History of Medina county and Ohio, Part 91

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 91

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To complete this sketch of Westfield, there remains to be described a powerful and pro- gressive institution, which, though mentioned last, is pre-eminent in importance, and incom- parably vaster in its scope than all concerns

besides combined. He who travels extensively in the States of Indiana and Ohio, journeying, perchance, on horseback along the innumerable highways, will see in every section, aye, on every road, attached to barns and houses in conspieuous places, little tin tags with black background and lettering thereon in gilt. If he attempts to read these oft-appearing plates, he will meet but a repetition, in an unending series, of the words "Ohio Farmers' Insurance Company," the name of the institution whose base of operations is in Westfield, but whose arms stretch out in all directions through the length and breadth of two great States. The Ohio Farmers' Insurance Company was ehar- tered on the 8th day of February, 1848. Its home office was at Le Roy, and, for the first ten years of its existence, the headquarters were in the extension of the frame store build- ing on the east side of the public square. The first Board of Directors was thus composed : Jonathan Simmons, President, and George Col- lier, Asa Farnum, Isaiah Phillips, Isaac Rogers, Isaac Jones, Calvin Chapin. The first Secre- tary of the company was D. B. Austin. This company was the pioneer in this State, in this, that it set out to do an insurance business on farm property exclusively. The founders thought this plan would involve less risk and cheaper rates than any other. The original or- ganization was on the plan of mutual insurance, and the taking of premium notes continued as a feature of the business until 1870. The plan of cash insurance was commeneed in 1858, and from that time until 1870, business was con- ducted on both plans, cash and mutual. In 1870, the taking of premium notes was abol- ished, and, since then, the company has done an exelusively cash business. The men who have acted as the Company's Presidents, and their terms of office are Jonathan Simmons, 1848 to 1852; Calvin Chapin, 1852 to 1858; Rufus Freeman, 1858 to 1870; James C. John- son, 1870 to present time. In the office of

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Secretary and Treasurer, D. B. Austin was suc- cecded by L. D. Ellis, who served from 1853 to 1858; A. G. Hawley followed, 1858 to 1866, and, from 1866 to this time, the post has been held by A. H. Hawley. The number of Direct- ors was increased from seven to nine in 1878, and three are now elected annually for three- year terms. The members of the present board are James C. Johnson, Oliver Morton, Nelson Harris, S. H. Pomeroy, F. M. Ashley, J. H. Freeman, Samuel Smith, John B. Chase and T. G. Lewis. Regular meetings of the board are held the second Wednesday of each month, and the anuual meeting day is the last Wednes- day in September. Two adjusters are in the constant employ of the company. In nearly thirty-three years of actual business, the Ohio Farmers' has insured farm property to a total valuation of $500,000,000. Losses amounting to more than $2,000,000 have been paid in the same period. It is claimed that this far ex- ceeds the showing of any other company doing an exclusively farm business. The operations of the Ohio Farmers' werc confined strictly to the State of Ohio until 1877, when they were pushed out into Indiana also. In its first ten years, the company issued 16,000 policies ; the next eight years, about 50,000 ; the next four- teen years, about 255,000. In the year ending September 15, 1880, 26,000 policies were issued, covering property worth $35,000,000. Every year the company's income has exceeded its expenditures, giving it a growing surplus.

With the increase in business, the facilities and conveniences for its transaction have been mul- tiplied. In 1858, the office was removed from the frame building at the corner, to a neat brick cdifice near by. The latter became a part of the present office, which was built in 1866. The chance visitor in Westfield, after strolling through the quiet roads that thread the township, having noted the prevailing re- pose and peace that rests upon the farms, hav- ing viewed those attractive and well-peopled villages, Friendsville and Le Roy, will be sur- prised, beyond measure, when he happens to enter the office of this great insurance com- pany. The large and well-constructed build- ing, the spacious and finely furnished rooms occupied by the busy Secretary and his force of clerks, the clicking of type-writers and the ring of the telephone-all these cause him to imaginc, for a moment, that he has been sud- denly transported from the rural village to some great commercial city.

To the student of history, Westfield, when viewed in its various stages of development, presents an interesting illustration of the whole- some growth which has repeatedly attended in- stitutions that have been planted by pioneers from Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York, watched and teuded by the patient, care- ful immigrants from Pennsylvania, and finally made to flourish and bear fruit, by men of en- ergy and talent, to the manor born.

