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FRONTIER HOSTILITIES THICKEN

The settlement of Belmont territory would have made much earlier progress but for the state of the frontier. Bouquet's march to the Forks of the Muskingum in 1764 quieted the Indians for a while but groups of white men were to blame for some of the hostilities which followed in the regions of the upper Ohio. Ebenezer Zane saw clearly the folly of white cruelty and violence but his warnings were not always heeded.

In 1774 the victories of McDonald at Dresden and Lewis at Mt. Pleasant, together with Dunmore's treaty at Camp Charlotte, were also of value to the pioneers on the frontier, but the Revolutionary war soon followed and the general government had to devote all its energies to preparations for the main conflict, this at the time when the British were encouraging their savage allies to attack the Americans on the frontier.

Five years after the first attempt to overcome Fort Henry came the monumental crime of Gnadenhutten, when a group of whites massacred ninety-four friendly Indians with such an exhibition of ruthlessness that right-thinking Americans have long turned from the thought of it with loathing and shame. The Revolutionary war came to a close, but if the pioneers felt that this would insure a peaceful attitude on the part of the Indians they soon realized their mistake.

STOOD FAST FOR THE OHIO RIVER

The treaty which ended the war gave the colonies undisputed possession of the Northwest Territory but not with the red man's consent. The tribes continued to insist upon the Ohio River as the boundary between their people and the whites, so that attacks and reprisals went on. At length preparations to win a lasting peace by force of arms were begun and these are of special interest in a Belmont County history because at an early stage they went on near the settlements in Belmont territory.

While General Anthony Wayne was training his legion on the Ohio above Wheeling and when in 1792 his army passed down the river en route to Fort Washington the pioneers of eastern Belmont must have felt heartened over the prospect of a formidable campaigns against the Indians. But the Harmar and St. Clair campaigns had also appeared to promise victory, only

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to suffer signal defeats. The pioneers still came in limited numbers to the Ohio at Wheeling Creek.

SETTLERS MULTIPLY AFTER WAYNE'S VICTORY

Wayne's victory at Fallen Timbers and his treaty of 1795 which followed gave the frontiers peace and Belmont County drew to its territory a rapidly increasing flood of settlers who established new homes in its various sections, chiefly along the Ohio and on the county's rich creek bottoms. By 1800 the county's inhabitants numbered about six hundred and it enjoyed the distinction of having become the new home of a considerable number of Quakers,

A NEW COUNTY IN A NEW STATE

Zane's Trace was begun in Belmont County territory in 1796 and its part in adding to the growth of the little settlements was marked, all the more so because of the fact that it passed clear through the territory from east to west. The county's formal organization was also an encouragement to the pioneer. Ohio statehood followed March 1, 1803, and this also strengthened the desire of the eastern and southern men to settle in this newest county of the new state. To anticipate the results of the 1810 census we find that Belmont's total population was in that year 11,097, while the returns from other existing southeastern Ohio counties were : Muskingum, 10,036; Washington, 5,991; Licking, 3,852; Guernsey, 3,051; Athens, 2,791.

CHAPTER XXXI

THE COUNTY'S BEGINNING

GOVERNOR ST. CLAIR PROCLAIMED BELMONT'S COUNTYHOOD SEPTEMBER 7, 1801—FIRST COURTHOUSE BUILT AT PULTNEY—COUNTY SEAT REMOVED TO ST. CLAIRSVILLE, APRIL, 1804—SECOND COURTHOUSE, ERECTED AT THE COUNTY SEAT IN 1814, A TWO-STORY BRICKPULTNEY LAID OUT BY DAVID McELBERTON— LIST OF TOWNSHIPS AND THEIR EARLIEST SETTLERS—ZANE'S TRACE FORERUNNER OF NATIONAL ROAD—SOME OFFICIAL "FIRSTS."

Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, brought Belmont County into existence by his proclamation of September 7, 1801, which prescribed its boundaries as follows :

"Beginning on the Ohio River at the middle of the fourth township of the second range of townships, in the seven ranges and running with the line between the third and fourth sections of that township west, to the western boundary of the said seven ranges; thence .south with the said western boundary to the middle of the fifth township in the seventh range of townships; thence east with the line between the third and fourth sections of the fifth township to the Ohio River and from thence with the Ohio River to the place of the beginning."

The county's original limits as thus established were later changed through the formation of Guernsey and Monroe counties, Guernsey taking from Belmont all that part of its original territory which now constitutes Noble County. Thus altered Belmont came to be bounded on the north by Harrison and Jefferson counties, on the east by the Ohio River, on the south by Monroe County and on the west by Noble and Guernsey counties.

BELMONT'S FIRST COURTHOUSE

This was started in 1801 in the town of Pultney.

It was a brick building thirty-five feet square and five hundred dollars was spent on it. During the following year small additional expenditures were made. The commissioners ordered

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the construction of a jail out of hewn logs. It measured 24 by 15 feet and cost $154 dollars. A pound for estrays was added.

Ohio's first general assembly appointed a commission to determine whether or not the Belmont county seat should be moved to St. Clairsville. The commission reported in favor of the change and in January, 1804, the Legislature ordered the removal to be made. St. Clairsville became the county seat in April. The first court of general quarter sessions was held April 16, 1804, in the house of William Congleton, with Calvin Pease presiding.

COURTHOUSE AT ST. CLAIRSVILLE

On the county commissioners' journal for September, 1804, the following entry was. made :

"The public building was left to the lowest bidder and struck off to Alexander Young, who according to law entered into bond with Sterling Johnson, his surety, for his performance of his contract, whose bonds are filed with the clerk.

"The building was struck off at one thousand dollars for the `gaol' and 'gaoler's' rooms together with the roof, and sevent dollars for raising an upper story on the same for a courthouse, the expense of which is to be paid by donations, for which Sterling Johnson and Robert Giffin give their bonds. Likewise Sterling and William Congleton entered into bond for the furnishing the same with bench and seats, the same to be done by donation."

SECOND COURTHOUSE AND JAIL

The second courthouse at St. Clairsville, which was a square building of brick and two stories high, was erected in the year 1814. Sterling Johnson did the grading for the sum of $260, and the contractor, William Brown, received the sum of $5,640.

On the 19th of March, 1819, the same grader and contractor received the contract for building the county's second jail at the present county seat. This was really the third jail in Belmont County, the first having been erected in 1801 in the town of Pultney.

This work was completed in the early part of the year 1821. The jail was built of brick similar to that used in the courthouse. The first story was nine feet with an extra, six feet wide, through the middle and contained four rooms, two dungeons and two jail-

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er's rooms. The second story was eight feet wide laid out like the main floor.

For this work Johnson received $95 and Brown $3,040. This price was somewhat less than that paid for the erection of St. Clairsville's third jail in 1842 by Baily and Collins. This firm received $3,902.

THE COUNTY SEAT CONTEST

In 1857 a controversy arose as to the permanency of the county seat as established in 1804 and the erection of a new courthouse at St. Clairsville was delayed for a time because the contest which began in 1857 did not seem to be quieted. In its issue of June 30, 1925, celebrating the centennial anniversary of the beginning of work on the National road at St. Clairsville, the Bellaire Leader had this to say on the county seat question :

"It is said that the coming of the railroads had much to do with arousing this controversy. Those who wanted the county seat located in Pultney township maintained that the majority of the county population which lived along the railroad lines and the river front would be better and more economically accommodated with the county seat in Bellaire.

"The republican county convention in 1883 passed a resolution to the effect that there was to be no agitation of the county seat question during the next two years. The convention nominated Samuel Hilles, Barnesville, for representative, on that platform.

"As the legislature was democratic and since it had been favorably impressed with the idea that it would make the county permanently democratic, a bill was introduced by a member from Cleveland and rushed through against the protest of both Belmont County's senator and representative and without giving the people of the county an opportunity to be heard. The bill went through under a suspension of the rules, authorizing the construction of the new county seat buildings at a cost not to exceed $100,000.

