History of Medina county and Ohio, Part 98

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 98

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Supplies were got only at a considerable dis- tance. A "store " was early established at Medina Village, but little more than powder and lead could be procured there, and most settlers in this vicinity went to Cleveland for their store goods. Here the difficulty of get- ting currency was deeply felt. But few of the pioneers had ready money, and most of the prod- ucts of the frontier farm were a drug in the market. At home a system of barter prevailed and money was to be secured only from new. comers, or a chance traveler, who paid for his accommodation. Most of the cabins had glass for their windows, but iron goods of any sort, even as household utensils, were limited to the few indispensable articles needed for constant use. Wooden pegs and pins were substituted for nails, and wooden latches and hinges answered very well the purposes of the bet- ter ones made of iron. Some had doors, in the construction of which there was no iron at all. Salt was at an inconceivable price, and it is said that a team could not draw wheat enough to buy a barrel of salt. Flour and meal were procured at Middlebury, now a part of the city of Akron, where a log mill was

erected, about 1815. The journey was made through an unmarked wilderness, through marshes and over unbridged streams, making the twenty miles' journey a five days' under- taking. About 1830, a mill was built at Wey- mouth, in Medina Township. This was lo- cated upon a poor stream, and furnished a very unreliable dependence for the pioneers of this section. Another, which gained con- siderable reputation for fine work, was a mill established at Wadsworth. The motive power was supplied by two springs that brought the water to an overshot wheel, about twenty-two feet in diameter. The power was entirely in- adequate to the work demanded, and it is said that the wheel hardly made a revolution with- out stopping on its round. This drawback was overcome by the excellent flour which was manufactured, and the pioneers would take a quantity of wheat there and wait until it could be ground rather than take the inferior flour at other mills. In later years, it was the cus- tom of the farmers to take some sixty bushels of wheat ata time, which would furnish flour for nearly a year. A saw-mill was early erected in Montville. The first lumber brought into the township was by Mr. Badger, who hauled enough for his chamber floor from Bag- dad, in about 1820. Three years later, he built a mill on Rocky River, on land owned by John Morris. The latter furnished the cap- ital to build it, and hired Mr. Badger to build and run it. This stood about two years, when it burned down by accident. A settler, desir- ing some lumber at once, was allowed to run the mill at night, so as not to inconvenience those whose orders preceded, and, failing to properly dispose of the fire, the building caught fire and was destroyed. It was only a log structure, but it was a severe loss to the little community at that time. Mr. Badger had, fortunately, just finished sawing lumber enough to build a barn. The first frame build-

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

ings, however, were erected previous to this time, the lumber being hauled from Bagdad. These were a house erected by Mr. Welton, and a barn erected by George F. Atherton. What is remarkable about this pioneer mill in Montville, and characteristic of the class of emigrants in this part of the State, is, that the dam was substantially built of stone. It is the experience of those who have had occasion to investigate the earlier customs of the first settlers, that enterprises of this character are generally of less perma- nence. A brush dam, frequently renewed, is the average attempt in this matter, and such constructions generally suffice for the first two decades of a settlement. Here, aided by the proprietors of the large tracts of land, most of the improvements were of a more substan- tial character.

A later enterprise, but one that flourishes best only in a new country, was established in Montville about 1844. This was an ashery, by a Mr. Van Gelder, who bought some five hundred acres, which is known as the old King farm. In addition to the ashes he could pur- chase of the settlers, he carried on an exten- sive clearing on his own place, clearing off about one hundred acres per year. He man- ufactured " black salts," and traded his prod- uct for ashes, and, soon after beginning the business, laid in a small stock of groceries and dry goods, to sell and exchange for ashes. He continued the business for a few years and then left, the business dying out.

