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 51
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HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
Kennon, who was ever ready with his wonderful store of learning and facts to impart valuable information, and he lived and died leaving fewer enemies than any other active aggressive lawyer of the bar. His wife and eldest son. W. E. Kennon, survive him.
James Weir was born in Washington county, Penn., June 9, 1803; came with his parents to this county in iSo; and settled in Warren township. He studied law with Hon. W. B. Hubbard, at St. Clairs- ville, and was admitted to the bar with Judge Kennon in 1824. He formed a partnership with W. B. Hubbard and continued the practice of law for forty years. In 1827, 1829 and 1836 he was elected as a whig to the legislature of Ohio. Ile was passionately fond of the game of chess, and after he was so afflicted by rheumatism as to be unable to actively practice law he passed many pleasant hours over the chess board. Ile died at his residence from injuries received from a blow by his son.
Peter Tallman was born in Union township, Belmont county, Ohio, August 21, 1814; was educated at St. Clairsville schools and Kenyon college, studied law with James Weir and was admitted to practice in 1835. In 1840 he went into the merchandising business at Morris- town. In 1844 he was elected a member of the Ohio legislature. Ile continued the practice of law until his death.
Hon. Benjamin S. Cowen removed to St. Clairsville in 1832 and formed a partnership with William B. Hubbard. He was born Sep- tember 27, 1792, in Washington county, N. Y., where he was educated. He removed to Moorefield, Harrison county, Ohio, in 1825; was ad- mitted to the bar in 1830 and shortly after appointed prosecuting attorney of Monroe county, when he removed to St. Clairsville, where he resided untilhis death, September 27, 1869. In 1840 he was elected to congress. In 1844 he was elected to the state legislature and was the recognized leader in the whig party in the house. In IS47 he was elected by the legislature a judge of the court of common pleas and was on the bench until 1853, when judges were made elective by the new constitution. He continued in the active practice of the law until shortly before his death, on his birthday, at the age of seventy-six years.
Other members of the earlier bar that attained some eminence were the following: James Shannon, brother of Gov. Shannon, admitted to practice in ISIS, was said to be more brilliant than his brother, and practiced several years with great success, but removed to Kentucky and became quite an active politician, and married a daughter of Ex-Gov. Shelby, and died in 1832, after being appointed by President Jackson, as charge d' affairs at Guatamala.
Robert J. Alexander, admitted to the bar in 1831, elected prosecu- tor in 1841, and served until 1845. In 1852 he was elected judge of the court of common pleas, and served until 1857. He continued the practice of law until his death.
D. D. T. Cowen, a son of Hon. B. S. Cowen, was born in Moorfield, Harrison county, educated at St. Clairsville schools and Brook's in- stitute of that place, studied medicine under Dr. John Alexander,
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BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO.
and afterward studied law under his father and Hugh J. Jewett. He was admitted to practice at Columbus, January 20, 1847. In 1851, was elected prosecutor, and re-elected in 1853 and 1855. He was ap- pointed a common pleas judge, to serve until election for the unex- pired term of John W. Okey, in 1865. Judge Cowen was one of the few men of whom it could be said, "he was intuitively a lawyer," and in the midst of a practice that included one side of nearly every im- portant case in the courts of the county, for the trial of which he was always prepared, he found leisure for the enjoyment of recreations and amusements that others, less pressed by cases, could not find time to enjoy.
Hon. R. E. Chambers, born near St. Clairsville, educated at Frank- lin college in 1853, studied law with Judge William Kennon, was ad- mitted to the bar in 1860, elected to the general assembly in 1862, for two years, and did not return to the practice of law until 1871, when he was elected judge of the court of common pleas for five years, with honor, and at the expiration of term continued the practice of law until his death.
Among the members of the bar now living and actively engaged in practice, Judge St. Clair Kelley and Hon L. Danford, are recognized as leading -- the former as counselor, and the latter as an advocate.