CONTRACTS LET FOR ST. CLAIRSVILLE COURTHOUSE

"When this law was enacted, Owen Mehan, Nathaniel Taylor, and Morris Cope were county commissioners. Several plans

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were submitted that the architects thought might be within the limits of $100,000 as fixed by law. Work had but fairly commenced upon the foundation when it was discovered that the ground selected was bad. Additional work in securing a substantial foundation cost about $20,000 more than the original estimates. The plans were changed; cut stone was substituted for brick in the body of the building. Other changes were also made adding greatly to the cost of construction. Legislation was then secured authorizing the borrowing of an additional $50,000 and the levying of taxes to be used in the construction. Work then progressed under the watchful eye of T. E. Clark, superintendent, until completed and dedicated.

SHERIFF'S RESIDENCE, JAIL, COURTHOUSE

"As soon as the new courthouse was completed the old one, on the site on which the sheriff's residence was to be built, was torn down and a modern two-story brick building erected as a sheriff's residence. The old jail was then torn down and a new one on modern plans erected in a substantial manner.

"This magnificent structure was erected forty years ago at a cost approximating a quarter of a million. In it are the offices of the county's public servants, the common pleas and probate court rooms, the St. Clairsville post office, the office of the St. Clairsville mayor, a large auditorium, and several other rooms. The dome towers more than 150 feet above one of the highest hills in the county and can be seen from elevated spots in all parts of the county. At night the town clock when illuminated serves as a beacon light for travelers on county roads. The building is substantially constructed of stone and may last for centuries. It is one of the finest buildings in

eastern Ohio."

THE TOWNSHIPS AND THEIR EARLY SETTLERS

Having recorded county organization, the erection of public buildings and the establishment of justice we now turn to Belmont County's townships, taking into the record a history of them printed by the Bellaire Leader in June, 1925. We could not hope to set forth these ably-handled details with equal success; therefore we copy from the Leader:

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FIRST TOWN BUILT IN THE YEAR NINETY-SEVEN

"David McElberton and family settled in Pultney Bottom around the year 1797 and laid out the first town within the limits of the county. This was the original county seat, which was later moved to St. Clairsville, the present county capital. From a list of other early settlers one seems to be reading of present-day families, so familiar are a majority of the names.

"In Pultney Township's early history we find the names of Andrew Dickson or Dixon, Robert Alexander, Charles Eckles, Abraja Workman, George and. Andrew Neff, Samuel Worley, Matthew Howell, James Hutchison, John King, William Merritt and Jacob Davis, who emigrated from Maryland in 1802 and bought part of the land where Bellaire is now located from the sons of John Buchanan. The original white holder of this land, now Bellaire, is said to have been John Duer, who entered it about 1792. It is a long list leading on from the above. Following is a list of the names of the early settlers according to townships :

"Pease Township—Joseph Tilton, Joseph Moore, Alexander Clark, the Peckens family, Benjamin Steele, William Wiley, also the Griffins, Johnsons, Scotts, Yosts, and Worleys.

"Richland Township—Richard Hardesty of Round Bottom, Elijah Martin, James Wilson, Isaac Cowgill. Cowgill crossed the river into Belmont County with the first emigrant wagon to cross the river. Cowgill built the first hewed log house in Belmont County and died on his farm November 29, 1845.

"William Boggs, who came to Richland Township from Pennsylvania, settled near St. Clairsville, where he resided until 1833. Boggs is credited with opening the first coal bank in the neighborhood.

"Warren Township—John Greer, George Shannon, George Dougherty, Robert Plummer, James Vernon, also the Campbells and Kennons.

"Union Township—Jonathan Ellis, Duncan Morrison, David Berry, Joseph Gunney, Thomas Marquis, Samuel McCune, Robert Patterson, William Boyd, and others by the names of Hart, Broomhall, Abner, Hogue, Bond, Taylor, Barnes, Mead, Drennen, Freeman, Groves, Bell and Conner.

"Wheeling Township—John McConnell, Robert and William Winters, Alexander and James. McCullough, David Rusk, David

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Barton, Samuel Patton, James Campbell, John Edwards, Peter Snedeker, John Henderson, Daniel Merritt and David Richie.

"Goshen Township—Adams, Dunlap, Wyman, Keeler, Philpot, Ralph, Heath, Wright. These last three entered into the territory which is now the Town of Belmont. Other settlers were' the Ewers, Conrows, Millses, Fawcetts, Smiths, Danners, McNicholases, Phillipses and Burnses.

"Wayne Township—Those prominent in the early history of this township included George Hall, who erected the first cabin built in this township. Other early settlers included Herman Umstead, also the Barretts, Skinners, Stanleys, Milhorns, Mechens, Moores, Houstons and Woodses.

"Flushing Township—The history of this neighborhood conjures up the names of Elisha Ellis, Samuel Russell, Levi Hollins-worth, John Howell and James Bethel.

"Kirkwood Township was erected November 25, 1801. First settlers came in 1800 and others soon followed.

"Colerain Township was organized in 1808 and the Village of Farmington was founded in 1815.

"Smith Township—Among the early settlers in this township were Caleb Engle, Hice Boggs, William Wilson, John Warnock, William Smith, Joseph Miller, Hans Wiley, David Myers, William Thornborough, John Wilkinson, John Dawson, Jacob Lewis, John Prior, Samuel Lucas, John Porterfield, William Workman, Samuel McKirahan, William Weekley and Miles Hart.

"Somerset Township—Early settlers here included Enoch Stanton, James Edgerton, Joseph Bishop, Homer Gibbons, Samuel Williams and Richard English.

"Washington Township—This was the last civil, township organized in the county but not so in point of settlement, for many of the pioneers were attracted to the beautiful Captina lands as early as 1797. Those taking active part in this township's early history included the Danfords, Perkinses, Walter Ring, the Pattersons, William Frost, Robert Lindsey and Thomas Armstrong.

"York Township—Early settlers here found some unoccupied cabins which they adapted to their own use. First came John and Edward Bryson, Henry Hoffman and George Lentley in the year 1801. They were followed quickly by George De Long, Levin Okey, Joseph Baker, Benjamin McVay, William Swaney, John Brister, Elisha Collins, John Aldridge, John Davis, David Ruble, George Gales, Burgy Hunt and Archibald Woods.

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"Mead Township was created in 1815. The Dilles settlement, the first, was located opposite Moundsville and Fort Dilles was built there."

SOME OF BELMONT'S OFFICIAL "FIRSTS"

First national representative from district including Belmont County, James Caldwell, 1813-1817.

First state senators, William Vance and Thomas Kerker, 1803.

First state representatives, Joseph Sharp and Elijah Woods, March, 1803; also Josiah Dillon and James Smith, December, 1803.

First sheriff of Belmont County, Jacob Coleman, 1801-1803.

First treasurer of Belmont County, Daniel McElherren, 18011804.

First clerk of Belmont County, Elijah Woods, 1801-1806.

First county commissioners, Levin Okey, James McWilliams and Robert Griffin, 1804.

First county auditor, Peter Tallman, 1823-1825.

First Prosecuting Attorney, Charles Hammond, 1801-1804.

First probate judge of Belmont County, David Harris, 1851-1857.

First Belmont County recorder, Sterling Johnson, 1804.

First Belmont County coroner, John Dungan, 1801-1806.

First Belmont County infirmary director, William Lemon, Alexander Hannah and J. C. Anderson, 1842.

First St. Clairsville postmaster of which there is history, William Booker, 1826.

First superintendent of county schools after their organization in 1869, J. J. Burns.

First township officers in Richland Township of which there is authentic history, Isaac Coyle, Isaac Hatcher, John Carter, trustees; Josiah Hodges, clerk; William Dent, constable; Robert Griffith, James Cloyd, Sterling Johnson and William Sinclair, justices of the peace, 1809.

