[ 194 ]
A U B U R N T O W N S H I P.
_______
"Loveliest village of the plain." -- Goldsmith's Deserted Village.
Auburn is in the same range -- eight -- with Chardon, with Munson and Newbury between them. On the south lies Mantua,
in Portage county, with Troy on the east and Bainbridge on the west, and was known as township six. There is said to
be no record of any order of the county commissioners in reference to the name or organization of Auburn save that
of March, 1817, by which it is spoken of as Troy.
At the time of the first settlement the township was divided into three tracts by lines east and west, as were all the
others. The north was owned by Judge [Isaac] Mills and others. Of the middle tract, Solomon Cowles had over a thousand
acres of the east part. Then came the Ely tract, equal to the Cowles. Next his was the Kirtland tract, of two thousand
four hundred acres, covering the centre; west and adjoining was the Root tract, of one thousand acres, between which
and the township-line was the Miller tract, of one thousand acres. The south third, known as the Atwater tract, was
long held out of the market, which greatly retarded the settlement of the township, and was known as the "Mantua woods."
As will be seen by references to the history of Chardon, Auburn was esteemed as an extra good township.
The only water-course that can be called a stream is Bridge creek, rising in the southwesterly part of Newbury, which
runs through the westerly part of Auburn, makes a wide circular sweep south and east of the centre, flows northeasterly,
gathering in the waters of five or six unnamed tributaries, and passes the east line north of the centre; on its
winding way receives the waters of Punderson's and two smaller ponds in Burton, in the borders of Troy, and unites
with the sluggish Cuyahoga in that township. Another small branch of the Cuyahoga flows out of the southeast corner,
as does a confluent of the Chagrin, from the southwest. Auburn has many fine springs, and there, as generally through
the county, wells are easily sunk to intervening waters.
The township is quite as level as any township in the county, with the exception of Montville, which it does not
greatly resemble in this respect, while portions of that has that level, which means flat. Auburn abounds in wide
and beautiful slopes and graceful swells, with pleasant shallow valleys of considerable beauty, with hardly one
elevation rising to the dignity of a hill. The Bridge
HISTORY OF GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, OF OHIO.
195
creek valley is quite attractive, especially in the eastern part of Auburn, where it runs northerly, while the
Cuyahoga near it, in the same valley, runs south.
SOIL -- TIMBER -- PRODUCTIONS.
In soil, the township, as a whole, is equal to the most favored in the county. It has very little poor, no waste, and
much of the most fertile land known to that region. Her forests had a splendid growth of the usual varieties, especially
chestnut, oak, and whitewood in abundance. There was an early impression that, with the change of the soil incident to
culture or its want, the Geauga lands would cease to bear wheat in remunerative crops, -- a delusion passing away
with the rude, ruinous, unsystematic course of tillage which everywhere prevailed. Auburn always produced fine wheat,
while much of its lands, with a sprinkling of sand, grew the most satisfactory crops of corn and other grains, grasses,
and fruits.
SETTLEMENT AND SETTLERS, 1815.
One peculiarity may be mentioned as common to the colonization of the Western Reserve, which distinguishes it from all
other remembered first occupations of wild countries by civilized peoples. The approved method was to select some
favorable point, easiest of access from the flourishing State or nation, usually on the coast of a sea or great river,
which gave means of approach, and gradually extended inland. In our instance, the lake had little to do with it. Its
beach furnished a wave-beaten highway to the toiling horses and slow, patient oxen, otherwise, until made accessible
by the Erie canal, in 1824 or 1825, it could and did act no part in the early peopling of the Reserve. Doubtless had
the territory been infested by bands of hostile Indians, the old usage of beginning at a common point for defense and
military excursion would have been followed. So, too, had all the land been holden by a State, a single company,
or one great individual proprietor, during the time of colonization, the settlements beginning and clustering around
a common centre, in time would have extended from it over the whole.
Although purchased by a company, instead of colonizing, its members at once divided the purchase and dissolved. It was
an association to buy, and not to sell and occupy. Upon the division, each owner was anxious to sell, and sought
purchasers at once -- took worn and worthless eastern lands in exchange, and this was the reason why, within the space
of twenty years, simultaneously in the lives of nations, every part of the vast forest-covered territory was seized
upon at various independent points. This competition of sellers made the lands cheap. Each individual purchaser at once,
without concert with his fellows, pushed off to the western wilds, for the lot he had secured; and this simultaneous
and yet isolated occupation of so vast a region, so remote from the parent stock, subjected each pioneer to the hardships,
privations, and perils of a first settler, which would have been measurably avoided had the colonization been managed
by the State
The settlement of Auburn dates from 1815, and there were then rudimentary improvements, mills, and sources of supplies,
and slight channels of communication from her forest, out and away, to the remote world. The story of her settlement
is a transcript of all the rest. Here, as elsewhere, I can do little but register the arrivals in her woods for the
fifteen first years of her existence, with a word or two of the more noted individuals.
Bildad Bradley is said to have been the first settler, and in the northeast part, near the Newbury line, a little west
of the old State road. Here he built the first dwelling. He was a brother of Adonijah Bradley, an early settler in
what is now called South Newbury, where he resided for two or three years, when he moved across the line.
