincinnati Tra7isC7-ipt, printed at Cumminsville by A. E. Weatherby, and bore the same name from the time of its founding, September 13, 1S79, by George K. Booth, the Lockland postmaster, to October i, 1880, when Mr. Smith took it and changed the name. It is a racy and interesting sheet, and serves a good purpose in the collection and dissemination of news in these suburban villages.

Source changes here: from 1789 History of Hamilton County Ohio with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, by Henry A. Ford and Kate B. Ford, published 1881; 1,385 words in this source stream.

Lockland Village

The village of Springfield township next in importance to Glendale is Lockland. It is a much older town, haying been laid out May 27, 1829, by Messrs, Nicholas Longworth and Lewis Howell. It took its name from the locks here, built in the Miami canal, which was then a quite new thing. Two houses were here at the time. It grew with reasonable rapidity, and has become a prosperous business place. It had one thousand two hundred and thirty-one population in 1860; one thousand two-hundred and ninety-nine in 1870; and one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six in 1880. Part of this, however, resides in Sycamore township, into which the village extends. Two hundred and twenty acres of it are in Springfield township, sixty-five in Sycamore. It is situated on the township line just west of Reading and northeast of Carthage and Hartwell, about a mile and one-third north of the Columbia and Mill Creek township line. It was incorporated December 20, 1865. Among its mayors were Andrew Thomas, 1869; Charles S. Dunn, 1870-4. The Lockland Building and Savings association was formed here in June, 1871. A Methodist class was organized near the place so long ago as 1799, by the Rev. Francis McCormick, at the house ofa Mr. Ramsey. The churches now are: The Presbyterian, Rev. S. C. Palmer, pastor; Baptist, J. W. Davis, pastor; the Wayne Avenue Methodist Episcopal, Rev. Mr. Vance; Mt. Zion Baptist (colored), Rev. S. P. Young; African Methodist, Rev. M. M. Smith; and the Christian, also a colored congregation. In the Wayne Avenue church is still used, with almost entire satisfaction, the venerable organ which was the first ever played in Cincinnati.

July 2, 1876, an historical discourse was preached by the Rev. W. A. Hutchison, then pastor of the Presbyterian church in Lockland, from which the following facts are obtained:

The Presbyterian church in Reading, organized August 29, 1823, divided January 2, 1839, into New and Old School branches. The Rey. Benjamin Graves, who had

Benjamin Urmston

Benjamin Urmston, fourth son of David and Mary (Enyard) Urmston,of Ligonier valley, New Jersey, is of English stock. They immigrated to Ohio about 1801, coming first to Cincinnati, then pushing northward to a tract in Butler county, three miles north of Sycamore township, where both lived and died. Their children numbered ten, among whom

1800, in Pennsylvania, and was a babe in arms when brought by his parents down the Ohio river onaraft. His early life was spent on the farm with his father until his marriage, and for some years afterwards, when he removed to a small place

Here he remained several years, and about 1838 removed to Springfield township, where he has since resided as a farmer. He occupied his present place in 1853. It is about a quarter of a mile daughter of Samuel Kennedy, son of Thomas Kennedy, who ran the well known "Kennedy's Ferry" from Cincinnati to the Kentucky shore, and owned the cornfield upon which Covington, in part, now

Mrs. Benjamin Urmston

About 1822, upon the death of her grandfather, she removed with her parents to the ancestral residence in Covington, in the old Kennedy stone mansion. Here she was married to Mr. Urmston, October 16, 1828, and returned with him to the home of the elder Urmston, in Butler county. She has since shared his fortunes, his joys and sorrows, and all of life's experiences, through the long and happy union of almost fifty-three years. Their children have been: Kennedy Urmston, born December 30, 1829, died at the age of nearly three years; Robert, born August 10, 1830, married Sarah Bevis, June 10, 1862, a prosperous farmer, residing near his father, has two sons and one daughter living; Mary Jane, born May 26, 1834, died March 27, 1858; Benjamin, born December 27, 1837, lives at home with his father, and manages the business of the farm; Edmond born June 25, 1840, married Margaret Butterfield October 12, 1869, resides on a farm opposite the old home