First officers upon incorporation of St. Clairsville, John Patterson, president; Sterling Johnson, recorder; Samuel Sullivan, marshal ; William Congleton, collector; James Caldwell, treasurer and Michael Groves, William Brown, John Brown and Josiah Dillon, trustees, 1807.

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THOMAS ASHE ON ZANE'S TRACE

The fame and promise of this rude pathway through the wilderness was known abroad as early as 1808, when a description of it was printed in a London book entitled "Ashe's Travels in America," the author being Thomas Ashe who had seen the Trace in 1806, while at Wheeling. He called it a "great road" and added :

"There is a very beautiful island directly opposite Wheeling, to which there is a ferry and another ferry to the Ohio shore, where commences a road leading to Chillicothe and the interior of the state of which that town is the capital. The road for the most part is mountainous and swampy, notwithstanding which a mail coach is established on it from Philadelphia to Maysville, Kentucky, through Pittsburgh, Wheeling and Chillicothe, a distance of upwards of seven hundred miles, to be performed in fifteen days.

"Small inns are to be found every ten or twelve miles of the route. They are generally log huts of one apartment and the entertainment consists of bacon, whiskey and Indian bread. Let those who despise this bill of fare remember that seven years ago this road was called the wilderness and travelers had to encamp, find their own provisions and with great difficulty secure their horses from panthers and wolves."

THE OLD NATIONAL ROAD

The old National Road ! What a play of romance

Is called up by the name! and the shadows advance

From their corners obscure at the back of the stage,

And evolve into shapes—into scenes of an age

Whose sweet graces were too quaint and homely to last,

And are gone with roses and rue of the past!

Let the bard, to the strains of his lyre, frame an ode

To that Highway of Hope—the Old National Road!

The old National Road! It stretched on—ever on

Toward that land where humanity's vanguard had gone;

Past the spring on the hill, the rill in the dale;

By the but on the hillside, the inn in the vale.

And the beings it loved and the people it knew

Were untutored and primitive, kindly, and true ;

And the face of the midsummer sun ever glowed

With a smile for the faithful old National Road.

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From the foot of the mountains still westward it trailed,

Till the footprints of settlements faltered—and failed ;

Under skies that were blustering, skies that were bland,

Over turbulent streams that no bridge had e'er spanned,

But the rainbow of Promise ; and ended its quest

Where the birds and the rooks of Ohio sang—"Rest."

"Equal chances and favors for all," was the code

Of the open and honest old National Road.

The old National Road ! In the heat and the cold

There the emigrant's canvass-topped vehicle rolled ;

'Twas a great Conestoga—its wheels groaning sore

Of the journey they made and the burden they bore,

Uncomplaining the lank oxen swaggered and swung,

Under yoke, at the sides of the teetering tongue;

And the family cow, poor and patient, was towed

At the end of a rope—down the National Road.

—Ohio Magazine.

THE NATIONAL ROAD IN BELMONT

Actual work on the Ohio extension of this historic highway began at St. Clairsville, July 4, 1825, but its value to the county had been favorably estimated and enthusiastically looked forward to from the day on which its builders had decided upon Wheeling as the Ohio River crossing-point instead of Steubenville. Briefly we touch upon the earlier history of this epoch-making enterprise.

Work began on it at Cumberland, Maryland, in 1811, and by 1818 the sixty-three miles of road connecting Cumberland and Uniontown had been completed so that mail coaches were in commission between Washington and Wheeling.

WHEELING'S VICTORY WAS BELMONT'S

The people of Belmont County were of course aware of what the new highway was doing for the Maryland and Pennsylvania sections which it pierced. They had alertly followed the discussion of the respective merits of the two proposed Ohio River crossings and ardently hoped that Henry Clay's power and prestige would win a victory for Wheeling, feeling sure that such a victory would result in routing the highway through the whole length of the county.. They knew, too, of the vast activities which had followed the work of construction—that taverns were springing up, settlements multiplying and new towns dotting the wayside.

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Indeed, as early as 1818 the builders of Belmont had knowledge of what the highway east of the Ohio was doing as their powerful aid. There was a constantly increasing travel int Wheeling from the east and many in that stream of pioneer crossed the Ohio into Belmont to enter land and cast their lot with those who had come on before.

SOME DETAILS OF TRAVEL

It is said that an hour was usually consumed in stage-coach travel between St. Clairsville and Wheeling, a distance of about fifteen miles. Haw long it required to reach the county seat from Wheeling is a different question, with that big hill west of Wheeling Creek in mind. A National Road historian speaks of the "cracking of the driver's whip" when starts were made from wayside inns. There was probably many a crack of the whip while his team was mounting to Belmont's upper levels from the valleys below. Quoting again from the writer referred to :

"The year 1818 marked the entrance of the first stage coach into Belmont County. Announcement of the memorable event had been made days in advance. Upon the day the coach was to appear, large crowds collected at all business places between Bridgeport and Morristown. Also many people came from their cabins to the cross-roads so that they could witness the inaugural trip of the four horse vehicle.

"The speed of the horses was approximately twelve miles per hour. The advent of the railroad train hardly caused any more excitement and exultation on the part of the early settlers.

OPERATION BY TOLL

"The operation of the. National Road included the establishment of the toll system which provided the revenue for keeping the road in repair.

"Tolls in Ohio were higher than those in Pennsylvania. In Ohio some of the toll rates in 1831 were : Score of sheep or hogs, 10 cents; score cattle, 20 cents; every horse, mule or ass, led or driven, 3 cents; every horse and rider, 6 cents; every sled or sleigh drawn by one horse or ox, 12 cents; every chariot, coach, coachee, horses, 18 cents; also every horse in addition, 6 cents.

"Toll gates in Ohio were located about ten miles apart. Toll

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gate keepers were appointed by the governor in the early days in Ohio. These keepers received a salary which was deducted from their collections, the 'remainder turned over to the 'road commissioners.' The keepers were also allowed for a few years to retain five per cent of all toll received above one thousand dollars."

CHAPTER XXXII

BELLAIRE THE OLD AND THE NEW

LAID OUT BY JACOB DAVIS, WHO CAME FROM MARYLAND IN 1802-FINK'S COAL MINE ONE OF THE COUNTY'S FIRST-INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT BEGAN IN 1866 AND HAS REACHED A HIGH STAGE-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS NUMEROUS AND INFLUENTIAL-NEW INTERSTATE BRIDGE A SUPERB STRUCTURE-LIST OF MAYORS SINCE 1861-THE DAILY LEADER.

J. A. Caldwell, in his history of Belmont and Jefferson counties, published in 1880, wrote as follows concerning the beginnings of this busy and growing city :

"What now in part comprises the Second Ward of Bellaire is the site of the old original town.. It was laid out by Jacob Davis, son of Jacob Davis, Sr., who emigrated from Hartford County, Maryland, and settled here in 1802. He purchased the interest of two of John Buchanan's sons. Buchanan bought from John Duer July 3, 1795. The land upon which the entire city was built was conveyed by a government grant from the land office in Steubenville, to said John Duer in 1792. Buchanan willed his lands to his three sons. John Rodefer also purchased from one of the sons 133 1/3 acres immediately south of Indian Run on the 30th of March, 1832. Jacob Davis built a log house or cabin on the ground upon which the implement works now stands, in 1829."

FINK'S COAL MINE AN EARLY ONE

By 1832 four houses stood near the creek and one where the ferry was later established. In this locality Capt. John Fink opened one of the county's first coal banks. The vein was six feet thick. The coal was mined, conveyed to the river and shipped down stream to Marietta, Cincinnati and New Orleans. Jacob Davis selected six acres of his land and April 1, 1834, laid out the tract and called it Bell Air, intending thus to honor the place

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of his nativity in Maryland. The name was later changed to Bellaire.

