USA > Ohio > Belmont County > Centennial history of Belmont County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 33
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The township officers for 1902 are: Trus- tees,-Henry Morgan, Robert E. Giffen and J. T. Knox; township clerk, John Nichols; treas- urer, Harry Boroff; assessor, William Mc- Bride; justices of the peace,-D. M. Davies, John Sidebottom and John C. Michner.
There are 20 township schools in Richland township under the supervision of R. G. Hogue.
The old Zane Road, the first in the county, which was constructed under an act of gov- ernment, and afterwards changed to the National Road, passes through Richland town- ship from east to west.
THE
TOWNS-GLENCOE, LOYDSVILLE STEWARTSVILLE.
AND
In addition to the county seat there are four villages in Richland township, namely: Glen- coe, Loydsville, East Richland and Stewarts- ville.
GLENCOE was established along the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in February, 1855, by John B. G. Fulton. Today it con- tains a population of about 200, which is in- creasing rapidly because of the accession of many miners in the employ of the Belmont Coal Mining Company. There are also a num- ber of stores and a good flour mill. The school has an enrollment of about 120 and is con- ducted by C. A. Henry, superintendent, and Miss Ella Meek, assistant.
The Methodist Episcopal Church is the only place of worship in the village. It is included in the Demos circuit with Rev. M. W. Bev- ington, pastor. The officials are: Trustees,- Dr. J. HI. Meek, C. A. Henry, William Bar- rett and P. W. Helpbringer ; stewards,-Dr. J. H. Meek and Miss Kate Henry.
The postmaster is G. K. Phillips.
The oldest citizen is Henry Neff who is now in his 92nd year. Mr. Neff is spending his closing years with his children who reside in Glencoe and the vicinity. Another octogen- erian is John MeNiece, who notwithstanding he is past 84 makes a daily visit to Glencoe and is hale in body and clear in mind.
One of the oldest families in this section of Belmont County are the Aults. Michael Ault, Sr., settled where Glencoe now stands and engaged in the milling business. Ilis son Michael Ault followed in the pursuit of his father and purchased the mill property in 1836. In the prosecution of his business he ground and shipped 10,000 barrels of flour from October, 1846, to the following May, which were forwarded to different points down the river.
LOYDSVILLE is on the National Road five miles west of St. Clairsville. It has two gen- eral stores, two blacksmith shops and a wagon shop, with a population at the last census of 125. The town was laid out by Joshua Loyd in 1831.
It was upon the old Loyd homestead that the eminent statesman and financier, Hon. William Windom, was born, and some old citizens recall the fact that they witnessed the future statesman when a child making mud pies by the roadside.
Loydsville is also the western termination of rural free delivery of mail.
About one mile south of the town the Society of Friends built the old Plainfield Meeting House in 1844. This was for 50 years the church home of the Friends in Rich- land township. Gradually the members of the Society lessened by removal and death until the church has been abandoned and the build- ing is now occupied by the Farmers' Grange. The Methodist Episcopal Church at Loyds- ville built a small frame church in 1837. For two years previous, however, they had wor- shiped in the school house. In 1866 a more commodious brick church was erected, the church society then having a membership of 60. In 1879-80 the pastor was Rev. W. D. Starkey, with Rev. J. M. Carr, presiding elder. The membership of the church in 1902 is 100, and the pastor in charge is Rev. J. L. Dawson. The church officials are: R. W. Palmer, A. J. Taylor, Celia Pickering, F. O. Bowles, William Shepherd, John . Michner. James Nibleck and Frank Bentley.
There is one school in the Loydsville dis-
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trict, conducted by G. (). Bowles. Mr. Bowles' predecessor, W. S. Wright, taught in this dis- trict for eight or ten successive years. The present School Board consists of John Mich- ner, C. P. Clark and F. O. Bowles.
The Loydsville Grange was organized a few years ago with a membership of about 30. The present officers are: Grand master, Thomas Bentley; secretary, Fred Daniels; overseer, William Lewis; steward, A. J. Tay- lor; treasurer, Lida Lantz; gatekeeper, W. S. Milner; chaplain, Mrs. William Lewis; and lecturer, R. G. Hogue.
The postmaster of the town is William George.
STEWARTSVILLE is a railway station and coal mining town on the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, between six and seven miles west of Bellaire. It was named after John Stewart, of the late firm of Stewart & Mehan, and one of the proprietors of the Franklin mines which were organized in 1868. While the struggling mining towns of Stewartsville and St. Clairsville Junction, the latter in Pult- ney township, are not incorporated they have an aggregate population of 2,500, largely min- ers employed at the Troll, Franklin and En- pire coal mines.
