and Dan, born in 1820, the youngest, with Mike and Eve between them. David Ammen moved to Georgetown, O., and from there Daniel entered the Naval School. I have never seen him but twice since, and then he came here and hunted me up, once by himself and once in company with Gen. Grant, who was always a personal friend of mine since he went to school here in Ripley before going to West Point. We were in the same class and once occupied the same desk. I am one year older than Grant, and Daniel Ammen must be two years older. Grant told me after the war that he always had a warm regard for Dan Ammen, that he had saved his life when boys, bathing in White Oak creek, in Brown county, hence his promotion to admiral as soon as Grant became President. Gen. Ammen was superintendent of the Ripley Union Schools for several years prior to the war, during his residence at this place, and while here he married his second wife, the widow of Capt. Geo. W. Shaw, a graduate of West Point. Her maiden name was Beasley. They now reside, as does Daniel Ammen, at Ammendale, D. C. The upper half of the northern prolongation of Brown county, Perry township, is one of the most interesting of spots to the Catholics of Ohio. In 1823 a little log-hut was built in the woods at St. Martin's for the use of the passing missionaries of the church, wherein to administer to the spiritual wants of the few scattered Catholic families of the neighborhood. In 1830 Rev. Martin Kundig, a young man of extraordinary zeal and energy, came and took charge of the mission in the then wilderness. There he lived for many months in a loghut without a window and with no floor but the earth, "where," he in later years wrote, “I lived in solitude and apostolic poverty. It was a school where I learned to live without expense, for I had nothing to spend. I built eleven houses without nails or boards, for I had them not, and I cooked my meals without flour, fat or butter." He thus founded St. Martin's Church, and the seed he sowed has borne fruit a thousand-fold. The now famed Ursuline Convent, with its school attached, at St. Martin's was founded in 1845 by a colony of French nuns and presided over by Mother Julia Chatfield, an English lady from the convent of BoulogneSur-Mer, in France. The Most Rev. John B. Purcell spent the last few years of his life at St. Martin's, where lie his remains. This much beloved prelate was born at Mallon, County Cork, Ireland. His early years were passed under the care of pious parents and in the service of the church, receiving such education as could be obtained in his native place. At the age of eighteen he emigrated to the United States and soon after reaching Baltimore received a teacher's certificate from the faculty of Asbury College. For two years he was tutor in a private family living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. At the end of that time he entered as a student Mount St. Mary's College, near Emmitsburg, in the same State. In 1824 he went to Paris to complete his studies at the Seminary of St. Sulpice. May 21, 1826, he was ordained priest by Archbishop DeQuelen, in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. He returned to America to fill the chair of Professor of Philosophy in Mount St. Mary's College. His learning and ability soon attracted the attention of his superiors, and on the death of the Right Rev. Edward Fenwick, Bishop of Cincinnati, in 1832, he was selected by the Pope to fill the vacancy, and October 13, 1833, was consecrated Bishop of the Cincinnati Diocese, which then comprised the entire State. In 1847 the Diocese of Cleveland was erected and in 1868 that of Columbus. In 1850 Bishop Purcell was appointed Archbishop, receiving the pallium from the Pope's hand the following year. In 1862 he visited Rome for the fourth time, at the invitation of Pope Pius IX. He sat in the great Ecumenical Council of the Vatican of 1869. He founded or established during his career many religious, educational and charitable institutions. His reputation as an able theologian and a scholar was far-reaching, while his gentleness and humility of spirit endeared him not only to those within the Catholic Church, but to the people of the State at large. HIGGINSPORT is on the Ohio at the mouth of White Oak creek. It was laid out in 1816 by Col. Robert Higgins, a native of Pennsylvania and an officer in the American Revolution. In 1819 the families there were Colonel Higgins, Stephen Colvin, John and James Cochran, Mr. Arbuckle and James Norris. It has 1 Christian, 1 Methodist, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Colored Methodist, 1 German Methodist, 1 German Reformed church. In 1840 the population was 393; in 1880, 862. It has 17 tobacco warehouses and about 30 tobacco-buyers who annually ship about two millions of pounds. ABERDEEN, on the Ohio, opposite Maysville, Ky., with which it is connected by ferry, was laid out in 1816 by Nathan Ellis, who, with James Edwards, Evan Campbell and James Power, all business men, were the first settlers. It has 1 Methodist, 1 Baptist and 1 Colored Methodist church. In 1840 it had 405 and in 1880 885 inhabitants. Lately the tobacco business has started new life in the place. FAYETTEVILLE is on the east fork of the Little Miami, 36 miles from Cincin nati. It has 1 Methodist and 1 Catholic church, and in 1880 390 inhabitants. The site of the village was bought in 1818 by Cornelius McGroarty, a native of Ireland, and father of the heroic Colonel Stephen McGroarty, of the Ohio volunteers in the rebellion. RUSSELLVILLE, founded in 1817 by Russell Shaw, is 7 miles east of Georgetown, with a population in 1880 of 478 inhabitants. It has six or seven churches, the first of which, the Christian, was built about 1830, when, as was customary at that time, the women helped, bartered their chickens, butter and eggs, etc., for nails. The first seats were tree trunks with large pins for logs. The house was first warmed by burning charcoal in two large iron kettles. BUTLER. BUTLER COUNTY was formed in 1803 from Hamilton and named from General Richard Butler, a distinguished officer of the Revolution, who fell in St. Clair's defeat. With his brothers he emigrated from Ireland to America before 1760, and was for a long time an Indian trader. Area, 460 square miles. In 1885 the acres cultivated were 149,560; in pasture, 28,864; woodland, 29,874; lying waste, 8,798; produced in wheat, 233,791 bushels; oats, 542,322; corn, 3,335,595; broom corn, 176,190 pounds; tobacco, 502,849; cattle, 18,817. School census 1886, 14,234; teachers, 