Peter Mottice family

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.

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.

Elizabeth Firestone was the grand-daughter of Peter and Pheby Mottice, and occupied a special place in his heart. She was probably born between 1828 and 1836. I have so far been unable to locate a death record for her. Her mother was evidently Mahala Mottice Davis, daughter of Peter and Pheby.

According to Peter Mottice's will:

Mahala Mottice was evidently a daughter of Peter and Pheby Mottice. I have found no birth or death records for her, but I infer that she was born around 1805 and died between 1828 and 1836.

The first mention of Mahala is in the historical records of the Presbyterian Church in Waynesburg:

"On the fourth Sabbath of May 25, 1823 the Lord's Supper was administered . . . accepted were Nancy Mottice and Mahala Mottice."

Sarah appears as the daughter of Peter in his will in 1852. In the official Stark Co. Record of Deaths, Sarah Mottice born in Stark Co. and died in Sandy Twp. dies of heart disease on April 5, 1880 at the age of 64. She is single (unmarried) and would have been born around 1816.

She also appears in the in the Waynesburg Presbyterian Church records.

Margaret Mottice Creighton was the oldest daughter -- or at least the first married -- of Peter and Pheby Mottice. I conclude that her birth date was around 1795-99 and that she died around 1817-1820.

There is no information about her except for a single mention in an 1816 edition of the Ohio Repository announcing her marriage to John Creighton. Because she married in 1816, and because Peter and Pheby likely did not marry until the mid 1790s, this puts her birth date in the latter part of that decade.

Pheby Mottice is a mystery woman, largely because we do not know her maiden name. If we only had that information we could track down a lot more about her. I conclude that she was born about 1774 and died about 1823, and I explain below how I came up with that hypothesis.

What we know is mostly inferred, and the only reference to her name is in the historical session records of the Waynesburg Presbyterian Church. On August 31, 1821, the congregation of Waynesburg Presbyterian was formed with Peter being one of the founding elders and "Pheby his wife" was named.

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.

This announcement appeared in the Ohio Repository on December 5, 1816.  This is the only known reference to Margaret, daughter of Peter.  Her husband, John Creighton, has the same surname of a good friend of Peter's and is therefore likely to be his son.

This announcement appeared in the Ohio Repository (published out of Canton -- later to become the Canton Repository) in early July 1821.

"Married -- On the 24th ult. by Geo. Dunbar, Esq., Thomas Rockhill to Miss Harriet Grant, both of Lexington Twp.
                -- On the 28th, by the same, Mr. John Creighton to Miss Abigail Mottice, daughter of Peter Mottice, Esq."

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.

This is a family tree that highlights the descendants of James B. Mottice, who was a son and only child of Peter Mottice and his 2nd wife Mary Sibert.  This family tree was produced, or at least in the possession of Charles D. Mottice, a descendant of James B. Mottice.

In this genealogy, Jean-Marie Motice is identified as the father of Peter Mottice. The name of Margaret Mottice is also missing from the list of Peter Mottice's children.

There are a few other inconsistencies with other genealogies as well, but this is some of the best information I have about the James Mottice line.

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?

This is a transcript of a letter held by Charles Mottice of California. It is written by John Creighton Mottice, but not the same John Creighton Mottice who was the father of Grant Mottice. The author of this letter traces his lineage back to Peter Mottice and his second wife, Mary Sibert. Peter Mottice's first wife, Pheby, died sometime in the 1820s and it is through her that Grant Mottice and his father John Creighton Mottice trace their lineage.

The following is the military service record for Jean-Marie Motice of the French Soissonnais Regiment fighting on the American side during the Revolutionary War.  

Jean-Marie Motice is believed by some family historians to be the father of Peter Mottice, who is the earliest definitive Mottice ancestor.  Jean-Marie Motice is listed as being discharged in 1783, however, which conflicts with some family history accounts that claim he was killed at the Battle of Trenton.