One of the earliest settlers and most prominent men was Timothy Bates.  He located in what is now Seneca Township about 1805, and was probably the earliest permanent settler of the township.  His father, Ephraim Bates, and several of Timothy's brothers were pioneers in other parts of the county, and are elsewhere mentioned.  Timothy Bates and his brother Isaac came from Captina Creek, near the Ohio River, as soon as they dared venture into the wilderness, on account of the Indians, and entered land on section 24.  They were probably here with their families in the year mentioned.  Timothy Bates was born in Pennsylvania in 1778, and from his earliest years was familiar with the scenes of pioneer life.  He built a mill soon after he came, in what is now Wayne Township, which was among the earliest in the county.  He also had a distillery and did a thriving business.  He lived to see the country, which he entered when it was a wilderness, well peopled and prosperous, and departed this life June 15, 1869.  His wife's maiden name was Ruth Moore, a native of Pennsylvania.  They reared a large family.  The names of their children were Susan (Rucker), living; Polly (Rucker), living; Abigail (Stotts), deceased; Bethel, living; Lovina (Danford), Luana (Kent), Barua, deceased; Anna (Moore), living; Ruth (Bowersock), deceased; Timothy, living, and Lafayette, Elizabeth and Nancy (Hague), deceased.  Timothy Bates, Sr., was an enterprising and successful business man, and by his industry accumulated a good property.  In addition to farming, milling and distilling, he bought hogs, which he drove to Baltimore, making them swim across the Ohio River  He was a member of the Christian church and sometimes preached.  His distillery was a large building, and in the loft among the whisky barrels, early religious meetings were held, the barrels of whisky serving in place of pews and pulpit.  A strange place for divine services it would be in these days, but then the people saw no impropriety in bringing whisky and religion near together.
     Hon. Bethel Bates, son of Timothy Bates, is one of the oldest native residents, of Noble County.  He was born Mar. 12, 1809, on the same section of land where he still resides, and was brought up in the then thinly settled country after the manner of the children of the early settlers, wearing buckskin breeches, his feet covered by moccasins in winter and bare in summer.  In early life he assisted his father upon the farm and in the distillery.  Since becoming of age he has followed farming and dealing in stock, and has been very successful in his various undertakings.  In 1831 he married Mary Ann Meighen, daughter of John Meighen, an early settler who came from Fayette County, Pa., and lived and died in Seneca Township.  They have reared twelve children: Abraham, Hugh, Rebecca, Harriet, Simeon, Lewis, Patrick, Herman, Rosaline, Luana, Susannah and Bethel.  All are living except Lewis, who was killed by a boiler explosion in a saw-mill at Sarahsville, in the spring of 1886.  Four of the sons were in the service in the late war - Abraham, Lewis, Patrick and Herman.  The descendants of Mr. and Mrs. Bates are very numerous.  They have 111 grand and great grand children.  Mr. Bates is well and favorably known throughout the county.  He served as township treasurer and member of the school board many years.  He was elected to the legislature i the fall of 1870 and served two winters.  He was formerly a Whig and is now an earnest Republican.
     When Bethel Bates was a boy he went with his father, his uncle Ephraim and Benjamin Farley, who had discovered some bears in a hollow tree and wished to secure them.  Bethel was assigned to the duty of holding a big dog by a strap while the others cut down the tree.  The dog was very anxious to get a away and when the tree fell the boy let him go.  As soon as the tree fell a bear jumped out; the dog attacked it, but the bear soon put an end to his annoyance, striking him a vigorous blow with his paw and knocking him over into a hollow.  Ephraim Bates then shot the bear.  By the time he had his gun reloaded another bear crawled out of the trunk of the tree and he also shot it.  This took place near Mr. Bates' present home.
     The earliest school-house in the Bates neighborhood was on the creek north of the present residence of Bethel Bates.  James Tuttle was an early teacher there.
     Timothy Bates' ill and distillery were visited by the early settlers for many miles around.  The mill was in operation as early as 1815.  People came twenty and thirty miles to get whisky from the distillery.  The method of hauling it was to harness a horse between two poles, or "skids," one end of which rested on the ground.  The barrel of whisky was then rolled upon the poles, and held in place by wooden pins placed in auger-holes bored through the poles.  This improvised vehicle was dignified by the name of cars.
     To show the difference between then and now - in 1830, 160 acres of land belonging to Timothy Bates had an assessed valuation of $291.  In 1886, 305 acres belonging to Bethel Bates, in the same section, were valued at $6,260; and thirty-six acres in an adjoining section of Marion Township, with the same owner, were valued at $1,020.