This same year, 1815, Zadock Reuwee and John Jackson arrived from Massachusetts, and took up land south of Bradley,
made some little improvements, returned and brought their families the same year. Reuwee's wife was a daughter of
Oliver [Snow]. At an early day the house near the present homestead on the State road was burned, and consumed the
only child, of which a sad legend used to be told by the cabin fires, in olden time. Two other sons were born and the
Reuwees were a prosperous, respected, and well-to-do family. The surviving son, Lorenzo S., occupies the old homestead.
John Jackson built his south of Reuwees', got a well a-going, and died early. His widow became the second wife of
J. M. Burnett, of Newbury. The eldest daughter became Mrs. Gilbert; a younger one Mrs. Jenks, both of Newbury, where
Mrs. Jenks still resides, and her twin sister became Mrs. Calvin P. Henry, of Bainbridge. Of the sons, Edward is a
farmer, John resides at Newbury, and Anson died at the west leaving a family.
William Craft was the fourth settler. At twenty-five a widower, with a child to care for, he journeyed from New York
west, on foot. In Chardon he found Norman Canfield digging the first well. He went south on the "newly-cut road," then
impassable for teams. Stayed at Judge Storr's in Newbury. The next house "Uncle Sam. Barker's," east of Punderson's
Pond. Passing on, he found respectively, Lemuel Punderson's and Joshua Burnett's, and then came to Harndet Coe's, by
the little stream south, with Adonijah Bradley's wheelwright-shop on the other side of the brook. Going south he came
to our first settler, Bildad. This was the last day of August, 1815. He purchased the whole of the Ely tract, one
thousand one hundred and seventy-six acres, of Punderson, the agent. Returned to Gorham, Ontario county, married the
widow Hayes, January 9, 1816, and a month later started for Ohio, with his family, accompanied by John Craft and Joe
Keyes. They reached Auburn before the middle of March. He now relinquished his purchase, except four hundred acres,
which covers what is now called Auburn Corners, the most considerable place in the township. Mr. Craft became a
prosperous man, quite widely known, and died in 1876 at Newbury, eighty-seven years of age. (He wrote a sketch of
Auburn for the Geauga Democrat, December, 1868.) Of a considerable family of children, Edward, born August, 1822,
and married to Helen Johnson, of Newbury, in June, 1845, now owns and resides in the homestead, one of the largest and
most valuable farms in the country.
During the spring of 1816, David Smith and Morgan Orton, from Connecticut, and Ethan Brewer, from Massachusetts, came
in and took up land. The two first bought the rest of the Ely tract, and Brewer went west of it, on the Root tract,
for land. Smith lived and died respected in Auburn. His son David, equally respected, resides in Chagrin Falls.
Benjamin Wood came from Palmyra, New York, in November of that year, and moved Elihu Mott into Newbury. Mr. Wood bought
out Orton, went back to Palmyra, and returned accompanied by Charles Hinckley, Amasa Turner, Philip Ingler, and
James Benjamin. These young men were prospecting for land in Ohio. Though quite at middle life, Mr. Wood exhibited
great energy, erected a comfortable house of hewed, split logs, on the State road, north of the corners. Wood, Hinckley,
and Turner returned to New York for their families, with whom they returned in February, 1817. Hinckley and Turner
bought north, on the Mills tract, built and occupied their houses. Both of these men and their wives passed away,
though descendants remain. Lewis Turner, the eldest son of Amasa, resides in Mantua, and a son of Hinckley keeps a
hotel at the Mantua station. Amaziah Keys and John Cutler, with their families, came in March following. Keyes bought
and built on the south end of the Ely tract, and Cutler bought west of the centre, on the Kirtland tract, where he
lived many years. From there he moved to Black Run, and subsequently to Newbury, where he lived a respectedman till
his death. Of his numerous and very intelligent family few remain. Sally is the wife of Phineas Upham, and the youngest
son, John, is a citizen of Troy. With Cutler came David Walker, now one of the last pioneers living in Newbury, where
he settled. I find on the county duplicate containing the names of the owners of personal property, horses and cattle,
the name of Daniel Wheelock, who settled on Auburn, as the owner of one head of cattle. The names of the Auburn men
occur with Bainbridge. I also find the name of Lorin Snow, who must have been in Auburn, as the owner of one taxable
Kine kind. I subjoin this lost as a curious and instructive relic of that time:
Name of Owner.
Bradley, Bildad
Cutler, John
Crafts, Wm.
Jackson, John
Keyes, Am.
Reuwee, Z.
Smith, D.
Snow, L.
Turner, A.
Wood, B.
Wheelock, D.
Total
|
Horses.
...
1
...
...
1
1
...
...
1
1
...
5
|
Cattle.
3
3
3
4
3
8
2
1
3
6
1
38
|
Assessment.
Dolls. Cts.
0 30
0 60
0 30
0 40
0 60
0 10
0 20
0 16
0 60
0 90
0 10
$5 30
|
There is something a little puzzling about this duplicate. The assessment must be the tax. There was, as will be
remembered, in each township an officer called a lister, and he and another were the appraisers. These together
fixed the valuation, and the duplicate shows the property and tax, omitting the valuation. Afterwards a statute
put horses at the valuation of forty dollars, and cattle at eight dollars per head.
