Born February 13, 1749 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania  Died April 10, 1815 in Williamsburg, Ohio

Buried in the Williamsburg Cemetery, Williamsburg, Ohio

There have been many mentions of the patriot and pioneer James Kain, Jr. in the papers, documents

and histories of early Clermont County. In particular, the work of Byron Williams, the author  of the two volume History of Clermont and Brown Counties – Hobart Publishing Co. 1913, stands out as our primary source. We must recognize the outstanding efforts of Mr. Williams to preserve these valuable stories from our early history. On

the occasion of this 200th anniversary of the Patriot James Kain, Jr.’s death, it is appropriate that we assemble not just the many elements from Mr. Williams work, but all the documents, references, tidbits and clippings into a cohesive biographical sketch. Our hope is that this resulting biography will pay a fitting tribute to Patriot James Kain, Jr.’s contributions and his spirit of patriotism.

- John H. Bredenfoerder, 4th great-grandson of Patriot James Kain, Jr.

Military Service

Revolutionary service records of the National Archives and papers of Old Lancaster County Pennsylvania clearly establish that James Kain, Jr. served as both a corporal and a sergeant guarding the Continental Congress. These sources also verify that in 1782 James Kain, Jr. served as a private in the 5th Company, 8th Battalion of the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Militia under the command of Captain Samuel Boyd. While these references are essential for establishing James Kain, Jr. as an official patriot of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, the details of his pioneering post-­‐revolutionary journey westward give us an even greater perspective into his strong, industrious, unfailing character; the true foundation of his patriotism.

The Journey to Ohio

In the spring of 1789, the 40 year-­‐old Patriot James Kain, Jr. and his family departed their native home in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania with a substantial quantity of supplies and prized family possessions. Among the items that the family transported were two large millstones and a grandfather clock. These were not the typical items to be carried by a family making the difficult westward journey. Having descended from Scotch Irish roots, James and his two older sons have often been portrayed as unusually strong and formidable men, so it could be assumed that they were up to the challenge of transporting the very substantial cargo. The eight-­‐member Kain family included: James’ aged father, also named James; his mother, believed to be named Catherine; his wife, Catherine who was of German descent; his two sons, Daniel and John; and his two daughters, Mary (known as “Polly”) and Sarah. 

Having encountered several Indian incursions on their early journey, the family stopped at Redstone Fort in southwestern Pennsylvania and planted a crop in the late spring of 1789. This fort was a frequent stop and point of embarkation for travelers who had crossed the Alleghenies on the way west via the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers. In the spring of 1790, the Kain family left the Redstone Fort and journeyed by boat down the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers to the Columbia settlement just east of present-­‐day Cincinnati, Ohio. 

The family arrived at Columbia in early 1790 but were compelled to reside for the next two years in the settlement’s “blackhouse” (most likely a transcription error of “blockhouse“) to benefit from the thick walls of the Fort to which offered added protection from roving bands of Indians. Indian attacks were common; two men of Columbia had been killed while the Kains were in residence. The following, first-­‐hand description of a Columbia settlement house reveals how important security was to these early settlers: 

“Its narrow doors of thick oak plank, turning on stout wooden hinges, and secured with strong bars braced with timber from the floor, formed a safe barrier to the entrance below; while above, on every side, were port-­‐holes, or small embrasures, from which we might see and fire upon the enemy. Of windows we had but two, containing only four panes of glass each, in openings so small, that any attempt to enter them, by force, must have proved fatal to an assailant.”

On July 2, 1790 during their secure stay at the Columbia settlement, Catherine Kain gave birth to Thomas, the family’s youngest son.

Sometime in 1792, the Kains again relocated a few miles east to another temporary home in Newtown, Ohio. That is where, on March 9, 1793 Catherine delivered her youngest daughter Elizabeth. The Newtown home appears to have been another safe haven for Catherine Kain, the younger Kain children, and the elderly Kain grandparents, while James and his older children eventually traveled even further east to prepare a site and construct their new home on the banks of the East Fork River in what was to eventually become Lytlestown (Williamsburg), Ohio. Shortly before his departure from Newtown in 1795, James applied for a liquor license. This was the first indication of James’ plan to become a tavern owner once he was established at his final destination.

