654 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, OHIO

CHAPTER XLVIII.

LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP.

General Physical Features and Geological Formation—First Settlement —Old Families—Eccentric Characters—German Emigration—Scotch Emigration—Organization of Government—List of First Voters-Schools—Religious Societies—Cemeteries—Early Sunday-schools -First Children's Home—Post Offices—Societies—Physicians—Oil Production—Population.

LAWRENCE is the only square township in the county. Its territory bounded on the north by Liberty, on the east by Independence, on the south by Newport, and on the west by Fearing, is coextensive with township No. 3, range seven, in the original survey. In its physical feat-

ures this township is peculiarly interesting, for by the relief-forms is shown the geological formation which makes possible the existence of the chief source of wealth. The Little Muskingum enters at the northeast corner and flows diagonally across this township, dividing it into two almost equal parts. Along its entire course narrow alluvial bottoms lie between the shallow channel and the steep ascent to the high plateaus on either side. The territory is divided into three surface slopes, one toward the northwest and emptying its waters into the Little Muskingum, one toward the southeast and emptying its waters into the same stream, and the third in the northwest corner, sloping toward the west and emptying its waters into Duck creek. The principal streams of the southwestward slope are Cow run, Bear run, and Archer's fork. The streams of the southeastward slope are Morse run and Fifteen creek. Whippel's fork, a tributary of Duck creek, rises in the northward slope. These streams, which on account of the rapid descent of the general slope are very swift, flow through narrow channels from which rise steep and sometimes precipitous hills to the elevated plateaus above. The surface on these elevations between these streams is comparatively level, and the soil is productive. The smaller streams are numerous and their valleys are narrow and deep, thus cutting the elevated table lands into small and irregular tracts, giving the country a rough and broken appearance.

Cow run, which we shall frequently have occasion to mention in this history, rises on the ridge in the southeastern part of the township, flows westerly and empties into the Little Muskingum about one mile from the Newport township line. The name of this stream, though not euphonious, is suggestive. There are saline springs along the entire valley, which before the land was fenced attracted cattle from the territory for miles around. This was the creek on which the milkmaid was accustomed to find her cows, and it is not strange that Cow run soon became the common designation.

Bear run, which rises in the highlands in the southeastern part of the township and takes a northwesterly direction, derives its name from an event in the life of Archer, the hunter. It is said that on the banks of this stream Archer met a bear in a hand to paw combat in which the veteran hunter triumphed, not, however, without receiving severe injuries. His thigh was horribly minced and his life barely saved.*

Archer's fork properly belongs to Independence, only about one mile of its course being in Lawrence. The sources of Fifteen creek are in Liberty township and along the water-shed between the basins of Duck creek and the Little Muskingum. It flows almost due south and empties into Little Muskingum near the centre of the township. Morse run has its source in the water-shed, and empties into the Little Muskingum about two miles above the mouth of Cow run. The hill, along this stream are the highest in the township. These hills were once thickly covered with fine chestnut trees, and the first industry in the township was the manufacture of chestnut shingles. One of the principal operators was a man named Morse, who had a cabin in the wilderness and after whom the stream was named. Little Morse run is a stream flowing into Morse run from the north-

* Another and more commonly accepted origin for the name of this stream is that a bear was killed in the valley through which it flows in comparatively recent times.

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west. Cow run flows through a ravine known as Dark Valley, which requires special mention. Here the channel of the stream is very narrow, and its course is due north and south. A range of hills on each side rises almost perpendicularly to the altitude of four hundred feet above the level of the stream. A series of conical peaks castelate these ranges and present a strikingly picturesque scene. From the bottom of the valley the sun can never be seen more than four hours during the day, hence the name Dark Valley.

THE SOIL AND CROPS.

The body of the soil on the terraces is red sand, sufficiently mixed with disentegrated limestone to make it fertile. Where the limestone is wanting satisfactory production can only be secured by the liberal application of fertilizers. In most portions of the township the land is naturally productive and easily cultivated. Wheat yields fairly, and of late years tobacco culture has been extensively and successfully pursued. The rich loam of the Little Muskingum valley yields large crops of Indian corn. That Lawrence is adapted to stock-raising is proved by the experience of the Scotch settlement in the north part of the township, a notice of which will be found further on. The German settlement in the northwest corner of the township occupies, probably, the most sterile portion, but under industrious and careful cultivation the hills in that section, once considered valueless, are enriching their owners.

But it is not fertility of soil that gives the lands of Lawrence their chief value. Nature has deposited her richest treasures in the underlying strata. Before, however, we proceed to the history of the discovery and production of petroleum, it will be necessary to study briefly

THE GEOLOGICAL FORMATION.

Oil is found only where there are fissures or breaks in the rock strata, caused by subterranean disturbance. At the time these fissures were formed they extended to great depths, and through them vapors from the distillation of bitumuous materials came up, condensed to a liquid state and filled the pores and crevices.

There is in Lawrence township a well marked uplift, the centre of which is on the hill on the south side of Cow run, near the line of the Exchange company's territory. From this point the axis of the break slopes gradually toward the north until at Burning Spring, on Fifteen, the anticlinal feature is scarcely perceptible. The eastern and western dips on Cow run are very rapid, and oil men are guided by surface indications where to locate wells. Further north on Morse run and Fifteen, the surface indications of subterranean fissures are so slight that it is impossible to locate them. The break also declines from Cow run toward the south, and is no longer perceptible at Eight Mile run..

The best coal mines in the township are on Morse run, where the seam on the Myers and Martin farms is three and one-half to four feet thick. The Exchange company obtains the coal with which to operate their oil wells on their own territory on Cow run.

On the summit of the uplift the first sandrock which contains oil lies one hundred and thirty-five feet below the bed of the stream, and the second sandrock containing oil is four hundred feet deeper. Oil is found on Fifteen creek in blue shale at the depth of four hundred feet, and on Morse run in first sandrock.

There are a few salt springs in the township, and water, ladened with saline materials, has been struck during the sinking of oil wells.

THE FOREST.

The terrace woodlands originally consisted of tall, straight poplars, heavy chestnuts and majestic oaks, with smaller timber intervening. Small pines, buckeye, ash, sugar, beech and hickory also abounded, making the forest almost impenetrable; wide-spreading sycamores skirted the streams, and but few spots of surface were exposed to the sun. This dense forest was inhabited by wolves, bears, deer, wild-cats, panthers, raccoons, foxes, and the other smaller and more common animals. Altogether this tract of territory presented few attractions for the emigrant in search of a home, and the comparative tardiness of settlement is not to be wondered at. Bears greatly annoyed the earliest settlers by carrying off their hogs and other domestic animals, but they retreated when the work of clearing began to be pushed. Wolves remained until a later date. Deer have many years since ceased to run the hills, but foxes are yet numerous.

Thus nature has left Lawrence township with a surface broken and hilly, with a soil variable in fertility, but on the whole inferior, with productive seams of good coal and underlying rocks filled with petroleum. The civil history of a community depends so much upon the geography of the territory occupied that a previous knowledge of natural environments is necessary to a correct understanding of its social and industrial development.

