USA > Ohio > Huron County > History of Huron County, Ohio, Its Progress and Development, Volume I > Part 22
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51
Djonzed by Google
206
HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
Husted was only six weeks old when they started and her cradle was a basket hung from the top of the covered wagon and she is said to have been the least trouble of any of the children. Probably the swaying of the wagon as it passed over the rough roads kept her cradle rocking. They were six weeks on the road. Husted drove an ox team with a white horse ahead. This animal lived for many years afterward and was known by the name of "Knitting Work," on account of her nipping kind of a gait. A piece of their wagon is still preserved by the young- est son. They came by the way of Pittsburg, Petersburg, Canfield, Rocky River, Ridgeville and Black river, as an old account book shows. Husted furnished the means to pay Seger's way and charged him fourteen dollars for carrying a chest three hundred miles. He went into his own log cabin which stood near the brow of the hill north of the Hollow, near Albert Stone's house. After a few years he built the first frame house in the township in the Hollow, near the brick store. The oid log house was used for a school house.
Benjamin Benson was a butcher in New York city. He was a member of the First Troop of Horse Artillery under Colonel Joseph Bogart in the war of 1812, and spent a little time in camp when the troops were called out to defend the city against an expected attack of the British, but did not see active service. He pur- chased a piece of land here in Clarksfield in the summer of 1817. He started for Ohio October 14, 1817. He says: "Traveling was very expensive, even when a man drove his own team, owing chiefly to the great flood of emigration at that time settling toward the west. The price of oats on the main thoroughfares would average about seventy-five cents a bushel, with hay proportionately dear. Our destination was Clarksfield, Huron county. Ohio, and we arrived at Florence on the 2d day of December, where we were accommodated by Major Barnum with shelter within the body of a log house without chimney or floor or anything but the bare logs with open spaces of three or four inches between them, thus affording very inadequate protection against the rigor of winter, which, after our arrival had begun in good earnest and continued through the months of January and February at a temperature with little variation, bordering upon zero. During this tinie we built a log cabin and before the spring opened we had removed to our intended future home." This cabin stood near the place where Robert Hurlbut afterward built his house, on the road about a half mile south of the Hollow.
Aaron Rowland was born in 1780, in a military camp at Danbury, Connecticut. In 1799 he was married to Deborah Dean of Carmel, New York. They located at Southeast, Putnam county, New York. Mr. Rowland was a miller by trade and operated flouring and sawmills along the Croton river. On the 10th day of October, 1818, he started from Southeast in a wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen and one horse. His family consisted of a wife and six children. Accompanying him was his brother-in-law, Ezra Wood, and family. They reached Clarksfield November 18th. Captain Husted's wife was an aunt to Mr. Rowland and Mrs. Wood, so all hands found shelter in Mr. Husted's log cabin. This addition must have swelled the number of inmates to about twenty. The probability is that the Husted family were glad to see some of their own folks and willing to be crowded for a short time. Mr. Husted charged Mr. Wood four dollars for a week's board for himself and wife. Mr. Rowland found employment at once in Captain Hus- ted's new grist mill. Perhaps he had come here with that understanding. He
Digweed by Google
207
HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
built a log house a little ways north of Husted's house where Ezra Wildman after- wards lived, near the house of Mrs. Hubbell. He operated the mill when there was water and attended to farming at other times until 1822, when he moved to his own land which he had bought before he came here.
The first physician to make a settlement in the wilderness of Clarksfield was Andrew McMillan. He was of Scotch parentage but was born in the state of New York. About 1820 he came with his father's family to a farm near Monroeville and in July, 1822, he came to Clarksfield.
Joseph Osyer moved from Canada to Berlin and in 1820 to Hartland Ridge, settling on the farm known as the Eno Holiday farm. In 1824 he sold out his place and moved to Clarksfield, living in a log house on the farm of Benjamin Stiles, back of Charles Fisher's house. He used to make many shingles and had a shed near his house where he used to shave the shingles. The Stiles boys and others of the neighborhood used to like to go there and watch him at work. He received two dollars per thousand for his shingles, and the price seems small when we consider that every shingle was split and shaved by hand and made of the very best oak or whitewood timber.
