History of Ashtabula County, Ohio, Part 82

Author: Williams, W. W. (William W.)
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 458

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Mr. Curtiss is a firm adherent to the principles inculcated by the Republican party. He is kind and considerate towards those who are under his supervision, and is looked upon by them as a superior representative of the genus homo.

MARSHALL WILLIAM WRIGHT, INFIRMARY DIRECTOR,

a fine portrait of whom appears in connection with the sketch of the county in- firmary, was born on the 27th day of August, 1818, and is a child of Sherman and Fanny Howes Wright, originally of Wilbraham, Hampden county, Massachu- setts, but who removed to Ohio and located in the township of Conneaut in the fall of 1811, where they resided until their decease, which occurred-the father's on January 3, 1847, and the mother's January 15, 1872. The education of Mr. Wright was received at a common district school, principally at the school-house on the south ridge in Conneaut. His time was divided between labor in his father's tannery and shoe-shop, and the tilling of the small farm owned by him, until his failure in business in 1848, since which time he has served his township and the county in the discharge of various public trusts. He was first elected a justice of the peace in 1851, and since that date has been an incumbent of that office some thirteen years, and still administers justice to those who are unfor- tunately compelled to resort to the law to settle their differences. In the year 1853 he was elected to the office of sheriff of Ashtabula County, and served two terms, and in 1868 was elected county commissioner, and continued in office one term of three years; was elected to his present position as infirmary director in the fall of 1877. He has also served as trustee of his township several terms,

and for the greater portion of the time since attaining his majority has filled the office of school director.

On the 1st of August, 1862, he entered the volunteer service of the United States in the capacity of quartermaster of the One Hundred and Fifth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry ; served until April, 1864, at which time he was com- pelled by failing health to resign. In reply to the question, "Were you wounded ?" he answered, "Once only, when at home on leave of absence in 1863, by a friend congratulating me on the position I held in the service, which would give me an opportunity to make money."

On the 27th day of March, 1844, Esquire Wright was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Wayland, daughter of the Rev. Asa and Sarah Saxton Jacobs, of Conneaut (this county). The children of this marriage are Elizabeth, born Feb- ruary 9, 1845 ; married Levi T. Scofield, and now resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Lydia, born Mareh 20, 1847 ; married Conrad J. Brown ; residence, Erie, Penn- sylvania. Altie, born April 23, 1850; married the Rev. Jeremiah Phillips, Jr., and whose home is now in Kenosha county, Wisconsin. Sherman, the next child, was born September 29, 1854; and Nellie, the last, whose birth occurred on January 8, 1859.

The 'squire was from the outset a Liberty-party man, and is, as a matter of course, at this writing a Republican, and believes that one hundred cents should make a dollar. He is a member of Kingsville post, Grand Army of the Repub- lic, and his religious belief is in keeping with the tenets of the Free-Will Baptist church, of which he is a member. We cannot perhaps better close this sketch than by quoting from the notes of the gentleman himself: " Have thus far lived on my own resources ; none of my family have as yet been charged with crime, have became a public charge or a member of congress."

EDWARD HAMMOND, INFIRMARY DIRECTOR.

In connection with the view of the county infirmary is shown a portrait of the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch. Of him we learn that he was the fifth child of John and Sarah Hammond, of West Worldham, Hampshire county, England, was born on the 16th day of August, 1817, and de- rived the principal part of his education in England, embarking with the family for America on the 1st day of June, 1836. The date of their arrival and location in Kingsville was on the 1st day of the following August. The parents died,-the mother in 1851, and the father in 1856. The life-occupation of Mr. Hammond has been that of a farmer. He was elected to the office of trustee of Kingsville in 1862, and served for the succeeding eight years in that position; was elected to his present position in the year 1873, and re-elected in the fall of 1876. He has been twice married : the first time on July 11, 1842, to Harriet Gunn, daughter of Comfort and Sarah Gunn, of Kingsville; from this wife were born two children : John B., born July 11, 1843 ; he married Maria Van Slyke, and now resides in Michigan. Ellen E. was born August 31, 1844; her hus- band is Sabin Holmes. They live in Kingsville. Mr. Hammond was married to his present wife, who was a sister of his former one, on the 15th day of May, 1851. The following are the children of this marriage : Charlotte, born April 1,1857 ; Margaret G., born October 16, 1859, died August 22, 1864 ; Gess and Gessie were born September 28, 1862. Mr. Hammond is Republican in politics ; is a member of the fraternity of Freemasons, and has taken the Royal Arch degrees.

