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CHAPTER XXX.

BEAVER.

PIONEER SETTLERS-LARGELY FROM MARYLAND THEIR CONDITION AND CHARACTERISTICS -ADVENTURES WITH BEARS AND PANTHERS-How "WHISKY RUN" GOT ITS NAME-FROLICS "JOHN HOUSE'S MILL-MENTION OF EARLY SETTLERS-ANECDOTES—ÕRGANIZATION OF BEAVER TOWNSHIP, 1816-TAX-LIST IN 1830-THE BOUNDARIES OF THE TOWNSHIP AS ESTABLISHED IN 1851-CHANGE OF BOUNDARY-EARLY MERCHANTSFAMILY SKETCHES-EARLY SCHOOLS-BATESVILLE-ITS ORIGIN AND GROWTH-A NEAT AND THRIFTY TOWN-CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, Lodges, ETC.

HE first settlement in the town

THE

ship was made by the Reed family, elsewhere mentioned, and by Thomas, John and Joseph Carpenter and John Tyrrell as early as 1810. The Carpenters came from Virginia. They reared families and died in the township. In early years they were noted hunters. Tyrrell afterward moved east. Richard and Matthias Croy were among the first settlers. The family became widely scattered.

Nearly all the pioneers came from the old States of Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania-by far the greater number from Maryland. Few of them were blessed with a surplus of this world's goods. They had their own way to make, their own fortunes to achieve. Their experience did not differ from those of the generality of Ohio pioneers, and no remarkable events marked the history of their lives. They were honest, worthy people; neighborly, kind-hearted and obliging; generally men of strong religious convictions but of limited education.

The old settlers found the country heavily timbered and wild game

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abundant.

There were turkeys and deer in plenty; many wolves and a few bears and panthers. Samuel Carpenter, crossing within a mile of Batesville, heard a sound which he at first took to be the cry of a human being in distress. He answered; the cry was repeated several times, and the sound came nearer. Then he understood that it was not a man but a panther that was approaching him, and made all haste to his home. At another time John Joy, on his way to the home of the Carpenters, saw peculiar tracks on Whisky Run. They led into a cave or cleft in the rocks, and he-bold even to rashness

crept in to see what was there. Discovering nothing, he came out and proceeded on his way. The Carpenters and John Tyrrell, on being told of the tracks, went with Joy to examine them. Tyrrell at once pronounced the tracks to be those of a panther. They also discovered that new tracks, leading away from the rocks, had been made since Joy left, and the wide spaces between them showed that the animal had made tremendous leaps in leaving

the spot. The settlers of the neighborhood gathered, and with their guns followed the panther a long distance, but did not succeed in killing him.

Whisky Run is very appropriately named. In early years Jacob Clinedinst, George Peters and Michael Upmeyer each had distilleries along the stream a short distance apart. Farther down James Eagon had a distillery. John House, on Beaver Fork, also had an early distillery. Whisky came nearer being a legal tender than almost any other article except money, and the latter was very scarce. The price of whisky was from 25 to 374 cents per gallon, and a gallon of whisky was the equivalent of a bushel of corn. Though whisky was almost universally used as a beverage, yet habitual intoxication was rare. A man who would not offer to treat a neighbor who called at his house was at once set down as mean and stingy.

In early years almost every species of labor was performed by "frolics" -gatherings of the neighbors for raising, grubbing, log-rolling, chopping, splitting rails, harvesting, etc. On these occasions there was great rivalry to see which man would perform the most labor. The women also had their gatherings for prepar ing flax for spinning, for quilting, carding, etc. These gatherings were always most enjoyable for all the participants.

In 1812 John House and family came from Greene County, Pa., accompanied by House's brother-in-law, Thomas Ball. They came with teams,

cutting their own road from Leatherwood Creek. James Eagon had settled in 1811 on the farm next below where House located. John House served as justice of the peace for eighteen years. Prior to this, Edward Bell, who lived on Leatherwood Creek within the present limits of Guernsey County, had held the same office for the township. John House built a log-mill upon the creek as early as 1816, and afterward erected a saw-mill. The grist-mill was afterward twice rebuilt, and the last one erected is still standing. Mr. House died in 1856. Nathan House, born in Greene County, Pa., in 1810, has lived in Beaver Township since 1812, and has a vivid recollection of the hardships and experiences of pioneer life.

Some years after James Eagon came to the township, his brothers, Jesse and Bernard, came out from Pennsylvania and settled, bringing also their father, Bernard Eagon.

He

John Delong was among the first settlers, coming prior to 1812. located at the forks of the creek. His sons, Thomas, William and Nathan, lived here after him.

