THE STORY OF ADAM POE

by

Thomas D. Graham

January 28, 1952

Delaware County Historical Society Delaware, Ohio

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THE STORY OF ADAM POE

In the year 1938, the William Street Church reached the 120 th year of its existence, and some of its members began thinking in terms of a suitable recognition for the 125 th year, 5 years hence. As the record of the years was reviewed, certain men and events seemed to stand out as milestones in the career of that historic church. It soon appeared that near the forefront of the stalwart men who had served William Street Church stood Adam Poe , the subject of this sketch.

As we were casting about in the interest of finding someone who might search out and write the story of William Street, a trial balloon was sent in the direction of our late good friend, Benjamin L. McElroy. Unfortunately, he did not feel able to undertake the project. But a little preliminary investigation of it led him also to an interest in Adam Poe. He did some research, and prepared an article entitled “Adam Poe, Unsung Hero of Ohio Wesleyan,” published in Ohio Wesleyan Magazine, April, 1939, in which he made a plea for a fuller recognition of Adam Poe, the man, and for some kind of permanent memorial to him.

Dr. H.C. Hubbart was also contacted with regard to writing the story, but he was deeply involved in research relative to his book, “Ohio Wesleyan’s First Hundred Years.” A few years passed, and the writer began collecting data for a historical sketch of the William Street Church. Again, Adam Poe loomed as a stalwart character whose story should be searched out and written. This paper is an effort to record the findings of such research as we have been able to do on the origin and background, the life and service, of this man who, in his day, was, to use Dr. McElroy’s words, “the dominating personality in Delaware.”

Poe Ancestry

It seems inevitable to the writer that such a report as this must begin with the physical and historical origin of the individual in question. So it is without apology that we shall begin our story with a genealogical sketch of the Poe family.

We recognize, in passing, those who look with scorn upon what they refer to as the futility of research among those dead and gone. But we prefer to stand with Daniel Webster on the premise that, quote “The memory of the pioneers is one which should be cherished and honored. We who live surrounded by all the comforts of a highly developed civilization can have but an inadequate conception of the stress of life in those times when the first steps were taken in the transforming of wilderness into the fruitful and finished region in which we now live. It is well to revive the memories of the worthies of a former time who did so great a work in the development of a country.” unquote.

The earliest known ancestor of Adam Poe was his great grand-father, George Jacob Poe, who along with thousands of other young men in Germany, sought to escape the perils and problems of political strife in Europe, and with his young wife and perhaps one son, came to America about 1740. The year is not known with exactness. One record says “previous to 1740,” another says “in 1745.” Evidence will appear later that he was living in Maryland in 1742.

In any case, George Jacob Poe settled on Antietam Creek, in Frederick County, now Washington County, Maryland. He owned a plantation on the west side of the creek, in what is now the Lietersburg district, before 1748. He obtained an order for the survey of the adjoining 100 acres 2

on Feb. 10, 1748, which was named “Well Taught” and patented July 4, 1749. Mr. Poe obtained an order for a resurvey of his land in 1752, the patent for which, dated Mar. 14, 1754, embraced 1300 acres, and included the site of the village of Lietersburg. Much of the survey was on the east side of the Antietam. In 1755 he sold all his land except 362 acres. Poe obtained another survey of other lands on the west side of the Antietam in 1761, and soon afterwards sold the site of Lietersburg and assigned his interest in the resurvey of the plantation called “Well Taught” to Jacob Leiter.

Then he purchased land on Fishing Creek, in Frederick County, Maryland. (A note inserted states: “From a study of land titles and records, plus such other records as are available, it appears that George Jacob Poe first lived at Lewistown, 1740-47, then on Antietam Creek near Lietersburg, 1748-61, then of Fishing Creek near Jefferson.”

George Poe owned and operated a grist mill, and conducted a business of hauling supplies to and from Baltimore and other cities. He had a number of teams and wagons, and employed drivers for them, while he himself always accompanied the wagon trains on horseback.

George Jacob Poe had paid the passage money for one Mike Peck and his wife from Ireland to Baltimore, as was often done in the early days. In turn Mike Peck drove a team for Mr. Poe, to repay him. Peck had a habit of getting drunk and beating his wife. Mr. Poe could not stand for that, and one time gave Peck a thrashing for it. Soon after this, as Poe rode by the wagon Peck was driving, Peck shot Poe in revenge for the whipping. Peck ran away, and the next teamster following found George Jacob Poe dead. This occurred in July 1761. Peck was later caught, and executed on Oct. 8, 1762. (an account of this may be seen in Scharp’s “Hist. of Western Maryland,” Vol.1, pg. 424.)

The identity of the wife of George Jacob Poe has not been discovered. Her name was Elizabeth. They had 4 children: 1. George 2. Andrew 3. Kate 4. Adam

George Poe, the eldest son is said by some to have been born in Germany. There is a family tradition that one of the children was born on the high seas on the way from Germany to America. Some family historians assign this distinction to George, some to Andrew, and some to Adam. Since there is pretty good authority that both Andrew and Adam were born in Frederick County, the distinction of having been born on the ocean must belong to George, if it is more than a tradition. The “History of Frederick Co., Md.” by Williams, v.1, p. 344, says that Andrew and Adam were born in a house near Lewistown, Md., which (house) was in later years kept as a tavern by George H. Clem.

George Poe, being the eldest son inherited 2/3 of his father’s property. His mother inherited the other 1/3. It is said that he was a wealthy man for his day, and that he remained loyal to the British Crown during the Revolutionary troubles, entertaining British officers lavishly in his home. Since the rest of the children received no inheritance, they soon moved west, and we have little data on George, except that he married a Miss Willard, had a son, George, and lived near Jefferson, Frederick County, Md. 3

It is interesting to note that the son who inherited the estate remained loyal to the British Crown, while the other two sons both fought for the cause of the colonies.

Andrew, second son of George Jacob and Elizabeth Poe, was born Sept. 30, 1742, in Frederick County, Maryland. He married on Jan. 15, 1780, at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Rutan. They had eleven children. Andrew died July 9, 1823, near Hookstown in Green Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. His wife died at the same place. Both are buried in Mill Creek Cemetery, Green Township, Beaver County Pennsylvania. This data is on authority of Presbyterian Church Records on Mill Creek, Beaver Co., Pa., where Andrew was a member for about 40 years.

Andrew was a private in Captain Kidd’s Company of Washington County (Pa.) then Virginia Militia, John Marshall, Colonel. He was also given a commission as Lieutenant of Mill Creek Fencibles of Pennsylvania by Governor Patrick Henry.

The genealogy of this family has been well worked out by Mrs. Daisy Poe Pratt. I have studied a copy owned by Rev. J.P.Wisman, retired Methodist minister at Ashtabula, Ohio.

Kate Poe, 3rd child of George Jacob and Elizabeth Poe, went west with her 2 brothers, married a Mr. Miller, lived and died in Burgettstown, Washington County, Pa.

Adam Poe, 4th and youngest child of George Jacob and Elizabeth Poe, and grandfather of the Adam Poe, subject of this sketch, was born in Frederick County, Md., in 1747.

