Newtown Village (part 1 of 2)

Newtown Village

This is the oldest town in the western part of the county, and by far the oldest in Anderson township. A cluster of settlers, as we have seen from Mr. Gatch's narrative, was here as early as 1798; and no great while after that, we may presume safely, the place was almost, if not quite, as populous as in 1830, when it contained one hundred and sixty-one people. It was laid off on

General Massie's survey, No. 2,276, in the north part of the township, and on the border of the Little Miami bottoms at the foot of the hills, in 1801, by General James Taylor, and was by him at first called Mercersburgh, in honor of General Mercer, of Revolutionary fame. The most easterly part of the present site was first built up, and bore the name of Mercersburgh ; but afterwards the whole of the site was occupied under the designation of Newtown.

The first hewed log house in Anderson township was built near Newtown on the premises now occupied by Mr. E. J. Turpin, by Isaac and David Jones, immigrants from Hampshire county, Virginia.

A stone building was erected at Newtown in 18 13 for the use of the Methodist Episcopal church. When a new meeting-house was put up on the same site in 1861, the stones used for this basement were taken from the old building. Rev. John Strange was the first circuitrider to serve the Methodist charge here. The Revs. Philip and James Gatch, and other pioneers of Methodism in the Miami valley, also often preached here. "Mother Jones" is remembered as the first Methodist woman in or near the place.

The fine school-house now occupied, was erected in i860, and received an addition in 1880, It contains five school-rooms, three of which are occupied. The principal of the school is Mr. J. C. Heywood, who has held his place with much acceptance for several years.

The first school-house in the place stood at no great distance from this one. One of the earliest teachers here was EU Davis, a native of Salem, New Jersey, who removed to Hamilton county from Lexington, Kentucky, and taught school for several years with marked success, as he was thorough in discipline and scholarship. He won equal popularity as a justice of the peace, in which capacity he served for several years. In 1808 he married Ruth Long, and after a further residence of four years at Newtown, he removed to Union township, Clermont county, where his remaining years were spent.

At one of the early fourth of July celebrations in Newtown, Colonel Clayton Webb was the reader of the Declaration of Independence, and Mr. William de Courcy, of Clough creek, was orator of the day.

Mount Washington

The advantages of this locality, as a suburban residence for business men of Cincinnati, were early apparent. It occupies one of the highest tracts of land in the county, and at some points commands views stretching along the river valleys five miles in each direction. The highland reaches westward almost to the banks of the Little Miami. King's Pocket-book of Cincinnati says of this place:

It is noted for its beautiful rolling private grounds, perfect drainage, and consequent good liealtli; also for its fine avenue of evergreens and deciduous trees, with probably the finest collection of magnolias in the

The original village of Mount Washington was laid off in 1838 by James C. Ludlow; but large additions have since been made to it. The municipality was incorporated November 14, 1867, and it has since had a full village organization, with mayor, common council, board of health, etc. Captain Benneville Kline was mayor for several years, in the earlier day of its corporate existence.

About 1840 the post office of Mount Washington was established, that at Salem, or "Mears," a mile distant, upon which the inhabitants had chiefly depended for their mails, being vacated in favor of the new one. S. J. Sutton, the merchant of the place, was the first posttnaster, and his clerk and deputy, Mr. W. B. Dunham, then filled the post for twenty- five years, from 1852 to 1876, when he was succeeded by the present incumbent, Mr. John Roell.

Mr. Dunham was also one of the early school-teachers in this region, having taught in a country school-house upon the site of the present public school building, as long ago as 1836. While postmaster he did also a general merchandizing business, and is still living, retired from business, at his old home in Mount Washington. One of his sons, Mr. J. H. Dunham, perpetuates in a manner his services to education, by printing the Public School Journal, an educational monthly magazine edited in Cincinnati by Professor Wilson, of the public schools, and published by Messrs. Henley & Chadwick, of that city. Mr. Dunham's printing-office and the Mount Washington Canning company, a large establishment previously mentioned in these notes, now furnish the chief industries of the place.

The present school-house, upon a site occupied for fifty years for purposes of education, was erected under the auspices of the Odd Fellows' organization to some extent. The schools occupy four rooms under the charge of Mr. A. W. Williamson, principal.

A Methodist Protestant church was erected here in 1861, a small, plain, frame building, and was used more or less continuously, by this and the Baptist denoinination, until about 1872, when it was abandoned. A Catholic congregation here, together with one each at Newtown, California, and Columbia, is served by the Rev. Father B. Engbers. The Methodist Episcopal church here is ministered to, at this writing, by the Rev. John H. Story.

This church began its life in 1866 as a mission of the Columbia Baptist church, under the direction of its pastor. Rev. B. F. Harmon. Its meetings were held at first on Sunday afternoons in the Protestant Methodist church, which was hired for the purpose. The mission grew steadily in interest and numbers until 1869, when it was constituted into a separate church, and was recognized by a large council composed of the pastors and representatives of the city churches and others in the vicinity. Great interest and unanimity marked the sessions of the council. The church immediately called to its pastorate the Rev. B. F. Harmon, who has remained with it continuously to the present time. The same year was distinguished by the dedication of a new church building. It is a two-story brick edifice, and is accounted a model of taste and beauty. The church property is valued at ten thousand dollars, is free from debt, and an ornament to the beautiful village in

One of the most notable citizens of Mount Washington, in the present generation, was Dr. Leonard W. Bishop, a native of Cheviot, in Green township, but who removed to this locaHty in 1849, to practice medicine. It was a terrible cholera year, and he soon found abundant opportunity for professional activity. He was a thoroughly public-spirited man, and one of his projects was that of a fine academy in the place. During the war he was secretary of the Anderson township relief society, of which Captain Kline was president, and aided to keep the township clear of all drafts and to disburse large sums for the assistance of soldiers' families. After the battle of Pittsburgh Landing a large meeting of citizens of the township was held at Mount AVashington, to consider the best means of sending relief to the two companies from the township that were in that hard-fought action. Dr. Bishop was unanimously deputed to go to the front with suitable supplies for the Anderson men, and to bring back their dead, sick and wounded. At Cincinnati he fell in with Dr. Comegys, of that city, who was about to leave for Pittsburgh Landing in an official capacity, and was by him appointed a surgeon on his staff, which gave him superior facilities of movement within the lines of the army. He found the Anderson companies, and promptly relieved their wants. Within two weeks he had fulfilled his mission, and returned with his precious charge of disabled and dead heroes. At another large meeting held after his return, he received a unanimotis vote of thanks on behalf of the people of Anderson township, which was all the compensation he asked or received for his services. He was thereafter often summoned to Cincinnati to assist the army surgeons in the work of the hospitals. After the war he removed to Mount Carmel, in Clermont county, where we believe he now resides.

The Rev. Francis McCormick, formerly a neighbor of Rev. Philip Gatch, on the East fork of the Miami, and, Hke him, one of the pioneer preachers of Methodism in the Northwest Territory, spent his last days near Mount Washington, whither he removed in 1806. He was an old Revolutionary soldier, who had served under Lafayette at Yorktown. At his cabin beyond the East fork, in 1797, it is said the first Methodist class organized in Ohio was formed.

The people of Mount Washington formerly reached the city principally by omnibus to the Little Miami railroad at Plainville, and thence by rail; but since 1878 they have been more conveniently served by the Cincinnati & Portsmouth narrow-gauge railroad, which has a station half a mile below the village. The place had three hundred and ninety-three inhabitants in the year 1880.

California

This place, sometimes erroneously called Caledonia in old documents, was laid out in 1849, by Joseph Guthrie, John W. Brown, and Thomas J. Murdock, in the southwest part of the township, upon the Ohio river, . about a mile below the mouth of the Little Miami, and upon Bennett Tompkins' survey number three hundred and sixty-five, one of the first, as^has been noted, to be settled in the township. The place is about eight miles from Fountain Square, in the city of Cincinnati, which furnishes it with a goodly share of its residents, and also the opportunity for some manufacturing to' advantage. The first business of importance here was the Molders' Union foundry, which was established on the co-operative plan while the town was still new, by a number of striking stove-molders from Cincinnati. Mr. James C. C. Hollenshade, a prominent citizen connected with the business, had warmly espoused their cause, and was employed to conduct their enterprise at California. They organized a regular corporation, of which he was made president and business agent. He opened the stockbooks for the molders, subscriptions of stock to be paid in work, and Mr. Hollenshade relying upon his own credit to secure the means for building the foundry, procuring the necessary machinery and stock, and running it until money was in the treasury of the company for his repayment. This he successfully accomplished, and ran the establishment to satisfaction the first year, paying the full bill of prices as stipulated to all the workmen. He then resigned to go into the wrought-iron and hardware business in Cincinnati; and the enterprise in due time went the way of nearly all similar undertakings. The prospects of the place since, however, have at times looked up quite bravely; and in 187 1 (May i) the California Building and Savings Association, No. i, filed its certificate of incorporation in the secretary of State's office at Columbus, for operations at this point. The Richmond turnpike passes this place, as also the projected line of the Ohio River & Virginia railway, and the Cincinnati & Portsmouth narrow-gauge has a station but a mile distant. St. Jerome's church (Catholic), supplied, as before noted, by the Rev. Father Engbers, is located here. The tenth census allows the village three hundred and seventy-six people.

