(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 50 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY Abel Larkin had mills on Otter creek, Vermont, which were swept away by floods. He then started with wife and four children to Ohio, coming to Leading creek in 1804, in June. He was able to obtain a house on Judge Higley's farm, where his family remained four years. Mr. Larkin and Judge Higley were acquainted in Vermont. In 1808 Mr. Larkin moved into his own cabin on the farm he had purchased. Mr. Larkin was the first township clerk for Salisbury township, elected July 27th, 1805; was also elected justice of the peace in 1808, again in 1812, and again in 1818. Afterwards he served as associate judge for Meigs county. Their children were four sons and five daughters. Susannah, born in Vermont in 1796, and died in Rutland in July, 1805. Emeline Larkin, born in Vermont 1798, and died in Rutland, Ohio, in May, 1824, aged twenty-six years. Abel Larkin, Jr., was born April 21st, 1801, married Adeline Hadley in Illinois, near Mt. Sterling, in 1835. He settled on a farm in Brown county, where they reared a numerous family —five sons and four daughters. Three of his sons enlisted in the Civil war, and one came back alive with injuries from which he died. He was John Larkin. The daughters were grown to womanhood, married and moved to different parts of the country. Mrs. Adeline Larkin died in 1881. Mr. Abel Larkin, Jr., died in 1884 in Illinois. He had been a pioneer in Ohio, and going to Illinois in 1829, was a pioneer in that state. Julia Larkin was born June 29th, 1802, in Rutland, Vermont, and removed with her parents to Leading creek in 1804. She was married to Nehemiah Bicknell March 16th, 1826, and came with him to Lebanon township, to his farm, where she lived until her death, February 25th, 1863. They had six children, one son and five daughters. Stillman Carter Larkin was born in Rutland, Ohio, March 9th, 1808. He married Mary Hedrick, November 21st, 1837, and lived on the Larkin homestead until death. Stillman C. PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 51 Larkin died in January, 1898, aged ninety years, ten months, twenty-three days. Mary Larkin died May 30th, 1904, aged ninety-two years, five months, fifteen days. They had no children. Sarah Cutler Larkin was born September 6th, 1811, in Rutland, Ohio, and was married to Joseph Jervis Miles, April 12th, 1841. They lived in Gallipolis a few years, then came to Pomeroy, where Mr. Miles died in July, 1855. Mrs. Miles returned to the old Larkin homestead. She had no children that lived. Her death occurred January 17th, 1895, at the age of eighty-three years, four months, eleven days. Curtis Larkin was born May 27th, 1813, in Rutland, Ohio. He was in California a few years, but returned to Rutland, Ohio, where he married Lura Hubbell, who died in 1846. He married again—Sarah Church. They had one son, George B. Larkin. Their home was always in Rutland, Ohio. Mr. Larkin held some local and township offices, was a trustee of Rutland township several years. He was a member of the First Christian church and served as an active local elder for more than thirty years. Edwin Larkin was born September 25th, 1815, in Rutland, Ohio. He went to the South in 1839 and never returned. Betsy Larkin was born August 8th, 1806, in Salisbury township, Gallia county. She was married to Daniel Cutler, November 5th, 1834. They lived in Warren township, Washington county, Ohio, for twenty-one years, and had two children, Charles Curtis and Mary, who died when sixteen years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Cutler moved to the West in 1856, and settled finally in Franklin county, Kansas. Mrs. Cutler died June 19th, 1883, aged nearly seventy-seven years. Daniel Cutler was born February 19th, 1799, in Waterford, Washington county, Ohio. He was the son of Judge Ephram Cutler and his first wife, who died early, leaving four children, Charles, Nancy, Mary, and Daniel, who was taken to the home of Rev. Manasseh Cutler, where he spent his childhood. 52 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY His father, Ephram Cutler, married Sarah Parker, and she was the mother of Hon. William P. Cutler. Mr. Daniel Cutler was an anti-slavery man, and lived in Kansas in those exciting times of border warfare. He was also a temperance man, and a member of the Congregational church. He was the first postmaster of Rantoul, Franklin county, was a farmer, owned a thousand acres of land in one body. He lived and died an honorable, Christian gentleman, on January 10th, 1887. Charles C. Cutler, an only child, survives him and occupies the homestead. Mr. Daniel Cutler commenced life in the Northwestern Territory, and followed up along the border of civilization during a most eventful period of time, for the whole of his eighty-eight years of life. Abel Larkin, whose family has been noted, died February 17th, 1830, in Rutland, Ohio, aged sixty-five years, five months, nineteen days. Susannah Larkin (Bridges) died August 14th, 1860, aged eighty-nine years, four months, twenty-six days. She passed away from her own homestead in Rutland, a woman honored. Nehemiah Bicknell was the son of Japhet Bicknell and wife, Amy Bicknell (nee Burlingame), was born June 26th, 1796, at East Greenwich, Rhode Island. His parents moved to New York state in 1798, where he lived until nineteen years of age, and his father and brother having died, Nehemiah, with his widowed mother, came with a company under the leadership of Rev. Samuel Porter, to Athens, Ohio, in October, 1815. They traveled with teams and covered wagons, and were forty days on the way, always stopping over Sunday. His mother died in February, 1816, and lies buried in the old cemetery at Athens, leaving him and his younger sister, Zimrode, alone among strangers in a new country. God took care of them and they soon found good friends. PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 53 March 16th, 1826, Nehemiah Bicknell married Julia Larkin in Rutland, Ohio, and they moved immediately to make their home on his farm in Lebanon township on the banks of the Ohio river. They endured many hardships incident to pioneer life, none of which they deprecated more than the ignorance and low state of morals in the neighborhood. Mr. Bicknell opened his own house for preaching in about 1828 or 1829, to the Methodist itinerant. Later he secured the building of a school house on his land adjoining the Pioneer burying ground, where the preaching appointment was removed, and continued for many years. Afterward he gave a lot for a site for a church, deeded to trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a public graveyard. Mr. Bicknell was a public spirited man, who felt the lack of early education a constant impediment to progress. He was elected magistrate three terms, township trustee, postmaster eleven years, Sunday-school superintendent for many years, class leader when the appointment was known as the Oldtown class. He was an uncorromising temperance man all of his long life, and erected a large barn, the second building in Meigs county raised without the compliment of whisky. He was a road viewer and helped in laying out roads in nearly every part of the county, and dissented from the policy of narrow minded men who would lay out a public road on inaccessible hillside or around the corner of a selfish man's farm. He claimed for the traveling public suitable ground, and making good roads everywhere. At eighty-three years of age his step was firm his eyes bright, and cheeks rosy. His birthday, celebrated in June, 1879, he, with his eldest daughter, left home August 1st to revisit his boyhood home in Chenango county, New York and attend to the placing of gravestones anew at his father’s grave. In some strange manner he seemed to have gone out of the car to the platform, when he fell off and was killed. This was on the Erie railroad, near Beaver Flats, and the fatality occurred about 3 a. m., August 6th, 1879. His 54 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY stricken daughter brought his body back and he was laid by the side of his wife in the graveyard by the little church called "Bicknell's Chapel." (E. L. B.) The children of Nehemiah Bicknell and his wife, Julia Bicknell (nee Larkin), were Emeline Larkin, born February 19th, 1827, and was married to Isaac A. Cowdery in July, 1846. It proved a most unfortunate marriage, and she obtained a divorce in June, 1853, in the Common Pleas court of Meigs county, and her name restored to that of Bicknell. She had borne two children, a son, dying at three months, and a daughter, Ella Frances, who died October 10th, 1860, in her ninth year. Julia Amy was born December 28th, 1828, and died of fever, September, 1846. An infant son of Nehemiah Bicknell and his wife, March 10th, 1833. Zimrode Adaline was married to John Roberts in May, 1855. She died December 10th, 1870, leaving three children, Arthur B., Zimrode Ella, and Albert John Roberts. Sarah Elizabeth, born September 24th, 1839, and died October 3d, 1860. Mary Susannah, born March 7th, 1842, was married to Rev. George J. Conner in October, 1869. They had one son, Charlie Cookman, but father and son both died—the first 1873, the latter 1876. She was again married to David B. Cross in January, 1879, and died March 7th, 1882, forty years of age. She left one son, Willie Bicknell Cross. Allen Ogden was born in Maryland, April 13th, 1775. He was in Marietta in 1788. In June, 1795, he married Miss Hannah Keller, with whom, in April, 1804, they moved to what is now known as Columbia township, Meigs county. He purchased land, cleared up a farm, where he made his home and reared a family of ten children. He served many years PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 55 as a justice of the peace, and filled other responsible township offices. Mary Ogden was married to Joshua Wood, the first couple married in Columbia township. They had nine children. Mr. Wood was a justice of the peace and Whig politician. Margaret Wood married Elias P. Davis. She died, leaving two children. Nancy Wood was married to Nehemiah Bobo. They had eleven children, twenty-nine grand children and five great-grandchildren. William Wood married Sarah Rutherford and reared four children, with a number of descendants. Elizabeth Wood was married to Eli Vale, and they had a large family of children and grandchildren. Joshua Wood married Elizabeth Forrest, and they had one child. Rachel Wood was married to J. Q. A. Vale, a physician. Their home was in Minnesota. Dr. Vale has been a member of the legislature of that state. They had six children. Mary Wood married Levi Whitlock, and they went to Minnesota and had a large family of children. Adah Ogden, daughter of Alvin Ogden and wife, was born March 7th, 1799, and was married to John Conner. They moved to Indiana. To them were born six children. Sabert Ogden was born October 3d, 1801, married Eliza Forrest, and settled in Salem. They had seven children. Sabert Ogden died February 10th, 1874. Mrs. Ogden died December 24th, 1896, aged eighty-five years, six months, eighteen