Loren Snow and Wheelock were from Massachusetts, as was John Mowrey, all young men. Snow married one of A. M. Burnett's
daughters, and Mowrey one of the Antisdale girls.
George W. Antisdale, of Farmington, N. Y., visited Auburn, on horseback, in 1817, and purchased three hundred acres
of land, in the Kirtland tract, employed Benjamin Wood to put up a split-and-hewn log house, such as Wood built for
himself, and returned about the middle of the next January; he started with his family and goods for the home in the
woods. The family was a wife and ten children; with them went A. Harrington and family, seven in all, and Gilmore,
three
196
HISTORY OF GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, OF OHIO.
more, making a party of twenty-one. To transport the goods there were two large canvas-covered ox-sleds, and for
the people two large roomy, covered sleighs, drawn by horses. A crowd of old friends came to see the train start,
and say the final good-bye. A small herd of cows were driven in advance, to subsist the party, and commence in the
woods with. One of the sons, then a lad of ten, George W., gives a graphic account of the journey, which occupied
nineteen days. Hardships awaited them as well. The senior Antisdale had hardly started in the woods, when he sickened
and died. The mother first hired Arnold Harrington, and then married him, to the disgust of the elder children.
Meantime the eldest sister died, and darkness and distress came upon them. Finally, the boys who were left, returned,
and things went well with them. G. W. Antisdale, Jr., now an aged, well-to-do man, resides at Chagrin Falls.
The Harringtons settled in Auburn. No account is given of Gilmore.
Pardon Wilber purchased on the Root tract, on Bridge creek. He was a most worthy man, father of William and George,
and grandfather of Professor Wilber, the geologist. Joseph Bartholmew came and went on to the same tract. Lewis
Findlay and John Bosworth came in the fall of the same year. Findlay settled west on the Mills tract. Bosworth went on
to a part of Wood's land. He was a God-fearing man, which seems to distinguish him from those who preceded him.
Something of an exhorter was he, and "Uncle Bill" (William Craft), without so saying, would seem to wish to have one
believe he was little short of a preacher outright. It was high time, Auburn, then two years old, began to heed her ways.
In the early part of 1818, came Elliot Craft and Jeremiah White, from Ontario county, New York, which furnished a
good many in Auburn. They bought, built, brought on their families, and became residents; also, Austin Richards, who
settled on the Mills tract near Jackson. He became much of a man, and a son lives on the old farm. In that or the
next year came Ephraim Wright, who bought out John Cutler. He must have been followed by his brother, David, not long
after. Ephraim afterwards, in 1835, sold to Gilbert Hinkly, a brother of Charles, and father of Charles D. and Jerome.
J. P. Bartholomew came in 1819, was a blacksmith, the first in Auburn, and was soon followed by Roswell Rice, also a
smith. Rice bought a place at the Corners, built a house and shop, sold out and went to Newbury, from which he went
to Mantua.
In 1819 or 1820, Oliver Snow must have come from Massachusetts, and bought just south of the Reuwees. He built on the
crown of a swell, on the west side of the road, sheltered by a grove of second growth, after one of the tornadoes.
Here he and his wife lived and died. He was a man of wealth and influence. One daughter was Mrs. Zadock Reuwee,
already mentioned. The other was Mrs. Jonathan Burnett, now a widow, and resides at the Corners. Loren, mentioned
before, married a daughter of J. M. Burnett, of Newbury, and built, lived, and died just opposite the elder Snow's.
The younger, Alvirus, married, became very wealthy, and with his wife, still lives pleasantly, a little farther south,
on the State road. Oliver Snow and Benjamin Wood were famous debaters of Scripture, of which both entertained
latitudinarian notions, and each in his way was a marked man.
Henry Canfield was an early resident of the township. He was a carpenter and a man of influence; built mills, and
afterwards built a large flouring mill at the Rapids, in Hiram, which involved him in an expensive lawsuit with the
people of Troy, and others, who claimed that his dam flooded the before almost dead water, back on their lands, and
produced malarious diseases. His son, Hiram, who married Sally, a daughter of Asa Robinson, of Newbury, purchased land
in the Atwater tract, and became a wealthy and highly respected man. John Morey also became a settler on that tract,
as did one of the Hinckleys and J. P. Bartholomew; also some of the Reeds, from Mantua, -- Lewis and Oril, -- and
many others from elsewhere. W. H. Mills, from Mantua, and others.
It is impossible to trace further the annals with clearness. A large number of Staffords came, as did more Crafts.
There were the Frazers below the Corners, and the valley, along the northeast border, filled up. John Clark, with a
row of sons, came; also the Ways, on the north border, and the Barnes. The Websters were there before. Curtis Waterman,
now of Troy, must have been an early settler, and Uncle Job Warren, the Quaker, and John Brown moved into Auburn
from Newbury. There were the Ensigns and the Hoards. Russel Harrington and his brother were among the early settlers,
as was Amos Plamer and his son-in-law, S. L. Wadsworth.