The First Family of Williamsburg Township, Ohio

In 1795, James Kain, Jr. and his two stalwart sons, Daniel and John, contracted with Major General William Lytle of the Ohio Militia to assist his surveyors to clear 40 acres of tornado-­deadened land. The resulting clearing, eventually known as“The Big Field,” had been designated as the site for Major General Lytle’s planned town of Lytlestown. Accompanying the Kain men to the site were James’ 12 year-old daughter, Mary “Polly”Kain, and her older friend, Polly Bunton, from the Columbia Settlement.  The two young ladies rode together on a single horse to make this journey. All historical accounts report that they were the first white women to come to the East Fork Valley. In Polly Kain’s own account, she states that on her first night at the surveyor’s camp local Indians attempted to unleash and take her horse. The horse had been secured with chains to a large log near the two surveyor cabins. While the noises stopped by dawn and the horse was still secure, the event represented a somewhat unsettling start. Nevertheless, the two Pollys served as cooks and domestics for the Kain men and the surveying party. Each of the women eventually received a parcel of land from Major General Lytle for their contributions to the building of his new town. The men recorded to be in residence at the surveyor's camp were: (Patriot2) Adam Bricker, Adam Snider and (Patriot3) Ramoth Bunton, the father of Polly Bunton.

Not long after the Kains arrival at the surveyor’s camp, they established their own clearing camp and built a cabin about a mile and a half west of the existing surveyor's camp. The site of the new camp was adjacent to a spring beneath the brow of a hill, about two hundred yards south of the present Route 276, on the west bank of the Kain Run stream. That stream was named in honor of Patriot James Kain Jr. In addition to the clearing of “the Big Field,” another provision of the Lytle-Kain contract included the clearing of the site of the future Lytle home of  "Harmony Hill.” The brothers, Daniel and John Kain, were paid $48 for clearing the four and three-quarter acres that was designated as the site for the home. Their father, James Kain, Jr., received 400 acres on Clover Lick Creek for clearing the adjacent 80 acres that would serve as the Lytle farm.

In the spring of 1796, James Kain, Jr. planted his first field of corn. He had just been awarded Lytlestown lot #43 in exchange for clearing the original 40 acres. His new lot was located next to the existing surveyor cabins. In the summer of 1796, he used his newly acquired land for the construction of the first business structure of Lytlestown, The Kain Tavern. 

Once the tavern had been built and the corn harvested, it was time to reunite his family. The following fall, the petite, dark-haired and dark-eyed Catherine Kain finally rejoined her strong and industrious husband at the newly forming settlement. Traveling from Newtown, Catherine traveled in a wagon to her new home, accompanied by James’ parents, the three youngest Kain children and young Archibald McLain, the wagon’s driver. They traveled over a road that had to be cut through the brush. Due to the crudely hewn surface, the trip took several days before the party finally arrived in Lytlestown. The first family of Major General Lytle’s new town was finally established in their new home and the Kain Tavern was open for business!

Work on William Lytle’s town continued to progress throughout the fall of 1796  until November 26, when a blizzard froze the earth and stakes could not be driven. Consequently, no more was done with compass and chain that year. Before leaving for winter quarters, the reports were completed for three surveys for Daniel De Benneville, amounting to three thousand five hundred acres including the town and nearly one-­‐fifth of the township of Williamsburg. Much work was promised the next year. The platting and the statements of Lytle gave such assurance for the new town that some decided to stay. According to custom, a lot each was to be given the first ten settlers that would build a house. James Kain, Jr. had already taken Lot 43 west of the Surveyor's Camp that ranged along the bank and the adjoining part of Front Street. Adam Snider built on Lot 265. Adam Bricker took his chance west of the mill site. Ramoth Bunton chose a lot near the spring, north from the public square. There was plenty of corn harvested from the Big Field and plentiful game could be found in the woods. The Kain Tavern provided well-prepared fare and a warm shelter from the cold winter. It is believed that (Patriot10) John Lytle was among the residents of Lytlestown for this first winter. If so, he most likely resided at the newly opened Kain Tavern.

