BEFORE the erection of Noble County, the territory of the present Township of Wayne was included in Richland, Beaver and Wright Townships, Guernsey County.  It contains four sections belonging to the United States Military District, which is all of the military lands in Noble County.
     The township was erected by the commissioners of Noble County, May 1, 1851, with boundaries described, as follows:

     "Commencing for the same on the seventh range line at the southwest corner of section 31, in township number 8, of range 7; thence east along the south line of said township to the southeast corner of the west half of section 25 in said township; thence north to the center of sections number 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 to the north line of said township; thence west along the north line of said township to the seventh range line; thence south along said seventh range line to the northeast corner of section 20 in the first township of the seventh range of military lands in the Zanesville district; thence west to the northwest corner of section 19, in said township number 1 and range 1 as aforesaid; thence south to the southwest corner of section 22, in said township number 1, range 1 on the Ludlow line; thence west along said Ludlow line to the northwest corner of section 6 in township number 8 of range 8; thence south to the southwest corner of section 7, in said township number 8 and range 8; thence east to the southeast corner of section 12, in said township number 8 and range 8; thence south along the seventh range line to the place of beginning - containing 25 sections."
     On the 3d of March, 1852, by act of the county commissioners, six half sections were taken from Wayne and annexed to Beaver Township.
     June 19, 1851, the court of common pleas for the County of Noble passed the following order:
     "It appearing to the court that the Township of Wayne is a newly set-off township, and that it is without any justice of the peace, it is therefore determined by the court that two will be a sufficient number of justices of the peace for said township; and the court do further determine that the voters of said township

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proceed, on the 12th day of July, 1851, to elect said justices of the peace; and it is further ordered that the clerk of this court forthwith transmit a certified copy of this proceeding to the trustees of said township."
     In accordance with  this order, an election was held, and James Rich and Abner Williams were chosen the first justices of the township.  Rich qualified on the 1st of August, and Williams on the 7th of the same month, 1851.
     The following owners of real estate within the present Township of Wayne were taxed on the Richland Township duplicate for 1830.  This list gives the names of all land owners in the first twelve sections of township 8, range 8, at that date; Jesse Brown, section 8, 160 acres, valued at $218; Henry Cramer, section 3, 150½ acres, $273; Joseph Finley, section 7, 174 acres, $238; William Gladden, section 11, 158 acres, $288; same, 158 acres, $288; Elizabeth Hammond, section 11; 158 acres, $216; John Hague, section 12, 159 acres, $289; John Law, section 11, 80 acres $146; William Lowrey, section 8, 159 acres, $217; same, 159 acres, $517; Thomas Law, section 11, 80 acres, $146; John Mendenhall, section 1, 75 acres, $102; Isaac Mendenhall, section 1, 75 acres, $102; William Morrison, section 9, 157 acres, $178; John Millhorn section 5, 157 acres, $214; same, 100 acres, $137; Albert Strong, section 5, 80 acres, $109; Thomas Stranathan, section 5, 80 acres, $109; Alexander Sprout, section 4, 151 acres, $276; same, 151½ acres, $276; Robert Thompson, section 6, 177 acres, $403; same, 177 acres, $403; James Thompson's heirs, section 8, 160 acres, $255; same, section 7, 33½ acres, $61, and 160 acres, $255; William Thompson section 6, 88 acres, $120; same, section 5, 78 acres, $108.

     Joseph Reeves was probably the first white man who made his home in the northern part of Noble County.  He came here near the close of the last century or about the beginning of the present.  He remained but a few years when he was driven out through fear of the Indians.  After the country became somewhat settled he returned and became a resident of the township.  It is said that he frequently went with the Indians on their hunting expeditions and that he had a personal acquaintance with Tecumseh, who gave him a powder horn; this horn is still in possession of the family.

     John Vorhies was the first permanent resident of the township, and, if the date fixed by his descendants is correct, the first in the county.  As nearly as can now be determined the date of his settlement with his family was in 1802.  He located on land now owned by Millhorn and others.  His children were Aaron, Deborah, Daniel, Isaac, John, William, Ephraim, Dolly and Susan, all of whom are dead.  Aaron and Ephraim were early settlers of Seneca Township.  Mount Ephraim was named for the latter.

     In the year 1807 Edward Ward and family came from Pennsylvania and settled in this township.  He

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died in 1843 in the eighty-third year of his age.  His widow lived to be nearly one hundred years old.  With them came also their son John and his family.  John Ward served in the War of 1812 as first lieutenant.  He took several English prisoners near Sandusky, and among them was a silversmith who engraved Mr. Ward's name upon the hilt of his sword.  The sword is still in possession of the family.  the guard of it is of silver.  Mr. Ward died in 1818.  His son Edward is among the old residents of Seneca Township.  Another son, Joseph, lives in Wood County, Ohio.

