Schools and means of education shall forever be encouraged,” Ordinance of 1787

     Every settlement in Washington County provided schooling early on. Marietta started classes taught by Major Anselm Tupper in the winter of 1789-90. Joseph Barker: "Tupper had a genius & Capacity & taste for literary pursuits." The same Joseph Barker, master builder and businessman, also taught school in 1793-94 in Stone's Garrison at Belpre.  The first schools were often in private homes. A Mr. Curtis held classes in his barrel-making shop at The Point. Young Nancy Allison recalled the Campus Martius stockade school “ was kept every day of the week, both summer and winter." She also remembered that one teacher was too strict and beat one boy "mercilessly." The teacher was soon "turned out" by the parents. 

     Teachers were paid little. Schools were supported by residents, with limited funding from the Ohio Company. Teachers in Belpre earned $5 per month. Ephraim Cutler negotiated a detailed written contract with a teacher in Warren Township near Constitution OH at $25 per calendar quarter. Best laid plans: the teacher signed the contract but quit after a week. Dang.

     A typical schoolhouse in the early 1800s was a crude log structure with benches (no seatbacks!), a fire place (students near the fire roasted, those far away froze), puncheon floors, mud "chinking" between logs to keep out weather, a small window or two, and an outhouse. Shelves along the walls served as desks. All students were taught together, from age 5 to 18.

     Ephraim Cutler fought for free, universal education, as practiced in his native Massachusetts. He worked for years in the Ohio legislature to establish schools funded by property taxes. Finally, “An Act to Provide for the Support and Better Regulation of Common Schools" was passed in 1825. Cutler was exuberant; he compared the law’s passage to Simeon’s lifelong wait to see the Christ child in Luke 2:29. The law required that teachers be tested for qualification. Notice April 1, 1825: "...the following gentlemen were appointed Examiners for the County of Washington...William Slocomb, of Marietta, William P. Putnam, of Belpre. Anselm T. Nye. Esq. of Waterford.

Fort School (1890s - 1952), predecessor to Harmar School

     Each township was required to establish a school district. The Ohio State Journal urged compliance as "essential to the interests of the rising generation." Hundreds of community volunteers, many of them prominent citizens, became involved in schools. They held meetings, set up committees, debated best practices. In 1837, the Washington County School Association was founded for “promoting the interests of Common School Education.” They met semi-annually. Some examples of topics were "best methods of teaching reading and grammar; introduction of Vocal Music, Natural Science, and Science of Agriculture; Construction of School Houses.” At meetings "no speaker could occupy the floor more than 15 minutes at a time." They must have had long meetings.

            Located between Lowell and Beverly, Ohio

     Discipline was a frequent topic. One policy recommended that “…discipline be maintained by moral persuasion…corporal punishment (should be a last resort)". Teacher William Slocomb meted out severe punishments early in his career; later he advocated milder discipline. At one meeting, a former student mocked Slocomb’s change of heart. The student noted that trees near Slocomb’s school were barren of branches that he had cut for switches. Slocomb heard the comment; he retorted that he never knew whether students’ punishment was too much or too little, but in that student’s case - “either was a failure.”                 

     In 1849, a major step in Marietta was adoption of a “union plan,” which combined smaller districts (there were 5 in Marietta alone). This allowed introduction of graded schools (students grouped by grade level) and formation of a high school. Gradually similar changes were introduced in other townships. A Teachers Institute was established in 1851 to better train teachers; 104 teachers enrolled. Teachers learned the best teaching methods, subject knowledge, and morality. This was similar to continuing education programs today.

     We can be grateful for the energy and passion that so many devoted to better education.

 

   

Cap and Anna Posey

Cumberland (“Cap”) and Anna Posey were a remarkable African American couple with Southeast Ohio connections. They achieved a level of success in life that was unusual for Blacks in the late 1800's and early 1900's. I found their story captivating. What was it that motivated them - from humble beginnings -  to learn, to strive, to persevere through the challenges? That is the subject of this blog post. I learned about Posey from an exhibit at the Ohio River Museum in Marietta, Ohio. There you can discover his story, along with many other aspects of steamboating and life on the river.

