USA > Ohio > Lake County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 61
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 61
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The story goes that the bride, who was a member of Mr. Paine's family, was busily engaged in household duties when the wedding hour arrived. Whereupon she took her place, was married, and then resumed her employment.
The first settlement in the southern part of the town near the line was made in 1816, by Asaph Sexton, on land a part of which is now owned by Mrs .. Bestor. Mr. Sexton's land lay partly in Nelson, and his house was so situated as to be in both towns, which gave him a residence in two counties, sometimes a very con- venient arrangement at that day.
In the same year the first settlement was made on the Burton road by Belar Burroughs, who owned the land till 1821.
The Burton road was surveyed and laid out by Chester Elliott in 1809, and was the second road located in the town.
Mr. Burrough's farm was owned for some years by Enoch Slitor, and was long known as " the Slitor place." After the death of Mr. Slitor, it was purchased by Harris Gould, who built on it a substantial frame house. This farm is now owned by N. M. Goff.
JOHN WITHERSPOON SCOTT
was born in Newbury, Vermont, August 6, 1791. His father, John Scott, was a native of Glasgow, Scotland ; his mother was of English descent, but born in Vermont. John Scott came to Vermont, in 1774, with a Scotch company, who settled Ryegate about that time; but himself settled in Newbury, where he first engaged in merchandise, but, at the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, he became a commissary in the service of the United States. After the close of the war he engaged in farming, and continued in that occupation till his death, in 1828.
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HISTORY OF GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, OHIO.
The subject of our sketch was the fifth son and seventh child of a family of eleven children. He obtained the rudiments of education at the common schools, but as Vermont in his boyhood was a new State, the children of her settlers were thrown mainly upon their own resources, and young Scott was no exception to the rule. His love of study was gratified by the perusal of such books as came within his reach, for which the long winter evenings in that northern lati- tude gave the leisure; and the blazing fire of pine-knots in the ample fireplace was the student's lamp by whose light he pursued his studies.
In 1813 he commenced the study of medicine under Dr. James A. Denison, of Royalton, Vermont. In 1816 he entered the medical department of Dart- mouth College, from which he graduated in 1817. At this time Thaddeus Ste- vens was a student in the college, and the two students became intimate friends.
Immediately after taking his degree he set his face westward, and made the whole journey from Vermont to Ohio on horseback.
At Painesville he met Charles C. Paine, who persuaded him to go to Parkman, which had then no resident physician. Here he settled and entered at once on the practice of his profession, to which he devoted himself with a singleness of purpose which is a sure precursor of success.
With the exception of two years, 1837-38, which he spent in Chardon, his professional labors were mainly confined to Parkman and the adjoining townships. Other physicians came and went, but he remained, and thus his interests, per- manency, and professional life became identified with the town.
In 1819 he was appointed associate judge, with George Tod, father of David Tod, as president, and remained on the bench some years. This is the only office, except that of school director, which he ever held.
In 1821 he built the house in the north part of the village in which he after- wards lived. In October of the same year he married Mary Anne, the eldest daughter of Judge Noah Hoyt. Eight children were the fruit of this marriage, the two eldest of whom died within a few days of each other of epidemic dysentery in 1825, and the youngest, Walter Scott, of the same disease, in 1840. Two sons and two daughters still survive their parents.
Dr. Scott enjoyed in a high degree the confidence and esteem of his brother physicians. He gave to the study of his profession his deepest thought, and to the practice of it his best energies, while the fatigue inseparable from it was light- ened in his leisure hours by the love and pursuit of literature.
He was a Republican in politics,-in religious belief an Episcopalian. He was one of the earliest members of the Masonic lodge which was instituted in Parkman about the time of his arrival in the town, having taken high degrees in the fraternity before he left Vermont.
His death took place, after a short illness, June 16, 1852. The death of Mrs. Scott occurred February 21, 1859.
They passed their entire married life-with the exception of the two years spent in Chardon-in the same house in which they began housekeeping in 1821, which is still known as "the Scott place." It is now owned by Mrs. Mary Parkman.
Nearly at the time of the arrival of Doctor Scott the town received an addi- tion to its inhabitants as well as to its business interests, in the person of Mr. Sherburn H. Williams, a native of Connecticut, but more recently a citizen of Aurora, Cayuga county, New York. Mr. Williams was a merchant, and soon after his arrival he built a store on the north side of the public square and began business. This building was so occupied by him for nearly thirty years.
