Interesting Interview with Mrs. Nancy Frost, Aged Ninety-Eight

The Weekly Leader, April 3, 1883

As the time for the celebration of the first settlement of Ohio draws near, every scrap of information which sheds light upon the history and experience of the early settlers, who came here in 1788, and the few years following the landing of the Western "Mayflower," acquires fresh importance.  We cannot learn too much of the pioneers.  All of those early settlers and their families who came here in 1790, in the infancy of the settlement, have perished save one.  The only person living who came to Marietta prior to 1790, is we believe, Mrs. Nancy Frost.  Mrs. Frost is the eldest daughter of Robert Allison, who came to Marietta from Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1789, about eighteen months after the advent of the first settlers.

A reporter from the Leader office visited Mrs. Frost last Friday, to listen to such recollections and reminiscences of her youth as she might choose to relate.  She is the grandmother of Messrs. Miles and O. A. Stacy and lives with the latter gentleman, at his home a short distance below Lowell.

Mrs. Frost was born October 22nd, 1784, and has completed nearly half of her ninety-ninth year.  She is an intelligent old lady and talks with ease of the experiences of her childhood and is possessed of a singularly faithful memory.  From the number of details and minor incidents she recalls, and the generally strict sequence of dates she observes, one is impressed with the fact that for a child she was an unusually close observer, and that her mind was "Wax to receive and marble to retain."  Mrs. Frost has enjoyed excellent health till the time of the recent flood when she was seized with pneumonia of so acute a nature that she barely managed to survive the attack.  She attributes her recovery to a scrupulous abstinence from medicine.  She has taken no drugs for thirty years and is firmly resolved never to resume the practice, neither can she be persuaded to take a drop of spiritous liquor, even as a medicine.  She is tolerably active, attends to all of her own wants and would assume household duties if she were permitted to do so by her friends.  She takes short walks in the open air each day, and believes exercise better than medicine.  She has always been in the habit of retiring and rising with the sun.  To her excellent habits and her knowledge of the value of diet and exercise may be ascribed her long life, health, and the excellent state of her mind.  On her ninety-eighth birthday Mrs. Frost weighed one hundred pounds.  The old lady has some difficulty in hearing strange voices, and we conversed with her through Mrs. Stacy, who kindly acted as interlocutor.

She was in her 6th year when she came to Marietta with her father's family.  They came in a boat with a Mr. Hewitt, and in addition to their household supplies brought a cow.  Upon reaching Marietta they were given quarters in one of the block houses, which she describes as being "picketed in" as in distinction from the garrisons at "the Point" whose quarters were not surrounded by an enclosure.  She lived in the block-house till she left Marietta, which was either in 1794 or 1797, when her family moved up the Muskingum river, near the present town of Lowell.

Indians

Speaking of Indians, Mrs. Frost said that her earliest and most vivid recollection of them was associated with an alarm given to the garrison that the Indians were about to make an attack.  Gates were hurriedly closed and fastened, weapons grasped, and her mother with the other women set to moulding bullets, and she was told by her mother that upon no account must she allow her younger sister to cry.  Mrs. Frost says she kept the child silent by placing her against the wall and holding her hand firmly over her mouth until the anticipated danger was past.  She spoke of seeing two men who had been killed and scalped by the Indians.  One of them was John Rogers, the post scout, and the other a mulatto boy.  Rogers was killed, she said, near Col. William Putnam's old residence on the river bank.  (Now occupied by John Strecker, Esq.)

Schools

Mrs. Frost had many pleasant reminiscences of her early school life.  "School was kept every day of the week, both summer and winter, except on Saturdays.  On that day we had a holiday, and the little boy would spend the afternoon playing soldier, and fighting mullen stalks.  The girls each Saturday afternoon attended a kind of week day Sabbath school conducted by Mrs. Mary Lake."  Mrs. Lake taught them the creed, the Lord's Prayer and the catechism.  The late Col. William Putnam's father was the first schoolmaster.  Mrs. Frost says that he whipped a boy so mercilessly after he had been in office a few weeks that "The men held a meeting and turned him out."  He was succeeded by Major Anselm Tupper who taught three years, and probably plied the rod more sparingly than his predecessor.  Among her schoolmates she mentions "Gus Stone, Frank Stone and Maria, Susan and Sophie Green whose father kept store."  Sophie Green afterwards married a man named Burnett, and moved to Tennessee.

