|
[ 634 ]
CHAPTER XXX.
______
PORTAGE COUNTY
Possibly no county on the Western Reserve has a more creditable, a more stable, a more interesting history than has Portage.
It was organized in 1807, but remained attached to Trumbull until the next year. The townships in the county then were
Franklin, Deerfield, Aurora, Hiram, Springfield and Hudson. The township of Franklin was owned by Mr. Olmsted, and like the
owners of all the townships he was desirous of having the county seat located there. He promised to donate land for the
erection of a court house if the commissioners would decide for Franklin, and he urged General John Campbell, an influential
man, to talk it over with the commissioners. He went back to Connecticut, died there and left no provision in his will for
the county buildings and consequently Ravenna was made the county scat, as it was the geographical center. In 1840, when
Summit county was founded, the two western tiers of townships were put into that county.
Name And Natural Features.
Portage county was named from the path which lay between the Cuyahoga and the Tuscarawa. No one knows how long this path had
been traversed before the first settlers of Portage county arrived. Indians had used it, of course, as had traders between
Pittsburg and Cleveland who made use of water routes.
The southern part of the county is lower and the soil heavier than the northern part. The northern part is rolling, somewhat
sandy, and in the northeastern corner, pudding-stone rock is near the surface and at Nelson Ledges is many feet out of the
ground.
Highlanders of The County.
The northern part of the county was in the beginning settled by New Englanders. These families intended settling at Cleveland,
having heard more of Moses Cleaveland than of any of the other landowners, but when they felt the sharp lake winds, saw the
yellow drifting sand, they retraced their steps and rolled up their logs for their homes on the highlands of Hiram, Nelson,
Mantua, etc. Many of these families were from the Berkshire districts of Massachusetts and they loved the hills and the grass
and the trees. They had not been brought up to look at blue water, and white caps, nor to hear the dashing of waves. For fully
seventy-five years, this pure strain of New England blood lived in this tier of townships.
Pennsylvania Dutch And Germans.
The people of the southern portion of the county were at first from New England, but the second comers were largely
Pennsylvania people with a goodly sprinkling of Germans. Part of the latter were real Germans, but most of them Pennsylvania
Dutch. There was a small per cent of Irish and Scotch, but the start was really made with New Englanders and Pennsylvanians.
The Germans were good citizens; industrious, frugal, law-abiding. They cultivated their land, and sold vegetables, fruits and
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
635
crops as soon as there was any market for them. As late as 1865 the author remembers seeing in Ravenna, German women from
the lower townships, carrying baskets of huckleberries on their heads as they went from door to door selling them. The daughters
of some of these families went out to service and made most excellent cooks and housekeepers. Their descendants are found
among the best business men of the county.
The Scotch-Irish.
Today money is the great power, but in the first days of Portage county education was power. Throughout the Western Reserve
the men, who in the beginning became the leaders in professions, in politics, in religion, in business, were the educated
men, many of whom had their degrees from Yale and Harvard. The New Englander, as stated elsewhere, was a serious, solemn
citizen, wholly undemonstrative, but upright in character. His Scotch-Irish companion was likewise undemonstrative, but was
witty and brought to social gatherings his wit and humor. Contrary to the general belief, it was the Scotch-Irish and not the
New Englander who established the churches of Portage county.
It is not at all likely that any of the French soldiers or explorers, who traveled the lakeshore before the coming of the
settlers, were ever in Portage county. It was too far south. Trappers and traders were here temporarily on their way from
Pittsburg to Detroit. Indians, of course, roamed the whole county and settlements were still in existence in various parts,
particularly along the old Indian path, when the first settlers arrived. These Indians were friendly with the women and
families, but preceding the War of 1812 and soon thereafter they disappeared.
Abram S. Honey First Settler.
The first settlement in Portage county was made in 1798, at Mantua, by Abram S. Honey. It was midway between Cleveland and
Youngs town. He erected a log cabin, cleared a spot of ground, and put in a small crop of wheat, which was next year harvested
by his brother-in-law, Rufus Edwards. His first neighbor was William Crooks, who made a clearing and built a cabin not far
from him. Mr. Crooks lived in Mantua until 1854. He was eighty-five when he died.
Benjamin Tappan, Jr.
The most distinguished of the first settlers was Benjamin Tappan, Junior, who in the summer of 1799 started with an employee,
named Bisby, to settle in township 3, range 8, which belonged to his father, Benjamin Tappan, Senior. As we read of these
pioneers we wonder, in the first place, why those of them, like young Tappan, who was well educated and well surrounded should
leave home when he knew, in a measure, what hardships awaited him. Of course, with men who had families and no money, the low
price of land and the stories of its fertility were seductive, but for an educated youth the situation was entirely different.
Then, when these men had started and began to meet almost insurmountable obstacles, why they did not retrace their steps, is
far more mysterious than why they came. Mr. Tappan's journey was made by boat. At Gerundicut Bay, New York, he fell in with
David Hudson, whose adventures are narrated in the Summit county chapter.
Meets Hudson and Harmon.
Hudson became a passenger in Tappan's boat and they all went on to Niagara, where they met Elias Harmon and his wife in a
small unseaworthy boat. The Harmons were bound for Mantua. Under the most favorable circumstances, early travelers found it
extremely difficult to carry their boats and baggage around Niagara Falls.
The Tappan party, because of ice in the river, had an unusually serious time. After they were fairly on the water, they
were in constant danger, and when the ice had passed and they paddled along the southern shore of
636
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
Lake Erie day after day, they suffered from storms. Finally one of unusual severity drove them on the shore of Ashtabula
county, where Harmon's boat was destroyed and he proceeded on foot. Tappan and Hudson continued their journey by water,
and when they had gone down the Cuyahoga as far as they could go they landed at the place now called Boston, in Summit county.
Mr. Tappan's Hard Luck.
Here Tappan pitched a tent to cover his goods, left a man in charge, and, taking the oxen which he had brought all the way
with him and which he had hitched to a boat or sled which he had constructed, he proceeded to Ravenna and established himself
in the southeast corner where Mr. Neill's home now is (a picture of which is here given). He was obliged to cut his own road
and proceed very slowly, crossing the Cuyahoga at Standing Rocks. He returned to Boston for the remainder of his goods, only
to find that the man he had left in charge had deserted, going over to Mr. Hudson's settlement, and that thieves, undoubtedly
Indians, had stolen the goods remaining. Loading up the fragments he started for Ravenna. The weather was very hot. Early
recorders of Tappan's experience say that one of his oxen died from heat, but later evidence shows that many of the animals,
particularly cows and oxen, which died in the early days, did not perish from heat but from the poisonous bites of swarms of
flies, and we feel sure that that was the fate of Mr. Tappan's ox. Even this last stroke of ill luck did not discourage him.
No wonder he was in later life a successful man.
Help From Good James Hillman.
Upon Tappan's return to Ravenna, Bisby was given a compass and was directed to go to Erie to secure a loan of money from the
commandant at the Fort. That he was successful in this trip was undoubtedly due to the fact that Benjamin Tappan, Senior, was
known to be a man of means and standing. During Bisby's absence young Tappan proceeded to Youngstown to consult James Hillman,
as did most people who at this time lived in this vicinity. He got what he wanted at the hands of Hillman; sympathy,
encouragement and a new ox. Over and over again do we read in different narratives of Tappan's adventures that notwithstanding
his predicament, Mr. Hillman let him have this ox on credit and at the usual price. Have most men in most times so taken
advantage of the misfortunes of others that when anyone does not take such advantage it is written down in history? All these
misfortunes made it impossible for Mr. Tappan to put in any crop, or to build any house, and it was nearly January before he
had a cabin. Through the summer and late fall he had lived in a tent, and a bark shack, and all winter he had to depend upon
the Indians for his meat, and settlements far way for his other food.
The Woman Behind Him.
That he did not give up at this juncture was probably due to the fact that back in New England Nancy Wright, his promised
wife, was waiting impatiently for his return. It was the following summer that he brought her on to his home in the woods
and, as the story goes, they lived happy thereafter. At last he was established and his subsequent life was successful.
Awful Trip Of The Sheldons.
It seems as if the journeys of the first settlers were perilous and dangerous. In 1799 Ebenezer Sheldon arrived at Aurora
and chose lot 40 for a home. He employed Elias Harmon and his wife to help him and they made a clearing. The Harmons moved
to Mantua and Sheldon returned to Connecticut. In the following spring he, his wife and six children left Suffield for their
home "out west." They had a comfortable wagon drawn by oxen and brought horses with them. In the beginning
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
637
their journey was uneventful, but at Warren, when they were apparently almost through, they found the roads very bad, and
in passing through a dense woods a storm overtook them, timber falling about them in such a way as to literally hem them in.
They were obliged to stay all night and in the morning chop their way out. This experience was an awful one, since they
expected every minute that they and their animals would be killed. They, however, proceeded with safety to Ravenna and then
to Aurora.
Capt. Caleb Atwater's Party.
The second settlement was made at Atwater early in 1799. The party was lead by Capt. Caleb Atwater, the land was surveyed,
and the men returned to the east with the exception of Asa Hall, who with his wife stayed through the winter. They were the
only people in the township for two years.
First Child Born.
Here in this lonesome home in the woods. Portage county's first child was born. Little do we realize what it meant to be a
pioneer mother. Nowadays the birth of most children is planned for with the greatest care. As a rule the mother's work is
light; attention is given her health; she avoids, if possible, nervous strain, and nurse, physician and family do all that
is known to medical science to aid her. But in Portage county's first days -- alone, without chloroform, without surgeon,
with a husband and a squaw or a Deerfield neighbor, Portage county's first baby was born. No wonder most forefathers had two
wives; many of them three; some of them four! No wonder women were bed-ridden and crippled for years at a time. Pioneer life
was hard for men, but it was next to death for women. This baby was called Atwater, for Capt. Caleb Atwater, and while the
father, who was a great hunter, roamed the woods, his mother watched him in their cheerless little hut.
Mr. Hall Moves Away.
After a while the condition grew too lonesome for Mr. Hall and, of course, then the family was moved. They settled nearer
their Deerfield friends on the edge of the township. For two or three years the only other person living in Atwater township
was David Baldwin.
Deerfield's First Settler.
The first actual settler in Deerfield was Lewis Ely, who came with his family in July, 1799. Early in 1800 his son Alva,
John Campbell and Joe] Thrall walked from Connecticut, reaching the township in March. They suffered many hardships,
especially when they struck the snow in the mountains.
First Marriage In County.
John Campbell did not know that his hard experiences were soon to be forgotten in his. joys. In that very year he married
Sarah, the daughter of Lewis Ely. This was the first marriage among white people recorded in Portage county.
As there were no ministers in that neighborhood, Calvin Austin, of Warren, was asked to perform the marriage service. Justice
Austin was a little fearful of this task because he did not know any marriage service. Calvin Pease offered to teach him
the proper form. These two men did not sit down before a good log fire and prepare for this wedding, but as they walked
twenty-one miles through the woods in that drear November, one taught and the other learned part of the Episcopal service.
Pease had a great sense of humor, and was a tease withal. When, therefore, Mr. Austin, in the presence of the assembled
guests and in a dignified manner, repeated the service concluding with "I pronounce you man and wife, and may God have mercy
on your soul," a ripple of merriment was noticeable and Mr. Pease was convulsed.
Young Campbell became a very influential citizen in the county. He resided in the neighborhood
638
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
all his life. Campbellsport, at one time a most thriving village, was named for .him. He was an efficient officer in the War
of 1812, receiving the title of general.
Portage County's First Bride.
It is recorded in the "Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve" that during the War of 1812 General Campbell
"either was wounded or fell ill and returning as far as Sandusky was unable to reach home. His intrepid wife, upon learning
of his condition, mounted her horse, set out alone through the wilderness to succor her husband. Finding that he could not
be cared for comfortably in Sandusky, she had him placed upon her horse and then led the animal all the way back to Ravenna."
The great-granddaughter of Portage county's first bride remembers that when the latter was nearly eighty years old she was
tall, straight and always carefully dressed. She wore a dark brown front piece over her white hair and under her white cap.
Her dress of dark delaine had pink roses, a fichu-like cape of the same color was about her shoulders and .a touch of white
at her throat. She was sober of face, quiet of manner and never held or kissed this great granddaughter. People did not show
inward love in outward expression then. If they had, this pioneer would never have done much else but caress her descendants,
for she had eleven children of her own and a host of grandchildren and great grand children. Several of her descendants still
live in Portage county.
The Mills Family.
The sons of Ezekiel Mills, of Becket, Massachusetts, were among the first settlers in the northern part of the county. There
were three brothers -- Delaun, Asahel and Isaac. At the time of their arrival at Youngstown, the northern part of Portage
county was being surveyed under Amzi Atwater, and, being out of money, they were glad to engage as axemen in the surveying
party. Isaac was not married and after a time went back east. Delaun settled on the road running west from the center of
Nelson, and Asahel on the road running north and south.
They All Stopped At "Mills."
All the old diaries of early travelers who went to Burton, Painesville, etc., contain such statements as these: "Stopped at
Mills for dinner;" or "fed horses at Mills;" or "stayed several days at Mills."
It was Delaun who kept this hotel, or rather tavern, and a merry place it was sometimes for the backwoods country. Grog was
served here, as everywhere, and many a happy evening was spent by travelers, and later, by travelers and neighbors, in this
old log house which has long since disappeared.
The Mills family came in 1800 and they were the only inhabitants of the town up to 1803. Delaun received the title of captain
and was a most successful hunter of both animals and Indians. He was Portage county's Daniel Boone. The^ wonderful stories of his adventures have made the eyes of many a child open wide. The second generation of this family were all Methodists. It is not hard for the author to close her eyes and hear the rather sweet voice of Albert Mills (the son of Isaac, who came in 1805), oldest of Isaac's sons, himself then old, leading the Sunday school at the center of Nelson, and singing "There will be something in Heaven for children to do."
Delaun and Asahel Mills came to Nelson in 1802 and Isaac in 1805.
