USA > Ohio > Guernsey County > History of Guernsey County, Ohio, Volume I > Part 32
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GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
ginia about 1830, possibly a little earlier. His parish was all of southeastern Ohio and now constitutes six or eight counties. A great number of congre- gations were organized by him. In this village the oldest society in point of organization was the Methodist Episcopal and Mrs. Samuel Jackson is, if we mistake not, the only charter member living. From the first the Luther- ans here were numerous, but all held their membership either at Mt. Zion or Hartford, but later a society of that faith was formed here and for many years the two societies worshipped in the one building which was later known as the Methodist Episcopal church. Finally the inevitable happened and after a big "church row" the Lutherans erected their own church and dedicated it to St. Paul the Apostle.
"No preacher of either denomination, however, exerted influence to com- pare with Father Kiel, who died only a few years ago at the great age of ninety-three years.
"In this connection it might not be amiss to say a few words on the war of the Rebellion. The Robins family were from the isle of Guernsey, having come to America in 1807. The Jackson and Thompson families were from Pennsylvania, but without exception, I think every other family in the town- ship came from Virginia. Up to the time the war broke out almost every year witnessed some of the pioneers going to visit their relatives "back yonder in the Shenandoah valley." That the settlement desired the preservation of the Union goes without saying, but that they were reluctant to fight their Virginia cousins is also plain. Thus there were few volunteers from Valley township, and N. H. Larrick, one of the few, fought against a cousin at the battle of Winchester.
"After the close of the war life soon resumed its humdrum existence. The first indication of real progress was the building of the Marietta division of the Pennsylvania railroad. This afforded shipping facilities for the farm- ers to send out their crops and the merchants to have their merchandise ship- ped to their very doors.
"But all things change. The pioneers almost without exception have gone to their reward. Mrs. Katie Secrest Dickerson, of Derwent, well along In her ninetieth year, Grandma Savely, almost eighty-six, and the venerable Michael Secrest, now eighty-three years old, are all that truly can be con- sidered members of that pioneer band. M. S. Dyson and his sister, Lucy Dyson Flanagan, are the oldest resident natives of Pleasant City. The oldest house by the way has been overhauled and is now occupied by George Stewart. This was the old Squire Dyson homestead. The second house erected is the Markley property, now occupied by B. F. Richey, the silversmith. The Jack-
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354
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
son homestead was torn down a few years ago to make way for Doctor Kack- ley's new house. The old building on the corner lately occupied by Christena Dyson is the fourth in point of years.
"In 1892 work was begun on the Cisco mine, this being the first effort toward the cultivation of our great coal fields. This date can rightly be con- sidered the close of the middle ages of Pleasant City. Change in the economic conditions wrought great change in the social and business outlook. The town shook off the lethargic condition in which it had lain for a full half cen- tury. The town was truly taken by the strangers and the original settlers now form but a scanty handful.
"The coal fields here are bound to last many years. The glass factory will doubtless prove an ultimate success. And with the natural advantage afforded by cheap fuel and adequate shipping facilities the old Point Pleasant of the pioneers day is bound to advance beyond the fondest dreams of my energetic and optimistic grandfather, Harrison Secrest.
"ABE T. SECREST,
"Bleak House, December 21, 1904."
BUSINESS FACTORS OF 1910.
In the years to come, no doubt the following business directory of this town will be of more interest than at present, but the record must needs be made now that future men and women may have the pleasure and profit of reading it. In the autumn of 1910 the following conducted the business of Pleasant City :
Banking, The Peoples Bank; hardware firms, Larrick Hardware Com- pany and T. A. Spade: furniture dealers, John Langley and E. C. Heade & Company, who also carried on the undertaking business ; drugs, J. A. Kackley : grocers, F. C. Shively, A. F. Lady. John Burt. J. T. Flanigan ; dry goods, E. L. Grossman, M. Williams, R. O. Knott ; general merchandise dealers, H. T. Condon, W. H. Secrest ; flour and feed, in all branches, O. F. Young, estab- lished in 1908, does both a wholesale and retail business; merchant tailor, F. A. Meecham ; photographer, A. L. Norman ; jewelers, Adam Davis, W. T. Knott; shoemakers, Lewis Weaver and L. B. Archer; hotel. J. W. Kackley -; restaurants, Will Reese, Charles Dotts; livery, Harold Scott and J. W. Kack- ley ; live stock shipper, J. Laughlin ; blacksmiths, John Boswell, J. W. Johnson : wagonmaker, W. F. Cochran; newspaper, the Recorder; opera hall, J. M. Secrest : harness dealer, J. A. Prior ; physicians, Drs. J. A. Kackley, H. H. Bown. W. F. Wallenfelze; dentist, C. J. Fachner, D. D. S .; mills, the Pleas-
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GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
ant City Flouring Mills, R. J. Johnson, proprietor, with other smaller inter- ests.
