MARTINS FERRY – Betty Zane, who saved Fort Henry with her run for gunpowder in September 1782, didn’t even rate a mention for the heroic act in her brother’s military account of the battle, but now she may be featured on television more than 230 years later.

John Applegarth, a board member of the Martins Ferry Area Historical Society, said representatives of Optomen Productions are expected in Martins Ferry next week for filming related to the frontier heroine, whose statue stands at the entrance to Walnut Grove Cemetery.

He said plans are for the filming about Zane to be submitted to the Travel Channel, Channel 58 in the local market.

“Hopefully, all this comes to fruition,” Applegarth added.

The historical society board member said that he had been informed that Zane was selected because of the interest in women and their roles during Revolutionary War times.

It isn’t certain exactly when Optomen Productions representatives will be in Martins Ferry, but Applegarth was told that it will be sometime next week.

Optomen Productions is described on its website as an “independent television production company known for the flair, originality and attention to detail we bring to our productions.”

Applegarth said the Sedgwick House Museum includes a bonnet and a mirror that had belonged to Zane. There also is a charcoal drawing representing the famous woman whose run for the gunpowder occurred when she was a teenager.

Information and photos related to Zane as well as other features in the museum have been sent to the productions company, as requested. Also pictures and details about Walnut Grove Cemetery are being provided.

Walnut Grove, the city’s oldest landmark, also will be visited by the productions company crew. Not only does a statue of Betty Zane stand at the entrance to the cemetery, but she is buried in the special section of the cemetery amid the graves of early settlers to the Ohio Valley.

In front of the frontier heroine’s statue – complete with a bundle of a gunpowder – is a marker noting the statue was dedicated in 1928. It is said Martins Ferry schoolchildren saved their pennies to be used for the statue.

Officials from the historical society such as Applegarth, Rosie and Tom Thomas, Barbara Shrodes, Barry and Jen Shunn, Joyce Roy, Dorothy Roy and Judy Brown have been preparing the museum for the production company’s visit, Applegarth said.

Also scheduled to work at the museum later this week, especially on the grounds, will be a group of teenagers from Chy-Phy, an academic organization involved in science, under the direction of Clay Sheldon.

Television isn’t Zane’s first claim to fame. She was called the “foremost American heroine” by President Theodore Roosevelt and also has received recognition in special halls for her 1782 achievement at Fort Henry, which was located in the vicinity of 11th and Main streets in Wheeling.

Zane was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 2000 as a result of her action in September 1782 when Fort Henry was attacked by a force including some 40 British rangers and 260 American Indians. In addition, she also was in the first class of inductees into the Martins Ferry Hall of Honor in 2008.

During the 1782 siege, Zane volunteered to run for gunpowder when supplies ran low in the fort. She argued that a woman would not be missed in the fort’s defense while a man would be.

When she ran from the fort to her brother’s blockhouse where gunpowder was stored, the Indians didn’t fire on her, but they did so on her return trip when they realized what she was doing. Her brother, Ebenezer, described the battle in a military report sent to Fort Pitt, but didn’t mention her actions in carrying the gunpowder (reportedly in a tablecloth) to save the fort.

She later moved to a farm above Martins Ferry. She was buried on that farm and later was reinterred in Walnut Grove Cemetery.

Zane Grey, a great-grandson of Ebenezer Zane, wrote a novel about her, and she was featured in a National Geographic magazine in 1975 in “Women of the Revolution: Patriots in Petticoats.”

The Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame website notes: “Her story epitomizes the hardships that pioneer women suffered and often took for granted. She selflessly volunteered for a dangerous mission for the sake of others.”

Pokas can be reached at bettypokas@yahoo.com.