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THE 
 
 SHERRARD FAMILY 
 
 OF STEUBENVILLE. 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT ANDREW SHERRARD. 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 LETTERS, RECORDS AND GENEALOGIES OF 
 RELATED FAMILIES. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 THOMAS JOHNSON SHERRARD. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 The Jas. B. Rodgers Printing Company, 
 
 52 and 54 North Sixth Street. 
 1890. 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1890, BT 
 
 THOMAS JOHNSON SHERRAEU. 
 
33lg 31tatlter, 
 
 WHOSE SYMPATHETIC AND WISE COUNSEL, 
 
 SUSTAINED HER HUSBAND THROUGHOUT A BEAUTIFUL AND DEVOTED 
 
 MARRIED LIFE OF NEARLY HALF A CENTURY ; 
 
 WHOSE PATIENT AND LOVING MOTHERLY CARE REARED A FAMILY 
 
 OF SIX SONS AND SIX DAUGHTERS ; 
 
 WHOSE DEVOTED FAITH AND LOVELY CHRISTIAN LIFE 
 
 HAVE EVER BEEN THEIR INSPIRING EXAMPLE ; WHOSE PEACEFUL 
 
 DECLINING DAYS, WHEN SHE IS NOW IN HER EIGHTY-SIXTH YEAR, WITNESS 
 
 THE FILIAL INTEREST OF ALL HER CHILDREN 
 
 AND children's CHILDREN, 
 
 who joyfully rise up and call her blessed, 
 
 to this dear mother 
 
 these pages are affectionately inscribed by her youngest child, 
 
 Thomas Johnson Sheerard. 
 
PRKFACK. 
 
 T^IVE years ago the matter of my ancestry was brought prominently to 
 ■*■ my attention by the questions of my eldest son, Hallock Campbell 
 Sherrard, then ten years of age, who wished to know something about all 
 of his ancestors as far back as possible. He had already searched out his 
 lineage on his mother's side through the Campbells, and Olivers, and 
 Lyons, and Hallocks, and Griffiths, and Aliens, and it now remained for 
 him to investigate his descent on his father's side of the house. In order 
 to satisfactorily answer these inquiries, I began to search my father's MS. 
 volumes, and I became so much interested in them that I determined to 
 select out such portions as would give a complete history of the Sherrard 
 Family of Steubenville, of which my father, Robert Andrew Sherrard, was 
 the founder and head. 
 
 At the time of his death, January i, 1874, he had accumulated no 
 fewer than ten thousand pages of written material, which covered a great 
 variety of subjects, including Family History and Personal Recollections. 
 This had been the work of his leisure moments for fifty years before 
 his death. 
 
 At first my only purpose was to collect and copy from all these 
 sources such items as would make a continuous and complete history of 
 the family. The work of writing I began about two years ago, copying 
 carefully on the type-writer, intending to have the whole beautifully bound 
 for the use of my own children. However, I had not written more than 
 fifty pages, when my brothers and sisters, seeing my specimen pages, 
 became so much interested in my work that they regretted that my method 
 would result in only a single copy of the book. 
 
 It was then that my brother, Robert Sherrard, Jr., of Steubenville, 
 Ohio, proposed that if I would continue my work of editing my father's 
 Family History, and would prepare it for the printer, he would assume the 
 responsibility of having it published, so that the other descendants of 
 Robert Andrew Sherrard, might each be able to possess a copy. Thus 
 
vi PREFA CE. 
 
 my work assumed a more general character, and I selected such material 
 as would interest the general reader as well as our own immediate family. 
 
 Then in addition to my father's own material at hand, I have gathered 
 from correspondence, personal visits to places, and personal interviews 
 with various people, the material with which I have been able to bring 
 the history of the whole family and connections down to the present 
 time. Perhaps the chief difficulty of the whole undertaking has been the 
 "embarrassment of riches," to decide just what to select from my father's 
 writings in order to make a book of permanent value, and yet bring the 
 volume within reasonable limits. Very much that would have been of 
 great interest has of necessity been left out, and yet only because not 
 necessary as a part of the Family History. Indeed I may say to all the 
 relatives that nothing has been overlooked that would be of permanent 
 value to the family and their descendants. Up to the point where I have 
 taken up the "Later Events and Personal Sketches" in my own language, 
 I have been careful to retain the language, and the oftentimes quaint 
 expressions of my father. 
 
 This work is intended to be a Centennial Memorial of my father's 
 birth, although coming out one year later, since it was impossible to 
 complete it sooner. Knowing so well, as all his children do, his tastes 
 and enthusiasm over anything pertaining to Family History and Ancestral 
 Reminiscences, nothing could possibly be a more fitting tribute to his 
 memory than this volume. Busily occupied with this work and looking 
 forward to its comfiletion, it has often been to me a matter of curious 
 reflection to wonder what he would think and say, if he were here to see 
 this book for himself, — a work which of all others he would have rejoiced 
 in, had he known that his youngest son would attempt it. 
 
 This is my humble contribution to the memory of noble and honorable 
 ancestors, sent forth with the warmest congratulations to the descendants of 
 a pure-minded, generous, honorable and intelligent Christian father, — one 
 who has left us the precious heritage of an honored name, a useful life, 
 and an inspiring example. 
 
 Recognizing with deepest gratitude the All-wise Providence who has 
 guided our family destiny, we all have the highest reasons for self-con- 
 gratulation that we are descended from such a long line of God-fearing 
 ancestors, whether they be the Gambles, the Sherrards, the Cathcarts, 
 the Kithcarts, the Johnsons, or the Hindmans. After my most careful 
 investigation of our ancestry, tracing it back over two centuries as far as 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 names could be found, I have failed to discover a single instance of an 
 ancestor in any of these related families, of whom we have the slightest 
 reason to be ashamed. That this book may stimulate a deeper interest in 
 the Family History and Genealogy is my earnest desire. 
 
 My grateful acknowledgements are due to Dr. William H. Egle, 
 our State Librarian at Harrisburg, for suggestions, and to the " Family 
 Records of the Gambles of Toronto ' ' for corroborating facts. 
 
 Thomas Johnson Sherrard. 
 
 WiisJuii^'/oii, Pa.. May 4. iSgo. 
 
CONTKNTS. 
 
 I. FAMILY HISTORY. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 1772-1784. 
 The Emigration ■••... 1-34 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 1 784- 1 805. 
 
 The Mountain Home 34-47 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 1805-1810. 
 
 Pioneer Life 48-81 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 1810-1811. 
 
 Captina Experiences 81-97 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 1811-1815. 
 
 The Rush Run Mili, 97-114 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 1815-1816. 
 
 First Courtship and Marriage 114-131 
 
 ix 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 1816-1817. 
 
 Married Life 132-150 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 1S17-1821. 
 
 Trading Down the River ... 151-177 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 1821-1824. 
 Famii,y Afklictions 178-200 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 1824-1S26. 
 
 Various Journeys 201-207 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 1826-1S27. 
 
 Second Courtship and Marriage 208-225 
 
 SECTION X I I. 
 
 1827-1830. 
 
 The Milling Busine.ss 226-235 
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 1830-1S33. 
 
 Life at Pleasant Hill 235-246 
 
 SECTION XIV. 
 
 I 833- I 845 
 
 Sugar Hill Farm 247-273 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION XV. 
 
 I 845- I 890. 
 Later Events and Personal Sketches 274-328 
 
 11. FAMILY LETTERS. 
 
 1774-1S89. 
 
 I. Old Letters 329-353 
 
 II. Letters from the Five Brothers 353-359 
 
 III. Birthday Letters 359-362 
 
 IV. Shebrard Antiquities 362-364 
 
 V. Irvine Antiquities 364-366 
 
 III. FAMILY RECORDS. 
 
 I. The Sherrard Records 367-372 
 
 II. The Gamble Records 372-380 
 
 III. The Cathcart Records 380-3S2 
 
 IV. The Kithcart Records 383-385 
 
 V. The Johnson Records 386-392 
 
 VI. The Hindman Records 392-394 
 
 IV. FAMILY GENEALOGIES. 
 
 I. The Sherrard Genealogy 396-397 
 
 II. The Gamble Genealogies 39S-399 
 
 III. The Kithcart Genealogies 400-401 
 
 IV. The Johnson Genealogy. . 402-403 
 
THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 I. FAMILY HISTORY. 
 
 S RCTIO N I. 
 
 I 772-1784. 
 
 THE EMIGRATION. 
 
 JOHN SHERRARD was born in Ireland near Newton Limavady, 
 a flourishing town situated on a stream that empties itself into 
 Lough Foyle, about ten miles from Londonderry, the capital of 
 the county of the same name, which is situated on the opposite side of 
 Lough Foyle at the head of the bay. 
 
 Newton Limavady is also about eight miles from Coleraine, another 
 town situated on the east side of the Bann Water, and lies in a north- 
 east direction from the town of Limavady. John Sherrard was de- 
 scended from a race of respectable people. His father, William Sher- 
 rard, was born in the year 1720 in the town of Limavady, and at thirty 
 years of age he was married to a Margaret Johnston, of good fortune 
 and respectable connections. 
 
 John Sherrard was the first pledge of their mutual affection, and was 
 born in the latter part of the year 1750. He had but one brother and 
 three sisters, and all the children were under age at the time of their 
 father's death, except my father, John. The eldest of his sisters was 
 born in 1752, and was named Elizabeth; the second was born in 1755, 
 and was named Margaret; his brother James was born in 1757, and his 
 youngest sister in 1760. 
 
 1 
 
2 THE SHERRARD EAMILY. [1772. 
 
 My grandfather, William Sherrard, died wealthy in 177 1; but pre- 
 vious to his death he made a will, in and by which he willed and 
 bequeathed the freehold, consisting of about 133 acres, to my father 
 and his brother James ; while to his wife Margaret and to each of his 
 daughters he bequeathed the sum of two hundred guineas. 
 
 I have received information from my father, John Sherrard, that a 
 whole clan of the name of Sherrard (commonly corrupted by the coun- 
 try people to the name Shearer or Sherred, but as commonly called by 
 the people in the towns and villages by their proper name, " Sherrard ") 
 came over from Scotland to Ireland at an early day. 
 
 (Our old uncle, David Alexander Cathcart Sherrard, told us after 
 father's death that he had knowledge that the Sherrard name was 
 Huguenot stock, and came from the North of France. Driven out by 
 the Huguenot persecutions, they fled to Scotland, and afterwards re- 
 moved to the North of Ireland. — T. J. S.) 
 
 This clan left the lowlands of Scotland, and upon the invitation of 
 some Scottish lord or laird, they passed over into Ireland To such a 
 Scottish lord. King James the Sixth of Scotland, and the First of Eng- 
 land, had doubtless given a large amount of land, which had been con- 
 fiscated in consequence of the native Irish rebelling against the authority 
 of King James as their lawful sovereign. This colony of Sherrards set- 
 tled in County Derry, principally in and around the village of Newton 
 Limavady, as before mentioned. It is worthy of observation that the 
 inhabitants of this town of Newton Limavady a century since spoke as 
 pure English, with few exceptions, as they did in London. And I knew 
 several relations of my father's that came over from County Derry, and 
 were reared not far from Newton Limavady, who all spoke with as 
 broad a Scotch twang as Robert Burns, the poet, did in poetry or prose; 
 these relatives of my father came from Ireland about 1795. My grand- 
 father, William Sherrard, had been a successful linen weaver, and kept 
 a number of looms at work weaving Irish linen, and he died wealthy. 
 
 Even before his father's death, John Sherrard had a desire to emigrate 
 to America; and after his father's death, at the age of twenty-two years, 
 he carried out this desire. 
 
 After some consultation with his friends, he sold his share of the 
 
1773.] FAMILY HISTORY. 3 
 
 freehold estate, which had been left him by his father, to his mother for 
 two hundred guineas, the sum left her by her husband's will. 
 
 JOHN SHERRARD EMIGRATES TO AMERICA. 
 
 With this sum and what small cash he had, he set sail for America 
 in the month of August, 1772, but did not make tjie American port 
 until the last of the month of October following. The voyage was long 
 and difficult, taking fourteen weeks, and was so tedious that the crew 
 on the vessel, which v/as called " The Wolf," were nearly starved, the 
 provisions had grown so scarce ; however, they all landed safe, but 
 almost famished at Philadelphia; but the vessel did not return to Ire- 
 land until the ne.xt spring. 
 
 My father, John Sherrard, stopped in Philadelphia, and wintered in 
 and near that place till spring. Then, in the spring of 1773, he set out 
 from Philadelphia with a light heart and a pocket full of cash to seek 
 his fortunes west of the mountains in what was then called the back 
 woods. For his route he was obliged to take the road that was opened 
 by General Braddock for his troops in 1755, when that British officer 
 crossed the Allegheny Mountains to attack the French army at Fort 
 Duquesne — since Fort Pitt, and now called the City of Pittsburgh. 
 
 I say, my father was obliged to take that road, for it was the only 
 open road in those days across the mountains ; and so he journeyed 
 across to the backwoods, and when he arrived at the foot of Laurel 
 Hill, he found the country west of the mountains a wilderness indeed 
 and a solitary place. However, on entering the valley below Laurel 
 Hill, he found some few white inhabitants who had ventured before him. 
 Among these, settled near the Youghiogheny River, were the following- 
 named persons: George Paull, Joseph Work, John McClelland, Daniel 
 Cannon, William Carson, Sr., William Rankin, H. Beeson, Robert 
 McGlaughlin, Elisha Pierce and Archibald Armstrong. 
 
 These had taken up their residences on the west side of the Yough 
 River, and some other odd ones, among whom was Matthew Wiley ; 
 and on the east side of the Yough River lived James Torrence, Barney 
 Cunningham, Joseph Huston and Colonel Prov. Mounts — (after him 
 Mounts' Creek was called, which name it bears to this day) ; also Elias 
 Pegg, father of Benjamin Pegg, a hero of the Revolutionary War, and 
 
4 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1773. 
 
 who is now, at the time of this writing — 1825 — a pensioner at the rate 
 of $96 a year, and many others whose names it would be useless to 
 record in this history. 
 
 THE REDSTONE SETTLEMENT. 
 
 But to return to my father: On his arrival in the backwoods he took 
 up his abode and resided in the family of George Paull, and here he 
 soon got acquainted with the inhabitants for ten or twelve miles around. 
 This was the more readily done as the inhabitants were so fevt' and so 
 scattered that when a log rolling or a house or barn raising was on ' 
 hand, it was no uncommon thing to call on assistance ten or twelve 
 miles off. While he made his residence at the house of Mr. George 
 Paull, he became acquainted with Mr. Archibald Irvin, brother-in-law 
 to Mr. George Paull, of whom he made a purchase of a certain tract of 
 land containing upwards of 3000 acres. 
 
 This was purchased the fall of 1773; but the year following, Thomas 
 Gist came out with the King's patent, and took up the tract now owned 
 by the heirs of old Isaac Mason, lying on the State road from Con- 
 nellsville to Uniontown, and where Braddock's old road crosses the 
 aforesaid State road. Gist also ran his lines right or wrong through 
 tlie purchase that my father made of Irvin. 
 
 This wrong Gist committed wittingly; for he ran the lines on my 
 father's purchase so as to cross and recross Dunbar's Run (now called 
 Dunbar's Creek), so as to take in a good mill seat, which is an object 
 of importance in any part of the country. 
 
 This mill seat Gist soon improved, and some time after Gist's death 
 the property was purchased by Mason and Dillon of Gist's heirs. A 
 furnace was erected by them about a quarter of a mile above the mill, 
 and by the profits of this furnace Mason soon found means to purchase 
 Dillon's part. He then pursued the business with such success that he 
 was soon enabled to build a forge on the same land and stream, and so 
 progressed until he built the second, and then a third furnace, and the 
 second forge, and then purchased a third forge, and also thousands of 
 acres of land, and then laid down and died, as you and I must ere 
 long do. 
 
1774.] FAMILY HISTORY. 5 
 
 THE KENTUCKY LAND. 
 
 In the latter part of March, 1774, my father, John Sherrard, in com- 
 pany with about twenty others, set out from their place of residence in 
 Fayette County, Pennsylvania, for the express purpose of taking up 
 land in the new country called Kentucky. They entered on board a 
 boat built for their purpose at what was then called the Broad Ford, on 
 the Youghiogheny River, two miles below where Connellsville is now 
 built. Each man went prepared with necessary implements of hus- 
 bandry. My father's tools consisted of an axe, a mattock, a hoe, a 
 shovel-plow, an iron wedge and a rifle gun. The company all landed 
 safe at Limestone (since called Maysville), on the Ohio River, and from 
 thence proceeded out from the river in quest of a situation to please 
 their fancy and suit their inclination. They at length stopped and 
 encamped near to where the towns of Lexington and Millersburg have 
 since been built. Each man soon selected the spot on which to build 
 his cabin, and soon built and made some improvements by clearing and 
 fencing. 
 
 My father cleared and fenced in about three acres, and planted the 
 same with Indian Corn, and attended the same so long as was neces- 
 sary ; the rest of the company each improved to suit himself. 
 
 It may not be amiss to mention in this place that the tract of country 
 now called Kentucky then belonged to Virginia. (In 1776 Kentucky 
 was made a county of Virginia; in 1790 it became a separate territory, 
 and in 1792 it was admitted as a State into the Union, with the motto 
 on its Seal : " United we stand, divided we fall.") It was at that time 
 under the control of the Legislature of that State, which passed laws for 
 the selling of this part of her territory. The settlers at this time — 1774 
 — had the privilege by law to take up by improvement or what was 
 called " tomahawk right." Under this privilege they could take up 
 and have surveyed 400 acres, and by making return of the survey to 
 the office, a right was issued which served in lieu of a deed for the 
 present. 
 
 But the same act of the Legislature gave a pre-emption to such set- 
 tlers as would, after they had made their tomahawk improvement, stay 
 and raise a crop of corn ; the same Act gave them the privilege of 
 
6 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1775. 
 
 taking by survey looo acres more, and attach it to the 400 first guaran- 
 teed by tomahawk right. Thus the settler who raised his corn had 
 1400 acres in his tract, for which he could obtain his right. 
 
 And this my father and his comrades did : they each stayed as 
 before-mentioned, and raised a crop of corn, which was performed some 
 time in June, 1774, at which time the Indians made some show of hos- 
 tilities. This induced my father and his party to leave their new-made 
 farms and return home to Fayette County, Pennsylvania, through a 
 trackless wilderness. But they did not leave their improvements till 
 each hid his implements of husbandry. 
 
 My father dug a hole, and put first his axe, wedge, hoe, mattock and 
 shovel-plow in, and then took his bake-oven, commonly called a 
 " Dutch oven," and turned it down on the other tools, and covered all 
 up near a certain tree, which he marked for the purpose of finding them 
 again, should he live to return to his farm at a future day, which he did 
 not do for twenty years after. 
 
 On his return to Fayette County, Pennsylvania, he found it would be 
 prudent to repair to Williamsburgh, Virginia, for the purpose of taking 
 out a right for his new farm containing 1400 acres, from which place he 
 crossed into Pennsylvania State, and resided near Lancaster until the 
 next spring of 1775. At this time — the spring of 1775 — he joined a 
 volunteer company of militia called " The Flying Camp of Pennsylva- 
 nia," and they marched all the way on foot to Boston. 
 
 It was on the 19th of April, 1775, that the first blood was shed at 
 Lexington and Concord near Boston, and in this engagement my father, 
 John Sherrard, tried himself as a soldier against the British troops sent 
 to destroy some military stores which belonged to the rebels. 
 
 He was next at the battle of Bunker Hill on the 17th of June, 1775, 
 and before the close of the year he was in a number of skirmishes, but 
 in no other hard-fought battle until his year's service as a volunteer had 
 expired, which was the last of March, 1776. At this time he returned 
 to Lancaster, where he remained until the spring of 1778, when he 
 returned to Fayette County, and again took up his home in the family 
 of George PauU, and was employed there for several years. 
 
1777.] FAMILY HISTORY. 7 
 
 NATURALIZATION OF JOHN SHERRARD. 
 
 While livincr at Lancaster, my father took the oath of allegiance to 
 the United States at that place December 29, 1777, and the following is 
 a copy of the certificate of his naturalization : 
 
 G I Do hereby certify, that John Sherrard hath H 
 
 m voluntarily taken and subscribed the OA TH of Alle- uj 
 
 Cj glance and Fidelity, as directed by an Act of the 3 
 
 H General Assembly of Pennsylvania, passed the ijth m 
 
 S Day of Jnne, IJ7J. 3 
 
 E H 
 
 nj JVitness my Hand and Seal, the 2^th Day of K 
 
 K December, Anno Domini 1777. 3 
 
 g Thomas Whiteside. [L. S.] [3 
 
 m No. II. S 
 
 In nJ 
 
 K Lancaster: Printed by Francis Bailey. }f| 
 
 ^asasasHsasHsasHsasasEsasasasasasasasasEsasasHsasa^ 
 
 The certificate of which the above is a correct copy was kept in our 
 family for many years, and it was found to be of some service the fall 
 of 1820 at the October election in Ohio. The trustees of Warren 
 Township, Jefferson County, had become so extremely radical that they 
 concluded to stop from voting, not only all persons of foreign birth who 
 were not naturalized, but also all sons of aliens, although born within 
 the limits of the United States. This was the situation of my brother 
 John and myself; but, on presenting this certificate of our father's natu- 
 ralization, we were permitted to vote ever after. (This original certificate 
 of naturalization is still in existence, and is now in possession of my 
 brother, John Hindman Sherrard, of Rockville, Ind. — T. J. S.) 
 
 JOHN SHERRARD'S part IN THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 (There is evidently some confusion in the facts as stated by father 
 when he speaks of his father, John Sherrard, taking part in the battles 
 
8 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1775. 
 
 of Lexington and Bunker Hill; for contemporary history does not bear 
 out the statement that the " Flying Camp" took part in those battles at 
 the opening of the war. Congress did not authorize the organization of 
 the "Flying Camp" until June 3, 1776, — more than a year after the 
 beginning of the war. 
 
 The act authorized the enlisting of 10,000 men, and this famous 
 " Camp" was composed of men from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Dela- 
 ware, under command of General Hugh Mercer, who was killed at the 
 battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777. As a matter of fact, only a few 
 Massachusetts militia were engaged at Lexington, and only troops from 
 Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire were engaged at Bun- 
 ker Hill, and, so far as is known, there were no Pennsylvania troops in 
 those battles. Indeed, it was the former battle of April 19, 1775, that 
 first aroused the country, and up to that time not a single company had 
 ever been formed at or around Lancaster. 
 
 After this the citizens of the county and town of Lancaster, under the 
 Act of the Continental Congress of June 14, 1775, met, and two compa- 
 nies of "expert riflemen" were formed under command of Captains 
 James Ross and Matthew Smith. These companies enlisted for one 
 year from July i, 1775, and marched to Boston, arriving at Cambridge, 
 August 13, 1775. They took part in the skirmishes of that summer 
 and fall, and remained with Washington near Boston all winter. It is 
 altogether probable that Grandfather John Sherrard was in one of these 
 companies of " expert riflemen," and that he did return to Lancaster 
 the spring of 1776. When we know that during the summer of 1776 
 different companies were organized in and around Lancaster for the 
 " Flying Camp," and these served, some for two months, and some for 
 a longer period, I have no doubt but that grandfather joined the " Fly- 
 ing Camp" at that time, and continued in the active service as a Revo- 
 lutionary soldier for a longer or shorter period, and was back in Lan- 
 caster at the close of the year 1777, when he was naturalized. He then 
 left Lancaster the spring of 1778, and went out to Western Pennsylva- 
 nia again. 
 
 It is stated in the " History of Lancaster County " that " Many of the 
 militia returned home after a two months' tour of duty, but the com- 
 mands which joined the ' Flying Camp ' generally remained until the 
 
1782.] FAMIL V HISTOR V. 9 
 
 following winter, taking part in the battle of Long Island on the 27th 
 of August, 1776; in the later movements in the vicinity of New York; 
 in the retreat across New Jersey to the Delaware River in December ; 
 and in the battles of Trenton and Princeton." (T. J. S.) 
 
 The day that my father arrived back in Fayette County from Lan- 
 caster, the spring of 1778, was the same day of the funeral of old George 
 PauU, April i, 1778. Father met the funeral procession before he 
 reached the house, and he turned about and saw the remains of his 
 deceased friend placed in the old graveyard at Laurel Hill, which is 
 about one mile east of the present Laurel Hill Church. 
 
 On October 26, 1854, my brother, David, took me to this old grave- 
 yard and showed me the grave of my grandfather, Alexander Cath- 
 cart, who died April 15, 1780, and was buried there the next day; the 
 grave of my mother, Mary Cathcart Sherrard, who died October 27, 
 1833, and was buried there the next day; also the graves of Uncle 
 David and Aunt Susanna Cathcart. He showed me also the grave of 
 George Paull, the father of Col. James Paull, who died March 31, 1778, 
 and was buried there the following day. 
 
 This graveyard was opened for burial and a square log meeting-house 
 was erected the summer and fall of 1774, and the first Laurel Hill con- 
 gregation was gathered and preached to and organized at that place in 
 1774 by the Rev. James Power. 
 
 Crawford's campaign. 
 
 My father, John Sherrard, continued to live with the family of the 
 deceased, George Paull, and was engaged in business with them for 
 three or four years after his return from Lancaster. In the fall of 1782 
 he joined with many of his neighbors the e.xpedition known as Craw- 
 ford's Campaign against the Indians in the Northwest. 
 
 In the spring of that year the scheme had been formed for the 
 destruction of the Indian town at Upper Sandusky. Volunteer com- 
 panies were formed, which rendezvoused at different places, and the 
 general command was given to Colonel William Crawford, who was 
 from the vicinity of Connellsville. After getting the troops of light 
 horse and the necessary equipage ready, he marched the troops from 
 Beesontown, now Uniontown, on the 20th of May, and they proceeded 
 
10 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1782. 
 
 to the Old Fort, now Brownsville, where more volunteers joined them. 
 On May 22d they arrived in Washington, the county-seat of Washington 
 County, where they were joined by still more volunteers. 
 
 They left Washington on May 24th, and on the 25th they arrived at 
 the Ohio River, and crossed the river on the 26th. The place where 
 they crossed was at Mingo Bottom, above the mouth of Cross Creek, 
 and three miles below where Steubenville now stands. After crossing 
 the river, this army of 482 mounted men crossed over the Indian Cross 
 Creek to the west side, and marched up over the ridge on the old 
 Indian trail, which led from Mingo Bottom northwestward. This trail 
 ran only a little to the north of Smithfield and Cadiz, but these towns 
 have been laid out and improved since the year 1804. 
 
 This Indian trail also continued on to the place where New Philadel- 
 phia now stands, near which there then stood the Moravian towns, 
 occupied at that time by friendly Indians professing Christianity. I 
 well know that in the year 1805 this Indian trail from Mingo passing 
 near Smithfield and so onward to the Moravian towns was not only a 
 plain pathway, but it was at that time and had been for years bygone 
 used by the whites who resided in Western Virginia, and also by the 
 white people who had settled near Steubenville, and as far down the 
 Ohio as the mouth of Indian Short Creek, as a road or pathway in their 
 trading tours to the Moravian towns, along which they carried flour, 
 whiskey, powder and lead, and such other articles as best suited to carry 
 on a trade with the Indians ; for which the white traders in return 
 received money, deer and bear skins, and furs of different kinds. 
 
 The distance through Ohio from where the army crossed the river, 
 on the nearest route they could go, might be estimated at 175 miles to 
 Upper Sandusky, making better than 20 miles they marched each day. 
 It was the evening of the 4th of June when they arrived near the San- 
 dusky plains, and the action began, the Indians being in readiness await- 
 ing the attack, for they had been apprized of the coming of our troops 
 by their spies, as also their number and situation. 
 
 THE BATTLE ON SANDUSKY PLAINS. 
 
 The day was very hot and sultry, and our troops suffered very much 
 from the want of water; the sulphurous smoke of the powder combined 
 
1782.] FAMILY HISTORY. 11 
 
 with the heat of the day caused great thirst, and much exhausted the 
 spirits of our troops. This day Daniel Cannon and two others climbed 
 up the trees behind which they at first had stationed themselves, and 
 there, secure from the fire of the Indians, fired their deadly shots ; but 
 when night came on they descended again to the ground. This day 
 also, while the battle raged strong, and the heat and thirst raged still 
 stronger, while all the troops along the line were busy firing on the 
 Indians, and none durst leave the tree which sheltered him from the 
 balls of the enemy, my father resolved to go in search of water. 
 
 He leaned his gun against the tree that sheltered him from danger, 
 and set off to seek water, which was a scarce article on the plains of 
 Sandusky at that season of the year. However he found where a large 
 tree had been blown out by the roots, and in the hollow place left there 
 was a pool of water. It was not good, but it was better than none, and 
 he quenched his thirst, and carried some back to his almost famished 
 comrades in his canteen. 
 
 With another canteen he returned for more water, and again and 
 again he brought water to his company. I have heard my father often 
 say that as he passed and repassed carrying the water he could hear the 
 bullets whistle to the right and left of him, and yet he was still pre- 
 served amidst the scenes of danger and carnage. 
 
 Mr. John Rodgers, who belonged to the same company, and whose 
 thirst was quenched from my father's canteen, informed me long since 
 my father's death, that he knew not how my father escaped, exposed as 
 he was, when none else along the line would undertake such a danger- 
 ous task, and that he passed near the head of the company supplying 
 them with water, and a soldier belonging to the adjoining company 
 asked for a drink, which was given him; but my father told him, at the 
 same time, that if he wanted any more it was free for him if he would 
 only venture for it. 
 
 They had arrived on the evening of the 4th of June, and this first 
 day's battle was on the 5th, and although the day's work was ended, the 
 troops got no sleep that night, for they skirmished, by turns, all night; 
 and as soon as daylight was come the battle was renewed with vigor on 
 both sides ; but the Indians, this second day, had greatly the advantage, 
 as their numbers were every hour increasing. This day, the 6th of 
 
12 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1782. 
 
 June, was as warm as the day previous, and as the battle began as the 
 day advanced the heat and thirst of the men grew greater, so that my 
 father was obliged to resume his old perilous post of carrying water 
 again in the canteens, encouraging his comrades, at the same time, to 
 fight on bravely, and he would act his part by furnishing them with such 
 water as he could find. 
 
 After he had performed this duty for several hours, being overcome 
 with heat and fatigue, and having slept none the night before, he sat 
 down at the root of a large red-oak tree on the opposite side from the 
 enemy. Here he intended to sit and rest himself, and so he did, for he 
 had not sat long till sleep overcame him, and he was soon clasped 
 tightly in the arms of Morpheus, where he lay sweetly reposing until 
 aroused by a ball which struck the tree some distance above his head, 
 and shivered the bark off, which fell on his head and roused him from 
 his sweet slumbers, and to his work he went again. On his return, with 
 his canteens full of water, his companions under arms were glad to see 
 him, they having missed him for almost two hours, supposing that a 
 ball from the enemy had stopped him on the way. I have heard him 
 several times observe that he was not the least daunted or afraid ; 
 although the bullets flew thick, yet he was preserved and left unhurt. 
 He was young and unmarried, and the decree of Divine Providence was 
 not yet filled ; he had yet to marry and raise a family for the purpose 
 allotted and the use of society. 
 
 CRAWFORD'S DEFEAT AND RETREAT. 
 
 But the Indians were so numerously reinforced this day, and the 
 ammunition of our men was failing so fast, that the Commander, Colonel 
 Crawford, thought it would be most advisable and prudent to retreat 
 with such of the wounded as were able to go. This was a trying scene, 
 for many were so wounded as not to be able to retreat. They had all 
 gone out chiefly well-mounted, but some of their horses had broken 
 loose ; some had gotten swamped or mired and others had been killed 
 by the enemy's fire. 
 
 When night came on fires were kindled for the purpose of making the 
 Indians believe that our men were determined to keep the ground on 
 which they had fought so bravely the preceding days and nights. But 
 
1782.] FAMILY HISTORY. 13 
 
 all was bustle and stir, every one exerting himself in the best manner he 
 could preparatory to their leaving the plains which had now become a 
 place of horror and dread to almost the stoutest heart. The night was 
 dark and the Indian yell was continually falling on the ear, together 
 with the cries and groans of the wounded and dying; all conspired to 
 render the scene distressing and appalling. 
 
 As soon as marching orders were given, in many instances it was 
 every man for himself; but still the main body or the greater number of 
 the troops fell into line under the command of Crawford and Williamson. 
 
 They had, however, retreated only a short distance when Colonel 
 Crawford, apprehensive for the safety of his son John, stopped the troops 
 and made inquiry and search all along the line for him, and finding that 
 he was not in the line on the retreat, Crawford made an earnest request 
 for a number of volunteers to turn out of the line and go back with him 
 to make search for his son among the wounded, dying or dead. 
 Amongst those that turned out to accompany Colonel Crawford in 
 making this search was my father and a Mr. Harbaugh, a saddler to trade 
 from Beesontown, now Uniontown ; Doctor Knight and John Slover, 
 one of the pilots, and others, to the number of twenty, leaving Colonel 
 Williamson to conduct the retreat, while Crawford, with his small band 
 . of volunteers, returned to the battle ground and made diligent search 
 for his son, but to no purpose. He was, in reality, safe enough in the 
 line on the retreat, but of this his father knew nothing, but spent several 
 hours making fruitless search for the living among the dead. 
 
 After the fruitless search was over, Crawford held a consultation with 
 his little band, whether they should take the trail and endeavor to over- 
 take the main body of the troops, or take a nearer route home by way 
 of Fort Mcintosh, situated at the mouth of Big Beaver. 
 
 The latter was decided upon by Crawford and most of the men now 
 with him; but my father and Harbaugh would not consent to go this 
 near way home with so small a company, although it was urged by 
 Crawford and others that the Beaver route home would be much more 
 safe than the other, for the reason that as soon as the Indians would find 
 that a retreat was made, they would follow the main body of the troops, 
 and harass them on their retreat, which would make it the safer passage 
 by Fort Mcintosh. 
 
li THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1782. 
 
 But this reasoning had no effect on the minds of my father and 
 Harbaugh, and they immediately turned their horses and took the trail 
 made by the main body. This trail they pursued the remainder of the 
 night with all the speed they were able to make, not knowing how soon 
 they might be overtaken or met by the Indians. 
 
 Crawford and those men with him had made some progress during 
 the night, but the next day, the 7th of June, he and his men were 
 surrounded by the Indians and made prisoners, and two of them only. 
 Knight and Slover, made their escape, while Crawford himself was 
 burned at the stake, suffering the most heart-rending agonies. 
 
 SAD FATE OF DANIEL HARBAUGH. 
 
 My father and Harbaugh traveled on steadily all through that dreary 
 night without molestation, but about ten o'clock the next morning, 
 June 7th, my father being foremost on the trail, spied an Indian step 
 behind a tree, and at that moment he dismounted and stepped behind a 
 tree and was safe, and at the same time called out to Harbaugh to tree. 
 Poor Harbaugh, ill-fated man, did dismount, but as he had not seen the 
 Indian, he stood on the side of the tree next to the Indian, gazing 
 around to see if he could see the Indian. But his chance for gazing 
 around was short, for Harbaugh had only just dismounted, when my. 
 father peeped around the tree to see if he could get a shot at the 
 Indian ; but instead of seeing the Indian, he saw the flash of the Indian's 
 gun and heard the report follow the flash, and likewise heard the solemn 
 words audibly pronounced in his ears from the mouth of poor Har- 
 baugh : " God have mercy on me ; I am a dead man," and gradually 
 sank down in a sitting position at the foot of the tree. The Indian at 
 once took to flight, as he had discharged his gun, and my father, seeing 
 that Harbaugh was dead, did not lose a moment, but pulled the saddle 
 and bridle from Harbaugh's horse and let him go, and then puUed'the 
 pack-saddle from his own horse, and put on Harbaugh's in its place. 
 Having mounted, he rode perhaps half a mile, meditating upon the 
 wonderful providence whereby Harbaugh was taken and he was left, 
 when he suddenly bethought him of his provision and blanket, which 
 was in a blanket and tied fast to his pack-saddle. 
 
 He did not dare run the risk of doing without provision, and he 
 
1782.] FAMILY HISTORY. 15 
 
 quickly rode back to the spot where Harbaugh was shot, and found that 
 in the short time he had been gone the Indian had returned and scalped 
 Harbaugh, but was now nowhere to be seen, but he had left the pack- 
 saddle with the wallet tied to it. This my father loosed with the 
 provisions in it, and again took to the trail. 
 
 My father said he was frequently asked why he rode a pack-saddle, 
 and he said that he had left his own good saddle at home, as it had 
 fallen to him when his company set out on the campaign to purchase 
 and take with him 200 pounds of flour for the use of the company, and 
 he took this pack-saddle to carry the flour on, and all that was now left 
 for him was an ash-cake in the wallet. My father said : " It saved my 
 new riding saddle, for which I had paid, in 1780, the sum of $\o, 
 continental money." 
 
 ESCAPE OF JOHN SHERRARD. 
 
 My father kept on all day following the trail to overtake the main 
 body of the troops, overwhelmed with the thought of the suddenness of 
 the loss of his friend and comrade, Harbaugh. This was the 7th day 
 of June, 1782, a day long to be remembered by my father, and from 
 this time onward he resolved that this day, as long as he lived, he 
 would set apart and dedicate to God, his Maker and Preserver, as a day 
 of fasting, thanksgiving and prayer; and this he strictly observed as long 
 as he lived year by year, for the space of twenty-seven successive years. 
 
 On this SEVENTH day of June he performed no manner of work, and 
 took no manner of food till after the sun went down. 
 
 All through this day, as he followed the trail, he saw no Indians, and 
 about sunset he came up with the troops. 
 
 Coming round the turn of a hill, the first intimation he had of his 
 approach to the retreating army was the cheering sound of music, as he 
 heard them playing a French March, which he had learned during his 
 service as volunteer in the Revolution, 1775-76. This music so revived 
 his spirits and cheered his heart that he joined in the music, whistling 
 the tune as he rode among his comrades, who hailed him with a hearty 
 cheer, rejoicing at his escape, particularly on hearing of the death of 
 Harbaugh, a very worthy man and much esteemed by his comrades in 
 arms, as well as by all who knew him at home. 
 
16 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1782. 
 
 It was now twenty-four hours since the retreat had begun, and as the 
 night set in the retreating troops were sorely harassed by the Indians in 
 the rear of the army all night, until fair daylight, when they betook 
 themselves back again to the Sandusky Plains to sport with and torment 
 the poor prisoners they had taken two days before. 
 
 It was with the greatest difficulty that Colonel Williamson was able 
 to maintain any kind of order and discipline of the troops during the 
 retreat that night, but by obeying the orders of the commander he was 
 able to conduct the whole of his retreating army, for the most part, safe 
 to the Ohio River. There were some few who voluntarily left the line 
 of retreat and rambled where they pleased, until they were picked off 
 by the Indians or made prisoners and put to the most cruel torture that 
 savage barbarity could invent. 
 
 After Williamson got his men safe over the Ohio River and back into 
 the settlements of Pennsylvania, he discharged the troops, as many of 
 them belonged to Washington County. The rest of the army, which 
 belonged to Fayette County, kept together as far as necessary, until 
 they had occasion to turn to their respective homes. 
 
 As to my father, he stopped with his cousin, Hugh Shearer (or 
 Sherrard), who resided at that time on the waters of Chartiers Creek, in 
 Washington County. Here he rested only the remainder of the day and 
 one night, and next day returned home to the residence of George Paull, 
 the father of James Paull, who was one of father's comrades in this 
 campaign. As soon as father had arrived home there was great 
 solicitude and much inquiry made for James Paull, who had not arrived, 
 and of whom no tidings had been heard. My father could give no 
 satisfactory account of him since the night when the retreat had been 
 ordered. Paull had fallen asleep, when my father had found him, and 
 gave him a shake or two, calling to him at the same time and using 
 these words: " Jamey, Jamey, up and let us be off; the men's away." 
 Paull told me himself afterwards that, with these words of my father, he 
 immediately sprang to his feet, and stepped to the sapling where his 
 horse had been tied, but to his disappointment he found his horse had 
 slipped his bridle, and by the time he had recovered his horse he was away 
 behind the main body of retreating troops, and he had to make his own 
 way, with many hairbreadth escapes, through the wilderness back home. 
 
1782.] FAMILY HISTORY. 17 
 
 Thus my father was able to give the Paull family no account of James 
 after the night he had wakened him on the battle-ground, but he 
 endeavored to keep up the hopes of his mother and sisters by assuring 
 them that he would no doubt be home in a few days, — that a great 
 many of the men had wandered off from the main body of troops; and 
 sure enough James Paull did arrive home three days after my father, to 
 the great joy of his father's family. 
 
 A great many did not return, for out of a full company to which my 
 father and James Paull belonged, only nine returned to their homes, and 
 among these nine were my father, James Paull, John Rodgers, Daniel 
 Cannon, Alexander Carson and William Gilgrist. 
 
 This Daniel Cannon, one of the heroes of Crawford's campaign, was 
 a very early settler, four miles from Connellsville, near which place 
 Colonel Crawford resided. 
 
 He was a brother to John Cannon, who afterwards laid out Cannons- 
 burg, at which place, long since the defeat of Colonel Crawford, many a 
 student has been educated. 
 
 George Paull, the father of Col. James Paull, of whom I have made 
 honorable mention, as being one of the volunteers in this campaign, 
 was commissioned by the Federal Government as paymaster of the scouts 
 and spies that were constantly on the move to assist in keeping off the 
 Indians. The fall of 1777 he went to Pittsburgh to draw money from the 
 Government agent at Fort Pitt, and while there he took the small-pox, 
 and went home and died of that disease, much lamented as a useful citizen, 
 and one among the earliest settlers in the neighborhood in which he lived. 
 
 In my young days I was acquainted with six or seven of the men 
 who were out in Crawford's campaign, as they were volunteers from 
 the neighborhood where I was brought up, within four or five miles 
 of Connellsville. I have heard my father converse freely on the subject 
 of that campaign ; and at a much later date I have conversed with 
 James Paull and John Rodgers on the same subject, and I can now 
 assert positively that I never heard from either of these three the least 
 intimation that the expedition was for the purpose of killing off the 
 remainder of the Christian Moravian Indians. But, on the contrary, I 
 have frequently heard these men say that the main object of Crawford 
 and his men was to chastise the Wyandottes, by killing as many as 
 
18 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1782. 
 
 they could, and burn their town and destroy their corn. This and this 
 only was the object of these men in undertaking this campaign, and by 
 that means to checl< the Indians from murdering, scalping and plunder- 
 ing the white inhabitants on the frontier settlements, as had been the 
 case for two months before 
 
 Hugh Sherrard, my father's cousin, where he stopped on his way 
 home from Crawford's defeat, was among the very earliest settlers of 
 Washington County, Pennsylvania. 
 
 He was the son of Hugh Sherrard, who resided in Coleraine, County 
 Derry, Ireland, on the east side of the Bann Water. He was an elder 
 brother to my grandfather, William Sherrard, and retained a good deal 
 of the Scotch dialect, manners and customs. I have heard my father 
 recite a visit which he performed when a youth across the Bann Water 
 to his Uncle Hugh's. On rising the top of the hill or mountain, which 
 lies between Newton Limavady and the Bann Water, on which Coleraine 
 is situated, the hill was so high above the water, and being early in the 
 morning, he could see the fog rising and rolling up from the water 
 like large clouds, — at first a very great way below, but soon rising far 
 above the sky-topped hills on which he stood. 
 
 AN INDIAN MASSACRE. 
 
 My father's cousin, old Hugh Sherrard, had settled, in 1772, between 
 Miller's Run and Catfish, which is now called Washington. He had a 
 son, a full second cousin of mine, who had married in the spring of 1773. 
 Being desirous of setting up for himself, he had purchased the right to 
 a tract of good land a short distance east of where the Cross Roads, 
 (now Florence), meeting-house at the present time stands, near the 
 stream called Raccoon. 
 
 He left his wife at his father's, and went over to Raccoon to make 
 improvements preparatory to moving his young wife shortly to her 
 new home. But while at work in the woods he was shot down and 
 scalped by an Indian, and as soon as word of this sad catastrophe was 
 brought to his father, the neighbors turned out to the number of twenty 
 men. Being well armed, they went to the place where young Sherrard 
 lay shot and scalped, and twelve of their number volunteered to pursue 
 the Indians. They followed their trail to the Ohio River, but they 
 
1782.] FAMILY HISTORY. 19 
 
 found that the Indians had recrossed the river in their bark canoes, and 
 the men pursued them no farther, but returned home. The other eight 
 men who were left with young Sherrard made a hand-barrow and 
 carried him home to his father's house. He was buried at the Presby- 
 terian burying-ground at Chartiers Church, where the family were 
 members, and where the Rev. John McMillan then preached, leaving 
 an afflicted family and young wife to mourn his death. 
 
 MARVELOUS ESCAPE OF COL. JAMES PAULL. 
 
 I will now attempt to give some account of why young Paull did not 
 return with the main body of the troops under the command of Colonel 
 Williamson, as I received it from the lips of Colonel James Paull him- 
 self the January of 1826. Paull said that on the evening of the 6th of 
 June, after Colonel Crawford had given orders for those who had flour 
 to bake it, and prepare to retreat in as silent a manner as possible at 
 nine o'clock at night, leaving their fires burning as bright as if all were 
 retiring to rest ; he stated that on coming out to Upper Sandusky, as 
 they burnt the Moravian town on the Muskingum, some one picked up 
 a spade, and thinking it might be useful to bake bread on, it was carried 
 on to camp at Sandusky. It was made use of to bake bread on the 
 evening just before the retreat, and had been thrown aside hot from the 
 fire, and young Paull, not knowing it was hot, set his foot on it, and his 
 moccasin being worn through at the bottom, and the sole of his foot 
 thick, he did not feel the heat till his foot was badly burned, which gave 
 him great pain, till some one who had some whiskey in reserve applied 
 some of it to the burn, and it eased the pain so that he soon fell asleep 
 near the camp-fire. He awoke on hearing my father's voice : " Jamey, 
 Jamey! up, and let us be off; the men's away." And that was the last 
 he saw of my father till he saw him again at home. Paull found his 
 horse had slipped the bridle; but on groping round, he found him 
 standing at the tail of two other horses hitched near by. He bridled his 
 horse and mounted, and at the same time others mounted ; but it was 
 now too dark to take the trail of the main army, and there being nine 
 now in his company — eight others with himself — they concluded to take 
 the nearest route east for home, and they struck out, guided by the stars. 
 
 But, to their misfortune, they had not gone far on the homeward 
 
20 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1782. 
 
 direction till they found they had ridden into a deep swamp, where they 
 got their horses fast in the mud, so that it seemed impossible to get 
 them extricated. 
 
 They had to leave their horses there, and get out of the swamp as 
 best they could by stepping from tussock to tussock till they came out 
 on good ground ; but one poor fearful comrade, in his hurry to get on, 
 would slip down between the tussocks, and would bawl out lustily, for 
 God's sake not to leave him; and so loud and pitiful was his cry that if 
 the Indians had been near, they all might have been made prisoners. 
 However, they met with no other impediment in their course that night, 
 but kept steadily on through the whole night and the next day till noon 
 without tasting food, so anxious were they to make for home and get 
 clear of the Indians behind. 
 
 About noon they came to a place of high weeds, where they knew 
 they would be screened from the view of any Indians that might be 
 prowling about; and here they broke down the weeds and spread down 
 a blanket, and each took his provision, such as he had, and put it down 
 on the blanket, all seated around. But the fearful comrade that made 
 such a noise in the swamp would often pop up and peep over the 
 weeds on the lookout for Indians. 
 
 At length he said in a low voice: "Hide, boys; yonder comes 
 Indians." Paull said each man shot further into the weeds and lay 
 down; but, for his part, he saw close by a thick clump of alder bushes, 
 and was completely concealed by the thick foliage. And right opposite 
 to him, a few yards' distance, the Indians, to the number of twenty-five, 
 all mounted on Indian ponies, stopped, and looked about, and listened, 
 as if they had heard our men hiding; but all was now quiet, and they 
 hearing no more noise, the foremost of them gave a whistle, and kicked 
 his horse in the sides and started, and they all kicked their horses as 
 did their leader, and kept on the trail toward Sandusky. 
 
 Paull said he had a fine chance to put a bullet into one of these red- 
 skins, if he had dared; but that was not to be thought of As soon as 
 the Indians were gone, the men gathered around the blanket again, but 
 not to eat; for each man now thought he had enough, and took up his 
 provision and marched on. The evening of the second day, as they 
 crossed an open piece of ground, they saw, at a considerable distance. 
 
1782.] FAMILY HISTORY. 21 
 
 out of gun-shot, a solitary Indian, who ran off" and was soon out of 
 sight. However, these nine men lay down fatigued, and slept soundly; 
 but that solitary Indian that night conveyed word of what he had seen 
 to other Indians, who came on and lay in ambush the next day. And 
 as these men were marching on, suspecting no harm, the Indians fired 
 on them, and four out of the nine fell. The Indians rose up, and one of 
 them that spoke pretty good English called to the remaining five to 
 surrender, and not a man of them should be hurt. 
 
 But Paull said, for his part, he could put no confidence in an Indian, 
 and immediately broke and ran for his life. After running some dis- 
 tance, he looked back and saw his four comrades tomahawked at the 
 tree that each had taken, and that moment three of the Indians took 
 after Paull to catch him; but that made him put forth all his energy and 
 run for dear life. After a while he ventured to look over his shoulder, 
 and found that he had actually gained on the Indians, and he also dis- 
 covered that one of the three pursuers had dropped off", and had 
 returned back. 
 
 Soon after a second one fell back also, and the third one, seeing that 
 Paull was still gaining, fell back, and Paull was left to run alone. Per- 
 ceiving that his last enemy had left off" the pursuit, Paull, in his great joy 
 and relief, slackened his pace, but still at a smart walk pursued his way. 
 
 I have already mentioned that Paull had his foot badly burned; this 
 burn was a great injury to him in his journey, since he had lost his 
 horse in the swamp, and what made his case worse, the sole was worn 
 out of his moccasin. But having found the half of an Indian blanket, 
 which he had picked up on the battle-field, and had taken care of, he 
 had kept his foot bandaged with a piece of this blanket, and as that 
 would wear off", he would bind on another piece. That evening, after 
 the loss of his comrades, and the race the three Indians gave him, he 
 took it more easy, and as the evening approached, feeling less appre- 
 hensive of pursuit, and knowing that he must be exhausted for the want 
 of sleep and food and the amount of travel, he began to look out for a 
 suitable place for rest and sleep for the night. At length he came to a 
 large hollow log, into which he crept, taking his gun in with him, and 
 here he rested well all night. 
 
 Next morning he early left his resting-place, and again took his 
 
22 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1782. 
 
 course for home ; but at first he could scarcely walk a step, his foot was 
 so sore and painful; and what was still worse, his scanty provision was 
 now gone, and the only subsistence he had till after he crossed the Ohio 
 River was one young blackbird which he caught and ate raw, and he 
 had occasionally a supply of service berries, which in some localities on 
 his route were plenty and ripe at this season of the year, — June 9, 1782. 
 He now traveled on at his own chosen gait, just as he could, not caring 
 much about Indians, nor did he see any for long after his return home. 
 In steering his course homeward, he passed near the place where Mount 
 Vernon now stands, in Knox County, Ohio, as he supposed when he 
 talked with me in January, 1826; there he fell in on the waters of Owl 
 Creek, and passed down the same until near its junction with Mohegan 
 Creek, where he fell in with an old Indian trail. Here he discovered 
 fresh signs of Indians having passed on towards or in the direction of 
 Sandusky, which made him alter his course and take over the hills the 
 nearest way to the Tuscarawas River. After he had left the Indian trail 
 a little, he sat down to rest a little, being weary and faint from a severe 
 day's travel, with a sore burnt foot and but little food. While resting 
 here, he saw at no great distance a shelving rock with abundance of 
 leaves under it. 
 
 This place he thought would be a good place to rest and sleep 
 through the night, as dusk was already coming on; but he thought he 
 was too near the Indian trail to lodge there, and he therefore resolved 
 to travel all that night and the ne.xt day, and that would perhaps put 
 him out of the reach of the Indians. 
 
 After resting till dark, he started, but found he was too much 
 exhausted from loss of sleep and food, and could gain no headway, for 
 his head became dizzy, causing him to reel and stagger; and what little 
 he did gain was with great exertion and much difficulty. Finding he 
 could not travel, he resolved to spend the night under that shelving 
 rock, which he did, and on the morning of the loth of June he arose 
 much refreshed, and pursued his way, crossing the Tuscarawas River; 
 and in two days more he found himself at the Ohio River, a little above 
 where Wheeling now stands. As the river was too deep to cross, he 
 kept up the river till he came a short distance above the mouth of Rush 
 Run; and there, finding a pile of driftwood, he made a raft, and soon 
 
1782.] FA MIL \ ' HIS TOR 1 '. 23 
 
 found himself safe on the Virginia shore. Up over the river bank he 
 saw a number of horses feeding on the river bottom, and he deter- 
 mined to secure one of them, as his foot was still painful. He made 
 a halter of white walnut bark, and after many trials he succeeded in 
 catching a poor raw-boned old mare, and mounted on this steed, he 
 took the trail that lay up the river hill. Following this path, he at 
 length came to an improvement where he heard a cock crow, and that 
 for the first time since he had left the Ohio River on the outward-bound 
 campaign ; but here he found no inhabitants. 
 
 Still keeping the path, it led him on past several other improvements, 
 where the chickens were crowing, but no owners were to be seen, until 
 the path finally led him to a fort on the bank of Virginia Short Creek. 
 To this fort all the people of the surrounding neighborhood had fled on 
 the word being brought in by stragglers from Upper Sandusky of Craw- 
 ford's defeat, and this news produced a general panic as far as the word 
 of the defeat had reached. On entering the fort, to his surprise Paull 
 found several of his companions in arms from the battle-field of the San- 
 dusky Plains, and they had reached the fort a day or two ahead of him. 
 Here he stayed a day and a night, and rested himself, and doctored his 
 burnt foot, which was painfully sore and much swollen. Here he also 
 procured a horse, upon which he rode to the house of a relative, who 
 resided near Catfish (now Washington). 
 
 With this relative Paull remained for several days, by which he was 
 much refreshed, after several days of almost starvation. At this rest- 
 ing-place he obtained a horse, upon which he rode home to his mother 
 and sisters, who received him joyfully as one alive from the dead. 
 
 A day or two after my father's return from Crawford's campaign, he 
 went to Uniontown to break the sad news of Harbaugh's death to his 
 widow, and at the same time returned the saddle. 
 
 It will be seen by this narrative how close the chance of life was in 
 the case of James Paull, as well as that of my father on the 7th of June, 
 as Paull was on the 8th of June, and that, too, by an overruling Provi- 
 dence, who had no doubt work for both to do. James Paull became 
 the grandfather of two Presbyterian ministers, — the Rev. Alfred Paull, 
 of Wheeling, and the Rev. George Paull, a Presbyterian missionary in 
 Western Africa, who died there in 1865. 
 
24 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1784. 
 
 (The Paulls and Sherrards have been friends through three or four 
 generations, and for more than a century. 
 
 Many a time have I visited at the old Paull homestead in Fayette 
 County, Pa., about three miles from Connellsville, and two miles from 
 Uncle David A. C. Sherrard's. 
 
 Joseph Paull, son of this Colonel James Paull, and grandson of George 
 Paull, where my grandfather found a home when he first came to this 
 country, was a contemporary of my father, Robert, and his brother, 
 David ; and it was at the house of Joseph that I visited. He was a 
 most devoted and godly man, and for many years until his death he was 
 an elder in the Connellsville Church. His wife was a Miss Rodgers, 
 of Brownsville, and they had four children, — George, the missionary; 
 Elizabeth, who married the Rev. N. H. G. Fife, and is now (August 6, 
 1 888) with her husband, who is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at 
 Sterling, 111.; James, who was with me in college, and who succeeded 
 his father in the farm and business at home, and married, and has for a 
 number of years been an elder in his father's place in the Connellsville 
 Church; and Joseph, who is younger than I, but who was also with me 
 in college, and is now a lawyer in Wheeling and Judge of the Circuit 
 Court.— T. J. S.) 
 
 COURTSHIP OF JOHN SHERRARD. 
 
 After this my father, for the space of two years, followed his usual 
 occupation, without anything worthy of notice taking place, only that 
 during this time he was busily engaged at times soliciting the hand of 
 Mary Cathcart in marriage, which he at length obtained, and they were 
 married May 5, 1784. 
 
 At the time of their marriage John Sherrard was in the thirty-fourth 
 year of his age, and Mary Cathcart was in the thirty-third year of her 
 age. She was born three miles from Enniskillen, capital of County 
 Fermanagh, Ireland, September 28, 1751, of respectable and wealthy 
 parents. Her father's name was Alexander Cathcart, and her mother 
 was the amiable and well-accomplished Ann Gamble, of Graan Hill, 
 daughter of David Gamble. 
 
 Near this town the Cathcarts and Gambles have resided in succeed- 
 ing generations, ever since the reign of King James the First, in whose 
 reign they emigrated from Scotland. At the time of their migration 
 
1784.] FAMILY HISTORY. 25 
 
 from Scotland all the Cathcarts and Gambles that came over professed 
 to belong to the Church of Scotland. But some considerable time af- 
 terwards, when King William came over from England and fought with 
 King James II. the memorable Battle of the Boyne in the year 1690, the 
 Cathcarts flocked to the standard of King William in such numbers that 
 one whole company was formed of men altogether of the name of Cath- 
 cart. These men fought with such valor and bravery that their captain 
 was promoted, and his descendants in process of time gained the title of 
 Lord Cathcart, which title they retain to the present day. 
 
 Alexander Cathcart had an uncle, Andrew Cathcart, who fought in 
 the Battle of the Boyne on the side of King William, at the age of 
 ELEVEN years ; and during the battle this boy, Andrew, fired eleven 
 rounds of cartridge from his musket, which he leaned on a rest fixed 
 for the purpose by placing a small wooden fork in the ground. 
 
 Land once owned by the Catholic nobility in the following counties 
 in the north and west of Ireland was confiscated, to wit: The Counties 
 of Antrim, Derry, Donegal, Tyrone, Down and Fermanagh. The land 
 in these counties was given by King James the First of England and 
 Sixth of Scotland to his Lords of Scotland ; and the confiscated land of 
 all the other counties in the South and East of Ireland was given to the 
 Lords of England. 
 
 These Lords both of England and Scotland farmed it out to tenants 
 by way of life-leases. A lease during the lessee's own life was a com- 
 mon mode of giving and continuing leases from father to son. 1 
 remember to have heard both my mother, Mary Cathcart Sherrard, and 
 my uncle, her brother, David Cathcart, mention that their great-grand- 
 father Cathcart, after coming from the highlands of Scotland with his 
 noble "clan of highlanders," stopped on land three miles from Ennis- 
 killen, and he — the great-grandfather — took a common lease during his 
 own lifetime, at a rent of nine pounds a year during the said life- 
 lease. 
 
 They further stated that the said great-grandfather had loaned his 
 landlord in a pinch the sum of thirty pounds, hard money — gold 
 guineas — formerly a gold coin of Great Britain of the value of twenty- 
 one shillings sterling — equal to ;g4.66;,^, American money. 
 
 After this landlord had had the use of the said thirty pounds for the 
 
26 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1784. 
 
 space of nearly four years, it was thought by their great-grandmother 
 that it was time it was paid, and she urged her husband to dun the 
 landlord to pay back the money. But the poor landlord, although rich 
 in land, had not the means at hand to pay up; but on being repeatedly 
 urged, he finally made a grand offer to my great-great-grandfather, and 
 that was, if he would give the landlord up his note, he, the landlord, 
 would, in consideration of the thirty pounds, give him a good and suf- 
 ficient lease at nine pounds a year forever, while wood grew and water 
 run. But our ancestor had no notion of taking the landlord at his gen- 
 erous offer, and, like many others, could not see what was to his own 
 self-interest, and had no idea that rents on good land would ever rise. 
 His wife persuaded him not to give away the money, for it would be 
 good when it would come; but it did not come, for money was scarce; 
 and for want of money in the hands of the landlord, our ancestor was 
 induced by the kindness and willingness of the landlord to lift the 
 amount of the note, a little now and a little then — sometimes in salt, 
 and sometimes in leather — and finally the whole amount of the note was 
 lifted, and our ancestor and his family did not know themselves one 
 whit the better of the amount of the thirty-pound note; and they had 
 no free-hold lease, and in after-times this short-sightedness became a 
 sore trouble to the descendants of this penurious old great-grand- 
 father. 
 
 For after his death his son, my mother's grandfather, had to renew 
 the lease for his own lifetime, and the yearly rent was raised on him to 
 eighteen pounds, — ^just double what it had been the generation before. 
 But that was not all, — at the death of this grandfather of my mother, 
 her own father, Alexander Cathcart, came into possession of his father's 
 lease, and now, on his renewing it for his life, the rent was again raised 
 to the round sum of sixty pounds a year. 
 
 After grandfather, Alexander Cathcart, had secured his farm by a 
 common life-lease — not a freehold lease, while wood grew and water 
 run — his next object was to stock it with a sufficient number of horses, 
 cows, etc. — and his next and most important object of all was to search 
 out a suitable person, with suitable qualifications as a helpmeet to be a 
 companion and take charge of his household. He came to the conclu- 
 sion that there was no one so well suited in his view as Ann Gamble. 
 
1784.] FAMILY HISTORY. 27 
 
 She was a hearty, healthy lass of twenty-one summers, and was sister 
 to several wealthy and well-to-do farmers, by name Baptist, William, 
 David and Andrew Gamble, — the latter, on different occasions, made 
 seven successful trading trips from Ireland to the United States and 
 back again. 
 
 This girl, Ann Gamble, that my grandfather chose to be his wife, was 
 brought up, as were her four brothers, as a member of the Presbyterian 
 Church. And as she was in full membership in the Presbyterian 
 Church, she, in entering into the marriage contract with Alexander 
 Cathcart, was not willing to give up her connection with the Presbyterian 
 Church, and join, with her husband, the Episcopal Church, to which 
 he belonged. The matter was finally settled between them that if they 
 should have any children, it was to be understood that the boys should 
 go with their father to the Episcopal Church, and the girls should go 
 with their mother to the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 Alexander Cathcart and Ann Gamble were married March 17, 1743, 
 and they had seven children, three boys and four girls, as follows : 
 
 David, born March 17, 1744; Magdalene; Jane; Sarah; Mary, my 
 mother, born September 28, 175 i ; Robert, who died in Ireland while a 
 young man. His death was caused by a fall, which he got in wrestling 
 with a Connaught man on a hard barn-floor, — he was unmarried and 
 therefore died without issue. The seventh child was a son named 
 Andrew. 
 
 The father of these children, Alexander Cathcart, in his young days 
 was a man of robust, sound, hearty, hardy constitution, and remained 
 such till after his children were born, and were in part raised, when a 
 circumstance occurred, which was not only the cause of impairing his 
 health, but was the exciting cause of his death. He kept a part of his 
 farm for stock, which was common among the wealthy farmers of 
 Ireland, the young cattle of which he commonly drove up on the 
 mountain in the summer months and left them during that season under 
 the care of the poor peasants of the mountain, who were all Catholics. 
 These poor peasants generally took care of the cattle for a mere trifle, 
 having the liberty of bleeding them at times stated ; this blood they 
 boiled and prepared for food, and was a rich repast to these people on 
 the mountain. 
 
28 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1784. 
 
 He had paid a visit to see how these cattle were thriving, and on his 
 return down the mountain a heavy gust of rain overtook him far from 
 any house or shelter, and although it was summer-time and the weather 
 warm and fine, yet the rain was cold, and poured on him heavy and 
 fast, so that he was soon wet through all his clothes, and chilled with 
 almost a death chill. In this situation he rode home, took his bed and 
 remained sick for some days, and at length recovered, but not finally 
 to enjoy that good health which had been his constant companion from 
 his youth. The cold brought on by this wetting developed into asthma, 
 and in this situation he applied to a great variety of physicians for 
 relief, but got none. 
 
 At length the most eminent of his physicians recommended him to 
 take a sea voyage, but this he could not at first agree to do ; however, 
 finding that his health was growing worse, he concluded to venture on 
 a sea voyage. 
 
 This he now could the more readily do since his eldest son, David, 
 who had married Susannah Guthridge, daughter of Mr. Thomas Guth- 
 ridge, was now gone to America to seek his fortune, as many of his 
 countrymen had done before him, and as Andrew Gamble, his wife's 
 brother — that is, Alexander Cathcart's wife's brother — had gone thither 
 many years before. He now concluded that he could make a sea 
 voyage to America, and at the same time visit his son and his brother- 
 in-law. Under these conclusions he made arrangements at home for 
 his departure, by leaving his beloved wife for a season, and his youngest 
 son, Andrew, at this time but a boy; his two daughters having been 
 married for some time, that is Jane and Sarah — Magdalene was married 
 before — and were well settled in the world to his satisfaction ; he took 
 his youngest daughter, Mary, with him as a nurse to take care of him 
 in his weak state of impaired health, expecting only to winter in 
 America and return home to his wife and family in the spring. 
 
 I say under these expectations and prospects he bade his wife, 
 children and friends farewell, but it was a last adieu ; they never met 
 again on this side of the grave, — the vessel weighed anchor and hoisted 
 sail, and very soon they got but a last faint view of their native isle. 
 
 In eighty-eight days the vessel anchored in the Delaware at New 
 Castle, where they landed, from whence they soon found a conveyance 
 
1784.] FAMILY HISTORY. 29 
 
 to New London Cross Roads, near which place his son, David Cathcart, 
 and his brother-in-law, Andrew Gamble, lived. 
 
 This New London is in the southeastern part of Chester County, Pa., 
 four miles north of the Maryland line, and is about eighteen miles from 
 New Castle, Delaware. 
 
 Here they were kindly received in the month of December, 1773, 
 after a sea voyage of three months. 
 
 At the time of their landing great commotions seemed to be on foot 
 in the United States in consequence of the tea ship which then lay in the 
 harbor in Boston, and which had been unladened of its tea by a 
 company of men under the disguise of Mohawk Indians, and they had 
 thrown the tea into the river. Notwithstanding these commotions and 
 the great noise of an open rupture with the mother country, Alexander 
 Cathcart and his daughter Mary contented themselves during the winter 
 in the prospect and full e.xpectation of a speedy return home to Irelaijd 
 in the spring But when the spring opened they found their hopes cut 
 off, as it was now becoming dangerous to return from the United States 
 to Europe, and in this situation they remained till the war broke out 
 and raged for years without any prospect of its termination. 
 
 At length David Cathcart concluded to cross over to the west side 
 of the Allegheny Mountains and seek a residence and a home in what 
 was then called the backwoods. 
 
 And as the war still raged between the Americans and the English, 
 and no chance to pass safely to Ireland appeared, it was concluded upon 
 that Alexander Cathcart and his daughter Mary should accompany his 
 son David in his removal west of the mountains ; yet he consented to 
 this very reluctantly, as he still entertained hopes of the termination 
 of the war, at which time he hoped to find a passage home again to 
 Ireland to the bosom of his wife and family and his friends. 
 
 Notwithstanding his reluctance, he did accompany his son David, 
 with his daughter Mary, over the mountains, where they settled in a 
 cabin between the Youghiogheny River and Redstone Creek, between 
 where Connellsville and Uniontown now stand, in a settlement then and 
 long afterwards known as the " Redstone Settlement." 
 
 During the journey over the mountains the old gentleman's health 
 was but poor and his spirits low, so much so that when they arrived at 
 
80 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1784. 
 
 the cabin aforementioned he was so weak that he had to be helped in 
 and out of bed like a child. And the next morning, while his son 
 David and his hired man held him up on a sheet while his daughter 
 Mary made the bed, he fainted, and his spirit took its flight to another 
 world, and the next day his remains were decently buried in the Presby- 
 terian graveyard at the old meeting-house. He died April 15, 1780. 
 
 His son, David Cathcart, married Susannah Guthridge, in Ireland, 
 September 3, 1770, and they came to America in 1772. She died in 
 Fayette County April 21, 1S26, aged 78, and he died June 17, 1836. 
 
 My mother's brother, David Cathcart, having at an earlier period 
 than 1776 settled in Nottingham Township, Chester County, Pa., in a 
 settlement of Quakers, they induced my uncle, some time after they 
 had become acquainted with him, to rent a mill in that township, in 
 Chester County, the spring of 1776, which mill he kept rented till the 
 spring of 1780, at which time he left and moved out west and settled 
 west of the mountains, in Dunbar Township, Fayette County, Pa. 
 
 In January, 183 1, James Armstrong came to me as I was then living 
 on the old farm once owned by John Hindman, the father of my wife, 
 Jane Hindman, and requested me to go home with him and instruct 
 him how to make a good strong ox-sled. I complied with his request, 
 and in three days we had what they wanted, a well-made, good, strong 
 ox-sled. But we did not pretend to work at the sled at night, but sat 
 around the fire chatting till bed-time. And the first night old Mr. 
 Armstrong, whose first name was Gabriel, the father of James, and who 
 lived till he was ninety-five years of age, made inquiry of me if my 
 father and mother had come from Ireland, and if so, from what parts 
 there. I replied that my father came from County Derry, Ireland, and 
 my mother from County Fermanagh, three miles from Enniskillen. 
 
 "And what was your mother's maiden-name?" he eagerly asked. 
 " Her maiden name was Mary Cathcart," I replied. 
 
 " And was she any akin to David Cathcart ? " he as eagerly inquired. 
 " David Cathcart was my mother's eldest brother," said I. 
 
 This information astonished old Mr. Armstrong, but he soon recov- 
 ered himself, and told me that he had been well acquainted with David 
 Cathcart in their young days, for they had been school-boj's together, 
 and at that time, when at school together, the only difference between 
 
1784 ] FAMIL V HISTOR V. 31 
 
 us was that he was five years older than I, and he was a' much stouter 
 and bigger boy. And said he : "I remember he wore at school a red 
 cap in place of a hat; he and I were born old style, he in 1744 and I 
 in 1749. Your uncle married and came away from Ireland before the 
 Revolutionary War, and I did not come in till long after that war was 
 over. I made my first settlement after crossing the mountains near to 
 Brownsville, and had occasion to go to Mason's Furnace for some 
 castings for house use. And having heard of David Cathcart living 
 on the roadside a few miles this side of the furnace, I stopped to see 
 him, and he afterwards paid us a visit while we were living near Browns- 
 ville, and that was the last meeting we had." 
 
 From the time old Gabriel Armstrong had made my acquaintance 
 just mentioned, I was always treated by the old man and his two sons, 
 James and William, as if I had been a near relative, or a connection of 
 the family ; and that affection was sincere, — no affectation about it, and 
 it lasted while life lasted with them. 
 
 Thus lived and died Alexander Cathcart far from his home and his 
 native land, — far from his wife and children and friends, in a strange 
 land, nearly a wilderness, with few to mourn his loss or applaud his 
 worth. Here, it is true, were his eldest son David and his wife, and his 
 daughter Mary, who could hardly sustain the shock of grief, since he 
 had been her constant companion, and for a time she refused to be 
 comforted. She knew she had lost her father, friend and guardian ; 
 she had lost him who had been the comfort and stay of her youth ; him 
 who had guided her feet in the paths of virtue and religion ; him who 
 had so often prayed with and for her, and had pointed the way to 
 heaven and happiness with his eyes turned thitherward, — those eyes 
 that had watched over her childhood and ripening years were now 
 closed forever in the sleep of death. And that body which once 
 exhibited every glow of health and vigor was now laid under the clods 
 of the valley to moulder to dust, and there to rest from its labors till the 
 last trumpet shall sound to awake it from its slumbering. 
 
 Alexander Cathcart, at his death, was in the sixty-sixth year of his 
 age, and but few men have lived as honest and virtuous a life ; his wife, 
 Ann Gamble Cathcart, survived him thirty years, and died, universally 
 esteemed by all who knew her, in the ninety-third year of her age. 
 
32 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1784. 
 
 But to return — What made it still more painful and hard to bear for 
 the mind of Mary Cathcart, she now saw herself in a wilderness, more 
 than three thousand mijes from home, separated by a vast ocean from 
 her mother, brother, sisters and friends, and that without any possible 
 chance of returning to their embraces and pleasing society. While her 
 father lived there was yet a possible chance of their returning so soon 
 as the war would be over, but now, seeing he was dead, hope hung upon 
 the end of a poisoned arrow, and that wounded, dying hope must now 
 give place to anguish, grief and sorrow, and almost despair. Her 
 situation could not now be bettered by looking back upon the past, or 
 retracing the long road and distance which lay between her and her 
 friends and home. 
 
 She must bring her mind to bear up under afflictions and deprivations, 
 and what philosophy cannot do for her, religion can do ; the mind must 
 now be brought to submit to the will of her heavenly Father, who no 
 doubt had a wise purpose to bring about in all this which appeared to 
 her so grievous and so great a calamity. She must now, in a great 
 measure, forget the land of her nativity, with all its variety of innocent 
 sports of youth with her friends and relations, and turn her attention 
 on what may be her future prospects, and trust in the guidance of that 
 Providence who had hitherto conducted her in peace, safety and health 
 from childhood to riper years. 
 
 She was now, at the time of her father's death, in the twenty-ninth 
 year of her age, and although troubles and sorrows had now taken hold 
 of her, yet the bloom of youth was not at this time in the least faded, — 
 this bloom held its empire with unrivaled sway till further cares, hard- 
 ships and troubles, as age crept on, dethroned it, for time alone must 
 have robbed her of that possession. 
 
 I have stated that at her father's death she was in the twenty-ninth 
 year of her age, and although she had lost her father, and was far 
 separated from her mother, the best of earthly friends, yet she was in a 
 better situation than thousands of her fellow-beings who have neither 
 house, nor home, nor friends, nor comfort, other than what may be 
 picked up in their passage through an unfriendly world. She had an 
 elder brother to assist in bearing her burthen of grief and sorrow which 
 had arisen upon the sudden death of her father ; she had a sister-in-law 
 
1784.] FAMILY HISTORY. 33 
 
 who might be able to pour consolation into the wounds of the spirit, 
 and who might render assistance by timely advice, and to whom she 
 might unbosom herself in the absence of her own sisters and mother. 
 She had her brother to be her guardian and protector from insults and 
 harrn, and his house to be her home until Providence should see fit to 
 provide otherwise for her. 
 
 While she was deeply afflicted from the loss of her father, and sepa- 
 rated far, far distant from those her heart and soul held dear, yet she had 
 a secret consolation on reflection from that religion which she had 
 received in her early youth, from the instruction of her pious parents, 
 from reading the word of God, and from the pastoral labors of Mr. 
 Cashida, the parish minister of the Established Church, to which she 
 and her father's family belonged ; and although many who belong to 
 that church, as well as those who belong to other churches, only lay 
 hold of the outward rites and ceremonies, without tasting of the sweets 
 within, yet this could not be said of her. 
 
 She had known something of the sinfulness of sin, and how broad 
 the commandment was, which was fully verified in her long and well- 
 spent life. 
 
 It was this which gave life and action to all those virtuous principles 
 which dwelt so richly in her, and diffused their influence so much 
 around her. 
 
 CHARACTER OF EARLY SETTLERS. 
 
 And here it may not be improper to remark that although she 
 thought herself settled in the heart of a savage wilderness where God 
 was not feared or worshipped, yet she was in that mistaken, for among 
 the early settlers in Redstone Settlement there was a great number of 
 pious Christian people who were devoted to the cause of Christ's 
 kingdom. Witness the early establishment of a church called Laurel 
 Hill. Before she arrived there the settlement was then ten years old, 
 chiefly all Presbyterians, — not a Methodist was to be found in all that 
 new country, except the renegade, " wild turkey " breed, who had the 
 " method " of drinking whiskey in its purity in copious draughts. 
 
 As I have said with regard to the early settlers of the Redstone 
 Settlement, I might have remarked the same with reference to all the 
 settlements then west of the mountains, which spread themselves along 
 3 
 
34 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1784. 
 
 through what is now Westmoreland, Fayette, Allegheny, Washington, 
 and a part of Greene Counties in Pennsylvania, and Brooke and Ohio 
 Counties in Virginia. Witness the number 'of meeting-houses erected 
 in every settlement, which were well and regularly attended for the 
 purpo.se of public worship. 
 
 Witness also the pains taken by those pious parents in the training 
 of their children for Christ's kingdom, by praying with and for them, 
 by their unremitting attention to teach them all the precepts of the 
 moral law ; likewise the doctrines of the gospel, — its precepts and the 
 dispensing of its ordinances. And particularlj', they taught their 
 children to remember the Sabbath Day, — a practice among Christians 
 and all others so necessary and right, and so highly commendable in all 
 parts of the world, and particularly in a wilderness just emerged from 
 savage to civilized life. 
 
 SECTION I I. 
 
 ■ 1 784-1805. 
 
 THE MOUNTAIN HOME. 
 
 SUCH was the country, and such the inhabitants in the year 1 780, 
 at which period John Sherrard and Mary Cathcart, my father 
 and mother, first became acquainted. 
 That acquaintance grew into friendship, and, in fact, Mary Cathcart 
 helped to make the suit of clothes which John Sherrard wore in Craw- 
 ford's campaign. After his return from this campaign he spent two 
 years in courtship, which resulted in their marriage, as before stated, 
 on May 5, 1784. 
 
 My father had already purchased a small farm of sixty acres of land, 
 the same which my brother David now owns and resides on, and for 
 this farm he paid the sum of 120 pounds cash. On this farm he settled 
 
1784.] FAMILY HISTORY. 35 
 
 with his newly-married wife, and in due time children were born to 
 them as follows : 
 
 William born May 7, 1785. 
 
 David Alexander Cathcart , 
 
 John James 
 
 Robert Andrew 
 
 Mary Ann 
 
 Thomas Guthridge . . . 
 
 September 2, 1786. 
 October 28, 1787. 
 May 4, 1789. 
 December 6, 1790. 
 March 18, 1793. 
 
 (These six children died as follows : 
 
 William died November 7, 1820. 
 
 David Alexander Cathcart " June 2, 1880. 
 
 John James " July 14, i85o. 
 
 Robert Andrew "• January i, 1874. 
 
 Mary Ann, died only a few hours after her birth. 
 
 Thomas Guthridge " March 26, 1824. 
 
 John Sherrard, the father of the above-mentioned children, died 
 April 22, 1809, and was buried in the old Quaker graveyard at Smith- 
 field, Ohio. The spot cannot now be identified. Mary Cathcart 
 Sherrard, the mother, died October 27, 1833, and was buried at Laurel 
 Hill, Pa.— T. J. S.) 
 
 After their marriage and settlement on the farm of sixty acres, on 
 the road between Connellsville and Uniontown, three miles southwest 
 of the former and five miles from the latter, my father gathered in and 
 summed up his money, which now amounted to only four hundred 
 pounds of hard money, besides the quantity of depreciated Continental 
 money which he had, and which now, only three years after the close 
 of the war, and one year after Jay's Treaty, was all good for nothing. 
 
 It is true he did make out to purchase a hone for his razor, — the 
 same Lough Neagh hone which I now have in my possession (and it 
 is now, January 14, 1889, in my possession — T. J. S.), — for which he 
 paid sixty dollars in Continental money. The balance of his Conti- 
 nental money made shaving paper, and was good for little else, except 
 that I have, with care, preserved a five-dollar bill and a one-dollar bill 
 out of it, and this is all that now remains of hundreds and thousands 
 of dollars of it, which my father had at the close of the Revolutionary 
 War. 
 
36 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1784. 
 
 MISFORTUNES. 
 
 My father made a poor out with what money he had left, for he was 
 never a good business manager, and, as if misfortune had broken loose 
 from every flood-gate, he was now assailed from another quarter, being 
 involved in a vexatious and seemingly interminable lawsuit. 
 
 A man by the name of Jonathan Hill, who had lately moved from 
 New Jersey into the immediate neighborhood of my father, had 
 purchased a right to the tract of land on which my father had made 
 improvements and was now living. 
 
 Hill contended that his right was the oldest and best, and under it 
 he made a demand for the possession of the land, to which my father 
 would not consent. In consequence of this refusal Hill entered a 
 lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas at Beesontown (now Uniontown), 
 which suit, in all its turnings, bearings, twistings and windings, lasted 
 for ELEVEN years, and was finally decided in my father's favor, after Hill 
 had lost it three different times, and had been cast in the cost ; but 
 Hill made a fourth attempt to renew it, and succeeded so far as to 
 obtain a writ, and the deputy-sheriff was sent after my father. 
 
 I well remember when he came to our house to serve the writ, and 
 inquired for my father, but was told by my mother that he had gone 
 to Connellsville. He then inquired which way he would return, and 
 was told that there was but one direct road. He set off and met my 
 father but a little way this side of Connellsville, where he made him a 
 prisoner, and was conveying him on to Uniontown, when they were 
 met by a neighbor named George Thompson, who went my father's 
 security for his appearance at Court. 
 
 COURT AT UNIONTOWN. 
 
 When Court came on and the cause was called for trial, James 
 Findly, one of the Associate Judges, stepped down from the bench, 
 and informed the Court that this was the same cause that had been 
 three times tried already in this Court, and had each time been decided 
 in John Sherrard's favor, as the records of the court would show. 
 
 Some debate then took place between Judge Findly and Hill's 
 
1785.] FAMIL V HISTOR V. 37 
 
 lawyer, for my father had thought it unnecessary to fee a lawyer for 
 this case again, and the case was dismissed, and Hill had again to pay 
 the costs. But as it was, even if Hill did have the costs to pay in each 
 case, my father did not get clear of cost and trouble, for he had his 
 lawyer to pay in the other suits, and his own expenses while waiting 
 the tardy motions of the Court and the loss of his own time, all put 
 together, was worth half the land, as land rated in those times. 
 
 When this same Jonathan Hill first arrived in Redstone Settlement 
 he was considered the richest man west of the mountains. He bought 
 and sold and owned a very great number of fine farms, and drove the 
 world ahead of him, and being a man of an active turn of mind, he lived 
 to a great age. But at last he died in the county poor-house of Fayette 
 County, Pa., his own executor, for his riches had made to themselves 
 wings and had flown away. In August, 1819, at the August term of 
 the Oourt of Common Pleas, I was in Uniontown on business before the 
 Orphans' Court, and I saw this same Jonathan Hill brought out of 
 the county jail, and arraigned at the bar for the murder of his wife. 
 He was at this time upwards of eighty years of age, his head silvered 
 over past a gray and nearly a white. He had somewhat of an antiquated 
 and venerable appearance, and I could not help viewing him, and 
 reflecting on the times that were past, when he drove the world before 
 him in splendor; and now he sat in the bar charged with the murder 
 of his own wife, — an awful warning to the world, and especially to all 
 who knew him. It was the generally received opinion that he was 
 crazy when he committed the deed, and he was cleared upon fair trial. 
 
 When my father's first child and son, William, was born, there was 
 great cause of rejoicing that 7th day of May, 1785, for both father and 
 mother were getting up in years, he being thirty-five years old, and 
 she but six months younger. 
 
 GRANDMOTHER SHERRARD COMES TO AMERICA. 
 
 Shortly after the birth of the first child there was a second cause of 
 rejoicing, the occasion being the arrival, on a visit, of my father's only 
 brother, James. 
 
 He had arrived with his mother in Philadelphia from Ireland, and 
 leaving her in Philadelphia, he had come out over the mountains in 
 
38 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1786. 
 
 search of my father. He remained but a short time, and returned with 
 my father to Philadelphia for the purpose of bringing my Grandmother 
 Sherrard out over the mountains. But by the time they reached 
 Philadelphia they found that the old lady had become home-sick, and 
 so disgusted with America that she would go no farther into it, but 
 must return home again to Ireland. And if they must go, it was well 
 that they returned immediately, for on leaving Ireland they had sold 
 their beautiful freehold farm near Newton Limavady, and the old lady, 
 fearing that she might not like America, made a provision in the 
 contract of the sale, that if she did not like the United States, and 
 should return within a certain specified time, the money would be 
 returned, and they should have possession of the farm again. 
 
 They accordingly set sail from Philadelphia, and arrived safe at 
 Newton Limavady just three weeks before the time set in the contract 
 had expired. My father returned from Philadelphia with a heavy tieart 
 in having to part with his mother and brother, never more to behold 
 them again on earth. 
 
 (Just here it ought to be stated that there is no record that there 
 was ever any further communication between Grandfather John Sher- 
 rard, and his mother, Margaret Johnston Sherrard, or with his brother, 
 James Sherrard, and I have often heard father say that he never knew 
 anything more about those relatives in Ireland, or what ever became 
 of his Uncle James, except that a cousin, John Johnston, of Brownsville, 
 had once told him that he had heard that James and his mother did 
 arrive home safe and in time to recover their farm, — and that James 
 took part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and it was reported that he 
 had escaped to America, through the aid of influential friends in both 
 armies, but of this fact we have never had any corroboration. — T. J. S.) 
 
 My father continued to occupy his farm, and time rolled on until the 
 2d day of September, 1786, when a second son was born, whom they 
 called David, for his uncle, my mother's brother, and he was christened 
 David Alexander Cathcart, the latter part of the name being added for 
 the sake of his grandfather on his mother's side, Alexander Cathcart. 
 When he was fourteen months old he was taken from his mother and 
 given to his uncle, David Cathcart, who had been married now the 
 space of fifteen years and had no heirs, and no likelihood of having any, 
 
1789.] FAMILY HISTORY. 39 
 
 and my brother David was given him so that he might become heir 
 of his property, and he did inherit his property, and has remained on 
 that same farm to the time of this present writing, a space of forty-three 
 years. (Father wrote this in 1829, and Uncle David continued to live 
 on that farm for fifty-one years longer, until his death, June 2, 1S80. 
 -T. J. S.) 
 
 REMOVAL TO THE MOUNTAIN HOME. 
 
 My father did not prosper in his business, and a long train of mis- 
 fortunes coming on apace, he was forced to sell his place to my uncle, 
 David Cathcart, and took a lease from him on a tract of 300 acres, 
 on the side of the mountain not far from Mason's old furnace, — the 
 same tract that my father had sold to my uncle only a few years before. 
 To this farm the family removed the spring of 1787, and on the 28th 
 day of October, 1787, a third son was born, and the child was called 
 John, for his father, but at his baptism the name of James was added 
 for our Uncle James in Ireland. 
 
 Again, on the 4th day of May, 1789, I was born, and they gave me 
 the name of Robert, the name Andrew being added at my baptism, — 
 the first for my mother's brother, Robert Cathcart, who died in Ireland 
 when a young man, from a fall which he got in wrestling, — the other 
 name was added for my mother's younger brother, Andrew Cathcart, 
 who lives in Otsego County, Butternut Township, in the State of New 
 York. (His only son. John Ale.xander Cathcart, settled in Rochester, 
 N. Y., in- 1820, and was engaged in the mercantile business. — T. J. S.) 
 
 On December 6, 1790, my mother had a daughter who lived only 
 two or three hours after her birth, but had she lived she would have 
 been called Mary Ann, after mother and Grandmother Cathcart, whose 
 maiden-name was Ann Gamble. 
 
 On the 1 8th day of March, 1793, my brother, Thomas Guthridge, 
 was born, being the fifth son and last child of John and Mary Cathcart 
 Sherrard. 
 
40 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1794. 
 
 WHISKEY INSURRECTION. 
 
 It was the next year, 1794, that what is known as the Whiskey- 
 Insurrection occurred in Western Pennsylvania. 
 
 This was in consequence of the obnoxious excise law passed under 
 the administration of George Washington, which law has frequently 
 since been charged to the administration of John Adams, which did not 
 begin until the 4th of March, 1797. The resistance to this law caused 
 President Washington to send out an army to quell the disturbance. 
 Owing to the high state of feeling among the people of the southwest- 
 ern counties, great numbers of Liberty Poles were raised during the fall 
 of 1793 and the spring of 1794 at all towns, taverns, furnaces and cross- 
 roads. A label or inscription, in large capital letters some fifteen inches 
 in length, would be put on a board, and this board would be nailed to 
 the pole about twelve or fifteen feet above the ground, while on the top 
 of the pole, at the height of from one hundred to two hundred feet, 
 would be fastened a red-striped flag, which waved in the air till the 
 wind and weather tore it to pieces or the liberty pole was taken 
 down. 
 
 I remember that some time in the spring of 1794 there was the 
 raising of a liberty pole at the Furnace on Dunbar's Run, which had 
 just been built, and was owned by Isaac Mason and Moses Dillon, who 
 was from near Baltimore, and is now (August iSth, 1832) living near 
 Zanesville, Ohio. 
 
 My father was invited to assist at the raising of this pole, and he 
 took his wife and four sons with him — all quite young, for I was only 
 five and a half years old; but he wished to teach them liberty and 
 patriotism. 
 
 SECOND TRIP TO KENTUCKY. 
 
 The same fall of 1794, having previously disposed of all his land in 
 Pennsylvania, my father made a vendue, and sold off nearly all his per- 
 sonal property, with the intention of moving down the river in the 
 spring to Kentucky, expecting to take possession of his 1400 acre 
 tract in that State, which he had taken up at so much risk and pains 
 the spring and summer of 1774. 
 
1799.] FAMIL Y HISTOR Y. 41 
 
 But thinking it more prudent to pass down the river himself and 
 visit the land, and make such arrangements as he might find to be 
 necessary, he left home and family some time in November, 1794, and 
 arrived safe at Lexington, Kentucky, his tract of land being not many 
 miles from that place, and near what is now known as Millersburg. 
 
 He soon found and visited his land; but, to his mortification, he 
 found the land already occupied, — that a man by the name of Miller 
 had taken possession of it by putting a tenant on it, and thereby 
 improving it for his own use. As stated in the early part of this record, 
 he returned home again about the first of March, 1795, after an 
 absence of four months. On this return trip he walked every step of 
 the way along the east bank of the Ohio River to Wheeling, and thence 
 across the country through Washington, Pa., and so on, and upon his 
 return he was much discouraged. 
 
 Ten years later, in September, 1805, I heard a Mr. Fisher, from Ken- 
 tucky, telling my father that he knew well the tract of land that old 
 Miller occupied, and that at that time, September, 1805, it was worth at 
 least $15 per acre. 
 
 After his return home he concluded not to move to Kentucky for the 
 present, seeing that his right to his land in that State was disputed, and 
 must be gained, if gained at all, by a litigious lawsuit. This would be 
 very discouraging to any man, but more so to a man of my father's 
 disposition ; for he was easy, good-natured and cheerful, and always 
 fearful of giving offence; kindly obliging to all, but especially to his 
 wife and family, — too much so for the good of his boys, had it not been 
 that my mother possessed sufficient energy to batter the boys about and 
 guide their infant course, both by correction and counsel, from the blind 
 path of infantile ignorance up to the towering height of manhood. 
 
 THE 1400 ACRES IN KENTUCKY. 
 
 In the month of May, 1799, Colonel James Paull, in partnership with 
 his brother-in-law, James Rodgers, concluded that at all hazards they 
 would purchase my father's right to the 1400 acres of land in Kentucky, 
 lying near Millersburg, on the following conditions: 
 
 First. They agreed to pay, and did pay down in hand to said John 
 Sherrard, hit or miss, gain or loss, the sum of thirty pounds, lawful cur- 
 
42 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1799. 
 
 rency of the State of Pennsylvania. And, second, If on bringing suit 
 against old Miller, who contended for a later and better right to that 
 survey, although made by John Sherrard in May, 1774, long before said 
 Miller had formed the design of defrauding my father or his assigns out 
 of said 1400 acres of as good land as could be found in the State of 
 Kentucky, — if they. Colonel James Paul! and James Rodgers, should 
 gain the land by a decision of the Kentucky Court, then and in that 
 case they were to pay to said John Sherrard the further sum of seventy 
 pounds. 
 
 These men did bring suit against Miller, and lost the land, the whole 
 of which in 1805 must have been worth ^2 1,000, according to the state- 
 ment of Mr. Fisher, aforesaid; and no doubt the same land would now 
 sell for ^150 per acre, for I was informed that two years before the 
 Rebellion broke out, or in 1859, land in the vicinity of Lexington and 
 Millersburg would sell for $100 per acre. 
 
 Some time in January, 1826, Colonel Paull informed me that he car- 
 ried the papers that had been made out belonging to the survey, and 
 the fulfillment of the old Virginia law, and everything belonging to its 
 being lawfully located by my father, to Petersburg, Virginia, the seat of 
 government at that time for that State. He further informed me that 
 my father lost his right to his Kentucky land by a wrong or bad entry, 
 and that he supposed that Miller, on examining the entry-book, took 
 advantage of that wrong, and took out a new right, and had a proper 
 record made. After my father's return from Kentucky, he engaged in 
 work at Mason's Furnace, and my brother William, who was then ten 
 years of age, worked along with father, except that William would go 
 to school in the winter. 
 
 BOUND FOR KENTUCKY A THIRD TIME. 
 
 After three years' laborious employment at the Furnace, my father 
 again concluded to go to the State of Kentucky, and to carry out that 
 purpose he made a sale of such property as he thought would not do to 
 remove to that State. Early in the spring of 1799, in the latter part of 
 the month of March, he removed his family to the Youghiogheny 
 River, a little distance above Connellsville, with the intention of waiting 
 for the rising of the water, that he and his family might embark for the 
 
1799.] FAMILY HISTORY. 43 
 
 State of Kentucky. Here the family stayed till May, .still expecting the 
 water to rise; but the spring season was very dry, and the river, being 
 at best a small one, kept so very low that no boats could pass down 
 that season. 
 
 THE CABIN ON THE YOUGHIOGHENY. . 
 
 After my father had removed the family into an old cabin near the 
 Youghiogheny River, above Connellsville, he took a notion to remove 
 the logs of said cabin, and re-build it farther down towards Connells- 
 ville ; for which I cannot account, as he and the family were but staying 
 just long enough until the river would rise to carry them down to Ken- 
 tucky. I remember, after the cabin was taken down, that I happened to 
 see some small pieces of a certain old coat of my father's lying strewed 
 about, and I picked them up, and preserved them as relics of bygone 
 times. And upon reflecting on the times and places which I had often 
 seen him wear that same coat on the farm on which I was born, I felt 
 my spirits sink. 
 
 This feeling was caused by the reflection that I might never again see 
 the place of my nativity; and although 1 was not yet ten years old, I 
 felt, to a very considerable degree, what is called the "blues." But, 
 notwithstanding I had a foretaste of it at so young a period, yet I have 
 been but little troubled with it through life, and that is now more than 
 fifty years since, as I am now, while writing this, two days over sixty 
 years old, — May 6, 1849. 
 
 YOUNG ROBERT ANDREW NEARLY DROWNED. 
 
 In connection with the foregoing, I must here mention a providential 
 escape which I had from drowning. After the cabin was removed, as 
 before stated, my mother sent me to a small creek, a few rods distant 
 from the cabin, to bring a small bucket of water. From recent rains 
 the little creek was much swollen, and I, being careless, dipped the 
 bucket into the running stream with a very slight hold of the pail, and 
 the rapid current jerked it out of my hand, and it was carried a consid- 
 erable way down the stream. But, fortunately, a tree had fallen across 
 the stream, and over a part of the tree the water was flowing, so that as 
 the bucket passed, it caught by the bail on a short snag, and there it 
 
44 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1799. 
 
 hung not more than five or six rods fi-om where the stream emptied 
 into the Youghiogheny River, into which, if it had gone, I never should 
 have seen it more. After the bucket left niy grasp, I hastily followed it 
 down stream, and seeing it caught on the snag, instead of passing to it 
 on the log, I stepped into the stream below the log, and down I went 
 eight or ten feet, and popped up again like a ball, and caught hold of a 
 bush on the bank, and drew myself out. I now passed on the log, and 
 got the bucket, and filled it with water, and went home to mother as 
 draggled as a rat. But, instead of her commiserating me, she got a 
 stick and wattled me well for my carelessness; but I always thought 
 this chastisement very unjust, for it was a narrow escape for me. 
 
 RE-VISITING THE OLD BIRTH-PLACE. 
 
 On Thursday, September 29, 1859, I and my wife Jane Hindman, and 
 son Thomas, with Uncle David and Aunt Martha, started after break- 
 fast, and went down to Dunbar Creek, to the spot where old Isaac 
 Mason erected his first old forge. The same property is now owned by 
 Thomas Watt, a brother of Aunt Martha Sherrard. We did not stay 
 long there, but proceeded up to the old Union Furnace, which was not 
 now in blast, but had blown out only the Monday before. But, in view- 
 ing the Union Furnace, there was nothing new to me in all its sur- 
 roundings, except that there had been vast improvements made on the 
 present furnace over and above the old Union Furnace erected in 1792, 
 and in full blast in 1794, when father took his two older sons, with me 
 and mother, and Thomas, who was a baby of nineteen or twenty months 
 old, to see the Liberty Pole raised. 
 
 I was born on the 4th of May, 1789, and we left the premises in the 
 month of March, 1799; and now I saw that all the old buildings were 
 gone from around the furnace. 
 
 And so it was when we passed on up from the furnace to the farm I 
 was born on, now owned by a family named Porter, he having married 
 a Watt, a sister of Aunt Martha Sherrard; and after purchasing that 
 farm, on which I was born. Porter named it Mount Gilboa. The old 
 dwelling that I was born in, and the cabin in which my uncle, David 
 Cathcart, lived, and also the square log house erected for the old 
 Scotch-Irish Presbyterian minister, put up the spring of 1794, — these 
 
1799.] FAMILY HISTORY. 45 
 
 were all gone, probably rotted down or pulled down and burned for 
 fire-wood; and all other improvements in which father spent his money 
 were gone. 
 
 This farm, where I was born, was a part of the original tract of 3000 
 acres which my father purchased the fall of 1773, but he retained only 
 300 acres of it after Gist had come out with the king's patent, and 
 had run his lines through the tract that my father had purchased of 
 Irvin. This farm of 300 acres he had sold to my uncle, David Cath- 
 cart, for the sum of one hundred pounds, and bought the farm of 60 
 acres, where he first settled after his marriage, and where his two oldest 
 sons were born. About the spring of 1787 he was forced to sell that 
 farm of 60 acres, and my uncle, David Cathcart, bought it. My father 
 then leased the old 300 acre tract on the mountain side from Uncle 
 David Cathcart, and lived on it for twelve years, till 1799. In the 
 mean time Uncle David Cathcart sold this farm for the sum of three 
 hundred pounds to James Wilson, and he in turn sold it to old Isaac 
 Mason for six hundred pounds cash. 
 
 THE OLD ORCHARD. 
 
 Wilson planted an apple orchard of fifty trees in 1796, and when we 
 were there the last of September, 1859, the apples on some of the old 
 trees made a good appearance, although it was sixty-three years since 
 they were planted. 
 
 And sixty years had passed around since we had moved off the old 
 farm on which I was born till I returned to pay it a visit. We took 
 dinner with Mr. Porter and family, and it is very probable I may never 
 dine again on the farm where I was born, where I have never before 
 dined since my father moved the family off the said farm, in March, 
 1799, which covers a space of sixty years and seven months. 
 
 (I well remember that visit with my father and mother to the old 
 farm when I was fourteen and a half years old, and as a matter of fact 
 father never did again revisit it. — Thomas J. Sherrard, Editor of this 
 Volume.) 
 
 It will be remembered that we had removed from the old farm in 
 March, 1799, to a cabin on the Youghiogheny, as my father expected 
 to remove his family to Kentucky as soon as the river would rise. 
 
46 THE SHERRARD EAMILY. [1799. 
 
 But as the time passed on and no hope of a rise, my father was induced 
 from the entreaties of my uncle, David Cathcart, to leave his present 
 place of abode, on the river, and move upon a farm owned by John 
 McClelland, and which had formerly been occupied by a tenant named 
 Pugh, who was obliged to leave it in consequence of his not being 
 able to pay up his rent. 
 
 Pugh was compelled to leave the ground with a crop of wheat and 
 rye and oats in it, and also twelve acres of corn planted and just up. 
 McClelland, on his part, offered my father the one-half of the corn when 
 husked, if he would take possession of the farm and work the corn, 
 and also the one-half of the hay by cutting and securing the whole. 
 My father accordingly moved the family to the farm on the 28th day 
 of May, 1799, and having arranged all his affairs as well as he could, 
 he appeared to take the best steps for a happy life that he had done 
 for many years. 
 
 THE STROKE OF PALSY. 
 
 He had just finished breaking the middles out of the corn, and early 
 on the morning of the 12th of June he had gone to McCleliand's store 
 for some articles for family use, and on his way returning, while he was 
 yet in McCleliand's Lane, he was struck with the dead palsy, which, 
 felled him from his horse, but not with a death-stroke. 
 
 The hired girl saw him fall and ran into the store and told McClel- 
 land, and he ran out and raised father up, but found that he could not 
 speak nor move the right hand or arm, leg or foot of that side. He 
 was taken into the house, and my Uncle David, with my aunt and my 
 brother David, were sent for, and in the cool of the evening he was 
 placed on a bed on a sled, and so he was conveyed home to a small, 
 poor, helpless family. 
 
 Medical aid was called in, but to little purpose ; it was ordered that 
 he should be bathed once a day for eighteen or twenty days in a tub 
 of lukewarm water, with a peck of alum salt dissolved in it. However, 
 it was three months before he recovered his speech so as to be well 
 understood, and about the same time he began to be able to use his 
 right leg and foot, so that he could get across the house floor with 
 help ; and after a little he got so that he could walk across the floor 
 with a crutch under the left arm. And in process of time he got the 
 
1800.] FAMILY HISTORY. 47 
 
 use of the leg and foot so as to walk out in the yard, and after a 
 confinement to the house and yard for almost a year, he got so that 
 he could walk to the next neighbor's house ; and in this situation, 
 without being any better or worse, he continued healthy and hearty 
 until within or about three weeks of his death, which did not take place 
 for nearly ten years afterwards, on April 22, 1809. 
 
 THE FAMILY MOVE AGAIN. 
 
 Our family continued to reside on that farm of John McClelland's 
 until April i, 1800, and then moved about half a mile to another farm 
 belonging to the same landlord, but not so large a farm, the rent of 
 which had to be paid out of the grain raised at the following rates : 
 Wheat, 3 bushels to the acre; rye, 4; oats, 5 ; and corn, 5. 
 
 This rent in many parts of the State of Ohio would be thought very 
 low ; but low as it was, the tenants were unable to pay it, for the reason 
 that the land was thin and gravelly, and old and worn out, so that it 
 was hard to make it produce grain of any kind, except rye, oats and 
 buckwheat. Wheat and corn it would produce if well manured and 
 well worked. The first summer we put in fourteen acres of corn, but 
 the summer proving dry, we had but about seventy bushels on the field, 
 and that barely sufficient to pay the rent. But the old man McClelland, 
 being of a kind and forbearing disposition, would take none of the 
 corn, but agreed to take the rent in rails and stakes made, and the 
 fences repaired. 
 
 This kept the boys employed and from eating idle bread. Five 
 shillings per hundred, or two bushels of corn, it being half a crown per 
 bushel at that time, was all the landlord would allow per hundred for 
 making and placing new rails in the ground worm, and nothing for 
 putting up the old rails on the new worm ! Too hard and too tough, — 
 this among Christians ; but do that or pay the money, and where was 
 the money to come from ? 
 
 At this time, the summer of 1800, the boys were all too young to 
 earn money. William, the eldest, was, at this time, fifteen years old ; 
 John was thirteen ; I was eleven ; and Thomas was seven. On this 
 farm we stayed for the space of about six years, — came on the 28th day 
 of May, 1799, and came off the 4th of April, 1805. 
 
48 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1805. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 1805-1810. 
 PIONEER LIFE. 
 
 IT had been decided to remove to the State of Ohio in company with 
 a neighbor, Thomas Lawson, who had sold out his farm and 
 purchased a new homestead on the waters of Wheehng Creek, in 
 Belmont County, Ohio. He was now about to move to his new home, 
 and had provided a small family boat for the purpose to pass down the 
 Youghiogheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers. My father and brother 
 John were to go with him on the said family boat, taking with them 
 nearly all the household and kitchen goods not sold at vendue the fall 
 before. 
 
 They went on board the boat at Connellsville, but the water in the 
 river being too low at the time caused a delay of some days. At length 
 it rained some, which caused a small rise in the river, of which they 
 concluded to take advantage. Accordingly they shoved off and pro- 
 ceeded down the river a few miles to the big falls, where the boat 
 grounded and stuck fast, and there the boat lay for three weeks, until 
 it rained a sufficient quantity to raise the river and float the boat off, 
 after which they passed into the Monongahela, and thence into the 
 Ohio, and in due time they landed at Warrenton, at the mouth of Indian 
 Short Creek, from whence the goods were hauled by old William 
 Sharon to the cabin on his farm. 
 
 As my father and brother John only had gone in the boat, the other 
 members of the family took their journey to the State of Ohio by land. 
 
 On the 4th day of April, 1805, my mother, my brothers William and 
 Thomas, and myself left the old neighborhood and started for Ohio, 
 taking with us three head of horses, five cattle, some bed-clothing and 
 wearing apparel. 
 
 We were escorted some distance, on our way, by several of the 
 neighbors, and also by my uncle, David Cathcart, who proceeded with 
 us as far as four miles west of Plumpsock, and then left us, but not 
 
1805.] FAMILY HISTORY. 49 
 
 until he had given us three boys a good lesson of advice and one dollar 
 in silver each. The first day, the 4th of April, we reached three miles 
 west of Brownsville, having crossed the Monongahela River at that 
 place, and having driven the five head of cow-cattle. One of the horses 
 my mother rode, the second horse carried the luggage and provisions, 
 and the third horse, being young, one of the boys would occasionally 
 ride upon it. 
 
 The second day we stopped and fed at noon at Nelly Nail's tavern, — 
 sign, a large wooden ball, — one mile west of Hillsborough, and that 
 night we stopped five miles north of Washington, on the road towards 
 Burgettstown. 
 
 On Saturday, the 6th of April, we passed through Hickory, Burgetts- 
 town, Cross-roads (now Florence), — thence west to the farm-house of old 
 Alexander Conn, — the farm which is now owned and occupied by James 
 Gardner. 
 
 This Alexander Conn v/as married to a full cousin of my mother, — 
 his wife was Mary, a daughter of Andrew Gamble, whose sister, Ann 
 Gamble, was my grandmother. Here we remained over the Sabbath, 
 and on Monday, the 8th, we proceeded west five miles to the Ohio 
 River, at the mouth of Harmon's Creek, and thence down the river, on 
 the Virginia side, as far as Charlestown (now Wellsburg), where we 
 crossed over the river to the Ohio side, and passed on down the river 
 bottom to Warrenton. Thence we proceeded out to where the town 
 of Mt. Pleasant now stands, and although that place was just recently 
 laid out as a town, it looked like no town, for there w^s but one hewed 
 log-house then built and occupied as a dwelling, which was owned by 
 old Ben Scott and kept by him as a kind of tavern. There was a second 
 hewed log-house put up, but no rafters nor roof on it yet, and this 
 house was in course of erection by a family of the name of Guthrie, and 
 also* intended for a tavern or house of entertainment. 
 
 THE NEW HOME IN OHIO IN 1805. 
 
 The timber was cut on a good many lots in this newly laid out town 
 
 of Mt. Pleasant and the brush picked, but for all that was done at that 
 
 time, it was, to all appearances, a rough place for a town. From this 
 
 place we proceeded one mile south of the town to William Ferguson's, 
 
 4 
 
50 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1805. 
 
 where we arrived, a little after dark, on that 8th day of April, 1805. 
 This William Ferguson was a full cousin of my mother, — his mother 
 was a sister of niy grandfather, Alexander Cathcart. This farm on 
 which William Ferguson then resided, and which he owned, is now 
 owned and occupied by Smiley and John Sharon, and was first taken 
 up by " tomahawk right," or that kind of improvement made which was 
 to build a cabin and deaden timber, more or less, adjoining and around 
 the cabin. .,This was the kind of improvement made by the said William 
 Ferguson in 1783, as he informed me. He came over from Ireland 
 with my uncle, David Cathcart, in 1772, and Ferguson settled first in 
 Sherman's Valley, in Pennsylvania, and shortly before 1783 he removed 
 to Washington County, on the waters of Chartiers Creek, near to the 
 town of Washington. While living there he went out to Ohio and 
 made the tomahawk improvement referred to, but he durst not move 
 nor attempt to make any further improvements until after Wayne's 
 treaty in 1794. The spring of 1796 he moved his family across to the 
 Ohio side of the river and rented a field of Zanes Kimberly, a little 
 above the mouth of the Indian Short Creek, where he remained one 
 year, and at the same time made some improvements on his land that 
 he had taken up so long before, and to this place he moved his family 
 the spring of 1797. 
 