When George Jacob Poe died, leaving his inheritance, except the widow’s third, all to his eldest son, the younger sons saw the necessity of soon getting out on their own. Andrew was 19 at the time of his father’s death. Adam was 14. As soon as Andrew was of age, he set out for the frontier to the west. He worked for a time around Pittsburgh, then settled on some land on Harmon’s Creek, west of Pittsburg, in Washington County, Pa. (then Va.). When Adam, his younger brother, was of age, Andrew went back home and induced him to come out with him to the new settlement on Harmon’s Creek. Their sister Kate also came with them. There grew up a little settlement of 10 or 12 families on Harmon’s Creek by about 1780.

The Indians became very troublesome about this time. The little settlement on Harmon’s Creek was about 12 miles back from the Ohio River. The Indians often crossed the river in small groups and conducted raiding parties in the settlements killing a number of inhabitants and burning buildings. The men of the settlements often went on scouting parties into the Indian territory to learn of their strength and retaliate their injuries. The Poe brothers frequently went on these excursions as they were of a daring spirit, and were “backwoodsmen” in the true sense of the word.

Adam and Andrew Poe are described as shrewd, active and courageous. In appearance they were tall, muscular and erect, with features indicating great strength of character. Both were endowed with unusual physical strength.

In the fall of 1781, there was an occurrenceon the Ohio which proved the physical prowess and stamped the characters of these two as men of no ordinary make. The place of combat was near the mouth of the Tomilson’s Run, and about 2 miles below Yellow Creek in what is now Hancock County, West Virginia. 4

In the summer of 1781, the British at Detroit had incited the Indians against the Moravians in the settlements at Gnadenhutten and Schsenbrunn, and 300 warriors of the Wyandots, Delawares and Shawanees, had gone to those settlements intending to take the missionaries, Heckwelder, Zeisberger, and others, to Detroit to try them as spies against the British.

The leader of the expedition was Half King , the principal chief of the Wyandots. They arrived in the Moravian settlements just as the crops were ripening, placed the whole colony under arrest, and lived with them for a month before starting back with the leaders as prisoners. About September 20, as they were starting their journey to Sandusky and Detroit, the Half King sent out a party of seven Wyandot warriors, three of whom were his sons, to make a stroke on one of the white settlements across the Ohio River.

They proudly set out upon their expedition, crossed the river, penetrated the settlement in the neighborhood of the Poes, and broke into the house of William Jackson, a man about sixty years of age. He being alone in the house they took him prisoner. Jackson’s son, a young man about seventeen years of age, who had left the cabin a short time previously, on returning discovered the Indians having his father a prisoner in the yard and unobserved by them fled to the fort on Harmon’s Creek to give the alarm. This took place as evening was approaching. The Indians then tried to break into a house in the same vicinity, where several man were lodging but failing to get in, they made off with their prisoner. These men also gave the alarm, and the settlement was soon collected. Preparations were made for following the Indians as early the next morning as it would be light enough to see the train, and at the first dawn of day twelve of the settlers mounted on horseback, started in pursuit of the marauders. They followed the trail at the greatest possible speed until they reached the top of the river hill, which was about twelve miles. There they hitched their horses, as the hill was steep, and traveled on foot. When they arrived at the bottom of the hill, near to the Ohio, the trail turned down the river, and in crossing a little stream it that put into the river, now known as Tomlinson’s run, Andrew observed that where the Indians had stepped into the water it was still riley, and cautioning the men to keep quiet, that the Indians were very near and would hear them and kill the prisoner, as the men were making considerable noise with their feet by running.

After several fruitless efforts to quiet them, he left the company, turning off square to the right, went to the bank of the river, and, looking down, about twelve feet below him he saw two Indians standing about half bent, with their guns in their hands, looking down the river in the direction of the noise. He observed that one was a very large man. The thought struck him that he would shoot the big one and take the other prisoner. Accordingly, he squatted down in the weeds they not having observed him. He crept up to the brow of the bank, put his gun through the weeks, took deliberate aim at the big Indian, who was three feet in advance of the other, but his gun missed fire. When the gun snapped they both yelled, Woh! Woh!

Poe immediately drew his head back, and the Indians did not see him. By this time the other men had overtaken the other five Indians with the prisoner, who were about one hundred yards down the river, and had begun to fire, which drew the attention of these two. Andrew cocked his gun and crept to the very edge of the bank, and again leveled his gun at the big Indian, but again it missed fire. He dropped the piece and sprung instantly on them. They, on wheeling about at the snap of his gun, were brought side by side, but had not time even to raise their guns before Andrew was upon them. He threw his weight on the big Indian, catching each of them around the neck. His weight coming on them so suddenly threw both down. 5

The big Indian fell on his back, Andrew fell with his left side on him and his left arm around his neck. The little Indian fell rather behind Andrew, whose right arm was around his neck. Their guns both fell. One of them laid within reach of Andrew, who observed that it was cocked. The Indians had a raft fastened to the shore close by where they were standing, the river being very high. Their tomahawks and shot pouches, with knives, were on the raft. Andrew’s knife was in the scabbard attached to his shot pouch, which was pressed between them. He got a slight hold on the handle, and was trying to draw it out to dispatch the big Indian, who, observing it, caught his hand, and spoke in his own tongue very vehemently to the other, who was struggling very hard to get loose.

Andrew made several efforts to get his knife, but in vain. At last he jerked with all his might. The big Indian instantly let go, and Andrew not having a good hold on the handle, and the knife coming out unexpectedly easy in consequence of the Indian instantly loosing his grasp, it flew out of Andrew’s hand, and the little Indian drew his head from under his arm, his grasp being slackened by the act of drawing his knife. The big Indian instantly threw his long arms around Andrew’s body and hugged his like a bear, while the little Indian sprang to the raft, which was about six feet off, and brought a tomahawk and struck at Andrew’s head, who was still lying on his side on the big Indian, he holding him fast. Andrew threw up his foot as the stroke came and hit the Indian on the wrist with the toe of his shoe, and the tomahawk flew into the river.

The big Indian yelled at the little Indian furiously, and he sprang to the raft and got the other tomahawk, and, after making several motions, struck at Andrew’s head, who threw up his right arm and received the blow on his wrist, which cut off one bone of it and the cords of three of his fingers, disabling all the fingers of his right hand but the fore finger. Andrew immediately threw his hand over his head when he was struck, and the tomahawk catching in the sinews of his arm, drew it out of the Indian’s hand, and it flew over his head. After the stroke was given the big Indian let go his hold, and Andrew immediately sprang up. As he rose he seized the gun, which lay by his head, with his left hand, and it being already cocked, he shot the smaller Indian through the body.

But scarcely had he done so when the big Indian arose, and, placing one hand on his collar and the other on his hip, he threw Andrew into the river. Andrew threw his hand back, and caught the Indian by his buckskin breechclout, and brought him along into the stream. The water being deep, they both went under. Then a desperate effort was made by each to drown the other, and sometimes one was under the water, sometimes the other and sometimes both.

In the struggle they were carried about thirty yards out into the river. Poe at length seized the tuft of hair of the scalp of the Indian, by which he held his head underwater until he supposed him drowned. But he himself was sinking; not being able to do much with his right hand, he threw it on the back of the Indian’s neck, who was under water, and swam with his left hand, to recruit [sic] himself a little. But the Indian had only been “possuming,” and got from under Andrew’s arm and swam for shore with all his speed. Poe followed him as fast as he could, but having only one hand to swim with, he could not catch him.

As soon as the Indian got out of the water, the gun being uncocked, he went to cock in and disabled the lock. He then threw it down and picked up the empty gun with which Andrew had shot the other Indian, and went to the raft for the shot pouch and powder horn, and commenced loading. In the meantime, as soon as the Indian reached the spot where both guns and tomahawk 6

lay, Andrew swam back into the river and called for his brother Adam, who was with the other party.