Homer Mills was a son of Henry Mills. Henry Mills was born north of the Center cemetery in 1803, and Homer was born on
January 22, 1837.
They All Stopped At "Mills."
Pretty Lakes of Portage County.
The early streams of Portage county were fuller at all seasons of the year, and the lakes, of course, were likewise deeper.
These lakes were full of fish, and furnished food for the early settler and sport for his son and grandson. They are now,
however, well fished out.
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
639
but are still attractive, and on their banks are many cottages where people have temporary summer homes. A majority of
Portage county's lakes are in Franklin township. These are Stewart Ponds, Twin Lakes, Pippin and Brady. In Rootstown is Muddy
Lake, a small portion of the northern part lying in Ravenna township. Ward's Pond, Muzzy's Pond and Sandy Lake are also in
Rootstown. Fritch's Pond lies in Suffield. The lakes are fed largely by springs. As mentioned before, the lower part of
Portage was swampy, and, as the land was cleared off, some small ponds dried up and were filled with vegetation. Here berries
grew in abundance, and here was found peat, which was used for fuel. At one time a good deal of this material was prepared
and sold in Ravenna. It was pressed into blocks.
Undoubtedly the numerous lakes of Portage were originally a part of Lake Erie, but in the gradual rise of the land, were cut
off from that body.
The Court House Water-shed.
The ridge which forms the water-shed in northern Ohio does not lie parallel to the lake. It begins in the southeastern part
of Ashtabula county and runs southwest across the northwest corner of Trumbull on to the center of Portage, westward through
Medina, then down into Crawford, etc. It was the tradition among the children in Ravenna that the water which ran south from
the court house went into the Ohio river and that which ran north went into Lake Erie. Whether this is exactly true or not,
the author does not know, but it is very nearly so.
The Indians Of The County.
The Indians found in Portage county, when the settlers came here, belonged to the tribes of Senecas, Ottawas and Chippewas.
Bigson was the chief of the Senecas, living in Streetsboro township. He was a powerful man and is reported to have been honest
and upright and a good friend. It was one of his sons, John Mohawk, who shot Diver. There was a settlement of peaceful Indians
in Windham township about where the Mahoning station now is. The Indians of this northern section roamed over the hills of
Hiram and Nelson, and when there was trouble the "Devil's Den" and like places at Nelson Ledges afforded them special
protection. They feared Capt. Delaun Mills and despite the fact that they were noble red men, they often ran quickly to secrete
themselves in these rocks. They found protection in severe weather under the over-hanging ledges and sometimes pitched their
tents there. What was true of the other counties through which the old Indian patch from Beaver to Sandusky and Detroit ran
was true of Portage. Indians singly and in groups passed back and forth on this path and parties of them built temporary
villages and resided sometimes as long as a year or two in one spot, but just previous to the War of 1812 they began to
disappear and at the close of the war they never returned in any such numbers or for any permanent settlement.
Old Roads Of The County.
The old Indian path so frequently referred to in this work entered Portage county in Palmyra township, and passed through
Edinburg, Ravenna and Franklin. When the first settlers came, it was a hard, well-traveled road and no one knows how long
it had been used.
Benjamin Tappan cut the first road in the county in order to get to his possessions, and there was a sort of a road cut
about the same time from Atwater to Georgetown. Asa Hall, and Caleb Atwater were among the men who cut this road. It was
forty miles in length and ran across Atwater and Deerfield. Ebenezer Sheldon cut a road in 1799 from the center of Aurora,
northwesterly, to a path which led to Cleveland The Mills brothers early cut a road in Nelson -- either in 1799 or 1800. The
Ravenna-Burton road was laid out in 1802, but it was not finished for some time afterwards.
640
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
This road led through Shalersville and Mantua. In 1802 there was a road from Warren to Cleveland, which touched Hiram and
Mantua. In 1805 a road from the center to Rootstown ran to that which connected Cleveland with Pittsburg, and then continued
to Edinburg.
Among the first roads constructed in the county were those which led to the mills, because the settlers had to get grain
ground. One of these was surveyed by Amzi Atwater in 1805, and ran from his house to Garrett's Mills; the next year there was
one running from his home to Aurora. After 1808. The cutting of roads became more frequent, and although hardly any of them
exist today exactly as they were, still they occupy substantially the same place. In the early days, roads would sometimes run
around a swamp, and in after years when the clearing away of the trees had dried the swamps, the roads would lie straightened.
In the beginning, to save labor Indian paths were followed, and those more often lay along the waterway. When the country was
settled, these were straightened also. If you think of it when you are driving through the country, you will realize that you
are riding along by a stream and then you leave it and come to it again. These straight lines were made, of course, to save time.
(The question of paths, of roads, or stage-roads and of the canals of the Western Reserve are treated in the early part of
this work.)
Coal ("Pamyra Lump.")
At the time of the formation of Portage county, more than half of it had coal under the surface at varying depths. There is
coal formation under Hiram and in Mantua; also in parts of Shalersville, Ravenna and Windham. In the southern part of the
county that is in Paris, Charleston, Palmyra, Deerfield, Brimfield and Suffield -- the coal was thick, good and easy to mine.
The United States has produced anywhere but little bituminous coal, better known than "Palmyra Lump." These mines were small
and have been worked out, as have the mines of Trumbull and Mahoning. However, in ordering coal the people in the southern
part of the Reserve still order Palmyra coal from the dealer, and he sends them whatever he has handy.
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
641
First Court in The County.
The first court in Portage county was held August 23, 1808. Calvin Pease presided. William Wetmore, Aaron Norton and
Amzi Atwater were the associate judges, and David Hudson was appointed foreman of the grand jury. The house of Benjamin Tappan
had been chosen as the place for holding this court, but it burned the night before, and so Portage county, like its mother,
Trumbull, held its first court with the sky as a roof. The afternoon session was held at the home of R. J. Thompson. Whiskey
was everywhere, as we have seen in this study of the Western Reserve, and before the day was over it was so apparent, as shown
by the hilarity of some of the attendants, that Samuel Taylor was arrested and fined five dollars for contempt.
Among the cases of that day was one of Zebina Wetherbee vs. John Haymaker and George Haymaker. There were two indictments
brought by the grand jury; one was against William Simcox for maliciously interrupting a religious meeting in Franklin
township. It seems what Simcox did was to go hunting, when people going and coming from church could see and hear him. He
pleaded guilty to breaking the Sabbath and was fined $1.50 and costs; $6.50 in all.
Stories About Pioneer Lawyers.
There are no set of men about which such good stories are told as the early lawyers. The writer when a little girl used to
sit evening after evening and listen to lawyers tell tales on each other. One of the early tales told of Portage county's
justice was that of a man found guilty of breaking the Sabbath. He was sentenced to jail for six hours. At that time there was
no jail. The early lawyers were most of them poor, and they did not mind being joked about their poverty. They talked freely
about the financial condition of each other and there was very little pretense in any of them.
Came To His Meals Promptly.
At one time a nephew of John Brown was a student in the office of Ranney and Taylor. Michael Stewart lived at the same
boarding house as Brown did. One day when young Taylor was looking out of the window he saw Stewart, who was rather pompous
and dignified for a young man, coming down the street. He then asked his student a question, "Brown, how is Stewart getting
on?" Meaning, of course, how was he getting along at his profession. Brown replied, "All right, I guess; he comes to his
meals regularly."
Would Not Support Naked Christians.
One of the most unique figures of the early Portage county Bar was Jonathan Sloane. Very little was known about his early
life. He came to Ravenna as the agent of the Tappans, and because of this position and his own temperament, he was as well
known as any of the early citizens. Numberless tales are told about him, all of a humorous touch. At one time a foreign
missionary appeared in the town and delivered some addresses on his work in the Sandwich Islands. His interesting tales
attracted the attention of Ravenna's citizens. Mr. Sloane, although not fanatical, was rather religious. He attended these
meetings and had made up his mind to subscribe liberally to the work. Attending a session for that purpose, he listened to
the missionary describe the life of the people on the Island and how they went without clothes. Mr. Sloane interrupted him
with this question, "Do they wear clothes after they become Christians?" The missionary acknowledged that they did not. The
thought of naked Christians did not strike Ravenna's early attorney very favorably, and wrapping his cloak about him, he
withdrew from the meeting, and the converted Sandwich Islanders received none of his money.
First Settlers Of Portage County.
Atwater -- Mr. and Mrs. Asa Hall, 1799.
Aurora -- Ebenezer and Lovey Sheldon, 1799.
642
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
Brimfield -- John Boosinger, 1816.
Charlestown -- John and Sarah Campbell, spring of 1800.
Deerfield -- Lewis Day and Horatio Day, 1799.
Edinburg -- Eber Abbott, 1811.
Franklin -- John and Sallie Haymaker, 1805.
Freedom -- Charles H. Paine, son of General Paine, Painesville, 1818.
Garrettsville -- Col. John Garrett, 1804.
Hiram -- Elijah Mason, Elisha Hutchinson and Mason Tilden, 1802.
Mantua -- Abraham L. Honey, 1798; also first settler in county.
Nelson -- Delaun, Asahel and Isaac Mills, 1800.
Palmyra -- David Daniels, 1799.
Paris -- Richard Hudson, 1811.
Randolph -- Bela Hubbard and Salmon Ward, 1797.
Ravenna -- Benjamin Tappan, Jr., 1799.
Rootstown -- Ephraim Root, 1800.
Shalersville -- Joel Baker, 1806.
Streetsboro -- Stephen Myers, Jr., 1822.
Suffield -- Royal Peas, 1802.
Windham -- Elijah Alford, Jr., Oliver Alford, Ebenezer, Ohio, Messenger and Nathan H. Messenger, 1811.
First Marriages.
Atwater -- Josiah Mix, Jr., and Sallie Mattoon, 1807.
Brimfield -- Abner H. Lamphare and Miss Sophia Moulton, 1819.
Charlestown -- Sallie Coe and Martin Camp, 1816.
Deerfield -- John Campbell and Sarah Ely, 1800.
Edinburg -- Greenbury Keen and Betsey Hitchcock, 1817.
Franklin -- Christian Cackler and Theresa Nighman, 1814.
Freedom -- Wakeman Sherwood and Harriet Randy (daughter of Rufus), 1825.
Mantua -- Rufus Edwards and Letitia Windsor (married by Amzi Atwater), 1803.
Nelson -- Enoch Judson and Anna Kennedy, 1804.
Palmyra -- Benjamin McDaniels and Betsey Stevens, 1805.
Paris -- William Bradford and Betsey Hudson, 1813.
Randolph -- Bela Hubbard and Clarissa Ward, 1806.
Ravenna -- Charles Van Home and Phoebe Herrimon, 1803.
Rootstown -- Ashure Ely of Deerfield and Lydia Lyman, 1803.
Shalersville -- Mr. Hezekiah Hine and Miss Mary Atwater, a sister of Amzi Atwater, 1810.
Streetsboro -- Frederick Nighman and Parmelia Van, 1826.
Suffield -- Alpha Wright and Lucy Foster, about 1804.
Windham -- Dr. Ezra Chaffee and Polly Messenger, 1812.
First Births..
Atwater -- Atwater Hall, son of Mr. and Mrs. Asa Hall, 1800.
Aurora -- Oliver Forward, son Cromwell, 1804.
Brimfield -- Mr. and Mrs. Alpheus Andrews, son Henry Thorndike, 1817.
Charlestown -- Mrs. John Baldwin, son John W., 1813.
Deerfield -- Mrs. Alva Day, daughter Polly, 1800.
Edinburg -- Lemuel Chapman, daughter, 1815.
Franklin -- John and Sallie Haymaker, son John F., 1807.
Freedom -- Charles H. Paine, daughter Emeline, 1820.
Hiram -- Edwin Babcock, son of Simeon Babcock, 1811.
Mantua -- Eunice, daughter of Elias Harmon, 1800.
Nelson -- Asahel Mills, daughter Dianthea. 1801.
Palmyra -- E. Cutler, daughter Emeline. 1802.
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
643
Randolph -- Sophronia Upson, daughter of Arad Upson, 1803.
Ravenna -- Mr. Boszor, a daughter, about 1803.
Rootstown -- John McCoy, son of Samuel McCoy, 1802.
Shalersville -- Lucinda, daughter of Joel Baker, 1808.
Streetsboro -- Child of Samuel Walker, 1823.
Suffield -- Rebecca, daughter of David Way, 1803.
Windham -- Daughter of Wareham Loomis, 1812.
First Deaths.
Atwater -- Maria Strong, daughter of William Strong, 1808.
Aurora -- Rhoda Cochran, daughter of Samuel Cochran, 1806.
Brimfield -- Infant child of Captain Uriah Sawyer.
Charlestown -- Brayton King, 1812.
Deerfield -- Betsey Rogers died of rattlesnake bite.
Edinburg -- Mary J. Eddy, daughter of Alanson and Rachel Eddy, 1819.
Franklin -- Eva Haymaker, mother, or stepmother, of the first settler.
Freedom -- Emeline Paine, daughter of Charles Paine, 1820; two years and a half old, scalded.
Hiram -- Wife and child of John Fenton, 1811.
Mantua -- Anna Judson (given arsenic by mistake), 1804.
Nelson -- Infant child of Asahel Mills, 1802 or 1803.
Palmyra -- Son of John Tuttle, Senior, 1805.
Paris -- Susan Cox, wife of John, 1814.
Randolph -- An unknown man assisting spme surveyors died of heat and whiskey, 1797; Mrs. Clarissa Ward,
first person known, 1804.
Ravenna -- Little son of Benjamin Bigsby, rattle-snake bite, about 1800.
Rootstown -- Young man named Davenport, 1800.
Shalersville -- Edward Crane, son of Simeon Crane, 1809."
Streetsboro -- First adult death, wife of Solomon Carlton.
Suffield -- Orestes Hale, son of Samuel Hale, 1805.
Windham -- Miss Lucy Ashley, 1812.
First Schools.
Atwater -- In a log school house at the center, 1806-7; Mrs. Almon Chittenden, teacher.