On Sunday Dr. Story preached regularly.  The minister and Judge Tupper were the only persons licensed to perform the marriage ceremony.  People would come on foot from Waterford and the other settlements to be married and then trudge back to their homes.  Mrs. Frost tells an amusing incident of a couple who were - 

Mated But Not Married

A man from the Belpre settlement came for Dr. Story in great haste one day, and said that he wanted him to come down the river and marry him immediately.  The worthy divine was engaged in the construction of a barge which he was desirous of completing, and replied that his barge would be done in one week and that he could come down in it at that time, and marry the couple.  The would-be groom said that he must be married at once as it was time to plant corn and he could not wait, as he needed the woman's assistance.  Dr. Story told him to go back and plant the corn and he would formally join them on the following week.  The man returned to Belpre and the next week Dr. Story went down, found the couple planting corn in the field; led them to their house and married them.  It cannot be said that the settlers "stood on ceremony" much in those days.

How They Lived

The early settlers were obliged to bring with them supplies of all kinds.  Cloth, ginned cotton, and wool were part of the stores provided by each family.  Soon flax was raised and spun and cloth made by many of the women.

Mrs. Frost spoke particularly of the excellent gardens cultivated in her youth and said that in variety of products, neatness and fruitfulness they surpassed any that she had ever seen.  Corn meal was the staple article of food.  During the first year of their stay in Marietta, Mrs. Frost's family had wheat flour, but after that supply was exhausted they purchased bolted meal from Pittsburgh, and afterwards ground their own corn in hand and horse mills.

No Corner in Corn

One fall owing to an early frost the corn crop was injured and corn became very scarce.  On the Virginia side of the Ohio river there lived an old Mr. Williams "who owned blacks" and had a goodly store of corn which he disposed of to the settlers at the uniform price of fifty cents per bushel, refusing to take advantage of the scarcity of the commodity or the excess of the demand over the supply.  He not only refused to speculate himself, but took measures to prevent others from obtaining more corn than they needed for their own consumption and disposing of the surplus at an advanced price.  Mrs. Frost tells of two men who approached Williams and sought to buy up a hundred bushels of his corn, and were told that they could have three bushels each for their families, but that he would allow no one to speculate in the surplus.  The aspirations for a corner int he grain market were summarily crushed.

Very little coffee was used in those days, and a substitute for it was often made from browned barley.  Tea was the favorite beverage among ladies.  Milk was always plentiful as a number of cows were owned by the settlers and it was quite a common thing to see a yoke of cows preceded by a horse, hauling supplies and timber.

The most expensive commodity was salt.  At times it commanded five dollars a bushel.  It was the alum or rock salt and was all brought from the East.

There was oftentimes a scarcity of change and the Spanish milled dollar was divided into halves and quarters by means of a chisel and hammer to meet the demands for fractional currency.  Continental paper money had almost passed from use then and Mrs. Frost tells of her father having some as a curiosity, merely.

Disease

Mrs. Frost says that small pox raged for a time in the settlement.  She had had the dread disease before she came to Ohio.  It was especially fatal to the older members of the community, few of whom had ever been vaccinated.  The young people generally survived.  Doctors Barnes, True, and McIntosh vaccinated patients and with Mrs. Lake looked after the sick and dying.  Mrs. Frost said repeatedly that there was no regular place of burial at that time.  It was not thought safe to go any considerable distance from the Stockade and therefore interments were made at the nearest and most convenient spot, no matter where that happened to be.  She said that she attended the funeral of General Tupper, and that he was buried somewhere in the vicinity of the "Covered Way."  She relates a touching incident of the death and burial of Squire Wood's eldest child, which was a little girl.  Mrs. Frost, then Nancy Allison, Eliza Ayres, and Maria and Susan Green were chosen by Mrs. Lake, the teacher, to bear the coffin of their little companion to its last resting place.  She says:  "We tied handkerchiefs about the ends of the coffin and carried it to the grave in her father's garden."