days. Alvin Ogden, Jr., married Nancy Jordan, and resided in Salem. They had two children, and several grandchildren. Herbert Ogden had three sons in the Civil war, Alvin, John, and Hugh. John was in Company I, Fifty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and died in the service at Camp Denison, Ohio. 56 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY Hugh Ogden, the second son of Alvin Ogden, Sr., was born March 11th, 1804. He never married. He died in 1872 in Salem township. Nancy Ogden, daughter of Alvin Ogden, Sr., and his 'wife, was born May 18th, 1806. She was married to William Green, and they both lived and died in Columbia township. They had five children. Albert Green was a soldier in the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and died in the service. Lovina Ogden Green married Lewis Castor, of Columbia. Hannah Green married Miles Graham, a member of the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who died shortly after the close of the war. Cynthia Green married William Graham, who was a soldier and died in the service the first year of the Civil war. Elizabeth Ogden, daughter of Alvin Ogden, Sr., was born July 25th, 1808, and was married to Daniel Caleb, and moved to Hardin county, Ohio, where they died. They had four children and numerous descendants. Noah Ogden, a son of Alvin Ogden, Sr., was born March 16th, 1811. He married Dorcas Graham and settled in Salem township and had four children, and numerous descendants. He died in 1890. Alvin Ogden, Sr., died January 4th, 1867, aged nearly ninety-two years. He was a son of a Revolutionary soldier, himself a pioneer of Meigs county. When he died he left ten children, 129 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. No race suicide in his posterity. The foregoing sketch is copied from a history of the Ogden family, as a part of that interesting narrative published in the "Telegraph," January 28th, 1898. S. C. Larkin. Shubael Nobles and family came from Tremont township, Rutland county, Vermont, to Marietta in 1801. Then to the Joel Higley farm in 1804, and finally to his own farm in the northwest corner of Section No. 15, in Rutland, in 1805. PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 57 Mrs. Nobles before marriage was Elizabeth Post. They had three sons and six daughters. Mr. Nobles was a tanner by trade, also a shoemaker. Charles F. Nobles, a son, was a blacksmith. He married Sarah Fanny Winn in October, 1818. She was a daughter of Abraham Winn, and was born July 24th, 1795, in Ontario county, New York. She was a noble woman, with great energy. They reared a large family of sons and daughters. Mr. Charles F. Nobles died in 1870. Mrs. Nobles died November 24th, 1890, aged ninety-five years, four months. Lewis Nobles, son of Shubael Nobles, married Betsy Strausburg. He was noted as an ingenious mechanic. He died May 26th, 1887, aged sixty-seven years, eleven months, seven days. His wife died March 1st, 1897, in her seventy-sixth year of age. Osmar Nobles was never married, but lived on the old farm. Silas Nobles went to Indiana, married and died there. Abigail Nobles, daughter of Shubael Nobles, was married to Phineas Matthews, of Gallia county. Julia married Jacob A. Winn, lived in Rutland, and died in 1882, at the age of eighty-five years. Eliza was married to Jacob Swisher and lived in Gallia county. Esther Nobles was married to Abel Chase, of Rutland, Ohio. She was born March 26th, 1808. Eunice Nobles died March 17th, 1878, aged seventy-eight years. Mary Nobles died in Rutland, aged sixty-one years. Shubael Nobles, Sr., died in 1854, ged ninety-one years. His wife died in 1855, aged eighty-eight years. William Parker, second, was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, July 4th, 1775, and came to Marietta with his father, William Parker, first, in 1798. He married Betsy Wyatt, daughter of Deacon Joshua Wyatt, of Athens county, May 13th, 1802, and they came to Rutland, Ohio, in 1804, and 58 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY settled on a farm, which has been owned and occupied by a Parker for more than one hundred years. The children of William Parker, second, and his wife were : Eliza, who was married to Samuel Halliday, and lived in Meigs county. They had a family of sons and daughters ; Alexander died when a child; William Halliday ; Jane was Mrs. Robbins ; Samuel Halliday married Elizabeth Remington, of Pomeroy ; Eliza, Henry, Thomas, Edwin, and Mary left Meigs county with their parents in 1850. William Parker, third, married Lovina Stout. Their children were : William Parker, fourth, Mary, Ida, Sophronia, Edwin Parker, Barton, and Sarah—Mrs. Green, who died early, leaving one daughter. Edwin married and lives in Cincinnati. Ida Parker was a successful teacher in the public schools in Middleport, Ohio. Two brothers and two unmarried sisters live together in the homestead. Silas Parker, son of William Parker, second, studied medicine and went to the West when quite a young man. Mary Parker was married to Buckingham Cooley, who died early, leaving a widow and one daughter. Mrs. Cooley was married afterwards to William Bartlett, of Athens, Ohio. Sarah E. Parker became the wife of Tobias A. Plantz, Esq., and lived in Pomeroy. They had two children, Mary E. Plants who died young, and George Wyatt Plantz, banker and prominent citizen of Pomeroy for many years, identified with all good enterprises for the prosperity of the town. He married Mary G. Daniel, daughter of H. G. Daniel, banker and an esteemed business man of Pomeroy. They have one son, who bears the family name, Wyatt Garfield Plantz, and is one of the bankers—"First Citizens Bank," of Pomeroy. John Wyatt Parker, son of William Parker, second, and his wife, was born in Rutland. He married Eliza McQuigg, and lived in Gallipolis for several years, was auditor of Gallia county, but removed to Dubuque, Iowa. PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 59 Daniel Pamker, son of William Parker, second, and his wife, was born October 22d, 1809. He married Catharine E. Gillespie, of Dayton, Ohio, in 1847. They had three sons : George G., Daniel Herbert, and Frank H. Parker, all noted physicians and specialists in surgery. Mr. Daniel Parker owned and occupied the homestead, and died January 19th, 1893, aged eighty-three years, two months, twenty-eight days. Mrs. Parker died in 1908, in her eighty-fourth year, a woman of rare accomplishments, one who never grew old. This Parker homestead is occupied by Dr. Frank Parker, the only surviving member of his father's family. A party of Indians came to Rutland sometime in the interval between 1804 and 1808. The date is not as certain as the incident. It was a custom in those days when preaching by a minister was only occasional, to observe the Sabbath by services at the home of some family in the neighborhood. One Sunday when the meeting was in progress, Indians were seen looking through the cracks of the door, and between the logs. Immediately consternation prevailed, the women crying and wringing their hands, while some of the men went to the door, shook hands with them and found them to be friendly. The Indians said they wanted "johnny-cake," which fortunately was at hand, so the request was granted and the Indians departed. Mr. Milo Higley has written a very good song on johnny-cake, and we venture to copy two stanzas relating to the foregoing narrative. "It was Sunday in that early day, And all had gone to church In the house of Mr. Larkin, God's holy book to search. Around the fireside they met, A blessing to partake, While from the hearth came up the fume Of steaming johnny-cake. 60 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY "While thus in solemn worship there The women gave a scream, For through a crack in the cabin wall A red-skin's eyes were seen. The stately deacons rose and asked, `Why this disturbance make ?' In Indian language they replied, `We want some johnny-cake !' " This visit was the last one of the Indians in the vicinity of Rutland. PIONEER SOCIETY. A meeting preliminary to a call for the organizing of a pioneer society met at the court house in Pomeroy in October, 1876, Mr. H. B. Smith, chairman, Aaron Stivers, secretary. Those present were Stillman C. Larkin, Aaron Torrence, Nehemiah Bicknell, Silas Jones, Mrs. H. B. Smith, Mrs. S. C. Miles, and Mrs. E. L. Bicknell. They met and proceeded to name a committee to announce the time and place for a regular organization of the Meigs County Pioneer Society, and to prepare a constitution, with suitable by-laws, for the future conduct of the society. They reported at the next meeting, which was held in the court house at Pomeroy, November 1st, 1876, pursuant to the call of the last meeting. President Stillman C. Larkin in the chair, and Aaron Stivers, secretary. The object of the meeting was stated by the president and then the report and constitution was read and adopted. "In view of the fact that all of the first settlers of Meigs county have passed away, and most of their children are also gone, and that time is effacing the mementos and monuments that have marked the only history of our county, we are admonished that unless immediate steps are taken to preserve the remembrance of those interesting events they will be forgotten and lost. In order therefore to recover and preserve PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 61 and record the past and current history of our county for the benefit and satisfaction of our present population, as well as those whom it may interest when time shall have removed us who now record these events, this society is formed and for its regulation have adopted the following constitution : "Article 1. This society shall be known as the Meigs County Pioneer Society. "Art. 2. The object of this society shall be the promotion of social intercourse, the collection and preservation of the history of the early settlers of Meigs county, and such other matters of interest as may be declared by the society to be worthy of record and preservation. "Art. 3. Any person who has been twenty years a resident of Meigs county, and is over fifty years of age, or who is the wife of a member, may become a member of this society by signing this constitution, and all male members paying into its treasury five cents, and fifty cents annually during membership. Residents of adjoining counties may become members by a vote of the society. "Art. 4. The officers of the society shall consist of a president, vice-president, treasurer, corresponding secretary, and recording secretary, and an executive committee of five, who shall hold their respective offices for the term of one year, and until their successors are elected and installed. "Art. 5. The officers shall be elected annually by ballot on the day of the annual. meeting, and a majority of the members present and voting shall be necessary to a choice. "Art. 6. The annual meeting of this society shall be held on the second Thursday in August of each year. The president or executive committee may call a meeting at discretion. "Art. 7. All money must be paid to the recording secretary, who shall