     Daniel Meade and his wife Hannah were among the early settlers of the township.  They were Methodists, and were opposed to whisky drinking.  Temperance men were rare in those days.  Meade resolved one year that he would have his wheat harvested without the aid of whisky.  He therefore invited his friends to come on Monday morning and assist him in the work.  Some of his neighbors, hearing of his intention, got together on Sunday night, and by the aid of whisky, and the light of the moon, harvested the entire field before morning.
     In 1811 the commissioners of Guernsey County voted to allow $2 for every scalp of a wolf over six months old.  Many of the pioneers derived considerable money from the killing of wolves.

     Mar. 6, 1815, William Thompson presented a petition from residents of township8, range 8, for the election of trustees for the school section.  The petition was granted, "there being twenty electors in said township."  This shows that the townships of Wayne and Seneca were considerably settled as early as 1815.

     Prior to 1838 a small store was kept on Abraham Rich's farm by Abraham Brown.  This was the first mercantile establishment in the township, and it was but a small affair.
     Seneca Township abounds in good farms and comfortable homes.  The land is well improved and productive.  In 1870 the population was 982; in 1880, 1,004.
     The State Road was cut out through this township by the Carpenters of Monroe County.  Opossum Run was named by them from the fact that they killed an opossum on that stream.
     Barnesville was the nearest trading point in early years.  Later the people went to Cambridge and Washington to trade.

     James Finley, a Pennsylvanian, was an early settler.  He was an honest and worthy citizen.  His grandson, Milton, lives on the old homestead.
     An early school was taught in the house of Abraham Rich by Enoch Marpole.  Levi Keller taught school when a young man on the west line of the township.  On the present Craft farm was an early school-house.  Another was built early on Opossum Run, in the present limits of Wayne Township.  Enos Reinhart, Isaac Q. Morris, Moses Morris, Jeremiah Debolt and James Mellon were early teachers.
     There were several early horse-mills in the settlement.  Abraham Rich and Jacob Thompson had saw-mills early

     Jacob Thompson came to the township about 1815.  His children were Robert, John, Elijah, Abraham, Jacob, David, Polly (Frame) and Annie, wife of Abraham Rich.  Jacob Thompson, Jr., settled and died in Seneca Township.  The others lived in the vicinity.

     Jonathan Morris, a pioneer of Seneca Township, was born in Greene County, Pa.  He married Miss Ann Richards, and in the spring of 1817 settled in what is now Seneca Township.  He was largely identified with the early history of that section, and for twelve years was a magistrate.  He had a family of seven sons and three daughters - Jonathan, Henry, Aaron, Moses, David, James, Isaac Q., Sarah (Moreland), Jane (Stevens) and Hannah (Moser), all of whom are dead except Isaac.  He was born in Pennsylvania in 1816.  He acquired the trade of a tailor, but afterward turned his attention to teaching.  He married Miss Catherine Kackley.  They had a family of seven children.  Mr. Morris was appointed the first clerk of courts of Noble County, and was subsequently elected to the position, serving three eyras.  He was engaged in merchandising for eighteen years.  He served as justice of the peace for twenty-one years.  For a time he was heavily engaged in the tobacco trade.  He has bee a busy and enterprising man and a valuable citizen.

     Abraham Rich erected a frame house in 1826.  It was then the only building of the kind for miles.  It is still standing, and is now occupied by his widow.
     Soon after Abraham Rich came into the township a fat hog belonging to him wandered from home, and in the evening, attracted by its squealing, he went out and found it in a ravine, with a part of its fore-shoulder eaten off, but still living.  Near the hog stood a large black bear.  Mr. Rich had no gun, but he approached near to the bear; the two looked steadily at each other; then Mr. Rich moved off in one direction and the bear in another.  The next morning he got the hog part way home, and the next evening, on going to the place, found the bear again.  This time he was prepared for him, and as the bear was rearing to spring over a fallen tree, he shot him.  The bear rolled over into a hole where a tree had been uprooted.  Rich filed another shot, and on approaching found the bear dead.

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     In 1821 Matthew Scott, John Meighen, Richard Coen and Jonathan Morris were the lessees of the school section.
     The Rich family were among the early and prominent families of the township.  For their history the reader is referred to the family history in this chapter.

