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BIOGRAPHIES
(Transcribed by Sharon Wick)
HISTORY OF
BELMONT and JEFFERSON COUNTIES,
OHIO,
AND
INCIDENTALLY HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
PERTAINING TO
BORDER WARFARE AND THE EARLY SETTLEMENT
of the
ADJACENT PORTION OF THE OHIO VALLEY,
By J. A. Caldwell
with Illustrations
Assistant, G. G. Nichols
Managing Editor, J. H. Newton
(Assistant, A. G. Sprankle.
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WHEELING, W. VA.
PUBLISHED BY THE HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY
1880
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Barnesville -
SAMUEL WALTONSource: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 331 |
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Barnesville -
W. C. WATSONSource: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 330 |
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Goshen Twp. -
MRS. ELIZABETH WELCH - John Barry, the
father of this excellent and esteemed lady, was born in Loudon
county, Va., where he married Miss Catharine Horner, and
removed to near St. Clairsville, where the subject of this sketch
was born, Sept. 16, 1802. She married, Nov. 19, 1820, John
Carter, who died May 12, 1826, aged forty-six years, eight
months and three days. By this marriage she had one child, a
daughter, named Mary Ann, who was born Oct. 14, 1822, and was
married Nov. 21, 1839, to Benjamin Wilson, who died Aug. 6,
1857. Mrs. Carter married, for a second husband,
James Welch, Nov. 18, 1828, who died Dec. 18, 1833, leaving no
children. The subject of this sketch united with the Disciples
church at Beallsville in 1829, of which she has been a steadfast and
devoted member ever since, and now lives near Burr's Mills with her
widowed daughter, enjoying the kindest respects of the entire
community.
Source: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 406 |
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Barnesville -
ASA WELLONSSource: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 329 |
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Goshen Twp. -
JOHN WHITE was born in Loudon county,
Virginia, in February, 1812; came with his father's family to
Belmont county in November, 1817; has resided in Goshen township
ever since, except two years in Barnesville. He has all his
life been identified with the interests of the township and taken a
lively concern in whatever pertained its progress and advancement.
Mr. White's character can be judged by the confidence reposed
in his integrity by his fellow-citizens, who have elected him four
times to the office of Justice of the Peace, besides other township
offices, such as Trustee, &c. Mr. White is tolerant in
his religious and political opinions. He has never married.
Source: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 405 |
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Martin Ferry -
DR. B. O. WILLIAMS. - The subject of this brief sketch was
born in Wetzel county, West Virginia, Nov. 13, 1847. He was
reared on a farm, and obtained his collegiate education at Mt. Union
College, Ohio, after which he attended medical lectures at the
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. After graduating in
1873, he came to Martin's Ferry, Ohio, and began the practice of
medicine. His office is in the Commercial block on Hanover
street.
Source: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 305 |
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Flushing
Twp. -
DANIEL WILLIAMS - Joseph Williams
resided in Urochland township, Chester county, Pa., where Daniel
was born July 13, 1813; removed to Belmont county, O., in 1808;
married Martha Schofield, Aug. 1, 1838, and went to
housekeeping for himself. In 1853 he wife died, having borne
him three children, two of whom are living, Joseph and Edith S.
In 1854 he married Hannah C. Cook, and moved to a farm half a
mile east of the village of Flushing, where he still resides.
Mr. Williams is now living with his third wife, his last
marriage taking place Aug. 22, 1871.
Source: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 380 |
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Barnesville -
DR. WILLIAMS - The now venerable Dr.
Ephraim Williams settled at Barnesville in 1837, and began the
practice of medicine. The overshadowing presence of Dr.
Hoover for a while dimmed the lustre of Dr. Williams'
career, but being one of those rare and priceless characters, whose
worth becomes manifest in spite of circumstance and fate, he finally
triumphed, and for over thirty years has had a practice worthy of
his large abilities and high attainments.
Source: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 317 |
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Barnesville -
EPHRAIM WILLIAMS, M.D., a son of Daniel Williams,
who came to Belmont county in 1818, was born in Berks county, Pa.,
in 1810. Wm. Williams, the grandfather of Ephraim,
was of Welsh birth, and an infant at the time his parents arrived in
America. Jane Jackson was Daniel Williams'
second wife, and was the daughter of David and Elizabeth Jackson
nee Morris, of Berks county, Pa. She died in 1813.
There were six children by the first union, and an equal number by
the second. He married to 1815, Martha, daughter of
Joseph and Lydia Mendenhall, of Chester county, Pa. She
was familiar with many scenes of the revolution, especially those
connected with Valley Forge. She died in 1868, nearly
ninety-five years of age.
The Williams settlement in Belmont county was in
Warren township, on the Morristown road, about three miles northeast
of Barnesville. Here the early years of our subject were
passed, graduating with honor at the log cabin school. He read
medicine for three years with Dr. Daniel Williams,
of Salem, Columbiana county, Ohio, and commenced practice at the age
of twenty. Four first location was, in 1834, at Millwood, since
known as Quaker City. After remaining five years at this
point, he removed to Barnesville, his permanent residence for over
forty years.