pay the same to the treasurer, taking his receipt for the same. "Art. 8. The treasurer shall deposit the funds of the society in some solvent bank in the name of the society, and 62 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY pay the same out on the order of the recording secretary, as directed by the executive committee, unless otherwise ordered by the society. "Art. 9. A majority of the members present at an annual meeting shall determine the place of the next annual meeting thereafter to be holden. "Art. 10. The executive committee with the two secretaries shall give the necessary notice, and make arrangements for the annual meeting of the society. "Art. 11. The constitution may be altered or amended at any annual meeting by a vote of two-thirds of all the members present." The Signers of the Constitution. Horace Holt, Mary Lasher, N. Bicknell, Sarah C. Miles, Benjamin Smith, P. Pennington, Samuel Bradbury, Samuel Halliday, Sarah Murphy, Samuel S. Paine, Mary Simms, Sophrina Stivers, Silas Jones, W. Stivers, John Erwin, Electa McQuigg, Aaron Thompson, Sarah F. Nobles, Aaron Stivers, Persis 0. Cooper, T. A. Plants, Stillman C. Larkin, S. Bosworth, W. A. Barringer, John Ruble, L. Smith, Geo. W. Cooper, W. B. Smith, W. B. Pennington, John C. Hysell. The society then proceeded to choose officers and the following were elected : Stillman C. Larkin, president ; John C. Hysell, vice-president; H. B. Smith, treasurer ; Aaron Stivers, recording secretary; Geo. W. Cooper, corresponding secretary; Samuel Bradbury, Silas Jones, Washington Stivers, Aaron Thompson, and John Ervin, executive committee. It was then determined by a vote of the society to hold the next annual meeting in Middleport. The meeting then adjourned. STILLMAN C. LARKIN, President. AARON STIVERS, Secretary. PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 63 Benjamin Smith, who was born in Salisbury township in 1804, gave some items, related interesting incidents of early times, and promised if life and health permitted to prepare a paper for the annual meeting, as his father and grandfather were among the first early settlers in the county. John C. Hysell gave incidents of early history and consented to write an article from his knowledge of pioneer events. Samuel Halliday, who came from Scotland in 1819, and was county auditor for twenty-three years, expressed his gratification at this moment, and made some very appropriate remarks in relation to it. He also promised to furnish a paper containing a history of events in the county, and observations on the conduct of county affairs. T. A. Plantz spoke of a history prepared by a son of Daniel Parker, who lived in Clermont county, that included valuable information of the earliest settlements in Meigs county, and he would secure a copy for this pioneer society. H. B. Smith offered the following resolution, which was adopted : "Resolved, that each member of this society be requested to furnish in a written form, at the next annual meeting, such information as shall be within the meaning and spirit of the constitution of this society, and that T. A. Plantz be appointed a committee to procure the Parker papers." A paper was filed containing an account of the settlement of N. Bicknell in 1820, in Lebanon township. SKETCH OF EARLY HISTORY. By Luther Hecox. Thurman Hecox and family moved from the Whetstone, New York, to Newbury in Ohio, between the Big Hocking and Little Hocking rivers in August, 1800, and the same year moved up the Hocking river four miles into Troy. township. 64 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY The next year, 1801, they planted corn on the George Ackley farm and one day when they were hoeing corn they killed five rattlesnakes, not until Mr. Hecox had been bitten by one. They had to go up the Muskingum river four miles above Marietta to a floating mill in summer ; in winter they lived on boiled corn and turnips. Their meat was venison. The nearest neighbor was Mr. Humphrey, who lived on what is known as Waterman's hill. Another neighbor was Mr. Sutton, a trapper. In 1803 they moved to the middle branch of Shade river, to No. 4, in Troy township. They moved with an ox sled and two yoke of oxen, the first team that ever went through Tupper's Plains. David Daily drove the hogs, and as they tired out he had to camp in the woods with them to keep the wolves from killing them. David Daily was a Revolutionary soldier. Nathan Burris was the first family to settle on the middle branch of Shade river, one mile above where Levi Stedman built his first mill. Solomon Burris, an uncle to Nathan Burris, lived there. Mr. Long-worth and Mr. Stone settled on Congress land, and Jacob Cowdery settled on the middle branch, at the mouth of the west branch of Shade river, above Stedman's mill. Levi Stedman and Peter Grow lived in Gallia county, half a mile below the line between the two counties. Afterward they got one section annexed to Athens county, which then ran no farther than the Orange township line, with the exception of one section which belonged to Gallia county. This line runs east to the Ohio river, near the mouth of a small stream called Indian run. Samuel Branch came next with his family and located on the east side of the middle branch of Shade river, and Ezra Hoyt came about the same time. Jacob Rice settled on the west side of the west branch in 1806. Mr. Kingsbury took land on the first fork of the west branch of Shade river, which is known as Kingsbury, after the name of the first settler. He was a brother-in-law to Levi Stedman. The first organization of militia was in 1805. Thurman Hecox was elected captain PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 65 and Joseph Guthrie first lieutenant. He lived in No. 5. Jacob Halsey and a man named Lasley lived on the middle branch of Shade river. They hauled grain to the mouth of Hocking, there loaded in canoes and pushed up to the floating mill on the Muskingum river above Marietta, a trip that took nine days to go and return. There were no stores nearer than Marietta or Gallipolis. Prices were high—sixty-two and one-half cents for prints, the same for brown sheeting, and tea was two dollars a pound. Bears, panthers, wolves and deer were plenty, also small game. Wild turkeys were seen in flocks of hundreds. Mr. Hecox killed a bear that weighed four hundred pounds when dressed. William and Jeptha Hecox were in the woods and treed a half-grown bear. Jeptha ran home to get an ax, or a gun, and left William and the dogs to watch the bear. While he was gone the bear came down the tree, the dogs seized him, and William took a pine knot and struck him in the head and killed him. Levi Stedman had his hog pen near his house and one night he was away and a bear came into the pen to get a hog, but Mrs. Stedman threw a firebrand at him from the window and frightened him away. Cyrus Cowdery killed an elk, the last one seen in these parts. John Sloan was hunting deer one day when his dogs treed a panther. He shot and wounded it, when it came at him ; the dogs caught hold, and Sloan declares that he "shot the animal nine times before he killed it." In the year 1804 Mr. Hecox bought a pair of hand-mill stones, on which they ground wheat and corn, and sifted it through a buckskin sieve. Levi Stedman built a log mill on what is now Chester, and put Mr. Hecox's hand-mill stones in his mill until he could get larger ones. These pioneers had to go to the Scioto river to obtain salt, a journey of seventy miles, and paid two dollars a bushel for the salt. There was only a horse-path for travel, and carried by pack horses the salt, the party camping out at night. Later roads were made for the use of carts and oxen. They went to Marietta for all mail matter until 1812. There 66 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY was a mail route opened from Parkersburg to Point Pleasant running through by Stedman's Mill. Levi Stedman was appointed Postmaster, he was also the first Justice of the Peace, and Thurman Hecox was Constable. These men filled these offices for a number of years, without opposition. Levi Stedman opened a store, carried on farming, ran a saw and grist mill, kept a tavern, and owned a distillery. Wool had to be carded, spun and woven by hand, flax was raised, and manufactured into cloth, for wearing apparel. Some men had suits of dressed deerskin. The first preaching was at Nathan Burris' house, and next by Rev. Eli Stedman at Samuel Branch's. Afterwards they had occasional preaching by different denominations. In 1820, Elisha Rathburn was the preacher, and a goodly number experienced religion and united with the Bible Christian Church. The first schoolhouse was built on Samuel Branch's land, and the first teacher there was a Miss Pratt, who lived on Pratt's fork, a mile up the river. William and Benjamin Bellows were settlers in this neighborhood, until William sold out to Caleb Cartwright, a preacher of the Seventh Day Baptist. The name of Stedman occurs so frequently that an explanation is in order. From Walker's History of Athens, we take the statement : "Alexander Stedman, a native of Vermont, and by profession an artisan, settled in Rome township in 1804. In 1805, he was appointed a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and served in that position several years. One of his sons was Eli Stedman, a minister. Another son was Levi Stedman, a Commissioner of Athens county, and for a short time in Meigs. Bial Stedman married Sally Foster in 1811," and had sons and daughters. Capt. Julius C. Stedman, a son of Bial Stedman, was a soldier in the Mexican War, and a soldier in 116th Ohio V. I. from the first to the close of the Civil War. He always had a home in or near Athens. PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 67 EXTRACT FROM J. H. STEWART'S SKETCH OF LONG BOTTOM. Long Bottom is situated in the eastern part of Meigs county. The first settlers were Thomas Rairdon and the Colmans, probably before 1800, as the date is not positively known. William Buffington bought land in 1808, and several families came about that time, the Whitesides, Collins' and other. Thomas Rairdon built the first grist mill in 1815. The first postoffice was kept on the Warner farm in 1815. Robert Collins, Postmaster. The first Methodist Church was built in 1844. The first Christian Church in 1847, and the first store was kept by John Roberts and William Hicks in 1839, near the mouth of Forked Run. J. H. Stewart came to Long Bottom in 1830. The leading business of the place has been the working up of the splendid forest into staves, and the manufacture of various kinds of casks. In 1819, this locality was an almost unbroken forest." Lebanon township was formed in 1813, taken out of Letart township, and possesses a greater river boundary than any other township in Meigs county. It was a dense forest at the time of its organization. Trees of great size, and timber of the finest quality, covered the rich bottom lands of the Ohio river and the creeks of Old Town and Groundhog, while the hills bore the best yellow pine and spruce for lumber. The sugar maple, hickory, black oak and white