History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley, Part 144

Author: Caldwell, J. A. (John Alexander) 1n; Newton, J. H., ed; Ohio Genealogical Society. 1n
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Wheeling, W. Va. : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 728

USA > Ohio > Jefferson County > History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley > Part 144
USA > Ohio > Belmont County > History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley > Part 144

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The following record taken from a fly-leaf of a copy of "Lock's Essay on the Human Understanding," gives the most import- ant event in the life of Ambrose, who had by this time lost all claim to the pet title of little, by having arrived at the age of 23 years, and to the considerate height of 6 feet four inches. " Married by Isaac Moore [J. P.] of Wayne township, on the 18th day of November, 1807, Ambrose Danford, of Belmont county, to Mary Delaney." Great changes had occurred since the time when the three brothers had come to the new country, and great changes were still taking place. Ohio had been or- ganized and admitted into the Union as a state. The forests were rapidly disappearing, and cozy homes, surrounded by well tilled farms, with their rude log barns and their stacks of hay and grain were taking their places. The Indian had disap- peared, and the bear, the wolf, and the panther, though by no means strangers to the inhabitants of Belmont county, had rea- son to regard themselves as only tenants by sufferance. The local divisions of counties and townships had been established.

Young Danford's wife, Mary, was a daughter of his father's third wife, Margaret DeLancy. The marriage appears to have been a wise and happy one. The young couple through care- ful management found themselves the possessors of sufficient wealth to enter a considerable tract of land. By good judgment and economy, they continued to prosper, till at length they were proprietors of over a thousand acres of land, the richest quality that Captina bottoms could afford, besides a considerable amount of personal property, including quite an amount of money for that day. Mr. Danford, though exceptionally attentive to his personal concerns, took a deep interest in the affairs of so- ciety. He was an carnest worker in politics and was a strong advocate in the cause of temperance, upon both of which sub- jects he frequently delivered public speeches and lectures. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1813 and served one year.

The following record, from the fly-leaf of the copy of " Lock's Essay " before cited, tells in brief form the remaining portion of the story of his life. It was the family record, kept by himself : Milton, born September 14, 1808; Merey, born May 25, 1810, Margaret, born December 12, 1812; Anna, born October 30, 1815; Maria, born January 15, 1819; Charles Hammond, born September 23, 1821; Jane, born June 19, 1823; Sarah and Nancy, born September 30, 1825. Died January 18, 1829. Mary Danford.

In the early part of his married life, Ambrose Danford had entered several hundred acres of land in section 26, of Washing- ton township, and in the adjoining section, No. 5, in Wayne township. Near the middle of this tract on the Wayne town- ship side of the line, between the two townships he afterward built the brick house now occupied by the Mills family, where he spent the rest of his life. He died November 21, 1850. In personal appearance Mr. D. was not prepossessing. He was tall, strongly built, with angular features. In character he was an excellent type of the plain, unpretentious, common sense man, with clear perceptions and calm, sure-footed judgement.

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HISTORY OF BELMONT AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES.

In estimates of men and affairs he rarely made a mistake. Like all self-made men, he had gained a large store of practical knowledge, which, under the influence of his strong common sense, had crystalized into maxims. His conversation conse- quently abounded with laconic sayings and shrewd proverbs. He had a strong sense of humor and delighted to tell a good story ; particularly when his own personal appearance was the subject of the joke. He had good command of language and was counted a good public speaker. Of his family, only three are living : Milton, in Iowa; Sarah, (Mrs. Wm. Daniels) in Bealls- ville, Monroe county, Ohio, and Nancy (Mrs. Alexander Cald- well) in Washington township, at the mouth of Crabapple er eek.

Reuben Perkins, one of the pioneers of Captina, migrated to Belmont county in the spring of 1798, and settled near the creek. He was born on the Susquehanna river in the year 1767 and was of English extraction. In 1785, he was united in mar- riage to Elizabeth Hup. This union resulted in seven children, Everhart, Reuben, Jr., Lewis, Elias, Elijah, Elizabeth and Rachel. At the time he located in the county he had a family of six children, the oldest only being eleven years of age. He first settled on what was known afterward as the Brown farm, situated below where Pott's mill now stands. The farm is owned at present by Michael Dorsey. There were only three families living in that neighborhood at that time, viz. : Daniel Bean, who used to roam the forests clothed after the Indian fashion, his brother, - Bean, and Robert Latty. It is said he was quite skillful and could turn his hand to almost anything. He manufactured powder, dressed his own buckskins, made plows and followed weaving. He killed many panthers, bears, wolves, deer, wild cats and other ferocious and dangerous animals. The stories he related about these were thrilling and interesting. The same fall he came to his new home in the wilderness a great calamity befell him -- a loss he felt keenly-it was the death of his wife. After a few years he was married again to a Virginia lady, by whom he had five children. In 1805, he entered the quarter section of 28, in now Washington township, and which is now owned by some of his grandsons, On the 8th of April, 1816, whilst engaged in work he suddenly fell to the ground and expired of heart disease. His death was greatly felt by his chil- dren and friends.

