History of Medina county and Ohio, Part 76

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926; Baskin & Battey. Chicago. pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1014

USA > Ohio > Medina County > History of Medina county and Ohio > Part 76

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).

"The precise age of the deceased, which has long been under dispute, has, at last, been eonelusively settled, and he was, be- yond a doubt, uow, one hundred and six years six months aud twenty-five days, on the day of his death. Mr. Griffin was born in Granby (formerly Simsbury), Litehfield Co., Conn. We have been furnished with a copy of the family record of the Griffin family, as re- eorded in the Archives at Granby, and we give that part of the record pertaining to the birth of Lomer Griffin : 'Chedorlaomer Griffin, the son of Nathaniel Griffiu, by Abigail, his wife, was born in Simsbury the 22d of April, A. D. 1772.

"The reason that this record of the birth was not sooner discovered and all disputes about his age at onee settled, was that he had been given sueh a singular name, 'Chedorlaomer,' which was abbreviated and corrupted into the short ' Lomer,' and investigators were led to error in the differeuee of these names. We have been furnished some very interesting in- formation in regard to the aneestry of this re- markable man, and find that the family is wide- spread, aud, in many instanees, some of its deseendants have held high social rank. John Griffin eame from England about the year 1640, aud first settled with a party of emigrants in Dorehester, Conn., and afterward moved to Windsor, iu the same State. He stopped some time in Windsor ; but, hearing that there was plenty of pine timber over the mountains west, he started on an exeursion in that direction, passing through the gorge at Loupville, and settled down on the north bank of Tunxus River, in a regiou which the Indians ealled Massawa, where he established a manufactory of piteh, tar and turpentine. The Indians burnt up his works, and, to settle with him, gave him a deed of the land in that region. He gave away several traets of land to settlers from Windsor, but reserved for himself a traet three miles square, which was for many years known as 'Griffin's Lordship.' In the year 1647, John Griffin married Anua Baneroft, and by her had six daughters and four sons. The names of the sons were John, Thomas, Ephra- im and Nathaniel. The last, Nathaniel, was the youngest, and was boru May 31, 1693. This Nathaniel had a sou Nathaniel, who was the father of Chedorlaomer, the subject of this sketeh. This finishes the genealogieal tale of the first aneestors of Lomer Griffin from the time they left Englaud.

" As already stated, Lomer was born in that part of the village of Simsbury which is now known as Granby, Conn., on the 22d of April, 1772. No surprising events marked his boy-

498

HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

hood days. His father was a sort of farmer, and the boy's life passed along as farmers' boys' lives usually do. The first event in the life of Lomer Griffin, of which we have any in- formation and record, is his marriage to Miss Charity Moore, which occurred April 15, 1797, from which union there were seven children, namely, Parley, Willis, Ralzimond, Andrew, Thomas, Lydia aud Harlow, of whom three, settled in Harrisville Township, are still alive. Another event which has lately been brought prominently before the public, as, in some re- spects, proving his age, was his enlistment in the Connecticut militia company commanded by one Capt. Moses Heyden, in August, 1813, and serving until October of the same year. On the streugth of this enlistment, he, in the year 1850, made an application to the Government for bounty land, which stands recorded in the Pen- sion Office at Washington, aud was recently brought to light by another application made by Mr. Griffin last spring for the same service in the militia company, under an act of Con- gress passed last winter, giving a pension to soldiers of 1812. Mr. Griffin's application was at once made special, on account of the extreme age of the applicant, and his claim was grauted. He has been drawing a pension since last spring, and was the oldest pensioner on the list in the Government offices. In the beginning of the year 1818, early in the month of January, Lo- mer Griffin, who had by that time become the proud and happy father of five children, col- lected his family treasures about him, loaded a large box on bob-sled runners, drawn by a pair of oxen, and moved out West. During the latter part of March, he arrived in Harrisville Township, and at once went to work and put up a rude log cabin on a part of the Harris farm, two miles north of Lodi, which is now known as the Hoag farm. The rest of this man's life is given in the history of the towu- ship in which he lived to the day of his death, taking a lively interest in its affairs. During

the last five years of his life, he became a celebrity, talked about the world over as the American Centenarian."

Jeremiah Higbee, for a number of years a resident in Lodi, during the earlier existence of the Harrisville Settlement, exerted a command- ing and wide-felt influence in its business and civil affairs. He was a man deeply interested in the social and religious movements that were propagated during his life in Lodi. He removed to Cleveland in 1858, and there became the founder of one of the most prosperous business establishments in that city. He died in the fall of 1878.

