ROSS COUNTY
Page 491
ROSS COUNTY was formed by proclamation of Gov. St.
Clair, August 20, 1798, being the sixth county formed in the
Northwestern
Territory. Its original limits were very extensive. It was named from
the Hon.
James Ross, of Allegheny county, Pa., who at that time was the
unsuccessful
candidate of the Federalists for the office of governor of that State.
Much of
the surface off from the valleys is hilly; the land is generally good,
and on
the streams extremely fertile. The bottoms of the Scioto and Paint
creek are
famous for their abundant crops of corn. Much water-power is furnished
by the
various streams. The principal crops are corn, wheat and oats. It is
also famed
for its fine breeds of cattle, and has many swine.
Area about 650 square miles. In 1887 the acres
cultivated were 119,709; in pasture, 107,699; woodland, 68,852; lying
waste,
10,534; produced in wheat, 571,366 bushels; rye, 5,266; buckwheat, 90;
oats,
98,214; barley, 7,420; corn, 1,671,704; broom corn, 11,500 lbs. brush;
meadow
hay, 11,079 tons; clover hay, 12,077; potatoes, 62,302 bushels;
tobacco, 246
lbs.; butter, 480,662; cheese, 8,100; sorghum, 5,650 gallons; maple
syrup,
14,413; honey, 5,228 lbs.; eggs, 417,948 dozen; grapes, 49,330 lbs.;
wine, 1,615
gallons; sweet potatoes, 953 bushels; apples, 20,074; peaches, 6,003;
pears,
641; wool, 43,326 lbs.; milch cows owned, 5,481.
School census, 1888, 13,105; teachers, 279. Miles
of
railroad. track, 166.
Township And Census |
1840 |
1880 |
|
Township And Census |
1840 |
1880 |
Buckskin |
1,729 |
2,311 |
|
Jefferson |
871 |
1,060 |
Colerain |
1,281 |
1,946 |
|
Liberty |
1,256 |
1,575 |
Concord |
2,548 |
2,801 |
|
Paint |
1,380 |
1,153 |
Deerfield |
1,235 |
1,475 |
|
Paxton |
1,226 |
2,119 |
Eagle |
411 |
|
|
Scioto |
5,354 |
12,669 |
Franklin |
582 |
1,233 |
|
Springfield |
1,062 |
2,287 |
Green |
1,820 |
2,058 |
|
Twin |
2,195 |
2,447 |
Harrison |
631 |
1,226 |
|
Union |
2,631 |
2,527 |
Huntington |
1,159 |
2,400 |
|
|
|
|
Population of Ross in 1820 was 20,610; 1830,
25,150;
1840,27,460; 1860, 35,071; 1880, 40,307: of whom 33,914 were born in
Ohio;
1,479, Virginia; 619, Pennsylvania; 294, Kentucky; 213, New York; 177,
Indiana;
1,685, German Empire; 514, Ireland; 138, England and Wales; 49,
Scotland; 40,
British America, and 30 France. Census, 1890, 39,454.
Although there is considerable hilly land in the
county, it is estimated nearly half of the surface is alluvium. The
cultivation
of wheat is increasing in the bottoms; that of corn on the uplands, and
the
farmers are diversifying their crops. The county is famed for its fine
cattle. Some
of these were went in 1885, to the Kentucky State Fair, and took the
prize over
the luscious- fleshed animals raised in the famed blue grass region of
that
State.
Page 492
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
Such glowing descriptions of the beauty of the scenery and the fertility of the soil in the Scioto country, having been circulated through Kentucky, by Massie and others, who had explored it in 1792, portions of the Presbyterian congregations of Cane Ridge and Concord, in Bourbon, under Rev. Robert W. FINLEY, determined to emigrate thither in a body. They were in a measure induced to this step by their dislike of slavery, and the uncertainty that existed in regard to the validity of the land titles in that State. The Rev. Mr. FINLEY, as a preliminary step, liberated his slaves, and addressed a letter of inquiry to Col. Nathaniel Massie, in December, 1794.