     Cornelius Bryan and his sons, James  and John, were among the earliest settlers.  John Perry came a little later.

     Joseph Burson was an early settler and a prominent citizen.  It is said that Wayne Township was erected through his influence.  Burson had a store upon his farm as early as 1825.  He also had an early grist-mill

     William Thompson's mill," on Seneca Fork of Will's Creek, is mentioned in a road petition to the commissioners of Guernsey County in 1815, and was probably the earliest mill in the vicinity.  He lived on section 6, in the western part of the township.

     Jacob Yoho, whose descendants are still in the county, settled at the forks of the creek in 1805.  A log house erected by him in that year is still standing with the date upon it.

     Robert Carpenter, son of Joseph Carpenter, an early settler of Seneca Township, located on Seneca Fork of Will's Creek, prior to 1812.

     John Ferris was among the pioneers.  The place on which he settled was afterward occupied by Amos Day.

     James Law settled in this township about 1809.  He purchased 480 acres of land, on which he made a good improvement.  He died in this township.  He was the father of twelve children, who lived to mature years and had families, but only three are now living.  David Law, of Beaver Township, married Maria daughter of Amos Day, an early settler.  They have six children living.

     John Hague came to this township as early as 1812, and died here about twenty years later.  His son Joseph is still living.  There were still some Indians in the country when the family came.

     In 1809, Thomas Richey, with his wife and two children, settled upon 160 acres of land where his son Andrew now lives.  Mr. Richey was a native of Ireland.  He first settled in Fayette County, Pa., and thence removed to Jefferson County, Ohio.  He died in this township at the age of seventy-four years.  When he came the entire region was a wilderness.  He was a leading farmer, and by continually adding to his land, at his decease he owned about six hundred acres.  He was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his family also belonged.

     Andrew Richey was born in September, 1821, on the farm where he

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now resides.  He is a prominent farmer and breeder of sheep.  Mr. Richey was married in1850, to Helen C. Hammond, of Jefferson County, Ohio.  Six children have been born of this union: Melville, George M., Charles W., Carrie, Harry B. and Lucerne A.  The family are all connected with some branch of the Methodist church, George Richey, brother of Andrew, has been a minister for forty years.

     William Lowrey came from Fayette County, Pa., in 1810 or 1811, and settled on a half section of land, where his son, Rev. William D. Lowrey, now lives.  The family began housekeeping in a cabin without a floor, and with a table made of puncheons.  In 1826 Mr. Lowrey built the house at present occupied by his son.  He was a prominent citizen, and served as justice of the peace and county commissioner several terms.  He was also an elder in the Presbyterian church until 1835, and afterward held the same office in the Cumberland Presbyterian church.  He died in 1861, a the age of eighty-one years.  He was an earnest anti-slavery man; a Whig, then a Republican.
     William D. Lowrey was born Dec. 22, 1815, on the farm where he now lives.  In early life he taught school and in 1846 was ordained a minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and has been in the ministry of that denomination ever since.  In 1848 he married Lydia Ann Vernon, of Monroe County; children: Ezbon F., Catharine S., William C., Lydia A. and Tyndall W.

     John Vorhies, Joseph Reeves and Jacob Yoho, were among the pioneer settlers of the township.  Jacob Yoho built a log barn in 1805, which is still standing, with the date upon it.

     On one occasion, Daniel and John Vorhies, were out hunting for raccoons with a dog and axe.  They chanced to come across larger game and treed a large bear.  One of the boys went to Joseph Reeves after a gun, while the other remained to keep watch of the bear.  When the bear saw that he was guarded only by one boy, he endeavored to descend from the tree.  The boy cut a withe, and by lashing the flanks of the bear succeeded in keeping him treed until his brother returned and shot him.

     Timothy Bates hunted a good deal in early years.  Once he shot a bear, removed the entrails, bent down a sapling and placed the bear upon it.  The tree righted itself and the bear assumed a very natural position, looking as though he was alive and rearing upon his hind legs.  Joseph Reeves' girls came across him while hunting for their cows and returned home much frightened.

     Isaac Mendenhall was a pioneer settler.  On one occasion he and another hunter were after a buck with dogs, wounded the animal and finally got him at bay.  To get out of his way Mendenhall climbed a young tree.  The tree was too slender to bear his weight, bent over and threw him upon the neck of the infuriated animal.  He clung to the deer and threw him down.  Finally his companion came to his relief

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and killed the deer.  Mendenhall's clothes were nearly torn from his body in the struggle, and he was severely injured.

