Brattons -- The Pioneers of Madison County
The following story comes from "The Stories of Guernsey County", page 895.
Came in 1805 -- We are starting this story of the Brattons who, without doubt, were the first white settlers in Madison Township, with an inscription on a stone in the Pleasant Hill cemetery in Jefferson Township:
JAMES BRATTON
A Soldier of the Revolution
Born in Chester County, Pa.
Bied, Oct. 6, 1844
In the 88th Year of His Age
In 1799 James Bratton, then forty-three years of age, brought his wife and eight children into Ohio, settling on leased land near Zane's Trace, not far from where St. Clairsville now stands. In 1805, the land of the United States Military District having been thrown open for settlement, he decided to enter two quarter sections on what is now Brushy Fork creek in Guernsey county. At this time this land was in Muskingum county.
During the Bratton's sojourn in Belmont county three more children were born, making eleven in all. Edward, the oldest, was married. The group of Brattons that set out for the new home on Brushy Fork was composed of fourteen persons.
A Difficult Journey
There were no established roads. However, there was a path through the forest that had been broken by General Broadhead in his expedition against the Indians at Coshocton in 1781. The Brattons followed this until they reached the present site of Antrim. Here they found a trail running east and west, which was crossed by the path. They had been traveling near the present location of the Antrim school. This trail had been made by cutting out the underbrush. It afterwards became the Steubenville road. Turning to the left of this trail and traveling westward, they came to the present site of Winterset, the place of the new home.
The names of the eight oldest children, the ones who were born in Pennsylvania, together with the dates of their births, were as follow: Edward, 1784; Robert, 1786; Elizabeth, 1787; John, 1789; William, 1791; James, 1795; Rachel, 1796; Sarah, 1798. The ages of the three younger children, the ones born in Belmont county, were one, three and five years, when the family cam eto Brushy Fork.
The journey to Brushy Fork was a difficult one. The mother rode a horse, carrying the youngest child in her arms. Fastened behind her on the horse was a feather bed on which the next youngest child was tied. Another horse was used in carrying the little property they possessed.
The other members of the party walked. The boys wore no shoes and their feet were badly lacerated by the stones and briars before the end of the journey was reached.
Indians as Neighbors
A crude cabin was built and a new home established. It was eight or ten miles to the nearest white family east of them. On the west there was none neared that the Beatty family at the Wills creek crossing (Cambridge). Some Indians lived on the creek below. They did not molest the Brattons, but showed a friendly attitude in giving them corn, something much needed by them. Until the land could be cleared and crops raised the game in the forest was their main food.
Within a few years other settlers came. The Steubenville trail was widened and became the Steubenville road. Many pioneers seeking homes in the western country traveled over it. Taverns for their accommodations sprang up like filling stations on the main thoroughfares today. As liquor was sold, the owner of a tavern was required to obtain a license.
Kept a Tavern
The first records of Guernsey county have the following entry: "To James Bratton on the Steubenville road permission to open a Tavern, having paid into the treasury $1.36." This license, issued May 5, 1810, was for the third tavern in Guernsey county.
In 1812, James Bratton moved to what is now the Pleasant Hill community in Jefferson township, where he remained until his death. Edward moved to Salt Fork, not far from the resent location of the Cross Road school. A stone in the Pleasant Hill cemetery shows that his death occurred April 13, 1876. He w2as then ninety-two years of age. William went into Jefferson township, too, where he died in 1873. His grave is at Pleasant Hill. Elizabeth, the oldest daughter, married Robert Warnock. He joined the company of Absalom Martin for service in the War of 1812, and was killed by the Indians in the Copus battle.
John, the third son, was a sergeant in the Absalom Martin company, fought the Seneca Indians, returned safely from the war and received a pension until his death which occurred in Muskingum county after he had reached a very old age. He liked to boast of having been for Thomas Jefferson and every succeeding Democratic candidate for the presidency. After his father moved from the original home on the Steubenville road, he and his widowed sister, Elizabeth, kept the Bratton tavern for several years.
Only a Few Descendants Here
The purpose of this story is to show the beginning of Madison township, not to trace the Bratton family. While there may be several descendants in Guernsey county, we know of but three of the fourth generation, all of whom are aged persons. One of these is William Mawhorr, the grandson of Edward Bratton; he lives near Pleasant Hill. The others are Mrs. Marda Buker, a granddaughter of William Bratton, whose home in on Highland Avenue, Cambridge and Mrs. Ruth Oliver, of Foster Avenue, Cambridge, a granddaughter of Edward Bratton.
Regretfully, I did not get the author or date the book was written. The book was found by Ruth Bratton Dillon at the County Court House in Cambridge on October 18, 1989. A clerk in the Recorder's office was kind enough to photocopy the pages for me.
When Ruth Bratton Dillon visited Winterset on November 9, 1984, an old gentleman told her that they were standing in the "Bratton" addition of Winterset.
The Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church and Cemetery can be reached. From Columbus to Cambridge via I-70 or State Route 22 to the small wide place in the road called Center. Turn left on County Road 369 (a gravel road called Barrett Road). Turn right on County Road 6391 (Ruby Road). It dead ends into County Road 638 near the boarded up church. The Bratton plot lies to the back left of the cemetery near the fence. Edward's grave is neared the road to the right of the church.