Near Falls Creek in Jefferson County is a region known as Beechwoods, a locality which includes some of the finest farmland in Washington Township. The area was settled in 1824 by Henry Keys, Alexander Osborn, John McIntosh, John McGhee and Thomas Moore. These early settlers, mostly of Scotch and Irish origin, named the community after the large number of beech trees they found there. It is one of these founders, Thomas Moore, who played a role in one of the most colorful chapters in the history of Jefferson County. It is a story that seems ripped right out of the pages of a novel, and features murder, suicide, a haunted farm and a buried treasure of silver and gold.