     David Watson and family came from Fayette County, Pa., and settled in Noble County about 1810.  Their children were Ann, James, John, Rebecca (Delancy), Sarah (Williams), Ann T. (Morris), Rachel (Yoho), Cynthia (Wilson), all of whom are deceased.
     John, second son of David Watson was born in Pennsylvania in 1791, and settled in Seneca Township with his parents.  He married Ellen Yoho, and died in 1873.  Children: David, Margaret (first married Wilson and then Yoho), Yoho, Rebecca (deceased), Mary, Rachel (Pethtel), Barbara (Stockdale) and Nancy (deceased).
     David, oldest son of John Watson, was born in Seneca Township, Aug. 15, 1815.  In 1834 he married Charlotte Skinner, of Monroe County.  Their children are John, Angelina, Emily J., Justus F., William, Clark M., George, Caroline, James R., Alonzo H. and Ulysses G.  The family settled in 1852, on the farm which they now occupy.  They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Republicans.  Justus F. Watson enlisted Nov. 11, 1862, in Company D, Ninth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, and was mustered out at the expiration of his term of service, July 20, 1865, serving in the Atlanta campaign, the march to the sea, and all the campaigns of the regiment.  Mrs. David Watson died in 1881, and in 1882 Mr. Watson married Mary E. Steward, and by this union has had three children, two of whom are living - Cora and Garfield B.
     John V. Watson, a leading farmer, was born in Seneca Township, in 1836.  In 1857 he married Jane Mosser.  Children: Jane A. (Murphy), Martha A. and Savannah J.

     Aaron Vorhies, the oldest son of John Vorhies, the pioneer of Wayne Township, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1791, and came to Ohio with his parents about 1805.  He served in the War of 1812, and served in the quartermaster's department, and in 1814 married Polly Dailey, a native of Virginia.  Their children were John, Phebe, and Eli, dead;  Stephen, Keziah (Hook), Aaron, Peter, Josiah, Nathan and William living; Polly, deceased.  Mrs. Vorhies died in 1840 and in 1841 he married Polly Shafer, who died in 1845.  He afterward married Margaret Gordon, who bore four children: Nancy J. (Matheney), Sarah E., Eliza and Martha (Shafer).  Aaron Vorhies died in 1861; his widow in 1875.  The family were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
     Aaron Vorhies, fourth son of Aaron and Polly (Vorhies), was born April 24, 1827.  He remained at home until twenty-one years of age.  He went to Iowa and remained a year, and in 1850 went with others to California, by way of the isthmus there embarking in the first boat that Commodore Vanderbilt ran between the isthmus and the "Golden Gate."  He returned to Ohio in 1854, and in 1856 was married to Miss Rebecca Salada.  They had one child, Lily J., who died in infancy.  Mrs. Vorhies died in 1860, and in 1862 Mr. Vorhies married Emily Miley.  To them were born seven children, five of whom are living: Hiley S., Annie, Mary Elizabeth, Joanna and Aaron D.  The family belong to the Methodist church.  Mr. Vorhies has been very successful as a farmer and stock-raiser and is one of the influential men of his township.
     Stephen P. Vorhies, third son of Aaron Vorhies, was born in this township in 1822.  In 1845 he married Jane Keller.  Their children living are Vincent, John W., Mary (Williams), Seth, and Sadie M.  Mrs. Vorhies died in 1878, and in 1879 he married Mary Yoho.  Mr. Vorhies has lived in the county nearly all his life and has followed farming.

     Ephraim Vorhies, a brother of Aaron, was the first settler in the vicinity of Mount Ephraim and was the founder of the village, which was named after him, also a round-shaped elevation near the town.  His brother Aaron located about a mile northeast, on the farm which his son Aaron still occupies, about 1815.  They were worthy men and good citizens.

     Peter Vorhies, one of the prominent farmers of Center Township, was born on the old homestead in 1829; his early life was spent upon the farm.  He received a good common-school education and for some years was engaged in teaching; farming, however, has been his occupation.  He removed from Seneca to Center in 1870.  He married, in 1851, Miss Mary, daughter of Rev. Jonathan Williams; they have two children: William L. and Elmer E.  He is Republican and a Methodist, and one of the board of Infirmary directors.

     Prominent among the early settlers were the Finleys, from Fayette County, Pa.  In 1814 James Finley entered nearly five hundred acres of land in this township.  His grandson, Milton, now lives on the old homestead.  He was the father of John, Eliza (Atwell), Jane (Riggs), Ebenezer.  Rachel (Dennison), William, James, Mary A. (McCune), Rebecca (Sawyer), by his first wife.  His second wife was Mary McKibben.  He died in 1861 and she in 1879.  John Finley, oldest son of James, was born in 1808.  He married Emma Stout.  Three of their children are living - Cynthia (Gregg), Milton and Elizabeth (Crossen).  John Finley died in 1872.  Milton Finley enlisted in 1864 in Company B, First Ohio Cavalry, and served until mustered out Sept. 13, 1865.