Among the early settlers of whom we can now obtain infor- mation is Joseph Read, who died March 16, 1879, at his residence in this township, aged 85 years. The following account was written by Hon. Leroy Welsh, who had the pleasure of an in- terview with this much respected citizen of Washington, shortly before his demise :

Mr. Read was born near Williamsport, Md., in 1794; lived for a time in Hampshire county, Va., and came with his parents to the Captina valley in 1805. He at once entered the land where he ever afterwards lived, having at the time of his death resided in that neighborhood for nearly three-quarters of a cen- tury. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and had the honor to assist in guarding the vessels captured from the British at the battle of Lake Erie.

His early life he remembered well, calling dates and details with remarkable facility and accuracy. He delighted to find an appreciative listener, and there was about him an air of candor and truthfulness which commanded confidence in his story. As he spoke of the struggles of the olden time and of the exciting scenes of primitive forest and stream, the aroused spirit of his youth came back, and the dead past became with him as the liv- ing present.

" When we first came to Ohio," said he to the writer, "there were two graves here near our cabin. People said white men were buried there who had been killed by the Indians. I was a mere boy then, and used to be afraid to go by these graves after dark. Many a deer have I killed among these bills. Over on the hillside yonder once happened something singular. Ever- hart Perkins had wounded a deer, and the dogs chased it down over a steep bank. I hurried to the spot, and there lay the deer wedged fast under the limb of a fallen tree. Near here I onee saw Everhart shoot a deer at the distance of a hundred yards or more, and it ran directly towards us and fell dead almost at our feet. I saw a similar adventure on Anderson's run. 'In those days we had bears, wolves, elk, otters, wild-cats, gray foxes and wild turkeys. The wolves were a great annoyance. Just be- low here, on what is now S. D. Talbot's farm, lived Peter Dan . ford. He had twelve sheep, and one night the wolves killed all but one. They used to get at my sheep, and would climb over enclosures. Wolf-den hollow, on the new road between here and Glencoe, was a favorite resort for wolves. John Brown canght four there once. We used to get six dollars each for wolf

scalps. A hunter applying for the bounty had to take oath that he would spare the life of no female wolf. This was to keep people from raising wolves to scalp. Wild turkeys were abund- ant. I once made a trap, and at three times caught twenty-one turkeys. One fall Robert Farnsworth, who lived in the old house just below the bridge at Armstrong's Mills, kept count of the squirrels he killed, and they numbered 1,560. It was not necessary to use a gun. The squirrels were knocked off the bushes with a pole and caught on the ground by dogs. A vast army of squirrels once came across the Ohio river, and people caught thousand of them and salted them down in barrels. Fish in Captina creek were very plenty, and it was easy to catch them. Mose Ward and I once felled a sycamore tree into a large drove of them, but the experiment was not very successful."

" The first sermon," continued Mr. Read, " that I know of was by a Methodist preacher named Fordyce. He preached near the graveyard just below Everhart's." Mr. Read didn't know where to find the text, but thought he could repeat it. An effort re- sulted as follows : " In that day this song shall be sung in the land of Judea. God will appoint that day for walls and bul- warks. Open ye the gates wide and let in the righteous nation, who has kept the truth, who has not denied my name, whose mind is staid on the Lord."

The text must have been the first three verses of the 26th chap- ter of Isaiah. The language is not accurately given, but to ob- servers of mental phenomena it will be interesting to make the comparison. Rev. M. Fordyce was not the first preacher in this valley, but it is well known that he was here at a very early day.

" The first school teacher that I ever heard of in this coun- try," said Mr. Read, "was old Josiah Rogers. He taught in a log house not far from where the people of Washington township now do their voting. He took his pay in anything he could get to eat, and boarded in his own cabin. People used to make fun of him for being so lazy. He never chopped any wood, but made a hole in his chimney and poked in the end of a log. The water he used was taken from a hole where the elay had been got to daub his cabin. He was a very exact man. I recollect his whipping some boys for snow balling. For some reason he struck each one of them just four times."

