| BRADFORD FAMILY MOVES TO OHIO |
| In 1807, John & Hannah Bradford had finally decided it was time to move. Mary, the youngest, was now 3 years old, and old enough to travel. Travel to Ohio could be completed in one of two ways. The first was to travel with mules carrying the supplies while the family walked; this was the method used to cross over Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. The second method was to travel with a wagon. The Conestoga wagon was developed in 1734 and would make history with its use on the National Road and later while crossing the plains to California and Oregon. But, because of the primitive trails in Pennsylvania and Ohio, the large wagon with its broad wheels, could not be used. Therefore, smaller flat-bottom farm wagons with high sideboards (they were topped with wooden barrel strips that supported a sailcloth or heavy linen covering) were needed, not only to haul provisions for the long trip, but also to sustain the family until crops were planted and harvested (ox-drawn wagons proved to be much faster than horses, but they were very expensive). There is no written record regarding the Bradford’s trip to Ohio, but it is surmised that they may have decided on two small wagons to carry John & Hannah, and the six children making the trip. Room was also needed to carry supplies for the trip and their home in Ohio. John (62 years old) and Hannah (45 years old) would lead off in the first wagon, with Peter (21 years old), Elizabeth (16 years old) and William (13 years old) in the second wagon Gasper (8 years old), James (6 years old) and Mary (3 years old) would be divided in the two wagons. Remaining in Virginia were the families of Joseph Bradford, Nancy Bradford Tucker, and George Bradford. John Bradford, Jr. also remained behind (he would marry in 1809). The trip to Ohio by the Bradfords would take over a month to travel the 300 miles. Although they would travel over established routes on the Cumberland Road, Zen’s Trace and the Federal Trail, in 1807 the trail was still very primitive. There were also few ferries on the route to assist in crossing the many rivers. On a good day they might travel 15 miles and on mountainous trails make at most 10 miles a day. Many families traveling west would leave in spring, so they would arrive at their destination in time to clear land and plant crops. But, many families left in autumn after the summer “fever” season abated. They also planned for an upland farm to avoid the fevers and chills associated with river bottoms and decaying vegetation. Leaving the family and friends behind, the family would take two days to travel the 44 miles to Romney. From Romney to Fort Ashby, the road was still very rough and all but the smallest children would now walk the rest of the way to Ohio (the Fort was built in 1755 by George Washington as one of 69 forts built to protect the western Virginians). After Fort Ashby another day of travel, 15 miles to Cumberland, Maryland. Cumberland was first started as a trading post on Willis Creek in 1749. General Edward Braddock and Lt. George Washington arrived here in 1755 with 2,100 soldiers during the French and Indian War. To attack the French at Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh), Braddock decided to construct a road 12’ wide for his wagons to travel. Following the old Nemacolin Indian trail, three hundred soldiers and frontiersmen cut down trees and advanced the road at 2 to 5 miles a day. The road crossed six towering ranges of the Allegheny Mountains and several rivers. After the Battle in which Braddock was killed, Colonel Bouquet directed Colonel James Burd in 1759, to proceed to the Monongalhela River, erect a fort (Brownsville) and build a road east to connect with Braddock’s road. The road was later extended to Washington and then Wheeling (in 1806 Congress authorized construction of the National Road that would follow the Cumberland Trail). The Bradford family had now traveled 64 miles to Cumberland and as they left the city they realized they had 249 miles to go. Traveling west through the “Narrows” they began a 59-mile trip over the Allegheny Mountains. They crossed Savage Mountains (today the trail can still be seen) and found some level spots on the western slope; the ascent of more than two miles is very steep and rocky. The descent for a half-mile or more is also very ragged and in places very steep. On the steepest roads over the mountains, teams were doubled and during the descent, ropes had to be attached to slow the wagon and also present it from turning over. They then crossed Savage River, Red Hill Mountain, Negro Mountain and at Keyser’s Ridge they reached the highest point at 2,843’ (Cumberland was at an elevation of 537’). They then crossed the Mason-Dixon line into Pennsylvania and reached Smithfield (laid out in 1795 and changed to Somerfield in 1818). Here at Smithfield they crossed the Younghiosheny River by ferry (referred to as the “Great Crossing”). After about another seven miles, the family reached the site of Fort Necessity (George Washington fought the French here on July 3, 1754. After a one-day battle, a truce was negotiated and Washington left and the French burnt the fort. In 1769, Washington returned and purchased the 255 acres, which included the “Great Meadow” and the remains of the stockade. In 1932 it became a National Park). A mile northwest of this location is the grave of General Braddock who was killed in 1755. (He was buried in the middle of the road so the Indians would not find him. In 1804, during some work on