Miltonsburg was organized on a grid determined by the orientation of the ridge upon which it was laid out. At the south end of town this grid meets the Jeffersonian grid which organized the real estate of the Northwest Territory. As a result, Lot 1 and Lot 21 are triangularly shaped; however, it is not clear why the corporation could not have extended a few feet further south to accommodate these lots. In fact, Lot 21 does not seem to have been plotted until 1847 and tax records ignore it until 1875.

Tax records indicate that Alex Hardesty built a structure ($99) on Lot 21 about 1875 and improved it ($140) about 1885. It was a log house that remained at about the same value until about 1845, when Edward Peters (Alex Hardesty’s son-in-law) made significant improvements ($600). The corporation boundary ran between the original house and the Peters’ addition. The house burned sometime after 1950.

Alex Hardesty

Alex Hardesty was a very active citizen of the community. He served on the council and held other responsible positions. His primary occupation was a tobacco dealer.

Edward Peters

Ed Peters’ wife Lillie and her sister Laura inherited this house when their mother, Lena Hardesty, died. Ed was associated with his brother Clem in the Conservative Life Insurance Company, which Clem co-founded. Both brothers lived in Wheeling but had close ties to and spent a good deal of time in Monroe County-Ed in this house in Miltonsburg and Clem on an estate/farm located about two miles north of Miltonsburg on County Road 2. Their parents were Michael and Catherine Claus Peters.

As noted in his obituary, Clem Peters was “an avid sportsman and he established an estate in Monroe County (Shadow Lake Farm) near Miltonsburg which he stocked with buffalo, elk, deer, and other animals that wandered through a vast enclosure that contained meadows, woods, and lakes.” When one of the elks attacked his wife, Bess (Sarah Elizabeth Trimble Peters), and as his health was failing he disposed of the animals in early 1940s.

Oral History

Alex Hardesty was described by those who knew him as a very witty man. His wife was Lena Kellar Hardesty. They had two children, Lil Hardesty Peters and Laura Hardesty Johnson. Lena lived long after Alex died. Alex is buried in the Miltonsburg Free Cemetery.