WINDSOR TOWNSHIP, the largest
in Morgan County, is wholly included within the limits
of the Ohio company's purchase and of the donation
tract. It was the earliest settled part of Morgan
County, and at the time the county was formed had made
greater progress in population and improvements than any
other portion of the county.
Here was the settlement of Big Bottom, made in 1790,
and ruthlessly destroyed by the savages early in the
year 1791. For a description of the blockhouse and
a history of the massacre, the reader is referred to
chapter VI, “The Indian War.”
For a time the exact location of the historic
blockhouse on Big Bottom was, to a considerable degree,
a matter of conjecture. Recently, however, through
the earnest efforts of Mr. Obadiah Brokaw, the
precise spot where it stood has been definitely
ascertained. Any one passing down the river road
from Windsor to Marietta can see the spot marked by a
stone slab, in a field immediately north of the
residence of Mr. Brokaw. In the immediate
vicinity of the slab were found indisputable evidences
of the material of the blockhouse and the remains of its
unfortunate occupants.
The pioneers of this part of the county were largely
from the New England States. They were
intelligent, moral and progressive. The county is
especially indebted to these New Englanders for the
introduction of fruit—apples, peaches, pears, cherries,
etc. Orcharding has been a prominent industry in
the township from the earliest settlement to the present
time.
The soil is rich and productive. The township
contains a greater area of bottom-land than any other in
the county. The farmers are thrifty and
progressive, and many of them very prosperous.
Windsor Township was organized as one of the integral
parts of Morgan County in the summer of 1819. Its
territory has since been enlarged by the incorporation
into the township of aPage 392 -
large part of Roxbury Township, formerly in Washington
County.
Doubtless some of the bottoms of this township were
occupied by hunters’ cabins, here and there, even before
the Indian War. But this is merely conjectural;
the date of actual, permanent occupation by white
settlers may safely be set down as 1795-6, after
Wayne’s victory and the treaty of peace with the
Indians.
The earliest settlers were nearly all located on the
river. Hot until all the river farms were occupied
did immigrants begin to think of improving the uplands.
The hill-farms were called “rabbit lands,” and
considered well-nigh worthless. Few of them were
taken up before 1820, and from that time forward for
thirty years or more the work of improvement was slow
but constant.
Beginning at the Morgan Township line and following the
river we find that the early settlers were as follows:
On the first farm George Miller was
located for a time. About 1817 he sold out to
Asa Olney, whose son Oman settled upon
the place. Joshua Davis lived on the
farm a short time, but died in 1821.
Where Samuel H. Scott now lives, Thomas
Devin settled about 1818. Hear the site of
the schoolhouse Thomas Dorragh was located a few
years. He left in 1820.
In 1811 Nathan Dearborn came from New
Hampshire on foot and located on the farm now occupied
by Capt. I. H. Hook. His brother-in-law,
Isaac Melvin had occupied the place a short time
before, but had left. After making some
improvement, Mr. Dearborn remained on the
place till his first wife died. In the fall of
1813 he returned to New Hampshire and married again.
The following March he was drafted, and served a year in
the army. Mr. Dearborn was the first
coroner of Morgan County, and acted as sheriff at the
first term of court in McConnelsville. His son,
H. P. Dearborn, now of Meigsville Township, born in
1814, has a vivid recollection of pioneer events, and
has assisted the editors of this history by furnishing
many interesting reminiscences. Mr.
Dearborn was one of the pioneer temperance workers
of the county.
Asa Emerson, Jr., was
on the farm below, prior to Dearborn’s settlement.
Near where J. J. and J. C. Henery now live, from
about 1822 to 1826, Samuel M. Dyke held a
squatter’s possession. He was one of the early
teachers of the township. Just below lived
William Davis, 2d, and John B. Peary,
succeeded about 1817 by Levi Davis and Prince
Godfrey. The latter died in 1821. Near
the site of the brick church, Samuel Henery
located in 1815. His posterity is still numerous
in the township. Next down the river was Elder
William Davis, pastor of the Baptist Church; and
where Robert Henery now lives, James
Nott, early in the present century.
Opposite the site of the village of Stockport was
Nathaniel Eveland, and next below, Samuel
White. Asa White was on the farm of
the late Arthur Taggart; and a little
below lived John Craft and Elisha
Hand, who removed to Indiana about 1830.
Jotham Keyes, about 1821, having previously
lived a short time at Marietta, moved to the next farm.
His wife was a cousin of Hon. Edward Everett.
Mrs. Barker, matron of the Children’s
Home, is the only representative of the

Eugene Pierrot
Page 393 -
Keyes family known to the writer. On the
Obadiah Brokaw farm, Joseph Cheadle was an
early settler; the lower part of the farm was early
occupied by Elijah Smith (1815); about the same
time came also Dr. Ephraim Wright.
The Cheadles
were from Vermont and all early settlers. Asa,
John, Richard and Paddock were brothers.
Asa was an early justice of the peace.
Richard Cheadle settled where Mrs. Mellor now
lives and remained on the place until his death.
Where the late Annie Lawrence lived, Ephraim
Ellis resided a short time, then moved to Marion
Township. Paddock Cheadle lived on the
Henry Blackmer farm. He moved west. Timothy
Blackmer came to the next place in 1823, having
previously lived for twenty years a few miles below on
the other side of the river. John Cheadle
lived on the Buck farm from the time of his
settlement until his death.
Asa Emerson and his
sons located in the vicinity of Luke Chute about the
beginning of the present century. There Luke
Emerson engaged in milling. Just below,
John Carter, an early
settler had a distillery. Further down were
Elnathan Ellis, Jonathan Baldwin,
George Hanvard on the present T. Blake
farm; Archibald McCollum, on the place
afterwards occupied for many years by Adelphi Webster;
Joseph Morris, on part of the R. L. Coburn
farm; Nicholas Coburn (1796) on the Coburn
farm; and Sylvanus Olney where E. N. Olney
now lives.
Returning to our starting-point, crossing the river and
again following it downward, we find Samuel
Evans on part of the farm now owned by M. Keyser,
John Widger, John and Humphrey K. White,
who established a mill in 1822. John
White was a prominent man, a justice of the peace
and a representative to the legislature. The J.
