Dover Township

Dover Township

Dover township comprises congressional township 34, range 30. About one-third of the township was originally prairie land ; the remainder being timber land, much of which is now in cultiva¬ tion. Clear Creek, including Little Clear creek - or Little Peshaw - flows from southwest to northeast through the township, and receives also the Walnut branch, which, rising a little west of Bellamy, flows north through the eastern part of the township.

It is a long clear creek and its tributaries where lie the tim¬ bered tracts of coarse, scraggy " jack-oaks," for the most part. The soil here is generally thin and unproductive ; the sandstone lies on the ground or near the surface, and the land is with dif¬ ficulty reduced to cultivation. Much of the timbered area, too, is rough and broken.

The prairie lies in the extreme western, the northwestern, the southwestern, the southeastern and a portion of the eastern sec¬ tions of the township. In the southeast corner of the township, on section 25, is the famous Dunnagin's grove. A little north¬ west of this grove, and between it and Bellamy, are scattered on the prairie some tumuli, which may be artificial mounds.

The sandstone in this township is very abundant, very promi¬ nent, and very fine. On the Walnut branch, west of Bellamy, on northwest section 23, is some very excellent gritstone, as fine, and even finer, than the famed Berean sandstone of northern Ohio, so renowned for grindstones. In other parts of the town¬ ship the same variety doubtless exists.

West and southwest of Bellamy are flowing wells of bitumen, called by the people "tar springs." The asphalt is of fine quality, as good as any. How far this flow may be increased by the aid of exploration and introduction of machinery and other appli¬ ances cannot be said.

The presence of bitumen or petroleum in the southern portion of this township is well established, and the "oil springs," as they are termed, were known to the first settlers. Stones satu¬ rated with bitumen, called "grease rocks," were collected by the pioneers and used for illuminating purposes, as substitutes for the old pine knots of old Tennessee. Near the center of section 27, a mile and a half southwest of Bellamy, a flow of oil was obtained which caused some excitement. Certain parties in Nevada were prepared to purchase the property and develop its resources, but satisfactory negotiations could not be conducted with the owner.

Good mineral paint is found in the southwest part of the township in considerable quantities. A deposit of bright red ochre on the upper Clear creek is remarkable.

There is a good "tar spring" on section 24, half a mile south and the same distance east of Bellamy. Another is on section 27, a mile and a half southwest of Bellamy, near the oil well before mentioned ; and another is south of the last named, on section 34. "Grease rock" has been found in various quarters of the township. On the east side of section 16 is a fine sulphur spring; there is also a good one on section 23 ; two or three others are said to be along Clear creek, while on section 27, near the oil well, is one mingled with tar. The "tar spring" on section 27, and also the sulphur spring near by, are noted by Prof. Nor¬ wood in his report published in Broadhead's Report of the Geological Survey of the County, page 154.

Specimens of "grease rock" or "oil rock" obtained in this township have been examined by experts and declared to con¬ tain petroleum or coal oil, and to indicate the presence here of vast quantities of that substance. There are those who are con¬ fident that the southern portion of Dover township will one day become a great oil producing region.