USA > Ohio > Morgan County > History of Morgan County, Ohio, with portraits and biographical sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 61
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Wilkes Bozman came from Baltimore County. Md., in November of 1819, and settled upon the farm now owned by David Mercer. Ile brought with him a family of six children, his wife having died in Maryland. The names of the children were Edward, John, Frances, Ruth, Elizabeth and William. He died in McConnelsville in 1862.
Edmund Murduck, a native of the state of New York, came to the south- ern part of this township and settled near Muttonburg in 1824. He was a carpenter by trade and it is said that he build the first fanning-mill ever nsed in Morgan County. He was an energetic business man and a successful farmer. He died of cholera in Louisville, Ky., in 1832. He married Miss Lydia Murphy and reared a family of three children- Jackson ( .. Martin V. and William T. Jackson (. is a farmer in Malta Town- ship: Martin V. is deceased, and Will- iam T. is a prominent farmer of Sulli- van County, Ind.
The Chambers family are tradition- ally descended from the " Bruce," one of the conspicuous names in Scottish annals. Alexander Chambers, the pro- genitor of the family in this country, was born in Ireland and came to America in 1798 with his family consisting of his wife and five children -- William, John, Alexander, Mary and Margaret. They first located near Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, where they remained until 1812, when they removed to Belmont County, where the elder Chambers died in 1861 and where Thomas V. Chambers was born May 9, 1833. Alexander, the youngest of the three sons of Alexander, Sr., was born in 1785, and came to Morgan County in 1834 and settled on the farm now owned by his nephew, Thomas V. Ile died in Meigsville Township in 1873. aged seventy-six. William, the elder of the three boys, had four sons -- Will- iam, Robert E., Alexander and Thomas V. Robert E., or Judge Chambers, as he was familiarly known, was born in Bel- mont County, and became one of its most prominent citizens. Of the daugh- ters of William-Jane, Mary A., Mar- garet and Rachel -- all are deceased
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excepting Jane. Thomas V. came to Bristol in 1866, and has identified him- self with the best interests of the town- ship. He has been for nineteen years one of its magistrates, and for many years has been its clerk. He married Miss Lydia Piper, of Belmont County, and to them have been born six chil- dren-Robert V., George P., Willie A., Theresa B., Laura W. and Leah J., who died in infancy.
In 1834 George Henderson moved with his family from Washington County. Pa., to Bristol Township, set- tling on a farm which he had purchased of Alexander Martin, where he resided the rest of his life. He was a success- ful farmer and a prominent citizen. He hield several township offices and served as township treasurer several terms. He was a Presbyterian in religion and was the founder of the Bristol Presby- terian Church, in which he served as ruling elder. He died in 1855 at the age of seventy-three. IIis wife died some years later at the age of ninety- one. Her maiden name was Mary Glenn, and she was born in Washing- ton County, Pa. They brought to Ohio family of two daughters and six a sons-Allie (Mahan), deceased; Jane (Richey), Muskingum County ; William, George J., Nathaniel G., Robert, John and Jacob. Nathaniel died in 1845, aged twenty-one ; William in 1851, aged thirty-two. George J., John and Jacob reside in Bristol Township and Robert in Kansas.
George J. Henderson, ex-County Commissioner, was born in Washington County, Pa., March 8, 1822, and came to Ohio with his parents. He received a cominon-school education, and has followed farming, living on his present farm since 1846. He entered the ser-
vice of the United States in August, 1862, as captain of Company C, 122d O. V. I. He took an active part in raising this company, and served as its captain until discharged on a surgeon's certificate of disability in February, 1864. He is a leading and influential citizen, and has served twelve years as county commissioner, four years as township trustee and three years as township assessor. Capt. Henderson is a republican in politics, and a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church. He was married in October, 1845, to Cath- erine Fouts, daughter of Absalom Fouts, of Bristol Township, and has four chil- dren living, one deceased: Nancy J. (Wilson), Mary (Hammond), John A., Allie F. (Cunningham), living; Wm. Isaac, deceased.
William Hempfield was a sailor. About 1815 he was pressed into the English service. In Nova Scotia he deserted, and from New York to Mari- etta he worked his passage. From Marietta he came to Bristol, and in 1816 entered from the Government a tract of land, which he improved. IIe was quite prominent in the early history of Bristol and his name is frequently men- tioned in the initial events of the town- ship. He died in Bristol in 1880.
