From Settlement Map, NW Franklin County, Virginia, 1786-1886
Made for the Franklin County Historical Society; Mrs. Gertrude C. Mann, Historian-Researcher, 1/1/1976

1810 Census heads of households (all in Franklin County, Virginia):

Adam Heartsell                             - Phillip's son, David's father
Phillip Heartsell (over 45 years old)      - Adam's father
George Heartsell (m. Sussanah Toney)       - Adam's cousin

1 male 45 & over   - Philip Heartsell   b. before 1765
1 female 45 & over - Christina Barbara  b. before 1765
1 male 16-25       - Frederick?         b. 1785-1794
1 male 10-15       - ?                  b. 1794-1800
1 female 10-15     - ?                  b. 1794-1800

The Adam Hartzell family lived northwest of Rocky Mount, Franklin County, Virginia, from about 1792 to 1815. In 1810, going by neighboring names in the 1810 census, and the names on the Franklin County Settlement Map above, they were living in the Blackwater River Valley almost due west of Boones Mill, and west of Cahas Mountain. Adam Hartzell was living near John Webster, James McVey, Samuel Webster, and John Webster. Eight names from Adam is the George Hartzell who married Susannah Toney in 1809. William Toney is nearby. The double dashed line (a road) running up from east of Algoma and past Dillons Mill is now called Dillons Mill Road (route 643). At Blackwater Chapel, the road follows Paynes Creek, and is now called Flanders Road. From Blackwater Chapel, no road is shown going up the Blackwater River, but it is now a continuation of Dillons Mill Road. According to Mapquest directions from Boones Mill, go west on Bethlehem Road for 5.1 miles. Turn right on Dillon's Mill Road. Dillon's Mill Road alternately becomes VA-643 and back to Dillon's Mill. Go 5.1 miles to what would be 4500 Dillon's Mill Road. Adam Hartzell lived about where Key Gap Road is now located, or maybe a little south of that. As of this writing, you can go to www.mapquest.com, and get a map for 4500 Dillons Mill Road. That isn't a real address, but where it would be if there was a house there. Use Aerial View to see what the valley looks like, and how narrow it is. You can drag the image to see what the valley looks like farther south. It's not very wide.

A fascinating document is Merle Rummel's "The Virginia Settlement or the Four Mile Church of the Brethren", currently online at www.union-county.lib.in.us/GenwebVA4mile/Table%20of%20Contents%204M.htm. If not there, try doing a Google search. It tells of many of the families in this area and their migration to the Miami River Valley in Montgomery County, Ohio (where Adam goes in 1815), and Union County, Indiana (where George and Susannah (Toney) Hartsell went around the same time). It was the Lybrook, Toney, Moss, Miller, Kingery, Webster families, some of whom left before 1810 and were not in the 1810 Franklin County VA census. One wonders if some of these people came to Virginia as a group from Pennsylvania. Notable is Rev. (Elder) Jacob Miller just north of where Adam Hartzell lived. He went to the Dayton, Ohio area in 1802. About 3 miles NE of Ellerton, Ohio is the Jacob Miller cemetery, presumably the location of his church. Also notable is Edmund Moss (not on the map, but in the 1810 VA census). He lived next door to George (m. Susannah Toney), and then Edmund's son William was next door to George in Union County, Indiana in 1830. Phillip Lybrook moved to Union County, Indiana in 1806.

Our ancestor David Hartzell was born in this area of Virginia November 20, 1805 (date derived from gravestone). This was during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, whose term in office was 1801-1809. It was also during the Lewis & Clark expedition (1804-1806). Most of the United States was still unexplored wilderness. The Declaration of Independence had been signed only 29 years before David Hartzell was born.

The 1810 Census for Franklin County Virginia shows in the household for Adam Heartsell:

1 male 26-45     - Adam
1 female 26-45   - Christina
1 male 16-20     - John
1 male 16-20     - Jacob?
1 male 10-16     - George (m. Nancy Goode)? - not Jonas, s/o Adam & Sara Hartzell.
1 daughter 10-16 - Elizabeth?
1 male under 10  - Leonard
1 male under 10  - Daniel?
1 male under 10  - David
Son Phillip now had his own household; he is on the same page as Adam.
Catherine must have married.