Coal mining attracted much outside notice and the town continued to grow. In 1840 a post office was established. The advent of the Central Ohio Railroad in 1854 and of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh line soon after gave Bellaire marked impetus. The purchase of the Harris farm in 1852 by Col. J. H. Sullivan and his platting of .the new city there was also an accelerating movement. The town was incorporated in 1860 and in 1870 and 1873 its corporate limits were widened. The building of the Bellaire & Southwestern Railroad opened up a rich agricultural territory.

The development of Bellaire into an industrial center began in the middle '60s. In 1866 the Bellaire Nail Works entered the field; in 1869, the National Glass Works; in 1870, the Imperial Machine Works; in 1871, the Baron Manufacturing Company and the Bellaire Cement Works ; in 1872, the Bellaire Window Glass Works; in 1875, the Barnhill Boiler Company; in 1876, the Bellaire Goblet Company. The B. & 0. repair shops were also established in Bellaire at about this time. These and other things advanced Bellaire from its few buildings in 1860 to a population of 8,000 in 1873. By 1900 the inhabitants totaled 9,912; by 1910, 12,946; and by 1920, 15,061.

The Bellaire Street Railway Company was organized with a capital stock of $50,000 June 1, 1874. G. W. Hoge became its president. The line began operations between Bel d Benson's Ferry, a distance of two miles, October 16, 1875. It cost $21,700. After more than a century of service the Bellaire-Benwood ferry is still a daily transporter of great streams of patrons.

THE BELLAIRE OF TODAY

Thus far we have dealt with early Bellaire and with conditions, enterprises and movements which made for early development. There are ample materials for an interesting account of the city in what might be considered its mid-period but this we have not space for and must now take up the Bellaire of today. Industrially the place has made remarkable progress in recent years, holding fast now, for instance, to its reputation as a glass-making city. On this score we quote from a recent issue of the Bellaire Leader:

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STILL A GLASS MAKING CENTER

"Bellaire still retains its reputation as a glass manufacturing center despite the fact that some of the plants have moved to other communities. While the city does not boast of as many companies as when it was known as 'The Glass City,' the present plants are larger and employ approximately as many men as were formerly engaged in the glass industry.

"While the past five years h c en the departure of the bottle company, the remainin panies are more substantial and are making rapid strides in the industry. Bellaire boasts of the largest glass plant under one roof and another that manufactures a variety of ware that is produced by only a few factories in the country. Another company has been developing so rapidly that a new addition to the plant is necessary."

MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTORIES

Bellaire supplements her glass industries with many other products, a partial list of which proves their great diversity—enamel ware, steel, brick, tile,. stoves, flour, signs, cement, castings, etc. Bellaire's four railroads are of course of immense value to her industrial welfare and the Ohio River powerfully reinforces these. We let the Bellaire Leader sum up prospects for the near future:

"In more recent years; the Ohio River has been developed to such an extent' that it is navigable the entire year. Steamboating has experienced a real revival and many of the large companies including the local Carnegie steel plant have constructed large dockscured fleets of towboats and barges. For many years packets have been hauling freight to and from this city.. Excellent roads have also added to the new means of transportation via trucks.

"Because of such a wealth of resources, coal, shipping facilities, accommodations for employes and desirable sites, Bellaire has become the home of diversified industries. Man is no longer dependent alone upon the coal mines, steel mills, enamel plants, foundries, glass plants and kindred. factories. Today men and women are employed in a score or more factories and plants manufacturing different varieties of products. These products find a ready market in all parts of the world and have made the city famous."

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BELLAIRE'S SCHOOLS ARE MODERN

The city thoroughly maintains educational progress. Beginning in 1904 with the construction of a high school building, which has now been converted into a grade building and renamed "Central,". in rapid succession the following buildings have been 1913, Indian Run in 1918, West Bellaire in 1924, and the new erected : Rose Hill in 1909, Gravel Hill in 1912, First Ward in

High school in 1925.

Bellaire supports and in turn is supported strongly by a very wideawake, popular and influential daily newspaper, the Bellaire Leader. Its publishers, Sherlock Brothers, are able, experienced, successful newspaper men of the highest character. They have built up the circulation and equipment of the Leader within a few brief years until its future looks very bright indeed. The Democrat, a weekly, is published by John L. Nichel. Iron, steel, glass, farm implements, enameled ware, caskets, machine and boiler works are a part of Bellaire's many and varied industrial products.

MISCELLANEOUS POSSESSIONS

Among these are numerous and active religious bodies. Other worthwhile institutions are a public library and a city hospital. the fire department is modernly motorized; there are two beauty spots in the form of parks; the water works provide pure and clear Ohio River water, filtered, which is piped to the extent of almost 4,000,000 gallons daily to nearly 3,000 homes. A monument to the memory of Civil, war heroes and another to those of the World war graces the city's park.

THE NEW INTERSTATE BRIDGE

This is one of Bellaire's most notable and valued acquisitions. The cost of it was secured through popular stock subscriptions and the enterprise is therefore a Monument to the community's public spirit. The bridge is a beautiful and magnificent structure. Here is a story of the outstanding facts :

Cost approximately $1,650,000.

Money raised through popular stock subscription campaign in all parts of the Ohio valley, which made, hundreds of people stockholders, and by the sale of bonds.

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First shovelful of dirt turned July 7, 1925, by William C. A. Kompart, then mayor of Bellaire.

Cornerstone laid with appropriate exercises December 4, 1925. Completed and opened for travel, December 22, 1926.

Total length of bridge from tip to tip, 2,815 feet, main span, 1,250 feet, channel span 700 feet. Forty feet above high water mark, 96 feet above low water mark.

Twenty-eight feet wide, including 22-foot roadway and six-foot sidewalk. Built for street car travel with two tracks already provided.

Steel used in construction, 7,677,790 pounds. Averaging 50 tons to the car, would make up a train load of 77 cars of steel.

Only general traffic bridge between Wheeling and Ironton on the Ohio River.

The bridge was erected by the J. E. Moss Iron Company with the Mt. Vernon Bridge Company in charge of the structural work, and the Vang Construction Company in charge of the piers.

Hundreds of bridge men and construction workers were engaged on the job, one fatal accident occurring, when Fred Morning fell from a pier on the Benwood side to the ground, sustaining injuries which resulted in his death, June 12, 1926.

Connects Bellaire, Ohio, with Benwood, W. Va., bringing directly together the towns of Shadyside, Bellaire, Bridgeport, Neffs, St. Clairsville and suburbs with McMechen, Benwood, Glendale, Moundsville, South Wheeling.

On the direct route for all east-west travel, through scenic West Virginia and Ohio.

Seven thousand automobiles crossed both ways on opening day, December 22, 1926.

BELLAIRE'S MAYORS

THE DAILY LEADER

The Bellaire Daily Leader was founded May 19, 1913, by James H. Robinson and Ross D. Robinson, brothers who had been conducting the Ohio Valley News, a weekly publication at. Martins Ferry for several years. The Leader started publication in a room located at 3385 Union Street.

When the Leader was started it had two daily competitors in Bellaire, the Independent, of which James F. Anderson was editor and publisher, and the Herald-Tribune of which Robert C. Meyer was editor and publisher. Both of these papers had long been in the weekly field but had entered the daily field some time before the Leader was begun.

On October 1, 1917, the Leader plant was moved to its present location at the corner of Guernsey and 35th streets. On March 20, 1920, Robinson Brothers purchased the Independent and suspended publication of that paper. The old Herald-Tribune was sold in 1919 to W. D. Shields, publisher of the weekly Bellaire Democrat, and it too was suspended, leaving the Leader alone in the daily field.

On September 27, 1920, the Leader was purchased by the four Sherlock brothers, A. J.,. H. ,E., B. A., M. F., who formed the Sherlock Brothers Publishing Company which has since published the paper.

Immediately after taking possession of the Leader the new owners proceeded to replace the equipment with new and modern machinery, added a full leased-wire telegraphic news service

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and a complete line of the best daily features and comics obtainable, and it has experienced a steady growth in circulation until it has at this time more than 7,000 subscribers.

Bellaire and surrounding territory had wanted a progressive newspaper for a long time and the people have shown their appreciation in many ways.