Mr. Read was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his recollec- tion of soldier experience appeared quite vivid. He said most of his company of which John Howell was captain, were "Cap- teeners and McMahon's ereekers." Of those from this side of the county were Moses DeLancy, Jas Brown, Finis Shepherd, John Shepherd, Geo. Limley, Robt. Hathaway, Isaac Ruble, Henry Gates, James Boner, Isaiah Shepherd and William Danford. On their way to the seat of war they stopped at Columbus, where they received their arms and attended a show, which proved to be an exhibition of wax works Some of us at first thought the figures were alive. We offered a black looking fellow a chew of tobacco, which he neither accepted nor declined. Then we made a discovery. From Columbus we marehed to the mouth of the Sandusky river, and from there were taken to Put-in-Bay Is- land. Our company helped guard the Detroit and the Queen Charlotte, two of the vessels captured in Perry's victory. The British called our vessels the ' Musketo Fleet.'

" Our company was discharged March 8, 1813. William Danford had been detailed for duty at Lower Sandusky, and we hadn't heard from him for perhaps ten days. Early one morn- ing, on our return, Finis Shepherd said he feared Danford was not living, as in a dream he had seen him catehing a white horse. When some time afterwards we got the news from Sandusky, we found that the dream was too true. Our comrade was gone, never to return."

For "Old Jozy Reed," as people familiarly called him, Wash- ington township had somewhat of an affectionate regard. His father, William Reed, was a soldier in the war of independence, and lived quite a while after coming to Ohio. Old Jozy's uncle Albert was killed by the Indians. Old Jozy himself was one of the noble band which hewed its way into the wilderness, and made possible these peaceful and prosperous homes. Then he defended them against the Red Coats, and a grateful country rewarded his services with a pension. He was our only surviv- ing hero of the second great war. He felt a sort of proprietary interest in the affairs of the Republic. With him there lingered something of the patriotism which was with the fathers in the beginning. He was amazed that inen should be so wicked as to wish to destroy this glorious Union, and he had no patience with any one who set a light estimate upon the cost and value of our liberties.

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HISTORY OF BELMONT AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES.

He was of kind disposition, and had the respect of all. His warfare is o'er, and he has gone to his rest.

Thomas Armstrong settled in this township in 1811, having migrated from Pennsylvania. He built the second grist mill in the township.

William Frost, Robert Lindsey and Walter Ring erected among the first saw mills on Bend Fork.

William and Samuel Patterson built one of the first saw mills on Crab Apple creek.

CAPTINA CREEK.

Captina creek has been described by the early settlers as being very beautiful. The water of the main stream and its tributa- ries was clear and limpid, through which darted thousands of the finny tribe. The different species of fish found in this creek were the yellow, white and black perch, salmon, sturgeon, eels, (in places several fect in length) white suckers, river suckers, spotted suckers, sunfish, &c., &c. It is said fish were so plenty, that in the spring when they went up the streams to spawn, large quantities could be killed in the ripples with clubs. Elias Perkins, one fall of the year, shot a salmon with bow and arrow which weighed sixteen pounds. Reuben Perkins, Sr., shot two large river fish at the mouth of this creek which weighed 125 pounds cach. They were lying on a rock in the water sunning themselves. These were supposed to have been cod-fish. The creek was narrow and full of deep holes; rocky and deeply shaded, well adapted to the propagation of fish. The bottom lands were very fertile, with a heavy growth of large timber and richly spread over with wild bowers of delicate shape and various hues. Jennings Perkins says he measured a sycamore near the creek that was eighteen feet in circumference, another sixteen feet in circumference, and an elm fifteen feet in circumference. He also measured a sycamore which had fallen down, 150 feet in length. Captina in many places was over a man's head in depth. There was a place, now called the "Death Hole," which is twenty-nine fcet decp. Reuben Perkins, Jr., who was an expert swimmer, and two others, were the only persons that could dive in this hole and bring up a pebble in their mouths from its bot- tom. Mr. P. made a dive and said that was the last time he'd go down, for he came very near sticking fast between two rocks on the bottom. -

MOUNDS AND INDIAN HIEROGLYPHICS.

