USA > Ohio > History of the Upper Ohio Valley, with family history and biographical sketches, a statement of its resources, industrial growth and commercial advantages, Vol. I > Part 64
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this he met with great success, and before his death saw his pet project no longer an experiment but a fixed and permanent institution. North and south, east and west, are hundreds of its alumni occupying some of the highest and most important positions of a social, literary, religious and political character who to-day point with pride to Bethany college as their alma mater. The old building was destroyed by fire in the year 1857, but was rebuilt during the succeeding year by one of attractive appearance and magnificent dimensions.
In this connection we would also call attention to the fact that as early as the year 1799 an academy was incorporated in Brooke county, called the Brooke academy, three years after the organiza- tion of the county. In 1862 the corporation was revived and Hugh W. Crothers, Danforth Brown, Sr., David Fleming, O. W. Langfitt and Samuel George were appointed trustees. In the year 1858 West Liberty academy was opened under favorable conditions, and its public opening the writer who was present well remembers, the interest shown in its success by the presence on the occasion of some of the ablest and best educators of the day, among whom were Bishop Campbell, Rev. R. V. Dodge and Prof. A. F. Ross, this latter being the principal of the institution. It is now one of the normal schools of the state.
The Linsly institute, located in Wheeling, was chartered in 1814, and was endowed by Noah Linsly, Esq., a benefactor of Wheeling, who should be held in lasting remembrance. He donated the ground for the building and also a perpetual fund. For many years the philanthophic object of the institution was defeated by bad manage- ment, but subsequently the institution was revived and improved un- der a board of more judicious trustees, who have made it a useful institution. It is mainly supported by tuition fees.
The Wheeling Female seminary was chartered in 1848, and went into operation in the winter of 1850. At the time it was regarded as a great accession to the educational interests of this section of the state. The successful projection of this institution was attended with difficulties. The late Rev. William Wallace, D. D., was, however, untiring in his efforts to secure its establishment. Nor were they in vain. It opened under the management of D. W. Telford, and the degree of excellency and efficiency which it subsequently attained, gave assurance of what it was intended to be, one of the best female seminaries. During its existence it has turned out 278 graduates up to the present time, six of whom have become missionaries in the foreign field. The present president, Rev. H. R. Blaisdell, has con- tributed much to its improvement. He is a gentleman of fine execu- tive abilities, and a born educator. Under his direction we think there is a grand future before this institution. He is assisted by a competent corps of teachers, seven in number, who appear to worth- ily second his efforts in making an institution of which West Virgin- ians may well be proud, and one where their daughter can receive a first-class education.
But we have neither time nor space to give to the consideration of
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the educational institutions of this portion of our state, but suffice it to say that these are so abundant and of so high a grade that none need send their children out of the state to obtain an education.
Early Religious History of the Upper Ohio Valley .- In shaping the moral and religious character of the upper Ohio valley, Presbyterianism had much to do. It was among the earliest religious denominations to enter the field. As early as the year 1782, which was the year fol- lowing the organization of the Presbytery of Redstone, Rev. John McMillan was appointed at a meeting held October 16, to supply at Ohio Court House (West Liberty) on the third Sabbath of November following. A year afterward Rev. Joseph Smith was sent to supply the same place, under another name, however, viz .: Short Creek, which continued to be the name of the church for perhaps fifteen or twenty years, when it was called West Liberty. Revs. John Brice and James Hughes, were two of four candidates who were licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Redstone. Brice- settled at Three Rigges (West Alexander, Penn.), and the forks of Wheeling, known as the Stone meeting house, about six miles east of Wheeling, and Hughes, at Short Creek and Lower Buffalo, and the last-named was installed pastor on the 21st of April, 1790. In these congregations Hughes labored for upward of twenty-four years with encouraging success. He resigned his charge on the 29th of June, 1814. He was an early and decided friend of missions and an active member of the board of trust of the Western Missionary society, for a number of years.
