USA > Ohio > Noble County > History of Noble County, Ohio: With Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 51
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The following persons have been licensed by this church to preach the Gospel : Warren Knowlton, 1838; Alexander McElroy, 1852; Christo- pher Lippitt, Thomas Downey, 1862. The following ministers have been ordained by this church: B. Y. Siegfried, March, 1838; Warren Knowlton, June 20, 1839. The fol- lowing have served as deacons: William Smith, Prestley George,
Welcome Ballou, David Green, John Smith, Thomas Moore, Edward F. Green, Josiah R. Knowlton, Harri- son R. Dye and David Delong.
From the organization to the present time the church has had 460 members. The present membership is eighty-five. David Green, Sr., eighty-nine years old, is the only person still living and holding a membership since the first year of the existence of the church.
The present church building was begun in the spring of 1846, and the society took possession of it late in the fall of 1847.
BIOGRAPHIC. JOHN GRAY.
One of the most remarkable char- acters that ever lived in Noble County was John Gray, of Brook- field Township. Although he was an early settler in the county, it is not to his name as that of a pioneer that most interest attaches. Far more important are the facts that made him celebrated, causing his name to be the theme of talented writers both of poetry and prose, and giving un- dying lustre to his simple, common- place life. IIe was the last surviving soldier of the American army in the Revolutionary War.
John Gray* was born near Mount. Vernon, Va., January 6, 1764. and spent his boyhood in that vicinity. His parents were poor and he was brought up to a life of toil and hard- ship. The same poverty was his con-
*For the facts contained in this sketch we are indebted to a pamphlet written and published by Hon. James M. Dalzell.
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dition throughout his long life. The first day that he ever worked out he was employed by George Washing- ton at Mount Vernon. He seems to have been a favorite with the Father of his Country, who frequently shook hands with him and addressed to him encouraging words. He was the oldest of a family of eight chil- dren, and on his father joining the patriot army in 1777 he became the chief support of the family. Fre- quently the Grays were obliged to depend upon rabbits caught by John and his brother as their only meat. At one time John worked a week at ploughing for two bushels and a half of corn. His father fell at the battle of White Plains, and in 1781, John, at the age of eighteen years, volun- teered and served until the close of the war, being present at the surren- der of Cornwallis. He was in a skirmish at Williamsburg, and was one of 150 men sent on the dan- gerous but successful expedition of Major Ramsay. After the war he returned to the vicinity of Mount Vernon and resumed work as a day laborer. At the age of twenty he married Nancy Dowell and moved to Morgantown, Va. Ile was a western pioneer and lived at Dilley's Bottom and Fish Creek dur- ing the days of border warfare with the Indians. He came to Ohio while it was yet a territory. The year 1829 he settled in Noble County, where he passed the remainder of his days. He married his second wife, Nancy Ragan, at the Flats of Grave Creek. Ile again married in Ohio, but survived his wife and all
his children except one. He spent the last years of his life at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Nancy McEl- roy, and died on the 29th of March, 1868, being in the one hundred and fifth year of his age. The records of the pension office at Washington prove that he was the last surviving pensioner of the Revolution. No pension was obtained for him until 1867, when, through the efforts of Hon. John A. Bingham, a bill was passed by Congress giving him $500 per year to date from July 1, 1866, as long as he lived.
John Gray was a man of spare and bony frame, five feet eight inches high, broad-chested, with a head that was well-shaped and massive. IIe had but one bad habit - he chewed tobacco for nearly one hundred years. He was a man of exemplary character and sound religious faith. He was a member of the Methodist church for nearly eighty years. In the later years of his life his hearing and sight became impaired and he was obliged to resort to crutches. He warmly sympathized with the Union cause during the late war, and lamented the course of his native State. Quietly, peacefully, as he had lived, the last of the Revolution- ary veterans sank to rest amid the rural scenes which he loved so well. No proud monument adorns his rest- ing place, but it is to be hoped that the public-spirited citizens of Noble County will some day see that an ap- propriate memorial stone is placed there.
The Trimmer Family. - Samuel Trimmer was born in New Jersey
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and when a child immigrated with his parents to Pennsylvania. His father, Paul Trimmer, was a soldier of the Revolution and participated in several notable engagements. IIe fol- lowed the sea for several years and died about 1830, aged nearly one hundred years. His wife was a sister of General Anthony Wayne. Samuel Trimmer was a farmer, a very worthy citizen and an exemplary member of the Presbyterian church, as was also his wife. He died in 1847, aged fifty- seven.
