David Foltz (1800-1892)
Christina Hoffman (1802-1886)
paternal 3rd great-grandparents
*Updated 3 April 2026.
 |
| Rockingham County in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. (Photo: Nad Sho on Google Feb 2023) |
The Shenandoah Valley in Virginia is sandwiched between two
mountain ranges,
the Allegheny Mountains to the
west and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east. The valley, which encompasses
eight counties in the northwestern part of the state, is about 150 miles long
and averages 25 miles in width. It was here that David Foltz, a tailor by trade,
his wife, Christina Hoffman, their three children, and their extended families
were born and raised. However, by 1832, David purchased a claim near
Lawrenceville in Clark County, Ohio over 450 miles away from their home in
Rockingham County, Virginia.
On August 26,
1931, David and Christina’s grandson, Jesse Foltz (1862-1958), wrote a letter to his niece, Dorothy Alice
Foltz Patterson (1902-1964), daughter of his brother, Emmet. The letter
documents some of David and Christina’s journey to Ohio.
Congress required markers to be placed
on the north side of the road at one-mile intervals. The markers showed the distance to
Cumberland, Maryland at the eastern point of the National Road and listed the
nearest cities and their distances both east and west.
Above: "This lithograph of the proposed Wheeling Suspension Bridge was included as the frontispiece to the Wheeling & Belmont Bridge Company's printed argument delivered to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Pennsylvania v. Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company, 54 U.S. 518 (1852)."
David moved from Shenandoah, Virginia to Clark County, Ohio in 1832 in a wagon
with one mule and one horse. He entered a 160 acre claim three
miles SE of Lawrenceville. He stayed there until he proved his claim or patent
as it was called.
It took five years then.
The Land Act of 1820 made it possible for settlers to purchase 80
or 160-acre tracts of public domain land for $1.25 per acre, totaling $200
(about $7100 in 2026). It had to be paid up front in cash. To gain full legal
title, settlers had to build a dwelling and reside on, improve, and farm the land for
five years. Often two witnesses had to be provided to testify that the
conditions had been met.
David’s land in Clark County (circled in red) was in the “Between the Miami Rivers Survey,” bounded on the west by the Great Miami River, and on the east by the Little Miami River. Across the Little Miami River was the “The Virginia Military Survey” which was set aside for veterans of the Revolutionary War.
Left: Map of surveys in Ohio. The
location of David Foltz’s land is marked with a red dot. (William E. Peters, 78)
− THE JOURNEY
BEGINS –
The move was a tremendous undertaking. David and Christina had to pack clothing, food, and
supplies for five people, plus household goods and tools, in addition to getting
the animals ready. Their wagon would have been full, with no place to sit. But since
the children were young−ages five, three, and one−they might have been able to make a spot
for them among the family’s possessions.
 |
| A loaded pioneer wagon. (National Oregon/California Trail Center) |
Settlers generally walked alongside
their wagons and took turns riding next to the driver. The pace was slow. Horses and mules pulled a loaded wagon at about two miles per hour−they were slower on rough or steep terrain. The family slept under the stars or in a tent. In inclement weather, they slept under the wagon or somehow squeezed inside and slept on the load. With rivers and creeks
to cross, bad weather, wagon repairs along the way, and terrain that didn’t level
out until about 20 miles west of Zanesville, Ohio, it could easily have taken the family over six
weeks to reach the claim.
David and his family traveled from Rockingham County near the southern end of the
Shenandoah Valley to Winchester at the northern end using the Valley Pike (now
Route 11). Modern I-81 approximates its path. Beginning at Winchester, they faced their first
challenge. They had to traverse the Allegheny Mountains to reach Cumberland,
Maryland, a distance of about 40 miles as the crow flies. But because there
weren’t many roads due to the terrain, and those were heavily rutted dirt
roads that snaked around the mountains, the distance would be longer and the pace
somewhat slower on this part of the trip. So, they wound their way around the
mountains, up and down steep inclines, and over rivers and streams to
Cumberland.
− THE NATIONAL
ROAD: CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND TO WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA –
The Cumberland Pike, also called the National Road (modern U.S.
Route 40), was the first roadway built with Federal funds. It was approved by President
Thomas Jefferson in 1803; construction in Cumberland began in 1811. Even though
it would become a first-rate roadway, travelers still had to navigate steep, difficult mountain terrain.
“Surveyors ran a 131-mile
alignment over the Allegheny Mountains to Wheeling, Virginia, on the Ohio River
by 1818, building a stone‑surfaced, cambered roadway, masonry bridges,
culverts, and cast‑iron mileposts that set standards for antebellum turnpikes.”
(Wikipedia)
The National Road was constructed
using the Macadam process where layers of crushed rocks are compacted to make a
solid surface for wagons, stage coaches, and other modes of transportation to
travel on. The road was 20 feet wide, crowned to keep water from pooling on it, and had a 23-foot right-of-way on each side.
