Guernsey County, Ohio - Chapter 12: Railway, Water Navigation and Till'. Old Pike Road, 1911

Chapter 12: Railway, Water Navigation and Till'. Old Pike Road

Iii the opening up of every new country the matter of transportation, the first highways over which freighting has to he carried on, and the development of better and more rapid means of transporting freight and passengers, requires much skill and plenty of good engineering, as well as careful financiering. When the white race came to this goodly section of Ohio, there was nothing, save an occasional Indian trail, to note where human feet had trod before. The creeks anil rivers had wended their way to the far-off sea, unobstructed by dams and bridges. Centuries had come and gone, and no change was wrought, save by the inevitable wash and caving-in of the former ancient channels. Mere, in Guernsey county, worse was the condition for getting from one section of the country to another than it was in the boundless prairie section of the country farther to the west, for here, it must be remembered, timber abounded and obstructed the view. Also the numerous hills, amounting almost to small mountains, hid from the view of the passer-by the valleys and streams, until one suddenly came upon them in all their grandeur and primitive beauty.

What is known as the "Zane's Trace" was the first attempt at cutting a roadway through the forests of this section of the state. This has been treated in another chapter, hence need not he referred to at length in this connection.

After a few illy-constructed roads had been made by the pioneers, the old Pike was constructed and it was a great blessing to the settlers hereabouts. This was a national road and was completed to Zanesville in 1832 and it was tinned over to the state of Ohio about that date, or possibly the year before.

The Pike, or great National road, runs through the entire length of this county from east to west, entering at Fairview, in the centre of the eastern part of the county, and running west slightly to the south in its course to Muskingum county. It is a splendid roadway, self draining and easily kept in good repair. This is a part of the great road by some still called "Clay's Pike."' because Henry Clay was mainly instrumental in having the government undertake its construction. It begins at Cumberland, Maryland, and traverses the country between there and Dayton, Ohio. The Guernsey county section was built in 1827, and at once became a great thoroughfare for traveling, driving and teaming, which caused the lands to advance in value and made a ready market for all kinds of produce.

The author of this work published an article in the Cambridge Jcffcrsonian in February. 1902, concerning this highway, which will here be reproduced :

The Zane Trace And The Old Wheeling Road

In 1795. Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest territory, wrote to the United States authorities at Philadelphia, "There's not a road in the country." By an act of Congress of May, 1796, the President was authorized to enter into a contract with Ebenezer Zane. of Wheeling, Virginia, to open a mail route from the Ohio river at Wheeling to Limestone, in Kentucky, which was perhaps the earliest internal improvement in the United States.

It was not until 1798 that the road was traced as far west as the site of the present city of Cambridge. Jonathan Zane and John Mclntyre were in charge and others of the party as far as now known were Thomas Nicholson, Levi Williams and Lacldy Kelly. Here, on the site of Cambridge, they met United States surveyors in camp on Wills creek. One of the party was George Metcalf. The Zane Trace was nothing but a bridle path through the forest. One historian says that "the travel wound around the stumps." But it was several years before there were any stumps. The Zane party only cut out saplings, and the first pioneers over it used pack-horses. It was in 1785 that Congress passed a law for the survey of the public lands west of the Ohio river. This survey was in charge of Thomas Hutchins. This is known in the Ohio land laws as the "Seven Ranges." This survey extended west as far as the west lines of Londonderry, Oxford and Millwood townships. The next survey west is known as the United States military land, of which Guernsey county is a part. These lands were subject to entry with United States bounty land warrants, at first only in quarter townships of four thousand acres. George Beymer entered with a land warrant, given to Capt. William Walton for military services in 1803. two hundred acres of land, now in Centre township on the Zane trace, on which he built a double log cabin, and in 1806 opened it as a tavern. This cabin tavern was situated on the cast side of the Four-mile hill, and but a few rods north of the presenl National road, and was the lirst tavern east of the crossing of Wills creek. It was the halfway stopping place between Cambridge and Washington after these towns were laid out. The grandfather of the writer, Tin .mas Sarchet, with his two brothers, John and Peter, and Daniel Ferbrache, brother-in-law, with thenfamilies, camped near the Beymer cabin tavern. They had two three-horse teams, and an extra team of two horses which they hired at Newellstown to help mi account of the had road. The weather was exceedingly wet. and a furious storm had swept through the forest, felling large trees in every direction, so that road making was the order, of the day. These were the first moving wagons to arrive at Cambridge, late at night. August 14, 1806.

