Compiled by: Charles Darwin Mottice
GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER PETER MOTTICE (1772-1855)
IT WOULD BE PRESUMPTUOUS TO SAY THAT THIS HISTORY IS ONE HUNDRED PERCENT ACCURATE. THE STORY HAS BEEN TOLD MANY TIMES OVER A PERIOD OF TWO HUNDRED YEARS. MUCH OF THE HISTORY HAS BEEN VERIFIED THRU RECORDS FROM STATE AND FEDERAL LEVELS. MUSEUMS FROM VARIOUS STATES HAVE BEEN MOST HELPFUL IN COPIES OF DOCUMENTS.
MY GRANDFATHER CHARLES BLANCHFIELD. MOTTICE AND GREAT UNCLE JOHN CREIGHTON MOTTICE KNEW THE HISTORY OF THE FAMILY IN GREAT DETAIL. THIRD (FOURTH?) GREAT GRANDFATHER MOTTICE CAME TO THE AMERICAN COLONY IN AB0UT 1770. WITH HIS YOUNG WIFE, THEY ARRIVED AT DELEWARE BAY AND SET UP HOUSE KEEPING IN MORRIS COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. HIS WIFE GAVE BIRTH TO THEIR ONLY SON ON FRIDAY JANUARY 17, 1772. THIS DATE HAS BEEN VERIFIED.
PETER'S FATHER ENLISTED IN THE COLONIAL ARMY UNDER THE COMMAND OF GEORGE WASHINGTON IN 1775. HE SPENT THE WINTER AT VALLEY FORGE WITH WASHINGTON IN ONE OF THE COLDEST WINTERS EVER RECORDED AT THAT TIME. THE MEN UNDER WASHINGTON WERE SHORT OF FOOD, CLOTHING AND MUCH NEEDED ITEMS FOR THE WINTER. WASHINGTON KNEW THAT HIS MEN COULD NOT SURVIVE THE WINTER. IN ONE OF THE GREATEST MOVES OF THE WAR, WASHINGTON MOVED HIS RAG TAG ARMY TO THE DELEWARE RIVER. ON MIDNIGHT OF THE 25th OF DECEMBER HE CROSSED WITH HIS STAFF AND FLAG. IT TOOK NINE HOURS TO MAKE THE CROSSING. TWO THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED TROOPS, EIGHTEEN CANNON AND OVER A HUNDRED HORSES CROSSED THE RIVER AT NIGHT. ON THE 26th OF DECEMBER THEY MARCHED NINE MILES TO TRENTON, NEW JERSEY. THE HESSIA.NS WERE NOT COMPLETELY SUPRISED. THEY WERE NOT HOWEVER READY FOR SUCH A LARGE ARMY. AFTER A SHORT FIGHT IT WAS OVER. TWENTY TWO HESSIANS WERE KILLED AND TIHEIR LEADER COMMANDER RALL WAS KILLED. NINE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN HESSIANS WERE TAKEN PRISONER...THE BATTLE LASTED NO MORE THAN ONE TO TWO HOURS. COMMANDER RALL WAS TOO DRUNK TO KNOW WHAT HIT HIM. BESIDES THE TWO MEN WHO FROZE TO DEATH THERE WERE FIVE MEN WOUNDED. THREE ENLISTED MEN WHOSE NAMES WERE NOT LISTED AND TWO OFFICERS. ONE OF THE OFFICERS WAS WASHINGTON’S FIRST COUSIN, THE OTHER WAS ADAMS. THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN RECORDED AND IS LISTED IN THE RECORDS. COPIES OF RECORDS ARE IN NEW JERSEY AND THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON SENT THE PRISONERS TO NEWTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA WITH ORDERS THAT THE REST OF THE ARMY JOIN HIM. TWENTY SIX HUNDRED MEN JOINED WASHINGTON GIVING HIM A TOTAL OF FIVE THOUSAND MEN.
