was a mail route opened from Parkersburg to Point Pleasant
running through by Stedman's Mill. Levi Stedman was ap-
pointed Postmaster, he was also the first Justice of the Peace,
and Thurman Hecox was Constable. These men filed these
offices for a number of years, without opposition. Levi Sted-
man opened a store, carried on farming, ran a saw and grist
mill, kept a tavern, and owned a distillery. Wool had to be
carded, spun and woven by hand, flax was raised, and manu-
factured into cloth, for wearing apparel. Some men had
suits of dressed deerskin. The preaching was at Nathan
Burris' house, and next by Rev. Eli Stedman at Samuel
Branch's. Afterwards they had occasional preaching by diff-
erent denominations. In 1820, Elisha Rathburn was the
preacher, and a goodly number experienced religion and
united with the Bible Christian Church. The first school-
house was built on Samuel Branch's land, and the first teacher
there was a Miss Pratt, who lived on Pratt's fork, a mile up
the river. William and Benjamin Bellows were settlers in
this neighborhood, until William sold out to Caleb Cart-
wright, a preacher of the Seventh Day Baptist.
The name of Stedman occurs so frequently that an ex-
planation is in order. From Walker's History of Athens, we
take the statement: "Alexander Stedman, a native of Ver-
mont, and by profession an artisan, settled in Rome township
in 1804. In 1805, he was appointed a Judge of the Court of
Common Pleas, and served in that position several years.
One of his sons was Eli Stedman, a minister. Another son
was Levi Stedman, a Commissioner of Athens county, and for
a short time in Meigs. Bial Stedman married Sally Foster in
1811, and had sons and daughters. Capt. Julius C. Stedman,
a son of Bial Stedman, was a soldier in the Mexican War,
and a soldier in 116th Ohio V.I. from the first to the close of
the Civil War. He always had a home in or near Athens.
