My grandfather died in 1823. In 1834 his youngest son, Abijah, sold the farm to John Johnson, and removed to Montgomery County, Ind. Mr. Kelly's family came to Ohio in 1800, and settled near where Samuel Kelly now lives.

Many years ago in conversation with an old gentleman, who had spent the days of his youth and early manhood near Waynesville (my uncle, Abijah O'Neall), but who, for a number of years had been a resident of a neighboring State, I asked him if "he had seen our cemetery." His reply was, "Oh, yes, I attended the first funeral that ever took place in Miami Cemetery." I expressed my surprise and asked an explanation, which was given substantially as follows:

"When father's family first came to Waynesville we had to rely on the wild game of the forest for meat, and to enable us to successfully chase and capture the wild bear, it was necessary to have trained dogs, and in the winter of 1800 father bought a celebrated dog known as 'Boss'. The former owner living near Covait's Station, (just below Milford); the stipulated price being $16.50. The investment proved to be a good one. The dog thoroughly understanding the habits of the game he was expected to follow. He possessed sagacity, endurance, great strength and a sufficiency of prudence; he would never attack a bear in close quarters but would always make his attacks from the rear never allowing the bear to face him but always renewing his attacks from behind he would soon force his game to take to a tree. Then the hunters could come up and take a part with the rifle. In the early winter of 1802 a company of a dozen neighbors, with as many dogs, met at father's for the purpose of a bear hunt. They crossed Caesar's Creek at the mouth of *Jonah's Run, then a favorite hunting ground, and soon started and treed a bear. Old Boss, as usual, was the leader of the chase. The hunters reached the tree, the young dogs were clamoring around in a noisy importance, the old dog calmly and contemptuously indifferent now that his work was done and well done, he quietly waited for the rifle to end the chase. †Obediah Walker, an old and well-known hunter, shot and wounded the bear, causing him to fall from the tree. The young dogs, seeing the bear immediately sprang at him. Father seeing that the dogs would probably be killed, ran up with the intention of delivering a fatal shot, when the bear seeing father left the dogs and was almost in the act of seizing him. Old Boss seeing his master's danger, immediately sprang to the rescue and seized the bear by the throat. Prudence was forgotten, his master's life was in danger. The faithful servant offered his own as a sacrifice, for Bruin's fatal embrace, the terrible hug, closed around the dog , and as father's bullet crashed through his brain the dog's body was dropped, a mass of crushed and broken bones. A litter was made with two slender poles and a blanket. The crippled dog was placed upon it and the hunters carried him four miles through the woods to his master's home where all the surgical skill and kind care that grateful affection could lavish, was bestowed in vain. During the night the faithful servant and firm friend died. The next morning kind hands took the body and followed by a group of truly sorrying children, they carried him out and buried him on the top of the low bluff just back of what was formerly the Methodist grave-yard , but now a part of the cemetery. And that was the first burial that ever took place in Miami Cemetery."

*Jonah's Run is the little creek which falls into Caesar's Creek from the south-east, where the Waynesville and Henpeck pike crosses it, and was named after Jonah Eaton, who was, perhaps, the original oldest inhabitant.

†Obediah Walker was a pioneer of 1800, and lived on the west side of the Miami River, one mile below the mouth of Caesar's Creek.

[This transcription of a newspaper article, the original of which is in the collection of my father, Albert E. O'Neall, was probably written by George T. O'Neall, grandson of the pioneer (and bear hunter) Abijah O'Neall and father of Abijah O'Neall II (George's uncle), who later moved to Indiana. Unfortunately, great-grand-Uncle George kept his newspaper clipping intact and neat  ... without any mention of the date or provenance of the article, even when he was the author of it.  JO'N.]