During the session of the Legislature of 1810-11, three commissioners were appointed by that body to select a seat of justice for Madison county, and on the 19th of August, 1811, the report of these commissioners was presented to the court of common pleas, then in session, which was as follows:
"To the Honorable Judges of the court of common pleas, next to be holden for the county of Madison:
"We, Peter Light, Allen Trimble and Lewis Newsom, having been appointed by the last Legislature of Ohio commissioners for fixing the seat of justice in said county of Madison, having notified the inhabitants and attended agreeable thereto, we took the oath prescribed by law, and proceeded to view and examine said county, and have mutually selected and agreed on a tract or piece of land of 200 acres owned by John Murfin, including the cabin where he now lives, on the northeast side of Oak run, on the road which passes E. Langham's, and is on the plat of the county two miles and eighty-six poles from the upper center A, and one mile two hundred and ninety-three poles from the lower B, which piece of land, or such part thereof as the county may think proper, is, in our judgment (from the law under which we act), the most eligible place for the seat of Madison county. The proposition of a donation of Murtin's is enclosed to be used as the court may think proper.
"Given under our hand this 9th day of April, 1811.
"Peter Light,
"Allen Trimble,
"Lewis Newsom."
The donation spoken of, dated April 6, 1811, reads as follows:
"I, John Murfin, do offer my tract of land on Oak run, adjoining Elias Langham's land, containing 200 acres, which I will cause to be laid out into a town at my own expense under the direction of the county's director, the streets and alleys to be made commodious for public good; a convenient public square shall be laid out, which, together with one-half the in- and out-lots shall be for the use of the county, and to all of which there shall be made a general warrantee deed. The above is humbly submitted for the consideration of the gentlemen commissioners.
John Murfin"
The court at the same session appointed Patrick McLene, director and ordered him to prepare evidence of title of Mr. Murfin and make his report. This was subsequently accomplished, and the title proving satisfactory, it was ordered by the court "that the director proceed to purchase one hundred or one hundred and twenty-five acres, as nigh a square as possible, of Mr. Murfin's land, on Oak run, at a sum not exceeding four dollars per acre, and the donation of the lot on which his cabin may be situated, and pay for the same out of the proceeds of sale, and on delivery of deed for purchased land, he proceed to lay out or off a town into lots, streets and alleys, the main street to cross each other at right angles one hundred feet wide, and the other streets not exceeding seventy-five feet wide, and the alleys sixteen or eighteen feet wide; the lots to be in front not more than sixty-five feet and not more than one hundred and thirty-two feet back to an alley, and that he lay out not more than one hundred and twenty even lots, the residue of the ground to be laid off in out-lots of two acres each, and that he reserve one lot for court house or public square at the intersection of main streets, two lots for churches and academy, one for jail and one for out-lot for a burial place; that he call streets and alleys by appropriate names, and that he get the plat so laid off recorded; after acknowledgment, that he sell the lots at public sale, after the purchase and laying-off as aforesaid, on the third Monday and Tuesday of September next, or at a convenient time after in the same month; that he give certificate of sale to purchaser and receive contracts for payment—one-third in three months, one-third in nine and residue in eighteen months; and the condition of sale be that, if purchaser fail to pay first installment, to sell the lot so sold to another person at the direction of the director, and that he lay off a town in neat form as convenient to the water as possible, adjourn the sale at discretion and sell after public sale, taking into consideration the average price, and that the lots on intersection of main streets be sold for not less than $50 each; and further ordered that said town or city, when so laid off, be called and known by the name of London, and that the director keep a book in which he will record regularly the conditions of sale, the lots sold and to whom, the moneys received, and make a separate and distinct entry for every purchase and exhibit the same to the court at the next term and make report of lots sold by number, etc."