Auburn early put on the appearance of an old and well-settled country, and her people have always sustained a high
reputation for intelligence and good order, and have had a fair influence in the affairs of the county.
It is said that of the pioneers of Auburn, resident of the township, Jeremiah White and his wife are the oldest. They
are aged respectively -- the husband eighty-three and the wife seventy-eight. They came into Auburn in 1818, and
are now pleasantly living a little west of Auburn Corners, and still care for and provide for themselves and each
other. The hand that gathered so much was niggard of more, and prevents an outline sketch of these venerable
lingerers on the borders of the oldest of time.
ORGANIZATION.
At their March session, 1817, the commissioners of the county made an order which declares, among other things,
"The towns known by the name Kentstown and Troy, or No. 6 in the ninth range (Bainbridge), and No. 6 in the eighth
range (Auburn), be declared a separate township by the union of Bainbridge." It this appears that Auburn was known
on the county records by the name of Troy, of which no tradition ever before reached me. It has generally been
supposed that this order had reference to the present Troy. This is an error; that was never attached to Bainbridge,
and was then called Welshfield, while the tax duplicate above referred to, for 1817, included the people and property
of Auburn, with that of Bainbridge as part of it. They are also included in the duplicate for 1818. (See history of
Bainbridge.) It was pursuant to this order that the residents of both townships met at the house of Ethan Brewer,
over west of the centre of Auburn, and held their first election on the first Monday of April, 1817. At this election
Ethan Brewer was elected justice of the peace. It was not by any means a ceremonious thing, and Uncle Bill mentions
that the man who owned the house, where the election was held, got it. He did seem to have had an advantage. One man
must have been rude indeed, even for that free time, who would go into a neighbor's house for a social election and
vote against him for justice of the peace, as a majority, I am glad to say, did not, and I can assure my readers that
Esquire E. Brewer was a worthy good man, well and favorably known. Enos Kingsley, of Bainbridge (Kentstown, from G.
Kent), was elected clerk, and I fail to be informed who were elected to the other offices. It has not been brought
to my notice when Auburn was severed from Bainbridge, and came to be called Auburn, nor how she came to be called
Auburn. Even Uncle Bill throws no light on that. Her people were assessed in 1818, as in the year before; the only
old duplicates saved from the burning of the old court-house, as I am informed by Mr. E. V. Canfield, who picked them
up; nor has the record of the first or early township elections been brought to my notice.
The first marriage in Auburn was that of Betsey Keyes to Samuel Moore, of Mantua, by Ethan Brewer, justice of the peace.
The wedding took place at the residence of the bride's father, the 25th day of December, 1817.
The second marriage was that of Morgan Orton to Rebecca Moore, by the Rev. Luther Humphrey, of Burton, at the residence
of Wm. Craft, in Auburn, in the winter of 1819.
The first white child born in Auburn was Jeremiah Craft, son of Wm. Craft. He was born in a log house, south of Auburn
Corners, on the farm now owned by his son, Edward Craft.
The first death was that of George W. Antisdale, in September, 1818 or 1819.
The second death was that of John Craft, and occurred a few years later.
The first frame barn was built by John Jackson in 1816, this being the first framed building erected in town.
The first school-house was built on the road running north from Auburn Corners, in the fall of 1818, and Charles
Hodkins was the first schoolmaster.
The second school-house was a split and hewed log house, built on the southeast corner (at the Corners), where
W. N. White's store now stands. This house was burned; how it took fire no one seems to know. However, religious
meetings had been held there, and rumor said it was the work of enemies of the cause. A few years after this, the
district being divided, a framed house was built at the centre, and one about one-third of a mile east of Auburn
Corners. These four houses were built by subscription. In the course of time there were other school-houses built
in various parts of the town, as the people required.
SCHOOLS.
(A note from B. F. L., Auburn)
The first school-house was built in the southeast corner of Auburn Corners, where White's store now stands, by William
Drafts, of hewed logs, in 1821. William Crafts taught the first school in this house. Betsey Smith taught the year
previous in the log house of David Smith, Sr., one mile north of the Corners. The schools were sustained many years by
subscription. Later Martha Stone and Marian Ensign taught with a good deal if credit. In 1838, J. W. Gray, afterwards
editor of the Plain Dealer, taught with some credit.
In 1845 and 1846, Rufus Dutton taught a select school at the Corners. The marked period of the educational interest
of Auburn began in 1842, when Wesley Vincent began a select school in the red store in the Corner. Vincent taught
with great credit to himself, from 1842 to 1847. Afterwards, the services of
HISTORY OF GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, OF OHIO.
197
Clark Williams were secured to teach a select school in a shop just south of the red store, on the corner; and from
1850 to 1853, Job Fish taught with success.
Our township records back of 1827 have been sold, I understand, for paper rags, -- a very funny thing for a clerk to do,
-- and I find it difficult to give facts, for that reason. In 1838 there were five hundred and twenty scholars enrolled
between the ages of four and twenty; in 1877, between the ages of six and twenty-one, only one hundred and sixty-two.