B. White farm was settled by Barnabas Sutliff,
familiarly known as Barney, in 1814; and at a
later date Abijah C. Seely occupied the Bishop
and Kent farm. The Newberry farm
was settled as early as 1814 by Sylvanus
Newton * and general musters were sometimes held
there. Gideon and Walter were his
sons. Alexander McMillan, from
Maine, known as Dr. McMillan, settled on
the Geddes farm. The doctor made
pills from roots, herbs and other material; but he
claimed that in order that they should be absolutely
effective that in the process of manufacture, the fire
in his furnace should be kept up for seven years.
He had unbounded faith in the efficacy of his own
medicines, and once told a patient who complained that
his doses were doing no good, that the medicine would
work, though it might take seven years to reach the
desired result.
Frederick Eveland
and his sons, David, Moses and John,
occupied the site of Stockport, and several brothers by
the name of Lucas were also in this neighborhood
prior to 1815. Further down at an early period
were Andrew Dennis, a revolutionary
soldier, and his sons, Daniel, Samuel,
Thomas, Andrew and Uriah; David
Sells, Daniel Coleman and Jacob
Nulton; Asa Cheadle, Simeon
Nott and Simeon Evans, all very
early.
Henry
Harvard, and his son George, settled on the
Thomas Blake farm at a very early date - probably
before 1800. The Harwards were from
Pennsylvania
---------------
* The wife of Newton was a Stacy.
She was a sister to the Stacys who were inmates
of the Block-house on Big Bottom in 1791.
Page 394 -
and were of Irish descent. George, Charles,
Katie and Mary were members of George
Harward’s family. None of the name
now remain in the county.
Jonathan
Baldwin came from Connecticut, about
1800, cleared land and planted an orchard on the upper
end of the Blake farm, which has since
been known as the Baldwin orchard. This
orchard and another planted by. Nicholas
Coburn, Sr., were doubtless the first orchards in
Morgan County, though other Yankee settlers were not
long in following the examples set by Baldwin and
Coburn. Several apple trees and one pear
tree of those planted by Baldwin are still
standing. Apples were a source of considerable
revenue to the early settlers who had orchards.
They were transported to Zanesville in canoes and
usually brought high prices. Canoeing of fruit and
other products was a business, regularly followed by
some at certain seasons. It required skill and an
intimate acquaintance with the river to manage a large,
heavily laden canoe and take it through the ripples in
safety. The pioneers always offered apples and
cider to visitors or neighbors who called. It was
customary to warm the cider by plunging a red-hot poker
into it; then red pepper and ginger were added to give
it flavor. This drink, with a plate of russets or
greenings, was fine enough for the epicures of those
days.
Wolves were
numerous and very troublesome to the early settlers.
Although no instances are remembered of their attacks
upon people, many an aged pioneer can recall the time
when stock (especially sheep) was often attacked and
killed by them. The last wolves in this region,
according to the recollection of H. P. Dearborn,
were killed in 1832, by Levi Allen of Waterford.
The
first justice of the peace in the township, chosen at
the first election in 1819, was Adelphi Webster. He was also an early
school teacher.
In 1817
Prince Godfrey, a native of
England, who came from Maine to Ohio, moved from Duck
Creek, where he had lived a year previously, and settled
on the river on land now owned by the Henerys,
above the brick church. He was the father of five
children, three of whom are living: Phebe M.
(Patterson), Samuel B. (deceased), Malinda
H. (McKibben), Abigail (deceased), and Ellen (Menier).
after the decease of Mr. Godfrey his widow
married Israel Davis. The children of this
marriage were Abigail, Israel and Jesse -
one now living, Jesse, near Hooksburg.
Mrs. Davis died in 1879 at the age of ninety-four.
Samuel Godfrey, brother of
Prince, came West earlier and induced the latter to
come. He lived on Duck Creek until after the death
of his wife,
Page 395 -
and moved thence to this township. Here he married
Mrs. Eunice White (nee Emerson).
They had two children who died in the West.
Louisa, one of the children of the first wife, was
drowned in the river at Devol’s. There was
a skating party, and she was being pushed on the ice in
a rocking chair, when she went down in an air hole. This
was on Thursday. The following Saturday her body
was seen through the ice by a man who was crossing over
the river below. Benjamin, Samuel,
and Joseph, were also children by by the first
wife. The two last named are still living in the
West.
Samuel White
settled in Windsor township opposite Luke Chute, near
the beginning of the present century. He was from
New England. His father, Thomas White,
and his (Samuel’s) brothers, Thomas,
Olcott and David, all lived in the same
neighborhood, some of them on the opposite side of the
river. Samuel came to this vicinity a young
man, married Eunice, a sister of Luke
Emerson, and followed milling. He had but one
son, Asa, the youngest of the family, and five
daughters—Mary (Andrews), Centre township;
Susana and Roxana, dead; Lydia and
Abigail.
Asa
White son of David
White, located on Big Bottom, sold out and went
to Iowa.
The mill at Luke Chute was the principal mill in
the settlement in the early years. The date of its
erection is not to be ascertained, but it was probably
in operation as early at 1815. Luke
Emerson and Samuel White built it in
partnership. They constructed a dam from the
island to the shore, which threw the water around the
island, making a rapid on the other side, called the
“chute ”—hence Luke’s Chute. After being in
operation many years the mill was burned. Samuel
and Wells White, by the assistance of
their neighbors, erected another. The Luke Chute
mill was the best and the most largely patronized of the
early mills in the Southeastern part of the county.
It was owned by Jeremiah Spurgeon after
Emerson & White.
The
Corners
of Morgan County are of English descent. Their
progenitor, George Corner, Sr., was an early
settler at Marietta. He had determined on locating
in Kentucky, but on arriving at Marietta and finding
some of his friends there, he determined to cast his
fortunes with them. In 1796 he settled in what is
now Windsor township on Wolf Creek, five miles west of
Beverly, where his son George L. was born in
1797. A few years afterwards he died while on his
way westward from New York, whither he had gone for
medical treatment. Of his family, William,
George, and Ellen (Smith) lived and
died in Morgan County. William and
George were among the early settlers of Union
township. Both afterwards moved to Malta, where
George L. died Aug. 11, 1857, and William a few
years ago.
