USA > Ohio > Noble County > History of Noble County, Ohio: With Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 49
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tutions of the State, which passed both houses with but little opposition. While comparatively a young man, but few gentlemen in the county have a larger personal following, or wield a stronger influence in matters of public import. He is possessed of marked social qualities, which, with an unexceptional recor.I as a business man and politician, gives him a con- spicuous place among the best citi- zens of the county.
In November of 1866 Mr. Finley was married to Miss Jane, daughter of Hon. William J. Young, whose biography will be found in the chap- ter devoted to Center Township. The union has been blessed with six children, three boys and three girls, all of whom are living but one.
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CHAPTER XXI.
BROOKFIELD.
ORGANIZATION - BOUNDARIES - ORIGINAL EXTENT-CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARLY SET TLERS -NEW ENGLAND INFLUENCES - A PERMANENT POPULATION - THE "FEDERAL TRAIL "- FIRST SETTLEMENT MADE IN 1806 BY THE DYE FAMILY - PIONEER REMINIS- CENCES-JUDGE WILLIAM RANNELLS AND OTHER PIONEERS-A FAVORITE HUNTING- GROUND-SETTLEMENT PROGRESSES SLOWLY - EXPERIENCES OF AN EARLY FAMILY - A PECULIAR INDUSTRY -THE MANUFACTURE OF CASTOR OIL - LAND OWNERS IN 1826 - VALUATION AND TAXES FOR THAT YEAR - PERSONAL, MENTION - EARLY SCHOOLS - EARLY MANUFACTURERS - A NOVEL SAW-MILL. - THE SETTLERS ON BATES' BRANCH - HISTORY OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT -THE FIRST POSTOFFICE - FAMILY SKETCHES- BROOKFIELD CHURCH.
B' ROOKFIELD was one of the original townships of Morgan County, organized in 1819. The commissioners of Noble County, May 1, 1851, altered its boundaries, making them as follows:
"Commencing at the southeast cor- ner of section 35 in township number 7, of range 10; thence north along the section line to the northeast cor- ner of section 2, in said township and range; thence west along said town- ship line to the northwest corner thereof; thence south along said township line to the southwest corner thereof ; thence east along said town- ship line to the place of beginning- containing thirty sections."
When organized in 1819, Brook- field was a full township, containing thirty-six sections. A row of sections on the east are now included in Noble Township.
With the exception of the Dyes and a few other families from Penn- sylvania and Virginia, nearly all the pioneers of the township were New
England Yankees, chiefly from Mas- sachusetts, and a large number from Worcester County. They were intel- ligent, thrifty citizens, friends of churches and schools, and were gen- erally permanent settlers. Their posterity have inherited their char- acteristics, and the well-improved farms and high moral tone of the people generally, shows that the inhabitants of the township are worthy sons of their worthy sires.
Probably no township in the county has had a more permanent popula- tion than Brookfield. The greater portion of the farms are still in the possession of the descendants of the original settlers.
The earliest route of travel through the township was the so-called Fed- eral trail, said to have been made by a portion of St. Clair's army, who were unable to obtain boats for trans- portation to Fort Washington. The trail began at Grave Creek, on the Ohio River, and running westward crossed Dye's Fork of Meigs Creek,
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
near Renrock, then divided, one branch passing through Bristol Township, Morgan County, and cross- ing the Muskingum River at Gays- port.
The first permanent settlement in the township was made in 1806, by the sons of Ezekiel Dye. Dye's Fork, of Meigs Creek, takes its name from this family, and the " Dye set- tlement " was well known to the pioneers of the territory now form- ing the counties of Guernsey. Mus- kingum, Morgan and Noble. Ezekiel Dye, Sr., was a native of New Jersey, and a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He came to Ohio from Penn- sylvania, and in 1804 followed west- ward to Chillicothe the path known as the old Federal trail, seeking lands on which to locate. He was best pleased with the Meigs Creek loca- tion, and entered several hundred acres, situated in the vicinity of Ren- rock, upon which he and his sons located and passed their lives. They were good citizens-honest, industri- ous and straightforward men ; cour- ageous and hardy, well fitted to en- dure the hardships of pioneer life.
Ezekiel Dye, Sr., came in 1807 to the lands which he had purchased; but his sons, Thomas, Ezekiel, Vin- cent, William, John and Amos, came the year before and inaugurated the work of improvement. Their nearest neighbors were on Duck Creek and in the vicinity of Cumberland, and on the Muskingum River. The Dyes were all young men, and at the time of their coming only Thomas was married. He and his father located on the farm now owned by John L.