PETER'S FATHER DIED WITH A COMPANION ON THE DAY OF THE BATTLE. THEY WERE THE ONLY DEATHS IN THIS BATTLE. THEY WERE NOT KILLED IN THE FIGHT. BOTH MEN FROZE TO DEATH. SICK AND WET FROSTBITE DID ITS WORST.
ON JANUARY 2, 1777 WASHINGTON MOVED ON THE BRITISH WITH FIVE THOUSAND MEN NEAR TRENTON AT THE ASSUNPUNK CREEK BRIDGE AND THEN ON TO PRINCETON. THESE BATTLES TURNED THE TIDE OF THE WAR IN OUR FAVOR. PETER'S FATHER GAVE HIS LIFE FOR THE FREEDOM OF THIS NATION.THESE TWO DEATHS HAVE BEEN VERIFIED BY THE OLD BARRACKS MUSEUM IN TRENTON, NJ. THE NAMES HAVE NOT. OUR LETTER FROM JOHN C. MOTTICE STATES THAT HE FROZE TO DEATH. LOGIC DICTATES THAT HE MUST HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE MEN. FIVE WOUNDED AND TWO DEATHS. I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY MY GREAT UNCLES THAT THIS WAS THE CASE OF PETER’S FATHER. THE LETTER EXISTS WHICH STATES THAT PETER’S FATHER FROZE TO DEATH.
IT IS NOT HARD TO FEEL THE SADNESS OF PETER'S MOTHER WHEN SHE RECEIVED THE NEWS OF HER HUSBAND'S DEATH. PETER'S FATHER LAST SAW PETER WHEN HE WAS THREE OR FOUR YEARS OLD. PETER'S MOTHER MUST HAVE RECEIVED A SMALL SUM OF MONEY FROM THE GOVERNMENT AS DID ALL OF WASHINTON'S MEN AND WIDOWS. THESE WERE SOMETIMES IN THE FORM OF A WARRANT.
IN LATE 1777 PETER’S MOTHER (SOLD THE WARRANT? AND) MOVED TO WASHINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA, WASHINGTON COUNTY. HERE HE RECEIVED HIS EDUCATION AND WAS BELIEVED TO HAVE MARRIED FOR THE FIRST TIME. HIS FIRST WIFE WAS NAMED PHEBY. TOGETHER THEY MOVED TO JEFFERSON COUNTY (IN 1802?), OHIO NEAR STEUBENVILLE. THERE ARE AS OF THIS DAY MOTTICES LIVING IN THAT AREA. THE NAME PHEBY AS OF THIS DATE HAD BEEN VERIFIED. HER NAME WITH PETER’S IS ON A BRASS PLAQUE IN THE CHURCH ENTRY IN WAYNSBURG. THIS PLAQUE TELLS THAT THEY WERE FOUNDERS OF THE CHURCH -- THE OLDEST IN WAYNSBURG, OHIO.
PETER DID WELL IN STARK COUNTY. RECORDS SHOW THAT HE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST JURORS IN THE COUNTY. HE WAS JUSTICE OF THE PEACE FOR MANY YEARS, AND WAS COUNTY COMMISSIONER. HE BECAME A MEMBER OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN 1818 AND WAS A RULING ELDER UNTIL HIS DEATH. PETER MARRIED FOR THE SECOND TIME TO MARY SIBERT ON SEPTEMBER 6, 1826. MARY GAVE HIM ONE SON, JAMESS B. MOTTICE.