EEEE

RESIDENCE OF CHAS H. CRATAR, NORTH KINGSVILLE, ASHTABULA CO., OHIO. PATENTEE, CRATAR'S VEHICLE COUPLING.]

MARCUS KINGSLEY, M.D.,

was born in Barrington, Yates county, New York, on March 15, 1837. He is the youngest of five children. His father, Simon Kingsley, was a native of Providence, Rhode Island, and his mother, Miss L. Stanton, of Litchfield county, Connecticut, at which point they were married. Removed to Barrington in about 1828, and here the father died, in the fall of 1844. The mother soon afterwards removed to Dundee, New York, and remained until 1860, when she removed to Kingsville, and yet resides there. The subject of this sketch attended district school and Dundec academy until at the age of nineteen ycars, when he chose the profession of medicine as the best suited to be his life's labor, and began its study in the office of Dr. George Z. Noble, of Dundee. Continued to read medicine three years, making himself generally useful about the place as an equivalent for his board. He attended the Cleveland Homeopathic college during the years 1859 and 1860. In the spring of the latter year coming to Kingsville, he located there as the pioneer of his practice in northeast Ashtabula County. His means were limited; there was prejudice against his school; he was an entire stranger; yet he went to work, and, as a result, has now a large, rapidly-

increasing, and lucrative practice. He was elected in 1863 an honorary member of the Ontario and Yates County medical society, of New York, and in the fol- lowing year of the Ohio Homoeopathic medical society, of Cleveland. Was elected a member of the board of education of Kingsville township in 1870, and was mainly instrumental in the organization of the special school district, where is now a fine graded school, with an average attendance of over one hundred scholars. In the fall of 1873 was elected coroner of Ashtabula County, and, on the death of Sheriff Hart, the subsequent July, assumed the duties of that office; he, how- ever, soon resigned. He was in 1875 the originator of the First Evangelical society of Nortlı Kingsville, and was instrumental in erecting an edifice for public wor- ship. He is a member of the Baptist church and a Knight Templar, affiliating with Caché commandery, No. 27, of Conneaut, and the lodges subordinate to that. Dr. Kingsley was on the 3d day of March, 1870, united in marriage to Celina Stella, daughter of James C. and Clarissa M. Smith, who were of New England parentage. Dr. Kingsley is Republican in politics, and a strong advocate of total abstinence.

DORSET TOWNSHIP.

THOUGH among the latest settled townships of the county, yet her worthy pio- neers endured more hardships than many of the carlier settlements. This town- ship is described on the county records as township No. 10 of the second range of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The original owners, so far as can now be ascertained, were Judge Isaac Mills, Pierpont Edwards, and others, of New Haven, Connecticut. The date of their purchase was in the year 1798.

In about 1824 this territory was organized as a separate township under the name of Millsford, and continued to be called the same until 1849, when, by special act of legislature, the present name Dorset was substituted. There are some sixteen thousand acres of land within the boundary lines of the township, which were in 1799 divided into lots by T. R. Hawley, under the supervision of Judge Mills. This was some twenty years prior to any permanent settlement in the township. In fact, nearly the entire portion of Ohio now denominated the Western Reserve was an unbroken wilderness. The soil, or the greater part of it, consists of a rich, deep muck, well adapted to agriculture. The eastern half was originally wet. There is still a marsh of quite considerable proportions in the sontheast corner of the township, across the centre of which is a curious em- bankment, supposed to have been constructed by beavers, dividing its waters; those from the south, flowing into the Pymatuning creek, which empties into the Maho- ning river, eventually reaching the Atlantic ocean in the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. From the northern part flow small streams tributary to Mills creek, the waters of which, by the aid of Grand river, Lake Erie, etc., finally reach the same grand old Atlantic through the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Wild game was abundant ; in fact, a dcer is occasionally " brought down," even at this late day, in the wooded fastnesses of the township of Dorset. There are a great number of saline springs or " deer-licks" in this township, some of which are thought to be more strongly impregnated with salt than any in the county.

