HENRY OURSLER

 - Henry Oursler's great grandfather, Edward Oursler, was an Englishman, while his great grand-father on his mother's side was Irish, and named Patrick McKinley.  His grand-father's name was Charles Oursler, and his grand-mother's maiden name was Martha McKinley.  They reared a family of nine children, three sons and six daughters.  One of the sons, named Archibald, was the father of Henry Oursler.  Archibald Oursler was born in Baltimore county, Maryland, and was taken, when quite young, by his parents to Pennsylvania, where they settled for a short time.  They then removed to a small village, called Buffalo, in Putnam county, W. Va.  Indians were plenty there then.  They next moved to Limestone, Kentucky, and settled near Washington in that State,  Indians were still plenty there.  About 1794 or '95, Mr. Charles Oursler removed to Ohio, where he soon after died.  As before stated, he raised a family of nine children.  Their names were Joseph, Archibald (father of Henry Oursler), Charles, Ruth, Martha, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine and Margaret.  Ruth married a Mr. Jacobs, who afterwards died.  She married for a second husband a Mr. Hayman.  Martha married Caleb Hurd.  Elizabeth married John Lynn.  Mary married Samuel Neal, and Catherine married John Jones.  Charles removed to Putnam county, Indiana, in1834, where he died.  Joseph died on a trading boat, on his way down the river.  Archibald was born May 11, 1781, and married Rachel Riggs, April, 1806.  She died Mar. 2, 1809.  He married for a second wife, Malinda True, Feb. 6, 1812.  This lady was born May 8, 1788.  Mr. Oursler reared a family of nine children.  By his first marriage he had two sons, John and Charles.  John was born Apr. 6, 1807; married Elizabeth Parish.  He died Oct. 28, 1863.  Charles was born Mar. 21, 1809; married Mahala Howland,by whom he had one son.  His wife died and the son was killed at Georgetown, Brown county, O., July 4, 1858, by the premature discharge of a cannon, Charles Oursler's second wife was Margaret Jones, by whom he has two sons and a daughter; all remain with him.  He now resides near Harnersville, Brown county, O.  Archibald Oursler, by his second marriage, reared a family of seven children, whose names are Jane T., Thomas, Joseph, Mary, Martha Ann and Nancy Elizabeth Oursler.  Jane T. was born Nov. 25, 1812; married Leonard Brooks, who has since deserved.  She is now a widow, and lives in Jefferson township.  Thomas, born Sept. 1, 1814, married Mary Jane Neal, who is now deceased.  He is now a widower; resides in Greene township.  Joseph, born May 1, 1817, married Harriet Westbrook.  He died Sept. 28, 1879.  His widow lives in Jefferson township.  Mary born Feb. 22, 1822.  She never married, and now lives with her brother Thomas.  Martha Ann, born Apr. 6, 1824; married Noah Tracy.  They reside ¾ of a mile north of Rome.  Nancy Elizabeth, born Sept. 23, 1828.  She never married; died Sept. 5, 1876.  Henry Oursler, the subject of this sketch, was born Aug. 11, 1820.  He married Elizabeth Puntney, Nov. 7, 1850.  They are the parents of five children, whose names are Anna Belle, Effie Jane, James Archibald, Martha Malinda, Charles Joseph.  Anna Bell was born Jan. 21, 1852; married Hosea Moore Wikoff, June 16, 1875.  they reside in Cincinnati.  Effie Jane was born Dec. 14, 1857.  James Archibald was born Aug. 13, 1861.  Martha Malinda was born Mar. 22, 1867.  Charles Joseph was born Aug. 13, 1869.  These four children live with their parents.  Henry Oursler is a leading and influential citizen, well and favorably known throughout the county.  He has almost continuously been the recipient of some position in his township or county, since he arrived at the years of man's estate.  Besides the many township offices he has held, he has filled the office of Recorder of the county two terms, serving from 1849 to 1855.  He was elected County Auditor in 1858, serving one term, and was next elected Probate Judge in 1863, served two years and resigned.  Mr. Oursler was appointed deputy surveyor of the Virginia Military District in 1850.  In 1855, he was admitted to the bar as a practitioner of law, which, however, he never followed as a profession.