Cumberland Willis ("Cap") and Anna Posey

Image from Cum Posey of the Homestead Grays

Cumberland Willis Posey (“CW”) was born in 1858, the son of Alexander Posey and Elizabeth Willis Posey. They were likely freed slaves, who lived near Port Tobacco, Maryland. They worked for a white family in Charles County, Maryland. Elizabeth died when Cumberland was just seven years old. Alexander became an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church. He and his children moved to Winchester, Virginia in 1867, and to Belpre, Ohio, in 1869. 

There CW found a job in Belpre working for a Mr. Payton sweeping the decks on the ferry boat MAGNOLIA. Posey was mesmerized by the mechanical operation of the steamboat. Something stirred inside him. Though just a teenager, he set his sights on becoming a licensed engineer on a riverboat. 

Angeline (“Anna”) Stevens was born born and raised in rural Athens County, Ohio, in a large African American family. Her father Acquilla was a railroad worker and stonecutter. Her mother Eliza Brackston Stevens took care of eleven children at home. Fortunately for the Stevens family, Black children were allowed to attend public schools with other white students. 

There is no record of Anna’s childhood years. The family lived in rural Athens Township. Theirs was the only non-white family on their page of the census records in 1870 and 1880. Her father worked to support the family. Census records say he was still working at age 78 as a cemetery caretaker.

Anna was said to be the first African American graduate of Athens High School.* Graduation was quite an accomplishment, considering her family’s poverty, discrimination against Blacks, and the limited resources of rural schools. The Athens Messenger article “High School Commencement” on June 6, 1879 mentioned the speech given by Anna. It was titled “The Visible and Invisible.” The theme was that invisible influences often have more impact on one’s life than the visible ones. The newspaper was complimentary of the speech: 

The originality of thought exhibited in (Anna’s) composition gives basis for large expectation of the literary efforts of her maturer years. (She) is the first colored graduate of Athens High School and deserves great credit for her achievement and for having set an example to her race of what may be attained by intelligent and persistent effort....

Mr. Payton encouraged Cumberland Posey in his quest to learn about steamboat operation. He helped CW land a job as fireman on the riverboat STRIKER**. Sources mention his work on other boats, such as the DICK HENDERSON and SALLIE J COOPER in the Belpre-Parkersburg area. Local river people recalled years later in a newspaper account that he was a fireman on the SALLIE J COOPER. 

Photo copied by author from S&D Reflector Magazine

CLICK TO ENLARGE

 Cumberland Posey Sr. image in a Black History Series article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

CW earned a Second Engineer license in 1877, despite facing “much opposition on account of his color,” as reported in The Pittsburgh Courier at CW’s death. He later achieved his dream to become a chief engineer in 1892. After being licensed, he was often known as “Cap” (for Captain) or “Commodore” Posey. He was the first African American to do so, according to the Western Pennsylvania Historical Society. The Langston (OK) City Herald June 15, 1893 edition reported:

C. W. Posey of Munhall, Pa., is the first Negro granted a Chief Engineer's license to run a steamboat on the Mississippi River and tributaries. He is now general manager of the Delta and Cyclone Towboat company. He is also a stockholder in that company. 

While in Belpre, in addition to working on boats, he belonged to the “colored” Odd Fellows lodge. This was noteworthy - odd, you could say, -  because CW was probably still a teenager at the time. Odd Fellows*** was (and is) a fraternal organization promoting personal development, ethical conduct, and charitable activities.

