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JEFFERSON COUNTY, OHIO - 27 CHAPTER II. BY J. H. S. TRAINER AND W. M, TRAINER. SETTLEMENT- THE FIRST WHITE VISITORS - BORDER WARFARE - ACCOUNT OF JAMES MAXWELL - THE WHITE WATER LILY -- GOVERNMENTAL INTERFERENCE WITH SETTLERS WEST OF THE OHIO - LIFE OF JOSEPH ROSS - BRAVE EXPLOIT OF THE TWO JOHNSON BOYS - FIRST BLOCK HOUSE ERECTED BY JOHN CARPENTER-FRONTIER REMINISCENCES - MIKE MYERS - BUSKIRK'S BATTLE - PERILS AND PRIVATIONS OF PIONEERS-INFLUENCE OF WAYNE'S VICTORY ON JEFFERSON COUNTY SETTLEMENT - SURVEY OF FIRST SEVEN RANGES. THOUGH the treaty of Col. Bouquet in 1764 opened up an immense tract of fine land west of the Allegheny mountains to the adventurous residents of Virginia and Maryland, yet the Ohio river formed a line beyond which they did not pass until after the war of the Revolution. Long and ably did the. Indian assert his claim that this the " Warriors' pathway," should form the western boundary of the white man's approach. This claim by the government was admitted always and the purchase by treaty of the land west of the Ohio shows that our forefathers considered it just and right. Yet there were those who were hardy and venturesome enough to attempt this, and in 1779 Gen. Broadhead, who was in command of the American troops at Fort Pitt, wrote to Gen. Washington informing him of the fact that persons had crossed the Ohio and settled. all along from the Muskingum river as far up as Fort McIntosh. From Capt. Clarke's report, who was sent out to warn these settlers and to destroy their buildings, we find that no settlers were found on the land, but that he destroyed some huts. We are very much inclined to believe that very few of the cases at this time were so much attempts at actual settlement as the planting of corn fields and other tilling of some of the rich bottom land by permanent settlers on the eastern banks of the Ohio, whose eyes looked longingly at these rich fields yielding no return. But there was one who even dared to settle west of the Ohio before the Revolution. This was James Maxwell, who left his home in Virginia about 1772 to avoid prosecution for a murder of which he was innocent. He first came to the home of Col. Ebenezer Zane, to whom he was related, and who had settled on Wheeling creek in 1769. Here he did not meet with a very warm welcome and the colonel ordered him to return home to Virginia. Maxwell instead of following the colonel’s orders, ascended the Ohio river and built a 28 - HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY. rude but near the mouth of Rush run. Here he lived like a hermit until the Indians became so thoroughly aroused on account of the massacres immediately preceding Dunmore's war, and he was compelled to seek refuge in one of the block houses at Wheeling. He was met here with joyful news — he had been proven innocent of the charge of murder in Virginia. He then returned to his father's home. In 1780 he again appeared in the Ohio valley bringing with him a young bride. Erecting a larger cabin not far from the site of his old hut, he made a little clearing for the planting of corn and potatoes. Rude and primitive indeed was the life of this couple. By their kindness to the Indians, they dwelt for some years in peace and quiet. To them a child had been born whom they called Sally. For Maxwell and " Wild Rose," the name by which the Indians called his wife, life was now assuming a rosier aspect. But his life was soon to be changed. One day he and his wife left the baby in charge of a young man visiting them, and went to Fort Finncastle near Wheeling. Their intended stay of two days at this place was shortened by the alarming news of Indian outrages along the border, and they hurried home for the purpose of bringing the visitor and baby back to the fort where they could all stay until hostilities would cease, and where Maxwell might be of efficient aid should the Indians attack the fort. Reaching their home, all that greeted their eyes was its burning ruins, the charred remains of their late visitor and traces of fresh blood. Little baby Sally had doubtless been thrown into the flames and her body entirely consumed. Crazed with grief, the mother seized the hunting knife from Maxwell's belt, and with one stroke almost severed her head from her body. Broken-hearted by this double affliction, Maxwell hurried back to Fort Finncastle, and soon a band was gathered together to pursue the perpetrators and to wreak a terrible revenge. But rain had obliterated the tracks of the savages, and the band had to return again without accomplishing their purpose. Full of hatred and revenge, Maxwell then started on a career of death and destruction to the red murderers, that made his name a terror to them all. When Fort Steuben was completed in 1787, Col. Zane recommended Maxwell to Capt. Hamtranck, as a most efficient scout, and for some time he acted in such capacity. Many stories of his prowess and escapes could be related, but we think some we have gathered have grown with years. He was captured once by the Indians, who decided to burn the " Soft Stepper," as they called him, as a more speedy death would not do for one who was such a terror to their race. In some manner Maxwell contrived to loosen the thongs with which he was bound during the night, and leaping upon one of their horses, he escaped