JOHN K. STOUT

- The grand-father of the subject of this sketch.  Obadiah Stout, was a native of New Jersey, where he married a German lady.  From there he moved to Redstone, Pa., where he lived some years; then went to Blue Licks, Ky., and carried on salt works and kept a ferry.  About 1796 or '97 he came to Adams county, and settled at the confluence of two streams, about ¾ of a mile back from Rome, near where the West Union road crosses it.  This farm is now the property of Noah Tracey.  The creek on which Mr. Stout settled is called Stout's run, and the two branches that unite and form this run at the point where he settled, are called the cast and west forks of Stout's run.  Here Obadiah Stout, who was probably the first settler in Greene township, cleared out a farm and reared a family, which consisted of ten children, seven sons and three daughters, named Obadiah, Robert B.., Susannah, William, John K., Josiah, Docia, Elisha C., Uriah Jackson, Bennet.  Uriah died when seventeen months old.  The other nine grew to yeas of maturity, and all married but Elisha.  They are now all deceased but John K.  John K. Stout was born July 27, 1808.  He married Miss Frances Drennan, Apr. 25, 1832, who died Apr. 27, 1842.  He married for a second wife, Elizabeth Taylor Alice Waite, Oct. 3, 1843.  This lady died June 6, 1851.  He married for his third wife, Caroline Daikon, June 8, 1853, who died Mar. 26, 1873.  Mr. Stout by his first marriage, raised three sons, David D., W. B. H., and Elisha.  David lives in Kentucky, owns stock in two steamboats, and is Captain of one of them.  W. H. B. Stout , the second son, lives in Lincoln, Nebraska; is a builder and contractor, who by his enterprise, has accumulated a large property.  By his second marriage, Mr. Stout raised three children, one son and two daughters.  They were named Elizabeth, Mary and Alonzo M.  Elizabeth married the Rev. Jonathan Stewart, and lives in Rome.  The other two remain at home and are unmarried.  There were two children by his third marriage, both sons: they were named Homer D. and Henry W.  Homer is married, lives in Aberdeen, Brown county, O.; engaged in telegraphing.  Henry W. remains with his father on the farm.  Mr. Stout started in life while a young man, with a small store in 1829, on Stout's run, where George Dobson now lives; after keeping here a year, he removed to where Rome now stands.  At the end of a year he took into partnership with him his brother William.  Two years afterwards, William bought the interest of his brother in the store, and carried it on alone until his decease twenty years afterward.  After selling his interest in the store to his brother William, Mr. Stout bought a farm above Rome, but not liking it, he swapped it for his present farm near, but below the village.  He afterwards removed to his farm again, where he has since lived.  By his industry and perseverance, Mr. Stout has accumulated a fine property.  Besides giving each of his children a fair set out in life, to still owns one hundred acres of splendid land on the Ohio river bottom, adjoining the village of Rome on the west.  This farm is in a high state of cultivation, adorned with excellent buildings, where he now resides, surrounded with every comfort that man could desire, quietly enjoying the fruits of his laborious and well spent life, with the respect of all who know him.

WASH. CROSS. -

This gentleman is of Irish descent.  His grand-father, Richard Cross, was born in Pennsylvania, where he married.  At an early day he came to Adams county, and settled about a mile south-east of Winchester.  He reared a family of seven children, three sons and four daughters.  One of these sons, named Richard, married Elizabeth Smith they reared a family of four children, three sons and one daughter.  These children were named Wash, Rebecca Ann, Joseph C. and James S.  All are married and have families.  Wash, the oldest, and who is the subject of this sketch, was born in Winchester, Adams county, on the 12th day of April, 1828.  He came to Rome is the spring of 1856, where he has since carried on the blacksmithing and wagon making business.  He does nothing but first class work, and his wagons are sold in distant parts of the country, as well as at home.  In religion, Wash. Cross is a free thinker; in politics, a Republican.  He has always been a strong advocate of the equal rights of man without regard to race, color or sex.

DANIEL KENYON.