Other Post Offices

The post offices of the township, not already indicated, are Ced^r Point, Fruit Hill, Cherry Grove. Pleasant Valley, and Sweet Wine. The first-named of these is of very recent establishment, and has Mr. R. A. Shannon for postmaster. It was formerly Taylor's Corners at the junction of the road from Mount Washington to the Ohio turnpike, and takes its present name from the fine cedar trees at the point of junction. These were planted by Mr. Taylor, an Englishinan who settled there about 1845, and put up a large frame building for a grocery store and residence. This locality became celebrated far and wide, especially for its beautiful garden and grounds, and was long maintained by its proprietor, who finally sold it and removed to the west. Sweet Wine takes its unique name from one of the chief products of the colony of Germans in the southeast of the township, who are mainly its patrons.

Population

against four thousand and seventy-seven ten years before. A comparative statement of the number of its inhabitants, during the several years in which the federal census has been taken, will be found, as in the case of other townships of Hamilton county, at the close of chapter X, in the first part of this work.

The Turpin Family

Three brothers came from Yorkshire, England, probably in the seventeenth century, and settled in Chesterfield county, Virginia. One of them was Philip, father of Thomas Turpin, who married Obedience, daughter of Martha (Goode), a branch of the famous Goode famil}', in the Old Dominion. He was father of Thomas, jr., who was wedded to Mary Jefferson, a lady reported to have been of the blood of the great Monticello statesman. They were parents of a family of ten children, among whom were two Philips. The first died young ; the second survived to manhood, married Caroline Rose, became a physician in and near Richmond, Virginia, and the "Dr. Turpin" whose name is identified with the early settlement of Anderson township. He never was a proprietor here, and never visited the Miami country; but was assignee of an extensive "army right," or land-warrant (No. 1007) granted to John Crittenden, a lieutenant "in the Virginia Line on. Continental Establishment," - that is, in the Revolutionary war^n consideration of military services. The following, the original of which is in the possession of E. J. Turpin, esq., is the primal document in the case:

I hereby acknowledge having sold unto Doctor Phillips Turpen my military right, consisting of two thousand six hundred sixty-six and two-third acres, meaning the warrant, the expenses of which he is to defray, and which I hereby oblige myself, my heirs, exers and adminitrs. to make a right so soon as such right can be made.

Among the children of Dr. Turpin was Philip Turpin, his only son, he having two daughters besides. To him, at about the time he attained his majority, the father presented, by assignment, the right to one thousand acres in the Virginia military district, under the Crittenden warrant. Young Philip made several trips on horseback, near the close of the century, to and from the Miami valley, sometimes visiting Lieutenant Crittenden at Lexington (this was the father of John J. Crittenden, the celebrated lawyer and statesman); and finally, it is believed in the year 1797, he set his pioneer stakes down upon the rich tract below Newtown subsequently patented to him, and began improvement on it. After a few years he removed to the Kentucky shore for a more healthful location, and resided on the hills opposite the mouth of the Little Miami. In 1799, October 9, his patent to the Survey No. 416, upon which he had located, for one thousand acres, was granted and signed by John Adams, President of the United States and Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State. Mr. Turpin was married in 1807, to Miss Mary Smith, of a family that had just immigrated to Kentucky from New York. His father was a slave-holder at the old home, and shortly after his marriage sent out to him a young colored girl named

Gracie, as a house-servant. This woman, now Mrs. Watkins, is still living in the family of E. J. Turpin, and is supposed to be eighty-eight to ninety years old. She was at the time of her arrival the only colored person in the neighborhood, and was naturally a great curiosity.

Mr. Turpin spent five to six years upon the Kentucky hills, where his first children, Philip and Ebenezer, were born, and he then removed to his Anderson farm. In 1824 he erected the well known Turpin mill, a large flouring establishment, upon the site of the old mill of the Holleys at that point, about a quarter of a mile below the present Union bridge, probably at the same place where the floating mill of Wickerham was anchored in the pioneer days. He conducted this mill, as well as farming operations. In the mill he was in partnership for the first five years with his brother-in-law, Aaron Foulk, who was a practical millwright and miller, and had superintended the construction and starting of the mill. Mr. Turpin also, about 1826 or 1827, built a small distillery on Clough creek, one mile from the mill, which he carried on for three or four years, and then left it to the management of his sons. He remained in the milling business, however, until the time of his death, in 1834. He built the original family mansion at Union bridge, of which the present mansion, occupied by the younger Phihp Turpin, is an enlargement. The mother died in August, 185 1. They left children as follows:

Ebenezer Smith, born May 30, 1808; married Amanda Melvina, daughter of Major John Armstrong, of Plainville, January 19, 1831; died September 15, 1879.

Caroline Matilda Rozenia, born May 13, 1810; overturned with several others in a skiff crossing the Little Miami at Round Bottom ford, July 3, 1822, and drowned. Edward Johnson, born at the old home in Anderson township May 6, 18 14; further noticed below.

Robert Carmichael, born September 3, 1820; married Frances Mary Stewart September 23, 1846; died of consumption, while travelling in the south for his health, on board the steamship Galveston, near the Balize, December 22, 1847.

Edward J. Turpin, born at the time and place above noticed, spent his early years at home, receiving his education in the schools of that neighborhood, except during a few months' attendance, shortly after his father's death, at Woodward college, Cincinnati, when the Rev. Dr. B. P. Ayzelott was president and Dr. Joseph Ray was professor of mathematics. Returning to the farm, he engaged in its labors, and after his father's death leased the interest of his brothers in the mill and managed it for three or four years, also conducting the distillery for some time before he took the mill, but relinquishing it before his connection with the mill ceased. In the spring of 1844 he left the mill altogether and bought the fine place he now occupies half a mile south of Newtown, upon which he erected the spacious mansion in which he dwells, somewhat remodelled of later years. Here he has lived the tranquil life of a successful and independent farmer, unvexed by public affairs or party squabbles. He has, however, been a staunch Republican since the party sprang into being, and was a Free Soiler from the time of the Van Buren campaign, and takes a cordial interest in the success of his party when elections are pending. He is unconnected with any religious, secret, or benevolent society, except the Newtown Grange of Patrons of Husbandry.

Mr. Turpin was married May 29, 1839, to Miss Christina, daughter of Mathias Kugler, of the pioneer family that settled early in the century near Camp Denison, and of Elizabeth (Waldsmith) Kugler, daughter of the famous miller and land-owner of that settlement. She is still living. They have had eight children, all of whom survive save one.

Hon. Ebenezer S. Turpin was identified with the growth of Hamilton county for more than half a century. He was born, as noted above. May 30, 1808, and died at his home in Anderson township, half a mile north of Newtown, September 15, 1879. I" his early life he attended Wing's academy in Cincinnati, upon the presentsite of the Gazette office, and in due time was associated with his father and his brother Edward in the mill below Union Bridge, the two brothers continuing in the business together after the decease of the elder Turpin. This was abandoned, however, in 1868, when the mill was demolished, the back-water from the Ohio having destroyed the power. He had previously carried on for a number of years a distillery near Newtown, and engaged in other business, most of which was successful and realized him a handsome fortune. He settled on a valuable farm in the vicinity adjoining that of his brother Edward, upon which he erected a handsome dwelling, and resided there at the time of his death. In 1855, at the earnest personal solicitation of Judge Long and the Hon. William Corry, he became a candidate for the legislature on the Democratic ticket, and was elected, serving for one term. He made a faithful and successful member, but steadfastly refused to enter public life thereafter. He was a Democrat, however, to the end of his days. The Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, in an obituary notice of Mr. Turpin, said:

His personal character was in the highest degree honorable, He was a kind husband and father, a good neighbor and faithful citizen. His benevolence was only equaled by his honesty and probity in business matters, and many young men received their start in life from him. He had a kind word for everybody, was unostentatious in his manners, and a kind master and friend.

About two years ago Mr. Turpin received a stroke of paralysis, which made him an invahd ever since. The cause of his death, however, was a pulmonary affection.

The children of Ebenezer S. and Amanda (Armstrong) Turpin numbered eleven, three sons and eight daughters. Among them, still surviving, are Estus K., the subject of a notice below; Philip T., who resides at the old homestead, near the Union Bridge; Margaret, now wife of Hon. James S. Gordon, of the Washington Republic (formerly of the Post), and a prominent journalist of the capital; Leila, the oldest daughter, who married Dr. W. P. Elston, a physician of Columbia, Hamilton county,- both now dead; Lizzie, married Major William E. Jones, of Cincinnati, and deceased three weeks after marriage; Theresa, wife of E. E. Hulderson, esq., formerly prosecuting attorney, and himself now deceased, and Luella, wife of Charles B. Russell, treasurer of the Cincinnati gas company.

Estus K. Turpin was born in the paternal residence, which he now owns and occupies, July 18, 1840. He was trained in the public schools of Cincinnati and in the private academy kept by Professor Andrew J. Rickoff Returning to the farm at the age of twenty-one, he undertook the management of it, in consequence of his father's failing health, and has remained a farmer upon this place ever since, as manager or owner. In April, 1875, he was elected a member of the county board 01 control upon the Democratic ticket, and re-elected three years afterwards, running several hundred votes ahead of his ticket, which was at that time generally in the minority. Although a public officer, he does not take any more time for politics than is the business of a good citizen, and is by no means a professional office-seeker. He is still; unmarried, devoting himself so far to the care of his aged mother and the management of his estate.