Adam came running on the bank where Andrew had jumped off, stopped, began to load his gun, as he had discharged it at the other Indians. Andrew continued swimming away from them with nothing but his face out of the water, still hurrying Adam to load quickly. The race between the two in loading was about equal, but the Indian drew the ramrod too hastily and it slipped out of his hands and fell a little distance from him. He quickly caught it up and rammed down his bullet. This little delay gave Adam Poe the advantage, so that just as the Indian raised his gun to shoot Andrew, Adam’s ball entered the breast of the savage, and he fell forward on his face upon the very margin of the river.

Adam now alarmed for his brother, who was scarcely able to swim, jumped into the river to assist him to shore, but Andrew, thinking more of the honor of securing the big Indian’s scalp as a trophy than of his own safety, called loudly upon his brother to leave him alone and scalp the big Indian. Adam, however, refused to obey, and insisted upon saving the living before attending to the dead. In the meantime the savage had succeeded in reaching the deep water before he expired, and his body was borne off by the waves without being stripped of the ornament and pride of an Indian warrior.

An unfortunate occurrence took place during this conflict. Just as Adam arrived at the top of the bank for the relief of his brother, the balance of his party, hearing the hallooing of Andrew, came running up the bank, and seeing him in the river, mistook him for a wounded Indian, and three of them fired at him, one of them wounding him dangerously. The ball entered his right shoulder near the junction with the neck, behind the collar bone and close to it; passing through his body, the ball came out at his left side, between the first rib and the hence [sic] bone.

During the contest between Andrew Poe and the two Indians, the rest of the party followed the Indian trail to the river, where the other five Indians were with the prisoner, Jackson. They had a large raft, and were preparing to cross the river, Jackson seeing the men coming as soon as the Indians did, ran to them. One of the Indians having a tomahawk, ran after him and struck him on the back making but a slight wound. The men fired on the Indians, who returned the fire and plunged into the river. They did not capture any of the Indians, but being badly wounded only one of them got across the river, and he was shot through the hand.

The Indians firing at our men, wounded but one of them. He was shot slightly through the side, but the ball cut his lungs, and he died in about an hour. His name was Cherry. The party took the dead man, Cherry, and Andrew Poe up the river to the horses, and then took them on horseback home.

There have been several versions of this story. It was first published in an old magazine, in which the writer invented the name “Big Foot” as the name of the large Indian in the incident, calling him “chief” and leader of the party. He also got the names of Andrew and Adam interchanged, stating that it was Adam Poe who grappled with the big Indian. The date was also in error, being given as 1782 instead of 1781. This story was copied verbatum by Mr. Doddridge and published in Doddridge’s Notes, thus perpetuating the errors. But the Wyandots never had a Chief named Big Foot, nor were any of the Indians of this party, Chiefs, or named Big Foot. As stated 7

before, 3 of the 7 warriors were sons of the Half King, the leader being one of the sons called Scotash, the only one of the 7 who was not killed.

We have examined carefully the record of six versions of this story that we have been able to find. We have recorded here, as the one probably most accurate and authentic, the version recorded in the History of Belmont and Jefferson County, Ohio. This version was recorded after considerable investigation to resolve the variations in previously published versions. Some of the authorities substantiating this version will appear in the paragraphs to follow.

It was stated that Scotash, the warrior who escaped from the terrific combat, made his way to the Wyandot town near Upper Sandusky, crossing the Tuscarawas on the trail above Fort Laurens, and before entering the Wyandot town, announced his coming by a series of dismal howls, which indicated that the expedition had been defeated and his brothers killed. This solitary survivor remained in the woods a whole day giving vent to his grief by moaning and howling alternately. The whole Wyandot tribe long mourned the loss of the sons of the Half King.

It is also stated that when they received the news of this disastrous defeat their indication [sic] knew no bounds, and that they at once put to death a number of prisoners then in their hands. Among those who were spared was a young man named George Folks. He owed his life to a young squaw who had fallen in love with him and procured his return to his home, near Darlington, Beaver county, Pa., where he lived to an old age. (In after years two young squaws from the Wyandot reservations made him a visit, and received many presents to take home.

Many of the facts connected with this affair are obtained from the manuscript account by Thomas Edgington of his captivity with the Wyandots. Some time after the occurrence of the Poe fight, he was captured when on his way from his cabin at the mouth of Harmon’s creek, to Col. Jas. Brown’s fort to borrow of him a log chain. Indians came suddenly upon him, made signed to him to surrender, but essaying to escape by running, he was mired in the creek, and they took him prisoner, hurrying him with them over the river and on to the Indian town. Simon Girty happened at the town afterwards, and through him ascertained that the Indian whose prize he was, was no other than the surviving brother of the Poe fight, bearing on his hand the scar of the severe wound he received there. The Indian stated that, on finding himself disabled by this wound, he stole away from the fight and, swimming the river, hid in the bushes until dark. He then constructed a raft, recrossed the river, and recovered the bodies of his slain brothers, except that of the one who floated off, as narrated by the whites. He conveyed them to the Ohio side, and there interred them. He then, being wounded and the last of the three stout brothers, took up his sorrowful way back to his tribe, where their deaths were sorely lamented for many days.

After the Indian troubles died down and the Revolutionary War period passed, Andrew, his buildings having been burned at Harmon’s Creek, sold his land about 1790 and went north to Beaver County where he lived out his life, raised 11 children, and died in 1823 near Hookstown.

We shall take our leave of Andrew, stalwart character that he was, and follow Adam, for it was his grandson who found his way into the history of Delaware and Ohio Wesleyan.

Adam Poe was born sometime in 1747. He married, Oct. 12, 1777, Elizabeth Cochran, who was born on the northwest coast of Ireland in 1756. She was a young widow, her husband having 8

been killed by the Indians along the Ohio River, opposite where East Liverpool now stands. Adam Poe served as a private in the Revolutionary War.

Adam Poe was not as tall as his brother, but physically, was equally well-formed, but differed more widely from him in his social temperament.

After removing from Harmon’s creek, he settled at the mouth of Little Beaver, on the west side of the Ohio River.

While residing here a circumstance occurred illustrative of his strength and courage. Four Indians had gone over to Georgetown and got drunk, and, having returned, slept off the effects of their intoxication on the river bank. When they had sobered up, they demanded of Mr. Poe their guns. He told them he know [sic] nothing about them. At this they got angry and commenced coming into the yard with the intention of attacking him. But as fast as they entered he caught them and threw them over the fence. He repeated this two or three times, then going into his cabin, he told his wife to take the children and flee into the cornfield, that he would stay and defend the house. He seized the gun and pointed it at the approaching savages, who seeing their danger fled to the woods and gave him no further trouble.

It was also while he lived at this place that the Wyandots determined to assassinate him in revenge for their loss in this affair, and detailed one of their most fearless warriors to accomplish the deed. On the arrival of the Indian, Poe received him with friendship, and showered him with the kindest attention. Poe’s cabin contained but one room, as they were built in those days, and but two beds, one for himself and wife, and a smaller one for the children. In the evening, the Indian intimated a desire to remain all night, if Poe and his wife did not object, when they reassured him he was perfectly welcome, and made up a pallet on the floor before a huge log fire. Ronyeness, which was the Indian’s name, lay awake until he was satisfied that the family were asleep.