Lorenzo Danford, born in Washington township, Belmont county, October 18, 1829. He attended the public schools and finished his education at Waynesburg, Penn. He studied law with Carlo C. Car- roll at St. Clairsville, and was admitted to the bar in 1854. In 1857, was elected prosecuting attorney, and re-elected in 1859. In 1861, he went with the Seventeenth Ohio volunteer infantry, as a private, and at the end of a three months' term assisted in recruiting for the Fifteenth regiment, and was elected second lieutenant. He was elected to congress in 1872, and twice re-elected, serving until 1879. He re- turned to the practice of law and has a large and lucrative practice.
Oliver J. Sweney is the oldest living member of the Belmont county bar. He was born in Monroe county, November 14, 1819; educated at Franklin college; studied law with William Kennon, Jr .; was admitted to practice in 1855, and still resides in St. Clairsville.
W. S. Kennon, son of Judge William Kennon, Sr., was born in St. Clairsville, in 1828. Educated in the common schools and Bethany college, read law with his father, and was admitted to practice. In 1861, he was elected as the Union candidate to the legislature, and in 1862 resigned to accept the appointment of secretary of state, by Governor Todd. He was afterward sent by Governor Todd to Wash- ington to adjust Ohio's war claims against the government, and in 1863 Secretary Stanton appointed him a paymaster in the United States army, where he served four years. In 186; he went to Cincin- nati to form a partnership with William Okey and Milton Taylor, where he remained until i871, when on account of the partial paralysis of his father, he came home and was elected prosecuting attorney, and served until 1878. On account of declining health he has not practiced law for several years.
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IHISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
Present Members of the Bar, St. Clairsville .-- C. J. Sweney, Judge St. Clair Kelley, Hon. W. S. Kennon, Col. James F. Charlesworth, llon. L. Danford, Judge C. W. Carroll, J. W. Shannon, A. H. Mitchell, W. S. Mitchell, J. R. Mitchell, not practicing, R. M. Davies, James F. Tallman, Newell K. Kennon, D. II. Milligan, Thomas Cochran, John Pollock, J. W. Nichol, W. D. Hoff, Albert Lawrence, W. V. Campbell, Albert Kennon, Hon. Capel Weems, E. E. Clevenger.
Barnesville .-- J. W. Walton, R. H. Taneyhill, E. T. Petty, W. F. Smith, C. J. Howard, W. F. Talbott, M. J. W. Glover, Emmet Drum- mond.
Bellaire .- J. B. Smith, J. T. Anderson, James C. Tallman, C. L. Poorman, not practicing, John A. Gallagher, DeWitt Danford, D. W. Cooper, George M. Woodbridge.
Bridgeport .- Hon. Ross J. Alexander, George Duncan, George C. McKec. J. C. Heinlein.
Martin's Ferry .- Judge J. S. Cochran, J. C. Gray, Frank R. Sedwick, T. W. Shreve, W. B. Francis.
Flushing .-- O. S. Holloway, H. T. Shepherd, F. M. Cowen, D. L. Voorhies.
