Henry Bobo (1771 - 1829)

Born 1771 in Prince William County, Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Naomi (Black) Bobo — married 15 Aug 1799 in Allegheny, Maryland, USA

Descendants

Died 1829 at about age 58 in Athens, Athens, Ohio, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Graham Lester [send private message]

Biography

Henry Bobo (1771 - 1829) should not be confused with his cousin Henry Triplet Bobo (1790-1859), who was also from Prince William County. Only the elder Henry Bobo would have been old enough to marry in 1799.

Henry Bobo. ^[1]

"My father, Henry Bobo, was born and reared in Prince William county, Virginia, and my mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Black, in Loudoun county, in the same state. They came to Athens county in 1798, and settled on Margaret's creek, two miles from Athens. I was born here October 24, 1802. In 1810 my father removed to what is now Lodi township. I was eight years old, and can remember a little about the removal. Lodi was all wilderness then. I think there was but one man living in the (present) township when we moved in, and that was Joseph Thompson. He lived on the farm now owned by Cyrus Blazer. After I was thirteen years old I used to go to mill at Coolville, about fifteen miles distant, and there was but one house on the road, called the "brick house," about eight miles west of Coolville. I once went to mill more than seventy miles, thus: from Athens to the mouth of Hockhocking (by water), forty miles; then up the Ohio to Marietta, thirty miles; then up the Muskingum to the horse mill, two miles, making altogether about seventy-two miles. Sometimes three or four men would form a part, go down the Hockhocking, and up the Ohio to Belpre, in a canoe. There they would get their grain and go on to the horse mill above Marietta, where they had to give one-fourth for grinding, then home again with canoe. When they reached Athens (which was called "the point" when I was a little boy), each man would shoulder his sack and pack it home. My father and others had hand mills, with which they could grind corn in the fall of the year, when the corn is soft. In this way we got our bread.

So far as meat was concerned we had plenty by killing it in the woods. Deer, bears, and turkeys were very plenty, and I have seen a good many elk when I was a boy, and some buffaloes. My father was considerable of a hunter, and killed a great many deer and bears. I remember an adventure he had with a bear when I was about fifteen years old. In the forepart of winter the fat bears would go into a hollow tree or cave, and stay there till spring. They were always fat when they came out in the spring. Frequently, they went into pretty rough caves or hole in the rocks. Father would go in, with a pine torch in one hand and his gun in the other, and crawl as close as he could, and then shoot. The time I am speaking of, he and George Shidler found a hole in the rocks they had never seen before, so father lighted his torch and started in to explore as usual. He had gone about twenty-five feet, looking all the time to see if there was anything, when suddenly the bear struck the torch with his paw, and put out the light. Father got out of that as quickly as possible, and told Shidler what had happened, and that the bear was lying in a very difficult place to shoot, for it was around the corner of a rock which he could not pass, and the hole was very small. But father determined to go in again, and told George to stand at the mouth of the hole, and, if the bear came out, to shoot it. He lighted his torch again, and got as near the bear as he could, and fired, but only wounded him. The bear started for the mouth of the hole, right toward father, who just had time to lie down flat on his belly, when the bear rushed over him, tearing his clothes pretty badly, and leaving marks of claws on his back that he carried to his grave. Shidler was ready at the mouth of the hole, and, when the bear came out, gave him an once of lead that settled him. They dressed the bear and it weighed three hundred and ninety pounds. My father killed as many as seven deer in one day, and that often. He also killed elk and a few buffaloes after we came here, but the buffaloes left very soon. I think the last one seen in this region, was in Bedford township, Meigs county, in 1815, where it was wounded. When I was a young man I have stood in one spot, behind a large tree, in Lodi township, and killed three deer as fast as I could load and shoot. My brother, Thomas Bobo, killed twelve deer the year he was twelve years old."(1)

Sources

1. ↑ 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Alexander, Athens, Ohio; Page: 110; NARA Roll: M33_86; Image: 70

Residence 1820, Alexander, Athens, Ohio, United States. ^[2]

• "United States Census, 1820," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLS-1GB : accessed 4 October 2020), Henry Bobo, Alexander, Athens, Ohio, United States; citing p. 110, NARA microfilm publication M33, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 86; FHL microfilm 181,392.
• Bobo History: http://bobaddleman.com/bobo/bobo_history.html

References

(1) Joseph Bobo in History of Athens County, Ohio by Charles Manning Walker. CINCINNATI: Robert Clarke & Co; 1869. Reprinted in The Vinton Record in McArthur, Ohio on Dec 16, 1869. Available at: http://genealogytrails.com/ohio/athens/bios/bio_JosephBobo.html