Anna Stevens earned a teaching certificate to teach in Athens County in the spring of 1879. She passed an examination and her certificate was renewed for 18 months in August of 1880. Anna attracted attention as a qualified teacher:

Progress in the march of events is, in one direction, chronicled in the fact that Miss Anna Stevens, of African lineage, is teaching the public white school west of Mr. Joseph Herrold’s suburban residence. Miss Stevens has previously taught in York township and at other points where she has uniformly been highly personally esteemed. As a teacher she possesses rare tact and efficiency and her services in this line have been in wide demand.

Athens Messenger (OH) Thursday, September 7, 1882. page 5, column 3

At some point Anna Stevens and Cumberland Posey met and fell in love. There is no record of the courtship details. They were married in Athens, Ohio, according to this court document:

Marriage license and return

Colored 

PARTIES 

Posey, C. W. and Stevens, Angeline

License issued the 9 day of May A. D. 1883 to the above-named parties: 

Wm. S. Wilson, Probate Judge

Shortly after their marriage, she stopped teaching, and they moved to Homestead PA, near Pittsburgh. There were more river-related jobs and valuable contacts in that area.

Angeline (Anna) Posey. Image from the 1910 Pennsylvania Negro Business Directory

Cap Posey went on to achieve great success in business, wealth, and civic involvement. In the 1890’s, he began building steamboats, not just working on them. He reportedly built or owned forty-one boats during his lifetime. 

His involvement with steamboats also included these with local connections: 

• DICK HENDERSON built in 1873 at Parkersburg WV
• SALLIE J COOPER built in 1878 at Parkersburg by Captain Ed B. Cooper
• VOLCANO was built for Posey at Parkersburg 1905. 
• OLIVETTE was built at Knox Ship Yard in Marietta in 1882. Posey bought it in 1896.

CW was owner, investor, or manager of numerous companies. One of them, Diamond Coal and Coke Company employed as many as 1,000 people. He profited from hauling iron ore across the Great Lakes to Pittsburgh for for Andrew Carnegie. Cap earned respect for his business success and the quality of the boats he built. Newspaper reports often used his name without mentioning he was African American. S&D Reflector magazine observed: “Captain Posey was held in very high regard for his boat design not just in Pittsburgh but up and down the river.”

Steam towboat TORNADO. This was one of three CW Posey boats with names suggesting power. VOLCANO and CYCLONE were the other two. Image copied from S&D Reflector magazine

CW was also active in several civic groups, church, and fraternal organizations. He was an investor and President of the African American newspaper The Pittsburgh Courier. He invested in the Homestead Grays negro baseball team. His son, Cumberland W. Posey, Jr. ("Cum") was a gifted athlete, and built the team into a powerhouse of the Negro baseball leagues in the 1930's and 1940's. Posey, Jr. became more well known than his father. His story is chronicled in James Overmyer's biography: Cum Posey of the Homestead Grays.

Cumberland Willis (“Cap”) Posey

Image from Pennsylvania Negro Business Directory 1910

Anna was a housewife, mother to their three children, and a trusted advisor to her husband. Her role in their businesses was significant and probably understated. She held title to some of the real estate investments. Her name was on a government contract for dredging operations. She also was active in social and arts organizations. Anna was gifted at painting. Her pictures decorated the walls of their tastefully decorated home. 

She was a founding member in 1894 of the Aurora Reading Club, a cultural organization of Black women in Pittsburgh. It still exists today. Anna was cultured - but gutsy, too. She wrote a spirited letter in 1901 to the editor of the white-owned Pittsburgh Daily Post advocating for the recognition of Black woman’s civic organizations on an equal basis with white organizations. Anna defended her family - literally. In 1894 she fired warning shots with a pistol to chase off two men who tried to rob her husband. A few years later, she personally apprehended a group of boys who had burgarized the Posey home and some stores. The boys were from prominent families; they agreed to make up the losses.

How did Cumberland and Anna Posey achieve such success at a time when most African Americans worked hard to make ends meet in menial jobs?