William Edwards, Sr

WILLIAM EDWARDS, SR. The Edwards family is of \\^elsh ancestry. Samuel Edwards^ was the first to emig'rate from the old world home, not far from the middle of the last century. He was somewhat of a roving disposition, and made his way alone to America, where he settled in New Jersey, probably as a farmer, as his son, Isaac, the father of the subject of this sketch, was after him. His other son, John, went to New York city and engaged in business there until the fatal period of the prevalence of yellow fever, which swept him and his entire family into the grave. These were the only children except one daughter, Elizabeth, who became Mrs. Seth Ray, of Milford, Clermont county, Ohio. Their mother was Mrs. Rose, of New Jersey, who had Mr. Edwards for her second husband. He died in New Jersey, and his wife long after, at the pioneer home in Anderson township, about 1810, aged more than eighty years. She was then residing with her son Isaac, who had come from New Jersey to the Miami country in 1805, landing -first in Cincinnati, but going without unnecessary delay to a tract he had purchased upon and near the present site of Newberry, Clermont county. He found the land unsuited to his purposes and only stayed upon it two years, removing then to the southward upon the farm now occupied by his son Edward, adjoining the homestead of William Edwards. Here the remainder of his life was spent in the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, during twenty years, or until his death in 1827, being then sixty years of age. At the same place died his mother and four of his children. He had been married at the old home near Middleton, Monmouth county, New Jersey, to Miss Hannah Martin, about 1801, before the removal to the Miami valley. They had twelve children - William, Mary (Mrs. Timothy Day), John, Rebecca, EUzabeth, Samuel, Edward, Joseph, Redford, Job, Lydia Ann (Mrs. Nicholas Edwards), George Washington, and one that died in infancy unnamed. Of this large family, William, Rebecca (Mrs. Martin Hahn, widow, residing near Galesburgh, Illinois), Elizabeth (Mrs. Timothy Day, of Iowa), Samuel, Edward and Redford J. are still living.

William Edwards, the oldest son, was born in New Jersey May 10, 1802. He was brought with the family to the west, and received some education in the subscription schools of that time, but says he pretty regularly forgot, at the end of every term, all he had learned during its session, and began anew with the next school. His childhood and youth were spent at the paternal homes in Clermont county and in Anderson township, until his marriage, December 11, 1823, to Miss Nancy Day, daughter of Timothy and Sarah (Crane) Day, who had come to this region about the year 1800. One of her brothers, Timothy Day, jr., married her husband's sister Mary, and upon her death married EUzabeth, another sister, as above noted. After his marriage, Mr. Edwards removed from the paternal ropf to a double log cabin standing near the homestead, but upon another farm,' for which his father had traded. This he occupied until it became much out of repair, when he put up a frame dwelling upon its site, which was in its turn superseded by the present spacious and comfortable brick mansion, erected in the year of the Harrison campaign, of which Mr. Edwards has an interesting relic in the shape of a Whig banner, with the portrait of the hero of Tippecanoe and appropriate inscriptions. The farm upon which the residence stands had long before become the property of Mr. Edwards, to which he has since made large additions by purchase. Here he has since continually resided, engaging himself almost exclusively in the labors of the farm. Sometimes he has purchased for sale, in addition to his own crops, the products of his neighbors, in some instances to large amounts. He has wasted none of his energies in public office, except as he has served the township in some of its minor posts. He has often been solicited to becorrie a candidate for the legislature, but has invariably declined. He is faithful in his voting, however, having voted successively for fifteen candidates for the Presidency, and always upon the Democratic ticket, to which he has given a life-long allegiance. He has never allied himself with any religious or secret societies, and is independent in all his thinking and his actions. Although close upon the border of four-score years, he has remarkable vigor of mind and body, and preserves his faculties almost unimpaired. His venerable wife also still survives in apparently good health, but their long union has proved childless. They have raised, however, several nephews and nieces and other children. A number of their relatives reside near them, their dwellings and other houses making a handsome cluster of buildings at the station, on the Cincinnati & Eastern Narrow Guage railway, which is called from him "Edwards."

WILLIAM R. McGILL. Joseph McGill, grandfather of the subject of this notice, came from Scotland to America in 1790, and settled at a pointonSeneca lake, in the State__ofJiew_York, where his third son, James McGjjl, was born February 16, 1805, one of a famllyof six sons and one daughter. The whole family removed to the west in the spring of 1811, and made their home in Cincinnati. It was the year of the earthquake and the first steamboat down the Ohio valley- - a notable period in the history of this region. They remained in the city four years, until 18 15, when they changed their residence to Newtown. In June of that year the mother died, and the bereaved father, sorrowing deeply for the loved and lost, followed her in about two months, leaving a family of seven orphans. They were left in destitute circumstances, and the children were separated, James, then in his eleventh year, going to live with Mr. Jacob Denham, a cooper, at Perfin's Mills, or Perrintown, Clermont county. He learned the trade with Mr. Denham, and remained in his employ untilhe was eighteen years old, when he went to live with Mr. Moses Crist, who was also a cooper, at Montgomery, in this county. He worked for him two years, and removed to Sharonville, in Sycamore township, where he went-into partnership in a small store, with a Scotchman named Galbreath, This was in the spring of 1825. James was now twenty years old and had saved two hundred dollars, which constituted his sole investment in the store. Every winter, for seven consecutive years, he also loaded a flat-boat at Cincinnati with pork, flour, lard, the whiskey which was then an indispensable part of the cargo, and other articles, which he started for New Orleans, and sold at a good profit there and along the coast. Among his best customers was General Wade Hampton, father of the present governor of South Carolina, who (the elder Hampton) then had a plantation on the Mississippi. Mr. McGill walked the long distance from New Orleans to his home several times, but afterwards returned by steamer. He encountered many serious dangers during these trips, both by land and on the river; but escaped all unharmed. He kept his business at Sharonville, which continued to enlarge and prosper, and, with his ventures in trading down the rivers, enabled him rapidly to accumulate means. In the fall of 1831 he sold his interest in the Sharonville store to his partner, and loaded a boat for his eighth venture, and was ready to start, but accidentally met in Cincinnati John H. Gerard, then a merchant at Newtown, with whom he effected a trade of the boat and its cargo for the stock of Mr. Gerard. In December he took charge of the Newtown business, and the next February, the season of the great flood in the Ohio, which reached even to the streets of the village, he removed his family thither. In 1834 he sold his store back to Mr. Gerard, and bought the farm occupied by him the rest of his days, in the immediate vicinity of Newtown, on the east of the village, along the Batavia pike. In 1836 he was elected justice of the peace, and served four years. He also took an active interest in the building of the Batavia turnpike, and was a director and treasurer of the company for some years. He rather shunned than sought public life. He was sometimes pressed to become a candidate for the State legislature, but would not 'consent to run. He was a cordial friend of popular education, and served for many years upon the local school board, aiding to build the first public school-house in the village. In every respect he was public-spirited, assisting with his means in the erection of the churches there, as also of the bridge across the Little Miami at Plainville, and in other enterprises calculated to benefit the community. He died August 17, i860. He was married November 20, 1828, to Miss Asenath Ryan, of Sharonville, by whom he had eight children - Viola (died in early life), William Ryan (named from his maternal grandfather), Joseph, Mary, John, Priscilla, Maria, Emily (Mrs. Lewis D. Drake, residing at the old homestead near her brother's store in Newtown). None are now living except William, Mary, and Emily.

William Ryan McGill was born at Sharonville, April 8, 1 83 1, the first son of James and Asenath C. (Ryan) McGill. His primary education was received at Newtown, but he subsequently graduated from a three-years' course at College Hill, in the Farmers' college, his preparation enabling him to enter to advanced standing as a sophomore. He went at once into business in Newtown, in a small way at first, as a merchant, buying the old stock of John W. Crossley. Mr. Crossley at once bought a new and handsome stock and opened another store just across the way, which for a time greatly injured the business of Mr. McGill. By the third year, however, the trade of the latter had greatly improved and finally the store of Mr. Crossley became so unprofitable that he sold out and went to California, where he died. Mr. McGill has since remained steadily in the mercantile business, enlarging it year after year, until it has been long considered the leading establishment in Newtown, and commands custorners far and wide in Hamilton and Clermont counties. Beginning in September, 185 1, in a single small room now occupied by his stock of groceries, he has now six rooms filled with the general stock of a country store, including drugs, school-books, and the like, besides the usual stocks of dry-goods and grocery stores. He has found time, however, to serve the public as township treasurer, for seven consecutive years, and was the leading spirit in the inception and prosecution of the important enterprise of building the Cincinnati and Eastern railroad. This was undertaken in 1876, purely as a local enterprise along its proposed route, and Mr. McGill devoted himself largely for months to the awakening of an interest in the project and the solicitation of subscriptions to its stock and the right of way, and then to the prosecution of the work, as well as making himself a liberal subscription and loaning large amounts to the company. He was one of the original directors of the corporation and its vice-president, under the presidency of Mr. Samuel Woodward, and he and H. Wilber - both of Morrow, Warren county - were the projectors of this work. Upon Mr. Woodward's retirement, to accept the position of general superintendent of the Cincinnati Southern, in 1879, ^^- McGill was promoted to the presidency of the Eastern, which he now holds. He found his road in the hands of a receiver, with a floating debt larger than could be managed; but within twenty months he secured the payment of all obligations of this character and also of a larger sum in overdue interest on bonds, and so rescuing it from the hands of the receiver, he taking the road again fully in charge on the first of March, 1881. With this good work he is solely credited by those who know the internal. history of the corporation owning the road. He travelled far and near to find the creditors of the company and effect settlements with them; and through infinite trouble and difficulty succeeded in obtaining personal interviews with all creditors and making satisfactory settlements. As a result the bonds of the road are now at par, and its operations are oh a working basis, hopeful and prosperous beyond all expectations. It is believed it will speedily become, under Mr. McGill's presidency, one of the most profitable railway properties in Ohio, and of very great value to Cincinnati, to which the early completion of the Cincinnati Northern, with which it intersects, will soon give it direct entrance.