In 1853 the township was divided into twelve districts. In 1878 there were only seven districts. In September, 1877,
the board of education adopted the following series of books: Ray's New Practical Arithmetic, McGuffey's Readers,
Harvey's Grammar, and the Eclectic Geography. We have now in general use a uniform system of text-books.
The amount of appropriations made by the board for school purposes during the past few years ranges from eight hundred
dollars to twelve hundred dollars. The fact is, that our schools are so scattered, and there are so few scholars, that
they are shiftlessly managed.
CHURCHES.
For the first few years there was very little preaching in Auburn. Occasionally a missionary passing through would
give the people an old-time sermon or two, such as would do some of our aristocratic churches of the present day
good to hear. John Bosworth, who came in 1817, was a Christian professor, and sometimes led devotional exercises;
but not until 1820 or 1821 was there much done in the way of church matters, when Rev. Mr. Plympton,
then a young man of great energy and zeal, held meetings frequently at the centre of the town. There followed a great
awakening among the people, and many experienced remission of sins, as they claimed, and were made happy in the Lord.
Mr. Plympton was a Methodist, and conducted his meetings in his own peculiar way, holding services in school-houses
and log cabins about the neighborhood, wherever a company could be convened, preaching to a half-dozen or more,
according to circumstances. He was considered a very earnest, pious young man. About this time, there was a Baptist
minister of the name of Abbott, who often preached to the people, and we believe established a society of the
close-communion order. There were by this time other Methodist and Baptist ministers, who held meetings in the
neighborhood wherever a few people got together. In about 1822 a Methodist minister moved his family into town, by
the name of Wm. Brown. "He labored faithfully." There was a wonderful revival as the result of his labors; many of the
people became converted, -- men, women, and children. He established a Methodist church at the centre of the town.
We believe their building was a log structure. Shortly after this there was a church organized in town, called the
Disciple church. They built a house at the centre of the town. In about 1835 or 1836 there was a Free-will Baptist
society organized in Auburn. They built a framed building a little west of Auburn Corners, just on the summit of the
hill. The two churches -- Methodist and Baptist -- at present occupy the same building for worship on alternate
Sabbaths.
The first log house was that of Bildad Bradley, of which mention has been made elsewhere. It was built in 1815, on the
town-line, between Newbury and Auburn, on the farm now owned by Lorenzo Reuwee.
The first framed house was built by Joseph Woodward, about one-half mile west of the centre, on the farm now owned by
Wm. Brown.
The first saw-mill was built by Henry Canfield in 1822. Mr. Canfield moved in with his family in 1820, built, and moved
on to the land he had previously bought, and which is situate on the southeast corner of the Root tract, and through
which runs Bridge creek, on which was a mill-site. Mr. Canfield built a saw-mill as above stated. Mr. Canfield was a
good carpenter, and a very industrious man; he built a frame house and barn, ran his mill for several years, and sold
to his brother Elijah, who lived in the State of New York.
J. P. Bartholomew is said to be the first blacksmith in Auburn. He came on in the year 1819, purchased on the Root
tract, returned, married, and occupied his Auburn home. Later, when the south tract came into market, he purchased,
moved there, where he remained till his death, in 1865. Three of his sons were in the Union army.
Ethan Brewer, the well-known Esquire Brewer, built the first tavern at the Corners in 1829, -- a long, narrow, low,
one-story building. This was transferred to Charles Wood, a son of Benj. Wood, in 1832. In 1834 Watts succeeded Wood,
and Daniel Ethridge purchased it in 1835. He died in 1859, and was succeeded by his son Grandison. A new house was
built -- a front to the old -- in 1840. The property went into the hands of C. G. Hayes in 1864.
Sidney Royce built another at the corners in 1833, long since discontinued. The only hotel in Auburn is the one first
named.
Of the justices of the peace Ethan Brewer was elected the first Monday in April, 1817. It may be well to notice some
others who succeeded him in the office. John Jackson was next elected. He served two terms and died [in 1824]. David
Smith succeeded him; he was also the first postmaster. Then followed Pardon Wilber, Charles Hinkley, George Wilber,
son of Pardon Wilber, David Smith, Jr., Austin Richards, and others.
S. L. Wadsworth is the present postmaster.
The Auburn box-works were set up about 1869, by G. W. Barnes. He conducted the business two years, and formed a
copartnership with G. W. Stafford. They continued the business two years, and Mr. Barnes retired. April 14, 1774,
the factory was consumed by fire. Mr. Stafford changed the site, moving the factory near the centre of Auburn, where
he erected a large building, perhaps the largest and best of the kind in Geauga County, where he continues the
business, employing many hands, and turning out work satisfactory to himself and customers. Mr. Stafford is an
enterprising business man, and prosecutes his business with zeal and energy. A view of his factory and mill may be
seen in this work.
The first cheese-factory built in Auburn was what is known as the old Hood factory, located one and a half miles
south and one-half mile east of the centre, now said to be owned by Boughton & Ford, of Burton, and Jacob Lyons,
of Auburn.
There are some five other factories in the town. Perhaps the oldest one is located two miles east of the centre,
and run by the proprietor, Philip E. Haskins. The factory was rebuilt, with a large curing-house added to it, in 1874.