The Kain Tavern

The earliest accounts of the Kain Tavern describe it as the central meeting place for early Lytlestown

(Williamsburg). The tavern immediately became a place that surveyors brought wild game they had acquired while working in the fields and woods. The Kain family would skillfully prepare the provisions for the table and it became a much more varied and welcoming fare than the surveyor’s regular camp food. The prized family grandfather clock was on display in the main room of the principal residence. It was said that Major General Lytle himself planned many of the details for his new town while in residence and enjoying the hospitality of the Kain Tavern. The Major General was often accompanied there by John and James Campbell, his chain carriers, and James Sterling, his marker.

The tavern was of log construction. It was described in the account of the opening of Clermont County’s first official court session as a considerable row of cabins: “In 1803, on the fourth Tuesday of December, which then fell on the twenty-­‐eighth, the first court in all that is east of the Little Miami River and west of Eagle Creek was formally opened at Williamsburg, the seat of justice for Old Clermont. A procession was formed on Front Street, in front of the considerable row of cabins known as James Kain's Tavern.”

Many well-­‐known people visited the tavern on their journeys west to Cincinnati; it was an especially popular stopping point for travelers traveling between the early state capital of Chillicothe and the port of Cincinnati. One of the most noted visitors was former Vice President Aaron Burr. Having become infamous after his duel with Alexander Hamilton, the former Vice President received a much less than favorable reception from the townsfolk of Williamsburg. In fact, the residents performed an orderly demonstration in front of the Kain Tavern playing and marching to “The Rogue’s March.” The former vice-­‐president was said to have disdainfully observed the demonstration from within his quarters in the tavern. 

William Glancy fondly remembers the Kain Tavern in his account of the days preceding Christmas 1804.  He and several other Williamsburg townsfolk made a supply run from –most likely – the Columbia Settlement. The main contingent took the first of two wagons across the East Fork River and on into Williamsburg, leaving William and his 14 year-­‐old, orphaned nephew James Glancy to guard a second wagon of provisions. The two young men made a campfire near a hut made of poles and bark near the crossing and a hunt was undertaken to pass a part of the afternoon. William shot a deer and the quarters of venison were fastened into the tops of saplings bent down by their weight and thus lifted out of reach of the wildlife; but before that was fully accomplished, wolves began to gather about. To keep the wolves in check, one man would shoot while the other loaded to ensure that one gun would always be ready.  The approaching pack burgeoned and eventually circled a beaten space around their fire.  Throughout the long, tedious night of Sunday, December 23rd, the woods were filled with the howling of more than twenty hungry beasts. William later said that the sweetest sound he ever heard was the tinkling of the harness bells of the several teams of horses that his father brought through the frosty morning to retrieve the second wagon. The reunited family reached the ford and went up “the Dug Way" to Williamsburg,"Where they all ate their 1804 Christmas eve supper at James Kain's tavern.”

The Dug Way

James Kain, Jr. was most certainly a focused and industrious man -­‐ especially when it came to his business decisions. He would easily readjust his plans if a new opportunity or challenge was presented. When surveyor John Donnells’ Trace was laid by the upper ford, James Kain Jr. quickly perceived that travel would be turned away from his tavern, so he and his sons graded an angling cut through the steep bank. The bank stood thirty feet high between his tavern, and the lower ford that was located just 330 feet further to the east. 

Through his family’s timely and tireless efforts, James Kain, Jr. had forever eliminated a half of mile segment of the distance from Donnells’ Trace, a measured distance of 60 1/2 miles to Chillicothe.  That half of mile of saved travel, brought every coming or going traveller directly to the James Kain’s door and added much to his prosperity. "The Dug Way" also changed the expected growth of the town of Williamsburg: migration could now flow further north. Caravans of settlers went westward by way of the Round Bottom Road, the Deerfield Road, or the Lebanon Road to scatter along the environs of the Miamis and, for many years, to transform that region into the wealthiest per capita district in the United States. 