That letter induced Col. Massie, who was a large landholder, to visit Mr. FINLEY in the succeeding March. A large concourse of people who wished to engage in the enterprise, assembled on the occasion, and fixed on a day to meet at the Three Islands in Manchester, and proceed on an exploring expedition. Mr. FINLEY also wrote to his friends in western Pennsylvania informing them of the time and place of rendezvous
Pioneer
Exploring Party.—About sixty men met according to
appointment, who were
divided into three companies, under MASSIE,
FINLEY and FALENASH. They
proceeded on
their route without interruption, until they struck the falls of Paint
creek
and proceeded a short distance down that stream, when they found
themselves in the vicinity of some Indians
who had
encamped at Reeves’ crossing, near Bainbridge. The Indians
were of those who
had refused to attend Wayne’s treaty, and it was determined
to give them
battle, it being too late to retreat with safety. The Indians on being
attacked
soon fled, with the loss of two killed and several wounded. One of the
whites
only, Joshua ROBINSON, was
mortally
wounded, and during the action a Mr. ARMSTRONG,
a prisoner with the Indians, escaped
to
his own people. The party gathered up all the
plunder and retreated as far as
Scioto Brush creek, where they were, according to expectation, attacked
early
the neat morning. Only one
man of the
whites was wounded, Allen GILFILLAN, and the party the neat day reached
Manchester and separated for their several homes.
After
Wayne’s
Treaty,
Col. Massie
and several of the old explorers again met at
the house of Rev.
Mr. FINLEY, formed a company and agreed to
form a
settlement in the ensuing
spring (1796), and
raise a crop of corn at the mouth of Paint creek. According to
agreement, they
met at Manchester about the first of April,
to
the number of forty and upwards, from Mason and Bourbon.
Among them were
Joseph M’COY, Benj. and Wm. RODGERS, David SHELBY,
James HARROD, Henry, Bazil
and Reuben ABRAMS, Wm.
JAMISON, Jas. CRAWFORD, Samuel, Anthony and Robert SMITH,
Thos. DICK, Wm. and
Jas. KERR, Geo. and James KILGORE, John BROWN,
Samuel and Robert TEMPLETON, Ferguson
MOORE,
Wm. NICHOLSON and J. B. FINLEY, now a Methodist clergyman. The divided
into two
companies, one of which struck across the country and
the other came on in pirogues. The first arrived the
earliest on
the spot of their intended settlement, and had
commenced erecting log huts
above the mouth of
Paint, at “the Prarie
station,” before
the others had come on by water. About 300 acres of the prairie were
cultivated
in corn that season.
Chillicothe was laid out in August
of this year, 1796,
by Col. Nathaniel Massie, in a dense forest. He gave a lot gratis to
each of
the first settlers and by the last of autumn
about
twenty cabins were
erected. Not long after, a
ferry was established across the Scioto at the
north end of Walnut street.
The opening of Zane’s trace,
very soon afterwards, produced a great change m the course of travel
west, it
having previously been along the Ohio in keel boats or canoes, or by
land over
the Cumberland mountains,
through Crab Orchard, in
Kentucky.
The emigrants brought up some
corn-meal in their
pirogues, and after that was gone, their principal meal, until the neat
summer,
was that pounded in hominy mortars which when made into bread and
anointed with
bear’s oil, was quite palatable.
When the settlers first came,
whiskey was $4.50 per
gallon; but in the spring of 1797, when the keel
boats began to run, the Monongahela
whiskey
makers, having found a good market for their fire-water, rushed it in,
in such
quantities, that the cabins were crowded with it, and it soon fell to
50 cents.
Men, women and children, with some exceptions, drank it freely, and many
who had been respectable and temperate
became inebriates.
Many of Wayne’s soldiers and camp-women settled
in the town, so that it for a time became a town of drunkards and a
sink of
corruption. There was a little leaven, which in a few months began to develope itself.
In the spring of ‘97, one
BRANNON stole a great-coat,
handkerchief and
shirt. He and his wife absconded, were pursued, brought
back, and a formal trial had. Samuel SMITH
was appointed Judge, a jury empannelled,
one attorney appointed by the judge to manage the prosecution and another the defence witnesses
were
examined, the cause argued and
Page 493
the evidence summed up by the judge. The jury having retired a few
minutes,
returned with a verdict of guilty, and that the culprit be sentenced
according
to the discretion of the judge; who soon announced that he should have
ten
lashes on his naked back, or that he should sit on a bare pack- saddle
on his
pony and that his wife—who was supposed to have had some agency in the theft—should
lead the pony to every house
in the village, and proclaim, “this is BRANNON, who stole the
great-coat,
handkerchief and shirt,” and that James B. FINLE—now
the Rev. J. B. FINLEY, chaplain of the Ohio
penitentiary—should see the sentence faithfully
executed. BRANNON chose
the latter, and the ceremony, “This is BRANNON who stole the
great-coat, handkerchief and shirt,”
was at the
door of every cabin in the village, in due
form,
proclaimed ‘by his wife, he sitting on a bare pack saddle on his pony. It was
performed in the presence of Mr. FINLEY, and when it was
over, BRANNON
and his wife made off.
Dr.
