HISTORY;A Complete History of Fairfield County, Ohio 1795-1876 FAIRFIELD COUNTY OHIO *********************************************************************** OHGENWEB NOTICE: All distribution rights to this electronic data are reserved by the submitter. Reproduction or re-presentation of copyrighted material will require the permission of the copyright owner. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ *********************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Matboyd@aol.com February 16, 2000 *********************************************************************** -page 2 Primitive State of the Country Marietta and Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Muskingum, were the first settlements made by the white race on Ohio Soil. Settlement began abt 1777 or 78.... At that time the Wyandot Indians occupied the valley of the Hocking, and held it as did all the aboriginal tribe of North America by the right of undisturbed possession for unknown ages.... There were two Indian Towns at that time within the area of Fairfield County. ...The principle one was Tarhe Town, on the north bank of the Hocking, governed by Chief Tarhe. .had about 500 inhabitants... Toby Town was smaller,.... about 9 miles west of Tarhe Town...goverend by a lesser chief, Toby.... They were for the most part peaceable and gave little trouble unless abused by the whites. Since the beginning of Fairfield County, Licking and Knox counties have been formed from part of it's territory, and also portions of Perry, Hocking, and Pickaway. (So if your ancestors 1st came to Fairfield, you may soon find them in those others.) page 4 First Settlement In the year 1797, one Ebenezer Zane entered into a contract with the government to open a road from Wheeling, VA, to Limestone, KY (now Maysville), ...(establishing) three ferries, over the Muskingum, over the Scioto, and over the Ohio.... In payment he received 3 tracts of land, one square mile each. General George Sanderson was identified with the earliest time of Fairfield Co,having come to the settlement in company with his father's family about 1800...lived in Laancater till the close of his life in 1870... In April 1798, Capt. Joseph Hunter, with his family, came from Kentucky and settled on Zanes' Trace, ... which place was eventually called "Hunter's settlement." ... Capt Hunter is is regarded as the founder of Fairfield Co. His wife was the first white woman to settle in the valley... He died in 1829...In the spring of 1798 Nathaniel Wilson, the elder, John and Allen Green, and Joseph McMullen, Robert Cooper, Isaac Shaeffer, with a few other, came, erected cabins, planted crops... In the spring of 1799 2 settlements were begun, with 20 to 30 families each, ...one at the falls of Hocking, the other Yankeytown...Fall of 1799, Joseph Loveland and Hezekiah Smith erected a log grist mill at the upper falls of Hocking, now called Rock Mill. This was the first mill on the Hocking....In April 1799, Samuel Coates, Sen., and Samuel Coates, Jun, from England, built a cabin in the prairie.... In the latter part of the year a mail route was established along Zanes' Trace, ...Samuel Coates was first postmaster at the new settlement. The settlers subsisted principally on corn bread, potatoes, milk and butter, and wild meats....flour, tea and coffee were scarecely to be had, and very expensive...Salt ..cost, at the Scioto salt works, $5.00 for 50 lbs; tea $2.50 per lb; coffee $1.50; while spice and pepper were $1.00 per lb. Ebenezer Zane offered free lots to any mechanics who would settle there and carry on their trade...settle rapidly... by spring of 1801 Lancaster has assumed much the layout it still has in the central part of town....The Rev John Wright, of the Presbyterian church settled...1801;, and the Rev Asa Shin and the Rev James Quinn, of the Methodist church, traveled the Fairfield circuit very early.....A small portion of the settlers indulged in drinking frolicks, ended frequently in fights .... population determined to stop the growing evei...resolved that any person of the town found intoxicated, should, for every such offence, dig a stump out of the streets...the reuslt was, ...after several offenders had expiated their crimes...a sober, temperate, and happy people. -------------OH-FOOTSTEPS MAILING LIST-----------------------