From "Marriage Bonds of Franklin County, Virginia" after 1800:

George Hartzell and Sussanah Toney 3/28/1809     - Adam's cousin.
     Surety was James Toney 
     See 1830's section for Union County 
     Indiana and James Alexander connection.
Jacob Hartzell and Hannah Capper 11/19/1816      - David's brother
     Surety was Jacob Wimmer
George Hartzell and Nancy Goode 6/2/1823         - in David's generation
     Surety was Cornelius Kinsey
George Hartzell and Sally Clark 7/22/1838        - in David's generation
     Surety was Otey Hambrick

Adam's father, Johann Philip Hartzell, died around 1815 near Rocky Mount, Virginia. The time of his death may have played a role as to when Adam Hartzell decided to "follow everyone else" to Ohio.

David's brother Jacob Hartzell married Hannah Capper in 1816 in Franklin County, Virginia. They stayed behind in Virginia. David's uncle Abraham, already in Virginia by 1796, married Eve Houtz in Franklin County in 1796 and went to Ohio about 1805, seemingly without Eve.

From Paul Swan's "Hartsell Chapter". Adam and Christina's daughter Kate (Catherine) married a man named Burlachers who fled to Ohio to escape service in the War of 1812. Adam and his family followed in 1815, leaving Virginia Sep. 1, 1815, and arriving in Germantown, Montgomery county, Ohio, on Christmas day. JDH: Son David was 10 years old. It took them just over sixteen weeks, their covered wagon probably having been drawn by oxen. Their most likely route was west-southwest to the Kentucky border, then west along the main wilderness trail, or circling south into Tennessee over a slightly longer but easier route. They then would have gone north through the Cumberland Gap, across the Cumberland river a little way west, and then turned and made their way due north, up Boone's road and beyond across the Ohio River into western Ohio. This would have amounted to about a 480 mile trek, at a little over four miles per day.

From Paul Swan's "Hartsell Chapter". It seems possible that Adam's younger brother Abraham had preceeded him to Ohio by a decade. An Abraham Hartzel purchased federal land just north of Germantown, Montgomery, Ohio, Mar. 25, 1805. It could well be that it was Adam's objective to join his younger brother. The Hartzell Ancestral Line says "We believe" that Abraham, as a very young man, was one of a group of about fifteen men who formed a fishing and hunting camp there, but left when the settlers came and formed the town of Germantown. He then later returned to the area, as he is buried in Ellerton, six miles north of Germantown.

From Paul Swan's "Hartsell Chapter". When Adam and Christina moved to Ohio in 1815, they may have been following her relatives as well as his. Several men recorded as Sink, Sinkes, and Sinks had entered federal land there about a decade earlier. Charles Sinks was the earliest, entering land Dec. 31, 1801 in Hamilton county, and George Sink Nov. 10, 1804 and Jan. 15, 1805 entered land in Montgomery county. George's land was some twenty miles north of Germantown, Montgomery, to which Adam first headed on their trek west. George was probably the uncle of Adam's wife Christina. JDH: This George Sink was from Randolph County, North Carolina.

Available from the Brookville Historical Society, Brookville, Ohio, are plat maps of Original Land Purchases. Virtually all the land in Montgomery County was taken by the end of 1804.

The Butler Township map shows George Sink (actual spelling), in the SE quarter of section 2, 11-10-1804 (mentioned above), near the Stillwater River. This is at the north center of Montgomery County. This must be where Adam Hartzell headed on their trek west. The Jackson Township map, just west of Jefferson Township, shows Jacob Sinks, in the NE 1/4 of section 31, 4-24-1804.

The Troutt family web page for Sink/Zink families has Paul Sink, brother of Abraham & Stephen Sink of Franklin County, Virginia, moving to North Carolina about 1778, in the Salisbury area of Rowan County. George Sink was in nearby Randolph County, North Carolina. Both these locations are about 4 counties south of Franklin County, Virginia. This family is very likely related to Adam's wife Christina.