Matthew Scott came from Washing- ton County, Pa., about 1840. His com- ing brought quite an accession to the township population, as with him came his family of wife and nine children. His son, William Scott, now occupies the original homestead. Matthew Scott was a successful farmer and a kind neighbor. He died in Bristol in 1877, aged seventy-three years. Mrs. Scott was a native of Washington County, Pa. Her maiden name was Sarah Glover. She died in 1848. Of
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his children there are now living in the township James, Mary. Nancy, Will- iam and Mrs. Keziah Wilson.
William H. Cool was born in Wash- ington County, Pa., December 24, 1813. He learned the trade of a blacksmith, and in early life removed to Brooke County, W. Va. Here he became a river trader, plying his vocation on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from Wells- burg, Va., as far south as New Orleans. Upon his last trip, in 1845, misfortune overtook him and he lost much of the hard earnings of former years. Upon his return he abandoned the river and came to Morgan County and entered the employ of Elijah Stephens. In 1847 they formed a copartnership for the purpose of general merchandising, in which business he continued either in company with others or alone for over thirty-five years. He was the postmaster at Bristol from 1847 to his decease in 1882. February 25, 1846, he married Miss Nancy, daughter of Rev. Samuel Adams. Mr. Cool was a successful business man, and by his kind and courteous deportment endeared himself to a large circle of friends.
Joseph McDonald was born at a place known as Robinson's Run, ten miles from Pittsburgh, Pa .. April 21, 1821. His parents, Joseph and Margaret (Forsyth) McDonald, were of Irish birth and came to this country on the same vessel in 1801. They were mar- ried in Pennsylvania and reared a fam- ily of ten children. In 1836 they came to Muskingum County, Ohio, settling in Blue Rock Township, where they both died, the father in 1871, in his nine- ty-seventh year, the mother in her eighty- sixth year. Both were very reputable people and worthy members of the Presbyterian Church. Joseph, Jr., was
reared on the farm of his father, and re- ceived a limited education from thesub- scription schools of that period. His father came to the country a poor man and settled on a new farm, and the ex- periences of his youth no doubt fitted him for the work that came to him in after years. After attaining his majority his first employment was in clearing and fencing land at six dollars per acre. When not thus engaged he labored as a farm hand at thirty-seven cents per day. In this way he learned habits of industry and the practice of the most rigid econ- omy. At the age of twenty-three he married Miss Mary Reed, a native of Washington County, Pa. In 1858 he came to Bristol and bought the farm where he now resides, of Zachariah Lawrence, the first settler. He has reared a family of nine children and is classed among the most successful of Morgan County farmers. He is a Pres- byterian and a democrat.
John McDonald, while not an early settler, was one of the prominent farmers of the township. He was a Pennsylvanian, and in an early day his family emigrated to Muskingum County, whence he removed to Bristol in 1847. Here he resided until his decease in 1880. He married Miss Sarah, daughter of William Fordyce, one of the pioneers of the county.
William J. Shook was born in Bristol, February 26, 1840. December 5, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, 28th O. V. I. He was wounded in the battle of Shiloh, and was detailed as an ambu- lance driver, and was in every battle in which the division was engaged during the war. He was at the siege of Vieks- burg ; with " Sherman to the sea; " in the battles of Champion Hills, Lookont Mountain, Atlanta, Fort Donelson,
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Iuka, Fort Beauregard, Charlestown, and Jonesboro, thirty-four engagements in all, and was mustered out with the regiment, July 11, 1865.
John Augustus C. Leland was born in Northumberland County, Virginia, in 1826. He was the son of Baldwin Leland, a well-to-do cotton planter and slaveholder. At the age of seven years he was left an orphan by the death of his father, his mother, a French lady, having died when he was a babe. At the age of ten he left Vir- ginia with a brother-in-law, Peter P. Cox, who settled in Guernsey County, Ohio. He was reared, however, by Mrs. Elijah Stevens, a sister, and with them came to Morgan County. His education in books was confined to the inferior district schools of that day; but in that other school in which the teachers are observation and experience, he has been an apt pupil. For three years he was engaged in the store of Mr. Stevens, at Bristol, and upon at- taining his majority was married to Miss Huldah, daughter of David Stevens, the pioneer of the township. Shortly after his marriage he bought a new farm of seventy acres and commenced life as a farmer. In 1867 Mrs. Leland died, having borne him five children, three girls and two boys. In 1871 he was again married to Miss Sarah D .. daughter of Richard Jenkins. the pioneer in the section of the township in which he settled.