Mr. and Mrs. Urmston have been members of the Old School Baptist church for more than forty years. The former has voted the Democratic ticket steadily for sixty years, and still goes regularly to the polls.

been called and ordained pastor of the original society in 1827, continued to preach to the New School people, and after a few years began to answer a call for Presbyterian preaching in "the neighboring and little village of Lockland," then a hamlet clustered closely about the locks. He says, in a letter to his old congregation, read upon the Centennial occasion above mentioned:

I preached the first sermon ever preached in Lockland, in a log cabin standing near by what is now the first lock in the canal. In progress of time the Presbytery, at the request of the people, organized the Presbyterian church of Lockland. Prior to the organization there was no house of worship, and I preached, as did Paul, ''from house to house," and in Brother Long's dooryard in the summer and in his workshop in the winter.

April 6, 1850, was the natal day of the Lockland New School Presbyterian church. It numbered twenty-one members. Mr. Graves preached to it until 1853, and then, in order, came the Rev. Messrs. I. De La Mater, Edward Scofield, John Hussey, Silas Hawley, W. A. Hutchison, and S. C. Palmer, the last of whom is present pastor. Under Mr. Hawley's ministrations, in February and March of 1866, a notable revival season occurred which brought thirty-eight into the church.

After the formation of the Lockland society, the New School branch in Reading languished, and in a few years ceased to exist, its members transferring their allegiance mainly to the Colony church. To this, many years after, October 14, 1870, in the year succeeding the formal reunion of the Old and New School assemblies of Pittsburgh, the Reading Old School wing also came over and joined the Lockland society, which now took the name of the Reading and Lockland Presbyterian church. The Reading pastor, Rev. James H. Gill, came with his congregation,and ministered to the United church for three months, when ill-health compelled him to retire; while the Lockland pastor at the time, the Rev. Mr. Hawley, was dis- * missed the same day, with sixty-one of the members, to form the Presbyterian church of Wyoming. Many interesting facts concerning the antecedent church in Reading will be found under the proper head in the history of Sycamore township, following this chapter.

From the organization of the church in Reading in 1834 to the centennial observance by the Reading and Lockland Church July 2, 1876, the number of members received on profession was seven hundred and twentyfour; on certificate, three hundred and sixty-eight; total, one thousand and ninety-two. During the five years of Mr. Hutchison's pastorate preceding the latter date, the additions aggregated one hundred and twenty, or an average of twenty-four per year.

Reading is exceedingly fortunate in its industries, for which the four locks furnish an ample water-power, in an average fall of twelve feet each, yielding an equivalent of three hundred and fifty horse-power, or enough to move thirty-five run of stone. There are four papermills here, one of them alone employing about one hundred aud fifty hands, with a pay roll of over forty thousand dollars a year and a product in printing paper and fine, plain and tinted book paper, in one recent year, of one million one hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds, worth one hundred and ten thousand dollars. There are also two woollen mills, a huge cotton-mill recently erected, two starch factories, two flouring-mills, one box-factory and planing-mill, one baking-powder factory, and some wagon factories. Factory owners and operatives are thus a very large element in the population of Lockland.

A neat eight-page paper called the Suburban Resident is published here, for Lockland, Reading, Wyoming and Carthage. by Mr. George W. Smith. Itis an edition of the Cincinnati Transcript, printed at Cumminsville by A. E. Weatherby, and bore the same name from the time of its founding, September 13, 1879, by George K. Booth, the Lockland postmaster, to October 1, 1880, when Mr. Smith took it and changed the name. It is a racy and interesting sheet, and serves a good purpose in the collection and dissemination of news in these suburban villages.