History of Medina county and Ohio, Part 81

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 81

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The little hamlet at the center of the town- ship is an unincorporated village of 269 iuhab- itants, according to the census of 1880, and takes its name of Litchfield after the township. In 1832, there was only one house at the Cen- ter, which was built and owned by George Olcott. The following ycar, five morc build- ings were put up in the immediate vicinity. About the fall of 1835, Asahel Howd estab- lished a small country store ; while, about the same time, William Converse located as a practicing physician. Mr. Rufus Moses opened up a shoe-shop at the Center in connection with his tannery, which was located about a mile

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

west. In the succeeding years, William Hor- ton, Smith Hinman, F. R. Hamblin, Mark Kil- burn and Douglas Bradley opened places of local commerce. Within recent years, frequent changes have been made in the ownership of these different stores. In the spring of 1879, the northwest corner of the village was swept away by fire, causing a considerable loss. It has now been partially rebuilt. Among the different structures -- churches, dwellings, stores, taverns, etc .- that compose the village town- hall, a solid brick building, stands out most prominent. It is of a plain style of architect- ure, two stories high, and one of the handsom- est public buildings in Medina County. It was finished in the fall of 1871, and, after the proper dedicatory services, was given over to public use. A memorial tablet to the volun- teer soldiers of Litchfield Township adorns the end wall in the rear of the rostrum in the upper hall. It is a large marble slab, 4x6 feet, and bears the following inscription :

" A MEMORIAL TABLET TO THE LITCHFIELD VOLUNTEERS."

Beneath this are given the names of the en- listed soldiers of the township, seventy-five in number, of whom eight re-cnlisted after the expiration of their first term of service, eight were wounded, six died, and four were killed on the field of action. Under this, at the bot- tom of the tablet, is written : "Litchfield Township paid $14,162.45 for war purposes during the rebellion." Building Committee : John Sears, George R. Brooker, James Booth, E. H. Richards, C. A. Stranahan.

A special feature of attractiveness and beauty is the public park, located in the center of the village. The following enactment, providing for the construction of a park, was passed by the General Assembly of Ohio, through the instrumentality of Mr. F. R. Loomis, Repre- sentative for the county of Medina, on the 30th of March, 1875. It reads :

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the Trustees of the township of Litchfield, Medina Co., Ohio, are hereby authorized to vacate and discontinue the public roads now passing through the square at the center of the town, and to lay out and fence off a park in the center of said square, and to lay out public roads around the outside of said park.

SEC. 2. Said park ahove provided for, shall he under the control of the Township Trustees.

After the passage of this act, the necessary special tax levy was made by the Trustees for the laying-out of the park. It was properly leveled and sodded, and an inclosure placed around it. Young maple-trees were set out and the walks graveled. The cost for this work aggregated a little over $300. The park is of octagon shape, and forms, to-day, one of the prettiest adornments to the village. A post office was established at Litchfield in the year 1845. Mr. George Olcott was the first Postmaster. In the first years of its existence as a postal station, it received a bi-weekly mail by way of Medina and Norwalk. Walker Cole was the first mail-carrier, taking it afoot be- tween the two mentioned points. At present, the town is a station on the Burbank and Bel- den mail linc.

A survey of railroad, on what is known as the Clinton Air Line Extension, was made through the town in 1854, passing directly through the center of the village. Several miles of grading was done in the township, but the project was shortly afterward abandoned, and the railroad embankment can yet be seeu in its incomplete state.

The supposition has been quite prevaleut among the Litchfield people, that the veius of the Grafton oil fields on the north, extended into the townships. Various attempts at drill- ing have been made in different localities of the township, to find a productive yield of the oil. Iu 1855, the Oil Boring Company, cousisting of Elisha Ricc, John Mattison, G. F. Peckham and J. B. Strait, was organized, and they bored

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

for oil in the west part of the town. They sank their shaft over 400 feet, but found but little oil, and finally gave up the undertaking.

The second attempt was made by J.V. Straight and E. Rice, in the spring of 1860, north of the town. After going a depth of 225 feet, they abandoned the undertaking, as no oil in suffi- cient and paying quantities was found. In 1876, Dr. E. R. MeKenzy, W. D. Orr, Norman Nieholls, Philaster Starr, A. J. McQueen and Alexander Brooker, known as the Litehfield Oil Company, made a similar attempt at Crow's Corner, located about a mile northwest of the eenter, to strike an oil vein in the ground. This also proved futile, and no further efforts have been made.