After struggling with various emotions for an hour, he arose and cautiously approached the bed in which Poe and his wife were sleeping. Catching a glimpse of the faces of his intended victims, from the rays of the moon shining through a window near the bed, and falling upon them, as he raised his tomahawk to deal the fatal blow, he was so impressed with the perfidy of the act, and so overcome by the recollection of the kindness that had been shown him that his heart relented and he returned to his resting place and slept till morning.

This Indian was a relative of the large Indian that Poe had killed, and had traveled over a hundred miles to avenge his death by killing Poe, but spared his life through kindness. He had often attended the Christian Indian’s meeting at their town on the Sandusky, and there, probably had received the germ of their religion. After wandering with the missionary, Zeisberger, for several years, he came to Goshen in 1798, a convert, and there died.

From Little Beaver, Adam Poe moved to a place six miles west of New Lisbon, Columbiana Co. and from thence to Wayne county, south of Wooster, Ohio. After residing here a few years, the infirmities of age led him to seek a home with his eldest son, Andrew, father of Adam Poe, minister of the M.E. Church. He died, at Massilon, Ohio, Sept. 23, 1840, in the 94 th year of his age. When dying, he closed his own eyes with his fingers, and then quietly passed away.

His wife died Dec. 27, 1844, at the home of her son near Massilon. 9

Daisy Poe Pratt, historian of Adam Poe family states that Adam and Elizabeth (Cochran) Poe had 10 children, but names none of them. An unnamed writer in the Kittochiting Magazine, pub. Chambersburg, Pa., V. 1, p. 192 (Apr. 1905), on “The German Poes,” states that they had 3 children: 1. Andrew 2. Thomas 3. David

Andrew Poe was born in Washington Co., Pa., Nov. 12 1780; died in Stark Co., Ohio, Aug. 12, 1851; He married, Sept. 8, 1803, Miss Nancy Hoy, born York Co., Pa., June 6, 1779; died Stark Co., Ohio, Mar, 29, 1865. She was a daughter of Charles Ho. They had 12 children:

Twins (1. Sarah, b. July 12, 1804; m. John Montgomery (2. Adam , 3. Elizabeth, b. Mar. 20, 1806; m. John Carver 4. Charles, b. Sept 26, 1807; m. Susanna Warner 5. Daniel, b. Oct. 12, 1808; m. 6. George, b. Oct. 19, 1809; m. ______Bowman 7. Andrew, b. Oct. 24, 1811; m. Mary Sweeney 8. Eleanor, b. Sept. 10, 1813; m. Nathan Lash 9. John, b. June 14, 1815; m. twice 10. James McLean, b. July 21, 1818 11. Catharine, b. July 10, 1820; m. John Emerson 12. Joseph Robb, b. Apr. 11, 1824.

This Andrew Poe was a farmer. He lived as a young man in Columbiana County, west of New Lisbon, was married there and seven children were born while he lived there. In 1812 he moved to Stark County, near Massilon where he lived the remainder of his life. He and his wife, along with his father and mother are buried in a cemetery west of Massilon, called “Sixteen”.

Dr. McElroy said of Adam Poe, “His origins are obscure.” It would seem now that we have succeeded in finding more information regarding his origins than regarding his personal life. We shall try to present a picture of Adam Poe, the man, based upon a few sources that are available. They include Poe’s Journal, with intermittent entries from 1838 to 1846; the Rev. Leonard Gurley’s sketch of Poe published, 1864, in the “Ladies Repository”; Poe’s Funeral Sermon, by Bishop W. D. Clark, published in the Central Christian Advocate, for July 8, 1868; the Memoirs of Poe published with the Minutes of the North-Ohio Conference held at Wooster, Sept. 9-15, 1868; and certain correspondence of Poe, found in Dr. Whitlock’s Ohio Wesleyan Scrapbook in Slocum Library.

Adam Poe was born in a pioneer farm home in Columbiana County, Ohio, on July 12, 1804. When he was about 8 years old his family moved to Stark County, near Massilon. Adam was one of a family of 12 children, he, with a twin sister, being the oldest of the family. For all the trials of the primitive life in a pioneer day, one of the things commented on in later life by those who knew him was the wealth of anecdotes which he had from the days of his childhood. It was his great delight to recall the homes and habits of frontier life, --the rude cabin, covered with bark and glazed with paper, when a rough bench was the sofa, three-legged stools the chairs, and a sap-trough the cradle; 10

when the flail and the ax without kept time with the music of the spinning wheel and the loom within; a dwelling, whose interior walls were decorated with rifles and powder-horns, dried pumpkins, turkey wings and pheasant tails; and where, on either side of the great fire-place, hung- dried venison for meat and dried herbs for medicine, while the exterior was adorned with skins and skeletons, hoofs and horns, feathers and furs of all bipeds and quadrupeds of the surrounding forests.

Of his backwoods origin and early experience, Adam Poe always seemed to be a little proud. For the hardy frontiersman and tiller of the soil, he always seemed to have cherished a peculiar regard.

It was not the privilege of Adam Poe to receive much formal education. He had perhaps a term or two in a pioneer school, but most of his education, such as it was, came by tutoring with a Presbyterian minister. From this he secured the basics of a good English education, some knowledge of the classics, and an acquaintance with some foreign languages. But the significant thing about Adam Poe and his education is, to use the Reverend Leonard Gurley’s words, “He belonged to that class of noble men, who owe their development and success in public life, not to the systematic training of a regular collegiate course, but to the impulsive power of motives and emotions generated in the depths of a soul naturally great and aroused to action by circumstances of time and place, and the condition of society; a class of men…strongly marked, whose inherent energy and sound practical wisdom, have made them representative men, and given them a name with those…who have enjoyed superior advantages.”

His relationship with the unnamed Presbyterian minister, gave him a basic religious education, and he considered seriously becoming a minister of that denomination. He received his baptism in that church, but its distinctive doctrines did not find the response in his heart that he got from the Methodist preaching which was spreading far and fast throughout the great West.

Adam Poe united with the Methodist Episcopal Church in October 1824. He was married April 7, 1825, to Miss Eliza Hosford of Westfield, Medina County, Ohio, and with her full consent and approval decided to devote his life to the ministry in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was licensed to preach in 1825, and became an itinerant minister or “circuit rider” in 1826. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Robert R. Roberts, on Sept. 21, 1828, and ordained elder by Bishop Joshua Soule, Sept. 12, 1830. He served the Church for 42 years; eight years as a circuit rider, when circuits were sometimes larger than conferences are today. It might require 4 weeks to cover the Circuit, preaching everyday and holding a class meeting or prayer meeting every night, and riding horseback over 600 miles, through forests and over rough roads, thru drenching rain or chilling sleet and snow. He served Brunswick, Huron, Wayne, Columbus, Deer Creek and Miami Circuits ranging from Lake Erie to Cincinnati.

In 1833 he was sent to Marietta where he was stationed for one year, after which he was made Presiding Elder of Wooster District for 4 years. He was then sent to Tiffin District. But in his first year there he was afflicted with a severe bronchial infection, which threatened his life for a time, and when that was spared, threatened to take his voice from him. He was ordered by his doctor to give up his work. After a few months he decided he would rather die at work than linger in idleness, so he asked to be put back to work and was sent to the Mansfield Circuit, as the lightest work available.

