A view of Chester, Ohio. A mill can be seen in the forefront, the Chester Court House can be seen in the distance.
Farmers/farming / Ohio

Away back in the early days they had disagreed

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“This valley is perhaps 3 miles long and a mile wide and is one of the prettiest and most tranquil in all Ohio. It was settled by men and women of a rather serious turn of mind and given largely to moral and religious work.

Kristi Moore of Millersport, OH, the 3rd Great Granddaughter of Chris Buck, visited his grave in 2015. “Although the farms are gone now,” she says, “a relative of mine believes this picture is indeed what is left of that Devil’s Lane.”
Kristi Moore of Millersport, OH, the 3rd Great Granddaughter of Chris Buck, visited his grave in 2015. “Although the farms are gone now,” she says, “a relative of mine believes this picture is indeed what is left of that devil’s lane.”

In all the settlement there never were more than 2 or 3 habitual drunkards and very little moral laxity on the part of women. Naturally there were some neighborhood disagreements and quarrels. One of these I approached as I walked forward.

“There was a devil’s lane between the Chris Buck farm and that of George Karr, the father of the man I had just left on the shady bench.

“Away back in the early days they had disagreed about something and each built his own line fence. It was the only one I ever saw and was some 12 feet in width. The Bucks were thrifty citizens and soon conceived the idea of using that lane to permit their cattle to go to and from the back end of their farm. In time, however, it grew up to bushes and was a blemish on the landscape. Those in the disagreement have long since passed on, but the old overgrown lane is still there.

“Arthur Buck, a grandson of the original owner, lives in the neatly whitewashed home, and he and his ancestral enemy are perfectly good friends – but still they do not clean out the old lane.”

—
Charles Hartley
October 12, 1921
discussing Nease Settlement
Meigs County, OH

Source: www.rootsweb.com/~ohmeigs/misc/nease/chap5.html

article updated in June 2015

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