Notwithstanding his engrossment in public and private cares, Mr. McGill has taken a very lively interest in the religious and secular training of the rising generation. For twenty-one consecutive years - since April, i860 - he has been superintendent 'of the Sunday-school connected with the Universalist church in Newtown; and for the past fifteen years has been a member of the school board of the village, aiding in the material enlargement of the school-house and in making Newtown an independent district by act of the legislature. In all enterprises for local benefit he is among the first and foremost, and seems to have no higher ambition than to leave his part of the world the better for his having lived in it. He has been a life-long Democrat, but is not an active politician, much less an office-seeker.

Mr. McGill was married December 3, 1861 (the bride's eighteenth birthday), in Norwood, Columbia township, to Miss Delia L. Drake, only daughter of Thomas T. and Lydia A. (Mill) Drake, who are now residing with their daughter and her husband in Newtown. Mr. and Mrs. McGill have two children living - Alice, born September i, 1864, and Louie D., born July 10, 1877. The former is a student at the Ohio Wesleyan college in Cincinnati. Their eldest born, a son, died unnamed in infancy.

Abram Ebersole

ABRAM EBERSOLE. Jacob Ebersole came from Germany to America some time in the eighteenth century, and settled in Washington county, Maryland, not far from Hagerstown. After his immigration he married a Miss Smith, two of whose brothers - Nicholas and Michael Smith - were among the Kentucky pioneers of Boone and Kenton's days. One settled in Bourbon county, and the other in an adoining region. Some descendants of this family, cousins of Abram Ebersole, afterwards lived at Stone Side, up the Little Miami valley. Jacob and Mary Ebersole had four daughters and two sons, among whom was Christian Ebersole, the oldest son and the oldest of the family. He stayed at home until his marriage, about 1798, when he was united to Miss Annie Shouff, of the same neighborhood. He then determined to try his fortunes further towards the setting sun, among his and his wife's relatives in Kentucky, and emigrated, in 1799, to Bourbon county. His father and mother followed soon after to the same part of the county, and died there. His parents spent their last days in Maryland with the rest of the family, none of whom migrated to the west except Christian. After improving a place and farming for three years in the wilds of Kentucky, he decided to remove to the north of Ohio; and on the second day of March, 1802, he halted his emigrant wagon at the site which has so long been the home of himself and his descendants. This is upon the survey No. 395, or the "Tompkins survej'," a large tract which now includes the village of California and many pieces of farming land. Here, immediately adjoining the present plat of the village, to the west of it, and with an extensive frontage upon the Ohio and Little Miami rivers, he purchased from General Lytle a fertile tract of four hundred and fifty-six-hundredths acres, which is still held undivided by the family. It was unimproved, except for a cabin at the ferry at the mouth of the Little Miami and another not far off. He at once built a cabin also on the eligible and beautiful site where the family mansion now stands, which was then in dense woods, and began clearing and cultivating his farm ; also keeping the ferry before mentioned across the Little Miami, which he and his son Abram maintained by skiffs, canoes and flat-boats until about 1850, when the New Richmond turnpike was built, and its bridge superseded the necessity for a ferry. He died at his home here June, 1836, and his wife November 3, 1827. Their children numbered nine, as follows: Christian S., now living at Madison, in this county, in his eighty-second year; Catharine (Mrs. Robert Fee, of Moscow, Clermont county), deceased in 1878; Abram, the principal subject of this sketch; Jacob, a farmer near New Richmond, Clermont county; Mary, born September 16, 1803, and still residing at the old home with her sister-in-law, Mrs. Abram Ebersole; Martha Ann, Maria and Elizabeth, who died unmarried, while still young ladies; and John, who died at the age of nineteen, in 1832.

Abram Ebersole was born at the old home, September 18, 1808, the same year in which the house was built. It is now somewhat enlarged and improved, one of the oldest brick dwellings in the county, and is still thoroughly habitable, comfortable, and sightly. He was educated in the country schools of his neighborhood, in a high school kept by a Frenchman named Decorney, at Alexander, Kentucky, ten miles from the Ebersole place, and at Miami university, where he attended for two years, but was prevented by ill health from graduating. At the age of about nineteen he left the schools and returned home, where he shared the labors of the farm with his father and brothers. On the thirteenth of May, 1856, he was married to Miss Celina M. Johnson, second daughter of John and Sarah (Cox) Johnson, who resided near Salem, in Anderson township. Her father was of an old pioneer family, which came to the Miami valley about 1808, headed by her grandfather, Walter Johnson, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1781. Her maternal grandparents, Thomas and Margaret (Mercer) Cox, were born in Maryland, but removed upon their marriage to Virginia, where her mother, Sarah Cox, was born, and thence they emigrated to Anderson township in 1807.

Mr. Ebersole's father had now been dead for many years, and Abram had come into possession of the home farm by inheritance. He continued to reside there, and by industry and energy maintained it well, reaping the average share of prosperity which fell to the farmers of this part of the Miami and Ohio valleys. He took a lively interest in the construction of the New Richmond turnpike, of which he was, at various times, president and treasurer, and in all other local affairs that promised, in a material or moral way, to benefit the community. He was an active advocate of the temperance reform, and made his daily life and example correspond in every respect to his principles of total abstinence. As noted below, the only secret organization he ever joined has for its object the promotion of temperance. He took a practical interest in the Union Sabbath-school at California, which he regularly attended, although not a member of any church. He was at first a Whig and then a Republican, at times devoting considerable time and attention to the promotion of party interests in the township and county; but asked nothing himself, although he was several times made trustee of the township, and for many years was a member of the local school board. He connected himself with none of the secret societies, except with one of the reformatory orders, known as the Sons of Temperance. He was content with the quiet, independent life of a farmer, not engaging in trade or speculation, nor using his education as a writer or public speaker. He was a kind and genial man in his family, and in all his relations in life; sustained to the end a high reputation for morality and integrity among his fellow-men; and left the legacy of a good example to his posterity and to the community. He died at his home in Anderson township, near California, March 9, 1868, the result of an accident, he falling, four days before his death, from the loft of his barn to the floor, fracturing his skull so that he was not afterwards conscious to the moment of his death. He was in his sixtieth year. His remains were buried in the cemetery at Mount Washington, where a monument commemorates his memory. His widow continues to reside at the old homestead. His children are as follows:

Stanley, born September 24, i860: Milton, born August 8, 1866. All are at home with their mother. With them also resides their aunt, Miss Mary Ebersole, at a venerable age, who has erected a noble monument for herself in the fine large school-house adjoining the farm, to the erection of which she contributed a very liberal sum, and thereby secured the building at that time and place.

The Armstrong Family

The ancestral home of this well-known, old Anderson family was near Fredericksburgh, Maryland, vvhenceTfiey moved to Buckingham county, Virginia. The head of the family was now Nathaniel .Shepherd Armstrong, who had nine children - William, John, Elizabeth, Thomas, Leonard, James, Nathaniel, Priscilla, and Alie. ' With , most of them, the others coming soon after, he removed to the Miami country in 1800, settling at once upon the west side of the Little Miami, upon section thirty-three, ill the present Columbia township, a little above the foot of the Indian Hill road, where the original grist-mill stands, and is still in useful service, having passed out of the family only within a few years. Mr. Armstrong had been a miller in the old States, and he soon began the erection of this mill, in the building and management of which he was assisted by his sons, two of whom, John and William, afterwards removed to Plainville, where they bought another grist-mill of a man named Peasley, who had built it shortly before. With the possible e.xception of Turpin's mill, Mr. Armstrong's was the first mill in the Little Miami valley. In a few years the elder Armstrong purchased a tract of three to four hundred acres on Indian Hill, and removed thither to improve it for a farm, while James and Nathaniel, two of his sons, remained to conduct the old or "upper mill." Part of the Indian Hill property is still held by a grandson, Thomas M. Armstrong, the principal subject of this sketch. On this farm the pioneer Armstrong breathed his last, after a very long and active career, about 1845, in his ninety-second year.

Thomas was the fourthchild and third son of Nathaniel S. ^jTOStEOng-, born in Virginia or Maryland about the outbreak of the Revolutionary war, November 23, 1775.'^ He was apprenticed to a millwright in Virginia, with whom he learned the trade, and shortly after the removal of the family to Ohio, the period of his apprenticeship being ended, he also went out and assisted his father in building and running the mill before mentioned. In 1805 he and his brother Leonard removed to the opposite side of the Little Miami, and built a third mill there, which came to be known as the "Armstrong middle mills," in distinction from the "upper mill" and the "lower mill." This is still standing and in use, but not by the family since 1863, when Thomas M. Armstrong, its owner, sold it. It is just below the Newtown bridge, and about half a mile from the upper mill. It was run exclusively as a flouring-mill for five or six years, when the water-power was also utilized in running machinery for a carding- and fulling-mill. In those primitive days the raw wool was first brought to the mill by the grower and carded, then taken home and spun into thread or yarn, then taken to a weaver and made into cloth, and finally returned to the mill where it was fulled and dressed, losing about one-third in length by the last processes. About 1830-5, in the lifetime of Thomas Armstrong, additional machinery was put in, which enabled the manufacturers to take the wool through all the processes necessary to turn out the cloth complete for manufacture into clothing. In 1835 Thomas bought out his brother and conducted the business alone until about 1850, when he retired from its management with a comfortable property. He made a division of his estate at the time he retired, by virtue of which the mill fell to his sons who conducted it. Edwin Armstrong, the third son and the oldest surviving, being the manager of the concern. He was a graduate of the Indiana State university, and also of the Cincinnati Law school; was an active pohtician of the Democratic faith, which was the belief of his father and brothers; was twice a member of the State senate and twice of the house of representatives, and of the convention that formed the State constitution of 1852; and was otherwise a prominent citizen. John Armstrong, his brother, studied medicine, but had practiced only a short time when he sickened and died. The father died July 21, 1864, in his eightyjiinth year, in the house now occupied by his son, Thomas Milton Armstrong.