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It was during his time on the Wooster District that one of the events took place which gave him the greatest satisfaction in later life. A young man, William Nast, had emigrated from Germany to America to escape religious intolerance and political intrigue. He was a scholarly and sensitive person and did considerable travelling about in America, searching for a satisfactory solution to the problems of his personal religion. He put himself in contact with the thinking of the religious leaders of many denominations, seeking his personal answer. It was in the years 1835-1837, when William Nast was a young professor at Kenyon College, and Adam Poe was the District Superintendent of the Wooster District, that Nast had the opportunity of hearing Poe preach on several occasions. In the preaching of Adam Poe, William Nast found the answer to his personal needs in the realm of religion. He joined the Methodist Episcopal Church at Poe’s invitation, and immediately began preparations to serve the Church himself. He took a special interest in helping his own people, German immigrants, with the problems of their religion. I strongly doubt that we can have any adequate conception of the distress and turmoil that existed in the minds and hearts of people, that would impel them to leave the land of their fathers and go across the world to a strange new land. William Nast had great success and satisfaction in this work. He was introduced by Adam Poe to the Ohio Conference in Cincinnati, in 1838, and by action of the Conference, was created “Missionary-at-large”, to the German population of the country. The first German Methodist Society, consisting of 30 members, was organized by William Nast in 1838. By 1864, the work had grown until the General Conference of that year, organized 3 separate German Methodist Conferences.

As Dr. McElroy so nicely says, the great work of Dr. William Nast with the German Methodist people is a tribute and an honor to Adam Poe. Nast and Poe were life-long friends in Methodism. After Poe became associated with the Book Concern, he was often in close contact with Nast as the both strove to make good literature available to Nast’s new immigrant Methodists. Ohio Wesleyan University is the proud possessor of a Bible which was a gift of William Nast to Adam Poe, in an early year of their friendship, in 1835, when Poe was on the Wooster District and Nast was a young professor at Kenyon College.

Perhaps it was the lack of educational facilities in his own early life that made Adam Poe peculiarly conscious of the importance of good literature in homes. The record of the Journal Poe kept intermittently during his itinerant ministry shows clearly that he regarded it as supremely important that people know about the literature the Church provided. He was constantly making entries regarding subscriptions to “The Advocate,” and the sales of Bibles, books and pamphlets, as he went around the circuit or the District.

It seems most fitting that one with so deep a conviction regarding the importance of good literature should in his turn become affiliated with the Book Concern. In 1852, he was appointed Assistant Book Agent, which office he also held for 8 years. He was then made Principle Agent, which office he held for 8 years, until his death in 1868.

William Street Church in Delaware was organized in 1818. For a number of years it was a “preaching place” on a large circuit. It was later made the head of a smaller local circuit, which it remained until the North-Ohio Conference in Sept. 1840, made it a Station. Adam Poe had gone to Conference, after 1 year on the Mansfield Circuit, undecided as to his future course. His doctor and his friends advised him not to continue in active work because of his health, but, in his own words, he was “not quite sure he could not continue working,” and asked for an appointment. He was 12

assigned as the first station preacher at William Street Church, and moved to Delaware in September, 1840.

In December of that year, he wrote in his Journal, (quote) “I now reside in Delaware, Ohio, a station containing 140 members. My health has improved much; whether this improvement is to be attributed under God to a prescription made by Dr. Howe, or to the use of the sulpher [sic] water from the medical spring in this place, or to the fact that my labours in preaching are not so great and that, being at home all of the time I have better opportunity of regularity in food and lodging, etc., I can not determine,…but I am profoundly thankful to God for the blessing.”

He continues, “My reception in this station has been very encouraging to me…I never have been more comfortably situated. The village of Delaware is healthy and remarkably pleasant. The people are intelligent, and remarkably moral, and externally attentive to the means of grace…Today it rained and the streets are very muddy.”

Adam Poe served as pastor of the William Street Church for about a year and a half, and was then appointed to fill an unexpired term of Superintendant of the Norwalk District for a year and a half. He was then returned to William Street Church for another year.

We shall now pause to reflect upon what was in all likelihood the greatest contribution Adam Poe made to Methodism and to Delaware. That, of course, has to do with the founding of the Ohio Wesleyan University.

In 1821, the Ohio Conference, in conjunction with the Kentucky Conference, had established at Augusta, Kentucky, the first Methodist institution in the world vested with collegiate functions. For many years it was the only Methodist college in the Church; it had able scholars on its faculty, and it educated many distinguished men.

But Augusta College was unfortunately located. It was in an obscure village in Kentucky. It was almost inaccessible. Its “plant” was insignificant. And, especially, it was on the wrong side of the river to suit the growing anti-slavery sentiment of the people of Ohio. It could not command their patronage or their contributions. After an experiment of twenty years, it was a failure, and was discontinued about 1840.

The failure of Augusta College to meet the needs of Ohio Methodism left this largest Protestant denomination in Ohio without a denominational school of higher grade than an academy. Naturally the thoughtful men of Methodism were concerned about the educational future of their Church in Ohio.

In September, 1840, Edward Thompson [sic], the Principal of the Norwalk Seminary, in a long report to the North Ohio Conference, from the Committee on Education, said, “There is no Methodist College in Ohio. We blush to think there is no institution in Ohio to which our youth can resort for collegiate instruction, without imbibing ideas at variance with the religion of their fathers, and the Church of their adoption. There is no State in the country in which the Methodist Church is more in need of a college than Ohio.” Yet Dr. Thompson [sic] did not recommend the establishment of a college.

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Dr. Charles Elliott, in an editorial in the Western Christian Advocate about that time, said, “For several years past, there has been much conversation among the Methodists of Ohio, respecting the establishment of a college, or university, of the first order, in the central part of the State.”

The famous White Sulfur Spring, rendezvous, in turn, of the animals of the forest, and the red men who mingled with them, and which finally determined the location of the village of Delaware, quickly attracted the attention of tourists and seekers after health. In order to accommodate these tourists, two enterprising citizens, Judge Thomas W. Powell and Columbus W. Kent, erected, in 1833, on a spacious lot adjoining the spring, a fine hotel, which soon became known as the Mansion House.

The Mansion House was operated for some time, but, the town of Delaware was not widely known and not easily accessible, and in 1841, Judge Powell, who had become the sole proprietor, decided to abandon the idea of establishing a Western watering-place, and offered it for sale.

It has been said that the most irresistible force in the world is an idea whose time has come. When that time has come, it requires only the ingenuity of some person of vision to guide its development. That person in this instance was Adam Poe, who had heard Dr. Thompson’s [sic] report, mentioned above, to the North-Ohio Conference, and who had demonstrated for years his sincere interest in the educational and cultural development of Methodist folks through the promotion of the distribution of Methodist literature. The North-Ohio Conference of Sept., 1840, sent Adam Poe to William Street Church in Delaware, with the very important problem of a Methodist College, deeply impressed upon his mind and heart.

When, in the following summer, it became known that the Mansion House property was for sale, what a fire must have burned in the breast of Adam Poe as he envisioned Delaware as the seat of that much desired Methodist institution of higher learning. He immediately proceeded to sound out some of the leading citizens of Delaware on a proposal to have the citizens of Delaware purchase the Mansion House and present it to the two Methodist Conferences of Ohio for a college. The reaction was very favorable.

