BENTLEY'S LAKE.
A. J. BAUGHMAN, MANSFIELD.
Secretary of the Richland County
Historical Society.
The Bentley Lake, seven miles east of
Mansfield, was created
in 1846, and had a peculiar origin. In 1821, Jonas
Ballyet
entered the northwest quarter of section
15, Mifflin township,
Richland county, and near the center of
this tract there was
a circular marsh of eight or ten acres,
surrounded by a rim of
elevations of gentle slope, giving a
bowl-like appearance in
the place. At the east side or end there
was a depression in
the rim, as though the marsh had at one
time been a lake, and
that this depression had been its outlet
to the Blackfork of the
Mohican river, a mile distant. Between
the marsh and the river,
and extending from the one to the other,
is a stretch of boggy
land called the "Black swamp,"
lower than the marsh. And
"Uncle Jonas" Ballyet theorized
that to cut a ditch through the
depression would drain the marsh through
the swamp to the
river, and thus add to the tillable
acreage of his farm. The
theory seemed so plausible that men were
employed to dig a
trench, the bottom of which was six feet
below the surface of
the marsh. The job was completed July
25, 1846. Through this
ditch water flowed quite copiously, and
the prospects seemed
to be favorable for the marsh to be
drained in a short time. But
a condition existed which "Uncle
Jonas" had not considered in
his philosophy, for beneath was a lake,
and the marsh was but a
fenny cover - the accumulation of a
century - over its deep
waters. The night after the opening of
the ditch, the waters
underlying the morass having been
lowered about six feet, the
cover sank, and the next morning a lake
was seen where the
marsh had previously been.
The sinking of the bog-covering caused
the earth to quake
and tremble for miles around, and
alarmed the people, some think-
ing it was an earthquake, others that
"the end of the world" was
coming, as had been prophesied by the
Millerites.
The time set by the Rev. William Miller
for the "second
coming of Christ" was the year
1843, but as it did not occur at
(60)
Bentley's Lake. 61 that time, nor at later dates, and the people were admonished to say not in their hearts, "My Lord delayeth His coming." The lake covers an area of about nine acres, and has an average depth of seventy feet. It presents a lovely appearance in its frame-setting of hills, with a beautiful grove to the south- east. The water when viewed in the lake is of a green tint, but when dipped up in the hand is pure and clear. In the camping party in the view given, is Gen. R. Brinker- hoff, president of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society; |
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the Hon. M. B. Bushnell and members of their families. Mr. Bushnell and the wife of General Brinkerhoff are grandchildren of Gen. Robert Bentley, for whom the lake is named. General Bentley was one of the pioneers of Richland county. He settled in the Bentley lake vincinity in 1815. He built the first brick farm house in the county. He was judge of the court in 1821-8, served two terms in the state senate and was a major-general of militia. History and historical associations are interestingly woven about the lake and its locality. |