USA > Ohio > Guernsey County > History of Guernsey County, Ohio, Volume I > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
56
Present Court Officers
202
Present-day Physicians
212
Present Lawyers
202
Presidential Vote
75
Princes of Jerusalem
170
Probate Judges
86
Prohibition, Vote on
74
Prosecuting Attorneys
86
Public Library
258
Q
Quaker City
317
Quaker City Chapter, O. E. S. 172
Quaker City Christian Church
145
Quaker City Independent
223
Quaker City Lodge, F. & A. M.
171
Quaker City Lodge, K. P.
176
Quaker City M. E. Church
144
Quaker City National Bank
236
Quakers
145
R
Raid, Morgan's
98
Railroad Era
194
Railways
185
Rathbone Sisters
175
Recorders, County
83
Recorder's Record
60
Record of Recorder
60
Regimental Printer
98
Religious Worship
262
Reminiscences
393
Representatives
78
Richland Township
306
Robbery, Early Highway
373
S
St. Benedict's Catholic Church.
146
Salesville
315
Salesville M. E. Church 143
Salt for Wheat.
393
Salt Manufactory
Sarchet, Colonel, Birthday Banquet. 376 Sarchet Family Bible. 392
Schools, Cambridge
126
School Discipline, Pioneer 132
School Statistics
133
Scott, Dr. Winfield. 210
Second Baptist Church. 163
Second U. B. Church.
155
Second U. P. Church
160
Secret Societies
167
Seminary, Cambridge
134
Senators, State
78
Seneca Lodge, K. P. 176
Senecaville
308
Senecaville Lodge, I. O. O. F 174
Senecaville Lutheran Church
157
Senecaville M. E. Church.
145
Senecaville Presbyterian Church 153
Settlement, Early 16
Seven Ranges 18G
Sheep Industry
179
Sheriffs
81
Shroud and Coffin
314
Siamese Twins
363
Simons, Dr. Charles P
208
Soldiers' Aid Societies
98
Soldiers from Guernsey County
97
Soldiers' Graves
115
Soldiers' Monument
113
Soldiers of 1812
90,
93
Some Peculiar Notices
361
Spanish-American War
112
Spencer's Station
315
ยท
Spencer Township
324
State Senators
78
Streams, Names of.
26,
29
Surveyors, County
83
T
Telegraph, First in Cambridge.
256
Temperance Movements
262
The Jeffersonian
215
The Old Pike.
185, 189, 419
HISTORICAL INDEX.
The Old Mill. 393
The Republican-Press 219
Washington Fair 183
Toll Gate Statistics 189
Washington, George 31
Tom Thumb 265
Washington M. E. Church. 145
Topography of Guernsey County 25
Washington Presbyterian Church 153
Washington Republican
215
Townships, Organization of. 39,
54
Townships, Original
39
Washington U. P. Church.
161
Water Navigation
185
Weather Statistics
383
Westland Township
332
Wheeling Road
186
Wheeling Township
329
Whipping Post
248
Whiskey-dog Trial
396
Whittier, Andrew
89
United Presbyterian Church 160
V
Valley Township 349
Visit to Mckinley 72
Vote, Gubernatorial 75
Vote in 1824. 65
Vote on Prohibition
74
Vote, Presidential 75
95
Wall, Dr. Andrew
W
206
Washington 344
U
Underground Railroad 358
Union School
127
Unique Advertisements. 357
United Brethren Church. 154
William Henry Harrison, Visit of .. 267
Wills Creek Bridge. 270
Wills Creek, Early Days on 415
Wills Township
341
Winchester 340
Wool Industry 179
Wounded Deer
49
Z
Town Plats 41
Washington Township
337
Treasurers, County 80
Treasury Defalcation 62
Volunteers, First
Zane's Trace
27, 186
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
A.
Abels, James D
613
Adair, William J 763
Albin, Perry M.
531
Allison, Richard M
907
Amos, John M.
544
Anderson, Charles M
818
Anderson, John
813
Anderson, Matthias C. 813
Arbuckle, Alexander W
725
Arndt, David 608
Arndt, Howard W 608
Atkins, Robert H. 791
Atkins, Robert N.
599
Ault, Charles M.
650
Austin, Charles R.
783
B
Bair, James G.
505
Banta, Charles Levi 517
Barber, Nathan H. 894
Barnes, John W
670
Barr, James R.
926
Bayless, Osmond M. 533
Beckett, John C.
477
Bell, Oscar O.