Edw. TIFFIN and Mr. Thomas WORTHINGTON
of Berkeley county, Va. were brothers-in-law,
and being
moved by abolition principles
liberated their slaves, intending to remove
into the
Territory. For the purpose of making preparations
for their removal in in the spring, Mr. WORTINGTON,
in 1797, visited Chillicothe and purchased several of the
in and out lots
of the town, and on one of the former he erected a two-story frame
house, the
same in which Mr. CAMPBELL now
resides on
Second street, which was the first frame house erected in Chillicothe.
On his
return to Virginia, having purchased a part of the farm on which his
widow now
resides, and another at the north fork of Paint, he contracted with a Mr. Joseph YATES, a mill-wright, and a Mr. Geo. HAINES, a
blacksmith, to come out
with him in the following winter or sprint, and erect
for him a grist and a saw-mill on his north fork tract. The summer, fall and following
winter of that
year, was marked with a rush of emigration, which spread over the high
bank
prairie, Pea-pea, Westfall, and a few miles up Paint and Deer creeks.
Nearly all the
first
settlers were either regular
members, or had
been raised in the Presbyterian church.
Towards
the fall of 1797, the leaven
of piety
retained by a portion
of the first settlers
began to diffuse itself through the mass,
and a
large log meeting-house was erected near the old
grave-yard on this aide
of the bridge, and the Rev. Wm. SPEER, a Presbyterian
clergyman from Pennsylvania,
took charge. The
sleep ersserved as
seats for the hearers, and a split
log tables used as a pulpit. Mr. SPEER was
a
gentlemanly, moral man, tall and cadaverous in person, and
wore the cocked hat of the revolutionary era.
Thomas
JAMES
arrived in February, 1798, bringing with him the first load of bar-iron
in the
Scioto valley, and about the same time arrived Maj. E1ias LANGHAM, an
officer
of the Revolution. Dr. TIFFIN and his brother Joseph arrived the same
month
from Virginia and opened a
store not far
from the log meeting-house. A store was also opened previously by John
M’DOUGAL.
On the 17th of April, the families of Col. WORTHINGTON
and Dr. TIFFIN arrived, at which time the first marriage in the Scioto
valley
was celebrating; the parties were George KILGORE and Elizabeth COCHRAN. The ponies of the attendants of the
wedding
were hitched to the trees along the streets, which then were not
cleared out,
nearly the whole town being a wilderness. Mr.
Joseph YATES, Mr. George HAINES, and two or three others also arrived
with the
families of TIFFIN and Worthington.
Col. WORTHINGTON
was appointed by Gen. Rufus Putnam, surveyor-general
of the Northwestern Territory, surveyor of a large district of Congress
lands,
then to be surveyed on the east side of the
Scioto; and Major LANGHAM and a Mr. MATTHEWS were
appointed to survey
the residue of the lands, which afterwards composed the Chillicothe
land
district.
On their arrival
there
were but four shingle-roof
houses in town, on
one of which the shingles were fastened with pegs. Col. WORTHINGTON’S was then the
only house in town
with glass windows. The sash of the hotel was filled with greased paper.
The same season settlements were
made about the Walnut Plains by Samuel
McCULOCh and others;
SPRINGER, OSBOURN, Thomas and Elijah CHENOWITH, and DYER
settled on Darby creek; LAMBERTS
and others on Sippo; on Foater’s
bottom by
Samuel DAVIS, the Fosters and others. The following families also
settled in
and about Chillicothe: John CROUSE, William KEYS,
William LAMB, John CARLISLE, John McLANGERG,
William CANDLESS, the
STOCKTONS, the GREGGS, the
BATESES and others.
Dr. TIFFIN and his wife were the
first Methodists that
resided in the Scioto valley. He was a local preacher. In the fall Worthington’s
grist and saw-mills, on the north fork
of the Paint, were finished- the
first
mills worthy of the name in the valley.
Chillicothe was the point from
which the settlements in
the valley diverged. In May, 1799, a post-office was established at Chillocothe,
and
Joseph TIFFIN appointed post-master. Mr. TIFFIN and Thomas GREGG opened
taverns;
the
first, under the sign of “Gen. Anthony
Wayne,” was at the corner of
Water and Walnut streets; and the last,
under
the aign of the “Green Tree,” was on
the corner of Paint and Water
streets. In 1801
Nathaniel
WILLIS moved in and established the
Scioto Gazette.
