Day 6:
Boat ride on the Ohio River.

Today we took a paddleboat ride down the Ohio River. The owner's son gave a history of river travel and life on the Ohio around Marrietta.  I thought the river would be rougher and faster than it was.  River travel for Christopher and Martha would have been much better than overland travel.  I bet they were filled with awe and excitement at the view of the wilderness potential.

This is the landing where the pioneers pulled into Marrietta after their long trip down the Ohio River.  Imagine their flatboat tied up by those trees. They had to unload all of their belongings, animals, two small children.....etc.  Often the flatboats were taken apart and used for other needs.  At this point in the journey Christopher and his friend George Wolf put supplies in the canoes along with one child.  Martha and George 's wife load supplies and animals for the long walk to Athens.......strong of will, strength and persistence.

After the boat ride, we drove to Nelsonville.  This is where our grandfather, William Clyde Herrold lived as a young boy.  The above picture is the downtown. 

If you read grandpa's book, he tells about getting in the wagon on a Sunday to go to Athens to HIS grandpa's farm. (I think grandpa was about 8 years old). His dad would drive the wagon through downtown and they would stop at the bakery for a "store bought" cookie. This was a real treat because they didn't have much money.  SO, we stopped at the Sunflower Bakery in downtown Nelsonville for a cookie. The owner was just closing up shop but when she heard our story she graciously brought out cookies and sold us some.  We ate them in honor of our grandpa, William and his parents.  

Then we went to our 1850 house (an airbnb) to unload and regroup. 

One thing I have not talk about much......but we always seem to find really great places to eat.!!!!

Tag Sechs            Martha, Her Decendants
                  and Headstones Found and Not Found

We are still trying to find Martha Magdalena and Christopher.  Martha and Christopher were married 26 years when Christopher passed. It is written they are buried in Wolf Plains which is now Plains Hocking Cemetary.

 It is a very small cemetary and we feel we covered it pretty good on foot. Steve and Teri did find three small worn stones in an overgrown thicket. So many headstones have become smooth since 1823...We were so disappointed not to find them but we figured Martha would say, " Stop this nonsense and wandering around and get back to work."
Today we did stop at her home after marrying her next husband Silas Bingham soon after Christopher's death November 3, 1823.

Called the Silas Bingham House, it is now the visitors center for Athens University. Two stories, giant poplar logs built in 1803. Silas was a Revolutionary vet, first sheriff and started many businesses. Martha was mother to her 11 kids, his 12 kids adoptd two other children in need and for good measure added their own child little Hiram Bingham. Info at the loghouse stated she was called Magdalena.
After Silas died in 1832, Martha Magdalena Cable Bingham Jackson married for the last time to John Jackson and finally passed June 16, 1867 and is supposed to be near Christopher at Wolf Plains. Martha tell us where you are......we want to say a blessing.

Day 5:

We spent the night at the Grand Lafayette Riverboat Hotel.  This hotel is on the Historical register. It is 110 years old. We had breakfast in the "gun room" which displayed antique long rifles.

The early pioneers arrived at Marrietta which was the first settlement in the Ohio area. The Ohio Company founded Marrietta with the intent to sell land to the military servicemen and other pioneers.

Our first stop of the day was at Campus Martius Museum. This museum focuses on the early settlers and early life of Marrietta.

This is the original house of General Putnum, one of the founding fathers of Marrietta.  Putnum's house was part of the first stockade.

In the museum is the original land office where the pioneers came to purchase their land from the Ohio Company.  

We were able to walk into the land office and stand in the place where Christopher Herrold payed $250 for 200 acres.  

Here is the table where the paperwork was sign and payment made.  SO COOL to be in the same space imagining the interactions and the collective energy of the moment. 

After visiting the land office we decide to see if we could find the paperwork.  So we went to the courthouse.

This is us at the Court House. You have to look in a book of lists by name and date. Then it tells you to the number of another book and which page number. We found two contracts showing what Christopher bought. (Interestingly Christopher was going by the nickname "Stophel" during the time of the  purchase. We made copies of the land contracts.

Our last adventure of the day was to the Ohio River museum. Here we learned about the early settlers means of transportation and tools the would have had. We have learned talking with our Herrold cousin that Christopher and Martha started out on a raft down the river to Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh). At Pittsburgh, they changed to a flatboat and floated down the Ohio River to Marrietta. In the stories about Christopher and Martha's travels, it talks about the two men loading the canoe. Through discussion and knowing that John Herrold was a miller, we believe Christopher could have had mill tools. We had trouble envisioning putting all that in a canoe. We thought maybe it really was a keel boat. Then we saw the canoe. It was HUGE!!