In June or July, 1799, the first attempt at settlement was made by Joel Thorp, of North Haven county, Connecticut, who, with his wife and three small children, accomplished the journey of over six hundred miles, much of the way through an almost trackless wilderness, his mode of transit being two yoke of oxen harnessed to one of those pioneer wagons which were nearly as indestructible as the deacon's memorable " one-horse shay," which lasted

" Just a hundred years to a day."

It is thought that his location was in the southwest part of the township, on the bank of a small stream now called Bassett's creck, from the fact that a num- ber of apple-trees were found growing on this spot by the later settlers, surrounded by a thicket of second-growth trees. The remains of a log house are still plainly visible, which was, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the first one built by a white man within the boundary lines of the township of Dorset. The Thorp family remained for nearly three years in this " howling wilderness," suffering almost incredible hardships, at times nearly dying of starvation. Many incidents are narrated relative to this family and its fortunes. Not, however, having proper authentication, we omit their reproduction here. In the early part of the sum- mer of 1802, Mr. Thorp abandoned his claim, and, repairing to Warrensville, Cuyahoga county, began a settlement there which was soon after exchanged for land in Newburg, where it is thought some of his descendants still residc.

In 1812 a family named Cowles located about one mile west of the centre, built a eabin, " slashed" down the trees on several acres of land, remained a few years, but removed prior to 1818, in which year Asa Richardson exchanged his farm in Vermont with Judge Mills for lands here, brought his family from Steu- ben county, New York, and erected a cabin about three-fourths of a mile north- west of the centre, on the farm now owned by George and Henry Arner, made some improvement, but removed from the township after some four or five years' sojourn.

On February 8, 1821, John Smith, of Worthington, Hampshire county, Mas- sachusetts, arrived in the township, and began life on lot No. 21, soon crecting the first log house built by a permanent settler. The tract upon which he then settled consisted of three hundred and eighty-four acres, and was the same upon which he now resides, enjoying those comforts to secure which he braved the many dangers and hardships incident to pioneer life. He informs us that the first year in the wilderness he raised forty busliels of potatoes and an equal number

of bushels of corn. His family consisted of nine children, of whom John C. was the cldest. Following his birth, were Mary, Alexander H., George, and Philander (who both died young), Philander (2d), Lucy (also deceased ), Henry P., and Rufus C., all living in the township, the last named occupying the old farm, with whom resides his venerable father, the mother having deceased Sep- tember 7, 1860.

The spring following, Abitha Sutliff, of Connecticut, made a commencement on the centre lot, near where now stands the town hall. While engaged in clearing his lands he was, on the 9th of January, 1822, struck by a falling tree and instantly killed. This was, without doubt, the first death of a white person in the town- ship of Dorset. Dr. Giles Cowles, of Austinburg, was the officiating clergyman on the occasion of the funeral, and his sermon is thought to have beeu the first delivered in the township.

The Sutliff family seemed doomed to fatal accident. Upon the death of the father four children were left, viz., Anson, Joel, Lyman, and Hiram. On or about the 29th day of April, 1854, Lyman, the third son, was murdered, but a few rods from the spot on which the unfortunate father was killed. Horace Haynes, the murderer, was scut to the penitentiary for life, which seems to be the greatest punishment meted out to him who takes the life of his fellow-man in Ashtabula County. Hayucs was eventually pardoned out.

A little son of Iliram Sntliff was bitten by a mad dog, from the effects of which he died in horrible agony. This occurrence was less than one-half mile from the spot where the grandfather was, years before, crushed by the falling tree. The date of this death we are unable to obtain.

Nathan Bassett, of Dalton, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, arrived in the township March 10, 1822, and settled on the lot first occupied by the Cowles family. His son William informs us they came through with teams, were about six weeks on the road, and made a stop iu Madison, Lake county, remaining for a time engaged in the occupation of brick-making; in fact, Mr. Bassett built the first brick kiln in Dorset, in about 1824 or 1825.

The children of Nathau Bassett are William C. (to whom our thanks are due for many facts of early history), Julia, Emma Janc, Mary Esther, and Solomon, who died in California.

The June following several families arrived, and located near the Thorp place, only remaining a few years, however. They were-two brothers Richardson, Walter Marsh, and David and Abijah Winch, all originally from the State of Vermont.

