BROWN COUNTY OHIO - HISTORY: Part 5 (published 1898) *********************************************************************** OHGENWEB NOTICE: All distribution rights to this electronic data are reserved by the submitter. Reproduction or re-presentation of copyrighted material will require the permission of the copyright owner. *********************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Gina M. Reasoner AUPQ38A@prodigy.com March 12, 1999 *********************************************************************** HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF OHIO, By Henry Howe, LL.D., 1898 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 log-hut 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 Boulogne-Sur-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 certification from the faculty of Ashbury 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 religions, 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 Cincinnati. 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. ==== OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List ====