Along the Highway Through Dunham and Belpre

"Col. Moore was engaged in oil business in West Virginia and afterwards ascertained he had an abundance of oil on his own land,  

'right in his hog pen' as he explained it."

 
The encroachment of the river below Mile Run (the southern limit of Harmar) necessitated moving the county road to the west side of the railroad as far south as a little beyond the Burlingame brick house, now standing. For many years the road ran along the bank to the Athens county line.

At Mile Run was unloaded from a flatboat the locomotive "Vinton," the first engine to arrive at Marietta. It was used in track laying and for years John D[a]kin ran it on passenger trains.

The Rolling Mills buildings were opposite the Burlingame house. Two miles below, grindstones were first made at Finch's quarry. They were cut out with picks and chisels, a slow process when compared with present methods. Adjoining Finch's was R. D. Hollister's farm with its attractive residence.

R. D. Hollister residence. Atlas of Washington County, Ohio, by D. J. Lake, surveyor, 1875.

At Moore's Junction, T. W. Moore owned a farm. Col. Moore was engaged in oil business in West Virginia and afterwards ascertained he had an abundance of oil on his own land, "right in his hog pen" as he explained it.

Mr. Reppert owned the farm where the train crews now announce "Scott's Landing." I do not remember the names of the people between Repperts' and Gravel Bank. At the latter place stood a brick house, the property of Mr. Dickey. On the back road, William Scott owned a tidy place with good farm buildings.

The Demings had a neat cottage not far from the church on the river road. The church has not changed in appearance in seventy years. On the other road was the farm of Bennett Bailey. At the intersection of the Decatur road at Constitution lived William D. Bailey and William P. Cutler, referred to in a previous paper.

I am unable to locate the Calders, McClures, Coles, Briggs and Benjamin E. Tilton places, except that they were between Constitution and the Stone farm just above Belpre.

Richard Henderson, a steamboat man, lived at Belpre at a time when steamboating was a real business. His son, Charles B. Henderson, operates a book store at Athens. There was a Dr. Guthrie and a Mr. Benedict at Belpre or just below. Cyrus Ames was at or near the village. The Stones and Danas had good farms, the residences stood back of, and on higher ground, than the road. On the entrance to the lane of one farm was the legend, "John Stone's Gate."

Among a group of Walnut trees near Cedarville, now Rockland, was the residence of another Mr. Stone. Dr. George N. Gilbert owned the general store at Cedarville. He was postmaster and was an examiner of teachers. Transportation to Marietta being difficult, examiners were located at convenient points in the county. The doctor also extracted teeth, using a "turnkey" for that purpose. This was a more effective instrument of torture than can be found in the best equipped dental office of today. It was a great jawbreaker.

The Universalist church was on the William Pitt Putnam farm. Waldo Putnam succeeded his father as owner of the farm. His sisters, Rowena and Huldah, were students at the Western Liberal Institute.

Cushing Goodno lived near Lewis' store. He was a large man. I remember his queer looking buggy. One of the Chappells owned a small place in the vicinity. Parker Lewis' store was a busy place and supplied a large territory with such goods as a large store sold in early times. Just below the store were the farms of O. R. Loring and Bial Stedman. Bosth were associate judges, as also was Walter Curtis.

Previous to the adoption of the constitution of 1852, there was a common pleas judge, and an associate judge sat with him at sessions of court. This was when "John Doe vs. Richard Roe" appeared in litigation. Mr. F. H. Loring is living at the Loring homestead, his sister Delia, widow of the Rev. Morris, lived many years at Marietta and is now a resident of Parkersburg.

At and near Little Hocking were several families from the New England states. The Blough, Curtis, Dutton, Guthrie, Knowles, Oakes, Dunham, Bierce, Van Gilden families and later C. B. Hitchcock, the musician.  Nearly the entire population from Belpre to Hockingport were Yankees. They were people of unusual intelligence and were prominent in things transpiring at the time of the coming of the early settlers.

On the river hill north of Porterfield stood the town house where Belpre township elections  were held. On the old road at the ford across Little Hocking stood Stedman's flouring mill and the Daniel Goss tannery. The main road now crosses the stream on a steel bridge. Beyond the bridge a short distance is Belpreville cemetery, which is the last resting place of many pioneers.

Half a mile beyond at Belpreville, William Chevalier had a store and Jonathan Blough a wagon shop. H. P. Sage's larding mill operated by the weight of a horse treading a wheel, carded the wool for families for quite a territory.

On Mill Branch, east of Belpreville, Elihu Clarke built the first saw mill in this part of the county. There is nothing left of Belpreville. It has been taken off the map, but close at hand is a store and a cluster of houses, known as Corner. John Potter was the first farmer to the north. In the woods at the top of the hill, Moses Hall had a small house in a clearing. Next came Daniel Drain's farm. This was the southern limit of the Scotch neighborhood. I think John Drain joined Daniel Drain. The McGill house was on a diverging road, but in sight of the main road. The homestead is now owned by one of the McGills whose brother owns the adjoining farm, known as the James Brown place. Duncan Shaw lived up Big Run, a short distance from the public road, as did also John Brown. Across the creek and extending to Veto is the Gorham farm, now owned by Shaw & Goddard. Beyond this has been treated in a former paper.

E. B. C.
Sunday Morning Observer, May 13, 1917