'fhe general history of Guernsey county published some years ago gives Gen. Simon lieymer the credit of being the proprietor of the town of Washington, fait that is an error. "New Washington" was platted and laid out hv George lieymer and his brother, Henry lieymer, September 26. 1S05, in .Muskingum county, 'fhe plat was acknowledged before William Montgomery, a justice of the peace of Muskingum county. Ohio, and is signed by Henry Beymer with a cross, he being unable to sign his name. The lots are numbered east and west from the main cross street. Lots Xos. 1 and 2 are reserved for a court house and jail. These lots are immediately east of the Pingon Frame residence. Lot 48 was reserved for a church and school house, and Lot 62, where there was a spring, was reserved for the public benefit with free access to and from. Besides the main street, sixty-six feet wide, there are two other streets, thirty-three feet wide, named St. George and St. Henry. These are the three principal streets, diverging to the south and north from a true east and west line. This makes New Washington older than Cambridge, from September 26, 1805, to June 2, 1806, when Cambridge was platted.

George Beymer sold his cabin to Neil Gillespie and James Morrison, and they sold to Jacob Endley in 1817. He built near the site of the cabins a large, two-story brick house, which was one of the noted taverns on the old Wheeling road under his management, and later, until after the National road was made, under the management of Col. John Woodrow. William H. Endley, son of Jacob Endley, inherited the farm. He was auditor of Guernsey county in 1S74 for two terms of two years each. He tore down the old tavern, and used the brick to build a residence farther up the road. He later sold to Lindsev L. Bonnell, whose heirs now own the land.

As von begin to ascend the ridge before coming to the Fairchild farm, there are two or three stiff pinches of red limestone clay, underlaid with coal blossom and blue clay. There is for some distance a stretch of this kind of road bed. In the days of the old road, here were the stalling places for the heavily loaded teams and the stage wagons. So that it was said that the wagoners often stayed two nights at the Endley tavern. They put in a day going but little over two miles, and, leaving their wagons, would lead their ponies back to the tavern, and the stage passengers would have to walk and earn- a rail to use in prying out the stage. Today, in wet winters, there are still bad places. Old John Oliver lived not far from the tough places in the road. He had a "stillhouse" and perhaps the new corn juice helped to raise the steam and to stimulate the wagoners, stage passengers and passengers.

The next place of note was the tavern of Robert Carnes. He bought from Francis Williams, and in 1820 sold to Joseph Eaton. In the hands of these men, it was the half-way house between the Endley tavern and Washington. Isaac McCollum bought the farm from Eaton in 1828, and the widow of his son Isaac now resides on the old farm. A modern house now stands there, but perhaps it is a part of the old Eaton tavern. The National road was completed and piked out as far west as Zanesville in 1830. For a number of years after its completion it was difficult to keep the travel on it. Heavy logs had to be laid on the sides to force the travel on the stones, so that the great throng of travelers with unshod horses avoided it as much as possible. Only the wagons and stage horses were shod. Here was a stretch of four miles that was preferred to the pike. The McCollum stand was not a tavern, but was a place where movers stayed, as were most of the houses and cabins on the old road. In summer it is a much more pleasant drive than the pike, which is a little over a mile south.

As you go up the run, then called Dudley's run, a short distance from Jonathan Dickens' (colored) place, son of Jonah Dickens, was where old John Chapman had his hut. Old John Dickens and old Ned Simpson were the early colored settlers of that region, and in the palmy days of the Endley tavern they were the hostlers and bootblacks, shining the travelers' boots at night, making them glisten as their own countenances, just as when a darky's face has been rubbed with a bacon rind.

From the toll gate west of Washington, the old road diverged to the north, and was getting away from the direct west line of the National road. As these two roads come together at the Four-mile hill, we cannot see any good reason for the location of the National road on its present line of up hill and down hill, with heavy cuts and fills, all of which might easily have been avoided by following the line of the old road.