and arrived safely at Wheeling. It is related that at another time, he was pursued by a band of six Indians. Like Lewis Wetzel, he had acquired the habit of loading his gun while running at full speed, and three of his pursuers lay dead as the victims of his skill before the rest of the band gave up the pursuit. He was employed as a spy by Gen. Harmar, in 1790, during the Indian JEFFERSON COUNTY, OHIO - 29 troubles of that year. Mad Anthony Wayne also employed him as scout and spy in the Indian war that was terminated by the treaty of Greenville. During this time he learned that his little baby Sally had not been killed when his cabin had been so ruthlessly destroyed, but that she had been carried away captive and adopted by Conestego, grand sachem of the Wyandots, by whom she was called the White Water Lily. He started for the lands of the Wyandots, and in about a year returned with a beautiful girl of about sixteen years of age. Her parting with her dusky friends must have been as sad and heartrending as that of daughter from mother, for she had been treated kindly and lovingly and taught many useful accomplishments by him whom she had always looked upon as her father. She was finally weaned from her inclination for an Indian life, and soon became a belle for miles around. At this time as near as we can learn Maxwell made his home near Wheeling. It is said that two rival lovers fought a duel on her account near the mouth of Short creek. She married neither, however, but became the wife of a trader from Detroit, and left this section of the country. Maxwell, in his.' last years, was a very hard drinker, and one day his body was found floating in the river near his old cabin at Rush run. As no marks of violence were found on his body, it was generally believed that he had committed suicide. Shortly after peace was declared with England, the attention of congress was called to the fact that setlers were again locating west of the Ohio; and fearing serious complications might arise from this fact in the settlement of land claims with the western tribes, congress took immediate action to arrest it. This was along about 1785, and congress was anxious to extinguish all the old Indian titles, previous to the occupation of the lands by the whites. Many of these were along the river front of Jefferson county. The settlers made some show of resistance to these orders of congress, and eventually means were adopted to force the settlers south and east of the Ohio. In the spring of 1785, Ensign Armstrong was sent down the Ohio from Fort McIntosh, with a detachment of soldiers with instructions to remove all settlers on the west side of the Ohio, and to destroy whatever improvements they had placed upon the land. Froth the official report of this trip made by Ensign Armstrong, it is learned that there was a small settlement at Yellow creek, consisting of two families, which he, acting under instructions, dispossessed and destroyed their buildings. Between that point and Mingo Bottoms, he served eight more families in the same way. At Mingo Bottoms he found Joseph Ross, and quite a number of settlers. Ross resisted the ensign's orders, and was arrested and taken to Wheeling. ,Eleven miles below Mingo Bottoms, Armstrong came to what was called Norristown, in honor of the head man of the settlement. Here about forty men in arms were waiting to oppose Armstrong's proceeding further. By the influence of Norris, they finally laid down their arms and agreed to the orders of the government. Ensign Armstrong granted to all who agreed to move over to the Virginia shore 30 - HISTORY. OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY. a certain length of time to do so. In the fall of the same year, Gen. Richard Butler made a trip over the same route. His objective point was the Miami, to assist in the treaty with the Indians at Fort Finney. His instructions also included the duty of warning off settlers from west of the Ohio. From his carefully kept journal we glean the following: " October 1, 1785 — Passed Yellow creek * * * Put up at one Jesse Penniman's, on the north side, five miles below Yellow creek -- Warned him off. Called on one Pry, whom I warned off also. * * * At Mingo towns found a number of people, among whom one Ross seemed to be the principal on the north side. Warned him and the others away. * * * Cross creek, October 2nd, eight miles below Mingo towns. Called at settlement of Chas. Norris. * * * At this place found one Walter Kean. Called at settlement of one Captain Hoglan. * * * Warned these all off. * * *" From these two reports we see that most of the settlers who abandoned their lands on the west banks of the Ohio, did so only temporarily. After the survey made by the government in the following year, many of them returned and secured by purchase from the government, a legal title to the land on which they had originally squatted. It is also probable that the erection of Fort Steuben, in 1786, which was established to prevent Indian depredations, and also to prevent whites from settling on the lands, served as a menace against the squatters, and deterred more from settling before the government had surveyed the territory and was ready to sell. Joseph Ross, mentioned in both Armstrong's and Butler's reports, stood out most strenuously in opposition to the orders of congress. He was born in