THE SETTLEMENT.

It is not definitely known who the first settler of Lawrence was. The Dye family, the Hoff family, and the Chambers family all made permanent improvements in the Little Muskingum valley before 1810. As would be expected, the first settlers chose the rich bottom land along the river, the more distant terraces not being entered till comparatively recent times.

John Dye and Samuel Dye emigrated from Virginia and settled in the valley of the Little Muskingum, a short distance above the mouth of Cow run, in 1805. A few years later their father, John Dye, sr., with the remainder of the family, settled in the same neighborhood. John Dye, second, was born in New Jersey, in 1774. He emigrated with his family to Virginia, and then to Ohio, and settled in Lawrence township. He was married to Hannah Hoff, who was born in 1774, and died in 1857. He died during the epidemic of 1823. They had eleven children: Enoch, who died at the age of twenty; Thomas, Mophet, Susan, wife of Robert Pierce, of Newport township; Eliza, wife of Nathan Davis; Samuel, second, esq„ a resident of Warren township; Emma, wife of William

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Chambers; Daniel, deceased; John W.; A. Jackson, and Hannah, wife of George Casady, of Newport township.

A. Jackson Dye, son of John Dye, jr., was born in 1816, in Lawrence township. In 1838 he married Maria Petty, who was born in 1818. He owns one hundred acres of the old homestead. His family consists of nine children: D. H., who resides in Lawrence township; L. P., in Marietta; P. C., in Nebraska; G. P., in Marietta; William A., in Nebraska; H. M., wife of Gideon Campbell, on Cow run; S. A., in Lawrence township; Lottie and Emma at home.

Samuel Dye, brother of John Dye, jr., is well remembered by the older citizens of the township. He emigrated from Virginia and began life among the wooded hills of Lawrence, in 1805. He died in 1860, at the age of eighty-one years. Susan Hoff, his wife, was born in Virginia, in 1776 and died in 1849. The family consisted of ten children: John H., the oldest, was born in Virginia, in 1799. In 1822 he married Eliza O'Bleness, who was born in New York in 1803. The remaining children of Samuel Dye were: Hannah, first wife of Joseph Caywood; Sophia, wife of Amos Dye, second; Betsy, wife of Ezekial Dye, second; Mary, wife of Ezekial Reed; Annie, wife of William Templeton, and afterwards of William McGee; Jonathan and James H., of Marietta; Nancy, wife of John R. Hill, of Newport township; and George, deceased. Hannah and Sophia married cousins of their father; Betsy and Mary their second cousins.

When Samuel and John Dye settled in Lawrence township, the nearest post office was Marietta, and the tract of country toward the north was an unbroken wilderness. The native animals of the forest nightly visited the improvement in search of prey. Domestic animals were in constant danger, and even children were unsafe beyond sight of the cabin. In dry weather the nearest mill was at Devol's dam, twelve miles away, which could only be reached by traversing a cow path through . the woods. Samuel Dye was a man of eccentric appearance. In cold weather along cloak, covered with shorter capes, the number depending on the temperature, protected his tall and corpulent body. He was always in a good humor and called everybody "bub," which gave him the nickname "bub Sam." The electors of his township made him justice of the peace for thirty-one successive years. The brothers and sisters of John and Samuel Dye were: Jane, wife of Henry Chamberlain; Polly, wife of James Hoff; Ezekiel and Jonathan, farmers of Lawrence township; Bettie, Sallie, wife first of Thomas Worthington, then of James Britton; Patience, wife of John Cadwell, of Marietta township; and Amos, a farmer and one of the early millers of Lawrence.

Two sons of Jonathan Dye, sr., were the victims of fatal accidents. Amos died from the effect of a falling limb striking him on the head. The accident which resulted in the death of Alexander was horrible. In 1873, during the oil excitement at Cow Run, Alexander's son, a small boy, found a can of fluid which his parents supposed to be refined coal oil. The lamp, which was more than half full of crude oil, was filled with what was supposed to be the superior article, and the evening was spent as usual around the open hearth. The lamp was noticed to flicker now and then, but no apprehension was excited. Before retiring it was turned down and left burning on the table. Soon after retiring the flickering became more frequent and excited the fears of Mrs. Dye, who asked her husband to blow out the light. He hurried to obey the request, but when he picked up the lamp the flickering became frequent and more intense. Just as he was in the act of pitching the dangerous bowl from the cabin, the explosion of the half pint of nitro-glycerine which it contained, filled the air with small particles of the body of its victim, left the cabin in ruins and wounded every member of the family except the baby.

Mrs. Abigal Dye, wife of Jonathan T. Dye, who was born in 1835 and died in 1878, is the daughter of James Jamison, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1795, and settled in Liberty township, Washington county. Mr. Jamison was married to Elizabeth Gordon, who was born in 1803 and died in 1866. The surviving members of the family are: Elizabeth, wife of William Mosburgh, of Kansas; John H., James M., and Mark B., who reside in Virginia; Susan, wife of John Phunister; Rebecca, wife of Earstus Magee ; and Abigal, who was born in 1841, in Liberty township.

Diarca A. Dye, son of John H. Dye, was born in 1840. In 1860 he married Mary E. Clogston, who was born in Marietta in 1840. They have a family of six children. Mr. Dye went into the oil business in 1862, and continued to operate wells until 1875, when he engaged in the lumber business.

Dr. William L. McCowan was born in Philadelphia in 1815, and came to Ohio in 1846, stopping for a time at Harmar, and eventually locating in this township at Morse run, where he has been postmaster since 1862. By his first wife, Marinda J. Matthews, who died in 1870, he had ten children, of whom eight survive, viz: Elizabeth, Harriet (Bab) of Cow Run, Marinda (Dye) of West Virginia, Asa, Nancy H. (Dye) of Dexter City, William H., and Edward. By his second wife, Dr. McCowan has two children, Emma and Viola.

One of the early, and possibly the first, settlers of Lawrence township, was John Chambers, who was born in County Down, Ireland. He emigrated to America in 1798 and settled in Lawrence township about 1799. He settled at the mouth of Chambers' run a short distance below and opposite the mouth of Cow run. From the time of his arrival in Ohio, until he settled in Lawrence, he lived at the mouth of Wingett's run, in Ludlow township. He built the first saw-mill in the township, on the Little Muskingum at the mouth of Chambers' run. His wife, Annie Greer, was a Scotch lady. It was chiefly through Mr. Chambers' benevolence and influence that the Little Muskingum church was built. He died in 1823.

William Chambers, an older brother, settled in Lawrence on the farm opposite the mouth of Chambers' run, about 1810. A younger sister who emigrated from Ireland at the same time, was the wife of Hugh Wilson, of Aurelius township.

James P., a son of William Chambers, was a natural

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land surveyor. Without the aid of an instrument he could run lines and measure land with remarkable accuracy.