Qualities we love about Christopher and Martha:

• Courageous
• Tenacity
• Hungry for a better life
• Hard working partners

Tag Funf                Martha Cable Herrold
                                    One Heck of a Woman
                              Our Third Great-Grandmother
                             
Christopher and Martha met while working their parents land. They married and wanted opportunity of their own and in 1797 that meant land. We know Christopher had land in what is now Murraysville.

I found their journey from Pennsylvania to Ohio Territory a remarkable story and now as we trace the route along Ohio and Hocking rivers and Federal creek, I am overwhelmed by all they accomplished. Maybe at best 10 miles a day by mud, barely passable creeks and mature woods- perhaps 30 days overland for Martha.
1799. Christopher arrived at the land office and bought his first purchase of 100 acres for $150.00. He returned to Millersburg to pack up Martha and the two children and then make their way down-river to Marietta, soon buying another 100 acres for $100.00, probably near water to make a mill. It is written by Thomas Ewing, published 1869,"We of course had no mills....until Christopher Herrold set up a horse mill on the ridge....". Later, according to The History of Athens County, Christopher and Daniel Herrold supplied 27,964 board feet of lumber at $1.12 per hundred feet for a new college building at Athens. What is impressive about Christopher and Martha is the ability to accomplish so much from a trip down a river. "Just give us the chance and we can do it."

Before you read the following consider where you put the children, the mill and the still:

The following is a published account of the journey:

Just a Walk in the Wilderness – Martha Magdelena Cable 

The following is copied from the Evening Dispatch (Michigan City, Indiana) of Wednesday, September 7, 1910:  Christopher Herrold, the son of John Herrold, was born near Elder's Ford, a few miles from Blairsville, Pa., on the Conemaugh river, Indiana County, Pa., March 20, 1777. Martha Cable, the wife of Christopher Herrold was a daughter of Martin and Christina Repley Cable, and was born November 27, 1783. They were married August 8, 1797, in Indiana County, Pa. Christopher was then but 20 years old and his father believed in having boys stay at home and work for their parents until of age, so he refused to give him his time, so Christopher accompanied by his wife went into the fields and worked the required time. At the time of their marriage she was but 14 years of age, but owing to the fact that her parents were preparing to move from Indiana County, Christopher and Martha feared that if she went with them they might not meet again, so they decided to get married. In the year 1798 they began to work for themselves, clearing the woods and both working together. In the spring of 1800 several families of Indiana County, Pa. immigrated to Ohio and settled on land known as the Ohio company purchase. Among them were George Wolf and wife and Christopher Herrold and family, consisting of his wife and two children, John aged 2 years and Daniel, a babe of six weeks, both having been born in Pennsylvania. Their possessions consisted of one ox - the mate having died during the winter - two cows, two sheep, a two-year old colt and a few household goods. They came by Pittsburgh down the Ohio river in a flat boat as far as Marietta, Ohio, which was founded in the year 1788. This was the first town west of the Alleghany Mountains and the first permanent settlement in what is now the State of Ohio. The settlement was established by a few families under the auspices of the Ohio company. This company controlled 2,300 square miles situated along the Ohio River from Marietta nearly to the extremity of the state and extending north to Hocking County, which is near the center of the State, and owing to the cheap lands and other inducements offered by the company attracted settlers to this portion of the northwest territory. At Marietta they loaded a portion of their possessions, consisting of two barrels of flour and household goods, into two canoes. Wolf took one and Herrold the other, with John, his two-year old son, whom he tied with a bed cord to the canoe so he could not fall out. The women taking the other child and stock started across the country, then a wilderness, to Athens County, their future home. This trip was quite an undertaking for two women through an unbroken forest inhabited by wild animals, but having been reared on the border land of civilization, they were inured to the exposure and hardships of pioneer life. They did not hesitate, but started with determination on their long and tedious journey of fifty miles. They put a pack saddle on the back of the ox to carry some clothing, provisions and beds. Before reaching their destination their herd had been increased by the arrival of two calves and twin lambs. So far they had succeeded in getting along very well, the women taking turns riding the colt and carrying the baby while the other drove the stock. With this accumulation of difficulties they found it necessary to devise some new plan before proceeding on their journey. Mrs. Herrold, the more resourceful of the two in overcoming difficulties, took a coverlet and sewed the calves up in it, leaving their heads out. This they threw over the back of the ox, placing the pack saddle on the back of the cow. She then took her husband's Sunday coat, sewed up the ends of the sleeves, and put a lamb in each sleeve, securing them so they could not get out. She then put them on the back of the other cow, and then proceeded on their journey, arriving in due time at their home. The men proceeded down the Ohio to the mouth of the Hocking river, then up this river to Federal creek, then up this creek to their destination. As they came up the stream they stopped at the home of Silas Dean and inquired if he had seen any movers pass there. He said, "Yes, and a hell of a figure they cut, too. One woman was riding a two-year old colt, and carrying a 'young 'un' and the other woman was driving two sheep and two cows, one with a pack on its back and the other with two lambs sewed up in the sleeves of a coat and slung across her back, and an old ox with a coverlet with two calves sewed up in it and slung over its back." This proved to be the first tidings the men had had of their families since leaving Marietta. After a hearty laugh the men started on their journey and soon joined their families, who had arrived in safety with the first cargo of livestock. They settled on Federal creek, Ames Township, Athens County, Ohio.  Also in the same newspaper article: Christopher Herrold died August 25, 1823, aged 46 years, 5 months, 18 days, and was buried at Wolf's Plains, near Athens, Ohio. After his death his wife, Martha Cable Herrold, married Capt. Silas Bingham, and one son, Hiram Bingham was born in 1825. Capt. Bingham dying in 1832, she afterwards married John Jackson. She died June 16, 1867 aged 83 years, 7 months, 19 days, and was laid to rest beside her first husband in the cemetery at Wolf's Plains. When Grandmother Herrold passed away she left a long line of descendants. There were then living 210, as follows; 11 children, 86 grandchildren, 104 great grandchildren and 9 great-great grandchildren. _________________________ A similar accounting of the story of Martha Cable Herrold traveling from Marietta to Federal Creek is related by William H. Herrold, Martha's grandson, in "The Wolfe Family History", by Nora Wolfe Atkinson, Dru Riley Evarts, editor, Lawhead Press, 1964, pp. 26-29 

