History of Portage County, Ohio, Part 54

Author: Warner, Beer & co., pub. [from old catalog]; Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Norris, J. E. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 958

USA > Ohio > Portage County > History of Portage County, Ohio > Part 54

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).

In the spring of 1816 Nelson was set off from Hiram, and at the election in the following April Thomas F. Young was chosen Clerk; James Young, John Redden and Benjamin Hinckley, Trustees; and Richard Redden, Treas- urer. There are no records of the township earlier than 1820, and these offi- cers are given from memory. The name of the township. Hiram, was sug- gested by Col. Tilden, who proposed it to all the original proprietors, who were Freemasons, in honor of an Illustrious Ancient Master Workman well known to the fraternity. Owing to the carelessness of a surveyor, who was probably unskilled in his business, some of the lines of survey are very irregular, frequent cases of lots being several rods wider at one end than the other occurring.

In 1820 there were four Revolutionary soldiers residing in Hiram-Col. Daniel Tilden, Christopher Redden, Elijah Mason and old Mr. Turner. Hiram did nobly in the war of the Rebellion, having been represented by two Major- Generals, two Captains and two Lieutenants, besides her full quota of men up to 1864. She sent to the front seventy-four men, thirteen of whom were killed or died in the service.

In the winter of 1831 Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon came to Hiram, held meetings and made many converts to the then new faith of Latter Day Saints, or Mormonism, but after a time something leaked out in regard to the Saints having an eye on their neighbors' property, that it was their design to get into their possession all the lands of those whom they converted. Whether the charge was true or not cannot now be affirmed, but at any rate the good people of Hiram and some others went to the houses of Smith and Rigdon, took them out, stripped them to the buff, and treated them to a coat of tar and feathers and a rail ride, which induced them to leave.

Hiram occupies the highest elevation on the Reserve, being 1,300 feet above sea level, which gives it great salubrity and healthfulness. Its hills and dales are not only beautiful, but the land is excellent, being a clay loam, in some portions sandy, and at the same time it is well watered. It is well adapted to fruit and grazing, and in 1865 Ozias Allen made from the milk of twenty-one cows 12,600 pounds of cheese, which he sold for 15 cents per pound-$90 from each cow. There are in the township three cheese fac- tories, three steam saw-mills, two feed-mills and an apple jelly factory, besides two general stores at the Center and at Rapids Postoffice.

475

MANTUA TOWNSHIP.

The proposed railroad, called the Clinton Air Line, is treated of in the " General History " at page 297.

Township Officers .- Trustees, Homer Abbott, F. R. Freeman, James Young; Clerk, S. J. Young; Treasurer, C. L. P. Reno; Assessor, G. B. Mer- win; Constables, Joseph Hall, C. C. Sheldon; Justices of the Peace, Arvin Wilson, A/A. Turner. Postmaster at Hiram Center, D. H. Beaman; Post- master at Rapids, Taylor Wilcox.

The statistics of this township for 1884 are as follows: Acres of wheat, 854, bushels, 8,294; bushels of rye, 40; of oats, 25,029; of corn, 6,489; tons of hay, 2,664; of clover hay, 140 tons; of seed, eight bushels; of potatoes, 40,344; gallons of milk, 350; pounds of home-made butter, 51,738; of factory butter, 20,000; of cheese, 19,694; of maple sugar, 12,767; gallons of syrup, 6,190 from 30,439 maples; of honey, 1,175 pounds from 81 hives; dozens of eggs, 25,328; 11,821 bushels of apples, 610 of peaches, and 13 of pears from 549 acres; 6,404 pounds of wool; 820 milch cows; 1 stallion; 87 dogs (killed 8 sheep); died of disease, 7 hogs, 90 sheep, 19 cattle and 9 horses; acres cultivated, 4,493; under pasture, 5,657; woodland, 2,578; waste, 114; total, 12,842. Population in 1850 was 1,106, including 458 youth; in 1870, 1,234; in 1880, 1,058; in 1884, 1,000 (estimated).

CHAPTER XXIV.

MANTUA TOWNSHIP.