Centre township map of [902, arc I.. B. Bonnell's heirs, Jonathan Gibson, Jane Oliver, .Mrs. Fairchild, A. E. Scott. John McCollum, [saac McCollum, William Eagleson, John C. McCracken, John Griffith, and Doctor Wharton.

We struck the pike east of the toll gate and paid three cents to the old Shaw brick tavern. As we passed on west of the gate, we found that we could have avoided the toll by a cut-off used by many for thai purpose, hut the writer and the pike being about the same age, the old love compelled him at all times to take no mean advantage of his old friend. At the old Shaw house, later owned by Thomas Hyde, and now owned by Doctor Gibbons, whose brother is in charge of the farm, we received a good harvest dinner from the good housewife, whom we found to he a very intelligent woman, and a home-maker and keeper of a high order. We spent some time there with her in general conversation. She seemed to be well up to the trend of things going on, and showed us around her house, which was neat and trim, and took great pleasure in showing us family pictures and souvenirs Which she has, seeming anxious to learn whether we intended to write a history, as did also the three Mrs. McCollums, at whose homes we tarried for a short time. To all the same answer was given, that we were looking around to see and learn what we could. From Gibbons' we took a byway through the McCollum farms to the old road. Wre wanted to go over the old road on which we had not been for fifty years, and connect the history of this link of four miles with some others we have written.

The Old Pike

On December 31, 1832, Seth Adams, of Zanesville. superintendent of the National road, which was then completed to Zanesville, shows in his report the amount of travel for that year by the books of the toll gates to be, men on horseback, 35.310; mules and horses driven, 16.750; sheep driven. 24,- 410; hogs driven, 52,845; cattle driven, 96.323; carriages with one horse, 14.907; carriages and Wagons with two horses. 11,613; wagons with three horses. 2,357; with tour horses, 3,692: with five horses, 1.599; w'th six horses, 1.329.

The toll gates were at that time but one in each county twenty miles apart, so there could be but little intermediate travel counted in the report. This will give some idea to the reader of today of the amount of traffic on the road, and the number of taverns, which would average more than two to everv mile between the Ohio river and Zanesville. In this the stage coaches

I9O Guernsey County, Ohio

It was not until 1833 that toll gates were established on an average of ten miles apart along the road. This great amount of travel increased yearly, so that it was said that the road was lined with vehicles and horsemen, and the number of pedestrians was proportionately as great. This great moving tide were the home-seekers of the West.

The United States government never established toll gates on the road in Ohio, and it was not until 1831, when the National road was transferred to Ohio, that tolls were collected. The United States in the cession reserved free toll for the government service of every kind, and also the right to take back the road from the state at any time by paying to the state what it had expended in keeping up the road, over and above the amount that had been expended by the state. So that in this day of good road movements, electric railroads and automobiles, the United States might yet step into control of the old National highway.

Steam carriages and automobiles are not altogether new things under the sun in Ohio. December 22, 1833, a memorial to the Senate of Ohio was presented from William Niel, Esq., of Columbus, asking permission of the Legislature to run a line of steam carriages on the National road in this state. The memorial was referred to a special committee of three. A bill was reported January 15th to the Senate, and referred back to the committee for amendment. January 21st the bill passed by a vote of eighteen yeas and seventeen nays. The bill was reported to the House January 24th, and a motion for its indefinite postponement was defeated. February 13th the bill was postponed until the '"first Monday of December next." We leave it there.

The National road was not completed at that time to Columbus. William Neil was taking time by the forelock. He was one of the proprietors of the Ohio Stage Company. In 1834 there were four daily stage lines on the road, the Ohio Stage Company, the Citizens' Line, the People's Line, and the Good Intent, and an every-other-day stage line from Cambridge to Cadiz and Steubenville. over the Steubenville grade road.

First Flat Or Keel Boat On Wills Creek

The following appeared in the Cambridge Times of February 9, 1826: "Thomas Sarchet, Sr.. is building a large flat or keel boat at the Guernsey Salines, on Wills creek, four miles north of Cambridge. This boat is seventy feet long and eighteen feet wide, and a water depth of three feet.

