CLERMONT. CLERMONT, the eighth county erected in the Northwestern Territory, was formed December 9, 1800, by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair. The name was probably derived from Clermont, in France. The surface is generally rolling and quite broken near the Ohio, and the soil mostly rich. The geological formation is the blue fossiliferous limestone interstratified with clay marl, and mostly covered with a rich vegetable mould. It is well watered, and the streams furnish considerable water power. Area, 394 square miles. In 1885 the acres cultivated were 117,644; in pasture, 65,350; woodland, 31,265; lying waste, 13,662; produced in wheat, 65,387 bushels; corn, 1,219,477; and 3,152,566 pounds of tobacco, being alike with Brown, its neighbor, one of the finest and largest tobacco-growing counties of the State. School children enrolled in 1886, 11,028, and teachers 234. It has sixtytwo miles of railroad track. The following is a list of its townships, with their population in 1840 and 1880. The population of the county in 1820 was 15,820; in 1840, 23,106; in 1860, 33,034; and in 1880, 36,713, of whom 30,264 were Ohio-born. The following facts in the history of the county are given as communicated for the first edition by Mr. Benjamin Morris; this gentleman, by profession a lawyer, died in 1862, aged seventy-five years. In June, 1804, and in the 19th year of my age, I came to Bethel, which, with Williamsburg, were the only towns in the county. They were laid out about 1798 or '99, and were competitors for the county-seat. When I came, Clermont was an almost unbroken wilderness, and the settlers few and far between. In the language of the day, there were Denham's town, now Bethel; Lytlestown, now Williamsburg; Witham's settlement, now Withamsville; Apples', Collins', and Buchanan's settlements. The following are names of part of the settlers in and about Williamsburg, in 1804:-Wm. Lytle, R. W. Waring. David C. Bryan, James and Daniel Kain, Nicholas Sinks, Jasper Shotwell, and Peter Light. Wm. Lytle was the first clerk of the county, and was succeeded by R. W. Waring and David C. Bryan. Peter Light was a justice of the peace under the territorial and State governments, and county surveyor. Daniel Kain was sheriff, and later justice of the peace under the State government. David C. Bryan represented the county several years in the State Legislature, before he was appointed clerk. I was at Williamsburg at the sitting of the Court of Common Pleas in June, 1804. Francis Dunlavy was the presiding judge, and Philip Gatch, Ambrose Ransom, and John Wood, associates, while the attendant lawyers were Jacob Burnet, Arthur St. Clair son of Gov. St. Clair-Joshua Collet, Martin Marshall and Thomas Morris. The following are part of the settlers in and about Bethel, in 1804; Obed Denhamproprietor of the town-James_Denham, Houton Clark, John Baggess, Dr. Loofborough, John and Thomas Morris, Jeremiah Beck, Henry Willis and James South. John Baggess for many years was a representative in the legislature, justice of the peace and county surveyor. John Morris was appointed associate judge after the death of Judge Wood, in 1807; he was also justice of the peace, and one of the first settlers at Columbia. Houton Clark was one of the first, if not the very first, justice of the peace in Clermont. Thomas Morris practised law in the county about forty years, was a representative in the legislature, and once appointed a judge of the Supreme Court. În the winter of 1832-33 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he acted a con A spicuous part in the anti-slavery movements of the day. The most prominent political act of his life was his reply to a speech of Mr. Clay. He died suddenly, Dec. 7th, 1844 posterity only can judge of the correctness or incorrectness of his course. neat marble monument marks his resting place, near Bethel. Jeremiah Beck and Henry Willis were farmers and justices of the peace. Ulrey's Run takes its name from Jacob Ulrey, who settled on its west side in 1798, and was the earliest settler upon it. The place is now known as "the Ulrey farm.' Bred in the wilds of Pennsylvania, he was a genuine backwoodsman, and a terror to the horse thieves, who infested the county at an early day. Deer and bear were plenty around him, and a large portion of his time was passed in hunting them, for their skins. The early settlers around him received substantial tokens of his generosity, by