Submitted by: Bonnie Burkhardt
From "History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, OH" by Caldwell, pub. 1880
Smith Twp. bios
page 401

Dr. Thomas H. Purviance, a venerable physician and surgeon of Steubenville, was born in Smithfield township, Jefferson county, June 15, 1814. He is the son of Thomas and Mary (Dix) Purviance, the former of whom was born in Fayette county, Penn., July 30, 1779, the latter in Jefferson county, Ohio, in the early part of August, 1783. Thomas was the son of James and Elizabeth Purviance, the former of whom was a native of England, and came to America an orphan. He became a minister of the Friends, and labored in that capacity in Fayette county, Penn., where he resided from the time he came to America, until he died. The mother of Dr. Purviance was the daughter of John and Sarah (Harlan) Dix. When the subject of this sketch was twelve years of age, his parents removed to Smithfield, Jefferson county, where he spent his youth. At the age of nineteen, he became a teacher in the public schools. After three terms he entered New Athens college, where he was graduated in 1842. He then resumed teaching for three years, at the same time being a student at medicine, under Dr. John Leslie, of Steubenville. In the fall of 1850, he entered the Physio-medical college of Cincinnati, in which he completed a full course, graduating in 1852. He then began the practice of medicine in Westchester, Tuscarawas county, Ohio. A year later, he removed to Jewett, Harrison county, where he practiced until 1874. In the spring of that year he located in Steubenville where he has since resided. Dr. Purviance was married October 27, 1836 to Sarah, daughter of Nathan and Susannah (Dix) Maxson, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Maryland. Mrs. Purviance was born in Harrison county, Ohio, December 9, 1816. She has borne to her husband, five sons and two daughters: Joseph F., a physician of Steubenville; Nathan M., a prominent attorney of Kansas; Mary A., wife of David Lowmiller, of Carroll county, Ohio; Thomas H., a prominent contractor of Steubenville; Susannah, who died, aged eleven years; Samuel T., a farmer of Barton county, Mo., and William A., at present mayor of Rosedale, Kansas. Dr. Purviance is now seventy-five years of age. He began his career as a physician nearly forty years ago, and he is still actively engaged in his profession. He has been very successful, and his practice has been both large and lucrative. He and his wife have lived together fifty-two years, and both bid fair to live for years to come, to enjoy a happy old age.

Submitted by: Bonnie Burkhardt
From "The History of the Upper Ohio Valley", by Brant & Fuller, published 1890.
Vol. 2
page 310

AMASA FRAME, son of Aaron and Tabitha Frame, was born in Harrison county, Ohio, June 26, 1859. He was educated at common schools and at Mt. Pleasant. His father was engaged in different pursuits until Amasa arrived at the age of majority. He worked with his father. Married for his first wife Elizabeth R., daughter of William and Sarah KENNARD, September, 1864. She only lived about eight months. On October 28, 1869, he married Rachel E., daughter of Robert and Jane PLUMMER. By her he became the parent of two children – Elizabeth K., born November 22, 1871; Clara E., born January 15, 1875. In 1870 he and his brother Thompson erected a shop on Sandy Ridge, and began the manufacture of wagons and the sale of lightning rods. In the spring of 1872 he came to Barnesville and started a general carriage shop, (an account of which he is given elsewhere in this work). In the spring of 1878 he again engaged in the lightning rod business, and in which he still continues. Office, on Main street, Barnesville, O.

Submitted by: Bonnie Burkhardt
From "History of Belmont & Jefferson Counties, OH" by J. A. Caldwell,
pub. 1880
Warren Twp. Bios. page 354.

CALEB BUNDY – This is the earliest ancestor of the Bundy family of whom we can obtain any record. He was born at an early period of the eighteenth century, though what particular year can not be ascertained. The only facts pertaining to his history are, that his wife;s name was Elizabeth, to whom was born a son, Demsey, July 16, 1740. Demsey was married in about the year 1767. Of his wife nothing is known other than her name, Mary, and unto them were born the following children: Milisent, December 11, 1769; Mariam, March 15, 1771; Ruth, August 22, 1773; David, August 11, 1775; Zadock, September 20, 1777; William, January 1, 1780; John, May 22, 1782; Ruth 2nd, July 4, 1784; and Mary, born July 31, 1786.