About the year 1806 Mr. Axmstrong was married to Miss Sarah Broadwell, of an old Anderson family, born November 17, 1781, who survived until March 28, i860, when she departed this life in her seventy-ninth year, in the same dwelling where her venerable husband died more than five years afterwards. They had seven children, to wit: Perine, Eliza, Sidney, John Broadwell, Edwin Lindley, Thomas Milton and Eliob. Only two, the youngest sons, are still living - the latter in Cincinnati and the former upon the paternal estate near the "middle mills," on the turnpike between Newtown village and Newtown station, on the Little Miami railroad.

Thomas M. Armstrong was born in a pioneer logcabin near his father's mills. May 4, 181 7. His early education was received in the "subscription " and afterwards in the free schools of his neighborhood. He picked up a good deal of information about the business in the mills, but never became a practical miller. He remained, as did all surviving sons, with his father, assisting in the labors of the mills and the farm also owned by the father, until about 1850, when the division of property occurred, and the home farm fell to Thomas, who still resides upon it. He had been a farmer for a number of years when, upon the death of his brother Edwin, principal manager of the mills, he bought the interests of the heirs in that concern and conducted it successfully for about ten years, or until 1863, the year before that in which his father died, at the same time continuing his farm operations, to which he has since devoted his attention. In 1876 he remodelled and greatly enlarged the old homestead, which his father had erected as a frame dwelling in 1820, to which a brick addition.

larger than the original building, was early made, and finally the additions and reconstruction made by the son, which have converted it into the spacious and handsome mansion it now is. Mr. Armstrong is a man of independent political views, voting for the most part with the Democracy; but is by no means a professional politician or office-seeker, and has filled no public office except that of school director, which he held sixteen or seventeen years, when he declined the reelection that was again offered him. He never belonged to a society of any kind except the Patrons of Husbandry, the Newtown grange of which is still maintained. His grandparents were members of the Methodist church, but all their sons accepted the Universalist creed. Mr. T. M. Armstrong, of the third generation, has never been united with any church. Through all his active life, now verging towards three-score and ten, he has enjoyed excellent health of mind and body, and still attends to his domestic and agricultural affairs with the old-time mental and physical vigor.

Mr. Armstrong was married January 24, 1850, to Julia A. Debolt, daughter of Henry Debolt, a farmer living near Newtown. By this marriage he had two children - Thomas H. and Dora. He lost his wife by death in December, 1857, and was again married in September, 1 86 1, to Miss Sarah J. Thompson, also of Newtown, by whom he has two children - Eugene M. and Ivy. All the children are living except Thomas, who died after he had grown to manhood.

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; 17,715 words in this source stream.

Newtown Village

This is the oldest town in the western part of the county, and by far the oldest in Anderson township. A cluster of settlers, as we have seen from Mr. Gatch's narrative, was here as early as 1798; and no great while after that, we may presume safely, the place was almost, if not quite, as populous as in 1830, when it contained one hundred and sixty-one people. It was laid off on

General Massie's survey, No. 2,276, in the north part of the township, and on the border of the Little Miami bo'toms at the foot of the hills, in 1801, by General James Taylor, and was by him at first called Mercersburgh, in honor of General Mercer, of Revolutionary fame. The most easterly part of the present site was first built up, and bore the name of Mercersburgh; afterwards the whole of the site was occupied under the designation of Newtown.

The first hewed log house in Anderson township was built near Newtown on the premises now occupied by. Mr. E. J. Turpin, by Isaac and David Jones, immigrants from Hampshire county, Virginia.

A stone building was erected at Newtown in 1813 for the use of the Methodist Episcopal church. When a new meeting-house was put up on the same site in 1861, the stones used for this basement were taken from the old building. Rev. John Strange was the first circuitrider to serve the Methodist charge here. The Revs. Philip and James Gatch, and other pioneers of Methodism in the Miami valley, also often preached here. 'Mother Jones" is remembered as the first Methodist woman in or near the place.

The fine school-house now occupied, was erected in 1860, and received an addition in 1880. It contains five school-rooms, three of which are occupied. 'The principal of the school is Mr. J. C. Heywood, who has held his place with much acceptance for several years.

The first school-house in the place stood at no great distance from this one. One of the earliest teachers here was Eli Davis, a native of Salem, New Jersey, who removed to Hamilton county from Lexington, Kentucky, and taught school for several years with marked success, as he was thorough in discipline and scholarship. He won equal popularity as a justice of the peace, in which capacity he served for several years. In 1808 he married Ruth Long, and after a further residence of four years at Newtown, he removed to Union township, Clermont county, where his remaining years were spent.

town, Colonel Clayton Webb was the reader of the Declaration of Independence, and Mr. William de Courcy, of Clough creek, was orator of the day.

Mount Washington

The advantages of this locality, as a suburban residence for business men of Cincinnati, were early apparent. It occupies one of the highest tracts of land in the county, and at some points commands views stretching along the river valleys five miles in each direction. The highland reaches westward almost to the banks of the Little Miami. King's Pocket-book of Cincinnati says of this place:

It is noted for its beautiful rolling private grounds, perfect drainage, and consequent good health; also'for its fine avenue of evergreens and deciduous trees, with probably the finest collection of magnolias in the

The original village of Mount Washington was laid off ' in 1838 by James C. Ludlow; but large additions have since been made to it. The municipality was incorporated November 14, 1867, and it has since had a full village organization, with mayor, common council, board of health, etc. Captain Benneville Kline was mayor for several years, in the earlier day of its corporate existence.

About 1840 the post office of Mount Washington was established, that at Salem, or "Mears," a mile distant, upon which the inhabitants had chiefly depended for their mails, being vacated in favor of the New one. S. J. Sutton, the merchant of the place, was the first postmaster, and his clerk and deputy, Mr. W. B. Dunham, then filled the post for twenty-five years, from 1852 to 1876, when he was succeeded by the present incumbent, Mr. John Roell.

Mr. Dunham was also one of the early school-teachers in this region, having taught in a country school-house upon the site of the present public school building, as long ago as 1836. While postmaster he did also a general merchandizing business, and is still living, retired from business, at his old home in Mount Washington. One of his sons, Mr. J. H. Dunham, perpetuates in a manner his services to education, by printing the Public School Journal, an educational monthly magazine edited in Cincinnati by Professor Wilson, of the public schools, and published by Messrs. Henley & Chadwick, of that city. Mr. Dunham's printing-office and the Mount Washington Canning company, a large establishment previously mentioned in these notes, now furnish the chief industries of the place.

The present school-house, upon a site occupied for fifty years for purposes of education, was erected under the auspices of the Odd Fellows' organization to some extent. The schools occupy four rooms under the charge of Mr. A. W. Williamson, principai.

A Methodist Protestant church was erected here in 1861, asmall, plain, frame building, and was used more or less continuously, by this and the Baptist denomination, until about 1872, when it was abandoned. A Catholic congregation here, together with one each at Newtown, California, and Columbia, is served by the Rev. Father B. Engbers. The Methodist Episcopal church, here is ministered to, at this writing, by the Rev. John H. Story.

This church began its life in 1866 as a mission of the Columbia Baptist church, under the direction of its pastor, Rev. B. F. Harmon. Its meetings were held at first on Sunday afternoons in the Protestant Methodist church, which was hired for the purpose. The mission grew steadily in interest and numbers until 1869, when it was constituted into a separate church, and was recognized by a large council composed of the pastors and representatives of the city churches and others in the vicinity. Great interest and unanimity marked the sessions of the council. The church immediately called to its pastorate the Rev. B. F. Harmon, who has remained with it continuously to the present time. The same year was distinguished by the dedication of a new church building. It is a two-story brick edifice, and is accounted a model of which it is located. Several extensive revivals have occurred in the history of the church, and its growth has been steady and healthful. One of the most notable citizens of Mount Washington, in the present generation, was Dr. Leonard W. Bishop, a native of Cheviot, in Green township, but who removed to this locality in 1849, to practice medicine. It was a terrible cholera year, and he soon found abundant opportunity for professional activity. He was a thoroughly public-spirited man, and one of his projects was that of a fine academy in the place. During the war he was secretary of the Anderson township relief society, of which Captain Kline was president,.and aided to keep the township clear of all drafts and to disburse large sums for the assistance of soldiers' families. After the battle of Pittsburgh Landing a large meeting of citizens of the township was held at Mount:Washingtan, to consider the best means of sending relief to the two companies from the township that were in that hard-fought action. Dr. Bishop was unanimously deputed to go to the front with suitable supplies for the Anderson men, and to bring back their dead, sick and wounded. At who was about to leave for Pittsburgh Landing in an official capacity, and was by him appointed a surgeon on his staff, which gave him superior facilities of movement within the lines of the army. He found the Anderson companies, and promptly relieved their wants. Within two weeks he had fulfilled his mission, and returned with his precious charge of disabled and dead heroes. At another large meeting held after his return, he received a unanimous vote of thanks on behalf of the people of Anderson township, which was all the compensation he asked or received for his services. He was thereafter

The Rey. Francis McCormick, formerly a neighbor of Rev. Philip Gatch, on the East fork of the Miami, and, like him, one of the pioneer preachers of Methodism in the Northwest Territory, spent his last days near Mount Washington, whither he removed in 1806. He was an - old Revolutionary soldier, who had served under Lafayette at Yorktown. At his cabin beyond the Kast fork, in 1797, it is said the first Methodist class organized in Ohio was formed.

