CLERMONT COUNTY OHIO - HISTORY: CLERMONT COUNTY [Part 1] (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 2, 1999 *********************************************************************** HISTORICAL COLLECTION OF OHIO, By Henry Howe, LL.D., 1898 CLERMONT Clermont, the eighth county erected in the Northwestern Territory, was formed December 9, 1800, by a 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, 440 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 sixty-two miles of railroad track. The following is a list of its townships, with their population in 1840 and 1880. TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS 1840 1880 Batavia 2,197 3,687 Franklin 2,219 3,402 Goshen 1,445 1,908 Jackson 883 1,761 Miami 2,061 4,346 Monroe 1,617 2,101 Ohio 2,894 3,531 Pierce 1,984 Stone Lick 1,478 1,871 Tate 2,292 2,754 Union 1,421 1,992 Washington 2,102 2,876 Wayne 976 2,164 Williamsburg 1,459 2,336 The population of the county in 1820 was 15,820; in 1840, 23,106; in 1860, 33,034; and in 1880, 36,173, 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 th 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 Please 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 Denham - proprietor of the town - James Denham, Houton Clark, John Baggess, Dr. Looofborough, 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 practiced law in the county about forty years, was a representative in the legislature, and once appointed a judge of the Supreme Court. In the winter of 1832-33 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he acted a conspicuous 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. A 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 Lights, 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 circumstances 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 the 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 Buchanans 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 Methodist were the most numerous in early times, and next the Baptists; there were but a few Presbyterians among the first settlers. 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. ==== Maggie_Ohio Mailing List ====