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. II pt 2 > Part 46
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 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52
1882-84; T. J. Irwin, 1884-86; Thomas Charlton, 1886-89; Henry Stingle, 1889-9 -.
Martin's Ferry is located on a fine large bottom, about half the town on a second bottom about forty feet above the first, and is a fine loca- tion-the best in the county for a large city. Its manufacturing establishments are principally upon the first bottom next the river and railroads, and its dwelling houses largely upon the second or higher level. Its population was, in 1860, 1,220; in 1870, 1,876; in 1880, 3,812. Its school enumeration in 18SS was 1,920, indicating a popula- tion of between 7,000 and 8,000. Its recent rapid growth is due to the development of her manufactures in iron and glass which are given in the general history of manufactures elsewhere, and only referred to here in brief. The Cleveland, Pittsburgh & Wheeling railroad, and recently the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling railroad, and the Ohio river, furnish excellent shipping facilities, and the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad, now in course of construction, will still improve these facilities.
Manufactures .- The Laughlin Nail company, on nails, employ 375 hands; the Standard Iron works, sheet iron, 250 hands; the Benwood mills furnace, pig iron, 55 hands; Spence, Baggs & Co., stove works. 25 hands; L. Spence, steam engines and threshing machines, 25 hands; William Mann, machine shop and foundry, 25 hands; Elson Glass works, table ware, 330 hands; Buckeye Glass works, table ware, 200 hands; Dithridge Flint Glass works, tumblers, etc., 175 hands; Nov- elty Glass works, 9 hands; J. Kerr & Sons, and B. Exly & Co., doors, sash, etc., 25 hands; F. McCord & Bro., brick, 25 hands.
Commercial Business.The commercial business of Martin's Ferry has been retarded by the tendency of the people to deal in Wheeling, almost opposite on the south side of the river, due largely to the fact that nearly all of the larger manufacturing concerns were started with Wheeling capital by Wheeling men. Among the early mer- chants were Park & Dakan in 1845, Joseph Jones, Jeptha Cowgill, Isaac Lanning and H. B. Rice, following within a few years. In 1850 Turner & Fennemore started in dry goods. Joseph Turner in 1853, Joseph Romea in 1858. Bendell, Orr & Co. were succeeded by Ben- dell, Orr & Frazier, who failed in 1858. H. B. Rice was succeeded by West & Son. There are at present in the place a number of dry goods stores, groceries, clothing stores, two banks, two newspapers, The Martin's Ferry News, James H. Drennen, and the Church Herald.
Churches and Schools .--- There are two Methodist Episcopal churches, one African Methodist Episcopal church, one Presbyterian church, one United Presbyterian church, one Baptist, one Episcopal, one Catholic.
The schools are under the charge of Prof. Charles R. Shreve, superintendent, and number nineteen rooms with twenty-one teachers, with 1,692 enrolled scholars, and the annual expenditure is about $20,000.
Morristown .-- This is one of the oldest towns in the county, laid out in 1802, along the Zane road, twenty miles from the Ohio river. It was laid out April 4, 1802, by John Zane and William Chapline, of
765
BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO.
Wheeling, and named for the first settler, Duncan Morrison, who was a justice of the peace. The National road passed through it, and it was quite a commercial town at an early date. In 1806, Mrs. Hazlett carried on merchandising. Among the early business men were: Nicholas Rodgers, tanner; Alexander Morrison and Robert Morrison, saddlers; John Millner, blacksmith; Richard Bazwell, shoemaker; William Harvey, tavern-keeper. Dr. Alexander Gaston practiced medicine as early as 1811.
The town was incorporated January 1, 1853, and the following officers elected: Mayor, Peter Bramhall; clerk, Joseph R. Mitchell; treasurer, Steven Gregg. Its population in 1880 was 440.
Churches .- It has one Presbyterian church, one Methodist Episco- pal church, one Baptist church and one Christian church.
There are now in the place three dry goods stores, two drug stores, two hotels, one grist-mill, one tan-yard, two saddle shops, three shoe shops, two hardware stores, one livery stable, one silversmith, two stock dealers, four doctors, one dentist, with carpenters, wagon-mak- ers, blacksmiths, bricklayers, stone masons, etc.
