Malta Township (part 1 of 2)

Malta Township

Malta Furniture Manufactory. At first all the work was done by man power, but in 1851 a steam engine was added. This engine, the first built in the county, was a product of the foundry of Dunsmoor A Dickerson. In 1858 H. Dunsmoor and Samuel McCaslin bought the furniture manufactory from J. J. Palmer. Three years later Dunsmoor A Son became the proprietors of the establishment, which is still run in the same name, although the senior Dunsmore is now deceased. From a small beginning the works have grow A in size and importance until they now rank among the chief industries of the town. In 1875 the first parlor organ made in the county was manufactured in this establishment. Several have since been made.

The first tavern was a hewed log house, on the present site of A. A. Coulson A Co.'s store, erected by George Miller. Miller kept tavern a few years and was succeeded by William Murphy. Next Abel James kept store in the building, purchasing it for $150. Francis A. Parker next occupied it; then the Griffiths owned it and sold out to Alexander Simpson. About 1836 Simpson, in partnership with Milton Seaman, kept store there. The building was next occupied by J. M. Rogers as a saddler's shop, and afterward by Lazarus, the Jew. In 1846 it was torn down and the present building erected.

The new building was first occupied by Alexander Simpson as a store ; then by Simpson A Woodmansee ; next by Joseph Black, and afterward successively by Thomas W. Simpson and Simpson A Young (T. W. Simpson and Win, P. Young).

In 1844 Hiel Dunsmoor and David Dickerson started the Malta Foundry, the second in the county. Later Erastus Guthrie became one of the firm, which carried on business under the name of IT. Dunsmoor A Co. Milton Seaman bought out Dickerson's interest and the firm name became Dunsmoor, Guthrie A Co. In 1853 Dunsmoor and Seaman sold out and the firm of Guthrie, White A Wadley began business. In 1858 J. Q. and P. P. Dickerson bought the entire establishment and carried on business under the name of J. Q. Dickerson A Co. In 1864 W. P. and John Brown and James and Frank P. Manly succeeded to the ownership of the property which thus became the basis of the Brown-Manly Plow Works.

The first mill in Malta was built by Isaac Baker on two Hatboats, and was of the rare pattern known as a u floating mill." (For a description of it see chapter on Internal Improvements.) Baker came from Washington County and rented Young's ferry. It is related that the first time Ilyman Lazarus, the Jew, saw a steamboat on the river, he came to Baker on the run, his eyes wide with astonishment, and shouted, uMr. Baker! Mr. Baker! your mill hat got loose, und he is coomin o<»p the river a-grindin' like the devil !"

About 1830 Abraham Lippett constructed a brush dam across the river near where is now the Malta Mill, and built a mill, which was in operation a few years.

tinned business in the same vicinity - on the east side of Bell street - until 1873, when he sold out to Dr. Daniel Rusk, who still continues the business. George Z. Dickerson began the drugbusiness in 1868, and is still engaged in it.

The first fancy-goods store was started by G. E. Halliday, who sold out to James Neely. The latter sold to Robert Button in 1879. The Misses Beckwith opened a millinery and fancygoods store in 1878.

A. L. Miller was the pioneer jeweler of Malta, and is still in successful business. In 1872 he erected the Miller Building, in which the Malta National Bank is located.

In 1827, on the corner opposite James' store, Henry Dawes embarked in the mercantile business. He was a man of somewhat peculiar temperament, but enterprising and very successful in business. He became a prominent citizen and represented the county in the legislature. He continued business until about 1857, then removed to Wisconsin, where he died.

Malta grew very slowly. Although a trading-point of considerable importance in the early years, yet the village increased very slowly in population until after the beginning of the slack water improvement of the Muskingum. Since then the town has rapidly improved, and its business development has been correspondingly great.

It was incorporated as a village by a special act of the legislature passed March 7, 1842. John Timms was the first mayor and Hi el Dunsmoor the first recorder.

In the amount of business transacted and in general thrift and enterprise there is no village in Southern Ohio which can make a better showing in proportion to population. There were 652 inhabitants in 1880, according to the census of that year.

The Malta National Bank, the first and only banking institution in the town, was chartered in 1872, and began business November 19 of the same year, in the rooms still occupied. The first officers were E. M. Stanbery, president; Joshua Davis, M. McDaniel, John Hall, John Harris, John Miller and F. B. Pond, directors ; D. IT. Mortley, cashier, and H. D. Miller, bookkeeper. D. H. Mortley was succeeded as cashier in 1874 by H. D. Miller, and W. H. Pierpoint- became bookkeeper. Mr. Miller still holds the position of cashier. The remaining officers in December, 1885, were as follows: W. P. Sprague, president ; George S. Corner, vice-president ; Joshua Davis, E. M. Stanbery, John Miller, Peter Miller, J. M. Rogers, directors. The bank is well-managed and prosperous. Capital, $75,000.

The hardware business was not made a distinct one until the village had grown to considerable size. The hardware firm of J. M. Rogers & Co., the first and at present the only one in town, was established in 1855, and for thirty years has carried on a successful business.

The head of this firm, James M. Rogers, one of the leading business men of the town, was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1819. His father, John Rogers, a local preacher of the Methodist church, moved his family to Malta in 1842. He was a native of Virginia; died in 1877, aged over eighty years. J. M. Rogers began business in Malta in 1842 as a saddler and harnessmaker ; was afterward in the dry-goods business, and since 1855 in his present business. He has always taken an active interest in the growth and prosperity of the town, and has filled many local offices. He was married in Malta in 1852 to Margaret, daughter of Nathan Sprague, and has five children living.

After John Seaman the next shoemaker was Peter Pricker, who came in 1839, and for many successive years plied the thread and awl to the satisfaction of his patrons.

George Townsend came to Malta in 1839, and commenced making saddles and harnesses in a shop on Main street, between Pell and Adams streets. -I. M. Rogers began the same business in 1842.

William Breeze had a small dwelling and a blacksmith shop on the south west corner of Bell and Main streets. He afterward made additions to his house and converted it into a hotel, which is now kept by John Glass.

On the southwest corner of Adams and Main streets was a frame building erected by William Sherwood. The building was burned down when owned by Isaac Hedges, who, in 1880, erected the three-story brick building, now the popular "Valley House," kept by J. V . Thomas.

Edward and William Miller, with whom II. Dunsmoor was associated for a time, were merchants between 1830 and 1840. Timms & Dunsmoor, and Timms, Dunsmoor & Taylor succeeded them.

George L. Corner came to Malta in 1833. With the assistance of a man whom he brought with him, Mr. Corner, went into the woods, felled trees, hewed timber and erected a building for a store. (This structure was removed to the Joshua Davis lot in 1846, to make room for the Corner Block. For a number of years it was used as a tobacco packinghouse, but afterward torn down.) Later Mr. Corner took his brother Arthur into partnership. In 1837 Joshua Davis bought out Arthur Corner, and the firm became Corner & Davis. In 1848 William P. Sprague, who had previously clerked for the firm, was admitted to partnership. In 1853 the firm became G. L. Corner & Co, Peter Woodmansee and Albert Clarke taking the place of

Sprague and Davis, who retired. G. L. Corner died in 1857. Woodmansee retired shortly before, and the business was managed by Clarke, the Corner heirs being his partners. Joshua Davis became connected with the firm again in 1831, and business was carried on under the name of Corner, Davis A Co. Upon the death of Mrs. G. L. Corner, GeorgeS. Corner became a member, the style of the firm continuing the same until 1838. Davis then retired, and the firm became Clarke & Corner, and so remained until it was consolidated with the firm of A. W. Walker & Co., in 1871, under the style of Clarke, Corner & Walker. J. G. Walker and Clarke sold their interests in 1873, and J. F. Davis became a member of the firm, the name of which was changed to Corner, Walker & Davis, which is the present style. The firm do an extensive drygoods and tailoring business.

On the bank of the river near a spring Israel Redman erected his residence prior to 1825. It was a building about twenty feet square, the lower story of stone and the upper of logs. Adjacent was bis tanyard, currying shop and barkmill. Later, on Pool street, Emery and David Keyes started another tannery. The third and present was started by George Brownell. Tie sold out to Robt. Crawford. The property then passed to Davis & Hoffman, and next to G. L. Hoffman & Sons, the present proprietors. The establishment does a large business and is among the most important industries.

The schoolhouse, which occupies the southside of the East Square, was built in 1858. It is a two-story brick building. Prof. James M. Rusk has been the superintendent for a number of years.

built in 1879. ft is a two-story brick 45 feet on Adams by 75 on Main street. The interior is neatly finished and will seat an audience of 300 persons. The lower story is divided into rooms for the mayor's office, township trustees' office, marshal's office and lock-up.

In the early years of Malta it was understood that the squares on the east and west corners of Adams and Mam streets were intended for the courthouse and jail in the event of obtaining the county seat. But in this as in other events disappointments are often advantageous. The East Square is now occupied, by a building of more value than a forum for litigation, and the West Square by one more ornamental than windows decorated with iron lattice-work.

The village got along without a schoolhouse until after 1830. The first term of school in the place was taught by a man named Walbridge in 1820 in a small log house situated on the lot now owned by Uriah Brown. There were few schools in the early years, most of the young people who went to school at all attending in McConnelsville. The first schoolhouse, a frame building, was erected about 1838 on the square near where the present school building is, and served until the present house was built.