     - The maternal grand-father of the subject of this sketch, Aaron Stratton, was a native of New Jersey, where he grew to manhood and married.  About 1800, he removed to Lewis county, Ky., and settled near Clarksburg.  Mr. Stratton, who was a man of enterprise, engaged in the manufacture of salt, which he followed for a number of years, by which he made a considerable fortune and owned many slaves.  He bought Steele's Survey, a body of some 700 acres of land, on the Ohio side of the river, in Irish Bottom.  He reared a family of ten children, one son and nine daughters.  He made it a rule upon the marriage of a child, to present it among other things, with a colored man and woman.  His second daughter, Sarah, married Jonathan Kenyon, a native of Vermont.  This daughter did not believe much in slavery, and at her marriage preferred something else than slaves.  Mr. Stratton gave her instead, 139 acres of his Irish Bottom land.  She and her husband settled on this land, cleared it up, and lived and died there.  Mr. Kenyon, who was a regular lawyer, proved to be a very useful man to the neighborhood.  He was able to properly draw all their instruments of writings, &c., and did not encourage litigations in law.  He reared a family of seven children, all sons, named Aaron, Samuel, Thompson, Daniel, James, William and Benjamin.  These sons all grew up to manhood, married and raised families.  James and Benjamin went to California, where they are engaged in farming.  Aaron moved to Marion county, where he died.  William lives near Ironton, Lawrence county, Ohio.  Samuel and Thompson both removed to Andrew county, Missouri, where they died.  Daniel, the fourth son, became the owner of the old homestead, to which he has added 100 acres more in the Carrington Survey adjoining.  He married Miss Rebecca Zormes, in 1832.  They reared a family of seven children named Martha Jane, Artemissa, Cynthiana, Mary, James R., William F. and Samuel T. Kenyon.  Mary is deceased; the others survive.  Martha Jane married Rev. Daniel Cherrington, a Methodist minister, who died.  She married for a second husband, George Tittle, and removed to Portsmouth.  Artemissa married Dr. W. A. Frazell and lives in Buenavista, Scioto county, O.  Cynthiana married W. P. Truitt, and lives near Little Rock, Arkansas.  James r. is in Kansas, farming near Reno Station.  Samuel T. is in Greenup county, Ky., teaching.  William F. is married; lives on the old homestead, a part of which he has purchased.  Daniel Kenyon, subject of our sketch, was born Oct. 14, 1811.  He has been a member of the M. E. church at Sandy Springs, thirty-five years.  His wife and all his children are members of the same church in Ohio, enjoying the comforts acquired by the labors of an industrious and well spent life.

JAMES McKINLEY

     - The ancestors of this gentleman, both paternal and maternal, were Irish.  His paternal grand-father, James McKinley, was born in the North of Ireland, where he grew to years of manhood.  Here he married Miss Letitia McIntyre, a native of the same neighborhood.  His maternal grandparents, William Sinclair and Letitia Wilson, were both born in the North of Ireland.  Mr. McKinley's paternal grand-father, James McKinley, immigrated to America in 1803 or '4, and landed in New York, where he remained a year or two, then removed to Weegee, Belmont county, Ohio, where he resided until his decease.  He reared a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters; John, William, James, Robert, Sarah Ann, Letitia and Mary.  Of the children but two survive - William and Sarah Ann.  The oldest of these children, John McKinley, was the father of James McKinley the subject of this sketch.  He was born in the city of New York in 1805, and was brought by his parents to Belmont county, when they removed there from New York.  Here John McKinley spent his early years and grew to manhood.  In 1830, he married Margaret Sinclair, of that county, who was a native of Ireland.  He remained there after his marriage until 1844, when with his family, he took passage on the steamer "Lodi," at Lockwood's Landing, Belmont county, Ohio.  This was one of the early steamers on the river, side-wheel and single engine.  Their journey was without incident, and on the 4th day of April they landed on the banks of the Ohio, near their new home an Irish Bottom.  Mr. McKinley's wife died in 1847.  He married for a second wife, Letitia Sinclair.  He died Jan. 19, 1834; his last wife still survives.  The other children, Letitia, James, Elizabeth, Sarah Ann, Margaret, Emma; (the last named ___ by his second wife,) all grew to years of maturity and married, Letitia married James Hiner, of Vanceburg, Ky.  She died there in 1855.  Elizabeth became the second wife of James Hiner, and now lives in Vanceburg.  They also own the old homestead of John McKinley in Irish Bottom.  Sarah Ann married James Brown, who lived near Rome until his decease where his widow still resides.  Margaret married John Crawford.  They live in West Union and carry on the Crawford House.  Emma, daughter by his second wife, married Joseph Clements, of Newport, Ky., where she lives.  James McKinley, the only living son of John McKinley, was born Apr. 9, 1837.  He married Miss Salome S. Hayward, Feb. 24, 1859.  This lady, who was born Oct. 15, 1839, was the daughter of Zenas and Sarah Hayward.  They have reared a family of three children, one son and two daughters, named John, Sallie and Elizabeth Lillian.  He owns a beautiful farm of 137 acres on the banks of the Ohio river, in Irish Bottom.  This farm is of extra quality of soil, neatly cultivated and tastefully adorned, where he is surrounded with all the comforts that man can desire.  On Mr. McKinley's farm is situated the remarkable Sandy Springs, elsewhere mentioned.

