Spencer Township, Guernsey County

How Spencer Township, Guernsey County began

Spencer Township, in the southwestern corner of Guernsey County, was settled from about 1806 and organized in March 1819 from the west end of Buffalo Township. Thomas Bay of Pennsylvania became its first permanent settler in 1812 on the site of Cumberland, and the Boston-born Thomas N. Muzzy, who built a mill and started the first school and temperance society, named the township for his home town of Spencer, Massachusetts. James Bay platted Cumberland on April 24, 1828; it had a post office by about 1830, a high school in 1892 and about 750 people in 1910 by Sarchet's estimate (the 1910 census counted 609). The township is agricultural and had 1,041 residents in 2020.

Settled c. 1806-1812 (a Mr. May entered land about 1806; Thomas Bay, first permanent settler, 1812), platted 1828 (Cumberland, April 24, by James Bay), incorporated March 1819 (township organized), by Thomas Bay, Eli Bingham and Thomas N. Muzzy, settlers from Pennsylvania, Vermont and Massachusetts; organized from the west end of Buffalo Township.

Where the name comes from

Sarchet's 1911 county history says Thomas N. Muzzy, a War of 1812 veteran who came from Boston and settled next to Thomas Bay in 1814, 'came from Spencer, Massachusetts, and hence named the township after his old home.'

Before the town

No site-specific Native American history for Spencer Township was found in the sources checked.

Timeline

1. c. 1806 — A Mr. May entered eighty acres on the later Covert farm, made small improvements and died soon after; the spot was long known as May's deadening, the first land title in the township.
2. 1808 — Esquire Lattey claimed land later owned by McCleary and was the first justice of the peace in this part of the county; he sold to Mr. Lewis in 1813.
3. 1809 — A squatter named Wolfe cleared a field at the east end of the site of Cumberland, and Finley Collins entered eighty acres just east of it, which he sold to Thomas Bay in 1812.
4. 1812 — Thomas Bay of Pennsylvania settled on the present site of Cumberland and became the township's first permanent settler; he and his sons built a cabin and cleared the forest.
5. 1813 — Eli Bingham of Vermont became the second permanent settler, next to Bay's land, and built the first brick house in the area.
6. 1814 — Thomas N. Muzzy, a War of 1812 veteran from Boston by way of Spencer, Massachusetts, settled next to Bay, built a grist and saw mill, and taught the first school and Sunday school.
7. 1819 — Spencer Township was organized in March, set off from the west end of Buffalo Township, and held its first election.
8. 1828 — James Bay platted Cumberland on April 24, on section 32, township 9, range 10.
9. c. 1830 — A post office opened at Cumberland (Wikipedia gives 1829); the first mail was brought by George Green, a Cambridge pioneer who ran a stage line.
10. 1848 — At the first survey of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Muzzy volunteered a survey from Wheeling to Zanesville through Cumberland and nearly brought the line up his valley.
11. 1850 — Cumberland counted 431 residents in the census, falling to 362 in 1860 and 319 in 1870 before rising to 519 in 1880.
12. 1885 — The Cumberland Echo newspaper was established in the autumn by W. A. Reedle.
13. 1892 — The two-story, six-room brick high school building went up at Cumberland.
14. 1901 — The first rural mail route from Cumberland began September 2, 1901; the office became third class in 1908 and had seven routes by 1910.
15. 1910 — Cumberland, on the Baltimore & Ohio and the Ohio River & Western, had a savings bank, flouring and planing mills, a brick and tile works, four churches and a census population of 609.
16. 2020 — Spencer Township had 1,041 residents on 29.6 square miles; Cumberland had 317.

Stories

Muzzy's valley and the railroad that missed

Thomas N. Muzzy came from Boston about 1814 and claimed land beside Thomas Bay's. He built a mill for grinding grain and sawing lumber, taught the first school and the first Sunday school class in the neighborhood, laid the foundation of the first church and organized the first temperance society in his little valley. A War of 1812 veteran, he named the township for Spencer, Massachusetts. In 1848, when the Baltimore & Ohio made its first survey, he volunteered to run a line from Wheeling to Zanesville through Cumberland and came near locating the railroad up his valley; the main line was built elsewhere.

Maple syrup paid for the land

Thomas Bay of Pennsylvania settled on the site of Cumberland in 1812, buying a large tract near Finley Collins's old clearing. He and his sons entered the wild, dense forests, put up a commodious cabin and began to clear. Sarchet notes that Wheeling and Pittsburgh were then small villages, but those places and Zanesville provided a ready market for the maple syrup made by Guernsey County settlers, some of whom made enough from syrup to enter their land. Jacob Hulin later raised corn where Cumberland now stands, and the town was platted in 1828 by James Bay.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Pleasant City, Village Of100% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Bridges rated poor (1)

Shale and injection wells (6)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2023: 1 of 1 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked. The county's results on file run through 2026-05-05; later elections are not loaded yet.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Agreed Upon Procedures, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-11-13

Statewide question: State Issue 3: Voter ID

Local questions for Spencer Township, Guernsey County, Guernsey County and its school district:

• Spencer Township: Renews a 0.6-mill property tax levy to maintain & operate cemeteries of Spencer Township for 5 years, beginning in 2027.
• Guernsey County: Renews a 1-mill property tax levy to maintain & operate sheriff departments 911 system of Guernsey County for 5 years, beginning in 2027.
• Guernsey County: Renews a 0.75-mill property tax levy to maintain & operate meals on wheels program for senior citizens of Guernsey County for 5 years, beginning in 2027.
• Guernsey County: Authorizes an additional 1.25-mill property tax levy for the provide funds for children services of Guernsey County for 10 years, beginning in 2026.

Races, candidates and every question for an address: your ballot. County offices and judges are on your county board's sample ballot.

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