CHAPTER XXXIII

MORE ABOUT BELMONT COUNTY TOWNS

ST. CLAIRSVILLE, MARTINS FERRY, BARNESVILLE, BETHESDA, SHADY-SIDE, BRIDGEPORT, ETC.-SOME OF THEM ARE BUSY MANUFACTURING CENTERS-STORY ABOUT TWO OLD ST. CLAIRSVILLE NEWSPAPERS-ADVANTAGES, MERITS AND POSSESSIONS ARE VARIED-STRONG FACTORS IN BELMONT COUNTY'S GROWTH.

David Newell laid out the original town of St. Clairsville in 1801 and called it Newelston. Later it was named in honor of Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, when Belmont County was created. It was incorporated in 1807 and came under a new state charter December 19, 1818. It was early a center of trade in ginseng,. furs, grain and produce. These were wagoned to the Ohio River, eleven miles eastward, and boated to New Orleans. The extent of these transactions may be judged from the record of one of them, the shipment in 1808 of 6,000 pounds of ginseng, 12,000 pounds of snakeroot and quantities of hemp, flax and beeswax.

Located on the National Road and planted on one of Belmont's highest hills, St. Clairsville has an altitude of 1,284 feet. The courthouse dome,.rising to a point 150 feet above the county seat's highest hill, is visible from most of the county's elevated ridges. The view from this "coign of vantage" is impressive in the extreme.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE CHURCHES

We gather from the Bellaire Leader's centennial edition of 1925 that St. Clairsville's churches and schools are representative of the high character and intelligence of the county seat. The Leader listed the Presbyterian Church as having been organized in 1798; the United Presbyterian as having been founded in 1830; the Methodist as entering the field in 1834 and of the African Methodist as having been formed in 1840. From the same source it is learned that St. Clairsville's Christian Church was or-

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ganized about 1910. St. Clairsville schools are the pride of her people.

COUNTY SEAT IN THE YEAR 1808

A citizen of St. Clairsville wrote December 30, 1808, to F. Cuming (a traveler elsewhere mentioned in these pages), a letter which gives us a graphic and instructive glimpse of seven-year-old St. Clairsville. We here set forth the letter's outstanding features.

We learn in the first place from the letter that Zane's Trace "was scarcely passable for wagons." The town included seventy-nine dwelling houses and four hundred inhabitants. On the most elevated spot and near the center of the town plat, in the public square, stood "the courthouse and gaol under the same roof, a strong log building of two stories high." There was a poplar tree in sight of the town which had a diameter of eight feet and four inches. Inexhaustible coal banks surrounded the place and coal was delivered at six and a fourth cents a bushel. There were two schools, three physicians, two attorneys, five taverns, eight stores, seven carpenters, three masons, two blacksmiths, two tanners, four cabinetmakers, one brickmaker, two saddlers, one potter, one tinner, two makers of cut nails, two clock and watch makers, four shoemakers, three tailors, two wood turners, one spinning-wheel maker, one cartwright, two windsor-chair makers, one maker of split-bottom chairs, two distillers and one victualer.

TWO OLD NEWSPAPERS

When the Sherlock Brothers published the splendid special edition of their Bellaire Leader on June 30, 1925, it included excellent accounts of the county's first pair of newspapers, which were also among the very earliest published in Ohio. We copy in part from the Leader because its story is well told and because it is good Belmont County and St. Clairsville history :

"Five years after David Newell had laid out the town of what is now St. Clairsville, the county seat of Belmont County, and when all the few cabins were log, Alexander Armstrong who came from the East, started the first publication of a newspaper in Belmont County and the paper he first gave to the public in 1812 is now the St. Clairsville Gazette. It was first called the Belmont

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Repository and was a four column paper, printed after the manner of that time. Mr. Armstrong encountered many difficulties in launching his paper but he had a wide territory as it was the only paper between Steubenville and Marietta and its nearest competitor in the west was Zanesville. In 1818, he changed the name of the paper to the Belmont Journal and had associated with him, Robert H. Miller, who later became a noted newspaper man and in 1825 Mr. Armstrong sold the paper to Mr. Miller, who changed the name to the St. Clairsville Gazette and who enlarged the paper to six columns. In the issue of July 4th, 1825, Mr. Miller carried a most credible report of the starting of the construction of the National Road at St. Clairsville.

"In 1830, George W. Manypenny purchased the Gazette and enlarged the paper as well as making it one of the leading publications in the state. Afterwards, he became a prominent editor and politician of Columbus.

"In 1833, John Y. and Jacob Glessner purchased the Gazette and later they became owners of the Mans field Banner and Zanesville Signal. Jacob Glessner was the father of the late W. L. Glessner, president of the Whitaker-Glessner Company of Wheeling. In 1837, the Glessners sold the paper to John Irons, and in 1856 Mr. Dunham retired and was succeeded by Stephen Gressinger and in 1862, John H. Heaton became the editor and successfully conducted the paper until 1873, or until his death, when it was sold to C. N. Gaumer. Mr. Gaumer gave the paper a strong following and in 1883 he purchased the Mansfield Shield and Banner and sold the Gazette to Isaac W. Riley. In 1889, Mr. Riley sold the paper to D. H. Milligan and George E. Stonrod and in 1896 the ownership passed to Arthur A. Clark and in 1901, to D. H. Milligan and D. S. Creamer. In 1904, A. E. Nichol purchased the paper and successfully edited it until 192i when it was purchased by Albert R. Bingham, who conducted the paper until his death in 1923. The present owner, Emerson Campbell, purchased the paper from the Bingham estate, March 1, 1924."

The Belmont Chronicle made its first appearance 114 years ago. Said the Leader of this :

"Picture a wild and stormy night in the spring of 1813. The sloppy streets of St. Clairsville reflected dimly in the flickering lights of a few tallow candles placed in the windows along the main thoroughfare of the hamlet. The few inhabitants of the

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Belmont County town had snugly settled within their homes for the night. All was quiet without.

"In a humble shack in the main part of the town, two men were engaged at work over a table. A case of type could be seen in one corner of the room. Papers were scattered over the floor, and in the dim illumination, a press with long lever, flat surface, a crude model, was silhouetted against the window. Soon the press was put in motion. A strip of paper was taken off. Then another and another. A pile of the papers was stacked against the wall of the dusky room.

"What was it? The first copy of the Belmont Chronicle. One hundred twelve years later, the Belmont Chronicle is still being printed. It's the same name that graced the first page of the sheet printed over a century ago in that dimly lighted room. Through fire, cyclone, wars and panics, the Belmont Chronicle has gone to press each week. As has been the custom since 1813, the Belmont Chronicle is a chronicler of Belmont County events. When the county had been a county but twelve years, and the state of Ohio had been a state but ten years, when civilization had but a short time prior laid her hand on the beautiful hills of Ohio, and while the Indians still roamed through portions of this community, events of interest were transposed into reading matter for the citizenry by the Belmont Chronicle.

"Nearly 3,000 papers are distributed through the country weekly and 5,000 persons read the news of Belmont County affairs as they transpire in 'Bonnie Belmont.'

"Politically, the Chronicle is Republican. However, the paper has never failed to advocate what was truly believed to be right, and never has it failed to uphold and commend the policies of any American statesmen, if they were believed to be for the good of the nation."

W. S. Norris, a veteran newspaper man, is the Chronicle's present owner and editor.

TRAVELER VIEWED BELMONT FROM WHEELING HEIGHTS

A traveler named F. Cuming, who passed through Belmont County eastward bound in August, 1807, has left the following vivid word picture of what he saw on reaching the Ohio :

"On the banks of the Ohio a new town called Canton [Bridgeport], laid out by Mr. [Ebenezer] Zane last year which has now

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thirteen houses. We here crossed a ferry of a quarter of a mile to Zane's Island, which we walked across, upwards of a half mile, through a fertile, extensive and well-cultivated farm, the property of Mr. Zane, some of whose apples, pulled from the orchard in passing, were very refreshing to us while we sat on the bank nearly an hour, awaiting the ferry boat. At last the boat came and we crossed the second ferry of another quarter of a mile to Wheeling. I set out next morning and soon gained the top of the hill immediately over Wheeling, from which there is a handsome bird's-eye view of that town. Zane's Island in fine cultivation, the two ferries across the Ohio, the village of Canton beyond."

