All I find on your ancestor is that the town was incorporated by the County commissioners Aug. 5, 1865, and the following is a list of Mayors; 1865-67A. D. Rice 1867-69 W. H. Orr 1869-70 James Eagleston 1870-72 J. W. Buckingham 1872-74 James Kerr 1874-76 James Dean 1876-78 J. W. Buckingham 1878-80 James Kerr 1880-82- W.M. Lupton 1882-86 M.C. Mitchell 1886-88 Theodore Keller 1888-90 M.C, Mitchell 1890-92 M. c. Smiley 1892-94 M. C. Mitchell 1894-98 Theodore Keller 1898-1900 James Shipman 1900-1902 John Goodjue The city of Martin's Ferry was laid out by Ebenezer Martin on the 13th March, 1835. However, the first settlement was effected in 1787, by Capt. Absalom Martin, the father of Ebenezer, and an old Rev. war soldier from New Jersey, whose mother was a sister of Col Evenezer Zane, one of the defenders of Fort Henry. the original patent of the US Gov. to Absalom Martin was granted 3-5-1788, and 7 years later he laid out the requisite # of lots, streets and alleys to form a town, which he called "Jefferson". 45 years later Ebenezer Martin sold 100 lots and called the town first "Martinsville", and upon learning there was already a Martinsville in Ohio, he changed the title to Martin's Ferry. In 1836 the second sale of lots occured, and again in 1837. Tje ferry, which was for years the only means of communication betwen VA and Ohhio, was established in 1785, and soon the area became noted by travelers and drovers. Two taverns were build to accomodate both, and the town was well established by 1835. -----Original Message----- From: TSJordan@aol.com <TSJordan@aol.com> To: ferg@intelos.net <ferg@intelos.net> Date: Friday, December 29, 2000 5:17 PM Subject: Rice/mayor's office Look Up >My grandfather, Albert Deloss Rice was the first mayor of the newly formed >town of Martin's Ferry in Belmont County in 1865. I am interested in any >information about him, his family and/or how he came to be mayor and how and >why the town was formed. Thanks for all your work for us on the Belmont >list...:). > >Diane Roberts >