In 1801 the settlers along the west
side of the
Scioto, from Chillicothe to its mouth, were Joseph KERR, Hugh COCHRAN,
Joseph CAMBELL, the JOHNSONS,
James CRAWFORD, the
KIRKPATRICKS, the CHANDLERS,
BESHONGS,
MONTGOMERIES, MOUNTZES, FOSTERS,
PANCAKES, DAVISES, CHENOWITHS,
SARGENTS,
DOWNINGS, COMBESES, BARNESES, UTTSES, NOELS,
LUCASES, SWAYNES, WILLIAMS, and COLLINS, at Alexandria. On the east
side of the
Scioto, the NOELS, THOMPSON, MARSHALL,
McQUART, the
Page494
MILLERS,
BOYLSTON, TALBOT, MUSTARD,
CLARK, the CLAYPOOLS, RENICKS, HARNESSES, CARNESES, and many others
whose names
cannot now be recollected.
EARLY EXPERIENCES IN THE SCIOTO VALLEY.
The Rev. J. B. FINLEY, who came with his father to Chillicothe in the year 1796, in his very interesting and instructive autobiography, writes of “the richness of the country, the beauty of its birds and flowers, the softness of the climate, the fragrance of the atmosphere, redolent as Eden.” He then goes on to describe the sufferings through the prevalence of bilious fevers, the symptoms of which often resembled those of yellow-fever. “Often there was not one member of the family able to help the others; and instances occurred in which the dead lay unburied for days because no one could report. The extensive prevalence of sickness, however, did not deter immigration. A desire to possess the rich lands overcame all fear of sickness, and the living tide rolled on, heedless of death.”
In the summer of 1798 the bloody
flux raged as an
epidemic with great violence, and for a time threatened to depopulate
the whole
town of Chillicothe and its vicinity. Medical skill was exerted to its
utmost,
but all to no purpose, as but few who were attacked recovered. From eight to ten were buried per day. At
length a French trader by the name of DROUILLARD
[Peter DRUYER, or Drouillard,
who interceded
with the Indians to save the life of Simon Kenton], came and
administered to
the sick with great success, giving relief in a few hours, and in
almost every
case effecting a permanent cure.
The first Legislature met on the
bank of the Scioto
river, near the foot of Mulberry street,
under a large
sycamore tree. This was entirely democratic, as the people represented
themselves. The principal matter which occupied the attention of this
Legislature was the enaction
of a law for the
suppression of drunkenness.
In the fall of 1796 my father set
all his slaves free.
He had been for years convinced that it was wrong to hold his
fellow-men in bondage. Preparations
being made for their removal from their Kentucky home to Ohio, about
the lst of December,
twelve of the emancipated negroes
were mounted on packhorses and started for Ohio. My
father placed me in charge of the company, though a lad
but 16 years of age. We
were
accompanied with parts of three families, with a
great drove of hogs, cows and sheep.
We
carried with us clothes, bed-clothes, provisions and cooking utensils.
After we crossed the Ohio river
it became intensely cold, and it was with difficulty some of the colored people were kept from freezing. Some days we were under the
necessity of lying by, it
was so intensely cold. After sixteen
days
of toil and hardship we reached our place of destination on the banks
of the
Scioto below
Chillicothe. Here we built our winter camps,
making them as warm as we could.
Our bread was made of pounded hominy and corn-meal, and we lived on
this,
together with what we could find in the woods. Fortunately for us, game
was
plenty, and we caught opossums by the score.
The
colored people lived well on
this food,
and were as sleek and black as ravens. In the spring my father and the
rest of
the family moved out, and as soon as we could erect a cabin all hands
went to
work to put in a crop of corn.
it was necessary to fence in the
prairie, and every one
had to enclose with a fence as much ground as he had planted. The work
of
fencing fell to my lot. Myself
and another lad built a
camp, in which we lodged at night and
cooked our provisions. We
frequently
killed turkeys and wild ducks, with which we supplied our
larder, and with our johnny-cake, baked on a board before
the
fire, we had a good supply for a vigorous appetite. After our corn was
gathered
and laid by the immigrants came pouring into the country. From that
time to the
beginning of March I travelled
over the trace from
Chillicothe to Manchester sixteen times. On
one of these visits my brother John accompanied me, father having sent us by that route to Kentucky for seed-wheat. The
wheat which we brought back
was, I
believe, the first sown in the Scioto valley.
This year our horses ran away, and
my father sent me,
in company with an Indian, whom he had employed for that purpose, to go
and
hunt them. We had not gone four miles from the settlement before the
Indian was
bitten by a rattlesnake on the ankle, between his leggin
and moccasin. It was one of the large yellow kind,
full of poison. As soon as
the Indian had
killed his enemy, he took his knife, went a few paces, and dug up a
root, the
stalk of which resembled very much the stalk of flag, about nine inches long. The
root was yellow and very slender, being no thicker than a
knitting-needle. This root he
chewed and swallowed. He then
put more in his mouth, and after
chewing it, put it upon the
wound. Soon after he became deathly sick and vomited. He
repeated the dose three times with the same result, and then, putting
some
fresh root on the bite, we travelled on.