An active part was played by several of the Harrisville people in the anti-slavery move- ments in the North, during the two decades pre- ceding the war of the Rebellion. Quite promi- nent iu this matter, stood Uncle Timothy Burr, who then lived in the large brick building west of the village of Lodi, and now occupied by Mr. E. W. Minns. He, with a number of his ueigh- bors, was in accord with the sentiments of the Abolition party that was manifesting it- self throughout the North; and they together made their best endeavors to help the cause. The Burr House, near Lodi, became a famous station on the "underground railroad," on which the fugitive slaves who had escaped their masters in the South, were transported during the night to places of safety in the North- ern States and Canada. Numbers of the col- ored people, who had left their shackles of bond- age in the South, came to the Burr House and there found shelter, protection and food. Often- times there were ten and fifteen negroes secretcd in the house, and some of them remained for days. Most of them traveled from there on to Oberliu aud other points of safety. Laura, the wife of Mr. Burr, and Rachel Norton, a young girl who then lived with them, and is now the wife of E. W. Minns, nobly assisted in giving succor to the fleeing slaves.

The industrial and commercial life of Harris-

499

HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

ville Township commenced with its first colo- nization. As a stripling boy of sixteen or eighteen years, James Redfield opened up a traffic in wolf hides, and, by his shrewd energy and industry, earned a good many dollars through the reward given by the State of Ohio for wolves killed. It is said that in a period of several years, he killed as many as 125 of these beasts. He captured and killed them in a sys- tematic, business-like manner. At one time, he traveled to a settlement some twenty miles dis- tant, in Wayne County, and bought an old, de- crepit horse of which he had heard, for $2. He brought the horse back to Harrisville and led it out into the thick woods and shot it. He set his traps on the dead carcass, and, in a short time, captured as many as fifteen wolves. Aside from the capturing and killing of wolves, the young pioneer early devoted his attention to other industrial pursuits. Among the first was the establishment of an ashery for the pro- duction of " black salts." This he carried to Elyria and exchanged for merchandise, which he disposed of to advantage in the home settle- ment. He was soon joined in the enterprise by Reuben Chapman, forming, in 1826, a partner- ship, and opening up a small village store.

Another store, with an assortment of general merchandise, was opened in the year 1828 in the center of the village, by Barker & Siza. A few years later, another country store was added to the business world of the Harrisville settle- ment, by Archibald Miles and Charles R. Dein- ing. This made threc stores, and the country trade naturally drifted into the settlement. The store buildings were small, and the stock of goods rather limited, yet sufficiently large for the immediate wants of the early settlers.

The immediate interests of the people of the township are agricultural. The desire of the American farmer is to excel. This is mani- fested in agricultural fairs held all over this broad land. Harrisville had its fair at an early day. The first exhibition of farm products and

stock was quite limited, and conducted in an informal way. A few head of farm animals were shown on the green, and products were exhibited in the village tavern. This occurred for two or three seasons, and some years after an agricultural society entitled the Harrisville Agricultural Society, was organized in the sum- mer of 1859. The following were chosen a board of officers, at the first mecting of the society, held on the 15th of September of the same year : E. H. Sibley, President ; H. Selders, Treasurer ; N. Harris, Secretary ; and Lyman Mihills, Dyer Strong, T. G. Loomis, H. Selders and Isaac Rogers as Board of Trustees. The first fair was held on the Redfield farm one-half mile east of Lodi, on October 25 and 26, of 1859. It was a grand success for the first exhibition. Two more fairs were held in the following years, -the last being a complete failure on account of the inclemency of the weather. The society then died out, and the leading farmers of the township have joined the County Agricultural Society of Medina.

Harrisville was established as a post office in 1834. The first mail line was run by James Redfield, who had a Government contract to carry the United States mails from Wooster to Elyria, by way of Harrisville, Spencer, Penn- field and Turner's Mills. The mail was carried twice a week. There is no authentic record to show when and at whose suggestion the name of the post office was changed to Lodi. There is now a tri-weekly mail passing from Burbank, on the N. Y., P. & O. R. R., to Bcl- den, on the C., T., V. & W. R. R.

The population statistics of the township since its earliest settlement, are slightly sug- gestive of the different changes that have passed over it since its civil existence. In 1818, at an enumeration taken by the State of Ohio, the population numbered 231. This number rapidly augmented, until, by 1850, the United States census returns exhibited a total population of 1,477 persons. In 1860, this

500

HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

number had deereased to 1,226, and, in 1870, there were ouly 1,182 persons living in the township. The United States census returns for 1880, show that there are 1,382 persons, and 197 farms in the township.