An event of a great deal of interest, and which aroused a spirit of strife and emulation among the people of the township, and which deserves to be admitted to the pages of the township history, is the great rat-hunt which took place in the fall of 1875. Two sides were ehosen, each consisting of twenty men. Mr. Val- entine Shank was appointed Captain on one side, and G. R. Brooker Captain of the other. The hunt continued for three days, when the sides brought in their returns. Shank's squad re- turned 5,000 rat tails, and Brooker's 9,000. The defeated side paid their defeat by an oyster supper at the village tavern.

An organization of considerable social dis- tinetion is the Litchfield Lodge, No. 381, of Free and Accepted Masons. Its eharter was granted by the Grand Lodge of Ohio at Cin- cinnati, on the 14th of October, 1867. Its first officers were J. A. Rettig, W. M. ; G. W. Noble, S. W. ; J. F. Hutchins, J. W .; Ephraim Wol- cott, Treasurer ; D. B. Alcott, Secretary ; E. H. Richards, S. D. ; and Lyman Wolcott, J. D. The lodge meets once each month on the Mon- day preceding the full moon. The services are held in the town hall. The present officers of the lodge are E. H. Richards, W. M .; A. C. Hurd, S. W. ; C. A. Newton, J. W .; W. S. Ber-

dan, Treasurer ; H. K. Canfield, Secretary ; A. D. Willis, S. D. ; R. S. Church and W. A. Ris- ing, Stewards ; H. L. Rising, Tiler.

The first Congressional Church of Litchfield was organized in the year 1833, with twenty- two members. The Rev. William Shaler, of Shalersville, Geauga County, was the first min- ister of the society. The meetings were at first held at the union meeting and town hall, erected at the Center on a 4th of July. During the years from 1835 to 1837, Rev. Asa Smith was the presiding Pastor of the church. He was followed by the Rev. Erastus Coles. A separate church edifiee was constructed by the society in 1850, on a lot donated by Ben- oni Aleott. This burned down a few years later, and another was constructed in 1853. The society now numbers nearly a hundred members, and is the most influential church or- ganization in Litehfield Township.

The Methodists organized a church society in the southwest part of the township in the spring of 1833, with thirteen members. The Rev. Mr. Billings was the first officiating cler- gyman. The members met at the "South " Schoolhouse, at the Center, for worship. Mr. Daniel White was the first Class-leader, and acted in that eapacity for a number of years. In 1843, a building was erected by the society on a lot donated by Russell Brooker. It was afterward refitted and enlarged. Several other Methodist classes had been organized in different parts of the township, and it was after a meeting- house had been constructed near the Center, that they coaleseed, and now form one church organ- ization. It is now a church society of prom- inence and influence, and has a membership of over a hundred.

In the early church history of the township, the Baptists claim a very prominent share. The first organization of a society of this creed was made in 1833, through the efforts of Elder Asa Strait. There were thirteen original members. The society grew in influence and numbers in a

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

very short time. In 1835, a separate meeting- house was constructed by them about a mile from the center. It was removed to that point in 1844, and was considerably enlarged. It burned down two years after its removal, and in 1847, another edifice was built, which now stands in the center of the village, and is used as a house of worship.

The school affairs of the township form a very notable feature in its history. Instruction in the rudimentary branches of learning had been given at private houses, by different per- sons, from the very first years of the coloniza- tion of the township. Miss Almira Niekerson taught the young children in the northern part, while Miss Julia Peek taught in the southwest

part. After the organization of the township, a regular district school was started at the cen- ter of the town, and the school sessions were held in the Union Meeting House. Delia Beckwith was the teacher of the district school from the time it was organized, and she continued in that capacity for several years. A subdivision of the township was made in 1843. It was divided into five districts. In later years, a rc-apportion- ment has been made, and there are now seven districts in the township. The youth, of proper sehool age, enumerated in 1879, number 205. A special and select school is now taught dur- ing the winter months of the year in the lower apartment of the large and commodious town hall.

CHAPTER XV.

