Adams County, Ohio - Chapter 14: Winchester Township, 1900 (part 7 of 7)

In John Trelvr were omKxlied all the characteristics of his Holland anvesti»rs in a marked dej^rec. His coniplexio»n was fair, his eyes blue, and hi.N hair brown. Ho was stronij of stature and physically ver>- powerful. IK- oouKl lioKl at anns* length a forty-five ptnmd weight suspended on his litilc tinv^cr, and at the same time, with a piece of chalk in his hand, write ]n> nanu- on ihe wall with fXTfect ease.

In iSj>, hv ixohanijed his home on Zan» "s Trace with his son Jacob tv^r .inx^iluT tann aKnit two miles west where he dieil a few years later.

In 1833, hse married Mary Ann, daughter of Jesse and Rachel Freeland, of Adams County, and of this marriage there were three children, LaFayette, Wilson and Louisa J.

Shortly after he became the owner of the homestead, he added to it another one hundred acres by purchase. Here he continued to live until the date of his death, January 4, 1875, leaving surviving him, his widow, twelve -children, sixty-four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. His widow died at Manchester, Ohio, October 30, 1892. In 181 1, Mr. Treber, with George Sample, made a trip to New Orleans on a fiat-boat loaded with produce for that market. On their way, they, with others, bound on a like voyage, tied their boats at New Madrid, Mo. At this time occurred the terrible earthquake at that place, a short description of which is here given in Mrs. Trebier's own language :

**The first shock took place while the boat was lying at the shore, in company with several others. At this period there was danger apprehended from the Southern Indians, it being soon after the battle of Tippecanoe, and for safety several boats kept in company for mutual defense in case of attack. In the middle of the night there was a terrible shock and a jamming of the boats so that the crew were all awakened and hurried on deck with their weapons of defense in their hands thinking the Indians were rushing on board. The ducks, geese, swans and various other aquatic birds, whose numberless flocks were quietly resting in the eddies of the river, were thrown into the greatest tumult, and with loud screams expressed their alarm and terror. The noise and commotion was soon hushed, and nothing could be discovered to excite apprehension, so that the boatmen concluded that the shock was occasioned by the falling in of a large mass of the bank near them. As soon as it was light enough to distinguish objects the crew were all up making ready to depart.

"Directly a loud roaring and hissing was heard, like the escape of steam from a boiler, accompanied by the most violent agitation of the shore and tremendous boiling up of the waters of the Mississippi in hugh swells, rolling the waters below back on the descending stream and tossing the boats about so violently, that the men with difficulty could keep on their feet. The sand-bars and points of islands gave way, swallowed up in the tremendous bosom of the river, carrying down with them the cottonwood trees, cracking and crashing, tossing their arms to and fro, as- if sensible of their danger, while they disappeared beneath the flood. The water of the river which the day before was tolerably clear, being rather low, was now changed to a reddish hue and became thick with mud thrown up from its bottom, while the surface, lashed violentlv by the agitation of the earth beneath, was covered with foam, which gathering in masses the size of a barrel, floated along on the trembling surface. The earth along the shore opened in wide fissures, and, closing again, threw the water, sand and mud in huge jets higher than the tops of the trees.

"The atmosphere was filled with thick vapors or gas, to which the light imparted a purple tinge, altogether different in appearance from the autumnal hues of Indian summer or that of smoke. From the temporary check to the current, by the heaving up of the bottom, the sinking of the sand-bar and banks into the bed of the river, it rose in a few minutes five or six feet ; and as if impatient of the restraint, again rushing forward with redoubled impetuosity, hurried along the boats now set loose by the