In July, 1775, Rev. John McMillan, D. D., preached at Chartiers, on the fourth Sabbath of August, and on the Tuesday following at Pig- eon Creek, now in Washington county, Penn. At the meeting of his Presbytery in April, 1776, he accepted a call which was presented to him from the congregations of Chartiers and Pigeon Creek, and was dismissed to connect himself with the Presbytery of Donegal, then the most western Presbytery, but did not remove his family to the west until the year 1778, on account of the unsettled and disturbed condi- tion of the country and the exposure of the frontier settlements to the hostile incursions of the Indians. He, himself, however, visited his congregations as often as practicable, ordained elders, baptized their children and performed such other acts of pastoral labor as cir- cumstances would permit. He was the first minister who settled as a pastor west of the Allegheny mountains, and was one of the orig- inal members of the Presbytery of Redstone, and was its first moder- ator. In the month of October, 1802, there was a great revival and a wonderful manifestation of God's presence, in which great mental misery and bodily weakness was experienced by many by reason of conviction of sin. Owing to the scattered population of the country and the scarcity of church buildings, it was customary for the Presby- terians to hold camp meetings in different portions of some of the counties now composing the Pan-handle, where great numbers would congregate and listen to sermons all day, and these gatherings often lasted for daysat a time.
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The Presbyterians were followed by the Methodists. The numbers and influence of the latter, though not so great as the first named, soon worked its way into notice, overcoming many difficulties in its progress. Itineracy was a marked peculiarity of this sect. The ec- centric Lorenzo Dow was one of these early traveling preachers passing through the sections of which we write, in the year 1806, preaching as he went. He was a man of shrewd wit, and ready speech, and quite eccentric.
Another Methodist minister of these early days and a man of very eccentric character was Jacob Ruber, sometimes called Jacob Gruber. He was born in the Cumberland valley, Penn., and came to this sec- tion of the state in the early years of the present century. For some years he was the presiding elder of the Short Creek circuit. One of his peculiarities was especially manifested in the matter of apparel. In those early days the Methodists, as a rule, were as pronounced in their style of dress as are the Friends of the present day. The fe- male members of the denomination wore caps destitute of frills or ruffles, which fitted closely to their heads, and a bonnet in pattern much like a scoop, and by which name they were denominated. Nor did they adorn themselves with those vain ornaments, rings, ear-rings or other articles of jewelry, while the males wore broad-brimmed hats and straight cut coats with standing collars and other dress corres- ponding thereto, and all cultivated gravity of speech and demeanor, and were circumspect in their conduct and actions. What a contrast between the past and the present. Now the members of a Methodist church discard the simple fashions of the past and are undistinguisha- ble from the members of other denominations so far as garb and ap- pearance are concerned. The subject of our sketch was frequent and emphatic in his denunciations of any departure from the regulation dress, and did not hesitate on any occasion when it was infringed upon to reprove the offender publicly, as well as privately.
As illustrative of this peculiarity of his, if such it can be called, an anecdote, is related of him as being in point. On one occasion, while he was attending a camp-meeting in the vicinity of Philadelphia, where he was a visitant, in passing along, he came across a company of fe- males richly attired in silks and satins, who were at the time engaged in devotional services, whom he joined and engaged with them in singing. The couplet of one of the hymns runs as follows:
" I long to reach my heavenly home And find my long sought rest."
On reaching this portion of the hymn he surprised and confounded them all by rendering the couplet
" I long to reach my heavenly home And find my long silk dress."
The females became indignant and at once withdrew, but their places thus vacated were immediately filled by others who were clothed in the more subdued and less costly raiment of their profes-
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sion, when they continued the singing of the same hymn, he uniting with them in the use of the correct words.
Among the early Methodist preachers of that day and subsequent were Rev. James Finley, Page West Waterman, young Bascom, Hud- son and others, who were men of piety and faith, and zealous labor- ers in the vineyard of the Master.
We may be pardoned if in this connection we mention an incident which occurred in the Methodist church in Wheeling. Bascom, whose fame as a preacher always attracted large audiences, was announced to preach in Wheeling. He was a person who was very neat and rather precise in his dress, and took pride in appearing in a well cut and fitting garb. He was in the habit of carrying in his hand a small rattan cane. On this occasion as was usual he had with him his rat- tan, and carried it with him into the pulpit. This act of his at once created an unfavorable impression upon the part of his congregation. But when he arose to open the services, preparatory to doing so he capped the climax by drawing from his pocket a white cambric hand- kerchief and proceeded to brush his face with it, it was looked upon by those assembled, in an ostentatious manner, which aroused a feel- ing of the most pronounced disgust on the part of his congregation, which was not entirely overcome by his wonderful and effective elo- quence, so foreign were these things to the habits and usages of Othodox Methodists.