ELLIOTT H. COLLINS

     - This gentleman's paternal grand-parents were of English descent.  His grand-father, John Collins, was born in Maryland, in October, 1765.  He married Sallie Henthorn.  They reared a family of seven children, three sons and four daughters, named Henry, John, James, Mary, Ruth, Nancy and Sally.  About 1800 Mr. Collins settled in Washington county, Ohio, where he lived until his decease, in 1842.  His son Henry, who was the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1779.  He married Francis Ewart, who was born in county Armagh, Ireland.  They reared a family of six children, five sons and one daughter, named Elliott H., Elizabeth Ewart, Sardyne Stone, Frances Ewart, John Henthorn and Jeremiah Williams.  Elliott H., the oldest son, was born in Grandview township, Washington county, Ohio, Apr. 23, 1812.  He married Elizabeth Rinard, Mar. 19, 1835.  They reared a family of four children, one son and three daughters, Cleopatra Minerva, Elizabeth Rebecca, Roxanna Samantha and Lycurgus Benton Allen.  His wife died Oct. 6, 1854, and Mr. Collins made a second mar-

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riage, Mar. 23, 1838, with Nancy McKay.  This lady was the daughter of Reuben and Jane McKay - formerly Jane Williamson, was of Irish origin.  This daughter, Nancy McKay, was born in Tyler county, West Virginia, Jan. 15, 1824.  She came with her parents to Meigs county, Ohio, where she lived until her marriage.  Of Mr. Collins' children, Cleopatra Minerva, married William Wikoff, of McLean county, Illinois, where he is engaged in farming.  Elizabeth Rebecca, died Aug. 24, 1868,aged 27 years.  Rosanna Samantha married Joseph Noggle, who lives in Morris county, Kansas, and follows teaching.  Lycurgus Benjamin Allen lives in McLean county, Illinois, and is farming.  Mr. Elliott H. Collins came to Adams county in 1848.  He soon prominently identified himself with its business interests, taking a leading part in every measure tending to develop its resources and promote the general prosperity.  He has performed the duties of Justice of the Peace almost thirty years, his tenth term being nearly completed.  He filled that office twelve years in Washington county, Ohio; nine years in Monroe township, Adams county, and has nearly completed nine years in Greene township.  In the period of time, he has married not less than 500 couples; never received a foe or reward of any amount, for these interesting ceremonies.  He has always taken a lively interest in political affairs, has always been firm and unwavering in his support of the Democratic party, frequently attending nominating conventions as a delegate from his county.  He cast his first vote for General Jackson in 1832, traveling twenty miles to reach the polls.  He has never missed an election since or scratched a ticket in his life, and is a member of the Christian Union church, at Beasley's Fork.  Mr. Collins owns a splendid farm of choice land, on the Ohio river, in what is known as Irish Bottom, where he is surrounded with an abundance of this world's goods.  He is a kind, genial, whole-souled gentleman.

DAVID HARRIS.

