Finding Red House Farm in Steubenville Township, Jefferson County, Ohio + What You May Find on a Historic County Map

Being curious about the location of the property Robert Nelson sold the coal under in 1869 and first purchased in 1858, I contacted the Genealogy Department of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio, to ask for help.  Specifically I wanted to know about the location of the Red House Farm tract and whether it is currently a subdivision in Jefferson County.  I also mentioned Robert Nelson had purchased property on the tract in 1859.

The helpful librarian found references in several sources, including a map.   Below is a section of the Steubenville map from Atlas of Jefferson Co Ohio by F. W. Beers, 1871.  You can find this map and the full map below at FamilySearch.

You can see Red House Farm on the map and, in the upper left below the horizontal line, you can see R. Nelson.  It really is an R, not an H as it appears at first glance.  Robert originally purchased his property from Matthew Nicholson in 1858, and he was till the owner of much of the land on the Red House Farm tract in 1871.

Red House Farm is really a tract of land, though at one time there may have been a farm with a red house on it on the property.  Below are a few things I learned about Red House Farm.   

• "The [coperas] works were on top of the hill, at the Red House farm, back of the town."  The coperas works were established by Bazaleel Wells in about 1820.  (Historical Collections of Ohio, In Two Volumes, by Henry Howe, 1900; Volume I, p. 973)
• Using FamilySearch's Full-Text Search, I found another reference to Red House Farm.  The following is from a deed dated January 12th 1830.  A "...parcel of land heretofore known as part of the Red house farm, formerly the property of Alexander Wells [son of Bazaleel Wells, founder of Steubenville, Ohio], lying immediately below the Town of Steubenville.... containing [more than] 44 acres."  Boundaries are given in metes and bounds which agree with "the survey heretofore to wit on the thirtiest day of July A.D. 1814...."
• There are more deeds at FamilySearch which mention Red House Farm but this was the earliest. 

Below is the full map of Steubenville and Jefferson County.  For best viewing click on the map so it will open in a new window where you can again enlarge it to look closely.  Or visit FamilySearch where you can also enlarge it

Most of my mother's side of the family comes from Jefferson County, Ohio, so maps like these are a bounty for searching and possibly finding some of my other ancestors and where they lived.

But I was really taken with the lists on the side of this map.  They are almost like a miniature city directory.  These are some of the ways I might use these lists.

• If I had an ancestor who needed an attorney, would one on this list on this map be one he would have consulted, or would he have gone out of town?
• The list of companies suggest possible places for employment opportunities.  One of my ancestors was a carpenter.  He may have worked for one of the companies on this list.
• If I find a marriage record that names the minister but not the church, I might find the minister's name and, thereby, the church where they were married.  Could they and their families have also attended this church?  If so, it's another possible source for more information.
• If I had a photograph with the photographer's name at the bottom, I might find him on a list like this. 

In general, I think it's interesting to see these brief directories to get a lay of the land where my ancestors lived.  What might they have needed to purchase to live?  What shops were available?  What industries, small businesses, and social opportunities were available at the time?  How many doctors were in town?  With a good map and addresses, I could see how far they would have had to travel to buy bricks or a piece of furniture, fabric or paper, or ready-made clothes.

These kinds of maps interest me for the family history aspect of genealogy.  It's possible that not many county maps have lists like these but it's always worth checking.

In your searches of maps, have you found old ones with information like this one?  Was it helpful or of interest to you?

—Nancy.

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