The next denomination in this section of importance were the Bap- tists. They, like the Methodists, in the inauguration of their efforts for the building of their cause were required to overcome opposition and prejudice, which they eventually succeeded in doing, and they became quite strong in numbers and influence. The denomination, however, in a few years separated into different sects.
The indefatigable efforts of Rev. Joseph Doddridge, who alone and by his single handed labors, endeavored to build up the Episcopal denomination, must not be overlooked. Although time and again promised material aid by his brethren in the east, yet they kept the prom- ise to the ear only to break it to the hope. His earnest zeal in the cause so far as they were concerned went unrewarded. He succeeded in collecting a small congregation at West Liberty, where he held serv- ices regularly, also in what is now Brooke county, also in Charlestown (now Wellsburg), and also in Jefferson county, Ohio. He also held occasional religious services at Steubenville, Grave Creek and Wheeling.
This worthy man was devotedly attached to his church -her forms and ordinances. The following extract from his memoir shows the position which he held as an out-post of Episcopacy in this western field.
" Although for nearly twenty-five years he occupied the cheerless position of an advance guard in her ministry, yet he faltered not in his labors, but untiringly exerted himself to promote the growth and prosperity of the church, and to awaken an interest in the trans-
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montane dioceses by appeals to their bishops in behalf of the scat- tered members of the fold, who in the vast regions of the west were as sheep without a shepherd, destitute of that nourishment and fos- tering care essential to their spiritual growth and happiness."
CHAPTER XIV.
SETTLEMENT OF WHEELING-ORIGIN OF THE NAME-POPULATION AT DIFFERENT PERIODS - BROOKE COUNTY - IDENTIFIED LOCATIONS- PATRIOTISM OF THE PEOPLE-MARSHALL COUNTY-TOMLINSON, THE FIRST SETTLER-EDUCATION-CHURCHES-BENWOOD-REMARKS OF A TRAVELER IN 1807-HANCOCK COUNTY -EARLY INHABITANTS-FIRE CLAY INDUSTRY -STATISTICAL-GAS AND OIL-WOOL - IRON AND STEEL-GLASS MANUFACTORIES-POTTERIES-CIGARS AND TOBACCO- THE WHOLESALE TRADE-CONCLUSION.
E PROPOSE in this chapter to mass together in an ab- breviated form, that which refers to the counties composing the district known as the Pan-handle, preparatory to doing which, however, we shall give a brief account of the in- ception and growth of the city of Wheeling. The settle- ment of Wheeling was begun in 1769, when Ebenezer Zane, Jonathan Zane and Silas Zane, three brothers, at the time living on the south branch of the Potomac, moved further west, with the intention of locating and settling on lands supposed to be more desirable. The settlement was made dur- ing the peace and friendly intercourse existing between the whites and succeeding the treaty of Col. Bouquet, and almost simultaneously with other settlements in this region and along the borders of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which were then free from In- dian depredations.
Prominent among the early settlers, were the Wetzels, McCollochs, Poes, Boggs, Mills, etc. Several origins are assigned for the name of Wheeling. One is that it was derived from the circuitous course and abrupt wanderings of the creek which flows through the city, another, that it took its name from a Catholic priest by the name of Wheelan, who was reputed to have been a missionary among the Indians, the orthography having been changed to Wheeling, and still another, and which is probably the correct one, that it was derived from the bloody significance of a murdered individual who had been shot through the. head, which was placed on a pole which was erected at the mouth of the creek. The Delawares when asked where they had shot an an- imal (if in the head) would say Weeling. This was subsequently
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corrupted into Wheeling. The existence of Wheeling as a town, dates back to 1793, when the first lots, 112 in number, were laid out by Col. Ebenezer Zane. The original town composed the ter- ritory lying between North Eleventh and Seventh streets. A number of additions have since been made which are all within the corporate limits. The plat of the Island known at the time as the town of Co- lumbia as laid out in 1836, has been all changed, the lots which were sold, having all been bought back by Daniel Zane, Esq.