The first birth is thought to have been that of a daughter to John and Char- lotte Smith, which event occurred in July, 1821. Anstin Burr, another perma- nent settler, immigrated from Paris, Oneida county, New York, in 1821; was by occupation a cooper, and his first work was done in Madison, Lake county, afterwards wielding the adze and shave successively in Ashtabula, Harpersfield, Geneva, and Andover. He informs us that on the 28th of December, 1826, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Honghton, of Andover, the ceremony taking place at the residence of the bride's father, Esquire Houghton. Mr. Burr tells me further that they had a pretty good time on the occasion. He located in Dorset in January, 1827, on the farm adjoining the one which he now occupics, and on which was erected the first building in the township where whisky did not add its "mechanical" powers to the furtherance of the work. From that time forward he has ever been an efficient worker in the cause of temperance. Seven children were born to him, of whom three still reside in Dorset, two in Kansas, one in Michigan, and one in New Lyme, this county. Lyman Larrabee, formerly from Vermont, was married in Jefferson, in 1824, to Elizabeth Cole, and in 1825 settled on lot No. 20, Dorset, where he still resides. Nathan Phil- lips, wife, and nine children came from Connecticut, and located in Kingsville, this county, in 1829, where B. W. Phillips, the present justice of the peace, was born, removing to Dorset some four years subsequently, and settling on lot No. 34, being the same now owued by E. G. Phillips, with whom the aged mother still resides, the father having deceased in 1853.

Some time in the year 1824 occurred the first wedding in the township, the contracting parties being the widow Sutliff and - Griffin, of Morgan, this county. Austin Burr, Esq., made the happy couple one, and it is said he did exceeding well for a " raw hand" (this being his first attempt).

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HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO.

THE FIRST SCHOOL

was taught in the summer of 1823, by Miss Sarah Houghton (now Mrs. Austin Burr) ; it was kept in a small log house standing near the Thorp place. This was the first house occupied for school purposes in the township, but we are unable to give the date at which it was built. Miss Houghton taught a term of three months, receiving for the same six shillings per week, aggregating nine dollars for the term. There were some sixteen scholars in attendance. The first natural deatlı is thought to have been that of Elijah Richardson, which occurred in perhaps 1830, Rev. Giles Cowles, of Austinburg, officiating at the funeral, which was held at the house of deceased, then standing near the corner of lot No. 21. The body was interred in the cemetery near the residence of Lyman Larrabec, Austin Burr, Esq., having given the land to the township for that purpose. The first church organized was that of those grand old pioneer re- ligionists, the Methodists, and was formed in 1825, by Rev. Joseph Carr. The services were held at the residence of Cheever Richardson, with a membership of fifteen souls. This church is, we learn, still in a flourishing condition. The first store was opened in about 1857, by John C. Smith. The goods, of which there was the variety usually found in country stores, were displayed in a portion of his dwelling, located about one-half mile east of the centre. We learn he did a good business. The first tavern was built by George Phillips, near the spot upon which now stands the town hall. It was a frame structure, and first opened to the public in the year 1838 by William Bell, the owner. It is said a general good time was had at the " opening," fluid nourishment freely furnished by the landlord no doubt materially increasing the hilarity of the occasion. Dr. Day was the first doctor. He " hung out his shingle" from one corner of the tavern, in about 1840, and remained in Dorset about two years. Of his pro- fessional attainments we are unable to learn anything. The first orchard was planted by Nathan Bassett, on lot No. 39,-this was in the year 1835,-Mr. Bassett and his son William bringing the trees, about forty in number, on their backs from Denmark. The first steam saw-mill was built by John Smith, on the farm now occupied by his son (John C.), in about 1840 ; he also put in stone for grinding corn and coarse fecd. No grist-mill other than this has ever been in the township. John Smith also built the first cider-mill, which was in about 1842. Quite a considerable portion of the turnpike, from Leon to the centre of Dorset, was built by Mr. Smith, for the sum of twenty-five cents per rod ; for the bridge across the stream near Philander Smith's he received one dollar. The first brick house, and in fact the only one ever in the township, was erected in 1836 by the same, and is still occupied by him. The winter of 1853 witnessed the inaugura- tion of the first singing-school, which was taught by Hiram Woodworth, in the school-house on lot No. 34. There were over thirty scholars in attendance, while the remainder of the house was filled to overflowing by citizens. The first Sabbath-school was held in a log school-house, which stood about thirty rods northwest of the present residence of B. W. Phillips, Esq., and was organ- ized with Austin Burr as superintendent. The first road was a pioneer blazed route, running southeasterly from Jefferson, diagonally across the township; the second was what is now known as the Jefferson road,-both of which thorough- fares were surveyed by Timothy R. Hawley, of whom former mention was made. There has been a post-office at or near the centre of the township for so many years that the memory of deponent runneth not to the contrary ; but when estab- lished, or who was the first postmaster, it seems beyond the power of mortal man to ascertain. It is quite possible, however, that one of the Richardsons first held the office. The mails were transported over the Jefferson road for some time prior to the establishment of a post-office. The first building occupied as a town hall was erected by John Smith, at or near the centre. It was a small frame building, and was also occupied as a school-house. This building was erected in about 1840, and served its purpose perhaps two or three years, when it was de-

