USA > Ohio > Washington County > Marietta > The Book of Marietta : being a condensed, accurate and reliable record of the important events in the history of the city of Marietta, in the State of Ohio, from the time of its earliest settlement on April 7th, 1788, to the present > Part 1
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M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02279 8935
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/bookofmariettabe00mcdo
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Washington County Court House
THE
BOOK OF MARIETTA 5 Chia
Being a Condensed, Accurate and Reliable Record of the Important Events in the History of the City of Marietta, in the State of Ohio, from the Time of Its Earliest Settlement by the First Pioneers of the Ohio Land Company on April 7th, 1788, to the Present Time INCLUDING
A Careful and Authentic Compilation of Statistics and Useful Information About the Commercial, Industrial and Municipal Development of the City, With Up-to-date Railroad and Steam- boat Information, Distance and Fare Tables, County and City Officials, Churches, Societies, and a Fund of Other Information
3 ALSO INCLUDING
A COMPLETE AND ACCURATE GAZETTEER OF ALL COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS INTERESTS INCLUDING THOSE OF
WILLIAMSTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA
COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY F. M. MCDONNELL MARIETTA, OHIO 1906
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1961903
COPYRIGHTED BY F. M. McDONNELL 1906
THE BOOK OF MARIETTA will be mailed to any address in the world upon receipt of Fifty Cents, Postoffice Money Order. Checks or stamps will not be accepted.
PREFACE
It is not claimed that within the following pages of this little work- will be found a voluminous history, in the sense that exhaustive descriptions of things and events have been attempted. The Book of Marietta is intended for easy and ready reference. It is an encyclopaedia of historical facts and data; a compilation of information of many sorts, infor- mation both practical and useful, pertaining to the city of Marietta. This information, while tersely told, and free of superfluous words, does not, how- ever, lose its value by its brevity; but rather makes the telling more interesting and of a greater worth.
The dates given herein have been gathered from the most reliable authorities. Many important oc- currences, with dates, that have in all probability been long since forgotten and of which there has heretofore been no published record, will be found within these pages. In fact this work in the years to come will be invaluable to the seeker after accur- ate information about the first city of the Northwest Territory.
A very valuable feature, and one that will appeal to the busy man or woman, is the arrangement of the great amount of information which is here gath ered and which is presented in the most accessible and convenient form for ready reference. The mat- ter has been divided and sub-divided and a com prehensive index makes it a simple and easy task to turn directly to any topic desired.
As a souvenir of the city The Book of Marietta cannot be surpassed, containing as it does a guide to every historical point of interest, with brief but comprehensive historical notes. The illustrations also add to the value of the book and its size makes it as convenient for mailing as a picture post card.
The various tables giving the distance by river or railroad routes, together with the fare, to points within a wide radius of the city will be found very useful and handy. The postal information will also be found valuable.
The Gazetteer of the Industrial, Commercial and Business interests of Marietta which forms a most important part of the book, contains a vast amount of carefully printed information. It is so com plete and comprehensive that it has no equal in any directory heretofore published for the city of Ma- rietta.
The illustrations in this book are printed from special half tone plates made from photos taken by Mr. H. P. Fischer, of this city. The photograph of "City Park and the Boat House" is copyrighted by Mr. Fischer.
THE PUBLISHER.
Birds-eye View of Marietta from Fairview Heights
THE BOOK OF MARIETTA
Washington county, situated in the Southeastern extremity of the State of Ohio, is bounded on the north by Morgan, Noble and Monroe counties; on the east by Monroe county and the Ohio River, which forns the dividing line between Ohio and the State of West Virginia; on the south by West Virginia, the Ohio River continuing to form the line between the two states; on the west by Athens and Morgan counties. The land surface of Wash- ington county is 627 square miles. Its population in 1890 is given as 42,380; in 1900: 48,245.
Washington county was originally created in July, 1788, and in the following month the village of Marietta, which at that time embraced what is now, Marietta Township, was made the county seat. The county is divided into twenty-two townships, viz: Adams, Aurelius, Barlow," Belpre, Decatur, Dunhamn, Fairfield, Fearing, Grandview, Independence, Law- ience, Liberty, Ludlow, Marietta, Muskingum, New. port, Palmer, Salem, Warren, Waterford, Water- town and Wesley townships.
