USA > Ohio > Ashtabula County > History of Ashtabula County, Ohio > Part 79
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
Colonel Stephen Moulton, from Whitestown, New York, was the first white man to make a settlement in Monroe. He emigrated to this township in the year 1799, and settled on land just east of the village of Kelloggsville, on what is at present known as the Ensign farm. He erected the first log house in the town- ship the same year. near the present site of John Wetmore's residence. He resided here for about two years, when he sold out his improvement to Jonathan Harrington, and moved on to a lot a short distance west of his first settlement, on land now occupied by a portion of the village of Kelloggsville. He erected a cabin here near the present site of the tannery. It is said that Colonel Moulton, when he came to this township, eloped with another man's wife, leaving behind him a family, wealth, and position in his native place. This woman soon left him, and married another man, who afterwards in turn left her.
Jonathan Harrington, from Pennsylvania, but originally from Rhode Island, was the second white settler in the township. He came to Monroe in 1801, huying out and settling on Colonel Moulton's first improvement. About the time Mr. Harrington settled in Monroe, or immediately after, a Mr. Wm. Moss, from New York State, settled just southeast of the present village of Kel- loggsville, on the second lot east of the Sheffield town line. About a year after (1802) William and James Ferguson, from Virginia, originally from Car- lisle, Pa., and George Ferguson from the latter place, hrothers, settled in the township. William settled on a part of the same lot Mr. Harrington had taken, on the opposite side of the road. He bought his land of Judge Austin, of Anstinburg. He sold his land and improvements in Monroe to Martin and Amos Kellogg. and removed to Huron county. James Ferguson settled on the flats of Ashtabula creek near the Sheffield line. He lived here hut two years, when he removed to Conneaut. George settled on the south part of the same lot Mr. Harrington settled on, buying the land of Abel, a son of Jonathan Harrington.
In December, 1802, Mr. William Hardy and family, of Mifflin county, Penn- sylvania, started for Ashtabula County. Mrs. Hardy was taken sick on the way, and died at Black Lick, Indiana county, Pa. The rest of the family, Mr. Hardy and little sons,-John, Hance, and William,-John, the oldest, being hut eight years of age, and a little daughter, not yet a year old, pursued their journey, arriving in Monroe on the 22d of April, 1803. George Ferguson and family, the same day that Mr. Hardy arrived, moved to Springfield, Erie county, Penn- sylvania, and Mr. Hardy moved into his cahin. Mr. Hardy, in 1807, moved into the northwest part of the township, which was then a part of Salem town- ship, now Conneaut. He died here in 1813. Mr. John Hardy, the eldest of the three boys, is still living, and resides in a pleasant home in the village of Kelloggsville. He and his two brothers, Hance and William, who died during the year 1876, never have resided more than six miles from the place where they first settled in 1803.
David Niles, Esq., from Mahoning county, originally from Vermont, came to the township in 1803, soon after the arrival of Mr. Hardy. He settled in the northwest part of the township, near Conneaut creek, on the farm where William Brydle now resides.
About 1803 or 1804, Mr. Daniel Talbot, from Maryland, settled near the present residence of Almeron C. Hill. He was a blacksmith, and built the first
blacksmith-shop in the township. He lived here but a few years, and then moved to Kingsville, and afterwards to Huron county. In 1805 or 1806, Jacob Paden, from Crawford county, Pennsylvania, previously from the south part of Pennsyl- vania, settled in the northwest part of Monroe, where he made improvements. About 1808, Cornelius Weidner and sons-Leonard, Michael, Benjamin, and Cornelius, Jr .- settled in the township on the place first settled hy Geo. Ferguson. Mr. and Mrs. Weidner lived but a short time after, and about the year 1813 their place was bought hy Perry G. Gardner.
Mr. Caleh Blodgett, from Batavia, New York, originally from Vermont, came to Monroe about the year 1809 or 1810. He first bought fifty acres of land near the northwest part of the present village of Kelloggsville, where he then settled. He was a man of very much energy, and was more prominently con- nected with the business interests of Monroe for many years than any other man. He first bought out the distillery of Wm. B. Frazier, in the northwest corner of the township. He afterwards built four or five distilleries in the township ; was proprietor for some time of important stage-lines on the Ridge road, and on the route from Erie to Pittsburgh, which ran through Kelloggsville. He built, in connection with a company in which he was the leading spirit, a turnpike-road from the southeast corner of Richmond to the north line of the original township of Monroe, a distance of fifteen miles. This was known in those days as Blod- gett's turnpike. For several years-about 1820 to 1825-he had the contract of supplying beef and pork to the garrison at Green Bay. He built a large flour- ing-mill in the east part of Sheffield, and a steam grist-mill in the village of Kelloggsville about the year 1833. He was a man who assumed great risks, and many times would be unable to meet his obligations. It is said that at one time he bought a boiler at Pittsburgh, and in transporting it home hid himself in it in order to evade heing stopped hy men whom he owed at his stage stations along the route. At another time he came very near being kidnapped hy a party who were going to take him to Batavia, New York, where a bail-bond was lying against him. He was decoyed into their wagon by the parties on a pretense of their desiring to huy his farm; but when they reached his place they whipped up, at the same time holding him in the wagon so he could not escape. He called to his men, and they hearing him, took horses and pursued, overtaking the party in the vicinity of Clark's Corners, where they rescued him. There are many other interesting incidents connected with Mr. Blodgett's history. He broke up here about 1834, and in the year 1836 went to Rock county, Wisconsin, where he settled on the site of the city of Beloit, erecting the first log house in that place.
Martin Kellogg, from Virginia, originally from Massachusetts, came to Monroe in 1813, and the following year his brother, Amos Kellogg, from Massachusetts, settled in the township. They at first bought and settled on six hundred and forty acres of land just north of the village of Kelloggsville, but afterwards bought William Ferguson's improvement of two hundred acres, the present site of the village, where Martin then settled. The Kelloggs were also prominently con- nected with the history of this township. The village of Kelloggsville, at first known as Ferguson's settlement, derived its name from this family.
Harvey Dean, a brother-in-law of the Kelloggs, from Virginia, though origi- nally from Massachusetts, came to the township in the year 1814. He settled one and a half miles north of Kelloggsville. In 1816, Elijah and Peter Peck, hrothers, from New York, settled in Monroe. They at first hired the Jonathan Harrington farm, then owned by William Ensign, who had settled here a year or two previous.
They afterwards bought three hundred acres of land south of the village, the present Holbrook farm being a part of the same. Here Elijah Peck built the same season a saw-mill and grist-mill on Ashtabula creek. These mills were burned in the spring of 1822, and rebuilt by Mr. Peck during the summer following. About the same time he built a distillery near the mills. A few years after he sold out his improvements at this place to Caleb Blodgett, and hought land about a mile farther south, on the main branch of the Ashtabula, where he also erected mills and a distillery. He also huilt mills in the northwest part of the township, and at the north centre of Sheffield.
About the time the Pecks arrived in Monroe, settlements began to be made along the centre road, and in the northeast part of the township. Previous to
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HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO.
this time the settlements had been confined to the vicinity of Kelloggsville village aud the northwest part of the township.
Among the first who settled in the north part of the township and along the Centre road were Ezekiel Colby, Rufus Hatch, Sr., Rufus Hatch, Jr., Harvey Hatch, Solomon Durkee, Sr., Solomon Durkce, Jr., David Durkee, Humphrey Cram, James and Joseph Hicks, Ambrose Ford, John and Sedgwick Bushnell, Daniel Kelsey, Nathaniel Welsh, David and John Eaton, and Samuel Eaton, Sr., Benjamin Abbott, Danville Hayward, John and Eber Sanford, John Haviland, and Francis Kellogg.
The early settlers of Monroe, as well as those of other townships, had many privations and hardships to experience. Mr. Hardy, the year he settled in the township with his family, 1803, brought with him ten shecp and ten hogs. The first year the bears ate up his hogs and the wolves killed his sheep. He planted four acres of corn, and the bears and coons destroyed that also. The family were pretty hard up for provisions. There were no inhabitants in Kingsville or Shef- field at this time. The nearest place to get grinding done was at the mouth of Walnut creek, Erie county, Pennsylvania. The settlers often planed corn with a jack-plane, and after harvest would boil wheat. For meat they depended mostly on the wild animals of the forest. At one time, in the year 1805, Thomas Ham- ilton, while out on a hunting expedition, fell in with a herd of thirteen clk, in a bend of Conncaut creek, and succeeded in killing all of them. He dressed them and secured the meat in the creck, afterwards giving notice to the settlers, inviting them to help themselves, which opportunity they gladly availed themselves of.
For several years during the early settlement of this township it was almost impossible for the inhabitants to raise sheep and hogs on account of the numerous wolves and bears which inhabited the region. An incident worthy of notice, and which illustrates the character and bravery of the early settlers, female as well as male, occurred in this township at a very early date. Colonel Moulton, the first settler, after a residence of two or three years in Monroe, made a visit of about two months to his former home in the east. His wife and one small child he left in the young settlement. During his absence the wolves killed one of his pigs. His wife, with invincible determination, resolved to be avenged on the wolves. She constructed a square pen of round poles, inclining inwardly from the base to the top, so that a wolf might easily ascend from the outside to the top, and place himself in the pen, which was of sufficient height to keep him caged when once he got in. In this pen she placed what was left of the slaughtered pig as a bait for the wolves. The plan was a successful one, for the next morning found two wolves in the pen unable to make their escape. Mrs. Moulton, though unaccus- tomed to loading and firing a gun, determined to shoot the wolves, and having heard hunters speak of shooting muskets loaded with three fingers of powder, she measured by the length instead of the width of her fingers. She then went to the pen and discharged the gun at one of the wolves. The wolf was instantly killed, and Mrs. Moulton, by the reaction of the gun so heavily loaded, was thrown backward to the ground in a senseless condition. Her little son, though consid- erably frightened, brought cold water and applied it to her face, which soon restored her from the shock. She then reloaded with one and one-half finger's length of powder, and killed the surviving wolf.
INDIANS.
At the time the first settlers arrived in Monroe, and up to the time of the War of 1812, a number of Indian families, remnants of the Seneca and Massa- sauga tribes, were encamped in the vicinity. The Massasaugas were located in the west part of Sheffield township, and the Senecas a short distance east of Kelloggsville, on land now owned by G. F. Kingsley. They were disposed to be very friendly. Old Captain Philip was the commander of those in this section. He was a large, powerful man, and had a noble heart for one of his race. Captain Philip had an excellent wife and five children,-three sons and two daughters. Occasionally there would be as many as forty or fifty Indians camped here. They pursued hunting, making maple-sugar, and gathering wild honey.
EARLY EVENTS.
The first marriage in Monroe was that of Mr. George Ferguson, son of Wil- liam Ferguson, and Miss Maria Harrington, daughter of Jonathan Harrington, and the parties are supposed to have gone over the line into Pennsylvania to have the ceremony performed. The name of the officiating officer is not known. The event occurred in the year 1808. Soon after, during the same year, Sanford Niles, son of David Niles, was married to Miss Polly Ferguson, daughter of William Ferguson. The officiating officer it is thought was Nathan King, who was at this time acting as justice of the peace in Conncaut, then Salcm.
The first birth in the township was a son to Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Talbot, named Joseph, born about 1804 or 1805.
The first female birth is thought to have been a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Ferguson.
The first death in Monroe was an infant child of Jonathan Harrington and wife, which occurred in the year 1805 or 1806.
The first death of a grown person occurring in the township was that of Mrs. Cornelius Weidner, which took place soon after the family settled in 1808. The next deatlı was that of her husband, Mr. Weidner, in the year 1809.
The first religious meetings of a public character held in Monroe were con- ducted by Rev. Joseph Badger. These were held at the cabins of the settlers, commeneing about the year 1804.
The first school taught in the township was during the winter of 1805 and 1806. A Miss Laura Ford, from Williamsfield township, was the teacher. The school was held in Colonel Moulton's cabin, he being away during that winter. There were about ten or twelve scholars.
The first school-house was a log building, crected in 1814. This was located about a mile north of Kelloggsville, on what is called the Martin Kellogg farm. David Niles, Jr., taught the first school in this building the following winter.
The first frame house erected in Monroe was built by Mr. Caleb Blodgett, near the centre of the village of Kelloggsville, on the present site of the brick resi- dence of Mrs. Benson. The exact date is not known, but it was about the year 1811. The first brick residence in the township was the one occupied by Mrs. Benson, which was also erccted by Mr. Blodgett, about the year 1824. These buildings were each used by Mr. Blodgett as a public-house, the frame building being the first tavern kept in Monroe. The large frame building on the opposite side of the road from the brick one now standing, and owned by Royal Smith, was also built by Mr. Blodgett and used as a tavern stand for a number of years.
The first saw-mill was built by Jacob Paden, about the year 1807, in the northwest part of the township on a little stream then called Bear creek, on the present farm of C. F. Brydle.
The first grist-mill was also built by Mr. Paden, in connection with the saw- mill, at the same time. About the year 1810 or 1811 he built a larger grist-mill, located a few rods down the stream from the saw-mill. This was a very good grist-mill for those days.
The first distillery in the township was built by Mr. Paden in company with William B. Frazier, and was located a short distance south of the mills.
The first tannery was built by Caleb Blodgett, about the year 1820, on the opposite side of the road from the present tannery. Major Clark superintended the business for Mr. Blodgett until he sold to Deacon James Brown, about three ycars. Mr. Brown continued proprictor for about ten or twelve years, and in 1837 sold to Parkman Baker and Albert Kellogg, who a few years before had built a tannery on the opposite side of the road, on the site of the present tan- nery. These tanneries were then consolidated.
The first cheesc-factory was put into operation at Kelloggsville in the year 1869. It was owned by a stock company. Mr. Isaac Smith was the first presi- dent and treasurer, and Mr. A. C. Stevens secretary. T. B. Wire superintended the work the first season. The factory is at present owned by Mr. J. Brown, who has been superintendent since the first season. About eighty-five thousand pounds of cheese are manufactured annually.
Vosburg's cheese-factory, at Monroe Centre, was built and put into operation by J. G. Vosburg, in the spring of 1870. From fifty thousand to one hundred thousand pounds of cheese are manufactured annually.
Lewis & Clark's cheese-factory, at Clark's Corners, was built in the spring of 1874, and commenced operations the same season. There is an annual manufac- ture of about sixty thousand pounds of cheese at this factory.
EARLY ROADS.
The first road through Monroe was the one made by the surveying-party in the year 1798. This commenced at the State line, near the northeast corner of the township, and extended in a diagonal direction, bearing to the southwest, through the present village of Kelloggsville to Austinburg. It was afterwards extended to Cleveland, and was known as the old Girdled road, and afterwards as the Cuyahoga road. This road crossed the present centre road a short distance south of the present residence of Alonzo Ferguson.
The first roads made by the carly settlers of Monroe were, one from the Fer- guson settlement to Paden's Mills, and one from the settlement to Conneaut, then Salem, by way of David Nile's place, now William Brydle's.
About the year 1807 the State road was made. This entered the township near the southwest corner, and followed along the west bank of Ashtabula creek, erossing this stream about ten or fifteen rods above the present bridge at Kelloggs- ville. After crossing the creek it took a turn to the northwest, until reaching the site of the old brick tavern. Here it took another turn, bearing more to the west, and continued to the residence of Esquire Fobes, on the north ridge in Kingsville, the present site of the village of North Kingsville.
The next road was called the County road. This extended from the site of
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HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO.
the old brick tavern in Kelloggsville, north to Paden's Mills, then on by the cabins of William Hardy, Daniel Sawtelle, and Joseph Tubbs, near the present S. T. Fickinger farm, striking the Ridge road near Mr. Coonrod Stoon's cabin, on the farm now owned by Mr. Olmsted, a short distance east of Amboy.
Other roads were established. One from David Gould's farm, on the Ridge road in Conneaut, extending south, striking Monroc about a mile east from the northwest corner, crossing the creek near Mr. Brydle's residence, thence by Walker Bennett's and Plinney Kellogg's, striking the cast and west road into Kelloggs- ville. One from Kelloggsville to the north centre of Monroe. These roads were all laid out and established previous to the year 1810.
In 1814 a road was laid out and built by the inhabitants of Kelloggsville, cx- tending from Kelloggsville, in a diagonal direction, through to William Reed's, in the north part of Pierpont, where it intersected another road.
The reason the roads from this township to Conneaut did not extend as now, direct, crossing the creek at Farnham's Mills, was that at that time there were bnt few if any inhabitants in that part of the township, and the hills in that locality were very difficult ones to cross.
FIRST MAIL-ROUTE AND POST-OFFICE.
The first mail-route through Monroe extended from Warren to Kinsman and from Kinsman to Salem, now Conneaut, through Kelloggsville. Amos Kellogg was the first postmaster. The post-office was kept at the store of Kellogg, Dean, & Bloss. There are at present threc post-offices in the township: one at Kel- loggsville, Charles S. Hawkins, postmaster; another at Monroe Centre, H. F. Hitchcock, postmaster ; and one at Clark's Corners, H. MI. Cook, postmaster.
EARLY MERCANTILE INTERESTS.
The first store in Monroe was kept in the northwest part of the township by Jacob Paden, near where his mills were located. It was but a small concern. The first store in Kelloggsville village was opened by Judge Amos Kellogg, Lucius Dean, and James M. Bloss, in a building then situated a few rods north- east of the present tannery. They kept a good stock of general merchandise, and conducted quite an extensive business for the times. This store was opened about the year 1821 or 1822.
At the north centre of Monroe a store was built and stocked with goods in the year 1845, by S. S. Bushnell. A store was started first at Monroe Centre by the Farmer's Union, about 1850 or 1851. There was also a store kept at quite an early date at Clark's Corners, on the town line between Monroe and Conneaut. Mr. Wesley Clark was the proprietor. At present there is a store at each of these places : at the North Centre one kept by Mr. Carter, at Monroe Centre one by Hitchcock & Felch, and at Clark's Corners one by H. M. Cook. Captain L. B. Goldsmith is the proprietor of the present store at Kelloggsville.
EARLY PHYSICIANS.
Dr. Jacob Vosburg was the first physician who located in Monroe. Hc came about the year 1819, and settled a mile northeast of the village. He remained but two or three years and then removed to Erie, Pennsylvania. He was a well- read physician of the Allopathic school.
The second physician was Dr. Greenleaf Fifield, who located in Monroe soon after Dr. Vosburg left. Dr. Fifield practiced here about one year, and then re- moved to Conneaut. where he spent the remainder of his life and gained a high reputation in his profession.
Dr. Stephen G. Holbrook was the next physician to settle in the township. He came about the year 1824, when but a young man, and soon afterwards married a daughter of Martin Kellogg. He continued to reside in the township and to practice his profession for a period of fifty years, or until his death, which occurred in the year 1875.
BURIAL-GROUNDS.
The first deaths occurring among the white settlers of Monroe have already been referred to as a child of Jonathan Harrington. and Mr. and Mrs. Weidner. The remains of these persons were buried on Mr. Harrington's land, in the east part of the present village of Kelloggsville. It is said that the north and south road, just east of the village, passes directly over these first graves. The first burying-ground, with the exception of these graves just mentioned, was located on land belonging to Amos Kellogg, a few rods west of the present residence of John IIardy. This was vacated after the present pleasant cemetery-grounds were bought, in the east part of the village, early in the year 1830. Judge Amos Kellogg was the first one to be interred in this cemetery, his death occurring in April, 1830.
CHURCHES.
The Congregational church was organized in Monroe township, in the year 1829, by Rev. Ephraim Woodruff, who was the first minister. The church build-
ing was erected in the year 1832, at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars. which was contributed by Judge Moffitt paying one-fifth, Martin Kellogg one-fifth, John Hardy one-fifth, Samuel Helven and John Kinsman one-fifth, and Deacon Brown and Isaac Smith onc-fifth. One hundred and fifty dollars were paid for the ground. Rev. H. Smith is the present pastor, and the membership numbers about seventy.
There are three Methodist Episcopal churches in the township. One at Kel- loggsville, organized about the year 1832; one at Monroe Centre, organized in 1835; and one at Clark's Corners, about 1860. A class was organized at the North Centre about the same time with the one at Kelloggsville, but afterwards united with the class at Monroe Centre. The church building at Kelloggsville was erected in 1849 or 1850, the one at Monroe Centre in 1852, and that at Clark's Corners in 1867. Among the early Methodist preachers who visited Monroe were Rev. Mr. Summerfield and Rev. John P. Kent, previous to the or- ganization of any class. Rev. Mr. Thomas was the first to preach after the classes at Kelloggsville and the North Centre were organized. Rev. E. S. Baker is the present pastor. The church at Kelloggsville is in quite a low condition at present, numbering only eight members. The one at Monroe Centre numbers forty, and the one at Clark's Corners thirty members.
A Christian church was organized in the north part of Monroe township during the winter of 1824-25, by Rev. Asa C. Morrison and Rev. John Blodgett. This society erected a church building on the centre road, near Hatch's Corners, in the summer of 1848. The church, though small in numbers, sustained an organiza- tion for many years, or until some five or six years since, when it was disbanded.
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