     The early religious meetings of the township were held in the double log barn belonging to John Vorhies.  An old resident says he has often seen among the congregation half a dozen or more young boys dressed only in a linen shirt.
     Sept. 3, 1810, a petition was presented to the commissioners of Guernsey County for a road, "to commence on the headwaters of the Seneca, and thence down the same, by Cornelius Bryan's, Jacob Yoho's, etc., to the town of Cambridge."  Elijah Stevens, John Carpenter and Frederick Miller were appointed viewers, and Elijah Beall surveyor.

     Hon. Thomas C. Williams, the present representative of Noble County in the legislature, was born in Wayne Township, on the farm he now occupies, May 13, 1848.  His father, Abner Williams, was a native of New Jersey, and one of the early settlers of the county.  His mother was a native of Virginia, and was the mother of nine children: Alvin, Lydia B. (Day), Amy S. (Kinzie), Louisa M. (Brill), Edith G. (Stoneburner), Phebe E. (Stoneburner), Aaron W., Annie E. and Thomas C.  Aaron W. was a member of Company G, Seventy eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and died in Memphis, Tenn.  Alvin W. is a farmer of Wayne, and Amy S. and Annie E. are deceased.  Thomas C. was reared on the homestead farm and received a thorough common-school education.  He read law with the intention of making it his life's profession, but the death of his brother necessitated his return to the farm, since which time he has devoted his energies to agriculture and politics.  He has identified himself with all matters of public import and holds a foremost position among the best citizens of the county.  In the legislature he is regarded as an efficient member.  He married, in 1870, Miss Mary J., daughter of William Henderson, of Guernsey County, Ohio.  They have a family of three children.

     Isaac W. Danford, the present clerk of courts of Noble County, is a son of Eli Danford, and was born near Mount Ephraim, Seneca Township, Apr. 11, 1856.  Adverse circumstances gave him only small educational advantages; he attended the common schools and worked on a farm to pay his expenses.  For several years he was a successful teacher.  He then turned his attention to mercantile business, and from 1882 to 1887 was a merchant at Kennonsburg.  He served three years as postmaster at Kennonsburg, and was township clerk for six years.  In 1886 he received the Republican nomination for clerk of courts of Noble County, was elected, and is now discharging the duties of that office.  He married Margaret M. Stitts of Wayne Township.  Her father was a soldier in the Union army in the late war and was killed at Vicksburg.  To Mr. and Mrs. Danford have been born five children: Clyde F., Birdie May and Eli, living.

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     Charles Arndt came from Washington County, Pa., in 1836 and settled near Sarahsville, where he entered 160 acres of land, to which he added eighty acres.  He disposed of his farm and removed to Greenwood in 1861, where he died in 1864.  He followed the vocation of a carpenter and cabinet-maker.  He was an exemplary man and an elder in the Presbyterian church.  David, a son, was born in Pennsylvania in 1831.  He learned the trade of a carpenter, which, in connection with undertaking, he followed many years.  1859 he married Betsey, daughter of Edward Ward.  They had four girls and one boy; a daughter, Alice, is a teacher of reputation.
     Texana is a graduate of the deaf and dumb institute of Columbus, Ohio.  Mr. Arndt, like his father, is a very reputable citizen.  For three years he ahs been trustee of the township.  In his religious belief he is a Presbyterian, in which he is an elder.  His brother was a lieutenant in the Eighty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and died from disease contracted in the service.  Charles, another brother, was a member of the Ninety-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  The family are of German extraction. 

     Abraham Thompson was born in Guernsey County.  In 1861 he enlisted in Company H, Seventy-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served until the close of the war.
     He was wounded by a shot through the leg at Atlanta, and Gen. M. D. Leggett carried him from the field to the hospital, a distance of nearly two miles.  Thomas Thompson is almost blind from the effects of disease contracted in the service.

     John Miley, a son of one of the Noble County pioneers, was born in Center Township in 1828.  He is a Republican, a farmer and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.  In 1851 he married Mary Coen, of Seneca Township.  Their children are: Martha E., Abraham V. (deceased), Richard B. (deceased), Charles W., and Eva L.

     George W. Robinson was born in Beaver Township.  In 1861 he enlisted in Company F, Twenty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; and served until July 8, 1864, when he was discharged on account of disability.  He was captured at Chickamauga and held a prisoner at Richmond and Danville for over seven months.