THE PATHFINDERS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, OHIO.
SUPPLEMENTARY TO VOL. VI. OF OHIO ARCH. AND
HIST. SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS.
BY W. H. HUNTER.
INTRODUCTORY.
This supplement to The Pathfinders of
Jefferson County
(a paper on the early settlements of
Eastern Ohio, inspired by
the celebration of the centennial of
establishment of Jefferson
County, August 24, 25 and 26, 1897), was
commenced with view
of correcting errors in the main
publication, issued by the State
Historical Society (Vol. VI); but the
accumulation of data in
the hands of the compiler made a more
extended paper than
at first contemplated. Letters from
descendants of Pathfinders
called attention to the fact that the
names of the Fathers had
not been given, while much had been
written of their achieve-
ments. This defect has been corrected,
in degree at least, in
the following pages, which, it is
believed, contain the names
of a majority of the first settlers,
these names having been
gathered from many sources, principally
legal documents. The
compiler is not responsible for the
variety of name-spelling;
the names are given as he found them.
Gathering material for
this supplement has not been without
effort and expense; but
the compiler did the work as a duty
falling upon him as a citi-
zen; not because he felt he was more
competent to perform
the task of gathering and compiling the
data, but others did not
care to delve in the musty past. There
is much work yet to
do to complete the history of Jefferson
County; there are jour-
nals in the Court House, from any one of
which a historian can
gather data for a valuable book, and it
is desired by the writer
of this that some one who has leisure
will take up the work and
put in enduring print these records. To do this is certainly the
(132)
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 133
duty of some citizen who expects no compensation beyond
satis-
faction of what is called patriotic
yearning. At least, this work
should be undertaken by some one whose
whole time is not
devoted to necessary business effort.
ORIGINAL BOUNDARIES OF COUNTY AND
TOWNSHIPS-NOTES
OF PATHFINDERS.
The original boundary of Jefferson
County was: Beginning
on the bank of the Ohio River at the intersection of the western
boundary of Pennsylvania, down the river
to the present town
of Powhattan; west to near the west line of what is now Bel-
mont County; north to near the present
Town of Sandyville in
Carroll County; west to Muskingum (now
Tuscarawas River),
up the Tuscarawas and across Portage to
the Cuyahoga River;
down the Cuyahoga to Lake Erie; easterly
to Pennsylvania line
and south to the place of beginning. The
remainder of Harri-
son and Carroll Counties and a portion
of Tuscarawas County
were added January 31, 1807, but in the
meantime other coun-
ties were organized; the dates thereof
are noted on page 217
(Vol. VI.)
The first civil-township division made
of Jefferson County
was under the State Constitution, on the
10th of May, 1803,
as follows:
Warren Township - Beginning on the Ohio
River at the
lower end of the county; thence west
with the county line to
the center line of the Seventh
Geographical Township and Third
Range; thence north with said center
line until it strikes the
north boundary of Eighth Township and
Third Range; thence
east with the township line to the Ohio
River; thence down the
river to the place of beginning.
Robert McCleary, who settled within the
lines of this town-
ship in 1790, was appointed
the first Justice of the Peace for the
county. William Wells, who was an early
settler on Yellow
Creek, was also commissioned a Justice
of the Peace by Gov-
ernor St. Clair, the date being July 15,
1798. Other Justices in
the county at that time were, D. L.
Wood, Philip Cable and
David Vance.
134 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
The first election in Warren was at
George Humphrey's
mill; Robert McCleary and George
Humphrey were elected
Justices; Joseph McKee, James Reilly and
John Patterson, Trus-
tees, John McElroy, John Humphrey and
Benedict Wells hav-
ing previously served as Trustees.
Warrenton was laid out by
Zenas Kimberly in 1802. The first
house was built on the site
of the town in 1800 by John Tilton, who
settled in 1785 and
who founded Tiltonville in 1806. Solomon
Schamehorn set-
tled permanently in 1797; the Lisbys in
1801, William Lewis
1801.
The first deed recorded in Jefferson
County was for land
in Warren Township, being that of the
United States to Ephraim
Kimberly for 300 acres near Indian Short
Creek. The warrant
was issued to Kimberly for services as a
soldier in the Revo-
lutionary War. The deed was given under
seal at Philadel-
phia, 1795, and signed by George
Washington. The tract was
surveyed by Absalom Martin, and included
the mouth of Short
Creek. The southwest corner is marked by
a stone monument.
Among the Pathfinders in the territory
then included in
Warren Township were: Alexander and
James McConnell,
David Rush, David Barton, John Winters,
Samuel Patton, James
Campbell, John Edwards, Peter Snedeker,
John Henderson,
Robert and William McCullough, Joseph
Moore; all these in
1798-99. The Alexanders, Mitchells,
Clarks and Pickens also
came before 1800 and settled on what is
now known as Scotch-
Ridge, in Belmont County, where is
located perhaps the oldest
grave-yard in the original county. This
division is noted in
detail in account of townships erected
from the original War-
ren Townships - Warren and Wells.
Short Creek - Beginning at the southwest
corner of War-
ren Township; thence west with the
county line to the western
boundary of the county; thence north
with the county line to
the northwest corner of the Eleventh
Geographical Township
and Seventh Range; thence east with the
township line until the
line strikes the northwest corner of
Warren Township; thence
south to the place of beginning. Two
Justices; election held at
the house of Isaac Thorn. There were
early settlements, men-
tion of which is made in notes of
townships organized later in
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 135
the southern part of the county. The
township name is pre-
served in Harrison County. According to
Record Book A,
Isaac Thorn laid out a town named
Thornville in 1802.
The territory included in the original
Short Creek Town-
ship was early settled, there being
squatters well up the valley
before the Revolutionary War, Jesse
DeLong having been born
in this valley about 1776, and died at
the age of 106 years. Jo-
seph Huff (1) was living with his family
near the site of New
Athens in 1784.
Short Creek Township, when organized,
included the site
of one of the very first colleges in the
West. Franklin Col-
lege (2) was not founded by Dr. John McMilan, but the fact
1 In 1800 Joseph Huff, an Indian fighter
of note during the turbulent
times, killed an Indian on the
headwaters of Short creek, near what is
now Georgetown, Harrison county. In
relating the incident, he said he
was in the woods and seeing the Indian,
he fixed the sight of his gun
in range with the Indian's pipe, and the
savage immediately fell dead!
This would indicate that White Eyes was
not the last Indian killed in
Jefferson county. In writing to the
compiler of this incident A. J. Ham-
mond of Cadiz, says: Mrs. Capt. McCready
of Cadiz, has in her pos-
session a deed made to Joseph Huff for
the farm on which her father
lived, about one mile from New Athens,
dated 1806, and signed by
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. This
farm was sold to Judge
McFarland in 1824, and when the contract
was closed Mrs. Huff pointed
to a row of six apple trees, and said
she planted those trees forty years
ago, which would be 1784. One of these
trees still lives and had quite
a crop on it last year [1897].
Notwithstanding this positive statement,
made on authority of well-connected
tradition, Curtis Wilkin, a relative
of Joseph Huff, writes that Joseph Huff
did not settle on Short Creek
previous to 1796; and that William Huff,
and not Joseph, killed the
Indian in the manner stated. Still, his
wife may have planted the trees
before her marriage; there can be no
question as to the trustworthiness
of the authority for the statement that
the trees were planted in 1784.
Mr. Wilkin also writes that the home of
Joseph Holmes was the frontier
house on Upper Short Creek for three
years.
Richard Wells, a relative of the
Doddridges and of Bezaleel Wells,
and an early land speculator in this
region, while walking on the river
front near the site of the old water
works, between Market and Adams
streets in 1800, shot an Indian on the
Virginia side of the river.
2 The Charter of Franklin College is dated January 22, 1825, the
names of Incorporators being Rev. John
Rea, Salmon Cowles, John
136 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
that his nephew and pupil, also Dr.
(William) McMilan, was
the first President, gave the erroneous
impression.
The Town of Cadiz, laid out in 1804 by
Zaccheus Biggs
and Zaccheus Beatty, was in this
territory, being at the head
of the Short Creek Valley, three
branches of the creek having
their sources within or near the
corporation lines.
Archer - Beginning at the northwest
corner of Short Creek
Township; thence north with the county
line until it strikes the
north boundary of the Thirty-fourth
Section in the Thirteenth
Township and Sixth Range; thence east
with the said line until
it strikes the western boundary of the
Second Range; thence
south with said range line until it
strikes the Short Creek Town-
ship line; thence west with the line to
place of beginning.
Three Justices; election at Jacob Ong's
mill. The name of this
township is preserved in Harrison
County.
Steubenville - Beginning at the
northeast corner of Archer
Township, thence east to the Ohio River;
thence with the me-
andering of the river until it strikes
the line at Warren Town-
ship; thence west with the line of
Warren Township until it
Walker, David Jennings, William
Hamilton, John McCracken, John
Wylie, James Campbell, David Campbell,
John Trimble, John Whan,
Daniel Brokaw, Alexander McNary and
Alexander Hammond. To these
were added by election the same year:
Rev. Thos. Hanna, John Mc-
Laughlin, Stephen Caldwell, Joseph
Grimes and Matthew Simpson,
uncle of the Bishop, Rev. Wm. McMilan of
Canonsburg, Pa., was
elected President, and John Armstrong of
Pittsburg, Professor of Mathe-
matics.
The leading spirit in this enterprise
[founding Franklin College]
was Rev. John Walker, a minister of the
secession church. Mr. Walker
was a fit son of that particular branch
of the church: a church charac-
terized by its zealous orthodoxy and
sturdy theology. .. . He was a
man of deep conviction on the subject of
equal rights. Hence he entered
into the anti-slavery contest with all
the ardor of his impetuous nature,
and during that long controversy was one
of the leading anti-slavery
spirits of the West. . . . For some time
previous to the founding of
Franklin college an academy had been
conducted under his auspices at
New Athens under the name of Alma
academy, in active rivalry with a
similar institution at Cadiz. . . .By
the superior tact and energy of
the Rev. John Walker, the charter [dated
January 22, 1825,] was ob-
tained for the academy at New Athens. .
.. Dr. William McMilan
was elected President and John Armstrong
Professor of Mathematics.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 137
strikes the southeast corner of Archer
Township; thence with
the line of Archer Township to the place
of beginning. The
township embraced Island Creek, Cross
Creek and Salem Town-
ships. Four Justices; election in the
Court House, Steuben-
ville, January 18, 1803, Zaccheus
Biggs presiding. John Black
was elected Township Clerk; Zaccheus
Biggs, James Dunlevy
and James Shane, Trustees; Richard
Johnson and Jonathan
Nottingham, Overseers of the Poor;
Thomas Hitchcock, Wil-
liam Engle and Richard Lee, Fence
Viewers; Matthew Adams
and Samuel Hunter, Appraisers of Houses;
Andrew McCul-
lough, Lister of Taxable Property;
Thomas Gray, George
Friend, Daniel Dunlevy and Thomas
Wintringer, Supervisors
of Highways; Anthony Blackburn and
Andrew McCullough,
Constables.
According to a statement made by Mrs.
Polly Johnson, her
father, Augustine Bickerstaff, came to
Steubenville from Fay-
ette County, Pa., in 1798, the site of
the city at that time be-
. .Dr. McMilan was the nephew of Dr.
John McMilan, [one of] the
original founder[s] of Jefferson college
at Canonsburg, Pa., of which
institution he had been for some time
President. He had thus been
associated with, and reared under, the
tuition of that noble band of men,
the Smiths, Powers, McMilans and
Ralstons, who were so instrumental
in planting the seeds of Presbyterianism
and sound learning in the
country west of the Alleghanies. .. .
John Armstrong was the mathe-
matical oracle of Western Pennsylvania.
He made all the almanacs and
solved all the mathematical propositions
for Western Pennsylvania.
Learned societies in Europe recognized
his attainments by
admitting him to their fellowships. . .
. What are the results? In
this small college, with its two
professors, were educated such men as
the Hon. John Welsh of the Supreme Court
of Ohio; the Hon. William
Kennon, a member of Congress during
Jackson's administration, a friend
and advisor of the President; Wilson
Shannon, a former Governor of
Ohio; Dr. Joseph Ray, the well-known
mathematical writer, whose works
have maintained a longer popularity and
gained a wider circulation than
perhaps any other mathematical works
ever written; besides giving to
the church such men as Drs. Johnson,
Bruce, Henderson, Walkinshaw.
. Surely this is harvest enough for less
than seven years ..
Dr. McMilan died in 1832. . . . A Board of Regents was appointed
as Trustees of a Medical Department of
the college [to be established in
Wheeling,] consisting of J. C. Bennett,
Jonas Crumbacker, John C.
Wright, Samuel Stokely, Alexander
Campbell, S. H. Fitzhugh, James
Garver, Peter Yarnell, John Truax, P.
Doddridge, James Baker, W. A.
138 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
ing a thicket with only a few cleared
lots here and there. "With
our family came - Morris West, Gabe
Holland, Nathan Case-
bier, John Johnson, Adam McDowell and
Josiah Hitchcock.
We found a ferryman named Hanlin at the
river who brought us
across. There was hardly to be found a
soul in what is now
the suburbs of Steubenville. There was
one, John Parker, who
was a trapper on Wells Run [Lincoln
Avenue]. Bezaleel Wells
was quite a young man and resided where
Mr. Browning now
lives. Father paid Wells, who was a real
good, noble man, in
sugar, molasses and other farm products, for a farm. When
we first came father used to fetch salt
on horseback over the
mountains, until Hans Wilson opened a
store; it was in that
store I first saw calico and other goods
offered for sale. I
went to school three years after we came
[1801],
in a log hut,
about a mile from our house, but only in
the Winter as we
had to work hard during the other
seasons. The Winter teacher
Ward, A. A. Lewis, S. P. Hildreth and
John J. Johnson. The Regents
nominated the following Professors for
the Medical Department: John
Cook Bennett, John McCracken, John
Baxter, (New York) Chancey
Fitch Perkins, (Erie, Pa.) Edson B.
Olds, (Circleville, Ohio) James
Chew Johnson, (Louisville, Ky.) James
Garver, (Wheeling) A. J. Smith,
(Louisville) Anderson Judkins,
(Steubenville). This was such a formid-
able array of professors and so alarmed
the Trustees with their President
and one professor that nothing ever came
of the project. [Dr. McMilan
was succeeded by Rev. Richard Campbell;
he by Rev. Johnson Welsh.]
In 1837 the Board appointed Dr. Joseph
Smith, then pastor of a church in
St. Clairsville, the paternal grandson
of the Rev. Joseph Smith, one of
the pioneers of Presbyterianism in
Western Pennsylvania, and the ma-
ternal grandson of Dr. James Powers, his
worthy coadjutor. He was
thus from the same stock, and reared
under the same tuition with Dr.
McMilan. . . . The anti-slavery
agitation was becoming more and
more intense. The people who attended
the ministrations of Rev. John
Walker were almost to a man
stronglyanti-slavery. The Presbyterian Gen-
eral Assembly was divided. The congregation
of Crabapple [near New
Athens] was divided, although Rev. Jacob
Coons, the pastor, was strong
anti-slavery. . .. Dr. Smith opposed
agitation of the question ....
Mr. Coons left Crabapple and removed to
New Athens and organized a
Presbyterian church. Dr. Smith resigned
the Presidency. . . . The
majority of the Board was composed of
anti-slavery men but it was not
their intention to commit the college to
this principle, [but the appoint-
ment of Dr. Coons to the Presidency, was
evidence that the Trustees
opposed compromise. Coons was succeeded
in a year by Rev. Mr. Bur-
The Pathfinders of
Jefferson County, 0. 139
was called Madcap; a
very clever man from Baltimore
named
McCulley, taught in
the summer."
Mrs. Johnson also
stated that she remembered hearing
Lorenzo Dow preach on
the street in Steubenville in 1799 or
1800. It is known positively that Dow was in the Short
Creek
Valley in 1798 and preached to
the pioneers. He was known
to deliver eloquent
discourses to an audience composed of one
person.
Michael Castner,
grandfather of Thomas P. Spencer, Esq.,
who built a mill at
the head of Willis Creek at the beginning of
the century, was on
the site of Steubenville while it was a wil-
derness, - before the
place was considered as a town-site. He
owned a store on the
Monongahela River and one in Kentucky,
riding on horseback
from one to the other, and going through
this region, he
frequently stopped on the site of Steubenville.
He bought a thousand
acres of land in what is now Island Creek
Township, and he was
one of the pioneer merchants of Steu-
nett, an Associate
Reformed minister of near Pittsburg, but of Southern
birth and reticent on
the slavery question.] He resigned in a year, the
prospects being
discouraging, followed by Prof. Armstrong .
...
They [the Board]
resolved to . . . throw themselves
entirely upon
the anti-slavery
sentiment of the country .... [as] the
place had
come to be regarded
as the hot-bed of Abolitionism in Eastern Ohio.
. . . . [Rev. Edwin
H. Nevin succeeded Mr. Burnett.] His eloquent
denunciation of the
monster iniquity, aided by the hot shot of Rev. John
Walker, began to tell
upon the community. . .. The college had be-
come involved in
debt, and the creditors sued for their claims. ...
The consequence was
that the property of the college was taken in execu-
tion, and sold under
the hammer of the sheriff. . .. The college
[property] was
purchased by the colonization or pro-slavery party, and
under the name of
Providence college, they succeeded in establishing a
rival institution.
[The Trustees erected a building on the church lot and
President Nevin
continued his work.] The anti-slavery men had now
fairly won the
field . ... President
Nevin, in having the bell cast
for the college
placed upon it: "Proclaim Liberty Through All the
Land." [Dr.
Nevin was succeeded (1845) by Rev. Alexander D. Clark
who resigned in
1861]. . . . Her [Franklin college] sons are found
occupying positions
all over the land. .. . She has given to the Senate
of the United States
a Cowan, a Fowler and a Sharon, and to the House
of Representatives, a
Kennon, a Bingham [also Minister to Japan] and a
Lawrence. The
Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio in 1871 was
140 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
benville. Michael Castner built the fine
old mansion near the
Two Ridges Church now (1899) occupied by
Dr. John Kilgore.
His remains are interred in the Two
Ridges churchyard. The
grandfather of William Dean Howells
settled near the Castner
mill about 1819, after a short sojourn
on Short Creek. During
the summer of 1898 Orlin M. Sanford,
Esq., of Pittsburg, found
the old fireplace and numerous bits of
crockery at one time uten-
sils of the Howells family. He also
found the luxuriant thyme
bed mentioned by William C. Howells in
his Story of Ohio-
1813-1840. There are still remaining
traces of the old mill.
George Adams, father of Henry Adams now
(1898) living
in Steubenville Township, at the age of
seventeen joined General
Wayne's army, his parents then living in
Fayette County, Pa. He
aided in building Fort Recovery at which
place he was stationed.
He settled on Section 32, Steubenville
Township, 1796.
Laban Parks came to the Ohio country
from Virginia as a
soldier and was stationed at Fort
Carpenter, being in the fort at
the time the Johnson boys made their
famous escape from the
Indians. He came to Steubenville in
1797, but settled in what
is now Wayne Township in 1800. Colonel
Todd, who for many
years kept a tavern on the site of
Garrett's Hall on Market
Street, took a prominent part in the
Western Whisky Insur-
rection.
Philip Smith, who was with the Crawford
Sandusky Expe-
dition, settled near Steubenville in
1799, where he lived until
1812, then removing to Wayne County.
James Hunter was the first (Sept. 18,
1798) white male
child born on the site of Steubenville,
and John Ward the second,
born in October of the same year, Joseph
B. Doyle of The
Herald (1898) being a descendant of the
same family. The first
likewise a son of Franklin - George W.
McCook. She is represented
in halls of medical science by an Armor;
on the Supreme Bench of Ohio
by a Welsh; on that of Alabama by a
Bruce, and in the Theological
seminaries of the country by a Bruce, a
Clark and a Henderson. Seventy-
five per cent of her graduates have
entered the Christian ministry, and
some of the most distinguished and
useful men who adorn the pulpit are
found among them. - From Address of
President A. F. Ross at the
Semi-Centennial Celebration of
Franklin College, New Athens, June
23, 1875.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0.
141
white female child was Sarah Ward, born
in 1801. Hannah
Hunter, Ann Margaret Ward and Avery
Brown followed.
Other early settlers of Steubenville
Town and Township
were: John England, Martin Andrews,
Moses Hale, Squire Jen-
kinson, John Galbraith, Philip Cable,
Eli H. McFeely, Bezaleel
Wells, George Atkinson, James Johnston,
Thomas Dadey, Robert
Carroll, Thomas Kell, John Wilson, Brice
Viers, John C. Wright,
Nicholas Murray, John Hanlin, John
Moody, John Ralfe, Solo-
mon Silby, James Wallace, Thomas
Hamilton, James Wilson,
James Means, James Dick, Joseph Beatty,
John McMillan, George
Dohrman, Matthew Roberts, William Lowry,
J. G. Henning,
David Larimore, Thomas Scott, Moses
Hale, William R. Dickin-
son, Samuel Williams, John Jenkinson, P.
Snyder, J. C. Fisher,
Samuel Tarr, Andrew and Robert Thompson,
William Kilgore,
Hugh Sterling, Samuel Patterson, Arthur
Phillips, James Turn-
bull, Alexander Armstrong.
Rev. Lyman Potter, one of the first
Presbyterian ministers,
owned the land on which Mingo Junction
was built. Jasper
Murdock, a son-in-law, an early
Presbyterian missionary in the
Ohio country, owned adjoining land.
John Rogers, according to a sketch written
by Very Rev.
Dean Hartnedy, was probably the first
adherent of the Catholic
Church to settle in Steubenville
Township, locating on Cross
Creek in 1792. Previous to the War of 1812,
he had a mill in
operation, and made powder for the
regiment organized in
this county. William Arnold, whose
people settled at Cadiz,
at the age of sixteen, manufactured
powder and carried it to
Steubenville during that war.
Previous to 1812 the town of
Steubenville was supplied with
water from Springs west of Seventh
Street, conveyed by-means
of hollow logs connected with the
springs and laid tinder the
streets after the manner of modern
water-pipe lines. Cisterns
were also provided and water was also
furnished by water-haul-
ers who obtained their supply from the
river. Peter Snyder,
the first distiller, fell into one of
the wells which caved in and
buried him.
Mary McGuire, at whose house St. James
Episcopal Church
was organized, came from Maryland with
her son-in-law, Benja-
142 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications,
min Doyle, in 1798, and bought a portion
of what is now known
as the Infirmary farm, which was
afterward purchased by the
father of Gen. William Gibson; the
latter was born on this farm.
Benjamin Doyle was one of the most
prominent of the Pathfinders.
He established a tannery in
Steubenville, in 1798, perhaps the first
manufacturing industry in the city. Mrs.
McGuire was the
great-great-grandmother of Joseph B.
Doyle of The Steuben-
ville Herald, and of Charles Gallagher,
Cashier of the Steuben-
ville National Bank. Mrs. McGuire's
husband died in Wash-
ington County, Pa., before she came to
Ohio with her daughter
Priscilla Doyle. Benjamin Doyle, the
husband of Priscilla, who
held a county office, provided the first
public well in the town,
this well being on Market street, near
the Court House.
In this township was the Mingo Indian
Village3 noted in
history, and to which village Mary
Jamison4 was brought and here
she lived with the Senecas, her captors.
Near here was fought
the battle between Col. Buskirk and his
followers, the avengers
of Mrs. Buskirk so cruelly murdered, and
the Indians, in I793.5
Knox Township - Beginning at the
northeast corner of
Steubenville Township; thence west to
the western boundary of
the county; thence with the county line
until it strikes the line
of Columbiana County; thence east with
the line of Columbiana
County to the Ohio River; thence with
the meandering of the
river to the place of beginning. Two
Justices; election at the
house of Henry Pittenger.
3 When Logan removed to the Muskingum in
1774, after the killing
of his relatives opposite the mouth of
Yellow creek, the Senecas deserted
Mingotown and it was never after
occupied by the Indians. How long
the Indian village had been occupied is
unknown, still it is believed the
Senecas lived there in 1755. - Caldwell.
4After the conclusion of the
French-English war, Mary Jamison,
learning that she was to be given up to
the whites in accordance with
the treaty, escaped into the wilderness
with her half-breed children, and
remained hidden until the search was
over. She lived to an advanced age
but never lost her attachment to Indian
life. The Six Nations gave her a
large tract of land known as the Garden
Tract, which action was after-
wards confirmed by the state of New
York.
5 In 1828 George Adams felled a large
tree on the site of the Buskirk
battle, cutting through a leaden ball an
ounce in weight, supposed to
have been discharged during the battle.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 143
Knox included the whole of the northern
part of the county
and embraced the Yellow Creek region
memorable as the scene
of interesting history. Through this country marched Bouquet6
and his intrepid army of fifteen hundred
daring souls, to the
Muskingum, in October, 1764, and the
brave hearts who built
Fort Laurens fourteen years after,
followed the same trail. It
was on or near this historic stream
Logan was encamped, when
through the machinations and intrigue of
Dunmore and Connelly7
the Indian chief's relatives were
inveigled to their murder in
6 Early
in October, [1764] the troops left Fort Pitt and began their
westward march into a wilderness which
no army had ever before sought
to penetrate. Encumbered with their camp
equipage, with droves of cattle
and sheep for subsistence, and a long
train of packhorses laden with pro-
visions, their progress was tedious and
difficult, and seven or eight miles
were the ordinary measure of a day's
march. The woodsmen of Virginia,
veteran hunters and Indian fighters,
were thrown far out in front and on
either flank, scouring the forest to
detect any sign of lurking ambuscade.
The pioneers toiled in the van, hewing
their way through woods and
thickets; while the army dragged its
weary length behind them through
the forest, like a serpent creeping
through tall grass. The surrounding
country, whenever a casual opening in
the matted foliage gave a glimpse
of its features, disclosed scenery of
wild primeval beauty. Sometimes
the army defiled along the margin of the
Ohio, by its broad eddying cur-
rent and the bright landscape of its
shores. Sometimes they descended
into the thickest gloom of the woods,
damp, still, and cool as the recesses
of a cavern, where the black soil oozed
beneath the tread, where the
rough columns of the forest seemed to
exude a clammy sweat, and the
slimy mosses were trickling with
moisture; while the carcasses of pros-
trate trees, green with the decay of a
century, sank into a pulp at the
lightest pressure of the foot. More
frequently the forest was of a fresher
growth; and the restless leaves of young
maples and basswood shook
down spots of sunlight on the marching
columns. Sometimes they waded
the clear current of a stream with its
vistas of arching foliage and spark-
ling water. There were intervals, but
these were rare, when, escaping
for a moment from the labyrinth of
woods, they emerged into the light
of an open meadow, rich with herbage,
and girdled by a zone of forest;
gladdened by the notes of birds, and
enlivened it may be, by grazing herds
of deer. These spots, welcome to the
forest traveller as an oasis to a
wanderer in the desert, * * * On the
tenth day the army reached the
River Muskingum. - Francis A. Parkman.
7 It
was the general belief among the officers of the army of the
colonists that Lord Dunmore received,
while in Wheeling, advices from
the British Government of the
probability of the approaching war which
144 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
order to incite savage wrath to the heat
of war. It was in this
territory the Castleman girls were
captured by Indians; and it
was on this soil William Carpenter shot
and killed White Eyes,
the dissipated son of Col. White Eyes,8
the staunchest friend
the patriots had among the Indians; and
he, too, passed along
Yellow Creek with the soldiers on their
way to build Fort Lau-
rens, and to suffer in the siege of the
first American fort on the
Ohio frontier. The salt springs early
discovered in this territory
were a very important factor in the
settlement of the Ohio
country.
Jacob Nessley, who had fruit orchards on
the Virginia side
of the river, was early to take up land
on the Ohio side, having
picked out large tracts as soon as the
Government survey was
made and he was one of the most
enterprising of the pioneer
land speculators. Joshua Downard was in
the Yellow Creek
Valley in 1785, returning for permanent
settlement in 1796.
He was a notable factor in the
development of the township,
and like many of the sturdy Pathfinders
lived to an advanced
age, being more than one hundred years
old at his death. Other
early settlers were: James Alexander (1796), Isaac White
(1798), James McCoy (1799), Baltzer Culp
(1800). Squatters
at the mouth of Yellow Creek were driven
off and their cabins
destroyed by fire by Ensign Armstrong in
1785. Mention is
made of other Pathfinders in accounts of
the townships formed
out of Knox and organized later.
William Wells, one of the first
Justices, bought land in Feb-
ruary, 1798, from Robert Johnson of
Franklin County, Pa., be-
resulted in the independence of the
colonies from Great Britain, and that
afterwards all his measures in reference
to the Indians, had for their
ultimate object an alliance with the
savages for aid to the mother country
in the expected contest with the
colonies. - Caldwell.
Capt. John Stewart's narrative of the
battle of Point Pleasant includes
much to show that Dunmore and Connelly
were conspiring against the
Americans and that the Indians who
fought Lewis had information of
advantage to them from Dunmore's scouts.
While White Eyes started from Fort
McIntosh at the mouth of the
Beaver river, he did not reach the site
of Fort Laurens, dying of small-
pox on the way, August 10, 1778. The
statement often printed that he
was killed at Fort Laurens by an
American soldier is untrue. Fort
Laurens was not built until after the
death of White Eyes.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 145
ing lots 4 and 5 in the Ninth Township, Second Range, at the
"mouth of Little Yellow
Creek." The same year Wells sold to
James Clark.
At the first election, over which James
Pritchard presided,
John Sloan was elected Clerk; Overseers
of the Poor, Thomas
Robertson, Jacob Nessley; Trustees,
William Campbell, Isaac
White, Jonathan West; Fence Viewers,
Peter Pugh, Henry
Cooper Alexander Campbell; Appraisers of
Houses, John John-
ston, J. P. McMillen; Lister of Taxable
Property, Isaac West;
Supervisors of Roads, John Robertson,
Calvin Moorehead, Rich-
ard Jackman; Constable, Joseph Reed. In
1803 an election
was held. Sloan was reelected Clerk;
Trustees, William Stokes,
Thomas Bay (who was with Williamson at
Gnadenhutten, and
a squatter on Yellow Creek territory in
1785), and Henry Pit-
tenger; Fence Viewers, Joseph Reed,
William Campbell, William
Sloan; Appraisers of Houses, Robert
Partridge, Thomas Robert-
son; Lister of Taxable Property, Isaac
West; Supervisors of
Roads, Peter Pugh, James Latimer;
Constable, David William-
son; Justices, J. L. Wilson, James Ball.
In dividing the county into civil
townships9 little or no at-
9 Before Jefferson county was divided
into the five civil townships of
Warren, Steubenville, Knox, Short Creek
and Archer in 1802, there were
other civil divisions. Richland township
- Jacob Coleman being Tax
collector for 1799, the returns having
been made to Jacob Martin, Wil-
liam Wells and Alexander Holmes,
Commissioners; York - Thomas
Richards being Collector in 1798;
Kirkwood - Thomas Richards also
Collector for this township, in 1739;
Warren - John McElroy, Collector
for 1798 and 1799; he produced a
discharge signed by William Bell and
Benj. Doyle, two of the former
Commissioners; Wayne - David Moodey,
Collector for 1799; Wayne is again
mentioned in the Commissioner's
Journal for 1802, in that John Hannah,
Collector for the townships of
Richland, Wayne, Knox, St. Clair and Beaver,
had made returns. In the
same record it is noted that the County
Tax Listers had made returns:
Robert McCleary for Warren, John
Matthews for Cross Creek, Charles
King for Steubenville, George Day for
Wayne, Isaac West, Jonathan Para-
more and Enos Thomas for St. Clair. The
Lister for Beaver had not made
returns.
Township 1, range 1, takes in the
northeast corner of Wells township.
Wells township includes fractional
township 1, range 1. Had the sur-
veyed township been complete it would
have extended east of Warrenton
six miles, or to the Pennsylvania line.
Vol. VIII-10
146 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
tention was paid to the surveyed
township lines, Smithfield,
Wayne, Cross Creek and Salem, being the
only civil townships
identical with the surveyed, and
consequently several of the civil
townships embrace fractional parts of
several surveyed town-
ships, making it quite difficult to
ascertain the territory embraced
in the original townships, out of which
the townships, as now
constructed, were made; but with the
assistance of George P.
Harden, the County Auditor (1898), the
compiler has been en-
abled to give the lines accurately,
together with the names of the
original townships out of which the new
divisions have been made
from time to time.
The first civil township made from the
original five was
Springfield, which territory was
separated from Knox, the date
of action by the County Commissioners
being December 6, 1804,
"a considerable number of the
inhabitants [of Knox] having
made application to be set off in a
township by themselves."
The boundaries of the new township were
recorded as follows:
"Beginning at the northwest corner
of Steubenville Township
as formerly laid out, [now the northeast
corner of Island Creek
Township] and running north on the line
between the Second
and Third Ranges [between Island Creek
and Salem, Knox and
Ross, Saline and Brush Creek] to the
northern boundary of the
county; thence west with the county line
to the northwest cor-
ner of the same [now in Carroll County];
thence south with the
western boundary of the county, to the
northwest corner of
Section Thirty-three in the Thirteenth
Township, Sixth Range;
thence a straight line, through the
center of said township, east
to the southwest corner of Section
Sixteen in the Tenth Town-
ship and Third Range; thence north to
the northwest corner
of said section; thence east to the
place of beginning." Spring-
field as then constituted was much
larger than now, as it em-
braced Brush Creek, Ross, half of Salem,
a large portion of Car-
roll County and about the seventh part
of Harrison County.
The first election was called to be held
at the house of David
Lyon in Springfield, (Gillis' Town as
the settlement was then
often called). When Carroll County was
organized (1833), al-
though a part of this township naturally
belonged to the new
county, protest of the people kept the
territory in Jefferson.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 147
Solomon Miller, from Fayette County,
Pa., was the first
settler (1800) within the lines of the
township as now consti-
tuted. He took up Section Ten and made
improvements, but be-
ing unable to pay for the land, was
dispossessed, and this sec-
tion was entered in 1802 by Henry
Miser. However, undaunted,
as was characteristic of the spirit that
gave the pioneer cour-
age, Miller afterward entered Section
Eleven and began life
anew. Stewart McClave settled on Section
Six in 1801, and the
worthy progeny of a noble sire still
possess the land. He was
the grandfather of John McClave, Esq.,
of the Jefferson Bar.
Following these Pathfinders came John
Stutz, Joseph Gordon,
Jacob Springer, Thomas Peterson, James
Albaugh, James Rut-
ledge, James Allman, Henry Isinogle,
Robert Young, Adley Cal-
houn, William Jenkins, James Campbell,
S. Dorrance and Philip
Burgett. The latter, it is asserted,
with John Lucker, manufac-
tured the first salt produced on Yellow
Creek, the experiment
resulting in a bushel of salt.
Circle Green, one of the oldest
Methodist Episcopal Churches
in the county, was organized in
Springfield Township by Rev.
William Knox in 1809. A house of
worship was built of hewn
logs, each male member donating his
labor in the construction.
The first members were: James Rutledge
and family, John
Kirk and wife, W. Taylor and wife,
William Scarlott and family,
Alexander Johnston (father of Judge
William Johnston) and
family, Francis Johnson and wife, James
Forster and wife,
Henry Forster and wife. The old log
church was occupied until
1829.
The first division of Archer (June 12,
1805) made a township
including Wayne (the name given the new
township), part of
Green and German in Harrison County, and
part of Salem in
Jefferson, the boundaries being:
"Beginning at the southeast
corner of the Ninth Township in the
Third Range, [southeast
corner of Wayne as now constituted] and
running west with the
line of Warren and Short Creek,
[Smithfield and Wells] to the
southwest corner of Section Seven in the
Tenth Township of
the Fourth Range; north with the line of
said section to the
northwest corner of Section Nine in the
Eleventh Township,
Fourth Range; thence with the line of
Springfield Township,
148
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
east [along the north line of Wayne]
until it intersects the line
of Steubenville Township, [the line
between Cross Creek and
Wayne] south to the place of
beginning." This division left
the remainder of Archer in what is now
Harrison County. The
election was called to be held at the
house of Joseph Day. The
elections in Archer having been held at
the house of Nicholas
Wheeler, and his house falling in the
new township, the election
was called for the house of George
Pfautz.