Reed. Thomas' first wife was Nancy Davis. He married again after her decease, and was the father of a large family. Benjamin Dye, born in 1810, is still living. He is the son of Thomas and Nancy Dye, and is said to have been the first white child born in Brookfield Township.
Ezekiel Dye, Jr., settled on the east side of the creek on a farm ad- joining his brother Thomas'. He married Nancy Sprague, lived and died here, and reared a large and respectable family. William, his brother, lived near the others, in Muskingum County. John, another brother, married Catharine Sears, and settled on the creek, above the farms of Thomas and Ezekiel. Amos Dye married Sophia Dye, of Wash- ington County, resided here some years, then returned to Washing- ton County, where he died. Two daughters of Ezekiel Dye, Sr., came to this township with the family, but returned to the East after a few years. The second wife of Ezekiel Dye, Sr., was Sarah Paul; she bore twelve children, of whom two, Fir- man and Elizabeth (Maxwell) of Morgan County, are still living. Joseph, Lewis, James and Firman were the names of the sons.
Vincent Dye, son of Ezekiel, Sr., was born in Westmoreland County, Pa. IIe married Anna Waddle, whose parents came from Pennsyl- vania and located in the vicinity of Cumberland early in the present century. To them were born thirteen children - E. J., Isabella, Elah, James, Elizabeth, Melinda, Cassie, Miner, Madison, Wesley, Johnson,
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Robert and Polly. Of these, E. J., Elah, Miner, Isabella, Elizabeth, Melinda and Cassie are still living, only E. J. Dye in Noble County at present.
E. J. Dye was born in Brookfield Township November 19, 1812. In 1836 he married Mahala Smith. Three sons and six daughters were born of this union. Two of the daughters are dead. Johnson L. Dye, one of the sons, enlisted in Com- pany B, Sixty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, October 22, 1861; re-en- listed January 1, 1864. He was in the engagements at Winchester, Deep Bottom, Chapin Farm, Peters- burg, Appomattox, etc. After being mustered out at the close of the war, and remaining at home a year, he went to Kansas and thence to Fort Saunders, Dak. The family has never heard from him since, and it is supposed that he was killed by the Indians. E. J. Dye is a farmer and stock-raiser. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and has served eighteen years as justice of the peace. He had all the experi- ences incident to life in the back- woods, and remembers when the whole township was sparsely settled. When he was a boy his father used to send him into the woods to hunt for cows, tying a bell upon him so that he might be found in case he lost his way.
When the Dyes came to Brook- field they were obliged to go to Waterford, on the Muskingum, for milling. Salt was very hard to pro- cure, and very high. Much of it used in the southern Ohio settle-
ments was brought across the moun- tains on horseback by means of pack saddles. " Alum salt " was salt mixed with red pepper, that it might be used more economically. The first mill in the neighborhood of Renrock was a horse-mill, owned by Thomas Dye. There were no early water-mills in this part of the town- ship.
Judge William Rannells was born in Tygart's Valley, Va., in 1769. When thirteen years of age he went to Washington County, Pa., with his parents. In 1796 he married Rhoda Bush. In 1809 he entered the land on which J. V. Rannells now lives and in the following year moved his family to it. He was one of the very earliest settlers of the township, and the family had all the varied expe- riences of pioneer life. Judge Ran- nells was the father of eleven chil- dren, ten of whom reached mature years. He died in 1856, his wife in 1864. He was a man of more than ordinary intelligence and good judg- ment.
J. V. Rannells was born in Brook- field Township, on the old homestead, March 2, 1815, and is therefore among the oldest residents of the township. At the age of twenty-six he married Miss Laura Bay, who died in 1845. One child was born of this marriage. In 1846 he married Miss Rachel Falls. Four children were born of this union, two now living. Mr. and Mrs. Rannells are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. John Rannells, son of the above, enlisted in 1862 in the Ninth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, and served until
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
February, 1865. He was killed while on a scouting expedition, near Winns- boro, S. C.
J. F. Rannells was born on the homestead in 1849. In 1878 he mar- ried Miss Sarah Allison. They have three children. Mr. Rannells and wife belong to the Presbyterian church.
Jacob Jordan and his sons, Adam and Peter, were among the earliest settlers near the township line in the vicinity of Hiramsburg. Henry Ham- ilton, a brother-in-law of Jacob Jor- dan, was an early settler in the same neighborhood. While this was still a part of Guernsey County, elec- tions were held at the house of the Jordans.