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age of seventy-six. He was the father of eleven children, by two marriages. Zachariah married Miss Laura E., daughter of Thomas Murphy, who came to Bristol from Loudon County, Virginia, about 1820. He settled near where Mount Zion Church now is. He married a sister of Archie McCollum, one of the pioneers of the township. Mr. Murphy died in 1846.
John Hardesty was born in Mus- kingum County in 1811, and has been a resident of the county for over a quar- ter of a century. He first engaged in merchandising in Roland and thence came to Bristol in 1883, where he now resides.
James Harper, one of the substantial farmers and prominent men of Bristol Township in his day, came from Bel- mont County in 1845 and settled in Bristol. He brought with him a fam- ily of ten children, four boys and six girls. He was a farmer and stock- dealer, and a thorough and energetic business man, and is still remembered as one of the foremost citizens of the township at the time in which he lived there. He died in Bristol. After his death John J., the eldest son, succeeded to the management of his father's affairs. He was twice married ; first, to Miss Rebecca Lawrence ; his second wife was Miss Sophia Davis. By this second union there were five children, three boys and two girls-James W., John R., George, Mary R. and Lydia. John R., the present sheriff of the county, was born in Monroe County in 1849. James W. was born in Belmont County, O., in 1847, and is a prosperous farmer in Homer Township. He mar- ried, in 1872, Miss Esther M. Heston- three children. The boys are self-made
Zachariah Peddicord was born in Brooke County, West Virginia, and came to Morgan County with his father, Dorsey Peddicord, in 1831. The elder Peddicord settled on the farm where his son Zachariah now resides. IIe resided upon this place until his decease, which occurred in 1853, at the i men, and but few stand higher in pub-
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lic esteem than they; and their positions are due wholly to their own efforts.
John King was born in Penn Town- ship in 1837; he was the son of Abel King. His grandfather, Michael King, was one of the first settlers of Penn Township. August 27, 1861, he was mustered into the service of his coun- try as a member of Company F, 36th Regiment, O. V. I. He served during the entire war with the company in which he enlisted. His regiment did efficient service, and for a year was in West Virginia, moving thence to old Virginia, where they were engaged in the second battle of Mannassas, also the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. They then returned to West Virginia, and shortly after were attached to the Army of the Cumber- land. After the battle of Chickamauga, they re-enlisted as veterans, and again they were transferred to West Vir- ginia, going thence to the Shenandoah Valley, where under Gen. Sheridan they fought the battles of Win- chester and Lynchburg. Mr. King was mistered out September 3. 1864. He is now one of the prominent farmers of the township.
William Phillips was born in Cadiz Township, Harrison County, Ohio, June 20, 1818. While an infant he met with an irreparable loss in the death of his father, and at an early age was thrown upon his own resources. lle was reared in Harrison County. and started in life as a shoemaker, to which trade he had been apprenticed. He followed this vocation for ten years, and in 1837 came to Morgan County, Ohio, and settled in Meigsville Township, where he purchased a small farm, upon which he resided six years, when he disposed of his property and went West. The
Western country proving uncongenial. he returned to Morgan County and purchased a farm in Bristol Township, where he has resided for a quarter of a century. By his thrift and energy he has accumulated a comfortable com- petency, and has built up a reputation among his neighbors and friends that is worthy of emulation. In 1838 he was married to Miss Polly Brothers, of Harrison County, Ohio, where she was born in 1822. They have been blessed with a family of seven children : John, William. Alexander, Ella, James, Charles F. and Mary J.
INITIAL EVENTS.