The civic orders here represented are the Masons, Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, mentioned in the general chapters of this work.
The churches having existence here now and having edifices are the fol- lowing: Methodist Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran and Greek Catholic. The last named is one of three of this denomination in Ohio.
The present flouring mill plant is a roller process mill erected in 1886 and lias a daily capacity of forty barrels of flour. The Pleasant City Cornet Band is the pride of the place and has fifteen members.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Pleasant City was incorporated in 1896. Its present officers are: Mr. Shively, mayor ; O. R. Taylor, clerk ; J. S. Secrest, marshal; H. H. Bound. W. F. Bierley. R. O. Hipsley, Ed. Archer and George House, councilmen.
A volunteer fire department is well organized and aided by an engine of the gasoline type. The village is lighted by natural gas. The municipal officers have their office in a rented room.
Of the postoffice, it may be said that there are now three rural routes extending out from the place, and these are of much convenience and public service. The postmasters who have served here include the following per- sons : J. B. Allison, T. A. Dyson, Mrs. S. M. Lee Dyson, A. C. Flanagan, James Laughlin, A. C. Flanagan, Adam Davis, Mrs. Allie Sims, J. P. Strana- than, W. D. Archer.
The office was originally known as Dyson, but changed in 1887 by J. P. Stranathan, when he was made postmaster, serving until July, 1909. Then it should be remembered that what was called Point Pleasant vicinity and Dyson postoffice is now known as Pleasant City, and is so incorporated.
Fairview is an addition to Pleasant City, yet not within the incorporation. It is a sightly tract of land on the opposite side of the railway track from the town proper and is largely residence property, with a few business houses.
About 1902 there was a glass works plant installed in Pleasant City, in which a Cincinnati firm manufactured telephone and telegraph insulators in vast quantities, but finally the business was closed down and recently some Pittsburg steel makers have leased the buildings, which are the property of citizens of the town, and are there conducting a series of experiments in a new process of producing steel, which bids fair to open up another great in- dustry here as well as elsewhere.
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GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
BUFFALO (OLD HARTFORD).
Hartford was platted September 26, 1836, by David Johnston and John Secrest. on the southeast quarter of section 4, township 8, range 9, in Buffalo township, as then described. When the postoffice was established the name was fixed by the government authorities as Buffalo. The postoffice is now kept in the general store of A. E. Wycoff, the present postmaster. The first mails through this office were received over the old stage line, which was then the only means of carrying the mails. The present receipts of this postoffice amount to six hundred and seventy-three dollars per year. Two mails go and come daily from this point. The following have served as postmasters since about 1880: J. T. Corbett, T. M. Mills, Thomas Moss and A. E. Wycoff.
This place is not among the incorporated places in the county, but is under charge of the township authorities.
The old Hartford mills, at this place, were erected about one hundred years ago and were great in their day. These flouring mills were propelled by water power, but have not been operated for about thirty years when the new patent process and the milling trusts took the business away from the old fashioned "mill-stone" mills of the country. The upper portion of this old mill is now fitted up and used as a public hall and opera house.
The largest fire in Buffalo, in recent years, occurred in September, 1909, when three barns, three horses and a large amount of hay were con- sumed, making a loss of about three thousand five hundred dollars.
About July, 1906, the postoffice was entered, and sixteen dollars taken from the place; no one was ever arrested for the crime.
The commercial and social interests of Buffalo (Hartford) are as follows today: Physician, Dr. J. E. Robbins; flouring mill, McLauglin Brothers; the Hartford coal mine, operated by the Cambridge Colliery Company ; agricultural implements, John Steele; general stores, Hazzard & Williams, C. J. Spaid, E. J. Blair, T. M. Wills, A. E. Wycoff ; livery, "Buck" Scott; stock dealers, Alpine & McLaughlin ; meat market, Ed. Mc- Laughlin ; hotels, the American and Park. Drugs are dispensed by the phy- sician of the town. There are two churches, Lutheran and Methodist. (See chapter on churches.) Buffalo is illuminated by natural gas piped from West Virginia, by the Ohio Light and Fuel Company.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS OF INTEREST.
