James Hunter Stone House

The first store was kept in the house where Samuel Moorehead now lives, by Joseph Graham, in 1833. The next was kept by William Mason, between the roads opposite Mr. IT. Mark's house. east of the village of Bloomfield. He carried on the business there from .1835 to 1843. The next store was located in the triangle formed by the junction of the Adamsville and New Concord 'n Bloomfield, in 1848, and was conducted by George Buchanan. He was succeeded by William "Weylie, who built a new store on the corner, lot No. Bs opposite the present postoffice, in 1851, and continued in business until 1866. In 1852, Thomas Forsyth began business in the old store, between the Concord and Dresden roads, and, in 1854, built a store on the corner, lot No. 13, now occupied by W. A. Mintier. He retired from business in 1857. After Forsyth, came Atchison & Bell, then Atchison & Bro., James Black, J. F. Warrick, and Thomas Mackey. W. A. Mintier, the present occupant, began business in the same building in-1877

Passage source: History of Muskingum County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1882.

The advancement was so rapid in this township that in 1835 John Bradford, James Honnold and Andrew Geyer and their families were living in frame houses. A more pretentious one was erected in 1845 by Samuel Scott. Thomas Roberts built a brick house near the Bethel church in 1850. In 1815 Noah Decker built the first mill in Highland, on the northwest quarter of section 14, which was transformed from a sawmill to a distillery with a grinding attachment as a distillery auxiliary. On the northwest one-fourth of section 21, James Mc- Michael put a gristmill in operation about 1830, which gave place to a carding machine about twelve years afterward. Another early gristmill was one built in the southern part of the township by John Geyer. William Reynolds put a sawmill in operation on White Eyes creek about 1832 or 1833. Andrew Henderson's "Parker wheel" mill on this stream and Hugh Simms' mill on one of its branches, are well remembered. Mills were put in operation by James MacDonald at the Bloomfield site (later owned by Martin McLane) in 1843, by John Buchanan and Samuel Moorehead, on the southwest quarter of section 10 in 1853; and by Theophilns Wark, in 1873 - a combination grist, saw and planingmill, the most pretentious in the township. The Buchanan & Moorehead mill changed hands several times and was last operated, down to about twenty years ago, by Joseph Solders. The first public road laid out in this township was that from Cambridge to Dresden, about 1806; the second was that from the Findley milldam, south of New Concord, to the mouth of Wills creek, about nine years later. In May, 1817, Joseph K. McCune surveyed a road "from James Sprague's, in Highland township, to John Reynold's store, on the Wheeling road." The pioneer blacksmiths were Robert Baxter and James Honnold, on the Adamsville road. The first wagon was brought into the township by Peter Bond, grandfather of Peter B. Geyer. John Bell introduced fine sheep here in 1857. About 1835-45 David T. Bigger operated a small tannery on the Bloomfield and New Concord road. Dr. E. S. Wortman is said to have been the pioneer physician, before 1840. Dr. A. B. McCandless practiced here about 1850-55; Dr. R. T. Wark about 1850- 70. Dr. J. Mori'is Lane came to Bloomfield about 1848. Dr. W. G. Lane is a more recent physician. Joseph Graham kept the first store, on the Samuel Moorehead place iu 1833. Another early merchant was William Mason, east of Bloomfield, 1835-43. George Buchanan began merchandising in Bloomfield in 1848, and was succeeded by William Weylie, who built and did business in a new store, 1851-66. Thomas Forsyth began trading botween the Concord and Dresden roads in 1852. In 1854 he built the William Mintier store. In 1857 he retired. After him came Atchison & Bell, Atchison & Bro. , James Block, J. F. Warrick and Thomas McKay. The present merchants at Bloomfield are Marion F. Geyer and William B. Kelley.

Passage source: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Muskingum County, Ohio; Embracing an Authentic and Comprehensive Account of the Chief Events in the History of the County and a Record of the Lives of Many of the Most Worthy Families and Individuals, published 1892.

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 Highland Township - 5,033 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.