Mention is made (page 214, Vol. VI) that
John Mansfield
was the first white child born in Wayne
Township (1797). His
father and mother Thomas and Mary (Hill)
Mansfield, the father
of English and the mother of Scotch-Irish
ancestry, came from
the Cumberland Valley to Western
Pennsylvania, and becoming
acquainted with Joseph Dorsey, one of
the energetic land specu-
lators in the Ohio country after the
survey, the latter agreed
to enter a section in Jefferson County
for him. The proposi-
tion was accepted in good faith on the
part of Mansfield, and
he moved upon Section Four in what is
now Wayne Township,
the land ever since being known as
Dorsey's Flats. After
Mansfield had built a house and cleared
ten acres, Dorsey re-
fused to convey the title and Mansfield
was forced to vacate.
He then entered Section Three which is
still possessed by his
descendants. An apple tree planted by
Mansfield in 1798 still
bears fruit (1898). He was the father of
twenty-two children,
six by his first wife (Jane Shaw), all
but one dying in infancy,
and sixteen by his second wife (Mary
Hill), all but one growing
to manhood and womanhood. Mrs. Mary
Mansfield who shared
the hardships of the trying pioneer life
with her sturdy husband,
frequently traveled the pathless
wilderness to attend Episcopal
Church services at Charles Town (now
Wellsburg, Va.) At the
Mansfield house was held the first
Methodist Episcopal meet-
ings in Wayne Township, and here were
heard the eloquent,
scholarly, J. B. Finley and others of
the itinerant giants, whose
appeals to the unsaved were ever earnest
and fervent, whose
words of comfort were as a benediction
to the righteous. Thomas
Mansfield was the grandfather of Judge
John A. Mansfield.
James and Anthony Blackburn and John
Maxwell, all from
Fayette County, Pa., settled in 1798.
Other Pathfinders were -
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 149
Michael Slonecker, William Wright, John
Lyon, Lewis Thock-
morton, John Dickey, Richard Coleman,
John Barrett, Jacob
Shaw, James Tipton, John Tipton, Robert
Christy, William
Sprague, Hugh Trimble, Joseph McGrail,
Thomas Carr, John
Thorn, William Elliott, Samuel McNary,
Jacob William, Zebi-
dee and Christopher Cox, Thomas Bell,
John Edington, John
McClay, Sylvester Tipton, Henry
Ferguson, John Matthews,
John Kinney, Richard Ross, John Johnson,
Jacob Vorhes, Mor-
ris Dunlevy, David Milligan, John Scott,
Archer Duncan, Nicho-
las Merryman, James McFerren, William
Ferguson, Thomas
Rowland, William Hervey, Joshua Cole,
Michael Stonehocker,
Henry Beamer, Leonard Ruby, Manuel
Manly, Tobias Shanks,
Nicholas Wheeler, John Dayton, John
Welch, John Vanhorn,
Charles Stewart, Abel Sweezy, William
Elliott, Elijah Cox,
Thomas Arnold, George Hazelmaker, John
Matthews, Richard
Boren, Methiah Scammehorn, James Barber,
James Sinkey, Amos
Scott, Benjamin Bond, John Jones, Thomas
Lindsey, Gabriel
Holland, Patrick Moore, Robert McNary,
John Hedge, Andrew
Duncan, Peter Beebout, Thomas Moore,
Andrew Johnson,
Thomas Riley, Finley Blackburn.
Bloomfield was laid out by David Craig
in 1817, and was
an important place, being midway between
Cadiz and Steuben-
ville. The first teachers in the village
were: Isaac Holmes,
John Houghey, Joseph Dunlap, all Irish
schoolmasters.
The first mill in Wayne Township was
built on Cross Creek,
(where Skelley's Station now is) about
1803, by Matthew Mc-
Grew.
On McIntyre Creek in this township, was
established a colony
of manumitted slaves by Nathaniel
Benford of Virginia, in 1829,
which colony is treated in a chapter
beginning on page 274 (Vol.
VI). Of the original colonists there
were living in Septem-
ber, 1898, Collier Christian, Mrs. David
Cooper, Mrs. Patrick
Smith, Mrs. Paige Carter, Mrs. Martha
Adkins, all feeble in old
age.
The first division of Short Creek
Township which resulted
in the organization of Smithfield, was
made November 7, 1805,
the boundaries being recorded as
follows: "Beginning at the
southwest corner of Section Four in
Township Seven of Range
150
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Three [southeast corner of Mt. Pleasant
as now constituted];
thence west with the line between the
counties of Belmont and
Jefferson to the southwest corner of
Section Thirty-four in the
same township and range; thence north
with the range line to
the northwest corner of Section
Thirty-Six in Township Eight
of Range Three; thence east with the
township line [between
Wayne and Smithfield] to the northeast
corner of Section Six.
Township Eight, Range Three, to place of
beginning." In this
was embraced Mt. Pleasant; and all west
of the west line of
the new township (part of Green and all
of Short Creek, Harri-
son County, as now constituted) retained
the name of Short
Creek. The election was called for the
house of William Story.
The Commissioners at this time were
Andrew Anderson, John
Jackson and Benjamin McCleary, and John
Ward, Clerk.
The township derived its name from the
village, laid out by
James Carr in 1802, on land entered by
Horton Howard, a land
speculator and a promoter of Quaker
colonies. With his part-
ner Abel Townsend, Howard entered
considerable land in the
southern part of the county. Among those
buying land from
Howard in Smithfield Township were:
Caleb Kirk, W. A. Jud-
kins, Joel Hutton, Casparius Garretson,
William Wood and
James Carr. The first settlement was
made by two squatters,
named Simpson and Tyson, who were on the
land near the vil-
lage before the survey but were forced
to vacate in 1800, the
section having been entered by William
Kirk. Among the first
permanent settlers in and about the
village were Quakers from
North Carolina, including Richard
Kinsey, Christopher Kinsey,
Mason Miller, Richard Jelkes, Malachai
Jolly. These came in
1798 and 1799; John Morton, Cadwallader
Evans, Joseph Mc-
Grew, Samuel Cope, James Purviance, John
Naylor, Caleb Kirk,
Thomas Carr, Richard Logan, James
McGrail, John Cramblet,
John Wallace, Nathaniel Kellims, John
McLaughlin (member of
Legislature in 1804), Nathaniel
Moore, Walter Francis, Daniel
Haynes. These came during 1799-1803 and
settled in various
parts of the township, the four latter
near Adena, where Jacob
Holmes, the Indian scout, had a
Government grant, on which
land was built one of the first
Methodist Episcopal Churches
(about 1800) northwest of the Ohio river.
Daniel Haynes lived
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
O. 151
to the age of one hundred and one years.
During his life he re-
lated to his descendants, who still
possess the land takenup by him,
that about 1802 the family of John
Jamison, composed of hus-
band, wife and several children, the
wife riding a cow with a babe
in her arms, came from the Ohio River,
up Short Creek to
near Adena, and squatted on his land.
They possessed noth-
ing, and the settlers jointly built them
a cabin. As was the
custom, Jamison was permitted to crop
all the land he could
clear in order to give him a start. This
was the first Ohio ex-
perience of the noted Jamison family of
Harrison County, the
family of squatters probably following a
branch of Short Creek
to a point near Cadiz.
The Holmes Church was organized by Jacob
Holmes,
Charles Moore, Richard Moore and Isaac
Meek. In 1810, when
a new church was built, the land was
deeded to Jacob Holmes,
John Stoneman, William Story, Jacob
Jones, James Smith, S.
Moore, E. Pierce, R. Moore and John
Barkhurst, most of whom
had settled at least ten years
previously. Elias Crane, a local
preacher, delivered the sermon on the
cornerstone laying occasion.
J. B. Finley (1814) organized a
Methodist Episcopal class in
Smithfield Village. Among the members
were: Benjamin
Roberts, John Stout, James Coleman,
Pollard Hartgrove, David
Long, Thomas Mansfield, John Dougherty.
Another M. E.
Church was organized in 1815 and a
building erected on the
farm of James Wheeler who came from
Maryland in 1803 and
bought land from Nathaniel Kellims. The
Trustees were: James
Wheeler, Jacob Cramblet, Thomas Kems,
Dennis Lowry, Wil-
liam Whitten. This church has not been
in existence for near
eighty years.
According to an extended paper on
"Pioneer Experience,"
written by John S. Williams who was
editor of "The American
Pioneer," published in Cincinnati
in 1843, he came with a party
of Quakers from Beaufort, South
Carolina, in 1800, the party in-
cluding his mother, sister and brother,
Joseph Dew, Levina
Hall and Jonas Small and families. On
arrival at Redstone, Pa.,
they found several families starting on
the return, being dissatis-
fied with the new country's prospect.
They had concluded it
more comfortable to continue to endure
the sight of slavery
152 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
so abhored, than to found a home in the
wilds of Ohio. Among
these were Jonas Small and Francis Mace.
The others came on,
and were met at Steubenville by Horton
Howard, who escorted
them to the Short Creek and Wheeling
Creek Valleys. They
stopped over night at Warren
(Warrenton). A portion of the
company of twelve families, went from
Warrenton to John
Leaf's, in the Concord (Colerain)
settlement, where there was
already a Meeting, and Joseph Dew and
Mrs. Hall to Mt. Pleas-
ant, the others going to Smithfield.
The Quakers established a Meeting in
1800, near the site of
the village, the names of the first
members being: Benjamin
Townsend, Jemima Townsend, Malachai
Jolly, James Carr, Wil-
liam Kirk, George Hammond, James
Hammond, Daniel Pur-
viance. The first marriage in the
Meeting (1801) was that of
Evan Evans and Mary Brite.
The first school in the village (1802) was taught
by
Shackelford and Miss Armilla Garretson,
the latter having lost
both her legs and one arm. Joel Hutton,
the first shoemaker,
also taught. The first house in the
village was built by Wash-
ington Whitten. The first tannery was
managed by Belford
Griffith. The first blacksmith was
William Carr and Abel Carey
was the first hat maker. The first hand
grist mill was oper-
ated in 1804 by Isaac Wickersham, but
shortly thereafter James
Carr built a mill run by horse-power.
However, it is quite cer-
tain that Jacob Ong operated a water
mill on Piney Fork at an
earlier period, his mill being mentioned
in the Commissioners'
journal of 1802-4, and tradition is,
that he had Indians for cus-
tomers. John Leech built a mill on the
same creek in 1804, as
did also Abner Hutton about the same
time. James McGrew,
who, it has been said, built the first
water mill in the township,
did not build until after the other
mills were in operation. The
widow of John Sherrard (who was with
Crawford in his expedi-
tion against Sandusky), and four sons,
including Robert A.,
father of the late Hon. Robert Sherrard,
came from Pennsyl-
vania and settled at Smithfield in 1804,
and shortly thereafter
moved to what is now Warren Township and
built a mill near the
mouth of Rush Run. The first physician
in Smithfield Village
was Dr. William Burrell (1806).
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, O. 153
In this township was established (1800)
the first Associate
Reform (now Piney Fork United
Presbyterian) Church in the
county. The first ministers were
Alexander Calderhead (twelve
years), Rev. Thomas Hanna, Rev. John
Walker, Rev. Joseph
Clokey.
The Pork-packing industry became
important as a great
wealth-producing factor as early as
1815, at which time the
Quaker philanthropist, Benjamin Ladd,
engaged in this busi-
ness, he having many establishments in
operation. Between 1820
and 1840 the pork-packing industry of
Smithfield and Mt.
Pleasant, John Hogg being at the head of
the business in the
latter place, was greater than that of
Cincinnati, then considered
the most extensive pork-producing city
in the country. Mr.
Hogg was one of the most enterprising of
the pioneers, having
at one time a dozen tanneries in
operation in different parts of
the country.
June 4, 1806, the Sixth Township of the
Second Range,
was separated from Steubenville
Township, and named Cross
Creek Township, leaving Steubenville
composed of the territory
now embraced in Steubenville and Island
Creek Townships. The
election was called for the house of
John McCullough.
Cross Creek Township was surveyed into
sections by Alex-
ander Holmes in 18o1, and in 1802 into
quarter sections by Ben-
jamin Hough.
Among the first settlers were: William
McElroy, a soldier
of the Revolutionary War, William
Whitecraft, George Mahon,
James and Daniel Dunlevy, Augustine
Bickerstaff, John John-
son, Eli Keily, John Rickey, George
Halliwell, John McConnell,
John Long, John Scott, Moses Hunter,
(1797-1800)
; John
Ekey,
James Thompson, John Permar, James
Scott, Thomas White,
Jacob Welday (a German), Hugh
McCullough, John Foster,
John Williams, Joseph Dunn, Nathan
Caselaer, Samuel Smith
(who laid out New Alexandria in 1832, and was the
first to in-
troduce horse-mills in this country),
George Brown, William
Moore, John McCann, Aaron Fell, William
Hanlon, J. A. J.
Criswell, John Lloyd, James Maley,
Jonathan Hook, Peter Ekey,
David Powell, Robert Hill (just over the
line in Steubenville
Township, in 1798, and descendants still
possess the land),
154 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Thomas Johnson, William Cassell, John
McConnell, William Mc-
Connell, William Woods, Charles Maxwell,
the Stokes and the
Dinsmores (1800-9). Robert McConnell
came about 1811, and
settled on land now occupied by Joseph
and Robert H. McCon-
nell; Thomas Elliott, Andrew Anderson,
John Wright, Samuel
Irons, John McDonald.
In 1810 George Mahon built the first
hand-mill, to which he
applied horse-power two years later. The
first water-mill was
built by Nathaniel McGrew in 1806. Other
early mills were
operated on Cross Creek and McIntyre,
the first saw-mill having
been built by Charles Maxwell in 1807. A
cotton factory was
built near the mouth of McIntyre Creek
in 1814, and in 1827 it
was changed to a woolen factory by John
and James Elliott and
George Marshall, it then being the most
extensive factory of
the kind in the county, perhaps country,
outside of Steubenville.
The first distillery was built by Daniel
Dunlevy on Section
Thirty-three in 1803. Following this one
others were built and
operated by John McConnell, William
McConnell and Nathaniel
Porter. Many of the Pathfinders became
skilled in this man-
ner of reducing for market the bulk of
their fruit and grain in
Western Pennsylvania, and if hedges
could have spoken there
might have been record of skill acquired
before leaving Ireland.
In this township was organized the first
Protestant Episco-
pal Church northwest the Ohio (St.
James, 1800), the vestry
of which has the oldest and most
complete church record in Ohio
- names of members, baptisms, marriages,
deaths. This record
also preserves the first petition and
the names of the signers,
all of whom were of this parish (1816),
asking the General Con-
vention to establish a diocese in the
Western country. (See
page 262, Vol. VI. Omit from the
petition-signers the name of
James Dunlevy erroneously printed).
While there were schools in Cross Creek
Township as early
as 1800, as noted on page 247
(Vol. VI), the first schoolhouse
was built in 1804, near the present No.
4 schoolhouse, on land
owned by Mrs. Usher Stark, the first
teacher being an Irishman
named Green. In 1807 a school was taught
in a log cabin in
District No. 1 by a teacher named Evans.
In 1809 a subscription
school was taught in the Long settlement
by Mr. Morrow, the
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 155
subscription price being $1.50 per
quarter for each pupil. In
1806 Richard McCullough taught a school
in District No. 5.
Up to 1816, when Rev. Mr. Snodgrass
organized the Cross
Creek Church, the Presbyterians of this
township attended ser-
vices at the Steubenville or Two Ridges
Churches. The Meth-
odist Episcopal adherents held services
at the dawn of the cent-
ury in the cabins of the settlers. The
Methodist Episcopal
Church of New Alexandria was organized
after separation from
the Old Log Church, in 1838, at which
time lots were deeded
to the church by Nathan Thompson, the
Trustees being: John
Thompson, James Holmes, John Casy, Sr.,
Andrew Scott, Wil-
liam Elliott, John Moore, William
Fields, John George, Mat-
thew Thompson.
It was in this township "Billy
McConnell, the Witch Doc-
tor," lived, of whom Prof. Christie
wrote an interesting work
about 1830, but now out of print and
impossible to obtain, the
copies then in circulation having been
destroyed in more recent
years by descendants of persons
mentioned in the book.
John Rickey came to the Northwest
Territory from Penn-
sylvania in 1800, and settled
near the site of Cross Creek Pres-
byterian Church, on Dry Fork. He had
been a Captain with
Abercrombie in the French-English War,
and was a Colonel in
the Revolutionary War. He died in April,
1823, at
the age of
ninety-eight years, having been thrown
from a spirited horse
upon which he was riding from Dry Fork
to Steubenville, via
what is now Wintersville, and falling
under the wheels of a
wagon at which the animal scared, he was
so seriously injured
that he died shortly thereafter. He was
a very prominent man
in the affairs of the county, and was
one of the first elders of
the First Presbyterian Church of
Steubenville. His son, John
Rickey, was in the Second War for
Independence. To the son
of the latter, Hon. Joseph M. Rickey,
for eighty-four years a
resident of Jefferson County, the
compiler is indebted for much
information contained in The Pathfinders
of Jefferson County,
given him in conversation and afterwards
noted. An aged man
at his death, he was closely linked with
the past through his
grandfather and father, retaining by a
marvellous memory all
historical facts that came to him. He
died in Cleveland, No-
156 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
vember 9, 1898; a man of worth, noble,
honest. His grandson,
Leo Dautel, of Cleveland, married a
great-granddaughter of
Adam Poe, noted in Jefferson County
history.
At the session Cross Creek10 Township
was organized (June
4, 1806) the County Commissioners set
off the Sixth Township
of the Second Range and named it Island
Creek Township,
leaving Steubenville Township composed
of fractional parts of
Townships Two and Three of fractional
Ranges One and Two.
Then, by another resolution, the
fractional part of Township
Three of Range One was cut off
Steubenville and added to
Island Creek.
Among the first settlers were: Isaac
Shane, Michael Cast-
ner, James Shane, Daniel Viers, Jacob
Cable, Philip Cable, An-
drew Ault, James Ball, William Jackson,
Richard Lee, John
House, Daniel Arnold, John Simpson,
Richard Brisbane, James
Patterson, Charles Armstrong, Wm.
Jackman, Adam Hout, John
Moore, Charles Porter, Thomas Fleming,
Andrew Huston,
Joseph Howells, James Crawford, Abel
Crawford (the latter own-
ing the Red Mill, near Mt. Tabor early
in the century), John
Rhinehart, Moses Arnold, John Frederick,
George Watson,
Samuel Hanna, James Ekey, Rutherford
McClelland. The
fathers of Judge William Day and Judge
Phillips of Iowa, the
father of the late Judge William
Lawrence of Ohio, and father of
Hon. Joseph Fowler, ex-United States
Senator of Tennessee, were
early settlers of this township. Joseph
Howells was the grand-
father of William Dean Howells. The
first settler was the father
of Ephraim Cable, a squatter (and was of
part Huguenot blood),
for he built a block-house at Cable's
Ferry (now Cable's Bend) in
1785, and here Ephraim was born two
years later. Ephraim mar-
ried Sarah Clemens who bore him fourteen
children, and the name
and stock still endure.
There was evidently a large population
in this township in
1800, as in that year what is still the
Island Creek Presby-
10 The most of the settlers of Cross
Creek township were Scotch-Irish
of firm religious conviction, and might
be classed as Episcopalians,
Methodists and Seceders, [Presbyterians]
who worshiped God in Spirit
and Truth, under the forest trees or in
the humble cabins, without vanity
or the taint of hypocrisy. - From T. A.
Thompson's unpublished contri-
bution to the Centennial history.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 157
terian Church, was organized by Rev. Mr.
Snodgrass, and two
years later the Two Ridges Presbyterian
Church was organized
by the same minister, who also preached
in Steubenville.
The first elders of the Two Ridges
Church were: James Cel-
lars and James Bailey; Samuel Thompson,
Andrew Anderson
and George Day were soon thereafter
added, and in 1817
Thomas Elliott and Thomas Hunt were
elected elders. Rev. Mr.
Snodgrass was succeeded by Rev. William
McMillan who also
had charge of Yellow Creek (Bacon Ridge)
Church. During
his pastorate James Torrance, Benjamin
Coe, Henry Shane,
William Winters, James Milligan and
David Gladden were
elected elders.
The first Methodist Episcopal Church was
organized by
Rev. J. B. Finley at the house of Adam
Jackman, in 1814. The
first members were: Richard Coulter and
wife, Adam Jackman,
Mary Jackman, Margaret Jackman, Isabel
Whittaker, Jane Rat-
tison, George Alban, Garrett Albertson,
William Nugent, Richard
Jackman, Jane Jackman, John Armstrong,
James Crawford, Mar-
tin Swickard (with Crawford in his
expedition, dying at the age
of ninety-six), Margaret Swickard, Jacob
Vail.
There were schools at a very early date,
but there is no
record, except that the statement is
made on authority of tra-
dition that the members of these
churches at first held services
in private residences and school houses.
The Mt. Tabor school,
although evidently not the oldest in the
township, is the oldest
of which the compiler can find
information. This school was
held in a log house, first built for a
habitation, in 1812, the first
teacher being William Jackman. Marks of
the foundation of
this educational institution, whose
archetype was everywhere in
this part of Ohio early in the century,
are still (1898) visible.
In 1814 a log structure was erected in
the Mt. Tabor District.
Destroyed by incendiary fire four years
later, a brick house was
erected, in which school was taught
during the earlier days by
Lancelot Hearn, John Hawhey, John
Beebout, George Arm-
strong, James Mitchelltree. The late
Judge William Lawrence,
who was born in Smithfield township,
attended this school.
Andrew Ault, who came to Island Creek
from Pennsylvania
in 1797, was a son of a privateer during
the Revolutionary War,
158
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
who was captured while bringing prizes
into the Port of Phila-
delphia, he not knowing the British were
in control, and was
sent to England as a prisoner. He escaped and returned to
America, building near Redstone the
first linseed-oil mill in the
West. Descendants still own the land in
this township upon
which Andrew settled.
Andrew Huston, of the blood of Gen. Sam
Houston of Texas
fame, came from the Cumberland Valley,
and settled in Island
Creek Township in 1809, locating at the
mouth of Wills Creek,
the house being on the site of the
present (1898) Steuben-
ville Water Works. He afterward removed
to the central part
of the township, where was born John
Andrew Huston,
father of Sam Huston, the County
Engineer, the homestead still
standing. Sam Huston has in his
possession an iron toma-
hawk found in Wills Creek and an iron
Indian axe found near
Richmond, in Salem township.
Michael Myers (an Indian scout and who
was an uncon-
scious tool of Connelly in aiding to
incite the Indians, which re-
sulted in the Dunmore War), owned the
site of Toronto, a por-
tion of which town is in Island Creek
Township. [See pp.
155-8.]
Island Creek, Wills Creek and Town Fork
of Yellow Creek,
furnished power for many early flour
mills, there yet being re-
mains of these early industrial
enterprises. What is now known
as Bray's mill, a half mile above the
mouth of Island Creek, was
built about 1800 by Jacob Cable, to
which, in 1824, John Bray
and William Findlay attached a
woolen-mill.
On the 3d of March, 1807, Smithfield
Township was di-
vided, that part of Seventh Township of
the Third Range remain-
ing in Jefferson County after the civil
organization of Belmont
County being set off, leaving Smithfield
a complete township.
The new township (civil) was named Mt.
Pleasant after the town
established by Robert Carothers and
Jesse Thomas, the first
proprietors, in 1802. The village was first called Jesse-Bob
Town, which so shocked the good taste of
the Quakers from
North Carolina, that they not only
changed the name to one
more euphonius and appropriate, but left
record of opinion ex-
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 159
pressed as to the Scotch-Irish
Pathfinders, that "they were an
uncouth, thriftless set."
The election was called for the house of
Benjamin Scott in
the Village of Mt. Pleasant, the
officers to elect being mentioned
as Township Clerk, three Trustees, two
Overseers of the Poor,
two Fence Viewers, two Appraisers of
Houses, one Tax Lister,
two Supervisors of Highways, two
Constables and a Treasurer.
There is much interesting history
associated with Mt. Pleas-
ant, and many pages of the main part of
this work are de-
voted to its relation. Perhaps other
townships are even more
historically interesting, but in no
other township has history
been so well preserved as in Mt.
Pleasant. Mrs. Anna E. With-
row, who heard Rev. Joseph Anderson, the
first minister of
the third Presbyterian Church in the
Ohio country, preach, and
is still (1898) living, has kept many
historical facts fresh in her
wonderful memory and to her historians
of the township are in-
debted for data of much interesting
history.
Among the first settlers (additional to
the names given on
page 214) were: Robert Hurford and Aaron
Thompson, (Pa.,)
Robert Blackledge, James, Jesse and
Aaron Kinsey, Amassa
Lipsey, Jeremiah Patterson, Faith
Patterson, Enoch Harris, (N.
C.,) Isaac Ratcliff, Joseph Steers,
Merrick Starr, John Hogg,
Archibald Job (descendant of the noted
Defoe family), William
McConnaughy (soldier of the
Revolutionary War and in the
Battle of Bunker Hill), Joseph Gill
(Va.), William Hawthorne,
Aaron Packer, Samuel Irons, Mrs.
Elizabeth Sharon (grand-
mother of the late Senator William
Sharon of Nevada), Eli Kirk
(a pioneer hatter, and grandfather of
Mrs. James W. Gill of
Steubenville, and father of Robert Kirk,
at one time Lieut. Gov-
ernor of Ohio), Elisha (a woolen
manufacturer), Caleb and Sol-
omon Bracken, Thomas, Clark and Matthew
Terrell, Osborne
Ricks, George Washington Mitchell,
Porter Mitchell, Robert
Evans, R. B. Smith, James Johnson,
Joseph Kithcart (tanner
and surveyor), William Woods, Isaac
Brown, Jacob Flanner
(uncle of Abbie), Paren Cuppy (who
killed an Indian on the
stream in Smithfield Township named for
him), James Taylor
160
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
(manufactured nails for John Hogg),
Edward Lawrence, Wil-
liam Robinson, William Chambers, William
Lewis.
The land upon which the village of Mt.
Pleasant was es-
tablished was so attractive on account
of beauty of location,
as early as 1800, that twenty men camped
on the site, awaiting
chance to purchase the section. The
competition was so in-
tense that it was decided by lot which
one should be privileged
to buy the land, the lot falling to
Robert Carothers, who was
there in 1796, and his name still
remains as a sign on a building
erected by him early in the century.
Benjamin Scott was very early in the
Short Creek Valley,
and his wife's mother, Mrs. Elizabeth
Davison, was the first
buried in the township, the grave being
on the Kithcart farm,
on a knoll, near a buckeye tree. The
date of interment was
February, 1800.
William McConnaughy crossed the river at
Charles Town
(Wellsburg), to the mouth of Short
Creek, and ascending the
hills, settled on Irish Ridge, his being
the second team to pass
over the road. The first was that of
John Taggart. In 1807
Taggart brought apple-seeds from the
East, and the trees grown
from them still bear fruit.
Nathan and Ann Updegraff came from
Virginia and settled
on Short Creek where he built a mill in
1803, the site being
two and one-half miles northeast of the
village. Nathan was a
very prominent man in the affairs of
Pennsylvania before going
to Virginia, and he was one of the
representatives of Jefferson
County in the Constitutional Convention
in 1802.
The first store in Mt. Pleasant was
established by Enoch
Harris in 1804; the second by
Joseph Gill (from Virginia) in
1806, and the third by John Hogg in 1812. Both Hogg and
Gill
were men of large affairs and were among
the leaders in the bus-
iness enterprises of Eastern Ohio. Hogg
engaged in the man-
ufacture of woolen goods, flour, leather
and often reduced the
leather to harness and saddles, and
during the Second War for
Independence he employed many workmen in
producing sad-
dles, harness, belts and cartridge-boxes
for the American troops.
The pork-packing industry carried on by
these men was very
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 161
extensive in its magnitude. Before the
Stillwater Canal" was
in operation Mt. Pleasant was the most
extensive wheat market
in the state, there being numerous mills
in the Short Creek Val-
ley reducing the grain to flour which
found profitable market
on the Lower Mississippi. Those were
bustling and prosper-
ous times for the peaceful village that
now so quietly sleeps on
the pleasant mount overlooking the wide
expanse of beauti-
ful productive country watered by Short
Creek, the eye al-
most reaching the very source of the
stream in the hills upon
which stand Cadiz, in Harrison County.
Hogg also manufactured nails, which were
so high in price
compared with farm produce, that the
necessity was very urgent
if the settlers used them. It is related
that Robert Harriman
of Hammond's Cross Roads, carried two
bushels of oats to Mt.
Pleasant and received in exchange one
pound of nails! In Mt.
Pleasant there were numerous
blacksmiths, cabinetmakers,
tailors, hatters, weavers, shoemakers,
spinners, tanners and
printers - there was publishing in Mt.
Pleasant quite early in
the century; Mt. Pleasant was not only
an industrial center,
it was the literary center of Eastern
Ohio between 1817 and
1854: Here Charles
Osborne, afterward associated with Ben-
jamin Lundy12 issued in 1817, The
Philanthropist, a journal
11 Many lives were sacrificed in the
construction of the Ohio canal
system. James Hunter, from Westmoreland
county, Pa., a Pathfinder of
Wayne county, Ohio, grandfather of the
compiler, was a contractor in the
construction of the canal in the
Stillwater country, and died of malarial
fever in 1829.
12 A
work was published in Philadelphia, in 1847, by William Parish,
under the title "The Life, Travels and
Opinions of Benjamin Lundy,
including Journeys to Texas and Mexico;
with a Sketch of Contemporary
Events, and a Notice of the Revolution
in Hayti." Compiled under the
direction and on behalf of his children.
The matter of the book (316
pages) is largely made up from
correspondence with a half sister, and
extracts from The Genius of Universal
Emancipation. In speaking of
him this sister writes: "His kind
disposition and engaging manners soon
won my attachment, and I received many
demonstrations of kindness
from him. . .. My recollections of him
were always so gentle and
tender that I could not bear to hear a
word said in disapprobation of
him." [Lundy's mother's name was
Shotwell, she dying when Lundy
Vol. VIII-11
162 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
devoted to the discussion of
sociological and religious problems.
Here, in 1821, Lundy published The
Genius of Universal Eman-
cipation, the first abolition paper in
America. [See pp. 283-4.]
The Osborne printing house was purchased
by Elisha Bates,
who continued The Philanthropist as a
magazine up to 1822.
was five years of age. Before removing
to Handwich, N. J., where Lundy
was born in 1789, the parents lived in
Bucks county, Pa. His father was
a Quaker preacher. Lundy lived in Mt.
Pleasant before going to Wheel-
ing where he learned the saddlery
trade.] "On leaving Wheeling I re-
turned to Mt. Pleasant, where I became
acquainted with William Lewis
and his sisters, one of whom I
afterwards married. Here I published,
anonymously, my first poetical effusion.
It was an answer to a tirade
of a bachelor against matrimony. . . . I was married and set up in
business at St. Clairsville. . . . I began with no
other means but my
hands and a disposition for industry and
economy. In little more than
four years, however, I found myself in
possession of more than three
thousand dollars worth of property. .. .
I had lamented the sad con-
dition of the slave. . . . I called a few friends together and unbosomed
my feelings to them. The result was the
organization of an anti-slavery
association, called the Union Humane
Society. [This was in 1815.]
Soon after this occurrence, proposals
were issued by Charles Osborne, for
publishing a paper at Mt. Pleasant, to
be entitled The Philanthropist.
. . .
At length Charles proposed to me to join him in the printing
business, and take upon myself the
superintendence of the office. [With
this view he took his stock to Missouri
with expectation of disposing
of it.] I had lost at St. Louis some
thousands of dollars, and had been
detained from home a year and ten
months. The tide of misfortune to
me was caused by the utter stagnation of
business which at that time
[1819] overspread the whole country, and
occasioned the sacrifice of prop-
erty to an incalculable amount. Before I
left St. Louis I heard that as
I had staid from home so much longer
than had been anticipated, Charles
Osborne had become quite tired of the
employment of an editor, and had
sold his printing establishment to
Elisha Bates, and also that Elihu
Embree had commenced the publication of
an anti-slavery paper called
The Emancipator, at Jonesborough in
Tennessee, . . . On my way
home I was informed of the death of E.
Embree; and as E. Bates did
not come up to my standard of
anti-slavery. I determined immediately
to establish a periodical of my own. I
therefore removed to Mt. Pleas-
ant and began the publication of The
Genius of Universal Emancipation.
... .In four months my subscription list
had become quite large. . ..
When the friends of Elihu Embree heard
of my paper they urged me
to remove to Tennessee. . . . After
having issued eight numbers, I
started for Tennessee. . . . I rented the printing office and immedi-
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 163
In this year Horton Howardl2a
began the publication of The Ju-
venile Museum, a semi-monthly magazine.
From 1827 to 1832
Elisha Bates published The Miscellaneous
Repository. In 1837
Bates published a religious journal
devoted to discussion of the
questions then disturbing the equanimity
of the Quaker Meet-
ing, questions which rent the Meeting in
twain. At about the
same time John Wolf published The Life
Boat. Numerous books
were also issued from the Bates press,
including Borton's Poems,
in 1823; The Juvenile Expositor, by Elisha Bates, in 1823; Sacred
History, in 1854. Hunt's Hymns were also
published by Enoch
Harris, Bates' printer.
The first tavern in the village was
established in 1806 by
Benajamin Scott. Dr. William Hamilton
was the first physician
and Dr. Isaac Parker the second. In 1835
Dr. Hamilton es-
tablished in Mt. Pleasant one of the
first asylums in the state
for care of insane patients.
Dr. Robert E. Finley, who studied
medicine under Dr.
Hamilton, manufactured salt on Short
Creek in 1817, his broth-
ers, Patrick and Thomas, being
associated with him.
Up to the Second War for Independence
Mt. Pleasant con-
sisted of only a few log cabins, but one
of the results of that
war was to quicken industrial enterprise
in Jefferson County,
and Mt. Pleasant as well as other
villages felt the benefit of the
ately went to work with the paper,
working myself at the mechanical as
well as editorial department." [The
first publisher of anti-slavery liter-
ature died in Lowell, Ill., August 21,
1838.]
A copy of this most valuable
contribution to the history of the period
is in possession of the State Library,
and the compiler is indebted to the
kindness of Hon. G. B. Galbreath, the
Librarian, for opportunity for its
perusal. In writing he says: "We do
not permit works of this character
to go out, but as you have done much to
preserve the history of Ohio,
the library is at your service to the
fullest extent."
12a "The
first United States government land office for the sale of the
public land in the northwestern part of
Ohio, was at Delaware, O.,
where, in 1820, I bought 160 acres of
land. The register was Platt Brush,
and the receiver was Horton Howard, a
Quaker, whose handsome daugh-
ter I thought a great deal of."
From a letter written March 11, 1887,
to James H. Anderson, of Columbus. O.,
by the Hon. M. H. Kirby, of
Upper Sandusky, O., a distinguished man,
then about 90 years old.