his supplying them with meat. The first newspaper in Clermont, The Political Censor, was printed at Williamsburg, in 1813: it was edited by Thos. S. Foot, Esq.; the second, called The Western American, was printed in the same town, in 1814: David Morris, Esq., editor. A considerable number of the early settlers in Clermont were from Kentucky. Of those before named the following were from that State-R. W. Waring, Jasper Shotwell, Peter Light, Obed and James Denham, Houton_Clark, John Boggess, Jeremiah Beck, Henry Willis and James South. Nicholas Sinks was from Virginia, David C. Bryan from New Jersey, and John and Thomas Morris and the Kain family (I believe) from Pennsylvania. After 1804 the county increased rapidly by settlers from New Jersey, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, with some from Maryland, New England, and a few from North Carolina. Neville was laid out in 1811, Gen. Neville proprietor. Point Pleasant and New Richmond were laid out about 1814; Jacob Light proprietor of the latter. George Ely laid out Batavia afterwards. The early settlers about that place, as well as I remember, were George Ely. Ezekiel Dimmit, Lewis Duckwall, Henry Miley, Robert and James Townsley, Titus Everhart and Wm. Patterson. Before Milford was laid out, Philip Gatch, Ambrose Ransom and John Pollock settled in its vicinity. Philip Gatch was a member from Clermont of the convention which formed the State constitution, and for years after was associate judge. Ransom, as before stated, was associate judge; and John Pollock, for many years speaker of the house of representatives, and later, associate judge. Philip Gatch was a Virginian. He freed his slaves before emigrating, which circumstance led to his being selected as a member of the convention to form the State constitution. The most prominent settlers in the south part of Clermont were the Sargeant, Pigman, Prather, Buchanan and Fee families. The oldest members of the Sargeant family were the brothers James, John and Elijah. They were from Maryland. James, who had freed his slaves there, was, in consequence, chosen a member of the convention which formed the State constitution. The Sargeants, who are now numerous in this part of the county, are uncompromising opponents of slavery. The Pigman family were Joshua, sen., Joshua, jr., and Levi. The Buchanan family were William, Alexander, Robert, Andrew, James, John, etc. James Buchanan, the son of John, was at one time speaker of the Ohio house of representatives. The Bu chanans were from Pennsylvania, and the Pigmans from Maryland. There were several brothers of the Fee family, from Pennsylvania. William, the most prominent, was the proprietor of Felicity, and a member of the legislature. His brothers were Thomas, Elisha and Elijah; other early settlers were Samuel Waldren, James Daughters and Elijah Larkin, who has been postmaster at Neville for more than a quarter of a century. In the vicinity of Withamsville the early settlers were Nathaniel and Gideon Witham, James Ward, Shadrach, Robert and Samuel Lane. The Methodists were the most numerous in early tinres, and next the Baptists; there were but a few Presbyterians among the first settlers. 66 When I first came into the county, the wet land," of which there is such a large proportion in the middle and northern part, was considered almost worthless; but a great change has taken place in public opinion in relation to its value. It is ascertained, that by judicious cultivation it rapidly improves in fertility. At that time, these lands were covered by water more than half the summer, and we called them slashes: now the water leaves the surface in the woods, early in the spring. Forty years ago, the evenings were cool as soon as the sun went down. I have no recollections of warm nights, for many years after I came, and their coolness was a matter of general remark among the emigrants from the old States. I believe it was owing to the immense forests that covered the country, and shut out the rays and heat of the sun from the surface of the ground, for after sunset there was no warm earth to impart heat to the atmosphere. BATAVIA, the county-seat, is on the east fork of the Little Miami and on the C. & N. R. R., 24 miles easterly from Cincinnati and 103 southwest of Columbus. It was laid out in 1814 by Geo. Ely and David C. Bryan, and in 1824 became the county-seat. County officers in 1888: Probate Judge, James B. Swing; Clerk of