 - This gentleman's maternal grand-parents James Morrison and Sarah Morrison, were both natives of Ireland.  They emigrated to America, and first settled in London county, Virginia, where they remained two years.  They then removed to Adams county and settled in the Irish Bottom.  They came down the Ohio in a boat, which they anchored to the shore, and lived in till they built a cabin on their land.  Mr. Morrison bought 273 acres in the Carrington Survey, on which he and his wife lived and died.  He raised a family of twelve children, nine sons and three daughters.  One of these daughters, named Jane married William Harris.  They were the parents of David Harris, the subject of this sketch.  William Harris was a native of Maryland, and came in early years with his parents to Kentucky.  He learned the shoemaker's trade, and located to West Union.  While working there he married Jane Morrison, in 1814.  A few years later they left west Union, and moved to Mr. Morrison's, to run the farm and take care of the old folks.  After Mr. Morrison's death, William Harris became the owner of a portion of the farm.  Mr. Harris raised a family of three children, two sons and one daughter, James M., David and Sarah.  James is long since deceased.  David and Sarah still survive.  David married Miss Eveline Collier, Nov. 14, 1852.  The same year he bought of Mr. Murphy, fifty acres of the old homestead of his grand-father Morrison.  On this fifty acres his residence is located, though he is the owner of a considerable quantity of land besides.  Mrs. Harris was born in 1830.  She was the daughter of John Collier, a son of Daniel Collier, who was one of the earliest settlers on Brush creek, whose family history is prominently identified with the early settlement of the county.  Mrs. Harris' mother was the daughter of Thomas Burkett, a name whose history is also identified with the early settlements.  These parents have had born unto them ten children, two of them, the second and tenth, died in infancy; two others, Jennie and James M., died in youth.  The surviving children are Edward R., Moses B., Annie, Oneida, Estella, Mollie  They all remain with their parents and are unmarried.  Mr. Harris has a farm of several hundred acres, most of it choice land, in the Irish Bottom, beautifully located on the Ohio river, where he now resides.  James Morrison, the grand-father of David Harris, raised twelve children, nine sons and three daughters, named Robert, James, William, David, John, Archibald, Richardson, Thomas, Moses, Elizabeth, Sarah and Jane, the last of whom was the mother of Mr. Harris.

GEORGE GILPIN.

- The parents of George Gilpin, Thomas and Nancy Gilpin, were both natives of Ireland.  Mrs. Gilpin's maiden name was Mullen.  A few years after their marriage, in 1811, they emigrated to America, landed in New York, and settled somewhere in Pennsylvania, where they remained two or three yers, then removed to Adams county, and located near the Brush Creek Furnace.  Mr. Gilpin worked at the furnace until his decease in 1832, a victim of the cholera.  Mrs. Gilpin died Feb. 17, 1870.  These parents reared a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters, Sarah, Eliza, Martha, Rachel, George, John, Henry, William and Thomas.  Four of these children, Sarah, Eliza, Rachel and Thomas, are dead.  One of the survivors, George Gilpin, who is the subject of this sketch, was born Dec. 19, 1819.  He married Miss Marth A. Edmister, Mar. 15, 1853.  Mrs. Gilpin was the daughter of John Edmister, of Jefferson township, where she was born, Dec. 19, 1835.  These parents have had born unto them eleven children; four of them are deceased, to-wit: Geo. W., who died at 18, and Martha Susan, Gilbert Thomas, Clarence Victor, who died in early years.  Those all lie in the Sandy Springs Cemetery.  The surviving children are Eliza A., John M., Thomas, William R., Henry G., Walter L., Elmer W.; all yet remain at home under the parental roof.  Mr. Gilpin is a man of indomitable energy and industry.  He made the overland journey to California in 1849, in search of gold.  It was a long tedious trip, attended with inexpressible hardships and no little suffering, but nevertheless, there were connected with it many interesting events and incidents, encountered in the wild romantic scenery through which he passed.  Mr. Gilpin, unaided, has by industry, accumulated a fine property.  The farm on which he now resides, contains 320 acres, most of it in the Carrington Survey in the Irish Bottom.  It is excellent land, well cultivated, with his pleasant residence overlooking the beautiful Ohio, which flows just in front of it.  Besides this farm, Mr. G. owns some 250 acres more.  He has set an example before future generations, of what industry and perseverance may accomplish without aid, in the humblest beginnings in life.

JOHN LOUGHERY.

     - John Loughery, the father of the subject of this sketch, came to the neighborhood of Rockville, in 1831.   He was an enterprising man, and soon opened up the stone quarries, that have since obtained so much celebrity.  Fro these quarries he supplied the stone to build the Deer Creek Locks, near Cincinnati.  After they were built, he furnished stone for some of the best houses in Cincinnati.  The Post Office in that city, and the Catholic Cathedral on Plum street, are constructed of these stone.  He built two boats adapted to the work of carrying the immense blocks of rock down the river.  In 1834, he put up

a saw-mill, and some two years after, headed a flowering mill, with two pair of burrs, the whole costing $10,000.  In December, 1855, the whole of these buildings was consumed by fire, and never rebuilt.  In 1833 or '34, Mr. Loughery built the steamboat "Princeton," which he sold after some two years.  He next built the "Columbus," which he run on the river.  Among his papers was found a receipt of $29.57, for the services on the boat, of a slave named Lot, who belonged to James Brooks.  Upon the death of Mr. Loughery, his son, John Loughery, whose name stands at the head of this article, succeeded to the ownership of these immense quarries, selling annually several hundred thousand dollars worth of stone, shipping them to all parts of the United States.