PETER HAD TWO DAUGHTERS AND TWO SONS. AFTER GIVING PETER TWO DAUGHTERS AND A SON JOHN, HIS WIFE PASSED AWAY. (PETER HAD 4 SONS. A FIFTH SON WAS BORN TO PETER FROM A BLACK WOMAN.) PETER TOOK A BLACK MISTRESS WHO BORE HIM ONE SON. PETER LEFT THIS WOMAN BUT GAVE THE SON HIS NAME. THERE WERE A FEW BLACK MOTTICES LIVING IN THE NINETEEN THIRTIES AND IN THE EARLY NINETEEN FORTIES. I MET TWO OF THEM IN WEST VIRGINIA. THEY HAD ONE SON WHO WAS IN PRISON AND A DAUGIITER WHO WAS KILLED IN AN ACCIDENT. THE TYPE OF ACCIDENT I NEVER FOUND OUT. BOTH PARENTS PASSED AWAY IN THE EARLY FORTIES. I BELIEVE THIS WAS THE LAST OF THE BLACKS IN THE FAMILY. RECORDS IN OHIO SHOW A BLACK FAMILY. MOST WILL DENY THIS AS I HAVE FOUND OUT.
PETER WAS THIRTY YEARS OLD WHEN HE MOVED TO JEFFERSON COUNTY.
HE MOVED AT THE AGE OF THIRTY FIVE TO STARK COUNTY, OHIO IN 1807. PETER BUILT THE FIRST HEWN LOG HOUSE IN THAT PART OF THE COUNTRY. CANTON, OHIO NOW STANDS CLOSE TO WHERE THIS LOG HOUSE WAS BUILT. IN NINETEEN THIRTY THREE THIS HOUSE STILL STOOD ABOUT .TWO MILES FROM WAYNESBURG, OHIO. IT WAS TORN DOWN BEFORE WORLD WAR TWO.HIS LAND WAS VALUED AT OVER TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS. THIS WAS A LARGE SUM OF MONEY AT THAT TIME. PETER'S SECOND WIFE MARY SIBERT WAS BORN JANUARY 6, 1789 AND DIED JANUARY 22, 1846. PETER LIVED A GOOD LIFE AND DIED THURSDAY JUNE 7, 1855. HE WAS BORN ON FRIDAY JANUARY 17, 1772. HE LIVED 88 YEARS, 4 MONTHS, AND 21 DAYS. THIS IS BASED ON HIS DATE OF DEATII AND PUT TO THE COMPUTER. HE WAS BURIED IN STARK COUNTY IN THE SANDY TOWNSHIP ON RIDGEVIEW ROAD, ONE MILE WEST OF STATE ROUTE 43. THE CEMETARY NO LONGER EXISTS.
PETER WAS A SUCCESSFULL FARMER AND POLITICIAN AND HIS SON JOHN, A SUCESSFUL FARMER WITH EIGHT CHILDREN. JOHN NAMED ONE SON AFTER PETER AND ONE AFTER HIMSELF. JOHN MARRIED ELIZABETH CACHEL ON SEPT 7, 1828. PETER M0TTICE HAD A MILITARY RECORD. IT WAS PETER WHO SERVED IN THE WAR OF 1812 AS MANY STATED. A RECORD EXISTS OF PETER HAVING A MILITARY RECORD. JOHN AND JAMES WERE BOTH IN THE MILITARY. JAMES WAS IN FOR ONLY ONE HUNDRED DAYS. AND THAT WAS IN THE CIVIL WAR. JOHN WAS OLD ENOUGH TO SERVE AS DRUMMER BOY IN THE WAR OF 1812. NO RECORD OF JOHN'S MILITARY RECORD HAS BEEN FOUND AS OF THIS WRITING. IT IS THOUGHT BY SOME THAT JOHN’S SON PETER SERVED AS THE DRUMMER BOY IN THE CIVIL WAR. THE DRUM STAYED IN THE G.A.R. MUSEUM: IN WAYNESBURG, OHIO FOR MANY YEARS. THIS MUSEUM NO LONGER EXISTS.