More on George Sink: The 1882 History of Montgomery County, Ohio, by W. H. Beers & Company, for Butler Township, has "The families of George Sinks and Henry Yount, hailing from the same neighborhood in North Carolina, immigrated to the Stillwater settlement in 1802, locating, the former in Section 2, ..., where he entered 320 acres of land. ... July 30, 1816, was organized a religious society, ..., known as the Lower Stillwater Church of Christ. The original members were George Sinks, and wife Sarah, ...

The 1820 Butler Township, Montgomery County, Ohio Census has the family:
George Sink (actual spelling)
1 male under 10
2 males age 10-15
1 male age 16-17
1 male age 18-26
1 male age 26-44 (George)
2 females under 10
1 female 10-15
1 female age 26-44 (Sarah)
3 family members engaged in agriculture.

Elder Jacob Miller, neighbor of Adam Hartzell in Franklin County, VA, arrived at the Miami River Valley (Dayton, Ohio area) in 1802. There is a Jacob Miller cemetery about three miles northwest of Ellerton, in Jefferson Township, Montgomery County, Ohio. In 1806, Phillip Lybrook, another Virginia neighbor of Adam Hartzell, was in Union County, Indiana. In 1820 Phillip's daughter Sarah married James Toney, also of Franklin County, VA, in Union County, Indiana. James Toney was a grandson of William and Margaret (Sutherland) Toney. There were marriages between the Lybrook, Kingery, Toney, Moss, Webster, McVey, Miller, Capper and Henderson families, all from the Blackwater River Valley area of Franklin County, Virginia.

In their first year in Ohio, the family must have wondered if they made a mistake. Mt. Tambora erupted and covered the earth with clouds of ash. It was winter in summer that year.

Note that at this time, Connersville, Indiana, 30 miles west, was a small Indiana station on the outposts of the white settlements.

Adam Hartzell's son Philip and others in the family moved later to Miami county, while some went to Anderson, Indiana, where the remains of their covered wagon still exist. Their son Leonard moved to Rush County Indiana about 1832.

1820 Virginia Census heads of households (all in Franklin County, Virginia):

Jacob Hartzel (married Hannah Capper above)
Phillip Hartzel

Jacob Hartzell (Franklin County, Virginia, m. Hannah Capper)
George Hartzell (Franklin County, Virginia, m. Nancy Goode)
Jacob Hartzell (Preston County, West Virginia)

The 1820 Ohio census shows 14 Hartsell households.

The 1820 Montgomery County Ohio Census, Jefferson Township, shows for the Adam Hartzell family (p. 116):

1 male 45+       - Adam Hartsell   
1 female 45+     - Christina 
1 male 16-26     - Must be Leonard, age 21
1 male 16-26     - D. (Daniel?) A. Hartsell (age 17-18)?
1 male 10-16     - Must be David, age 14

In 1820, Adam Hartzell was living next door to Moses Rentfro, his son-in-law who married Elizabeth ("Betsy"). Nearby was Jacob Mullendore, Adam's son-in-law who married Katrina ("Kate"). Also in the area was Peter Heck, probably related to the Susannah Heck who married Adam's brother John. (Susannah's father was Abraham Heck.) A John Noffsinger could be the one who lived just north of Adam in Virginia.

The 1830 Montgomery County Ohio Census, Jefferson Township, shows for the Adam Hartzell family (p. 235):

1 male 60-69     - Adam Hartsell b. 1761-1770
1 female 60-69   - Christina
1 male 30-39     - (census error) could be Daniel Hartsell age 20-29 (age 27-28)
1 male 30-39     - (census error) assumed to be David Hartsell age 20-29 (age 24)

Erroneous information all over the internet says that Adam married a second time, in Montgomery, Ohio, to Mary Spiekard. THIS IS WRONG. It was an Adam Hutzel who married Mary Spikard 8/10/1826.

It is believed that Adam and Christina were buried at Ellerton, north of Germantown, but that their graves were destroyed when Hemple Road was straightened.

David's brother Leonard married Delilah Weiss around 1825 in Montgomery County, Ohio.

Again, erroneous information all over the internet says that David Hartzell married Margaret Nieval in Montgomery County, Ohio in 1830. THIS IS WRONG. It was a David Hetzel, born 1806, son of John and Catharina (Thomas) Hetzel.

