Madison County History and Genealogy

History and Genealogy



History of Madison County


London in 1812


The following article on the early history of London was written by Daniel Thompson, now deceased, in 1869:

"On the 18th of November, 1812, I saw a family of six members crowding their household goods into a cabin sixteen by eighteen, a little northeast of where the Presbyterian Church now stands. As soon as things were a little quiet. I started out in the grove in search of London. I soon found a kind friend who showed me the stakes setting out the lots, and introduced me to Mr. Patrick McLene, the director of the town of London. Its inhabitants at that time all dwelt in ten or eleven cabins, with clapboard roof, knees and weight poles, and the floors made of split timber, all, I say, except Russell's tavern, which had a shingle roof, but otherwise rather barny, being neither chinked nor daubed. Robert Hume, Clerk of the Court, had two rooms in his cabin, one for his family and the other for his office. The office had a hole cut in the wall and greased paper pasted over it to admit the light, like a Virginia schoolhouse. I made him a nine-light sash out of a piece of box I brought from Virginia. This was the first and the only glass window in London at that time.

"Col. Philip Lewis and Joseph Russell kept hotels. Each had, perhaps, a dozen bottles, great and small, and, perhaps, as many tumblers, with plenty of sots and rowdies always on hand. The heads of families were Philip Lewis, James Russell, Robert Hume, Joseph Warner, John Murfin, Cary, the tanner, William Wingate, John Thompson, David Dungan and Rev. William Sutton. The boarders at Col. Lewis' were Capt. John Moore, who was recruiting for the army, Col. Langham, Robert Smith, James Ballard and Patrick McLene, Esqs. The County Commissioners were Jonathan Minshall, Burton Blizzard and William Gibson. A temporary court house and jail were the public buildings. I cut hay in sight of town to winter seven horses and cows. The timber that was then standing on the town plat was beautiful, tall and straight. I cut a red oak on Lot No. 6, where John Dungan's store now stands, of which I made 2.000 lap shingles. There was a fall of snow about the 12th of December, which lasted six weeks; there has been no such sleighing any winter since. As an evidence of this fact, there was a dispatch came from Fort Meigs, the carrier of which wished a sleigh. I had just made one, which he took to Chillicothe and back to Fort Meigs three times during the winter. Chillicothe was the residence of the Governor and the base of army supplies, hence there were teams passing at all hours. The first stock of goods that was brought to London was in March, 1818. The Gwynne brothers arrived there with five five-horse teams direct from Baltimore. The first day, thinly as the country was settled, they sold goods to the amount of $500. Shortly after this, we built the earthenware factory, where the Presbyterian Church now stands. This ware was the substitute of delf and china for three or four years—about the close of the war. There are, I think, of those who resided within the town in the winter of 1812, now living, but myself and Mrs. S. M. Bond. I should, perhaps, have excepted A. A. Hume, who was then an extra chubby urchin of about four years of age."

Mr. Thompson, we believe, is mistaken in the County Commissioners of that year, as the records show that Mr. Blizzard was not elected until 1815. The Commissioners at the time spoken of were Joshua Ewing, Jonathan Minshall and William Gibson. The name should read Joseph instead of James Russell; this was most likely a misprint. Mrs. Betsey Toland, widow of the late Dr. A. Toland, should have been included among the living ones who were residents of the town in November, 1811. She was the daughter of Col. Lewis, was born before London was laid out, and is yet numbered among its venerable citizens.

Of the residents of the town in 1812, Philip Lewis was a native of Pennsylvania and settled in what later became this county in 1809. His tavern is believed to have been built in the fall of 1812. It was a two-story hewed-log house, and stood on the east side of Main street, not far from High, on the present site of C. Gulcher's restaurant. Mr. Lewis was a tavern-keeper in London for nearly forty years. His death occurred June 28, 1851. The tavern was destroyed by the fire of 1854.

Joseph Russell came from the State of New Jersey. His tavern stood on High street, just in the rear of the site of the Exchange Bank. It was also a two-story hewed-log building, and is believed to have been built in 1811. Many years afterward an addition was built to this house, and it was known as the National Hotel, and as such was destroyed by fire on the night of August 4, 1874. Mr. Russell, after remaining in London a number of years, removed to the West and there died.

Robert Hume's cabin, too, is believed to have been built in the spring or summer of 1811. It stood on the present site of the residence of John Dungan, on Main street; this, in a year or two, was replaced by a more commodious structure, two stories high, built of hewed logs. The building was about 24x50 feet, built of white oak timber, which was very heavy, and, owing to the few inhabitants of the town, when they came to raise it, outside help was sought from the settlements of Darby and Paint. In this house Mr. Hume kept a tavern until 1815, when he removed to Chillicothe, but after a few years again returned to London. He was a native of Virginia, and, in 1804, settled in what is now Madison County. He died May 9, 1854.

Joseph Warner was from Virginia, and was a carpenter by trade. His cabin was built in 1811, and stood on the corner of Third and Main streets, now the site of H. W. Smith's residence. He came to the vicinity of London about the year 1810, being then a single man. He followed his trade many years, then removed to a farm in Union Township, and died in 1868. His wife was Sarah Atchison.

William Wingate most likely only resided in London temporarily, as his life is known to have been passed in the country. For further particulars concerning him the reader is referred to the sketch of Union Township.

John Thompson, the father of the writer of the above article, was from the State of Virginia. He built a cabin on Main street, where the Central Bank now stands.

Rev. William Sutton was a local preacher, and by trade a carpenter, which occupation he followed in and about London for some years. In after years, however, he entered the itinerant service of the M. E. Church.

It is not known that David Dungan resided in the town at all; he, too, must have been only a temporary resident. Carey, the tanner, is remembered by some of the old citizens, but that is all, as he left the place at an early day.

Capt. John Moore was a Virginian by birth; he settled in this vicinity before the county was formed, and remained here until his death, in 1839.

Col. Langham came to the Northwest Territory toward the close of the eighteenth century, and was a resident of Ross County for some years. He lived in the vicinity of London as early as 1807, and died in the county about the year 1830.

Robert Smith was a Virginian, and was only a resident of this locality a few years.

James Ballard became one of the early Sheriffs of the county and one of its early tax collectors.

Patrick McLene was a native of Pennsylvania. He came to Ohio at an early day, and for a time prior to the laying-out of London, resided in this vicinity. His death occurred in London in 1863.

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