Remarkable Ohio

Counties

Below is a complete listing of all Ohio Historical Markers. To find a detailed marker listing including text, photographs, and locations, click on a county below. Our listing is updated by the markers program as new markers are installed and older markers are reported damaged or missing.

1-49 Jonathan Alder, First White Settler in Madison County (1773-1849)

Side A: Seven-year-old Jonathan Alder was captured by a Native American war party in Virginia in 1782 and taken to a Mingo village north of the Mad River in Ohio where he was adopted by an Indian family. He remained with the Indians until after the 1795 Treaty of Greenville ended the Indian Wars in the Ohio Country. As white settlers entered the region, Alder frequently served as an interpreter. In 1805, he journeyed to Virginia and was reunited with his original family. He returned to Ohio with his new wife, Mary Blont, and built a cabin on Big Darby Creek. His cabin is now at the Madison County Historical Society Museum in London. Alder is buried in Foster Chapel Cemetery.
Side B: Same
Sponsors: Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The Longaberger Company, Madison County Historical Society Museum, Jefferson Township Trustees, and The Ohio Historical Society
Address: NE Plain City-Georgesville Road, 
West Jefferson, 
OH, 
43162
Location: Foster Chapel Cemetery, S of Morgan Road
Latitude: 39.9947590
Longitude: -83.2634990