A number of mounds are situated in this township, prominent amongst which is the one found a few rods from R. W. Linsey's residence. It is about thirty feet in diameter at the base. A few rocks containing Indian hieroglyphics are also found in Washington township.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCIIES.

HON. ISAAC WELSH was born in Belmont county Ohio, July 20, 1811. His parents were Pennsylvanians, and his father, Crawford Welsh, was one of the pioneer settlers of the county. His father being a farmer, he pursued that calling until shortly after he became of age. He then married Mary A. Armstrong, daughter of Thomas Armstrong, and then removed to Bealls- ville, Monroe county, Ohio. Here he entered into mercantile pursuits, and as was the custom with many merchants at that time, was also engaged in the purchase, preparation and ship- ping of tobacco. In this business he was very successful, but he preferred the life of his earlier years, and in 1854, he retired trom merchandising and purchased and removed to a farm on Captina creck, where he subsequently resided and where he died. In early life Mr. Welsh was a Whig, but on the dissolution of that party in 1854, he united with the Fillmore party and sup- ported that gentleman for the Presidency. He was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1857, by the united vote of the Americans and Republicans, and re-elected in the same manner in 1859. At the expiration of his term of office he was chosen State Senator from the Belmontand Harrison district and served in that body two years.

In 1868 he was Presidential elector for the Sixteenth District and was chosen to carry the vote of Ohio to Washington. He was elected Treasurer of State in 1871, and held the office for two terms. Ilis death occurring just six weeks before the expi- ration of his second term, his sou Leroy Welsh, discharging the duties of the office until the incoming of the new treasurer. Mr. Welsh was strongly opposed to the extension of slavery, and

during the war his entire sympathy and support were given to the Republican party. While residing at Beallsville he wrote a series of articles in defense of the State Bank of Ohio, which at- tracted a great deal of attention and were extensively published and noticed, He also wrote an essay on the " Agricultural and Mineral Resources of Belmont county," for which a prize was awarded him by the State Agricultural Society. He kept fully up with the times in which he lived ; was a ready, careful wri- ter, and frequently employed his pen in the discussion of current topics. Although never in any sense an office seeker, he became closely identified with the politics of his time at the bidding of the people who knew him to be a man of the strictest integrity and unblemished character. In legislation he was practical and displayed common sense in his views on all subjects. As a speaker he made no pretensions to oratory, yet his presentation of a subject under discussion commanded universal attention for its fairness and practicability. He was a Cumberland Presby- terian, and by his death the church lost one of its strongest sup- porters. He died at his home in Washington township, Bel- mont county, Ohio, Nov. 29, 1875.

LEROY W. WELSH .- The following article is clipped from the Belmont Chronicle, of August 28, 1879: "The tidings of the death of Mr. Leroy W. Welsh were received with feelings of sin- cere regret by many friends of the family, and others who, from incidental acquaintance with Mr. Welsh, had learned to judge of his worth. Leroy W. Welsh, son of the late Hon. Isaac Welsh, was born in Beallsville, Monroe county. Ohio, in March, 1844. His parents moved to Washington township, Belmont county, in 1854. The subject. after receiving a common school education, entered college at Delaware, Ohio, where he completed the six years' course, and graduated in the summer of 1869. The next year he spent at home, in the study of law, after which he en- tered the Cincinnati Law School, where he completed the pre- scribed course, and graduated in the summer of 1871. He en- tered the office of Treasurer of the State of Ohio, at the begin- ning of the following year, as the chief assistant of his father, Hon. Isaac Welsh, who had been elected State Treasurer at the preceding October election. He continued in this position till the latter part of the year 1875, when he was appointed Treas- urer by Gov. Allen, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of his father. At the close of this term he returned home, where he remained until last spring, when he opened an office for the practice of law in Columbus, Ohio. In this occupation he re- mained until compelled by his last illness to return home, where he remained until the time of his death, which occurred on Wednesday morning, 20th inst.

Mr. Welsh was a young man of fine intellect and broad cul- ture. Combined with these, his excellent social qualities made him one of our best and most esteemed citizens. With an un- usually large store of knowledge, gathered by his own experi- ence and observation, he was just prepared to enter a career of great usefulness. Though many will regret his loss, only those who were intimately acquainted with him, and have felt the in- fluence of his genial nature, and known the extent of his ae- quirements and the wide reach of his thought, can fully appre- ciate the extent of the loss our community has suffered in his deathı. T. W. E.

ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG, a son of Thomas Armstrong, was born in Belmont county, in March, 1813. His parents migrated from Pennsylvania, and settled on Cantina creek, in 1811. At an early age Alexander commenced learning the tanner's trade with his father. In 1833 his father opened out the mercantile business and Alexander began to clerk for him. In 1839 he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Welsh, who was born in Belmont county, in 1819. The same year his father took him as an equal partner in the store. He received the appointment of postmaster under the administration of Presi- dent Tyler, in 1841. In 1843 his brother James received the other half interest in the store. In 1844 our subject purchased the grist mill owned by his father. In 1847 he and his brother disposed of their dry goods and discontinued that business. He subsequently opened ont a new store, taking into partner. ship a Mr. Miller. In 1849 his brother James purchased Mil- ler's interest. This firm continued until the year 1854, when the goods were sold and the store room leased to William Woodburn. He continued a couple of years, grew dissatisfied and removed the stock elsewhere. In about 1858. our subject again started in the mercantile business in his old room, in partnership with E. W. Bryson. Six years later his partner retired and he has been conducting the business

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HISTORY OF BELMONT AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES.

ever since. He has also been operating a woolen factory which he erected in 1846. He was clerk in the State Treasurer's of- fice whilst in the hands of Mr. Isaac Welsh, in 1871. He is the father of eight children. Mr. A. is a prominent member of the M. E. church. Mr. Armstrong has been an active and success- ful business man and has accumulated a valuable property- owning one thousand acres of land in addition to his mills and stores. Armstrong's mills have become widely known, and the place is one of the principal stations on the line of the Bellaire & Southwestern railway, of which company Mr. Armstrong has been vice-president. He was one of the active men in carry- ing forward that enterprise.

A. H. CALDWELL, Esq., is a native of Belmont county, and the date of his birth, is the 23d of September, 1831. When a youth he lived with Jacob Worley, on MeMahon's creek. At the age of twenty he married Miss N. S. Danford, of Belmont county, who was born September 30, 1825. They reared a fam- ily of four children, two sons and two daughters. In 1857 he was elected a Justice of the Peace in Washington township, and has served in that capacity ever since. He also filled the office of township Treasurer since 1870. At present he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bellaire & Southwestern rail- way, which position he has held since the company's organiza- tion. He has been conspicuously identified with this enterprise from the beninning. and has aided materially in its success. Mr. Caldwell has been a successful farmer, and hasone of the best improved farms in Belmont county. He is widely known as an enterprising business man and an estimable citizen.

EVERHART PERKINS, deceased, was born in Pennsylvania. He came with his parents to Belmont county in about 1798, and lo- cated on Captina creek, where they resided a number of years. From this point they removed to Cat's run. In 1802, our sub- ject married Miss Hannah Nicholson. He reared a family of nine children. His wife died in 1852. He lived until he reached the 103d year of his age. Ile early united with the Friends' church. It is said that in his young days, when game abounded plentifully in the forests, he delighted in hunting and used to take a faithful animal of his with him, which he would load down with game and then let it loose, when it returned home to his cabin door and awaited for some one of the family to relieve it of the burden. He entered over seven hundred acres of land in Washington township.

JOSIAHI PERKINS, a son of Everhart Perkins, was born Novem- ber 29, 1822. In 1846, he married Sarah A. Phillips, who was born in March, 1831. By her he reared a family of six chil- dren-five sons and one daughter. Soon after his marriage he removed on a farm in section 28, where he has since resided and engaged in agricultural pursuits. His wife is a member of the Christian church.

WILLIAM DANFORD-Born in 1833. He lived with his parents until he reached the age of majority. In 1855, he plighted his affections to Miss Emma R. Rocker, an amiable young lady, and was united to her by marriage. She was born in Guernsey county, February 28, 1836. They had a family of five children- one son and four daughters-four of whom are living. In 1867, he purchased a half interest in a dry goods store, and engaged in that business until in the spring of the following year. After selling his interest in the store, he moved back on the farm on Captina, and resumed his carly occupation, which he was pleased to follow until death called him from the perplexing cares and busy scenes of this life, and

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History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley, Part 144

Author: Caldwell, J. A. (John Alexander) 1n; Newton, J. H., ed; Ohio Genealogical Society. 1n Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Wheeling, W. Va. : Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 728

Author: Caldwell, J. A. (John Alexander) 1n; Newton, J. H., ed; Ohio Genealogical Society. 1n
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Wheeling, W. Va. : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 728