The
Coburn family was one of the
earliest in Morgan County. Major Asa
Coburn was one of the first six families that
arrived at Marietta, Aug. 19, 1788. His family
consisted of his wife and six children: Phineas,
the eldest son, who arrived, with the first party of
immigrants, at the mouth of the Muskingum, in April,
1788; Nicholas, Asa, Sibyl, Mary
and Susannah. Major Coburn was one
of three brothers who entered the Colonial Army at the
opening of the revolution: Andrew, the
Page 396 -
eldest, was killed at the battle of Bunker
Hill; Abraham also lost his life in battle;
Asa passed through the war, coming out with the rank
of major. Both he and his wife died at Waterford
daring the Indian war, and their burial place is
unknown.
Nicholas Coburn, Sr.,
son of Major Asa Coburn, was born in
Worcester, Mass., in 1772, and came to Marietta with his
parents in 1788. In the spring of 1789 with his
father’s family he moved to Waterford and remained there
through the Indian War. He was one of the party
who went from Fort Frye (at Waterford) in 1791 to bury
the victims of the massacre at Big Bottom. In 1794
Nicholas Coburn married Rosamond
Olney, who came from Nova Scotia. During that
year he settled opposite the site of Lowell, where he
remained until the spring of 1796. He then moved
to the northeastern part of Windsor Township, and
settled on the farm now owned by his grandson,
Richmond L. Coburn. At that time his nearest
neighbor lived at the mouth of Olive Green Creek.
He planted on his farm one of the first orchards in
Morgan County. Mrs. Coburn died in 1828,
and Mr. Coburn in 1848. They reared a large
family — eight daughters and two sons. Of the
sons, Barzilla, the elder, moved to Missouri in
1839; the other, Nicholas, lived and died on the
homestead. (See
Portrait)
Nicholas Coburn, Jr.,
was born Mar. 24, 1804. In 1831 he married
Elizabeth Cheadle, daughter of Richard
Cheadle of Big Bottom. Mr. Coburn was a
prominent man and served as a justice of the peace in
Windsor Township for eighteen years. He was also a
county commissioner for three years. He was an ardent
whig, and attested his loyalty to his party by urging
all whigs to attend the elections and vote. During
the election of 1844, he discovered late in the
afternoon of election day that one of his whig neighbors
had not voted. He therefore went in search of him,
and on asking the reason for his neglect of duty,
learned that the man had stayed at home because he had
no shoes to wear! Mr. Coburn
thereupon took off his own shoes, had his neighbor put
them on and hurry away to the polling-place, thus adding
one to the number of ballots for Clay, while he
himself walked home bare-footed, to the great amusement
of his family.
Nicholas Coburn, Jr.,
died Aug. 18, 1867, and his wife Oct. 31, 1877.
They had three children—Leonidas J., Louisa and
Richmond L. Louisa became the wife
of Edward Ellison,
(now deceased), who was a minister of the M. E. Church.
Leonidas J. Coburn, a
representative farmer and a most worthy citizen, was
born Sept. 4, 1832. In January, 1855, he married
Susan Swift, and has six children: Don C.,
who married Emma Nulton; Nicholas, who
married Jessie Nulton; Charles, who
married Flora Bolinger; Juniatta,
Edward and Allen. Don C. and
Nicholas are ministers of the Methodist Protestant
Church. Leonidas J. Coburn has served six
years as a justice of the peace and now (1886) is
serving his second term as one of the county
commissioners.
Richmond L. Coburn, a
prominent farmer, was born June 28, 1839, on the old
homestead and in the old house which was built in 1813.
He has always resided on the farm. Mr. Coburn
was in the U. S. service in the Second West Virginia
cavalry from 1861 to 1865 and participated in all the
campaigns of
Page 397 -
that regiment. He was married Jan. 1, 1867, to
Miss P. A. Hill, of Washington County, whose parents
were members of one of the early families. Mr.
and Mrs. Coburn have four children, Nicholas
Roscoe, Alexander Royal, Raymond
Clinton and Richmond Walter. Mr.
Coburn is a republican and a member of the
Methodist Protestant church.
Simeon Evans, or
Grandfather Evans as he was familiarly known, was born in
Orange County, New York, in 1776, and came with his
father, Nathaniel Evans, to Washington County in
1794. The family settled near Marietta and the
elder Evans is buried in the Marietta cemetery.
Simeon Evans was one of the early pioneers
of Windsor Township, where he settled about 1796.
He married Miss Elizabeth Mellor in
1799. She was of English birth, and came to
America in 1795. They reared a family of eleven
children,—six boys and five girls. All attained
mature years. Of this large family only three,
Sarah, Prudence and John, are now
living. John and Joel were twins and
inherited the old homestead, one of the finest farms
upon the river. Both married, the former for his
first wife Miss Elizabeth Mathews.
She lived but a short time and he was again married to
Nancy Hoon and reared a family of eleven
children. Joel married Miss
Rebecca Martin and the result of .this union
was seven children,— Laura, Murray (died
in infancy), Edith, Arza, Simeon,
Orville and Ada. The lives of these
two brothers were almost inseparably connected.
They did not seem to have a dual existence. For
over sixty years they lived and did business together
without a single disagreement to mar the placidity of
their lives. In 1881 John was compelled to
leave the old home on account of the illness of his wife
and went to Oregon. The attachment between the
brothers was so strong that Joel did not long
survive the separation, and in February of the following
year he died. The name of Evans is one
familiar to every one in the southern part of the
county, where they are known as honest, intelligent and
upright people. Simeon, the progenitor of
the family in Morgan County, was a fine type of the
pioneer; he was a religious man, and in the early days
his house was known far and near as the “preaching
place” for the Methodists. He died Jan. 5, 1861;
his wife in 1838.
Sylvanus
Olney, who was born in Nova Scotia in 1773,
came to Marietta at the age of nineteen and spent some
time in the block-house there. He was a soldier
under General Wayne for two years, and
afterwards a second lieutenant under General
Harrison in the latter’s Sandusky expedition.
He settled on the opposite side of the river from E.
N. Olney’s present residence, and his brother Asa
on the place above him. About 1803 he moved to the
north side of the river, having traded his land on the
other side for the farm on which his son now lives.
He was married in 1799 to Annie Slack, and
probably settled on his first place about that time.
His children by this marriage were John, Sarah,
Daniel, Asa, Henry, Louisa,
Louisiana, R. J. Meigs and Dexter.