In the compiling of any work having under consideration so many topics and subjects it becomes necessary to place them in chapters and sub-chapters. After all this has been accomplished, there are many items which are still not provided for, hence the propriety of having a chapter of miscellaneous items, which, nevertheless, are of fully as much vital interest and usually more interesting than some of the regular chapters of a book. Such is the case in the chapter now before the reader's eyes. In it will be found a col- lection of references, many quotations from old settlers and old newspaper files, etc., which can not fail to be of much value and interest to all readers. Such items are properly indexed and readily found.
UNIQUE ADVERTISEMENTS.
The Cambridge newspaper files have had in the many years of their pub- lication numerous local advertisements which are out of the ordinary and strike one, today, as being odd and interesting, both for the historic matter and the peculiar manner of expression employed in the long-ago day in which the printer set them up. Below are samples of such unique notices :
"$50 REWARD! ! !
"Ran away from the Subscriber on Sunday night, the 7th instant, from Mr. Sunnafrank's, near Cambridge, a negro man named Emanuel, about forty-five years of age, five feet three inches high, of a very dark complexion, his lips very thick, long head, a small scar on his forehead, large white eyes, is apt to roll up his eyes when spoken to, his beard mixed with grey hairs. Had on, when he ran off, a blue cloth coat, blue jean pantaloons, and a black fur hat. He is very homely and very humble-took with him a large wallet of clothes-the wallet made of a blanket. The above Reward will be given for him if apprehended, and secured in jail so that I get him again. I shall stop near Somerset, Perry County, Ohio.
"November 8th, 1831.
GARROTT FREEMAN."
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GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
A SLAVE CASE.
"Among the passengers who arrived at this place from Bel-Aire by the morning train of last Friday ( the train which met with disaster near this place) was a Mr. F. M. Graham, of Fleming county, Kentucky, on his way home from Richmond, Virginia, having in his charge two slave boys, named Lewelman and Enoch, aged respectively ten and eleven years. While at the station waiting for a train to take the party west, it became known that the boys were slaves, and thereupon one of our citizens applied to Probate Judge Delong for a writ of habeas corpus, to the end that the boys should be set free. The writ was issued, and the lads were immediately taken into cus- tody by Sheriff Burris, and brought before his Honour. At this stage of the proceeding, Mr. Graham asked for a postponement of the hearing of the case, on the ground that he was not the owner of the boys and unprepared to go into the examination then. He made affidavit to these facts, and the Judge postponed further proceeding until Thursday, the 21st instant. The Sheriff has the boys in his custody.
"Mr. Graham stated that the lads were placed in his care by Mr. N. M. Lee, of Richmond, Virginia, to be taken to Flemmingsburg, Kentucky, where said Lee has a brother residing, and that he was instructed to go by the river from Wheeling to Maysville, but in consequence of the close of navi- gation, he concluded to take the Central railroad.
"Messrs. Buchanan, Bushfield and Ferguson are counsel for the appli- cation for freedom of the boys, and Messrs. White and Wagstaff for the claimant."-Guernsey Times, December 28, 1854.
At a hearing of the case on December 21, 1854, the boys were set free, and D. M. Baldridge, of Senecaville, was appointed their guardian, and im- mediately took them in charge.
THE "UNDERGROUND RAILROAD."
Not many years ago there was in the hands of Mrs. John R. Finley, of Senecaville, a very old, interesting document showing much on the subject of abolition days and the establishing of a section of the "Underground Railroad," as the course over which the run-away slaves were spirited away by members of the Abolition party was called. It was found among the papers of the late William Thompson. The instrument last seen was time worn and stained, having been handled by the curious for several decades. Its first page contained the following :
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GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
"Records of the Senecaville Colonization Society of Guernsey County, Ohio, auxiliary to the American Colonization Society of Washington.
"Pursuant to public notice a number of the citizens of Senecaville and its vicinity convened at the Presbyterian meeting-house in Senecaville July 6, 1829.
"The meeting was organized and chose Rev. William C. Kiel president for the time being and Rev. Daniel Pettay, secretary, with David Frame, treasurer.
"It was resolved at this meeting :
"That there be a committee of three members to draft rules for the government of the society. William Thompson, Esq., David Satterthwaite, Esq., and Dr. David Frame were duly appointed.
"Resolved that the chairman deliver an address at the next meeting.