Court, A. B. Shaw; Sheriff, J. C. F. Tatman; Prosecuting Attorney, Louis Hicks; Auditor, Wm. A. Page; Treasurer, Nathan Anderson; Recorder, Geo. W. Goodwin; Surveyor, Geo. H. Hill; Coroner, Elijah V. Downs; Commissioners, O. H. Hardin, Alfred Haywood and Francis M. Lindsey. Batavia has 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Presbyterian, 1 German United Brethren Churches. One bank, First National, president, M. Jameson; cashier, J. F. Dial. Newspapers: Clermont Advance, Prohibitionist, J. S. Robinson, proprietor and editor; Clermont Sun, Democratic, E. A. Lockwood, S. Cramer, editors; Clermont Courier, Republican, R. W. C. Gregg, J. S. Hulick, editors. Manufactures. Stirling & Moore, carriage and buggy works; J. F. Smith & Co., shoe factory. In 1840 Batavia had 537, and, in 1880, 1,015 inhabitants. The First Cabin.-Ezekiel Dimmit, a Virginian by birth, in the fall of 1797 erected the first cabin in the township. The following spring he made a little maple sugar and planted a few acres of corn on leased land at Columbia, fifteen miles away, where he went by following blazed paths through the dense woods. A little corn, flax and potatoes were also planted around the cabin on partly cleared ground. His nearest neighbor lived in a cabin seven miles distant. Soon other settlers came in, and Ezekiel Dimmit's cabin afforded a friendly shelter to many a pioneer on the lookout for a new home. Among these was the family of Charles Robinson, from Maryland, who having heard of the wonderful fertility of the Ohio country came to Clermont in 1806 and lived near the Dimmits with his family until the next spring in a cabin put up for them near by, when he moved on to a farm of his own on Lucy's run. A Thrilling Adventure befell Mary Robinson in the succeeding winter: the oldest daughter, a robust young lady. Mounting a spirited horse one afternoon, she started on an errand for Mrs Mitchell's, some twelve miles distant. A deep snow covered the ground, which delayed her, when night overtook her in the woods and the snow beginning to fall, it grew so dark that she could with difficulty see the blazed trees which indicated the bridlepath which she expected to follow. Losing the trace, she alighted and tied her horse to a tree until she could investigate. While thus engaged she heard the howling of a pack of wolves, when she hastened back to her horse, but he was so frightened that he would not allow her to approach him. A few moments later the wolves were around her and she began to suffer from the intense cold. To ward them off and keep from freezing, she decided to keep moving in a path far enough from the horse to avoid being kicked and yet near enough to keep the wolves from approaching her; so she walked to and fro the entire night, the wolves continuing their fiendish howls and the horse his stamping and kicking. At dawn the wolves disappeared, when with difficulty she mounted her horse and reached the home of John Mitchell. On seeing her, he exclaimed: "Why, Mary, have you been in the wilderness all night?" She said "Yes," and had hardly been assisted from her horse when she fell into a swoon. Her family becoming alarmed at her absence sent a messenger on her tracks. He found the place where she had passed the terrible night, and then proceeding on to Mr. Mitchell's saw Mary, who for several days was too weak to be moved. The name of Cornelius Washburn, or Neil Washburn as he was commonly called, is lastingly identified with the early history of this region. This famous Indian hunter, so noted for his sagacity and courage from 1815 to 1833, lived near Williamsburg. He was born in New Jersey in the year before the outbreak of the American Revolution. He died "in his boots," as the frontiersmen express it, being killed by the Indians in 1834 while acting as a hunter and scout for a furtrading and trapping company on the Yellowstone. This account of him we derived in 1846 from the lips of Thos. McDonald, the brother of the author of the sketches and the first person, as he stated to us, who erected a cabin in Scioto county. THE EXPLOITS OF NEIL WASHBURN. In the year '90, I first became acquainted with Neil Washburn, then a lad of sixteen, living on the Kentucky side of the Ohio, six miles below Maysville. From his early years, he showed a disposition to follow the woods. When only nine or ten, he passed his time in setting snares for pheasants and wild animals. Shortly after, his father purchased for him