OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 603 Today's Topics: #1 TUSCARAWAS COUNTY - PART 5 [AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M RE] #2 1882 Clinton Co, OH, - SLUSHER SKI [ojfwb@webtv.net (O Slush)] ------------------------------ X-Message: #1 Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 13:05:33, -0500 From: AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M REASONER) To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <199908101705.NAA15080@mime3.prodigy.com> Subject: TUSCARAWAS COUNTY - PART 5 Content-Type: Text/Plain; charset=US-ASCII HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF OHIO By Henry Howe LL.D., 1898 TUSCARAWAS COUNTY PART 5 FIRST WHITE CHILD BORN IN OHIO Miss Mary Heckewelder, who was living at Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania, as late as 1843, is generally said to have been the first white child born in Ohio. She was the daughter of the noted Moravian missionary of that name, and was born in Salem, one of the Moravian Indian towns on the Tuscarawas, in this county, April 16, 1781. Mr. Dinsmore, a planter of Boone county, Ky., orally informed us that in the year 1835, when residing in the parish of Terre Bonne, La., he became acquainted with a planter named Millehomme, who informed him that he was born in the forest, on the headwaters of the Miami, on or near the Loramie Portage, about the year 1774. His parents were Canadian French, then on their route to Louisiana. The claim for Maria Heckewelder of having been the first white child born in Ohio has been so generally and widely accepted that she will always be spoken of as the "First White Child Born in Ohio." Our original edition of 1846 perhaps cast the first doubt upon Miss Heckewelder's claim by the above paragraph. Bishop Edmund de Schweinitz's Life of David Zeisberger," published in 1870, says: "A few weeks before the arrival of Schmick, there had been born in the midst of this mission family, on the 4th of July, 1773, at Gnadenhutten, the first white child in the present State of Ohio. Mrs. Maria Agnes Roth was his mother, and he received in baptism, administered by Zeisberger on the 5th of July, the name of John Lewis Roth." The author further remarks: "This interesting fact is established by the official diary of Gnadenhutten (in the archives of the Moravian Church), preserved at Bethlehem, Pa., which says: 'July 4, 1773. -To-day God gave Brother and Sister Roth a young son. He was baptized into the death of Jesus, and named John Lewis, on the the 5th inst., by Brother David Zeisberger, who, together with Brother Jungman and his wife, came here this morning.'" John Lewis Roth was taken to Pennsylvania when not quite one year of age. He educated himself at Nazareth Hall, Bethlehem, Pa.; later he removed to Bath, Pa., and died there in 1841. His tombstone bears the following inscription: "Zum Anderken au Ludwig Roth, geboren 4th Juli, 1773. Gestorben 25th September, 1841, alter 68 Jahre, 2 M., 21 Tage." A very interesting and careful investigation of this subject is embodied in an article by the late A.T. Goodman, entitled, "First White Child Born in Ohio," and published in the Magazine of Western History. Mr. Goodman calls attention to a passage in "The Narrative of Bouquet's Expedition" (see page 498): "Among the captives a woman was brought into the camp at Muskingum with a babe about three months old at her breast. One of the Virginia volunteers soon knew her to be his wife, who had been taken by the Indians six months before." Mr. Goodman says: "But it may be said, 'The Moravians had settled at Bolivar in 1761, and children may have been born unto them.' This inquiry is easily answered. Prior to 1764 there were but two white Moravians in Ohio, Heckewelder and Post. Heckewelder did not marry until 1780, and Post was married to an Indian squaw. Add to this the fact that there were no white women in the Moravian settlement prior to the year 1764, and we think the answer is complete. If any white children, whether French, English or American, were born within the limits of Ohio before the year 1764, we have been unable to find evidences of the fact. We think, therefore, we are safe in stating that the child of the Virginia captive born in 1764 was the first known white child born in Ohio." The first white child born within Ohio after the Marietta settlement had been made, in 1788, was Leicester G. Converse. He was born at Marietta, February 7, 1789, resided there until 1835, when he removed to Morgan county. He resided on a farm near McConnellsville at the time of his death, which occurred February 14, 1859. THE MORAVIAN MISSIONARIES CHRISTIAN FREDERICK POST, the first of the Moravian missionaries in Ohio, was born in Conitz, Prussia, in 1710. He came to Pennsylvania in 1742, was a missionary to the Moravian Indians in New York and Connecticut from 1743 to 1749. He returned to Europe, but came again to Pennsylvania, and