For his second wife he married Betsy Nixon,
in 1819, by whom he had one child, Elias Nixon
Olney, born May 15, 1825. Sylvanus
Olney died July 11, 1866, in the 94th year of his
age. lie was a justice of the peace and a prominent man.
E. N. Olney has always
resided on the homestead. He was married in
Page 398 -
1852 to Lucy Ann Vaughn, who died in 1863. Their
children were Sarah E. (deceased), Warren,
Henry and Ellsworth (deceased). In 1864
Mr. Olney married Rebecca E. Muse,
who died in 1874. Children: Luella T. and
Edward G. In 1880 Mr. Olney
married Margaret C. Murray. He is a democrat and
a member of the Methodist Protestant church.
Henry Olney,
an older son of Sylvanus, married Joanna
White and lived on part of the homestead, where
he died in 1879.
Elder
William Davis the first pastor of the Baptist
church, was an early settler on the place now the
Porter farm, above the farm of Robert
Henery, 2d. He came from Montville,
Maine, and preached through all the neighboring
settlements. He was a fair speaker, hut very
tenacious of doctrinal points and might fitly be classed
as a “hard shell.” He was much respected. He
reared a large family, none of whom are now left here.
His children were Nancy, Peggy, Abigail,
James Cyrus, Hannah, Mary,
William and Sally.
Joshua Davis,
a brother of Elder William, settled on the
river above the I. N. Hook farm. He had one
son, Elias, who died in Maine. The others
all came to Ohio and lived in Morgan County. They
were James, William, Cyrus,
Israel, Joshua, Isaac, Levi,
Asa, Abigail and Rhoda. All died
in the county. Israel once went on a trip
to New Orleans on a boat and walked home. He was a
hard-working, industrious man. He built the
chimneys in the house now owned by Samuel P.
Patterson, boating the brick from McConnelsville,
and carrying them in a basket on his back from the river
to the house.
Levi Davis,
a relative of Elder Davis, and William
Davis, 2d, were also among the early settlers.
Levi had nineteen children, all of whom are now
dead or moved away. Thomas and Betsy
(Sheets) only are known to be living. Their
father, Levi Davis, came from Maine, and
after a short stay in Washington County, moved to this
township about 1816. He first located on the place
afterward occupied by John Henry, and afterward
moved to the Blockhouse farm on Big Bottom.
James Nott, one of
the pioneers of Windsor Township, was the son of
Thomas Nott, and emigrated to Windsor
Township from Pennsylvania in the year 1800. He
married Miss Phebe
Richmond, an aunt of Dean Richmond,
one of the most prominent politicians and financiers of
the State of New York. They reared a family of six
children, three boys and three girls. Benjamin
Nott, the eldest of the sons, was born in Windsor
in 1806. Reuben H., the second son, was
born in 1812, and Crayton B., the youngest, in
1814. Benjamin came to McConnelsville in
1821, and for six years was with Alexander McConnel
in the tannery. In 1828 he married Miss
Jemima Taylor and soon after engaged in the
grocery business on the site now occupied by C.
Burkholter. He was successful in trade and in
addition to his store he
“ kept tavern.” In 1837 he removed to Malta, when
he engaged in the dry
goods trade. He remained in Malta, however, but
about eighteen months,
when he removed his stock to the building where he had
kept tavern. He extended his business largely and
in connection with his hotel and store ran
a livery stable, carrying on a successful business until
1840, when he met with serious financial reverses.
He died in

Obadiah Brokaw
Page 399 -
1843. In 1840 he united with the Baptist church
and became one of the exemplary members of that
denomination. James E. Nott, a son, learned
the printing business and in company with Messrs.
Layman and Latton published the Marietta
Republican. He was afterward a foreman on the
Pittsburgh Gazette. He died May 7, 1856.
Reuben H.
Nott, born in 1812, learned carpentery, came
to McConnelsville and worked at his trade. About
1850 he removed to Marion, Iowa, where he still lives.
His oldest son,
B. H. Nott, is a prominent business man of Marion,
Iowa, and his second son,
Julius, a dentist of the same place.
Crayton B.
Nott learned tailoring and carried on that
business in McConnelsville. He was a sergeant in
the 17th O. V. I. His leg was broken by a fall
while in the service, and he died in the hospital at
Crab Orchard, Ky.
The
Taylor family were early
pioneers of Windsor Township. Thomas Taylor
and his wife, nee Elizabeth Parks,
and four children settled in this township in 1802.
They remained, however, but a short time when they went
to Jefferson County, where Mrs. Taylor died in
1813. Six years later, 1819, Mr. Taylor
returned to Morgan County with his family of ten
children and entered the farm in Bloom Township, where
he died in 1832, highly esteemed by all who knew him.
Like many of the pioneers he was a great hunter and a
man of unquestioned courage. On one occasion he
was called to the house of a neighbor, and being in a
hurry, neglected to take either his hunting knife or
rifle. On his way through the woods his path was
crossed by a half grown bear, which he attempted to
capture with no weapon but a club. The bear having
the most endurance, he was not successful. On
another occasion he heard in a thicket of bushes what he
supposed was a fox or a coon. Thinking to frighten
the animal, he sprung into the thicket from off a fallen
log, when to his great surprise a huge panther sprung
out before him with an unearthly yell. Afterward,
in relating the incident, he said: “It would have been
difficult to have told which was scared the worse, I or
the panther.”
Mr. Taylor was twice married. The
children of the first marriage were John, Jane,
David, Mary, Keziah, Ann, Elizabeth, Sarah, Jemima
and Ruth. David was born in 1797 in
Pennsylvania. He married Miss Phebe Creightraf
and reared a family of children, — Thomas, Mary
A., John, George, Jemima, Brice, Lizzie and
William. The latter was born in Bloom
Township, May 24, 1843, and was elected sheriff of the
county in 1884. He administered the duties of the
office with eminent success and to the entire
satisfaction of the people generally.
At a
wolf hunt in 1822 a young man named
Joel Sherman
was accidentally shot near the head waters of Mill Run.
The hunters became demoralized through the free use of
whisky, and neglected to act upon any concerted plan.
Several of them, seeing a deer in a hollow, began firing
at it. Levi Davis and P. J.
Patterson, who were of the party, thinking
themselves in the way of the bullets, hid under a log.