Brown-Manly Plow Company

In the year 1857 W. P. & John Brown commenced the manufacture of a one-horse double-shovel plow with iron beams, at Unionville, in this county. The substitution of iron for wood in the main frame work of the plow was a popular innovation, giving the implement strength, increased durability and a sight appearance, much in contrast with the clumsy character of its progenitor. The work was carried on by a few hands in an ordinary blacksmithshop without the use of machinery, and the product - a few hundred per year - were hauled over the country by wagon and peddled through this and adjacent counties by the enterprising proprietors. Finding their location undesirable and that the business could be enlarged under more favorable circumstances, they removed to Malta, in the year 1359, where a building was secured of sufficient capacity to enable them to work twelve to fifteen hands, thus increasing their product so that after the supply of the home demand a surplus was left to be sent to more distant points, and wherever the plow went it found friends. The location occupied by their shop at this time was the present site of the new M. E. Church.

In 1864 James and Frank B. Manly associated themselves with the Browns under the firm name of Brown, Manly & Company, for the continued prosecution of the business on a larger scale. The Manly Brothers had previously been engaged in the manufacture of threshing machines, horsepowers, wagons, canemills, etc., at Chaneyville, where they had done quite a prosperous business since 1348. In removing to Malta they merged their business into that of the new concern, transferring their machinery, patterns, etc., etc., so that the firm of Brown, Manly & Co., while making the plow their leading manufacture, gave considerable attention to the specialties of the Manlys.

About this time a purchase was made of a patent that had been taken out on the double-shovel plow some time previously. This proved to be a valuable acquisition, as it enabled the owners to practically control the manufacture of this implement and gave them, in a measure, monopoly of its sale.

The proprietors, finding their quarters too straitened for the volume of their business, purchased the foundry and property of Guthrie & Co., where, after some enlargement and modifications of machinerv, the new concern opened out upon an extended scale. The business now went forward prosperously. The plow found ready sale and became a source of considerable profit. The want of capital sufficient to handle the business to the best advantage occasioned some inconvenience, and to broaden the basis of operations, it was resolved to form a joint stock company. In 1870 articles of incorporation were obtained, and the concern assumed the name of the 41 Brown- Manly Plow Company," with a chartered capital of $100,000, a number of citizens of the county identifying themselves as stockholders.

The officers chosen at the commencement of the organization were as follows: President, Joshua Davis; superintendent, W . P. Brown ; secretary, Moses McDaniel ; treasurer, George S. Corner; W. P. Brown, James Manly, Joshua Davis, John Harris, E. M. Stanbery, W, P. Sprague, and Moses Mc- Daniel, directors.

The concern was now launched for a still more prosperous career. The plant was overhauled, ground extended, building enlarged, new shops erected and old ones improved, additional machinery of modern sty des was introduced and numerous modifications made to increase the efficiency of the establishment. The company now entered upon the construction of a new article in the schedule of their wares - the wheel cultivator for two horses. This was a more elaborate machine than the doubleshovel and required considerable mechanical skill to bring it to a degree of perfection which would insure success. This, however, was not wanting, as the heads of the concern were all practical mechanics with a good degree of ingenuity and constructive genius. The cultivator proved a success and found a ready market, and swelled very largely the value of the annual product of the works.

The general course of the business from this on was properous. The volume of the trade and the amount of the manufactures was steadily on the increase, and the factory never closed its doors for the want of orders or failed to supply its operatives with the usual amount of employment. The demand for the goods made has always been up to and sometimes beyond the capacity of the works to produce. The " Malta, " goods wherever known are esteemed as good as the best. This has, of course, given them prominence and ready entrance into widely-extended avenues of trade, reaching into twothirds of the States of the Union, and given the village of Malta, the location of the works, a wide advertisement in the distant regions of the South and West.

The shops now embrace a ground lioor area of 25,000 square feet, and are mostly three stories high with a capacity of working 150 to 200 men, and two warehouses two stories high with ground area of 5,300 square feet. The power consists of twin engines of 60-horse power each. The personnel of the concern has undergone some changes within the ten years of its organization as a corporation. The present officers are James Manly, president; John Brown, superintendent ; W. P. Sprague, secretary and treasurer ; John Brown, James Manly, Frank B. Manly, W. P. Sprague and U. H. Brown, directors.

When it is considered that the location of this establishment is off the line of any railroad, and dependent wholly upon river navigation for transportation, both in receipt of material and transmission of goods to market, it may excite surprise that they have been able to meet and withstand sharp competition and make a success of the business. To whatever cause this maybe attributed, it must be allowed that while the existence of such an establishment is an honor to the county and of value to its citizens, some credit must be given to the skill, enterprise and management of its proprietors.

Malta Methodist Episcopal Church - Was organized by Rev. James T. Donahoo in 1833. The original members were George L. Corner, Sally Corner, Charles Bryan, James Carlin, Mrs. James Carlin, Catherine Barker, Betsy Stone, Elizabeth Davis, Alex. B. Scott and Michael Wiseman. First church officers were Geo. L. Corner, steward ; Alex. B. Scott, class leader. The succession of pastors has been Revs. Donahoo, Milligan, Shaw, Dodds, Kellogg, Shelton, Reed, Hill, Meyers, Baird, Parker, Scovell, Brown, West, Brown, Cutcheon, ITalliday, Ellis, Halliday, Harvey, Cunningham, Wilson, Munsell, Dixon, Hamilton, Gurley, Hamilton, Hurd, Fleming, Spencer, Erampton, Shelton, Frampton, Hooper, Ellis, Felton, Ellis, Kelley, Sheets, Greeg, Barniger, Adamson, Fink, Sowers, Lowe, Woolfe, Jones,

Thomas, Gartner, Thomas, Frampton, Stivers, Thurber, Wakefield, Sites, Naylor, Fry, Carr, Nast, Cochran, Hixson, Lewis, Sowers and Tibbies. Three of the above, Revs. Spencer, Fry and Nast, were during- their pastorates elected to chairs in universities at Athens, O., Bloomington, 111., and Cincinnati, O.

Rev. Spencer has for many years been consul at Geneva and other European cities. The first church edifice was built in 1846 ; it was of brick, and cost $1,500.

The present church was erected in 1883. in size it is 60x60 feet, and cost $7,000. Its architecture is pleasing, and it is the most elaborate and commodious church structure in the county. The present membership is 236, with a Sabbath-school attendance of 890.

Christian Church of Malta. - The Christian Church of Malta was first organized in 1859 by Elders Asbury Gardner and Enoch Dye. Services were regularly held until about 1861, when the society was fora time broken up. April 10, 1865, the church was reorganized With the following members: Susan Tanner, Elizabeth Townsend, Eli Smith, Ellen Smith, Leithev Smith, Thomas Sheridan, Edith Sheridan, A. P. Sheridan, Matilda Shook, Philip Strahl, Rhoda Strahl, Daniel Rusk,)Martha Rusk, Susan Riley, .1 . M. Rusk, Jacob Power, Elizabeth Palmer, Mary Phillips, Mary Paterson, Samuel Miller, Margaret Miller, Alex. Miller, June Mann, Isaac Howes, Keziah Harding, Ann Harding, T. B. Pouts, Mary Pouts, Enoch Dye, Eliza Dye, Catherine Dunlop and Bicy Daniels.

The lirst elders were: Thomas Sheridan and Samuel Miller. Deacons: T. B. Carter, W. J. Sheridan, A. J. Miller. One year from the last organization J.

The church has a membership of 55, with a Sabbath-school attendance of between 40 and 50. The church employs no regular pastor, but is under the supervision of the eldership. They are assisted in their labors by an evangelist. A. R. Pickens has officiated in that capacity since 1883.- The present officers are : Elders, J. H. Wheeler, Samuel Miller and W. A. Dunn ; deacons, William Benjamin, T. B. Fonts, A. J. Miller and Charles Morin ; A. P. Sheridan, clerk.

Valley Lodge. - Valley Lodge No. 145, F. & A. M., was organized November 13, 1846, with the following charter members: James Cornelius, Joshua with the following charter members and first officers : William Sillery, N.G.; Samuel Swasey, V. (f.; W. II. Blundon, Rec. 'Sec.; (feo. E. Ilalliday, Per. Sec-.; Peter Pricker, Treas.; Geo. Weitzell, James Walter, Isaac Walter, George Cain, Jacob Holt and James A. Gillespie. Since organization, 189 members have been admitted. The present membership is 85 and the Lodge is in a prosperous condition, having cash and investments to the value of $1,600. Among the positions held by members of this Lodge, II. E. Miller was a representative to the Grand Lodge of Ohio from the 29th district; C. B. Coulson has served as District Deputy Grand Marshal. The olticers-elect (J une 1886) were J. D. Hoopes, N. G.; B. F. Roney, V. G.; G. M. Black, R. S.; II. E. Miller, P. S.; II. A. Davis, Treas.

William Sherwood

Zurial Sherwood, the progenitor of the Sherwood family in Morgan County, was born near Hartford, Conn., in that memorable year, 1776. When a young man he moved to Pennsylvania, settling on the Susquehanna River. There he married Lucy Keeler and for some time kept a tavern and operated a ferry ten miles below Tunkhannock, in the present county of Wyoming. In December, 1809, he decided to remove to Delware, Ohio, to which place a brotherin-law, the Rev. Jacob Drake, had preceded him. Accordingly, with his family, consisting of his wife and four children, and his household goods, he started on his journey. They traveled with a span of horses and a yoke of oxen through a wild region, and arrived at their destination without accident. At Delaware they stopped with Mr. Bigsby, who was the founder of the town.