FIRST SETTLER OF PORTAGE COUNTY-FIRST WHEAT-AMZI ATWATER-ELIAS HARMON-OTHIER SETTLERS-ORGANIZATION-FIRST BIRTH, MARRIAGE AND DEATH-PRIMITIVE INDUSTRIES-A PECULIAR CHARACTER-ANOTHER QUEER ONE-JUDGE ATWATER'S BEAR FIGHT-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS-BUSINESS, SOIL, ETC .- MANTUA STATION-MANTUA CORNERS-MASONRY-STATISTICS.

M ANTUA received the first settler that entered Portage County, anticipating four other townships by about six months. It was originally the property of the "Suffield, Cuyahoga & Big Beaver Land Company," all the members of which, some sixteen in number, lived in Suffield, Conn. This company owned three other townships, but at the drawing the land now comprising Mantua fell to the lot of David, Fidelio and Ebenezer King, Jr., and Martin Sheldon, Gideon Granger, Thomas Sheldon and Oliver Phelps, also owned small par- cels of the land, and Ebenezer Sheldon afterward purchased a part of Martin Sheldon's interest. It was then known as Town 5, Range 8. The township was surveyed by David Abbott into tracts of 420 acres each, there being forty- two lots. Abbott took two quarter lots, northwest quarter of Lot 29 and southeast quarter of Lot 23. He was a member of the convention that formed the first constitution of Ohio.

The first man to drive a stake, put up a cabin, make a clearing and settle down to business was Abraham L. Honey, which he did in the fall of 1798, and although it has been asserted that a man by the name of Peter French came in the fall of 1798, cleared off some land on the northwest quarter of Lot 24 and put out a small patch of wheat, he also cleared some land on the south- west quarter of Lot 29. After making those improvements he moved to Men- tor. That a small crop of wheat was harvested the next season by Rufus Edwards, who came in and took possession of Lot 24, the lot settled upon by Honey, is beyond dispute. How he got possession of Lot 24 does not now

476

HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

appear. Honey remained only two or three years in Mantua, when he moved to Hiram and from there to Cuyahoga County. The wife of Honey was a sis- ter of Rufus Edwards, and it is possible that Honey made the improvements for his brother-in-law, himself settling on a portion of the land, there being plenty of room on 420 acres for three or four families in those times. At any rate Rufus Edwards was the second settler, for in the notes kept by Elias Har- mon of those early days he says that just after he came in he chopped for Edwards and hewed for Crooks. Crooks by this appears to have been the third settler, though not a permanent one, as he only arrived at Mr. Honey's on the 12th of June, 1799. David Crooks, the person referred to, 'settled on the southwest part of Lot 29. He remained there until November, 1799, when he went for his family, who refused to return to Ohio with him. Will- iam Crooks died in Aurora, some time in the fifties at the age of eighty-five years. He located in Warren, then at Nelson, next at Parkman, and ultimately in Aurora.

Elias Harmon, who can be set down as the fourth settler, was born in Suf- field, Conn., in 1773, and started for the Reserve in February, 1799, in a two- horse sleigh, going as far as Pittston, N. Y., where he remained till May, when, in company with Benjamin Tappan, David Hudson and Jotham Atwa - ter, started for their future home-Tappan for Ravenna, then Town 3, Range 8; Hudson for what is now Summit County; Atwater for Euclid. and Harmon for Mantua. After a long, tiresome and perilous trip, partly by lake, partly by land and partly by river, Harmon landed at the clearing of Honey, as stated, on the 12th of June, where he stopped awhile, and then went to the place of Ebenezer Sheldon, who had engaged him before leaving home to help him in boarding and aiding the surveyors in their allotment of Aurora, after- ward returning to Mantua with his wife in September, 1799, and settling on Lot 18. One of two or three entries in his diary, shows that the erection of a habitation in those days was a matter to be accomplished in short order; he says: "July 1, began to cut timber for our house. July 2, put up and

moved into house. July 3, got timber for floor.

An entry under date July 15,1799, is as follows: July 4, laid thefloor."

RUFUS EDWARDS, Dr.

June 15, half day chopping. $ 373

Aug. } of a day stacking wheat. 25

Oct. To one day logging. .. 75

To } pound of tobacco lent.