The firing ceased, when Sherman was discovered to
hare been shot through the body, he was taken to the
house of John Henery, where he died after
suffering for several days.
James Patton, who
was one of the inmates of t lie Big Bottom block-house
Page 400 -
and was captured at the time of the massacre, afterward
returned to the scene of the old settlers’ destruction,
and spent a winter at the home of William
Patterson. During his four years of Indian
life he had become so accustomed to a hunter’s bed and a
hunter’s accommodations, that he could not be induced to
sleep on a bed, but stretched himself on a blanket in
front of the fire. He described the blockhouse as
having been built of green beech and sugar maple logs.
He died at Belpre.
David
Emerson lived early on the Samuel Buck
place. He afterward sold out and moved further up
the river. Asa Emerson lived above
Hooksburg in a double log house built of buckeye.
There was a large orchard on the place. He sold
this place and moved to the Chute, where he built a
brick house. He went to Illinois.
Among
the prominent early families was that of
Phineas C.
Keyes, who lived where Mr. Outcalt
now lives, where he owned a tannery. His children
were Harriet, Martha, Juliet,
Emily, Mary, George, Edward and
Hiram. Edwin was captain of Company
B, 116th O. V. I., and was killed at the battle of
Winchester. The children were well educated, and the
family was most highly esteemed. Juliet (Mrs.
Barker) is the only one of the family now
remaining in the county.
Rev. N. B. Henery recalls the time when salt was $2 per
bushel, and a day’s wages was but 25 cents. He
paid his first tax, on sixty acres of land, with 33
cents. In those days a deer-skin was worth 37½
cents, and would purchase a quarter of a pound of
powder. Whisky was 37½
cents per gallon, and enough of it was manufactured to
supply the local demand, several prominent farmers
operating distilleries. A bushel of wheat would
purchase a gallon of whisky.
A few of the
early settlers raised cotton, which they used with linen
to manufacture homemade garments. Calico was then
considered as fine and as stylish as silk is to-day.
The girls went barefooted on their trips to town,
putting on their shoes as they neared their destination.
Economy had to be practiced in the matter of wearing
apparel. Frequently one bonnet was made to do duty
for several girls, each taking her turn in wearing it.
William
Davis once cut the trees off three acres of ground
for a pair of coarse shoes. Shoemaker
Morgueridge, who lived where the infirmary now is,
made them.
John and
Ridgeway Craft and Elisha Hand lived on the
river as early as 1817. They were noted fishermen
and every nook of the river from their home to
Zanesville was familiar to them. They carried on
quite a business, marketing their fish in Zanesville,
where they exchanged them for salt, which they sold to
the settlers.
Judge
Gaylord thus wrote concerning there noted fishermen:
"In early days
the most of the fish were taken on the trot line.
Our early and most successful fishermen upon the
Muskingum and in this neighborhood, were Hand and Craft.
They fished together and seemed always to be in good
luck, catching fish in great numbers and where others
would fail. They would catch in a night a half
barrel or more upon their lines. They fished
altogether with the hook and spear. They resided
upon the river in Windsor Township, and emigrated hence
to the

A. J. Donovan
Page 401 -
West some years ago, as their occupation was gone when
the waters of the clear and beautiful Muskingum became
muddy and obstructed by dams, and violently disturbed by
the paddles of the steamers. To the early settler,
on the borders of our river, and even upon creeks, the
fish taken furnished no small part of their animal food,
especially in the spring and fall seasons. In the
spring the fish were taken on hooks; but in the fall,
after frost, when the water was low and clear, they were
taken by torchlight with the spear or three-pronged gig.
The mode of taking fish with the gig was thus: A large
torch made from light wood splinters, was held up in the
bow of the canoe, our only small craft in use in the
early days, to attract the attention of the fish and
give light to the spearsman. The canoe was guided
by a man in the stern, giving it motion and direction
with a paddle. A skillful spearsman, all things in
working order, would often load a canoe during an
evening’s excursion. The light of the torch
attracts the fish, and they seem to be amazed and will
seldom try to escape, while by day-light scarcely a fish
can be taken by this mode.”
Frederick
Eveland settled where Stockport now is in 1811.
He occupied a double log cabin, in one room of which he
kept saloon, while his wife, a religious woman, lived
and frequently had religious meetings in another room.
Neither meddled with the affairs of the other, and they
lived harmoniously together. Frederick’s
sons, Nathaniel, David, Moses and
John and several daughters, were also residents
of the township. Nathaniel Lucas, a
blacksmith by trade, settled in the same neighborhood in
1811.
Barnabas Sutliff was
among the earliest settlers. His wife was a sister
of Simeon Evans. Barney was a
stonemason, a maker of wooden plows and of fanning mills
of a primitive sort. The latter were constructed
of hoop-stuff and deer skin. Sutliff and
his wife died at Robert Henery’s.
Their sons were Abel and Carney, and their
daughters, Temperance (Van Clief),
Julia (Dearborn), Tacy (Henery),
Sarah (Newton), Sabra (Newton),
Hannah (Sidwell) and Matilda (Henery).
Gilbert Olds, who served
in the war of 1812, settled in the southern part of the
township prior to that war. Dr. Ephraim
Wright, one of the first members of the Baptist
Church, was an early settler on the river. He was
called Doctor, but never practiced medicine.
Evan McVeigh settled about
1817 on the farm where Orsemus McVeigh now
resides. David Sells lived opposite
the Big Bottom school house early. He was a
soldier of 1812. Peter Eddleblute
settled early in the vicinity of Roxbury.
The most common name in the
township is that of Henry, or Henery, as
it is written by some members of the family. The
Henerys are the descendants of Samuel
Henery, who came to Ohio
from Montville, Lincoln county, Maine, in 1814.
With his family he arrived in Jackson Township, now in
Noble County, on the 20th of September in that year.
They came by wagon to Brownsville, Pa., and there the
family embarked upon a barge for Pittsburgh, Mr.
