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Notable people · Pioneer · Surveyor

Nathaniel Massie

Virginia-born surveyor who founded Manchester (1791) and platted Chillicothe (1796), and opened the Virginia Military District. Founded fourteen early Ohio towns; elected governor in 1807 but declined.

Nathaniel Massie
Henry Howe, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
1763-12-28
Died
1813-11-13
Known as
Pioneer, Surveyor

Life story

Nathaniel Massie was born in 1763 in Goochland County, Virginia, and served briefly in the militia in the Revolution. He became a surveyor in the Ohio Country in the 1780s and cut a road from Lexington, Kentucky to the Kanawha River.

He opened the Virginia Military District, the land Virginia reserved for its veterans in Ohio, and founded Manchester in 1791. He explored the Little Miami and Scioto valleys, and platted Chillicothe in April 1796.

He organized the first militia in the Northwest Territory, was a delegate to the 1802 constitutional convention, and in 1803 was the first Speaker of the Ohio Senate. He founded Bainbridge in 1805.

He was elected governor in 1807 but a challenge to his residency led him to step aside. He married Sarah Everard Mead in 1800 and served in the Ohio House in 1809-10. He died on November 13, 1813 and is buried in Grandview Cemetery, Chillicothe.

Timeline

  • 1763-12-28: Born (Goochland County, VA) source
  • 1791: Founds Manchester (Manchester, OH) source
  • 1796-04: Founds Chillicothe (Chillicothe, OH) source
  • 1800: Marries Sarah Everard Mead (Ohio) source
  • 1802-11: Delegate to the constitutional convention (Chillicothe, OH) source
  • 1803-03-01: First Speaker of the Ohio Senate (Chillicothe, OH) source
  • 1805: Founds Bainbridge (Bainbridge, OH) source
  • 1813-11-13: Dies (Chillicothe, OH) source

What Nathaniel is known for

  • Founded Manchester 1791
  • Platted Chillicothe 1796
  • First Speaker of the Ohio Senate

Honors and things named for them

  • Ohio Hall of Fame
  • Massie Township, Warren County, OH
  • Monument on US 50 west of Bainbridge (1938)

Family

  • wife: Sarah Everard Mead Massie

Places in Ohio to see

Ohio places

Where Nathaniel Massie was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

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