On the 3d day of November, 1820, "the inhabitants of Bethel were legally warned for the purpose of building a bridge across the Vermillion river." This was without doubt the bridge at the "Hollow."
In 1825 Joseph Waldron received two dollars for putting up guide boards. In April, 1825, after the separation of the townships the following officers were elected in Clarksfield: Andrew McMillan, clerk ; Asa Wheeler, Jr., Platt Sexton and Sheldon Freeman, trustees ; Samuel Husted and John Hough, overseers of the poor ; Ira Peck and Andrew McMillan, fence viewers ; Smith Starr, Lister and An- drew McMillan, appraisers of property ; Aaron Rowland, treasurer ; Levi Barnum and Stiles Webb, constables ; Jolin Wriker, John Hough, Stephen Post, Ezra Row- land and Harvey Webb, supervisors. In May the trustees divided the township into four school districts and made a list of the householders, forty-four in number.
Samuel Stiles, who was born November 13, 1818, was without doubt the first white child born in the township and Bethiah Wheeler was the first girl. Dorothy Benson, who was born January 9. 1819, was probably the third white child born here. The first death, as before stated, was that of Ephraim Seger, which occurred on the 27th or 28th of August, 1818. He had been sent on an errand by his father and when he returned was set to work picking up chips to put on a log heap. He was soon heard to exclaim, "What has bit me!" A large rattlesnake was found in the weeds and was quickly put into the burning log heap. It was found that the boy had been bitten on the wrist and he died three days afterward. In 1820 Horace Bodwell went down into Levi Barnum's well, a very deep one, on the Abraham Gray place, and was overcome with the "damps," and fell to the bottom. ()mri Nickerson went down and after several attempts succeeded in fastening a rope to the body and it was drawn out, but life was extinct. Two deaths by fall- ing trees, those of Henry Vanderveer and Rodney Blackman, occurred soon after the settlement of the town.
The first wedding in the township was that of Zara C. Norton and Cynthia Post, on the 14th day of October, 1818, and the second was that of Obadiah Jenney and Hester Paul.
0kg ced by Google
208
HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
Captain Husted, who always had an eye to the "main chance," saw the great inconvenience of the absence of a grist mill and soon set to work to supply that deficiency. He began the work of building a mill in April, 1818, and it was finished in September. The dam had a foundation of rock and has not had as many mishaps as the most of mill dams. The mill stood near the center of the present road running west from the village of Clarksfield, in front of the Daniels house and one of the old mill stones is doing duty as a horse block in front of that house. It was made from a granite rock. The mill was an unhandy building, two stories high and all the grain had to be carried up a steep, winding stairway. It had one run of stones. The stream went dry in the summer and those settlers who did not lay up a supply of flour and meal had to go to some other mill. Be- fore this mill was built the settlers here went to Merry's mill at Milan or to Rich- land county. This mill stood for about twenty years. The first sawmill in the township was built by Smith Starr in 1820. It stood east of the Hollow on the bank of Spring brook, some distance south of the road and some remains of the dam are yet to be seen. The dam once broke and the flood of water cut a channel through the road at the foot of the east hill. About 1823 Levi Barnum built a saw- mill on the east branch of the Vermillion river, short distance north of Rowland's Corners. He sold out to Asa Wheeler, Jr., and Joseph Bartholamew in a few years. It thus appears that Clarksfield was well supplied with mills early in the settlement of the township.