Henery proceeding to that place by land. At
Pittsburgh he sold his horses, and the whole family then
proceeded by boat to the mouth of Duck creek. In
December of the same year Mr. Henery moved
the family to the farm (still in the Henery name)
on
Page 402 -
which the brick church now is. Here he had
purchased 160 acres of land from a man named Leavitt
who had made some improvement upon the place. They
brought a family of seven children, and three were
afterward born to them. Robert, the eldest,
is still living in McConnelsville. John
married Lillis McGonigle, whose parents came from
Vermont and settled near Lowell in 1812. She was
born in 1800, and is still living on the farm, where she
has resided since her marriage. The other members
of this family were Jane, Nathan B. (still
living), Samuel, Rhoda, Nancy (McKibben)
(still living), David (still living), and
Charles. The latter died in New Orleans of
cholera. All the other deceased members of the
family ended their days in Morgan County.
At the time the Henerys settled on the river
(1811), their nearest neighbor down the river was two
miles distant. Nathaniel Eveland and
William Hughes lived together on the farm now
belonging to Robert Henery 2d.
Hughes was a great bear hunter, and he and his
large black dogs were familiar figures in the woods for
miles around. Going toward McConnelsville after
leaving Nathan Dearborn’s, there was no
place improved until the farm of Timothy Gates,
near McConnelsville, was reached. The east side of
the river was the earliest route of travel. The
Harmar and Lancaster road, on the West. side of the
river, was the first surveyed road.
William
Patterson settled in this township in the fall of
1819. He came from New Hampshire to Marietta when
ten years of age, and his father died of small-pox at
that place. He was married near Lowell to Mary
Harward, a native of Pennsylvania. He first
moved into an empty cabin on the farm opposite Windsor,
and thence moved to his cabin on the hill, which he
finished and provided with a chimney after settling his
family inside. His children were Jane H., Polly
C., Philetus J., Peggy, Louisiana and George H.,
of whom Philetus J. is the only survivor.
Wm. Patterson died May 11, 1846, aged
sixty-six, and his widow June 9, 1862, in her
seventy-ninth year.
P. J.
Patterson was born in Adams Township, Washington
County, Ohio, June 2, 1809, and has resided in Windsor
Township, Morgan County, since 1819. He was
married in 1832 to Phebe M. Godfrey, a native of
Maine, who is still living. Their children are
Jesse W., Abigail M., Benjamin G. (deceased),
Mary J., Henry G.. Samuel P., Nancy J., and Lucy
A. All four of the sons were in the service in
the late war, and Benjamin G. starved in a rebel
prison, dying at Danville, Va., Feb. 18, 1865, after
about three years’ service. He was in Company B,
116th regiment, a volunteer and a private. Mr.
and Mrs. Patterson are members of the Baptist
church.
George H.
Patterson was born in Adams Township, Washington
County, in 1818, and came with his parents to Morgan
County in 1819. In 1812 he married Nancy J.
Berkley, daughter of Rev. Reuben Berkley,
pastor of the Baptist church. By this marriage he
had three children, William B., Thomas C., and
Elizabeth A. (deceased). Mrs.
Patterson died in 1854, and in 1855 Mr.
Patterson married Ann M. Murray, who died
Feb. 29, 1876, having borne two children—Martha M.
and Mary A. —both now deceased.
George H. Patterson died Feb. 28, 1879. He served
Page 403 -
in several township offices, was an Odd Fellow, and a
good citizen.
William B.
Patterson, son of George H. Patterson, was
horn Jan. 6, 1843, and now resides on the homestead.
In 1868 Mr. Patterson married Ellen M. Andrews.
They have two children — Dora A. and Clarence
D. Oct. 4, 1861, Mr. Patterson
enlisted in Company B, 62d O. V. I.; went into the
service under General Lander, in West
Virginia; served in the department of the Shenandoah,
Major General Banks commanding;
department of the Rappahannock, Major General
McDowell; Fourth Army Corps, Major
General Keyes; Seventh Army Corps, Major
General Dix; Army of the Potomac, General
McClellan; Eighteenth Army Corps, Major
General Foster; department of North Carolina;
Tenth Army Corps, General David Hunter;
Twenty-fourth Army Corps, Major General John
Gibbon. He was in the battles of
Winchester, Fort Wagner (where he was wounded), Deep
Bottom, Petersburg, Appomattox, and others.
Reenlisted as a veteran; mustered out at Columbus, O.,
in December, 1865. From the close of the war to
1881, Mr. Patterson was engaged as a
traveling agent of eastern publishing houses. He
is now farming.
Thomas C.
Patterson was born in Windsor Township on the farm
now owned by W. B. Patterson, June 30, 1851.
Married to Mary A. Hindman Dec. 21, 1876.
Children by this marriage: Oma Bell, Virgie
Lee, Alfa Isora, and Don Carlos.
Timothy Blackmer
father of Jesse, located early where his grandson
Timothy now lives. His son Henry was
drowned in early years while crossing the river in a
canoe at Luke Chute. This occurred in the fall;
his remains were not recovered until the next spring.
Ephraim
Ellis was an early settler who came from Vermont.
He lived on Big Bottom. His sons were Levi,
Comer, Alfred, Isaac, Moses,
Thomas J., John and Joel. There were
three girls in the family. Levi, Comer,
Isaac, Moses and Alfred settled and
died in this county.
Adelphi
Webster was an early settler, a school teacher, and
a justice of the peace. He was the first justice
in the township, and entered upon the duties of that
office May 18, 1819.
John S.
Abbott was born Aug. 12, 1783, in the state of
Delaware, and married Elizabeth Morey in 1807.
She was born at Kinderhook, state of New York, June 20,
1784. They had ten children— Eliza,
Sarah, Henry, Henrietta, Rachel,
Silas M., Mary Ann, John S., Richard and
Jesse. All lived to man and womanhood.
He emigrated to Ohio from New York in 1817, and settled
in Wesley Township, Washington County, and followed
farming until 1846, when he moved to Stockport, Morgan
County, where he died July 26, 1867, aged nearly 84
years. His wife died at Stockport Mar. 3, 1858,
aged 73 years.
About 1816 Andrew
Hosom settled on Meigs Creek in Bristol Township.
He came from Kennebec County, Maine. About 1830 he
removed to Windsor Township, where he died Dec. 6, 1868
in the 90th year of his age. Those of his children
who lived to mature years were Lydia (dead),
Martha, Grundy County, Missouri; Sarah, wife
of N. B. Henry, born Jan. 4, 1809; Oliver
Perry (dead); Andrew J., in Missouri;
Elbridge, Noble County
Page 404 -
Lydia (Harper), Manchester Township; Benjamin
A., Athens County.