As the tide of immigration ebbed, the newly established Norfolk and Western Railroad provided a new, convenient method of travel for both business and pleasure. (James’ great-­‐grandson Clifford Kain was employed as an engineer for this same railway – making runs between Cincinnati and Clermont County.)  In 1797, James Kain, Jr. was recorded in early Hamilton County as the supervisor of the road surveyed to Williamsburg by John Donnells. James Kain, Jr. was later appointed by the Hamilton County Court as supervisor of the road to Chillicothe. It is likely that he acted under that authority in cutting the "Dug Way".

Later Life

The town of Williamsburg continued to develop and grow after the first winter of 1796-­‐97 and James Kain, Jr. continued to serve the Township of Williamsburg as an innkeeper and road supervisor, later, as the Clermont County Coroner. Many of James’s children and their families also took on leadership roles in the new community.  His three sons were renowned for their military service in the War of 1812. Later his son Daniel served as county sheriff, then, for 24 years, as a justice of the peace, and finally, as postmaster from 1839 till his death. Son Thomas also served as Clermont County Coroner.

In approximately 1807 and before his service in the War of 1812, Captain Stephen Smith came to Williamsburg.  He married James Kain, Jr.'s daughter, Sarah.  Among other endeavors in addition to Smith’s plow and wagon shop, Smith set up a horse mill on Lot No. 122. While it is not positively confirmed that Smith refitted James’ millstones, it is very likely that they were the same stones that were carefully transported from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. One thing is certain: early life in Williamsburg included the luxury of milled flour, rather than the more common pounded grain found in many other early Ohio settlements. It is very likely that the Kain Tavern proudly served many freshly baked breads, pies and cakes created with flour milled from these advantageous stones.

The Children of James Kain Jr. and Their Families

1.     Daniel, eldest son of James Kain, Jr. married Mary Hutchinson.  Mary Hutchinson died leaving children Mary, James and Joseph. Their daughter, Mary, married Israel Foster and was the mother of Bishop R. S. Foster. Joseph, born September 10, 1802, drove of one of the tri-­‐weekly stages to and from Chillicothe to Cincinnati. Early on Thursday morning, August 28, 1828, as his stage came down the road within a few miles of Williamsburg, the four horses all took fright at a huge buzzard tied so that it would swing and flap across the road. In the sudden struggle for control, Joseph was thrown from his place on the stage, and died instantly.

On December 1, 1805, Daniel Kain married his second wife, Elenor Foster, a sister of his future son-in-law, Israel. They were children of (Patriot5) Thomas and Nancy Trigg Foster. The children of Daniel and Elenor Kain were William L., married to Mary West; Henry C., married to Rebecca Homan; Thomas; Catherine, married to Samuel Ellis; Sarah, married to Dr. William Gage; Eliza, married to Rev. John Miller; Paulina, married to George Davison; and Manora, married to Samuel G. Peterson. Although Thomas was badly crippled, he was still a very useful pioneer teacher. Samuel and Catherine Ellis were the parents of Thomas Kain Ellis. Elenor Foster Kain was born March 14, 1782, and died July 25, 1842.

Daniel Kain was a soldier in Wayne's victorious army. He was commissioned a captain in 1801 by Governor St. Clair and was a major in active service in the War of 1812.  Although at the time he was a colonel of militia, he was referred to as "major," the rank in actual war. Daniel Kain was later a sheriff of the county, then, for 24 years, a justice of the peace and, finally, a postmaster from 1839 till his death, March 11, 1843. Daniel Kain was a zealous Methodist, a faithful Mason, and vice-president of the first temperance convention held in Brown and Clermont. In personal appearance, he was described as being “tall, dark and fine looking, with a martial air.” He was held in a high respect.