James G., the oldest son of John Chambers, was distinguished for two traits of character, fine social qualities and an uncontrollable temper. When in a fit of passion his swearing was shocking. William, a younger brother was killed by lightening at the age of seventeen. Joseph Chambers was a farmer and carpenter who lived on the east side of the Little Muskingum until 1850, when he moved to Marietta. He married Matilda McElHinney.

Joseph Caywood settled about one mile below and opposite the mouth of Cow run in 1806. He died without children in 1820. His nephew, Joseph, a son of William Caywood, settled in Lawrence, on what is yet known as the Joseph Caywood farm. He was a leading member of the Presbyterian church.

About 1805 theToff family, consisting of Susan Hoff, the widow of Daniel Hoff, and seven children, four sons and three daughters, came from Alexandria, Virginia, and settled in Lawrence township, above the mouth of Cow run. Enoch Hoff, the oldest, had been a slave master and trader. He settled near the mouth of Morse run. He was married five times. The children by his third wife were: James P., Angeline and Mary. Both James P. and his father were known in the community as "nigger catchers." Refugee slaves on several occasions were induced into the Hoff residence, and there captured and carried back to bondage.

Hannah Hoff married John Dye. Jonathan married Betsy Duncan and settled on Duck creek.

William Hoff was born in old Virginia in 1780, and settled in Lawrence township, where he died in 1844. His wife, Elizabeth Dutton, born in 1785, died in 1839. Of their children, Daniel died in Iowa ; James died in Muskingum township; Lida died in Lawrence township; John died in Iowa; Margaret resides in Lawrence; Alfred, in Muskingum township; George is in Illinois, and Amos is in Iowa. Alfred Hoff is the father of eight children, of whom seven survive. He was captain of the transfer boat that carried the first regiment out of the State at the outbreak of the late war. He established a woollen mill at Marietta. Susan was the wife of Samuel Dye. Polly married Isaac Hill, and moved to Hocking river. James, the youngest of the family, married three times, and had five sons and eleven daughters.

John Sharp, well known all over the county as associate judge of common pleas, was born in Pennsylvania in 1771, and came to Ohio about 1800. He made an improvement on the east side of the Little Muskingum near the Newport township line. The first orchard on the Little Muskingum was planted by him. He was a very large, corpulent man, and was looked upon as the Solon of the community. He served as judge of common pleas several years, and a few days before his death in 1823, was commissioned judge of the superior court. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Mitchell, and ten children survived him.

About the year 1812 Nathan Matheney (originally spelled Metheny), a native of Virginia, came from Athens county, Ohio, and settled above and opposite the mouth of Fifteen creek, and improved the farm now owned by Polly Martin. He had, by his first wife, Elizabeth Everly, eight children; by his second, Barbara Fultz, two; by his third, Katie Farley, six. Of these, sixteen children but one settled in Lawrence township. Noah, the oldest, made the first improvement on Bear run. Nathan Matheny, sr., returned to Athens county in 1835. Noah moved to Tunnel, Ohio, in 1858. His son John resides in Newport township.

Ceorge Templeton, esq., came to Lawrence township from Newport, and made an improvement on the Little Muskingum about two miles above the mouth of Fifteen, in 1819. He served as justice of the peace in Lawrence for thirty-three years. In partnership with Beniah Snodgrass and Benjamin Burres, he built a saw-mill in 8834, about one mile further up the river. He died about z 850. He was the father of twelve children. His son William was killed by accident. Joseph settled on Bear run, where he is still living. James is living on Fifteen creek. Lettie who is unmarried, has always been the main support of the Lawrence Baptist church.

Zeptha Treadway was one of the earliest settlers of the upper part of the township. About 1820 he came from New Jersey, and entered land below and opposite the mouth of Archer's fork. Two of his sons are living: Jonathan, near the same place, and the other, Jerre who was a self-constituted preacher, is in the county infirmary.

Every royal household has its jester, every circus a clown, and no community is complete without a professional story teller. Lawrence, in the person of Jacob Bartmess, possessed a Munchausen in whom was combined the cunning of a wit and the oddity of a genius. "Jake" lived in a cabin on the east side of the Little Muskingum, nearly opposite the Baptist church, as early as 1825. He cared nothing about domestic affairs, and was happy only when tramping the woods with his gun on his shoulder, or entertaining his neighbors with the story of the mighty deeds of "my brother George." George was always the hero of his blood chilling stories. A few peculiarities of the house are worthy of mention. The black-eyed children had a terror of strangers. A rustle of bare feet followed a rap on the door, and the entering visitor could see nothing of children save several pairs of sparkling black eyes peering from under the bed. When the boys grew older, they were given an outfit of buckskin pantaloons. Although the boys were growing longer, the pantaloons from time to time became shorter, they being Jake's only recourse for thongs. He died on a hunting expedition down the river near Cairo, in 1876, aged seventy-seven years.

Hiram Snodgrass emigrated from Bull Creek, West Virginia, and settled on Bear run in Lawrence township, in 1812. He died on the same place in 1879. His wife's maiden name was Drucilla 011iver. Eli Snodgrass, a brother of Hiram, and husband of Polly Templeton, was one of the early settlers of Lawrence. Beniah Snodgrass is well remembered by all the old settlers of Lawrence. He was married twice, first to Anna McKib-

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ban and then to Julia Anne Clark. He settled in section ten, and in partnership with Burris & Templeton, built the Templeton mill in 1834.

Lucas Casady settled in Lawrence township, about one mile below the mouth of Fifteen, in 1821. He continued to reside in Lawrence township until 1850, when he was killed by accident in Maysville, Kentucky. His family consisted of three sons and one daughter. Morton settled opposite Painter run; George at the head of Morse run, and William J. on Morse run. Diadamia was married to Samuel Dye, third, from whom she was afterwards divorced, and married to Carlton Palmer, of Newport township.

The McAllister improvement is the oldest in the upper part of the township. About five acres were cleared as early as 1820, but no house was built. It is not probable that anyone lived there until the later settlement of the township.

Joe Harris, who settled near the mouth of Morse run in 1825, was the hero of the woods. In manners he was somewhat rough, but possessed a kind heart and accommodating disposition. He was a useful man in the clearing, and could always be relied upon at a raising.

The mill at the mouth of Fifteen was owned by George W. Reynolds in 1832. It came into possession of Charles Akinson in 1836. Charles was a grandson of Cornelius Akinson, who was wounded seven times in one battle in the Revolution. Charles was born on the Juniata in 1796, and in early life learned milling and boat-building. His death occurred in Marietta in 1880. William, his oldest son, made an improvement on Bear run in 1838, where he is still living. His first wife was Jane Templeton, daughter of Squire Templeton. He married for his second wife Theda Patterson, sister of Dr. Patterson. He is a prominent man in the community.