oak, poplar, beech and sycamore excelled in size and quality any forests of Europe. The black walnut, white walnut and wild cherry were favorite woods for the manufacture of furniture, and for inside work of the best houses. Black walnut and cherry were used particularly for the making of coffins in those early days. So these trees of Lebanon had special attractions to the commercial eyes of later emigrants. More than one farm was paid for by the cordwood cut and sold to steamboats for fuel, when steam- 68 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY boats first ran on the Ohio river. Besides the trees, were growths of wild fruits, crab apples, red and black hawes, rasp berries and blackberries, and two or three varieties of grapes, and not least in profusion, beauty or lusciousness, was the papaw. There were herbs and roots used for medicinal purposes, and collected to sell for money. Ginseng, snakeroot and nervine, or ladies' slipper, grew in abundance in the shade of the great trees. Two remarkable trees are worthy of notice. One, a monster sycamore on Old Town creek not far from the mouth of the stream. It was hollow, and made a home for a family once, afterwards served as a stable for horses. The other tree was a sycamore, and hollow, and stood on the bottom land of N. Bicknell's farm in Great Bend. Dr. Philip Lauck and Rev. Ezra Grover came from Eastern Virginia with their families in 1813 and bought a fine tract of land in Lebanon township, on the Ohio river bottom. Rev. Grover was a Methodist preacher, but was superannuated from the Baltimore Conference. Dr. Lauck was his son-in-law by marriage and had an extensive and successful practice, which took him away from home much of the time, so that the care of his growing family, and of the making of a farm out of the wilderness developed upon Father Grover and Mrs. Lauck. Rev. Grover was a good preacher, a zealous Christian and an able defender of the faith, as held by Methodism. They opened their door for public preaching, and many a weary itinerant was cheered by their hospitality. Dr. Lauck died comparatively young, leaving a widow and six children. The sons, Isaac, Ezra, and Simon ; the daughters, Mary Ann, Hannah and Elizabeth. Isaac Lauck married Nancy Hall, and Ezra Lauck married her sister, Rachel Hall, of Old Town. They moved to Missouri many years ago. Mary Ann Lauck died of consumption in early womanhood, Hannah Lauck married Nicholas Richardson, son of a Scotch family who came to Sterling Bottom. Elizabeth Lauck was married to James PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 69 Amsden, a highly respected man, who took charge of the farm, and the family after the death of Father Grover in 1835. In 1811, a company of Scotch from Glasgow, Scotland, through the influence of Nahum Ward of the Ohio Company's Land Purchase, emigrated to Ohio, and settling on Sterling Bottom, named for the "land of the heather." George Richardson, the Pattersons, McCoys and others. Dissatisfaction, discontent, homesickness and death served to break up and scatter the company. Only Mr. George Richardson remained, and he was a merchant and capable of adapting himself to the primitive conditions of the country. Mrs. Richardson was a native of Antigua, one of the British West Indies, and had inherited slaves and plantation interests, but England freed the slaves, and much of the riches vanished. They had a family, one daughter, Eliza Richardson. Nicholas Richardson, the eldest son, married Hannah Lauck. George, Jr., and other children names unknown. The Richardsons left Sterling Bottom some time in the 30's. Philip Buffington purchased the Island of Duvol in 1796, ever since known as Buffington's Island. Joseph Buffington came from Hampshire county, Virginia, in 1814, bought a farm, Jacob Buffington also, located on the Ohio bottoms, opposite and below the island. They both had large families of sons and daughters. They were a well-to-do, industrious, hospitable people—good neighbors. THE PICTURED ROCKS OF ANTIQUITY. The rock of Antiquity is so called from the fact that the earliest settlers found engraven on its face inscriptions and figures of ancient date. These consisted of names of persons not English ; also the figure of an Indian cut in the face of the rock. He was represented as in a squatting position, his right elbow on his knee, with a tomahawk pipe in his mouth. Dr. Fuller Elliot, a man of much learning, thought that these inscriptions were made by a party of Frenchmen who descended 70 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY the river after the evacuation of Fort Duquesne—now Pittsburg, as the date on the rock seemed to correspond with that event. The inscriptions are now obliterated. The rock in question is situated about four miles below Letart Falls, and is detached from a confused mass of rocks that have fallen from the cliff above. The village of Antiquity takes its name from this rock.—Silas Jones. Comments on the Foregoing by Stillman C. Larkin. The opinion of Judge Elliot (who at an early period lived near the noted rock, and saw the inscriptions), that they were made by a party of Frenchmen, is doubtless correct. But what particular party did the work is not so clear. The English and French nations were contending for many years by diplo macy, and by wars, to secure the title and possession of the Ohio Valley, and were not slack in employing every available means to strengthen their claims. In a history of the Kanawha Valley by Professor V. A. Wilson, is the following : "In 1748, the British Parliament passed laws authorizing the formation of many new settlements and issuing land grants for the settlement of the upper Ohio. In view of such agression the Governor General of Canada, by order of his home government, determined to place along the `Oyo,' or La Belle Riviere, a number of leaden plates suitably inscribed, asserting the claims of France to lands on both sides of the river, even to the source of the tributaries. The command consisted of eight subaltern officers, six cadets, 180 Canadians and 55 Indians, an armorer, 20 soldiers, 270 men in all. The expedition left Montreal on the 15th of June, 1749, and on the 29th reached the junction of the Monongahela and the Allegheny rivers, where the first plate was buried. The expe dition then descended the river depositing plates at the mouths of the principal tributaries, and on the 18th of August they PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 71 reached the mouth of the Great Kanawha and on the point between the rivers the fifth plate was buried. It was found in 1846 by a son of John Beale of Mason county, West Virginia, and was removed from the spot where it had lain for ninety-seven years. From the mouth of the Great Kanawha the voyage was continued down the river depositing plates until they reached the mouth of the Great Miami, where they buried the sixth and last plate, August 30th, 1749, and returned to Montreal by way of Maumee:" It being the business of this company to establish monuments of ownership, it seems reasonable to suppose that they might have made the inscriptions on the rock at Antiquity, a historic monument worthy of giving name to that enterprising village of Antiquity. S. C. L. Dr. Fuller Elliot was the son of Aaron Elliot and wife Lydia, and was born in Sutton, Massachusetts. He was a university graduate, and chose the profession of medicine. Fuller Elliot was an agent, and possibly a stockholder in the Ohio Company's Purchase, as the county records show his name in the making of deeds of lands in 1792 to purchasers of lands situated in Washington and Gallia counties. He entered land for himself in 1805, 277 acres, and again in 1817, 648 acres in Letart township. Fuller Elliot was a man of high character and rare attainment, and locating in Letart at that early date ; was prominent in helping to organize townships, and in all matters pertaining to public interest and benefit. He was appointed Associate Judge of Gallia, and afterwards of Meigs county. He was elected to the Legislature of Ohio, in all offices serving with fidelity to the people, and honor to himself. He married a daughter of Seth Jones who lived near, and came to Letart about the same time. Judge Elliot and wife had a large family. Mary Elliot, the eldest daughter, was born June 7, 1803, and was married to John Weldon. Mrs. Weldon spent most of her 72 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY married life not far from her father's home, and reared a numerous family. Serena Elliot, another daughter, married — Swearingen and moved to West Virginia. Decatur S. Elliot married Parma Sherwood, and resided in West Virginia, Graham Station. They had a number of children. Decatur Elliot and two or three of his sons were soldiers in the Civil War to preserve the Union. Philip Elliot, a son of Fuller Elliot, married Serena Myers, and had four children—Martha, Eliza, Thornton J. and Benjamin. He had served as lieutenant in the militia, but died young. Thornton J. Elliot, a son of Philip Elliot, served in the Civil War, and won honorable distinction and promotions for bravery and irreproachable conduct during the War for the Union. In his later life Judge Elliot resumed the practice of medicine until his death which occurred in 1832, at the age of 60 years. James Smith, Sr., removed from Marietta, and located above the mouth of Leading Creek in the spring of 1797. He died May 8th, 1817. His wife was Elizabeth Mack, who died August 9th, 1821, aged 77 years. He was 73 years of age. Their children were : Benjamin Smith, Esq., born October 1st, 1770, and married Alma Barker, a daughter of Judge Isaac Barker, of Athens, 0. Their children were five sons and four daughters. Benjamin Smith, Sr., died August 7th, 1836, aged 66 years. Mrs. Smith died August 29th, 1831, aged 54 years 8 months 11 days. John, James, Benjamin, Barker and Sardine (the sons, and Polly, Elizabeth, Catharine and Rhoda and Amy, daughters), of Benjamin Smith, Sr. John N. Smith lived and died in Middleport, Meigs county. PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 73 James Smith married Eliza Murray, of Rutland, and emigrated to Arkansas where they both died. Benjamin Smith, second, a native of Salisbury, born in 1814, and died on May 12th, 1887, aged 83 years. Barker Smith settled on the West Branch of Thomas Fork creek. Sardine Smith lived on Hysell run. Polly Smith was married to John Harris. Elizabeth Smith, wife of Dr. William Van Duyn. Catharine Smith was married to Hamilton Murray. Rhoda Smith became the wife of Nial R. Nye. Amy Smith was Mrs. Dr. Abel Phelps. James Smith, Jr., married Sally Hubbell, sister of Capt. Jesse Hubbell. He died August 8th, 1844, aged 61 years 6 months. Mrs. Smith died April 20th, 1861, aged 61 years. Esquire John Smith married Betsy Monroe and lived on the old homestead. He died in 1872. They had a numerous family of sons and daughters. The daughters were : Polly, Mrs. Stone, of Washington county, 0. ; Betsy, Mrs. Russell ; Catharine, Mrs. Fulsom ; Jane, Mrs. Erastus Stow. Mr. Stow died in 1842, and Mrs. Stow died in 1870. The Stow family : Eliza, married Dr. Augustus Watkins. Euretta Stow was married to Franklin Knight, of Chester, Meigs county. Mary Stow was married to David R. Jacobs, and resided in Pomeroy. James Smith Stow, born July, 1806, went to Washington county, and died there in 1895, aged 89 years 1 month. John Stow went to California—to Mississippi with a boat of produce, and died in the south among strangers. Erastus Stow married Lucretia Whaley and lived on the old Stow farm. He was a soldier in the Civil War until its close when he returned home and died. Mrs. Stow died December 18th, 1895. They had a family. 