Returning home, I spent an afternoon going over materials at the Meigs County Museum library and found in the 1850 mortality schedule for Ohio, the death of a 2 year old daughter, Arelia J., in April 1850 in Summit County, Ohio, born in IA (which is the abbreviation for Iowa, but the Bierces went to Indiana, so, in this case, it may mean Indiana). Don Swaim quoted a biographer finding the Marcus Aurellius Bierce family owning property in Indiana by 1846, and the children were checking books out of the library in 1847. He also said Marcus applied for membership in the Masons in Indiana in 1850, so the family may only have returned to Summit County, Ohio for a short time in 1850, since the child's death was in April and the census was taken in June.

Because of my questions and the Paula Schleis story, a librarian in Akron became interested and he contacted a friend with contacts at the national archives. the friend obtained the enlistment and pension papers for ambrose g. bierce and there in his own handwriting, he said "born in Meigs County, Ohio." this should be undisputable, but in historical and genealogical research, we know there are often mistakes made in listing birth places (even by the person themself). So, I still wanted to find something in Meigs County that would prove beyond any doubt that they lived here. The courthouse still was not showing anything - but something was missing there and had been missing many years: the 1843, 1844 and 1845 auditors tax duplicate. If a person owned a cow or a horse, they paid personal property taxes on them. Marcus had paid taxes in Portage County on land, cattle and horses, so it seemed reasonable that if he owned anything while in Meigs County, he would pay taxes on it. Where were these books and why hadn't we realized before that they were missing? These were the years that could prove or disprove the Bierces in Meigs County! Then I got a phone call from Mary Powell saying she wanted to bring something to me. Mary brought me a copy from the 1844 Meigs County, Ohio auditors tax duplicate, found in the top of the academy building at Chester, which the courthouse has used for storage for many years. it was a copy of a Chester Township page listing Marcus Bierce paying taxes on a cow and a horse. this was the proof I had so desperately been searching for. But, where are the other two books? they haven't been found.

An inventory done about 1990 of books stored in the Academy building by George Bain, Director of the Ohio University Archives and regional archivist at the time, assisted by myself (as president of the Historical Society), Karen Werry (then president of the Meigs County Genealogical Society), June Ashley and Rev. William Middleswarth does not list these early Meigs County Ohio Auditor Tax Duplicates, so why was the book there now and where are the other two? If these books had been in the courthouse with the others, or a record where they were stored, we would have had our proof many years ago. We checked 1842 and prior years and 1846 to 1850 at the courthouse. Without the 1843 book, we still don't know if they paid taxes for the year 1842 (which was the year Ambrose was born), but we know they paid taxes on land and livestock in Portage County in 1841. The gap in Meigs county tax records for this important time in county history can leave us with no proof for the time period, as evidenced by this incident.

My quest drew the interest of many in the Nelson area of Portage County, including several from the Bierce family. Jody Schroth of the Village Newspaper in Nelson Township, Portage County, recently contacted me. She said they had a lot of fun with the mystery - encouraging people to try and find proof whether or not Ambrose might have been born there. And out of this came more proof that the Bierces lived in Meigs County. An attorney in the area decided to see if he could find the missing land transfer and he found it (in records not included in the deed index we had checked) and on a transfer of property in April 1843, Marcus listed his address as Chester, Meigs County. So, we have several pieces of documented proof that the family of Marcus Bierce lived in Meigs County. It might have been safe to assume that they came to Meigs County a short time after they paid taxes in Portage County in 1841 and that they lived here until sometime before the records show them in Indiana. But, again, I'm not one that likes to assume. I've read too many historical accounts that "assume" and have often found the assumption to be wrong. The extra time spent in researching facts can save a lot of questions about the credibility of ones research and writings. It is for this reason that I was not willing to accept the undocumented stories that had been written, but wanted instead to see undeniable proof. With the documented proof that the Bierce family lived in Meigs County during a time after Ambrose's birth, and with his military records stating in his own handwriting that he was born here, we can accurately say this is true. The Ohio Bicentennial Commission will be placing a marker in Meigs County honoring Ambrose Bierce and now we have undisputable proof that it belongs here.

I wanted to share this story, so it will be written (with reference to proven facts) for the future and, hopefully, I have corrected some misconceptions about the Marcus Aurellius Bierce family.