For CW, there were several factors:

• CW possessed a rare combination of intelligence, drive, and perseverance.
• His father was a positive influence. After emerging from slavery, he earned a responsible position with the AME church, and provided for his children. He allowed and probably encouraged CW to pursue steamboat engineering.
• Faith, probably learned from his parents. CW was active in his church and many charitable organizations.
• A friendly disposition: The Colored American Magazine said “In person, Mr. Posey is a man of robust features, genial habits, and never in too big a hurry to greet you with a smile.”
• He was aggressive in business practices - some say, to a fault. He often sued and was sued and was jailed once after being convicted of fraud. He was soon pardoned, testimony to his reputation and perhaps to the influence of his white business partners. This aspect of his character is hard to assess. Was he simply holding his own as a Black operator in the "rough and tumble," mostly white-dominated river industry? Or was he ruthless in pursuing his own agenda. It was probably the former, based on the accolades of many other people.

Headlines such as these (above and below) were surprising to your author, considering Cumberland Posey’s general reputation. They are one indication that river-related business at the time could be rough. Images from newspapers.com

• Good character and reputation; three examples, among many:
• Frank Bolden, local Pittsburgh historian: “(Posey) was a pillar of African American culture and progress...He was a good citizen and a very good role model.”
• Evan Posey Baker (CW’s great grandson): “He was never satisfied with what he accomplished; he wasn’t the type of guy who would sit on his past achievements.”
• Way's Towboat Directory: "Captain (Cumberland) Posey was well respected on the river..."
• Mentors. There were several of those, attracted by the skills and work ethic they saw in him.
• Mr. Payton from Belpre helped CW find his first riverboat job and encouraged his interest in steamboats.
• Seward Hays (Pittsburgh coal merchant William Seward Brenneman "WSB" Hays) employed CW as an engineer on several of his boats. CW named his second son “Seward” in honor of Mr. Hays.
• Andrew Carnegie trusted CW enough to use Posey’s boats for transporting iron ore and coal.
• Good partners. Author James Overmyer in Cum Posey observed that CW often worked with white business partners. That gave him credibility, connections, and financial support. And they gained an energetic and trusted operator.

Anna’s success attributes:

• Intelligence and talent
• Encouragement from her parents and mentors, probably some of her teachers.
• Perseverance: She, and other Black children in rural Athens County, Ohio, were lucky to attend public school. Something drove her to study, excel, and achieve goals - such as teaching school in a mostly white area. Surely she faced opposition in doing this. Yet she pressed on, graduated, and earned teaching positions.
• Reputation. Her talents as a young person were noticed by the Athens community.  Later in life, The 1910 Pennsylvania Negro Business Directory listing of “Mrs. Anna Posey” was typical of comments about Anna:

  Mrs. Posey is a prominent figure in the Ladies Federation of Clubs and takes an active interest in all movements tending to improvements in the race. She is a lady of education and refinement and has devoted much study made to the fine arts.

• Business judgment which enabled her to advise and partner with CW in business ventures.
• Artistic talent.
• Social skills. A poor Black girl from rural Ohio adapted to fit in with prominent people in an bustling, urban setting.
• Courage to take controversial positions and actions.

It's an inspiring story: two African American people achieve great success from humble beginnings in rural Ohio. A quote from the Parkersburg Sentinel in 1894 about Cap Posey applies to Anna, too: "Cumberland Posey has prospered in a way that is rare for one of his race. But it was a reward for qualities that bring (success) to any one, black or white."

Notes

*The Athens Messenger newspaper listed the student as “Anna Butler.” Was it Anna Stevens listed with the wrong last name or another student? That can’t be verified. However, the correct first name, the lack of other African American residents with the name Butler, and the likelihood that Anna Stevens received a high school education, make it likely that the “Butler” surname was listed incorrectly. Other sources list Anna Stevens as the graduate; that is your author’s assumption.

**There is no record of a steamboat with this name in boat directories. It could have had another name, or been a small private boat. Or, Cumberland Posey may have worked as a “striker,” a steamboat engine room job, and that term was incorrectly identified as a boat name. 