74 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY Luke Brine moved with his family from Rutland, Vermont, to Leading Creek in 1805. He bought a farm near New Lima. He sold his farm to Horace Holt in 1824 or '25, and moved to Marion county, 0. His children were three sons and three daughters. Jonathan Brine, a son, married Elizabeth Bobo, of Athens county, 0. He was an ordained minister of the Christian Church. They had a numerous family. One daughter, Eliza H., was married to B. F. Stivers, a blacksmith, who lived in Pomeroy. Lumon Brine was born in Rutland, 0., in 1806. He married Lena Sylvester, and had a family of children. Lumon Brine died April 16th, 1879. His widow lived on the home farm with her son-in-law, Harvey Stansbury, until her death in October, 1887, aged 81 years, 7 months, 18 days. Almon Brine lived in Indiana, and died there. Betsy Brine married William Gaston. Sophia Brine was the wife of William Larue. Semela Brine was the first wife of John Gaston. Thomas Gaston was a native of New England, and served seven years in the Revolutionary Army. He moved with his family to the State of New York, and afterwards, induced by liberal grants of land, emigrated to Canada. But on account of conscription measures by the British government and the unfriendly feeling existing between that government and the United States, he disposed of his property there at a sacrifice, and with others in like condition left Canada, and came to Ohio, landing at Silver run, Gallia county, in 1807. He was a millwright, and moved to the Higley Mills. Later he bought a farm near New Lima, where he spent his remaining days. He was a member of the Regular Baptist Church, and preached occasionally. Mr. Gaston and his wife had a large family. He was a man highly esteemed by all who knew him. He died in 1823 and was buried in the Miles graveyard. PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 75 Mrs. Gaston died some years after, while with some relatives in Indiana. Their children were : Jared Gaston, married Sally Stivers. Anson Gaston married Lucretia Holt. William Gaston married Betsy Brine. Jonathan Gaston's wife was Selusia Morton. John Gaston was married twice ; his first wife was Semelia Brine, and for his second wife Lydia Larue, who was born March 6th, 1806. Her parents were Jacob Larue and Sally Gardner, who were married in the Block House at Marietta four or five years before Ohio became a State. Her grandfather, Abraham Larue, was a French Huguenot. Mrs. Lydia Gaston was married a second time, to Thomas Wood, who died in 1876, while Mrs. Wood continued to live in the old Gaston homestead until her death in 1893. James Gaston married Mary Woodworth, in Canada. Thomas Gaston, second, died when quite a young man. Elijah Gaston married Samantha Woodworth and emigrated to the West. The daughters were : Hannah, Mrs. Joseph Richardson ; Polly, Mrs. Joseph Skinner. All are dead, 1893. Roena. Frederic Hysell was a soldier of the Revolution and came from eastern Virginia to Ohio in 1805, to the lower part of Gallia county, but afterwards moved to Salisbury township, in what is known now as Middleport. He married Nancy Smith, and they had sons and daughters. Mr. Hysell died at a good old age, and his wife died in 1823. Their children : Edward Hysell lived on a farm in Salisbury township. Catharine, Mrs. Jason Thomas, settled in lower Rutland township. Elizabeth, Mrs. George Hoppes, lived in Salisbury, near Bradbury. Margaret, Mrs. Anthony Hysell, lived on Thomas fork. Francis Hysell married Nancy Dodson and lived on a farm on Hysell run. Smith 78 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY Hartford. He married Malinda Bellows, daughter of Benjamin Bellows, of Rutland, Ohio, January 1st, 1824. They had a family of five children : Columbus B. Holt, Nial N., Electa, Mrs. John Stansbury, died many years ago ; John B. Holt and Lovina, Mrs. S. D. Webb. Horace Holt died in Rutland, Ohio, March 6th, 1885, aged eighty-six years. Mrs. Holt, nee Malinda Bellows, was born September 4th, 1805, in Belpre, Ohio, and came with her father's family to Rutland in 1822. She died May 20th, 1893, aged eighty-seven years, six months and twenty-five days. She was much respected for her benevolence and Christian character. William Bellows, a son of Benjamin Bellows, was born June 1st, 1816, and married Amelia Flynn, daughter of Thomas Flynn and wife, who were early settlers of Lebanon township. They had a large family. He was killed in a runaway of frightened horses August 18th, 1893, aged seventy-seven years two months. Mrs. Amelia Bellows was born September, 1817, and died December 16th, 1895, aged seventy-eight years three months. They had lived a married life of fifty-six years, respected by their neighbors and the community. The manufacture of weavers reeds was commenced and carried on by Horace Holt in Rutland township, Ohio, from 1823 until his death, March 1st, 1885. The history of this industry, as well as that of the man who prosecuted the business, is worth a page of careful record. When a young man, Mr. Holt went to the Wabash country, in Indiana, and was taken sick, and while convalescent he found an old weaver's reed, which he unraveled to find how it was constructed. This led to a knowledge of the canes from which the splits were made. Returning to Rutland, he began in earnest to make weavers reeds. He obtained the canes from Mississippi by sending men down the river to cut canes, convey them to the river and to purchase boats to load with these and bring them to Leading creek, a tedious and expensive enterprise. PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 79 Mr. Holt, seeing the need of a proper machine for making the splits, made such a one, which worked well, and went to Washington, D. C., and obtained a patent. He went in a two-horse wagon, laden with reeds to sell on the way as well as to take his model for a patent, to the city of Washington. In 1831 he began to manufacture reeds on a large scale. The sale of reeds had been by peddlers in wagons, traveling over the country and taking store goods in return for the reeds. That began the stores for the firm. Mr. Holt employed his brother-in-law, John Rightmire, who was a blacksmith, to make his machines, so that he secured complete control of the weavers reeds manufacture. It is claimed that at one period of time his was the only reed factory in the United States or Canada. His books show that he had made 300,000 reeds, that brought about $200,000. Mr. Holt paid good wages and treated his employes fairly, and his business was a great advantage to the community, as it furnished remunerative employment for many young women who otherwise could have earned but little. Mr. Holt was of commanding figure and had a giant's strength. He engaged in other kinds of business besides the making of reeds. In a partnership with Mr. Clem. Church they built the first steam gristmill in Rutland township, and he owned and brought into the township the first thrashing machine. Before the Civil War he was an abolitionist, and his place was a station on the "underground railroad." A member of the Universalist Church, he was exemplary in speech and honorable in business habits, never using intoxicating liquors or tobacco, and in his last years he was a prohibitionist. He sold the reed manufacturing business to his son, John B. Holt. Meigs county is the richer for having had such an enterprising citizen. Peter Lalance came from France with his widowed mother and sister about 1788 to Marietta, Ohio, and lived in the 80 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY stockade at Harmar. The sister was married to Robert Warth, who was killed by the Indians just outside of the fort, leaving a wife and one child, Robert Warth, Jr. Peter Lalance was a comrade of the Warth brothers on their voyages down the Ohio river to Gallipolis, or French Town, as the Americans called it. The Warths, George and John, were carrying United States mail in their canoes, and young Lalance was a companion. The company had to stop over night each trip, not being able to go all of the distance in one day, and the place for stopping was at Jacob Roush's, near or at Graham's Station, Va. Mr. Roush owned a farm and slaves. He had a family and, as the story goes, a handsome daughter, whose beauty captivated the heart of Peter Lalance, but he kept his secret until meeting his mother, when he described mam'selle to her. "She's very pretty," summed up his account. "Bring her here," said his mother ; "I can teach her." So, with such permission, he asked Mr. Roush if he might woo his daughter. "If she is willing," was the father's consent, for up to this time the ardent lover had not ventured to propose to the girl. Matters were arranged for mam'selle to go to Marietta on the "mail boat," a trusty colored man to accompany the young woman for her protection. Madame Lalance received her graciously, and afterwards she was married at her father's house to Peter Lalance. He located a farm below Bowman's run, in Ohio, and reared a large family. Communicated by Mrs. Cynthia Philson, of Racine, Ohio. Mrs. Mary Lasher was a daughter of Aaron Holt, and his wife, Elizabeth Holt, and was born in 1803, and came with her parents to Rutland in 1807. She was married to Charles Chase in 1823, and had a family of nine children, all of whom she reared to be respectable and useful citizens. Dr. Owen Chase, of the West, and Dr. Lyman Chase, of Albany, were her sons. After the death of Mr. Chase, she married Mr. John V. Lasher, of Rutland, with whom she lived in social and PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 81 religious harmony until his death, which preceded her own about two and one-half months. John V. Lasher was born August 9th, 1799, in Dutchess county, New York, and married Catharine Martin, October 24th, 1820. In 1825 they moved to Sullivan county, New York. In 1835, in company with his brother-in-law, Frederic Tuckerman, they came to Ohio and settled on a farm in Rutland township. They had a large family of nine children : William V., Charles, George V., Margaret, Mrs. Green ; Mary, Mrs. Tuckerman ; Beattie, Mrs. Stansbury ; Carrie, Mrs. Brown. Mrs. Catharine Lasher died in 1864. Afterwards Mr. Lasher married Mrs. Chase, widow of Charles Chase. Mr. Lasher seems to have favored all religious and political reforms. First a Whig; then one of two or three who voted for Birney, the Liberty Party man, and in his last years for the Prohibition Party. He died in 1864. STOW AND THE WOLVES. An incident related