He was a very enterprising man, and dealt largely in the produce of the coun- try in exchange for goods.
In 1820 he married Miss Harriet Delano, of Aurora, New York, and estab- lished his household in a dwelling south of the public square, in which he lived till his death, in 1835, and in which his family continued to live till the death of Mrs. Williams, in 1871. Both Mr. and Mrs. Williams were persons of intelli- gence and literary culture, and with other families united in forming a society which might well have graced an older community.
They were both members of the Episcopal church. He was one of the earliest members of the Masonic lodge in Parkman. He succeeded Mr. Parkman as post- master, and held the office several years. His successor was Barton F. Avery.
About 1827, Mr. Williams formed a partnership with his brother, Russell Wil- liams, which continued during his life. The business was carried on by Russell Williams till his death, in 1846, a part of the time in partnership with Mr. Josiah S. Tilden. Mr. Tilden, after the death of Mr. Williams, remained in the same business some years, a part of the time in partnership with his nephew, Abram P. Tilden. He owned for some years and resided on "the Wallace farm," upon which, in 1843, he erected a large frame dwelling. In 1865 he removed to Cleveland, where he now resides.
In the same year Abram P. Tilden removed to Chardon, having been elected county auditor, which office he held two terms, and where, since the expiration
of his term of service, he has remained. Both Russell Williams and J. S. Til- den held the office of postmaster several years, and Abram P. Tilden that of justice of the peace.
In 1817 the " Western Phoenix (Masonic) Lodge" was instituted by Edward Paine, Jr., and among its early members were Charles C. Paine, Hendrick C. Paine, John W. Scott, Sherburn H. Williams, Isaiah Davis, Abner H. Fairbanks, Barton F. and Austin H. Avery, and Alexander Dunn. Other names, from Mesopotamia, Farmington, Burton, Welshfield, and Nelson, show that it was at that time the only lodge in the vicinity.
In this year a large frame building, designed for a school and also as a place of of religious worship, was built on the east side of the public square. It was of two stories, and the upper part was used for about seven years as a Masonic lodge-room.
In 1825 the lodge put up the frame of the building which is now the town hall. The " Morgan excitement " put a stop to its completion, and in 1828 the fraternity ceased to exist. The building was ufterwards purchased by the town and sufficiently finished for school purposes and for religious worship. The upper part is now in use as a high school, the lower part as a town hall. The lodge was reconstituted in 1857, and is in a flourishing condition. It holds its meet- ings in a room owned by them in the village.
In the year 1817, Alexander Dunn, from Monroe county, New York, pur- chased the farm lying south of that of Mr. Fairbanks. He was a carpenter, and his first work was the building of the large school-house and Masonic lodge. The winter school-term of 1817-18 was taught in this building by Alfred Phelps.
In 1825 Mr. Dunn married Miss Betsey Owen, daughter of Daniel Owen, and settled at once on the farm which he had purchased. They had lived together on this farm for fifty years when Mr. Dunn died, January, 1875, in his seventy- ninth year. He was a man of gentle and unassuming manners, and was much esteemed, both as a neighbor and a citizen. He served for a short time in the war of 1812. On the formation of the first militia company in Parkman he was made ensign, and on the promotion of Captain Fairbanks to the rank of major he succeeded to the captaincy.
Not long after the organization of the militia company in the town, the ladies of Parkman united in furnishing them with a flag, by contributing fine linen of their own spinning, which was woven and made up by them. The stars and stripes were painted by B. F. Avery. When completed it was publicly presented to the company by Miss Sophia Doty, with an address by Mrs. Owen. The flag was received by Captain Fairbanks with an appropriate reply, and by him de- livered to the ensign, Mr. Dunn. This was the first flag owned by any company in the county, and at the next " general muster" at Burton the Parkman com- pany marched in advance of the others, carrying the colors.
About this time (1817) Horace R. Peck settled on the Burton road near the river, and lived in the town about sixteen years. During this time, about 1828, a Baptist church was formed, of which he was one of the deacons. Their place of worship was a log building, built for that purpose in 1825, and was the first church building of any kind in the town. This church stood on the Burton road near its intersection with the road running southwest to Troy, and was con- tinued in use as a church till about 1838, when it was removed. The church has been disbanded.
