Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/115

 HISTORY OF OHIO.

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��made a permanent residence here, arrived on the first day of April, 1796, and at once set about establishing homes. Judge Symmes, however, becoming unable soon after to pay for his purchase, the land reverted to the United States, and the set- tlers in and about Dayton found themselves with- out titles to their lands. Congress, however, came to the aid of all such persons, wherever they had purchased land of Symmes, and passed a pre-emp- tion law, under which they could enter their lands at the regular government' price. Some of the set- tlers entered their lands, and obtained titles directly from the United States ; others made arrangements with Daniel C. Cooper to receive their deeds from him, and he entered the residue of the town lands. He had been the surveyor and agent of the first company of proprietors, and they assigned to him certain of their rights of pre-emption, by which he became the titular owner of the land.

When the State government was organized in 1803, Dayton was made the seat of justice for Montgomery County, erected the same year. At that time, owing to the title question, only five families resided in the place, the other settlers hav- ing gone to farms in the vicinity, or to other parts of the country. The increase of the town was gradual until the war of 1812, when its growth was more rapid until 1820, when it was again checked by the general depression of busi- ness. It revived in 1827, at the commencement of the Miami Canal, and since then its growth has always been prosperous. It is now one of the best cities in Ohio. The first canal boats from Cincinnati arrived at Dayton January 25, 1829, and the first one from Lake Erie the 24th of June, 1845. In 1825, a weekly line of stages was established between Columbus and Cincinnati, via Dayton. Two days were occupied in coming from Cincinnati to Dayton.

On the 18th of September, 1808, the Dayton Repertory was established by William McClureand George Smith. It was printed on a foolscap sheet. Soon after, it was enlarged and changed from a weekly to a daily, and, ere long, found a number of competitors in the field.

In the lower part of Miamisburg, in this county, are the remains of ancient works, scattered about over the bottom. About a mile and a quarter southeast of the village, on an elevation more than one hundred feet above the level of the Miami, is the largest mound in the Northern States, ex- cepting the mammoth mound at Grave Creek, on the Ohio, below Wheeling, which it nearly equals

��in dimensions. It is about eight hundred feet around the base, and rises to a height of nearly seventy feet. When first known it was covered with forest trees, whose size evidenced great age. The Indians could give no account of the mound. Excavations revealed bones and charred earth, but what was its use, will always remain a con- jecture.

One of the most important early settlements was made cotemporary with that of Dayton, in what is now Ross County. The same spring, 1796, quite a colony came to the banks of the Scioto River, and, near the mouth of Paint Creek, began to plant a crop of corn on the bottom. The site had been selected as early as 1792, by Col. Nathaniel Massie* and others, who were so de- lighted with the country, and gave such glowing descriptions of it on their return — which accounts soon circulated through Kentucky — that portions of the Presbyterian congregations of Caneridge and Concord, in Bourbon County, under Rev. Robert W. Finley, determined to emigrate thither in a body. They were, in a measure, induced to take this step by their dislike to slavery, and a desire for freedom from its baleful influences and the un- certainty that existed regarding the validity of the land titles in that State. The Rev. Finley, as a preliminary step, liberated his slaves, and addressed to Col. Massie a letter of inquiry, in December, 1794, regarding the land on the Scioto, of which he and his people had heard such glowing ac- counts.

"The letter induced Col. Massie to visit Mr. Finley in the ensuing March. A large concourse of people, who wished to engage in the enterprise, assembled on the occasion, and fixed on a day to meet at the Three Islands, in Manchester, and proceed on an exploring expedition. Mr. Finley also wrote to his friends in Western Pennsylvania

ber 28, 1763. In 1780, he engaged, for a short time, in the Revolu- tionary war. In 1783, he left for Kentucky, where he acted as a surveyor. He was afterward made a Government surveyor, and labored much in that capacity for early Ohio proprietors, being paid in lands, the amounts graded by the danger attached to the survey. In 1791, he established the settlement at Manchester, and a year or two after, continued his surveys up the Scioto. Here he was con- tinually in great danger from the Indians, but knew well how tc guard against them, and thus preserved hiniselt. In 1796, he estab lished the Chillicothe settlement, and made his home in the Scioto Valley, being now an extensive land owner by reason of his long surveying service. In 1807, he and Return J. Meigs were compet- itors for the ofhce of Governor of Ohio. Meigs was elected, but Massie contested his eligibility to the office, on the grounds of his absence from the State and insufficiency of time as a resident, as required by the Constitution. Meigs was declared inelieible liy the Qpneral Assembly, and Massie declared Governor. He, however, resigned the office at once, not desiring it. He was often Repre- sentative afterward. He died November 13, 1813.
 * Nathaniel Massie was born in (Joochland County, Va., Decem-

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