Demsey departed this life, April 10, 1798, and his wife, Mary, March 21, 1804.

Submitted by: Bonnie Burkhardt
From "History of Belmont & Jefferson Counties, OH" by J. A. Caldwell,
pub. 1880
Warren Twp. Bios. page 354.

JUDGE DANIEL D. T. COWEN, lawyer and jurist, son of Benjamin S. Cowen, was born in Moorefield, Harrison county, Ohio, January 20, 1826. From a very early age until December, 1832, he attended school in Moorefield, and upon the removal of his parents to St. Clairsville, he became a student of its common schools, and of Brook's Institute, of that place, of which his father was one of the founders. In the fall of 1841, he completed a course in the classics at Cadiz, Ohio, which was followed by a study of medicine, under the tutorship of Dr. John ALEXANDER, of St. Clairsville, and upon completion of a full course in medicine, he began the study of law under his father and Hon. Hugh J. JEWETT. On January 20, 1847, he was admitted to practice at Columbus, and at once entered his professional career, at St. Clairsville. In 1851, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Belmont county, was re-elec ted in 1853, and also in 1855. Upon the resignation of John W. OKEY, one of the Judges of the Common Pleas bench of his district, Mr. Cowen was appointed by the governor to fill the vacancy. From 1854 until 1862, he was a member of the Board of School Examiners of Belmont county, at which latter date he resigned to enter the army. In 1862 he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the 52nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served with that command, and for the greater part of the time, in charger of it, until February, 1863, when he resigned on account of the illness of his wife.

Judge Cowen was one of the originators of the First National Bank of St. Clairsville, organized in April, 1864, and ever since he has filled its Presidency.

He was, on March 28, 1848, married to Miss Hannah F. MARTIN, of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, who died May 3rd, 1864. On August 8th, 1865, he married her sister, Ann E. MARTIN. In 1 867, h e was elected President of the St. Clairsville Building Association, the first organization of the kind in town, and filled that office until its successful close six years thereafter. This association was followed by the Richland Building Association, of which he has been its President from the date of its organization in January, 1874.

He was a delegate to the Ohio Constitutional Convention of 1873, and was one of its most active members, filling positions on important committees, framing articles for incorporation, and urging needed amendments to the organic law of the State.

Judge Cowen is one of the oldest practicing lawyers at the Belmont county bar, and has a large and influential clientage.

Submitted by: Bonnie Burkhardt
From "History of Belmont & Jefferson Counties, OH" by J. A. Caldwell,
pub. 1880
St. Clairsville Bios. page 241.