The City of Marietta is the oldest city in the state of Ohio, being the first settlement under the Government of the United States in the great North- west Territory which now comprises the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. Resting on gently sloping hills, at the meeting place of the waters of the Muskingum with that of the great Ohio river, it occupies an ideal site for a city, and with its wide, well kept streets, can justly lay claim to the titles "Beautiful Marietta" and "The Lady of the Rivers," It is situated about midway between the eastern and western boundary and upon the southern line, of Washington county. The
census of 1890 gave Marietta a population of 8,273 and the twelfth census gives it 13,348, while it is estimated that, today (1906), it has a population of over 17,000. It is a modern, progressive city, with its flourishing industries, its handsome business blocks, fine residences, magnificent churches, the best schools in the country and -the greatest college in the state. With all these advantages, and many others, there is every promise for a great future for Mat- rietta. The city was incorporated December 2nd, 1800.
EARLY HISTORY.
Of the first inhabitants of the lands of that vast territory lying Northwest of the Ohio river but little is known, aside from that which can be deduced from the study of the curious earthworks or mounds,
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which were found in various portions of Ohio, and supposed to be the works of a semi-civilized people who have been given the name of the Mound Build- ers. As far as known . the next people to occupy this territory were the North American Indians, who were discovered here by the first white settlers. Probably the first white man to set foot in what is now Ohio was the French explorer, La Sallee. The next record of the visit of cilivized man is found in the old leaden plate which was unearthed by some boys, while in swimming at the mouth of the Muskingum river in the summer of 1799. This plate contained the date Aug. 16, 1749, and was buried where it had been found by Celeron de Bien- ville, the French explorer. The plate is now in the possession of the Massachusetts Society at Worces. ter, Massachusetts. It is recorded also that as early as 1761 several white settlers arrived in Tuscara- was county. These were the Moravian Mission- aries, sent out by their society to teach the Chris- tian religion to the Indians. The efforts of these christian men and women resulted in three Indian villages being established along the river Tuscara- was, and every student of history is familiar with the story of the massacre at Gnadenhutten of ninety Moravian Indian converts, by Col. Williamsons' corp of volunteer militia, on March 2nd, 1782.
The story of the early history of Marietta could it be written in detail just as it occurred would prove more fascinating than any work of fiction. Picture to yourself that party of sturdy pioneers of the Ohio Land Company drifting along with the current of the great and strange river, with its banks lined with a wilderness of trees and foliage, with not a sign of life. What must have been the ambitions, the hopes and the fears of those men, who had left behind them their homes and all the comforts of civilization that even at that time were to be had in New England, for the uncertainties that offered in this great western wilderness inhabited by savages and wild beasts ?
The landing of those brave and adventurous spirits on the present site of Marietta occurred about noon on April 7th, 1788, and from that moment dates the history of the city of Marietta. The names of those pioneers, who were also the first white set- tlers of the Northwest territory, are here given :
General Rufus Putnam, superintendent of the col. onv. Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, Colonel Return J. Meigs, Major Anselm Tupper, and John Mathews, surveyors. Major Haffield White, steward and quartermaster-Capt. Jonathan Devol-Capt. Josiah Monro-Capt. Daniel Davis-Capt. Peregrine Foster -Capt. Jethro Putnam -- Capt. William Gray-Capt. Ezekiel Cooper-Phineas Coburn-David Wallis- Gilbert Devol, Jr .- Jonas Davis-Hezekiah Flint- Hezekiah Flint, Jr .- Josiah Whitridge-Benjamin Griswold-Theophilus Learned-William Miller -
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Josiah White-Henry Maxon-Wm. Moulton-Ed- mund Moulton-Benjamin Shaw-Jervis Cutler --- Samuel Cushing-Daniel Bushnell-Ebenezer Corey -- Oliver Dodge-Isaac Dodge-Jabez Barlow-Al- len Putnam-Joseph Wells-Israel Danton-Samuel Telshaw -- Amos- Porter, Jr .- John Gardener-Elizur Kirtland-Joseph Lincoln-Earl Sproat-Allen De- vol-Wm. Mason-Simeon Martin-Paletiah White.
The work of settlement was commenced at once and rapidly rough cabins were erected. They
first work of the surveyors was begun on the 9th- two days after the landing, white the balance of the men started the work of clearing the land. Every- thing seemed to progress smoothly and there was apparently a feeling of contentment among the set- tlers. General Putnam, however, was uneasy over the safety of the colony in case of Indian upris- ings and this resulted in the erection of Campus Martins, which was located about three-quarters of a mile from the settlement at the Point, where most of the houses were built, and was reached by a road cut through the woods along the Muskingum river. ( This road is now Front street. ) The site of this stockade will be better understood by giving its boundaries as St. Clair street on the
North, Second street on
the East; Washington street on the south and Front street on the West side-the river front. It comprised a continuous line of dwellings two stories high which formed the sides. These dwellings were constructed of tim- bers four inches thick. At the corners were block
houses, built a trifle higher and projecting out be- yond the sides of the stockade about six feet. When completed, which was not until 1791, it formed an almost impregnable defense against attack, although at no time during all the Indian troubles was an assault made upon it.
