USA > Ohio > Lorain County > History of Lorain County, Ohio > Part 81
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Jesse Cutler came into the township about 1820 and settled on lot forty-two. but remained only a short time. Eli Wallace and G. Gillett arrived about the same time.
Joseph Quigley came in 1822, purchased land in lot four, taking a deed of the pioneer Shupe, and immediately erected a log house, where the present stone residence of his son George W. now stands. He was from Washington county, Pennsylvania, orig- inally, but had been for eleven years a resident in Black River, He was born in 1277. His son George W., and wife Anna W., with three children, are resi- dent at this writing upon the old place.
Abram Rice, of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, came mto the settlement in the fall of 1822, and took up one hundred acres of land now owned by Benja- min Hildebrandt and Conrad Hageman, but a year or two later removed to a farm a half mile north of Webb's Corners. He had seven sons and seven daughters-Daniel, Samuel (dead), Mary (Mrs. O. P. Kilner), Ann E. (Mrs. Hiram Wilbur), John S., Melissa (dead), Adaline ( Mrs. Win. Pearl), Margaret (Mrs. I. G. Hazel;, Nancy (Mrs. G. R. Barney), Susan B. (Mrs. J. K. Hazel), Abram G. (dead), Westley C., Charles C., and George W.
Induced by his brother-in-law. Abram Rice, John Kendeigh, St., and wife Mary, came from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1822. He made the jour- ney of three hundred miles in fourteen days, driving a flock of sheep. He purchased north of the corners and east of Shupe's mill, but afterward went to the southern part of the township, where he purchased land in lots ninety-one and ninety-two, upon which he resided to the time of his death.
Henry Kendeigh, Jr., arrived in 1823, and after a short residence in the northern part of the township, purchased one hundred and three acres of land at Kendeigh's corners, for which he paid three dollars per acre. His son John was three years of age when he came into Amherst. The father died in 1836, leaving his widow, Nancy, seven children to provide for. She brought up the family, and died, at a ripe old age, in 1871. Samuel Kendeigh, his wife Jane C., and six children, now live on lot sixteen. His father settled on lot ninety-five.
George Disbrow and his wife Caroline, came from Greene county, New York, in October, 1824, and took up their residence upon lot ten (South Amherst).
Mr. Disbrow brought with him two ox teams, and though well prepared to begin life as a pioneer farmer, he chose to follow his trade, which was that of a blacksmith. He was one of the first trustees of Rus- sia township. George Disbrow and wife were both living in 1878. aged respectively seventy-eight and seventy-three years.
Nicholas Stanton and wife, Jemima Traverse, born in Becket, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, were among the arrivals of 1824. They settled upon the west side of Beaver creek, but afterward sold out to one of the Onstines, and bought east of the present village of North Amherst.
Freeman Richmond settled in Black River in 1824, or the succeeding year, but the date of his settlement in Amherst was considerably later. George Dudley and Roswell Cune were in the township by this time, or soon after,
Royal Barney, wife and family, of Ellisburgh, Jef- ferson county, New York, settled on lot forty-five in 1825, it having been purchased the year previous. Upon their arrival, they were welcomed by Judge Harris, and the tanzy bitters bottle was brought forth to cement the newly formed friendship. The Barney family lived in the log school house, near the corners, until they could build a house upon their own land. The sons were Orimel, Edson and Royal. Orimel is still a resident, and a respected one, of North Am- herst, where he has been engaged in various callings and enterprises. He was station agent upon the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad for twenty-one years. In 1834, he married Eliza A. Croeker.
Salmon Johnson came into the settlement in 182%, first taking up his residence upon lot seventeen, His son, Alvah T., one of the prominent men of the township, now lives upon lot sixteen. Addison Tra- cey settled upon the South ridge in 1826 or 1827.
Captain Stanton Sholes, born in Groton, New Lon- don county, Connecticut, in 1470, also settled in the town in 1827. He had been a captain upon the sea and in the war of 1812; had kept hotel in Pittsburgh, Akron, Medina. Elyria and Black River; and was quite a man of affairs, active and somewhat eccentric. Ile purchased fifty acres of land in lot twenty-three, and becoming a citizen, took a prominent part in the public and social life of Amherst until 1833, when he removed to Rock Island, Illinois. He died in Colum- bus, Ohio, in 1865.
Ephraim Towne, a native of Massachusetts, but for twelve years a resident of Willoughby, Lake county, Ohio, with his wife, Almira Mitchell, settled on lot forty-three, taking seventy-five acres, in 1828. The Townes, with several of their children, are still resi- dents of Amherst at this writing.
