Peter Mottice

This case log of Peter Mottice (here and here) in which he

In addition to being County Commissioner and ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church, Peter Mottice also served as Justice of the Peace in Stark County for a number of years.

In 1981, the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society responded to a request by Bob Mottice for information on early Mottices in Pennsylvania. Subsequent research by him and others has failed to convincingly associate any of these names with Mottice ancestors. The LMHS researcher was looking for Peter, but we subsequently know that Peter went from Morris County, NJ to the area around Washington, PA as a member of the militia during the Whiskey Rebellion. So it is unlikely that any of the Peters she found were our Peter Mottice.

Here are a couple of pictures of a house on Mottice Rd. outside of Waynesburg that -- maybe -- are of the building that housed Peter Mottice's tavern in the early 1800s. The photos belong to a woman who grew up there in the 1950s. Both photos were taken around that time and show her family in front of the house.

The following excerpts from this collection of historical records entitled, "Ohio County and Family Histories, 1780-1910, all mention Peter Mottice: 1. Page 470, while discussing early roads in Sandy Twp. shortly after 1806:

In a collection of historical records entitled, "Gateway to the West, Volume II," the section on Stark Co., Will Abstracts, 1811-1822, page 555 mentions Peter Mottice as an executor of the will of John Hewitt, whose brother James was evidently the first justice of the peace in the area and immediately preceded Peter Mottice in that office:

Peter Mottice purchased two plots of land in Stark County -- one described as in Osnaburg in 1806 and another described as in Sandy in 1812. One of these -- presumably the latter -- became the homestead where several generations of Mottices were born. Access was probably via the road now know as "Mottice Dr." just north of Waynesburg and west of Rt. 43.

Three years prior to his death in 1855, Peter Mottice made the will that is shown here. There is no indication that he was in declining health, though he was attaining a ripe old age.

This copy of his will is from the Genealogical Archives of the Stark County (OH) Public Library. The original is gone, but this copy on microfiche (along with his other estate documents) was made from the original. It was evidently common practice to not keep original probate material once it was recorded on microfiche or microfilm.

Peter Mottice Will & Testament (10/25/1852)

The genealogical search for the Mottice family effectively ends with Peter Mottice, 1772-1855. As I posted previously, we don't know the name of his father or any other details with any degree of certainty.

From the Ohio Repository (now Canton Repository), June 1855:

"DIED: At his residence in Sandy Township, Stark County on the 7th of June 1855, Peter Mottice, Esq., another of the good old pioneer settlers, aged 83 years 4 months and 21 days, leaving 4 sons to mourn his loss.

The original copy of this document is on microfiche in the Stark County Library in Canton, OH.  This is one of the most puzzling elements of the Mottice family history.  Naturalization papers exist to confer nationality upon a person.  This one clearly states that Peter Mottice was being awarded status as a U.S. citizen in 1847, and that he previously was a citizen of France (King Louis Phiilippe was monarch in 1847).  Yet all family accounts have Peter born in the U.S.

Peter Mottice, a significant figure in the history of Wayne County, OH, has an unknown but potentially very interesting history.  Where -- and when --  was he born?  Who was Pheby, his first wife?  Did he serve in the militia during the Whiskey Rebellion?  But most intriguing of all -- who were his parents?