by Mrs. Eliza Watkins, nee Stow : Mr. Erastus Stow, at an early period, when a young man, was employed by Captain James Merrill to stay with his family in Salem while he (Captain Merrill) was taking a vessel from Marietta to the ocean. Young Stow started with ten bushels of corn to get ground on the Ohio or Muskingum. After being gone a week, he returned to the mouth of Leading creek. He then took a bushel of meal and started for home and walked as far as Mr. John Miles, where he stopped and borrowed a horse and proceeded on his way. Before he reached home it became dark, and wolves began to howl and made an attack on him. Both he and the horse were frightened. He threw off the bag of meal, put his feet on the horse's flanks and his arms around the animal's neck and made all speed to his home. When he arrived, Mrs. Merrill and the family came out, having heard the noise, and with 82 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY firebrands drove the wolves away. The next day they found the sack of meal, which had been torn open, but the contents not destroyed. Such incidents did not often occur, and the people did not seem to apprehend much danger. Women and children often went through the woods, hunting servis berries and grapes, or frequently to hunt the cows, that would often stray from home, and were seldom molested. A BRAVE BOY. An account given by Mrs. Sarah Torrence of an incident worthy of note was read at the pioneer meeting in August, 1879, by Mr. A. Gardner. Mrs. Torrence was a daughter of Mr. John Knight, who came to Meigs county in 1818. A Mr. John Harris, who lived in Bedford township, got Mr. Knight's son Daniel, a lad of only eleven years, to stay with Mrs. Harris while he made a trip to New Orleans. There were few families in Bedford township, and it was very lonesome for the young wife in the small cabin in the woods, where the wolves were heard nightly. So Mrs. Harris concluded to go down to her father's, Mr. John Smith, above the mouth of Leading creek, and a son of Mr. Bissell, who was younger than Daniel, was engaged to stay and care for the stock. One night early in March, as these boys were getting in a log to build a fire in the morning, young Knight slipped, and the log fell on him, breaking his thigh bone about the middle. Daniel told the Bissel boy to pull their straw bed down before the fire. Then he lay flat on his back, with one hand on each side and the fingers of each hand thrust through the cracks of the puncheon floor, directing the other boy to pull at his foot while he held on to the floor, until they actually set the bone in its place. He had buckskin pants and took some buckskin thongs and tied above and below the break, the pants serving as splints. Fortunately, Major Higley had gone out that day PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 83 to look after some stock, and called in to see how the boys were doing and to spend the night with them, and this was the plight in which he found them. They had corn bread of their own baking and venison. Mr. Higley examined the boy's leg and found that it was broken, and he then mounted his horse and rode to Mr. Knight's, the father of the boy, at Middleport, who immediately started to his son in the wilderness, going by way of Chester for Dr. Robinson to accompany him. They knew the path as far as Bissell's, but nc farther. They arrived there to find that Mr. Bissell was away from home, but Mrs. Bissell got out of bed at midnight, had her horse saddled, and piloted these two men through the dense forest to where the suffering boy lay, leaving her own little one asleep at home, and stayed with the boy until Mr. Knight returned and brought his wife and provisions. Mrs. Knight had to stay twenty-one days before they could take the boy home. Those were pioneer times. PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIRST COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS FOR MEIGS COUNTY, STATE OF OHIO, ss.: April Term, in the Year 1819. Be it remembered, That at a term of Court of Common Pleas for the county of Meigs, begun and held at the temporary seat of justice : Present, Hon. Ezra Osborn, president, judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit of the Court of Common Pleas for the State of Ohio ; and Horatio Strong, Fuller Elliot and James E. Phelps, Esqs., associate judges of the Court of Common Pleas for Meigs county, who produced their several commissions under the great seal of the State of Ohio, which were read in open court. Robert C. Barton was appointed clerk pro tem. of the said court in complying with the requisitions of the law. Samuel 84 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY F. Vinton was appointed prosecuting attorney for the present and succeeding terms. The court then adjourned until tomorrow at 9 o'clock. EZRA OSBORN. Second Day.—The court met pursuant to adjournment. Present : The same judges as of yesterday. The clerk, on motion, produced a bond as sureties for the faithful discharge of his duties. The same was approved, and he was duly sworn into office, and the senior associate was directed to deliver the said bond to the county treasurer. On motion, it was ordered that license be renewed to James E. Phelps to keep a house of entertainment at his new dwelling house on his complying with the requisitions of the law. A notice was duly served on James E. Phelps and Fuller Elliot, Esqs., associates of the court, by Horatio Strong, senior associate, to meet at the temporary seat of justice on the twelfth day of April, instant, for the purpose of appointing a recorder of the county, according to law. Ordered by the court that the clerk within twenty days give notice to the trustees of each township that they make a selection of grand and petit jurors, and that they return to him thereof to him in twenty days thereafter. And he is required to have them subpoenaed to attend in their respective capacities as jurors at this place on the first day of next term, by the sheriff. On motion, ordered that licenses be granted to George Russell for a ferry across Leading creek where he now keeps it on his complying with the regulations of the law. On motion, ordered that license be granted to Elisha Rathburn, of Rutland, to solemnize the bonds of matrimony. On the application of James H. Hayman and Alexander Miller for the appointment of county surveyor, the court was equally divided and the application laid over until the next term. Ordered by the court that the clerk pro tern. use his private seal for all processes issuing from court until a county seal PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 85 shall be provided. The court adjourned until half-past 1 o'clock P. M. The court met pursuant to adjournment. Present: Horatio Strong, Fuller Elliot, James E. Phelps, Esqs., associate judges. On petition of Thomas Ridding, of Sutton, for a license to keep a house of entertainment at his dwelling house, ordered that the clerk give him a license on his complying with the requisitions of the law. The minutes being read and approved by the court and adjourned without day. HORATIO STRONG. April 12th, 1819. Pursuant to request, the associate judges assembled at the temporary seat of justice. Present : Horatio Strong, Fuller Elliot and James E. Phelps, Esqs., associate judges. Robert E. Barton was appointed recorder of Meigs county, and on producing his bond was duly sworn into office by the senior associate judge, the bond having been approved. The oath of office was administered as follows : I, Robert C. Barton, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of recorder of Meigs county according to the best of my abilities and understanding. Robert C. Barton. Subscribed April 12th, 1819. The oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the State of Ohio being also administered, the associates adjourned. HORATIO STRONG. State of Ohio, Meigs County, ss. July Term, 1819. Be it remembered, That on Monday, the nineteenth day of July, 1819, the Court of Common Pleas in said county, at the meeting house in the township of Salisbury—present, the Hon. Ezra Osborn, president judge ; Horatio Strong, Fuller Elliot and James E. Phelps, associate judges—the venire for grand jurors was returned and the following jurors empaneled, to-wit : Foreman, Daniel Rathburn ; David Lindsey, 86 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY Adam Harpold, Jesse Worthing, Joel Smith, Silas Knight, James Shields, Jr., George Roush, Jas. Gibson, Calvin Marvin, John H. Sayre, Alvin Ogden, Joseph Hoit ; Major Reed, talisman. Then follows the licensing of different men for various purposes, the trial of persons for various offenses, consisting largely of "fist-i-cuffs," and probate business is omitted. State of Ohio, Meigs County, ss. November Term, A. D. 1819. Be it remembered, That on Monday, the twenty-second day of November, in the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and nineteen, the Court of Common Pleas met at the meeting house in Salisbury township. Present : The Hon. Ezra Osborn, president judge, and James E. Phelps and Fuller Elliot, associate judges, this, the last court for the first year in Meigs county, 1819. Review of proceedings by S. C. Larkin. The design of the following resume is to elucidate facts that relate to the history of Meigs county, but are not generally understood. By a law of Congress, Section 29 in every township of six miles square in the Ohio Company's purchase should be reserved for ministerial purposes. The land upon which this meeting house stood belonged to Salisbury township, and the Courts of Common Pleas were held in it for two years, when, unfortunately, it was burned down. Mr. Levi Stedman, of Chester, invited the judges to hold court in his house. When the second set of commissioners met, they went where the court was held, and decided to locate the county seat, as Mr. Levi Stedman offered to make a good deed of land, enough to lay out a town. The offer was accepted. The county seat was located there, the town laid out and named Chester. The question was asked why the county seat was not located at PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 87 Middleport? Mr. Benjamin Smith and his wife Alma had agreed to donate as a gift the land for a town and to secure it by a good title deed. Smith had given a bond for $5000, with his brother, John Smith, and Samuel Everett as sureties, but it has been stated that upon reconsidering the matter, Mrs. Smith refused to acknowledge the deed, which she had a right to do, according to the law of Ohio. The commissioner did not bring suit against the sureties, as John Smith lived on his father's farm, and Samuel Everett was a young man not owning any real estate. The judges claimed that nothing could be realized more than cost of suit, and they should not be blamed for not ordering or permitting the commissioner, Eli Sigler, from commencing suit. S. C. L. EXTRACTS FROM REPORTS OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIRST COMMISSIONERS OF MEIGS COUNTY, STATE OF OHIO, APRIL 30th, 1819. The commissioners of said county met this day, to-wit, Levi Stedman