164 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
awakening. Joseph Steers, a miller of
notable enterprise, hav-
ing heard of Joseph Howells13
as a skilled mill-wright, brought
him from Waterford, Va., in 1813, for
the purpose of add-
ing machinery to his flour-mill for
manufacturing woolen
goods. Howells came to Brownsville, Pa.,
with his family, in a
wagon, and then down the river to the
mouth of Short Creek
in a boat. Going up the creek to near
Mt. Pleasant, he found
that Steer's mill had been destroyed by
fire. He aided in the
reconstruction and put in the
woolen-mill plant. The work was
most difficult to perform, much of the
machinery being made
by hand, the spindles by local
blacksmiths. From Mt. Pleas-
13 My father moved his family into
Steubenville [from Mt. Pleasant]
in 1816, when I had just entered upon my
tenth year. I was rather a
forward boy, and especially interested
in manufacturing and mechanical
work, of which I had a good conception
for one of my years, so that now
I have a good recollection of what I
then saw. When recurring to that
time, say August, 1818, and onward for a
few years, I am rather surprised
at the variety, as well as extent of
manufactures, in which the people
of South-eastern Ohio and the adjacent
parts of Pennsylvania and Vir-
ginia were engaged. The town of
Steubenville, where the inhabitants
numbered about 2000, was a center of
these operations, that was typical
in its way of the whole. The chief
manufacture of the place was woolen
cloth, carried on by a company founded
about 1812 on a more extensive
scale than any in the state or west of
the Allegheny mountains at that
time. . . . There were paper mills at
Mt. Pleasant and Steubenville.
... . .James Watt did a driving business
as a wheel-wright, making
hand spinning-wheels. An iron foundry
was carried on by Martin Phil-
lips, [in which President McKinley's
father was employed.] Connected
with it Adam Wise had a machine shop.
Mr. Wise made the first plows
of the country with iron mould-board,
[John Rickey of Cross Creek,
having made the model.] - William C.
Howells in Howe's Historical
Collection.
"Twenty-five acres was the extent
of the available land [in the Wills
Creek farm] the rest being hillside on
which nothing but trees would
grow; and being one of the first places
settled in the country, the land
was worn out and hopelessly poor. The
man who had cleared it had
planted an apple orchard and peach
orchard of five or six acres, so that
when there was a fruit season there were
plenty of apples and peaches.
He had improved it with a log barn and
two log cabin houses, but he
had cut every stick of timber off the
land that could be worked into
staves and shingles or rails. . . . It
may seem a strange way of living
now, but it was very common for the log
cabins to have no windows
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 165
ant Howells moved to Steubenville, and
from Steubenville, in
1819, to the headwaters of the South Branch of Wills Creek.
He was employed as wool-sorter for the
Wells woolen-mills up
to 1826. The Gills and Brackens also
manufactured woolens in
Mt. Pleasant.
There was an early Methodist Episcopal
Church, perhaps
1808 or
1810,
one of the first pastors being Rev. Dr. David Mc-
whatever. In extreme cold weather the
door would be closed, and like-
wise at night, but mostly by keeping a
good fire the door could be left
open for light and ventilation, and the
chimneys were so wide and so
low, very often not as high as the
one-story house, that they afforded as
much light as a small window. These
chimneys were always outside the
house at one end, and it was very common
for them never to be finished
or built beyond the fire-place. The
manner of building them was to cut
through the logs at the gable end, a
space of six or eight feet wide and
five or six feet high; and logs were
built to this opening like a bay
window; this recess was then lined with
a rough stone wall up as high
as this opening; from that point a
smoke-stack was built of small sticks
split out of straight wood and laid
cob-house fashion to the heighth de-
sired, and then plastered inside and out
with clay, held together by straw.
A very common event was for these
chimneys to take fire, in which case
it was necessary to use water
bountifully or pull them down. Ours had
so settled away from the house that we
steadily expected it to pull itself
down. But like the tower of Pisa it
stood against all the gravity that
affected it, I suppose, till the house
went also. The repairs delayed our
moving till after New Year's, 1819.
"Just before we moved out, my Uncle
Powell and his family, who
had stopped on their way from England
near Richmond, Va., long
enough to spend all the money they had,
came to Steubenville, and as
he had engaged a farm that he could not
enter upon till spring, he took
the house we lived in. He, however, had
a team of horses and an old
stage coach in which the family had
traveled from Virginia, that still
bore the lettering, 'Richmond and
Staunton Mail Stage,' which was a rather
stunning thing in itself, while it
served them some of the purposes of a
wagon. When we moved, we used this to
transport the family and most
of the goods, by making repeated trips.
On the last trip out, as it was
late at night, the man who drove the
wagon stayed till morning. After
unhitching, he left the coach standing
in the lane, where it terminated on
the brow of a very steep hill. It had
not stood there long till an enter-
prising old sow, making a survey of the
machine, got her nose under a
wheel, when it started down the hill. We
heard the rumbling, and just
got out in time to see it going over a
grade of thirty-five degrees, and
landing in a thicket of bushes. The next
day, after great labor, the run-
166 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
Masters, at whose home Dr. Stantonl3a
met Lucy Norman, who
became his wife and the mother of Edwin
M. Stanton. In
the division in 1830, the Mt.
Pleasant church entered the new
Methodist Protestant Church as a body.
Dr. McMasters was
the father of Mrs. Anna E. Withrow, for
whom Anne E. Dick-
inson was named, her mother, Mary
Edmondson, having been a
teacher in Mt. Pleasant. Mrs. Withrow
heard the first minister
of the Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church
preach, and partici-
pated in the celebration of its
centennial in 1898. Her grand-
father, Merrick Starr, was a cooper, and
made barrels on the
site of the village in 1800.
A bank was established in 1816,
with Joseph Gill as Presi-
dent and Lewis Walker, Cashier. In 1841,
as has been men-
tioned (pp. 238-239), John W. Gill and
Thomas White estab-
lished a silk factory. There was a paper-mill in Mt. Pleasant
as early as 1816, at which paper fine
enough for bank notes was
manufactured.
ning gears were got up, but the body was
a wreck, and was left there, in
which situation we children made many
imaginary trips in it between
Richmond and Staunton.
"At the foot of our hill was a saw
mill and flouring mill. But the
charm of the region was the old mill, a
short distance above the others.
My sister Anne, as next in age to me,
was frequently my companion in
my adventures over these odd places, and
the hills and valleys through
which the cattle would stray, and it is
wonderful what strolls we would
have, and how we clambered over rocks
and through thickets. In one
of these fields was a large patch of
thyme growing, that had spread
from an old garden. In summer, being
long in bloom, it was very pretty,
and with its flowers and fine odor, it
remains a picture to me yet. I
often go back to Castner's old mill, on
a little bunch of thyme, and never
see any without going there.
"Among the features and country and
place where we lived snakes
were prominent. Rattlesnakes had pretty
well disappeared, but black-
snakes, a kind of small anaconda, were
plenty, and in the streams were
water snakes beyond count-a terror to
boys, who would not bathe in them
unless it was very warm, when snakes
were risked, as they would have
been if they had been alligators. But
the copperheads were the really
dangerous serpents of that time and
locality." - William C. Howell's
Recollections.
13a The father of Edwin M. Stanton, while on his way to visit a
patient in the country, was murdered by
an unknown assassin.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 167
Ellwood Ratcliff, son of Isaac, was an
early wagon manu-
facturer at Trenton. He sold a wagon to
William Hasting for
$18, receiving $12 in beef and $6
in money, no one piece of
which represented a greater amount than
six and one-fourth
cents.
Ratcliff manufactured hames which he split out of tree-
stumps, and hauling them to Steubenville
exchanged them for
wagon iron, money then not being a
factor of exchange.
Near Mt. Pleasant, at the foot of Hoge's
Hill, was estab-
lished the Short Creek (Mt. Pleasant)
Presbyterian Church, in
1798, the third church of this
denomination in the state. [See
page 259; other Mt. Pleasant religious
history pp. 259, 262-268.]
What is now the thriving town of
Dillonville, was at a very
early period known as Annadelphia, where
a paper-mill and two
grist mills were in operation.
June 4, 1806, Short Creek Township was
again divided, one
division retaining the name of Short
Creek and the other Cadiz
(both now in Harrison County). The
election in the first town-
ship in the new division was called for
the house of William
Thorne, in Thornville (laid out in 1803), and for the
other at
the house of Jacob Arnold, in the town
of Cadiz.
The movement of the Pathfinders at that
period was up the
fertile Short Creek Valley, and a road
leading from opposite
Charles Town to Cadiz was very early
constructed. There were
numerous settlers, not only in the
valley, but over the divide at
Cadiz and on the headwaters of
Stillwater. As evidence of the
large early population along Short Creek
and its branches, it
is only necessary to note that two
Presbyterian churches were
organized about 1802, one (Crabapple)
near what is now New
Athens, and the other (Beech Springs)
near what is now Union-
vale, the latter by two missionaries,
Rev'ds. Messrs. Patter-
son and Maundry. Rev. Joseph Anderson
was the first min-
ister of these churches. In 1804 Dr. John Rea,14
grandfather
14 The field covered by these two
societies, [Crabapple and Beech
Springs] at the time of our settlement,
was very extensive and the labor
proportionately great. Crabapple claimed
as having within her bounds
the whole extent of country between the
south fork of Short creek and
the farthermost part of Nottingham.
Beech Springs was equally, if not
168 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
of Mrs. Alfred Day of Steubenville,
became the pastor, serv-
ing Beech Springs for more than half a
century. The joint
call was signed by John Miller, S.
Dunlap, W. Watt, Henry
Ferguson, Jesse Edgington, Daniel Welch
and William Har-
vey.
The first elders of Crabapple were: Robert McCul-
lough, William McCullough and David Merrit. Robert Mc-
Cullough represented Crabapple in
Presbytery (Ohio) in 1801.
The first elders of Beech Springs were:
James Kerr, Sr., John
McCullough, Dr. Thomas Vincent.
Among the first settlers15 (1801)
the names being gathered
by Hon C. A. Hanna of Chicago, were the
following: James
still more extensive, including the
entire region of country from the
Piney Fork and the Flats, on west to
Stillwater. All passed under the
name of Beech Springs. All was Jefferson
county and Steubenville was
the Seat of Justice. Over all this
extensive field claimed by both churches
we had to travel. Wherever one was
found, or whenever we heard of one
in our connection, him we must visit;
day and night, summer and win-
ter - all seasons of the year; without a
road in most places save the
mark of an ax on the bark of a tree, or
the trail of an early Indian. No
man that now comes in among us at this
distant day, and highly im-
proved state of the country, can as much
as conjecture the labor and
fatigue of the pioneers in the primeval
forests of Ohio, out of which the
savage had just begun to recede, but
continued still in large encampments
in some places, near the skirtings of
the little societies, where the few
came together to worship under the shade
of a green tree. The two
churches under our care lay nearly
twelve miles apart. Many Sabbath
mornings in the dead of winter, I had to
travel ten miles to the place of
meeting in Crabapple, having no road but
a cowpath, and the underwood
bent with snow over me all the way. Worn
down by fatigue, and fre-
quently in ill-health, I was more than
once brought near the confines of
the grave. In all this region there were
but two clerical brethren that
could afford me any assistance, where
there are now two Presbyteries
and well nigh thirty preachers. -
Extract from sermon delivered at
Beech Springs church by Dr. John Rea,
January, 1851, after a half
century of labor in this field.
15 Of these [the settlers] it is known
that the McFaddens, Craigs,
Jamisons, Gilmores, Hannas, Reas,
Welches, Moores, and Lyons came
from Washington county, Pa.: the
Arnolds, Dunlaps, Dickersons and
Maholms from Fayette county; and many of
the others were from
the same districts. The probability is
that many of these settlers were
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
O. 169
Arnold, Arthur Barrett, James Black,
Robert Braden, George
Brown, George Carnahan, John Carnahan,
Samuel Carnahan,
Joseph Clark, Robert Cochran, John
Craig, Thomas Dickerson,
Samuel Dunlap, James Finney, Samuel
Gilmore, Eleazer Huff,
Joseph Huff (in the valley in 1784),
William Huff, James Hanna,
James Haverfield, Thomas Hitchcock,
Joseph Holmes, Wil-
liam Ingles, John Jamison, Joel Johnson,
Joseph Johnson, Wil-
liam Johnson, Absalom Kent, George
Layport, John Love, John
Lyons, William McClary, John McConnell,
Robert McCullough,
William McCullough, John McFadden,
Joseph McFadden, Sam-
uel McFadden, John Maholm, Samuel
Maholm, Robert Max-
well, Thomas Maxwell, William Osborne, Baldwin Parsons,
John Pugh, Rev. John Rea, John Ross,
Jacob Shepler, Samuel
Smith, Martin Snyder, John Taggart,
Thomas Taylor, Hugh
Teas, Robert Vincent, Thomas Vincent,
John Wallace, Michael
Waxler, Daniel Welch, James Wilkin,
Thomas Wilson.
Dr. Rea was born in Tully, Ireland, in
1772, the son of
Joseph and Isabel Rea. He came to
America in 1790, resid-
ing in Philadelphia for a short time. He
came West to Wash-
ington County, Pa., making the entire
distance on foot and
without a companion. Here, in 1793, he was married to Eliz-
abeth Christy. A few years after, having
been encouraged by
James Dinsmore, he entered Jefferson
College, graduating in
1802. His biographer, Rev. W. F.
Hamilton, says: "Dr. Rea
was in an eminent sense a pioneer minister.
His early labors
were largely evangelistic. Several
churches now exist on ter-
ritory once wholly occupied by him. It
may be safely said
that no man exerted a greater influence
than did he in form-
in Harrison [Jefferson] county before
1800. . . . We know that Alex-
ander Henderson "squatted" on
the land near Cadiz, now known as the
Walter Jamison farm [on a branch of
Short Creek] as early as April,
1799, having removed from Washington
county with his family about that
time; and that Daniel Peterson then
resided with his family at the forks
of Short creek. - Hon. Charles A. Hanna,
"The First White Settlers of
Harrison County."
170 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
ing the religious character of the early
inhabitants of a large
section of Eastern Ohio.
The six early Presbyterian Churches in
the region from
Newels Town (St. Clairsville) to Cadiz,
including Richland,
(St. Clairsville) McMahon's Creek, Short
Creek (Mt. Pleasant,)
Crabapple and Beech Springs, gave
unmistakable evidence to
the ethnologist of the strength of
character of the pioneers of
the southern part of Jefferson County;
and if the ethnologist
make further inquiry he will accept as
true the statement that
the fathers of the sturdy men who came
to this wilderness to
erect homes, were pioneers of
Pennsylvania16 and were soldiers
on the side of liberty in the
Revolutionary War. Another fact
is evident to those who hunt out musty
records to preserve the
truth of history: The Presbyterian
Church kept no records.
The Presbyterians are individualists,
and thus being the anti-
pode of socialists, the church was not a
civil community or-
ganized to relieve the individual of
responsibility. The head of
a family was expected to keep the
records thereof - to note in
his family Bible the marriages, births
and deaths of his family.
This is the reason more names of early
settlers in this region
cannot now be obtained for preservation
in enduring print.
The first elders of the Short Creek (Mt.
Pleasant) Church
were: Richard McKibben, Thomas McCune,17
(the latter a sol-
16 Many of the names of actors in the various dramas set forth [in
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County] are
familiar in this locality, and
Old Paxton [Paxtang] Church Yard is full
of them. - Extract from a
letter from Hon. W. F. Rutherford,
Historian of Paxton (Paxtang, Pa.)
Church.
17 I learn
that Col. Thomas McCune came from near Philadelphia, and
his mother's name was Rotherham. The
Rotherhams were called fight-
ing Quakers because they fought for
their country in the Revolution.
They were expelled from the Friends'
Society for this offense; but after
this expulsion they formed another
organization called "The Fighting
Quaker Church." Col. McCune could
trace his ancestry back to the time
of the persecution in Scotland. His
family name was then spelled
"McEuen." One of the McEuens
wrote a book on Religious Liberty,
and on account of it the family was
persecuted; some members were
burned at the stake and others fled to
the north of Ireland, where the
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
O. 171
dier of the Revolutionary War, although
his mother's people
were Quakers, which sect as a rule,
opposed the war for various
reasons) James Eagleson and James Clark
(1798); Thomas Ma-
jor and Adam Dunlap (1808); John Alexander and Jacob Tull
(1829); David Baldridge, John Theaker and John Major (1832).
Of those who served as precentors the
names of the following
have been preserved: John Alexander,
Joseph Kithcart, Cun-
ningham Kithcart, Archibald Major, Amos
Jones and William
McGee.
Rev. Dr. Bejamin Mitchell was the second
pastor of the
Mt. Pleasant Church, succeeding Rev.
Joseph Anderson in 1829,
the year the foundation of a church
building was laid in the vil-
lage. He, too, was one of the physically
rugged pioneer preach-
ers, and related that he was compelled
to eke out the stipend
called a salary, by labor with his ax,
six days of the week; and
he preached three and four times each
Sunday. He served this
church more than fifty years, and the
church had but two pas-
tors in eighty years! He was born at
York, Pa., and his father,
Joseph Mitchell, was a Major in the
Revolutionary War.
name was changed to McCune. The McCunes
came to America early in
its history. Thomas served well in the
Revolutionary war, reaching the
rank of Colonel. He helped guard the
Hessians after their surrender,
and often told of their endeavor to keep
fire, their only fires being of
cedar fence-rails which they had to
carry a mile. Col. McCune was a
strict observer of the Sabbath. All the
shoes of the family were put in
order on Saturday, and he attended to
this duty himself. The coffee to
be used on the Sabbath was ground the
previous evening. On one occa-
sion a minister unexpectedly came in
upon them on Sabbath and there
was not enough coffee ground. Here was a
dilemma, but it was met by
Mrs. McCune taking the mill to the
orchard. On another Sabbath a
large flock of wild turkeys came near
the house. "Thomas, can't you kill
one with a stick?" "Not
to-day, Mary." "Well, if you won't, I will,"
she replied, and seizing a stick, she
succeeded in killing a fine large one,
which Thomas gallantly carried home: but
his wife could never dis-
tinguish between the sins. Col. McCune
lived and died on the farm now
owned by John Weatherston, while Adam
Dunlap tilled the adjoining
farm now owned by Mrs. [Sarah] Jenkins,
[who is a daughter of Nathan
and Ann Updegraph.] - T. M. McConahey,
at celebration of the cen-
tennial of the Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian
church, August 31, 1898.
172 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
The Presbytery of Ohio, with which
Jefferson County his-
tory is linked, and particularly that
part of which we now
write, was formed out of Redstone in
1793,18 and extended to
the Scioto River. On October 11, 1819,
the Synod of Pittsburg
resolved that "so much of the
Presbytery of Ohio as lies north-
west of the Ohio River including the
Rev'ds. Lyman Potter,
Joseph Anderson, James Snodgrass,
Abraham Scott, John Rea,
Thomas Hunt, Thomas B. Clark and Obediah
Jennings, with
their respective charges, should be
formed into a separate Pres-
bytery, to be known as the Presbytery of
Steubenville." The
boundaries then fixed were: Beginning at
the mouth of Big Yel-
low Creek, thence by direct line in
northwest course to inter-
section of the west line of the Seventh
Range with the south
line of the Western Reserve; thence
south along said west line
to the Ohio River and up the river to
the place of beginning.
The Presbytery included the churches of
Richland (1798), Short
Creek (1798), Steubenville (1800), Island
Creek (1800), Crab-
apple (1801), Beech Springs (about 1802), Cedar Lick (Two
Ridges, (1802), Richmond (Bacon Ridge, 1804),
Tent (Cen-
ter, 1803), Cadiz (about 1817),
Nottingham (about 1816), Mc-
Mahon's Creek (Belmont County, perhaps
in 1806). The first
meeting of Steubenville Presbytery was
held October 19, 1819,
Joseph Anderson, Moderator, and Lyman
Potter delivered the
sermon. All the ministers were present,
together with Robert
Brown, David Hoge, Stephen Coe, James
McLean, elders. At
its organization Steubenville Presbytery
contained twelve
churches, eight ministers and nine
hundred members. St.
18 The first Protestant sermon delivered
west of the Alleghenies was
by a Presbyterian minister, Rev. Dr.
Beatty, the occasion being a thanks-
giving celebration the Sunday following
the occupation of Fort Duquesne
by Forbes, Saturday evening, November
25, 1758, Dr. C. Beatty being the
Chaplain of Forbes' forces. - From Notes
and Queries, edited by Dr.
W. H. Egle, and published annually by
Hon. M. W. McAlarney, editor
of The Harrisburg Telegraph.
Dr. C. Beatty was the father of Major
Erkuris Beatty, and therefore
the grandfather of Dr. C. C. Beatty, the
founder of the Steubenville
Seminary. The grandfather was a pupil of
the Old Log College, and
the grandson was a graduate of
Princeton.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 173
Clairsville Presbytery was formed from a
portion of this terri-
tory, at Mt. Pleasant, October 3, 1838.
While churches were not established at
Nottingham and
Cadiz until ten years later, Dr. Rea
preached to the Presby-
terian settlers of these communities as
early as 1806. At Not-
tingham services were held up to 1821, in a tent erected (1808)
by Abraham Brokaw, Robert Baxter, John
Glenn and Adam
Dunlap. Rev. Thomas B. Clark was ordained in 1811, and in
1821 a log church was built on the tent
site by Abraham
Brokaw, Archibald Todd, Adam Dunlap,
Samuel Laferty,
Thomas Morrow.
Nottingham Church19 was near
the road or trail (1802)
leading to the West, through
Steubenville and what is now
Dr. C. Beatty was a Chaplain of the
English Provincial forces in
1756, and at Fort Allen he complained
that the troops neglected the daily
religious services held by him. It was
then suggested that if the grog
ration be distributed just after the
sermon, the attendance would be in-
creased. The chaplain agreed to the
proposition and thereafter he
made no complaint of small attendance.
He was at the bloody battle of
Bushy Run. September 21, 1766, with Dr.
Duffield, he made a trip to the
Tuscarawas valley and there preached to
the Indians. - From the Beatty
Family Record. The statement made (p.
254) that Rev. David Jones was
the first person to preach the Gospel in
the Ohio river country, (1772)
has reference to that part of the river
country on which Jefferson county
bordered.
19 In the call that was made out in 1805
by the church of Crabapple
and vicinity for the labors of John Rea
the one-half of his time, the rep-
resentatives of Nottingham interest
signed said call with the express un-
derstanding that a part of the pastor's
services would be employed in
this [Nottingham] region if desired.
Fifty pounds per annum was the
sum specified in the call, one-half in
cash and one-half in produce; the
latter to be delivered at a certain
flouring mill near the mouth of Big
Short Creek. In keeping with these
conditions the supplies of grain
increased rapidly, at such prices at 20
to 25 cents a bushel for wheat,
and 12 to 25 cents for corn and rye. It
soon became necessary for
the minister to have his large stock of
produce manufactured and put
into the market, that he might procure
funds wherewith to replenish his
library, and supply the wants of his
household. When a sufficient
number of barrels and lading were ready
to fill a flatboat, a man of
approved character and ability was
employed to take oversight of the
cargo, and ship it down the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers to some Southern
174 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
Cadiz, and on this road,
near Nottingham,20 William Ingles, in
this year, built the first public house
in Harrison County, unless
Jacob Arnold's tavern on the site of
Cadiz was previously built,
which is questioned. It was near here
Captain William Boggs
and a party of scouts from Fort Henry
were surprised in camp
by Indians, in 1793, and Captain Boggs killed.
As has been mentioned, the Short Creek
(Mt. Pleasant)
Church, was first in the valley, near
the waters of Short
Creek, having been removed to the
village at about the begin-
ning of the pastorate of Dr.
Mitchell. According to a sketch
contributed to the centennial history by
Rev. D. L. Dickey and
L. C. Reed, the spot on which Short Creek
Church was organ-
ized, is still pointed out; the
farm then belonged to John
Mitchell, now (1898) to Robert Finney.
Two persons, at least,
port, make sale, and bring back [on
foot] the returns, which, after pay-
ing expenses, were quite small. - Dr. T.
R. Crawford, in "Forty Years
Pastorate and Reminiscences."
20The first settlements made in this
vicinity [Nottingham] were
made from 1798 to 1803. Abraham Brokaw,
John Glenn, William Ingles,
George Laport, Thomas Wilson, Arthur
Barrett, - - Jones, - - Mof-
fit. These were but the advance of a
great mass of people that in a few
years scattered over a large tract of
country, so, as by magic, the North-
west territory was settled, and signs of
civilization were evident, by
subdued forests, newly erected
dwellings, followed by the school house
and the church building. .. When peace was ratified with the
Indians, and Ohio admitted into the
Union, the tide of immigration began
to flow strongly in this direction. In
1802, the great western thorough-
fare passed not more than three quarters
of a mile from [the site of]
Nottingham church, which was the route
from Pittsburg by way of
Steubenville, and from Central
Pennsylvania by way of Charles Town,
forming a junction in this [Jefferson]
county, which induced the location
of Cadiz [1804] then running west nine or ten miles, forked
on the
lands of William Ingles. The right
branch of this road passed through
the "White Eye" plains, and on
to the Sandusky region; the left branch
running by way of Zanesville into the
Scioto and Miami valleys. Howe,
in his Historical Collections of Ohio,
says, "that previous to the con-
struction of the National road through
Ohio, this road was perhaps
traveled more than any other route in
Ohio." - Forty Years Pastorate
and Reminiscences by Rev. Dr. T. R.
Crawford, pastor of the Nottingham
Church.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 175
were buried in the first church yard.
According to the same
authority, there was also a church tent
(a covered stand for
the minister and leader of the choir) on
the Maxwell place,
about four miles east of Mt. Pleasant,
now (1898) owned by
Smith Haythorn. The first house of
worship, a rude log struc-
ture, without fire place or stove, was
built at the foot of Hoge's
hill, and Tradition says Henry West,
Hugh McConahey and
William Pickens built the pulpit, which
was afterward removed
to the church built in the village.
"At this house the people
worshiped for twenty years. Nothing
marks the spot now
[1898] but a few half-hidden tombstones
that mutely appeal
for remembrance for over a hundred
buried dead."
Joseph Anderson, who, in his time,
served Richland, Mt.
Pleasant, Crabapple and Beech Springs,
and, no doubt, preached
at other points in the county previous
to the coming of Drs.
Rea and Snodgrass, came to Ohio from
Pennsylvania in 1798,
and left the valley for Missouri in 1830, dying,
according Mr.
T. M. McConahey, at Monticello on the
forty-seventh anni-
versary of his installation, August 20, 1847. His
first wife was
a daughter of Rev. Joseph Smith who
preserved many historical
data in "Old Redstone,"
published many years ago.
Dr. Rea was pastor (as supply) of the
Cadiz Church until
October 17, 1822, when Rev.
Donald Macintosh was called.
Rev. Macintosh was born in Aberdeen,
Scotland, and was edu-
cated at Jefferson College, Canonsburgh,
Pa. He served the
Cadiz Church until 1826, when Rev. John
McArthur was in-
stalled pastor of the Ridge and Cadiz
Churches, serving eleven
years. McArthur's successor in the
pastorate of the Cadiz
Church was Rev. Dr. James Kerr, who was
the most scholarly
of all the ministers of the Presbyterian
Church of Eastern Ohio,
pioneer or modern. He was born in
Wigton, Scotland, De-
cember, 1802, and was graduated by the
University of Glasgow
at the age of twenty-seven. He came to
America in 1832, and
began missionary work in Virginia under
license of the Presby-
tery of Baltimore. In 1838 he was called
to the Cadiz Church
where his labors were finished April 19,
1855. His great intel-
176 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
lect had vent not only in the pulpit-he
was the author of at
least two theological works of force. In
speaking of Dr. Kerr,
Dr. T. R. Crawford, a contemporary, and
for forty years pas-
tor of the Nottingham Church, said:
"Dr. Kerr was a true
specimen of a learned, earnest,
unwavering Scotch minister.
He was a man of positive character and
convictions, forcible in
argument, concise in his words, and
scholarly in research, af-
fecting no oratorical flights and fancy
pictures, and his appeals
were directly to the understanding and
to the heart. He was
remarkably consistent in every sphere of
life-citizen or minis-
ter." A son, James W. Kerr, is an
elder of the church so long
served by the father, and a daughter who
inherits her father's
intellectual powers, is the wife of Rev.
Dr. Cyrus J. Hunter,
of the Uhrichsville Presbyterian Church.
Rev. Dr. William M.
Grimes, who succeeded Dr. Kerr, was not
a Pathfinder, but
no minister was beloved to a fuller
degree of warmth by the
grandchildren of the Pathfinders than
was this sweet soul,
whose earthly labors closed November 23,
1886.
The first elders of this church were
Matthew McCoy, John
Hanna and William Ramsey (great grandfather
of A. J. Ham-
mond of Cadiz.)
The Associate Reformed Church mission at
Cadiz was one
of the first west of the Ohio River,
there being preaching at
this station as early as 1810, and in
November, 1813, Rev. Wil-
liam Taggart was installed pastor,
one-half his time in Cadiz
and one-half time at Uniontown, Belmont
County, and received
the munificent salary of $180 for each
charge. He served these
churches for a quarter of a century. The
first elders were:
Robert Orr and Joseph McFadden.
The Associate Congregation of Cadiz was
organized in
1813, and Rev. John Walker was
installed, in 1814, pastor of
Cadiz, Unity (Belmont County) and Mt.
Pleasant. The first
elders of the Associate Congregation of
Cadiz were: Thomas
Maxwell, William Braden and Joseph
Braden, installed in 1814.
Rev. Walker laid out the town of New
Athens where he
opened a classical school, and finally
procured a charter for
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 177
Franklin College, one of the first
colleges west of the river. He
was prominent as a conductor of the
Underground Railroad,
and his strong anti-slavery sentiment
expressed in pulpit and in
the hall almost disrupted the college.
The adherents of other churches were
also early in the
Short Creek Valley as well as in other
parts of Jefferson County,
for the Pathfinders were not
ungodly. The first preaching by
a Methodist Episcopal minister in the
Northwest Territory was
at the mouth of the creek. Here, in
1781, John Carpenter built
what has always been known as
Carpenter's Fort and should
not be confounded with the Carpenter's
Blockhouse, built in
1785, by George Carpenter, two miles up
the river, and near the
mouth of Rush Run. At Carpenter's Fort, in 1787, Rev.
George Callahan, circuit rider of the
Virginia District, preached
to the squatters; and Gen. Butler, who
drove the squatters off
the land, noted in his journal (1785)
that "the people of this
country [Short Creek] appear to be much
imposed upon by a
sect called Methodist and are become
great fanatics."
If religious opportunities indicate the
character of the peo-
ple of a community, certainly the first
settlers of this county
were not lacking in this evidence of
intellectual development.
Very shortly after the organization of
the Short Creek Presby-
terian Church, and the same year the
Concord Friends' Meet-
ing was organized in Colerain (1800),
Jacob Holmes21 and his
21 The following valuable information
about Jacob Holmes is from
a letter from a grandson to The
Steubenville Gazette:
In Vol. VI. of the Ohio Archaeological
and Historical Society publi-
cations I read an article written by W.
H. Hunter, entitled The Path-
finders of Jefferson County. As my
parents were raised in that county,
permit me to correct several errors. On
page 163 mention is made of
"Jacob Holmes who was early in this
county," etc.
Jacob Holmes was my grandfather, and my
information is derived
from Jacob Holmes himself, from his wife
and from my mother. The
matter to which I refer is in an old
manuscript by Eli McFeely in which
he details his first meeting and
introduction to Jacob Holmes, giving the
date of this meeting as about the middle
of July, 1838, and the place "the
summit of McDowell's hill." When
introduced by his friend "S. B.,"
he saw in Jacob Holmes "an aged but erect man" who
proceeded to give
Vol. VIII--12
178 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
neighbors built a Methodist Episcopal
Church up the Short
Creek Valley (about fourteen miles from
the mouth of the
creek) on lands given him for services
as an Indian scout. The
date of this building has been disputed
in recent years; but the
basis of the claim that the Holmes
church was one of the very first
Methodist Episcopal Churches erected in
the Northwest Terri-
tory still obtains. Jacob Holmes (a
Welshman,) was fervent in
an account of his early life in the
western country, including the date and
place of his birth, etc. Now, in July,
1838, Jacob Holmes was living in
Highland county, Ohio, some six miles
north of Hillsborough. He was
then nearly seventy years of age, but had
the appearance of being much
older. Instead of being an erect man, he
was much stooped, was in de-
clining health and could not have
"ascended to the summit of McDowell's
hill by the sinuous path," even if
he had been in Jefferson county at that
time. So I concluded that Mr. McFeely
wrote the interview some time
after the meeting took place and was
mistaken in the date. He is also
wrong as to the birthplace of Jacob
Holmes as well as to John Huff being
killed by the Indians with Dan McIntyre,
and David Cox and others in
the ginseng party. John Huff, my
grandmother's brother, married Sallie
Johnson, a sister of John and Henry
Johnson, who were captured by the
Indians, killed their captors and
returned home. John Huff settled at
Columbia on the Ohio river, a few miles
above Cincinnati, at about the
close of the last century, and lived to
be an aged man, dying there some-
thing over fifty years ago. Besides his
sister (my grandmother) he had
a brother, Eleazar Huff, and a son in
the vicinity of my father's farm in
Highland county, and he frequently
visited his relatives there. He was
a tall, stoutly built man, having the
reputation of being a perfect athlete
in his younger days.
Jacob Holmes was born December 8, 1768,
in Rockingham county,
Va. While Jacob was a small boy his
father moved to Bedford county,
Pa., and a few years later to Washington
county, Pa., near Catfish, now
Washington; then a few years later to
what is now Brooke county, W.
Va., and settled on Buffalo creek, not
far from the Ohio river. Here
our subject grew to manhood, and in 1791
was married to Elizabeth,
daughter of Michael and Hannah Doddridge
Huff. Shortly after his
marriage he was employed by the United
States Government as an Indian
scout, and in company with his brother-in-law,
Kinsey Dickerson and a
man named Washburn, was thus employed
for three years. For his
services he received a tract of land on
Short creek, a few miles north
of where Mt. Pleasant now stands. To
this place he moved his family
in the spring of 1796, my mother being
but six weeks old. He resided
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 179
his devotion to the polity of the
Methodist Church; he settled
on Short Creek in 1796, and
gathered about him men of like
religious views, and it is natural for
those who have studied
the character of the Pathfinders to
recognize the adage, that
"Where there is a will there is a
way," and believe that Holmes
and his neighbors built a place of
worship within four years
after the settlement was made.
on this farm some twenty-five years when
he sold to a man named
Comley and removed to the northern part
of Harrison county. The
farm on which he then located is now in
Carroll county. He resided
here until 1832, when he again sold out
and removed to Fairfield township,
Highland county. In the summer of 1838
he again sold out and bought
a farm one mile north of Kenton, Hardin
county, to which he moved in
the spring of 1839, and there he died
October 14, 1841.
On October 30, 1840, he requested all of
his children to meet at his
home in a family reunion and take dinner
with him. This was on the
Presidential election day for Ohio, at
the close of the noted Tippecanoe
campaign. The children all met except
Mrs. Augustine Bickerstaff of
Steubenville, her health not permitting.
My mother made the trip on
horseback from Highland county, Ohio, a
distance of one hundred miles.
Her sister, Mrs. Nathaniel Moore, who
resided near Little York (Upde-
graph postoffice) in Jefferson county,
also came on horseback. He and
his wife and children (one excepted) all
ate dinner at the same table on
that day, and after the meal was over he
preached to them and offered a
fervent prayer for their temporal and
eternal welfare. He and his wife
are buried in the Grove cemetery at
Kenton, and this is the inscription
on his tombstone: Jacob Holmes, died
October 14th, 1841, aged 72
years, 10 months and 6 days. On the
tombstone of his wife: Elizabeth
Holmes, died January 27, 1857, aged 84
years, 8 months and 5 days.
The Holmes and Huff families all settled
in Jefferson, Harrison and
Tuscarawas counties in the early opening
of the eastern part of the state.
In Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio
(the old edition) in his account
of Harrison county, several of the Huffs
are mentioned. In his account
of Guernsey county, my grandmother's
brother, John Huff, is mentioned;
so he was not killed with the ginseng
party on Cross creek.
Ambrose W. Moore, who was your Sheriff
some thirty years ago, is
a grandson of Jacob Holmes. There was a
large family of his brothers
and sisters who some years ago nearly
all lived in Jefferson county. His
father and mother both died in
Smithfield where they had removed a
few years before their decease. - Curtis
Wilkin, Kenton, O., March 6,
1899.