At the outbreak of the war of 1812, the inhabitants of Delaware became alarmed fearing an attack of Indians, and many of them tied in quest of a place of safety. Mr. Sherwood and his family started out without any definite idea of where his stoppingplace would be. lie passed the site of the present city of Columbus, and between that point and Worthington, met the army of General Harrison. The sight of the army brought a feeling of safety, and advancing to Putnam, Muskingum County, Mr. Sherwood decided to locate there for a time. During the war he engaged in the transportation of army supplies and kept tavern. In 1814 he bought what was known as the Moore farm in the present county of Morgan, to which he removed with his family in the fall of 1818. He was a pioneer salt-maker, and the salt-well which he bored on his farm is believed to have been the first in the county. He continued the business many years. Mr. Sherwood died at the extreme old age of ninety-five. He was the father of nine children: - William, Raymond, Asa (who died young), Nancy (Conaway), Keeler, Polly (Wells), Sarah (Atchison), Eliza (Robb) and Lucinda (Burgoon).

William Sherwood, a venerable pioneer, and one of the most worthy citizens of Morgan County, was born in Pennsylvania, October 1,1801. As will be understood from the foregoing sketch, he had his full share of pioneer experiences and hardships. Possessed of a- keen, discriminating mind, he was an apt scholar, and made the best use of his limited opportunities. He was reared on the farm, and in the winter of 1818-19 engaged in teaching a school on Oil Spring Run. By various kinds of labor he became possessed of a few hundred dollars, which he invested in goods and engaged in the mercantile business in Malta about 1825. After being in trade several years he engaged in salt-making on quite an extensive scale, which he followed successfully. The active business career of Mr. Sherwood covered a period of more than forty years. During that time he was largely interested in mercantile business, salt-manufacture, farming and dealingin real estate. For a time he was also the largest producer of petroleum in this section. In company with G. C. Devol, for some time he handled nearly all the salt manufactured on the river.

While so extensively engaged in business Mr. Sherwood did not neglect matters of public import. He has always been found willing to encourage and assist every worthy enterprise. In 1852 he was a candidate for member of the constitutional convention. He was also nominated for State senator in 1875, but unfortunately the party to which he belongs has usually been in the minority. He was active in the building of the McConnelsville and Malta bridge, and has ever been in favor of public improvements. He organized the first county agricultural society, and for many years was its president.

Mr. Sherwood was married in 1823 to Rachel Palmer, daughter of William Palmer, one of the pioneers of Malta. It is a fact worthy of mention that this aged couple are now living on the spot where they first met over sixtyfive years ago. They have reared a family of five children, all of whom are still living - Edwin, Pern id i a (Potter), Jane (Mortley), William Oscar and Mary (Gage).

Edwin Sherwood

Edwin Sherwood, son of the venerable William Sherwood, is a well-known citizen and a leading farmer of Morgan County. He is a native of the county, having. been born in Malta Township, November 28, 1823. Reared in the then new country, he had only the advantages for education afforded by the inferior schools of that period. After working on the farm until a young man, he entered the store of Henry Dawes, in Malta, where he acted as a clerk for about two years. In 1843 he became a clerk in the store of his father, who was then doing business in Malta in partnership with Milton Seaman. lie continued this employment until 1847. His father having purchased the Union Salt Works, he then moved to them and took an interest in the business. In 1852, the salt industry being dull, he went to California, where he remained for two years mining and working at other business. In 1854 he returned and purchased his father's interest in the salt works. He conducted the business from that time until 1875, having also a farm and a store besides. He has always been a hard-working man, and often worked day and night about the salt works. Having purchased a part of the Leggett property (about 200 acres), in 1867 he bought the Alexander McConnel farm of 500 acres. His land, which is equal to any in Morgan County in point of excellence, lies together upon the Muskingum River in the southern part of Morgan Township. Mr. Sherwood is one of the largest and most successful farmers and stock-raisers of the county. lie is a man of excellent business capacity, and withal is self-made. He has the satisfaction of knowing that he has earned what he has - and such industry as lie lias shown richly merits success, lie is a liberal man, a genial friend and neighbor, and much respected. Mr. Sherwood is a republican. He has adopted no religious creed, but believes in doing right and doing good. He is a friend to every religious denomination and to the cause of temperance. He has never sought office, yet has served as infirmary director and as president of the Morgan County Agricultural Association. He was married June 2, 1843, to Margaret Gf. Simpson, daughter of David Simpson. She was born in Loudon County, Va., and came to Morgan County with her parents when young. Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood have six children - Arthur L., William, Eva (Lovell ), Charles W., Oscar T. and Edwin M.

Joshua Davis

Daniel Davis, the father of Joshua, was of Welsh descent. He was born in Maryland, and resided in that State and Pennsylvania until his removal to Ohio. He Avas chiefly engaged in farming, though he learned the tailor's trade and Avorked at it for a feAV years. He Avas married in Washington County, Pa., to Sally Carrol, by whom he Avasthe father of live sons and one daughter, all born in Washington County. Mrs. Davis died in Pennsylvania, but all the children settled in Ohio. Mr. Davis died in LTnion Township in this county in 1859.

Joshua Davis, avIio has been prominently identified with the business interests of Morgan County for many years, Avas born in Washington County, Pa., June 17,1808. His early life Avas passed upon a farm and he attended the common schools, having fair opportunities for obtaining an education until lie was ten years of age. Coming to Ohio Avith his father's family in 1819 he found schools very few and very poor, and for six years he did not see the inside of a schoolhouse. At the age of sixteen he engaged, in Barnesville, Belmont County, in learning the tanner's trade, at Avhich he served until he attained his majority. In July, 1829, he came to Morgan County and for a short time attended school in McConnelsville. Thus ended his school education; but by reading and reflection, aided by keen observation and sound judgment, his mind has become stored Avith a great variety of facts and valuable information.

In the spring succeeding his arrival in Morgan County, Mr. Davis entered the store of Francis A. Barker in Malta, Avliere he acted as clerk for a year and a half. In the fall of 1831 he rented a tannery in Union Township, Avhich he purchased in the folloAving year and conducted until 1837. Soon after going to Union Township he taught a Avinter school of sixty scholars. This Avas his only experience in teaching.

In 1837 Mr. Davis moved to Malta, where he has since resided. He engaged in the mercantile business, in Avhich he had a successful and honorable career until his retirement therefrom in 1879. Aside from the mercantile business Mr. Davis has had a prominent part in other industrial and commercial enterprises. He Avas one of the organizers of the Brown-Manly Plow Company, and served as president of the company until 1883, Avhen he sold his interest, lie helped to organize the First National Bank of McConnelsville and Avas a member of the first board of directors of that institution. He also assisted in organizing the Malta National Bank, of which he has been a director from the beginning. He has ever been found among the encouragers of public improvements, always ready to promote the best interests of his town and county. In 1855 he was elected to the office of County Commissioner, in which he served for sixteen years. In his extensive business career he has formed a wide circle of friends and acquaintances among whom he has maintained the highest reputation for uprightness and integrity of character. He was formerly a whig, but has been a member of the republican party since its formation. He is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church to which he has belonged for over fifty years.

Mr. Davis was married July 18, 1832, to Haney Williams, daughter of John Williams, an early settler of McConnelsville. She died in 1863, having borne nine children - Catherine, who died young; Rerley R, a minister of the Ohio Conference of the M. E. Church ; Edwin P., who died at the age of twenty ; Oscar, died, aged three years; Sarah E., died when five months old ; Henry A., now a prominent merchant of Malta ; Mary E., wife of Rev. Frank G. Mitchell, of the Cincinnati Conference of the M. E. church; John Francis, of Corner, Walker & Davis, Malta; and Charles W., engaged in the manufacture of spices at Wichita, Kan. March 10, 180J, Mr. Davis was married to his present wife, Mrs. Lucy Woodmansee ( nee Corner).

John E. Thomas

John Thomas, the father of the immediate subject of this biography, was born in Wales, England, and came to this country in the same vessel that brought Gen. La Fayette. He settled in Virginia, where he married Miss Sarah Cartridge. They resided in Charlestown, Virginia, where John E. was born in 1808. Mrs. Thomas was a daughter of one of the prominent men of that section and a slave-holder. This fact in connection with business disasters induced them to emigrate to Ohio, hoping that in the new country they might be able to retrieve their shattered fortunes. John E. was a lad of eight years at the time of the family's emigration, and still retains a vivid recollection of the struggles of his father in the new country. Just as better times began to dawn, the mother died (1820), and about two years later the father also died leaving their children to care for themselves. At the age of fifteen John E. was apprenticed to the trade of a woolen manufacturer, with the provision that lie was to have three months schooling each year. After the expiration of his term of apprenticeship (five years and six months) he engaged in business with his brother in New Lexington where they operated a grist and woolen mill. In 1835 Thomas E. came to McConnelsville where he formed a co partnership with General Robert Mc- Connel in the business of manufacturing woolen goods. They continued in business for nine years. He next purchased the Malta Mill in company with Messrs. Stone and Brown. Two years afterward Mr. Thomas sold his interest and in company with Mr. Seaman engaged in the dry goods

Mr. Miller's first wife died in 1855, having borne two children, Kate M. (Stanbery) and Iliel D. The latter is now cashier of the Malta National Bank. In 1857 Mr. Miller married Nancy A. Wright, daughter of John W right, of this county. Their children are Harry E., J. Emmet and Blanche.