NIPP - 1800-1829

From Settlement Map, West Wythe County, Virginia.
Phillip or Peter Knipp above, Verner Knipp below.

Verner Knip should be listed in the 1800 Pennsylvania or Virginia census since he was married and had children by then. He would have been "over 34" in 1800. He was in Wythe County by 1815. If John, George and Adam where Verner’s sons, he could have been in Wythe County by 1807.

John Nipp married Dolly Cleaves in 1807 in Wythe County Virginia.

Possibly from Mary Kegley's "The Lost Children of Wythe Co." is this:
In 1804 a Wythe County petition protesting the obstruction of a dam erected by Andrew and James Crockett - signed by Warner, John, and Phllip Knipp.
In 1807 Phillip Knopp and Catherine Lindemuth sponsored Rachel, born June 20, 1807, baptized Sept. 6, 1807, daughter of Jonathan and Catherine Lydy.

George Nipp married Rebeccah Townsend in Wythe County, Virginia. The marriage bond was dated Jan. 7, 1809 and Rebeccah is identified as the daughter of John Townsend. Adam Knipp and John Townsend served as sureties for the marriage. This could imply that Adam was George's father.

According to son John's biographical sketch, George and Rebecca Nipp had four children in Wythe County, Virginia: Nancy, John (born 1811), Jane, Martha. Born in Indiana were William, Leonidas, Reuben, and Anna.

Adam Knipp is not in the Virginia Census, but his daughter Catherine was married in Wythe County in 1809. Varner Knipp was a surety.

In the 1810 Census for Virginia, we have:

        Wythe County
        Head of Household: Verner Knip
        In household:
                male, age over 44    (b. bef. 1766)
                female, age over 44
                male 16-25      Peter? (age 26-44 in 1820)
                male 16-25      
                female 16-25
                male 10-15
                female 10-15

Phillip was 35 in 1810 (75 in 1850), and is not listed as head of a household, but maybe he was out on his own. He may have married shortly after 1810; his children were born after 1810. Adam is also not listed. George and John had their own households in 1810:

        Wythe County
        Head of Household: George Knip 
        In household:
                male, age 16-25
                female, age 16-25
                male under 10   
                female under 10
                female under 10

        (Note: This George had 3 children born between
        1800-1810 which doesn't fit with "Uncle" George.)

        Wythe County
        Head of Household: John Knip 
        In household:
                male, age 16-25
                female, age 16-25
                female under 10

Verner Knipp settled sometime after 1811 in Sinking Springs, Green County, Tennessee. He and his wife along with some of his children are buried in Sinking Springs Cemetery.

From "Anserchin" Newsletter, vol 36, page 148: A petition protesting the Constable's fee was signed on Feb. 2, 1813 in Green County Tennessee by Varner Knipp and John Knipp.

From Wythe Co Court Orders:
1813 - Call court for the examination of John Call for striking Verner Knipp across the right eye and by this act disfiguring and disabling said eyelid of Knipp; case dismissed. 12-18-1813.
1818 - Adam Leonard Senr and Varner Knipp who are charged with burning the barn belonging to Elijah Elliott on 12-21, are held over for the Superior Court, not bailable. 12-26-1818.
1819 - David Dillman allowed $2.25 for guarding Adam Leonard and Varner Knipp in the Wythe jail. 06-08-1819.
1819 - Reubin Harrell allowed for guarding Leonard and Knipp at the Wythe County jail, for burning a barn, $0.75; Peter Stephens, constable, allowed $3.99 for summoning witnesses. 08-11-1819.

Verner’s possible brother George Knip was in Penns Township, Northumberland County Pennsylvania in 1800. His household lists his age as over 45, wife over 45, and 7 children with ages from under 10 to 25 years old. "Uncle" George would have been 25 or 26 years old, depending on when the census was taken. It is unknown whether "uncle" George was the son of Verner or George (Sr.).

Barbara Nipp, future wife of David Hartzell, was born Dec. 17, 1815 in Wythe County, Virginia.