180 Ohio Arch.
and His. Society Publications.
The Dickerson Methodist Episcopal Church22
(a few miles
southeast of Cadiz, and in this same
valley) was organized in
1802, when Thomas Dickerson came to the
land on which the
present [1899] church stands, and began
to hold prayer-meet-
ings. In 1804 a class was organized and
Dickerson was made
leader.
There was great activity by the
Methodists in all this
region even before the beginning of the
century. In 1794-5,
the circuit in which this part of
Jefferson County was included,
embraced Washington County, Pa., Ohio
and Virginia, both
sides of the river, from Pittsburg to Marietta. In this year
Charles Conoway was the presiding Elder
and Samuel Hitt and
Thomas Haymond were ministers. Hitt had
means of support,
In answer to further inquiries, Mr.
Wilkin writes:
It is possible but not at all probable,
that Jacob Holmes returned to
Jefferson county after leaving Highland
for Hardin county, in 1838. At
that time he was a broken-down man,
suffering from asthma. He made
the trip on his saddle-horse Old Lion,
which he continued to ride until
a few months before his death. If this
circumstance mentioned by Mr.
McFeely ever took place (and I presume
it did) Mr. McFeely is mistaken
in regard to date.
Joseph Huff [the Indian fighter, who
settled on Short creek as early
as 1784] was the brother of my
grandmother, the wife of Jacob Holmes.
My grandfather, Michael Huff, had the
following sons: Michael, who
was killed by the Indians on the
Mississippi river, in the early settlement
of Illinois; Joseph, who I think died in
Harrison county many years ago,
not far from where his father settled in
Jefferson (now Harrison) and
near Georgetown; William, who died near
the same place; John, who
died at Columbia, a short distance above
Cincinnati, about 1842; Samuel,
who died in Highland county, about 1846;
Eleazar. who died in High-
land county in 1833. The old Huff Bible
that contains the record of all
the Huff family, is now in possession of
David C. Holmes of Kenton, a
grandson of Jacob Holmes.
22 The history of the Dickerson church
commences at the beginning
of the century. As early as March, 1801,
Joseph Holmes [grandfather of
Major J. T. Holmes of Columbus] moved to
the farm on which he lived
and died, [then in Jefferson county, now
on the ridge dividing two forks
of Short creek, near the point where
Athens, Cadiz and Short Creek
townships join.] Soon after the
following settlers came into the settle-
ment: Joseph Huff, William Walraven,
Thomas Dickerson, Eli Dicker-
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
O. 181
but the two other ministers received
each £24 (Pennsylvania
money). In 1796, Valentine Cook was the
Presiding Elder, and
Andrew Nichols, John Seward, Shadrack
Johnson and Jona-
than Bateman were the ministers. In
1797, Daniel Hitt was
Presiding Elder, and N. B. Mills and
Jacob Colbert, minis-
ters. In 1797, N. B. Mills and Solomon
Harris were the min-
isters with 427 members. In 1799, Thomas
Haymond and Jesse
Stoneman rode the circuit. In June Haywood died, aged
thirty-five years. A decrease of 106
members was reported this
year, but the following being a year of
revivals, the member-
ship increased to 521. During this year Joseph Rowen and
John Cullison were the ministers. In
1801, the immense district
was divided, the part embracing
Jefferson County, being named
Pittsburg District; Thornton Fleming as
Elder and Benjamin
Essex and Joseph Hall, ministers. The
Ohio Circuit was dis-
banded and the West Wheeling Circuit
formed of territory in-
cluding Jefferson County. In 1802 Joseph Hall; 1803
John
Cullison; 1804 Lashley Mathews, were the
ministers. Mathews
son, William Scoles, James and Thomas
Worley, Abraham Holmes and
William Welling. In 1802 Thomas
Dickerson settled on the farm on
which the Dickerson church was located.
. .. During the same fall
he organized a prayer-meeting circle
which held weekly meetings..
This was the first organized religious
society in the county of Harrison,
as now composed. In 1804 a society of
Methodists was organized with
Thomas Dickerson as class-leader. . .. The first
quarterly meeting
was held on the farm of Joseph Holmes,
in the summer of 1805. This
meeting was conducted by Rev. Asa Shinn.
Methodists from beyond
and about Wellsburg, on the Ohio and
from the Holmes church [built
in 1800,] on Short creek, came to the
meeting. . . . . The meeting
was held in the grove; the seats were
made of rails, logs and puncheons.
In two trees standing about six feet
apart a notch was cut in each tree,
and in those notches was placed a
puncheon sixteen inches wide, and on
this the preacher laid the Bible. . . .
The organization of the Dickerson
church is clearly traceable to the
labors of Bishop Asbury and Bishop
McKendry, from the fact that the first
members came from Virginia and
Pennsylvania. . . . By a revival here in 1829, under Thomas M. Hud-
son, this minister received into the
Cadiz church many interesting young
men, five of whom became ministers;
Bishop Simpson was one of them.
- Address of Joseph Holmes at Dedication
of Dickerson church, Octo--
ber 7, 1888.
182 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
was a soldier of the Revolutionary War.
By will he left his
horse and saddle, all he had of this
world's goods, to be sold
and the proceeds to be used for the
benefit of the church. In
1805, James Hunter was the Presiding Elder, and John West
and Eli Towne, Ministers. In 1806,
Thornton Fleming was
Presiding Elder with David Stevens and
Abraham Daniels as
ministers. In this year a
"preaching place was found at the
home of John Permar [in Steubenville]
where many were con-
verted." In 1807, William Knox,
James Reiley and J. G. Watt;
1808, Robert R. Roberts and Benedict
Burgess; 1809, James
Quinn, Joseph Young and Thomas Church.
Young left this
record: "I found my circuit
included the whole of Jefferson
and Belmont Counties. At St. Clairsville
we preached in the
old log Court House (upstairs)."
During this year Obediah
Jennings, a very prominent citizen of
Steubenville, was a con-
stant attendant at the Methodist
meetings, was converted, and
afterwards became a noted Presbyterian
minister. He moved to
Virginia where his daughter became the
wife of Gov. Henry A.
Wise and she was the mother of O.
Jennings Wise, who was a
prominent Confederate officer. In 1810,
a society was organized
in Steubenville by William Lamden, the
place of meeting being
the home of Bernard Lucas. Those at the
organization were:
Bernard Lucas, Margaret Lucas,
Matthew Worstel, Rachel
Worstel, William Fisher, Margaret
Cummings, Archibald Cole,
Elizabeth Cole, Nicholas Murray, Mary
Murray, Hugh Dunn,
John Dougherty. In 1811, William Lamden
and Michael Ellis
were the ministers. This was a year of
revivals in Steuben-
ville, and the Methodists became strong
enough to begin
the erection of a place of worship
(50x75 feet) on a lot
donated by Bezaleel Wells, on the
southeast corner of Fourth
and South streets. In 1812, the Ohio District was formed,
with Jacob Young as Presiding Elder, and
Michael Ellis and
John McMahon, ministers. This year the
Ohio Conference
was formed. At the first session
(October 1) Abel Robinson
and William Knox were appointed
ministers of this district. In
1813, the Ohio Conference was held in
Steubenville, the Meth-
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
O. 183
odist Episcopal Church having greatly
increased in numbers in
this vicinity. Bishops Asbury and
McKendrie graced the min-
isterial assembly by their presence. In
1815, J. B. Finley, the
giant of Methodism, a former
Presbyterian, a former intrepid
Indian fighter, a college-bred man,
learned, eloquent, enthusi-
astic, was appointed minister of the
Steubenville Circuit with
J. Powell as assistant. Under Finley's
administration most of
the Methodist Societies in the county
were organized. Accord-
ing to Finley's autobiography, the year
1815 was noted for re-
ligious controversy, when Armenianism
and Calvinism "grap-
pled in strong, if not loving,
embrace."
Among the first settlers of Cadiz, which
was laid out in
1803, were: Jacob Arnold, tavern keeper;
James Simpson, Man-
ufacturer of reeds for hand
spinning-wheels (the father of Bishop
Simpson); William Tingley, school
teacher (brother of Bishop
Simpson's mother); William Arnold,
powder manufacturer;
Thomas Hogg (brother of John), merchant;
Andrew McNeely
(father of Cyrus McNeely, founder of the
Hopedale College),.
hatter and Justice of the Peace; John
Harris, merchant; John
Jamison (the founder of the noted
Jamison family in Harrison
County), tanner; John McCrea,
wheel-wright; Robert Wilkin,
brickmaker; Connell Abdill, shoemaker;
Jacob Myers, carpen-
ter; John Pritchard, blacksmith (father
of Mrs. Chauncey Dew-
ey); Nathan Adams, tailor.
Here Bishop Matthew Simpson was born
June 20, 1811,
the son of James and Sarah (Tingley)
Simpson, the father com-
ing from Northern Ireland in 1793 to
Huntington County, Pa.,
and afterward to Western Pennsylvania,
and then to Cadiz.
He had four brothers, Andrew, John,
William, Matthew, and a
sister Mary. The mother, born in New
Jersey, was a daugh-
ter of Jeremiah Tingley, who came to
Ohio and settled near the
mouth of Short Creek in 1801,23 the daughter being about
23 My mother, Sarah Tingley, was born in
New Jersey, some twenty
miles from South Amboy, but in her youth
was taken to the neighbor-
hood of Amboy. Her father's name was
Jeremiah Tingley. During the
War of the Revolution he was drafted and
served a term in the army;
and then as the war continued he
enlisted for an additional term, and
184 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
twenty years of age. Here James Simpson
and Sarah Tingley
were married and shortly thereafter made
their home in Cadiz,
although there is belief about Hopewell
Church that Bishop
Simpson was born on Warren Ridge. Bishop
Simpson stated
during his life, on the occasion of
receiving a cane made of a
portion of one of the logs used in the
construction of the Holmes
Church, that his mother attended
services in the hallowed sanc-
tuary in her early womanhood. Her father
and mother were
buried in Hopewell grave-yard.
Matthew Simpson's father died when the
son was but two
years of age. Matthew, the uncle, took
charge of the boy and
gave him a thorough education, and no
one ever lived was a
more apt pupil. He could read and spell
at the age of three
years, and before he was fifteen he had
not only mastered Latin,
Greek, Hebrew and German languages, but
thoroughly learned
the printing trade, wrote poetry, spent
much time in the Court
House listening to the arguments of the
giants of the early Bar,
and drinking deeply from this fountain;
not only all this-he
attended Dr. John McBean's classical
academy and as well
learned something of the reed-maker's
trade in his Uncle Mat-
thew's shop. He never attended Franklin
College as many sup-
pose, although his Uncle Matthew was one
of the first direc-
tors; he was well educated under the
tutition of his uncle and
was present at several battles, but was
not actively engaged. At the
close of the war he received a soldier's
claim for lands in Western Vir-
ginia and purposed to move West, but the
agent who pretended to lo-
cate the land deceived him, and he never
recovered it. On the way
West, in 1790, he was taken ill at
Winchester, Va., and after recovering
remained a number of years in that
region. He was brought up, as was
my mother's mother, a Baptist, but there
being no Baptist church near
Winchester, she attended Methodist
preaching and was awakened and
converted. In 1801 the family removed to
Ohio, and settled on Short
creek, near [now] Hopewell [M. E.
church, on Warren Ridge,] where
grandfather Tingley died, and where,
June 10, 1806, my mother was
married. She was the first member of the
family who joined the Meth-
odists, but the entire family followed
her example. My mother was born
May 23, 1781. - Statement made by Bishop
Simpson.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 185
Dr. McBean before Franklin was
organized. Shortly after at-
taining the age of fifteen years, he
walked near ninety miles
to Uniontown, Pa., where he entered
Madison College, but was
so far advanced that Dr. Elliot, the
head-master, frequently left
his department in young Simpson's
charge. He read medicine
under Dr. McBean and received a
certificate that entitled him
to the privilege, but he did not
practice, the direction of his
early bent having been changed, and he
entered the ministry
of the church of his mother. In the reed
factory of his Uncle
Matthew also worked Curtis Soule,
afterwards Bishop, and
down the valley about fifteen miles, at
Mt. Pleasant, was born
Stephen Mason Merrill, also a bishop of
the Methodist Episco-
pal Church.
The town being at the crossing of two of
the most im-
portant thoroughfares, it grew rapidly,
and the many hotels and
the many fine brick buildings erected
gave evidence of early
prosperity, the beginning of the great
wealth that now obtains.
There was manufacturing of all
sorts-furniture, shoes,
wagons, nails, stoves, leather, flour,
guns, powder, fruit, bran-
dies, whisky, crude farm implements. The
pork-packing indus-
try was carried on extensively for years
by Samuel McFadden,
one of the early merchants (grandfather
of the compiler), and
son, H. S. McFadden (father of H. H.
McFadden, of The
Steubenville Gazette). The Kilgores
(afterwards of Steuben-
ville) were also early manufacturers.
William Frey and Joseph
R. Hunter (father of the compiler) were
furniture manufactur-
ers, the latter shipping large
quantities to St. Louis. The sen-
ior Matthew Simpson was an inventive
genius, inventing among
other machines, one to facilitate the
production of reeds, with
which machine he manufactured a superior
reed, resulting in a
wide demand. He also invented a loom for
weaving stocks,
the fashionable neck-wear for gentlemen
at that time.
The Short Creek Valley from Cadiz to Mt.
Pleasant, and
including the region about New Athens
and Crabapple Church,
just over the divide on the headwaters
of Wheeling Creek, was
noted for its warmth of abolition
sentiment from 1820 down to
186 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
close of the "irrepressible
conflict"-abolition of slavery pure
and simple; the hard-headed, austere
Seceders, the followers of
Dr. John Walker and other ministers of
his kind, would tol-
erate no compromise, and they looked
upon Benjamin Lundy's
colonization schemes with almost the
same disrespect that they
would consider any half-way measure
proposed by the pro-
slavery advocates. Franklin College,
founded by John Walker,
was long recognized as the fountain head
of the abolition sent-
iment of Eastern Ohio, and it is but
natural that the people
first to drink of the stream were
powerfully influenced; and
further, it was in accordance with the
eternal fitness of things
that numerous "underground
stations," so called because slaves
were surreptitiously conveyed along
certain routes, kept hid
during the day, and hurried during the
night season from one
station to another, on their way to
Canada, should be estab-
lished in this valley.
Of course there were stations at the
mouth of Short Creek,
one kept by George Craig and one by
William Hogg. One
was kept by Joseph Medill (grandfather
of W. L. Medill, Esq.),
on Warren Ridge, near Hopewell M. E.
Church. There were
many in Mt. Pleasant, the slaves being
kept during daylight
in any of the houses in the village, and
there is authority for
the statement that one good Friend kept
a number of strong
negroes on his farm from corn-planting
until after harvest! The
house of Rev. Benjamin Mitchell was a
noted station, there be-
ing a trap-door in the kitchen floor
through which runaway
slaves reached a large hole in the
ground when slave hunters
were searching the premises. The Updegraff house, a mile
west of Mt. Pleasant, and that of David
Robinson, west of
Trenton, were also well known to the
slave on his way to lib-
erty. The Bracken house in Mt. Pleasant
was so constructed
that the negroes could enter an attic by
means of a trap-door in
the roof after climing a ladder.
Benjamin Ladd (the Quaker
philanthropist) kept the Smithfield
Station. The one at Lloyds-
town, named for Jesse and Isaac Lloyd,
was kept by Eli
Nichols; one at Unity kept by Rev. John
Walker, the coura-
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 187
geous Seceder minister; at Hammonds
Cross Roads. by Alex-
ander and John Hammond, John Hammond,
Jr., and Joseph
Rodgers now (1899) of Cadiz, being
conductors between
this
point and Hopedale; one at the
house of James
Hanna, near Georgetown; one at the house
of Cyrus Mc-
Neely (founder of Hopedale College),
between Hopedale and
Unionvale; one at the house of Judge
Thomas Lee, near Cadiz;
one at Millers Station by David Ward;
one at Richmond by
James and William Ladd, and from here
the negroes were con-
ducted to the home of Judge Thomas
George,24 on Yellow Creek,
24Judge
Thomas George kept the underground railway station on
Yellow creek, at Moores Salt Works (now
Pravo.) He was the leader
among the early Presbyterians; and under
the influence of Rev. John
Walker, (who was, the compiler believes,
the John Walker who founded
Franklin college, and of the courageous
blood of the Minister-Colonel
of Londonderry fame,) he could not have
been otherwise than an active
abolitionist.
James George (grandson of Judge Thomas
George) has kindly given
the compiler the following relating to
the Yellow creek division of the
underground railway:
"Judge Lee was station agent at
Cadiz; James Ladd and brother at
Richmond: David Ward at Millers Station
(then Works Post Office):
Dr. A. Lindsay, Salem Metropolis; Thomas
George, Moores Salt Works;
James and William Farmer, Salineville; -- Horton, Salem.
There
was another line through from Cadiz by
way of Scroggsfield and Mechan-
icstown [Carroll county,] Dr. Lindsay
having removed from Annapolis
[was Salem, in Jefferson county,] to one
of these places, but cannot give
particulars.
"We were located about half way on
the line from Cadiz and Mt.
Pleasant to Salineville. Henry Crabbs
kept a station on the hill, over-
looking the George station in the
valley. The Richmond station kept by
the Ladds, was on a sidetrack, which was
used in emergency.
"The line on which Moores Salt
Works was located was in operation
from 1827 to 1837, but some of the older
citizens say the first date should
be earlier. Station agents rarely knew
beforehand that fleeing slaves
were to arrive, and they were received
because conveyed by known
friends. In 1830 Old Man Work brought
through two slaves, arriving
at the house of Judge George a little
before daylight. They were
secreted in the barn, fed and cared for
by George until opportunity gave
chance to take them to Salineville. In
1830 the writer has knowledge
188 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
and then to Salem, in Columbiana County,
from which point the
negroes had comparatively safe passage
into British posses-
sions.
of a gang of five males and three
females going through. This party
was conveyed to George's by the Ladds,
kept until night and conveyed
to Farmer station at Salineville. In
1834 a gang composed of seven
men, two women and a child, was brought
to George's station, and
hidden in the loft of a brick house
occupied by Robert George. They
were conducted to Salineville by the
conductors, Robert, Thomas and
A. W. George.
"A remark which may not be out of
place: On the line to Saline-
ville was a small village, on the corner
of whose street lived a man
antagonistic to abolitionism and was
dreaded by the conductors. The
night the last mentioned party went
through, the village was very dark
and the rain poured until after they
passed this residence, after which
the clouds broke and the night was
clear. No doubt a Providential
interference. In an old diary I find
mention of many fugitives passing
through, but no incidents are mentioned.
In 1837 a woman was brought
to George's from Ladd's and covered with
straw in the barn, and was
jabbed with a pitchfork by a hired man
who was feeding the stock.
Another incident occurred in 1840. A
gang of twenty was conveyed
from Crabbs'. Arriving at about
daylight, he ran them into a pine
hollow. Early in the morning, a laborer
on his way to work, seeing
the negroes, reported at Judge George's
that 'the hills were covered
with d d niggers; they would all be killed if something was not
done.' The Judge joked with him and
assured him that it was all imagi-
nation; but the Judge took in the
situation and gave the laborer employ-
ment. [Those who harbored fugitive
slaves ran great risk, the penalty
in Ohio being $1000 fine and
imprisonment.] During the day these
slaves were removed to Crabbs' barn,
where they were fed by Mrs.
Annie Crabbs, and during the night they
were conveyed to Salineville
and then to Salem. Shortly after this
came three robust negroes armed
with revolvers. They were on foot and
claimed they had purchased
their freedom. In 1847 a mother,
daughter and son came to our station,
conveyed by conductors under David Ward.
Judge George, taking a
fancy to the boy, concluded to keep him,
and sent the mother and
daughter to North Salem. A party from
New Lisbon wanting help,
employed the mother and daughter. Jacob
Clinton, working for George,
got an idea there was reward for
information of fugitive slaves. He
succeeded in corresponding with the
owner, the result of which proved
beneficial to all concerned. A plot was
concocted: Clinton was to go
to New Lisbon [now Lisbon] and represent
himself as a son of Judge
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 189
While at the time and in the region of
which we write,
there were two Quaker Meeting Houses,
one at West Grove
(Hicksites and Orthodox occupying the
same house, but hav-
ing separate graveyards25)
and one at Harrisville (Wilburite),
George and convince the mother that her
son, who was at George's,
was very lonesome and wanted his sister
for company. After some
persuasion the mother yielded, and the
daughter was given up. Clinton
had scarcely got out of sight when
suspicion arose. A runner was
sent to Salineville. The runner,
returning, reported the suspicion well
based. At once a company was organized
at New Lisbon, headed by
David George, and followed Clinton to
Wellsville, but too late to
catch him, the boat having gone. In the
meantime the negro boy kept
by George was hidden in a coal bank.
While Dr. Farmer and Judge
George were talking the matter over, a
fine team drove up, a stylish
person alighted and came into the house.
He asked if a colored boy
was there, and being informed there was,
said: 'I am So and So, from
New Lisbon; the mother sent me after the
boy; the little sister is very
lonesome and wants her brother for
company.' Farmer and George
taking in the situation, made things so hot
for the gentleman that he
was glad to drive off toward
Steubenville. The mother and boy were
immediately sent to Canada."
25 The bitterness of
feeling between the two factions of the Quaker
church (Hicksite and Orthodox) was
intense, and those familiar with
the disruption in 1828, are not
surprised over the fact that separate grave-
yards are used for burials. The Orthodox
Friends had Hicksites arrested
and brought before court both in
criminal and civil cases. The only
court record the compiler has been able
to find is of the case of "Jonathan
Taylor, Rouse Taylor, Isaac Parker, Jas.
Kinsey, Horton Howard,
who sue for the Society of Friends,
consisting of the Ohio Yearly
meeting, vs. Holiday Jackson, James
Toleston and Nathan Galbraith;
action in trespass; $5000 damages for
disturbing plaintiff's house and
injuring property. Sept. 9, 1828."
In 1831 the record shows, "judgment
for defendant for costs." The
records for 1832 show payment of $19.79
costs. The Friend, or Advocate of Truth,
a Quaker magazine published
in Philadelphia, tenth month, 1828,
contains reports of the "riot" at
Mt. Pleasant from the Hicksite point of
view, the writers employing the
most vigorous language in denouncing the
actions of the Orthodox.
Those who have looked upon the Quaker as
one of gentle spirit would
be astounded by reading the charges made
against the members of the
Orthodox branch by the followers of
Hicks. It was even charged that
Jonathan Taylor feigned injury in order
to procure indictment against
190 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
the majority of those taking part in
assisting slaves to Canada
were Seceders, who hewed straight to the
line of principle, re-
fusing to accept compromise either in
religious or civil affairs.
They were Scotch-Irish people - sturdy,
longlived, austere,
honest. They defied in America law they
considered unjust,
with the same courageous spirit their
fathers fought against
oppression in Scotland and Ireland -
with the same spirit that
comes of the knowledge of right, that
made the fathers rebel
against the power of George III. These
aided the slave to lib-
erty. They maintained the Standards of
their church and no
matter whether the transgressor be a
member of his own house-
hold the prosecutor insisted that
punishment follows convic-
tions.26 There was no
sentiment in their theology, no fraternity
Hicks. No matter which account of the
disruption be accepted, the
reader must conclude that on the
occasion of the division there was
more evidence of war-like spirit
manifested than in any other church
quarrel in the county.
26 In reference to the statement that
the Seceders insisted on strict
observance of the rules of their church,
it is recorded that John Car-
nahan, a member of the Cadiz church, was
brought before the session by
his wife on the (then) serious charge of
"occasional hearing." After
the churches had united, forming the
United Presbyterian church, a
Methodist minister was invited to fill
the United Presbyterian pulpit,
and Mrs. Carnahan refused to attend the
service, declaring that as the
Methodist minister was a very good man,
she would like to hear him in
her church on a week-day, but as for
going to hear him on the "Sab-
bath," she would not; she could not
countenance such profanation of
the Lord's Day. Alexander Hammond of the
Unity Seceder church
was sessioned on the charge of profaning
the "Sabbath," in that he
went to hear his brother-in-law (a
Presbyterian) preach. His brother,
John Hammond, defied the elders to
"session" him, and by standing
against them he won a victory for
individual liberty and for Presbyterian-
ism, and opened the way for the
revolution - Rev. Mr. Neviu, President
of Franklin College, preaching at a
Methodist camp-meeting on invi-
tation of Rev. Edward Smith, known in
the neighborhood as "Bully"
Smith. It has been charged that the lack
of blood affection among the
Seceders was due to the austerity of
their Scotch blood. While this is
true to a degree, the time had much to
do with it. This stoicism also
obtained among the early settlers from
New England. About the year
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 191
of feeling toward their fellows, and consequently members were
frequently before the elders for what
would now seem the
most trivial violation of the church law
as set down in the
Standards - for "occasional
hearing" (attending service in an-
other communion on the "Sabbath
day"), for calling the Sab-
bath "Sunday," singing other
than David's psalms in worship,
performing any but absolutely necessary
labor on the "Sabbath
day," etc. Rev. Dr. Alexander
Campbell, the founder of the
Disciples Church, was deposed from the
Seceder Church be-
cause he favored union of the churches.
The influence of these
people was great and their rigidity of
principle was a greater
power along religious and civic lines
than the laxity which now
obtains.
Among the first settlers of that part of
the Short Creek
Valley now in Harrison County, were:
Simpkins Herriman,
John Matson, William Wiley, Alexander
Hammond, James
Beatty, Samuel Beatty,- Ayers, - Worley, John Booth
(miller), Isaac Booth, Edward Hagan
(miller), James Patton,
Hugh Rodgers, Col. Joseph Holmes
(brother of Jacob Holmes),
James Carrick, George Riggle (operated
the first mill at George-
town, and for whom the village was
named), William Ram-
sey, Samuel Moore, Lemuel Lamb (built a
horse-mill near
Georgetown), Aaron Mercer (operated a
woolen-mill near
Georgetown), James, John and
William Kerr, James Adams,
Samuel Hanna, Thomas Dickerson, John
Beatty, John Wal-
raven, John Martin, Robert Minteer, Dr.
Gaston, William and
1822, John M. Goodenow and Benjamin
Tappan, both distinguished
men, of high degree, were practitioners
at the Steubenville bar. Tappan
was on the bench in 1823, in which year
Goodenow asked to be appointed
Prosecuting Attorney, and although
Tappan was his brother-in-law,
they having married sisters of John C.
Wright, also a distinguished
lawyer, all becoming more noted in after
years, he protested to his
associates on the bench against
Goodenow's appointment, maintaining
his objections with numerous unbrotherly
charges; among them, that
he broke jail in New England and ran
away from justice; that he was
a d
d rascal, and that his knowledge of law was so meagre that he
was unfitted for the office.
192 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
Joseph Huff (noted Indian fighters),
James Wilkin (built the
first mill within the bounds of what is
now Harrison county),
James Taggart, Milo Courtright, John
Heberling. At a very
early date there were several machine
shops in Georgetown
devoted to the manufacture of threshing
machines, which work
continued up to the time consolidated
capital destroyed the pos-
sibility of individual effort.
On Friday, June 12, 1807, the
County Commissioners or-
dered that "so much of the seventh
range of townships as lies
west of the Townships of Springfield,
Archer and Cadiz, be at-
ached to the said townships
respectively." This order took in
all of what is now Harrison County and a
portion of Carroll
and Tuscarawas Counties, Jefferson
County extending to the
west line of the Seventh Range.
At the same meeting, the Commissioners,
"on application,
set off and incorporated the Tenth
Township of the Third Range
into a separate township and election
district, to be distin-
guished and known by the name of Salem
Township, and the
first election to be held at the house
of Jacob Coe."
This township was originally a part of
Steubenville, out of
which German (Harrison County), Salem,
Island Creek and
Steubenville were erected.
Among the Pathfinders27 (1798-1808)
were Jacob Coe,
James Moores, Henry Miser, Edward
Devine, Joseph Talbott,
Rev. Joseph Hall (one of the pioneer
Methodist Episcopal min-
isters), Henry Hammond (brother of
Charles Hammond, the
able lawyer and most noted of the early
Ohio editors, whose
work received Jefferson's praise),
Joseph Hobson, Stephen Ford,
Baltzer Culp, William Farquhar, John
Collins, Ezekiel Cole,
John Walker, John Johnson, William
Bailey, James Bailey, James
McLain, Adam Miser, William Smith, John
Andrew (a soldier
27 Henry Hammond, brother of Charles
Hammond, of The Cin-
cinnati Gazette, [now (1899) The
Commercial Tribune] must have settled
here, [near East Springfield,] before
1804, for he caught a land turtle
and cut his initials on its shell; in
1850 he found the same turtle with
1804 and the initials distinctly
visible.-Isaac Shane, in a letter to the
compiler.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0 193
of the Revolutionary War and a Colonel
in the War of 1812;
his remains are buried in the graveyard
on the hill at Salem Vil-
lage); John Gillis, Sr., Francis
Douglas, William Leslie, David
Lyons, John Hogue John McComb, Thomas
and Patrick Har-
denmadder, Daniel Markham, Benjamin
Hartman, Isaac Hel-
mick, John Sunderland, John Wilson,
William Mugg, William
Vantz, Henry Jackman, Jacob Vantz,
Andrew Strayer, Benjamin
Talbott, Jacob Ong, John Watson, Joseph
Flenniken, Adley Cal-
houn, Jacob Leas, Christian Albaugh,
James Rutledge (from
Pennsylvania, and of the same family as
the Signer of the Declar-
ation of Independence, the latter's
people moving to South Car-
olina, and his remains lie at Charlestown),
Isaac Shane, Aaron
Alien, Robert Douglas (potter), Thompson
Douglas (gunsmith),
Thomas Calhoun, John McCullough, David
Watt, David Rog-
ers, George Hout, Henry Morrison (first
settler on Mingo Bot-
tom
in 1793, and was in the War of 1812 with Col.
Duvall), Wil-
liam McCarel, Dr. Anderson Judkins,
William Bahan, Charles
Leslie, Thomas George, Thomas Orr,
William Blackiston,
Samuel Bell, David Sloane, Richard
Jackson (the grandfather
of Mason Jackson, a Baron, title given
by the late King of
Wurttemberg), Levi Miller, Stewart
McClave, Richard McCul-
lough, John Collins, John Stutz, John
Wolf, William Dunlap,
William Davidson, William Alexander,
John Markle (an early
school teacher), Adam Winklesplech, --
Stout (storekeeper),
William Leas.
In 1800, Joseph Talbott, a Friend,
settled on the site of
Richmond, having purchased a
quarter-section of land from
Bezaleel Wells in 1799, but he did not
lay out the town until
1815. This year he employed Isaac
Jenkins to survey the land
for lots, 60x160, with streets 60 feet
in width. The first house
was built by Benjamin Hartman who opened
a tavern and also
followed blacksmithing. The first store
was kept by Allen Far-
quhar, and the first physician was
Anderson Judkins. The vil-
lage was incorporated in 1835; John
Tyball and Samuel Han-
son were elected Justices and James
Ball, Clerk. Adam Stew-
art was the first Mayor, James Riley,
Recorder; William Far-
Vol. VIII-13
194 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
mer, Thomas Burns, Henry Crew, John
McGregor, E. M. Pyle,
Trustees.
Richmond is the seat of the only college28
in Jefferson
County, the institution having been
established in 1835.
Salem was laid out in 1802 by Isaac
Helmick, on Section
Thirty-two, entered by Henry and Adam
Miser, whose de-
scendants still own considerable of the
land. The village grew
to such importance that its people set
up a strong claim for the
location of the county seat. There was a
large settlement of
Germans in this part of the county, and
descendants still pos-
sess the land. The first house was built
by John Sunderland,
the first storekeeper was Harrison, followed soon by John
Wilson and - Hutchinson, and the first
tavern keepers were
Simmons and William Mugg. Jacob Vantz and William
Smith, who came from Maryland, were the
first hatters; Nich-
olas Wheeler and Mrs. Leslie were the earliest school
teachers whose names have been preserved
by tradition. Wil-
liam McGowan and son David, the latter
the founder of the
McGowan wholesale grocery house of
Steubenville, located in
Salem in 1820, and engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods,
an industry very profitably pursued
throughout this whole
28 Richmond
college is the outgrowth of a select school taught in
Richmond, Salem township, Jefferson
county, in 1832 by Rev. J. C.
Tidball. The charter was granted January
22, 1835, and [Judge] Thomas
George, Isaac Shane, William Blackiston,
Henry Crew, Stephen Ford,
Thomas Orr, David Sloane, Nathaniel
Myers, John Cook, William
Farmer, Samuel Bell, A. T. Markle and
James H. Moore were directors;
but the college was not really
established until 1843. In October of that
year, Rev. John R. Dundass was chosen
President and D. D. McBryer,
Professor of Languages and Natural
Science. In 1845 a brick building,
32 x 45 feet, was erected for the
accommodation of the college, on land
bought from Joseph Talbott and on land
donated by Thomas Howard.
The Building Committee was composed of
Thomas Barnes, E. M. Pyle,
Henry Crew. In June, 1846, John Comin
was elected Professor of
Languages and Moral Science, and William
Sarver was chosen Pro-
fessor of Mathematics and Natural
Science. In 1846 D. D. McBryer
was chosen President, and several chairs
were added and filled as fol-
lows: Hebrew and Evidences of
Christianity, Rev. William Lorimer;
Ancient and Modern History, Rev. B. F.
Sawhill. In September, 1848,
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 195
country at that time. Adam Winklesplech
(grandfather of D.
W. Matlack of Steubenville), was an
early merchant, coming to
Jefferson County before the Indians had
been sent to reser-
vations farther west.
As has been noted, Salem was very
ambitious. It grew so
rapidly, that shortly after it was laid
out James Kelly made
an addition and erected an immense flour
mill. During the
"town-booming" period of 1815,
which lasted until the financial
panic of 1819, banks were
organized with remarkable facility
throughout the country, two of these
"wild cat" institutions
falling to the lot of the Village of
Salem, but of only one have
we the least record, and this record is
the story of a murder.
Dr. G. W. Duffield was the President of
the Salem Bank, and
when it failed in 1818, suits were
brought against him to re-
cover on the notes. During the trial
before Jacob Vantz, Jus-
tice of the Peace, in the village, on
the 9th of July, 1818,
J. R. W. Sloane, [father of Prof. Sloane
of Columbia college, author
of the best life of Napoleon ever
written, and other important works,]
was elected President. In 1850 the
Presbytery of Steubenville took the
college under its charge, and Rev. Cyrus
C. Riggs was chosen Presi-
dent, with Rev. W. Easton and J. R. W.
Sloane added to the Faculty.
The Presbytery held the college in
charge only one year. In 1854 the
Pittsburg M. E. Conference took charge,
and M. S. Bonafield and C.
R. Slutz composed the Faculty with Rev.
S. H. Nesbit, President. In
1860 Col. J. T. Holmes was elected
President, which position he held two
years, he then giving up the work to
enter the Federal army. Since
then the college has passed through many
hands with varying success.
In 1872, under the charge of Prof. Lewis
Ong, larger buildings were
erected, the corner-stone having been
laid August 8. Addresses were
delivered on this occasion by Rev. J. R.
W. Sloane, J. B. Dickey,
John Marvin and W. B. Watkins. After
Prof. Ong came Dr. G. W.
McMillan who is now (1899) in charge. -
From a Sketch of Richmond
College written for "The
Pathfinders of Jefferson County."
Hon. William Lawrence, of Bellefontaine,
O., on November 1, 1833,
became a student in Rev. John C.
Tidball's academy, then situated about
three miles from Knoxville, on the road
to Steubenville. The academy
was about 1835 removed to Richmond. He
continued at the academy
until the spring of 1836. In the fall of
1836 he entered Franklin College,
at New Athens, from which he graduated
with class honors in the fall
of 1838.--From a sketch of Judge Wm.