Adam Poe wrote a letter on June 22, 1841, to Dr. Edward Thomson at Norwalk. This letter is preserved in the Ohio Wesleyan University Library, in Dr. Whitlock’s Scrapbook. In this letter he said, “Brother Dunn was here last week, and suggested to me that possibly the Norwalk Seminary might be disposed of so as to realize something over the present incumbrances as a basis for a new beginning. I will say to you in confidence that I should esteem such a disposal of that property as a release.

“The Seminary, instead of being cordially embraced and cherished by that community, has had to contend with prejudices and opposition from the commencement.

“I may be mistaken, but I believe we could do much better to commence anew with 5 or 6 thousand dollars than to stay there, and have to contend with the bigotry and avarice of those who ought to help us liberally.

“There is a delightful property here containing six acres of land embracing the mineral spring with all of its improvements which the citizens of this place would gladly donate to us. The building 14

called the mansion house is large and beautiful as a hotel, and literary gentlemen say it might be made available for the accommodation of the school without any alteration. It has more room I suppose than your Seminary building; there are also several small buildings and the whole premises ornamented with trees and gravel walks in excellent taste. I have inquired since Brother Dunn left and find it meets with very cordial consideration by the principle citizens…I am sure you would much prefer this location; and the property which would be given at once by the citizens here would enable us to go on with the school without delay or embarrassment. We might have full possession by the 1 st of September. Please inform me immediately by letter. Is there any probability of sale there on terms that would not compromise our honor or integrity, or can we make any arrangement to accept the proposal made here with prospects of utility to the cause of education and Methodism…

Yours truly

A. Poe”

We do not have the details of the Proceedings from here on, but at the North-Ohio Conference at Wooster in early August, 1841, a delegation of citizen from Delaware appeared with Adam Poe and made their offer to the Conference. The offer was received favorably and common action sought with the Ohio Conference.

The Ohio Conference, meeting 2 weeks later in Urbana, sent a delegation of three men to Delaware to examine the property. They returned to the Conference and recommended the acceptance of the property.

On September 1, 1841, a joint committee from the two conferences, on which Committee Adam Poe served, met in Delaware, and voted to officially accept the property if the citizens of Delaware could deliver the title.

Petitions were immediately prepared and signatures of citizens obtained pledging payments toward the purchase of the Mansion House property. According to Perrin and Battle’s History, 172 subscriptions were obtained, totaling $9,000. Adam Poe made a personal pledge of $500.00 and signed a note at the bank to pay it; pledges came in later to cover the other $500.00, to make the last $1000.00. Three of these petitions are preserved in the Ohio Wesleyan Library. They are dated Sept. 3, 1841. There must have been a 4 th petition, for the total number of signatures is 138, and the total sum subscribed is $8641.00.

A copy of the petition, the names of the subscribers, and the amounts of the subscriptions is appended to this paper. It is our belief that the names have never before been transcribed from the original petition. A few names we have been unable to decipher. Mr. Lancaster, of the Ohio Wesleyan Library, has very kindly consented to allow us to place the petition and subscription lists on display here.

Adam Poe served on the Committee which waited upon the Ohio Legislature, and secured, on March 7, 1842, the Charter for the Ohio Wesleyan University. He was a Trustee of the College from its founding until his death. He served one year as Financial Agent for the College. There is ample evidence in the testimony of those who were his friends that no project in which he was ever interested was nearer to his heart than the welfare of the Ohio Wesleyan University. 15

It would seem indisputable that Adam Poe was the founder of the Ohio Wesleyan University, in Delaware, Ohio. He maintained a lifetime interest in it. But he had other work to do. We have mentioned that he served William Street Church from September 1840 until December 1841, and then was sent on to complete an unfinished job as Presiding Elder on Norwalk District. In September 1843, he was returned to William Street for another year. At that time William Street Church stood on the northwest corner of Franklin and William streets, directly west of the present Church, where the filling station now stands.

It was apparent to Poe, during his second assignment at William Street that the old church would soon be inadequate, and he began to prepare the people, in their minds, for the task of building a larger church. This they did, two years later, in 1846, on the site of the present church, which is the third William Street Church.

In 1844-45 Poe served as Financial Agent for Ohio Wesleyan, traveling far and wide selling tuition scholarships; and, no doubt, what was equally as important to him, selling the need of college education for Methodist youth.

Adam Poe continued to serve the Church, as duty called, and the Bishop assigned him. He served two years at Mansfield Station, three years again as Presiding Elder on Norwalk District, then two years as Presiding Elder on Mansfield District. At the General Conference of 1852, he was elected Assistant Book Agent of the Western Book Concern, later the Methodist Book Concern, now the Methodist Publishing House. This position he held for eight years. In 1860 he was elected Principle Agent, and served in this office until his death.

From 1840 until his death, Poe represented the Church at every General Conference, seven in all. He was a great organization worker. He had a single purpose, to do well the work committed to him by the Church. He had a peculiar ability to inspire cooperation in those to whom he delegated tasks and authority. In 1862, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by Baldwin University, the predecessor of the Baldwin-Wallace College.

Adam Poe is described as having a herculean frame, a noble figure, a commanding presence. He stood tall and straight, six feet four inches was his height; he was dignified and serious, but often wore a winning smile. As a public speaker, he was described as “solid rather than showy”. His sermons were earnest and impressive. His rich booming voice often led the people in singing, which he liked to do, and encouraged the people to do.

Dr. Poe was very fond of his family and his home life. One of the great trials of his life was that in his itinerant ministry he had to be away from home so much. In his Journal, he mentions sending or receiving a letter from his son, or another member of his family, or records that he has had a message relayed from home while he was away perhaps on a four or six weeks circuit. Indeed, there were times when, as he recorded in his Journal, he seriously considered giving up the itinerant ministry, because he felt the demands of the Church made necessary too great a neglect of his family.

In later years, when he was at home more regularly, he greatly enjoyed having guests in his home. He fondly referred to the guest room as the “prophets room”, and jovially pretended that he expected great bits of wisdom to come from those who occupied it. The reports of his great stock 16

of reminiscences and anecdotes, and his inimitable manner of relating them, makes one think of Lincoln.

Adam Poe had a brother, Daniel, five years his junior, who also gave his life to the Methodist ministry. He served for a time as missionary to the Oneida Indians in Wisconsin. He was later sent to Texas, as missionary to that Republic, in the early 1840s. He saw the need for education there, and came back to Ohio to recruit teachers, whom he took back to Texas. In the fall of 1844, he and his wife were both stricken with an epidemic fever, and after weeks of illness, both died within a few hours of each other. Daniel’s last request was to send for his brother Adam, who went to Texas in December 1844, settled the affairs of his brother, paid all of his bills, and brought back to Ohio the three children of his brother. (There is a good report of this incident in Finley’s “Sketches of Western Methodism”; The Story of Daniel Poe’s Trip to Texas is told in the Western Christian Advocate, May 19,1843.)

Adam and Eliza (Hosford) Poe had three children: 1. Andrew Poe, born about 1827, was a student at Ohio Wesleyan for a year, 1845-46. He attained the rank of Captain in the Civil War. He had one daughter, Miss Lettie J. Poe, who was educated at the University of Michigan, and was a teacher for many years in the public schools in Ashland, Ohio.

2. Susan Maris Poe, born January 9, 1839. She married John Squires; no record of any descendants has been found.

3. Harriett Poe, born October 23, 1843, in Delaware; married June 9, 1868, James Martin, after attending Ohio Wesleyan. Mr. Martin died June 4, 1917, and Harriett Poe Martin died on October 23, 1933. They had three children;

1. Harry Poe Martin, born January 18, 1871; died June 1, 1934. He married; August 2, 1899, Miss Carrie Brouse. They left no descendants.