In the autumn of 1832, Joseph McElHinney with his aged father, John McElHinney, and his only sister Anne; come from the north of Ireland and settled on the Little Muskingum, a short distance above and opposite the mouth of Elk run. He found there a clearing of six acres and a small orchard and cabin which had been made by Jacob Newlin some twelve years previous. This was at that time the uppermost improvement in the township, and there was no improvement above on the county road nearer than that of Jacob Wingett, at the mouth of Wingett's run. Zephtha Treadway was the nearest neighbor on the same road below. John McElHinney died in 1874, in his eightieth year. His daughter Anne made her home with her brother Joseph, until his death in September, 1840; Mary, wife of Joseph McElHinney, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Chambers, in Marietta, in 1874. They had a family of six children: Matilda, wife of Joseph Chambers, Marietta; Joseph M. McElHinney, M. D., Newport; Nancy Jane, wife of Rev. George D. Fry, Morgan county; David M. McElHinney is mayor of Hastings, Nebraska, and was, in 1873-4, grand master of Nebraska State lodge, I. O. O. F.; Alexander M., Silver Cliff, Colorado; and Kate, wife of S. A. Squier, mayor of Silver Cliffi Colorado.

John Rake made the first improvement on section six. He sold to A. Campbell and Samuel Bush, and purchased the McAllister improvement in 1835. He died opposite the mouth of Bear run in 1875.

Solomon Tice, an early settler of Ludlow township, pushed into Lawrence township in the pursuit of his ambition to suddenly make a great fortune. At the mouth of a small stream emptying into the Little Muskingum, the "Governor," as he was nicknamed, discovered a composite rock which he supposed to contain silver. This circumstance gave the stream its present name, Silver Mine run. As early as 1825 he bored a well on Fifteen creek, opposite the mouth of Mill fork, to the depth of three hundred feet, in search of salt. His tools were inadequate to the further progress of the work, and the attempt was abandoned. It is said that his confidence of obtaining a productive salt well was broken by the appearance, at the depth of two hundred feet, of a black, greasy liquid, which later investigations prove to have been oil.

Archibald Campbell settled in the northeast corner of Lawrence township in 1833. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1806, and married Hannah Sample, who was born in 1820. Mr. Campbell was the first postmaster of Lawrence post office. The surviving members of the family are: John M., who lives in Marietta; Rebecca J., wife of Thomas Hall, of Ludlow township; Sarah A., wife of Ross N. Dye, of Marietta township; Joseph L., who lives in Marietta; Gideon, Samuel M., and Luna, who live at Cow Run. Samuel M., the druggist at Cow Run, was born in 1844. He married Mary E. Maxon in 1866. In 1863 he enlisted in company H, Seventh Ohio cavalry, and served till 1865, when he was discharged at Nashville. He was appointed census enumerator in 1880.

The first store in Lawrence township was opened by William Powell in 1838, in the upper part of the township, near the corner of Independence. He removed from Lawrence to Grand View township, where he engaged in the practice of medicine.

John Barnhart was one of the early settlers of the upper corner of the township. He was a nervous and superstitious character, who was in constant dread of ghosts. One night, while passing through a clearing, a man without a head appeared, and in a few days it was announced that Barnhart had died of nervous prostration.

Rev. Levi L. Fay was born in the State of Massachusetts in 1814. He married Caroline Hill, who was born in 1816, and died in 1854. In 1855 he married Minerva Bachelor. He settled in Marietta township in 1835, and removed to Lawrence township in 1844. He is a Congregational minister, and is now in charge of the churches at Morse Run, Cow Run, Stanleyville, and Cedar Narrows. His surviving children do not live in this county.

Major Isaac M. Hannold was the seventh son of Isaac Hannold, jr., a blacksmith and wagon-maker of Camden, New Jersey, whose father, Isaac Hannold, came from Germany and settled in Haddonfield, New Jersey. Isaac M. Hannold was born in Barnsborough, New Jersey, June 29,1791, and was brought up in Camden. He was

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a brick-layer, stone-cutter, shoemaker, carpenter, and farmer. In 1814 he was elected first lieutenant of the Camden Blues, and was in the service till the close of the war. In 1815 he married Patience F. Ross, of Philadelphia, who was of an English family. In 1817 he removed to Pennsylvania, and in 1819 he was elected captain of militia, and in 1824 was commissioned major of the Fifteenth regiment. He was elected colonel in 1836, but before receiving his commission he removed to Natchez, Mississippi, where a railroad contract occupied his time until 1838, when he returned to Pennsylvania and was employed two years in the construction of the Hann Street bridge between Allegheny City and Pittsburgh. In 1840 he removed to this county and purchased a farm eight miles from Marietta, in Lawrence township, on the ridge between Duck creek and Little Muskingum. He was for four years superintendent of the infirmary, and was one of the partners in the Old Elm well, the second producing oil well on Cow run. In 1865 he removed to Monitor, Indiana, where he died in 1867, two years after the death of his wife.

We have now given a sketch of the best known of the early settlers along the Muskingum valley. The large tract of territory at the head of Fifteen creek was settled mostly by Scotch families who came to this county between 1840 and 1850. They are an intelligent and industrious class of people, and have contributed largely toward the wealth of the county. Wool growing is the predominant industry of the Scotch communities.

George Heslop was born in England in 1790. He emigrated to America and settled in Lawrence township in 1844. His death occurred in 1878. Agnes Dixon, his wife, was born in 1794, and died in 1840. The surviving members of the family are: Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Lumsdon, who resides in Pennsylvania; Agnes, wife of Andrew Johnson, Fearing township; - Jane, wife of Thomas Spratt, Adams township; William, Lawrence township: Isabel, wife of Alexander Ormiston, Barlow township; and John, who was born in 1828. In 1865 he married Anna Thompson, who was born in 1845. They have six children. John Heslop came from England in 1844, and settled on one hundred and forty acres of land in the north part of Lawrence township.

Ralph Cuthbert emigrated from England, where he was a master shepherd, in 1842. He settled in Lawrence township, on Fifteen creek, and engaged in general farming and wool growing. His wife, Isabel Thompson, was born in 1819, she died in 1876. The family consisted of eight children, six of whom are living. Ralph W., third child, died in 1865, from a wound which he received at Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Cuthbert owns two hundred and forty acres of good land.

John Slobaum was the first German settler on the highlands in the northwest part of the township, known as German ridge. He entered land and made an improvement previous to 1840. This ridge is now settled by people of German descent, who are becoming wealthy on the products of once rejected terraces.

John D. Pape, sr., born in Hanover, Germany, in 1794, emigrated to this country in 1838, came to Washington county, and settled in Lawrence township, where he died. His wife, Hedwick Mehrtens, was born in 1797, and is still living. Six of the eight children are living. In 1812 John D. Pape served in Bonaparte's army.

John D. Pape, jr., married Christiana Fitchen, who came from Germany in 1845. Six of the seven children are living. Mr. Pape owns a farm of two hundred and fifty acres of land, on the Ohio river, in Marietta township. In 1877 he started a grocery in Marietta, where he resides.

John W. Gitchell settled in Lawrence township in 1852, he having emigrated from Steubenville, Ohio, where he was born in 1836. For the past sixteen years he has been connected with the saw-mill business in the township of Newport. He has a farm of one hundred and eighty acres of land. Was in the hundred days service, and in 1864 was drafted into the Sixty-second Ohio volunteer infantry, serving until the close of the war. By his wife, Samantha T. Tidd, he has had eight children.