Christopher Herrold (our 3X great-grandfather and Martha Magdelena Cable).          

This is about their move from Pennsylvania to Athens, Ohio. 

Story from the family of George Wolff @ Christopher Herrold and his wife Martha Magdalena Cable Herrold  

GEORGE2 WOLFF (ANDREAS1) was born June 26, 1771 in PA., and died February 07, 1850 in Athens County Ohio.He married JANE PISOR April 02, 1800 in Westmoreland City, PA.  Notes for GEORGE WOLFF: Born February 17, 1774, baptized February 9, 1778 at Herrolds church. Sponsored by Mother, Eva Crebs Wolff, wife of Andreas.   

George arrived in Athens County in 1797 and located farming land near where Concord Church still stands. He returned to his home in Westmoreland County, PA in 1800 several families of Westmoreland County migrated to Ohio and settled on land that was known as Ohio Company`s Purchase. Among these were George Wolf and his bride, And Christopher Herrold with his wife and two children. Their possessions consisted of one ox (their mare having died during the winter), two cows, two sheep, a two-year-old colt and a few household goods.  They came by Pittsburg, down the Ohio River in a flat boat as far as Marietta, which was then a permanent settlement of the Ohio Company. Here they loaded a portion of their possessions, consisting of two barrels of flour and some household goods into two canoes. George Wolf took one and Herrold with his two-year-old son (tied in the canoe with bed cord) took the other, and they set out to reach their Athens County properties by way of the Ohio and Hocking Rivers and Federal Creek. This trip was quite and undertaking, but even more so was the overland trip of the two wives, who set out on foot with the Herrold baby and the livestock to journey 50 miles through unbroken forest to meet their husbands in Athens County, their future homes.  They put a pack saddle on the back of the ox to carry some clothing, provisions, and bedding. Before reaching their destinations, their livestock herd had increased by the arrival of twin lambs and two calves. They had been getting along by taking turns riding on the colt with the baby and driving the livestock. But these new arrivals increased the difficulties and made going ahead very tedious. Finally they took a coverlet and sewed the twin calves in one on either side with their heads sticking out, and threw this strange "saddle bag" over the ox`s back. Then they took Christopher Herrold`s Sunday best suit coat which they had been carrying, sewed up the ends of the sleeves, put a lamb in each sleeve, and arranges this strange cargo over the back of one of the cows. The other cow carries the pack that had previously been on the ox`s back. Thus, they went on with only trail blazings to guide their way.