BRIDGEPORT ONCE CALLED CANTON

It enjoys the distinction of having been laid out (May 9, 1806) by Ebenezer Zane who had acquired a large tract of land along Wheeling Creek extending from the Ohio River westward to what is known as the Scott farm and up the Ohio to Burlington. Canton, later Bridgeport, was located on Zane's Trace on the north side of (Ohio) Wheeling Creek and is now on the National Road. Zane's son-in-law, Elijah Woods, was a strong factor in its early development.

A year after its founding Bridgeport could boast of thirteen houses. Moses Rhodes launched and developed an industry there which made Bridgeport Belmont County's busiest spot for many years. This was the building of flat and keel boats for the river trade and Bridgeport thereby became the county's main shipping point.

NATIONAL ROAD HELPED

When Bridgeport was incorporated March 14, 1836, its limits extended to the north line of Aetnaville, and south of La Belle Glass Works, including Kirkwood, laid out January 28, 1834, by Joseph Kirkwood. Bridgeport's first postmaster was Moses Rhodes, appointed in 1815. The building of the National Road, beginning at St. Clairsville July 4, 1825, contributed materially to Bridgeport's importance and growth.

Bridgeport consisted of thirteen houses in 1807. By 1810 it possessed ten residences, a suspension rope ferry, a hotel, a blacksmith shop and a boat-building shop. Ezra Williams was the hamlet's wheelwright. By 1820 there was a still larger gain in

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buildings, inhabitants and embryo industries. The hard times of the middle thirties checked Bridgeport's growth, but during the decade which followed 1844 the town's activities quadrupled. In 1854 the shipping business alone amounted to $150,000. There were marked gains all around from that time forward.

A TOWN IN THE MAKING

In 1858 Bridgeport had : Four commission houses, two dry-goods stores, ten groceries, one foundry, one livery stable, one tin shop, two wagon-making shops, two blacksmith shops, one flour mill, two taverns, five common carriers, one telegraph office, two barbers, one cabinet maker, one weaver, one tailor, five seamstresses, four stove makers, one printer, one postmaster, one painter, one lawyer, one umbrella maker, four carpenters, one drug store, one undertaker, one tobacconist, one fisherman, one baker, one peddler, two boarding houses, one brush and broom maker, one willow basket maker, twenty coal diggers.

On the authority of some of Bridgeport's old residents it has been stated that the town's first industry was William Gasteng's cotton yarn and batting factory. In 1830-31 Forsythe and Thompson converted a warehouse into a flouring mill. In 1839 Adoniram Smith built a sawmill on or near the south side of Wheeling Creek. In 1850 William B. Dunlevy started his new Belmont Foundry. In 1854 R. J. Baggs launched a lumber yard and planing mill. The Diamond Grist Mill was established in 1872, the La Belle Glass Works the same year, and the Aetna Iron and Nail Works in 1873.

EARLY SETTLERS ON MARTINS FERRY SITE

Capt. Absalom Martin located there as early as 1786, but the town was not laid out until 1835, when Ebenezer, son of Absalom Martin, platted it into lots. Having sold a hundred of these, he named the place Martinsville, which was later changed to Martins Ferry. Steam ferry service went into existence at Martins Ferry about 1841.

Capt. Absalom Martin, a soldier of the Revolution, came from New Jersey and settled where Martins Ferry stands. His wife Catherine was a sister of Col. Ebenezer Zane. Ebenezer Martin's second wife was Minerva Zane, daughter of Jonathan Zane. Ten children were born of this union. Ebenezer Martin was Martins

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Ferry's "founder, patron and benefactor." For many years he owned the Martins Ferry ferry. The post office was established in 1835 with William Beasle as postmaster. The town was incorporated August 5, 1865.

Ebenezer Martin donated ground for a cemetery which became known as Walnut Grove. Here lie the mortal remains of two distinguished Zanes, Ebenezer, the maker of Zane's Trace, and his sister, Elizabeth, heroine of the gunpowder exploit at Fort Henry when it was besieged in 1782.

EARLY INDUSTRIES LISTED

In 1836 Thomas Wiley and Griffith McMillen manufactured Martins Ferry's first threshing machine and in the same year James Turner erected and successfully operated a large woolen mill, in which establishment Martins Ferry's first steam engine furnished the power. William Callihan launched the first pottery in 1837, while in the same year Thomas Wiley started a small foundry.

Benjamin Hoyle took an ambitious step in 1845 when he began the manufacture of the "Ralston Separator and Cleaner" and the "Hussey Reaping Machine." The shop was located at the corner of First and Hickory streets. In 1864 this plant became the property of Lavosier Spence who gave it the name of the Ohio Valley Agricultural Works.

BECOMING AN INDUSTRIAL CENTER

In 1857 Benjamin Hoyle built a shop at Second and Hanover streets and did repair work, while E. J. Hoyle and James Griffith turned out the Ralston Separator and Cleaner and other agricultural machinery. There were changes in ownership and the plant's location but the business kept on growing and at length the plant became the property of the Belmont Agricultural Works. Consumed by fire in 1866 it was rebuilt in the following year.

The foregoing paragraphs reveal the favor with which Martins Ferry was looked upon early in its history as a manufacturing point. Having indicated the number and character of its early industries we pass to those of the present day, pausing, however, to record this bare list of other early industries : Buckeye Foundry, Martins Ferry Keg and Barrel Works, Belmont

22—Vol. I

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Furnace, Culbertson, Wiley and Company's Foundry, Hill and Fisher's Saw Mill, Warwood's rake factory, Kerr and Moore's planing mill, Ensell and Wilson's glass house, the Sweeney glass house, the Ohio City Iron and Nail Works.

The population of Martins Ferry in 1840 was 300 ; in 1850, 500; in 1860, 1,220; in 1870, 1,876; in 1880, about 4,000; 1900, 7,760; 1910, 9,133; 1920, 11,634.

The Martins Ferry Times, an evening newspaper established in 1891, has acquired a large circulation and is one of Eastern Ohio's influential journals. Its editor is A. L. Sedgwick and its publisher the Daily Times Company. One of the nation's largest annual publications lists Martins Ferry as having "several glass works, a furnace, two stove works, three extensive machine and engine works, keg, box and barrel works, two large tin mills, two sheet iron mills and a structural iron works."

BARNESVILLE AND JAMES BARNES

Barnesville will always have cause to venerate the memory of James Barnes, its founder. Born in Maryland of worthy English ancestors who were Quakers, James Barnes emigrated to St. Clairsville, Ohio#n 1803, opened a tavern and later a store and in 1806 he entered lands in the wilderness where Barnesville now stands. The original plat, dated 1808, represented 128 lots. He opened a store in the town in 1808 and planted an orchard in 1810, but remained a resident of St. Clairsville until 1812.

The little settlement was given a post office in 1810, its first physician, Dr. Carlos Judkins, arrived the same year and the first Methodist Church was erected in 1810. A man of energy and public spirit James Barnes sought to advance the interests of Barnesville after settling there in 1812. He established a place for clarifying ginseng and bought and shipped the article, in some years to the extent of 30,000 pounds. He encouraged the building in 1815 of a flouring mill and woolen factory. The enterprises failed, with serious financial losses to their originator.

BARNESVILLE WAS AMBITIOUS

In 1818 Barnesville's residents asked the Legislature to create a new county out of Guernsey, Belmont and Monroe territory, with Barnesville as the county seat. Opposition to this arose in the three counties named which was sufficient to defeat it.

