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Milford Ohio Area History
The Earliest Settlers
Robert Terwillegar

When our last notes ended it was 1788, and John Nancarrow had just had his land warrants surveyed. Apparently he saw value in the Little Miami ripples at this site. It was and continued to be an excellent crossing spot, which made it also an excellent spot for a settlement. Nancarrow picked his 230 acres to include the ripples (the crossing), a village site along the river, and upland along present day route 50 to include the site of present day Greenlawn cemetery.

However Nancarrow did not settle here. The area's first permanent settler was the Reverend Francis McCormick. He was a Revolutionary War veteran and had warrants that allowed him to claim 1000 acres. He claimed and settled in 1796 on land selected north of Nancarrow. He built a cabin on the hill at the end of present day Forest Avenue.

One reason no one settled between 1788 and 1796 was the experience the outposts out of Cincinnati had with the Indians. The nearest settlement to Milford was Covalt's Station on the site of St Thomas Church in Terrace Park. Another, a mile or so below that, was called Round Bottom. These were settled in 1789-90 on lands purchased from John Cleves Symes. Both of these settlements built stockades large enough to live in and house the animals. They had no idea of building a village. From the viewpoint of the Indians this was an invasion of their land and they resisted. Large-scale attacks were not common, but raids were. When a couple of settlers were killed while in the woods, soldiers from the fort at Cincinnati were garrisoned at the station. When Captain Covalt unwisely built a house outside his stockade, he and his millwright, Joseph Hinkel, were killed and scalped. Although the stations persisted, constant vigilance was required.

Everything changed after 1795. The reason settlement in Clermont and Hamilton Counties increased right after 1795 was the victory of "Mad Anthony" Wayne over the Indians at Fallen Timbers in 1794. The Treaty of Greenville was signed in 1795, and Indians were no longer a major threat to settlement.

Next month we will write about the Indian Wars that made the settlement of Ohio possible. After that we will get back to Milford.

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