Benjamin Benson says: "The first trading establishment, if it be worth name, was opened by Richard T. Huyck in the Hollow. He sold rum, a few articles of stone ware, a trifling amount of groceries and called it a store. Some of the inhabi- tants would meet there ; the rum was good for the men to get drunk on, and but little else." We think Captain Husted must have been the first and principal mer- chant in town. In a few years (probably after he had built his frame house at the Hollow) he built a store across the street from his house, about where the hotel now stands. About 1830 it was moved further east to make room for the hotel. It was a long, low two story frame building and fronted the east after it was moved. In the latter years of its existence the front part was used for a store and the rear for a dwelling. Mr. Husted's account books contain the names of men of New London, Fitchville, Hartland, Wakeman, Florence and Brighton, as well as Clarks- field. Some of the articles sold were whiskey, tobacco, flour, horse and ox hides, salt, window sash, potatoes, fish, wooden dishes, cotton cloth, bear skins, kettles, young bears, pups, deer skins, cranberries, hat splints, ox yokes, bear meat, tallow, deer meat (salt, dried and hams), hoes, scythes, hats, apple trees and coffins. Frequent mention of Indians is made. Benson says: "Of money there was but little in use, for the reason that there were no markets for grain, and but little to dispose of if there had been. Labor was reckoned at a dollar per day, but a bushel of wheat would pay for that day's labor, although it was nominally worth but thirty-seven cents. Thus, the products of the soil constituted the articles of traffic. and supplied the place of bank paper, or the better currency of gold and silver coin. Speaking of barter, it would have been truly diverting if a record had been kept of the many queer exchanges that were made both by the men and the women at that early period. And if one should now offer to swap toadstools for old socks or live skunks for 'possum fat, it would not be more ludicrous."
Diglicod by Google
-
EAST MAIN STREET, NEW LONDON, OHIO
Dig ced by Google
211
HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
There have been many other stores in the township, but their history will be considered at a later date.
The first settlers, coming as they did from New England, were people of con- siderable education as a rule, and they began to erect school houses very soon after they were established in their new homes. Captain Husted gave Ezra Wood credit for one day's work at school house in December, 1818. The first school house in that township was built of logs, south of the Hollow not far from the Hough house, in 1819 and Miss Alzina Barker was the first teacher. This building was burned in 1829. It was supposed that some of the young men set fire to it in hopes of getting a better building. A frame building was soon afterward built just north of the river on the east side of the road. Soon after the first school house was built at the Hollow another was erected in the Stiles settlement some distance south of the present village of West Clarksfield. During the first years the schools were supported by those inhabitants who sent children to school, the expense being borne according to the number sent. But three months of school were taught in a year.
During the first four years of the new settlement the inhabitants had to go to Florence, or, perhaps, New London, for their mail. In 1821 a postoffice was es- tablished at Clarksfield with Smith Starr as postmaster, and he held that office until 1853, with the exception of two short intervals.
In 1834, Asa Wheeler, Jr., sold to Samuel Husted and David Tyler the strip of land at Clarksfield between the river and the east and west road and running from Spring Brook west to the north and south road, for fifty dollars. Husted and Tyler built a saw mill at the west end of this land. The power was derived from water brought by a race from the grist mill race. The mill cost three hun- dred forty-two dollars and twenty-eight cents, as shown by one of Husted's books. This mill was operated until about 1888, but has now nearly disappeared from the face of the earth. On March 5, 1836, this property was sold to Virgil Squire and Ebenezer Warner (of Florence) for one thousand, five hundred dollars. On the same day Samuel Husted sold to Squire and Warner the old gristmill property including the pond and race, for one thousand, five hundred dollars. On Septem- ber 30. 1836, Squire and Warner sold both properties to George Lawton and David Tyler for four thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars and on November 16, 1836, Starr sold to Lawton and Tyler the store and two acres of land after- ward occupied by J. J. Cobb, for seven hundred and fifty dollars. On March 4, 1837, Lawton and Tyler sold to Virgil Squire a one-third interest in their property for two thousand, five hundred dollars. In the same year John Hayes sold to Squire, Lawton and Tyler the land where the present grist mill stands, including his store and privilege of water from the mill race, and, at the same time Samuel Husted sold to them the triangular piece of land bounded by the New London road, where it angles to the east, the lot line and the cast and west road, with the point near the top of the hill, for one hundred dollars. Mr. Tyler soon sold out his interest. In the fall of 1837 Squire & Lawton began the erection of a grist mill on the premises and it was completed the next year, about September Ist. On the day when the mill was started there was quite a gathering of the inhabitants of the place, and as was usual upon such occasions, the men were ready to indulge in sports. Myron Furlong attempted to jump across the race, which was sixteen feet
Da zed by Google
212
HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