the road, the remains were found and he was interred on a flat above the ravine). It is in this area, that Braddock’s trail turned north, while Burd’s trail of 1759 went west. Ten miles further, The Bradfords finally escaped the difficult mountains and arrived on the Appalachian Plateau at Uniontown (settled in 1794). The family had now traveled 123 miles and had 190 miles to go. They probably stopped at one of many taverns in the city. Allen tavern was built in 1788 and was owned by Margaret Allen (she was 88 years old in 1807). Most taverns were also referred to as “wagon stands” as each had a wagon yard where the teams were driven, fed and spent the night. Beer was unknown and Ale was available in limited quantities. But, whiskey was the leading beverage and it was plentiful and cheap. Travel now followed Redstone creek 14 miles to Brownsville and the Monongahela River. Brownsville, site of Burd’s fort, was founded as a city in 1785. Thousands of westward bound emigrants stopped here to determine further travel. Some travelers purchased or built boats that would take them up the Monongahela River to Pittsburgh, where the river joined the Allegheny River to form the Ohio and then make the trip down the Ohio to Kentucky. Or they could save time and cross by land to Wheeling and the Ohio River. It is believed that the Bradfords crossed the river by ferry and traveled west to Wheeling, Virginia and the Ohio River. Ebenezer and Silas Zane had built Fort Fincastle (renamed Fort Henry in 1776) and founded the city of Wheeling. Later Zane purchased Wheeling Island from Cornplanter, Seneca Chief, for a barrel of whiskey. In 1796, Congress passed a highway bill, creating the first road in the Northwest Territory. Ebenezer Zane was instructed to slash through the woods, from the Ohio River, opposite Wheeling, 226 miles to Limestone (Maysville). Ebenezer and a party of woodsmen cut a trail road that followed the earlier Mingo trail. In two years the trail and three river crossings were completed. The “Zane’s Trace” was a rough and narrow road walled with a forest and ribbed with roots of giant trees. The wilderness was dominating factor in Ohio. Awe of the majestic trees and the depression they felt in the darkness. They leafy canopy of the trees obscured the sun and troubled the family as they traveled in the hidden forest depths. (Conrad Richter, Pulitzer Prize Winner, wrote the book “The Trees”. In his book he writes about the pioneers in the endless Ohio forest. He describes it as “the dark country”). The sharp hills were covered with white oak timber principally. The Bradfords had traveled 187 miles to Wheeling and had a choice of going down the Ohio on a boat, or following the trace east. It is believed they crossed the Ohio by ferry to Wheeling Island and then traveled east 9 miles to St. Clairsville, then another 31 miles to Old Washington. The Colonial Inn, in Old Washington, was established in 1805 and was described as the most commodious on the road. Traveling west the family would meet heavily loaded wagons pulled by six horses, taking goods east. Emigrants traveling west sometimes traveled with their livestock (cows, sheep, hogs and all kinds of farming implements and domestic utensils, and some without; some with wagons; some with carts and some on foot. From Old Washington it was 7 miles to Cambridge and then 36 miles to Zanesville. Ebenezer Zane and his partner John McIntyre laid out the city in 1799 and called it “Westbourne”. The city was at the junction of the Licking and Muskingum rivers and the Zane’s operated the ferry for travelers on the trace. In March 1784, Congress accepted Virginia’s cession of her western lands, with the exception of a large area for her Revolutionary soldiers, known as the “Virginia Military District”. The district was surveyed in a “grid” system that divided the land into north-south lines five miles wide, called Ranges. East-west lines were surveyed and each block became a township (New Castle township in Coshocton County, where the Bradfords were headed, was located in Range 9, township 6). When the Bradfords arrived in Zanesville, only four families had obtained land in New Castle Township, from the Zanesville Land Office (opened in 1805): Robert Caldwell December 5, 1805 Section 3 Obed Meredith December 24, 1805 Section 21 John Pritchard January 14, 1807 Section 22 Coley Harris September 29, 1807 Section 18 John Bradford was a veteran and was settling in the “Military District”, in New Castle Township, but the land he obtained was not found in the old records. The Bradfords had now traveled 260 miles to Zanesville, with about 53 miles to go. They traveled north along the Muskingum River and followed the Federal Trail (an old Indian trail was enlarged by General Arthur St. Clair’s army in 1791, when they were unable to use water transportation). The family arrived in the Walholding River Valley and the “City of Tuscarawas” (the city was laid out in 1802 and the name was changed to Coshocton in 1809). Traveling west the final 20 miles, the family passed a large broken cliff, which was called White Woman Rock. According to legend, it was here that a young white woman jumped over the cliff to escape the Indians. Also, according to legend, the prisoner did not drown, but secreted herself in the crevices of the rock, waited until dark, then made her way to civilization. The word “Walholding” (the river that they were traveling) is a poetic and musical word in the Indian language, meaning “White Women”. |
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