HON. LORENZO DANFORD, attorney-at-law, was born in Belmont county, Ohio, October 18, 1829. His father was a prominent farmer, and held several offices of trust, the duties of which he discharged with intelligence and fidelity. Our subject attended the common schools and finished his education at Waynesburg, Pa. When twenty-three years of age he began to read law in St. Clairsville with Carlo C. CARROLL, and was admitted to the bar in 1854. In 1856 he entered the political arena as a Whig, supported Filmore for the presidency, and was upon the state electoral ticket. Afterwards he affiliated with the Republican party, and became a distinguished member of it. In 1857 he was elected prosecuting attorney for Belmont county, and was re-elected in 1859, vacating the office in 1861, prior to the expiration of his term, to join the army. On October 7, 1858, he was married to Annie H. COOK, of Jeffer son co unty, Ohio, who died October 24, 1867. He enlisted as a private in the 17th O. V. I. For three month's service, and was mustered out in August following. He returned home and assisted in raising a company for the 15th Ohio, of which he was elected second lieutenant. In 1862 he was promoted to the first lieutenancy, and then to the position of captain, which he resigned, August 1, 1864, on account of ill health. He was active and influential in his support of Lincoln in 1860 and 1864, and was one of the electoral delegation from Ohio which gave the vote of that state to Mr. Lincoln. On October 27, 1870, he married Mary M. ADAMS of St. Clairsville, Ohio. In October, 1872, he was elected on the Republican ticket to the Forty-third Congress, from the sixteenth Ohio District, his opponent having been C. L. POORMAN, who ran as a Liberal Republican. In 1874, he was re-elected, his opponent having been on this occasion, H. BOYLE, Esq. I n 1876 he was again re-elected over William A. LAWRENCE. At the expiration of this term, he declined a renomination, preferring to return to his profession rather than continue in public life. Mr. Danford was the successor of Hon. John A. BINGHAM, and has served the interests of his constituency and the people at large with distinguished ability. He has a wide reputation as a lawyer of great learning ans skill, and as an orator his speeches in the House of Representatives, as well as his addresses to the bench, evince an ability for trenchant argument possessed by few men. He is deserving of the credit and esteem accorded him for his successful career, as it is the result of constantly exercised energy directed by noble purposes.

Submitted by: Bonnie Burkhardt
From "History of Belmont & Jefferson Counties, OH" by J. A. Caldwell,
pub. 1880
St. Clairsville Bios. page 240-1.

ROBERT Y. PRICE – The subject of this sketch is a native of Calvert county, Md., where he was born February 21, 1815, and is the son of Robert and Keziah Price. In the ensuing spring his father, accompanied by Benjamin BOWEN, his brother-in-law, together with their families, started on their long and tedious journey to the small cluster of cabins known as the town of Barnesville, Belmont county, Ohio. They came to Baltimore by water, at which place they employed a teamster to haul them as far as Pittsburgh. They reached their destination in October of the same year. Robert's education was obtained at subscription schools; he was reared a farmer, and followed the same for his father until twenty-eight years of age. On the 2nd day of March, 1843, he was united in marriage to Margaret NUZUM, daughter of Joshua and Ellen Nuzum, natives of Ireland. Seven children are the fruit of this union, viz: Benjamin, born February 28, 1844, and is a dentist in Iowa City, Iowa; John, born April 12, 1846, is a farmer in Warren township; Theodore, born July 26, 1848, is a farmer in Warren township; Winfield, born May 22, 1852, and died when some eleven months of age; Henry, born May 4, 1854, is also a farmer of Warren township; Lucy E., born October 14, 1856, married George W. WILSON, who resides in Lake Port, California; Mary A., born June 28, 1860, the only one of the family not married. Directly after Mr. Price was married, he moved to the farm now occupied by Charles GRIFFIN, where he remained for five years, and then removed to the farm on which he now resides. His farm is underlaid with coal of an excellent quality. The principal crop grown by Mr. Price is tobacco; however, he raises a sufficient quantity of the different kinds of grain for his own use. His farm is situate in section No. 32, Warren township, three and a half mile s from Barnesville. It has become renowned, owing to the fact that on it are located the celebrated track rocks, a history of which is current, and which are fully described elsewhere in this work.

Submitted by: Bonnie Burkhardt
From "History of Belmont & Jefferson Counties, OH" by J. A. Caldwell,
pub. 1880
Warren Twp. Bios. page 354.

John Edwards, Sr., born in Wales in 1735, traveled to Belmont Co., Ohio, with many members of his family. He died in Flushing Twp. on 15 Jul 1823 at age 88 and is buried in the Stillwater Presbyterian Church Cemetery.

