Letters From The Time Traveler: The Folk Heroes Who Formed This Country

Dearest,

Many times, those in this century, do not respect those who paved the way for them.

This man named David started walking from Connecticut at the age of 63! to the town we live near. I can’t imagine anyone back over 200 years ago walking that far, much less someone in 2024 walking that far.

One thing that those back then had was fortitude. And courage. And the desire to live a better life. And to actually put in the work to make it a reality.

David Beebe was one of the founding fathers here in Ohio. In 1810- at the age of 63 he walked from his home in Waterbury, Connecticut to Ohio. There were no roads through the “wilds” of Ohio. He was born in 1747 to Jonathan and Hannah Beebe in Waterbury, Ct. and his father was a Lieutenant in the French and Indian War. David served in the Revolutionary War as a Private in the Connecticut Continental Line and as a Quartermaster Sgt. In the Connecticut Militia. In 1768 he married Lydia Terrell and together they had 11 children — Alice, Asah, Electa, Lydia, Ester, Eunice, David Jr., Mary, Chester, Augustus and Loman. Many of these children would become residents here as well.

The first men to arrive in our town in May of 1810 built a crude cabin as shelter and began the laborious…