     Isaac Wilson settled in this township in 1818.  His descendants still remain in the county, in Seneca and Center Townships.

     Among the early settlers were the Coen family.  William Coen came from Pennsylvania at a very early date and was one of the pioneer shoemakers of this region.  His son William born in Pennsylvania, in 1797, was among the early settlers

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of Seneca Township.  He married Elizabeth Brooks in 1818 and was the father of William, James, Martha, Joshua, Rachel, Samuel, Mary (Miley), Richard, Benjamin, Elisha, Jacob and Sarah J. (Meighen).  He afterward married Martha Johnsonfor his second wife, and was the father of Elizabeth (Miley), deceased, Nancy, Letitia, Rebecca (Snyder), and John, deceased.  William Coen, the father, died in 1875.

     George Secrest

     William Secrest

     David S. Craft

     The Ward family

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After the death of his father, in 1818, he went to Perry County, Ohio, where he remained five years, working as a tanner during a portion of the time.  Returning home, he worked a while upon the National Road.  In 1829 he married his first wife, Mary Morris. To them were born nine children - Sarah A. (Irin), John, Rebecca (Graham), William A., Betsey (Arnott), Mark, Mary J. (McCoy, dead), Harvey and Alice (Watson)  The family are members of the Presbyterian church, and William A. is a preacher of that denomination.  He went from Wood County to the late war and served over four years, holding the rank of first lieutenant.  Mark enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war.  He was in the battles at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Atlanta, etc.  Edward Ward has followed farming for many years.  He is a very well-preserved man and writes a legible hand without the aid of glasses.  His first wife died, and he afterward married Mrs. Shafer.

     John Miley

     Norman Miley

     One of the oldest residents and best informed citizens of the township is Hiram Danford.

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     Isaac Danford

     Benjamin Casner

     Abram Danford

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Alice M., Henry A. Garfield, Stella J. and Blanche.

     John Groves

     Hiram Groves

     Josephus Groves

     Julius R. Groves

     John C. Shafer

     William W. Rhodes

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     George R. Rhodes

     Daniel Van Meter

     Conrad Shafer

     Severn Conner

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     John Conner

     Daniel Riggs

     In 1840 Samuel Gibson and family

     Samuel B. Gibson

     Morris D. Spriggs

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MOUNT EPHRAIM.

     Mount Ephraim, the only village in Seneca Township, is situated on the McConnelsville and Barnesville road - the earliest route of travel

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CHURCHES

     Methodist Episcopal Church. -

     Bates Ridge Methodist Episcopal Church  was organized in 1887, by Rev. William Danford.  The original members were, J. H. Wilson and wife, H. Bates and wife, John Meighen and wife, and others; class-leaders, J. Meighen, F. E. Danford; stewards, J. H. Wilson and P. H. Danford; trustees, Isaac Danford, Eli Bates and Patrick Bates.  The church edifice was erected in 1885 at a cost of $800.  It was built for a union church, free to all denomination; during the winter following its erection a revival of great interest took place, conducted by J. Meighen, and Rev. William Danford.  After the close of the meeting a class was formed under the leadership of Mr. Meighen.  In the autumn of 1886 the class was strengthened by the addition of the Glady society, and the church is now without connection with other appointments.  It has a membership of fifty; Sabbath-school, fifty-six pupils; pastor, Rev. Morris Floyd.

     Mt. Ephraim Christian Church. - The church of Christ, or Christian church, at Mount Ephraim, was partially organized in the fall of 1839, by John Burnett, evangelist, and Timothy Bates, a local preacher.  In June, 1840, an organization was effected by George B. Craft and John Baird; Enos Rinehart and Levi Glover were the first elders in 1840, and still holds that office.  Among the original members were, Enos Rine-

[Portrait of Jacob Rich]

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hart, Lei Glover and their wives, Timothy Bates, Margaret Glover, Margaret Dobbins and many others.  In 1842 a meeting house of hewed logs, some 30x35 feet in dimensions, was erected.  Ephraim Vorhies donated the lot for the church and graveyard.  In 1879-80 the present church was built at a cost of $1,500.  It is a frame building 30x40 feet.  The present membership is about thirty-seven.  The pastors hae been Revs. Asbury, Gardiner, Charles Van Vorhies, John Flick - Harvey, John Moody, Joseph Thomas, Berkley Pulton, J. W. Arnold; David S. Craft and John Wilson, are the present elders.

THE RICH FAMILY.