In the matter of stock, there was little else than cattle. Most of the pioneers came with ox teams, and most of them, but not all, brought in one or two cows. In 1820, there were only two horses, Mr. Badger and Parker Pelton each owning one. Two years later, the assessment made by Mr. Welton showed only three horses and forty-one cattle. Hogs were introduced at the same time, but, contrary to the almost

universal practice in new countries, these were not allowed to run wild in the woods to feed on the nuts that were to be found in abun- dance. Mr. Welton, it is said, lost some in the woods, that forgot their domestic habits and ranged at will for a time, but his sense of pro- priety overcame any desire for profit he might have had, and he, one day, taking his gun, killed the pigs and crippled the sow so that she could be restored to the pen. About 1820, Parker Pelton bought about forty head of sheep at Euclid and brought them to Montville. They were, however, a constant care. The wolves made sad havoc among them, in spite of all the watchfulness that the family could bestow; and, what was worse, the dogs, many of which were of wolf blood, were more mis- chievous than the wild animals. By winter, he had lost twenty, and, for several successive years, he found it impossible to pass the win- ter with more than twenty head, no matter how many additions he made to the flock. He finally erected a high, light fence about the field, which made a large fold of the inclos- ure, and succeeded in raising wool enough for his own use.

The early attempt at farming in a country covered with timber admits of but little vari- ation in the methods employed. A small clearing was made, a part of the timber util- ized in the erection of a cabin, 18x20 feet in size, and the balance burned. This much was accomplished in the fall, or early in the spring, and a crop of corn put in with the hoe alone. Plowing was out of the question, and fre- quently the crop did not get planted until June, but the length of the season and the strength of the soil made ample amends for such delay. While the crop was growing, the pioneer busied himself with girdling a wider area, extending in all directions from his cabin. The next season they were ready to chop down, log and burn, and the space was prepared

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for the inevitable crop of corn. The corn ground of the previous year was turned over to wheat, and was more or less tilled for its reception. Sometimes a rude attempt at plowing was made, but frequently a heavily weighted triangular harrow sufficed for tear- ing the surface enough to receive the seed. With such cultivation, the land yielded an abundant return. Parker Pelton raised the first three acres of wheat ever cut in the town- ship, and Capt. Badger threshed it out with a flail, taking the seventh bushel as his wages. The only demand was for home consumption, save now and then a bushel or two to some new-comer who has not had time to put in a crop. The land, enriched by the accumulated leaves of years, seemed well-nigh exhaustless. One field was planted with alternate crops of corn and wheat for sixteen years, when it was sown to clover. This was fed down by pas- turing it, and then turned under. On this, a crop of wheat was sown, which sprang up into so rank a growth as to prove worthless. Straw was found sixteen feet long, where the stalk would grow beyond its strength and lodge, and springing up with new growth only to lodge again. Only about five bushels of grain was got to the acre. Corn planted upon this field in the succeeding year yielded 130 bushels to the acre. This exceeding fer- tility, however, was, to a great degree, lost upon the pioneer. The lack of transportation made every sort of produce of little avail as a source of income. Stills for the converting of corn into whisky, which elsewhere often made a market for this cereal, were not often found here. In Montville, only one ever found place, and that but for a short time. A young man by the name of Case, while working for a farmer in Copley, in Summit County, was engaged in making whisky. At the expira- tion of his term of service, there being no demand for his services elsewhere, in company

with his brother, he established a still on his father's faim in the northern part of the town- ship, some two miles and a half east of Medina Village. It continued only about six months, when it was discontinued.

Montville seemed to be off the line of all travel, as hardly an Indian trail was to be found anywhere within its limits. Besides the surveyor's blaze there was no guide, and Sam- uel Brown, one of the first to come to the township, was obliged to "bush " his road out to his land. In all the traffic with Medina Village and elsewhere, each man made his own road, as the condition of the soil did not admit of its being used often, it soon becom- ing impassable on account of the mud. The first regularly cut-out road that touched the township was the Smith road, which forms the boundary between Montville and Medina townships. This road was cut out by Gen. Smith, during the war of 1812, as an army thoroughfare, and formed the only outlet for travel east and west. An old State road from Cleveland to Wooster was the thoroughfare in this direction, and was the trail by which most of the immigration found its way here. In 1823, an enterprise was set on foot which had for its object to convert this into a regular turnpike. The large land-owners along the proposed route, appreciating the benefit it would confer upon their interests, subscribed liberally to its cost, and among others, Gen. Champion. This brought the road through the western side of Montville. The first half-mile from the southern line was con- tracted and built by Capt. Badger, the rest of the road within this township being built by Lawrence, Pelton and Welton, all residents of this township. The road was completed in two or three years, at a cost of about $500 per mile, through Montville, and stages were regularly run between the ter- minal points.