It is extremely difficult at this time to obtain a just conception of the trials. inconveniences and hardships of the first settlers of Bristol. Remote as they were from villages and frequently without money, they were placed in many trying positions; but they were fertile in expedients and many were possessed of mueh inventive genius. and means were always devised to at- tain their desires. Wagons were al- most unknown, and if they had had them they would have been useless, as there were no roads on which they conld be used. Some of the first wagons were made by the settlers without the assistance of a wagon- maker; the wheels were sawed from a log of suitable size, and destitute of hnb or tire. Some of the later settlers brought wagons with them, and these were loaned around among the neigh- bors. Some had carts, and frequently two neighbors would construct a wagon by using the wheels of their carts. A pioneer harness would now be a rare curiosity. The breast and tongue chains were made of hickory withes.
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the traces of rawhide or elm bark ; the collars were of cornhusks, sewed with splits of oak. In another chapter will be found a vivid description of the life of the pioneers, and the above is merely given to illustrate some of the expedients to which they were obliged to resort and the economy they were compelled to practice. Ginseng, maple sugar and deerskins were for a time the only articles that would command money. Wheat was packed on horses and taken to Zanesville, where it was marketed at about twenty-five cents a bushel. This was the price of that com- modity in 1805. In 1804, however, from some cause it brought two dollars per bushel.
Hogs ran wild in the woods and in the fall they fattened upon mast, and were hunted the same as any other wild game. For lack of conveniences for dressing they were either skinned or the hair burned off by placing them on a log fire.
The first settlers of Bristol were not deprived of postal facilities. As early as 1808 David Stevens was appointed postmaster of Meigsville Township, which then embraced all of what is now Bristol. This was the first office, and he the first postmaster of which we have any knowledge in Morgan County. There was a post-route es- tablished between Marietta and Zanes- ville previous to the year 1798. In that year Daniel Converse, then a young man twenty-one years of age, carried the mail on this route nearly the entire distance on horseback. At this time the country between Zanesville and Marietta was a dense wilderness and infested with hostile Indians. On one occasion Converse was pursued by the savages, and when near the mouth of
Olive Green Creek, which he was obliged to cross, he had a very narrow escape. A large, flat log had been placed across the creek for the benefit of foot passengers, but the ford was located one mile farther up the creek.
The Indians were in full chase, and elated with their prospective victory, they made the hills resound with their vells. But young Converse was a boy of rare presence of mind and fertile in resources, and without a moment's de- liberation he came to the conclusion that his only alternative was to ride his horse across the log, for if he rode to the ford and back the savages would there intercept him. It was a daring trip, but one which the Indians had not anticipated and dared not undertake. His horse seemed to comprehend the situation fully, and carried his young master safely across, and thus saved his life.
About the first thing to receive the serious attention of the early settlers was the question of roads. They usually found their way to their new homes by trails or blazed bridle-paths, but they saw the necessity of a more convenient thoroughfare for the transportation of the products of the farms. The first road in the township was the Marietta and Zanesville road, a return of which was made July 8, 1808. It was for years a post-route.
One of the earliest routes of travel was the so-called Federal Trail, said to have been made by a portion of Gen. St. Clair's army, who were unable to obtain boats for transportation to Fort Washington. The trail commenced at Grave Creek, on the Ohio River, and running westward crossed Dye's Fork of Meigs Creek at Renrock, then divided, one branch crossing Bristol Town-
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ship through Sandhollow and passing through the northeast corner of Bloom, and thence into Muskingum County, crossing the Muskingum River at Gays- port.
What is now known as the Barnes- ville road was one of the earliest and most important roads in the township. It was ordered about 1820. It is not the purpose of the writer to give a de- tailed account of road-making in Bristol. New roads are constantly being sug- gested and old ones taken up. They have always been a knotty problem for Bristol people. The character of the soil and the hills render the building of good roads an exceedingly difficult task.
Mills then, as now, were prime neces- sities, and the pioneers were frequently obliged to go many miles, through an almost trackless wilderness, carrying their grist upon a horse. If the mill was located upon a small stream and the water was low, or if, as was fre- quently the case, there were many others there before them, they had sometimes to wait several days before their turn came. The pioneers of Bris- tol were obliged to go to Zanesville to get their grinding done, for several years. There was frequently in the neighborhood someone who had a hand- mill, but using it was a very slow and tedious process, and bnt little in ad- vance of that more primitive way of reducing the grain to flour-that of burning a hollow place in a stimp and beating it with a pestle attached to a spring-pole. About 1816 a log mill was built on Boal's Fork by Philip Moore, which he operated for several years. About 1825 he built a new mill of hewed logs, and also a sawmill. Job Kennison bad a hand-mill for grinding
corn, which was frequently used by the settlers. Alex. Mutchmore had a horse- mill on the Cotton farm. He also had a distillery at the same place.