Aurora -- School house in the Square at the Center; Samuel Forward, Jr., teacher, 1803-4.
Brimfield -- Opened by Jeremiah Moulton in his own house, and continued through the winter of 1818.
Charlestown -- Log school house at the Center in the summer of 1811; Sophia Coe, teacher. '
Deerfield -- Presided over by Robert Campbell, 1803.
Edinburg -- Log house of Amasa Canfield, 1818; teacher, Clarissa Loomis, of Charlestown.
Franklin -- Abner H. Lamphare, teacher; in a small cabin erected by Mr. Rue in 1811.
Freedom -- Taught in a frame building at Drakesburg; E. W. Ranney, 1835.
Hiram -- School in a log house, taught by Benjamin Hinckley, in 1813.
Mantua -- At the house of Amzi Atwater, in the winter of 1806, by John Harmon..
Nelson -- At the Center, 1804; Hannah Baldwin, teacher.
Palmyra -- South part of township; Betsey Diver, teacher.
Paris -- At the house of Richard Hudson, 1819; teacher, Betsey North. This was a private school. First public school
next winter (log school house) ; Daniel Leavitt, teacher.
Randolph -- Log school house, stood on the west of the bridge over the creek; Miss Laura Ely, teacher.
Ravenna -- In log house near Tappan's settlement ; teacher, Miss Sarah Wright, 1803.
Rootstown -- Taught in a cabin at the Center; Samuel Adams, teacher, 1807 or 1808.
644
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
Shalersville -- Opened at the Center, 1810; Miss Winter, teacher.
Streetsboro -- in the northwest corner of the township, 1826; Clarinda Case, teacher.
Suffield -- First school of nine pupils; Harvey Hirlbert, teacher, 1807.
Windham -- First school taught in the house of Alpheus Streator, by Eliza Streator and Rebecca Conant, "week and week about."
Log school house erected in 1812.
First Churches and Sermons.
Atwater -- Rev. Mr. Ely preached regularly in 1806.
Aurora -- First sermon in Ebenezer Sheldon's house, 1802.
Brimfield -- Presbyterian, 1819.
Deerfield -- First sermon by Henry Shewell, 1802.
Edinburg -- First sermon by Rev. Nathan Damon, 1812.
Franklin -- Among the first men to preach sermons were the Revs. Shewell, Shadrack, Bostwick and Joseph Badger. Who was
the first is not known.
Freedom -- Joseph Treat and David L. Coe organized the first church at the house of David Larkcom, 1828.
Hiram -- All of the early denominations sent occasional preachers to Hiram. The Baptists and Congregationalists early had
congregations.
Mantua -- First church was a Methodist; organized, 1807, by Rev. R. R. Roberts; log house.
Nelson -- First preaching by Asahel Mills. First church organized at the house of Johann Noah; Baptist; preacher,
Rev. Thomas G. Jones.
Palmyra -- Rev. Shewell preached the first
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
645
sermon; Methodist circuit rider. First church organized, 1813; Presbyterian.
Paris -- First religious event, "Bush meeting," 1817; Welch congregation, 1835.
Randolph -- 1806 meetings held at the house of Oliver Dickinson; Methodist class formed about 1808.
Ravenna -- First services were Episcopal, held by Seth Day, Dr. Isaac Swift and Daniel Dawley, about 1816.
Rootstown -- Organized by Rev. Giles H. Cowles, 1810.
Shalersville -- Who preached for the first time in Shalersville township is not known, but the first church organized
was the Congregational, 1818.
Windham -- Early settlers organized themselves into a Congregational church before they left Connecticut; held service
first Sunday they arrived, 1811; first sermon preached a month later, August.
First Saw Mills.
Atwater -- Owned by Captain Hart, 1805.
Aurora -- Run by Septimus Wittar.
Charlestown -- Built by the first settlers, near the Center.
Deerfield -- Grist mill, owned by James Laughlin, 1801; first water-power mill in the county.
Erlinburg -- Erected by Campbell and Eddy, 1816.
Franklin -- Grist mill built by the Haymaker family, 1807.
Freedom -- Owned by Elihu Paine, 1828.
Garrettsville -- Saw and grist mill, owned by Col. John Garrett, in 1805.
Hiram -- Built by Lemuel Punderson, 1807 (grist mill).
Mantua -- Erected by Rufus Edwards, 1799, grist mill; first saw mill by the Dresser family, 1818.
Nelson -- Owned by Colonel Garrett, both saw and grist mill, 1805.
Randolph -- Saw and grist mill in 1808, owned by Josiah Ward.
Ravenna -- Alexander McWhorter owned grist mill, 1802.
Rootstown -- Saw mill on creek north of Center, owned by Ephraim Root, about 1808.
Shalersville -- Owned by Stephen Mason, 1812; in 1814 added a grist mill.
Suffield -- Mill erected at Fritch's, about 1805.
Names And Proprietors Of Townships.
Atwater -- Township 1, range 7; named for Captain Caleb Atwater; settled, 1799.
Aurora -- Township 5, range 9; named Aurora in honor of the only daughter of Major Spofford, surveyor of the Connecticut
Land Company.
Brimfield -- Township 2, range 9; first called Swamptown because it was so swampy; later, Beartown, because of the bears
which lived in the swamps. Its third name was Greenbriar. Then it was called Wrylestown for John Wyles, who owned a
large part of its land. It was later called Thorndike, for Israel Thorndike, who bought part of the land from Wyles. He
offered to give a public square at the Center for the name. He, however, did not fulfill his contract, and finally it
was named Brimfield, in honor of John Wyles, who lived at Brimfield, Massachusetts.
Charlestown -- Township 3, range 7; was called Hinckley up to the time of 1814, when it received its present name.
Deerfield -- Township i, range 6; named for Deerfield, Massachusetts, in honor of the birthplace of the mother of Lewis Day,
Senior, settled early in 1/99.
Edinburg -- Township 2, range 7; settled in 1811. Part of it was bought by John Campbell and Levins Eddy, and from the
latter the township took its name, for Edinburg was formerly Eddysburg.
Franklin -- Township 3, range 9; named Franklin ; upper hamlet called Carthage -- lower hamlet. Franklin Mills. These
two combined in one under the name of Kent, for Marvin Kent.
646
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
(page not transcribed)
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
647
Freedom -- Township 4, range 7; settled in 1825; first called North Rootstown, in honor of Ephraim Root. In 1825 it was
made a separate township and the name "Freedom" is supposed to have been suggested by Mrs. Paine, to whom the matter was
referred, she having been the first female to enter the township. It is said that she first suggested "Liberty," but, as
that name was too common, it was changed to Freedom.
Garrettsville -- Named for Colonel John Garrett, 1804.
Hiram -- Township 5, range 7. The original proprietors were all Freemasons, and, on the suggestion of Col. Daniel Tiklen,
named the town that was-to-be, Hiram, in honor of the King of Tyre.
Nelson -- Township 5, range 6; settled in 1800.
Palmyra -- Township 2, range 6; settled in 1799.
Paris -- Township 3, range 6; settled in 1811; first called Storsboro.
Randolph -- Township 1, range 8; settled in 1797. Previous to its settlement it was owned by Col. Lemuel Storrs, of
Connecticut, and it was named for his son, Henry Randolph Storrs.
Ravenna -- Township 3, range 8; called Ravenna supposedly from Ravenna, Italy; settled in 1799.
Rootstown -- Township 2, range 8; settled in 1800: named for Ephraim Root, who originally owned it.
Shalersville -- Township 4, range 8; settled in 1806; named for Gen. Nathaniel Shaler, of Middletown, Connecticut, who
drew this section at the time of dividing. It was at one time called Middletown.
Streetsboro -- Township 4, range 9; named for Titus Street, a member of the Connecticut Land Company; settled in 1822;
last township organized in the county.
Suffield -- Township i, range 9; named for Suffield, Connecticut, the home of the owners. It was called Peastown, at
one time -- for Royal Peas.
Windham -- Township. 4, range 6; settled in 1810. It was first called Strongsburg for Governor Strong. The settlers,
however, did not like Strong's politics -- he was a Federalist -- and they changed the name to Sharon. In 1820 it
became Windham, for Windham, Connecticut.
Pioneer Agricultural Society.
The first agricultural society was organized in 1825. Joshua Woodward was president, Elias Harmon, first vice-president;
William Coolman, treasurer; and Johnathan Sloane, auditor. The first fair was held in October of that year, and Seth Harmon
received the premium for the best crop of corn. He raised a hundred bushels from one peck on one acre of land.
In 1839 the association was organized under the state law for such societies, with William Wetmore as president. It kept
its first name, Portage County Agricultural Society. The first fair under this organization was held in the court house
in October, 1841. Like meetings were held the following four years.
The legislature again passed some laws in regard to such societies in 1846, and the Portage County Agricultural Society
framed its rules accordingly. Fairs were held each year, but there was no special meeting-place. In 1859 twenty acres of
land east of Ohio and south of the present grounds were rented and used for twenty years.
Several times in the history of the association it has looked as if it could not continue, because of the financial losses.
At one time Horace Y. Beebe and a few enterprising citizens raised a subscription and paid off the debt. In 1879 the
present grounds were rented. The association has continued to hold its meetings each year, but in 1909 the buildings were
burned and there was talk of abandoning the meetings. Mr. Dan Hanna, who lives at Cottage Hill farm, made an offer to put
into the association $10,000, provided the county would raise a like amount and rebuild and re-establish the association.
This offer was accepted
648
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
and there will be no fair in the year of 1910, but in 1911 the new regime will begin.
Horticulture and Floriculture.
Portage county has always been interested in horticulture and floriculture. Scattered around through the Reserve were men
and women interested in the culture of flowers, but in Portage county the interest was exceedingly strong and for many years
it has had a society whose meetings were largely attended and whose results were good. Horace Y. Beebe was president of this
society. He and his family have always been interested in flowers and his son, William Beebe, has probably spent more hours
cultivating his garden and his flowers than has any other man in the county, who is not a professional farmer. Wherever he
lives or whatever his condition, he always has flowers about him.
Old And Modern Cheese Making.
Portage county was one of the first cheese counties of Ohio. In the early days cheese was made in tubs on the floor and the
overburdened housewife nearly broke her back . Stirring the curd. Then came square cheese vats on saw-horses; then the improved
tin-lined tanks, with attached arrangements for heating; and when this home-made cheese was in great demand the neighborhood
factory appeared, the farmer sold his milk and the cheese vat and press took its place in the garret, beside the loom and
spinning wheel.
The Call To "split Oven Wood."
A. B. Griffin, of Ravenna, in 1880 wrote a series of articles on "Then and Now." He says in speaking of the old brick oven:
No man now living, who when a boy. was obliged to furnish fuel for the brick oven, will ever forget that fact while memory
lasts; for if there was any one thing that a boy dreaded more than another, unless it was the brisk application of the birch
twig or the oiled strap, or pounding clothes, or picking up stones -- it was the call to split oven wood; and yet when he saw
the nice bread and pies come out of that oven, steaming hot, and espied the delicious turnovers, baked especially for him,
he forgot for the time the dreaded oven wood."
Tinder Box and Candles.
The tinder box was a tin box well filled with burned cotton cloth. This stuff was set on fire by a spark from a file or a
flint. This was a rather uncertain and troublesome way of getting a fire, but it was the only way, unless neighbors were
near.
It was customary to burn only one candle in a room, unless there was company, when the number was doubled. In school houses
and churches candles had to be snuffed, and usually some dapper young man was either appointed, or self-appointed, to do the
snuffing. It was a joy to such a young man to walk around a meeting house and replenish the light; particularly was this
true, if young ladies were present so that he could show his skillfulness. Many a youth in his embarrassment has cut the
wick too low and put out the candle, and had to suffer from the jeers of his companions and the snickers of the girls. In
some ill-regulated families the snuffers got lost, or broken, so that almost every person learned to skillfully snuff the
candle with his or rather her fingers. This had to be done quickly in order to grab off only the part which was burned and
could be easily detached. It was quite an art. None of us could do it today. None of us want to.
Learning To Eat "Love-apples."
When tomatoes first made their appearance, they were known as "love-apples." People had to learn to eat them, just as people
of the later day learn to eat olives. A public man of this vicinity, who when a boy drove some cattle down to the Ohio river,
saw a row of "love-apples" on the window and appropriated one for himself. He ate it and was soon so sick to his stomach
that he lost the dinner which he had bought with his hard-earned money. Now from the beginning of the season to the
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
649
end he likes tomatoes on the table. Thought then, as well as now, was powerful in physical things.
In speaking of the clothes that boys and girls wore in the early days of Portage county, Mr. Griffin says: "Boys did not
wear 'mulley pants' -- ours had legs to them; we never wore holes in our stockings with our knees."
Delicious Remedy For Colds.
As we look over the medicinal remedies we are astonished at what they used, how they used it, and the result. Having lived
for some time now in the past, the author of this work feels very proud that she received the treatment which was given
to the pioneer for colds; that is, molasses, butter and vinegar simmered together and taken hot on going to bed. She used
to long and pray to have a cold, and she regrets to record that her prayers then as now usually remained unanswered. This
remedy was so delicious! At the time she took this concoction her stocking with the foot-side next to her throat was wound
around her neck. It seldom took but one application of the medicine and the stocking to cure a cold. In fact, on waking in
the morning, the first thing she did was to swallow to see if the sore was gone, and she bemoaned the fact that it always
was. To be sure, the stocking was a woolen one knit by her grandmother, but she still recommends the remedy as a good one.
Stoves As Church Desecrations.
Much has been said in the local history of the church quarrels which arose from the introduction of musical instruments
into churches, but very little is said about the dissatisfaction caused when stoves were brought into churches. Before that,
people had shivered through the services, only a few having foot stoves -- most of them having no heat at all. It was
supposed by the conservatives that stoves would desecrate the house of God.
The pioneer men and women were so industrious that nobody can find any fault with them, but it does seem as if they wasted a
goodly lot of time which might have been spent in sleeping, reading or in visiting, in discussing such subjects as free agency,
total depravity, modes of baptism and foreordination.