It is now on a good footing, unequaled by many, and perhaps unsurpassed in the county. The others are said to be
doing well.
The first store opened in Auburn was that of William Baker, in 1829 or 1830. Lester Perkins had another there quite
as early; then came Barnes & Herrington, in 1830 or 1831. This was a general retail house, with character, capital,
and enterprise. After about three years they built the store-house now owned and occupied by W. N. White. Fifteen
years after Barnes sold his interest to Herrington, who continued it five or six years, and sold to John Mayhew.
Different parties continued the business until W. N. White purchased the building and stock; and is now doing a
prosperous business. There are three other stores at the corners, -- one groceries, one hardware and tin, another
groceries and millinery goods, owned respectively by J. R. Stewart. W. F. Balke, and M. E. Haskins.
At Auburn centre the first and only family store opened was in 1872, by J. A. Stafford. Harvey Herrington, of the old
firm of Barnes & Herrington, was a man of superior intelligence and high character; sold out and went away many years
ago. Barnes retired on to a large farm, is said to be in Cleveland, and would be well off wherever he is.
ORDERS AND SOCIETIES.
Auburn Lodge, No. 226, I. O. O. F., was instituted July 14, 1853. The charter members were as follows:
D. L. Pope, O. L. Gilson, Jerome Hinkley, F. Wilmot, L. C. Ludlow, Miles Punderson, George Parker, L. Patch, and
J. Patch. The first officers were Laban Patch, N. G.; D. L. Pope, V. G.; F. Wilmot, R. S.; A. G. Ethridge, P. S.;
Jerome Hinkley, Treas. The present officers are N. M. Goff, N. G.; T. C. Bartholomew, V. G.; C. S. Herrington, R. S.;
W. N. White, P. S.; C. C. Carlton, Treas. Charter members now living: D. L. Pope, L. C. Ludlow, Miles Punderson.
This lodge was never in a more prosperous condition than at the present time. It owns a one-third interest in the
building and real estate which they now and have occupied since their organization in 1853. They leased the hall for
a term, we believe, of twenty years. After this expiration of the term, a new lease was given, but the society bought
as stated. A part of the building is owned by a stock company, who purchased and repaired it very fittingly as a
free hall. Persons could congregate and express views on any moral subject free of charge, there being a feeling in
the churches somewhat adverse to giving the use of their houses except for religious worship.
The first that the township records show in regard to township officers dates back to 1827, when we find the following
list of officers: Township Clerk, Lorin Snow; Trustees, Charles Hinkley, Joseph Webster, and Roger W. Antisdale;
Overseers of the Poor, Zadock Reuwee and David Smith; Fence-Viewers, Ephraim Wright and Joseph Woodward; Justice of the
Peace, David Smith; Constable, William Squires; Supervisors, :orin Snow, District No. 1; Asahel Kent, No. 2; Morgan
Orton, No. 3; Joseph Bartholomew, No. 4; Jeremiah White, No. 5; Abner Colvin, No. 6.
The present officers of the township are Justices of the Peace, George Dutton and C. A. Mills; Township Trustees,
William Wilber, A. T. Wing, and William C. Dutton; Assessor, H. E. Andrews; Clerk, C. A. Mills; Treasurer, G. W.
Stafford; Constables, H. M. Andrews and G. Canfield.
We record the deaths of some of the first settlers. John Jackson died January 13, 1824; his wife died August 3, 1861;
Zadock Reuwee died August 25, 1862;
198
HISTORY OF GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, OF OHIO.
Charles Hinkley died March 25, 1842; Amariah Keyes died February 10, 1824; Roswell Rice died February 11, 1861;
Austin Richards died January 14, 1867; William Craft died August 26, 1876, David Craft died November 19, 1852;
Benjamin Woods died February 27, 1853; Oliver Snow died August 5, 1841, aged ninety-three; Moses Maynard died
October 16, 1865, aged ninety-eight.
INCIDENTS -- ACCLDENTS.
Philip Inger, an early settler and a famous hunter, met with his death under circumstances that may be here noted.
In September, 1830, as young Eggleston, on his way from Mantua to Auburn, was passing at nightfall through the
Auburn and Mantua woods, covering a large tract of the continuous borders of both, in the twilight saw and heard by
the roadside what he supposed to be a bear. In alarm, he hurried back to a small inn kept by Amasa Turner, in Mantua,
where he found a young man just from the East, who had a rifle and was eager for a chance at a bear. The two turned
back under the singular infatuation that it was a bear, and would patiently wait to be shot. On their approach,
there was the black form, not unlike a bear, and there came the low growl. Going as near as he dared, the youth
discharged his gun with a too accurate aim, and the bullet passed through the body of Ingler, who, intoxicated,
had deposited himself by the wayside, accompanied by a small dog, whose growling helped to produce the delusion of the
weak and foolish youths.
The fatal burning of the Reuwees' cabin has been mentioned.
A good many years later, and still many years ago from this (1875), the house of a family by the name of Talcouth,
residents of Auburn, was burned, and in it were consumed three or four small children.
STATISTICS FOR 1875.
Wheat .................. 306 acres. 4,451 bushels.