The paper of March 2d says: "Wills creek for the past week is in a line state for navigation." The paper of April 9th says: "Thomas Sarchet's fast sailing boat; the 'Eliza of Guernsey,' left the Guernsey Salines, under the command of Capt. R. M. <i. Patterson, Thomas Sarchet, Sr., and sons, owners and supercargoes."

"Started forty-five minutes past twelve M., April S. Monday; stopped at Judge Leeper's to take on more cargo: Tuesday at eleven o'clock, got under way at six A. M. ; stopped at Mr. Gibson's for refreshments, where we were highly entertained, and took on more cargo, and at half past ten o'clock passed the big drift safely, and at half past two o'clock passed the big bend safely, and landed in good order; Wednesday at twelve o'clock, passed Wayne's mill and lock, Marquand's mill and lock and Paber's mill and lock, and at five o'clock P. M.. arrived at the mouth of Wills creek, all well and without an accident; Thursday morning passed Lucas' bend, passed the brick house, the upper salt .works, the second salt works, and arrived at Zanesville at ten o'clock P. M., all well and in high spirits.

"Now Mr. Beatty," (that was Cyrus P. Beatty, Thomas Sarchet's sonin-law. then editor and proprietor of the Guernsey 'rimes) "please to insert in your paper the above for the satisfaction of the friends of the Washington removalists, that the enemies of Cambridge may be without excuse when stating at Columbus, Ohio, and elsewhere that they never heard of anything navigating Wills creek larger than a canoe, and that in the very highest stage of water."

In the Legislature of 1825 and '26 the Hon. Thomas Hanna, representative of Guernsey county, then residing at Washington, introduced in the House a hill for the removal of the county seat from Cambridge to Washington, and in its introduction bail made the statement given above. The house laid his bill on the table, by a vote of forty-five yeas to twenty-seven nays, and his hill was never taken from the table.

And now we must make the statement that it was because of old Wills creek, that is now giving the city of Cambridge so much trouble, that the county seat was held at Cambridge, from 1819 to 1854. when the coming of the central Ohio railroad to Cambridge settled the question for all time.

The Sarchet boat went down the Muskingum to the Ohio, and down it to the falls at Louisville, where the cargo and boat were sold. Tt was built to prove that large boats could pass in safety down Wills creek, and for more than thirty years, every year, boats passed out of Wills creek into Muskingum river.

The First Steamboat On Wills Creek

"Saturday, October 7, Sam Haines' steamboat, the 'Tickle Pitcher,' was launched, above the cut under the National road bridge. Hundreds of people, men, women and children, assembled to see the launching of the first steamboat on Wills creek, and the last. After some little delay, the launch was made at two o'clock P. M. The boat slid down the Ways into the creek, and glided majestically down through the cut under the bridge, amid the puff of the steam and blowing of the whistle, and cheers of the assembled crowd." - Herald.

Under the caption of "Sarchet's Reflections," published in 1898, the author said concerning Doctor Hunt's removal from Guernsey county in 1843 :

We have just received from our old friend and Guernsey Times typo, of the long ago, Joshua Hunt, an address in pamphlet, of Hon. Samuel F. Hunt, president of the Springfield Township Pioneer Association, at its fifth annual reunion at Mt. Healthy, Ohio, September 3, 1898. The address is headed with this quotation :

"We came into the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey. Num. 13 -.27. " This calls up some history, and we will tell how this Hunt family went into the land.