Elijah Stevens, of Zanesville, states that what was known as the "Cobb's Mill" was the first in the vicinity, and that he ground corn in 1810, and that in the following year, 1811, Taylor's mill was built at the forks of Meigs Creek.
Mr. Stevens is also authority for the statement that Miss Mary Wilson, daughter of Deacon Wilson, of Water- ford, taught a school at the house of Stanton Fordyce in the year 1812, and that in 1814 Thomas Sawyer taught a school in the township. One of the first schools in Bristol was taught by a Yankee by the name of Samuel Shat- tuck, in a rnde log cabin previously occupied by some squatter or hunter. It was located in what is now district number two. The floor was of punch- eons, and a hole in the logs four feet high by two feet in width was the only place of admittance, which was closed, when necessity required, by a puncheon set up endwise. The light was admit- ted through greased paper. A huge fireplace eight feet in width warmed the honse in winter. In the center of this primitive schoolhonse sat the teacher during school hours upon a seat made from the end of a log. He was armed with a long whip, with which he could reach any refractory pupil in the room without getting up. The seats and desks were made of slabs. The latter were retained in their places by wooden pins driven into the logs. Among the pupils who attended this pioneer school were David L. Jenkins, Lovit Bishop, Mary A. Jenkins, Anstin Prouty, Aens and Phineas Allen. Har-
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IHISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO.
rison Stephens and Saphronia Prouty. The only branches taught were reading, writing and arithmetic. One of the early teachers was a fellow by the name of Berry, a generous and liberal (?) man, who on certain occasions would treat his pupils to whisky to stimulate them in the performance of their duty.
The first marriage license was issued by Levi Barber, July 12, 1816. The contracting parties were John McKee, of Guernsey County, and Miss Rachel DeLong. The ceremony was performed by 'Squire Stevens.
The first couple married in Bristol after the organization of the county was William Burris and Charlotte West. The license was issued by Sam- uel A. Barker, December 27, 1819.
The first frame house in the town- ship was built by David Stevens in 1813. Isaac Counsel was the carpenter.
The first brick house was erected by Arphaxad Devol.
Deveraux's schoolhouse was the first public building built of brick.
John F. Talley, county surveyor, ran all the subdivisions of the township excepting six sections.
The first tavern was kept by David Stevens in 1808, at the place where Dye's Fork of Meigs Creek crosses the Zanesville and Marietta road. Mr. Stevens was a genial host and served his guests with venison, bear meat and wild turkey.
The carly settlers of Bristol evinced a decided taste for military affairs, and in all the general musters they took a prominent part. These general mus- ters were looked forward to with a great deal of interest, probably for the reason that they afforded the people a little relaxation and gave them an op- portunity of seeing people from all
parts of the county and thus gathering all the news. For many years these musters were held on the farm of Jo- seph Devereaux. on the Barnesville road, in the western part of the township. Judge Gaylord, in his " Reminiscences of the County," thus describes the first muster :
"It was upon the Devereaux farm that the first general muster of the first regiment of Morgan County militia was held. The regiment was about 500 strong and was officered by Col. Alex- ander McConnel; B. W. Talbot, Lieu- tenant-Colonel, and Asa Emerson, Major. The regiment appeared upon the ground fully armed and equipped-some with and many without guns ; some with walking-sticks, others with cornstalks, and because of the latter being the prevailing arm of 'offense and defense' at these musters they were everywhere called the 'cornstalk militia.' As these musters were a new feature in the pub- lic affairs of Morgan County, and the peo- ple being of a more social nature than now, full of fun and frolic, they came in for fifteen miles around-men, women and children-to participate in and wit- ness the performances of the day. Whisky, cider, apples and gingerbread were consumed liberally. At this time whisky was the prevailing beverage and universally considered an article of necessity, especially to those who were in any way exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather or engaged in laborious employment. Prohibitionists were then unknown, and a neighbor who failed to offer a friend a drink, even when call- ing at his house, was thought to be a mean and stingy fellow and as much despised as if he failed to observe other more necessary acts of hospitality. At these general musters fights of "fist and
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