604
Bell, William H.
674
Bennett, Arthur J
625
Berry, John S
909
Berry, Oscar J. 758
Bierly, William F
492
Bird, Frank E.
852
Black, Archibald L.
787
Blair, William H
839
Bond, John H.
685
Bonnell, Thomas A
482
Bostwick, John A.
554
Bostwick, Nathan
555
Bown, Herbert H.
529
Braden, Daniel E.
899
Bradford, William N 654
Bratton, John B.
770
Bratton, Samuel, Jr.
511
Brown, J. Marshall
550
Brown, Turner G.
889
Brown, William H. 648
Bruner, John L.
600
Burgess, Samuel M.
494
Burt, David S.
728
Burt, John M.
762
C
Cain, Albert R. 672
Cale, John W.
801
Campbell, James W
4C8
Carnes, Samuel C.
578
Carter, Samuel
610
Casey, Charles L.
501
Catholic Church in Guernsey County. 480 Clark, John Bargar 945
Clark, Richard J
572
Clark, Stephen B.
Clark, Thomas C.
571
519
Cochran, Alexander
615
Coen, Alexander L.
596
Combs, James G
822
Combs, John M.
811
Conner, Silas W.
658
Conroy, Dennis
967
Cowden, David L.
919
Cowden, William N
919
Craig, Samuel A.
662
Cubbison, James
588
Cubbison, Pulaski
587
D
Davis, Carson B
500
Davis, William H.
688
Davis, William H., Jr 776
Deselm, Wilbur D.
736
Dickerson, George W
715
Dilley, Ephraim M.
877
Dilley, James L.
834
Dollison, Joseph B. 627
Dowdall, William W
673
Druesedow. Anton E
697
Dyson, Joseph W.
526
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
E
Eagleson, Alexander G 679
Eagleson, Thomas 534
Eagleton, William 913
Eagleton, John
913
Eaton, James E
612
Eaton, Philip W 606
Enos, Benjamin F 515
Evans, William P.
836
F
Fairchild, John T.
861
Ferguson, Ira
503
Ferguson, Joseph B. 629
Finley, John F.
778
Finley, Samuel A
777
Fishel, John B.
774
Forbes, Robert S.
786
Forsythe, Homer A.
901
Forsythe, William R.
923
Fowler, Thomas W
951
Frame, Roland S.
793
Frost, John W ..
622
Frye, Charles W
771
Frye, George W
581
Frye, Henry F.
760
Frye, William K.
761
G
Gable, John E.
496
Galbraith, Henry, P 828
Gander, David C. 710
Gander, Homer S. 767
Gibson, William H
619
Graham, Richard C.
552
Grant, John Roland
961
Green, Elmer E
932
Green, Fred F 876
Green, James
931
Green, Willoughby B. 937
Gregg, John B.
537
Gregg, William D 589
Gregg, William J.
590
Groves, Samuel C.
773
H
Hall, Edward
911
Hall, Isaac W. 586
Hall, John R.
585
Hartley, Leon C.
929
Hartley, Milton L.
929
Hawes, James F.
779
Hawes, Joseph 780
Hayman, Jacob H. 682
Heade, Wilson S 521
Heaume, William E. 528
Heiner, Charles A. 722
Henderson, James C. 796
Hilderbrand, Benjamin I. 858
Hoopman, Elijah B.
750
Hoopman, James A. 750
Hoopman; Parmer E.
757
Hoopman, William H.
512
Hunt, William A. 789
Hutton, William A. 874
Hyatt, John H.
946
Hyatt, Noah
947
J
Jackson, Coleman B.
881
Jackson, Samuel
740
Jenkins, David J.
884
Johnson, Samuel M.
612
Johnston, Andrew S. T. 597
Johnston, Francis
597
Johnston, Willard B.
624
Johnston, William F.
921
Joyce, Benjamin B.
558
K
Kaho, George S.
695
Keenan, Isaac W.
560
Koontz, Henry A.
862
Koren, Joseph
812
L
Laughlin, James
854
Lawyer, William M.
524
Lee, Benjamin F.
882
Lepage, Nathaniel
837
Linkhorn, L. S.
768
Linn, David
548
Lofland, Gordon 486
Lowry, Orlando F.
514
Luccock, Howard W.
656
Lynch, Edward
845
Mc
McBurney, James R.
607
McConnell, John M. 579
McCourt, James
737
McCracken, Alexander 868
McCreary, James H.
690
McCreary, John L.