An Enterprising Debtor

We endeavored to elicit some information about the early courts, but on that subject the narrator of these reminiscences was not so well informed, as she was a child and laws and their administration are not attractive to most young persons.  She recalls the old jail, of logs, and tells of a man imprisoned for debt, who supported his family while serving out his term of confinement by shearing his neighbors' sheep, which they kindly drove to him for that purpose.

Mrs. Frost recalls Generals St. Clair, Putnam, Tupper, and all of the prominent men of the settlement.  She remembers Mrs. Meigs, Sr., and tells of her taking out her snuff-box in church, rapping it, taking a pinch of snuff, and then passing it to all the other occupants of her pew.  Mrs. Frost frequently saw Blennerhassett chopping wood, and he was impressed upon her mind by the fact that he was very near-sighted, and after striking a few blows, would stop, stoop, and ascertain the progress he had made by gauging the incision with his fingers.  This was before he lived on his island.

Old Celebrations of April 7th

There was no public celebration of the anniversary of the first settlement of the State while Mrs. Frost resided in the block-house at Marietta.  She says they were much too busy and were occupied with more serious matters and would not then spend the time for a holiday, although Independence day was observed.  Some years later the younger members of the various settlements commenced the practice of celebrating the 7th day of April.  They usually had a picnic dinner, engaged in rustic sports, and wound up with a country dance.  From other sources we learned that a serious disturbance once took place on the 7th of April and that weapons were conspicuously flourished and that a riot and bloodshed were with great difficulty averted.  The scene of the outbreak is said to have been in the vicinity of the present Biszants Hotel, opposite the office of the Marietta Leader.

Vagaries

Mrs. Frost's active mind recalled more incidents than one could readily record in an hour.  She had much to say of the trials and annoyances which the pioneers suffered and endured.  She tells simply yet graphically of the stirring scenes of camp life when three companies of St. Clair's soldiers were quartered here before the Indian War.  She recounts how soldiers were served whisky as a part of their rations, and how they were bound to a post in the Stockade and flogged for drunkenness; how the settlers suffered by disease, and floods and famine; how they were molested by wild animals and their livestock killed; how wolves made night hideous by their dismal howlings; how the ugly redskins lurked in the shadow of the forest and shot down unsuspecting farmers; how panthers crouched in trees and waited for their human prey; how the pioneers

Prayed and fasted in the forest -

Not for triumphs in the battle,
And renown among the warriors,
But for profit of the people
For advantage of the nation."

It will be observed that these facts as they have been related to the writer do not coincide, in all particulars, with the late History of Washington County.

 

Prisoners Saw Way Out of City Jail

The Marietta Register, July 31, 1924

Four Men Arrested For Stealing Cable Are Now At Liberty.

Police Believe Outsiders Aided.

Sawing the bars on the east window of the city jail four prisoners made their escape at an early hour this morning and are still at large.  The delivery was discovered by Chief of Police R. G. Putnam when he came on duty shortly after seven.

The men, Henry "Spawn" Rollison, Sherman and Watson Goddard and Ben Lisk, all of this city, were arrested at 5 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, by Chief Putnam, on a charge of stealing a piece of drilling cable, valued at $15 from the Pearl Daley lease on the Mendenhall farm, near Eight Mile.

They were taken to the city hall and locked in the men's department of the jail.  The prisoners evidently planned their escape a few hours later and started to work on the walls and ceiling seeking to effect an opening.

The sheet metal ceiling was torn loose in several places and one hole was dug in the brick wall above the cells.  Failing to get through police believe confederates came to the prisoners' aid with a steel saw which was passed in the window.