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

CHAPTER XX .*

HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP-A BROKEN SURFACE-THE PARADISE OF HUNTERS-A FARMERS' HUNT-A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS-CHURCHES-SCHOOL STATISTICS.

H INCKLEY forms the extreme northeast township in Medina County. Its surface is broken by rugged and abrupt ledges, and long, high and narrow ridges extend through its territory from north to south, and from south to northwest. The sides of these jutting precipices are curiously worn out, and, in many places, deep caves extend into the rocky ground, whence issue fine springs of never-failing water. The stroller over these extended ledges sees many astonishing passages in the rock, made by the falling away of large masses, con- sequent npon the undermining of the softer rock below. The soil of the township is loamy, for the most part, affording a growth of chest- nut, walnut, hickory and oak timber. Rocky River, known as the East Branch of that stream, enters the township in the northeast corner ; it flows southerly, passing into Summit County, skirting the eastern line of Hinckley Township. At the extreme southeast corner, it again enters the township, making a large bend at the south- ern extremity of the " Ridge," and then flows northwesterly through the township, passing one-half mile east of the center, gathering the water of numberless springs. It passes into Cuyahoga County directly north of Hinckley Center. This river was once a powerful tor- rent, filling the broad valley, through which it now so quietly flows, with a rushing, seething flood of water.

Hinckley was marked off under the Connecti- cut Land Company Survey as Township 4, Range 13; its boundaries are Granger on the south, Brunswick on the west, Cuyahoga County on the north, and Summit County on the east.

The area of Hinckley exceeds that of any other of the townships of Medina County. Its total acreage is 17,133, this being over 1,000 acres in excess of any one of its sister townships. York Township comprises but 13,436, it being the smallest in the county. This difference in the surface area is partially due to the swellings and clevation of ground, which forms a distin- guishing feature in the physical construction of this township.

In the distribution of the lands of the Western Reserve among the original land speculators who bought it of the State of Con- necticnt, the township of Hinckley fell to the lot of Judge Samuel Hinckley, of Northampton, Mass. He was known as one of the shrewd- est land speculators, and, aside from his Hinckley possessions, he owned numerous tracts of land in Medina and other counties of the Western Reserve. He was sharp and exacting in his dealings with the purchasers of his lands. He had been educated for a lawyer, and during his life-time was known as a prominent mem- ber of the bar of Massachusetts. His dealings in Western lands made him a wealthy man. He died in his native town in Northampton, Mass., 1840, greatly respected by all his neigh- bors and acquaintances. The following anec- dote, that has been related of him, illustrates the prevailing idea, in those days, of the future valuc of Western lands. Gov. Strong, of Massa- chusetts, was a brother-in-law of Hinckley, and also owner of tracts of land on the Reserve. One day they were discussing the propriety of putting their land into market. Strong thought it best, as the saving in taxes and interest would more than eqnal the rise in value.

* Contributed by Charles Neil.

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

Hinckley dissented, "Why," said he "the time will come when the Ohio lands will sell for more than $10 per acre." "Yes," replied Strong, " but, before that time comes, you and I will be in Heaven." " Ah ! that's the devil of it," said the Judge.

When the tide of emigration began to flow westward from the Eastern States in the second decade of this century, Judge Hinckley was not slow in placing the most of his lands on sale. He appointed his son-in-law, Joseph Lyman, who had located at Ravenna, in Portage County, as agent of his Western domain. Hinckley being rough and broken in surface, no particular ef- fort was made by the owner to sell the land. He did not even have a survey takeu of its area until several years after the adjoining township had been quite generally settled. This terri- tory remained a dense wilderness, and, as a con- sequence, the wild animals made it a place of refuge, and hid in its dark shades and cavern- ous recesses. The valley of the Rocky River, from the Big Bend, on the Granger line north- ward, and the western side of the great Hinckley Ridge, was considered among the settlers the hunter's paradise. A number of the Wyandots and Seneca tribe of Indians made the township a favorite hunting resort when the country east, north and south, had already been well settled by white people. After the year 1812, they pitched their lodge but once or twiee in this neighborhood, and since that time have en- tirely disappeared, moving West. Now and then, a few stray hunters and trappers of the copper-colored nation made their appearance up to the year 1820, but they remained shy of the white settlers.