781
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
McCulloch, Allen R 898
McIlyar, Clyde R. 659
McKim, Martin V. 617
Mckinley, Thomas W. 717
McMillen, George A.
700
M
Mahaffey, John P.
498
Marsh, D. Dillon 640
Mathews, Edward W., Jr 500
Mathews, Edward W., Sr.
465
Meek, Erastus F.
824
Merry, Abraham M. 968
Millhone, Elijah
871
Moore, Andrew Bines
832
Moore, Hiram K.
896
Moore, Isaac
708
Moore, James W. 878
Moore, Robert B.
798
Moore, Ross
527
Moore, Thomas I. 708
Moore, Wiley O.
576
Moorhead, Joel
539
Moorhead, John S.
843
Morgan, John H. 484
Morton, Isaac
633
Moser, William M. 831
Murray, Alexander R.
631
Murray, James
631
N
Nash, John H.
735
Neeland, Elijah 705
Nelson, Edwin M.
686
Nichols, W. G.
972
Nicholson, Andrew W. 747
Nicholson, Jacob 806
Nicholson, John L. 809
Nicholson, John R. 755
Nicholson, Ulysses G.
749
Nosset, David W.
564
0
Orr, Charles A.
508
Ogier, John, Jr .. 541
Oldham, Isaac A. 885
Oldham, Isaac J.
669
Orr, James Clinton
507
P
Patton, James E.
543
People's Bank, Pleasant City 493
Peters, James B.
952
Pitt, Albert E. 816
Potts, Benjamin O. 677
Pryor, James A. 820
Purdum, U. C.
546
Purdum, Zachary
546
Pyles, Thomas
943
R
Ramsey, William T
784
Rankin, Daniel L. 804
Reasoner, Lynn S. 635
Reasoner, Thomas H
630
Reynolds, John 661
Riddle, Lincoln O. 759
Riggs, Eugene C.
887
Ringer, Arthur G.
667
Robins, James E. 583
Robins, John, Sr 583
Robins, Martin L. 584
Rogers, Lawson A. 815
Rogers, Lilburn C.
940
Rosemond Family
933
Rosemond, Fred L.
93G
S
St. Benedict's Catholic Church 480
Salladay, George
567
Salladay, Jacob W. 916
Salladay, Lewis F. 573
Salladay, Warren 574
Sarchet, Cyrus P. B. 463
Sarchet Family 457
Sarchet, Moses
402
Sarchet, Thomas, Sr. 458
Schick Brothers
949
Schick, Frank L., Jr.
950
Schick, Frank L., Sr.
949
Schick, John B.
951
Scott, Nathan B.
733
Scott, Robert T.
866
Secrest, George M. 792
Secrest, Harrison
851
Secrest, Jacob F. 591
Secrest, James M. 850
Secrest, James W.
808
Secrest, Noah E. 739
Secrest, Noah E. 713
Secrest, William
795
Shaw, George R
727
Shepler, Robert I.
765
Sheppard, Benjamin F.
470
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
Sheppard, Charles S.
602
Sheppard, William S. 970
Sherby, Michael 562
Shriver, John W.
692
Trenner, Obediah E.
847
Trott, Elza D.
752
True, Alfred J.
565
Turner, George
488
Turner, William H.
488
U
Upton, William H.
476
V
Vankirk, Samuel C.
917
Veitch, Henry H.
891
Vessels, John A.
965
Vorhies, Elmer E.
892
W
Wagner, Rev. J. H.
480
Wall, Andrew
720
Warne, Clinton D.
691
White, Isaac N.
676
Williams, Henry L.
523
Williams, Robert N.
743
Wills, Theodore M.
856
Wilson, Henry H.
638
Wilson, James M.
963
Wilson, Samuel, Sr.
638
Wilson, William C.
964
Wilson, William H.
569
Wires, John
731
Woodworth, Henry P.
902
Wycoff, Albert E.
714
Y
Yeo, William B.
741
Young, Ora F.
712
Z
Zahniser, Robert W.
915
T
Taylor, Alexander A.
904
Taylor, David D. 592
Taylor, Joseph D. 953
Taylor, Orlando R.
842
Temple, Edward
704
Temple, Lafayette
704
Temple, William
704
Thompson, Bert M.
473
Thompson, Ebenezer F.
829
Thompson, John A.
864
Thompson, William 829
Trenner, Benjamin
693
Trenner, George S.
644
Shriver, Mark Gordon
699
Shriver, Michael E.