208. It has 77 miles of railroad. Population in 1820 was 21,755; in 1840, 28,207; 1860, 35,840; 1880, 42,579, of whom 31,530 were Ohio-born. Butler county has been termed "THE GARDEN OF OHIO." It is within the blue limestone formation and is one of the richest in the State. The Great Miami river runs through it. This valley here averages a breadth of twelve miles, and the soil of its bottom lands are of a deep black and famed for their immense crops of corn, while the uplands are equally well adapted to wheat and barley. The county is traversed by so many small streams that over 1,000 bridges are in use. The uplands are beautifully undulating, forming charming scenes of pastoral beauty. A large proportion of its population is of German descent. "Butler county," says Professor Orton, "stands scarcely second in productive power to any equal area in the State. No qualification certainly would be required if the valley of the Great Miami and that portion of the county lying east of the river were alone to be taken into account. This region might put in an unquestioned claim to be styled 'the Garden of Ohio.'' The route of St. Clair, in his disastrous campaign, in 1791, passed through this county. In September of that year Fort Hamilton was built at the crossing of the Great Miami on the site of Hamilton. for provisions and to form the first link in the communication between Fort Washington and the object of the campaign. It was a stockade of fifty yards square, with four good bastions, and platforms for cannon in two of them, with barracks. In the summer succeeding an addition was made to the fort by order of General Wilkinson, which consisted in enclosing with pickets an area of ground on the north part, so that it extended up the river to about the north line of the present Stable street. The southern point of the work extended to the site of the Associate Reformed church. The plan given of the fort is from the survey of Mr. James McBride, of Hamilton, made by him several years after. The following items upon the early history of Hamilton are from the MSS. of James McBride: Major Rudolph at Fort Hamilton.-Late in the fall of 1792, an advance corps of troops, under the command of Major Rudolph, arrived at Fort Hamilton, where they wintered. They consisted of three companies of light dragoons, one of rifle, and one of infantry. Rudolph was a major of dragoons from lower Virginia. His reputation was that of an arbitrary and tyrannical officer. Some time in the spring seven soldiers deserted to the Ohio river, where, procuring a canoe, they started for New Orleans. Ten or fifteen miles below the falls of the Ohio they were met by Lieut. (since Gen.) Clark, and sent back to Fort Hamilton, where a court-martial sentenced three of them to be hung, two to run the gauntlet, and the remaining two to lie in irons in the guard-house for a stipulated period. John Brown, Seth Blinn, and Gallaher were the three sentenced to be hung. The execution took place the next day, on a gallows erected below the fort, just south of the site of the present Associate Reformed church, and near the residence of James B. Thomas. Execution of Deserters.-Five hundred soldiers were drawn up in arms around the fatal spot to witness the exit of their unfortunate comrades. The appearance of the sufferers at the gallows is said to have been most prepossessing. They were all young men of spirit and handsome appearance, in the opening bloom of life, with their long hair floating over their shoulders. John Brown was said to have been a young man of very respectable connections, who lived near Albany, N. Y. Early in life he had formed an attachment for a young woman in his neighborhood of unimpeachable character, but whose social standing did not comport with the pride of his parents. He was forbidden to associate with her, and required to pay his addresses to another. Broken-hearted and desponding, he left his home, enlisted in a company of dragoons, and came to the West. His commanding officer treated him so unjustly that he was led to desert. When under the gallows, the sergeant, acting as executioner, inquired why the sentence of the law should not be enforced upon him, he replied with emphasis, pointing to Major Rudolph, "that he had rather die nine hundred deaths than be subject to the command of such a man," and was swung off without a murmur. Seth Blinn was the son of a respectable widow residing in the State of New York. The rope being awkwardly fastened around his neck he struggled greatly. Three times he raised his feet until they came in contact with the upper part of the gallows, when the exertion broke his neck. Immediately after the sentence had been pronounced on these men, a friend hastened to Fort Washington, where he obtained a pardon from Gen. Wilkinson. But he was too late. The execution had been hastened by Major Rudolph, and he arrived at Hamilton fifteen minutes after the spirits of these unfortunate men had taken their flight to another world. Their bodies were immediately committed to the grave under the gallows. There, in the dark and narrow house, in silence, lies the only son of a widowed mother, the last of his family. A vegetable garden is now cultivated over the spot by those who think not nor know not of the once warm heart that lies cold below. Running the Gauntlet.-The two other deserters were sentenced to run the gauntlet sixteen times between two ranks of soldiers, which was carried forthwith into execution. The lines were formed in the rising ground east of the fort, where now lies Front street. and extended from Smithman's corner to the intersection of Ludlow street. One of them, named Roberts, having passed eight times through the ranks fell, and was unable to proceed. The attendant physician stated that he could stand it no longer, as his life had already been endangered. Fate of Rudolph.-Some time after Gen. Wayne arrived at the post, and, although frequently represented as an arbitrary man, he was so much displeased with the cruelty of Major Rudolph, that he gave him his choice to resign or be cashiered. He chose the former, returned to Virginia, and subsequently, in company with another gentleman, purchased a ship, and went on a trading voyage to Europe. They were captured (it is stated) by an Algerine cruiser, and Rudolph was hung at the yardarm of his own vessel. I have heard some of those who were under his command in Wayne's army express satisfaction at the fate of this unfortunate man. In the summer of 1792 two wagoners were watching some oxen, which had been turned |