stroyed by firc. The township took the matter in hand, and erected the present commodious town hall.

The first and only cheese-factory in the township was built in 1870, by J. F. Burr. It is located near the centre, is quite a large building, and at present a paying institution. In 1873 it was purchased by T. B. Wire, who went into bankruptcy in 1875, when J. W. Chapin, its present owner, came into possession. The number of pounds of cheese manufactured the first year was fifty-eight thou- sand three hundred and sixty, which netted the sum of eight thousand eight hundred and eight dollars and ninety cents.

On the east bank of Mills creek, north of the Jefferson road, and near the cov- ered bridge, stands a willow-tree of such extraordinary size and luxuriant foliage that the attention of the passer-by is attracted thercto, the trunk measuring cleven feet one and one-half inches in circumference three feet above the ground, while the top is at least sixty feet across. As the history of this huge tree will doubt- less be of interest, we give it. In about the year 1830, Mrs. Tom Collins, who then lived on the place now occupied by the Arners, was returning home from an equestrian trip, and, stopping to allow her horse to drink, carelessly inserted the end of a small twig of willow (she had used as a riding-whip) into the soft surface of the bank. Whether intentionally or not, she rode away and left it in that position, and from it has grown this monster tree. Truly,

" Tall oaks from little acorns grow."

Of the early elections in Dorset we are unable to find any record, except the following copy of a poll-book, which sufficiently explains itself :

" Poll-book of an election held in the township of Millsford, in the county of Ashtabula, on the 14th day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight. John Smith, Nathan Bassett, and Elijah Rich- ardson, judges, Austin Burr, and Marinas Pierce were severally sworn as the law directs. There were eleven votes cast. The candidates were Allen Trumbull, governor ; Elisha Whittlesey, member of congress; Lemuel Lee, representative ; Lynds Jones, sheriff; Samuel Whelpley, auditor ; Christopher Champlin, com- missioner ; Marvin Leonard, coroner. There were also on same date township officers elected as follows : Samuel Fox, Rufus Thompson, John Smith, trustees ; Austin Burr, clerk ; Lyman Larrabee, treasurer ; Hiram Bassett, constable ; Wal- ter Marsh and Nathan Bassett, poor-masters ; Samuel Fox and Nathaniel Hub- bard, fence-viewers; and Rufus Thompson, John Smith, Nathaniel Hubbard, and Hiram Bassett, supervisors. Chester Woodworth was undoubtedly the first jus- tice of the peace, but when elected we are unable to ascertain. He was succeeded by Austin Burr, who served three terms, and he by Nathan Phillips, who was elected, it is thought, in about 1838. The vote for President in 1876, as shown by the report of the secretary of state, was : Rutherford B Hayes, ninety-seven ; Samucl J. Tilden, fifty-four.

From the assessor's return we gather the following statistics for 1877 :

Wheat

72 acres.

696 bushels.

Oats ..

292

7,215

Corn ....

242

13,950

Potatoes

2,935

Orcharding (apples) ..

2,817

Meadow.

1107

1,410 tons.

Butter

19,049 pounds.

Cheese.

111,500

Maple-sugar.

4,646

There were, in 1877, four separate school-houses and three joint districts; esti- mated value of schools and school property, four thousand five hundred dollars. The enumeration of scholars shows a total of one hundred and twenty-six.

Population in 1870, three hundred and seventy-two.

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History of Ashtabula County, Ohio, Part 82

Author: Williams, W. W. (William W.) Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia : Williams brothers Number of Pages: 458

Author: Williams, W. W. (William W.)
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 458