New York state about the year 173o, and his whole life was spent on the frontier. He was of gigantic mould, standing six feet five inches, and weighing nearly 30o pounds. He was captured when a youth by the Indians and brought with them to one of their villages in Ohio. He was well treated by them, who made him one of their chiefs, especially on account of his great physical strength. Under pretense of going to join the French, at Fort Du Quesne, along about 1755, he left his Indian friends and returned to his home in New York. He then joined the troops under Gen. Putnam, setting out against Fort Edward. He was captured in the attack on this fort and the Indians heaped many cruelties upon him and finally resolved to burn him at the stake. It is said he escaped through the friendly aid of a French officer. He now became an Indian hunter of the type of James Maxwell and others. After the Revolutionary war, in which he served with distinction, he came west and became identified with the Wetzels and others. Possessed of intimate knowledge of Indians and their methods of warfare, he gave much valuable aid and advice to the frontiersmen. His nature could not brook restraint or control, and he was continually at variance with the different post commanders along the frontier. While on a trip to Kentucky,- where he hunted with Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton, he married his third white wife. Returning to Fort Henry, he took a brave and active part in its defense in the attack on it in September of 1782. As soon as the JEFFERSON COUNTY, OHIO - 31 Indians abandoned the siege, he and Lewis Wetzel started on their trail intent on killing any stragglers. It is said that the two became separated, and that Ross seeing four Indians starting to swim across the river, killed two of them with his rifle before they could return to shore, and grappled and killed the other two who got on shore, after a fearful struggle, having no other weapons but his hands. In 1783 year. All the attempts to remove him from his claim were ineffectual, soon set at liberty, and Gen. Butler found him again at Mingo Bottom, when he made his trip down the Ohio in the fall of the same and his bold defiance encouraged others to do the same. Just pre- vious to his departure to join Gen. St. Clair's command in 1791, he the Ohio, mentioned above. Ross was taken to Wheeling, but was Ross left Fort Henry on account of some trouble he had with Col. Zane. He settled with his wife and one child on what is known now as the Wells' farm, on Mingo Bottom. Here Ross and his family lived for two years in the hollow trunk of an immense sycamore tree. to much of the surrounding territory. It is said that for quite a while he collected rent from several settlers who took up their abode. had a personal encounter with Capt. Hamtranck, commandant at Fort Steuben, and it is said, gave the captain a terrible beating. It would have fared badly with him, had he not immediately left this vicinity to engage in combat with his old enemies. The disastrous effects of the St. Clair campaign were felt in the Ohio valley, and it once more became the scene of Indian raid and slaughter until Mad Anthony Wayne dealt a terrible and lasting blow to the defiant horde of red During this time there was born the first white child in Jefferson county. This child was Absalom Ross. Soon after this birth, Ross, with his family, moved into a log cabin newly erected, and laid claim Ensign Armstrong took him prisoner in 1785, while on his trip down men. Wayne appointed Ross a captain of rangers, and he was of great service in bringing about victory. During his absence, Capt. Hamtranck, acting under orders from the government, had ejected his tenants and destroyed his cabin and crops. Ross, on his return, seeing resistance to the government was useless, bought a small tract of land near the site of his old cabin. He became quite a friend of Bazabel Wells and James Ross, the founders of Steubenville. He met his death by a tree falling on him during a storm in 18o6. He was returning home from a visit to Mr. Wells. Up to the day of his death, he was vigorous and active. " He was one of the boldest men that ever lived in this region, where cowards were unknown." After his death, his son, Absalom, moved to Fishing Creek, where he died in 1867. The affair of the two Johnson boys in what is now Jefferson county, forms an interesting and stirring page in the history of its warfare with the Indians. Accounts of this event differ somewhat as to date. A. S. Withers, in his Border Warfare, places it in the year 1793, and he was a very careful and painstaking author in all such matters. Doddridge uses the same date in his account, while later accounts make the date as early as 1788. This last date rests on the claim of 32 - HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY. a statement made by Henry Johnson, the younger of the two boys. The exploit is as follows: The two boys were named John and Henry Johnson, aged about thirteen and eleven respectively. Their father had settled about 1785 about four miles north of Short creek and about two and one-half miles back from the river. While engaged in cracking nuts one day in the woods, they saw two men approaching them. At first they thought they were neighbors. When the strangers approached nearer, they discovered their mistake, but