The
place where he was bitten after a while became swollen, but it did not
extend
far and soon subsided. This
root is
undoubtedly the most effectual cure for
poison
in the world—a specific antidote.
Page 495
I frequently hunted with JOHN
CUSHON, an Indian of the
Tuscarora tribe, and had
good living and much fine
sport. I became so passionately fond of the gun and the woods, and
Indian life,
that my parents feared I would go off with the Indians and become
connected
with them. They were as fondly attached to
me as
I to them; and notwithstanding I had
heard so much of their treachery
and savage
barbarity, I felt that I could repose the most implicit confidence in
them. The
mode of living and manner of life, which consisted in hunting the
buffalo, bear
and deer in the wild woods and glens, free from care and the restraints
of
civilization, made Indian life to me most
desirable; and so powerfully had these things taken hold
of my youthful
mind, that the advice and entreaties of my beloved parents could
scarcely
restrain me from following it. Let it not be supposed that, though I was a backwoods boy, I had
not tasted
the sweets of classical literature. In my father’s
academy I enjoyed the advantages
of a thorough
drilling in Latin and Greek, and even now I can
repeat whole books of the “Æneid” of Virgil
and the “Iliad”
of Homer. I could scan Latin
or Greek verse with as much
fluency as I can now sing a Methodist hymn;
and I could find the square root of a given number with as much
precision in my
youthful days as I could drive a centre with my rifle.
THE MURDER OF WAW-WIL-A-WAY.
In the spring of 1803 Captain HERROD, a prominent
and
influential settler residing a west of Chillicothe, was found murdered
in the
woods near his home. The body
had been
scalped and tomahawked, supposedly by Indians, although
many of the settlers believed
it to have been the deed of a personal enemy. The circumstances are
thus told
in FINLEY’S autobiography:
The murder created considerable
excitement in the settlements,
and many predicted a general slaughter of whites by Indians.
Several days after the finding of
Captain HERROD’S
body, David WOLFE, accompanied
by two other men named WILLIAMS
and FERGUSON, met on
the prairie the Shawnee Chief WAW-WIL-A-WAY, the old and faithful
hunter of
Gen. Massie, and an unwavering friend to the whites. He was a noble,
brave and
intelligent Indian, known and beloved by all
the
settlers. WOLFE
engaged him in conversation and made a proposition to exchange
guns, and, while examining the chief’s gun, unobserved by him
emptied the
priming from the pan, and then handed the
gun
back, remarking that he had concluded not to trade.
After
some further conversation and
a friendly parting, WAW-WIL-A-WAYcontinued
on his way.
As soon as his back
was turned, Wolfe raised his gun and shot him through the body, Although mortally wounded, the
Indian
turned on his enemies shot and killed WILLIAMS,
rushed upon WOLFE, stabbed him
with his
knife in the thigh, and when FERGUSON
came to WOLFE’S
assistance, the chief
felled him with WOLFE’S
gun. The two
surviving white men were now lying at the Indian’s
feet, but his strength was fast failing him through loss of blood; his sight became dim; he
staggered forward a few steps,
fell to the ground and
expired. WOLFE and FERGUSON
survived their wounds.
The
murder of WAW-WIL-AWAYcreated
great alarm among both
Indians and whites. The scattered
whites fled to the settlements and the neighboring Indians to the heart
of the
Indian country, near Fort Greenville. Fearing a general uprising of the
Indians, Gen. McArthur,
with a large Greenville, body
of men, met
the Indians near Fort and a council was
held, at
which the Indians declared
their purpose to
abide by the treaty made
eight years
before. After the council had
closed,
Tecumseh accompanied Gen. McArthur to Chillicothe and made an eloguent speech in favor of peace; the
settlers then
returned to their homes their fears and alarm allayed.
Chillicothe appears to have been a favorite name with the Indians for their towns, there having been several of that name, viz., one on the site of Frankfort in this county; one on the site of Westfall in Pickaway; one three miles north of Xenia in Greene; one on the site of Piqua, Miami county, and one on the Maumee. Col. John Johnston says: “Chillicothe is the name of one of the principal tribes of the Shawanese. The Shawanese would say, Chillicothe otany, i. e., Chillicothe town. The Wyandots would say for Chillicothe town, Tat,a,ra,ra-Do,tia, or town at the leaning bank.”