 Here, at William Ferguson's, we stayed one full week, and during a 
 part of this time my brother William and our relative, William Fergu- 
 son, were out looking for a house and land to work. 
 
 At length they succeeded in renting from old William Sharon a cabin 
 and fifteen acres of land to put in corn, at a rent of one-third to the 
 landlord, — a very common rent. 
 
 THE WILLIAM SHARON PLACE. 
 
 We removed from Ferguson's to this cabin of Sharon's on Tuesday, 
 the i6th of April; it was three miles from Smithfield, and seven from 
 Warrenton on the Ohio River, and was situated on the ridge between 
 the waters of Short Creek and Rush Run When the family arrived 
 at the cabin Thomas was sent to Sharon's for fire, while William and 
 Robert fed the horses and cattle and prepared wood, and soon a fire 
 was built and some meat fried, the bread having been brought from 
 
1805.] FAMILY HISTORY. 51 
 
 Ferguson's. But here was a want of knives, forks and plates, but the 
 want was supphed, as the boys all had pocket-knives, with which they 
 sharpened sticks for forks and also served to cut their meat. 
 
 The next day Thomas and I went out into the fifteen-acre field and 
 began to clear it off ready for corn, while William, the same day, crossed 
 over the Ohio River to Charlestown (now Wellsburg), for the purpose 
 of purchasing flaxseed and some other necessary articles, as there was 
 no flaxseed to be found nor heard of on the Ohio side. 
 
 He called on old Alexander Crawford, an old neighbor from Fayette 
 County, but got none there ; he then called on a number of other 
 farmers, but with no better success, but, at length, he got three pecks 
 of seed from old William Dunlap, the father of Adam Dunlap, who 
 died not many years since in the town of Mount Pleasant, one of whose 
 daughters, Jane, married Cunningham Kithcart, in 1831. My brother 
 William brought home with him from Wellsburg three fin-cups, three 
 plates, three case-knives and forks, and three spoons, which he had 
 bought for use at meal time, not knowing when my father and John 
 would arrive with the boat, which, as before stated, contained the house- 
 hold and kitchen furniture. 
 
 ROBERT ANDREW AT SIXTEEN. 
 
 The same day that my brother William went over into Virginia to get 
 flaxseed, I was out in the corn-field gathering limbs and chunks, and 
 the day being somewhat warm, I sat down under the shade of an old 
 dead tree to rest, as I thought I was tired, and as I sat there musing, and 
 idling away my time, a thought struck me : Why was I thus idle ? and 
 for whom was I working when I did work ? And the conclusion was 
 that, in the long run, it was for myself Serious reflections at sixteen 
 then came into my mind, for I was now nearly that old, and this was 
 the first time in my life that I had had any proper and right con- 
 sideration on the subject. 
 
 So up I got, convinced in my own mind that I was working for 
 myself, and I went to work with new vigor, and never afterward did I 
 lounge of any consequence, until I got to milling, which proved a lazy, 
 lounging employment in dry weather. In a few days after this I went 
 to Joseph Steer's mill to get grinding done, and I went in company 
 
52 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1805. 
 
 with old William Sharon, who got the miller to weigh him, and he just 
 balanced three fifty-sixes. I then took off the weights and I just bal- 
 anced Sharon, which made my weight to be a full-grown man's weight, 
 — 1 68 pounds, — and I not quite sixteen years old. 
 
 In a day or two after this my father and John landed at Warrenton, 
 and the household goods and three barrels of flour, a barrel of corn- 
 meal and our stock of bacon were all hauled out, and thus our house 
 was furnished in some order to what it had been. 
 
 We now went to farming with more spirit and vigor, and sowed three 
 quarters of an acre of flax, and planted and then worked in time and 
 in good order fourteen acres of corn, and having some spare time we 
 cleared and fenced in a patch for potatoes and turnips, both of which 
 proved good and abundant. Besides we split rails and fenced in an acre 
 of stubble ground back of the house and sowed it with buckwheat on 
 the 20th day of August and had a good crop notwithstanding the late 
 sowing. 
 
 RATTLESNAKES. 
 
 One day in June that summer, as I was plowing corn with a fine 
 gentle-spirited mare of English breed, and had nearly finished the field, 
 the mare all at once stopped short in the corn row, and would advance 
 no farther ; the line was used to urge her onward, but she would not 
 go, but flounced from side to side, trampling down the corn. 
 
 At length I thought proper to pass to the mare's head to see what 
 was wrong with her that made her so stubborn, and behold ! there 
 about four feet from the mare's head lay a large rattlesnake, three feet 
 long and of large growth, stretched across the corn-row. Thomas 
 brought the hoe, and with one blow the head was struck off", and the 
 rattles were then pulled off" and counted to the number of thirteen, 
 which made this rattlesnake sixteen years old, as three years pass over 
 the rattlesnake without any other sign than that of a button formed at 
 the end of the tail. After the snake was removed the mare went on as 
 usual. Five years afterwards, while our family resided on their land in 
 Belmont County, I one day rode this same mare to mill in the month 
 of June, and being detained late, it was very dark before I arrived 
 home. 
 
1805.] FAMILY HISTORY. 53 
 
 When I had got within a quarter of a mile of our house, the mare 
 stopped short in the road, and would not advance one foot, and 
 although I urged her with a switch, it was all of no avail. A thought 
 struck me that there lay a rattlesnake or a copperhead, I could not tell 
 in the dark, but the mare either saw or smelled it, and I concluded to 
 avoid it, and by turning off the road into a thicket of saplings and 
 brushwood, I came into the road again and arrived home without any 
 further trouble. 
 
 Before harvest this ■ year William and John hewed sleepers and 
 puncheons, and laid a barn-floor for Thomas Burns on the next farm, 
 which brought us in several bushels of wheat after harvest. 
 
 Harvest this year, 1805, came early in this newly improved state of 
 Ohio, — none so early afterwards till the June of 1822. On the 25th day 
 of June, 1805, my brother John went and reaped a day for William 
 Chambers, who then farmed the Centreville farm, now owned by Joseph 
 MediU. 
 
 On the 8th of July, the same year, William and John went to Fayette 
 County, Pa., where they arrived on the loth, and after William had 
 made a new cradle they began the cutting of twenty-two acres of 
 wheat and a field of rye which had been sown the fall before the family 
 moved to Ohio. It was on the 12th of July that they began cutting 
 grain, and it was the last of July before they got through cutting and 
 securing our crop, and also that of Uncle David Cathcart. 
 
 I and my brother Thomas helped to cut and secure old William 
 Sharon's harvest that year, and I cut his oats with a new cradle which 
 William had made before he and John left for Fayette County. The 
 day I cut his oats Sharon had eight or nine hands cutting wheat in a 
 field back of and joining our cabin. The wheat in this field was blue stem, 
 the first of the sort I had seen, and as the ground was newly cleared 
 this first crop lay twisted and swirled in all directions, which made it 
 hard to reap. 
 
 The afternoon of this day the hands in the field became suddenly 
 alarmed by the uncommon screams and lengthy jumps of one in their 
 company, John Langly, and upon ascertaining the cause it appeared 
 that, as Langly was reaping, a large rattlesnake lay in his " through," 
 and unperceived by Langly it had made a drive at his foot or ankle 
 
54 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1S05. 
 
 and fastened its fangs, not in his flesh, but in the lower part of 
 the leg of his trousers, which were made of home-spun cotton, com- 
 mon in those days. Having driven its fangs through the cotton cloth, 
 owing to the number of b'ttle fine beards naturally placed along the 
 large crooked fangs or upper jaw teeth, when once in through the 
 cotton it could not extricate itself, and hence Langly kept dragging it 
 along, and all that the snake could do was to keep up a kind of death 
 song by aid of its rattles. Langly said afterwards that he frequently 
 heard this singing, but did not know from whence it came, and still it 
 kept singing along, singing along, until at length, as he looked behind 
 him, there close to his heel lay his singing bird in the form of a 
 rattlesnake nearly three feet long. To get clear of such company he 
 gave a sudden jump of nearly a rod and a yell or two of fright or alarm, 
 and the suddenness of the jump broke the hold of the snake's fangs 
 on the cotton and left it an easy prey to the reapers who soon dis- 
 patched him. 
 
 ANOTHER SNAKE STORY. 
 
 At evening tide, when the reapers came in to supper, after Langly 
 had finished telling me the narrow escape he had made, old James 
 Sharon, the grandfather of Smiley and John Sharon, observed : " It was 
 a merciful interposition of Providence in Langly's case, as it was once 
 in my own experience, when I lived near Carlisle, more than fifty years 
 ago. I took a hired man with me on one occasion and went up Sher- 
 man's Valley some distance to take up land by making a ' tomahawk ' 
 improvement, and after deadening a sufficient number of trees, and 
 blazing or marking the bounds of my land, the next thing was to cut 
 saplings and build a cabin according to law and the custom of the times. 
 So at it we went, on the bank of a small creek or large run which made 
 down through the land, and the first stick I attempted to cut down was 
 a small ash. 
 
 " After chopping at it for a little space I looked down to my left foot, 
 which was farthest from the tree at which I was chopping, and there 
 lay coiled round that left foot the largest rattlesnake I ever saw I 
 made one sudden spring and cleared myself of the snake ; this done I 
 turned and killed it, and counted his rattles after I had pulled them off 
 
1805.] FAMILY HISTORY. 55 
 
 and found twenty-one. And here in my case as well as yours, Langly, 
 was an interposition of Providence, or I, as well as you, would surely 
 have been bitten." " Nonsense, nonsense," rejoined one of the reapers 
 by the name of Vaughn ; " it is nonsense to talk of the intervention of 
 Providence ; Providence has nothing to do with the snakes." " You're 
 a liar and an ignorant fool too ; you know nothing about the matter, and 
 your ignorance is not excusable," said the old man Sharon, and he then 
 turned into the house and sat down. 
 
 When bed-time came, which was soon after this conversation took 
 place, the old man's daughter-in-law made beds on the floor and else- 
 where for all the hands except Vaughn, and as he was a stranger, well- 
 dressed and of genteel appearance, she allotted him to sleep with the 
 old man, and told him of the arrangement. " No," said the old man, 
 " he shall not sleep with me this night, and no other man that does not 
 believe in an overruling Providence. A man with a belief like that 
 might cut my throat in the night, and believe that Providence took no 
 notice of the transaction, so you may put him where you please ; he 
 shall not sleep with me." And so the matter ended by the daughter- 
 in-law having to make a bed on the floor for Vaughn. Thomas and I 
 went over home that night, but when we returned the next morning 
 Mrs. Sharon told us the circumstances of the night before. 
 
 A VISIT FROM Two UNCLES. 
 
 In the early part of July that year I went over to help old William 
 Ferguson for a week to cut and secure his wheat crop, and left Thomas 
 at home to see to father and mother. While I was employed that week 
 at William Ferguson's to my surprise, it being unlocked for, here came 
 my mother and her two brothers — Uncle David Cathcart, from Fayette 
 County, Pa., and Uncle Andrew Cathcart, from the township of Butter- 
 nuts, Otsego County, N. Y., on a visit to their cousin, William P'erguson, 
 and his family. 
 
 They staid but one night at Ferguson's, and the next day after dinner 
 mother and her two brothers left for our home on Sharon's farm, and 
 mother not being well acquainted with the road, kept up the Dry Fork 
 of Short Creek, past the turning off place, and she and her two brothers 
 got lost. As night was approaching they became somewhat alarmed, 
 
56 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1805. 
 
 as the country thereabouts was nothing but great hills and great hollows, 
 and at that time but few settlers. At length they came to a cabin some 
 considerable distance up the left hand Dry Fork, occupied by one 
 Robert McCain. It then being completely dark and they completely 
 lost, they pressed McCain to act as their guide, nor would they let him 
 off until they were safe arrived home, which was not till some time 
 after night; and for this service my Uncle Andrew gave him fifty 
 cents, of which McCain boasted to me afterwards. 
 
 A boy's ingenuity. 
 
 During that fall while we were still living on Sharon's land, my 
 brother Thomas, who was at that time only twelve and a half years old, 
 conceived the idea of erecting a rude kind of turning-lathe. This he 
 did by placing a long pole horizontally, the small end of which he 
 fastened with a long, strong thong of well-dressed buckskin. He had 
 a bench with two upright heads ; into each head he inserted a point, 
 such as is commonly used in other turning lathes, and instead of a 
 wheel, he wrapped the buckskin thong round the stick of timber which 
 was to be turned. To the lower end of the thong a flat stick was 
 fastened in lieu of a treadle-board for the foot to operate on. This, by 
 treading down, brought the spring pole down, which turned the piece 
 of timber with a quick motion round against the gouge or chisel; the 
 foot being raised let the spring-pole back to its place, and in this man- 
 ner cheap turning-lathes were generally erected west of the mountains, 
 and thousands of split-bottomed chairs were turned off, they being the 
 only chairs commonly used for the first fifty years am.ong the western 
 settlers. 
 
 Accordingly, after he had erected his lathe, the first article that 
 Thomas turned on it was a beetle, which was an implement in early 
 times that belonged, and might be found in almost every cabin west of 
 the mountains, and had its use, but is now laid aside generally I believe. 
 
 The next article which Thomas turned was a mush-stick, — this he 
 also presented to his mother. He ne.xt turned heads for two or three 
 broken spools belonging to his mother's little spinning-wheel, and 
 after that he got to making new spools and new fliers for little spinning- 
 wheels for the neighbors. 
 
1805.] FAMIL Y HISTOR V. 57 
 
 WILLIAM SHARON AS A LANDLORD. 
 
 By December of that year William Sharon notified us that he could 
 not give us land on his farm any more to work after the first of next 
 April, and we bargained with Richard Hall to work ten acres on his 
 farm a mile distant, to which we were to move the spring of 1806. 
 
 During that season we had done considerable work for our landlord, 
 for which we were paid according to the contract ; we hewed and 
 relaid the floor with puncheons in the cabin, and built the chimney with 
 sticks and clay from the crook-pole above the roof; we cleared and 
 fenced one and a half acres for potatoes and turnips ; we also made and 
 put up 350 new rails to fence off an acre for turnips; we built a snug 
 stable and made clap-boards and covered it, all for the use one season. 
 
 That fall season of 1805 was certainly the most mild, pleasant and 
 beautiful fall I ever remember to have seen. 
 
 In the latter part of November and the principal part of December 
 there would be a heavy white frost in the morning ; the sun would 
 rise clear and shine all day comfortably warm, with no cloudy, cool and 
 drizzling weather, and it proved a dry, beautiful Indian summer. 
 
 There was, however, a poor chance to get grinding done at the 
 water-mills, but a fine chance for the horse-mills, which were plenty 
 all abroad in the land at this time. After William and John had 
 finished making shingles, and had done some other carpenter work, 
 they started on the morning of December 23, 1805, to Fayette County 
 for the purpose of threshing and making sale of the crop of wheat 
 and rye which they had cut and secured the harvest previous. 
 
 The threshing had to be performed by treading the grain out with 
 horses, and they spent nearly two months before the grain was got 
 ready for market. Our share of the wheat was eighty bushels, for 
 which they got one dollar per bushel, paid in silver dollars, as there 
 were no banks in those days west of the mountains. They got seventy- 
 five cents a bushel for the rye, and all together they brought home 
 over 5100. 
 
58 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1806. 
 
 EARLY METHODS OF EDUCATION. 
 
 During the time that winter that William and John were away, I and 
 Thomas were at home, and during the hard weather had little to do. 
 But our work was to chop wood and keep up good fires in the cabin, 
 so as to keep father and mother and ourselves warm and comfortable, 
 and to feed the small amount of stock we then had on hand. 
 
 During the cold weather and after night we would employ ourselves 
 in studying Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, which was an improvement 
 of the faculties not lost on us in after years. It was not so much time 
 idly wasted or thrown away, as many do in idle musings or vain chit- 
 chat, or worse, time wasted in other ways. 
 
 I remember one cold day I was busied ciphering over sums already 
 worked in a book called "The Young Man's Best Companion," pub- 
 lished in London, when in came old Matthias Conner, and as he was 
 an old Irish gchool-master, he asked me what work that was, and I 
 replied that it was Fisher's " Young Man's Best Companion." " No 
 such thing," said he ; " it is the young man's worst companion, and you 
 are losing your time with it. Throw it away and come over to my 
 house, and I'll lend you Goff, and show you how to use it, and if you 
 can work Goff, you can work any other Arithmetic afterward." I took 
 old Connor's advice, and went over and borrowed his " Goff" and 
 worked it to the Rule of Three, and never to this day regretted the 
 time I spent at it. 
 
 MAKING MAPLE SUGAR. 
 
 When the weather was moderate during that winter I and Thomas 
 employed ourselves making one hundred and fifty sugar troughs to be 
 used in a new sugar-camp on Benjamin Brocaw's land, nearly a mile 
 from home, on the farm next to Sharon's land. We were to have the 
 privilege of making sugar at said camp, with the free use of all the 
 fire-wood needed to boil down the sugar-water, all for the troughs. 
 These troughs and the spiles we had all prepared ready to tap the 
 trees as soon as the sugar season should come, which it did that year 
 about the 1st of February. We tapped loo sugar trees, cut wood, 
 collected the sugar-water and boiled it down to a strong syrup ; then 
 
1806.J FAMILY HISTORY. 59 
 
 carried it home and mother strained it and clarified it with eggs and 
 milk, and stirred it off. 
 
 But this first sugar season lasted only about two weeks, during which 
 time we made over lOO pounds. The weather then became too warm 
 for sugar making, and was so mild that the peach trees all came out in 
 bloom by the 20th of February ; but by March 1st it turned cold again. 
 
 After the winter cleared away, a second sugar season came on which 
 proved to be better than the first, and now that William and John had 
 arrived home from Fayette County I was relieved somewhat from 
 sugar-making, — a work which I did not like. William employed him- 
 self during the month of March making sleds at two dollars each, and 
 I assisted him, as there was a great demand in this new country for 
 them, there being scarcely any such thing as a wagon or cart to be 
 seen. Old William Sharon had a good wagon, and except his I knew 
 of no other for five miles around, but sleds were all the go. There 
 were no such things as sleighs in this new country at this time, and 
 people enjoyed themselves riding upon a sled to meeting on a good 
 snow, or in paying visits, — more so than they now can do on the most 
 fashionable sleigh. 
 
 It was my part to hunt good trees to form the runners for the sleds ; 
 to cut out the root, and cut off the stock eight feet from the place 
 marked for the roller. 
 
 I then helped William to split the stick ; this we did by sawing the 
 root down to the straight part of the log ; we then drove in wedges 
 and split it in two. William then scored and hewed out the runners, 
 and put all the parts together, while I went and looked out and cut 
 another tree suitable for runners. 
 
 THE C.\PTIN.\ F.\RM PURCHASED. 
 
 Some time in March, 1806, William took eighty dollars of the money 
 he got for the wheat and rye and traveled into the southwest part of 
 Belmont County and sought out a quarter section of land, and then 
 went to the Government Land Office at Marietta and entered it. 
 
 This land was seven miles south of Morristown, on the head waters 
 of Captina Creek, fifteen miles a little south of west of St. Clairsville, 
 
60 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1806. 
 
 and five miles east of Barnesville, and it was a good quarter section 
 of land. 
 
 It was the N. W. quarter of Section 19, Township 7 (Goshen) and 
 Range 5. 
 
 The entry money was eighty dollars ; then two years after the second 
 instalment of eighty dollars ; the third year the third instalment of 
 eighty dollars ; the fourth year the fourth instalment of eighty dollars, 
 and if the purchaser could not complete his payments in four years, 
 the Government gave a fifth year of indulgence. Money was uncom- 
 monly scarce for several years after we settled in Ohio, even up to the 
 breaking out of the war with Great Britain, in 18 12. It was with hard 
 scraping and hard living and hard working, and with the strictest 
 economy, that we four young men could support ourselves with rough 
 wholesome food and rough homespun clothes, and scrape together the 
 eighty dollars for the second payment in the two years allowed by law. 
 And if we went to preaching at any time we went in home-spun clothes 
 and coarse shoes made by brother John. 
 
 William was treasurer and manager, and so saving was he of all cash 
 he could scrape together for making the payments on the said quarter 
 section of land, that he would not suffer me to pay out a si.xpence 
 for paper to improve myself in writing, which was a miserable scrawl 
 at that time. 
 
 CLOSE CALCULATIONS. 
 
 In June, 1806, I was sent to Fayette County, Pa , to my Uncle David 
 Cathcart's for the wool off some sixteen or eighteen sheep left there 
 when we had moved the year before. 
 
 William made a neat calculation of my expenses by the way going 
 and coming; so much for crossing the Ohio River twice, the Monon- 
 gahela twice, and two nights' lodging, one going and one coming. In 
 crossing the Ohio River I had to pay ferriage both ways, but not so 
 at the Monongahela ; it was fordable, and I risked it for the purpose 
 of saving a fip going and the same coming, which was the lawful 
 ferriage at that time. However, in the course of a year the law allowed 
 all ferries on the Monongahela twelve and a half cents, but one Kreps 
 started a ferry above the mouth of Dunlap's Creek in opposition to old 
 
1806.] FAMILY HISTORY. 61 
 
 Gillespie's ferry, opposite to Brownsville, which brought the ferriage 
 back to a fip for man and horse. 
 
 I made for old Shewster's tavern, six miles east of Washington, both 
 going and returning. I took no supper at the tavern, but being well 
 supplied with cakes in my saddle-bags, I ate freely of them, morning, 
 noon and night, before I stopped at the tavern, where I got my horse 
 put in pasture for a fip, and got a bed for myself for another fip. I 
 had besides to pay for a gallon of oats at noon for the horse. By this 
 means I saved about fifty cents of the money so sparingly issued out 
 for my expenses. With twenty-five cents I purchased a quire of paper 
 on my return home at Fetter's store in Charlestown (now Wellsburg). 
 With this quire of paper I improved my handwriting, and transcribed 
 " Medical Cures " from a work by John Wesley, which he had written 
 for the use of the Methodist Church, called " Primitive Physic." I also 
 transcribed a number of scraps of poetry. 
 
 THE RICHARD HALL FARM. 
 
 As before mentioned, old William Sharon had, in due time, given 
 us notice that we could have no land to work the summer of 1806 on 
 his premises ; we therefore had to look out some place to go to by the 
 first of April. 
 
 It so happened that Richard Hall, a young single man from Balti- 
 more County, Md., had come out the fall season before, and was 
 boarding through the winter at Sharon's, and with full purpose of 
 having a quarter of land improved which his father had given him about 
 a mile from Sharon's, and two miles south of Smithfield. For that 
 purpose he got the rough hull of a cabin put up and employed a 
 William Milton to clear ready for the plow ten acres of new land. To 
 this new farm in the woods Hall invited our attention by offering us 
 pay for making rails to fence the ten acres. Milton was to clear and 
 we were to work the ground, and give him the one-third of the corn 
 and grain raised. We were to make and put up 2200 rails at one 
 dollar per hundred, and he was to pay us cash. 
 
 We accordingly acceded to his proposals, and by the first of April, 
 1806, we were prepared to move. 
 
62 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1806. 
 
 THOMAS CUTS HIS FOOT. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 1st of April the family were all up early 
 to make preparations to move to Richard Hall's land. Thomas was 
 sent out to cut some wood to cook the breakfast, and while he was 
 chopping the axe touched a log which projected from the chimney, and 
 glanced off and struck the ankle-joint of his left foot and cut it half off, 
 which caused him to fall to the ground as if he had been shot. William 
 was standing a few feet nearer him than I was and immediately picked 
 him up, and carried him into the house and laid him on the floor. 
 
 I noticed as William carried him in that the cut foot hung straight 
 down in a line parallel with the leg, all the front leaders being cut off. 
 As soon as William laid him on the floor he placed the foot in its right 
 position, taking care to bring the edges of the wound as close together 
 as possible. He at the same time called on mother to give him a large 
 sized needle with a silk thread in it ; this being done, he closed the 
 wound by putting four or five stitches in the skin, taking hold on either 
 side of the cut. 
 
 Mother by this time had a sufficient quantity of lint scraped with a 
 knife from some part of an old linen rag; the lint she wet with cam- 
 phor and laid on the cut and then laid on a portion of wood soot mixed 
 with sugar. 
 
 Thus prepared, William then bound it up, taking care to brace the 
 foot with bandages so as to keep it to its right place. Thomas was 
 then lifted and laid on a bed with a pillow under his foot and another 
 under his leg. 
 
 I stood and looked on while William performed the surgical operation 
 and dressed and bandaged the foot, the sight of which made me very 
 sick, perhaps as much so as Thomas who had to bear the pain. Indeed 
 he bore it manfully for a boy only thirteen years of age, but it is said 
 that where a cut or wound bleeds freely the warm blood deadens the 
 pain, and his cut bled freely till well wrapped up with cloths and band- 
 ages. The bed on which Thomas lay was lifted with him on it and 
 placed on a sled on which he was hauled over to the cabin on Hall's 
 farm, where the bed was carried in and placed on a bedstead. 
 
 The cut was washed once each day, and a poultice of slippery elm 
 
1806.] FAMILY HISTORY. 63 
 
 bark well pounded, and for a short time soaked in cold water, was 
 applied twice each day over the lint, which was wet each dressing with 
 a little camphorated spirits. This was the poultice and common mode 
 of dressing this bad cut, which was thus attended to for the space of 
 two months ; after that time a salve was used, but it required better 
 than three months before Thomas could walk about, and then only by 
 the use of crutches. 
 
 I remember it was in harvest, in the month of July, that Thomas was 
 able to walk about a little with his crutches. Although the cut was 
 such a bad one, yet in the course of time a knotty substance grew out 
 of and over the cut sinews, leaders or ligaments, which connected the 
 foot to the leg at the ankle. This held the foot firm and to its place, 
 and gave strength to the parts so that in the course of a year Thomas 
 could walk without a halt, and as fast as ever he could walk, and he 
 could endure the fatigue of walking and labor without feeling any 
 detriment from having his foot almost cut off. 
 
 MAKING RAILS. 
 
 After moving to Hall's farm the first object was to cut and split rails 
 sufficient to fence in the ten acres of new ground which was intended 
 for corn. For this purpose we three that were able went to work. 
 William or John would cut down a white or black oak, and each cut off 
 a log, and while they were thus employed I would cut down a tree, 
 and chop a log half or whole off, according as the tree was larger or 
 smaller. This much being done, John chopped away all day, and Wil- 
 liam and I went into splitting rails, and daily we each split three hundred 
 rails of good size ; and John, with such start as we gave him, daily kept 
 us in rail-timber ready for splitting. 
 
 At this rate, in one week we made sufficient rails to fence the ten 
 acres all round, and some rails left. 
 
 After we had cut and secured our fifteen acres of wheat raised on 
 Sharon's farm, which we cut and stacked without the use of whiskey, a 
 very uncommon performance in those days, except amongst the Quakers 
 and an odd solitary Methodist, William and John betook themselves to 
 carpenter work, to shingle a double barn for Thomas Fleming, and when 
 that was done they had to split and hew puncheons and relay his barn floor. 
 
64 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1806. 
 
 Richard Hall, who owned the farm on which we had moved that 
 spring, took boarding in our family from the time we moved, the first 
 week in April, till the November following, at ^i a week. He was a 
 single man at that time, and did not marry till the year 1812, when he 
 married a girl by the name of Gosagh, of respectable family in Baltimore 
 County, Md. He undertook to clear five acres of new land that we 
 might seed it with wheat in the fall, but he was so lazy and indolent, 
 and so little accustomed to labor that he worked at it only by fits and 
 starts, so that by the close of October he had not completed the five 
 acres, and we had to turn in and finish it ready for the plow. We had 
 also to make the rails and put them up, but we got it sown with wheat 
 and finished it the 28th of October. 
 
 RICHARD HALL TAKES FRENCH LEAVE. 
 
 In the early part of November that year Richard Hall left us without 
 letting us know he was going away. Some relative of his who lived 
 over in western Virginia had a boat loaded with flour and other pro- 
 duce ready for a trading trip to New Orleans. Richard thought proper 
 to take a passage for New Orleans, and from thence he shipped round 
 to Baltimore, and was soon at his father's, who lived only fifteen miles 
 out from that city. 
 
 Shortly after he arrived at his father's he wrote to us giving us some 
 account of his tardy passage down the river to New Orleans, which 
 took thirty-nine days. This letter gave us the first intimation of where 
 he had been, or where he was, but the worst of it was no money in 
 letter. 
 
 This money we had earned by work done to the cabin, to provide 
 floor, roof, chunking and daubing the same before it was fit for a dwell- 
 ing; also the work performed in making so many rails and putting 
 them up, and also in building a new log stable and erecting a threshing- 
 floor. Besides all this, we had boarded him a good part of the sum- 
 mer, although he was occasionally away for two or three days at a 
 time, and his excuse at such times was that he was out on courting 
 excursions. 
 
 In his letter above-mentioned, he required us to sell his corn and 
 give him credit, as by the contract he was to have the one-third of the 
 
1807.] FAMILY HISTORY. 65 
 
 corn husked and delivered to him at the heap, and one-third of the 
 wheat deHvered in the shock, which was a very common way of renting 
 land in those early days all abroad in the settlements west of the moun- 
 tains. We felt wrathy and very much disappointed by Dick's conduct ; 
 we looked for the money according to his promise, which he made 
 under false pretences, for he told us that his father was to send him 
 money ; but he knew at the time he made the promise that he had no 
 money coming from his father. And yet we were in great need of the 
 money, for our object was to secure as much as would pay the second 
 instalment on our land at Captina. 
 
 Hall further wrote to us to clear out another ten-acre field and fence 
 it, and he would pay us four dollars an acre for clearing, and one dollar 
 per hundred for making rails and putting them up around said field, 
 and that he would be out in the spring and bring us the money. 
 
 But the spring and fall of 1807 came, and no Dick and no money. 
 But he wrote again in the fall to sell his share of the wheat and corn, 
 and give him credit for the money so obtained, and we did as directed ; 
 but the sum obtained was small, as his share of the crops was small, 
 and the price of the wheat and corn so small, it being now the fall sea- 
 son of 1807, right under the pressure of the Embargo Act of Con- 
 gress. 
 
 When the winter broke, William employed himself at various jobs of 
 carpenter work, for which he sometimes received a little money, but 
 mostly trade. 
 
 John and Thomas attended to making sugar as long as the season 
 lasted, which in most cases was till the ist of April, and this sugar 
 season of 1807 John stirred off a large cake of sugar the 9th day of 
 April. I helped sometimes in the sugar-making, but did not like the 
 employment, and would rather do any other kind of work. 
 
 I quit it before the season was out, and never made any sugar after- 
 wards. I went to chopping and splitting rails as soon as the snow was 
 gone, and could make one hundred and fifty rails a day. I then girdled 
 the trees and chopped off the old logs ready for rolling on the ten acres 
 of new ground, and I afterwards grubbed the same ten acres at the rate 
 of an acre each day. 
 
G6 THE SHERRARD EAMILY. [1807. 
 
 AN ATTACK OF INFLUENZA. 
 
 About the first of June, this year of 1807, I went and helped Ren 
 Stevens to finish clearing and planting a piece of new ground, which 
 took me three days' work, and the last day I nearly gave out. I felt 
 weak and bad, but could not tell what ailed me. That evening I went 
 home, and the next day I had head-ache and fever ; and as I was not 
 able to work, I was sent to watch the birds and squirrels off the corn, 
 which was now up and growing in our new field. But as this was the 
 season for the squirrels to migrate from the West to the East, they 
 were very troublesome on our corn, and destroyed a great deal. 
 
 But I felt so badly for two or three days that I did not bestir myself 
 around the field enough to keep the squirrels out. I found out after- 
 wards what ailed me; it is what is now called the "Tyler Grip," which 
 is no other than a bad attack of the influenza, and that was the first time 
 I ever had it. Although I have had frequent attacks of it since, one of 
 the worst was in January, 1826, while I was on a visit to my Brother 
 David's in Fayette County, Pa. When I arrived home from that trip, I 
 found my family and Uncle John's all well ; but, in one week after that, 
 they of both families took the influenza, and had a very severe spell of 
 it for one week; only my mother escaped the epidemic. The influenza 
 of that January of 1826 was a very general epidemic complaint. The 
 newspapers spoke of its appearance first in the extreme northeastern 
 part of the United States, and in a few weeks it had reached New 
 Orleans, in the extreme Southwest. In many instances the influenza of 
 that period proved of fatal consequence to a great number of persons of 
 weakly constitution ; it so affected the system as to bring on consump- 
 tion, which ended their days in one or two years at most. My third 
 attack was in January, 1843, when I sat writing that day all day in the 
 house, as it was a day not fit to do any out-door work. It stormed and 
 snowed nearly all day, and I felt as well as usual till after twelve 
 o'clock, noon, at which time the influenza made its attack on me, which 
 altered the state of my feelings in a very short time, and it held its grip 
 on my system for three weeks. I have not had any severe attack of 
 influenza since the one just mentioned, although sometimes I have been 
 slightly affected with it. 
 
1800-1810.] FAMILY HISTORY. 67 
 
 But I can assert from experience that if any person, male or female, 
 has had one bad attack of influenza, they may rest assured that they 
 will be subject to its attacks frequently through life. But, before closing 
 these remarks on the subject, I would record the fact that the influenza 
 of January 15th, 1843, was general all over the United States, like that 
 of January, 1826, and had the name given to it by some wag, who 
 called it the " Tyler Grip," and as a twit on John Tyler, who was then 
 President. (Much like "la grippe" this winter of 1889-90. — T. J. S.) 
 
 The next year, 1808, William and John, with my assistance, scored 
 and hewed a set of logs for a double barn for Robert Greenlee, and also 
 hewed the frame timber and framed the same. We split the weather- 
 boards and shingles, and shaved the same, and drove them on, so as to 
 complete the building of a house a story and a half high, which was 
 twenty-four by thirty-two feet square, for old James Carr, the proprietor 
 of the town of Smithfield, for the sum of seventy-si.x dollars, one-half in 
 cash, and the balance in trade. 
 
 However, I did not work any at this last job; but I and Thomas 
 stayed at home and did the farming. 
 
 EARLY CHURCHES IN OHIO. 
 
 The first pioneer settlers cared nothing about a preached gospel, had 
 there been preaching within their reach, which was not the case for 
 some few years after Wayne's Treaty with the Indians in 1794, until set- 
 tlers of a better order came in among them. Their Sabbaths were 
 mostly spent hunting or visiting their own sort. 
 
 Hence, to form a congregation out of these wild pioneers, was out of 
 the question, until they moved off farther West, and their places were 
 filled by others from the older settlements, who cared more for a 
 preached gospel and for the dispensation of its ordinances. 
 
 The stream of emigration into Ohio increased very rapidly after the 
 opening of the Land Offices in 1801, and from 1802, particularly in Jef- 
 ferson County, it now became necessary to form congregations and 
 religious societies, the material to compose which consisted principally 
 of Presbyterians and Methodists. For although there was considerable 
 of other material, at the same time it was not of the right sort out of 
 which to form religious societies. Such material consisted of a remnant 
 
68 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1800-1810. 
 
 of the old pioneers that still lingered amongst those of a more civilized 
 and religious order, and these pioneers had not been raised up to any 
 religious worship; and although many of them would attend religious 
 meetings, yet it was hard to bring them into membership in any 
 religious society. The Presbyterians who first settled in Jefferson 
 County, Ohio, and the surrounding border counties, were principally 
 from the four western counties of Pennsylvania, — Fayette, Washington, 
 Westmoreland and Allegheny. 
 
 A few Methodists came across the mountains and settled in Western 
 Pennsylvania as early as 1788; but at the time of the first settlement of 
 Eastern Ohio, the Methodists flocked in from Maryland and Delaware, 
 and many new classes were formed from 1800 and onward, and many 
 new converts were made and taken into the classes, principally from the 
 old pioneers. 
 
 The Quakers commenced settlements at and around Mt. Pleasant and 
 Smithfield at an early period, — some few in 1800, and onward. Their' 
 numbers increased rapidly by emigration as well as by births ; for it 
 must be kept in mind that all the Quaker children enjoy the right of 
 membership by birthright. This increase continued up to 1826, at 
 which time, at their Yearly Meeting the first week of September of that 
 year, a great split took place in their church at Mount Pleasant, and 
 afterwards in all other places where the Quakers had societies 
 formed. 
 
 The one party styled themselves the Orthodox, and the other was 
 called the Hicksites. And I would just now observe that it is worthy of 
 notice that from ever that split took place, Quakerism in both bodies 
 declined, and is now far from being in that flourishing condition it was 
 forty or fifty years since. And to help on to the further decline, the 
 Orthodox Quakers, at their Yearly Meeting, held in Mount Pleasant the 
 first week in September, 1857, split again, each party taking the name of 
 their leader — the Gurneyites and the Wilberites. 
 
 PRESBYTERIANISM. 
 
 The town of Steubenville was laid out in February, 1797, and in June, 
 1799, the Rev. James Snodgrass preached to the people of Steubenville. 
 The P'irst Presbyterian Church of Steubenville was organized in 1801, 
 
1800-1810.] FAMILY HISTORY. G9 
 
 and the first place of preaching was the Grove, near Wolcott's factory. 
 Mr. Snodgrass was their first pastor. 
 
 In August, 1802, the Rev. John Rhea came over from Westmoreland 
 County, Pa., and stopped with old Mr. Welsh near Beech Spring, and 
 for the first time preached to the early settlers of that place, and formed 
 and organized the churches of Beech Spring and Crab Apple. He be- 
 came pastor of both churches, but in due time Beech Spring took him 
 for his whole time at a salary of $450, and he was content to take that 
 amount up to the time he gave up the congregation, as old age set in on 
 him. It may hereafter be asked how Mr. Rhea could raise and support 
 a large family on so small a salary, and the answer is that he could not 
 have done it but he had in addition the proceeds of a fine farm, which he 
 had purchased at a cheap rate in early times. And then his wife was 
 such an economist and so industrious that she, although a very homely 
 woman, was a fortune to the man who obtained her in marriage. 
 
 In 1800 the Rev. Joseph Anderson took charge of two congregations, 
 — the one at or near St. Clairsville, and the other a newly-formed con- 
 gregation on the Little Fork of Short Creek, two or three miles south- 
 east of Mount Pleasant. This latter congregation convened in a tent 
 during the dry summer weather, and had a rough log-house for winter 
 and rainy weather. I have seen many Presbyterian meeting-houses 
 which had been constructed in early times west of the mountains, but 
 the one above mentioned was the most rough and poorly constructed I 
 ever saw. 
 
 If it rained it would do for the congregation to retire into to keep 
 themselves dry, but it was not suited to have preaching in in the cold 
 winter months, as it had no fire-place nor stove to keep the people warm. 
 
 But in the course of a few years, as the old tent and the old meeting- 
 house began to decay, it was thought best not to rebuild on Little Fork, 
 and it was agreed to remove the place of preaching up on the ridge, a 
 mile nearer to Mount Pleasant, where for a time they obtained the use of 
 the Associate Reformed Meeting-house ; but afterwards the congregation 
 removed the place of worship into the town of Mount Pleasant, and after 
 using the Seceder Meeting-house there for a time, they succeeded in 
 building a substantial brick church. 
 
70 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [lSOO-1810. 
 
 PSALM-SIXGING BIGOTRY. 
 
 I cannot help noticing a little incident that took place while the re- 
 building of their church was in progress ; for the original brick church 
 was torn down in 1854 and a modern church erected. The trustees ob- 
 tained leave of the two only remaining members of that once-flourishing 
 Seceder Church to hold worship there until their own would be com- 
 pleted and fit for use ; but it so happened that they had worshipped only 
 two Sabbaths when the two old bigoted Seceders locked up the meeting- 
 house and gave notice that the Presbyterians could not have the use of 
 their house of worship any more unless they would use David'5 Psalms 
 and no other, for they considered it a desecration of the house of God to 
 have Watts' " Psalms and Hymns " sung in it. They troubled the Se- 
 ceder Meeting-house no more, but obtained the use of the Protestant 
 Methodist Church until their own was completed. 
 
 THE BAPTIST.S. 
 
 About the close of last century, before the formation of the Ohio 
 State Constitution, a small colony of old regular Baptists from New 
 Jersey came out and settled between Rush Run and Short Creek. In 
 due time they built a suitable house of worship of hewed logs and a 
 shingled roof They had brought with them their own preacher in the 
 person of Enoch Martin, a man much beloved and respected by all who 
 knew him, but after his death in a few years the congregation never 
 after flourished. 
 
 METHODISM. 
 
 In filling up the space between Steubenville and Little Short Creek 
 the Methodists, principally from Maryland and Delaware, settled on 
 the Warren Ridge and along the hills of Rush Run. They formed a 
 class on Warren Ridge under the direction of old Samuel Conaway and 
 Joshua Howard, and by the year 1802 the class was so far strengthened 
 as to be able to build a square hewed log meeting-house, and that place 
 of worship was called Hopewell. It is situated on the ridge between 
 Rush Run and Short Creek, and but little, if any, over three miles out 
 west from the Ohio River. It is about fourteen miles from Steuben- 
 
1800-1810.] FAMILY HISTORY. 71 
 
 ville, and in a direct line southwest from Steubenville to the Presby- 
 terian Meeting-house on Little Short Creek, and about eight miles 
 from the last named place, where the Rev. Joseph Anderson first 
 organized a Presbyterian Church. This Hopewell Church was in its 
 most flourishing condition during the first fifteen or twenty years of 
 its existence. It began to decline from a variety of causes, one of which 
 was the forming of a new class on Rush Run by one, Charles Lukins, 
 a weaver by trade from Maryland, and in 1822 his class built a meeting- 
 house of rough hewed logs, and called it Good Intent. It was too 
 close to Hopewell, being not over a mile and a half away, but for awhile 
 there was no class leader to keep up a class at Hopewell. 
 
 The Methodists of that day did not consider education to be essential 
 to qualify a man to preach the gospel ; they said if he was converted 
 and called to preach, he would and could preach whether educated 
 or not. 
 
 But a great change has taken place among the Methodists in that 
 respect, as well as in many others, such as the improvement of the voice 
 by the study of vocal music and the practice of it, — in the introduction 
 of choirs and the melodeon in some of the churches, and there has 
 been a great change in regard to their dress. Half a century ago the 
 elderly and middle-aged men among the Methodists all wore the low- 
 crowned hat with a broad brim, and a shad-bellied coat, much after the 
 fashion of a Quaker coat, and their women wore generally a long scoop 
 black silk bonnet, plain, without any gay trimmings, plain dress and 
 no ear-rings, nor any kind of ornaments, but such as women should 
 wear professing the gospel of Christ. 
 
 RELIGION AND THE CUT OF A MAN'S COAT. 
 
 But a great change has come round as respects the dress of the 
 Methodist men and women for the last quarter of a century, so much 
 so, that it would be hard at this time, November 21, i860, to distinguish 
 a Methodist man or woman from those of any other denomination. 
 
 At the time the Rev. Mr. Bascom preached on the Pittsburgh circuit, 
 in 1826, he had previous to coming on that circuit adopted the straight 
 coat, which was then all the fashion. After preaching for some time 
 in Pittsburgh he became a very popular preacher, and it so happened 
 
72 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1800-1810. 
 
 that among his admirers there was an elderly Methodist, a wealthy 
 dry-goods merchant, who had, with many other old members, long 
 worn the old-fashioned shad-bellied coat. This old merchant brought 
 his tailor to his store, and ordered him to cut off as much from the 
 finest piece of broad-cloth as would make a neat, first-rate shad-bellied 
 coat, which he intended to make a present of to preacher Bascom, 
 adding that he did not believe it became a Methodist preacher to wear 
 such a fashionable coat as Mr. Bascom did. In due time the coat was 
 made and sent home to the merchant, after which he took the oppor- 
 tunity to invite preacher Bascom to dine with him, at which time he 
 handed the new coat to Mr. Bascom, saying that it was a present, and 
 that he wished him to wear it, as that fashionable coat that he did wear 
 did not become a Methodist preacher. Mr. Bascom took the coat in 
 his hand, turned it and looked at it, and handed it back, barely observ- 
 ing that HIS RELIGION DID NOT LIE IN THE CUT OF HIS COAT. And oh, 
 
 how true ! Religion ought to lie somewhere else than in the cut of 
 the coat, or shape of the bonnet, or the singing of Rouse's Version of 
 David's Psalms, or the signing of the old musty Scotch Covenant 
 of 1688. 
 
 SHOUTING METHODISTS. 
 
 Among other changes among the Methodists is to be noticed the 
 fact that they have, in a great measure, left off shouting, which was so 
 common, and carried on to a ridiculous extent amongst them fifty 
 years ago. 
 
 In olden times scarcely a meeting for public worship could be held 
 without some one, and that one generally a female, who would start 
 the shouting operation going. 
 
 And as if by some sympathy it would soon .spread from one to 
 another, until it would soon become general, especially at quarterly and 
 camp meetings. At these meetings men of the lower order would take 
 part in shouting, and I have observed that the preachers of these good 
 old times understood how to start the shouting and how to stop it at 
 pleasure. I recollect being at a camp-meeting held by the Methodists 
 the 19th of June, 1825, about eleven miles from Circleville, Ohio. I 
 arrived on the ground just before dinner, and after dinner the horn was 
 blown and all who wished to hear collected in front of the preacher's 
 
1800-1810.] FAMILY HISTORY. 73 
 
 stand. An old gray-headed man, long in the service of the Methodists, 
 for I knew him in 1807, when he rode the Cross Creek Circuit, by the 
 name of Ellis, presented himself on the stand seated on a chair, from 
 which he delivered a most excellent discourse. But, like many others, 
 he could not think of stopping when he was done, but rose to his feet 
 and clapped his hands, and shouted, and said that some people said 
 that daddy Ellis could not preach, but, glory to God, daddy Ellis can 
 preach. And thus he went on, stepping from side to side of the stand, 
 clapping his hands, talking and shouting glory to God, and this he did 
 some time, but not very long, for he soon started in different directions 
 on the camp ground, both men and women, to shout aloud, and this was 
 continued for some time, until Mr. Jones, the Presiding Elder, thought 
 it prudent to put a stop to it by blowing the horn that he might preach 
 to the people. 
 
 It took but a blast or two until all the shouting ceased, and Mr. Jones 
 had peace and quiet to preach. 
 
 This and many other instances of like kind, which came under my 
 notice in bygone days, convinced me that the preachers could start 
 certain peisons to shout and stop it at pleasure. 
 
 Thomas Oliver emigrated from County Donegal, Ireland, and settled 
 on the head-waters of Rush Run the spring of 1806. Although 
 brought up a Presbyterian, he found that the nearest place of Presby- 
 terian preaching was at Steubenville, a distance of ten miles on the one 
 hand, and at Beech Spring, a distance of twelve miles on the other, 
 and to the Hopewell Methodist meeting-house, on Warren Ridge, was 
 a distance of five miles. Under these circumstances Mr. Oliver came 
 to the conclusion that the distance to either of these places was too 
 great for him and his rising family to attend. He therefore opened his 
 house eveiy Sabbath for prayer-meetings, and he soon succeeded in 
 forming a Methodist class, of which he became the class-leader. In 
 due time a church was organized, and circuit preachers came once in 
 every two weeks, and Thomas Oliver's house soon became a noted 
 place of religious worship. This continued until 18 17, when the society 
 built a house of worship of hewed logs at the side of the road leading 
 from Sherrard's Mill, on Rush Run, to the State Road, on the edge of 
 Thomas Oliver's land, and has ever since been known by the name 
 
74 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1800-1810. 
 
 of Oliver's meeting-house, and is still used for worship by the 
 Methodists. 
 
 ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 The Rev. James Calderhead emigrated with his young wife from Scot- 
 land, and as early as 1802 he came out as a missionary of the church of 
 his choice, the Associate Reformed, known in that day as the Union 
 body, and organized the Piney Fork Church, four miles west of Smith- 
 field. 
 
 About this time he also preached over on what was called the Irish 
 Ridge, which embraced the lands from the junction of the Little Fork 
 of Short Creek with the main stream as far westward as Mount Pleasant. 
 He also preached on the Scotch Ridge, which took its name at the first 
 settlement of that ridge of land lying between the Little Fork of Short 
 Creek and the Ohio River. 
 
 At length he succeeded in forming a small congregation on Warren 
 Ridge, about two miles east of Mount Pleasant, in a beautiful piece of 
 woodland, where they erected a tent for the minister to preach in. 
 Afterwards this congregation built a meeting-house of squared logs near 
 the tent already erected, which stood about eighty rods to the south of 
 the road leading from Warrenton to Mount Pleasant. For several years 
 the Rev. Mr. Calderhead lived in a log cabin situated close by the 
 meeting-house, until he was enabled to purchase a farm between Mount 
 Pleasant and Wheeling, and on that farm he died, after he had preached 
 for several years to this congregation, and to the congregation of Piney 
 Fork, with good acceptance, but soon after that that church declined. 
 
 BIBLE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 The Bible Christians took their rise in Maryland and Virginia at an 
 early period of Methodism in the United States, and it is a branch or 
 offshoot of the Methodist Church. There was a class of these formed 
 in and around Smithfield, under the labors of the Rev. Samuel Con- 
 away. He had been a leading member of the Hopewell Church till the 
 fall of 1810, when he seceded from the Methodist Episcopal Church and 
 became a Bible Christian and a circuit elder. The impulse given to the 
 Bible Christians in and around Smithfield was due also to the zeal and 
 
1800-1810.] FAMILY HISTORY. 75 
 
 assiduity and untiring labors of a certain Ezekiel Parmer, of whom I 
 must now write some account. 
 
 EARLY SIXGING SCHOOLS. 
 
 Ezekiel Parmer was born and raised up near Canonsburg, Washington 
 County, Pa., and had been apprenticed and had learned the trade of 
 making small and large spinning-wheels, a very common article of 
 household furniture in those days, but very little use nowadays; although 
 while I am now writing, January ii, 1861, my wife is using a little 
 spinning-wheel doubling and twisting stocking-yarn. Besides little 
 wheel making, Parmer took up another trade — that of singing-master. 
 He had a good voice for vocal music, which he had improved to good 
 purpose. He had learned under the old " round note " system, and Ad- 
 gate's old Vocal Music Book and the tunes contained in it were great 
 favorites with Professor Parmer. 
 
 But Smith and Little about the year 1S03 invented the " patent notes," 
 and first published a patent note singing-book called the " Easy Instruc- 
 tor." And finding such a vast demand for this new and easy guide to 
 sing by notes of a new form, and patented, they were induced to imme- 
 diately follow the " Easy Instructor " by a still larger edition containing 
 more new and old tunes not published in the first edition. This second 
 edition was called Smith and Little's " Harmony, or Vocal Music 
 Book." 
 
 These new music books were published by the thousands and spread 
 over the United States broadcast till the expiration of the patent, and no 
 doubt made the patentees rich. After the patent expired, a great variety 
 of patent note books were published, amongst which were Lewis's 
 " Beauties of Harmony," and the " Missouri Harmony," and these stood 
 the highest in the estimation of the public, and had vastly the greatest 
 sale. For three or four years after the patent notes came out, Ezekiel 
 Parmer had made himself acquainted with many of the newer tunes con- 
 tained in the new patent note books, so that by 1807 and 1808 Professor 
 Parmer opened singing-schools abroad in the land. He opened two in 
 the bounds of Beech Spring, for in the bounds of that congregation he 
 settled when he removed from near Canonsburg. He opened one also 
 on the Irish Ridge between Mount Pleasant and Warrenton, and also 
 
7G THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1800-1810. 
 
 one on the ridge between Warrenton and Smithfield, the same ridge on 
 which our family was Hving during those years. 
 
 CH.\RLES CONA way's TRICKS. 
 
 This last-named singing-school on Warren Ridge was for a time held 
 in the Baptist meeting-house, and no doubt would have continued to be 
 held there but for the mischievous doings and influence of a certain 
 Charles Conawayj son of the Rev. Samuel Conaway. But after the 
 singing-school was discontinued at the Baptist meeting-house it was con- 
 tinued onward to the end of the term at private houses. This Charles 
 Conaway seemed to take a pride and secret delight in annoying public 
 or private gatherings met for worship or for improvement in vocal music. 
 And to aid him in his vicious doings he had under his training, and at 
 his call, five or six young chaps called his "' chickens." These comrades 
 were with him the night he was turned out of Parmer's singing-school 
 held in the Baptist church. I held the candle and opened the door, and 
 John McElroy, a young man from Warrenton, put him out. At the time 
 he made the disturbance he and his " chickens " were seated on a bench 
 immediately behind the one occupied by those that sang bass. I and 
 McElroy rose from the front seat, and McElroy reached over and 
 gri[)ped Conaway by the collar and jerked him over the front bench, and 
 landed him in the middle of the floor near where the singing-master 
 Parmer stood. 
 
 Parmer was so displeased with Conaway's conduct, that, without a 
 moment's thought perhaps, he struck him on the head with the knuckle 
 of his shut fist, but the ne.xt moment I opened the door, and McElroy 
 landed him out, and immediately all his " chickens " followed him. Soon 
 after this Parmer wished me to go out and see that our horses were not 
 turned loose or injured, and when I went out I found Charles and his 
 comrades standing talking not far from the horses, but they did not like 
 to disturb the horses, not knowing to whom they belonged. 
 
 When I came up to where they stood, Charles took my hand and 
 placed it on a lump raised on the top of his head, caused from the blow 
 by Parmer's knuckle, and the lump was half as large as an egg. I 
 seemed to sympathize with Conaway, for indeed I felt hurt at the hasty 
 conduct of Parmer in striking him, as there was no need of his interfer- 
 
1800-1810.] FAMILY HISTORY. 77 
 
 ence, as McElroy was amply strong and able to put Conaway out or do 
 with him as he pleased. 
 
 DISTURBING A RELIGIOUS MEETING. 
 
 But some time before this affair at the singing-school at the Baptist 
 meeting-house, Charles Conaway, with his " chickens," was guilty of a 
 worse trick. This was played off at the house of old Joshua Howard, 
 who, with his wife and some of his family, belonged to the Hopewell 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. Old Samuel Conaway at this time and for 
 some years afterward belonged also to the same class, and it came to 
 pass in these good old times that the said Samuel Conaway, father of 
 the said Charles Conaway, had a prayer-meeting appointed on a certain 
 Sabbath, in the absence of the circuit or local preacher, at the cabin of 
 Joshua Howard. At this place of meeting Charles Conaway and his 
 followers were collected, not to be benefited by any religious exercises, 
 but rather to see if they could gratify their innate desire to do wrong 
 rather than right. They came after the meeting had begun, and did not 
 go in, but seeing a hasp in the door and a steeple in the door-cheek, 
 Charles put the hasp on the steeple and a stick through to keep it there. 
 He then climbed up on the roof and laid loose clapboards on the top of 
 the chimney, which soon turned the smoke down into the house, which 
 had a disagreeable effect on the class in the house. Charles and his 
 comrades then went into the other part of the house and demanded 
 something to eat of an old negro woman, Dinah, who gave them some 
 hominy, and after they had eaten as much as they wished, they cleared 
 out and left old Dinah to unfasten the door and let the sufferers out. 
 However, when those in the house began to feel the effects of the smoke, 
 old Mr. Conaway stepped to the door and made an effort to open it, but 
 did not succeed, and this made him exclaim : " Now who has done this ? 
 It is certainly one of the devil's own children " — not knowing that his 
 own son was about, or that he had done it, for when he had left home he 
 had left his son there, who did not seem to have any desire to go to the 
 prayer-meeting 
 
 CONDUCTING A SINGING-SCHOOL. 
 
 Professor Parmer, at the time he taught singing-school, in 1807-8, 
 belonged in full membership and communion in the Beech Spring Pres- 
 
78 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1809. 
 
 byterian Cluirch, under the pastorate of the Rev. John Rhea, D.D. He 
 always closed his singing-schools with prayer, and he would order some 
 fugue tune to be sung, such as " America " (short metre), " Bridgewater," 
 " Lenox," " Russia " or " Sutton ; " and as the bass started at the repeat, 
 they of that part rose to their feet, and so of the tenor and treble, after 
 which he prayed appropriately and dismissed. 
 
 In 1809 or 1 8 10 Professor Parmer left Jefferson County, Ohio, and re- 
 moved to the State of Kentucky, that he might better his condition, 
 where, after some time, for reasons best known to himself, he joined the 
 Society of the Bible Christians, and after exercising his gifts by exhort- 
 ing for a short time, he was licensed to preach. He afterwards moved 
 back into Ohio and settled in the Miami country and preached round 
 about, and after the lapse of ten or twelve years he returned and settled 
 in Smithfield, in the old neighborhood where he had taught singing- 
 school ; then in a year or two he left, and I never heard of him. 
 
 OLD CENTRE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 Some time in the fall season of 1809 I heard that the Rev. Abram 
 Scott would preach on the Sabbath ensuing at a place designated near 
 the road leading from Wellsburg to Smithfield, a little west of the farm 
 of John Armstrong. Our family at that time lived two miles south of 
 Smithfield, and I therefore had to ride six miles to the place where the 
 Rev. Mr. Scott was to preach. 
 
 But the distance was no obstacle in the way, for I had been accus- 
 tomed for four years previous to ride nine miles to the Presbyterian 
 meeting-house and tent on the Little Fork of Short Creek, at which 
 place the Rev. Joseph Anderson preached the one-fourth of his time. 
 
 The Sabbath having arrived on which Mr. Scott was to preach, the 
 weather being pleasant and the roads good, I left home in time to call 
 on a Presbyterian family residing at that time in Smithfield by the name 
 of Chambers, and prevailed on the youngest of the two brothers, James, 
 to accompany me. Arrived at the place appointed, we found it to be 
 a rising piece of ground near the public road designated. It was a place 
 beautifully shaded at that time with a thick grove of forest trees, all of 
 which have been felled by the woodman's axe long since, and scarce a 
 stump now tells where they were. And O ! what a change has passed 
 
1809.] FAMILY HISTORY. 79 
 
 over mankind, and many other forests as well as this, in almost fifty 
 years since that sermon was preached. at the root of a large green chest- 
 nut tree by the Rev. Abram Scott. 
 
 When I and James Chambers arrived we foimd the preacher seated at 
 the root of that tree waiting the coming in of the people of the sur- 
 rounding country. The discourse on the occasion was a good, practical 
 one, and well suited to feed the hungry minds of his hearers. 
 
 Mr. Scott had permission to preach for the Centre congregation dur- 
 ing that season of 1809, which he had received from the Ohio Presby- 
 tery, and those services held by him was the beginning of the Old Cen- 
 tre congregation of the Presbyterians, so called because it was half-way 
 between Steubenville and Beech Spring, and was neutral ground be- 
 tween Rev. Mr. Snodgrass on the one hand, and the Rev. Dr. Rhea on the 
 other. Sometimes the one and sometimes the other would come by in- 
 vitation and preach at the house of old Archibald Armstrong, as he and 
 his wife were both old and infirm. I one heard the Rev. Mr. Snodgrass 
 preach there a year or two before Mr. Scott came to preach at Centre. 
 
 THE REVEREND ABRAM SCOTT. 
 
 The Records of the Ohio Presbytery show that at a meeting held at 
 West Liberty, October 17, 1809, a call from Centre congregation for the 
 Rev. Abram Scott for one-half of his time was placed in his hands and 
 accepted by him. 
 
 Mr. Scott was born in Chester County, Pa., about the year 1765, and 
 while he was yet a small boy his father moved out over the mountains 
 and settled near Canonsburg, which was then the very centre of Char- 
 tiers congregation to which the Rev. John McMillan ministered,. and 
 Mr. Scott's father became an Elder in that church. Abram Scott was 
 one of the first students of the new Academy of Dr. McMillan at Can- 
 onsburg, which first went Into operation 1793. 
 
 He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Ohio June 25, 1806, 
 and again, he was ordained by the same Presbytery at a meeting held at 
 Chartiers July 12, 1808. 
 
 He accepted a call from two new congregations in Mercer County, 
 Pa., at a promised salary of $200 yearly from each of the congregations 
 in cash, but they were unable to pay it, on account of the Embargo act 
 
80 THE SHERRARD EAM/LV. [1809. 
 
 of 1808, which brought on very hard times, such as have never been 
 experienced since, except once — the fall of 1820 and the winter and sum- 
 mer of 1 82 1. Mr. Scott therefore accepted the call to Centre and 
 moved there the fall of 1809. 
 
 The congregation of Centre was not fully organized till the latter part 
 of April, 1 8 10, when John Hindman and John Jackson were unani- 
 mously and without one dissenting voice elected Elders of the congre- 
 gation, and the next Sabbath they were ordained the first Elders of 
 Centre. 
 
 DEATH OF JOHN SHERRARD. 
 
 The spring of 1809 William and John worked at carpenter work for 
 old William Wood, on his farm near Smithfield, the same on which 
 Thomas Wood now resides (December 17, 1852). On Friday morning, 
 the 2 1st day of April, 1809, I and Thomas rose early, and Thomas was 
 left to feed the stock while I went to the second ten-acre field, next to 
 William Kirk's land, to chop or log off fallen timber to prepare for 
 plowing for corn. But I had been out only a short time when Thomas 
 came to me with orders from mother to go to the house, for father was 
 taken very sick. When I arrived at the house I found father in bed, but 
 he said he felt much better, and in the course of half an hour he got up 
 and dressed himself as usual, but would eat nothing all day. On bemg 
 urged by mother to eat, his only reply was that he had no appetite, and 
 that he hoped he would be better in a day or two. 
 
 In the evening of this day William and John came home, and by nine 
 o'clock we all retired to bed, and we, the younger members of the 
 family, not apprehending any danger, were soon sound asleep. Not so 
 with mother, for she did apprehend danger from what had taken place 
 in the morning, and she did not fall asleep as we did. By ten o'clock 
 father became uncommonly sick, and mother called me, knowing that I, 
 from infancy, was, of all the boys, the most easily awaked. I was up at 
 the first call, and had a candle lit in an instant, and passed on to the 
 bedside where father was standing, and so sick that great drops of sweat 
 stood on his forehead. 
 
 From the way that he was affected it was evident that there had been 
 a blood-vessel burst in his stomach, for the blood flowed at different 
 times until three o'clock the next morning (Saturday). But with all the 
 
1810.] FAMILY HISTORY. 81 
 
 loss of blood he lived and breathed and was sensible, and was able to 
 converse with neighbors who came in, and he had been speaking one 
 minute before he breathed his last, at one o'clock in the afternoon of 
 Saturday, April 22, 1809. 
 
 He was buried the next day (Sabbath) in the old Quaker graveyard 
 in the west end of Smithfield. — (It appears that no stone ever marked 
 his grave. A few years before father's death he and my brother Robert 
 went to that old graveyard, but were entirely unable to identify the spot 
 where grandfather Sherrard was buried. — T. J. S.) 
 
 S ECTIO N IV. 
 
 1810-1811. 
 CAPTINA EXPERIENCES. 
 
 BUT little of note transpired during this year after the death of my 
 father. There was a family named Edwards that lived on part 
 of the Hall farm below us, consisting of Henry Edwards, his 
 wife, nine girls and two small boys. I worked for Edwards that sum- 
 mer, chopping fallen timber on ten acres of ground, and helping to roll 
 logs and burn them. During the forepart of this summer William and 
 John worked at carpenter worjc for Benjamin Ladd, near Smithfield, and 
 after harvest, on the recommendation of old William Wood, they got 
 work for three months with an old English Quaker by the name of 
 Witchel, who came from London and was settled on a farm one mile 
 west of St. Clairsville. 
 
 During that fall I and Thomas worked the farm at home, and Thomas 
 became very expert in tracing bees and finding bee-trees, which often 
 gave us a good stock of honey. However, in August of that year, 
 1809, before William and John went over to Witchel's, they started to 
 our new farm in Belmont County, to make some improvements ready 
 for us to move there the next spring, and they took me along to help 
 6 
 
82 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1810. 
 
 them, and also Ben Tingly as a work-hand. Thomas also went along 
 to bring back the horses, and he was to stay at home with mother to 
 be company for her; and after three weeks he was to return to Belmont 
 County for us. The first thing we did was to cut small logs of the 
 quaking-asp, and with these we built a small cabin seventeen feet 
 square. We then set in to chopping, grubbing and picking and burn- 
 ing brush ; as to logs or standing trees, there were but few on the three 
 acres we cleared and fenced during those three weeks that we worked. 
 A part of this quarter section showed evident signs of its having been 
 visited by a tornado some forty or fifty years before, for there was a new 
 grovt'th of saplings on it. 
 
 We employed old Jesse White, one of the neighbors living near to 
 that Captina farm, to find seed wheat and plow and sow the three acres 
 we had cleared and fenced. 
 
 The clearing and fencing and building the cabin might be calculated 
 at a cost of at least fifty dollars. 
 
 MOVING TO CAPTINA. 
 
 The winter passed away, and the spring came round ; but we did not 
 get started to move till the 24th of April. 
 
 We employed Henry Edwards, who had a good team and large 
 wagon-bed, to haul the household goods ; but we took no chairs nor 
 bedsteads, nor any lumber we could make or supply when we got there, 
 and yet the large English wagon-bed was filled top-full. Although the 
 distance was not over twenty-eight miles, it took two days to move. 
 On the 26th of April we commenced to clear for corn, and by dint of 
 hard grubbing with the hoe and chopping with the axe, we had five 
 acres ploughed and planted on the 26th of May, and by the 3rd of June 
 we planted four acres more. 
 
 We then turned in and cleared one and one-half acres for potatoes and 
 turnips, and after planting the potatoes we continued clearing till we had 
 three acres more cleared, and this we sowed in timothy for meadow. 
 In the course of our clearing up our land we killed a great number of 
 snakes — copperheads and rattlesnakes. 
 
1810.] FAMILY HISTORY. 83 
 
 SCARCITY OF SALT. 
 
 At that time salt was very scarce and high, so much so that it sold for 
 $6 to $8 a barrel of 280 pounds, and higher, in proportion, when retailed 
 by the bushel, which was generally by weight of fifty pounds to the 
 bushel, but the most common standard was fifty-six pounds to the 
 bushels. 
 
 In consequence of the high price of salt, horses and cows did not get 
 it in such portions as they needed, and hence the cows would seek out 
 the salt licks, or deer licks, as they were called by the old hunters, and 
 the cows would always wander off from home to the best lick. 
 
 Our cows soon found their way to a lick about three miles from home 
 to which they went daily, and Thomas had to start about an hour before 
 sunset every evening during the summer and fall months and bring 
 home the cows to be milked, and this was a severe drudgery on him. 
 
 Our horses and sheep, as well as the cows, had to run in the woods 
 during the two summer seasons that we lived at Captina, but I never 
 knew the horses and sheep to go to the salt licks. We had brought 
 with us twenty head of sheep, but we were in continual dread of their 
 being killed by the wolves, which were uncommonly plenty in that new 
 country, and yet, during the two seasons we were there, we had but one 
 sheep killed by the wolves, and that was in open daylight, the first 
 summer of iSio. 
 
 After we had planted the corn and potatoes, we grubbed six acres 
 more to be cleared up and put in wheat, and then William and John 
 went to Witchel's and worked at carpenter work nearly all the time till 
 December, 1810. 
 
 WOLVES VERY NUMEROUS. 
 
 One night the first summer we had the sheep folded in a pen covered 
 with poles, and this was about two rods from the door of our cabin. 
 We had just gone to bed, when the dogs all at once made a dreadful 
 fuss, barking close to the door. I got up and opened the door and 
 hissed the dogs, when down jumped something from the sheep-pen 
 which I supposed was a wolf, as it was so dark I could see nothing, but 
 I could hear the poles rattle. 
 
84 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1810. 
 
 I hissed and encouraged the dogs, and they immediately crossed the 
 brush fence a Httle beyond the sheep-pen ; I passed around the brush in 
 the inside of the adjoining field, and stood on the inside of the fence, 
 still encouraging and hissing the dogs. All at once the large dog was 
 chased back close to me, the fence only between us, and as the dog gave 
 a pitiful yelp, I felt frightened, and my hair rose on my head, so that I 
 halloaed with all my might, which I suppose saved the dog and myself. 
 It was so dark I could see nothing, but heard something I supposed to 
 be the wolf making tracks on the leaves above the brush fence as if he 
 would as leave be off. The dog was so frightened that he would not 
 stir nor bark as before, but as soon as I left the fence for the house, the 
 dog followed me to the door, glad to be off, and so was I. 
 
 I and Thomas spent that summer working on the farm and getting in 
 the harvest, but I must say that I never saw so wet a harvest. I saw 
 wheat standing uncut in Jesse White's field and the heads sprouted. 
 
 MY FIRST VOTE. 
 
 The 8th of October following, i8io, when we arose in the morning 
 there was snow on the ground an inch or two deep. This day being 
 the second Tuesday of October, I concluded to go with my neighbor, 
 Jesse White, to the annual election, and for the first time give my vote. 
 
 Jesse White, being one of the trustees, and seeing it was past eight 
 o'clock, proposed to have the election opened, although the township 
 clerk had not yet come. But he proposed to those present to take me 
 in place of the clerk, and then nominated another young man as 
 assistant clerk. We were thereupon chosen and qualified, as the law 
 directed, and then set about forming a poll-book, at which we made but 
 a poor out, as neither of us had any experience in such matters. And 
 although we had the law-book, with the form in a concise way laid 
 down in it, yet we did not understand it, nor could the judges of the 
 election guide us, nor give us any information, for they were just as 
 ignorant on that subject as ourselves. 
 
 FIRST DOLLAR EARNED ON PUBLIC BUSINESS. 
 
 We had not been long at work on our poll-books when the township 
 clerk came with the poll-box, and one blank form, at least, made out. 
 
1810] FAMILY HISTORY. PS 
 
 But he was so displeased at the loss of his place at the election board, 
 whereby he lost a dollar, that he would give us neither his form nor any 
 information. However, we blundered on, and made out our poll-books 
 after some manner of form, and the next day old Jesse White carried 
 the one I made out to the clerk of the court at St. Clairsville, and it was 
 accepted, and he brought me my dollar, the first I ever received for any 
 public business transacted by me. It was not the last, for it is now 
 forty-two years past, and since that time I have made by my pen, I 
 would say, more than $300 at odd times, outside of my regular work. 
 
 But I felt chagrined that I could not do better in making out the first 
 new poll-book. However, I resolved not to stay in ignorance any 
 longer on this subject, so I borrowed the law book of old Jesse White, 
 and re-examined the form, and then took paper, pen and ink, and drew 
 out a complete form, so that I never afterwards forgot the form of that 
 or any other poll-book for any election. 
 
 But that was not all; while I had these " Revised Statutes for 1810 " 
 I read them carefully through, one act after another, general laws and 
 local laws and all, for they were all mixed up together at that time, just 
 as they were passed from day to day, and not separated as they are now. 
 The reading of the laws of Ohio at this time was not lost time, as it 
 gave me a general knowledge of the laws, and what law was ; but I 
 derived another advantage by reading the laws, and that was a better 
 knowledge of the use of good language, both in speaking and writing, 
 which has been of great use to me ever since. If I was called upon to 
 draw any article of agreement, or a will, or any other instrument, I was 
 able to clothe it with better language. 
 
 THE PUMPKIN FLOOD. 
 
 There was a very hard frost the next morning, the 9th of October, 
 and I and Thomas and Jesse White's son, Israel, at once began topping 
 and blading the corn. 
 
 After this I sowed wheat in the corn-field of five acres, and the seed- 
 wheat I procured was the red chaff beardy, the first of that variety I 
 had ever seen, and it weighed sixty-five pounds to the bushel. We 
 next turned our attention to the six-acre field that we had been clearing 
 off during the summer, and by the 12th of November I had finished the 
 
86 THE SHERRARD EAMILV. [1811. 
 
 plowing. The next day I sowed it, and Thomas harrowed after me. 
 On the 14th I went on with the harrowing, and by noon got it all 
 harrowed one way and about one and one-half acres the other way, 
 when it began to rain, so that I was forced to loose the horses and go 
 home, and no more harrowing was done that fall season. 
 
 It rained on — a heavy, steady rain — for two days and nights, which 
 raised the Ohio River to a greater height than it had been known for 
 many years, and swept off fences and houses, stables, mills and saw- 
 mills, corn, fodder, pumpkins, hay in the stack, wheat in the stack, etc. 
 
 But from the great quantity of pumpkins seen floating down the river 
 it took the name of the " Pumpkin Freshet," and is yet known by that 
 amongst the few old settlers who remain alive to this time, for a 
 period of forty-two years has gone round since. 
 
 William and John came home late that fall and stayed all winter, and 
 during that winter we built a corn-crib, and also cut logs and built a log 
 stable twenty-seven feet long and twenty-one feet wide. We cut timber 
 and split clapboards and covered it, and also cut and split and hewed 
 puncheons and laid floors in it. This occupied our time till the snow 
 fell six inches deep in March. 
 
 While the snow lay on in March, 181 1, it was a great inducement for 
 hunting and killing deer, and accordingly John took the gun and went 
 out hunting. The first day he killed a young doe nearly a year old, 
 and the next day he killed a growing fawn six or eight months old, and 
 the third day he killed a spike buck. John's success raised the hunting 
 propensities of William and Thomas to such a pitch that they could not 
 resist the charm of killing deer as well as John, and having but one 
 gun, William took it, and did not return till late in the evening, tired, 
 weak and hungry, but no game, and his bad luck cured him of deer 
 hunting for that season. But Thomas, nothing daunted, took the gun 
 the next day and scoured the hills and dales, with no better success 
 than William the day before, and that stopped his further hunting. 
 
 As soon as the March snow melted off we all four went to grubbing 
 six acres for corn, and after clearing the ground ready for the plough, 
 we made rails and fenced it in. This done William and John left home 
 for young Tom Fleming's, near Smithfield, where they undertook the 
 building of a large two-story frame house, all the timber to be taken 
 
1811.] FAMILY HISTORY. 87 
 
 from the stump, — frame, shingles and weather-boards. The weather- 
 boards for the front were cut and spHt six feet long, and all the weather- 
 boards were shaved. This was a heavy job for two hands, but by- 
 constant work they finished it some time in September, and they then 
 undertook to hew locust posts and split and shave palings for fencing in 
 Fleming's yard and garden. 
 
 It was while hewing these posts that William met with a serious 
 accident, — in throwing down a post an axe flew up and struck him 
 between the shoulders, and he was cut badly, the full length of its edge- 
 
 This cut rendered him unfit for work for three weeks, during which 
 time he came home and stayed two weeks. 
 
 It was at this time that he asked me what I thought of old William 
 Wood's proposal, which was to purchase of the said Wood the undi- 
 vided half of two hundred acres of land on Rush Run, with Elias 
 Pegg's old saw-mill on it, and enter into partnership with him, and build 
 a merchant-mill on it, and go on to grind wheat and make and sell 
 flour. To this proposition I replied that I would be glad to exchange 
 the clearing of land and the farming business, of which I said I was 
 heartily tired, for the milling business ; and I therefore told him that he 
 had my approbation to sell the farm here on Captina, and take William 
 Wood at his offer. 
 
 But in this case I reckoned without my host, for I had been bred up 
 from infancy to farming and clearing land, but knew nothing of the 
 hardships, and turmoils, vexations, and anxieties and difficulties, 
 with heavy lifting and sleepless nights, which belong to the milling 
 business. 
 
 RUSH RUN PROPERTY PURCHASED. 
 
 William returned to his work at Fleming's, and when they had finished 
 vi-hat they had engaged to do there, he and John returned home. In 
 the mean time William had purchased the undivided one-half of the 
 before-mentioned tract of land of William Wood, which he had previ- 
 ously purchased of Elias Pegg, containing two hundred acres, for which 
 William paid Wood the sum of ^500, land being cheap at that time, and 
 this Rush Run tract being very steep, hilly and broken, there being not 
 more than from thirty to thirty-five acres of level land that was suitable 
 for plowing, excepting hillside land. The mill seat was the object. 
 
88 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1811. 
 
 PIONEERS AT WORK. 
 
 During that summer of 1811 I and Thomas were left at home as 
 usual to plow up the new ground, together with three and one-half 
 acres of old ground we cleared and had in corn the last year. I first 
 plowed up an acre and a half of the ground we had in potatoes and 
 turnips the year before, and sowed it with flax-seed ; I then plowed up 
 half an acre of the land we had in corn the year before and sowed it 
 also in flax, which proved to be the best crop of flax the family ever 
 raised before or since. 
 
 I ne.xt put in about two acres of oats, and planted corn in what was 
 left of the old ground, and in all the new ground that was cleared. 
 Then we cleared off an acre, and planted it with potatoes, and cut and 
 split rails till the corn and potatoes were ready to work, and then it 
 kept us busy to plow and hoe it till harvest came on, of which we had 
 eleven acres of wheat and two acres of oats to cut, and two acres of flax 
 to pull, and all to stack and stow away from damage by wet ; and the 
 pulling of flax was the worst job of all, for it made the back ache. I 
 also cut two acres of timothy grass ; but such cutting as it was, for I 
 knew no more about the art of mowing or whetting the scythe than an 
 Indian, although I was at that time over twenty-two years of age. 
 
 The reason is obvious : I came away from Fayette County before I 
 had learned the art of mowing, and for the last six years had lived on 
 land where there was as yet no meadow made. After harvest in 
 August I and Thomas made rails and fenced in another field, and one 
 morning after breakfast I sat down to half-sole my shoes ; but the 
 wa.xed end ravelled, and I could not get along with cobbling as at some 
 other kinds of work. So I agreed with Thomas that if he would sew 
 on the half soles, I would go out and chop and split fifty rails. Thomas 
 went at the shoe-cobbling, and I went to the woods, and chopped and 
 split thirty-nine rails, when the horn blew for dinner. 
 
 After dinner we started from the house at one o'clock, and Thomas 
 said to me : " You complain that I don't do as much work as you ; now, 
 let us see who will cut and split the most rails by evening." I agreed, 
 and told him that as he was the youngest, he might choose and mark 
 four trees for his use, and I would choose others. ■ So at it we went 
 
1811.] FA MIL V HIS TORY. 89 
 
 with strength and vigor and hearty good-will, and when the sun was 
 yet an hour high, Thomas proposed to count the rails, as he had to go 
 two or three miles to drive home the cows. I took him at his word, 
 and we found that I had cut and split one hundred and two rails, and 
 he fifty-four ; and this convinced him that I could do the most work, 
 except at very light work. 
 
 About this time our cows strayed out of their common walks, and 
 were gone nine days before I found them, and yet they were not more 
 than three miles from home. 
 
 Thomas hunted for them two or three days without success, and I 
 then started out and spent the first day without getting any tidings of 
 them, for the reason that I was hunting for them to the North, while 
 they were all the time over to the Southeast. On leaving home the 
 first day, I took no provision with me, and although I called at several 
 cabin-houses to make inquiry, it happened either before or after dinner, 
 and I was so diffident that I did not ask for food; so that by evening, 
 on my arrival home, I was both weak and hungry. 
 
 PERILS OF THE BACKWOODS. 
 
 The second day I started out with three cold apple-dumplings in a 
 small bag, and about noon I sat down on a large rock in the woods far 
 from any cabin, and ate my cold apple-dumplings without any sauce but 
 a good appetite, and I thought it as sweet and inviting a morsel as I 
 ever ate. This day I stepped up on a large log, which had split open 
 in falling, which left a crevice of six or eight inches of an opening, into 
 which the leaves had blown and filled up the crevice. 
 
 As soon as I stepped up on the log, I heard a rustling among the 
 dry leaves all along the crevice, and saw several copperheads disappear 
 among the leaves. On looking round on the ground in different direc- 
 tions, I saw several of these copperheads lying stretched out at full 
 length basking in the open air ; for sunshine thej^ had but little, there 
 being much shade from the green timber. 
 
 Some of these snakes on the ground crawled under the old log ; but 
 I soon looked out a clear spot, and made good my retreat from this den 
 of snakes of the copperhead kind. 
 
 I then continued my course southeast, and called at the cabin of 
 
90 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1811. 
 
 Ezekiel Smith, but got no tidings of my lost cows. I then made my 
 way to John Euwer's, and there I found them, and learned that they 
 had made that place their home, as they came up there regularly every 
 evening, and had first come there nine days before. I drove the cows 
 home; but they were all three as dry of milk as if they never had any, 
 and now what was to be done to bring them back to milk again ? Two 
 of them had calves that had been weaned about two weeks before they 
 had gone away, and we now turned the calves back to them, and by 
 this means the milk returned ; but the third cow remained dry. 
 
 BITTEN BY A COPPERHEAD. 
 
 After this cow hunt was over, I and Thomas returned to our business 
 of making rails, and when it was conjectured by Thomas that we had 
 enough made to fence in the proposed lot, he suggested that we should 
 take the rod pole and measure the ground. I agreed, and very un- 
 thoughtedly stepped from the log, where I had been chopping in my 
 bare feet, and forgot to put on my shoes, not thinking of snakes among 
 the old dead leaves. 
 
 While we were measuring I raised my left foot to make a step, and 
 before I had time to set it to the ground again, a large copperhead that 
 lay coiled on the leaves, unseen by either Thomas or me, took me slap 
 on the left foot, on the inside about an inch below the ankle bone. The 
 instant the fangs of the upper jaw sunk into my flesh I felt the sting to 
 my heart, and looking down, the snake had just withdrawn his head 
 from my foot and was making off I called to Thomas to come and kill 
 it, which he did in short order. I then directed him to gather a handful 
 of white plantain, and the same of wild touch-me-not, and the same of 
 snake-weed, so that these herbs could be boiled in sweet milk. I then 
 walked down and put on my shoes and started for home, with the pain 
 increasing every moment. When I got home I immediately lay down 
 on the bed to await the preparation of the poultice ; but Thoinas had to 
 go over to Jesse White's to get sweet milk, for our cows had not come 
 home the night before. He soon returned, and Jesse White with him, 
 who brought along a strip of white walnut bark, which he tied tight 
 around my leg just below my knee, to keep the swelling below the 
 bandage. As soon as the herbs were sufficiently boiled in the milk, and 
 
1811.] FAMILY HISTORY. 91 
 
 the milk cooled, I drank plentifully of the milk thus prepared, and had a 
 poultice of the herbs put upon the wound. 
 
 This process I had frequent recourse to through each day for just 
 a week, at the end of which time I was able to go to work again. 
 While I was laid up with my snake bite, Thomas was one evening 
 late in bringing home the cows, so that mother did not get the milk- 
 ing done before dark. Thomas waited on her, and had brought in 
 part of the milk, and then stepped across the floor and threw him- 
 self down on mother's bed. Just then I noticed by the light of the 
 fire a large copperhead coming crawling out from the left of the fire- 
 place, and it made its way under my bed just as mother came in at the 
 door. 
 
 I called to her to hand me the stick that I kept to hop out with, which 
 she did ; and I raised up the bed-clothes and saw the snake coiled up on 
 the floor under my bed. I tried to strike it, but it got away, and 
 although Thomas immediately lit a candle and made search, it could not 
 be found. I bade him shake and turn all the bed-clothes, and to take 
 everything off from every bedstead, but all to no purpose, for the snake 
 could not be found ; but as there were large cracks in the puncheon 
 floor, 1 supposed it had crept down under the floor. 
 
 So under this apprehension, the next morning I directed Thomas to 
 lift every puncheon in the floor, but nothing was found, and no harm re- 
 sulted from this unwelcome visitor; but it increased mother's dread, and 
 such experiences made us the more willing to leave the place. 
 
 THE CAPTINA FARM SOLD. 
 
 It was but a short time after William and John returned that fall 
 of i8ii, till William sold the land we then lived on, the Captina farm, 
 to an old Quaker from Philadelphia, by the name of Matthew Wood, 
 for ^563. 50. (When in Barnesville, O., February 22, 1890, I learned 
 from Mr. T. S. Bradfield that part of this old Captina farm, 122 acres, is 
 now owned by the heirs of Samuel Russell, and the other part by A. J. 
 Smith. I would have gone out to see it, but the roads were impassa- 
 ble, and it is three miles south of Burton Station, on the B. & O. R. R. — 
 T. J. S.) 
 
 It was worth at that time as much more, for we had paid two dollars 
 
92 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1811. 
 
 an acre for it, Congress price, the principal and interest of which, by the 
 time it was sold, would be nearly ^400. Add to that the hard grubbing, 
 chopping undergrowth, rolling logs and burning them, and chopping 
 and picking and burning brush ; then the number of rails made and put 
 up so as to enclose four fields, and the first three-acre lot cleared, 
 amounting in all to forty acres cleared and fenced ; added to this, the 
 building of the cabin, stable and corn-crib, all of which at a moderate 
 allowance would be worth $400 more, and this would make in all $Soo, 
 so that we were out at least ^240. 
 
 The grubbing was worth from $2 to $2.50 an acre, and all the other 
 work was worth ,$5 an acre; the rails were worth $\ per hundred for 
 making and putting up, and the other improvements were worth $J^. 
 
 I never could tell why William sold it so cheap, and I did not approve 
 of the sale, as there was no necessity to sell, since William 'Wood did 
 not want the money for the Rush Run property, provided he got six 
 per cent, interest. 
 
 Here was an evident want of judgment on William's part, to whom 
 was confided by the rest of us the management and control of affairs 
 belonging to the family, and the only mistake in judgment to which 
 I can now now point during his administration of our affairs for twenty 
 years. 
 
 For, be it remembered, that he was a man of profound judgment, 
 more so than any of his brothers, who all gave up to his judgment, 
 management and control ; hence he obtained, even when young, the 
 sobriquet of the " old man." 
 
 However, William's eagerness to sell the farm may in part be 
 accounted for in the fact that mother never liked to live there, and on 
 her account William felt that it was too far in the backwoods, sur- 
 rounded by dangers from wolves, copperheads and rattlesnakes, and 
 lonesome. 
 
 WHY WE LEFT CAPTINA. 
 
 During that summer and fall we had been so much annoyed with 
 copperheads and rattlesnakes coming even into the house, that mother 
 was made very uneasy and nervous, and afraid to rise in the night from 
 her bed, and on the occasion when the large copperhead had come 
 
1811.] FAMILY HISTORY. 93 
 
 out from behind the fireplace, and escaped under the floor, the boys 
 tore out the whole fireplace, and found that the creatures had a nest back 
 there where they could not be reached, and this added to the uneasiness 
 of mother's mind. From that one nest behind the fire-place, the boys 
 killed thirteen largd copperheads. It was the next morning after that, 
 while William was at home, and I was still confined to bed from the 
 snake bite, that he called the other two boys out of the house, and said: 
 " Boys, we have too good a mother to allow her to live in such a way as 
 this, and she is wearing out her life with the worry and anxiety of such 
 a life, separated from comforts and associations such as she has been 
 accustomed to. For one I am determined that this thing shall last no 
 longer, and that she shall live somewhere else, where she will not have 
 so much to worry her." As a result of this conversation he purchased 
 the Rush Run property that fall, and sold this Captina place as has been 
 mentioned. 
 
 LEAVING CAPTINA FARM. 
 
 Accordingly, when William sold the place that fall, I was called upon 
 to draw up the writings for the bargain and sale of this land. I was soon 
 after called on by old Jesse White to draw his will. And this was about 
 the commencement of my writing for the public, such as drawing deeds, 
 mortgages, wills and articles of agreement more than I can remember, 
 now March 27, 1853. After the land was sold we began to make active 
 preparations for moving ; the corn was got in and husked and put up in 
 the crib, and we next dug and holed the potatoes. After this I was 
 next called on to write the advertisements for the vendue, and when the 
 day of sale came on I clerked, and made out the sale list, and filled 
 up all the notes given. 
 
 CONDITIONS OF SALE. 
 
 The following is a copy of the conditions of that sale: 
 
 "I. The highest and best bidder to be the purchaser ; the owner reserving to him- 
 self one bid on each article offered for sale. 
 
 2. Any person purchasing to the amount of two dollars and upwards, shall have 
 one year's credit ; by giving their note with approved security before the property is 
 removed, and all under that sum must be cash ; also, all those who can make it con- 
 venient to pay cash shall have a discount of 8 per cent. 
 
94 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. \\%\\. 
 
 3. Any person purchasing property and not complying with these conditions, must 
 return the same before sunset with 25 per cent, on the amount of purchase for disap- 
 pointment of sale. 
 
 William Sherrard. 
 Goshen Township, Belmont County, O. 
 October 26, 1811." 
 
 A YANKEE SCUTCHING FLAX. 
 
 It was not long after the vendue till the family all moved off to Rush 
 Run, leaving me behind to dress flax, and feed out pumpkins and short 
 refuse corn to some young cattle, one horse, one beef cow, and ten fat- 
 tening hogs. 
 
 They left me on November 2, 181 1, and Henry Edwards, who lived 
 on Hall's land two miles south of Sinithfield, the same who moved us 
 down into Belmont County April 26, 18 10, now moved the family back 
 from Captina to Rush Run. 
 
 Left behind as I was, I stayed there with little company except two 
 dogs, a large and a small one, and one house cat. I employed a strag- 
 gling Yankee for the space of four or five days to scutch flax at the rate 
 of two pence a pound ; I broke and cropped the flax, and he scutchecl 
 twenty-two and a half pounds each day by noon, which amounted to 
 just fifty cents. 
 
 After dinner he would come out, the weather of all that November 
 being very fine, and would lie down on the shives, or refuse breakage of 
 the flax, and roll about and whistle and sing, and in this manner he 
 would spend the remainder of the day. I asked hitn why he did not 
 scutch in the after part of the day, so that he could thus earn fifty cents 
 more, but his reply was that fifty cents was enough for a man to earn in 
 a day. By inquiry I found that he was a married man with a wife and 
 three or four children, and yet how content he seemed to be with a little 
 of this world's goods, while thousands are not content if it were possible 
 to grasp all the gold in California. 
 
 A JAW OUT OF JOINT. 
 
 On one of the days the Yankee scutched flax for me I felt a little 
 alarmed at what took place with me : I was at the time cropping flax, 
 and having occasion to gape, I suffered the jaw to extend a little too 
 
1811.] . FAMILY HISTORY. 95 
 
 much beyond the proper point, which threw the lower jaw out of joint, 
 and there I stood with my mouth gaping wide open, and it could not be 
 shut, nor could I speak to tell what was the matter. I immediately felt 
 alarmed, and set to work to try to get the under jaw unlocked, that I 
 might once more get my mouth shut, and for that purpose I placed a 
 thumb under the joint of the lower jaw on each side, and by thus work- 
 ing my thumbs for a very short space, the jaw flew to its place, to my 
 great joy and comfort. From that time until the beginning of May, 
 181 3, I kept my jaw in due bounds, but at this latter period mentioned 
 I and my brother William were returning from a general muster held 
 at Bawlding Person's mill, which was up Short Creek, twelve miles 
 beyond Smithfield, and on our way home, about a mile west of Smith- 
 field, I was riding before William, who was in company with some other 
 man, and I had occasion to gape. Just as had happened a year and a half 
 before, because I suffered my jaws to extend too wide, my lower jaw came 
 out of joint as before. I immediately stopped my horse, and strove to 
 put it into place by working my thumbs at the joints of the jaws on each 
 side, but failed. 
 
 Perhaps I became too soon alarmed, and too soon gave up the effort, 
 expecting help of my brother William. 
 
 When he saw me dismount and make the effort just described, he 
 dismounted also, and asked me what was the matter, but I could not 
 speak, being able only to make signs as to what was wrong and how to 
 give me relief. 
 
 He made the effort, but perhaps, like myself, he was too much 
 alarmed to persevere ; he soon gave it up and told me to tie my hand- 
 kerchief over my mouth and ride into Smithfield and get assistance 
 from Doctor William Judkins, who, at that time, boarded with old 
 William Wood. 
 
 We went immediately into Smithfield and soon found the doctor, who 
 seated me on a chair, and bid my brother William stand behind my 
 chair and hold my forehead firm. 
 
 The doctor then placed a thumb of each hand in my mouth, firmly 
 gripping the jaw with each hand, and by working up and down, and 
 pulling forward, he soon had my jaw brought into its place. No sooner 
 was this done than old William Wood, through kindness, would have 
 
96 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1811. 
 
 William and me to go and eat supper, as the family had just eaten 
 before we entered. I and William sat down at the table, and after eating 
 a few bites of bread old William Wood handed me a small cut of currant 
 tart, which crust and all was not an inch thick ; but, be that as it may, 
 I opened my mouth and put in a bit of currant tart, and in doing so the 
 lower jaw flew off again, and the doctor had to be called in a second 
 time, but to prevent further trouble, I took out my handkerchief and 
 tied the lower jaw fast to my head. And although it is forty years past 
 last May, yet no such disaster has again happened to me at any time 
 since, but I have always been on my guard ever since, and will not 
 suffer my jaws to extend beyond a due limit. (Written in 1853.) 
 
 MAKING ROPE. 
 
 During the few weeks that I was left behind at Captina, feeding the 
 stock and scutching flax, it was my custom to pull out from the crop- 
 pings the longest shreds and save them, and at night I amused myself, 
 and beguiled the time to a late hour, having nothing to read, neither 
 books nor newspapers, by twisting these shreds into rope yarn. This 
 I wound up into balls, which were carried in a bag to Rush Run, and 
 there made into a bed-cord and put to immediate use the latter part of 
 l8ll,and is in use at this day, in 1853, here in my house, and may, 
 with care, last out this century; it is the oldest rope I have any knowl- 
 edge of 
 
 On December 8, 181 1, my brother John, with a young man named 
 Benjamin Tingley, son of an old neighbor from Rush Run, arrived at 
 my hermitage, bringing with them two other horses, so that we might 
 pack on them some articles and that we might ride time about on some 
 one or two of them. After spending the 9th in packing and making 
 arrangements, we spent that night at the house of our neighbor, Jesse 
 White, and the next morning, December 10, 181 1, after an early break- 
 fast, we left Jesse White's and drove for home, but we did not reach 
 Rush Run, till after night, for the distance was at least thirty miles, and 
 the days were at their shortest. The hogs and cow cattle drove slowly, 
 but by constant pushing we made headway. 
 
 Tlie flax that I paid the Yankee for dressing we tied up at full length, 
 
1811.] ■ FAMILY HISTORY. 97 
 
 and put an equal portion on each side of a pack saddle on a horse, 
 and thus packed it home ; and as we came through St. Ciairsville, 
 the towns-people gazed at us, but the long flax attracted the most 
 attention. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 1811-1815. 
 
 THE RUSH RUN MILL. 
 
 ON our return home from Captina, we learned of old Mr. Tingley and 
 wife, who had just returned from a visit to New Jersey by way 
 of uncle David Cathcart's, that my aunt Susanna was lying 
 very dangerously ill of a fever, and word had been sent by them for 
 some of us to go up and pay a visit, and bring back word whether she 
 was living or dead. Accordingly it fell upon me to go, and after get- 
 ting my horse shod, on the morning of the i6th of December, 181 1, I 
 started for old Fayette. 
 
 On crossing the river at Wellsburg I was asked if we had felt any 
 shocks of an earthquake up Rush Run the night before, but I said that 
 we had felt none. They said that they had felt several shocks in the 
 night, and we afterwards learned that it was no wonder, as the seat of a 
 young earthquake had its home on the Mississippi River bordering on 
 the State of Tennessee, where considerable damage was done. But I, 
 unconcerned about earthquakes or anything else, pursued my journey, 
 and on the evening of the second day a little after dark I arrived at my 
 uncle's, and found my aunt better and sitting propped up in a large arm 
 chair. But she had been so low that they had thought her at one time 
 dead, but she had revived again. She recovered her health, and enjoyed 
 good health for more than fourteen years after that, until she took some 
 kind of erysipelas, and died April 21, 1826, aged seventy-eight years. 
 7 
 
98 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1812. 
 
 AN IMPORTANT INTRODUCTION. 
 
 During my visit in the old neighborhood where I was brought up, I 
 enjoyed myself exceedingly well. About the first week in January, 
 1812, old Joseph Kithcart called at my uncle's on his way home from 
 Court at Uniontown. 
 
 He lived across east of the Youghiogheny, six miles beyond Connells- 
 ville, on the road to Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County, and just 
 half way between Connellsville and Mount Pleasant, near the mountain. 
 
 On being introduced to him as a brother of David A. C. Sherrard's, 
 he very kindly invited me and my brother David to pay him and family 
 a visit, which invitation we complied with in less than two weeks. We 
 found ourselves seated in a comfortable room by a good fire at the old 
 'squire's in company with his two eldest daughters, young and hand- 
 some and old enough for marriage, but they were not allotted for us. 
 But be that as it may, the visit was a very agreeable one, and laid the 
 foundation of my marriage four years after to the third daughter, Mary, 
 whom I now saw at this visit for the first time, and she was then about 
 fourteen years of age. 
 
 When I and David returned to uncle's from our visit to 'Squire Kith- 
 cart's, which was on the 14th of January, we found a card of invitation 
 for each of us to attend on the i6th at the house of John Clark to be 
 present at the marriage of his eldest daughter Peggy to Alexander 
 Johnston, .store-keeper in Connellsville. We attended at the time and 
 place, and had a very fine time of it. 
 
 About the first week in February I left my uncle's and returned 
 home, and found my mother and brother's all well. While I was away 
 at Fayette my brother William made and put up a turning lathe, and my 
 brother Thomas turned the wood for several sets of split-bottomed 
 chairs. 
 
 William made and set the backs, and after the backs had got their set, 
 he put them together and made splits and put bottoms in the chairs. 
 Some of. these chairs they sold, and some they kept for our own use, 
 and one or two of them I have in use at this time, now more than forty 
 years. Besides making the chairs they did other work useful for our- 
 selves and neighbors, and thus the winter of 18 12 passed. 
 
1812.] FAMILY HISTURV. 99 
 
 PREPARING THE OLD SAW MILL. 
 
 The fall before, as soon as they moved to Rush Run the boys, 
 WilHam, John and Thomas, with the help of Benjamin Tingley, began 
 the repairing of the old saw-mill by making a new fore-bay and penn- 
 stock, and a new wheel, pitman and mill saw. One day while John was 
 at work he jumped down from the penn-stock on a pile of dirt, and so 
 jarred his liver and caused such injury to that organ that he did but little 
 work for more than a year after that, up to February, 1813, when he 
 was drafted. He then served his tour of duty in the militia, in Captain 
 Gilmore's Company of 250 men, who were stationed for three months at 
 Lower Sandusky, now Fremont, where they built Fort Stevenson. 
 
 As soon as the.ground was sufficiently thawed, the spring of 1812, the 
 work of repairing the saw-mill went on rapidly, until it was soon ready 
 for sawing, and I was appointed sawyer, and the saw was set running. 
 
 BUILDING THE RUSH RUN MILL. 
 
 The object in getting the saw-mill into running order first was to saw 
 lumber to build the new merchant flouring-mill, as we had purchased 
 this property for that purpose. William and a hired man cut the tim- 
 ber, and Thomas hauled the logs to the saw-mill with an ox-team, while 
 I sawed the logs into thick and thin plank and boards to make mill 
 wheels, weather-boards, flooring, plank and scantling for framing and 
 joist for the mill. 
 
 As soon as the water had dried away, I and Thomas set in to open 
 up the seat for the mill, and then to digging out the tail race and wheel 
 pits, — then the raising of flat stones, which were very plenty in the 
 channel of the Run. I then went a mile up a run called Dumpy Run 
 and split large free stone for a part of the mill walls, and Thomas, with 
 the oxen, hauled them. After harvest a stone-mason was employed at 
 one dollar a day, and he and William built the stone work of the mill 
 walls. These stone walls made up the first story of the mill, and they 
 were finished before the close of November. The winter came and 
 passed without any special occurrences. I attended the saw-mill when 
 there was water, which was the case in and about the middle of January, 
 1813. It rained at this time for a day or two, and then harder rain for 
 two days more, which, with the melting of the snow, raised the Ohio 
 
100 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1813. 
 
 River nearly as high as the pumpkin freshet of the iSth of November, 
 iSio. 
 
 THE WAR OF l8l2. 
 
 This rain in January, 1813, was very general, especially in the valley 
 of the Mississippi, for our troops in the northwest under General 
 Harrison at this time, lay in the Black Swamp, some twenty miles 
 beyond Lower Sandusky, where, from the nature of the ground, it was 
 with difficulty that the troops could find dry ground to stand on, much 
 less to sleep on at night. The hardships endured by these men during 
 that winter campaign were such as not only to try men's souls, but to 
 try their mortal bodies also, for many of these brave men died on their 
 way home, and many of them died a lingering death after they reached 
 home, while many of them are still living, and have obtained a bounty 
 land warrant, calling for eighty acres of land, which was obtained under 
 a law passed September 28, 1850, and well they all deserved it, and 
 much more had they got it. 
 
 By the 1st of February, 1813, orders were brought from General 
 Harrison for a draft to be made, and sent on in time to relieve those 
 whose time would expire by the month of March. I had remained 
 clear of the muster-roll from the time I was eighteen years of age till 
 the private muster of September, 1812, a period of five years. But as 
 soon as it was discovered that men would be drafted and taken out to 
 stand a tour of duty, it made each man that was enrolled be anxious to 
 have every other man he knew enrolled ready for a draft as well as he, 
 and this got me enrolled. 
 
 At the time of the first private muster, the first Friday of September, 
 the first draft had been made, and Captain David Peck and Lieutenant 
 Joseph Davis, of our company, had gone to the northwest in command 
 of the first drafted troops, which left our company bare of officers. 
 We had Ensign Charles Bucy, who did not know a letter in the alphabet, 
 and we had but one non-commissioned officer, except one, Daniel 
 McDade, who had been appointed First Sergeant, but being a very poor 
 scholar he was in no wise qualified for that position even, as he had to 
 perform what was called orderly duty, and hence was called Orderly 
 Serjeant. 
 
1813.] FAMILY HISTORY. 101 
 
 When the draft of February was made, my brother John, who stood 
 in the third class, was called on, with some others from Captain Peck's 
 company, and they were ordered to report at Steubenville, where a Court 
 of Inquiry was held for the purpose of hearing such as thought they 
 ought to be excused because they were invalids. 
 
 But scarcely a man got off from these officers, as they thought it best 
 to try the supposed invalids to see if they could stand travelling, and if 
 they would give out on the way, or after they reached camp, it would be 
 time enough to discharge them as invalids. My brother John applied to 
 the Board that sat in Steubenville on the ground that he had been for 
 fifteen months at least afflicted with rheumatism and liver complaint, so 
 that he could perform no hard labor at home. He was, however, sent 
 forward on trial, but we feared he would give out before they would reach 
 Cleveland; but he wrote us from that place that he had stood the journey 
 of one hundred miles so far better than he had expected, and said that 
 he had improved in health each day as he marched onward. 
 
 He continued to amend during the whole six months of his term of 
 service, and it continued so until he reached home on the 19th of August 
 following. And the very next day both he and his lieutenant, Barkimer, 
 about the same time of the day, took the so-called fever. 
 
 The e'xcitement was over, and there was nothing to excite or stimulate 
 them, and it shows that mankind are all acted upon by something like 
 the same motives in action and the same hopes and fears 
 
 After Captain Peck got home, my brother John wrote to us from camp 
 at Fort Stephenson, suggesting that if any of us were drafted we had 
 better try to secure a position as sergeant, or even as corporal, rather 
 than come out as a private soldier, and under this persuasion I rode over 
 to see Captain Peck, and inquired of him if there were any openings in 
 his company for. sergeants. 
 
 MY PART IN THE WAR. 
 
 His answer was that there was but one sergeant, and that was Daniel 
 McDade. I then asked him for the post of second sergeant, and 
 said that my brother Thomas wished the position of third sergeant. 
 This he promised me if I would act as orderly, as McDade could not 
 perform the duties of first sergeant. I promised that I would do so, 
 
102 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1813. 
 
 provided I should be exempt from manual exercise on the muster-field, 
 and said I would be willing to make out a muster-roll spring and fall, 
 call the same twice each muster-day, mark and return delinquents, keep 
 the class-roll, detail the men drafted, make out a list of their names, 
 hand the list of the names thus made out to the other sergeants, and 
 order them to go and notify the men thus drafted to meet on a certain 
 day named at Steubenville, with knapsack and blanket, ready for 
 marching. 
 
 To this Captain Peck readily agreed, and directed me to make out a 
 sergeant's commission for myself, and another for my brother Thomas as 
 third sergeant, and these he signed and I returned home. 
 
 Being thus commissioned as sergeants kept Thomas and me from 
 being drafted till the war was over, in March, 1815, nor could we have 
 been called out for a long time to come, for the rules of the army, 
 adopted and issued uniformly all over the United States, required the 
 first sergeant to go with the captain, the third to go with the lieutenant, 
 and the second and fourth to go with the ensign. But the captain and 
 lieutenant had gone and served their turn, and the ensign had been but 
 recently chosen and commissioned, and since there were so many older- 
 commissioned ensigns in the different companies that must take their 
 turn according to the date of their commissions, the war might have 
 lasted si.x years more and neither I nor Thomas would have been 
 called out. 
 
 Fort Meigs was besieged the early part of May, 18 13, and this caused 
 General Harrison to send orders throughout the State for heavy drafts 
 of the State militia ; and although we had had no draft since my brother 
 John was drafted, and he stood in the third class, yet to obtain four 
 men the quota required out of Peck's company, we had to pass over the 
 whole class-roll before we obtained the number. My brother William 
 stood the sixth man in the eighth class, and he obeyed the call, made 
 ready his knapsack and blanket, and reported at Steubenville, where 
 they spent three or four days in preparation before the troops could 
 march. Finally, the British and Indians raised the siege, and General 
 Harrison sent out messengers countermanding the draft, and so William 
 came marching home very unexpectedly to us, as we were not looking 
 for him. But right glad we were that he had returned, for we had 
 
1813.] FAMILY HISTORY. 103 
 
 rather paid two substitutes than that he should go, for the very good 
 reason that he was our head workman, as carpenter, joiner and mason 
 at the work of building the mill, the work of which had now made con- 
 siderable progress. 
 
 JACOB ZOLL THE MILLWRIGHT. 
 
 The millwright, Jacob ZoU, had been employed at jSi.25 a day to 
 perform the wheel work of the mill, and he had begun his work the 
 15th of March, 181 3. 
 
 I was kept sawing posts, sills and caps for the forebay leading from 
 the forebay to the trunk, and the forebay over the water-wheel ; also 
 timber for the husk, and flooring for the same three inches thick, cants 
 for the water-wheel, shafts for the bolting and screen works, and a great 
 variety of other necessary sawing, till the water failed, which was not till 
 the latter part of June. 
 
 William and a hired man by the name of John Jordan, who was hired 
 for six months at $10.50 a month, worked at hewing frame timber and 
 making the shingles, and framing the mill-house. We were all ready 
 to raise by July the 5th, and on that day and the next I went around 
 the neighborhood and asked hands to come and help raise the frame of 
 the mill-house on the 7th. 
 
 RAISING THE RUSH RUN MILL. 
 
 July 7th, 1813, more than forty hands came and assisted in raising 
 the mill, and no injury was done to any one, and it was finished before 
 night. 
 
 Immediately after the raising of the frame I and William proceeded 
 to driving on weather-boards, and finally I and Thomas finished driving 
 on the weather-boarding, while William and Jordan finished riving 
 and shaving the shingles. By August the mill was enclosed, and the 
 windows and doors hung, and by this time Jacob Zoll had made such 
 progress with the millwright work that the water-wheel was framed, 
 and we commenced putting it together on the shaft. It was framed in 
 eight pieces. Each piece had a mortise fitted on to a tenon on the 
 end of an arm. We had put on three parts out of the eight, and had 
 brought the fourth forward, when I stepped on the scaffold to attach the 
 
104 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1813. 
 
 fourth piece in its place, and just then a padlock broke, and down I 
 went nine feet and lit on my feet, and away went the parts of the wheel 
 attached to the arms, and there it played back and forth coming very 
 close to me, as I had but one foot from the wall against which I stood 
 with my back close against it, till the wheel stopped its motion. Had 
 it struck me one blow as it came close past me, it must have killed me 
 on the spot, and this was the third time I was spared from the jaws of 
 death, — once when I fell into the stream in my childhood, as stated on 
 page 43, and again during the summer of 1812, when we were building 
 up the stone walls of the mill. After the walls of the wheel-pit were 
 raised nine feet high, a scaffold was thrown across, and we had brought 
 on it about two or three tons of stone, when William directed me to go 
 down below and throw up the spalls to fill in the wall. I had no sooner 
 got down in there than some of the pudlocks broke, and down went that 
 end of the scaffold next to me, and I was so near being caught by it 
 that the ends of the boards next to me scraped gently down the calves 
 of my legs. One foot further back, and the weight of the stone would 
 have killed me instantly ; but, thanks be to God ! he preserved me, and 
 had more work for me to perform thereafter. 
 