About the year
1820 Jesse Scott and family came from
Thomas
Mummey
Lewis D.
Sheets, a native of Indiana, married Ann
Mummey in 1855. Their children—John T., Eva
J., Elmer E., Azelia E., Elfrida P., and Clara A.—are
all living. Mr. Sheets died in April, 1872,
in the 36th year of his age.
Jesse
Blackmer was born in Washington County in 1809 and
lived in that county until 1823. Then with his
parents he came to the farm on the Muskingum now
occupied by his son Timothy. In 1832 Mr.
Blackmer married Louisiana Olney
and remained on the farm with his parents until their
deaths. Three children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. Blackmer—Mary (Whitney), died in 1878,
Henry and Timothy. His wife died in
1875, and in 1880 Mr. Blackmer went to
Missouri and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He
is a stockholder in the National Bank of Grant City,
Page 405 -
Mo., and is interested in the business of loaning money.
Mr. Blackmer held some local offices in
Morgan County and was a member of the Masonic Lodge at
Stockport.
Henry Blackmer, son of
Jesse, married Sarah Wilson, of
Bristol Township, in 1864, and is the father of five
children—William, Jesse, Mary, Fannie and
Lillie. He is one of the most prominent
farmers of the county. Timothy Blackmer,
who lives on the old homestead, is also a most
successful farmer. He married Thirsia
Pugh in 1879, and is the father of Annie,
Lucy and Frank.
John McCoy
Thomas
Dougherty was born in Homer Township in 1834,
and remained with his parents until 1855. He was
then married to Mary J. Ralston, of this county.
They have six children living, George C., James A.,
Monima N., Perley B., William B. and Alice M. Monima N.
is the wife of J. R. Keadle, of this township. George
C. married Lydia Lillis. James A.
married Nancy A. Moody. Perley B.
married Amanda E. Geddes. All live in this
county.
Alexander
Wallace
Barrack Yarnell
Page 406 -
Newburn. The Yarnells are prominent and
progressive farmers.
Stephen
Milner
Elder
William Davis, Samuel M. Dyke, William Patterson, H. P.
Dearborn, Timothy Eastman and others were early
teachers. An early teacher who was well known, not
only in the county, but in other localities, was Rial
Cheadle. He was a noted character in the
days of the underground railroad, and was instrumental
in assisting many a poor negro to Canada and freedom.
He was a peripatetic rhymster and
Page 407 -
Page 408 -
John P.
Sells
James McGlashan
In
contrasting the present with the past, Mr. A. J.
Donovan says that in 1833 he sold wheat in
Zanesville which netted him, after paying for handling,
thirty cents per bushel. In 1850 he sold wheat in
McConnelsville for two dollars per bushel. In 1841
he bought a cow for six dollars, and in 1879 sold two at
one hundred dollars each. He sold one crop of wool
at twenty-five cents per pound, and one at one dollar
and ten cents per pound. His first tax in Morgan
County was twenty-five cents, from that infinitesimal
sum the amount steadily increased until he paid three
hundred dollars.
Joseph W. Hambleton and family
came from Lancaster County, Pa., in 1 831, and settled
on Goshen Run, near Elliott’s Cross Roads. At this
time there were but one or two settlers between these
localities and the river. Mr. Hambleton,
like most of the early settlers, was in quite limited
circumstances, and was obliged to undergo many
privations and hardships. B. F. Hambleton,
a son, was born in Lancaster, Pa., in 1821. He
learned the trade of a blacksmith, which vocation he
followed for some years. He died in 1867; his wife
in 1882. Charles E. Hambleton was a member
of Co. E, 193d, O. V. I.
Seth Andrews was one of
the pioneers of Centre Township. The date of his
immigration is not known, but it was probably as early
as 1809. In 1811 his son Philander, with
his wife, Anna (Anders), settled in the
township. The former was born in 1772, and died in

J. J. Montgomery
Page 409 -
1847. The latter was two years the senior of her
husband, and died in 1824. Philander was a
tanner by trade and for some time after his immigration
to Morgan County canned on the business, but, owing to
the fact that much of his stock was stolen before lie
could dispose of it, he engaged in farming. Both
he and his wife were typical pioneers. Mrs.
Andrews spun and wove all the cloth used by the
family, and instructed
her daughters in the same art. One of them, Mrs.
Pedee Evans, resides in
Windsor Township. She was born in the state of New
York in 1811, and married William T. Evans, in
1838. A twin sister of Mrs. Evans, Mrs. Amy
Swift, resides in Washington County. Of the
family of Mrs. Pedee Evans, five of the seven are
living.
Brooke County, West Va.,
furnished a number of prominent early settlers of the
township. Among them were Thomas and Esther (Connel)
Gatewood, who settled upon an unimproved farm in the
autumn of 1835, which they improved and on which they
resided till the time of their deaths. He died
Sept. 15, 1875. She died Oct. 30, 1882. They
reared a family of eleven children, four of whom now
reside in the township. The elder Gatewood
was for many years a magistrate, and at a time when the
office was invested with an importance that does not now
attach to it. For years he arbitrated the
difficulties of his neighbors very successfully.
His wife was a lady of rare native intelligence and keen
perception, and a fine type of the pioneer housewife.
Her tomb bears the simple inscription, “Proud as an
eagle, pure as snow.” James, the eldest
son, went on Sherman’s march to the sea, and
sleeps at Beaufort, South Carolina.
James McHugh came from
County Tyrone, Ireland, 1848. With native
shrewdness, tact and industry he has succeeded well in
his chosen vocation, farming, and now owns one of the
best farms in the township.
James and
Mary Black emigrated from Pennsylvania in 1817 and
settled in Muskingum County, where they resided until
1835, when they removed to Bloom Township, Morgan
County. He died
in 1846, his wife in 1866. In company with his
son, John Black, he was engaged in
salt-making from 1835 to 1839, at which time John
was apprenticed to a blacksmith. Apr. 9, 1845, he
married Sarah A. Hutchins and moved to Windsor
Township in 1862. John Thomas Black,
son of John, and grandson of James, was
born in Jefferson Township, Noble County, Feb. 14, 1860.
He resides in Windsor and is by profession a school
teacher.
