TOUR OF WINDY HILLS SPONSORED BY THE AMESVILLE SENIOR CENTER
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26 MEET AT CENTER AT 9:00 AM CAR POOL TO SITE AT 10:00 Windy Hills Farm has a rich and deep history going back almost 200 years. Purchased in 1817 by William Donaldson I from lands owned by the Ohio Company and Ephraim Cutler and Thomas Hamilton, it has remained in just two families since then; the Donaldson/Beasley/Mathews family and the Howland/Hilferty family. One hundred and fifty acres remains intact from the original 500 acres. The farm succeeded to William Donaldson Jr., who was an ardent abolitionist prior to the Civil war. A cave on the property sheltered many escaped slaves making their way across the Ohio and then northward to Canada. One son, William Wallace Donaldson died just after the Civil War battle of Shiloh; another Ed Donaldson married Johanna Starr from Athens. Their daughter, Jennie L. Donaldson married Fred R. Beasley, son of Frank Johnson Beasley, a prominent miller and wholesale grocer from nearby Amesville. Beasley Mills moved to Athens and its warehouse building is now an apartment building across from the old Athens Railroad Station.
0 Comments
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2023
Categories |