***The “Odd Fellows” name is apparently derived from the unusual or odd notion that common working men in 18th century England would form such a high-minded club. 

Sources

Belko, Mark, “‘Commodore Posey’ plied boats, ore trade,” Black History Month Series, Pittsburgh Post Gazette,February 21,1994. 

Burke, Henry Robert, “Cumberland Willis Posey Sr.,” copy provided by Belpre, OH Historical Society

Ewell, Thomas, The Smoky City, The Colored American Magazine, December, 1901

Hancock, Carol Wylie, a dissertation titled “Honorable Soldiers, Too: An Historical Case Study of Post-Reconstruction African American Female Teachers of the Upper Ohio River Valley,” Carol Wylie Hancock, 2008, copy provided by James E. Overmyer, author of Cum Posey.

Newspapers.com, numerous articles on line found in searches for Cumberland W. Posey, Sr. 

Ohio River Museum, Marietta OH, “Cumberland Willis Posey, Sr.” exhibit.

Overmyer, James E, Cum Posey of the Homestead Grays, Jefferson NC, McFarland & Company, Inc., 2020, viewed on line at Google Books 

S&D Reflector Magazine, a publication of Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen, various reports and photos on steam towboats connected to Cumberland Posey Sr. 

Southeast Ohio History Center, Athens, Ohio, documents and articles published by The Athens Messenger newspaper related to Angeline Stevens, provided by Levering Library volunteers John D. Cunningham and Cindy M. Smith

Way, Frederick, with Rutter, Joseph, Way’s Steam Towboat Directory, Athens OH, Ohio University Press, 2013, information on boats connected to Cumberland Posey Sr.

Whitaker, Mark, Smoketown, the Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance, New York, Simon and Shuster, 2018

Williams, Rachel Jones, “Cumberland Willis Posey Sr.,” Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine, Vol 36, No. 2, 

Wills, Rick, “Cap Posey overcame slavery to rise to success in Pittsburgh,” Triblive.com, July 20, 2008. 

Epidemics: Disease, Courage, Perseverance in Early Washington County

We rarely experience serious epidemics today. That’s why the Covid-19 virus pandemic is so unusual - and traumatic. The experience will be etched into our memory and our national psyche for decades to come. The terms social distancing, apex, surge, hot spot, flattening the curve, and shelter-in-place will become part of our lexicon. 

But in the first hundred years of Marietta’s founding, epidemics were a somewhat regular occurrence. The threat of disease was always stalking the population. There was incomplete knowledge about diseases and how they were spread. Treatments were generally ineffective. Outbreaks often happened during times of other stresses, compounding their impact. An example was the first smallpox outbreak in early 1790 which was followed by a food shortage and Indian hostility.

The 1790 smallpox epidemic began when an infected man named Welch arrived in Marietta. Concerned residents approved construction of “pest houses,” rough cabins to house the sick persons away from others. It recurred again in 1793 throughout Washington County. On August 9, the Court of Quarter Sessions ordered sick persons to be quarantined at Devol Island in the Muskingum River.

Smallpox treatment at the time offered a crude but fairly effective immunization not yet available for COVID-19. It was called inoculation or “variolization.” Tissue from smallpox sufferers was rubbed into a scratch of the person to be immunized. That person would contract smallpox, usually in a less severe form, and then was immune. 

In the 1793 epidemic, the Belpre community voted to be thus inoculated, rather than face almost certain illness and death because of close quarters in the “Farmers Castle” stockade. “Farmers Castle became one great hospital,” one historian observed. Of one hundred people inoculated, all but 5 survived and were thereafter immune.

Farmers Castle viewed at Ohiomemory.org

Lithograph originally published in Hildreth’s Pioneer History, with inscription “Ch W. Elliott Lith”

Farmers Castle was a stockade enclosing 13 houses built in 1791 to protect residents from Indian attacks.