a shot-gun, in the use of which he soon became unexcelled. In the summer of '90, his father being out of fresh provisions, crossed the Ohio with him in a canoe, to shoot deer, at a lick near the mouth of Eagle creek. On entering the creek, their attention was arrested by a singular hacking noise, some distance up the bank. Neil landed, and with gun in hand, cautiously crawling up the river bank, discovered an Indian, about twenty feet up a hickory tree, busily engaged in cutting around the bark, to make a canoe, in which he probably anticipated the gratification of crossing the river and committing depredations upon the Kentuckians. However this may have been, his meditations and work were soon brought to a close, for the intrepid boy no sooner saw the dusky form of the savage, than he brought his gun to a level with his eye, and fired: the Indian fell dead to the earth, with a heavy sound. He hastily retreated to the canoe, from fear of the presence of other Indians, and recrossed the Ohio. Early the next morning a party of men, guided by Neil, visited the spot, and found the body of the Indian at the foot of the tree. Neil secured the scalp, and the same day showed it, much elated, to myself and others, in the town of Washington, in Mason. Several persons in the village made him presents, as testimonials of their opinion of his bravery. In the next year, he was employed as a spy between Maysville and the mouth of the Little Miami, to watch for Indians, who were accustomed to cross the Ohio into Kentucky, to steal and murder. While so engaged, he had some encounters with them, in which his unerring rifle dealt death to several of their number. One of these was at the mouth of Bullskin, on the Ohio side. In '92, the Indians committed such great depredations upon the Ohio, between the Great Kanawha and Maysville, that Gen. Lee, the government agent, in employing spies endeavored to get some of them to go up the Ohio, above the Kanawha, and warn all single boats not to descend the river. None were found sufficiently daring to go. but Neil. Furnished with an elegant horse, and well armed, he started on his perilous mission. He met with no adventures until after crossing the Big Sandy. This he swam on his horse, and had reached about a half a mile beyond, when he was suddenly fired upon by a party of Indians, in ambush. His horse fell dead, and the Indians gave a yell of triumph; but Neil was unhurt. Springing to his feet, he bounded back like deer. and swam across the Big Sandy, holding his Pantrifle and ammunition above his head. ing from exertion, he rested upon the opposite bank to regain his strength, when the Indians, whooping and yelling, appeared on the other side, in full pursuit. Neil drew up, shot one of their number, and then continued his retreat down the Ohio, but meeting and exchanging shots with others, he saw it was impossible to keep the river valley in safety, and striking his course more inland to evade his enemies, arrived safely at Maysville. a In the fall of the same year, he was in the action with Kenton and others against Tecumseh, in what is now Brown county. Washburn continued as a spy throughout the war, adding the sagacity of the lion to the cunning of the fox. He was with Wayne in his campaign, and at the battle of the Fallen Timbers manifested his usual prowess. Neil Washburn was in person nearly six feet in height, with broad shoulders, small feet, and tapered beautifully from his chest down. He was both powerful and active. His eyes were blue, his hair light, and complexion fair. A prominent Roman nose alone marred the symmetry of his personal appear ance. MILFORD is in a picturesqe location on the Little Miami eighteen miles above Cincinnati, and is connected with the Little Miami railroad by a bridge. Population in 1880, 1,047. School census in 1886, 315; S. T. Dial, superintendent. Oldest Methodist Church in Ohio.