MRS. PAULINE McMASTERS.

- This lady is the daughter of Charles Lewis, of Scott county, Ky.  Her parents were both natives of that State.  Their family consisted of eight children, three sons and five daughters.  Mrs. McMasters was born Aug. 24, 1834; received her education at the Shelbyville Female College, and was married at the old Kentucky homestead, Apr. 7, 1855, to Gilbert McMasters, whence so removed, with her husband, to Cincinnati, where they resided until the fall of 1856, when they removed to Adams county, and settled on the old McMasters homestead in Irish Bottom.

GILBERT McMASTERS.

- Gilbert McMasters, the husband of Mrs. McMasters, was of Scotch descent.  His father, John McMasters, was born in Pennsylvania, where he was married.  From thence he removed to Belmont county, Ohio in 1824, where he remained some years, then removed to Adams county, in 1835, and bought the farm on which Mrs. McMasters resides.  This place is a part of the Steele Survey, and was first bought from him by Aaron Stratton; afterwards sold it to R. S. Murphy, who built his cabin and settled on it in 1805, but afterwards sold it to John Loughery, who next sold it to John McMasters, who lived on it most of his lifetime.  Gilbert McMasters, was the seventh in a family of twelve children.  He early engaged in the business of steam-boating on the Ohio, and was, for many years, a Pilot on the steam boats that plied the Ohio and other western rivers.  At the commencement of the rebellion, he was early and actively engaged in the service of the government, as a Pilot for the boats and transports conveying men and munitions of war.  He performed ceaseless, laborious services in the Pittsburg Landing Campaign, in 1832.  A few days after the battle, while engaged in fatiguing duties, he had an attack of sun-stroke, from which he presently seemed to recover, but a few months later, at Columbus, Kentucky, while laboring to secure boats from the burning flames of a fire that had broken out among them, he was overcome by inhaling the heated air and smoke, and again prostrated.  From this attack, he never recovered, but gradually sank, until he at length became a hopeless, helpless invalid.  In 1872, his eyesight failed him, his mind gave way, and for eight years, this once bright, active, enterprising business man, lay a complete wreck, perfectly blind, helpless and imbecile, until Sunday morning, Mar. 21, 1880, death relieved him from his earthly troubles and sufferings.  The old homestead, which Mr. McMasters now occupies, is a beautiful farm of nearly three hundred acres, lying near Sandy Springs, on the road from Rome to Buena Vista.  It is pleasantly located, highly cultivated, neatly and tastefully improved and kept up by the good taste and judgment of Mrs. McMasters, upon whom has developed the duties of the general directions for its management, during her husband's long infirmities.  Mr. McMasters in his earlier years took great interest in raising good stock.  He delighted in training horses, and was the owner of the famous pacer, "Tecumseh."  The portrait of this horse, Mrs. McMasters still possesses.

SANDY SPRINGS.

     This is not a village, but receives its name from a vast deposit of sand, and two or three excellent springs that issue from near its base.  This immense deposit of clear sand, extends perhaps, two miles from near the foot of the hills back of Irish Bottom southeasterly to the Ohio.  It is a long ridge of irregular farm, some places the pure sand is, perhaps, forty to fifty feet in depth.  This immense bank of sand was, doubtless, drifted into its present position by the waters of the Ohio, ages ago.
     The springs, after flowing a short distance, disappear.  By digging anywhere in this great belt of sand, water is found at a short depth, while in sinking a well any place outside, water is not found at a less depth than forty or fifty feet.
     There are in the vicinity of these springs, three churches, one Baptist, one Presbyterian, one Methodist Episcopal, and the Union School building of the Independent District, that has been established in the Irish Bottom.
     The quaint beauty and quietness of the place, made as anxious to gather its early history minutely, especially of the churches, which were early organized here, and in which the pioneers worshiped, but could collect but a few fragmentary items, which are given under the head of churches - Sandy Springs, given elsewhere.
     History informs us that some fifty years ago - 1830, there was a post office near here called "Sandy Springs," with Simeon Smith, postmaster, but the people here have no remembrance or record of it.

THE ANTI-SLAVERY QUESTION.