Flushing .-- The village of Flushing was laid out November 9, IS13. by Jesse Folke. It is situated in the northwestern part of the county, on the ridge dividing the waters between Wheeling and Stillwater creeks. The first house built on the site was by Reese Branson, in 1809. Dr. Jesse Bartley was the first practicing physician. The first sermon was preached by Michael Ellis, Methodist, at the house of Jesse Brandenburg, in 1818. The town was incorporated February 23, 1849, with a population of 312. The population in 18to, was but 206, in ISSO, 334.
The construction of the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling railroad which passes under the town through a tunnel nearly half a mile in length, has opened up a large coal business on the west side, and given quite an impetus to the growth of the place, and the pending census will show a large increase in population. The Granite Mills of John F. Stratton, built in 1878, is one of the best flouring-mills in the county. There are at present in the town one bank, three dry good stores, one hardware store, three hotels, two drug stores, one Meth- odist church, one Christian church, and just east of the town a Friends church. There is a large Quaker settlement surrounding the place.
Belmont .- Belmont, the principal town in Goshen township, is situated on the line of the B. & O. railroad, seventeen miles west of Bellaire. It was laid out by Joseph D. Wright, who came from Dublin, Ireland, in 1802. He laid out the town in 1Sos. Being located near the center of the county its inhabitants believed that it would one day become the county seat. Joseph Wright was the first postmaster, appointed in 1818.
The first school-house was a log one built in 1807, and Joseph Wright was the first teacher. The second school-house was of hewed logs; the third, built in 1836, was a frame; the fourth, in 1861, was brick, and the fifth, the present house, in 1875, is brick. There are
1
766
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
two dry good stores, two grocery stores, one drug store, two hotels, two churches, and a population of about 375.
Hendrysburg .- The village of Hendrysburg was laid out on the National pike, which was built through this part of the county in 1825-6. Charles Hendry, who located here during the construction of that thoroughfare, opened a store, and in IS27 erected a steam mill, which brought trade and people, and a demand for houses. In 1828, Mr. Hendry had the town laid out, and a number of lots were at once sold. Mr. William Tidball erected the first building of a substantial character, which contained dwelling and store room, in which he commenced mercantile business. The flouring-mill, erected by Mr. Hendry, burned down in IS51, and another, erected on the site, also burned down a year after its construction. In 1850, the National Flouring mill was erected by C. Shaffer. In 1862 the old woolen mill was converted into a distillery. In 1854, Combs & Mc- Cartney erected the Hendrysburg flouring-mill and saw-mill, and these three institutions, with the attending auxiliaries, of three dry good stores, two groceries, two wagon shops, two hotels, with requisite doctors, blacksmith, etc.
Other Towns and Villages .-- In addition to those above written up there are a number of smaller towns and villages scattered through the several townships of considerable local importance and containing in the aggregate several thousand inhabitants that will be briefly referred to.
Maynard, on the C., L. & W. railroad, in the northwest corner of Colerain township, laid out since the construction of the railroad, has grown to be a village of 300 inhabitants, principally engaged in the coal mining business. It has a postoffice, several stores, a hotel, and several other business houses.
Farmington, in the same township, was laid out in 1815 by Daniel NePeak. It has several stores, a postoffice, and contains about 150 inhabitants.
Pleasant Grove, also in Colerain township, is on the Bridgepor- and Colerain pike, about nine miles from the Ohio river. The first house was erected in 1825, by John Anderson, built for a hotel and sa- loon. There are two stores, two shoemaker shops, a blacksmith, a wagon maker and a cooper, a good school-house and a Methodist Episcopal church, and about 100 population.
Barton and Kidd's Mines are railroad stations in this township, along the C., L. & W. railroad that do considerable business, the lat- ter in mining coal, and each have postoffices, stores, etc.
Fairmount or Burr's Mills, is in Goshen township, B. & O. railroad, five miles east of Barnesville, and on land 483 feet above the level of the Ohio river, at Bellaire. It was laid out in 1855, about the time of the construction of the railroad. The town is called Fairmount, the railroad station Burr's Mills, and the postoffice Bethesda. In 1855 a steam flouring-mill was built by MeNichols, Frost & Martin, and thus with the manufacture of "stogy cigars," by several firms, consti-
767
BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO.
tutes the principal business. There are four stores, two hotels, one Methodist Episcopal church and a population of 150. The Methodist Episcopal camp grounds located here makes it a place of considerable summer visiting, and the camp meeting each year draws large crowds.
