Jay D. Morey

Jay Danforth Morey, the eleventh of twelve children of Caleb and Sarah (Hicks) Morey, was born on December 14, 1822 at Delaware County, New York. He came with his parents to Henry County in 1833. As a child he played with the Indians as there were very few white families living in the area at that time. Shortly after their arrival in Ohio, Jay's father died and he was left with the responsibility of looking after his aged mother and younger sister. About the time Jay reached his youth the construction of the canal had begun and he soon started his active career as a canal driver, working thirty days a month for nine dollars. Jay Morey was a very ambitious young man and he was soon promoted, first to the position of steersman and then to captain. He was captain for many years on Fitch's line of boats between Toledo and Terre Haute. Being a very resourceful young man, he managed to save enough money to enable him to buy the farm adjoining the home farm. His first purchase of land was in section 29 of Liberty Township. Mr. Morey bought his land on land grants from the federal government for $3.00 per acre.

When Jay Morey married Susannah Redman on October 25, 1853 at Henry County, Ohio, he left the canal and devoted the rest of his life to farming. Susannah Redman was the daughter of Bedy Redman who came to Liberty Township in 1851 from Muskingum County, Ohio. The Redman farm adjoined the Morey farm in Liberty Township. Susannah was born on February 20, 1837 at Muskingum County, Ohio.

At the time of their marriage the Morey house consisted of three rooms. Jay Morey made the dining room table and because he made the table too large, he had to saw it in half to get it into the house. For beds, the young couple slept on straw ticks laid on the floor. The stately Greek revival Morey house still stands in Liberty Township on County Road T. Eventually Jay Morey prospered and he became the owner of 340 acres of land in Liberty Township and he was one of the large land owners of Henry County.

Jay Morey was widely known throughout Henry County and he was held in the highest esteem and regard. For a number of years he served as Liberty Township treasurer and a trustee and for twenty-one years he served as a school director. During the administration of Governor Medill in the 1850's he served as canal inspector. In the 1870's he was a director of the Napoleon Agriculture Works and Hoop Factory, which was established in 1874 for the purpose of manufacturing reapers and mowers. The company was managed by H.H. Vocke, president, A.H. Tyler, secretary and J.D. Norton, treasurer.

Among the Democratic circles of Henry County, Jay Morey was widely known and he served his party for many years. Jay Morey was known to be an' uncompromising Democrat, a party man who always thought that the wrongs of his party should be righted within the party, and not through the machinery of any other organization. He was one of the original subscribers of the Democratic Northwest-News in 1852 and he was said to never having failed in a single year of paying his annual dues to the paper until the time of his death sixty- three years later.

The Morey family united with the Methodist Church in 1853 but when the Christian Union Church was organized they became active supporters of that church. Mr. Morey donated a part of his farm in section 31 of Liberty Township for the Olive Branch Cahpel. When the church fell into disuse, the land was returned to the Morey farm and became the possession of his daughter Ella Connolly.

Susannah Morey died at their home in Liberty Township on July 15, 1904. Jay Morey remained on the old farm until 1914 when he moved with his son Charles to Napoleon. Jay D. Morey died on October 30, 1915 at Napoleon at the age of 92 years. Jay and Susannah Morey are buried in the Morrison Cemetery in Liberty Township.

The Morey's were the parents of five children all born in Liberty Township: Madison Matthew, born Sept. 2, 1854; George W., born June 16, 1857; Louella "Ella" (Mrs. Wm. J. Connolly), born April 19, 1860; William Douglas, born March 24, 1865 and died Feb. 14, 1867; and Charles Clinton, born Jan. 23, 1867. Besides these children, the Morey's raised as their own two additional children: Warren I). Honeywell, a nephew of Jay Morey, was born August 9, 1845 and he lived on a fourty acre farm in Liberty Township; and Matilda Williams, a foster daughter, was born October 22, 1872 in Fulton County, Ohio and she married Homer Martin.

Submitted by: Robert Barnes