After the arrival of the first pioneers many follow- ers found their way to the new settlement. In May of the same ycar (1788), arrived Gen. Samuel Holden Parsons, Capt. William Dana, Ebenezer Bat- telle, Major Jonathan Haskell, Colonel Israel Put- nam, Aaron Waldo Putnam, Major Robert Brad- ford, Jonathan Stone, Major Winthrop Sargent, Col- onel William Stacey and Colonel John May ( Col. May was one of the agents of the Ohio Land Com- pany. ) The following month there were more ar- rivals at the Point, among them being Honorable James M. Varminn, judge of the territory, Major Dean Tylor, Griffin Greene, Charles Greene, Colonel Joseph Thompson, Dr. Jabez True and Paul Fearing. In this same party were James Owen and wife. The next families to arrive were those of General Benjamin Tupper, Colonel Icabod Nye (son-in-law of Gen. Tupper), Major Nanthaniel Cushing, Major Nathan Goodale, Major Asa Coburn, Sr., and An drew Webster. These came on August 19th, 1788. (See Memorial Stones under "Points of Interest.")
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On July 9th, 1788, Governor Arthur St. Clair, the first governor of the Northwest territory, arrived at Marietta, having been commissioned by Congress Oct. 16, 1787. At the time of his appointment St. Clair had been president of Congress. He had seen ac- tive service in the French and Indian Wars and had been a general in the Revolutionary army, For a time after his arrival at Marietta the governor made his headquarters at Fort Harmar across the Muskingum river. It was not until , July 17th, 1788, that the territorial government was . formally set in motion. On the 26th day of the same month a proclamation was issued creating Wash- ington County, the first county in Ohio.
761 - The first meeting of the Ohio Land Company was held at Marietta on July 2nd. 1788, but was con- tinued by adjournment until August 14th. former date the city at the "Point"
On the
Marietta. Up to that time it had been. called Ade !-
was named.
phia. The name Marietta was compounded from the name of Marie Antoniette. The last meeting of the company was held at Marietta on November 23rd, 1795, and the directors and agents continued in session until January 29th, 1796, when the final partition of lands were made.
THE INDIAN WARFARE ...
During the years, from 1789 to 1795 the settlers at Marietta passed through some of the most trying times of their lives-the period of Indian hostility and warfare. Among the Indian tribes mentioned in the annals of those days are the Wyandots, Dela- wares, Miamis, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottowtoamies, and the Sacs. Many tales are recorded of atrocitles committed by the red savages at Marietta and the other settlements. It was on November 4th, 1791, that the army of St. Clair, encamped on the banks of the Wabash, was attacked by Little Turtle and 1500 warriors, the army sustaining a loss of more than 800 men killed and 280 wounded, while the rest escaped by flight. The end of this Indian fighting came soon after General Anthony Wayne's victory on the Maumee river, August 20th, 1794, the war terminating on August 3rd, 1795 when the treaty of Greenville was signed by General Wayne and ninety chiefs and delegates of twelve In lian tribes.
The names of those who lived throughout the In. dian war within the protection of Campus Martius are recorded as follows: Governor St. Clair, son and three daughters-General Rufus Putnam, wife, two sons and six daughters-General Ben- jamin Tupper, wife, three sons and two daugh- ters-Colonel Robert Oliver, wife, two sons and two daughters-Thomas Lord, Esq., with two apprentice boys, Benjamin Baker and Ainos R. Harvey-Col. R. J. Meigs, wife, and son, Timothy-Col. Enoch
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Shepherd, wife and nine children-Charles Greene, wife and three children, and Miss Sheffield, sister of Mrs. Greene-Col. Ichabod Nye, wife and two or three children-Major Ezra Putnam, wife and two daughters-Major Haffield White and son-Joshua Shipman, wife and three children --- Captain Strong, wife, two sons and one daughter-Captain Davis, wife and five children-James Smith, wife and seven children-John Russel, a son-in-law of Smith -- Archibald Lake, wife and three sons-Eleazer Olney, wife and fourteen children-Major Olney, with two sons, Columbus and Discovery-Ebenezer Corey and wife --- Richard Maxon, wife and several children -- James Wells, wife and ten children-Major Coburn, wife, three sons and two daughters-Joseph Wood, wife and child-Captain John Dodge, wife, two sons -Robert Allison, wife and several children-Elijah Warren, wife and child-Girsham Flagg, wife and several children-Widow Kelley and four sons --- Hon. Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the Territory -- Major Anselm Tupper -- Rev. Daniel Story-Thos. Hutchinson -- Willam Smith-Gilbert Devol, Jr .- Oli- ver Dodge-Alpheus Russell-Thomas Corey-Ben- jamin Tupper-Azariah Pratt.