Lawyers admitted to practice by the courts in Belmont county as appears on the court records and the year admitted, from the organi- zation of the county: Charles Hammond, 1801; Daniel F. Barney, 1803; Jacob Nagle, 1804: Daniel Church, 1804; Robert Purviance, 1804; George Paull, 1806; David Jennings. 1813, James Shannon, ISIS; William J. Thomas, 1819; Artemus Baker, IS21; Seneca S. Salsberry, 1823: Daniel Gray, 1824; Washington B. Johnston, 1825; G. W. Thomp- son 1826; Peter W. Gate, 1827; Charles Morgan, 1828; G. M. Alex, 1828; Robert McClane, 1829; Francis D. Leonard, 1829; John R. Mulvaney, 1830; Fernanda A. Evans, 1831; Nathan Evans, 1831; Abraham R. Dilworth, 1831; Charles C. Converse, 1832; Robert H. Miller, 1832; Isaac Iloge, 1832; James Patterson, 1833; William C. Watson. IS33: John B. Longly, 1834: L. J. Milligan, 1835; Thomas West, 1835; Gaston Tallman, 1835; Peter Tallman, 1835; Oliver Cun- ningham, 1836; Henry Kennon, 1836; William Woods, 1836; William Milligan, 1837: John Davenport, 1838; George W. Shannon, 1838; E. A. McMahon, 1838; Alfred Caldwell, IS38; William Brown, IS38; Hugh J. Jewett, 1839; John Furguson, 1840; Alexander MI. Mitchell, 1841; Thomas L. Jewett, 1842; Thomas M. Drake, 1842; Henry Lovell, 1842; Moses H. Urquhart, 1843; James J. Grimes, 1843; John Sells, 1843; Lorenzo M. Cross, 1843; Edmund G. Morgan, 1843: Henry C. Brumback, 1844; Sylvester Genin, 1844: James H. Rainey, 1844; Oliver J. Swaney, 1845; John M. Alges, 1845; Reuben Grant, 1845; Hugh M. Ramsey, 1845; John G. Leanor, 1845; Solomon R. Bonewitz, 1845; J. C. McCleary, 1846; John C. Tallman, 1846; Samuel F. Black, 1846; Richard H. Taneyhill, 1847; John Hib- bard, IS47; Matthew P. Deady, 1847; Isaac N. Taylor, 1849; James F. Charlesworth, 1851; William Wallace, 1851; Ellis E. Kennon, 1851; M. L. Hatcher, 1852; Joshua Stevens. 1852; Lorenzo Danford, 1854; I. H. Croxton, 1854; Andrew J. Lawrence, 1857; James \. Mayhew,
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BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO.
1858; Henry Topping, 1859; John II. Norris, 1859; Robert E. Cham- bers, 1859; James B. Campbell, 1864; George 11. Umstead, 1864; Ira V. McMullen. 1865; James J. Hawthorn, 1866; Dewit Danford, 1866; Thomas C. Dugan, 1866; Lewis C. Mechem, 1866; William W. Alexander, 1866; James F. Tallman, 1866; Joseph St. Clair, 1866; Alexis Cope, 1866; F. G. Arter, 1866; Henry E. Frost, 1866; Disney Rogers, 1866; John Dunham, 1867; L. C. Drennen, 1867; W. L. Bolen, 1867; David A. Hollingsworth, 1867; George W. Mitchell, 1868; Joseph Pratt, 1868; N. A. Wade, 1868; William L. Ramsey, 1868; James F. Anderson, 1868; Joseph R. Mitchell, 1869; N. H. Barber, 1869; Dewit C. Kemp, 1869; Thomas Ferrell, 1869; Clarence O. McSwords, 1869; Orlando Cope, 1870; Allen C. Miller, ISto; John F. Young, 1870; James D. Arick, 1870; Alex C. Darrah, IS70; Isaac M. Riley, 1871: Lewis Hoeffler, 1871; Alfred H. Mitchell, IS71; Robert M. Eaton, 1871; Webster Street, 1871; Robert N. Wilson, 1872; James C. Tallman, 1873; Samuel Hambleton, 1873; Daniel L. Crawford, 1873; Luke Voorhies, 1873; James Kennon, 1873: James A. McEwan, 1874; Samuel L. James, 1874; George W. Webster, 1874; John O. Macolm, 1875; Frank M. Cowen, 1877; J. C. Woodward, IS ;-; James G. Patrick, 18;7; Wilson Mitchell, 1877; John B. Busby, 1877; John A. Green, 1878; Josiah Douglas, IS78; Alfred H. Evans, 1878; M. R. Patterson, 18;8; Henry Gregg, 1878; T. W. Emerson, 1879; Newell K. Kennon, 1879; A. C. Agy, 1879; J. Calvin Gray, 1879; A. E. Hill, 1879.
Since 1879 all examinations for admission to the bar in Ohio have been before a committe appointed by the supreme court of the state, and the records of that court contain the names of all persons admitted.