Wheeling was incorporated as a town in 1806, and as a city in 1836. In the year 1796 it contained about forty houses, all of them built of logs or frame, scattered along at intervals from what is now Eleventh street and extending up about as far as Ninth street. Col. Ebenezer Zane's house stood on the brow of the hill, now the corner of Eleventh and Main streets. Fort Henry was situated immediately opposite on the high bank of the river, on the site of the present row of store buildings on Main street, above Eleventh street.
Where the old Northwestern bank formerly stood, and which has since become the residence of George K. Wheat, together with the ground adjoining, there was a graveyard. The entire space between the fort and the creek was used as a meadow and cornfield, and as late as 1810 there were but few buildings erected there. Where the site of the Second Ward Market house now is, was an orchard, and Centre Wheeling was covered with forest trees, with here and there a corn field. This is the description of Wheeling in brief at the commencement of the present century. An indication of its progress may be presented by the following statement of its population at dif- ferent periods:
In 1800 the population was about 500; in 1810, 914; in 1820, 1,567; in 1830, 5,221; in 1840, 8,793; in 1850, 13,161; in 1860, 20,000; in 1870, 23,000; in 1880, 30,000; in 1890, estimated between 40,000 and 45,000.
Notwithstanding the social and financial disasters through which she has been compelled to pass, resulting from bankruptcies, mone- tary difficulties, frequent depressions and effects of the rebellion, her growth has been sure, if slow, and in its manufacturing, commercial and financial interests, it has made certain progress. But as already indicated, we now turn our attention to the consideration of the entire territory, of which this history treats as a whole. We do this not because there is not much of interest which it would be profitable and instructive for us to treat in detail, but, as already intimated, we have not the space, as it would easily require a large volume of many hundreds of pages to do full justice to its civil, political, manufactur- ing, agricultural and other interests and then come far short of ex- hausting all that might be said in the presentation of these subjects.
The first county carved out of the original territory of Ohio county was the county of Brooke, in the year 1796. A brief sketch of its early settlement has been kindly furnished us by Hon. Eugene Tarr, of Wellsburg, as follows:
" Among the early settlers on the western border of Pennsylvania, then an almost unbroken wilderness, many tales are told of a land of
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wondrous beauty and fertility that lay away off to the westward. Around their cabin fires at night, hunters, and the more daring of the settlers, pictured to the imaginations of their comrades the beauty and loveliness of this "land of promise." More particularly did the fancy of the hunter dwell on that portion of this El Dorado which con- stituted the valley of the " Big River" that lay buried in the depths of the forest. Here he had pictured a land most favored by the Creator, and which was crowned with everything that could contrib- ute to the comfort and happiness of man. The soil on the banks of the unknown river was of fabulous depth. Tall oaks, of wonderful symmetry for building purposes, grew on the hillsides and the upland glades, while in the bottoms and along the banks of the streams, giant walnuts and sycamores stretched out their broad arms, and from their branches the wild grapes hung in tempting clusters which, through all the seasons, had ripened in the October sunlight, awaiting the coming of the settler. In the recesses of its untrodden wilds roamed, unmolested in security, the wild bear, the deer, and the elk, and rested themselves in the shade of the tall trees, undisturbed by the sound of the settler's axe, or the crack of the hunter's rifle. In search of this paradise of hunters on a bright September morning in the year 1772, three men left for the old settlement at Brownsville, Penn. They were Jonathan, Israel and Friend Cox. Each of them carried a rifle, an axe of small size, a blanket and sufficient ammuni- tion, in the shape of powder and lead, to last during the supposed time of their expedition, trusting entirely for their subsistence to the game which they might secure on their way. After following a well defined trail, made by hunters coming to the settlements, for a few miles they boldly struck into the woods to the westward, aiming to keep along the high ridges, for the purpose of being better able to cross the streams they might find in the course of their journey, and also to enable them more readily to discover the approach of danger from any direction on their route. For many days they kept their course to the westward, anxiously looking for signs of the "Big River," until almost discouraged. They resolved, however, to travel one more day in the direction they had been following and then, if no signs of the valley appeared, they determined to retrace their steps to their home at Brownsville.
