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Names of early settlers in Ohio were quite different and strange-sounding from today. Many reflected Puritan virtues (from New England settlers), Biblical figures, Greek or Roman classic names. Here are a few I’ve noticed. Readers likely have many curious names in their families or acquaintances.
Return Jonathan Meigs Sr. was an early settler in Marietta, a distinguished Revolutionary War veteran, surveyor, and civic leader. His son, R. J. Meigs, Jr. was Ohio’s 4th governor. “Return”? According to family lore, Meigs Sr.'s grandfather Janna (another unusual name), was courting a young lady. She, advised to play hard to get, rejected his proposal. As he left crestfallen, she realized her mistake and called out “Return, Janny, Return!” The Return Jonathan Meigs name stuck and continued into the 1900s.
Biblical names from the Old Testament were very popular. Increase Mathews was a nephew of Rufus Putnam. “Increase” refers to spiritual growth and prosperity. Bazaleel (many different spellings) was based on Bezalel, the divinely appointed architect of the tabernacle in Exodus. Bazaleel Bryant was an early Washington County resident; Bezaleel Norman, a black veteran of the Revolutionary War.
Other biblical pioneer names: Leaders Manasseh Cutler and his son Ephraim Cutler; landowner Nahum Ward; Veteran Abel Sherman, one of the last men killed by Indians; early settler Lot Cheever; Physician Jabez True; Selah Hart of Watertown township (the word “Selah” appears in Psalms, perhaps a musical term). Benoni (biblical son of Rachel) Hulbert and Zebulon (“one of the 12 tribes of Israel) King were early victims of Indian attacks near Belpre. Solomon Drown (English surname with no connection to drowning) was a physician in Marietta, who wryly observed that during a temporary alcohol “prohibition” in December, 1788, residents had "more decorum…than in the British Parliament…"
Female biblical names were more familiar sounding – Mary, Sarah, Martha. But a few were Puritan “Virtue Names,” such as Temperance, Prudence, and Charity. One virtue name in Massachusetts that sounds much different today than intended was Freelove Bixby. No one named Freelove actually migrated to Ohio. Persis (female disciple of Jesus in Romans 16:12) was the name of Rufus Putnam’s wife and his daughter Persis Putnam Howe. Daughter Persis’ husband was Perley Howe, a surname from England used as a first name. He was active in the Belpre community.
Some names had classical origins – Greek and Roman names were popular and fashionable. Cincinnatus was a Roman statesmen and namesake of the city and the Society of the Cincinnati, a Revolutionary War officers’ fraternity. Local classical names: businessman Arius Nye, Leonidas Pitt Pond of Barlow township, and Anaximander Warner, a common pleas judge. Marietta landmarks had Roman names – Campus Martius (“Field of Mars”, an ancient Roman military training ground), and earthworks such as Conus and Quadranaou. Other names were just plain unusual, like Sherafish Fletcher and Noah Sparhawk, veterans buried in Belpre.
We've all heard of names that match (sometimes humorously) a person's role, called an aptronym. One Marietta example was Dr. Dwayne Stone, a geologist. Grove City has a dentist named Dr. Hurt. Mariettans had to deal with a notorious aptronym, William Playfair. He did not play fair, and fraudulently "sold" Ohio land of the Scioto Company to unknowing French immigrants. Congress and the Ohio Company stepped in to help the "French 500" who arrived stateside to find they had no land. William Goforth went forth from Hamilton County to the Ohio Consititutional Convention. Washington County's first sheriff was Ebenezer Sproat was 6'4" tall; Sproat was a misnomer because it suggests sprout, something small and delicate. He was definitely big in stature and accomplishment.