Hi, As a new subscriber to this list, I would like to introduce myself and contribute some early s. Fairfield county information. I received Carol Swineheart's invitation to subscribe to OHFAIRFI-L back in October when I was oh-so-busy and I tucked it into a to-do file and into the back of my mind. Seems like only yesterday, but I've let all these months pass, and I am sorry. I am Lynn Scheu, and I am a former resident of Fairfield County, as is my husband Richard. We now live in Louisville, KY. I was born in Fairfield County, and at least one branch of my family, the Hedges, has been there since 1806 or earlier. I am a descendant of Mary Dern Hedges Rice Wolf, and her first husband, Caleb Hedges Sr. Caleb Hedges Jr. was their only child, born in 1789, in Maryland a posthumous child, after the death of Caleb Sr. in a tree cutting accident in Maryland in 1788 or 1789. After the death of Caleb Hedges Sr., Mary Dern married William Rice, and subsequently Valentine Wolfe. Mary Dern and Valentine Wolf and all her offspring by her three marriages came into Fairfield County at some date that is not known for sure. What I know about their entry is the substance of my introductory note to you since it deals with Fairfield County history and genealogy. It may be old news to many of you, but I hope it is of interest to some. Hedges researchers seemed to invariably put the entry of the Hedges/Rice/Wolf party into Ohio at between 1812 and 1815. Browsing one day in Charlie Goslin's Crossroads and Fencecorners, I happened on mention of Valentine Wolf in a section on the settling of Madison Twp. which brought me much closer to the truth about their date of entry into Ohio. It seems that Madison Twp was formed in 1812 by a division of Clearcreek Twp. "The house of Valentine Wolf was selected to hold the first election." (At this time newly formed Madison Twp. also included the land that is now Perry Twp. Perry Twp. was a part of Fairfield County until 1850 when it was ceded to Hocking County to make up for land Hocking County lost in the formation of Vinton County.) I believe it was partly this record of Valentine Wolf in the year 1812 that led to the 1812 date assigned to the entrance of the Hedges/Rice/Wolf party into Ohio. However, Goslin goes on to say, "Among those who were first to settle in Madison Township were Martin Landis, Isaac and Abraham Shaeffer, William Wiley, John and Robert Young, Valentine Wolf and many others. These were personal tax payers in 1806 of what is now Madison Township. Of these, only Abraham Shaeffer and John Young had received their patents by that year...[There follows a detailing of who received their patents when.]...Valentine Wolf did not receive his land patent for Section 21 until 1812, the year his house was selkected to hold the first election of Madison Township." This clears up in my mind the rest of the mystery of the insistence that the Hedges came to Ohio in 1812. That was the year the land patents finally came though. But it seems, from what Charles Goslin says, that the patent system then was running a bit behind! Probably because there were so many applications. It took Valentine and Mary over 6 years to receive their patent to section 21 of Madison Twp! It arrived the year their home was used as the site of the first Madison Twp. election. My 3rd great grandfather Caleb (b.4 Mar 1789 Frederick Co. MD) was a teenager at the time of the westward emigration from Maryland. On April 7, 1814 he married Mary Clellan (Clelan, Chelan, also known as Polly Creager or Creagher, Kreger, Cregar, Kreager, etc.)in Fairfield Co. and purchased 160 acres, just two sections south of Mary Dern and Valentine Wolfe, in what is today (since 1850) the northwest part of Perry Twp of Hocking County, but was then part of Madison Twp, Fairfield Co. (To purchase this farm he probably used a bequest from his grandfather, Peter Hedges, b. 1719, New Castle Co., DE. d. bef. 1791, Frederick Co. MD) Caleb Jr.was a successful farmer, a cooper by trade, and a stock raiser, and he built a fine farm and house on his acreage. He raised a family of 10 children, many of whom moved to Union and Delaware Counties on maturity. One son, Caleb Hedges III, moved to Illinois and on to Kansas. The youngest son, Amos, stayed around on the family farm to marry Sarah Jane Morgan and become my great great grandfather. Caleb and Mary are buried in the Bethany Church cemetery in nw Perry Twp, as are Mary Dern and Valentine Wolf. Mary Dern's stone has fallen and I can't find it anymore, but Wolf's in in excellent preservation. Caleb and Mary's stele is under the cedar tree in the front of the cemetery, left of the church. The land for this church and cemetery was, according to family tradition, given for that purpose by Caleb's youngest son, Amos Hedges, who also "helped make the bricks to construct Bethany Church in Bill Young's brickyard." I wondered if that was true, but when I saw the 1876 Atlas of Hocking County, I could see that Amos' land was only 157 acres, because Bethany Church had certainly been carved from the northern boundary of his acreage. And a W. R Young's brickyard was just a short distance north of the church. I have a great deal more information about these families, and some of the families they have intermarried with: Morgan and Wheeler, Bigham, Creiglow and others. I would be very interested in any information about the Creager family. Mary Creager or Clellan was said to be the "half sister of Jonathan Creager who used to live south of the crossroads in the old Ridge School District." I think this is in s. Amanda Twp. I feel certain this family came from Maryland too, as there is a Creagherstown (as well as a Wolfsville) in the Frederick area of MD that the Hedges came from. Another family I would be interested to learn more of is the Woodard family as there is a connection. Information about Madison Twp in the early days would also be quite welcome. And I'd be interested to hear anything about the Bethany Church in Perry Twp., Hocking County. I would be delighted to share any information that I have. Sincerely, Lynn McLaughlin Scheu