In the early days all married women and babies wore caps. The result was that almost every woman wore caps the most of her
life. We have a record of girls who married at fifteen and were wearing caps at sixteen.
The great back logs which filled the fireplace were rolled up to the door and pulled into the house by a horse. That was
before the day of Brussels carpets, or polished wood floors.
Punishments of A B C Scholars."
Mr. Griffin says: "One of the modes of punishment meted out to the ABC scholar was cutting off the ears as short as a
horse's ear, a scene never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it.
"'Mary, I see you are whispering again. Come up here. I must have one of your ears.' Poor Mary walks slowly to the master,
crying, and with her tiny hands to her ears. The master begins sawing away with the back of his penknife blade. She
promises she will not whisper again and the master saves the ear this time.
"Other scholars were required to hold the horizontal ruler, or stand on the floor facing the school with a split quill or
stick astride the nose. This was interesting, especially when the handkerchief was missing; if not missing, it required
skill to use it to advantage. The still larger boys received -- when they merited it -- an interest in the black mark system.
In this system each offense entitled the offender to a black mark which was duly placed opposite his name. When five marks
were received the offender was entitled to receive a vigorous birch dressing. The culprit was required to furnish the weapons
in person, generally three in number. After procured, the master ran them through hot ashes so as to make them tough. Then
the school was placed on dress parade to witness the scene."
650
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
Curious Baldwin Papers.
Ralph Baldwin, son of Cornelius and the grandson of Stephen Baldwin of Nelson, has kept a large number of curios and papers
belonging to his father. They are most interesting to look at.
One dated December 24, 1808, is signed by Isaac Mills. It is for $2.23 -- state and county taxes for a year.
There are several receipts signed by Ezra Booth for money collected and turned over to the proper authorities in Nelson,
who were interested in the Library Society.
The receipt signed by Benjamin Fenn, under date of January 23, 1821, to Stephen R. Baldwin shows that Fenn received six bushels
of wheat in payment for five months schooling in the year 1819 and 1820.
Another receipt reads: "Received of Stephen Baldwin $13.00 for the Anti-slavery cause, to be paid to Rev. E. Weed, at Oberlin.
Windham, July 5, 1857, H. C. Taylor."
The following is of interest: "This may certify that Stephen Baldwin, for the consideration of $98.00, received to our full
satisfaction, is the rightful proprietor of a pew No. 7 in the Congregational meeting house in Nelson, to be holden by him,
his heirs and his assigns forever.
"Nelson, Sept. 17, 1825.
"Hezh. P. Hopkins,
Joshua B. Sherwood,
Jeremiah R. Fuller,
Eber Mansfield,
Committee."
County's Area And Population.
When the county lines were finally drawn, the area was four hundred and ninety square miles. Below is the table of
population of the county for the last ninety years:
1810, 2,905
1820, 10,093
1830, 18,792
1840, 23,107
1850, 24,419
1860, 24,208
1870, 24,584
1880, 27,500
1890, 27,868
1900, 29,246
Newspapers of the County.
In 1825 the Western Courier and the Western Public Advertiser was established in Ravenna. The editor was
J. B. Butler, of Pittsburg. He did very good business from the beginning and two years later it was sold to
William Coolman, Jr., and C. B. Thompson. The next year, in 1828, James Walker bought an interest. Mr. Thompson died in
1829. In 1830 The Courier became the Democratic organ of the county. At one time Mr. Harsha owned an interest,
but he retired in 1831 and left Mr. Coolman sole proprietor again. In 1832 John Harmon bought the paper and edited it
till 1836, when Selby and Robins of Ravenna bought it, and raised the subscription price to $3.00, but it did not prosper
and Mr. Harmon took control again. In 1838 it ceased to live.
In 1830 Lewis L. Rice began to publish the Ohio Star. Cyrus Prentice and Jonathan Sloane backed this proposition
financially. In 1834 Laurin Dewey succeeded Mr. Rice and the Star was the local organ of the Whigs of Portage county.
In 1838 Lyman Hall bought an interest in the Star and became the senior partner. When Dr. Dewey was elected sheriff
of the county, he sold it to Mr. Hall. Mr. Hall sold to Root and Elkins, and A. L. Lewis became editor. In 1840 Elkins bought
out Root, he soon retired, and William Wadsworth owned the property. Lewis continued to be editor until 1843. Dewey and
Wadsworth continued to be proprietors until 1844, when Wadsworth bought out Dewey, and Lewis again became editor. In 1845
Lewis bought an interest in the paper, but in 1847 Wadsworth bought him out. In 1849 Lyman W. Hall bought the Star.
In 1852 he enlarged it and remained editor until 1854.
The Western Reserve at this time was in an unsettled condition. Then newspapers stood decidedly for some political party
and the parties were so mixed up, or rather the people were so divided into new parties, that altogether it was hard sledding
for newspaper
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
651
men. The Ohio Star became the Portage County Democrat.
There was a small paper published by John Harmon and issued from the Courier office in 1835, called the Watchman.
John B. King, Rufus Spalding, Joseph Lyman and Ashael Tyler started the Buckeye Democrat This was intended to fill
the place which the Courier had occupied. It did not live a year, however;
Lyman W. Hill, in 1840, published the Western Reserve Cabinet and Family Visitor. It was enlarged in 1842 and
discontinued in 1843. It was the history of Portage county papers, at least, that whenever they raised the subscription
price, or enlarged the paper, the result was disastrous.
The Plain Dealer, with Mr. Canfield as editor and publisher, was started at Ravenna in 1844. It was weak in the
beginning and never grew strong.
Samuel D. Harris, so long and well known as an editor, and Roswell Batterson, issued the Portage Sentinel in 1845.
In 1851 Batterson, because of poor health, retired from the paper, and Mr. Harris became proprietor. In 1852 he sold it to
Alphonso Hart and R. E. Craig. In 1854 the name was changed to the Weekly Portage County Sentinel and was enlarged.
The next year Mr. Hart was sole proprietor. In 1856 James W. Somerville owned part interest. In 1857 Somerville bought out
Hart. In 1862 the paper was discontinued.
In 1848 the Portage County Whig was established by John S. Herrick. In 1853 its name was changed to the Home Companion
and Whig, and in 1854 it lost its identity in the Ohio Star.
The parents of the Portage County Democrat were the Ohio Star and the Home Companion and Whig. The
Democrat was first issued in 1854. Hall, Herrick and Wadsworth owned it. When the Republican party was established the
Democrat became its organ. Two years before this, that is 1856, Mr. Wadsworth had withdrawn from the firm, and in 1859
Mr. Herrick sold it so that for many years Lyman Hall and Son owned the paper and ran it successfully. L. W. Hall was an able
man and his paper was a good one. Since the paper was a Republican and had the name of Democrat, the Halls were urged
continuously to change its name. They disliked to do this because of sentiment, but little by little the word Republican
crept in. First in small type in the head, afterwards at the head of the editorial column. In 1876 its name was changed to the
Republican Democrat. For some reason in the early 70's it was no longer a financial success, and in 1878 L. W. Hall
and Son made an assignment to J. D. Horton and C. A. Reed. Halsey R. W. Hall was then editor, and continued as such until 1882,
when he moved to Minnesota and Arthur Mosley succeeded him. It is now owned by the Ravenna Republican Publishing Company
and A. D. Robinson is president and manager.
In 1878 the Portage County Republican was issued, with J. H. Fluhart as editor; in 1882 the Republican Democrat Company
bought out the Republican and in 1883 the paper became known as the Ravenna Republican.
The Democratic Press had a long and honorable career. It was established by Samuel D. Harris in 1868. He was one of the
early editors. Mr. Harris had had experience on the Courier, the Ohio Star and the Democrat; so that his
paper was a success. Since his death, it has been edited by his son of the same name.
S. D. Harris should be particularly mentioned in this history, since he was an able newspaper man; the founder of the
Democratic Press and for a long lifetime associated with the welfare of Ravenna. He was born in Ravenna township in
1816. His father was S. D. Harris, of Connecticut, and his son, as stated, bears the same name. His mother was Lucy S. Kent,
daughter of Zenas and sister of Marvin. He worked in the Western Courier's office as long as it lived. He and Roswell Batterson,
the first husband of Martha F. Dodge, published the Sentinel, a Democratic
652
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
paper, in 1845, and later he bought Mr. Batterson out. In 1868 he issued the Democratic Press, and this has been
published ever since.
In 1859 Dr. Alonzo Dewey established the Omnium Gatherum, the first paper of Kent. W. W. Beach was the editor. The
name was not very satisfactory and in two months was changed to the Family Visitor. This name only lasted a few months,
when it was called the Literary Casket. How this paper lived at all, under such a name, is not known, but it did not
live in a very high manner, and in 1865 it was called the Saturday Review. Apparently the trouble was not in the name,
for it did not prosper any better under the new name, and in October of 1866 it became the Commercial Bulletin. Later
it was called the Saturday Morning Bulletin, and afterwards the Saturday Bulletin; so that this paper had eight
names, for it was finally known as the Bulletin. In 1873 Mr. Dewey sold out and W. J. A. Minich purchased it. The
first thing he did was to change the name to the Kent Saturday Bulletin.
The Kent News was established, in 1867, by L. D. Durban & Company. The office was in charge of his son, but the paper
was not prosperous. A. C. Davis and Richard Field established the present Kent News. In 1882 the News Company bought
it and Paul B. Conant became editor and publisher. In 1883 O. S. Rockwell began the editing of the paper. It has been enlarged,
the office is well equipped, and it is a strong Democratic paper.
Warren Pierce owned the first newspaper in Garrettsville. It was called the Garrettsville Monthly Review'. The office
stood about where the post-office is. Mr. Pierce was a practical printer and did his own press-work and his job work. This
Review was discontinued at the end of a year and a half. In 1867 he established the Garrettsville Journal, which
has always been successful. In 1873 he sold it to Charles B. Webb, who enlarged it. It is at present owned by the Journal
Publishing Company, of which C. M. Crane is president and George H. Colton vice president.
Railroads Of Portage County.
Portage county had one of the earliest railroads. The act allowing the building of the Cleveland and Pittsburg was a
special one passed in 1836, but .nothing came of it. Several other acts followed, which applied to this road, but in 1850
the Pennsylvania legislature authorized the Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad Company to extend its line into that state.
Further action was taken, in conformity with the Ohio railroad laws, and the line from Cleveland to Ravenna had its tracks
laid in the fall of 1850. The last rail was laid in March, 1851, and the last spike was driven near Hudson on March 10. It
was on that date that the first passenger train went from Ravenna to Cleveland and returned.
The early locomotives were almost always named for one of the men who had been most efficient in promoting the road; but
this one was named Ravenna.
This road connected at Ravenna with the canal-boat running to Beaver, and from Beaver people took a steamer to Pittsburg.
It took twenty-six hours to go to. Pittsburg in this way, and it cost $3.50, including meals on the boat.
The construction of this road was the beginning of the end of the canal business. As soon as the Cleveland and Mahoning
road was built, running from Cleveland to Youngstown, passengers from that section deserted the canal as they had in Portage
county, and soon freight, as well as passengers, was being carried by the railroad.
The Cleveland and Mahoning Valley railroad ran through some of the townships of Portage county. The Atlantic and Great Western
railroad caused unusual interest in Portage county. In fact, Marvin Kent, who was for many years president of it, gave his
time and enthused his friends on the subject, and it was incorporated in 1851. Enos P. Brainard was president of the company
for nearly ten years, and because of his interest the county was interested. It took a long time
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
653
to get this road under way and the work was really begun at Jamestown in 1860. In 1862 the line was completed from Warren to
Ravenna; trains were running between those points; and the same year the telegraph office was opened, and in January of the
following year the last rail connecting the eastern and western part of the work was laid. In February the first accommodation
train between Meadville and Ravenna arrived.
Three companies made up the Atlantic and Great Western and the consolidation occurred in 1865. It was broad-gauge, and in that
way was not a success. But not for this reason did it go into the hands of a receiver. It was leased and then again went into
the hands of a receiver. The Erie Railroad Company released it in 1870, and in 1871 it was sold and the old name of the
Atlantic and Great Western Company was used. In 1874 it was again in the hands of the receiver, and in 1880 was sold and its
name changed to New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Then it was that the gauge was reduced to the standard. In 1883 the New York,
Lake Erie and Western leased it for ninety-nine years. It now belongs to the Erie system.
Two or three other railroads touched the county in several places. The Connotten goes through Suffield, Brimfield, Franklin
and Streetsboro. It is now called the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad Company and is under the control of the Wabash system.
The Cleveland, Youngstown and Pittsburg goes through Deerfield and Palmyra, and touches Paris. The Baltimore and Ohio has a
branch which runs through Franklin, Ravenna, Charleston and Paris.
Garfield, Really of Portage County.
Although James A. Garfield was born in Orange and his body lies in Cleveland, the larger part of his life was spent in
Portage county. Here he studied and taught; here became president of the college; here was his first home; here he married
and raised children; and from this county he went into state and national politics. It, therefore, seems as if the most which
is to be said about him in this history should be said in the chapter devoted to Portage county.
Abraham Garfield and his wife, Eliza, lived in Orange, he dying in 1833. His oldest daughter was twelve, and there were
three younger children. The farm was unpaid for and only thirteen acres of it was cleared. Sympathetic friends and neighbors
told Mrs. Garfield that she could never pay off her indebtedness and that she had better give her children away, for, without
them, she might be able to support herself. This advice she did not follow. Life to her, without her children, was not worth
while. She sold all the farm except thirty acres, paid her debts, and she and her children planted corn, potatoes and other
necessary eatables. They made fence, did all sorts of heavy work, and then, when the day's work was over, she sat by the candle
light and sewed for her neighbors. For making a pair of pants and a vest she received seventy-five cents. Thus she raised her
family, and those of us who knew her in her old age and saw her sweetness and the strength of character in her face, could not
but feel that she was as great as the illustrious son she bore. Little did she then know that James would stand in the great
east porch of the capitol, and, in loving appreciation, after taking the oath of office, kiss her in the presence of thousands
and thousands. He remembered the struggle she had to rear him, and it seems as if all the way along he was helped largely
through the self-denial and sympathy of women. Whether or no he realized this we do not know, but we do know he did not
consider women inferior to men. His wife possessed great intellect and loved study as did he, and Almeda Booth, his friend,
assisted him in his early study, and it is supposed furnished him money to finish his studies in Williams College.