John, Sr.’s wife Ealinor came to Ohio with him, but she was probably not his first wife and may not have been the mother of any of his children. The others who came to Ohio were sons Thomas Edwards, Sr. (c. 1765-1807) and his wife Elizabeth Watkins (1768-1830), whom he married in Wales on 18 May 1789, John Edwards, Jr. (c. 1768-after 1823), James Edwards (?-after 1823), Mary (dates unknown), and Elizabeth (1780-1859). John and James probably brought wives, but their names are not known. Mary married William Lappings (Lappit, Lappin, Lappinger) in Belmont Co. on 23 Nov 1803. Elizabeth married John H. Price (1771-1847) in Belmont Co. in 1802. She and John were active members of Stillwater Presbyterian Church, left it money in their wills, and are buried in its cemetery. Another daughter, Anne, remained in Wales with her husband John Jones. A letter Anne wrote to her sister Elizabeth Price in 1825 listed several brothers and sisters of John Edwards, Sr. who also remained in Wales.

The Edwards family were farmers. John Edwards, Sr. purchased a section of land on McMahons Creek in 1800, as recorded in Belmont Co. tax records for 1802 and 1803 (“Belmont County, Ohio, Before 1830” Fedorchak & Ochsenbein, BCOGS, 1977). In 1806 he purchased another section which he sold in parcels to various people, including many of his family members (“Deed Abstracts, Belmont Co., OH, 1800-1811” Quillon, Willow Bend Books, 2001). John, Sr.’s will, written in 1815, left money and, in some cases, livestock to Ealinor, Mary Lappings, Elizabeth Price, and John Edwards, Jr., and left the remainder of his estate – money, real estate, mills, and other buildings – to his youngest son James Edwards, with the request that it be passed on to James’s son John. When the will was probated in 1823, John, Jr. and James were still alive to be appointed executors, but no further trace of them has been found. Ealinor may have predeceased her husband. Also, neither Mary nor her husband William Lappings been located. Elizabeth and John Price, however, remained in Belmont Co. and founded a large family which has since spread out over the rest of the state and beyond.

John Edwards, Sr., did not mention his son Thomas in his will because Thomas had died in 1807. Thomas’s own sons created confusion for later Edwards researchers. All four sons – Walter, John, Thomas, Jr., and David – are often listed as sons of John Edwards, Sr. In addition, many think that John Edwards, Jr. married Prudence Booth when it was, in fact, Thomas’s son John who married her. Likewise, Thomas and his son Thomas are often conflated into one person who married Anna McBride, when she was really the son’s wife. Thomas died so early that he doesn’t appear in most surviving Belmont Co. records. Fortunately, the record of his wife Elizabeth’s appointment as executrix of his estate survives as well as a Henderson Co., IL, history in which his son Thomas gave his parents’ names. In addition, Thomas, Sr. was recorded as buying land from his father, John, Sr. in Richland (later Wheeling) Twp. in 1806. This was the same land on which Elizabeth and her sons continued to live and pay taxes. All of Thomas’s descendants had left Belmont Co. by 1860, leaving no known descendants there.

[Photographs of the gravestones of Elizabeth Watkins Edwards and her son John Edwards in Belmont Co., and her son Walter Edwards in Knox Co. appear in the Ohio Tombstone Photo Project.]

Submitted by Joanne Gaudio Copyright 2006

George Hartsock, a farmer, residing in Sharon township, post office Iowa City. Was born February 6, 1830, in Pennsylvania; went with his parents to Belmont county, OH., and lived there twelve years, and finally in 1847 moved with his farther [father], John Hartsock, and settled in Sharon township, Johnson county, Iowa. He was married January 1st, 1856, to Miss Elizabeth C. Huff; she died August 19th, 1865. This union is blessed with following named children: Marietta, wife of Emory Ives, Eva M., wife of C. J. Nagy, Jennie S., wife of Edwin Hummer, Jessie A. and Jacob M. June 16, 1866,he married Mattie E. Hay; by this union they had two children: Homer E. and George L. After the death of this wife he married Mary A. Evans, October 1, 1874; by this union came one child, Stella. This wife died January 31, 1880. He is a republican in politics. He is one Sharon township's successful farmers, and is comfortably situated on 220 acres of good land.

Submitted by: Mary Hitchcock
Source: History of Johnson Co, IA 1836-1882, Page 837.

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