     The community of Sandy Springs, were among the first in the country to espouse the anti-slavery cause.  "The Sandy Springs Anti-slavery Society" was organized Oct. 3, 1836.  A Constitution and by-laws were adopted, and received the signatures of thirty-three members, including both males and females.
     The following names are subscribed to the constitution and by-laws of this society:

IRISH BOTTOM.

     The road from Rome to Buena Vista passes along the base of a continuous line of gigantic hills, which rear their tops hundreds of feet above the bottom below, while their sides are lined with perpendicular walls of rock, which are capped with huge blocks that have been detached by the frost and other forces of the elements of nature.  Many of these immense fragments seen almost to be balanced upon a pivot, which the least disturban__ would overset and hurl upon the traveler below, should be __pen to be within their line of descent.  These hills crowd pretty close upon the river, leaving but narrow bottoms, until __ reaches Sulphur Run, about three miles above Rome, where t__ begin to recede, and the bottoms widen until you approach Sandy Springs, where they again to approach the river and so shut out the valley.
     The bottom embraces an area of about 170 acres of as fertile land as can be found anywhere.  It embraces the surveys of John Steele, Mayo Carrington and David McDermed  The eastern portion was settled by Duncan McCull, Abner Ewing, Recompense S. Murphy, and William Murphy, who all came about 1805.  They were from New Jersey, and this part of the valley was called the "Jersey Bottom."  Then came Jonathan Kenyon, who was a Yankee, and after him came William Smith.  Next came William Heath, (whom William Early brought out in 1811 or 1812,) Archibald Morrison, John Morrison, John Quincy Adams.  These came in 1805, and settled on the lower part of the bottom.  They were Irish - or of Irish descent - and their portion of the valley was called Irish Bottom, a name that has since been applied to the whole bottom.  This is a well-improved, highly cultivated and prosperous community - Is organized into an Independent School District with a good school house, and has within its limits the three churches of Sandy Springs, elsewhere mentioned.

MURDER OF JAMES H. RICE.

     In 1869, there lived on the Ohio river, some two or three miles above Rome, a man named James H. Rice, and his wife.  This lady, who was a widow when she married Rice, had a son, a young man some nineteen years of age, named Frank Hardy.  This son lived with his mother and stepfather after their mar-

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riage.  On the afternoon of Feb. 23d, 1869, Frank and his father were engaged in repairing the stalls in the stable, and while thus engaged, the boy took an axe, and by blows on the head with it, killed Mr. Rice.  He then dug a hole near the river bank, and ha___ the dead man to it on a sled, burried him and started down the river, got on a boat near, or at Manchester, and started down the river, got on a boat near, or at Manchester, and got as far as Cairo, Illinois, where he was arrested, brought back, indicted, tried at the September term of the Common Pleas Court, found guilty of murder in the first degree, and sentenced to be hung, on the second Friday in February, 1870, between the hours of 12 o'clock M and two o'clock P.M. on that day.  His counsel carried his case to the Supreme Court, which suspended the execution.  The rulings of the court below being sustained, it remained for the Supreme Court to fix the day for the execution, which was ordered to take place May 6, 1870, between the hours of 9 o'clock, A. M. and 4 o'clock P. M., on said day.  Thus the matter remained until the 27th of April, when Governor Hayes commuted his punishment to imprisonment in the penitentiary for life.  These papers were received by the Sheriff on April 30, and on the third day of May, Hardy was delivered to the officers of the Ohio Penitentiary, and safely enclosed in its walls.  While serving out his sentence he was in the fall of 1879, pardoned by Gov. Bishop, and set free again.  He soon settled in Kentucky, where he now resides.

MURDER OF LUTHER COLLIER.

    Sometime previous to July, 1872, an ill feeling had existed between Luther Collier and James W. Harper, growing out of the circumstances of the former having made an unsuccessful effort to collect some debt or claim from the latter, by process of law.  There was a bitter feeling between the parties in consequence thereof.    They accidently met at a public sale, at the house of Wash  Brown, one and a half miles below Rome, on the23d of July, 1872.  A personal combat ensued, and while the parties were down, Harper drew a knife with which he stabbed Collier in the back, penetrating his lungs, from which wounds he died on the 13th day of the succeeding August.  Harper was arrested, indicted, tried at the May term of court, 1874, found guilty of murder in the second degree, and sentenced to the penitentiary for life.  In the latter part of November, 1879, he was pardoned by Gov. Bishop.