In 1805, for $1.50 an acre, Jacob Miller purchased this property in
the Congressional Land Office in Chillicothe, capital of the new
state of Ohio. He and Somerset co-founder John Finck then each built
a tavern on either side of town along the Zane's Trace, laid out along
existing Indian trails in 1796-1797 and Ohio's first major thoroughfare.
Finck built his home and tavern in 1807 and Miller his shortly after
From 1800 to 1815. Zane's Trace saw significant traffic between the
established eastern states and the newly opened Northwest Territory.
A perpetual stream of emigrants rolled westward, giving constant
occupation to hundreds of tavern-keepers. Besides operating his
tavern and farming, Jacob Miller was a public servant. In 1809 he
was appointed Overseer of the Poor as there was a need to "bind
out" poor children to families who could take care of them.
Jacob Miller also served as Township Supervisor and the "Fence
Viewer" a person responsible for ensuring that a fence line remained
true and legal. Soldiers were recruited from the tavern to fight with
General William H. Harrison's army during the War of 1812. Miller died
in his forties in 1823, after providing for his wife Catherine and his
two sons and two daughters. As quoted in his will, he willed "my soul
to heaven and
my body to dust." One of the oldest two-story log
taverns in Ohio, the structure was also the boyhood home of Civil War
General Philip Sheridan. His parents, John and Mary, purchased
the
tavern when they came to Somerset in 1834. This tavern and Pigsfoot
Square are part of the Somerset Historic District, which was placed
on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
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