The people of Mount Washington formerly reached the city principally by omnibus to the Little Miami railroad at Plainville, and thence by rail; but since 1878 they have been more conveniently served by the Cincinnati & Portsmouth narrow-gauge railroad, which has a station half a mile below the village. The place had three hundred and ninety-three inhabitants in the year 1880.

California

This place, sometimes erroneously called Caledonia in old documents, was laid out in 1849, by Joseph Guthrie, John W. Brown, and Thomas J. Murdock, in the southwest part of the township, upon the Ohio river, about a mile below the mouth of the Little Miami, and upon Bennett Tompkins' survey number three hundred and sixty-five, one of the first, as has been noted, to be settled in the township. The place is about eight miles from Fountain Square, in the city of Cincinnati, which furnishes it with a goodly share of its residents, and also the opportunity for some manufacturing to advantage. The first business of importance here was the Molders' Union foundry, which was established on the co-operative plan while the town was stili new, by a number of striking stove-molders from Cincinnati. Mr. James C. C. Hollenshade, a prominent citizen connected with the business, had warmly espoused their cause, and was em-- ployed to conduct their enterprise at California. They organized a regular corporation, of which he was made president and business agent. He opened the stockbooks for the molders, subscriptions of stock to be paid in work, and Mr. Hollenshade relying upon his own credit to secure the means for building the foundry, procuring the necessary machinery and stock, and running it until money was in the treasury of the company for his repayment. This he successfully accomplished, and ran the establishment to satisfaction the first year, paying the full bill of prices as stipulated to all the workmen. He then resigned to go into the wrought-iron and hardware business in Cincinnati; and the enterprise in due time went the way of nearly all similar undertakings. The prospects of the place since, however, have at times looked up quite bravely; and in 1871 (May 1) the California Building and Savings Association, No. 1, filed its certificate of incorporation in the secretary of State's office at Columbus, for operations at this point. The Richmond turnpike passes this place, as also the projected line of the Ohio River & Virginia railway, and the Cincinnati & Portsmouth narrow-gauge has a station but a mile distant. St. Jerome's churcl (Catholic), supplied, as before noted, by the Rev. Father Engbers, is located here. The tenth census allows the village three hundred and seventy-six people.

Other Post Offices

The post offices of the township, not already indicated, are Cedar Point, Fruit Hill, Cherry Grove, Pleasant Valley, and Sweet Wine. The first-named. of these is of very recent establishment, and has Mr. R. A. Shannon for postmaster. It was formerly Taylor's Corners at the junction of the road from Mount Washington to the Ohio turnpike, and takes its present name from the fine cedar trees at the point of junction. These were planted by Mr. Taylor, an Englishman who settled there about 1845, and put up a large frame building for a grocery store and residence. This locality became celebrated far and wide, especially for its beautiful garden and grounds, and was long maintained by its proprietor, who finally sold it and removed to the west. Sweet Wine takes its unique name from one of the chief products of the colony of Germans in the southeast of the township, who are mainly its patrons.

Population

against four thousand and seventy-seven ten years before. | has been taken, will be found, as in the case of other A comparative statement of the number of its inhabit- | townships of Hamilton county, at the close of chapter ants, during the several years in which the federal census | X, in the first part of this work.

Biographical Sketches The Turpin Family

Three brothers came from Yorkshire, England, probably in the seventeenth century, and settled in Chesterfield county, Virginia. One of them was Philip, father of 'Thomas Turpin, who married Obedience, daughter of Martha (Goode), a branch of the famous Goode family, in the Old Dominion. He was father of Thomas, jr., who was wedded to Mary Jefferson, a lady reported to have been of the blood of the great Monticello statesman. They were parents of a family of ten children, among whom were two Philips. The first died young; the second survived to manhood, married Caroline Rose, became a physician in and near Richmond, Virginia, and the "Dr. Turpin" whose name is identified with the early settlement of Anderson township. He never was a proprietor here, and never visited the Miami country; but was assignee of an extensive "army right," or land-warrant (No. 1007) granted to John Crittenden, a lieutenant "in the Virginia Line on Continental Establishment,' - that is, in the Revolutionary war - in consideration of military services. The following, the original of which is in the possession of E. J. Turpin, esq., is the primal document

I hereby acknowledge having sold unto Doctor Phillips Turpen my military right, consisting of two thousand six hundred sixty-six and two-third acres, meaning the warrant, the expenses of which he is to defray, and which I hereby oblige myself, my heirs, exers and adminitrs. to make a right so soon as such right can be made.

Francis Harris

Among the children of Dr. Turpin was Philip Turpin, his only son, he having two daughters besides. To him, at about the time he attained his majority, the father presented, by assignment, the right to one thousand acres in the Virginia military district, under the Crittenden warrant. Young Philip made several trips on horseback, near the close of the century, to and from the Miami valley, sometimes visiting Lieutenant Crittenden at 'Lexington (this was the father of John J. Crittenden, the celebrated lawyer and statesman); and finally, it is believed in the year 1797, he set his pioneer stakes down upon the rich tract below Newtown subsequently patented to him, and began improvement on it. After a few years he removed to the Kentucky shore for a more healthful location, and resided on the hills opposite the mouth of the Little Miami. In 1799, October 9, his patent to the Survey No. 416, upon which he had located, for one thousand acres, was granted and signed by John Adams, President of the United States and Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State. Mr. Turpin was married in 1807, to Miss Mary Smith, of a family that had just immigrated to Kentucky from New York. His father was a slave-holder at the old home, and shortly after his marriage sent out to him a young colored girl named was at the time of her arrival the only colored person in the neighborhood, and was naturally a great curiosity. Mr. Turpin spent five to six years upon the Kentucky hills, where his first children, Philip and |Ebenezer, were born, and he then removed to his Anderson farm. In 1824 he erected the well known Turpin mill, a large flouring establishment, upon the site of the old mill of the Holleys at that point, about a quarter of a mile below the present Union bridge, probably at the same place where the floating mill of Wickerham was anchored in the pioneer days. He conducted this mill, as well as farming operations. In the mill he was in partnership for the first five years with his brother-in-law, Aaron Foulk, who was a practical millwright and miller, and had superintended the construction and starting of the mill. Mr. Turpin also, about 1826 or 1827, built a small distillery on Clough creek, one mile from the mill, which he carried on for three or four years, and then left it to the management of his sons. He remained in the milling business, however, until the time of his death, in 1834. He built the original family mansion at Union younger Philip Turpin, is an enlargement. The mother died in August, 1851. They left children as follows: Philip Parmell, born November 18, 1804; died June 24, 1818, ; Ebenezer Smith, born May 30, 1808; married Amanda Melvina, daughter of Major John Armstrong, of Plain-

'Caroline Matilda Rozenia, born May 13, 1810; overturned with several others in a skiff crossing the Little Miami at Round Bottom ford, July 3, 1822, and drowned.

Robert Carmichael, born September 3, 1820; married Frances Mary Stewart September 23, 1846; died of consumption, while travelling in the south for his health, on board the steamship Galveston, near the Balize, December 22, 1847.

Edward J. Turpin, born at the time and place above noticed, spent his early years at home, receiving his education in the schools of that neighborhood, except during a few months' attendance, shortly after his father's death, at Woodward college, Cincinnati, when the Rev. Dr. B, P. Ayzelott was president and Dr. Joseph Ray was professor of mathematics.. Returning to the farm, he engaged in its labors, and after his father's death leased the interest of his brothers in the mill and managed it for three or four years, also conducting the distillery for some time before he took the mill, but relinquishing it before his connection with the mill ceased. In the spring of 1844 he left the mill altogether and bought the fine place he now occupies half a mile south of Newtown, upon which he erected the spacious mansion in which he dwells, somewhat remodelled of later years. Here he has lived the tranquil life of a successful and independent farmer, unvexed by public affairs or party squabbles. He has, however, been a staunch Republican since the party sprang into being, and was a Free Soiler from the time of the Van Buren campaign, and takes a cordial interest in the success of his party when elections are pending. He is unconnected with any religious, secret, or benevolent society, except the Newtown Grange of Patrons of Husbandry.

Mr. Turpin was married May 29, 1839, to Miss Christina, daughter of Mathias Kugler, of the pioneer family that settled early in the céhtury near Camp Denison, and of Elizabeth (Waldsmith) Kugler, daughter of the famous miller and land-owner of that settlement. She is still living. They have had eight children, all of whom survive save one.

