Born ‎ May 13, 1791 at ST. OUEN, ISLE OF JERSEY, died ‎ Feb 2, 1859 at LITCHFIELD, ILL‎, 67 years
[3991.ftw]

[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 1, Ed. 1, Tree 3991, Date of Import: Oct 25, 1998]

Nicholas Bailhache (1791-1859) migrated to America in 1818, eventually settling in Cambridge, Ohio (though probably not at first) perhaps because of a sister of his mother who was living there, and was the second wife of Rev. Peter Sarchet, with whom Nicholas had come to America. The Sarchets were quite prominent in early Cambridge history.

Quoting from a letter written by James Cummings, son of Drusilla's favorite sister Rachel, "Grandfather Bailhache loved the sea. When five years old, he ran away and stayed all night in a fisherman's hut. They found him there in the morning. When twelve years old, he shipped as a cabin boy and followed the sea until he came to this country. He then ran a boat on the Ohio River." (It was probably during this time that he met Ruth Hurst, for she lived not far from Wheeling, W. Va. which is on the Ohio River.) "After that he published a newspaper in Cambridge,Ohio." (It seems that he must have worked for a while for his brother John in Chillicothe; at least he witnessed a legal document for John there in 1821.) "and in 1834 he moved to Alton, Illinois." (In his brother John's autobiography, John gives the time as the fall of 1837, a few months after John had moved there.) "and worked on the Telegraph with John, but I think Grandfather had no money in the paper. When he quit the newspaper office, they bought a little farm on Wood River, near Upper Alton, and lived there until they broke up housekeeping." (Which was about 1857.) They were living in Litchfield with their daughter Rachel at the time Nicholas died, in 1859.

Born ‎ Aug 30, 1795 at SHORT CREEK, W. VA., died ‎estimated EST. WFT, 1833-1884 at LITCHFIELD, ILL‎, approximately 89 years
[3991.ftw]

[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 1, Ed. 1, Tree 3991, Date of Import: Oct 25, 1998]

Ruth Hurst (1795-1866) was born at Short Creek Settlement, Ohio County, West Virginia. She was one of four daughters of Morgan Hurst and Rebecca Mills, daughter of Levi Mills. The Hursts and Mills immigrants came from Wales, but who they were is unknown. Levi Mills and his son-in-law Morgan Hurst are the first known of their names. Family traditions linking them to prominent persons lack proof of relationship and/or descent.

Levi Mills left quite a little property in Ohio County to his heirs in1814, and as his daughter Rebecca is named as Rebecca Moran, morgan Hurst her first husband probably died a few years before that. No record of Morgan owning property has been found, at least not under that name, though James Cummings wrote that the estate was under litigation for several years owing to Blair Moran's wish to get it all, and that Nicholas and Ruth put off their marriage for some time hoping for the estate to be settled, but got tired waiting, and were married in 1825 before the estate was settled.

Ruth and Nicholas had six children born in Cambridge, Ohio before they moved to Illinois in 1837. Shortly after the move, John Bailhache adopted their oldest daughter Mary, then about ten years old, to take the place of his daughter Sarah Ann Delano Bailhache, who had died the year previously, the seventh of their children to die in early childhood. Their tenth child was born the following year.