Near Neff's there is a neat Presbyterian Church with a membership of 100, that is min- istered to by Rev. W. A. Alexander and near the Troll mines there is a new Methodist Cluirch with a membership of 130, that is con- ducted by Rev. M. Strahl.
ST. CLAIRSVILLE,-THIE COUNTY SEAT.
David Newell, the founder of the county seat. migrated from Pennsylvania in 1795 and 1796 and effected a settlement upon the sum- mit of the most picturesque hill country in the county, and there laid out the village of Newellstown at an elevation of 1,284 feet above the sea level. It was known as Newells- town for several years, but was subsequently called St. Clairsville in honor of Gen. Arthur St. Clair at that time Governor of the North- west Territory, The court records designated
it as St. Clairsville as early as 1802-03, and in the contest with Pultney and Franklin (now Martin's Ferry ) for the county seat it won the prize in 1804 and was thereafter known as St. Clairsville. The original town contained 65 acres, but an addition of eight acres was made by William Mathers in 1803.
Some of the first lot owners were Abraham Lash, Valentine Ault, James Caldwell, Jacob Holtz, John- Thompson, William Irwin, Absalom Martin, Noah Zane, Sterling John- ston, Alpheus Ferren, John Israel and Daniel Peck. The above-named purchases were made between 1800 and 1802.
St. Clairsville being on the line of the Zane Road, then the leading thoroughfare in the county, it became the foremost trading town in Eastern Ohio, and as early as 1807 had shipped 2,000 pounds of snakeroot and gin- seng in a single year to Eastern markets and hundreds of barrels of flour were wagoned to Wheeling and floated down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans.
F. Cummings in his tour through Belmont County heretofore mentioned has this to say of St. Clairsville in 1807: I awoke at an early hour well refreshed and pushed on HI miles to St. Clairsville through a fine well improved, well inhabited country which was still hilly but the ridges were neither so steep nor so high as they are in general at this side of Chillicothe. I stopped at Thompson's Stage Inn where Mrs. Thompson who was very civil prepared me a good breakfast.
"St. Clairsville, or Newellstown as it is more frequently and more properly called, is the capital of Belmont County and is pleasantly situated on the point and top of the highest hill within sight and from whence 12 or 14 miles of ridges and woods may be seen in every direction, some of them across the Ohio, which I was now again approaching. The town is only about four years old and already contains So good houses including several stores and taverns. It has a Court House and gaol and altogether it has the greatest appearance of wealth and business of any town between Chil- licothe and itself. There are several Quakers
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settled in the neighborhood who are snug, wealthy and industrious people and who have enhanced the value of real property to a wide extent around the focus of their settlement."
THE INCORPORATION AND FIRST OFFICIALS.
In 1807 the town was incorporated by the election of John Patterson, president; Ster- ling Johnston, recorder; Samuel Sullivan, marshal; and Michael Groves, William Brown, John Brown and Josiah Dillon, trustees ; with William Congleton, collector; and James Caldwell, treasurer. The population of the village before its incorporation was 400.
A few years after the town was incorpo- rated, the dense forests began to disappear and pioneers crowded the trails in every direction, upon horseback, in wagons and on foot. For some reason the corporate authority was per- mitted to lapse, and now as the town began to improve and brick and frame buildings sup- planted the log structures, public safety de- manded a renewal of incorporate powers for public protection. Accordingly corporate powers were again granted by the General Assembly during the winter of 1818.
THE FIRST TAVERNS AND MARKET HOUSE.
Before the town was incorporated, St. Clairsville had become quite a business center. Among the early tavern keepers we note first the name of Jacob Holtz who was granted a license in 1802; the May following, two addi- tional taverns were opened, one by John Thompson and the other Basil Israel.
On the 17th day of December, 1833, the commissioners of Belmont County appropri- ated $too to build a Market House in St. Clairsville and gave an order to John Patter- son, grandfather of John Patterson now one of St. Clairsville's druggists, to superintend the work. This old building was constructed in the middle of the street just south of the present Court House and between the Clarendon Hotel and the opposite side of the street and is remembered by all the old citi- zens.
THE FIRST BUSINESS HOUSES.
There were also two schools, five taverns, eight stores, seven carpenters, three masons, two blacksmiths, two tanneries, four cabinet- makers, a brickmaker, two saddlers, one pot- tery, one tinner, one manufacturer of nails, two clock and watchmakers, four shoemakers, three tailors, and two turners in wood, spin- ning wheel makers, two distilleries, three physicians and two attorneys.