He was married in 1839 to Anna, daughter of
Jeptha and Sarah Sharp, of Belmont county. Mr. Sharp
was an early surveyor of the county, who died while a young man.
His children are Sarah T. and
three sons, deceased.
Source: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 327 |
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Flushing
Twp. -
JOSEPH WILLIAMS - Born in Flushing township,
Oct. 16, 1845. He went to the Friends' Academy at Mt. Pleasant
during the winter of 1863-4, also the Westtown boarding school of
Chester county, Pa., in 1866. In 1868, he went into
partnership with Ephraim Holoway in the hardware and grocery
business. Dissolving partnership with Mr. Hollowayhe
now carries on the business himself. In 1874, he married
Gulie Purviance, who died April, 1877.
Source: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 381 |
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Cross Creek
Twp. -
O. J. WILLIAMS was born in Cross Creek, July 30, 1820.
His father, John Williams, came from Lancaster county, Pa.,
in 1803, and purchased land and located here. Mr. Williams
was brought up on the farm and received a liberal education.
In 1861, he married Miss Eliza Decker; they have a large
family of children. Mr. Williams has a good farm lying
near the city limits of Steubenville, and is a man much thought of
by all who know him.
Source: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 600 |
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Martin's
Ferry -
S. B. WILLIAMS. - Our subject is a native of Belmont county,
and was born on the 27th day of March, 1827. When sixteen
years of age he began the trade of a carpenter and joiner. In
1844 he began millwrighting, and has followed these occupations ever
since, save two years, from 1853 to 1855. He received an
injury by the failing of a scaffold, so that he was obliged to teach
school during that interval, and he has never entirely recovered
from this fall. In 1850 he married Ruthanna Hampton, of
Pennsylvania. In 1851 he removed to Monroe county, Ohio, where
he resided for ten years, and from thence to Wheeling island, where
he lived some ten years, and then located at Martin's Ferry, where
he still remains. In 1870 he purchased an old mill that stood
at the upper end of town, and moved it to its present location, at
the southern end. It is a steam mill with capacity of sawing
from eight to ten thousand feet of lumber daily. Formerly he
ran it night and day. Mr. Williams has been unavoidably
unfortunate in many regards having been twice burnt out of house and
home while living in Monroe county, and having no insurance either
time. In the spring of 1873 he was a heavy loser by the
breaking up of the ice in the river, which swept away several
thousand dollars worth of logs. The ice had become gorged some
miles above and when it gave way swept everything in its course.
Source: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 305 |
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Barnesville -
SAMMY WILLIAMS - Among the notable characters
of Barnesville, and without a notice of whom the history of the
village would not be complete, was Sammy Williams, a colored
gentleman. He was for many years a star of the first magnitude
in the local heavens of the town, and shone with a sparkle and a
flame both unique and oscillating. Samuel was
born somewhere in the "Old Dominion," but where he, like many of the
old plantation slaves, never knew. He came to the vicinity of
the town in the year 1847 with a wife and many children, and at once
arose to local notoriety as an alleged violator of the public peace.
Sammy had a strange look, and wondrous tales of his ferocity
had put the people in a ferment. The officers were afraid of
him, and approached his cabin with the same timidity that amateur
hunters do the lair of a lion. Sammy came to the door
to meet a volley of stones thrown at him with the power of fright
and with the aim of a rifle. Sammy fell; was bound and
in triumph brought before a justice. Scarred and bleeding the
old man sat, while the charge against him was read and the testimony
rehearsed. The "State" failed and Sammy was once more
restored to liberty and his family.
In a few days Sammy, by rapid transition from a
criminal at the bar, became heralded as a preacher. His
preaching, like the prosecution against him, came to naught.
The lining out of his first hymn did the business for him. Our
readers may be able to recognize the old familiar hymn even by his
rendering, which was as follows:
"God moves in a 'sterious way His wonders to reform;
He plants one foot on the sea and the other
The sandy shore side."
Failing as a criminal and preacher, Sammy began
to spade gardens, run errands and do chores for the grandees of the
village. Peaceably and quietly he plodded on in his business
for several years, "lost to sight but to memory dear." While
so employed his wife died, and his children, one by one, went away
and were lost to view. But Sammy disgusted at the
monotony of his solitary trade, and goaded by that unconquerable
love of public observation so common to many American citizens,
bursted forth at full blow a stump-speaker and auctioneer. Now
Sammy, shrewder than most stump-speakers, knew how to secure
an audience; if his wisdom failed, wares cheap and flashy would not,
to draw the people about him. So for many years he spoke his
speech and cried his wares to the people. His speeches
included the cream of the town's gossip, while his wares embraced
everything from a broken crock to a wasted hand-bill. His
rostrum and his presence became as ubiquitous in the village was
were the placards of "patent medicines."