Hiel Dunsmoor

Hiel Dunsmoor - the immediate subject of this sketch - was, like all the Dunsmoors, Dinsmoors, Ilinsmores and Densmores, in Europe and America, so far as is known, decended from the " Laird of Achenwead," through his youngest son. This " Laird," whose name it is understood was - Dunsmoor, lived at Achenwead, on the river Tweed, in Scotland, about the time the Pilgrims landed in America. The laws in Scotland at that remote period, decended from feudal times, made the eldest son of a family of quality the sole heir to titles and estates, on which account and the "feeling of degradation engendered by the deference enforced from him by his father toward his eldest brother, in recognition of said laws, and the accompanying prevailing customs relating thereto, this youngest son, when seventeen years of age, left home without his father's permission, went to Ireland, married, and settled in the County of Antrim. The Dunsmoor coat-of-arms is described as "a farm on a plate of green, with three sheaves of wheat standing in the center." This son who settled in Ireland had four sons, the eldest of whom, named John, with his wife, children and grandchildren, were of the original party of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who emi- I grated to New England from the north of Ireland, in 1719, and formed the settlement of Londonderry, New Hampshire, so named after their native place. To this same party we are indebted for the introduction into North America of the culture and manufacture of flax, and the culture of the potato, which vegetable " their neighbors for a long time regarded as a pernicious root, altogether unfit for a Christian stomach." This opinion of those remote times, contrasted with the present, reminds us that in the affairs of the stomach, as well as in the realms of mind, morals and theology, " the world moves." Of these last named children, one - a physician - named John, was the greatgrandfather, his son John, who it is understood was his eldest, was the grandfather, and Pliineas - a son of the latter - was the father of Hiel Dunsmoor. The grandfather - John Dunsmoor - married Mary Kimball and resided for an extended period in Townsend, Mass., where eight children were born to them - five boys and three girls. John, the eldest son, married, but his wife's maiden name is not known ; he resided in Charlestown, N. II. Joseph married a Miss McNeal of New York state, resided for some years in Charlestown, then removed to New York, it is understood, some place on the Susquehanna, where he remained the balance of his life, so far as is known. Of William it is not known whether he married or not ; he resided in Charlestown. Samuel, the youngest son, married Miss Anna Powers and settled in Vermont. Of the girls, the names of two, Miriam and Hannah only are known. Miriam married Rufus Leland; they resided in Charlestown. Hannah married Benjamin Pierce, a cousin of President

History Ot1 Morgan County, Ohio

Pierce. They also resided in Charlestown many years, afterwards removing to Amherst, N. IT., where they were when last heard from. The remaining sister married a Mr. Saunders. They settled in Boston, where, as a merchant, lie became quite wealthy. The grandmother, for a second husband, married a Mr. Lovell ; no children however were born to them. Tier son Phineas,the father of Hiel, was born at Townsend, Mass., as has been previously indicated, December 29, 1771. He was married April 10, 1798, to Polly Gage, who was born in Pelham, N. TI., July 16, 1782. She was a daughter of Abner Gage - a patriot soldier of the revolution - who, in the battle of Bunker Hill, had a portion of one foot taken off by a cannon ball ; her mother's maiden name was Susan Ober, and the latter had a sister whose first husband - a Mr. Hull - died in the Revolutionary army; her second husband was a Mr. McLaughlin. Besides Polly, they had four children - three boys and one girl ; of the boys, Abner married a Miss Hesalton, of Salem, N. II. , Daniel married Miss Polly, a daughter of Dr. Shaw, of Unity, N. H., Joseph married a Miss Sprague, of Claremont, N. H., the remaining daughter, Susan, the eldest child, married Phineas Hull, her cousin. The mother died at Ack worth, N. H., in 1789, and after a time Abner, the father, married a Miss Rodgers, for his second wife. They had four sons and one daughter born to them. Of the sons, .1 ohn married Ruth W oodbury. Of the other sons, Joshua, Eliphalet and Stephen, nothing besides their names is known save that they married and Eliphalet had two sons; the daughter, Ruth, married Samuel Strong.

it is understood, as a farmer, at Charlestown, Sullivan County, N. H., about eighteen years, where, October 20, 1807, their son Hiel was born. The even tenor of the father's life, like that of many others, was rudely broken in upon by the war of 1812. He was then a captain of cavalry but did not perform any active service. He was, however, ordered to " hold his company in readiness to march to Portsmouth at an hour's notice," where several British ships, laden with soldiers, were in the offing several days with seeming intentions to land them, which action it was desired to prevent if attempted, but it was not. From Charlestown he removed to Goshen, same county, in 1816, trading for a hotel stand and a large farm adjoining. Here he kept hotel until the spring of 1822, doing an excellent business, that then being an important or favorite stopping point for a large wagon-road travel on the principal route between Vermont and Boston, this being before the days of railroads. There is now, however, but an occasional traveler, and the place, as a village, is sinking in decay. In the spring of 1822, when Iliel was fifteen years of age the family, consisting of the father and mother and their children, four boys and two girls (of which more anon) left New Hampshire in wagons for Ohio - in that day deemed in " the far west." They came through the State of New York, along the Shore of Lake Erie, and down to Ashtabula County, Ohio. Thence, after, tarrying a short time at Mrs. Dunsmoor's father's, who with his family had removed and settled there in about 1810, they proceeded to what is now Fairfield (was then Wesley) Township, Washington County, Ohio, arriving in July, 1822, and settled on a tract of 905 acres of land for which Mr. Dunsmoor had traded his Goshen, N. H., hotel stand and adjacent farm with J. Brick, one of the original "Ohio company." They lived temporarily in a log school house of the settlement, soon erecting and moving into a log house of the prevailing primitive type, the roof being secured by weight poles, nails not then being purchasable in that part of the country. This house, as has been chronicled of those of many other pioneers, was at first, however, shadowed by the " forest primeval," and the howling of wolves formed the common refrain of the night time with which the ears of the family were regaled. Here the father quite suddenly died in the foling May. In his illness he was attended, but perhaps ineffectually, on account of the distance he had to be summoned and come from, by Dr. S. P. Ilildreth, the talented pioneer physician and historian of Marietta. His death was a paralyzing blow to the family, as the children were all comparatively young and the heavy work of clearing the forest was yet mainly before them; but the mother was an energetic intelligent woman, and her sons were scions of a father, selfcontained, intelligent, of great energy and firmness of purpose to which was added a high sense of and honor for right and duty, who, had he lived, would have been a power for the advancement of the community with which he had newly cast his lot. They therefore set bravely to work, and in due time much of the forest was laid low and smiling fields of rustling corn and waving grain greetefi the eye in its stead. Though, as it may interest some to know, wheat then sold for 37a cents per bushel at Marietta, their market, twenty miles away.