John Q. Pepper settled in Lawrence township in 1853, having emigrated from Virginia. He married Olive Maxon, who was born in 1822.. They had eight children. Sarah E. was born in Noble county in 185i. In 1872 she was married to Augustus T. Dye, who was born in 185c. He died in 1876, leaving two children.

The most rapid growth of population was between 1863 and 1870, caused by the extensive production of oil within that period.

Eldridge G. Gilbert was born in Massachusetts in 1828, emigrated to Aurelius township, Washington county, in 1858, and to Cow Run, Lawrence township, in 1864, where he built a machine shop. His wife, Mary A. Davis, was born in 1840, in Adams township. They have a family of three children: Juna B., born in 1870; Laura M., in 1874; and Ethel S., in 1879•

Victor Torner was born in Europe in 1815 and emigrated to Virginia, and in 1861 settled in Belpre township, afterwards coming to Lawrence, where he is superintendent of the Exchange company's oil wells. He built the flouring mill at Newport. In 1848 he married Charlotta G. Weiss, who was born in 1819. They have three children, viz: Elvira, wife of J. R. Dye, of Cow Run; Hugo T., living at Cow Run, and William V., at Newport.

Alfred Hoff was born in Lawrence township, Washington county, June 24, 1817. He was married in 1839 to Miss Mary N. Atkinson, who died in the same year. In 1840 he was a second time married, to Miss Elizabeth Fuller, who still lives. Eight children have been born of this marriage, of whom seven are living. Mr. Hoff was for twenty-five years chief engineer on boats on the Ohio, its tributaries, and on southern rivers. When the civil war broke out he was in the south, and immediately after the fall of Sumter transported two confederate regiments from Arkansas to New Orleans. Not relishing such work, he immediately set out for home. On his arrival, he with two others chartered a boat and took out the first troops that left Ohio. He served through the whole

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war. After the war he was interested in manufacturing, building the Marietta woollen mills. In 1861 he purchased a farm in Muskingum township, on which he now lives in retirement.

In 1868 George E. Lehmer emigrated to Lawrence from Pennsylvania, in which State he was born in 1837. He married Annie E. Stickle, who was born in 1840. To Mr. and Mrs. Lehmer bas been born one son, Willie H., living in this township. In 1873 Mr. Lehmer was elected to the office of school director. He has charge of six oil wells, which produce about five barrels per day. While serving in Company F of the Pennsylvania reserves he was wounded at Antietam and also at Fredericksburgh.

W. Strachan was born in England in 1831. He came to America in 1843, and remained in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, until 1869, when he came to Cow Run and engaged in the oil business. He has been justice of the peace for nine years. He married Sarah Johnson, of this township, a granddaughter of Alderman Johnson, an early settler of this township, and daughter of Edward Johnson. He has five children, viz: David, Mary, Margaret, Sarah and Edward.

ESTABLISHMENT AND ORGANIZATION.

A petition was laid before the commissioners at their June session, 1815, signed by Nathaniel Mitchell, John Mitchell, Elisha Rose, John Sharp and others, "praying that a new township may be laid out and set off from the township of Newport." It was resolved by the boiid "that the whole of the original surveyed township number three, range seven, together with sections 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35 and 36 in the second township, range seven, be and hereby is established into an incorporated town, to be called and denominated Lawrence, and the inhabitants within said district are entitled to all the immunities and privileges of incorporated towns within the State. The elections in said town will meet at the house of John Mitchell on the second Saturday of July, at to o'clock A. M., for the purpose of electing township officers." The court of quarter sessions directed that an election for two justices of the peace should be held at the same time and place. The election which was held agreeably to this order resulted in the choice of the following officers: Trustees, William Hoff, John Newton and Elisha Rose; clerk, John Sharp; constables, James Hoff and Elijah Wilson; fence viewers, Jonathan Dye and James Mitchell; treasurer, John Dye; supervisors, George Nixon and Nathaniel Mitchell; justices of the peace, Samuel Dye and John Mitchell. The township officers were sworn in by Samuel Dye, justice of the peace.

On the first of April, 1816, the electors met at the house of Nathaniel Mitchell to elect township officers. John Dye was chosen chairman, and Elisha Rose and John Newton judges of the election. John Sharp was clerk. At this second election eighteen votes were cast. The following is the list of voters: John Sharp, William Hoff, James Hoff, David McKibbon, Isaac Wilson, Nathan Davis, Nathanial Mitchell, Jonathan Dye, John Newton, Elisha Rose, John Dye, Samuel Dye, Henry Chamberlain, John Mitchell, Isaac Hill, Ezekiel Dye, James Mitchell and Alderman Johnson.

Nearly half of this list of voters resided in that part of the township which has since been set back to Newport. James Hoff was elected first "lister of taxable property," and John Mitchell appraiser of houses. The first grand jurors from the township were Nathaniel Amlin and Nathaniel Mitchell. John Dye was the first petit juror.

The election of 1820 and subsequent elections for many years were held in a school-house on John Dye's farm near the mouth of Cow run. In 1827, section thirty-two of township two was reannexed to Newport, and at the June session, 1840, Lawrence was reduced to its present limits. William Hill and others made an effort in 1816 to have this change made, but the commissioners deemed it inexpedient. A township house has since been built near the center of the township, where elections are now held by the citizens of the northern precinct. The second voting precinct was established, for the convenience of the residents of the southern end, in 1872.

Before the war Lawrence gave large Democratic majorities. From the opening of the war till 1872, the township was carried by the Republicans; from 1872 it was carried by the Democrats till 1880, when the Republicans had a small majority.

SCHOOLS.

The first school in the township was opened about 1810, by a young man from Virginia, named Dunkin, in a log building which stood on the Joseph Haywood farm, a short distance below the mouth of Cow run. A schoolhouse was afterwards built on the farm owned by John Templeton, in which school was maintained until the common school system went into operation in 1838. A school was opened about 1835 on the J. H. Dye farm, by Peggy Hill. This school was quite popular among the settlers, and was well patronized. The only other private school in the township was on Fifteen creek.

In 1838, when the public school system went into effect, the township was divided into eight districts, and a log house built in each. The number of districts was increased to ten, and in I880 to fourteen.

Lawrence township has been peculiarly fortunate with regard to her school fund. In 1869, when profitable oil wells were being obtained almost everywhere in the Cow run region, a company known as the School-house company leased from the school board the lot on which the Cow Run school-house then stood. The company, under the conditions of the lease were to receive two-thirds of all the oil yielded by the territory. The school-house was moved and operations began which resulted, on the twenty-second of October, in procuring, probably, the best well in the township. At first it produced one hundred and twenty barrels a day. This well has since been . the source of a steady income to the township school fund, its production at the present time being about sixteen barrels per week. The school fund has derived

JONATHAN T. DYE

Amos Dye, father of Jonathan T., was one of the old settlers of Lawrence township, where he lived from the time of his settlement until his death. He came from Noble county, Ohio. He died in 1877, leaving six sons, viz: Thomas, Devol, John Wesley, Jonathan T., Joseph and Fay. All of these are living except Jonathan T. John W. and Fay live in Washington county; Thomas lives in Virginia; Devol and Joseph live in Ross county, Ohio.