At first he attracted much attention, but like all good
things, too long enjoyed, the people grew tired of Sammy and
passed him without heed. The boys, wearied out of patience,
began to pelt him with "brick-bats, sticks and stones." It
mattered little to Sammy whether anyone listened to him or
not, but by way of imprecation for their want of appreciation, he
now began to end every speech with the letters W. R. N. T. rapidly
spoken in a deprecating tone. The boys caught the cue, and as
he journeyed from "stump to stump" about the town, they pelted him
the more, and the more they pelted him, the more he yelled W. R. N.
T. So on, year after year, Sammy spoke his speech and
cried his wares, and made the circuit of the village, being pelted
by boys and he rebuking them with W. R. N. T.
When Sammy began to be a
stump-speaker and auctioneer he said he was eighty-three years old;
and from that time to his death, ask when you might. "How old are
you, Sammy?" and he would reply, "just eighty-three."
But Sammy grew old in spite of "83" and began to totter
toward the grave. And as he did so, he forsook the
thoroughfares of men and went to the by-ways and hedges, the copses
and the thickets, and clearing a patch here and a square there,
started a few hills of corn and pumpkins on the grow, to perish in
the weeds. He picked up a scanty living among the charitable,
and found lodging in out-houses, hay-mows and the "spacious temple
of nature."
At last he contracted the habit of building fires at
his clearings and bivouacking there for the night, with the stars,
or the clouds and the rain, or the frost and the snow as companions
of his slumber. One frigid night in January, 1867, this habit
gave him his summons to his final home. Half frozen when found
he was kindly given shelter by Mr. Daniel Barr in his coal
shanty with fires and comfort. But hepatization of Sammy's
lungs had taken place by the cold and in great pain he lived a few
days and then breathed his last. A number of our best citizens
provided him with a suit of clothes, a decent coffin, then bore him
to his grave and buried him in his eternal resting place at South
Cemetery.
Mr. James Orr, one of the "lost lights of the
world," has preserved Sammy's memory in the following verses,
which will suffer nothing by a comparison with the best efforts of
the masters of song: "Sam. Williams
yielded up his breath
When in the frozen arms of death;
Whatever now his state may be
He died a W. R. N. T.
No more with naughty boys he'll meet
While promenading Barnesville street,
When brick-bats, sticks and all these
Fell fast on W. R. N. T.
No more we'll hear his joyful song
Celebrate the woods along.
And hill and vale and rock and tree
Resound with W. R. N. T.
When he flew up to Heaven's gate
St. Peter said in a lordly state.
"I ask, sir, what your name may be?"
Sam. said "I'm W. R. N. T."
St. Peter rubbed his nose a while
And on poor Sammy east a smile,
And turning round his large good key
Said "walk right in, W. R. N. T."
A Quaker friend a seat had made,
And shaking hands with Sammy said,
"Thy smell will not discomfort me.
Thee's welcome, W. R. N. T."
Let critics who may scoff and laugh
At Sammy's simple epitaph
Hope their future state may be
As good as W. R. N. T.
Source: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 317 |
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Smith Twp.
-
EPHRAIM WILSON, a son of William Wilson, deceased, was
born in Maryland, June 18th, 1800. In 1801 he was brought to
Belmont county, Ohio, by his father, who settled in Smith township,
on section 36. He lived in a log cabin that had been built on
the land by the Brattons, for a few years; then he erected a
larger log house in which he lived the remainder of his days.
He died in 1812, at the age of 53 years. Our subject married
Elizabeth Prior, daughter of John Pryor, in 1823.
They settled on the farm where he is now living, it being his
father's old homestead, and followed agricultural pursuits.
His wife died in 1861. Their union resulted in eight children;
four are deceased. His son John Wilson, served three
years in the war against the rebellion.
Source: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 400 |
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Warren
Twp. -
ISRAEL WILSON, JR., son of Israel and Martha Wilson,
was born in Pennsylvania, June 9, 1807, and when about four years of
age, him parents removed to Harrison county, Ohio. Here our
subject on Nov. 29, 1827, married Catharine Davis, and
remained there until 1861, and then removed to Warren township,
Belmont county, Ohio. They reared a family of nine children -
William C., Martha, Elisha, Jane, Ann Eliza, Mary H., Rachel D.,
Israel J. and Joseph D. All are dead but Ann
Eliza, who resides on Sandy Ridge, near the Quaker school
building, where she and her mother came in 1875. Israel
Wilson died Apr. 16, 1865, and his wife July 21, 1878.
Source: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 360 |
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St. Clairsville
-
M. E. WILSON, son of John and Sarah Wilson, was born
in St. Clairsville, Ohio, Jan. 6, 1848. He was reared a farmer
and gardener. Married Rebecca A. Little, of Wheeling,
Oct. 2, 1877. For two years he ran a hack from Warnock to St.
Clairsville. In 1877, he began as a baker and confectioner and
still continues the same. His father was born in Fayette
county, Pa., and emigrated to Belmont county some fifty years ago.
Source: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio,
Publ. at Wheeling, W. Va., by the Historical Publishing Company -
1880 - Pg. 246 |
NOTES: |