Stevenson Trimmer was born in Washington County, Penn., March 11, 1815, and October 14, 1843, was married to Miss Ann McAdams. His worldly effects at this time in- ventoried one horse and $25 in money. After his marriage he be- gan life as a farmer on leased lands, and by his industry and thrift he prospered and soon acquired the nucleus of a competency. In 1852 he came from Pennsylvania to his present farm, which originally con- sisted of eighty acres of unimproved land, which by repeated accessions now contains 420 acres, highly im-
proved. In 1882 Mrs. Trimmer died. Her only child, James A., enlisted May 2, 1864, in Company H., One Hundred and Sixty-first Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, and died in hospital at Cumberland, Md., June 9, 1864, in his twentieth year. He was an estimable young man, a member of the Presbyterian church and a good soldier. In 1885 Mr. Trim- mer was again married to Mrs. Malinda Butterbaugh. In religious and political affiliation Mr. Trimmer is a Presbyterian and a Republican. For six years he has served the county as Infirmary director, receiv- ing the suffrages of both parties. He is an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian church and every worthy cause finds in him a warm friend and patron. Ile is one of those liberal, public-spirited gentle- men whose identification with any community is always productive of good. Five orphan children have been the recipients of his generosity, and throughout the entire county he is known as one of the most respected citizens of Brookfield Town- ship.
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Stevenson Trimmer
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR. LENOX AND TILLEX FAXUATIONS . L
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CHAPTER XXII.
STOCK.
ERECTION OF THE TOWNSHIP IN 1851 - ITS BOUNDARIES - EARLY SETTLEMENT ON THE EAST FORK - THE ENOCHS, CROWS, GRANDONS, MORRISES AND ARCHERS -THE CROW FAMILY AND THE INDIANS-THREE GIRLS KILLED - ADVENTURES OF TENAH CROW - OTHER EARLY PIONEERS - THE LAST INDIAN CAMP ON SAILOR'S RUN IN 1812 - RELIGION OF THE PIONEERS - LARGE FAMILIES - RELICS OF THE ABORIGINES- EARLY MILLS - FIRST BRICK HOUSES - HUNTING ADVENTURE - THE YANKEE SETTLERS - FIRST ORCHARDS IN THE TOWNSHIP-HARDSHIPS OF THE YEAR 1816- EARLY TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION - TAXPAYERS OF 1833- ASA BARTON -PRACTICAL JOKES - EARLY SCHOOLS-GERMAN SETTLERS - VILLAGES -CARLISLE - EAST UNION CHURCHES.
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THE commissioners of Noble County, on the first of May, 1851, erected Stock Township, mak- ing its boundaries as follows :
"Commencing on the seventh range line at the southwest corner of section 32 in township number 6 of range No. 7; thence east along the section lines to the southeast corner of section 26 in said township num- ber 6 of range 7; thence north along section lines to the northeast corner of section 30 in said township and range; thence west along the said township line to the seventh range line; thence south along the seventh range line to the northeast corner of section 25 in township 7, range 8; thence west along section lines to the northwest corner of sec- tion 27 in said township number 7 and range 8; thence south along section lines to the south west corner of section 3 in township number 6 and range 8; thence east to the northwest corner of section number 4 in said township number 6 of range 8; thence south along the section line
to the southwest corner of section 14 in said township number 6 of range 8; thence east along the sec- tion line to the seventh range line ; thence north along the seventh range line to the place of beginning- containing 23 sections."
The first election in this township was held on the 12th of July, 1851, in obedience to an order of court, for the purpose of choosing one justice of the peace. Reuben Wood was elected, and on the 7th of August fol- lowing he qualified and entered upon the duties of his office.
March 7, 1854, on petition of four- teen persons, sections 25 and 31 of Elk Township were annexed to Stock Township, by order of the county commissioners.
On the East Fork of Duck Creek, in the year 1806, was made one of the earliest settlements within the limits of Noble County. by families that had previously lived on Wheel- ing Creek, in Greene County, Pa., and in western Virginia, near Wheel- ing. These families were nearly
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
all intimately related by marriages and intermarriages. They were the Enochs, Crows, Grandons and Morrises. Following them a few years later came the Archers, a nu- merous family.