Working on the middle bar which had been repaired with rivets several months ago following a jail break, the prisoners soon got their way to liberty.  Bending back the heavy wire screen which covered the window casing on the outside the men crawled over the top and dropped into the firemen's volley ball court between the city building and the old Baptist church.

The Morgan Raid

The Marietta Register, May 5, 1898

The writer of this article has been requested to prepare an account of the part taken by Marietta in the defeat of John Morgan's command at Buffington Island, July 19th 1863.

In complying with this request I shall not attempt to say anything new on the subject, but will simply revert to an account of the Morgan Raid written by me in preparing the Military History of Washington county, a few years ago.  I had the official records before me at that time, together with contemporary accounts which were perfectly reliable, and any deviation from them would not be conducive to the truth of history.  Before saying anything about the famous raid, it will no doubt interest your readers to know how the Military History of Washington county came to be written and why it was that the undersigned came to do it.

The Military Committee

During the four years of war, all the military affairs of the county were managed by a military committee, composed of Col. William R. Putnam, John Newton, George W. Barker and S. F. Cook.

Their duties were arduous and perplexing.  The quota of the county under the different calls for men had to be filled, money had to be raised, and numerous other tasks entailed by the exigencies of the war were discharged with credit to themselves and to the county.  When the war was over they found they had some money on hand which they resolved should be used in preparing and publishing a history of the part taken by this county in the war and to perpetrate the memory of brave men, numbering over 4,000, who entered the army from this county.  Charles F. Perry and Lake Monett, who had just graduated from the College in June 1865, were employed to make a house to house canvass for the names of all soldiers, including their services and numerous other items relating to their careers.  Mr. Perry had all the county west of the Muskingum and Mr. Monett all east.  In addition to this the officers from the county were invited to prepare papers relating to their services in the war.  Pictures of the soldiers, so far as possible, were also collected for a "picture gallery."  Mr. Perry and Mr. Monett did their work well.

The Roll of Honor

The lists of each township were taken separately and all were finally turned over to the Military Committee.  Some townships were alphabetically arranged and some not.  Nothing further, however, was done by this committee towards a military history until 1881, sixteen years later.  At that time Col. William R. Putnam and John Newton were the only members of the committee still remaining in Marietta.  In 1878 I had been elected secretary of the Washington County Soldiers' Monument Association, Hon. R. E. Harte being the President.  The monument had long before that been completed and one would suppose that such an association was no longer needed, but it bore on its base this inscription, "The names of the Fallen will be found at the Recorder's Office."  That promise had to be made good; so I was selected to do the work.  

I remember Mr. Harte and I went and called on Col. Putnam.  We had no definite idea as to what he had or how we were to get the names of all those brave boys who staked their lives for the preservation of the Union, but we presumed that a member of the Military Committee ought certainly to be able to start us on the right track.  After stating the object of our visit, Col. Putnam went into the house (we were sitting on the porch) and brought out one of those old black oilcloth valises.  It was full of papers.  Here was the work of Perry and Monett and numerous other documents.  Most of the names of the soldiers were alphabetically arranged.  A splendid discovery, surely, which would enable us to make a good start towards our list of the fallen.

The next winter the Legislature kindly came to our assistance and passed an act directing the assessors, the next spring, to take the names of all deceased soldiers, and when these came in they were added to our lists and we had a record made of the whole roll of the "Fallen" at the County Recorder's office.  While the number of names thus compiled did not justify a large volume, we took good care that it should be as large as any of the books in the office, so that it would not get lost or mislaid and will remain as a monument to the patriotism of the county to the end of time, unless the old Court House should take fire and burn down.

The County History of 1881

So it happened when the question of the county history was being agitated, that those interested in having a military history of the county properly presented saw that the time for action had arrived.  They realized that if the work was left to strangers who were getting up the history it might be slighted and passed over in the easiest way possible.  Col. Putnam came to my office and explained the original intention of the Military Committee and how no one had taken hold of the work, that it now seemed as if it was now or never and asked me to take the job.  Thus it fell to me to write an account of this important epoch in the county's history.  I did not fully realize the enormity of the task or I should never have consented to take it.  I immediately "cleared the ship for action," to use a naval term, and turned my parlor into a library.  The piano was covered with dusty tomes in no time, bound volumes of the county papers covering the period of the war; the archives of the military committee, so carefully preserved by Col. Putnam; Frank Moore's Rebellion record of 16 volumes, containing contemporary accounts written from day to day as the war progressed; muster rolls of companies; regimental histories and numerous other impediments incident to a historian were strewn around.