From Mary B. Kegley: "From St. John's Lutheran Church records published years ago (1960) by F. B. Kegley and Mary B. Kegley, p. 29, you will find the following: BARBARA, born Dec. 17, 1815, parents Philip Knop, and Catharine, baptized Feb. 4, 1816, sponsors, Philip Knop and Catharine. The "o" in Knop had an umlaut or two little marks over it. The name was translated Knipp. There are others in the same record book. The originals of the church records are housed at our local community college library." (JDH - in Wytheville?)

In the History section below there is a piece about the lead & salt mines and the 1807 shot tower in Wytheville. This gives a clue on possible occupations of the people of Wythe County.

From Mary B. Kegley: "There are no salt mines in Wythe County, but they are in Smyth County the next county west. The shot tower is as you describe but the date does not appear to be correct, because the man who built it did not own the land until 1815, so it was built some time after that date. Also the Molly Tynes story is probably not true although there is great controversy about it. The earliest we can find the story is about 50 years after the WAR...and then we have several garbled stories, none of which match! The Knipps were not working at the mines.... they lived in the western end of the county and the mines were more than 20 miles to the east. I believe they were farmers."

"Uncle" George Nipp had arrived in Connersville, Indiana in 1815 according to his son John’s biographical sketch (see Appendix). He was supposedly in Tennessee in 1814. John Nipp, born in November 1811 in Wythe County, was probably Barbara’s cousin. George Nipp & his family are listed in the 1820 Indiana Census - Fayette County, Jackson Township (just south of Jennings Township). George bought land in Rush County, Indiana on December 11, 1821 (Tract Book page 55).

In the 1820 Virginia census, we have:

        Wythe County, page 217
        Head of Household: Phillip Knipp 
        In household:
                male, age 26-44      (Phillip)
                female, age 26-44    (Catherine)
                male under 10        Andrew?
                female under 10      Milly?
                female under 10      Barbara?
                female under 10      Chrisena?
                female under 10      Rebecca?

See NIPP 1830’s for evidence of names of Phillip’s children.

LINDEMUTH - 1800-1829

Nothing on Lindemuth for this time period.

WALKER - 1800-1829

William Walker married Jane Corbet April 1, 1802, in Ross County, Ohio. This is based on a marriage record of William Walker and "Ginny" Corbet on that date in that county (book A of ?, page 15). "Ginny" could easily be "Janie" and the name written wrong. At the time of their marriage, William would have been 24 or 25 years old, and Jane 19 or 20.

Note that Ohio became a state in 1803.

In 1805, Highland County, Ohio, which touches Ross County on the west and south, was formed from parts of Ross, Adams, and Clermont Counties. In 1810, Fayette County, which touches Ross on the west and south, was created. This is the county Joseph Walker was born in.

Tax lists in 1810 Fayette County Ohio list a Charles Walker (and also a William Corbett - see Corbet below) in Union township.

1820 Indiana Census does not list any William who is clearly ours. 1820 Fayette County Ohio Census: unknown if "our" William, but a really close fit:

        Fayette County, Union Township, page 4B
                William Walker, head of household
                Male: 45+ (William?)    
                Male: 16-26             
                Male: 16-18             
                Male: 10-16
                Male: 10-16
                Male: under 10
                Male: under 10
                Male: under 10
                Female: 26-45 (Jane?)
                Female: under 10
                Female: under 10

According to son John's biographical sketch (see Appendix), William Walker fought in the War of 1812.

Joseph Walker was born March 11, 1814 in Fayette County, Ohio.

According to John's biographical sketch, William Walker moved to Fayette County, Jennings Township, Indiana in 1819 with their two children, Henry and William. Joseph Walker was 5 years old, but isn't named in the sketch. The sketch on Joseph Walker says they came when he was about nine, around 1823. The sketch on Joseph's brother John says that when they were young, they lived in the woods and were engaged in clearing, both in Ohio and Indiana.

See "History of Fayette County, Indiana" in the Appendix - very interesting.