Nathan Mills, from North Carolina, came about 1812, and lived in the township many years. Some of his children went to the western part of the State; he made them a visit and died while coming home.

The Reed family was among the pioneers-John Reed and his sons, James and Thomas, lived and died in the township.

John Ross, a Revolutionary soldier, came quite early and was miller

at House's mill for seven years. He had seven sons, who scattered to various parts of the country.

Francis Miller and Moses Ball, early settlers, were soldiers in the War of 1812.

John Starr settled in the township in 1811, and remained until his death. He was an upright and honorable man and a leading Methodist. His sons, John and James, also lived here.

Nathan Mills lived on the Wyscarver farm early. John Croy and James Edgar lived on a farm together. They came soon after 1812.

John Joy and his sons, Absalom and Amos, were among the pioneers of the township. They came from the vicinity of Wheeling, and before coming to Beaver lived a short time in Seneca Township. After a number of years they removed to Federal Creek, in Morgan County, where the village of Joy was named for them.

John Cline, an early settler on the creek below Batesville, was the first blacksmith in the settlement. His son Peter afterward worked at the same trade in Batesville.

In 1824 Isaac Cooper came from Virginia, bringing his family and his household goods in a twowheeled cart drawn by two horses hitched tandem. His son, W. K. Cooper, is now a carpenter in Batesville.

In 1818 William W. Finley came from Belmont County with his family and bought a farm, on which his sonin-law, James Reed, laid out the village of Batesville, which for many years was known as Williamsburg.

He had a family of eleven children, seven of whom are now living. He died in the township in 1836, his wife in 1874, at the age of eighty-five. The second daughter, Margaret, was born in Belmont County, Ohio, in 1811. She married James Reed, who came to the county about 1827 or 1828. He followed teaching for a livelihood. He was the first storekeeper of Batesville; his stock ($160) was hauled from Wheeling, Va., in a one-horse wagon. He did business for about five years, when he bought a farm in Buffalo Township, where he lived until 1832, when he removed to Senecaville. In 1852 he purchased the farm now owned by his son, Sylvester, in Center Township. Here he lived until his decease, in May of 1872. He had a family of six children: Lovina (Rich), Ellen A. (Vorhies), Isabella (Williams), Caroline (Arndt), Rebecca A. and Sylves

ter.

Mr. Reed was a good citizen and an exemplary man in all respects. In politics he was a Republican; he belonged to the Methodist church.

Jacob Brown, a native of Virginia, came from Belmont County to this township in 1819. His son, Squire Brown, born in 1807, Brown, born in 1807, is among the old residents of Batesville.

William Williams, Robert Smith, George Whetsel, Thomas and Moses Ball, Nathan Beals, John House, Phillip and Daniel Wendall, John Joy, William Finley, John Cline, John Starr, George Morgan, Francis Miller, William Murray, John Delong, Edmund Gallagher, John Jeffries, settled in the township as early as 1820.

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Timothy Cleveland, an enterprising, intelligent, honest Yankee, came from Maine, and settled north of Batesville prior to 1820. He raised apple trees from the seeds. Some of the trees he distributed among his neighbors, who set them out. Many of them are still producing fruit. Mr. Cleveland removed to the vicinity of Summerfield.

It is related of John House, the early magistrate of the township, that he kept no docket, but recorded his transactions on slips of paper, which he stuck into the cracks in the walls of his dwelling. He was a very honest and worthy man- and the same may be said of his son, Nathan, who is still living.

John S. Jeffries was born in 1792. In 1815 he emigrated from Chester County, Pa., and settled on the farm on Beaver Creek, where he died in 1872. He was a man greatly esteemed in the community, where he spent the greater part of his long life. He left a large number of descendants.

Beaver Township was established June 3, 1816, from part of Seneca and Oxford Townships, Guernsey County. The township was reorganized on the formation of Noble County in 1851.

On the petition of twenty-two inhabitants of township 8 in range 7, on the 2d of June, 1817, the commissioners of Guernsey County ordered an election to be held at the house of Philip Wendell for the purpose of choosing trustees for the school section. This record probably shows nearly the whole number of male citizens then residents of the township.

July 20, 1818, David Gray applied to the commissioners of Guernsey County for a lease of the school section in township 8 of range 7. Michael King, William Thompson and Samuel Rogers were appointed appraisers.