-This place was early settled, being a milling centre. In the summer of 1797 Francis McCormick, the pioneer Methodist preacher, organized a church here in his cabin, which is the oldest Methodist society in Ohio, and supposed to be the first church organized in the great Northwest. He had left Kentucky in 1795 through his hatred of slavery, and settled just north of the site of the village. This founder of Methodism north of the Ohio was a giant in stature, with a well-developed head, florid face and benevolent expression. Early in life he had been a soldier in the American Revolution and served under Lafayette at Yorktown. Prominent among his small congregation were Ezekiel Dimmit and wife and John and Phoebe Mitchell, four pioneers residing near where Batavia now stands, who went to Parson McCormick's, a distance of twelve miles through dense woods, to hear him preach. Uncle Zeke Dimmit was the first class-leader, and at his old log-cabin the earliest prayer and speaking meetings were held, beginning in the fall of 1797. A few years later he with others organized a church now known as the Methodist church in Batavia. In 1799 the very eminent Rev. Philip Gatch settled alongside of McCormick. He was born near Baltimore in 1751; in 1774 he and William Walters took appointments as Methodist ministers and were the first native preachers in America to serve a circuit. He was very zealous, and as Methodism was not favorably received became subject to violent abuse. He was tarred by a mob, his eyesight injured permanently, and he narrowly escaped death at their hands. On account of his position on slavery he was selected as a member of the first Constitutional Convention, and for twenty-two years was an associate judge of Clermont. In 1817 Dimmit and his associates began the erection of a stone meeting house at Batavia, and which was used by the society until Sunday evening, May 15, 1887, when the old bell rang out its notes for the last time for a farewell meeting within its venerable walls; a very interesting occasion, it being the most historie landmark in this region. It had been largely used for public meetings. Here the "Clermont boys" on their return from the Mexican war were given a warm welcome, and here was rallied the first Clermont company for the Union in the war of the rebellion. The old building now altered is used for a shoe factory. The First Camp Meeting in Clermont and possibly in Ohio was held near Zeke Dimmit's in October, 1815, at which a great crowd was present and many were converted. The meeting was chiefly conducted by that celebrated and eccentric itinerant Lorenzo Dow. He travelled through the United States from fifteen to twenty times visiting the wilderness parts, often preaching where a sermon was never heard before. Occasionally he went to Canada, and made three voyages to England and Ireland, where as elsewhere he drew crowds around him, attracted by his long flowing beard and hair, singularly wild demeanor and pungency of speech. During the thirty years of his public life he must have travelled nearly two hundred thousand miles. So great a factor was he in the religious history of Ohio and the "new countries generally that the pioneers about the year 1830 largely named their boy babes "Lorenzo Dow, as in 1824, the period of General Lafayette's visit to the United States, boy babes were named after him. Those then named, the Lorenzo Dows" and "Lafay ettes, are now, when living, old men. Pickett, in his "History of Alabama," avers that he was the earliest Protestant preacher in that State; says he: "Down to this period-in 1803-no Protestant preacher had ever raised his voice to remind the Tom bigbee and Tensaw settlers of their duty to the Most High. Hundreds, born and bred in the wilderness, and now adult men and women, had never seen a preacher. The mysterious and eccentric Lorenzo Dow one day suddenly appeared at the boat yard. He came from Georgia, across the Creek nation, encountering its dangers almost alone. He proclaimed the truths of the gospel here to a large audience, crossed over the Alabama and preached two sermons to the 'Bigbee settlers,' and went from thence to the Natchez settlements, where he also exhorted the people to turn from the error of their ways. He then visited the Cumberland region and Kentucky, and came back to the Tombigbee, filling his appointments to the very day. Again plunging into the Creek nation this holy man of God once more appeared among the people of Georgia. When Dow was in Indiana Judge (). H. Smith had the pleasure of listening to a discourse from him, some items of which he has thus preserved among his sketches. "In the year 1819," states the judge, "I was one of a congregation assembled in the woods back of Rising Sun, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Lorenzo Dow. Time passed away, we had all become impatient, when in the distance we saw him approaching at a rapid rate through the trees on his pacing pony. He rode up to the log on which I was sitting, |