Two remarkable events that occurred in the early days of the township have beeu preserved for record. The first was the hanging of an Indian squaw in the summer of 1806. She had been accused of witchcraft in predicting that darkness would come over the carth. Her prophecy caused alarm among the tribe, and a

council was called. It was decided that she should suffer death by strangulation by having invoked the powers of the evil one. Accord- ingly, she was hung in the month of May, 1806, on the limb of a large tree that had fallen across the river bed, on a ledge near the Big Bend, on the Granger line, amidst the ehant and howling of the savages. It is said that several white men were instrumental in her ex- ecution. The body was left swinging to the tree, and remained there as a warning, and as a carrion for the vultures of the air to feed upon, until it finally dropped iuto the river below. In the month of June following the tragic death of the Indian prophetess, a total eclipse of the sun took place. It is not known how the squaw got her information of the astronomical phenomenon that was to occur, but it was probably based on premonitions induced by events of a similar kind, which had always been looked upon by the Indians with a sort of mystieal terror.

The depredations and annoyances by the wolves and bears whose haunts were in Hinck- ley, caused the farmers and settlers of Medina, Summit and Cuyahoga Counties to resolve on a war of extermination against these beasts. A meeting was called in Strongsville in the fall of 1818, to make arrangements for the great hunt, and enlist everybody within available distance to help in the slaughter chase. A committee to conduct the hunt was selected, and they soon issued a proclamation to the farmers of the three counties. The day fixed upou was the 24th day of December. The or- der was that the farmers gather by early day- break, armed with rifles, guns, pitchforks, flails, clubs, and every available implement of war; form a continuous line on the four sides of the township, and, at a given signal, advance toward its center, killing, shooting and slaugh- tering all game that eame within reach. A half mile square was marked out by blazed trees in the center of the township, and on this

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line they were all to stop, and take position, and from there kill and shoot the game within reach. Cleveland, Newburg and Royalton were to form on the north linc, Brecksville and Richfield on the east line, Bath and Granger on the south, and Medina, Brunswick and Strongsville on the west. Preparations on an extensive scale at once commenced throughout the entire region, and the excitement for the impending chase began to run high. The 24th day of December came. It was a clear, brisk day. A slight crust of snow covered the ground, and the little streams and the ground were frozen hard. Before the morning sun- light had commenced to steal through the leaf- less and shivering trees, the noise and laughter of men advancing from every direction toward the line, the bark of dogs and the sharp ring of rifle shots re-echoed through the woods from far and near. Startled and alarmed, the deer started from their lair and bounded in long strides for refuge in the wild confines of the central township. Many of these animals were overhauled in their flight by the swift bullet before the fun of the day had really commenced. The wolves and bears just re- turning from their night's raids in the settle- ments, sneak off in precipitous flight before the unusual noise, and hide in the thick swamps and cavcrnous recesses of Hinckley. Soon the large hunting host is in line on the four sides of the battle-ground. The men take their po- sitions, the companies touching at the four corners, and soon the square is perfect, making a continuous line of twenty miles on the in- sidc. The north line, composed of the settlers of Cuyahoga County, numbers about one hun- dred and thirty men, many of them from the then infant settlement of Cleveland. It is un- der command of T. N. Ferris, of Royalton. The east line has about one hundred and twenty-five men, and is under charge of Judge Welton, of Richfield, and Carry Oaks, of Brecksville. The southlı line, under command

of Zenas Hamilton, number about one hundred men, and the west line, under Abraham Freeze, of Brunswick, numbers about one hundred and twenty men. These five Captains form the Board of Managers, and the whole affair is under their immediate control and direction. The hunters stand alert and anxiously wait for the signal to pass. Then a long-drawn blast from a horn comes from the high hills in the north and echoes down the valley. It is an- swered on the west, and down it passes along its line, then it comes east, and up back it goes to the north. As the last bugle sound dies away, the word "all ready," passes from mouth to mouth, and with it the advance begins. Steadily the columns press on, silently at first, then comes a wild shout and soon the echoing roll of musketry, as the wild game dashcs through the woods and the thick underbrush before the advancing host. The north column is the first to close in the square on the center, then follows east and west and south. It was almost a solid phalanx of men, standing close to one another.