The speaker, Hon. Samuel F. Hunt, is a son of Dr. Samuel Hunt, a former resident in Cambridge, Ohio, and to distinguish the son from the father he was called "Little Sammy." Doctor Hunt resided on the lot now covered by the Richardson and Shairer block on West Wheeling avenue. Doctor Hunt sold the residence and lot to Dr. Milton Green, and removed to Morrow, Butler county, Ohio, in 1843. The manner of removal was to be by flatboat, floating down Wills creek, the Muskingum and Ohio rivers to the mouth of the little Miami, and up it to Morrow. The flatboat was built on the creek bank above the National road bridge, and was in readiness, awaiting a spring freshet to float out of Wills creek, but the spring was exceedingly dry, and no looked-for spring flood came. Doctor Hunt decided to move the flatboat overland to Zanesville, and begin his water voyage from there. A low-wheeled log wagon, used at the old General Moore mill, was made ready, ami the flatboat was loaded on it and made secure It was rather a novel sight tn see a flatboat float off on a wagon, and quite a large crowd gathered to see it move off the National road. We think the moving force was George 1). Gallup, with a six-horse team. At Zanesville it was launched on the blue Muskingum. The family and the household goods were placed on hoard, and the voyage began. It took thirty and more days to reach Morrow. Therewas this advantage in that way of moving - they were always at home, yet going forward. When rounded to and tied up at shore for the night, they had traveled a day's journey from home, yet had home with them. They enjoyed a pleasant journey, enjoying the beautiful scenery that lined on either side the hills of the rivers and the passing of the hundreds of steamboats that plied on the Ohio river. It is not over one hundred and twenty miles from Cambridge to Morrow, and today six hours will cover the time of the journey by railroad. These water voyages were common in early days. Old Jonathan Bye, a relative of the Hunt family, removed from Byesville, of which he was the founder, by boat, to Sterling, Illinois.

An Early River Venture

"Sometime last spring, an old veteran chairmaker, residing at Cambridge, Guernsey county, Ohio, finding himself somewhat embarrassed, and money not being easily obtained, concluded to make a venture in the far West. He therefore built a small keel-boat, loaded it with lumber for making chairs and bedsteads. About the first of July, he, with much difficulty, made his way down the crooked windings of Wills creek, thence down the waters of the Muskingum to the mouth. There he lost his passengers, as the steamboats had better accommodations. He then floated down the Ohio, as far as Mt. Vernon, Indiana. He there spent the summer in making and vending his work ; but finding sales dull, he contracted with two gentlemen to take his boat and a quantity of furniture up the Illinois as far as Peoria. Here he sold his boat and cargo, but in consequence of the ice, he was detained longer than he expected. What was his surprise when he again arrived at Mt. Vernon to hear that convulsions were taking place in and about Cambridge, like the discharge of surplus steam when a boat lands at the wharf and has no further use for it than to frighten horses and disturb the neighborhood! He would have had less reason to censure had it been confined to those interested, but those that had nothing else to do spread the news high and low, far and wide (13)

- the chairmaker had undoubtedly absconded - until it became honestly believed by the judicious part of the community. The old veteran concluding it would be better to use medicine, fearing that some lungs might be injured, did, at great trouble and expense, obtain a small quantity of Benton's mint drops, with which he is willing to accommodate all those who have genuine drafts. As for those who have none, they must take their pains for their trouble. He would embrace this opportunity to inform his old customers that he has returned, and is ready to wait on all calls in his line.

It should be stated that navigation on the waters of Wills creek, or any other stream in Guernsey county, never amounted to a great deal, but did play some part at an early day in getting in and out of the count}'. The stream was never of sufficient volume to warrant the improvement talked of at one time. The canal on the north and the building of railroads, a little later, caused the water route to entirely be lost, sight of. The no-current canal and the almost as stationary volume of water in the creek were long years ago too slow a means fur the progressive people of this county. There are times, almost any year, when steamboats could ply the waters of Wills creek, as it has had many wonderful floods and has been found many fathoms out of its crooked channel, submerging a wide valley with water of considerable depth, but this, of course, only lasts a few hours or days, at longest.

The Railroad Era

Coming down to the railroad era in Guernsey county, it may be stated that the first railroad constructed into the county was the old Central Ohio (now the property of the Baltimore & Ohio Company) in 1852. The first shovelful of dirt thrown on this grade, on the south hillside, at Cambridge, was August 1 2th, of that year, and it was thrown by the venerable C. L. Madison. The tunnel was begun October 23d, the same year. The Cambridge telegraph office was opened February 3, 1853. The inventor. Professor Morse, was raised up, as if by Providence, to discover the magnetic telegraph just in time to be of good service in the operation of railroad trains, which were also quite a new thing at that time.