2.     John, the second son of James Kain, Jr. was married on May 4, 1797, to Elizabeth Raper, who was born April 6, 1783, and died March 17, 1839. She was the oldest daughter of Leonard Raper, a British Revolutionary soldier. Leonard Raper was born in England, March 19, 1750, and well educated in London. His wife, Temperance Holly, was born in Wales, November 22, 1764, and died November 28, 1841. The sons of Leonard and Temperance Raper were Samuel, Joseph, Holly and William H., and the daughters were Elizabeth, Margaret, Sarah and Mary. Margaret married John Randall. Mary married James Kain III (son of Daniel Kain). Sarah married Lieutenant Thomas Foster. William H. was the noted Methodist minister. Following service as a sergeant in Samuel in Captain Boersttler's company, in which brother, Samuel Raper, was first corporal during the War of 1812, Holly served four terms as sheriff of Clermont county. Joseph raised a family and died on the home farm. Samuel married Mary Jones, daughter of a New Jersey family, and died on his farm a mile and a half south of Bethel, leaving the reputation of a strong-­‐minded man worthy of his ancestry. His daughter, Sarah, who was born January 20, 1822, and died November 22, 1896, was married April 25, 1839, to Robert Blair, who was born July 22, 1816, and died September 8, 1879. Robert was the son of John Blair, who married Antis, a daughter of David and Nancy Vaughan White. The children of Robert and Sarah Raper Blair were Augustus C., Judith, Elizabeth, and Katherine. Of these, Elizabeth married Albion T. Kain, who is a great grandson of James Kain, Jr. through son John Kain and grandson John Wesley Kain.

The children of John and Elizabeth Raper Kain were Margaret, Thomas, Sarah, Samuel H., James, Daniel,  Elizabeth, John Wesley, Caroline and George W. Of these Elizabeth, who was born March 12, 1816, and died November 5, 1889, was married October 15, 1835, to Lewis Ellis. John Wesley Kain was born November 7, 1819, and on August 27, 1840, was married to Almira Hull, a daughter of Thomas and Mary Wilson Hull, who came from Pennsylvania, where he had been a soldier in the War of 1812. The children of John Wesley and Almira Kain are Luther, Lorisa and Albion T.  Lorisa is the wife of Charles P. Chatterton.

John Kain was a soldier with his brother, Daniel, in Wayne's army. He gave much service to the county of

Old Clermont, and notably was the county treasurer for seven years. He was also a colonel of the militia. After his father's death John Kain built another successful tavern in Williamsburg at the northwest corner of Main and Third streets. Following John’s death on February 6, 1846, his youngest son, John Wesley Kain took over management of the tavern.  John Wesley Kain died on April 4, 1888. The house was the scene of much historic action, of which the most dramatic was its occupation on July 14-15, 1863, as the headquarters of General John Morgan during his famous Northern raid. In person, a contemporary of John Kain described him as “a dark-eyed, swarthy, broad-shouldered and a stern-visaged man who tolerated no loitering about his Inn, yet he was sternly kind, and unusually devoted to his friends.”

Masonry was John Kain’s chief ideal. From his initiation in the old jury room, April 19, 1819, to his last attendance 26 years later on, April 18, 1845, Clermont Social Lodge held 415 meetings. John was present for 383 of them. Among the offices John held in the Lodge, he was elected treasurer for sixteen successive years. During the thirteen years of anti-Masonic excitement, John was present at all but eleven of the 185 Lodge’s meetings and the records of committee work show that his exemplary punctual, efficient, resolute and prudent ways were an inspiration to his colleagues. He was as a corner stone for the work of the craft.

