| Notes |
1840 JC
Martin Ables ??
1m 50-60
1f 15-20
Martin Ables ??
1m 15-20
1m 40-50
1f 0-5
1f 5-10
1f 30-40
1850 Jackson County
687 694 Hughs William 30 M Farmer Va
687 694 Hughs Melinda 25 F Va
687 694 Hughs Margaret 3 F Va
687 694 Hughs Sarah 1 F Va
687 694 Ables Mary 90 F Pa
If this is this Mary, is the age wrong? This would make her born about 1760
This sketch taken from "Pioneers of Jackson County", by John House, it appears in the section "Sycamore Creek"
Ables Family
From the forks of Sycamore, the Parsonses at one time or another, owned the valley of the right branch up for over two and a half miles, or as far as the site of the Centennial Church and school house.
They were probably the first permanent settlers of the lower Sycamore valley.
About 18–, Martin Ables came from Greene County, Pennsylvania, and located about a mile and a half up on Sycamore, at what is now known as the Straley farm, where he made the first improvement, though it is probable Parsons had lived for a time at the wide bottoms above at an earlier date. Two sons came with him and lived somewhere near Sandy.
He is said to have had a horse mill, which was patronized by the pioneers of Sandy.
Some of his descendants are still living about Ravenswood.
Alexander (commonly known as Alec) Ables, married Hannah Staats, daughter of Old Abram Staats, of near Evans.
He got a piece of land at the farm now owned by William Carney, building his house across on a knoll near the mouth of two runs which here flow into Sycamore.
Here was born on January 5th, 1831, his daughter, Anna, who is now residing at Reedy, in Roane County (Mrs. William Stewart).
He lived a while at the mouth of Sycamore.
Margaret Ables, a sister of Alec, married William Staats, a son of Abraham, and brother of Alec's wife. He lived on Sycamore for a time, and then emigrated to Indiana.
Late in the thirties, a man named Hamilton bought the farm now known as the Connolly farm, about a mile above town, there was a camp ground laid out by the Methodist people in the woods in the Connolly bottoms. Here they continued to hold camp meetings annually until the ground was cleared, when the camp ground, with its paraphernalia of sheds, cook rooms, seats, etc., were removed to the flat at the head of the run where the road crosses from Sycamore to Station Camp.
Here the meetings were kept up until the division of the church, in 1844.
This was locally known as the "Seedtick" camp ground, from the immense quantities of a small white insect, known as seedtick, by which the leaves and brush of the thickets were inhabited.
These, with the still well known "Chiggers" and woodticks, were a pest to the backwoodsman.
Where the run just mentioned enters the creek, another large run enters from the right, which heads a the Short Bend schoolhouse.
At a spot near the mouth of this run was the site of the Ables cabin. Mr. William Staats, of near Reedy, informs me that he remembers when small, perhaps about 1846, going with his father when he took his wool to the carding machine.
They stopped with his aunt, Hannah Ables, and she sent a son, Alfred, to a neighbor, on the adjoining farm, the house was by the creek on the Carney farm– possibly the same one torn down about 1903 – for a cabbage head, on which errand he went also. The people, he remembers, were German, the old lady talking volubly in that tongue.
There is on record in the Clerk's office at Ripley, a deed made January 30th, 1834, wherein Martin Ables, in consideration of the sum of $200.00 and the maintenance of himself and wife, Margaret Ables, conveyed to Alexander Ables, three hundred acres on Sycamore, being the upper part of the tract of four hundred acres bought by him of John Leonard, and by Leonard of John Swan.
As a means of easy reference, the following condensed information is given:
Martin Ables (wife's name was not learned) came from Greene County, Pennsylvania. His children were
Alexander, married Hannah Staats. He died in Illinois.
Jacob.
Margaret married William Staats.
There was a family named Ables who moved from Greene County, Pennsylvania, to Guernsey County, Ohio, about 1805, or earlier.
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West Virginia Pioneers
Abt 1810 - 1881 (~ 71 years)
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