2. Elizabeth Poe Martin, born October 7, 1876; died January 13, 1947; married July 3, 1902, Clarence Lever; they had two daughters: 1). Carolyn Lever, born April 13, 1903; 2). Gladys Lever (Dart), born June 30, 1905. Both deceased without issue.

3. Sarah Blanche Martin, born October 21, 1883. She married, May 16, 1912, John Russell Sanders; Mrs. Sanders who lives in Covington, Kentucky, stated in a letter of December 14, 1951, that she, with her two children and three grandchildren were the only living descendents of Adam Poe. The children are:

1). Naomi Blanche Sanders, born September 1, 1915; married February 15, 1939, Harold D. Wilcox. They have one child: 1)). John Thomas Wilcox, born November 14, 1946.

2). Willard Russell Sanders, born August 16, 1917; married June 7, 1938, Frances Marschall. They have two children: 1)). Joy Ann Sanders, born June 9, 1939, and 17

2)). Danny Willard Carl Sanders, born April 22, 1946.

When Adam Poe was yet a boy he received an injury to the bone in one of his legs, which bothered him all through his life. During the last 25 years of his life, it got progressively worse, and it was said by Bishop Clark at Poe’s funeral that during the last 20 years of his life he was never without pain. Necrosis or bone decay had set in, and he was stricken with his fatal illness while attending the North Indiana Conference at Warsaw, in April 1868. He was taken home to Cincinnati, where he died in about two months, on June 26. His funeral was held in the Trinity Methodist Church, on June 28, and his body taken to Ashland, Ohio, for burial in a family plot there.

It seems truly an injustice to the memory of a good man, that he, having first inspired and then personally guided the beginning of the Ohio Wesleyan University, selling the idea to both the citizens of Delaware and the members of both the Conferences in Ohio, circulating the petitions which raised the $10,000 to buy the property, appearing personally before the State Legislature to secure the Charter, serving in one of the early difficult years as Financial Agent, traveling over the State selling tuition scholarships, serving 25 years, until the day of his death, as a member of the Board of Trustees,….it seems truly an injustice that there is no proper memorial to Adam Poe in Delaware, Ohio.

That there never has been a memorial to Adam Poe is doubtless due to a strange combination of circumstances. The two men who knew Adam Poe best, and who were in positions of leadership and authority, who would normally have been the ones to have seen to the provision of such a memorial, were Bishop W. D. Clark and Bishop Edward Thomson. Bishop Clark was also vitally interested in the welfare of the Ohio Wesleyan University, serving as President of the Board of Trustees when Adam Poe died. Edward Thomson became the first President of Ohio Wesleyan, and served as such for sixteen years. He then became the Editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal of New York, and soon after was elected Bishop. These two men were probably Adam Poe’s closest friends. One might ask then why did they not see to the provision of a memorial to Poe. There is evidence that Bishop Clark, Resident Bishop and President of the Board of Trustees was making ‘plans for a memorial’, but his health was failing, and within two years he died. In about another year Bishop Thomson died. So no physical memorial was ever established. But Bishop Clark, in closing Poe’s funeral sermon, quoted, “The memorial of virtue is immortal…she weareth a crown and triumpheth forever.”

So we bring to a close this story of Adam Poe, with just this added thought in a few lines of verse, entitled

A SIGH FOR THE SPIRIT OF THE PIONEER

Something beautiful has vanished, Which we sigh for now in vain; We behold it everywhere, On the earth and in the air, But it never comes again.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

“Historical Collections of Ohio”, Howe.

“Cyclopedia of Methodism”, Simpson.

“History of the Book Concern”, Whitlock.

“Fifty years of Ohio Wesleyan History”, Whitlock.

“History of Ohio Methodism”, Barker.

“Sketches of Western Methodism”, Finley.

“History of Western Maryland”, Scharf.

“History of Frederick County, Maryland”, Williams.

“History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio”.

“The Stark County Story”, Heald.

“Historic Events of the Tuscarawas and Muskigum Valleys”, Mitchener.

“History of the Central Ohio Conference, M.E. Church”, Whitlock.

“History of the State of Ohio”, Abbott.

“Rev. Adam Poe”, Curley, The Ladies’ Repository , Dec. 1864.

“Rev. William Nast”, Nordhoff, The Ladies’ Repository , Oct. 1864.

“German Mission Work”, Nast, The Ladies’ Repository, Feb. 1865.

“The German Poes”, The Kittochitiny Magaine , April 1905.

“Death of Adam Poe”, Western Christian Advocate , July 1-8, 1868.

“Death of Adam Poe”, The Ladies’ Repository , December, 1868.

“Journal of Adam Poe”.

“Letters of Adam Poe”.

“Essays of Edward Thomson”.

“Quarterly Conference Records, William Street Church”.

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Appointments served by Dr. Adam Poe, as recorded in the Minutes of the North Ohio Conference for August 1868.

1826-27, Brunswick Circuit 1827-28, Huron Circuit 1828-29, Wayne Circuit 1829-30, Columbus Circuit 1830-31, Deer Creek Circuit 1831-33, Miami Circuit 1833-34, Marietta 1834-38, Wooster District 1838-39, Tiffin District 1939-40, Mansfield Circuit 1840-42, Delaware 1842-43, Norwalk District 1843-44, Delaware 1844-45, Agent for Ohio Wesleyan University 1845-47, Mansfield 1847-50, Norwalk District 1850-52, Mansfield District 1852-60, Assistant Agent, Western Book Concern 1860-68, Principal Agent, Western Book Concern

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Subscription raised by the Citizens of Delaware, Ohio, for the Purchase of the Sulfur Spring Property, as a Site for a Methodist College, and later presented to the Ohio and North-Ohio Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as the Site for the Ohio Wesleyan University.

Dated September 3, 1841.

“Whereas it is in contemplation by the Ohio Conference and the North-Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church to Establish a College or University on the White Sulfur Spring Property or property adjacent thereto, which it is conceived will greatly add to the value of property in the Town and County of Delaware, and will be of great public Utility and benefit—

Now, therefore, be it known that the undersigned do hereby bind and obligate themselves respectively to pay the several sums set to their respective names in three equal annual payments commencing the first of January, A.D. 1842, the two remaining payments bearing interest from that time, to Benjamin Powers, Charles H. Picket, Wilder Joy, Hiram J.L. Brown, and Ralph Hills, whom we constitute our trustees for this purpose / to be paid for the purpose of aiding the said Conferences in purchasing the said Spring property, which is to be applied as a donation for the purpose of aiding the said Conferences in the establishment of a College or University as aforesaid.

Witness our hands and seals this 3 rd day of September AD 1841.”