wide and full of water but he undershot the mark and landed in the water. This created a laugh and he excused himself by saying that no man could jump across and that he should have known better than to try. This led to a banter and a bet that a man could be found who would jump across. Ben Patch, who was not a man grown, was sent for and when he came Almanza Hamlin told him what was wanted and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Bennie, I would rather lose a hundred dollars than have you fail." He did not fail, but made the jump easily and the laugh was on Furlong again. The machinery for this mill was hauled by teams from Huron, to which place it had probably been shipped from Pittsburg. It had four runs of stone and was capable of doing a good deal of business while the water lasted. It was driven by a large overshot wheel, which was replaced by a turbine wheel in later years. About 1850 a steam engine was put in for use when the water did not suffice. A few years ago modern roller process machinery was put in and since then all of the stones have been removed and the water power discarded entirely. It still does a large business with the farmers. Squire & Lawton did not have capital enough to carry on the business successfully and the property was heavily mortgaged. In 1842 Lawton sold his interest to Squire for five hundred dollars. On November 25, 1837, Squire & Lawton sold to David Tyler a tract of land fifty-two by one hundred feet, including a building upon it. which stood twenty-six feet east of the mill then building, "with a water privilege of as much water as would spout through an aperture three feet six inches by two inches, with two feet head, but reserving the right to run four stones and two saws." This building is where Mr. Tyler carried on the business of making furniture, drums, coffins and almost anything which could be made from wood. This shop was burned in 1841 and another was erected in the same place, but it has been moved away and converted into a barn. In 1837 Samuel H. Gibson entered into a contract with David Tyler and Samuel Husted, in which Tyler agreed to let Gibson have the "privilege of water on said Tyler's land for use of propelling a wheel for carding and cloth dressing, and also agreed to furnish a shop and fit it in order for the above and put in a fulling mill and furnish one-half of all outgoes, wood, candles, soap, dye wood, dye stuff's, etc., and in turn was to receive one-fourth of the avails of the business." Mr. Husted agreed that when the water should not be sufficient to carry the grist mill and cloth works, to secure the water for the cloth works for the consideration of one-half of Tyler's avails, at the time his water was used for said works. The business of cloth dressing was carried on in the basement of Mr. Tyler's shop until it was burned. Silas Earl then built a cloth mill across the river from the grist mill and carried on the business until a freshet came on New Year's Day of 1847 and wrecked the machinery. He used horse power at first but put in a steam engine later. Virgil Squire kept a store at Clarks- field in 1835. in a building which stood near the foot of the hill north of Smith Starr's, and the business was continued by Squire & Lawton.
The building used to face the north, but Cobb had it turned around to face the west and had it painted anew, and he put in the best stock of goods which had been brought to the town. He had a partner, Mr. Buckingham, of Norwalk, until 1843. In 1848 he had the store building moved back and a large two-story building with a basement was erected and then Mr. Cobb enlarged his business until he drew trade from all the surrounding country. Excepting a store at Wake-
bigmixed by Google
213
HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
man and another at King's Corners (now New London), Clarksfield offered the chief facilities for trade in this part of the country, until the advent of railroads changed the order of things. Mr. Cobb bought anything which the farmers had to sell and supplied them with nearly everything which could be bought in stores at that time. The most of his produce was shipped at Milan and his goods came from there. He kept several teams busy most of the time. When he moved away he sold out to Tyler & Seger and they were followed in 1858-59 by Sam and Harley Jones. William Stiles carried on the business from 1859 to 1865, followed by J. N. Barnum, Seneca Ronk and Frank Wildman. The building has not been occupied for several years. Winslow Fay opened a store here in 1839 in a new building which he erected on the hill south of Smith Starr's house. He had a partner, one Albert Sherwood, until 1845. Fay sold out to him, but put up a smaller building by the side of the one sold to Sherwood, and carried on a store there for a short time. The first building erected by Fay was fitted for a school house some years after Fay moved away, and now stands at the foot of the hill east of the Cobb store. The second building erected by Fay was cut in two and one-half of it moved to the foot of the hill south of the old Cobb store, the other half stood on the lot north of the Congregational parsonage until recently, when it was torn down. When the Vermillion & Ashland railroad company was building its road north of this place, it bought the Husted store and hired Simeon B. Sturges to carry on the business, but after the company failed the store was sold to Abel D. Howe at sheriff's sale. Seger & Curtiss kept store there at one time. In 1820 Ezra Wildman came from Danbury, Connecticut, to Clarksfield, bringing a load of goods and he made several trips afterward, until he moved here in 1828. It is likely that his brother-in-law, Captain Husted, sold out the goods for him. When Johnson Wheeler bought the Barnum mill north of Rowland's corners, at what came to be known as Hayesville, he car- ried on a store in one corner of the mill, until a building was put up on the east side of the road on the north bank of the ravine, called the "Mansion House," where one room was used for a store. He also carried on a distillery. Albert Seger carried on a foundry at Hayesville for some time and then he and Walter Bates built a foundry at Clarksfield on the north side of the road just west of where the old grist-mill used to stand.