LIVERPOOL TOWNSHIP-PHYSICAL FEATURES, GEOLOGY. ETC .- FIRST SETTLERS-SALT MANU- FACTURE-OIL WELLS-SAW-MILLS, GRIST-MILLS AND DISTILLERIES -- VILLAGES, CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS.

A FTER a long and eventful life has fur- nished abundant experience and wisdom, it is pleasant to look back in memory over the silent years, and trace the visions that have ani- mated the hopes of the human racc. Every life is filled with mistakes, and the wisdom of age is shown by the frank avowal of former error, and an earnest desire to shield youth from hopeless waywardness and the bitter pangs of remorse. Old people love to recall events which trans- pired when savages and wild animals roamed the forest, because they were participants, and young people discover a delightful fascination and romance in the story of pioneer life. Tales and traditions of carly years are eagerly sought by the historian and the novelist, and are woven into beautiful fabrics of fiction by the latter, and into stern fact, which is stranger than fiction, by the former. The familiar faces of old asso- ciates and friends rise up from by-gone years,

and pass in review in the visions of the mind. Utensils and ornaments, soiled and worn with age and use, are preserved through many gen- erations as precious mementoes of the dear old grandparents, who long ago were laid to rest in the grassy churchyard. The story of pioneer life will live in future songs of prose and poetry, after the nation in its strides of advancement attains a Grecian glory or a Roman grandeur.

The second permanent settlement in the county was made in Liverpool Township, and at that time the county was a wilderness filled with wild beasts. The physical features of the township are striking. The land is rolling, and, in some places, abrupt and precipitous, affording streams an excellent opportunity in times of freshets to wear away the hills iuto steep promi- nences, and carry the debris into the valleys. The township is bounded north and west by Lorain County, east by Brunswick, and south

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

by York, and comprises twenty-five sections. It was first formed some time before the war of 1812, but for many years was known only by number and range, aud was afterward surveyed into sections by Edward Heath, a native of Connecticut, who came to the township in 1817. All the streams in the township have worn deep valleys, many of them being in some places a hundred feet below the hills along their banks. The soil is largely clay, with occasional beds of sand. The surface outcroppings reveal the Waverly group of roeks. Rocky River, the principal stream and the only one of any promi- nence, enters the township on Section 25, thenee flowing a little west of north across Sections 24, 17, 18, 13, 8, 3, and entering Lorain County. The river is extremely winding, and has long sinee worn through the surface and blue clays, down into the stratum of thin sandstone that un- derlies the township. The water is clear, and, in early years, when the streams were ehoked with fallen timber and brush, the river often arose above its banks covering the valley, which in some places is half a mile wide, and reaching a depth of thirty or forty feet. Sinee the rapid flow of water in it and its tributaries has become obstrueted, but little fear of de- structive floods is felt. Cossett Creek, named for the first settler on its bauks, rises in the eastern part aud flows southwest, entering the river in the northern part of Section 18. Mal- let Creek, another stream named for the first settler on its banks, flows from York Town- ship, passing across Sections 23 and 24, and emptying into the river. The northeast quar- ter is drained by several small streams, which flow west into the river. Much of the western portion is drained by Plum Creek, a small stream which enters from the west, flowing across Sections 20, 19, 12, 9, 10, 1, 2, and en- tering Rocky River in Lorain County. The southwest corner is comparatively level, though even here the land is rolling. Granite bowl- ders are scattered at intervals over the town-

ship. Numerous casts of pre-glacial marine animals are found in the rocks and quarries and exposures ou the river, among which are trilo- bites and braehiopods. No quarries have been opened and worked in the township, for the reason that an abundance of rock such as it is, is found exposed in numerous places, but is of little value from its brittle, shaly nature. Solid banks of rock rise perpendicularly from the bed of the river, in some places forty or fifty feet.