Pioneers also endured periodic outbreaks of scarlet fever, spotted fever, conjunctivitis, measles, and what was then called “bilious fever,” (forms of malaria and yellow fever). Cholera was another deadly disease which periodically swept through America starting in the 1830s. 

Dr. Samuel Hildreth, noted physician, scientist, and historian, wrote a research paper, “On the Climate and Early History of Diseases in Ohio” in 1839. It documented epidemics in the early settlements, including Washington County. 

The epidemics of 1822-1823 were especially severe. The disease was malaria-like. Such diseases were thought to be caused by natural conditions - such as air polluted by stagnant water or decaying vegetation. Preceding the 1822 epidemic, Hildreth reported abnormally dry weather, stagnated rivers, and pest infestations of grasshoppers, gray squirrels, and potato bugs. Ugh. Sounds biblical. Before the 1823 epidemic, weather was unusually wet with lots of standing water. We know now that most of the malarial-type sicknesses are transmitted by mosquitoes. The conditions observed by Hildreth may have led to mosquito infestations that brought disease.

Many impacts were similar to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were hotspots: Marietta was one. In September 1822, at the peak of illness, 400 cases were reported within a square mile. There were also examples of heroic doctors and nurses like we’ve seen with COVID-19. One of these was Dr. Samuel P. Hildreth who reported on his experience:

“For four months in succession I ate but two meals a day, and spent from sixteen to eighteen hours out of twenty-four in attending on the sick. Through a merciful Providence my own health was good, and the only suffering was from exhaustion and fatigue through the whole of this disastrous season. The proportion of deaths was about six in every hundred cases, where proper medical attention was given to the sick; but so general was the disease that many lives were lost from a lack of nurses.”

Samuel Prescott Hildreth, Physician, Scientist, Historian

1923 Portrait by Aaron Corwine

Christopher Busta-Peck at Flickr.com

The community acted with caring support and concern. On September 15, 1822, a public meeting was held. Committees were appointed to visit the sick and give them needed supplies. Apparently there was little concern about contagion. On September 18, resolutions were adopted noting “the distressed situation of our fellow citizens and friends calls for the upmost exertions and deepest humiliation,” and that “we will exhort and encourage each other in visiting the sick....” A day of “public fasting, humiliation, and prayer” was observed on September 21. Soon after, most people were recovering, though the epidemic did not end for sure until “hard frosts came in November.” Ninety Five people died from June through November of 1822. The population of Marietta at the time was about 2,000.

Reverend Cornelius Springer’s memory of the 1822 epidemic was vivid, even decades later. He was stationed in Marietta with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He knew of only two people, Judge Wood and a Mr. Putnam of Harmar, who avoided the virus. He remembered that five members of a single family named Adams died. He attended the funeral of attorney and judge Paul Fearing and his wife who died within six hours of each other, early victims of the epidemic. Two sisters named Wells died together and were buried in the same grave.

Rev. Springer and his wife escaped the illness. But the next year in the epidemic of 1823, Mrs. Springer became ill. She ran a temperature for 24 days. He noted with gratitude that Dr. Hildreth cared for “Mrs. S. With great punctuality...and would take nothing for his services. His reply: I am disposed to do something for the Gospel, and I can do it in this way as easy as any other.” And further, Dr. Hildreth sent a load of wood and quarter of beef to the Springers at the parsonage. Rev. Springer also noted that local prejudice against Methodists (his church) dissipated during his two year stay, perhaps an unintended consequence of the epidemic.

Animals also suffered in some epidemics. Even COVID-19  has infected a bengal tiger. Rabies outbreaks in 1810 and 1811 affected wolves, dogs and foxes. Many domestic animals were bitten and died. Hildreth recalled that several people were bitten, though he did not remember anyone dying. He treated one such patient successfully with “free internal use of calomel and cantharides, producing strangury and ptyalism.” Don’t think I want to know what that was.