Lawrence, by his son, John
M. Lawrence, A. M.
196 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
spirited words passed between Duffield
and David Redick, the
attorney for the prosecution. The trial
adjourned and Redick
followed Duffield to the street, and
throwing his weight upon
him bore Duffield to the ground.
Duffield, feeling his life in
danger, stabbed his antagonist in the
neck with a doctor's
lance. Redick died as result of the
wound while being con-
veyed to Steubenville in a wagon.
Duffield was indicted and
tried during the August term and was
acquitted. The form of
indictment in 1818 was the same as that
used in the terri-
tory in 1798, and related that the
accused, "not having the fear
of God before his eyes, but being moved
and seduced by insti-
gation of the devil," committed the
crime. Like in most cases
of the suspended "wild cat"
banks the only asset remaining of
the Salem bank was a table, which
afterward became the prop-
erty of John M. Goodenow. The only asset
of one of the
banks in the county was a keg filled
with nails, having a mere
covering of gold and silver coins!
John Andrew, whose grave in the Salem
Cemetery is
marked by a small sandstone, with the
inscription, "John An-
drew, a native of Marseilles, in the
South of France; a soldier
of the Revolutionary War and of the War
of 1812," was one of
the Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
coming here at the opening
of the century. He came to America with
Lafayette, and was
with Wayne in storming Stony Point, on
the night of July 16,
1779, and was one the eighty-three
patriots wounded in the bold
attack on the British stronghold, he
receiving a bayonet-thrust
entirely through his abdomen, and
strange as it may seem, he
lived, none of the intestines being
seriously injured. In the
same battle he received a sabre-stroke
across the temple and
cheek, leaving a scar which he carried
to his grave. When the
Jefferson County troops were called out
to fight the British in
the Second War for Independence John
Andrew was made
First Lieutenant (Colonel) of the
regiment, and he served with
honor and distinction until peace was
declared. The date of
his death is unknown, but is supposed to
be 1835. Although
a native of Southern France, the name,
Andrew (or Andrews
as it often appears in public documents),
would indicate that
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 197
this hero whose bones are an honor to
the ground that received
them, was of Scotch parentage; not only
this, the fact that the
first Associate Reform Church in the
township was organized
at his house would convince the compiler
that Col. John An-
drews was of the blood of John Knox.
Gen. George A. Custer, one of the most
brilliant of the
soldiers developed by the War Between
the States, was born
within a few miles of Salem, in
territory out of which Salem
Township was erected, December 5, 1839,
of Hessian parent-
age, the father being a pioneer in this
county. Gen. Custer
was killed with his whole command of 277
cavalrymen, by the
Indians under Sitting Bull, at Little
Horn River, Mont., June
25, 1876. His brothers, Thomas and
Boston, and a brother-in-
law, were in the command and met the
same fate.
William Vantz, son of Jacob Vantz, the
Justice and hatter,
was appointed Postmaster of Salem by
President Monroe and
held the office for fifty-three years.
When Harrison County was organized in
1814, a portion of
the Village of Salem fell within the
lines of the new civil
division.
East Springfield was laid out in 1803,
by John Gillis, sur-
veyor, school-teacher, and Sheriff of
the county during 1806-8.
The village is noted in the early
records as Gillis Town. The
first residents were Francis Douglas
(County Sheriff from 1797
to 1804), William Leslie, David Lyons,
John Hogue, John Mc-
Comb, Thomas and Patrick Hardenmadder
(the two latter in
the War of 1812), Richard
Jackson (clock and silversmith). The
first tavern was kept by John Hogue;
Charles Leslie kept the
first store. William Dunlap, for many
years a merchant of
Steubenville, was also an early merchant
of East Springfield.
Rev. Dr. William Davidson's father was
an early resident.
David Lyons and Daniel Markham were the
blacksmiths, who
manufactured all the axes, chains and
nails needed in the neigh-
borhood, the former making nails and the
latter saddle tacks.
John Wolf29 was one of the
first Justices.
29 John Wolf, Esq., was here [East
Springfield] in 1807. It is related
that after being notified of his
election, and returning home, he told
198 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
The town being on the mail route between
Steubenville
and Canton, after roads were opened, it
became a town of con-
siderable importance and much business
was transacted. Here
the stage horses were changed and hotels
flourished, and these
were prosperous days for the village.
General musters30 of the
militia of all this region under command
of Gen. Samuel Stokely,
were held here with all the pomp and
circumstance, excite-
ment and turmoil usually attendant on
such occasions, and so
thoroughly enjoyed by the fathers. The
military spirit was in
evidence in the days of the prosperous
village.
The citizens of the village built a
school-house soon after
the town was laid out, there being
enough settlers in the neigh-
borhood (there being no more than a
dozen families in town
in 1809) to support a teacher by
subscription. The names of
the first teachers are lost in oblivion,
but the earliest known
were John (Jack) Gillis (the founder or
his son), Dr. Markle,
Mr. Byers (from New England), Isaac N.
Shane, Charles Mc-
Gonnigal, Benjamin F. Gass, Daniel
Langton (also kept a
store), John Bell, James Foster. Mr.
Foster employed original
methods of punishment; he, perhaps, was
not as severe in his
"corrections" as distinguished
earlier "professors," but the re-
sults were altogether as beneficial: His
offending pupils were
his wife that he was Squire. The
children took it up and were calling
one another Squire. Mrs. Wolf ordered
them to shut up, declaring,
"There's nobody Squire but your
father and me." When David Tod
(a Democrat) was running for Governor my
father told the joke to
Joe Geiger, who wrote some doggeral
verses, one of which I remember:
Be silent, each little young sappy,
Or I'll tickle your back with a rod:
There's none but myself and your pappy
Shall ever be Governor Tod.
Geiger applied it to the politics of the
times. - Letter from Isaac Shane
to the compiler.
30We boys had fine times during the
general musters. Here alone
we got gingerbread, which to our taste
was next to ambrosia, the food
of gods. Whisky, too, was plenty--a good
kind, that Tom Corwin
called the great leveler of modern
society not that indescribable chem-
ical compound of our times, that
violates law and fills jails.-Letter
from Isaac Shane to the compiler.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
O. 199
punished by being compelled to wear an
old, soiled red cap,
made after the fashion of a Turkish fez,
to their disgust and
amusement of the other pupils. The cap,
when not employed
in endeavor to force the recalcitrant
child to keep within the
lines of rectitude, was worn during
school hours by the teacher
himself.
The people of Salem Township had means of grace very
soon after settlements were made. Joseph
Hall, a pioneer itin-
erant Methodist Episcopal minister,
organized a society in 1800,
at the house of his father-in-law, James
Moores. He also held
services alternately at the houses of
Stephen Ford and Henry
Jackman up to 1808, when a log church
was built on the lands
of Henry Jackman. The first class of
this society was com-
posed of James Moores and wife,
Elizabeth, Henry Jackman
and wife, Christine, Joseph Hall and
wife, Deliah, Stephen Ford
and wife, Ruth, George Hout and wife,
Christine. James
Moores was the leader. Rev. Mr. Hall
organized a Methodist
Episcopal Church society at the houses
of Henry (Harry) Ham-
mond and William Davidson, in East Springfield in 1808, al-
though Isaac Shane writes the compiler
that the Protestant
Episcopal communion, under charge of
Rev. Intrepid Morse,31
31 While the real history of the
Protestant Episcopal church of Jef-
ferson county goes back to the close of
the last century, (Rev. Dr.
Doddridge noting the date as 1796 when
he first held services in Steuben-
ville, and 1800 at the Widow McGuire's,
then in Steubenville township,
the beginning of St. James church now in
Cross Creek township,) the
official history of this communion began
in 1819, the time Rev. Intrepid
Morse took charge of the parishes of St.
Paul (Steubenville,) and St.
James (Cross Creek,) under Rev.
Philander Chase, first Bishop of Ohio,
and thus the record of early labors of
the indefatigable Dr. Doddridge
were "officially" obliterated.
It was in the following year Rev. Mr.
Morse began holding services at East
Springfield. Whether Dr. Dodd-
ridge held services in Salem township at
an earlier period, the compiler
is unable to state as a fact, but it is
presumed that he did, for he was
a missionary of great energy and kept
alive the spark of Episcopacy
wherever he found even the faintest
glow. The reason Dr. Doddridge's
work in this county was not recognized
in the official history of the
church is given by local churchmen to be
the result of rivalry between
Dr. Doddridge and Dr. Chase, resulting
in considerable bitterness of
200 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
was first to hold services in the
village. As Rev. Mr. Morse
was not in this region before 1819, it
is evident the Methodist
Episcopal was in the field here before
the Protestant Episcopal.
The first Methodist Episcopal class in
East Springfield was
composed of the Rileys, the Rutledges,
Johnsons and Morri-
sons. In 1826, Mr. Shane writes, the
citizens of East Spring-
field built a church which was jointly
used for Divine services
by Methodist Episcopal and Protestant
Episcopal communions ;
but the latter being in the majority,
the church was called the
Protestant Episcopal Church. The
Methodist Episcopal adher-
ents erected a church building of their
own in 1846.
An Associated Reform Church was organized in Salem
Township in 1805 by Rev. Alexander
Calderhead, who, in 1800,
organized a church on Piny Fork, in
Smithfield Township.
This was the beginning of the United Presbyterian Church of
Richmond. The organization was made at
the house of Col.
John Andrew(s), where John Collins, John
Walker and John
Johnson were ordained elders. The following year what was
then called a tent (covering for the
preacher, clerk and pre-
feeling. Dr. Doddridge came into the
field early, and held regular
services long before the Diocese of Ohio
was formed, working with
the same spirit that characterized his
labors in the Lord's vineyard on
the Virginia hills, his task being an
arduous one, and when the Diocese
was formed he naturally believed that he
was entitled to the Episcopal
office. When Dr. Philander Chase was
selected, it was but natural that
he should feel injustice was his lot,
and he perhaps expressed resentment.
At all events, the official history of
the Protestant Episcopal church
in Steubenville begins with the coming
of Rev. Mr. Morse. Two sons
of Bishop Chase were wedded to daughters
of Bezaleel Wells - Rev. Dr.
Philander marrying Rebecca and Rev.
Dudley, Sarah. Rebecca becom-
ing a widow, married Rev. Intrepid
Morse. Rev. Mr. Morse entered
into rest in February, 1866, after
almost half a century of arduous labor
as a missionary and beloved stated
rector. His labors were exacting,
but the results were a benediction upon
the head of this indefatigable
worker for the advancement of the
church: he saw the seed sown by
Dr. Doddridge grow into a great tree,
whose branches were wide-
spreading. St. Paul's became, in his
life-time, a great factor in religious
as well as social affairs of the
community. His wife, Rebecca Wells,
followed him to their eternal home four
years later.
The Pathfinders
of Jefferson County, 0. 201
center), was erected on the farm of
James McClain. It was
made of clap-boards worked out with the
pioneer tool, known
as a frow, and was 5x6 feet. In April,
1811, Rev. George Bu-
chanan, born in the York Barrens (Pa.)
and a pupil of Alex-
ander Dobbins, from whose classical
school came many
Ohioans, became pastor. In 1816, a
hewn-log building, 24X28,
was erected on the farm of David
Andrews, and was called
the Union Church. Rev. Buchanan was
succeeded in 1831 by
Rev. Hugh Parks who was followed by
William Lorimer. In
1836 a brick church was erected in
Richmond, which was used
until 1851, when a building 42x60 feet
was erected.
A Friends' Meeting was organized at the
house of William
Farquhar in 1803, the society having
been composed of William
Farquhar and wife, Elizabeth, Joseph
Hobson and wife, Ann,
Joseph Talbott and wife, Mary, Benjamin
Talbott and wife,
Susannah, Jacob Ong and wife, Mary. In
1815 a log meeting
house was built, which was replaced by a
brick five years later.
This meeting did not grow as did the
other religious organi-
tions and became extinct years ago,
giving evidence of the
truth of John Wesley's idea that new
blood is essential to the
spiritual as well as material expansion
of the Church.
Mt. Hope Methodist Episcopal Church was
organized in
1830, holding services for ten years at
the house of James Rut-
ledge, when a log structure was built,
this house being re-
placed by a frame one in 1860. The first
class leader was
James Cowden.
The East Springfield Presbyterian Church
was organized
in 1847, at which time Stewart McClave,
William Palmer, George
Hammond, John Calhoun, Joseph Clemens
and Caleb Wag-
goner were the trustees. Previously the
Presbyterians in this
immediate neighborhood found the Gospel
expounded to their
liking along Calvinistic lines at either
Bacon Ridge or at the
Two Ridges Churches. Having obtained
sufficient funds, these
trustees erected a church building in
East Springfield, which
was dedicated in 1850, Rev. Dr. C. C.
Beatty preaching the
sermon. This church was finally
organized by Rev. Cyrus
Riggs and John Knox, Rev. Mr. Riggs
being the first min-
202 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
ister. He was succeeded by Rev. John
Walton, who served six
months, followed by Rev. Mr. Lafferty,
who served seven years.
Other ministers were: Rev. J. S.
McGuire, Rev. C. W. Wy-
coff, Rev. William Eaton.
Rev. Mr. Riggs also organized a
Presbyterian Church in
Richmond in 1852; John
McGregor, Benjamin S. Bailey and
William Patterson were the first elders.
A Lutheran Church (St. Paul's) was
organized in Salem in
1814, which was the first German church
in the county, there
having been a large early settlement of
Germans only in this
part of the county, and the influence of
these settlers comes
to, and is maintained by, the third
generation, the thrifty spirit
of the fathers being the inheritance of
the children. Hon. John
Gruber (father of David M. Gruber, Esq.,
of the Steubenville
Bar), who represented Harrison County in
the Legislature of
Ohio in 1836-7, and who was a lawyer of
great force, was of
this settlement, and a characteristic
example of the rectitude
and ability of these people. The founder
of St. Paul's Luth-
eran Church was Rev. John Rinehart, and
the first elders were:
Jacob Vantz, Andrew Strayer. The other
ministers were: Rev.
James Manning (1825-34), Rev. Benjamin
Pope (1839-43), Rev.
Amos Bartholomew, 1843-48), Rev. George
Baughman (1849-
50), David Sweeney, David Sparks, James
Manning, Jacob
Singer, Joseph Roof, D. M. Kemerer.
Salem Township Pathfinders were
exceedingly active in in-
dustrial pursuits, Town Fork of Yellow
Creek, Cedar and Clay
Licks furnishing unlimited power for
flour-mills and distilleries.
Ross Township was set off as a civil
division by the County
Commissioners in 1812, it then being Township Twelve of
Range Three, and was a complete surveyed
township until the
northern tier of sections was taken off
to aid in the formation
of Brush Creek Township.
Some years previous to 1800 and as late
as 1805,
"squat-
ters" built cabins on Yellow Creek,
subsisting on game and
fish, and as salt was a product of this
region, these "squatters"
had little trouble in obtaining such
merchandise needed by
them in barter for this mineral. Among
these squatters were:
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 203
William Castleman, Mark Dike, John
Bruce, John Davis, Jacob
Drake and William Rook.
Among the first permanent settlers
(1798-1813) were:
Thomas George, Allen Speedy, Arthur
Latimer, Stephen Coe,
Ludowich Hardenbrook, Joseph Elliott,
William Scott, John
Farquhar, Henry Crabbs, Joseph Reed,
Isaac Shane, Thomas
Bay, Mordecai Moore, "Daddy"
Dixon, Robert Barnhill, John-
son McEldery, Alexander Johnston,
William Grimes, Captain
Allen (War of 1812), Henry Gregg
(grandfather of Richard
Henry Gregg, Esq., of the Steubenville
bar), coming from Red-
stone with his brother Richard in 1802, the latter
attaining the
age of 105 years; Robert George and Thomas
George, his son
(from what is now Dauphin County, Pa.),
came to Jefferson
County in 1805, and settled
on Section Twenty-eight, in what is
now Ross Township; Andrew Griffin,
Benjamin Shane, John
Shane.
James Shane came to Washington County,
Pa., from New
Jersey in 1794, and in 1798 crossed the
Ohio River at Cable's
Ferry and located on Wills Creek. Here he married Hannah
Rex, of Greene County, Pa., and in 1810
moved to Island
Creek Township, and then to Ross
Township. His son, Isaac
Shane, is now (1899) keeping hotel in
East Springfield.
Mordecai Moore, Sr., who was with
Captain William Har-
baugh in the War of 1812, settled in
Ross Township in 1815.
Salt boiling was the first important
industry of Ross Town-
ship. Jack Peterson, who had been a
constable under the Ter-
ritorial Government, drilled the first
well with view of obtain-
ing salt water, employing a spring pole
for a motor; but not
until 1815, when Mordecai Moore
introduced shallow pans, did
the business of salt making rise to the
dignity of a commer-
cial factor; and although Moores Salt
Works is still the name
of the scene of industrial activity,
salt-boiling has not been en-
gaged in for years. It was near here, at
the mouth of Brim-
stone Run, that the Indians gathered
Seneca (petroleum) oil
by means of blankets spread upon the
surface of the water.
On Section Thirty-three stand the
remains of an ancient
fortification, supposed to be the work
of the so-called Mound
204 Ohio Arch. and His. Society
Publications.
Builders.32 It is on a bluff, circular in form,
the radius being
250 feet. The north side of the bluff is 200 feet high and very
precipitous. On the southwest the fortification is 100
feet
high and slopes
gradually to the creek. When first noted by
the Pathfinders the
ditch was forty feet deep and large trees
were growing in it.
The first grist mill
ran by water power was built by Stephen
Coe in 1808, near the
site of Mooretown, but many others fol-
lowed and distilleries
were also numerous. The products-
flour, whisky and
salt, were hauled to the mouth of Yellow
Creek and from there
were taken down the river to New Or-
leans on
flatboats. When the canal was opened
wheat was
hauled to Massillon
and Bolivar (the site of Fort Laurens), but
pork then became the
leading product of that portion of Ross
Township then and now
known as Bacon Ridge. Pork was
hauled to Pittsburg
and Baltimore in wagons drawn by six
horses and
"teaming," as it was called, was an important busi-
ness. Smoked hams sold
for six cents a pound, butter was
five and six cents a
pound, and eggs two cents the dozen. The
32 While many of the
archaeologists hold the view that a race of men,
now extinct, different
in most distinguishing characteristics from the race
recognized as the
American Indian, built the mounds and fortifications
found in various parts
of the country, there being perhaps ten in Jef-
ferson county, notably
in Warren, Wells, Cross Creek, Ross and Saline
townships, W. H.
Holmes of the National Museum, does not class the
so-called Mound
Builders as a different race, but the progenitors of
the American Indian.
Mr. Holmes is of the noted Short Creek valley
Holmes family. He was
with the Haden Expedition; for years he was
in the United States
Government Geological Survey Bureau, and is
now in the National
Museum. No one has had better opportunity for the
study of archaeology
and ethnology than he, and having peculiar talent
for research along
this line, he is a recognized authority. There were
mound builders, but
those who raised the earthworks were of the race
known as American
Indians.
A mound on the farm of
William Medill of Warren township, was
partly opened a few
years ago. Remains of bodies were found in well-
made sarcophagus, the
bodies being in sitting posture. A pipe repre-
senting a bear's head,
arrow-heads and other stone implements, a copper
needle and a piece of
mica were recovered.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 205
people made their own clothing--linen
for summer and
woolens for winter. The women wore
linsey or flannel for
common and calico for dress occasions.
Bacon Ridge Presbyterian Church was
organized by Rev.
George Scott in 1804. Among the
first members were: Arthur
Latimer, John P. McMillen, Stephen Coe,
Thomas Bay, Calvin
Moorehead, Aaron Allan, Andrew Dixon.
The first minister
was William McMillen, who served two
years. The first church,
like all the pioneer religious houses,
was built of logs, and
served its purpose until 1820, when a brick edifice (30x50) was
built on Section Twenty-five, standing
until other churches in
the same territory, and nearer the homes
of the people, reduced
the congregation. The third church
building erected by this
congregation was a frame, 30x44 feet.
Among the first min-
isters whose names have only been
preserved by tradition,
were: Thomas Hunt (7 years), James
Robertson (7 years), J.
R. Dundas was the minister from 1840 to
1844, followed by
Cyrus Riggs.
The beginning of the Yellow Creek United
Presbyterian
Church was the Associate Congregation
(Seceder) organized in
1814 by Rev. E. N. Scroggs. Rev. John
Walker and Dr. Ram-
say were among the early ministers. The
first preaching ser-
vices were at the house of Thomas George
(afterwards noted as
an underground railway station), then in
a tent, and in 1828
a brick house of worship (30x40 feet)
was erected; but in 1850
a larger house was built, and this one
is still occupied. Other
ministers who served this congregation
were: Rev. John Don-
aldson, Rev. James Patterson, Rev. John
Easton, Rev. T. Simp-
son. Among the first members were: Henry
Crabbs (Krebs)
and wife, Anna, Hamilton Walker and
wife, Mary, William
Kelly and wife, Christine, Nathan Barr
and wife, Margaret,
Samuel Dorrance and wife, Mary, John
Jordan and wife, Mary
Ann, Thomas George and wife, Jane, John
Kean and wife,
Mary, and Sarah Story. Thomas George and
Henry Crabbs
were ruling elders.
While the followers of the scholarly and
powerful Wesley
did not build a church as early as did
the followers of the cour--
206 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
ageous Knox, they held Methodist
Episcopal services in the ter-
ritory long before the township was
organized, meeting places
being at private houses. For years
preaching services were
held at the home of Richard Jackman
(maternal grandfather of
Richard Henry Gregg of the Steubenville
Bar), on Bacon Ridge.
Alexander Johnston (father of Judge
William Johnston, one of
the most noted of the natives of
Jefferson County, becoming
distinguished as a lawyer, statesman and
politician), who came
from Pennsylvania to Ohio about 1800,
was a Methodist Epis-
copal minister, following farming during
the week days and
preaching on Sundays. He became quite
wealthy; the Scotch
are often as thrifty as the Anglo-Saxon
Quakers. He owned
a very large tract of land in the
township, including the farms
now (1899) owned by John Lysle and
Matthew Stevenson.
Alexander Johnson's son, Alexander, was
also a Methodist
Episcopal minister; a man of wonderful
talent, he having writ-
ten a commentary on the Bible, declared
by those who read
the manuscript (it was not published) to
have been the scholarly
effort of a deep mind.
Mt. Zion was the first Methodist
Episcopal Church and
was organized in 1834, the class being
composed of James Tay-
lor and wife, Hettie, Henry Gregg and
wife, Susannah, Ben-
jamin Elliott and wife, Nancy, Jane
Jackman, with Thomas
Taylor as leader. The church was
organized by Rev. Edward
Taylor.
The Pine Grove Methodist Episcopal
Church was organ-
ized in 1838, Samuel N. Heron being the
class leader. Rev.
Samuel Wharton first preached in a log
school house, and a
class was formed the following year by
Rev. Thomas Thomp-
son. The class was composed of Andrew
Saltsman and wife,
Catharine, Solomon Hartman, Mrs. Rebecca
Schonehart and
daughter, Julia Ann, Matthew Roach and
wife, Elizabeth, Rob-
ert Mills and wife, Elizabeth. In 1841, under the
ministrations
of Rev. John Murray and Rev. George
McClusky, a brick church
was built.
In speaking of the morality of the Bacon
Ridge region,
Isaac Shane writes: "The morals of
our neighborhood were
The Pathfinders
of Jefferson County, 0. 207
fairly good. While my father [James
Shane] had many crim-
inal cases before him, the offenders
came mostly from the Yel-
low Creek settlements. William Johnston,
a law student in
Steubenville, and afterwards a Judge in
Cincinnati, started, as
I suppose, on Bacon Ridge, the first
temperance society in the
county, the members signing a very
strict pledge. This was
in 1833."
In regard to schools Mr. Shane writes:
"The early schools
were taught on subscription. There were
no school houses. A
teacher would get the use of some cabin
or outhouse, or a
farmer's kitchen, in which to hold his
school. He would seat
it in a very primitive way; but it
served its purpose: the chil-
dren learned to read, write and cypher,
and all were pleased.
The teachers were persons of very common
scholarship.
The first I call to mind was Mr. - Dixon, Thomas Riley
and --
Baker; next came Henry Crabbs and Samuel Mc-
Cutcheon. The schools were held
sometimes one month, some-
times three, according to the money
raised. The schools were
kept in winter, but seldom in summer;
nor were they kept
every winter. The predominating religious influence being
Presbyterian, the parents were
encouraged by the ministers to
educate their children. About 1820, under a then
new law,
townships were districted and school
houses built; but still the
distilleries outnumbered the school
houses four to one. The
first school house in our neighborhood
[Bacon Ridge] was built
on lands now owned by John Lysle, and
then a marked im-
provement was noticed both in schools
and teachers. Samuel
McCutcheon and Henry Crabbs continued to
wield the birch,
and after them came Peter Eckley (uncle
of Hon. E. R. Eckley
of Carrollton), Joseph Shane [uncle of
Isaac Shane] and James
Clendenning; and in 1837 the first
female teacher came among
us-a Miss Hartshorn."
In this neighborhood and under these
conditions, was
reared Judge William Johnston, one of
the most notable men
the State of Ohio ever produced from
Pennsylvania blood. He
was educated in the Ross Township
schools, studied law under
John C. Wright (member of congress from
1821 to 1829,
208 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
brother-in-law of John M. Goodenow,
member of Congress
from 1829 to 1831, and of Judge Tappan,
United States Sen-
ator from 1839 to 1845), became
Prosecuting Attorney of Car-
roll County, and served that county in
the State Legislature in
1837.. He had long been recognized as an advocate of the
proposition for Ohio to adopt the
Pennsylvania and New York
common school system, and was at last
given opportunity to
draft the law providing for the common
school system now in
force, although improved as years gave
note of imperfections.
It was in support of the common school
law that he made one
of the most notable oratorical efforts
ever made in Ohio, not
only in its immediate influence that
resulted in the passage of
the bill, but in its lasting influence upon the state. After de-
scribing the difficulties encountered by
himself in obtaining the
rudiments of an education in the days of
Henry Crabbs and
Thomas Riley, he insisted that the boys
and girls should have
a better chance than he had had on the
banks of "Yaller
Crick," as he pronounced the name
of the stream in imitation
of the boys reared in the wilds of Ohio.
"The old Irish school
master," he said, "holds forth
three months in the year [quot-
ing Johnston's own words] in a poor
cabin, with greased-paper
window panes. The children trudge three
miles through win-
ter's snow and mud to school. They begin
at a-b, ab, and get
over as far as b-oo-b-y, booby, when
school gives out and they
take up their spring work on the farm.
The next winter, when
school takes up, if it takes up so soon
again, having forgotten
all they had been taught previously in
the speller, they begin
again at a-b, ab, but year after year
never get any further than
b-oo-b-y, booby."
Judge Burnet of Cincinnati, at the time,
said it was the
most powerful speech on education ever
made in Ohio. Samuel
Medary, in The Statesman, gave him the
name of "Booby"
Johnston in a disrespectful spirit, but
the name stuck and be-
came a title of which his friends were
ever proud. From this
time forward Johnston's great ability
was recognized and appre-
ciated. He removed to Cincinnati, and
his oratorical efforts in
behalf of General Harrison in his
Presidential campaign pro-
The Pathfinders
of Jefferson County, 0. 209
cured for him appointment as Surveyor
General of the district
composed of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.
He afterwards be-
came Judge of the Superior Court in
Cincinnati. He was ap-
pointed by President Lincoln as a member
of commission to
revise the statutes of the United
States, his ability as a lawyer
being thus recognized by highest
authority. As orator he was
second only to Tom Corwin: Both reared
under like condi-
tions; with scarcely any opportunity,
viewed from the stand-
point of to-day, to obtain what is
called education, both reached
the highest rung of the ladder whose
steps are reached only
by education. We may sneer as we are
wont at the "Irish"
school master and at the log-cabin
school of the pioneers, but
have the new masters and the finely
equipped modern schools
of Ross Township produced in all these
years since the con-
summation of his efforts to make the
attainment of education
easier, the equal of William Johnston?
After all, the greatest
factor in the production of men of vast
brain force may not
be in the standing of the master, nor in
the architecture of
the school house. Judge Johnston was
"witty and powerful in
argument. His lighter characteristics enabled him to amuse
and hold an audience, while his powerful
logic convinced their
minds." After serving four years on the bench he became
a candidate for the United States
Senatorship in the triangu-
lar contest that resulted in the
election of Banjamin Wade,
also of Scotch blood. In 1850 he was the
Whig candidate for
Governor, making a hard but ineffectual
campaign, as he said
himself, "to save his party from
the wreck then pending."
Judge Johnston was not only the author
of the Ohio common
school law;33 he began the agitation that
resulted in remov-
ing from the statutes of Ohio the very
obnoxious inheritance
33 Jefferson county has done more,
perhaps, than any other county
in Ohio for advancement of the public
school system. Aside from the
efforts of William Johnston, noted
elsewhere, Mordecai Bartley, also
of Pennsylvania blood, performed a great
service, in that he was the
first person to propose in Congress
conversion of the Section Sixteen
lands into a permanent fund for support
of the common schools, and
by his influence secured passage of law
to this end. Mordecai, Bartley,
Vol. VIII-14
210 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
from England, that most absurd of all
laws, providing for im-
prisonment of indigent debtors.
While a boy on Yellow Creek he developed
mechanical
genius in the manufacture of spinning
wheels, and at his home
in Cincinnati his recreation was taken
in a workshop fitted with
all sorts of mechanical tools, which he
could handle with the
skill of a master. His brother, Michael,
was also a mechanical
genius, and when he lived in
Steubenville he kept a drug store
and manufactured clocks, the clock now
in use in the Steuben-
ville National Bank having been made by
him. Judge John-
ston's mechanical skill was of great
advantage to him in his
practice as a patent attorney. He was
long associated with
Tom Corwin, the two successfully
defending Governor Bebb,
indicted on the charge of murder, he
having shot a man, who
with others, was engaged in charivari at
the Governor's house,
on the occasion of the home-coming of
his son, Michael, and
bride, from New England in May, 1857.
Johnston's efforts in
this noted case gave him wide
prominence. He was also as-
sociated with Reverdy Johnson in a
Revolutionary War claim
against the United States Government;
they winning in the
legal contest, received a fee of
$100,000.
In 1887 Judge Johnston published
"Arguments to Courts
and Juries," an 8vo. of 543 pages,
consisting principally of his
own arguments made in many important
cases, adding greatly
to his reputation as a legist.
In early life William Johnston wedded
Elizabeth, daughter
of William Blackstone, a prominent
Friend of Smithfield Town-
ship, two sons and two daughters
resulting from the union; the
sons are dead, the daughters living. He
died in 1891, aged
eighty-five years.
When Columbiana County was taken off of
Jefferson and
thirteenth Governor of Ohio, was born in
Fayette county, Pa., in
1783, and in 1809 settled near the mouth
of Cross Creek (Mingo). He
was Adjutant of the Jefferson county
regiment in the Second War for
Independence, and afterwards settled in
Richland county. He served
four terms in Congress, during which he
succeeded in procuring the
important school legislation above
mentioned.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 211
made a separate civil organization in
1803, a portion of the ter-
ritory forming Brush Creek Township was
included in the new
county; but in 1832 the Legislature
re-arranged the line which
replaced Brush Creek in Jefferson
County, and in 1833 the
County Commissioners took from Ross
Township the northern
row of sections, adding them to Brush
Creek. This action left
Ross an incomplete surveyed township
while Brush Creek is
only a part of Township Twelve of Range
Three. These di-
visions of the country into incomplete
surveyed townships add
materially to the difficulty of
distributing the Section Sixteen
school fund.
Among the first settlers were: Martin
Adams (Justice of
the Peace, miller and distiller; he gave
a portion of his farm for
the site of Chestnut Grove Methodist
Episcopal Church),
Thomas Gillingham (agent for a company
of Pennsylvania
Quakers engaged in salt boiling), Henry
Emmons, Matthew
Russell, Thomas Adams, Jacob Ritter,
Abraham Croxton,
Joshua Downard, John Hutton, William
Kerr, Samuel Clark,
John Adams, Elisha Brooks, Cyrus Moore
(soldier of the War
of 1812), Kenneth McLennan, John C.
McIntosh.
It was in this township, it is believed,
Joshua Downard first
settled, and who, in company with John
Hutton, was the first
person to engage in the manufacture of
salt, having discovered
a salt spring about 1796 while hunting
game. This was cer-
tainly the beginning of an industry that
added greatly to the
wealth of the county, the sale of this
important product at $10
a barrel in the early days, along with
whisky, brandy and flour,
laying the foundation of fortunes still
possessed by descendants
of Pathfinders. Perhaps the most
extensive of the salt boilers
was the Quaker company of Bucks County,
Pa. (Nathan Har-
per, Joseph Potts & Co.). Jacob
Nessley, Sr., the great grand-
father of J. N. McCullough, the noted
railroad man, owned
considerable salt land in the northern
part of the county, and
his son, Jacob Nessley, Jr., engaged in
production. Most of the
descendants of these men are wealthy in
inheritance of property
and in the German thrift of their
ancestors. Joshua Downard
212 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
came to Brush Creek in 1784, and his
son, Joseph, was born on
the North Fork of Yellow Creek in 1796.
The beginning of Chestnut Grove
Methodist Episcopal
Church was early in the century, and the
claim is made that
meetings were held by followers of
Wesley before the last cen-
tury closed. It is at least known that
services held about 1800,
at the house of Jeremiah Hickman, at the
mouth of Yellow
Creek, were the beginning not only of
Chestnut Grove, but also
of the societies at Irondale and
Highland Town. It is known
that Rev. William Tipton preached at
Hickman's in 1822. The
meetings were afterwards held at the
house of Theophilus Kirk,
near where Hammondsville now is. The
first class was com-
posed of Susan Kirk, Susan Cox, Mary
Cox, Amy Drew, David
Walter, Mary Walter, James Ewing, Sarah
Ewing. The early
ministers were William Tipton, John E.
McGrew, John R.
Shearer.
Chestnut Grove Church, when finally
established, occupied
a stone church building on the farm of
Martin Adams within
sight of his distillery. At the request
of his housekeeper, Mrs.
Agnes Hartley, Adams built a stone
Lutheran Church, but
before the building was finished Mrs.
Hartley died, and it was
occupied by the Methodist Episcopal
communion, it being free
to all denominations in accordance with
Adams' desire.
"The Old Log School House,"
noted in the writings of Dr.
Alexander Clark, has, perhaps, given Brush
Creek Township its
widest prominence. The first school
house in the township
was built in 1814. Samuel Clark, father
of Rev. Dr. Clark, di-
vine and author, was the first teacher
in this building. He was
employed for three months at $10 per month by Matthew Rus-
sell and Moses Marshall, and he was
boarded free by Marshall.
But the "Old Log School House"
made famous by Dr. Clark
was built in 1830 by James Clark and
Charles Marshall, at the
cost of $30 and a liberal supply
of liquor from Adams' distillery,
the building being in sight of the
distillery as well as of Chest-
nut Grove Church. William Kerr was the
first master. The
first election of school officers was on
September 8, 1830, at the
house of Martin Adams, when Samuel Clark
was selected as
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 213
Clerk, and John Adams, William Kerr and
Elisha Brooks, Di-
rectors.
Monroeville is the only village in the
township. It was
founded by Charles Croxton and named for
the President.
Saline Township, like Brush Creek, was
organized out of
Knox, and includes within its bounds the
very historically inter-
esting territory just below the mouth of
Yellow Creek, the site
of Logan's camp in 1774, from which
place his relatives were
inveigled to the Virginia shore and
killed, this being one of the
movements in the conspiracy to incite
the Indians against the
American settlers, the result being
Dunmore's War. The ex-
act location of the camp is now believed
to have been the site
of the old McCullough mansion, a few
yards south of the creek,
and a few feet west of the river.