Lodi is an unincorporated village of 439 in- habitants. The town is located just one-half mile east of the geographieal center of the town- ship, at the northern extremity of the Harris- ville swamp. The East Branch River skirts the town on the north, while gently risiug slopes extend to the east and north. The first settlement of the township was made right near the center of the village, and from that day it has formed the uucleus of the township. The first stores were built at this center. A tavern was erected there at a very early day by Orrin Chapman. In the spring of 1818, William Barnes came from the East, after hav- ing stopped in Cleveland and in Portage County for a short time, into the little settle- ment in Harrisville Township, and located at Lodi. With his coming, the industrial interests of the colony commenced. He had his proj- ects ripe and ready for execution soon after his arrival. The first was the construction of a dam up the "gully," on the East Braneh River, and theu, running a race-course for water-power down into the settlement. A grist-mill was put up, to which, a few years after, a distillery was added, and, later, a card- ing-mill. A number of other additions were made to this building, and, in the course of time, it has been used for various purposes. From 1870 to 1873, it served as a cheese- factory. Mr. Jeremiah Higbee built a large store-building, and opened up a local mercan- tile business in Lodi in the year 1835, on an extensive seale. The structure is to-day iutact and serving the purpose for which it was orig- inally erected. The spacious and commodious room caused the people to wonder at the time it was erected, and they all looked with aston- ishment upon the advancement that was being

made in the commercial affairs of the town. This soon became the great village store, and, when Harrisville was set apart as a post office, in the year 1835, the office was located in this build- ing, with Mr. Higbee as Postmaster. This store was for many years the center of home trade in the country about. Another business structure, somewhat on the style of Mr. Hig- bee's, was erected in the "forties," on the site where now stands the large brick block owned by H. Ainsworth. Aside from a storeroom, it contained several shops for trades-people. Bus- iness was carried ou here by the Ainsworth Brothers. This opened up a healthy competition, and made business lively in Lodi. This build- ing, with all its contents, was destroyed by fire in the spring of 1858. The conflagration eaused a great commotion among the people. It was on a Sunday morning, when nearly all of the inhabitants of the village were attend- ing divine service, that the fire broke out. It had its origin from a defective flue. The en- tire building, with storeroom and stock, har- ness, tailor and shoe shops, and an adjacent dwelling, were eonsumed.

In 1859, the Harrisville Masonic Lodge, in connection with a Masonie Hall, built a large store building on the south side of the public square in Lodi. The room was occupied by J. H. Warren as a hardware store for several years. In May, 1870, it burned down, with all of its contents, caused by the explosion of a lamp.

James Richey came up from Wooster in 1834, aud built a woolen factory and carding- mill on the Little Killbuck River, two miles south of Lodi. This was, at a later date, owned and used by James Moore for a number of years, until the progress of the country left no demaud for this business, when the small factory buildings became dilapidated, and all traces of it have since entirely disappeared. An iron foundry, for the making of agricultural implements, was established a few years before

HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

501

the late war, by Mr. Joseph Warren. It has re- mained in successful operation, though it has undergone a number of changes in the proprie- torship. The most notable factory in Harris- ville Township to-day, is the wood-turning establishment owned and controlled by A. B. Taylor. A considerable force of hands is em- ployed, and various articles of manufacture are turned out. In 1868, a large grist and saw mill was removed from Penfield, Ohio, and erected south of the center of the village. The Snow Flake Flouring Mill was built in 1875, adjacent to the old cheese-factory, and where, fifty years ago, the first flouring-mill in Medina County had been put up.

The Crawford Cheese Factory, built two miles west of Lodi, by Christ Albert, was put in operation in the year 1876, under control of the Crawford Cheese Company, embraeing the well-known cheese firm of Horr, Warner & Co., of Wellington, Joseph Crawford and Christ Albert, each one of whom owns a third share in the company.

The most prominent business building in Lodi now is the briek bloek built and owned by Mr. Henry Ainsworth. It contains several large salerooms, warerooms, private offices, pub- lic halls, ete. It was completed in 1866.