The original homestead was about one mile northwest of the present Layman, Ohio, postoffice; its site and the main portion of the original tract is yet in the hands of Lucius and his and Horace's children. Besides Hiel, Mr. and Mrs. Dunsmoor had been blessed with seven children, as follows: Horace, born October 11, 1799; Hiram, born December 21, 1802 ; Abner, born March 17, 180T ; Mary K., born August 13, 1805 ; Lucius P., born January 25, 1810; Ataline G., born September 18, 1812; Daniel N., born November 20, 181 7. Of these children, all save Daniel N., were born at Charleston, NT. IT., Daniel being born at Goshen, same state. Hiram died at Charlestown, January 22, 1804, the others save Abner, Horace and Hiel, are yet (1886) living. Horace married Jane Bishop, a neighbor's daughter, of Wesley township, and lived a farmer. They had children as follows: Marian, Sylvester L., Gilbert, Susan, Caroline, Emily, Alson, Euphama, Carmi, George and Harriet. The father died in 1878, his wife having preceded him a short time. Abner married Miss Emily E. Topliff, of Quincy, 111. She, however, died soon after without issue, a few years after which he married a Miss Miller, of same place, by whom he had a son - Augustus M. - and, about two years after, a daughter, which latter, however, died in infancy, accompanying her mother. The father died in 1853, having been a merchant most of his life. Mary K. married Ephriam Palmer, of what is now Palmer township, Washington County, Ohio. He was a farmer and at one time a colonel in the State militia. They had children as follows: Phineas, Lydia, Polly, Ruth, Abner and Ermina. The father died many yearsago. Lucius P. married Mahala Williams, of Wesley township, and has always lived a farmer ; they had children as follows : Albina, Polly, Jane, Josephine, Laura, Jasper and Lodema. The mother died in 1870. Ataline G. married Hiram Gard, of what is now Palmer township, Washington County, Ohio, whose long life has been occupied in the main by farming and merchandising1 - about equally. lie has also followed old-time milling and droving, and was a lieutenant-colonel in the old State militia when that of his county disbanded. They had children as follows : Edward, Charles, Mary, Martha, Helen, Ilosmer and Hiel; Daniel N. married Julia Goddard, of what is now Fairfield Township, Washington County, Ohio. They had one son, name not known. The father afterward married Mrs. Isabel Harvey, of Barlow Township, Washington County, Ohio. They had three children, Pearly, Harvey and Alonzo. The son Hiel, who and his immediate family will exclusively be the subject of the remainder of this sketch, always having been of a very social nature - both his parents also being of a social temperament - early sought a companion to share his joys and sorrows at a fireside of their own, and his choice fell on Miss Susannah Mellor, whom he married in 1827, when he was about nineteen and a half years of age. She was a daughter of Samuel Mellor, who came from England when about nineteen years of age and lived - a farmer - near Waterford, Washington County, Ohio. "His domestic comforts in this marriage was all that could be desired." They had five children, all of whom lived to marry. The eldest - Susannah II. - married Smith Daniels, of Milan, Erie County, Ohio, to which place they removed, and where she died, May 3, 1853, of consumption, leaving no issue. The second daughter - Polly G. - married George S. Brownell, of Situate, P. I.; she, also, died, May 3, 1853, leaving three children - Mary, Susan and George Hiel. The father volunteered into the 63d regiment, O. Y. L, in the war of the rebellion, and - as a first lieutenant - was one who led the night attack on Port Wagner, near Charlestown, S. C., on July 18, 1863, in which attack he was killed by a shot in the breast. The third daughter - Jane Miranda - married Jesse D. Thomas, of Putnam, Washington County, Ohio, who then removed to Windsor, Morgan County, same state, and engaged in mercantile business ; the mother died of consumption, January 28, 1848, leaving two children, both o-irls, the eldest - Marcella I.; the youngest, Florence M. - who have since resided principally with their grandfather Thomas, in Putnam, Ohio. The next child - Ephraim P. - was born May 5, 1833; he married Miss Sarah F. Fonts, daughter of Lemon Pouts, 3d, of Malta, Morgan County, Ohio. They had seven children respectively as follows : Alice Mabel, Ella Maria, May Cordilla, two sons who lived but one month and thirteen days each, Florence, and a son who, in the fall of 1878 or 9, when of not more than a few fleeting moments or hours in this bright world, departed with his mother for the brighter. The father was engaged for an extended period with his father in the manufacture of furniture at Malta, afterward was in the livery business at Zanesville, and at present is house-building in Belton, Mo. The youngest child - Marian Josephine Elmira - was born March 27, 1836. She married Gardner D. Newcomb, a machinist, of Bernham, Me., when they removed to Portsmouth, Ohio, where, after a residence of eleven months, Charles T. - their only child - was born. They very soon afterward removed successively to Malta and Zanesville, Ohio, remaining a comparatively brief period at each, when the mother went into a decline and - like innumerable others who had gone before and still others who will follow her - came to the parental roof to die, which she soon after did, of consumption. Their son remained with his grandfather (Dunsmoor) until his majority, at whose home his children and grandchildren ever found without stint a haven of rest and that open-handed and unremitting hospitality for which he was widely noted ; the " father followed the example of thousands of others and, at his country's call for volunteers, enrolled his name in the 62d O. Y. I., in 1861, and was one of those brave boys who made the night attack on Fort Wagner, was wounded in the shoulder by a Minnie ball but recovered." The remorseless hand of consumption was also lain on Susannah - Mr. Dunsmoor's wife - and she died, November 1st, 1853. In the contemplation of the aggregate of his bereavement caused by consumption, Mr. Dunsmoor was led to exclaim (I give his own words, as 1 have twice before in this sketch since the record of his marriage, and will once or twice again after the present quotation), "thus in a few years' time, with that fell disease consumption, have I been deprived of a dear wife and four children, leaving me none except my son Ephraim of all my family. Could the fact have been made known to me that in so short a time death was to deprive me so nearly of all my family, it seems to me that it would have dethroned my reason ; still 'the back is prepared for the burden' and man submits to the Divine will; these oft dispensations of Providence convince us that this is not our abiding place. I feel that I have treasures in heaven and will shortly be there with them." On June 26, 1854, Mr. Dunsmoor was again married to Miss Lucy Atwood, of Union Village, Broome County, N. Y., "daughter of a farmer named Stephen Atwood, who was a descendent, in a- direct line, of the Pilgrims who came to Plymouth, Mass., in the Mayflower." When about twenty-one years of age he walked from Massachusetts to his previously-mentioned home, carrying with him all of this world's goods he then possessed, being preceded, however, by what he doubtless valued more than pulseless mammon - a comely youngwoman with whom he had previously formed an acquaintance which had evidently been mutually pleasing, for they were married soon after his arrival at what was ever afterward his home. The house he built - or had built - for himself about sixty years ago to take the place of his first rude log one, is yet standing and in good preservation, being occupied by one of his several children yet living - and prosperously - in the same neighborhood. The house is somewhat peculiar in appearance, being shingled on the sides (the original shingles) as well as on the roof. " This - like Mr. Dunsmoor's first marriage - was one of domestic happiness." Nobly lias the second Mrs. Dunsmoor filled the office of wife, mother and grandmother, for her husband, his children (what were left) and grandchildren ; in fact the latter have almost - perhaps entirely - known no other in her place.

Side by side with her noble husband she has uniformly with grace, good sense, sincerity and generosity, welcomed and entertained relatives and friends as becomes a wife of a leading and honorable citizen. She has by the same side performed that nobler office - wept with the sorrowing and had an unvarying smile and helping hand to welcome and encourage the broken in health and spirit and for their orphans. Mr. Dunsmoor commenced his business career as a farmer immediately after his marriage ; moving on his farm, he worked on it in the and taught school - and very successfully - in the winter. This - until he -got his farm cleared - perhaps three or four years, when he sold his farm, moved to Brown's Mills, Washington County, Ohio, and engaged in the mercantile business, having bought his brother-in-law - H. Gard's - goods, the latter having previously been engaged there in the same business. While thus engaged he took in his brother Abner as a partner, when they enlarged their business by engaging to some extent in old-time fiatboating, i. e , buy or get made a boat of the style then in vogue, buy country produce (pork, bacon, flour, potatoes, etc.) sufficient to load it, and when this done, and at a proper rise of the river, one of the partners, assisted by about three men, would embark, generally for the Crescent City, though they would generally " coast as they went," i. e., sell to the natives at towns and large plantations at different points on their way down, tarrying at each as they found it to pay, winding up each trip generally at New Orleans by' selling the boat and its remaining contents, when - after seeing the sights of the city - they would return home on a steamboat. Of the latter, however, there were few yet running compared with the present. Mr. Dunsmoor at this time and after he removed to Malta, Ohio (of latter more particulars farther along), made quite a number of these trips personally for himself and partners, meeting with various adventures as he naturally would, some of which were exciting and dangerous. In after years it was a favorite and muchasked-for treat for his children and grand-children to hear him "tell stories of when he was down the river." Lack of space forbids the narration of any of them here except one briefly outlined. Mr. Dunsmoor at the termination of one of these trips was sauntering along a street in New Orleans when he was attracted by one. of the oft-read-of slave auctions. He approached and became a spectator. He saw among other sales a mother and her little child of perhaps three years put on the block and sold to different masters, and when the child was ordered taken away, the mother clung to it until the planter who had bought the child raised his cane seemingly to strike her. She then fell in a swoon and the child was removed from her arms, likely never again to nestle there in this world. Mr. Dunsmoor (to use his own words) quit the scene, and as he walked away exclaimed in the fullness of his heart, " My God ! is this the boasted land of liberty ? is this the asylum for the oppressed of every land ? " This blot on our country's otherwise fair escutcheon, Mr. Dunsmoor happily lived to see removed. After continuing in business in Brown's Mills some two or three years, (in 1837) he removed to Malta ; also his militia experience ended about this time or a little before. On arriving at mustering age (18 years), lie had joined a company, raised, it is understood, in Barlow, Wesley and Roxbury townships, of which he was soon elected or appointed a subaltern officer, in which capacity he served a short time, when he was appointed by his colonel, Ephraim Palmer, an officer of his staff - adjutant 1st Regiment, 1st Brigade, 3rd Division Ohio Militia, in which, capacity he served until the regiment was disbanded, which was caused by important changes in militia laws. Upon removing to Malta, Mr. Dunsmoor entered into partnership with William and Edward Mellor, and again carried on mercantile business for perhaps about three years, when he sold his interest to one or both of the Mellors. He next (in 1840) formed a partnership with John Timms, and yet again carried on merchandising and flatboating in connection - more of the latter here than when he was in the same business at Brown's Mills. (For further detail regarding this latter business see former mention of business done at latter point). This firm continued in business about three years, when it closed out, the immediate cause of which well illustrates Mr. Dunsmoor's incorruptible honesty under trying circumstances. Therefore it will be briefly narrated here: In 1843 lie and Mr.

Timms took their last boat down south ; it was loaded with pork, bacon, etc., but finding a poor market at New Orleans this time, they, by the advice of authority they deemed entirely trustworthy (and likely it was) forwarded the cargo to a commission firm in New York to dispose of. They in due time received advice from the firm that their goods were sold and to draw on them "at sight," which they did, but the paper was protested and they lost the entire amount, which, being a valuable cargo, left Mr. Dunsmoor worth $1,500, less than nothing; but he (in 1845) commenced business again, this time that of selling clocks on commission, Allen Daniels furnishing the capital. He continued in this business until 1848 or a little after, operating in the states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, when, though he had been quite successful, lie was forced to quit the business, the chills and fever having fastened themselves upon him, which was a more serious matter in those days than now. He had, however, by this means been enabled to pay all his debts dollar for dollar, which he did without his creditors having recourse on him in any way. He was very jealous of his reputation for honesty, and ever after this occasionally with great comfort of mind reverted to this incident in and part of his business career and to the fact that he had been enabled to pay in full, "no man ever having lost a cent by him." The same year he quit the clock business, he engaged with David Dickerson in the foundry business. He continued with Mr. Dickerson until 1850, the firm name being Dunsmoor & Dickerson. In 1851 the firm name changed to Dunsmoor, Guthrie & Co., but it is not known who, besides Mr. Dunsmoor and Mr. Guthrie composed this last firm, which continued the business until 1856 or 1857, when Mr. Dunsmoor sold his interest to Messrs. Guthrie and Seaman, and was the same year appointed secretary of a projected railroad known as the Pittsburgh, Maysville and Cincinnati Railroad, of which he was also a director. He continued secretary of this corporation for several years after work was stopped on the road. He since, at different times, has, been prominently connected with other railroad projects, by which it was hoped to develop bis county and furnish a reliable communications for its citizens with the outside world. Lack of sufficient financial support has, however, heretofore prevented all these hoped-for improvements from being completed. In 1858 Mr. Duusmoor bought the furniture establishment of Jackson Palmer, which business he energetically (as be did whatever he engaged in) carried on until his death, enlarging and improving the establishment from time to time, and eventually taking in as a partner a worthy nephew, Augustus, son of his brother Abner, which nephew he had raised as he would a son (he not being a son, nor an adopted one, as supposed by many), his mother, as will be remembered, having died when he was but about two years of age. Three of bis little orphan grandchildren met with the same benignant treatment, and as has been said before, his hospitable doors and great heart were always open to all of them to come and go as they listed. But the children designated, being orphaned at a tender age, had his more particular attention. Mr. Duusmoor, during his life time, was by his fellow-citizens elected, and he served many terms as justice of the peace (than which there are few more honorable posi tions among men, if elected, as he was, and the office filled as it was by him). He Avas frequently called upon to fill various other honorable and responsible positions being one of those men always looked to by his neighbors for the management of their public affairs of moment, when wisdom, recognized character, and business tact were needed. Mr. Dunsmoor became a Master Mason in the McConnelsville Ohio Lodge,