One of the distilleries was operated by Michael Groves and the other by Dillon & Thompson. John Copeland was the first blacksmith; Reese Branson was the first clock- maker; Joseph Morrison and Samuel Sullivan were the first hatters; Ira Robinson was the first tinner; Jacob Leech was the first barber ; Jesse McGee, a familiar name in Richland township today, was the first cabinetmaker ; Robert Dent, an active Methodist, was the first school teacher; Joseph Patton and Henry Mitchell were the first shoemakers; John Long and Smith & White were the first tan- ners ; and John Marcus was the first tailor.
THE FIRST COURT HOUSE AND THE "OLD COURT HOUSE."
Colonel Charlesworth says that the first Court House was a strong substantial log structure two stories high that occupied the first lot directly west of the more pretentious and costly stone structure of today; while the old log jail was east of and not under the same roof as some writers have claimed. The sec- ond Court House, best known to the people of this generation as the "Old Court House" was built of brick and stone in 1813 at a cost of $56,040. The Court House building was a square, two-story building with a hip roof fac- ing each point of the compass and surmounted by a tall spire in the center. This historic old building was supported on the south by an im- mense stone wall 150 feet in length and about 14 feet high at the east end. This building re- mained in use for a period of 72 years, when it was removed to give place to the present hand - some public buildings elsewhere referred to.
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The second jail was built six years later at a cost of $3,040, and among other apartments constructed were two debtors' rooms.
In 1842 because of the increased demand for more prison room, the third county jail was built by Bailey and Collins of brick and stone at a cost of $3,902.
THE POPULATION, AND MUNICIPAL OFFICERS.
The population of St. Clairsville in 1900 was 1,210, a small gain over the census of 1890; however, the tax levy for 1902 is less than that of the year following. The municipal officers are: James B. Ryan, mayor; Jolm Ferren, marshal; John C. Nichols, clerk; John H. Bor- off, treasurer. The members of the Council are : D. H. Milligan, Albert Lawrence, Isaac H. Gaston, A. L. Bumgarner, J. M. Reese and A. W. Beatty.
THE GREAT FIRE.
One of the memorable events of the history of St. Clairsville was the great fire of 1866. The fire originated in the property of John Jepson on May 22nd, and practically burned the entire square from Market street west to the alley between Market and Marietta streets.
There was no fire department or fire extin- guishers that could be made available, and the citizens in their excitement worked without plans or system, hence the great loss. The properties destroyed were the store room and residence of John Jepson, the drug store and residence of I. H. Patterson, the dry goods store of John Patton, the jewelry store of George Brown, the tailoring establishment of L. P. Hoffner and Henry Meyer, the boot and shoe store of John Bickham, the saddlery of John Crymble, the law office of Judge Cham- bers, the Gazette printing office and the dry goods store of Watson & Gressinger.
The flames also communicated with the Methodist parsonage on Market street, nearly opposite the present livery stable south of the hotel, and it was also destroyed. The total loss was estimated at upwards of $50,000.
SOME OLD CITIZENS.
There are still residing in St. Clairsville many worthy old people whose mental faculties are unimpaired and who yet enjoy a fair degree of health. Perhaps the oldest native-born citi- zen is Judge C. W. Carroll, who at the age of 67 occupies the house in which he was born.
The oldest resident of the village is Mrs. Elizabeth Adams, who has attained her 95th birthday. Mrs. Altissa Hutchison, now tem- porarily residing with her daughter Mrs. Clark in Bridgeport, has also entered upon her 95th year. Mrs. Hutchison has lived in St. Clairs- ville nearly all her life.
Among the ladies that have attained to or past the allotted three score years and ten we might mention Miss Jane Edgerton, Mrs. Rob- ert Thompson, Mrs. Caroline V. Groves, Mrs. William Frazier, Miss Ann Edgerton, Mrs. Ruth Eaton, Mrs. William Lee, Mrs. Amos Fawcett and Mrs. Henry Meyer.
We could not obtain the names of all the gen- tlemen who are beyond their "seventies." The following is perhaps only a partial list: Col. J. F. Charlesworth, Judge St. Clair Kelley, Iliram Boroff, Isaac Davis, James Davis, Thompson Butcher, H. R. Bumgarner, Alfred Lake, Reuben Rose, Alexander and Robert An- derson and James Carlile.
THE OLDEST BUILDING
In St. Clairsville today is the home of Editor McMillen of The Belmont Chronicle. This historic old building with recent additions and improvements is still in a good state of preservation. It is located at the northwest corner of Sugar and Main streets.
