Who were the very first brave pioneer settlers in Scioto County? I wonder how many present-day residents could even venture a guess. Considering the limited resources for verification, the notability may be up for some dispute; however, ample documentation exists that gives evidence that greatly limits the field.
The noted historian of Scioto County, Mr. James Keyes, often considered the historian of Scioto County, stated that Samuel Marshall, Sr., the father-in-law of Thomas McDonald, built the first cabin at a point about two miles above the site of Portsmouth in February 1796. He had passed down the river the year before in company with General Anthony Wayne, who was sent out by President Washington to conclude a treaty with the Indians.
Keyes points out that others may have “built a cabin and stayed a year or two, but it was not their intention to stay in this county.” People such as the French, who settled at the mouth of the Scioto River in 1756 at the time the French held Canada, stayed for a brief time then moved on.
Henry Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio (1847) gives Thomas McDonald credit for building the first house in Scioto County. But Keyes says McDonald did not build a house or have a long stay; instead, he “went up the Scioto and settled at or near Chillicothe." That's why Howe insists Marshall is the first.
However McDonald has a claim ...
A December 20, 1873 article in the Portsmouth Times speaks of a conversation close to Christmas that certifies McDonald was the first settler of Scioto County in a dwelling near Lucasville. The article states ...
"We witnessed a pleasant meeting of three old gentlemen that might be termed, and very appropriately too, a love feast. Col. John C. McDonald of Ross County, who is visiting his old friends of this city, is the son of trapper and Indian scout John McDonald, who died in Ross County in 1853. His father was accessor of Scioto County as early as 1827 or 1828. He served in Wayne's Army with his brother Thomas, who belonged to a company of foot rangers, who were of great service in the contest with the Buchongahelas sic Buckongahelas (1720-1805) and active in the days of the French and Indian War) and his red skins. They were also in the War of 1812.
("Love Feast. The Oldest Settler. Portsmouth Times. December 20, 1873.)
The article claims that Thomas McDonald, uncle of John C., was "the first settler within the limits of Scioto County and the first to locate on the Scioto River." Shortly after the Treaty of August 1794, he married the sister of Jesse Marshall, and coming to Scioto County, he built a little cabin about one-half mile this side of Lucasville between what is known as Lilly Pond and the Scioto River. Here, he "lived in seclusion until 1796, when Chillicothe was laid out, where he moved from that place and lived for some time."
From there, McDonald moved to Washington, Fayette County, and started the first dry goods store there. Failing there, he returned to Chillicothe, and afterwards moved back to Fayette County where he died.
In addition, the article also stated that the father of John C. was engaged in assisting General Massie in his surveys in Scioto and Ross counties.
("Love Feast. The Oldest Settler. Portsmouth Times. December 20, 1873.)
Historical Note:
The McDonalds hold another distinction. According to the history of Washington Township, "The last hostile indian killed in Scioto County drew his last breath near John Craig's, at deer lick. It was John McDonald or his brother, probably the latter, who did the killing."
("Washington Township." sciotocountyoh.com. sccogs.com.)
But, Keyes argues that those who came after the Indian War settled here remained here, and assisted in developing the resources of the county. This means they and their descendants remained long enough to establish a civil government and, thus, maintain a permanent home.
Keyes claims Samuel Marshall Sr. was followed in March, by John Lindsay. Both Marshall and Lindsay had moved up from Manchester where there was a small picketed fort with a few settlement houses.
Keyes acknowledges these two, separated by just a month, were “probably the first permanent settlers in Scioto County.” Keyes also states that Samuel Marshall put in the first crop of corn in the county; that the first person married there was a daughter of his (Lord knows who served as justice of the peace.); and that the first child born in the county was another of his daughters.
But, also consider Patrick ...
Dr. Cora Tula Watters book Major Uriah Barber: Pioneer, Settler, Politician (1761 - 1846). Watters writes of four families from the Redstone settlement in Pennsylvania floating down the Ohio to the mouth of the Scioto, "where they moored their boat just under the high bank below the present site of Portsmouth in April of 1785."
Watters book records ...
"They immediately began preparing the ground for growing crops to feed their families, hoping they would be able to remain in the area undisturbed by the original dwellers of the land.
"After they settled in, the four males left their wives and children in their new homes and headed up the Scioto to see the "Paradise of the West" they had been told about by captives of the Indians. They investigated the area as far up as present-day Piketon. One of the men, named Peter Patrick, carved his initials on a beech tree near a tributary of the Scioto. This became the name of Pee Pee Creek in the township of the same name in Pike County."
Of those four men who settled at Alexandria, two were killed by Indians on their foray into Pike County. Their names are not known. The incident caused McDonald and Patrick to leave their cabins and crops for a safer home down the Ohio to Limestone. Kentucky, now Maysville.
Or maybe Bonser was first ...
Could it have been Isaac Bonser who settled first? Bob Boldman of the Portsmouth Daily Times reports that in 1795 Major Isaac Bonser, who had been sent out by parties in Pennsylvania, staked out land preparatory to settlement at the mouth of the Little Scioto River. In August of the succeeding year, he returned with five families and descending the Ohio River in flatboats they took possession of this land. These five families were those of Isaac Bonser, Uriah Barber, John Beatty, William Ward and Ephraim Adams.
"It can be very likely claimed that Isaac Bonser was the first man
that came into Scioto County with a view to make his own permanent home.
He was born a few years before the Revolutionary War ... He was too young to take a part in the service of
the colonies, but ...
