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��HISTORY OF OHIO.
��were establislied, the boundary lines confirmed and enlarged, an exchange and delivery of prisoners effected, and permanent peace assured.
In the latter part of September, after the treaty of Greenville, Mr. Bedell, from New Jersey, selected a site for a home in what is now Warren County, at a place since known as " Bedell's Sta- tion," about a mile south of Union Village. Here he erected a block-house, as a defense against the Indians, among whom were many renegades as among the whites, who would not respect the terms of the treaty. Whether Mr. Bedell was alone that fall, or whether he was joined by others, is not now accurately known. However that may be, he was not long left to himself; for, ere a year had elapsed, quite a number of settlements were made in this part of the Territory. Soon after his settlement was made, Gen. David Sutton, Capt. Nathan Kelley and others began pioneer life at Deerfield, in the same locality, and, before three years had gone by, a large number of New Jersey people were established in their homes; and, in 1803, the county was formed from Hamilton. Among the early settlers at Deerfield, was Capt. Robert Benham, who, with a companion, in 1779, sustained themselves many days when the Captain had lost the use of his legs, and his companion his arms, from musket-balls fired by the hands of the Indians. They were with a large party com- manded by Maj. Rodgers, and were furiously attacked by an immense number of savages, and all but a few slain. The event happened during the war of the Revolution, before any attempt was made to settle the Northwest Territory. The party were going down the Ohio, probably to the falls, and were attacked when near the site of Cincinnati. As mentioned, these two men sus- tained each other many days, the one having per- fect legs doing the necessary walking, carrying his comrade to water, driving up game for him to shoot, and any other duties necessary; while the one who had the use of his arms could dress his companion's and his own wounds, kill and cook the game, and perform his share. They were rescued, finally, by a flat-boat, whose occupants, for awhile, passed them, fearing a decoy, but, becoming convinced that such was not the case, took them on down to Louisville, where they were nursed into perfect health.
A settlement was made near the present town of Lebanon, the county seat of Warren County, in the spring of 1796, by Henry Taylor, who built a mill one mile west of the town site, on Turtle
��Creek. Soon after, he was joined by Ichabod Corwin, John Osbourn, Jacob Vorhees, Samuel Shaw, Daniel Boute and a Mr. Manning. When Lebanon was laid out, in 1803, the two-story log house built in 1797 by Ichabod Corwin was the only building on the plat. It was occupied by Ephraim Hathaway as a tavern. He had a black horse painted on an immense board for a sign, and continued in business here till 1810. The same year the town was laid out, a store was opened by John Huston, and, from that date, the growth of the county was very prosperous. Three years after, the Wet^feni Sfar was established by Judge John McLain, and the current news of the day given in weekly editions. It was one of the first newspapers established in the Territory, outside of Cincinnati.
As has been mentioned, the opening of naviga- tion in the spring of 1796 brought a great flood of emigration to the Territory. The little settle- ment made by Mr. Bedell, in the autumn of 1795, was about the only one made that fall ; others made preparations, and many selected sites, but did not settle till the following spring. That spring, colo- nies were planted in what are now Montgomery, Licking, Ross, Madison, Mahoning, Trumbull, Ashtabula and Cuyahoga Counties, while prepara- tions were in turn made to occupy additional terri- tory, that will hereafter be noticed.
The settlement made in Montgomery County was begun early in the spring of 1796. As early as 1788, the land on which Dayton now stands was selected by some gentlemen, who designed laying out a town to be named Venice. They agreed with Judge Symmes, whose contract covered the place, for the purchase of the lands. The Indian war which broke out at this time prevented an extension of settlements from the immediate neighborhood of the parent colonies, and the proj- ect was abandoned by the purchasers. Soon after the treaty of 1795, a new company, composed of Gens. Jonathan Dayton, Arthur St. Clair, James Wilkinson, and Col. Israel Ludlow, purchased the land between the Miamis, around the mouth of Mad River, of Judge Symmes, and, the 4th of November, laid out the town. Arrangements were made for its settlement the ensuing spring, and donations of lots, with other privileges, were offered to actual settlers. Forty-six persons entered into engagements to remove from Cincinnati to Day- ton, but during the winter most of them scat- tered in different directions, and only nineteen ful- filled their contracts. The first families who
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