TRAGIC FATE OF VALLANDIGHAM
00 1,520 Platteville, Wis., Sept. 28 .-- My; him announced that he was "under Dear Brandenburg: I have been very[ the aegis of the British lion." A much interested reading your ar- ticles recently published in The Democrat, especially the one in re- gard to C. L. Vallandigham. 1 was familiar with his arrest, trial and banishment. His inflammatory
cartoonist took advantage of the situation and drew a cartoon in which Vallandigham was squatting under the lion's tail. President Lin- colu finally permitted him to return to this country, and he took up speeches caused a great deal of trou- again the practice of law. In 1871, while engaged as counsel in a murder trial, he was almost instant- i ly killed by the premature discharge! of a revolver while engaged in demonstrating how the shooting might have been done.
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ble throughout the country. In our adjoining county of Lafayette his fol- lowers became so numerous and vi- olent that a company of soldiers was stationed at Benton to keep them from obstructing the draft. After Valland gham's banishment he went to Canada and papers friendly to
- M. P. Rindlaub.
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HISTORY OF THE UPPER OJO VALLEY.
CHAPTER XI.
BY JJON. A. T. MCKELVEY.
AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY - -- EARLY SETTLE- MENTS-REVOLUTIONARY VETERANS-TIDE OF IMMIGRATION -TOILS AND DANGERS-POISONOUS SERPENTS -EARLY SETTLERS HOMES- IMPLEMENTS OF LABOR -PENETRATING THE WILDERNESS -EARLY ROADS -- SOIL AND CROPS -LEADING INDUSTRIES -- COMPARATIVE TABLE OF YIELDS -- SHEEP HUSBANDRY- FRUIT CULTURE -- A UNIQUE CHAR- ACTER -A PHILANTHROPIST -GRAPE CULTURE -OTHER FRUITS -- A RE- VIEW -- A PREVIEW.
UCH of the history of the agricultural development of the upper Ohio valley may be epitomized in a history of the growth of agriculture in the counties of Belmont, Harrison and Jefferson in the state of Ohio. Perhaps 10 section of the state affords a finer field for the writer of heroic adventure, for no class of people in the history of the commonwealth were subjected to so much of peril and hardships as the pioneer farmers of the upper Ohio valley.
First Settlements .-- The first settlement in this now prosperous and populous valley, was probably made in 1,81, near the mouth of Short creek, in Jefferson county, by John Carpenter, who built a rude cabin and cleared a small tract of land for a "corn patch." Returning for his family he was captured by the Indians, and was held a prisoner for several months, eventually escaping he rejoined his family who accom- panied him to his newly established home, on the western shore of the Ohio. The next settlement in the order of time was effected by Capt. Absalom Martin, in 1787, at what is now the thriving city of Martin's Ferry. Two years later Capt. Robert Kirkwood built a cabin and opened up a farm at what is now the city of Bridgeport and Kirk- wood, opposite Wheeling. These settlements were made contrary to the orders of the general government because of the then unprotected condition of the western border.
Revolutionary Veterans .- The Revolutionary war having been brought to a conclusion, the tide of veteran sokliers, discharged from their long service in the cause of American independence, began to pour through the passes of the Blue Ridge seeking homes on the then far distant frontier along the banks of the Ohio. Land was the object which induced the greater number of these people to hazard their lives by an entrance into the territory of the northwest in advance of the government's protection. Four hundred acres of land and a pre- emption right to 1,000 more could be secured by any settler who built
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BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO.
a cabin, however rude, and raised a crop of grain, however small. Carrying their few earthly possessions upon pack horses, men, women and children treaded their weary way over the perilous bridle paths, and, regardless of the government prohibition, pushed across the frontier determined to possess the land "if they tomahawked their way through."
