Abner’s Rant
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The handwriting was elegant, as though written by a calligrapher. But the mottled inscription was barely legible. It came from a family bible belonging to early Marietta businessman Abner Lord. I stared at the image. What was the message and who wrote it? As I deciphered the words, strong emotions from over 200 years ago jumped off the page. Here is an excerpt, edited for length and clarity by your author. Spelling and grammar are from original document:
"Ths Jefferson...as President of the United States...a great nation of wealthy and honest inhabitants (and brought the treasury... into a state of bankruptcy) and myself...(who)have become poor and declined from affluence to a state of depression...by that cursed policy of our government. Tho. Jefferson & Js. Madison have no doubt betrayed & sold the United States to the French Emperor Bonaparte, for their laws and policy have...completed the ruin...of the American nation...." N.B. It is my request that my family should at all times...bear testimony that this cruel policy...has been our destruction as to our interest & living.
January 1, 1812 Abner Lord"
Lord was livid - and he wanted everyone to know it. The Embargo Act of 1807 had ruined his profitable boatbuilding business in Marietta. Lord and others were building ocean going vessels – hundreds of miles from the ocean. They built the boats then floated them down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico and out to the world. Under the Embargo Act, American ships could no longer sail into European ports. Boatbuilding shut down. It was a major financial setback for the local economy – and for Lord.
Abner Lord was ambitious, adventurous, and entrepreneurial – big words often associated with our pioneer settlers. He had moved his family in the early 1790s from Connecticut to this area looking for opportunity. Right away he mingled with others who had influence. With his brother-in-law Dr. Joseph Spencer, he bought and sold large tracts of land in the "backlands" of Wood County, WV (then Virginia). The town of Vienna was created in 1795 on 100 acres owned by the two of them.
He wrangled an appointment as Justice of the Peace ("JP") in Wood County, seeking more influence in the legal community. It didn't work out. Politics were rough and worked against him. Time to move on, he figured, to another community of New Englanders: Marietta. He moved there around 1800. He owned a half share of the Ohio Company which entitled him to several parcels of land. Lord was a charter member of the First Church of Marietta in 1796 and began a retail business at the foot of Front Street.
Boat building was a growing industry. Others were making good money at it. So, he used his connections and access to capital to open his own shipyard, located along the Muskingum River where the Armory is now. At least 7 ships were built there from 1802-1807. Builders were James Whitney and Whittington McGrath. He owned a nice home on lower Butler Street. Life was good – until the Embargo. Financial pressures forced him to sell the home and business at a loss. His anger, resentment, and embarrassment were apparent in his bible message.
He moved to Columbus in 1811 to be nearer to his daughters, still bearing a grudge. A person walking through a Columbus cemetery in 1872 saw this grave marker:
"Sacred to the Memory of
COL. ABNER LORD
Who Departed this Life May 2, 1821"
Many settlers had a positive impact on their communities, even though things did not turn out as they planned. Abner Lord was one of those. Thanks to local historian Bill Reynolds for showing me the Bible document.