During the same year, James Jackson and wife came from Vermont. Three of their children, James, Michael and Louise, reside in the township, and Michael is proprietor of the Henrie House at North Amherst.
J. J. Rice and wife, Emily J., live upon a farm of
42
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HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO.
about one hundred and forty aeres, in lots ninety-four and ninety-tive. Mr. Rice is a descendant of the old stock, his parents coming into the town in 1829. John B. and Peter Rice were also early settlers. A Mr. Norton came either in 1828 or the following year.
In 1830, the settlement began to increase quite fast, and so many families came in that it is impossible for the historian to present a record of them all. Among those who arrived about this time may be mentioned Orlum Winton, Eli L. Seeley. Willis Potter, John and Horace Steele, Homer Tyrell. Wesley Perkins, Benjamin Bivens and Irad Aiken. Tyrell was a na- tive of Massachusetts. He settled on lot. tifty-six, but afterwards removed to the village of North Am- herst, where he remained until 1835, when he went to Cleveland. Eli L. Seeley came from Connecticut. Benjamin Bivens was quite a prominent man in the community. He served for mite a time as justice of the peace and in other official capacities. A son, Lyman, still lives in the township. Wesley Perkins was born in 1805, in Orwell, Vermont, and, upon coming to Amherst, opened a shop, in which for many years he pursued his trade of wagon making -- also spending much time nursing the sick.
Willis Potter was a native of Providence, Rhode Island. He took up a farm adjoining that of E. Towne. in lot forty-two. His family consisted of himself, wife and thirteen children. Three of the tive who are still hving reside in Amherst: W. P., Sylvester, and Eliza- beth Moore. Among those who came soon after 1830, were the Beldens. M. B. and Hiram. They were born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and came west at the solicitation of their unele, Captain Stanton Sholes. Hiram came to North Amherst. then known as the Corners, in 1829, but returned home, and did not come with intention of permanent residents until 1832. He purchased lot forty in Brownhelm, but Captain Sholes made him a present of fifteen acres of land in lot ninety-seven ( Amherst). on condition that he would build and live thereon. Later he moved into the village of North Amherst. His children living are Lucy, Mattie J., Ellen C., Hattie S., Hiram and Halsey. M. B. Belden came in 1834, and took land on lots ninety-seven and ninety-eight. He has four children living: Eliza A. ( Robertson), Prudence A., Rollin B. and Clarissa.
John B. Robertson was a prominent arrival in 1834. He was born at Ballston, Saratoga county, New York, in 1792, and came to Ohio in 1826. On coming to Amherst he settled on lot seventy-seven, on the mid- de ridge, where he resided most of the time until his death, which occurred in 1825. He was a politician of considerable influence; democratie in principle. Hle was a member of the first legislature of Nebraska. in 1856, and in the following year was appointed by President Buchanan as agent among the Omaha In- dians. In 1859 he returned to Amherst. Ilis family consisted of his wife, Temperance Foot, of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and five children: Sarah MI.,
Theodora II., (died in 1874, near Omaha). John B. Jr., who was a farmer until 1865, and for the past six years has been marshal of North Amherst village, Frank Nelson, and M. L., now the wife of Parks Foster, of Elyria.
Eli A. Turney came in 1833, from Geanga connty, Ohio.
Among those who came at a still later day than those settlers who are named in the foregoing, we men- tion Elam Fairchild, of Connecticut, who settled in South Amherst in 1841: E. P. Frink, whose mother came with six children, in 1832, from New York State. They owned land, first, in the Shupe farm. then in the Oustine tract, and E. P. and his wife, Aurelia, now live on lot sixty-three.
Godfrey and Sarah Fowle were carly settlers npon the south ridge, or telegraph road, on lot eighty-seven. They had nine children: Henry. Elizabeth, Catha- rine, Sarah, Margaret, Godfrey, Jacob, Mary E .. Philip J., and George. Jacob now lives on lot sey- enty-three, and Philip JJ. on lot eighty-eight.
Henry Remington came in, in 1840, having lived the previous eighteen years in Pittsfield, and Russia, and in the State of Indiana.
Lyman Cole took up his residence on lot ninety-one in 1854, and Henry Robinson several years later, on lot ninety-two, Both were from New York.
Joseph Prost, a native of France, came in 1852. and has been, since 1865, foreman of the Wilson & Hughes stone quarry. We mention him as a repre- sentative foreigner, and one of the very few of his nationality resident in the township.