The streams of immigration flowing from the north, south and east, converged into one broad current that poured into the upper Ohio valley, bearing on its bosom the descendants of the Puritan, the Quaker, the Huguenot and the cavalier, and thus it was, that the flood of these diverse types of colonial days mingling together in the valley of the Ohio, brought forth that greatest product of our modern civilization, the "Ohio man." Following the course of the different streams these hardy pioneers penetrated into the new territory, mak- ing settlements on Glenn's Run, on Wheeling creek, on Captina creek, on Short creek, on McMechans creek, on Stillwater and at Dillie's bottom, and notwithstanding the complainings of the Indian tribes and the government's forbiddance, they squatted upon the land and began the work of improvement. These old soldiers innured to the dangers and hardships of the bivouac and the march carried few weapons of defense save their trusty flint-locks and few implements of labor, aside from their gleaming axes. Beneath their ringing blows our primeval forests vanished like the mists of the morning, revealing to the constantly arriving pioneers, fertile fields, rank with luxuriant crops, to strengthen their weakening faith, and dispel their lurking doubts.
The Pioneer's Toils and Dangers .- The crops cultivated by these early settlers were gathered with infinite toil and danger; from the opening of spring until the advent of winter, the pioneer farmer was forced to abandon his cabin home and seek protection for his family in the shelter of the block-house or the fort. When the rigors of winter locked field and forest in its icy embrace, he was exempt from the depredations of his savage foes, but just at the time when his con- stant presence upon the farm was of the utmost need when the spring was opening and the time of seeding was at hand, the implacable sav- ages started on the war path and began their work of pillage and de- stuction, hence it was necessary for the farmers to go out upon their farms to work in companies, one party doing guard duty with their muskets in hand, while the other party cultivated the growing crops; thus they alternately worked and stood guard until the shades of night forced them to again seek the shelter of the block-house or the fort. Not unfrequently while thus involuntarily absent from their cabins the savages would make a raid during the night, pillaging the home, driving off the stock, and burning their scanty store of grain. Amid dangers and discouragements like these, the intrepid farmers of a century ago, aided by their heroic wives and children, " made the wilderness to blossom," and pushed the frontier a little nearer the setting sun with each passing year. The necessary labors of these pioneer farmers were performed amid dangers and difficulties little
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HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
understood or appreciated by their descendants of the present gen- eration. The disheartening losses they sustained by the wolves, and bears destroying their flocks and herds, was often times aggravated and augmented by the total destruction of their crop of corn by the multitudinous squirrels and raccoons, and thus it was that many fam- ilies, after a hazardous and laborious spring and summer, would enter upon the long and dreary winter but illy provided with the very neces- saries of life.
Poisonous Serpents .- The country, too, was infested with poisonous reptiles that were a constant menace to old and young. Rattle snakes and copperheads were so numerous that there was scarcely a harvest field in which great numbers were not found, the reaper bending over his sickle would be startled by the warning whiz-z-z of the rattle snake, and frequently, before he could escape, its poisonous fangs had pierced his quivering flesh -the grain was so rank and heavy, that when cut, the farmers were obliged to leave it in little grips to cure; these grips were the favorite resorts of concealment for the serpents, from which they would frequently uncoil into the arms of the binders. The flax patch was another favorite resort of these deadly serpents, and as the flax was always pulled by the women, the terror and alarm into which they were thrown by the deadly attacks of the reptiles, can be better imagined than described. The deprivations of the early settlers of the upper Ohio valley, were inconceiveably great, the far- mers of to-day, with their comfortable homes and well filled larders, with overflowing graineries and bursting barns, has little conception of the wants and deprivations of their forefathers.
The Early Settler's Home in the rude log cabin with its puncheon floor and clapboard roof, was built without the aid of screws or nails, greased paper stretched over an opening in the logs, served in lieu of windows, and the pine knots and glowing logs that burned in the great open fire place, answered for both light and fuel at night. Upon a few pegs in the wall, hung the scanty wardrobe of the entire family, and some clapboard shelves supported by pins in the logs, served the double purpose of cupboard and closet. The scanty furniture con- sisted of a split slab table, and some three legged stools, a forked pole witd one end fastened to a joist overhead and the other sunk in the floor, and cross poles extending to a crack between the logs supported the rude bed. Bunches of seeds and herbs which the good wife had col- lected as simple remedies for the ailments of the family, hung in festoons over the high mantel, and the trusty flint lock and powder horn, were suspended from a pair of polished buck's horns. The table ware consisted of a few pewter dishes with wooden bowls, and trenchers, and if these were scarce, gourds and hard shelled squashes supplied the deficiency. The rude articles of furniture corresponded with the plain, but wholesome diet that made up the pioneer farmer's daily bill-of-fare, hog and hominy for breakfast, was followed by mush and milk for supper; roasting cars, pumpkins, potatoes and beans, from the little truck patch, varied the diet in summer, and wild turkey, venison and bear's meat were the variations in winter. For
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years, corn bread, corn pone and Johnny cake were the only form in which bread was made, and sometimes when the supply of corn meal was exhausted, pumpkin meal was used instead, or the children grated the new corn upon coarse tin graters, to minister to their press- ing necessities.