A schoolhouse in which he taught in 1850, at Orange, was remodeled, used as a residence, and is still standing. An autograph
album belonging
654
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
to one of the granddaughters of one of the school directors of that time has the following: "James A. Garfield commenced
keeping school November 11, 1850, ending February 26, at $15 per month; three and a half months, $52.50."
Garfield came to Hiram in 1851, and lived there till 1877; then moved to Mentor. He was not twenty years old when he entered
the Eclectic Institute. During two terms of his life at Hiram, he was janitor of the building, made the fires, swept the floors
and rang the bell. With all this extra work he managed to keep at the head of his class and was its valedictorian. He taught
school and studied by turn. He always looked forward with pleasure to getting back to Hiram. He loved its religious atmosphere,
and in a letter to a friend he says, "Though a man have all knowledge and have not the love of God in his heart he will fall
short of true excellence."
That one sentence was the key-note of Garfield's character. He was the most loving and friendly of any public man the writer
has ever known. In every hamlet in his district were people who looked forward to his coming to the political conventions as
they would to a loved member of their family. In all such hamlets, he has been seen with his arm around some man-friend,
talking enthusiastically, pleasantly and cheerfully. At first people used to think he did this for political reasons, but
soon they learned to know it was his nature. He probably called more people by their first name, and he felt he had a right
to, than any other public man on the Reserve. He possessed one quality to a larger degree than any other person the writer
has ever known, and it has always seemed strange to her that this never was commented on by his biographers. He was absolutely
forgiving. He was so forgiving that he could not remember, unless it was a great offense, either the wrong done him or who did
it. Of course, he had his enemies in most towns, as men who occupy so high a place surely would have, and when his friends
in that town would tell him that certain parties there were his enemies, and for political reasons must be cut, he would really
try to remember it, but when he reached the town, if he saw this old friend, he immediately forgot all about it until
admonished by his political backers.
Mr. Garfield early displayed the ability for debating, and it is recorded that at Hiram, when he was very young, he overthrew
in debate Joseph Treat, who they were wont to call Infidel Treat. In the summer of 1852, wanting to earn some money, he stayed
in Hiram and helped A. S. Kilby build his house. For work as a carpenter he received seventyfive cents a day and board. He was
a strong, hearty man, and well fitted for this work.
Garfield was never ordained to the ministry. Many of the early Disciple preachers were not. He held revivals and added a great
many members to his church. He baptized people, married people and read funeral services. He first preached in Hiram in the
winter of 1853-54, and for a number of years in churches near by. After his return from Williams College, he studied law and
entered, as a student, the office of Williamson & Riddle in Cleveland. He lectured for Hiram College.
Almeda Booth, in writing to James A. Garfield, then a student at Williams College, under the date of February, 1856, says:
"Brother Hayden thinks you are morally bound to come back here, but I think the moral obligation resting upon him is quite
as strong to give up the management to you if you do come. I know you can never endure to work under him, for it is ten times
as irksome to me as it was before I went away. James, would you risk to come here and see what you can do with the school? It
certainly is a good location, and I know you would succeed, if you were not embarrassed by dictation or management." It was
after this that he became principal of the Institute.
He was in Hiram on the 4th of February, 1881, for the last time. On that occasion he said: "Today is a sort of burial-day in
many ways. I have often been in Hiram, and have
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
655
often left it; but, with the exception of when I went to war, I have never felt that I was leaving it in quite so definite a
way as I do today. It was so long a work-shop, so long a home, that all absences have been temporary, and involved always
a return. I cannot speak of all the ties that bind me to this place. There are other things buried beneath this snow besides
dead people. The trees, the rocks, the fences and the grass are all reminders of things connected with my Hiram life. * * *
May the time never come when I cannot find some food for mind and heart on Hiram Hill."
As president of the Eclectic Institute, Garfield was a success. The school came into prominence and advanced under his
direction.
In regard to Mr. Garfield's early student life at Hiram, Mr. Munnell is on record. In writing to F. M. Green, who wrote the
history of Hiram College, under date of December 23, 1881, he says:
"Dear Sir: In compliance with your request, I send you the following fact concerning Garfield as a student. I belonged to
the first faculty of Hiram College -- the Eclectic Institute then -- and in November, 1850, heard the first lesson ever
recited within its walls, and, therefore, knew the general impression made by the noble student when he first appeared upon
the campus, and, especially in the professors' rooms.
"When he arrived, he had studied a little of Latin grammar, but had done nothing in the way of translating. I had no class
to suit him in elementary Latin, one being behind him and another far in advance. He resolved at once to overtake the
advanced class, provided I would hear his recitation after class hours, which I readily agreed to do. Teachers all know that
an average lesson for an ordinary student, beginning 'Caesar's Commentaries,' is half a page, while carrying on the usual
number of other studies; but, on no occasion did Garfield come into said recitations without three pages of 'Caesar,' or six
ordinary lessons, and then could go on further if I had time to hear him. His method of getting a start, as he afterwards
told me, was resolute and determined. He went to a secluded place in the college with his 'Caesar,' dictionary and grammar,
and undertook to translate the first paragraph of half a dozen lines by writing down every Latin word, and under it every
definition of that word, till he found the one that made the best sense, and when he had fairly made out, 'All Gaul is divided
into three parts,' he thought his triumph had begun; and when he had completed the whole paragraph, he said he 'just knew
that he knew it.'
"This was in line with all his after studies, for he always sought a conscious victory over every difficulty. Truly yours.
"Thomas Munnell."
Synopsis of life: He was born in Orange, 1821; graduated at Williams College, 1856; studied and practiced law; Ohio
senator, 185960; colonel, 1861; brigadier general, 1862; on Rosecrans' staff, 1863; in congress, 1863-80; elected to United
States senate, 1880; did not take his seat, because elected president; assassinated July 2, 1881.
Strange it was that a division in the political party which he had served so long should have made Garfield's death possible.
The contention of "stalwart" or "half-breed" was enough to fire an insane man to commit an awful deed. The summer of 1881 was
one of tension for the nation. Daily bulletins from the bedside of the dying president were read in every hamlet, and when
the life had gone out interest turned to Charles Guiteau, whose trial and execution in the early winter followed. Twas a sad
ending of a joyous, happy life.
The widow and five children are still living, all prosperous and happy. The first child was nicknamed Betsey Trotwood, because
he hoped she would be a boy. He playfully called her Trot. She died early and is buried on Hiram Hill.
Probably no campaign was ever more hotly contested than was that of 1880, and no more excitement attending, unless it was
those of 1840 and 1860. The great mass meetings at
656
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
Warren, when Grant and Conklin, of the Stalwart wing, spoke and afterwards visited Mentor, was the turning point. Probably no
president had so many delegations visiting him, although he was at an inaccessible place, and, although he spoke in German
sometimes, and on all subjects, he never made any statement which embarrassed his party.
Almeda A. Booth.
Undoubtedly the greatest woman the Western Reserve has produced was Almeda A., the daughter of Ezra and Dorcas Taylor. She was
born in 1823, on a farm west of the center of Nelson, and there lived till she was twelve years old. From the very beginning of
her life she showed intellectual and moral strength. At an incredible age she puzzled her teachers with questions and lost
herself in her Greek grammar. In 1835 the family moved to Mantua where they lived for thirty-five years.
F. M. Green, who wrote the "History of Hiram College," says: "Few women of nobler character, purer life, or better mental
equipment, have ever lived. During all of her term of service at Hiram the light of her soul illuminated the classroom and
the social walks of the students. It is difficult to institute a comparison between her and others of her generation. She
had a distinct individuality and an almost divine personality. No one who ever came in contact with her can forget her.
Even-tempered, an empress in her power to control, a conqueror of every will that seemed to her to stand in the way of true
progress, she was undisputed mistress of all who came within the sphere of her influence. Her early pupils regarded her with
almost as much reverence as the devout Romanist does the Virgin Mary. Her sweet, Christian spirit, made more fragrant by the
sorrows of her life, permeated with its riches the history of Hiram school and social life for a full quarter of a century."
Mr. Garfield, who was associated with her so long, and knew her so well, in his address, June 22, 1876, at Hiram, shows such
a sympathetic insight into her life and character, as to make his estimate particularly valuable to those who would know her
as she was known. The lesson and legacy of her life, left to her friends and to Hiram, are felicitously expressed by her
appreciative biographer: "Her life was so largely and so inseparably a part of our own, that it is not easy for any of us,
least of all for me, to take a sufficiently distant standpoint from which to measure its proportions. We shall never forget
her sturdy, well-formed figure; her head that would have appeared colossal but for its symmetry of proportions; the strongly
marked features of her plain, rugged face, not moulded according to the artist's lines of beauty, but so lighted up with
intelligence and kindliness as to appear positively beautiful to those who knew her well.
"The basis of her character, the controlling force which developed and formed it, was strength -- extraordinary intellectual
power. Blessed with a vigorous constitution and robust bodily health, her capacity for close, continuous
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
657
and effective mental work was remarkable.
"It is hardly possible for one person to know the quality and strength of another's mind more thoroughly than I knew hers.
From long association in her studies, and comparing her with all the students I have known, here and elsewhere, I do not
hesitate to say, that I have never known one who grasped with greater power and handled with more ease and thoroughness,
all the studies of the college course. I doubt if in all these respects I have ever known one who was her equal. She caught
an author's meaning with remarkable quickness and clearness; and, mastering the difficulties of construction, she detected,
with almost unerring certainty, the most delicate shades of thought.
"She abhorred all shams of scholarship, and would be content with nothing short of the whole meaning. When crowded with work,
it was not unusual for her to sit by her lamp, unconscious of the hours, till far past midnight.
"Her powers were well balanced. When I first knew her, it was supposed that her mind was specially adapted to mathematical
study. A little later, it was thought she had found her fittest work in the field of the natural sciences; later still, one
would have said she had found her highest possibilities in the languages.
"Her mind was many-sided, strong, compact, symmetrical. It was this symmetry and balance of qualities that gave her such
admirable judgment and enabled her to concentrate all her powers upon any work she attempted.
"To this general statement concerning her faculties there was, however, one marked exception. While she enjoyed, and in some
degrees appreciated, the harmonies of music, she was almost wholly deficient in the faculty of musical expression. After her
return from college, she determined to ascertain by actual test to what extent, if at all, this defect could be overcome. With
a patience and courage I have never seen equalled in such a case, she persisted for six months in the attempt to master the
technical mysteries of instrumental music, and even attempted one vocal piece. But she found that the struggle was nearly
fruitless; the music in her soul would not come forth at her bidding. A few of her friends will remember that, for many years,
to mention 'The Suwanee River' was the signal for a little good-natured merriment at her expense, and a reminder of her
heroic attempt at vocal and instrumental music.
"The tone of her mind was habitually logical and serious, not specially inclined to what is technically known as wit; but
she had the heartiest appreciation of genuine humor, such as glows on the pages of Cervantes and Dickens. Clifton Bennett
and Levi Brown will never forget how keenly she enjoyed the quaint drollery with which they once presented, at a public
lyceum, a scene from 'Don Quixote'; and I am sure there are three persons here today who will never forget how nearly she was
once suffocated with laughter over a mock presentation speech by Harry Rhodes.
"Though possessed of very great intellectual powers, or, as the arrogance of our 'sex accustoms us to say, 'having a mind
of masculine strength,' it was not at all masculine in the opprobrious sense in which that term is frequently applied to
women. She was a most womanly woman, with a spirit of gentle and childlike sweetness, with no self-consciousness of
superiority, and not the least trace of arrogance.
"Though possessing these great powers, she was not unmindful of those elegant accomplishments, the love of which seems native
to the mind of woman.
"In her earlier years she was sometimes criticized as caring too little for the graces of dress and manner; and there was some
justice in the criticism. The possession of great powers, no doubt, carries with it a contempt for mere external show. In her
early life Miss Booth dressed neatly, though with the utmost plainness, and applied herself to the
658
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
work of gaining the more enduring ornaments of mind and heart. In her first years at Hiram she had devoted, all her powers to teaching and mastering
the difficulties of the higher studies, and had given but little time to what are called the more elegant accomplishments. But
she was not deficient in appreciation of all that really adorns and beautifies a thorough culture. After her return from
Oberlin, she paid more attention to the 'mint, anise and cummin' of life. During the last fifteen years of her life, few ladies
dressed with more severe or elegant taste. As a means of personal culture, she read the history of art, devoted much time to
drawing and painting, and acquired considerable skill with the pencil and brush.
"She did not enjoy miscellaneous society. Great crowds were her abhorrence. But in a small circle of congenial friends she
was a delighted and a delightful companion.
"Her religious character affords an additional illustration of her remarkable combination of strength and gentleness. At an
early age she became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and continued in faithful and consistent relations with that
organization until she united with the Disciples, soon after she came to Hiram.
"I venture to assert, that in native powers of mind, in thoroughness and breadth of scholarship, in womanly sweetness of
spirit, and in the quantity and quality of effective, unselfish work done, she has not been excelled by any American woman.
What she accomplished with her great powers, thoroughly trained and subordinated to the principles of a Christian life, has
been briefly stated.
"She did not find it necessary to make war upon society in order to capture a field for the exercise of her great qualities.
Though urging upon women the necessity of the largest and most thorough culture, and demanding for them the amplest means
for acquiring it, she did not waste her years in bewailing the subjection of her sex, but employed them in making herself a
great and beneficent power. Shedid far more to honor and exalt woman's place in society than the thousands of her contemporaries
who struggle more earnestly for the barren sceptre of power than for fitness to wield it.
