Notes for: Alexander Gaston
Dr. Alexander Gaston settled with his mother in Canton Twp, Washington Co, PA about 1792. He later moved to Brooke Co, (W)VA, and from there, in about 1800, to near St. Clairsville, Belmont Co, OH, and from there, in about 1811, to Morristown, Belmont Co, OH. Upon his move in 1800, he "was accompanied by two men, who helped him cut the timber and build a cabin on his land. They camped out two weeks under the cover of their wagons, and were often awakened from the howling of wolves which infested the forests. His family consisted of a wife and three children. For several years after their settlement, they went all the way to Washington, Pa., to purchase groceries. At the time that Dr. Gaston's mother settled in Washington, the place contained but four houses. He followed blacksmithing for a couple of years. Read medicine and began practice of the same in 1809. In 1811 he removed to Morristown, where he died in 1825. He had an extensive practice which took in Woodsfield, Middletown and Freeport."
(Note: Hanna, after presenting Alexander's family and lineage as we have it here, describes another account of this Alexander Gaston which states that he was the son of Ephraim Gaston, who was the son of Ebenezer Gaston, who migrated from Ireland with his brother Matthew (died unmarried); that Alexander had a brother Joseph, who settled in southern Indiana, and another brother who settled in West Virginia. Hanna points out that this account probably assumes Joseph, son of John, who married in South Carolina and settled in Butler County, Ohio, to have been the brother of Alexander.)