The new Masonic Bloek also claims attention by the elegance and spaciousness of interior, and its adaptability for mereantile business. An unusual prominence was given to the com- mercial affairs of Lodi, when, in 1863, tlie or- ganization of a National Bank was effected. The organization took place on the 7th of August, 1863, and the original stockholders were Joseph Harris, W. W. Prentice, H. Ains- worth, John Taylor, William Walcott, H. Seld- ers, Asa Farnum, Leonard Tuttle, J. Higbee, J. N. Holmes, Josiah Nafzker and L. A. Shepard. The first officers were W. W. Prentice, Presi- dent, and H. Ainsworth, Cashier. The former died some years after the organization, and John Taylor was chosen in his place. The

bank was known as " The First National Bank" of Lodi. On the 11th of January, 1876, the company went into voluntary liquidation, and its affairs were elosed up. A private banking business has since been carried on by H. Ains- worth, in Lodi.

Various and persistent efforts have been made by the people of Lodi, to have a line of railway pass through the town. So far, the attempts have been futile in the completion of an iron highway. Numerous surveys have been run through the township from east to west and north to south. The first railroad agita- tion in Lodi commeneed when projects were set afoot by capitalists of Northern and Cen- tral Ohio, to have a railroad built between Cleveland and Columbus. A line of survey was run through Harrisville, passing one-half mile west of Lodi. Considerable stock was subscribed by the citizens of the township for this projeet, and Jeremiah Higbee was ap- pointed aud acted as one of the directors of the projeeted road. Through the efforts of Alfred Kelley, a wealthy quarry man at Berea, the road was finally built and finished in 1851 through Berea, on to its southern terminus, passing about twenty miles west of Harrisville. There was no more railroad talk in the settle- ment until the year 1871, when it again com- meneed in earnest. The Black River road, run- ning north and south, was the first projeet which was incorporated under the name of the Wooster & Muskingum Valley Railroad. Har- risville subscribed $30,000 for the building of this road. Nothing has ever come of this road, except the establishment of lines of surveys. The next railroad project was the Wheeling & Lake Erie line, and intended to run from Wheeling, W. Va., to Toledo, in the northwest corner of the State. Harrisville subscribed $48,000 to this line. Henry Ainsworth was made one of tlie directors. Work commenced on this road, in the township, in the fall of 1874, and three or four miles were graded, and

502

HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

then, from several causes, work was abandoned until 1877, when another spurt was made, and a few more miles graded, the effort then being to construct it as a narrow-gauge rail- road. This also failed. Then work again com- menced in the fall of 1880, Harrisville sub- scribing $5,000 of additional stock. The grad- iug in the township for this road is now completed, and the prospects are of the decided indication that the road will be completed in the near future. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, from Pittsburgh to Chicago, has a line of sur- vey established through the township, and strong hopes are entertained by its people that connection will be made on this line with the branches of this great railroad enterprise.

The commercial and financial convulsions of 1837 and 1857 passed through the country without any visible material effect upon the interest of the people of Harrisville. The panic of 1873 was quite different. The village just then, in the years following the war, had reached the heyday of its prosperity. With the collapse of the banking house of Jay Cook & Co., and the failure of the Northern Pacific, $200,000, the money invested by citizens of Harrisville, was swept away. Business and manufacture commenced to stagnate; other business failures in Ashland, Akron and Woos- ter followed, and a number of thousands of dollars that had been iuvested by Harrisville people, were lost.

The darkest days in the anuals of the town are those iu 1864, when the small-pox broke out in Lodi, iu the spring of that year, and made the fair town look desolate and forsaken for a number of months. The disease was brought into town by two tramp soldiers, who had stopped for a night's lodging at the village hotel, then kept by S. L. Stringham, In a few days the infectious contagion broke out and laid the inmates of the hotel prostrate. The hotel became, by necessity, a pest-house, and was isolated from the rest of the village, and

held under quarantine. The disease died out after several months' ravages, and after cxact- ing a number of victims.

The wave of patriotism that electrified the North in the spring of 1861, struck the Harris- ville settlement in the mouth of April of the same year. The news of the firing on Fort Sumter had aroused the people, and it had ar- rived in Lodi. The call of President Lincoln for troops to suppress the rebellion had been issued ; it caused intense excitement in Har- risville ; a war meeting was held in the Con- gregational Church at Lodi; the house was densely packed with anxious people ; stirring and patriotic addresses were made by a num- ber present. A few days later, half a dozen of the young men of the town started to enlist in the war ; they enlisted in the Eighth Ohio Vol- uuteer Infantry, which was then in course of formation in Cleveland. In September of the same year, a contingent of fifteen more left their homes to fight for the Union. Harris- ville furnished about 100 men to the armies of the North. F. R. Loomis, J. C. Bacon, W. M. Bacon, S. W. DeWitt, C. C. Eldred, W. F. Ford and J. H. Green, were the boys who answered to the first call to arms.