 RELICS OF RUSH RUN MILL. 
 
 (I have in my possession now, February 1 1, 1889, some pieces of the 
 wood of that old mill, the building of which father has described so 
 minutely, — a piece of the weather-boarding, which father sawed and 
 nailed on, — it is half inch poplar. Also a piece of the shafting of the 
 bolting machine, which is walnut, and a piece of that very old wheel 
 described on the preceding page, which is white oak. I have also a 
 piece of a log of the old house in which father lived there at Rush Run, 
 to which he brought his first bride, Mary Kithcart, and where their five 
 children were born — the same house to which he brought his second bride, 
 Jane Hindman, and where their first child was born. It was on Wednes- 
 day, October 3, 1 888, that I visited that old place for the first time, and 
 brought away those pieces of wood as relics. My visit was made in 
 company with my brothers Robert and John. John, like myself, had 
 never been there, and Robert had never been there since the family had 
 moved away when he was a little boy. The old house in which father 
 
1813.] FAMILY HISTORY. 105 
 
 lived, which stood just above the mill and on the same side of the Run 
 as the mill, was entirely gone, and only one log remained which I could 
 find. The mill was still standing, and in reasonable preservation, 
 although it was all in ruins and disorder, and had not been used for 
 fifteen years. I can recognize everything about its construction from 
 father's description here given, and there was the old wheel, mostly 
 rotted away, but evidently in eight parts, and some of the parts sound 
 yet, especially the great shaft, the wood work of which was beautifully 
 done, and all the work about the mill showed very fine carpenter work. 
 -T. J. S.) 
 
 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 
 
 In the month of March, 1813, my brother John was out at Fort 
 Stephenson, near where Fremont now stands, serving his tour of duty. 
 William and Thomas were from home on business, and I was some 
 distance from the house, say forty perch, boiling sugar-water, when my 
 mother called me to come home. I obeyed the call and went to the 
 house, and was told that that young woman sitting there wished to be 
 employed to do housework, and mother said she wished me to bargain 
 with her, as Mrs. Fleming had sent her there to get a home. I asked 
 the girl what wages she wished to have, and she answered that she was 
 willing to take seventy five cents a week. I said that we would pay 
 her that at the end of every week, or any time she wished to have it, 
 and she agreed to come and begin work the next Monday. 
 
 According to promise she came, and continued diligent and faithful 
 for one year, at which time she put in for higher wages, and said if she 
 did not get it she would leave, for at Joseph Steer's she was offered 
 ^i.OO a week. I asked her what wages would satisfy her, and she said 
 eighty cents a week. I felt sure she would have asked us more, as she 
 had such an offer from Steers', but she explained that she would rather 
 take eighty cents a week with our work than ^i.oo a week and do 
 Steers' work. 
 
 I was satisfied and promised her eighty cents a week, and she was 
 ever after that content with her wages, and lived with my mother in all 
 eight years, — one year at seventy-five cents a week and seven years at 
 eighty cents a week, and the amount paid in cash for the eight years 
 amounted in all to ^330.20. 
 
106 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1814. 
 
 The fall season of the year 1813 brought round its abundance of 
 work. After the mill-house was weather-boarded and shingled, the 
 doors made and hung, and window-sash and glass in, the hurry was to 
 frame the husk and put it up, and next to plow and groove boards and 
 lay floors, and make stairs and put them up. I jointed boards, and 
 Thomas and John Jordan plowed and grooved, and William laid the 
 floors. 
 
 As soon as the mill-wright, Jacob Zoll, had finished the water-wheel, 
 the cog-wheel, the counter- wheel and wallower, and trundle-head, he 
 then began to make heads for the two merchant bolts, and then William 
 and John had to dress the bolting shafts, and next shafts and gearing 
 must be made for the rolling screen. And next the five feet Laurel 
 Hill stones must be faced and dressed ready for grinding wheat, rye, 
 corn and buckwheat. 
 
 THE MILL AT LAST STARTED. 
 
 All the work was now so far accomplished as to start the mill to 
 grinding by January 3, 18 14. This grinding process was new to us all, 
 — not one of us knew for some time at what gauge wheat ought to be 
 ground, but all other kinds of grain, such as corn, rye and oats we 
 soon learned how to grind. I was to be the miller, although Thomas 
 wanted it, but the vote carried that I should be the miller; William 
 and John did not want it, for they could make a living at other 
 mechanical work. 
 
 For two years Thomas had been driving the oxen, hauling timber, 
 stones and sawed lumber, and no doubt by this time he was tired of 
 driving and hauling, but poor fellow, he knew nothing about the diffi- 
 culty of attending mill to grind and bolt grain. Attending saw-mill 
 was not so difficult, but I knew as little about the difficulties of milling 
 at that time as Thomas did. And I have many a time since that 
 thought, that could I have known all the ills that attended a miller's 
 life and occupation, as it was pursued at that time, I would have given 
 it up, and tried some other way of making a livelihood. 
 
1814.] FAMILY HISTORY. 107 
 
 DIFFICULTIES IN A MILLERS LIFE- 
 
 The first thing that makes milling disagreeable is that he must be a 
 lackey for every one, and then he has a thankless public to wait upon, 
 and let him do his best to please, and still there will be complaints. 
 The next difficulty was the hard and oppressive work night and day. 
 
 The loss of sleep is a great drawback to the miller, and I often 
 thought that the Sabbath as a day of rest once a week, for both mind 
 and body, was one of the best institutions in the world, nor did I ever 
 before that reflect much about it as a benefit and blessing to mankind 
 if well improved I believe that a person brought up to the mill 
 business from boyhood in these days, where machinery of all kinds is 
 erected and used, could stand the occupation better than if taken into 
 the mill at twenty-five years of age as I was, always used to the sun- 
 shine and heat to draw the sweat out, and compelled to miller without 
 elevators or hopper-boy, and every barrel of flour to be well shovel- 
 packed before it was adjusted and pressed. 
 
 It is now easier by one-half for one man to attend a mill than it was 
 for two men to do it when I first began, forty years ago, for it is just 
 forty years this day since I first began to attend mill, on January 3, 
 1 8 14, and this day is January 3, 1854. 
 
 I often think that if I had kept myself at the farming business, with 
 my temperate habits, it would have been better, for I had a constitution 
 given me by the Creator, if care had been taken of it, that might have 
 lasted ninety or one hundred years. 
 
 VALUE OF A GOOD CONSTITUTION. 
 
 But like the prodigal son in the gospel, I got my portion, and a 
 goodly one it was, and spent it, not, indeed, in riotous living, but 
 foolishly for want of care taken of it as I should have done. 
 
 (These words were written by father when he was sixty-five years 
 old, and he lived in the best of health for just twenty years longer, and 
 for fifty years before his death he had no serious illness, showing that 
 his constitution was a remarkable one. — T. J. S.) 
 
 It may be asked how I injured my good constitution, and I answer: 
 First, by leaving the outdoor work, which is generally performed in the 
 
]08 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1814. 
 
 pure air, and often under the rays of a hot sun which made the sweat 
 flow freely. 
 
 Secondly, the indoor work in the mill was irregular; sometimes too 
 much power of body and mind must be exerted and sometimes not 
 enough ; and be the mill work hard or easy or none at all, it rarely 
 brought the sweat out of the body. Thirdly, attending mill and saw- 
 mill required at times a greater amount of strength than was needed in 
 the farming business. 
 
 TESTS OF PHYSICAL STRENGTH. 
 
 It was common in those days, forty years ago, to use large bags that 
 would hold usually four or five bushels, and then sometimes to use a 
 coarse bed-tick or a sheet made of coarse tow linen sewed up and filled 
 with wheat. 
 
 And then attending saw-mill for nineteen years by turns, with heavy 
 logs to roll on and heavy plank and joists and scantling to carry and 
 throw off, and besides, oftentimes in the fall, winter or spring season, 
 getting wet about the wheel-pits, made it hard. But above and beyond 
 all this, was foolish heavy lifting where there was no need for it, only for 
 young men to try their strength, and have it to boast of. Trials of 
 strength at mills were various, but the most common was who could lift 
 the most fifty-sixes tied together, and raise a fifty-six in the right hand 
 higher than the head by straightening up the arm, which I have often 
 done with a seven-pound weight laid on the fifty-six. The next test 
 was to lay down the lever or handle of the press by which flour was 
 packed into the barrels, take hold of the press with both hands and place 
 the knee under the hands, and move up the press so as to raise up the 
 lever off the floor to any given height. This exploit, which required 
 strength of bone, muscle and sinew, I have also performed hundreds of 
 times. One purpose which I had was to have it said that I could out-do 
 any man that came to the mill, and I did do it, for none that came to the 
 mill and made the trials could lift the fifty-six above their heads with 
 any more than one pound on it, and if they could lift the handle or lever 
 of the flour-press off the floor, it was as much as any of them could do, 
 while I could raise the same off the floor with a seven pound on the end 
 
1814.] FAMILY HISTORY. 109 
 
 of it, as well as raise the fifty-six above my head with the seven pound 
 weight added. 
 
 I had four brothers, stout young men, and yet none of them could take 
 a dead, heavy lift with me. I remember about forty years ago, when I 
 was in my prime, that I was sitting at the table writing, and it was cold 
 winter weather. William and Thomas went out to the wood-yard to 
 bring in a back-log, but they concluded the log ivas too large for their 
 strength, and under that impression William came to the door and called 
 to me to come and help. I answered, but wishing to finish the sentence, 
 I wrote on for a minute or so, but he, becoming impatient, spoke very 
 short, which had the effect to rouse me into action. I sprang to my feet 
 and walked out quick, took hold of one end of the log, and raised it up 
 on the other end, and then took a tight grip of it in the middle, and 
 stepped off with it into the house, and hid it to its place for a back-log 
 in the fire-place. William and Thomas walked in after me looking a 
 little disappointed, while I turned round and begged them not to trouble 
 me the next time to aid them to put a log on the fire that one man could 
 carry, since there were two of them to do it. William chided me for my 
 foolhardy work, as he was pleased to call it, and told me I was injuring 
 myself but all the cautions I got were of no avail, for lift I would and 
 lift I did until my back gave out the fall season of 1830, and from that 
 time to this it has been but little that I could lift or carry compared with 
 what I could do up to the time I was forty years of age. 
 
 LOSS OF SLEEP. 
 
 But there was one drawback to the milling business which was of no 
 ordinary kind, and that was the loss of sleep. I often thought that if I 
 could be relieved from mill work and mill watch each night through the 
 week, Sunday excepted, and commence work at daylight each morning, 
 how happy I would be ; but instead of that I have often and repeatedly 
 run the mill day and night for three weeks, Sundays excepted, and kept 
 two pairs of mill-stones grinding all the time. And when the water was 
 very flush I have sawed several hundred feet into the bargain, but for 
 those three weeks it was doing two men's work through the day, to say 
 nothing about the night watch and night labor, which was very consider- 
 
110 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1814. 
 
 able for the first eight years, for it was during that period that we had no 
 elevators to carry up wheat and flour. 
 
 LABOR-SAVING MACHINERY NEEDED. 
 
 Both wheat and flour had to be taken up by means of the hoist rope ; 
 and then, aside from all this, the first two years we had but one run of 
 stone, and no country bolt, and no hopper-boy. Both merchant and 
 country work had to be ground on the one pair of stones, and all wheat 
 and buckwheat had to be passed through the fine cloths, and must be 
 hoisted to the upper floor for that purpose, and all this was man-killing 
 work. I would not do it again, if I could, for all I made by it. 
 
 But under the progress of the times, no man will, I think, experience 
 the hardships that I did while I worked at it. But others had expe- 
 rienced harder times than I had. For a proof, Jacob Lowry built a 
 grist-mill on Dunbar Creek, when I was a boy about ten years old,, 
 about 1799, with two run of Laurel Hill stones and a country bolt. But 
 all the flour had to be carried up-stairs on the miller's back, and pushed 
 into the country bolt by hand ; and if any flour was packed into barrels 
 for sale, it had to be well shovel-packed, and then a cloth laid over the 
 top of the barrel, and the flour well packed or hammered down with a 
 fifty-six. I remember, at the same period that Lowry built his mill, 
 that a man by the name of Sturgeon had a mill on Redstone Creek, 
 three miles below Uniontown, in which he had one pair of French burrs 
 and a merchant bolt ; but he had no other method of packing flour in 
 barrels but by beating it in by a fifty-six. 
 
 Yet notwithstanding the want of fixtures and improvements on mills 
 on the western side of the Allegheny Mountains, still on the eastern 
 side many improvements had been made, but for these patent-rights 
 had been obtained, and many millers did without rather than pay a dear 
 rate for a license to use the new improvement. 
 
 PATENT-RIGHTS. 
 
 Old Oliver Evans and the EUicotts were among the first to improve 
 mills. Oliver Evans, as long ago as 1794, obtained a patent for eleva- 
 tors and hopper-boy, and for the improved plan of packing 196 lbs. of 
 flour into a barrel without using a fifty-six to beat it in. His patent 
 
1814.] FAMILY HISTORY. Ill 
 
 expired in 1808, and after an interval of three years he got his patent 
 renewed, commencing back at the time his first patent expired. Benja- 
 min Ladd, formerly of Smithfleld, now deceased, informed me that he 
 fell heir to his father's mill near Richmond, Va., a short time before the 
 first patent of Oliver Evans expired, and knowing that his father had 
 refused to pay Evans ;$300 for privilege to use the packer, elevators and 
 hopper-boy, concluded to wait for the expiration of the patent, and did 
 so. Then in the recess of two or three years before the second patent 
 was obtained, Ladd erected all the machinery patented by Evans, not 
 expecting any after-clap. 
 
 But Evans brought suit against Ladd and all others that had taken 
 advantage of the expiration of the first patent, and had erected their 
 machinery in the interval before the second patent was granted. All 
 these suits were carried up to the United States Court, and were decided 
 in favor of Oliver Evans, which was thought strange at the time by all 
 men who took any notice of or interest in the matter, knowing that the 
 Constitution of the United States forbids the passage of any ex post facto 
 law, and this law passed by Congress, by which Oliver Evans renewed 
 his patent dating from the expiration of the first, and lapping back over 
 the interval, was considered such a law, by which millers who had 
 innocently erected the improvements in the interval, when no restraint 
 was on them, were compelled very unjustly to pay. 
 
 My brother John was in Pittsburgh the spring season of 18 19, and 
 knowing that the second patent of Oliver Evans would expire in 1822, I 
 instructed him to inquire of young Oliver Evans, who at that time had 
 sole management of his deceased father's affairs, what he would ask for 
 the privilege of erecting and using the elevators and hopper boy, and his 
 answer was no less than $300. 
 
 The elevators were not erected till the fall season of 1822, at which 
 time we knew that the patent of Oliver Evans had expired. 
 
 After the mill started, January 3, 1814, I being appointed miller, knew 
 nothing about the nicety of grinding wheat, and it required me several 
 weeks before I had learned to judge by the feel of the hand, but it was a 
 nicety of judgment that had to be gained by experience. 
 
 The first merchant work that we made on the new mill was in the 
 month of March, 18 14, and amounted to only sixty-five barrels. The 
 
112 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1814. 
 
 wheat was purchased the November of i8i 3 at ninety cents a bushel, 
 but wheat raised through the winter to be worth $1.00 a bushel. These 
 sixty-five barrels my brother William sold some time in the month of 
 May to a man named Murdock from Pittsburgh at $7.00 a barrel, on 
 which he paid down ;$iOO, and as^reed to pay the balance when the flour 
 was delivered on the river bank at the mouth of Rush Run, which was 
 to be in two or three weeks, but time passed on and no word of Murdock, 
 and flour was falling in price. But we kept the flour Until some time 
 in July, when William thought it best to sell it and not wait any longer 
 for Murdock, and being offered $5.87 a barrel by Bob Patterson, he 
 took it. But some time in August Murdock appeared through an agent 
 and demanded the flour, but we claimed that the contract was void, as 
 we had kept the flour a month or two longer than we had agreed to do, 
 and, to make ourselves safe, we had sold it again. Murdock brought 
 suit against us at Steubenville, and he feed lawyer Jennings, and we feed 
 old Ben Tappan ; lawyer Jennings had not yet quit the law and gone to 
 preaching the gospel ; be that as it may, the suit lingered in Court, and 
 at last was ordered by the Court to be stricken from the docket, after re- 
 maining there for a year or two without being pushed to a final issue. 
 
 We kept the ;$iOo, and after paying Tappan his fee out of it, and other 
 expenses, we were nothing the gainers ; it is true, if Murdock had for- 
 feited the $100 manfully at first, then we might have been the gainers, 
 but thus ended tne first flour scrape. 
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE DAM. 
 
 In August, 1 8 14, the water in Rush Run being very scarce, and but 
 little chance to grind, except by gathering heads, as it was called, I had 
 to leave the mill, and in company with my brother Thomas, mount the 
 hill south of the mill and fall to work at chopping logs and clearing the 
 land on twelve acres where Elias Pegg the former owner had very inju- 
 diciously deadened several hundred good black-oak and white-oak trees, 
 very suitable for saw-logs. 
 
 But they had now been dead for five or si.x years and were good for 
 little but to be burned. And this was what I and Thomas were em- 
 ployed at for a good many days, but it so happened that we were stopped 
 in our work on the hill for three weeks. And the cause was this : on 
 
1814.] FA MIL \ ■ HIS TO RY'. 1 1 ^ 
 
 the 1 2th day of August, 1814, about two o'clock in the afternoon, a large 
 thunder cloud appeared in the west, and another as large at the same 
 time appeared in the north. 
 
 They each rolled up by swift degrees, each thundering by turns as 
 they came rolling onward and upward, and as they rose higher and 
 higher, it evidently appeared that attraction had taken place, for as we 
 were on one of the highest hills in the neighborhood, we could see each 
 cloud drawing toward the other, and when they became completely 
 joined or mingled together, soon the wind brought the cloud over us, 
 and down the rain poured as if it was spilled out of buckets. Old Sam 
 Pegg was with Thomas and myself up to the time it began to rain, 
 which soon started us down to his house, about twenty perch away. 
 
 We had not been in his house more than half an hour when Sam 
 Pegg prognosticated that the way the rain was pouring down the mill- 
 dam would be broken, and added that he would go and see, and out 
 in the rain he went, followed by Thomas, and I would not stay behind. 
 Away down the hill we went, but before we got quite in view of the 
 breast of the mill-dam, it burst with a noise like thunder, sweeping 
 clean by and with the force of the flood thirty-four feet of the breast of 
 the dam. 
 
 This stopped the grinding for some time, but by hard and diligent 
 work in three weeks the breach was made up, and the spill of the dam 
 was made sixty-four feet wide instead of thirty-four, which was the old 
 width which Elias Pegg and Joe Pumphry left it at when they first built 
 and started the saw-mill. This fall season was the most wet and rainy 
 of an)' fall during the nineteen years that we lived at Rush Run, and 
 after the mill was once more set running, I worked but little out on the 
 farm. The winter of i8i4and 1815 was not so cold and freezing as 
 many succeeding winters proved to be, and there was a good deal of 
 grinding done through the winter. 
 
 During that winter and spring my brother Thomas was employed in 
 hauling saw-logs, and having often to splash through mud and water, 
 and to cross the Run often with nothing but shoes on, — for in those 
 days boots were worn only on Sundays, and to weddings and parties, — I 
 say for want of good strong thick leather boots, Thomas frequently had 
 his feet wet and cold, which brought on inflammation of the eyes. This 
 
114 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1815. 
 
 was so severe that for many weeks he was entirely blind, and after using 
 ointments and doctoring in one way and another for three months, we 
 sent over to West Liberty, Va., for lame Doctor Wilson, — the same 
 who attended my brother John in his fever after his campaign in 1813. 
 Doctor Wilson came, and at once told Thomas that he would have to 
 be patient, for as the inflammation had been there for three months, it 
 would be three months before it could be removed, for it was a case 
 that could not be cured in a day or two. The treatment was very 
 severe ; but he finally recovered entirely. 
 
 SKCTION \^I. 
 
 1815-1816. 
 
 FIRST COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 
 
 ABOUT the latter end of August, 1815, I made ready and went up 
 to pay a visit to my uncle, aunt and brother in Fayette County. 
 But although I had a desire to see these relatives and other 
 friends, still there was one above all others that I had a strong desire 
 to see, and that was Mary Kithcart, the daughter of the deceased Joseph 
 Kithcart, Esq., and his wife Elizabeth, at this time a widow, for Joseph 
 Kithcart had died February 24, 18 14. 
 
 I have already mentioned a visit that I and my brother David made 
 to Kithcart's in January, 181 2 
 
 It was in consequence of that visit that my brother David wrote to 
 me some two or three months previous to this time, that he had paid a 
 visit to the friends, the Morrisons, in Westmoreland County, and that 
 he had called and stayed all night at the widow Kithcart's. And he 
 observed in his letter that as I had thought well of the two older girls 
 who were now both married, the third one was now grown to be a 
 young woman, and he thought she was the best of the three, and was 
 calculated to make some young man a fine wife, and that the estate of 
 
1815.] FAMILY HISTORY. 115 
 
 the deceased father would be sufficient to give each child a good begin- 
 ning if taken care of 
 
 This information set me all on fire, and I longed to see the young 
 heiress once more, now grown to a fine young woman, who, when I saw 
 her in January, 1S12, was too young and too small to attract notice. 
 And still further, I thought if there was some cash to come along with 
 a fine young girl, I was the young man that could take care of both. 
 These considerations, as I said before, made me very anxious to go and 
 see for myself. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 28th of August, 181 5, I left home and proceeded 
 to my Uncle David Cathcart's in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and 
 found them all well and glad to see me. I remained here for several 
 days making daily visits amongst my old friends and acquaintances, but 
 none of these brought to view the object of my visit to that part of the 
 country. 
 
 A brother's h.\rd barg.\in with a lover. 
 
 At length I mentioned to my brother David that I wished to go over 
 to the widow Kithcart's to pay them a visit, that I might have an oppor- 
 tunity of seeing her daughter that he had written to me about; and I 
 requested him to accompany me, thinking in my own mind that by this 
 means the ice would be the easier broken. 
 
 To this proposition he readily consented, provided that I would work 
 for him two days for each day we would be away, at the same time ob- 
 serving to me that while we were out we would visit the friends in West- 
 moreland County. 
 
 I readily consented to his terms, which was proving the old saying 
 that " the course of true love never runs smooth," but on the other hand 
 it proved another old saying, that "true love, like hunger, will break 
 through stone walls." Only think of it! that I must work two days for 
 him for his one; but again, some one will say if that was the hardship 
 endured, you were quite a lucky fellow. 
 
 Well, I met with no disappointment, but what proved disagreeable to 
 me afterwards was that my brother in this matter took a known advan- 
 tage of me at the time, as I shall show hereafter. (His brother David 
 was actually courting his own intended wife, Betsy Irvine, on that same 
 expedition, and Robert did not know it. — T. J. S.) 
 
116 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1S15. 
 
 In due time my brother David got ready, I being always ready, and 
 away we went, and in due time arrived at the widow Kithcart's, where 
 my brother in due form introduced me to the old lady and then to 
 her daugher that I had so long and so anxiously desired to see. 
 
 LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. 
 
 And I must confess that I was struck at first sight with satisfac- 
 tion at the beauty and appearance of one that I inwardly felt a desire 
 should be my companion through life, and I found by conversation 
 with her afterwards that she, like myself, had fallen in love at first 
 sight, and I believe that this is no uncommon thing. 
 
 David Humphrey, an old friend of mine, living at the present time 
 (1854), in Bellefontaine, O., but formerly of Rush Run hills, told me that 
 he had an uncle, an old bachelor, who lived in i8i4onthe Miami, and who 
 had sent for him to come and live with him, which request he complied 
 with in the spring of 18 14. Late in the fall of that same year, when the 
 nights began to lengthen, he heard of a singing school about three miles 
 from his uncle's, to which he went, and as he had been accustomed to 
 sing bass, it, according to usage, placed him on a seat opposite to the 
 ladies, which gave him a fair view of them, and that view was not with- 
 out its effect. For amongst the ladies who sang treble on the opposite 
 seat, he noticed one, a perfect stranger to him, that drew his attention, 
 and without any effort on his part, except the glance of his eye, he found 
 his affections drawn out toward this strange girl, and he was fully deter- 
 mined to find out who she was, as he had more than once noticed her 
 stealing a glance at him during the time of singing. 
 
 Therefore as soon as the singing broke, and the time of picking up 
 hats came, he kept his eye on his girl, and soon discovered a young 
 man paying attention to her by helping her on with her riding coat, and 
 then she put on her bonnet and linked arms with the young man, who 
 helped her on her horse, and he mounted his and they rode off together. 
 This made Humphrey feel bad, as he came to the conclusion that the 
 young man was her beau ; but finding that they took the same road he 
 had to go, he followed on for some distance, until they at length came 
 to a mud hole in the road, and this caused the young man to keep to 
 the right, and the young lady to the left, while he, Humphrey, took ad- 
 
1815.] FAMILY HISTORY. 117 
 
 vantage of the separation, and spurred his horse on and dashed right 
 through the mud hole, and brought his horse up right alongside of the 
 strange girl, and immediately got into conversation with her. 
 
 He then learned of her that the young man, of whom Mr. Humphrey 
 was so jealous, was her own brother. He learned her name and resi- 
 dence, and let her know that he was the nephew of the old bachelor, 
 Mr. Humphrey. 
 
 Before they parted he asked the privilege of calling to see and con- 
 verse with her, which was readily granted, and in the course of the next 
 week he called, and was well received; and he continued his visits in 
 regular order till they finally got married, lived very agreeably, and 
 brought up a fine family of boys and girls. 
 
 A second case that I shall relate was that of William McCormick, 
 who lived with his father near Smithfield ; he went up to visit some 
 relatives between Pittsburgh and Monongahela City, and while on a 
 visit to a cousin who lived on the public road side, he was seated on a 
 porch overlooking the road one day, and singing a song for the amuse- 
 ment of his friends, when a young lady passed by on horseback, going 
 towards Monongahela City. He eyed her, and she eyed him, and both 
 were love-struck at first sight, — so much so that McCormick said that 
 he soon felt all over so, and could not rest. He asked his cousin who 
 that young lady was. and where she lived, and the answer was that she 
 was Betsy Gaston, and lived with her father on the ne.xt farm. " Well," 
 said McCormick, " I must go and see her to-morrow, and you must go 
 along, and introduce me to her and her family," which the cousin prom- 
 ised, and the evening of the next day over they went; but little intro- 
 duction was needed between William McCormick and Betsy Gaston, 
 for they appeared to know and understand each other, as if by instinct 
 or some mysterious operation. They sat near each other and conversed 
 with freedom and ease; nor was it long till she asked him to sing the 
 same song she heard him sing the day before, with which he readily 
 complied, and also a few more to beguile the time and for amusement. 
 But long before this his cousin had slipped off home, and left McCor- 
 mick to make his own way among his new acquaintances ; but it was 
 not many days or weeks until they had their match made, got married, 
 and, like Humphrey and his wife, lived comfortably happy so long as I 
 
118 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1815. 
 
 knew them ; but they finally moved off down the Ohio River, and 
 where they settled I never learned. But here i.s so much for falling in 
 love at first sight, and I believe such matches are always happy matches, 
 for the reason that the love and affection on both sides is strong and 
 mutual, and flows from one to the other by strongest consent. 
 
 Attest — Robert A. Sherrard, Jan. 19, 1S54. 
 
 THE MORRISON FAMILY. 
 
 It was on Thursday that we arrived at the Widow Kithcart's ; and we 
 stayed all night, and left the next morning after breakfast, and in due 
 time arrived at the house of Mr. John Morrison, near what is now 
 Beatty's Station, Westmoreland County, who was married to Jane 
 Irvine, a kinswoman of our own, and whose sister Betsy lived with them. 
 
 (The kinship was this: Jane (Irvine) Morrison and Betsy Irvine were 
 full second-cousins of father and Uncle David ; for their mother, Mrs. 
 Rachel Irvine, was the daughter of William Gamble, one of the bro- 
 thers of my great-grandmother, Ann (Gamble) Cathcart. — T. J. S.) 
 
 These relatives appeared to be glad to see us, and on Saturday, after 
 breakfast, a young lady by the name of Maxwell came to Morrison's to 
 get Betsy Irvine and her niece, Nancy Morrison, to go with her home to 
 attend a singing-school, which was to come off that afternoon in their 
 neighborhood. Miss Maxwell asked David and myself to go with the 
 cousins to the singing-school ; but David and Betsy Irvine refused to go, 
 at the same time strongly insisting on my going in company with 
 Nancy Morrison. We agreed, and went over to Maxwell's some six 
 miles, took dinner and attended the singing-school where there col- 
 lected a goodly number of young people of both sexes, and good 
 singers, because they practiced well and took delight in vocal music. 
 After the singing was over, Nancy Morrison and I returned to Ma.x- 
 well's, and stayed over night ; and in due time, after breakfast on Sab- 
 bath morning, in company with the young people of the Maxwell 
 family, we went to Congruity Church, and heard a discourse delivered 
 to a large and respectable congregation by the Rev. Samuel Porter, who 
 was at this time (September, 1815) pastor of that church. He appeared 
 old and frail, inasmuch as he delivered his discourse sitting in the pul- 
 pit in a large armed rocking-chair. 
 
1815.] FAMILY HISTORY. 119 
 
 GOING HOME FROM CHURCH. 
 
 I found that John Morrison, my brother David and Betsy Irvine had 
 come over to Congruity to hear old father- Porter preach, although the 
 distance was nine miles. 
 
 After sermon was over we all mounted our horses and took the road 
 for Morrison's, but we had not gone far before an opportunity offered, 
 and I embraced it, of riding up alongside of Betsy Irvine ; but I had not 
 time to exchange five words with her till I was abruptly ousted from that 
 place and position by my brother David, who, seeing m)' position, spurred 
 his horse forward and ran him with some force right up between us. 
 This forced me off to the right, and I was thereby compelled to fall back 
 to the company and conversation of Nancy Morrison, with whom I had 
 conversed so much on Saturday and Sabbath morning on our way to 
 church that I thought that most of the subjects of interest were ex- 
 hausted, and that a change of company would give a chance of bringing 
 up and discoursing over the same subjects. But in this I was sadly 
 disappointed by the abrupt and unmannerly conduct of my brother 
 David, for I then thought, and I still think, that it was the most unman- 
 nerly conduct that I had ever known him to perpetrate with me or any 
 one else; had he been just married to the girl three days before, he 
 might have been e.xcused, and hardly then ; but finding no other chance, 
 I contented myself, and taxed my memory and ingenuity to bring for- 
 ward matters new and old to beguile the time, and to keep the conversa- 
 tion from running out or flagging. And what was consoling somewhat 
 was the fact that the girl whose company I enjoyed was young, not more 
 than twenty (as a matter of fact she was then only sixteen and a-half 
 years old. See Egle's " Genealogies," p. 59 — T. J. S.), and very hand- 
 some, while the one my brother David seemed to set so much store by 
 was at least thirty, and very homely, but well-read and well-informed. 
 
 OLD-FASHIONED SABBATH-KEEPING. 
 
 By the time we arrived at Morrison's, after a long service at church 
 and a ride of nine miles, we had a sharp appetite for dinner, which was 
 ready for us and we for it. Towards evening Betsy Irvine went to her 
 drawer and brought out a handful of pecan nuts and divided them, and 
 
120 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1815. 
 
 we cracked them with our teeth ; but she could not do that, and there- 
 fore had to use some instrument on the hearth. But she had not cracked 
 more than two till old John Morrison, who was reading his book, called 
 out : " Who is cracking nuts on the Sabbath ?" He said nothing against 
 his daughter or David and me, who continued to crack the pecans with 
 our teeth, as if there could be so much difference between jaw-cracking 
 and hearth-cracking. 
 
 His conduct in this respect reminded me of the Yankee deacon who, 
 when the congregation talked of putting a stove in the meeting-house to 
 keep it warm, objected to the putting of it there, alleging that it would 
 be a desecration of the Sabbath. " Well, but Deacon," said his friend, 
 " there is no more harm in using a stove in the meeting-house, than for 
 your wife to use a foot-stove in her sleigh to warm her feet coming to 
 and going from church." " O," said the deacon, " I had not thought of 
 that ; I suppose we'll have to get the stove." 
 
 The Sabbath passed away, and on Monday morning we still found 
 ourselves at John Morrison's, and we must stay this day, and Betsy 
 Irvine proposed that we should accompany her and Nancy Morrison on 
 a visit to the widow Miller's. After breakfast we all made ready and 
 had a pleasant walk of about a mile, and a pleasant chat with the 
 cousins, my brother David not allowing me the privilege of walking 
 with Betsy Irvine, neither going nor returning, but he monopolized all 
 her company and conversation, so that it was little of it that fell to my 
 share, for David always kept close to her when out from Morrison's, 
 and always kept up a close conversation with her. 
 
 We left John Morrison's after dinner on Tuesday, and stopped for 
 the night at widow Kithcart's, and this was in accordance with my 
 feelings and wishes. 
 
 And although I had been as kindly treated at Morrison's as heart 
 could wish, and had the company and conversation of as pretty a cousin 
 as the sun ever shined upon, yet I was not as happy there as might be 
 expected, although I believe now that my brother David was, and the 
 reason was that I had left my heart and affections at the widow Kith- 
 cart's with her daughter Mary, who, on our return, was down in the 
 meadow busied spreading flax. And. oh, how I longed to be there 
 helping her at such rural employment, but so soon as she saw us alight 
 
1815.] FAMILY HISTORY. 121 
 
 from our horses, she left off the flax spreading, not that she was 
 ashamed to be caught at such out-door employment, but because 
 strangers had arrived, and there was one there she delighted to honor, 
 and he delighted to honor her. 
 
 THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE. 
 
 That evening I had but little opportunity of conversing with her, with- 
 out being more abrupt than would seem to be proper. I and David retired 
 to rest and the next morning after breakfast, while David was conversing 
 with the widow Kithcart, I passed out beyond the orchard, and as I 
 returned I heard the loom going in the loom-house, on hearing which I 
 repaired to the place, and without further ceremony entered and took a 
 seat on the loom beside Mary ; and, oh, how glad I was of the chance. 
 
 But time flew on and rolled round, and my brother made the motion 
 to start for home. Before we left we were told that a singing-school 
 would be held on Saturday week at the Baptist meeting-house, about 
 two miles from Kithcart's, and would also be held that same evening at 
 the widow Kithcart's at early candle lighting. 
 
 It was conducted by a Mr. Stem, a music teacher, and Mary's brother, 
 Thomas Kithcart, kindly invited us to come over and attend. David 
 excused himself for the want of time, and I for my part spoke of the 
 distance being something of an obstacle (it was only nine miles, three 
 miles from Uncle David Cathcart's to Connellsville, and six miles from 
 Connellsville northeast to Kithcart's. — T. J. S.), but it was mere stuff, 
 for nothing would suit me better, as I wanted more of Mary's company 
 and conversation, and was determined to have it. 
 
 And as an excuse to come back to the singing-school, I left a new 
 singing-book that I had purchased in Mount Pleasant when David and 
 I went on to Morrison's, but it was no go, for we had not left the house 
 ten perch till we were hailed, and one of the boys came running out to 
 us with the singing-book ; this I considered as unlucky, but it was a 
 mistake, for nothing of the sort followed. 
 
 We left Kithcart's on Wednesday and arrived hoTie, at Uncle David's, 
 the same evening, after being absent one week ; and I must confess it 
 was the most pleasant week that thus far I had ever put over in the 
 progress of my life. I turned in and commenced to help my brother 
 
122 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1815. 
 
 David to work according to contract, being ignorant at the time that he 
 had taken advantage of me, not knowing at the time, nor for a month 
 and a half afterwards, that he was as deeply interested in the visit to 
 see Betsy Irvine, who became his wife, as I was to see Mary Kithcart, 
 who became my wife. But I helped him to labor till the next Thursday 
 week, and the next day, Friday, I started over on my second visit 
 to Kithcart's, accompanied by old Uncle Cathcart. We arrived there 
 in due time, and were kindly received by both mother and daughter, 
 and indeed by all the family. I put in my time very agreeably till 
 after dinner on Saturday, at which time I and Mary and her brother 
 Thomas went to the singing-school at the Baptist meeting-house, two 
 miles away. The attendance at the singing was large, and when 
 brought to a close, Mr. Stem, the teacher, gave notice that there would 
 be another singing at early candle lighting at the house of Mrs. 
 Kithcart. We returned to Kithcart's, and there was a number of 
 relations of the family came home with us, and some few acquaintances. 
 When the hour arrived for singing, the house was well filled with a 
 number of good singers, as well as with a number of spectators. After 
 the singing was over, and all had gone home that intended, Mr. Stem 
 stayed, and he and I sang a great variety of tunes, principally from my 
 new book, not long published by a Mr. Wise, of Virginia. This book 
 contained a great variety of Methodist tunes, which I, as well as the 
 teacher, had learned, and which we sang, as we thought, well. 
 
 LOVERS GOING TO CHURCH. 
 
 The next morning being the Sabbath, the friends from the " Neck," 
 which is the triangular piece of land lying in between Jacobs' Greek and 
 the Youghiogheny River, left to go to Tyrone church to hear Mr. Guthrie 
 preach, while I went with the Kithcarts to the Mt. Pleasant church and 
 heard Mr. Power preach. Mary and I rode together five miles to the place 
 of preaching, and when sermon and service were over, we rode back home 
 together, and oh, what an amount of agreeable conversation we had during 
 that ride to and from church ! I thought it a privilege and a pleasure 
 to have five miles to go and return after sermon. On Monday I and 
 uncle Cathcart did not leave the widow Kithcart's till after dinner, and 
 this gave me another fine opportunity of discoursing with Mary, which 
 
1815.] FAMILY HISTORY. 123 
 
 completely broke the ice between her and me at that time and forever. I 
 wa.s now privileged to come and go as often and at .such times as I thought 
 proper, which privilege I made use of by going over from my uncle's 
 once in two weeks, and then I would stay at least two days. This 
 visiting continued till the end of October, by which time Mary and I 
 became engaged ; for we both felt we could not live apart. 
 
 THE KITHCART ANCESTRY. 
 
 (Joseph Kithcart, the father of Mary, who was his third daughter and 
 fourth child, was the son of John and Sarah (White) Kithcart, or " Cath- 
 cart," who were born in County Antrim, Ireland, the one in 1737 and 
 the other in 1740. They emigrated to America in early times, but it is 
 not known at what time they removed west of the mountains, nor where 
 their children were born. 
 
 It is a tradition among the Kithcarts that the name was originally 
 " Cathcart " when their ancestor John came to America, but that when 
 he settled in Fayette County, Pa., his grant of land was by mistake 
 recorded as " Kithcart " in the title books of Virginia, which at that 
 earlj'- day claimed jurisdiction over that part of Western Pennsylvania, 
 and in order to hold the title, the family took the name of " Kithcart." 
 My father says there was no relationship existing between the Kithcarts 
 and old Uncle David Cathcart, although they lived only nine miles apart 
 and visited each other. The Kithcart homrstead was in that part of 
 Fayette County east of the Youghiogheny River, near the old Mount 
 Vernon Furnace, six miles from Connellsville, on the road to Mt. Pleas- 
 ant, or near that road. Here John Kithcart died October 26, 18 12. His 
 wife, Sarah White, had died before him, on March 4, 1798. 
 
 They had three children: Mary, b. 1766; d. Mar. 4, 17S8 ; Thomas, 
 who was killed at a barn raising on October 5, 1792, when he was 
 twenty-four years of age, — he was to have been married the next week ; 
 Joseph, the father of Mary, who was married to Elizabeth Cunningham, 
 — they had in all ten children. 
 
 Of the ten children of Joseph and Elizabeth Cunningham Kithcart, only 
 one is now living, Mrs. Martha Sharon, who is now, at this writing, Feb. 1 6, 
 1889, almost eighty years of age. In October, 1888, my brothers, Robert 
 and John, and I called to see her at her home in Mt. Pleasant, O. — T. J. S.) 
 
124 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1815. 
 
 THE CUNNINGHAM FAMILY. 
 
 Barnett and Anna Cunningham, the father and mother of Elizabeth 
 Cunningham Kithcart, removed April, 1770, from Peach Bottom, York 
 Co., Pa., on the Susquehanna, and settled in that part of Fayette County 
 called the " Neck," or the " Forks," lying between the Youghiogheny 
 River and Jacobs' Creek on the east, on a farm in Tyrone township. 
 
 They had ten children, seven sons and three daughters, and the 
 mother, Anna Cunningham, lived to be eighty-six years of age, and died 
 August 4, 1825. She had in all — of children, grand-children, and great- 
 grand-children — two hundred and fifty. She was born Sept. 18, 1739. 
 Barnett Cunningham died in 1804. 
 
 The children of Barnett and Anna Cunningham were as follows, — the 
 order of their ages is not known : 
 
 1. Elizabeth, b. Oct. 4, 1772 ; m. first, March 22, 1792, Joseph Kith- 
 cart, who died Feb. 24, 1814; m. secondly, Feb. 7, 1818, John Galloway 
 of Mercer Co., Pa., a worthy and wealthy widower who died Sept., 18 19. 
 She then removed back to her old Kithcart homestead in Fayette 
 County, where she remained until 1823, when she came to live with 
 her son-in-law, Robert A. Sherrard, after the death of her daughter 
 Mary. 
 
 She continued to live with his family at Rush Run for four years, 
 until after his second marriage, when she removed to Mt. Pleasant, 
 and lived there until her death, August 20, 1854. 
 
 2. Joseph, b. 1776; d. May 19, 1858; ni. Keziah Nokkis. He lived 
 all his long life on the same farm on which he was born, the same 
 on which his father and mother first settled in April, 1770. 
 
 His wife Keziah did not long survive him ; they had fifteen or six- 
 teen children, and they all lived to grow up, and were all married, 
 except one daughter, Anna, and she was engaged to John Clark, Jr. , 
 but she died before the wedding. 
 
 The other children of Barnett and Anna Cunningham are: 3. Wil- 
 liam; 4. Benjamin; 5. John, of Miller's Run; 6. Hugh, of Delaware, 
 O. ; 7. Anna, m. Joseph Hutcheson, and lived near her father's; 
 8. Mrs. John Morrison of Hickory; and two othsrs whose names are 
 not given. 
 
1815.] FAMILY HISTORY. 125 
 
 ELIZABETH CL'XXIXGHAM KITHCART GALLOWAY. 
 
 Although .she lived as the widow of Jolin Galloway for thirty-six 
 years after his death, yet she was always known everywhere and 
 called by the familiar title of " Grand-mother Kithcart. " 
 
 She was two years old before her parents could have her baptized, 
 though both her father and mother were members in full and good stand- 
 ing in the Presbyterian church where they came from at Peach Bottom, 
 on the Susquehanna river. But it pleased Providence in due time to 
 send the Rev. James Power out over the mountains, a very worthy 
 young Presbyterian minister, to look after Presbyterians among the 
 early settlers. It was his mission to organize churches, ordain elders, 
 hold communion services, and baptize children that had been deprived 
 of the ordinance for want of a suitable clergyman of the Presb)terian 
 order to perform that rite. 
 
 Such was the case with Barnett Cunningham and his wife, Anna Cun- 
 ningham, as also his half-brother, James Torrance, and his wife, who came 
 out over the mountains with the Cunninghams, and both families settled 
 near together in the " Neck" between the Youghiogheny and Jacobs' Creek. 
 
 These four persons brought their certificates of Presbyterian church 
 membership with them in 1770, and in the summer of 1774 the Rev. 
 James Power came out on his mission, and he organized at that time the 
 new church of Tyrone, with the Cunninghams, and Torrances, and 
 others, as members, and Elizabeth Cunningham, with other children, 
 was at that time baptized. Barnett Cunningham and his half-brother, 
 James Torrance, were chosen and ordained Elders in thai church, and the 
 first meeting-house was built on a piece of Barnett Cunningham's land. 
 
 EXGAGEMEXT OF ROBERT A. SHERR.ARD. 
 
 After the engagement of myself and Mary Kithcart I returned home 
 to Rush Run Mills, in some respects, quite a different person from what 
 I was when I left home. I was now always in a good humor ; always 
 merry, courteous, kind, affable, blithsome and gay, and while awake and 
 by myself, most of the time whistling or singing. It was evident that all 
 this change was brought about by female influence; and if it were not 
 for that influence, man would be but a rough, uncouth being. 
 
126 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1815. 
 
 It was the 1st of November when I arrived home, and about the loth 
 of December I returned to Fayette County to visit Mary and make the 
 final arrangements for our marriage. Passing through Brownsville I 
 stopped with my cousin, John Johnston, who kept a wholesale tailor 
 shop with cloths, vestings, trimmings and hosiery. 
 
 (He was the son of a brother of Margaret Johnston of Ireland, the 
 wife of William Sherrard, and was therefore a full cousin of father's 
 father, John Sherrard. — T. J. S.) 
 
 I left my measure with him for a new suit from top to toe as I had 
 returned homeward the last of October, and expected to find them 
 ready, but I found there was little done on the suit, and I had to wait 
 for it two or three days, and it was not finished till Saturday by noon. 
 
 By this time my beard had grown so as to require the hand of a 
 barber, and on inquiry I learned that the barber was sick. My friend 
 Johnston told me that he sometimes borrowed a razor from his friend, 
 Mr. Rhodes, when the barber was sick or absent, and he sent his boy 
 to borrow the razor for me, as I told him I desired to go across the 
 country below Connellsville and see Mary that evening, instead of going 
 to my Uncle Cathcart's, which would retard my progress till Monday. 
 
 But to my chagrin, when I tried the razor it was so dull that all I could 
 do with it I could not get the one-half of my beard whittled off, and I 
 was therefore obliged, however grievous the disappointment, to put off 
 my visit to Mary for that evening, but she was not looking for me, as there 
 was no particular day set for my return at the time I left her. I there- 
 fore made the best of my way to my Uncle David's, and got my brother 
 David to be my barber, and the ne.xt day. Sabbath, I accompanied him to 
 Laurel Hill meeting-house to hear the Rev. Mr. Guthrie preach, instead 
 of going with Mary to Mt. Pleasant to hear the Rev. James Power preach. 
 
 However, I went over to Kithcart's on Monday, but found that Mary 
 was not at home ; her mother and grandmother Cunningham were also 
 away on a visit, but they returned before the close of the evening, and 
 Mary was sent to come, as she had been staying with her sister, Sarah 
 Andrews. I had on the new suit, and being thus dressed up, I cut a 
 very decent and respectable figure. But this was the first time that I 
 and Mary's grandmother Cunningham had met, and at first sight it 
 appeared that she formed but a poor opinion of me, as the intended 
 
1816.] FAAflLV H/STORY. 127 
 
 husband of Mary Kithcart. The old lady considered me too much of 
 a foppish fellow, and, as I believed, for no other reason than that I was 
 neatly and well dressed from head to foot, far beyond what she expected. 
 
 She had heard from Mary's mother that Mary was to be married to 
 a young man from Ohio, and the old lady being an old frontier settler, 
 associated all that belonged to the frontier with frontier customs, and 
 knowing that Ohio was at that time, in 1815, a frontier settlement, she had 
 embraced in her association the hunting-shirt, moccasins and the log-cabin. 
 
 But when I found out through Mary the opinion that her grand- 
 mother had formed of me, I did all I could to ingratiate myself into the 
 old lady's favor ; I attended to all her foibles and whims, and knowing 
 that she used snuff pretty freely, I always, before going to see her, 
 purchased a quarter of snuff and took it as a present, and by these 
 means I soon had her to boast of Mary's husband. 
 
 Mary's grandmother, Anna Cunningham, made her home, at this 
 time, witli her son, Joseph Cunningham, on the old homestead, near the 
 Tyrone Church, six miles from Kithcart's. 
 
 THE BANNS PUBLISHED. 
 
 During this visit I stayed with Mary three days, and we arranged the 
 time of our marriage to take place on the 25 th of January, 18 16, and it was 
 also arranged that the banns, or intention of marriage, be published between 
 Robert A. Sherrard and Mary Kithcart by the Rev. James Power on three 
 succeeding Sabbath-days, which was done accordingly. I made niy bro- 
 ther David acquainted with the day we had fixed for the wedding, and on 
 hearing that he made a wager with me that he would be married before me. 
 
 I took him up, and won the wager, as the event proved afterwards, 
 but at that time I was left altogether in the dark as to who his intended 
 bride was, for he refused to tell me. Before I left for home I took the 
 opportunity to let my uncle know that the wedding-day was set, which 
 pleased him very much, and met with his entire approbation and 
 approval. At the same time he observed to me that he wished that my 
 brother David would find some one to his pleasement, and especially one 
 that would please also his uncle and aunt, when I mentioned that David 
 had just made a wager with me that he would be married before me. 
 " And who is that ? " asked uncle, hastily. I replied that it was more 
 
128 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1816. 
 
 than I could tell, for he had refused to tell me. " I'll lay a hundred to 
 one it is to Betsy Irvine," said uncle. "That may be!" said I, for at 
 the mention of her name it flashed on me that this explained his conduct 
 during our visit to Morrison's the September before, and how he had 
 treated me, first, in over-reaching me by compelling me to work two 
 days for each day he lost in going with me, when he was in reality 
 going to see and make a match with the girl of his own choice ; and 
 secondly, that he would neither give nor allow me any chance while on 
 said visit to Morrison's to discourse with his intended, Betsy Irvine, as re- 
 lated on page 119. David afterwards, on my return to get married, in- 
 formed me that it had been his intention to be married on Tuesday, 
 January 23d, and leave John Morrison's on Wednesday 24th, and come 
 to Kithcart's that same day, and of course be at our wedding on Thurs- 
 day the 25th, and both parties would proceed together to Uncle Cath- 
 cart's on Friday the 26th, and make one infare answer for both. The idea 
 was a good one, if it could have been carried out, but his intended wrote 
 to him that she had been sick, and could not make the necessary prepara- 
 tions in time, and this put off David's marriage till the 14th of March, 1816. 
 
 I returned home in fine spirits and high glee; and while I must ac- 
 knowledge that I found a great deal of happiness in pursuit, yet the hap- 
 piness of pursuit would in no way compare with that of enjoyment. 
 
 Shortly after I returned home the winter set in in good earnest, so 
 that the Ohio river became difficult to cross on account of the running 
 ice. My brother Thomas was to accompany me to the wedding, and we 
 concluded to start on our trip sooner than we would have otherwise 
 done lest we might not be able to cross the Ohio when we wished. 
 Accordingly we started on the 12th of January and went to LaGrange 
 to cross the river on the ferry-boat, but found it was not running on ac- 
 count of the ice. We had to wait there till three o'clock in the after- 
 noon until a sufficient number of travelers had gathered. 
 
 The ferry was kept by old Tom Johnson, and he then announced that 
 the boat would start, and he charged me $2 for taking Thomas and me 
 across, which was extortionate, for the danger was not great at all. He 
 never thrived after his ill-gotten gains, and seven years afterwards he 
 was a broken merchant, although by the ferry and a tavern he had gath- 
 ered together several thousand dollars. But be all this as it may, I and 
 
1816.] FAMILY HISTORY. 129 
 
 Thomas mounted our horses on the Virginia shore at three o'clock in 
 the afternoon, and rode on to Middletown, twelve miles, where we fed 
 our horses, and then by 8 P. M. we were in Washington and stopped at 
 John Johnston's tavern, and it was very cold and frosty. 
 
 The next day we went on to Brownsville by noon and stopped at our 
 cousin Johnston's, and he was then the best tailor to be found in 
 Western Pennsylvania or Virginia. 
 
 Our object in stopping at Johnston's was to get him to make a new 
 suit for Thomas, which he did to full satisfaction. Besides, I had left 
 my measure and orders for my wedding suit on my way home the last 
 time, and I got it at this time. The next day we went on to Uncle 
 Cathcart's, and the day following that I went over to see Mary to let 
 her and the family know that I was still alive and ready for the wed- 
 ding day. 
 
 The next day, which was the i6th, I and Mary's brother, Thomas, 
 went to see the Rev. James Power at Mount Pleasant, and I invited him 
 to come on the 25th and perform the marriage ceremony. The next 
 day I returned to my uncle's. I would here remark that I searched all 
 the stores in Brownsville, and all in Uniontown, and all in Connells- 
 ville, to get a pair of white gloves that would be large enough to fit my 
 hands, but could find none large enough, and was obliged to have 
 recourse to a pair of fine white lamb-skin gloves belonging to my 
 brother David. He had used these gloves while acting as captain of 
 the militia, and they fitted my hands exactly, and served my purpose on 
 this occasion. 
 
 MARRI.\GE OF ROBERT A. SHERRARD. 
 
 Time rolled on, and brought the welcome day, — Thursday, January 
 25, 1816. I had made choice of James Clark as my waiter, and had his 
 two sisters, Polly and Betsy, — the one to ride with my brother David, 
 and the other to ride with my brother Thomas. We rode over in the 
 following order : I and James Clark, before ; David and Polly Clark, 
 next ; and Thomas and Betsy Clark, next ; and this composed the 
 groom's party. 
 
 When we arrived at Kithcart's, it was twelve o'clock; and a goodly 
 number of Mary's relations, friends and neighbors were present to wit- 
 ness the marriage ceremony. 
 9 
 
130 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1816. 
 
 We found also the preacher, the Rev. James Power, present ready to 
 perform the ceremony. As soon as I was dressed up in my wedding 
 suit, I was conducted into a neat httle room with my waiter, James 
 Clark, where we were introduced to the bride and her bridesmaid, 
 Betsy Walker; and as soon as all things were ready, we were called 
 out, and we stood up before the preacher and all the company present. 
 The ceremony was said with our sanction of it, and we were now hus- 
 band and wife, both in the eye of the law and before God and man. 
 
 We had agreed beforehand, as it had lately become customary, not to 
 trouble the waiters to draw off the gloves before joining hands, but to 
 join the hands with the glove on. To be in the fashion we kept our 
 gloves on ; but Mary said to me afterwards that she thought it more to 
 the intended purpose to join the hands with the gloves off 
 
 THE WEDDING FEE. 
 
 The ceremony being over, and the dinner, too, the old preacher, Mr. 
 Power, made ready to leave for home, at which time I sent my waiter, 
 James Clark, with three dollars to give to him, which I considered would 
 be sufficient for his trouble. Some maj' think it was a poor fee, and so 
 it would be in these days of wealth and progress ; but I can assure such 
 that one dollar at that time was worth three now, and but few persons 
 forty years ago gave more. 
 
 The afternoon passed ; and after supper, as there was no fiddle, the 
 bride's brother Thomas sang, and several of the young people seemed 
 to enjoy themselves trying to dance four-handed reels, which was a 
 simple, old-fashioned dance. At length Thomas Andrews, who was 
 married to the bride's sister Anna, led out the bride's mother, and they 
 danced several jigs with some degree of nicety and precision, and well 
 they might, as in the case of the old lady, dancing in her young days 
 was very common, both at weddings and at all kinds of gatherings ; and 
 as to Thomas Andrews, he had been taught dancing at the dancing- 
 school in Ireland as an accomplishment. I could not dance at all ; but 
 1 had an accomplishment that some of them did not have, and that was 
 ability to calculate interest. 
 
 For example, the next morning the bride's uncle, Joseph Cunning- 
 ham, wished to pay off a note of hand held by the old lady, his sister; 
 
1816.J FAMILY HISTORY. 131 
 
 but neither of them was able to calculate the interest on the note. On 
 that account the old lady called me to them at the desk, and asked me 
 to calculate the interest due for one year, nine months and nineteen 
 days. This I did in short order by multiplying the dollars and cents 
 by the number of days ; then cut off two figures at the right for cents, 
 and divide the remainder by sixty, and I had the interest in dollars and 
 cents ; and I was more proud of that accomplishment than all the 
 dancing I ever performed. 
 
 E.\RLY EDrCATION. 
 
 Had I been unable to calculate the interest due on that note, how 
 little I would have felt, and it would have been a wound inflicted on 
 mother-in-law. She called me in full confidence, for she did not know, 
 but felt sure in her mind that a young man versed in many branches of 
 an " English Education " could certainly calculate the simple interest 
 on a note of hand. Although neither she nor her brother could do it, 
 still a vast allowance must be made between the time that she and her 
 brothers and sisters were brought up and schooled, and the time that I 
 and my brothers were brought up and schooled, and yet there was not 
 so great a difference between their time and my time, as between my 
 time and the present time at which I write, February 15, 1854. 
 
 Mother-in-law was born in 1772, and brought up during the unsettled 
 times of the Revolution, and the excited state of the early settlers in 
 Western Pennsylvania and the Pan Handle of Virginia, until peace was 
 made with the Indians in 1774 and 1775. Nor did education take 
 anything like a rapid start till some time after I was a married man. I 
 got but a poor education at school, but my knowledge of reading, 
 writing and arithmetic was principally gained at home, and so of my geog- 
 raphy and English grammar, so that I became, in a measure, self-taught. 
 
 And it is very evident that the education obtained at the common 
 schools in former times, as well as in the present, without being prac- 
 ticed and improved upon at home, was and is in too many instances 
 lost, or nearly so, and there are but few of the young men and young 
 women of the land who do much to improve the education they get at 
 the common schools; they become careless, and it becomes uphill work 
 to attempt to improve on books, slate and paper. 
 
132 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1816. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 ^ 1816-1817. 
 
 MARRIED LIFE. 
 
 BUT I have been forgetting that it v--as the morning after my mar- 
 riage. Breakfast being over, there was a very considerable bustle 
 and stir in making preparation to start over to my uncle's where 
 the infare was to be held, but in due time the horses were brought, and 
 the infare party all mounted and took their stations in order on the road 
 as follows : I and Mary, the bride, first ; James Clark and Betsy Walker, 
 the waiters, next ; David Sherrard and Polly Clark next ; Thomas 
 Sherrard and Betsy Clark next; while Thomas Kithcart and Rachel 
 Carr brought up the rear. We rode into Connellsville, six miles, and 
 on out to Uncle Cathcart's, where we enjoyed ourselves that day to 
 good purpose. We had the company of George Graham and wife, 
 lawyer James Todd and wife from Uniontown, and among others, old 
 Matthew Neely called in and was made welcome, for he was an old 
 acquaintance of my father's, and was among the early settlers in that 
 neighborhood, and after the decease of old George Paull, with whom 
 my father boarded and lived as early as 1773, Matthew Neely married 
 the widow Paull and lived with her on the land that fell to her as 
 dower. 
 
 We stayed at my uncle s till Monday after dinner, and then went to 
 John Clark's ; Tuesday to Alexander Johnston's, in Connellsville ; 
 Wednesday to Kithcart's, and on Thursday, February i, 1816, we went 
 down to the " Neck ' to Joseph Cunningham's, Mary's uncle, with 
 whom Mary's grandmother, Anna Cunningham, lived at that time. We 
 visited also at James Torrence's and Joseph Hutcheson's, and returned 
 by Saturday evening to Kithcart's, and on Sabbath we made our appear- 
 ance at church at Mount Pleasant. 
 
 On Wednesday following seven of Mary's cousins came, — a son and 
 daughter of William Cunningham ; a son and daughter of Benjamin 
 Cunningham, from Beaver; a son and daughter of John Cunningham, 
 
1816.] FAMILY HISTORY. 133 
 
 from Miller's Run, twelve miles southwest of Pittsburgh ; and a son of 
 Hugh Cunningham, from within four miles of Delaware, Ohio. 
 
 The next day we all went up to Mason's Mount Vernon Furnace, a 
 mile from Kithcart's, where we all got weighed; I weighed i86 pounds 
 and Mary weighed just 140 pounds, she being but a little over eighteen 
 years old. 
 
 The next Monday, February 12th, we left mother Kithcart's for home 
 at Rush Run, and Mary rode a young mare which her mother had 
 purchased for her at ;$6o, out of the money due her from her father's 
 estate ; her mother also paid me §200, for which I gave her guardian, 
 Mr. Tinsman, my note as a receipt and security for so much of Mary's 
 own money. We stopped at Connellsville and also at Uncle Cathcart's, 
 and on Wednesday my brother Thomas started with us on our way 
 home. We stopped in Brownsville, where I paid for my wedding suit, 
 ^40, and Thomas paid the bill for his suit at $30. On Thursday we 
 left my cousin Johnston's, and we came twenty-five miles to Washing- 
 ton and ten miles farther to half a mile below Hickory, where we 
 stopped at Aunt Morrison's ; she was a sister to Mary's mother. The 
 next day, Friday, the i6th, we left Morrison's and came on home to 
 Rush Run, where we arrived that evening, and I presented to my old 
 mother her first daughter-in-law. Happy days flew round and no end 
 to them, and I have no doubt in my mind, if hundreds of men who 
 become old before they marry, or, as many do, never marry at all, only 
 knew the sweets and comforts of a married life, they would not linger 
 so long on the shores of a single state of blessedness, but would 
 launch away, and strive to make themselves and at least one more 
 comfortable and happy. 
 
 FIRST VISIT AFTER MARRIAGE. 
 
 By the ist of June that year, 1816, the water had run so low that no 
 grinding could be done, and Mary and I left home on the 4th day of 
 June to make a visit to her mother. This time we went by Steuben- 
 ville and stopped at Dick's tavern in that place, took dinner and had 
 the horses fed, and previous to starting I offered pay, but they would 
 take none. Their uncommon kindness and attention to us quite aston- 
 ished me, but it proved to be no loss to them at last, for during the 
 
134 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1816. 
 
 space of thirteen years afterwards I made that my regular stopping 
 place whenever I would have business in Steubenville, and during that 
 period was well treated and had but moderate bills to pay. James and 
 Robert Dick were born and brought up to be young men in County 
 Antrim, Ireland, in the same neighborhood with William and Thomas 
 Andrews, who married the two elder sisters of Mary, and the Andrews' 
 had been to Steubenville to visit the Dicks, and in this way Mary came 
 to have knowledge of them. 
 
 I and Mary crossed the river at the Middle Ferry and took the road 
 through Eldersville and past Cross Creek Village, that is, the Cross 
 Creek meeting-house, for there was no village there then. Six miles 
 beyond the Cross Creek Church we stopped at John Morrison's ; next 
 day to Brownsville, to Johnston's ; next day to uncle's, where we stayed 
 over Sabbath ; Monday, for dinner, at John Clark's, and home to Mary's 
 mother's by evening. 
 
 Our stay and visit among our friends and relations embraced the 
 short period of three weeks, and in that time Mary quilted a beautiful 
 green stuff quilt, at which time I suffered very severe pain from a 
 double tooth. 
 
 As soon as Mary had finished her quilt we returned to my brother 
 David's to complete our visit, as we had spent but little time as yet with 
 him and his wife, they having been married the 14th of March preced- 
 ing, and his wife had not seen nor conversed with Mary until we arrived 
 there on our way this time from Brownsville to her mother's, and as we 
 intended returning home by Williamsport (now Monongahela City), we 
 concluded to finish our visit at my brother's at this time. 
 
 It is worthy of remark here that when we stopped in Connellsville 
 with my jaws bound up, inquiry was made as to what was the matter, 
 and I had but one answer to make, and that was toothache. James 
 Johnston, the brother of Alexander, told me that an easy cure was at 
 hand, if I would submit to the trial. 
 
 TOOTH-ACHE CURE. 
 
 I inquired into the nature of the cure, and was told that it consisted in 
 nothing more than to have a small vein on the inside of the ear burned 
 off with a small instrument that was made and kept in Robert Long's 
 
1816.] FAMILY HISTORY. 135 
 
 smithsliop, just across the way, and if I wished to have the cure per- 
 formed, he would step over with me, and point out the vein in the ear, 
 and Long would do the surgical part in using the burning-iron. I 
 thanked Mr. Johnston for the tone of his civility, and told him I would 
 accept his kind offer. We then stepped across info Mr. Long's shop, 
 and as he and I had been old school-mates twenty years before, it was 
 not hard for us to renew our acquaintance. 
 
 Long then showed me the instrument, which was small and shaped 
 like a little tomahawk. He put it into the fire and brought it to a red 
 heat, and I then turned my left ear down on the anvil, while Johnston 
 with his finger-nail made a mark in the vein of the right ear, and Long 
 applied the red-hot little instrument. It was but a twitch, and over in 
 an instant, and I then turned up my left ear and had it burned. The 
 tooth-ache had for several days caused me much pain, but it had ceased 
 to ache a day or two before this, but after this neither that tooth nor any 
 other of my teeth ached for nearly twenty years. This cure by burning 
 the little vein in the ear was performed in June, 1816, and the first tooti 
 that ached afterwards was in January, 1836. 
 
 But although I had no tooth-ache for so long a period, yet I was often 
 troubled with some slight touches of neuralgia, which would take its 
 start mostly in the chin or lower jaw, and would soon shoot up into my 
 temples, and then up into my head, and I would feel it spread all over 
 the top surface of my head, but it was gentle, compared with the excru- 
 ciating pain I often suffered from tooth-ache; and I thought it was a 
 happy circumstance that I got my ears burned, if that was the cause of 
 the change. 
 
 SUPERSTITIOUS CURES FOR TOOTH-ACHE. 
 
 But I am very certain that there are a very great number of foolish 
 and superstitious cures for tooth-ache, as well as for many other diseases 
 that men and women are heir to. When I was about 14 years of age I 
 was much afflicted with the tooth-ache, and was told by two or three of 
 my young neighbors that a young man by the name of Wilson had 
 cured them of tooth-ache, and recommended his performance so strongly 
 that I was resolved to go to him and have him perform a cure on me. 
 In due time I went to Wilson, and he examined the tooth complained 
 
136 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1816. 
 
 of, and said he could cure it, and added that he had had great success for 
 some time past in curing a great number of the neighbors. He then 
 took a shoe-knife and stepped to the check reel and cut a few inches in 
 length of thread from it, bidding me at the same time to follow him. He 
 led the way to the woods until we came to a little white thorn bush. 
 From a hmb of this bush he cut out a slip about an inch and a half long, 
 which he handed to me and bade me rub the end of it in the hollow of 
 the tooth, and also to rub it well round about the tooth. I did as he 
 bade me, and handed the slip back to him, which he put back into the 
 place he took it from ; he then took the thread he had brought away 
 from the check reel, and tied the slip fast in its place ; he then cut about 
 three or four inches from the top part of the same limb, the one end of 
 which he slit up fine like a little broom. This he gave me to take 
 home, and bade me take a lump of alum salt, which was very plenty 
 at that time, but very scarce now all west of the mountains, and wash 
 all round the tooth, and in it with the alum salt, using the brush to 
 scrub well at the same time, and then hide the salt and the brush under 
 the dropping of the eaves of the house, where I should never see them. 
 
 In all this I followed his directions, but it was all of no avail, for in a 
 short time after I had fulfilled his directions, the tooth began to ache 
 with redoubled vigor, and I was forced to get it extracted ; and this 
 ended Wilson's cure and the tooth-ache at this time. 
 
 ANOTHER TOOTH-ACHE CURE. 
 
 Long afterward I had the tooth-ache and got the following receipt 
 from an old Irish woman by the name of Fay. Said she : " You must 
 take a nail from a horse-shoe that you have found yourself, and you 
 must rub the nail all round the tooth and in it, if the tooth be hollow ; 
 then you must drive the nail in a log behind the door; then you must 
 walk backwards from the nail nine times, and each time you must say the 
 Lord's Prayer backwards, and each time you say the Lord's Prayer 
 backwards you must say ' Faugh yeagh. Faugh neagh.' " I asked old 
 Mrs. Fay the meaning of those words, but she said that she did not 
 know, but believed it was Latin. I, for my part, believed them to be 
 words belonging to the native Irish lingo ; and I further believed that to 
 cure the tooth-ache by using charms or any other superstitious method, 
 
1816.] FAMILY HISTORY. 137 
 
 might be left to the ignorant and superstitious, who could put faith and 
 confidence in such foolish whims and notions. 
 
 My mother had taught me when a child to say the Lord's Prayer for- 
 wards, but now to say it nine times backwards as a cure for the tooth- 
 ache was more than I could do. 
 
 WEDDING OUTFIT. 
 
 But to return : I and Mary finished our visit to brother David's and 
 all the friends on that side of the Youghiogheny river, and returned to 
 Kithcart's, where we made preparations for our return home. Before 
 we started, mother-in-law called in Mr. Jacob Tinsman, Mary's guardian, 
 and spread out Mary's outfit, consisting of bed and bedding, sheets, 
 blankets, quilts and coverlets ; also pillow-cases, table linen, towels, and 
 a variety of articles too tedious to enumerate; and she asked me and the 
 guardian if we were satisfied to take all these articles in full pay for 
 Mary's services performed for her mother from the death of her father 
 up to the time she left with me for her new home in Ohio, which was 
 just two years. 
 
 Our answer was that we were both well satisfied, and the bed and bed- 
 ding and other articles were then packed up. The next day we left for 
 home by way of Robstown, Williamsport, Hickory and VVellsburg, and 
 on up to Rush Run, crossing that stream seventeen times from the 
 mouth up to our Mill, a distance of three miles. 
 
 Mary's brother John was sent with us to pack the bed and bedding 
 on horse-back, as light wagons, called " Dearborns," were not as yet 
 brought into use west of the mountains, and it had been common for 
 thousands who crossed the mountains to pack out all their movables on 
 the back of an old horse or cow, as they might own one or both, and at 
 this time, in 1816, it was still the common way of moving among many. 
 
 In the latter part of April of that year (i8i6) I took horse and started 
 out to look up a good quarter section of land to enter. I steered my 
 course to the place of our old residence, on the waters of Captina Creek, 
 where I staid over night with my old Quaker friend, Jesse White, and 
 while staying with him that night he told me the following incident from 
 his own experience. 
 
138 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1816. 
 
 INCIDENT OF THE BATTLE OF BRANDVWINE. 
 
 Jesse White had spent his early life in Chester Co., Pennsylvania, and 
 removed to Ohio while he was yet a young man. He told me that the 
 day the Battle of Brandywine was fought, which was the i ith day of 
 September, 1777, he and two or three others were mowing for a farmer 
 who lived and kept a tavern on the hill above Brandywine Creek, in 
 sight of the place where the battle was fought. 
 
 But the meadow in which Jesse White and his companions were 
 mowing lay on the other side of the hill from where the battle was 
 raging. They could hear the noise, but this was not satisfactory, and 
 prompted by curiosity, they wished to see as well as hear ; they there- 
 fore dropped their scythes and went up to the tavern to see, but in that 
 they were disappointed, for the valley of the Brandywine was so filled 
 with smoke that they could not see the operations of the two armies. 
 Jesse and his comrades had been but a short time at the tavern when a 
 sergeant with a file of men came up from the battle and pressed the land- 
 lord's two horses and wagon into service for the purpose of removing some 
 of the wounded from the battle-field, and they also impressed Jesse White 
 to drive the team to the spot and bring away a load of the wounded. 
 
 But to this Jesse demurred, thinking it too dangerous an undertaking, 
 but the sergeant ordered him to mount and drive down or he would run 
 him through with the bayonet. Jesse, finding it was little use to parley, 
 mounted and drove about half way down the hill, where he met an 
 American officer with his thigh broken, which hung dangling by the side 
 of the horse he rode. The officer asked Jesse where he was going, to 
 which he replied that he was ordered down to bring away a load of the 
 wounded. 
 
 " Turn about, turn about ; don't you see the Americans retreating, and 
 the British in pursuit ? " said the officer. Jesse did turn around, but in 
 such haste that he overset the wagon and turned it completely bottom 
 upwards. In this dilemma he took the shortest method and cut the 
 hame strings, threw off the gears, mounted and brought the horses off 
 safe and put them in the stable, and cleared himself home. The next 
 morning he went back to the tavern, and found the British army en- 
 camped near the tavern, and saw the landlord's wagon, that he had left 
 
1816.] FAMIL Y HISTOR Y. 139 
 
 on the road, now standing in the British camp loaded with their baggage. 
 Jesse said this was all the part he took in the Revolutionary War, and 
 that against his will. (In my visits to the battle-ground I have not been 
 able to locate that tavern. — T. J. S.) 
 
 Leaving Jesse White's the next morning, I steered my course south- 
 ward, passing out of Belmont County into what is now Monroe, stopping 
 all night within four miles of Woodsfield with an old acquaintance, John 
 Mitchen. The next day I passed on westward into the bounds of what 
 is now Noble County, and stopped all night with a family named Bates, 
 who had a mill, if mill it might be called, for it was certainly built on a 
 cheap plan, for the house was not more than sixteen feet square, one 
 story high, and built of round white walnut poles, some of which were 
 very crooked ; and it was covered with clapboards, but it was neither 
 chinked nor daubed. I got leave to stay all night, and called for supper, 
 which consisted of hard dry pone, some dried venison for meat, a little 
 butter and milk. I had the same fare for breakfast, and had to pay a 
 high bill for such fare. I understand that at this place there is now, and 
 has been for many years, a village called Batesville. Thence I passed 
 on until I fell into the main road leading from Marietta to Cambridge, in 
 Guernsey County. This road I took, and turned northward toward Cam- 
 bridge, which I passed through, and concluded to make my way to John 
 McClure's, who was married to Mary Ferguson, a second cousin of my 
 own, and who, I understood, lived ten miles west of Cambridge. But 
 after I had travelled seven miles out of Cambridge I stopped at a house 
 by the roadside merely to inquire how far it was to McClure's, and I 
 found the owner of the house was a man by the name of Mitchell, who 
 formerly had kept tavern six miles west of St. Clairsville, on the road to 
 Captina. 
 
 I asked him if there was any good land to enter near the road, and 
 before he would answer my question he asked me if I wished to pur- 
 chase land to come and live on, or to enter for speculation. I told him 
 it was my intention to make a home on it. He then said to get down 
 and stay all night with him, and the ne.xt morning he would show me a 
 quarter section about a mile north of the road which he thought would 
 please me. He said it had been kept in the dark for some time, as 
 several in the neighborhood wanted to enter it but had not the money. 
 
140 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1816. 
 
 CONGRESS LAND ENTERED. 
 
 He said we must keep quiet about it, or some one else would be to 
 Zanesville before me. Under his persuasion, I staid with him all 
 night, and next morning Mitchell and I were off by daylight to see the 
 land. 
 
 We called on a man by the name of Tom Dickson, who lived on the 
 quarter section south of it, and got him to go with us and show the 
 lines, for which I gave him two dollars, — the usual fee in such cases. I 
 and Mitchell returned and had breakfast, and I paid my bill for his ser- 
 vices, as well as for lodging and meals; and I then took to the road, 
 but did not call at McClure's, but made my way direct to Henry 
 Edwards', — an old neighbor who lived five miles this side of Zanes- 
 ville. There I stayed over night, and the next morning he went with 
 me into Zanesville, where I made a deposit of sixteen dollars with the 
 Land Office, which secured the quarter section to me for forty days. 
 
 I had to do this, for the money I had received — $200 — of Mary's 
 guardian I had loaned to our mill company to buy wheat with ; and as 
 no flour had been sold previous to my leaving home, I was obliged to 
 pursue this course. 
 
 I returned to Edwards', and staid all night, and the next day came 
 on to my friend, John McClure's, where I staid one night ; then came 
 on to William Ferguson's, who now lived near Harrisville, six miles 
 west of Mt. Pleasant. 
 
 The next day I arrived home, and found all well after an absence of 
 ten days, and a prospect of a better market for flour. In the early part 
 of May, 1816, there was quite a brisk demand for flour to be shipped 
 abroad, and we made sale of ours at ^6 a barrel, after which my ;S200 
 were returned to me, and I was soon off again to Zanesville to pay up 
 the balance of my first payment. 
 
 Arrived in Zanesville, I soon found my way to the Land Office, and 
 paid in ^64, the balance of my ^80, entry money. While in Zanesville, 
 I went and took a view of the canal with its mighty water-power. This 
 canal was a company concern, which company had a bank of their own 
 creation, known as the Canal Bank of Zanesville. 
 
1816.] FAMILY HISTORY. 141 
 
 ZANESVILLE, OHIO, IN 1816. 
 
 The notes of the Canal Bank of Zanesville and those of the Muskin- 
 gum Bank of Zanesville passed very current on to the year 1819, which 
 was a year that smashed up a very great number of banks, both in 
 Pennsylvania and Ohio, as well as a number of banks in other States. 
 Banks chartered and unchartered went by the board in many instances, 
 so that out of some forty banks chartered and unchartered in Ohio, only 
 six withstood the shock. 
 
 The names of these six banks are as follows: Western Reserve Bank, 
 Warren, Trumbull County; Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Steuben- 
 ville ; Bank of Mt. Pleasant; Marietta Bank; Chillicothe Bank, and 
 Bank of Lancaster. After I had viewed the canal, I took a view of the 
 Granger Mills, supported in their operations by water from the canal. 
 This mill was built on an extensive plan for grinding, had six run of 
 burr-stones and all kinds of necessary machinery for the purpose of 
 making flour. 
 
 I next went and took a view of a new kind of nail factory carried on 
 by horse-power, and here for the first time I saw nails cut and headed 
 complete at one stroke. 
 
 I had been accustomed to see cut nails made by the slow process of 
 cutting by hand, and then heading by hand, which made the cut nail 
 come high ; for I have paid in Smithfield for hand-cut nails seventeen 
 cents a pound by retail, and I paid in Connellsville the fall of 1815 for 
 a keg of flour-cask nails as high as twenty-two cents a pound by the 
 keg ; but at that time bar-iron retailed at twelve and a half cents a 
 pound. 
 
 I next purchased my wife a new dress of bombazet, — seven yards at 
 87^ cents a yard. This kind of goods had just come in fashion, and 
 was very high at the time ; but in the course of a few years the price 
 came down to 37^ cents, although 50 to 62^ was more common. 
 
 I next left Zanesville, and proceeded homeward, well pleased that I 
 had made a commencement to secure land for a farm of my own. I 
 now thought that I would be fully and well satisfied if I only had it 
 paid for; but when the time arrived that I had it fully paid for, I was 
 far from being satisfied or content with one quarter section. The pos- 
 
142 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1816. 
 
 session of one only made me the more anxious to be the owner of 
 another; and this is human nature. 
 
 A NEW HOUSE BUILT. 
 
 In August, i8i6, my brothers William, John and Thomas, began to 
 provide logs to build a house for me and my wife, Mary, to live in, as I 
 must necessarily attend the mill. 
 
 We built the house at a convenient spot below the head-race, a little 
 distance from the saw-mill. It was built of green sugar-tree logs for the 
 most part, with a few logs taken out of an old cabin near the mill dam ; 
 it was chinked and daubed, and covered with clap-boards, and we laid 
 the first floor with sugar-tree plank an inch and a half thick, that had 
 been sawed for boat bottoms. 
 
 We built a wooden stick and clay chimney, with a wide space below, 
 but it smoked some, and the next year I threw it down and rebuilt it 
 with some alterations, but it was no better, for if a common sized, round 
 log was put in for a back-log it would smoke, but split the same log in 
 two halves and put in the one half and it would not smoke. But for 
 some cause, to me unknown, we could make no ashes of any strength 
 to make soap, yet for the fourteen years that we lived in that house, we 
 burned the best wood, but still the ashes were too weak, and we had to 
 buy ashes made in other houses no better in appearance than our own. 
 
 FIRST HOUSEKEEPING. 
 
 In due time our log house was finished, and we n oved into it on the 
 6th day of September, i8i6. I got my brother, John, to make us a table 
 at five dollars; it stands in the kitchen now, 1859, and has been in con- 
 stant use for forty-three years. (Yes, it was made of solid walnut, and 
 I well remember it in my boyhood, of which fact I here make record 
 this 25th day of February, 1889. That log hcuse was the very one 
 mentioned on page 104, of which I have a piece in my possession as a 
 relic— T. J. S.) 
 
 H.\PPINESS OF MARRIED LIFE. 
 
 Besides the table, John also made me yon trunk which stands in my 
 bed-room, with two drawers in it ; he also made me a bureau which is 
 also in use yet, as good as ever. 
 
1816.] FAMILY HISTORY. 143 
 
 (That " trunk " was one of the curiosities of my childhood, and to me 
 there was always an air of mystery in it and around it. It was really 
 not a trunk at all, but a chest standing on little turned feet which were 
 about four inches high. It was made of poplar, painted red, while the 
 lid and feet were painted black. It was filled with curious old things, 
 relics, such as an old compass in a little box about four inches square, 
 an old horn spoon, and many old letters. In my day it was never kept 
 locked by father, but there was a little till inside that he kept locked, 
 and in this he kept his large old pocket-book, and some curious old 
 monty, and several specimens of Continental money. The " trunk " 
 always stood on the bureau mentioned above. — T. J. S.) 
 
 No old bachelor can ever conceive the convenience, comfort, pleasure, 
 happiness and satisfaction of a married life in a house of your own, but 
 this my wife and I enjoyed for days, and weeks, and months, and years, 
 till death separated us. 
 
 DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP. 
 
 It was not long after we had moved into our new house until my 
 brothers and I dissolved partnership, after which each member of the 
 firm had to work for himself 
 
 I took the mill and saw-mill to attend on the following conditions : I 
 got one-third of the toll for all country work, and as it was then custom- 
 ary to saw timber on the halves and the sawyer take the slabs, I was to 
 get the one-third of the one-half of the plank when sold. 
 
 As to the merchant work of the mill, I was to purchase the wheat for 
 the merchant work, grind, bolt, pack it into barrels, sell flour by whole- 
 sale and retail, and sell all the offal such as middlings, shipstuff, shorts 
 and bran ; keep an account of the outlaying and inlaying, the profits and 
 loss ; I was also to find the mill grease, and for my pay on that score I 
 was to have the sweepings of the mill. 
 
 DIVISION OF PROPERTY. 
 
 We divided the personal property share and share alike, allowing my 
 mother a sufficient share to herself first set off. All the balance of the 
 personal property we set up and each bid for it, and the highest bid 
 took it. For example, I bid my father's old Lough Neagh hone to $2, 
 
144 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1816. 
 
 and got it. When the personal property was disposed of, we then 
 disposed of the real estate and mills. We held the undivided half of 
 198 acres of land on which the mills and other improvements were 
 erected and made. We agreed to divide our undivided half into twenty- 
 four shares ; then allow my mother first two shares ; then each of us to 
 take shares, one share for each year he was over twenty-one years of 
 age. William was nine years over twenty-one — of course he took 
 nine shares ; John si.x shares ; myself, Robert, five shares ; and Thomas 
 two shares. 
 
 When William announced the division as above, according to the 
 time each had wrought over twenty-one years of age, I found fault 
 because my share was not equal to John's, upon the ground principally 
 that from boyhood, even from five years old, I was the stoutest, the 
 strongest, and had the best constitution to work and stand work of any 
 kind. 
 
 And as a proof, as I have stated before, I was, from the time we came 
 into the State, sent to all the raisings and rollings as a thing of common 
 occurrence ; I was sent with the cross-cut saw to be worried and worn 
 down by unskillful hands at the other end of the saw-handle; I was the 
 man to chop and split rails, and to grub and chop logs, and clear the 
 new ground ready for corn and wheat. 
 
 And when we moved to Rush Run and went about the preparation 
 to build a merchant and grist-mill, and repair the old saw-mill, I had to 
 go into mud and water, dig out the new tail race and foundation for the 
 mill, and at such work, with a hired hand or two, I had to take the 
 lead, while John was complaining, and able to work but little from 
 November, 181 1, up to the time he was called to serve his tour of duty 
 in February, 181 3. Then at his return from camp he took the camp 
 fever the 19th of August, 1813, and was not able to work all winter ; 
 then in the next April, 1814, he took a relapse, and nearly all that 
 summer he was not able to do much but ride out and do some errands 
 and light work. It was a remark of old Sebastian, an old Dutch neigh- 
 bor, who passed our place almost daily, that the other boys imposed on 
 me, for he always found me employed at the hardest work ; so that 
 John had, for the last five years, an easy time of it, up to the time of 
 the division. But I could not prevail to get any more than five shares 
 
1816.] FA MIL 1 ■ HIS TOR Y. 145 
 
 in place of five and one-half, and John five and one-half instead of his 
 six shares. 
 
 But I gave it up manfully, observing at the time, that if Providence 
 still continued my health and strength I was much more able to work 
 and get along in life than he was, and he might keep and enjoy his six 
 shares. 
 
 But from my heart I pitied poor Thomas in view of his two shares ; 
 he even wept at what he considered an uneven division ; and to 
 satisfy and reconcile him in some measure, William gave him one-half 
 share off his nine shares ; William's shares were then always rated and 
 counted on all dividends afterwards at eight and one-half and Thomas' 
 at two and one-half shares, and thus the division of the property, both 
 real and personal, was gotten through with in a manner satisfactory, in 
 most respects, to all parties. 
 
 That fall of i8i6 I made the best fall grinding I ever made at the 
 mill ; in the month of September I ground 300 bushels of wheat and 
 barreled the flour up. 
 
 The summer of 1816 corn was scarce and high ; it sold mostly at gi 
 a bushel, and wheat at the highest that summer did not exceed $1.06 
 a bushel of sixty pounds, but before January following wheat rose to 
 $\.2'^. That winter the mill stood frozen fast for six weeks, up to the 
 middle of February, 18 17, and snow lay on the ground six to eight 
 inches deep, which made fine sleighing, which was the death of many a 
 fine horse in large towns. 
 
 BANKS IN EARLY TIMES. 
 
 That winter of 18 17 while the mill was frozen fast, the fine prices 
 offered for wheat, and the goodness of the roads, caused the wheat tO' 
 come in plentifully on pack horses, and also on sleds and wagons used 
 by people who had them. At this time bank paper was very uncom- 
 monly plenty, — the most so that I ever knew it before or since. 
 
 Banks both chartered and unchartered started into existence through- 
 out the different states without capital, and most of them had but little 
 specie in their vaults to redeem their paper with. The Land Offices 
 would rarely take any paper but that of chartered banks, but there was 
 a great deal of unchartered paper circulated by speculating flour 
 
146 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1817. 
 
 merchants, and by them passed into the hands of the millers, and by 
 them to the farmers, and the farmers could spend it for store goods, or 
 for any farm stock. But in the purchase of land from individuals or 
 from the government it was a rare thing that unchartered paper would 
 go ; and add to that, the western store-keepers could not purchase 
 goods in the eastern cities with unchartered paper ; and even the 
 chartered paper of our western banks when taken to Baltimore, Phila- 
 delphia or New York, was at a shave of five cents on the dollar. 
 
 To carry on the purchase of wheat at ^1.25 a bushel was a business 
 at this time that called for money, as the quantity bought in by me at 
 our mill some days amounted to three hundred and some days four 
 hundred bushels of wheat, principally of the red chaff beardy and red 
 chaff smooth. The Smithfield Bank was organized, unchartered and put 
 in operation the fall of 1816, with shares at ^50 each. My brother 
 Thomas having only 23^ shares in our real property after the division, 
 became dissatisfied with it, and sold it out to John for $250 in cash, and 
 took shares to that amount in the Smithfield Bank. 
 
 Stockholders having the preference in the chance of drawing money 
 by loan from the bank, I and William agreed with Thomas that if he 
 would become the drawer, we would become the endorsers for a loan of 
 $900, and as he was not now a stockholder in the mill, we would divide 
 the profits share and share alike, all four equal. 
 
 This plan was adopted, and Thomas drew out the ,^900 with the 
 express understanding that it should be paid back in any unchartered 
 paper passing current at the time, and this contract the next April was 
 complied with, and the debt discharged, and that but a short time before 
 the Smithfield and many other unchartered banks broke and went down 
 forever. The J»900 laid out on wheat at ^1.25 a bushel, and the flour 
 made from it at ^8 a barrel for unchartered paper, brought us a profit of 
 ^500, which gave us ^125 each. This was the best profit for the amount 
 of capital invested that we ever made at that mill. 
 
 OVERWORK. 
 
 When the thaw came at the breaking up of the winter of 1S17, I had 
 not looked out for any help to aid me in the mill, and for the first two 
 weeks I did the work principally myself; but finding it was cutting me 
 
1817.] FAMILY HISTORY. 147 
 
 down rapidly, I proposed to my brother John to help me, and take half 
 the profits, which he readily consented to do. t 
 
 But at the end of my third week I was so exhausted in body and 
 mind, and my spirits became so depressed, that my wife noticed a change 
 in my countenance, and asked if I was displeased with her, but I told 
 her no, it was the world I was displeased with, and not her. But in a 
 day or two after this I went to bed, and a slight fever came on me, but 
 after I had rested two days and two nights the fever left me, and I felt 
 much relieved. I got out of bed and staggered off to the mill, a wiser, 
 if not a better man, for I resolved that let the world go as it will, I will 
 keep up a light heart, for the world is bound to support me, if I cannot 
 do it myself. 
 
 And from that time on I have realized the benefit of that resolve in 
 the darkest hours and in the worst of cases ; and although now 42 years 
 have rolled round and passed over me, with all their varied scenes of 
 pleasure, pain, grief, sorrow, disappointment and trouble ; and I can 
 recommend to every man, woman and child, to keep up a stiff resolution 
 and a light heart, and to cultivate a cheerful disposition as much as 
 possible, and I will insure that under such cultivation, that virtuous 
 plant will grow daily, monthly, yearly and forevermore, strong and 
 vigorous, until its roots will be deep and wide-spread, and its top shall 
 reach the skies. 
 
 But on the other hand, if a contrary disposition is let grow, such a 
 peevish, fretful disposition, together with great an.xiety of mind, in- 
 dulged in from day to day, and from month to month, and year by 
 year, will prove a source of continued trouble and turmoil to the 
 possessor, a destroyer of peace and happiness, and will grow worse 
 and worse, until finally, when too much indulged in, may and will 
 undoubtedly destroy the possessor. 
 
 It has been observed by many that the Quakers never indulge in 
 passion, or those turmoils of mind mentioned above, and hence they 
 live to be older men and women than any other denomination of 
 professing Christians. 
 
148 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1817. 
 
 FIRST CHILD BORN. 
 
 On the 26th day of March, this year, 1817, our first child, Mary 
 Ann, was born, which no doubt had a tendency to keep up the spirits 
 of both me and the mother. 
 
 Old Dr. Leslie, who had emigrated from Ireland, County Tyrone, from 
 Stewartstown, was called in on this occasion, and hence became our 
 family physician until he moved to Steubenville in July, 1825. 
 He had settled in Smithfield the fall of 181 6. And when we settled 
 on our present Sugar Hill Farm, he resumed practice in our family 
 till age forbade him to leave the town of Steubenville. 
 
 (In a book of old letters copied by father, I have found the follow- 
 ing, written by uncle David A. C. Sherrard, to father, which gives an 
 idea of the appearance of Mary Ann at about twenty-nine years of 
 age, when she was on a visit to uncle David in Fayette County, 
 Pennsylvania : 
 
 "Laurel Hill, Fayette Co., Pa. 
 January 22, 1846. 
 Dear Brof/wr : — The aunt and myself were much pleased to see Mary Ann. She 
 is. in my view the only hving image of my old mother that has come under my 
 notice. Affectionately your brother. 
 
 D. A. C. Sherrard. 
 To Robert A. Sherrard." 
 
 She was called for her mother, Mary Kithcart Sherrard ; for her 
 grand-mother, Mary Cathcart Sherrard ; and for her great-grand- 
 mother, Ann Gamble Cathcart — T. J. S.) 
 
 VISIT FROM UNCLE AND AUNT CATHCART. 
 
 My uncle and aunt Cathcart came down in the month of May, this 
 year, 1817, and staid with us and my mother for several weeks. When 
 they were ready to go home again to Fayette County, I and my wife 
 made preparations to go up along with uncle Cathcart and aunt Susan, 
 and the day before we started uncle came over to my house, and asked 
 me for one dollar to help carry him home, saying that he was afraid he 
 would not have enough to meet his expenses till he would get home. 
 Remembering as I did that when he parted with us the 4th of April, 
 
1817.] FAMILY HISTORY. 149 
 
 1805, a little way on this side of Plumpsock, he gave each of us boys, 
 William, myself and Thomas, one silver dollar, I went to the till and 
 brought out two dollars in silver, and gave to him, allowing one 
 of them to pay the interest. 
 
 But I find by calculation that the interest at six per cent, would be 
 only seventy-four cents and five mills, and at eight per cent, interest it 
 would amount to ninety-nine cents and 3 mills ; so you see I paid my 
 uncle eight per cent. (That dollar is mentioned on page 49.) 
 
 OLD LAUREL HILL CHURCH. 
 
 Uncle and aunt arrived at home just in good time to attend their sac- 
 ramental Communion at Laurel Hill Church, and I and Mary staid at 
 my uncle's and my brother's over Sabbath, and attended each day's ser- 
 vice. Mr. Guthrie, the pastor, had obtained the assistance of the Rev. 
 William Johnson, of Brownsville, who was a full cousin to my present 
 wife's mother — his father was old William Johnson, who had other sons, 
 John, Richard and James Johnson, who lives near York, Jefferson 
 County, Ohio. 
 
 On Saturday of that communion season, old Mr. Power, formerly 
 pastor of the Mt. Pleasant congregation in Westmoreland County, — the 
 same who married me and my wife, Mary Kithcart, — after sermon on 
 that Saturday, Mr. Power rose up in the pulpit at Laurel Hill, and ad- 
 dressed the congregation by telling them among other things, that it 
 was forty-three years since he had gathered that congregation together, 
 but not at that place, — it was about a mile east where the old meeting- 
 house was built, which made it the summer of 1774 that the Laurel 
 Hill congregation was formed. But at what time the old meeting-house 
 was built, I have not had any chance of knowing, having let the 
 chance slip of making inquiry of old Billy Carson while he remained at 
 his old homestead in Fayette County. 
 
 Carson told me more than fifty-five years ago, that his brother, Alex- 
 ander Carson, undertook the cutting and hewing of the logs for that 
 meeting-house, and that Alexander would cut, score and hew 200 feet in 
 length of logs each day, which must be allowed to be an uncommonly 
 good day's work. 
 
 Billy Carson further told me that Alexander blazed a number of white- 
 
150 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1817. 
 
 oak trees to mark a road to his work, and which would serve afterwards 
 to show the family the road to pass along to meeting. 
 
 Sacrament being over at Laurel Hill, I and wife pursued our course 
 of visiting our relations, and we found Mary's mother and all our other 
 relations well. Mary's brother John had gone to Robert Long in Con- 
 nellsville, to learn the blacksmith trade, and he had to serve four years, 
 which he performed faithfully to the end of his time. After an absence 
 of five weeks we returned safe home. I had left brother John to look to 
 the mill and retail flour and offal, for there was no water to grind, as 
 only a small head would gather in twelve hours, and he charged me for 
 his services while I was gone the sum of thirty-three dollars, — a very 
 heavy bill for ail that was done. 
 
 And brother William charged me ten dollars cash for boarding a boy, 
 John Scott, the five weeks, which was two dollars a week, a double price 
 for these times, for if the mill company had hands hired to make repairs 
 about the mill, race or dam, I boarded the hands all the time they made 
 repairs, up to the time I left the mill, the ist of April, 1830, at fifteen 
 cents a day, which when sunmied up made but ninety cents for si.x work- 
 ing days. 
 
 I demurred against the above bills, but the only satisfaction I got was 
 the reply that I might stay at home, and under the whole ill treatment, 
 and that from brothers, I had to " grin and bear it." I could not stay at 
 home, — I had married a young girl, worthy and of some fortune, and 
 away she was now, caged up in my coop, far from her mother, sisters 
 and brothers, and it would take time to wean off her affections from 
 these, and fi.x them on new objects, around which they might twine and 
 centre in place of the old ones ; but who ever heard of a young girl or 
 boy even up to riper years, that could forget their fond mother and 
 "home, sweet home?" None. 
 
 But I knew that those two brothers were at that time old bachelors ; 
 they had never known the sweets or happiness of connubial bliss; they 
 had no knowledge or experience or just notion of how a refined, tender- 
 feeling wife should be properly treated ; and they never knew. 
 
1817.] FAMILY HISTORY. 151 
 
 SECTION \"III. 
 
 1817-1821. 
 
 TRADING DOWN THE RIVER. 
 
 THE fall of 1 8 17 my brother Thomas took a notion that he would 
 build a boat and load it mostly with flour, and run it down the 
 river on a trading trip. 
 
 The Mill Company sent with him one hundred and forty-three barrels; 
 Jacob ZoU fifty; Joshua Wood, our partner's son, fifty; William Black- 
 ston, storekeeper of Smithfield, ten ; and the balance of the load Thomas 
 supplied himself He left port, at the mouth of Rush Run, on the 30th 
 of January, 1818. 
 
 The river, from recent rains, had risen and flowed from bank to bank, 
 so that in the short time of three days he had reached the mouth of the 
 Kentucky river, and landed safe for the night. But so sudden was the 
 change in the weather that by the next morning they found their boat 
 frozen fast in the ice, where they remained frozen up for fourteen days. 
 During this time Thomas hired several men to help him and his two 
 boat-hands roll out the flour up on the table land. Before they had 
 finished taking everything out of the boat, the ice on the river gave one 
 loud crack, and soon all was a moving mass, and away went the boat 
 with the ice, and about three thousand feet of cherry plank and scantling 
 in the boat, all lost to the owner. 
 
 When Thomas saw his boat and the ice go off together, and his flour 
 piled up on the land, he was at his wit's end what to do, but was in- 
 formed that boats were built about fifteen miles up the river. He then 
 started up the Kentucky river fifteen miles, and found a boat for sale, 
 large enough to hold and carry his flour; the only objection to it was 
 that it was all made of poplar. The price of it was one hundred and 
 fifty dollars, and he made arrangements with the owner for its purchase ; 
 so Thomas got the boat and soon had it down, where he reloaded his 
 flour, and he and his men were soon under way for the Falls of the 
 
152 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1818. 
 
 Ohio, which, in due time, they passed over in beautiful style, as the river 
 was now very high. They then proceeded on down the Ohio and into 
 the Mississippi, and nothing worthy of note took place till they had 
 gotten within seventy or eighty miles of White river, in Arkansas. On 
 trying to make a landing, one evening, just before sunset, the boat was 
 swept sideways against the point of a sharp snag, which struck the side 
 of the gunnel, and glanced up and ran into the soft poplar gunnel plank, 
 and in trying to turn the boat off the snag, it pulled the gunnel plank 
 off, and in rushed the water, and in less than ten minutes the boat sank 
 to the roof, which kept it from sinking any deeper. At the same time 
 the water floated off the oars, which left the boat to drift with the cur- 
 rent, and the men were powerless to do anything. There was a narrow 
 ridge running the whole length of the roof, that was left dry, and on this 
 narrow strip Thomas and his men sat or stood, and kept a lookout the 
 whole livelong night, without sleep or any other refreshments, as the 
 provisions were all down in the boat, and now well soaked. 
 
 At length the day dawned and daylight came, but with it no help, and 
 they were still floating down the Mississippi ; but after awhile the boat 
 was drawn into what the men call a "cut off;" such are very common 
 at the head of bends in the river. Into this "cut off," as the current 
 was the strongest, the boat was drawn for a few miles, but was suddenly 
 stopped by coming in contact with a large collection of drift-wood. 
 Here they succeeded in getting out some provisions from the boat, 
 which was the first they had had to eat since the disaster, and then they 
 began to take the flour out of the boat and place the barrels on the 
 drift-wood to drip. But after taking out about thirty barrels, Thomas 
 concluded that it would not long be safe there, at any rate, and leaving 
 one of the hands, Morrison, there, he and the other started and traveled 
 on foot, through a dreary wilderness, forty miles to the White River 
 settlement, where they obtained a keel-boat and men to help. 
 
 When they landed back at the boat, Thomas found Morrison busy 
 fishing out flour, and for assistance he had decoyed a hand from a boat 
 that was passing at some distance. He had hailed it and told the men 
 on board that he had found a boat sunk, which was loaded with flour, 
 and if any one would come and help him get the flour out, he should 
 have the half At this proposal a passenger on board of the passing 
 
1818.] FAMILY HISTORY. 153 
 
 boat concluded to try his fortune, and for that purpose he came in a 
 skiff and landed on the drift-wood, where he assisted Morrison to get 
 the flour across the drift-wood on to the main land. 
 
 When Thomas and his men arrived, he began to give orders, which 
 alarmed the strange hand, and going to Thomas he inquired if the boat 
 belonged to him, and Thomas replied that it did. " Why," said he, 
 "that rascal told me that he had found it, and that if I would help to get 
 the flour out I should have half" "That you cannot have," said 
 Thomas, "but if you will work well in taking out the flour, I will pay 
 you well for your work." The fellow agreed to this, and Thomas had 
 all the flour taken out, but found that about fifty barrels were missing, 
 which he supposed had floated out of the bow the night after the boat 
 had sunk. 
 
 A BO.\T-LOAD OF DA.MAGED FLOUR. 
 
 The flour he put on board the keel-boat and run it down to the 
 mouth of White river, where he made an unsuccessful attempt to re- 
 pack his soaked flour, but this he had to abandon, for the water had 
 soaked through the staves at the joints, and this caused dough all 
 around the staves ; and then the water had run in through the inspec- 
 tion hole, which formed a mass of dough that would weigh from fifteen 
 to twenty pounds. Thomas soon came to the conclusion that he must 
 sell the flour, just as it was, at a sacrifice, to the best advantage he could. 
 Accordingly, he sold two hundred and fifty barrels to a man by the 
 name of John McLain, for $2.50 a barrel, and agreed to take his note, 
 with such security as he could give, and wait sixty days for his money. 
 The balance of his flour he reshipped and ran it down to Natchez, and 
 sold it off as best he could, at from §3.00 to S3. 50 a barrel. 
 
 As he had to wait sixty days until John McLain's note became due, 
 and, to pass the time away, he hired himself to a carpenter, to do jour- 
 ney-work, at two dollars a day, and find his own board and lodging. 
 
 SLAVERY IN 18 I 8. 
 
 During this protracted stay of two months in Natchez, Thomas had 
 the curiosity to go and see a man hanged for stealing and selling two 
 negroes which belonged to the Governor of Mississippi, which, by the 
 
154 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1818. 
 
 law of the State, was death. He stood and gazed at the scene before 
 him, seeing what he could, until the sheriff took up the hatchet to cut 
 the rope that held the drop; but at that moment he turned his back, 
 and the man was launched into eternity. I asked him why he turned 
 his back on the gallows, and his reply was that he could not bear to see 
 a fellow-mortal launched off the stage of action for stealing and selling 
 a negro or two. 
 
 When the sixty days were over, Thomas went up to the mouth of 
 White River to get his money from McLain ; but, to his grief and dis- 
 appointment, McLain could not pay him, for he had sold the flour to 
 people of the poorer classes who could not pay him. When he found 
 he could get no money, he agreed to take in part pay a Revolutionary 
 land warrant, the right to which descended to John McLain, as the 
 only surviving heir of Laughlin McLain, a soldier of the Revolution 
 from Virginia. This warrant had never been lifted from the War Office, 
 although made out, numbered and dated in 1786, and signed by General 
 Knox, Secretary of the War Department. The warrant called for one 
 hundred acres of Virginia military district land, and might be found laid 
 off in lots by actual survey, by order of Congiess in the following 
 counties in the State of Ohio: Muskingum, Guernsey, Coshocton. Tus- 
 carawas and Holmes. Thomas had the right of said warrant made over 
 to him in due form by John McLain ; but how much Thomas allowed 
 him for his right I never knew. As he was always silent on that point, 
 I did not put the question to him; but-it was always my opinion that he 
 allowed him at least ;?I25, the full amount of the land when located at 
 ,^1.25 an acre. But for the balance of his note of $625, Thomas took an 
 old worn-out negro, and took him down to Natchez and sold him low 
 for cash, at a loss of ^200, and thus the transaction between Thomas 
 and John McLain ended. 
 
 HOMEWARD-BOUND FROM THE SOUTH. 
 
 Thomas then made preparations for his journey homeward, and for 
 that purpose he purchased a large, fine-looking horse; but he was one 
 that could not stand hard travel, for he proved afterwards to have the 
 ring-bone and spavin. Before he left Natchez, a Kentucky gentleman, 
 who had to go to New Orleans, came to Thomas, and made arrange- 
 
1818.] FAMILY HISTORY. 155 
 
 ments with him as a suitable man to safely conduct back home through 
 the wilderness two of his slaves, which he did not wish to take with him 
 farther south. He made out passes for the two slaves, and gave them 
 into the hands of Thomas; but not knowing the law of Mississippi, he 
 found that he must have new passes made out for his slaves in compli- 
 ance with the law, and countersigned by the Governor; and as Thomas 
 and the slaves, in company with eight or ten white men from the upper 
 country, had already started, the Kentuckian had to ride after them sev- 
 eral miles to give them the right kind of passes. It was a long, lonely 
 journey through the wilderness, and they had to lodge mostly with the 
 Indians of the Chickasaw and Cherokee tribes. These tribes, with the 
 Creeks and Choctaws, were the most civilized at that time (1818), and 
 they inhabited the southern part of Alabama and the northern part of 
 Georgia. 
 
 Sometimes the two slaves would get away ahead of the rest of the 
 company, and on one occasion they were captured as runaway slaves 
 and taken to an Indian agent, as they were without passes; but when 
 Thomas came up and showed the passes, they were released, and this 
 made the blacks more careful not to get too far ahead. Still, through 
 the day they would sometimes be out of sight, and occasionally Thomas 
 could see a third negro with the two others, which they believed to be 
 a runaway slave. 
 
 A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 
 
 Thomas questioned the two slaves about this third one, and learned 
 from them that he was a runaway slave from Mississippi, and that he 
 was hobbled with a pair of iron hobbles ; one of these he had got broken 
 off, but the other was still on, and he held it up off his ankle by a piece 
 of chain to which had been attached a fifty-six when he left his master, 
 for this was not his first attempt for freedom, but with stones he had 
 broken a link and had left the fifty-six not far from the home of his 
 master. Thomas told the negroes to tell the runaway to keep out of 
 view of their company, or some of the whites with him would be very 
 apt to make the attempt to take him, and for the sake of the reward 
 return him to his master, and this advice was taken by the runaway, 
 for the white company saw him no more. Thomas supposed that 
 he might yet get his escape made, as he was, at that time, not very far 
 
156 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1818. 
 
 south of the State line of Tennessee, and he might, with the assistance 
 of these two slaves, get over into Indiana or Illinois, and so on to 
 Canada. 
 
 Thomas observed that it was no wonder that a slave would run away 
 at that time from the South, for with most of their masters they were 
 treated more like beasts than human beings, badly fed and badly 
 clothed, often whipped, and that for mere trifles, and worked hard. At 
 that time, 1818, many of the slave masters of the South gave the poor 
 slaves each a peck of corn for a week, and they had a large mill at the 
 negro quarters made like a coffee-mill. At this mill they might grind 
 it, and bake or boil it in mush, and no molasses or milk with it ; or 
 they might beat it into hominy, and boil and eat it in that way; and 
 that was allowing each slave just two pounds of corn for each day. 
 
 After passing up into Tennessee, Thomas parted with most of his 
 companions in travel through the long, lonely wilderness, and he gave 
 their master's pass to the two slaves, who, with that in their hand, could 
 go on homeward to Kentucky, going themselves through Tennessee. 
 
 Crossing the Mississippi River at New Madrid, Thomas, with some 
 of his comrades, took their course on horseback for St. Louis, a distance 
 of 175 miles by land. When he arrived at St. Louis he had some 
 business to transact with Captain Clark, the companion of Captain 
 Lewis in the exploring expedition undertaken by order of Congress up 
 the Missouri River and over the Rocky Mountains, and down the 
 Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean during 1804-5-6. 
 
 Captain Clark was at that time a government agent, and was at that 
 time, the latter end of June, 18 18, actively engaged in making a treaty 
 with the Indians, — the chiefs of the Pawpaws, Pawnees and Kickapoos, 
 for the cession of their lands lying within the Missouri Territory. 
 