Jacob Jordan, a Revolutionary soldier, came to this township in 1810 and left it in 1818. Ifis son Peter was born in Greene County, Pa., in 1797, came to this county when young, and died in Brookfield Township in 1868. He married Ra- chel Albin, whose father, James Albin, was a Revolutionary soldier. Mrs. Jordan was born in Virginia in 1791. She died in 1881. Peter Jor- dan came to the farm on which John Jordan now lives in 1814. The whole country was then very wild, and bears, wolves and panthers inhabited it. Mrs. Jordan brought from Guern- sey County a willow sprout which she used as a riding whip, and on reaching her home stuck it in the ground. It grew into a tree and is now about seventy years old, and fifteen feet in circumference. John Jordan was born in Brookfield Town- ship December 23, 1823. In 1845 he
married Nancy Downey, a native of Buffalo Township. They have five sons and four daughters. Of their sons P. D. Jordan is a merchant, postmaster, notary and a railroad agent; S. S. Jordan is a farmer and carpenter; W. F. Jordan, telegraph operator and railroad agent; G. C. Jordan is a farmer in Illinois; J. D. Jordan is in the store of his brother, P. D. Jordan. John Jordan has always followed farming.
Dye's Fork of Meigs Creek was once a favorite hunting-ground for the Indians. When Ezekiel Dye, Sr., began his clearing, he was vis- ited by two Indians. As he saw them approaching, he heard them muttering in their own language, and from their looks and tones he concluded they were not at all pleased at his intrusion. He feared they might attack him and kept a firm hold upon the handspike with which he was at work until his vis- itors had departed, intending to use it over their heads in case of hostile demonstrations.
When the Dyes came to the coun- try, they had to go to Duck Creek, Bates Fork and Waterford to get help to raise their cabin. When the first barn was raised, settlers were summoned from many miles to assist. They came a day in advance of the raising, and remained three days before they had finished their work.
A few years after the Dyes, came James Lyons, who settled on the creek two miles from Renrock. Soon after he came here all his daughters died of consumption. His sons were James, Joseph and John.
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BROOKFIELD.
Until after the War of 1812 settlers came in very slowly. All the early arrivals chose farms upon the creeks. When Morgan County was organ ized in 1819 settlement had so far advanced as to make Brookfield one of the most populous townships of the county. But it was years later before all the land in the township was taken up.
Henry Hamilton, a native of South Carolina, was among the earliest set- tlers, locating about 1808 on the farm now owned by Adam Hamil- ton. IIe married Sarah Jordan. Six of their children are living. He died in 1830.
Clark E. Green and his brothers, Oliver and David, were among the early settlers. The former was killed by the kick of a horse. Oliver was accidentally shot by James Hunter while hunting. The charge entered his head, killing him instantly.
David Green was born in Spencer, Mass., December 27, 1797, and was probably the oldest man living in the township. He died May 21, 1887. In 1823 he married Augusta Brown, in Massachusetts. She died in 1842, having borne one child - Edward. In 1844 he married Mary Pearson. Their children are David J. and Mary A. (twins), and Lewis H. Ed- ward and Lewis H. were in the service in the late war. Mr. Green first came to Ohio about 1820. He came through in a two-horse wagon. While on the way he had the mis- fortune to lose his pocket-book at a tavern. He recovered the book, but a check on the Marietta bank which it contained was gone. He succeeded
in getting the money on the check by notifying the officers of the bank. Ile remained in Ohio about a year, cutting cord-wood near Duncan's Falls, for salt works upon the river. He took his pay in salt, which was then worth $1.50 per bushel. After his marriage (August 21, 1823,) he returned to Ohio and located where he now lives. A few years later he erected a mill for the manufacture of castor oil. The machinery, invented by himself, consisted of an inclined plane and a beam worked by horse power. As the beam was drawn over the inclined plane the oil was pressed out. There was a great demand for it, and Mr. Green traveled about the country with a horse and wagon, selling it. At. one time in Newark, Ohio, before breakfast, he sold enough oil to pay for forty acres of land. He also sold oil by the barrel in Zanesville and other places. He continued this business about ten years. An acre of land would pro- duce eight or ten bushels of beans, and one bushel would make about a gallon and a half of oil. The beans were dried in buildings similar to tobacco barns. Mr. Green also erected one of the early saw-mills of the township. Mr. Green has been a member of the Baptist church about sixty-two years, and for over fifty years has been a deacon. He has been justice of the peace, and held the office of township treasurer twenty years. He has been a successful farmer, and has done much to intro- duce new and improved breeds of stock. He has also made some inven- tions which he has patented. He is
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
gifted with true Yankee ingenu- itv.
