by Marie Bundy

Late in the year 1806, Jesse Bailey and family arrived, finding it too late in the year to build a cabin before winter set in. In the area west of Barnesville, he found a projecting rock, along whose outer edge he stood puncheons upright, enclosing a space 15 to 20 feet wide. In one corner the rocks formed a natural chimney; four puncheons made a funnel-shaped top. he daubed the sides with clay mud to seal from the wind. Here, in comparative comfort, they wintered, while by day, timid deer bounded away and by night, wolves howled, bears clawed at the door and panthers screamed from nearby trees.

Source: Centennial History of Belmont County

 

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