First Elected Officers

The first election for the Township was held at the house of Lawrence Allwine just above Gaysport on January 1814. By 1880 the elections were held at the township house on section fifteen in the center of the township on Buttermilk Road. It is still used by the township for meetings and elections.

The first township officers elected were:

     Justice of the Peace--------------------------------------Lawrence Allwine
                                                               Joseph Smith

     Trustee's-------------------------------------------------Eli Sherman
                                                               James Larrison
                                                               Daniel Boan

     Treasurer-------------------------------------------------David Dutro Sr.


     Overseers of the Poor-------------------------------------Jacob Ayers
                                                               Peter Dingman

     Fence Viewers---------------------------------------------Samuel Johnson
                                                               William Eviland

     Supervisors-----------------------------------------------John Larrison
                                                               Daniel Bean

     Constables------------------------------------------------George Watson
                                                               James Larrison

     Lister----------------------------------------------------Jacob Ayers

     Clerk-----------------------------------------------------Lawrence Allwine

The number of voters polled in the township in 1817 was only thirty. But by 1880 the township had grown to two hundred and eighty polled voters.

Some past and present township officers were:

     Costen Betz
     W.E. Bozman
     Harry Echelberry
     Johnathan Bird
     Joseph Peyton
     Abdallah Carlow
     John Mohler
     Asa Gay
     W.M. Harlan
     Herbert Wilson
     Kenneth Moore
     Deszel Osborne
     Jerry Frame
     Rodney Shook
     Carol Harper
     Wayne Daw
     Clyde Dutro
     Glenwood Mitchell
     Cecil Frame
     Larry Woodward
     Leroy Parker
     Robert Fox
     Howard Parker
     Tommy Drake
     Geraid Crawford

Early Business Establishments

One of the first businesses in the township was a tavern just above Gaysport owned by Lawrence Allwine. The first Blacksmith was John Bird on land near Rural Dale. The first grocery was opened by John Farell. The first general store was by Rufus Putman. The first store in Gaysport was built by Moses Reeves.

John Trimble built the first saw mill just below Rural Dale in 1820. Samuel Culbertson built the first steam saw mill in 1827. The first grist mill was in Gaysport and built by the Worstel Brothers. The first hand mill was Levi Reeves in 1816. The first telegraph office was in Gaysport around 1880. The first doctor, Dr. Baker, came to the township in 1805. There was a Star Hotel in Gaysport but no date is given forits inception.

Early Physicans in Blue Rock

The first was Dr. Baker in 1805. Following him was Dr. Sears, Dr. Flankermin, Dr. McNeal, Dr. McCall, Dr. Coverdale, Dr. Wilson, Dr. Smith, Dr. Knapps, Dr. Register, Dr. Haworth, Dr. Macumber, Dr. Copper, Dr. Kennedy, Dr. Jennings and Dr. Lepper. There were three villages in the township that the doctors came from or practiced in.

Post Office

The first mail that was carried through Blue Rock was by canoe on the Muskingum River, next by horseback followed by mailcoach until three Post Offices were established in the township. One was in section twenty-six at Rural Dale, another in section eleven in Kiefer and the third on section twenty in Gaysport. The Gaysport post office is the only one remaining, but was named Blue Rock Post Office after the township, because there was a post office in the state already named "Gaysport." The post office moved to four different locations in and around Gaysport until coming to its present site in about 1966-67 which is located at 8087 South River Road near the Muskingum River.

Post Masters serving Blue Rock township were:

     Robert Silvey             1829
     James Finley              1841
     Alexander Cassel          1845
     Isaiah Cobb               1853
     John Henderson            1854
     Samuel Roberts            1858
     George McClure            1863
     John Moler                1874
     John Wilson               1885
     Miss Anna Carlow          1889
     William Bailey            1893
     Miss Anna Carlow          1897
     Orrin Echelberry          1920
     Kenneth Powelson          1953
     Mrs. Burneta Tinkham      1966
     Mrs. Mary Fox             1968
     Norma J.Dodson            1990
     Blaine hochstetler        1991
     Shelly Gonda              1992

Blue Rock Mine Disaster

On the morning of Friday April 25, 1856, twenty men entered the mine being owned by Stephen Guthrie and James Owens. Former owners had worked on it in a hazardly manner as some rooms had only small pillars to support the immense weight of 220 feet of hill above the mine. A cave in happened about 700 feet from the entrance and extended a distance of 400 feet, which imprisoned four men and sixteen men escaped only with sure flight. When the four men realized they were trapped, they shoveled together some dirt and prepared boards upon which to die. They only had two dinner pails, three jugs containing five quarts of water and some oil for the lamps. The trapped miners became weak from lack of food and water quickly.

The work of the rescue began at once, but with great caution as a single false move would bring thousands of tons more of the crumbing hill over their heads. Only three men could fit in the narrow entry at one time, and inside only one man. The deadly gas became so bad coming out of the mine they couldn't burn the lamps. On Friday, April the 29th, the opening was completed about midnight.

Four miners were brought to the surface at around 1:00. Amazingly all four men were alive after being trapped for fourteen and half days. They were completely black from coal dust with white streaks washed by tears. The men were put on guarded condition by the physicans. If the rescue would have been delayed for any longer the men would had a terrible death which was fully anticipated. The heroism of the rescuers is deserving for there were no ties that bound them to the men other than common humanity.