"She might have adorned the highest walks of literature, and doubtless might thus have won a noisy fame, but it may be doubted
whether in any other pursuit she could have conferred greater or more lasting benefits upon her fellow-creatures, than by the
life she so faithfully and successfully devoted to the training and culture of youth. With no greed of power or gain, she found
her chief reward in blessing others.
"I do not know of any man or woman, who, at fifty-one years of age, had done more or better work. I have not been able to
ascertain precisely how long she taught before she came to Hiram; but it was certainly not less than fifteen terms. She taught
forty-two terms here, twenty-one terms in the Union School at Cuyahoga Falls, and, finally, two years in private classes; in
all, nearly twenty-eight years of faithful and most successful teaching, to which she devoted the wealth of her great faculties
and admirable scholarship.
"How rich and how full was the measure of gratitude poured out to her, from many thousands of loving hearts! And today, from
every station of life, and from every quarter of our country, are heard the voices of those who rise up to call her blessed,
and to pay their tearful tribute of gratitude to her memory.
"On my own behalf, I take this occasion to say, that for her generous and powerful aid, so often and so efficiently rendered,
for her quick and never-failing sympathy, and for her intelligent, unselfish, and unswerving friendship, I owe her a debt of
gratitude and affection, for the payment of which the longest term of life would have been too short.
"To this institution she has left the honorable record of a long and faithful service, and the rich legacy of a pure and noble
life. I have shown that she lived three lives. One of
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
659
these, the second, in all its richness and fullness, she gave to Hiram. More than half of her teaching was done here, where
she taught much longer than any other person has taught; and no one has done work of better quality.
"She has reared a monument which the envious years cannot wholly destroy. As long as the love of learning shall here survive;
as long as the light of this college shall be kept burning; as long as there are hearts to hold and cherish the memory of
its past; as long as high qualities of mind and heart are honored and loved among men and women—so long will the name of
Almeda A. Booth be here remembered, and honored, and loved."
General Garfield said of Almeda Booth in an address which he made at Hiram in 1876: "I came to the Eclectic in the fall of
1851, and a few days after the beginning of the term, I saw a class of three reciting in mathematics -- geometry, I think.
They sat on one of the red benches, in the center of the aisle of the lower chapel. I had never seen a geometry; and,
regarding both teacher and class with a feeling of reverential awe, from the intellectual height to which they climbed, I
studied their faces so closely that I seem-to see them now as distinctly as I saw them then. And it has been my good fortune,
since that time, to claim them all as intimate friends. The teacher was Thomas Munnell; and the members of his class were
William B. Hazen, George A. Baker and Almeda A. Booth."
(remainder of pages 659-663 under construction)
664
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
...
Hiram College.
Although Hiram College, from its formation, was well known by the people of its vicinity, it was not until the nomination of
James A. Garfield to the office of president that its reputation became national. The rise of the Disciple denomination,
after a religious revival, was phenomenal. The followers of Alexander Campbell in 1828 came to Warren; held their meetings in
the court house; interested the Baptist minister, Mr. Bentley; held meetings in that church, and not only captured the
congregation, but the minister and the meeting-house as well. In fact, when they were through with their mission, there were
less than a dozen members -of the congregation who had not been converted to the new faith.
Many of the early preachers, like the preachers in other denominations, were men who had become interested in the spiritual
part of religion
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
665
and had not been educated for the ministry, or, in fact, educated at all. When the church in northern Ohio was under way,
the denomination suffered the sneers of the people because of the ignorance of some of the preachers. This was one of the
facts which led to the formation of a college under this denomination. Alexander Campbell, realizing this condition, had
founded Bethany College, in the pan handle of Virginia, in 1840.
In the very beginning the Disciple ministers and their followers used to gather purposely to discuss matters pertaining to
the church, and from this beginning a yearly meeting was established. At the yearly meeting held in Russell, Geauga county,
Ohio, in 1849, the question of establishing a school was brought up and a meeting appointed for June 12, to be held in the
house of A. L. Soule. At that meeting, Mr. Soule was made chairman and it was found that the delegates who were gathered
there were in favor of considering the subject and inviting the different churches to send delegates to a future meeting.
Three of these meetings followed -- one in North Bloomfield, August 2nd, the second at Ravenna, October 3rd, and the third
at Aurora, November 7th. At this last meeting .thirty-one churches were represented by as many delegates.
The question of education was at this time a very live one on the Western Reserve. Hudson and Oberlin colleges were progressing,
and Ohio's public school laws were becoming very popular. At the beginning of this discussion in Russell it was decided that
the school ought to be founded, and at each meeting the interest grew until the Aurora meeting was a very lively one. Here was
a set of people who had thrown aside creeds and dogmas and were trying to live the simple truth, as Christ had presented it,
but when the question of whether they should establish a college or a school, and where it should be located, was considered,
feeling ran quite as high as it does in a political convention. Six towns had petitioned for the school, and the delegates were
divided in regard to accepting any. These towns were
Newton Falls, Hiram, Shalersville, Aurora, Russell and Bedford. The discussion lasted throughout most of the day and "rose at
times to a point where Christian forbearance was stretched to a dangerous tension." Finally it was determined to decide the
location by ballot, and this balloting went on into the night. A few of the delegates who grew weary went home. Finally,
Carnot Mason, either because he believed Hiram could not win or because he disliked the contention, withdrew Hiram's request.
His earnest, gentle speech, as he withdrew his application, made such an impression on the delegates that it reacted to Hiram's
advantage. There were many bubbling springs on the hillsides of Hiram at that time, which provided excellent water, and this
and the fact that it was one of the highest points of the regi6n, also entered into the decision.
Although many of the men interested would have liked to have made a college in the beginning, they realized that it was wiser
to have a school instead -- a school where young men and women of the neighborhood and of the church could learn the branches
which they most needed, or most wanted, without having to go through the whole course, as they would, more or less, in a
college. The religious side was brought forth strongly in this institute, as it was in those days in all institutes of learning.
Isaac Everett, one of the most able of the early ministers, suggested the name of the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute. It
was incorporated by the legislature in 1850, but it really was begun before it was incorporated. The building
committee consisted of Pelatiah Allyn, Jr., Zeb Rudolph, Carnot Mason, Jason Rider and Alvah Udall. Alvah Udall, because
of his business ability, was made chairman of the committee.
To show how men from the beginning of time have had sentiment, although that characteristic is erroneously laid to the doors
of women alone. I quote from Green's "History of Hiram College." In speaking of a meeting of the building committee, he says:
"This meeting also adopted a seal for the institution
666
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
(page under construction)
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
667
the design of which was a vignette; a dove with an olive branch in its beak, its wings half raised, resting on the open
Bible, with the motto, 'Let there be light.'"
Thomas M. Young reluctantly sold a very nice section of land in Hiram to the men interested in this college, and it was
plotted, seven acres being reserved for the campus. On one portion of this Young land was stone which was used for the
foundation of the building. A good share of the work in connection with the construction of this first institution was
voluntary. Pelatiah Allyn and Zeb Rudolph did the carpentering; bricks were burned on the farm of
Alvah Udall, and members of the committee gave their thought, their time and their money to the work. There were very
few brick structures on the Western Reserve at this time. Wood was so plenty that it was used in all building. However, this
building had the lower story of reddish sandstone and the upper part of brick.
The college was opened in 1850. There were eighty-four students and three teachers. Disciples, who gathered in great numbers
on that date, had a thanksgiving service, after which the congregation proceeded to the new building, where appropriate
exercises were had and the college was really opened.
From the very beginning it was co-educational, and probably in no school in the country has the real spirit of co-educational
training been more fully demonstrated than here. As a rule, people who have attended this institute have been people of small
means who had to economize and to whom an education meant capital.
Among the early teachers were able women, and possibly the ablest teacher that Hiram has ever had from the beginning was
Almeda Booth. A sketch of her life is given elsewhere. To her, powerful as she was in morals and intellect, was due the fact
that it mattered not whether a pupil was a girl or a boy. It was only that it was a pupil.
When the writer was a little girl, she heard some older people talking about the nonsense
of educating boys and girls in the same schools. One man said: "I do not want my son to go to a school where he may become
entangled with some girl and early contracts to marry her." Most of the people in the party were on this gentleman's side,
but finally an influential man of the party said: "Well, for my part, I would rather my boy would go to a school where he
will meet decent, refined girls, even if he should marry one of them, than to go to a school with boys and become acquainted
with young women of an entirely different sort, none of whom he would think of making his wife, or of telling his mother he
knew them."
Long after that the writer investigated, not exhaustively, however, the question of marriage among the students at Hiram,
and she found that many of them did marry; and, although there were undoubtedly some unhappy marriages from that institute,
as there have been unhappy marriages everywhere, she herself does not know of any Hiram College man and woman who are unhappy
in that marriage. Among the different reasons for endorsing co-education in the school, F. M. Greene says that "co-education
does away with rowdyism, hazing and many other disorders." This is a pretty good endorsement. President Hayden And Early
Teachers.
Amos Sutton Hayden, Thomas Munnell and Mrs. Phoebe Drake were the first teachers of the Eclectic Institute. It was not long
before the number of scholars was greatly increased and new teachers were added. There is not space here to give their names
nor the names of the people who early contributed to the success of the college.
President Hayden was an unusual man and the right person for the beginning of this institution. He had taught at Bethany and
held the position of president until 1857. He taught in other places in Ohio, and when he retired he lived at Collamer. He
died in 1880. He was only thirty-seven when he became principal.
Thomas Munnell was a graduate of Bethany,
668
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
an honored man, a good public speaker and a competent teacher. It is said he had the element of leadership among the scholars,
and he had certain courteous southern ways which were very valuable in teaching the descendants of the Puritans.
The Eclectic Institute became a college, August 13, 1867. A college was really added to an academy.
President B. A. Hinsdale, in his historical discourse of 1876, said: "Hiram has never been a hatching or moulting ground for
isms and new-fangled notions." There is something very funny in a leader of the Disciple church fearing new-fangled notions,
because it was only such a little time preceding this utterance of Mr. Hinsdale's that the whole world had called the
Disciples new-fangled.
President Hinsdale.
B. A. Hinsdale, the third president of the college, was perhaps the best known and the greatest man connected with the
Institute, Mr. Garfield excepted. He was a thorough student, a splendid teacher and an unusual writer. He was a minister
and a good lecturer, but he was not really popular as a preacher. He talked over the heads of people and was not emotional.
He spent his early life on a farm, was a splendid physical specimen of manhood, and his motto from the beginning to the end
of his life was "Work." Probably no man connected with Hiram College did as much work as he. When he left Hiram he was
principal of the Cleveland schools; was then elected to a chair in the University of Michigan, and this he filled to the time
of his death. He was an ardent student of the history of the Western Reserve, and admonished his students to study that
history, since from it they could learn so much of real life, saying that nothing about it was too small to consider.
Lack of Boarding Accommodations.
One of the disadvantages which the men who built Hiram College foresaw was that there would not be room in the village for the
students, providing the college was a success. Not wanting this to hurt the school, families took in all the students they
possibly could manage, and cases are known where pantries were turned into bed-rooms, and three or four people occupied rooms
that were not at all large. Some of the families of Hiram were exceedingly cultured, and students were very fortunate, to get
into these homes. This was true of Zeb Rudolph's, and students appreciated a chance to live with him. He could read Greek and
Latin; some members of his family were familiar with French, and it was really a center of culture. The same was true of
John Buckingham's home and some others.
Hiram College was enlarged in 1888, and between the period of 1883 and 1888 there was much talk of removing it. There are some
people connected with the Disciple church who still think it was a mistake that it was not sent to a place where there were
railroad facilities and larger advantages.
Presidents Zollars And Bates.
President E. V. Zollars entered upon the work at Hiram College when he was forty-four years old. He had good business sense;
was called at the time when the college needed just such a person, and made a great success of his administration. He had been
a student at Bethany, had taught ancient languages there and had experience in the financial work of the college. He was well
equipped for the position at the time he was called to it, and the institution profited by his industry. He is at present at
the head of a strong college of the church in Oklahoma.
Minor L. Bates is at present president, and the college continues its usefulness.
William J. Ford, son of John A. Ford, who had been one of the early trustees, was for years connected with the Board of
Trustees of Hiram College. He probably served a greater number of years than any other one trustee. For many years he was the
financial agent, and at one time collected $50,000 for the endowment fund of the school. All
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
669
(pages 669-674 under construction)
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
675
...
Aurora Township
This township, No. 5, range 9, belonged to David, Ebenezer and Fidelia King -- Ebenezer Sheldon, Jr., Gideon Granger and
John Leavett having sub-interests. It was named Aurora for Major Spofford's daughter. He was surveyor for the Connecticut
Land Company.
Ebenezer Sheldon first visited Aurora in 1799 and, with the help of Mr. and Mrs. Elias Harmon, built a cabin and cleared a
bit of ground. Mrs. Harmon was the first woman to be in the township, but when winter came on she and her husband went to
Mantua and Mr. Sheldon to Connecticut; so the real inhabitants, the Indians and wolves, were unmolested during the cold
months. The following spring Mr. Sheldon, his second wife Lovey Davis and six children came to their new home. Their house
was on lot 40, two and a half miles east of the Center. Aunt Lovey, as she was called, brought a willow stick with her from
the east and planted it, and it became a great tree. It was said of her that she was of commanding size, possessing great
strength of character, and was of lively, buoyant disposition, and was the best looking woman in town. This last might not
have been as much of a compliment if it refers to the year 1800, for women were few in that region. It was their daughter
Hulda who married Amzi Atwater, of Mantua, and as there was no clergyman her father read the service and pronounced them man
and wife, and they went walking to their new home four miles away. A year from that time the father was appointed justice of
the peace by Governor
676
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
Tiffin, and he had his appointment dated before this wedding in order to make it legal There are many people living today who
knew Amzi and Hulda Atwater and have been in their comfortable home.
A story of unusual interest is retold here to illustrate the hardships of the early settlers. John Cockran, of Blandford,
Massachusetts, who had bought land in Aurora, was taken sick on the trip west, and his party hurried on their journey in
order to reach Buffalo, where he might get medicine and help. His wife and one daughter remained with him while the two other
girls proceeded with the company. Rhoda was helpless from rheumatism and rode on a bed all the way, her sister Laura acting
as her nurse. A man named Mills was engaged to bring the girls to Aurora. He compelled Laura to walk a good part of the way.