Elisha, Henry, Enoch and Jesse Enochs were brothers. Their fa- ther's name was Enoch Enochs, and he also settled on Duck Creek after his sons had been here some years. HIe removed to the vicinity of Har- riettsville and there died in 1835. IIe was in the Indian wars in West Vir- ginia and eastern Ohio, and also a soldier of 1812. Enoch Enochs, Jr., married Margaret Tice, and lived near Harriettsville. In 1878 he re- moved to Tyler County, W. Va., where he died in 1886. Elisha Enochs and his brother Jesse lived in what is now Stock Township. There were several daughters of Enoch Enochs, Sr., who married be- fore coming to Ohio, and nearly all settled in this vicinity. Hannah was the wife of Henry Grandon; Eliza- beth married Isaac Morris; Rebecca became the wife of James Archer; Rachel, the wife of Frederick Crow ; Sally married Jesse Davis; Lydia was the wife of Nathan Lincicum; Phebe married Joseph Archer and Amy married Matthew Gray .*
Elisha Enochs was one of the most prominent pioneers. He settled on Duck Creek near where the village of Carlisle now stands, in the year 1806. The Enochs were of German
descent. Elisha married Nancy Archer. At the time of their settle- ment, their nearest neighbors were fifteen miles distant. The Indians still occupied the country as a hunt- ing-ground, and it abounded in game and fish of all kinds. Elisha Enochs manufactured powder in a small way, doing all the work by hand, and the settlers for miles around came to him to purchase it. On the morning after the family arrived in their new home they found them- selves short of provisions, and Mr. Enochs shot a young bear on the ground where Carlisle now stands, to supply them with meat. The Enochs were veritable frontiersmen, and quite a number were killed or scalped by the Indians. Elisha and Nancy Enochs reared a large family which became scattered through Ohio and farther west. Their son Henry was born March 27, 1807, and is believed to have been the first white child born in the township. Like all frontiersmen, he early became accus- tomed to the use of the gun and lived almost entirely in the woods, doing very little farming. He mar- ried Jane Miller, and entered land on Middle Creek near Middleburg, where he remained until about 1848, when he removed to Lawrence County, Ohio, where he died April 2, 1886. He reared a large family. Five of his sons were in the late war, and the family was represented in almost every important campaign of the Rebellion. The sons who were in the service were John M., a captain ; Elisha, corporal; W. II., brigadier- general; A. O., captain ; and Clum,
"These particulars were obtained from Henry Archer, of East Union, a descendant of the Enochs family, and are doubtless correct. We have re- ceived statements from other parties, which vary from the above in some particulars .- ED.
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
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lieutenant. The Enochs were nearly all Methodists. In politics they were Whigs and Republicans. Elisha Enochs, Sr., was the first justice of the peace in the old township of Enoch, in Monroe County, which was named after the Enochs family. He was treasurer of Monroe County in 1827-8, and one of the county commissioners in 1829. He was a Methodist class-leader forty years or more. Toward the end of his life he became blind.
Enoch Enochs, Sr., was somewhat noted as a hunter. He was a man of great ingenuity, especially as a gunsmith. Ile also made bedsteads and other kinds of furniture. The Enochs generally were men of strong physical development.
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Bernard Grandon settled on the creek. His sons were Enoch, Mat- thew, William and Bernard, all of whom lived here and reared families, and their descendants are still here.
William Grandon was a true type of that now extinct race-pioneer backwoodsmen. He was rough and uncouth in appearance, and unculti- vated in speech and manner; but, for all that, a warm heart beat be- neath the hunting shirt of the old pioneer, and he was a true man. IIe could easily be imposed upon, for he had a childlike faith in human nature. Every man was his friend until he abused his confidence. Ile was strong physically, and very industrious. He accumulated a com- fortable property, but lost nearly all of it and became financially embar. rassed through his kindness in giving surety for his friends and neighbors.
The brick house erected by Grandon was the first in the Duck Creek region.
Isaac Morris, whose descendants still live in the county, came with the Enochs and the Grandons. He was a most worthy man-somewhat peculiar in some things, but very honest in everything. He settled on the creek above Carlisle. The farm is still in the Morris name.
The following incident of pioneer life, although it did not occur in this county, is a part of the history of a family who were among the earliest settlers of Stock Township, and whose descendants are still living in the county.