66 By 1} day laying floor. 1 12} Jan. 1800. By putting a sight to my

gun. 25

Ap. 19, 1800. a By day work at

burning. 75

May 6. By rolling logs a day. 75

16. By cutting and splitting rails a day. 75

May 29. )

June 1. ( By two days roll logs. 1 50

May 3. By half day pick up brush .. 373

By 14% of venison at 3c per lb. 44

July 5. By going to Mr. Delon mills after whisky. 75

July 15. By half day hoeing. . 374

ing. . ..

July 8. By hoeing one day. 75

14. By hoeing five days. 3 75

RUFUS EDWARDS, CR.

Sept. 1799. By eight days working at

the mill (Cohand grist-mill) ... $6 00

Dec. 1799. By & of a day work. 50

Jan. 7, 1800. To mending grcat coat 12

" 25. To makeing a shirt. ... 37}

Mar. 16, To washing and bak-

ing.

April, 1800. To washing and bak- ing.

31}

18. To chopping rail timber one day. 20. To burning brush half day To { lb. tobacco lent.

37}

26 and 28. To drawing rails two half days. 1 25

" 30. To two-thirds of a day lay- ing fence.

May 12. To half day drawing rails .. 623

19. To drawing logs a day ... .. 1 25 21 and 22. To oxen to drag two days. . . 1 00

26, 27 and 28. To 2} days plant-

1 873

July 15, 1800. We this day Compared books and found due to Harmon one dollar to bal- ance. RUFUS EDWARDS.

ELIAS HARMON.

25}

Luther. Russell

479

MANTUA TOWNSHIP.

In the fall of 1799 Paschal P. McIntosh came in and settled on Lot 23. He was a half-brother to Gen. David McIntosh, and came from Haverhill, N. H. The fact of his being here at that early date is shown by the notes kept by Elias Harmon, where he says: "October 21, 1799, helped McIntosh to raise his house." In this year also came Elisha Edwards and Samuel Bur- roughs. The next year, 1800, brought in a number of settlers, among whom were Moses Pond, who settled on Lot 35, and afterward moved to Mesopo- tamia; Jonathan Brooks also came, but soon went to Burton and settled. The Windsor family came in this year, Basil Windsor, Sr., being the head. Sam- uel Pond, who also came at this time, shortly before they moved away, got lost on a trip to Burton and was almost without food for nine days. It was in the winter, and all his toes were frozen off, crippling him for life. Seth Harmon, John Blair and Jotham Atwater were among the settlers, but the man who more than any other left his impress on the township and county was Amzi Atwater. Jotham and Amzi Atwater came from Hamden, Conn., in the spring of 1800, and settled on 200 acres of the west part of Lot 41, where now is Mantua Station. On the 21st of November, 1801, Amzi married, in Aurora, Huldah Sheldon, daughter of Ebenezer Sheldon, the couple being married by the father of the bride, which was the only official act performed by the old Squire during the first three years of his holding that position. At the first election, on the organization of the county, Atwater was one of the Judges, and the Legislature appointed him one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, which position he held for a long time, filling it with marked ability, impartiality and dignity. He had received a liberal education in his native State, had selected civil engineering and surveying as his profes- sion, and, joining the party under Cleveland, came to the Western Reserve first in 1796. Being of a hardy constitution and determined will, combined with a buoyancy of disposition, he was specially adapted to the life of pioneer and surveyor. He was possessed of great versatility of talent, vigor of intel- lect, having withal a genial temperament and a fund of quiet humor that made him popular. He was courageous rather than daring, persevering, reso- Inte and of sound judgment, qualities which rendered him useful in those early times. He was very ready with his pen, and wrote many letters to his relatives in the East, entirely in rhyme, covering ten or a dozen pages of fools- cap, several of which were published some years ago, but which are too long for reproduction here.

Joseph Skinner and William Skinner came at an early day; also Samuel Moore and his son, who killed the last wild deer in the township in 1845; Moore came with an ox-team from Southwick, Mass., in 1806, bringing his wife and six children; a family of Rays came in at the same time. Quite a noted character in his way came in December, 1812, from Windham, whence he had moved from Nelson, coming originally from Massachusetts. This was Wareham Loomis. He brought his wife and family, and worked afterward for Judge Atwater. During a couple of years, covering the period of the war of 1812-14, there was a comparative stoppage of immigration, but in 1815 and 1816 a large number came in. Chester Reed, with his wife and four children, and three other families came in 1815, and in 1816 Sylvester Reed, in company with twelve other young men, came and settled in different localities; also the Frosts, Marvin and James, the latter walking the entire distance from the East, with an ax on his shoulder, Capt. William Messenger, with his wife and six children, Jonathan Foster, the Roots, the Sanfords, the Ladds, the Judsons and others. Peter Carlton came in 1811.

March 5, 1810, the County Commissioners issued an order creating the

480

HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

township, and shortly afterward an election was held, but the records of the township were destroyed in a fire which occurred in 1815, and the names of the officers elected cannot now be ascertained. At this time Shalersville was included in Mantua, but in 1812 Shalersville was erected into a separate town- ship, and cut off. The name Mantua was given by John Leavitt, in honor of Napoleon, who had in 1796 captured the city by that name in Italy. In 1806 there were but twenty-seven men in the township, but in 1810, at the organization, there was a population of 234. Elias Harmon was appointed United States Marshal in 1810, and took the census of that year. In his enumeration of Mantua he gives the following names of heads of families and the number of each family: Rufus Edwards, 6; Samuel Moore, 8; Silas Penney, 8; Moses Pond, 5; Thomas Bright, 6; Franklin Snow, 5; Virgil Moore, 3; Silas Tinker, 5; Elias Harmon, 6; Gersham Judson, 5; James Ray, 10; David Pond, 5; Jotham Atwater, 5; Amzi Atwater, 6; Oliver Snow, 6; Paschal P. McIntosh, 7; Enoch Judson, 5; Samuel Judson, 5; William Rus- sel, 7; John Blair, 9; William Johnson, 9; Ella Wilmot, 2; Basil Windsor, 7; William Skinner, 6, and Seth Harmon 6. The total population was 152 in the fall of 1810; a great decrease within that year. Dr. Jason Moore and Mrs. (Blair) Patterson are the only persons now living in the township who were enumerated in this township. Orrin Harmon resides at Ravenna.

Simeon Sheldon, Lister, in 1825, stated in the Western Courier that up to June 11, 1825, there had been 38 marriages, 369 births, and 22 deaths of three years old and upward, and 45 deaths under three years. They took 41 news- papers from 11 different presses, and 10 religious periodicals from 5 different presses. In the earliest days, when there was no mill nearer than Burton, the little crop of wheat raised had to be husbanded with great care, and there was so little of it that it could all be sent off to mill at once. Rufus Edwards on one occasion collected all the grain and took it in a canoe to Burton, and had it ground, but arriving late at night he left it in the boat, intending to get it as soon as daylight appeared, but when he went for it the next morning he found that some prowling Indians had carried it all off. It was all the flour there was in the township.

In 1803 the men of Mantua, Hiram, Aurora and Nelson Townships were organized into a militia company, with Ezra Wyatt, Captain, and Rufus Edwards, First Lieutenant. On his removal to Hudson, Edwards was elected Captain. He began the erection of a distillery on the Honey farm, but never opened one there.

The enlisted and drafted men from Mantua in the war of 1812 were Enos, Zacheas and John Harmon; James Ray, Mark Moore, John A. Smyth and Zenas Judson's substitute were in Campbell's company. The drafted men were Eleazer Ladd, David Pond, Horace Ladd, John Gardner and Virgil Moore. During this troublous time the "Fourth " was celebrated with eclat at Rufus Edwards' house. This was the first regular celebration here. The first child born in the township was Eunice, a daughter of Elias Harmon, who made her first appearance in this world of trouble July 16, 1800, being the second child born in the county. She married Simeon Sheldon, and raised a family. The first male child was Horace, born to Moses Pond in 1803. The first wed- ding took place also in 1803, when Rufus Edwards married Letitia Windsor, Amzi Atwater, at that time Justice of the Peace of Hudson, performing the ceremony. The first death was that of Mrs. Anna Judson, who had but recently been married, and just moved in with her husband. She had arsenic given to her through mistake, which caused death in a short time. This occurred July 2, 1804, and the next was during the winter of 1806, when Jacob Blair was killed while assisting in the raising of a house.

