BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO

"History of the Upper Ohio Valley" Vol. II, 1890.

Presented by Linda Fluharty from hard copies provided
by Mary Staley & Phyllis Slater.


Page 547.

EBENEZER MARTIN, founder of Martin's Ferry, born November 9, 1791,
on what is now the site of the Benwood blast furnace, died January
15, 1876, was one of the most widely known pioneers of eastern Ohio.
He was the son of Absalom Martin, a native of New Jersey, who
assisted in the earliest government surveys of Ohio, and received
therefor a grant of 640 acres near the site of Martin's Ferry, on
the west side of the river. During the war of the revolution he had
been a gallant soldier, and he held the rank of captain. He settled
upon his grant in the latter part of the last century and died there
in 1800. In 1789 he was married to Catherine, daughter of Ebenezer
Zane, and they had two children, a daughter, who died young, and
Ebenezer, the subject of this sketch. The spirit of the latter may
be judged by the fact that he traveled on horseback from his Ohio
home to Princeton, N. J., to obtain an education. On his return home
he took charge of the farm and continued to manage it during the
remainder of his life, and after his father's death also conducted
the ferry which the elder Martin established over the Ohio river,
and retained control of this until 1840, when he sold it to Hugh
Nichols. In 1835 he layed out the town which was known until recent
years as Martinsville, but now as Martin's Ferry. He devoted his
life to the care of his property, and devoted considerable time to
fruit raising, having one of the best orchards in the valley. To
this, such was his charity and kindness, all poor people had
free access. His faith in human nature was imposed upon by many
dishonest rogues, and most of his property had passed out of his
hands before his death. His good deeds were beyond number, and
all mourned his death. His religious affiliation was with the
Methodist church, to which he gave a lot when he platted the
town, and in politics he was a whig and afterward a republican.
Mr. Martin was first married in 1809, to Hannah McLaughlin, a
daughter of Elizabeth Zane, and by this union he had nine children,
of whom one survives: Catherine E. In 1837, his first wife having
died, he married Minerva, daughter of Isaac Zane, and they had ten
children: Isaac, Rebecca V., wife of Mr. Van Pelt, of Lansing, Mich.;
Ebenezer, of Lake Harbor, Mich.; Edith M., deceased; Leonidas, of
Lake Harbor, Mich.; Antoinette, of the same place; Annie M., wife
of William H. Wood; Lucian B., of Fostoria, Ohio, and two who died
in infancy. Three of the sons by the first marriage were soldiers
in the war of the rebellion. Absalom died in a hospital at St.
Louis; John M., a transport pilot, and Ephraim, who died from
disease contracted in the service. Ebenezer, Jr., also served 
in the First Virginia regiment.