Oats ................... 581 " 24,413 "
Corn .................. 517 " 29,491 "
Potatoes ............... 149 " 13,279 "
Orchards ............... 285 " 2,121 "
Meadows ............... 2662 " 3,039 tons.
Butter .............................. 69,100 pounds.
Cheese ............................. 585,447 "
Maple-sugar ......................... 47,623 "
POPULATION.
The three last censuses show the population to be, in 1850, 1184; in 1860, 942; in 1870, 784. These figures are
startling, -- a falling off, from 1850 to 1860, of 242; from 1860 to 1870, 158; in twenty years 400, --
only surpassed by the decrease of Munson. One looks forward to the next census with curiosity and anxiety.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
GEORGE SQUIRE.
was born in Mantua, Portage county, Ohio, January 22, 1817.He is the sixth child of Ezekiel and Clarisy Squire. The
father died September 5, 1822, while the mother died November 1, 1853. The father of Mr. Squire came to Mantua probably
in 1816. He was a practicing physician, and his ride extended overMantua, Hiram, Nelson, Parkman, Welshfield (now Troy),
Auburn, Russell, Chester, Aurora, etc. Dr. Squire died in the forty-first year of his life, when it seemed the community
needed his services most. George remained at home, getting, as best he could under the circumstances, a common-school
education, until soon after he became of age, when he bought a firm in Mantua, with his brother, A. J. Squire, of some
two hundred acres. After some two years he disposed of this farm and went to Missouri, remaining some three and one-half
years, when he returned and continued the study of medicine, which he practiced some four or five years. About this time,
on April 30, 1850, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary C. Palmer, of Mantua. As the fruits of their marriage four
children were born, namely, as follows: Alice C., Arthur G., Cora L., and Orris Grant. Alice and Arthur are married,
the former living in Solon, Cuyahoga county, and the latter in Auburn, Geauga County. Cora L. and Orris Grant are still
enjoying the comforts and pleasures of the old home with father and mother. Mr. and Mrs. Squire have, by application,
economy, and industry, amassed a Sufficiency Of this world's goods to make them financially comfortable through the
remainder of their lives, owning a fine farm of two hundred and sixty acres, a view of which may be seen in this book,
faithfully illustrating the old home. The father of Mr. Squire came from Massachusetts to Aurora, in 1810, coming the
whole distance with an ox-team, the mother riding on horseback, carrying, much of the way, one child in her arms, and
another behind her on the horse; which, we are wont to think, in these days of coaches, palace-cars, and carriages, would
be very tiresome to the model wife and mother. Mr. George Squire is now sixty-one years of age, and at present writing
is in very good health, and enjoying the society of his family.
WILLIAM CRAFTS.
There is no finer or more striking head and face in all the varied specimens of the good found in this volume than we
present in this ketch. Not unlike that of Henry Clay, with something that reminds of the poet Whittier. He might have
been a poet, statesman, or philosopher. he was a comparatively unlettered farmer, an early settler, one of the pioneers
of Auburn.
He was born at Boston, Massachusetts, December 21, 1789. He died at Auburn, August 25, 1876, aged eighty-six years,
eight months, and four days.
His first American ancestor, Griffin Crafts, came in Governor Winthrop's colony in 1635, from England, and settled in
Roxbury, Massachusetts. Many of his descendants are still found in that vicinity. Honorable William A. Crafts, seventh
from Griffin, lives in the old homestead of' the family. William Crafts is the sixth. His father's name was Edward,
a zealous patriot of the Revolution, who did stout service for the country. Although many of the family in their days
and generations have filled high positions in various legislative bodies, and occupied the seats of learning in colleges,
the Auburn branch cherish with more warmth the memory of Edward, the patriot soldiers, than that of all the honorables
and professors of the name beside. He married Miss Eliot Winship, of Boston. Of these were born four sons and five
daughters. The sons were Edward, John, Thomas, and William. All of this family have passed away. It had a good standing,
and was well off. The father rose to the rank of major in the army, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of a wide
circle. I believe the major in some way fell a victim to overconfidence in continental money, or some form of paper
security, and dropped from affluence to a depressed condition, and in consequence removed to western New York, when
William, the youngest of the family, was four years old. They settled in Ontario county, as wild as Auburn when William
pushed his fortunes thither in 1815. Major Crafts seems never to have recovered his fortunes. Of course the young boy
shared the hardships and privations of the boys in the woods the gravest, and the effects of which are the longest
continued, were a lack of the means of even the commonest education. He never attended a school but three months in his
life, though qualified to transact ordinary business, and he kept one of the first schools in Auburn, had much skill in
drawing contracts and papers, had large native good sense and judgment. His mind was clear and vigorous.
At the age of twenty-two he was married to Catherine Millspaugh, and she bore him one son, Daniel, born in 1812. She
seems never to have recovered from the illness consequent upon his birth, and died in less than a month afterward,
leaving William with his young infant.