Hon. Ebenezer S. Turpin was identified with the growth of Hamilton county for more than half a century. He was born, as noted above, May 30, 1808, and died. at his home in Anderson township, half a mile north of Newtown, September 15, 1879. In his early life he -attended Wing's academy in Cincinnati, upon -the -preseht site of the Gazetle office, and in due time was associated with his father and his brother Edward -in the mill below Union Bridge, the two brothers continu' ing in the business together after the decease of the elder Turpin. This was abandoned, however, in 1868, when the mill was demolished, the back-water from the Ohio having destroyed the power. He had previously carried on for a number of years a distillery near Newtown, and engaged in other business, most of which was successful and realized him a handsome fortune. He settled on a valuable farm in the vicinity adjoining that of his brother Edward, upon which he erected a handsome dwelling, and resided there at the time of his death. In 1855, at the earnest personal solicitatiun of candidate for the legislature on the Democratic ticket, and was elected, serving for one term. He made a faithful and successful member, but steadfastly refused to enter public life thereafter. He was a Democrat, however, to the end of his days. The Cincinnati Da/y En- "quirer, in an obituary notice of Mr. Turpin, said:

His personal character was in the highest degree honorable, He was a kind husband and father, a good neighbor and faithful citizen. His benevolence was only equaled by his honesty and probity in business matters, and many young men received their start in life from him.

About two years ago Mr. Turpin received a stroke of paralysis, which made him an invalid ever since. The cause of his death, however, was a pulmonary affection.

The children of Ebenezer S. and Amanda (Armstrohg) Turpin numbered eleven, three sons and eight daughters. Among them, still surviving, are Estus K., the subject of a notice below; Philip T., who resides at the old homestead, near the Union Bridge; Margaret, now wife of Hon. James S. Gordon, of the Washington Republic (formerly of the Pos?), and a prominent journalist of the capital; Lella, the oldest daughter, who married Dr. W. P. Elston, a physician of Columbia, Hamilton county, both now dead; Lizzie, married Major William E. Jones, of Cincinnati, and deceased three weeks after marriage; Theresa, wife of E. E. Hulderson, esq., formerly prosecuting attorney, and himself now deceased, and Luella, wife of Charles B. Russell, treasurer of the Cincinnati gas company.

Estus K. Turpin was born in the paternal residence, which he now owns and occupies, July 18, 1840. He was trained in the public schools of Cincinnati and in the private academy kept by Professor Andrew J. Rickoff. Returning to the farm at the age of twenty-one, he undertook the management of it, in consequence of his this place ever since, as manager or owner. In April, 1875, he was elected a member of the county board or control upon the Democratic ticket, and re-elected three years afterwards, running several hundred votes ahead of his ticket, which was at that time generally in the minority. Although a public officer, he does not take any:

William Edwards, Sr

The Edwards family is of Welsh ancestry. Samuel Edwards was the first to emigrate from the old world home, not far from the middle 'of the last century. He was somewhat of a roving disposition, and made his way alone to America, where he settled in New Jersey, probably as a farmer, as his son, Isaac, the father of the subject of this sketch, was after him. His other son, John, went to New York city and engaged in business there until the fatal period of the prevalence of yellow fever, which swept him and his entire family into the grave. These were the only children except one daughter, Elizabeth, who became Mrs. Seth Ray, of Milford, Clermont county, Ohio. Their mother was Mrs. Rose, of New Jersey, who had Mr. Edwards for her second husband. He died in New Jersey, and his wife long after, at the pioneer home in Anderson township, about 1810, aged more than eighty years. She was then residing with her son Isaac, who had come from New Jersey to the Miami country in 1805, landing first in Cincinnati, but going without unnecessary delay to a tract he had purchased upon and near the present site of Newberry, Clermont county. He found the land unsuited to his purposes and only stayed upon it two years, removing then to the southward upon the farm now occupied by his son Edward, adjoinitg the homestead of William Edwards. Here the remainder of his life was spent in the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, during twenty years,

At the same place died his mother and four of his children. He had been married at the old home near Middleton, Monmouth county, New Jersey, to Miss Hannah Martin, about 1801, before the removal to the Miami valley. They had twelve children - William, Mary (Mrs. Timothy Day), John, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Samuel, Edward, Joseph, Redford, Job, Lydia Ann (Mrs. Nicholas Edwards), George Washington, and one that died in infancy unnamed. Of this large family, William, Rebecca (Mrs. Martin Hahn, widow, residing near Galesburgh, Illinois), Elizabeth (Mrs. Timothy Day, of Iowa), Samuel, Edward and Redford J. are still living.

William Edwards, the oldest son, was born in New Jersey May ro, 1802. He was brought with the family to the west, and received some education in the subscription schools of that time, but says he pretty regularly forgot, at the end of every term, all he had learned during its session, and began anew with the next school. His childhood and youth were spent at the paternal homes in Clermont county and in Anderson township, until his marriage, December 11, 1823, to Miss Nancy Day, - daughter of Timothy and Sarah (Crane) Day, who had come to this region about the year 1800. One of her brothers, Timothy Day, jr., married her husband's sister Mary, and upon her death married Elizabeth, another sister, as above noted. After his marriage, Mr. Edwards removed from the~paternal roof to a double log cabin standing near the homestead, but upon another farm, for which his father had traded. This he occupied until it became much out of repair, when he put up a frame dwelling upon its site, which was in its turn superseded erected in the year of the Harrison campaign, of which Mr. Edwards has an interesting rélic in the shape of a Whig banner, with the portrait of the hero of Tippecanoe and appropriate inscriptions. The farm upon which 'the residence stands had long before become the property of Mr. Edwards, to which te has since made large additions by purchase. Here he has since continually resided, engaging himself almost exclusively in the labors of the farm. Sometimes he has purchased: for sale, in addition to his own crops, the products of his neighbors, in some instances to large amounts, .He has wasted none of his energies in public 'office, except as he has served the township in some of its minor posts. He has often been solicited to become a candidate for the legislature, but has invariably declined. He is faithful in his voting, however, having voted successively for fifteen candidates for the Presidency, and always upon the Democratic ticket, to which he has given a life-long allegiance. He has never allied himself with any religious or secret societies, and is independent in all his thinking and his actions. Although close upon the border of four-score years, he has remarkable vigor of mind and body, and preserves his faculties almost unimpaired. His venerable wife also still survives in apparently good health, but their long union has proved childless. They have raised, however, several nephews and nieces and other children. A number of their relatives reside near

Joseph McGill, grandfather of the subject of this notice, came from Scotland to America in 1790, and settled at a point on Seneca lake, in the State of New York, where his third son, James McGill, was born February 16, 1805, one of a family of six sons and one daughter. The whole family removed to the west in the spring of 1811, and made their home in Cincinnati. It was the year of the earthquake and the first steamboat down the Ohio valley - a notable period in the history of. this region. They remained in the city four years, until 1815, when they changed their residence to Newtown. In June of that year the mother died, and the bereaved father, sorrowing deeply for the loved and lost, followed her in about two months, leaving a family of seven orphans. They were left in destitute circumstances, and the children were separated, James, then in his eleventh year, going to live with Mr. Jacob Denham, a cooper, at Perrin's Mills, or Perrintown, Clermont county. He learned the trade with Mr. Denham, and remained in his employ until he was eighteen years old, when he went to live with Mr. Moses Crist, who was also a cooper, at Montgomery, in this county. He worked for him two years, and removed to Sharonville, in Sycamore township, where he went into partnership ina small store, with a Scotchman named Galb-eath. This was in the spring of 1825. James was now twenty years old and had saved two hundred dollars, which constituted his sole investment in the store. Every winter, for seven consecutive years, he also loaded a flat-boat at Cincinnati with pork, flour, lard, the whiskey which was then an indispensable part of the cargo, and other articles, which he started for New Orleans, and sold at a good profit there and along the coast. Among his best customers was General Wade Hampton, father of the présent governor of South Carolina, who (the elder Hampton) then had a plantation on the Mississippi. Mr. McGill walked the long distance from New Orleans to his home several times, but afterwards returned by steamer. He encountered many serious dangers during these trips, both by land and on the river; but escaped all unharmed. He kept his business at Sharonville, which continued to enlarge and prosper, and, with his ventures in trading down the rivers, enabled him rapidly to accumulate means. In the fall of 1831 he sold his interest in the Sharonville store to his partner, and loaded a boat for his eighth venture, and was ready to start, but accidentally met in Cincinnati John H. Gerard, then a merchant at Newtown, with whom he effected a trade of the boat and its cargo for the stock of Mr. Gerard. In December he took charge of the Newtown business, and the next February, the season of the great flood in the Ohio, which reached even to the streets of the village, he removed his family thit'cr. In 1834 he sold his store back to Mr. Gerard, and bought the farm occupied by him the rest of his days, in the immediate vicinity of Newtown, on thé east of'the village, along the Batavia pike. 'In 1836 he was elected justice of the peace, and served four years. He also took an active interest in the building of the Batavia turnpike, and was a director and treasurer of the company for some years. He rather shunned than sought public life. He was sometimes pressed to become a candidate for the State legislature, but would not consent to run. He was acordial friend of popular education, and served for many years upon the local school board, aiding to build the first public school-house in the village. In every respect he was public-spirited, assisting with his means in_ the erection of the churches there, as also of the bridge across the Little Miami at Plainville, and in other enterprises calculated to benefit the community. He died August 17, 1860. He was married November 20, 1828, to Miss Asenath Ryan, of Sharonville, by whom he had eight children - Viola (died in early life), William Ryan (named from his maternal grandfather), Joseph, Mary, John, Priscilla, Maria, Emily (Mrs. Lewis D; Drake, residing at the old homestead near her brother's store in Newtown). None are now living except William, Mary, and Emily.

