POWDER MAGAZINE AT
FORT HAMILTON.
DR. WILLIAM C. MILLER.
It is generally understood that the
Revolutionary War ended
with the surrender of Cornwallis,
October 19, 1781, and a treaty
of peace was signed at Ghent,
acknowledging the independence
of the colonies, and by this treaty the
United States were to have
and hold as part of its domain the
territory from the Atlantic
to the Mississippi River and south of
the Great Lakes, except
Florida which was ceded to Spain. But
did the British adhere
to their agreement? No. For twelve years
after, they sought
in every conceivable manner to reclaim
Detroit. They incited the
Indians against the white settlers in
the Ohio Valley, furnishing
them arms and ammunition, so that by 1790 the Indians
became
so arrogant and the white settlers so
dismayed and panic-stricken
that they fled from their primitive
forest homes to the nearest
fort. It was in 1791 when President
Washington's attention was
called to the condition of affairs in
the Ohio country. Then he
ordered General Arthur St. Clair, a
gallant and brilliant soldier
of the Revolutionary War and who had
given his fortune to
save his country's independence and was
then governor of the
Northwest Territory, to raise an army
and proceed against the
Indians for the protection of the
pioneers and in order that ever-
lasting peace and tranquility might
prevail in the Ohio country.
Leaving Fort Washington now Cincinnati
on September 8, 1791
by the 17th he arrived at a point 25
miles north of the east side
of the Miami River in latitude of 39-26
and longitude of 7-29.
Here he built a fort and on the
thirteenth of September had fin-
ished it and named it in honor of
General Alexander Hamilton,
then Secretary of the Treasury in
Washington's cabinet. A pow-
der magazine was erected at the south
end of the fort of square
logs laid close together having a hipped
roof, a cupola in its
center, and a blue ball on top of it. A
well was dug in March,
1792, located in the
east side of what is now Monument Avenue
and for years afterwards was known as
the Sohn's Well. Gen-
(404)
Powder Magazine at Fort
Hamilton. 405
eral St. Clair, Wayne, Wilkinson and
Harrison, and Major Cass,
Col. Buttler and Col. Darke were at this
well often one hundred
years ago to quench their thirst. This
well and the powder
magazine are to-day the only remaining
relics of Old Fort Ham-
ilton. After the treaty of Greenville,
the white winged messen-
ger of peace floated over the Miami
Valley never again to be dis-
turbed, and General Wayne in the fall of
1796 ordered Fort
Hamilton vacated and the public property
sold at auction. Is-
rael Ludlow had purchased the site of
Fort Hamilton. Upon its
abandonment as a garrison, many of the
old soldiers of St. Clair
and Wayne, such as John Torence, Captain
Wingate, John Reily,
Archibald Tolbert, and John Sutherland
remained to make it their
permanent abode, thus forming the
nucleus for the now pros-
perous city of Hamilton, a hundred years
after. The old well is
still there where thousands of Hamilton
inhabitants within these
hundreds of years, now all passed and
gone, have quenched their
thirst.
The powder magazine, when the fort was
abandoned, was
turned into a jail and remained as such
until 1810. The old sol-
diers of General St. Clair and Wayne,
residents of Hamilton,
formed themselves into a militia company
and whenever there
was any prisoner, a detachment of ten or
twelve would form
a guard to prevent the occupant's
escape. In 1803, when the
country was organized the commissioners
ordered the magazine
to be reinforced with militia and
strengthened, two more com-
panies were organized from the immediate
vicinity of the town.
John Winjato, James Blackburn and John
Gray were captains
and when any of them were called to duty
they were henceforth
paid for their services.
The magazine was strengthened with a
door of heavy two-
inch plank driven full of spikes and
nails with a hole cut in the
center in the shape of half moon for the
admission of light, air
and food for the occupants and fastened
with an iron hasp and
paddlock. In 1810, the magazine was
abandoned as a jail and
was from that time until 1825 used as a place
of worship. Here
the Rev. Lorenzo Dow, the eccentric
itinerant preacher of three-
quarters of a century ago, preached.
Here Rev. Adam Rankin,
of Kentucky, Rev. David Rush, and Rev.
R. H. Bishop, later
406 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
President of Miami University, preached
to the adherents of their
faith, the Associated Reformed and now
the United Presbyter-
ians. Here Miss Ellen McMechen, later
Mrs. Charles K. Smith,
and Miss Jane McMechen, later Mrs.
Jessie Corwin, taught school.
Here the children of the early settlers
were taught their A, B,
C's, such as the Blairs', Wilkinson's,
Hough's, McBridis', Cam-
eron's, Sutherland's, Wood's, Murray's,
Webster's, and Hun-
ter's; a chart owned by Mrs. James
McMechen in the early twen-
ties in this building, can be seen at
the Magazine building to-day.
Here Mrs. Henry Skinner, daughter of
Israel Creeg, once
sheriff of Butler County, the venerable
mother of Dr. George
Skinner, who is still with us, went to
school. About the year
1840 the magazine was abandoned as a
school. Carl Donges,
proprietor of the William Tell Hotel on
High Street, whose prop-
erty extended from High to Court Street
upon which the maga-
zine stood, became its owner. He, a man
of military attainments
and for years captain of the Jackson
guards, a military organi-
zation, converted this building into a
magazine again. Here were
kept the two little bull dogs and the
ammunition that used to
thunder forth the victory of a political
campaign at the wee small
hours of the night awakening the
inhabitants to let them know
who was the winner. When two shots were
fired in succession
it meant a Democratic victory, and one
shot fired at a time, in-
dicated a Whig victory.
In 1849, the magazine was purchased by
Peter Jacobs, who
removed it to a lot on Water Street,
purchased of C. K. Smith
some years previous and converted it
into a dwelling. It was
then weatherboarded and the roof changed
to a gable fronting
on Water Street. It remained in the
Jacob's family until 1883
when it fell into the hands of the late
Thomas Millikin. Thomas
Millikin had an eye on this house
knowing its history personally,
and the writer has frequently heard from
the lips of the leaders
in the community in the first half of
the last century refer to
the last relics of Fort Hamilton, the
magazine and Sohn's Well.
In 1889, a committee of the Soldiers and
Sailors Pioneer Monu-
ment Committee called upon Thomas
Millikin with a view of
acquiring the magazine building and to
place it upon the lot at
the foot of High Street. Mr. Millikin
thought well of the propo-
Powder Magazine at Fort Hamilton. 407 sition, but somehow nothing came of it. Some time later a com- mittee of the Daughters of the American Revolution called upon Mr. Millikin with a view of getting this building, remodel it, and convert it to its original form as near as possible. Mr. Millikin was most enthusiastic and promised to give them the building; they to remove it. In the meantime Thomas Millikin died and the property fell into the hands of 0. M. Blake, who upon being apprised of Mr. Millikin's promise, most graciously and patrioti- cally carried out Mr. Millikin's wishes and thus this historic building became the property of the D. A. R. The officials of Hamilton with a like spirit of patriotism and a desire to perpet- uate the memory of Hamilton's early days granted a site for this building on the north side of the east end of the High and Main Street bridge, and furnished every convenience, |
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