it was too late to fly. The strangers were Indians and they made the boys depart with them. After a circuitous march, as the Indians were looking for horses, they finally halted in a hollow for the night. John, in order to keep the Indians from killing them, had skillfully impressed on their minds that they were ill-treated at home and that he and his brother were very willing and happy to become hunters in the woods. During the evening, before they lay down to sleep, John guardedly told his younger brother that they would kill the Indians in the night time, and by other means managed to allay his fears and to quiet his crying in order that the Indians might not become suspicious and thus thwart the brave design that his young mind was planning. After the Indians had tied the two boys and they themselves had fallen asleep, John, who had kept awake, managed to loosen his hands and soon he and his brother were free. Instead of fleeing, they resolved on the death of their former captors. Henry took his position with cocked gun resting almost against one of the Indian's heads, John with uplifted tomahawks stood over the other. At a given signal, Henry pulled the trigger and John struck with his tomahawk. The Indian who was shot did not move, but the one whom John struck uttered a fearful yell and attempted to rise. The brave lad struck and struck again until he was victor. The boys now hurried away, fearful of other Indians. Coming near Fort Carpenter in the early morning, they saw some men getting ready to go in search of them and heard their mother exclaim, " Poor little fellows, they are killed or taken prisoners." " No mother," cried out John, "we are here again." The story of their killing the Indians was doubted by the men at first, but getting up a party, John conducted them to the spot where the struggle had occurred. The dead body of the Indian whom John had tomahawked was found, but the other Indian had crawled away with the gun. His body was found some time afterwards. Doddridge says that " at the treaty with Wayne, a friend of the Indians who were killed asked what had become of the boys who killed the Indians on Short creek? He was told that they lived at the same place with their parents. The Indian replied: " You have not done right, you should have made kings of those boys." The two Indians killed were of the Delaware tribes, and one of them a chief. The place where these boys performed their brave act, is located in Wells township, and it is said the government donated section 9 in that township to them in honor of their brave deed. The First Block House Erected in Jefferson County.— John Carpenter was one of Washington's servants in 1753, when he made his trip JEFFERSON COUNTY, OHIO - 33 of remonstrance to the French forts. He was a Virginia rifleman in Braddock's war, and was made captain of one of the garrisons along the Virginia border by Washington. While on an expedition with some of his men against a band of marauding Indians, they came upon a burning house which the Indians were just leaving, loaded down with plunder. Rushing upon them, his men after a severe conflict overcame them and killed almost all. Carpenter had rushed into the burning house and found a young woman lying on a bed, with her face covered with blood from a tomahawk wound. This young woman whose husband had been killed, recovered, and became the wife of her deliverer. This couple engaged in trading with the Indians along the Ohio soon after this event. But his history only has a bearing on Jefferson county, as he was the man who erected the first block house within its present boundaries. About 1780, Carpenter and his family came from the eastern side of the Ohio, and settled on the bottom land near where Warrenton now is. The following summer he and his neighbors erected a log house, which was afterward known as Carpenter's fort. This was the first fortification of this kind erected within the boundaries of Jefferson county. Its exact location can not be determined, but it was doubtless near the river bank and north of Short creek. Carpenter took part in Crawford's retreat, and also in St. Clair's expedition in 1791. He was a friend of the Wetzels, Sam Brady, and other pioneer heroes of the upper Ohio, and was of the same stamp of manhood. In 1787, near Croxton's run, just above where Toronto now stands, there was a bloody battle between fourteen hunters, some of them from Fort Steuben, and a band of prowling Shawnees. The hunters had encamped on this run for the night, and the Indians fired upon them in the early morning. Four of the hunters were killed, the rest managed to reach their canoes and escaped to Fort Steuben, and soon a party started to the scene of the conflict. But arriving there, they found only the mutilated bodies of the dead hunters; the Indians had departed carrying their dead and wounded with them. Another frontier reminiscence was the sad fate of the Riley family. Along about 1784, this family consisting of father, mother, three sons and two daughters, located on a piece of land about four miles west of Mingo. One day the father and two boys were massacred while working in the field, by the Indians. The murderers then fell upon the defenseless cabin, pursuing the remaining son until they lost trace of him in the forest. The mother was tied by a grape vine, but while the Indians were