On the tax duplicate of Guernsey County for the year 1830 (the oldest now on record), are the names of the following owners of real estate in Beaver Township, with the number of acres owned by each and the valuation of the same. The list may therefore be regarded as an authentic record of the early settlers of the township: Thomas Arnold, section 6, 40 acres, value $55; Isaac Atkinson, section 15, 79 acres, $100; same, 79 acres, $100; Jesse Bailey, section 6, 64 acres, $87; Timothy Bates, section 31, 145 acres, $198; same, 145 acres, $198; Moses Ball, section 32, 127 acres, $203; Thomas Ball, section 20, 158 acres, $180; William Benton, section 10, 156 acres, $213; Charles Bucy and N. Dawson, section 15, 79 acres, $90; Joseph Burson, section 32, 198 acres, $145; same, section 33, 79 acres, $144; Loftus Beal, section 29, 79 acres, $100; Isaac Cooper, section 15, 79 acres, $100; Michael Creighton, section 15, 79 acres, $100; Joseph Carpenter, Jr., section 8, 40 acres, $64; Joseph Carpenter, Sr., section 8, 119 acres, $187; Matthias Croy, section 10, 159 acres, $217; same, 23 acres, $31, and 23 acres, $31; Richard Croy, section 4, 80 acres, $120; William Campbell, section 5, 159 acres, $253; John Carpenter, section 9, 160 acres, $291; John Cline, section 21, 159 acres,

$281; Allen Cook, section 24, 1044 acres, $143; Thomas Carpenter, section 26, 81 acres, $85; Michael Dunham, section 32, 58 acres, $67; Peter Danford, section 25, 160 acres, $182; Isaac Depew, section 24, 33 acres, $46; same, section 18, 71 acres, $98; Amos Day, section 34, 130 acres, $177; William Edgar, section 11, 160 acres, $218; Jesse Edgar, section 27, 158 acres, $251; Bernard Edgar, section 27, 160 acres, $218; same, 160 acres, $218, and 156 acres, $284; James Finley, section 14, 79 acres, $89; Samuel Fordice, section 4, 50 acres, $80; Libbeus Fordice, section 2, 40 acres, $46; Ann Flood, section 4, 159 acres, $238; John Flood, section 4, 80 acres, $120; Edmund Gallagher, section 10, 142 acres, $194; same, section 17, 158 acres, $216; James Gourley, section 4, 110 acres, $167; John House, section 21, 159 acres, $289; James House, section 23, 80 acres, $91; Samuel Hastings, section 15, 79 acres, $100; John S. Jeffries, section 3, 161 acres, $257; William Jeffries, section 32, 64 acres, $80; Absalom Joy, section 34, 70 acres, $87; John Mounts, section 2, 80 acres, $91; Nathan Mills, section 32, 864 acres, $118; same, 921 acres, $106, on section 33; John Martin, section 22, 79 acres, $100; William Purdy, Jr., section 6, 80 acres, $85; John Perry, section 28, 79 acres, $85; Nathaniel Piles, section 11, 160 acres, $225; Joseph Patton, section 2, 40 acres, $46; John Reed, section 12, 104 acres, $142; James Reed, section 5, 159 acres, $217; same, section 6, 53 acres, $73; John Reed, section 6, 52 acres, $60; John Rhine, section

28, 79 acres, $100; William Smith, section 5, 794 acres, $100; Robert Smith, section 14, 794 acres, $91; John Stewart, section 33, 45 acres, $62; same, 69 acres, $126; John Starr, section 33, 128 acres, $233; same, section 26, 81 acres, $111; Gideon Vore, section 24, 52 acres, $71; Jonathan Warne, section 24, 19 acres, $25; Daniel Wendall, Sr., section 15, 794 acres, $108; Thomas Winteringer, section 9, 160 acres, $291; Rebecca Williams, section 20, 794 acres, $90; Daniel Wendall, Jr., section 26, 81 acres, $110; Isaac Wood, section 25, 160 acres, $182; William Waterhouse, section 18, 30 acres, $40; Isaac Waggoner, section 10, 100 acres, $137; John Walsh, section 22, 79 acres, $100; same, 79 acres, $100, and 79 acres, $100. Total number of acres, 13,809; value, $20,396; total tax, $208.52.

The following persons were taxed as merchants in Beaver Township, Guernsey County, in 1830:

John Hall, capital $500; William Smith, $900; Richard Elliott and James Reed, $300; Abraham Brown, $200; John Berry, $50; Blackstone & Price, $1,000.

The following were the owners of lots in Williamsburg, in 1830, according to the tax duplicate for that year:

Abraham Brown, George Cline, Abraham Cline, Robert Carpenter, John Elliott, Richard Elliott, Libbeus Fordice, William Finley, William Grant, William Gray, Andrew Johnson, Zephaniah Johnson, William Jones, John Merrew, Joseph Morrison, John Piles, George Peters,

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