Chillicothe, Ohio, experienced Malaria-like symptoms in horned cattle and horses during a community-wide epidemic in 1839. There were similar illnesses in Washington County horses in 1815. 

Each epidemic is unique; some produce unexpected events. A deadly cholera outbreak in 1833 struck Columbus. There was panic; contracting cholera was often fatal. A fourth of the population fled to nearby communities. 100 people died. An 1849 a cholera recurrence decimated the Ohio Penitentiary population. Prison workshops became hospital wards. Guards deserted. Discipline was relaxed. For sixteen days, prisoners were not locked in cells, and yet order prevailed. Unfortunately, 118 Prisoners died, including 18 in one day.

Adversity was part of life in the early years in the Ohio Country. That included frontier hardships, Indian threats, disease, and leaving family and friends behind in the East. Ephraim Cutler, a prominent leader, recalled his arrival at Marietta in September of 1795:  “We had landed sick, among strangers, and mourning the loss of two children to disease on the trip west to Marietta. Such was our introduction to pioneer life.” He recovered and became a successful farmer and civic leader. Sadly, he lost another child, Manasseh, in the 1822 epidemic.

Sources:   

Andrews, Martin R., History of Marietta and Washington County and Representative Citizens, Chicago, Biographical Publishing Company, 1902

Brush, Edmund Cone, “The Pioneer Physicians of the Muskingum Valley,”

Ohio History Journal, a Paper Read at the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Society, in the hall of the House or Representatives, at Columbus, March 6, 1890, viewed at resources.ohiohistory.org.

DeWitt, David C., History Thursday, “Ohio’s first epidemic rock star doctor, Samuel Hildreth of Marietta,” April 9, 2020, ohiocapitaljournal.com

Dickinson, C. E., D. D., History of Belpre, Washington County, Ohio, Parkersburg WV, C. E. Dickinson, 1920

Hildreth, Samuel P., Pioneer History: Being an Account of the First Examinations of the Ohio Valley and the Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory, Cincinnati, H. W. Derby & Co., 1848.

Hildreth, Samuel P., M.D., “Address of S. P. Hildreth, M.D., President of the Third Medical Convention of Ohio, Delivered at Cleveland,” 1839

Williams, H. Z. et al, History of Washington County with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Cleveland, H. Z. Williams and Bro., 1888

“The Second Blessing: Columbus Medicine and Health The Early Years, God’s Scourge” The Ohio State University, Health Services LIbrary, viewed at: https://hsl.osu.edu/mhc/second-blessing-columbus-medicine-and-health-early-years

Washington County Epidemics, Genealogy Trails History Group, genealogytrails.com

Riding the Doodlebug

From 1933-53, thousands of area residents enjoyed riding the Doodlebug. Doodlebug? It was not a kid's toy or amusement park ride. The Doodlebug was a self-propelled gasoline powered 40 passenger train car. It ran on the B&O tracks along the west side of the Muskingum River daily serving Zanesville, Marietta, Belpre, Parkersburg, and many points in between.


Doodlebug approaches Waterford station, Photo courtesy of Roger Mackey, Parkersburg WV

People loved the convenience and the adventure of riding the Doodlebug train. It ran often, had multiple stops for pickups and drop offs, and was generally on time. It was truly a passenger-friendly operation. The Doodlebug would stop for anyone, anywhere, and for almost any purpose along the line. Stories abounded.

Eldon Young, historian for the OL&K railroad group, recalls that the train stopped at one lady’s home where she served the crew lunch. He also said that local residents used the trains as a delivery service for letters to persons along the train line. One Belpre resident sent letters this way to an acquaintance in Zanesville who then responded with a note returned to Belpre via the doodlebug the next day. That was pretty quick turnaround compared to the mail then and now.

Another Belpre area resident reportedly stopped the train and handed the conductor a shopping list. The conductor then purchased the items in Parkersburg and left a full shopping bag sitting near the tracks on the return trip.