February 2, 1846. He Avas instrumental in organizing Malta Lodge, of Avhich he was a member at the time of his death, and the last of its charter members. He had filled the several higher stations in the lodge most acceptably. . A good many years before be died he became a Royal Arch Mason, Avhich he Avas in good standing ever after. lie was a member of the Universalist church for fifty years, also one of the original members of the McConnelsville church. He died October 28, 1883, having attained the age of seventy-six years. His Avife, Lucy A., survives him. They had no children. Iliel Dunsmore, besides having the characteristics heretofore indicated, Avas a shrewd judge of men and their motives, of noble presence and dignified bearing, and " to a character of sterling Avorth united (as can be Avell said of his surviving Avife) a genial, hearty temperament which rejoiced in the society of friends and found a chief pleasure of life in their companionship. A good talker, he possessed a fund of anecdote and reminiscence Avhich together made him excellent company."

Mrs. Dunsmoor Avas born in Union Village, N. Y., April 8, 1825, and came to Morgan County in June of 1853, and was married to Mrs. Dunsmoor the folloAving year. Her father, Stephen Ativood, Avas born in 1TS5. His father, Samuel At ivood, Avas a native of Massachusetts, and was born in 1754. Stephen married Miss Lucy Briggs in 1811. He Avas a farmer by occupation. In 1820 the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Dunsmoor (Briggs) came to Chesterfield, Avhere he died in 1821.

George L. Corner

Morgan County, one of the most deserving of a place in these biographical sketches is George Lowe Corner, a man of unobtrusive disposition yet of generally recognized worth and influence.

The succession of events which determined his settlement in the county is ancestral history, interesting to quite a large family connection living in this region of Ohio, while having an appropriate place in this memoir.

George Corner and Martha (Dumbill,) Corner, his grandparents, were well-todo people of the middle class of Cheshire, England, where they acquired by purchase a tract of some eleven hundred acres of land in the wilds of Kentucky, with a view to emigration and settlement there. Accordingly, soon after, in the early part of the year 1795, they sailed for America, bringing with them all their immediate descendants, embracing a number of grandchildren.

A tedious voyage brought them to Baltimore, Md., and though here some of their party were smitten with yellow fever, they pressed toward their intended home, crossed the mountains, descended the Ohio River, and in August of the same year arrived at Marietta, O., leaving, however, one of their number, a victim of the fever, buried in the woods of Pennsylvania, near the " Big Springs" of the Juniata.

At Marietta, learning that their lands were far beyond and distant inland from the river, they concluded to remain for a time under the protection of the stockade there, and the elder Corner entrusted the title papers to their lands to Herman Blannerhassett, then a noted lawyer of the vicinity, for the purpose of perfecting their claim by such further measures as might be required. Before this was accomplished, Blannerhassett's house was burned and with it the title to their Kentucky purchase.

George, the grandfather and George, his son, (whose wife was Ann (Clark) Corner) settled on Wolf Creek, within the bounds of what is _ now "Windsor Township, Morgan County, where to George and Ann was born, October 23, 1797, their fourth child, George I... believed to be the second white child born within the present limits of the county.

In 1802, the father being an invalid, removed to New York City to avail himself of medical skill, but in the winter 1804-5 the family returned to their Wolf Creek home, leaving the husband and father buried on the banks of the Monongahela in a cemetery near Cookstown, Pa. On their return they found the grandfather had also deceased. The widowed mother, with her young family, had then and there to buffet with the hardships and privations of pioneer life. George L. remained with her on her little farm, acting his part as a good and dutiful son, till, at the age of sixteen years, he was apprenticed to a Mr. Currier, of Athens, ()., to learn the tanning and currying trade.

Upon completion of his indentures lie found work, near Wheeling, Pa., upon the National Pike, then being built. By rigid economy and industry he saved money enough to make the first payment on a quarter-section of land, which he located in Union Township and upon which he built a cabin and made a little clearing, and again started out in quest of work to secure, what was then so scarce and yet so necessary to hold, the purchase-money for his deferred payments. After long and diligent search he found employment at his trade at Georgetown, Brown County, O., where he remained and wrought till his savings were sufficient to meet the payments on his lands and then returned to devote his energies, quite successfully, -to establishing a tanning business and the improvement of his property.

As a citizen of Union Township he took a prominent position in its affairs for several years prior to his removal to Malta, in 1833, serving as justice of the peace to general acceptance. lie was especially useful in harmonizing and adjusting suits and disputes amongst his neighbors. By reason of his sound sense, good judgment and strict integrity his advice was sought in many affairs in the circles of his business and social acquaintance.

The business career of Mr. Corner has been so thoroughly outlined in the chapters of this history devoted to Union and Malta Townships, that it is not deemed necessary to reproduce it here. From 1833 until his decease he was successfully engaged in merchandising. For his first store building, at Malta, he went into the woods, felled the trees, and hewed the timbers.

He was held in high and general esteem for his solid, manly character, distinguishing traits of which were benevolence, candor, and a high sense of justice. Envy or malice had no place in his heart, and he preferred always to speak good rather than ill of others. In manner he was considerate, kind and engaging ; calm, prudent and self-possessed under adverse circumstances. His public spirit was attested by the liberal aid he gave to every enterprise that tended to promote the welfare of the county.

His educational opportunities, were of course, very limited, but he possessed good natural ability, and by attention to such opportunities as he had, he attained intelligence above the average. An earnest Christian, he practiced in his daily life the tenets of his belief. He was one of the founders of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Malta, and for many years its main stay and support.

His useful life closed August 11, 1857. His departure was widely lamented and the inquiry was frequently made, " who is there to take his place ? "

Mr. Corner was married November 28, 1822, to Miss Sarah W. Hart, then of Athens County, an estimable Christian lady of New England parentage, who survived him about three years. There were born to them nine children, May, Emily, Lucy, Eliza A.., Sarah, Martha, Marcus L., George S., and Newell.

This township was the latest formed in Morgan County. It was set off in 1839, its territory being principally taken from Morgan Township, with the addition of a few sections from Deerfield. On the list of pioneer voters in Morgan Township, given in Chapter XVIII. will be found the names of many whose locations were within the present limits of Malta Township. Edward Miller, who was born in 1805, and who came to the township in 1806, says that they were few settlers until after the close of the war of 1812,

Then for a few years land was taken up rapidly and it was not long before all the most desirable tracts had been entered. Some of the old-time pioneer hunters alarmed at the encroachment of the settlers upon the territory where they had been for years engaged in their pursuit unmolested, left their little clearings, and with guns and axes upon their shoulders departed to the westward in search of regions where game was plentier and neighbors were fewer. But to those who had formerly enjoyed the comforts of civilization and who loved the companionship of their fellow-men, it was many years before their surroundings appeared otherwise than wild, desolate and forbidding. Indeed, as late as 1835, the aspect of the township was that of the primitive forest, broken here and there by a small clearing in the midst of which appeared a small log cabin. Many people now living can recall the time when deer abounded in the woods, and some yet survive who in their earlier years were not unaccustomed to the sight of the bear and the wolf.

The Indian trail from the north to the Ohio River led along' the ridge a mile or more back from the Muskingum. This route was frequently used by the red men even after the country was settled by the whites. The Indians were accustomed to call upon the settlers with baskets and trinkets which they sought to trade for whisky, tobacco and other articles. At the house of Edward Miller, Sen., now the home of William Sherwood, they were frequent visitors, as Miller had hunted with them when a boy and understood something of their language and customs.

ness was occasionally enlivened by an exciting hunt for bears and wolves. At one time a party of men found a bear on Oil Spring Run and closely pursued him until he took refuge inside a hollow sycamore tree. One of the number, a man named Briggs, arranged a prop against the tree and climbed up to the place where the bear was supposed to have taken refuge. He then cut a hole with an axe, but seeing nothing of the bear, inserted his head to reconnoiter. His face met the damp nose of the bear ; his head was withdrawn very suddenly and he descended to the ground in the quickest possible time, leaving to his companions the task of securing the bear. As the county paid a considerable bounty for each bear killed, hunters missed no opportunity of destroying these animals whenever it was possible, so that it was not many years until they disappeared altogether.

Most of the early settlers of this part of the county found their way to their new homes by means of canoes and pirogues, transporting their goods upon the river either from Marietta or Zanesville. The river was the principal thoroughfare in the early years. Roads and horses and wagons belong to a later period.

Thomas Risen settled in 1816 where George Warren now lives. His sons John, Joseph and Amos, still living in the county, are among the old residents.

Rufus P. Stone, who was quite a prominent man in the early years of the county, lived on the present John E. Thomas farm in ISIS. He came here from Washington County and resided here until his death. On the river below Stone, lived Henry Snyder and Theophilus Caton.

Benjamin Beckwith, whose descendants are still here, was an early settler on the school section. His son-in-law, John Wesley Johnson, was an early settler on the farm adjoining the Porters. He died in 1831 and the farm has since changed owners several times.