Jonathan Titus Dye was born January 26, 1838, in Lawrence township, and received his education in the schools of the township. He was always noted as a particularly bright scholar, and acquired a very good common school education. At the age of seventeen, he began to teach, and followed this profession until his twenty-sixth year. His schools were all in Lawrence township.

On the thirteenth of March, 1862, Mr. Dye was married to Miss Abigail E. Jameson, who survives him. Miss Jameson was born in Liberty township, March 13, 1843. Her father was one of the oldest settlers of the county. He first settled in Liberty township, whence he removed with his family to Kansas in 1833. Here he died in the fall of the same year, his wife having preceded him to the grave a few months before. The four children moved back to Lawrence township, this county, in the following spring.

After his marriage, Mr. Dye taught school for two years, then moved to Marietta, where he engaged in the oil business. After being thus employed for two or three years, he engaged in the dry goods and grocery business on Greene street, in the firm of Westgate &

Dye. But, as his health was always very delicate, Mr. Dye felt that life in the country was better for him than an active business life in town. Hence, after about six months, he purchased a part of his father's homestead in Lawrence township, and moved his family thither. Here he lived until his death, which occurred February 28, 1879, of consumption.

Mr. and Mrs. Dye had seven children, as follows: Martin L. P., born April 13, 1863, died August 23,1864; Clara M., born September 13, 1865; Ida Sophia, born February 21, 1868; Sherman Edwin, born August 14, 1870; Abbie C., born November 8, 1872; Furman Victor, born September 7, 1875, died March to, 1877; and Carl M., born February 6, 1878.

Mr. Dye's home farm consisted of one hundred and twelve acres. He also owned other lands in various parts of the county, and some in Ross county, amounting altogether to about three hundred acres. This land is still owned by his widow, who lives on and manages the home farm.

Mr. Dye made a specialty of stock-raising, paying especial attention to the raising of sheep.

Mr. Dye was township clerk, and also a trustee of the township for several years. At one time he was appointed land appraiser.

He was a man of great energy, although that energy was constantly hampered by ill health. He was very widely known and always very highly respected. He was an earnest and sincere Christian, being a member of the Congregational church, which body he joined at the early age of seven.

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from it about forty thousand dollars, out of which the schools of the township have been maintained and a number of new houses built. There is now a balance bearing interest, of twenty-four thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine dollars and fifty-seven cents. To what use this fund shall be appropriated is an issue in the township. Some favor permanently endowing the common schools, and others advocate the establishment of a school for higher instruction.

CHURCHES.

The first church built in Lawrence township was located in the neighborhood of the first settlement, on the Little Muskingum, near the Newport line, principally through the influence of John Chambers. It was a small log building covered with clapboards, and used by all the settlers in the neighborhood, regardless of denominational differences. The church, after 1835, was regularly supplied by Revs. L D. Bingham and Addison Kingsbury, of Marietta, until October, 1844, when Rev. Levi L Fay became regular pastor. During this time the congregation was under the care of the presbytery and was Presbyterian in form of government. The ruling elders were J. H. Dye and Joseph Caywood. On 'the eleventh of July, 1846, a Congregational meeting was held, at which it was decided to reorganize the church and unite it with the Congregational conference. During the summer of 1846 the old building was abandoned and a new one built on Morse run. Rev. Mr. Fay was ordained pastor of this society, known as as the Little Muskingum Congregational church in 1849. The present house of worship was built in 1866, and dedicated May 28, 1867. Twelve hundred dollars toward the expense of this building was donated by the pastor, and a bell which cost one hundred dollars has since been purchased by him and dedicated to the use of the congregation. Mr, Fay labored successfully until 1877, when ill health compelled him to retire. The pulpit was supplied two years by Rev. Mr. Riddle. The congregation since 1879 has been without a pastor. The present membership of the society is about fifty.

BAPTIST CHURCHES.

The Lawrence Baptist church was constituted in 1840. A log meeting-house was built and the few communicants met every Sunday, although no regular preacher visited the congregation until 1844. During these four years, while the existence of the organization was hanging between doubt and fear, the courageous labor of Lettie Templeton carried the helpless infant beyond the period of danger. She is entitled to the proud distinction of god-mother of the church. J. D. Riley became pastor in 1844; Henry Lyon, in 1853; John Ables, in 1854; B. M. Stout, in 1863; D. Sechman, in 1866. Mr. Sechman was succeeded by Mungo Taylor.

At Cow Run a meeting-house was built for the use of all denominations, but passed under the control of the Baptist society which was constituted in 1870. Mungo Taylor was the pastor for a time, but regular service has been discontinued.

GERMAN METHODIST.

The first German society in the township was organized about 1845, as the German Methodist church. A log building was put up, and a burying-ground laid out on the ridge in the northwest corner. This house is still standing, and services are held at irregular intervals.

LUTHERANS.

There are in the township two German Evangelical churches—one on the Little Muskingum, a short distance above the mouth of Cow run, established in 1853, and the other on the ridge, established in 1868.. Neither of these societies enjoys the privilege of regular preaching. Cemeteries adjoin both church buildings.

UNITED BRETHREN.

The United Brethren have a strong hold in the southern part of the township. The largest society of this denomination worship at the Mount Zion meeting-house, about one mile south of Cow Run post office. This society was organized about 1860, and now has a membership of sixty. Sunday-school is held every week during the whole year. G. W. Athey, A. L. Moor and M. S. Riddle have been the most prominent preachers. The Union Chapel congregation is not as large, though about five years older than the Mount Zion. Union chapel, a log structure, about twenty-five years old, is situated at the head of Eight Mile run. Both these congregations are connected with Beach Grove circuit.

METHODIST CHURCH.

Pine Ridge Methodist Episcopal church, located in the southeast part of the township, at the head of Bear run, was organized in 1866 by Rev. J. W. Hamilton. In 1868, when D. C. Knowles became pastor, the membership numbered seventeen. A log meeting-house was built in 1870. In 1873 the remnant of a German Methodist church, which had existed in the neighborhood, united with Pine Ridge. The number of members has been steadily increasing from year to year, until there are more than seventy communicants. The congregation belongs to Newport circuit, the preachers of which have been, since 1871: John H. Doan, to 1873; H. M. Rader, to 1874; T. D. Fast, to 1876; W. H. Piggot, to 1877; C. J. Feitt, to 1878; G. W. Dennis, to 1880. J. H. Doan is the present pastor.

Methodist meeting is occasionally held in the Good Templars' hall at Cow Run.

DISCIPLE CHURCH.

A society of Disciples of Christ, popularly known as Campbellites, was organized in 1869, and built a meeting-house known as Mount Pisgah church, at the head of Cow run. The society is small, and does not enjoy the privilege of regular preaching.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

The Scotch settlers in the north part of Lawrence organized a church September 3, 1847. The society was organized by T. M. Galloway under the authority of the presbytery of Steubenville. Rev. D. M. Sleth is the present pastor.