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

Montville was named after a Vermont town by the original proprietor. It was organ- ized in 1820, the first Township Trustees being. T. M. Currier, Aaron Smith and Austin Badger. G. F. Atherton was Township Clerk. No Constable was elected, because, it is said, the people supposed there would be no ne- cessity for such an officer, and the event justi- fied this good opinion of themselves. A Jus- tice of the Peace, however, was elected, Philo Welton receiving every vote but one in the township, and thus began a judicial career that ended as Associate Judge of the Com- mon Pleas Court of the County. Austin Badger succeeded Mr. Welton as Justice two years later. At the first election, there were but ten votes polled; two years later, the vote had increased to fifteen, a marked evidence of growth. The social customs in this commu- nity were much the same as found in other early .settlements. Husking-bees, loggings, raisings, and the various entertainments which combined work and play, arranged by the women, gave opportunity for the merry romp that was all the more enjoyable for the severe labors that gave rise to the occasion. Whisky played an important part in all the social affairs of the community, though not to the extent found in some of the earlier settle- ments. On the Fourth of July, in 1820, a patriotic celebration of the day was had at the county seat, in which the whole popula- tion of Montville participated. Mr. Badger, in his contribution to Northrop's history, says: " All the inhabitants of Montville attended that celebration, and let it be recorded as a part of history, that on the Fourth of July, 1820, no human being could be found in Montville Township, for the reason that patriotism fired every inhabitant to be at the celebration. Three ox-teams hauled to Me- dina, on that day, every living soul in Mont- ville Township, together with a young fat

hog, a fat sheep and a few chickens, intended to be eaten in common at this great celebration. From every inhabited township in the county the people came with their ox-teams, and by noon there was a large gathering and a cor dial greeting. The dinner was of the best that the country afforded, and all fared plentifully. Sweetened liquor was made in a tub, which was refilled often during the day. From that tub every person dipped in a tin and drank when in- clination prompted. Many of the more sturdy men took the whisky raw, saying that the sugar took away its flavor." Some of the im- portant early social events are thus noted in the same work by Capt. Badger: "The first marriage in the township was W. R. Williams to Nancy Monroe. Henry Pelton was the first child born in the township. The first death and burial was that of Mrs. Catharine Badger."

A prominent feature of Montville, and a very striking one to a stranger going over the township, is the pioneer monument erected to the memory of Fairfax Smith. Mr. Smith was one of the second line of immigration that contributed to the population of this township. He was a native of Massachusetts, whence he early moved to Vermont, and in later years to Madison County, N. Y. He was here when the popular rage seemed to be to emigrate to Ohio, and, feeling the need of more room for his growing family of seven children, he came to Montville in June, 1832. The journey was made by the family in a three-horse wagon, while the household goods came by way of the canal and Lake Erie to Ohio. Once here, Mr. Smith bought several improvements, amounting in all to some three hundred and fifty acres, right in the midst of a complete wilderness, with no other clearing near, save the opening made by Samuel Brown. The monument was erected in 1879, by his son Linus Smith, and stands upon a knoll just west of his residence. It consists

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of a base of Berea sandstone, six feet two inches square and two feet thick; a sub-base of the same material five feet two inches square and twenty-two inches thick; a second sub-base of Quincy granite, four feet four inches square and two feet thick. Upon this is placed the die, of Quincy granite, three feet eight inches square and five feet two inches high; a cap of the same material, three feet eight inches square and two feet thick, finishes the pedestal. A statue of Mr. Smith, in the finest Carrara marble, six feet eight inches in height, crowns the pile. Inscriptions on the die record the death of Fairfax Smith and Abigail, his wife, as well as a child of Linus Smith. The figure represents the subject in the garb of a front- iersman, such as the prints usually represent as the typical pioneer of the West. The figure stands uncovered, with hat in hand, as though greeting the passer by, and rests with the other on an ax, which is supported upon a stump by his side. The whole cost was $2,000, and forms a fitting memorial of not only the particular life which it com- memorates, but also of the whole class of those who wrought that others might enjoy the fruit of their labor.

The people who came to the Reserve were eminently a religious people, and early sought to bring about them in this new home the in- fluence of the church. For the first few years, owing to the smallness of their number and the scattered character of the settlement, it was impossible for the community in Montville to organize any church movement, though they early embraced such opportunities of attend- ing worship as were offered. The first services in the township were held by Rev. Roger Searle, of Medina Village, as early as 1820 or 1821. The services were conducted at first in the cabins, and, a very little later, in the school- houses that were erected. In 1829, Rev. Alva Sanford organized a parish of the Episcopal

order, which comprised nine members. This organization, although it never erected a place of worship, continued its existence separately for awhile, when it was merged into the church at Medina. A few years after Mr. Searle, Rev. Steven Barnes came into the township to reside. Mr. Champion, the original owner of the township, desirous of securing his services for the new community, gave him one hun- dred acres to settle here. He labored here, with more less results, for several years. In 1830, the Methodist Church constituted a class, and, for years, held services in the school- houses, or, more often, in private houses. In 1844, they erected a place of worship, which still stands, near the center of the township. The building of the church was effected through the aid of Mr. Champion, who seemed to have not so much a special creed as the moral wel- fare of the community at heart. He promised those desiring a church for the Methodist or- ganization to contribute $300, which was quite a help in those days. With this encourage- ment, they set to work and soon had a com- fortable building. Mr. John I. Wheeler was appointed a committee of one to secure the building, and he spent a year in this undertak- ing. The first class was composed of John I. Wheeler, Asa Bradley, Washington Nichols, John Nichols, John Fritz, Daniel Wheeler, Asa House and their wives, Lucy, Lucinda and Friend Morse, Mary Bradley, Mrs. Betsy Nichols, Miss Bunker and Zenas Beach. Serv- ices are held there every Sabbath, with a sermon in the afternoon, once in two weeks, by Rev. W. B. Farrar, of Medina.

The establishment of schools preceded the organization of the churches. As early as 1820, a log schoolhouse was begun in the south- east part of the township, but finally aban- doned before it was completed, because it was found there were no scholars to attend a school if established. Two years later, a log school-

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

house was established upon Mr. Badger's farm, where Caroline Babbit taught the first sum- mer school, consisting of eight scholars, receiv- ing 75 cents per week. The following winter, school was taught by Mrs. Badger. In 1824, taking advantage of the situation, the settle- ment of Montville set off one-half of the town- ship into one school district, and levied a tax for the erection of a substantial brick school- house. In this way, Gen. Champion was forced to bear the larger part of the expense. He resisted this action until convinced that there no successful resistance for him, when he yielded as gracefully as possible in the nature of the case. This building was located on Pelton's land, and was first occupied by Samuel McClure, as teacher, whose father was then a resident of the township. Mr. McClure

is now Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Summit County. The status of the schools, as shown by the reports to the County Audi- tor, is as follows:

Balance on hand, September 1, 1879 $744 78

Amount of State tax received. 421 50

Local taxes for school purposes. 264 15

Total receipts from all sources $1,457 50

Whole amount paid teachers $1,071 25

Contingent expenses 191 95

Total expenses. $1,263 20

Balance on hand, September 1, 1880. $194 30

There were eight school districts; value of school property, not given; number of teachers employed-gentlemen, 8; ladies, 9; average pay per month-gentlemen, $25; ladies, $10; num- ber of pupils enrolled-boys, 133; girls, 100; average daily attendance-boys, 77; girls, 67.

CHAPTER XXIV .*

HOMER TOWNSHIP-ITS PHYSICAL CONTOUR-THE FIRST SETTLER-A GERMAN COLONY -ITS POLITICAL ORGANIZATION-A MINING COMPANY-RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES-AGRI- CULTURAL PURSUITS-ITS CHURCHES AND SCHOOLHOUSES.

