|
ORIGINAL
SURVEY |
| As
we have seen, Joseph C. Vance was appointed to lay off and survey the
town of Xenia. In the late case of Wright vs. Hicks, it has been shown,
from evidence based upon the testimony of Levi Riddell (county
surveyor), Hugh Andrew, a citizen ever since 1804, David Kline, C. L.
Merrick, T. Drees, and Alfred Trader, that there was a stone set in the
central point of junction, at the crossing of Main and Detroit streets,
which said stone was about five inches square, with a cross cut out on
its crown at right angles, and a hole drilled in the center of the
cross; that this said stone was the center of the corporation of the
town of Xenia, and the starting point and governing monument for all
subsequent surveys and lines run, or to be run, in and through said
town.
In 1804, John Marshall purchased one of the lots, and erected a small log cabin. This little cabin, standing along in the forest, was the nucleus of the present city of Xenia. The second log house was put up soon after, but we are unable to learn by whom. It is said that John and James Stephenson assisted in raising it. The town seems to have increased rapidly, for in 1805 there was a log school house erected for the education of the town children. The first hewed log house was built for Rev. James Towler, a Methodist preacher from Virginia. As the population increased, the refinement of taste discarded the old log cabin, with its puncheon floor and soon we see the frame standing proudly among its more humble log companions; its owner David A. Sanders. The fact that Xenia was to be the county seat drew many citizens of the county to it as a future commercial center, and as a natural sequence its growth in the beginning was very rapid. Among the earliest settlers here, we are able to record the following: John Paul, the first county clerk, and original proprietor of the town; Josiah Grover, the second county clerk, recorder, and auditor (these offices, in early times, residing in the same person). William A. Beatty was the first tavern keeper. Henry Barnes moved here and followed the carpenter trade. To be sure, there was not much elaborate walnut and ash finish, but the corners had to be carried up true, and the roof well put on, and all things substantial, if not fancy; and we find that the characteristics of the people in those days were in harmony with their surroundings - plain, honest, artless, substantial, unassuming. Now, in mansions of tinseled blazonry, the are artful, cunning, deceitful. James Collier next opens up another tavern. With the increase of population dissension’s arose, and we find a ponderous representative of the law in John Alexander. As legal suasion failed to bring about complete social reformation, moral and spiritual influences were introduced, in the person of Rev. John Towler. By this time, too, the settlers had worn out all the clothes brought with them, and the keen eye of John Stull, seeing an opportunity to make money, moved in and set up a tailor shop, where he mended buckskin breeches and manufactured jeans and linsey. In those days “spring bottoms), Prince Alberts, and ulsters were not known, but the pants were made with one seam, and the coat of the wamus style or hunting shirt. As the children grew up, the necessity of an education was felt, and the services of Benjamin Grover were rendered in this direction as the firs school teacher in Xenia. Logs were hauled, and wagons used and broken; plows among the roots and stumps did not last long; and soon we observe the village “smithy” in John Williamson of Remembrance Williams, and father of Mrs. David Medsker. In those primitive days, when people raised flax, and made the material of their own clothes, spinning wheels were an indispensable piece of furniture. This drew a wheelwright, in the shape of John Mitten, who also was a maker of chairs, when the time came for these articles to supersede the three-legged stool, that alone would stand upon the uneven puncheon floor. While Mr. Stull prepared material for the body, Mr. Wallace and Captain Stull converted the skins of animals into leather for the feet; and that both extremities should be protected, we observe Jonathan Wallace making hats. The wants of the sick were relieved by Dr. Davidson. James and Samuel Gowdy were the first to gladden the eyes of the ladies with pioneer calico, which was worn on Sunday, and at weddings, and other serious occasions. About this time another lawyer appears, named William Ellsbury. More carpenters are required, and Abraham LaRue is seen with his kit. James Bunton was an early resident, and excellent carpenter and cabinet maker. (END) |
|
|