Sewelsville, located on the north side of Kirkwood township, was laid out in 1831, and the settlement that had commenced there as early as 1807, had been called "Union." The Sewelsville postoffice was opened in 1831, with Peter Sewel as postmaster. There is one Methodist Episcopal church, three stores, one hotel and 175 popula- tion.
West Wheeling, in Pultney township, two miles north of Bellaire, on the Ohio river, was laid out by Martin S. Todd, July 30, 1838. It contains about 350 inhabitants, many of whom find employment in Wheeling factories and mills on the opposite side of the river. The paper mill of David Wagoner, and the burning of lime furnish the local business. In 1830 Andrew Woods built a steam grist-mill here, but it was never profitable and was finally abandoned. This place was the home of James Kelsey, an early settler in the township, who served as justice of the peace for thirty-eight years.
Quincy is a station on the B. & O. railroad in Pultney township, four miles west of Bellaire, the postoffice is "Steele." It is at the junction of the B. & O., and St. Clairsville railroads. It has one store, one woolen factory and one church.
Loydsville was laid out in IS31, on the line of the National road, by Joshua Loyd. in Richland township, six miles west of St. Clairsville. It has three stores, one wagon shop, one blacksmith shop, two doctors, a cabinet shop, postoffice, school and a Methodist Episcopal church. Population about 175.
Glencoe, in Richland township, on the line of the B. & O. railroad was laid out in 1855, by G. B. Fulton, contains a population of about 100 - has three stores, two shoe shops and one mill, two blacksmiths, and a Methodist Episcopal church. It is a shipping point for a good farming community, and has recently obtained some notoriety by the discovery of oil and the laying of a pipe line to the Ohio river.
Stewartsville, also in Richland township, is a station on the B. & O. railroad seven miles west of Bellaire. The Franklin coal works of Stewart & Mehan are located here, employing about fifty miners and shipping a large amount of coal west over the B. & O. railroad. The population is about 125.
Somerton, in Somerset township, about eight miles south of Barnes- ville on the Barnesville and Woodsville pike, was laid out by Bor- den Stanton in ISI8. The first house was built by Moses Davis. Richard Andrews was the first postmaster. It became an important tobacco purchasing town on Solomon Hogue, and R. C. Miles ac- cumulated wealth in buying tobacco and selling goods. There are in the place now one bank, capital $50,000. Three stores, one drug store. two hotels, three churches: Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian and Friends. Population, 250.
Boston, in Somerset township, was laid out in 1834, by Mordecai
768
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
Harper. The first store was opened by Amos Ridgeway, in 1835. It has at present, two stores, a postoffice, hotel, two blacksmith shops, three shoe shops, one physician, a Methodist Episcopal church and a Christian church, and 100 population.
Temperanceville, on the west side of the same township, was laid out in 1837, by Robert Gallagher and was settled by Catholics, has a grist- mill, postoffice, two stores and a wagon shop, and but two republican voters in the town.
Centerville, also in Smith township, is situated on the " Old Grade road," running east, to the river at Dillie's Bottom. It was laid out in 1828, by Thomas Jackson. It has three dry goods stores, one grocery, one hotel, two churches, a Methodist Episcopal and a Methodist Protestant, and a present population of 200. The postoffice is named Demos.
Jacobsburg, in the southeast corner of Smith township, is an old town, having been laid out in 1815, by Jacob Calvert. It became well- known in the county as the place where " militia musters " were held in the days of the "Cornstalk militia." At a later date, it was sus- pected of being the home of some persons engaged in the production of counterfeit silver coins. Being off the line of the railroad, until the construction of the B., Z. & C. railroad, it has not kept pace with some of the later towns. It has one dry goods store, one grocery store, postoffice, wagon, blacksmith and cabinet shops, a Methodist Epis- copal church and a good school house.
New Castle, in Wayne township, was laid out by William Horse- man, November 28, 1834. It was in a rich farming district and large quantities of tobacco were grown around it, and brought and packed here. The present population is about 100, and it contains one dry goods store, one grocery store, one cigar factory, a school-house and Methodist Episcopal church.
Huntre, a small village in Wayne township, was laid out in 1849, by N. Anderson, and was called after W. F. Huntre, of Monroe county, a congressman from this district, from 1849 to 1851. Population about sixty.
Warnock Station, on the B. & O. railroad in Smith township, is a set- tlement made since the construction of the railroad. It has a water power, grist-mill and saw-mill, two stores, a postoffice and two churches, and about 100 population.
