Gilmore, Ohio

The Tuscarawas Chronicle preserves the legend of the site of Gilmore: " Years before Gilmore was a town, and, beyond the memory of most of the inhabitants, there lived a family near the present site of the village who were supposed to be robbers and murderers. Travelers, passing that way through the wilderness, mysteriously disappeared; strange horses and property supposed to have belonged to travelers were seen in possession of this family, and a number of suspicious circumstances made the community tolerably sure that there were dark doings in that home. No direct evidence could be obtained, but after the family left the country it is said that a number of articles were found that could not have come into their possession honestly. It is thought that many a poor victim lost his life here, and found a grave in the ravines near town, on account of the valuables he carried."

Passage source: The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, published 1884.

Near GiJmore, Joe Huff, the hunter of Perry Township, once had an encounter with wolves. He had been hunting and had slain two bears, which he dressed and hung on saplings out of the reach of the ravenous animals. Toward night he reached the vicinity of Gilmore. The day had been disagreeable, rain and snow falling alternately most of the time. He had heard the wolves howling for some time, but they caused him no uneasiness. They grew bolder as they circled around him and increased in number to fifteen or twenty. When he reached the head of the ravine below Schneider's blacksmith shop, they showed signs of attacking him. He had proceeded down the ravine but a short distance when they rushed at him from all sides. Hastily pointing his rifle, the piece only snapped, for the priming was wet. There was no time to change it and no safety in flight. Fortunately a bushy sapling stood near, and Huff* lost no time in ascending it, several of the wolves springing at him before he was fairly out of reach. Replacing the wet with dry powder, he shot into the struggling mass below with fatal effect, reloaded and repeated the operation until the bodies of ten or eleven dead wolves surrounded the tree. The rest then left him and he proceeded homeward.

Passage source: The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, published 1884.

In 1848, Walter M. Blake founded the town of Gilmore, on the east end of Lot 9, in the first quarter of Township 5, Range 2. Including five outlots, the plat contains forty- four acres. The inlots, eighty-three in number, compose an L-shaped piece of land, the streets of which are Burrows, Dearth and Blake. The town is located near the northeast corner of Washington Township, and adjoins Clay. It was named in honor of Nathaniel Gilmore, a wealthy Irish farmer residing in the vicinity. John Sewell, Sr., and John Dinning erected the first houses almost simultaneously. Sewell came to the newly founded town to operate a tread saw mill, which failed to work effectively, and was abandoned, Mr. Sewell returning to his farm. Philip Lanning erected the third house in the fall of 1848, and opened a store. He has been a merchant in the village ever since, during a period of thirty-five years, and still commands an extensive trade. John A. Bates opened a stock of goods for sale a few weeks prior to Mr. Lanning and kept store for several years. The number of stores has varied from one to four, there being two at present. A post office was established at Gilmore about thirty years ago; Philip Lanning was appointed Postmaster, and has ever since retained the office. A tannery was started by John Myers and Hugh Smith soon after the village was laid out. William Hines, William Shears, Harrison & Gray and John Arnold were the subsequent proprietors, and under the last named the tannery was abandoned about 1869. The village in 1880, contained 116 people, a slight depreciation from the census of 1870 and of 'I860. Besides the two stores, there are in the village a drug store, three blacksmith shops, two shoe shops and a wagon and carriage manufactory, now operated by Abraham Schneider, of Port Washington. One hundred vehicles have been manufactured here during the past year. Dr. Gamble was probably the first resident physician. He was succeeded by Dr Livingston who remained several years. Dr. Daniel Slonaker then located in the village and continued a practice until his death. Of the two physicians now established here, Dr. J. J. Gooding has been a resident of the village about eight years, and Dr. D. Hefling nearly twice as long.

Passage source: The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, published 1884.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Washington Township - it names this place 3 more 3 times.