and William Alexander, who, after being duly sworn by Archibald Murray, a justice of the peace for the county aforesaid, and lodging a certificate thereof in the office of the Court of Common Pleas for the said county, proceeded to business. Benjamin Stout, duly elected sheriff of said county, presented a bond, of which the following is a copy, which was approved and delivered to the county treasurer : Know all men by these presents : That I, Benjamin Stout, as principal, and Levi Stedman and Philip Jones, as sureties, all of the county of Meigs and State of Ohio, are held and firmly bound to Levi Stedman, William Alexander and Elijah Runner, commissioners of the county aforesaid, and to their successors in office in the full and just sum of four thousand dollars, current money of Ohio, for which sum well and truly to be paid, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and admin- 88 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY istrators firmly by these presents. Signed and sealed this thirteenth day of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen. The condition of the above obligation is such, that, whereas the above bounden Benjamin Stout was duly elected sheriff of the county aforesaid, on the fifth day of April, inst., and was also duly proclaimed as such on the twelfth day of April, to serve until the annual election in October next. Now, therefore, if the said Benjamin Stout shall well and truly perform all the duties of sheriff of the county aforesaid and account for and pay over all the moneys by him collected according to law, then this obligation will be null and void ; otherwise remain in full force and virtue. [Seal] Benjamin Stout. [Seal] Levi Stedman. [Seal] Philip Jones. Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of Robert C. Barton. Philip Jones, of Salisbury, was appointed county treasurer to serve until the annual meeting in June next, and having produced bond for the faithful discharge of his duties the same was approved. Robert C. Barton was appointed clerk (pro tem). Resolved, That the tavern of James E. Phelps, of Salisbury, and that of Thomas Redding, of Sutton, pay six dollars each for a license for one year ensuing. And that George Russell pay two dollars for a renewal of license to keep a ferry over Leading creek where he now keeps it. June 7th, 1819. Commissioners met this day. Present : Levi Stedman, William Alexander and Elijah Runner. The last named was duly qualified by William Alexander, a justice of the peace, and a certificate thereof lodged with the clerk of Common Pleas Court. Benjamin Stout, of Orange township, was appointed collector of the county tax for the year 1819, and Philip Jones was appointed PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 89 county treasurer for one year from this date, and having produced a bond for the faithful performance of his duties in office, the same was approved. Resolved, That six sections formerly attached to the township of Morgan, and which are within the county of Meigs, be, and the same are hereby attached to the township of Salem. Resolved, That the three sections lately belonging to Cheshire township and numbered 24, 30 and 36, being within the county of Meigs, be and the same are hereby attached to the township of Rutland. And that the three sections lately belonging to the township of Cheshire and numbered 6, 12 and 18, being in the county of Meigs, be and the same are hereby attached to Salisbury township. Resolved, That the original surveyed Township No. 9, in Rang:: 13, be and the same is hereby attached to the township of Orange. Rates of ferriage across the Ohio river that persons licensed to ferry are entitled to demand, viz : Each foot man, 10 cents ; for one man and horse, 20 cents ; for a loaded wagon and team, 100 cents ; for any other four-wheeled carriage, 75 cents; for a loaded cart and team, 50 cents ; for an empty wagon and team, 37 2/3 cents ; for an empty cart or sled or sleigh and team, 18 3/4 cents ; for every horse, mare, mule or ass or head of neat cattle, 5 cents ; for every sheep or hog, 3 cents. Rates of ferriage across Leading creek : For each foot man, 6 1/4 cents; for a man and horse, 12 1/2 cents ; for a loaded wagon and team, 50 cents ; for any other four-wheeled carriage, 37 1/2 cents ; for loaded cart, 25 cents ; for an empty cart and team, sled or sleigh and team, 18 3/4 cents ; for every horse, mare, mule, ass or head of meat cattle, 5 cents ; for every hog or sheep, 3 cents. Resolved, That ten dollars be allowed to the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas for services not otherwise provided for, and one dollar for opening the poll books from April 5th to June 7th, 1819. And that one dollar and sixty-seven cents 90 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY be allowed to Benjamin Stout, Esq., sheriff of said county, for similar services. Resolved, That there be allowed to the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas for the ensuing year the sum of fifty dollars in full for all services wherein the State may fail in prosecution, the same to be paid quarterly. Resolved, That Robert C. Barton is appointed clerk of the court for the ensuing year. Resolved, That there be allowed to the sheriff of the Court of Common Pleas for the ensuing year the sum of forty dollars in full for services wherein the State may fail in prosecutions which may be commenced, and that the sum of three dollars be allowed for opening and certifying poll books, the same to be paid quarterly. Resolved, That all persons required by law to bring returns to the office of the county commissioners or clerk of the Court of Common Pleas be allowed 5 cents per mile for travel—the same for commissioners—and $2.25 cents per day for services. Proceedings approved by the Court of Common Pleas, July 24th, 1819. The board adjourned until the twenty-first of July, 1819. An application was made this day to divide the township of Orange. Resolved, That said township of Orange be divided as follows : Beginning on the Ohio river at the southeast corner of Section 29, Township 3, Range 11, west to the northwest corner of Section No. 5, Township 3, Range 12 ; thence north to the county line; thence east with said line to the Ohio river ; thence with the meanderings of said river to the place of beginning; and that the name of the township be Olive. Then follows a detailed account of expenses, much of which had to be paid in county orders. December 6th, 1819. At a meeting of commissioners, present were Samuel Downing and Philip Jones, this being the PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 91 first meeting of the commissioners since the October election of 1819. They proceeded to draw lots agreeable to law, Robert C. Barton being authorized to draw for William Alexander in case he was not present. In drawing of lots, it appeared that William Alexander was to serve one year, Philip Jones two years and Samuel Downing three years. An act for levying tax on land, passed February 8th, 1820: Section 2. That all lands subject to taxation shall be rated or classed as first, second and third rate, agreeably to the following rules, to-wit : In all cases where the largest proportion of a tract of land is of the best quality, it shall be denominated first rate and shall be taxed annually as such. And when the largest proportion of a tract of land is inferior to the best and superior to the worst quality, it shall be denominated second rate and shall be charged with a tax annually as such. Section 3. Be it further enacted, That there shall be levied and paid yearly and every year on each hundred acres of land of the first rate one dollar and fifty cents. On each hundred acres of second rate land, one dollar ; and on each hundred acres of third rate land fifty cents, and in the same proportion for any greater or less number of acres. Section 48. Be it enacted, That 25 per cent. of the net amount of taxes collected shall be paid into treasury of such county for county purposes. On February 24th, 1824, a law was passed altering the amount of tax on the different rates of land, as follows : First rate land, $1.25. Second rate land, 87i cents. Third rate was 56 cents. Section 2. Twenty per cent. of the net tax collected to be paid into the county treasury. February 23, 1824, another act of the Legislature fixes the rates of stud horses not to exceed the rate for which he stands for the season, but on all other horses, mares, mules and asses 92 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY three years old and upwards a sum not to exceed 30 cents per year. On all neat cattle three years old and upwards, 10 cents per head. On other property made taxable by this act, not to exceed one-half of 1 per cent. of the appraised value. The reason why the substance of the tax laws has been quoted here is in order to show that in the early years of Meigs county and in former years the Legislature of Ohio always limited the amount of tax to be raised, giving the commissioners of a county no authority to go beyond such limits. Great care was taken not to allow corporations to run the people into debt, as they now do, entailing upon future generations a heavy debt, a grievous burden to be borne. The amount of revenue for Meigs county was not sufficient to pay expenses, and orders on the county treasury became so depreciated as to bring only 50 cents on the dollar and became an article of trade. Merchants would pay in goods, 50 cents for a dollar, and sell the same in money to taxpayers, who would pay tax with it to the amount of its face. What little money was paid into the treasury was used for expenses that orders would not pay. The method of grading land into first, second and third grades and for fixing the amount of tax for each 100 acres, according to the respective rates for state purposes, was enacted February 18th, 1804, and was continued with slight alterations up to the first years of Meigs county as heretofore mentioned, but no part of it was allowed for county purposes. The law of levies for county purposes by assessing a tax on stock, etc., was continued at about the same rate until after Meigs county was organized, which law was enacted February 19th, 1805. At the pioneer meeting in 1885 Mrs. Dolly Knight had a most interesting paper concerning early days about Chester, from which some extracts are taken of facts not included in the former papers. "In 1798 Peter Grow and Levi Stedman PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 93 built their first cabins in what afterwards became the town of Chester, but they did not remove their families until a year later. Mrs. Grow died before the cabins were ready for occupancy, but the father, with six motherless children, came to the place of their future home. Mrs. Stedman shared with her husband all the privation of those primitive times. She. too, had a 'bear story,' for one time when Mr. Stedman was away from home she heard something disturbing the pigs in the pen and discovered a bear. She resorted to firebrands, throwing them vigorously. The bear retreated, not getting fresh pork for supper. Many families who came from Vermont and Massachusetts and located on Shade river, in and about Chester, in the first years of 1800 ought to be included in pioneer history. Thomas L. Halsey, 1792, bought land of the Ohio Corany's purchase ; Jacob and Joel Cowdery in 1807 and 1808, and the Branch, the Rice and Walker families and others. Those families from the New England states brought their ideas of education with them, and until they could have a common school they would work hard by day and in the evening teach their children. They succeeded in bringing up some intelligent sons and daughters. Their books were few, but well chosen and carefully read. After Meigs county was made and organized, with the county seat located at Chester, the principal lawyers to attend the sessions of Common Pleas Court were Samuel F. Vinton and Thomas Ewing." In various communications that have been submitted to us there has been much of the same character related by Mrs. Knight, so we have taken the liberty of making extracts from her excellent paper instead of using the entire history.