 After two days spent in St. Louis Thomas crossed over the Missis- 
 sippi to the Ilhnois side early in the morning, and stopped at a tavern 
 near the ferry for breakfast. Here he found his horse so lame with 
 ring-bone and spavin that he left it with the landlord rather than have 
 any further trouble with it. He then took to the road on foot, and in 
 due time, after traveling through Illinois, Indiana, and at least 250 miles 
 through Ohio, he arrived safe at home about the middle of July, sound 
 and healthy, after an absence of six months and a half 
 
1819.] FAMILY HISTORY. 157 
 
 A SECOND TRIP DOWN THE RIVER. 
 
 During the spring of 1819 Thomas made preparations for a second 
 trip down the river with flour, and for that purpose he took in a partner, 
 a David Fleming, a nephew of old Thomas Fleming, who paid for half 
 the boat, and furnished half the load, and sent his nephew, David 
 Fleming, as supercargo or agent. While Thomas and William were 
 building the boat, I was busy day and night grinding wheat that 
 Thomas had stored in the mill for making flour for this trip, and I 
 ground every twenty-four hours on our five feet Laurel Hill burrs 150 
 bushels. By the time I had finished the flour the boat was afloat, and 
 I sent with Thomas to help him along forty barrels made principally 
 out of my own toll wheat, but I sent to my own loss, for my flour was 
 worth ^3.50 at home, and Thomas sold it for only $3.50, while I paid 
 him out of the sale price $2 a barrel, and then I had left only $1.50 on 
 each barrel. 
 
 But I learned wisdom by experience, and from this time forward I 
 sent no more flour on freight. 
 
 When they arrived at Natchez Thomas bought out the remaining part 
 of flour that David Fleming had on hand, and so anxious was the latter 
 to be off that he sold out to Thomas at a bargain. But Fleming trav- 
 eled round by Philadelphia by ship, where he purchased store goods 
 with his uncle's money, and had them hauled out to Pittsburgh, and 
 shipped thence by boat down to Kentucky where he set up a store in 
 Cynthiana ; and it was some considerable time before his Uncle Thomas 
 Fleming, of Smithfield, heard of him. 
 
 TRIP FROM NEW ORLEANS TO PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 After Thomas had bought out Fleming's flour, he had but poor 
 encouragement in selling out at Natchez, and concluded to coast it 
 down to New Orleans, and sell all he could to planters all the way 
 down. He found ready sales, and by the time he reached New Orleans 
 he had sold everything but the boat itself The roof, which was made 
 of thin poplar boards, he sold for ^60, and the boat brought $20, which 
 was considered a good sale, for many boats sold, after the roof was off, 
 for only ,^10. 
 
158 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1819. 
 
 Thomas then took a deck passage on ship for Philadelphia, for which 
 he paid $2^. After landing safe in Philadelphia he made but a short 
 stay in the city, but started on foot, traveling forty miles each day, until 
 he arrived at my brother David's residence, in Fayette Co., Pa. 
 
 This was in July, 1 8 19, and the roads at the time were dry and dusty, 
 and after traveling seven days without change of clothing or shaving 
 his beard, he no doubt looked shabby. It so happened that the day 
 he arrived there an elderly clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Adams, from nine 
 miles west of Massilon, O., whose wife was a daughter of old John 
 McClelland, had come on a visit with his wife to my brother David's. 
 No doubt Aunt Betsy felt wounded on seeing a brother of her husband 
 coming in off a journey from old Philadelphia in such shabby order, 
 and she took Thomas to task for coming in that order, and asking him 
 why he did not take the stage and come out like a gentleman. To 
 which Thomas replied : " Madam, I am a poor man, and have to make 
 my living by the sweat of my brow; they asked me ten cents a mile for 
 riding in the stage, and I have walked forty miles each day from 
 Philadelphia, and made me $/\ a day, and that is three or four times as 
 much as I can make at home." 
 
 Whether it was the occasion which she took before the minister and 
 his wife, or the manner or the freedom, I know not, but I do know that 
 he took it as an offense of some magnitude ; he never forgot it while he 
 lived, and ever after that he did not like her as he ought a sister-in-law. 
 
 FLOUR INSPECTION. 
 
 When Thomas had loaded in his flour for the trip the spring of 1819, 
 he did not call on the flour inspector, nor had he so much as one barrel 
 inspected, as the greatest loss he sustained last year when his boat was 
 sunk, was occasioned by the inspection hole, and he felt determined, cost 
 what it would, he would have none inspected. 
 
 But the deputy inspector, Joseph Jeffries, was on the lookout for all boats 
 that took away flour without inspection, and Thomas was marked, and at 
 the August term of court, Jeffries made complaint, and the grand jury 
 found a true bill. When Thomas was notified of it, he was scared, and 
 he began to think that his troubles would never end. It would seem that 
 
1819.] FAMILY HISTORY. 159 
 
 from the time he got his boat frozen fast at the mouth of the Kentucky 
 River on his first trip, troubles flowed in upon him thick and fast; yet up 
 to this time he had borne up under them all, and had battled with them 
 manfully, but now he was like to shrink away from them, and he would 
 have done so if it had not been for my advice. He came over to the mill 
 immediately to see me, and told me his troubles, and said he would take 
 his horse and ride up to his brother David's and stay there till this case 
 should blow over. But I told him that would be of no avail, for if he 
 staid a whole year the parties would still prosecute him, and it would be 
 far better to meet the case. I advised him to go to Steubenville and give 
 a lawyer five dollars to throw him on the mercy of the court, and plead 
 guilty, and the court would fine him as low as the law would allow, and 
 then pay the fine and he would be clear. I saw at once that his counte- 
 nance cleared up, and he looked cheerful, turned on his foot, went over 
 home, (my uncles William, John and Thomas lived with their mother 
 across the run from the mill on the west side, while father lived on the 
 same side of the run as the mill, and a few rods above to the north. — 
 T. J. S.) and shaved and fixed up, and in a very short time was off to 
 Steubenville to look up a lawj'er to throw him on the mercy of the 
 court. And the first that he met on the steps of the court-house was 
 old lawyer Doddridge of Wellsburg, and Thomas stated the case to him 
 and handed him a five dollar bill. Doddridge invest gated and discov- 
 ered that Jeffries the inspector had never lodged his bond with the proper 
 county officer, and the court decided that the office of inspector was 
 vacant, and there was no case against Thomas, as he had on that account 
 committed no breach of the law. 
 
 But Thomas had experienced so much loss by inspection that he was 
 bitterly opposed to the inspection law as it then was, and he drew up an 
 amendment to the law by which it should be left to the flour trader to 
 have the flour inspected or not. This bill he put into the hands ot John 
 Barrett, Esq., of Wells township, our member in the Legislature, and 
 during the session of 1820-21 it became the law, and the inspection 
 remains to this day as it was then modified, now March i, 1859. 
 
160 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1820. 
 
 A THIRD TRIP THE SPRING OF 1820. 
 
 But Thomas was not discouraged yet, for he soon began to buy wheat 
 for another trip the next spring of 1820, and he gave at first 75 cents, 
 but soon fell to 62^ cents a bushel, and after some time it fell to 50 
 cents, at which time he laid in as much wheat as he had cash to buy 
 with. Thomas and John and William all set in to work at making bed- 
 steads, bureaus, tables and split-bottomed chairs, which Thomas took on 
 his trip, for he had found by his trading experience that such articles 
 would sell at a good profit in the coasting trade along the banks of the 
 Mississippi. That spring of 1820, he had made a trade for several 
 barrels of salt, and he had brought it to the mill and exchanged it for 
 wheat. 
 
 He put $8 a barrel on the salt and 50 cents a bushel on the wheat. 
 Who ever heard of 16 bushels of wheat for a barrel of salt? This price 
 for salt was equal to the price of that article in 1780, when it had to be 
 packed out over the mountains on horseback. But I remember that for 
 several years from the time the first salt was made at the Onondagua 
 salt works, until salt was made in quantities at the Kanawha salt works, 
 the lake salt so called sold for ^6 to $8 a barrel ; and the fall of 1820 
 wheat would not readily bring 25 cents a bushel. 
 
 MRS. ELIZABETH KITHCART'S SECOND MARRIAGE. 
 
 On January 28th, 1818, two days before Thomas left on his first trip 
 down the river, I and my wife Mary left home at the mill to go to 
 Fayette County for the purpose of being at the wedding of her mother, 
 who on the 7th day of February, expected to be married to John Gallo- 
 way ; he had been formerly a resident of Westmoreland County, but at 
 this time lived in Mercer County, Pa. We crossed the Ohio river in 
 safety, as it was much swollen from the recent rains, and was now run- 
 ning from bank to bank, and that night we spent with Mary's aunt, Mrs. 
 Sarah Morrison, who still lived half a mile this side of Hickory Village 
 
 We had with us our little daughter Mary Ann, now ten months old, 
 and just beginning to walk. 
 
 We stopped on our way to see uncle David's, and then went on to 
 Mary's mother's and found all in good health. 
 
1818.] FA MIL Y HIS TORY. 161 
 
 Before my wife's mother was married to John Galloway she gave each 
 of her children some part of her property that she had kept at the 
 appraisement after the decease of her first husband Joseph Kithcart. 
 To her eldest daughter Sarah, married to William Andrews, she gave a 
 milch cow ; the same to Anna, wife of Thomas Andrews ; the same to 
 her eldest son Thomas ; and as her third daughter, my wife Mary, lived 
 so far away, and it would be inconvenient to drive a cow 80 miles to her 
 home in Ohio, — and as she held a note of hand on her brother-in-law 
 John Morrison, for the sum of $30 which she had loaned to him three 
 years previous, — and as her daughter Mary had received no cow with 
 her outfit after her marriage, her mother thought it fair that Mar>- should 
 have this note in lieu of the two cows she was entitled to to make her 
 equal with her two older sisters. 
 
 This note was put into my hands for collection, but it was not paid 
 for three years after uncle Morrison's death, and when it was paid it 
 amounted, principal and interest, to ^43. To her son John she gave the 
 old family Bible ; to her youngest son Joseph she gave his father's silver 
 watch, which her son Joseph did not get possession of till long afterwards, 
 and which he kept until his death. But after Joseph's death his mother 
 in due time sent word by me to Joseph's widow that she must give up 
 that watch, and the widow gave it up, and the old lady then gave it to 
 her son Cunningham's son Joseph. This did not appear to me to be 
 right, knowing that it had been given to her son Joseph some 36 years 
 before, and had been in the possession of him and his family ; and there 
 remains no doubt but that her son Joseph, while thus in possession of 
 the watch, might have swapped it off, or sold it to any one as best suited 
 him. 
 
 But the object of the old lady in taking it away from the widow who 
 had no male issue living, was to keep the watch in the male line of the 
 Kithcart family. 
 
 THE ESTATE OF JOSEPH KITHCART. 
 
 After the death of Mary's father, February 24, 18 14, the law allowed 
 the widow and children the use of the farm rent free for one year, until 
 administration could be had and guardians appointed. For that purpose 
 the widow and her son-in-law William Andrews were appointed admin- 
 
162 THE SHERRAKD FAMILY. [1818. 
 
 istrators ; Jacob Tinsmaii was appointed guardian for the four minor 
 children, Thomas, Mary, Joseph and Kezia ; and Thomas Boyd was 
 appointed guardian for the other four minor children, John, Cunningham, 
 Betsy and Martha. 
 
 These guardians acting for their respective wards rented the home- 
 stead farm to the widow for two years at the very high rent of g200 a 
 year. Thomas Kithcart had remained at home and worked for his mother 
 during the four years that had passed since the death of his father, and 
 he had received no wages for his services, except his victuals and cloth- 
 ing, and now his mother felt that it was only just that she should com- 
 pensate him for his services. She therefore called upon me to take an 
 inventory of the articles she wished him to have, and I rated them each 
 at a fair value, which when added up made the sum of S200, which for 
 four years, was at the rate of ^50 a year, clothing and washing and 
 boarding in. 
 
 THE QUESTION OF COXTR.^CTS BEFORE MARRI.\GE. 
 
 While I was engaged making out the inventory of the property 
 allotted to her son Thomas, the thought struck me and I let it out by 
 saying, meaning no harm: "Mother, I think that old folks like you 
 and Mr. Galloway, before you marry, ought to have an article of 
 agreement drawn between you, that on the death of either of the parties, 
 the property or money that formerly belonged to each should go back 
 to the original owner or their legal heirs or representatives." But I soon 
 found that I had given great offense to mother-in-law, from the way in 
 which she snubbed me off, for in the two years that I had now been 
 married to her daughter I had never been treated by her or spoken to in 
 the way she now spoke. As near as I can now recollect, she said : 
 " What is mine is my own, and I will do with it as I please. When 
 your father-in-law made his will, he put a clause in it, that if I married 
 again I was to have nothing but as much as I brought as an outfit to 
 him, and that was a coarse tow bed-tick, one bolster case and two 
 pillow cases ready to be stuffed with straw, one blanket and two coarse 
 tow sheets, — this was my outfit when I married first, and by that will, if 
 it had stood, and I should marry again, such would be my outfit, and 
 now I feel thankful that I have not to abide such a will. The will was 
 
1818.J FAMILY HISTORY. 163 
 
 broken, and the law gave me what I have, and I will do with it as I 
 please." 
 
 The outfit spoken of by mother in-law as her marriage portion was 
 perhaps as good or better than that of many others who married east, 
 and then packed all they had on one old horse over the mountains, and 
 settled in early times west of the mountains. 
 
 I saw that she felt hurt at what I had said, but I could not help that, 
 — I coolly observed : " I meant no offense ; I admit that you have a 
 right to do with your own as it suits you. If it all goes to Galloway 
 and his heirs, I and my wife can live without it. I only expressed my 
 opinion as to what I thought would be best in most cases where old 
 folks marry, each having children by a former marriage," — and so the 
 matter ended, and I continued to put down the articles and to put a 
 price to each article. 
 
 John Galloway and Mrs. Elizabeth Kithcart were married by the Rev. 
 James Power, February 7, 1818 ; the same who had baptized her at two 
 years old in 1774; who had married her to Joseph Kithcart March 
 22, 1792; who had married her daughters Sarah, Anna and Mary; 
 and who afterwards married Thomas to Deborah Wright and Betsy 
 to John Sloneaker. 
 
 John Galloway at the time of his marriage with Elizabeth Kith- 
 cart was sixty-eight years of age, and she was forty-five. 
 
 After the wedding some days there was a sale of stock and arti- 
 cles of household and kitchen furniture. 
 
 Mother-in-law reserved twenty-six sheep, worth at that time, with 
 the wool on, $3 a head ; also one young mare worth $80, and these 
 the old gentleman took with him. Besides she took with her in cash 
 ^150, with a good assortment of household and kitchen furniture — 
 articles enough, with beds and bedding, to load a four-horse team, 
 together with Betsy, Martha and Kezia seated in the wagon. Their 
 mother rode on her own old mare, " Kate," with her own saddle and 
 bridle, and they landed safe home at old Mr. Galloway's residence in 
 Mercer County. 
 
 The last time I saw the old gentleman was at the old Kithcart 
 homestead, about a year and a half later, as he had come there to 
 collect some money due for articles sold at the sale just after their 
 
164 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1818. 
 
 marriage, and from that sale arose the chief of the money she took 
 to him. 
 
 She had taken to herself more property and money than was her 
 share of her deceased husband's estate by $300, as was shown ten or 
 fifteen years afterwards, when the administrator settled up the estate 
 in the Orphans' Court. On his way home at this time in September, 
 1819, he was taken ill, and three weeks afterwards, having just com- 
 pleted and signed his will, he suddenly took his departure from time 
 to eternity, but he was prepared for the summons. He had educated 
 and left a son who was a minister of the gospel, who survived his father 
 only two or three years ; this minister of the gospel was married to a 
 daughter of a Mr. Junkin, of Mercer County, who was a soldier of the 
 Revolution, and he raised up two sons who became ministers of the gos- 
 pel in the Old School Presbyterian Church (these were the Rev. George 
 Junkin, D.D., and the Rev. David X. Junkin, D.D.) and a third son, 
 Matthew O. Junkin, who now lives in Steubenville. And besides the 
 daughter that was married to the Rev. Mr, Galloway, old Mr. Junkin 
 had another daughter married to the Rev. George Buchanan, who for 
 forty years was pastor of the Associate Reformed Church of Steuben- 
 ville, and he in turn had two sons who became preachers. 
 
 SEQUEL TO THE STORY OF MARRIAGE CONTRACTS. 
 
 After the death of old Mr. Galloway, mother-in-law soon began to 
 find that their home in the Galloway mansion-house would be no longer 
 home for them ; his will left her §600 in lieu of dower, which she ac- 
 cepted, and with that money in prospect she might seek her old home 
 on the first husband's property, which she did. 
 
 In October of that year (1819) I visited her and her daughters on the 
 old Kithcart homestead after their return from Mercer County. I had 
 made no inquiry respecting John Galloway's will, but of her own accord 
 she commenced and told me all about his will, and the sum of $600 left 
 her in lieu of dower. And then she observed that she came away from 
 Galloway's farm ^300 worse than she went ; and then she burst out and 
 cried, saying that she now wished she had taken my plan, which was, 
 that when two old folks married, they ought to article and agree that if 
 
181S.] FAMILY HISTORY. 165 
 
 death parted them, the property of each should go back the way it 
 came ; she said she could now see the propriety of such an agree- 
 ment. 
 
 For, said she : There was that young mare, he was offered gSo for 
 her and he refused to take it, saying she was worth $ioo, and the twenty- 
 six choice sheep, worth §3 each, that he got of my property ; and the 
 money that was due for my property, sold at the vendue after he and I 
 got married, he collected and kept. She went on to state that there had 
 been a long web of flannel made from wool off her own sheep, and made 
 principally by her own hands ; this web was made for the express pur- 
 pose of clothing herself and her own three girls, and a daughter of John 
 Galloway, and he, before his death a very short time and after his will 
 was drawn, said to William Rankin, one of his appointed executors : 
 " Now there stands that web of flannel for the use of the women of the 
 family ; it was made for them, and I allow it to go for their use, and 
 although it is not mentioned in my will, that makes no odds, it must go for 
 their use." " Well, after his decease there stood the web of flannel uncut 
 or not made up into garments, and the appraisers of the estate finding it 
 there took and appraised it as part of the goods of the estate, and it was 
 afterwards put up at the sale and sold for what it would bring. And so 
 I and my girls lost our winter clothing, and came away back to our old 
 home with little clothing." I said to her, "Why did the executors and 
 appraisers refuse to be guided by Mr. Galloway's verbal will ? " " Why," 
 she answered, " they said if the flannel had been cut into dresses, 
 although not made up, in that case, according to law, they could not 
 have appraised it, for it would then have been considered a part of the 
 family clothing." 
 
 CROSSING THE ICE AT CONNELLSVILLE. 
 
 But I must now go back to the vendue that mother-in-law made after 
 her marriage with Mr. Galloway. Two days after the sale I and Mary 
 bade adieu to her mother and other friends and pursued our way home. 
 But when we came to Connellsville, it seemed dangerous to attempt to 
 cross the river. There was no bridge at that time over the Youghi- 
 ogheny river, and when it was not frozen over it was most of the year 
 forded on horseback or in wagons, but during the hard freeze that set in 
 
166 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1818. 
 
 the first week in February that year, 1818, it froze over so sohd that 
 there was a free bridge over the river for three weeks. 
 
 I had crossed and re-crossed it some days before on a visit to my 
 brother David's and uncle Cathcart's, but now when I and Mary and 
 the baby, Mary Ann, came to the river and looked at the place where I 
 and others had crossed, the ice had sunk in a dish form, and the water 
 was lying some inches deep over the sunken part, so that I was afraid to 
 attempt the crossing without a guide. 
 
 Seeing a man not far off, I called to him to know if it was safe to 
 cross on the ice, and he said it was if I would pass round in a certain 
 direction. I told him if he would first lead the two horses safe over, and 
 then come back and conduct us safe over, I would give him $\ for his 
 trouble. He consented, and took the horses over, and returned and 
 took Mary Ann in his arms and conducted us safe around the bend of 
 the sunken ice on high solid ice, and I paid him his dollar, glad to get 
 safe over. We stopped that night with my brother David, and the next 
 day came on to Brownsville, where we could have crossed the river on 
 the ice that evening, for there was no bridge at that time over the Mon- 
 ongahela river at Brownsville, except this ice bridge. But we stopped 
 that night to visit my cousin, John Johnston, and when I arose the next 
 morning and looked out of the window to see what the ice was like now, 
 behold ! it was broken into many thousands and millions of pieces which 
 were pushing one another onward, and tumbling about in a manner that 
 would not warrant any man, beast, boat or craft to attempt to cross and 
 e.xpect to live among the ice ; so we had to content ourselves during the 
 day and another night with my cousin Johnston and his very worthy 
 family. 
 
 The next day we were able to cross the river by the ferry, and we 
 came on to Samuel Fry's residence, one mile east of Beallsville. It was 
 late the next day when we left Fry's, and as the traveling proved to be 
 bad, dark night overtook us five miles from Hickory, near which Mary's 
 aunt, Sarah Morrison, lived ; and, to add to our ve.xation and trouble, 
 Mary Ann, who was now only eleven months old, woke up, being tired 
 of riding, as I had to carry her before me on a pillow; and the child, 
 finding it dark, began to cry and scream, and although I gave her over 
 to her mother, yet she refused to be comforted ; but we persevered, and 
 
1818.] FAMIL Y HISTOR Y. 167 
 
 by and by reached aunt Morrison's. The next day we reached home, 
 and I felt glad to be relieved from traveling and carrying a baby before 
 me, as I was compelled to do the two last visits Mary and I made to her 
 mother's. 
 
 This I had to do of necessity, as this mode of travel on horseback, 
 and this mode of carrying small children, was heretofore and at that 
 time, in 1818, common all abroad in the country west of the mountains. 
 Improvement and refinement and wealth had not as yet made much ad- 
 vance ; roads were steep and bad, and wagons and dearborns, to say 
 nothing of buggies and carriages, were not introduced yet, and at the 
 time here spoken of it was thought no shame for a man to carry his 
 child on a pillow before him, go where he would. 
 
 KATY FERGUSON'S WEDDIXG. 
 
 Some time the early part of June, 1818, I and wife, and William and 
 John, were all invited to the wedding of our second cousin, Katy Fer- 
 guson, eldest daughter of William Ferguson, who lived at that time a 
 short distance from Harrisville, six miles west of Mount Pleasant. 
 
 Thomas had not yet returned from bis Orleans trading trip, and John 
 would not go, but I and Mary and William went over the evening before, 
 for if we detained till the morning of the marriage, we could not reach 
 the place in time, as it was fourteen miles we had to go. The groom was 
 an old bachelor of fifty-eight and the bride was thirty-seven years of age, 
 and they were married by the Rev. Joseph Anderson. The name of the 
 groom was William Boggs, and he lived near Cambridge, in Guernsey 
 County. The morning after the wedding the bride and groom and the 
 infare party left, and I, and my wife, Mary, and William returned home 
 that evening, and thus ended that wedding. The morning the marriage 
 was to take place the bride came to me and insisted that I should go as 
 the leader of a gang of young men to meet the groom and his party, — I 
 demurred, but agreed and went. 
 
 On the nth day of August this year, 1818, our second child was 
 born, a boy, and as I had named our first-born, a daughter, Mary Ann 
 for my mother, Mary Cathcart. and my grandmother, Ann Gamble Cath- 
 cart, so now my wife Mary named this, our first son, Joseph Kithcart 
 Sherrard for her own father. 
 
168 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1819. 
 
 In June of the year 1819, I and Mary my wife left home and visited 
 the friends once more in Fayette County. 
 
 We left Mary Ann, who was now two years old, with her grandmother 
 Sherrard, and I carried Joseph, who was now ten months old, on a pillow 
 before me as usual. We found all the friends well, but Marj' missed her 
 mother, who was now married and living in Mercer County, Pa., and she 
 would rather have seen her than all the other connections together. 
 While on this visit I went to Uniontown and obtained an order of Court 
 to sell the old Kithcart homestead, and I advertised the same for sale on 
 a certain day in September, 1819. After an absence of three weeks we 
 returned home. 
 
 The following September I returned to Fayette County to be present 
 at the sale of the old Kithcart homestead, but on the day appointed there 
 were no bidders present, and no sale took place. It was at this time that 
 I saw old Mr. Galloway for the last time, little thinking that I should 
 never again look on his benevolent face. 
 
 After a stay of eight days in Fayette County, I returned home, but on 
 my way back I came to Wellsburg about 1 1 o'clock on a moonlight 
 night, and passed on below town about two miles to old Walter Cain's 
 ferry. The ferry was kept by a man named McMullen, but he would 
 not get up and ferry me over the river for the extra pay that I offered 
 him, for he said that he would not get up at that late hour for any man 
 or for any price. 
 
 SWIMMING THE OHIO RIVER. 
 
 I then attempted to ford the river at Pumphrey's bar ; for some time 
 the v/ater was but shallow, but it began to get deeper and deeper, till the 
 mare I rode had gone about half way over, when she stopped stone still, 
 and there I sat with the water running over my saddle under me, and I 
 had to draw up a tight rein to keep the mare's head out of the water. 
 Although the moon shone but dim through thin fleecy clouds, I could 
 see a part of Pumphrey's bar above the water some thirty (»r forty rods 
 below me, and to gain the bar I turned the mares head down the stream 
 with full intention to make the bar, and then try to find my way out, but 
 I could not get the mare to move one foot. I then tried to turn her 
 head toward the Virginia shore, but she still would not move. I now 
 
1819.] FAMILY HISTORY. ■- 169 
 
 thought that the mare wanted home as well as I, and that she would 
 swim if she had headway. 
 
 I then buttoned up my great coat, so that if the mare floundered I 
 would swim, and I imagined that the coat floating on the water would 
 assist to bear me up. 
 
 But I now, February 21, 1859, believe I was wrong in keeping my 
 great coat on ; I ought to have pulled it off, but I did not. I let the 
 bridle-rein loose, and and took fast hold of the mane, and the moment 
 the mare found herself free of restraint, she raised on her hind feet, 
 turned again straight across the river, and darted off, swimming most 
 beautifully until she landed me safe on the Ohio side. Although wet up 
 to the watch fob, I arrived home safe at one o'clock in the morning, and 
 waked Mary up to unbolt the door, and without waiting to eat or refresh 
 myself, I retired to rest and was soon fast asleep, after thanking God for 
 bringing me safe across the Ohio River in the middle of the night, when 
 I might have been drowned and no one would have known when or 
 where to look for me. 
 
 BUILDING AN ADDITION TO THE HOUSE. 
 
 During this summer of 1819, I was employed when at home in fram- 
 ing a small building and weather-boarding the same. It was built as an 
 additional room to the house in which we lived, and was fifteen feet 
 square, but as I had to be absent frequently that summer on business, I 
 found I had not time to shingle it ; so I let out the making of the 
 shingles and driving on the same, for which I paid Abel Ashby six 
 dollars. After I had the frame weather-boarded, as I had John Scott 
 hired by the month and no other work for him to do just at that time, I 
 had him work clay up in a rough manner, and fill in from the sill to the 
 top of the joists, and this caused the room, when finished, to be one of 
 the warmest I ever occupied. 
 
 And I made further addition to the heat of the room by having it 
 lined with boards all round and under the joists, and the under story was 
 only seven feet high ; I also bought brick at Centreville, from old Tom 
 Johnson, and had a good chimney built, and a two-foot grate put in, and 
 the following winter we enjoyed ourselves more comfortably than for 
 three winters previous to that time. 
 
170 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1819. 
 
 A TRIP TO MERCER COUNTY. 
 
 In October, i8ig, after the death of Mr. Galloway, and before mother- 
 in-law had decided to leave the Galloway homestead and return to Fay- 
 ette County, her daughter Betsy wrote to me that if I would come up to 
 Mercer County for her, she would come and live with her sister Mary. 
 
 Mary was so glad of this offer that she wished me to go at once for 
 her sister. I prepared and left home immediately and took the road to 
 Steubenville, crossed at the upper ferry, took the Pittsburgh road 
 through the Cove, and onward to Briceland's cross roads, now Florence, 
 and there turned square off to the left and took the Georgetown road 
 through Frankford, and when I got several miles beyond that town I 
 came into a region of very poor land. By evening I reached and crossed 
 the ferry opposite to Beaver at the mouth of the Big Beaver River. 
 
 Here I stopped for the night at a tavern, and the next morning I went 
 on up the Big Beaver seventeen miles to uncle Benjamin Cunningham's. 
 As it was then Friday at noon, I staid with uncle Benjamin until Satur- 
 day after dinner, when he accompanied me to uncle William Cunning- 
 ham's, where I staid till Monday morning. 
 
 SUNDAY-SCHOOLS IN EARLY TIMES. 
 
 On that Sabbath they had no preaching at their meeting-house, but 
 about nine o'clock Uncle Benjamin came along with his young people, 
 and took with him Uncle William's young people, and they passed on 
 to the meeting-house where they held Sunday-school, a rather new 
 thing, and not yet extensively established over the western country. 
 
 The superintendent gave the young scholars so many verses in the 
 Old or New Testament, or so many verses of psalms or hymns from 
 Dr. Watts' version to commit to memory. This Sunday-school had 
 been in operation only since May, 1S19, and up to the time that I was 
 there in October, many of the young people of both sexes had com- 
 mitted as many as 800 verses of Scripture, and an equal number of 
 verses of psalms and hymns. 
 
 I learned from the Cunninghams that their sister, my mother-in-law, 
 after the death of her husband, John ' Galloway, had already returned 
 with her three daughters, Betsy, Martha and Kezia, to the old Kith- 
 
1819.] FAMILY HISTORY. 171 
 
 cart homestead; but this did not change my intention of bringing Betsy- 
 down to live with her sister Mary, and I therefore concluded to go on 
 to Fayette County by way of Pittsburgh. 
 
 Therefore, on Monday morning I took my course for Pittsburgh, 
 which was said to be distant fifty miles, and for some miles the road lay 
 through a beautiful and productive country, but at length I got into 
 extensive barrens, which continued for many miles without a house 
 or any land fenced in. 
 
 NARROW ESCAPE ON ALLEGHENY BRIDGE. 
 
 It was beginning to be dusk when I arrived at the end of the Alle- 
 gheny bridge opposite to Pittsburgh, and seeing a man standing near the 
 end of the bridge, I asked him if the bridge was in a condition to be 
 crossed. 
 
 " Oh, yes," said he, " it is, for they have had a great dinner on it this 
 day, and you can pass over on it." 
 
 I felt sure the man was telling me the truth, and so far as I could see 
 in the dusk of the evening the tables occupied the right hand avenue, 
 and the left as far as I could see was laid with a good floor of plank two 
 or more inches thick. I further asked the man, who, by the brogue on 
 his tongue, I took to be a native Irishman, if there was any toll to pay, 
 and he replied : " No, there is no towl to be paid this day, for shure this 
 is a public day, and ivery one goes free the day." I spurred my mare 
 on to the new bridge, proud of having a chance to cross the same ; on 
 my right hand in the right hand avenue pine plank were laid on trestles 
 for perhaps the distance of 150 feet, but horror of horrors! to my 
 astonishment, amazement and wonder, when my mare had arrived just 
 half way over this new bridge she stepped on a very narrow passage- 
 way of the latter half of the bridge. 
 
 This consisted of only two middle sleepers hewed and laid close to 
 each other, and the upper surface of each sleeper seemed to be about 
 eighteen inches broad, which would give three feet of a passage-way 
 for the mare to walk on. 
 
 She had advanced but a little way on this new and narrow passage- 
 way, when I first perceived that there was no plank on either my right 
 hand or left, and there on either hand below was an awful gulf,- so that 
 
172 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1819. 
 
 if tlie mare would slip or make a blunder, we would both in a moment 
 of time be hurled an awful distance to the bottom of the river below. 
 I might think and reflect, but I could only ask God to preserve and 
 bring me safe over, for I could not turn back, nor could I dismount, as 
 the passage was too narrow for that. I could only let the mare go on, 
 while I must await the issue ; but I was not long kept in suspense and 
 dread, for it required but a few minutes' walk till I was safe at the St. 
 Clair Street end of the bridge in Pittsburgh. I returned thanks to God 
 for His almighty preservation through the danger just passed, and I 
 have always considered it a greater risk to travel half away across the 
 Allegheny River on logs three feet broad than to have the same mare to 
 swim and carry me on her back half way across the Ohio River. 
 
 I took courage, and went on my way rejoicing, never doubting but 
 that if God had more work for me to do, he would preserve me to do it, 
 and he has thus preserved me for nearly forty years since that narrow 
 escape took place; and God has not only kept me until now, Tuesday, 
 February 22, 1859, but he has given me a great deal of work to do; 
 and be it done well or ill, I must render an account of my steward- 
 ship. 
 
 After landing safely in Pittsburgh, I rode up Liberty Street, and on 
 out as far as East Liberty, five miles out from Pittsburgh, which made 
 fifty-five miles the dun mare had carried me that day. I put up at a 
 very good tavern, — the only one in the place at that time, where I had 
 supper, of which I was much in need. Next morning I rode on seven 
 or eight miles to Neal's tavern on the Turtle Creek hill east, where 1 
 took breakfast, as it was customary in those early times for travelers to 
 rise early, pay their bill, and travel onward a few miles, and feed horses, 
 and take breakfast. 
 
 I then passed on, and arrived safely at the old Kithcart homestead, 
 and found the friends all well ; but I found that my long journey was 
 all for nothing, for Betsy, who was now back among her old asso- 
 ciates, could not be persuaded at all to come and live with her sister 
 Mary. 
 
 But mother-in-law said that as Betsy would not go, and as she had 
 never been down to see Mary at her own house, she would go with me, 
 and so she did. 
 
1810-1819.] FAMILY HISTORY. 173 
 
 Mary was exceedingly glad to see her mother; for it was now twenty- 
 one months since they had been separated, and her mother staid with 
 us two weeks, and then went home. 
 
 CHURCH RELATIONS .\T CENTRE. 
 
 During these years past, since our removal to Rush Run, we had 
 attended church services at Centre under the ministrations of the Rev. 
 Abram Scott. He had been called as pastor for a period of four years 
 from May, i8io. 
 
 This call was for only one-half his time at a salary of fifty pounds 
 per annum, but even that was not fully collected and paid over to him. 
 For two years the services were held in a frame tent set up against a 
 sugar tree, but on the i6th day of June, 1812, a hewed log meeting- 
 house was raised, which was thirty feet square, and after that the old 
 tent was used only on sacramental occasions, but it was finally blown 
 down and broken by the wind in 1836. As the time for which the 
 Rev. Abram Scott had been engaged drew near the close, a congrega- 
 tional meeting was held on April 29, 1814, to make arrangements for 
 continuing services for the congregation. I was sent up to the meeting 
 as a representative from our family, and I was appointed to act as 
 secretary of the meeting. 
 
 Mr. Scott was chosen to act as supply till the fall meeting of Presby- 
 tery, but the action of the meeting gave dissatisfaction to some of the 
 people who were not at the meeting, and the result was that the Rev. 
 Abram Scott never again acted as supply of the church, although he 
 continued to live on his farm in the bounds of the congregation. But 
 in consequence of the dissension in the congregation over this matter, 
 there was much barrenness and unfruitfulness in Centre Church for the 
 space of si.x or seven years, during which time there was little preaching 
 and the gospel ordinances were not often dispensed, until the spring of 
 1 82 1, when the Rev. Jacob Cozard was invited to preach on trial for 
 si.x months, which he did to acceptance. 
 
 PAYING CHURCH DUES. 
 
 It was during that time after Mr. Scott had been rejected by the 
 congregation that I was asked to pay my subscription, which had been 
 
174 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1810-1819. 
 
 made on the understanding that Mr. Scott was to be employed in 
 accordance with the action of the congregational meeting, April 29, 
 18 14, and I refused to pay until I had asked Mr. Scott what to do, after 
 the way that he had been treated. But he replied : " Pay it over to 
 them ; let them have it, and make no disturbance in the congregation ; 
 it is but weak at best, and do you strive to strengthen and uphold and 
 keep it together; make no strife on my account." 
 
 And now that nearly half a century has passed since that advice was 
 given, yet that advice remains as a memorial of Mr. Scott's Christian 
 character as a minister of the gospel. And I declare it did me more 
 good than any of his sermons I had ever listened to. His conduct in 
 that case was truly noble and disinterested. It did me good, and has been 
 truly of benefit to me in the long years that have rolled over me since. 
 For I have made it a point, let who would find fault with their pastor, or 
 make a disturbance in the congregation, I was at my stand-point ready 
 to meet difficulties, and roll off every imaginary grievance, whether the 
 complaint was levelled against the minister, elders, or lay members. 
 
 And let who will make trial of such a course, they will find the longer 
 they pursue it, the more they will find they are pursuing the right 
 course for the peace and prosperity of the church to which they belong. 
 
 OUR CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 
 
 After our marriage, January 25th, 1816, my wife Mary, brought her 
 certificate of church membership from the Mount Pleasant church, West- 
 moreland County, and the summer of that year she was received as a 
 member of Centre. 
 
 The next year, during the summer of 18 17, 1 made application to the 
 Rev. Abram Scott, as he was not preaching at Centre, and there was no 
 pastor there, to appoint a day to preach at the house of our mother at 
 Rush Run, and then and there baptize our daughter Mary Ann. 
 
 This he refused to do unless I would first obtain the consent of the 
 two Elders of Centre Church — John Jackson and John Hindman. On 
 my application to them they freely gave their consent, not only that he 
 might preach and baptize the child, but that he might moderate the Ses- 
 sion for the examination of myself and my brothers, John and Phomas, 
 
1820.] FAMILY HISTORY. 175 
 
 as candidates for membership in the Centre Church, and the Sabbatli 
 week was appointed. 
 
 The service was announced throughout the neighborhood, and on the 
 Sabbath appointed in September, 1817, the Rev. Mr. Scott was present, 
 and his wife, and the two elders and their wives, and a very respectable 
 congregation from the surrounding neighborhood for a considerable dis- 
 tance, embracing a goodly number of members of Centre congregation. 
 Mr. Scott first preached, and then baptized the child Mary Ann, then si.x 
 months old, after which he dismissed the congregation. 
 
 The Session then convened, and we three brothers, John, Thomas and 
 myself, were examined as to our knowledge of the Scriptures and ex- 
 perimental religion, after which we were received by the Session as 
 members in full communion of Centre Church. 
 
 The Rev. James Dunn, a suspended preacher from Ireland, came out 
 to Fayette County, Pa., the spring of 1794, and commenced preaching, 
 baptizing and marrying around Mason's old Furnace. The fall of 1794 
 my father had Dunn come and preach at his house, when uncle and aunt 
 Cathcart brought my brother David over, and David, John, Thomas and 
 myself were all baptized by Dunn. 
 
 But in after years, when these boys applied to join the Presbyterian 
 church, their baptism was disputed, on the ground that the baptism of 
 Dunn was not valid, because he was a suspended minister. Thereupon 
 David was rebaptized at Laurel Hill by the Rev. James Guthrie, and 
 John, Thomas and I were re-baptized by the Rev. Abram Scott the fall 
 of 1817, when we joined Centre. 
 
 My brother William had been baptized in infancy by a regular min- 
 ister of the Episcopal church, in which my mother and uncle and aunt 
 Cathcart had been brought up, and to which they belonged in Ireland. 
 But as no such church had been organized in the neighborhood where 
 they lived, they remained for many years out of the pale of any church. 
 And this may account in some measure for their submitting to have the 
 children baptized by Mr. Dunn, not knowing but what his official acts 
 were as good, legal and binding as those of any other minister of the 
 gospel. 
 
 On the loth day of January, 1820, our third child and second son was 
 born into this world of trouble, and he has had some share of it in buf- 
 
176 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1820. 
 
 feting the world now going on forty years. He was from the first the 
 heartiest and strongest child that we had yet had, and we named him 
 David Alexander Cathcart, for my brother David, of Fayette County, Pa. 
 
 FOURTH TRIP DOWN THE RIVER. 
 
 During the fall of 1820 Thomas was very busy with our brother 
 William building Orleans boats, as Thomas had persuaded William to 
 go with him on his fourth trip down the river. But as Thomas had for 
 some time been engaged to be married to his second-cousin, Rebecca 
 Conn, it was arranged that they should be married before he started on 
 this trip. She was the daughter of Alexander Conn, who lived on 
 King's Creek, near Ralston's Mill, and her mother's maiden name was 
 Mary Gamble, daughter of Andrew Gamble of Thunder Hill, New Lon- 
 don Cross Roads, Chester Co., Pa., who was my grand-mother, Ann 
 Gamble's, youngest brother. Rebecca Conn was at this time staying 
 with her aunt Mrs. Conn, in Steubenville, and as she was not yet of age, 
 Thomas took her across into Pennsylvania to Middletown, where they 
 were married by 'Squire Buchanan on September 20th, 1820. The ne.xt 
 day they came over to our house at Rush Run, where my wife Mary 
 had prepared for them an infare dinner in good style, for which I had 
 gone about making ample provision to have a dinner suitable in every 
 respect, and worthy of a prince to sit down to eat. 
 
 They remained with us for two weeks, and as the boats were now 
 nearly ready, Thomas took his new wife Rebecca up to Steubenville, 
 and left her to board with her aunt, Mrs. Conn. 
 
 About a week or ten days before William and Thomas started, I 
 went over to their yard, and found William standing and leaning against 
 the fence, looking very much down-hearted. Thomas came out at this 
 time and joined him, and I heard William tell Thomas that he believed 
 he would not go on the trip to New Orleans, but would sell his boat 
 and stay at home. Thomas would not hear to this, but turned in and 
 rallied William, and prevailed on him to carry out his plan, and after 
 that I heard nothing about his selling his boat and abandoning the 
 trip. 
 
 Why it was that William felt so depressed in mind that he would be 
 willing to sell his boat and give up the trip, I know not; it might be 
 
1820.] FAMILY HISTORY. 177 
 
 that he had a presentiment that he would never return, or something 
 else that caused such a conflict of mind, the cause of whicli I never 
 knew, and will not know this side of time. 
 
 ^ BO.\TS OFF OCTOBER 12, 182O. 
 
 Thomas had taken as partner in his boat George Ryan, who had 
 acted as waiter for Thomas when he was married ; and all things now 
 being ready for the trip, the two boats left the mouth of Rush Run the 
 1 2th day of October, 1820. I and John went with them as far as 
 Wheeling, and from that point we returned home, and I little thought 
 that it was the last time that I was ever to see my brother William. 
 
 The boats proceeded on their way down the river, joined by three 
 others from Warren ; but from letters received from Thomas I learned 
 that they were much retarded in their downward course, owing to the 
 low stage of water in the Ohio. But a sudden rise of the Great 
 Kanawha River raised the Ohio a:lso, and this soon brought the boats 
 to the Falls of the Ohio. However, by the time they reached the Falls, 
 the increase in the water had, in a great measure, left them, so that they 
 had to unload and pay for hauling the flour round the Falls. But Wil- 
 liam's boat got injured in passing over the rocks of the Falls, so that it 
 had to be raised for repairs. This accomplished, and the re-loading 
 completed, they put off down stream, and they now had deep water suf- 
 ficient to carry them into the Mississippi with ease. 
 
 But a new disaster was to overtake them ; for when they had passed 
 down below the Falls of the Ohio about one hundred and fifty miles, as 
 the water was deep and the evening pleasant, they concluded to run the 
 five boats all night. 
 
 However, this design could not be carried out, owing to the wind 
 rising and blowing at a fearful rate, and it was therefore thought best to 
 land. For this purpose Joseph Chambers, William's best hand, was 
 selected to take a skiff and go and seek a deep, safe landing. 
 
 This was now the night of November 7th, 1820. The boats were 
 taken to the shore safe to a place where the water was ten feet deep, and 
 there each boat was made fast to the shore by a cable ; but the wind 
 caused the boats to surge about so much that William ordered Cham- 
 bers to go ashore and make their boat fast by the stern. 
 
178 THE SHERRARD FAaMILY. [1820. 
 
 SKCTION IX. 
 
 1820-1824. 
 
 FAMILY AFFLICTIONS. 
 
 CHAMBERS went on shore, but complained that he could not see 
 to drive in a stake for want of a h'ght. William then lighted the 
 lantern, and held it out for Chambers; but, that moment, the 
 wind would puff it out, and this was done the third time, when William 
 passed between the steering oar of the boat and the hatch-hole, and at 
 once stepped over the end of the boat, and sank in ten feet of water ; it 
 was supposed that he might have risen, but under the boat. For, be it 
 here recorded that William could not swim. 
 
 LEARNING TO SWIM. 
 
 After we settled on Rush Run we would often in summer-time when 
 the water was warm, go to the Ohio river and wash and splash about, 
 but it was some time before any one of us four boys could swim. I learned 
 first, and on this wise I learned to swim : — In passing along the mill 
 race I noticed that a frog would leap off the bank into the clear water 
 and swim away out of sight, and then another and another would leap in, 
 until perhaps a dozen would thus swim away. I noticed that each and 
 every frog had precisely the same stroke with their little hands and fore- 
 arms, and the same kick with their hind legs and feet ; and I saw at a 
 glance that the strokes thus made by the frog were the same motions in 
 every respect that I ought to make, and that every man and boy ought 
 to make who wished to swim. 
 
 On the next Saturday afternoon we all went as usual to the river, and 
 I was so full of the frog-plan of swimming that I waded into the water 
 about neck deep, and then dived about half way from the surface to the 
 bottom, and shot off in imitation of the frogs, keeping my breath as long 
 as I could ; then standing up awhile and down at it again, and thus 
 after a few trials I found I could pitch myself on the top of the water, 
 
1820.] FAMILY HISTORY. 179 
 
 and swim away down stream with ease. The next Saturday John seeing 
 me at it so successfully learned to swim, and the third Saturday Thomas 
 could swim, but poor William never learned ; and for want of knowing 
 how to swim he lost his life by drowning. He often said during the 
 trials we all made to learn to swim, that this was almost the only thing 
 he ever failed to learn, for he could do almost everything else but that, 
 for he was a man of great natural ability, and was able to do almost every- 
 thing he would undertake. 
 
 After William had stepped off the end of the boat and had fallen into 
 the water, one of the hands on the boat heard the fall and raised the out- 
 cry, which brought all the hands hurrying from all the other boats. It 
 was dismally dirk, and all was silent except the wind and the waves 
 lashing against the shore, while William, poor William ! who was as full 
 of life and as active as any now on board only a moment or two before, 
 now lay dead at the bottom of the river. 
 
 In the confusion it was some time before they were able to recover 
 the body, and when they did they applied every known means for his 
 restoration, but these all failed to restore William to life. 
 
 The next day William was laid in the silent grave, and buried on the 
 bank of the Ohio river in the state of Indiana 150 miles below the falls 
 of the Ohio, " and not a stone tells where he lies." 
 
 It was the intention of the family that we would send a head-stone 
 and foot-stone with Thomas on his next trip down the river to mark 
 William's grave, but Thomas never made another trading trip down the 
 river. 
 
 LETTER ANNOUNCING DEATH OF WILLIAM. 
 
 The first intelligence we received of this sad calamity was a letter 
 written by Thomas and directed to me, dated : — 
 
 Rome, Perry Cou.nty, Indiana, November 13, 1820. 
 Dear Mother, Wife, Sisters and Brothers : 
 
 I now take up my pen to announce to you the heart-breaking, soul-rending, and 
 sorrowful news that poor William is no more : Oh ! it will be woful news to you all, 
 but you must hear it. He departed this life on the 7th of November by accidentally 
 falling overboard ; in thinking, no doubt, he was going down his hatchway, when in 
 the dark, he stepped over the stern of his boat, and was immediately drowned. Alas ! 
 my grief no tongue can tell ; in him 1 have lost a brother and a father, and a friend. 
 
180 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1821. 
 
 He is dead ! We found him in about one hour, and we used every exertion to restore 
 life by rolling him on a barrel, rubbing his hands with salt, and in drawing blood from 
 him. But alas ! alas ! the death warrant was served, and my hopes and exertions 
 were in vain. He is gone ; gone from earth, and we shall see him no more on this 
 side of time. On the 8th 1 got a cofifin made by workmen who were on Tarr's boat, 
 who had their tools along with them, and at two o'clock we laid him in his silent tomb, 
 after putting on him a clean shirt and linen pantaloons. I paid %\.2.i, for a fine sheet 
 to wind him in. Although in the greatest distress, I attended to have him as decently 
 buried as the nature of the case would admit of. I had his last remains interred on 
 the Indiana shore in a graveyard, But oh! how shall I express my grief, when I 
 had to follow one so near and dear to me to the grave, and not a relative to mourn 
 over the grave but me. Oh my God ! my God ! my heart is ready to burst ; I am 
 alone ! I was accompanied by the crews of the five boats which started from Wheel- 
 ing together with us. Mr. L6ng and George Ryan were all I had for comforters, and 
 they took me in their arms in the deepest distress and sympathetic feeling for me. 
 Oh ! may he never be forgotten ; he was a brother, and one of the best. 
 
 " His countenance in death was lovely and pleasant ; his features were natural as 
 life, and seemed to bespeak peace. I would advise you to tell my mother and let 
 her know the worst at once, as I do not believe it will go as hard with her as to keep 
 her in suspense for some time. 
 
 " I write this to you all, and desire John to go to brother David's and inform them 
 personally. I cannot write to my dear wife at this time ; therefore, 1 wish you to go 
 after her, on your receiving this, and bring her home to stay as long as she thinks 
 necessary ; and inform her that my love is still the same, and will be while hfe shall 
 last. Remember me to all inquiring friends. 
 
 " Your loving brother, son and husband, Thomas Sherrard. 
 
 " To Robert A. Sherrard." 
 
 We had letters from Thomas frequently during this trip down the 
 river, and he was gone longer from home than on any previous trading 
 trip. This was partly on account of the dull times and the very slow 
 sale of flour and partly because he found it necessary to make up losses 
 on the part of his cargo that did not sell readily, to purchase other 
 articles along the river as he had opportunity, and thus he continued in 
 the trading business all along down the river to New Orleans. From 
 there he returned to Port Gibson, where he was seized with bilious 
 fever, which the doctor checked in such a way that he was thrown into 
 a long spell of fever and ague. 
 
 It was on the 26th day of August, 1821, that he finally arrived safe 
 home again, after an absence of more than ten months. 
 
 John did not go to Fayette County to tell brother David the sad 
 
1821.] FAMILY HISTORY. 181 
 
 news, but I wrote to him about it, and enclosed a copy of Thomas' 
 letter. David wrote to me the following February, and the following 
 is a copy of his letter : 
 
 "Fayette County, Pa., Feb. 5, 1821. 
 " My Dear Brother : 
 
 " I have been silent for some time since I received your melancholy letter of the 
 7th of December last, which letter I received about the 3oth. On casting my eyes on 
 the introduction and then on the copy of Thomas Sherrard's letter, stating that ' poor 
 William is no more,' I dropped the letter, for I could read no more. You may judge 
 my feelings by your own ; my breast seemed to be filled with an unsupportable 
 weight; my mind was very much agitated, my heart throbbed and my bosom heaved ; 
 the scene had changed, for the flower of the family had been nipped by death at 
 noon. Such was the lot of one of the best of brothers ; he had numbered 35 years 
 and 6 months to a day. My first exclamation was : ' I knew it by my dream,' from 
 which my wife Betsy had taken so much pains to draw off my thoughts, although my 
 thoughts had settled it on my mind for days afterwards, and so sure was I of the 
 notice, that I determined to set down the day of the month. John Momson and his 
 daughter Nancy came to see us on the 3d, and John left on the 6th and went to Tay- 
 lor's and stayed all night. I went that far with him, and received your letter contain- 
 ing a copy of a letter from Thomas at the Falls, which letter I read to him. And it 
 was on the night of the 7th that I had the dream of which Baptist Irvine informed 
 you, and which was the cause of my not writing to you sooner, until 1 would receive 
 another letter from you. 
 
 " I received your last letter on Tuesday last, which in some manner relieved my 
 mind as to the particulars relative to the fatal moment of the death of our best of 
 brothers, which may often recur to our memories, but cannot recall him to being until 
 the archangel shall awake our slumbering. But here my thoughts expand to embrace 
 futurity, and, oh! where shall we there meet, or how as a family? In Christ shall 
 we there indeed meet a father, a mother, and as brothers ? Thou God only knowest ! 
 
 " To my mother, my dear, my venerable and disconsolate mother; — Many have 
 been your cares, your troubles, anxieties and disquietudes through life, while watching 
 over the thoughtless days of our childhood, and that unremitting labor and industry, 
 with which you provided for those whom God had graciously given you. And how 
 often has your mind been supported by the fond hope of seeing them virtuous, pros- 
 perous and happy. When it pleased the all-wise disposer of all events to render 
 helpless your help-meet, then began your additional care for some years, until it 
 gradually decreased by the steady habits, and wise and prudent management of him 
 who was a second head to the family, and by which means you were relieved from 
 that over anxiety and care, which, with other causes, so much impaired your health 
 and constitution. 
 
 " Yours in love. Farewell my mother. 
 
 " And now my dear brothers, John and Robert : What shall 1 say to you on the 
 subject? You know the solemn caution : ' Be ye also ready.' It is a good thing to 
 
182 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1821. 
 
 think — to be always thinking. The most of the wrongs that we do are for the want 
 of thinking beforehand, yet thinking and knowing will not do without the practice. 
 Be cautious not to let in a flood of wild imaginary ideas into your mind respecting the 
 doctrine or plan of salvation, or the Providence of God ; for if we follow our own na- 
 tural reasoning in such cases, we are sure to go wrong, and they have a hardening 
 tendency on the heart and mind. 
 
 " One thing respecting my poor brother William is, that from the distance and time 
 we have been apart, 1 know not what were his views and sentiments respecting re- 
 ligion, nor what effect it had on his own mind. This thought has often crossed my 
 mind. But one thing I know was formerly the case, his life and conversation were 
 irreproachable before men, and his mind was well improved and stored with useful 
 knowledge. But it is vain to trace the field of thought ; he is called away ; by what ? 
 not by the will of man — not by chance ; no, it was nothing short of the will of God. 
 He who first gave him life and being has disposed of him as it seemeth him best. 
 The Lord grant us grace to acquiesce in saying, ' Thy will be done.' 
 
 " Affliction generally makes us better or worse. The Lord grant that the present 
 dispensation may be sanctified for our good. 
 
 "Yours in the tenderness of love, 
 
 " David A. C. Sherrard. 
 " To R. A. Sherrard." 
 
 A REMARKABLE DREAM. 
 
 The dream referred to in the foregoing letter by my brother David he 
 had written to me about some time before, and it was to this effect : 
 He stated that on the night of November 7th, the same dark night that 
 William was drowned 150 miles below the Falls of the Ohio, he and his 
 wife Betsy had retired to bed as usual, and had fallen asleep. During 
 his sleep he had the following dream : He thought he saw his brother 
 Thomas come in on his homeward journey from New Orleans, and in 
 his dream he thought Thomas looked very dusty, shabby, tired, way- 
 worn and haggard, and not seeing William in company with him, he 
 asked Thomas where William was, and Thomas replied : " Poor William 
 is no more." These words, as he dreamed he heard them from Thomas' 
 lips, so affected him that he began to cry and make such an ado in his 
 sleep that his wife was awakened, and she wakened him and inquired 
 what was the matter, and he then told her his remarkable dream. 
 
 A VISIT TO FAYETTE COUNTY. 
 
 During the summer of 1 821 I had a light, one-horse dearborn wagon 
 made, and the first of August I geared up in it the old dun mare, and 
 
1821.] FAMILY HISTORY. 183 
 
 placed in the wagon my wife and three children, and off we started on a 
 visit to our friends in Fayette County, Pa. We found that we had to 
 drive five or six miles up on the Chestnut Ridge to visit Thomas An- 
 drews' family, as he and his brother, William Andrews, had contracted 
 to build a mile of turnpike of the old sort, not macadamized, but made 
 of freestone. 
 
 They had contracted to build their mile for $2200, but they made but 
 little profit at that. The turnpike that they worked on started at Somer- 
 set on the mountain, and came on down, passing through Mt. Pleasant, 
 Robstown (now West Newton), thence through Williamsport (now Mon- 
 ongahela City), and thence on to Washington, where it intersected the 
 National Turnpike ; and it was intended to be a connecting link between 
 that and the Northern Pike. 
 
 In the afternoon of September 23, 1821, our fourth child and second 
 daughter was born, and we named her Elizabeth, and my wife Mary and 
 our little daughter both enjoyed good health from the first and on 
 throughout the following winter and summer of the year 1822. This 
 was not so in regard to my own health, for before the spring grinding 
 was over I became very weak, and had for some time to quit heavy 
 work; and from exposure I took a bad cold which stuck by me for three 
 months, until I applied to old Doctor Leslie, and he said I nmst take 
 two doses of calomel and jalap. This did not seem to do me any good, 
 but I got better during the summer, as I had sent for John Scott to 
 come and work for me in the mill. 
 
 I and Abel Ashby, together with a farmer on the hill named Joseph 
 Edwards built a new school-house on the corner of Edwards' land, near 
 the roadside leading from the Ohio river, to Smithfield, and the fall of 
 1823 it was ready for use. We employed a Miss Hannah Graham, who 
 understood teaching a common school uncommonly well for the time, as 
 the education and qualifications of the school teacher of that period were 
 on a low scale. Miss Graham told me she had been assistant teacher in 
 a large school in the city of New York for sixteen years. This was the 
 school to which my oldest children went, and where they all five learned 
 to read. However, only Mary Ann and Joseph went to this Miss 
 Graham, for David and Elizabeth were too young. Mary Ann was then 
 five years and six months old, and Joseph four years old. 
 
184 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1822. 
 
 ENTERING CONGRESS LAND. 
 
 In June, 1822, my brothers, John and Thomas went on a trip to the 
 north-western part of Ohio to look for desirable land to enter, and they 
 finally selected one quarter section each for themselves, and one quarter 
 for me, but the quarter they chose for me proved to be the best of the 
 three. It was rich and strong soil, and well timbered, and what made it 
 more valuable, it had in the northwestern corner of the quarter a large, 
 never-failing spring, near which my son David built, and settled, and 
 from 1844 is living there up to the present time, April 16, 1859. This 
 land selected was near the town of Lower Sandusky, now Fremont, and 
 west of the river. John and Thomas then made their way to Piqua, 
 where the Land Office was opened at that time, and they entered the 
 land they had selected. 
 
 CAPTAIN JAMES RILEY. 
 
 From Piqua they continued their course westward to Indiana state to 
 look for more land. Their first stopping place of note was about forty 
 miles east of Fort Wayne, at the home of Captain James Riley, the 
 American sea-captain, who was wrecked on the western coast of Africa, 
 in 1 81 5, and after losing his vessel and cargo, he and his men were taken 
 captive by the Arabs. His " Narrative " of that captivity enjoyed a great 
 popularity. 
 
 John and Thomas staid with him over night, and although he had 
 been but a year or two settled in these wilds on the heads of the Mau- 
 mee River, yet he would take no pay from them. John then turned to 
 Riley's little boy Wiltshire, and offered to give him a silver dollar, but 
 the captain would not allow it, saying that he himself had suffered priva- 
 tion and hunger enough while in captivity among the Arabs to teach 
 him to be kind and benevolent to his fellow beings, who at any time 
 might fall in his way. Captain Riley had purchased a large tract of land 
 on St. Mary's branch of the Maumee River, and had built a mill and 
 laid out a town ; and he had named the town, township, mills, and his 
 little boy, at that time four years old, Wiltshire, in honor of Wiltshire, the 
 English consul who had redeemed him from Arab slavery. 
 
 The captain was a most entertaining companion. 
 
1822.] FAMILY HISTORY. 185 
 
 CAPTAIN RILEY'S STORY. 
 
 John and Thomas went on to Fort Wayne, where they concluded to 
 remain for two or three days to rest, and wait for other company on their 
 further westward trip. While here, Captain Riley and his wife came to 
 Fort Wayne for a few days and stopped at the same hotel with my broth- 
 ers, and they had further opportunity of acquaintance with him, and 
 they found him the most lively, conversable companion they had ever 
 come across, full of interesting anecdote. 
 
 If any one in the company would tell a tale, Captain Riley could 
 always match it. Thomas said that during the second day of their rest, 
 while in the captain's company, Thomas mentioned that during one of 
 his trading trips to the South he stopped at Natchez and sold out his 
 load ; and while there selling out, a man came on from the State of Ala- 
 bama to purchase flour and other supplies for his plantation. He came 
 in a large canoe or pirogue, and bought forty-eight barrels of flour and 
 two barrels of whiskey, and started off home with his cargo to go up the 
 Alabama River. " That," said Captain Riley, " was a small concern to a 
 canoe I saw at the Island of St. Thomas. I once sailed from Boston to 
 New Orleans with a cargo of Yankee rum, which I traded off for Ken- 
 tucky tobacco. 
 
 " I then ran my vessel to the Island of St. Thomas, where I exchanged 
 my cargo of tobacco with a rich planter of that place for sugar and 
 molasses, to be delivered at my vessel on a certain day, and when the 
 time arrived I looked and waited all day impatiently, being an.xious to 
 get my lading and leave for Boston. But to my great disappointment 
 the sun went down and night set in without any sign of my sugar and 
 molasses coming. It was a bright moonlight night, and I paced the 
 deck anxiously, when presently I heard singing and the splashing of 
 oars, and as the sounds came nearer I called out to know who was there. 
 The answer came that they wanted to find Massa Riley's vessel. I 
 told them this was the ship they were looking for, and they said they 
 had on board of their canoe sugar and molasses for Massa Riley. The 
 big canoe was soon alongside of my ship and made fast, and to my as- 
 tonishment there was hoisted out of that large pirogue, 400 hogsheads 
 of sugar and 700 barrels of molasses ; enough to load my vessel, so that 
 
186 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1823. 
 
 in the morning we set sail for' Boston." In addition to the above con- 
 cerning Captain Riley, I heard my neighbor Mr. James Erwin say that 
 in December, 1826, he was in Columbus, Ohio, in attendance upon the 
 session of the Legislature, and Captain Riley was a member of that 
 body. Erwin said that they both boarded at the same hotel, and that 
 Riley would not suffer the boarders to eat without thanks being offered 
 for God's mercies in giving them plenty of food, remarking to all present 
 that if they had passed through the scenes of starvation that he had ex- 
 perienced on the desert among the Arabs, they would be more thankful 
 for the blessings they enjoyed ; and Captain Riley would himself ask the 
 blessing at the table, surrounded, by the great ones, legislators and 
 others, without fear. 
 
 JOHN AND THOMAS TRAVEL FARTHER WEST. 
 
 On the third day John and Thomas, in company with three or four 
 others, left Fort Wayne for Indianapolis, the distance being seventy 
 miles, and but one house half way where they could stay all night. 
 They passed on through Indianapolis as far as Terre Haute, but found 
 that whole region too sickly to think of buying land. John took the 
 bilious fever out there, and as soon as he was able came directly home in a 
 very weak condition. Thomas parted from John at Urbana, O., and made 
 his way north again to Sandusky County, where he entered three eighty 
 acre lots on the east side of the river back of Croghansville, up Green 
 Creek, where there was a good site for a mill seat. In the same vicinity 
 he also selected a quarter section for me, and one for John, and went to 
 Piqua and entered them, and then came on home, and I paid him $10 
 for what he had done for me, although I had superintended business 
 operations at home while they were gone. 
 
 THOMAS MOVES TO SANDUSKY. 
 
 My brother Thomas made preparations to move out to his land on 
 Green Creek, Sandusky County, and he left us May 3, 1823, and if ever 
 a man made a foolish calculation wide of the mark Thomas did it. The 
 morning he left he borrowed of me ^200, but aside from that he owed 
 me on settlement for money borrowed of me at sundry times ^$103; 
 
1823.] FAMILY HISTORY. " 187 
 
 and further, he went away in debt to brother William's estate $86, and 
 an equal amount to brother John. 
 
 In the first place he got Cunningham Kithcart, who had come down 
 from Fayette county with me the February of that year, and had set up 
 a blacksmith shop at our mill, to make him a complete set of saw-mill 
 irons ; he bought of John Dickey six Pennsylvania axes ; he employed 
 three young men to go with him and work for him six months each ; 
 he hired Eli Sidwell to haul out his plunder at a cost of $63 ; and all 
 the expenses of these hands into the bargain, together with the expense 
 of moving i6g miles, and the erection of his saw-mill, — all this to be 
 paid for out of $200. When he got out there he left his wife and child 
 at a tavern in Fremont while he took his men and went out and built a 
 new hewed log-house, and cleared up the land around the house. This 
 house was built near Ball's Battle Ground, and Thomas was soon settled 
 down there. 
 
 On the 9th of June, 1823, our fifth child and third son was born, and 
 he was named Robert, after his father. 
 
 For the first four weeks Mary got along as well as she had usually 
 done in such cases. Her sister Kezia had come down from Fayette 
 County with her brother Cunningham some weeks before, and was with 
 us on a visit, and Aunt Nancy Conn staid and nursed and took care 
 of Mary for three weeks. By the end of the fourth week she felt so 
 well that she concluded that she and Kezia could do the washing. 
 Mary had often employed an old woman, poor and needy, to do the 
 family washing, but poor as she was, she did the washing poorly, so 
 much so that Mary had to go over them, and Mary concluded she might 
 as well do it herself. On this occasion the two sisters got through the 
 washing all right, and no serious consequences would likely have fol- 
 lowed, but they took the clothes over to the run, ten or twelve rods 
 from the house, to rinse them in the clear running water of the Rush 
 Run. Here there was a broad flat rock raised a little out of the water 
 in the middle of the run, and on this rock they worked, while near by 
 were the falls of the run about two feet high, where the water flowed 
 over clear and cold. 
 
 This was on Tuesday, and the next day, Wednesday, July 9th, after 
 Mary had prepared dinner she immediately lay down sick and exhausted. 
 
188 ■ THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1823. 
 
 and in a short time a fever came on. To make matters worse, just at 
 this time EHzabeth, who was not yet two years old, was taken with a 
 fever, and the care of her was very wearing on her mother. 
 
 mary's last illness. 
 
 Dr. Leslie was in attendance, but by Friday morning Mary was much 
 worse, and took a fainting spell, and when she came out of it, she called 
 us all to her bedside, and as if it had been revealed to her, she told us 
 that she would not get well. At this time she asked me what I would do, 
 whether I would marry again, and I told her I could not marry again of 
 a sudden. She then said that if I did not marry again I would have to 
 break up housekeeping, and would have to put the children out. 
 
 If I should have to break up housekeeping, she required me to put 
 Mary Ann and Joseph to my mother ; David to his Uncle David ; 
 Elizabeth to Mary's mother ; and Robert, the baby, four weeks and two 
 days old, to be put to his Aunt Sally Andrews, as she had a baby three 
 months old. From this time on she was not able to sleep, and by 
 Saturday night I had taken the fever from her, and by Sabbath, July 
 13th, I was seiiously ill. 
 
 For three weeks Mary and I lay sick. Dr. Leslie using all his skill to 
 bring us back to health, and as Mary could neither eat nor sleep she 
 was brought very low by the time the fever broke, which was not till 
 Tuesday, 29th, or Wednesday, 30th. I was not brought so low as 
 Mary, for I could sleep, but I had no taste for food. I cannot remem- 
 ber many occurrences during that sickness, but one thing I shall 
 remember with pleasure while memory lasts, and that is the kindness 
 and attention paid to us during that time, first by our own relatives, and 
 secondly by the neighbors generally. And first, my mother was there 
 constantly day and night, and she did what she could by waiting on 
 Mary, but in this she was much hindered by the constant care required 
 from the little child Elizabeth. 
 
 And my brother John did as well as he could in attending to the 
 mill. Mary's brother Joseph was at that time down with us on a visit, 
 and having nothing to do, he attended me and his sick sister with a free 
 good will and to purpose, while Cunningham Kithcart did what he 
 could, in and out of the house, when he was not busy at the shop. 
 
1823.] FAMILY HISTORY. 189 
 
 THE KINDNESS OF NEIGHBORS. 
 
 The neighbors, both far and near, were very attentive, but I must not 
 forget the kindness of Mrs. Hanson Thomas ; as soon as she heard of 
 Mary's sickness she came down from the widow Meholin's farm, where 
 they then lived, to visit her, and finding that my mother had to feed the 
 child, then but four weeks old, and that mother had at the time a heavy 
 charge in attending Elizabeth, Mrs. Thomas freely offered to take 
 Robert, the babe, home with her, and nurse and keep him until other 
 provision should be made. Her request was freely granted, as she had 
 so kindly asked, and she kept the child six weeks, until Sarah Andrews 
 came down in August and took son Robert home with her, and kept 
 him till the 1st of November, 1S23. 
 
 The fever left me the night of Monday, July 28th, but by Tuesday I 
 was in a worse condition, for I was seized with bilious colic, but I was 
 finally relieved of this by antispasmodic drops which Dr. Leslie gave 
 me, and I slept well the latter part of Tuesday night and part of 
 Wednesday. This was not the case with Mary, for she had not slept 
 for the last three weeks, but the fever was now all gone from her, and 
 by Wednesday night, at eleven o'clock, she fell into a sound sleep. 
 About that time I was wakened out of a sleep by the light steps of the 
 widow Cooper and widow Meholin, who were watching Mary that night, 
 passing through my room, and I heard one of them say to the other: 
 " She is now in a sound sleep, and as she has lost so much sleep, we 
 will let her have a good sleep." 
 
 Oh, what ignorance in these two middle-aged widows and myself, not to 
 know that it was wrong to let a weak patient sleep too much ! 
 
 DEATH OF MARY KITHCART SHERRARD. 
 
 Mary slept soundly from 1 1 o'clock at night until 1 1 o'clock the next 
 day, and the family and all who called to inquire, were well satisfied that 
 she was taking so good and so sound a sleep, all, all ignorant of the 
 danger of her sleeping too much in such a very weak state. 
 
 It was II o'clock A. M. of Thursday, July 31, 1823, when Mary's 
 brother Joseph came into the room in which I and Mary were lying, 
 and as I had noticed for some minutes that she seemed to breathe harder 
 
190 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1823. 
 
 than usual, I said to him that I feared Mary was sleeping her last. 
 Joseph Kithcart stepped over to her bed, and gently turned her over on 
 her side, when she breathed two or three times, and it was her last 
 breath. Thus lived and died one of the best of wives ; she died at the 
 age of twentj'-five years and seven months, wanting four days. She was 
 kind and affectionate to her husband and children, courteous to friends 
 and acquaintances, and hospitable to strangers ; she was too good 
 for me, and the heavenly Father called her home. 
 
 The parting farewell we all had with her on Sabbath, July 13th, 
 proved to be the last, although she lived for more than two weeks after- 
 wards. I was disposed to blame Dr. Leslie for neglecting to give us 
 caution to rouse Mary out of sleep every fifteen minutes, but it was not 
 so ordered that he should use any more means than he did. He was 
 allowed to proceed for Mary's benefit just so far and no farther; God 
 for his own glory had foreordained that another state of things should be 
 brought about that no one living at the time of her death could foresee, 
 but God alone who ordered it. 
 
 Her funeral, although I was not yet able to be out of bed, was a large 
 one, and her remains were attended to the burying ground of old Centre 
 Church by rather an uncommon concourse of people, which went to 
 show the great respect and esteem the community had for her, although 
 she had resided but a few years among them. She had been a true 
 friend and a kind neighbor; she visited the sick and afflicted, and kindly 
 relieved their wants. 
 
 (About 1876 her remains were removed from Old Centre to the Sher- 
 rard family vault at Steubenville. T. J. S.) 
 
 MY RECOVERY. 
 
 In the course of a few days I was so much better as to be able to sit 
 up for half an hour in a large rocking chair, and then walk back to bed 
 without help. In the course of three weeks I was able to be out, and 
 first rode up to Smithfield on some business. 
 
 About the 12th of August I had sent Joseph Kithcart with the dun 
 mare in the dearborn wagon up to Fayette County, and he brought down 
 with him his sister Sarah Andrews. They came past my brother 
 David's, and his wife Betsy took the buggy and a quiet horse and came 
 
1823.] FAMILY HISTORY. 191 
 
 down along to see my family and mother and John. It was Aunt Betsy's 
 first and last visit to Ohio. 
 
 After spending a week with us, Sarah Andrews and aunt Betsy 
 Sherrard made preparations to go home, and I concluded to go along. 
 Joseph Kithcart drove aunt Betsy's carriage, and I drove my own mare 
 in the dearborn wagon, and aunt Sally carried Robert, the mother- 
 less babe, in her lap and nursed him. We went past Wellsburg, and on 
 out to Patterson's Mills, and to the old Patterson homestead, three miles 
 above the Mills, and there in the old stone mansion house lived Sally 
 Andrews, and her mother-in-law, old Nancy Andrews, and her daughter 
 Mary Andrews, who now in 1859 lives in Steubenville. 
 
 With old Mrs. Andrews and her daughter Mary we staid till 
 Wednesday morning, August 27th, when we left and proceeded on to 
 Brownsville, where we staid with cousin John Johnston, the tailor. 
 The next day, before we left, I got him to go with me to George Hogg's 
 store and choose me a good article of cloth for a full suit of mourning. 
 
 He chose me a suit of cassimere at $2.50 a yard, and I left it with 
 him to make; he had it complete on my return, and I paid him $7 for 
 making the full suit of black for a mourning suit, and it was a good one. 
 We left friend Johnston's on Thursday morning, and arrived at my 
 brother David's about noon ; and now Aunt Betsy was at home. We 
 had brought with us my second son, David, who was now three years, 
 seven months and twenty days old, and I left him with his uncle David 
 until the first of the next November. On Friday morning after break- 
 fast we proceeded on to the old Kithcart homestead, where my mother- 
 in-law was now living since the death of her second husband, John 
 Galloway, and here I was glad to stay and rest myself. The ne.xt week, 
 in company with mother-in-law, I went down to the " Neck," where 
 lived a number of my first wife's relations of first-rate respectability, such 
 as John Kithcart and wife ; old Uncle Joseph Cunningham and Uncle 
 James Torrence ; Uncle Joseph Hutcheson and his wife Aunt Anna. At 
 John Kithcart's we found Mary's grandmother, Anna Cunningham, who 
 was yet living, hearty, hale, and sensible, considering her age, for she 
 was then eighty-four. 
 
 After two days we returned home, and I then visited William An- 
 drews and family, but I missed Thomas Andrews and family, and 
 
192 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1823. 
 
 Thomas Kitlicart and family, for they had both moved out past us, and 
 had stopped with us two nights in 0>:tober, 1822, on their way to their 
 new home in Ohio. They were settled in Richland, now Ashland 
 County, but two of these honest, honorable brothers-in-law are long 
 since gone the way of all the earth. 
 
 Thomas Andrews died of pleurisy September 18, 1838; and William 
 Andrews died of apoplexy October 4, 1840. 
 
 Thomas Kithcart is yet living this 26th of April, 1859. With these 
 three brothers-in-law I have spent many pleasant hours. 
 
 MOTHER-IN-LAW TO KEEP HOUSE FOR ME. 
 
 I had left home for the express purpose of persuading mother-in-law 
 to come down to Rush Run and keep house for me, until I could recon- 
 cile myself to marry a second time. And that did not appear likely as I 
 then felt in mind ; my affections had gotten such a strong hold on 
 Mary from before we were married up to her death, that it was hard 
 to call them thence, for I loved and reverenced the memory of her, 
 although her body was mouldering to dust in the grave. 
 
 I proposed to mother-in-law that as she had three single girls, two of 
 them now at home, and Kezia at my house already, they could do the 
 work if she would consent to go, and she might oversee them, and 
 might spin and manufacture for herself, and I would board her for her 
 oversight ; I also proposed to move her down free of cost. She agreed 
 to go for two reasons : some of the heirs were grumbling because she 
 occupied the place, and they got no rent ; one other reason was that her 
 family was now so small that there was not work enough of that varied 
 character that would give her girls a chance to learn, but she thought 
 that in such a family as mine they might find those varied sorts of work 
 needed for their learning. These matters being talked over to the satis- 
 faction of both of us, there was one other thing she would like to have 
 understood: " Suppose you should marry again in one year or eighteen 
 months, I would have to leave and go elsewhere to live with some of my 
 children, and the expense would overcome the profit." I told her that 
 if I married a second time in less than three years, I would move her 
 anywhere east, west, north or south, provided the distance was not 
 greater than from where she now lived to Rush Run ; this quieted her 
 
1824.] FAMILY HISTORY. 193 
 
 on that subject, and she said she would be ready to come down by the 
 first of November. I then returned home about the middle of September, 
 where Kezia and Mary Ann had been keeping house under the direction 
 of my old mother, and this continued until I got mother-in-law moved 
 down. 
 
 It was towards the first of November that I returned to the Kithcart 
 homestead, taking with me a man and two dearborn wagons, and after 
 mother-in-law's vendue, we loaded her effects, which made the two 
 wagons full, and she and her daughter Martha came with us, each on 
 horseback. Betsy Kithcart had just been married that October to John 
 Sloanaker, and he made a very kind, good husband to her up to the 
 time of her death, which happened three or four years ago, and this is 
 now April, 1859. 
 
 In due time, after a journey of five days, we arrived home, where we 
 were joyfully received by Kezia and Cunningham, as they had not seen 
 their mother and Martha since March last, and my children were over- 
 joyed to have David and the little baby Robert restored to them 
 
 Our family then consisted of myself and five children, and my miller, 
 John Scott, mother-in-law and her two girls, Martha and Kezia, and her 
 son Cunningham, which made eleven of a standing family till the May 
 of 1825, when Joseph Kithcart took Martha to him to keep house for 
 him at Mount Pleasant. 
 
 DEATH OF THOMAS G. SHERRARD. 
 
 Some time in April, 1824, a letter from Col. David Chambers of San- 
 dusky informed us of an occurrence that once more brought sorrow to 
 the heart of every living brother, and the aged and heart-stricken 
 mother. It was the information that Thomas Sherrard was supposed to 
 be lost in the Sandusky river, and that his wife and little boy, William, 
 were for the time living in his family. 
 
 The following is the letter from Col. Chambers : 
 
 " Ballville, Sandusky, 28th March, 1824. 
 
 " Dear Sir : — I write a melancholy line to you to inform you that on the 26th instant 
 
 your brother Thomas G. Sherrard was drowned crossing the Sandusky river, and has 
 
 not been found as yet, and I fear that he won't be for some time yet. His wife, Mrs. 
 
 Sherrard, and her Uttle boy, Wilham, is at my house. She is almost in despair ; she 
 
 13 
 
194 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1824. 
 
 wants one of you to come out on receipt of this letter, and she thinks it best not to 
 delay, for your presence is much needed, as ue do not know what to do with the 
 property. 
 
 " We have not consulted her concerning her wish, but think she intends to go home 
 with you when you come out. 
 
 " The fact is I cannot give you any account what course to pursue until she gets 
 better reconciled in mind. I have taken the stock home to my place. We will do 
 something with the household goods in a few days ; that is, we will move them to a 
 place of safety — perhaps to my house. I can't give you any more information at 
 present, but remain, 
 
 " Yours, 
 
 " David Chambers. 
 " To Robert or John Sherrard." 
 
 SAD JOURNEY TO SANDUSKY. 
 
 Thus another new affliction had arisen to the family, and although he 
 was a loving and a lovely brother to me, yet in truth I can say that the 
 stroke did not fall as hard on me as the news of brother William's 
 death, because of my overwhelming affliction in the death of my wife. 
 
 But now the question arose who should go to Sandusky and sell the 
 personal property and bring home Thomas' widow and little son. John 
 excused himself as to health and other circumstances, and it was decided 
 that I should go. I hired an Indian pony for the trip from a traveling 
 tailor by the name of Bartley, for which I paid him the sum of ^3, and 
 some time the i8th of April I started. The fourth day out I stopped at 
 Thomas Andrews', where I rested three days, and then spent a day with 
 Thomas Kithcart, and passed on through Mansfield, and on to Tiffin, 
 the new county-seat of Seneca county. From Mansfield to Tiffin I had 
 the company of three lawyers on their way to attend Court at Tiffin, 
 where we arrived a little before sundown, and put up at the only tavern 
 in the place. There were only three shingled houses in the town, if 
 town it could be called, and the next day, April 29, 1824, the President 
 Judge opened the first Court of Common Pleas ever held in Tiffin. That 
 day I crossed the Sandusky river a little above the town, on a large 
 canoe, which was the only ferry-boat there was, and my pony was made 
 to swim alongside. I then passed on down the west side of the river, 
 and in due time arrived at the house of Colonel Chambers, which was 
 situated on the river bank, about two miles above Lower Sandusky, now 
 
1824.] FAMILY HISTORY. 195 
 
 Fremont. Here with the family of Col. Chambers I found Rebecca, the 
 wife of my deceased brother Thomas, and her little boy, named William 
 Johnston, now going on two years old. 
 
 FREMONT IN 1S24. 
 
 The next day I and Colonel Chambers went down to the town of 
 Lower Sandusky, which was my first view of it, and it was a poor- 
 looking town. It had two middling stores in it at the time, — one kept 
 by a man named Umstead, and the other by a man named Sears. These 
 stores carried on a constant trade with the Seneca Indians both on Sun- 
 day and every day in the week. As we went around the town, I was 
 shown the place where Fort Stephenson once stood, at which place and 
 around it my brother John and his comrades had spent three months in 
 the campaign from the middle of February to the middle of May, 1813. 
 But I could now see little signs of a fort, for the pickets had been cut 
 down, and nothing remained but the stumps of them to show where the 
 fort had been. 
 
 At this time there was no word of any Presbyterian or Baptist minis- 
 ter having been sent to that region to preach and organize churches ; 
 but the Methodists were already on the ground. The following Sab- 
 bath, May 2nd, I went with Colonel Chambers and his family down to 
 town, and attended Methodist services in the square log school-house 
 situated on the hill north of the fort. 
 
 On Monday we attended Court in Lower Sandusky, and I and Col. 
 Chambers were appointed administrators of the estate of my deceased 
 brother. I had induced him to join with me by offering him all the 
 fees allowed in such cases, because he was near by to attend to the 
 affairs. 
 
 MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF THOMAS SHERRARD. 
 
 From Colonel David Chambers I learned the particulars of the mys- 
 terious disappearance of my brother Thomas, and of the subsequent 
 finding of his body. 
 
 When Thomas had moved out here, John had put into his care the 
 two quarter sections of land which he had entered. The one on the 
 east side of the river had a good sugar-camp on it, which the Seneca 
 
196 THE SHERRARD EAMILV. [1824. 
 
 Indians had formerly used ; and as John feared the Indians might 
 damage his camp, he gave Thomas orders to rent it to some white 
 man. 
 
 This Thomas did, renting it to a man by the name of William Chard, 
 who lived on that side of the river near to the sugar-camp, and the rent 
 was to be the making of all the necessary troughs and forty pounds of 
 sugar. 
 
 It seems that Chard and his sons had expressed to the neighbors 
 their doubt that the sugar-camp was not wholly on John's land, and 
 they had said as much as that they would not pay the rent. This talk 
 gave Thomas some uneasiness, and he had been prevented by high 
 water from crossing the river to the east side to see about the rent, 
 until the fatal 26th day of March. That day he came past the house of 
 Colonel Chambers, and found him at work in the barn, and asked him 
 if he thought it safe to attempt to cross the river, and Chambers said he 
 thought it was. Thomas then set off on his horse up the river to cross 
 over on his errand, and that was the last time his neighbors saw him 
 alive and well. 
 
 When the evening came on, the Chambers family looked for him, as 
 he generally stopped as he passed ; but the night came on, and no word 
 of him. 
 
 The ne.xt morning early Thomas' wife came over to Chambers' in great 
 trouble, and said her husband had not come home. Col. Chambers en- 
 deavored to allay her fears, but by two o'clock in the afternoon all hope 
 was lost, when James Chard, son of old William, was seen on the other 
 side of the river, riding Thomas' horse. He stopped and called over to 
 Col. Chambers and asked him if he knew the horse, and Chambers replied 
 that it was Sherrard's horse. 
 
 James Chard told him that Mr. Sherrard had been at his father's house 
 the evening before, and had got forty-two pounds of sugar and had 
 started for home before sundown, but that the horse had come to his 
 father's about twelve o'clock that day, March 27th, with neither saddle 
 nor 'oridle on. Young Chard then let the horse go, and it came across 
 the river home. 
 
1824.] FAMILY HISTORY. 197 
 
 THE NEIGHBORHOOD ALARMED. 
 
 Colonel Chambers then immediately alarmed the neighborhood, but 
 as it was now late in the day, little could be done more than to look 
 along the river banks. 
 
 The next day, March 28th, they turned out in force, with water crafts 
 and grapples to rake the river, but all to no purpose ; search was dili- 
 gently made the following day, and some crossed the river and searched 
 the woods about Chard's place, but all with no results, and it was re- 
 solved to wait until the river would fall. 
 
 On April loth his hat was found about three miles down the river 
 from the ford where he had crossed in going to Chard's, but the hat bore 
 no evidence of having been in the water any length of time; and on the 
 I ith of April his saddle was found below Moor's mill-dam, and although 
 it was soaked with water, it was evident that it had not been long in the 
 water. 
 
 However, on April 21st the body of a man was seen floating down the 
 river, by young Jesse Pryor, and he discovered it about half a mile below 
 the ford, where it was supposed Thomas Sherrard had crossed, but as it 
 was late in the evening and no boat at hand, it was impossible to reach 
 it; but the next morning the neighbors collected and search was made, 
 when it was found that the body had floated down the river almost to 
 the town of Lower Sandusky. When it was recovered it was found to 
 the horror of all, that it was the body of their friend and neighbor 
 Thomas Sherrard. It was completely stripped naked, except that it had 
 on overalls, shoes and socks, but the body was divested of a heavy great 
 coat, an under straight coat, a vest well buttoned, and a flannel shirt and 
 linen shirt, each buttoned at the wrist and collar, all of which Thomas 
 had on when he left home. 
 
 His left eye was bruised out, the bridge of the nose broken, and the 
 right jaw bone cracked, as if done by one hard blow of a club. The 
 body was not in the least decomposed, and had evidently not been long 
 in the water, iior had it apparently been long since death had taken place. 
 
198 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1824. 
 
 THE coroner's inquest. 
 
 The coroner was called, who summoned a jury, and then subpcenasd 
 a number of the neighbors, together with several of the Chard family. 
 This was done as some mistrust and suspicions were afloat, that some of 
 old Chard's family had committed murder, or was the cause of his death, 
 but there was no proof to convict them. 
 
 Old Chard and those of his family that gave in their evidence before 
 the coroner's jury, all followed their father. The tale that he told was 
 that Mr. Sherrard came to his house on the 26th of March, and that he 
 used him well, paid him forty-two pounds of sugar as rent for the camp, 
 and also gave him a cake of sugar of five pounds weight as a present to 
 his wife. And Chard further stated that Mr. Sherrard had put all 
 the sugar into a wallet, placing about equal parts in each end of the 
 wallet, and then to keep the sugar dry he put the middle of the wallet 
 over his neck, back of his head, the ends hanging down, the one end on 
 the right breast and the other on the left breast ; he then took hold of the 
 end on the right and threw it over his left shoulder, and that on the left 
 he threw over the right, and thus fi.^ed out for crossing the river, he left 
 us in good friendship. Chard further stated that he supposed his horse 
 had thrown him off into the river, and trod on his nose, put out his eye, 
 and cracked off the right jaw bone, and had also trod on his mouth 
 which drove out the front teeth ; and as to that black and blue place on 
 his throat, old Chard supposed it was caused by the wallet which con- 
 tained the sugar. 
 
 And now old Chard's young people, not being separated from their 
 father while he gave his testimony, as they should have been, all followed 
 their father in the track he laid down. The jury having no other ground 
 to go upon, gave in their verdict that he came to death by accident, but 
 none of the jury were satisfied for want of further evidence. He was 
 buried decently, as Col. Chambers informed me, in the graveyard at 
 Lower Sandusky, on the evening of April 22, 1824. 
 
 THEORY OF THE DE.'^TH OF THOM.\S SHERRARD. 
 
 Col. Chambers said to me : " The truth is, none of the friends of Mr. 
 Sherrard believed the statement of the Chard Family, but all of us are 
 
1824.] FAMILY HISTORY. 199 
 
 of the opinion that he came to his end by foul play, and I myself, am 
 full of that belief" The idea of the horse setting his foot on his face to 
 do the injuries found on him was out of the question, and in itself incon- 
 sistent, for the body thrown from the horse in the high swift water would 
 not have remained in position a single moment so as to give the horse a 
 chance to set his foot on the face. 
 
 The general theory of his death was this: When he crossed the river, 
 March 26th, and came to Chard's house, they refused to pay the sugar 
 rent, when an altercation arose, and the two sons of Chard knocked 
 Thomas off his horse with a club. There were evidently two blows, as 
 though struck from each side of the horse ; with one the teeth and jaw 
 bone were broken, and with the other the eye was knocked out and the 
 bridge of the nose broken. 
 
 In this state he must have bled nearly to death, when the Chards 
 fearing detection took him to their house and secreted him, and kept him 
 stowed away in a weak and languishing condition from March 26th to 
 April 20th. Then fearing if he was returned home in that weak state 
 they would be detected and punished, they finished their foul work by 
 choking him to death, since the black and blue place on his throat was 
 about the length of the grasp of a hand. Then on the morning of April 
 2 1st they carried the body stripped as it was and placed it in the water 
 on the east side of the river, and it floated down to the place where it 
 was first discovered by young Pryor that day. The under garments were 
 probably burnt, but some time in June, the great coat and body coat 
 were found by some fishermen in the river under a broad, flat, limestone 
 flag, where they had no doubt been placed by these murderers. 
 
 CHARACTER OF THOMAS SHERRARD. 
 
 From Col. Chambers I learned that after Thomas had become his near 
 neighbor, in June, 1823, he was known to the community as an indus- 
 trious man, steady and assiduous to business, placing around him all the 
 conveniences that a man could do. He lived in love and friendship with 
 all his neighbors and acquaintances, and was affable, courteous, friendly 
 and kind with everybody. Col. Chambers further remarked that he was 
 a pleasant and conversable man, fond of information, liberal and friendly, 
 
200 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1824. 
 
 and in fact he had all those rare qualities combined, sufficient and neces- 
 sary to constitute a good citizen, a good husband and a tender father. 
 
 RETURNING HOME FROM SANDUSKY. 
 
 After spending a month with Col. Chambers in settling up my brother 
 Thomas' affairs, and having a vendue, I was ready to start home with 
 Rebecca and her boy. At the appraisement she took the best of the 
 two horses and the dearborn wagon, and these I drove home. But be- 
 fore leaving I paid Col. Chambers for boarding the widow and boy two 
 months, and for my own boarding one month ; and on the morning of 
 May 29th, we bade good-bye to the colonel and his family who had 
 been so kind to me during my stay of four weeks with them, and to the 
 widow, and who had taken such an interest in the case of my deceased 
 brother. 
 
 Part of the way the roads were very bad, and the load in the dearborn 
 was heavy, so that we could not make good progress, and added to this 
 the horse at one point became fagged out, so much so that I left him on 
 the roadside to die. But the horse had no notion of dying, and managed 
 to pull along, and by feeding him with green sassafras leaves he re- 
 covered and was able to eat, and we finally got home at an early hour in 
 the evening of the 4th of June. I drove over to my mother's house and 
 delivered the lone and disconsolate widow and her boy William over to 
 the care of my mother. In October, 1824, six months after the death of 
 the father, a second son was born, and he was called Thomas Sherrard 
 after his father. Nearly forty years have gone by since, and by this time, 
 in 1864, he is the father of six interesting boys and girls. 
 
1824.] FAMIL Y HISTOR Y. 201 
 
 S ECTION X. 
 
 1824-1826. 
 
 VARIOUS JOURNEYS. 
 
 IN the month of November, 1824, I took mother-in-law and her 
 daughter Kezia in my dearborn one-horse light wagon on a visit to 
 see for the last time her aged mother, Anna Cunningham. It was 
 also necessary to settle up some business that she had left unsettled 
 when she came away from Fayette last year. I went with mother-in- 
 law to Shallenberger's, where old Mr. Stevenson boarded, and she paid 
 him $10 which she had borrowed to pay tax on the three-quarters of 
 Sugar Creek land belonging to the Kithcart heirs. This old Mr. Steven- 
 son was a Scotch-Irishman, and was a retired schoolmaster living on the 
 interest of his money, the principal amounting to $5,000 or $6,000, never 
 married, nor had he any blood relations in America. After mother-in- 
 law had become a widow the first time, he made application to her to 
 marry him, but she refused his offer, and afterwards married old John 
 Galloway in preference. After the death of John Galloway, for he lived 
 only eighteen months after they were married, and after she had returned 
 from Mercer County, old Mr. Stevenson renewed his suit in the offer of 
 marriage a second time, but she again refused him. 
 
 On reflecting about this offer of marriage I said to mother-in-law that 
 I wished she had taken old Mr. Stevenson at his offer, but she replied 
 that she would marry no man for his money if she did not love him, 
 and so the matter ended. 
 
 THE QUESTION OF SECOND MARRIAGES. 
 
 While I was on this visit to Fayette County the fall of 1824, I met an 
 old school-mate, James PauU, Jr., and after some preliminary conversa- 
 tion, he asked me how long I had been a widower, and how many 
 children I had. 
 
202 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1824. 
 
 I replied that I had been fifteen months a widower, and had the care 
 of five children. He asked ine if I had no notion of marrying again, 
 and I said that I had not. 
 
 He replied that I was wrong, and that the sooner I got married again 
 the better for my children while they were young, for in that case they 
 will not know the difference between their own mother and the second 
 mother. 
 
 He further mentioned that he had been married again, and brought in 
 a second mother more than a year before, and he knew by experience 
 that young children knew no difference. I told him I would consider 
 about the matter, and so I did for two years afterwards. 
 
 ELECTED RUUNG ELDER OF CENTRE IN 1824. 
 
 While I was gone up to Fayette County on this visit, the old Centre 
 congregation held an election for two elders, and the choice fell on 
 William Matthews and myself, and in a short time we were ordained to 
 the office of ruling elder by the Rev. Jacob Cozard, who was then pastor 
 of Centre Church. This was in November, 1824. 
 
 HOW WE STUDIED ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 
 
 It was not long after our return from Fayette County, that fall of 
 1824, until Joseph Kithcart, my brother-in-law, came down, and I 
 employed him to assist me in the mill. About the middle of December 
 a Mr. Scott came and proposed to teach English Grammar on a new 
 Yankee plan by a Mr. Hull. This plan proposed to give the apt scholar 
 a pretty good knowledge of Etymology and Syntax, leaving out the 
 first part of Grammar, for the reason that the author " presumed that 
 Orthography was taught in every well regulated common school in the 
 land." 
 
 The course of this teacher, Mr. Scott, was for twenty-four evenings 
 by lectures and a thorough course of parsing, for which he required 
 each subscriber to pay him $2. 
 
 For this course I subscribed two scholars, one for myself and one for 
 my sister-in-law, Martha Kithcart ; my brother John one ; Cunningham 
 Kithcart one ; Joseph Kithcart one ; old Mr. Carmichael two ; Wesley 
 Smith one ; George Tennant one ; and if there were others who sub- 
 
1825.] FAMILY HISTORY. 203 
 
 scribed to the first quarter I have forgotten. At the end of the first 
 quarter I and Joseph Kithcart came out first in the amount learned and 
 in our aptness to distinguish the different parts of speech ; and what 
 helped us to get on a Httle faster than the others was the fact that we 
 had botli previously studied the nature of English Grammar. 
 
 Wesley Smith came out the next best, and George Tennant the next, 
 and though Cunningham Kithcart and his sister Martha made consider- 
 able progress, and so did old Carmichael's daughter and son George, 
 yet these four were somewhat behind the rest of us. And as to my 
 brother John he came out behind all the others ; indeed so slight a hold 
 had it on his mind, that in one month afterwards I question if he could 
 remember scarce anything about it, and I have more than once said that 
 he never undertook anything else but he could make some progress at, 
 but English Grammar he could not get along with. 
 
 But I knew the reason, and I told him the reason ; during that winter 
 he was courting Sarah Harrah for a wife, and she kept him hanging 
 on, so that they were not married till the 8th day of September, 1825, 
 following. 
 
 When a young woman has so far thrown out her enchantments as to 
 entangle and entrap a young man into the intricate meshes of her love, 
 so as to make him feel all over so, and he has become her admirer in 
 every sense, he is but illy calculated to learn English Grammar or any 
 other study, except the one he is bent on. 
 
 At the opening of the spring of 1825 Cunningham and Joseph Kith- 
 cart bought a tan-yard in Mount Pleasant from old Joseph Gill at ;^500, 
 and some time in April Joseph moved to Mount Pleasant, and set in 
 to improve the property, and took his sister Martha to keep house 
 for him. 
 
 TRIP THROUGH SOUTHERN OHIO. 
 
 It will be remembered that during the first trip of my brother Thomas 
 down the river in 1818, he took in trade for flour the right to a Military 
 Land Warrant from one John McLain. It had been granted to an 
 ancestor of McLain for services in the Revolutionary War, but the 
 warrant had never been lifted from the War Ofifice, although numbered 
 and dated 1786. It called for 100 acres of Virginia military land. The 
 said warrant was, however, lifted from the ofifice in July, 1824, by our 
 
204 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1825. 
 
 Congressman, John C. Wright, acting as agent for Thomas. When he 
 heard of the death of Thomas he handed the warrant over to me as the 
 administrator of Thomas' estate, and advised me to go to ChilHcothe to 
 enter the land which it called for. 
 
 Accordingly, on June 8, 1825, I started for ChilHcothe, and first 
 stopped at the widow McCIure's in Guernsey County, and visited my quar- 
 ter section of land to see what order it was in. From there I pa.ssed on 
 through Zanesville and Somerset, which is half way between Zanesville 
 and Lancaster, and arrived at Lancaster, eighteen miles from Somerset, 
 and put up at King's tavern. 
 
 The next day, some time in the forenoon, after I had satisfied myself 
 and my curiosity in looking at the town of Lancaster, I mounted my 
 horse, and a little before noon I arrived at ChilHcothe and put up at 
 Medary's tavern. Here I found my old friend, Printer Wilson, of Steu- 
 benville, who was out fulfilling the duties of his office under appointment 
 of the President to visit and examine the different Land Offices in the 
 new States. 
 
 He soon asked what had brought me to this part of the country, and 
 when I explained to him about the Land Warrant that I wished to lo- 
 cate, he said that he was acquainted with General McArthur who lived 
 about a mile out from ChilHcothe, and that he would know all about 
 such matters, and he would take me out to see him the next day. That 
 afternoon and evening Printer Wilson and I spent a faithful time together 
 in discourse, and neither of us was at any loss for something to talk 
 about. 
 
 He wished me very much to go with him on his round in visiting the 
 land offices, and he offered to pay my way round if I would go with him 
 for company, but I had to decline his kind offer, as my business required 
 me at home in the shortest time I could get there. 
 
 The next morning, which was June 16, 1825, we mounted our horses 
 and rode out to General McArthur's, and he received us very cordially, 
 but when he examined my Warrant he told me I had come to the wrong 
 place to locate that one, for it called for land in Guernsey, Coshoc- 
 ton, Tuscarawas, or Holmes County, if there was any vacant land there, 
 and that John C. Wright was mistaken in sending me here to ChilHcothe. 
 Leaving General McArthur we rode over to the next farm, about half a 
 
1825.] FAMILY HISTORY. 205 
 
 mile, and called in to see Ex-Governor Worthington, to whom I was in- 
 troduced as a friend of Mr. Wilson's. While here we three had a warm 
 discussion of the proposed Ohio Canal, as the Legislature this spring, 
 before adjourning, had authorized its construction by a loan of $400,000 
 to begin with. 
 
 Mr. Wilson was opposed to this measure, while Ex-Governor Worth- 
 ington and I were strongly in favor of it. From there we returned to 
 our hotel for dinner. 
 
 The next morning I left Chillicothe and traveled through the Pick- 
 away Plains, and arrived at Circleville before noon. After taking a view 
 of the old circular Fort made of dirt ten feet high, by human hands, 
 many centuries ago, I forded the Scioto river and traveled ten miles 
 until I came to the residence of Robert Davis, who was married to 
 Peggy Irvine, a sister of my brotlier David's first wife. I found the Davis 
 family all well, and they appeared glad to see me, as I had not seen 
 them since the fall of 18 14. After spending two days with them I bade" 
 farewell to Robert Davis and his wife and daughter Sarah Ann and son 
 James, and I have never seen any of these dear ones from that time to 
 this ; but I have understood that Robert Davis and his wife are both 
 dead long since. Her mother, Rachel (Gamble) Irvine, was first cousin 
 to my mother. 
 
 Fifty years have fled since Mrs. Peggy Davis and the two above 
 named children made their home with our family on Rush Run, from 
 April to November, 1814. 
 
 From there I came on Sabbath morning to a Camp Meeting, about 
 eighteen miles from Davis', and here I found my old friend James 
 Clark, and went home with him and his family about eleven miles far- 
 ther. Monday I returned with them to Camp Meeting, and on Tuesday 
 I left them and came on to Columbus about twenty miles. Here I visited 
 the Ohio Penitentiary, and after dinner I took the road for Newark. 
 
 From there I came on through Zanesville, and stopped only for din- 
 ner, and then came on to the Widow McClure's, where I staid all night 
 The next day I came to old Billy Boggs', who was married to my second 
 cousin, Katy Ferguson. Here I found her sister Peggy, who was yet 
 single at the age of forty, and fresh and young looking for her age. Her 
 sister Kate asked me why I did not marry again, and I said I had 
 
206 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1825. 
 
 thought little of such a change. But she said there was Eva McClure, 
 an elderly steady girl that would make me a good wife, but Peggy spoke 
 up and said in a joking way that she need not be recommending Eva 
 McClure to me, for she was just setting her cap for me herself. But at 
 that time I had neither the inclination nor the power to carry out the 
 joke seriously. But when I did think about Peggy some seven or eight 
 months afterwards, by the 1st of March, 1826, word came that Peggy 
 Ferguson was married to a widower named George McCormick, and 
 that was the end of the matter so far as I was concerned. I left Billy 
 Boggs' and came on home by way of Mount Pleasant, and arrived home 
 the evening of June 24th, 1825, after an absence of better than two 
 weeks. The Land Warrant was not yet laid, and I had gone a long and 
 wild-goose chase. General McArthur had advised me to stop in Cam- 
 bridge and see Colonel Beattie about it, which I did, but he said that 
 while my Warrant was good, and he would give me 40 dollars for it, 
 yet there was no vacant land in his county to locate. I said I had no 
 authority to sell it, and he advised me to go to Coshocton and call on 
 John Johnson, clerk of the Court, and employ him to lay the War- 
 rant. 
 
 Accordingly, early in December that year, I started to go to Coshoc- 
 ton for that purpose, and took with me my mother-in-law, Elizabeth 
 Galloway, and left her in Richland County to visit her son, Thomas 
 Kithcart, and her daughter, Anna Andrews, and family. I went on to 
 Coshocton, and found Mr. Johnson, and left the warrant with him to 
 locate, for which I paid him fifteen dollars, and he agreed to secure the 
 best one hundred acres of land that was then vacant. 
 
 Returning, I came through Richland County, and brought mother- 
 in-law home with me. This was a busy year with me at home and 
 abroad, for I had now made three trips away from home. The second 
 was in August, when I took mother-in-law up to Mercer County, Pa., to 
 attend to some business connected with the settling up of the estate of 
 John Galloway, to get the six hundred dollars which he left her by will, 
 in lieu of dower; but she could get no satisfaction from any one of the 
 three executors, as they said there was no money on hand. Thus she 
 was baffled by them for eight or ten years. At length she got her 
 money, but not till suit was brought. 
 
1825.] FAMILY HISTORY. 207 
 
 MARRIAGE OF MY BROTHER, JOHX SHERRARD. 
 
 On the 8th day of September, 1825, my brother, John Sherrard, was 
 married to Sarah Harrah, daughter of James Harrah, of Beech Spring 
 congregation, five miles northwest of Smithfield. He was within two 
 months of being thirty-eight years of age, and she was twenty. On the 
 next day, Friday, he brought his bride home to his mother, who was 
 then hving at Rush Run Mills, and that evening, after dusk a short 
 time, a party of six or eight came with guns, drum and fife to serenade 
 him. Although John himself had been engaged in just such serenading 
 the June before at the time of David Runyon's wedding, yet he looked 
 upon this action now as a grand insult to him. 
 
 John continued to live in the house across the run from the mill 
 where the family all lived when we first came to Rush Run, and where 
 John and mother had been living since the death of William. Mother 
 continued to live with John until the fall of 1830, when David, my 
 brother, came down from Fayette County, and took her up to his house 
 on a visit ; but she never returned from that visit, continuing to live 
 with her son David and her own old brother, David Cathcart, until her 
 death, October 27, 1833. 
 
 In due time my brother John and his wife Sarah had two sons born 
 to them, — William, the elder, and James, the younger. After our undi- 
 vided half of the mill property was sold to Joshua Wood, the fall of 
 1829, and my brother John had time to look around, he purchased a 
 mill property on the Piney Fork of Short Creek, four miles west of 
 Smithfield, where he removed with his family, and they were now in the 
 bounds of the Beech Spring Congregation. 
 
 His son William was married January 5, 1852, to his cousin, Mar- 
 garet Jane Neal, of Union County. William continued to live at home 
 and to run his father's mill for several years, and finally moved out to 
 Iowa. James, the younger son, died when a young man, April 15, 185 1, 
 and was never married. My brother John continued to live in the same 
 place until his death, July 14, i860. His wife Sarah survived him little 
 more than a year, and died September 27, 1861. My brother John was 
 not the man that could control his temper ; but he was a man of iron 
 will, and would seldom take advice of any one. 
 
208 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1826. 
 
 S ECTION XI. 
 
 1826-1827. 
 
 SECOND COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 
 
 IN the early part of January, 1826, 1 left home, and went up to Fayette 
 County on business connected with the estate of my father-in-law 
 Joseph Kithcart, and I stopped at my brother David's and found 
 them all as well as usual. But my aunt Susannah Cathcart called my 
 attention to a sore spot at that time about the size of a dollar on the 
 outside of the left ankle. She asked me if it was a ring-worm, and I told 
 her it was not ; she remarked in reply, that, be it what it may, " I think 
 it is sent to be my death." And so it proved to be in the end, for in a 
 few weeks it spread, and she died from erysipelas in April, 1826, aged 
 seventy-eight years. Her maiden name was Susannah Guthridge, and 
 she was married in Ireland to David Cathcart, September 3, 1 770. 
 
 While on this visit in January, my brother David said to me that I 
 had acted so well while a widower, that if he could he would help me 
 get another wife, and asked me how it would do to go and court and 
 marry Peggy Ferguson. I replied that I had not thought seriously 
 about marrying Peggy, and I further added that I supposed there had 
 been not less than fifty widows and old girls recommended to me, as my 
 friends had been very kind to me in that respect, but I said that there 
 was not one in all that number that I would take for a wife. But after- 
 wards I often pondered the matter over in my mind how Peggy Fergu- 
 son would do for a wife and a mother to my five small motherless child- 
 ren, and the more I thought about it the better I thought it would do. 
 But it was not so ordered that I should marry Peggy, for before I had 
 taken any active measures about it, I heard about two months after my 
 brother David's advice that she was married to a widower named George 
 McCormick, a man that I did not know, but I was at the time acquainted 
 with two of his brothers. 
 
 After that it was not long till I began to throw my mind's eye about 
 to see who I would take for my second wife, for I had now been almost 
 three years a widower. 
 
1826.1 FAMILY HISTORY. 209 
 
 And all at once it was strongly impressed on my mind as if some one 
 had spoken it : " Take Jane Hindman, if you can get her." Ay, that 
 was the rub, " take her if you can get her." The question was : Will 
 she take me encumbered as I am with the care of five children ? But I 
 determined to try, and from that time Jane Hindman was doomed to 
 marry a widower, and became the mother of five children not her own, 
 but she did not know her doom for more than a year afterwards. 
 
 A QUILTING PARTY. 
 