Driven into madness and utter despair by the terrible confusion and slaughter, the decr, led by the stags, dash in droves against the lines ; many are shot, others are forked and clubbed, and some, the larger and fleeter, escape- bounding over the heads of the hunters. The frightened animals, quivering and foaming, with their large eyeballs protruding, rush back and forth, from side to side, and the massacre con- tinues. The orders are strict, that all firing must be done low and toward the center, to prevent injury to the men. In one of the rushes made by the dcer against the north col- umn, Lathrop Seymour accidentally receives a buckshot in his shoulder and one in his left leg. He is disabled, and is conveyed back to the rear to have his wounds dressed. It is now past noon, and the carcasses of several hundred deer lie strewn on the ground through the woods. One or two bears and several wolves

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had been killed up to this time. The impossi- bility soon became apparent to the captains, that all the game enclosed in the square could be killed-and especially the bears and wolves, the extermination of which was really the pur- pose of the hunt-without another advance being made from the four sides. This could not be done without endangering the life and limbs of the hunters. A council of war was called, and it was decided that the lines should hold their positions, and that no further long- range firing be done, and the killing of deer and small game be prohibited. William Coggswell, of Bath, Ohio, the prince of huntsmen in his day in Ohio, and "Riley the Rover," another famous hunter, who was located at Cleveland, and whose proper name has slipped the memory of the old settlers, were then ordered, with eight more men, to advance toward the center, and " stir up " the wolves and bears, and have them come out. The men on the lines were to keep watch and kill the animals as they came out from their retreats. The men entered the arena, and their experience is best told in the words of Coggswell, who started in in advance of the little squad : * " I soon came in contact with plenty of wolves and bears, and shot several of them, when I saw near the cen- ter a monstrous bear-I think the largest I ever saw.of that species. We wounded him twice, so that he dropped each time, when he retreated toward the south line, and I followed in hot pursuit. About this time, the south line ad- vanced about forty rods ; they had become so enthusiastic in the hunt that they could be re- strained no longer, and this brought them within a short distance of the bear and myself. My dog, which I had left in the rear, seeing me after the bear, broke away from the young man who had him in charge, and came running to my assistance. We met the bear just as he was crossing a little creek on the ice. I ran up the bank within twenty-five or thirty feet of the bear, and stood several feet above him. About

this time, the men on the south line commenced shooting at the bear, apparently regardless of me and my dog. There were probably 100 guns fired within a very short space of time, and the bullets sounded to me very much like a hail-storm. As soon as old Bruin got his head still enough so I dare shoot, I laid him out. While they were firing so many guns, a great many persons hallooed to me to come out or I would be shot ; but, as it happened, neither myself nor dog were hurt. The bear soon succumbed to the hot lead that was being poured into his body. When the monster had been killed, the south line broke, regardless of all orders, and they were soou joined by the three other lines." Now a general search com- menced in the center and through the haunts and caves on the sides of the hills. Several more bears and wolves were found and killed, the last one being a wounded wolf which had secreted itself in the top of a fallen tree. Fir- ing now closed, darkness was coming on. The men were all called together by a trumpet-call near the spot where the big bear had been killed. They were ordered to discharge their guns and then stack them. Then the labor of dragging the game commenced. First, the wolves were drawn in, and there were just sev- enteen. It was then decided that the bounty money-then paid by the State for wolf scalps -should be expended in refreshments for the hunting host. Accordingly, two men were dis- patched to the settlement of Richfield, several miles on the east, there to procure what they could find, and return with it to the scene of the day's action. Within a few hours, the men returned, bringing a barrel of whisky, drawn in a sled by a yokc of oxen. In the meantime, the other game had been gathercd, and it was found that there were over three hundred deer and twenty-one bears. A rousing big fire was built, and the scene which had recently been a vast slaughter-pen, had now turned into one of bois- terous jubilation and merriment. A roll-call

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was made, and it was found that there were 454 men on the ground. And then, as " Riley, the Rover," of Cleveland, the bard of the oeea- sion, deseribes it in his lines on this hunt, composed some years after :

"They set the barrel on one end, And stove the other in ; They used for tapster to attend A ladle made of tin.

" The whisky, made by honest men, Was drank by men upright, And none would deem it hurtful then To drink on such a night.