A number of years before the war of 1812, Liverpool Township became the property of Daniel Coit, a native of Connecticut, who ad- vertised the land for sale. Inducements were held temptingly before poor men in the East by the owners of large tracts of land in the West, aud many, yielding to the force of neces- sity, sold out and left the land of their birth to seek homes in the wilderness of Ohio. In the winter of 1810-11, Justus Warner and a Mr. Warden, having seen the advertisements of Dan- iel Coit, came out to look at the land in Town- ship 4, Range 15, of the Western Reserve, or, as it was then ealled by many, New Connecticut. Mr. Warner was pleased with the country, and soon afterward purchased about a seetion of the land in what is now Liverpool Township. Then, early in the year 1811, Mr. Warner, ac- companied by his son Alpheus and wife, and three young men in quest of adventure, started for the land he had purchased. The township was reached after many hardships, a large, rude log cabin was ereeted, and, while Alpheus War- ner and wife remained its oeeupants, Justus Warner returned to Connecticut for his family. Moses Demming had come out with them, and, after securing a traet of land adjoining that of Mr. Warner, he returned to the Nutmeg State for his family. After making all necessary ar- rangements, he started with his family late in April, 1811, for Ohio, driving an ox team, with a horse on the lead. Mr. Demming owned eleven head of young cattle, and he determined to take them with him. This was done with

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

an infinite amount of toil and trouble. They traveled through the woods at the rate of six- tecn miles a day, selling to the people along the route a sufficient number of wheel-heads which had been brought with them, to pay their cxpenses. To the great relief of the weary travelers, Liverpool Township was reached on the 18th of May, 1811, after a tiresome journey of twenty days. Justus Warner and his son Alpheus had come out with two two- horse teams, carrying with them fifty long- corded, wooden Waterbury clocks to sell or trade along the route, or after their arrival. With them came the three young men, Ely L. Seeley, David Scoville, and an Irishman named Clark. All went to work to clear a piece of land for grain, and the next fall Justus and the three young men returned to Connecticut. On the 28th of February, 1812, Justus accompa- nied by his family, came to Liverpool Township, when they were soon made as comfortable as the situation permitted. During the summer of 1811, a large clearing had been made on the Warner farm. Indians were encamped near the little settlement, and one day they informed Mr. Warner that they knew of a large, very salty spring on his farm, and offered to reveal its location for a few pieces of coin. The amount was paid, the whereabouts of the spring was disclosed, and the water, to the great satis- faction of Mr. Warner, was found so extremely salty as to make it apparent that salt could be easily manufactured from it, thus opening a splendid source of revenue to the owner, since the scarcity of salt in the wilderness, and the expense of transportation to Cleveland had raised its value from $5 to $15, depending on the location. Mr. Warner immediately dug a broad well of considerable depth at the spring, and crected a long shanty of clapboards, in which were placed about a dozen iron kettles obtained at Canton. The kettles were hung on poles in suitable positions, and the boiling was begun on an extensive scale. The water was

evaporated until the brine had reached the consistency of sirup, when the liquid was al- lowed to cool, and from this the salt formed in large crystals. After the crystallization was completed, the dirty liquor was turned off, re- vealing quite a quantity of coarse salt at the bottom and on the sides of each kettle. The number of kettles was afterward increased to more than fifty, and the salt works became known for scores of miles around, and received a splendid patronage. The salt was wet and coarse, yet it sold readily sometimes as high as $20 a barrel, and was looked upon as a God- send, as it saved long journeys through bot- tomless roads to Cleveland and other dis- tant places. The salt works were visited by settlers living south forty or fifty miles, who often camc on foot with a bag on their backs, in which to carry home a half-bushel of the wet salt. One day a man from Wooster, Ohio, arrived, having traveled the distance on foot. His food, which was tied up in a dressed fawn skin, consisted of a coon that had been stuffed and baked, and a loaf of corn-cake that had becu baked in the ashes. After resting and refreshing himself with what is now vulgarly called a "square meal," he shouldered his half- bushel of salt and started through the wilder- ness toward home. Mr. Warner soon discov- ered that more money could be made in the manufacture and sale of salt than on the farm ; so he devoted his time and attention to that occupation, and hired men to clear and improve his farm. He succeeded in making more than a barrel of salt a day, and found a ready sale for all he made, the salt often being sold en- tirely out. After the settlers had arrived in considerable numbers, other salt springs along the river were discovered and worked, but not so extensively as that of Mr. Warner. The latter continued the manufacture until the opening of the Erie Canal, when the cost of the transportation to Cleveland from New York having been greatly lowered, so re-

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

duced the cost of salt that Mr. Warner found tbe business no longer profitable, and discon- tinued it. The industry at that early day was one of the most useful and important ever in the county. The spring was located on the west bank of Rocky River, a sbort distance above Marysville, where it may yet be seen.