 John Scott had taken charge of Jackson's old mill on Mclntyre the 
 spring of 1825, and now in the course of the summer of 1826, I had 
 mentioned to him that I had some notion formed that I did intend at 
 some convenient opportunity to go and see Jane Hindman, for I thought 
 if I could get her, she would make the best wife of any of the whole 
 number of fifty widows and old maids that my kind friends and acquaint- 
 ances had recommended to me. 
 
 And now I do not know why I spoke of it to John Scott, for I am 
 sure I spoke of it to no other person from the time I took that notion 
 early in March, 1826, until the time came around the September follow- 
 ing that I had the desired interview with Jane Hindman. It was however 
 finally John, Scott who was the means of bringing about that interview 
 with Jane, and it happened in this way. 
 
 In the early part of September, Mrs. Peggy Jackson, wife of James 
 Jackson, over at Jackson's mill, made two quilts ready for quilting, and 
 gave a general invitation of married and single girls to come and quilt. 
 The married women had their quilt framed in the dwelling house and 
 the single girls had theirs in the upper loft of the mill. Previous to the 
 day the quilting was to come off, John Scott came over from Mclntyre 
 to Rush Run, and said to me that as I had e.xpressed a desire to have an 
 interview with Jane Hindman, now was my time. He said that Mrs. 
 Jackson was to have a quilting party on a certain day, and that the girls 
 would quilt up stairs in the mill loft ; he further said that he wanted me 
 to come over on the day of the quilting, and help him dress a pair of 
 mill-stones, and he said I might visit the girls up stairs as often as I 
 pleased. I told him I would be over, and I felt glad when the day 
 14 
 
210 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1826. 
 
 came, and I made use of it for the very purpose of breaking the ice that 
 barred my interview with Jane Hindman. 
 
 That day I was at the mill in good time, and saw the girls collecting 
 and passing up stairs as they arrived. 
 
 Presently in came Jane Hindman and her sister Betsy, and they passed 
 up stairs. I was so glad of it that it was not an hour till I passed up 
 stairs and had a good time of it, but I did not disturb Jane, calculating 
 that her time was coming. Thus once in awhile I would leave Scott and 
 the mill-stone and slip up stairs, a place of much attraction, among the 
 girls. But at length evening came, and supper being over, I accom- 
 panied Jane Hindman home, where I met with her kind mother, with 
 whom I conversed for some time about the common affairs of life. 
 
 However, I spent the evening with her daughter Jane, and before we 
 separated I obtained the privilege of calling again in the course of ten 
 days. But I staid all night, and the next morning till after breakfast, 
 and then left, after convincing Jane that I did not accompany her home 
 for the purpose of paying my respects to her mother instead of herself; 
 but I did not think at the time that I was only eleven years younger 
 than her mother, while Jane was fifteen years younger than I was. 
 
 But I left the place that morning so dear to me, and I gave it the 
 name of" Pleasant Hill." 
 
 I returned to Jackson's where my horse was, and I staid that day and 
 helped John Scott to dress up the mill-stones that I had done so little 
 at the day before, and I returned home that evening well satisfied with 
 my trip. During this month of September, and also October, Novem- 
 ber, and up to the middle of December, 1826, I paid a number of visits 
 with a full endeavor to get Jane Hindman to marry me, but to no pur- 
 pose as yet up to this time. 
 
 It was some time the first week in October that I and old John 
 Jackson, as elders of old Centre Church, concluded to visit each 
 Presbyterian family in the congregation for the purpose of making up 
 by subscription the sum of $200, for which sum the Rev. Jacob Cozard 
 promised to preach at Centre one-half his time for one year. 
 
 Accordingly, we set out, and during the day we visited a number of 
 families, and in the evening Mr. Jackson, as if anticipating my desire, 
 led the way to the widow Hindman's, where we were kindly received, 
 
1826.] FAMILY HISTORY. 211 
 
 and after supper, as bed-time approached, Mr. Jackson went about wor- 
 ship, and retired to bed ; but I did not join him till some time later, 
 for I staid up till a later hour and conversed in a very agreeable manner 
 with Jane Hindman. These evenings spent with her were among the 
 happiest of my life, if pursuit could afford more happiness than enjoy- 
 ment of possession ; but I found that pursuit had its ups and downs 
 and did not afford real happiness like possession. 
 
 TRUE LOVE DID NOT RUN SMOOTH. 
 
 It was the evening of the 14th of December, 1826, and when I 
 arrived at the widow Hindman's, as had been common, by turns, for the 
 space of three months, I found John Simeral there. He had dropped 
 in on some errand, and finding that I had arrived, and knowing what my 
 errand was at that house, for it had soon got noised abroad that I was 
 paying my addresses to Jane Hindman, he staid and discoursed with 
 Betsy, while I had the company of Jane. 
 
 At the close of the evening I mentioned to Jane that at such a time 
 I would be back, and said to her that I wished her to have her mind 
 made up on the subject of marriage by that time. She replied that her 
 mind was now made up on that subject, and that she could not think of 
 marrying me, and becoming a stepmother to my five children. I said 
 to her that she certainly could not be in earnest, but she replied that 
 she certainly was in earnest, and that I need not trouble her any more 
 on that subject. I said to her: " As to the children I will not part with 
 them on any consideration, and the woman that will not take me with the 
 children will not get me without them ; " but it was no use to contend, 
 for Jane would have it all her own way ; it was arbitrary and despotic. 
 
 I and John Simeral retired to bed in the little additional apartment 
 where I usually slept on all my former visits, and where two months be- 
 fore I had slept so comfortably with old John Jackson. But this night 
 with Simeral I did not sleep well ; I felt badly, and was cast down in my 
 mind, and after a poor night's rest, morning came, but it brought me no 
 relief. But as usual I staid till after breakfast, and before leaving I begged 
 of Jane the privilege of coming back in a week or two to see if we could not 
 come to a fair understanding again, but this she would not grant. I then 
 kindly bid each one farewell, expecting this to be my last interview there. 
 
212 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1827. 
 
 I went home, but felt gloomy and downhearted ; so much so, though I 
 tried to conceal it as much as possible, that my mother-in-law with her 
 eagle eye noticed that something was wrong with me. She noticed that 
 I was not as cheerful and lively as usual, and she noticed also that when 
 the usual time of paying my stated visits to Jane came around, 1 did not 
 go. Hence she judged that something was wrong in that quarter, and 
 at length inquired of me what was the matter. I said there was nothing 
 in particular, but she said she knew there was, and asked if Jane and I 
 had fallen out. I replied that she had completely refused me. 
 
 CHEERFUL ADVICE TO A LOVER. 
 
 " Well," said mother-in-law, " never mind it ; don't let it trouble you 
 one bit; stay away for two or three months and then go back, and I will 
 insure that you and Jane will soon make it up." 
 
 This advice of mother-in-law revived my drooping spirits the best of 
 any that I had ever received, and from that day forward I never doubted 
 but that it would all come out right, and that Jane would be my wife. 
 
 And what helped to strengthen my belief. I dreamed one night not long 
 after this, that I came into our back parlor room, and there sat my wife 
 Jane Hindman, in a rocking-chair, and had with her three of her own 
 children by me since our marriage ; one, the youngest, on her lap, and 
 two of different sizes and ages standing beside her. 
 
 And for six years after we were married, still remembering my dream, 
 I was so simple as to believe that my wife Jane would have only three 
 children. But in the course of time she undeceived me, for finally she 
 bore me seven children, and I have reason to believe they are all living 
 and well this first day of March, 1864, and all now raised up to be 
 young men and women ; — and they are all living and well this 1 5th day 
 of April, 1872. 
 
 HOW IT WAS MADE UP. 
 
 During the interval, after Jane Hindman had refused to allow my at- 
 tentions, I spent three weeks, in company with my brother-in-law Joseph 
 Kithcart, visiting friends in Fayette County, and we arrived home again 
 on the 2d day of February, 1827. Already the water-wheel of the mill 
 was free from ice, and the mill was going in good order under the direc- 
 tion of my brother John. 
 
1827.] FAMILY HISTORY. 213 
 
 The very next day after my arrival home, John would have me go out in 
 the country among the farmers and engage what wheat I could at fifty cents 
 a bushel. I called with a number of farmers and engaged several hundred 
 bushels of wheat, and among others, with old Nathan Woods, and took 
 dinner, and engaged 200 bushels. By evening of that day I called in at old 
 Andy Lockard's and engaged the balance of his crop, being fifty bushels. 
 While at his house Mrs. Hindman came in, knowing that I had just re- 
 turned from Fayette County, to inquire of me if I had seen her daughter 
 Betsy at old John Johnson's tavern. 
 
 John Johnson kept a tavern in Washington, Pa., and he was a cousin 
 of Mrs. Hindman's ; her daughter Betsy was there visiting, and had 
 over-staid her time, so that her mother began to be somewhat uneasy 
 about her. But I was not able to give the old lady any account of 
 Betsy, as I and Joseph Kithcart did not stop this time at John Johnson's 
 tavern as we passed through Washington. 
 
 The old lady staid but a short time in Andy Lockard's and soon 
 started back home. As I had completed my business with Andy, I 
 started out to follow, and as I passed young Andy Lockard out in the 
 yard, I said to him : " Andy, the time has come for you to renew your suit 
 with Mary Carson; I am just going up to renew mine with Jane Hind- 
 man." " Are you ? " said Andy ; " then I believe I'll try it too." And 
 sure enough, Andy did try, and succeeded, for he had been refused 
 shortly after I had been ; but he was now successful, and married Mary 
 Carson about a year afterwards. 
 
 I left Andy quick and mounted my horse and rode up the lane to the 
 house of Mrs. Hindman, and got into the house before her, as she had 
 taken round through the field, for the road was very muddy. 
 
 When I arrived I found no one in but the very one I came to see, in 
 the person of Jane Hindman. I approached and shook hands with her 
 very cordially, and she appeared very pleasant and agreeable, and I 
 thought I had never seen her look better. I sat down near her, and yet 
 at a respectful distance, and entered into conversation, but soon her 
 mother came in and kindly invited me to lay off my great coat and leg- 
 gins, which I did ; and while the old lady went about and did up her 
 work, I kept up the conversation with her daughter Jane, and glad of 
 the opportunity. And it proved to me one of the most pleasant eve- 
 
214 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1827. 
 
 nings and pleasantest interviews that I ever had in all my life; for that 
 night Jane and I made up all the matter of difference that had put a stop 
 for the last two months to my friendly visits. But this evening's com- 
 pany and conversation with Jane gave me a new charter and privilege to 
 come and go and to converse on the subject of marriage free from re- 
 straint, of which privilege I afterwards made good use. In the morning 
 I left Jane after breakfast to reflect on all that had passed between us, 
 and for my part I went home well pleased, and went to work in the old 
 mill joyfully. At the end of ten days I went back to see and converse 
 with Jane, and by that time I found that her sister Betsy had returned 
 from Washington, Pa. She informed me that she was standing at an 
 upper window in the house of her cousin John Johnson, and saw me 
 and Joseph Kithcart pass by on our way homeward. 
 
 I found Jane at home, for this was the evening of our appointment. I 
 had laid down my affections on her nearly fifteen months before we were 
 married, and from the day I first set my affections on Jane Hindman to 
 this hour — now nearly forty-six years — I have never had the least reason 
 to regret or rue that I did lay my affections on her, or that I took her for 
 my partner through life. 
 
 After the breach was made up all things went on between us to our 
 mutual satisfaction, and in all my visits and in all my communications 
 with Jane, I acted towards her as one ought to do who wished to make 
 so worthy a girl his wife. 
 
 From the time above stated I made my visits every ten days, or two 
 weeks at the farthest, and I was urged on by Joseph Kithcart, brother to 
 my first wife, who came over from Mount Pleasant every two weeks or 
 so to see and know how matters were progressing between Jane and 
 me, at which times I reported progress. He was anxious about the 
 matter, as his sister Martha, who kept house for him and his brother 
 Cunningham, was promised in marriage to Smiley Sharon, and their 
 marriage was to take place as soon as I could marry Jane Hind- 
 man, so as to release his mother from charge of my family, that 
 she might go and take Martha's place in having charge of their 
 house. 
 
 With me and Jane all things flowed on smoothly, until finally we be- 
 came engaged on the 19th of April, 1827, and one week later I asked 
 
1827.] FAMILY HISTORY. 215 
 
 Jane's mother's consent, which the old lady freely gave, and the same 
 day an order issued to get the marriage hcense. 
 
 THE WEDDING DAY. 
 
 The 24th of May, 1827, was the time fixed for the marriage between 
 myself and Jane Hindman, and preparations were made on both sides 
 for the coming event. 
 
 I had a few choice friends invited to accompany me to the wedding, 
 and I had chosen John Sharon as my waiter, and had asked Joseph 
 Kithcart and his sister Kezia to go with us over to the marriage. And 
 Jane Hindman had Mary Ann Brown for her waiter, and John Simeral 
 and several others as invited guests. I had already notified the Rev. 
 Jacob Cozard, who was still pastor of Old Centre Church, to be on hand 
 that day to tie the knot and make us truly man and wife. 
 
 I presented the bride with two pairs of white gloves, — one pair of 
 white kid, and the other of white silk. I and my party had not arrived 
 long before we were called up upon the floor facing the Rev. Jacob 
 Cozard, and he said the ceremony which made me and Jane Hindman 
 man and wife, — the very thing I had all along been anxiously waiting 
 for. After dinner the Rev. Mr. Cozard made ready to go home, as he 
 at that time lived some six miles southeast of Wellsburg, in the bounds 
 of Lower Buffalo Congregation. I had given my waiter, John Sharon, 
 a $3 bill, which he handed to him, and Mr. Cozard was off. The amount 
 paid him as a marriage fee was rather small as it seemed, and so it was ; 
 but forty and fifty years ago two dollars and three dollars was a very 
 common marriage fee. 
 
 The next morning being the infare day, soon after breakfast we made 
 ready to start for home, it being six miles from Pleasant Hill, where the 
 Hindmans lived, to Rush Run Mills, where the Sherrards lived. I had 
 previously given an invitation to all the young people of the bride's 
 party, which they had cheerfully accepted ; and when all were mounted 
 and under headway, it made a very respectable infare party. 
 
 On arriving home we found all things in order, and mother-in-law 
 Kithcart and others waiting to receive us, among whom was Absalom 
 Hall and his wife. 
 
 I and Jane had not been very long married until mother-in-law Kith- 
 
216 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1827. 
 
 cart and her two sons, Joseph and Cunningham, had thoughts of her 
 being removed to Mount Pleasant to keep house for them, so that her 
 daughter might be released and be united in marriage, according to 
 promise, to Smiley Sharon. To bring about the matter of her removal, 
 her son Joseph came over to see me about it, and asked me how soon I 
 could move mother over to Mount Pleasant. I answered that I had no 
 part nor lot in the matter. " Why," said he, " are you not under prom- 
 ise to move her in any direction as far away as what you brought her 
 here ? " " No, sir," said I, " I am under no such obligation. Before I 
 brought her away from her old home, she expressed a fear that I might 
 soon marry again, and if so, that would put her to the necessity of 
 seeking a new home, and no way of moving to it. But I said to your 
 mother, that if I married in less than three years, I would promise to 
 move her to any place she might choose to go, as far away as I would 
 bring her. And now I have not married till almost four years have 
 passed round, and if you want your mother to keep house for you, do 
 as I did when I wanted her for that purpose." And that ended the 
 matter ; for in a few days he came and moved his mother and his sister 
 Kezia to his home at Mount Pleasant. And after this, preparations were 
 made for the marriage of Martha Kithcart to Smiley Sharon, which was 
 solemnized on Thursday, June 21, 1827, by the Rev. Joseph Anderson, 
 pastor at the time of the Mount Pleasant Church, and I and my new 
 wife Jane were at the wedding. 
 
 THE HINDMAN ANCESTRY. 
 
 And now being married, to my full satisfaction, to the girl of my 
 thoughtful choice, and settled down to enjoy that happiness and satis- 
 faction that can flow only from a mutual union of sentiment, springing 
 up and flowing out from the well-cherished affections of man and wife, 
 each pleased the one with the other, here I think it necessary to intro- 
 duce some of my wife Jane's relations and ancestors, for neither she nor 
 I have any reason to be ashamed of them. And by this time they have 
 grown so numerous that I shall not attempt to follow out the various 
 branches. Suflice it to say, that the ancestors of the several branches 
 of the stock emigrated from County Down, Ireland, not long before 
 the Revolutionary War, and settled in the little State of Delaware. 
 
1827.] FAMILY HISTORY. 217 
 
 THE JOHNSTON FAMILY. 
 
 In 1772 a man named Johnston with his wife (their Christian names 
 are unknown) left County Down, Ireland, with their six children, to 
 come to America. The father and mother both died on ship-board, 
 while the children, whose names were William, Esther, Jane, Margaret, 
 Elizabeth and Richard, completed the voyage to America, and settled 
 in the State of Delaware. 
 
 When they arrived in America, Richard, the youngest of the six 
 children, was nine years of age. The three older were married in Dela- 
 ware, — William to Elizabeth Laughlin, in 1772; Esther to Hugh Jack- 
 son, in 1777 ; and Jane to James Hindman, in 1777. These, with the three 
 younger Johnston children, all came together, in the spring of 1791, out 
 to Washington County, Pa., and settled near Canonsburg in the bounds 
 of Chartiers Presbyterian Church, which they all joined by certificate 
 under the pastoral care of the Rev. John McMillan, D.D. The Johnstons 
 being of a Scotch-Irish family in Ireland, were all Presbyterians, and 
 being descended from a religious stock of ancestors, they would not 
 permit themselves to be connected with non-professors, nor any of the 
 wild breed of people. 
 
 It is not my intention to enter into a minute detail of all these six 
 children, only to say that the three younger members of this Johnston 
 family, in a short time after they were settled, near Canonsburg, were 
 married, and all did well in that particular. Margaret married Robert 
 Anderson, and they settled near Claysville, Washington County, Pa. ; 
 Elizabeth married William Campbell, and they lived on a beautiful farm 
 of 300 acres south of Canonsburg, and afterwards moved out to Wood 
 County, Ohio; and Richard married Jane Bradford, August 23, 1796, 
 and they lived on a farm two miles south of Canonsburg, where their 
 grandsons, Richard Van Eman Johnson and Bradford Johnson, still live- 
 The spelling of the name was changed in later times. 
 
 I shall now confine myself to speak of the two older daughters of 
 the Johnston family, as my wife, Jane Hindman, is a granddaughter of 
 both of them. 
 
 Esther Johnston, who married Hugh Jackston, had only one child, a 
 daughter named Nancy, who was born in 1778, and was thirteen years 
 
218 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1827. 
 
 old when they moved out from Delaware to Washington County. 
 Jane Johnston, who married James Hindman, had four children, all boys, 
 William, John, Richard and Robert. 
 
 They were all born east of the mountains, and came out with their 
 father and mother, in 1 79 1 , to Washington County, and their father, James 
 Hindman, died while the boys were yet young, in 1801. John Hindman 
 was born in 1780, and as he and his cousin, Nancy Jackson, were 
 brought up in the same neighborhood, and went to school together, and 
 had the privilege of seeing each other at church every Sabbath day, it 
 need not be wondered that they early formed an attachment for each 
 other. This attachment grew into love and affection, and finally into a 
 marriage contract, and they were accordingly married by the Rev. John 
 McMillan in the year 1803, and it was said that they were the finest 
 looking couple that ever made their appearance at the Chartiers Church. 
 They lived in a house which stood on the sloping and rising ground 
 just southeast of Chartiers Creek, two miles south of the town of Canons- 
 burg, quite near to the site of the present brick dwelling-house owned 
 and occupied by Richard Van Eman Johnson. 
 
 All traces of the old house have long since disappeared, but here 
 John Hindman and his wife, Nancy Jackson, lived, and here their two 
 oldest children were born, — Jane, born December 14, 1804, and Eliza- 
 beth, born January 31, 1807. 
 
 This same Jane Hindman, eldest daughter of John and Nancy Jack- 
 son Hindman, when she was twenty-two years, five months and nine 
 days old, was married to Robert A. Sherrard, the writer of this account, 
 and her sister Elizabeth, born two years after her sister Jane, was married 
 January 8, 1835, to Robert Lee, a farmer of Washington County, Pa., 
 near Cross Creek Village. 
 
 JOHN HINDMAN MOVES TO OHIO. 
 
 John Hindman, the father of Jane and Elizabeth, bought a small farm 
 in Cross Creek Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, and the ist of April, 
 1 8 10, he moved his family out there from Washington County, and there 
 were three children, all boys, born there in Ohio, but they did not live to 
 grow up to manhood. Their names were : James, born iSio, and Hugh, 
 born 18 13, and they both died in the year 1 8 15. The youngest was John 
 
1827.] • FAMILY HISTORY. 219 
 
 Jackson, who was born in iSig, but he died when only eighteen 
 months old. 
 
 Hugh Jackson and his wife Esther, the father and mother of Nancy- 
 Jackson Hindman, moved out to Ohio in 1812, and lived with their son- 
 in-law John Hindman on Mclntyre. They both died in the year 1815, 
 and were buried at old Centre. The widow of James Hindman, Jane 
 Johnston Hindman, with her other sons, Richard and Robert, moved out 
 to Ohio in 1812, and lived just beside Centre Church to the southwest 
 of it, and only two miles from her son John. Richard Hindman was 
 already married while they yet lived near Canonsburg, and they all 
 brought their certificates of membership in Chartiers Church from under 
 the hand of the Rev. Dr. John McMillan, and united with Centre Church 
 in 1812. 
 
 Robert Hindman married Sidney Miller January 6, 1820; she had 
 already united with Centre Church in 18 14. 
 
 However, in 1822 Robert moved to Washington, Pa., and took his 
 mother to live with him there, and he and his wife and mother all lifted 
 their certificates from Centre and joined the First Presbyterian Church 
 of Washington, virhere their membership remained until their death. 
 
 It was on the 21st of February, 1823, that I was returning home from 
 a visit to Fayette County, Pa., and I was bringing Cunningham Kithcart 
 home with me, when we stopped on our way in Washington with the full 
 intention of witnessing the execution of old Crawford, who was to be 
 hung that day. For that purpose we stopped at John Johnson's public 
 house. While in town that morning I saw and conversed with my pres- 
 ent wife's grandmother, Jane Johnston Hindman, for the last time. She 
 was then living with her son Robert, and I found her kind, courteous 
 and affable; nor did either of us think, at the time, that in four years 
 afterward I would be married to her granddaughter Jane Hindman. She 
 died the next year, in 1824, over near Canonsburg, while on a visit to her 
 relatives the Johnstons. 
 
 Her son Richard Hindman continued to live on the farm adjoining 
 Centre Church until April r, 1831, when he removed with his family to 
 Washington, Pa., and they afterwards moved out to Windsor Township, 
 Morgan County, Ohio. 
 
 He had several children. In a letter to me dated March 29, 1837, he 
 
220 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1827. 
 
 says: "We have not had good health since we came to this county. 
 Seven of the children have had a hard spell of the ague and fever." 
 
 Robert Hindman died in Washington, Pa., in 1856, leaving one child, 
 Elizabeth, who was married to David Gray. 
 
 The mother of these three sons, John, Richard and Robert Hindman, 
 was truly an aged mother in Israel, and as such, no one acquainted 
 with her at any time during her long sojourn on earth as a professing 
 Christian, had any reason to suspect the genuineness of her piety. She 
 brought up her children and trained them to walk in the way they 
 should go, and they did not depart from it. 
 
 She was early left a widow when her children were very young, and 
 for long years she had to tread the thorny path of life alone, unaided by 
 the help and support of her husband. But God was her support ; she 
 was conscientious in the performance of her Christian duties, and after 
 the decease of her husband for long years, she was prompt in keeping up 
 family worship until her eldest son John took upon himself the perform- 
 ance of that duty before he had yet arrived at man's years. 
 
 (On October 9, 1888, my mother said to me: "My grand-mother, 
 Jane Hindman, had the greatest gift in prayer, and my own mother 
 would lead family worship well. But my grand-mother was wonderfully 
 gifted in prayer, and her language was remarkably well chosen. I re- 
 member that when I was a little girl she would pray and pray, and I 
 would go to sleep at worship, and would wake up, and she would still 
 be praying. She was a great singer, too, but she always sang Rouse's 
 Version of the Psalms — she did not like Watts' Hymns. My father, 
 John Hindman, could not sing, although he was very fond of singing; 
 but his brother Robert was a singer." — T. J. S.) 
 
 CHARACTER OF JOHN HINDMAN. 
 
 When John Hindman and his wife moved into the bounds of Centre 
 congregation the spring of 18 10, and settled on his farm, which he had 
 purchased of Thomas Williams, two miles north of Centre Church, they 
 brought with them certificates of membership in the Presbyterian Church 
 of Chartiers, and now united with Centre, which had just been organized, 
 and the Rev. Abram Scott was the first pastor. He and his wife and 
 John Hindman and his wife, had been brought up together from early 
 
1827.] FAMILY HISTORY. 221 
 
 youth ill the same neighborhood, near Canonsburg, and belonged to the 
 same Chartiers Church. John Hindman had been in connection with 
 Centre only a month when he and John Jackson were elected the first 
 Elders of that church in the month of May, 1810, when John Hindman 
 was only thirt)' years of age. 
 
 This John Jackson was no relation whatever to John Hindman, but 
 they were steadfast friends, and the latter called his youngest son for the 
 former. 
 
 When in a few days the pastor called to see if these newly elected 
 Elders would serve, John Jackson made no objection, but stated that as 
 it had been the will of the people to elect him he would serve to the best 
 of his ability ; but John Hindman objected, and gave as his reason that 
 he did not think himself fit to be an Elder in the church. But Mr. 
 Scott, knowing him from his youth, and having a more exalted opinion 
 of his piety and qualifications than he himself had, would not be put off 
 with his excuse, but argued with him that God would have a church 
 here on earth, and there must be pillars set apart and placed in the 
 church to support, strengthen and uphold it ; and as he had been chosen 
 from amongst his brethren to that ofBce, he must make no excuse as to 
 his unfitness to fill that office, that if he did it would be sinful in him to 
 do so, and that if he refused to serve, God would in some way chastise 
 him for so doing. 
 
 After Mr. Hindman had well considered and weighed the matter in 
 his own mind, he gave his consent to serve, and the next Sabbath was 
 appointed for their ordination ; and the first Sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper was held about the middle of May, 1810, when there were about 
 twenty-four members sat down at the table. 
 
 John Hindman was in stature and appearance tall, large and heavy 
 set, and of commanding presence, and in character he was a man of 
 strict integrity and honesty, whose word was always to be relied upon, 
 and he was a man eminent for his piety, and much beloved for his 
 good qualities. He was remarkably gifted in prayer, so much so that 
 his daughter Jane testifies that she never heard him pray that there 
 was not some new expression. 
 
 He was a useful member of society, both in church and state. He 
 was often chosen to fill the offices of his township, and often called 
 
222 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1827. 
 
 to settle disputes between neighbors by arbitration. He served re- 
 peatedly as trustee of Cross Creek township, and his neighbors fre- 
 quently requested him to accept the office of Justice of the Peace at 
 their hands, but he as steadily refused, knowing that as he was single- 
 handed on his farm, that office would prove very troublesome and 
 very unprofitable to him. 
 
 When the war with Great Britain broke out the summer of 1812, he 
 was drafted in the first call, but he could not go and leave a wife and 
 helpless family of small children behind him, but go he must or find 
 a substitute. 
 
 He chose the latter, and succeeded in hiring a man by the name 
 of McCuUough, and had to give him ^lOO, a good blanket and a 
 good pair of new stockings, as well as the army pay, which was 
 but $7 a month, to take his place for six months. At the time John 
 Hindman paid out the $100 for a substitute he could but illy spare 
 the money, as he needed it to pay in part for his nice small farm 
 which he had bought, the same that I afterwards in the fall of 1826 
 called " Pleasant Hill," in consequence of the many pleasant hours I 
 spent there conversing with his daughter Jane, and this was at least 
 six years after the death of her father, which took place August 23, 
 1820. 
 
 His death was sudden and very unexpected, and took the family 
 in a complete surprise. He got a tooth extracted, and an inflamma- 
 tion took place in the spot from which the tooth had been drawn, while 
 the inflammation extended down and seated itself in the throat; this 
 brought on quinsy, and on the fatal Thursday there was a sudden stran- 
 gulation which produced death immediately, and that in the fortieth 
 year of his age, and as yet a young man of middle age. 
 
 And Oh, how lonely he left a loving wife and two fine, interesting 
 young daughters just budding and almost blooming into womanhood ; 
 and what they suffered in the loss of a kind husband and parent, no one 
 but themselves could tell. I remember for two or three years after his 
 death, at any time we had preaching at Centre Church, and from the 
 spring of 1821 we had the Rev. Jacob Cozard to preach for us every 
 other Sabbath onward till 1828, Mrs. Hindman would go often to her 
 Jiusband's grave and weep over the place where lay all that remained of 
 
1827.] FAMILY HISTORY. 223 
 
 the one she once loved. And although I frequently saw the tears she 
 shed, and in some sort felt a degree of sympathy for her under her 
 sore bereavement, yet I never felt that true and genuine sympathy 
 for her, until about the end of three years after her loss, at which 
 time my first wife, Mary Kithcart, died, the last day of July, 1823, 
 and was laid in the same graveyard with John Hindman ; then, 
 and not till then, did I properly sj'mpathize with Mrs. Hindman. 
 After the death of John Hindman, his widow and her two daughters 
 were left to struggle on for days and months and years as best 
 they could, as they had a debt to pay off for the land on which 
 they lived. This took industry and economy to pay for the farm and at 
 the same time keep up the necessaries of the house, as well as to furnish 
 the two daughters with suitable equipments to appear in public as be- 
 came them in their station. And yet this was all done within the first 
 seven years, and that before Jane was married. 
 
 SECOND MARRIAGE OF MRS. HIXDMAN. 
 
 However, at the end of nearly ten years after the death of her hus- 
 band, Mrs. Nancy Jackson Hindman was induced to marry a second 
 time, and accordingly took the offer of a very worthy man, Mr. John 
 Orr, of Holliday's Cove, Virginia. Although she had had several offers 
 of marriage during the ten years that rolled over her as a widow, yet 
 none of them suited her fancy until she met with Mr. Orr, and they 
 were married on the 15th of April, 1830, at her residence on " Pleasant 
 Hill," by the Rev. Dr. Beatty, of Steubenville. For nearly nine years 
 she lived comfortably and happily with her husband over in his home at 
 Holliday's Cove, until her death was brought about indirectly from an 
 accident in being thrown off a horse. 
 
 She recovered to some extent from the effects of the shock, and about 
 a year after the accident she paid us a visit, which was on October 30, 
 1838. It was not many days after her return home from this last visit 
 that she became confined to her bed, where she lingered till her death, 
 on February 4th, 1839. ^'^^ was buried at Three Springs Church, above 
 the Cove. She died much respected and lamented by all who knew 
 her, in the sixty-first year of her age. She felt it a duty at all times, 
 when she was able, to visit the sick in her immediate neighborhood, and 
 
224 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1827. 
 
 to cheer and console them, assisting them as best she could in their 
 sickness and distress ; and I would remark in this place that this mar- 
 riage between Nancy Hindman and John Orr is a lasting instance, as 
 well as that of my marriage with her daughter Jane Hindman, that 
 proves the old saying is not true, that second marriages never do well. 
 For my part I could never see any reason why second marriages could 
 not do as well as first marriages, if proper care be always taken by the 
 parties to make a proper choice in the second as well as the first. 
 
 FAMILY CONNECTIONS. 
 
 On the foregoing pages I have given a true statement and yet a 
 running and brief account of some of the ancestors of my present wife, 
 Jane Hindman. And I have been the more particular to do it, because 
 none of the seven children she has borne and brought up has seen her 
 father, John Hindman, and some of them have never seen her mother, 
 Nancy Hindman. And I hope it may be a gratification to some of them 
 at least to have this record to go to, in order to gain some knowledge 
 as to who their ancestors, on their mother's side, were, and not to be 
 left in the dark as to that subject, as much so as if their mother had 
 dropped from the clouds. 
 
 MY WIFE, JANE HINDMAN. 
 
 To show my appreciation of my wife, Jane Hindman, and her wise 
 counsel, I will here relate an incident that happened twent}- years after 
 our marriage. In April, 1847, our neighbor, David Foster, wished to 
 purchase a small piece of my farm lying down on the bottom on the 
 northwestern corner of the farm just adjoining Foster's land. 
 
 It consisted of about three acres and a quarter, but before it was 
 m(;asured Foster offered me ^50 for the piece, be it more or less, but I 
 told him I would take no such price for it, as I computed it at three 
 acres without measuring, and my farm was worth $50 an acre. 
 
 A few days afterwards I met Foster and he offered me $50 an acre 
 for three acres, but I told him I would go home and consult my wife 
 about it, as she would have to sign the deed. He asked me to give him 
 an answer soon, as he wished to get that lot to build a tenant house on 
 it for a home for old black Bill Westbrook to live in during his natural 
 
1827.] FAMILY HISTORY. 225 
 
 life. When I mentioned the matter to my wife she rephed : " You are 
 not in debt and have no need to sell it, and I will not sign the deed. If 
 you were to sell it, and Foster would build a house on it, the old colored 
 man might not live long to occupy it, and then Foster would rent it to 
 some one over whom you would have no control, and such tenants 
 might become a very great annoyance to you by stealing your fruit and 
 burning your fence-rails." I soon saw that my wife was right and her 
 objections well founded, and her counsel bore the marks of wisdom ; 
 and I soon came to the conclusion that I would take her advice and 
 keep every foot of my land. 
 
 I reported to Foster that my wife was opposed to selling the land and 
 would not sign the deed, and he in turn appeared to take it ill that I would 
 not sell him the land on which he had set his heart, and asked me if 
 my wife ruled over me in that style. I replied that she did in the case 
 of selling a piece of our farm when there was no necessity for it. 
 
 And I have ever been glad to this hour, seven o'clock Thursday, 
 August 5, 1869, that I had got a partner in life of healthy body and 
 strong mind, and of sufficient good judgment naturally to be able 
 to pass judgment and give good advice at all times and on all occasions. 
 
 Such a wife I found in Jane Hindman, and was not deceived when I 
 formed a correct judgment of her qualities and qualifications suitable 
 for a good wife, and suitable as a partner in life, when it was borne in 
 upon my mind about the first week in March, 1826, at which time I 
 gave her up my affections to be disposed of by her as she pleased. The 
 old colored darkey VVestbrook once told me that he was seventeen 
 years old when the tea was thrown overboard at Boston, December, 
 1773. That would make him to be born the year after Braddock's 
 defeat. He died on the old farm where he lived so long September 17, 
 1854, aged ninety-eight. 
 
226 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1827. 
 
 S ECT ION XII. 
 
 1827-1830. 
 
 THE MILLING BUSINESS. 
 
 I MUST now return to matters of other sort worthy of recording 
 that occurred in my experience through a long life. Attending 
 the old Rush Run Mills was an every day business, attended to as 
 a matter of livelihood, and produced but few events worth recording. 
 But I might be allowed here to say that the business of a mill in attend- 
 ing to the grinding for the country people, but more particularly the 
 purchase of wheat and the manufacturing of it into flour, and then 
 making sale of the flour, all this has its advantages and disadvantages, 
 its anxieties and sometimes vexations. And above all, it has its tempta- 
 tions, and is well calculated to try men's souls whether they will be 
 honest or not, and whether the miller will deal justly with his fellow- 
 men or not. 
 
 While the miller is engaged in grinding for the country farmers, the 
 chance is daily before him to take too much toll, and happy is that 
 miller who can daily meet that temptation and roll it back on the evil 
 one whence it came. The miller, the blacksmith, the weaver and the 
 tailor have all been blamed for centuries past, as "cabbaging" trades, 
 and not without cause, for it is not every man or woman that can resist 
 temptations of various kinds that beset their way through life, unless 
 truly converted, and always having the fear of God before their eyes, 
 watching lest they should do wrong. 
 
 Nothing happened the summer or fall of 1827, except that on Octo- 
 ber 1 2th, I left home at Rush Run in company with John Kithcart, my 
 brother-in-law, and we went out to Wooster to attend a land sale there 
 on the 20th. On our way we visited the families of Thomas Andrews 
 and Thomas Kithcart, and at the sale John Kithcart, who had come all 
 the way from Uniontown, Pa., to buy one of the quarter sections, bid 
 off the first quarter that was set up at $375, just one dollar above the 
 
1828.] FAMILY HISTORY. 227 
 
 appraisement. The land was on Sugar Creek, and John Kithcart was 
 assured that he got the quarter that had on it a noble large flowing 
 spring. 
 
 The second choice quarter I myself bid off at just two-thirds of the 
 appraisement, and I felt proud of my bargain. I told John Kithcart 
 that I would buy his quarter of him at any time that he might wish to 
 sell, but he kept it, and a man who lived near the land went to Union- 
 town, and bought the quarter of him at gioo advance on what he gave, 
 so that he fooled his land away, for it was worth as much more as he 
 got for it at the time. 
 
 April lo, 1828, I and my wife, Jane Hindman, had a fine healthy 
 daughter born to us, and in honor of her grandmother, Mrs. Hindman, 
 we had her called and christened Nancy, and the child grew, and could 
 sing some vocal music tunes at eighteen months old. 
 
 SCHOOL TEACHERS. 
 
 The summer of 1828 we, the directors of our school district, em- 
 ployed David Runyon to teach school for us for six months, but he got 
 tired at the end of three months, and he got John Pelan, with our 
 consent, to take his place. 
 
 We agreed to board Pelan round among the employers, but he 
 preferred boarding at one place, and made choice of our place, provided 
 we would board him for seventy-five cents a week. I studied for a 
 moment, and replied that I would, and the boarding of a school-teacher 
 was had in these cheap times for $1.00 a week ; and I further saw at a 
 glance that as I was the highest subscriber on the school article with 
 three scholars. I would have Pelan to board more frequently than any 
 other family, so that by boarding him at that cheap rate I would have $9 
 in cash, and so Pelan went on and taught out the three months. 
 
 During the time that Pelan boarded with us, after school was out, 
 both morning and evening, he rarely ceased to talk about the coming 
 election for President, which came off near the ist of November, 182S, 
 in a race between John Quincy Adams, the present incumbent, and 
 Andrew Jackson. Adams was our choice, for Pelan and I were on the 
 same side in politics, and we both felt sure that Adams would win- 
 We talked so sure and so much about it that we quite disgusted my 
 
228 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1828. 
 
 wife, who was ready to wish almost that Jackson would be elected that 
 our sanguine hopes might be disappointed ; and so it turned out, for 
 Jackson was elected by an overwhelming majority. 
 
 In the summer and fall of 1826, James Carmichael took our school for 
 a quarter at a time, for I felt willing to have him teach for us for a 
 quarter, that our children might learn Orthography, a very necessary 
 branch to be taught in every well-regulated school ; and that branch was 
 Carmichael's hobby, for no other branch could he teach so well. I had 
 subscribed three scholars, with the understanding that I might send all 
 five and he would teach them, only I must give up a small perquisite of 
 six or eight mills a day for each day the two extra scholars would go. 
 Our boy Robert was the youngest of the five children by my first mar- 
 riage, and when he was a very little over three years old, at the time 
 Carmichael commenced teaching, he would not stay at home with his 
 grandmother, but would go with the other children to school. After he 
 had been going to old Carmichael for three months, his uncle Cunning- 
 ham Kithcart got him to try to say his letters over, but he could not, 
 and Cunningham turned to me and said : " You had better keep this 
 child at home, for he has learned nothing, and is only a bother to the 
 master." " I don't care," said I ; " Carmichael is to teach him, and bear 
 the bother and trouble for about six mills per day — the perquisite that 
 may come from Section 16 for each day that Robert goes to school." 
 
 But in contrast with this, in less than three weeks, one evening after 
 school was out, Robert was sitting by the fire, and without his book he 
 began to spell from memory a number of words in three syllables. 
 
 And from that time Robert made progress in learning, which proves 
 that the little fellow, young as he was, had been taking in something that 
 was of use to him. 
 
 The year 1829 came in with a cold freezing January, and the water in 
 Rush Run was almost completely frozen, and thereby dried up till the 
 middle of February, which prevented our mill from going till the ice 
 melted, and the rains of the late winter came bringing water. 
 
 It was very desirable to get the mill started as soon as possible, for we 
 had laid in a very large stock of wheat during the fall and winter at 
 high prices, mostly 90 cents and ^i a bushel. And now came an anxious 
 time with us to grind out this large stock of wheat, and sell, if possible, 
 
1829] FAMILY HISTORY. 229 
 
 at a saving profit. And it must be admitted that anxiety becomes a 
 companion of every man in all kinds of public business ; and this year, 
 1829, was throughout calculated, from the accumulation of business 
 heaped on me, to keep up without any intermission a continued scene of 
 activity, and with it a full share of anxiety. And no wonder when I left 
 the mill the 1st of April, 1830, and got to farming, that I felt the most 
 happy for the following three years that I ever before or since enjoyed. 
 And why ? Because I was set free from an.xious care and thought that 
 for years had preyed upon my mind like an eating canker ; but now on 
 the farm that burden fell off. 
 
 A man that is pursuing an honest calling, clear of public offices and 
 all kinds of public business in which the public must be waited on, may 
 keep out corroding an.xious thoughts if he will, but it is the misfortune 
 of thousands, both in and out of public business, that they never are on 
 the sunny side, but, on the contrary, are always viewing the dark side of 
 the picture, which always keeps the mind uneasy ; and such have poor 
 enjoyment in life, because they do not strive to keep out these anxious 
 troublesome thoughts 
 
 But to return to the mill. When we had gotten perhaps one hundred 
 and fifty barrels of flour ground out but not bolted, we had an applica- 
 tion from William Simeral for five or six hundred barrels of flour at $6 a 
 barrel. But we declined taking Simeral's offer, as we had learned that 
 Henry Swearengen, who had a mill on Mclntyre, had made a contract 
 with Shaw, Carson & Brother for all the flour he could make at $6.25, 
 and we expected day by day to make as good a contract ; but for some 
 cause we had no other offer the spring or summer of 1829, which was of 
 itself strange, for it was always a very common occurrence that when the 
 price of flour was up, flour speculators were passing round every whip- 
 stitch, to see how cheap they could purchase flour for the up or down 
 trade. 
 
 The first of June came, and by this time several hundred barrels of 
 flour were ground out and packed, and as yet no sales made, which began to 
 make us feel that something must be done to dispose of so large a stock. 
 
 We had reports from various quarters that flour was now declining in 
 price, and the warm season commencing would endanger the souring of 
 all or nearly all the flour that might lie over till the month of September. 
 
230 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1829. 
 
 SELLING FLOUR IN PITTSBURGH. 
 
 Under these considerations, I and my brother John came to the con- 
 clusion that I must without longer delay mount a horse and go to Pitts- 
 burgh and try to make sale of what I could, and at such prices by agree- 
 ment as I could get. 
 
 Accordingly I mounted a young mare of my own raising, which was 
 a colt from the old dun mare that brought me so safe over the Ohio 
 River by swimming, and this young mare was the best piece of horse 
 flesh I ever raised. 
 
 The first afternoon I rode to Florence, twelve miles from Steubenville 
 eastward, and there put up at a tavern kept by John Norton, brother of 
 Thomas Norton, who at that time and for many years afterward kept the 
 " Black Bear" tavern, a noted place of stopping in Steubenville. 
 
 The next day I passed on to McFarland's tavern, twelve miles farther, 
 where I stopped and watered, and then went on twelve miles farther to 
 Pittsburgh, crossed the Monongahela bridge, turned to the left off Smith- 
 field street, passed on into Wood Street, and went up that street till I 
 came to widow Sturgeon's old noted tavern stand, where I put up for the 
 night. I remained for three days in the city and sold several small lots 
 of flour and two large lots, one of them being 300 barrels, to a man 
 named Hazlett, all of which I sold at five dollars a barrel. I contracted 
 with a captain of a keel-boat, to run down to the warehouse at the mouth 
 of Rush Run, and take in and carry up to Pittsburgh 500 barrels of 
 flour, for which I would pay him delivered at the wharf at the foot of 
 Wood Street the sum of 3154^ cents a barrel. On the morning of the 
 fourth day, after breakfast I paid my bill, which was only one dollar a 
 day for myself and horse, and mounted my noble young mare and 
 started for home. She was so spirited that I reached Steubenville by 
 noon, and home that evening. 
 
 The keel-boat had already arrived and was nearly loaded, for the captain 
 had left Pittsburgh the evening before, and I contracted with him to return 
 and take up another load of 500 barrels. I then returned to Pittsburgh 
 on a second trip, this time going round by Big Beaver and Brighton, but 
 could sell no flour at these places, and I went on round through Econ- 
 omy, where I saw gangs of the Economites out in their fields, both men 
 
1829.] FAMILY HISTORY. 231 
 
 and women, cutting and binding barley. On a third trip to Pittsburgh, 
 I sold flour at five dollars and some at four dollars and seventy-five cents, 
 and left my agent, Mr. Flstep, in whose warehouse I had my flour stored, 
 to sell what he could, while I went up to Laurel Hill to visit my brother 
 David, and also my brother-in-law William Andrews, living on the old 
 Kithcart homestead just under the Chestnut Ridge. 
 
 I returned to Pittsburgh after a few days, and collected my money due 
 for flour, and went up stairs to my room to make my money secure. 
 
 ALARM ABOUT ROBBERS. 
 
 I then took a large bandanna handkerchief, and laid all the bills in it 
 in two rows endwise, and rolled them up to the amount of §1,700, and 
 tied it round my waist. 
 
 That night though it was very warm, I slept with my pants and vest 
 buttoned on me, but it so happened that some time in the night I became 
 very much alarmed, and no wonder, having so much money tied on my 
 body. I was lying on my back and sound asleep, and no bed cover on 
 me, the night being very hot, when I was waked up by the fingers of two 
 hands of some one pinching me with these fingers. This feeling with 
 the fingers before I waked caused me to groan heavily, and my first 
 thought when I was awake enough to think, was that some black-leg had 
 come to rob me ; but before I had time to speak, the man spoke very 
 soothingly, saying: " Stranger, don't be alarmed; I have lost the way to 
 my room." I then spoke a little excited and half mad at the dunce for 
 losing his way, and straggling into my room to alarm and waken me out 
 of so sound a sleep. I told him that his room was just across the way, 
 and he passed over to it, while I lay a^vake till my excitement ceased, 
 and I then fell asleep again and slept sound till morning. After break- 
 fast I paid my bill and started for home arriving there safe. I made a 
 fourth trip to Pittsburgh early in August to complete the selling of the 
 flour, and put the price down to four dollars, and had good success in 
 selling at that price, but when it had all been sold but 1 15 barrels, it was 
 found that some of it was getting sour, and I shipped the whole of 
 the 115 barrels back to our mill, and there I thoroughly examined it, 
 and found forty-five barrels of perfectly sweet flour. The rest we mixed 
 with fresh bran and new flour and bolted it over in September, and as 
 
232 THE SHERKARD FAMILY. [1829. 
 
 flour had now raised in price to eight dollars a barrel, we sold this mixed 
 flour for six dollars. 
 
 SALE OF RUSH RUN MILLS. 
 
 In the month of October, 1829, our old partner, William Wood, and 
 his son Joshua, came down from Smithfield to see about the purchase of 
 our half of the Rush Run Mills. 
 
 They stopped with my brother John and made known their errand to 
 him, and he brought them over the Run into my yard, and called me 
 out, where Joshua made known to me that he wished to buy out our 
 share, being the one-half of the mill-property, offering us for it the sum 
 of ^2000, and asking for possession immediately. If they could not buy 
 us out, then they would sell out their half to us for ;gi8oo; but I ob- 
 served that we had not the money and were not able to buy it. But 
 William Wood said he did not wish the money, but only our obligation 
 at six per cent, interest, and we might take our own time to pay the 
 principal. I took my brother John to one side, and told him that if he 
 would join me, we would buy old William Wood out; but John replied 
 that he would not, for he would rather sell to Joshua Wood at his offer 
 now. He further said that old Robert Patterson had said that mill 
 property was hardly worth having, and Patterson said he would sell out 
 if he could get an offer. John further observed that our mill would 
 soon need a great deal of repair ; a new roof was now wanting, a new 
 water-wheel and master cog-wheel, and a new superfine bolting-cloth. 
 He thought that this was the very time for us to sell, when we had so 
 good an offer from Joshua Wood. We went back and told him that if 
 he would find me employment till April i, 1830, and give us the use of 
 the mill to grind out our stock of wheat, we would give him up the mill 
 November 14th coming. But Joshua said he must have the house that I 
 occupied for his family to live in. John proposed that he would take 
 Rebecca Sherrard and her two boys in with him, and I could crowd 
 into the house we had built for Rebecca two years before. But I de- 
 murred at the idea of leaving my good, comfortable house that I had 
 been chiefly at the expense of building. But to ease me off, old William 
 Wood and brother John promised to allow me something as a compen- 
 sation for leaving my own house ; but when we made a final settlement, 
 
1829] FAMILY HISTORY. 233 
 
 and I mentioned to tliem what they had promised me for my Iea\-ing 
 my own house to Joshua, old WiUiam said he would give nothing, and 
 John said he would do nothing, and so the matter ended. 
 
 And as to William Wood, he had some reason for this failure, for it 
 was the first time I ever knew him to fail in his promise, for he was a 
 man above most of men, having a first-rate, sterling principle ; and this 
 I had reason to know by being in partnership with him for eighteen years 
 from the fall of iSii. It might be that he thought I had made a good 
 winter's work of it, and so I had. 
 
 And as to my brother John, he had the hardest part of the bargain, 
 having to keep Rebecca and her two boys all winter and a part of 
 the next summer, until Sarah, John's wife, quarreled with Rebecca, 
 and was the means of her leaving. Rebecca got Matthew Tennant's 
 loom-shop, and set up housekeeping in it, and lived there till November 
 15, 1 83 1, when I removed her and her two boys to my brother David's 
 house and home in Fayette County, Pa. 
 
 SEEKING A NEW HOME. 
 
 W^e had now sold our share in the old mill property, and I and 
 John had to look out for a new home each. 
 
 I started out to see if I could find a quarter section to purchase, and 
 was offered the farm on which 'Squire Dawson then lived, and where 
 he many years afterwards died, situated on the public road leading from 
 La Grange to Smithfield, and about one and one half miles east of old 
 Centre Church, containing 150 acres, at ;§io an acre, but I refused the 
 offer ; yet up to the time of his death Dawson made money and a good 
 living on that farm by industry and good management. 
 
 I also had the offer of 160 acres owned at that time by William Sim- 
 eral in Cross Creek township adjoining White's farm at $\o an acre. 
 Either of these farms was worth all that was asked, but I went further 
 in seeking, but found none to please me, and so I rested easy for the 
 time being. Finally my mother-in-law told me to rest easy and make 
 my arrangements to move on to her farm in the spring and farm it, and 
 take time to look out a farm to purchase, and I agreed to do so. 
 
 And now that fall of 1829 the time soon came round for my family to 
 move and let the family of Joshua Wood move in, and my family 
 
234 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1829. 
 
 moved for the winter on November 14th into the little house that had 
 been built for Rebecca Sherrard up the Run, just across the road from 
 the mill-dam, and there we remained till April i, 1830. 
 
 The fall of 1829 was an exceedingly busy season with myself and my 
 brother John, for besides the extra work the sale of the mill property 
 brought on us, I had been chosen and appointed by my old friend John 
 Jackson, as one of the Executors of his will, and William Matthews the 
 other, he being from Smithfield. John Jackson, who was one of the first 
 elders of Centre Church, died October 24, 1829, and during the five 
 years previous William Matthews and myself had been associated with 
 him as elders in that church. During his last illness, while I was on a 
 visit to Mr. Jackson, he asked me to serve as one of his Executors, and 
 he gave me his will to keep, and after his death I took it to court and 
 had it proved and recorded. 
 
 He was an honest and good man, and it was hard at that day or this 
 to find his equal in every respect ; for twenty years before his death Mr. 
 Jackson had done much to have the church of Centre started and built 
 up, and to have preaching there as often as circumstances would admit. 
 He was elected Justice of the Peace about 1820, but he held it only a 
 short time till he resigned, as he would not be bothered with the office, 
 but he accepted and held the office of County Commissioner for the 
 space of twenty years, but was obliged to decline serving at last. Dur- 
 ing the many years that he was Commissioner of Jefferson County he 
 showed his kindness to me by having me appointed by their Board to 
 go at least once a year, and some years oftener, with two others as the 
 law directed, and view, lay out, or alter roads, as at that earlj' day there 
 was a great want of many new roads to be laid out in different parts of 
 the country. 
 
 It was during the following January of 1830 that my wife's mother, Mrs. 
 Hindman, came over on a visit to see us at Rush Run, and while with 
 us her cousin, the Rev. Richard Campbell, pastor of the Three Springs 
 Presbyterian Church above HoUiday's Cove, Va., came over on a visit, 
 bringing Mr. John Orr along. Finding that his cousin was not at home 
 they came on over to our house, and there Mr. Orr first met Mrs. Hind- 
 man, which resulted in their marriage April 15, 1830. 
 
 At length the time was drawing near for the removal of my family 
 
1830.] FAMIL Y HISTOR Y. 235 
 
 from Rush Run to Pleasant Hill, and about the middle of March I took 
 my wife over to her mother's, and I returned to the mill to assist the 
 colored man, John Caterden, to attend the mill. 
 
 One week later I returned to mother Hindman's to see how they 
 were all getting along, and well I did, for the next morning I had to 
 go to Smithfield and bring Dr. William Wood, and in due time I had a 
 young son born to me March 24, 1830. This son was named John 
 Hindman, after his mother's father, John Hindman deceased. I returned 
 to the mill the next day, but by Saturday evening I came back to Pleas- 
 ant Hill to see how my wife and young son were getting along. 
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 1830-1833. 
 LIFE AT PLEASANT HILL- 
 
 THE 1st of April, 1830, arrived, and all was bustle and stir in and 
 about our house, packing up and preparing to be off to our new 
 home over at Pleasant Hill, six miles away, and with the remain- 
 der of my family and movables we arrived safe at the house of mother- 
 in-law. 
 
 I had spent eighteen years and three and a half months at Rush Run, 
 and in these long years I had seen many a hard day's work done in and 
 out of the mill ; and now when I had got away from the turmoil and 
 care and anxiety of a public life, I became more contented and happy 
 on Pleasant Hill farm and my new home than I had ever been in any 
 other place or home in my life. 
 
 In a few days after moving I went back to Rush Run and settled 
 with Joshua Wood for all that was coming to me for my work during 
 the winter. 
 
 The next event, only two weeks after our moving, was the marriage 
 
2.36 THE SHERRARD EAaMILY. [1830. 
 
 of mother-in-law to Mr. Orr, and she then left us the next day for her 
 new home over in the Cove. 
 
 During the summer of 1830 I made a final settlement with old Wil- 
 liam Wood, who had been our partner for eighteen years in the mil). 
 He was a model Quaker of sterling, honest principle. I also settled 
 all old standing accounts with my brother John, some of which had been 
 standing unsettled for several years. My brother John continued his 
 residence at the old mill for the present year. 
 
 It was during this summer that I brought my mother up from John's 
 at Rush Run on a visit to see my family. 
 
 She had a strong desire to see her grandson John, and also all the 
 other older grandchildren. My mother staid with us for several weeks, 
 and during this stay she expressed her desire to come and make her 
 home with us, but as my brother John had her money in his hands, and 
 that had always been her home, and as I and my wife knew that it 
 would not be long till mother would tire with the noise and prattle of 
 seven children, we thought it best not to encourage her desire to live 
 with us. 
 
 And as mother had expressed a desire to go up to Fayette County 
 to visit her son David, I wrote to him to that effect that she wished to 
 visit him and her old brother, David Cathcart, and he did come down 
 v/ith his carriage in September and took mother up to his house, where 
 she remained till her death, in 1833. 
 
 My brother David, while he was down, made arrangements with 
 Rebecca Sherrard, widow of my deceased brother Thomas for her with 
 her two sons to move up to his farm, and he would build her a small 
 and neat house not far from his own house, so that he might have the 
 opportunity of helping her to raise, support and school her boys, and 
 that they might have the opportunity of learning to work, so that they 
 could make a living as they passed on through the world. 
 
 About the ist of September, 1830, I took a trip out to Fremont and 
 made a final settlement with Col. Chambers, who was joint administrator 
 with me in settling up the estate of my deceased brother Thomas, and I 
 had found him a very efficient partner in the business from first to last. 
 Returning on my homeward way I stopped at Coshocton to see John- 
 son, the clerk of the Court, with whom I had left the land warrant for 
 
1830.] FAMILY HISTORY. 237 
 
 I oo acres of military land the December of 1825. I found that he was 
 dead, and that he had never located the land in Coshocton County. 
 His widow returned to me the warrant, and demanded of me $\ for her 
 husband's trouble, which I cheerfully paid, and I then left Coshocton 
 and came on to Cambridge in Guernsey County, where I staid all night. 
 From there I went out seven miles west where my farm was located 
 that I had purchased in April, 18 16, with the money received from my 
 first wife shortly after we were married. I had a tenant on the land by 
 the name of Tulk, but I found that he was doing but little good for 
 himself, and far less for me, and in order that I might find better use 
 for my money vested in said land, I left word that I would sell it at 
 ;^500, and very low at that for one hundred and si.xty acres, with fifteen 
 acres cleared and fenced. 
 
 On my homeward way, near Cambridge, I overtook a young man 
 riding a young horse of three years of age, and as I was on the 
 lookout for a good work horse, I bought this one from the young 
 man for ;^6o, and brought him home with me. And I would here re- 
 mark that this horse proved to be one of the most gentle and serviceable 
 that I ever owned ; except Tom horse that I now have, and which I 
 raised from my own stock of horses. Tom horse is descended on the 
 mother's side from the stock known forty or fifty years ago as the 
 " Marquis of Granby," and on the sire's side as the " Defiance," and a 
 better breed of horses I never owned. That horse that I bought at 
 Cambridge lived to be twenty-nine or thirty years old, and his name 
 was " Fox." I had not been long at home till a man named John Bur- 
 ress, from Pennsylvania, who had been out near Cambridge and had 
 seen my farm there and had heard that it was for sale, called to see me, 
 and purchased it on the conditions of ^400 cash in hand, and the bal- 
 ance on interest till paid. 
 
 My aim was to sell this land, and also the quarter section out on Sugar 
 Creek, in Wayne County, and also the farm of eighty-two acres on which we 
 were now living, that formerly belonged to John Hindman, deceased, as 
 I had lately purchased the interest of Betsy Hindman and her mother in 
 this farm, and with the cash thus realized purchase a larger farm. 
 
238 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1830. 
 
 THAT LAND WARRANT AGAIN. 
 
 Some time after my return from Cambridge, having received from the 
 widow of Johnson the Land Warrant that belonged to the estate of my 
 deceased brother Thomas, which he had got from one John McClain 
 down the Mississippi in 1818, and not knowing how or where now to 
 find military land to lay it on, and as I had been offered in Cambridge, 
 in June, 1825, by a land speculator named Beatty $40 for it, I concluded 
 that as administrator of my brother's estate, I would sell it as personal 
 property. 
 
 Under that impression I offered it to old Jack Lockard, who then lived 
 on the next farm, for ;^50, but he was not willing to close the bargain 
 until he would send the number and date of it to Humphrey H. Leavitt, 
 who was then in Congress, to see if it was good. Judge Leavitt wrote 
 back to Lockard that it was a good warrant, but at the same time he 
 wrote to me not to sell the warrant, but send it to him, and he would 
 exchange it for scrip that would be worth ^125. According to Judge 
 Leavitt's advice I sent the warrant to him, and he returned me the scrip, 
 which I kept safe till the two heirs became of full age, at which time they 
 signed the scrip over to me to cancel in part a debt due to me from the 
 estate of my brother Thomas. However, some time after I had received 
 the scrip I took it with me to Steubenville and showed it to Lawyer 
 Stokely, and asked him if I could sell it as personal property belonging 
 to the heirs of my deceased brother Thomas, and he said that I could 
 not, because it had certainly something of realty about it, and he advised 
 me to place the scrip in the hands of my brother David, as he was the 
 guardian of the minor heirs, and suggested that the guardian should pe- 
 tition the Orphans' Court at Uniontown, and the Court would order him 
 to sell it to me, and my claim would thereby in part be paid. 
 
 This I did, and the guardian took advice of a lawyer in Uniontown 
 named Piper, and he said at once that the Court would not listen to such 
 a thing, unless the guardian could make it appear that the scrip must be 
 sold to pay for clothing or support of these minor heirs. And this ad- 
 vice put a quietus on any further proceedings about the sale of said 
 scrip. I finally sold the scrip to my son Robert for ^100, it being 
 
1830.] FAMILY HISTORY. 239 
 
 worth on its face $\2i,, and it did purchase for him lOO acres of 
 good land in the southwest corner of Missouri. 
 
 A CHURCH LAWSUIT. 
 
 During the fall of 1830 I had a lawsuit before 'Squire Dawson with 
 Joshua Carroll. This suit arose from the stubbornness of Joshua Car- 
 roll in refusing to pay his subscription to support the preaching of the 
 gospel at old Centre Church. Joshua, when a young and single man, tried 
 to cut a wide swath. He was very outsetting, and wished to be noticed by 
 young females, as it was his intention some day to take one home for a 
 housekeeper. And when the subscription paper was passed around at 
 old Centre meeting-house, the fall of 1 821, to raise funds to support 
 the Rev. Jacob Cozard for half his time at Centre, Joshua Carroll was 
 up as high as several other subscribing members. 
 
 He put down $4 to be paid yearly, and Joshua did pay up his 
 subscription for the first year, but paid no more till I, as Treasurer 
 of the church compelled him by bringing suit before 'Squire Dawson. 
 The Carroll family all left Centre Church the fall of 1826, and in 
 defending the suit I claimed no more than for the time the family 
 attended. Joshua made a lame defense, but it was a plain case, and 
 the 'Squire gave judgment for the full amount of my claim of ^16 as 
 agent of the congregation. 
 
 Joshua Carroll was the only subscriber that I sued, although a number 
 of others deserved suing, for those who willmgly paid up their own lia- 
 bilities had to make up for the delinquencies of others ; and so it is in 
 almost all Presbyterian congregations. 
 
 THE PURCHASE OF PLEASANT HILL. 
 
 Among other transactions I performed the summer of 1830, 1 pur- 
 chased mother Hindman's right of dower in the Pleasant Hill farm, 
 situate on a branch of Mclntyre's fork of Cross Creek, called Slab Camp. 
 It got its name from the circumstance that some old hunters in very 
 early times made it a point to come over in the fall season, when the 
 Indians were peaceable, and hunt; and for a shelter by night, or when it 
 rained, they split puncheons and split slabs, and built a hut and covered 
 it, and that gave the name of " Slab Camp " to the small creek or run 
 
240 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1830. 
 
 that formed a part of Mclntyre stream, and this camp was occupied by 
 deer hunters from across the Ohio River for many years. 
 
 When I purchased mother Hindman Orr's right of dower in the 
 eighty-two acre farm on Pleasant Hill, section 25, township 6, range 2, 
 Cross Creek township, Jefferson County, Ohio, for ^155, together with 
 her share of eight acres of wheat in the ground, I paid that sum into the 
 hand of her husband, John Orr, and took of them a quitclaim. 
 
 I next purchased the right in the said eighty-two acres of land of 
 Betsy Hindman, sister to my wife, Jane Hindman, for the sum of $450, 
 for which I gave her my notes with six per cent, interest, adding into 
 these notes what would be Betsy's share of the grain in the ground, and 
 had a deed of her undivided share of the one-half of the eighty-two 
 acres. 
 
 And now I had a snug little farm and a home of my own without any 
 let or hindrance, with which I could do as I pleased. I would here re- 
 mark how I came at the worth of mother Hindman Orr's right of dower 
 in the farm ; I asked mother-in-law how much the eighty-two acres 
 would rent for a year, and she replied that it would rent for ;^40 a year. 
 I then said that her share of the $d,o a year would be ^(3.33. She was 
 at the time fifty-two years old, and her husband, Mr. Orr, was sixty- 
 six years old. How long, then, would she live to enjoy the rent of the 
 eighty-two acre farm ? 
 
 Well, seeing that the life of man is set at seventy years, I said that she 
 might live to seventy years, or she might die to-morrow, as life is very 
 uncertain. In justice, then, take the one-half between fifty-two and 
 seventy, which is nine years. 
 
 The amount of rent then coming to her for nine yeai^s would be nine 
 times ^13.33, or $120, leaving an allowance of ,^35 for her share of wheat 
 in the ground. And the calculation came out right, for it so happened 
 and it was so ordered that mother Orr did not live quite the nine years 
 out, for this transaction was about the first of May, 1830, and she 
 died February 4, 1839. 
 
 DRAWING A WILL. 
 
 Some time in the course of the year 1830 I was called upon to go and 
 draw the will of old William McClelland, which I did. This will I kept 
 
1830.] FAMILY HISTURV. 241 
 
 no copy of, but recollect that as the testator had but one son, a lawful 
 heir, the farm and all the personal property was left to that son, and to 
 his son's lawful heirs forever; and it might be construed that this will 
 entailed the real estate. 
 
 I added in the will that the old man's son and only heir should have 
 libert}^ at any time he saw proper to sell and to convey the same for his 
 benefit and the benefit of his children. And notwithstanding this turn- 
 ing clause was put in, yet it was afterwards construed to be a will giving 
 an entailment of the real property to the old man's grandchildren, which 
 was not the case. 
 
 Some years after the old man's death, a certain Peter Runyon con- 
 tracted with young William McClelland for the farm, but on his becom- 
 ing alarmed about the possibility of an entailment, he secured a copy of 
 this clause of the will and sent it out to Cadiz, and had Josiah Scott, a 
 prominent, honest and reliable lawyer, to e.xamine it, and his advice to 
 Runyon was to have nothing to do with it, for there certainly was an 
 entailment in said will. 
 
 So Peter went back on his contract. However, the sequel will show 
 the difference in the opinion of two good lawyers, for not long after 
 this old Finley McGrew purchased the same farm of young William 
 McClelland, not having the fear of an entailment before his eyes, and he 
 deeded his farm to his son, James McGrew. Some few years after that, 
 James McGrew and Harlem Ong, son of Finley, took it into their heads 
 to swap farms, and then, not long after, young Harlem Ong heard of the 
 entailment, and began to fear its possible consequences, and wanted James 
 McGrew to rue baigain, which he refused to do. But McGrew proposed 
 to young Ong to come to me, and I went with them to town, and there 
 I met with old Finley McGrew and old Finley Ong. ■ The latter imme- 
 diately asked me if I was afraid of an entailment on that farm, and I told 
 him I was not. He then asked me if I would be willing to swap my 
 farm for it, and I said I would provided I got boot enough. We then 
 went to the Clerk's office and examined the will, and I explained to 
 them, that fearing I was going to make an entailment, I changed the run 
 of the will by the testator giving his son liberty at any time he thought 
 proper to sell the farm for his benefit and the benefit of his heirs. But 
 all that I said did not satisfy young Ong, but he asked me to go into the 
 i6 
 
242 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1830. 
 
 Court House, for the Court was in session at the time, and bring into the 
 Clerk's office Lawyer Edwin M. Stanton, who is now, June 22, 1865, 
 Secretary of War. I did so, and Stanton asked leave of the Court for 
 absence for a few moments, and on examination of the record of the will, 
 he told those present there was no entailment there, and then turning to 
 me he remarked that that was just such a will as he himself would have 
 drawn, and I replied that I had drawn that will. 
 
 A lawyer's fee. 
 
 Harlem Ong then asked Stanton what his charge was, and Stanton 
 replied : " Five dollars.'' Young Ong paid him the five dollars for about 
 five minutes' service, and Stanton went back to the court room. Soon 
 after that I said I must go home, and I was asked my charge, and I said : 
 " Half-a-dollar," which Ong paid me in silver, and I was home by noon, 
 well content that I had made fifty cents in three hours. But I could 
 but reflect how great a difference there was between a lawyer's and a 
 farmer's conscience ; the lawyer must have five dollars for his advice and 
 five minutes' service, while the other loses three hours and gives his 
 opinion for fifty cents. 
 
 But all this trouble and expense did not satisfy Harlem Ong. He 
 had got entailment on the brain so strongly fixed that he did not believe 
 either lawyer Stanton or me, but afterwards teazed James McGrew for a 
 rue bargain ; and at length McGrew told Ong he would rue bargain, and 
 deed back Ong's old farm to him if he would give him ^500, which Ong 
 gave him, and James IVIcGrew still to this day occupies that old " en- 
 tailed " McClelland farm. 
 
 I have written this much to show that part of my history lay mixed 
 up in this entailment. This year 1830 was a busy year with me, and I 
 do not recollect that I ever went through so many varied scenes in any 
 year of my life either before or since. 
 
 A VISIT TO FAYETTE COUNTY. 
 
 When my brother David was down the fall of 1830 and took our 
 mother home with him, he made arrangements with our sister-in-law 
 Rebecca to come up to Fayette County, and he would build her a house 
 on his farm where she and her two boys could live. Accordingly, he 
 
1831.] FAMILY HISTORY. 243 
 
 wrote to me tlie fall of 1831 that as I and my wife were expecting that 
 fall to come up on a visit to his house and the friends in that county, if 
 I would bring Rebecca and her boys along, he would pay the expenses 
 of their trip. 
 
 I then made all the arrangements, and took my own dearborn wagon, 
 in which I and my wife and Rebecca rode, and I borrowed my brother 
 John's wagon and two horses, and hired Alexander Lockard to drive 
 this team, with which he took the boys and the household goods that 
 Rebecca had to move. We started on the morning of November 15, 
 1831, and we occupied three days and two nights making the journe\'> 
 when we arrived at my brother David's, and saw my mother and old 
 Uncle David Cathcart, all glad to see us. After visiting the relatives of 
 my first wife, William Andrews, Joseph Cunningham and John Sloanaker, 
 for several days, I and my wife came over into Washington County, and 
 in the town of Washington we staid two nights with my wife Jane's 
 uncle Robert Hindman. We next went over to Richard Hindman's, 
 and staid all night, and then to my wife's great-aunt, Mrs. William 
 Campbell, who was Elizabeth Johnston, where we staid all night. 
 
 And last we went over to old Richard Johnston's, the father of Dr. 
 Thomas Johnson, of Steubenville. We found young Richard Johnson, 
 son of old Richard, lying low in consumption, contracted by getting up 
 in the middle of the cold nights of winter to care for the young Iambs of 
 his father's flock of sheep, and he lived only a month or two after we 
 saw him. From this point near Canonsburg we returned home through 
 Hickory, Burgettstown, Florence and Paris, and the Cove, where we 
 stopped one night at old Father Orr's, and on home through Steuben- 
 ville, where we found Betsy Hindman, whom we had left as caretaker of 
 our family of six children, viz. : Mary Ann, Joseph, David, Elizabeth, 
 Nancy and John; for it must be remembered that son Robert was still 
 with his grandmother Kithcart in Mount Pleasant. We had now been 
 absent from home for a little over three weeks. 
 
 GREAT FLOOD OF 1 83 2. 
 
 Towards the latter part of February, 1832, the great flood in the Ohio 
 River came on, known as the greatest flood in that river for sixty years ; 
 nor has there been any as great from that time to this, although thirty- 
 
244 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1832. 
 
 eight years have rolled round since that flood. The flood in the Ohio 
 River of April 20, 1852, was up near the old mark of 1832, or within 
 one or two feet of it. 
 
 On March 22, 1832, a little daughter was born to us, and in kindness 
 to her mother we called her name Jane. 
 
 She is now (July 4th, 1865) as large as she will ever be, and by this 
 time she has been taught to be useful in life. At the sale of the land on 
 Sugar Creek, Wayne County, Ohio, belonging to the heirs of the Kith- 
 cart estate, it will be remembered that I purchased a quarter section, 
 and this I sold to one Daniel Foulk, February 26, 1831, for the sum of 
 gSoo, — g20O cash in hand, and the balance in annual payments of $200, 
 with interest, April 1st each year, until paid. However, Foulk paid it 
 all up March 19, 1832, and I and my wife made him a good deed of 
 that date, and that was the end of my interest in the Sugar Creek land. 
 
 SIG.A.R HILL F.\RM PURCH.A.SED. 
 
 John Scott, who learned the milling business with me at Rush 
 Run, had rented the Wells Mill, near Steubenville, the spring of 1832, 
 and this had the effect of bringing about a change in my affairs and of 
 my family in many particulars. It so happened that on September 30, 
 1832, I came up to Steubenville on some business, and as usual called 
 down at the mill to see how John Scott and his family were getting 
 along. While there he said to me : " You have said to me that you 
 would like to buy a farm near Steubenville, and now is your chance. 
 For James McWhaw and sons, who purchased a large farm from old 
 James Ross on the hill, on what is called ' Sugar Hill Farm,' have 
 divided the farm into three parts, and are going to sell each of the three 
 divisions to the highest bidder on to-morrow, and now is your chance 
 to buy one of these farms, and you had better stay with us to-night and 
 go up to the sale to-morrow." I took Scott at his word, and staid with 
 him all night, and the next morning I went up to Sugar Hill Farm. It 
 was not long until the sale opened up by offering tract No. i, lying 
 northeast, containing 145 acres. William McDonald, of Steubenville, 
 was the only bidder for that farm, and it was sold to him at $15 an acre. 
 Tract No. 2, lying north of the one that I bought, containing 132 acres, 
 was sold to old Tom Williams at $20.50 an acre. But I rued it sadly 
 
1833] FAMILY HISTORY. 245 
 
 that I did not run it up a little higher and outbid Williams, but I wanted 
 the largest farm of the three, which had the dwelling-house and barn 
 and two large sheep sheds, and the old apple orchard, which was at 
 that time well loaded with apples. I was fearful of going too deep in 
 debt for land at the time, nor did I think of the three quarter sections 
 of land I owned and paid for, — two of them at Sandusky and the other 
 on Sugar Creek, lately sold to Daniel Foulk. But if I had bought that 
 tract that Tom Williams got, and then bid off the farm we now live on, 
 I would have just hit it, for we could have paid for it in four years off 
 its own soil. 
 
 But to return to the sale; when tract No. 3 was put up I bid for it in 
 the house, and old Joseph Robinson bid for it out on the porch, and we 
 ran it up one dollar at a time ; then fifty cents at a time, till it reached 
 $2\ an acre. Then I bid twelve and a half cents more, and Robinson 
 bid thirteen cents ; I bid fourteen and he fifteen, and I bid sixteen, and it 
 was knocked off to me at $21.16 an acre. The conditions of the sales 
 were that the purchaser of these farms must pay $200 down, and April 
 I, 1833, must pay down $1000, at which time McWhaw was to make a 
 deed, and the purchasers were to have eight annual payments with 
 interest. In my tract there were 150 acres, more or less. After the 
 sale I returned to the house of John Scott, and received from him g200 
 that I had loaned to him, and the next day I returned to McWhaw's 
 and paid him down the §200, and articled with him to pay $1000 April 
 1st next. However, when April i, 1833, came, and I went into Steu- 
 benville to meet McWhaw, it was found that old James Ross was not 
 willing to release McWhaw from the mortgage he held for the whole 
 undivided tract, and take a mortgage on each of us three purchasers 
 individually, and allow us eight annual payments. But Ross was willing 
 to give us four years and take a mortgage on us separately, and release 
 McWhaw from his mortgage so that McWhaw could make us our deeds. 
 At length this was agreed to by all the parties, and I paid down my 
 $1000 and received my deed, and the rest was paid in yearly payments 
 at the Mechanics' Bank of Steubenville, with si.x per cent, interest on 
 each payment. 
 
 After the purchase of the farm, October 2, 1832, I had no opportunity 
 of examining the premises particularly, but returned home, and as I 
 
246 THE SHERRARn FAM/LV. [1833. 
 
 went homeward I felt sad, not knowing whether my purchase was good 
 or not. But just one week afterwards I returned to the new farm and 
 brought my wife along, and we took a view of the whole farm, and after 
 this view I became better satisfied with my purchase. Shortly after the 
 20th of October I went to my newly purchased farm, taking David and 
 two work horses along, and we took in the little dearborn wagon provi- 
 sions to last us from Monday till Saturday. My object was first to cut 
 logs to build a work-shop, and then to prepare three acres below the 
 barn for meadow, for there was not one foot of meadow on this farm at 
 that time. 
 
 Nor was there a fruit tree of any kind except the apple orchard, which 
 was all of natural fruit, except four trees of the Gate variety and a few 
 other grafted trees. I went to the nursery of Samuel Wood and bought 
 of him thirty choice grafted apple trees and planted them out ; also two 
 cherry trees, a May Duke and a Marmaduke ; also five choice plum 
 trees, a number of black and red Morello cherry trees, and three Black 
 Heart cherry trees, so that in a few years we had plenty of different 
 kinds of fruits. One evening, while David was with me over at the new 
 farm, we went down and spent the night at John Scott's, and a little 
 girl there, who was employed by Mrs. Scott, had the measles, and it 
 was just at the stage of the disease when it was contagious. David 
 caught the infection and carried it home to the family at Pleasant Hill, 
 and in due time seven of the eight children were down with the measles 
 at one time, but Jane, the baby, did not take them, although exposed 
 to them every day, and she never did have the measles all her life. 
 
 Near the last of January, 1833, I advertised the Pleasant Hill farm 
 for sale, and on February nth I sold it to Robert Brown for the sum 
 of $1050, one-third to be paid on or before the last day of March ne.xt, 
 and the balance in eight equal annual payments of $87.50 each, with 
 interest. 
 
1833.] FAMILY HISTORY. 247 
 
 SECTION XI \". 
 
 1833-1845- 
 
 SUGAR HII.I. FARM. 
 
 ON April I, 1833, I and all the family bade adieu to Pleasant Hill, 
 where my wife, Jane Hindman, was brought up from the time 
 she was six years old, where she and I were married, and where 
 I, in the bosom of my interesting family, spent three of the most happy 
 years of my long life, and it is a pity that I and others cannot at all 
 times enjoy life as I did during those three years after we had left Rush 
 Run and were settled on the farm at Pleasant Hill. 
 
 My wife's sister, Betsy Hindman, had come over from the Cove, 
 where she had her home with her mother, Mrs. Orr, and helped us 
 move. I and my wife and Betsy rode on horseback, and carried the 
 three younger children; I carried Nancy before me, Betsy carried John, 
 and my wife carried Jane, the baby, while the other children walked and 
 drove the cattle, as the distance was about ten miles. 
 
 We arrived at our new home before noon, and as soon as I had my 
 dinner, I left the two hired men, William Meldrum and Robert Hutche- 
 son, to put up bedsteads and dispose of the household goods as my 
 wife might direct, while I was off to town to meet McWhaw and settle 
 about the payments on the farm. 
 
 OUR NEIGHBORS AT SUGAR HILL. 
 
 At this point it is proper to mention something about the neighbors 
 by whom we found ourselves surrounded when we moved to this new 
 home, the spring of 1833. 
 
 This Sugar Hill Farm lies on the high ridge of land two miles south- 
 west from Steubenville, and the house was situated in the middle of 
 the farm east and west, but not more than twenty rods from the northern 
 line of the farm, and on the very dividing ridge where the water at the 
 house would flow to the east toward the Ohio River, or to the west 
 
248 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1833. 
 
 toward Cross Creek, which latter stream was distant a mile and a half. 
 The farm was bounded on the north by the lands of William McDonald 
 and old Torn Williams, recently purchased of McWhaw; on the south 
 by the farm of old Granny Aikens ; on the east by the lands of Thanny 
 and John Wilson ; and on the v/est by the lands of David Foster and 
 Robert McConnell. 
 
 Our nearest neighbors were the McConnells, whose farm adjoined 
 ours on the southwest, separated by a public road, and their house was 
 about half a mile away. 
 
 In this family were Robert McConnell and his wife, whose maiden 
 name was Jane Hawk. Their children were : Joseph, who married first 
 Mary Thompson, and second, Rebecca McClure; Robert Hawk, who 
 married Rebecca Jane Blackburn ; Hannah, who married John Walker ; 
 Eliza Jane, who married Joseph Hook ; Nancy, who married William 
 McDowell ; and Thomas, who died when about two years old. 
 
 Joining McConnell's, on the southwest and southeast, was the farm 
 of Richard lams, whose family consisted of himself, wife and five chil- 
 dren, — Amos, Perry, Andy, Mary Ann and Eleanor, who married Lewis 
 Anderson, of Steubenville. After the death of Richard lams, the farm 
 was sold ; his wife went to live with her daughter Eleanor in town, and 
 the boys went off out west. Part of the farm was purchased by Joseph 
 Gracy, who was married to a daughter of old Mr. Hook, and they had 
 children named Mary, James and Ida. The other part of the lams farm 
 was bought by Robert McConnell, and in one of the fields of that part 
 of the lams farm stood the old log school-house where our children 
 first went to school after we moved into that neighborhood. 
 
 Lying to the south of our farm, and separated by a public road, was 
 the farm of Granny Aikens. It was remarkable for one field which 
 formed a singular knob, and this was the highest point of land in all 
 that region, where there was a fine view in every direction, especially 
 away across the Ohio River into the Pan-Handle of Virginia. Still 
 farther on to the south, past the Granny Aikens place, was the farm of 
 James Erwin. He had married Eleanor Hill, and had first lived in 
 Steubenville, and kept what was known as the " Round Corner " tavern ; 
 but about a year before we came into the neighborhood, they had 
 moved out to this place, which had been a part of the Hill farm. The 
 
1833 ] FAMIL V HISTOR Y. 249 
 
 Erwin children were as follows : Robert, who was a young man of 
 remarkable promise, but he died at the age of nineteen ; Margaret, who 
 married Joseph Blackburn; Rosamond, who married Andrew Gould; 
 Sarah Jane ; Mary, who married Samuel Scott ; Eleanor ; James Wil- 
 liam, who married Adda Barron; John, who married Tillie Abrams, and 
 Samuel, who died young. 
 
 In after years, about 1839, the old school-house on the lams place 
 was abandoned, and a new one was built about twenty rods beyond 
 Ervvin's house, on a corner of the farm of James Hill. It was situated 
 in a grove of large oak trees, and was first known as Hill's school- 
 house, and afterwards as the Oak Grove school-house. The first teacher 
 in this new school-house was Baz. Johnson, and here all of our younger 
 children went to school. This was about three-quarters of a mile from 
 our house. 
 
 South of this school-house about half a mile was the old Hill home- 
 stead, where lived old Robert Hill and his wife, whose maiden name was 
 Rosamond Welsh. Their children were, — George, who married Peggy 
 Odbert, and lived half a mile east of the old homestead until the mar- 
 riage of his brother Joseph in 1848; Stephen, who married Martha 
 Searles and lived in town; John, who died young; Robert, who mar- 
 ried Sally Johnson and lived farther down towards Cross Creek, and 
 carried on the milling business ; James, who married Maria Neff, and 
 lived on the old homestead ; Joseph Welsh, who married our oldest 
 daughter, Mary Ann; Peggy, who married John Hill, of Beallsville, Pa.; 
 and Eleanor, who married James Erwin. The old Hill homestead farm 
 was divided, and the western half fell to James, and the eastern part to 
 Joseph. It was here that George Hill lived in the early days of our 
 coming to the neighborhood, and adjoining that farm still farther to the 
 east was the farm and home of Jeremiah Hallock, Judge of the Court of 
 Common Pleas of this district. He was the son of the Rev. Jeremiah 
 Hallock, of Plainfield, Conn , and, when a young man, came out to Steu- 
 benville, settled down there as a lawyer, united with the Eirst Presbyte- 
 rian Church by profession, and afterwards became an honored elder in 
 that church, and so continued to the day of his death. In his family 
 were his wife and his adopted daughter, who was a niece of his wife's, 
 named Lavinia Annable. She afterwards married Adam Boyd, who 
 
250 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1833. 
 
 lived down on Cross Creek, and afterwards moved out to the vicinity of 
 Council Bluffs, Iowa. In the family of Judge Hallock was also his 
 nephew, Homan Hallock, who afterwards married and lived for years in 
 HoUiday's Cove, and then in Steubenville, and was the father of twelve 
 children (two of whom are the Rev. Gerard B. F. Hallock, of Rochester, 
 N. Y., and the Rev. Robert C. Hallock, of Tennent, N. J.— T. J S.). 
 
 Passing along the public road eastward, about a quarter of a mile 
 from the new school-house, was the home of Thanny Wilson and his 
 sister Nancy, neither of whom were ever married, and a little farther on 
 lived their brother John Wilson, who married Susan Lloyd, and their 
 children were four boys: James, John, Henry and Isaac. 
 
 Southeast of our house half a mile, away down in a deep ravine, just 
 at the point where our farm, the Granny. Aikens farm, and the Wilson 
 farm all joined, there lived in a little log cabin a character in the neigh- 
 borhood named Felix Pryor. He had married a widow by the name of 
 Myers, and their son David Myers lived with them. He has for many 
 years been an enterprising business man of Steubenville. Besides this 
 stepson David Myers, Felix Pryor had two sons of his own by this 
 marriage, and their names were John and Joseph. (David Myers died 
 December i6, 1889.— T. J. S.) 
 
 Across from our farm to the northeast, in the direction of town, there 
 was the farm that William McDonald had purchased of McWhaw, and 
 here afterwards for many years lived a man named Ben Hart, and in 
 after years the property changed hands many tmies. Westward from 
 that, and directly north of us, was the old Tom Williams farm, which 
 for many years has been owned and occupied by his nephew, Obadiah J. 
 Williams. Northwest of that was the farm owned and occupied by 
 David England, and afterwards rented by Robert Thompson ; but the 
 farm is still owned by the England heirs. Westward from England's, 
 and about a mile from our house, was the home of David Foster, who 
 went to California in the days of the gold excitement of '49, and died on 
 his way home. His children were : Mary, who married Mr. Coe ; Kate ; 
 Ephraim ; James ; and Margaret, who married William Grafton and lives 
 in Steubenville. 
 
 About half way over to Foster's, down in the hollow, lived Mrs. 
 Mattie Gamble, who was a niece of old Tom Williams. Her maiden 
 
1833.] FAMILY HISTORY. 251 
 
 name was Mattie Work, and she had married William Gamble, and had 
 children : William, Martha, Thomas, Andy, Mary Jane and John. 
 Directly westward from our house about three-quarters of a mile there 
 h'ved an old and respectable colored man by the name of William West- 
 brook. He was the father of Alex. Westbrook, who lived on my farm 
 in the tenant-house in after years, and was one of the best work hands I 
 ever had. After the death of old William Westbrook the farm passed 
 into other hands, and for years past it has been owned by Robert Hawk 
 McConnell, who has brought up a family of four boys and two girls. 
 Still farther to the west, and about one mile from our house, lived old 
 John Williams and his family. 
 
 His wife was Margaret Crawford, a sister of old Nathaniel Crawford, 
 and their children were : John, who was educated at New Athens Col- 
 lege, read law, and settled in Marion, O. ; Margaret, who married James 
 Kendall; Obadiah Jennings, who married Elizabeth Decker after he had 
 lived for years as an old bachelor ; and Elizabeth, who married a Mr. 
 Charnock in Wheeling. There was another family living between 
 Williams' and Foster's, that of John Sutherland, and he had children 
 Margaret and Alexander. 
 
 These were all near neighbors within about a mile from our house in 
 every direction. There were others who lived farther away, as the 
 Ekeys, and Hooks, and Goulds, and Boyds, and Adamses, and Peelors, 
 and Potters, who lived down at Mingo. 
 
 DIGGING THE WELL. 
 
 There was no well on the premises when we moved to the new farm, 
 but we were obliged to get all our water for house use at a spring several 
 rods away down the hill as we went towards town, and this was very 
 inconvenient. 
 
 Accordingly it was my purpose to have a well dug as soon as possible 
 near the house. That fall of 1833 old Mr. Orr, of Holliday's Cove, who 
 had married my mother-in-law, Mrs. Hindman, came with his wife over 
 on a visit to our house, and in the course of conversation Mr. Orr 
 learned that we were going to have a well dug near the kitchen door. 
 He asked me if I had got any person to tell by means of a forked stick 
 
252 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1834. 
 
 where the stream of water was to be found. I replied that I had not 
 done so, for I did not believe in such folly and superstition. 
 
 He said that he could tell where there was water, and so he went to a 
 thrifty peach tree and cut a forked stick. With this he went two or 
 three times around the house, each time enlarging his circle, until at 
 last, when he had gone about ten rods out beyond where the new stable 
 now stands, he stopped and said there was water here. 
 
 I said that I did not want to dig a well there, for it was too far away 
 from the house. It was very likely that there was water where he had 
 indicated, for there was a natural depression of the ground in that par- 
 ticular place, which gradually formed into a ravine below the barn where 
 a spring came out, but Mother Orr and I were diverted at seeing Mr. 
 Orr searching for water with a forked stick, for neither of us believed in 
 such things. 
 
 Coming home from the annual election that fall of 1833, the second 
 Tuesday of October, I fell in with an old Smithfield acquaintance named 
 John Pool, and I hired him for $\o a month to come and work for me, 
 particularly in digging the well, as he said he was up to that kind of 
 work. The first day he went down eight feet, but at the depth of thir- 
 teen feet he came on a hard, slaty substance, so that in eleven days he 
 had gone down only twenty-two feet. 
 
 Pool then left after the end of his month, for he would not stay any 
 longer, and the well had to stand still for a whole year. Then the fall 
 of 1834 I went all the way out to Stillwater, where Pool lived, and 
 brought him in and set him to work in the well once more. But it was 
 no go, for Pool was not contented, and after only three days' work he 
 complained that the dampness in the well gave him the " ager," as he 
 called it, so I paid him and sent Joseph with him part of the way home 
 to take him on a horse, and I never saw John Pool after that. 
 
 Pool had the bump of the marvellous largely developed in him, for no 
 man could tell a story full of exaggeration but he would match it. He 
 had gone on a flatboat in 1817 down to New Orleans, and when he got 
 home he had many marvellous stories to tell of what he had seen during 
 his trip. Among other curiosities that Pool had seen was a thousand 
 dollar bank note on the United States Bank, a branch of which was lo- 
 cated in New Orleans. 
 
1835.] FAI\IILY HISTORY. 253 
 
 Some one present remarked that that was a very large note, meaning 
 the amount, when Pool said : " Yes, I declare it was as big as a news- 
 paper." The well was finally finished by a man from town named 
 Fisher, who blasted out the rock till the well reached the depth of thirty- 
 six feet. 
 
 A small stream of water had already been secured, and as there was 
 no increase in the amount of water, I ordered Fisher to stop work, and 
 bargained with him to wall up the well for the sum of ;$3, and this he 
 did. 
 
 When he first came to work at the well he asked me who had searched 
 out that place for a well, and I replied that I selected the place for its 
 convenience, and did not believe in water-witches, nor anything of that 
 kind. 
 
 Fisher, however, got a forked stick, and went round and round the 
 house with the stick in his hand, and at length stopped at the side of the 
 well, and told me that I had hit the very spot. 
 
 My fifth daughter and ninth child was born July 31, 1834, and she was 
 called Susanna Cathcart for my old aunt, the wife of old Uncle David 
 Cathcart. 
 
 The spring of 1835 I and the boys Joseph and David began to clear 
 the ground on the south side of the farm around where the square log 
 house now stands, and that summer I employed old Alex. Grimes to 
 hew logs and make shingles for that tenant house, but it was not raised 
 and completed till 1837. In the latter part of March, 1835, I had our 
 threshing done for the first time by a common large threshing machine, 
 which required from four to six horses to keep up sufificient power, and 
 ten hands to do the work, exclusive of the one who fed the machine and 
 the one who drove the horses. Previous to this time I had always had 
 my crops tramped out with horses. But now, at this early period of 
 threshing with a machine, the sheaves had all to be loosed by hand, as it 
 was thought that if cut the tie would break out the spikes. 
 
 It was in May, 1835, that I became security for John Scott the miller 
 to old John England in the sum of ^500, and in this I lost heavily, for 
 Scott broke up completely, and it cost me over ^looo, principal and in- 
 terest, before I had done with it. So much for going security — a lesson 
 learned by experience in a dear school, which may be a warning to me 
 
254 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1836. 
 
 and my posterity. This, with what I lost by going security for old 
 Harry Swearingen, made ;§i8oo. 
 
 In January, 1836, my brother John and I made arrangements to go 
 on a visit together to Fayette County, Pa., to see our old Uncle David 
 Cathcart, and I took my daughter, Mary Ann, along. We found our 
 brother David and his wife Betsy well, and also old Uncle Cathcart, 
 although in two months from that time, on March 17th, he would be 
 ninety-two years of age. He remarked to me, however, that he was 
 weak and tottery on his feet, and I noticed this weakness in his limbs 
 when he would walk across the floor. And I further noticed at that 
 time that his Highland Scotch visage, his high and large cheek bones 
 appeared to want that amount of flesh to cover them that was noticed 
 in former days. But he lived on till the month of June, 1836, when he 
 breathed his la.st. He was a good man and was much respected 
 wherever he resided, for he was a God-fearing man and always acted 
 from a conscientious principle. He was buried in the old Laurel 
 Hill grave-yard, beside his wife, Susanna Guthridge, who had died April 
 21, 1826. 
 
 He was the eldest son of Alexander Cathcart and his wife Ann Gam- 
 ble, and a full brother of my mother, Mary Cathcart. He was born in 
 County Fermanagh, Ireland, March 17, 1744, old style; was married to 
 Susannah Guthridge September 3, 1770; left Ireland, with his wife, 
 August 10, 1772 ; came to America and settled at a mill in Nottingham 
 Township, Chester County, Pa., not far from New London Cross Roads, 
 where his uncle, Andrew Gamble, was already settled, at Thunder Hill. 
 Here he remained till the spring of 1780, when with his father and sister 
 Mary he removed west of the mountains, and settled in Fayette County, 
 Pa., where he died. His wife Susannah was born in County Fermanagh, 
 Ireland, December 5, 1748. 
 
 Our old uncle had been very deaf for the last fifty years of his life. 
 
 TRIP NORTHWEST WITH JOSEPH W. HILL. 
 
 On Wednesday, October 26, 1836, I and our neighbor, Joseph W. 
 Hill, left home after dinner on a journey to Sandusky City, and thence 
 to the town of Fremont. We proceeded that evening as far as my 
 brother John's, four miles west of Smithfield, where we lodged the first 
 
1836.] FAMILY HISTORY. 255 
 
 night. The next day we passed onward on our trip, and stopped a 
 night at New Philadelphia, and then on through Wooster to the home 
 of Thomas Andrews, my brother-in-law, by two o'clock Saturday 
 afternoon. Late that evening we went over to visit the family of Thomas 
 Kithcart, where we staid over Sabbath. Thomas Andrews died two 
 years after this, September i8, 1838, and left two boys, Joseph and 
 Thomas, who both became ministers in the United Presbyterian Church, 
 and were both strong advocates of Rouse's Version of the Psalms of 
 David. Thomas died young of consumption in September, 1S65, and 
 Joseph died of the same disease June 19, 1869, he being at that time 
 pastor of the U. P. Church of Wellsville, O. 
 
 On Monday we left the house of Thomas Kithcart, and went on our 
 way, stopping for the night at a little town called Rome. At this 
 tavern, where we stopped, they had a little gathering to pare apples and 
 stir apple butter, but we had no invitation to join in with their sports. 
 
 In the morning after breakfast we paid each seventy-five cents for our 
 two meals and lodging, as well as our horse feed, and this was the com- 
 mon charge all along our way. 
 
 From this town we passed on through half a dozen small towns, and 
 finally stopped for the night at a tavern eight miles from Sandusky City, 
 but the next morning we rode on to Sandusky City, which is on the 
 bay which opens out into the main body of the waters of Lake Erie. 
 From this place we made our way southward toward Fremont, until we 
 came to a place over to the northeast of Fremont. 
 
 In this vicinity, lying on both sides of Little Pickerel Creek, was my 
 quarter section of land which my brother Thomas had entered for me in 
 July, 1822, and which I had never yet seen. We staid all night with a 
 man named Higly, who lived just across the creek from my land, and 
 the next morning he took us all over my land to see it. 
 
 From there we passed on up eight miles to the town of Fremont, 
 where we did not detain long, but rode on out about two miles to 
 Rideout's, where, after dinner, I got Mr. Rideout to go with us and 
 show us the three quarter sections of land that belonged to my brother 
 John and myself, and also to the heirs of my brother Thomas, and my 
 object was to see if any timber had been taken away, but I found that 
 nothing of that kind had been done. 
 
256 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1836. 
 
 We returned to Rideout's and staid all night, and the next morning 
 we came into the town of Fremont. This was November 4, 1836, the 
 day of the Presidential election. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1 836. 
 
 I felt inclined to get my vote cast for General William Henry Harri- 
 son, as he was the Whig candidate, while Martin Van Buren was the 
 Loco Foco, or Democratic candidate. However, my first object in 
 leaving home and coming here was to obtain from the Clerk of the Court 
 a statement of the indebtedness of the estate of Thomas G. Sherrard to 
 me as Administrator. As I held scrip worth $125 as a part of the assets 
 of the estate, I wished to obtain an order from the Orphans' Court of 
 Fayette County, Pa., ordering the guardian of the two minor children 
 of Thomas G. Sherrard, William J. and Thomas, to sell me the said scrip 
 to satisfy in part my claim against said estate. Another object I had in 
 coming here at this time was to pay taxes on my own two quarters 
 and two quarters of my brother John, and also on the three quarters be- 
 longing to the estate above mentioned. 
 
 I went to the house where the election was held and voted for Harri- 
 son. I had left Joseph Hill at the public house where we had put up, 
 and I felt inclined to let him stay there, that he might have no chance to 
 vote, as he was a Democrat, but I missed my aim. I had gone over the 
 river to see the County Treasurer, Mr. Vandoren, about the taxes, and 
 he soon began to quiz me as to my views about the election, desiring to 
 know the prospect of the election of Harrison in my part of the country, 
 as he pretended to be a fast friend of General Harrison. 
 
 This shameful deceitful conduct of Vandoren put me off my guard, 
 for I thought by his conversation that he was what he pretended to be, 
 a good Whig, and by so doing in deceiving me he drew out of me the 
 fact that I had left my comrade at the tavern, and that I would not take 
 him to the election, for if I did, he being a Democrat, would vote for 
 Van Buren, to the injury of Harrison. 
 
 Mr. Vandoren asked me what tavern we were stopping at, and I told 
 him, not having any suspicion of what his aim was, and as soon as I had 
 left him and was gone to the Auditor's office, Vandoren watched his op- 
 portunity and went to the tavern where he found Joseph Hill and made 
 
1836.] FAMILY HTSTORV. 257 
 
 his acquaintance, and tock him to the election, where they gave him a 
 chance to vote for Van Buren, and he boasted to me afterwards how 
 completely Vandoren had outwitted me, and by so doing had killed my 
 vote. 
 
 OUR JOURNEY HOMEWARD. 
 
 Having completed all my business in town, we left F'remont and came 
 as far as Ballville, opposite Tiffin, where we staid all night, and the next 
 day, November 5th, we passed on through Rome, some twenty miles 
 out from Ballville, and from there we came to Findlay, the county seat 
 of Hancock County. From there we went four miles northwest to visit 
 the family of Absalom Hall, who had moved out there from Harrison 
 County the fall of 1834. 
 
 He was married to a cousin of my first wife, a daughter of old John 
 Cunningham. We remained over Sabbath with the Halls, and went to 
 church with them at Findlay, where the family attended the Presbyterian 
 Church. The services were conducted by the pastor, the Rev. Mr. Van 
 Eman, formerly from Washington County, Pa. After sermon we re- 
 turned to Absalom Hall's where we spent the remainder of the Sabbath 
 in that old-fashioned manner of Sabbath-keeping so common among 
 Presbyterian families in olden times, but I fear that such strictness in 
 the way of Sabbath-keeping will never return again. That old manner 
 of keeping the Sabbath was to refrain from vain and idle conversation ; 
 to refrain also from reading newspapers and vain story books, and to 
 confine the family to the reading of the Old and New Testaments, to 
 sermon books or only good books that treated upon religious subjects, 
 such as Boston's " Fourfold State," " The Afflicted Man's Companion," 
 " The Travels of True Godliness," " The Pilgrim's Progress," or "The 
 Holy War," by John Bunyan, not forgetting to learn the Shorter Cate- 
 chism and the Psalms and Hymns by Dr. Watts. Before we left Absa- 
 lom Hall's on Monday we learned that his son Aaron was to be married 
 the next Thursday to a daughter of their pastor, the Rev. Mr. Van 
 Eman, and they' gave us a pressing invitation to remain for the wedding, 
 but we had to decline because it would detain us too long. But I 
 suppose one motive they had was to pay back a debt of gratitude, as 
 it will be remembered that when I was married to Jane Hind- 
 17 
 
258 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1836. 
 
 man, May 24, 1827, I had Absalom Hall and his wife at our infare 
 on the 25th, and they staid with us till the following day after din- 
 ner. And upon leaving me that day Absalom Hall observed to me 
 that I had got a wife now who to all appearance would hold out as 
 long as I would. 
 
 As proof that Absalom Hall guessed pretty nearly right, thirty-eight 
 years and six months have rolled by since that time, and I and Jane 
 Hindman are both living after the lapse of all these years, and thank 
 God we are both in good health and the enjoyment of each other's 
 company and fellowship, and not a wave of trouble rolls across our 
 peaceful breasts, and naught to break our rest. 
 
 (And just here, November 22, 1889, I have read to mother a few of 
 the foregoing pages, and she has greatly enjoyed them, her mind being 
 perfectly clear, and all her faculties remarkably preserved, si.xty-two 
 years and six months after her marriage above mentioned, and she will 
 be eighty-five years of age December 14th, next month. — T. J. S.) 
 
 It was in the afternoon of Monday, November 7, 1836, when we left 
 Hall's, for Joseph Hill had that forenoon purchased from Absalom Hall 
 two lots of land in the vicinity of Findlay, and I drew up the deeds for 
 them, one of forty acres and the other of eighty, and we went into town 
 and had the deeds acknowledged and recorded. 
 
 Leaving Findlay we traveled southward and stopped at Kenton, the 
 county-seat of Hardin County, and then came on to Bellefontainc, the 
 county-seat of Logan County. 
 
 Here the land was more rolling and much richer and more dry, and 
 we found that we were on the highest ridge in the northwestern part of 
 the state of Ohio. 
 
 We also found that this town of Bellefontainc had three springs that 
 rose to the surface on the top of this ridge. One of these was the head 
 spring of the Sandusky River which runs into Lake Erie ; another is 
 the source of the Little Miami River that runs southward into the Ohio 
 River; and the third spring is the head of the Scioto River, which 
 empties into the Ohio at Portsmouth. 
 
 Here we turned eastward and came through Marysville, the county- 
 seat of Union County, and onward to Delaware, the county-seat of 
 Delaware County. We came on by Thursday evening, November loth, 
 
1836.] FAMILY HISTORY. 259 
 
 and reached the house of Joseph Clark, four miles west of Mount 
 Vernon, the county-seat of Knox County. We found the family all 
 well, and they joyfully received us, as Joseph Clark was a distant rela- 
 tive of mine on the Gamble side of the house, his grandmother being a 
 full cousin of my mother, and his wife, whose maiden name was Welsh, 
 was a full cousin of Joseph Hill. We also visited the family of John 
 Welsh, an uncle of Joseph Hill, who lived in the vicinity of Mount 
 Vernon, and among the friends there we remained over Sabbath. We 
 came on homeward through Newark, and Zanesville, and Concord. 
 Here we separated for the night, I turning off the national pike half a 
 mile to visit my cousin, Mrs. Mary McClure, while Joseph Hill went on 
 about eighteen miles farther east to visit a friend of his, Mrs. Shaw, who 
 kept a tavern. The next day I came on and joined Joseph Hill at this 
 place, where I met Mrs. Shaw and her father, who was a man of good 
 information, and so was his son, our neighbor, James Ervvin. 
 
 The next day we took the national turnpike and came on to Morris- 
 town, and there we left the pike and took the state road for Mount 
 Pleasant. We called at the house of Elias Yost, who was married to 
 my sister-in-law, Kezia Kithcart, but we found no one at home. Soon 
 after this we separated, Joseph Hill taking the road to the left to go to 
 his cousin John Hill's, while I came on to Mount Pleasant, where I 
 found the friends all well, and where I found Elias Yost and his wife at 
 the house of old mother Kithcart. Here I visited all the friends, and 
 on Saturday, November 19, 1836, I arrived home from the trip. 
 
 DAILY JOURNAL BEGUN. 
 
 On the first day of January, 1837, I commenced keeping a daily 
 journal, which has been daily kept up from that time to this, and through 
 all these years I have found it very well worth the pains I took, because of 
 its usefulness, and I have made many improvements in my entries since I 
 first began. 
 
 The weather was very cold, and there was a great deal of sleighing 
 that winter. 
 
 My sixth daughter and tenth child was born on Sabbath, January 8, 
 1837, and we called her Sarah, after my brother John's wife, whose 
 maiden name was Sarah Harrah. 
 
260 THE SHEER ARD FAMILY. [1837. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 24th, Uncle John and Aunt Sarah came down in 
 their sleigh to make us a visit, and remained two days. Our little 
 daughter was not baptized until Sabbath, July 2d, owing to the fact that 
 our new pastor, the Rev. Henry G. Comingo, was not ordained and 
 installed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Steubenville until 
 May 24, 1837, and the first communion that he held was on Sabbath, 
 June 4th. A number of children were kept back from baptism on this 
 account, and on the same day ten others were baptized with Sarah. 
 
 The Rev. Charles C. Beatty had been our pastor, but on the second 
 Monday of November, 1835, he notified the congregation that he must 
 give up the charge ; that he could not remain pastor of the church and 
 conduct his new Female Seminary that he had started April 13, 1829; 
 that he had found that his salary of ^500 was not sufficient to keep his 
 family, and therefore he must give up the congregation and give his full 
 attention to the Seminary. This took the congregation by surprise, 
 and after Mr. Beatty had retired from the house a committee, consisting 
 of Mr. Hogue, an elder, and James Collier, at that time a noted lawyer, 
 and myself, was sent out to wait on the pastor, and propose to him a 
 vacation of six months to go abroad and recruit his health. We waited 
 on him, but he declined to remain. 
 
 The spring of 1836 Mr. McClain was elected pastor, but on account 
 of his health he was able to remain only three or four months, and he 
 went back to Kentucky where he came from. Mr. Beatty then con- 
 tinued to supply the pulpit of our church until the fall of 1S36, when he 
 secured the services of a young Kentuckian named Comingo, who had 
 just finished his theological studies at Princeton, and was licensed to 
 preach. He came to . Steubenville about the 1st of November, 1836, 
 and preached on trial till the following February, when, on Monday, 
 February 13, 1837, he was elected pastor, and accepted. He remained 
 with us a most earnest, faithful and successful pastor, and greatly be- 
 loved by the congregation, until his death, from diphtheria, December 
 I, 1861. He married Isabel W., a daughter of Neville Craig, Esq, of 
 Pittsburgh, and his wife and two sons, Edward Gray and Neville B. 
 Craig, survived him. Mr. Comingo was married April 10, 1838. 
 
1837.] FAMILY HISTORY. 261 
 
 FINAL PAYMENT ON FARM. 
 
 On April 13, 1837, I made a final settlement with James Ross of 
 Pittsburgh, through his agent, David Moody, in Steubenville, and lifted 
 the notes and mortgage I had given on the farm. Since April 1, 1833, 
 I had made fifteen different payments, and now the interest on all these 
 payments had to be made. As Moody had no time to attend to it he 
 agreed to take the calculation of lawyer Marsh, and Marsh agreed with 
 me to make the calculation for the sum of $3. In about two hours 
 he had completed it, and the interest for four years was found to be in 
 all ^475.14,5 ; which together with the mortgage itself of ^1979.76, 
 made a total of ^2454.90. At the time of the purchase of the farm $200 
 had been paid down, and ^1000 on April i, 1833 ; thus the whole cost 
 of the farm of Sugar Hill was ^3654.90. 
 
 It was on Thursday, April 20th, of this year, that two Yankee grafters 
 came over from Judge Hallock's, where they had been grafting apple 
 trees, and I gave my consent to their putting in five hundred grafts in 
 the old natural trees of the orchard which had been planted by the order 
 of Bezaleel Wells near the beginning of the present century. These 
 grafters agreed to take two cents for each living graft, when one of 
 them would come the first week of the following September and count 
 them. Of the five hundred put in, it was found that 450 were living 
 when they were counted, and I paid $q. As new varieties they put in 
 Peck's Pleasant, or as we always called them, the Pink Eye; the Golden 
 Sweet, which we called the Monroe; and the Red and Green Sam Slick, 
 and we found all these varieties very valuable for cooking and eating. 
 
