Family History written by
Joan Mohr Stripe & Gloria Mohr Fast.

Joan Mohr Stripe, Bob Stripe, Gloria Mohr Fast, Byron Mohr & Janice Mohr Lichtensteiger
Picture taken at the Piney Fork Cemetery during a cleanup trip with the
Jefferson County Chapter Preservation Group.

Photos taken by the Mohr Family
at Piney Fork Cemetery

In September of 2000, Gloria and Joan went looking for Sarah Hall Glover’s tombstone in Jefferson County. They made a trip to the courthouse and found old WPA maps showing where the Piney Fork Cemetery was supposed to be located but they were told no roads lead to the cemetery. They were given the names of the township trustees and wrote letters asking them for help in finding the cemetery. All three trustees, Ray Amoroso, Ron Malin, and Bill Cermak responded. Several months later Ray contacted the sisters and Joe Rayburn had located the cemetery.

The family, including Joan and Gloria’s mother, Dorothy Webb Mohr, who was ninety years old, a brother Byron, another sister Janice, and Joan’s husband, Bob traveled to the cemetery. When they finally arrived at the top of the hill, which entered the cemetery, they spotted the foundation and bricks of the Piney Fork Church. Ron Malin drove his truck with their mother down the hill to the entrance of the cemetery. Everyone else walked down over the hill, through the field to the cemetery. They state that the word "entrance" is not at all descriptive of how they got into the cemetery! It appeared to be nothing but a heavily wooded area with overgrown wild grapevines, multi-floral bushes and weeds.

They had a copy of the ONLY tombstone reading done by Esther Powell back in 1967. In Esther’s book she states that it was so heavily grown over that she couldn’t enter it and asked the property owner if he could help. He had a son crawl in the cemetery and read what stones he could see! (That was Mr. Hass now a grown man that told Flora L. VerStraten the story of him crawling in under the brush and just able to read what he could see!) When the Mohr family took out their copy of the tombstone inscription pages, they assumed they would follow along the list to locate the tombstone of their long lost ancestor, Sarah Hall Glover. The list didn’t match the tombstones they saw! They spent a lot of time tapping the ground to feel for buried or sunken stones. Any one of them could be actually walking on countless moss, sod and weed covered stones and not even know it! Well, the first trip they made was not successful and they left without finding Sarah’s stone.

The next trip and attempt to locate Sarah’s tombstone was made in June and Joe Rayburn met the family team. The team had a chain saw, lopping shears, pry bars, clippers and stakes. They marked the way with the stakes and the weather forecasted "thunderstorms" but they decided to continue searching. Now if that isn’t perseverance, what is? They worked their way through the cemetery once again, being very careful, but were beginning to get discouraged. They were chopping and clipping just to be able to get a glimpse of the fallen and broken tombstones that were on the ground everywhere they looked. Joe went up the hill and about an hour later yelled, "Here she is!" Sure enough he had found the tombstone of Sarah Hall Glover. The stone was in a heavily covered brush and weed area, but was still standing. It was in good shape and they could read it. Joe was the family hero. Her tombstone reads, "Dear Mother Sarah, Wife of Josiah Glover, Died March 9, 1858, In her 75th year, she was a tender Mother and in her life the Lord did fear to trust our loss will be her gain and that with Christ she’s gone to reign."

When they walked back to the car it started to mist and they thought it would be a good idea to head back to Van Wert. As Joan and Gloria state in their book, "Our mission had been accomplished!"

[Family History of Josiah and Sarah Hall Glover]
Continued
Josiah Glover was born about 1776 in England. He came to America with a brother and was apprenticed out to a shoemaker to learn the trade. He married Sarah Hall on June 15th, 1803 in Baltimore, Maryland. Sarah was born about 1783 and place of birth is not known. A year after their marriage, they moved to Smithfield, Jefferson County, Ohio and built the third house in the settlement, then owning 80 acres. A few years later Josiah purchased another 320 acres of land and built a brick hotel. Sarah was an excellent cook and the hotel proved a successful venture.

