Rumley

Not all blacks in Shelby County were former slaves. Rumley was located near the junction of Blanke Road and Hardin Pike, between St. Rt. 119 and 274, northeast of McCartyville, (Van Buren Township) in Shelby County. The first black family to buy property in the area were the Goings brothers, Joel and Wesley, who purchased 400 acres of land in 1830. (Note: The brothers’ last name has been spelled with and without the second g, however the Society is using the spelling as noted on the family tombstone). Rumley was platted and recorded as a village on June 14, 1837, by its proprietor, Amos Evans, and became the home of many black and white families (including the former Randolph slaves). After it became a village, the Goings brothers opened a number of businesses, including a livery stable, hotel, and brick manufacturing operation. Rumley was built on one of the old Indian trails that traversed the state, and was a primary stop on the only direct stagecoach route between Piqua and Lima. Serving the needs of passengers and horses, the village soon became an oasis that grew and prospered.

According to James P. Humphrey’s lecture notes, there were three Negro schools. There was one public school which stood in the northwest corner of McCartyville-Kettlersville and Blanke Roads. There were also two private schools.

The original A.M.E. (African-American Methodist Episcopal Church) was located one fourth mile south of State Route 274 on the east side of Staley Road. It was abandoned when a new building was built in 1885 in Rumley and dedicated in 1886, where it stands today. The Baptist Church stood three fourths of a mile south of State Route 274 on Staley Road, on the west side of the road. The Wesleyan Methodist Church stood where the abandoned Rumley School is located. There were four colored cemeteries. Barnett Cemetery is located on Lucas-Geib Road northwest of McCartyville; Collins Cemetery is on State Route 274 east of Kettlersville and Clinton Cemetery is located on Amsterdam Road just west of Staley Road.

The 1846 edition of Howe’s "History of Ohio" says of Rumley, "There are 400 Negroes (half the population of Van Buren Township) as prosperous as their white neighbors and equal to the whites in morals, religion and intelligence."

'Black History' segment written in June, 1998 by David Lodge

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