662 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, OHIO.

METHODIST CHURCH.

Gross chapel, Methodist Episcopal church was built about 1872. The structure is comfortable, but the congregation is small.

CEMETERIES.

Besides the churchyards, there are in the township two family cemeteries. After the log meeting-house on the Little Muskingum was abandoned, the cemetery, in which the graves of many old settlers, are marked by mossy slabs of marble, reverted to the Chambers family and has since been used by them as a private burying-place.

The Dye cemetery, on the farm of A. J. Dye, was laid out by John Dye, at the death of his oldest son, Enoch, in 1812. The bodies of more than fifty members and relatives of the Dye family have been laid away in this historic lot. The tombs faithfully record the resistless march of time and keep fresh in the minds of surviving members, the memory of days gone by. The use of the cemetery has never been denied the public, and many are buried there who were in no way connected with the family. But it is not probable that a lot so sad and precious, in which are consigned the relatives of five generations, will ever become the property of the public.

There is a cemetery on the line, between the old Snodgrass farm and the Esquire Templeton farm opposite the mouth of Beaver run. It has been used as a public burying-ground since the settlement of that portion of the township.

FIRST CHILDREN'S HOME

The first Children's Home in the State, established by Miss Catharine A. Fay, was located in Lawrence township, at the mouth of Morse run. This was properly a county institution, and has already been treated of in the general history. But the plan of its management had a local bearing upon the affairs of the township, which makes a brief sketch necessary in this connection. The Home was opened on the first of April, ir858, with eight • boys and one girl, in a temporary, one story building. On the first of May when school opened, Miss Fay led those of proper age to the public school-house, but the teacher sent them home. Miss Fay then took the proper legal steps toward having her wards admitted. Great indignation prevailed throughout the neighborhood, and it was determined if possible to prevent these "pauper children" from being received into the public school of the district. When the matron, a second time, took her children to the school, she was confronted by two directors and eleven men, but she was armed with letters of guardianship, and there was no legal way of preventing the execution of her plans. This conflict inspired throughout the whole township, a deep prejudice against Miss Fay and her institution. There were some people who supported her enterprise and gave her assistance, but the prevailing sentiment was adverse.

This conflict has been the subject of much comment, and the people of Lawrence township, to some extent at least, have suffered unjust criticism. Miss Fay's work of benevolence was in behalf of the whole county, but the citizens of the township were not disposed to be in any way coerced into the support of that work. The school was maintained by the taxpayers of Lawrence township for the benefit of the people of Lawrence township, and it is but natural that a majority should be averse to educating the poor of all the townships. We are not disposed to espouse the cause of either party. Miss Fay did not receive the support and sympathy from her neighbors which the benevolent character of her work entitled her to. But there was a cause for the unpopularity of her institution, and it is but justice that cause should be known. All occasion for complaint was removed, the second year, by the establishment of a private school. The scales of prejudice, however, which gather about the eyes of the public, can only be removed by time.

POST OFFICES.

The official name of the first post office was Lawrence Township, John W. Dye, postmaster. Mr. Dye's farm was central in location, and one office met the wants of the settlers until 1843, when Archibald Campbell, who resided in the northeast corner was commissioned postmaster of Lawrence, and Joseph Caywood, who resided in the southwest corner, became postmaster of Lower Lawrence. This office was discontinued when Hill's was established. Moss Run was established in 1858; Dr. McCowan has been postmaster since 1863. The post office known as Fifteen was established in 1867, and placed in charge of Leonard Button. In 1879 it was deemed advisable to discontinue Fifteen and establish an office at Heslop's, in Liberty township. The rapid growth of Cow Run in 1869, made the establishment of an office at that place a necessity. The department granted the request of the citizens in December of that year, and commissioned William P. Guitteau postmaster. T. J. Connor is the present incumbent. Lunville, located at the headwaters of Bear run, was established in 1879. Moss Run, Cow Run, and Lunville are the three offices now in existence in the township.

SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.

The first Sunday-school in the Little Muskingum valley, so far as is known, was taught by Mr. and Mrs. McElHinney, who resided above and opposite the mouth of Elk run. This school was attended by the parents and children of the settlement within a radius of four miles. It was an itinerant school, and was held at the houses in the neighborhood, most frequently at the houses of Joseph McElHinney, in Lawrence, and Robert McKenzie and Jesse Fleming, of Independence. This school was organized in 1833.

The next school of which we have any knowledge was opened in 1835, in the Presbyterian church, in the opposite corner of the township, by Thomas Hughes, then a student at Marietta college. Mr. Hughes was in the habit of delivering an exhortation at the conclusion of the lesson, and by his stirring addresses, created a lively interest throughout the lower settlement. He soon afterwards (about 1836) opened a school in the schoolhouse above the mouth of Fifteen. Messrs. Bingham,

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Bosworth, Dye, and Reynolds were also among the pioneers in Sunday-school work in the township.

SOCIETIES.

Among the young men of the early settlement of the upper part of the township, J. M. McElHinney took the lead in matters looking to mental improvement. In February, 1842, Mr. McElHinney, Evan Nomans, and William Powell, organized the Little Muskingum Lyceum, the first organization for literary improvement in the Little Muskingum valley. This society did good work for about three years in the development of literary taste and talent among its members. A considerable number of young persons in the neighborhood could not be induced to join this society, for they claimed it was too aristocratic, and their clothing was not suitable to appear at the meetings. On their account the old lyceum was allowed to go down, and in 1845 Mr. McElHinney organized a new society, consisting at first of sixteen members, called the Singed Cat society, declaring to them that they, like singed cats, were better than they appeared. The idea was popular and the society prospered for nearly three years. But there was another element among the settlers of the community—the poor and illiterate—who claimed that the Singed Cats thought themselves better than they. In order to help this class and if possible to help the poor fellows along, Mr. McElHinney organized a reading club in the spring of 1848 giving it the significant name of Tarnal Critters. This was a decidedly democratic institution, anyone being eligible to membership provided he could half behave himself. But after reading through the Western Adventures, and a few other Indian stories, they ceased to be interested, and the plan proved a failure. Soon after Mr. McElHinney removed to Newport and left the Tarnal Critters.

One organization comes under this head. which deserves special prominence, and that is the Good Templars lodge of Cow Run. The village of Cow Run, even at its most prosperous period, was a sober and orderly community, being widely different in that regard from most camps of similar character. The lodge of Good Templars exercised no small influence in the maintainance of this healthy state of morality. This society was formed in December, 1870. Meetings were held in the Baptist church for about six months, and then the only saloon in the settlement was purchased and converted into a hall for meetings. The hall was thrown open on Sundays for preaching, ministers of all denominations being invited to come and hold service. The society ceased to hold meetings in 1879, the membership having become very small on account of the removal from the village of most of the members.

PHYSICIANS.

William Powell read medicine while he was keeping store in the upper part of the township. Although not a professional practitioner he attended his neighbors when the services of a medical man were needed.

