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Click the barn to see a LiveMap of my favorite places! Ross Township, Sections 23+17: Situated atop a steep hill, with Yellow Creek to the south, and Brush Creek to the north, an early settler must have thought he stumbled upon paradise. A stately Bank Barn looks down on the 1890 farmhouse, with fertile pasture fields sprawled around it. The area behind the fields is thickly wooded and slopes downard into what is called "Roach Run", eventually emptying into Yellow Creek. Here I will present information and studies regarding "our homestead". Known to locals as "the old Good Samaritan Farm", this was once one of the most lovely farms in the area. Here is a brief summary of the history I've dug up thus far: History of the Settlement: 1820 Census Documents show a John Roach living on or very nearby this farm, William Roach being his neighbor 1826 Land Patent issued by US Goverments grants 80 acres of section 23 to Johnston Montgomery. This is the section upon which the barn stands. 1830 These two men show up again as neighbors (this is based on the assumption census records were recorded door to door) 1833 Land Patent from US Government grants 40 acres of section 17 to John Roach (1834 for William Roach) Some sketchy information has linked W. Roach as a war pensioner, recieving land for his service in the 1812 war. 1850-1860 Census shows James P. Roach replacing the entry for John Roach. At this time, family memembers were recorded on the census A property ownership map of Ross Township 1856 shows James P. Roach and William Roach owning this land and the adjacent property to the south. Another property ownership map of Ross Township lists W. Robbins as the land owner in 1871, W. Roach still next door 1870 Census lists William Robbins and his family as the residents here 1900 Census lists George T. Robbins and his young family as the residents (son of William and Anne Robbins) 1903 Mary Floy Rbbins born here 1930-35 MF Robbins returns, now MF McCausland. George passed away in 1935, so one could assume the daughter would return at this time to help her mother with the farm. 1935-55(?) The farm is turned into a Church Camp, The Good Samaritan Farm. Revivals were held in the upstairs of the huge barn. Tiny one-room cabins were erected to house guests. Many locals tell stories of attending Sunday School here, or just hanging out in the summer time. A bible verse and the name "Good Samaritan Farm" are fashioned out of wood and placed on the western wall of the barn, facing the road. 1950 advertisement for boarding placed in the East Liverpool Review by Mrs. McCausland. Land owned in 1956 (after the untimely passing of Mr. Arthur McCausland in 1955) by a Dr. Emery McDaniels, a doctor from northeastern ohio 1960-1997 Land owned by Ralph Spencer's family 1997 James and Annie Miller purchase land My parents bought several tracts of land when the original 160 Acre farm was sectioned off and sold in 1997. The farm house was built in 1890. There were several small cabins scattered along the back edge of the pasture, into the woodline. By 2000, these buildings became a hazard to the grazing livestock and had to be dismantled. Many large rocks litter the slope on the eastern portion of the pasture. One of the prominets rocks on this hillside bears a very old inscription "Jesus Saves" A strange rock can be found in the pasture. If you have any ideas, please share! I assume the pattern was made by some type of liquid flowing downward. There are many, many domestic grape vines on the property and there has been rumor of bee keeper, so perhaps it was used as the base for a grape press or honey processing. I found what appears to be a very old well, just at the mouth of the valley behind the current house. Legend has it there was once another, older house on the land. There has also been talk of a tabernacle being built in that area, so perhaps it is from that. Would there be a well by the Church? What do you think? I am not certain of the age of the barn, but I assume it was built between 1830-1865. These are the following factors I've considered: The barn is constructed in the Dutch Barn Style, common between 1800-1850 The beams of the barn are hand hewn (the logs used as rafters are all of relatively the same size and debarked) and joined with wooden pegs (possibly dating it pre 1820) The original land patent for our property is from 1826. This would be the first landowner to settle here, unless a "squatter" was residing nearby. However, I don't believe they would have taken the time to build such a stately barn. The foundation is made of old stones and was originally only three walls. Modern blocks were added in the 60's to enclose the bottom level as a basement. The roof was once slate, though I don't know if that was added later on. The shingles used in the 1970's were replaced with tin in early 2000. The tin siding supposed came from an old church was was put up in the early 1940's. There is a date carved into a large cement repair made on the northern wall of the barn reading 1914 The previous landowner claimed there was once an older house located near the barn

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*The main rafters in the barn are slim logs of reletively the same size*
*A view of the rafters and hand hewn beams*
*Wooden pegs and strategic notching hold the massive beams together*
There are several stone walls built along the property lines - the largest measuring about 3' high and 100' long. One can assume it is as old as the settlement, perhaps 1826-1833. Imagine the time this took to complete in a time without tractors or machinery and few neighbors to help out! A massive Oak grows at the begining of the wall, indicating the wall is older than the tree (assuming it wasn't transplanted there)