ST. CLAIRSVILLE'S RAILROAD FACILITIES.
As heretofore referred to in the story of the county seat contest, St. Clairsville has built two short railroads at a cost of $65,000, one that intersects the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at Qunicy and the other that intersects the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railway at a
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF BELMONT COUNTY,
point near Boston. In addition to the above, a branch of the great Wabash system enters Belmont County at a point near Adena in Har- rison County and passes through St. Clairsville from north to south near the old Neiswanger homestead, pursuing its course down Ault's Run eastward to McMechen's Creek and run- ning parallel with the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- road for several miles, thereby opening up the extensive coal fields recently purchased by Eastern capitalists for shipment to the great manufacturing centers. Of these mines The Gazette in a recent article says :
"On the Bellaire and Adena branch of the Wabash road which is expected to be ready for business from St. Clairsville to Adena by the first of the year, there will be mines every mile or so of the route, and the operators are getting ready to start. Near the Maynard end of the line in Belmont County, two companies are ready now to operate on an extensive scale.
"Purseglove Brothers have two openings made above Maynard. They wanted the C., L. & W. to give them a switch for their cars, but were refused any concessions along that line so they propose to wait for the opening of the new road. They will be right on the new road and at their two mines expect to employ be- tween 500 and 600 men when in full operation. "Along the same railroad Troll Brothers have two big mines almost ready for business. It is expected they will be ready to load coal as soon as the new railroad is in operation. Both openings are to have modern equipment and the tipples will be of the latest model. They will employ not less than 500 men, possi- bly many more inside of a year."
THIE POSTMASTERS.
It was impossible to obtain a record of the postmasters from the organization of the town. The following is a list of those who have served the people from 1826: viz.,-William Booker, Henry Kennon, Benjamin F. Thomas, Wil- muth Jones, William Darrah, Mrs. Rebecca Ramage, Rev. J. B. Johnson; J. B. Longley, J. B. Ryan, W. A. Hunt, James F. Charlesworth and C. W. Carroll, the present incumbent.
THE BANKS.
St. Clairsville, being the center of a rich ag- ricultural community, sustains three banks, namely : The First National Bank, the Second National Bank, and the Dollar Savings Bank Company.
The first bank established in the county and one of the first in the State was the Belmont Bank at St. Clairsville, a corporation organized in 1816, with a capital of $500,000 of which $150,000 was paid in. Among the original stockholders and officers of the old bank were: William Booker, Steel Smith, Hugh McNeely, John Winter, Jacob Neiswanger, John Ramsey and Ezar Ellis.
Some old citizens have thought it was a branch of the old State Bank of Ohio, but Col- onel Charlesworth insists that it was a private bank and ante-dated the State Bank many years. When it failed, Mr. Booker was ap- pointed receiver and was given the old bank building with its peculiarly constructed safe elsewhere referred to, if he would redeem the outstanding notes. The building was subse- quently sold to the Lists of Wheeling. After this old building was sold, a period of 20 years elapsed before another bank was established.
The First National Bank was probably the second in order of establishment in the county. It was organized January 1, 1864, and began business on March Ist following. The capital stock at the time of organization was $60,000, which was subsequently increased to $100,000 with a surplus in 1902 of $40,000. The first directors were: D. D. T. Cowen, Joseph Woodmansee, Ross J. Alexander, John Darrah and David Brown. The first officers were: D. D. T. Cowen, president, and H. C. Welday, cashier.
The present officers are: George Jepson, president ; A. C. Darrah, vice-president ; E. G. Amos, cashier; W. V. Sutton, assistant cash- ier; and J. P. Frasier, second assistant cashier.
The Second National Bank occupies a room especially constructed for banking purposes in the handsome and substantial Troll Block. It was organized in January, 1896, by the election
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of N. K. Kennon, president ; H. M. Davies, vice-president ; Isaac H. Gaston, cashier; and Albert Troll, assistant cashier.
The original board of directors was made up of the following named gentlemen: N. K. Kennon, H. M. Davies, Alexander Neff, W. E. Clark, N. J. Hatcher, Henry Morgan, Charles WV. Troll, Samuel Campbell and T. E. John- ston.
The capital stock fully paid in is $50,000. The officers in 1902 are: Charles W. Troll, president ; Henry Morgan, vice-president; Al- bert Troll, cashier; Otto Giffen, assistant cashier. John Troll, N. J. Hatcher, Samuel Campbell, Charles W. Troll, Albert Troll, Hen- ry Morgan, Alexander Neff, W. J. Giffen and WV. 1 .. Patton constitute the board of directors.