Josiah and Sarah returned to Maryland, his former home, and remained there until 1808, when they came back to Smithfield and finished the building and opened a hotel in 1808. He conducted the business until 1820, then leased it to Mr. Duvall for a couple of years. He took charge again until shortly before his death. His son, Cuthbert, continued the business until 1863, when he sold out to John Gilmore. John ran the business until 1864 and he sold the hotel to Jesse Litten who remained there for about twenty years. Although the house has had several additions, the original log structure is an integral part of the building. (Son of Josiah and Sarah was Joel Glover)

Joel Glover (of whom Byron, Joan and Gloria are descended) was born April 1, 1808 in Jefferson County. He married Elizabeth Shannon on October 5, 1826, in Jefferson County and died November 10, 1887 in Coshocton County, Ohio. Elizabeth was born April 4, 1808 (place unknown), and died October 19, 1885 in Coshocton County, Ohio.

Josiah is found purchasing 320 acres of land in Missouri and in 1852 when he was 76 years old. He became ill & died while in Missouri. He was buried on the banks of the Missouri River, just above St. Louis. Sarah stayed here and is buried in the Piney Fork Cemetery, Smithfield Twp., Ohio

Glover Family History

{Chapter member, Rena Glover Goss, submitted the following family history.} “Sterling (1906–1997) and Harold Glover (1904-1996), the two oldest brothers remembered the outline of the bar on the floor. They had endless stories about life on the farm and the large brick house which had once been a Drover’s Inn in Smithfield Township which was located on what is now County Highway 12. They said that in times past, farmers or stock owners who drove their flocks to the Ohio River for shipment to market would stop at the Inn where they could get hay for their animals and stay the night themselves. By the time the brothers had moved into the venerable house in 1917, it had ceased serving as an Inn.
During their lifetime on the farm, it was a favorite gathering place for relatives who loved to roam the fields, share stories while sitting in the shade, and eat a bountiful Sunday dinner. After their father lost the memorable property in 1932, the brothers talked of it with great remorse and sorrow for the rest of their lives. Sterling (my father) literally carried the torment over this loss to his grave. He had an excellent mind up to the end at age 90, and just two days before his death he again lamented the terrible circumstances of that property loss.

Family stories like this were actually the beginning of my interest in genealogy, only as a young child I didn’t recognize what it was. By the time I was in my early twenties, I had begun the quest for my ancestors. Knowing the history of the property where my ancestors lived has become a high priority in my recent research. The following information shows the history of the Glover Family’s 120-year stewardship of a property in Smithfield Township.

Josiah Glover Sr. (abt. 1776-1852) and his wife Sarah (Hall) (1783-1858) bought the land in Smithfield Township on 14 December 1814 from Joseph Ball. Ball lived in Delaware County, Pennsylvania but his agent for the sale was Thomas Ball, whose residency was documented as Columbiana County, Ohio. Glover, Sr. and wife paid $688 for the 172 acres, of which the legal description was: the NW Quarter of Section Number 35, Township Number 8, Third Range. The land was purchased one month after the fourth Glover child, Josiah Jr., was born on 13 November 1814.

Prior to the purchase of this land, Josiah Glover Sr. lived in Smithfield and kept a hotel at the NW corner of Fourth and High Streets. Built around 1808, it was the third house in Smithfield and known as the Sherman House and later the Litten House.

Of the six children born to Josiah Glover Sr. and his wife Sarah Hall Glover, two of them, Susan Glover Boals (1805-1859) and Joel Glover (1808-1887) married and moved to Richland and Coshocton counties, respectively. One son, William Glover (1811-1830) died a young man and another, Israel Glover, died at birth in 1823. Sons Cuthbert Glover (1818-1892) lived in the village of Smithfield, while Josiah Glover, Jr. (1814-1897) lived on the Dover’s Inn property during his life.

On 19 June 1844, Josiah Glover, Jr. and wife Mary Barkhurst (1816-1872) bought the property described herein from his father Josiah Glover, Sr. and wife Sarah Hall for $1,000. However in that record the land was listed as being 127 ½ acres instead of 172 as shown in the original purchase. No county land record of the other 44 ½ acres has been located. Joel Glover explained the acreage difference in his 1878 handwritten Glover Family History: “But times turning hard after the War of 1812 and 14, they (Josiah, Sr. and Sarah) were forced to abandon one quarter Section of their land after paying part on it and they again returned to the old Hotel in Smithfield where they remained until their death.”

The Drover’s Inn/Glover Home with siblings and brother in law, standing L to R: William L. Glover, Margaret Elizabeth (Glover) Hall, Esther Glover, and Susan (Glover) Comly. Seated: Milton Hall, husband of Margaret. Estimated time photo was taken to be 1900 to 1908. Two other photos’ are in the possession of Rena Glover Goss. One is an early postcard photo, received by Joel Glover. The last photo was taken in the 1960’s when the home was uninhabited and in a state of deterioration.