698
Siegfried, Jacob B.
536
Siens, Milton H.
557
Simpson, William L.
621
Skinner, James A.
647
Smith, Ernest W.
724
Smith, Frank R.
509
Smith, George M.
942
Smith, Jeremiah R.
869
Spaid, Chaise J.
971
Spaid, James E.
859
Spaid, Thomas A.
702
Stage, William M.
827
Stage, William S.
827
Stevens, Alpheus L.
472
Stewart, James B.
574
Stone, .Elias D.
848
Stout, George H.
924
Strauch, Matthew
719
Stubbs, Isaac E.
652
Suitt, William C.
665
HISTORICAL.
CHAPTER I.
TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY-NATURAL FEATURES.
Guernsey county is bounded on the north by Tuscarawas and Harrison counties, on the east by Belmont county, on the south by Noble and on the west by Muskingum and Coshocton counties. Its soil is derived chiefly from the underlying rocks, which are mostly shales or sandstone. Except on the eastern borders, where the limestone at the base of the upper coal measure is reached. this applies where the soil is loose and thin. In some places it affords barely enough hold for the growth of grasses on the steep hillsides. A very small portion of the lands in the county were uncultivated later than 1880. It has every facility for a good dairy section, and to this many have, of late years, turned their attention with much profit. Its many springs and cooling streams make it an ideal country for this branch of farm industry. Sheep also do well and long years since the county ranked third and fourth of all the counties in Ohio in the production of sheep and wool.
The county, generally speaking, is very hilly and uneven in its topog- raphy. It has been rightly termed "up hill and down hill" in its make-up. The highest ground is in the northwest and southwest portions. Four miles out of this county-over in Muskingum county-west from Spencer town- ship, Guernsey county, is situated High hill. the highest isolated point in Ohio, though in Logan county the general altitude is greater. There is a romantic appearance to the general topography here. Strange to say, there are no valleys but those shut in and surrounded by other hills and valleys. There are quiet dells, retiring far between the swelling hills, and this makes the whole scene one of beauty and charm to the passer-by. The slopes afford good pasture, and in many instances the hillsides are covered with fine vine- yards. The best mines in the county are located in the southern part. The southwestern section affords an excellent farming country, and many years ago this was noted for its wealth of livestock and prosperous farmers.
26
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
The drainage of the county is by the valley of Wills creek, a branch of the Muskingum river. . The headwaters of Wills creek include the well- known streams or creeks, Leatherwood, Crooked creek, Salt fork, Bushy creek, and Sugar Tree fork, Leatherwood being the larger of these tributaries. Wills creek flows from its headwaters in Noble county, through the entire length of Guernsey, emptying into the Muskingum near the corners of Musk- ingum and Coshocton counties. All other streams in this section of Ohio flow toward the south, but Wills creek flows north-away from the Ohio. It is a sluggish stream, following a tortuous course, north and south, through the western part of the county, with scarcely a foot fall per mile-hence its sluggishness. Its numerous tributaries form a complete network throughout the entire county. The soil through which Wills creek flows is yellowish, hence the yellow appearance of this stream everywhere it meanders.
The county abounds in a good grade of both lime and sandstone and valuable clays; it also has an abundance of excellent timber, though much of the original forests have been long ago cut and sawed, leaving, how- ever, a good supply for the present and oncoming generations. Beech, poplar, sycamore, oak, chestnut, maple, elm and ash are among the valua- ble varieties of timber growing.
Coal, which is mentioned in the Mining chapter, underlies almost every portion of the county and has come to be the most paying branch of Guern- sey county's industries. Salt can be had by boring wells, which was done at a very early date in the history of the county.
Nature, everywhere within the confines of this county, smiles on man and yields up her treasures of soil and mineral wealth. The landscape certainly is one "ever a feast to the eye," and is admired by resident and stranger alike. When the spring buds put forth, there is a sweetness in the atmosphere one seldom finds elsewhere. When autumn puts on her robes of beauty and silently glides winterward, no finer hues and brilliant com- mingling of forest leaves can be seen on the continent. While there are many countries with a deeper, richer soil, and where the raising of crops can be carried on with less work and more profit, there are few better coun- tries for the general resources that go toward making man happy and con- tented with what nature has given him.