On the 1st of August, 1815, the young widower, then twenty-five, tall, broad-shouldered, well made, and powerful,
with a strikingly manly face and blue eyed, shouldered his traveling-pack and walked to Auburn, a small undertaking
for the men of his day. This was just after the close of the war of 1812. A graphic account of this journey, as well
as of the pioneer history of Auburn, was written by Mr. Crafts, and published in the Geauga Democrat, of December
9-16, 1868, largely the source of our history of Auburn. He found Norman Canfield digging the first well at Chardon.
Six miles south, he found Judge Vene Stone, there he stayed that night. The next morning he pushed on, and the next
house was that of Samuel Barker near the "Big Pond." Beyond he found Punderson's
HISTORY OF GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, OF OHIO.
199
grist-mill, the miller's house, Punderson's house, Uncle Josh Burnett's, and then Coe's fulling-mill and Adonijah
Bradley's shop, on the little creek south. He found Bildad Bradley next, and still beyond, the new cabins of the
Reuwees and John Jackson; save these no man had struck a blow in the Auburn woods. He inspected the region, liked
the land, the water, and timber, found that Punderson had the agency of that which he liked best. In doubt what part of
a central tract of eleven hundred and seventy-six acres he should ultimately like best, he purchased the whole at two
dollars and a quarter per acre.
Having selected his farm, or the land he intended to choose from, he walked back to Gorham. As one of the essentials
for the colonization of a new country and its peopling, on the 9th day of July, 1816, he married Drusilla Hays, an
estimable young widow lady of twenty-one, with one child, a son. He made the journey with an ox-wagon, and drove a
cow, being accompanied by Joseph Keyes, a nephew of his wife. He traveled some of the way on the ice of Lake Erie,
and had many experiences. He seems to have reached Auburn upon the 12th of March, 1816, and found shelter in the
house of John Jackson till he built his own.
Of his original purchase he finally selected four hundred acres, the farm now owned and occupied by his son Edward,
named after the Revolutionary grand-father. Familiar with pioneer life, its rough ways, its primitive means, its
simple habits, its economics, its thrift, its hopes, and warmth of feeling, he and his young wife, with their two
boys, began to work in earnest. They built log buildings, chopped and cleared land, raised flax, purchased sheep, and
Drusilla spun and wove, or procured some other woman to weave the cloth, which she made into her husband's garments.
And here they lived their laborious, thrifty, useful, honest, virtuous, true, and simple lives, through. Friends and
acquaintances came, strangers came, Auburn became settled, populous. The woods disappeared, and framed houses were
erected. Prosperity attended industry, and wealth came with thrift; and the Crafts with children about them, honored
and respected, grew to middle life, old age, and died, honored and greatly esteemed.
The acquisitions of Mr. Craft were the pure fruit of industry, economy, and thrift. Labor was the true foundation
of all wealth. He had no faith in speculation, nor any taste for it; nor would he have expected the proceeds of a
lucky hit would become the stable source of profit. It did not accord with his philosophy of life. He so managed his
business as to never have occasion for the counsel of a lawyer, and left a large property, much as General Jackson
said he had left the people and government of the United States: "free from debt, prosperous, and happy." The son
of the first marriage, Daniel Craft, resides in Troy.
of the children of the second, -- Jerry Craft, born October 28, 1816, lives in Hiram, Portage county; Almira, born
October 26, 1819, resides in Auburn; Edward, born August 22, 1822, lives on the homestead; his wife Helen, daughter
of Seth Johnson, of Newbury (see the Johnson history of Newbury); Hosea, born May 15, 1824, lives in Michigan;
Evelina, born May 19, 1826, lives in Parkman.
The Crafts and their numerous kindred are a vigorous, hardy, sensible race of people, who fill well their places in life.
W. H. MILLS
We are now about to chronicle a few events in the life of W. H. Mills, an old and honored resident of Auburn township.
The present subject of our sketch was born in Nelson, Portage county, Ohio, Aug. 23, 1807, and was the fifth child
of Asahel and Cynthia Wright Mills. On the death of his mother, Jan. 21, 1812, being thus left motherless at a tender
age of seven, he became an inmate of the family of Judge Elias Harmon, of Mantua, with whom he lived during his minority.
On March 15, 1832, he was joined in the holy bonds of matrimony to Miss Sarah Granger, of Ashtabula, Ohio, with whom
he has since lived, mutually sharing their joys and sorrows, prosperities and adversities, until the present day.
About four weeks after his marriage, Mr. Mills, with his young wife, made a short wedding tour over into Auburn
township, where he located in the then unbroken wilderness; the trip was made with an ox-team and a stone-boat, and
wife and goods were all landed safely on the farm upon which he now lives. By a diligent use of the axe and ox-team
that wilderness has long since blossomed like the rose, and peace and plenty crowned the board. Mr. and Mrs. Mills
are the parents of two children, Francis Harvey, whose farm joins that of his father, and Mary H., who died young.
And now, after threescore years and ten have passed, and the sear and yellow leaf has graced his brow, we meet him
to-day in the old home, a view of which may be seen in this book, looking the picture of content and plenty. Mr. Mills
has never united with any church organization, and, to use his language, he can't tell whether it is better for the
church and worse for him, or worse for the church and better for him.
Asahel Mills, father of Homer, was born March 28, 1775; died October 3, 1831. His wife, Cynthia Wright, died January
12, 1812.
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