The names of those within the garrison at "The Point" during this war: William Moulton, wife, two daughters, one son and Dr. Jabez True, who board- ed with the family-Captain Prince, wife and two children-Moses Morse and wife-Peter Neiswanger, wife and two or three children-William Skinner and J. Mckinley-R. J. Meigs, Jr., wife and child and Charles Greene, who resided with them-Hon. Dud. ley Woodbridge, wife and children-Captain Josiah Monroe, wife and two children-Captain William Mills, wife and child-Captain Jonathan Haskell -- Hamilton Kerr -- Col. Ebenezer Sproat, wife and daughter-Commodore Abraham Whipple, wife and son-Joseph Buell, wife and two children-Levy Munsell and wife -- William Stacey, wife and two or three children-Joseph Stacy, wife and two or three children ---- Nathaniel Patterson, wife children-Capt. Abel Matthews, wife and six chil- and dren -- Thomas Stanley, wife and three or four chil- dren-Eleazar Curtiss, wife and children-Simeon Tuttle and family.
Those who resided in or near Fort Harmar throughout the Indian war: Hon. Joseph Gilman and wife-Benjamin Gilman, (son of Joseph Gil- man), wife and two children-Paul Fearing-Col. Thomas Gibson-Hezekialı Flint-Gould Davenport- Mrs. Welsh and three or four children-Preserved Seaman, wife and four sons-Benjamin Baker, wife and child-George Waith, wife, and five sons and two daughters-Joseph Fletcher, who married Cath. arine Warth-Picket Meroin, who married Polly Warth-Francis Thiery, wife and two children --- Monsieur Cookie-Monsier . Le Blond-Monrieur Shouman, wife and son-Monsieur Gubbeau.
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FROM 1795 TO 1812.
The real work of building a city was begun soon after the Indian war closed. The people were so overjoyed at the prospect of peace that no aceom plishment seemed impossible to them. The spin- ning wheel and the loom was again taken up by the women folks, while the men and boys went forth to work in field or forest. One of the first at- tempts made at manufacturing was started in 1796 when a company was organized to make salt. The growth in population was not as rapid from this time forward as had been hoped, but civil govern- ment took shape and Marietta continued to advance along all lines. The people of the city and the county again began to take an active interest in poli- tics.
THE WAR OF 1812 AND THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.
While Marietta furnished many of her bravest sons and was well represented in the war of 1812 it was yet so far inland from the scenes of actual hostilities as to be little affected by that conflict. When the war of the Rebellion broke out on the morning of April 12, 1861, there is no reason to suppose that Ohio would not have enlisted its syn. pathies with the slave states. It enjoyed the same climate as Virginia and Kentucky and had the same occasion to profit by slave labor. That Ohio and those other states, which were formed out of the Northwest Tenitory, stood by the Federal Govern- ment is unquestionably due to the great ordinance of 1787, which contained a clause declaring that "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary ser- vitude in the said Territory, etc.," which was the first blow struck at slavery in the new world. The author of this article was Nathan Dane. However, when the crisis came the people of Washington County and the great Territory of the Northwest were patriotic and again gave their allegiance to the Union and their country. The news of the first shot, fired on Sullivan's Island in Charleston har- bor reached Marietta Saturday morning, April 13tlı, 1861, and the following Monday the President's call for 75,000 men was received, which was re- sponded to by Captain Frank Buell, of the Union Blues, a Marietta Company which with a full com- plement of officers and men was the first company from Washington County to offer its services to the government. The four years that elapsed before the close of the war in 1865 were trying times for the people of Marietta, and great was the rejoicing when the news of Lee's surrender at Appomattox was received.
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AFTER THE WAR QF 1861-65.
As early as 1802 active interest was manifested by the people of Washington County and Marietta in the question of transportation facilities and va- rious schemes and plans began to appear. Water navigation of course had up to this time been the principal means of communication with distant mar- kets. The story of the rapid development of our present system of railroad and steamboat transpor- tation facilities can be traced under the various departments of this work. The growth of the business, religious, and educational life of Marietta can likewise be followed in the same manner, each under their respective titles.
