In partnership with the Muskingum County Library System, Muskingum 250 and Muskingum County History are excited to offer a presentation by Jay Frey about the early history of Wheeling and Fort Henry.  

Wheeling, West Virginia was the first of many cities and towns Ebenezer Zane had a hand in founding, and was the home of many of those who settled in Muskingum County   The battles of Fort Henry in Wheeling were crucial in the American Revolution, but have been mostly forgotten in the course of American history.  Learn about the events that led these battles, who fought them, and what came of them.  Jay will also discuss the heroic acts of Samuel McCulloch, and Betty Zane. 

Born and raised in Wheeling, Jay Frey was educated in Ohio County Public Schools and he is a graduate of Oberlin College. His career as a teacher and later as a fundraising professional took him outside of his home state. In 2010 he returned to the area for an executive position at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation. He retired in 2014. With a lifelong passion for local history and genealogy, Jay is involved in a number of organizations reflective of those interests, namely the Fort Henry Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, the Friends of Wheeling, Wheeling Heritage and the newly formed Ohio County Cemeteries Foundation. He has worked as a volunteer to raise up Wheeling’s colonial and Revolutionary legacy hence his interest in Lord Dunmore and Dunmore’s War.