In order to make the roll of honor as complete as possible while preparing it for the printer, I had two clerks at work on it six weeks, and the results of that labor you will find in the county history.  So you see, the preparation of the military history of Washington county was not slighted, nor was it done in any hap-hazard way, nor was any phase of the county's work in this supreme struggle for the preservation of the Union neglected.  

It seems hardly necessary for me to say that the compensation received, $150, i.e., $100 from the Military Committee and $50 from Williams & Co., publishers, was entirely inadequate.  It was a labor of love and the only regret I have is that Col. Putnam, whose approval I most coveted, died before the history was completed.  It was also disappointing to find when the book came out that the publishers had slashed the roll of honor right in two, leaving nothing but the names of soldiers, the organizations to which they belonged and date of enlistment and discharge.  All the other data collected by the Military Committee and myself at so much trouble and expense was left out.  This military history, together with the roll of honor as intended by the Military Committee, should be rescued and published in book form.  Only then will full honor and justice be done the men who staked their all to save the country during the perilous years of 1861-5.

The Morgan Raid

There were four main places of rendezvous for troops in Ohio during the war, Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati; Camp Chase, near Columbus; another near Cleveland, and Camp Putnam, at Marietta, under command of Col. Putnam.  Morgan's men had entered Ohio on July 12th, 1863, and the same day Governor Tod issued a proclamation calling out all the militia of the southern and southeastern counties of the State.  All the companies of Washington, Noble, Monroe, Meigs, Morgan, Perry, Hocking and Athens were ordered to report forthwith to Col. William R. Putnam at Marietta.

At this date there were 175 six months men in camp, including Co. A. 128th Ohio Infantry.  On July 14th, Gov. Tod telegraphed Col. Putnam that Morgan had crossed the Little Miami and was probably making for some ford near Marietta.  Col. Putnam at once began to act, first to prevent Morgan from crossing the Ohio; second to keep him west of the Muskingum, and third to shut his forces between the Ohio river and the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad (Now B. & O. S. W.).  He therefore set about guarding the fords as the first part of the program.  At this time Capt. D. L. Wood, of the 18th U. S. Infantry, was stationed at Marietta and he was placed in command of the expedition.  Col. Putnam then issued the following order:

Headquarters Camp Marietta, O.

July 15th, 1863.

Special Order No. 1.

The following companies now at camp are hereby detached under command of Captain D. L. Wood, 18th U.S. Infantry, and will put themselves in readiness to march:

Marietta Artillery Co., Lieut. Nye commanding.

Volunteer Mounted Co., Capt. Bloomfield commanding.

Capt. J. Putnam's Co., Capt. Putnam commanding.

Post Quartermaster Croxton will provide transportation and forage for five (5) days for fifty (50) horses.  Post Commissary R. R. Treat will turn over to Charles Jones (who will act as Quartermaster of the detachment) twelve hundred and fifty (1,250) rations.

Surgeon S. D. Hart will be acting surgeon.

By order of

WILLIAM R. PUTNAM,

Colonel Commanding.

Capt. Wood's instructions were as follows:

You are hereby ordered to assume command of the troops detached by special order No. 1 of this date, and proceed with them to the ford below Parkersburg, where you will make such disposition as you may deem fit and proper to prevent the rebel forces now in the State from crossing at that place.

WILLIAM R. PUTNAM,

Colonel Commanding.

The expedition numbered about three hundred men.  The cannon were two iron pieces that had been used in Marietta and Harmar for firing salutes, and the arms for infantry and cavalry were such as could be hastily gathered in the city and camp.  Capt. Wood reached the foot of Blennerhassett Island on the 17th and began intrenching and informed Col. Putnam by telegraph of the fact.  This brought out that the expedition had stopped short of its destination and the following order was issued the same day:

Additional Order.