Hon. William M. Dawes, one of the early associate judges of the county, settled in the township as early as 1817. He had quite a large family. In connection with his sons he carried on distilling and tanning, kept a store and ran a carding machine. His son Henry moved to Malta where he became a prominent merchant. Judge Dawes sold out to Humphrey Rusk.

Edward Miller, Sen., settled on the present Sherwood farm in 1806 and resided there till 1816. Previous to his settlement John Lockhart had made a small improvement there.

Simeon Pool, one of the founders of Malta, was among the earliest settlers in the township. The present John Miller farm was included in his land. Samuel McCune, an early settler, lived on the next farm above Pool's.

Mrs. Clemans, of Penn Township, was one of the pioneer women of Malta. In 1810 her mother, Raney Stone, in company with her uncle John Eveland came from Wilkes barre, Pa. They made the trip over the mountains in a wagon containing their household goods and five children, arriving in Zanesville they completed their journey by river to what has since been known as the Moore farm where they settled. Eveland did not remain long, however, emigrating to Missouri. Mrs. Clemans passed through many hardships. She states that at one time the family were without bread for six weeks, subsisting entirely on corn and potatoes. Salt was obtained from " over the mountains " by packing it on horses. In 1817 she Avas married to John Clemans a Virginian. He died in Malta. He was a millwright by trade.

Bill Hughes is said to have built the first cabin within the present limits of the village of Malta. Abe settled north of the toivn a little later and afterward moved Avest a few miles. Bill moved to the vicinity of Bald Eagle. Later both quitted the country. They were from Georgia and excellent types of the roving squatter characters, once familiar in nearly every part of the county.

Above the John Miller farm Avas a hundred acre tract entered at an early day by Captain Olney, an early settler of Washington County, Avhose son-inlaw occupied it for a few years. This farm passed into the hands of James A. Gillespie in 1820, and about the same time he bought the one hundred acre tract above it of Gilbert Olney. The latter tract was first occupied by Samuel McCune, probably as early as 1S12. He sold out to Gilbert Olney, from Washington County. The latter Avas not related io Captain Olney.

James A. Gillespie engaged in the manufacture of salt in 1829. He and Zurial Shenvood were then the only salt makers on the river betAveen Malta and Eagleport. Gillespie's Avell proved a good one and his success Avas such as to lead others to embark in the business and in a few years salt-furnaces were numerous along the river. The industry was an important source of revenue to the pioneers. Salt was one of the very few products of the county that could be sold for cash, and a ready market was found for it in Cincinnati and other cities. Many men were employment about the furnaces, in the cutting- of wood, and in the transportation of the product to market, and thus salt-manufacture became an important interest.

James Alexander Gillespie was of Irish parentage. He was born in Maryland, and came from Harford County in that state to Ohio. After a short time spent in Licking County, he moved to Muskingum County in 1814, and for four years plied his trade - that of a cooper - at John Matthews' mill at Moxahala, at the mouth of John's Creek. During this time he saved money with which he entered land in Morgan County. In 1818 he embarked in a pirogue with his family and goods, and landed at Malta. There being no wagons in the country, his effects were transported with sleds to the place that was to become his home. The land entered by him was a quarter-section, now occupied by the Barkhurst and Gillespie families. Mr. Gillespie followed his trade in connection with farming, and the articles manufactured by him found sale in Putnam. He was the principal cooper in the neighborhood. About 1827 he engaged in distilling, which he followed for about two years. 1 1 is first distillery was on Oil Spring Run, but the following year he ran one located above McConnelsvi lie, on the east side of the river. In 182b he engaged in salt-making, in which he was interested unfil his death.

He died in 1838. He was then engaged in keeping tavern in McConnelsville on the spot where the Koons House now stands. He was a prominent man and served as justice of the peace. His wife was Margaret Me Leary, of York County, Pennsylvania. They had nine children, eight of whom grew to mature years - Jane (Kincaid), John McLeary, James, Mary A. (Pouts), Haney (Fouts), William Thomas, Samuel Martin, Hily (who died young), and Margaret (Martin). Of these John M., James, Martin and Margaret are living.

John M. Gillespie, an old resident of Morgan County, was born in Maryland in 1812, and has resided in Morgan County since 1818. He was engaged in farming and salt-making until 1853, when he bought of Thomas, Stone & Brown the woolen factory in Malta, which he ran until 1877. He now resides in the village of Malta. In 1831 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Allen Fouts. Children - Nancy J., James A., Solomon, Elizabeth, Clarissa and John M., all living.

William Thomas Gillespie married Nancy Hedges and lived on the old homestead, where his widow yet resides, lie was born in 1822 and died in 1883. His children are George A., Samuel, Martin, Silas and Belle.

Zurial Sherwood, a native of Connecticut, settled on the present Moore farm in 1818. He was the pioneer salt manufacturer of Morgan County. (See biography of William Sherwood.)

Isaac James had a mill on Oil Spring Run, probably as early as 1S20. It was afterward enlarged and ground both wheat and corn, proving a. great convenience to the settlers. Thomas Campbell and Henry Moore had an early mill on Island Run.

Among the well-known pioneer hunters and trappers were Abe and Bill Hughes, whose adventures, narrated in full, would fill a volume. One of them was for many years a resident of what is now Malta Township, and both of them were familiar with all parts of the county. In 1819 they had an adventure upon Wolf Creek, nearly, if not quite equaling, the famous Putnam wolf story. Judge Gaylord gives the following account of it :

"All along Wolf Creek the ferocious wolf had its den or place of concealment and safety. The creek derived its name from the great number of wolves prowling and depredating in that region. At that time the treasurer of the county paid $3 for each wolfscalp taken and presented. This was something of an inducement for Abe and Bill to ' lay down the shovel and the hoe,' and go forth with their rifles to pursue and capture the great enemy of sheep and hogs.

" In one of their excursions they tracked an old she-wolf to her den. Arrived at the entrance, Abe proposed that Bill crawl in after the wolf. Bill declined the job, not like Putnam's negro, for want of courage, for he was as brave as J ulius Caesar ; but suggested that as Abe was the smaller man, he should penetrate the den, while he (Bill) stood watch at the entrance to dispatch the wolf when she emerged. Abe disrobed to some extent, entered the den and cautiously made his way toward the inmate and her young. On the approach of the hunter the old wolf seemed to comprehend the situation, and made a spring- toward Abe in order to pass him and thus gain freedom and light outside. In making the passage the wolf and Abe met in a, narrow part of the passage-way. Abe got the worst of the adventure, the wolf tearing and lacerating his body and his buckskins in a terrible manner. Bill, true to his trust and responsibility, stood at the entrance with his faithful rifle m hand, and, as she emerged, shot the old wolf dead. Abe, not to be defeated in his adventure and prospective profit, returned again to the lair and brought forth the young wolves. The scalps of the wolves brought into the purses of the hunters quite a neat sum of money for those days. These men, from the great flow of immigration into the county, became somewhat cramped for hunting territory ; and wild game becomingscarce and unreliable as a source of subsistance and profit, they ' pulled up stakes ' and departed from their familiar hunting grounds, to find in the Far West a more congenial people, more freedom and more game."

Jackson C. Murduck

Jackson C. Murduck was born August 21, 1829, in Bristol Township, Morgan County, Ohio. His parents, Edmund and Lydia (Murphy) Murduck were early settlers of that township and are mentioned in the chapter devoted to the history of Bristol. The subject of this notice was reared on his father's farm and received a good common school education. He followed farming until 18(12, when he enlisted as a private in Company C, 122d Regiment, O. V. I. On the organization of the company he was made a corporal. He participated in forty-five battles and skirmishes, among the most noted engagements being those of Winchester, Locust Grove, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania C. H., Cold Harbor, North Ann, Monocacy, etc. In the last named battle lie was severely wounded in the right forearm, causing a permanent disability. After spending several months in the hospital, he was discharged in February, 1865, and returned to his home. In July of the same year he had the misfortune to lose his house by fire, causing a serious loss.

In 1866, Mr. Murduck was elected sheriff of Morgan County, and at the expiration of his term of office he was re-elected. At the conclusion of his second term, he bought the farm in Malta Township upon which he has since resided. Mr1. Murduck is a man of excellent character and is highly esteemed. He is a member of the Christian church and an earnest friend of temperance and every other good cause. He is also a prominent member of Hughes Post, No. 285, Cl. A. It.

Mr. Murduck has been married three times. The maiden name of his first wife was Miss Elizabeth Adams, of Bristol Township. She died in 1870. In 1872 he married Miss Albina Carman, who died in 1878. In 1880 he married Mrs. Martha J. Pickett, who died in the same year. Of the first marriage eight children were born - Willie and Edmund W., deceased; and Samuel A., Frank E. (Scott), Myrtle C. (Thompson), Clarence W., Rose and Edgar L., living. Three children were born of the second marriage ; two of them died in infancy, and one, Nettie A., is living.

William Anguish was born in 1804. When a young man he came to Jefferson County and from thence to Morgan in 1834. He purchased, the farm on which he resided until his decease, which occurred July 17, 1866, from a strokeof lightning. Hewas a man of excellent principles and adhered tenaciously to what he thought to be the right. He took an active part in the organization of the Wolf creek Christian church. He was reared in Marshall County, West Va., and married in Jefferson County, Ohio, Miss Margaret Tweedy, and for a time resided in Guernsey county, Ohio. Mrs. Anguish died in 1835, leaving to the care of her husband two children, James M. and David; the latter died in 1846. James M. was born in Guernsey County in 1827, and married Miss Margaret A.' Carman. She died in 1859, leaving him with three children : Harriet A., Perley B. and Almeda M.; his second wife was Miss Mary M. Newton. Mr. Anguish has been a successful farmer and teacher, and for about forty years a worthy member of the Christian church. In political belief he is a Republican.