Uniontown, in Wheeling township, was laid out early, but record is lost. William Sharp started a store as early as 1806. The business has not grown nor has the place, for many years. It contains a Meth- odist Episcopal church, a school-house, three stores, a hotel, black- smith shop and wagon shop, and about 125 inhabitants.
Powhatan Point, in York township, on the Ohio river, in the south- east corner of Belmont county, was laid out in 1849, by Franklin W. Knox. The first building, however, was erected in 1819, and used by Mr. Mallery as a store room. In 1825 a log house was erected for a hotel and called the Point House. G. J. Boger erected the "Pow- hatan Enterprise Flouring Mill and Woolen Factory" in 1856.
769
BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO.
There are now in the place four stores, two hotels, three blacksmiths, two shoe shops, three groceries, one Methodist and one Presbyterian church, a good school, and other enterprises sustaining a population of about 300. Steubenville and Industry are small hamlets in this township.
The population of Belmont county is now about 57,000, and at least 30,000 of the mimber live in the towns and cities. The increase in population in the past thirty years has been almost exclusively in these towns and cities.
CHAPTER VI.
BY COL. C. L. POORMAN.
SCHOOLS OF BELMONT COUNTY -PIONEER SCHOOLS -- EARLY SCHOOL BUILDINGS-FIRST TEACHERS' INSTITUTES-TOWNSHIP SCHOOL BOARDS - SEPARATE DISTRICTS -STATISTICS.
EGINNING with the growth and development of the schools of Belmont county, there has been as remarkable a transformation as in any other direction. It is difficult to determine what particular spot has the honor of erecting be the first school-house within the present limits of the county. but Colerain township seems to have the best authenticated claim, as it is pretty well established that a log house was erected in 1799 on the farm of Archibald Major. According to Major Thompson, the first school-house erected near St. Clairsville, or New- elstown, was in 1802, and was just south of the town on the Benjamin Barkhurst property. William Fleeharty was the first teacher. It was occupied only a few years, and dissensions grew up over its manage- ment until one night a party of the dissatisfied gathered at the cabin and demolished it, scarcely leaving one log upon another. In 1804 another was erected of logs at the west end of the town. In ISOS the Methodists erected a brick school-house on their present burial ground lot, the first teacher being Prof. Dent, who was succeeded by William Timberlake, Sterling Johnson, Zadoc Masters, John Taylor and W. Y. Ellis to 1832, when it ceased as a school. The third school-house, in point of date, was erected on what was termed "Scotch ridge." Pease township. In 1805 a log school-house was erected on section 1, range 5, township 9, Wheeling township, and probably the same year one was erected on section t, Union township, and a small log cabin on section 16, in Wayne township. In iSo; a cabin house was built in Goshen township, on the present site of Belmont, in which Joseph Wright was the first teacher. Within a year or two of this date sim- 49-B.
-
770
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
ilar cabins were erected in all the townships and duplicated in the thicker settlements. Among the first school-houses erected by the Society of Friends, was on section i, in Warren township, in 1806, and was taught by Samuel Berry. These cabins varied in size from 12X14 feet to 18x20 feet, and the first of them were substantially alike and of the regular cabin form, constructed of round logs eight to twelve inches in diameter, notched together at the corners so as to come pretty close together, and the "cracks chinked" with split wood and thoroughly daubed with clay. The roof was of clapboards, the floor and door of puncheons, or split logs, about two inches thick; the latter hung on large wooden hinges. Light was ad- mitted through one or more holes sawed out of the side of the build- ing, and covered with greased paper. The seats were made of split logs, and the desks, if any, of clapboards. A few years later these were followed by the hewed log, the frame and the brick buildings, until we have the neat, cozy, well furnished, frame and brick school houses. from seven to fifteen in each township of the county, and the magnificent three and four story brick buildings in our leading towns that stand like great colleges, in comparison with the institutions of ninety years ago.