after the boy she managed to escape and reach a small block house on Battle run. One of the girls was tomahawked, and the other taken to Detroit and sold to a French trader. Mr. Smiley Johnson, who now owns the land where this occurred, has for long years preserved the graves of four of this unfortunate family. Another character whose history is closely related to Jefferson county. is that of " Auver" Mike Myers. A stoppage in his speech which caused him to begin every sentence with the exclamation "auver," gave him this nickname, by which he was universally known 34 - HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY. along the Ohio valley. While yet a youth he left his home in Virginia and settled at Pigeon Creek, Penn. His associates were such men as the Poes, the Wetzels, Sam Brady and other frontier heroes. He was said to have been one of the strongest men on the western frontier. He took part in most of the stirring events of his day, and a volume could be written of his personal reminiscences. He imitated the red men of the forest very much in their dress. He was present at the battle of Point Pleasant, and on the breaking out of the Revolution refused what was then a princely offer to join with the British against the colonists. During the Revolutionary war he spent his time as a hunter and a warrior. In Crawford's expedition to the Sandusky towns, he acted as a scout, and rendered valuable service. He next appears as a scout located at Fort Henry, and was one of the defenders of it in 1782. While acting as scout in this vicinity, his beat was from the mouth of Yellow creek to Mingo Bottom. One time while on his march, he saw an Indian drinking at what was called Poplar spring, below where Toronto now stands. He raised his rifle and fired, and the Indian fell over dead. The report of his gun brought a band of howling red skins in pursuit. They pursued him as far up the river as Black's island; but he was so fleet of foot that he distanced them, and Capt. Brady, who was waiting for him, conveyed him safely across. Subsequently he made a number of trips down the Ohio to New Orleans on a flat-boat; but on one of these occasions he lost a large sum of money while lying sick in New Orleans, and from that time he confined his trips south to Louisville, Ky. Along about 1795, he located on section 25, township 4, range 1 of the original seven range survey by the government, and built himself a log cabin near the mouth of Croxton s run. Here he ran a grist-mill for a number of years. He died in 1852 at the extreme age of one hundred and seven years, and lies buried in Sugar Grove church yard. Many people are still living whose chief delight in childhood was to gather within hearing of his peculiar speech, and listen to his stories of adventures with the Indians. The last blood shed in battle between the whites and Indians in Jefferson county, was what is known as Buskirk's battle, which took place on Battle run, about a mile or so west of Mingo, on a farm now owned by Mr. John Adams. During the summer of 1793, the Indians had committed a number of outrages along the Ohio valley in what is Jefferson county, and had crossed the river into Virginia. Capt. Lawson Van Buskirk, whose wife had been murdered by the Indians the summer previous on the Virginia side of the river, was mainly instrumental in enlisting a number of brave followers to make an expedition into the territory west of the Ohio and to attempt to teach the marauding Indians a severe and lasting lesson. This band crossed the Ohio near Mingo, and having ascertained information from a scout of the presence of Indians to the west, started in that direction. The whites marched in Indian file with Buskirk in the lead. Unsuspiciously they marched in this style into an Indian ambush, and the first intimation they had of the Indians' presence, was the loud report JEFFERSON COUNTY, OHIO - 35 of their guns. Buskirk fell dead instantly, pierced with the bullets from the rifles of the concealed Indians. The Indians had each fired at the leader, Buskirk, and it is by reason of this circumstance, that the whole party was not massacred. The Indians and whites now treed and the battle lasted for some time. Finally the Indians retreated with the loss of many killed. The number could not be definitely ascertained as they carried the dead away with them. The whites, with the exception of Buskirk, had none killed and but three wounded. Many other stories of border warfare, in what is now Jefferson county, might be given but space will not permit. It can easily be seen that not only the western shore of the upper Ohio, but that the eastern also was the scene of many thrilling Indian adventures after the Revolutionary war, and up to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Not only were the lives of the early settlers in danger from attacks from the wild beasts of the forest, but they were in greater danger from the destroying hand of the red men. On every hand the hardy adventurer met hardships and peril. After selecting a spot in the wilderness where he would locate, the settler had to build his log but and make a little clearing for the planting of corn and pota-. toes. The men and women of that day were of a stamp unknown to the present. They possessed the qualities necessary and essential to redeem the wilderness. The log but or cabin