Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/105

 HISTORY OF OHIO.

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��" for men in these circumstances, was made to se- cure food for future difficulties. Col. Oliver, Maj. Hatfield White and John Dodge, of the Water- ford settlement, began mills on Wolf Creek, about three miles fi-om the fort, and got them running; and these, the first mills in Ohio, were never de- stroyed during the subsequent Indian war, though the proprietors removed their fauiiles to the fort at Marietta. Col. E. Sproat and Enoch Shep- herd began mills on Duck Creek, three miles from Marietta, from the completion of which thc^y were driven by the Indian war. Thomas Stanley be- gan mills farther up, near the Duck Creek settle- ment. These were likewise unfinished. The Ohio Company built a large horse mill near Campus Martins, and soon after a floating mill."

The autumn before the settlements at Belpre, Duck Creek and Waterford, were made, a colony was planted near the mouth of the Little Miami River, on a tract of ten thousand acres, purchased fromSymmes by Maj. Benjamin Stites. In the pre- ceding pages may be found a history of Symmes' purchase. This colony may be counted the second settlement in the State. Soon after the colony at Marietta was founded, steps were taken to occupy separate portions of Judge Symmes' purchase, be- tween the Miami Rivers. Three parties were formed for this purpose, but, owing to various delays, chiefly in getting the present colony stead- fast and safe from future encroachments by the savages, they did not get started till late in the fall. The first of these parties, consisting of fifteen or twenty men, led by Maj. Stites, landed at the mouth of the Little Miami in November, 1788, and, constructing a log fort, began to lay out a village, called by them Columbia. It soon grew into prominence, and, before winter had thoroughly set in, they were well prepared for a frontier life. In the party were Cols. Spencer and Brown, Maj. Gano and Kibbey, Judges Goforth and Foster, Rev. John Smith, Francis Dunlavy, Capt. Flinn, Jacob White, John Riley, and Mr. Hubbell.

All these were men of energy and enterprise, and, with their comrades, were more numerous than either of the other parties, who commenced their settlements below them on the Ohio. This village was also, at first, more flourishing; and, for two or three years, contained more inhabitants than any other in the Miami purchase.

The second Miami party wtis formed at Lime- stone, under Matthias Dcnham and Robert Pat- terson, and consisted of twelve or fifteen persons. They landed on the north bank of the' Ohio, oppo-

��site the mouth of the Licking River, the 24th of December, 1788. They intended to establish a station and lay out a town on a plan prepared at Limestone. Some statements affirm that the town was to be called " L-os-aati-viUc,'' by a romantic school-teacher named Filson. However, be this as it may, Mr, Filson was, unfortunately for himself, not long after, slain by the Indians, and, with him probably, the name disappeared. He was to have one-third interest in the proposed city, which, when his death occurred, was transferred to Israel Ludlow, and a new plan of a city adopted. Israel Ludlow surveyed the proposed town, whose lots were principally donated to settlers upon certain condi- tions as to settlement and improvement, and the embryo city named Cincinnati. Gov. St. Clair very likely had something to do with the naming of the village, and, by some, it is asserted that he changed the name from Losautiville to Cincinnati, when he created the county of Hamilton the en- suing winter. The original purchase of the city's site was made by Mr. Denham. It included about eight hundred acres, for which he paid 5 shillings per acre in Continental certificates, then worth, in specie, about 5 shillings per pound, gross weight. Evidently, the original site was a good investment, could Mr. Denham have lived long enough to see its present condition.

The third party of settlers for the Miami pur- chase, were under the care of Judge Symmes, himself. They left Limestone, January 29, 1789, and were much delayed on their downward jour- ney by the ice in the river. They reached the '' Bend," as it was then known, early in February. The Judge had intended to found a city here, which, in time, would be the rival of the Atlantic cities. As each of the three settlements aspired to the same position, no little rivalry soon mani- fested itself The Judge named his proposed city North Bend, from the fact that it was the most northern bend in the Ohio below the mouth of the Great Kanawha. These three settlements ante- dated, a few months, those made near Marietta, already described. They arose so soon after, partly from the extreme desire of Judge Symmes to settle his purchase, and induce emigration here instead of on the Ohio Company's purchase. The Judge labored earnestly for this purpose and to further secure him in his title to the land he had acquired, all of which he had so far been unable to retain, owing to his inability to meet his payments.

All these emigrants came down the river in the flat-boats of the day, rude afi'airs, sometimes called

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