Rebecca Cresap Ogle Clark, Pioneer of Adams County, Ohio (52 Ancestors #51)

This is another article for the series "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks", a challenge by Amy Johnson Crow on No Story Too Small.

My 4^th great-grandmother, Rebecca Cresap Ogle, was the daughter of William Ogle and Mary Cresap Ogle.  She was born 22 Oct 1786 near Sinking Spring, Brush Creek Township, Adams or Highland County, Ohio. [1]  

Rebecca married Stephen Clark on 12 Jul 1804.[2]  He may have been the first pioneer in the settlement of Flat Run.[3]  Certainly many of my Clark ancestors were buried at Flat Run Cemetery, including Stephen and Rebecca.  Continued research should confirm the relationship of the settlement and the cemetery as well as Sinking Spring.

1804 Marriage of Stephen Clark and Rebecca Cresap Ogle [3]
[click images to enlarge]

Stephen and Rebecca had 13 children:[4]

• Phoebe Clark 1805-1853
• Ellen Clark 1807-1865
• William Clark, died in Missouri
• Sidney Clark 
• Margaret Clark 1812-1887
• Edith Clark  1814-1863
• Benjamin Daniel Clark 1815-1895 [my 3rd great-grandfather]
• Drusilla Clark 
• Emily Clark 1819-1847
• Fanny Clark 1821- 
• Miss Clark 
• Miss Clark 
• Stephen Clark 1825-1916 

I would consider Rebecca a frontier woman of Adams County.  The region was wilderness in her time, densely forested with no roads.[5]  Rivers, streams and creeks were plentiful.  Deer, elk, buffalo, bears and turkeys were abundant, while the river furnished excellent fish.[6]  Hominy was a good substitute for bread, or parched corn pounded and sifted, then mixed with a little maple sugar and eaten dry; or, mixed with water was a good beverage.   Clothing made from deer skin sufficed.  Deer's hair or oak leaves put into moccasins were worn in place of stockings or socks.  Wearing a linsey shirt or dress made of buffalo wool was top-notch attire.  Wearing a calico dress was considered finely dressed.  The cabins had a door but no windows.  Furniture consisted of stools, and bedsteads made with forks driven into the ground and poles laid on these with the bark of the trees. They rocked their children in a sugar trough or pack-saddle. The cooking utensils consisted of a pot, dutch oven, skillet, frying pan, wooden trays and trenchers. The table was made of a broad slab.[7] 

Rebecca died on 10 Apr 1860 at age 74 at West Union Township, Adams County, Ohio.  Stephen Clark preceded her in death in 1853 near Sinking Spring, Highland County, Ohio.[8]

Grave of Rebecca Cresap Ogle Clark
at Flat Run Cemetery, Adams County, Ohio
Source: Find-a-Grave  

Rebecca lived in the period when America became an official country in 1789.  My existence proves she survived amid many challenges of frontier life, from uncharted land, wild animals, Indians and diseases, maybe even isolation and loneliness save the children.  Oh, to be able to talk to her today.

Future Research

• Obtain church, tax and probate records
• Research historical writings of Adams County and locales where she lived
• Study DAR records
• Locate descendants of Rebecca and Stephen

Sources

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[1] Depending on boundary changes

[2] Birth, marriage and death dates and locations from Ethel M. Kendall Hibsch’s  [my grandmother] approved membership application for the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).

[3] Scott, Daniel. 1890. A History of the Early Settlement of Highland County, Ohio. The Gazette.  Page 61. Accessed online version via HathiTrust.

[4] Cresap Society website

[5] Evans, Nelson Wiley, and Emmons B. Stivers. 1900. A History of Adams County, Ohio: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Including Character Sketches of the Prominent Persons Identified with the First Century of the Country’s Growth ... E B. Stivers. Page 51.

[6] Ibid page 53

[7] Ibid page 54

[8] See Footnote 1