was of the most primitive nature, built out of rough hewn logs, without the use of nails and with no windows. The crevices between the logs was filled up with mortar of a crude kind. The furniture of the interior was in keeping, pegs for hanging clothing on the wall, logs for benches, and three legged stools for chairs. The food consisted mainly of hog and hominy. Corn and potatoes after the clearing had been made were often on the table. The forests supplied the settler with game in abundance, but in the earlier stages of pioneer life these meats had to be eaten fresh, as the scarcity of salt and the high price of the same, rendered it impossible to cure any considerable amount of meat. Johnny cake and pone answered for bread. In fact, plain and simple diet was the order of the day, and to this and their rugged out-door life was mainly due the great strength and longevity that they enjoyed. The agricultural implements of the early settlers were few and of the crudest kind, the hoe, shovel and shovel-plough often comprising the whole list. Clothing in those days consisted of the linsey petticoat and bed- gown for women, and the men to a great degree followed the fashion-plate of the Indian. In the first pages of this chapter we have made mention of some settlements made in Jefferson county, shortly after the Revolution. Strictly speaking there were no legal settlements made in this county until after Wayne's victories in 1793. Whoever had taken up their residence here before that time were " squatters," and we use that term with no meaning of disparagement. The government after 36 - HISTORY OF THE .UPPER OHIO VALLEY. obtaining the northwest territory by cession from some of the old colonial states, had determined on a different mode of settlement from that which obtained and was in force in western Pennsylvania and Virginia. The government had determined on a survey of land in the northwest territory and settlement by purchase. One striking peculiarity of this is the fact that it is the first known case in the history of the world where unexplored (to a certain extent) and unsettled land was to be sold by governmental survey. We have shown where the squatters had been warned off of what afterward consisted the first seven ranges; and this order was obeyed reluctanly it is sure. Those who returned after being warned and immediately after the survey, never acquired their title by preemption but by subsequent purchase. And we think many of the so-called settlements previous to Wayne's campaign, were simply improvements made by settlers from across the river. One of the battle cries of the Indians whom Wayne finally conquered was, " No white shall occupy land west of the Ohio." Research failed to discover any block houses of any size and safety west of the Ohio, previous to the treaty of Greenville, though by former treaties the United States had become possessed of much of the northwest territory, yet in actual fact the Ohio was yet the boundary line of the western tribes. Once on the west of the Ohio, the marauding bands of red men had quite a start of any pursuing force, for such a force was drawn from east of the Ohio. The party that engaged in Buskirk's battle, was made up of Virginians. For these reasons, we think Wayne's treaty at Greenville was the decisive treaty with the Indians as regards securing peace and tranquility along the western shore of the Ohio, obtaining purchases in considerable numbers to land in the seven ranges, and in transferring warfare with the Indians much farther west. A short account of this seven range survey can well be inserted here: An act of congress passed May 20, 1785, authorized a survey of seven ranges of land, forty-two miles in length and running due west from the point where the western boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses the Ohio river, thence due south to the Ohio river at the southeast corner of Marietta township in Washington county; thence up said river to the place of beginning. Congress after selecting one surveyor from each of the thirteen states, placed them all under Thomas Hutchins, geographer then of the United States. Major Erkuries Beatty, father of the late Rev. Charles C. Beatty, of Steubenville, was paymaster of the western army at this time and he kept a diary of the different tours and transactions of this survey. John Matthews, a nephew of Gen. Putnam, assisted in the survey, and he also kept a diary of the different events. Both of these accounts show the settled hostility of the Indians on the western side of the river. Each refer to the western side of the river as the Indian side. This survey was partially completed in 1786. Sales of part of these ranges, were made in New York City in 1787, which amounted to $72,974. The next sales were made at Pittsburg and Philadelphia in JEFFERSON COUNTY, OHIO - 37 1796. No further sales were made until the opening of a United States land office at Steubenville, July 1st, 1801, and David Hoge was made register at this place. He who will look at the map of these seven ranges will notice two facts in regard to Jefferson county. The big bend in the Ohio river north of Steubenville divides the first range so as to be in two separate tracts of land, and that Brilliant, in this county, has the distinction of being situated in section 1 of range 1 of this historical range of land. |