On Wheeling Creek, Greene County, Pa., lived the family of Jacob Crow. In the vicinity of their cabin the settlers had erected a block-house for their defense, which was known as Ryerson's Station. In the spring of 1791, on Easter Sunday, four of Crow's daughters started to walk to the station. The day was warm and pleasant. When about half way there they met their brother Michael, on horseback, it being his custom to visit the block- house once or twice a week, to learn the news. He tried to persuade his sisters to return home with him, but they decided to go on. Aboat twenty rods farther there was a large rock by the side of the road. When three of the girls reached this rock, three Indians stepped from behind it and stopped them. The youngest girl, Tenah Crow, then about ten years of age, was about fifteen rods behind the others, and on seeing the Indians,
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
supposed them to be negroes, and felt no alarm. Approaching them she discovered her mistake and was also captured. The Indians led them up a hill nearly a mile distant, and then halted to hold a council. The girls, believing that they would be killed, also talked with each other and de- cided to try to escape. They agreed to start, all at once, and run in differ- ent directions. ' They accordingly ran. Tenah had gone but a short distance when a tomahawk struck her on her back and knocked her down upon her hands and knees. As she arose she saw one of her sisters struggling with an Indian. She ran a short distance to a hollow, or ravine, which she followed down to her home in safety. The news was told and men soon gathered for the purpose of pursuing the Indians. Sufficient force was not collected until the next morning. Then search was made and two of the girls were found lying near together, both scalped and dead. A trail of blood led to the spot where the other sister lay. She was scalped and bleeding, but still alive. She was taken home where she died nine days later, having been unconscious all that time.
Tenah Crow afterwards became the wife of John McBride, who owned the land on which Carlisle now is, and died in Noble County. Martin, a brother of the murdered girls, after being a pioneer in Penn- sylvania and Virginia, settled and died in the vicinity of Carlisle. As might be expected he was a life-long enemy to the red man. His brother
Frederick settled in the western part of Monroe County, where he died. The Crows were contemporaries with Martin and Lewis Wetzel and were with them on some of their noted expeditions. Martin Crow once had part of his ear shot off by an Indian. Frederick Crow had his arm broken by a shot from an Indian's rifle. John Crow, their brother, was killed by the Indians. Martin was em- ployed as a hunter to kill meat for the surveyors of the first seven ranges of townships in Ohio. He owned the Israel Danford farm near Carlisle. He married Elizabeth Cack- ler, a sister to the wife of James Farley. Peter Crow and Mrs. John N. Smith are his children.
James Farley married Mary Cack- ler, and John Nisswonger married her sister Susan. The remainder of the Cackler family settled on the Western Reserve. The three men- tioned were married in Pennsyl- vania.
Matthew Gray settled on the creek, and his descendants are still in the county. He was strong physically. and as a neighbor good-natured and obliging. Nathan Lincicum was an early settler of the township. His son James is still living. John Mc- Bride, who settled where Carlisle now is, was an early settler and a very industrious and active man. IIis sons were William and John, better known as "Jack." The latter went to California, where he was killed by a well caving in upon him.
James Archer, of Irish descent, came from Greene County, Pa., where he was born in 1779, and set-
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tled in Stock Township, on the East Fork of Duck Creek, in 1809. With him he brought his family of six sons and five daughters. They came on horseback, cutting their own road a portion of the way. Soon after their arrival, a heavy freshet raised the waters of the creek to such an extent that their cabin was in immi- nent danger of being washed away. The family took refuge in the loft of their cabin and kept warm by keep- ing coals in a kettle. James Archer and several of his sons were success- ful hunters. James, Jr., served in the War of 1812. His father hauled goods from Barnesville for Robert McKee, at Olive. He made the first trip with a wagon, cutting his own road. The sons of James Archer were James, Joseph, Mi- chael, Simon, Jacob and Nathan. James married Rebecca Enochs and spent his life in this county. Ile was the father of ten children. Joseph married Phebe Enochs, a sister of James' wife. They had thirteen children. Michael married Rhoda, daughter of Bernard Gran- don, and was the father of thirteen children. Simon married Rhoda, daughter of Henry Enochs, and had fifteen children. Jacob married Sally Grandon. He was the father of twenty-three children by two wives. Nathan married Rebecca Morris. They had thirteen children. From these families are descended the Archers, who are numerous in Ohio and throughout the West. The daughters of James Archer, Sr., were Nancy, wife of Elisha Enochs ; Rachel, wife of George Hupp; Polly,
wife of John Moore; Elizabeth, wife of George Harris; and Susan, wife of John Tribble. The last named lived in West Virginia. The others all lived in this vicinity. The males of the Archer family all settled in the same neighborhood and remained here until they died. Their descend- ants in many instances still occupy the land which they entered. The Archers, as well as many others of the early settlers, managed to secure farms for all of their children.