(Signed) "DANIEL PETTAY, Secretary. "WILLIAM G. KIEL, President."
Out of this Colonization Society grew the organization known as the "Underground Railroad," by which the Abolitionists helped many of the slaves to liberty. The home of Doctor Baldridge was a depot on this line. and many a slave found lodgement and comfort there while on his way to freedom in Canada. Among the most prominent Abolitionists of this local- ity (Senecaville) during the thirty years following were Rev. William C. Kiel, who left Virginia, his native state, on account of his hatred for salvery ; Doctor Baldridge, Doctor David Frame, Dr. Noah Hill and Judge William Thompson.
During the years closely preceding the Civil war, and before and after the passing of the Fugitive Slave law, a number of men in Ohio and the ad- joining states formed a secret compact, whereby fleeing slaves were to be aided in reaching their haven of safety, Canada, and protected from the pur- suit of their masters while on the way. About the first station reached in Guernsey county by slaves coming north was at Senecaville, where a William Thompson took them in charge. From Senecaville the fugitives were usually taken to Byesville, where they were placed in the custody of Jonathan Bye, the Quaker founder of that city. From Byesville they generally made their way by successive stages to Cleveland, whence they found little difficulty in penetrating to Canada.
Owing to various circumstances, however, it was sometimes considered expedient to bring them by way of Cambridge. When this plan was adopted, they were brought from Byesville, and given into the charge of either Alex-
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GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
ander McCracken or Samuel Craig, both hearty believers in manumission and earnest workers in the interests of the unfortunate black men. Craig lived where the Craig store now stands, at the corner of Wheeling avenue and Eighth street, and the two men sheltered many a slave during the time in which the "Underground Railroad" operated.
Mr. Craig died some years ago, but Mr. McCracken is still living, at the advanced age of ninety-six years, in full possession of his faculties. He relates that upon one occasion he had in his keeping two negro men, closely pursued by their owner. The usual road by which Mr. McCracken con- ducted the slaves in his charge to the next station was called the Newcomers- town, or Birmingham road. But upon this road there lived a man who fre- quently played the spy upon the "railroaders," and, fearing that he would in- form upon him, Mr. McCracken placed the men in a wagon, making them lie as flat as possible, and covering them with a buffalo-robe, set off about ten o'clock at night, taking the Steubenville road. About three miles out he came to the place where the Newcomerstown road intersects that upon which he was traveling. By taking this latter road he was able to get to the next station without difficulty, and by this manoeuver was able to outwit the malicious spy. He reached the next station, Daniel Broom's, about four miles north of Cambridge, delivered his charges, and returned to Cam- bridge, arriving about daybreak.
From Broom's, slaves were taken to Adam Miller, six miles from town on the Newcomerstown road. From Adam Miller's to Peter B. Sarchet's, the next station, was about two miles. From Sarchet's to David Virtue, who was the next "railroader," was about eight miles. Virtue took them to the Stew- ard tavern, on the Newcomerstown road, from which, leaving the Newcom- erstown road, they went directly north to Newport, a town on the Ohio canal, about ten miles east of Newcomerstown. This will show the system by which the runaways were smuggled through Guernsey county. Their ultimate goal was, of course, Canada, but from this county they made for Cleveland.
It is related that two prominent men in Oberlin, Ohio, were found aiding in the escape of runaway slaves and were sentenced to spend two years in the penitentiary. A petition was circulated, however, and was signed so univer- sally that their release followed within a few days, and they were spared the degradation attendant upon prison exile.
There were seldom more than two slaves at a time being spirited through. Various were the means of concealing them from the wrathful eyes of their pursuers, such as hiding them in shocks of corn, in dark cellars, and other likely places of concealment. Sometimes those who were antagonistic to
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GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
the "railroaders" would impede their progress by piling the roads full of logs, thus obliging them to make wide detours in arriving at their destinations. Sometimes negroes found it so pleasant to live without labor, well fed and comfortable, that they would return secretly, and run the circuit of "under- ground stations" again. When suspected, they lulled suspicion by glib false- hoods and fictitious tales as to their identity.
Nevertheless, the "Underground Railroad" was productive of much good, and despite the precarious methods employed, the constant danger, and the sacrifice of time and labor, those who were active in the service never re- gretted their part in alleviating the sufferings of the unfortunate runaway slaves.
SOME PECULIAR NOTICES.