During the summer of 1811, wbile the young men were clearing in the woods, about half a mile from the cabin, Oliver Terrill, by a miss stroke, cut a terrible gash in his foot. The blood was stanched, and, although Terrill weighed 192 pounds, he was carried to the cabin on the back of Ely Seeley. On the 1st day of June, 1812, a daughter was born to Alpheus and Minerva Warner. The child was named Sally Urania, and was the first wbite child born in Liverpool Townsbip, and, so far as known, the first in the county. On tbe 26th of July, 1812, Rutb (Warner) Demming, daughter of Justus Warner, and wife of Moses Demming, died, her death being the first in the township. Tbe first frame building was a barn erected by Mr. Demming in 1812.

In June, 1812, war with Great Britain was declared, and a short time afterward, Justus Warner, who bad been to Columbia, brought news one dark night that Detroit had surren- dered, that the British were landing at Huron, and that the people at Columbia were making basty preparations to start for the older settle- ments. The settlers of Liverpool bastily packed their handiest and most valuable goods on wagons and started for Columbia, and, about 1 o'clock tbe next night, they were met by Levi Bronson, wbo informed them that there was no immediate danger, wbereupon the settlers re- solved to return to Columbia and build a block house, which was accordingly done. Capt. Headley was made Commander, and, while one- balf of the men were detained at the fort on duty, the other half were allowed to go bome and take care of their stock and bomes. Sev- eral of the settlers came to Liverpool every

morning to feed the hogs, milk the cows, and see that none of the animals went astray. In the spring of 1813, all the settlers returned to Liverpool, and several new ones came with them. Salt Spring Town, as it was then called, became well known, and the presence there of salt was an inducement to settlers seeking bomes. All werc apprehensive, during the war, of attacks from the Indians, and a constant watcb was kept, tbat, in case of a visit, tbe settlers migbt not be wholly surprised. Tbe men at the salt works labored all night, keeping watch in the meantime, while the wives, with more or less anxiety, guarded their little broods at the cabins. As long as the songs and voices of the men at the works could be heard, all was known to be well. The Indian scare soon passed away, and new settlers began to appear. H. H. Coit, the son and agent of Daniel Coit, the proprietor of Liverpool Township, came out and built a cabin on the land now owned by Mr. Purdy. He en- tered into some sort of partnership with Justus Warner at the salt works, and the capacity of the works was greatly enlarged. Advertise- ments were printed in the East as to the ad- vantages of locating at Salt Spring Town, and soon the settlers began to appear, with their heavy wagons covered with thick waterproof cloth and drawn by oxen, or borses, or oftener still, by both combined in an oddly consorted team. Jobn Cossett came in 1814, and locat- ed on wbat afterward was called Cossett Creek. William, Noah, Erastus and Eliada Warner, relatives of Justus and Alpheus, appeared in 1815, and, in 1817, Seth and Zary Warden and Edward Heath came. The latter was a man of fine education, was called Capt. Heatb, and was tbe one employed to survey tbe townsbip into sections, tbe work being carefully and ac- curately done. After 1817, and until 1822, the settlers poured in rapidly, but, for a few years after the latter date, the influx of settlers was almost at a standstill. Among those wbo came, prior to 1822, were Henry Mallet and bis

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

sons, Daniel, John and Henry, Jr., who settled in the southern part, on Mallet Creek ; Barney Spooner, Timothy Woodbridge, Daniel Buffam, John B. Tyler ; Cornelius Thomas, who settled on the State road ; Elisha Rouse, Asa Robin- son, Paul Ford, Robert Carr, Ebenezer Wilmot, Julius Knowlton, and many others, who settled along Roeky River, mostly on the east side. The heavy forests went down rapidly, and soon the shouts of harvesters were heard, where erst the war-whoop resounded. Industries began to arise, sehools and ehurehes were organized, and Liverpool assumed the appearance of a thriv- ing settlement. Almost all the settlers were located on the east bank of the river. Tempo- rary eamps of Indians were established along the river during the hunting season, and the savages were looked upon by the settlers as in- truders, as they killed large numbers of deer and other animals of value to the settlers.

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History of Medina county and Ohio, Part 81

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