 MY FIRST WIG. 
 
 After I had the fever at the time of the death of my first wife, the 
 hair on the top of my head came out, but after some time a short down 
 came out and covered all the top of my head. This downy hair re- 
 mained till I was nearly forty-seven years of age, and it then began to 
 disappear, so that by the time I was forty-seven years old I concluded 
 to get me a wig and wear it. Acting upon this resolution, about April i, 
 1837, 1 gave the measure of my head to our storekeeper, Alexander Conn, 
 and he brought me out from Ph'ladelphia a wig at a cost to me of $7, 
 and it was a very good one. But owing to the fact that I did not know 
 
262 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1838. 
 
 how to use it, often wearing it out in the hot sun instead of my hat, the 
 hot sun changed the color of the wig, and in one year's time the de- 
 cency of the wig was over. 
 
 My second wig was purchased for me in Philadelphia by John 
 McMechan, for which I paid him $8, and this one I took better care of, 
 wearing it only to town and to church, and whenever I went abroad, so 
 that it lasted me till the fall of 1 854. In September of that year I went 
 to the State Fair in Pittsburgh, and while there I bought my third wig 
 at a cost of gi I, and took good care of it till the time when I started 
 with my son Robert on a trip to New York, when I laid it aside and 
 have never worn a wig since, and this was April 28, 1861. 
 
 There was nothing specially worthy of mention happened during the 
 summer and fall of this year, except that I had shingles made that fall 
 for the barn, and in eleven days I rived, and Joe Fielding shaved, 5956 
 good shingles. It was on Sabbath, October 29th, of this year, that the 
 Rev. Charles C. Beatty opened services in the Second Presbyterian 
 Church of Steubenville. He had erected the building and had it finished 
 ready for service at this time all at his own expense, and all for the 
 advancement of the Presbyterian cause. 
 
 I wish to leave it on record that during this year, 1837, my three 
 sons, Joseph, David and Robert, all worked exceedingly well, and as 
 for son John he was not yet old enough to do much, but still he was of 
 great service in running errands and doing light work. 
 
 The first of the year 1838 came in with very fine weather. It was 
 just like September weather, and on January 6th David plowed in the 
 corner of the orchard, for the ground was dry and in fine order. 
 
 BURNING BRICK FOR NEW HOUSE. 
 
 As it was my purpose to erect a new brick dwelling-house just near 
 the old house in which we were living, we began to make preparations 
 in March of this year, 1838, by digging the clay and getting ready for 
 the brick-maker Rennard. By July i6th the kiln of 90,000 brick was 
 finished and fired, and on the 21st Rennard finished the burning, having 
 used forty-seven cords of wood. This would have been sufficient for a 
 kiln of that size, but the arches were not properly constructed, and the 
 brick were not properly burned, all for the want of skill in Rennard in 
 
1839.] FAMIL Y HISTOR V. 263 
 
 setting, firing and watching the kiln. I went to town and brought up 
 Ambrose Shaw, an old hand at the business, and he condemned the 
 kiln, and recommended me to have another kiln of about 30,000 made 
 for outside work, and use the Rennard brick for inside work and sell 
 what I could of the rest. My bargain with Rennard was for $1 per 
 thousand, but I docked him S40 in the settlement, and paid him only 
 $50. However, I was put to the trouble and expense of having Henry 
 Gill burn a new kiln of 55,000 brick, and with these the house was built, 
 using them for the outside and Rennard's for the inside. 
 
 BUILDING THE NEW HOUSE. 
 
 On Friday, November 30, 1838, our little son John, who was now 
 eight and a half years old, went with me over to the Cove to spend the 
 winter with his grandmother Orr to be company for the old people, and 
 run errands for them. 
 
 He did not return home until April 5, 1839, when son Robert went 
 over for him. In the meantime, however, the death of his grandmother 
 Orr occurred on Monday, February 4, 1839,33 the result from a fall 
 from her horse more than a year before on October 28, 1837, as she 
 was returning home from church on a Saturday. As we were on our 
 way to church on Sabbath morning we met a messenger near Wells' 
 old saw-mill, who told us that mother Orr was dying, and I and wife 
 and daughter Nancy went on immediately over to the Cove. We found 
 her insensible, and she lingered until the following morning at two 
 o'clock, when she died at the age of si.vcty-two years, and was buried at 
 Three Springs, that same day, at four o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 It was that summer of 1839 that the second brick kiln was burnt, 
 and on the 20th of August the masons and bricklayers began work, 
 and the brick work of the main house as well as the wash-house was all 
 finished by October 30th. The house was L shaped, being forty feet 
 in front by si.vty feet on the side, the front with the hall door facing the 
 south, although the west side with dining-room and kitchen doors was 
 always used as the front of the house. This was owing to the fact that 
 I had always intended to change the road past the house to run to the 
 south, but it was never done. I carefully sorted myself all the brick 
 that went into the house, and the very best and smoothest were put into 
 
264 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1840. 
 
 the front, but that side of the house was not often seen, as it fronted 
 really on the garden. The house contained four large rooms and a 
 wide hall down stairs, with a porch and pantry along the eastern side 
 of the dining-room and kitchen, and there were four rooms up-stairs. 
 Joseph and David attended to the farm work, while Robert and the 
 hired man, James Hanlon, made the mortar and attended the masons, 
 and son John, now nine and a half years old, hauled all the brick that 
 went into the house in a cart, driving the Nell mare. I was usually at 
 the kiln to load the brick, while Robert would be at the house to dump 
 the cart for John. The chief bricklayer was William Thompson, who 
 had his hands employed, and the chief carpenter was John Walker. 
 The house was shingled that fall, and the following winter the floors 
 were laid. Most of the flooring was laid by myself, while Walker was 
 employed with the finer carpenter work. The plastering of the house 
 was done by Lewis Cooper the summer of 1840, with whom I contracted 
 to do the work for the sum of $80. 
 
 At last the new brick house was all finished, and we moved into it on 
 Friday, September 25, 1 840, and the old house was always after that 
 used for a shop and meat house, and for other convenient purposes. 
 
 While we were still living in the old house my fifth son and eleventh 
 child was born at four o'clock on Wednesday morning, February 13, 
 1840, and he was a fine hearty lad. In honor of the Whig candidate 
 for President at the coming fall election, he was immediately named 
 William Henry Harrison ; and when a few Sabbaths afterwards this son 
 was presented before the pulpit for baptism by the Rev. Henry G. 
 Comingo, in the presence of the gazing congregation, and his father 
 audibly pronounced his name, an envious feeling ran through the 
 bosom of all the so-called Democrats, who were all professed enemies 
 of General Harrison. 
 
 THE HARRISON CAMPAIGN. 
 
 The Presidential campaign during the summer and fall of 1840 was 
 the most exciting ever witnessed in our country, William Henry Har- 
 rison being the Whig candidate, and Martin Van Buren the Democratic. 
 John Tyler was the candidate for Vice-president on the ticket with Har- 
 rison. 
 
1840.] FAMILY HISTORY. 265 
 
 Owing to the fact that Harrison and Van Buren had been the opposing 
 candidates during the campaign of 1836, and Harrison was defeated, the 
 Whigs were the more determined that he should be successful this time. 
 He was familiarly known as " Tippecanoe," on account of his defeat of 
 the Indians in November, 181 1, at a place called Tippecanoe, in what 
 was afterwards included in the State of Indiana. The most enthusiastic 
 Whig meetings were held all over the land, and they were attended by 
 hundreds of thousands of the people who listened to the issues of the 
 campaign discussed by the orators of the day. 
 
 There were monster processions in which they hauled around small 
 log cabins representing the early home of Harrison, and cider barrels 
 representing the hard cider which was supposed to be the delight of the 
 old farmers and pioneers. But tlie most remarkable thing to be seen 
 during such meetings was an enormous wooden ball some twenty feet in 
 diameter, which was rolled everywhere over the country to represent 
 that the Whig cause was rolling on to certain success. This ball was 
 well contrived and well constructed by a man named Coyle, and it was 
 marked off with geographical representat^ins. It was made in Cumber- 
 land, Maryland, and was rolled out along the National road to Wheeling, 
 and it then went rolling on throughout all the western country. At these 
 meetings many were the campaign songs that were sung, and son David 
 was very often called upon to ride in the wagons and help with the sing- 
 ing, as he had a good voice, and if he heard a song once he could sing 
 it again. As the ball was rolled along they would sing : 
 
 " This is the ball that's rolling on 
 For Tippecanoe and Tyler too." 
 
 The greatest mass meeting ever held at any time in Steubenville, oc- 
 curred on Wednesday July 29, 1840, when Tom Corwin addressed the 
 Whigs. A few days previous to this meeting I was waited upon by a 
 committee from Steubenville, who desired me to furnish a Harrison pole 
 for the occasion, from the top of which the United States flag might be 
 seen waving. I went with the committee and showed them a fine hickory 
 that I had selected for the purpose, and when it was cut down and meas- 
 ured it was found to be 105 feet high, and this pole they took to town 
 and set up in the public square with the flag on it. 
 
266 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1840. 
 
 The day for the great demonstration arrived, and I took my whole 
 family to town to witness it, except that we left Nancy and Jane at home 
 to keep house, and while we were gone they went over to the Ben Hart 
 hill towards town, thinking they might be able to see something. But 
 they could not see down into the town, and yet they could distinctly 
 hear the great noise and shouting of the demonstration. The Whigs 
 came flocking into town from all quarters by the thousands, and delega- 
 tions came from Wellsburg and Wheeling and all the surrounding 
 regions, and the Democrats fearing the influence of such a Whig de- 
 monstration organized an opposition meeting, so that there were two pro- 
 cessions crowding the streets. 
 
 It was not long after I arrived until the great mass of the people were 
 gathered at the crossing of Fourth and Market Streets, and about this 
 time Printer Wilson came out among the crowd selling small pictures of 
 Harrison for twelve and a half cents each. I purchased two of them, 
 and pinned one to the left lapel of my dress coat, and the other I gave 
 to my tenant and work-hand James Hanlon, and I pinned it for him on 
 his coat. • 
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF EXAMPLE. 
 
 In the course of the day, after I had heard Tom Corwin's speech of 
 about two hours, which kept the crowd riveted to the spot, I went into 
 the crowd of Democrats to hear their speaker, who was R. M. Johnson, 
 of Kentucky. 
 
 I had not been long in that crowd when a large Scotch-Irishman came 
 up beside me, and seeing my Harrison badge, asked me if I was not 
 afraid to wear the picture of Harrison in that crowd. I replied that I 
 was not, " for," said I, holding up a large Buckeye cane, " the man that 
 would dare to take that picture off my coat would feel the weight of that 
 cane well laid on." " Well, faith," said he, " I'll put mine on again," and 
 suiting the action to the word, he took the picture from his vest pocket, 
 and pinned it on his coat again, and thus he found the force of example 
 to be a great thing. 
 
 This reminds me of the experience of old Sam McClain, as he related 
 it to old John Williams, and Williams told it to me. " Example, ex- 
 ample, Misther Williams, example is a great thing! When the paper was 
 
1840.] FAMILY HISTORY. 2G7 
 
 passing from seat to seat in church, to raise funds for the Board of Edu- 
 cation, it was handed to Misther Sherrard first, and I determined in my 
 own mind that I would put down as much as Misther Sherrard, thinking 
 that he would put down not more than a dollar, and behold ! Misther 
 Williams, when the paper came to my pew, I saw that Misther Sherrard 
 had put down three dollars, and I could not go back on my own word 
 to myself, and so I put down three dollars too. I tell you, Misther Wil- 
 liams, example is a great thing." 
 
 At this great meeting that day there was a large canoe to represent 
 the victory of Harrison in i8i i. This was mounted on a wagon coupled 
 long, and in it were thirty-two young girls all dressed in white, and they 
 were all good singers, singing Whig songs, and this wagon was drawn 
 by six iron-gray horses, and made a fine appearance. The log cabins 
 were mounted on wagons drawn by four good horses, and on the same 
 wagon would be seen one or two cider barrels ; but the object that drew 
 general attention that day was the great ball, that the Whigs kept 
 rolling on. 
 
 After I had listened for some time to the Democratic speech in that 
 crowd I left and met my wife in the place where we had appointed, and 
 we proceeded on our way homeward. As we came past the parsonage 
 of the First Presbyterian Church, we found Mr. and Mrs. Comingo 
 standing in their own door, and as it was now growing towards evening 
 they gave us a pressing invitation to come in and partake of some re- 
 freshments, but we excused ourselves thanking them and telling them 
 that we had found the Whig latch-strings generally out that day. So we 
 bade them good evening, and came on home, tired enough, and there 
 awaited the return of the boys and girls of our family; and a number of 
 our old neighbors around Smithfield and Mclntyre came up that evening 
 and staid all night with us. 
 
 The result of the election that fall was that Harrison was elected by 
 the largest majority that any President ever received, he receiving 234 
 electoral votes to 60 for Van Buren. Harrison was inaugurated March 
 4, 1 84 1, and died a month later, when Tyler the Vice-president came 
 into office and went back on the Whig party that elected him, by giving 
 himself over to the Democrats. 
 
 We had been completely deceived in him, but what better might we 
 
268 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1S41. 
 
 have expected, when he was a strong Jackson man for years, until 1839, 
 when he saw the tide of pubHc opinion turning in favor of the Whigs, 
 and he concluded that he could make capital of it by turning in name to 
 the Whigs, and by his speeches so well worded he completely deceived 
 every Whig who heard him. We all had turned in and voted for our 
 new Whig friend, but we did so to our sorrow, for after he came into 
 office, we found just as we did in later years with Andrew Johnson, that 
 we had elected a traitor, and a wolf in sheep's clothing. 
 
 The fall of 1841 my brother-in-law Joseph Kithcart was running for 
 the Ohio Legislature on the Democratic ticket. On a certain day in 
 September I was down in town attending court, and I met my old friend 
 Nathaniel Crawford, and invited him to come up with me and stay all 
 night. Joseph Kithcart was also there, and he was to come home with 
 us if he could get through his business in time. On an occasion of a 
 Whig political meeting, when Robert Wilson the editor was making a 
 speech, Joseph Kithcart being present, took occasion to contradict some 
 statements of Wilson after he had finished, and this so pleased the Dem- 
 ocrats that they made him their candidate, and he was elected that fall, 
 but I could not vote for him. 
 
 SARAH'S ILLNESS. 
 
 It now becomes necessary for me to record the sad affliction that fell 
 upon our family in the serious illness of our little daughter Sarah at the 
 age of five years and six months, when she was stricken with paralysis 
 from which she never recovered so as to be able to walk. 
 
 It was on Thursday, July 7, 1842, when she was first taken ill. It 
 seems that some time during the forenoon of that day Elizabeth went to 
 look for the geese which had wandered away, and she took her little 
 sister Sarah along with her, who was at that time one of the heartiest 
 and brightest of all the children of our family. They started out and 
 went over past the tenant house, and down past Pryor's house, and 
 so on down the run to the foot of the hill towards town, and so 
 on round up home again, and on the way they waded through the 
 water of the run several times. The probability is that the little girl 
 was overheated and exhausted by the long walk, and the wading through 
 the cold-water gave her a chill, but of this none of us ever thought at 
 
1842.] FAMILY HISTORY. 269 
 
 the time. After she had gone to bed that night, she woke up crying, 
 and complaining of her head, and her mother found tliat she had con- 
 siderable fever. The next morning she could move neither hand nor 
 foot nor head. She was bathed with warm whisky, which was thoroughly 
 rubbed all over her, and she was put to bed to sweat and sleep. The 
 next day, the gth, she was brought into the sitting-room, where I and 
 mother and Mrs Oliver were sitting, and she was supported between the 
 little girls Jane and Susan, but Sarah walked very stiff, and her whole 
 frame seemed to be affected with the palsy, and this was the last that 
 she ever walked. The best medical skill of the day was employed, 
 and for months every possible remedy was tried, but all to no pur- 
 pose. 
 
 In the course of time she reg.iined the use of all the upper part of her 
 body, with her hands, and all the stiffness left her neck, but from that 
 9th day of July she never had the least use of her lower limbs from the 
 hip-joint down to her feet and toes, although her body grew and her 
 hands and arms became quite strong, so that she could use them with a 
 great deal of facility, and her mind was always very bright and active, 
 and she was all her life the most talented of all my children. 
 
 As she grew in years she was always remarkably cheerful, and the 
 light and centre of attraction to all the family, and so thoughtful was 
 she of the comfort and happiness of others, that no one would ever 
 think of her as being herself afflicted except as they would see that 
 she could not walk. She was able to move herself around the house, 
 and could readily go up and down stairs by using the banisters with 
 her hands, which were strong. 
 
 In her youth I got for her an arm chair and put casters on it, 
 and with this she was able to push herself all around the house, but 
 in after years her brother John had an arm chair made for her with 
 large wheels on the sides, and a small one at the back, and with this chair 
 she could go with great comfort and pleasure all around the house, 
 and even out through the yard. From that time onward she was 
 never without such wheeled chair of the latest and best pattern, which 
 made her life more comfortable and happy. She enjoyed company, 
 and was a great favorite everywhere, and often went away visiting, 
 and was always very regular in her attendance at church, her brothers 
 
270 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1843. 
 
 William or Thomas, or her brother-in-law, Joseph Hill, carrying her 
 to the carriage, or from the carriage into the church. 
 
 One of her chief pleasures was the cultivation of flowers, and a 
 large space in the garden was set apart for her use, and here every 
 favorable day in the summer forenoons she might be found working 
 among her flowers, which were the wonder and delight of all the 
 friends who came to visit us ; and during the winter the house was 
 filled with pot-plants which she kept over the winter. 
 
 She was a great reader, and few persons were better informed on all 
 general subjects than she, while she was able to express herself in writ- 
 ing with great facility, and wrote many letters to her friends, although 
 her hand was not steady. Her right hand and arm always remained 
 weaker than the left. In conversation she was always sprightly and 
 entertaining, and her company was much enjoyed. 
 
 SON d.wid's marriage. 
 
 David was the first of my children to get married, and he was now two 
 years and a half past his majorit)', when one day at the dinner-table he 
 announced to us all that he was going to be married, and on July 4, 
 1843, he married Catharine M. Welday, daughter of Isaac Welday, who 
 lived about four miles west of our place. 
 
 (David has himself given me some account of his own personal his- 
 tory, which I insert just here, as it gives a better account of the wedding 
 and infare than anything I have in my possession. — T. J. S.) 
 
 DAVIDS PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 " On the 1st day of April, 1833, my father and family moved from 
 Mclntyre to Sugar Hill Farm. It was a beautiful day; all nature seemed 
 bright, and one thing rare at that time of year was to see some of the 
 trees looking green from the bursting of the buds. When we got set- 
 tled then the work began in earnest, and no let up summer or winter, 
 except a few days at school in the old log school-house at the close of 
 1833, and two months the first of 1834. Well do I remember how hard 
 farming did go in those days, and corn hoeing was hardest of all. 
 
 " Father would have his five oldest children — Mary Ann, Joseph, 
 myself, Elizabeth and Robert — all out hoeing the corn and potatoes. 
 
1843.] FAMILY HISTORY. 271 
 
 Our hoes were rude and heavy, and dull, too, and Robert, the youngest, 
 always thought that he had the hardest row and must be helped. We 
 would get tired of this, and Joe and I would box his ears to hurry him 
 up, and if father was not there Robert would often lie down between the 
 rows and play with a little dog we called i^isop. We would then cuff 
 his ears again, and he would then run to the woods, calling .^sop after 
 him, and would hunt ground squirrels and birds. Time rolled on, and 
 we grew up to be men and women, and many were the parties we had, 
 and apple-cuttings, often five evenings in the week ; but Saturday eve- 
 ning boots and shoes must be blacked ready for Sunday-school and 
 church. Until I was twenty-one years old I was required to go to church 
 with the family, but after that I would saddle my horse and ride to 
 various places to church, and get to see my young acquaintances, for 
 the country girls and their society was what I wanted. 
 
 " On July 4, 1843, I was married by the Rev. H. G. Comingo to Miss 
 Catharine M. Welday, daughter of Isaac Welday. 
 
 " My brothers and sisters — Joseph, Robert, Mary Ann and Elizabeth 
 — were present on the occasion. The wedding was a large one, and 
 after the ceremony and the dinner were over the company all repaired 
 to the orchard to spend an hour or two on the green grass. In the 
 meantime brother Robert, who had been attending school at the 
 Academy in Steubenville, climbed up into the top of an apple tree, and 
 there delivered an oration to the boys and girls, which was much ap- 
 plauded by the company. The next morning after breakfast we mounted 
 our horses, twenty-two couples in all, with Henry Welday, a cousin of 
 the bride, and sister Elizabeth in front, and the groom and bride next, 
 and thus we rode four miles to Sugar Hill. There my good mother and 
 sisters had prepared a bountiful infare dinner, which was spread out on a 
 long table on the porch, to which the party, with other invited guests, to 
 the number of sixty-five or seventy in all, did ample justice. In the eve- 
 ning, soon after dark, the sound of music was heard in the road in front 
 of the house, and all soon realized that it was a serenade or a belling 
 party. After the serenade Amos lams, who was one of the guests, and 
 the fiddler for all that region, got out his fiddle and tuned it up, and the 
 young people began to dance, but father took his stand in the door be- 
 tween the dining-room and parlor, and after the first set was over, in a 
 
272 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1844. 
 
 firm voice explained that he was a church member, and subject to the 
 rules of the church, and therefore could not allow any more dancing in 
 his house, but he said he would be glad to hear more music from the 
 fiddle. However, if we could not dance, we all had a good time that 
 evening. Well, on the 6th day of July, the wedding and infare over, I 
 found myself with a wife and no home. 
 
 " But I had made arrangements with my uncle, David A. C. Sherrard, 
 to go and live with him and farm his place in Fayette County, Pa. I 
 did go there and stayed two months and ten days, and helped my uncle 
 put in his fall crop. 
 
 " But thinking it best to seek a home for myself in the West, we 
 returned to Sugar Hill, and to Cross Creek, to my wife's father's. After 
 returning home, I asked my father if he would give me a piece of his 
 Sandusky County land, knowing that he had two quarter sections out 
 there, and also knowing that he was indebted to me for labor for two 
 years and a half since I was of age. He said that if I wanted to go out 
 there, he would give me one-half of either quarter. I took his offer, and 
 during the winter I dug coal, and got brother Joseph to haul it, and I 
 traded it for a wagon and harness, and also other articles with which to 
 keep house. In the spring of 1844 father said that if I would help on 
 the farm to get in the oats and corn, he would go with sie to Sandusky, 
 and show me the land, and we would commence a clearing ; for it was 
 all timbered land. We left home on the 27th of May, and made some 
 visits with relatives on the way, and arrived at my new place, two miles 
 west of what is now the town of Fremont, on June 1st. We worked 
 away at clearing until June 21st, and then returned home, and I helped 
 father with his harvest. On July 10, 1844, my first child was born at 
 father's, and we called her Laura Ann. On the 4th day of September I 
 set out with my wife and child for our new home in Sandusky County. 
 Brother John, then a boy of fourteen years, came with us one mile west 
 of Cadiz, with a good strong horse to help us over the hilliest part of 
 the road, and on the 12th we arrived safe with our precious load, and 
 now, after forty-five years of life in Sandusky County, I thank God for 
 his goodness to me and niy family. 
 
 " I had the misfortune to lose my first wife with the birth of her third 
 child in 1847, and in 1848 I married again, Narcissa Grant, and have 
 
1845.] FAMILY HISTORY. 273 
 
 raised a family of ten children in all. Of these, nine are living, and all 
 are married except one, and that the youngest. I purchased from father 
 the other half of the quarter section of land, so that my farm consisted 
 of the full quarter section." 
 
 THE YOUNGEST CHILD BORN. 
 
 It was on Tuesday, February 25, 1845, at three o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, that my sixth son, and twelfth and last child, was born. He 
 weighed at birth eleven and three-quarter pounds, and was from the 
 first always an unusually healthy child. As it was now five years since 
 the last baby in the family, we all took especial interest in this one, and 
 the other children were greatly delighted. 
 
 We called him Thomas Johnson for our family physician, Dr. Thomas 
 Johnson, of Steubenville, who for the past three or four years had taken 
 the place in our family of old Dr. Leslie. He was a full cousin of the 
 mother of my wife, Jane Hindman, and had settled to the practice of 
 medicine in our town. Thus, on account of the relationship, as well as 
 the fact that he was our family physician, my wife desired to have this 
 cliild named for him. Accordingly, on Sabbath, November 16, 1845, I 
 and wife took ihe child Thomas to the First Presbyterian Church of 
 Steubenville, where we had been members since we came, the spring of 
 1833, and he was baptized Thomas Johnson by the pastor, the Rev. 
 Henry G. Comingo. 
 
 Here closes the history as written in the language and e.xpressions of 
 Robert A. Sherrard. 
 
 The remaining pages of this volume of family history are written by 
 the editor of father's manuscripts, his youngest son, Thomas Johnson 
 Sherrard. 
 
 18 
 
274 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1845. 
 
 SKCTION XV. 
 
 1 845- 1 890. 
 
 LATER EVENTS AND PERSONAL SKETCHES. 
 
 (THE EDITOR HERE TAKES UP THE HISTORY.) 
 
 SINCE there is now sufficient evidence to the reader of the fore- 
 going pages that I have been born into the world, I hasten to 
 explain at the very first opportunity why I have found it neces- 
 sary to drop the use of father's language in recording the history, and 
 from this time onward write it in my own language. 
 
 The earlier writings of father were largely from personal recollection, 
 and the events of family interest were given with more fullness and 
 historical connection. 
 
 His later writings are simply a compilation from his daily journals, 
 which he kept continuously for almost forty years before his death. This 
 compilation was the delight of his leisure hours during the last ten years 
 of his life, and in this work he simply took up the old journals day by 
 day and year by year, and rewrote the main facts, using here and there 
 what struck his fancy, and adding his own recollections occasionally as a 
 commentary. This compilation is contained in the large brown volume 
 which he gave to John, which goes over the journals from 1837 to 185 1, 
 and in the large black volume which he gave to me ; and this brings the 
 compilation of the journals down to the close of 1859. This was as far 
 as he was able to get in his work, the last being written the fall of 1873, 
 only a few weeks before his death. 
 
 But in this he did not attempt anything like a connected history, and 
 many events of family interest were entirely forgotten or left out. And 
 then, this compilation of the journals, extending from 1837 to 1859, 
 covers about nine hundred closely-written foolscap pages, far beyond the 
 space allotted for this volume. Therefore, for the remaining pages of 
 this history I shall be obliged to get my facts from other sources as' well 
 as father's writings. 
 
1846.] FAMILY HISTORY. 275 
 
 MARRIAGE OF ELIZABETH SHERRARD. 
 
 On Thursday, May 7, 1846, sister Elizabeth was married to Joseph 
 Kithcart, of Mount Pleasant, Jefferson County, O. 
 
 I have no recollection of the event, as I was only about fourteen 
 months old, but as it was the first wedding in the family at home, it was a 
 most interesting occasion, and the young people of the neighborhood 
 were invited in. The ceremony was performed by the pastor, the Rev. 
 H. G. Comingo, and the time was 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Joseph 
 Kithcart already had a home in Mount Pleasant, and tliey went to house- 
 keeping there on the following Tuesday, the 12th of May. Here they 
 lived in comfort and happiness for ten years, and their children, John 
 Albert, Robert Sherrard, Henry Comingo, and Mary, were born in 
 Mount Pleasant. On April i, 1856, they moved out to a farm called 
 " Briar Ridge," about three miles from town, where their children, 
 Emma, Elizabeth Jane, and Anna Katharine, were born. Again, on 
 April I, 1862, they moved down on Short Creek to the old Dilworth 
 Mill, formerly called the Bayless Mill, and there the two youngest chil- 
 dren were born, Jessie Bertha and Martha Ellen. Then, on April i, 
 1873, they moved up to the Gill Farm, a place very beautifully situated 
 just on the western edge of the town of Mount Pleasant. Here Joseph 
 and Elizabeth still live in the peaceful comforts and happiness of a re- 
 tired life, surrounded by their broad acres, keeping open and hospitable 
 house, and blessed with the love and honor of numerous children and 
 grandchildren. Their children are nearly all married, only Jessie and 
 Ella remaining at home at the present time. Little Emma was taken 
 away from earth when only a few days old, while Jennie died September 
 20, 1886, after a brief but happy married life, leaving her husband, 
 Watson Walker, and two little children, who have been brought up by 
 their grandmother Kithcart. 
 
 The children of Joseph and Elizabeth Kithcart have all become mem- 
 bers of the Presbyterian Church, while both John and Sherrard are 
 ruling elders, and very efficient men in' the churches where they live. 
 
 John, the eldest son, is a successful lawyer in Steubenville, O., while 
 Sherrard is engaged in business in Maryville, Tenn. Henry is a farmer 
 near Mount Pleasant, O. 
 
276 THE SHEER ARD FAMILY. [1846-1889. 
 
 MARRIAGE OF ROBERT SHERRARD, JR. 
 
 There was a third marriage in the family when Robert, a young man 
 of twenty-three, took to himself a wife in the person of Miss Sarah 
 Anne Salmon, of Steubenville, on July 2, 1846. Mary Anne, Joseph 
 and Nancy were all invited in to the wedding that day, and the cere- 
 mony was performed by the Rev. C. C. Beatty, at the house of the 
 bride's parents. Robert and his wife started off on a wedding trip to 
 Pittsburgh, and returned home to Steubenville, where for a time they 
 boarded at Mr. Salmon's until Robert finished his new brick house 
 which he built near the corner of Third and Dock Streets. Here they 
 began housekeeping, and lived in that place for many years, until they 
 removed to New York City, in 1870. 
 
 However, at my request, brother Robert has writen an account of 
 his own life, and I shall just here give way, and let him tell his own 
 story. 
 
 ROBERT SHERRARD, JR., — SKETCH OF HIS OWN LIFE. 
 
 " The fall of 1840 I became a student in Grove Academy in Steuben- 
 ville, which was conducted by the Rev. John W. Scott, D.D., and I 
 walked in and out from home every morning and evening. At this 
 school I continued until September, 1845, e.Kcept that at certain intervals 
 I was engaged in teaching school, amounting in all to twenty-one 
 months. 
 
 " My first school was for three months at the Franklin school-house, 
 in the Abram Scott district, one mile beyond Centre Church; next for 
 three months at the Red school-house, at Smiley Johnson's, one mile 
 west of La Grange on the road to New Alexander ; then at Stark's 
 school-house for three months ; after that for si.x months at New 
 Alexander; and another period of six months at home at Hill's school- 
 house. 
 
 "In October, 1845, I began to read law with Mason & Moody, but 
 for the first ten months I was also engaged in teaching for Dr. Scott in 
 Grove Academy. I remained in the office of Mason & Moody until 
 October 4, 1848, when I was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court 
 of Ohio. 
 
1846-1889] FAMILY HISTORY. 211 
 
 "The fall of 1848 I commenced the practice of law in Steubenville ; 
 in 1850 formed a partnership with ex-Judge John H. Miller, and in 
 1 86 1, on motion of Hon. T. D. Lincoln, I was admitted to practice in 
 the United States Supreme Court, and was sworn in by Salmon P. 
 Chase, then Chief Justice. iVIy law partnership continued until June, 
 1863, when I bought out the Mechanics' Saving Bank and commenced 
 banking under the firm name of R. Sherrard & Co., Thomas L. Jewett 
 being my partner. This continued until October, 1865, when I was 
 induced reluctantly to change into the First National Bank of Steuben- 
 ville, which, as its president, I continued to manage at a salary of $2000 
 until the fall of 1868. 
 
 " Having become satisfied that I could earn more money for myself 
 than to continue the management of a National Bank, I notified the 
 Board of Directors of my desire to be relieved as president of said bank. 
 A meeting of the stockholders was called in July to consider the ques- 
 tion of continuing the bank, as at that time there did not seem to be 
 any one connected with it who was willing to take my place. Having 
 sold the furniture, fixtures, vault and safes to said bank in 1865, I pro- 
 posed to allow for the same the price paid in 1865, and further agreed 
 to close up said First National Bank without cost to its stockholders. 
 That was unanimously agreed to by its stockholders, and on October i, 
 1868, the First National Bank was closed. The firm of Sherrard, 
 Mooney & Co. was formed and commenced doing business on that day, 
 which has continued until the present, 1889, I retaining a majority 
 interest in said firm. I closed up the affairs of the First National Bank, 
 paying to its stockholders in addition to the capital stock, which was 
 $150,000, a premium of $60,000, besides ten per cent, dividends annually 
 while the bank was doing business. 
 
 " In 1850 I was appointed United States Deputy Marshal for the 17th 
 Congressional District of Ohio, and took the census in eight of the 
 townships of Jefferson County. On September 28th, of that year. Con- 
 gress passed a bill to grant the soldiers of the war of 18 12 a bounty in 
 land ; forty acres for a service of three months, eighty acres for six 
 months, and one hundred and sixty acres for a service of nine months 
 and upwards, and the benefits were extended to the widows and minor 
 children of such soldiers as had died. 
 
278 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1846-1889. 
 
 "I took advantage of the circumstances, and while around taking the 
 Census I made inquiry for soldiers and their widows and children, and 
 after I had completed the work of taking the Census, I made appoint- 
 ments throughout Jefferson, Columbiana, Carroll and Harrison Counties 
 in Ohio; Brooke and Hancock Counties in Virginia; and Washington 
 County in Pennsylvania, and the result was that I made applications for 
 about four hundred. Congress passed a supplemental bill March 4, 
 1855, to equalize the bounties so as to give all soldiers of the War of 
 1812 and the Mexican War, and their widows and minor children 160 
 acres. Under that Act I renewed the applications and procured 160 
 acres for all for whom I had made applications who were entitled. 
 
 '' I bought many of the Land Warrants and located the same in Illinois 
 and Iowa, commencing the fall of 1851 and continuing to do so until the 
 Land Warrants began to be exhausted in 1858. In this way, selling the 
 lands thus located from time to time, buying and locating during the 
 period from 1851 to 1858,1 was enabled to make a very good start, 
 financially. 
 
 " In the fall of 1861 I was elected to the Ohio State Senate from the 
 counties of Jefferson and Columbiana, and served one term of two years. 
 I was appointed on four of the regular Committees in the Senate, as 
 Chairman of the Railroad Committee, Judiciary, School and Peniten- 
 tiary Committees. I declined re-election to the Senate for the reason of 
 other pressing engagements connected with starting in the banking busi- 
 ness in 1863. 
 
 " In 1868 I was induced to become a candidate for Congress in the 
 17th Congressional District of Ohio, which was then composed of the 
 counties of Jefferson, Carroll, Stark and Columbiana. There were two 
 candidates in Stark and one in Columbiana, and I was defeated for the 
 nomination by two votes. Judge Jacob Ambler of Columbiana being the 
 successful candidate. 
 
 " I was appointed Financial Agent of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and 
 St. Louis Railway Company, with the office in New York City, and re- 
 moved with my family to New York April i, 1870. I organized The 
 New York Transfer Company in September, 1870, with a capital of $600,- 
 000, and was elected its Treasurer, and in 1873 was elected its President 
 and Treasurer, which positions I held until 1878. 
 
184G-1889.] FAMILY HISTORY. 279 
 
 "At that time I was compelled to resign and return to Steuben- 
 ville to take charge of the Steubenville Coal and Mining Company, 
 which was left without any interested party to manage it on the 
 death of Colonel George W. McCook, late in the fall of 1877, he and 
 myself owning the majority of the interest in said Company. I was 
 elected President of the Company, which position I still hold, and on 
 the death of Dr. Thomas Johnson, June 18, 1879, I was elected Presi- 
 dent of the Steubenville Gas, Light & Coke Company, and have ever 
 since continued as such President. 
 
 "I assisted in organizing the Steubenville Pottery Company in 1881, 
 which has proved to be successful, giving at this time employment to 
 over 260 persons, with a product yearly of over $175,000 and in- 
 creasing. 
 
 " P"or seventeen years I was a member of the Board of Education 
 of Steubenville, and resigned this position prior to my removal to 
 New York in 1870. 
 
 " From 1853 to 1865 I was a member of the Board of Trust of the 
 College Endowment Fund, under the care of the Synod of Wheeling, 
 which Board managed the financial affairs of Washington College. 
 This institution was under the care of the Presbyterian Church, and 
 I acted as Treasurer of this Board in receiving, loaning and investing 
 its funds. In 1864 P.ev. Charles C. Beatty, D.D., of Steubenville, 
 made the offer of $50,000 as an endowment, on condition of the 
 union of the two Colleges of Washington and Jefferson, then located 
 only seven miles apart, at Washington and Canonsburg respectively. 
 This union was accomplished the spring of 1865, an Act of the Legis- 
 lature having been passed March 4, 1865, providing for a Board of 
 Trustees for the united College, and in this Act I was named as one 
 of the number. I have continued to act as a Trustee up to the 
 present time, making it a rule to be present at all the meetings of 
 the Board. 
 
 "On July 2, 1846, I was married to Sarah A. Salmon, and by this 
 union three children were "born: Emma Virginia, April 2, 1847, and she 
 was married to Henry C. Elliot, of New York, December 3, 1868; Wil- 
 lie, July 22, 1850, and he lived only about a year; and Henry Comingo, 
 August 25, 1857. He has never married, but resides with his father. 
 
280 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1840-1889. 
 
 and is in the bank of Sherrard, Mooney & Co. My wife died in New 
 York, November 7, 1870, after a long and severe affliction. I remained 
 a widower until December 13, 1 881, when I was united in marriage to 
 Katie, eldest daughter of the late Dr. Thomas Johnson, of Steubenville. 
 By this union three children have been born : Thomas Johnson, in 
 1882; Robert Stanton, in 1884, and he died August 5, 1889; and Mary 
 Catharine, born in 18S7. On moving to New York, I sold my house 
 on Third Street, and, on returning to Steubenville, I boarded for a few 
 years, until I purchased the Morris property, on the corner of Fourth . 
 and Washington Streets; and, after enlarging it, we moved into it in 
 September, 1883, and continue to occupy it as our home up to the pres- 
 ent time. 
 
 "During the fall of 1878 I traveled through Europe and as far as 
 Egypt and the Holy Land in company with my son, Henry C, and the 
 late Rev. William M. Grimes, D.D. We left New York August 1st, 
 and returned home November 5th, and on my return I occasionally lec- 
 tured on my experiences abroad. Immediately after my second marriage 
 I visited Europe a second time in company with my wife. We left New 
 York December 17th, 1881; traveled through England, Scotland and 
 Ireland ; .«pent twenty-one days in Paris ; thence through PVance to 
 Lyons, Marseilles, Nice, Monte Carlo to Genoa, Rome, Naples; back to 
 Rome; thence to Florence and Venice; across through Austria to Ger- 
 many; and after spending three weeks through Germany, we returned 
 by Paris, London, Ireland and Scotland, arriving in New York early in 
 April. 1882. 
 
 " On the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861, I took an active part 
 in raising the first companies which went to form the First and Second 
 Regiments from Ohio. 
 
 " I presented myself to the examining surgeon, but was not accepted 
 on account of heart trouble, which had afflicted me from the time I was 
 fourteen years of age. By the call of the President, of August 4, 1862, 
 providing for a draft of three hundred thousand militia for immediate 
 service, I was appointed as Commissioner of Drafting for Jefferson 
 County by the Governor of Ohio. It was my duty to superintend the 
 drafting, hear and determine the excuses of those claiming e.xemption, 
 and this duty I performed, and I also served as chairman of the commit- 
 
1846-1889.] FAMILY HISTORY. 281 
 
 tee under an order from the War Department for the readjustment of 
 accounts between the State and General Government under the calls of 
 1 86 1 and 1862, which commission was dated August 23, 1864. The 
 statement required the deficiencies and excesses by districts in the State 
 of Ohio, as adjusted in the office of the Provost Marshal General of the 
 United States under all the calls from 1861 to July i, 1864, and to per- 
 form that work required much time, labor and investigation. I was 
 appointed to pay all bounties to volunteers from Jefferson County, Ohio, 
 and did pay on regular pay-rolls more than ;^ioo,000 in sums from 
 1^12.50 to ^50 to each volunteer, having to equalize finally, so that each 
 should receive equal sums of $50 
 
 "When Morgan's Raid occurred in July, 1863, under his Rebel force, 
 which entered Ohio in the southwestern part of the State, over two 
 thousand strong, their course was through the southern and eastern 
 tiers of counties, and they reached Harrison County on Friday. 
 
 " General Brooks, in command of the United States forces at Pitts- 
 burgh, sent an order to me at Steubenville to take charge of two regi- 
 ments, which were sent down on the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad, 
 and have them placed along the Ohio River, to prevent Morgan and his 
 Rebel forces from crossing the river into West Virginia, which was evi- 
 dently his purpose. One regiment was stationed at the mouth of Rush 
 Run, and the other at Portland, at the mouth of Short Creek. Morgan, 
 learning through his scouts that these regiments were awaiting him, 
 crossed over Short Creek below the town of Mount Pleasant, and came 
 on through Smithfield and as far as New Alexander. 
 
 " Having sent out many men to keep watch of his movements, I 
 directed the regiment at Portland to move up to La Grange (now Bril- 
 liant), opposite to Wellsburg, and the regiment at the mouth of Rush 
 Run I directed to move up to the mouth of Cross Creek, near the town 
 of Mingo, three miles below Steubenville. When Morgan and his force, 
 which was now reduced to about seven hundred men with horses, 
 learned that it would be impossible to make their escape through either 
 of the valleys referred to, he changed his plans; and when he reached 
 the mouth of Mclntyre Creek, which empties into Cross Creek three 
 miles above the mouth of the latter, he turned up Cross Creek one mile, 
 burning a railroad bridge there, and soon took to the ridge, and came 
 
282 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1846-1889. 
 
 on to Wintersville, four miles west of Steubenville. There a slight 
 skirmish took place, he being attacked on his right by a large com- 
 pany of good riflemen, who went out from Steubenville, and were joined 
 by many more from his rear. But an open fire from Morgan's men in 
 the direction of the Steubenville men soon silenced the latter, and re- 
 sulted in fatally wounding a young son of James Parks, of Steubenville, 
 who died from the loss of blood before medical aid reached him. 
 
 " I directed the two regiments to move on up the river, one to guard 
 the mouth of Island creek and the streams leading to the river above 
 that point, the other to guard the mouth of Big Yellow Creek. While 
 this was being done, Morgan and his forces marched on through Rich- 
 mond, and down the town fork of Yellow creek to its mouth, which was 
 reached by daylight on Sunday morning. 
 
 " There learning that there was no prospect of crossing the Ohio at 
 the mouth of Yellow Creek, they turned their course up Yellow Creek, and 
 on reaching the county-line of Jefferson and Columbiana Counties, about 
 three miles above the mouth of the Town Fork which empties its waters 
 into Yellow Creek, and not far from the town of Salineville, Morgan and 
 his forces were surrounded, and surrendered to General Shackleford. 
 
 " General Brooks directed that Morgan and his men should be sent to 
 Steubenville, and I was directed by a general order from General Brooks 
 to take charge of all horses and property captured, and send Morgan 
 and his men as prisoners to Camp Chase at Columbus. 
 
 " I corralled the horses taken from Morgan in the fair ground below 
 Steubenville, and began the work assigned, of deciding as to the owner- 
 ship of horses and other property which Morgan and his men had taken 
 on their long line of march. Claims were made in the course of a few 
 days by rightful owners of the property to my satisfaction, and I directed 
 the property to be delivered accordingly, and before the end of one week 
 I had delivered to its owner every horse taken from Morgan, except two 
 which were not claimed, and they were handed over to the United States 
 Government at Pittsburgh. 
 
 "Since 1856 I have been a Director in the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. 
 Louis Railway Company, and during the past two years I have spent 
 much time and labor as chairman of a committee on the reorganization 
 of the finances of that company. 
 
1846-1889.] FAMILY HISTORY. 283 
 
 " In 1863 I received the Honorary degree of Master of Arts from 
 Washington College. On November 10, 1858, I was elected a Deacon of 
 the First Presbyterian Church of Steubenville, and was ordained to that 
 office on the i6th day of the same month. I was a delegate from the 
 17th Congressional District of Ohio to the National Convention at Phil- 
 adelphia which nominated Col. John C. Fremont, and was on the com- 
 mittee from Ohio to wait on him in New York, where he was then living, 
 to inform him of his nomination. 
 
 '' I was delegate from the same district in 1S64 at the National Con- 
 vention at Baltimore, which nominated Abraham Lincoln for a second 
 term. In the convention in Chicago in 1880 which nominated James A. 
 Garfield. I was alternate, and I was delegate to the convention which met 
 in Chicago in 1888, which nominated Benjamin Harrison. I was at the 
 first Republican Convention which met in Columbus, Ohio, in 1854, when 
 the Hon. John Sherman was chosen President of that convention, and I 
 have been his supporter ever since. 
 
 "Written December 17, 1889." 
 
 My brother Robert's daughter Emma was educated at Steubenville 
 and Norristown, and then spent a year in Mrs. Sylvanus Reed's school 
 in New York City, after which she traveled for a few months in Europe 
 with Mrs. Reed. 
 
 Since her marriage with Mr. Elliot, in 186S, they have always resided 
 in New York, and they have three children,— Robert Sherrard, who is 
 at present a student in Columbia College, New York City ; Lillie 
 Beatty and Harry Stanton. 
 
 Robert's son, Henry C, was educated in the Military School at New 
 Haven, Conn., after which he spent the summer of 1878 traveling in 
 Flurope with his friend. Will Demorest, of New York. In August of 
 that year Harry met his father in Paris and they traveled together 
 through Egypt and Palestine. Since then he has been in business in 
 the bank in Steubenville. He has been one of the most energetic and 
 enthusiastic of the young Republicans of Ohio, and has been a member 
 of Governor's Foraker's staff during the two terms of his office. 
 
 My brother Robert's little boy, Robert Stanton, who died of scarlet 
 fever the summer of ■1889, at the age of five years, was a very bright 
 
28i THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1818-1889. 
 
 and attractive child ; so eager and energetic in all his movements, and 
 he gave great promise of becoming a strong and vigorous man. 
 
 MARRIAGE OF MARY ANNE SHERRARD. 
 
 There was a fourth marriage in the family, the second wedding at 
 home, when Mary Anne and Joseph W. Hill were married October lo, 
 184S. The ceremony was performed at four o'clock in the afternoon, 
 by the pastor, the Rev. H. G Corningo, in the presence of many of the 
 relatives, friends and neighbors. Joseph Kithcart and Elizabeth and 
 Aunt Martha Sharon had come down from Mount Pleasant, and Uncle 
 Robert Lee and Aunt Betsy, and their three daughters, Mary, Nannie 
 and Lizzie, all came over from where they lived, near Cross Creek 
 Village. Father says in his record of the occasion that " it was by and 
 with the consent of all parties on both sides, the bride and groom being 
 both old enough not only to choose for themselves, but also to keep 
 house and to manage the concerns of a young rising generation, should 
 they be richly blessed in that particular. The groom was thirty-seven 
 and the bride thirty-one years old." 
 
 I have no distinct recollection of the event, but as I was then three 
 and a half years old, I can just remember it. Tradition tells that during 
 the ceremony I was held up by brother Robert as I stood on a bureau ; 
 and Robert tells that the next day when the infare party started off, 
 I ran off after them up through the field as hard as I could go crying at 
 the top of my voice for mother, and he ran after me and brought me 
 back, for the party were already out of sight. This incident my 
 brothers and sisters have often related with great amusement. The only 
 trouble was that mother had forgotten to give me her usual kiss in the 
 hurry of starting, and this nearly broke my heart. 
 
 Mother tells me to-day, December 28, 1889, that it was her invariable 
 custom to tell me whenever she was going away, and to kiss me, and 
 then I never said a word, but was good and cheerful and happy about 
 her going, but on this occasion she somehow forgot it. 
 
 The infare was given at the house of James Hill, where his brother 
 Joseph had always made his home, and here Joseph and Mary Anne 
 made their home during the following winter, e.xcept that for a short 
 time they took a wedding trip up to Uncle David's in Fayette County. 
 
1848-1889.] FAMIL Y HISTOR Y. 285 
 
 The spring of 1S49 they went to housekeeping in the house where 
 George Hill had lived, as he had moved that spring down to Mingo. 
 On this farm, about one mile from Sugar Hill, Joseph Hill and Mary- 
 Anne continued to live for many years in the greatest comfort and hap- 
 piness until his death, February 22, 1877. Here their five children were 
 born, — Rosamond C, Elizabeth J., Martha S., Mary and Robert Sher- 
 rard, — and they are all living at the present time, the last of 1889. 
 Martha was married to the Rev. David R. Kerr June 12, 1879, and they 
 have four children. Their home was first at Jamestown, Pa., then at 
 Mercer, Pa. ; afterwards, for some years, in Omaha, Neb. Dr. Kerr is 
 now President of Bellevue College, Bellevue, Neb. Mary was married 
 to Jesse M. Bennett, of Mount Pleasant, Ohio, on October 14, 1880, and 
 their home is there at present. Robert married Mary Mears, of Steu- 
 benville, June 30, 1885, and they now have three children. 
 
 After the death of Joseph W. Hill, in 1877, the family continued to 
 live on the old homestead and Robert carried on the farm. But at the 
 time of his marriage, in 1885, Robert purchased the farm, and his 
 mother and sisters moved into SteubenviUe, where with her daughters, 
 Rosamond and Elizabeth, she now lives in her own house which she 
 purchased, which is situated on Fourth Street just below the First 
 Presbyterian Church. Elizabeth, however, is at home only during her 
 vacation, as she is a teacher in Washington, Pa., in the Female Semi- 
 nary. 
 
 Joseph W. Hill became a member of the First Presbyterian Church 
 of SteubenviUe May 12, 1848; he continued his membership there until 
 the organization of the Third Presbyterian Church of SteubenviUe by 
 Dr. Beatty, on Friday, June 20, 1873, when he and his family went into 
 this new organization. He was elected a Ruling Elder in that church, 
 and continued to serve in that office most acceptably until his death. 
 His wife and family then returned to' the membership of the First Pres- 
 byterian Church, and they still belong there in the church where Mary 
 Anne first united. May 24, 1834. He had been elected an elder in the 
 First Presbyterian Church of SteubenviUe January 11, 1873, and he was 
 ordained on the 19th of the sam; month, and continued to fill that office 
 for four months, until the organization of the Third Church. 
 
286 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1851-1890. 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NANCY SHERRARD. 
 
 "On Friday, March 28, 1851, I graduated at the Steubenville Female 
 Seminary, and two weeks later I went to Westmoreland County, Pa., to 
 take charge of a Select School in the bounds of the Unity congregation, 
 of which the Rev. Mr. Gillette was pastor. He met me at the nearest 
 point on the Northern Pike, which leads from Pittsburgh through 
 Greensburg, and I remember that he informed me that he had that day 
 performed the marriage ceremony between Mr. Culbcrtson Orr and Miss 
 Nancy Smith. My school consisted of seventeen young girls, and dur- 
 ing my five months stay in that neighborhood I boarded with Mr. George 
 Smith and his sister Sarah, who afterwards became Mrs. Benjamin Craig 
 of New Alexandria. Mr. George Smith was married the fall of 1851 to 
 Miss Margaret Orr of Clarion County, a sister of Mr. Culbertson Orr. 
 Before the close of my school at Unity, the Rev. Dr. George Hill of 
 Blairsville engaged me to teach in the Blairsville Seminary, which had 
 been opened the first time the spring of 1851. After the close of my 
 school the last of September, I went over to Fayette County to visit 
 uncle David Sherrard. There I was met by my father and little brother 
 Thomas, and I drove home with them in the carriage, arriving Octo- 
 ber lOth. 
 
 "On October 31, 1851, I left home again and started to Blairsville. 
 As there was at that time no railroad from Steubenville to Pittsburgh, I 
 went that distance on the new steamboat ' Winchester,' and the fare was 
 fifty cents, including board, as there was at that time strong competition 
 between two rival steamboats. From Pittsburgh I went on a canal boat 
 to Blairsville. During that winter I went out to attend the wedding of 
 Miss Sarah Smith, and I took my first ride on a railroad, going on the 
 ■ new Penn.sylvania Central Railroad from Blairsville to Beatty's Station. 
 This railroad had first been opened i5p for travel the fall of 185 i. In the 
 Seminary at Blairsville I taught two years and a half. For the first 
 year the school was held in a temporary frame building, but in the fall 
 of 1852 the Rev. Mr. Shepley took charge of the school as Principal, 
 and we were transferred to the new building which is still occupied as 
 the Blairsville Female Seminary. 
 
 " Mr. and Mrs. Shepley were very successful in building up that 
 
1851-1890.] FAMILY HISTORY. 287 
 
 school, and the number of boarders in 1853-4 was fifty. After teaching 
 three years, I thought it would be well for me to rest awhile, and I re- 
 mained at home for a time, teaching for a few weeks in the South Public 
 School in Steubenville. During the summer Session of 1855 I accepted 
 a position as teacher in the Steubenville Female Seminary, of which Dr. 
 and Mrs. Beatty were still Principals. I have always regarded it as one 
 of the greatest privileges of my life to teach with them. 
 
 " To their friendship, which lasted through life, I have owed many of 
 the best positions which I have held as teacher in different schools. 
 The experience I had there as a teacher has ever since been to me in- 
 valuable. 
 
 "During the summer of 1856 the Rev. Mr. Nevius, Principal of the 
 Sayre Female Institute, Lexington, Ky., offered me a position as teacher 
 in that school. As the salary was considerably larger than that which I 
 was receiving from Dr. Beatty, I consulted him, and he kindly released 
 me from my engagement with him. I went to Lexington in September, 
 1856, and remained in that school two years. In 1858 I had an offer at 
 a still higher salary to go out to the country three miles from Lexing- 
 ton, in the very centre of the Blue Grass region, and teach for four fami- 
 lies. The gentlemen who engaged me were Mr. Abram Van Meter, Mr. 
 Isaac Van Meter, Colonel Delph and Mr. Viley. I taught there one 
 year, boarding in the family of Mr. Abram Van Meter, and attending the 
 Second Presbyterian Church of Lexington, in which Mr. Van Meter was 
 an Elder. I had attended this church during my stay at the Sayre 
 Female Institute. My life and experiences at Lexington were very 
 pleasant, as I made many warm friends whom it has always been a 
 pleasure to remember. 
 
 " The fall of 1859 I went to Circleville, Ohio, and taught during that 
 winter in the High School of that place, my brother William being with 
 me at school there. 
 
 " We returned home the spring of i860. That summer of i860 Mr. 
 Sayre, of Lexington, finding that I was not engaged in an}- school duties, 
 recommended me to Mr. Lycurgus Johnson, a wealthy planter of Lake 
 Port, Arkansas, who wished a private instructor for his children. Miss 
 Martha Torrance, of New Alexandria, Pa., went with me, and she taught 
 two children in the family of Mrs. Governor Johnson, one mile distant. 
 
288 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1851-1890. 
 
 I taught four children, three girls and one boy. The plantation of Mr. 
 Johnson consisted of two thousand acres, and on the plantation there 
 were one hundred and fifty slaves. 
 
 " That summer of i860 they had raised twelve hundred acres of cotton 
 and three hundred acres of corn. In the family of Mr Johnson there 
 were seven or eight house-servants. He had a well-trained dining-room 
 servant, whom he had bought a year before, who was valued at ,$1,700. 
 Mr. Johnson had bought him, his wife, and a child three years old, for 
 the sum of ^3,000. Soon after the fall of Fort Sumter, the spring of 
 1861, we thought of leaving for our homes in the North, and we made 
 preparations to leave as soon as possible after we found that the war was 
 about to become a terrible reality. I have always been glad that I saw 
 the South in the days of slavery, and also had the opportunity of seeing 
 the inside workings of Secession during that winter. We left Lake 
 Port on a Southern boat, but when we arrived at Memphis, the captain, 
 hearing that the United States troops were at Cairo, 111., decided to stop 
 at Memphis. The " Queen of the West," a Northern boat bound for 
 Cincinnati, coming along soon after, our captain placed us under the care 
 of the captain of the Cincinnati boat, and we passed on with safety ; not 
 without danger, however, as we were fired into by the rebels at Ran- 
 dolph, Tenn. At Cairo we saw the United States flag for the first time 
 after leaving Lake Port. We arrived at Steubenville on Tuesday, April 
 30, 1861. 
 
 " In November of that year Dr. Beatty secured for me the position of 
 Vice-Principal of the Bellewood Seminary, at Anchorage, Ky., twelve 
 miles from Louisville. The Rev. Dr. Hill was Principal of this school, 
 and I remained in this position for three years. In 1864 I accepted a 
 Select School in Fort Wayne, Ind., my sister Sue, who had been teach- 
 ing in Kentucky, going with me. We had a very delightful year. Our 
 school consisted of young girls from ten to eighteen years of age. 
 
 "At the close of this school year in 1865, we both had offers to go 
 back to Kentucky at increased salaries, and we thought best to do so. 
 I returned to Bellewood Seminary the fall of 1865, and stayed there at 
 that time for one year. The fall of 1866 I went back to Fort Wayne 
 and taught one year. During the summer of 1868 I taught in the 
 seminary at Steubenville, the Rev. A. M. Reid, Ph.D., being at that time 
 
1851-1890.] FAMILY HISTORY. -289 
 
 Principal. In July of that year I met with a severe accident in the 
 spraining of mj' ankle, and for four and a-half months I was able to 
 walk only with the use of crutches. This summer was the last of the 
 summer sessions ever held in Steubenville Seminary, and during that 
 summer I roomed with Miss Sarah Brownson, who was one of the 
 teachers. She is now Mrs. Henry R. Whitehill, of Deer Lodge, 
 Montana. 
 
 " My niece Emma V. Sherrard having been married to H. C. Elliot, of 
 New York City, my brother Robert asked me to come and make my 
 home with his family, which at that time consisted of himself, his wife, 
 who was an invalid, and his son Harry. I staid with them in Steuben- 
 ville until April i, 1870, when we removed to New York. For the first 
 month we remained with Mr. Elliot's family in Brooklyn, where they 
 were then living, and on May i, 1870, we all removed to a large house, 
 28 \V. 26th Street, New York, and here the family lived for several years. 
 In the fall of 1S70 I had a very unexpected offer to teach in the Public 
 School of Brooklyn at a salary of $900 a year. This I accepted, and I 
 taught there from October, 1870, till July i, 1871, when the school year 
 closed. In the fall of that year I went back to Bellewood Seminary, 
 near Louisville, and remained one year. 
 
 " In the fall of 1872 I accepted a position as teacher in the Steubenville 
 Female Seminary, and taught there two years. In June, 1874, I was 
 unanimously elected Principal of the Washington Female Seminary of 
 Washington, Pa., by the trustees of that institution. I accepted the offer 
 then made, and soon after entered upon my duties. We opened the 
 school September 4, 1874, with Miss Mary McDonald, of Steubenville, 
 as Vice-Principal, several excellent teachers, and about eighty pupils. 
 Since that time I have remained in the Washington Seminary as Principal. 
 
 " Our school has steadily increased in numbers, as our catalogues show. 
 The catalogue of 1874-75 contains the names of loi pupils in regular 
 course; that of 1888-89 216 names. My niece, Miss Martha S. Hill, 
 came with me to W'ashington as a teacher. She remained with me until 
 the spring of 1879, when she returned home to Steubenville, as she 
 expected to be married in June of the same year to the Rev. David R. 
 Kerr. My two nieces, Mary Kithcart and Jennie H. Sherrard came 
 with me to W^ashington as pupils. 
 19 
 
290 THE SHERRARD FAMfLY. [18.51-1890. 
 
 "The former graduated in 1876, and the latter in 1877. Jennie Sher- 
 rard after her graduation taught for me two years, and was married June 
 24, 1879, to the Rev. J. C. R. Ewing. Jennie, Anna, Jessie and Ella 
 Kithcart, all daughters of my sister Elizabeth, afterwards graduated at 
 this seminary ; also my niece, Anna R. Sherrard, now the wife of Oliver 
 L. Blachly, M. D., of Sparta, Pa. My niece Mary Hill was a pupil here 
 two years but did not graduate. 
 
 " There are now in the seminary three of my nieces, viz : Mary F. 
 Sherrard, daughter of my brother John, and Virginia and May C. Sher- 
 rard, daughters of my brother Thomas. My brother David's daughter 
 Rose was here at the seminary for a few months some years ago. His 
 granddaughter, Lottie Mooney, graduated in 1889, and her sister Emma 
 is at the present time a pupil here. 
 
 " During the summer of 1882 I went to Europe for a vacation tour 
 under the care of Dr. L. C. Loomis of Washington, D. C. On this trip 
 I was accompanied by Miss Harriet H. Campbell of Clarion, Pa., (now 
 Mrs. Ross Reynolds, Jr., of Kittanning, Pa.) and a young lady from 
 Allegheny, Pa. 
 
 " Dr. Loomis had a large party under his care, and we made many 
 pleasant acquaintances during this trip. We visited parts of Scotland 
 and England, and on the Continent we went as far east as Vienna, and 
 as far south as Naples. This visit to Europe was peculiarly delightful 
 to me, as it was my first. In 1886 I took another trip to Europe, being 
 accompanied this time by ten ladies. We were again under the care of 
 Dr. Loomis, and we visited many of the places which we had seen upon 
 our former trip. 
 
 " In addition we visited Turin and Lake Maggiore in Italy, and Heidel- 
 berg in Germany. It was a renewed pleasure to take the second trip, as 
 I saw much that was new to me in every city or place that we visited, 
 and my pleasure was increased at seeing again what I had seen four 
 years before. 
 
 " My mother and my two sisters, Jane and Sarah, came to Washington 
 to make their home with me, after my brother William's death in 1875. 
 They removed here from Steubenville in October of that year. It has 
 added much to my comfort to have them as members of our seminary 
 family. My sister Sarah's death March 4, 1889, left a vacancy which 
 
1851-1890.] FAMILY HISTORY. 291 
 
 could not be filled. She had, by her bright, cheerful disposition, her 
 sympathetic nature, and her strong Christian character, combined with 
 her comparative helplessness physically, so endeared herself to the mem- 
 bers of our large family and other friends here, that her loss was very 
 severely felt. 
 
 " I have found my work here to be that for which my long and varied 
 experience, as a teacher, and in other relations in life, had fitted me. I 
 have found here use for all the knowledge elsewhere acquired. It has 
 been to me a pleasant work, and I have been happy in my surroundings. 
 
 " Miss C. C. Thompson has for several years been my efficient assistant, 
 and is now vice-principal. 
 
 " I have always felt at home in Washington. The cordiality with which 
 I was received, the unvarying kindness of the people, and especially the 
 cordial relations always existing between the trustees and myself, have 
 contributed to this end. I feel that I owe much to Mrs. Hanna, the 
 former principal of the seminary, because of her establishing the school 
 on firm Christian principles. 
 
 " Her wisdom in the management of the school, and her success, have 
 made possible the seminary of the present. 
 
 " I owe very much to the friendship and support of the friends and 
 former pupils of Mrs. Hanna." 
 
 In connection with sister Nancy's own history, I here insert a copy of 
 a letter which she wrote to father from Arkansas, when she first thought 
 of leaving the South on account of the troubled state of the country. 
 
 This letter I found recorded in father's journal under date of Thurs- 
 day, February 28, 1861, as he had that evening received it. 
 
 '"' Point Chicot, Arkansas, February 16, 1861. 
 " Dear Father: 
 
 " To-day is Saturday, and I have closed the labors of the week. I am med- 
 itating seriously on going home, for I do not feel satished to stay here in the present 
 state of the country. I do not know yet how soon, but indeed I begin to feel uncom- 
 fortable. People down here are strong disunionists, and blame everybody else for 
 differing from them even in slight matters. Yesterday at dinner I displeased both 
 Mr. and Mrs. Johnson by expressing some sentiments with regard to disunion that 
 did not meet their approval. I cannot here relate the conversation at large, but Mrs. 
 Johnson, turning to me, said, ' Miss Sherrard, there are a great many good people in 
 the South.' 
 
292 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1850-1890. 
 
 " ' Yes,' said I, ' and it is a pity that they let the rascals lead them.' Mr. Johnson 
 then took it up, and said that I took a great deal on myself to call them all rascals. 
 He said I had called ' us' &c. 1 said that when 1 spoke I was not personal, but 
 meant those who had attempted to destroy the United States Government. That 
 made matters worse, and everything^ that was said on both sides was only worse and 
 not better. I do not think they will ever forgive me for my talk yesterday. 1 asked 
 their pardon if they considered it personal, and that is all I am going to do. 1 have 
 listened all winter to having all northern people classed together as the compound of 
 all villainy that could be possibly put together. 
 
 " There is a point where forbearance ceases to be a virtue, and that point is reached. 
 Now, I suppose the ne.xt thing they will think I am an Abolitionist, and if they do not 
 think so now, they will miss a figure or two. 
 
 " They will never have a better friend of the South from the North than I have 
 been, but if 1 were to stay here till my head was grayer than Methuselah's was, they 
 never would make a disunionist of me. I am sorry I made that speech, but it is done 
 and it can't be helped. You cannot imagine how angry they both were, and we have 
 always been such good friends before. I suppose Mr. Johnson will think I went 
 beyond my sphere, which is to teach his children, and not to talk politics with him, 
 which is undoubtedly true. I wish I was at home, where 1 could talk without people 
 getting angry about what I say. 
 
 "Affectionately, your daughter, "Nancy Sherr.a.rd." 
 
 PERSONAL HISTORY OF JOHN HINDMAN SHERR.\RD. 
 
 At my request my brother John has written an account of his own 
 life, which I insert at this point. 
 
 " When I was nearly twenty years of age I desired to leave the farm at 
 Sugar Hill and learn a trade. My father gave his full consent, as I was not 
 yet of age, and I left home February 4, 1850, having engaged as appren- 
 tice with the firm of Harris & McDonald, blacksmiths, in Steubenville. 
 But the fall of 185 1 I was taken sick with a fever, and after my recovery 
 it was thought best to give up my plans about the trade, and I worked at 
 home on the farm the summer of 1852. In November, 1852, I began 
 attending the High School of Galloway & Buchanan, in Steubenville, 
 and boarded at home. About mid-winter I began teaching at Hill's 
 school-house, and continued there till May, 1853, when I started to col- 
 lege at Washington, Pa. I had, however, engaged with William Salmon 
 to meet him April i, 1853, at Leavenworth and go with him across the 
 plains with a drove of cattle, but through a kind Providence, at the sug- 
 gestion of a loving mother, I was led to give up that plan, with the un- 
 
1850-1890.] FAMILY HISTORY. 293 
 
 derstandiiig that I would go to school for one year only, and it was 
 agreed that I should go to Washington College. Everything and every 
 person was strange to me there, and as I was to stay only a year and 
 take a partial course, it was very difficult to decide just what I would 
 better study. 
 
 " At the suggestion of one of the Professors I took up Latin, and the 
 next November I took up Greek, having by that time come to the fixed 
 determination that come what would I would take a full course. I was 
 urged to this by my brother Robert and sister Nancy, both of whom 
 had had a liberal education and knew the benefit of the same. 
 
 " Through the kindness of Rev. Dr. Enoch C. Wines, the new Pro- 
 fessor of Languages in Washington College, I became a regular Fresh- 
 man. His eldest son, Frederic H , was in that class, and he was always 
 a warm friend of mine. I soon became a member of the Washington 
 Literary Society, and in 1855, I became a member of the Beta Theta 
 Pi Fraternity. There was no chapter of that Fraternity in Washington, 
 but I went over to Canonsburg and was initiated in the Gamma Chapter, 
 and then I established the Nu Chapter in Washington, being assisted in 
 this by W. M. Stewart. We then received Joseph Waugh, Watson 
 Hughes, George Birch, Will Hanway and James D. Kerr that same year. 
 
 " I always stood fair in my class of eighteen members, and at gradu- 
 ation in September, 1857, I stood seventh, and was put on commence- 
 ment. I had been allowed, however, by the Faculty to take charge of 
 the Cross Creek Village Academy, in Washington County, Pa., in May, 
 1857, and to graduate with my class, passing successfully the final exam- 
 ination. At that Academy I had some fifty students, young men and 
 young women in every grade of advancement. 
 
 " I taught there five months, closing the last of September, and re- 
 ceived tuition fees amounting to some $250. 
 
 " And now comes a matter which I should have mentioned before, how 
 that during my college course I became acquainted with Miss Kizzie N. 
 Fulton, whose father, Mr. Abram Fulton, had taken charge of the tem- 
 perance hotel in Washington, Pa., called the Fulton House, April i, 1853, 
 just one month before my arrival in the town. I did not, however, make 
 the acquaintance of his daughter Kizzie till the fall of 1854. In March, 
 1857, her father and family removed to a farm in Louisa County, Iowa. 
 
294 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1850-1890. 
 
 There we were married October 13, 1857, — John Hindman Sherrard and 
 Kizzie Newlon Fulton. 
 
 " We arrived home at Sugar Hill on the 15th, and our reception was 
 the following day. It was not at all my intention then to study for the 
 ministry, but to make teaching my life work, and during the following 
 winter I taught the Academy at Buffalo in Washington County, Pa., and 
 the summer of 1858 I was on the farm at Sugar Hill for the most of the 
 time, although I was for a time employed in writing in my brother 
 Robert's office in Steubenville. 
 
 " But the Lord led me in a way that I knew not, and called me unmis- 
 takably to prepare to preach the gospel. 
 
 " A daughter whom we called Jane Hindman, for my mother, was 
 born to us July 17, 1858, at Sugar Hill, and she was just two months 
 old when we went to Allegheny, September 17, 1858, and I entered 
 Western Theological Seminary as a student. We boarded all the three 
 years of my course there, but during my first vacation the summer of 
 1859 I had charge of Callensburg Academy in Clarion County, Pa. I 
 was licensed by the Presbytery of Steubenville April 26, i860, and 
 during that summer of my second vacation I had a position as teacher 
 for four months at Miller Academy, Washington, Guernsey Co., Ohio, and 
 I preached frequently during the summer. On July 13, i860, our second 
 daughter was born at Sugar Hill, and we named her Anna Rachel. 
 The next spring, March 27, 1861, [ graduated in a class of 46 from the 
 Western Theological Seminary, being one of seven who had part in the 
 closing exercises. The Rev. Wm. M. Taylor, now of Mount Jackson, 
 Pa., and myself represented Dr. Plumer's Department, Didactic and 
 Pastoral Theology. 
 
 "The Lord not only called me to preach, but he has always called a 
 people to hear me. My first charge was at Rimersburg, Clarion Co., Pa., 
 and I had the three churches of Bethesda, Oak Grove and Middle Creek, 
 from May, 1861, to February, 1867. My ordination by the Presbytery 
 of Clarion took place at the Bethesda Church at Rimersburg, September 
 26, 1 86 1. The Lord added to these churches such, as we trust, are 
 saved. While living in Rimersburg two sons were born to us, Charles 
 Clinton Beatty, February 2, 1864, and John Hughes, May 19, 1866. 
 
 "Charlie was taken from us by accidental drowning July 6, 1866. 
 
1850-1890.] FAMILY HISTORY. 295 
 
 Early in 1867 I was called to Bucyrus, O., and began my regular work 
 there on April i, 1867, and was installed by the Presbytery of Marion 
 the same month. 
 
 " While here my work was blessed, and we were blessed with health 
 and prosperity, and had many kind people. 
 
 "The congregation bought for us a parsonage just beside the church 
 March, 1868. The church had a number of precious revivals during 
 my pastorate at Bucyrus or more than eleven years, but the most won- 
 derful was the winter of 1872, when over 70 were added to the church, 
 among whom were our own beloved daughters, Jennie and Anna. 
 
 "In May, 1869, I represented the Presbytery of Marion in the Gen- 
 eral Assembly at New York, and also the Reunion Assembly in Novem- 
 ber of that year at Pittsburgh. 
 
 "Three children were born to us in Bucyrus: Robert Maurice, 
 October i, 1869; Mary Fulton, July 18, 1871 ; and Elizabeth Linn, 
 February 25, 1874. At the request of my sister Nancy I left Bucj^rus 
 August, 1878, and removed, with my family, to Washington, Pa. There 
 I assisted her for two years in her work in the Washington Female 
 Seminary, teaching the Senior and Junior classes, and during that time 
 on Sabbath days I supplied the church of Upper Ten Mile at Prosperity, 
 Pa., ten miles south of Washington, and I removed my family to that 
 place in April, 1879. 
 
 "While living at Prosperity our eighth and youngest child was born, 
 July 27, 1879, and we named her Helen Ewing. 
 
 " It was also during our life at Prosperity that two marriages occurred 
 in our family: our eldest daughter, Jennie Hindman Sherrard, was 
 united in marriage with the Rev. J. C. R. Ewing. June 24, 1879, and 
 that fall they went out to India as missionaries, where they have been 
 most successful in their work. They have four children born in India : 
 Eleanor, Anna, John Sherrard and Margaret Rhea. Our second 
 daughter, Anna Rachel Sherrard, was united in marriage to Oliver M. 
 Blachly, M.D., of Sparta, Washington County, Pa., on May 18, 1881, 
 and they have two children, Stephen and John Sherrard. 
 
 "The fall of 1882 I was called to Delphos, Ohio, and removed there 
 in November, and was installed over that church by the Presbytery of 
 Lima in April, 1883. The work there was always pleasant and to a 
 
296 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1851. 
 
 good degree prosperous, but owing to so many removals, and the town 
 of Delphos being intensely Roman Catholic, I gave up my work there 
 in October, 1888, having received a very cordial invitation to take 
 charge of the Presbyterian Church at Rockville, Ind. I began my work 
 there October 21, 1888, and was installed December 12, 1889, by the 
 Presbytery of Crawfordsville, and here we live at the present time in 
 great peace, comfort and prosperity. 
 
 "Written Januaiy I, 1890," 
 
 My brother John's son, Hughes, is living in Delphos, O., while 
 Maurice is, at the present time, a Junior in Washington and Jefferson 
 College, and Mary is a pupil in the Seminary at Washington. Bessie 
 and Helen are at home in Rockville, Ind. 
 
 DEATH OF JOSEPH KITHCART, SR. 
 
 One of the events which made a marked impression upon our family 
 was the death of uncle Joseph Kithcart in Mount Pleasant, which oc- 
 curred May 8, 1851. Father had visited him about a month before, and 
 this is what he says : " I bade Joseph Kithcart farewell, and I felt sad, 
 knowing that I should see that brother-in-law no more in life, for I had 
 known him so long and so well from the time he was a boy twelve years 
 old at the time I married his sister Mary January 25, 1816. He was a 
 man of gentle, good-natured disposition from a school boy to manhood, 
 and from man's years till his death. He always had a strong attachment 
 for me and my family, and it was the last visit he made us that he said 
 to my present wife, Jane, that there was no other house in the land at 
 which he could be so much at home and make so free as he could at our 
 house, which he said was more like his own house to him. He was 
 always welcome to my house, and I was always welcome to his, and we 
 had no disputes to mar our peace or to break off our friendship." 
 
 I can remember a visit with father and mother to their house in Mount 
 Pleasant when I ^-as four years and a half old, and one lasting impres- 
 sion of that visit is that I had an orange given me there and it was the 
 first one I ever saw and tasted. Uncle Joseph Kithcart left three daugh- 
 ters : Rebecca, who married R. M. Dickey, of Allegheny, Pa. ; Mary, 
 who married J. Plummer Bracken, of Mount Pleasant ; and Louisa, who 
 is now Mrs. John A. Page. 
 
1851.] FAMILY HISTORY. 297 
 
 Their mother, aunt Martha Kithcart, died July 2, 1869. Uncle 
 Joseph's mother, Mrs. Galloway, who was, however, always known as 
 Grandmother Kithcart, lived in her own home in Mount Pleasant from 
 the time she quit keeping house for father at Rush Run in 1827, and 
 after an illness for three years, during which she was confined to her 
 bed, she died August 20, 1854, near the close of her eighty-second year. 
 
 MY FIRST VISIT TO FAYETTE COUNTY. 
 
 During the fall of 1851 father took me with him on a visit to Fayette 
 County to see uncle David. I was a very little boy of six and a half 
 years to go away so far from my mother, but it was a very pleasant trip 
 to me — the farthest away from home that I had ever before been — and I 
 have always distinctly remembered it to this day. 
 
 It was a journey of seventy miles across the country, and we drove in 
 the carriage, stopping over night at uncle Robert Lee's, then at Wash- 
 ington, for dinner, and on along the National Road, stopping the second 
 liight near Beallsville at John Hill's, and the next day passing on across 
 the Monongahela River at Brownsville to Searight's ; there leaving the 
 pike and turning eastward along the Philadelphia clay road, and I re- 
 member a finger-board at Searight's which pointed eastward and said, — 
 "To Philadelphia 300 mis." 
 
 We went on through Pluinpsock, and past Laurel Hill Church, and 
 arrived at uncle David's that evening. We had brought Lizzie Stone- 
 road with us from Steubenville Seminary, where she had been at school, 
 and as she was expected home about this time, her father, the Rev. Joel 
 Stoneroad, pastor of Laurel Hill, where uncle David was an Elder, found 
 it convenient to request father to bring his daughter home with him. 
 Here at uncle David's we found my sister Nancy, who had come over 
 from Unity, Westmoreland County, where she had been teaching for 
 five months, and she came home with us. 
 
 FATHER AN ELDER IN STEUBENVILLE. 
 
 On November 10, 1851, father was elected a Ruling Elder in the First 
 Presbyterian Church of Steubenville, and he was installed on Sabbath, 
 December 21 of the same year, he having been ordained an Elder in the 
 Centre Church in 1824. In this First Church he continued in the office 
 
298 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1853. 
 
 of Ruling Elder during the remainder of his life. He was very regular 
 in his attendance at the regular monthly meetings of the Session, and 
 took a deep interest in the spiritual affairs of the church, and was 
 often in attendance at Presbytery and Synod. 
 
 He was always the warm friend of the pastor, and was loyal to the 
 interests of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 UNCLE ROBERT LEE'S DEATH. 
 
 One of the best men in his day and generation was Uncle Robert 
 Lee, the husband of mother's younger and only sister, Elizabeth Hind- 
 man. He was one of the sons of William Lee, and was born in 1806, in 
 Brooke County, Va., only a short distance across the river from Steu- 
 benville. 
 
 After Grandmother Hindman had married John Orr, of Holliday's 
 Cove, her daughter Elizabeth lived with them, and they and the Lees 
 all went to the Three Springs Church. In this way Robert Lee and 
 Elizabeth Hindman became acquainted, and they were married in Janu- 
 ary, 1835. 
 
 He owned a fine farm three miles from Burgettstown, and the same 
 distance from Cross Creek Village; and here they settled down and be- 
 came members of Dr. John Stockton's church in Cross Creek Village, 
 where he became a ruling elder. Three daughters were born to them : 
 Mary, who was married to David M. Pry, of Burgettstown, February 5, 
 1885 ; Nannie, who still remains unmarried, and Elizabeth, who was 
 married to Levi Scott June 5, 1867. The home of Uncle Robert Lee 
 was always one of the most delightful places to visit, and many were the 
 social exchanges of visits between the two families; and none more sin- 
 cerely mourned the early death of Uncle Robert than father and mother 
 and all of us children; for he died at the age of forty-seven, January 16, 
 
 1853- 
 
 Aunt Lee and her daughters continued to live on the farm and man- 
 age it for many years, until 1878, when they rented it and moved to 
 Burgettstown, where aunt died October 22, 1886, and Nannie still re- 
 sides there in her own house. Lizzie's husband, Levi Scott, died very 
 suddenly from an accident in June, 1883. She still occupies her farm 
 near Burgettstown, to which she went when first married, and it is man- 
 
1855 ] FAMIL Y HISTOR Y. 299 
 
 aged by her only child, Robert Lee Scott, who is now twenty-one 
 years of age. 
 
 DEATH OF AUNT BETSY IRVINE SHERRARD. 
 
 The fall of 1854 father and mother and sister Sue went on a visit to 
 Uncle David's ; and as they were about to leave for home, father speaks 
 of his parting with Aunt Betsy in this way: 
 
 " I bade farewell to sister Betsy, and before going out to the carriage, 
 as I stood a moment in the door, she spoke in a solemn tone which 
 struck me forcibly: 'Robert, I shall never see you again.' But I replied; 
 'You may see me again; for if you are not able to come to see me, I 
 may be able to come and see you.' But there was something prophetic 
 in her remark, for she never did see me again in this life; for, before my 
 return to Fayette County, she had passed away. She died June 19, 
 1855, when she calmly breathed her last in the presence of her husband, 
 who had always been a kind and loving husband to her since their mar- 
 riage March 14, 1816. With her last breath, the last word that she 
 spoke was ' David.' It was evident that she dearly loved David, her 
 husband, and David dearly loved his wife, and well he might, for she 
 was a woman of rare qualities and qualifications. During the latter part 
 of her life she was much afflicted with spinal disease, and for the last three 
 or four years she had the use of her hands, but could not dress herself" 
 
 Uncle David was married again February 13, 1858, to Miss Martha 
 Watt, of Pittsburgh, and they lived together very happily until Uncle 
 David's death, June 2, 1880, after which Aunt Martha continued to live 
 at the same place, two miles from Dunbar, Pa., and she is living there 
 alone at the present lime in a happy old age. It is the same old house 
 where Uncle David lived so long, and the very same place where grand- 
 father and grandmother, John and Mary Sherrard, were living in 1786, 
 when Uncle David was born, — the same place where Uncle David Cath- 
 cart lived so long, and he left it to Uncle David A. C. Sherrard. He 
 sold the farm many years ago to his nephew, Thomas G. Sherrard, and 
 after the death of cousin Thomas, his son David lived there for a few 
 years; but the old farm is now sold into the hands of strangers. Uncle 
 David reserved the house and a few acres for himself, and Aunt Martha 
 continues to live there. 
 
300 . THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1856. 
 
 FARM LIFE, 1850-60. 
 
 After the older brothers and sisters were married, and Nancy and 
 John were away at school, our home life on the farm went on as usual, 
 for William and I were gradually growing up to take our part in the 
 work on the farm, while for a time Brother Joseph was chief manager 
 under father. But as Brother William grew older, he took the manage- 
 ment of the farm, and Joseph began about 1858 to work at painting in 
 town and country, and for a time he was clerk in a grocery in Steuben- 
 ville ; but he still made his home at Sugar Hill, and at times worked on 
 the farm. 
 
 During the earlier years W^illiam and I were at school summer and 
 winter at our District school at Hill's school-house, and the winter 
 of 1855-6, which was a very cold and snowy winter, he and I went reg- 
 ularly to the South Grammar School in Steubenville, where we made 
 good progress in our studies. Among other excellent things which 
 we learned that winter at school was how to sing and to read music 
 at sight, which was taug it in the public schools. 
 
 The knowledge of music thus acquired was of the greatest value 
 and pleasure to both of us all through our lives, and we tried to use it 
 to good account. 
 
 Sister Jane started to school at the Seminary May 5, 185 1, and 
 went that summer session, and remained at home the following win- 
 ter, and then went again the summer of 1852. Sister Sue then started 
 to the Seminary November i, 1852, and continued in attendance there 
 till she graduated the spring of 1855. Jane then started again to the 
 Seminary for the summer session of that year, and the following win- 
 ter she boarded at brother Robert's in town, and continued at school 
 until the summer of 1856. She was in the class of 1857, and would 
 have graduated that spring, but sister Sue was taken with a severe 
 sore throat the May of 1856, and Jane remained at home and gave 
 up school. 
 
 She remained at home with mother ever after that, the centre of 
 all the home life in connection with sister Sarah, and during all these 
 years sister Jane was the daily companion of Sarah and a sympathizing 
 sister in her long affliction, while she has been up to the present time the 
 
1859.] FAMIL Y HISTUR V. 301 
 
 comfort and companion to mother, faithfully and lovingly ministering to 
 her in her declining years. And no matter where the brothers and sis- 
 ters of the family had gone, far away from the old home at Sugar Hill, 
 they were sure of a warm welcome from Jane and Sarah on their 
 return home. In those days among the fifties, many were the pleasant 
 visits during the slack time of the year, when sometimes one, sometimes 
 another, would go with father and mother on visits to relatives, to uncle 
 David's or uncle John's, or to aunt Lee's or to the various friends at 
 Mount Pleasant, and many were the visits we received from these 
 friends. 
 
 Father and mother were always most hospitable people and kept open 
 house for all their friends as long as I can remember, and their circle of 
 acquaintance and friendship was large all over the country. The fall of 
 1856 I went with father and mother on a visit over through Washington 
 County, Pa., and everywhere the country was e.xcited over the coming 
 Presidential election, when Fremont was the Republican candidate, 
 and Buchanan the Democratic. 
 
 I have never seen as many political poles since ; every farm-house 
 seemed to have its pole in the yard to declare the political principles of 
 the owner. 
 
 Again the fall of 1859 I went with father and mother on a visit to Fay- 
 ette County, Pa., and while there we went one day up on the mountain 
 side to the old farm where father was born just seventy years before, and 
 he had never seen the old place since the day they had moved off, when 
 father was ten years old. 
 
 FATHER AS A WRITER. 
 
 It seemed to me in my boyhood that father was often engaged in 
 transacting some kind of business for other people. And by the time 
 I was old enough to appreciate my father's intelligence and abilities, as 
 he was 56 years old when I was born, he was old enough to retire from 
 active life; and as he had boys who were fully capable of attending to 
 all the farm work, father was able to take life easier, and to have leisure 
 for other employments. His counsel was often sought by neighbors, and 
 often he was called upon to write the last wills of his old acquaintances. 
 I know not how many wills he drew in his lifetime, nor how many 
 
302 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1860. 
 
 estates he settled as Executor or Administrator, but certain!}' a great 
 many. One of the estates that occupied his attention for several years 
 was that of old James Armstrong. In addition to his work on the farm, 
 with occasional attention to business for other people, it seems to me in 
 looking back over my boyhood that father in his leisure moments always 
 had either a paper or a pen in his hand, and one of the familiar sights in 
 our house was the old desk and the old cork inkstand, and the dozens of 
 quill pens lying around. 
 
 For it must be remembered that during his long life father never 
 used anything but a quill pen, and these he always made for himself. 
 For this purpose he kept a penknife of the finest steel and keenest edge. 
 
 He was always an early riser, and one of the first things to be seen 
 any morning of the week would be father sitting at his little stand 
 writing, either in his journal or his family history, or some communica- 
 tion for a newspaper, or a letter to one of his children or his brothers 
 David and John. He always used foolscap paper, and it must be of the 
 best quality, and in this way he wrote in a round and legible hand 
 thousands and thousands of pages in his day. When the War of the 
 Rebellion broke out father was a very strong supporter of the Union, 
 for he had been a lifelong Whig and a Republican from the day of the 
 organization of that party, and he had voted for Abraham Lincoln and 
 warmly endorsed his policy. 
 
 He diligently read the war news in the daily papers, and from them 
 he copied out all sorts of interesting accounts of the progress of the 
 war, until he filled two large volumes. Taking his Daily Journals, 
 What I Remember, Common Place Books, Notes of the War, History of 
 Old Centre, Family History, and other books, all of which he left in 
 Manuscript, I have counted 10,000 pages. 
 
 rxcLE joHx sherr.^rd's death. 
 
 On July 14, i860, Uncle John died at his home on Piney Fork, four 
 miles west of Smithfield, Ohio, and he was buried the following day at 
 Beech Spring. In the settling up of his estate there was a sale of his 
 personal property, and I have, no doubt, the old chest was sold that 
 had belonged to Grandmother Mary Cathcart Sherrard, in which she 
 
1861.] FAMILY HISTORY. 803 
 
 brought over her fine clothes from Ireland when she came with her 
 father the fall of 1773, as father mentions that it was left at Uncle 
 John's. Among other things father bought Uncle John's family car- 
 riage, and it was a vehicle of fine workmanship, which lasted our family 
 as long as they remained at Sugar Hill. 
 
 Aunt Sarah survived her husband only about a year and died Septem- 
 ber 27, 1S61. They had only two children, and the younger, James, 
 had died when a young man, April 15, 1851. The other son, William, 
 who married Margaret Jane Neal, had removed out to Iowa a few years 
 before the death of his parents, but he was frequently home to see them. 
 But for many years past nothing has been heard of him. 
 
 father's trip east. 
 
 One of the pleasantest experiences of father's life was his first and 
 only visit to Philadelphia and New York the spring of 1861. He went 
 in company with brother Robert, and they were gone from April 29th 
 to May loth. 
 
 He was absent on this trip on his birthday that year, and from the 
 Continental Hotel, Philadelphia, he wrote in his Journal that day as 
 follows: "Saturday morning, May 4, 1861. This day at 12 o'clock 
 I have arrived at 72 years of age, and have had a fine golden happy 
 time of it. 
 
 " Thank God for it, together with good health and strength, and a 
 strong, well-balanced mind, all of which helped along the enjoyment 
 of life, coupled with agreeable wives as companions in the journey of 
 life." 
 
 They spent five days in Philadelphia, and father gives a minute 
 account of everything he saw in that city, and on the afternoon of May 
 4th they crossed the Market Street Ferry to Camden and took the 
 cars on the Camden & Amboy R. R. for New York, and went to the 
 St. Nicholas Hotel. 
 
 The next morning being Sabbath, father and Robert went to hear 
 Dr. Gardiner Spring, and this is father's account of it: "We walked 
 two miles up Broadway northward to Dr. Spring's church. They were 
 singing the first hymn. We were shown by the sexton to a seat some 
 distance up the aisle occupied by one woman and a man. 
 
304 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1861, 
 
 " Dr. Spring, after he had made a very appropriate prayer, took a 
 text, and preached one hour and five minutes by my watch, from 2 Cor. 
 5 : 10, ' For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.' To 
 be 76 years of age. Dr. Spring did the subject great justice; he stood 
 on his feet and preached long and preached well for his age, without 
 looking much to manuscript or notes." 
 
 That Sabbath evening they went to hear Dr. Chapin, and this is the 
 way father speaks of it : " Mr. Chapin preaches for the Universalists, 
 but appears to be sound in the faith in all his expressed views. He 
 took his text in Proverbs, and he discoursed for half an hour well and 
 to the purpose, and quietly slipped off into a political strain with regard 
 to the times and troubles between the North and the South. And 
 among other things he mentioned the case of the first man that was 
 killed in Baltimore, belonging to the Boston (Massachusetts) Regiment, 
 on the 19th of April, 1861, and said that the moment he was shot he 
 cried out : ' God bless the Stars and Stripes,' and fell dead on the spot. 
 This brought down a very full house, and such a stamping and tapping 
 on the floor I never heard in any church on Sabbath, at any time, in all 
 my life before." Monday was a rainy day, but Tuesday the)^ started 
 out to see the sights : " After breakfast, which was at 9 A. M., I and 
 Robert started down Broadway, and the sidewalk was so crowded that 
 it was difficult to get along. Just before we started I stood before the 
 door of the St. Nicholas, and counted fifty-two men, five women and 
 two boys pass on the sidewalk next to me in one minute ; and I have 
 no doubt but at three o'clock, P. M. the stream of human beings on 
 each side of Broadway had increased that two hundred or more were 
 passing every minute." After spending four days in New York and 
 visiting many places of interest, among others Central Park, Five Points, 
 Trinity and the New York Exchange, all of which father describes very 
 particularly, they returned to Philadelphia, and the towns and scenery 
 along through New Jersey are described. They remained for a day or 
 two in Philadelphia, and then returned home to Steubenville. 
 
 A CARRIAGE DRIVE TO RUIERSBURG. 
 
 My brother John had settled as pastor at Rimersburg, in Clarion 
 County, Pa., the spring of 1861, and during that summer his little 
 
1861.1 FAMILY HISTORY. , 305 
 
 daughter Jennie, tliree years old, was with us at Sugar Hill. The fall 
 of 1861 Nancy, Jane and I concluded to make a visit to Rimersburg, 
 and we were to take Jennie with us to her home. We set off in the 
 carriage, and I drove a very fine team of horses, " Charley " and 
 " Sylvia," which I had myself broken to drive together. 
 
 Only the day before we started I had harrowed in twelve acres of 
 wheat all in one day, driving these two horses together with check 
 lines, so that they would go wtll together on this trip. It was a splen- 
 did team, much admired everywhere along the road, and it proved to be 
 a very delightful trip with perfect October weather. 
 
 We went by the old Steubenville and Pittsburgh pike, stopping the 
 first night at Florence, where we visited at Mrs. Kerr's and Mr. Dun- 
 can's, and the next night we spent at Mrs. Davis', four miles west of 
 Pittsburgh, near what is now Grafton Station. We crossed the Ohio 
 the following day at Saw Mill Run, and passing on up through Alle- 
 gheny and Sharpsburg, took dinner at Freeport and spent the night at 
 Slate Lick, in Armstrong County. 
 
 The next day we drove on to Watterson's Ferry where we crossed the 
 Allegheny River, and thence five miles farther to Rimersburg. On our 
 return we came to Kittaning the first day for dinner, and from there we 
 went on out eastward in Armstrong County and visited for a day or 
 two at Mr. Scott's, and also at Mr. McCartney's near Apollo. 
 
 We then passed on through Elder's Ridge and Saltsburg, and came 
 to New Alexandria, where we visited at the home of the Rev. Adam 
 Torrance. There Jane and I left Nancy, as she was to attend the wedding 
 of her friend Mattie Torrance who was shortly to be united in marriage 
 to the Rev. T. F. Wallace. We drove homeward through Westmoreland 
 County along the Northern Pike, and came through Murraysville, and 
 Wilkinsburg and East Liberty, driving down Penn Avenue through 
 Pittsburgh, crossing the Monongahela River on the Smithfield Street 
 Bridge, and so on out to Mrs. Davis's ; then on to Florence where we 
 turned off and visited at aunt Lee's, and from there we came hprrie after 
 an absence of three weeks. 
 
306 . THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1864. 
 
 THE ONE HUNDRED DAYS' SERVICE. 
 
 There were many trying times during the progress of the Civil War, 
 but none more so than the summer of 1864, when the National Guards 
 were called out for emergency service for one hundred days. This left 
 many of the manufactories idle, and on the farms it was exceedingly 
 difficult to get men to do the necessary work in securing the harvest, so 
 that the women all over the country often came out into the fields to 
 help. My brother William belonged to a Steubenville company of these 
 State Guards, in connection with the 153d Regiment of Ohio. He had 
 never gone into the army but had remained at home to take care of the 
 family, and the first part of the war I was too young for regular service, 
 so I was away at school. 
 
 During the spring vacation of 1864 I was at home from the academy 
 at Merrittstown, Pa , in April, when the National Guards were called out 
 for the summer. William had to go with his regiment, and they were 
 sent to Fort Delaware, down in Delaware Bay, to guard rebel prisoners. 
 
 Thus William's absence rendered it absolutely necessary for me to re- 
 main at home that summer and manage the farm under father's direction. 
 Many of our soldiers were taken sick at Fort Delaware owing to the 
 malarial conditions of that region, and brother William came home late 
 in the summer with inflammatory rheumatism, and from this he recov- 
 ered very slowly. His health was permanently impaired, and his natur- 
 ally vigorous constitution was much broken by the summer's exposure, 
 so that from the effects of this he never fully recovered. He was, how- 
 ever, late in the fall of 1864, able to take up his management of the farm 
 again, and I started to college at Washington. 
 
 father's serious ACCIDENT IN 1 866. 
 
 On June 13, 1866, father met with the most serious accident of his 
 life. He was out in a shed attached to the barn, assisting brother 
 William in sawing off the sharp ends of the horns of a cow, when the 
 cow, which was securely fastened, happened to give a sudden lunge, and 
 father's left hand was caught under the cow's horn. 
 
 The sharp horn caught the finger of the left hand next to the little 
 finger and ran through the fleshy part of the finger, lacerating the flesh 
 
1866.] FAMILY HISTORY. 307 
 
 in a most serious manner. It proved to be a very painful wound, and 
 more excruciating, father says, than anything he had ever before ex- 
 perienced. The finger had to be amputated at the second joint, but this 
 did not prove effective, and finally the whole finger had to be removed 
 at tiie knuckle joint, and ever afterwards father's left hand was somewhat 
 stiff and tender. During this affliction, father was reduced to such a 
 serious condition that the physician was very apprehensive at one time 
 about his recovery, although he was not at any time confined to his bed. 
 
 But his situation was so alarming that father's twelve children all came 
 home to see him, and we were all together in the old home at one time. 
 This was something which had never occurred before. David had 
 left home before I was born, and although there was a great deal of vis- 
 iting back and forth, and often all would be at home except one or two, 
 at the same time, yet it had so happened that all of the twelve had never 
 met together before. And now on Thursday, July 5, 1866, we were all 
 home together. Father and mother, and the twelve children, six boys 
 and six girls, all sat down to supper together, and we all spent that night 
 at Sugar Hill. 
 
 We were never all together again as a family, except on the occasion of 
 sister Susan's marriage, which took place four months later, November 7, 
 1866; and again and finally in this life, the twelve children were all at 
 home at the time of father's death, January i, 1874. 
 
 MARRIAGE OF SUSAN CATHCART SHERRARD. 
 
 But the joy of our family reunion and father's convalescence was over- 
 shadowed only the very next day by the distressing calamity in the ac- 
 cidental drowning of brother John's lovely little boy, Charlie, two and a 
 half years old. This occurred on Friday, July 6, 1866, and the following 
 Monday John and Kizzie returned home to Rimersburg, and sister Sue ' 
 thought it her duty in the time of their deep affliction to accompany 
 them home and remain for a time. While in Clarion Count)', on that 
 visit, Sue became acquainted with Mr. Culbertson Orr. 
 
 He was a widower with three children, his wife having been Miss 
 Nancy Smith, of Westmoreland County. He was a farmer of energy, 
 thrift and prosperity, and owned a fine farm in Limestone Township, 
 Clarion County, six miles from Clarion, and two miles from Greenville. 
 
308 THE SHERRARD EAMILV. [18(56. 
 
 The acquaintance then formed between him and my sister Sue resulted 
 in his coming to see her at Sugar Hill, after her return home. To make 
 a long story short, there was an engagement, and finally, a marriage, at 
 our old home at Sugar Hill on November 7, 1866, and it was a grand 
 occasion. 
 
 But I have requested my sister Susan to write out a connected account 
 of her life, from the time of her graduation at the Seminary the spring of 
 1855 up to the time of her marriage the fall of 1866, and it is as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " About the middle of April, 1855, I went to Springfield, Ohio, where 
 I taught in the Seminary carried on by the Rev. Mr. Sturdevant. There 
 was only a three months' term, and I returned home by the middle of July. 
 As Nancy was teaching at the Seminary in Steubenville and Jane attend- 
 ing school there that summer and the following winter, I remained at 
 home to help my mother. Jane entered the Senior year in May, 1856, 
 but remained only a month when I was taken very ill and brought near 
 death's door, but I rallied, and by July was able to be about my usual 
 work again. Jane had lost so much time and fallen behind her class 
 that she refused to go back to school, which has been a never-failing 
 source of regret to me. In the fall of 1856, while on a visit to aunt Lee, 
 their neighbor, Mr. Josiah Scott, came to see me about teaching their 
 winter school, which I agreed to do, and I spent the winter there, board- 
 ing at aunt Lee's. But I lost a month of the winter by an attack of 
 measles, through •which I was very kindly nursed by my aunt and 
 cousins, and afterwards I enjoyed much better health than for several 
 years. 
 
 " In the spring of 1857 I taught two months and a half in the public 
 school in Steubenville, assisting Miss Manly in the South Grammar 
 School, and in that school John Henry Sharpe, now Rev. Dr. Sharpe of 
 Philadelphia, was one of my pupils. In the fall and winter of 1857-8 
 I taught my first term in our school at home. After that I remained at 
 home until July, 1858, when I went to Kentucky to teach in a Select 
 School in Woodford County. 
 
 " It was one of the most pleasant and agreeable schools I ever taught, 
 and I remained there two years and a half, always spending my vaca- 
 
1855-1890.] FAMIL Y HISTOR Y. 309 
 
 tions at home for about two months each summer. But owing to the 
 disturbed state of the country I returned home about the ist of Febru- 
 ary, 1861, and remained until the 1st of May. At that time I went with 
 my brother John and his family to their new home in Rimersburg, 
 Clarion County, Pa., where I remained until August. That fall and 
 winter I taught my second term in our home school, and about the 1st 
 of April, 1862, I went to Clarion County to attend the wedding of my 
 friend Bella Orr, and to make a little visit to brother John. 
 
 " During the summer of 1862 I remained at home, and that fall I ac- 
 cepted the Grdmmar School in the old Academy in Steubenville, and 
 taught there a year. My health was not good that year, so I did not 
 go back, but taught part of a term at our home school. I resigned in 
 January to accept an invitation to go to Pisgah School in Woodford 
 County, Ky., and there I taught five months until summer vacation of 
 1 864. That fall I returned to the same place in Kentucky, but taught 
 only one month, when sister Nancy wrote, urging me to give up my 
 school and go to assist her in a school she had started in Fort Wayne, 
 Ind. My patrons in Kentucky kindly released me, and I went to Fort 
 Wayne and assisted Nancy the remainder of the year, until the last of 
 June, 1865. My health was not good in Fort Wayne, and in the fall 
 of 1865 I had an offer to go back to my old school in Woodford 
 County, Ky., and I returned, remaining there until June, 1866. This 
 closed my career as a teacher, as I was married the fall of 1866." 
 
 My sister Sue's husband, Culbertson Orr, has for many years been 
 an elder in the Greenville Presbyterian Church. 
 
 Five children have been born to them in their home : Robert Sher- 
 rard ; William Culbertson ; Henry Comingo ; George Thomas ; and 
 Jane Hindman. 
 
 Robert has spent several years as a student in Washington and 
 Jefferson College, and is at the present time in the Junior Class. 
 Will has just this winter of 1889-90 entered the Middle Preparatory 
 Class in College. Harry has been in poor health for some years past. 
 George lived only a few months, and died of scarlet fever. 
 
 Jane is at home at school, and is her mother's great comfort and 
 helper. For many years while my sister Sue still remained at home 
 
310 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1855-1890. 
 
 she sang alto in the choir of the First Presbyterian Church of Steu- 
 benville. 
 
 Of all my father's six daughters she was the best singer, having a 
 natural alto voice. It was a voice of unusual sweetness, clearness 
 and power. It may be said that my testimony is biased by my boy- 
 ish love and interest in my sister, but those who remember my sister 
 Sue's voice in the old choir of the First Church will bear me out 
 when I say that her voice had a peculiar charm to it possessed by 
 very few alto singers. In all my wide experience, in a musical way, 
 I have never heard a more lovely alto voice, and very few, indeed, 
 that have been equal to it in sweetness and purity. 
 
 CLOSING D.\YS OF ROBERT A. SHERRARD. 
 
 Nothing could be more beautiful and affecting to those who wit- 
 nessed it than the happy old age of my father, and his life went on- 
 ward toward its close with the calmness and contentment of one who had 
 served his generation well, at peace with God and with his fellow-men. 
 
 His was a life of remarkable cheerfulness and ceaseless activity, 
 and he came to his closing days with his natural force unabated, ex- 
 cept as the weight of years reduced his vital powers, but he remained 
 to the last in the vigorous use of all his faculties. His eyesight was 
 good, his hearing acute, his memory unfailing, and his mind perfectly 
 clear. Born the very year the American Constitution was adopted, he 
 had lived in manhood through the first three-quarters of the most won- 
 derful century in all the world's history, and he himself saw with his 
 own eyes the development of that great progress in the' world's civiliza- 
 tion upon which we look back with amazement. 
 
 Blessed with an unusually vigorous constitution from his birth, it was 
 never impaired by the practice of any vices or evil habits, and any 
 tendency towards physical weakness was caused, according to his own 
 testimony, by his- own folly in lifting in his youth. 
 
 During the last ten years of his life, he read and wrote much, and 
 was engaged almost daily in writing at his Family History, while for 
 recreation he would go out and do some light work around the farm, 
 or gathering apples and driving to town and selling them. It is one of 
 
186G.] FAMILY HISTORY. 311 
 
 the pleasant things to remember him when we would be at home on our 
 visits, and perhaps callers would come in. 
 
 He would be busy at his writing out in the dining-room, while others 
 would be talking in the parlor, and he would come with his pen in 
 hand, and sit for awhile taking an interest in what was said, and joining 
 in the conversation, telling some incident of long ago times, and then 
 getting up and going back to his writing, Vvhich he loved so well to do. 
 He preferred writing on a little stand rather than at his desk, and this 
 stand was one of the most familiar objects in the whole house. It was 
 a part of my mother's outfit when she was married, ordered for her by 
 her mother, and made of walnut by a cabinet maker. It had a little 
 drawer in it, and in this father always kept his shaving tools, and every 
 Wednesday and Saturday morning, as regularly as the sun rose, this 
 little stand was set out and father carefully attended to shaving himself 
 In later days, about 1864, he asked me to put a new and larger top on 
 this stand, so that he might have more room for his books and writing 
 materials, and I did so, making a circular top of solid cherry, twenty- 
 eight inches in diameter, and covering it with oil-cloth. 
 
 This little table is still in mother's possession at the seminary in 
 Washington, and just here at this writing, January 4, 1890, I have gone 
 over to the seminary to see it, and mother says she intends that I shall 
 have this old table for mine. After I had put the new top to it father was 
 very much pleased with it, and took great comfort in it all the rest of 
 his days. It was so light that he could readily move it around wherever 
 he could get the best light, and as it had casters he often drew it out on 
 the porch in warm weather. There is perhaps no more vivid recollec- 
 tion of father to any of the family than as we remember him seated at 
 that little table covered over with his books ; or as we see him rising 
 and going to the window to make or repair a quill pen. 
 
312 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1845-1890. 
 
 THE STORY OF MY OWN LIFE. 
 
 THOMAS JOHNSON SHERRARD. 
 
 MY earliest recollection dates back to the time when I was about 
 three years old, and I was playing out in the front yard one 
 day with a sharp iron pick, when I struck it into my left foot 
 near the toes, and the scar is there to this day. I might therefore say 
 that this event made a marked impression upon me. About the same 
 time I can remember that my father often took me with him out to the 
 field where he would be at work, and if it was cool he would wrap his 
 coat around me. He took a great deal of pleasure in me, and in having 
 me with him, no doubt because I was the son of his old age. I went 
 to school when I was six years old at Hill's school-house, and my first 
 teacher was old Mr. Laverty, but before that I had learned to read at 
 home in McGuffy's First Reader. 
 
 The winter I was eight years old I received the prize, " The Boy's 
 Own Book," for being the best speller in the whole school, which num- 
 bered about fifty scholars, old and young. There was nothing in Cobb's 
 spelling-book that I did not know in those days, and only a year or two 
 afterwards it gave way to McGuffy's, and I became just as familiar with 
 that. The winter of 1855-56 my brother William and I went into 
 Steubenville to school at the South Grammar School, and we walked 
 in and out every morning and evening, as we lived two miles out of 
 town. 
 
 It wai here that both Will and I learned to sing, when he was sixteen 
 and I was eleven years old. Will and I were always very intimate and 
 the best of companions. It was always a great thing for me to be under 
 the protection of my big brother until I had reached my own growth, 
 for he was a perfect giant in strength. A dozen town boys one day 
 undertook to "pump" him, and it was amusing to see how he threw 
 the whole set off and hurled them in every direction, as easily as Sam- 
 son carried off the gates of Gaza. They never offered to touch me in 
 the presence of such a champion. I continued at that school during 
 
1845-1890.] FAMILY HISTORY. 313 
 
 the summer of 1856, and afterwards went to our district school for a 
 few years, but from an early period I was always at some kind of work 
 on the farm, if not at school. 
 