in 1758 engaged in Indian mission service. Post married an Indian woman named Rachel who died in 1747, and two years later he married another Indian woman named Agnes; after her death, in 1751, he married a white woman. On account of his Indian marriages he did no secure the full co-operation of the Moravian authorities. In 1761 he visited the Delawares at Tuscarawas (now Bolivar) for the purpose of instructing the Indians in Christian doctrine. He built a cabin in what is now Bethlehem township, Stark county, just over the Tuscarawas county line. He then journeyed to Bethlehem, Pa., and returned in the spring of 1762, with John Heckewelder, then about nineteen years of age, as an assistant in his work. Owing to the enmity of hostile Indians and the jealousy of the French, this attempt to establish a mission was a failure, and the following winter Heckewelder returned to Pennsylvania, Post having gone there some months before to attend an Indian conference at Lancaster. Post then proceeded to establish a mission among the Mosquito Indians at the Bay of Honduras. He afterwards united with the Protestant Episcopal Church, and died at Germantown, Pa., April 29, 1785. JOHN GOTTLIEB ERNESTUS HECKEWELDER was born in Bedford, Eng., March 12, 1743. When eleven years of age his parents removed to Bethlehem, Pa. He attended school two years, and was serving an apprenticeship to a cooper, when he was called to assist Post. On his return from Ohio he was for nine years employed as a teacher at Missions. In 1771 he was appointed an assistant to Rev. David Zeisberger, at Freidenshuetten, Pa., and in 1772 assisted in establishing the Moravian mission of the Tuscarawas valley, where he labored for fifteen years. In 1792, at the request of the Secretary of War, he accompanied Gen. Rufus Putnam to Post Vincennes to treat with the Indians. In 1793 he was commissioned to assist at a treaty with the Indians of the lakes. He held various civil offices in Ohio, and in 1808, at the organization of Tuscarawas county, was elected an associate judge, which position he resigned in 1810, when he returned to Bethlehem, Pa., and engaged in literary pursuits until his death, January 21, 1823. Among his published works are "History, Manners and Customs of the Indian Nations, who once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the neighboring States," "Narrative of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Delaware and Mohegan Indians." Many of his manuscripts are in the collections of the Pennsylvania Historical Society. Hon. Isaac Smucker, who has given much study to the subject of the Moravian missions in Ohio, the results of which have been published in the Secretary of State's report for 1878, says of Heckewelder: "His life was one of great activity, industry and usefulness. It was a life of vicissitudes, of perils, and of wild romantic adventure. How it abounded in hardships, privations and self-sacrificing devotion to the interest of the barbarians of the Western wilderness! It would, indeed, be difficult to over-estimate the importance or value of the labors of Rev. Heckewelder in the various characters of philanthropist, philosopher, pioneer, teacher, ambassador, author and Christian missionary. He was a gentleman of courteous and easy manners, of frankness, affability, veracity; without affectation or dissimulation; meek, cheerful, unassuming; humble, unpretentious, unobtrusive; retiring, rather taciturn, albeit, when drawn out, communicative and a good conversationalist. He was in extensive correspondence, with many men of letters, by whom he was held in great esteem. MARIA HECKEWELDER, daughter of Rev. John Heckewelder, was born at Salem, April 16, 1781. Her mother, Miss Sarah Ohneberg, had been sent as a mission teacher to Ohio, and was married to Rev. John Heckewelder in July, 1780. This was the first wedding of a white couple held in Ohio. The belief for many years that Miss Heckewelder was the first white child born in Ohio made her the object of unusual attentions. Visitors came from great distances to see and converse with her. Requests for her photograph and autograph were numerous. In 1785 her parents sent her to Bethlehem, where she was educated. She became a teacher in a Ladies' Boarding School at Litiz, Pa., but at the end of five years was obliged to give up her position on account of the loss of her hearing. After the death of her parents she resided at the Sisters' House in Bethlehem. "Aunt Polly Heckewelder," as she was called, was respected and beloved by all who knew her. She died September 19, 1868, at the age of eighty-seven years. -continued in part 6 ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #2 Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 14:50:37 -0500 (CDT) From: ojfwb@webtv.net (O Slush) To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <18808-37B0828D-9576@postoffice-122.bryant.webtv.net> Subject: 1882 Clinton Co, OH, - SLUSHER