Viewing the ground as it now
lies, it is but natural to accept the
statement that the house is
on the site of Logan's camp. The ground
is high with full view
of a beautiful stretch of the river.
Peace obtained among the
Indians and whites at that time, and
there was not the least
necessity for a fortified location.
Logan had no reason to even
suspect harm to his relatives and
followers when they crossed
the river to the Greathouse cabin, at
the instigation of the un-
conscious tools of Dr. Connelly. The
prospect from Logan's
camp must have been beautiful; it is
inspiring to-day. This
region was certainly attractive when
Bouquet's army passed
through to the Tuscarawas Valley, in
October, 1764, for
Hutchins mentions that the soldiers from
Pennsylvania and Vir-
ginia were delighted with the richness
of the soil.34 The Ameri-
can soldiers going to and from Fort
Laurens over tile trail,
34 On
Thursday, the 11th [1764] the forest was open and so clear of
undergrowth, that they [Bouquet's army
on the way to the Tuscarawas]
made seventeen miles. Friday, the 12th,
the path led along the banks
of Yellow Creek, thro' a beautiful
country of rich bottom land on which
the Pennsylvanians and Virginians looked
with covetous eyes, and
made a note for future reference. The
next day they marched two miles
in view of one of the loveliest
prospects the sun ever shone upon. There
had been two or three frosty nights,
which had changed the whole aspect
of the forest. Where, a few days before,
an ocean of green had rolled
away, there now was spread a boundless
carpet, decorated with am
214
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
afterward the wagon road upon which
Yellow Creek Valley
wheat was hauled to the canal at the
very edge of the old fort,
must have made notes for future
consideration; and this may all
account for the early settlement of
Saline. Fish and game were
at hand and subsistence was not
difficult to obtain. Nature was
a most bountiful provider to the
Pathfinders of the Yellow Creek
country. Martin Saltsman, an early
settler of Knox, in his
lifetime made the statement that he
would kill more than fifty
deer in what is now Ross Township, in a
hunt of a few days.
The Indians were so enamored with Yellow
Creek that they
gave up these bountiful hunting grounds
with reluctance.
While Jacob Nessley, Sr. (coming from
the German set-
tlements of Lancaster County, Pa.), did
not settle on the Vir-
ginia side of the river until 1784, he was in
this region much
earlier, and of this fact he left an
enduring monument. On the
river bank, a short distance south of
the mouth of Yellow Creek
and in sight of the McCullough mansion,
is an overhanging
rock, upon which is carved "Jacob
Nessley-1776." The tra-
dition is, as related by William G.
McCullough (a great grand-
son, 1899), that Jacob was prospecting
in Virginia, and crossing
the river to the Ohio side (Indian
country) was chased by the
Indians. Reaching this overhanging rock,
he jumped into the
river; he then dived and coming to the
surface under the rock,
he remained in hiding, and the Indians
supposing him drowned,
left him to his fate. As soon as the way
was clear, he returned
to Virginia, obtained a tool and cut his
name and the date upon
the surface of the rock as noted.
Samuel Vantilberg settled in what is now
Saline Township
in 1796; William McCullough about 1800;
Jacob Nessley, Jr.,
endless variety of the gayest colors,
lighted up by the mellow rays of
an October sun. -Hutchins as re-written
by Graham in the "History
of Coshocton County."
There are peculiarities in the soil
drained by Yellow Creek. The
north side of the headwaters is sandy,
including portions of Springfield
township and the adjoining part of
Carroll county, always noted as
the peach belt. This region is called
Sandy Valley by the historians.
While much of the land is very rugged
that portion of it is rich in
minerals-salt, coal, iron, potter's
clay.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 215
came earlier, perhaps, for he bought
large tracts of Yellow
Creek land from the United States
Government, Jeremiah Hick-
man, James Rogers, the Crawfords, Jacob
Groff, Charles Ham-
mond (for whom Hammondsville was named),
William Maple,
Benjamin Maple, the father of Andrew
Downer, and the House-
holders also came before the dawn of the
century.
There were many more settlers near the
mouth of Yellow
Creek but the names are in oblivion. It
is known that there
was a very formidable blockhouse on a
point immediately south
of the creek's mouth, erected, perhaps,
by squatters previous to
1784. While the site has been washed
away, the foundation
was seen by persons now (1899) living.
This blockhouse, until
very recently supposed to have been west
of the creek's mouth,
on Blockhouse Run, was so constructed on
the first river bank
that it was surrounded by water, and had
command not only
of the river, but likewise of a vast
expanse of territory, the most
natural point in all this region for
defensive works.
As further evidence of the early
presence of settlers it is
only necessary to mention that,
according to Tradition, an Irish
master, named McElroy, taught a school
in a log cabin at the
mouth of Yellow Creek in 1800, and at
about the same time
there was a school on Pine Ridge; in
1804 there was one on
Yellow Creek, above the site of
Hammondsville. A stone
hotel was built at the mouth of the
creek, and when destroyed
by fire two years ago (1897) the date of
its erection (1803) was
discovered carved in a chimney stone.
The first road in the
country was made from a point opposite
Charles Town (Wells-
burg) to Yellow Creek in 1804. It is
possible that the masons
who built the hotel also built the two
stone-arch bridges, one
over the mouth of Wills Creek, the other
over the mouth of
Island Creek, both doing service to-day.
They are of the arch-
itecture of the bridges afterwards
adopted for the National
Pike. A stone school house was erected
on the McCullough
farm, and the supposition is, it was
built by the masons who
built the hotel and bridges, and
consequently was the work of
Pathfinders. As convincing evidence of
the early building of
this school it is stated that the
Nessleys and McCulloughs not
216 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
only erected the building but supported
the school, which, in a
few years, rose to the dignity of an
academy. Here Jacob
Nessley McCullough was educated, and
certainly from the
world's point of view, he was the most
successful native of the
county, having accumulated ten millions
of dollars before his
death.
As has already been noted, the first
religious services held
in Saline Township were at the mouth of
Yellow Creek. In
1800 the settlers organized a Methodist
Episcopal society in
Jeremiah Hickman's cabin. From this
beginning grew other
Methodist Episcopal Churches in this
township; other com-
nunions were not early in this field.
The first settlers, it is
supposed, aside from the Nessleys and
McCulloughs, came from
Virginia and Maryland at the time
Asbury, the missionary of
Wesleyanism, had filled the people of
those regions with the fire
of religious enthusiasm, and it still
glowed in the pioneers who
settled in Saline. The same year a
church of this denomina-
tion was organized in Sugar Grove (now
as well as then, Knox
Township), not far from Yellow Creek.
On the DeSellem farm, near Port Homer,
are evidences
of ancient fortifications as well as
mounds, from which the
owner has collected many relics of the
stone age, including a
carved stone column fifteen inches in
height.
On Yellow Creek are remains of white
pine forests de-
stroyed by the Indians, who tapped the
trees for rosin which
they used for salve and to facilitate
the kindling of fire. Of the
evergreen trees indigenous to the rugged
hillsides and deep
ravines, that once echoed with the
warwhoop of hostile sav-
ages, the hemlock only remains.
The product of the numerous distilleries,
flour mills and
salt wells, hauled to the mouth of
Yellow Creek, and in after
years also to Port Homer, the latter
established by W. H. Wal-
lace, a man of great business energy up
to a few years ago,
brought about an activity of trade on
the water front of Saline
Township that, if repeated to-day, would
astonish the great
grandsons of the Pathfinders. Flatboat
building was then an
important industry of itself, but linked
with the milling, salt-
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 217
boiling and distilling, together with
the hauling of the products
on both sides of the river at this
point, perhaps as many men
were employed in industrial pursuits as
now. At times the im-
mense storehouses at these two points
would be filled from base-
ment to roof with the three main
products, hundreds of men
being constantly employed in handling.
But to-day, aside from
the fact that there are yet living on
the scene of the activity of
other days some of the heirs of the
fortunes made, there re-
mains no more evidence of the prosperous
times than there is
evidence of the industrial pursuits of
the Indian and of his an-
cestor, the Mound Builder. The
information in either case is
largely traditional and conjectural. We
do know this, that with
less expenditure of nerve-force the
fathers made greater for-
tunes than many of the sons are able to
duplicate under the
changed conditions which mark advanced
civilization.
Knox Township, as at present
constituted, is very small
compared to the territory included in
the call for election held
on April 3, 1802, at the house of
Henry Pittenger,
"In con-
formity to an act of the General
Assembly of the Territory of the
United States northwest of the Ohio
River, entitled 'an act to
establish and regulate township
meetings,' passed on the 18th
day of January, in the year of our Lord,
1802." Other town-
ships organized out of the territory
left a township named for
the first Secretary of War, only
twenty-four sections of Town-
ship Eight of Range Two and fractional
part of Township Four
of Range One.
The geographical features of Knox
Township are more
like the primeval state than those of
any other like civil division
in the county, there having been little
change in the original
surface of the precipitous hillsides and
dark ravine, at the bottom
of which still flows the same clear
stream-Hollow Rock, Car-
ters, Jeremeys or Croxton's. It was on
Carter's Run, at the
(now) intersection of the roads from
Knoxville and New Somer-
set to the Hollow Rock Campmeeting
Grounds, that Michael
Myers, in 1774, killed two
Indians. This was shortly after he
had aided Cresap to kill the two Indians
in a canoe while acting as
unconscious agents of Dr. Connelly who
was devoted to the idea
218
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
(being a Tory) that if the Indians were
incited to take the war-
path, the agitation for American
independence from the crown
would cease, and it was his scheme to
force the Indians to fight
by using frontiermen whose hatred of the
savage required but
little urging to inflame it into the
heat of war spirit. Myers
was an easy victim of Connelly's
machinations, and he was a
notable factor in bringing about the
Dunmore War. In a state-
ment made by Myers in 1850, he gave an
account of the affray
to Lyman C. Draper, he then being about
105 years
of age but
in full possession of his mental
faculty. In May, 1774, he crossed
the Ohio River to a point near the mouth
of Yellow Creek,
in company with two other men, for the
purpose of looking
at the country. They went up the creek
two or three miles
and stopped at a spring (Hollow Rock)
where they camped
for the night. Having spancelled their
horse they turned him
loose to graze, and kindled a fire. Soon after they heard
the horse's bell tinkling as though he
were running rapidly. At
first Myers suspected that a wolf had
scared the horse, and,
taking up his rifle, ran to the point of
the hill, where he saw
the horse standing still and an Indian
stooping at his side,
trying to loosen the spancels. Myers,
without further investi-
gation, shot the Indian; and as soon as
he reloaded ran up
the side of the hill and discovered a
large number of Indians
encamped. One Indian with a gun ran
toward him, but kept
his eyes on the horse. Myers immediately
discharged his gun
at the second Indian, and without
knowing the result of the
shot, wheeled and ran toward the spring,
but he found his com-
panions had left the camp. Myers
returned to the Virginia
side, where he found them. The next
morning several Indians
crossed to Virginia and inquired at the
Baker cabin (where Lo-
gan's relatives were afterwards
murdered) as to who had killed
the two Indians the previous evening,
but Greathouse (by whose
name the Baker cabin is often called to
this day) would not
permit any one to give the Indians the
least satisfaction. This,
of course, added fuel to the fire. The
encampment discovered
by Myers, no doubt, was a part of the
Logan camp. Myers
always claimed that he was one of the
party firing on the boat
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 219
load of Indians who crossed the river to
investigate the mur-
der of Logan's people.
The scene of this incident was very near
the place where
Henry Pittenger afterward settled-where
Rev. William Pitten-
ger, author of "Daring and
Suffering," one of the most thrilling
narratives of the War Between the
States, was born, and within
a mile of Sugar Grove Methodist
Episcopal Church, in whose
graveyard is buried the remains of one
of the historically noted
men of this county. The grave is marked
by a very pretentious
marble stone:
MICHAEL MYERS,
DIED AUGUST 11, 1852, AGED 107 YEARS.
Soldier, rest, thy warfare o'er;
Dream of battlefields no more.
All thy conflicts now are past;
To thy home thou'rt gone at last.
The remains of Katherine Stickler, his
wife, are at his side,
Mrs. Myers having died in 1861, at the
age of ninety-six years.
A son, William Myers, died in Toronto,
April 19, 1899, aged
eighty-eight years, and his wife,
Cynthia Myers, died two
months later. The Myers estate possesses
the very venerable
long rifle which did much execution in
the hands of its owner.
This rifle is a prototype of the weapon
used not only by the In-
dian fighters but by the riflemen who
won distinction in the
Revolutionary War. This weapon was
unknown in what was,
and what is now, called the
"tidewater" regions, where the inac-
curate musket and shot-gun were
employed. The long rifle was
brought to the Pennsylvania frontier by
the Swiss Germans,
and of course found its way to Virginia,
the Carolinas; and the
bold men of the mold of Myers who
ventured into the Indian
country previous to the Revolutionary
War, coming, as they did
from Pennsylvania or the Virginia Valley
(including Maryland),
had this most effective arm. While the
long rifle was very
heavy, the physical training of the
Pathfinders enabled them to
handle it as readily as the light
breech-loader of to-day. The
great advantage of the rifle to the
pioneer was its accuracy,
thus saving ammunition, which was of
vast importance. Even
220 Ohio Arch. and His. Society
Publications.
the fifteen-year-old sons of the
pioneers learned to bring in a
piece of game for each bullet
discharged, so unerring was the
aim demanded. Such a sharp-shooter was
Michael Myers. Such
were the men with Morgan not only in
Dunmore's War, but in
many battles of the Revolution. Such was
Cresap (a companion
of Myers) and his company. Such were Brady, and the Wet-
zels.
Such was Robert McClelland, whose cousins, Robert,
John, Rutherford and William McClelland,
settled in Knox.
Such was Martin Swickard, a hero of the
tragical Crawford Ex-
pedition, an early settler of Knox,
whose body honors its soil.
Without the long rifle and the men
trained in the backwoods to
handle it with the minimum waste of
ammunition, the historian
would have chronicled a very different
account of the Revolu-
tionary War than that of the triumph of
American arms. We
had the guns and the keen eyes to aim
them.35 The Myers rifle
35 The rifle at this time was a weapon
unknown to New England,
and unused in the eastern districts of
the other colonies. The infantry
arm of the period was a smooth-bore
musket. .. . It was very inac-
curate, and of short range. When Putnam
gave the command at Bunker
Hill, "Wait till you see the white
of their eyes," he did so because
the musket and shot-guns could not be
relied upon to hit a man at
much greater distance. The [long] rifle
[such as Myers employed] had
been introduced into Pennsylvania about
1700 by Swiss and Palatine
immigrants, and was made by them at
various border towns in that
colony twenty to thirty years before the
Revolution. Our frontiersmen,
appreciating the superior accuracy of
the grooved barrel, adopted the
rifle at once, and improved upon the
German model with such ingenuity
that within a few years they had
produced a new type of fire-arm,
superior to all others, the American
backwoods [long] rifle. . . . These
rifles were used along the frontiers of
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia
and the Carolinas. So the call of
Congress for riflemen was, in fact,
a call for the backwoodsmen of the
Alleghenies. . . . John Adams wrote
to Gerry, after the resolution had
passed, "These are all said to be
exquisite marksmen, and by means of the
excellence of their firelocks,
as well as their skill in the use of
them, to send sure destruction to
great distances." It was plain enough that a corps of such
sharp-
shooters, hardy, indomitable,
experienced in forest war, would be the
right material to meet British regulars.
. .. The call for riflemen
reveals a subtler policy than appears on
the surface - a policy no doubt
suggested by the only man in Congress
who knew the backwoodsmen
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 221
is six feet in length, and during his
life-time he called it "Lim-
ber Jennie."
Sugar Grove graveyard is one of the
oldest burying grounds
in the county, and perhaps, the oldest
in the northern portion,
but the marked graves do not give the
least clew to date of first
burials. If the field-stones used to
mark graves were ever carved
like a brother, who had marched with
them, camped with them, fought
side by side with them--by Washington
himself ... The readiness
of the backwoodsmen to take up arms was
in striking contrast to the
state of affairs along the coast.
Massachusetts had scarce a dozen ser-
viceable cannon, and for half of these
there was no ammunition. In
the whole colony of New York there were only
a hundred pounds of
powder for sale. The men who hastily
assembled at Cambridge, after
the affair at Lexington, were
enthusiastic but unruly. . . . But the men
of the wilderness were always ready.
Over every cabin door hung a
well-made rifle, correctly sighted, and
bright within from frequent wiping
and oiling. Beside it were tomahawk and
knife, a horn of good powder,
and a pouch containing bullets, patches,
spare flints, steel, tinder,
whetstone, oil and tow for cleaning the
rifle. A hunting--shirt, mocas-
sins, and a blanket were near at hand.
In case of alarm, the backwoods--
man seized these things, put a few
pounds of rockahominy and jerked
venison into his wallet, and in five
minutes was ready. It mattered not
whether two men or two thousand were
needed for war, they could
assemble in a night, armed, accoutred,
and provisioned for a cam-
paign. ... But the West had wars of its
own to fight. The Indians,
finding that the great barrier chain of
the Alleghenies was no longer
impregnable to the white invaders, grew
desperate, and fought with
redoubled fury. Moreover, one of the
first acts of the British govern-
ment, after the Revolution began, was to
incite the savages to attack
the colonies in the rear... Yet, with characteristic generosity, rifle-
men were spared. The first men who
marched to assist New England
in her sore need were pioneers of the
great West. . .. Volunteers had
poured into the little recruiting
stations in such numbers as to embarrass
the officers, who fain would have been
spared the duty of discriminating.
One of these officers, beset by a much
greater number of applicants
than his instructions permitted him to
enroll, and being unwilling to
offend any, hit upon a clever expedient.
Taking a piece of chalk, he
drew upon a blackened board the figure
of a man's nose, and placing
this at such distance that none but
experts could hope to hit it with
a bullet, he declared that he would
enlist only who shot nearest to
the mark. Sixty-odd hit the nose. . . .
The other Maryland company
[there were two] was led by Michael
Cresap, a famous border warrior,
222 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
with name and date the rude lettering
long ago was obliter-
ated by the elements. Many of these
stones have sunken be-
neath the surface, and the luxuriant
grass, briars and weeds rot-
ting year after year for more than a
century, make soil that
adds to the depth of the stones that
mark the graves of cour-
ageous Pathfinders long forgotten. On
Timothy Ridge, in Ross
[a friend and companion of Michael
Myers, the two coming to Jefferson
county at about the same time, and were
in the canoe together when
the first Indians were killed, at the
instigation of Dr. Connelly (or
Conolly) on the water front of Jefferson
county, the beginning of the
Dunmore war, and really the first blood
of the Revolution] whom Jef-
ferson wrongly accused of killing the
[relatives of] Indian chief
Logan. . . . About two-thirds of the
riflemen were of Scotch-Irish
descent, and nearly all the remainder
were "Pennsylvania Dutchmen"-
that is to say, of Swiss or Palatine
origin. Many of the Marylanders and
Virginians were immigrants from Western
Pennsylvania. [More likely
from the Cumberland and Susquehanna
valleys, long before Western
Pennsylvania was settled.] The famous
rifle corps which Morgan after-
wards formed from marksmen picked from
the whole army is usually
referred to as "Morgan's
Virginians," but as a matter of fact, two-thirds
of them were Pennsylvanians, including a
considerable number of Penn-
sylvania Germans. [Burgoyne at Yorktown
declared this to be the finest
regiment in the world.] . . . When
Congress drew its first levies from
the backwoods, it did not alone secure
the services of the finest marks-
men living. Something more was gained.
It was the moral effect, upon
the camp at Cambridge, of independence
typified by flesh and blood,
clad in American garb and wielding an
American weapon. . . . The
riflemen were at once employed as
sharpshooters and kept the enemy
continually in hot water. Heretofore the
British outposts had been safe
enough within stone's throw of the
American lines, but they now found,
to their cost, that it was almost
certain death to expose their heads
within two hundred yards of the
riflemen. . .. In the British camp the
riflemen were called "shirt-tail
men, with their cursed twisted guns, the
most fatal widow-and-orphan makers in
the world." . . . The tactics
of the backwoodsmen were essentially
different from those practiced by
the best military authorities. It was
the rule of troops to attack in solid
formation, reserving their fire till
very close quarters. Bayonets were
feared more than bullets. The standard
infantry musket was very inac-
curate and had no rear sight. The
musketry instructions simply required
each soldier to point his weapon
horizontally, brace himself for the
vicious recoil, and pull the ten-pound
trigger till the gun went off. The
idea was that, by dropping so many
bullets in a given time upon a certain
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 223
Township, are the unmarked graves of
twelve surveyors killed
by the Indians during the War of 1812. To-day their
names
are unknown, but the place of burial has
been kept sacred by
successive occupants of the Hugh Leeper
farm. "Old Mor-
tality" could have found much work
in this county where old
area containing a given number of the
enemy, so many men would
probably be hit. But the backwoodsman
was a hunter, who shot to
kill. . . . The backwoodsman fought
always as a skirmisher, taking
advantage of every available cover. . .
. The British regarded such
tactics as "sneaking" and
"cowardly." "Come out and fight in the open,
like men," they would say. . . The backwoodsmen were simply a
century ahead of the times in their
methods of war. The British them-
selves soon found it expedient to hire
Indians and Hessian jagers to
fight our sharpshooters, but neither of
these mercenaries proved a match
for the tall woodmen of the Alleghenies.
.. . We have seen that the
backwoodsmen of the Alleghenies were the
first to formally threaten
[Hanover and Hannastown Resolutions, the
first, June 4, 1774] armed
resistance against Great Britain, the
first outside colonies to assist New
England, the first troops levied by an
American Congress, the first
to use weapons of precision, and the
first to employ the open order
formation [inherited from Scotch
forefathers] now universally prescribed.
From the beginning to the end of the war
these hardy pioneers were
everywhere, doing the right thing at the
right time, harrassing the
enemy, picking off officers and
artillerymen at long range, stubbornly
holding their own in the line of battle,
advancing to some forlorn hope,
covering a retreat to save the army from
disaster, or disappearing like
magic before a superior force, only to
reassemble for attack upon some
unsuspecting outpost or detachment.
Lithe, sinewy, and all-enduring,
keen-eyed and nimble-footed,
unencumbered with baggage, subsisting
on next to nothing, making prodigious
marches over rough mountains
or through an ice-clad wilderness, they
were men of heroic mould,
admired alike by friend and foe. Coming
straight from the absolute
freedom of a primeval forest, they
appreciated the reasons for military
discipline, and submitted to it without
a murmur. Always cheerful and
ready for any undertaking, they were
regarded by Washington himself
as the corps d'elite of the Continental
army. And in the darkest hour
of the Revolution, when half the army
was in open mutiny, the great
commander, sick at heart but still
indomitable, declared to his friends
that if all others forsook him, he would
retire to the backwoods and
there make a final stand against Great
Britain, surrounded by his old
comrades of the wilderness. [Among these
were the early settlers of
Ohio.] -Horace Kephart in Harper's
Magazine, May, 1899.
224 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
graveyards receive not the least care.
Sugar Grove was used
as a graveyard before the Methodist
Episcopal Church of this
name was established, the date of the
latter being 1800. The
belief that this church was founded by
James B. Finley is er-
ror; Finley was not in Jefferson County
before 1808. A school
house was built near the log church the
same year. There was
a school known as "Shelleys,"
near Osage, established, as near
as Tradition can fix the date, in 1800,
and inasmuch as we know
there were settlers in the neighborhood
previous to that time,
it is safe to assume that this date is
correct. There is also a
graveyard here supposed to be older than
the school, and there
was a Baptist church on the site as
early as 1800, possibly earlier.
Richard Johnson (a German, and
grandfather of Rezin
Jonnson of Island Creek Township, and of
S. E. Johnson, edi-
itor of The Cincinnati Enquirer) was
also a companion of
Myers, coming to this region first after
the Revolution. He
had been, at the age of fifteen, a
captain in Braddock's army,
and was a rifleman in the Revolutionary
War, serving on Wash-
ington's staff. He was seven feet in
height, and it was said of
him that he could hit a fly across the
river with his long rifle
He settled on what is now (1899) known
as the Bustard farm,
in Steubenville Township, in 1799. He
was near a hundred
years of age at his death, and at ninety
was a physical stalwart.
His son, Derrick, was a captain in the
War of 1812.
The Bustard farm, on which Richard
Johnson settled, is the
scene of a skirmish between Virginia
ginseng diggers, about
1785, in which Anderson was killed. His companion,
Josiah Davis, escaped a like fate by
swift running.
Among the other riflemen acting as
scouts in the territory
now included in Jefferson County, were
George Cox, John
Haverstock, John and Thomas McDonald,
Joseph Ross, Jacob
Holmes, Joseph and William Huff,
Augustine Bickerstaff and
Richard Wells. In 1800, the last named,
while at the foot of
Market Street, Steubenville, shot an
Indian on the other side of
the river. All were expert with the
rifle and it is safe to as-
sume that most of these men were in the
Revolutionary War.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 225
Most of them afterward settled in this
county and became
very prominent as citizens. Michael
Myers settled at the mouth
of Croxton's Run, where he built a grist
mill, kept a taven,
ran a river ferry and was Justice of the
Peace.
The Sugar Grove M. E. Church was
organized in that part
of Knox Township now Saline, by J. B.
Finley, in 1800, with
Charles Hale as class leader, the first
members of the class be-
ing Jacob Nessley, Randall Hale, James
Pritchard, Nathan
Shaw, Joseph Elliott, Benjamin Elliott,
Robert Maxwell, John
Sapp, John Christian, Jacob Buttenburg,
John Herrington.
The Knoxville United Presbyterian Church
was organized
by Rev. Samuel Taggart and John
Donaldson in 1837, the first
elders being Isaac Crafton, Samuel
White, Gileod Chapman;
Dr. Watt, J. Stokes and Isaac Grafton,
Trustees.
The first Methodist Episcopal sermon
delivered in New-
burg (afterward Sloans, now Toronto) was
in 1837, by Rev. J.
M. Bray, who is now (1899) living at the
age of ninety years.
A church of this denomination was not
regularly organized,
however, until about forty years later.
The Knoxville Methodist Episcopal people
held class meet-
ing in a school house in 1830, with Henry
Cooper as leader. Af-
terward Methodist Episcopal services
were held in a brick
church erected by the Presbyterians.
This house having been
destroyed by a storm, was rebuilt by the
united efforts of the
Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian and
United Presbyterian
people, but in after years the Methodist
Episcopal congregation
erected a frame church 32x53 feet.
Rev. Joshua Monroe organized a Methodist
Episcopal
Church in New Somerset, in 1836, the
first members being
Mary Hartman, Susan Hartman, Catherine
Saltsman Martin
Saltsman (one of the first settlers of
northern part of the county,
and an expert rifleman), Jane Saltsman,
Philip Saltsman, Delila
Saltsman, Susanna Hulman, William
Barcus, Hannah Barcus.
The first ministers were: Joshua Monroe,
John Minor, Dr.
Adams, Philip Green, David Merryman,
Simon Lock, Harry
Bradshaw, J. C. Kent, Thomas Winstantly,
Walter Athey,
George McCaska(y), William Devinna,
Edward Taylor, Wil-
Vol. VIII--15
226
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
liam Knox, A. H. Minor, Theophilus Nean,
Chester Morrison,
George Crook, R. L. Miller and John
Wright (who reorganized
the Knoxville Methodist Episcopal church
after the question as
to ownership of the joint church
building in that village was
settled).
The Disciples Church of New Somerset was
organized by
Rev. John Jackman in 1841, the first
members being Matthias
Swickard and wife, G. H. Pentius and
wife, Joseph Marshall and
wife, Daniel Householder and wife, John
Billman and wife,
Hannah Zeatherberry, Jennet McGee, Emily
Coffman and Mary
Householder. The first regular minister
was Charles Van Vor-
hes, followed by John Jackman, Mahlon
Martin, Eli Regal, Cor-
nelius Finney, Thomas Dryal, J. M.
Thomas, J. D. White, Ma-
son Ferry, J. A. Wilson, Robert Chester,
D. O. Thomas. A
brick church (28x40) was erected the
year after the organiza-
tion; and the influence of Alexander
Campbell is still potent
in Knox Township.
Knoxville was laid out by Henry Boyle in
1816, and in the
same year, one of wonderful activity in
town building, Baltzer
Culp laid out New Somerset. Newburg
(Sloans, now Toronto).
was laid out by John Depuy in 1818, on a
portion of the land
given Michael Myers as reward for
services as an Indian scout,
and his son, Michael, kept the first
hotel. Joseph Kline was
the first merchant and James Toland the
first blacksmith.
Among the first settlers of Knox
Township were: Thomas
McLean, John Edminston, Charles Watt,
Robert McClellan,
James Alexander, George Culp, John Bray,
Martin Swickard
(with Crawford in the Sandusky
Expedition).
The early history of Wells Township
belongs to Warren,
out of which Wells was created in 1823,
and the two townships,
now civil divisions of Jefferson County,
made of the original
Warren Township, should, perhaps, be
treated as one in a story
of the Pathfinders, but as the data
collected recognize township
lines as now marked, the compiler
follows the map. Wells has
the distinction of being partly composed
of fractions of Town-
ship One of Range One, although within
its lines is Township
Five of Range Two. Wells was named for
Bezaleel Wells, the
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 227
son of Alexander Wells and Leah (Owings)
Wells, one of the
founders of Steubenville and for whom
Wellsburg was named,
he having resided in that village and at
one time was Clerk of
Brooke county.
The settlement of Wells Township was
early. It is known
that a blockhouse was erected at the
mouth of Blockhouse Run,
below Brilliant, perhaps in 1790, for the
protection of settlers,
as the Indians considered this their
country up to the Wayne
Treaty of 1795. The erection of this
blockhouse has been taken
as evidence of large early settlement;
but this is questioned,
for there is tradition to the effect
that this fortification was a
small cabin with gun-holes, built by
Daniel Scamehorn and
Henry Nations, the first settlers. There
may have been others
who took advantage of the blockhouse,
but as to this the com-
piler has no means of verification. In
1793 both Nations and
Scamehorn were captured by the Indians
and killed. It was
near this point that a Mr. Riley, two
sons and a daughter were,
in 1784, surprised by Indians and
murdered. (See page 183.)
Among the first settlers whose names are
still preserved,
were: Daniel Scamehorn, Henry Nations,
Philip Doddridge
(the founder of Brilliant), Thomas
Taylor, Henry Oliver, Eben-
ezer Spriggs, John Barret (settled in
1799 and was appointed
Justice of the Peace by the Governor
holding the office for
thirty-eight years, and as Justice he
performed the first mar-
riage ceremony in this part of the
county), John Jackson, (mil-
ler), Daniel Tarr (soldier of the War of
1812), Smiley H.
Johnston (a descendant, in direct line,
of Oliver Cromwell),
Joseph Hook, Samuel Dean, James Everson,
William Roe, Na-
thaniel Dawson, William Louiss, Robert
Shearer, E. Willet,
John Putney, John Armstrong, Archibald
Armstrong,
Sprague, James Davis, James Moore, John
Burns, Gideon Gos-
well, Israel Cox, Henry Swearingen, Ira
Dalrymple, J. McCul-
ley, Amos Parsons, John Rickey, Jacob
Zoll, Benjamin Linton,
Matthew Thompson, Harden Wheeler, Joseph
Rose, Henry
Hicks, John Jacks, the Doughertys,
Milhollands, Grahams.
Philipsburgh (afterward LaGrange, now
Brilliant), so called
in honor of the founder, was laid out by Philip Doddridge
228
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
in 1819, on land purchased from James
Ross. It was not only
an attractive site for a town, the river
bottom at this point be-
ing wide and backed by beautiful,
sloping hills, but it was a very
important location from commercial point
of view. In the early
times all roads led "to a point on
the Ohio River opposite
Charles Town," and at this point
Philipsburg was built. The
early records make frequent mention of
roads building from all
directions to intersect this one very
important thoroughfare;
important in the fact that great droves
of cattle were brought
over it on the way to the eastern
markets, crossing the river
here. Philipsburg was also a shipping
point for flour and
whisky, large quantities of these
products having been hauled
over the Charles Town (Wellsburg) road
from long distances
back in the country to the river for
shipment in flatboats to
points on the Mississippi. Before the
town was laid out there
was accommodation for man and beast at
the ferry-landing.
The first tavern was kept by Matthew
Thompson and Nathan
Dawson, the latter having charge of the
bar, apparently the
most important adjunct of the pioneer
hostelry. So-called tem-
perance hotels were opened in opposition
to Thompson's but
none were successful; Thompson himself
at one time discarded
the bar and called his house Tempo
Tavern, but the ex-
periment resulted in failure. The action
of a hotel proprietor
could not change the appetites of his
customers. Nathan Daw-
son (mentioned above) served as
President of the Board
of Trustees for many years, evidence
that the Pathfinders
did not ostracise those engaged in the
sale of intoxicants. Philip
Doddridge built a hotel immediately
after he laid out the town.
The building was purchased by James H.
Moore, who not only
conducted the tavern, but was postmaster
after 1822. Harden
Wheeler and Joseph Rose opened a store
the same year.
There were schools in this territory
long before Warren
Township was divided; but on September
1, 1826, the trustees
of Wells Township (John Barret, Thomas
Taylor and Belford
Griffith), met at the house of the
clerk, R. A. Sherrard (son of
John Sherrard who was in the Crawford
Sandusky Expedition),
the clerk was instructed to divide the
township into seven dis-
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 229
tricts, which was done as follows: No. I, Point Finley;
No. 2,
Middle School; No. 3, Jefferson; No. 4,
Adams; No. 5, Monroe;
No. 6, Center; No. 7, LaGrange. Other
districts were or-
ganized later.
The first election was held at the home
of the widow Mc-
Adams, April 1, 1823, when David
Humphrey, Archibald Arm-
strong and Richard Sperrier were
selected Trustees; R. A.
Sherrard, Clerk; John McAdams,
Treasurer.
The excellence of the water power of
Wells Township alone
is evidence of early industrial activity
that long ago was hidden
from the present by oblivion. We only
have knowledge of the
fact that John Jackson erected a flour
mill on McIntyre Creek
(so called because a man named McIntyre
was killed on this
stream by Indians, in what is now Wayne
Township, in 1792,
and his remains were buried under a
hickory tree at the head-
waters) in 1808, but inasmuch as there
were settlers (called
squatters) as early as 1784, it is safe
to say that mills had
been in operation and worn out before
Jackson built his mill,
but definite information cannot be
obtained. Benjamin Linton
who came from Maryland, operated an
early mill and distillery
on Salt Run and continued this business
with marked success
for many years.
The Old Tent Presbyterian Church (now
Center) is one of
the historical land-marks of Wells
Township. The first meet-
ings that resulted in the organization
of one of the first churches
of any denomination in the Northwest
Territory, were held
at the house of John Armstrong, in what
is now Wells Town-
ship, at the beginning of 1800. Who the
minister was is not
now known. In 1803 meetings were held in
a tent from which
fact the church is yet called the Tent
Church, getting the name
Center from a town laid out in after
years, but the town never
got beyond the blacksmith-shop and hotel
stage, although the
"annual musters" were held on
the site, it being almost midway
between Warrenton, Smithfield and Mt.
Pleasant. The date of
the first church building is also lost,
most probably the
following year, for there must have been
a large increase of
Presbyterian population at that time,
the first settlers of the im-
230
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
mediate vicinity now having had time to
inform their friends in
Pennsylvania of the beauty of the
country and superior soil.
The deed for the property, however, was
not made until 1826.
This property, including graveyard, was
conveyed to the trus-
tees by John Jackson. A Scotchman named
Robinson was the
first minister of whom there is the
slightest memory. John
Armstrong, at whose house the first
services were held, was the
first to be buried in the churchyard,
the date of interment being
July 16, 1810.
