Jefferson County, Ohio First Settlers

"By the year 1785 many settlers and squatters had settled on the west bank of the Ohio River in this area. At Mercer town, now Martin's Ferry there was quite a large settlement and John Carpenter and Charles Norris had been elected justices of the peace and here was an organized government in Ohio before the settlement at Marietta. Among these early settlers were:

JOSEPH ROSS with his wife and son Jacob settled on Mingo bottom as early as 1784. His son Absalom was the first white child born here. Absalom married Annie Edsell whose father lived near Cross Creek on an elevated point.

JOSEPH TILTON came to the Ohio country from Penna. as early as 1776 and settled near the site of Tiltonville. His son Caleb was looked upon as the first white child born in Jefferson County, the date of birth being previous to 1784, at which time Absalom Ross was born. Others followed Tilton and settled at Warrenton and Tiltonville and in 1785 large settlements here including the Maxwells, McClearys, Tiltons and McCormacks.

CABLE, EPHRIAM was born here in 1785. His father had settled at the mouth of Island Creek that year. The father built a block-house, where he lived and reared the elder children of a family of twelve. Ephriam served in the War of 1812.

DELONG, JESSE was born on Short Creek about 1776 and died at the age of 106. He was possibly the son of Solomon Delong mentioned above.

MCDONALD, JOHN named above was the father of Col. James McDonald and Thomas McDonald was the uncle of Col. John McDonald."

"BENJAMIN SHANE was the first settler on Island Creek, back of the river, locating as early as 1797.

ROBERT McCLELLAN, ancestor of the McClellan family and a cousin of Robert McClellan, the noted scout who was with Wayne, was among the first settlers in Wayne township, coming from Westmoreland County, Pa. in 1808.

EPHRIAM COOPER and WILLIAM CAMPBELL built the first cabin on the line between Wills Creek and Yellow Creek in 1795.

JAMES DUNLEVY, a Scotch-Irish Episcopalian came here from Fayette County, Pa. and settled in Cross Creek township in 1796. He was sheriff of the county at his death in 1806. He had a daughter, Nancy born in 1805 who was the mother of Judge J. H. Anderson of Columbus.

THOMAS GEORGE, HENRY CRABS, ISAAC SHANE and MORDECAI MOORE were 1st settlers in Ross township from 1798 to 1805. Mordecai Moore was stolen when a small boy on the street in London and brought to Philadelphia where he was sold to a Quaker. Henry Crabs located in 1798 and he erected a blacksmith shop near Richmond and made plow points, axes and trace chains.

ANDREW AULT's father was a captain in the Revolutionary War and had operated a flaxseed oil mill near Redstone (Brownsville), Pa., settled on the ridge between Island Creek and Wills Creek.

The first white child born in Wayne township was JOHN MANSFIELD who was born in Sec. 10 in Dec. 1797 and JOSEPH COPELAND was the second in 1800.

ROBERT CAROTHERS and JESSE THOMAS of Penna. settled on the site of Mount Pleasant in 1796, followed soon by ADAM DUNLAP, COL. McCUNE, JOHN TAGGART, COL. JOSEPH McKEE, WILLIAM FINNEY, DAVID ROBINSON, JOHN POLLOCK, WILLIAM CHAMBERS, BENJAMIN SCOTT and others, mostly Scotch-Irish from Penna., here before 1800. The UPDEGRAFF and STANTON families were prominent in the Quaker Church."

from Ohio The Crossroads of our Nation Records & Pioneer Families. April - June 1981, vol xxii, No. 2, pp 85-86.