The educational requirements were not very high in those earlier days. A teacher must know how to read and write, and be able to go smoothly along as far as the " rule of three" in arithmetic, but he must not be deficient in muscle or courage, because the children whose ears were daily filled with the stories of Indian massacre, fierce conflicts with wild panthers and bears, and their cars familiar with night barking of wolves, would have too much contempt for effeminancy or cowardice in a teacher to take kindly to his instruc- tions from the books. Teachers in the earlier day were paid from $10 to $15 per month, and kept from three to four months' school in a year. Among the earlier teachers, in addition to those already given were William Simms, James Greeneltch, Samuel Fitch, David Long, John Heskins, Archibald Cole, William Jarvis, James McKay, William Mitchell and Juday Folke. Prior to the school law of 1825, which required the levying of a tax upon all property for taxation, the schools were maintained by subscription or tuition fee and were prop- erly termed private schools. Under such a system, of course, very little progress was made, and the teacher and school of the rural sec- tion in 1820 differed very little from the teacher and school of 1804-10.
It was the great changes occurring in other directions, involving large and rapid increase of population and wealth, requiring broader culture for the management of the incident business, that paved the way for the new system, with its better school-houses, more efficien system of teaching, abler teachers and better text-books, that have since then furnished opportunities to the families of the poor. to acquire an education only within the reach of the very rich in those earlier days.
First Teachers' Institute .- The first meeting of teachers of common
771
BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO.
schools held in this county was in the spring of 1832, at St. Clairsville. Mr. Isaac Hoge was made chairman, and Mr. Enoch Thomas, seere- tary. It had been called for a township organization, but teachers from beyond Richland township were present and after some inter- change of opinions the conclusion was reached to make a county organization, and the following resolutions were adopted:
Resolved, That a committee of five teachers be appointed to draft a constitution to be submitted to a subsequent meeting of the teachers of Belmont county for their consideration, with a view to the forma- tion of a permanent society of the teachers of common schools, and that the said committee prepare and publish an address to the teach- ers and parents of Belmont county, and fix the time for a general meeting.
Resolved, That the said committee investigate what text-books ought to be used in common schools and report thereon to the general meet- ing of teachers, as well as any and all other matters appertaining to the interests of common schools, so as to procure a greater uniform- ity of system in common education.
Resolved, That the committee be composed of the following gentle- men: Oliver Cunningham, James Gardner, Isaac Hoge, Jr., Samuel Hunt and Israel Roberts. ISAAC HOGE, JR., Chairman.
ENOCH THOMAS, Secrecary.
The committee met at St. Clairsville, July 7, 1832, and after consid- ering the work entrusted to it, issued a call for a general meeting at St. Clairsville, September S, 1832. The meeting assembled, as re- quested in the call, and organized by appointing John B. Case, tem- porary chairman, and Isaac Hoge, Jr., secretary. A\ constitution was adopted and the following gentlemen selected as permanent officers of the institute for one year: Dr. John G. Affleck, president; John R. Case, Oliver Cunningham, John Irwin, Benjamin R. Phares, G. . 1. Workman, vice presidents; Isaac Hoge, Jr., secretary; Taylor Smith. treasurer. The society adopted a complete set of text-books for the common schools of the county, as follows: Lyman Cobb's series, con- sisting of a first book for children, a spelling book, three juvenile readers and a dictionary, the whole series including six volumes: also Roswell C. Smith's arithmetic, Olney's geography and atlas, Kirk - ham's grammar, Whelpley's compend of history, and Hale's premium history of the United States; whole set comprising twelve volumes. The whole to cost, retail price, $5.62. When the labors of this first meeting were about to close, one of the teachers engaged in it. and it is to be regretted that his name has not been given. said: " May the cause spread and flourish till the citizens of our county shall attain the highest state of political, moral, and intellectual happiness. of which human nature is susceptible."
These teachers' society or institute meetings have continued almost persistently since the date of this first organization, and in recent years a week or more each year has been occupied by the institute. The last one in this county convened at Flushing, July 23. isso, con- tinuing in session nineteen days, was attended by seventy-nine gentle-
772
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
men and sixty-one lady teachers, being 140 out of the 187 necessary to supply the schools of the township districts. The teachers' asso- ciation held four meetings in the county during the past year, and is an active force in developing uniform and better methods in the con- duct and management of the schools.
The interference of the state in the matter of education, beginning with the law of 1825, and continuing until our present excellent school system has been evolved, has driven out the old log school-house with its greased paper windows and great log burning fire-place, as well as the muscular pedagogue and his beech limb and ferrule accessories, and has replaced the first with neat frame and brick buildings, pleas- ing to the eye, and kept comfortable for the scholars by well regu- lated stoves or furnaces, and the last with courteous, well educated gentlemen and ladies, whose life work in many cases is teaching.
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.