The Harrisville Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, No. 137, was organized as a lodge on the 23d of October, 1846. For several years previous the question of formation had been agitated by the leading citizens of Harrisville, and meetings under a charter of dispensation had been held. It was on this day that a char- ter was granted them. It reads as follows :

To WHOM IT MAY CONCERN :

We, the Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Hon- orable Society of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Ohio, convened in the city of Dayton ; where- as, a petition has been presented to us from Joseph Hildreth, James S. Redfield and Benjamin Kidder, all Free and Accepted Master Masons, stating that they have heretofore assembled together under a warrant of dispensation from the Most Worshipful Grand Master ; they therefore pray for a charter extending and con-

HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

503

firming unto them the rights and privileges of a regu- larly constituted lodge of Master Masons; and where- as, the aforesaid petitioners having passed a proper term of probation and exhibited to this Grand Lodge satisfactory evidence that they have conducted bus- iness of Masonry agreeably to the original design ;

Now. therefore, be it known, That we, the Grand Lodge aforesaid, reposing special trust and confidence in the integrity and well-kuown attachment of the aforesaid petitioners to the sublime principles of Ma- sonry as originally taught, and earnestly believing that the true interests of the institution will be pro- moted by granting the prayer of said petitioners, have constituted and appointed, and do by these presents constitute and appoint them, the said Joseph Hildreth, James S. Redfield, M. Hoag, and their associates, a regular and constitutional Lodge of Master Masons, by the name, style or title of Harrisville Lodge, No. 137, and we do hereby appoint Brother Joseph Hildreth First Master ; Brother Calvin Holt, First Senior War- den, and Brother Hamner Palmer, First Junior War- den ; hereby giving and granting unto them and their successors full power and authority to assemble to- gether on all proper and lawful occasions as a legal lodge within the town of Lodi and State aforesaid; to initiate good men and true who may apply to be made acquainted with the sublime principles of the several degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master Mason, etc., etc.

And furthermore, We do hereby declare the prece- dence of the Harrisville Lodge in the Grand Lodge, constitutional brethren to attend their Grand Lodge, etc., etc.

And furthermore, We do hereby enjoin it upon them to conform in all their doings to the constitution, law and edicts of the Grand Lodge, and, in failure there- of, this charter and these powers herein granted are to cease and be of no further validity.

In testimony whereof, and by virtue of the high power and authority in us vested, have hereunto set our hands and caused the seal of the Grand Lodge to be affixed, at Dayton, the 23d day of October, 1846, era of Masonry 5846.

WILLIAM B. THRALL, M. W. G. M. JOHN L. VATTIES, R. W. D. G. M. M. Z. KREIDER, R. W. S. G. W. J. N. BURR, R. W. J. G: W. B. F. SMITH, R. W. G. Sec'y.

The first regular meeting under the new char- ter, was held on November 27, 1846, and the

following officers chosen for the ensuing year : Benjamin Kidder, W. M .; Calvin Holt, S. W .; James Redfield, J. W .; James B. Richards, Secretary ; J. Yocum, S. D .; P. Holt, J. D., and W. S. Moore, Tiler. The installation of these officers took place a month later. In a few years, the lodge, through wise and judicious management, had sufficient funds at its dis- posal to crect a building, and apartments in it were furnished for a Masonic hall. Lodge- meetings were held in it until the spring of 1871, when it was destroyed by fire. The lodge then transferred its quarters into the large busi- ness block that had been erected by Mr. Ains- worth, and held its business sessions there for a number of years. A new Masonic hall was erected on the old site in the summer of 1878, and was finished for occupancy in April, 1879. The apartments used by the Masonic lodge in the upper story are elegantly furnished, and are probably the best lodge-rooms in the county. This is the only secret organization that has ever existed in Harrisville Township. It has steadily grown in affluence, and is now one of the wealthiest lodges in the State. It numbers among its members the best citizens of Harris- ville Township, and holds the foremost position as a fraternal organization in Medina County. The different officers of the lodge for the year 1880 were Allan Pomeroy, Worshipful Master ; John Warren, Senior Warden; A. A. Joline, Junior Warden ; J. C. Van Orman, Secretary ; N. Harris, Treasurer; J. H. Warren, Senior Deacon ; A. H. Vanderhoof, Junior Deacon ; S. L. Stringham, Tiler. Its regular monthly meetings are held on the Friday before the full moon.

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.

History of Medina county and Ohio, Part 76

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926; Baskin & Battey. Chicago. pub Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1014

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926; Baskin & Battey. Chicago. pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1014