 Our work was never oppressive; but we were always kept busy, and 
 father says. In his record, that I was a stout boy at ten years of age. 
 The old house that was abandoned when the family moved into the new 
 brick house in 1840 was always afterwards used for a shop, and here 
 father kept all sorts of tools. He was himself very expert in the use of 
 carpenter's tools, and there were few things that he could not make, 
 although he never learned the trade. His boys all learned to use these 
 tools, partly because the genius for making things w.as born in them, and 
 partly because the tools were there with which they could always prac- 
 tice, such as the tools of the carpenter, the joiner, the shoemaker, the 
 saddler and the blacksmith. It was unusual to find all these tools on a 
 farm; but father's boys picked up the use of them to some purpose. 
 There was scarcely anything we could not make or mend, although I 
 believe not one of us ever made a wagon-wheel. David, John and Wil- 
 liam could shoe horses ; but I never tried to do that, and we could all 
 make harness and mend shoes. John made me a pair of little shoes 
 when I was two and a half years old, so father says, and he adds that 
 his four oldest boys could make shoes. But he forgot that his youngest 
 boy could do the same thing, and he never learned from any one. 
 When I was fourteen years old, I made five pairs of shoes for myself 
 and other members of the family, just for pastime on rainy days, and 
 they were a good fit and wore well. 
 
 In addition to this, about a year later, I made five sets of harness ; 
 and, indeed, it would be impossible to tell how many things I made and 
 fixed up, aside from the ordinary farm work, during my boyhood from 
 thirteen to seventeen years of age. I made a wagon out and out, all but 
 the wheels ; a wheel horse-rake, all but the wheels ; a machine for tying 
 wool; a wheelbarroiv; cider-press; built a clay oven; re-built the chim- 
 neys of the house, and re-shingled the house and barn. Besides all 
 this, I re-painted all the inside of the house, and papered several of the 
 rooms. 
 
 The summer of 1864, while William was away in the army, I one 
 day built from the ground up one hundred panels of worm fence, six 
 
314 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1845-1890. 
 
 rails high, and each corner locked with stakes. This was all done by 
 myself alone in one day, in which I handled eight hundred rails. The 
 same summer our neighbor, Joseph McConnell, and I cradled eight 
 acres of oats all in a single day. That summer of 1864 I went for two 
 or three days to the great Sanitary Fair, which was held in Allegheny, 
 and there I heard, for the first time in my life, the Oratorio of the 
 Messiah. 
 
 During the winter of 1861-62 I attended the High School in town, 
 and made good progress in my studies, and the spring of 1863 I left 
 home for the first time that I was ever away from my mother longer 
 than three weeks. 
 
 I had reached my full height of si.x feet one year previous to this 
 time, when I was 17, and now, when I was 18, 1 started in April, 1863, to 
 Dunlap's Creek Academy at Merrittstown, Fayette County, Pa., of which 
 Prof D. Harvey Sloan was then Principal. On my birthday, two months 
 before, my sister Susan had presented me with my first watch, which I 
 highly appreciated, arid which I carried for fifteen years. At the acad- 
 emy I remained just one year, and would have remained one year 
 longer, if it had not been for the calling out of the One Hundred Days' 
 Men, by which I had to remain at home the summer of 1864; for it was 
 Prof. Sloan's desire to prepare me for the Junior Class in College in 
 another year. However, the fall of 1864, I found myself just ready to 
 enter the Freshman Class regularly without any conditions, and I there- 
 fore entered Freshman in Washington College, Washington, Pa. 
 
 I boarded in the family of the Rev. John W. Scott, D.D., who was 
 the President of the College. He lived just outside the town, in the 
 house which is now occupied by Trinity Hall, and my room-mate was 
 Francis J. Newton, of India. Mrs. Comingo, wife of my former pastor 
 at Steubenville, and her two sons, Edward G. and Neville B., who were 
 both in my class, also boarded there. The Washington people were 
 always very kind and cordial toward me, and I have never ceased to 
 look back to my college experiences in Washington with a great deal 
 of pleasure. Very soon I was invited to sing in the choir of the First 
 Presbyterian Church, of which the Rev. Dr. Brownson was pastor, and 
 I continued as a member of the choir while I remained in Washington. 
 I united with the Washington Literary Society, and it was not long 
 
1845-1890.] FAMILY HISTORY. 315 
 
 until I was invited to become a member of the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, 
 which I joined. But the spring of 1865 the two Colleges of Washington 
 and Jefferson were united, and, according to the terms of the union, the 
 Sophomore, Junior and Senior Classes of the Classical Department were 
 to be educated over at Canonsburgh, while the Freshman and Prepara- 
 tory Classes, together with the Scientific Department, were to be in 
 Washington. It therefore became necessary for me to go to Canons- 
 burg the fall of 1865 to enter the Sophomore Class, and that year I 
 roomed with Leander C. Woolfolk, of Louisville, who was a Senior. I 
 joined the Philo Literaiy Society, and continued with the Beta Frater- 
 nity in the Gamma Chapter. Throughout the three years that I spent 
 in Canonsburg I sang in the choir of the church. My voice had 
 changed when I was fifteen years of age, and from that time until I went 
 away from home to school I sang bass in the choir of the First Presby- 
 terian Church of Steubenville. 
 
 During my Sophomore year at college, I made the acquaintance, 
 which proved to be a life-long friendship, of two classmates, Josiah 
 Welsh and James Harris Stewart, and this bond was broken only by the 
 early death of Mr. Welsh in 1877. He established the first Presbyterian 
 church that was ever organized in Salt Lake City, and continued as its 
 pastor until his death. During my Junior and Senior years my room- 
 mate was my friend Harry Stewart, mentioned above. While I was a 
 Senior I was elected, on the recommendation of the Faculty, a member 
 of the Lyceum of Natural Sciences of the College. There were si.xty 
 members of our class, forty-nine Classical and eleven Scientific. 
 
 My class grade was eighth in a class of forty-nine members, and, 
 singularly enough, Josiah Welsh and I were bracketed together in the 
 same grade. I was put on Commencement, and made a speech on that 
 occasion on the subject, " Latter Day Giants." Our class was graduated 
 on August 5, 1868, and the Commencement was held in Canonsburg. 
 
 This was the last Commencement that was ever held in Canonsburg 
 in old Providence Hall, for the class of 1869 had their Commencement 
 in Washington, and in 1870 the whole college was consolidated in 
 W^ashington. 
 
 When I first started to college my sister Nancy gave me this piece of 
 invaluable advice: " Thomas, when you are away at college, you may 
 
316 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1845-1890. 
 
 look at the girls and go with them as much as you please, but you must 
 not fall in love with any one until you are through college." This ex- 
 cellent advice I followed strictly for four years, and I came out of college 
 life untouched by the darts of Cupid. 
 
 But it so happened that on my return home from College Commence- 
 ment, I went in a few days with my sister Sarah on a visit to our sister 
 Su.san, Mrs. Culbertson Orr, in Clarion County, Pa. While on that trip, 
 we visited our friends in Clarion, the Rev. James S. Elder and wife, and 
 there, for the first time, on Saturday, August 15, 1868, I met Miss Mary 
 R. Campbell, who was home at that time on vacation from Vassar Col- 
 lege, and who afterwards became my wife. 
 
 Throughout my college course I had had the ministry in view, and 
 accordingly, in September, 1868, I went to Chicago, and spent my first 
 year at the Northwestern Theological Seminary. The summer of 1869 
 I spent at home at Sugar Hill, and that fall I went to Princeton. After 
 spending my second and third years in theological studies there, I was 
 graduated in a class of thirty-three in April, 1871. 
 
 However, I had been licensed to preach at the end of my second year 
 of study, on April 27, 1870, by the Presbytery of Steubenville. Soon 
 after that I set out, in company with my friend Josiah Welsh, to spend 
 our summer vacation of 1870 preaching in the west under commission 
 from the Board of Domestic Missions. We reported to the Rev. Shel- 
 don Jackson, at Council Bluffs, and he assigned us our work. Mr. 
 Welsh went over into Nebraska to West Point, in the Elk Horn Valley, 
 and I remained in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, five miles out from 
 Council Bluffs. We preached for three months and gathered congrega- 
 tions together, and before we left for the east again churches were organ- 
 ized at each place. Just before leaving Princeton the spring of 1871, I 
 received a cordial call from Snow Hill, Md., but I thought it best to 
 decline it. 
 
 Part of that summer I spent in supplying churches under the direction 
 of the Presbytery of Steubenville, and was called to the church of New 
 Philadelphia, Ohio, but this I declined. About the 1st of July I was 
 invited to supply the Westminster Church of Columbus, Ohio, and there 
 I preached for three months with a great deal of interest. In Septem- 
 ber I received a most cordial call to that church, but just about that time 
 
1845-1890.] FAMILY HISTORY. 317 
 
 I was seized with malarial fever, and fearing the influence of the climate, 
 I declined the call. In November, 1871, I was called to Mifflintown, 
 Pa., and accepted, to begin my work there January i, 1872. In the 
 meantime I supplied for five Sabbaths the Second Church of Steuben- 
 ville, as that church had just called the Rev. James A. Worden, who was 
 to begin his work there on the first of January. 
 
 On December 21, 1871, I was married in Clarion, Pa., to Miss Mary 
 R., eldest daughter of the Hon. James Campbell, who had recently com- 
 pleted his full term as President Judge of the i8th Judicial District of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 The ceremony was performed by the Rev. James S. Elder, at 9 o'clock 
 in the morning, and it was the coldest morning of the winter, the ther- 
 mometer standing at sixteen degrees below zero. The following day 
 our reception was given at the old home at Sugar Hill, and in a few days 
 we went to New York to visit my brother Robert, after which we came 
 to Mifflintown, ready for the first Sabbath of January, 1872. On June 
 1 1, 1872, I was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of Huntingdon. 
 While living in Mifflintown, three children were born to us : Virginia, 
 June 4, 1873; Hallock Campbell, June 22, 1875, and Mary Campbell, 
 August 30, 1879. The summer of 1877 my wife Mary and I took what 
 we called our " second wedding journey," leaving our two children in 
 Clarion with the friends. 
 
 We were gone two weeks, and visited Niagara Falls ; Little Falls ; Sar- 
 atoga ; Glens Falls ; Lake George ; Lake Champlain ; friends at Peru, 
 Clinton County, N. Y. ; Ausable Chasm ; and New York City. I was a 
 member of the General Assembly of 1878, which met in Pittsburgh. 
 The spring of 1880 I resigned my charge in Mifflintown, and we spent 
 the summer in Clarion. For two months of that summer I supplied the 
 church of Corry, Pa., and received a very earnest call from them, which 
 I seriously considered but at length declined. In September, 1880, I 
 accepted a call from the church of Brookville, Pa., and was installed over 
 that church by the Presbytery of Clarion, November 11, 1880. 
 
 In February, 1883, I received such an urgent call from the church of 
 Honey Brook, Pa., that I felt constrained to accept it. We moved there 
 the first of April, and I was installed by the Presbytery of Chester, 
 April 21, 1883. 
 
318 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1S4-5-1890. 
 
 For several j'ears I had been interested in the subject of a Marriage 
 License Law for Pennsylvania, similar to that in effect in Ohio. But 
 public sentiment did not appear to be sufficiently aroused until there had 
 been several prosecutions of clergymen for performing the marriage 
 ceremony in the case of minors without the consent of parents, although 
 in some cases the clergyman was imposed upon by the parties misrepre- 
 senting their ages. 
 
 On appeal to the Supreme Court it was held that under the old law 
 there was no protection for a clergyman or other person performing the 
 ceremony, and that he was liable to the fine of $133.33, unless he had 
 the positive consent of parent or guardian. Indeed so stringent was the 
 interpretation of this old law, that a father present at the marriage of 
 his minor daughter, and yet not positively consenting, could recover the 
 fine. Fortunately I had never gotten into any difficulty on this score 
 myself, but it was only by constant vigilance and diligent inquiry that I 
 was able to decide cases of minors desiring to be married. 
 
 When the subject came up in the Legislature of 1885, there were three 
 or four different bills relating to marriage before that body, but the one 
 that finally became the new law of Pennsylvania, was a bill that I 
 furnished to Senator Harlan of Chester County. I did not frame it, nor 
 have I ever been able to learn who was the original author of it, but it 
 had been in my possession since 1877, when it had been sent to me by 
 Senator Crawford of Juniata County. At that time it was a Senate Bill 
 in the Legislature, but as there was not sufficient public sentiment on the 
 subject in that day, it was rejected by the Committee of the Senate. This 
 bill seemed to me to be so excellent in its provisions, and contained so 
 fully the desirable features of a Marriage License Law, that I sent it in 
 January, 1885, to Senator Harlan of Chester County, explaining to him, 
 as far as I knew, the origin of this bill. He at once became deeply in- 
 terested in the subject, and offered it in the Senate, and with great dili- 
 gence watched its progress through the Legislature. 
 
 It was amended in a i^w particulars, including the repeal of the old 
 law of 1798, but its provisions remained substantially the same until it 
 was finally passed by both Houses, and was signed by Governor Pattison 
 June 23, 1885. The new law went into effect October i, 1885. 
 
 There was annoyance for a few years in some counties by reason of 
 
1845-1890.] FAMILY HISTORY. 319 
 
 the clerks requiring both parties to appear before him to make apph'ca- 
 tion for a license, but the bill that I sent to Senator Harlan had no such 
 provision in it, nor did it have when it finally passed the Legislature, 
 and as a matter of fact it was not the intention of the Legislature to re- 
 quire both parties to appear. The whole trouble arose from a change 
 by a transcribing clerk from the word " party," as really passed by the 
 Legislature to "parties," and no man has ever been able to explain 
 whether the change was made before or after the Governor's signature 
 was affixed. 
 
 On July 30, 1885, our fourth child was born, and we named him 
 Robert Andrew, expressly for my father, and he is the only Robert An- 
 drew Sherrard in the connection. 
 
 In 1886 I was elected Permanent Clerk of the Presbytery of Chester, 
 which position I still hold. I was a member of the General Assembly of 
 1889, which met in New York. I remained pastor of the church of 
 Honey Brook until October i, 1889, when I removed with my family to 
 Washington, Pa., in order that our children might have the educational 
 advantages of that place. Virginia and May attend the Seminary, and 
 Hallock is in the Middle Preparatory class in College, while Robert en- 
 joys his life by going often over to the Seminary to see his grandmother 
 Sherrard. At the present time, February, 1 890, when he is four and a 
 half years old, he has learned to read readily. He can tell the time of 
 day instantly and accurately on a clock or watch. He has also learned 
 to write nicely on my Remington type-writer, and by writing off himself 
 the different lines of the Multiplication Table, and reading them over two 
 or three times, he has learned the whole table, and can recite it perfectly, 
 even through the sixteenth line. This he has done simply as pastime, 
 for we have not attempted to teach him either reading or figures. At 
 the present time he shows a particular fondness for figures, and he has 
 as many as fifteen Calendars for 1890 among his treasures. My chil- 
 dren have all taken a great interest in the preparation and progress of 
 this history. The height of Virginia, March i, 1890, is 5,8; Hallock, 
 5.7; May, 4.111^; and Robert, 3.75-^; while that of their mother is 
 S-3}4- My own height is six feet and half an inch, and my weight is 
 175 pounds. Later. — On Saturday, April 12, 1890, I was unanimously 
 elected pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church, Chambersburg, Pa. 
 
320 the sherrard family. [1873. 
 
 father's last illness. 
 
 For several years previous to his death my father continued in excel- 
 lent health, and as he grew older there was no marked change in him. 
 He continued his reading and writing as pastime, and was much out 
 around the farm and orchard attending to little things that he chose to 
 do. He often went to town, and was regularly at church. 
 
 Almost every year he made some extended trip and visit among rela- 
 tives in company with mother. In November, 1867, he spent three 
 weeks at uncle David's, and also in Clarion County at Culbertson Orr's, 
 where mother had been visiting, and they came home together. In No- 
 vember, 1868, he and mother took an extended trip to Fremont and Bu- 
 cyrus, to visit David and John, and in June, 1869, they made a visit of a 
 week or more at Joseph Kithcart's on Short Creek and to friends in and 
 around Mount Pleasant. 
 
 They made a visit of two weeks in October, 1870, to uncle David's, 
 and again in November, 1 871, they made another visit to sister Susan in 
 Clarion County, this time taking with them their grand-daughter Rosa- 
 mond C. Hill. 
 
 Father's last visit away from home was in August, 1873, only four 
 months before his death, and he was at that time as well as usual, and 
 greatly enjoyed his time among the friends at Mount Pleasant. Mother 
 was with him on this trip, and they remained two weeks, returning home 
 September 4, 1873. Father kept up his daily Journal with his usual in- 
 terest and clear statement of events all through that fall. In September, 
 1873, Mary and I visited home at Sugar Hill, having with us our little 
 Virginia, who was then three months old. We spent two weeks at 
 home, and it is one of the delightful impressions of that visit to remem- 
 ber the great interest that father had in this little grand-daughter Vir- 
 ginia, and to see the aged grand-father of nearly eighty five years leaving 
 his writing and getting down on his knees beside her on the floor to 
 play with her. This was the only time that Virginia ever saw her grand- 
 father Sherrard. 
 
 While on that visit I preached in the First Presbyterian Church of 
 Steubenville on September 21st and father was present to hear me. He 
 was at church only three more Sabbaths, the last being on November 
 
1874.1 FAMILY HISTORY. 321 
 
 9th, which was Communion. He was, however, busy as usual in vari- 
 ous ways for some weeks later, engaged in writing, or working about 
 the shop or barn, until Friday, December 19th, when he went to town 
 as a witness in Court. He took cold that day which prostrated him in 
 the course of another day, and Saturday about midnight he was taken sick. 
 
 From this time he grew weaker gradually, and in a week's time his 
 situation became so critical that all of his twelve children came home to 
 see him. By Tuesday, December 30, he lost the power of speech, and 
 on Thursday, Januar)'' i, 1874, he peacefully passed away, surrounded by 
 his family, breathing his last at i o'clock, P. M. 
 
 As brother William recorded in father's Journal for that day : " He 
 went to his rest in peace at a ripe old age without a struggle, and his 
 pleasant memory will ever remain with his family." 
 
 The funeral wis the next day at i o'clock, P. M.,and father was buried 
 in the family vault in the Steubenville Cemetery. The funeral services 
 were conducted by the pastor, the Rev. Thomas A. McCurdy, assisted 
 by the Rev. Charles C. Beatty, D.D. In the evening of the same flay all 
 the family assembled together in the east room of the old home at Sugar 
 Hill, when father's last Will was read, and all with one accord acqui- 
 esced in the provisions made in the Will. Father had named in his Will 
 his son, William H. Sherrard, as his Executor. 
 
 THE LIFE OF WILLIAM HENRY SHERRARD. 
 
 W^hen my brother William became old enough to have his own pre- 
 ferences, he dropped the " Harrison" out of his name, not that he loved 
 his father's political principles less, but a convenient name more, so that 
 ever after he used the middle name of " Henry." He was always kind 
 and amiable in his disposition, and a universal favorite. 
 
 He and I were together daily for years — at play, at work and at school 
 — and a more delightful companion, or a more unselfish and pure-minded 
 boy and man I have never known. For long years he was especially the 
 kind and thoughtful companion of our sister Sarah who could not walk, 
 takingcare that she had every comfort and pleasure that could be afforded 
 by his efforts. He and I were separated first when he went to Circle- 
 ville, Ohio, to attend the High School the winter of 1859-60, as sister 
 Nancy was teaching there that year. 
 
322 THE SHERRAHD FAMILY. [1859-1875. 
 
 He spent the winter of 1861-2 with brother John in Rimersburg, Pa., 
 where he attended school at the Clarion Collegiate Institute. The fall 
 of 1862 he went to Dunlap's Creek Academy, at Merrittstown, Pa., and 
 remained a full session of five months. By his earnest Christian charac- 
 ter, and his faithfulness in his studies, he made a deep impression upon 
 the whole school, and his associates there bear testimony to this day of 
 the influence of Will Sherrard upon their lives for good. He was not 
 only a good student in every sense, but much above the average in his 
 attainments. He returned home the spring of 1863 and said to me that 
 I must now go to school, and he would stay at home. This was the 
 close of his school days, for although he loved study, and father fully 
 intended that both Will and I should have a full College course, yet he 
 could not be induced to return to school, insisting that I must go. And 
 the only explanation that I could ever give was that he felt that one of 
 us must stay at home with father in his declining days, and he chose 
 to be that one, desiring in his unselfishness that I should have the 
 full College course. 
 
 However all this may be, I started to the Academy, and Will re- 
 mained at home in the management of the farm, in which he was 
 successful in providing a delightful and comfortable home for father 
 and mother in their declining years, and in keeping up the old home 
 at Sugar Hill in all its pleasant surroundings and associations for the 
 brothers and sisters whenever they would return. 
 
 His soul was full of music, and he developed a rich and deep bass 
 voice of unusual compass and power. At an early age he began to 
 sing in the choir of the First Presbyterian Church of Steubenville, and 
 for a number of years, in his later life, he was the leader of the choir. 
 
 Wherever he was known, at home or abroad, people were struck 
 with that wonderful voice of his, which, in its purity, was so attractive, 
 and yet in its depth of power would fairly make the building tremble 
 with its vibrations. It is not too much for me to say that he was the 
 finest bass singer in Steubenville in his day. 
 
 During his experience in the One Hundred Days' Service the summer 
 of 1864 he was seriously ill owing to the unhealthfulness of Fort Dela- 
 ware, and for some weeks he lay in the hospital at the Relay House 
 near Baltimore. 
 
1875.] FAMILY HISTORY. 323 
 
 He came home in the late summer with his constitution much injured 
 from his exposure, and was afflicted for a time with inflammatory rheu- 
 matism. From this he fully recovered that fall, but he never afterwards 
 was the thoroughly strong and vigorous man that he was before. 
 
 On November 9, 1872, he was elected to the office of Deacon in the 
 First Presbyterian Church of Steubenville, and was ordained the ist of 
 December following. He always took a deep interest in this, the church 
 of his birth and baptism, and the church into which he was received to 
 full communion February 20, 1858. 
 
 In August, 1873, he and sister Sarah took a delightful trip together 
 to Niagara, when they were gone for about a week. They made us a 
 very pleasant visit at our home in Mifflintown during the holidays of 
 1874. Will went on to Philadelphia the day before Christmas and returned 
 to Mifflintown that night, bringing some beautiful presents for our little 
 daughter Virginia, whom he dearly loved, and in whom he had always 
 taken a great interest. 
 
 He and Sarah seemed to thoroughly enjoy their visit, and we all had 
 a delightful time together. 
 
 After father's death William continued the management of the farm 
 as usual, as father, by his will, had left the farm to him, with the condi- 
 tion of the payment of certain legacies, and William, as the executor of 
 father's will, undertook the duties devolving upon him in the exercise 
 of that trust. However, his health began to fail during the spring and 
 early summer of 1875, and he seemed not able to rally from the break- 
 ing down of his bodily powers, even under the best medical treatment. 
 
 He passed away from this life August 18, 1875, a young man of only 
 thirty-five years of age, and yet that life had been full of love and good 
 works for others. So passed away one who was the best of sons and 
 brothers ; one who was lovely in his life, and in whose death the family 
 chain was first broken. 
 
 His funeral was on August 20th, the services being conducted by 
 the Rev. Henry Woods of Washington, Pa., a former pastor of our 
 family. He was present by special invitation, owing to the fact that the 
 First Presbyterian Church of Steubenville was, at that time, without a 
 pastor. The interment was in the family vault in the Steubenville 
 Cemetery. 
 
324 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1875. 
 
 THE FAMILY REMOVE TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 After the deatti of my brother William, on the request of mother, 
 the Probate Judge appointed Robert Sherrard, Jr., and Joseph Kithcart 
 executors of father's will instead of William H. Sherrard deceased, and 
 they still hold that position up to the present time. 
 
 There was then no one left to manage the farm at Sugar Hill, and it 
 was resolved to sell or rent the farm. 
 
 The sale of personal property was held on October i, 1875, when the 
 farm was also offered for sale, but it was not sold at that time. It was 
 the desire of sister Nancy to have mother, Jane and Sarah live with 
 her at Washington, Pa., as she had one year before become Principal of 
 Washington Female Seminary at that place. 
 
 They, therefore, removed to Washington in October, 1S75, and the 
 old home at Sugar Hill was abandoned forever, never again to witness 
 the happy family reunions. 
 
 The farm was rented for a few years, and was finally sold in 1882 to 
 J. D. Tweed for the sum of $12,500. 
 
 DE.ATH OF JOSEPH KITHCART SHERRARD. 
 
 My brother Joseph remained unmarried, and always made his home 
 with the family at Sugar Hill, until the removal to Washington, and 
 from that time he made his home chiefly with sister Mary Anne, although 
 he spent much of his time with sister Elizabeth at Mount Pleasant. 
 
 Being economical in his habits, he was independent in his means, and 
 possessed a considerable estate in his later life. For some twenty-five 
 years before his death he had not worked regularly on the farm, but was 
 employed in Steubenville, part of the time in a store, and for some years 
 in one of the banks of that place. But for the last ten years of his life 
 he spent his time in leisure. He always retained his membership in the 
 First Presbyterian Church of Steubenville, with which he had united 
 February 9, 1840. He was remarkably active and diligent in any kind 
 of work whatever, but unfortunately he injured his back by overlifting 
 in the vigor of young manhood, and ever after that he suffered more or 
 less from that cause. During the earlier years, before William came to 
 manhood, father always looked to Joseph, his eldest son, for counsel in 
 
1889.] FAMILY HISTORY. 325 
 
 the management of the farm. His strength gradually failed as his years 
 increased, until his health gave way in 1883. He grew much weaker 
 the following winter, and his life passed out peacefully and quietly on 
 Saturday, April 12, 1884, just after midnight, at the home of his sister 
 Mary Anne, Mrs. Joseph W. Hill. The funeral was held on. the follow- 
 ing Monday, the services being conducted by his pastor, the Rev. W. M. 
 Grimes, D. D., and the interment was in the family vault in the Steuben- 
 ville Cemetery. He left a will in which he designated his brother R. 
 Sherrard, Jr., his executor. 
 
 DEATH OF SARAH SHERRARD. 
 
 My sister Sarah, although she was never able to walk from the time 
 she was five and a half years old, was always the centre of life and hap- 
 piness in the family, and she was a very dear sister and companion to her 
 younger brothers William and Thomas. No matter where we were, on 
 our return home we were sure of a smile and pleasant word of greeting 
 from our sister Sarah, and with the greatest interest and sympathy she 
 would always enter into our plans, and give an attentive ear to the 
 recital of all our experiences. One winter while Will was away at school 
 Sarah and I spent many of our evenings playing chess. Her cheerful 
 voice was often heard in laughter or in singing about her work, for like 
 all of father's children she was a good singer. She never sang in the 
 choir, but nearly all the others did at various times, for there was not a 
 time in forty years in the history of the First Presbyterian Church of 
 Steubenville when there was not some of father's children singing in the 
 choir, and often two or three at a time. 
 
 As has been mentioned elsewhere in this history, Sarah was a great 
 lover of flowers, and worked a great deal in the summer in her garden. 
 After removing to Washington she continued the cultivation of flowers 
 for her own pleasure, and that others might have the pleasure of seeing 
 them. She went regularly to church in Washington as she had done in 
 Steubenville, and rode out every good day in the carriage for her health. 
 She often took extended trips in company with one of her sisters, and 
 her colored attendant William Lane. In this way she visited the Cen- 
 tennial in 1876, and different times she visited the sea-shore, and was 
 also at New York, as well as Philadelphia. She was seriously afflicted 
 
326 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. [1889. 
 
 with neuralgia in later years, and her health became much broken 
 through suffering, until she grew gradually weaker during the summer 
 and fall of 1888. Her life was full of usefulness and pleasure to others, 
 and through life she was mother's constant companion. Her acquaint- 
 ance was wide in various parts of the country, owing to the many friends 
 who visited at father's house at Sugar Hill, and besides she made many 
 pleasant acquaintances at the Steubenville Female Seminary, where she 
 was always a welcome visitor. 
 
 The circle of her friendship was widened during the years of her resi- 
 dence in Washington, so that many are the friends, aside from her own 
 immediate family, who miss her cheerful face and sprightly conversation. 
 
 She died in peace and the hope of that blessed life where there shall 
 be " neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain," 
 passing away from this life on Monday evening March 4, 1889. The 
 funeral services were conducted by her pastor, the Rev. Dr. Brownson, 
 at the seminary on Tuesday evening, and the interment was private at 
 Steubenville on Wednesday. 
 
 THE PASTORS OF OUR FAMILY. 
 
 When the family moved to Sugar Hill the spring of 1833 father and 
 mother at once connected themselves with the First Presbyterian Church 
 of Steubenville, bringing their certificates from Centre. The Rev. Dr. 
 Beatty was then pastor, and he continued until 1837, when he resigned 
 in order to give his whole time to his seminary. 
 
 The Rev. Henry G. Comingo, a young student from Princeton, then 
 became pastor in 1837, and continued pastor for twenty-five years until 
 his death December i, 1861. He was succeeded in 1862 by the Rev. 
 Henry Woods, a young student from Allegheny, and he remained si.x 
 years, when he resigned and became Professor of Latin in Washington 
 and Jefferson College, which position he still occupies. His successor 
 as pastor in Steubenville was the Rev. Thomas A. McCurdy, who came 
 in January, 1868, and left the spring of 1875, having accepted a call to 
 Wooster, Ohio. The church was without a pastor when the family 
 removed to Washington in the fall of 1875. Mother and my sisters, Jane 
 and Sarah, brought their certificates over to the First Presbyterian Church 
 of Washington, Pa., of which the Rev. Dr. Brownson was pastor, and 
 
1890.] FAMIL Y HSSTOR Y. 327 
 
 he remains in charge of that church up to the present time. All of 
 father's children have been members of the Presbyterian church, and all 
 of the nine children now living still remain members of the Presbyter- 
 ian church wherever they may be living. 
 
 All were received into full communion in the First church of Steuben- 
 ville in early life, except David, who became a member of the church in 
 Fremont, Ohio, after he had made his home out there. 
 
 CLOSING WORDS AND SCENES. 
 
 My task is done. It was father's earnest wish toward the close of his 
 life that his life-work in collecting the materials of his Family History 
 might be appreciated by his posterity. Much more that would be inter- 
 esting might be given, but it would make a volume of vast dimensions. 
 It has been my object to select, out of the mass of material left on record, 
 such facts and incidents as ought to be preserved to make a connected 
 Family History of permanent value. 
 
 This volume closes with the family home at Washington, for while 
 mother still abides with us, the home will ever remain where she is 
 found, and there her children still gather from their distant homes, to 
 express their words of loving interest and affection, and listen to her 
 words of counsel. She is still in the enjoyment of excellent health, with 
 mind perfectly clear to enjoy the companionship of her children and 
 friends who may come in to call on her. It has been one of the 
 most delightful privileges of my life to be able to spend the past few 
 months near her, and while preparing the latter part of this history to go 
 over to the Seminary often to see her, and read to her every evening 
 what I have written during the day. And it has been to her a great 
 pleasure to hear it, while she herself testifies that the facts as herein pre- 
 sented are correct. It has added no little pleasure to her life to have my 
 little Robert Andrew, her youngest grand-son, four years and a half old, 
 come in to see her daily. To all who know her in her beautiful old age, 
 it will ever be one of the pleasantest remembrances to think of her as 
 she sits in her co.sy sitting-room reading the newspaper perhaps, but 
 nearly all the time with her large print Bible in her hands and reading 
 
328 
 
 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 [1890. 
 
 it, or looking up with a smile to greet any one who may come in, and 
 ready to engage in conversation. 
 
 This volume is published on the one hundred and first anniversary of 
 my father's birthday, May 4, 1890. 
 
 There are of his descendants, living at the present time, children, 
 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, one hundred. 
 
 These are as follows : Nine children, fifty-one grandchildren, and forty 
 great-grandchildren. 
 
II. FAMILY LETTERS. 
 
 1774-1889. 
 
 I. OLD I.ETTERS. 
 
 IN the course of years my father, Robert A. Sherrard, filled three 
 manuscript volumes with copies of old letters, amounting in all 
 to 850 foolscap pages. Many of these are of very great interest, 
 and throw not a little light upon the early history of the family, some 
 being from relatives in Ireland, and some from Irish relatives who had 
 come to America at an early age, while many of these letters are the 
 correspondence between the five brothers, sons of John Sherrard. 
 
 It will add interest to this Family History to give a few of these old 
 letters as specimens of a past age of correspondence, and one cannot 
 help being impressed with the literary ability of these people of former 
 generations to express themselves in such excellent, and often elegant 
 style. Above all, we learn through these old letters how devoted the 
 piety and how strong is the Christian character of these ancestors and 
 connections of ours. Already we have seen this spirit breathed forth 
 in the letters of uncle David and uncle Thomas, written at the time 
 of uncle William's death, in 1820, as recorded in the main body of this 
 history. 
 
 It is a matter of regret that there are no letters remaining written 
 by our grandfather and grandmother, John and Mary Sherrard, for 
 they were accustomed to write, nor is there any letter to be found of 
 Alexander Cathcart to his wife whom he had left in Ireland. However, 
 there is one letter on record from our great-grandmother, Ann Gamble 
 Cathcart, to her husband, Alexander Cathcart, during their separation, 
 while he was on a visit to this country, and to this the first place is 
 given. There are few experiences in life more affecting than this, to 
 
 329 
 
330 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 reflect that this loving couple never saw each other again, separated as 
 they were by the wide ocean, and the bitter struggles of war meanwhile 
 springing up between the two countries, preventing the coming of the 
 wife to America as she so fully intended, or the return home of the hus- 
 band and daughter Mary. For seven years their hopes of reunion must 
 have been cherished, only to be completely crushed in his death in 
 1780, and for thirty-three years longer this dear old lady remained a 
 widow in her native land until her death, in 18 13, never again in this 
 life permitted to behold the face of her beloved daughter Mary. This 
 letter was found by uncle David among some old papers in 1838, 
 and he says in a letter to father that he does not remember ever 
 seeing it before. 
 
 ANN GAMBLE CATHCART TO ALEXANDER CATHCART. 
 
 " Ballygonnell, County Fermanagh, Ireland, 
 " September the 4th, 1774. 
 " Dear Husband : 
 
 " This is to let you know that I received your letter and one 
 from our son David, which is a great comfort to me to hear that you 
 and our daughter Mary are safe arrived with him and in good health. I 
 and the rest of the family are in good health at present. I thank God 
 for it. I thought to be with you before now ; but I have not all things 
 in readiness yet, and was persuaded by my brother to stay to May next, 
 as we were informed that there was great trouble talked of being in that 
 place. 
 
 " I have the two boys at school, and they are with their uncle in 
 Graan. I got all safe out of Maughrygannon, and left it November 
 last. They took possession, and gave it to a man from County Wex- 
 ford, who is living there now. I request that you will let me know, by 
 the first opportunity, how you are settled in that place, and if there be 
 any appearance of trouble there, as I have heard there was between the 
 inhabitants of that country and England. I have bought twenty stone 
 of feathers, and some coarse cloth, and several articles such as you 
 wrote to me about. There is some cloth and feathers bought for David. 
 My mother desireth to be remembered to you. Your children all desire 
 to remember their love and duty to you ; also your brothers and sisters 
 
FAMILY LETTERS. 331 
 
 and friends desire to be remembered to you. Give my love to David 
 and Susannah, also to daughter Mary and to my brother Andrew Gam- 
 ble and his family, and let him know that his son David is in good 
 health. I intend to set off for America about May next, with the help 
 of God. 
 
 " Fail not in letting me know by the first opportunity how all things 
 are with you there. No more at present, but remain, 
 
 " Your loving wife till death, Ann Cathcart. 
 
 " To Alexander Cathcart." 
 
 Father adds this foot-note : " Twenty stone of feathers would be, at 
 14 pounds to the stone, 280 pounds of feathers, — enough of feathers to 
 make one dozen good feather-beds. Grandmother was a mind to have 
 good beds if she had got to America." 
 
 The ne.xt oldest letter on record is one from George Gamble to his 
 uncle^ Andrew Gamble, who was then living at Thunder Hill, New Lon- 
 don Cross Roads, Chester County, Pa. 
 
 This Andrew Gamble was the youngest brother of Ann Gamble Cath- 
 cart, and he was the youngest of six children of David Gamble, of 
 Graan, three miles from Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland. The 
 names of these six children were as follows in the order of their ages, 
 as near as I have been able to make out : Baptist, Ann, David, Mrs. 
 Hughes (whose name was probably Magdalen), William and Andrew. 
 
 GEORGE GAMBLE TO ANDREW GAMBLE. 
 
 " Graan, Ireland, 
 " September the 7th, 1785. 
 " Dear Uncle: 
 
 " Your friends in this country think it very strange that you have 
 not these ten or twelve years acquainted them or any of them how your 
 health or affairs do. 
 
 " I think it necessary, however, to give you an account of the state of 
 your friends in this country. We are at present all well in health, and 
 as happy as we can wish for in every respect. My uncle, William Gam- 
 ble, has got his daughter Mary married to a Mr. Brien, within four miles 
 
332 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 of Duress ; his son William is also married to a Miss Frith, of Derry- 
 argan. Moses Gamble's daughter is joined to Mr. Alexander, of Corna- 
 grey. William Hall's eldest son and daughter are married, and they 
 are all happy and well. 
 
 " My uncle, William Gamble, has not got any letter from his son 
 John these eighteen months ; he was at that time in Nova Scotia, and 
 was in very good business there. 
 
 " I understand he is now married there, and has a plantation, besides 
 other profits very great. William Gamble has got a legacy this year, 
 which doubles his estate, by Miss Cox, who lived in Dublin. We re- 
 ceived a letter from David Cathcart May last, which told us at that time 
 our friends were all well. We also had a letter from David, your son, 
 February last, but none since. 
 
 " He gave us to understand that he was in very good business, and he 
 expected preferment in the spring of the year. I will close here, giving 
 you in charge those letters which I hope you will take every means that 
 may conduct them safe, lest there should be any miscarriage of. these 
 letters after you receive them. I hope you will let them know that their 
 friends are all well, and hoping to be remembered by them oftener. 
 Dear uncle, it is the request of all your friends to be remembered to you, 
 and they hope that you may write as often as opportunity serves, as it 
 would be their greatest happiness to hear of your welfare. So trust 
 " Your affectionate nephew, George Gamble. 
 
 " To Andrew Gamble." 
 
 There is also a letter on record from Thomas Elliott and wife, of Bal- 
 lygonnell, Ireland, to David Cathcart, dated June !!,• 1789, and in a 
 foot-note father says : " The above-named Thomas Elliott was married 
 to my mother's oldest sister, Magdalen Cathcart, and he was by trade a 
 cabinet-maker, carpenter and joiner. My mother left behind her a small 
 chest of his make, in which she brought from Ireland to this country, 
 in company with her father, the fall season of 1773, some of her finer 
 clothes; which said chest is still in possession of my brother John. It 
 was made of what my Irish ancestors called deal boards, brought from 
 Norway." 
 
 In this letter they say : " Your mother is in good health at present, 
 
FAMILY LETTERS. 333 
 
 and so is Stephen Johnson and his family. George McDonald and his 
 family are all well at present, and so are your uncles and their families." 
 
 Stephen Jolinson was married to Sarah Cathcart, and George Mc- 
 Donald was the husband of Jane Cathcart, daughter of Alexander Cath- 
 cart and Ann Gamble. 
 
 There is another old letter on record from Jane McDonald to her 
 brother, David Cathcart, dated Cleens, Ir'd, June 3d, 1794, in which she 
 gives the names of her six children, and among other things says : " Let 
 me know concerning your sister Mary and her family, and whether they 
 are well or not, or if she is living near you, or in what part of the coun- 
 try she is living." 
 
 WILLI.\M GAMBLE TO D.WID CATHCART. 
 
 " Philadelphia, April 8th, 1802. 
 " Mr. David Cathcart. 
 
 "Sir: Your favor of 26th February, 1800, came safe to hand. 
 Since that I received none of your favors. 
 
 " I wrote you last summer by Major Death who informed me that he 
 lived about ten or twelve miles distant from you, and would take particu- 
 lar care to have that letter sent carefully to you. I have now to inform 
 you that I intend to depart for Ireland very shortly, which will take 
 place in the course of four or five weeks at farthest. I have the pleasure 
 to inform you that the letters I received last summer from Ireland in- 
 formed me of all our friends being living and well in that country. 
 
 " Your mother continues to keep in good health. Your sister Jane's 
 eldest son, Samuel McDonald, is determined to come to this country 
 this summer, and no doubt but many of the younger sons will follow. I 
 understand that their father encourages them very much, and says he 
 will in some time follow them himself In my opinion, if he leaves that 
 comfortable habitation where he now dwells, he will never live in so 
 comfortable or independent a situation as he does now in the Cleens. I 
 heard last week from the family of Thunder Hill that they were all well 
 as that time, though my uncle is wearing very fast. 
 
 " Last winter I had the satisfaction of receiving two letters from your 
 brother Andrew. The first of these letters was accompanied with one 
 from him for you, which I forwarded by the first post which left this city 
 
334 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 for the westward, and hope it has been received by you. I would wish 
 
 you to write to ine shortly, as my stay in this country is not long; it 
 
 will require to do it on receipt of this letter, and if you have any com- 
 
 inands to Ireland, inform me thereof I would thank you if you would 
 
 inform me where James Irvine and his sisters now live. I am sorry to 
 
 hear that your brother-in-law has got the palsy, but hope he has got 
 
 better before this time. Pray give my best respects and well wishes to 
 
 your wife and sister Mary and other friends, and believe me to be, dear 
 
 sir, Your Ob't Servant, 
 
 " W. Gamble. 
 "To David Cathcart." 
 
 This William Gamble who wrote the above letter was the second son of 
 David Gamble, and a nephew of Ann Gamble Cathcart. He came over 
 to America in September, 1797, and spent the first winter with his uncle 
 Andrew out in Chester County, Pa , at Thunder Hill. He then went to 
 Philadelphia and was employed as book-keeper for Mr. Hare, who was 
 Speaker of the Senate. He remained there four years except that for 
 three months during an epidemic of yellow fever he was out at his 
 uncle's in Chester County. In May, 1802, he returned to Ireland and en- 
 gaged in the queensware business in Belfast for a number of years, and 
 was married to a Miss Jane Douglass. 
 
 He afterwards went to Dublin and went into the chemical business 
 with his brother Josias. 
 
 JOHN GAMBLE TO DAVID CATHCART. 
 
 " Thunder Hill, Chester County, Pa. 
 "September 15, 1806. 
 
 " Dear David : 
 
 " It is with peculiar satisfaction that I now sit down to write -to 
 you. But sorry I am to inform you that my father has been lying bed- 
 fast these fifteen months with the most excruciating pains. He is not in 
 the smallest degree able to make himself any assistance, but as I lift him 
 in and out of bed and turn him, and he is like to continue so for years. 
 I can just inform you that David McDonald, son to your sister Jane, 
 with his wife and child, have come to this country, and are living in 
 Lancaster, but farther I cannot tell. 
 
FA M/L 3 • LE TTERS. 335 
 
 " Your mother is living with your brother-in-law, Thomas Elhott. 
 Give my compliments to John Reed, and to cousin Susan in particular 
 manner, and believe me to be 
 
 " Your cousin in sincerity, 
 
 "John Gamble. 
 
 "To Mr. David Cathcart." 
 
 JOHN GAMBLE TO DAVID CATHCART. 
 
 " Thunder Hill, Chester County, Pa. 
 " February 17, 1812. 
 " My Dear David and Susan : 
 
 " This comes with my best respects to you and your nephew, 
 hoping you are all in good health as I am at present. But it is with pain 
 and pleasure I inform you that my father, your uncle, is dead. 
 
 " He died the 9th of this month about 1 1 o'clock, A. M. — pain, be- 
 cause you know it is hard to part with an earthly parent who was the 
 guardian of my youth, and provided for me — pleasure, because he is re- 
 moved from a land of sorrow and trouble to that of (I hope) peace. 
 
 "If any man ever suffered for sin in this life he did; seven years 
 he kept his bed, and never was he out but when I lifted him, twice every 
 day, in that time, but frequently ten times in twenty-four hours. This 
 may seem like a fable to you, but it is strictly true, and oftener if I 
 might say it. The first three and a half years I never got one night in 
 bed, and frequently have I been three days and three nights without any 
 sleep whatever. My health is m.uch impaired and my constitution much 
 broken. I have advertised my land for sale, and if I sell it soon you 
 will see me with you this fall, if well, as it is my determination to leave 
 this neighborhood if possible. It would give me a great deal of happi- 
 ness could I but see you before you are removed. 
 
 " I am here very lonely, and I think if I could be settled near you or 
 James Hughes my mind would be more at ease. I am not yet married, 
 and not determined whether I ever will be or not. My sisters and family 
 are all well. James Hughes is well, as also W. Gamble. He now lives 
 in Belfast, but thinks if the difference between this country and England 
 was settled he would come to this country. I have not heard from your 
 
336 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 nephew for three years or more. Fail not to write to me on receipt of 
 
 this letter. I conclude with my love to you and all friends, and am, 
 
 " Your most sincere cousin, 
 
 "John Gamble. 
 " To Mr. David Cathcart." 
 
 JOHN GAMBLE TO D.WID CATHCART. 
 
 " Thuxder Hill, New London, Chester Co., Pa. 
 " March i, 1813. 
 
 " Dear David : 
 
 " A considerable time has elapsed since I have had any letter 
 from you — I believe not since the death of my father, at which time I 
 wrote you but received no answer. I have not yet sold my land, nor 
 have I any prospect at present of selling it. I wish very much to sell if 
 I could, as I wish to move from here to your country. 
 
 " The land in this place has got very poor, and there is not any way 
 of enriching it but by lime, which makes it come very dear, and there 
 are but few men able to improve it in that way here. My health is very 
 much injured and broken by attending on my father when in his long 
 suffering, and I am very fearful it will never be better now, but this I 
 must put up with. 
 
 " Our cousin Hughes in Philadelphia is well and is making out well. 
 He is a very industrious, sober, steady man, but looks old like. He has 
 had some severe trouble in his time. It is more than a year since I had 
 a letter from your brother, Andrew Cathcart. I presume you have 
 heard from him since that. John Whitcraft has moved on his own place, 
 and has built a new stone house and an excellent frame barn. His eldest 
 son, James, has got married a few days previous to this to a Miss Pink- 
 erton. 
 
 " He is a carpenter to trade, and his third brother is learning the trade 
 with him. I am not yet married, nor do I know when I will ; I wish to 
 move from here before I change my way of living. Give my most 
 grateful compliments to cousin Susan, and D. A. C. Sherrard. If it was 
 so ordered I wish very much to see you before you quit this stage of 
 action, or could I leave home I certainly would go to see you. Write 
 me on receipt of this, and let me know how you are,, and also if you 
 
FA MIL Y LETTERS. 337 
 
 know anything of my sisters Peggy Graliam and Mary Conn, or any of 
 their children. Wheat has been sold at $2.20 per bushel here, but a 
 trifling part of it fell to my lot to sell. 
 
 " John Gamble. 
 
 "To David Cathcart." 
 
 This John Gamble was the son of Andrew Gamble, who was the 
 youngest brother of our great-grandmother Ann Gamble Cathcart, and 
 John was consequently a full cousin to David Cathcart. His father, 
 Andrew, came to America in 1765, and settled in Chester County, Pa., 
 in the southern part, about fifty miles west-southwest of Philadelphia. 
 
 In addition to his farming interests there at Thunder Hill, two miles 
 from New London, he made seven successful trading trips between this 
 country and Ireland. He was a paralytic sufferer for several years be- 
 fore his death, and the farm was left to his son John. It was here that 
 Alexander Cathcart and his daughter Mary came when they landed from 
 Ireland, in 1773, and he found his son, David Cathcart, already living in 
 the neighborhood, as he and his wife, Susannah, had come out from Ire- 
 land the year before, and settled across the Elk Creek, probably not more 
 than a mile away. As a matter of fact, John Gamble never succeeded 
 in selling that farm, but continued to live on there till his death, which 
 occurred about 1830. He did finally get njarried to a widow, who 
 proved to be unworthy of him, and they separated, and he paid her 
 $3000. They had one child but it died. After his death the farm was 
 sold, and the proceeds divided among his sisters, so far as I could learn. 
 I visited this old place at Thunder Hill, in May, 1889, and learned many 
 of these facts from old neighbors of the Gambles, who had known John 
 and his father well, and they testified that they were excellent people, 
 and highly esteemed. 
 
 I saw the old stone barn still standing, which John Gamble had built 
 in 1822, and also the chimney of the old log-house which Andrew Gam- 
 ble had originally built, and the old crane was still hanging in the fire- 
 place. 
 
 John Gamble had a cousin, James Hughes, living in Philadelphia, and 
 teaching school there. He had come at an early day from Ireland, and 
 was always on intimate terms out at his uncle Andrew's house in Ches- 
 ter County. 
 
338 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 I have been able to learn nothing from the old letters about the father 
 of this James Hughes, but his mother was the fourth child of old David 
 Gamble, and therefore a full sister of Ann and Andrew and the rest of 
 them. She left several children whose names are mentioned here and 
 there, and she herself died of paralysis. It is my impression that her 
 name was Magdalen. 
 
 I next give two letters from this James Hughes. 
 
 JAMES HUGHES TO DAVID CATHCART. 
 
 " Philadelphia, June 25, 1810. 
 " Respected Friend : 
 
 " Probably you may think it singular to be written to by a person 
 of whom you have no personal acquaintance, or do not recollect having 
 seen. To avoid further ceremony, the cause of my addressing you is to 
 give you some information respecting your relatives in Ireland. Uncle 
 David Gamble's son James, by his second wife, arrived in Charleston, 
 South Carolina, on the first of the present year. He is acquainted with 
 business, having lived with his brother William in Belfast, and got a 
 situation immediately, but is gone out to the western part of the State 
 during the warm season with a Mr. Keys, from near Enniskillen. Last 
 fall, on his departure from home, your mother enjoyed perfect health, 
 free from rheumatic complaints, but thin of flesh. Your sisters and 
 families were well. 
 
 " Uncle William is living, in tolerable health. Baptist and mother 
 both died of paralytic complaint, similar to that under which uncle 
 Andrew has been afflicted so long in this country. Samuel Gamble, of 
 Graan, is married to Moses' daughter Mary. William, who resided in 
 this city some years back, now lives in Belfast ; is largely in the queens- 
 ware, china, glass, etc., and is married to a former Miss Jane Douglass, 
 whose father is a merchant there and of a respectable family. William 
 and I correspond by letter, and I heard from him a few days ago. 
 
 " The oppression under which the Irish labor has seldom been equaled 
 by any other people. Latterly they have suffered much by the want of 
 good flaxseed. It sold in Belfast on the 4th of May last at ;^8 per 
 hundred. 
 
 " When it would be conveyed into the interior and retailed out you 
 
FAMILY LETTERS. 339 
 
 know it must be much higher, but the despots of Europe have no com- 
 passion for the poor. I regret to inform you that uncle Andrew 
 remains in the same condition as formerly, helpless, and John suffers 
 greatly attending him. How thankful ought we to be for health and 
 the innumerable mercies conferred on us daily by the Supreme Gov- 
 ernor of the universe, yet examine our conduct and behold what 
 ingratitude and complaining and discontent, even when we enjoy all the 
 necessaries of life, and many of the superfluities. How thankful we 
 ought to be in this land of gospel liberty. May you and I be enabled 
 to work out our salvation through the merits of Christ. When we look 
 forward, our departure from this stage of existence must not be far 
 distant. Heretofore I presume j'ou have been informed by John Gamble 
 that I teach school. I have met with good encouragement, but begin 
 to feel the approach of age. 
 
 " John Henderson, son to my sister Jane Thompson, lives in this city. 
 He has another brother in Virginia. My sister Margaret and younger 
 brother Francis remain in Ireland. He has a small farm of land very 
 cheap, and they live comfortably. Sister Jane is dead. Sister Magdalen 
 and family are well, also John Thompson and family. Our worthy 
 friend Baptist Irvine of Baltimore is well. I must claim your indulgence 
 in my tedious and perhaps to you uninteresting letter, and request you 
 will write me a few lines shortly, and address me No. 3 Wathens Alley. 
 Being acquainted with Mr. Trevor I send this to his care. Please 
 present my best respects to Mrs. Cathcart, and I am, dear sir, 
 " Your friend, &c., 
 
 " J.\MES Hughes. 
 
 " To David Cathcart." 
 
 J.\MES HUGHES TO DAVID C.\THC.\RT. 
 
 Philadelphia, June 29, 1814. 
 "Dear Cousin, 
 
 " Yesterday I received a letter from William Gamble written last 
 Christmas Day. I must now inform you of an event you must long 
 have expected. Your mother died on that day five weeks preceding 
 Christmas Day. 
 
 " She was confined only three days and departed this life quite easy 
 after a long life. All the relations are well. Thank God mv health at 
 
340 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 present is good, and I expect to teach during the summer and not go to 
 
 the country. I wrote by Mr. Alex. Johnson the last time he was in the 
 
 city. John Gamble and John Henderson are well, with all their friends. 
 
 The times in Ireland were very brisk in all kinds of business. Linen 
 
 had raised twenty per cent, with every kind of British goods. Potatoes 
 
 3^/. a stone. 
 
 " Beef and pork cheap. Fine times for the poor. He says he will 
 
 go to live in Dublin soon. Write to me before long. Please give my 
 
 love to Mrs. Cathcart and all the friends, and believe me to be 
 
 " With sentiments of respect and esteem, 
 
 " James Hughes. 
 " To David Cathcart." 
 
 This James Hughes was still living as late as 1825, for in a letter 
 from John Gamble to his si.ster, Mrs. Margaret Graham, dated Decem- 
 ber 5, 1825, he says: "Mr. James Hughes is now in Ireland, but 
 expects to be back in Philadelphia this spring. He will make $2,000 by 
 this trip ; this is the way to make money." 
 
 ANDREW CATHCART TO MARY SHERRARD. 
 
 " Township Butternuts, Otsego Co., N. Y., 
 " October 4, 18 10. 
 
 " Dear Sister, 
 
 " I take this opportunity of informing you that we are in a state 
 of good health, hoping to find you and the boys well when this arrives 
 by the bearer, friend William Ferguson, who informs me that the boys 
 are doing well and very industrious, which is a very great trait in their 
 character. And what adds more to it, friend William informs me that 
 they are very good to their mother, who brought them from a state of 
 childhood to what they are at present. But by so doing they are only 
 fulfilling a duty they owe to a kind parent, an injunction laid on us by 
 our maker, hoping they and all of us may strictly observe them with 
 others enjoined on us to perform. 
 
 " Ann, my wife, and little John send their love to you all. I refer to 
 cousin William for further intelligence, remaining, 
 
 " Your brother and the boys' uncle, 
 
 " Andrew Cathcart. 
 
 " To Mary Sherrard and Boys." 
 
FAMILY LETTERS. 341 
 
 ANDREW CATHCART TO DAVID CATHCART. 
 
 •' Butternuts, August 12, 1812. 
 " Dear Brother, 
 
 "I received yours of the 17th of June, which informed me of 
 sister's illness, and was very sorry for her affliction, but thankful to 
 God for her recovery, trusting in him to continue his goodness and 
 sparing mercy which we have long enjoyed, and prepare us for that 
 unchangeable state that awaits us, as it is fast approaching, if lengthened 
 to the common age of man. 
 
 " But we know not the moment ; therefore I pray to God, who created 
 the universe, and has been a Father and Brother to us in this strange 
 land, and has bestowed blessings on us, all that this world can afford, 
 to make us mindful of our latter end, and give us peace in our day with 
 the full assurance of a happy immortality beyond the grave. 
 
 " I am happy to hear that sister and her children are well, and that 
 the boys are well, and so promising, hoping that God will bless them 
 and prosper them in their undertakings, and give them a heart to fear 
 him and be thankful. I had a letter from John Gamble, Thunder Hill, 
 informing me of his father's death, and also that he had a letter from 
 William Gamble, Belfast, who informed him that mother and uncle 
 William Gamble were well, but no other account of sister or friends. 
 Respecting our situation in these troublous times of war between Great 
 Britain and the United States, we are in an interior part of the country 
 where there is very little fear from the frontiers or seaboard, nevertheless 
 it seems to be a very unpopular war; notwithstanding, we must receive 
 it as a rod of correction from our Maker. Being blessed with the good 
 things of this life we waxed fat, and forgot the Giver and that thing 
 which is most needful. And it is said, ' whom he loveth he chasteneth,' 
 and may God grant it to be the case to bring us to a true sense of our 
 duty, to know that he is the Disposer of all things, and that there is 
 none other to fly to for refuge and a happy eternity. I should be 
 pleased to hear from you every opportunity, and as God has endowed 
 us with faculties and the means, we ought to make use of them to com- 
 municate a friendly intercourse with each other, as there is nothing this 
 side of the grave more gratifying than friends and friendly intercourse. 
 
342 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 I am happy cousin William Ferguson got home safe, as it gave us some 
 uneasiness, it being a great undertaking for a man advanced to his 
 years all alone and the route he took, by the Lakes. 
 
 "Joined with Nancy's and John's love to you and sister, and sister 
 Mary and children, William Ferguson and family, concluding, 
 " Your affectionate brother and sister, 
 
 " Andrew and Anne Cathcart. 
 
 " P. S. John sends his love to you and his aunt, and promises to 
 
 comply with your request, to know his Creator in the days of his youth, 
 
 and if blessed to prolong him to old age, not to depart from it. 
 
 " Remaining your affectionate nephew, 
 
 " John A. Cathcart. 
 " To David Cathcart." 
 
 Father adds a note that the postage on the above letter was twenty- 
 five cents. 
 
 ANDREW CATHCART TO DAVID CATHCART. 
 
 " Township of Butternuts, Otsego Co., New York, 
 "Nov. 22, 1822. 
 " Dear Brother and Sister, 
 
 " I am at a loss to know whether I am addressing the living or 
 the dead, as I have not received any intelligence from you for some 
 time. I wrote to you twice, but no answer as yet. We all enjoy good 
 health, but by the course of nature we are approaching to our long 
 home, hoping that God will not forsake, but prepare through time, and 
 fit us for eternity, which ought to be impressed on our thoughts, and 
 we ought to pray for his heavenly grace so that we may be partakers 
 of his heavenly bliss in his kingdom which is not made with hands. 
 Oh, my dear brother, I hope and pray that we may live and die in the 
 favor, and good will of our heavenly Father, and be received into his 
 fold at the last day. As I am sensible that he has been my guide and 
 protector through every period of my life, and in an especial manner 
 ever since I left my native land, then how ungrateful must I be, and 
 indeed all of us, if we do not keep in remembrance of our God, and 
 our Guide who has bestowed so many blessings upon us, as his 
 
FA MIL V LETTERS. 343 
 
 promise is sure that he will never leave us nor forsake us, if we merit 
 his grace. 
 
 " I should be pleased to hear from sister Mary Sherrard and family. 
 The last sorrowful news was the loss of her dear son, but God is wise 
 in all his actions, hoping it is all for the best, and we ought to resign 
 it freely and realize it is for our good ; as God gives, he has a right to 
 take away ; blessed be the name of the Lord. 
 
 " My son John is out to the westward about i6o miles at Rochester 
 in Monroe County in the mercantile business and is doing well. He is 
 married to my eldest stepdaughter. All the boys are in business, and 
 only three girls at home. The youngest, Elizabeth Ann Cathcart, is in 
 her eighth year and promises well ; she is fond of her book and a good 
 scholar for her age ; often says she would wish to see her uncle, and 
 take a journey to Western Pennsylvania. She sends her love, and all 
 join in the same, and may God in his infinite mercy govern and pro- 
 tect us all, is the sincere wish of 
 
 " Your affectionate brother, " Andrew Cathcart. 
 
 '• To David Cathcart." 
 
 Andrew Cathcart above mentioned was the youngest child of Ale.x- 
 ander Cathcart and Ann Gamble, and was born in 1755. He emigrated 
 to America in 1786 and landed in New York; made his way up to 
 Albany, and thence out to Otsego County, N. Y., where he followed 
 surveying, afterwards purchased a farm of 200 acres, but hired a farmer 
 and continued his surveying; married a wealthy girl by the name of 
 Brown, by whom he had one child, John Alexander, born in August, 
 1798. 
 
 Living as he did in those early times away up in western New 
 York, it is perhaps not strange that Andrew Cathcart had no commu- 
 nication with his uncle Andrew Gamble in Chester County, Pa., nor 
 with his brother David Cathcart or sister Mary Sherrard out in Fay- 
 ette County, Pa., for many years after he came to this country. 
 
 It would seem from inferences in old letters that these near rela 
 tives did not know where Andrew Cathcart was until 1799, when a 
 certain James Adams who had lived at Thunder Hill and knew the 
 Gambles well, went up to the North River on a visit to his own 
 
344 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 uncle living on the Mohawk River, west of Schenectady. While there 
 he heard of Andrew Cathcart living still further west, and wrote to 
 him, and gave him the news of his relatives in Pennsylvania, and thus 
 communication was established, and many letters afterwards passed. 
 In a letter to his brother David, dated August 26, 1803, Andrew 
 Cathcart gives an affecting account of the death of his first wife, which 
 occurred May 30, 1803, leaving him very lonely with his little son 
 John. In this letter he says : " I had a letter from my sister Mary 
 Sherrard some time ago, which informed me she was in expectation 
 of moving, also of the indisposition of her husband, John Sherrard. 
 Write me if you have any account of my mother and friends in Ire- 
 land ; if uncle Andrew Gamble of New London Cross Roads, Thun- 
 der Hill, Chester County, Pa., is still living. Oh! had I but my dear 
 old mother, if still living, I would think it a great consolation, and to 
 have it in my power to pay the last duties to my dear parent who 
 watched over my tender years, and brought me to a state of man- 
 hood. But this thought I give up, and resign her to our God, who 
 is a Father to all, hoping he will prepare us for his heavenly inheri- 
 tance, is the sincere wish of your loving brother. 
 
 •' My kindest love to sister Susan, your wife, and tell her I hope to 
 live to see her, but I believe I should be put to a stand to know any 
 of you." 
 
 In July, 1805, he came down to Pennsylvania on a visit to his brother 
 David, and together they came out to Ohio and visited their sister Mary 
 Sherrard and her family, who had just moved that spring from Fayette 
 County, Pa. 
 
 Andrew Cathcart was married a second time May 18, 1807, to Miss 
 Anne Moore, a wealthy lady of thirty-eight or forty years of age, of 
 Albany. She died November 30, 1812, without any children, but her 
 husband testifies that she was a tender step-mother to his little son John. 
 About 1 8 14 he married a third time, a widow, whose name is not given, 
 with seven children, four boys and three girls, and he often wrote to his 
 brother David how happily they lived together. He had only one child 
 by this third marriage, Elizabeth Ann, and she was in her eighth year in 
 November, 1822. As he relates in one of his letters, his son John mar- 
 ried one of his step-sisters, and was a merchant in Rochester. Andrew 
 
FAMILY LETTERS. 345 
 
 Cathcart was still living in 1825, as the following letter from his brother 
 David shows, and it is believed that he lived until about 1S40. 
 
 DAVID CATHCART TO ANDREW CATHCART. 
 
 Preceding the letter, my father, Robert A. Sherrard, made the following 
 note: ''Copy of a letter written b)' Robert A. Shenard at the request 
 and desire of his uncle, David Cathcart, to his brother, Andrew Cathcart. 
 Uncle David, at the date of this letter was eighty-three years of age, and 
 not being in the practice of writing, conceived the opinion that he could 
 not write. I believe he could have written, and for a man of his age 
 could not for a beautiful hand be beaten by one of ten thousand, but I 
 think his greatest loss would be in arranging the matter, although his mmd 
 appeared to be sound and good for more than nine years afterwards up 
 to his death. He still retained the use of his eyesight up to the day of 
 his death in June, 1836." Father happened to be on a visit to Fayette 
 County at this time. 
 
 " Dunbar Township, Fayette County, Pa. 
 "January 26, 1827. 
 " My Dear Brother : 
 
 " I embrace this opportunity of sending a few lines to you, and 
 perhaps this may be the last that you will ever receive from me, though 
 my health is as good as I could expect it to be considering my uncom- 
 mon advanced age. I now lack but a few days of being fourscore and 
 three years old. I was born on the 17th day of March, 1744, old style, 
 and I have great reason to be very thankful to God for his preserving 
 care over me to this advanced period, but also for the use of my faculties 
 which are but little impaired. I enjoy a good share of health, and I 
 experience so little pain or sickness, and I am not left to pine or languish 
 in the evening shade of my life ; and there is one thing remarkable, and 
 which but few of my age enjoy, and that is the use of my eyesight. I 
 have had no need of glasses for the last twelve or fifteen years, but can 
 read the smallest print without them. 
 
 " Notwithstanding that I am thus spared to reach such an advanced 
 period of life, and the enjoyment of such good health, it hath pleased 
 the great disposer of all things to call away my companion in life, my 
 wife Susannah. She had been my partner in all the joys and sorrows, the 
 
346 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 ups and downs, the crosses and losses in a marriage state for fifty-six 
 years. She departed this Hfe on the 2ist of April, 1826, without a strug- 
 gle or a groan, after a short illness, which she bore with resignation and 
 unshaken Christian fortitude. And although my mind was overcome 
 with grief and sorrow, yet it has been a lesson useful to me, which has 
 taught me that I must soon follow, must soon bid adieu to time and 
 things of time, to all my earthly friends and earthly enjoyments, both of 
 time and sense. I patiently wait for death to come as my friend, and 
 loose my servile chain. He hath many forms, nor should they all be 
 fearful when he comes to us as a deliverer. 
 
 " My sister Mary is still living, and enjoys a reasonable share of good 
 health, considering her advanced age. 
 
 " She is now nearly seventy-six years old. She was born seven years 
 and six months after me. She lives with her son John, who was the 
 last of her children that married, which took place on the 8th of Sep- 
 tember, 1825. But I must close this with my best love and esteem to 
 you and your family. I add no more but remain, your loving brother 
 
 " David Cathcart. 
 " To Andrew Cathcart." 
 
 DAVID CATHCART TO MARY SHERRARD. 
 
 " Dunbar Township, Fayette County, Penna. 
 " February 20, 1821. 
 
 " Dear Sister, 
 
 " I have taken up my pen with a trembling hand to inform you 
 and all friends that we are all in a middling state of health at present. 
 We thank God for his mercies. David has been poorly for eight or ten 
 days, with a swelling on one side of the head, but it is getting better. I 
 have received a letter from my brother Andrew Cathcart. It informs 
 me all are well. He is married to the third wife, — a widow with seven 
 children, four sons and three daughters. It is seven years since his 
 marriage took place. He has one daughter by her, called Elizabeth 
 Ann Cathcart. His wife's name is Sally Betsy. 
 
 " He says that he has an affectionate wife, and loving children, which 
 compensates for the charge he has taken, and all live together in the 
 greatest harmony. He writes that his son John, born to him by the 
 first wife, is gone to Genesee, 170 miles from home to commence busi- 
 
FA MIL 1 • LE TTERS. 347 
 
 ness for himself. He also states that his son John is to be married to 
 his oldest stepdaughter, of whom he says, she is very pious. His own 
 daughter is six years old, and a fine girl of her age. She is always 
 talking of her uncle and aunt in the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 " Dear sister, brother sends his kind love to you and your children, in 
 hope that you and them are thinking of that change which must take 
 place one day or other, and wishes that you and them would not neglect 
 writing to let him know how you are coming on, both for time and eter- 
 nity. He has sent me a great deal of talk ; good talk on our eternal 
 state. He further adds that they are blessed with plenty of bread, but no 
 market for anything, owing to the turn of times. Your aunt desires to 
 be remembered to sister, to Mary, to Robert, to Rebecca and all inquir- 
 ing friends. My wish to God is that He will prepare us for His heavenly 
 kingdom, is the sincere desire of, 
 
 " Your affectionate brother to death, 
 
 " David Cathcart. 
 " To his sister Mary Sherrard." 
 
 BAPTIST IRVINE TO DAVID CATHCART. 
 
 " Phil.\delphia, June 4, 1805. 
 " Much Esteemed Friend : 
 
 "A true statement ought ever to be the only apology for neglects 
 of correspondence between genuine friends. Immediately after I received 
 your last favor, I determined to write to you ; but as several letters were 
 then due from me to others, I wrote them; and as I was in much hurry 
 then, I actually forgot my determination. 
 
 "This is the truth ; but when I frankly declare that a leaky memory, 
 and not a deficiency of respect, was the sole cause of my delinquency, I 
 hope to be forgiven, more especially as my letters can never be worth 
 the reading, circumscribed as I am both as to talents and means of 
 information. Letters have lately been received by Mr. Hughes from 
 William Gamble, who is about establishing himself in business in Bel- 
 fast ; and I have lately had a letter from my father, mentioning that 
 most of our friends are in good health, except David Gamble, who is in 
 a bad state of health. I was very happy, my dear friend, to learn, by a 
 letter lately received from my sister, that Peggy has met with the kind- 
 est treatment from your hands. 
 
348 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 " Removed to a distance as I am from these poor girls, it gladdens 
 my heart to find that they have a generous friend. I trust I shall live 
 to make you amends hereafter. As to myself, I had some thoughts, if 
 Alexander had come here last winter, to have laid some plan of quitting 
 this city, if not printing altogether, as I have found that it is impossible 
 to clear anything at it here in my capacity. But you already know, I 
 presume, of his return to Kentucky. Poor fellow, I was sorry for his 
 misfortunes; I thought him imprudent in several transactions. Our 
 friend Hughes is well, and desires that his respects be presented to you 
 and Mrs. Cathcart. 
 
 " I have not heard from Alexander since he went last for Kentucky. 
 Be good enough to mention whether you have heard from him. I won- 
 der very much that my sister Peggy has not written to me. Should it 
 ever be necessary for you to have any business to attend to, I shall 
 assist you as far as in my power. At all events write to me, if it were 
 only to let me know how you and family are. John Cook lived at St. 
 Clairsville a few months ago, and was well when he wrote to me. He 
 was disappointed somehow in getting money from his uncle. Write to 
 me in care of Mr. Armstrong, corner of Third and Plum Streets, Phila- 
 delphia. I am, with my best wishes for the welfare of yourself and 
 family. Your unchangeable friend, 
 
 " B. Irvine. 
 
 "To David Cathcart." 
 
 DAVID CATHCART TO BAPTIST IRVINE. 
 
 " Dunbar Township, Fayette County, Pa. 
 " March 9, 1S07. 
 " Respected Friend : 
 
 " I have sent you several letters, but have received no account from 
 you this long time. Now I have determined to let you know how all 
 the friends in this country are doing. Your sisters are all well at 
 present. 
 
 " Your sister Margaret has come from Greensburg after pa)'ing her 
 friends a visit, and all were well when she left them. I am very happy 
 in having her so near, as she is the only friend I have in this part of the 
 country. She is doing very well, and is very much respected. 
 
FAMILY LETTERS. 349 
 
 " I hope j'ou will do me the favor as to let my friends in Ireland 
 
 know, by a letter from your hand directed to my mother, that we are 
 
 all well as usual, only wearing away to the other country. Sister Mary 
 
 and family are living over the Ohio, seventy miles from me. Brother 
 
 Andrew was to see me last July was a year; he went back to Albany 
 
 in twelve days. He sent me a letter from there ; but I have got none 
 
 since. I think he is dead, for he told me. he would write frequently to 
 
 me. I have had no account from Ale.xander this long time. 
 
 " David Cathcart. 
 "To Baptist Irvine." 
 
 The mother of Baptist Irvine was a full cousin of David Cathcart, 
 and her maiden name was Nancy Rachel Gamble. She married John 
 Irvine, and they lived at Clabby, near Enniskillen, Ireland. Their six 
 children came to America in 1794. (See the Gamble records.) 
 
 It is amusing to hear Baptist Irvine in his letter given above saying 
 that " my letters can never be worth reading, circumscribed as I am, 
 both as to talents and means of information," when all accounts agree 
 that he was an unusually gifted person, a writer of his time of great 
 distinction, and a man of extensive travel and wide information. His 
 brother James was the oldest child. He was married and lived in West- 
 moreland County, and had nine children. They removed to Louisville, 
 Kentucky, in 1853. 
 
 One of the sons of this James Irvine was Hugh, and the following 
 correspondence between him and my father will give some further 
 information about the Irvine family. 
 
 ROBERT A. SHERRARD TO HUGH IRVINE. 
 
 "Sugar Hill Farm, near Steubenville, O., 
 "Tuesday, February 10, 1863. 
 
 " Mr. Hugh Irvine: 
 
 " Dear Sir, — For some days past I have thought I would write 
 you a letter, but what should I write about to a man I have never seen, 
 and I thought I would draw upon my memory and write about some- 
 thing I remember. 
 
 " Well, I remember that in 1798 your uncle, Alex. Irvine, and Wil- 
 liam Cook, his cousin, came to my father's and staid a few days. Cook 
 
350 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 afterwards at an early period settled in Cincinnati. This was not long 
 after your father, his two brothers and three sisters, with William 
 Hughes and William Cook, left near Enniskillen, Ireland, and came to 
 the United States. William Cook got a place as clerk at Isaac Mason's 
 furnace under the chief clerk, old Greenough, but had to leave in a 
 month or two. 
 
 " And I remember mother asked young Cook why he had to leave 
 so soon, and his answer was that he did not know, unless it was that he 
 was too honest for them. I remember to have heard it said frequently 
 by Mason's hired men that Mason and his clerk Greenough were 
 notoriously dishonest, charging poor work hands with more than 
 they got. 
 
 " I believe Cook soon made his way to Cincinnati, where you prob- 
 ably know more about him than I do. But as to your uncle, Alex. 
 Irvine, he soon got a school to teach convenient to where my brother 
 David now lives, and while thus employed made his home at my uncle 
 David Cathcart's, who was a son of Ann Gamble, and aunt to your 
 grandmother Irvine. Alexander Irvine joined in company with several 
 others to escort an old Englishman and his family to Big Sandy, the 
 upper north line of your State, to seek a silver mine, which the old man 
 Swift, the old schoolmaster, said he had discovered on Big Sandy years 
 before. 
 
 " Each of these men thus joined in Swift's company was to have a 
 certain share as stock in the silver mine. 
 
 "This all being settled and agreed upon, the company made every 
 necessary arrangement to be off to Kentucky on their enterprise. They 
 purchased a small family boat, furnished it with all necessary provisions, 
 and paid off a considerable debt that old schoolmaster Swift owed to 
 his creditors. Then with all Swift's family on board they left Fayette 
 County, Pa , for Big Sandy, Kentucky, the spring season of 1799. 
 That he might have no lack of money, and not knowing how soon he 
 might have the handling of ingots of silver from old Swift's silver mine, 
 Alex. Irvine sold his old Irish Enniskillen watch to uncle Cathcart, and 
 my brother David has it yet, and will keep it while he lives as a keep- 
 sake, on account of his first wife, who was Betsy Irvine, and her brother, 
 Alex. Irvine. 
 
FA MIL \ ' LE TTERS. 3ol 
 
 " And I do hope he will not leave it in possession of the present wife, 
 for he ought to leave it to some of his first wife's people of the Irvine 
 name. 
 
 " But I know you are ready to ask what about the silver mine ? 
 Why, after they had landed at the mouth of Big Sandy, they left Swift's 
 family in the boat, and set off with Swift in search of the mine, but after 
 a long and fruitless search during the whole of the summer months, they 
 were unable to find so much as a trace of it. 
 
 " But these men came home to Fayette County in the fall with their 
 clothes badly torn and patched and stitched together, and now sixty- 
 three years have passed away and I have not heard in all that time of 
 any silver mine being found in that locality. 
 
 " After his return from that expedition, October, 1799, Alex. Irvine 
 taught school as opportunity served till 1801, when we find him study- 
 ing Latin under Rev. James Dunlap, pastor of Laurel Hill congregation. 
 He afterwards studied medicine, and settled down in Greensburg, Ky., 
 where my youngest brother Thomas, on his way from New Orleans the 
 last of July, 1 82 1, stopped with Dr. Alex. Irvine and found him married 
 to a widow. Peggy Irvine, you know, married Robert Davis, but he 
 proved rather a profligate by turns. 
 
 " After they came to Ohio she resided in our family with her three 
 children, a girl and two boys, all she ever had, I believe, from spring 
 till fall of 1 8 14. During this time he was working at his trade in 
 Marietta, O. 
 
 " Late in the fall he came up and moved his family to that place, and 
 afterwards he removed to Circleville, O., where he cut a wide swath for 
 a time, as he had done in Uniontown before that. But he again broke 
 up in Circleville, and moved over the Scioto River ten miles, and went 
 to farming, where I found him and family June 17, 1825. 
 
 " I staid with them two days and two nights and then bid them 
 farewell. 
 
 " Baptist Irvine went through many checkered scenes in life, and 
 ended his days in New Orleans. After the Irvine family arrived in this 
 country from near Enniskillen, Baptist Irvine learned the printing 
 business in Washington, Pa., with one John Colrick, and this was among 
 the very first printing establishments in the western country. 
 
352 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 After some time we find Baptist Irvine co-editor of the " Aurora," in 
 Philadelphia, with Duane. But time and paper would fail me to trace 
 his footsteps round ; suffice it to say that the last time I saw Baptist 
 Irvine he came and staid a week with us the summer of 1820. 
 
 " Please excuse the scribbling liberty I have taken ; I may not thus 
 intrude my sentiments of bygone days again. Farewell, 
 
 " Robert A. Sherrard." 
 
 HUGH IRVINE TO ROBERT A. SHERRARD. 
 
 " Louisville, March 4, 1863. 
 " Dear Friend : 
 
 " For I will call you ' friend,' as I always regarded all of your 
 name on account of the esteem I have always had for uncle David 
 Sherrard. I received your letter in due time and was glad to hear from 
 you, and pleased with the information you gave of the early life of some 
 of our friends. I never saw Alexander Irvine, but understand he died 
 in Greensburg, in this State, many years ago. William Cook died near 
 Lexington, Ky., several years ago. Uncle Alex. Irvine left no children. 
 William Cook left, I believe, a family of children, but I have never seen 
 any of them. Uncle Davis, I understand, died in Illinois some years 
 ago. Aunt Peggy having died many years before, I believe, he was 
 married to a second wife. 
 
 "Uncle Baptist Irvine, as you state, died in New Orleans in 1833. 
 My father, James Irvine, was born in 1769, and settled in Westmore- 
 land County, Pa. He lived there till October, 1853, when he and my 
 two single sisters came with me and my family here, and he died Novem- 
 ber 3, 1854. 
 
 " There were nine children of my father's family, five boys and four 
 girls, six of whom are living, and all here but my youngest sister, who is 
 married to John H. Anderson, and still lives in Westmoreland County, 
 Pa. I married in 1840 Miss Ann Carothers, a daughter of William 
 Carothers, formerly of Enniskillen, Ireland, and came to this country 
 about 1800, and settled near Congruity, Pa. My wife died June 11, 1854, 
 and left seven children ; two of them have since died. I have three sons 
 and two daughters who have managed the house affairs for the past 
 seven years. 
 
FAMILY LETTERS. 353 
 
 " Mary, my youngest daughter, has been going to school at P.'Ir. Hill's 
 Seminary at Anchorage, and is taught by your daughter Nancy. Mary 
 and your daughter came down last Friday evening, and returned Mon- 
 day morning. My oldest son is in the army; he is a Lieutenant in the 
 28th Kentucky Regiment of Union Volunteers now in Clarksville, Tenn. 
 The watch that you say uncle David has, I would like to have after 
 uncle David's death, not for the mere value of it, but as a remembrance 
 of the Irvine family. 
 
 " I will be pleased to have a letter from you at any time, and as often 
 
 as you can find it convenient to write. We are all well at present, and 
 
 your daughter was well on Monday morning when she left on the cars 
 
 for her school. " Yours with respect, 
 
 " Hugh Irvine. 
 " Mr. Robert A. Sherrard, Sr." 
 
 There are many old letters from uncle David to father, and a few from 
 uncle to other friends ; a few from uncles John and Thomas, but there is 
 only one letter from uncle William to be found. 
 
 I have selected one letter from each of the five brothers, taking those 
 which seemed to me would be of general and permanent interest. 
 
 II. LETTERS FROM THE FIVE SHERRARD BROTHERS. 
 
 WILLIAM SHERRARD TO DAVID A. C. SHERRARD. 
 
 "Rush Run Mills, Jefferson Co., O. 
 " December 4, 18 16. 
 
 " Dear Brother, 
 
 " I take this opportunity of informing you that we are all in a tol- 
 erable state of health at present, and hope that these ^<t^N lines may find 
 you all in good health also. But we are almost out of patience looking for 
 you and Betsy these three weeks past, but we have generally concluded 
 that John is sick and not able to come with you, or'that he is looking out 
 for a wife or some other nonsense. But you may tell him to hurry home, 
 for he is losing ground in this quarter. His old acquaintance Phebe 
 Filson was married back foremost to a Mr. Thomas Odbert of Smith- 
 field, a hatter to trade ; but don't misunderstand me in saying ' back 
 23 
 
354 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 foremost,' for when she stood up she fainted, and the second trial the 
 minister stood at their backs while saying the ceremony. 
 
 " But no more of this ; tell me something of grain and the price. 
 Wheat is ^1.30 at Steubenville, and $1.25 at our mill, and it is generally 
 thought it will be higher by spring. But we have engaged seven or 
 eight hundred bushels at the present price. Corn is frosted more in this 
 country than it was ever known to be since it was first inhabited. Corn 
 has been selling for fifty cents at the heap, and sixty, but it is now sev- 
 enty-five cents a bushel, and flour has been selling at ;^ 10.00 a barrel in 
 Pittsburgh about two weeks since, but it is now falling in price. 
 
 " But again, we have a new bank in operation in Smithfield, and 
 Thomas and Robert have subscribed two shares ; Thomas has drawn 
 ^200 to purchase wheat, and intends applying for ;^200 more to-morrow. 
 Nothing more worth relating, but desire to be remembered to uncle and 
 aunt, and Betsy, and remain, " Your affectionate brother, 
 
 " William Sherkard. 
 
 " To David .\. C. Sherrard." 
 
 DAVID A. C. SHERRARD TO JOHN SHERRARD. 
 
 " Dunbar Township, Fayette County, Pa., 
 October 28, 1833. 
 
 " Dear John, 
 
 " I have just returned from paying the last respects to the mortal 
 remains of our dear old mother. She departed this life on yesterday 
 morning at fifteen minutes past six (Sabbath). On Monday last she was 
 taken with a chill at breakfast, which was noticed by Betsy who threw a 
 cloak around her. She soon afterwards went to bed, and complained of 
 a stitch in her left side just below the left breast ; this was removed by 
 the application of salt heated." (Uncle David proceeds to give a minute 
 account of the last illness of grandmother Sherrard, and concludes as 
 follows. T. J. S.) "She seldom complained, but I could perceive by the 
 contracting of her countenance that she was often pained. As to other 
 particulars, I am ready to answer such questions as you may ask here- 
 after. I laid mother beside her father's bones, on the right side of his 
 grave, which opened little sister Mary Ann's grave. 
 
 " Nothing was to be seen but some black mole, and two small pieces 
 
FAMILY LETTERS. 355 
 
 of the coffin, cherry of which the coffin was made, and of which perhaps 
 the black mole was a part. 
 
 " Old uncle bore it with calm fortitude, but feelingly. He would often 
 go in and speak to her in a tender, affectionate manner, and wipe the 
 tear from his eye. 
 
 " When told of her death, he said ' The Lord's will be done.' Now he 
 laments the loss of his company, for he often held lengthy conversations 
 with her, and was very affectionate to her. He is in usual health. Betsy 
 is still complaining of the pain in her side on which she has had two 
 blisters, and must repeat them. I am in good health since relieved of my 
 complaint in the stomach, but have a world of care, trouble and expense 
 to wade through. Baptist Irvine was in New Orleans on the 26th of 
 June last editing the New Orleans ' Bulletin.' I have written a short 
 line to Robert, and refer him to your letter for particulars which you 
 may give by copy or send this. 
 
 My best respects to you and sister and sons. 
 
 David A. C. Sherrard." 
 
 " To John Sherrard." 
 
 JOHN SHERRARD TO ROBERT A. SHERRARD. 
 
 " PiNEY Fork. Mills, 4 miles west of Smithfield, O. 
 "January 12, 1852. 
 " Respected Friends, 
 
 "I just take up my pen this morning to inform you that we are 
 all in usual health. Son William arrived home from Union County, 
 Ohio on Saturday evening last, where he had been uniting himself to a 
 wife. He was married on Monday evening, the 5th of Januarj^ instant, 
 to Margaret Jane Neal, his cousin, Lucinda was out with him. They 
 left home on Tuesday before New Year's day, and they had a pretty 
 rough time of it. They made their appearance yesterday at Beech 
 Spring meeting house, and there were more looking at him and his new 
 wife than at the preacher, as there were but few knew he was from home, 
 and none knew his errand but his uncle Adam. William's mother had 
 told her brother Adam what was going on. The Thompsons and 
 Smiths did not know for several days after he had started that he was 
 gone ; then the inquiry was where they were gone to. I told them he 
 
356 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 was gone to see his cousin Margaret J. Neal married. I never was asked 
 who to, so I got along on that score very well. 
 
 " We are not going to have any infare, but I want all the friends and 
 cousins to come and see us as soon as they can. I would like that old 
 Robert A. Sherrard and his wife Jane, could be here on Tuesday next, as 
 we expect to invite old father Harrah and wife down to take dinner with us 
 on that day. The rest of the friends I intend to invite to come just when 
 they see proper. 
 
 " If Robert and Jane cannot come, Joseph and Jane, Jr., might come. 
 Remember to tell Joseph Hill and Mary Ann that we want to see them. 
 I want you to let young Robert know that we would be happy in seeing 
 him and his wife, and don't forget John. 
 
 "All come as soon as you can. Our house is so cold, and only one 
 
 fireplace, or I should hav^ all the friends at once. No more. 
 
 " Yours with respect, 
 
 " John Sherrard." 
 "To Robert A. Sherrard, Sr.'' 
 
 ROBERT A. SHERRARD TO THOMAS G. SHERRARD. 
 
 " Rush Run, September 25, 1823. 
 " Dear Brother and Sister, 
 
 " We received your favor of last August, and were glad to hear of 
 your good health, and you had need to be thankful for the rich blessing. 
 Mary and I enjoyed reasonably good health from the time we were 
 married until lately, when we were both afflicted, and her illness resulted 
 in her death, of which you have already heard. Mary and our little 
 daughter Elizabeth were both sick nearly at the same time. We still 
 entertained hopes of Mary's recovery, at least some days she appeared 
 so much better, and then on other days worse, yet notwithstanding she 
 was better by turns, she would frequently lament about her poor child- 
 ren, and query what would become of them. At one time I was sitting on 
 the bedside and asked her how she was. She said : ' I am willing to go, 
 but how will you and the children do? Will you marry again and keep 
 house, and keep the children together, or will you break up housekeep- 
 ing ? ' At this touching appeal my heart bled and the tears flowed, for 
 this was the most severe wound I had ever experienced in all my life, and 
 
FAMILY LETTERS. 357 
 
 although the smart by times is gone, yet the remembrance of what I 
 suffered at that time is fresh, and since often when by myself it causes 
 the silent tear to flow and roll down my sunken hollow whitened cheeks ; 
 but particularly when I have reflected and do reflect that one who was my 
 earthly joy and comfort I shall see no more, meet no more, hear no 
 more, converse with no more on this earthly ball. 
 
 " Depend upon it, my brother, it is a trial which no person can have a 
 proper or just conception of until they gain it by experience. But to 
 return to the que.stions she asked : I answered that I could have no in- 
 clination to marry again very soon. She then requested that if I should 
 break up housekeeping, I must leave Mary Ann and Joseph with my 
 mother, and David with his uncle David, and Elizabeth with her own 
 mother, and Robert the babe with her sister Sarah Andrews. 
 
 "A mortification struck on the glands of the heart after her fever, 
 which lasted twelve hours and ended the existence of one of the best of 
 wives ; one who was kind and affectionate to her husband and children, 
 courteous to friends and acquaintances, and hospitable to strangers. 
 
 " But she has gone and has left me and her children to mourn their 
 loss. She was too good for me, and her heavenly Father called her 
 home. I had been taken ill of the fever the morning of the 13th of July, 
 just at the time when Mary was at her worst, but by the time of her 
 death on the 31st of July I was able to be up a little for two days before. 
 In the course of two weeks I was able to walk alone, and during this 
 time my mind was much employed in devising plans for housekeeping, 
 for when I looked around upon my five motherless children, my heart 
 yearned over them, and I could not bear the thought of having them 
 scattered far, far away from each other. 
 
 " I came to the conclusion that I would send my brother-in-law Joseph 
 Kithcart up to his mother's that he might bring down his sister Betsy to 
 assist her sister Kezia in the house and to take care of the children, with 
 directions that if she would not come, to bring with him his sister Sarah 
 Andrews to take home with her the young child Robert. Accordingly 
 he took the carriage and went up to his mother's but Betsy would not 
 come with him. 
 
 " But Sarah Andrews came with him, and aunt Betsy Sherrard came 
 down in a separate carriage to see us. 
 
358 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 "'They only staid from Saturday evening till Wednesday morning, and 
 I fixed' up and went with them, although still very weak. I staid away 
 three weeks and four days, and got the consent of mother-in-law to move 
 down and oversee my household affairs, and act as matron and governess 
 for the children. I am to go and move her down by the first of Novem- 
 ber. This will be a considerable expense, but I hope it will prove a 
 blessing to me and my children. 
 
 " I shall add no more, but remain, Yours, 
 
 " Robert A. Sherrard. 
 
 ' To Thomas G. Sherrard." 
 
 THOMAS G. SHERRARD TO ROBERT A. SHERRARD. 
 
 "Sandusky, August 19, 1823. 
 " My Dearly Beloved Brother : 
 
 " Of all friends on this earth the nearest and the best beloved ! I 
 this day have received my brother John's letter of the 3d of August in- 
 stant, which wounds me to the heart, and likewise the heart of Rebecca. 
 When we think of the mass of sorrow our dear brother must be envel- 
 oped in, and when we think still and reflect on that loss to ourselves, the 
 loss of a near and dear sister whom we both so sincerely loved, the grief 
 is more than we can bear. Alas ! alas ! ! alas ! ! ! how can you stand the 
 severe trials of this life ? But in that God who has sent us into this 
 world is that asylum of comfort to be found, and no other worldly pur- 
 suits or enjoyments can give such blessings as the divine will can 
 bestow. 
 
 " Depend on him and weep not, for you have your sphere to fill in 
 this life. Poor Mary is no more ! poor Mary is no more ! is still re- 
 sounding in our ears, although not unaffected by either of us, as was 
 hinted in my address to her brother Cunningham ; we were both con- 
 scious, and are yet conscious that when we bade her farewell it appeared 
 to us that farewell was the last of one whom we never shall forget as a 
 dear, a near and a loving sister. 
 
 " Oh ! that sister I Oh ! that sister ! that unexceptionable sister! shall 
 we ever be able to check that flood that now gushes from our eyes, or 
 calm that flow of sorrow that ruffles our brows, and see the storm of 
 grief blow past ! August the 19th, this day three months ago we left 
 
FAMILY LETTERS. 359 
 
 you ! What you will do it is hard for me to tell. I don't want you to 
 harbor the idea of parting your children. Keep them together, as 
 natural affection being acquired they will love each other and be better 
 brought up together, and you will be more blessed with a contented 
 mind, even if you should raise them on bread and water — better than if 
 they should live with their friends on the richest luxuries of life. This 
 is my advice, and 1 can give no better. 
 
 " Your loving brother and sister, bearing you in mind till death, 
 
 "Thomas and Rebecca Sherrard. 
 
 " To Robert A. Sherrard." 
 
 Of those five children left motherless in 1823, four are yet living this 
 2 1st day of December, 1889. It is a matter of history already recorded 
 how father did follow the advice of his brother Thomas, and kept the 
 children together; first, by getting his mother-in-law, their grandmother 
 Kithcart, to keep house for him, and then after about four years by 
 marrying Jane Hindman. 
 
 And now sixty-six years after their own mother's death, two of these 
 five children — David and Robert — have written birthday letters to their 
 second mother, congratulating her on reaching her eighty-fifth birthday 
 on December 14th, 1889. Without the knowledge of these two brothers 
 I take the liberty of recording their letters just here. 
 
 Although they were written as private letters to mother only, yet I 
 feel that they are so full of interest to the whole family connection that 
 they ought to have a place among these Historical Letters. 
 
 III. BIRTHDAY LETTERS. 
 
 DAVID TO MOTHER. 
 
 " Fremont, O., December i, 1889. 
 " Dear Mother : 
 
 " I have just been thinking that four days more brings on your 
 eighty-fifth birthday, and Oh I how thankful we as children should feel 
 that God in his goodness has spared your life and permitted you to stay 
 and comfort us with your presence. While we are all growing old, 
 ,when I think of it, if I live one month from this day I will be seventy, 
 
360 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 and am now enjoying good health ; not an ache or pain about me, thanks 
 be to our Father in heaven, he has been good to us all. 
 
 " My mind runs back to the days of my youth, and to the pleasures 
 and the labors of the past, and when we were yet children and you had a 
 mother's care over us all. 
 
 " When I left home, being the first one of the children to leave the old 
 home, I left a dear father and a kind mother, and ten dear brothers and 
 sisters. Thomas was not born then, but well do I remember the day 
 sister Sarah was born, and how I had to hitch up the old yellow sleigh 
 and skip over the snow and bring in the old ladies, Mrs. Erwin, Mrs. 
 McConnell, Mrs. Williams, and I don't think who else, only I know it 
 was Sunday, and I had to skip down to town and into the Presbyterian 
 Church, and slip quietly to old Dr. Leslie's pew and whisper to him that 
 he was wanted. He got up and out, and we were soon on the way to 
 old Sugar Hill Farm, and in the evening I carried him back, as the 
 Irishman would say. 
 
 " Well, mother, I can't come to see you on this birthday, but hope I 
 may see you before long. If you will come here the loth of next month, 
 we will have a fat turkey roasted and give you a full share. Now I will 
 say we are all in our usual health. 
 
 " Ida is in town at Robert's since last Saturday. I will go for her to- 
 morrow as we e.xpect to kill our hogs Thursday. Our children and 
 theirs were all well last report. We had late letters from Alabama ; 
 Lizzie and Rose write that they like their homes, and are doing as well 
 as could be expected. They had a good crop of corn and potatoes, oats 
 and hay ; had no wheat ; cotton was poor, and they had frost early which 
 hurt that and the buckwheat. 
 
 " We e.xpect Laura and her two girls here to spend the holidays. 
 Lottie is busy in her school, but will keep the house in order for herself 
 and her father while they are gone. 
 
 " Now, mother, maybe you would like to know what your boy David 
 is doing. Well he is doing odd jobs like his father used to do. I feed 
 three cows and one calf, and am raising the finest heifer calf that I think 
 I ever owned. I also feed my hogs ; I have ten shoats and five others to 
 feed. I started out the last day of July to buy cows, and was forty-two 
 days with one man. I helped him to buy seventy-eight and to ship two 
 
FAMILY LETTERS. 361 
 
 car loads, forty head to Radnor, twelve miles this side of Philadelphia. 
 I quit him then for one of my New Jersey men who had come for a car 
 load. 
 
 " I got him twenty-one, and another of my men came before the first 
 one got away ; they live six miles apart, and I helped him ; he took 
 twenty-four head. So you think that is stirring round enough for a boy 
 nearly seventy years old. 
 
 " Well it is just good exercise for me here when the weather is good 
 and the roads good. I had a letter a few days ago from Robert, and 
 one from John. Thomas, I suppose, is too busy with the History of the 
 Sherrard Family to write, and I will excuse him. 
 
 " With love and best wishes for you, I am, as ever, 
 
 " Your son, 
 " D.wiD A. C Sherrard." 
 
 ROBERT TO MOTHER. 
 
 Steubenville, Ohio, December 13, 1889. 
 
 Mrs. Jane Sherrard, 
 
 " My Dear Mother, — I am reminded this day that eight years ago 
 to-day, I was united in marriage to Katie Johnson, and that reminded 
 me of the fact that to-morrow, the 14th of December, 1889, you will 
 pass your eighty-fifth mile-stone in this life. I cannot allow the occasion 
 to pass by without writing to you, not so much to apprise you of the 
 fact that this is your eighty-fifth birthday, but to recount some of the 
 blessings which in that time, by the goodness of an all-wise Providence, 
 has been granted to some of us by reason of your having been born, and 
 placed in a position whereby your precept, example, and prudent conduct 
 as a mother, have brought all the members of so large a family mentally 
 and spiritually to Christ. 
 
 " The Bible teaches us that the Eternal never selects as the instru- 
 ments of his will any of those whose hearts are not inclined towards Him. 
 I have often asked myself the question : Where or what would be my 
 position in life, if I had not had, when young, the influence of such a 
 mother ? 
 
 " And while I know that many times I was the means of testing your pa- 
 tience and your trial of faith, I have to acknowledge that by your patience, 
 
362 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 devotion and zeal, aided as you were by the influence from above, which 
 you daily sought and which was Hberally granted, you did overcome the 
 evil tendencies of my nature ; and I am to-day where I am and what I 
 am, for which I am thankful to you and grateful to our Heavenly Father, 
 because of the care you were ever willing to bestow upon m.e. 
 
 " I want to remind you of another fact, which I have often referred to 
 with my older brothers and sisters, as well as to friends, which is, that 
 in referring back to the time when you came into the family, finding a 
 family of five children to take the charge of, all young, to grow up and 
 mingle with seven others born after you took charge, to manage, regu- 
 late and control, required a special gift for which you were equal. And 
 I have now to say that at no time or place can I refer, when, in the ex- 
 ercise of the discipline which j'ou were required to exercise, was there 
 any partiality shown for one more than another. 
 
 " I have to thank you for your acts of kindness toward me person- 
 ally ; for the many years of patience you were called to endure, and 
 hope that in the great day when He who has given you so long a life 
 of usefulness, and those of us who have so long enjoyed your love and 
 favor, meet, as I trust we may do in that better and brighter home 
 above, we will recount the pleasant lives we have enjoyed on earth, and 
 the dangers we have been enabled to avoid by reason of the unselfish 
 acts of you in our behalf. 
 
 " I enclose you, as a slight token of my love and affection for you as 
 a kind, good mother, a small remembrance, and hope that you will be 
 spared in good health, with your reason and faculties in place, until the 
 time when it is the Master's will to summon you to come tip higher, 
 and this will be my constant prayer. 
 
 " I remain, as ever, 
 
 " Your affectionate son, Robert Sherrard, Jr." 
 
 IV. SHERRARD ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 While looking over some of father's old MS. volumes, the spring of 
 1889, I found an old letter in the original handwriting of one James 
 Usher, of New York City. It was written to father in 1872 in relation 
 to certain Sherrard relics and antiquities then in possession of the 
 
FAMILY LETTERS. 363 
 
 writer. I had never heard of this letter before, nor did any member of our 
 family remember anything about it, and we do not know whether father 
 ever replied to it or not. The letter mentions so many curious things 
 about the Sherrard name that I immediately wrote to the address in 
 New York, and received the following reply : 
 
 "New York, April i6, 1889. 
 " The letter to which you refer was evidently written by my deceased 
 father. His library and effects have since been disposed of 
 
 " Yours, &c., James Usher." 
 
 A month later I was in New York at the General Assembly, and I 
 called to see this James Usher at his office, and learned from him that 
 his father had been a real-estate dealer, but had always taken an interest 
 in collecting family genealogies and relics. These Sherrard antiquities 
 had been sold among his other effects, and the son could find no trace 
 whatever of them. 
 
 These Ushers had no connection at all with the Sherrards ; but the 
 father had collected these, with those of many other families, simply as 
 a matter of interest and pastime to him. The following is a copy of his 
 letter to father : 
 
 JAMES USHER TO ROBERT A. SHERRARD. 
 
 " 7 Murray St., New York City, 
 " Dec. 23, 1872. 
 " Robert A. Sherrard, Esq., 
 
 " Steubenville, Ohio. 
 " Dear Sir : I take the liberty to write to you about a collection of 
 antiquities relating to the Sherrard family, which may possibly interest 
 you somewhat. I was showing them, or rather part of them, to your 
 son in this city, and he was so kind as to give me your address, and in 
 writing to you respecting them, I believe it is with his approval. The 
 collection consists of four pieces, and I will endeavor to explain and 
 describe the same faithfully. 
 
 " I. A Coat of Arms very handsomely drawn and colored, showing 
 motto, coat, crest, supporters, and done at the expense of Bennet Sher- 
 rard, who was born in 1709; done about 1760; framed in black walnut 
 
364 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 and gilt; size of all, about i8 inches by 24 outside measurement. In 
 fine order, high as a work of art, and in all respects reliable. 
 
 " II. A pedigree in tabular form, on a roll a little over three feet long 
 by one broad, tracing the family back to the Robert, whose father came 
 over with William of Normandy. 
 
 "The last date given is 1750, with an additional line showing the 
 Irish and Scotch branches, done in 1760 or thereabout, showing the 
 water-mark of George II., and in fine order. 
 
 "III. An engraving mounted on a board about 12 inches by 18, 
 showing the tomb and effigies of Geoffry and jean Sherrard 1490, with 
 the various quarterings and arms of allied lines round the border; in 
 fine order and unframed. 
 
 " IV. A similar one to the above, with 15 effigies thereon purporting 
 to be the ancestors of the Sherrard family, and possibly done at or 
 about the same date as the three preceding. This collection which I 
 honestly believe to be unique, at least in this form, I will dispose of 
 for $25. 
 
 " In addition to the above there is a printed history of not many 
 leaves, with some other illustrations which will go with the above with- 
 out any extra charge. 
 
 " I remain, respectfully yours, "James Usher." 
 
 V. IRVINE ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The following is a copy of an old letter in possession of Mr. John Irvine 
 Anderson, of New York, which he has kindly sent for my perusal. It 
 is in the handwriting of his great-grandfather, John Irvine, and was 
 given him by his aunt Nancy Irvine, of Louisville, the only living child 
 of James Irvine, who was the eldest child of John Irvine. 
 
 See The Gamble Records. In reading this letter it will be readily 
 appreciated that the term " bold jade," which the father uses in speaking 
 to his youngest child, is meant to be one of endearment, when it is 
 known that Betty was at this time only thirteen years old, and was only 
 eight when she parted from her father in Ireland. She married her 
 second cousin, my uncle, David A. C. Sherrard, and is spoken of on pp. 
 118 and 377 of this volume. 
 
FA.)riLy LETTERS. 
 
 The form of writing in this old letter is preserved as nearly as possi- 
 ble. It is addressed to " Miss Peggy and Miss Betty Irvine." 
 
 JOHN IRVINE TO HIS DAUGHTERS, PEGGY AND BETSY. 
 
 " Clabbv P'July 1799. 
 
 " D" Girls : 
 
 " Whilst I am taking the opportunity of writing to the Rest, I 
 send you a few lines letting you know that I am in good health at 
 present thank God. I never got a word from any of you, since you 
 parted with me, only what Frank Johnston mentioned of you always in 
 his letters. I rec'' letters from Jenny, Alick, and Baptist, which gives 
 me great comfort to hear of your all being well, and Jenny mentions 
 Baptist and Betty growing very Big. lam glad to hear of Jenny's 
 being married to her satisfaction, and that the Boys is at some sort of 
 Business, but I hope that they will fall into something Else soon, that 
 will be more Beneficial, as for yourselves, I hope that you will take care 
 and pray to God to guide you, and I hope and trust that you will Do 
 well, and that you will put your full trust in providence. O Betty you 
 Bold Jade will you not write to me, it wou'd give great satisfaction if 
 you wou'd, for I am lonely, and has no Body to Comfort me, or to 
 make my moan to — for it seems that none of you Encourages me to go 
 to you, if providence grants me Days perhaps I may be with you yet. — 
 all friends is well only your Aunt [name illegible) Died Beginning of 
 Last Winter, for more particulars I refer you to Jimmy's and the Rests 
 letters. I expect that you will Study amongst you how to forward 
 letters and don't neglect it. 
 
 " Whilst I Remain Your Loving and 
 
 " Disconsolate Father till Death, 
 
 "John Irvine." 
 
 There is another old manuscript letter in possession of Mr. Anderson, 
 from Baptist Irvine to his brother-in-law, Robert Davis. This letter is 
 dated at Baltimore, September 21, 1 812, and it is valuable as suggesting 
 the time of the death of his father, John Irvine. The following is an 
 extract from that letter : 
 
366 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 "Tell Peggy I have just received a letter from Joseph Dunlap, of 
 Corrylongford, giving an account of my father's affairs and death. 
 There are some rents due from tenants in Clabby, and 40 pounds a year 
 is the rent. He had spoken to Lord Belmore, the landlord, relative to 
 the lease, and informed him that two lives of it were still in existence, 
 viz., Edward and John Irvine, now in the State of Ohio, New I-ancaster. 
 These things Mr. Dunlap mentioned for our guidance, as nothing could 
 be done without our consent and authority." 
 
 There is another ancient document of date January 8, 1799, making 
 mention of the children of John Irvine as the legatees of Doctor Wil- 
 liam Irvine, of Lynchburg, deceased ; and another ancient manuscript 
 giving an inventory of the wearing apparel of the said William Irvine, 
 which is certainly a curiosity, to note the ample supply of personal 
 apparel of a Virginia gentleman of a century ago. In this collection of 
 ancient documents is also found the Certificate of Naturalization of James 
 Irvine, the grandfather of Mr. Anderson. 
 
III. FAMILY RECORDS. 
 
 Explanatory Terms. — The small Arabic figures after any name show the number of the 
 generation ; the large Roman numerals are placed before any name whose Record is given in 
 detail. At the place where such a name first appears it is preceded by an Arabic number, to 
 indicate that the Record of that name will be given more fully under the corresponding Roman 
 numerals. 
 
 Abbreviations. — b., born; m., married; unm., unmarried; s. p., without issue; d., died ; 
 d. s. p., died without issue. 
 
 I. THE SHERRARD RECORDS. 
 
 WE have information of a Coat of Arms, and a Pedigree in tabular 
 form, in existence in 1872, tracing the Sherrard Family back 
 to the Robert whose father came over with William, Duke of 
 Normandy. Tradition in our own immediate Family traces our an- 
 cestry back to a Sherrard who was a French Huguenot, who came over 
 and settled in Scotland. The earliest authentic names we have are those 
 of two brothers, Hugh and \\'illiam Sherrard, whose father came over 
 from Scotland about 1710, and settled in Newton Limavady, County of 
 Londonderry, Ireland. Here Hugh and William were born, and when 
 Hugh arrived at manhood he married and settled across the Bann Water, 
 near Coleraine. He had a son, Hugh Sherrard, who emigrated to 
 America in 1770, and settled on Miller's Run, in Washington County, 
 Pa. They were very seriously annoyed by the Indians previous to 
 Wayne's Treaty, in 1794. It was at the house of this cousin Hugh that 
 grandfather, John Sherrard, stopped for a few days as he was on his 
 return from Crawford's Campaign. This Hugh Sherrard had several 
 sons, one of whom, William, lived over on Raccoon Creek, near Flo- 
 rence, and was killed by the Indians. 
 
 367 
 
368 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 1. William Sherrard/ b. 1720, in Newton Limavady, Ireland; m. 
 in 1750, Margaret Johnston ; lived near Newton Limavady, on a free- 
 hold farm, and besides farming, carried on the business of linen weaving 
 employing a number of hands, and d., wealthy, in 177 1. They had 
 issue : — 
 
 2. i. John Sherrard, b. 1750; ni. Mar)- Cathcart. 
 
 ii. Elizabeth Sherrard, b. 1752; m. Mr. McConkey ; emigrated to America; 
 
 nothing more known of them, 
 iii. Margaret Sherrard, \>. 1755 ; m., and emigrated to America ; nothing more 
 
 known, 
 iv, James Slierrard, b. 1757 ; m.; by his father's will, remained in possession 
 
 of the freehold lease in Ireland. In 1785 he visited America with his 
 
 mother, but they both returned to Ireland, and nothing more is known 
 
 of either of them ; tradition says that he came again to America after 
 
 the Irish Rebellion of 1798. 
 V. A/arv (?) Sherrard, b. 1760; Christian name unknown; m., and came to 
 
 America, but nothing more known. 
 