Several years ago Sam Huston, the County
Engineer,
while superintending road work, found in
an undisturbed glacial
gravel bed, two and one-half miles below
Brilliant, in Wells
Township, a gert stone knife, one of the
oldest relics known to
man, creating wide interest in the
archaeological world. Thou-
sands of fine specimens of stone
implements have been, and are
daily, found on the surface, between
Mingo and Yorkville.
The organization of Wells Township left
Warren only a
small portion of its former territory,
and it now consists of frac-
tional Township Four of Range Two. Had
Township One of
Range One of the survey, known as the
Seven Ranges, been
complete, the line would have extended
six miles east of Warren-
ton (taking in the width of the river)
or to the Pennsylvania
line, thus making Warren Township of
geographical interest.
On account of early settlement Warren
Township ought to
be the most interesting township from
historical point of view
in Ohio, but data as to the activities
of the Pathfinders are so
fragmentary that the compiler is almost
discouraged in efforts
to put them together. Warren Township
has the distinction
of having been settled earlier than
Marietta, and the settlers
were good, substantial people, although
they were stigmatized
as "squatters" by the Federal
Government in 1785. These
people were real settlers in the sense
that they had built cabins
and blockhouses and cultivated crops for
subsistence. They
possessed horses, for we know John
Carpenter, after making a
clearing in 1781, on the site of
Portland, took two horses to
Fort Pitt, with which to convey salt; we
know that a son of
John Tilton was killed by Indians while
up Short Creek after
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 231
his father's cows. We know they had
houses, for Ensign Arm-
strong and Col. Butler sent out to
dispossess these settlers, make
report (1785) that they had not only
driven them off, but had
destroyed their cabins. They were
religious people, perhaps to
a greater degree than were the people
who settled Marietta,
coming, as they did, from those parts of
Maryland and Virginia
where Bishop Asbury labored so
successfully that he made com-
parison in his journal of the strong
religious feeling of the
Southern people with the absolute lack
of it in New England.
So religious, in fact, were these
settlers on the bottom lands of
Jefferson County-Mingo Bottoms,
extending from what is now
Mingo Junction, to the present southern
line of the county-
that Col. Butler reported that they were
great fanatics. We
know also, that Rev. George Callahan37
held the first Methodist
Episcopal services in the Northwest
Territory, 1787, at Car-
penter's Fort. The settlers driven off,
having no other place to
settle, Virginia being taken, they
returned after the soldiers
had gone, and we find them gathered
about a minister two
years after. The magnificent prospect of
the fertile soil and
luxuriant growths of the bottom land
were too attractive for
the Pathfinders to give it up. In order
to avoid possible re-
discovery by the troops, and perhaps,
also, to escape the miasma
in the river bottom, many took to the
hills, following Short
Creek to its headwaters, where (near New
Athens) as early as
1784 Joseph Huff's family planted an
apple orchard. Had Mar-
ietta such evidences of settlement
before 1784?
John Tilton and family (his wife being
Susannah Jones)
came from Maryland and located, with
others, on the site of
37 In one of his most able biographical
sketches, published from
time to time in The Lancaster (O.)
Gazette, C. W. L. Wiseman makes
mention (July 15, 1899: "The Holmes
Family,") of Rev. George Cal-
lahan: "Rev. George Callahan, a
farmer and Methodist preacher, lived
in this neighborhood, [Union township,
Licking county] many years.
His wife was a Wells. He was born in
Pennsylvania, in 1766, and
died in Jersey township, Licking county,
in 1839. He was the first
circuit rider in Western Pennsylvania,
and in 1785 [1787] crossed the
Ohio and preached at Carpenter's
fort."
232 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Tiltonville, in 1784. They built cabins
and a blockhouse, and
cultivated the ground. John Carpenter
had settled above and
was living in a cabin, afterward
enlarged to a fort,36 the exact lo-
cation of which is unknown, three
different possible sites being
conjectured, one at the mouth of the
creek, one against the hill
on the north side of the creek and west
of the Cleveland and
Pittsburg Railroad; the other, the most
plausible of the three,
viewing the necessities of the builder
with the eye of the present,
is the south bank of the creek, near the
stone house of Wil-
36 It [Carpenter's fort] was built in
the Summer of 1781, by John
Carpenter, who resided at the time on
Buffalo Creek, some miles east
of the Ohio River. In his hunting
expeditions he was in the habit of
crossing to the west side of the river
for the purpose of hunting game
along the Short Creek valley, when he
determined to be the first to
get possession of these lands [Short
Creek valley,] which everybody
believed would in due time belong to the
United States. He determined
to take the risk, which he did, by
building a cabin and clearing off a
piece of ground ready for planting corn
the next season. But not thinking
it safe to remove his family across the
river, he took a couple of horses
across and started to Fort Pitt for the
purpose of getting a supply of
salt, which they were compelled to carry
across the country on pack
horses. On the way he was captured by a
band of Wyandotts and
taken to the Moravian towns [on the
Tuscarawas] where his dress was
changed for an Indian outfit, and was
then taken to Sandusky, where
he was kept a prisoner until the
following Spring, when he escaped
and made his way to Fort Pitt, from
where he returned to his family,
which he removed across the river to his
improvement [near the mouth
of Short Creek] he had made the previous
Summer. One day while
at work in his own patch he was fired on
by an Indian from the adjoining
woods and severely wounded. The Indian
attempted to scalp him, but
was drawn off by Carpenter's wife, a
stout, resolute woman, who
went to his assistance and made such a
vigorous resistance that her
husband escaped into his cabin, and the
Indian fled.
After Col. Williamson's unfortunate
expedition, which resulted in
the massacre of the Moravian [Delaware]
Indians, and the destruction
of their towns on the Tuscarawas, a
court of inquiry was called at Fort
Pitt to investigate his conduct. John
Carpenter was summoned as a
witness on behalf of the accused, and
identified his clothing as that
found by Williamson in possession of the
Moravians, poving a valuable
witness for the officer. - Supposed to
have been written by the late
Joseph McCleary, Esq.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 233
liam Stringer (built by John B. Bayless
in 1838). James Max-
well had built a cabin about 1772, certainly
previous to Dun-
more's War, at the mouth of Rush Run.
George Carpenter,
afterward a son-in-law of John Tilton,
built a blockhouse below
the mouth of Rush Run in 1785.
In the graveyard at Tiltonville, known
as the Indian Mound
Cemetery, is the grave of Susannah, wife
of John Tilton, there
being a monument to her memory, the inscription
noting that
she had "departed this life October
15th, 1838: aged 88 yrs. 9
mo & 20 Days." Near this stone,
only a few months ago was
one over the grave of Susannah, her
daughter, bearing the
death-date of 1792, but the stone has
since disappeared. Near
the grave of Mrs. Tilton is that of
Elizabeth Morrison, the in-
scription on the stone giving the date
of death as September 18,
1798, and her age seventy-three years.
Mrs. Tilton was the
mother of seventeen children, among them
Joseph, Caleb and
two named John, one son of this name
having been killed by
Indians, the other was named for him.
Caleb was born on the
site of Tiltonville in 1785. William
Stringer is a descendant of
John Tilton, his mother having been a
daughter of Joseph Til-
ton. A great-great-great grandson of
John and Susannah Til-
ton (to William and Minnie (Stringer)
O'Brien) was born Fri-
day, July 7, 1899, on the site (or near
the site) of Fort Carpen-
ter, and but a few yards from the corner
of Township One of
Range One, on the land given Ephraim
Kimberly by the Gov-
ernment, the conveyance being the first
deed recorded in Jef-
ferson county.
The foot of Hoge's hill, where the Short
Creek (now Mt.
Pleasant) Presbyterian Church was
organized in 1798, and
where Joseph Anderson was ordained the
same year, is in
this township. Not only this-it is the
belief of many, and there
is basis for this belief, that Hopewell
Methodist Episcopal
Church, situated on Warren Ridge
(between Rush Run and
Short Creek), four miles west of the
river, is the oldest Metho-
dist Episcopal Church organized and
built in the Northwest
Territory.
234 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
It has been shown that the first
Methodist Episcopal ser-
vices in the territory were held within
a short distance of the
site of Hopewell, in 1787. The settlers
were of this denomina-
tion. After they were driven off by the
Federal troops they re-
turned, many of them going up the creeks
to the ridges; and it
was most natural action for them to
continue religious services;
therefore it is not mere conjecture to
state that a house of wor-
ship was soon erected, being but a few
days' work for exper-
ienced woodmen to build a house of logs.
The old church was
only a few feet from the present
building, and the church-yard
is filled with graves whose marks
testify to very early burials.
The older stones (flag-stones from the
neighborhood) are now
beneath the surface, and when exposed by
excavating about
them, show neither date nor name,
although some have initials
very crudely scratched with the point of
a hunting knife, evi-
dently. One of these found by Miss
Jones, daughter of Thomas
T. Jones, a descendant of an early
settler, in 1899, bore the
date of 1799. She made no note of the
fact, but the date was
impressed upon her mind because she was
a student of local his-
tory and was examining the gravestones
with view of obtaining
basis for fixing the date of the
church's establishment. Bishop
Matthew Simpson, in a biographical
sketch, mentions that his
grandfather, Jeremiah Tingley, settled
on Short Creek in 1801,
and that the family attended Hopewell
Church. The old log
building had a neatly constructed
gallery in it, certainly built
long after the church was erected, and
men now eighty-five
years of age, with good memory back to
childhood, declare that
the gallery was an old structure then.
There were Methodist
Episcopal ministers in this neighborhood
in 1794, as in that
year "Samuel Hitt and John Reynolds
came upon the site of
Steubenville and preached a few sermons
amidst much opposi-
tion." We know there were Methodist Episcopal people on
Warren Ridge with ability to erect a
church; there were min-
isters in the neighborhood, and it seems
beyond dispute that
Hopewell was built at least as early as
1798, two years before
Holmes Church, which has claimed the
distinction as the first
Methodist Episcopal Church built
northwest of the Ohio; and
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 235
Tradition says, that in the early days,
there being close asso-
ciation by inter-marriage of members of
the two congregations,
as well as by blood and ties of
friendship, much rivalry ob-
tained as to which of the two churches
was the older, with the
argument always in favor of Hopewell.
The Oliver Methodist Episcopal Church,
between Hope-
well and Smithfield, was established in
1800, and Good Intent
Church and McKendrie Chapel, the two latter
on the Rush Run
side of Warren Ridge, were established
later.
Rev. Nicholas Worthington (uncle of Mrs.
William Medill
of Tiltonville), whose father was one of
the first settlers of the
Beech Bottoms, on the east side of the
river, preached at all of
these churches in early manhood and
entertained Lorenzo
Dow and Bishop Asbury in the first half
of the century. He is
now (1899) living in Bridgeport at the
age of ninety, but too
feeble to give information of these
early churches.
Ebenezer Liston (father of Thomas
Liston, living in Tilton-
ville (1899) at the age of ninety, and
who remembers seeing
James B. Finley at his father's house
just below Tiltonville)
was one of the early Methodist Episcopal
Ministers of this re-
gion. Thomas Liston was a flatboat builder
when that in-
dustry, allied with milling, was the
greatest industrial factor of
the county. The water-front of Warren
Township in the early
days was such a scene of industrial
activity that has not ob-
tained since the building of steamboats
and railroads. Then
hundreds of skilled mechanics were
employed day and night in
constructing boats to convey to the
Southern markets the pro-
ducts of the many flour mills and
distilleries on the creeks. On
the river-front there were immense
warehouses, filled from base-
ment to roof with flour and other
products of grain, ready for
shipment to Southern ports. Hence the
name Portland, in
which village still stand three-story
warehouses, as evidence of
former prosperity. It is said by persons
still living that in the
first quarter of the century and up to
1850, one standing at any
point on Short Creek could see, at any
hour of the day, as many
as thirty four- and six-horse wagons, on
the way to the river
loaded, or returning empty.
236 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Among the early millers were: Joseph
Tilton, - Nichols,
William Smith, Robert Patterson, James
Hodgens, Joseph
West, John C. Bayless (had two stone
mills on Short Creek),
John Bone, the Sherrads. Of the early
boat-builders only a
few remain in the memory of the living:
Thomas Liston, Joseph
Large, Nathan Borran, Stephen King,
James Attis, Nathaniel
Sisco, Charles Wilson, John Driant,
Joseph Hall. Charles
Noble was a wagoner.
Joseph and Ralston McKee operated a
three-story stone
woolen mill (50x100) four miles at
Short Creek, at which was
manufactured Persian and common cloth
and the finest woolen
blankets ever made in Ohio.
Among the early settlers were: John
Tilton, Joseph Tilton,
James Johnson (father of the heroic
Johnson boys), James Per-
due, John Russell, James Maxwell, John
Carpenter, George
Carpenter, William and Joseph Pumphrey,
Thomas Taylor,
Thomas Sprague, Joseph Dorsey, William
Rowe, Capt. Daniel
Peck (soldier of the War of 1812), Joseph McKee,
Solomon
Schemehorn, William Lewis, Jeremiah
Tingley, John McCor-
mick, John Humphrey, James Reilly, John
Patterson, Solomon
Lisby, Joseph Chambers, Adam McCormick,
Erasmus Beckett,
John Bowne, Charles Oliver, John B.
Bayless, Richard Hay-
thorne (on whose farm, near Hopewell
Church, the two John-
son boys escaped from the Indians),
James Hodgens, William
Smith, Moses Kimbal, Charles Jones,
Joseph Medill, Martin
Becket, Henry Brindley, Enas Kimberly
(the first County Re-
corder), Robert McCleary, Charles
Kimbal, Benedict Wells,
George Humphrey, John McElroy, Alexander
and James Mc-
Connell, David Rush, David Barton, John
Winters, Samuel
Patton, James Campbell, John Edwards,
Peter Snedeker, John
Henderson, Robert and William
McCullough, Joseph Moore,
John Dawson.
The settlers on the river front of
Warren Township had a
regularly organized government with seat
at Mercer Town in
1785, and John Carpenter and Charles
Norris were Justices.
Warrenton was laid out by Enas Kimberly
in 1802, but
there was a considerable settlement at
this point long before
The Pathfinders of Jefferson
County, 0. 237
the tract was divided into town lots,
and there is record of an
agreement made by Zenas Kimberly
(February, 1799) with pos-
sible lot buyers in Warrenton. Tiltonville was laid out in
1806 by John Tilton. Zenas Kimberly was
granted ferry license
at Warrenton in 1798, and John Tilton
was granted a like license
at Tiltonville in 1797. These records
alone give evidence of
very early settlements.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was
organized at Tilton-
vile in 1825; previous to this date the
adherents of this denom-
ination attended services in the
neighborhood.
During the year 1798 two Indians became
intoxicated with
liquor bought at tavern on the site of
Warrenton, and returning
to their camp, on the creek above
Portland, were followed by
a party of white men who saw them
drinking, and being in a
drunken stupor, both Indians were killed
without the least de-
fensive effort. The bodies were buried, and years after the
bones were plowed up by the Stringers,
who own the land.
Portland, in the early days, was a
drover's stopping place,
cattle from the back country for the
Eastern market being driven
here because of the fact that in certain
seasons the river was
fordable, and thus expense of ferryage
was saved.
FIRST PURCHASERS OF LAND.
After the survey of the first seven
ranges by the Federal
Government the lands were offered for
sale in New York in
1787, and the sales were afterward
continued in Philadelphia
and Pittsburgh. In 1801 a land office
was opened in Steuben-
ville.28 Much of the land was
bought by speculators, who after-
38 The land sales in New York continued
two years -from 1787 to
1789 - in which portions of the
territory were sold in townships and
sections, and in which very few actual
settlers participated. These sales
were known as the Coffee House Sales.
Soldiers of the Revolutionary
War who made settlement even previous to
Dunmore's war, were ousted.
We know that John McKinley, who settled
at the mouth of Indian
Wheeling Creek and then united with the
Virginia Line, and was with
Crawford at Sandusky, was captured with
Crawford and met death by
decapitation, had no claim in the land
office for the property that seemed
to belong to his heirs. The aggregate
returns from the New York sales
238 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
ward disposed of their holdings to
settlers. The records in the
Jefferson County Recorder's office show
very few of the gov-
ernment deeds, but it was not necessary
to have the deeds re-
corded both by the Land Registrar and
County Recorder. The
names of first purchasers following are
taken from Book A of
the county records, and are given
because they represent many
of the Pathfinders:
1788. United States Government to
William Linn, to
William Bowne (three tracts), to Isaac
Craig, to Robert John-
son (four tracts), to John D. Mercier,
John Crawford; Samuel
Holden Parsons to Moses Cleaveland (the
site of Cleveland).
1789. United States Government to John
Hopkins, to
William Duer, Joseph Hardy, George
Carpenter (settled in War-
ren Township in 1785) to Jacob Miller,
William Duer to Nathan
McFarland, Joseph Hardy to John Johnson.
1790.
James Gray to Thomas Leiper, John and
Joseph
Scott to Richard Platt.
1791. Robert Kirkwood to John
McKnight.
1792. John Hopkins to
William Duer, James McMillen
to John Waggoner.
1794. United States Government to
Ephraim Kimberly
(the first deed recorded in Jefferson
County).
1795.
William Duer to Laben Bronson, John D.
Mercier
to Jacob Croes.
1796. William Linn to Bezaleel Wells,
Jacob Martin to
Dunham Martin, Isaiah Linn to Jacob
Nessley, William Bowne
to Jacob Nessley, Bezaleel Wells to
Jacob Nessley, Thomas
Edgington to Ahasel Edgington, Earnest
Matthew to Andrew
amounted to $72,974. In 1796 the sales
were made in like manner in
Philadelphia and Pittsburg. In the first
city the returns were $5,120; in
the second, $43,446. Sales were
continued until July 1, 1800, when
under the act of May 10, 1800, a land
office was opened in Steubenville.
Land offices were also opened in
Marietta, Chillicothe and Cincinnati.
After the lands were surveyed into
townships they were divided into two-
mile blocks, among the surveyors of the
latter being Eli Schoefield,
Alexander Holmes, Zaccheus Biggs. Among
the surveyors who divided
the lands into sections and quarters
were, Alexander Holmes, Levi
Barker, Benjamin Hough, Philip Green,
Benjamin Stickney.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 239
Woods, Obadiah Hardeslay to Henry Lingo,
William Hill to
Thomas Edgington, same to John
McCullough.
1797.
William Hill to Ebenezer Zane, Dr. Robert
John-
ston to John D. Mercier, the same to
Absalom Martin, the same
to John Connell, Jacob Nessley to Adam
Kendig, Isaac Taylor
to Abraham Cuppy, Bezaleel Wells to
Peter Sunderland.
1798. Addison Alexander to William
Stoaks, Abner and
Jesse Barker to James Alexander, Laben
Bronson to Isaac
Cowgill, same to George Cookes, same to
Hugh McCoy, Robert
Caldwell to James Marshall, *John
Carpenter to *George Car-
penter, Jacob Croes and A. Ridgely to
Thomas and Joseph Mc-
Cune and James West, Thomas Edginton to
Ahasel Edginton,
William Engle to David Edwards, William
Hill to David
Swearngen, Dr. Robert Johnston to Thomas
Edginton, same to
William Wells, Zenas Kimberly to
purchasers of lots in Warren,
Absalom Martin to *William Bailey, John
D. Mercier to Wil-
liam Bailey, same to Daniel Harris, John
McCullough to James
MacMahan, Moses McFarland to Stephen
Miller, Jacob Miller
to Henry Miller, Stephen Miller to
George Miller, James Mar-
shall to Isaac Meek, Jacob Nessley to
Christian Kendig, same to
John Nessley, same to Jacob Nessley,
jr., James Ross to Solo-
mon Fisher, William Skinner to Sarah
Chambers, *John Tilton
to Jacob Croes, William Skinner to Z.
Scigg and others, same
to *Joseph Tilton, United States to
Isaac Craig, David Vance to
William Vance, Williams Wells to *James
Clark, Bezaleel Wells
to William Sharon, same to Henry
McGarrah, to William At-
kinson, to Zenas Kimberly, to the
Justices of the Court of Com-
mon Pleas (site for Court House), to
William Smith, Hans Wil-
son, James Bryan, Valentine Ault, Thomas
Tipton, Abraham
Lash, James Wood, James Bailey,
Zephaniah Beal, jr., Robert
Meeks, Alexander McClean, James
Eagleson, *George Atkin-
son, Jacob Moore, David Williams, Allen
Stewart, William In-
gle, John Roland, Samuel Meeks, Jacob
Repshire, James Mc-
Gowan, Samuel Hunter, Thomas Atchison,
John McNight,
William Clark, Abel Johnson, William
Johnson, Archibald Al-
lison.
1799. Laben Bronson to Stephen Miller,
same to Josiah
240 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Dillon, to George
Cookes, to Robert and Caleb Russell, John
Perry, Zephaniah
Beall, jr., to Peter Pugh, *John Carpenter to
John Humphrey, Robert
Caldwell to James McMillen, same to
Samuel Osborn, same to
Josiah Reeves, to John Jackson, George
Cookes to Joshua
Hatcher, same to Elijah Martin, Joseph Dor-
sey to Jonathan
Nottingham, George Edginton to William En-
gle, Thomas Edginton
to Daniel Arnold, same to Moses Coe,
to Joseph Gladden, to
William Hill, John Rowland to William
Hill, Zenas Kimberly
to Peter Kellar, same to Richard Ball, to
Stephen Miller, Evan
Philip, Joshua Hatchet, John McIntire to
Samuel Adams, Richard
Newsam to William Speer, James
Pritchard to William
Sloan, James Ross to James Lockard,
Jacob Repshire to
Richard Newsam, Jane Ross to Bezaleel
Wells, Robert Troup to
Daniel McElherrah, same to William
Griffith, to William
Smith, to John Simmonson, Bezaleel Wells
to John Ward, Peter
Snider, Rezin Beall, Archibald Woods to
Ebenezer Zane, B.
Wells to John Milligan, same to Samuel
Hunter, William Wells
to James Clark, Bezaleel Wells to House
Bentley, to Jacob
Repshire, to Henry Maxwell, John Meddigh
to Thomas Haselet,
James Hervey, James Shane.
1800. Ezekiel Boggs to
Alexander Boggs, Col. Thomas
Butler to Amos Wilson,
Isaac Craig to Thomas Fawcett, James
Cosenhover to James
Ross, Francis Douglas (sheriff) to Zenas
Kimberly (the first
sheriff's deed), Joseph Dorsey to Hugh
McConnaghey, Thomas
Edginton to George Alban, same to
Daniel Viers, Jesse
Fulton to Nicholas Teale; Robert Johnston
to Francis Douglas,
same to John D. Mercier, same to John
Miligan, Zenas
Kimberly to *John Buchannan, John Med-
dagh to James Brandon,
Stephen Miller to Neal Mahon Daniel
McElherran to Stephen
Kukyendoll, Olcott Nathaniel to John
Johnson, Boyldwin
Parsons to Adam Synder, same to Thomas
Harper, Peter Pugh to
John Robertson, John Skinner to John
Shaffer, same to Henry
Christman, Bezaleel Wells to ob
Miller, same to
William Boggs, to Nicholson Bousman to C -
nigham Sample, to
Abraham Clements, Alexander Young,
* The names marked
with asterisk represent settlers here previons to 1785.
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 241
David and Benjamin Newell (founders of
St. Clairsville), Hans
Wilson, Stephen Ford, Matthew Adams.
1801. House Bently to David Williamson,
John Connell
to John Kerr, John Carpenter to Henry
Brindley, Joseph Dor-
sey to Andrew and Robert Moodie, same to
James Crow,
Thomas Edginton to Goudy's heirs, same
to Richard Jackman,
same to Abraham Barr, Solomon Fisher to
James Heaton, John
Johnson to Richard Johnson, Stephen
Kuykendoll to Thomas
Richards, Zenas Kimberly to William
McMunn, Peter Kinshale
to William Shields, Elijah Martin to
Joseph Arwin, Daniel Mc-
Elherran to Arthur Elbert, Joshua
Mersereau to Samuel Salo-
man, David Newell to Samuel Hatcher,
same to William Smyth,
to Knox & Wilson, Samuel Osburn to
John Armstrong, John
Potts to Robert Johnston, William
Sharran to House Bently,
Joseph Townsend to Horton Howard, Nathan
Updegraff to the
same, Bezaleel Wells to Andrew McMechan,
to James Wood,
David Hoge, Thomas Vincent.
1802. Rezin Beall to Martin Snider,
James Brandon to
Margaret Cuppy, Thomas Beck to Robert
McCleary, William
Clark to Rezin Beall, Stephen Carton to
Joseph Pumphrey,
Joseph Dorsey to Jasper Murdock, William
Engle to Andrew
Betz, to John Edginton, to Mason
Metcalf, to Joseph Lewis,
David Edwards to James Reed, John
Edgington to William
Ingle to William Abrams, Levi Joans to
John Dunkin, Robert
Johnston to William Whitcraft, Abel
Johnson to Barnard Wint-
ringer, Adam Kendig to John Graff, Zenas
Kimberly to John
Humphreys, Joseph Lewis to John
Galbraith, Daniel McElher-
ran to Henry Watt, Robert Meeks to John
Williams, Christian
Smith to Boggs and Beatty, William
Sharron to John Moore,
Jonathan Taylor to Joseph Potts, Nathan
Harper and others,
Daniel Turner to Daniel McElherran, John
Ward to Obadiah
Jennings, Bezaleel Wells to Valentine
Smith, Jonathan Taylor
to *William Wallace, Benjamin Doyle,
Francis Mitchell, Alex-
ander Young to John Smuns.
1803. Matthew Adams to Patrick McCraig,
Archibald Al-
lison to Samuel McCollom, Thomas Bendure
to William Ben-
dure, John Bever to Sampel Dorrans,
Daniel Collins to Thomas
Vol. VIII-16
242 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Gray, Isaas Craig to Constance Murdock,
Richard Cook to
John Wilkison, Joseph Dorsey to John
McElroy, Thomas Edg-
ington to Peter Coe, to Samuel Edwards,
John Fergison to
Andrew Dickey, John Galbraith to David
Hull, Thomas Hortel
to Joseph Wallace, George Humphreys to
William Brownlee,
George Heip to Dennis Cassat, John
Johnson to Andrew Fer-
rier, James Lucas to John McGuire,
Thomas Leiper to Michael
Castner, to Daniel Tradway, same to
Moses Ross, Thomas Kells
to Ferrier, Thomas McNary to William
Kinney, Joshua Mer-
seveau to Abraham Riddle, Thomas McNary
to James Sinkey,
John McGuire to Barnhard Wintringer,
Daniel McElherran to
William Brown, same to William
Gillispie, Boyldwin Parsons to
Benjamin Miller, Nathaniel Randolph to
John Shimphin, John
Stotts to James Vanater, John Frayer to
Joseph Updegraff,
Bezaleel Wells to Abraham Crozier, to
George Mahon, James
Lucas, Alexander Snodgrass, Robert
Abrams, Reuben Bailey,
Augustine Bickerstaff, Abraham Risher,
John Wilkinson to
Benjamin Rutherford, Bezaleel Wells to
Martin Andrews, John
Galbraith, Charles King, William Welch
to Thomas Wells.
1804. Col. Thomas Butler to Amos Wilson,
John Broome
to Jacob McKinney, Robert Lee, Robert
Carithers to Jesse
Thomas, same to John Thomas, Peter Coe
to James McElroy,
Benjamin Doyle to Robert Brownfield,
jr., Francis Douglas,
Sheriff, to Titmothy Spencer, Thomas
Edington to Alexander
Thompson, John Forshey to Benjamin
Montgomery, James
Farquhar (record of his name and
progenitors), David Hull to
John Williams, Howard Horton to Nathan
Harper, Aaron
Hoagland to Samuel Conaway, Richard and
Armstrong Jack-
man to William, Richard, Thomas and Adam
Jackman, Robert
Johnson to George Humphrey, Zenas
Kimberly to John Horl-
seng, Daniel McElherran to Thomas Halea,
Joseph Pumphrey
to George Backhurst (for the use of
meeting house), same to
Elias Pegg, Elias Pegg (covenant with
Joseph Melholim), same
to Silas Pumphrey, Jane Patterson
(administrator) to Michael
Harmon, James Reed to Abraham Cozier,
Benjamin Ruther-
ford to Thomas Wilson, Samuel Tipton and
Mary McGuire
(contract), Bezaleel Wells to Archibald
Richmond, Robert Mc-
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 243
Cleary, Robert Boden, Alexander
Snodgrass, John Brooks, John
Robertson, Jacob Cable, Jacob Cox, David
Powell, William Por-
ter, Mary McGuire, Joseph Hobson, Amos
Wilson to William
Jackman, sr.
1805. John Adams to Morgan Vanmeter,
same to Robert
and Andrew Moodie, to James Reeves, to
Absalom Elliott, to
Jonathan Nottingham, Samuel Adams to
William McAdams,
Reasin Beall to Benjamin Hough, John
Bever to John Hales,
Benjamin Biggs to Peter Hone, Blair
& Ross to Robert Carroll,
House Bentley to Andrew Bell, Zaccheus
Biggs to Joseph Steer,
George Bahver to Alexander Cassle,
Benjamin Biggs to Jacob
Zoll, George Brokaw to Nathan Updegraff,
Robert Caruthers
to Abigail Stanton, same to William
Cash, to Joseph Gill, to
Isaac Clendinen, Joshua Kirk, Robert
Dunbar (indenture to
Frances Mitchell), William Engle to John
Hunter, Thomas
Edington to Samuel Thompson, Andrew
Ferrier to Caldwell &
Coulter, Michael Teall to Gideon
Forsyth, Morgan Vanmeter to
William Knotts, William Welsh to Philip
Delany, William Wal-
lace to John Hinkston, Bezaleel Wells to
Charles King, to
John Phillips, George Williams to James
Heaton, Samuel
Salters, Thomas Dadey, Pheneas Ash,
Peter Ash, Eli Way,
Thomas Haslette, Andrew Anderson, John
McDowell, John
Young to Thomas Donaldson, Thomas Healea
to Stephen
Ayers.
1806. John Adams to George Adams, Jacob
Arnold
to Joseph McConnell, Zaccheus Biggs to
John Perry, Peter
Beam to Valentine Sailor, same to Yost
Leonard, same to
Andrew McNeely, same to Moses Chaplaine,
same to Ben-
jamin Stanton, Robert Carrel to Reton
Wilson, John Crague
to John Hedges, John Craig to *Jessie
Edington, same
to Frances Bell, to William Hany, John
Couzins to John White,
John Dorsey to *Robert Hill, John
Edginton to Samuel Ar-
buckle, same to Isaac Jenkinson, Michael
Haman to John Rine-
hart, James Harrah to William McFerren,
Thomas Healey to
George Taylor, same to Thomas Kells,
William Hervy to Jacob
Swinehart, Samuel Hurford to Jacob Beam,
same to Odadiah
Jennings, Isaac Helmick to Thomas Deady,
Peter Keller
244
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
to Arthur Gillis, Joseph Lewis to Joseph
Foulke, Alexander
McCleary to James Sinkey, Alexander
McClean to William Mc-
Clean, George Pfouts to George Heliwick,
same to Jacob Leva-
good, to Simeon Pfouts, David Pfauts to
John Bower, David
Robertson to Joseph McKee, Nathan
Shepherd to Charles
Barkhurst, to Joshua Barkhurst, Jesse
Thomas to Enoch Harris,
Bezaleel Wells to William Ross, John
Boyl, Brice Viers, Isaac
Jenkinson.
Since much of the first seven ranges
first offered for sale
in New York in 1787 and purchased by
persons who did not be-
come settlers, very few of the first
deeds were recorded in Steu-
benville, such action being unnecssary.
This note is made for
benefit of descendants of first land
owners who make inquiry at
the Recorder's office and are
disappointed in not finding the
names for which they seek. The
accompanying list of first
purchasers of lands includes 1806, a
portion of the latter year
having been taken from Book B. The date
of record is not
necessarily the date of purchase;
property may have been bought
in 1787 and not recorded until years
after. Even to-day an oc-
casional deed from the United States to
Pathfinders is sent in
for record. Many tracts purchased from
the Government by
settlers have not been recorded, yet
division of this property is
on record.
1806. Book B. John Thomas to Joseph
Gill, Robert Car-
ithers and Jesse Thomas to Joseph Gill,
John Thomas to Curlis
Grubb, Zenas Kimberly to Samuel Peck,
Samuel Peck to Henry
Stewart, John Hoopes to Moses
Mendenhall, Aaron Brown to
John Shepherd, Moses Chaplaine to Joseph
McKee, John Ekey
to Ephraim Lacey, David Robertson to
John Fritch, John
Fritch to Moses Neal, Absalom Elliott to
Benjamin Parsons,
Jesse Edginton to William McCaulley,
John Black to John Hun-
ter, John Black to Zaccheus Biggs,
Richard Jackman to Thomas
Edginton, Aaron Brown to Abigail
Stanton, Jesse Thomas to
Abigail Stanton, John Thomas to John
Stewart, Thomas Ed-
ginton to John Rider, John Fuller to
John Nicholson, Bezaleel
Wells in trust to William Downard for
heirs of Peter Snider,
same to Henry Silver Thorn, Robert
McCleary to Andrew
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 245
Bell, Cadwalader Evans to Jonathan
Grave, same to Enos
Grave, Benjamin Stanton to John and
Joseph Longstreth, Hugh
Tease to James Taggart, Horton Howard to
Jacob Jones, Jesse
Thomas to Daniel Michner, John and David
McCrory to Thomas
Edginton, Daniel Swearingen to John
Stonebraker, Zenas Kim-
berly to Robert Blair, John Fuller to
Samuel Anderson, Peter
Keller to Nicholas Teal, Zaccheus Biggs
to John Pritchard,
same to Jacob Brown, Samuel Coopse to
Ellis Willits,
Abraham Crazier to Benjamin Hough, Tunis
& Annesley to
Jenkinson & Ritchie, Samuel Boyd to
John Pritchard, United
States to Samuel Boyd, Cadwalader Evans
to John Martin,
Alexander Crawford to Ephraim Kelly, Zaccheus Biggs to
Robert Johnson, United States to George
Leporth, United
States to John Hanna, Matthias Stull to
Christopher Sharer,
Zaccheus Biggs to Samuel Boyd, to Martin
Snyder, David
Beatty to John Milligan (executor), to
David Milligan, Bezaleel
Wells to Benjamin Farmer, John Kay, John
Gibson, Thomas
Mansfield to Matthew Coulter, Benjamin
Hough to Robert Car-
rel, Daniel Dunlevy to George McConnell,
Isaac Helmick to
Hiram Swain, George McConnell to
Nicholas Davis, to James
Cook, to Robert McCrackin, Robert H.
Johnson to James
Cloyd, John Simpson to Margaret Brisbon,
Jesse Thomas to I.
and 0. Olston, Thomas Vickers (letter of
attorney to Jonathan
Taylor), John Stapler to Jonathan
Taylor, Zaccheus Biggs to
John Pugh, John Connell to James
Dunlevy, Horton Howard
to Jonathan Taylor, Robert Carithers to
William Guthery, Isaac
Helmic to Daniel Black, Abel Walker to
John Young, John
Young to Robert Cummins, Henry Moisser
to Adam Moisser,
United States to William Waggoner, John
McConnell to John
Long, James Dunlevy (sheriff) to John
Ward, Reuben Pearson
to Joshua Swim, Jesse Edginton to James
Kerr, William Baker
to John Lloyd and Robert Miller, Robert
Carithers to Benja-
min Scott, Matthew Adams to John C.
Bayless, Zaccheus Biggs
to Joseph Harris, David Hoge to John
Galbraith, William Mc-
Pherrin to James Gilcreast, Abraham
Cazier to Jonathan Goss,
House Bentley to Brice, Viers.
246 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
PATHFINDERS AS ROADBUILDERS.
The Pathfinders were roadbuilders. The
paths they found
were Indian trails, which they soon
learned to follow with
the adroitness of the Indian himself.