Joseph Duross is a leading citizen, of Irish nation- ality, and a section master upon the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIP.
An application was made to the legislature for the separate organization of Black river, in 1829, and on the 12th of January, 1830, an act was passed incor- porating the township, and the aet further provided that township number six in range eighteen, should be detached, and remain separate from fractional township number seven, and be known as Amherst.
The name was bestowed by Jonas Stratton, in honer of the town of Amherst, in his native State, Now Hampshire.
In April, 1830, the first election was held at Daniel Whiton's house, on the middle ridge. Following are the officers who were at that time eleeted: clerk. Josiah Harris; treasurer, Stanton Sholes; trustees, Salmon Johnson, Royal Barney, David Smith; consta- bles, Alvah T. Johnson. Shedrich Moore; overseers of the poor, Royal Barney, Stanton Sholes.
The officers of 1848 are the following: clerk. John Uthe; treasurer, William Brown: assessor, Anton Stiwald; trustees, Joseph Whiton, Henry Claus. do- seph Robbins; justices of the peace, Jacob Hildebrand, E. Il. Hinman, William II. Plain; constables, John B. Robertson, Orrin Story.
( PHOTOS BY LEE, ELYRIA C )
CASPER DUTE.
MRS . CASPER DUTE.
OLD HOME.
RESIDENCE OF CASPER DUTE, NORTH AMHERST, LORAIN CO , OHIO .
PHOTOS BY LEE. ELYRIA. O.
Capr . E. F. Frink.
Avrilla Trink
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RESIDENCE OF CAPT. E. P. FRINK, AMHERST TP, LORAIN CO., OHIO .
331
HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO.
FIRST EVENTS,
The first marriage, according to the testimony of several old settlers, was that of Aretus Gillmore and Ora Webb, an adopted daughter of Adoniram Webb. This conple were united by John S. Reid. The date we have been unable to ascertain. The service that united Abel Garlich, a stone cutter of Cleveland, and Betsy Ferris, is said by some to have been the first ever celebrated, but the greatest weight of anthority attests the priority of the marriage of the first-men- tioned couple. The latter-mentioned marriage took place, according to the best recollection of Ezekiel G. Barnes, in 1820 or 1821.
The elements of the pathetic and the grotesque were strangely mingled upon the occasion of the first burial in the township. A very young child of the Webbs siekened and died soon after they settled in the place. They were living at the time near Jacob Shape's, in the northern part of the township, but owned land in the southern part, upon which they intended to take up their permanent residence, and naturally desired that the child should be buried there. The distance to the Webb clearing was four miles. Old man Shupe took the child in its tiny cof- fin, in front of him, upon his horse, and followed the trail through the woods to the place of burial, whist- ling all the way, and. it is alleged, to the tune of Y'un- lee Doodle. The body of the child was consigned to mother earth, and this was the beginning of the lit- tle burying ground lying upon a gentle slope, at the right-hand side of the South Ridge road, as one goes toward Henrietta hill. Others of the family have long been sleeping by the side of the little one whose rude burial occurred more than half a century ago.
'The first child born in the township was Betsey, daughter of Jacob Shupe. She was born in 1811, was twice married, the first time to John T. Clay, and then to one Musselman: she died in 1848, in Michigan.
Alonzo and Lorenzo, sons of Roswell Crocker, were the first twins born in the township, They are both living-the oldest men born in Amherst. They were born in April, 1819. Captain John S. Reid, of Black River, promised to name a vessel of his, about to be launched, after the twins, on condition that their mother would take them on board and remain there with them until the vessel was in the water. Mrs. Crocker took the babes to Black River and accepted Captain Reid's offer, but became afraid at the last moment and refused to comply with the condition the captain had imposed.
The first male child born in the township was 'n all probability a son of Stephen Cable, but this car od be absolutely affirmed. The first aere of timber out in the township fell under the blows of Roswell Crocker's axe. He was engaged to ent it by Judge Harris, and the amount of pay agreed upon was four dollars. The work was performed so satisfactorily, and so quickly, that the judge made Mr. Crocker a
present of half a dollar in addition to the amount earned. The North Amherst post office stands about upon the center of the aere thus cleared.
The first saw mill, the first grist mill, and the first distillery were built by Jacob Shupe. It is probable, too, that by his hand was sowed the first wheat that turned to goll under the summer's sun in Amherst. The first log house was built by Jacob Shupe, and he undoubtedly built the first frame house. The first brick house was erected by one of the Oustines, and is still standing in North Amherst village, just west of Beaver creek, dwelt in by Halsey Belden. Chiliab Smith is thought to have built the second frame house; and Captain Redington is generally accredited with the erection of the first frame building at South Amherst. The first school house was a small log structure upon the North ridge. Caleb Ormsby planted the first orchard, where the house of James M. Worthington now stands.
GAME.
Game was not so abundant in Amherst, as in some of her sister townships. Deer were very plenty, and a few of the early settlers killed large numbers of them. All kinds of small game were found, but bears were not by any means common. Several were killed in the early days, and one was slaughtered as late as 1830, by Theron White. It pursued James Jackson, about half a mile, at a somewhat leisurely run, but sutliciently fast to make him exert all of his powers of pedestrianism.
Among the wild beasts to be found in the woods, the " shack " hogs were more feared than any other animals, except Bruin. They were very ugly cus- tomers to meet in droves, and if the hunter did not take good care of himself, he was liable to receive terrible wounds from their long, sharp tusks. A small herd of them once drove Michael Jackson and two other boys, Isaac and Joseph Whelpley, to take refuge in a tree, and kept them there half of the night.
Deer, as has been before said, were killed in great numbers during the first ten or fifteen years after the township was settled. It has already been related that Ezekiel G. Barnes shot many of them. Other hunters did nearly as well. After 1825, or 1830, but few were seen, though there are several instances of their being found still later. Dr. Samuel Strong dis- patched one which, after running along the road for some time in front of his house, finally got its leg fastened in a log bridge. Royal Barney had a terri- ble encounter with a spike buek, upon the middle ridge, and came very near being worsted in the en- counter, the animal turning at bay. Hle succeeded in getting hold of the hind feet of the buck. however, and keeping upon the opposite side of a small sapling, worried him until he lost strength, and then cut his ham strings and killed him. Mr. Barney came out of the struggle an almost completely used up man.
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HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO.
Sometimes hunts were engaged in with great antici- pations, and the results were very small; and ad- ventures planned which ended ludicrously enough. Something of the kind was within the experience of Roswell Crocker. He had lost several sheep, or sup- posed that he had, and finally, with careful prepara- tion and all due precaution, a trap was cunningly set to capture the bear or wolves which had committed the depredation. The next morning one of his own fine fat hogs was found in the trap enduring the tor- tutre as coolly as could be expected of an animal sup- posed to love ease and comfort.
Rattlesnakes were very numerous in the stone ridges, and were often killed by hunters and others who happened to go near their favorite haunts. They were much dreaded by the settlers. It is related of a man by the name of Putnam, a brother-in-law of one of the Redingtons, that when he first came to the settlement he stepped upon a rattlesnake, and was so frightened that he returned to New York, and remained there forty years before he again ventured into the western wilds.
LOST IN THE WOODS.
On one occasion Ezekiel G. Barnes, while upon a hunting exhibition, found himself at night a consid- erable distance from home, resolved to camp ont in the woods. llis doing so was the cause of a life being saved. The silence of the forest was broken by a ery which sounded like a woman's voice, and evidently was borne from a quite distant point. The young hunter lighted a torch at his little camp fire, and started through the dense wood in the direction from which the sound came. He had proceeded about half a mile, when he discovered a woman on horse- back. She had lost the trail, and, afraid to descend from her horse on account of wolves, was in great perplexity and distress, and, as may be supposed, was overjoyed at Mr. Barnes' appearance. The woman was Mrs. Porter, of Elyria, the mother of Samuel Porter, of North Amherst. She was on her way, when lost, to Jacob Shupe's, to get one of his daugh- ters to assist in caring for her sick husband. Barnes went with Mrs. Porter to Shape's house, and then returned with her to Elyria, acting in the capacity of guide, philosopher and friend.
AN EARLY FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION.
Orimel Barney relates a pleasant incident of 1827, the first Fourth of July celebration held in the settle- ment. Preparations were made for an out-door mect- ing upon Independence Day, and as the weather was fine the few settlers who assembled had a very pleas- ant social time. The meeting was held on the farm of Daniel G. Whiton, and there were present nearly all of the settlers then resident in the township, with their families. The dinner was a substantial meal of venison, with turkey, wild grape puddings, iron-wo d burk coffee, and was washed down with occasional draughts of Ohio whisky, which was doubtless neces-
sary to take away the taste of the peculiar variety of coffee used.
A SPIRIT MEDIUM.