Jacob McCollum, one of the early settlers, remained only a few years, then sold out and moved west.
Among the early settlers of Stock Township was William Young. He emigrated to this section with his family in the fall of 1825, and entered a section of land near East Union. He was born in Rhode Island. His parents were of Scotch nativity, and came to the United States some time before the Revolu- tion. The children of William Young were Celia, Thomas J., William J., Mary A., Henry J., Robert, George, John Q. and Amie, only three of whom are now living, Henry J., John Q. and Celia Beemer.
William Smith, who lived on the East Fork, was quite an early set- tler, and a most excellent man. His wife, who lived to be nearly a hun- dred years old, was an admirable type of the pioneer woman, and was much esteemed. The family came from Belmont County to Malaga, Monroe County, and thence, some years later, to Duck Creek. Smith became well-to-do, and reared a large family.
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
The early settlers of this township were among the earliest in the coun- ty. They were located along the East Fork of Duck Creek and its branches, and, beginning about three miles below Carlisle, they were Enoch Grandon, Jacob Sailor, Enoch Enochs, Elisha Enochs, John Mc- Bride, Martin Crow, Isaac Morris, the Archer and Enochs families, Jacob Archer, Simon Archer, Mi- chael Archer, Joseph Archer, James Archer and Jacob McCollum.
John McBride was one of the earliest settlers, and erected one of the earliest mills in the settlement. His wife was Tenah Crow, sister of Martin Crow, the hunter.
Sailor's Run, a stream flowing into Duck Creek, about two miles below Carlisle, is so named after Jacob Sailor, an early settler on this stream. Jacob Sailor's wife was Esther Crow, a sister to the Crow girls, who were killed by the Indians near Wheeling, in 1791. On Sailor's Run was the last Indian camp in this part of the country. It was occupied by a party of Indian hunt- ers in 1812. None were ever seen here after that year, all deserting the country to engage in war.
Jacob Sailor is said to have built the first hewed log house on the creek. He sold out to William Smith prior to 1830, and removed to Indiana. Smith came from Monroe County.
James Farley, one of the early pioneers, was born in South Carolina in 1777. IIis parents removed to Virginia when he was quite young, and thence to Greene County, Pa. There, in the year 1800 he married
Mary Cackler, who was born in 1783. They had eleven children: Susannah, William, Isaac, Elizabeth, Ezekiel, Nancy, Silas, Isaiah, Joshua, Annie and Joseph. The last four were born in Monroe (now Noble) County. The family came to this county in 1815, and after being here about two years brought out their father and mother, David and Mary (Aiken) Farley.
James Farley was a thorough tem- perance man - such were rarely found in early years, when whisky was a popular beverage. The family were prominent Methodists and he was class-leader many years. He died May 7, 1854, in his seventy- seventh year, and his wife in 1859, at the same age.
Silas Farley, a well-known old resi- dent, was born in Greene County, Pa., in 1814, and came to Ohio with his parents when ten months old. In 1833 he married Elizabeth Rhodes, by whom he had seven children: James S., who died at the age of three years; Susannah (Rodecker), George W., Mary M. (first married to a Calland and second to Heiddle- ston), Charles W., Joseph II. and Henry W. Mr. Farley followed farming for several years, but for twenty years has been engaged in butchering in Summerfield. For fifteen years he has also dealt in live stock and farmed also. The family are members of the Method- ist Episcopal church. Mr. Farley has been a licensed local preacher in the church for forty years and has preached far and near. He preached in Olive, before Caldwell was pro-
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jected. He is a Republican and an earnest one. Three of his sons- George, Charles Wesley and Joseph - were in the late war, Wesley serv- ing. three years.
Among the early settlers there was just as wide a divergence of religious belief as exists to-day. There were men of all creeds and of no creed. The family of Elisha Enochs were noted Methodists, and one of the sons, Abraham, was one of the most celebrated backwoods preachers in this region of country. He was ec- centric, awkward, uncultured, plain and blunt in his speech, and yet ear- nest and effective.
Through the efforts of Elisha Enochs, James Farley and Isaac Morris, the earliest church in this part of the country was organized.
The first generation of Archers were Catholics, and most of them held to that faith for many years. Michael Archer remained through life one of the pillars of the Catho- lic church. His brothers, Simon and Nathan, were also Catholics. Three other brothers -James, Joseph and Jacob- became Methodists. Their sisters were all Methodists. Michael Archer was the founder of St. Mi- chael's Catholic church.
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