John Martin

Among the First Settlers of Kenton County was Edmond Rittenhouse (a relative of the great American mathematician and astronomer, David Rittenhouse, of Pennsylvania) and family, who, in March, 1793, came down the Ohio in a flat-boat to the mouth of Licking, and up that stream to Bank Lick creek, on which he was about to settle, 1¼ miles from Licking; but the hostility of the Indians compelled him to remove immediately to Ruddle's station, between Cynthiana and Paris. He came back in 1795, and located on the west bank of Licking, a quarter of a mile below Three-Mile ripple. A quarter of a mile distant, John Martin settled, with his family, about the same time. He was born on the Atlantic Ocean, in 1723, three days after his parents (who were Quakers or Friends from Ireland) started on their voyage to America. He emigrated from Beesontown (afterwards called Uniontown), Pennsylvania, by water to Limestone (Maysville), in Feb., 1791, and thence proceeded with other families, guarded by a few soldiers, to Ruddle's station, and remained until 1795; then settled on the road from Cincinnati to Lexington, a short distance from the first toll-gate on the present Bank Lick turnpike. These two were the grandfathers of the Isaac Martin mentioned above. His parents, Wm. Martin and Margaret Rittenhouse, were married in 1797 probably the first couple married within the bounds of Kenton county. In the older-settled part, which is still Campbell County, several marriages and births took place earlier. (Major David) Leitch's station was on the opposite or eastern bank of Licking, about 5 miles above its mouth, and near where the above settlers located.