Day after day she uncomplainingly trudged along, hungry and tired and with blistered feet. One night Mills unhitched the team
and with his wife disappeared, leaving the girls alone in the dense woods four miles north of Burton. Laura was taken sick in
the night, but fortunately the next day was better. He returned and took them to within twenty-five miles of Aurora, as he had
promised, and left them in a settler's cabin. Laura, but a child, realizing the condition she was in, confided to the people
in the cabin and asked to be allowed to work for food for herself and her sick sister, until she could communicate with her
people. At that time there was a boat on the Cuyahoga river, between Mantua and Burton, which carried grain to be ground. The
captain's sympathies were aroused and he offered to carry the girls to Mantua. It seemed that this experience was hard enough,
but as soon as they had reached their new home they learned that their father had died at Buffalo. Their mother bravely came
on to them and lived nineteen years of her life in that neighborhood. The crippled Rhoda died in 1806 and was the first person
buried in Aurora. Laura married Stephen Cannon and was one
of the most brave, skillful women that was ever in Portage county. The amount of weaving credited to her seems impossible.
One day she rode fifty-two miles to get medicine for a sick person. Wolves followed her during that ride, but she accomplished
her mission.
The township was organized in 1807. Samuel Foward was the first school teacher. Leppinius Withe erected the first grist mill
in 1813.
As early as 1819 Aurora cheese was shipped :o distant points, and in 1898 it was said that more cheese was shipped from Aurora
station than from any railroad station in the United States.
Samuel Bissel, of Twinsburg, said that in 1806 his father moved his family to Aurora and that he remembers well Rev.
Joseph Badger, who preached in Aurora as early as 1801. His father, although not a professor of religion, really kept a
ministers' hotel. Samuel said the children in the family liked Mr. Badger because he told such good stories.
Rev. Badger, in his diary, under the date of March 22, 1804, says: "Preached in Aurora to fifteen souls. Alas, stupid as the
woods in which they live!" It seems he was either too busy or too disgusted to continue his services, and the "stupid souls"
met in homes, read sermons, sang songs and prayed until 1809, when a missionary, Mr. Darrow, perfected a church organization,
and the next year it took the form of the Union, but was really Congregational.
In 1818 there was a Methodist class and active work was continued until 1845, and continued till 1871. The Disciple church
was organized in 1830; the church built in 1837, destroyed by fire in 1855; new church built that same year and rebuilt in
1872. In this church James Garfield and B. A. Hinsdale preached with more or less regularity for a time. Rev. Amzi Atwater,
grandson of the pioneer, was regular pastor.
Thomas Barr, who later became so interested in the history of northern Ohio, was a preacher at the Bissel home. He preached
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
677
without notes and was very social and liked by everybody, including children.
Samuel Huntington, who distinguished himself in so many ways, lived in Aurora for a little time, moving thence to Warren.
The town was organized in 1807. The first sawmill was erected on the Chagrin river, near Squire Sheldon's house. In 1810
James Baldwin opened a store in the bedroom of his father's house. He sold calico at a dollar a yard.
At an Aurora reunion, in 1899, a family Bible belonging to the great-great-grandfather of Louisa M. Hurd was shown. At the
massacre of Wyoming this man was too old to carry arms, and was put on a horse and sent with the women and children through
the swamps to New Jersey. He carried this Bible under his arm all the way.
The first lamp was brought to Aurora in 1854 and was a great curiosity. In those days oil was called coal-oil, just as later
coal was called stone-coal.
Warren Forward was an Aurora man, who was postmaster at Buffalo, a lawyer in Pittsburg, a member of congress, secretary of
the United States treasury under Tyler, and minister to Denmark.
Judge Van R. Humphry and Henry McKinney both lived in Aurora. Royal Taylor lived in Aurora. His history is given elsewhere.
He was the first state pension agent. Hon. Charles Harmon was one of the best known and best beloved of the pioneers. He was
twice elected state representative. Dr. Worthy Streetor, who is well known in Cleveland as a doctor and railroad builder, was
an Aurora man. Henry Hawkins, who lived in Ravenna many years, later moving to Cleveland, and becoming auditor of Cuyahoga
county, and who died very recently when in the nineties, came from Aurora. Ransom A. Gillett, who kept hotel in Ravenna and
afterwards was a noted hotel man in Cleveland, was from Aurora. James Converse, the railroad king of Texas, was born and
raised in that town. A. M. Willard, who painted
"Yankee Doodle" and the "Minute Man," and won a wide reputation as a military painter, was an Aurora boy.
Victoria and Tennessee Claflin began their interesting career in Aurora. Their subsequent history is well known to the public.
Victoria is dead, but Tennessee is now Lady Cook. Her husband is dead and she comes to America each year. She has much money.
Victoria was the brighter of the two, had a good deal of oratorical ability and an active brain.
Clara Morris' grandmother resided in Aurora for years, and when Clara was a barefooted maiden she played with the little girls
in the neighborhood. ...
678
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
(pages 678-684 under construction)
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
685
...
Garrettsville
In 1804 John garrett, of Delaware, reached Hiram township, which then included what is now Mantua, Freedom, Windham, Nelson,
Shalersville and Hiram. He bought his land from a company of men who owned the entire area of Nelson. His deed called for three
hundred acres of land, inclduing the water-power on the creek and he paid $1.313 for it. Aside from his family, he brought a
negress, ten years old, and a mulatto, six years old. They became free when they were eighteen years of age.
One of the servants belonging to Mrs. Garrett named Flora, married Thomas Henes, a colored man, and they made their home in
Mantua. Ravenna, Garrettsville and Mantua were three townships at least where the colored people were well treated from the
very beginning.
Abraham Dyson, his wife, two sons and daughter accompanied the Garretts, this daughter afterwards marrying Ira Hulet, who
lived for many years on several farms in Nelson.These pioneers camped on what is now Main street.
So necessary was a grist-mill to a settlement that sometimes before houses were built men began damming streams. This was
true of Mr. Garrett. Very soon Mill creek was dammed and the saw-mill in operation, and not long after a grist-mill was erected.
Dyson was a blacksmith, and he used to repair the firearms of the Indians.
Elanor Garrett
John Garrett died in 1806 and his widow Eleanor, with her three sons, assumed the business and the responsibilities of the
husband and father. Mrs. Garrett was an exceptional woman. She really felt herself to be the
686
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
mother of the settlement, and her home was the stopping place for all. However, she was like most of the pioneers and had a
great longing for "back home"; and twice she went to Delaware on horseback. She was a great Baptist and the first meetings
of that denomination were held in her house. Her husband had given land for a church and she worked untiringly for the erection
of the house. When the congregation introduced a bass viol into the meeting she left the house.
The cemetery in Garrettsville was given by John Garrett in 1805, and the first interment was that of his son, Josiah. The Park
cemetery was bought in 1876. The ladies of Garrettsville and of Nelson and Hiram township have taken a great interest in
cemeteries and have accomplished much in beautifying them.
It is supposed that the first school-house in Garrettsville was on the corner of North and Maple avenues. Of course it was of
logs. There was another school-house on Center street opposite Park cemetery. A school district of Hiram had a school-house
at the intersection of South and Freeman streets. The Red School House, the best remembered of the early buildings erected
in 1841, and the present High School stands on its site. It was considered a very pretentious building of its time. When the
village was incorporated, a special school district was erected.
The first postmaster of Garrettsville was Eleanor Garrett. She had charge of the office in 1834. Mail then only came once a
week from Parkman, through Nelson and Freedom, to Ravenna. It was at first carried on horseback.
Village Incorporated.
When Garrettsville was settled there was no road of any kind. There was an Indian trail, from Conant's corners in Windham
to Hiram Rapids, where there was a village of Wyandotte Indians. Although Garrettsville had this early beginning, it was not
an incorporated village until 1864, and it was not until 1874 that the village was set off as a township. In
the early days the residents of Garrettsville had to go to Hiram or Nelson to vote, which was so inconvenient that few did
their duty in this direction.
Garrettsville Newspapers.
The first newspaper published in Garrettsville was called The Western Pearl. Its date was 1836. It was a semi-monthly. It
was a literary paper and did not last long. Dr. Lyman Trask was the editor.
In 1862 a small monthly gotten out by Warren Pierce, under the name of the Garrettsville Monthly Review, which was
likewise short-lived.
The Garrettsville Journal was first published in July, 1867, by Warren Pierce, who continued it until 1873, when he
sold it to Charles B. Webb. In 1905 Mr. Webb, because of ill health, was obliged to give up work and Myers and Snow bought
the paper and the next year the Journal Publishing Company was formed and D. G. Myers became editor and manager. It is now a
company, of which C. M. Crane is president. He is also editor of the paper.
The Saturday Item appeared in 1885. It was a weekly and a spicy little sheet. It lived five years.
The first store in Garrettsville was that of Hazen and Garrett. It was of logs, of course, and stood at the corner of the
present Main street and North avenue. It was opened in 1820. John B. Hazen was the father of Stillman H. Hazen, and
consequently an uncle of General William B. Hazen. David J. Garrett was a son of John Garrett, the founder.
The writer remembers the first time she gazed upon the waterfall over the stone ledge at Garrettsville. It seemed to her
that the air rising was as cold as ice and she wondered if it was possible that Niagara Falls, of which she had heard so
much, could be larger than this, or if the water above and below could run swifter.
The eldest daughter of John Taber who came to Garrettsville in 1833 was the first wife of Dr. A. M. Sherman.
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
687
Energetic Men And Women.
There are numberless stories told of the energy, executive ability and industry of the early women of the different counties.
Sarah Ann Pinney, who early came to live in Martin Manley's family in Garrettsville, seemed to have natural business ability.
She picked up chestnuts, with which she bought her first apron. When she was seven years old she knit her first stockings,
and, as did many others, carried them until she nearly reached the church before she put them on. When she was twelve years
old, she made a cheese herself, curing it, and when it had seasoned properly, (and in those days cheese had to season a long
time) she carried it on horseback to Atwood's store and sold it for a pair of gloves.
Garrettsville has always had a business air and women, as well as men, from an early day have been good managers. The women
of the fifties and sixties carried their butter, eggs, sugar, feathers, etc., to stores and exchanged them for dry goods and
groceries. Few were the merchants who could "do" these women, if they had cared to do so.
Garrettsville at this writing is a village of homes, and many people doing business in Cleveland live there. ...
(remainder of pages 687-690 under construction)
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
691
Mantua Township (Town 5, Range 8).
Mantua was the first township reached by the pioneers. The main owners were David Fidelio and Ebenezer King, and Gideon Granger
had a small interest in this township, as he had in so many others.
Abraham Honey in 1798, built a hut, part on lot 24, cleared a small portion and sowed wheat. He did not stay, and after
wandering a little in that part of the county, settled in Cuyahoga county. It is not known whether he intended to settle
at the time. At all events, his brother-in-law, Rufus Edwards, came during the next year and harvested his wheat, which, was
probably the first in the county. Edwards had a grist mill in 1799.
Elias Harmon was one of the best known of the first settlers. Although he started in February, 1799, he did not reach Mantua
until the I2th of June. He settled in Mantua that fall, having spent the summer in Aurora. His daughter Eunice received fifty
acres of land for being the first child born in the township. She ran very close to second place in the county. Atwater Hall
was the first child born in the county, and Polly Day, of Deerfield, was second, unless Eunice Harmon antidates her; the author
believes she does, although the records are not sure.
It was in Mantua that Amzi Atwater settled, his place known to all the early setters, and he is remembered by men who are
living today as being a genial, intelligent, successful man. His name appears more often in the early histories of the
Western Reserve than any of the other surveyors. This was because he was with both surveying parties and because he became
a settler and prosperous citizen. The present Mantua station stands on their old farm and part of their house was converted
into a hotel.
Amzi Atwater was exceedingly honorable and honest. During, one season, when wheat and grain was plenty in Portage county
and vicinity, and there was almost a famine in Medina county, men who were speculating came to him to buy his wheat. Knowing
that they wanted to sell it to the settlers in those counties, he refused to sell and made arrangements to dispose of his
himself to those people at an ordinary profit. In 1802 there was a tannery owned by Moses Pond, which was operated for ten
years, David Ladd then established a regular tannery. Moses Pond was a valuable settler. It was he who introduced sheep into
the township and also apple seeds. The first saw mill was not erected until 1818. In the early twenties there was a glass
factory in Mantua, which later was removed to Kent, and at a centennial celebration in Aurora a glass bottle blown by
Jonathan Tinker, who worked for David Ladd. From 1810 to 1824 Mantua had a distillery. It was owned by different parties.
William Russell was the proprietor for the greatest number of years.
For ten years there was an ashery, 1818 to 1828.
In 1821 David Ladd had a brick yard.
In 1825 the Rogers brothers owned a tannery.
The first tavern was of logs, and Jonathan Atwater was the owner.
Mantua has never had any business which paid its citizens better than potato raising. In season trainloads are shipped from
this point.
It is seldom that the Methodists are early in their organization, but they were in Mantua. A class was formed in 1807; first
meeting house erected in 1820. This was of logs and was burned in 1838. A new one was immediately constructed.
The Congregational church was organized in 1812,
The Baptists organized in 1809, but the Disciples succeeded in capturing it, as it did many others. This church was reorganized
in 1850.
The Spiritualists have been numerous in Mantua.
The Catholics have a congregation here, which is rather unusual for a rural district.
692
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
Albert G. Riddle.
Albert G. Riddle was a native of Geauga county. When his father died he was apprentice to Seth Harmon, who lived in Portage
county, and his biography is given here for that reason. He returned to Geauga county in 1831, studied law and was admitted
to the bar; was a member of the Ohio legislature in 1848 and 1849, and then moved to Cleveland. He was naturally a radical
and was much interested in the slavery question. He was United States Consul to Matanzas in 1863: finally went to Washington
to live and was John Surratt's lawyer. He was preceptor in the Howard University, and wrote novels which dealt with the life
of Northern Ohio, lie was a close friend of both Giddings and Wade.
