Coshocton County, Ohio

This is the second day of a two day partial fast (500 calories) and I’m feeling pretty hungry right now. Maybe if I type I’ll forget about it.  I didn’t have to do two days in a row – it’s supposed to be any two days of the week, but I surprised myself today by wanting to get the second day behind me.  Do I notice any improvement so far?  Well yes. By eating only 500 calories I cut way back on salt consumption and even after one day my blood pressure improved. I never add salt to anything but it is part of so many things we eat that it is impossible to avoid. The other five days I'm eating my usual stuff but I'm watching the salt!

Today I’ve been looking at Coshocton County, Ohio.  (There are some lovely photos of the county on this website - click on the link!) It is an important county for our family as our people were some of the first to settle there.  I have to correct that. Coshocton was the ‘capital’ for the Delaware tribe, they were there first . . .  so I have to say some of the first white settlers were our Draper and Meredith families. 

Walhonding River

Tuscarawas River

I had difficulty finding history notes on this county. There was plenty of genealogical information but basically the history blurbs were all the same. The Coshocton County should get the prize for the most unusual name. It is a phonetic spelling of a Delaware word meaning ‘black bear crossing’ or ‘where the rivers join.’ The rivers Walhonding and Tuscarawas join in the county to form the Muskingum River, a primary Ohio watercourse.

Little Muskingum River

If you travel to Coshocton today you will find a tourist attraction – a pioneer village called Roscoe.  They have an annual ‘apple butter stirrin’ that sounds yummy. There’s a quilt exhibit and other country activities in the area. The one thing I don’t want to miss is a ride on the refurbished horse-drawn canal boat on part of what was once the Ohio and Erie Canal. Hmm. I wonder if I’ll have to bring mosquito repellant. There is a winery in Coshocton County but I’m heading right for the apple butter! Golly, who would have guessed there was so much to do in Ohio!

My 5^th great grandfather, Isaac Draper, was the first to register property ownership in Tiverton Township. I’d like to see where that farm was – and oh, wouldn’t it be grand to find a written account of his pioneer experience.  Our Meredith family settled in New Castle Township. These are my mother’s people.

Ohio Historical Canoe Route Assoc. http://ohcra.org/default.htm, Making Apple Butter http://www.rlrouse.com/making-apple-butter.html, Salt http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/,  River photos www.wikipedia.com

Finding Focus Through Chaos

The To Do list is the rock I tether my boat to.  The To Do for daily housekeeping tether’s my life boat. The To Do list for the Ohio project keeps me focused on a long range goal. Life is messy and it gets in the way, often causing obstacles or log jams that impede the flow. Lately that has included company, social activities, housework, a broken washer, and a couple of trips to the dentist.  It’s always something, right? And, for those not retired that would include work.  I’m very thankful to be retired from working for others so that I can focus on my life’s work of family history and writing.

Lately I’ve been swept along with the river of events taking a swipe at the project at odd bits of time. Now, looking at the To Do list and my x’s (which marks completed) I can see I’m making progress. Sure I’d hoped to be finished with this first family last week.  I can console myself that it is the first family – the one that breaks ground and of necessity takes the longest as I figure out what works best.

Of course, the simple statement that there are 18 families with 9 on each side (father and mother) is deceptive. The Cullins family, John and Rebecca, with whom I started, has grown to include their ancestors and descendants who also lived in Ohio.  Looking at the timeline (also on the list) shows that these families were in the area since before part of the Northwest Territory became the State of Ohio in 1803. Basically our families in Muskingum County were there from about 1802-1850 when there was a big migration west as Iowa was opened for settlement.

This morning I found on the Muskingum County Ohio Genealogical Society website the application for “First Families” to settle in the county. Our people certainly qualify.  The application is lengthy and filling out forms is one of my least favorite activities – however, I may pursue this for our first family. It is possible that all 18 or so families will qualify for similar status but the cost to establish that fact may be too much unless family members would like to ‘sponsor’ a family.

Of course, this one family of the original 18 families has grown to more families.  There are Cullins: John Sr. and John Jr. The Cordray family is there but needs more research.  The Meredith family is from Coshocton County that borders Muskingum County.  Dorcas Meredith (married to John Cullins Jr) and her father, Obediah were probably some of the earliest into Coshocton.  Rebecca Draper, who married Obediah Meredith traveled to Coshocton County with her parents, Isaac and Ann McCord Draper . . . and so it grows.  We now have Cullins (3 generations with William moving to Iowa), Cordray, Meredith, Draper, and McCord surnames with just our first family. With 5 surnames and two counties you can see how easy it could be to get lost in the research.

When doing some research this morning I found that my new blog is showing up with the googles already. YAY!  Anyone out there – information on any of these families is most welcome.   Oops; I'm floating out of sight of the boat – time to swim to the To Do list.