Massie Station, The Virginia Military District and Buckeye Station

One thing the West Union Section taught me, or maybe better said reminded me, is that not all history is front and center. I don’t recall seeing anything that would have clued me into the story of the USS Carondelet on my drive. Little did I know as I stood on the bank of the Ohio River in Manchester that 18 feet below the surface, at the base of one of the islands, rests what little remains of the most famous ironclad river gunboat from the Civil War.

There were other clues to be found, on the history of the area; historical markers with quick bites of information; just enough to whet my appetite for more information.

This historical marker and one farther east along the river were my clues for my post-drive research of the area.  At one time there were three islands in the Ohio River by Manchester. According to several sites I visited these islands were dangerous, grim places. Native Americans lured white settlers to these specks of land in the river; leading them to their slaughter. Later the Ohio River and its islands were beacons of hope and freedom for slaves, escaping from the south via the Underground Railroad.

Before Ohio was a state, before runaway slaves felt a bit safer on northern soil, this land was part of the Virginia Military District. Following the close of the American Revolution, Virginia released most of its claims of western lands before the passage of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. However, the state kept an area of land bordered by the Ohio River on the south, the Little Miami River to the west, and the Scioto River on the east and north. This was the Virginia Military District and the land was used as payment to veterans who served in the Revolutionary War. Eventually Virginia ‘gave back’ to the United States Government land that was unclaimed by war veterans. The land was in turn handed to the state of Ohio which used the proceeds of the land sales to create an endowment for The Ohio State University.

View of the Ohio River

Massie Station, founded in 1790 by Nathaniel Massie was the first settlement in the Virginia Military District and the fourth permanent establishment in the Northwest Territory. Those who followed Massie, many from southern states, had to relinquish their salves to start anew in the free north. But all was not idyllic. Native Americans who used the islands as tactical sites were a threat to the new settlement. Thus, the community was completely encircled by a stockade by 1791 making Massie Station the last fortified community in what would become the state of Ohio. Massie Station was later renamed Manchester. 

Manchester grew, due in great part to its location on the Ohio River where steamboats could stop en-route to Portsmouth and Cincinnati. The economy of Manchester over the years is not surprising; agriculture, buggy manufacturing, pork-processing and at one time, during a period of recovery in 1908, button making. The town is no longer a bustling, prosperous river town. Just like towns that sprang up along routes for farmers taking crops and livestock to market, the river rest stops of yesteryear are no longer viable. I wondered, as I stood in the empty park looking at the river, if Manchester will have yet another rebirth. Time will tell.

Nathaniel Massie

Massie was born in Goochland County Virginia in 1763. He was a land surveyor and developer and was responsible for establishing some of the earliest communities in the Northwest Territory, such as Massie Station (AKA Manchester). Massie used Manchester as his home base. As a surveyor, his payment was a portion of said lands, making him a very wealthy landowner over time.  On the Sciota River he laid out the town of Chillicothe which was a hot bed of political activity in the Northwest Territory.

In 1803 Massie became speaker of the Ohio Senate and in 1806 was elected to the House of Representatives. In 1807 Massie ran for governor, lost with votes but was appointed governor after his opponent was ruled ineligible. He declined the position and dropped out of politics. He fought in the War of 1812 and led a detachment to the relief of Fort Meigs. Nathaniel Massie died of pneumonia on November 3, 1813.

Buckeye Station

After a look about Manchester, I doubled back and headed east along the Oho River to get a second look at this historical marker. Set along a busy road, I wonder how many people pull over and read the sign; they obviously like to leave their big gulp cups and Doritos bags behind. sigh Adventurous as I am, I was not inclined to climb the flight of stairs behind the monument that scaled a steep hill. The path was faint and I had a strong feeling my climb would be for not.

Luckily I was able to find a picture of the house, which is no longer standing, on the internet.

Buckeye Station was the second oldest building in Ohio and was built by General Nathaniel Massie in 1797. He lived there until around 1802 when he sold it to his brother-in-law and Secretary of the Northwest Territory, Charles Willing Byrd. This photograph was taken ca. 1940-1949