Chillicothe in 1846.—Chillicothe, the seat of justice for Ross county, is situated on the west bank of the Scioto and on the line of the Ohio canal, forty-five miles south of Columbus, ninety-three from Cincinnati, seventy-three from Zanesville, and forty-five from the Ohio river at Portsmouth. The site is a level plain, elevated about thirty feet above the river. The Scioto curves around it on the north, and Paint creek flows on the south. The plan and situation of Chillicothe have been described as nearly resembling that of Philadelphia, the Scioto river and Paint creek representing in this case the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, and both
Page 496
towns being level and regularly laid out into squares. But here the comparison terminates. The scenery around Philadelphia is dissimilar and far inferior, as the view shown in the annexed engraving testifies. In truth, there are but few places in the country where the scenery partakes so much of the beautiful and magnificent as in this vicinity.
In 1800 the seat of government of the Northwest Territory was removed by law of Congress from Cincinnati to Chillicothe. The sessions of the territorial legislature in that year and in 1801 were held in a small two-story hewed log-house, which stood on the corner of Second and Walnut streets, and was erected in 1798 by Mr. Bazil ABRAMS. To the main building, extending along Walnut street towards the Scioto, was attached a hewed-log wing of two stories in height. In the lower room of the wing, Col. Thos. GIBSON, then auditor for the territory, kept his office, and in the upper lived a small family. In the upper room of the main building was a billiard table and a place of resort for gamblers; the lower room was used by the legislature, and as a court-room, as a church, and a singing-school. In the war of 1812 the building was a rendezvous and barracks for soldiers, and in 1840 was pulled down.
In 1800 the old state-house was commenced and finished the next year, for the accommodation of the legislature and courts. It is believed that it was the first public stone edifice erected in the Territory. The mason work was done by Major William RUTLEDGE, a soldier of the revolution, and the carpentering by William GUTHRIE. The territorial legislature held their session in it for the first time in 1801. The convention that framed the constitution of Ohio was held in it, the session commencing on the first Monday in November, 1802. In April, 1803, the first State legislature met in the house, and held their sessions until 1810. The sessions of 1810-11 and 1811-12 were held at Zanesville, and from there removed back to Chillicothe and held in this house until 1816, when Columbus became the permanent capital of the State. This time-honored edifice is yet standing in the central part of the town, and is used as a court-house for the county—American Pioneer.
Chillicothe
was
incorporated January 4, 1802, and the following officers
appointed:
Samuel FINLEY, Ed. TIFFIN,
James FERGUSON, Alexander McLAUGHLIN,
Arthur STEWART,
John CARLISLE and Reuben ADAMS, members of the select council; Everard HARR, assessor; Isaac BRINK, supervisor; William WALLACE,
collector; Joseph TIFFIN, town
marshal. In 1807 Chillicothe
had 14
stores, 6 hotels, 2 newspaper printing-offices, a Presbyterian and a
Methodist
church, both brick buildings, on Main street,
and 202
dwelling-houses.
Chillicothe contains 2 Presbyterian, 1 Associate Reformed Presbyterian, 2 Methodist, 1 Methodist Reformed, 1 Episcopal, 1 Catholic, 1 Baptist, 1 German Lutheran, 1 German Methodist, 1 colored Baptist and 1 colored Methodist church, 1 male academy and 1 female seminary, 38 retail and 2 wholesale dry goods, 4 wholesale grocery, 3 hardware, and 2 book stores, 8 forwarding houses, 5 weekly newspapers, 1 bank, 4 merchant mills, making 10,000 bbls. of flour annually, and 4 establishments which pack annually about 45,000 bbls. of pork. It is the centre of trade in the Scioto valley, and is connected with the river by the Ohio canal, which is rarely closed by ice. It has hydraulic works built at an expense of $75,000, which furnish water-power in addition to that afforded by the canal. It lies on the route of the contemplated railroad from Cumberland to Cincinnati, and is at present progressing with a healthful and steady pace. On the hill west of the town is a mineral spring, said to possess fine medicinal properties. A beautiful cemetery, containing 14 acres, has recently been laid out, and it is contemplated to supply the city with water from Paint creek by hydraulic power. ts population in 1807 was about 1,200; in 1820, 2,416; in 1830, 2,840; in 1840, 3,977; and in 1847 about 6,220.—Old Edition.
CHILLICOTHE, county-seat of Roes, is on the west bank of the Scioto, 47 miles
Page 497
Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.
CHILLOCOTHE
The view is from the hill west and
shows the principal
part of the town. The
tall spire is that
of the Presbyterian church, beside which appears the cupola of the
first Ohio
State House. To the left is the Maderia
House, Scioto
River and bridge, and in the distance Mount
Logan,
rising to the height of about 600 feet.