Nelson Township.
Town 5, range 6, was originally part of Hiram. Uriel Holmes was the largest owner in this territory.
We have mentioned in several other parts of this work the Mills brothers -- Delaun, Asahel and Isaac. The first two named
were married and had children and all three started for this county. When they got as far as Youngstown, the wives and
children were left and the men proceeded westward. Since Delaun had but eighteen cents, it was fortunate they met Mr. Holmes,
who wanted helpers in his surveying party. He engaged them and they worked under the direction of Amzi Atwater. While the
Captain was working with the surveying party and scaring the Indians, his wife was working in a hotel, earning her board
and that of her three children during all the summer. Ashael stayed in Youngstown that winter, but the Captain and his family
went to Nelson. He cut a roadway from Warren to let the wagon through: before that there had only been a blazed path.
Delaun remodeled the cabin which the surveyors had used and began making, his home. It is supposed that Mr. Holmes gave him
one hundred acres of land for settling there. In the next spring, the brother, Ashael, settled on the north and south road
and it is supposed his land was given to him also. Delaun's house was just west of the center where the home of P. C. Freeman
now is.
Delaun Mills was a most powerful man and was likewise absolutely fearless. Probably no man on the Western Reserve was so much
hated by the Indians as was he and no man's life was in danger so often as was his. The stories told of him are quite equal
to imaginary tales told of Indian hunters. Most of the information in regard to the Mills family used in this work was taken
from an address delivered at the Mills family reunion at Nelson Ledges, in 1879, by Professor George Colton of Hiram College.
Professor Colton was born in Nelson and married Clara Taylor, daughter of Edwin and granddaughter of Elisha, one of the early
settlers. Professor Colton's father was Belden and his mother was a Tilden. The family lived at the Corners about a mile and
a half west of the Center. Her brother Henry's farm adjoined hers and the Taylor farm adjoined the Tildens' on the west, while
the Couch farm was across the way. This neighborhood was an intellectual center. A member of congress in the eighties Said if
he really wanted to know what the political situation was he had to talk with men of this vicinage. Lucius Taylor, one of the
sons of Elisha. was a cattle buyer and was possibly the best known of any of the neighbors, his business taking him into all
parts of the county. He was a genial man, with a fund of good stories and an inveterate tease. His uncle, Ferris Conch, was
at one time sheriff of the county and his grandfather, Elisha Taylor, was elected the first justice of the peace, although
he refused to serve. Of all this New England neighborhood there is not one of the name left and the only man of that circle
who dwells upon his old farm is George Pritchard who. with his wife "Aunt Em," still resides at
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
693
the Corners of Hiram and Nelson, near where the old chair factory was once located.
The general statement that the early settlers suffered many hardships does not mean much to us, but when we read that
Delaun Mills sowed turnips the first year and that he and his family lived upon turnips and meat. They had no corn, no potatoes
and no flour. In the the spring of 1801 wheat was sown and from three pecks of seed forty-three bushels of wheat was harvested.
This Captain Mills loaded onto a sled drawn by oxen and started for the mills on Mill creek. The sleighing was good, but before
his grist was done and he had started home a thaw began. When he was ready to leave Youngstown the water had frozen. His oxen
were not shod and could not stand up. He therefore stopped, made an ox frame so that they could be shod and then resumed his
journey. The thaw had made the river rise and when he reached Warren, as there was no bridge, he could not cross without
wetting his flour. He therefore placed stakes in his sled, put chains on top, making a rack, and when his grist was on top of
that it was beyond the reach of the water. He mounted one ox and thus brought himself and his food through without damage. He
had been gone three weeks; his wife was fearing he had been killed by the Indians, and as his children had been without flour
so long they did not like bread.
Dianthia Mills was the first child born in Nelson. She was a daughter of Asahel.
Professor Colton says: "The Captain was in the habit of opening each spring a sugar camp south of the center road, under the
ledge. During 'run' the whole family lived at the camp, Mrs. Mills going occasionally on horseback to their home for supplies.
On one occasion she found at the house an Indian who insisted upon riding with her to the camp. She protested; but the
horseback ride was a treat which the Indian did not seem inclined to forego, and, in spite of her protests, he seated himself
on the horse behind her. He enjoyed the ride to camp greatly, but how she enjoyed it tradition does not say."
Since the Mills brothers came to Nelson there has always been some of the family living there. Nelson Center is one of the most
attractive of the rural centers. It has a monument to the soldiers, two nice churches, a town hall and centralized school.
The early settlers were generally Connecticut people. A beautiful township it is, too, with its rolling surface and its view
of the Hiram hills to the west and the Pennsylvania hills to the east. East of the Center is an upheaval of rocks known as
"The Ledges." This is composed of pudding-stone rock standing on ends, with caves between and all covered with thick woods.
A little stream makes a long water fall and in summer this is as cool and attractive a spot as anyone could wish to see. If
there had been a stream of any size in the vicinity, or if a railroad was near by, this would have been one of the resorts
of this part of Ohio. It is now a stopping-place for automobile parties on their way back and forth from Cleveland.
While his brother was fighting the Indians and doing that sort of an act, Asahel Mills was giving more attention to domestic
affairs. He preached the first sermon in the township and he and all the family were attached to the Methodist church.
Rev. Thomas G. Jones, of Sharon, who organized so many Baptist churches on the Western Reserve perfected an organization here.
It was called Bethesda in 1808.
The first school was at the Center, and the teacher was Hannah Baldwin. Delaun Mill's brother, Oliver, was one of the early
teachers and it is said that he was the only one of the early Mills who cared anything about learning.
There was a social Library Association very early in Nelson; probably as early as 1820.
Orders in the possession of Ralph Baldwin belonging to his grandfather, Stephen Baldwin, and signed by Birdsey Clark,
Thomas Kennedy and Ezra Booth, committee, show
694
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
that assessment was made and paid for the maintenance of this library. The books were stored at the Center of Nelson, or in
the house of the Rev. Mr. Fenn, and people who were ambitious to learn, or who loved reading for amusement, walked miles to
borrow these books.
Among the early settlers of Nelson was Stephen Baldwin, who came to the township in 1803. He lived in a hunter's cabin on the
ground where the Methodist church now is, and but for the aid of Indians might possibly have starved. The next spring he
bought sixty acres of land, part of which is located on the Nelson Ledge territory. Here they lived in a log house. He procured
his education, as so many boys of his age did, studying by the light of hickory bark, and continued always to be interested
in education. He was one of the leaders of the anti-slavery movement in Northern Ohio, being very much interested in the
Portage county Anti-Slavery Society, and was one of its fourteen members. He was an active member of the Congregational church
of Nelson, but because of his anti-slavery sentiment was threatened with excommunication. At one time he was mobbed for
speaking, his sentiments in Garrettsville, the men attacking him using rotten eggs. A party of men once lay wait for him to
tar and feather him, but by the merest accident, having business in another part of town, he returned home another way.
Nelson Bearse, Horatio Taylor, Elisha Taylor, Garret Gates and Orrin Smith rallied to his support and saved him much
persecution.
Cornelius Baldwin of Nelson lived at the foot of the Ledge for many years. His father was Stephen and his grandfather was
Stephen. His son Ralph is a teacher and lives in Warren. Ralph Baldwin is very much interested in all historical things and
cherishes a great many curios. He has a chair with wooden pegs which was made about 1803 and a mouse trap made of cedar which
was gotten about the same year; a wooden canteen from the war of 1812, and an old lantern which was brought from the East. He
has numerous papers and letters from old -settlers and among, them is a receipt from Elisha Garrett. He has three whiskey
bottles; one with an eagle and morning glories on it, dated 1800; one with General Jackson's name on it, 1812, and the other
with an eagle, stars and clasped hands. He has a fine collection of old china, among them a Clews with the words "warrantes
Staffordshire" upon it. This is called the rose and hawthorn pattern and is supposed to be among the rarest china of the old
kind.
Gen. William B. Hazen was a Nelson boy. On one lot nearly two miles west of the Center four men became judges. Two of them
were the sons of Benjamin F. Brown and another was Judge Ezra B. Taylor, now living in Warren at a very advanced age, and
Duane Tilden of Cleveland.
The year 1802 marked the settlement of Hiram -- Elijah Mason. Elisha Hutchinson and Mason Tilden took up their land there.
Mason and Tilden were from Connecticut and Hutchinson was a New York man. The Masons were long identified with the township.
In 1830 there was a chair factory near Pritchard's Corners, which was a lively place. Many "hands'" were employed and some
of the chairs manufactured were very pretty. There was scarcely a housewife in Nelson who did not have some of these chairs,
the backs of which were ornamented with fruits and flowers, the design, of course, being more or less conventional and the
colors rather light. For durability they could not be surpassed. ...
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
695
(pages 695-698 under construction)
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
699
Hiram Township.
Hiram is one of the most beautiful townships in the Reserve. From its hills the scenery is most picturesque. It is 1300 feet
above sea level. Its people are prosperous, its homes substantial and, although some people call it "sleepy," it impresses
the author as having an air of refined respectability and at the same time, romance. Most of its history is given under the
topics "Hiram College," "Garfield," or "Almeda Booth."
Elijah Mason, Elisha Hutchinson and Mason Tilden arrived in 1802, looked over their possessions and returned home.
John Flemings was the first real settler. He came in 1802, but did not remain long.
The Masons, Tildens and Hutchinsons returned the next spring and made improvements. It was the Masons who gave Silver creek
its name. The young Masons did not like the county and persuaded their father to purchase a Vermont farm. This move discouraged
Tilden and both Hutchinson and Flemings sold their lands. The latter sold his land to Richard Redden, who, with Jacob and
Samuel West, had worked for the Masons and Tildens. Redden's father and family came out in the summer and they spent the
winter. Russell Mason, son of the owner, finally concluded to come.
It seems as if the question of settling Hiram was a hard one, for Mason did not arrive until 1806. The first inhabitants were
Irishmen and Pennsylvania Germans, all of whom were poor. Finally Hiram stock began to rise in New England and with their
coming, real growth began,
Hiram was named by the Free and Accepted Masons for Hiram of Tyre.
The first child born in the township was Simeon Babcock, son of Edwin.
The first death was Mrs. Fenton, who died at the time her child was born.
The old farm where William B. Hazen lived and which he owned until within a few years of his death, if not all his life-time,
was a few years since bought by Frank Freeman, who was the son of Samuel Levitt Freeman. The Freemans were an old Trumbull
county family and facts about them are found in that chapter.
Smith And Rigdon Tarred And Feathered.
The people of Hiram tarred and feathered Rigdon and Smith, who were in Hiram at the time of the Mormon agitation. Several
stories have been told as to why this was done. The truth is that they received this treatment because they were Mormons,
because they had interested the people of that vicinity in their belief, and because some of these converts had decided
them to be frauds. This was before the days of polygamy. It was largely a quarrel among different religions in the beginning,
later because it was believed the new followers were to be deceived.
Mason Tilden, now over ninty years old, who was born in Hiram, says Smith was taken from his bed in a log house standing
just back of the so-called Joseph Smith oak, and that Sidney Rigdon was taken from the Stevens house, to be treated to their
respective coats of tar and feathers.
The Stevens house is located about two miles southwest of Hiram College. In the early days of Mormonism Joseph Smith, its
founder, lived for a time in this house and thus it was the headquarters of the Mormon church. In March, 1832, a company was
formed of citizens of Shalersville, Garrettsville and Hiram, which proceeded to execute their vengeance on Smith and Rigdon.
One room in the house is still called the "Revelation Room," because
700
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
here on the night following, Smith claimed to have received a revelation instructing him to depart for the West.
Zeb Rudolph.
Zeb Rudolph, the father of Mrs. Garfield, was a man of quiet calm nature, and when the word was brought to him that his
son-in-law had been nominated for the presidency, instead of rejoicing as most elderly men would, he hesitated a few moments
and then said: "I hope no harm will come from it."
One of the early settlers of Hiram was Chauncey F. Black, afterward Governor of Pennsylvania. His father was Jeremiah S. Black
and Judge of the Supreme Court from 1851-57. He was a member of Buchanan's cabinet.
Alvah Udall was one of the strongest men connected with the history of Hiram and Hiram College. It would seem strange that
he had so much to do with the building of this college when he was not a professor of religion. Men living today who knew his
father, Samuel Udall, who came to Hiram in 1818, say that Samuel was a stronger character than Alvah, but the writers of the
present day seem to differ with this statement.
F. M. Green, in his "History of Hiram College," quotes a letter of Mrs. Lucretia R. Garfield to Prof. A. C. Pierson. It is
as follows: "The first commencement exercises were held under the apple trees of an old orchard which reached over the
northeast corner of the Eclectic grounds. A stage was built around one of the largest trees, and decorated with whatever
we were able to get from the scant flower gardens of that time. Seats for the audience were improvised in the usual way --
boards resting, on chairs and blocks. No admission was charged, as the chief purpose was to call together as many people as
possible to show what we were doing. I do not think the audience was large; still a good many came. I do not remember, but
I think the music must have been only vocal, as I think there was no music teacher or an instrument those first two terms.
"It was a perfect day, bright and cool, and had you not given the date as May, I should have said it was a perfect day in
June, and we were all in that state of exaltation which belongs to the beginnings of new enterprises. The women of this
community loaded a long table with appetizing viands, and opened their houses in the largest hospitality their accommodations
would permit. This public table became a burden when it grew evident that many came merely for the 'loaves and fishes'; and
it was abandoned. The memories of those days, almost half a century away, seem to belong to another world when the enthusiasm
and ambitions filled heart and soul. The details of the commencement exercises are entirely lost to me. I could not have told
you that I took any part in them, and don't remember the subject of my poor little essay, nor anything about the 'Colloquy.'
Like a woman, I have a rather vivid recollection of the dress I wore -- that's all." ...
(remainder of text not transcribed)
|
