Martin & Zelda Capehart Genealogy Website

Belmont County, OH

Belmont County, OH, one of the first counties settled in Ohio, is located in the Southeastern portion of Ohio and was established by Governor St. Clair on September 7, 1801, 2 years before Ohio officially became a state. Belmont Co. was formed from Jefferson and Washington Counties and became the ninth county to be formed from the Northwest Territory by Governor Arthur St. Clair. The County Seat of St. Clairsville is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area and is situated on an elevated site, in rich farming country, on the Old National Road (now U.S. Route 40). St. Clairsville was named for Gen. Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory.

Belmont County is bordered by Guernsey, Noble, Monroe, Harrison, and Jefferson counties in Ohio. The Ohio River runs along the entire eastern border of Belmont County. Across the river in West Virginia are the neighboring counties of Ohio and Marshall. The largest city in Belmont Co. is Martins Ferry. Belmont County was once the site of many desperate Indian battles. Its name "Belmont" or "belle monte" is taken from the French for "beautiful mountain" and refers to the scenery.

Wheeling Township, located in the northern part of the county, is one of the sixteen townships of Belmont County, Ohio. The 2000 census found 1,477 people living in the township.-- Sources: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ohbelmon/ ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belmont_County,_Ohio ; http://genealogytrails.com/ohio/belmont/

Crabapple Church and Cemetery

Crabapple Church and Cemetery are located in Wheeling Township, Belmont CO., about two miles south of Athens and a short distance north of Uniontown. The first nucleus of the Crabapple Presbyterian Church was gathered as early as 1799 by Rev. Joseph Anderson. The organization of the church seems to have become dormant in 1802 and in 1803, Robert and William McCullough sent to Georgetown, Harrison CO., OH (Harrison was then Jefferson Co.) for Samuel Hanna to come help them form a praying society (the second organization of the church). It became the first and largest church organization in Wheeling Township. The elders were William McCullough, Robert McCullough and Daniel (David) Merritt.

The first structure used by the church for worship was a so-called "tent". This was a rude pulpit erected in the forest, probably built against the side of a tree, with a small projecting roof or hood of clap-boards designed to protect the minister and his bible from the weather. The congregation usually stood in groups or were seated on the grass or on fallen logs. A log house was soon built which was replaced by a brick building and then later by a frame structure. The church is no longer there. Possibly it was located where some kind of a picnic shelter now stands.

Crabapple Cemetery is also known as Crabapple Presbyterian Church Cemetery. The cemetery is 3.27 acres and dates from 1806. The cemetery is well kept but many of the stones are no longer readable. McCullough is one of the common names. -- Sources: Historical Collections of Harrison County, in the State of Ohio, with Lists of the First Land-Owners, Early Marriages (to 1841), Will Records (to1861), Burial Records of the early Settlements, and Numerous Genealogies, by Charles August Hanna, 1900; Skip Magyar; Chuck Tennyson.