There is no one more early identified with the history of Gallipolis than the subject of this sketch. He belonged to that sturdy, courageous and enterprising class of pioneers who formed the advance guard of civilization, and who have now nearly all passed away. As will be seen by reference to the history of the early settlement of Gallipolis, he was a member of Major Burnham’s party, who came on June 8th, 1790, in advance of the French settlers, and cleared the ground and erected block-houses, stockades and log-cabins upon what is now the public square, ready for the colonists, who came and occupied them over four months later.
After the selection of the site and landing, with that spirit to take the lead which characterized him through life, he sprang ashore with ax in hand and felled the first tree. As provisions were dear and game plentiful, he joined a hand of thirty hunters, who were employed to furnish meat to the settlement, of which McMann, afterwards killed at Fort Recovery, was captain. Besides the wages paid; each man, as a stimulous [sic] to his industry was allowed the valuable skins and furs of the animals they killed. It was customary with the band to observe the Sabbath by resting from the exciting chase, and spending the day in cleaning their guns, repairing their moccasins, and stretching and dressing their skins. Colonel Safford, while hunting on one occasion, killed a panther ten feet long. He was also one of the regular appointed scouts, and has experienced many exciting adventures with the Indians. While on one of his scouting expeditions on Raccoon creek, in the winter of 1790-1, he discovered a cave near which were the remains of an old log-cabin, almost entirely decayed with age. It was a matter of wonderment to him all his lifetime as to who the builder and occupant could have been, and it remains a mystery still.
Daniel Boone, the famous Kentuckian, James Burford, the celebrated story-teller, and Colonel Safford were firm friends, and trapped together in 1792 on Raccoon creek near Adamsville, where they caught one hundred beavers; also at Beaver Dam, on the creek, near Vinton. When Boone took leave of his friend Safford, he presented him with the largest of his traps, which he had named “Old Isaac,” also a tomahawk and a small ax [sic]. These Colonel Safford kept until his death, when they passed into the hands of son, T. C. Safford, and they are now exhibited as very interesting relics. James Burford, mentioned above, gained a national reputation for relating remarkable stories in a bland, suave and impressive style that carried conviction with them, notwithstanding their absurdity. Many of these are related, not only at Gallipolis, but in all parts of the country. An attempt was made at one time to impeach his testimony on the ground of this remarkable characteristic, and Colonel Safford was called upon, who testified that he was a strictly truthful man and only told these stories for amusement. As an evidence of the confidence the people placed in him, the township records show that he was elected to the responsible position of Fence Viewer, in 1803, but there was is no record of his ever being elected again to office. Mr. Burford, although unquestionable an honest man in all matters pertaining to business, and was never known to deceive a man to injure him, was, nevertheless the most notorious sensation-yarner on the frontier. He claimed the championship in this, and well earned it, and when a Yankee named Jacobs came down from "Varmount" and beat him at it so palpably that he was forced to acknowledge his defeat, he became completely chagrined and dejected, and it so worked upon his feelings that he sold out his farm in Racoon township and went to Indiana, where he soon after died.
Colonel Safford was chairman of the first board of township trustees, in 1802; was the first junior warden of the Free Mason Lodge No. 7, of Gallipolis; was a soldier in the war of 1812, and history informs us that he was a magistrate here in 1798, and officiated in several marriage ceremonies at that early date. He was a member of the Ninth General Assembly, in 1810, and was elected State Senator in 1828 to 1831, inclusive, when members were elected annually. Nearly all his lifetime he held positions of honor and responsibility, and his name appears as often as that of any other man in the history of this section.
On the second Tuesday of September, 1817, Jim Lane was hung – the only man ever executed in the county. Judge Thompson, of Chillicothe, presided at the trial, but he managed to evade the painful duty of pronouncing the death sentence, and it devolved upon Associate Judge Safford, who did it in his characteristically prompt style. Samuel Holcomb was sheriff, and it is said that Rev. Gould, the Presbyterian minister, preached a sermon tow hours long upon the occasion.
He was a remarkably active man in his old age, and when over eighty used a rifle with an accuracy and skill to be envied by the keenest-eyed backwoodsman. In 1852, when eighty-six years of age, he eagerly accepted an invitation from Charles Creuzet to accompany him to Philadelphia to "see the elephant." Everything was new and full of interest to the old gentleman. He tired out his young companion the first day, who tried to follow him in his sight-seeing. Arising in the morning at daylight, he perambulated until night, day after day, during their stay, attended the theatre at night and kept Mr. Creuzet up until midnight relating the wonderful things he had witnessed in town.
He died July 26th, 1863, in his ninety-eighth year, and his remains were buried in the family burial ground upon his farm, a few miles from Gallipolis. His descendants are numbered among some of the most prominent families in this part of the country.
