Horton and his family were among the first to leave Carteret County, travelling to Fredericktown, Washington County, PA. Many others, including Horton’s father-in-law, Joseph Dew, Levina Hall, Jonas Small and sailed from Beaufort NC to Alexandria VA. From there, they travelled by wagon to Fredericktown, PA where they found Horton Howard and his family breaking their travels as their children recovered from whooping cough. Among the Friends leaving North Carolina, was Abigail Stanton, a widow with several young children. Once they received word that the land office in Steubenville was open, they continued their journey, settling on land near the Ohio River.

Shelters were hurriedly built – little more than squatter’s cabins made with log walls and roofs, chinked with mud, which shrank as it dried, allowing light and wind through the cracks.  Crude doors were made and partial floors were laid. Cooking was done outside until a chimney and fireplace was added. With these practicalities addressed, they could turn to improving their houses. Windows were added by cutting holes in the wall, and covered by pasting layers of newspaper, greased with hogs’ lard. These windows allowed a warm mellow light to shine through on sunny days. Rough hewn floors were laid, and additional chinking of cracks made the cabins cozier. Lofts, reached by ladder, were built to create sleeping areas.

This cabin, in Mt Pleasant, Ohio shows an early log cabin. Windows were added later to create a store front and an addition for living space had clapboard siding. This view gives an idea of the early settler’s homes.