The following appeared in the Guernsey Times for March 30, 1826. It is here reproduced as a convincing illustration of the scarcity of money which prevailed in those days, and the necessity a merchant was under of publicly dunning his impecunious debtors :
"NOTICE,
"The subscriber is now determined to close his books, and therefore all those that know themselves to be indebted to him, either by note, book accompt or otherwise, are required to come forward, & discharge the same, as no longer indulgence will be given. The following kinds of trade will be taken, if delivered in the course of this month.
Pork
Bees-Wax Tallow
Wheat
Flax-Seed
Rags
Deer-Skins
Linen
Feathers
Lard
Whiskey
Butter, &c.
"JAMES HUTCHISON.
"Cambridge. January 5th, 1826."
More ludicrous, however, were some of the advertisements of runaway apprentices, and the dazzling rewards promised those who should apprehend the delinquents. The following are fair specimens :
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GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
"SIX CENTS REWARD! ! !
"Runaway from the subscriber on Wednesday, the 4th inst., a bound boy named
"JAMES HITE
"About sixteen years of age. All persons are forbid harboring or trusting said boy on my account. The above reward will be given for re- turning him, but no charges will be paid.
"WM. McDONNELL.
"Cambridge, April 9. 1827."
-Times, April 13, 1827."
"ONE CENT REWARD! ! !
"Absconded on the 15th instant, Cyrus E. Cook, an indented appren- tice to the carpenter and joiner business. Said boy went off without any just cause or provocation. All persons are forewarned from hiring, har- boring or aiding said boy in making his escape, as the law will be put in force against them.
"ZEPHANIAH C. SUITT.
"Cambridge, September 22, 1838."
SHERIFF'S SALE.
"By virtue of two writs of Execution to me directed, from the Court of Common Pleas of Guernsey County, at the suit of Nicholas Shipley, against William Bernard, I will offer for sale at the late residence of the said William Bernard, in Londonderry Township, in said county of Guern- sey, on the 7th day of April next at 10 o'clock A. M., the following goods and chattels, to-wit : One bedstead and chaff bed, three barrels, one tub, one table, one churn, two crocks, one cream jug, one funnel, one pair of hand bellows, five chairs, one reel, two small bags of flax-seed, a few bushels of corn, eight brooms, a few bushels of potatoes, nine geese, five hogs, one flax break, a quantity of hay in the barn, a few bushels of wheat in the sheaf. one cow, one sheep, one pot, one shovel and one hay fork.
"WM. ALLISON, Sheriff G. C. "Sheriff's Office, Cambridge, March 22d, 1826."
Another absconding apprentice was thus disposed of by his irate mas- ter, this advertisement appearing in the Times for July 19, 1834:
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GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
"FIVE CENTS REWARD.
"Ran away from the subscriber, living near Washington, Guernsey county, Ohio, on Sunday, the sixth instant, an indented APPRENTICE, named EDWARD KIRK, eighteen years of age, about five feet, six inches high, with brown hair and gray eyes. He is somewhat pompous and foppish in his manners, and had on and took away with him a light, cotton-drilling roundabout, a black home-spun cloth coat, a black fur and a fine Palm-leaf hat, one pair of Angola cassimere, and three pairs of Pittsburg-Cord Panta- loons, a Valencia vest and three shirts. The above mentioned reward shall be paid to the person taking up and returning said boy to me. Any person harboring and employing him may expect to be prosecuted therefor.
"SAMUEL BIGGER.
"Washington, July 17th, 1834."
Probably there is no one who has not heard of the curiosities known as the "Siamese Twins." These peculiar freaks visited Cambridge in De- cember, 1832, while making their tour of the United States. The following advertisement appeared in the Times of November 30, 1832:
"SIAMESE TWINS. "For Two Days Only.
"The ladies and gentlemen of Cambridge and its neighborhood are very respectfully acquainted that the
SIAMESE TWIN BROTHERS
will be at Mr. Metcalf's hotel, in that Town, on Tuesday and Wednesday next, the 4th and 5th of December.
"The Twin Brothers are in their twenty-second year, in the enjoyment of excellent health-and have caused much surprise in this country, as well as in Europe, from the extraordinary manner in which their bodies are joined together.
"The price of Admission will be Twenty-five Cents.
"Their room will be open from 2 o'clock till 4 in the afternoon, and from 6 to 8 in the evening.
"November 30th, 1832.
"Pamphlets containing an historical account, and a likeness of the Twins, can be had in their room only-price, 121/2 cts."
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