Then there was a hunter who tried to flag down train going into Malta so he could ride to other side of town. Hunter waved at the train with his gun up in the air; the engineer kept going. The hunter hitched a ride into town where train was stopped. He asked the engineer: Didn’t you see me standing there waving at you for a ride? Engineer: I saw you there. Hunter: Why didn't you stop? Engineer: You were waving a gun up in the air. Would you stop for someone waving a gun at you? Hunter, hesitating: I guess not...

He also told the story of a conductor who noticed that the passenger count exceeded the tickets sold by one. Someone was riding free. He ordered the engineer to stop in the middle of a large trestle. He then sternly announced his finding that a passenger had not paid and said when the person was identified he or she would be put off the train right there on the trestle. The offending passenger immediately confessed and paid up.

Gene Heldman, local barber and source of community news, recalls fondly riding the train with his mother as a youth. They boarded in Oak Grove for shopping in downtown Marietta. Conductor Bud Parsons would invite young Gene to sit in the operator's seat and "drive" the train down to Harmar. Parsons then took the helm and backed the train over the Harmar bridge to Union Depot, then located along Second Street in Marietta. The Heldmans did their shopping and errands and returned home to Oak Grove on a later train.

A Marietta resident fondly recalls riding the Doodlebug from Stockport to visit family and for doctor appointments in Parkersburg. She explained something that was common in the time period. Her family had a car, but it was used only on Sunday for church or for special occasions. Most of the time it sat in the garage. So, the train was essential for her and many others to get from place to place.

The doodlebug self propelled train cars first appeared around 1904. General Electric engineers identified the practical uses for self propelled railcars. The early ones were gasoline powered and much more economical to operate than a conventional train. There was no need for electric power as with interurbans and trolleys. They became popular for service on lightly used branch lines. Manufacturers included GE and Electro-Motive Corporation based in Cleveland (later acquired by General Motors). They used car bodies built by Pullman Standard, Brill, and St. Louis Car Company.

Derivation of the Doodlebug term is not clear. The term "doodlebug" was given to the first successful rail motor car, the Union Pacific #1 McKeen Motor Car, built in late 1904 to March 1905. When that motor car first arrived for service in Kearney, Nebraska, the switchman looked at the Maroon colored, flat front car body and proclaimed, "Look at the potato bug." The doodlebug term was coined sometime later. The term may also have described the bug-like appearance of a single rail car, viewed from a distance, meandering across open country. Eldon Young said the name stuck because it “doodled” along at its own pace.

The doodlebug cars began service locally in 1933, about 35 years after the original rail line from Marietta to Zanesville was built. That line was initiated in 1884 by Col. Albert Boone, a promoter identified in a 1953 Marietta Times article as a “sharp dresser, smooth talker, and master salesman.” His plan was greeted with skepticism from locals who recalled an earlier failed effort which cost area investors $500,000. Boone’s plan was more practical – he wanted only free right of way from property owners – in exchange for free passes on the train for five years. He obtained commitments of capital from eastern investors, though some local community financial help was also provided. Construction began in 1886. On June 30, 1888, the first passenger train arrived in Harmar from Zanesville, greeted by jubilant crowds, cannons firing, flags waving, and dignitaries speaking.

In July, 1953 crowds again turned out for a more somber occasion – the final run of the doodlebug train and the end of passenger rail service. Passenger use here and across the country had dropped off as the car became the preferred mode of transport after World War II. Freight service had mostly moved to trucks. Only local opposition to abandonment requests staved off earlier shutdown of the line.


Front page of Marietta Daily Times reporting the last run of the Doodlebug train in 1953

The train cars were packed with passengers who rode the train on the final round trip run from Zanesville to Parkersburg and back. Among the passengers was Elizabeth Boone, daughter of the original rail line’s founder. Crowds gathered at the stops to wave their final goodbye to the local doodlebug.