"After the close of the war Bonser was hired as hunter for a surveyor party ... Bonser accompanied a party of surveyors that were further west then other parties ...
"He set out in the spring of 1795 on foot, alone, with nothing but his rifle, blanket, and such equipment he could carry. He crossed the Ohio River and traveled the right hand bank till he reached the mouth of Little Scioto River. Here he marked out some land with his hatchet, supposing he would be entitled to it by priority of discovery. This may truly be said to be the first settlement attempt in Scioto County. When Bonser was heading back he fell in with a surveying party lead by a Mr. Martin; who had just finished surveying the French Grant.
"Bonser was returning to Pennsylvania to report his progress. Upon discussion, he and five other families built a boat large enough to transport their families and household goods to their place of destination. They arrived at the mouth of the Little Scioto on the 10th day of August 1796 and took possession of the ground Bonser had staked out one year before. Possibly being the first settlers in Scioto County. Bonser died in 1849 and buried at the old Wheelersburg cemetery, he was 81 – 82 years of age."
(Bob Boldman. "The French Grant – The opening of West." Portsmouth Daily Times. September 13, 2019.)
And, just for good measure ...
The distinction of having built the first cabin is also claimed for John Belli, he having bought land at the mouth of Turkey creek in 1795, but did not remove there until a later date. Andrew Feight, Ph.D. writes: "Today, the Friendship Buckeye, which stands next to the Friendship Methodist Church, marks the general location of Belli’s Belvidere and what some believe to be the first permanent American settlement in what became Scioto County."
Hezekiah Merritt is another claimant for the honors of first settlement. He while on his way stopped during the summer of 1796, at a point near Lucasville, where he built a temporary cabin and raised a crop of corn. However, the question of a few months priority of settlement is not a matter of vital importance.
What about the French and ...
Finally, consider that Céloron De Bienville, the French explorer, in 1749, in his expedition down the Ohio to take possession of the Ohio country for France, landed at the mouth of the Scioto. They remained from the 22d to the 26th of August. There had been here for years a Shawanese village, and living with them a party of English traders. Céloron warned them off, and although he had over 200 men, he refrained from force.
Celeron DeBlainville, 1749 Mural (Mural by Robert Dafford)
Samuel Marshall, Sr.
For the sake of reaching a logical conclusion based on scant evidence, I consider the "settlement" claim much as Keyes did. Samuel Marshall stayed ... settled ... and deserves the honor of first permanent occupation. Pioneers traditionally explore and find the next inhabitable space while settlers migrate to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize that space.
Samuel Marshall, Sr. was born June 29, 1750, in Washington County, Pennsylvania. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and after serving in the Northwest Indian War with General Wayne, Marshall sold his property in Pennsylvania for about ten thousand dollars and took his pay altogether in continental money. He wanted to take this small fortune and invest it in government lands, but surveying in the lands northwest of the Ohio had yet to be done. And, he evidently loved the area he had seen while on his journey with General Wayne.
Therefore, Marshall left for Ohio and waited in Manchester for a treaty to be made with the Indians. It is written he “wanted to be on the ground when Congress lands should come into market.” By that time he had a large family of children, some already grown up. In fact, he had three married daughters. One was wed to Thomas McDonald, a brother to the celebrated hunter and Indian scout Col. John McDonald.
General Wayne then negotiated the Treaty of Greenville between the tribal confederacy and the United States, which was signed on August 3, 1795. The treaty gave most of what is now Ohio to the United States, and cleared the way for that state to enter the Union in 1803.
“Grand primeval forest surrounded them on every side with gigantic trees from four to six feet in diameter rearing their heads 80 to 100 feet without a limb and as straight as an arrow. Huge grapevines dangling from their branches gave the scene an awful (yet) grand appearance. The tops of the trees being so interwoven with grapevines that the sun never penetrated to the earth while the trees and the vines were clothed with leaves.”
So it was that Samuel Marshall Sr. came to live in an area that would become known as Scioto County – a place at the time where it was said “not another human being was living – white, black, or red.” However, the land was plentiful with buffalo, bears, elk, deer, turkeys, panthers, catamounts, beaver, and otter.
Yet, the Marshalls were not alone for long. Soon, John Lindsey came from Manchester and built a log cabin at the mouth of the Little Scioto, and this dwelling became the first regular built log house within the present limits of Scioto County.
The settlers had no horses, cattle, hogs, or sheep, so there was no need to build fences. But, the pioneers cleared off pieces of ground for raising corn. They remarked how the corn grew very large – much larger than what they were used to seeing in Pennsylvania.
It was actually Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Marshall who gave birth to the first white child born in the county. Fanny was born here later in 1796. Later, she would marry George Shonkwiler. She died in 1870 and was buried in Bennett Fairview Cemetery in Minford.
And, what about that fortune of $10,000?
When Samuel Marshall tried to buy government land with his money, his currency was “not worth a cent.” Although he made several improvements on Congress lands, other men “turned him out of his improvements” At that time, there were no pre-emption laws. It was said that the money lay “in piles and rolls around the house for many years” -- basically just trash.
Marshall eventually leased a school section on the Little Scioto. (Land Ordinance of 1785 – Section 16 in each township was reserved for the maintenance of public schools.) There he made improvements that could not be taken from him. He lived on his land until he died in 1816. Marshall was buried on top of one of the hills surrounding Scioto Furnace now known as Scioto Furnace Cemetery in South Webster.
Frances Mary Hazelrigg Marshall, Samuel's wife, died in 1830 and is also said to be buried in Scioto Furnace Cemetery.
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