Jacob Smith and wife were among the early settlers of the
county. They came from Belmont County, Ohio, in
1839, and first located in Union Township; thence they
afterward removed to
Bloom, where they died, the father in 1855, his wife in
1880. They reared a large family of children, only
three of whom are living—Elwood, Mary E. (Linscott),
and James. The latter was born in 1841,
was a member of Co. I, 1st Heavy Artillery and served
twenty-seven months. After his return he followed
the river for four years. In 1871 he came to
Stockport and engaged in the grocery business; was
married in 1869 to Miss Maggie Shellhamer, of
Malta. His family consists of four children, Laura,
Carrie, Flora and William G; is a member of the
Masonic fraternity and one of the substantial citizens
of the place.
Page 410 -
Jackson Geddes was born in Harrison County, Ohio,
in 1829, and came to Windsor with his father’s family in
1837. They located about a mile north of the
village of Stockport. In 1841 the elder Geddes
removed to the farm where he now resides. In the
early days he followed shoemaking, and when not engaged
in making or repairing shoes devoted his time to the
improvement of his farm. Jackson Geddes
has served the township in several capacities. In
1869 he was township trustee, and for two terms was
member of the council of Stockport. He was a
member
of Co. E, 184th Regiment, O. V. I. Sept. 23, 1853, he
was married to Miss Minerva Wilson, who
was born in Washington County, Ohio. There have
been born to them seven children, five girls and two
boys.
James H. Boomhall came from Belmont County, Ohio, to
this township in 1841, and for some time was employed as
a clerk by John P. Wood, merchant, at Stockport.
He was twice married—first to Charlotte Geddes,
of Windsor Township (born Apr. 14, 1824, died May 15,
1852), by whom he had two children— George C.,
now of Parkersburg, W. Va., and Elizabeth (Eisenbise),
of Columbus, O. His second wife was Miss Lucy
Baker, of Roxbury, and their children were
Charles W. and Willard H. Mr. Boomhall
died Nov. 28, 1879, after a career of more than forty
years in the mercantile and shipping business. His
son, Charles W., now the popular landlord of the
village hotel, was married in 1883 to Miss Hattie A.
Gibson, and they have
one child.
A. Walker was born in Belmont County, and came to
Morgan County in 1852. He was a member of Co. F,
77th O. V. I.; taken prisoner at Marks’ Mills, Ark., and
was confined in a rebel prison for ten months; was then
exchanged and received a furlough for two months.
He then rejoined his regiment, was promoted to corporal
and was mustered out of the service Apr. 26, 1866.
STOCKPORT.
The village of Stockport, or Windsor as it is commonly
called, is one of the most important shipping and
trading points on the Muskingum River between Zanesville
and Marietta. Its origin was coeval with the
beginning of the river improvement, and from the first
it has been the marketing place and base of supplies for
an extensive territory of excellent farming country.
Although the village has but a small population (about
350 at present), there is business enterprise, activity
and public spirit among its citizens worthy of
commendation.
Nathan Sidwell laid out the town on his
own land in 1834. The original plat was very
small, extending only from the river back to Washington
street, and embracing only one row of blocks on each
side of Main street. Four additions have since
been made to the town.
The first business enterprise at Stockport was the store
of the Beswicks. Samuel, William
and George Beswick in partnership opened
the first mercantile establishment in the place in 1838,
in the building now occupied for the same purpose by
T. B. Lane. A postoffice (Stockport) was soon
after established with Samuel Beswick
postmaster.
John P. Wood, another early merchant, who also
bought and packed tobacco, carried on a good business
for several years. His store was in the
Page 411 -
building now occupied by T. B. Lane as a
dwelling.
John E. Thomas had a store in connection with his
mill. Afterward Jesse and John Thomas
succeeded to the same business. Other merchants
were George Rice, Arthur Taggart,
Thomas and Jacob Rogers, James Gormley,
Smith & Lane and many others.
Among the earliest residents of the village were
David Eveland and his sons; John Geddes,
plowmaker; Wells White, Robert Todd,
Moses Eveland, Daniel Norton, George W.
Sanborn; Adorus Goering, tailor; James
Lemon, blacksmith.
The first mill at Stockport was built about 1842 by
Samuel and William Beswick. It
was operated only a few years before it was burned.
The present mill was built by William McCaslin in
1849. Before the mill was wholly completed,
McCaslin sold out to Seaman & Thomas.
Arthur Taggart bought it from John E.
Thomas, in the spring of 1854, and owned it until
his death. From 1865 to 1870 the mill was owned by
Pierrot & Glenn. It next passed into
the hands of Pierrot & Lane, which is the
present style of the firm. The chief business
interests of Stockport were as follows in 1886:
John McDermott, O. J. Gibson, general
merchandise; T. B. Lane, clothing, gents’
furnishing, etc.; James Smith, groceries; Dr.
W. E. Gatewood, drugs; John Hooper,
hardware; John P. Wootton, books, etc.; J. C.
Webster, bakery; Pierrot & Lane,
flouring-mill; J. D. Thomas, James Smith,
shipping warehouses; Charles W. Broomhall, hotel;
James Gormley, postmaster; Drs. Abbott,
Gatewood and McSwords, physicians.
LODGES.
Masonic -
Odd Fellows
-
Page 412 -
RELIGIOUS
Windsor
Baptist Church. -
Fairview
Disciples Church -
The Oakland
M. E. Church. -

Justus Chadwick
Page 413
Stockport Presbyterian Church -
Tabor
Christian Church -
Mt. Olivet
M. P. Church -
BIOGRAPHICAL
ROBERT HENERY, SR.
Page 415 -
REV. NATHAN B. HENERY
Page 416 -
DAVID A. HENERY.
Page 417 -
CAPT. ISAAC N. HOOK
Page 418 -
JOHN BUCK
Page 419 - 421 -
EUGENE PIEROT
Page 422 -
ARTHUR TAGGART
JOHN M'DERMOTT
Page 423 -
CAPTAIN CHARLES J. GIBSON
Page 424 -
JOAB J. MONTGOMERY
Page 425 -
OBADIAN BROKAW
Page 426 -
JESSE D. LANE
Page 427 -
THOMAS B. LANE
Page 428 -
JUSTUS CHADWICK
ANDREW J. DONOVAN
<
CLICK
HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS > |