Pioneer and General History of Geauga

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Pioneer and General History
of Geauga County
(Burton, Ohio: Hist. Society of Geauga, 1880)

Title Page Contents 1953 update

Russell, pp. 109-120

Bainbridge, pp. 121-157

Auburn, p. 158-226

Newbury, p. 226-256

Troy, pp. 586-673

Transcriber's Comments

(view enlarged image of title)

the Henry family, pp. 137ff | Dencey Thompson, p. 138 | the Giles family, pp. 143

the Wilber family, pp. 167ff | the Stafford family, pp. 181ff | Incidents of Pioneer Life (1881)

Capt. Henry of Geauga (1942) | "Rigdon/Book of Mormon" (1945) | Rigdon at Bainbridge

Auburn/Bainbridge Census: 1820 1830 | Pioneer Women (1896) | S. W. Geauga Pioneers

History of Lake and Geauga Counties (1878) | Wm. Crafts' Early History of Auburn (1868)

1798.

PIONEER

AND

GENERAL HISTORY OF

GEAUGA COUNTY

WITH

SKETCHES OF

SOME PIONEERS AND PROMINENT MEN

PUBLISHED BY
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

OF

GEAUGA COUNTY.

1880.

See also the SW Geauga Co. Pioneer Settlement web-page

C O N T E N T S.

GENERAL COUNTY HISTORY.

Address -- Historical -- Gen. Garfield
Address -- Centennial -- Judge Taylor
Academies
Address -- Society -- 1875; W. J. Ford
Address of Welcome -- 1878 -- P. Hitchcock
Address -- Cattle Trade--1878; R. Murray
Address on Relics -- Oct. 1878 -- W. J. Ford
Auditors of the County
Bar Roster
Bible Society, County
Court House, the first
Cheese-making, pioneer
County Buildings
Constitution, Historical Society
Civil Roster
Constitutional Convention, members of
Congressional
Clerks of the County
Coroners of the County
Commissioners of the County
Duties -- Internal Revenue -- 9th District
Document, copy of
Equal Rights, by Miss Munn
Geography and Topography
Geology
Goveonors
Grangers
Geauga Bar, by Judge Taylor
Historical Society, first meeting
Historical Society, officers and members
Horticultural and Pomological
Infirmary Directors of the County
Judges of Supreme Court
Judges of District Court
Judges, Associate Bench
Judges of Probate Court
Military History, by P. Hitchcock
Militia History, by Judge Taylor
Masons, by H. N. Spencer
Musical Association Union
Medical Association, County
Odd Fellows, by Judge Smith
Periodicals
Population of Geauga County
Poem -- The Pioneers -- F. E. Denton
Physicians of County, by Dr. O. Pomeroy
Press of Geauga County, by J. O. Converse
Presidential Electors
Prosecuting Attorneys
Roads
Railroads
Relics at first Historical Meeting
Representatives, State Senate
Representatives, Lower House
Recorders of the County
Sheep, Swine, The first
Schools, Common
Surveying -- Past and Present -- J. V. Whitney
Sheriffs of the County
Surveyors of the County
School Examiners of the County
Societies of Geauga County
Treasurers of the County
Temperance Union, Woman's
Teachers' Association

9
22
35
42
47
50
52
69
83
91
23
29
34
39
66
66
66
68
69
70
36
36
89
24
25
66
85
86
39
40
91
70
68
68
68
68
71
77
80
90
91
83
35
36
54
58
62
66
70
27
28
40
67
67
69
32
35
56
69
70
71
90
69
90
91

TOWNSHIPS.

Auburn
Bainbridge
Burton
Chester
Chardon
Claridon
Hambden
Huntsburg
Munson
Middlefield
Montville
Newbury
Parkman
Russell
Troy
Thompson

158
121
417
93
277
376
360
740
256
717
763
226
674
108
586
791

[ 109 ]

R U S S E L L.
_______

BY SAMUEL ROBINSON, ESQ.

Russell township is No. 7, range 9, in the Connecticut Western Reserve.

FIRST SETTLERS.

The first settlers were the Russell family, consisting of Gideon Russell, wife and five children -- three sons and two daughters, namely: Ebenezer, William, Alpheus, Jemima, and Sally. They moved into the woods, in the year 1818, on the Chillicothe road, a little south of the center of the township. For about two years they were the only inhabitants that we know of. In the fall of 1820 Mr. Simeon Norton moved in with his family, consisting of himself and his wife, Sally, and one daughter, Melinda. He built a split and hewed log house, which is now standing, about half a mile south of the center on the north part of what is now known as the Benjamin Mathews farm, but was then the Russell farm. The house has been removed. It was built by Mr. Norton back from the Chillicothe road some sixty rods or more, near a spring and not far from a road that was laid out from Cleveland to Warren, and partially opened for travel. The Norton family was the second in town, and Orson Norton, the pioneer baby, was born on the thirty-first day of March, 1821, being the first white child born in Russell, now living in Solon. Mr. Norton moved, in the fall of 1821, to what was then known as the Eggleston Mills, in the southwest part of Bainbridge, now owned by James Fuller, son of Thomas Fuller the founder of Fullertown, at the northeast corner of Russell, in 1821 or 1822.

THE CHILLICOTHE ROAD.

was laid out in 1802, when Chillicothe was the territorial seat of government. Gen. Edward Paine, Captain Paine's father, who was then a very young man, was one of the committee to lay our and open the road. It commenced at Painesville, running through Mentor, Kirtland, Chester, and Russell. It is said that they followed an Indian trail from the Tuscarawas river to the Scioto, where the Indians traveled from one river to the other. The old Chillicothe road passed the center of Russell to Bainbridge Center, and was, and is now, one of the leading roads of the township.

NAME -- EARLY PROPRIETORS.

The township was named Russell in 1827, I suppose, in honor of the first settlers. I think it was the last township settled and named in the county of Geauga, which at that time embraced Lake county within its limits. At the commencement of its settlement, it was called the West Woods by the people of Newbury. The reason why it was not settled as soon as the adjoining townships, I suppose, to be that the speculators who bought of the Connecticut Land company, held it out of the market, or held it above the market price. In 1810 Samuel Huntington owned four hundred and fourteen acres. A little later Nathaniel Matthews had about four hundred acres in the northwest quarter of the township. Henry Champion owned one thousand acres, and the heirs of Daniel L. Coit owned a large quantity in the north and east parts of the township. Thomas and Frederick Kinsman owned a strip, about a mile wide,

110 HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.

through the center of the town east and west, and Aristarchus Champion owned a large part of the south half of Russell.

EARLY EVENTS.

Clark Robinson moved from Shaftsbury, Bennington county, Vermont, to Middlefield, in the fall of 1820, and in 1825, moved to the west part of Newbury, and bought a lot of land in Russell Center, division of Thomas Kinsman, on the east line of the township, at three dollars per acre. He commenced in the woods near the spring, where his son, David, now lives, and on the eighth of November, 1825, moved his family, consisting of his wife, Rebecca, and four children -- three sons, Clark, Edwin and David, and one daughter, Phebe, into the body of a log house, put up the day before, with no roof; had some loose boards for a floor, and in the night, had to get up and put up some boards end-ways to keep of the rain and snow. The old lady, between eighty and ninety years of age, lives with her son, David, on the same old farm. She has probably done more hard work in the township than any other woman, having lived in it more than fifty years.

Clark Robinson built the first frame buildings. The first was a cheese house, and is yet standing. The next was a barn. It was the custom, at that time, to name buildings when they were raised, and have a jug of whiskey at the raising. At this raising the boss, Samuel Coleman, took the jug and stood on the ridge-pole, and as many as had a mind to, and were sober enough, went up and stood with him and swung their hats and hurrahed while he named the building and threw the jug down into the gulley below the spring. Three of the first settlers in that part of the township came from Vermont, and married sisters -- William Jones, Thomas Manchester, and Clark Robinson. Jones located on the north side of the center road, on the east line of the township, opposite the Clark Robinson farm, and paid two dollars and seventy-five cents per acre for his purchase, cash down; and Manchester made his purchase and located farther to the west. Roswell Jones, son of William Jones, lives on the old farm, and is the most extensive land owner in town. The three sisters were smart, energetic women, reared among the hills of Vermont, near the Green mountains, and were well calculated to endure the hardships of a new country. When David Robinson was six weeks old he started from Vermont for Ohio, in his mother's arms, on a pillow in a wagon. But few women would undertake a journey of five hundred miles under such circumstances.

First School House. -- The first frame school-house in town was built on the Jones farm, and is now used as a blacksmith shop at the center, by William Chase, an ingenious workman.

We have two blacksmith shops at the center. The other is run by Jacob Chase, at present a justice of the peace, township clerk, and postmaster.

John Robinson was the first teacher in the new house, and was followed by Esquire Utley, an old settler of Newbury.

The first election held in the township was on the second day of April, 1827. There were twelve votes cast. Ebenezer Russell was elected clerk; Gideon Russell, Clark Robinson and John Lowry were elected trustees; Jonathan Rathbone and John C. Bell were elected overseers of the poor; Thomas Manchester and James M. Smith were elected fence viewers; William Russell was elected treasurer; Alpheus Russell was elected constable; Ebenezer Russell was elected supervisor of highways for district No. 1. April 10th, the trustees met and laid off the township into two highway districts.

Clark Robinson was the first justice of the peace elected in Russell. His commission bears date October 25, 1827.

Mr. John Bell came to Russell with his family of seven children from Massachusetts,

111 HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO. 111

in the fall of 1821. Jonathan Rathburn and family moved in from Newburgh in 1823. Then Lewis Sweet, Silas Barker, Mr. Black, Mr. Good-well and others soon after, settled in the south part of the township.

First School Teacher. -- Lucy Squire taught the first school in the back part of Jonathan Rathburn's house, in 1829. She has been unfortunate, and became partially deranged, and after wandering about the streets for many years, became an inmate of the insane asylum at Newburg in 1877.

The first meetings were held in the south neighborhood, by a missionary sent by some society, with instructions to get what pay he could by contributions where he preached, and the society would make up the balance of his salary. It is said that the contributions were rather dry, the six pences being scarce at that time.

First Wedding. -- Mr. John Bacheldor, of Newbury, and Miss Sally Russell were the first couple married in the township. The ceremony took place on the twenty-sixth day of November, 1825.

First Death. -- Abel Brockway was the first man who died in Russell. He was living with Mr. Rathburn, and had been boiling sap until about nine o'clock in the evening; he came in, and went to bed apparently as well as usual, was taken sick in the night, and yelled, and then came down stairs with his pants in his hand. They saw that he was very sick, and sent George Bell to Aurora for the doctor, but before he came to Brockway, he was dead. His death, perhaps, was the most sudden of any that has occurred in the township, without any known cause.

Blacksmith. -- The first blacksmith shop was built near where David Robinson now lives. William Chase, sr., was the first blacksmith.

Doctors. -- The first physician located in the township, was Dr. Brown. He came to the Center in 1842, staid about a year, and was of the regular practice.

Doctors Eggleston and Ayres, both botanic physicians, came soon after Dr. Brown left, and staid a few years. Then Dr. Clark, botanic, located a little west of the Center, staid a short time, and left. It has always been too healthy in Russell for doctors to stay long.

Clark Robinson started the first store, traded in anything the people had to sell, and kept for sale such goods as were then needed. One of the staple articles of commerce at that time was black salts -- something that every one could make that had land to clear up, by saving the ashes from the burnt log heaps and leaching them, and boiling the lye down to salts, which he would buy and haul to Pittsburgh and trade for nails, glass and other necessaries, there not being many superfluities when calico was forty-four cents a yard, and girls worked out for fifty cents a week. C. Robinson took the job to cut the timber and log out the east and west road through the center of the town; he built the store and hotel at the center; was the first man in the township that bought cattle and drove them east. He died March 21, 1840. Clark Robinson, Jr., married Emeline Munn, and died in Newbury, December 6, 1848. Edwin Robinson married Almena Prouty, and now lives in Newbury with his third wife. David Robinson married Candace Scott and lives on the old farm. Phebe Robinson married Theodore King, and lives in Harpersfield, Ashtabula county. Nathan Robinson, Jr., half brother of C. Robinson, came to Russell in September, 1826, married Mary Morton of Newbury, and went into the grist-mill and distilling business in Newbury. They had one daughter, and in a few years his wife died, when he married Miss Laura Chase for his second wife. They had three children -- George, Calvin, and Sophia, who are all living. Nathan moved from Newbury to Orange in 1837. N. S. Robinson built a saw- and grist-mill there on the Chagrin river, sold out in 1843 and dissolved partnership. Nathan Robinson moved to Russell and bought the saw-mill west of the center; run it

HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO. 112

until July, 1851, when he was killed while breaking a pair of colts, being run over by the wagon, and died in about an hour, at the age of forty-seven. After a few years his widow married Mr. Irben Green, and lives in the western part of Ohio.

Edwin Robinson says that about fifty years ago the winter was so mild and warm that the herbage grew in the woods so that Esquire Hickox, of Burton, drove a hundred head of cattle down to Russell, in March, to feed them there. He helped to watch and yard them nights, and they did well without any other feeding. In 1832 N. S. Robinson took a job to make a road across the gulley on the east and west center road in Russell, about three-quarters of a mile west of the center. They took an ox-team and sled, with tools and provisions, and followed the newly cut road until they came to the river, went up stream to find a place to cross, had to cut away the underbrush to get along, built a brush shanty to sleep in nights, had straw and blankets for bedding and built a fire to cook pork and potatoes over. There the writer did more cooking than ever he has done before or since. It took three of them and a team a week to do the job, for which they received seventeen dollars in cash.

LOCATION -- NATURAL FEATURES.

Russell township lies about fourteen miles south of Lake Erie, and is generally of a rolling or uneven surface, and yet not very hilly; not much swampy or waste land in the township. There is a large quantity of sandstone, suitable for building and bridging purposes, in a great portion of the township. In almost every part of the east half nice sandstone quarries may be found, and in a part of the southwest quarter. The north branch of the Chagrin river rises in Munson, and is the outlet of Bass lake, or what used to be called Munson pond. There was a project talked of at one time by the mill owners at Chagrin Falls, and along the stream, of making a dam at the outlet of the lake, and putting in a floom and gate, thus making a large reservoir to supply the mills in a dry time, but has not yet been done. The river comes to this town not far from the northeast corner, at Fullertown. Thomas Fuller built a saw- and grist-mill, on the river, in the northwest corner of Newbury, about 1822, and about 1847, built his new grist-mill, a little way down the stream, in Russell, and it has been doing a good business about thirty years. This northeast corner of the township was not settled very much until about 1834. Lester Alexander, William Buck, Levi Savage, and some others came before. Charles Jackson bought the corner lot. Richard Ladow came from Onondaga county, New York, in 1835. Jonathan Danforth, in 1836, bought of General Simon Perkins, agent for heirs of Daniel L. Coit, of Connecticut, at five dollars per acre; then Henry Cummins, William Wyckoff, Elder Willis, James M. Smith, and others.

The river runs from the northeast corner in a southwesterly direction, winding its way to the southwest corner, and leaves Russell, plunging over the rocks at the Falls, and runs about a mile farther, where it meets its twin sister, the south branch, from Aurora, where they mingle together and flow to the north through Orange, Mayfield, and Willoughby, and goes peacefully into the bosom of Lake Erie. Russell township is well supplied with water power; there have been six saw-mills started in it; only two yet remain, timber for sawing having become scarce. Silver creek, a clear, rapid stream, comes to Russell in two branches. The east branch rises in Newbury; the south branch comes from Bainbridge. They unite about a mile east of the center, just above where Lovel Green, an old settler of Newbury, who came to Russell, in 1834, built his saw-mill about 1835; thence it runs northwesterly, and unites with the Chagrin river. Griswold brook comes in from Chester on the north, and is clear, spring

HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO. 113

water. It is said that the speckled trout live in it. It runs southwesterly through the northwest quarter of the township, going into Orange before it reaches the east and west center road. About 1842, there were two saw-mills built on this brook--one by the Colton brothers, and run a short time; the other by Charles Graham, and is running yet.

This township abounds with large, beautiful springs of cold, clear, soft water. The timber is mostly beach and maple; some ash, whitewood, chestnut, cucumber, oak, and basswood. On the low lands black walnut, butternut, elm, sycamore, etc. Rail timber is getting scare, but stone is plenty. Line fences are quite common now. There are some beautiful hedges, mostly of osage orange, generally, by the road side; some of willow. They grow rapidly in wet soil. Russell was five miles square before we lost the nine hundred acres taken from the southwest corner in 1841. It is in 41 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, and in longitude 4 degrees 20 monutes west from Wasington, and 81 degrees 20 minutes west from Greenwich. The climate is healthy, soil good for grass and grain; dairying and stock-raising the leading occupation; sheep doing well on the uplands; fruit grows in abundance generally. The people are quiet, civil, and industrious; mostly Yankees; some foreigners.

MILLS.

Mr. Orton Judson built a saw-mill in the north part of Russell, on the north bank of the Chagrin river, a little east from where it crosses the Chillicothe road and got it running in 1834. He put in a run of stone, and so we had a grist mill. Mr. Cyrus Bailey came about 1832, and took up two lots about half a mile west from the center, where the river crosses the east and west centre road. In 1833, his father, Iddo Bailey, sr., and family, came from Gustavus, Trumbull county, Ohio, and they -- Iddo Bailey, his two sons, Cyrus and Daniel, and David Patridge -- built a saw-mill there, and got it running in 1833. There was yet another built by Aaron Bliss, on the river, down near the falls, about 1838.

From 1833 to 1837, the settlers came in very fast--Nicholas Dowen, G. S. Pelton, Mr. Shaw, Eliphalet Johnson, Robert O. Roberts, John Williams, Harvey Pelton, Jesse Pelton, and others, settled west of the center, about that time.

SCHOOLS.

The laws regulating the common schools were re-organized by the general assemby of the State of Ohio, March 1, 1853, making each township one school district, and confined to the control and management of a board of education, and the whole divided into sub-districts, and to be controlled by local directors. In 1876, the centennial year, there were nine sub-districts and a fraction, in Russell, and the average wages of teachers was: males, thirty dollars per month, and females sixteen dollars a month. Whole amount paid teachers that year was one thousand and ninety-two dollars.

CHURCHES.

Methodist Episcopal. -- This was the first church established in Russell township, organized a little west of the center, about the year 1838, by Elder West, a circuit preacher. The first members were Charles T. Bailey and wife, David Patridge and wife, G. S. Pelton and wife, and Charles Shaw -- seven members. Their first resident preacher was Orrin Ford, a very zealous man. Under his labors the membership increased in a few years to about sixteen. They held meetings around in private houses for a few years, when they built the first meeting house in the township, about the year 1842, on land then owned by Nicholas Dowen, now owned by S. Robinson, about a quarter of a mile west of the center. The house has been moved across the road, and is now used as a dwelling house. It was not very large, or elegant, and did not suit them

114 HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.

all. It is reported that a large, fat brother, said that if they were going to build such a house as that they need not put in anything for a pulpit, he could stand and hold out a shingle for the preacher to lay the Bible on.

The Wesleyan Methodist Church. -- About the year 1848 there was a division among the Methodists on the slavery question, a part of the members withdrew, and a Wesleyan Methodist church was organized embracing two families that were left of a Congregational church, that was formed in the northwest part of Russell, in the summer of 1840, when J. M. Childs was chosen deacon, and A. H. Childs was chosen clerk, which had become reduced to the two families mentioned, when their organization was given up, and they, uniting with those who came away from the Methodist Episcopal church, formed the Wesleyan Methodist church, and in 1850 they bought a piece of land of L. T. Tambling, two miles north of the center, on the west side of the Chillicothe road, a nice sandy knoll for a burying ground, and to build a meeting house on, and four of them paid for it, to-wit: H. Cummins, John Wesley, David Nutt, and J. M. Childs, and had it deeded to the trustees of the first Wesleyan Methodist church in Russell, and to their successors in office. The first three named that paid for the burying ground are dead and gone to their reward; Mr. Childs is living yet. He says that in 1851 they began to make preparations -- to build a meeting house, but, being poor, and new beginners, it went on slow, but with a hard struggle with poverty and bad management, it was finished.

Free Will Baptist Church. -- July 25, 1839, a Freewill Baptist church was organized in the south part of Russell. The first members were: Henry Whipple, John Walters, R. R. Walters and wife, Sarah S. Morse, Hannah M. Mason, Thortine L. McConoughey, and Jehiel Goodwill. Their first preachers were: A. K. Moulton and Henry Whipple -- eight members. They met at the Isham school-house, and, after a few years, located at Chagrin Falls, and are alive yet.

The Baptist Church. -- The regular Baptist church, of South Russell, was organized, about 1841, by Elder Stephenson, of Chester. The first members were: Jackson Gifford and wife, Mrs. Josiah Nettleton, Harry Isham and wife, Parley Wilder, Lydia Warren, and Lemuel -- eight members. Elder Stephenson preached for them awhile; also, Elders Green, Jackson, Thompson, and Willard, until he united with the Disciples. After awhile they became reduced in numbers, and finally sold their house, and it was moved away, about 1868. The Baptist meeting house was built, in 1846, two miles south of the center, at Soules Corners.

The Disciple Church. -- The edifice of this organization was built, in 1848, on the east side of the road, opposite the Baptist house. The Disciple congregation was organized, in 1843, by Charles Bartlett. The first members were: A. L. Soule, Myron Soule and wife, Benjamin Soule and wife, Delia Soule, Anson Matthews and wife, Oliver Nettleton, David Nettleton, Mrs. A. C. Smith, Benjamin Matthews and wife, and Mr. Hyne and wife. Elder Wm. A. Lillie was their first resident preacher. Elder Wm. Hayden was the first to call the attention of the people to the principles of the reformation. A. Bentley, J. H. Jones, Jonas Hartzel, Dr. Belding, and other preachers, have labored there. Isaac Errett, and A. S. Hayden held the first meeting in the Disciple house, January, 1849.

Three brothers, A. L. Soule, Myron Soule, and Benjamin Soule, came to Russell, in 1839, from Onondaga county, New York. They were active business men. A. L. Soule, Benjamin Soule, and Richard Robinson, with their families, moved to Michigan, about 1855. A. L. Soule died there in a few years. Myron Soule died, March 22, 1863, in Russell.

The Union meeting-house at the center was built in 1850. Elder A. B. Green held a protracted meeting there, in the spring of 1851, and fourteen converts

HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO. 115

were added to the congregation of the Disciples. Elder A. Burns is at present preaching at the Disciple bouse one-half of the time.

About 1850, the ladies of the Disciple congregation organized a sewing society. Mrs. A. L. Soule was the first president, and Cordelia Robinson, treasurer. Its object was to help the needy. It continued but a few years.

BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES.

The Soldiers' Aid Society. -- This was started in 1861 -- Mrs. James Cooper, first president; Mrs. Ahira Haven, vice-president, and Mrs. Myron Soule, secretary. Mrs. Cooper acted a few months, when Mrs. David Robinson was chosen president, and acted during the war. The society labored faithfully for the brave soldiers in the field. There was no estimate made of the value of the large amount of hospital stores sent on. They packed one dozen boxes, and sent some packages. The contents were twenty comforts, thirty quilts, twenty-nine sheets, fifty-five pillows, seven pillow-ticks, fifty-eight pairs of pillow-cases, one hundred and seventy-one shirts, fifty-six pairs of drawers, eighty towels, one hundred and twenty-one handkerchiefs, one hundred and nineteen pairs of socks, fifty-eight pounds of bandages and compresses, one hundred and one pounds of dried fruit, twenty pounds of lint, one-half barrel of pickles, one and a half bushels of onions, one blanket, plates, spoons, pins, etc.

The village of Chagrin Falls until 1841 was about equally divided, lying in two counties, one-half in the southwest corner of Russell township, Geauga county, and the other half in Orange, Cuyahoga county, making it inconvenient for the inhabitants. Dr. Vincent was at that time a member of the Ohio legis lature, and living at the Falls, secured the passage of an act transferring nine hundred acres of land from the southwest corner of Russell to Cuyahoga county, and attached it to Orange, and in order to make a fair show of honesty, gave in exchange nine hundred acres from the northeast part of Orange to Geauga county, and attached it to Russell While that taken from Russell was good farming land with half the village on it, that given in exchange from Orange, was nearly worthless, being rough, hilly land, lying along the east side of the Chagrin, cut up with deep gulleys. Then, when the people of Geauga county found that they had got shaved, an effort was made to get the law repealed, but failing in that, they got so much of it repealed, as compelled them to take the Orange land. Consequently Russell lost her best corner.

SECRET SOCIETY.

About the year 1854 there was an American order or subordinate council organized in Russell. Their object was said to be, to purify the body politic, and place our country upon an American platform, to Americanize America, and to resist all efforts to unite Church and State. It seemed to spread rapidly for a while. It is said that there were organized in Ohio within a year, over one thousand councils with a membership of one hundred and twenty thousand, called Know-Nothings.

A constitution and by-laws for a Grant club was signed in Russell, by one one hundred and forty-three members, in 1868.

SOUTH RUSSELL.

The South Russell cemetery is located about a half mile west of Soule's Corners, on a nice, dry, gravelly knoll. One-half acre was purchased of S. R. Willard, November 15, 1849, for forty dollars. In 1863 it was enlarged. A strip two rods wide, on the south side, was bought of Isaac Rairick for ten dollars, and added to the lot. The first one buried there was Stephen Losey, who was killed by a tree falling on him while chopping. This was the first public burying-ground located in Russell. Before this time, for about thirty

116 HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.

years, many of the dead were buried in family burying-grounds. There are quite a number of them in the township.

Nathan Robinson, sr., died in Russell, December 2, 1860, at the age of ninety-seven, and was buried in the family burying-ground of his son Clark. Asa Robinson came to Newbury in 1818, from Massachusetts, and died at the residence of his son Benjamin, in Russell, in 1844, aged seventy-three. He had a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters -- four sons now living in Russell. Artemus and Benjamin came in 1835. Artemus located at the center; Benjamin a little south. John Robinson was one of the clerks at an election held in Russell in 1827, and now lives about a mile north of the center. David lives in the southwest part of the township.

Anson Mathews was a justice of the peace of Russell in 1833. He was a prominent business man, and a member of the legislature about 1847.

David Osborn, an early settler in the southwestern part of the township, died March 26, 1849, aged eighty-nine years and nine months. His wife, aged fifty-six, died the same day, and both were buried in the same grave.

Benjamin Mathews came to Russell from Massachusetts in 1832, with his family. Mrs. Mathews died in April, 1873. The children are married; some living in Ohio, some in Michigan.

Harry Isham and Tabor Warren came to Russell about 1835, and located on the Chillicothe road, about one and one-half miles south of the center. Mr. Isham died in 1855. Mr. Warren is still living there.

Harry Burnett, one of the early settlers of Newbury, came to Russell in 1843. Mr. Burnett and wife are living with their son, Joshua, west of Soule's Corners. Both are between eighty and ninety years of age.

Ithiel Wilber and wife, also from Newbury, are living where A. L. Soule did before he went to Michigan.

Parley Wilder, one of our oldest citizens, lives east of the corners.

John Lines, living southeast of the center, on the Champion tract, paid eight dollars per acre in 1848.

POPULATION -- DROUTH.

The population of Russell in 1840 was seven hundred and forty-two, and in 1850, was one thousand and eighty-three; from about that time it has been growing less. In 1852 there were over fifty scholars in the center school district, now less than ten (in other districts the decrease is less), and there are some reasons for it. One is, the children have grown up and gone, another is, one man has bought out his neighbors, their farms have become larger, and schools less. It is estimated that the population has decreased about one-third.

The great drouth of 1845 was very severe. The district of country that suffered the most, was about one hundred miles in length, and fifty or sixty in width, extending along the southern shore of Lake Erie. Geauga county suffered greatly. There was no rain from about the first of April until the tenth of June, when it rained a little for one day; no more until the second of July, when it rained enough to make the roads a little muddy; no more until September. Many wells, springs and streams of water became dry, and others nearly so. The grass crop almost entirely failed, the pastures in some places were so dry that the dust would rise in walking over them. The grass in meadows would burn like a stubble. Corn and oats were nearly a failure, some fields of wheat were not harvested; scions set in the nursery dried up; forest trees shed their leaves much earlier than usual; many witheredr The grasshop pers were so plenty, and green herbage so scarce that they trimmed thistles and elders by the roadside.

HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO. 117

DAIRY INTERESTS.

The first cheese factory started in the State of Ohio was the Maple Hill factory, in Munson. It was built in 1862 by Anson Bartlett, who went to Rome, New York, and spent one summer learning the factory mode of making cheese. The second year he conducted the factory it worked the milk of one thousand cows.

F. B. Pelton built the first cheese factory in Russell, in 1868, near the center of the town, and ran it successfully several years, then sold it to Messrs. L. M. Smith and Harry Burnett, and they have been doing a good business there the seasons of 1876-7, and are running now (1878); cheese low from five to seven and one-half cents. About fourteen years ago, at the time of the great Rebellion, it was high. It ranged from ten to eighteen cents per pound.

The Union cheese factory at South Russell, was built in 1871, by R. U. Roberts, Mark Mathews, Isaac Rairick, and other stockholders, at a cost of two thousand seven hundred and thirty-three dollars and seventy-two cents, is yet running and doing a good paying business.

SONS OF TEMPERANCE.

July 13, 1876, there was a division of the order of the sons of temperance organized at the center of Russell, with about forty charter members, called Russell Center Division, No. 44, Sons of Temperance. The first officers were: Jacob Ghase, W. P.; Mrs. Marion Wilber, W. A.; W. A. Chase, R. S.; A. E. Pelton, A. R. S.; S. Robinson, treasurer; Joseph Wooley, chaplain; H. S. Black, P. G. W. P.; W. A. Pelton, O. S.; Mrs. W. A. Pelton, I. S.; Herman Green, C.; Mrs. Herman Green, A. C.

AN EARLY EVENT.

About forty years ago it was said that there had been some land cleared in the northwest part of Russell, and had grown up to bushes and briars, and it was called Huntington place. No one seemed to know when it was done, until now, I have found a sister of the pioneer. She says her brother, David Huntington, came to Russell about 1820 or 1821, and bought a piece of land in the northwest quarter of the township, built a log house on what is clalled the Burgess farm, made a clearing, raised a piece of wheat there; that his health failed him, and he left the place in four years. Being unable to work, he wrote to his brother Daniel, and in 1827 he came from New York State, and went on the place and lived there a while; that their neighbors were in Chester, on the north, and in Orange, west; that he went over the river and worked for a Mr. Dean, to get corn; would take a bushel and carry it home on his back at night, and the next day take it to Fuller's mill to be ground, and home again the same way, making in all about ten miles' travel with a bushel on his back. No wonder he left.

POLITICAL AND MORAL CHARACTERISTICS.

The politics of Russell have changed somewhat; the Democrats used to have a majority. At the presidential election of 1844, they had seven majority for Polk. Now the Republicans have a very large majority -- some over a hundred.

The inhabitants of Russell are a reading people. In 1877 there were about two hundred periodicals taken in the township. The number taken at each house varied some. They ranged from none to five; generally one.

The great Murphy temperance wave that is sweeping over the country, struck Russell in the spring of 1877, and the National Christian Temperance union of Russell was organized May 29, 1877, by Messrs. Rising and Jackson, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. First officers: Cyrus Mathews, president; Jacob Chase, first vice-president; Marion Wilber, second vice-president; Henry Hill, third

118 HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.

vice-president; Miss Lucy A. Robinson, secretary; Haven Roberts, treasurer.

BUSINESS INTERESTS.

Wagon Makers. -- The first wagon makers in town were Alfred Smith & Bro. They came about 1844, built a lot of wagons for Nathan Robinson, at the sawmill, then located at the center, and stayed until 1852, when C. L. Bartlett, our present wagon maker, came.

Shoemakers. -- The first shoemaker, that I know of, in town was Thomas Manchester, who located in the east part of Russell; then Hiram Jones, Ansel Savage, Emery Savage, and others. Hiram Jones built the first shop at the center; had plenty of work for a number of years. There has been no shoemaker here for the last ten or fifteen years. All have left; as also have the tailors. The people buy their boots, shoes, and clothing, ready-made.

Tailors. -- Benjamin Goodell was the first tailor in town. He located in the south part, and was there in 1832. Mr. _____ Heath had a tailor shop at the center for a few years. He left the place in 1850, or about that time.

Postmasters. -- Ebenezer Russell was the first postmaster in the township. His compensation, the first quarter, amounted to about thirty-one cents. Christopher Edic was the next postmaster. He, living at the center, held the office awhile under postmaster Russel -- when he was appointed. Iddo Bailey, Jr., says that he has carried the mail from Russell to Cleveland, nineteen miles, several times on foot -- but generally on horseback.

THE CONTRAST.

In the art gallery at the centennial were found two portraits, in the exhibit of that enterprising photographer, Ryder, of Cleveland: one of Col. A. S. Parks, of Elyria, Ohio, who, in 1820, carried the mail from Erie, Pennsylvania, to Cleveland, Ohio, on horseback; and by the side of it, that of General Geo. S. Bangs, who, in 1875, inaugurated the means of carrying the mail over the same route, in fifty ton lots, a mile a minute.

Samuel Robinson came to Russell, in 1830, was married to Miranda Patterson, of Newbury, December 2, 1832; went into partnership with his brother, Nathan; continued in it about fourteen years, under the firm name of N. & S. Robinson; bought a grist-mill and distillery, that Harry Burnett and Ithiel Wilber had built, in Newbury, on the east branch of Silver creek, just before it runs into Russell. They ran them about seven years; did custom work in the mill. Besides grinding for the still, they ground many grists that men and boys brought on their backs from Russell and the west part of Newbury. They had the underbrush cut out through the woods, from the Bell settlement to the Chillicothe road, so that the people could come to mill with ox-sleds, stone-boats, on horseback, or a-foot. Some came from Bainbridge. The mill was in the woods, between two roads that were a mile apart; yet it was not very lonesome there. They had a good run of custom, for some reason or other. The mill-stones were worked out of solid flint rocks, or large hard-heads; were four feet across, and the runner would weigh over a ton. Mr. Thomas Billings, of Newbury, said that he helped get them out, and that they cost about sixty dollars. They have been at works in three places -- first in Newbury, next in Orange, and then in Russell, where they now lie buried, where the Bailey saw-mill stood.

CASUALTIES.

The saddest affair that has ever occurred in Russell was the burning of Mr. Cyrus Millard's house, March 7, 1843, when a brother of Mr. Millard's, aged fourteen, and four children, the oldest seven and the youngest two years old (one son and three daughters), were burnt to death in it, while Millard and wife were gone to a neighbor's in the evening. How it took fire is not known.

HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO. 119

Joseph Holland, a young man about seventeen or eighteen years of age, just over from England, was drowned while trying to cross the Chagrin river in a canoe, December 2, 1847. About this time, or perhaps before, there was a man by the name of Jerome living near the northwest corner of the township; a lame man. One stormy day, late in November, he went to the center and got a jug of whiskey, started for home towards night but failed to reach there. The next day search was made for him. It having snowed that night he was not found until the following day. When found he was sitting up against a tree, dead and frozen, with his jug standing beside him.

In the spring of 1851 Mr. Lyman Washburn was killed by the fall of a tree.

In the fall of 1851 Frank Newel was killed by the fall of a limb from a tree during a shower. He was the first one buried in the new burying ground of north Russell, but it has filled up quite fast since then.

Northwest Russell began to be settled about 1833. Charles T. Bailey, George Edic, and John Wooley were about the first in the woods, about 1836. Alexander Frazer, David Nutt, and Joseph Wooley came soon after. In 1838 and 1839 provisions were very high and scarce. Joseph Wooley said that he and some others traveled in four townships before they could find anything to make bread of. They would eat coons, woodchucks and wild turkeys, but deer were then scarce, and the first settlers not used to hunting, being mostly foreigners.

In 1840, 1841 and 1842 J. M. Childs, James Logan, Allen Burgess, Orrin Ford, Van Valkenburghs, Judd, Barber, David Houghton, Washburn, the Coltons, and others, all built log houses, had logging bees, were sociable and friendly, went to meeting on foot or with ox and sled, wagon or stoneboat, worked hard, slept well, and took comfort. About 1838 there was a revival of religion when Joseph Wooley joined the Methodist church. He was very active and took a prominent part in the cause; was recemmended by the class to the quarterly conference, and was licensed to exhort in 1845, appointed deacon in 1854, and ordained in 1859, by Bishop Scott. He is yet with us, a good, faithful, christian man, well liked as a neighbor and preacher. There have been two other preachers raised here in the woods -- Henry Whipple who became an eminent preacher of the Free Will Baptist order, a self made man In 1840 he had a little hut made of poles and covered with poles and brush. It stood near where the Weslyan meeting house now stands. It was called "Henry Whipple's study." Henry S. Childs was born and brought up here, he went to Oberlin a year, and is now preaching for the Wesleyan order.

I am indebted to Mr. J. M. Childs for a considerable portion of the history of northwest Russell.

THE GREAT FRESHET.

On the morning of September 13, 1878, the Chagrin river rose higher than it had ever been known to rise before. It had been raining steadily for three days, the rain falling in torrents on the night of the twelfth. The destruction of property was very great. Cattle, sheep, fences, fields of grain, mill-dams and bridges were swept away.

MILITARY ROSTER.

It was the policy of our fathers to prepare for war in time of peace, hence we had company trainings and general trainings; but the militia system was so changed that trainings ceased, and the Rebellion found us unprepared for war.

120 HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.

The first company training held in Russell was in 1835, and they were kept up until about 184-, when the law was repealed.

SOLDIERS FROM RUSSELL IN THE WAR OF THE GREAT REBELLION,
FROM 1861 TO 1865.

George Terrell, killed in battle. 	
William Terrell,
Samuel Beswick, died of measles. 	
John Beswick, died of measles.
George St. John, killed in battle at Perrysburgh. 	
Westel Hunt.
Henry Pelton, died. 	
Harlow Pelton,
Alonzo Van Valkenburgh, 	
Philip Dines,
William Dines, 	
Joseph Dines,
James Dines, killed. 	
Sherman Logan,
Henry Logan, died at Andersonville. 	
Silas Childs,
Henry Scott, 	
A. A. Judd,
Edwin Potter, 	
Elwood Potter,
Henry Ladow, 	
Sylvester Ladow,
Frederick Bose, 	
William Hall,
Clay Robinson, 	
John Pugsley,
Zethan Perkins, died. 	
Orrin Snedeker,
John Sours, 	
Charles Ellis,
Avery Jones, 	
Joel Boswell,
Truman Phinney, 	
George Gates,
Stephen Cates, 	
Samuel Woolley,
H. C. Burgess, 	
Warren Green, came back -- died from a wound.
Albert Ladow, 	
Daniel Nettleton,
John Mason, 	
Thomas Sanders,
David Ladow, 	
Christopher Cubler,
Herbert Fisher, 	
Nelson Rose, killed.
Benson Rose, 	
Joseph Ayres, killed at Perrysburgh.
Charles Danforth, 	
Robert Schuyler, killed.
John Schuyler, 	
Henry Schuyler, wounded.
Cornelius Eames, 	
Frank Chappel,
Melvin Chappel, 	
Charles Van Valkenburgh,
Erastus Sherman, in the United States Navy. 	
Mortimer Snedeker,
James Moneysmith, 	
James Boswell,
--Allen, substitute for Matthew Isham, 	
T. C. Haskins, sent substitute.
John Mason, substitute for Joshua Burnett. 	
Thomas Sanders, substitute for M. L. Smith.
R. U. Roberts, drafted, was under pay one day and discharged.

I have endeavored to give as full and correct a list of the brave soldiers that went from Russell to crush out the great Rebellion, as I could gather under the circumstances, after a lapse of more than twelve years since the close of the war, and no record kept of them at the time.

[ 121 ]

B A I N B R I D G E.
_______

BY MRS. WILLIAM HOWARD.

Township No. 6, in the ninth range of the townships in the Connecticut Western Reserve, is situated in the southwest corner of Geauga county, and contains sixteen thousand one hundred and thirty-eight acres of land. Originally it was divided into three tracts, the lines of which run from the east to the west lines of the township. Tract one consists of all the north part of the township, and contains six thousand and three acres of land, and was purchased of the Connecticut Land company, November 3, 1798, by Samuel Lord. The south line of tract one is the north line of land now owned by Pierce Whipple. Tract two is the central part of the township, and contains four thousand and forty-three acres, and was purchased of the Connecticut Land company, in 1800, by Judson Canfield, David Waterman, James Johnson, Nathaniel Church, Elijah Wadsworth and Frederick Wolcott, in common. In 1801 a deed or partition was executed, giving to each of the above named purchasers their proportion of the tract, viz: Judson Canfield, 1,636 acres; David Waterman, 680 acres; James Johnson, 868 acres; Nathaniel Church, 346 acres; Elijah Wadsworth, 512 acres, and Frederick Wolcott, the balance. The south line of tract two is the south line of the land now owned by Rufus Pettibone, and was purchased of the Connecticut Land company, September 10, 1878, by Nathaniel Gorham and Warren Parks, and, December 19, 1798, was sold by Gorham and Parks to Benjamin Gorham. March 7, 1815, Simon Perkins purchased of Benjamin Gorham the west part of tract three, containing 4,000 acres. Soon after Calvin Austin purchased the balance, and for a time township No. 6 was called Austintown, in honor of Mr. Austin. Each of the tracts one, two, and three, were subdivided into lots. Tract one has forty-eight lots, numbering from south to north across the tract. Tract two has twenty-eight lots, of unequal size, numbering from west to east. Tract three has thirty-two lots, of nearly equal size, commencing to number at the northeast corner of the tract, thence south and north across the tract.

TAX SALE.

All of lots fifteen, thirty-four, thirty-seven to forty-eight inclusive, containing one thousand and nine hundred and fifty-eight acres, in tract three, was sold to Asa Foot, December 26, 1826, for the sum of forty-seven dollars and thirty-seven cents, being the tax due for 1824 and 1825. It was subsequently redeemed by Samuel Lord, for one hundred dollars.

ROADS.

The Chillicothe is the oldest road, having been surveyed under the direction of the State, by Edward Paine, in 1801. The line of the road is north and south, a little east of the center of the township. There are two other roads running north and south, between the Chillicothe and the east line of the township, which extend across it. West of the Chillicothe there are none extending across the township, north and south, and only one leading east and west across the township, and that the center road, leading from Auburn, on the east, to Solon, Cuyahoga county, on the west. There are other roads leading westerly,

122 HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.

but not continuously, on account of natural barriers near the streams in the western part of the township.

There are two railroads running through the township. The Atlantic and Great Western railway crosses the southwest corner, making nearly two miles of road in the township, with a small station, known as Geauga Lake. The Canton, Bridgeport and Painesville railway crosses the northwestern corner, with about one mile of road in the township. This road is completed only from Solon to Chagrin Falls.

STREAMS.

The main branch of the Chagrin river enters the town from the south a short distance west of the center line, its source being the Harmon pond in Aurora. It continues its course northerly, and leaves the town on the west line north of the center line, continuing to run northerly to Lake Erie. A tributary of the Chagrin runs through the south part of Auburn and Bainbridge, leaving the latter at Centerville Mills, about one hundred rods from its confluence with the main branch in Aurora.

Another tributary known as the Plumb Bottom creek (it derived its name from the great number of wild plumb trees which formerly grew along its margin), rises at a spring a few rods west of the west line of Auburn, near the road leading from Auburn to Bainbridge, thence running westerly to its confluence with the main branch at a point directly west of where it rises. Nearly all the streams and the tributaries in the township are the outflow of pure springs which issue from the fissures of the drift rock, which underlies the town. So numerous are the springs that few farms lack a supply of pure spring water.

Geauga lake (formerly known as Giles pond), is situated in the southwest corner of the town in lot twenty-eight, tract three, and is the head water of Tinker's creek which empties into Cuyahoga river. The waters of this lake are very pure and of great depth. On the south of it is a beautiful gravel beach. Its location, geologically, is an anomaly, being in a basin-like depression within less than one-half a mile of the deep ravine, through which the Chagrin river passes, with its drainage in the opposite direction from the river.

TIMBER AND SOIL.

The timber consists largely of beech and maple, with an abundance of white ash and a limited supply of oak and chestnut. Whitewood, cucumber, basswood and cherry are quite abundant, and along the streams some black walnut is found.

The soil is a deep sandy or clay loam, bordering in many places on sand very rich and productive.

Stone is abundant for building purposes. The principal quarries are found on land owned by J. Patterson, K. W. Henry, R. P. Osborn, and William Hutchins.

ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWN.

At a meeting of the county commissioners held at Chardon on the first Monday of March, 1817, township number six, in the ninth range, was given the name of Bainbridge, which included what was subsequently called Auburn. When the separation from Auburn took place is not positively known. The chattel tax duplicate of 1817 contains names of tax payers who then resided in Bainbridge, which included the territory which is now Auburn, and in 1818 those names were separated, and are in Auburn and Bainbridge townships. Hence I conclude the separation took place in the summer of 1817.

Who the first township officers were, or when or where the first election took place it is impossible to determine, as the records are lost.

HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO. 123

SCHOOLS.

The citizens of the township have always manifested a due appreciation of educational advantages and have taken much interest in their common schools. There are ten school districts now in the township, four of which are union districts, composed of the territory from Solon on the west, and Aurora on the south, annexed to Bainbridge for school purposes. There has always been a good supply of resident teachers. Among the most efficient and experienced of the present time, are: C. M. Foot, J. W. Scott, S. J. McFarland, A. R. Phillips, J. J. Bliss, Sylvia Pettibone, Fanny McCollum, Mary Whipple, and others of less experience who bid fair to become teachers of the first rank. In addition to the common schools, select schools have been taught at different times in the township. One is now in session which is being taught by J. J. Bliss. The total amount of money expended for tuition, and other school purposes, during the last six years was nine thousand seven hundred and forty-one dollars and ninety-eight cents. The first school in the township was taught in a small log house, near George Smith's, by a young man from Windham, named Skiff, in 1816.

CHURCHES.

The pioneers of Bainbridge were men of early christian training, and had much of the puritanic regard for the rights and influences of religious society, and at a very early day religious meetings were held in the township, and on the ninth of June, 1819, the Congregational church was organized by John Leslie, a traveling missionary. The following persons were its first members, viz: George Smith, Susanna Smith, Jonas H. Childs, Gideon Russell, Justus Bissell, Jonathan Ely, Asahel North, Jemima Russell, Nancy Bissell, and Rebecca Wilber. Soon after Lydia Childs' and Hannah North's names were added, making twelve members. Jonas Childs was chosen moderator, and Asahel North, clerk. For many years it was a very prosperous and flourishing society, and early in its history, 1832 and 1833, erected a very commodious church building on land leased for that purpose from Joseph North. In 1839 and 1840 there was quite an extensive revival of religion, and the church received many accessions, but soon dissensions arose and some withdrew from the society, and very few were added to its numbers for many years. In 1850 Oliver O. Brown, a man of little moral worth, purchased the farm from which the site for the church was leased, claiming that he had bought the site and made an effort to prevent religious services being held in the church. Becoming exasperated by some denials of his right to the property, he entered the church, October 13, 1851, tore out the pulpit and its adornings and burnt them in front of the church. The society soon took the necessary legal measures and defeated his purpose to hold the property. By death and removal the society's numbers gradually decreased, and about nine years since the church building was sold for secular purposes. Among the pastors of this church were: J. A. Halleck, Sherman B. Canfield, S. G. Clark, Bridgman, Parmelee, Childs, and Ward. The last scheduled pastor was Rev. Mead Holmes.

The Methodist Episcopal church was organized in the spring of 1822, by Rev. B. O. Plimpton, with thirty members. Harvey Baldwin was appointed class-leader. The principal members were: Joseph Ely and wife, Phillip Haskins and wife, P. D. McConoughey and wife, Asahel North, Jr., and wife, Jonathan Daniel and Wesley McFarland, with their wives, John Henry and wife, Gordon Kent and wife, Orrin Henry, Joseph Witter and wife, and Oliver Wheeler and wife. Services were held in private houses first, and later, in the log house built for a town hall. Some years later a small church was built at

124 HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.

the center; at what date we are not advised. In 1866 the old church was sold to the township, for a town hall, and a new one erected in the summer of 1867, on the site of the old hotel (kept by Stewart and others), at a cost of about six thousand dollars. We have the names of all the ministers who have labored for the society since its organization in 1822, but the list is lengthy and we name only those who were among the first, viz: William Sawyze was the first presiding elder; B. O. Plimpton the first minister sent here by the Erie conference. Then followed Ira Eddy, William H. Collins, Orrin Gilmore, P. Green, W. C. Henderson, H. Hopkins, C. Jones, J. McLean, T. Vaughn, A. Bronson, W. B. Mack, D. Goddard, J. J. Stedman, and many others. The name of the present pastor is T. B. Tait. There is now a flourishing Sabbath-school connected with the church, of which C. E. Chase is superintendent.

In 1877 a Universalist society was organized by Rev. Wilson, of Akron. Services are held in the town hall every alternate Sabbath. A Sabbath-school has also been organized, with Miss Lizzie Shaw as superintendent. Rev. G. L. Perin, pastor.

EARLY SETTLERS.

In commencing the biographical history of the settlement of Bainbridge, we append a sketch of the McConoughey family, the first who settled in the township, the principle part of which was obtained from notes, written by Rev. A. N. McConoughey, the youngest of the family, and the first child born in the township.

David McConoughey was the first settler in what is now the township of Bainbridge, having moved within its limits on Thanksgiving day, 1811. He was of Scotch-Irish descent. His grandfather (also named David) emigrated to America from the north of Ireland, soon after his marriage, about the year 1725. He first settled in what was then Watertown, near Boston, Massachusetts. There his son David was born, in February, 1732. In 1752, the family removed into what is now Blandford, Hampden county, Massachusetts. There the grandfather, and father of David (third) died; the latter, in 1806, aged seventy-four years. He was a soldier in the patriot army of the Revolution. He served with credit, and received an honorable discharge and a land warrant for his services. He had a fine education, and was the clerk of the township of Blandford about twenty years. His son, David McConoughey (third), was born in Blandford, Massachusetts, August 6, 1787, and died in Bainbridge, September 25, 1849; aged eighty-two years. His wife was Mary Carter. She was of Scotch, English, and Welsh ancestry. Her father was Scotch, her mother English and Welsh. Her great-grandfather was a Scottish nobleman, tracing his descent from a sister of Robert Bruce. The name was originally McCarter, but one of his progenitors, for his gallantry in battle, received the honor of knighthood, with a change of name to Cartter. The progenitor of the family in America came over about the year 1700, and settled in Virginia. His plantation was destroyed by an incursion of the Indians, upon which event he removed to Massachusetts, and settled in Boston. His only son, James Bruce Carrter, was educated at Harvard college, for a minister of the gospel, but preferred the sea to the pulpit; was owner and captain of an East Indiaman, and for many years was a successful trader. After a time fickle fortune deserted him. His vessel, with its cargo, were lost at sea; he narrowly escaped with his life. In reduced circumstances, he took up his abode in Westfield, Massachusetts, and engaged in teaching Greek and Latin, in which he was an accomplished scholar. He taught the first school ever taught in Blandford, where, for a time, he resided. His son, Nehemiah, was born in Westfield. His eldest daughter, Mary Carrter, was born in Westfield, June 22, 1770; was married to David McConoughey (third) in 1792, and died in Oberlin, Ohio, January 22, 1864; aged ninety-three years and

HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO. 125

seven months. After having shared life's toils, its joys; and sorrows for more than fifty-seven years, this venerable couple repose side by side at the summit of a beautiful eminence, in the northeastern part of the township, and very near the home of their later years. There, also, rest the remains of many of their descendants.

The family left Blandford, Massachusetts, November 9, 1810. The family consisted of father, mother, and six children, three of each sex. The eldest, a son, nearly nineteen years of age; the youngest, a son, about three years old. The journey at that season of the year was extremely tedious and dreary. The distance of nearly six hundred miles, through mud and snow, with one yoke of oxen, and one horse, was traversed in fifty-three days. Of what occurred during the journey we have no account, save of the last night, which was spent in the woods in Bedford, the second town west of Bainbridge, where they encamped for the night, and were serenaded through the weary hours by bands of hungry wolves, who seemed chanting their own death song, as well they might at the coming of this family, who aided very much in their extermination. On the first day of January, 1811, they arrived at the cabin of Samuel McConoughey, a younger brother of David, who had settled in the northwestern part of Aurora, in 1806. Here the family remained till the following November.

In the early part of the year 1811, Mr. McConoughey purchased one hundred acres of land of Benjamin Gorham, in the southeast corner of Bainbridge, in lot three, tract three, now owned by Lucas Hurd. Upon this land the father and sons commenced clearing away a portion of the forest, and building a cabin, which was ready for occupancy, and to which the family moved on Thanksgiving day, 1811. It was a rudely constructed cabin, eighteen by twenty feet, of round logs, a huge fire-place, a puncheon floor made of logs split, and the flat surface upwards, a stick chimney, plastered inside with clay mortar to prevent it taking fire (a precaution not always successful), without chamber floor, a cover of long split shingles, held in place by heavy poles, one door opening north, and not a pane of glass in the apertures which served as windows. The scanty supply of furniture was brought from the old home, with the exception of a few articles manufactured by the family. For a short time there were no other inhabitants in the tract of wilderness now known as Bainbridge. To the east of them, lay what is now Auburn township, in which there was no human habitation, their nearest neighbor being the brother in Aurora. Between the two cabins lay nearly six miles of unbroken forest, infested with bears and wolves, intersected by streams of water, and dotted with black ash swamps, which must be traversed in visiting the nearest neighbor and friend. We fancy there were many sad, lonely hours, in which the friends of their early life and dear old home were tearfully remembered. But they were people of much practical sense; and the wife and mother had a purpose in coming to that wilderness home, which, if accomplished, would repay her for all the toil and privation of the undertaking. She was striving to save her family from the blighting curse of intemperance, which threatened the destruction of all she held most dear. The result proved the wisdom of her attempt, and rewarded her sacrifices and sufferings. She had a great deal joy of seeing her husband become a christian and total abstainer from all intoxicating drinks, and to see her children grow up intelligent, respectable people, utterly abhorring rum and rum-sellers.

Mr. McConoughey was a quiet, unambitious man, of clear perception and unquestionable integrity. He was never wealthy, and never aspired to be. When about fifty years of age he became a christian, and a year or two later united with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he remained a worthy member till his death. His wife was also a member of the same church.

126 HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.

Mrs. McConoughey was far more aspiring and ambitious than her husband, and was more energetic and enterprising. She possessed a very superior intellect, and retained her faculties unimpaired till the last hour of life. She was a kind and devoted mother, and a true christian.

The sons of the family were all bred to farming, which occupation they all engaged in through life, with the exception of the younger one, Austin N., who, after marriage, studied four years at Oberlin college, and graduated in theology at that institution; was ordained to the gospel ministry by the Lorain Congregational association in August, 1842, and has been engaged in the ministry about thirty-eight years. During a few last years of David, Jr.'s, life he studied and practiced medicine, with marked success. The daughters all married farmers, and were all estimable women.

The eldest son, Colonel P. D. McConoughey, was one of the famous hunters of this section, killing deer, bears, elk, and wolves, in great numbers. It is said he was known to have killed as many as five bears in a single day. On one occasion, while hunting in company with Josiah Nettleton, he killed four full-grown deer, and Nettleton, five, in little more than half a day -- Nettleton lending his rifle to McConoughey, with which he killed his fourth.

The father was also a hunter of some note, killing scores of bears and wolves. A bear story is related of the two hunters and a famous bear dog, which may be of interest. A very large hollow tree had been felled for bears. Porter, and his cousin Jarvis McConoughey, had fired through a small opening at a bear inside of the tree, when the dog rushed into the large hollow, attacked the bear, which was but slightly wounded. The howls and growls which were heard by the hunters indicated that a furious battle was raging, in which bruin would be the victor. The father instantly threw off his coat, and went down the hollow to the rescue of the dog. It was twenty feet from the entrance to the scene of action. Here he seized the dog by the hinder legs and slowly worked himself back until Porter could reach his feet, and by his assistance all were drawn out together, the dog and bear locked in a mutual grip by teeth and claws. The bear, which was a very large one, weighing over four hundred pounds, was instantly run through the heart with a lance, called the bear-spear, in the hands of the senior. On examination the tree was found to contain two more bears, each of more than half the size of the mother.

As before stated, there were six children of the McConoughey family, who came with the parents to Bainbridge, of whom Col. Porter D., the eldest, was born in Blandford, Massachusetts, March 18, 1793, and died in Bainbridge, June 19, 1867. He was twice married; first to Miss Margaret Nettleton, in 1821. Eight children were born of this union, seven of whom survived the father, and five are still living. The mother died in 1848.

The second marriage of Porter was in 1851, to Miss Elvira Marsh, of Chagrin Falls. Five children were born of this marriage, four of whom are living. His widow is still living, and resides in Oberlin, Ohio.

Mary E., the eldest daughter of David, was born at Blandford, Massachusetts, March 20, 1795, and was married twice. First, to Zebina Kennedy, of Aurora, February 22, 1813. This was the first marriage in the township of Bainbridge. The ceremony was performed by Esquire Blackman, of Aurora. Mr. Kennedy lived but a short time after his marriage, having some connection with the soldiers near Lake Erie, where he visited and contracted a disease from which he died, very soon after his return, and in less than three months after her marriage, the young bride was called to exchange bridal robes for widow's weeds. She was married the second time in August, 1814, to Julius Riley, of Aurora (the ceremony at each marriage was performed by Esquire Blackman, of Aurora). By this marriage she became the mother of six children, five of whom

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survive her. She died in Aurora, April, 1867. Her husband is still living.

The second daughter of the Conoughey's, Selina M., was born in Blandford, January 19, 1797. She was married March 20, 1826, to Horace Crosby, of Bainbridge. The fruits of this marriage was one daughter. Mr. Crosby died in Oberlin, February 26, 1873. Mrs. Crosby is now (1878) living in Oberlin, where she has resided over forty-three years. She is nearly eighty-two years old, still retains a great degree of mental and physical vigor, has walked to church, a distance of a mile, within the past year, but for a number of months has been feeble, with little prospect of recovery.

Sally, born at Blandford, March 17, 1799, died in 1802, and sleeps in Blandford.

The youngest daughter, Portia Ann, was born in Blandford, May 21, 1801. She was married to Asahel North, Jr., July 4, 1822, by P. D. McConoughey, esq. Seven children were born of this marriage. She died April 4, 1870, at Clyde, Ohio. Her husband still survives her.

David C. was also born in Blandford, September 30, 1804. He was twice married -- first, to Eliza Howard, of Mantua, in 1832. To them nine children were born. His wife died in Minnesota in 1858. His second marriage was with Mrs. A. McWhorter, in 1862, by whom he had one son. He died January 15, 1874, at Milan, Ohio. His widow is still living.

Eli Hector was born January 1, 1808, in Blandford. He was also twice married -- first, to Miss Amanda Snow, of Mantua, by whom he had four children. She died in Illinois in 1848. He married again in 1849, Mrs. Samantha Wooster, by whom he had two children. He died in Cornwall, Illinois, April 5, 1869.

The youngest of this family, Austin Nehemiah, was born in Bainbridge, August 30, 1812, and married Miss Martha M. Nettleton, April 1, 1835, in Bainbridge. There were five children born of their marriage, four of whom are living, as are also the parents.

Very soon after the settlement of the McConoughey family in Bainbridge, came Jasper Lacey and family, and settled on lot seven, tract three, now owned by Leverett Gorham. They remained but two or three years, and removed to Aurora, Portage county. In 1813 a son was born to them, which was the second birth in the township.

The third family that settled in the township was that of Gamaliel H. Kent, who emigrated from Suffield, Connecticut, in 1805, and stopped in Warren, Ohio, one year, when they removed to Aurora, Portage county, where they remained five years, whence they removed to Bainbridge in 1811, and took up lots six and nineteen in tract three, upon which the elder sons, Elihu L. and Gamalial, Jr., had cleared a few acres.

In the autumn of 1811 they built a log cabin and sowed a small piece to wheat, which was the first sowen in the township. Mr. Kent's family, at the time of their arrival in Bainbridge, consisted of wife and five children, three sons and two daughters, all of whom eventually married and settled in the neighborhood of the homestead. The eldest son, L. Elihu, married Clarissa Blish, of Mentor, and resided on the homestead till his death, which occurred September 14, 1827, at which time he was thirty-seven years old. She is remembered by those who formed her acquaintance in her earlier life, as a woman whose mental endowments were far above the ordinary. She is now nearly eighty-five years of age, and retains her mental and physical vigor to a remarkable degree. She resides with a niece in Solon. In the winter of 1813 Mr. Kent's house, with nearly all its contents, was burned. A quantity of flax had been placed under a shed and around the house to dry, why, by some means, took fire, and a strong breeze blowing at the time, the flames were

128 HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.

soon beyond control. In the excitement an empty cupboard was carried carefully out and saved, while one which stood near it, filled with valuable articles, was left for the fire to consume. After the destruction of their house, the family went to Aurora, where they remained until a new one could be constructed. The work was immediately commenced by men who came from Aurora, through the woods, bringing their lunch (which was frequently frozen before noon), and returning home at night. The family moved to their new cabin in February, which was without chimney, door or windows, and in that condition they spent the remainder of the winter, which was a very severe one.

Mr. Kent and son, Elihu, purchased the first dry goods and groceries offered for sale in the township. The stock of good was very limited in quantity and variety, consisting of such articles as were considered indispensable. Some were sold on credit, and the accounts were written with chalk upon the side of the house. Paper was not easily obtained at that period. The business was very soon abandoned.

Mr. Kent, like most of the pioneers of the Western Reserve, was of New England birth and education. He was an intelligent, honorable man, and much esteemed by the community in which he resided. His family were among the most intelligent and cultured of that period, as are also many of their descendants of the present time.

Mrs. Kent was her husband's superior in some respects. She possessed a clearer intellect and more will power. She was a woman well fitted to share the toils and privations of pioneer life, one who was ever ready to bear her full share of its burdens. In 1818, while yet neighbors were few, and they widely separated with roads nearly impassable lying between, Mrs. Kent felt that it would be for the public good to improve the roads (and thereby their condition), to that end she appointed a day and place of meeting, and requested every man, woman, and child, who was able to assist in any way, to be ready at the time, and place appointed, to work on the road. Nearly all complied with the request, and by her direction the men felled the trees, the larger boys trimmed off their branches and cut undergrowth, while the women and children carried and piled the brush. By night they had cleared a road broad enough for a wagon to pass, from the cabin of Mr. Kent to that of George Smith, which was situated more than half a mile eastward. When the work was completed, Mrs. Kent provided supper for the company.

In the summer of 1817, Mr. Kent built the first frame house in the township, which is still in a good condition, having been recovered in 1876. Mr. Kent was engaged in farming all his life, and he occupied the farm which he purchased in Bainbridge in 1811 until his death, which occurred April 30, 1831, at which time he was sixty-six years of age.

The second daughter, Laura, married Harvey Baldwin of Aurora, October 24, 1818. Two sons were born of their marriage. After a few years the parents separated, and both after a time, left the place, and after a few years had passed, each married again. Mrs. Baldwin married a Mr. Fobes, from whom she separated, and is now living with her third husband in the vicinity of Cleveland. Mr. Baldwin first purchased a lot which is a part of the farm now owned by Delos Root, and the house, a log one, stood on the east side of the road, a few rods north of the residence of Mr. Root.

The eldest daughter, Delia, married Russell G. McCartey. He purchased the farm, of which Mrs. Amarilla Root now owns a part. Mr. McCartey resided upon the farm until the spring of 1853, when he sold his farm to Lyman Fowler, and removed to Dover, where he died about two years later. To Mr. and Mrs. McCartey were born seven children, six of whom, three sons and three daughters, lived to adult age. The eldest son, Henry, completed a college

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course, and was stricken with consumption, of which he died a few months later. Subsequently, two daughters and a younger son died of the same malady. The father was also a victim of consumption. Mrs. McCartney is still living, and resides with her son in Iowa. The surviving daughter resides in Wisconsin.

Gamaliel H. Kent, second son of Gamaliel and Deborah Huntington Kent, was born in Suffield, Hartford county, Connecticut, and came with his father to Bainbridge in the winter of 1811 and 1812. He assisted his father and other pioneers in clearing the heavy forests from their farms until his marriage, which occurred in May, 1824, when he was united in marriage with Ann Eliza Granger. In the winter of 1825 they settled on a farm of fifty acres, of which Nichols and son now owns a part. He had previously cleared a few acres, and erected a log house near the large spring (now used by Nichols' cheese factory). He remained on the farm about eight years, built the barn which is still standing, planted an orchard of apple trees, many of which are in good bearing condition, and left standing the young maples which form what has been known as Andrews' grove, where various public gatherings, picnics, celebrations and religious meetings are held. Mr. and Mrs. Kent were parents of eight children, four of whom were born in this their first home, viz; Ann Eliza, Hortense, Oliver G., and Augusta D.

In the spring of 1833, Mr. Kent sold his farm of fifty acres to Alfred Thompson, and purchased two hundred acres of unimproved land in the west part of the town. He removed from the first home in April, and himself and family boarded with the family of J. Carver, in Solon, while he was preparing a home on the new farm. He cleared a small piece of ground, and built a log house, to which he removed his family in May, at which time there was neither door, chimney, nor windows, and only a loose rough floor in the cabin. For a few days the cooking was done out of doors, and two crooked sticks were driven in the ground with a pole and log-chain to hold the kettles over the fire, while a covered, flat iron kettle did duty as an oven. During the summer he cleared twenty-one acres, and sowed it to wheat in the fall. Here the remainder of his life was spent in improving and beautifying his home. He was a man honored and respected as a citizen, and much esteemed in all the relations of life. He held many offices of the township in its early history, and in 1850 was elected to the State legislature. He died May 28, 1871, having been a resident of the township sixty years.

Four children were born in the home where the father died -- Gameliel H., Jr., Amelia V., Eugene E., and Clarence E.

The family married and reside within a few miles of the homestead. The eldest daughter, Ann E., married Henry Root, and resides in Mantua. Hortense I. Sturtevant resides in Cleveland. Oliver G. was married to Lucy Baldwin, of Aurora, and resides in Cleveland, where Mrs. Kent died, October 13, 1873. Augusta was married to L. W. Joy, of Kansas, and resides in Cleveland. Gamaliel H., Jr., married Emily Bently, and resides in Bainbridge. Amelia V. married James G. Coleman, and resides at Chagrin Falls. Eugene E. married Lucinda Bayard, of Chagrin Falls, and resides in Bainbridge. Clarence E. married Ella J. Robins, of Warren, and lived on the homestead till his death, which occurred about two years later. The north and west part of the township was settled much later than the south part, Mr. Kent being the first who moved to that part of Bainbridge. Very soon several families were added to the neighborhood, among whom were the Haydens, Holbrooks and Nieces.

Alexander Edson, youngest son of Gamaliel and Deborah H. Kent, was born in Suffield, Hartford county, Connecticut, April 20, 1802. When he was about three years old his father emigrated to Ohio, where his children all accompanied him and shared the labors and privations of pioneer life. In 1812 they settled

130 HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.

in Bainbridge, where their parents spent the remainder of their lives, cared for in their declining years by the subject of this brief sketch, who is the only man living in the township whose residence dates from so early a period. Many changes have occurred in the years intervening, which Mr. Kent has noted with mingled feelings of pleasure and pain. The forests which covered the whole face of the country for miles around have steadily receded, and in their stead are seen cultivated fields and tasteful, attractive homes. Other changes have also occurred. Friendly, familiar faces have passed away in rapid succession till nearly a generation of strong, brave men, and earnest self-reliant women have laid down the burdens of life and are hidden forever from our sight. Sad changes have come to the household of this pioneer. The parents and brothers are gone, five children and the gentle, loving companion of his early manhood and one of his later years have been called away, and he, having nearly reached four score years, is waiting "Only waiting till the shadows are a little longer grown," and all too soon, the few remaining links which connect the present with the past generation will be severed.