Implements of Labor .-- Before the days of the water mill, the hom- iny block and hand mill for crushing and grinding corn, were rude attachments to every farmer's home-deer skin seives took the place of bolting cloth in these primitive machines, and the whole were op- erated by the good wife and the children, who, in addition, wove and spun the flax and the wool that composed the warp and woof of the substantial linsey with which the entire family were clothed. While the needs of the pioneer farmer were many, they were more than counter-balanced by a natural ingenuity that developed in many of them a fertility of resources of which the modern farmer has little knowledge. He was a tanner, a shoemaker. a tailor, a carpenter, and a blacksmith, and to his neighbors who could not exercise the me- chanic's art, he was willing to exchange his hand craft for their labor. The implements of labor employed by the farmers of the upper Ohio valley a century ago were very simple and rude. Primitive plows with wooden mold boards, harrows with wooden teeth were employed to break the sod and smooth the virgin soil -sickles and scythes (with straight handles), reaped the wheat and cut the grass, and the grain was threshed with a flail, or trodden by horses or cattle. With these crude instruments of labor, and amid dangers, deprivations and discouragements, the character of which I have only hinted at, our forefathers began the herculean task of felling the primeval forest and opening up its fruitful valleys and fertile plains.
Penetrating into the Wilderness .-- As early as 1801, these dauntless pioneers had penetrated into the interior a distance of thirty-five miles; settlements had been made along the waters of the Captina, in what is now Wayne and Washington townships, in Belmont county, in 1798, and in Goshen, Union, Flushing. Wheeling and Kirkwood townships, in the same county, in 1800. The same year a little band of Friends, principally from the southern states, in order to escape the baneful and degrading influence and association of slavery, had crossed the frontier and effected a settlement that occupied about one-half of the eastern section of Warren township, in Belmont county. Another band located at Concord. in the eastern part of the same county, and near the borders of Jefferson county, in the vicinity of the present town of Mt. Pleasant. The descendants of these sterling pioneers still occupy the lands their forefathers settled, and are to-day among the most prosperous, intelligent, virtuous and pro- gressive farmers in the upper Ohio valley.
Early Roads .- For a number of years immigration clung to the line of the Wheeling and Pultney roads, the former built by authority of the general government in 1803, and better known as the Zane road, extending from Wheeling to Chillicothe via St. Clairsville, and the latter built by authority of the northwest territory, extending from
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HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIJO VALLEY.
Dillie's bottom on the Ohio river, near Bellaire, to Guernsey county via Barnesville.
Prior to 1801 there were no roads in the upper Ohio valley except the bridle paths which extended from cabin to cabin and connecting the widely separated settlements. These bridle paths were marked by the blazing on trees that served to guide the traveler through the primeval forest. The principal thoroughfare up to this time was the famous Zane trail, which extended from Fort Henry at Wheeling, to the Upper Muskingum, at what is now the prosperous city of Zanes- ville. This bloody trail was the scene of many hair-breadth escapes and thrilling adventures, the memory of which still linger in the traditions of rural homes, to be told with ever increasing interest around the hearthstones for generations to come. This celebrated Indian trail from constant use, was worn into a rut so deep as to become almost impassible. Eventually the government took the mat- ter in hand and employed Col. Zane to build the road above mentioned.
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