It is that time of year again my friends, the time when I
begin to wonder what in the world my ancestors were thinking when they moved to
Ohio. Weather forecasts of highs in the
teens really make me question the sanity of my ancestors. (Obviously there is reason to question this
sanity, living family members are a big enough clue that those people that came
before us just really weren’t quite right.
I’ve been told I can be included in that argument, but keep in mind, I’m
considered one of the “normal” ones.
Yeah, that’s a kind of interesting statement.)
What could have possessed my ancestors to think, “Ohio, now
that’s the place to go!”? Granted,
according to history books Ohio was once a bit more of an interesting
place. It was once part of the frontier. There was the excitement of living among,
what were considered at the time, wild savages, plus you had the bonus of bears
and mountain lions. So, I guess if you
like dangerous places then it would have been up your alley. Later you had the canal run through the
state, and many of my ancestors lived fairly close to it, which added to the
idea of Ohio being a kind of happening place.
I think Ohio being a kind of happening place peaked during the canal
days. Still, what could have possessed
them to think, “They’ve got some really frigid winters over there; it’s perfect
for us!”?
Why is it that my ancestors didn’t decide that somewhere
down South wasn’t their cup of tea? OK,
so the summers can be pretty hot and humid there, although news flash, so can
Ohio summers. At least the winters are
mild. Instead Ohio has hot, humid
summers that make your clothes stick to your skin and then freezing winters
that require you to bundle up in layers or you might get frost bite. Although I have to admit, the cold does have
one bonus. If you find a bug bigger than
your thumb in Ohio, you are not going to have people telling you, “Oh, it’s
just a little bug.” Find a bug running
around that is bigger than some small breed dogs in Ohio and people will freak
out. Find one down South and it’s just
another bug. I imagine that my ancestors
figured that Malaria not being a real problem in Ohio was also a bonus.
I would like to think that my ancestors also opposed the
institution of slavery that was so ingrained down South. I have no proof of this thought. Some of my ancestors did fight for the Union
during the US Civil War, but that doesn’t mean much. Joining the fight wasn’t some sort of clear
indication of ideals. In fact, much to
my surprise, I even found that one of my ancestors that had fought for the
Union, his father’s family had owned a few slaves. (Ah, West Virginia, where you have big chunks
of the population that fought for the North, yet some owned slaves, go figure.) And I have to admit, I was more surprised that
I had ancestors that had the money to actually buy other people then the fact
that they had done so. (Don’t get me
wrong, I didn’t like the idea, just surprised my meager farming forefathers
were able to swing that. We have a family
tendency that when we say so-and-so got a new car, we are implying new to them.)
On distant ancestor, I do have an idea of why he decided to
come to Ohio, or at least left where he was living. (By the way, this is a story that entertained
my grandfather because it was from his side of the family. He had no knowledge of it, I’d found out
about it on a history website, and told him.
He thought it was funny.) My great-great-great-great-grandfather
was Peter Markley. He lived in
Pennsylvania in an area that his family had lived in since before white men
were actually legally allowed to settle there because of a treaty with Native
Americans. (As you can see, my family,
not so good at listening.) In the span
of time that his father claimed land there, settled, and his children had grown
up, settling had been allowed and a town grew.
So Peter Markley built a general store with his brother-in-law. Indications were that the store did pretty
well. Of course back then store keepers
would make trips to large cities, such as Philadelphia, to purchase goods to
sell and bring them back on wagon.
During one of these trips Peter met another shopkeeper from Ohio. They talked, and eventually both set off towards
their homes, with the man from Ohio making arrangements for his supplies to be
sent by wagon later. Back in Ohio, the
man’s goods never arrived, so he did what you would have had to do back then,
set out to find out what happened. So he
goes back to the city, finds out that they’d been sent out, and he follows the
trails the wagon would have taken. Along
the way he stops at an inn to have a meal and notices the girl working there
has a hair comb just like the ones he’d bought for his store. He asks her where she got it, and she
explains that she got it from the general store in a town nearby. The Ohio man goes to this general store and discovers
his supplies sitting on the shelves.
Seems that Peter Markley hi-jacked the wagon and stole the
supplies. The theft came to light, he
and his brother-in-law were facing their legal punishment, and Peter decided to
pack his family up and quickly move to Ohio.
He lived out his remaining days on a farm in Ohio. (His brother-in-law apparently didn’t get the
idea to flee, but killed himself instead.)
Now, I can see why the idea to pack up and get out of town appealed to
Peter. In the early 1800’s you could
escape legal trouble by just moving away, if it was really bad you just change
your name. (Mind you, Peter Markley
didn’t even have to change his name.) I
do wonder, why Ohio if the guy you ripped off lives there? True, it is a surprisingly good sized
state. Drive across it sometime, you
feel like you just keep driving and driving.
(Honestly though, the fact that at least 60% of the drive will be going
by orange barrels at 45-55 MPH does not help this sensation.) Still, I would think that if you are fleeing
legal trouble you wouldn’t select the state where the person wanting to pursue
charges lives. It is what he did though,
and it seems to have worked out for him.
(I say seems because there is very little information on him. Markleys not related to Peter tend to ignore
him, and there really isn’t much info on him other than that one local
historical society in Pennsylvania.) Still,
it doesn’t explain the large amount of ancestors that decided to move to
Ohio. Mind you, not all did. A fair portion of my family also went to West
Virginia. Trust me; there are reasons to
wonder about those ancestors also.
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