The shoal at the foot of Blennerhassett Island is deemed impracticable on account of quick-sand.  The ford you were to guard is at the foot of Buffington's Island.  You will therefore take your forces to that point.  Use the flats and steamer Logan in conjunction with Captain Wilson in transporting your forces, sending baggage overland if necessary.  Delay Captain Wilson as little as possible.

Lieut. Conine will report to you with re-inforcements as soon as they can be armed.

WILLIAM R. PUTNAM,

Colonel Commanding.

Meanwhile, Capt. R. B. Wilson, of Meigs county, with his own company and that of Capt. George G. Woodward, was ordered to proceed to Mason city, W. Va., to prevent Morgan from crossing at that point, and Capt. Henry Best, with his own company and those of Captains Stone, Dana, Pugh, and Rutherford, was ordered to proceed by the steamer Buck to Blennerhassett Island and open up the channel so that the gun-boats could pass, and on the way down remove every boat of every description to the Virginia shore, which order was faithfully carried out.  

Capt. Wilson was the first of Col. Putnam's men to meet the enemy.  Hearing that the Rebels had appeared back of Middleport in Meigs county, he crossed the river in the night of the 17th, and took a position about three miles to the rear of that place where Morgan's men came on to them.  The 23rd Ohio Infantry came up and the two forces immediately attacked the rebels, driving them back, capturing 77 men and officers and 80 horses.

Let us now return to capt. Wood, who arrived with his command at Buffington's Ford, at 7 P.M., of the 17th.  He began at once to throw up an earth work and placed his cannon so as to guard the ford.  He threw out pickets and made such preparations as he could with his limited force to prevent Morgan crossing at that place.  When he arrived at the Buffington Ford he found the steamer Starlight fast aground, loaded with 3,000 barrels of flour.  He at once ordered the steamer unloaded and took possession of her and found men in his command who could fill every position on the boat from engineer to pilot.

The Eve of Battle

This was the situation on the evening of July 18th, the forces from Camp Marietta, reaching down the Ohio as far as Middleport, Buffington's Ford fortified, all the water craft removed to the Virginia shore and Col. Putnam's forces, numbering about 12,000, spread out like a fan between the Ohio and the Muskingum rivers, radiating from Marietta, with trees felled and roads obstructed; and while these men for the most part had no arms, they could all get axes, shovels, and picks and tin cups.  Hence they were called the "tincup militia."

The second in command of Morgan's forces was Basil Duke.  We will now let him give the situation as seen from their side on the evening of the 18th.

Basil Duke, in his "History of Morgan's Cavalry," says:

"July 18th at 3:00 A.M., we moved on.  By this time the militia had turned their attention seriously to felling trees, and impeding our progress in every conceivable way.  Advance guard was forced to carry axes to cut away frequent blockade.  In passing on the 18th, near Pomery, there was one continual fight, but not wholly with militia, for some regular troops now appeared.  We had to run a terrible gauntlet for nearly five miles, through a ravine, on the gallop.

"We reached Buffington about 8 P.M., and the night was one of solid darkness.  General Morgan consulted one or two of his officers upon the propriety of at once attacking an earth-work, thrown up to guard the ford.  From all the information he could gather, this work was manned with 300 infantry, regular troops, and two heavy guns were mounted in it.  

"Our arrival at this place after dark had involved us in a dilemma.  If we did not cross the river that night, there was every chance of our being attacked on the next day by heavy odds, by infantry sent after us from Kentucky, and by gunboats at the ford, which we could not drive off, as we had not more than three cartridges apiece for our artillery.  General Morgan fully appreciated these reasons for getting across the river that night, as did those with whom he advised, but there were also very strong reasons against attacking the work at night, and without the capture of the work which commanded the ford, it would be impossible to cross.  Attacks in the dark are always hazardous experiments; in this case doubly so, as we knew nothing of the ground and could not procure guides.  Our choice of the direction in which to move to the attack would have been purely guess-work.  The defenders of the work had only to lie still and fire with artillery and musketry directly to their front, but the assailants would have had a line to preserve, and to exercise great care lest they should fall foul of each other in the obscurity.  He determined therefore, to take the work at early dawn, and hoped to effect a crossing rapidly before the enemy arrived."

