(The following was written by Bill Howison, and is reprinted from “Reflections”, a collection of local stories available at the Grove City Welcome Center and Museum. Any opinions made in the article are from the author.)

Then in 1816, Thomas Roberts laid out his town of Georgesville on the hill, Near the present Cemetery. The road between the old and new Cemetery was the main road through town. The town descended Graveyard Hill and crossed at a riffle Above Dyers Mill. At the foot of the hill was a log house. This was the stage coach tavern stop. It was the post office and also had a bar. There were three large fireplaces, and the tavern keeper would rake hot coals from the fire and cook a meal right there on the hearth. The bar was a small closet which had a small barred window, where the drinks were sold.

There was also a stage coach stop on the Madison Hunter farm for the relay of horses.

The first post office was called Pleasant. The name was later changed to Georgesville, after the town was laid out. The first postmaster was Thomas Roberts, appointed in 1815. The second was Thanas Reynolds, appointed in September 1828; and the third was William Scotts, appointed in 1851.

A school was built, Lawrence Ferguson and Mr. E.N. Coberly taught here for years. Most of the buildings were of log construction. However, there were a few frame dwellings. The little settlement of Old Georgesville consisted of about one hundred souls.

In 1840, Abraham right settled in Old Georgesville with his family, which included son, George. Abraham operated a blacksmith shop; and many were the incidents related by him of Indian visits to his shop to have their rifles, axes, and knives repaired. It was difficult to obtain coal for the forge in those days; and telling the Indians that he was out of coal, he was much surprised when they said they would supply the needed fuel, and even more so, when they returned several hours later with the coal. This happened several times, but the source of the coal has always remained a mystery, as no coal deposits were ever discovered in the area to anyone’s knowledge.

George Wright operated an old store and inn, known as The Tavern. This was the last business place in Old Georgesville. He then operated a blacksmith shop for a time at Springhill, the present Wrightsville. He then returned to New Georgesville, on the west side of the Darby, and operated a blacksmith shop there, with his son Robert.

An old newspaper clipping tells that the town was inhabited by a number of men named George, and rumor has it, that George Spencer, George Osborne, George Lambert, and George Sullivant named the town, Georgesville.

The same article tells of the Wyandot Indians joining the white settlers for church services, every six weeks, when the Circuit Rider came through from Chillicothe. The first religious meeting we know of in this part of the county was held in the home of Thomas Chenoweth, about 1810. Reverend John Collins and James Quinn held meetings in the home of Elijah Chenoweth.

James Quinn says, “In 1805, we entered the Scioto Valley and build a small Log cabin. My appointment in the Hock-Hocking Circuit extended from south of Chillicothe north to Franklinton. My pay was $100.00 per annum. I had twenty-eight to thirty-one appointments to fill each month and in order to get home once a month, I had to conduct two services a day. In 1805, a road in the Hock-Hocking Circuit consisted of an animal trail through a dense forest where the sun never penetrated and the streams back up each year until the spring floods would clear them, and a band of Indians was not an uncommon sight along these trails.”

These meetings resulted in the forming of a class composed mainly of the following: Benjamin Foster and wife, Thomas and Elijah Chenoweth, their wives, and several of the children.

Rev. James Hoge of the Presbyterian Church in Franklinton, held meetings at the homes of John Biggert and Thomas Roberts. No church of this denomination was ever formed there.

Ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church preached at the homes of Charles Hunter, George Goodson, Simon Cochran, and James Walker, and also at the schoolhouse in Georgesville.

(The conclusion of this story in the next blog entry.)