Here is something very significant, and it meshes with the above paragraph. In 1821, when Indianapolis was a swampy settlement, and 5 years after Indiana statehood, William Walker purchased 120 acres in Jennings Township (Fayette County, Indiana) "of the lands directed to be sold at Cincinnati". It was part of the SE 1/4 Sect. 21 Twp. 14 Range 13E (Deed Record Book A, page 449, Fayette County Courthouse, Connersville, Ind.). It was purchased for $1000 on Dec. 31, 1821. Since William's son James was born in Ohio in 1823, and son Samuel born in Indiana in 1825, maybe William bought the land in Indiana but didn't settle permanently until 1824 (or didn't bring the smaller children until then). Another significant thing is that this is in the same section where David Hartzell lived in 1850 and bought land in 1853 (in NE 1/4). One wonders if David Hartsell already knew William Walker, perhaps from Ohio, or met him after he arrived separately in Indiana.

In 1828, William Walker purchased 160 acres in Fayette County - SW 1/4 Section 22, Jennings Township; adjacent to the 1821 purchase.

Land records noted by TJP are, which may or not be our William:

From Clark's Index, Ohio lands south of the Indian boundary 
        (years unknown) -
        William Walker bought 2x200 (?) acres in Ross County by bond
        William Walker bought land in Twin township
        Wm Walker bought land in Twin Township
From Berry, "Early Ohio Land Purchases, 1800-1840 lists in volume 3:
        William Walker purchased land 1817, Franklin County, Indiana
        William Walker purchased land 1826, Union County, Indiana

(Franklin County abuts Fayette County on the south, and Union County is between Fayette County and the Ohio border.) The Cincinnati land office did handle early deeds to Indiana land in a narrow strip that bordered Ohio.

Continuing with TJP's Ross County Ohio information, the 1810 tax lists for Union township show both a William Corbett and a Charles Walker. This is very, very suggestive, almost enough to assume these two are our ancestors. But, William Corbett could be Jane's brother, uncle, etc.

Ross County marriage records (along with William and "Ginny") show:

Robert Corbet m. Polly Johnston Aug. 31, 1809, vol. GB p. 9
William Corbet m. Mary Walker Feb. 12, 1810, vol GB p. 18

Robert and William could be brothers of Jane; Mary could be a sister of William.

The 1820 Ohio Census, Ross County, shows the following names:

        Joseph Corbett, Scioto Township, page 234
        David Corbitt, Union Township, page 240

Worth mentioning here is TJP's analysis, who has done much research in this area:

"Since the marriage of William and Jane in 1802 was in Ross County, marriages are usually in the bride's home area, and this same Ross County 1810 tax list includes a William Corbett and a Charles Walker, both in Union Township. In addition, the marriage of William Corbett to Mary Walker in 1810 adds some strength for a theory of this William Corbet of the tax records as being the father of both a son William and our Jane, as well as indicating a strong connection between the two families, a situation not unusual in the early 1800s. There is also the possibility that this latter couple, married 1810, might be the parents of the James Corbit in the 1830 Census who was born in 1811 and married 1832 in Ross County to Ann Augustus. There is also a Robert Corbet who married Polly Johnston in 1809. Mary Walker above could be William Walker's sister."

DORSEY - 1800-1829

Sarah's father was a slaveholder according to notes by William Webster Hartsell.

The wife of the Thomas Dorsey we think we're descended from was Margaret, according to Fayette County, Indiana land records.

There are two Thomas Dorseys in the 1800 Maryland Census, but they were too old to be Sarah's father, because they were already head of a household at that time. One is Thomas Dorsey of Calvert County, Christ Church Parish. The other is Thomas B. Dorsey of Anne Arundel County. Perhaps a grandfather.

According to the census, there were many Dorseys in Maryland in the 1820s and 1830s and that most of them had slaves.

Sarah Dorsey, future wife of Joseph Walker, was born in Maryland in 1824. The 1910 Shelby County History and Middlesworth's 1969 "Excerpts of Shelby County IL Hist Bio" show the name of Joseph Walker's wife as Mary (Dorsey) Walker. Another case of nicknames, but the name on her gravestone is Sarah.

TJP relates a record of a Sarah Ann Dorsey born in 1824 in Maryland, Anne Arundel County, father Thomas Beale Dorsey, mother Milcah Goodwin. Our Sarah's middle initial was "W", but again, nicknames were common.

Abraham Lincoln attended a school in Spencer County, Indiana, sometime between 1816-1830 which was taught by Azel Dorsey.