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James Barnes sought energetically to have the route of the National road pass through Barnesville and when defeated he declared that after a while a railroad would traverse Belmont County and that its tracks "would come right through his meadow." It was a prophetic declaration, for a quarter of a century later the Central Ohio, now the Baltimore & Ohio, Railroad, was built through that selfsame meadow. We quote from the History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties the following description of James Barnes :

"The personal appearance of Mr. Barnes was very commanding. He was over six feet in height and of portly build. He always dressed in drab-colored clothes, cut to the precise pattern of the Quaker costume and always wore a broad-brimmed hat. His voice was very strong and sonorous. He walked slowly, with a deliberate and measured step. He was kind, generous and benevolent to a fault. To the needy he parcelled out his lands that they might have homes and exhausted his means that the community might grow rich. When the calamitous accidents of trade had overwhelmed his property the unconquerable old man struck out on the sea of life for himself with the will and strength of early manhood. He went to Baltimore and made arrangements with some friends to start a commission business in leaf tobacco. On his way home to make final preparations for removal to that place he died in the mountains of Pennsylvania. He dropped dead in 1844, just as he stepped from a stage coach to take breakfast at a wayside tavern." He was born in 1772.

"Leaves have their time to fall

And flowers to wither at the north wind's breath,

And stars to set—but all,

Thou hast all seasons for thine own, oh death."

—Hemans.

When Belmont became a tobacco-growing county James Barnes bought the leaf on a large scale, packing in some years as many as 800 hogsheads of it. This did the growers great service, since it gave them money much needed for payments on their land and the improvement of their farms. But while they thrived Barnes suffered damaging losses on tobacco in 1828, 1832 and 1838. The gathering of ginseng and snakeroot on the ground where Barnesville now stands was an early industry. These grew freely there and hundreds of pounds were gathered.

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BARNESVILLE'S WONDERFUL STRAWBERRIES

In 1859 Daniel Barr began in a modest way to cultivate this berry on his lot in the southwest section of the town, choosing the Wilson Albany Seedling for the purpose. Seven years later Stewart Morrow, John Scoles and the Messrs. Barlow began to plant and cultivate several acres of berries. Berry buyers in Barnesville and outside took to the strawberries eagerly, so large and luscious were they. With the growing demand came many new growers into the field. By 1875 over 4,000 bushels of strawberries and over 2,000 bushels of raspberries were being shipped annually to outside markets. Besides the Wilson Seeding, the Jocunda, Monarch of the West and Kentucky seedlings were the favorites. It is said that John Scoles raised Jccunda berries so large that thirty of them filled a quart measure. In some of the record years as many as thirty acres of strawberries were cultivated. In 1879 the acreage was twenty-five.

Barnesville has had a newspaper and a good one, the Enterprise (Independent) since 1865. Its present editor is W. R. Palmer and its publisher The Eastern Ohio Publishing Co. It is issued on. Tuesday and Friday of each week and its circulation and influence are well maintained. Barnesville enjoys good banking privileges and has cigar factories, window and cut glass works, planing and flour mills, a hydraulic cement works and manufactures paper and berry boxes and hosiery. The Whetstone, a democratic weekly, was established in 1894.

BETHESDA AND SHADYSIDE

These two Belmont villages have had a very healthy growth and the future looks bright for both. Bethesda's population is 1,182 and forty-three individuals, firms and companies are engaged in various business pursuits there. The Bethesda National Bank enjoys a generous patronage. Epworth Park attracts many visitors and sojourners to Bethesda and is steadily enlarging its popularity as a resort and an educational center. Its stately elms, shaded walks and superb scenery are highly appreciated and its auditorium is the home of culture and worthwhile entertainment. Shadyside has also made marked progress as a favorite of the home builder and in other respects. Its population of 3,984 and its 65 business concerns give proof of the fact that it is a busy and progressive spot.

CHAPTER XXXIV

SOME BELMONT COUNTY VILLAGES

NEFFS, WITH A MODEST START, HAS MADE MARKED PROGRESS-POWHATAN'S FIRST BUILDING ERECTED 1810-HENDRYSBURG'S FIRST STEAM MILL BUILT 1827-ZANE LAID OUT MORRISTOWN-LLOYDSVILLE, GLENCOE AND FAIRVIEW BEGINNINGS MENTIONED-FARMINGTON, CONCORD, MAYNARD AND BARTON ALL IN COLERAIN TOWNSHIP-SIX OTHER VILLAGES LISTED.

The scope of this work does not admit of a full history of these villages. We treat their earliest history for the most part, with some later additions.

NEFFS FOUNDED IN THE MIDDLE NINETIES

A third of a century ago this thriving center had about fifty inhabitants, a post office and a schoolhouse The place was named in honor of Alexander Neff, an early property-holder and an esteemed Belmont County business man. Neffs has made marked progress. More than a score of mercantile establishments are now supported there, it enjoys banking facilities, the population is about three thousand and there is a large eight-room modern schoolhouse and a two-room frame school building. A brick-paved highway connects Neffs with Bellaire and it is the center of other improved roads. Its population is about 700 and 36 individuals and firms are in business of various kinds, including Neffs National Bank.

POWHATAN HAS GROWN FAST

The place was surveyed by Dr. DeHaas about 1840. Its first building had been erected there about 1810 by a grandson of Archibald Woods, a pioneer. Its first hotel, erected in 1825 and known as "Point House," was a big log structure. Incorporation came in 1890; a population of six hundred had been acquired by 1902 and two thousand is the estimated number now. The town has made other strides.

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HENDRYSBURG LAID OUT IN 1828

Charles Hendry was its founder. The building of the National road gave it prominence and an early growth. Hendry opened a store and in 1827 he had built a steam flouring mill. It was a good industry for the village and the community. In 1828 William Tidball built a substantial dwelling and store and became a merchant in it.

The touring mill erected by Hendry burned down in 1851 and another erected on the old site also burned down a year after its construction. In 1850, the National Flouring Mill was erected by C. Shaffer. In 1854, Combs and McCartney erected the Hendrysburg Flouring Mill and enjoyed a prosperous business. The population is about 500 and there are sixteen stores and business concerns of different kinds.

MORRISTOWN 125 YEARS OLD

Laid out in 1802 by John Zane and William Chapline, of Wheeling, it was located on Zane's Trace, twenty miles from the Ohio River. It was named in honor of Duncan Morrison, its first settler and a justice of the peace.

The National Road passing through Morristown, it was quite a commercial town at an early date. In 1806, Mrs. Hazlett carried on merchandising. Among the early business men were Nicholas Rodgers, tanner; Alexander Morrison and Robert Morrison, saddlers; John Millner, blacksmith ; Richard Bazwell, shoemaker; William Harvey, tavernkeeper ; and Alexander Gaston who practiced medicine in Morristown as early as 1811.

Morristown was incorporated January 1, 1853, and the following officers elected : Mayor, Peter Bramhall; Clerk, Joseph R. Mitchell; treasurer, Steven Gregg. Its population is 315 and sixteen stores and other concerns contribute to its business activities.

LLOYDSVILLE NEARLY A CENTURY OLD

It was located in 1831 on the National Road by Joshua Lloyd at a point fifteen miles from the Ohio River. The Powell house there became a favorite stopping place for National Road travelers and drivers. Many of the great men of history—Jackson, Harrison, Clay, etc.—are said to have been guests of the old hostelry.

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GLENCOE LAID OUT IN 1855

John B. Fulton was its founder and by 1900 its population was about 200. Glencoe, with its position on the B. & O. Railroad, was originally a mining settlement.

Two men who played a prominent part in the early history of this place were Henry Neff and John McNiece. One of the oldest families were the Aults. One of these, Michael Ault, Sr., settled where Glencoe now stands and engaged in the milling business.

FAIRVIEW A FIFTY-FIFTY VILLAGE

Fairview is located partly in Guernsey County and partly in Belmont, but mostly in Guernsey. This town is one of the oldest settlements in the state but its history really belongs to Guernsey County annals.