The Dollar Savings Bank Company was or- ganized June 17, 1895, by the election of Capell L. Weems, president; J. B. McMechen, vice- president ; M. M. Scott, cashier; and L. M. Sutton, assistant cashier. John Stewart, Wil- liam J. Clark, Walter Darrah, W. J. Thomp- son, Albert Nichols and James T. Bentley were the first board of directors. The paid-up capital amounted to $25,000. L. M. Sutton was subsequently chosen cashier, a position he held until September, 1898, when failing health compelled him to resign. Wilson Mitchell was selected as his successor.
The building occupied by the Dollar Savings Bank Company was formerly the building in which the old Belmont Bank was established, and for upwards of a quarter of a century thereafter it was the county treasurer's office. The safe is in the shape of a bake-oven with stone walls 55 inches in thickness and built upon a foundation of stone sunk eight feet in the ground. Within this great, stone vault is a movable modern steel safe.
The officers and directors in 1902 are as fol- lows: Capell L. Weems, president ; J. B. Mc- Mechen, vice-president ; Wilson Mitchell, cashier ; directors,-Walter Darrah, W. J. Thompson, J. T. Bentley, P. W. Dickey and A. E. Nichols.
THE ST. CLAIRSVILLE SCHOOLS, PAST AND PRESENT.
The St. Clairsville schools have ever been esteemed among the best in the county. While the present commodious three-story brick build- ing was constructed nearly 34 years ago, it is regarded as one of the most substantial as well as one of the best equipped schools in the coun- ty today. At this time it is taxed to accommo- date the pupils seeking admission and a new room was created in 1902 in order to more equally distribute the work. The number of scholars that took the high school course last year from rural districts numbered 64, and they came from homes within a radius of seven miles, and the revenues derived from this source added $1,100 to the district school fund. The school library contains 745 volumes and is perhaps one of the best libraries in the county, while the chemical laboratory and in- struments for scientific demonstration are prob- ably not surpassed in any other township in the county. The total enrollment of scholars in 1902 18 340.
The first superintendent after the re-organ- ization of the schools in 1869 was J. J. Burns; he held the position until he was elected State School Commissioner in 1878. His successors were: John G. Black, 1878-80; C. E. Stitch- cock, 1880-84; L. II. Waters, 1884-89; Walter Mitchell, 1889-91; and George Rossitter, 1891-1900.
The present corps of teachers is constituted as follows: Prof. W. R. Butcher, superintend- ent; Miss Maggie Davies, principal of the High School: W. D. Porterfield, assistant principal; Miss Margaret Moore, primary teacher ; and Miss Fannie Ryan, Miss Sadie Giffen, Miss Margaret Mellor and Miss Irene Ferrel, intermediate teachers.
The Board of Education for 1902 consists of: Albert Lawrence, president; 11. M. Da- vies, secretary ; B. S. McBride, .A. W. Beatty and D. H. Milligan.
St. Clairsville claims to have erected the sec- ond school house in the county in 1802. This was an old-time log cabin built on the Judge
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF BELMONT COUNTY,
Ruggles homestead, south of town and not far from the residence of Albert Jolinston. The chinks between the logs were daubed with mud. Rough split-board benches served as seats, and greased paper was used in place of glass for windows. William Fleeharty is said to have been the first teacher and for several years gave satisfaction, but petty jealousies be- tween town and country scholars caused a quarrel that resulted in the school's demolition.
The next paid school was conducted by the Presbyterians, in 1806-07, but it only continued for a few years.
In 1809 the Methodists established a school in the little brick building in the Methodist Episcopal Cemetery northeast of the present Methodist Episcopal Church. This school was maintained for a period of 31 years. The first teacher was Professor Dent, heretofore refer- red to. While this denominational school ex- isted, there were several select schools conduct- ed in different parts of the town. One was held on Mariettta street in a building on the corner southwest of the Presbyterian Church; another in a building back of the old Market House, which was afterwards used as a colored school; and another on east Main street in the brick buliding, now the . residence of the Misses Armstrong.
Among the teachers of that early day who afterward achieved prominence we mention : Judge Davy, Gen. G. W. Iloge, Judge Robert E. Chambers, and Miss Jane Edgerton, all of whom have passed away but the last named. After a long and useful life devoted to the cause of education and temperance, Miss Ed- gerton is peacefully closing her days in the old home and in the enjoyment of the high esteem and respect of the whole community.
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