3.     Thomas was the youngest son of James Kain, Jr. and the 3rd great-grandfather of John H. Bredenfoerder, the compiler of this biography. Thomas was born July 2, 1790 at the Columbia Settlement. On March 1, 1812, Thomas married Mary Herbert in Clermont County, Ohio. Mary Herbert was born in Trenton, New Jersey on April 9, 1794. She died November 5, 1864 in Batavia, Ohio. Mary was the oldest child of James and Sarah (Hendrickson) Herbert. James Herbert was Williamsburg’s jail keeper; his family resided in the Old Stone Jail facility. James Herbert was born June 6, 1765 in New Jersey and died March 19, 1822 in Clermont County, Ohio. He married Sarah Hendrickson on July 14, 1793 in New Jersey. Sarah Hendrickson was the daughter of Patriot Oke Hendrickson, also of New Jersey, who later settled in Poplar Flat, Kentucky. Poplar Flat is located about eight miles west of present day Vanceburg, Kentucky. Sarah Hendrickson Herbert was born February 9, 1772 in New Jersey and died July 22, 1828 in Clermont County, Ohio. The Herbert family spent a brief time with Sarah’s parents in Poplar Flat before they came west to Clermont County, Ohio. Mary Herbert’s younger brother Dr. William Herbert returned to Poplar Flat to provide medical care for settlers in that area.

About four weeks after his marriage to Mary Herbert, Thomas Kain answered the first call for the War of 1812 as a first lieutenant in Captain Boersttler's Rifle Company. Captain Boersttler was killed at the Battle of Brownstown and Lieutenant Thomas Kain was promoted to captain. In 1824, when Batavia was fixed as the new county seat, Captain Kain became the Colonel of the Clermont County Militia and relocated to Batavia. In Batavia, Thomas followed the family business by opening an inn just like his father James and his brother John. With that, a Kain Tavern was established in Batavia and Thomas, too became a well- known innkeeper. Colonel Kain was also highly esteemed in the local Methodist Church, Masonic Lodge and the Batavia community.  He died on August 17, 1856.

The children of Colonel Thomas and Mary Herbert Kain were: James Herbert Kain, who married Margaret B. Ellis; John Washington Kain, who first married Mary Lukens and later married Caroline Moore; Daniel D. Kain, who married Jane Tate; Caroline Kain; William Milton Kain, who first married Elizabeth J. Gerard and  later married Elizabeth Robinson; Almira Kain, who married David J. Clossin; Matilda Caroline Kain, who married William Baum; Sarah Catherine Kain, who married Jesse Ellis; George Forman Kain; and Charles Henry Kain, who married Laura Perrine Jamieson.

4.     Mary, called Polly, married James Perrine, on July 4, 1804. Their children were:  Daniel Kain Perrine, married to Catherine Smith; Catherine, married to  John Jamieson; Elizabeth, married to Aaron Leonard (son of [Patriot9] Moses Leonard);  Joseph A., married to Laura Trautwine;  Joseph Leon, married to Susan Records; John, married to Eve Ann Richards; Thomas; and Holly.

5.     Sarah Kain married Stephen Smith, captain of the second company from Williamsburg during the War of 1812. Captain Smith, born October 20, 1781, was one of the nine children of Israel Smith, born December 15, 1745, and Catherine Smith (not a kin), born June 12, 1756. The children of Captain and Sarah Kain Smith were: Rosannah, married to Elijah Dennis; Sarah, married to Adam Snell Walker; Mary, married to William Walker and parents of L. G. Walker, the father of Mrs. John C. Fuhr; Martha, first married to Robert Boyd then to William Walker; Robert D; Harriet, married to Thomas Foster; Eliza, married to Philip Chatterton; Francis Mahlon, married to Frances Black; and Clinton D., married to Eliza (?).

6.     Elizabeth married Sergeant Daniel Campbell. He was killed in the battle of Brownstown in 1812. She then married Samuel Cade. Their daughter Rebecca Cade married George A Peterson of Clermont County in 1834. Elizabeth and Samuel Cade later moved further west.

The James Kain, Jr. Grave Site

The grave of James Kain, Jr. is centrally located in Williamsburg Cemetery on the crest of a hill about 40 feet beyond the small red brick building.  He is surrounded by most of his children and grandchildren with the exceptions of his son Thomas and his daughter Elizabeth. Thomas and his family are buried in the Batavia Union Cemetery and Elizabeth and her 2nd husband Samuel Cade are buried in an unknown location.