Mr. Kent has occupied the farm to which his father moved, when he was but nine years old, until the present; a period of nearly sixty-seven years. He was married November 8, 1826, to Miss Lucy M. Bull, of Lebanon, New York. From this union seven children were born, viz: Lyman E., who married Emily

C. Eggleston, October 7, 1856; she died, in 1858, and he was again married to Mrs. Anna Leonard, who survives her husband, who died May 16, 1862. He was a young man of genial temperament, intelligent, and highly esteemed by all his associates. Rebecca M., married Thomas Briggs; died August 7, 1860. Delia E., married Henry C. Ely; she died September 24, 1862. Laura A., married Austin Z. Mason; her death occurred April 12, 1865. Hampton H., married Jerusha Pettibone, in 1870, and resides in Austin, Minnesota. Elizabeth B. and Lucy M., both unmarried, live on the old homestead.

Mrs. Kent died September 14, 1841, and in October, 1842, Mr. Kent was again married to Hannah Morford, of Solon. From this marriage four children were born: Abiah A., who died June 23, 1853. Alexander H., who married Addie Eggleston, and resides at the center of Bainbridge. Cassandra married Lucas Hurd, and resides in Bainbridge. Henry M. resides in Auburn.

In the latter part of the same winter in which Mr. Kent settled in Bainbridge, Alexander Osborn, sr., arrived, having previously traded land which he owned in the State of New York, to Benjamin Gorham, for three hundred and twenty acres in lot eleven, tract three, in the south part of the town. Mr. Osborn emigrated from Blandford, Massachusetts, where he left his family, consisting of wife and six children (Russell, Maria, Alexander, Jr., Sally, David C., and Melissa), and came to prepare a home, to which he purposed removing them the next fall; but during his absence his wife and youngest daughter died. The remaining children were placed with relatives, where they remained until their father returned to the old home, in the winter of 1813-14. He came back to Bainbridge in the latter part of the same winter, bringing his oldest son, who was about fourteen years old, with him. The younger ones remained with their friends, being too young to endure the fatigue of so long a journey and the privations of pioneer life, without the patient, loving care of a mother. Mr. Osborn started on his return with a span of horses and sleigh, with which he traveled three days, when the snow went off, and he was obliged to trade his sleigh for a wagon, with which he pursued his journey for a week, when he found it necessary to exchange his wagon for a sleigh, with which he nearly completed the journey; stopping a few miles north of Warren, where he was delayed three days by a heavy rain storm, which made the streams impassable. They came in on the road running from Warren to Cleveland, by the way of Hudson, which, after

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the snow went off, was extremely bad, and scarcely passable. After several accidents and delays the father and son reached their lonely cabin, where they lived alone till Alexander, Jr., came, some three years later; Russell having visited Massachusetts for the purpose of accompanying him back.

In the fall of 1817, Russell made a second trip to Massachusetts, and on his return in the following winter, his eldest sister, Maria, came with him. Soon after her arrival, their cabin, with all its contents, was burned. Among other articles of value was a fine new rifle, and a quantity of books, which were particularly prized, as new ones could scarcely be obtained at any price. A new cabin was soon erected, in which the family commenced housekeeping with a scanty supply of furniture, mostly of their own manufacture. The younger son, David, came later with Jonathan Osborn, an uncle, who settled in Ashtabula county. David remained several years in Bainbridge, but after his marriage lived several years in Munson, from whence he removed to Illinois.

The younger sister remained in Massachusetts, where she married, and died, leaving five children, who now reside in Connecticut. The elder sons aided in clearing and improving the farm, a few years, when each purchased land adjacent to the homestead. Russell planted the first apple trees in the town, on his father's farm, having brought the seeds from Massachusetts. Seven years from the time of planting many of the trees bore fruit. Several orchards now in bearing were taken from the nursery which he planted. There are trees yet standing thickly together on the old nursery ground. Russell first took up fifty acres of land where Henry Haskins now lives, upon which he chopped a few acres, and built an ashery, where he made potash, which he took to Pittsburgh with an ox team, where he could always get cash for that article, with which he purchased a few dry goods and groceries for the convenience of his neighbors and his own profit. He married Ruby McConoughey, of Aurora, built a log house on land now owned by William McCollum, a few rods south of the old cemetery, on the east side of the road. In 1831 he sold to Stephen Goodman, and purchased the farm now occupied by Joseph Eggleston, where he resided till 1834, when he sold to Jeremiah Root, and removed to Mantua, where he was engaged several years in the mercantile business. He now resides in Cleveland, is seventy-nine years old, and quite vigorous. He has two sons and one daughter. The eldest son, R. P. Osborn, resides in Bainbridge; Alexander, Jr., son of Alexander sr., married Anna N. Creager, of New York, and settled on the farm now occupied by Evan Richard, in lots five and twelve, tract three, where he resided until his death, which occurred April 25, 1863, at which time he was sixty years and six months old. He was a member of the Methodist church about twenty-three years; a man just and true in all the relations of life. His wife survives him and resides in Bainbridge. They were the parents of ten children -- Lorinda A. married William Howard; Caroline E. married Robert Hood, and resides in Chicago; John A. married Julia Sly, of Oberlin, and resides in Iowa; David Edson was killed in the battle of Chaplin Hills, near Perryville, Kentucky, October 8, 1862, in the twenty-third year of his age -- he was a member of Company F, One Hundred and Fifth Ohio volunteer infantry; Mary C. married Dr. Azel Hanks, and resides in Iowa; Lorette M. married S. J. Hood, and died November, 1870, aged twenty-six years; Addie E., the youngest of the family, married Charles F. Phillips, and resides at Chagrin Falls; Watson C., unmarried, resides at Virginia City, Nevada; Bertley H. died at the age of nine years; Eliza F., the fourth daughter, died November 16, 1866, at the age of twenty-two years; Maria, the eldest daughter of Alexander Osborn, Sr., married Robert Smith, Jr., resided some years in Bainbridge, and removed to Farmington, Trumbull county.

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After the arrival of Alexander Osborn in the winter of 1812, there seem to have been no accessions to the settlement, previous to the arrival of George Smith and family, consisting of wife and five children -- three sons and two daughters. One child, a boy of seven years, died on the way. The children were George, Jr., Harriet, Laura, William and Dillingham. The eldest son had attained to manhood, the youngest was nearly fourteen, and the daughters were young ladies, making an important addition to the population of the little settlement, which came to be Bainbridge, where they arrived in the latter part of February, 1814.

The family emigrated from Washington, Berkshire county, Massachusetts. They came with a sleigh, two yoke of oxen and one horse, the sleighing being fine until the last day of the journey which occupied four weeks. They were detained three days at Leroy, New York, by the death and burial of one of their number, a boy, seven years old, who died of whooping cough, with which he was attacked previous to their departure from their old home. With sad hearts they resumed their dreary journey, rendered far more dreary by the recollection, which must haunt them through the succeeding years of the death of their darling, far from home with none but stranger hands to close the sightless eyes, robe the little form for the last time, and perform the sad burial rites. When, within one day's journey of their destination, the snow was thin, and the roads so rough, the family were obliged to walk most of the distance.

Mr. Smith settled on the farm, from which Jasper Lacy, sr., had removed, purchasing that and additional lands amounting to nearly four hundred acres, for which he paid three dollars per acre. Mr. Lacy had cleared a few acres, and built a log house on the land, which he had occupied. The house was without doors or windows when Mr. Smith moved his family into it, but spring was near at hand, and they suffered less from exposure than many who came earlier in the season. They brought very little furniture with them for a few weeks, and they had no other table than a large chest. Rough benches made of split logs, served as a substitute for chairs, while a saucer of lard in which was placed a narrow strip of cloth, did duty as a lamp. Mr. Smith sold most of the land which he purchased, detaining one hundred and fifteen acres, where he resided until his death. His house was the first in the township, where religious services were held. It was used several years as a place of public worship, by the Methodist and Presbyterian denominations. Elder B. O. Plimpton, it is claimed, preached the first sermon in the township at the house of Mr. Smith. Rev. John Seward, of Aurora, frequently preached at the same place. Here, also, the first religious awakening commenced as the fruit of their united labors.

Mr. Smith was a large, muscular man, well fitted to endure the fatigue and hardships of pioneer life, but one whom phrenologists might say had not properly cultivated the organ of locality. Consequently, he was more easily bewildered in the dense forests which surrounded his home, than were most of his neighbors. This defect was occasionally the source of serious inconvenience to himself and anxiety to his friends. To illustrate this, we will relate an incident which occurred in his experience. About two years after his arrival in the township, it became apparent that the services of a physician would be required in the family, and Mr. Smith started for Aurora (a distance of five miles through the woods), to secure the attendance of Dr. Owen, who had established himself at that place. About sunset, in company with the doctor, he set out to return, when within a mile and a half of Smith's cabin they were overtaken by a thunder storm, making it very dark. The doctor, being wholly unacquainted in the locality, and Smith, very uncertain as to their whereabouts, they hitched their horses and decided to remain in the woods until morning. As soon as there was sufficient light in the morning they proceeded, as they supposed, to the

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house of Smith; but what was their surprise, upon reaching the house, to find that it contained the family of David McConoughey (a neighbor living two miles southeast of Smith's), instead of the family of Smith. After partaking of breakfast, which Mrs. McConoughey prepared for them, and securing McConoughey for a guide, they again started for the cabin, where they arrived, weary, wet, and the doctor very blue, having on a new suit of the old style of blue drilling, which cold water would fade. It had rained all night, and his nether garments and his person, were nearly as blue as his outer ones, and as wet as rain could make them, and in sorry plight with which to enter a sick room. Here was a dilemma -- something must be did, and did quickly. Accordingly the M. D. donned a suit of his host's best, and waited patiently while his own were washed, dried and ironed. The daughter born that day (now Mrs. Maria Gorham) to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, very considerately deferred putting in an appearance until arrangements were completed for her proper reception, thereby securing, very early in life, a reputation for patience and kindly regard for the wishes of others, which she still retains. Mrs. Gorham was the first female child born in the township, and the eldest of three, added to the family of Mr. Smith during his residence here. Mr. and Mrs. Smith joined the Congregational church at its organization, and remained members until their death.

Mr. Smith was much esteemed as a neighbor and citizen, and had the kindly regard of all through his life, which terminated July 25, 1861, when he was ninety-three years and six months old. His wife, Susannah, died August 6, 1856, aged eighty-two years. Their eldest son, George, Jr., settled on a part of the farm now owned by John K. Smith; remained there a few years, and removed to Illinois, where he died many years ago, leaving one son and one daughter. William, the second son, married Nancy Bowler, and resided with his father on the farm in Bainbridge several years, when he removed to the center and engaged in the mercantile business, where he remained but a few years and sold his store, removed to Cleveland and engaged in buying cattle. While engaged in that business he took passage on a railway train for Buffalo, where the train on which he was a passenger had arrived when it collided with a freight, and he was so badly scalded that he lived but a few hours. He left one son and one daughter.

George's eldest daughter, Harriet, was united in marriage with David McIntosh, November 2, 1818, by the Rev. J. Seward. Both are living in Shalersville, Portage county. Mrs. McIntosh is nearly eighty years old, and retains her faculties remarkably for one so advanced in years. She is the only one living of the family who came into the township with her father in 1814.

Laura, the second daughter, became the wife of Lyman Fowler, and resided in Bainbridge till 1857 or 1858, and then removed to Newburgh, where she died.

Maria, the third daughter, married Leverett Gorham. She has resided all her life on the homestead where she was born sixty-two years ago. She is the mother of three daughters and one son.