In 1812, Elijah Ford, a native of Plainfield, came to Ohio. After a stay of a year in Burton, where he married Miss Esther Johnson, who had settled in Burton with her parents in 1801, he purchased in 1813 a farm in Welshfield, lying on the east line of that town on the centre road. In 1819 he removed just over the line into Parkman. Mr. Ford lived on this farm till 1837, at which time he bought a farm near the village on the Burton road, at the point which is now known as Ford's Corners. Here he built a large house, in which he lived till his death in 1855. Mrs. Ford died in 1852.
The farm is now owned by his oldest son, Horace J. Ford.
Mr. Ford was in religious belief an Episcopalian.
In 1820 he was commissioned sergeant in a rifle company, Second Regiment, Ohio militia, and rose successively through all the grades to that of colonel of the Fifth Regiment, which commission he held until 1830, when he resigned it.
The farm on the west side of the Burton road, about half a mile north of Ford's Corners, now owned by Burden J. Warren, was first settled in 1818 by Noah Packard, who built upon it a small frame house. Being a good farmer, he in a few years brought a large part of his land under cultivation.
Very soon after the rise of Mormonism, he became a couvert to its tenets, and in 1835, having sold his farm, he removed to Kirtland, which had then become the Mormon headquarters. He was one of the original " seventy elders" ap- pointed by Joseph Smith, and one of the officers of the bank established by Smith in Kirtland. He removed to Nauvoo, Illinois, at the time of the Mor- mon emigration thither, and from thence to Utah, where he died.
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LITH. BY L H. EVENTS, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
RESIDENCE of DARIUS LYMAN, FORMERLY RESIDENCE of JNO.P. CONVERSE, PARKMAN, GEAUGA Ca.O.
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Hiram Dayton, the original owner of the farm lying directly south of Mr. Packard, also became a Mormon. He sold his farm in 1838 and went to Nauvoo, and afterwards to Utah, where his descendants still live.
In 1818, Daniel Earle, from Massachusetts, succeeded Hendrick Paine in the woolen-factory, which he enlarged, and added to it machinery for manufacturing cloth of fine quality, and carried on the business for some years. The enterprise in the end was not successful, and was finally abandoned, though the building continued in use for carding and cloth-dressing in the hands of others until about 1835.
In this year also (1818) Elisha Harris, from Chenango county, New York, bought four hundred acres which comprised the whole of lot one and a part of lots two and three in great lot twenty-one. He settled on a southern portion of this land and built a log house. At that time there was no road leading from the village in that direction. In 1820 the present road was surveyed by Alfred Phelps and opened sufficiently for travel. It was afterwards extended to the township of Mantua, passing through Harrison, and is known as the Rapids road.
About the year 1825, Mr. Harris sold the whole of lot one to Simon Davis, son-in-law of Isaiah Davis, from Genesee county, New York. This farm con- tinued in the family of Mr. Davis, until 1853, and the northern part of it is still owned by his daughter, Miss Betsey Davis. Mr. Davis died in 1863.
Mr. Harris continued to own the remainder of his land, upon which he built a substantial frame house, until 1832, when pecuniary embarrassments, occasioned by becoming surety for a neighbor, obliged him to sell it, at which time he re- moved to Hiram, Portage county, where he died in 1845. Both Mr. and Mrs. Harris were members of the Methodist church.
Also, in 1818, Gilbert Curtiss and Lanea McCall, brothers-in-law from Middle- sex county, Connecticut, purchased farms lying contiguous to each other near the centre of the town, upon which they lived for more than forty years.
The McCall farm, when first purchased, was bounded on the east by the Meso- potamia road, but in 1825 was enlarged by the purchase of fifty acres lying on the east side of this road, which was first settled in 1820 by Benoni Buck, and sold by him to Mr. McCall, shortly before his death. Mr. McCull retained pos- session of his farm till 1867, at which time he sold it to George Minturn, its present owner. He died in 1868.
Mr. Curtiss continued to reside ou his first purchase, which lay directly west of that of Mr. McCall, till 1864, at which time he sold it and removed from the town. He is now living in Connecticut. Both himself and Mr. McCull were soldiers in the war of 1812.
