Monroe County, Ohio

Monroe County Seat

The commissioners, appointed by the Legislature in 1814 for the purpose of establishing a seat of justice for the County, decided upon Woodsfield as the place. Prior to the time the County was erected, Archibald Woods of Wheeling, West Virginia; George Paul of St. Clairsville, Ohio; and Levi Barber of Marietta, Ohio, owned land in the territory which is now comprised of the County. They sought to have a new County organized and, accordingly, in 1812, selected the site where Woodsfield now stands. It was in that year that the Town of Woodsfield was surveyed and platted. At that time, Woodsfield was nothing but a wilderness. Woodsfield was properly named -- whether from its location in the woods or from one of the properties is a matter of opinion -- but it was named for a man named Mr. Woods.

In examining a Post Office guide, no other Woodsfield can be found in the United States, while there are twenty-six states having a Springfields; ten states having a Woodstock; eleven states having a Woodlawn; four states having a town by the name of Wood; eight states having a Woodland; and nine states having a Woodford.

Older citizens disagree as to the location of the first house in the village of Woodsfield and as to who built the first house. It is agreed, however, that it was built on the East side of Main Street or on the North side of Main Cross Street. The first building was thought to have been a tavern owned by Spencer Biddle -- being the first tavern in Woodsfield.

The following was read before the Monroe County Historical Society by the Honorable William F. Hunter on January 4, 1860 (being 82 years ago):

"Woodsfield, forty years ago (that's 122 years ago now), consisted of 18 houses -- 6 of which were hewed log houses -- the rest being cabins. The householders of Woodsfield, in the fall of 1818, were Patrick Adams; James Carrothers, whose son, George W., was the first child born in Woodsfield; Joseph Driggs; Ezra Driggs; John Snyder; Anson Brewster; James Phillips; Messrs. Sayes, Michael, and Davis; John Coll; Henry H. Mott; Stephen Lindley; John King; Henry Jackson; Amos B. Jones; David Pierson; and Mrs. A.G. Hunter.

Early in 1819, Nicholas and Daniel Frankhauser and their families left their home near Trub, Switzerland, to begin a long journey. They first went to Bern where they, together with eight other Swiss families, embarked on a flat boat and moved down the Aar River to the Rhine River and continued thence to the City of Antwerp.

After some delay, they set sail from Antwerp during the third week of May, taking passage on a three-masted French vessel, the Eugenius. A few days after their departure, Mrs. Daniel Fankhauser gave birth to a baby boy. Due to the circumstances surrounding his birth, he was named Jacob Ocean Fankhauser. Mrs. Fankhauser received many presents of provisions from the captain and from other members of the crew.

Near the forty-sixth parallel, the ship encountered much rain, snow, and stormy weather. After this experience, Nicholas remarked that he would not be a sailor for all the wealth in the world although he would rather cross the ocean twice than sail down the Rhine River once. After experiencing several days of fog, land was soon located on the morning of July 20.

After landing at New York, the Fankhauser family and five other Swiss families went to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where they purchased four oxen and two wagons. They loaded baggage on one wagon and they put the women and children on the other wagon. On August 6, they began their 600 mile journey westward -- passing through Bethlehem, Reading, Lebanon, Bedford, Sonerset, Washington, Pennsylvania, and Wheeling, West Virginia.

Upon arriving at Wheeling, West Virginia, they took a boat down the Ohio River and landed approximately twenty miles down stream near what is now known as Powhatan Point, Ohio. It was here that they were informed that there was plenty of government land in Monroe County. The two Fankhauser families and several other members of the party decided to settle in what is known now as Switzerland Township."

The above summary was taken largely from "Lest We Forget", which is a translation of a letter which Nicholas Fankhauser wrote to his relatives in Switzerland a few years after he came to the United States. The translation was published in 1915 by his great-grandson, F.A. Scherzinger, of Nelson, Nebraska.

Nicholas Fankhauser had sixteen children: Nicholas, Warner, Andrew, William, Louis, Susanna, and Marve (all of whom were born in Switzerland and being children of his first wife); and Elizabeth, Louisa, Charlotte, Magdalena, Justina, Margaret, Caroline, Rosina, and Philip (all of whom were children of his second wife, Sophia Splittler).

Daniel and Nicholas Fankhauser also had a brother, John, who may have come to the United States at a later date.

The Town of Graysville was settled in 1835 by Daniel Gray. In 1880, there was a post office and there was a population of 174. At this time, Graysville was a point of considerable trade having four dry goods and grocery stores, two drug stores, two blacksmith shops, one furniture store, two shoe shops, one saddle and harness shop, two doctors, and two justices of the peace -- being W.J. Crawford and J. Beardmore. There were eleven school houses. The average wages paid to the eleven school teachers were $23.00 to ladies, per month, and $27.00 to the men, per month. There were 482 pupils enrolled, making an average of 44 pupils per teacher. There were two rooms in the school at Graysville with 99 pupils attending. A primary teacher earned the sum of $27.00 per month and the high teacher earned the sum of $35.00 per month.

Abram Mann, a farmer, was born in Malaga Township on June 26, 1817, a son of Peter and Elizabeth Barnhard Mann. It is not known when he moved to Washington Township. He was married to Julia A. Leck on December 30, 1841. She was born in Maryland on August 14, 1823, a daughter of Elisha and Margaret Garwood Leck. Nine children were born to Abram and Julia Mann. They were as follows: Henry, born on March 21, 1844; Clarkson, born on May 8, 1845; Clarissa J., born on October 10, 1847; Thomas Flanders, born on February 21, 1850; Oliver P., born on September 21, 1852 (he died at the age of four years); Harriet E., whose birthdate is unknown (she died on December 2, 1856); Vachael, born on September 9, 1858; Makel M., born on May 4, 1861; and Ross L. born on January 15, 1865. Abram Mann served as Trustee and Treasurer of Washington Township, serving three terms for each position.

This family was interested in race horses and, at one time, they owned, Ida Mae, a sorrel mare of the Old Hillman stock -- being the fastest half-mile horse in this part of the country.

Makel, familiarly known as M.M. Mann, served as Clerk of the Courts of Monroe County, Ohio. Thomas Flanders was a farmer and the father of C.R. Mann, who served two terms as Monroe County Commissioner. Ross was a teacher and a postmaster at Graysville, filling this position for 20 years. Vachael was in business in Graysville for several years. Members of this prominent family are now scattered over many states -- some as far as India.

Floyd Mann, Woodsfield, Ohio, and Denver C. Mann, Graysville, Ohio, are grandsons of Abraham and Julia Mann who, 100 years ago, built a 10-room house with high ceilings. This house, like many others in the county, was a center of community activities.