William Ryan McGill was born at Sharonville, April 8, 1831, the first son of James and Asenath C. (Ryan) McGill. His primary education was received at Newtown, but he subsequently graduated from a three-years' course at College Hill, in the Farmers' college, his preparation enabling him to enter to advanced standing as a sophomore. He went at once into business in Newtown, in a small way at first, as a merchant, buying the old stock of John W. Crossley. Mr. Crossley at once bought a new and handsome stock and opened another store just across the way, which for a time greatly injured the business of Mr. McGill. By the third year, however, the trade of the latter had greatly improved and finally the store' of Mr. Crossley became so unprofitable that he sold out and went to California, where he died. Mr. McGill has since remained steadily in the' mercantile business, enlarging it year after year, until it has been long considered the leading establishment in Newtown, and commands customers far and wide in Hamilton and Clermont counties. Beginning in September, 1851, in a single small room now occupied by his stock of groceries, he has now six rooms filled with the general stock of a country store, including drugs, school-books, and the like, besides the usual stocks of dry-goods and grocery stores. He has found time, however, 'to serve the public as township treasurer, for seven consecutive years, and was the leading spirit in the inception and prosecution of the important enterprise of building the Cincinnati and Eastern railroad. This was undertaken in 1876, purely as a local enterprise along its proposed route, and Mr. McGill devoted himself largely for months to the awakening of an interest in the project and the solicitation of subscriptions to its stock and the right of way, and then to the prosecution of .the work, as well as making himself a liberal subscription and loaning large amounts to the company. He was one of the original directors of the corporation and its vice-president, under the presidency of Mr. Samuel Woodward, andheand H. Wilber - both of Morrow, Warren county - were the projectors of this work. Upon Mr. Woodward's retirement, to accept the position of general superintendent of the Cincinnati Southern, in 1879, Mr. McGill was promoted to the presidency of the Eastern, which he now holds. He found his road in the hands of a receiver, with a floating debt larger than could be managed; but within twenty months he secured the payment of all obligations of this character and also of a larger sum in overdue interest on bonds, and so rescuing it from the hands of the receiver, he taking the road again fully in charge on the first of March, 1881. With this good work he is solely credited by those who know the internal history of near to find the creditors of the company and effect settlements with them; and through infinite trouble and difficulty succeeded in obtaining personal interviews with all creditors and making satisfactory settlements. Asa result the bonds of the road are now at par, and its operations are on 4 working basis, hopeful and prosperous beyond all expectations. It is believed it will speedily become, under Mr. McGill's presidency, one of the most value to Cincinnati, to which the early completion of the Cincinnati Northern, with which it intersects, will soon give it direct entrance. :

Notwithstanding his engrossment in public and private cares, Mr. McGill has taken a very lively interest in the religious and secular training of the rising generation. For twenty-one consecutive years - since April, 1860 - he has been superintendent of the Sunday-school connected with the Universalist church in Newtown; and for the past fifteen years has béen a member of the school board of the village, aiding in the material enlargement of the school-house: and in making Newtown an independent district by act of the leg#lature. In all enterprises for local benefit he is among the first and foremost, and seems to have no higher ambition than to leave his part of the world the better for his having lived in it. He has been a life-long Democrat, but is not an active politician, much less an office-seeker. :

Mr. McGill was married December 3, 1861 (the bride's eighteenth birthday), in Norwood, Columbia township, to Miss Delia L. Drake, only daughter of 'Thomas T. and Lydia A. (Mill) Drake, who are now residing with their daughter and her husband in Newtown. Mr. and Mrs. McGill have two children living - Alice, born September 1, 1864, and Louie D., born July to, 1877. .The former is a student at the Ohio Wesleyan college in Cincinnati. Their eldest born, a son, died unnamed in infancy.

Abram Ebersole

ABRAM EBERSOLE. Jacob Ebersole came from Germany to America some time in the eighteenth century, and settled in Washington county, Maryland, not far from Hagerstown. After his immigration he married a Miss Smith, two of whose brothers - Nicholas and. Michael Smith - were among the Kentucky pioneers of Boone and Kenton's days. One settled in Bourbon county, and the other in an adoining region. Some descendants of this family, cousins of Abram Ebersole, afterwards lived at Stone Side, up the Little Miami valley. Jacob and Mary Ebersole had four daughters and two sons, among whom was Christian Ebersole, the oldest son and the oldest of the family. He stayed at home until his marriage, about 1798, when he was united to Miss Annie Shouff, of the same neighborhood. He then determined to try his fortunes further towards the setting sun, among his and his wife's relatives in Kentucky, and emigrated, in 1799, to Bourbon county. His father and mother followed soon after to the same part of the county, and died there. His parents spent their last days in Maryland with the rest of the family, none of whom migrated to the west except Christian. After improving a place and farming for three years in the wilds of Kentucky, he decided to remove to the north of Ohio; and on the second day of March, 1802, he halted his emigrant wagon at the site which has so long been the home of himself and his descendants. This is upon the survey No. 395, or the "Tompkins survey," a large tract which now includes the village of California and many pieces of farming land. Here, immediately adjoining the present plat of the village, to the west of it, and with an extensive frontage upon the Ohio and Little Miami rivers, he purchased from General Lytle a fertile tract of four hundred and fifty-six-hundredths acres, which is still held undivided by the family. It was unimproved, except for a cabin at the ferry at the mouth of the Little Miami and another not far off. He at once built a cabin also on the eligible and beautiful site where the family mansion now stands, which was then in dense woods, and began clearing and cultivating his farm ; also keeping the ferry before mentioned across the Little Miami, which he and his son Abram maintained by skiffs, canoes and flat-boats until about 1850, when the New Richmond turnpike was built, and its bridge superseded the necessity for a ferry. He died at his home here June, 1836, and his wife November 3, 1827. Their children numbered nine, as follows: Christian S., now living at Madison, in this county, in his eighty-second year; Catharine (Mrs. Robert Fee, of Moscow, Clermont county), deceased in 1878; Abram, the principal subject of this sketch; Jacob, a farmer near New Richmond, Clermont county; Mary, born September 16, 1803, and still residing at the old home with her sister-in-law, Mrs. Abram Ebersole; Martha Ann, Maria and Elizabeth, who died unmarried, while still young ladies; and John, who died at the age of nineteen, in 1832.

"Abram Ebersole was born at the old home, September 18, 1808, the same year in which the house was built. It is now somewhat enlarged and improved, one of the oldest brick dwellings in the county, and is still thoroughly habitable, comfortable, and sightly. He was educated in the country schools of his neighborhood, in a high school kept by a Frenchman named Decorney, at Alexander, Kentucky, ten miles from the Ebersole place, and at Miami university, where he attended for two years, but was prevented by ill health from graduating. At the age of about nineteen he left the schools and returned home, where he shared the labors of the farm with his father and brothers. On the thirteenth of May, 1856, he was married to Miss Celina M. Johnson, second daughter of John and Sarah (Cox) Johnson, who resided near Salem, in Anderson township. Her father was of an old pioneer family, which came to the Miami valley about 1808, headed by her grandfather, Walter Johnson, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1781. Her maternal grandparents, Thomas and Margaret (Mercer) Cox, were born in Maryland, but removed upon their marriage to Virginia, where her mother, Sarah Cox, was born, and thence they emigrated to Anderson township in 1807.

Mr. Ebersole's father had now been dead for many years, and Abram had come into possession of the home farm by inheritance. He continued to reside there, and by industry and energy maintained it well, reaping the average share of prosperity which fell to the farmers of this part of the Miami and Ohio valleys. He took a lively interest in the construction of the New Richmond turnpike, of which he was, at various times, president and treasurer, and in all other local affairs that promised, in a material or moral way, to benefit the community. He was an active advocate of the temperance reform, and made his daily life and example correspond in every respect to his principles of total abstinence. As noted below, the only secret organization he ever joined has for its object the promotion of temperance. He took a practical interest in' the Union Sabbath-school at Callifornia, which he regularly attended, although not a member of any church. He was at first a Whig and then a Republican, at times devoting considerable time and attention to the promotion of party interests in the township and county; but asked nothing himself, although he was several times made trustee of the township, and for many years was a member of the local school board. He connected himself with none of the secret societies, except with one of the reformatory orders, known as the Sons of Temperance. He was content with the quiet, independent life of a farmer, not engaging in trade or speculation, nor using his education as a writer or public speaker. He was a kind and genial man in his family, and in all his relations in life; sustained to the enda high reputation for morality and integrity among his fellow-men; and left the legacy of a good example to his posterity and to the community. He died at his home in Anderson township, near California, March 9, 1868, the result of an accident, he falling, four days before his death, from the loft of his barn to the floor, fracturing his skull so that he was not afterwards conscious to the moment of his death. He was in his sixtieth year. His remains were buried in the cemetery at Mount Washington, where 2 monument commemorates his memory. His widow continues to reside at the old homestead. His children are as follows:

Stanley, born September 24, 1860; Milton, born August 8, 1866. All are at home with their mother. With them also resides their aunt, Miss Mary Ebersole, at a venerable age, who has erected a noble monument for herself in the fine large school-house adjoining the farm, to the erection of which she contributed a very liberal sum, and thereby secured the building at that time and place.