The advent of the iron horse ushered in a new and better era into this county, and gave new avenues by which the farmer and stock man could market, at more profitable prices, the products of the farm. The county then, for the first time, came in real commercial touch with the great outside world.

Millwood, Richland. Center, Cambridge, Adams and Westland, with its main line, while it runs through portions of Richland, Valley and Spencer, with a branch from Lore City to Cumberland. Beginning on the cast side of the county, the .station points of most importance arc Quaker City, Saleville, Lore City, Cambridge and Cassel Station, on the main line. On the Cumberland branch the stations worthy of note are Lore City, Scnecaville. Hartford and Cumberland. The only tunnel on this mad in the county is near Cambridge on the Baltimore & Ohio road.

The arrival of the first regular passenger train over the road now known as the Baltimore & Ohio, from Columbus, was on April 27, 1854. It consisted of six coaches and it was welcomed right royally. The march from the station to the public square was a long, enthusiastic one. was under marshalship of Loll lordon I. of land and an address was made by Hon. Nathan Evans. Military companies from Columbus and Zanesville were present.

What is now known as the Pennsylvania railroad enters the county from the north, in Wheeling township, follows the windings of the chief stream of the county (Wills creek) on down through Liberty, Cambridge, Jackson and Valley townships, leaving the county near Pleasant City, with stations of importance at Pleasant City, then north through Derwent, Byesville, Cambridge, Tyncr. Kimbolton, Birds Run and Guernsey and so on out of this into Tuscarawas county. The objective points of this division of the great Pennsylvania system are Marietta, at the south, and Cleveland, at the north.

When originally constructed in about 1880, this was the property of the ( Cleveland & Marietta company and was headed by General Warner, through whose energy and untiring zeal the road was built at a time when it taxed every thought and capacity of good business men. It opened up an excellent coal field and gave a competing freight rate out and into the county. Its advent was hailed with supreme delight by all classes of citizens, as a north and south route through the county was fully as great in importance as the main line of the Baltimore & Ohio from east to west. It was built through the best valley section of the county, but necessarily over a very rough, uneven country, where much expense was necessary, the grades somewhat heavy and curves sharp. A tunnel of many hundred feet through solid rock and coal strata between Kimbolton and Guernsey had to be constructed at an expense of almost, if not fully, a million dollars. The waters of Wills creek at times flooded the tracks and this caused other expense and delay. General Warner fought on. but all to no purpose, for there came a time when he had to succumb to the inevitable. The road was sold and passed into the hands of the present corporation, the Pennsylvania company, who rebuilt and re-equipped the same and it is now a first-class steam highway, doing an excellent business. The coal fields in and near Byesville and Pleasant City were greatly developed and this has made untold wealth to the possessors of the mineral lands, as well as afforded the company the transportation of endless tons of coal.

In the eighties, while the road was still under the ownership of the old Cleveland & Marietta, the tunnel at Guernsey and Kimbolton caught fire, and the immense coal deposit through which a section of the tunnel was made ignited and continued to burn for more than two years, causing a total loss of the tunnel and the laying of another track a distance of eight miles around a horseshoe bend, going eight miles around in order to gain two miles in its true course. This, with endless litigations, caused the company to go into the hands of a receiver and finally it was transferred to the Pennsylvania company. Several of the heaviest stockholders lived in Guernsey county and when the company paid out only about forty cents on a dollar, it broke these local men up financially. It now has thirty-three miles of roadway in the county and is a great thoroughfare, especially for freighting coal from the mines, the road running through the mining section from south to north.

The Baltimore & Ohio was bonded for in this county to the extent of one hundred thousand dollars. So it will be seen that the common carrier system of today has cost the taxpayers of the past generation much money. Yet no one now desires the old system of transportation. At this date the Baltimore & Ohio road has sixteen miles on its Cumberland division and twenty-nine miles on its "Central Ohio" division, with sidings amounting to eighteen miles within Guernsey county.

What is generally styled the Narrow Gauge road, is the Ohio River & Western railroad, which cuts off only a corner of the county, where it runs from the southwest into Cumberland, having three miles of track within Guernsey county. It is still of the narrow gauge type of railroad. It was built about 1880 to Cumberland.