Ferry pioneers headed for HofH
By BETTY J. POKAS, Times Leader Area EditorArticle Photos
ABSALOM Martin and Margaret Schumacher Riesbeck, who lived in different eras, are known for their pioneering efforts, each in a unique way.
For their contributions, they and four other individuals are to be inducted this spring into the Martins Ferry Hall of Honor.
Sponsor for the HofH, which is designed to honor persons who have made significant contributions to the city or have brought positive attention to the city, is The Citizens Bank.
Martin, a soldier, surveyor and pioneer, purchased land, which became part of Martins Ferry, after he had served in the Revolutionary War.
Riesbeck with five children to support after the unexpected death of her husband, Clement, established grocery stores, beginning in the 1920s. She could be considered a pioneer as that was a time when not many women worked outside the home.
Absalom Martin and his son, Ebenezer, are the only father-son combination selected to date for the HofH. Ebenezer, the city's founder, was an honoree in the first class of inductees.
It was Absalom Martin, however, who first bought land later developed as part of Martins Ferry. He hailed from New Jersey where the Martin family, according to research by the late Annie Tanks, was "a farming family with money and influence."
Absalom attended the College of New Jersey (later Princeton), but left school late in 1776 to enlist in the New Jersey regiment which went into action with Gen. George Washington early in the war.
After the war, he worked as a surveyor for several years and eventually bought 330-1/4 acres, sold for $1,678.52, or about $5 an acre in the Ohio Valley. "Rather a high price, since the minimum was $1, but the sections were desirable riverfront property, on the main highway, so to speak," according to Tanks' writing.
In 1788, he married Catherine "Kitty" Zane, daughter of Ebenezer and Elizabeth Zane. The following year, he received a license to operate a ferry across the Ohio River to Wheeling, the only place except Pittsburgh where supplies could be bought.
Not only did he do more surveying, but he served as a justice of the peace.
Tanks reported that Martin was active in buying and selling land, and, according to a family tradition, he laid out a town, called it "Jefferson" and sold lots, hoping to make it the county seat but this failed so he bought back the land and farmed it.
"Events of the last year of his life and of those immediately following suggest that either Martin was too ill to take care of his affairs or he was running into rough waters or both," Tanks noted. This pioneer, who was born in 1758, died in 1802.
Riesbeck, who lived from 1886-1970, became a widow in 1921, and she opened her first corner grocery store in 1926 in Woodsfield. Moving to Martins Ferry two years later, she opened the first Riesbecks on Zane Highway in 1932.
In 1936, Riesbeck Food Markets Inc. was formally chartered as an Ohio corporation with "Grandma Riesbeck" and her five children as the founding stockholders.
At that time, the company owned four stores in Martins Ferry. By the late 1940s, Riesbeck's had expanded greatly with stores in Yorkville, Flushing, Steubenville, Bellaire, Shadyside, Smithfield, St. Clairsville, Barnesville and Mount Pleasant as well as the four original stores in Martins Ferry.
Riesbeck Food Markets' first supermarket was opened in 1958 in Woodsfield, and a supermarket was added in St. Clairsville in 1962.
When Grandma Riesbeck died in 1970, it's evident that she left behind a strong foundation for a growing company.
Since her death, Riesbeck Food Markets Inc. has developed a Mor for Less chain of stores for cost-conscious customers, opened two warehouse-type stores called Riesbeck's Pick 'n Save and created two Village Markets, which are smaller stores emphasizing fresh foods.
In addition to the company's conventional supermarkets in Woodsfield, Elm Grove, Cambridge, St. Clairsville, Barnesville, Wintersville and Bridgeport, it has two Riesbeck's Pick 'n Save stores in Zanesville; Mor for Less stores in Bellaire, Cambridge, Woodsfield and Follansbee as well as Village Markets in Shadyside and Hanover.
As a spokesperson noted, "Margaret Riesbeck's hard work and ingenuity helped her to build a prospering business after a family tragedy."
Her first Riesbeck's store on Zane Highway in Martins Ferry has expanded into a company now consisting of 15 stores and six pharmacies.
In addition to Martin and Riesbeck, those in the second class of inductees are Fred Bruney, a former Ohio State player who had a long career with the National Football League, both as a player and a coach; Donald R. Myers, who helped economic development in several counties while heading the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association after working in development in Martins Ferry and Belmont County; Leroy Sedgwick, a Civil War veteran who became a farmer, sheriff and newspaper publisher; and Ruth Brant Maguire, known for work in nursing and hospital administrative work.
Bruney is the only living inductee in this group.
The Martins Ferry HofH committee was selected in 2007, and the HofH first was proposed by Les Douglas, who currently serves as committee president.
Pokas can be reached at timesleader@timesleaderonline.com.
