Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1932-02-11
Jas. Watson

and staid awhile and then left. The
exact date of his coming is only to
be guessed at. Not being a good
guesser, we left it TO a friend who
said "early in cos" At any rate
this is the date of his marriage to
Victoria Lawrence, daughter o.
Daniel Lawrence, known as "Blacl1
Dan" and Bethania Bishop. We
want to tell you here that Mrs.
Lawrence's father, Loyett Bishop
lived where w T. Henderson now
lives, and is regarded as the firsI
blacksmith in the township
Going back to the subject of this
section. we find that Mr.. Watson
was a man Of more than ordinary
means for that time Report has it
that he first owned the farm now
owned by Mrs. AIDA Ogleyee At
ter selling this farm he purchased
the land now owned by Mrs. Ona
Warne and Mrs Clell Greer. It
seems that the ship, boat, or barge
on which the Watsons embarked,
hit a snag. causing a rupture OF
whatever you care to call it, and
separation and settlement was eff
fected. But we find we are getting
ahead OF the facts; after selling out
here they went to Columbus, where
they lived for time Victoria,
who. as we remember her, was call
ed "Eic" No doubt she was named
for the queen of that name. She
was called beautiful young Wom-
an, and if reports are true, she liV-
ed or tried to live like a queen. At
ter their separation. Mr.. Watson
spent his remaining days with rela-
tives in the neighborhood OF his
birth Jefferson county. His death
occurred in the year 1898. Mrs.
Watson ended her pilgrimage az
the state hospital, Athens, the pill
srtmage dating September 2S, 1841-
February 26, 1904 She sleeps be-
side her parents in the Mt. Zion
cemetery. We might tell you that
she was of a family of nine chill
Gren. whose story we will tell later.
One Of the early entries was no
doubt the land later purchased by
James Mcdowell, ST. This farm,
which during Mr.. McDowells time
contained some $50 acres, has been
subdivided and is now in three
PARTS, but all Of the land has been
owned by member of the family
through all the years-Joseph W.
owning one part, Clair and sisters
nt
+. Mcdowell Parmiter the third.
The first and last named being
son and daughter of John and Har-
riet Atkinson Mcdowell. The joint
owners Of the other parcel are chll
dren of William and Elizabeth
Pearce Mcdowell.
Here we want to stop to tell you
of an incident that happened on
this farm many years ago. A fam
lily by the name Of LongtelloW,
probably renters lived there; SON
a young man attempted to ride a
young horse, when the horse threw
him. his mother who was watching
from the house fell over, and here
is the reason of our telling the
truth. She was pronounced dead
and in due time was buried. IN
those days bodies were not kep'
nearly so long as at the present
time The story was told thus: /.
was a very cold time. and on the
day Of the funeral big drops OF
sweat stood on the face, and many
who were present believed she was
buried alive. We might do Well TO
tell you here that you need have no
fears Of anything of that kind nap
pening now. II one is not dead
when the undertaken starts III, they
will be when he gets through. Old
folks used to tell Of some cases
where bodies had been eXhumed 10
move to some other cemetery and
thy would find they had turned over
in the coffin. SO many queer thlhSS
are going on above ground no"
that old folks don't have time to re-
late the uneanny to the young folks.
No doubt our writing VIII re-
mind our readers Of the Woma9
who lectured on religious subjects.
she and her husband had show
vhere they exhibited wax tigureS
ald monkeys. The old lady Would
lecture to beat the wind on her
CHOSEN subject, and every once IN
While She would stop to tell OF the
show: the wax figures and mon
keys. which calls to mind the lacl
that our informant Of these events,
our good grandmother Ray, we re-
member she told us not only THESE
stories. but related much OF the eX-
periences of religion, sickness, ana
OF the good folks who We're q part
Of the life Of the township in the
early days. The great regret OF
our life is that we did not have
sense enough to make written rec
ord as she related the history, but
we still insist that if all OF our
readers will aid us, by refreshing
their memories, we can hand down
to the coming generations the MS
tory Of our folks who made Bristol
township.
And while we are wiggling our
ears we wish to say it is surprising
how little some folks know OF their
people on the one hand, and now
much others know Of not only OF
their own folks, but of their neigh
bors and of folks who lived here.
It is also surprising how nearly
everyone is interested in the early
history Of our township. Going
back to the Mcdowell family, an
other son, Samuel after his mar
; lived Of charlottesville. He