—S. C. L. It is a serious fact that among the first early settlers in what is now Meigs county and who bought land, that no subsequent account of their lives or families has been obtained, an omission which at this late day it is almost impossible to 94 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY supply after the lapse of nearly a century. We find in the records of deeds of Washington county and of Gallia county names of men who bought land and made homes in what is now Meigs county. Ezra and Joshua Chapman and Levi Chapman purchased land dating to 1787. Ezra and Joshua Chapman lived and died in Letart township. Henry Roush bought thirty-six acres of land in 1808 in Letart. Adam Harpold, in 1812, a farm in Letart township. Thomas Alexander, first, in 1803. After 1810, there seems to have been a steady influx of families from Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York, as well as the earlier emigrants from New England. The names of Sayre, Hall and Price are represented by a large number of people living in Meigs county. George W. Cooper was a son of Abraham Cooper and Margaret Cooper, nee Wetzel, daughter of Lewis Wetzel, of frontier notoriety. Mr. Cooper lived in Chester several years as a salesman in Colonel David Barber's store. Moving to Middle-port, he was an active member of the Meigs County Pioneer Society, being the first corresponding secretary of the same. Mr. Cooper was one of the most upright, reliable of men and universally respected. He died in Middleport, Ohio, in 1878. Persis 0. Cooper, nee Blackstone, wife of George W. Cooper, was born in Athens, Ohio, May 22nd, 1822. She was a granddaughter of Major John White. She died at New Carlisle, Ohio, July 23rd, 1894. Major John White was born in 1758 in Pomfret, Conn., and was a soldier in the Revolutionary army. He was said to be one of the bodyguards at the execution of Major Andre, and was familiar with all the circumstances connected with the attempted betrayal of the army by Benedict Arnold. He was one of a company that landed at Marietta in 1789 and lived in the blockhouse, serving at times as an Indian scout. While here he married Priscilla Duval. After his marriage he moved PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 95 to Waterford, subsequently to Athens county, until the death of his wife in 1838, when he came to his son-in-law's and daughter's, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Fair, of Chester, Meigs county, with whom he remained until his decease, in his eighty-seventh year. He is buried in the Chester cemetery. Samuel Ervin built a cabin near the site of what is known as the "Horton boatyard" in 1807, being the first settler of the town of Pomeroy. Amos Partlow came in 1809 and built his cabin about where the Excelsior Salt Works are situated, and that was the second house. The third cabin was erected by Frank Hughes on the ground where the court house stands, and John Mason put a cabin on Sugar run, being the fourth dwelling house in Pomeroy. Mr. Ervin vacated his house in favor of John Bailey and built another cabin at the mouth of Kerr's run ; lived there in 1815, when he sold to Nathan Clark, who was therefore about the fifth settler of the town of Pomeroy. Some of the above mentioned improvements were sold to other parties. Clark sold his improvement to Robert Bailey or Randall Stivers, who afterwards sold to Major Dill. Nial Nye bought a lot of Dill and built the first store house, where he kept the first post office in Pomeroy in 1827. Mr. John Knight bought the improvement made by Mr. Ervin of a Mr. Miles, and Samuel Grant bought the Partlow improvement. Robert Bailey, Elihu Higley, John Bailey, David Bailey, Hedgeman Hysell, Leonard Hysell and Elam Higley met at the house of Samuel Ervin and from there started to Gallipolis and volunteered under General Tupper to serve in the War of 1812. Thomas Ervin, Robert Bailey, David Bailey and John Bailey were pioneer keelboat men, who boated salt from Kanawha to Pittsburg, the boat being owned by P. Green and Jack Allen. The first public road cut through the woods from Gallipolis to Chester was opened by Samuel Ervin, Asahel Cooley and 96 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY Hamilton Kerr. [Note.—The date of this road is not given, but there were settlements on Leading creek and at Athens as early as at Chester, and may have been opened as early by way of these settlements from Gallipolis to Athens.] It should be borne in mind that many roads were barely marked out for horse or foot men that were never opened for teams. Mr. Thomas Matthews settled in Chester in 1798 or 1799, and he told me (Larkin) while we were in company passing over the hill on the Rutland road to Middleport that there was where he and Hamilton Kerr and some other men whose names are forgotten located a road to Shade river, crossing Leading creek where the K. & M. Railroad crosses that stream, running immediately up the point of that hill and following the ridge all the way west of Middleport and Pomeroy, but that road was never opened for teams. S. C. L. Mr. Ervin stated that in 1814 the Ohio river was very high, so that his father, Samuel Ervin and family, were compelled to leave the cabin and take shelter in a cave, where they lived seven days and nights, in much discomfort, as it was in the month of February. Rutland, Ohio, March 29th, 1878. To the Teacher and Scholars of the School in Pleasant Valley : We propose to write a few items in relation to the early history and settlement of the little spot of earth that appears to be of so much importance and which in reality is so very interesting to the inhabitants of what is now called Pleasant Valley, the lawn where now stands the seat of learning and capitol for this community, together with its surroundings up and down the vale— When wild turkeys and deer, And old black bears that prowled, Were sought by hunters here, Though wolves as sentries howled. PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY - 97 This place in those olden days was called the White Oak Flats. Now it has been three score and ten years since the first settlement was made within its borders. I will relate a few incidents. Soon after the Hon. Brewster Higley settled with his family near the mouth of the middle fork of Leading creek in the spring of 1799, and not far from the mouth of Great run, which drains the water of this little valley into the channel of that little creek, Mr. Levi Stedman had established himself on Shade river at a point where Chester now stands and had built a mill for the grinding of wheat for the settlers. It became necessary that a road should be opened between the two places. Accordingly, it was agreed that Mr. Levi Stedman and a party from Shade river and a company from Leading creek, under the direction of Mr. Brewster Higley, should meet near the place where little George Russell lived at the forks of Thomas creek. The parties having met, proceeded to mark out the road to their respective homes. The Leading creek party marked the way very near where it is now established. When they passed through a very thick wood on what is now the Stow farm and on through the low gap to a place by the west line of the McGuire land, it being in June and night had overtaken them, the darkness was it intense, not a gleam of light to direct them, when one of their number thought of an expedient, which was to get into the channel of that little stream, exceedingly crooked as it was, and to follow its meanderings to the mouth, which was open ground, so they all got safely home. This occurred in 1804 or 1805. The first settler in this valley was Abel Larkin, who moved into his cabin April 1st, 1808, on the northeast corner of Section No. 7, in Rutland township. The second settler was Joseph Richardson, a little west, in 1809, who sold to Samuel Danforth in 1811. Mr. Danforth resided there until his death in 1845. The place had been occupied by different families until now, 1878, it is owned by John F. Stevens. Richard 98 - PIONEER HISTORY OF MEIGS COUNTY Cook and James McGuire came with their families from Marietta in 1813 and settled on Section No. 1. Earl P. Archer came about that time and bought land in 1814, and Elihu Higley married Nancy Cook and settled on Section No. 2 in 1816. Bereman Bailey located a farm a little north in 1827. Hazael Lathrop, who framed more buildings in this neighborhood than any other man in his time, came from New York in 1817. He married Catharine, a daughter of Billy Wright, and lived in a cabin on the eastern border of Section No. 8. He moved farther west in 1825, but after seventy years that strip of land is known as the "Lathrop Place." Mr. Richard Cook died July 17th, 1840, aged seventy-three years. His wife, Irene Cook, nee Hodge, died October 7th, 1839, aged seventy-three years. About 1812 James McGuire bought a farm in Pleasant Valley. He was born in Ireland August 14th, 1777. He emigrated to Marietta and there married the Widow Murray, who had four children—William, John, Eliza and Matilda. Mrs. McGuire's maiden name was Mary Garnet. She was a sister of the mother of John Brough, the famous war Governor of Ohio. A little story was current about Esquire Brough, father of the Governor, of his queer decisions when an acting magistrate. He made the witness pay the cost of prosecution in a case of larceny. A mechanic living in Harmar and working in Marietta had a canoe to go over to his work and back for his meals. Persons troubled him by taking away his canoe when he wanted it. He therefore gave notice that he would prosecute the first one that did it. So the next day a man came along and asked where such a man had gone. He saw him take the canoe and go out of the mouth of the Muskingum. "Did you see him do that?" "Yes." Dropping his tools, he went to Esquire Brough for a warrant, and the man and the witness were soon before the court. There the witness said he did not see the man take the canoe, that he said so "for a joke." The judge figured a little and said, "I find the prisoner not