Page 498
south of Columbus, 97 miles northeast from Cincinnati, an the C. W. & B, S. V., D., Ft. W. & C. Railroads and the Ohio Canal. Chillicothe is the centre of a large and rich agricultural region.
County officers, 1888: Auditor, John A. SOMERS; Clerk, Charles Reed; Commissioners, Simon R. DIXON, John W. JENKINS, Conrad H. REUTINGER; Coroner, Valentine KRAMER; Infirmary Directors, Edwin B. DOLOHAN, Isaac LUTZ, Herman SCHILLER; Probate Judge, George B. BITZER; Prosecuting Attorney, Marcus G. EVANS; Recorder, John F. BROWN; Sheriff, Joshua R. WISEHART; Surveyor, Philip J. LASESSLE; Treasurer, Nelson PURDUM. City Officers, 1888: David SMART, Mayor; Andrew J. DeCAMP, Marshal; George L. DAWLEY, Civil Engineer, Philip H. GRISHEIMER, Commissioner; Daniel HAMMEL, Chief Fire Department; A. B. COLE, Solicitor; Charles A. MALONE, Clerk; Nelson PURDUM, Treasurer; Dennis RIGNEY, Chief of Police. Newspapers: Ross County Register, Independent, R. PUTNAM, editor and publisher; Scioto Gazette, Republican, A. W. SEARCH, editor and publisher; Advertiser, Democratic; HARPER & HUNTER, editors and publishers; Leader, Republican, Tyler & Carrigan, editors and publishers; Ohio Soldier, G. A. R., John T. RAPER, editor and publisher; Unsere Zeit, German Independent, J. B. & Chas. FROMM, editors and publishers. Churches: 2 Presbyterian, 2 German Evangelical, l African Methodist Episcopal, 1 Episcopal, l Methodist, 2 Catholic, 2 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Baptist. Banks: Central National, Thomas G. McKELL, president, T. SPETNAGEL, cashier; First National, Amos SMITH, president, Edward R. McKEE, cashier; Ross County National, A. P. STORY, president, John TOMLINSON, cashier.
Manufactures and Employees.—Otto Wisslem & Co., beer, 6 bands; Jacob Knecht, beer, 6; A. Miller, m mineral water, 4; Marfield & Co., flour, etc., 30; Geo. J. Herrnstein & Bros., doors, sash, etc., 24; Union Shoe Co., ladies’ and misses’ shoes, 108; Duncan Steam Laundry, laundrying, 12; August Schmeider, wagons, etc., 5; William Miller, flour and feed, 6; Ingham & Co., book and newspaper, 75; Armstrong & Story; oak harness leather, 16; Valley Manufacturing Co., spokes and rough gearing, 22; Junemann Electric Light Co., electric light, 4; Chas. Olmstead & Son, meal and feed, 3; Elsass & Wilson, oak harness leather, 14; A. G. Yeo, spokes and handles, 8; Smith & Ryan, engines, boilers, etc., 30; Chillicothe Leader, printing, 8; Daily News and Register, printing, ete, 22; Marfield & Co., grain elevator, 6; August Deschler, iron fencing, etc., 3; Thomas J. Guin, cut and sawed stone, 8; Wm. H. Reed & Co., doors, sash, etc., 25; Ewing & Studer, machinery, 5; C. W. & B. R. R. Shops, railroad repairs, 200; J. H. S. Furguson, ironing boards, etc., 6.-State Report, 1888. Population, 1880, 10,938. School census, 1888, 3,837; John HANCOCK, school superintendent. Capital invested in industrial establishments, $640,300. Value of annual product, $1,035,300. — Ohio Labor Statistics, 1887. Census, 1890, 11,288.
The business of Chillicothe is much scattered. The grain business alone is larger than the entire business of some other Ohio towns of more than half its population. On April 1, 1852, a great fire swept away a large part of the main business street, and a better class of structures succeeded.
The St. Paul’s, the first Episcopal church (the first Episcopal west of the Alleghenies), is still standing in Chillicothe, on the east side of Walnut street, near Main. It was built of stone on a brick foundation, and cost $924. On September 21, 1821, it was dedicated, by Bishop Philander Chase, assisted by Rev. Intrepid Morse and Rev. Ezra B. KELLOGG, the latter of whom became its first pastor.
In 1834, the church was sold to Archbishop Purcell, and used as a Catholic church until 1852; later by the priests as a residence. It was again sold in 1865 and is now occupied as a private residence.