 II. John Sherrard- (William'), b. 1750; emigrated to America 1772; 
 naturalized December 29th, 1777; m., May 5th, 1784, Mary Cathcart 
 (b. Sept. 2Sth, 175 I ; d. Oct. 27th', 1833); d. April 22d, 1809; buried at 
 Smithfield, O. They had issue : — 
 
 i. William Johnston, b. May 7th, 1785; d. Nov. 7th, 1820; unm. 
 ii. David Alexander Catheart, b. Sept. 2d, 1786; m., first, March 14th, 1816, 
 Elizabeth Irvine (b. 1786; d. June 19th, 1855); secondly, Feb. 13th, 
 1858, Martha Watt); d. June 2, 1880; no issue. 
 
 3. iii. John James, b. Oct. 28th, 1787 ; m. Sarah Harrah. 
 
 4. iv. Robert Andrew, b. May 4, 1789; m., first, Mary Kithcart; secondly, Jane 
 
 Hindman. 
 V. Ann, b. Dec. 6th, 1790; d. in infancy. 
 
 5. vi. Thomas Giithridge, b. March i8th, 1793; m. Rebecca Conn. 
 
 III. John James Sherrard' (John,^ William'), b. Oct. 28th, 1787; 
 m., Sept. 8th, 1825, Sarah Harrah, who d. Sept. 27th, 1861 ; d. July 14th, 
 1 860. They had issue : — 
 
 i. William, m., Jan. 5th, 1852, Margaret Jane Neal ; removed to Iowa more 
 than thirty years ago, and nothing now known of them. They had 
 issue. 
 
 ii. James, d. April 15th, 1851 ; unm. 
 
FAMIL Y RECORDS. ■ 369 
 
 IV. RoBE,RT Andrew Sherrard'' (John,- William'), b. May 4th, 1789; 
 Jn^'d'sCf/ji. 25th, 1816, Mary Kithcart (b. Jan. 4th, 1798; d. July 31st, 
 
 1823). They had issue : — 
 
 6. i. Afary Anne, b. March 26th, 1817 ; m. Joseph W. Hill. 
 
 ii. Joseph Kithem-t, b. Aug. nth, 181 8; d. ,\pril 9th, 1884; unm. 
 
 7. iii. David Cathcart, b. Jan. loth, 1820; m., first, Catherine M. Welday ; 
 
 secondly, Narcissa T. Grant. 
 
 8. iv. Elizabeth, b. Sept. 23d, 1821 ; m. Joseph Kithcart. 
 
 9. V. 7J()(5£-r/, b. June gth, 1823; m., first, Sarah Anne Salmon ; secondly, Cath- 
 
 erine Johnson. 
 
 Robert Andrew Sherrard m., secondly', May 24th, 1827, Jane Hindman 
 (b. Dec. 14th, 1804). They had issue: — 
 
 vi. Nancy, b. April loth, 1828 ; Principal of Washington Female Seminary, 
 Washington, Pa ; unm. 
 
 10. vii. John Hindman, b. March 24th, 1830; m. Kezia N. Fulton, 
 viii. Jane, b. March 22d, 1832; unm. 
 
 11. ix. Susan Catlicart, b. July 31st, 1834; m. Culbertson Orr. 
 
 X. Sarah, b. Jan. 8th, 1837 ; d. March 4, 1889; unm. 
 xi. William Henry Harrison, b. Feb. 12, 1840; d. Aug. l8th, 1875; unm. 
 
 12. xii. Thomas Johnson, b. Feb. 25th, 1845; m. Mary R. Campbell. 
 
 V. Thomas Guthridge Sherrard^ (John,- William'), b. March i8th, 
 1793; m. Sept. 20th, 1820, Rebecca Conn (who, after her husband's 
 death, m., secondly, in 1834, Samuel Junk, of Fayette County, Pa., and 
 they had issue — surname Junk; she d. Oct. 13th, 1873); d. March 26th, 
 1823. They had issue : — 
 
 i. William Johnston, b. October, 1822; m. ; d. without issue, April 22d, 1872. 
 
 13. ii. Thomas Guthridge, b. Oct. 17th, 1S24; m. Mary .^^nn Henderson. 
 
 VI. Mary Anne Sherrard^ (Robert A.,' John,- William'), b at Rush 
 Run, O., March 26th, 1817; m., Oct. lOth, 1848, Joseph Welsh Hill (b. 
 June iith, iSii ; d. Feb. 22d, 1877). They had issue (surname Hill): — 
 
 i. Rosamond C. 
 ii. Elizabeth Jane. 
 
 iii. Martha Sharon ,- m., June 12th, 1879, Rev. David R. Kerr. They have 
 issue (surname Kerr) ; Willis Holmes, James Frederic, Mary Hill, 
 David R., and Julia C. 
 iv. Mary : m., Oct. 14, 18S0, Jesse Bennett. 
 24 
 
:570 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 V. Robert Slicrrard : ni., June 30th, 1885, Mary Mears, They have issue 
 (surname Hill); Henrietta Menager, Mary Sherrard, and Nannie Mears. 
 
 VII. David Cathcart Sherrard* (Robert A.,' John,- William'), b. 
 at Rush Run, O., Jan. lOth, 1820 ; m., first, July 4th, 1843, Catherine M. 
 W'elday. Farmer, Fremont, O. They had issue: — 
 
 i. Laura A., m. Benjamin Mooney. They have issue (surname Mooney) ; 
 
 Lottie S., Emma, Mary A., and Nettie. 
 ii. Ki'zia IV., m. Homer Overmyer. They have issue (surname Overmyer) : 
 
 Dora ; m. J. Biddle. 
 iii. Elizabt-th C , m. John S. Brust. They have issue (surname Brust) : Ida. 
 
 David Cathcart Sherrard m., secondly, Feb. 24th, 1848, Narcissa T. 
 Grant. They have issue; — 
 
 iv. Harriet B., m. Charles E. Tindall ; she d. Sept, i6th, 1873. They had 
 
 issue (surname Tindall) : Hattie. 
 V. Robert W., m. Clara A. Karshner. They have issue : Blanche M., and 
 
 Zella. 
 vi. John F., m. Jennie E. Bowlus. They have issue : Harry, Ida, Robert, 
 
 and Zelpha. 
 vii. Emma V., m. Josiah Smith. They have issue (surname Smith) ; Milan, 
 
 Robert, Jesse, Howard, Orie, Lulu and Granvil. 
 viii. Mary J., m. David W. Cookson. They have issue (surname Cookson) : 
 
 Clarence. 
 ix. Rose T., m. John R. Tindall. They have issue (surname Tindall) ; Mabel 
 and Louis. 
 X. Ida M. 
 
 VIII. Elizabeth Sherrard* (Robert A./ John," William*), b. at Rush 
 Run, O , Sept. 23d, 1821 ; m., May 7th, 1846, Joseph Kithcart (b. Oct. 
 13th, 1823). They have issue (surname Kithcart). See The Kithcart 
 Records. 
 
 IX. Robert Sherrard* (Robert A.,^ John,- WilHam'), born at Rush 
 Run, O., June 9th, 1823; m., first, July 2d, 1846, Sarah Anne Salmon, 
 who d. Nov. 7th, 1870. Banker in Steubenville, O. They had issue: — 
 
 i. Emma Virginia, b. April 2d, 1847 ; m , Dec. 3d. 1868, Henry Clay Elliot, 
 of New York. They have issue (surname Elliot): Robert Sherrard, 
 Lillie Beatty, and Harry Stanton. 
 ii. William, b. July 22d, 1850; d. in infancy, 
 iii. Henry Comingo, b. Aug. 25th, 1857. 
 
FAMILY RECORDS. 371 
 
 Robert Sherrard m., secondly, Dec. 13th, 1881, Catherine Johnson. 
 They have issue : — 
 
 iv. Thomas Johmon, b. Sept. 17th, 1882. 
 V. Robert Stanton, b. March 24th, 1S84; d Aug. 5th, 1889. 
 vi. Mary Catherine, b. Aug. 23d, 1887. 
 
 X. John Hindman Sherrard* (Robert A.,' John," William'), b. at 
 Pleasant Hill, O., March 24th, 1830; m.. Oct. 13th, 1857, Kezia N. 
 Fulton. Presbyterian minister, Rockville, Ind. They have issue: — 
 
 i. Jane Hindman, b. July 17th, 1858; m., June 24th, 1879, ^^^- ]■ C. Rhea 
 Ewing, D.D., now of Lahore, India. They went to India, as mission- 
 aries, in October, 1879. They have issue (surname Ewing): Eleanor 
 Elizabeth, Anna Kezia, John Sherrard, and Margaret Rhea, 
 ii. Anna Rachel, b. July 13th, i860; m., May i8th, 1881, Oliver L. Blachly, 
 M.D., of Sparta, Pa , They have issue (surname Blachly): Stephen 
 Lindley, and John Sherrard. 
 iii. Charles Beatty, b. Feb. 2d, J864; d. July 6th, 1866. 
 iv. Johrt Hughes, b. May 19th, 1866. 
 V. Robert Maurice, b. Oct. 1st, 1869. 
 vi. Mary Fulton, b. July i8th, 1871. 
 vii. Elizabeth Linn, b. Feb. 25th, 1874. 
 viii. Helen Ewing, b. July 27th, 1879. 
 
 XI. Susan Cathcart Sherrard* (Robert A.,' John,^ William'), b. at 
 Sugar Hill, near Steubenville, O., July 31st, 1834; m., Nov. 7th, 1866, 
 Culbertson Orr, of Clarion Co., Pa. They have issue (surname Orr) : — 
 
 i. Robert Sherrard, b. Oct. 14th, 1867. 
 ii. William Culbertson , b. March 12th, 1869. 
 iii. Henry Franklin, b. April 20th, 1871. 
 iv. George Thomas, b. Aug. 7th. 1S73; d. May 22d, 1874. 
 V. Jane Hindman, b. May 2d, 1875. 
 
 XII. Thomas Johnson Sherrard* (Robert A,'' John,- William'), b. 
 at Sugar Hill, near Steubenville, O., Feb. 25th, 1845 ; m., Dec. 21, 1871, 
 Mary R. Campbell. Presbyterian minister, Washington, Pa. They have 
 issue : — 
 
 i. Virginia, b. in Mifflintown. Pa., June 4th, 1873. 
 ii. Hallock Campbell, b. in Mifflintown, Pa., June 22d, 1875. 
 iii. Mary Campbell, b. in Mifflintown, Pa., Aug. 30th, 1879. 
 iv. Robert Andrtw, b. in Honey Brook, Pa., July 30th, 1885. 
 
372 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 XIII. Thomas Guthridge Sherrard* (Thomas G.,^ John," William'), 
 b. Oct. 17th, 1824; m., May 9th, 1850, Mary Ann Henderson; d. March 
 22d, 1874. They had issue: — 
 
 i Daviii Catlicart, b. March 12th, 1851 ; m , Dec. 3d, 1874; Mary Jane 
 Hankins, who d. April 12th, 1885 ; d. at Los Angeles, Cal., Nov. 25th, 
 1881. They had issue: Rachel, Thomas Gutherie, and Mary Ann. 
 ii. Alexander Conn, b. Dec. 28th, 1852; m., Aug. 26th, 1875, Ehzabeth 
 Cooper Pollock. They have issue : Margaret Jane, Thomas Gutherie 
 (d. in infancy), David Pollock (d. in infancy), Mary Ann, John Core, 
 William Johnson, James Espey, and Jacob Henderson. 
 
 iii. Rebecca Ann, b. Jan. 15th, 1855 : d. Dec. i ith, 1870. 
 
 iv. Nancy, b. Jan. 23d, 1857; m., Oct. loth, 1878, Peter Preston Humbert. 
 They have issue (surname Humbert): Thomas Sherrard, Martha Jane 
 Joseph Arthur, and Elsie May. 
 V. Williant Johnson, b. Jan. 7th, i860. 
 
 vi. Martha Jane, b. June 26th. 1862; m.. May 4th, 1882, Gutherie Wilson 
 Curry; d. Dec. 28th, 1883. 
 
 vii. Jacob Henderson, b. Jan. 17th, 1S65 ; d. July 17th, 1883. 
 
 IT. THE GAMBLE RECORDS. 
 
 The connection of the Sherrards with the Gambles is through Ann 
 Gamble, whose daughter, Mary Cathcart, was the mother of Robert 
 Andrew Sherrard, of Steubenville. 
 
 The Family Records of my father, Robert Andrew Sherrard, trace the 
 Gamble connections back only as far as David Gamble of Graan, near 
 Enniskillen, but they do not give the date of his birth. From the 
 " Records of the Gambles of Toronto," published in 1872, 1 have learned 
 the date of his birth, and the additional information that his father's 
 name was Solomon, who was the son of Josias; also, that tradition traces 
 the Gamble Family back to that of Lord Eglington, and affirms that the 
 Gambles are entitled to estates in Ayrshire. 
 
 I. Josias Gamble,' the first of the name of whom the family now 
 have any record ; he was married, and had issue, of whom mention is 
 made of his eldest son only. 
 
FAMILY RECORDS. 373 
 
 II. Solomon Gamble" (Josias') ; he was married and had issue; the 
 name of his eldest son only is mentioned. 
 
 III. David Gamble,' of Graan (Solomon,- Josias'), b. 1682, near En- 
 niskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland, on the old homestead, called 
 Graan; there he died, but at what period we have no information. He 
 was married, but we have no information concerning his wife, except that 
 from an old letter in my possession, it appears that she was still living 
 in 1772. David Gamble, of Graan, had issue: — 
 
 4. i. Baptist, of Graan, b. 1720. 
 
 5. ii. Ann, b. March 28th, 1721 ; m Captain Alexander Cathcart. 
 
 6. iii. David, of Ratonagh ; m. twice. 
 
 7. iv. Magdalen (?) ; m. Mr. Hughes. 
 
 8. V. William, of Duross ; m. Leah Tyrer. 
 
 9. vi. Andrew, of Chester County, Pa. 
 
 IV. Baptist Gamble,'' of Graan (David,'' Solomon," Josias'), b. 1720; 
 d. 1810, of paralysis; m. Miss Hopper, of Crew, Monaghan. They had 
 issue : — 
 
 i. Anti, m. James Frith of the Cross, 
 ii. Sarah, m. her cousin, William Gamble, second son of William of Duross 
 
 iii, Mary Rebecca, m. Scott, of Farmhill. 
 
 iv. Jane, m. Montgomery, of Ashbrook. 
 
 V. Elizabeth, unm. 
 
 vi. Samuel, of Graan, b. 1765 ; m. Mary Gamble, dau. of Moses, of Bal- 
 laghmore. This marriage is mentioned in our old Irish letters, but 
 there is in them no explanation of the ancestry of Moses. It is stated 
 in the "Family Records of the Gambles of Toronto" that this Moses 
 was the son of Josias, who was the son of David gf Graan, but when 
 David's children are given, no mention is made of a son Josias. and in 
 all our knowledge of the Gamble ancestry, we have no hint that our 
 great-grandmother, Ann Gamble, had any brother Josias. This Samuel, 
 son of Baptist, had two sons ; Baptist, of Graan, b. 1809, and Samuel, 
 b. 1815. 
 
 V. Ann Gamble,' of Graan, (David,' Solomon,^ Josias,') b., March 28, 
 1721; d., Nov. 20, 1813; m., March 17, 1743, Captain Alexander 
 Cathcart, (b., 1715 ; d., April 15, 1780;. They had issue: see the Cath- 
 cart Records, The Sherrard Records (Mary Cathcart,^ Robert A. Sher- 
 rard," Thomas J. Sherrard,'' Hallock C. Sherrard.**) 
 
374 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 VI. David Gamble/ of Ratonagh, (David/ Solomon,^ Josias,') m., 
 twice, and had issue : 
 
 10. i. George, b. 1772. 
 
 11. ii. Witliain.h. 1774; m. Jane Douglass. 
 
 iii. Baptist, h. 1776; unm. ; d. 1857 in Armagh. 
 
 iv. Josias Christopher, b. 1778 ; m. Hannah Gower, and had issue : David 
 and Jane. He is mentioned in the old Irish letters as being very suc- 
 cessful in the chemical business in Dublin. 
 V. Mary Anne, h. 1778; m. Captain Ball, of Rathmines ; lived near Dublin, 
 vi. J(unes ; came to Charleston, South Carolina, 1810. 
 
 VII. Magdalen (?) Gamble,^ (David,^ Solomon,- Josias,') m., Mr. 
 Hughes; d., of paralysis. All that we know of her and her family is 
 gathered from old letters. They had issue (surnamed Hughes) : 
 
 i. James ; came over from Ireland previous to 1797 ; lived in Philadelphia, 
 and was a school teacher there for many years ; often visited his uncle 
 Andrew Gamble out in Chester Co., Pa. ; was still living in Philadelphia 
 in 1828. 
 ii. Jane, m. first, Mr. Henderson ; secondly, John Thompson of Philadelphia, 
 iii. Margaret ; remamed in Ireland, 
 iv. Francis ; remained in Ireland. 
 V. Magdalen ; lived in Philadelphia. 
 
 VIII. William Gamble,* of Duross, (David,' Solomon,^ Josias,') m. 
 Leah Tyrer, dau. of Mary Bodle Tyrer, and niece of Elizabeth Bodle 
 Cox, (who had one son, John Cox, who d. unmarried). 
 
 We have an old Irish letter that tells how this William Gamble's 
 estate is doubled by means of a legacy from Mrs. Cox of Dublin. He 
 was still living in Ireland in 181 2. They had issue: 
 
 12. i. John, b. 1755 ; m. Isabella Elizabeth Clarke, 
 ii. David, m. Elizabeth Frith. 
 
 iii. Ann, m. Michael Humphries. 
 
 iv. / f ////<!«/, m. first, his cousin Sarah, dau. of Baptist Gamble of Graan ; 
 secondly. Miss Frith of Derryargan. 
 
 13. V. Nancy Rachel, m. John Irvine. 
 vi. Sarah, m. James Henderson. 
 
 vii. Magdalen, m. James Rutledg.e. 
 viii. Samuel. 
 i.\. Jane, m. Christopher .'Armstrong. 
 
FAMILY RECORDS. 375 
 
 X. Mary, m. Edward Brien. 
 xi. Leah. 
 xii. Tyrer. 
 
 IX. Andrew Gamble,* of Chester Co., Pa., (David,^ Solomon,^ Josias,') 
 b. at Graan in Ireland ; emigrated to America 1765 ; settled on a farm of 
 400 acres, called Thunder Hill, two miles from New London, Chester 
 Co., Pa. ; m., but name of wife unknown ; d. Feb. 9, 181 2 of paralysis. 
 They had issue : 
 
 i. Agnes Magdalen, m. Mr. Hill; d. without issue, 
 ii. David ; lived for a time in America, but went to Ireland, and d. there. 
 
 iii. John, called Major John ; very large and tall, and of commanding pres- 
 ence ; m. Mrs. Mackey ; one child, but it d. in infancy. Major John 
 Gamble succeeded to his father's farm, and d. 1830. 
 
 iv. Mary, m. Alexander Conn. They had issue (surname Conn) : Rebecca, 
 who m. her second cousin, Thomas G. Sherrard, (see The Sherrard 
 Records) ; Mary ; Margaret ; and Sarah. 
 
 V. Margaret, m. 1780, Thomas Graham, (who was b. 1747 in County Tyrone, 
 Ireland ; emigrated to America and served a term of five years as a 
 Revolutionary soldier, and d. 1825 near Holliday's Cove) ; d. 1806. 
 They had issue (surname Graham) : David, who was brought up by his 
 uncle Andrew Gamble in Chester County, and was killed in the war of 
 1812; George; Polly; Thomas; Sarah; and Rebecca. 
 
 vi. Phcebe, unm. d. 1849 at 90 years of age. 
 
 vii. Leah, m. John Whitcraft. They had issue (surname Whitcraft) : Andrew, 
 John, David, and Phoebe, who m. John Brogan. The Brogans live five 
 miles west of Medina, O., and have seven children. 
 
 X. George Gamble,' (David,* David,^ Solomon,- Josias,') b. 1782; 
 emigrated to America; m., and had issue : — 
 
 i. James, of Cincinnati ; m. and had issue ; Mary, James, Norris, George, 
 Olivia, William, David B., and Elliott. David B. is of the firm of 
 Proctor & Gamble, of Cincinnati, and is an Elder in the Presbyterian 
 Church of Avondale. He is m. and has issue : Edwin and Lillie. To 
 Mr. David B. Gamble, I am greatly indebted for the loan of his cop\ 
 of the " Family Records of the Gambles of Toronto. " 
 ii. Media, of Delaware, O. 
 iii. Eliza Riser. 
 
 XI. William Gamble,' (David,* David,' Solomon,- Josias'), b. 1774; 
 d. 1849; came to America, Sept., 1797; lived for a time with his uncle 
 
376 THE SHERRARD EAMILY. 
 
 Andrew Gamble, in Chester County ; afterwards had a position in Phila- 
 delphia ; returned to Ireland, May, 1802 ; engaged largely in the queens- 
 ware business in Belfast; m. 1 810, Jane Douglass. We have copies of 
 three letters, written by him while in this country, to his cousin, David 
 Cathcart, of Fayette County, and many of the items of information we 
 have concerning our Irish relatives, come through letters mentioned as 
 written by him to his cousin and intimate friend, James Hughes, of 
 Philadelphia. A letter written by James Hughes to David Cathcart in 
 1810, mentions that " William Gamble, uncle David's son, is married to 
 Miss Jane Douglass, daughter of a merchant in Belfast." They had 
 issue: — Marianne, William, Media and Margaret (who m. Samuel Wann, 
 of New York), — all these were dead in 1872. Besides these he had 
 three sons living in 1872 : James Hughes, David, and Thomas John of 
 Cincinnati. 
 
 XII. John Gamble,^ of Canada, (William,'' David,* Solomon,- Josias,') 
 b. 1755 ; came to America 1779 ; Surgeon of Queen's Rangers ; went to 
 New Brunswick 1783; m. May i8th, 1784, Isabella Elizabeth Clarke; 
 removed in 1802 to Kingston. Canada, where he d. Sept. 1st, 181 1. His 
 wife removed to Toronto in 1820, and continued to reside there with her 
 children until her death, March 9th, 1859. They had thirteen children, 
 nine daughters and four sons, three of whom grew up to manhood, viz : 
 
 i. John William of Vaughn. He was m., and had issue: Ehzabeth, Anne 
 Birchall, Mary Shivers, Magdalen, John Wilham, Harriet, Matilda, and 
 Isabella Caroline. His dau. Elizabeth, b. May 24th, 1824; m. William 
 Greey, and had issue (surname Greey): Mary McCaulay, Frances 
 Mary, John Gamble, Anne Isabella Elizabeth. 
 
 ii. William of Etobicoke ; m. Elizabeth Brenchley, niece of General Sir 
 William Rowan, and had issue : one daughter, Patty Rowan, who m. 
 John Boulton, Esq , of Toronto, and had eight children. 
 
 iii. Clarke of Toronto ; m. first, Mary Boulton ; second, Harriet Boulton, 
 first cousin of his first wife, and had issue : Sarah, John, John Henry, 
 Elizabeth, Sophia, Francis Clarke, Alleyne Woodbridge, Reynald Darcy, 
 Harry Dudley, Emily, and Gordon. 
 
 XIII. Nancv Rachel Gamble,'^ (William,* David,* Solomon," Josias'), 
 m. John Irvine ; lived near PLnniskillen at Clabby ; they had six children, 
 who all came to America as early as the fall of 1794, since the certificate 
 
FAMIL y RECORDS. 377 
 
 of naturalization of the eldest son, James, states that he was in America 
 previous to January, 1795. They left their father behind in Ireland, and 
 from an old letter in possession of his great-grandson, J. Irvine Ander- 
 son, of New York, written in 1799 by John Irvine from Ireland to his 
 daughters Peggy and Betsy, he speaks of his disconsolate situation. 
 This leads us to believe that his wife had died some time before. It 
 would seem probable that the older children had decided to come 
 to America, and as the younger children were now left without a 
 mother's care, the youngest, Betsy, being only eight years old in 1794, 
 they all came together, with the expectation that the father would 
 come later, after a home had been secured in America. But from an old 
 letter, it appears that John Irvine died in Ireland in 181 2. They had 
 issue (surname Irvine ) : — 
 
 14. i. Janus, b. Feb. ist, 1770; m. Elizabeth McCall. 
 
 15. ii. Jane, m. 1778, John Morrison. 
 
 iii. Pfggy, m. 1S09, Robert Davis; d. in IlHnois. They had issue (surname 
 Davis): Sarah Ann, James and Irvine, 
 
 iv. Alexander, a physician ; m. and lived in Greensburg. Ky., where he d. 
 
 without issue 1839. 
 V. i?a/&/, journalist ; a man of remarkable talent and distinguished ability ; 
 learned the printing business in 1802 in Washington, Pa. ; a political 
 writer of great distinction in his day ; established and conducted the 
 Baltimore Whig, also editor of New Orleans Bulletin. My father says 
 of him, that "he could not content himself long at any one place or 
 business ; he was well educated and well gifted, but one of those rest- 
 less spirits not content in any situation in life." He d. in 1833 in New 
 Orleans. 
 
 vi. Betsy, b. 1786; m. March 14th, 1816, her second cousin, David A. C. 
 Sherrard (see the Sherrard Records). 
 
 She was an unusually gifted woman ; well educated and remarkably 
 well versed on all questions of the day; all who knew her testify that 
 she was one of the finest conversationaUsts they ever knew. In her 
 later years she was afflicted with spinal disease, and d. without issue, 
 June 19th, 1855. 
 
 XIV. James Irvine*^ (Nancy Rachel Gamble,^ William,* David,^ Solo- 
 mon," Josias,') b. Feb. 1st, 1770, in Enniskillen, Ireland ; emigrated to 
 America 1794 (as we judge from his certificate of naturalization now in 
 possession of his grandson, John Irvine Anderson of New York,) and set- 
 tled in Westmoreland Co., Pa.; naturalized Sept. 23, 1779; this states 
 
378 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 that he was " a resident " in the United States Jan. 29, 1795 ; removed in 
 1853 to Louisville, Ky., where he d. Nov. 3d, 1854. He m. Oct. 1801, 
 Elizabeth McCall, who was b. in Chambersburg, Pa., April i8th, 1773. 
 They had issue (surname Irvine) : all now deceased except Nancy. 
 
 i. Mary. 
 ii. John. 
 iii. Nancy, unmarried ; living in Louisxille. 
 
 16. iv. Hugh, b. Feb. 7, 1807 ; m. March 24th, 1840. Ann Carothers. 
 
 V. Will ia III. 
 vi. Elizabeth. 
 vii. James W.; m. Sept. ist, 1846, Catherine Graves. 
 
 17. viii. Jane Torrence : m. April 17th, 1843, John H. Anderson. 
 
 ix. Baptist. 
 
 XV. Jane Irvine,'' (Nancy Rachel Gamble,'^ William,^ David,^ Solo- 
 mon,^ Josias,^) b. in Ireland; emigrated to America 1794, and settled in 
 Westmoreland Co., Pa. ; m. 1798 John Morrison, who lived near what is 
 now Beatty's Station. In a letter dated July ist, 1799, her father, John Ir- 
 vine, says he is " glad to hear that Jane is married to her satisfaction." 
 This letter will be found among the Family Letters in Part II of this 
 volume. They had issue (surname Morrison) : 
 
 18. i. Nancy, b. March gth, 1799; m. John Barnett. 
 
 XVI. Hugh Irvine," of Louisville, (James Irvine," Nancy Rachel Gam- 
 ble,^ William,* David,^ Solomon," Josias'), b. Feb. 7th, 1807; m. March 
 24th, 1840, Ann Carothers. They had issue (surname Irvine) : 
 
 i. Elisabeth ; deceased. 
 ii. William C. 
 
 iii. Mary A/iii ; m. Samuel M. Merwin. They have issue (surname Mer- 
 win) : Ann Tingley ; Calena Robb ; Hugh Irvine ; Susie Buckingham ; 
 and Samuel Anson. 
 
 Mrs. Merwin has taken much interest in the preparation of The Gam- 
 ble Records, and through her I lirst heard of the existence of the old 
 letter of her great-grandfather, John Irvine, in possession of Mr. John 
 Irvine Anderson of New York. 
 iv. Nancy Jane ; deceased. 
 
 V. James ; m. Alice Olmstead. They have issue : Elizabeth, 
 vi. John Baptist : m. Rose Seabolt. They have issue : Samuel Merwin. 
 vii. Albert W. ; deceased, 
 viii. Ann Carothers ; deceased. 
 
FAMILY RECORDS. 379 
 
 XVII. Jane Torrence Irvine," (James Irvine," Nancy Rachel Gamble,'^ 
 William/ David/ Solomon," Josias,') ; m. April 17, 1843, John H.Ander- 
 son, of Westmoreland Co., Pa, ; both deceased. They had issue (sur- 
 name Anderson) : 
 
 i. Mary : m, David Alter, M.D., of Parnassus, Pa. They ha\e issue (sur- 
 name Alter) : Alonzo, William and Joseph, 
 ii. Matilda ; m. John Wanner, of Forest, O. ; no issue, 
 iii. Maria Elizabeth : unmarried; hves in Louisville, 
 iv. James ; deceased. 
 
 V. Obadia McKown ; m. May Shelby ; li\-e in Forest, O. ; no issue, 
 vi. David McCaslin ; unmarried; lawyer in Arkansas City, Kan. 
 vii. John Iminc ,■ unmarried ; in stationery business, New York City, 
 viii. William: deceased. 
 
 XVIII. Nancy Morrison," (Jane Irvine," Nancy Rachel Gamble,'' Wil- 
 liam,^ David,^ Solomon,^ Josias') ; b. March 9, 1799 ; m. Feb. 7, 1822, John 
 Barnett. This is the " pretty cousin," mentioned by my father on p. 
 120 of this volume in the Family History. They had issue (surname 
 Barnett) : 
 
 i. Jane Elizabeth. 
 
 ii. Rachel, b. June 27, 1824 ; ni. June 12, 1849, Rev. Wilson M. Donaldson ; 
 d. April 6, 1854. They had issue (surname Donaldson): 
 (i). Sarah Jane, d. in infancy. 
 
 (2). Ret'. John B., D.D., of Minneapolis; m. Mary, daughter of Rev. 
 R. F. Sample, D.D., of New York. They have issue (surname 
 Donaldson) : Robert Sample and Henry Wilson. 
 (3). Alexander Morrison, oi l^erxver ; m. Mary Hatfield. They have 
 issue (surname Donaldson) : McPherrin Hatfield, 
 iii. /()/;/; Morrison, b. May 20, 1826 ; m. Martha R. Elder, who d. Oct. 14, 
 1889. Presbyterian minister, Washington, Pa. They have issue (sur- 
 name Barnett) : 
 
 (l). James Elder ; lawyer in Washington, Pa. 
 
 (2). Mary Agnes ; m. Dec. 5, 1889, Charles N. Boyd, of Butler, Pa. 
 (3). Margaret Bright. 
 iv. Martha Jane, b. March 26, 1828; m. Oct. 14, 1845, Thomas Pollock, of 
 Ligonier Valley. They had issue (surname Pollock) : 
 (i). Agnes Morrison; m. Rev. S. -S. Gilson, of the "Presbyterian 
 Banner," Pittsburgh. They have issue (surname Gilson) ; 
 Martha Helen, Mary Barnett and Agnes Louise. 
 
 Mrs. Gilson, who has taken much interest in the preparation of The 
 
380 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 ("pamble Records, has in her possession an old hair breastpin, set in 
 Guinea gold, with the initials " E. I." engraved on the back. It was 
 presented to her by our aunt Betsy Irvine Sherrard before her death, 
 with the statement, that it contained the hair of her brother, Baptist 
 Irvine. It was evidently a present frum him to his sister in her girl- 
 hood. 
 (2). Elisabeth Herron ; m. Robert J. Smith, of Wooster, O. They 
 
 have issue (surname Smith) : Watson, and Robert Pollock. 
 (3). Mary Emma : m. Albert Shupe, of Lancaster, O. They have 
 
 issue (surname Shupe) : Edward Pollock, and Thomas P. 
 (4). Annie Rachel, of Wooster, O. 
 (5). Martha Jane ; m. H. F. Stark, of Greensburg, Pa. They have 
 
 issue (surname Stark) : Mary, and Frank Pollock. 
 (6). Jesse Irvine, of Wooster, O. 
 (7). John Barnett ; d. in infancy. 
 (8). Kate Mabel, of Wooster, O. 
 (9). Thomas Cathcart, of Wooster, O. ; named for uncle David A. C. 
 
 Sherrard. 
 V. Elizabeth Irvine, b. June 25, 1S30; d. May 27, 1839. 
 
 vi. Nancy, b. July 16, 1833 ; m. Dec. 22, 1858, Rev. James S. Elder, D.D., 
 of Clarion, Pa. They have issue (surname Elder) : 
 (l), John Wilson Barnett : Prof, in State Normal School, Indiana, Pa. 
 (2). James Montgomery ; Journalist; Washington, Pa. 
 (3). David Judson ; d. in infancy, Dec. 21, 1871. 
 vii. Mary, b. Jan. 27, 1837 ; m. Prof Thomas B. Elder, of Elder's Ridge, Pa. 
 They have issue (surname Elder) : Nettie, Wilson Barnett, Margaret 
 M., Lillie, Gertrude, Grace, James, and John, 
 viii. James Wilson, of Hillside, Pa. ; b. May 27, 1839 ; m. Sophronia Gore. 
 They have issue (surname Barnett) : John Irvine, Ella Amanda, 
 Nancy Elder, Mary Olive, and Ralph. 
 
 III. THE CATHCART RECORDS. 
 
 The connection of the Sherrards with the Cathcarts is through Mary 
 Cathcart, who was the mother of Robert A. Sherrard. 
 
 I. Alexander Cathcart,' called Captain Cathcart, was born near 
 Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland, in 171 5 ; m. March 17th, 1743, 
 Ann Gamble (see the Gamble Records). They lived on a farm three 
 
FAMILY RECORDS. 381 
 
 miles from Enniskillen, at a place called Maughrygannon, and the farm 
 was a life-lease, each generation of Cathcarts having renewed it for a 
 long period back. 
 
 He came to America for his health October 25th, 1773, bringing with 
 him his daughter Mary for company on the trip. They visited his son 
 David, who had emigrated to America the year before, and was settled 
 in the southwestern part of Chester County, Pa. His intention at first 
 was to return to Ireland; but it is evident from an old letter from his 
 wife, which may be seen among the Family Letters, that he had changed 
 his purpose, and had sent for his wife to come to America, and she had 
 all her arrangements made to come over the spring of 1775. However, 
 the Revolutionary War broke out, and she was prevented from coming, 
 nor could he return to Ireland with his daughter with safety. The 
 result was that he and his wife never again met, for he came with his 
 son David out to Fayette County, Pa., the spring of 1780, and died 
 there April 15th, 1780, and was buried in the old Laurel Hill graveyard. 
 His wife, Ann Gamble, remained in Ireland, and her life was prolonged 
 until Nov. 20th, 1813. They had issue: 
 
 2. i. David, b. March 17, 1744; m. Susannah Guthridge. 
 ii. Magdalen, m. Thomas Elliott, of Ballygonnell. 
 
 They had issue (surname Elliott) : Alexander, Thomas, Nancy, Sarah, 
 David, Mary, Gabriel, Andrew and George, 
 iii. Jane, m. George McDonald, of Cleens. They had issue (surname Mc- 
 Donald) : Samuel, David, George, Alexander, Ann and James. 
 iv. Sarah, m. Stephen Johnson, of near Enniskillen. 
 
 They had issue (surname Johnson) : David, Mary, Ally and Mag- 
 dalen. 
 
 3. V. Mary, b. Sept. 28, 1751; m. John Sherrard. 
 vi. Robert, d. in Ireland when a young man. 
 
 4. vii. Andrew, b. 1755. 
 
 II. David Cathc.-vrt- (Alexander'), b. March i;th, 1744; m. Sept. 3, 
 1770, Susannah Guthridge; emigrated to America 1772; settled first in 
 Chester County, Pa., in Nottingham Township ; removed to Fayette 
 County 1780; d. June 17th, 1836. His wife was b. Dec. 5th, 1748, and d. 
 April 2 1 St, 1826 They had no children, but adopted their nephew, David 
 Alexander Cathcart Sherrard, who always lived with them from the 
 time he was fourteen months old, and he inherited his uncle's property. 
 
382 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 III. Mary Cathcart^ (Alexander'), b. Sept. 28th, 1751; tn. May 
 5th. 1784, John Sherrard; d. Oct. 27th, 1833, and buried at Laurel Hill. 
 They had issue (surname Sherrard) : see the Sherrard Records (Robert 
 A. Sherrard,'* Thomas J. Sherrard,' Hallock C. Sherrard''). 
 
 IV. Andrew Cathcart^ (Alexander'), b. 1755, near Enniskillen, Ire- 
 land; emigrated to America in 1786; settled first in Albany, afterwards 
 in Butternuts Township, Otsego County, N. Y., where he d. in 1840. 
 He was a surveyor and farmer, and was married three times : first, in 
 1794, Miss Brown, who d. May 30th, 1803. They had issue: 
 
 i. John Alexander, b. Aug., 1798. This John Alexander Cathcart m. his 
 eldest step-sister in 1821, and about that time he established himself in 
 the mercantile business in Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 Andrew Cathcart m. secondly. May i8th, 1807, Ann Moore, who d. 
 without issue Nov. 30th, 1812. He m. thirdly, in 18 [4, Sally Betsy 
 
 , a widow with four boys and three girls. By this third marriage 
 
 Andrew Cathcart had issue : 
 
 ii. Elizciht-th Ann, b. 181 5. 
 
 In March, 1890, I directed a letter to Mr. Cathcart, Rochester, N. Y., 
 thinking it might fall into the hands of some of the descendants of An- 
 drew Cathcart ; but it was returned, with the statement that the name 
 was not in the Directory. 
 
 I also made inquiries in Otsego Co., N. Y., but could get no informa- 
 tion of any of the name of Cathcart, so that it is probable there are none 
 of the descendants of Andrew Cathcart left to bear his name. There are 
 copies of many letters from him preserved in my father's old letter books, 
 and he was a prominent figure in the early history of the family. It 
 seems from the letters that his son, John Alexander, was never in the 
 enjoyment of vigorous health, and it is possible that he never had any 
 children. 
 
 Andrew Cathcart was a highly intelligent and well educated man, and 
 his strong, earnest. Christian character is very manifest through his let- 
 ters. Being the youngest child, he was with his mother, Ann Gamble 
 Cathcart, for many years in her loneliness, after her husband had come 
 to America, and they were separated by the breaking out of the Revolu- 
 tionary War. 
 
FAMILY RECORDS. 383 
 
 IV. THE KITHCART RECORDS. 
 
 The connection of the Sherrards with the Kithcarts is through Mary 
 Kithcart, who was the first wife of Robert Andrew Sherrard of Steuben- 
 ville. 
 
 I. John Kithcart,' or Cathcart, was b. 1737, in County Antrim, 
 Ireland; m. Sarah White (who was b. 1740, and d. .March 4, 1798, in 
 Fayette Co., Pa.) They emigrated to America in early times, but it is 
 not known at what time they removed west of the mountains, nor where 
 their three children were born. He d. Oct. 26th, 1812, in Fayette Co., 
 Pa. They had issue : 
 
 i. Mary, b. 1766; d. unmarried March 4, 1788. 
 
 ii. Thomas, b. Oct. 20th, 1768 ; d. Oct. 5, 1792 ; killed at a barn raising, and 
 was to be married the next week. 
 2. iii. Joseph, b. Nov. 25th, 1770; m. Elizabeth Cunningham. 
 
 II. J0.SEPH Kithcart,^ (John,') b. Nov. 2Sth, 1770; m. March 22d, 
 1792, Eh'zabeth, dau. of Barnett and Anna (Wilson) Cunningham. Bar- 
 nett Cunningham was b. in Easton, Pa., 1737; m. 1762, Anna Wilson; 
 lived at Peach Bottom, York Co., Pa., removed in 1770 to Tyrone Town- 
 ship, Fayette Co., Pa., where he d. 1804. 
 
 His wife, Anna (Wilson) Cunningham, was b. Sept. i8th, 1739; d. 
 Aug. 4, 1825, aged eighty-six, and at that time had of children, grand- 
 children and great-grandchildren, two hundred and fifty. Joseph Kith- 
 cart d. Feb. 24th, 1814. Elizabeth (Cunningham) Kithcart ni. secondly 
 Feb. 2d, 1818, John Gallowa}-, (who d. Sept. 18 19). She d. Aug. 20th, 
 1854; no issue by her second marriage. Joseph and Elizabeth (Cun- 
 ningham) Kithcart had issue: 
 
 i. Sarah,\>. Dec. 28th, 1792; d. Aug, 10, 1866; m. Sept. 15, 1 81 2, William 
 Andrews, who d. Oct. 4, 1840. They had issue (surname Andrews) : 
 Mary, Joseph, Thomas, Frank, Elizabeth, John, Anna and Sarah, 
 ii. Atina, b. Oct. 6th, 1794; d. June 26th, i860; m. May 5, 1814, Thomas 
 .'\ndrews, a younger brother of William. 
 
 Thomas Andrews d. Sept. l8th, 1838. They had issue (surname 
 Andrews) : Joseph, who was a minister in the U. P. Church, and d. 
 June 19th, 1869, in Wellsville, O. ; William (d. in infancy) ; Elizabeth, 
 Agnes, Sarah, John, Thomas (d. in infancy), Nancy, William (2d), and 
 Thomas (2d), who was a minister in the U. P. Church, and d. Sept. 
 1865. 
 
384 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 iii. Thomas, b. Sept. 7, 1796; d. Sept. 16, i860; m. 1818, Deborah Wright; 
 lived in .Ashland Co., O. They had issue: Joseph, Nathan, Ehzabeth. 
 John, Thomas, Sarah, Cunningham, Deborah, Anna, and Isaiah. 
 
 3. iv. Mary. b. Jan. 4th, 1798; m. Robert Andr.:w Sherrard. 
 
 4. V. John, b, Dec. 5th, 1799 ; m. Mary Crossland. 
 
 5. vi. Cunningham, b Sept. l8th, 1801 ; m Jane Dunlap. 
 
 6. vii. Joseph, b. Dec. 14th, 1803 ; m, Martha Bennett. 
 
 viii. .Si'/jy, b. March 6th, 1806; m. Oct. 1823, John Sloanalcer. 
 
 They had issue (surname Sloanaker) : John, Joseph, Abraham, 
 Daniel, Barnett, William, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Kezia. 
 ix. Martha, b. June 24th, 1809 ; m. June 21st, 1827, Smiley Sharon. They 
 had issue (surname Sharon) : William, Joseph, Sarah Jane, John, Eliza- 
 beth, Cunningham, Alexander, and Martha Ellen. 
 X. Kczia, b. April 26, 1812 ; d. June 12, 1878 ; m. Dec. 30, 1834, Elias Yost- 
 They had issue (surname Yost) : George A., Mary J., Rachel K., Eliza- 
 beth C, Martha E., Sarah F., Michael, Margaret E., Hannah A., Caro- 
 line M., and Catherine K., who is m. to Mr. Sprague of Steubenville, O. 
 
 III. Mary KiTHC.^RT,'' (Joseph,- John,') b. Jan. 4, 1798; d. July 31, 
 1823 ; m. Jan. 25, 1816, Robert Andrew Sherrard. They had issue (sur- 
 name Sherrard) ; see The Sherrard Records (Robert,'' Emma Virginia 
 (Elliott),-' Robert Sherrard Elliott.''') 
 
 IV. John Kithcart,^ (Joseph,^ John,') b. Dec. 5, 1799 ; m. 1821, Mary 
 Crossland; lived in Uniontown, Pa. ; both d. there in 1849. They had 
 issue : 
 
 i. Catherine, m. Mr. Dutton. They had issue (surname Dutton) : Elizabeth 
 Jane. 
 7 ii. Joseph, b. Oct. 13, 1823; m. Elizabeth Sherrard. 
 
 V. Cunningham Kithcart,' (Joseph,^ John,') b. Sept. 18, 1801 ; d. 
 Jime 3, 1876; m. 1831, Jane Dunlap, who d. Sept. il, 1884. They had 
 issue : 
 
 i. Adam ; d. in infancy, 
 ii. Elizabeth Ann ; m. first, Andrew Mitchell ; secondly, Daniel Parkinson^ 
 
 They have issue (surname Parkinson) : Mary Jane, 
 iii. Joseph Addison ; m. Martha Yost, 
 iv. Catherine D. ; d. 1865. 
 V. Sarah ; m. John Barkhurst 
 vi. Martha Ellen ; m John Elliott Henderson, 
 vii. William Smiley ; m. Martha Reynard. 
 
FAMILY RECORDS. 385 
 
 viii. James Tliomas ; m. Mary Cole. ', 
 
 ix. Mary Elthisa ; m. David Elliott. 
 
 VI. Joseph Kithcart,^ (Joseph,^ John/) b. Dec. 14, 1803 ; d. May 8, 
 1851 ; m. 1830, Martha Bennett, who d. July 2, 1869. They had issue: 
 
 i. Joseph ; d. at four years of age. 
 
 ii. Rebecca B. ; m. Robert M. Dickey, who d. March 7, 1890. They have 
 
 issue (surname Dickey) : Mary Ada, who graduates at Washington 
 
 Female Seminary in June, 1890 ; and Martha, 
 iii. Cimninghain ; d. in infancy. 
 iv. Samuel W. ; d. in infancy. 
 V. Mary Elizabeth ; m. J. Plummer Bracken. They have issue (surname 
 
 Bracken) : Joseph Willard, physician in Salt Lake City ; Walter, and 
 
 Edith, 
 vi. Sarah Louisa ; m. first, William Stier ; secondly, John A. Page, 
 vii. Martha Helen ; d. in infancy. 
 
 VII. Joseph Kithcart,* (John,' Joseph,- John,') b. Oct. 13, 1823 ; m. 
 May 7, 1846, Elizabeth Sherrard, his cousin, dau. of Robert Andrew 
 Sherrard. They had issue : 
 
 \. John Albert, \>.^Q\. 9, 1847; graduated at Washington and Jefferson 
 
 College 1871 ; lawyer in Steubenville, O. ; m. Dec. 26, 1871, Sarah 
 
 Jane Bigger. They have issue : Nancy Sherrard, who d. in infancy ; 
 
 Joseph Bigger, Mary Helen, Elizabeth Jane, and Wilma Alberta. 
 
 ii. Robert Sherrard, b. May 24, 1850; m. Jennie Nevvby. They have 
 
 issue : Margaret, Paul, and Percy, 
 iii. Henry Comingo, b. Sept. 13, 1852 ; m. Elizabeth Gregg, 
 iv. Mary, b. July 16, 1855 ; m. James Orr. They had issue (surname Orr) : 
 
 Velma. , 
 
 v. Emma, b. Oct. 26, 1857 ; d. in infancy, 
 vi. Elisabeth Jane, h.'^ov.g, 1858; d. Sept. 20, 1886; m. Watson Walker. 
 
 They had issue (surname Walker), Louella and Earl, 
 vii. Anna Katherine, b. Feb. 10, i85i ; m. Oliver Cleaver. They have issue 
 
 (surname Cleaver) : Frank, 
 viii. Jessie Bertha, b. Nov. 6, 1864. 
 ix. Martha Ellen, b. August 18, 1867. 
 
 25 
 
386 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 V. THE JOHNSON RECORDS. 
 
 The connection of the Sherrards with the Johnsons is through the 
 second wife of Robert Andrew Sherrard of Steubenville, who was Jane 
 Hindman, the granddaughter of both Esther and Jane Johnston. The 
 spelhng of the name was changed in later times. 
 
 1. John (?) Johnston', Hved and was married in County Down, Ireland. 
 The Christian name of his wife is thought to have been Elizabeth. His 
 Christian name is not known by any of his descendants, but from the 
 fact that every generation of Johnstons has had a John, it seems at least 
 probable that the name of this ancestor was John. He had seven chil- 
 dren and the oldest, whose name was John, remained in Ireland, while 
 the father and mother, with their other six children left Ireland in 1772 
 to come to America. 
 
 The father and mother died on ship-board. The children came on 
 and landed at New Castle, and settled in Delaware, and at this time 
 Richard, the youngest of the family, was only nine years old. The 
 three older members of the family were married in Delaware, and in 
 1791 the whole family came across the mountains and settled in Wash- 
 ington Co., Pa., near Canonsburg. The names of these seven Johnston 
 children were as follows : 
 
 i. Joh}i ; remained in Ireland, and d. there. 
 
 2. ii. William, h. 1750; m. Elizabeth Laughlin. 
 
 3. iii. Esther; m. Hugh Jackson. 
 
 4. iv. Jane ; m. James Hindman. 
 
 5. V. Margaret ; m. Robert Anderson. 
 
 6. VI. Elizabeth ; m. WiUiam Campbell. 
 
 7. vii. Richard, b. June, 1763 ; m. Jane Bradford. 
 
 II. WiLLi.\M Johnston", (John',) b. 1750; d. Jan. 4, 1S29; m. 1773, 
 Elizabeth Laughlin, (vvfho was b. 175 i ; d. Jan. 10, 1816); lived on Mil- 
 ler's Run, Washington Co., Pa., afterwards removed to Harrison Co., O., 
 and lived near Beech Spring. They had issue : — 
 
 i. John ; m. Hannah Sellers (who d. 1830); d. May 28th, 1832. For many 
 years he kept "John Johnston's tavern" in Washington, Pa.; was a 
 great land speculator, and d. wealthy. They had issue: John Jr., Wil 
 liam, Samuel B., Sarah, m. Rev. Eoenezer S. Graham, who was 
 
FAMILY RECORDS. 387 
 
 pastoral Pigeon Creek, 1837-1842, Elizabeth, m. Mr. Hitchcock, and 
 
 d. 1848, aged 27. 
 ii. Catherine, b. Oct. 22d, 1778 ; d. July, 1851 ; m. James Slemmons. They 
 
 had issue (surname Slemmons) : John, Linn, William, and Mary. 
 iii. Ann, b. 1779; d. June 7th, 1849; m. John McLaughlin, 1800; moved to 
 
 Jefferson Co., O., 1801. They had issue (surname McLaughlin): 
 
 (1). Eliza; m. Mr. McMillan. 
 
 (2). Mary ; m. Thomas Hamilton. 
 
 (3). Nancy ; m. William Calderhead. 
 
 (4). Margaret Ann ; m. John Hagan. 
 
 (5). IVii/iam, h. lSl2\ m. Elizabeth Berry. 
 
 (6). fames M. 
 
 (7). Jane; m. Kinney McLaughlin. 
 
 (8). John ; m. Miss Kerr. 
 
 (9). Samuel R.\ m. Ellen, dau. of Richard Johnson. 
 (10). Catherine ; m. Robert Hagan. 
 iv. Richard ; d. Feb., 1843. 
 V. Robert; m. first, Anna Leech; secondly. Miss Sutherland, by whom he 
 
 had a son, Samuel, who is now Superintendent in the Ohio State Peni- 
 tentiary, 
 vi. Rev. William, of Dunlap's Creek; b. 1784; d. at Brownsville, Pa., Dec. 
 
 31st, 1841 ; m. Sept., 1814, Martha Gallaher. They had issue ; ten 
 
 children, of whom W^illiam Cunningham was the oldest, and d. Jan. 
 
 4th, 1887. Two only of these ten children are now living; George 
 
 Gallaher, who m. Hannah McCullough, of Canonsburg, and James 
 
 Guthrie, who m. Emma Huston, of Uniontcwn. 
 vii. Alexander ; m. Miss Johnson, and family went west, 
 viii. Elizabeth; d. April 6, 1823. 
 ix. Mary; d. Oct. 6, 1823. 
 X. James, b. April 12, 1793 ; d. Nov. 9, 1863 ; m, 1818, Mary Simpson. 
 
 They had issue : 
 
 (l). Margaret Ann, b. 1819; m. Samuel Mutchmore, who d. 1888. 
 They had issue (surname Mutchmore) : one child only, Martha, 
 who m. John C. Tallman, of St. Clairsville, O., and they have 
 one child, Ina Tallman, who graduates at Washington Female 
 Seminary in June, 1890. 
 
 (2). Elisabeth ; unmarried. 
 
 (3). Mary ; m. Mr.Dickerson. They have issue (surname Dickerson) : 
 Harvey ; Anna, who m. Rev. William Hunter ; Ruth and Flora. 
 
 (4). Sarah ; m. William Boals. 
 
 (5). Catheri?te ; unmarried. 
 
 (6). James Harvey. 
 xi. Samuel, h. 1798; d. 1821. 
 
388 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 III. Esther Johnston," (John'), m. 1777, Hugh Jackson. They both 
 d. in 18 1 5 at the home of their son-in-law, John Hindman, in Cross 
 Creek Township, Jefferson Co., O., and were buried in old Centre grave- 
 yard. They had issue (surname Jackson) ; one child only : 
 
 i. Na)icv,h. Dec. 10, 1778; m. Dec. 15, 1803, John Hindman, her cousin. 
 They had issue (surname Hindman) see The Hindman Records (Jane 
 Hindman (Sherrard), Thomas Johnson Sherrard, Hallock C. Sher- 
 rard). 
 She m. secondly, April 15, 1830, John Orr, of Holliday's Cove, Va., and 
 d. Feb. 4, 1839; buried at Three Springs, near Holliday's Cove. 
 
 IV. Jane Johnston," (John '), m. 1777, James Hindman, who d. in 
 1801 ; d. 1824, at her brother Richard Johnston's, near Canonsburg, 
 while on a visit there, and was buried in the old Chartiers graveyard. 
 They had issue (surname Hindman): see The Hindman Records (John 
 Hindman, Jane Hindman (Sherrard), Thomas Johnson Sherrard, Hal- 
 lock C. Sherrard). 
 
 Mrs. Stockton, of Canonsburg, daughter of Richard Johnston, and 
 niece of Esther and Jane Johnston, now in her eighty-sixth year, has 
 recently spoken to me about her aunts, Esther and Jane. She says they 
 were both fine-looking women ; attractive and interesting in their man- 
 ner, and very pleasant in their conversation. My mother has also this 
 evening, April 3, 1890, spoken to me in the same terms of these, her 
 two grandmothers, and she says that Jane Johnston in particular was 
 very tall ; that she was a woman of remarkable vigor of body and 
 strength of character, with a very cheerful disposition. 
 
 V. Margaret Johnston- (John'), b. 1760; d. Sept. 13, 1827; m. Robert 
 Anderson (who d. Sept. 2, 1838, in his eighty-fifth year); lived two 
 miles southwest of Claysville, Washington Co., Pa. 
 
 They had issue (surname Anderson), none now living: 
 
 i. Samuel : m. June 28, 1814, Catherine Forbes. 
 
 ii. Richard ; m. and left two daughters, 
 iii. Mary ; m. Wilham Ramsey, and d. about i860, 
 iv. John; d. July 25, 1863. 
 
 V. James ; d. April 14, 18 14. 
 vi. William. 
 \\\ Robert. 
 
FAMILY RECORDS. 389 
 
 viii. ^fargaret ; m. Isaac Finical. 
 ix. Hugh ; m. Miss Wallace. 
 X. Jane ; m. James George ; lived in Claysville, and one daughter, IVtary 
 
 George, is still living there. 
 xi. Thomas, a physician ; d. in Indiana. 
 
 VI. Elizabeth Johnston^ (John'), b. about 1761 ; d. March 22, 1839; 
 m. 1790, William Campbell, who d. July 2, 1 8 10; both buried in Char- 
 tiers graveyard. They lived south of Canonsburg, and not far from 
 Chartiers Church. They had issue (surname Campbell) : 
 
 i. James, b. Feb. 7, 1792 ; d. Jan. 22, 1873. 
 ii. John, b. March 2, 1794 ; d. May 28, 1869. 
 iii. Rev. Richard, of HoUiday's Cove, b. June 4, 1796; President of New 
 
 Athens College ; d. Nov. 17, 1835, at Crab Apple, O. 
 iv. William, b. May 15, 1798 ; d. March 22, 1874. 
 v. Mary, b. July 13, 1800; d in infancy, 
 vi. Andrew, b. May 9, 1803 ; d. Nov. 19, 1878 ; a son, Thomas Johnson 
 
 Campbell, is living, 
 vii. Elizabeth, b. March 10, 1808; d. Aug. 28, 1838. 
 viii. Hugh, b. Feb. 10, 1810; d. Jan. 14, 1878. 
 
 VII. Richard Johnston/ (John'), b. June, 1763; d. Nov. 13, 1836; 
 m. Aug. 23, 1796, Jane Bradford. She was b. Dec. 12, 1779; d. July 
 21, 1839. They lived two miles south of Canonsburg, on the farm 
 which is still owned and occupied by their grandson, Richard Van Eman 
 Johnson. For many years before his death Richard Johnston was an 
 elder in the Chartiers Presbyterian Church, and his tombstone of the 
 olden style may still be seen, in the old graveyard of that church. 
 
 The old house, where he took his youthful bride of seventeen, has 
 long since disappeared, but it stood very near to the present Johnson's 
 Station on the Chartiers Valley R. R., on the side next to the creek. 
 They had issue: 
 
 8. i. Mary, b. Sept. 24, 1798; m. Thomas Allison, 
 ii. James, b. March ro, 1800; d. Sept. 19, 1819. 
 
 9. iii. William, b. May 3, 1802 ; m. Elizabeth Orr. 
 
 iv. Elizabeth, b. Feb. 6, 1804; m. first, April 8, 1830, George Gladden, who 
 d. May 9, 1859, i" ^'^ sixty-sixth year; secondly, Nov. 19, 1861, Rev. 
 John Stockton, D.D., of Cross Creek Village, who d. May 5, 1882, aged 
 seventy-nine. No issue by either marriage. Mrs, Elizabeth Stockton, 
 after the death of her second husband, removed to Canonsburg, where 
 she is still living, April 3, 1890, and is the only remaining representa- 
 tive of her generation. 
 
390 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 10. V. John, b. March 6, 1806; m. Rebecca Van Eman. 
 vi. Richard, b. July 1, 1808; d. Dec. 10, 1831. 
 
 v\\. Jane,\i. May 21, 181 1; twin with Thomas; d. June 2, 1888; m May 
 II, 1833, Guyan Morrison (who was b. Aug. 5, 1804; d. Dec. 11, 1876). 
 They had issue (surname Morrison) : John, who hves at Canonsburg, 
 and has taken a great interest in the Johnson Records, furnishing me 
 with many names and dates. 
 
 11. viii. Thomas, b. May 21, 181 1 ; m. Catherine Johnson. 
 
 12. ix. David, b. May 19, 1813 ; m. Jane Rex. 
 
 X. George, b. Aug. 7, 181 5 ; d. April 14, 1875 '< "i- Aug. 25, 1847, Mary Ruth 
 
 Tracy ; lived in Portsmouth, O. 
 
 They had issue : Emma T., who m. S. B. Jennings, and he d. March 
 
 29, 1881 ; Samuel, m. ; Albert T. ; and Tracy B. 
 xi. Nancy, b. April 15, 1822; d. Oct. 17, 1827. 
 
 VIII. Mary Johnson,' (Richard,- John,^) b. Sept. 24, 1798; d. Feb. 7, 
 18S4; m. May 1817, Thomas Allison (who was b. April 15, 1780; d. 
 Oct. 21, 1849. They had issue (surname Allison) : 
 
 i. Jane, d. at twenty-four years of age. 
 ii. James ; unmarried. 
 
 iii. Richard ; d. 1847 at Jalapa, Mexico. 
 
 iv. William ; d. at twenty-one years of age. 
 
 V. Thomas ; unmarried. 
 
 vi. Jonathan; m. 1857, Margaret Gabby. They have issue (surname Alli- 
 son) : Mary, who d. in infancy ; Margaret, who m. William A. Dick- 
 son, and she d. Sept. 26, 1888; Albert Johnson; Thomas G. ; Edwin 
 E. ; William E. (twin with Edwin, and d. at ten years of age); John 
 Blakeslee ; Ralph M. ; and Jane. 
 
 IX. William Johnson,' (Richard,- John,') b. May 3 1802 ; d. Dec. 27, 
 1838; m. May 10, 1826, Elizabeth Orr of Washington, Pa.; a physician, 
 first in Washington, Pa., afterwards in Cadiz, O. 
 
 His wife d. soon after him, and their children were scattered among 
 their uncles and aunts : Margaret to John ; Richard to Mrs. Morrison J 
 Albert O, to Mrs. Gladden ; and William F. to David. Dr. William John- 
 son had issue : 
 
 i. James, b. 1827 ; d. 1S53. 
 ii. Margaret ; d. July 12, 1885 ; m. Augustus Blakeslee of Waterbury, Conn. 
 
 They had issue (surname Blakeslee) ; Albert ; and Jennie E. 
 iii. Richard ; m and lived in Illinois, and had six children. 
 
FA.yiLY RECORDS. ?,91 
 
 iv. Rc-li Albert Oshornc. b. June 22, 1833; m. Amanda Joanna Gill; mission- 
 aries to India; himself and wife shot at Cawnpore massacre, June 10, 
 1857. 
 
 V. Junius C. ; d. at two years of age. 
 
 vi. Rev. Willia)n F., b. March 16, 1838; m. Rachel Lillie Kerr; missionary 
 to India in i860 to take his brother Albert's place; twenty years in 
 India ; now President of Biddle University, N. C. 
 
 They had issue : William, Mary, Ella, Edwin Kerr, Bertie, Jane 
 Rex, Frank Orr, Walter Frederic, and Dora Elizabeth. 
 
 X. John Johnson,' (Richard,- John,') b. March 6, 1806; d. Oct. 9, 
 1888; m. March 17, 1840, Rebecca Van Eman (b. Sept. 13, 18 12; d. 
 Sept. 5, 1889). They had issue : 
 
 i. Richard Van Eman; m. Nov. 17, 1869, West Anna Lee. They have 
 
 issue : Rebecca Jane, who graduates at Washington Female Seminary 
 
 in June, 1890; and William Lee. 
 ii. Joseph Bradjord ; m. June 5, 1867, Hannah Jane Crothers. They have 
 
 issue : Ella Maud, John Tracy, and Charles Crothers. 
 iii. John G. ; m. June 22, 1875, Annie Morrison. They have issue : George 
 
 v., William M., Edwin, who d. young, and Ernest. 
 
 XI. Thomas Johnson' (Richard,^ John*), b. May 21st, 181 1 ; twin with 
 Jane; d. June 19th, 1879; m., Jan. 12th, 1842, Catherine Emery John- 
 .son, who was no relation; physician in Steubenville. They had issue: — 
 
 i. Thomas, m. Margaret Jane Sharp. They have issue ; William Richard ; 
 
 Thomas, who d. in infancy, and Catherine Elizabeth. 
 ii. Johti M. ; unm. 
 iii. David B. ; unm. 
 iv. George; unm. 
 13. V. Catherine, m. Robert Sherrard, Jr. 
 vi. Mary Elisabeth. 
 
 XII. David Johnson' (Richard,- John'), b. May 19th, 1813; d. Feb. 
 8th, 1883; m., Feb. 9th, 1841, Jane Rex, who d. May I2th, 1889; lived 
 at Two Ridges, O. ; afterwards in Steubenville. They had issue : — 
 
 i. John G. : physician in Detroit ; m., first, Kate Doty, and had issue : 
 Bradford and Nora. He m., secondly, Ahce Parker. They have 
 issue : Rex. 
 ii. Pamelia Rex, m. D. Madison Welday. They have issue (surname Wel- 
 day) : William. 
 
392 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 iii. Walter O. ,■ banker in Steubenville ; m. Julia Blinn. 
 iv. Mmy Alice. 
 
 XIII. Catherine Johnson'' (Thomas,^ Richard,^ John') m., Dec. 13th, 
 1 88 1, Robert Sherrard, Jr., of Steubenville. See The Sherrard Records. 
 They have issue (surname Sherrard) : — 
 
 i. Thomas Johnsoti, b. Sept. 17th, 1882. 
 ii. Robert Stanton, b. March 24th, 1884; d. Aug. 5th, 1889. 
 iii. Mary Catherine, b. Aug. 23d, 1887. 
 
 VI. THE HINDMAN RECORDS. 
 
 The connection of the Sherrards with the Hindmans is through Jane 
 Hindman, the second wife of Robert Andrew Sherrard, of Steubenville. 
 
 I. James Hindman,' b. in County Antrim, Ireland, 1750; m. in Dela- 
 ware, in 1777, Jane Johnston; removed, with all the Johnston family, 
 across the mountains, in 1791, and settled near Canonsburg. They 
 brought their Presbyterian certificates of church membership with them, 
 and united with the Chartiers Presbyterian Church, of which Dr. John 
 McMillan was pastor. James Hindman died in 1801, and was buried in 
 the old Chartiers graveyard. His wife, Jane Johnston, removed with 
 her sons in 181 2, and settled near Centre Church, in Jefferson County, 
 O., and they all brought their certificates and joined that church. Her 
 son Robert afterwards removed to Washington, Pa., and she lived with 
 him there. ' Father says : " I saw, and conversed with her, February 22d, 
 1823, in the tavern of her nephew, John Johnson, in Washington, Pa., 
 and I found her kind, courteous and affable, and at that time she was 
 quite lively on foot." While on a visit to her youngest brother, Richard 
 Johnston, near Canonsburg, she was taken ill, and died at his house 
 early in the spring of 1824, and was buried in the old Chartiers grave- 
 yard. Mrs. Stockton, daughter of Richard Johnston, who is still living, 
 has told me that when they were all children at home, it was a matter of 
 
FAMILY RECORDS. 393 
 
 the greatest delight to them to have a visit from "Aunt Jennie." The 
 children of James and Jane Johnston Hindman were as follows : — 
 
 i. William, b. 1778; d. 1788. 
 
 2. ii. John, b. 1780; m. Nancy Jackson, 
 
 iii. Richard, b. 1782; m. Anna Mahan; removed from Washington County, 
 Pa., in 181 2, and lived near Centre Church, Jefferson County, O. ; re- 
 moved to Morgan County, O., in 1831, and his wife d. in 1838. They 
 had issue: Jane, Ann, James, Rachel, Mary, and Margaret. He m. a 
 second time, and d. many years ago. 
 
 iv. Robert, b. Aug., 1788; d. June 23d, 1856; m. Jan. 6th, 1820, Sidney Mil- 
 ler, of Wellsburg; lived in Washington, Pa., and were members of the 
 First Presbyterian Church of that place until their death. They had 
 issue: Elizabeth (b. 1823; d. July 17th, 1858), who m. David Gray, 
 (and they had issue — surname Gray : Ella and John, and they removed 
 to California years ago) ; and Mary who d. at five years. 
 
 II. John Hindman^ (James'), b. 1780; d. Aug. 23d, 1820; m. Dec. 
 15th, 1803, his cousin, Nancy Jackson. .She m. secondly, April 15th, 
 1830, John Orr, of Holliday's Cove. John Hindman lived first near 
 Canonsburg, and they were members of Dr. John McMillan's church at 
 Chartiers, and were married by him. 
 
 In April, 18 10, they removed to Ohio, to a farm afterwards called 
 Pleasant Hill, on the waters of Mclntyre Creek, Jefferson County. They 
 became members of the Old Centre Church, which John Hindman 
 lielped to organize, and in which he was one of the first elders, and he 
 rertiained in that office until his death. They had issue : 
 
 3. i. Jane, b. Dec. 14th, 1804; m. Robert A. Sherrard. 
 
 ii. Elizabeth, b. Jan 31st, 1807; d. Oct., 1886; m. Jan. 8th, 1835, Robert 
 Lee, who was b. 1806; d. Jan. l6th, 1853. They had issue (surname 
 Lee) : 
 
 (i.) Mary, b. May, 1836; m. Feb. 5th, 1885, David J'ry, of Burgetts- 
 town. 
 
 (2.) A^z/ry, b. March, 1839; unmarried; lives in Burgettstown. 
 (3.) Elizabeth Jane, b. Aug., 1844; m. June 5th, 1867, Levi Scott, of 
 near Burgettstown, and he d. in June, 1883. They had issue (surname 
 Scott) : Lee, b. 1868, and he now has charge of his father's farm, 
 iii. James, b. 1810; d. 181 5. 
 iv. Hugh, b. 1813; d. 181 5. 
 v. John Jackson, b. 1819; d. eighteen months old. 
 
394 
 
 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 III. Jane Hindman^ (John,- James'), b. Dec. 14th, 1804; m. May 
 24th, 1827, Robert Andrew Sherrard, who d. Jan. ist, 1874. She re- 
 moved in Oct., 1875, from Steubenville, Ohio, to Washington, Pa., and 
 lives with her daughter Nancy, who is Principal of the Washington Fe- 
 male Seminary. See the Sherrard Records. (Thomas Johnson Sher- 
 rard,* Hallock C. Sherrard.'^). 
 
IV. FAMILY GENEALOGIES. 
 
 The following pages contain Genealogical tables of related families. 
 The design is to show at a single glance, in the order of generations, the 
 descent of these kindred families from the most remote ancestor whose 
 name is known, and at the same time show the kinship existing between 
 those who belong to the same generation. 
 
 The perpendicular lines divide the generations, and these are num- 
 bered to correspond precisely with the small Arabic figures attached to 
 certain names in the preceding Family Records. According to this 
 plan, to make such a table to be of practical value, it must be included 
 within two oppisite pages for ready reference. This will explain why 
 many names found in the Records do not appear in the Genealogies, and 
 it is a matter of regret that the space does not permit the use of all the 
 eight hundred and fifty names found on the Records. 
 
 395 
 
396 
 
 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 I. THE SHERRARD GENEALOGY. 
 
 GENERATION I. 
 
 GENERATION 2. 
 
 GENERATION 3. 
 
 GENERATION 4. 
 
 
 Children of William 
 
 Children of John Sher- 
 
 Children of John J. \ 
 
 
 Sherrard. 
 
 rard. 
 
 Sherrard. 
 William, 
 James. 
 
 
 John, 
 
 m. Mary Cathcart. 
 
 William Johnston. 
 
 Children of Robert A. 
 Sherrard. 
 
 Mary Anne (Hill). 
 
 Joseph Kithcart. 
 
 
 EHzabeth. 
 
 David A. Cathcart, 
 ni. Betsy Irvme. 
 
 David C. 
 
 Elizabeth (Kithcart). 
 
 Robert. 
 
 William, 
 
 
 
 
 b. 1720; 
 m. 1750, 
 
 Margaret. 
 
 John James, 
 
 m. Sarah Harrah. 
 
 
 Margaret Johnston. 
 
 
 
 John Hindman. 
 Jane. 
 
 
 
 Robert .\ndrew. 
 
 Susan Cathcart (Orr). 
 
 
 James. 
 
 m. Mary Kithcart ; 
 
 
 
 
 aiso Jane Hindman. 
 
 Sarah. 
 William Henry. 
 
 
 Mary (?). 
 
 Thomas Guthridge, 
 
 Thomas Johnson. 
 
 j 
 
 
 m. Rebecca Conn. 
 
 Children of Thomas G. 
 
 
 
 
 Sherrard. \ 
 
 
 
 
 William Johnston. 
 
 
 
 
 Thomas Guthridge. 
 
FAMILY GENEALOGIES. 
 
 397 
 
 I. THE SHERRARD GENEALOGY. 
 
 GENERATION 5. 
 
 GENERATION 6. 
 
 Children of Mary Anne Shtrrard {Hill). 
 Rosamond C. 
 Elizabeth Jane. 
 
 Willis H., James F., Mary H., David R.. Julia C. 
 Henrietta M., Mary S., Nannie M.. 
 
 Mary (Bennett) 
 
 
 Children of David C. Sherrard. 
 
 Lottie S., Emma, Mary A., Nettie. 
 
 Dora. 
 
 Ida. 
 
 Hattie. 
 
 Blanche M., Zella. 
 
 Harrj', Ida, Robert. 
 
 Milan, Robert, Jessie, Howard, Orie, Lula. 
 
 Clarence. 
 
 Mabel, Louis. 
 
 
 Lizzie C. (Brust) 
 
 Hattie B. (Tindall) 
 
 
 Emma V. (Smith) 
 
 Rose T. (Tindall) 
 
 IdaM. 
 
 Children of Elizabeth Sherrard (Kithcart) 
 John Albert 
 
 Nancy S., Joseph B., Mary H., Lizzie J., Wilraa A. 
 Margaret, Paul, Percy. 
 
 Velma. 
 
 Louella, Earl. 
 Frank. 
 
 Henry Comingo. 
 
 Emma 
 
 Elizabeth Jane (Walker) 
 
 Anna K. (Cleaver) 
 
 Jessie B. 
 iMartha Ellen. 
 
 Children of Robert Sherrard. 
 
 Emma Virginia (Elliot) 
 
 William. 
 Henry Comingo. 
 Thomas Johnson. 
 ' Robert Stanton. 
 Mary Catherine. 
 
 Robert Sherrard, Lillie B., Harry S. 
 
 Children of John Hindman Sherrard. 
 Jane Hindman (Evving) 
 
 \ 
 Eleanor, Anna, John Sherrard, Margaret R, 
 Stephen, John Sherrard. 
 
 Charles Bealty. 
 John Hughes. 
 Robert Maurice. 
 
 Helen Ewing. 
 
 ChUdren of Susan C. (Sherrard) Orr. 
 Robert Sherrard. 
 William Culbertson. 
 Henry Franklin. 
 George Thomas. 
 Jane Hindman. 
 
 
 Children of Thomas /ohnson Sherrard. 
 Virginia. 
 
 Haliock Campbell. 
 Mary Campbell. 
 Robert Andrew. 
 
 
 
 
 Children of Thomas G. Sherrard. 
 
 Rachel, Thomas G., Mary A. 
 
 f Margaret I., Thomas G., David P., Mary A., ' 
 \ John C, William J., James E., Jacob H. 
 
 Thomas S., Martha J., Joseph A., Elsie M. 
 
 
 Rebecca A. 
 
 Nancy (Humbert) 
 
 William Johnson. 
 Martha Jane. 
 Jacob Henderson. 
 
398 
 
 THE SHERRARD FAMILY. 
 
 II. THE GAMBLE GENEALOGY. 
 
 GENERATION I. 
 
 GENERATION 2. 
 
 GENERATION 3. GENERATION 4 GENERATION 5. 
 
 Gatnble. 
 
 Gamble. 
 
 of Graan. 
 
 Gamble. 
 
 Samuel. 
 Mary Rebecca, 
 -. Mr. Scott. 
 
 . Alexander Cath- 
 
 Cathcart. 
 
 of Ratonagh. 
 
 Gamble. 
 Magdalen {?), 
 m. Mr. Hughe! 
 
 William, 
 m. Leah Tyr 
 
 Andrew, 
 of Chester County. 
 
 Dr. John, 
 of Canada, 
 m. Isabella E. 
 Clarke. 
 
 Nancy Rachel, 
 m, John Irvine 
 
FAMILY GENEALOGIES. 
 11. THE GAMBLE GENEALOGY. 
 
 399 
 
 GENERATION 6. 
 
 GENERATION 7. 
 
 GENERATION 8. GENERATION 9. 
 
 GENERATION lO. 1 
 
 Gamble. 
 Baptist. 
 Samuel. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Scott. 
 Baptist. 
 
 Scott. 
 Baptist. 
 
 
 
 
 Skerrard. 
 
 Robert A., 
 
 of Steubenville. 
 
 Thomas G., 
 of Fremont. 
 
 Sherrard. 
 David C. 
 
 Robert. 
 John H. 
 Thomas J. 
 
 Sherrard. 
 Robert W. 
 
 Sherrard. 
 
 Blanche. 
 Zella. 
 
 
 Sherrard. 
 Emma V., 
 m. H. C. Elliott. 
 
 Elliot. 
 R. Sherrard. 
 Lillie B. 
 Harry S. 
 
 
 Sherrard. 
 Jane H., 
 m. J. C. R. Ewing, 
 
 Eivin£. 
 Eleanor, Anna, 
 Sherrard, Margaret. 
 
 
 Sherrard. 
 Virginia, Hallock C. 
 Mary C, Robert A. 
 
 
 
 Sherrard. 
 Thomas G. 
 
 Sherrard. 
 Alexander C. 
 
 Sherrard. 
 Margaret J., Mary A. 
 John C, William J. 
 
 
 Gamble. 
 JTcincinnati. 
 
 Gamble. 
 David B.. 
 of Cincinnati. 
 
 Gamble. 
 Lilhe. 
 Edwin. 
 
 
 
 Gamble. 
 Thomas John. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Gamble, 
 John William, 
 
 of Vaughn. 
 Clarke, 
 
 of Toronto. 
 
 Ga^nble. 
 
 Elizabeth, 
 
 m. William Greey. 
 
 Greey. 
 Mary McCauley, 
 Frances Mary, 
 John Gamble, 
 Anne Isabelle E. 
 
 
 
 Irvine. 
 James. 
 
 m. John Morrison. 
 
 Irvine. 
 
 Hugh, 
 of Louisville. 
 
 Irmne. 
 
 Mary, 
 m. Samuel H. Mer- 
 
 Meriuin. 
 
 Ann T. 
 Galena R. 
 Hugh Irvine. 
 Susie B. 
 Samuel A. 
 
 
 Morrison. 
 
 Nancy, 
 m. John Barnett. 
 
 Barnett. 
 
 John M. 
 Martha Jane, 
 m. Thomas Pollock 
 
 Barnelt. 
 James, Agnes, Mar- 
 garet. 
 
 
 Follock. 
 Agnes M., 
 m. S. S. Gilso . 
 
 Gilson 
 Helen, Mary, Louise. 
 
 Conn. 
 
 Rebecca, 
 m. Thomas G. 
 Sherrard, 
 of Fremont. 
 
 Sherrard. 
 Thomas G. 
 
 Sherrard. 
 Alexander C. 
 
 Sherrard. 
 Margaret J. 
 Mary A. 
 John C. 
 William J. 
 James E. 
 Jacob H. 
 
 
400 
 
 THE SHERKARD FAMILY. 
 III. THE KITHCART GENEALOGY. 
 
 GENERATION I. GENERATION 2. GENERATION 3 
 
 GENERATION 4. 
 
 Children of Children of 
 
 John KHhcart. Joscfih Kithcart. 
 
 Sarali(.-\ndre\vs). 
 
 Mary. 
 
 Anna (.Andrews). 
 
 John Kithcart, 
 m. Sarah White. 
 
 Joseph, 
 m. Ehzabeth 
 Cunningham. 
 
 Mary (Shi 
 
 John. 
 
 Cunningham, 
 
 Joseph. 
 
 Betsy (Sloanaker;. 
 
 Martha (Sharon). 
 
 Kezia (Yost). 
 
 Children of Sarah {Kithcart) Andrews. 
 
 Mary, Joseph Thomas, Frank, Eliza- 
 beth, John, Anna, Sarah. 
 
 Children of Anna Kithcart Andrews. 
 
 Joseph, Ehzabeth. Agnes, Sarah, John, 
 Nancv, William, Thomas. 
 
 Children of Mary (Kithcart) Slicrrard. 
 
 Mary Anne (Hill). 
 Joseph Kithcart. 
 David Cathcart. 
 Elizabeth (Kithcart). 
 Robert. 
 
 Children of John Kithc 
 
 Catherine (Button). 
 Joseph. 
 
 Children of Cunningham Kithcart. 
 
 Elizabeth .\xm (Parkinson). 
 Joseph .Addison. 
 Catherine D. 
 Sarah (Barkhurst). 
 Martha Ellen (Henderson). 
 William Smiley. 
 James Thomas. 
 Mary Elthisa (Elliott). 
 
 Children of Joseph Kithcart. 
 
 Rebecca B. (Dickey), 
 Mary L. (Bracken). 
 Sarah Louisa (Page). 
 
 Children of Betsy [Kithcart) Sloanaker. 
 
 John, Joseph, Abraham, Daniel, Bar- 
 nett, William, Elizabeth, Sarah, 
 Kezia. 
 
 Children of Martha {Kithcart) Sharon. 
 
 William, Joseph, Sarah Jane, John, 
 Elizabeth, Cunningham, Alexander, 
 Martha Ellen. 
 
 Children of Kezia {Kithcart) Yost. 
 
 George, Mary, Rachel, Elizabeth, 
 Martha, Sarah, Michael, Margaret, 
 Hannah, Caroline, Catherine. 
 
FA MIL I ■ GENE A L O GIES. 
 III. THE KITHCART GENEALOGY. 
 
 401 
 
 GENERATION $. 
 
 GENERATION 6. 
 
 Children of Mary Anne (Sherrard) Hill. 
 Rosamond C. 
 Elizabeth Jane. 
 
 Willis H., James F., Mary H., David R., Julia C. 
 Henrietta M., Mary S., Xannie M. 
 
 Mary (Bennett). 
 
 Robert Sherrard 
 
 Children of David Cathcart Sherrard. 
 Laura A. (Mooney) 
 
 Lottie S., Emma, Mary A., Nettie. 
 
 Dora. 
 
 Ida. 
 
 Hattie. 
 
 Blanche M., Zella. 
 
 Harry, Ida, Robert. 
 
 Milan, Robert, Jessie, Howard, Orie, Lulu. 
 
 Clarence. 
 
 Mabel, Louis. 
 
 
 Hattie B. (Tindall) 
 
 Robert W 
 
 John F 
 
 Emma V. (.Smith) 
 
 
 Rose T. (Tindall) 
 
 IdaM. 
 
 Children of Robert Sherrard. 
 
 Emma Virginia (Elliot) 
 
 William. 
 Henry Comingo. 
 Thomas Johnson. 
 Robert Stan'on. 
 Mary Catherine. 
 
 Robert Sherrard, Lillie B., Harry S. 
 
 Children of Catherine {Kithcart) Dution. 
 Elizabeth Jane. 
 
 
 Children of Joseph Kithcart. 
 John Albert 
 
 Nancys. JosephB., Mary H., Lizzie J., Wilma.^. 
 Margaret, Paul, Percy. 
 
 Velma. 
 
 Louella, Earl. 
 Frank. 
 
 Henry Comingo. 
 
 Mary (Orr; 
 
 Emma. 
 
 Elizabeth Jane (Walker) 
 
 Anna K. (Cleaver) 
 
 Jessie B. 
 Martha Ellen. 
 
 Mary Jane. 
 
 
 Children of Rebecca B. {Kithcart) Dickey. 
 Mary Ada. 
 Martha. 
 
 
 Children of Mary /,. (Kithcart) Bracken. 
 loseph Willard. 
 Walter. 
 Edith. 
 
 
402 
 
 THE SHERRARD EAMILV. 
 IV. THE JOHNSON GENEALOGY. 
 
 GENERATION I. 
 
 John (?) Johnston. 
 
 County Down, 
 Ireland. 
 
 GENERATION 2. 
 
 Child re n of 
 John \^f) Johnston. 
 
 John, 
 
 remained in 
 
 Ireland, 
 
 Elizabeth Laughlin. 
 
 Esther, 
 Hugh Jackson. 
 
 James Hindman. 
 
 Margaret, 
 
 m. 
 
 Robert Anderson. 
 
 Elizabeth, 
 
 m. 
 
 William Campbell. 
 
 Richard, 
 
 m. 
 
 Jane Bradford. 
 
 GENERATION 3. 
 
 Children of 
 William Johnston, 
 
 James. 
 
 GENERATION 4. 
 
 Children of James Johnson^ 
 Margaret Ann (Mutchmore). 
 
 Mary (Dickerson). 
 
 Children of Esther 
 {Johnston) Jackson. 
 
 Nancy (Hindman) 
 m. her cousin, 
 John Hindman. 
 
 Children of John Hindman. 
 Jane (Sherrard). 
 
 Elizabeth (Lee). 
 
 Children of Jane 
 [Johnston) Hindman. 
 
 John. 
 
 Richard. 
 
 Robert. 
 
 Children of 
 Richard Johnston, 
 
 Mary (Allison). 
 
 James. 
 
 William. 
 
 Elizabeth (Stockton). 
 
 John. 
 
 Richard. 
 
 Thomas. 
 
 Jane (Morrison). 
 
 David. 
 
 George. 
 
 Children of Robert Hindman. 
 Elizabeth (Gray). 
 
 Children of Mary {Johnson) 
 Allison. 
 
 Jonathan, 
 
 Children of William Johnson. 
 Rev. WiUiam F. 
 
 Children of Joh n Johnson. 
 
 Richard Van Eman, Joseph 
 Bradford, and John. 
 
 Children of Thomas Johnson, 
 
 Thomas, John, Katie (Sher- 
 rard), David, Elizabeth, 
 and George, 
 
 Children of Jane {Johnson) 
 Mori ison. 
 
 John. 
 
 Children of David Johnson. 
 
 John, Pamelia, Walter, Mary 
 Alice. 
 
 Children of Georg-e Johnson. 
 
 Emma (Jennings), Samuel, 
 Albert, Tracv. 
 
FAMILY GENEALOGIES. 
 tV. THE JOHNSON GENEALOGY. 
 
 403 
 
 GENERATION 5. 
 
 Children of Margaret Ann 
 {Johnson) Afutchmore. 
 Martha (Tallman). 
 
 Children of Mary {Johnsofi) 
 
 Dickerson. 
 
 Harvey, Anna (Hunter), Ruth, Flora, 
 
 Children of Jane {Hindman) Sherrard. 
 Nancy. 
 
 John Hindman. 
 Jane. 
 
 Susan Cathcart (Orr). 
 Sarah. 
 
 William Henry. 
 Thomas Johnson. 
 
 Children of Elizabeth {Hindman) Lee 
 Mary (Pry), Nancy, and Elizabeth 
 Jane (Scott). 
 
 Children of 
 Elizabeth {Hindman^ Gray. 
 Ella and John. 
 
 Children of Jonathan Allison, 
 Mary, Margaret (Dickson), Albert. 
 Thomas, Edwin, William, John, 
 Ralph, and Jane. 
 
 Children of Rev, Wm. F.Johnson. 
 William, Mary, Edwin, Bertie, Jan( 
 Frank, Walter, and Dora. 
 
 Children of Richard V. Johnson, 
 Rebecca Jane, and William Lee. 
 
 Children of Joseph Bradford Johnson 
 Ella Maud, John T.. and Charles C. 
 
 Children of Thomas Johnson. 
 William, and Bessie. 
 
 Children of Katie {Johnson) Sherrard. 
 Thomas Johnson, Robert Stanton, 
 and Mary Catherine. 
 
 GENERATION 6. 
 
 Children of 
 Martha {Muichmore) Tallman. 
 Ina. 
 
 GENERATION 7, 
 
 Children of John Hindman Sherrard, Children of Jane H. 
 
 Jane Hindman (Ewing), Anna Racheli [Sherrard) Ewing. 
 
 (Blachly), John Hughes, Robertj Eleanor, Anna, 
 
 Maurice, Mary Fulton, Elizabeth John Sherrard, 
 
 , and Helen Ev, 
 
 Children of Susan C. (Sherrard) Orr. 
 Robert Sherrard. William Culbert- 
 son, Harry Franklin, and Jane 
 Hindman. 
 
 Margaret Rhe 
 
 \children of Anna R 
 I {Sherrard) Blachly 
 I Stephen Lindley. 
 ! John Sherrard. 
 
 Children of Thomas Johnson Sherrard. 
 
 Virginia, Hallock Campbell, Mary 
 
 Campbell, and Robert Andrew. 
 
 Children of Elizabeth J. {Lee) Scott. 
 Lee. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE, I 
 
 ACCIDENT, serious, of Robert A. Sherrard . 306 
 
 ■**■ Allegheny bridge, narrow escape on ... . 171 
 
 Anderson, Rev. Joseph 69 
 
 Antiquities, Sherrard 3^* 
 
 Armstrong, Gabriel, story of ... 30 
 
 Associate Reformed Church 7-j 
 
 pACKWOUDS, perils of 89 
 
 ^ Banks in early times i45 
 
 Banns published 127 
 
 Baptists, early churches 70 
 
 Bargain, hard, of a brother 115 
 
 Bascom, Rev. Mr 71 
 
 Beatty, Rev. Charles C 260 
 
 Bible Christians 74 
 
 Bigotry, psalm-singing 70 
 
 Birthday letters 359 
 
 Birthplace of Robert A. Sherrard 44 
 
 Boating in early times 151 
 
 Boyne, Battle of the 25 
 
 Braddock. General 3 
 
 Brandywine. Battle of 138 
 
 Brick burning 262 
 
 Brookville 317 
 
 Bunker Hill, Battle of 6 
 
 ^CALCULATIONS, close 60 
 
 ^ Calderhead, Rev. James 74 
 
 Capiina Experiences 81 
 
 Captina farm purchased 59 
 
 Captina, moving to . . . 82 
 
 Captina farm sold, and why 91, 92 
 
 Captina, leaving 93 
 
 Caprina. conditions of sale 93 
 
 Campbell, Hon. James 317 
 
 Campbell, Mary R 317 
 
 Carmichael, James 228 
 
 Cithcart, Alexander 24 
 
 Cathcart, Alexander, Ancestors of 25 
 
 Cathcart, Alexander, children of 27 
 
 Cathcart, Alexander, emigration of ■ 28 
 
 Cathcart, Alexander, letter from his wife .... 3J0 
 
 Cathcart, Alexander death of 30 
 
 Cathcart, Andrew V9 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Cathcart, Andrew, account of 343 
 
 Cathcart, David 28, 254 
 
 Cathcart, David, marriage of 30 
 
 Cathcart, David, death of 30, 254 
 
 Cathcart, Susannah 30, 254 
 
 Centre Church 78 
 
 Centre Church, relations with 173 
 
 Centre church, Robert A. Sherrard elder in . . . 202 
 
 Chambersburg 319 
 
 Chapin, Rev. Dr 304 
 
 Church dues at Centre 173 
 
 Church membership at Centre 174 
 
 Churches, early in Ohio 67 
 
 Church lawsuit .... 239 
 
 Cosing words 327 
 
 Coat, cut of and religion 71 
 
 College, Washington 4 Jefferson 279, 315 
 
 Comingo, Rev. Henry G 326 
 
 Conaway, Charles and his tricks 76 
 
 Conaway, Rev. Samuel 70 
 
 Conaway, Rev. Samuel and Bible Christians ... 74 
 
 Congress land, entering 14J 
 
 Contracts before marriage 162 
 
 Congress land entered 140, 1S4 
 
 Church, going home from iig 
 
 Constitution, good, of Robert A. Sherrard .... loi 
 
 Copperhead, bitten by 90 
 
 Courtship, first, of Robert A. Sherrard 114 
 
 Courtship second, of Robert A. Sherrard .... 208 
 
 Cousin, a pretty 120 
 
 Cozard, Rev. Jacob 215 
 
 Crawford's Campaign 9 
 
 Crawford's Defeat 12 
 
 Cunningham Family 124 
 
 "T^AM, bursting of at Rush Run 112 
 
 ^—^ Damaged flour 153 
 
 Davis, Robert and Family 205 
 
 Deer hunting 86 
 
 Disturbing a religious meeting 77 
 
 Dollar, first earned 84 
 
 Dream, a remarkable i*»2 
 
 Dunlap's Creek Academy 314 
 
 405 
 
406 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 pCONOMY, domestic lOj 
 
 -^ Economy, early ^^ 
 
 Education, early of Robert A. Sherrard 131 
 
 Education, early methods of 58 
 
 Elder in Centre 202 
 
 Elder in Steubenville =97 
 
 Election, Presidential in 1S36 256 
 
 Elliot, H. Clay, marriage of 283 
 
 Elliot, R. Sherrard . . 283 
 
 Elliot, Lillie 283 
 
 Elliot, Harry 283 
 
 Elliot, Thomas of Ireland 332 
 
 Ellis, circuit rider 73 
 
 English Grammar, studying 202 
 
 Enniskillen =4 
 
 Entailment by will 241 
 
 Escape of James Paull "9 
 
 Escape of John Sherrard '5 
 
 Evans, Oliver 11° 
 
 Ewing, Rev. J. C. Rhea =95 
 
 E.vample, influence of 266 
 
 FAMILY Afflictions 178 
 
 Family Genealogies • 395 
 
 Family History ^ 
 
 Family Letters 3=9 
 
 Family Records 3^7 
 
 Fee, wedding, first 13° 
 
 Fee, wedding, second 215 
 
 Ferguson, William 5" 
 
 Ferguson, Katy's wedding 167 
 
 Ferguson, William, visit to 205 
 
 Flax scutching 94 
 
 Flood of 1832 243 
 
 Flour, damaged ^53 
 
 Flour inspection 158 
 
 "Flying Camp" 6 
 
 Foot cut, Thomas 62 
 
 Fort Delaware in 1864 306 
 
 Foyle, Lough i 
 
 Fremont in 1824 "95 
 
 French leave of Richard Hall 64 
 
 Fulton, Kezia N 293 
 
 GALLOWAY, John 160 
 
 Galloway, Mrs 125 
 
 Gamble, Andrew 29 
 
 Gamble, Andrew, death of 335 
 
 Gamble, John of Thunder Hill 337 
 
 Gamble, Ann 24 
 
 Gamb'e, David 24 
 
 Gist, Thomas 4 
 
 Grammar, studying English 202 
 
 Grant Narcissa 272 
 
 "Grip" the Tyler 66 
 
 Guthridge, Susann.th 30 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 TT ALL, Richard 61 
 
 ^ Hall, Richard, farm 61 
 
 Happiness of married life 142 
 
 Harbaugh, Daniel, death of 14 
 
 Harrison Campaign 264 
 
 Hill, Joseph, trip with 254 
 
 Hill, Joseph W,, marriage 284 
 
 Hill, Joseph W., death 285 
 
 Hill, Jonathan 36 
 
 Hindinan Ancestry 216 
 
 Himlman, James ' 217 
 
 Hindman. John, birth 218 
 
 Hindman, John, moves to Ohio 218 
 
 Hindman, John, character of 220 
 
 Hindman, John, death of 222 
 
 Hindman, death of Jane Johnston 219 
 
 Hindman, Jane, birth of 218 
 
 Hindman, Jane, interview with 209 
 
 Hindman, "my wife Jane" 224 
 
 Hindman, Richard 219 
 
 Hindman, Robert 219 
 
 Hindman, Nancy Jackson, second marriage , . . 223 
 
 Holy Land, travehng in 280 
 
 Home, new, in Ohio in 1805 49 
 
 Hone, Lough Neagh 35 
 
 Hopewell Church 71 
 
 Housekeeping, first 143 
 
 House, building new at Sugar Hill 142 
 
 House, movuig into new 264 
 
 How it was made up 212 
 
 Hughes, James 338 
 
 Huguenot Ancestry 2 
 
 TCE, crossing at Connellsville 165 
 
 Infare, first of Robert A. Sherrurd ..... 132 
 
 Infare, second of Robert A. Sherrard 215 
 
 Influenza 66 
 
 Inquest over Thomas G. Sherrard 198 
 
 Insurrection, Whisky 40 
 
 Introduction, important 98 
 
 Irvine, Antiquities 364 
 
 Irvine, Alexander 349 
 
 Irvine, Baptist, account of 349 
 
 Irvine, Betsy 118, 299 
 
 JACKSON, Hugh 
 
 J Jackson, Nancy 
 
 Jackson, elder John in Centre . 
 
 Jaw out of joint 
 
 Johnston, Margaret 
 
 Johnston, Family 
 
 Johnston, Esther 
 
 Johnston, Jane 
 
 Johnston, Richard 
 
 Johnson. Bradford 
 
 Johnson, Richard Van Eman . 
 
407 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Johnson, Dr. Thomas 273 
 
 Jones. Presiding Elder 73 
 
 Journal, daily begun 259 
 
 Journeys, Various 201 
 
 TV- ENTUCKY land entered 5 
 
 ■^ Kentucky, second trip to ^o 
 
 Kentucky land, 1.400 acres of 41 
 
 Kerr, Rev. David R 285 
 
 Kithcart. Joseph (i) 98 
 
 Kithcart, Joseph, his estate 161 
 
 Kithcart, Joseph, (2) death of 296 
 
 Kithcart, Mother-in-law, keeping house 192 
 
 Kithcart, Mrs Elizabeth, second marriage. . . . 160 
 
 Kithcart, Mar>' .... :i4 
 
 Kithcart, Thomas 121 
 
 Kithcart, Joseph (3) 275 
 
 Kithcart Ancestry 123 
 
 T ABOR-SAVING machinery no 
 
 Lancaster, Pa 6 
 
 Land warrant sold 238 
 
 Land warrants, locating 278 
 
 Langly, John, a lofty jumper 53 
 
 Laurel Hill Church 149 
 
 Lawyer's fee .... 242 
 
 Lease of land in Ireland 26 
 
 Lee, Robert 298 
 
 Letter announcing death of William Sherrard . . . 179 
 
 Letter, Uncle David on death of Uncle William. . 181 
 
 Letter, Ann Cathcart to Alexander Cathcart . . . 330 
 
 Letter, George Gamble to Andrew Gamble .... 331 
 
 Letter, William Gamble to David Cathcart . ... 333 
 letter, John Gamble to David Cathcart . 334, 335, 336 
 
 Letter, James Hughes to David Cathcart . . . 338, 339 
 
 Letter, Andrew Cathcart to :Mary Sherrard . . 340, 341 
 
 Letter, Andrew Cathcart to David Cathcart . . . 342 
 
 Letter, David Cathcart to Andrew Cathcart . . . 345 
 
 Letter, David Cathcart to Mary Sherrard .... 346 
 
 Letter, Baptist Irvine to David Cathcart . ... 347 
 
 Letter, David Cathcart to Baptist Irvine 348 
 
 Letter, Robert A. Sherrard to Hugh Irvine. , . . 349 
 
 Letter, Hugh Irvine to Robert A Sherrard . . , 352 
 
 Letter, William to David A. C. Sherrrard .... 353 
 
 Letter, David A. C. to John Sherrard 354 
 
 Letter, John to Robert A. Sherrard 355 
 
 Letter, Robert A. to Thomas G. Sherrard .... 356 
 
 Letter, Thomas G. to Robert A. Sherrard .... 358 
 
 Letter, birthday, David to mother 359 
 
 Letter, birthday, Robert to mother 361 
 
 Letter, James Usher to Robert A. Sherrard . . . 363 
 
 Letters, Old 329 
 
 Lexington, Battle of 6 
 
 Liberty pole 40 
 
 Love at first sight 116 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Love, true not smooth 211 
 
 Love, differences made up, 212 
 
 Lover, cheerful advice 10 212 
 
 Lovers going to church 122 
 
 ly/TcCLELLAND, John's, farm 47 
 
 ■^*^ McClure, Eva 205 
 
 McCormick, William's, love experience 117 
 
 McMillan, Rev. John, D. D 219 
 
 McWha and Sugar Hill 244 
 
 Maple sugar, making 58 
 
 Marriage contracts 162 
 
 Marriage of Thomas G. Sherrard 176 
 
 Marriage, first, of Robert A. Sherrard 129 
 
 Marriage, second, of Robert A. Sherrard 215 
 
 Marriage contracts discussed 162 
 
 Marriage contracts, sequel to 164 
 
 Marriages, second, discussed ... 201 
 
 Maniage License Law ot Pennsylvania 318 
 
 Married life, happiness of ... 142 
 
 Married life 132 
 
 Martin, Rev. Enoch 79 
 
 Mason, Isaac 4 
 
 Massacre, Indian 18 
 
 Mercer County, trip to 170 
 
 Methodism, early 70 
 
 Methodists, shouting 72 
 
 Milling business 226 
 
 Miller's life, hardships of a 107 
 
 Miller of Kentucky 41 
 
 Mingo Bottom 10 
 
 Misfortunes of John Sherrard 36 
 
 Morgan's raid 281 
 
 Morrison Family 118 
 
 Moimt Pleasant in 1805 49 
 
 TSJATURALIZATION of John Sherrard ... 7 
 
 -'■^ Neighbors at Sugar Hill 247 
 
 Newton Limavady 1 
 
 New Orleans to Philadelphia 157 
 
 /^HIO, Sherrard family remove to 48 
 
 ^ Oliver, Thomas 73 
 
 One Hundred Days' Service 306 
 
 Orr, Culbertson 307 
 
 Overwork 146 
 
 pARMER, Ezekiel 75 
 
 Palsy, stroke of on John Sherrard 46 
 
 Pastors of Sherrard Family 326 
 
 Partnership, Rush Run, dissolved 143 
 
 Patent Notes 75 
 
 Patent Rights no 
 
 Paull, George 4, ^7 
 
 PauU. James, wonderful escape of 19 
 
 P^ull, Rev. George 24 
 
408 
 
 IX DEW 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Paull Family 24 
 
 Perils of the backwoods 8g 
 
 Pioneers at work 88 
 
 Pittsburgh, selling flour in 23 
 
 Pleasant Hill, why named 210 
 
 Pleasant Hill, removing to 235 
 
 Pleasant Hill purchased 239 
 
 Pleasant Hill sold 246 
 
 Poles, political 301 
 
 Poll-book, making 84 
 
 Pool, John, and the bank note 252 
 
 Pottery, Steubenville 279 
 
 Power, Rev James 9, 149 
 
 Presbyterianism 68 
 
 Property, Rush Run, divided 143 
 
 Providence and Snakes 54 
 
 Psalm-singing bigotry 70 
 
 Pumpkin Flood 85 
 
 QUAKERS 68 
 
 "D AILS, making 63 
 
 Rattlesnakes 52 
 
 Redstone Settl-ment 4 
 
 Revolution, John Sherrard and the 7 
 
 Rhea, Rev. John 78 
 
 Riley, Captain James 184 
 
 Rimersburg, drive to 304 
 
 Robbers, al <rm about 231 
 
 Rope, making 96 
 
 Rodgers, John, account of 11 
 
 Rush Run purchased 87 
 
 Rush Run mill 97 
 
 Rush Run, moving to 94 
 
 Rush Run, building mill 99 
 
 Rush Run, mill raised 103 
 
 Rush Run, mill started 106 
 
 Rush Run relics 104 
 
 Rush Run mill sold 232 
 
 CABBATH-KEEPING, old fashioned 119 
 
 ^ Salmon, Sarah A 279 
 
 Salt, scarcity of 83 
 
 Sandusky Plains, Battle of 10 
 
 Saw-mill repaired 99 
 
 School teachers 227 
 
 Scott, Rev. Abram 79 
 
 Scott, John 209 
 
 Sfott, Rev. JohnW., D.D 314 
 
 Scutching flax 94 
 
 Settlers, character of early 33 
 
 Sharon, William 50 
 
 Sharon, William, as a landlord 57 
 
 Sharon, John, and snakes 54 
 
 Sherrard Antiquities 362 
 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard. 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard. 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sheriard. 
 Sherrard. 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard. 
 Sherrard. 
 Sherrard, 
 Sherrard. 
 Sherrard. 
 Sherrard, 
 
 Hugh 18 
 
 William (i) I 
 
 John, birth i 
 
 John, emigration 3 
 
 John, in the Revolution 7 
 
 John, naturuiization of 7 
 
 John, marvellous escape of 15 
 
 John, courtship of 24 
 
 John, marriage of 34 
 
 John, children of 35 
 
 John, death of 80 
 
 Grandmother visits America 37 
 
 William (2), drowning of 179 
 
 William, letters about death . . . . 179,181 
 
 David A. C., infancy 38 
 
 David A. C, bargain with Robert . . . 115 
 
 David A. C , first marriage 128 
 
 David A. C, second marriage 299 
 
 David A C, death 299 
 
 John J., and War of 1812 101 
 
 John J., marriage 207 
 
 John J., children of 303 
 
 John J., death 302 
 
 Robert A., birth 39 
 
 Robert A., nearly drowned 43 
 
 Robert A., at sixteen 51 
 
 Robert A., bitten by copperhead ... 90 
 
 Robert A , part in War of 1812 .... 101 
 
 Robert A., first courtship 114 
 
 Robert A., engagement 123 
 
 Robert A., first marriage 126 
 
 Robert A., death of first wife 189 
 
 Robert A., second courtship 208 
 
 Robert A., second marriage 215 
 
 Robert A., church membership .... 174 
 
 Robert A., Elder in Centre 202 
 
 Robert A., Elder in Steubenville .... 297 
 
 Robert A , serious accident 306 
 
 Robert A. as a writer 301 
 
 Robert A., trip east 303 
 
 Robert A., closing days 310 
 
 Robert A., last illness 320 
 
 Robert A., death 321 
 
 Mary, last illness 188, 189 
 
 Mary Anne, marriage and history . . . 284 
 
 Joseph K., life of 324 
 
 David A. C (2), personal history . . . 270 
 
 Elizabeth, account of 275 
 
 Robert Jr., history of 276 
 
 Nancy, history of 286 
 
 John Hindman, history of 292 
 
 Jane, account of 300 
 
 Susan C, history of 3^7 
 
 Sarah, account of 268, 325 
 
 William H., life of 321 
 
IXDEX. 
 
 409 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Sherrard, Thomas J., history of 312 
 
 Sherrard, Virginia 317. 3^9 
 
 Sherrard, Hallock C ^^^, Z^9 
 
 Sherrard, May C 317. 3^9 
 
 Sherrard, Robert Andrew (2) 3^9 
 
 Sherrard, Emma Virginia 279 
 
 Sherrard, Henry C 279 
 
 Sherrard, Thomas G. cuts his foot . • 62 
 
 Sherrard, Thomas G., first trip 15^ 
 
 Sherrard, Thomas G. , second trip 157 
 
 Sherrard, Thomas G , third trip 160 
 
 Sherrard, Thomas G., marriage 176 
 
 Sherrard, Thomas G.. fourth trip 176 
 
 Sherrard, Thomas G., moves to Sandusky .... 186 
 
 Sherrard, Thomas G., death of 193 
 
 Sherrard, Thomas G , theory of death of ... . 198 
 
 Sherrard, Thomas G, character of 199 
 
 Sherrard, Thomas G., children of 200 
 
 Sherrard, Rebecca, removes to Fayette Coimty . 272 
 
 Sherrard, Jane Hindman, her later hfe 327 
 
 Sherrard Family remove to Washington, Pa . . . 324 
 
 Sherrard, Betsy Irvine, death of 299 
 
 Singing schools, early 75 
 
 Sloan, Rev. D. Harvey 314 
 
 Slavery in 1818 153 
 
 Slave, runaway 155 
 
 Sleep, loss of 109 
 
 Strength, tests of 108 
 
 Spring, Rev. Dr. Gardiner 303 
 
 Snake story 54 
 
 Snodgrass, Rev. James 68 
 
 Stanton, Edwin M 242 
 
 Sugar Hill farm purchased 244 
 
 Sugar Hill, moving to 247 
 
 Sugar Hill, final payment on 261 
 
 Sugar Hill, neighbors at 247 
 
 Sugar Hill sold 324 
 
 Swim, learning to 177 
 
 Swimming the Ohio 168 
 
 Sunday Schools in early times 170 
 
 •"r* ABLE, father's writing . 311 
 
 ■'■ "Tomahawk right " 5, f 
 
 Toothache cures 134, 136 
 
 Trading Down the River 151 
 
 Tripwithjoseph W. Hill 234 
 
 Trip through Southern Ohio 203 
 
 Trunk, old at Sugar Hill 143 
 
 Turning-lathe, primitive 56 
 
 T JSHER, James, letter tu father 363 
 
 A 7-AUGHN, the skeptic 54 
 
 ^ Vote, first of Robert A. Sherrard 84 
 
 Voting for President in 1836 256 
 
 WAR°f'8z. 100 
 
 ** Water-smelling 251 
 
 Watt, Martha 299 
 
 Waugh, Rev. Joseph 293 
 
 Wedding outfit of Mary Kithcart 137 
 
 Wedding day at Pleasant Hill 215 
 
 Well digging 251 
 
 Welday, Catharme M 271 
 
 Westbrook, William 225 
 
 Whigs 265 
 
 Whiskey Insurrection 40 
 
 White, Jesse 84,138 
 
 Widower, advice to 208 
 
 Wig, first of Robert A. Sherrard 261 
 
 Will, drawing a 240 
 
 Will, last of Robert A. Sherrard 321 
 
 Williamson, Colonel David 16 
 
 Williamsburg, Va 6 
 
 Wolves very numerous 83 
 
 Wood, William, settlement with 232 
 
 Welsh. Josiah 315 
 
 Woolfolk, Leander C 315 
 
 Writer, Robert A. Sherrard, as a 301 
 
 WANKEE scutching flax 94 
 
 yANKSVILLEin I816 141 
 
 ^ ZoU, Jacob 103 
 

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