In about an hour after leaving camp, on the following morning, after making their resolve, the party stopped on the hill overlooking the present site of Wellsburg, and their hopes were fully realized. In speaking of it afterward to one of their descendants, they described their halting place as having been on the big hill east of town, and most likely from the impression from their description, it was the hill owned by John Lewis, Esq. After feasting their eyes on the pano- rama spread out before them, they prepared to descend. Picking their way carefully down the hill-side they came to what was then a deep and wide ravine covered with an almost impenetrable thicket of willows and wild plum bushes. This ravine commenced at the creek and extended up to where the present run is west of the railroad, and
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reached to where the Episcopal church now stands. Circumventing this by crossing above it, our party found themselves on the river bank about 200 hundred rods above the mouth of the creek. Here it was decided to camp for the purpose of exploring the valley which seemed all that they could desire; and here the first log cabin ever built on the site of the town of Wellsburg, was erected in the month of September, 1772. It stood about the end of the present Washing- ton street, and about eighty rods west of Water street and the river. It was built of round logs with no implements but the small axes car- ried with them, and it served as a protection against wild animals, and to some extent against the weather. Taking the mouth of the creek as a starting point, the hunters prepared to lay claim to this land which was so desirable. They blazed the trees up the river bank to a point opposite the mouth of Queen street, and then turning east followed about the course of that street to the base of the hill, aiming to strike the ravine coming down just north of the pike, thence turn- ing to the right they followed the base of the hill to the creek, mak- ing the creek the south line, the hill the east, and the river the west, and the line mentioned above the north. This constitutes the first claim ever made by white men to the land on which the town now stands. In the following spring of 1773, the three brothers again made their appearance in the valley; this time with the intention of making it their home. They improved their cabin, and more firmly defined the boundaries of their land.
The fame of the new settlement had been carried back by them to Brownsville, and others began to turn their attention in the same di- rection. About this time a party of hunters, headed by the Tom- linsons, who were famous hunters, struck the Ohio river at Grave creek and established a camp there. Other adventurous spirits had located at Wheeling, and the fame of the Ohio valley soon spread all over the east. Sometime after this, George Cox, a cousin of the three brothers named by us, came out and took up a claim un- der the tomahawk right, extending up the river bottom almost to Cross creek. A few years went by and the war of the revolution was over, and many adventurous spirits who had taken part in that contest began to find their way into the valley and take up claims un- der a tomahawk right, allowing 400 acres to each settler.
Cap. Van Swearingen came out and traded a rifle for part of the claim held by one of the Coxes, and which constitutes the present fair ground and homestead of J. G. Jacob, Esq. And here one word in favor of the trio of brothers whose adventurous daring first led the way to the valley. One was surprised in his camp while hunting along McIntyre creek in Jefferson county, Ohio, and killed. He was buried in the creek bottom just below Plumer's mill. Another was killed some distance down the river on the Ohio side in a fight with Indians. One alone remained to die in his cabin and he, if I mistake not, was the ancester of the present Coxes, Squire, Friend, Dr. Elsey and others now living on the waters of Buffalo Creek in this country.
The Van Swearingen log cabin stood on the bluff back or a little
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north of the spring on J. G. Jacob's property. Van Swearingen was a person who was much looked up to by the settlers. He was a man of powerful frame, bold and daring in manner, and the leader in many of the border scouts. He had commanded a company in Morgan's celebrated rifle corps during the war of the revolution, and boasted that many a red-coat had crossed the dark river at the crack of his deadly rifle. He was buried in a gravelly knoll a few feet behind the brick house and to the right of the road going up to the Freshwater homestead. The Van Swearingen house stood facing the west; it was a double cabin with a passage way between. In this passage way was hung on pegs driven into the logs, the saddles, blankets and various articles belonging to a hunter's outfit. This cabin was supplanted in the course of time with a large oaken frame building built by Gen. Connell in 1808, and it in turn gave way to the present mansion of J. G. Jacob, Esq., which was built by William Farr in or about 1848. At the foot of the bluff was the spring. This spring in early days was a famous place of resort. A beech tree of uncommon size spread its sheltering branches above the water and beneath its cooling shade, hunters often met to recount the deeds of the past and talk of their plans for the future. On the rough bark was carved the names of many distinguished in border history, such as Brady, McColloch, Van Swearingen and Buskirk. The oldest recognizable date was 1792. The two Wetzels often visited at Van Swearingen's. The old tree stood until about 1840, when age and decay having wrought their work it fell to the ground and today not a vestige of it remains.
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