A Little piece of Paradise… College Hill, Ohio - SELFCRAFT

pro bono. He had to sell his farm and lands to pay his bills and fines. He was excommunicated by hischurch from their membership. Both Van Zandt and Jones died in 1847, never having seen the end to thecase. Van Zandt was buried at the foot of the hill near the barn which had hidden so many. He was laterexhumed and reburied in Wesleyan Cemetery where his wife and a daughter are also buried.On his tombstone erected in 1891, the centennial of his birth, his friends had carved: “In himChristianity had a living witness. He saw God as his Father and received every man as a brother. Thecause of the poor, the Widow, the orphan and the oppressed was his cause. He fed, clothed, sheltered andguarded them. He was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. He was a tender father, a devoted husbandand a friend to all. He is what is here described because he was a Christian philanthropist who practicedwhat he believed and he thus lived practicing his faith.”Mt. Pierpoint was later purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Mortimer Matthews who used it to houseemployees for their estate across the road. In an article appearing in the Cincinnati Times-Star, May 31,1930, a “...huge tunnel in the basement of the house which is now cemented over” is mentioned. TheMatthews also called the farm Opekasit an Indian name meaning “looking toward the dawn.” Since then,the house is on the grounds of Landmark Baptist church.For many years Galbraith Road east of Hamilton Avenue was called Van Zandt Road. In earliertimes the street ended at Winton Road where Henry, and later his son Reuben, Van Zandt had a farm. Atthis intersection today is a strip mall.Henry Van Zandt was born in 1772 in New Jersey and died in 1810. He fought as a general underGeorge Washington. Henry’s wife, Marcy, and his father, Isaac, came to Hamilton County with Henryabout 1805. Marcy outlived Henry and married Stephen Jessup as her second husband. She is buried withthe Van Zandt family in Spring Grove Cemetery. The Van Zandt home was on the north side of the Dalyand Galbraith Road intersection on what was the old Trotner farm 1 . The relationship between Henry andJohn is not known, possibly brothers.1 Source: Mrs. Ruth J. Wells. Community Resources for Enriching the 5th Grade Social Studies Program in the College Hill Schools,Marion Dinkelaker, thesis, 1952.98