Whisky was in the beginning of the settlement a legal tender or a circulating medium. Notes were made payable in whisky upon condition that the corn erop proved good, and payable in hickory nuts if the corn crop should be poor. Not long after Jacob Shape started his distillery several others were put in operation, and one locality had so many at one time that it was dubbed " Whiskyville"-a name which it retains to this day. Nearly all of the whisky manu- factured was for home consumption, and was often given in payment for a day's work or in exchange for various commodities. The liquor had at least one merit. It was an honest article. The equivalent in money, for a gallon of whisky, was from a shilling up to twenty cents, and even two shillings. The dis- tillers after Jacob Shupe were Michael Oustine, Ste- phen Gunn, Nathan Edson, Lewis Shape, Elias Mann, John Hildebrand & Snider, and Ira Tillotson.
THE EARLY TEMPERANCE SOCIETY.
The first temperance meeting was held in the sum- mer of 1832, being gotten up by Captain Stanton Sholes. A society was formed of which he was made president, Dr. Samuel Strong, vice-president, and Dr. John Quigley, secretary and treasurer. There were fifteen members. One of them-Wesley Perkins- being sick sometime after the organization of the society, sent to Orlum Winton's for whisky. Winton happened to be out of the required article, and think- ing it would be a good joke upon the newly fledged total abstinence man, sent him a bottle of spring water. Judge Harris, on learning of the trick, reproved Mr. Winton, and getting his own jug filled, look it to Perkins' house, where, soon after, another friend arrived bringing a bottle of wine and other delicacies, intended, probably, to counteract the effect of the water, in case the sick man had rashly drunk of it.
MORMONISM.
In 1831. or the following year, Mormonism made its appearance in the community, and gained from forty to fifty adherents. One of the preachers was a man named Fuller, and the arch-apostle, Rigdon, also labored in this field. They preached in private honses: held meetings quite frequently, and at one time aroused a considerable excitement. A few of the converts made joined in the west ward heigera, but most of them became lukewarm in the faith, or re- lapsed altogether into the old manner of life and way of thinking.
CHURCHES.
The church history of Amherst, could it all be prodneed, would make a bulky and interesting chap- ter. The zeal of the people for organizing churches
Photos, by Lee, Elyria.
George Bryant Adaline I Bryant
GEORGE BRYANT.
George Bryant was born at Stanley, Gloucester- shire, England, and is the eldest of a family of six children of John and Pamelia (Collins) Bryant, of Gloucestershire, who emigrated to this country in company with his brother's family and others in the year 1829, landing in New York on the 29th day of November of that year. They went from New York to Philadelphia, at which latter place they re- mained until April, 1830, when they returned to New York, and proceeded thence up the Hudson River to Albany, in a packet commanded by Captain Littlejohn. At Albany they took passage on the Erie Canal, and after a week's travel arrived at Buffalo. After a sojourn of a few days in the then infant Lake city, they embarked on the schooner "Young Lion," bound for Sandusky, where they landed in the early days of May, 1830. From San- dusky they proceeded to Norwalk, and on the 8th day of October, just one year from the time of leav- ing their home in the old country, they settled in the present town of Amherst, and one year later pur- chased the farm now owned and occupied by George Bryant, whose name heads these lines.
On the 5th of January, 1837, Mr. Bryant married Adeline Lodoisk, daughter of Adinirum Webb and Deidamia Moore, of English ancestry, though Amer- ieans by birth. This marriage was blessed with eight children, of whom five are living, namely : Mary D., wife of James Redford, of Hays City, Kansas ; George W., married Sarah Howard, lives near the old homestead ; Parmelia C., wife of George Camp, of Laport, Lorain Co., Ohio; Elmer C., married
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Hannah Kelley, and resides in South Amherst; Charles C. lives with his parents; Ellen T., wife of Darius Plumb, she died May 10, 1863 ; Fernando D., died Feb. 18, 1841; Dorliska, died Sept. 11, 1841.
Soon after his marriage Mr. Bryant commenced clearing land, and cleared ninety-one acres on the farm now owned by Lyman Cole. On the 16th of February, 1865, he moved on to the farm he at present occupies, and has continued to improve it ever since. He now has a well-cultivated and pro- duetive farm, upon which are comfortable buildings. He is one of the pioneers of Lorain County, and a good practical farmer. He is now sixty-four years of age, and his wife is sixty-two, and they have lived together forty-two years.
In the year 1836, John Bryant, father of the subject of this sketch, erected a residence on the present site of that in which the latter now resides, and while on his way from Pittsburgh, whither he had gone to purchase windows and doors, the house was destroyed by fire. He rebuilt in 1837 the house now occupied by his son George.
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