[Transcriber’s note: Using the original subscription lists available to us at Ohio Wesleyan University, we have corrected spelling and amounts for a few entries on this list]

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SUBSCRIPTIONS

M. L. Griffin $100.00 John Lugenbill $100.00 Gottleib Allbright 100.00 F. C. Welch 200.00 Abm. Williams 125.00 R. Hills 150.00 Chs. C. Chamberlain 50.00 B. 50.00 Wilder Joy 300.00 S. Latimer 100.00 H.A. Allen 50.00 E. Evans 20.00 McElroy & Bradley 100.00 T. B. Williams 25.00 Jeremiah Howard 25.00 Robert O. Brown 25.00 John Bloom 10.00 S.M. & E.W. Littell 50.00 Francis 60.00 Wm. Owston 50.00 Lemuel Herbert 25.00 T. W. Cox 30.00 Franklin Turner 10.00 N. Lamb 50.00 John J. Reicharts 30.00 A. Picket Jr. 20.00 L. Lavender 50.00 H.H. Pettibone 20.00 Nathan Williams 15.00 S.H. Allen 50.00 James Aigin 50.00 Dexter Durfey 30.00 John Ross 50.00 Wm. G. Norris 12.00 J.H. Dean 25.00 Moses Gardner 30.00 Isaac Bockover 25.00 N. Chester 100.00 Kingsley Ray 80.00 William Davis 100.00 Isaac Patton 10.00 60.00 Thomas C. Jones 30.00 Robert Perry 30.00 J. Storm 40.00

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John Moses Jr. $ 50.00 Andrew Stephens $ 25.00 A. Thomson 30.00 Joel MendenHall 15.00 Spencer Dunham 15.00 John F. Dunlap 100.00 P. Bunker 50.00 Alex Fulton 75.00 John W. Thomson 15.00 M. Cadwalader 20.00 Thos. Williams 30.00 Calvin Covell 45.00 Paul Randell 10.00 George Brown 10.00 Addison S. 10.00 Horatio Sherman 20.00 G.L. Breyfogle 10.00 L.P. Sturdevant 25.00 Emmet Collins 15.00 John Geo Wachter 25.00 Frederick Anthoni 37.00 Alexr Kilbourn 100.00 Charles C. Miller 5.00 S. Finch 150.00 George L. Yost 20.00 D. Cadwalader 20.00 W.D. Heim 20.00 H. Lee 50.00 F. Spalding 75.00 A. Fuller 30.00 David McIlvaine 5.00 William Mansur 60.00 R.P. Ranney 6.00 Reuben Breyfogel 30.00 Lewis Brees 25.00 Lewis Glessner 25.00 Forrest Meeker 20.00 James H. Belt 15.00 Eli Mead 20.00 R.A. Lamb 25.00 Robert Faris 15.00 Jacob Skelberry 15.00 Robert Jamison 5.00 C.P. Thompson 10.00 James M. Jamison 5.00 Alexander Fulton 25.00 Ebenezer Conway 5.00 Alwood Smith 25.00 Samuel Finley 25.00 John Newell 15.00 H.G. Andrews 60.00 E.A. Vining 15.00 John Heaslitt 5.00 Chas Stenbeck 6.00 E.F. Collins 5.00 Seth H. Allen 5.00 Robert Davis 5.00 E.W. Littell 5.00 Elijah S. Gum 5.00 C.C. King 5.00 David Cowgill 5.00

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Benjamin Powers $ 500.00 D.T. Fuller 110.00 H.J.L. Brown 200.00 A. Walker 100.00 G. W. Sharp 100.00 Samuel Rheem 50.00 A. A. Welch 175.00 A. & J. H. Dean 30.00 C. Howard 100.00 Charles H. Picket 200.00 Sidney Moore 100.00 G. 100.00 D. F. McCullough 15.00 M. Pinsell 50.00 H. Van Horne 50.00 William Little 225.00 C. Hills 50.00 Milo D. Pettibone 500.00 Henry Van Deman 100.00 Otho Hinton 500.00 Charles Boynton 100.00 H. Williams 500.00 Benjamin F. Allen 50.00 E. Griswold 50.00 Matthias Kinsell 10.00 David Bush 20.00 T. W. Powell 200.00 Andrew Stephens 5.00 G. W. Clark 50.00 Thomas Pettibone 125.00 (Acad. Stock) Israel Breyfogel 50.00

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RELATIONSHIP OF

ADAM POE AND EDGAR ALLAN POE

Several of the writers of biographical sketches of Adam Poe have referred to him as a “Cousin of Edgar Allan Poe.”

We have searched numerous records of the life and genealogy of Edgar Allan Poe, and find that those who have studied his background are in agreement that he was of Irish and English extraction. Sir Edmund Bewley of London has traced the family (but not the direct line) in Ireland and England back to the 12 th century, when they probably came from the continent.

It seems very definitely established that the George Jacob Poe family came from Germany.

There is no evidence of relationship. If there exists a relationship, it is certainly not a close one.

There follows an outline of the genealogy of Edgar Allan Poe, as given by Sir Edmund Bewley, as far back as it has been definitely established.

EDGAR ALLAN POE ANCESTRY

(N.Y. Gen.-Biog. Rec., v. 38, Jan. 1907, p. 55; by Sir Edmund T. Bewley, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S.A.I.)

David Poe, gg grandfather of Edgar Allan Poe, of Dring, Co. Caven, Ireland, was, early in the 18 th century, a tenant farmer on the estate of John Maxwell, Esq., MP., Co. Caven. His farm consisted of 85 acres of poor land, in the parish of Kildallon. David Poe was a member of the Established Church. On April 18, 1720, David Poe was created overseer of roads, evidencing a respectable position in the parish. In 1726, he wrote his name “David Pooe”. References to him appear in the vestry records of 1725, 1726, 1731, 1732. Usually his name was signed by the parish rector. Evidently writing was a matter of difficulty for him.

David Poe had three children: 1. Alexander, who came to America before 1741, and settled near Gettysburg, Penna. 2. John , g. grandfather of Edgar Allan Poe. 3. Anne, who married Archibald Scott. Mary Cowan, mentioned in his will, may have been another daughter.

In 1741, John Poe married Jane McBride, both John and David Poe signing the marriage bond. By the marriage agreement, John received, upon marriage, one-third of his father’s farm.

David Poe made his will August 25, 1742. He bequeathed to John, in addition to the one- third received before, as much of the testator’s holdings as would make half, being ¼ part of Dring, with 10 head of sheep, and ½ of all tackling belonging to the plow.

John Poe stayed at Dring for 7 or 8 years, working his portion of the farm, then followed his brother across the sea. His wife is believed to have been a daughter of the Reverend Robert 25

McBride, Presbyterian minister of Ballymoney, Co. Intrim, sister of John McBride, Admiral of the British Navy.

The children of John and Jane Poe were baptized at the Presbyterian Church at Croghan, 3 ½ miles from Dring.

David (record lost), eldest son of John and Jane. George Poo [sic], April 24, 1744. Mary Poo [sic], March 19, 1745-6. Jean Poo [sic], February 16, 1747-8.

John and Jane Poe had 10 children. Emigration to America is believed to have taken place about 1748-9.

John Poe settled in Lancaster Co., Penna. His son, David, became first a wheelwright. Later he went to Baltimore and entered business, in which he had considerable success.

David Poe was active in supporting the American Cause in the Revolution. In September, 1779, he became Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General on the Baltimore lines. He was afterwards known as “General Poe”.

David Poe married Elizabeth Cairnes of Penna., described as a beautiful woman. Their eldest son, David, was born in 1786. He was trained for the law, but was captivated by the charms of Mrs. Elizabeth Hopkins, an actress, married her and went on the stage. The family were all Presbyterians, and this marriage, and the adopting of acting as a profession, were a great grief to them. It caused an estrangement between father and son.

Edgar Poe was the second son of David and Elizabeth Poe. He was born January 19, 1809. Both of his parents died in 1811, and Edgar was taken by John Allan, a tobacco merchant of Richmond, Virginia, who raised him.