Section 35, Twp. #8, Third Range ({upper left hand corner – J. Glover} as shown in the 1871 Jefferson County, Ohio Atlas.

Josiah Glover, Jr. and wife Mary {Barkhurst} lived in the brick home until their death. At least six of their 11 children were most likely born on the property between 1845 and 1860. The first five, born between 1835 and 1843, were born in Smithfield Township but the exact location is uncertain. The precise year of the Drover’s Inn/Home brick construction is unknown. A simpler log or frame building could have preceded the brick Inn.

After Josiah, Jr. died in 1897, it was amazing to find how the names in the land transactions continuously changed within the circle of his and Mary’s children. The last transfer to a Glover occurred on 20 November 1917 when Esther Glover sold to the youngest of the 11 children, her brother, William Leslie Glover and his wife Merle (Gill). The price of that transaction, $5,737.50, was the second largest of all the prior amounts.

William Leslie Glover (1860-1949), my paternal grandfather, was 12 years old when his mother died in 1872 and he was essentially raised by his older siblings. In 1883, William married and divorced shortly thereafter.

In 1903, at age 41, he married 19-year-old Merle Gill (1884-1964), my paternal grandmother. They were the last of three generations to own the property purchasing the farm for $2.500 when he was 57 years old.

According to oral family history given by the two eldest sons, Sterling Glover (1906-1997), my father, and Harold Glover (1904-1996), during those 15 years from 1917 to 1932, it was not possible for their father to pay the mortgage debt because of his low income. In 1932, brothers Thomas and Carl Patton from Hopedale, took over the farm mortgage. They charged the Glover Family rent for the next two years with the understanding that if the mortgage was paid, they could reclaim the property. The rent, never mind the mortgage, sadly became an insurmountable debt for William and Merle.

The property changed owners several times since 1934. The house remained intact until the 60’s. Sometime between 1959-62, I captured a relatively poor photo of the house when it was uninhabited and in a state of deterioration. Within the next decade it was torn down, but the foundation was still in place. My Uncle Harold Glover always said: “My grandfather (Josiah Jr.) fired the bricks in the field to build the house.” If that were the case, the house could have been constructed after Josiah Glover Jr. owned the property in 1844.

John Parkinson of York, a former Adena High School classmate of mine, said recently that he and his wife Judy purchased enough of the bricks from the Inn to have a kitchen added on to their nearby historical home. My Uncle Frank Grove (maternal side of my family), a fine brick mason of Adena, built John and Judy’s kitchen addition in the early 70’s.

Land Transfers - Glover Family 1814 - 1932
NW Quarter Sec. No. 35, Twp. No. 8, Third Range.

• 14 Dec 1814 – Joseph Ball, Delaware Co., PA, (his agent, Thomas Ball) to Josiah Glover, Jefferson Co., OH, $688 for 172 acres.
• 19 Jun 1844 – Josiah Glover Sr., and wife Sarah, Smithfield Twp., to Josiah Glover Jr., Smithfield Twp. $1,000 for 127 ½ acres.
• 15 Jan 1900 – George W. Glover, John C. Brown, Executors of Josiah Glover Jr. estate, Jefferson Co., OH, to Susan Comly, Margaret E. Hall, and Esther Glover, Jefferson Co., OH, $6,375 for 127 ½ acres.
• 04 Apr 1903 – Susan Comly, Jefferson Co., OH, to Margaret E. Hall and Esther Glover, Jefferson Co., OH, $1,1102.08 for 127 ½ acres.
• 25 Jun 1908 – Margaret E. Hall and Esther Glover, Jefferson Co., OH, to Milton Hall, Jefferson Co., OH, $1,496 for 127 ½ acres.
• 11 Mar 1915 – Milton Hall and wife Carrie, Jefferson Co., OH, to Esther Glover, Jefferson Co., OH, $2,000 for 127 ½ acres.
• 20 Nov 1917 – Esther Glover – Cadiz, OH, Harrison Co., to William L. Glover, Greene Twp., Harrison Co., $5,737.50 for 127 ½ acres.
• 05 Mar 1932 – William L Glover, wife Merle, Smithfield Twp., to T.B. Patton, Hopedale, OH, $10 for 127 ½ acres.