David J. Green was born in Brook- field Township, December 7, 1845. In 1869 he married Mary A. Fair- child, who died in 1881. Their chil- dren are Charles F., David E., Henry (). and Luella M. In 1883 Mr. Green married Miss Mary Wilson. He is largely engaged in farming and breeding fine stock, cattle, hogs, sheep, etc. Ile has held the office of township trustee, is a member of the Baptist church, and also of the Masons and Odd Fellows.
Following are the names of the owners of lands and houses in Brookfield Township (township 8, range 10) in 1826, taken from the tax duplicate of Morgan County for that year :
Michael Archer, Andrew Ault, Joseph Amberry, John Byers, Henry Brindley, Giles Briggs, Asa Burlin- game, Richard C. Bond's heirs, James Bates, John Barkess (Barkhurst !), Joseph Bell, Horace Blanchard, Linus
Elijah Collins, Daniel Curtis, Stephen Charlot, James Craig. William Camp-
pitt, Thomas N. Muzzy, William McElroy, James McElroy, Henry MeElroy, James McKee. Thomas McCleary, Hugh Nickerson, John Prouty, Russell Prouty, William Rannells, James Robinson (of Vir- ginia), James Robinson, John Richey, Cyril Richardson, William Springer, Solomon Schemmerhorn, Nathan Smith, Francis Scott, Eleazer Spoon- er, John D. Spark, Richard Thorla. Daniel Whitmore, Thomas Wharton, Andrew Wharton, Christopher West- cott, James Watson. Value of real estate, $11,142; total tax on real estate, $111.42.
Asa Burlingame was a Yankee. and a prominent carly settler. Ile held the office of justice of the peace and was also a school-teacher. Sev- eral of his descendants are living in the township.
Benjamin Brindley was an honest and industrious backwoodsman, and lived to a ripe old age. Horace Blanchard came from Massachusetts in 1816, settled in the southwest part Bacon, William Bates, Joseph Black- 1 of the township, and there kept hotel burn, Samuel Byers, Findley Collins, . several years; Daniel Curtis, also
: from Massachusetts, about the same ; time. He was noted for his musical bell, Vincent Dye, Ezekiel Dye, i ability. Hle went west and died
Ezekiel Dye, Jr., Thomas Dve, John there. Dye, John Draper. Charles Downey, One of the first schools was taught in the old bean house, without floor, on Linus Bacon's farm. The early teachers there were Thomas N. Muzzy, Nancy Harkness, James Warren, Israel Jordan, McAllister, and John M. Foster. Thomas Downey, Robert Frakes, Henry Frakes, James Guy, Clark E. Green. Oliver W. Green's heirs, Presley George, Henry Hamilton, James Hunter, Henry Hunter, Silas Hurd, Erastus Hoskins, Jacob JJones, John Jones, Adam Jordan, Abraham Jotham Sprague, from Massachu- Lett, Alexander Love, Robert Lan- 'setts, located near Hiramsburg and sing. James Lyon's heirs, Joseph Lip- I died there. He was a lawyer, or
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BROOKFIELD.
pettifogger, but had little legal busi- ness.
Thomas N. Muzzy was an influ- ential man among the pioneers, and through his efforts several New Eng- landers were induced to try their fortunes in the Ohio country. The New Englanders, accustomed to hills, were not so averse to locating upon them as were the Pennsylvanians and Virginians, who sought to obtain bottom lands.
Alexander Love married a daugh- ter of Judge Rannells, and lived on an adjoining farm. Ile was a fine man. His widow is living in Cum- berland at an advanced age.
William and James McElroy Jo- cated in the central part of the town- ship. They were shoemakers, and plied their trade at their homes.
James Robinson came from Vir- ginia and located on a farm adjoin- ing Horace Blanchard's. John Richey came from Wheeling. He was a prominent citizen, and served several years as a justice of the peace.
Jacob Jones was the successor of William Bates, the pioneer settler on Bates' Branch. He had a brother John, who settled near Hiramsburg. Jones died here and his large family went to Indiana.
Abraham Lett and James Dye were colored men who had formerly been slaves. Set free by their mas- ters, they entered land adjoining the Muskingum County line, and ended their days there.
Henry IIunter located near the center of the township about 1812, and near him his sons, James and Henry. Silas Hurd, from Massa-
chusetts, located on a farm adjoin- ing Hunter's. Ile married a sister of Captain IIill, of Zanesville. The family were noted for their musical ability, and for their interest in edu- cation. Several of them were suc- cessful teachers.
The earliest school attended by the people of the southwest part of the township was within the present limits of Morgan County. Among the early teachers there were Ross, Jordan, and David Green.