Thomas Sears was born in Loudoun County, Virginia, and came to Malta Township in 1827. He married Mary Daniel, of his native county. Eight of their children are now living. Alzira resides in Penn Township ; Matilda in Penn Township; William S. in Reinersville; John H. in Penn Township ; J. D. in Malta Township; Jane (Pickett), in Minnesota; Mary C. (McPeak),in Malta Township; Sarah (Hann), in Penn Township ; Thomas M., deceased. Mi1. Sears served in the war of 1812. lie and Mrs. Sears were members of the Methodist Protestant church. Mr. Sears died in 1864 ; Mrs. Sears, in 1881.

Source changes here: from History of Morgan County, Ohio, by Charles Robertson, M. D, published 1886; 12,542 words in this source stream.

Malta Township

Malta Furniture Manufactory. At first all the work was done by man power, but in 1851 a steam engine was added. This engine, the first built in the county, was a product of the foundry of Dunsmoor & Dickerson. In 1858 II. Dunsmoor and Samuel McCaslin bought the furniture manufactory from J. J. Palmer. Three years later Dunsmoor & Son became the proprietors of the establishment, which is still run in the same name, although the senior Dunsmore is now deceased. From a small beginning the works have grown in size and importance until they now rank among the chief industries of the town. In 1875 the first parlor organ made in the county was manufactured in this establishment. Several have since been made.

The first tavern was a hewed log house, on the present site of A. A. Coulson & Co.'s store, erected by George Miller. Miller kept tavern a few years and was succeeded by William Murphy. Next Abel James kept store in the building, purchasing it for $150. Francis A. Barker next occupied it; then the Griffiths owned it and sold out to Alexander Simpson. About 1 830 Simpson, in partnership with Milton Seaman, kept store there. The building was next occupied by J. M. Rogers as a saddler's shop, and afterward by Lazarus, the Jew. In 184d it was torn down and the present building erected.

The new building was first occupied bv Alexander Simpson as a store ; then by Simpson & Woodman see ; next by Joseph Black, and afterward successively by Thomas W. Simpson and Simpson & Young (T. W. Simpson and Wm. B. Young).

In 1844 Hiel Dunsmoor and David Dickerson started the Malta Foundry, the second in the county. Later Erastus Guthrie became one of the firm, which carried on business under the name of II. Dunsmoor & Co. Milton Seaman bought out Dickerson's interest and the firm name became Dunsmoor, Guthrie A (V). In 1853 Dunsmoor and Seaman sold out and the firm of Guthrie, White it Wad ley began business. In 1858 J. Q. and P. B. Dickerson bought the entire establishment and carried on business under the name of J. Q. Dickerson it Co. In 1834 W. P. and John Brown and James and Frank B. Manly succeeded to the ownership of the property which thus became the basis of the Brown-Manly Plow Works.

The first mill in Malta was built by Isaac Baker on two flatboats, and was of the rare pattern known as a k' floating mill." (For a description of it see chapter on Internal Improvements.) Baker came from Washington County and rented Young's ferry. It is related that the first time Hyman Lazarus, the Jew, saw a steamboat on the river, he came to Baker on the run, his eyes wide with astonishment, and shouted, "Mr. Baker! Mr. Baker! your mill haf got loose, und he is coomin oop the river a-grindin' like the devil !"

About 183o Abraham Lippett constructed a brush dam across the river near where is now the Malta Mill, and built a mill, which was in operation a few years.

Hi8Tory Op Morgan County, Ohio

tinued business in the same vicinity - on the east side of Bell street - until 1873, when he sold out to Dr. Daniel ltusk, who still continues the business. George Z. Dickerson began the drug business in 1868, and is still engaged in it.

The first fancy-goods store was started by G. E. Halliday, who sold out to James Neely. The latter sold to Robert Button in 1879. The Misses Beckwith opened a millinery and fancygoods store in 1878.

A. L. Miller was the pioneer jeweler of Malta, and is still in successful business. In 1872 he erected the Miller Building, in which the Malta National Bank is located.

In 1827, on the corner opposite James' store, Henry Dawes embarked in the mercantile business. He was a man of somewhat peculiar temperament, but enterprising and very successful in business. He became a prominent citizen and represented the county in the legislature. He continued business until about 1857, then removed to Wisconsin, where he died.

Malta grew very slowly. Although a trading-point of considerable importance in the early years, vet the vilhige increased very slowly in population until after the beginning of the slack water improvement of the Muskingum. Since then the town has rapidly improved, and its business development has been correspondingly great.

It was incorporated as a village by a special act of the legislature passed March 7, 1842. John Timms was the first mayor and Hiel Dunsmoor the ! first recorder. 1

In the amount of business transacted and in general thrift and enterprise there is no village in Southern Ohio which can make a l)etter showing in proportion to population. There were 652 inhabitants in 1880, according to the census of that year.

The Malta National Bank, the first and only banking institution in the town, was chartered in 1872, and l>egan business Noveml)er 19 of the same year, in the rooms still occupied. The first officers were E. M. Stanbery, president ; Joshua Davis, M. McDaniel, John Hail, John Harris, John Miller and F. B. Pond, directors ; D. H. Mortlev, cashier, and II. D. Miller, bookkeeper. D. II. Mortlev was succeeded as cashier in 1874 by H. D. Miller, and W. II. Pierpoint l>ecame bookkee|>er. Mr. Miller still holds the position of cashier. The remaining officers in December, 1885, were as follows: W. P. Sprague, president ; George S. Corner, vice-president ; Joshua Davis, E. M. Stanbery, John Miller, Peter Miller, J. M. Rogers, directors. The bank is well-managed and prosperous. Capital, $75,000.

The hardware business was not made a distinct one until the village had grown to considerable size. The hardware firm of J. M. Rogers & Co., the first and at present the only one in town, was established in 1855, and for thirty years has carried on a successful business.

The head of this firm, James M. Rogers, one of the leading business men of the town, was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1819. His father, John Rogers, a local preacher of the Methodist church, moved his family to Malta in 1842. He was a native of Virginia ; died in 1877, aged over eighty year's. J. M. Rogers began business in Malta in 1842 as a saddler and harnessmaker ; was afterward in the dry-goods business, and since 1855 in his present business. He has always taken an active interest in the growth and prosperity of the town, and has filled many local offices. He was married in Malta in 1852 to Margaret, daughter of Nathan Sprague, and has five children living.

After John Seaman the next shoemaker was Peter Pricker, who came in 1839, and for many successive year's plied the thread and awl to the satisfaction of his patrons.

George Townsend came to Malta in 1839, and commenced making saddles and harnesses in a shop on Main street, between Bell and Adams streets. J. M. Rogers began the same business in 1842.

William Breeze had a small dwelling and a blacksmith shop on the southwest corner of Bell and Main streets. He afterward made additions to his house and converted it into a hotel, which is now kept by John Glass.

On the southwest corner of Adams and Main streets was a frame building erected bv William Sherwood. The building was burned down when owned by Isaac Hedges, who, in 1880, erected the three-storv brick building, now the popular " Valley House," kept by J. \V . Thomas.

Edward and William Miller, with whom II. Dunsmoor was associated for a time, were merchants between 1830 and 1840. Timms & Dunsmoor, and Timms, Dunsmoor & Taylor succeeded them.

George L. Corner came to Malta in 1833. With the assistance of a man whom he brought with him, Mr. Corner, went into the woods, felled trees, hewed | timber and erected a building for a store.

(This structure was removed to the I Joshua Davis lot in 1840, to make room * for the Corner Block. For a number of years it was used as a tobacco packing- I house, but afterward torn down.) Later Mr. Corner took his brother Arthur into partnership. In 1837 Joshua Davis bought out Arthur Corner, and the firm became Corner A: Davis. In 1848 William P. Sprague, who had previously clerked for the firm, was admitted to partnership. In 1853 the firm became G. L. Corner Ar Co , Peter Woodinansee and Albert Clarke taking the place of

Sprague and Davis, who retired. G. L. Corner died in 1857. Woodmansee retired shortly before, and the business was managed by Clarke, the Corner heirs l>eing his partners. Joshua Davis became connected with the firm again in ISfil, and business was carried on under the name of Corner, Davis A Co. Upon the death of Mrs. G. L. Corner, George S. Corner became a member, the style of the firm continuing the same until 18f>8. Davis then retired, and the firm became Clarke Corner, and so remained until it was consolidated with the firm of A. W. Walker & Co., in 1871, under the style of Clarke, Corner & Walker. J. G. Walker and Clarke sold their interests in 1873, and J. F. Davis became a member of the firm, the name of which was changed to Corner, Walker A Davis, which is the present style. The firm do an extensive drygoods and tailoring business.

On the bank of the river near a spring Israel Redman erected his residence prior to 1825. It was a building about twenty feet square, the lower story of stone and the upper of logs. Adjacent was his tanyard, currying shop and barkmill. Later, on Pool street, Emery and David Keyes started another tannery. The third and present was started bv George Brownell, lie sold out to Robt. Crawford. The property then passed to Davis A Hoffman, and next to G. L. Hoffman tfc Sons, the present proprietors. The establishment does a large business and is among the most important industries.

The school house, which occupies the southside of the East Square, was built in 1858. It is a two-story brick building. Prof. James M. Rusk has been the superintendent for a number of years.

built in 1879. It is a two-story brick 45 feet on Adams by 75 on Main street. The interior is neatly finished and will seat an audience of fiOO persons. The lower story is divided into rooms for the mayors office, township trustees' office, marshal's office and lock-up.