Alfred Phelps, who, it will be remembered, was a brother-in-law of Mr. Park- man, and accompanied him to Ohio, in 1814, when only eleven years old, remained in Parkman several years. Just before the opening of the war of 1812, he re- turned to Cayuga county, and at its beginning entered the army as lieutenant, and served under General Van Rensselaer. At the battle of Queenstown he was wounded and taken prisoner, but was released on parole, and returned to Cayuga county. Soon after the close of the war he returned to Parkman, and began the practice of law, having before this studied the profession with Mr. Parkman.
In 1820 he married Miss Ann Tousley, of Aurora, New York, and brought his wife at once to Parkman, where they continued to reside till 1827, when they re- moved to Chardon, and therefore his history is connected with that town.
In 1818, his father, Judge Seth Phelps, of Cayuga county, New York, pur- chased a part of the Evans farm, and settled upon it with his family, and upon which he continued to live till his death in 1826. At the time of his removal to Ohio he was a man advanced in years, though still in vigorous health and strength. He was a pioneer of Cayuga county, having settled there shortly after the close of the Revolutionary war, through the whole of which he served im- mediately under General Washington. He held for some years the office of judge of the Superior Court of Geauga County.
In the year 1819, Zachariah Hosmer, the father of Alonzo Hosmer, from Mid- dlesex county, Connecticut, settled on a farm on the centre road, lying west of the Bateman lot, upon which he lived till his death, in 1856, at the age of ninety- four. Mr. Hosmer was a soldier of the war of the Revolution. This farm is now owned by his son, Andrew Hosmer, who has lived on it ever since the time of his father's settlement. Another son, Sylvester Hosmer, made the first settle- ment on the road leading from the centre to Middlefield, near the northern bound- ary of the town, by the purchase of about three hundred acres, lying on both sides of the road, upon which, in 1853, he built the first steam saw-inill ever in the town. In 1852 he built a brick house, in which he resided till his death in 1859. This farm is now owned by his two sons, Chester A. and Perry J. Hos- mer, and thus the three farms lying very near each other, which were originally settled by different members of the Hosmer family, remain each with the descend- ants of the first owner.
John B., son of Andrew Hosmer, served in the navy in the war of the Re-
bellion. He died in 1868, of consumption, caused by exposure while in the service.
In October, 1819, Mr. Seth Smith, from Madison county, New York, pur- chased land in Parkman, on the southern boundary of the township, and settled on it. Mr. Smith had a family of seven sons, four of whom settled in the vicinity, and gave the name of Smithville to that part of the town, which it still retains. Ransom, the eldest son, came with his younger brother, Marsh, the year before their father, and purchased land lying between the centre and the west Nelson road, Marsh Smith taking that lying on both sides of the west road, which is now owned by Sanford Eddy, upon which he lived for more than forty years. In 1871 he removed to Chardon, where several of his family had settled, where he still resides. While living in Parkman he was several times elected justice of the peace, and also held for some time the office of county auditor.
Ransom Smith died in 1833. Two of his sons with their families still live in the town, the eldest, Alonzo B. Smith, on a part of the land which was his father's original purchase. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was also a member of the first militia company formed in Parkman. A part of his farm is owned by his brother, Sanford Smith, who still lives on his original purchase, on the Nelson road, not far from the southern boundary of the town. His family have all settled near him.
In 1838 his father sold his farm to Julius B. Upham, and for the remainder of his life resided with his sons Marsh and Sanford. He died in 1854, at the age of eighty-four. In religious belief he was a Universalist, as are also the most of his family and their descendants. Under their auspices, together with a number of other families of the sume belief in the town, a Universalist church was erected, in 1844, on a lot north of the village, donated for that purpose by General Simon Perkins, of Warren. This building has of late undergone exten- sive repairs.
In 1820, Mr. Augustus Sayles, of Chautauqua county, New York, came into the town for the purpose of entering into business as a millwright. In 1822, in company with Judge Noah Hoyt, from Oneida county, New York, and Eben- ezer White, he built a large forge on the river, south of the village, at the foot of Forge hill, to which it gave the name, which was an important addition to the business advantages of the place. Not long after its completion, Mr. Sayles withdrew from the firm, and the business was carried on by the other partners till 1824, when Judge Hoyt removed to Chardon, and Mr. White remained sole owner. He continued it in operation till 1833, when it was carried away by a freshet, and never rebuilt.
Mr. Sayles continued to work at his trade for some years, but an affection of the eyes, which caused partial blindness, afflicted him for many years. He was a man of very industrious habits, and a proficient in his particular calling. He continued to reside in Parkman until his death, in 1848.
