Jamestown History
Condensed from an article by Jim Reis in
Pieces of the Past-Volume 3
Jamestown was incorporated on March 1, 1848. The plat was dated three days later and filed in Campbell County records. According to the state charter, the founding fathers were James T. Berry, James M McArthur and Henry Walker.
Berry was a grandson of James Taylor, founder of Newport and the father of Albert S Berry, who became a congressman. James Berry's wife, Virginia was a daughter of Nathaniel Vice, founder of Visalia. McArthur was a former state representative who became a state senator.
The name "Jamestown" may have simply been in honor of one or more of those men named James or in honor of Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in North America. Another prime mover in the creation of Jamestown was John N Taliaferro. He also was a state representative.
Jamestown was the eastern section of Dayton bounded on the north by the Ohio River, east by Clay Street, south by Seventh Street and west by Clark Street. Named as trustees by the state charter were John Richards, Hubbard Helm, Lewis Thacker, Hiram Shellcross, Samuel Masters and John Baltson. They were to serve until the second Monday in March 1848, when all white male inhabitants of the town were to meet to elect new trustees. Similar elections were to be held each March.
The plat also included a "reserved" lot at the foot of Main Street, apparently for a ferry dock. Berry, McArthur and Walker had specified in the incorporation agreement that they retained the right to operate a ferry in Jamestown. The incorporation also called for the trustees to plant "a large stone deep in the ground at every corner of the boundary line of" the new town.
By the 1850s, the trappings of a civilized community were taking hold. A ferry was operating from the foot of what is Dayton Street, and ordinances were passed prohibiting nude swimming or bathing in the Ohio River during daylight hours and prohibiting dogs from running loose. Those who violated the bathing/swimming law faced a $1 fine for the first offence, $2 for a second and $5 for any subsequent conviction. The dog ordinance gave people the right to shoot dogs they saw running loose in the city and to bill the owner for the expense of removing the dead carcass.
Peddlers also were required to obtain a license before selling anything in Jamestown, and anyone with a stagnant pool of water on their property was ordered to remove it for heath reasons.
The First Baptist Church was organized in May 1850, a Presbyterian church in March 1851, St. Francis Catholic Church in 1852 and a Methodist church in 1853. One of the older cemeteries is the St. Francis Cemetery. The cemetery is no longer in use and is located on the hill above Kentucky 8, near the F&N Steakhouse. St. Francis Church no longer exists.
It suffered a setback in 1877 when its pastor was accused of forging the name of Campbell County Sheriff Hubbard Helm on a $3800 note. The pastor disappeared and creditors tried to lay claim to the church building to regain their loses. In the end, the Diocese of Covington purchased the church building and property. The parish continued until 1913. But a new church was built and the parish is now at St. Bernard Church.
During the Civil War, the allegiance of most Northern Kentucky communities was divided. Many residents were devoted to the southern cause. Helm, the former Jamestown trustee who later became sheriff, was arrested and spent time in a prison in Louisville. He was accused of telling Union troops who passed through Northern Kentucky on the way to fight Confederates in the South that he hoped they would never return alive.
After the war, crime put Jamestown in the news. On December 16, 1865, the body of an infant was found in the St. Francis Cemetery. The account said the body, which appeared to have been about a week old, showed "marks of violence." The parents were a common-law couple and the mother had disappeared, but the father was found, arrested and charged with the murder.
Jamestown elected a board of trustees in March 1866. George Maxwell was elected mayor and the trustees were M R Harris, James Kesler, Theodore Kuvens, Martin Betsch, J K Edwards and Charles Clark. A month later it was announced that Jamestown and Brooklyn were talking merger. Jamestown approved it 97 to 5, and Brooklyn voted 51 to 6.
A Cincinnati newspaper account on July 4, 1866
said the name selected was "Dayton". The writer added, "We predict at some
future day she will rival the beautiful city in Ohio after which she was named."
Dayton was created March 9, 1867 when Governor Thomas E Bramlette signed the act
merging the two cities. The first meeting of the new Dayton council was on
March 12, 1867.