The following interesting items concerning the streams of this county and their names are from the pen of Hon. William M. Farrar: The streams of Guernsey county come somewhat curiously by their names, as Leather- wood, from a bush having a tough, leathery bark used by the pioneers for many useful purposes; Yoker, from the yoker brush that grows along its
27
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
banks; Wills creek, from Wills river, Maryland; Crooked creek, from its winding course : Little and Big Skull forks, from the fact that in early times the Indians, having made one of their raids into the white settlements east of the Ohio river, were returning with their prisoners, among whom were a mother and infant child; being pursued, they first killed the infant and left the body to be devoured by the wolves, who left no remains but the lit- tle skull; farther on the mother was killed, and in like manner devoured by the wolves, leaving only the skull. These skulls were found by the pursuing whites on the banks of the streams which thus received their respective names. Another stream is named Indian Camp, from one of their camping grounds.
The settlement of the county was curious, in that settlers from so many different districts met here. The Virginians and Guernseymen met at Wills creek ; the Yankees, from Massachusetts, and western Pennsylvanians, in the southwest ; Quakers, from North Carolina and Chester county, Pennsylva- nia, in the southeast ; the Irish, in the northern and western townships. A settlement from New Jersey extends into two townships, while there are families, descendants of the Hessians, in the southern part of the county, that came in through Virginia and Maryland settlements. The youngest daughter of General Stark, of the Revolution, died in this county, aged ninety-nine years.
The man who wields the second oar in the painting of "Perry's Vic- tory," in the rotunda of the Ohio State House, was a Guernsey county man known as "Fighting Bill" Reed. He was of Virginia or Pennsylvania stock, who learned the blacksmith trade of William McCracken, of Cam- bridge.
General Broadhead's trail in his Coshocton campaign in 1781 against the Indians is distinctly marked through the county. There were no Indian villages in this region, it being the hunting ground of parties that hunted and fished along the principal streams.
In 1798 "Zane's Trace" was cut through the county. When Zane's party arrived at Wills creek crossing they found the government surveyors busy surveying the United States military lands. They had a camp on its banks. At this time the only dwelling between Wheeling and Lancaster was at Zanesville. The Zanes were from the south branch of the Potomac, near Wills river, Maryland, and hence gave the name Wills creek to the stream. So far as known, Ebenezer Zane's party consisted of himself, his brother, Jonathan Zane, John McIntire, Joseph Worley, Levi Williams, and an Indian guide named Tomepomehala.
28
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
Wills creek is a sluggish stream with a clay bottom, and, choked up as it was at that day with driftwood and rubbish, was a difficult crossing, and the Zanes, in compliance with the requirements of the act to establish and maintain ferries at the principal crossings, probably induced a man by the name of Graham to establish one there. It was the first stream west of Wheeling on the "Trace" over which they placed a ferry. Who this first ferryman was or where from is not known. He remained about two years. and was succeeded by George Beymer, from Somerset, Pennsylvania, a broth- er-in-law of John McIntire, of Zane's party. McIntire was a brother-in- law of Ebenezer Zane. Both of these persons kept a house of entertain- ment and a ferry for travelers on their way to Kentucky and other parts of the West. Mr. Beymer. in April, 1803, gave up his tavern to John Beatty, who moved in from Loudoun county, Virginia. Beatty's family consisted of eleven persons. Among these was Wyatt Hutchinson, who later kept a tavern in the town. The Indians then hunted in this vicinity, and often en- camped on the creek. In June, 1806, Cambridge was laid out. and on the clay the lots were first offered for sale, several families from the British isle of Guernsey, near the coast of France, stopped here and purchased lands. These were followed by other families, amounting in all to some fifteen or twenty, from the same island, all of whom, settling in the county, gave origin to its present name. Among the heads of these families were William Ogier, Thomas Naftel, Thomas Lanfisty, James Bichard, Charles and John Mar- quand, John Robbins, Daniel Ferbrache, Peter, Thomas and John Sarchet and Daniel Hubert.
ORIGIN OF SOME GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES.
(From Col. C. P. B. Sarchet's Writings.)
There is a significance about names both historical and otherwise. We know that Millwood township was first settled by Quakers, and that your beautiful city was first called Millwood. The name now, Quaker City, is appropriate, but because the Websters built a mill on Leatherwood, didn't give it the name of Millwood. The reason for the name is farther back in history. Who knows? Coming down to Salesville, we know that the Brills and Williams were first settlers there, and that Brillsburg and Williamstown would have been appropriate names, but the name is farther back. Who knows? There have been some stories written about the "Leatherwood God" Dylks. We wrote one of these. We placed him as entering unseen into the old log "Temple" north of Salesville. Another writer says he made his ap-
20
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
pearance at a camp meeting held near the "Miller meeting house." There is no question but there was a Dylks, but where the "God" appeared ought to be definitely located; whether on the mountain top or in the vale, who knows ?