THE DRUM WAS LATER TAKEN TO THE WEST VIRGINIA STATE MUSEUM IN CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA. I SAW THE DRUM WHEN I WAS A SMALL BOY WITH THE UNIFORM. MY GRANDMOTHER STATED THAT MY GRANDFATHER CHARLES B. MOTTICE TOOK IT FROM OHIO TO WEST VIRGINIA IN 1909. I CANNOT SAY IT IS TRUE BUT I WOULD NEVER SAY MY GRANDMOTHER COULD NOT TELL A TALL TALE.THE TOMB STONE ON PETER'S GRAVE WAS REMOVED WHEN THE HIGHWAY TOOK OVER THE CEMETARY. IT IS BELIEVED THAT A MOTTICE TOOK THE STONE. HOWEVER THIS HAS NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED. IT WAS RUMORED THAT THE STONE STILL EXISTS AND IS USED A STEP IN A BASEMENT SOMEWHERE IN STARK COUNTY. POOR PETE, RAN OVER BY EIGHTEEN WHEELERS AND THEN STEPPED ON.
PETER WAS AT ONE TIME A TAVERN AND INN KEEPER. HE WAS WELL KNOWN FOR THIS AND WAS A SUCCESS. A STREET NOW EXISTS THAT HAS THE NAME OF MOTTICE ON IT. MOTTICE STREET STILL EXISTS TODAY. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF HIS TAVERN KEEPING HE WAS ARRESTED FOR SELLING A GILL (1/4 OF A PINT) OFWHISKEY. HE HAD NO LIQUOR PERMIT. AFTER A FINE OF $3.50, HE BECAME JUSTICE OF-THE PEACE. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT PETER HAD FOUR CHILDREN; THE BOYS WERE HALF BROTHERS AS WELL AS HALF SISTERS TO JAMES. THERE WAS ALSO THE BASTARD-SON BORN TO THE MISTRESS.
SARAH THE DAUGHTER OF PETER MARRIED INTO THE FIRESTONE-FAMILY.
ELIZABETH HER DAUGHTER WAS THE FAVORITE GRANDAUGHTER OF PETER. ELIZABETH WAS LISTED IN PETER’S WILL.
TRIALS WERE HELD IN THE WAYNEWBURG PRESYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE 1800s AND ARE STILL HELD TODAY. THE MEMBERSHIP IS VERY LOW AND I THINK THIS IS THE CAUSE. THERE IS A RECORD OF A TRIAL IN WHICH THE SESSION WERE THE JUDGES. PETER WAS IN CHARGE OF THE SESSION FOR NUMBER OF YEARS. ON ONE PARTICULAR TRIAL IT HAD TO DO WITH A CHARGE THAT WAS BROUGHT TO THE SESSION CONCERNING THE FACT THAT ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH HAD ALLOWED HIS “BEASTY"TO TEAR UP HIS NEIGHBOR'S GARDEN HE WAS FOUND GUILTY AND APOLOGIZED BEFORE THE CONGREGATION AND WAS PERMITTED TO RESUME FULL MEMBERSHIP IN THE CHURCH. SEEMS GRANDFATHER WAS SOME WHAT OF A PRUDE.THE ONLY THING THAT IS LEFT TO REMEMBER PETER BY WOULD BE THE BRASS PLAQUE WITH HIS NAME ON IT WHICH IS IN THE VESTIBULE OF THE CHURCH. IT SHOWS HE WAS ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE CHURCH. THE OTHER IS THE LARGE STAINED GLASS WINDOW IN THE CHURCH WHICH HE DONATED. THIS PLAQUE AND WINDOW STILL EXIST TODAY IN WAYNESBURG, OHIO. PETER'S NAME AND FRANCIS CRAWFORD WITH THE NAME OF T. FARBAR ARE ON THE WINDOW IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH. THE TWO NAMES ARE MARRIED TO THE MOTTICE F AMILY.
PETER WAS A GOOD MAN AND WAS VERY WELL LOVED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE TOWN. HE WAS KNOWN AS UNCLE PETER BY ALL. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS TAKEN FROM BOOKS FOUND IN BOSTON, MASS.
IN THE OLD CHURCH THE RECORDS HAVE NOT AS YET BEEN COPIED.-