The first roads were
mere bridle paths leading from
habitation to habitation. In
1801 a road was laid out from Pultney
Village (just below the
site of Bellaire, founded by Daniel
McElherran, a land specula-
tor), to Newels Town (St. Clairsville)
and one from the site of
Martin's Ferry to intersect a road from
Peter Henderson's to
Tilton's Ferry (Tiltonville). This road
was continued in 1804
to the mouth of Yellow Creek, and
afterward to the Pennsyl-
vania line. Previous to this, however, a
road leading westward
from "opposite Charles Town,"
known in after years as the
Wellsburg Road, was constructed, and
many of the roads for
the construction of which the County
Commissioners were pe-
titioned, were to intersect these two
early thoroughfares.
Zane's Trail was for many years the only
thoroughfare east
or west. This trail was so constantly
used that at times and
places it was worn into ruts so deep
that a horse could have
been buried in any one of them. However,
Ebenezer Zane was
employed by the Government to make a
wagon-road from op-
posite Wheeling to Chillicothe, for
which work he received in
compensation three sections of land; on
one section he founded
Zanesville, on another New Lancaster,
and the third was in the
Scioto Valley, opposite Chillicothe.
Before the road was ac-
cepted Zane was required to drive a
wagon over it, a most dif-
ficult task.
The petitions following are given
largely because they con-
tain names of Pathfinders prominent in
affairs of the county.
Efforts to identfy the roads mentioned
in detail proved futile.
The first mention of roads in the
journal of the County
Commissioners was on August 14, 1802, when it was
ordered by
the Commissioners that "the road
tax be uniformally half the
county tax, throughout the county."
The United States Gov-
ernment donated three per cent. of
receipts of land sales for
road purposes, and consequently efforts
were made for road-
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 247
building in all directions. Reading road
petitions was the main
action of the Commissioners, and the
roads petitioned for were
invariably surveyed and approved but all
were not constructed.
The second record of road matters in
Book A, Commis-
sioner's Journal, was made Friday, June
15, 1804, John Ward,
Clerk: "Ordered that William Wells
[appointed Justice by
Governor St. Clair in 1798] receive out
of the County Treasury
$9 in full for services of viewers and
surveyors in laying out
a road from the mouth of Yellow Creek to
the western boundary
of Pennsylvania."
On November 3, 1804, a petition was
presented for a road
from the southeast corner of Jonathan
West's field, past school
house near James Pritchard's to
intersect state road at 12-mile
tree. James Latimer, John Robertson and
William Stoaks,
viewers; John Gillis, jr.,
surveyor. This road was through
Knox Township.
Same date. Beginning at Ohio River,
opposite King's
Creek, at Isaac White's Ferry; across
Town Fork of Yellow
Creek, near where James Shane is
building a mill; to intersect
state road from Stillwater to the
northeast corner of the seven
ranges, at Springfield. John Andrews,
William Campbell and
Michael Myers were appointed viewers and
John Billis sur-
veyor.
Same date. Beginning at extension of
Clay Lick Road, on
dividing ridge in the 26th Sec., 11th
Township, 4th Range;
crossing Alder Lick Fork and Dividing
Fork of Kennotten-
head; to intersect the great road
leading from George Town,
on the Ohio; to the Moravian Town on the
Muskingum. John
Sunderland, John Gillis, sr., and John
Myers, viewers; John
Gillis, jr., surveyor.
Same date. Beginning on the Ohio at the
mouth of Jere-
mias Run; to intersect road from
Steubenville to mouth of Yel-
low Creek [state road built along the
river in 1804] at 12-mile
tree; to cross Town Fork of Yellow Creek
at James Fitzpat-
rick's; to James McCammis'; to intersect
state road at Spring-
field. Jacob Nessley, William Sloane and
Amos Wilson, view--
ers, and John Gillis, surveyor.
248 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Same date. Petition for alteration of
road down Cross
Creek; past Moodie's mill; to intersect
road from Steubenville
to mouth of Short Creek. John Carr, John
Andrews and John
Miller, viewers; Benjamin Hough,
surveyor.
Same date. John Taggart complained of a
road having
been laid out by Robert Carothers (Road
Commissioner) from
mouth of Short Creek to Duncan
Morrison's. Robert Moodie,
John Carr, John Adams, George Carpenter,
Thomas Harper,
viewers.
November 4, 1804. Draft of road,
beginning on new part
of ridge road south of Short Creek, past
mills on Long Run;
to the three forks of Short Creek;
ordered made. Abner Wells,
Charles Moore and Jacob Holmes, viewers;
Benjamin Stanton,
surveyor.
Same date. Beginning at 15th-mile tree,
on road leading
from Steubenville to Henderson's; to
17-mile tree on road from
[opposite] Charles Town to Henderson's.
John Crague, James
Arnold, viewers; William Holson,
surveyor.
November 8, 1804. Survey of road from
mouth of Salt
Run; to intersect road opposite Charles
Town [Wellsburg] to
Cadiz. Ordered opened. Ebenezer Sprague,
Christopher Van-
odoll, John Jackson, viewers; John
McElroy, surveyor.
June session, 1805. Beginning at Baldwin Parson's mill
on Short Creek; to Smithfield; to
intersect Charles Town
[Wellsburg] road near Archibald
Armstrong's. Nathan Shep-
herd, Malachia Jolly, John Stoneman,
viewers; William Den-
ning, surveyor.
Beginning at Joseph Steer's mill on
Short Creek; to mouth
of Piney Fork; along ridge between Piney
Fork and Dry Fork
to Nathaniel Kellim's; to intersect
Charles Town road between
the 13th and 14-mile trees. Charles
Cuppy, John McMillen,
sr., William Gillespie, viewers; William
Holson, surveyor.
Beginning upper end first narrows of
Cross Creek, below
Joseph Tominson's; down the creek with
cart road; thence to
"where old man Riddle formerly
lived, to old Mr. Smith's;"
to intersect road from Steubenville,
near Smith's lime kiln,
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 249
above Bezaleel Wells' saw mill. Jacob
Welday, William For-
cythe, Samuel Hunter, viewers, Isaac
Jenkinson, surveyor.
Beginning at south boundary line of
county; thence to
Jacob Ong's mill on Cross Creek to
14-mile tree on state road
to New Lisbon. William Carr, Mason
Metcalf, John Kimber-
lin, viewers; John Gillis, surveyor.
Beginnig on road leading from [opposite]
Charles Town,
to Henderson's; between 17 and 18-mile
tree to Mr. Cutshall's
mill on Cross Creek. Samuel Dunlap, John Crague, John
Wiley, viewers; William Holson,
surveyor.
September, 1806. Beginning at Cadiz;
thence past Thomas
Dickerson's smith shop, past school
house on Joseph Holmes'
land; thence to John Colbert's, to
intersect the Short Creek
Road; thence toward Newels Town until it
strikes the county
line. Joseph Huff, Samuel Huff,
Josephine Holmes, viewers.
Beginning at mouth of Big Yellow Creek:
thence to James
Andrew's mill, to James Glenn's, to
intersect road from oppo-
site King's Creek, on the Ohio, to
Springfield. Philip Salts-
man, John Wells, Aaron Allen, viewers.
Beginning at road from Charles Town to
Cadiz between
the 20th and 21st-mile trees, to Baldwin
Parson's mills on Short
Creek. George Moore, John Craig and Levi
Muncy, viewers.
Benjamin Scott presented a petition to
change part of road
from Belmont County line through his
lands. Jonathan Lup-
ton, Nathan Lupton, Joseph Steer,
viewers, and Joseph Steer,
surveyor.
Thomas Parviance complained of damage
sustained by alter-
ation on road from Charles Town to
Cadiz. Joseph Porter,
John Baird, Daniel Dunlevy, John Ekey
and James Forcythe,
reviewers. Robert Christie made like
complaint, and Elias
Pegg, Joseph Mahollen, Thomas Fleming
and William Sharron
were appointed viewers. Samuel Cope also
complained and
James G. Harra, Samuel McNary, John
Kenney, Jesse Edgin-
ton and William Harvey were appointed
reviewers.
December, 1806. Beginning at the town of
New Salem,
past the farm of John Ax; thence past
farm of George Pfautz,
past farms David Custard, Daniel Bair;
thence down Knotten-
250 Ohio Arch. and
His. Society Publications.
head, past sugar camp to mouth of Alder
Lick Fork, to inter-
sect the Charles Town Road. John Myser,
Jacob Whitmore,
John Wiley, viewers.
Beginning at James Forcythe's mill on
McIntire's Fork of
Cross Creek, past John Iam's; thence on
the old path which
leads from the Charles Town Road to the
Steubenville Road
which passes Bezaleel Wells' saw mill.
Samuel McKinney,
Joseph Porter, Daniel Dunlevy, viewers.
Beginning at the town of Cadiz, to James
Finney's, to
Gutshall's mill. Jesse Edginton, William Marshall, Thomas
Ford, viewers; William Denning,
surveyor.
Beginning southeast corner Jonathan
West's field; to 12-
mile tree on state road. Favorably
reported. William Stoaks,
James Latimer, viewers.
At this session John Tagart was awarded
damages sus-
tained in construction of that part of
state road laid out by
Robert Carothers from mouth of Short
Creek to Duncan Mor-
rison's.
Nov. 4, 1805. Beginning at Forcythe mill
on Cross Creek;
to Joseph Tomlinson's; thence to left of
old Mr. Riddle's; to
intersect Steubenville Road on Bezaleel
Wells' Mill Run, at the
foot of the hill. Samuel Hunter, Joseph
Porter, John Ekey,
viewers; David McClure, surveyor.
Beginning at the Short Creek Road where
Carpenter's old
trail leaves it; thence along dividing
ridge between Short Creek
and Wheeling Creek; to John McConnell's
horse mill; thence
along ridge between Brushy Fork and
Bogg's Fork of Still-
water; intersecting Steubenville
Road. Joseph Huff, Samuel
Huff, John McConnell, viewers; William
Holson, surveyor.
Beginning at 17-mile tree on Charles
Town Road; thence
to Baldwin Parson's mills on Short
Creek. Samuel Dunlap,
John Wiley, John Crague, viewers;
William Holson, surveyor.
Beginning at the mouth of Piney Fork of
Short Creek;
thence along side of creek to Arnold's
Town. Joshua Meeks,
Jacob Holmes, William Gillespie,
viewers.
Beginning on the Charles Town Road,
"near McAdams
and west of him;" thence to Eli
Kelly's; to Thomas Cantwell's
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 251
old cabin; under the hill on the west
side; to cross the creek
above Israel England's sugar camp;
thence up Cross Creek to
Forcythe's mill; thence up the dug hill
west of John Akey's; to
intersect Steubenville Road, on the
ridge near Matthew Huff-
stater's field; also a branch from the
mouth of Dry Fork of
Cross Creek, to intersect said road at
John Akey's. Daniel
Dunlevy, Joseph Porter, Christopher
Lantz, viewers; Daniel
McClure, surveyor.
Beginning at the plantation of Jacob
Sheplar, on road from
Steubenville to Cadiz; thence to
plantation of John Bake, on
dividing ridge between Stillwater and
Knottenhead; thence to
the range line. John Lyons, David
Ensloe, Samuel Holmes,
viewers; William Holson, surveyor.
David Robinson, Nathan Shephard, George
Humphrey,
Abraham Cuppy and Elias Pegg were
appointed to investigate
grievance of John McCullock by reason of
road from the house
of William Sharron to Joseph Steer's
mill.
James Bailey, George Alban, Thomas
Nicholson, Richard
Johnston and Thomas Hitchcock were
appointed to view a re-
monstrance against road from Bezaleel
Wells' saw mill to Cross
Creek.
June, 1806. Review of part of road from
William Shar-
ron's, past Steer's mill; intersecting
road from Warren Town
to Morrison's tavern; to-wit, from Rush
Run Road to Jeremiah
Ellis' line; ordered. Joshua McKee,
Nathan Updegraff, James
Carr, viewers, John McElroy, surveyor.
Beginning at 16-mile tree on road from
Charles Town to
Henderson's; thence to Martin Synder's
on road from Steuben-
ville to Cadiz. John Croskey, jr.,
Samuel Holmes, Daniel
Welsh, viewers; William Holson,
surveyor.
Petition for road from Short Creek Road
near mouth of
Long Run; thence up run by Abner Wells'
mills and intersect
Chillicothe Road near house of John
Wells. Jonathan Wilson,
Israel Jenkins, John McConnell, viewers.
Beginning at state road near Massam
Metcalf's; thence so
as to pass between farm of Abraham Bear
and farm lately oc-
cupied by John Brisben, dec., until it
intersects road laid out
252 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
from Isaac White's Ferry on the Ohio, to
Springfiel, at Thomas
McCamis'. Thomas McCamis, Arthur
Latimer, Massam Met-
calf, viewers; Daniel McClure, surveyor.
Beginning at mouth of Long Lick Run,
through lands of
Robert Hill and others, to intersect
road down McMahan's Run
to Steubenville, above Bezaleel Wells'
saw mill. John Miller,
John Adams, John Ekey, viewers; Daniel
McClure, surveyor.
Beginning at Baldwin Parson's mills on
Short Creek, past
Alexander Cassil's fulling and saw
mills; thence past Bradway
Thompson's and Samuel Hanna's; to
intersect road from Cadiz
to Newels Town [St. Clairsville]. Andrew
Richey, Samuel
Dunlap, John Wells, viewers; James
McMillan, surveyor.
William Storer, Malachia Jolly and John
McLaughlin were
appointed to review part of road from
Charles Town to Cadiz.
Beginning at Cadiz; down Standingstone
Fork of Still-
water; to intersect road from George
Town to Middle Mora-
vian Town. Abraham Leeport, Michael
Worley, Joseph Huff,
viewers; Isaac Jenkinson, surveyor.
Beginning at the mouth of Wills Creek;
up the creek by
Michael Castner's saw mill; to intersect
road from Steuben-
ville; by Uriah Johnson's saw mill at or
near Samuel Thomp-
son's. Andrew Anderson, James Dunlevy,
Brice Viers, viewers;
Isaac Jenkinson, surveyor.
Beginning at s. w. corner George
Richey's field on state
road; through Elliot's lane to
Christopher Lance's; to intersect
road leading from Bezaleel Wells' saw
mill; over Cross Creek
at Thomas Armstrong's. George Day,
Thomas Nicholson,
Jesse Wintringer, viewers; Isaac
Jenkinson, surveyor.
Beginning at Cadiz; thence to John
McConnell's horse mill;
thence to county line; to intersect road
from St. Clairsville.
John McConnell, Davis Drake, James
Crague, James McMillen,
viewers.
Beginning at mouth of State Lick Run;
thence up the hill
"where Joseph Cook has already dug
a road;" thence to the
middle fence in John Phillips' plantation;
thence along state
road to ridge leading to George Mahon's
horse mill; to intersect
a new road from Steubenville, past
Wells' saw mill on Cross
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 253
Creek.
David Powell, Daniel Treadway, Thomas Wintringer,
viewers.
Beginning at the mouth of Rush Run; up
the run to Joseph
Pumphrey's saw mill; to finally
intersect Warren Town [War-
renton] Road, near "little Isaac
Lemasters';" also, another road
to begin near Thomas Brown's, and to
intersect road from
mouth of Rush Run to Steer's mill, near
Elias Pegg's. George
Carpenter, Joseph Boskhimer, David
Purviance, viewers; Wil-
liam Noughton, surveyor.
Beginning at road from Warren Town to
Smithfield at or
near house of William Sharran; to Joseph
Steer's mill; to inter-
sect the road leading from Warren Town
to Morrison's, on the
Chillicothe Road. Nathan Updegraff,
James Carr, Joseph Mc-
Kee, viewers, John McElroy, surveyor.
Beginning at the Charles Town Road, at
Leeport's old
place; thence up Macintire's Fork of
Cross Creek; thence to
James Roberts' saw mill; thence to
intersect road leading from
Warren Town to Duncan Morrison's, near
John Fuller's. John
Craige, George Moore, John McFadden,
viewers.
Beginning at road from Tilton's Ferry to
St. Clairsville,
at corner James West's field; to
intersect road up Little Fork of
Short Creek, near Henry West's mill;
thence to continue along
said road to fording below the meeting
house; to intersect road
from Steer's mills to Wheeling. Thomas
McCune, Joseph Til-
ton, Adam Dunlap, viewers, and John
McElroy, surveyor.
James Bailey, William Bailey, William
Campbell, James
Pritchard were appointed viewers to
investigate complaint of
Henry Hannah as to road laid out to
intersect the road from
opposite King's Creek to Springfield.
The same viewers were
appointed on the same complaint of John
P. McMillen.
March, 1807. Beginning at a school house
near the Widow
Wycoff's, on road laid out from mouth of
Island Creek to said
school house; thence along the line
between Daniel Arnold's
and Martin Swickart's lands, to where
said road strikes John
Rider's corner; to intersect the Quaker
Road; thence to the
mouth of John Rider's lane; thence to
hill descending to Shane's
mill on the Town Fork of Yellow Creek.
George Friend, Wil-
254 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
liam Friend, William Campbell, Arthur
Latimer, viewers, and
John Milligan surveyor.
Beginning at mouth of Right-hand Fork of
Short Creek;
up said fork to intersect road from
Arnold's Town to Baldwin
Parson's mills. John Craig, George
Moore, James G. Harra,
viewers.
June, 1807. Beginning at the place where
the road from
Baldwin Parson's mill intersects road
from Charles Town to
Cadiz, about two and one-half miles from
Cadiz; thence past
the plantation of Morris West on road
from Cadiz to Steuben-
ville; past the plantation of Samuel
Smith; to intersect the road
leading down dividing ridge between
Stillwater Cannotton
[Connotton] at the plantation of Otha
Baker. William Moore,
Samuel Osburn, Henry Hemry, viewers, and
William Holson,
surveyor.
Beginning at Nicholas Cutshall's mill;
thence past the farm
of Christopher Shaffer; past farm of
John Stull; past farm of
Daniel Shawber; to intersect road from
Steubenville to n. w.
corner of the Seventh Range. Solomon
Miller, George Pfautz,
Solomon Fisher, viewers, and John
Milligan, surveyor.
Beginning at the line between Jefferson
and Belmont, on
dividing ridge between Wheeling and
Stillwater, where the road
from St. Clairsville intersects said
line; to Jacob Vanpelt's; to
Benjamin Wardings; thence by near James
Perdue's; thence to
intersect the Steubenville Road. David
Drake, Joseph Covert,
John Chadwallider, viewers.
Beginning at or near the 16-mile tree on
road leading from
Cadiz to Steubenville; thence to David
Parkhill's mills; thence
to New Salem. John Kinney, Jesse
Edginton, Peter Hesser,
viewers.
Beginning at state road from Warren Town
past Mt.
Pleasant, east of fields belonging to
William McKahc; thence
to saw mill of Asa Cadwallader; past
lands of Judge Martin
and Joshua Howard, so as to intersect
road from Warren Town
to Smithfield. Joseph McKee, Joseph
Steer, David Robert-
son, viewers.
Beginning near William Engle's; thence
west along divid-
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 255
ing ridge between main branch and Brushy
Fork of Stillwater
until it comes to the head of a large
run; to Daniel Easley's
mill on Big Stillwater. William Huff,
David Drake, John Mc-
Millan, viewers.
Beginning at Mr. Shepler's on the
Chillicothe Road; thence
to the Clear Fork of Stillwater; down
said fork to Adam Far-
rier's mill; thence to the point where
the George Town Road
crosses it. Samuel Boyd, Abraham
Leeport, John McKonkey,
viewers.
Michael Castner complained of the course
through his
property of road from the landing of
Philip Cable on the Ohio,
to Springfield, and asked permission to
change road at his own
expense. James Moores, jr., Thomas
Frazier, Samuel Thomp-
son, viewers.
William Marshall, John Ekey and Joseph
Tumbleson were
appointed viewers on a change in the
road from the Steuben-
ville Road to James Forcythe's mill;
William Denning, sur-
veyor.
December, 1807. Petition presented for
alteration of road
from Steubenville, past Mr. Wells' saw
mill on Cross Creek;
alteration to be made between
Steubenville and the First and
Second Ranges. Jacob Fickus, David Hull,
Moses Hanlon,
viewers, and Isaac Jenkinson, surveyor.
Petition for alteration of road from
Steubenville to Heze-
kiah Griffith's Ferry opposite Charles
Town; the alteration to
begin at upper end of Mingo Bottom: down
the Ohio River
until it intersects road from Moodey's
Mill to Edgar's Ferry.
Robert Hill, Brice Viers, John Baird,
viewers.
Petition for alteration of road from
Warren Town to Smith-
field; alteration to begin on Peter
Hone's land; down the hill to
the fording next below Thomas Adam's saw
mill. John Kerr,
Joseph Kerr, Joseph Steer, viewers.
Beginning at the Steubenville Road at
intersection of road
from Forcythe's mill; along line between
James Connell and
Andrew Elliott's land; north across
James Connell's plantation
to a hickory on the line between
Connell's and Stephen Brown's
land: to lane to Andrew Richey's; to
corner of Thomas Mans-
256 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
field's field; to mouth of William
Sherrow's lane; to John Cree-
sand's hill; to intersect state road
between 9 and 10-mile trees.
Thomas Patton, William Floyd, Thomas
Latta, viewers.
Thomas Adams asked for alteration of
road crossing Short
Creek at upper end of his mill-dam. John
Kerr, Joseph Steer,
George Humphreys, viewers. This closed
the road business be-
fore the County Commissioners up to
January, 1808.
PATHFINDERS RECEIVING MONEY FOR KILLING
WOLVES AND
PANTHERS.
The Commissioners each year fixed the
price paid for
panther and wolf scalps, and the
Commissioners' journal con-
tains record of orders issued to persons
who had presented evi-
dence of such service to the county. At
first 50 cents was paid
for the scalp of a wolf or panther under
six months of age,
and for above six months of age, $1. The
premium was in-
creased to $1 and $2; and on June 3,
1803, the increase reached
$1.50
and $3.00. The names are given below
simply because
they represent early settlers.
1801.
Order in favor of Sampson King, Esq., in conse-
quence of a certificate for a wolf's
head; signed by James Clark,
Esq., in favor of William Wells.
1802. John Clemments, signed by Lewis Throgmorton,
John Hannah, John Mizer, William
McCalley, Henry Barber,
Christopher Vannoysdol, Joshua Nap,
Frederick Zephernick,
John Galbraith, John Shannon, Enos
Thomas, John Reed,
Joseph Reppy, Robert McCleary, Hans
Wilson, John Edwards,
Michael Miers, William Thorn.
John Hardenbrook, John Hannah.
1803. Andrew Lockhart, John Downs, Allen Leiper, John
Lashly, Joseph Rippey.
1804.
Moses Hoagland, William Roach.
1805. Robert Maxwell, Abraham Dinters,
William Rip-
peth John Ross, William McCleary, George
Layport, John
Castleman, Robert McClish, Richard
Castleman, John Stull,
John Moody.
1806. George Helwick, Peter Thomas,
Francis Dorsey,
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0. 257
Josiah Johnston, William Gray, Henry
Cutshall, S. Salmon,
John Rowland, James Crawford, Robert
Carson.
1807. James Crawford, Isaac Laport, Levi
Quaintance,
M. Willis, Jesse Parmore, Cornelius
Vanosdel, William Deviers,
William Moore, Josiah Johnston, George
Free, James Hoag-
land, William Floyd, John Bates, William
Davis, Nathan Staf-
ford, Isaac White, Philip Harkey.
1808. Robert Hill, Robert Carson, David
Pugh, Thomas
Bruce, George Pfoutz, William Rippey,
Jolly Rutter, Joseph
McGrew, Joseph Johnston, Robert Meeks,
William Stringer,
James Davies, Thomas Bruce, George
Fitzpatrick, Peter John-
ston, James Glass, Benjamin Cable, Caleb
Wheeler, Adam Kim-
mel, Joseph Parmore, William Johnston,
William Melva,
Reuben Pfoutz, Philip Saltsman, John
Miser, George Knee,
George Brown, Benjamin Johnston.
1809. Benjamin Tipton, George Dewalt,
William Smith,
Abraham Walter, Jonathan Seers, Aaron
Hoagland, David
Davis.
1810.
James Blair, Charles Carter, George Johns, Adam
Simmon, Jacob Stringer, Abraham Walter.
OFFICERS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY REGIMENT IN
THE SECOND
WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE.
Staff-Officers.- John Andrew, Lieutenant [Colonel];
Thomas Glenn, Major; James Campbell,
Major; George Dar-
row, Major; Jacob Frederick, Major;
Mordecai Bartley, Adju-
tant; Thomas Campbell, Surgeon; Jacob
Van Horn, Quarter-
master; John B. Dowden, Sergeant Major;
John Patterson,
Quartermaster Sergeant; John McClintock,
Drum Major, John
Niel, Fife Major.
Captain Aaron Allen's Company.-
Lieutenant, John Van-
tillburg; Ensign, William Mills;
Sergeants, James Clare,
Richard Shaw, John Farquar, Thomas
Henderson; Corporals,
Christopher Abel, Hugh Levington, James
Johnson, David
Workman. One hundred and twenty-one men.
Captain Thomas Latta's Company. -
Lieutenant, Hugh
Christy; Ensign, William Pritchard;
Sergeants, George Brown,
Vol. VIII-17
258 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Alexander Patterson, George Ermatinger,
John Haughey, Isaac
Holmes; Corporals, Cornelius Peterson,
William Bety, James
Haley, Matthew Palmer. One hundred and
fifty-nine men.
Captain John Alexander's Company. -
Ensign, David
Jackson; Sergeants, John Lynch, Robert
Blackford, Hugh Mc-
Gee; Corporals, Jeremiah Argo, Charles
A. Lindsey, Thomas
Marshall, William Ross. Seventy-one men.
Captain John Allen Scroggs' Company. -
Lieutenant,
John Ramsey; Ensign, John Caldwell;
Sergeants, William Wil-
kin, William Dunlap, William Holson,
William Robertson,
Samuel Avery, Joseph Haverfield, John
Connoway, John Wal-
lace. Fifty-six men.
Captain James Alexander's Company. -
Lieutenant, Henry
Bayless; Ensign, John Myers; Sergeants,
James Andrews,
Alexander Barr, Martin Saltsman, James
Tolan; Corporals,
David Wilkinson, Amos West, John
Anderson. Sixty men.
Captain Nicholas Murray's
Company.-Lieutenant, Nathan
Wintringer, Ensign, John Carroll; Sergeants,
Philip Fulton,
Joseph Batcheldor, James Carnehan,
George Beatty; Corporals,
James Patton, Samuel Wilson, James
Haskell, George Atkinson.
Forty-four men.
Captain William Faulk's Company. -
Lieutenant, John
Berkdell; Ensign, Jacob Crauss;
Sergeants, John Kester, John
Cannon, John Hughston, John Chancy;
Corporals, Addison
Makinnen, Rudolph Brandaberry, Andrew
Armstrong, James
Henderson. Seventy-three men.
Captain Jacob Gilbert's
Company.-Lieutenant, John Tee-
ton; Ensigns, Abraham Fox, Conrad Myers;
Sergeants, David
Shoemaker, Samuel Outer, Michael Coyin;
Corporals, Michael
Shaffer, Randall Smith, Peter Miller,
John Eaton, John Lepley.
Eighty-three men.
Captain Joseph Holmes' Company. -
Lieutenants, William
Thorn, John Ramsey; Ensign, Garvin
Mitchell; Sergeants,
Francis Popham, James Gilmore, Alexander
Smith, John Mc-
Culley; Corporals, Edward Van Horn, John
Pollock, Thomas
McBride, Joseph Hagerman. Eighty-four
men.
Captain James Downing's Company. -
Lieutenant, Peter
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, 0.
259
Jackson; Ensign, Thomas Smith;
Sergeants, John Forcythe,
John Bosler, Michael McGowen, Samuel
Richards; Corporals,
Abraham Bair, Benjamin Akison, John
Worden, Joseph Bash-
ford. Eighty-one men.
Captain Joseph Zimmermans Company. -
Lieutenant,
James Kerr; Ensign, Conrad Myers;
Sergeants, George Schultz,
George Estep, William Rouch, Christian
Krepts; Corporals,
George Switezer, Ezekiel Moore, John
Lawrence, Samuel Meek.
Fifty men.
Captain David Peck's Company. -
Lieutenant, Joseph
Davis; Ensign, Jacob Sheffer; Sergeants,
John Stoakes, Daniel
Higgins, Dudley Smith, Jesse Barnum; Corporals, John
Vaughn, James Davis, James Miller,
William McKonkey.
Seventy-nine men.
Captain William Stoakes' Company. -
Lieutenant, Thomas
Orr; Ensign, John Caldwell; Sergeants,
John Elrod, John Para-
more, David Kinsey, William Bashford;
Corporals, Benjamin
Dean, Williamson Carothers, Isaac Vail,
John Palmer. Ninety
men.
NOTES.
The pages referred to below are in The
Pathfinders of Jef-
ferson County, Vol. VI., Ohio
Archaeological and Historical
Society publications.
NOTE TO PAGE 96.- Hon. Charles A. Hanna of Philadelphia, who
has (1899) ready for the press a history
of the Scotch-Irish families in
America, has much basis for the
statement that before the Scotch-Irish
came to America they were a composite
race, having in their veins the
mixture of bloods that made possible the
distinctive American blood
of which much has been noted by writers,
-the original British, Irish,
Scotch, Norman, Danish, Saxon,--each
adding points of excellence
to the whole not strongly characteristic
of the others.
NOTE TO PAGE 103. -The statement made here that Pennsylvanians
who had gone to North Carolina inspired
the Mecklenberg Declaration,
has been investigated and found to be
true. It is certain that Patrick
Jack, who carried the Mecklenberg
Declaration to Philadelphia, was
a cousin of John Jack who participated
in the Hannastown Declaration.
Hon. C. A. Hanna made a personal
investigation with the result, that
260 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
the people of Mecklenberg county at that
time were evidently from
Pennsylvania.
NOTE TO PAGE 103.--
Cumberland county [Pa.,] which lies west
of the Susquehanna, may be said to have
formed the frontier, was
then [1763] almost exclusively occupied
by the Irish and their descend-
ants; who, however, were neither of the
Roman faith nor of Celtic
origin, being immigrants from the colony
of Scotch, forming a numer-
ous and thrifty population in the North
of Ireland. They were staunch
and zealous Presbyterians. . . . They
were, nevertheless, hot-headed
and turbulent, often setting law and
authority at defiance.--Parkman.
[They defied the law of the Quaker
proprietors that protected the Indian
in his outrages on the settlers. - Compiler.]
NOTE TO PAGE 111. - What
tribe of Israel can be named in which we
may not find Scotch-Irish? The volume
entitled History of the Ken-
tucky Revival and its Attainment of
Perfection in Shakerism, was writ-
ten by a Scotch-Irish preacher, who
attained note in Keutcky eighty
years ago by his encouraging the
so-called "jerks," until, with several
brother ministers and many parishioners,
he danced over into the Ohio
sect of Quakers, in Ohio being known as
the "Shaker' Asph."- Chan-
cellor McCracken, New York University.
NOTE TO PAGE 117.- In his graphic
description of the conflict on
the Heights of Abraham, Parkman says:
Could the chiefs of the gallant
army have pierced the secrets of the
future, could they have foreseen
that the victory which they burned to
achieve would have robbed Eng-
land of her proudest boast, that the
conquest of Canada would pave the
way for the independence of America,
their swords would have dropped
from their hands and the heroic fire
have gone out from their hearts.
NOTE
TO PAGE 144. -The cause of the killing of the Conestoga
Indians at Conestoga and in the
Lancaster jail by the Paxtang Boys,
members of the Paxtang Presbyterian
church, in 1763, is given in
minute detail by Parkman in
"Pontiac's Conspiracy." Along thinly
settled borders of Pennsylvania,
Maryland and Virginia, 2,000 persons
had been killed or carried off and an
equal number of settlers driven
from their homes, and the Quaker owners
of the province remained
inactive except in taking measures for
the protection of the Indians
as they did in the case of the Conestogas.
Parkman says: "The frontier
people of Pennsylvania, goaded to
desperation by long continued suf-
fering, were divided between rage
against the Indians and resentment
against the Quakers, who had yielded
them cold sympathy and inefficient
aid. The horror and fear, grief and
fury, with which these men looked
upon the mangled remains of friends and
relatives, set law at defiance. . .
They fiercely contended that they were
interposed as a barrier between
the rest of the province and a ferocious
enemy; and that they were
sacrificed to the safety of men who were
indifferent to their miseries,
and lost no opportunity to
extenuate and smooth away the cruelties
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,
0. 261
of their destroyers. They declared that
Quakers would go farther to
befriend a murdering Delaware than to
succor a fellow countryman;
and that they loved red blood better
than white, and a pagan better
than a Presbyterian ... They interpreted
the command that Joshua
should exterminate the heathen as
injunction that the Presbyterians
should exterminate the Indians. ... It
is not easy for those living
in the tranquility of polished life
fully to conceive the depths and force
of that unquenchable, indiscriminate hatred which Indian outrages can
awaken in those who have suffered."
NOTE TO PAGE 147.- When the Friends took a lot of land belonging
to the Delawares, the latter objected and the Friends, rather than have
their tranquility disturbed by shedding
blood themselves, bribed the
Iroquoise to remove the Delawares. The
one division of the Delawares
came to the Tuscarawas valley.
NOTE TO PAGE 168. - Even previous to the
murder of settlers that
ushered in Pontiac's war, Moravian
Indians in the Lehigh valley were
blamed with aiding and abetting the bad
Indians, and murders during
the war revived the former suspicion and
the expediency of destroying
the Moravians was openly debated. Toward
the end of the Summer
of 1763 several murders of settlers were
committed in the neighborhood.
and the Moravian Indians were loudly
accused of taking part in them
and these charges were never fully
refuted. - Parkman.
NOTE TO PAGE 191.- Col. Hamtramck was born in Quebec in 1756,
and died in Detroit in 1803. He was
given the land upon which Mt.
Vernon, Ohio, is located. The original
slab covering his grave had
upon it these words: "Sacred to the
memory of John Francis Ham-
tramck, Colonel of the U. S. Reg't of
Infantry and Commandant of
Detroit and its Dependencies. He
departed this life April 11, 1803,
aged 45 years. True patriotism and a
zealous attachment to national
liberty, joined to a laudable ambition,
led him into military service at
an early period of his life. He was a
soldier even before he was a man;
he was an active participator in all the
dangers, difficulties and honors
of the Revolutionary war, and his
heroism and uniform good conduct
procured for him the personal thanks of
the immortal Washington. The
United States in him have lost a
valuable officer and a good citizen,
and society a useful and pleasant
member; to his family the loss is
incalculable, and his friends will never
forget the memory of Hamtramck.
This humble monument is placed over his
remains by the officers who
had the honor to serve under his command
-a small but grateful tribute
to his merit and worth."
NOTE TO PAGE 205.- Gen. Arthur St. Clair retired to his farm in
Westmoreland county, Pa., after serving
fifteen years as Governor of the
Northwest Territory. He was broken in
health, spirit and fortune,
and although he had advanced thousands
of dollars to his country during
the Revolutionary War, his property was sold by the sheriff to satisfy
262 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
creditors. He died in a log house near
Ligonier, where he kept an
ordinary, August 31, 1818, death
resulting from an accident by which
he was thrown from his wagon. When the
mutterings of the Revolution
began St. Clair became active on the
side of the patriots, and with his
own hand wrote the resolutions at the
noted Hannastown meeting, May
16, 1775. He served through the war and
rose to the rank of Major-
General. He was appointed Governor of
the Northwest Territory by
Congress, October 5, 1787, serving until
1802.
NOTE TO PAGE 264. -Thomas
Shillitoe was born in London, Feb-
ruary, 1754. He was first placed in a
grocery as a clerk; then in a
brandy store, but as he objected to the
liquor traffic he apprenticed
himself to a shoemaker. Although his
parents were members of the
Church of England, he became a Friend,
advancing rapidly, becoming
a noted traveling minister. He kept full
record of events, and from his
journal this narrative is taken.