HISTORY - 1800-1829

Wytheville, Virginia, was known for its valuable lead and salt mines, which became important to both sides during the Civil War. One attempt by Union troops to take the town was stopped by Molly Tynes, after she rode 40 miles over mountains to alert the home guard to come to its defense.

In present-day Wytheville, there is the Shot Tower / New River Trail State Park. The tower was built in 1807, resembles a fortress, and was once used to make lead shot. The lead was carried to the top room, melted and then poured through sieves with varying size meshes depending on the kind of shot desired. The sieved lead then fell about 150 feet into a large kettle of water; it was thought that the shot must fall this distance to become round.

Ohio gained statehood March 1, 1803, but had yet to designate a permanent capital. Political maneuvering almost landed the state government in such thriving communities as Zanesville and Chillicothe. In 1812 the residents of Franklinton, a county seat in the heart of Ohio along the Scioto River, tempted the state with 1,200 acres of land and a commitment to spend $50,000 to construct a capitol building and a penitentiary if that site was named capital. Within a matter of days the general assembly accepted the offer, and Columbus was born on the opposite bank of the river. By 1824 the county seat had shifted from Franklinton to Columbus. The State Capitol building was completed during the Civil War era. Chillicothe, founded in 1796, served as capital of the Northwest Territory and was governed by General Arthur St. Clair 1800-1802. It was host to the state's first constitutional convention in 1802.

The sourthern half of Indiana was settled mainly by pioneers moving up via Kentucky from Virginia and the Carolinas. In the northern half, they came through Ohio from New York and New England. In 1800, Vincennes had become the seat of government of the Indiana Territory. In 1811 the Battle of Tippecanoe was fought near Lafayette, Indiana against forces led by Tecumseh. Indiana had enough population (64,000) to become a state in December, 1816. Abraham Lincoln, at the age of 7, came with his parents from Kentucky in 1816 and settled in Spencer County (near the southern tip of Indiana) for 14 years, then moved to Illinois.

Richmond, Indiana was established in 1806 on the Whitewater River by Quakers from North Carolina and German immigrants. Around 1815 Connersville, Indiana was a small Indian station on the outposts of the white settlements.

See "History of Fayette County, Indiana" in the Appendix for more information.

Although Illinois was admitted as the 21st state of the Union on Dec. 3, 1818, the divisive issue of slavery was far from settled. The southern third of the state was populated by new arrivals from Kentucky, Tennessee and the Carolinas, who brought their Southern beliefs with them. The constitution of 1818 gave blacks the status of indentured servants -- slavery would have been legalized had there not been fear that such a move would prevent statehood.

The War of 1812 saw Old Ironsides & the Constitution, Francis Scott Key's National Anthem, and the burning of Washington.

1816 was the year of an unusual weather phenomenon. Mt. Tambora erupted and caused a blanket of airborne ash that went around the earth. Temperatures dropped. It was winter in summer. In the cold summer of 1816, David Hartzell was 10 years old.

Since matches did not come into general use until around 1830, starting a fire with flint and steel was a difficult task, so the fire had to be kept burning. The old expression "keep the home fires burning" came from this fact. As you can well imagine, this made the cabin very hot inside in the summer. There weren't any screens, either, so flies and mosquitoes added to their discomfort.

In 1820, a site in the wilderness at the center of Indiana was picked as the capitol to encourage people to settle the interior of the state. Indianapolis was laid out a year later on the site of Fall Creek, a swampy little settlement on the shallow White River. The National Road was not to come through until 1834.

Construction of the Cumberland (National) Road began in 1811. It followed Braddock's road and reached Wheeling, Pa. in 1818. Work was resumed in 1825, following Zane's Trace, to Zanesville, Ohio. Zane's Trace was a bridal path laid out by Ebenezer Zane in 1797 from Wheeling to Limestone (now Maysville, Kentucky), passing through present day Zanesville (on U.S. 40), veering south through Lancaster and Chillicothe, Ohio. The section east of Zanesville to Wheeling, Pa. later became part of the National Road. In 1804, Zanesville was the seat of Muskingum County, and in 1810-1812 it was the state capitol.