481

MANTUA TOWNSHIP.

The deaths in Mantua from 1799 to January 1, 1825, were as follows: Enoch Judson's first wife in 1804; Wareham Loomis' child, two years old, in 1805; Jacob Blair, killed at a " raising" in 1807; Mark Moore died in 1812; Samuel Judson's wife in 1813; Ichabod Payne in 1813; Melissa Reed in 1816; Enoch Judson's second wife died in 1816; Amzi Atwater, son of Amzi, Sr., in 1810; Caleb, son of Rufus Edwards, about 1817; Leonard, son of Lorenzo Chapin, in 1818; wife of Basil Windsor, Sr., in 1818; Martha, daughter of Seth Har- mon, in 1820; Franklin Snow's first wife in 1820; Lorenzo Chapin's second son, Leonard M., in 1820; Persis, daughter of Dan Ladd, Jr., in 1822; Eze- kiel Ladd in 1822; Ezekiel Squires in 1822; Zenas Kent, Sr., in 1822; Caleb Carlton, Sr., in 1823; Thomas Mayfield, Sr., in 1823; Basil Windsor, Sr., in 1823; Polly, daughter of Silas Penney, in 1823; Mr. Bacon in 1824; and Harvey, son of Jotham Atwater, in 1824.

In 1799 Rufus Edwards constructed a hand grist-mill, which he opened in October of that year. A small building called the tannery was established by Moses Pond in 1802, and continued until 1812, when Dan Ladd, Jr., built a house and established a regular tannery. Pond, having no tools, had the hides finished at Burton. It was he who brought the first sheep into the township, and also apple seeds.

In 1810 William Russell purchased the distillery apparatus of Gersham and Samuel Judson, and erected a building in which he made whisky until the spring of 1817, when he sold the farm, cabin and distillery to George and William P. Young. Orrin Harmon remembers Russell's whisky in connection with sheep-washing days, before the manufacturer moved to Pennsylvania. In 1818 Young failed, and Russell then re-purchased his property, which he sold to Ezekiel Ladd in 1821. In 1822 Ladd died, when Russell resumed posses- sion, and ultimately sold it to Patrick Ray. This Ray was one of the seven sons of James Ray. In 1819 Hezekiah Mooney and Dr. Ezekiel Squires erected a distillery. In 1819 Joseph Skinner built a distillery for which he made the machinery himself. This was burned in 1824, and the same year he erected a new distillery near his grist-mill, on the northwest corner of east half of Lot 30. This grist-mill was built in 1820.

Thomas G. Washburn established an ashery, near the public square at Mantua Center, in 1818, and continued it for about ten years.

The first saw-mill was erected by the Dresser family in 1818, on the north line of the county, and the next mill, a grist, was erected by Joseph and Will- iam Skinner, shortly after 1820. It was on the Cuyahoga, where the diag- onal road to Garrettsville crosses that stream.

In 1821 David Ladd built a brick kiln; but in the fall he secured a glass- blower named Jonathan Tinker, rented his brother Daniel's tannery (erected in 1812), and began the manufacture of bottle glass December 1, 1821, under the title of the Mantua Glass Company, continuing here until 1823, when he moved the plant to Kent, where he built a factory. Noah and Noble Rogers settled south of Mantua Center in 1825, and erected a tannery on a lot bought of Oliver Snow. In 1829 they sold to Elias Converse, whose sons now oper- ate it.

The first tavern was built and kept by Jotham Atwater, about one mile north of Mantua Station. It was a log building, and was for years a noted tavern stand. A brick building was afterward erected at the same spot, but has since bben modeled into a dwelling, and is now occupied by Lewis Turner. There were two pail factories, one owned by Charles Bates, and the other by Joseph Skinner, and the ware made by Skinner was first class. It is claimed that he invented the process of turning pails and other hollow ware. The

482

HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

manufacture of cheese from the earliest times has been a source of great rev- enne to the township, and the raising of fine potatoes has also been an indus- try that has grown to large proportions.