December 4, 1810, a petition was presented to the commissioners of Guernsey County, asking for a road, to commence at Cambridge, to in- tersect the State road to Marietta. The petition was granted, and view- ers appointed to meet at the house of William Rannells the second Monday of January. 1811. Robert Latta and William Rannells gave bond for the cost that might arise from viewing said road.
The township had twenty or more male inhabitants above twenty-one years of age in 1817. The law re- quired that number before trustees could be elected for the school sec- tion. August 4, 1817, on petition of Abraham JJordan and others, an elec- tion was ordered for that purpose, to be held at the house of JJacob Jor- dan, August 25. All the early elec- tions were held at the same place, the first being held June 23. 1810, for the purpose of choosing justices and other township officers for Buf- falo Township, Guernsey County, in which Brookfield was then included.
In the eastern part of the town- ship schools were taught for several
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
years in old buildings and deserted cabins. The first school-house where the pupils from this part of the township attended was built at Hiramsburg. Asa Burlingame, Nancy Harkness and Moses Hardy were early teachers. The last was one of the best teachers in this part of the country. He was a New Eng- lander.
The Downeys, a numerous family, were among the early settlers. Mer- riman Downey is among the old resi- dents of the township.
The early manufacturers of the township were not extensive. Henry Hamilton had a saw mill which ran a few years. Russell Prouty con- structed a saw-mill which was a curious specimen of Yankee inge- nuity As the stream on which he desired to locate it was too small to furnish sufficient water-power, he built an aqueduct, bringing water from another stream, and thus in- creased the volume of water. " IIumph! Might as well try to carry the water in your hat," was the sarcastic comment of one of his neighbors, a man named Bartlett, when he saw what Prouty was try- ing to do. Prouty, however, had his own ideas and his own way of doing things, and nothing short of a total failure would convince him that he was wrong. Ile first started a store, then built a saw-mill, and after the failure of these engaged in the manu- facture of castor oil.
Henry Hamilton was the proprie- tor of one of the early horse mills. It was run by two horses, and they went "round and round." An old
resident says a mouse could eat the meal about as fast as it came from the mill.
A woolen-mill was put in operation near Renrock about 1841. A man named Bigger was the proprietor. Ile sold out to Mr. Bush. The old mill is no longer in operation.
Joseph Bush began operations at the Renrock woolen factory in 1853. Ile carded, spun and made cloth for the whole surrounding country. He carried on the business for fifteen years or more, then turned it over to his son, W. H. Bush, who ran the factory for three years, selling off his machinery on account of scarcity of water to run it. W. H. Bush afterward was engaged in the same business at . McConnelsville and at Beverly, and is now one of the pro- prietors of the Caldwell woolen-mill.
The first store at Renrock was started about 1845, by a Mr. Bozman from Morgan County. The post- office was established some years later. The place now contains two stores, a blacksmith shop and the postoffice.
From published reminiscences by Dr. Charles Draper. of Cumberland, a native of Brookfield Township, we gather the following items relative to settlers on the Bates branch of Buffalo Fork of Will's Creek.
The earliest settlement in the vicinity was made within the present limits of Guernsey County. A man named May entered eighty acres in 1806, on the present Covert farm near Cumberland. He was followed by Esquire Lattey, Thomas Bay and others. The latter located where
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BROOKFIELD.
Cumberland now is in 1812. Thom- as N. Muzzy, of Massachusetts, arrived June 28, 1814, and on the 4th of July entered land adjoining the Bays in this township. He not only began improving his land at once, but speedily erected and put in operation a grist-mill and a saw-mill, which was the first in the neighbor- hood. He taught the first school, organized the first Sunday school, and laid the foundation for the first church and the first temperance soci- ety in the valley. He was an 1812 soldier. IIe named Spencer Town- ship, Guernsey County, after Spen- cer, Mass., where he was born. Ile died at the age of ninety-four.
William Rannells was one of the first associate judges of Morgan County, and in the absence of the presiding judge acted as president judge at the first term of court held at McConnelsville in 1819. Ile came from Pennsylvania, and settled on land now owned by his son Joseph. Ile was a man of enterprise, intelli- gence and good judgment. He was an active member of the first church, and an exemplary citizen. He erected the first frame barn in Brookfield Township, and at an early date built a brick house.
Dr. Ziba Lindley, a son-in-law of Judge Rannells, located where John- son Allison now lives. He was the first physician in the township, and among the first in the present county, and is believed to have been skillful and successful. Ile removed to the West many years since, and died at an advanced age.
Colonel Linus Bacon, from Massa-
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