The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1889-08-22
Pennsylvania ANCESTORS.
The Klud Of Material That Gave Stark
County Her First Impetus In
Her March OF Empire,
Valuable Testimonial From one Who
Was idAFly In tho rionser
~t 'N : itFuGnios- sN ha Hll

for this Occaaion-the subject 10 be-
Pennsylvania Ia the settlement OF Stark
county, had no conception OF tho mag
nltude OF the task ! had undertaken,
aud when you consider II wan only
about ton days since that | waainvited,
aud that l was limited In my remarks
TO twenty minutes, you cannot expect
much. shall threat the subject In u
general way,
There are Hlxty'nlx counties In Penn
sylyanlA, and forty'aeyen OF them are
represented In this association, They
came chiefly from the great valleys OF
the State. From Lebanon and Chester
| In the east and south east, Wyomingin
the northeast, Pennsylvania and Ju'
Meta In the. center, Cumberland In the
south aud MonOngahela In tho south
weat. From the east came the Quakere,
followers OF william Penn, whose an'
ceatry were from Englandl from the
western part Of tho State, came tho
Scotch Irish, combination no tho name
impllea, of primitive Scotch and Irish,
From the central portion OF the State
came the Germans, called by way OF
distinction, Pennaylyania German, who
use u language peculiar 10 themselves,
being unlike anything spoken In
Europe or Asia. II 10 evidently a cor.
ruption and sOunds.more like tho lang
uage spoken IN Heaae Caq0el than any
other. IL 10 said we are akin 10 the
IleaaIana who were hired by the Eng
llsh Government 10 aealat thom In put
ting down the nrbt rebellion In this
country. 10 that az II may, 1 frequent
ly heard my grandfather. tell OF his
hauling provisions 10 the soldiers en-
camped In Valley Forge, from which |
am led 10 infer that my ancestry,
antl.dates that transaction, which, how
ever, IN the light OF subsequent history,
was not an unpardonable offence.
The General Government came into
possession Of that portion Of Stark
county lying east OF the Tuacarawas
river by treaty with Indians, In 1895,
II was llr0t surveyed In sections Of four
miles square In 1901, and opened 10
entry upon the establishment Of u land
office In Steubenvllle IN 1902. The llrst
entries OF which find any record were
made in 1904. These were made by
Nicholas Firestone and Rudolph Balr,
both from Pennsylvania.
IL required the help OF n practical
surveyor, who was In possession OF tho
field notes, 10 locate quarter section.
James Il. Leonard, OF Franklin county,
Penn, then a young man, VINO had ao'
qulred q knowledge OF surveying, NJ the
time u clerk In tho Land Olllce IN
Steubenyllle, decided TO locate himself
within territory out of which a new
county would soon DO made, with the
object of offering his services 20 such
as came into his locality for the .pur'
pose OF looking up and entering land.
He located himself upon the quarter
section immediately north OF the ground
upon which we are now naaembled,
Convenient 10 spring no had q shanty
constructed OF poles and brush. There
was IN his employ u man named Jas, Cut
bertson who was also from Frank lin 90.
In October, 1906, this man took sick
and died and was buried NJ the foot OF
an oak tree near their camp. Nearly
fifty years after / was frequently IN
company with Leonard when he would
entertain mo with "reminiscences OF his
early career In Stark, and among other
incidents gave me the particulars OF the
death and burial OF Culbertson, Con.
eeiylng the idea that the place should
be marked with q tablet with nm appr0.
prlate inscription, giving the name and
date OF death OF the ilrst white man IN
Stark county, wrote an article which
was published and copied In q large
number Of papers OF the west,
IL finally met tho eye OF u son OF Cul'
bertson, then o Judge Of the court In
Iowa. lie wrote me q very Telling let.
ter In which he stated that james Cul.
bert0n was his father, that he had
early contracted tho habit OF drink, and
In u llt OF desperation left his mother
with three chilren ostensibly Tor the
purpose OF burying himself among
the Indians. That when no (hiS
son) attained his manhood, he
traced him as far west as Steubenville,
but could learn nothing OF him beyond
that place. He stated that my publish
cd article was the first knowledge. he
had obtained OF the fate OF his father,
and no requested as q special favor that
mako no move toward the erection OF
q tablet over the grave, AZ his desire
was, that all memory OF hiB tnther who
had been n source OF 30 much grief TO
the family, DO buried In oblivion.
The first birth In Stark county was
Mary Kilt, daughter or Jacob Kitt OF
0Snaburg township, who came from
York county, Pa, In tho spring Of 1905,
This birth was Sept. z, 1906, She mar.
ried Joseph Doll aud both are now liy.
ing in Oenaburg.
There were number Of marriages Of
parties living In the county while IL was
yet q part OF Columbiana. To have
marriage solemnized, the parties were
compelled to 70 10 New Lisbon the
nearest place q license could be obtain.
ed, The 0ret was james II. Leonard TO
Sarah Barber.
lam in possession OF q complete list
OF ail the marriages that took place IN
stark county during the first decannial
period after its organlzation-from
I8OD 10 1910. That list contains the
names OF 600 persons, the great major
ity OF whom were born in Pennsylya'
MIA. In scanning the list, you would be
surprised TO note the many strange
names, not now appearing upon the
county auditors books, from which we
are led TO conclude, that the degcen-
dants have sought other countries 10
subdue. cannot believe that the fam.
lilies who bore tho names that appear In
the list have run out, because we know
that In the early days OF our republic,
the women were more prolific than they
are at the present day. 1t a notable
SanA feae,,,attlxg Aot,n M antad unnu TINT