William B. Young, brother of Joseph Young, came to Parkman at about the same time and from the same place as Mr. Sayles. He was a carpenter and cabinet-maker, and worked at both occupations. In 1826 he built a house on a lot directly south of that of Dr. Scott, and soon after married Miss Charlotte Ford, sister of Elijah Ford. They lived in this house till 1843, at which time they removed to Farmington, Trumbull county, where Mr. Young died in 1848. He was a prominent member of the Methodist church, and very highly esteemed in the community. After his death his family returned to Parkman, and re- mained there till 1860, at which time Mrs. Young removed to Cleveland, where she died, at the residence of her eldest son, in 1867.
Two brothers of William Young afterwards settled in the town,-Elisha W., who came in 1836, and is still living, and Walter, who came in 1839,-both from Chautauqua county. Walter Young died in 1865. He served in the army dur- ing the war of 1812.
In 1822, James McElwaine, from Madison county, New York, settled in Smithville, on the farm lying directly north of that of Sanford Smith. This furm was first purchased in 1817 by Lemuel Purdy, and transferred by him to Mr. McElwaine, who built a frame house upon the place, in which he lived till his death, in 1840.
The year after his settlement, in 1823, a Presbyterian church was organized by Rev. Benjamin Fenn, of Nelson, with ten members, of which he was chosen the first deacon, which office he held during his life. In 1836 the church adopted the Congregational form of government, which it still retains. His successor in the office of deacon was Augustus R. Baldwin, from Herkimer county, New York, who settled in Parkman in 1830 on a part of the original Harris farm, and who is still living.
In 1874 the church erected in the village a neat and commodious house of worship. They had for some years previously occupied the Methodist church alternately with that body.
In 1822, Ira Webster, son-in-law of Isaiah Davis, purchased the farm lying
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directly west of the settlement made by Mr. Hanchett. This farm, which lay directly north of the Harris purchase, was first taken up by Hiram Harris, son of Elisha Harris, who sold his interest in it to Mr. Webster. Shortly before this purchase, in 1820, the road upon which it lies was opened, having before this only extended from the village to the Hanchett mill. The survey was made by Alfred Phelps. Mr. Webster resided on this farm till 1846, at which time he removed to Chardon, and died there in 1877. He was a soldier in the war of 1812.
Shortly after his settlement in the town, a Methodist church was formed, of which himself and wife . were members. Their number having sufficiently in- creased, in 1841 they built a church in the western part of the village, on land donated for that purpose by General Perkins. In 1858, by an exchange of lots, it was removed to the opposite side of the street, and refitted. Again, in 1874, it was almost entirely rebuilt in modern style. It is the largest church edifice in the town.
A part of the Webster farm was purchased, in 1845, by Haidin Bennet, of Cayuga county, New York. The remainder is owned by Royal Burton. The farm lying west of this was bought, in 1830, by Harvey Carter, from Vermont, who still owns it, and has lived on it nearly fifty years.
The land lying between the farm of Mr. Carter and the town line was pur- chased, in 1829, by Daniel G. Converse, and elder brother of John P. Converse, who settled in Parkmanville with his family in 1824. He lived on this farin till 1850. In 1855 he removed to Michigan, where he died in 1858. While in Parkman he was several times elected justice of the peace, and was, during the greater part of his residence in the town, one of the deacons of the Congrega- tional church. He was a native of Vermont, and was a soldier in the war of 1812 from that State. During the war of the Rebellion, his four sons, all natives of Parkman, and a son-in-law, were members of Michigan regiments. Two of them served from the beginning to the end of the war, and were in active service nearly all the time. One son, and his son-in-law, died in the service.
The farm lying on the opposite side of the road from that of Mr. Converse was settled, in 1819, by Daniel Corliss, who owned it till 1835.
In 1824, Mr. Samuel Parkman died, and his ownership in the unsold land of the township of Parkman passed to his son, Dr. George Parkman, whose violent death, at the hands of Professor Webster, in 1849, is still well remembered. The agency remained unchanged till the death of Robert B. Parkman, which took place, after a long illness, in March, 1832. After this event, General Simon Perkins, of Warren, became the owner, by purchase of the Parkman interest, and thus was closed all relation with the family who gave their name to the town.
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