The town hall at Fairview has a stage which is partly located on Belmont soil. Mrs. Erma McWilliams, now of Morristown, lived at one time in Fairview and her parlor was in Guernsey County while the kitchen in her home stood on Belmont County land.

FARMINGTON, CONCORD, MAYNARD, BARTON

These are all Colerain township settlements. Farmington's founder sought to have the National Road routed through the settlement but the engineers ran the line three miles south of it., Daniel McPeake laid Farmington out in 1818.

Concord or Colerain village is perhaps Belmont's second village in point of age. Here the Quakers settled in very early days and here the Concord Quaker Church stood.

Maynard was at one time familiarly called New Pittsburgh. It developed into an enterprising mining town and by 1900 had a population of 400, mainly miners.

Barton is a town on the route of the Baltimore and Ohio, the old C. L. & W. branch. The population is largely mining. Barton has made fair strides in progress since its laying out many years ago. Six hundred and fifty persons form the population and it is a busy little center in which there are twenty-four firms and individuals engaged in merchandising and other undertakings.

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JACOBSBURG ON OLD DROVERS' ROAD

It is said that Jacobsburg was named after Jacob Calvert, who laid out the place about the year 1815. Jacobsburg was on the route of the old and famous "Drovers' Road" and was at one time considered one of the most important towns in the county.

A hotel was erected here at a very early date to accommodate the drovers and wagon drivers who traveled the old State road. The Joseph Puffenberger house is thought to be the first in the village. In 1830 H. Thurston built the first frame building.

BELMONT'S FIRST NAME WAS WRIGHTSTOWN

It was laid out in 1808 by Joseph Wright who taught school in Wrightstown's old log schoolhouse and who was also the settlement's first postmaster. When Belmont was incorporated, December 17, 1897, W. H. White was elected Mayor and W. D. Strahl, Clerk. Thirty-one different business and minor industries are carried on and the village contains 680 inhabitants. The Belmont National Bank does a large business.

BUSINESSBURG'S OLD WATER MILL

That primitive grain grinder was provided in 1848 by Archibald McGrew and Robert Hammond. Pipe Creek then supplied ample power and the mill lasted seven years, when steam power took Pipe's place. Businessburg nestles at the foot of steep bluffs which tower high above it. In 1884, when Pipe Creek rose to a height of fifteen feet, many houses of the village were swept away.

UNIONTOWN AND STEWARTSVILLE

Uniontown was in the early days one of the most important business centers of Belmont County. William Dunbar was one of the early leading merchants in this village. At one time, Dunbar purchased some wheat at 40 cents per bushel and from this manufactured enough flour to load several flatboats.

When the flour was ready he offered to sell it at $2.50 per barrel. He could find no local market and shipped the flour to New Orleans. It is said that on this one transaction Dunbar cleared close to three thousand dollars.

Stewartsville is a railway station and coal mining town on

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the route of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad about six miles west of Bellaire.

It was named after John Stewart who with Owen Mehan opened up the present Franklin mine which is now owned by the Cleveland and Western Coal Company. Franklin mine was opened about the year 1868.

SEWELLSVILLE, CENTERVILLE, WEST WHEELING

Sewellsville was formerly known as "Union." The first settler was Francis Hall and he was followed by Alexander McBratney, Robert Griffin, John Hunter and others.

In 1831 upon petition of the citizens, a post office was granted and the name of the place changed to Sewellsville after Peter Sewell, the first postmaster.

Where Centerville got its name is not known. Perhaps it was so named because of its location near the geographical center of the township in which it stands. Thomas Jackson laid out this place in 1817.

West Wheeling is midway between Bellaire and Bridgeport. Martha S. Todd laid out this place in 1838. West Wheeling was the home of one of the oldest residents of Pultney Township, Squire Kelsey, who served as squire for over a half century.

CHAPTER XXXV

THE RAILROADS OF BELMONT COUNTY

CENTRAL OHIO (B. & O.) BUILT IN 1854 AND BRIDGED THE OHIO IN LATER YEARS-WORK BEGAN ON THE CLEVELAND & PITTSBURGH LINE IN 1847- CLEVELAND, LORAIN & WHEELING ROAD OPENED IN LATE SEVENTIES-OHIO RIVER & WESTERN OHIO'S LAST NARROWGAUGE-ST. CLAIRSVILLE BUILT TWO CONNECTING LINKS-TOTAL TAX VALUATION OVER $10,000,000.

The first railroad was the Central Ohio. Chartered by the Ohio Legislature, February 8, 1847, it was completed between Zanesville and Newark in 1852, between Newark and Columbus in 1853; between Zanesville and Cambridge in April, 1854, and between Cambridge and Bellaire in November, 1854. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company took possession of the road as lessee December 1, 1865.

It was in this year that work started on the great B. & 0. bridge over the Ohio at Bellaire which when completed superseded the ferry boat whereby the road's trains had been transferred from one side of the stream to the other. Five years were consumed in work on the bridge and a million and a quarter dollars represented the cost. The western and eastern spans, over the navigable stretches of the stream, measure 300 and 400 feet respectively.

THE CLEVELAND & PITTSBURGH RAILROAD

The Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, extending from Bellaire along the Ohio River to Wellsville and thence to Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and which road is now under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, was chartered during the year 1836. Active work, however, did not commence until eleven years later. The stock in this road went down after the panic of 1857 and it was at this time that the Pennsylvania secured control.

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346 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO

THE CLEVELAND, LORAIN & WHEELING RAILROAD

The Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railroad was constructed between Dennison and Bridgeport in 1876, being then known as the Cleveland, Tuscara was Valley & Wheeling Railroad. Wide-awake Belmont County men helped to bring about the line's extension to Bellaire.

THE OHIO RIVER & WESTERN RAILROAD

The Bellaire, Zanesville & Cincinnati Railroad which runs out of Bellaire south along the banks of the Ohio River, was organized in 1875. The original purpose of this road was to effect a rail route from Bellaire to Athens, Ohio, through Belmont, Monroe, Washington and Athens counties.

This road was completed from Bellaire to Woodsfield as a narrow gauge at the cost of approximately twelve thousand dollars per mile. In 1882 it was extended to Caldwell and thence to Zanesville. In 1887 the B. Z. & C. passed into the hands of a receiver. A reorganization was effected in 1890. In 1902, the road again changed hands and became known as the Ohio River & Western Railroad and today is operated under that name by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The auto, auto bus and truck have taken so much of the patronage of this line that it will probably cease to operate during 1928, at least between Zanesville and Woodsfield. It is the last of Ohio's narrow gauge railroads.

THE WHEELING & LAKE ERIE

This is still another Belmont County railroad. It connects Cleveland and Toledo with Wheeling, passing through a portion of Belmont County and through the city of Martins Ferry.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE TO ST. CLAIRSVILLE JUNCTION

To emphasize their claim to the county seat, citizens of St. Clairsville and Richland Township built two macadamized roads, one extending from St. Clairsville to Warnock station on the B. & O. Railroad and the other, known as the Cadiz Pike, extending north to the county line.

To make the county seat even more accessible, St. Clairsville residents built a narrow gauge railroad from their city to St. Clairsville Junction on the Baltimore & Ohio at a cost of $35,000.

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This road was so badly damaged by floods that it became inoperative but was later rebuilt and converted into a standard gauge road that was subsequently turned over to the Baltimore & Ohio interests.

Later, while the Cleveland & Lorain Railroad was in the course of construction, a St. Clairsville corporation with a view to afford citizens of Bridgeport, Martins Ferry and Bellaire speedier communication with the county seat, constructed a railroad from the city of St. Clairsville to a point on the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling road, near Barton, at a cost of nearly $30,000.

VALUATION OF STEAM RAILROADS

The table which follows, taken from the 1926 report of the Ohio Tax Commission, tells a remarkable story of the number and value of Belmont County's steam railroads and the divisions and branches thereof :