Dr. Tyler was the first professional practitioner who located in the township. He opened an office about one mile above the mouth of Fifteen in 1839, and maintained a successful practice for about two years.

Dr. Joshua Rogers settled a short distance above the mouth of Fifteen and began the practice of his profession in 1842. Death deprived the community of his services in 1847.

Dr. William T. Patterson comes next on the list of Lawrence township physicians. William Patterson, his father, came from Jefferson county to Ludlow township in 1844, and soon afterwards settled on section five, where William T. opened an office.

Dr. William McCowan, a native of Philadelphia, removed from Harmar and located on Morse run in 1860. He has from the first enjoyed a large practice and the confidence of the community.

Dr. George W. Flemming, a nephew of Dr. Patterson, located at the mouth of Archers fork and began the practice of medicine in 1864. In 1876 he moved to Bear Run where he now resides.

Dr. Ullman practiced a short time in this township. His office was near the mouth of Morse run.

OIL PRODUCTION.

The development of Lawrence township's richest resource began in 1860. William Guyton had for twenty years made use of the gas emitting from a fissure on Cow run, to light his shop, and a "burning spring" on Mill creek had been known since the earliest settlement. But it had never occurred to any one that these phenomena indicated the presence of oil. Besides it was not known that the geological conditions were favorable to the procurement of profitable wells.

John Newton was the first to anticipate the possibilities, and in partnership with Mophet Dye, began to sink the first shaft, near the summit of the break, on Cow run. Oil was found at the depth of one hundred and forty feet. They drilled but a short distance further through the "first sand" rock when a stream began to flow from the top through the sucker rods, and continued to flow at the rate of twenty barrels per day. The great success of this first attempt raised the neighborhood on tiptoe. The early operators and pioneers in the business were Newton Dye, Perkins, Jonathan Hoff, Logan, List, Hervey Ablinas, Green, Brown and Nailor. The third well belonging to Ablinas, Green and Brown, produced at first about fifteen barrels per day, but was soon pumped dry. This fact was an indication that the fissures leading to the prime sources of oil, were closed, and that these wells were an outlet to that only which was imprisoned in the crevices and pores of the rocks. The first engine was brought to Cow Run by Jonathan Hoff. The first wells were all drilled by spring pole. The first machinery for drilling was used by George McFarlan in 1864, when the first attempt was made to strike oil in a lower strata. The success of McFarlan's enterprise gave the business a new impetus. Many of the first sand wells had failed, and the production of others was declining. The discovery of the second sand deposit seemed to insure permanent production. When McFarlan struck oil in the second sand, there was great rejoicing among the

664 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, OHIO.

holders of the leases, who carried him in triumph on their shoulders. Property became food for speculation, and capital was lavishly and wrecklessly invested. The excitement was confined to Cow run. Sufficient oil was obtained on Fifteen to enhance the value of property four hundred per cent., and even on Morse run, where there were no productive wells, land commanded extravagant prices. One hundred and twenty acres in the Cow run region cost the Bergen Oil company one hundred thousand dollars.

The principal operators dining 1864-5 were McFarlan, Camden & Co., Colonel Weare, Rathbone, Perkins and Hervey. McFarlan, Rathbone, Camden, Weare and others came from Virginia in 1863, and purchased three hundred and twenty acres on the western slope of the break, and divided by Cow Run valley. They also purchased a tract on Fifteen. The whole tract passed into the hands of Colonel Weare and Tillotson & Bro., and finally in 1865 came into full possession of Weare, who struck twelve profitable wells in succession, which produced ten to seventy barrels per day. In 1867 Weare sold half his territory to the Exchange Oil company of Cincinnati, and in i873 disposed of the remaining half interest to the same company.

Cow run became the centre of interest in the fall of 1866, when Perkins and Hervey struck in second sand rock at the depth of five hundred and ninety-four feet, on a five acre tract leased from the Bergen company, a crevice from which the oil was forced at intervals to the height of seventy-five feet above the ground. This well caught fire on the following night, and produced one of the most threatening conflagrations ever seen in these regions. This was the first flowing well in second sand, and its production of one hundred barrels per day proved that the supply was not yet exhausted.

Cow Run now began to assume the appearance of a large camp. Plank houses dotted the hills and at meal time the valley was a swarm of busy humanity.

In 1869 and 1870 about five hundred wells were being operated, and shafts were being sunk wherever a show of success presented itself. The production decreased rapidly from 1872 to 1876, since which time it has been very uniform. In 1870 the daily production was four hundred and fifty barrels. At present about sixty wells are operated, which produce sixty-five barrels daily; of these sixty, the Exchange company own thirty- five; H. G. Thomas, six, and most of those remaining are on the Bergen territory. The Exchange company owns its own coal mine and its own machine shop. There is a marked difference in the character of the wells on the eastern and western slopes. Those on the Bergen territory on the western slope, terminate in crevices, and generally blow faster, but fail sooner than those on the eastern slope, which terminate in sand rock known as honey comb. A shaft was once sunk on the Exchange territory to the depth of nearly twenty-two hundred feet, but the result was unsatisfactory.

In 1868, a transportation company was organized with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars, which constructed pipes and the necessary tanks and machinery for the transportation of oil from the tanks to the river. The main pipe passes over a hill four hundred feet above the level of Cow run.

The first productive well of Fifteen, was struck in 1870 (an attempt in 1863 having failed), at the depth of four hundred feet, in shale. In that region there is now but one producing welL The only producing well on Morse run is on the land of John Myers. This well terminates in first sand rock

INCIDENTS.

It appears from an entry in the township book bearing date May, 1819, that the township was troubled with pauper preachers.* An order directed to Reuben McVey, constable, reads: "Whereas, a certain person calling himself a preacher, is likely to become a township charge, you are hereby directed to order said preacher out of the township."

In 1839, Elisha Rose, a well known citizen of Newport township, engaged in a horse race with a man named Hinkel; on the banks of the Little Muskingum near the mouth of Archer's fork, which proved fatal to his life. A purse of three dollars was put up and the contestants started on the race. When Rose had reached the terminus, he arose in his saddle and looked for his opponent. The horse at that moment stumbled and pitched the rider against a rock. Rose died in a few days from the wound, and his estate received the purse.

In 1859, Porter Flint and one of the Mitchell boys were drowned in the Little Muskingum at Proute's mill. A raft which they were floating became unmanageable at the mill dam, and both were precipitated into the stream.

The most abhorrent of the many cases of drowning in the township, occurred at Cow run. A daughter of one of the workmen one day went to a tank to get some oil with which to start a fire. While she was stooping over the top of the tank, her foothold gave way, and she was taken from the reservoir in a lifeless condition.

Thomas Flemming was drowned at Chamber's mill below the mouth of Cow run, while running lumber over the dam.

POPULATION.

The population of the township increased very rapidly during the decade ending 1870, at which time there were two thousand six hundred and fifty-five native, and one hundred and ninety-five foreign inhabitants. The population on the first of June 1880, was two thousand three hundred and thirty-six. Cow run in 1870, was a camp of one thousand five hundred people, at present there are less than five hundred.