We learn that Alvin Coe, a Presbyterian, and William Westlake, a Methodist, were the first regular ministers. Other men visited the new colony and some of these missionary workers saw hard times. David Marks was one of them and in his Memoirs (see page twenty-two) he gives a narrative of his first journey to Ohio. Finding that a Free Will Baptist church had already been established at Milan, he journeyed on to New London, Clarksfield and Danbury, where he attended meetings "with some appearance of success." On the 29th and 30th of June, 1822, a general meeting was held at Milan. "Brethren attended from three small churches in Milan, Greenfield and Clarksfield, which were the only Free Will Baptist churches in this part of the country." In August of this year he attended meetings at Clarksfield in addition to other places. It is prob- able that the first church society organized in the township was the Baptist, but we are unable to learn anything more concerning it than stated above.
Djonzed by Google
214
HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
There was a society of Free Will Baptists here at one time. When the Mil- lerite doctrine began to be preached here, some of the members of the Baptist church embraced the new faith but when the prophecy that the world would come to an end on a certain day in April, 1844, did not prove to be true. some of these joined the Congregational church, under the preaching of John Todd. There was a larger society of Close Communion Baptists here, among whom were J. J. Cobb and wife, Robert W. Hurlbut and wife, Ezra Wood, the Fletchers. Aaron and Levi Rowland, Esex Call and family, Asa Percy, William Wood, Ransom Day and wife, Mrs. I. B. Scott and Mrs. Henry Kress, the last two being the only ones to hold their membership when the society disbanded. In 1845 a new school house was built across the street from the Congregational church and the building which had been used was made over into a church. J. J. Cobb helped much in the work. Elder Hall was the first minister in the new church building. The church society was kept up for about ten years and then there was a division and some of the members withdrew and organized a society at Rowland's corners. About 1837 a Methodist church was organized at East Clarksfield and a church building was afterwards erected at Whitefox corners and is still in use. We have been unable to get any history of the early days of this church. Two other Methodist churches have been built in the township, one at Barrett's corners and the other at West Clarksfield.
FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP.
Fairfield township still bears its original name. It was so called from Fair- field, Connecticut, where many of those lived who had received the land in pay- ment for loss of property in the Revolutionary war. It was detached from Bronson and organized in 1823.
The surface of the township is quite level, except in the northwest portion where there are ridges and curiously formed hills. The soil throughout is rich and there is no waste land. The whole township was originally covered with an unusually heavy growth of timber-maple, becch, whitewood and black walnut. the last two varieties being found in great quantity. Black walnut was so common that it was used in large quantity for fence rails by the earliest settlers. Many of these old rails have since been worked up into furniture and house finishing material. The principal stream in the township is a tributary of the Huron river. and flows westward through sections one and four, thence northward through section three into Bronson. Fords creck runs through the southwest corner of the township, and empties into the Huron river in Greenfield township. There is a sandstone formation underlying the whole township, and it occasionally crops out in such a manner as to be available for use. There are stone quarries in the first, second and third sections, but none of them are worked upon an extensive scale.
Deer was very abundant in the early settlement, often from twenty to fifty were seen in half a day. Many were killed and their skins were used for clothing. Wild turkeys were found in great abundance. Wolves were troublesome for the first few years. A few bears were also found.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.