SKIDMORE JUDY & more Content-Disposition: Inline Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit From 1882 Beers article, pg 1082-83, "History of Clinton County (OH), Biographical Sketches, Marion Twp:: George W. SLUSHER, farmer, P.O. Blanchester, son of Alfred and Nancy (SKIDMORE) SLUSHER, was born in Hardy Co, Va, July 2, 1838. When quite young he learned the carpenter trade with his father, at which he has worked nearly all his life. He was married, in Pendletom County, VA., September 7, 1858, to Susan, daughter of Adam and Mary (KIMBLE) JUDY, born n Pendleton County, July 23, 1841. They have five children --- Enoch W., George W., Virginia R., Melcena M. and Mrs Dessie G. Mrs. S. owned 350 acres of land in Virginia, where they lived at the time the war broke out. Mr. S. was drafted in the Southern services against his will, and at the end of six months deserted and joined the Union army near Moorefield, Va. He acted as an independent scout under Col. DURFEY. He acted as a spy nine months, during which he had a number of narrow escapes from death. In September, 1862, he was captured near Petersburg, Va., while inside rebel lines. He was sent to Staunton, Va., and imprisoned in the third story of the court house, awaiting court-martial as a spy. He remained there almost two weeks, well guarded by two soldiers at his door and one under his window. The guards changed every evening about dusk, and there was sometimes a short interval when there was no guard under the window. Watching his opertunity one evening when it was getting dark, and the guard had not arrived under his window, he swung out ansucceeded is grasping the lightning rod which ran to the ground;he qquickly descended and made good his escape. The four other times he was captured each time while in the ranks, he escaped by the enemy being drven rapidly back; he was captured this way three time in one day. He at one time ran across and open field about two hundren yards, exposed to the fire of 9,000 cavalry, and escaped withou a scratch. After serving nine months, he came to Greene Co, Ohio, where his amily had moved and remained three years, and, in 1868, he moved to this township and bought seventeen acres of land and reside four years, and thenmoved to his present location, where he owns fifty-five acres of land, fourty-one of which are under cultivation. He also owns three lots in Blanchester with a dwelling on one. Mr. S. is a member of Odd Fellow Society and himself and wife are members of the Christion Union Church. NOTES: (my GGGF) George Wiliam SLUSHER - d 15 Nov 1908 and is buried in the I.I.O.F. Cemetery in Blanchester, Clinto Co, OH. (my GGGM) Susan Catherine (JUDY) SLUSHER - d 2 Apr 1934 in Wasington Court House, Fayettte Co, OH, and was buried 5 Apr 1934 in Washington Cemetery, Washington Court House, OH. She shares a "Mother-Son" tombtone with her son, Enoch. Children of George and Susan: i. (my GGF) Enoch Webster SLUSHER - b 2 Nov 1860 in VA (most surely in Pendleton Co.) - d 22 Feb 1914 Wahington Court House, Fayetee Co, OH, and was buried 24 Feb 1914 at Wahington Cemetery in Washington Court House - m 23 Sep 1890 to Esther Ann LARKIN, d/o John H. LARKIN and Mary M. PEARSON - (my GGM) Esther, was born 23 Jul 1873 in OH - d 13 May 1923, White Cross Hospital, Columbus, Franklin Co, OH, and buried 16 May 1923 Union Cemetery in Columbus. ii. George Washington SLUSHER - b 4 Mar 1863 Pendleton Co, Va - d 31 Mar 1942 Silvercreek Twp, Greene Co, OH, and buried 2 Apr 1942 Silvercreek/Jamestown Cemetery in Greene Co - m 28 Nov 1894 to Mary Amanda LEVECK, d/o Geirge LEVECK and Mary Amanda WATSON - she d 7 Sep 1961 Jamestown, OH, and buried 9 Sep 1961 also at Silvercreek/Jamestown Cemetery. iii. Virginia Rosetta SLUSHER b 28 Oct 1865 Blandchester, Clinton Co, OH - d 2 Jan 1929 (blvd in/near Highland Co, OH) - m 9 Feb 1887 Blanchester, OH, to Joshua McClellon CARSON, s/o Ambrose McCord CARSON and Nancy Inlow TUDOR - Joshua b 24 Nay 1861 Perry Twp, Fayette Co, OH - d 28 Aor 1943 (blvd in/near Leesburg, Highland Co, OH). iv. Melcena Maude SLUSHER b 9 Nov 1875 Blanchester, Clinton Co, OH - d 18Dec 1961 Washington Court House, Fayette Co, OH, and buried 20 Dec 1961 in Washington Cemetery in Washington Court House - m 9 Feb 1898 to James Lester DODD, s/o Shelton and Rebecca DODD - James b 7 Nov 1875 in VA - d 17 Dec 1965 Memorial Hosp, Washington Court House, OH, and also buried Washington Cemetery. v. Dessie Grace SUSHER b 26 June 1880 Blanchester, Clinton, Co, OH - d 18 Oct 1962 Washngton Court House, Fayette Co, OH, and buried 21 Oct 1962 Sivercreek/Jamestown Cemetery, Greene Co, OH - m 24 Oct 1896 OH ro Oscar GLASS, s/o James GLASS and Lottie STEWART Oscar b 27 Dec 1871 Fyette Co, OH - d 1 Nov 1958 Washington Court House, OH, and buried 3 Noc 1958 also in Silvercreek/Jamestown Cemetery. -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V99 Issue #603 *******************************************