John McIntire

Who was John McIntire?

John McIntire was the founder of the city of Zanesville, Ohio.

McIntire was born in Alexandria, Virginia. He married Sarah Zane, the daughter of Colonel Ebenezer Zane, in December 1789. McIntire founded Zanesville in 1797 on land deeded by Colonel Zane.

One family history claims that in 1802 while exiled from France, Louis Philippe, who later became King of France, stayed with the McIntires and was very impressed by them. United States Ambassador to France Lewis Cass, under pseudonym "An American", wrote France: its King, Court and Government in 1840. He had this to say of the King's tour through the Northwest:

At Zanesville the party found the comfortable cabin of Mr. M'Intire, whose name has been preserved in the King's memory, and whose house was a favorite place of rest and refreshment for all the travellers who at this early period were compelled to traverse that part of the country. And if these pages should chance to meet the eyes of any of those who, like the writer, have passed many a pleasant hour under the roof of this uneducated, but truly worthy and respectable man, he trusts they will unite in this tribute to his memory.