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Matamoras Minute: Brick by brick

(Photo provided by John Miller) This is the first of the three brick homes built by Silas McGee Ellis that are south of Matamoras on Ohio 7. It is located on the river side of the road at the crest of what the locals call “Hosea’s Dip.”

Out of necessity in the original wilderness of Grandview Township, the early settlers constructed log cabins as their first homes. Few had the desire to remain in such structures for the remainder of their life.

The hope was that as soon as possible such crude dwellings would be replaced for a more gracious style of living in a far larger home. The majority of improved homes would still use lumber for their construction but brick was a more highly desired material.

The earliest fine brick homes in the Matamoras area were the result of a young bricklayer named Silas McGee Ellis. In an earlier column the life of school teacher Henry Ellis was covered. Henry was a talented man with interests well outside of the classroom.

He had the skill of an artist and was responsible for the cemetery in Beavertown adjacent to the Parr Hill Church. Silas was an older sibling of Henry. Their parents were Benjamin and Ruth Ingalls Ellis. Both were born in New Hampshire and married there.

Silas was 16 when his parents arrived in the area circa 1809 by means of flatboat.

Silas married Eleanor (Nelly) Dickerson in 1817. She was a daughter of Revolutionary soldier Thomas Dickerson and his wife, Margaret Davis.There is no record as to who taught Silas his useful skills but it was a lesson well learned.

Brick homes to the south of Matamoras which are seen along

Ohio 7 are legacies to his craftsmanship. The names of three families who commissioned these early bricks are Nathan and Prusilla Paden Cordray, Henry and Frances Ewart Paden Collins, and Robert and Mary Cochran Ewart.

These three brick homes were built in quick succession with the bricks burnt in the fields nearby.

Only a mile down river from these homes and across into West Virginia there presently stands an industrial plant.

On this site, according to Richard L. Pemberton in his biographical sketches of the citizens of Pleasants County, Silas built another brick home for a family named Johnson.

Next week, the torch of bricklaying skills is passed to another generation.

Last week’s column incorrectly stated Dr. Riley and his wife were buried in Matamoras cemetery. They are buried in the Newport cemetery.

John Miller is president of the Matamoras Area Historical Society. Membership dues are $15 per year single/couple. Life membership is $150. Contact the society at P.O. Box 1846, New Matamoras, Ohio 45767.

Much of this column is built on the work of Matamoras’ historian, the late Diana McMahan.

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