In 1817, British writer William
Cobbett made this observation about the road:
“It is covered with a very thick layer
of nicely broken stones, or stone, rather, laid on with great exactness both as
to depth and width, and then rolled down with an iron roller, which reduces all
to one solid mass.” (B&O Railroad Museum)
The marker on the right is in Ohio. It shows that
Cumberland is 261 miles away. If traveling east, it is 131 miles to Wheeling, and
Columbus, Ohio is three miles away. Traveling west, the closest town, West
Jefferson, is 11 miles away, and Springfield is 40 miles distant. (Ohio History
Connection)
Left: A tollhouse along the National Road near
Frostburg, Maryland, circa 1923. (B&O Railroad Museum)
"Old toll gate house 6 miles west of Cumberland, Md. Built in 1812 National Hy. U.S. 40"
David and Christina would have passed this house in
1832 before it was used as a toll gate house.
Left: This sign marks the “First Toll Gate House on the Old
National (Cumberland) Road. It was erected about 1833 after this portion of the road
was turned over to the State of Maryland by the United States government. There
was one other toll gate in Maryland on this road.”
At Wheeling, the Foltz family had to use a ferry to cross the Ohio River. The first bridge to span the river here was a 1010-foot suspension bridge which was completed in 1849. It was the
longest suspension bridge in the world from 1849 to 1851.
 |
| Travelers taking a rope ferry across a river. (Otis, 48) |
A charter was granted for the construction of the bridge in 1816. Its construction was plagued by delays, lawsuits, and other problems over several decades. Some even reached the Supreme Court. The bridge was finally completed and open in November 1849. (Wikipedia Commons)
 |
| The Wheeling Suspension Bridge, Wheeling, Virginia. (Wikimedia Commons) |
Above: "This lithograph of the proposed Wheeling Suspension Bridge was included as the frontispiece to the Wheeling & Belmont Bridge Company's printed argument delivered to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Pennsylvania v. Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company, 54 U.S. 518 (1852)."
− THE NATIONAL
ROAD: WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA TO SPRINGFIELD, OHIO –
 |
| Map of the National Road. (National Park Service) |
It wasn’t long before the National Road became a
bustling thoroughfare filled with the wagons of families
traveling west, Conestoga wagons carrying freight, stage coaches, and people on
horseback. Huge clouds of dust formed when herds of sheep, pigs, cows, and mules approached on
the way to markets in the east. Towns
sprang up along the route, as well as taverns that provided food, drink, and
lodging. It’s estimated there was a tavern nearly every mile. The road was the
interstate highway of its time.
 |
Travelers at a tavern on the National Road.
(National Park Service) |
In 1830, the National Road was completed to Zanesville, Ohio. It
didn’t reach Colum-bus until 1833. Somewhere between the two cities, the
improved road ended and the Foltz family had to make their way on a rutted dirt
path that turned into deep mud when it rained.
Right: This photo of a rutted road outside
Zanesville, Ohio was taken circa 1886-1888. (OhioLandBooks.pdf, 64)
− HOME AT LAST −
Once the family reached Springfield, it was only a few miles to
David’s land claim.
From Jesse’s letter to Alice:
In 1838, he sold his claim for $800 and moved three miles northwest of Tremont City, or half-mile mile west of Chickenfoot Hill, and bought 160 acres for $1,000. In 1848, he sold that for $1,350 and moved two miles northwest up Chapman Creek in Champaign County, or to what is now the little berg of Thackery, where he remained for the rest of his days.
When the family moved to the farm in Thackery, located in Mad River Township in Champaign County, David left his tailoring business to become a full-time farmer. Sons Nathaniel and Henry lived on the homestead with their parents and managed the farm.
David and Christina lived out their days on the farm in Thackery. They are both buried at the Terre Haute Cemetery in Terre Haute, about two miles from the farm.
 |
|
The Foltz monument at Terre Haute Cemetery, Champaign County,
Ohio. (Jody Bradish 16 May 2010.)
|
“For all our days
are passed away in thy wrath.
We spend our
years as a tale that is told.”
~ Christina Hoffman Foltz, epitaph
*
* *
− SOURCES −
“Excerpt from a letter
written by Jesse Foltz on August 26, 1931, to his niece, [Dorothy] Alice Foltz
Patterson, daughter of his brother, Emmet.”
Original file from www.rootsweb.com [HI24454] posted by Larry Hurley August
1, 2004.
The
History of Champaign County, Ohio: Containing a History of the County; Its
Cities, Towns, Etc.; General and Local Statistics; Portraits of Early Settlers
and Prominent Men; History of the Northwest Territory; History of Ohio; Map of
Champaign County; Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters
.... Chicago: W.H. Beers & Company, 1881, p. 712.
Knepper, Dr.
George W. The Official Ohio Lands Book. (Columbus, Ohio: Auditor of
State, 2002), 64. https://ohioauditor.gov/publications.html OhioLandsBook.pdf.
Otis, James. Benjamin of Ohio : A Story of the
Settlement of Marietta (New York-Cincinnati-Chicago: American Book Company,
1912), 48. Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/benjaminofohiost00otis/page/48/mode/1up
Peters, William E. Ohio Lands and Their Subdivision, 2nd
Edition. (Athens, Ohio: W.E. Peters, 1918), 78. Printed by The Messenger
Printery Co., Athens, Ohio. https://archive.org/details/ohiolandsandthe00petegoog/page/n7/mode/1up
− FURTHER READING −
− “Oxen: Engines
of the Overland Emigration” by Dixon Ford and Lee Kreutzer, Overland Journal,
− Traveling the National Road, 1833: Gateway to America's
Frontier.
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/nationalroad.htm
* * *
Howell-Richards Family History – June 2021 (updated April 2026)