In the War of 1812, Chillicothe was a rendezvous for United States troops. They were stationed at Camp Bull, a stockade one mile north of the town, on the west bank of the Scioto. A large number of British prisoners, amounting to several hundred, were at one time confined at the camp. On one occasion, a conspiracy
Page 499
was formed between the soldiers and their officers who were confined in jail. The plan was for the privates in camp to disarm their guard, proceed to the jail, release the officers, burn the town and escape to Canada. The conspiracy was disclosed by two senior British officers, upon which, as a measure of security, the officers were sent to the penitentiary in Frankfort, Ky.
Four
Deserters were Shot at
Camp at One Time.—The ceremony was impressive and
horrible. The soldiers
were all marched out under arms with music playing, to witness the
death of
their comrades, and arranged in one long extended line in front of the
camp,
facing the river. Close by the river bank at considerable distances
apart, the
deserters were placed, dressed in full uniform, with their coats
buttoned up
and caps drawn over their faces. They were confined to stakes in a
kneeling
position behind their coffins , painted black, which came up to their
waists,
exposing the upper part of their persons to the fire of their
fellow-soldiers.
Two sections of six men each were marched before each of the doomed.
Signals
were given by an officer instead of words of command, so that the
unhappy men
should not be apprised of the moment of their death. At a given signal,
the
first sections raised their muskets and poured the fatal volleys into
the
breasts of their comrades. Three of the four dropped dead in an
instant; but
the fourth sprang up with great force and gave a scream of agony. The
reserve section stationed before him
were ordered to their places,
and another volley completely riddled his bosom. Even then the thread
of life seemed
hard to sunder.
On another occasion, an execution
took place at the
same spot, under most melancholy circumstances. It was that of a mere
youth of
nineteen, the son of a widow. In a frolic he had wandered several miles
from
camp, and was on his return when he stopped at an inn by the way-side.
The
landlord, a fiend in human shape, apprised
of the
reward of $50 offered for the apprehension of deserters, persuaded him
to
remain over night, with the offer of taking him into camp in the
morning, at
which he stated he had business. The youth, unsuspicious of anything
wrong,
accepted the offer made with so much apparent kindness, when lo! on his arrival the next day with
the landlord he surrendered
him as a deserter, swore falsely as to the facts, claimed and obtained
the
reward. The court-martial, ignorant of the circumstances, condemned him
to
death, and it was not until he was no more, that his innocence was
known.
The corpses of the deserters were
placed in rough
coffins made of poplar, and stained with lamp-black, and buried on the
river
margin. After a lapse of years the freshets, washing away the earth,
exposed
their remains, and they were subsequently re-interred in a mound in-the
vicinity.
In this war, the Scioto Valley at one time was largely depopulated of its able-bodied men, who on the opening of hostilities rushed to the defence of the northern frontier. The ladies as usual took part in their especial lines; so when Major Croghan, the youthful hero of Fort Stephenson, had made his gallant defence “under the influence of Divine Providence, “as they wrote to him, August 13, 1813, they sent him a sword. On its receipt he handsomely responded. Thirty-seven ladies contributed in the patriotic purchase and signed their names to the letter of presentation. They are annexed for the gratification of their descendants:
Mary
FINLEY,
Rebecca M. ORR, Elizabeth CREIGHTON, Eleanor LAMB, Nancy WADDLE,
Eliza CARLISLE, Mary A. SOUTHARD, Ruhamah
IRWIN, Jane M. EVANS, Mary CURTIS, Nancy McARTHUR,
Nancy KERR, Sally
McLANE,
Catharine FULLERTON, Ann CREIGHTON,
Ann M. DUNN,
Margaret KEYS, Charlotte JAMES,
Ester DOOLITTLE, Susan D. WHEATON, Deborah FERREE, Frances BRUSH,
Elizabeth MARTIN,
Jane HEYLAN, Lavinia
FULTON, Mary
STERRET, Susan WALKE, Margaret McLANDBURGH,
Margaret McFARLAND,
Eleanor BUCHANAN, Eleanor WORTHINGTON, Catharine HOUGH, Judith DELANO,
Margaret
MILLER, Mary P: BROWN, Jane McCOY,
Martha, SCOTT.
BIOGRAPHY.
EDWARD TIFFIN, the first GOVERNOR of Ohio, was born in Carlisle, England, June 19, 1766: He received good English education and began the study of medicine, which he CINTINUED on his emigration—at 18 years of age—to Berkeley county, Va. In 1789 he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. In the same year he married Mary, sister of Thomas WORTINGTON, of Charleston,
Page 500
Top
Picture
DR.
EDWARD TIFFIN, OHIO’S FIRST GOVERNOR
Bottom
Picture
THE
OLD CONSTITUATION TABLE
The table on which the first
Constitution of Ohio was sighed, and it is still in use in the Court
House at
Chillicothe.