Alexander

b. 22 Oct 1772  Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
d. 23 Sep 1832  Ross County, Ohio

What was once a tight knit enclave of Trindle cousins in Cumberland County, PA was no longer.  John, William and Alexander, the three sons of original settler William Trindle had led their troops through years of revolution.  Each returned home with a decimated body and each expired within a year of the others in 1784-1785.  Children and wives remained.

Over the next twenty years the wives remarried, the children grew up, Orphans Courts released the estates, the cousins married and the lands were sold.

Alexander, the son of John,  had married Sarah Crockett in the town of Carlisle, Cumberland, PA on 19 Dec 1793.

First Presbyterian Church, Carlisle PA, Records of the First Presbyterian Church, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Marriages, 1785-1800 (1785-1800).

By 1800, Pennsylvania's population had swelled to 602,000 people.  German emigrants were rapidly taking over the area from the original Ulster Scotch Presbyterian settlers.

The Northwest Territories became a draw to those leaving Pennsylvania.  Ohio with a population of 42159 in 1800 became a state in 1803 and saw a five fold increase in population by 1810.  Indiana Territory was created in 1800.  Congress reduced the amount of land that was allowed to be sold under the Northwest Ordinance to 320 acres and allowed payments to be made over a period of time.(2)

The location of Alexander in 1800 is not known for certain.  There is a listing in the census for Alexr Trimble showing one male between 26 and 45 (Alexander would be 28), two males between 16 and 26 (brother David and brother-in-law Andrew Crockett both fall in this range) and one male 0-10 (son James was born in 1798).  There were two females listed one 26-45 (we believe Sarah was only 24) and one 0-10 (daughter Eliann was born in 1794).(1)

By 1806, the last of his father John's estate settled, Alexander found himself one of the many leaving Cumberland County.   The following entries can be found in the records of Paxton Township, Ross County, Ohio where he settled. "An election was held at the house of Thomas Edmonson, on the sixth day of April 1807 for the purpose of electing township officers, when the following persons were chosen.... Alexander Trindle....Supervisors of highways..."  " ......at John Comb's house 4 April 1808.....Alexander Trindle, overseer of the poor....." "....in the house of _____ on the second day of April 1810 .....Alexander Trindle.....Supervisors of highways" , "___day of April in the house of ____ (Bainbridge) Alexander Trindle, treasurer.....", "5 April 1813 in the house of Elishe Kelly.....Alexander Trindle, treasurer...." The records in this source go for a few more years, but it seems Alexander had fulfilled his civic duties as his name does not appear again.(2)   


No census records survive for Ross County in 1810 (or 1800), but Alexander can be found on tax lists starting in 1809 indicating that he did own land, although the earliest land record found to date is for 1818 when he purchased the warrant to part of a Virginia military land grant that had been given to William Royall.   Perhaps this was a choice piece of land, found as he surveyed the roads for the government, perhaps it was the land he had lived on all along, now officially his.  Lying along Paint Creek in the present Ross county the land was a deciduous forest laced with creeks and rivulets.

(1) Alexr Trimble Household, Middleton, Cumberland, Pennsylvania; Second Census of the United States, 1800.  NARA Microfilm publication M32-38 p. 84
(2) About Patents, Bureau of Land Management - General Land Office Records http://www.glorecords.blm.gov
(2)  A History of Ross and Highland Counties Ohio; Williams Brothers 1880 p.325-326; No Libel, The Ohio Supporter, 6 Jul 1811 pg 1


See Documents page for links to Alexander's documents. 

To be continued