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From: Denny Shirer <>
Subject: [SOMGEN] Re: Routes Somerset to Ohio
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2003 00:33:33 -0400
References: <200306151300.h5FD0fIS022334@lists5.rootsweb.com>


Judy,

The "Zanesville Trace" you mentioned was never called that. It was
named "Zane's Trace" after Col. Ebeneezer Zane who was commissioned by
the government in 1798 to cut a trail from Wheeling, Virginia to
Maysville, Kentucky and to establish and operate ferries at both points
on the Ohio and on the major river crossings such as the Muskingum and
Hocking Rivers.

As partial payment, he was awarded land along this route and the land he
settled on became Zanesville. Part of this road followed old indian
trails, one was known as "Mingo Trail" named for the Mingo tribe native
to the area. The road was to be used for delivering mail to Maysville
and was only traversable by foot or on horseback. Zane, and those he
contracted the work to, did little to improve the road and it was
littered with the stumps of the trees that were felled to clear the path.

Those who might have used this trail would have had to do it on foot as
a horse or ox drawn cart would not make the trip because of the
condition of the road. They might have strapped their belongings to the
horses or oxen they brought with them. Most only brought what they could
carry themselves or drag behind them as the indians did. It was not
until 1804 that the legislature would pass a bill allowing the
expenditure of $15/mile to improve the road and widen it to twenty feet
and to remove the stumps barring any carts or wagons.

Before this, many bringing their families and household goods would use
the natural waterways to reach the interior of Ohio. Marietta was the
first large settlement in Ohio and was at the mouth of the Muskingum
River where it met the Ohio. Many settlers in Marietta would travel by
canoe up to the "good hunting grounds" near the indian capital of
Wakatomika where the present day city of Dresden is located. Many would
later bring their families up the Muskingum by this route and would
offer to bring other families by that route on flatboat. This
established the water route and many would float their belongings on
rafts down the Ohio from Wheeling to Marietta and then up the Muskingum.
Other's traveled further west to the Hocking and Scioto rivers and
further to Cincinnati and beyond.

The road to Wheeling from Somerset was then little more than a path but
also would be improved as more and more migrants moved west from
Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania over that road. It would eventually
become Route 40 or the National Road as it is better known. There are a
few good sites that discuss the history of the road through it's
eventual destination to Illinois.

There were other paths taken through Ohio and most that reached northern
Ohio would not come by the route previously mentioned. There was a
northern path that was used by many to establish the Western Reserve
territories and the Firelands to the west. Many of those northern
migrants were from New England with the Connecticut Land Company owning
most of the rights to those areas.

It is not impossible for one to reach Sandusky by way of the Zane's
Trace but unlikely. There were some early settlers in the Sandusky area
by white men from Virginia that had taken Indian wives and had migrated
with the tribes from North Carolina and the Shenendoah that were being
forced westward. Among them were the Catawbas that brought with them
their grape vines and peach trees that still are the basis for those
industries around Sandusky. They would merge with the Ottowas who were
already found there and who the county where Sandusky is found would be
named after. The route they took was mostly by river and then by land.
This route could have been used as many early trappers and pioneers such
as Daniel Boone also used it to reach the heart of Ohio.

The Muskingum is fed by the Tuscarawas and the Walhonding rivers. The
Tuscarawas could be traversed all the way north to near Akron. A short
distance from there is the headwaters of the Cuyahoga which would then
take a person to Cleveland and through the heart of the Western Reserve.
A more likely route for your ancestor and for the pioneers into the
Sandusky area would have been to take the Walhonding river to it's
tributary the Mohican river and follow it north to it's headwaters in
Medina and Lorain counties near Chippewa Lake which by the way is also
the headwaters for the Tuscarawas River. Nearby is the headwaters for
the Black River which could take a person north to Lake Erie at the
present site of Lorain and which was in the Firelands district.

Another possible route would have been up the Scioto River from the Ohio
River through present day Columbus to it's headwaters near Marion, Ohio.
There is also found the headwaters of the Sandusky River which leads to
Sandusky.

The indians used water for most of their travels through Ohio and there
were many paths connecting these water routes. Early pioneers would have
found them their best routes through the wilderness as Ohio was for the
most part virgin forest. The western portions were extremely swampy and
until they were drained, few settlers would go that way.

My ancestor Valentine Scheurer came to Muskingum Co. from Somerset in
1804 by foot over the Zane's Trace followed by other Somerset and
Bedford families such as the Gaumers, Stoners, Leydigs, Sturts, Shurtz
and many others. Muskingum also saw an influx of people from
Westmoreland Co., PA and Loudoun Co., VA and Frederick Co., MD, all
using the same route through Wheeling and or along the Ohio.

By the way, only portions of Zane's trace became US 40. The portion from
Zanesville to Maysville, Kentucky would become other roads while Route
40 headed due west to Columbus and beyond eventually being paralleled,
but not replaced by I-70. The National Road is of great historic
interest as many families used it to migrate west.

Denny Shirer - - Canton, OH
Shirer Family Genealogy - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mysong
Muskingum County, OHGenWeb - http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohmuskin/

> Subject:
> Re: [SOMGEN] Routes Somerset to Ohio
> From:
> Judy Landauer <>
> Date:
> Sat, 14 Jun 2003 18:01:05 -0600
> To:
>
>
>
> Sue and Linda,
>
> When my ancestor, Jacob Bruner Sr., moved from Somerset co, PA to
> (eventually) Sandusky co, OH, they most likely used the Zanesville
> Trace. They immigrated to Ohio around 1805, which (if memory serves me
> right) was the same year that the Trace was improved so that a wagon
> could travel it. Before that time it was so narrow that only men or
> horses could manage. Once opened, a lot of settlers from PA used it.
> Early documents for Jacob and family are found in Fairfield county, OH,
> just a little ways from Zanesville. I think the Trace is now US 70, but
> that's just an assumption. Anyone know for sure?
>
> Judy
>
>
>
>> Would anyone know what the likely route our
>> ancestors would have taken around 1800 from
>> Somerset to Ohio. What part of Ohio would they
>> most likely have entered.
>> Thanks for any help.
>> Sue in Ohio
>>

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