" Then every man drank what he chose, And all were men of spunk ; But not a fighting wrangle rose, And not a man got drunk."

The word was now passed that the whole squad eamp here for the night. A half-dozen men soon had hold of the big bear, drawing him up by the hind legs ; jerked off the skin, and the fat, greasy eareass was soon roasting and spitting before the large eamp fire. But few of the hunters had brought a little "Johnny eake," and a slice of bacon or venison, and they all evineed a sharp appetite for something to eat. When the roasting had been completed, an onslaught was made with bowie knives on the body. But, as there was no salt in the eamp, the food served became nauseating. From this it went to song, then speeches, and finally the night wound up with anecdotes of adventure and pioneer life. As morning eame, a division of the game was made. A committee consisting of Henry Hoyt, of Liverpool ; John Bigelow, of Richfield, and William Coggswell, of Bath, was eleeted to make the division. After the propor- tionate shares had been allotted to the different companies, the journey homeward was eom- meneed, some of the hunters living twenty and thirty miles away. Many of the men who had congregated here on the wonderful occasion had been entire strangers to one another, but, after the night's strange and unusual festivities,

they had grown on terms of brotherly friend- ship. It had been a joy and a pleasure to all of these sturdy pioneers who were the first to unfold the beauties of the beautiful "Reserve," to meet so many of their kind here, isolated and alone as their days had to be spent then in battling with the forest and elearing their farms. The game was tied on stieks, and then away the hunters wandered up the hills and down the valley, north, east, west and south, in twos, with the end of a stiek on their shoulders, the trusty rifle under their arms and a deer, wolf or bear hanging between, its bloody head dragging over the frozen, snowy ground.

It was in the year following this hunt, that a survey was made of Hinekley, by Abraham Freeze, of Brunswick. The township was di- vided into 100 lots, each containing 160 aeres. The land was then placed on the market for $3 per aere. In the eastern part of the township, Freeze found a " squatter" named Walton, who was the first settler in the township, and the only one at the time of its first survey. Where Wal- ton had come from, or where he moved, has never been learned. He was an industrious man, and had made considerable improvement on what is considered the best lot in the town- ship. Freeze paid Walton for his improve- ments, and bought the lot of Judge Hinekley. A few years later, the buyer sold it to Nathan Wilson. In 1820, Frederiek Deming bought the lot adjoining the one owned by Abraham Freeze, and made the first permanent settlement in Hinekley Township, in that part which is known as the "Ridge." Here he lived alone for several years. In 1822, James Stillman came with his family from the State of New York, and bought land in this neighborhood, building a eabin in the immediate vicinity of Deming's. Stillman soon died. He was buried on a knoll a little way west of the settlement, where now is located the Ridge burial-ground. His death so dis- couraged his family that they returned at onee to New York. In the spring following, Thomas

HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

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N. Easton eame alone into Hinekley Township from Lee, Berkshire Co., Mass., and commeneed to elear a traet of land that he had bought from Hinkley, which was also located in the vieinity of Deming's settlement. He was soon joined by his young wife, who followed him from their native State, where the two had been married only the year previous. Next eame the families of Jared Thayer, Joab Loomis, Robbin Stillman, Curtis Bullard and Ingersoll Porter, all loeating elose together in the eastern part of the town- ship.

A number of squatters took possession of lands in the extreme northwest part of the township, some time during the year 1821. It is not known whenee they eame, nor at what time they located on these lands. Their names were Joe Brink, John Stow, Bill Pool and Tytus Richardson. When regular transfer sales of the land were made to actual settlers, these " squat- ters " vaeated the grounds and removed to parts unknown. David Babeoek was the first perma- nent settler in this part of Hinekley. He was born in Albany County, N. Y. In 1818, he married the daughter of Isaae Isham, of Syra- euse, and, in the spring of 1819, he, with his father-in-law and family, removed to Ohio, traveling in wagons, with three yoke of oxen. They settled in Strongsville. The next year, young Babcock bought 160 aeres of land in Hinekley Township, at $3 per aere. He eom- menced at onee making improvements on the new land, by building a log eabin, elearing sev- eral aeres, and set out an orehard. His wife remained with her parents for several years. In 1826, the old folks moved down from Strongsville and located on a piece of land they had bought, about a mile northeast of David Babeoek's farm.

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History of Medina county and Ohio, Part 91

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