In the fall of 1814 Robert Smith came from Washington, Massachusetts, and purchased five hundred acres of land of Benjamin Gorham, in tract three, for which he paid one dollar and fifty cents per acre. The family of Mr. Smith, then consisting of wife and six children, three of each sex (four sons were added to the number in Bainbridge), found a temporary home with the family of George Smith, a brother of Robert, until a small piece of ground could be cleared and a cabin built, which was accomplished in five or six weeks, and the family removed to the log house, which served as home eight years. This was replaced, in the summer of 1822, by a very fine and commodious framed house, the first framed house built in the township. It is still standing and occupied, though in a very dilapidated condition.

134 HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.

Mr. Smith came from Massachusetts with a span of horses and wagon. The roads were muddy and very rough, making it necessary to travel slowly. They were six weeks making the journey, which can now be made in twenty hours. For many years Mr. Smith was quite extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits, in which he was very successful for a time, but towards the latter part of his life became somewhat involved [sic], and sold his farm to his son, John K. Smith, who still retains possession of it.

Mr. Smith died April 11, 1853, aged seventy-seven years. His wife, Sarah, died October 15, 1865, aged eighty-five years. Nearly all their children settled in Bainbridge. Thomas married Emeline Eggleston, and resided on the farm now occupied by Mr. Abbott, in the southeast corner of Bainbridge, until his death, which occurred February 22, 1855, when he was fifty-three years old. After his death his heirs sold the farm and removed to Allegan county, Michigan, where several of them still remain. Mrs. Smith was the mother of ten children, nine of whom survived her. She died in Michigan, of injuries received at the burning of her house.

Robert, Jr., second son of Robert Smith, sr., married Maria Osborn, and purchased the farm a part of which is now owned by John Hopper. He removed to Farmington, remained ten years, and returned to Bainbridge. In 1848 he removed to Illinois. Soon after he joined a company bound for California, the Eldorado of the world. He had just arrived there when he died from the effects of poison administered by a young man of the company for the purpose, as was supposed, of obtaining a few hundred dollars in cash which he had on his person.

Rachel, second daughter of the Smith family, married George Wilber, and settled in Auburn, where they resided for some time, when they removed to Aurora, Illinois, where they now reside. They are the parents of nine children, six of whom are living.

The eldest daughter of Mr. Smith married Dr. David Shipherd, December 25, 1832. They resided till their death in Bainbridge.

The youngest daughter married Orlando Giles, and is now a resident of Bainbridge, and the only one of the family left in the township. Mr. and Mrs. Giles have four sons and a daughter, all of whom are married.

Albert, the third son, died unmarried, in 1839, at the age of twenty-five. Bainbridge, the fourth son, married Miss Dodge and settled in Illinois, where he engaged in the legal profession. The fifth son, John K., has been twice married -- first, to Miss Lucinda Clover, of Bainbridge, who died in 1854. In 1856 he married Mrs. Clarinda Loveland, of Parkman. He resided in Bainbridge till the spring of 1877, when he removed to Akron. The youngest son, Edwin, married Emeline Bidwell, and removed to Iowa some years since.

In the month of April, 1816, Enos D. Kingsley, of Becket, Massachusets (who had a short time previous married Miss Sally Harris), arrived and purchased land in lot two, tract three, being a part of the farm now owned by Nathan Kingsley. Here he built a log house and commenced life in the woods, in earnest. In the following November a daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley. This was the second female, and the fourth child, born in the township. On the ninth day after the birth of the daughter the mother died, leaving her helpless infant to the care of strangers. What her young heart must have suffered, in view of the prospects, none but a mother can realize -- far from the home of her childhood, with no mother or sister near to counsel and sympathize with her in her sorrow, or to whose care she might commit her little one. Mrs. Kingsley was a very intelligent, refined and amiable woman, much beloved by her acquaintances. Hers was the first death which occurred in the settlement, and was regarded as a great affliction to the community. The remains were

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carried on a bier, through the woods, to Aurora for burial, a distance of more than five miles, with no road except what was cleared by men detailed for that purpose. The ground was very muddy, and the men frequently lost their shoes in the mud and mire. Some of the most able bodied men in the procession pronounced it the hardest day's work they ever performed. The husband was so much overcome by this sudden bereavement that it was feared his reason might be permanently affected. He was therefore advised to return to his friends in New England -- which he did -- remaining a short time, and again returning to Ohio. On the sixteenth of January, 1819, he was married to Miss Mary Mann, of Mentor. Again Mr. Kingsley's second courtship, though brief, was somewhat romantic. Being called to Mentor on business, while passing through Kirtland on his way thither, he came to the Chagrin river, which was very high from recent rains, and running very rapidly. There was no bridge across the stream, and he, being on horseback, started to ford it. When about half way across he discovered a lady trying to cross on two trees which had fallen, one from either bank, and meeting midway of the stream. On reaching the bank he hitched his horse and went to the assistance of the fair one, who proved to be Miss Mary Mann, and who was teaching school in that vicinity. Her intrepidety won his admiration, and on reaching terra firma he introduced himself and stated to her his circumstances. They spent some time in conversation, and, when they separated, their vows were plighted to take passage on the ship "Matrimony," and cross the ocean of life together. A few weeks later they were united in marriage, and removed to the farm formerly occupied by Mr. Kingsley. Four children -- two sons and two daughters -- were the fruits of this marriage. Two or three years subsequent to his marriage, Mr. Kingsley had an attack of rheumatism which rendered him unable to labor for many months. Added to this misfortune was that of the loss of all their stock of cattle by murrain, and but for the persevering efforts of Mrs. Kingsley, and the assistance of neighbors, the family must have suffered for want of the necessary comforts of life. During the disability of her husband, Mrs. Kingsley performed the labor of her household, spun and wove for their neighbors, chopped, piled and burnt brush, and helped to prepare a piece of land for cultivation. To her habits of untiring industry, strict economy and skilful management may be attributed a great measure of the success which ultimately crowned their labors.

Mr. Kingsley was universally respected as a citizen, held several offices of trust in the township, and was a member of the Congregational church for many years. He died October 21, 1870, at the age of seventy-nine years.

Sally H., daughter of Enos D. and Sally Harris Kingsley, married John M. Fitch, settled in Windham, Portage county, and remained several years, when they removed to Bainbridge, where they now reside. They have one son and one daughter, both residents of Bainbridge.

Faber, the eldest son of Enos and Mary Kingsley, married Theresa Hartshorn, and resides in Bainbridge. They have two daughters.

Arvilla Kingsley married James Thompson, and resides in Solon, Cuyahoga county.

The third daughter, Jane, married Warren S. Fairbanks, of Troy. They reside in Bainbridge. They have two daughters. Nathan D. has been twice married; first to Caroline Asper, who died in 1867; the second marriage was to Eunice Lewis, of Farmington. They reside on the homestead.

Mary, second wife of Enos Kingsley, died June 6, 1875; aged seventy-nine years.

The year 1817 witnessed the arrival in Bainbridge of John Fowler, Joseph Ely, and Simon Henry, and their families.

John Fowler, with his wife, two sons, and Lucinda Howard, a niece of Mrs.

136 HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.

Fowler's, came from Washington, Massachusetts, in the spring of the year above mentioned, and moved into the house of Enos Kingsley (then vacant), and remained there until a log house could be built on land purchased by Mr. Fowler of Jonathan Ely, Robert Smith and Elihu L. Kent, situate in tract thirty-three, lots nine and ten; amount, one hundred and eighty-three acres. The house was soon completed, and the family removed to it. In 1824, an additional purchase of fifty-four acres was made of Alexander Osborn, sr., and later other purchases were made. Mr. Fowler was born in Sommers, Connecticut, from whence he removed to Washington, Massachusetts, where he worked at the saddlers' trade. After his settlement in Ohio his principal business was farming, in which his youngest son, Lyman, was engaged with him. In 1847, Lyman purchased the farm of Asahel North, Jr., to which they removed. In 1858, he sold the North farm to R. P. Osborn, and removed to Newburgh, where John Fowler died. He was a very estimable man, and was the first justice of the peace elected in the township. He died at Newburgh, March 14, 1861, at the age of eighty-six. Jerusha, his wife, died February 21, 1846, aged sixty-one.

Horatio, eldest son of John Fowler, married Jemima Russell, of Russell township, May 31, 1821, and purchased land in tract one and lot twelve, now owned by heirs of Otis B. Bliss. He resided upon this purchase till the spring of 1832, when he sold to William Phillips, and purchased land in tract two, a part of lots fifteen, sixteen and seventeen, now owned by Justin Fowler. He removed to this farm, and continued to occupy it till his death, in August, 1873.

Lyman married Laura Smith, and resided with his father till the death of the latter. After his removal to Newburgh, he engaged, to some extent, in real estate speculations, which proved quite successful. He was a very enterprising, intelligent and influential man, and held in high esteem by all. He died in Newburgh, in 1876, aged seventy-five years. His wife died two or three years previous. They were parents of three children. The daughter, Jerusha, married Harvey Hollister; she died in 1866. The sons, John and Edwin, both reside in Newburgh; the latter is a very skilful physician.

The children of Horatio and Jemima Fowler were: Louisa, who married Joseph Burgess, and resides in Orange; Marvin married, and lived in Cleveland, where he died in 1877; Harriet, unmarried, resides at Chagrin Falls; Emily married Philip Cockerel, lived and died in Orange; Norman was killed at the battle of Gettysburg, and he was a member of a Minnesota regiment; Laura died unmarried in March, 1867; Justin married Helena Christdor, of Cleveland, and resides in Bainbridge; Alfred married Lucina Hall, and resides in Newbury; John, a son, about three years old, died, and was the first person buried in the old south burying ground in 1823 -- the ground was donated to the town, by John Fowler, sr. Mrs. Jemima Fowler died March 23, 1866.

Next after the arrival of the Fowlers, Joseph Ely, wife and four children came from Middlefield, Massachusetts, and arrived in Bainbridge about the last of June, and lived in the house of Enos Kingsley (which seems to have been a temporary home for many of the settlers) till October. There was neither chimney, door, or windows in the house. Soon after their removal, there was quite a severe snow storm, which continued several days, in which Mr. Ely worked, taking cold, which resulted in rheumatism, disabling him for several months, and preventing him from finishing his house till spring. The family spent the winter in it with blankets hung up for doors and windows, while green logs piled up a few feet high, served for a chimney. When a fire was built, the smoke was as likely to fill the house as to go out of doors, and frequently the children were obliged to go to bed to keep warm and avoid suffocation from

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smoke. Towards spring Mr. Ely's health improved, and with the assistance of his brother, Jonathan, he made about four hundred sap troughs, which enabled him to make quite a large quantity of maple sugar, which he sold for twenty-five cents a pound. For some years subsequent, wheat and maple sugar were the principle sources of revenue to pioneers of this section. Wheat could not be sold for more than fifty cents per bushel, and seldom for cash at that figure, consequently many depended upon the sale of their sugar for money with which to pay taxes, as that article sold readily for cash, at a high figure. Mr. Ely settled on the farm now owned by Atremas Howard, Jr., in tract two, lots fifteen and sixteen, which he purchased of Nathaniel Church, previous to his removal from Massachusetts. He resided on the farm till his death, which occurred March 20, 1870, at which time he was eighty-one years old. He was a man who possessed an intellect of high order, but like many men of his age, he had few educational advantages. He took a lively interest in whatever seemed for the public good, and was ever ready to assist the unfortunate. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church about fifty years, and class-leader several years.

Ruby, his wife, died in December, 1854. Cordelia, the eldest daughter, died some years previous. The youngest daughter