Dr. Ezekiel Squires was the first physician in the township, having, with his family, settled there in 1815. Subsequently Drs. Whipple and Pierce came in, the latter leaving the medical field open to Whipple until 1828, when Dr. Edwin Cowles came. In 1825 Dr. Whipple lost all his children during the epidemic of that year.

Daniel Bidlake was the first blacksmith, early in 1815. The people bought him an outfit, for which he paid by easy installments.

Alonzo Delano opened out at Mantua Corners in 1829, as successor to Joseph Skinner. In 1826-27 Childs had a store at the Corners, while Orrin Harmon taught school there.

Calvin White opened the first store at the Center in June, 1835. His wife was Sabrina Harmon. Mr. White died in January, 1848, and his wife died in October, 1849.

In 1814 the first bridge over the Cuyahoga on the Center road from Man- tua to Hiram, was built by Rufus Edwards, the county contributing $100. That bridge is standing still. Orrin Harmon states "it's the same old jack- knife, with a number of new handles and new blades."

In the spring of 1816 the first colored people came to Mantua. They were . Benjamin Sharpe and wife, Lucy and Thomas Hughes. Flora, a colored woman in the employ of the Garretts, formerly a slave of Mrs. Garrett, mar- ried Hughes, also colored, in 1818.

Samuel Sanford, who settled in Mantua in 1817, and died September 27, 1858, was the last survivor of the Revolutionary war veterans who settled in this county.

Mark Moore suffered so much while in the hands of the British in 1812, that on his return to Mantua he died, and was the fourth person buried in the cemetery one mile and a half south of Mantua Center.

Elizabeth Kent taught the first school at Mantua Center in the winter of 1815-16.

W. A. Smith established the manufacture of pails, butter-tubs and cheese- boxes, besides operating a saw-mill and planing-mill at Shalersville. On remov- ing this industry to Mantua he erected the buildings now devoted to the several branches of his manufactory. The capacity of the saw-mill is 10,000 feet; the machinery is valued at about $8, 000. The works stand on six acres of land just east of the railroad station at Mantua. This industry gives employ- ment the year round. A portable steam saw-mill is also operated. H. A. Tur -. ner is in charge of the saw-mill, and F. H. Hains in charge of the pail fac- tory.

The building known as the Goddard Foundry is one of the old industrial structures of this portion of the township. It is now operated by Ed. God- dard as a foundry and cider-mill.

The Centennial Mills were founded by John Frost and Peter Kines in 1876, in buildings where the Hancock Basket Factory was carried on previously. There were three run of buhrs in use until 1881, when ten sets of rollers were introduced. The capacity is seventy-five barrels per day, employing four men annually. The value of buildings and machinery is $10,000. John Frost & Co. are the present owners. The mill does custom and merchant werk. H. O. Kitselman has been the miller in charge since 1880.

National Transit Company of Bradford, Penn., established pumping works at Mantua, with Fred. Tinker in charge. C. H. Rider is the present Super-

483

MANTUA TOWNSHIP.

intendent. There are two powerful engines; the line of five-inch pipe from Hilliard, Butler County, Penn., to Cleveland is about 104 miles. At the Man- tua works the oil is contained in a large reservoir, of 12,000 gallons capacity, from which it is pumped into the reservoir at Cleveland, thirty-one miles dis- tant. A. P. Carlton's carriage and wagon shop was established in 1880; the present shop was erected in 1884. The work of the shop is mainly repairs, giving employment to two men.

George Allen was engaged in wagon and carriage work for a number of years prior to 1880. His shops have been rented since that time, and are now occupied by Emery Simpson as a horse-shoeing establishment.

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History of Portage County, Ohio, Part 54

Author: Warner, Beer & co., pub. [from old catalog]; Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Norris, J. E. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Chicago, Warner, Beers & co. Number of Pages: 958

Author: Warner, Beer & co., pub. [from old catalog]; Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Norris, J. E. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 958