supply after the lapse of nearly a century. We find in the
records of deeds of Washington county and of Gallia county
names of men who bought land and made homes in what is
now Meigs County. Ezra and Joshua Chapman and Levi
Chapman purchased land dating to 1787. Ezra and Joshua
Chapman lived and died in Letart township. Henry Roush
bought thirty-six acres of land in 1808 in Letart. Adam Har-
pold, in 1812, a farm in Letart township. Thomas Alexan-
der, first, in 1803. After 1810, there seems to have been a
steady influx of families from Virginia, Pennsylvania and
New York, as well as the earlier emigrants from New Eng-
land. The names of Sayre, Hall and Price are represented by
a large number of people living in Meigs County.
George W. Cooper was a son of Abraham Cooper and Mar-
garet Cooper, nee' Wetzel, daughter of Lewis Wetzel, of fron-
tier notoriety. Mr. Cooper lived in Chester several years as a
salesman in Colonel David Barber's store. Moving to Middle-
port, he was an active member of the Meigs County Pioneer
Society, being the first corresponding secretary of the same.
Mr. Cooper was one of the most upright, reliable of men and
universally respected. He died in Middleport, Ohio, in 1878.
Persis O. Cooper, nee' Blackstone, wife of George W. Cooper,
was born in Athens, Ohio, May 22nd, 1822. She was a grand-
daughter of Major John White. She died at New Carlisle,
Ohio, July 23rd, 1894.
Major John White was born in 1758 in Pomfret, Conn., and
was a soldier in the Revolutionary army. He was said to be
one of the body guards at the execution of Major Andre, and
was familiar with all the circumstances connected with the
attempted betrayal of the army by Benedict Arnold. He was
one of a company that landed at Marietta in 1789 and lived in
blockhouse, serving at times as an Indian scout. While
here he married Priscilla Duval. After his marriage he moved