HISTORICAL NOTES
Ohio was admitted to statehood on February 19tl, 1803.
Marietta was chartered as a city of the second class on October 29th, 1853.
Mrs. James Owen was the first woman settler in Marietta, arrivng June 5th, 1788.
The first meeting of the Ohio Company at Ma- rietta was held on July 2nd, 1788.
Harmar was incorporated and became a separate corporate community in 1837. It was annexed to Marietta in 1890.
General Richard Butler selected the site for Fort Harmar at the mouth of the Muskingum on Satur- day, Oct. 8tlı, 1785.
The Muskingum river was originally called the "Mooskingom," having been given that name, it is claimed, by the Delaware Indians.
The first sermon preached in Marietta was
by Rev. William Breck, a member of the Ohio Com- pany, on Sunday, July 20th, 1788.
The first election in Washington County was held in December, 1798. It was on this date that the right of franchise was first exercised northwest of the Ohio river.
Charles Dickens, the English novelist, it is claim- ed, years ago, while waiting for his steamer to take on fuel stepped on shore at the Third street wharf and viewed the city.
The first expedition made by the Ohio Land Con- pany was in 1750. It was made under Christo- pher Gnist for the purpose of exploring the terri- tory which the company hoped to possess.
George Washington, on the night of Oct. 26tlı, 1770, camped at the mouth of the Little Musking. um on his way from Fort Pitt down the Ohio river on a tour of inspection of this western country.
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Albert or Alpha Devol, father of J. L. Devol, now clerk of the Steamer Sonoma, was the first male child born in Marietta. He was a son of Wanton and Sally (Lake) Devol, and was born in Campus Martius in 1789.
Marietta was the first town incorporated in the Northwest Territory, December 2nd, 1800; Athens was incorporated four days later-December 6th, 1800. Cincinnati was incorporated January 1st, 1802, Chillicothe January 4th, 1802. -
Miss Rowena Tupper, daughter of General Tup- per, and Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the Ohio Company, were the first couple to be married in Marietta. The ceremony was performed by Gen- eral Putnam in his judicial robes on February 9th, 1789.
The first papers of administration ever granted in Washington County by the Probate Court were issued to Enoch Parsons, Esq., on the estate of his father, Samuel Holden Parsons, December 22nd, 1789 .- Probate Records of Washington County, Vol. ume 1.
Fort Harmar, a military post planted . by the gov- ernment at the mouth of the Muskingum river, on the west shore, for the purpose of protection to the surveyors and the early inhabitants of the frontier was commenced in the autumn of 1785, under the supervision of Major John Doughty and a detach- ment of United States troops. It was completed in the spring of 1786.
On September 2nd, 1788, the first court was held with Col. Sproat, sheriff. The judges were General Rufus Putnam, Gen. Benjamin Tupper and Col. Arcihbald Creary. Paul Fearing was admitted as an attorney and was the first lawyer to practice at the bar in the Northwest Territory. Col. R. J. Meigs was clerk of the court. The pillory and stocks were used as forms of punishment.
- Rutherford B. Hayes, who was President of the United States from 1877 to 1881, was first admit- ted to the bar for the practice of law in Marietta, in 1845, as shown by the following, taken from the District Court Journal, Book A, of Washington Coun- ty, Ohio, under date of Monday, March 10th, 1845: "Erastus Adlıins, James Evans and Rutherford B. Hayes, having been examined and found qualified to practice as attorneys and counsellors at law and solicitors in chancery, were this day duly sworn and admitted as such in the courts of this state."
Up to 1800 game was plentiful in the forests of Washington County. Of the larger game bear seems to have
been the most abundant, while deer was
also very plenty. The buffalo and the elk were also found here but owing to the wanton killing of these animals by the In-
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dians on their annual hunts, they were exterminated. According to early writers of the history of those times "The woods were alive with wolves, foxes, opossums, rabbits, raccoons, ground hogs, squirrels and birds." It is related that pigeons during their flights in the fall would travel in such immense flocks that entire forests have been destroyed by their light- ing on the trees.
On the night of January 2nd, 1791, began the In- dian war in the settlements of the Ohio Company, by the massacre at Big Bottom, about 30 miles above Marietta, on the Muskingum. , In the spring of 1790 a party of young men from Marietta who had taken up donation lands erected a block house there. The following January the Indians came down the West side. of the river, crossed on the ice just at dark, surprised the inmates of the block house at supper, tomahawked twelve persons, took several captives and heaping the dead together, they tore up the floor and piled it upon their bodies and set fire to the whole. This was the beginning of that four years of terrible warfare with savage foes.
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