MIAMI COUNTY OHIO - HISTORY [Part 3] (published 1880) *************************************************************************** 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 LeaAnn Rich leaann1@bellsouth.net March 27, 1999 *************************************************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio Henry Howe LL.D. Troy in 1846. Troy, the county seat, is a beautiful and flourishing village, in a highly cultivated and fertile country, upon the West bank of the great Miami, seventy miles north of Cincinnati, and sixty eight west of Columbus. It was laid out about the year 1808, as the county seat, which was first at Staunton, a mile east, and now containing but a few houses. Troy is regularly laid off into broad and straight streets, crossing each other at right angles, and contains about 550 dwellings. The view was taken in the principal street of the town, and shows, on the right, the court house and town hall, between which in the distance, appear the spires of the New School Presbyterian and Episcopal churches. It contains 2 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Wesleyan Methodist, 1 Episcopal and 1 Baptist church; a market, a branch of the State Bank, 2 newspaper printing offices, 1 town and 1 masonic hall, 1 academy, 3 flouring and 5 saw mills, 1 foundry, 1 machine shop, 1 shingle and 1 plow factory, and a large number of stores and mechanic shops. It's population in 1840 was 1,351; it has since more than doubled, and is constantly increasing. It is connected with Cincinnati, Urbana and Greenville by turnpikes. The line of the Miami Canal, from Cincinnati, passes through the town from south to north; on it are six large and commodious warehouses, for receiving and forwarding produce and merchandise, and three more, still larger, are in progress of erection, and four smaller, for supplying boats with provisions and other necessaries. The business done during the current year, ending June 1, 1847, in thirty of the principal business houses, in the purchase of goods, produce, and manufactures, amounts to $523,248, and the sales to $674,307. The articles bought and sold are as follows: 174,000 bushels of wheat, 290,000 bushels of corn, 100,000 bushels of rye, barley and oats, 17,000 barrels of whiskey, 17,000 barrels of flour, 1,300 barrels pork, 5,000 hogs, 31,000 pounds butter, 2,000 bushels Clover seed, 600 barrels fish, 3,000 barrels salt, 30,000 bushels flax seed, 304,000 pounds bulk pork, 136,000 pounds lard, 1,440 thousand feet of sawed lumber, etc. The shipments to an from the place are about 20,000 tons. Abraham Thomas, from whom we have quoted in the "Miami County Traditions," published, was one of the first settlers; he came with his family in 1805, and died in 1843. He was a blacksmith and his shop a log-pen. He made his own charcoal. The panic during the war of 1812 extended to this then wilderness, and at the slightest alarm the women and children would flee to the forest for safety. The "County History" gives these items: At the beginning of things hogs fattened in the woods and not five bushels of corn were needed to fatten a hundred hogs. Corn was raised only for food, and by hoeing and digging around the stumps. A man who would go to mill with two bushels of corn was considered a prosperous farmer. Potatoes were a luxury introduced a long time after the first settlement. Having no fences, bells were put on the stock, which, notwithstanding, wandered off and got lost. The sugar used was home-made, the coffee was rye, and the tea sassafras and sage. The first grain was cut with sickles, which were considered a wonderful invention. Staunton was the first place of permanent settlement in the county, and the nucleus from which its civilization spread. It was the first plotted town. Among the earliest settlers of Staunton was Mr. Levi martin. His wife, when a young girl, about the year 1788, then living not far from Red Stone Fort, on the Monongahela, was knocked down and scalped by the Indians, and left for dead. The family name was Corbly, and hers Delia. They were on the way to church and shot at from a thicket, when Mr. Corbly and three young children were killed outright. Two younger daughters were knocked down, scalped and left for dead, but were resuscitated. One of these was Mrs. martin, who lived until 1836 and reared ten children. Her wounds extended over the crown of her head wide as the two hands. Her hair grew up to the scalped surface, which she trained to grow upwards, and served as a protection. At times she suffered severe headaches, which she attributed to the loss of her scalp. Another noted old settler was Andrew Dye, Sr., who died in 1837 at the age of eighty seven years, having had eight sons and two daughters. At this time his posterity amounted to about five hundred, of whom three hundred and sixty were then living ranging down to the fifth generation. Most of the pioneers wore buckskin pantaloons. One was Tom Rogers, a great hunter, who lived in two sycamore trees in the woods. He had long gray whiskers, a skull cap and buckskin pantaloons. The first survey of Troy was made by Andrew Wallace in 1807, with additions from time to time. On the 2d of december of that year Robert Crawford was appointed town director, who gave bonds to the county commissioners to purchase the land for the seat of justice and lay it off into streets and lots. The original lands selected for the now beautiful town of Troy were then a dense forest, bought for three dollars per acre. Troy, county seat of Miami, is about sixty five miles west of Columbus, about seventy five miles north of Cincinnati, on the D&M., I.B.&W. Railroads, and on the Miami river and Miami and Erie Canal. County officers 1888: Auditor, Horatio Pearson; Clerk, John B. Fouts; Commissioners, John T. Knoop, Robert Martindale, David C. Statler; Coroner, Joseph W. Means; Infirmary Directors, David Arnold, William D. Widner, Thomas C. Bond; Probate Judge, William J. Clyde; Prosecuting Attorney, Samuel C. Jones; Recorder, E.J. Elby; Sheriff, A.M. Heywood; Surveyor, H.O. Evans; Treasurer, George H. Rundel. City officers 1888: George S. Long, Mayor; John H. Conklin, Clerk; Noah Yount, Treasurer; George Irwin, Marshal; W.B. McKinney, Solicitor; H.O. Evans, Civil Engineer. Newspapers: Trojan, Republican, Charles H. Goodrich, editor and publisher; Miami Union, Republican, C.C. Royce, editor; Son's of Veterans Corporal's Guard, Charles W. Kellogg, editor and publisher. Churches: 1 Catholic, 2 Baptist, 3 Methodist, 1 German Lutheran, 1 English Lutheran, 1 Presbyterian, and 1 Christian. Banks: First National, H.W. Allen, president, D.W. Smith, cashier; Miami County, Heywood, Royce & Co., Noah Yount, cashier. Manufactures and Employees--Troy Spring Wagon and Wheel Co., carriages, etc., 127 hands; the Troy Buggy Works, buggies, etc., 146; Kelley & Sons, windmills, etc., 8; John & William Youtsy, lumber, 5. State Reports 1888, Population 1880, 3,803. School Census 1888, 1,218; C.L. VanCleve, school superintendent. Census 1890, 4,590. Troy has several fine three story business blocks, and is a favorite place for trade for the large, rich agricultural country of which it is the center. Prior to the railroad era it was a noted grain market. The new County Court-house here is an evidence of the wealth and liberality of the people. It is one of the most magnificent structures of the kind to be found anywhere. The architect was J.W. Yost, Columbus, and contractor T.B. Townsend, Zanesville. It stands in the center of a square, with bounding streets of 230 by 330 feet. The building itself is highly ornamented, and is 114 feet 2 inches square; it's material is the beautiful Amherst sand stone. To the eaves it is 60 feet in height, and to the top of the dome 160 feet. Its entire cost with its furniture, including the heating and lighting appointments, amounted to about $400,000. The first building used for courts was at Stanton, on the east side of the Miami. The first court house was of brick, and stood in the center of the public square; the second is shown in our old view. ==== OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List ====