"THE pioneer histories of the different town- ships in the western part of Medina County are in many respects the same. What were the interests and pursuits of the first members of one settlement were very much the same in the neighboring colony. Many of the incidents of the earlier pioneer days of Harrisville Township belong to territory which is now included in the township of Homer. The two together formed a kind of domestic brotherhood, and their home affiliatious were, in many respects, the same. Shortly after the colonization of the Harrisville people, in the "Swamp basin " of that township some of its members penetrated further west; a few, at first, as hunters in quest of game which abounded in this entire region, others to open

the wilderness, and to establish new homes and settlements. A few rude log huts had been put up in several parts of the township as early as 1817, by migrating Nimrods. The stay of these hunters and trappers was gener- ally of but very short duration, and the extent of their usefulness consisted, in the main, in depleting the number of wolves and bears that overran the country.

What is now Homer was formerly a part of Lorain County, being named Richmond Town- ship, and was attached to Sullivan Township of that county. With the formation of Summit County, the eastern tier of townships of Medina County were set off with the new county or- ganization, and Spencer and Homer were taken from Lorain County and added to Medina.

In the political and geographical divisions of

* Contributed by Charles Neil, Medina, Ohio.

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

Medina County, Homer forms the southwest- ern township. It is bounded on the east by Harrisville, on the north by Spencer, on the west by Ashland County, and on the south by Ashland and Wayne Counties. Its area and extent are the same as that of the other town- ships of Medina County, embracing twenty-five square miles. The surface of land is not so di- versified as that of some of the other townships of the county. It is slightly undulating, with the ground here and there broken by "spring runs." From west to east the gently rolling surface of the southern part of the township is cut through by one of the fountain streams of Black River, meandering in its course, and af- fording, at various points, some fine exposures of Cuyahoga shale. In some places, the bluffs are thirty feet high, and the opportunity of tracing out the succession of layers is very good. The rock is soft, gray shale, with inter- spersed layers of hard, sandy shale, of a lighter color. The latter is occasionally worked out of the river-bed, and used for foundation stone for bridges, buildings, etc .; but it is too hard to be cut well, and long weathering will cause it to disintegrate or split into thin slabs. Con- cretions of iron are found in the shale of this township, as in others, but the live concretions are infrequent. No good fossil specimens are to be found here, the shale being too soft to hold the forms.

It was a dozen or more years after Harrisville had been colonized that the first permanent settlement was made in Homer. John Park, who had moved into Ohio with his family from his home, near Hookstown, Beaver Co., Penn., in 1818, had, after living two years near Wooster, Wayne County, located in the southwestern part of Harrisville Township. He removed in the spring of 1831, into the territory which is now included in Homer Township, and there made the first permanent settlement. With the assistance of two or three of his sons, who were then growing into manhood, he erected a cabin

and a few rude structures for the shelter of his domestic animals, consisting of several yoke of oxen and a horsc. The wilderness was broken, and, in the course of the coming winter, they had several acres of land cleared, a small part put into wheat, and in the spring they planted their crops of corn, potatoes and oats. About this time Batchelder Wing moved into the neigh- borhood with his family. These settlers could not be considered isolated in this settlement. It was only a few miles to the center of the Harrisville settlement, which was at this time blooming out into a full-grown civic town, with its attendant pleasures and comforts of life, and, at this time, formed one of the most important localities of the new county of Medina. It was little more than a mile from the new Parks set- tlement to their nearest neighbors, a half dozen families or more who were located in the west- ern part of Harrisville Township, in and about that part which is now known as Crawford Cor- ners.

Within a few years, several more families im- migrated into the new territory and settled on its fertile soil, and underwent the toilsome and laborious drudgery of clearing the land. Among these new arrivals were Duncan Will- iams, Elijah Wing, Henry Laughman, Asa, Baird, Samuel and Isaac Vanderhoof, Webster Holcomb, Charles and Daniel Perkins, James Stevenson, David Snively, John Douglas, Will- iam Finley, George Durk, Solomon Smith, James and Joseph Crawford, Solomon and John Miller and William Jeffreys. All of these pioneers settled permanently with their families in close proximity to each other, in the south- eastern part of the township. Several more families moved into the neighborhood in 1834; among them being Joseph Faulk and Skene Low, who, with his young wife, had come all the way from Scotland to find a new home in the Far West. They came by the Hudson River and Erie Canal to Buffalo, and then by way of Lake Erie to Cleveland, making a set-

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History of Medina county and Ohio, Part 98

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