At the first Pennyroyal Reunion, the late Hon. Newell Kennon gave some historical reminiscences. He said that the contractor who built the old stone church, for the Reformed Associate Presbyterian church, in which Dr. Samuel Lindsey ministered so long, placed a jug of whisky, and that when the church was torn down, the workmen found the jug and the whisky in a high state of preservation. "They drank the whisky, but I don't know what became of the jug." Now it would not do to say Presbyterianism about Fairview had for its cornerstone a jug of whisky, but it was put there for some reason by the contractor. So it is sometimes with history. A part is given and the other is lost.
Leatherwood creek was named from a peculiar bush that grew along its banks that was as pliable as leather, and was used as withes by the early set- tlers. Beaver creek, because of the beavers and beaver dams along it. Sen- eca creek, from the oil that gathered on the salt water at the old Satter- thwaite salt works (which was gathered by spreading clothes on the water and then wringing out the oil, which was the same as the oil of Seneca Lake, New York. This oil was used for medicinal purposes. In our boyhood we took some dropped on loaf sugar, but would have preferred to mix the dose ourself). Salt Fork creek, from the salt lick found at the covered bridge on the National road, where the old Moore salt works were located. Buf- falo creek, from the many evidences of buffalo trails and stamps found near them. A legend is that the Indians had captured a woman and child, and on being pursued, had first killed the child, and later the mother. The child's skull was found near Little Skull fork and the mother's near Big Skull fork.
CHAPTER II.
INDIAN OCCUPANCY -- TERRITORY ACQUIRED BY WHITE MEN.
La Salle, the famous adventurer and explorer, was beyond much doubt the first white man to tread the soil of what we now call Ohio. With a few followers and led by Indian guides, he penetrated the vast country then held by that powerful tribe of North American Indians known as the Iroquois and went down the Ohio as far as the "Falls," or where the city of Louisville now stands. There his band abandoned him and he traced his steps back rorth alone. This, it is believed, was in the winter of 1669-70-two hundred and forty years ago-and this was more than a hundred years before Mari- etta, Ohio, was settled by the white race. This daring French explorer doubtless camped at the mouth of the Muskingum river. In 1682 he reached the Mississippi river, descended to its mouth, and there proclaimed possession of the vast valley in the name of his king.
Prior to the middle of the eighteenth century, the French people re- asserted their ownership of the Northwest and did actually take possession of what is now the northern part of Ohio, building a fort and establishing a trading station at Sandusky. Celeron de Bienville made a systematic ex- ploration of the Ohio valley and formally declared by process verbal the ownership of the soil. August 16, 1749, he was at the mouth of the Mus- kingum river, which fact was revealed in 1798 by the discovery of a leaden plate deposited by him and which set forth the exploration. The plate was found protruding from a bank, after a freshet, by some boys, who cut away a portion of its inscription, not knowing its great historic value. The same was translated by William Woodbridge, later governor of Michigan. A similar plate was found in 1846, at the mouth of the Kanawha. These were to reassert the rights of the French government to this land. While the French had a good title to this state, it was not long before it was wrested from them by the British crown.
The Colonial Ohio Land Company was organized in Virginia in 1748. by twelve associates, among whom were Thomas Lee and Lawrence Augus- tine, brothers of George Washington. Under this company. Christopher Gist explored the Ohio valley as far as the Falls. The company secured
31
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
a royal grant of half a million acres in the valley of the Ohio river. It was intended to at once found a colony, but the French opposed it, and the royal governor of Virginia sent George Washington, then a young man, to the commander of the French forces to demand their reason for invasion of . British territory. Washington received an answer that was both haughty and defiant. He returned and made his report to the governor, who aban- doned the idea of making immediate settlement, but at once set about as- serting the English claims by force of arms. The result was the union of the colonies, the ultimate involvement of England in the war that ensued, the defeat of the French, and the vesture in the British crown of the right and title to Canada and of all the territory east of the Mississippi and south to the Spanish possessions in the South. Ben Franklin had tried to effect a union of the colonies, but was unsuccessful. He had proposed a plan of settlement in 1754, and suggested that two colonies be located in the West- one upon the Cuyahoga and the other on the Scioto, which tract he declared had not its equal on the North American continent, having timber and coal almost on the surface ready to mine.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.