Early in the morning of the 19th, before the fog had lifted from the valley, the battle began.  General Hobson with his cavalry coming on from one direction, and Gen. Judah from another, and the gunboat Moose in the river in front.  There was but one outcome possible.  The Rebels were defeated and between 700 and 800 men of them captured, including Basil Duke, Col. Dick Morgan, Colonels Smith, Ward, and Hoffman, all of their artillery wagons, etc.  The Union loss was five killed and 25 wounded.  Rebels' loss, 20 killed, wounded not known.  Capt. Wood in his report to Col. Putnam says:

Capt. D. L. Wood's Report

"On the morning of the 18th I made a line of entrenchments covering the approach to the ford, sent out cavalry scouts and ascertained that the enemy were advancing on me in force.  I had all my stores removed to the boat (Steamer Starlight) and ordered it to be ready to move.  At half past seven o'clock the enemy appeared in force in front of my works, at which time my forces were in line to receive them as best we could.  At 12 o'clock, having received an order from General Scammon to retire, I did so.  Being hardly pressed by the enemy I was obliged to abandon my artillery."

The remnant of Morgan's command fled up the river, but owing to the presence of Col. Putnam's men on every road leading to Marietta or to the east, and all water craft being on the Virginia shore and fords guarded, Morgan was obliged to make a wide detour to the northeast, crossing the Muskingum river at Eagleport, July 23rd.  A few days later he, with the balance of the raiders, was captured near New Lisbon, O.  

It was the plans laid at Marietta and the disposition of the forces from Camp Putnam that finally broke Morgan's triumphal march through Ohio, scattered his forces and finally led to his capture as stated.

S. J. Hathaway

   

 

Body of Hays

The Marietta Times, May 5, 1881

The body of the man Hays who was drowned while crossing the river at Matamoras some time ago, was found on the Virginia side of Blennerhassett Island about two weeks ago.  An inquest was held and the body buried near where found.  Last week the friends of the deceased disinterred the body and took it up the river.

One Cent Reward

Ohio Gazette and Virginia Herald, April 24, 1806

Ran away from the subscriber on Sunday the 20th inst. an apprentice boy named Abner Osborn Sarjent, about 17 years of age - took with him various wearing apparel, and it is supposed clandestinely procured his indenture.  The above reward will be given for securing said apprentice in any jail that I may have him again.

All persons are forbid harbouring or trusting said apprentice on their peril, as the law will be put in force to the extent.

Caleb Carver

Marietta

Mound Builder Relic

The Marietta Times, August 17, 1882

One day last week Daniel I. Baker, who resides on Fifth street between Montgomery and Warren streets, while hoeing potatoes in his garden, struck an ancient rock fire-pit about eighteen inches in depth in which he found the body of a female image about two and a half inches in length, which is evidently the work of a Mound Building sculptor.  The features are those of the ancient Egyptian or Nubian type.  The waist is encircled with a bandage, the head enclosed in a skull cap, the lower jaw is very long, the lips protrude and the breasts are remarkably well developed.  It is made of red clay or rock and is a very remarkable specimen, and is undoubtedly a genuine piece of Indian art.  Some flint arrowheads and charcoal were in the pit with it.  Capt. D. F. Sayre has it in his possession and will place it with his extensive collection of Indian relics.

Take Notice

Ohio Gazette and Virginia Herald, April 24, 1806

That whereas my wife Betsy has without any just cause or provocation eloped from my bed and board, this is therefore to forewarn all manner of persons of every description from trusting her on my account as I am determined not to pay any debts of her contracting from and after this date.

April 9th, 1806

Jerett (Jared) Jones