History of Portage County, Ohio, Part 65

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 65

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).

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HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

was consummated in November, and the price per acre was $1.76, there being about 14,845 acres. The deed was made to "Dillingham Clark, Esquire, Alpheus Streator. yeoman, and Thatcher Conant, gentleman." The township having been surveyed into 100 equal lots, each purchaser had the proportion, according to his investment, deeded to him, the south half of Lot 56 being previously reserved for public use, an act of wisdom of those early settlers that is fully appreciated by their descendants. Dillingham Clark, afterward so well known as one of the best and wealthiest citizens of Portage, having invested $6,000, became the owner of nearly one-fourth of the township. The name of the township was then changed from its survey title to Strongsburg.

Having made all arrangements necessary for a departure to the Western country, the company selected four young men to go in advance and prepare the way for the rest of them. These young men were Elijah Alford, Jr., Oliver Alford, Ebenezer O. Messenger and Nathan H. Messenger. They came on foot, and had a sled and horse to carry their baggage. Arriving on the 16th day of March, 1811, they immediately commenced a settlement. The Alfords made a clearing on Lot 84, and erected a cabin twenty feet in length by fifteen in width, which was the first house in the township. The Messengers erected a cabin on Lot 82, and made a clearing at the same time. On the clearing opened by the Alfords a crop of wheat was put out for them in the following fall by Col. Benjamin Higley, who, from three bushels of wheat sown on four acres, harvested 100 bushels the next season, which was the first crop raised in the township. Elijah Alford, however, remained only two months, when he returned to Becket and gave many discouraging reports of New Connecticut, but returned to his Western home in a couple of years. Ebenezer O. Messenger also made several changes and finally moved to Wisconsin. On the 27th of same month Wareham Loomis and family moved into the township and settled on Lot 92. He moved in from Nelson, where he had lived for some time, and remained only until the following year, when he settled in Mantua. Loomis was not a very valuable acquisition to the township as he was "half crook, half crank," as he would now be called, and although he was a kind-hearted and accommodating fellow, could not keep his hands off of other people's prop- erty. As stated in the history of Mantua, he wound up his career in Portage with a twelve years' term in the penitentiary for passing " home-made " money. On the 12th of June of this year, 1811, Bills Messenger, the first one of the proprietors to come in, arrived with his son Hiram and his family, for the purpose of establishing his son in his new home. The old gentleman remained only about three months, when he returned to the East. Hiram settled on Lot 76. Joseph Southworth, a single man, came in with the Messengers. On the 5th of July Alpheus Streator arrived and settled on Lot 85. Mr. Streator was a kind and good neighbor and an excellent citizen. He died in 1829, leaving forty-seven descendants, living in ten different States. On the 13th of July Thatcher Conant and Jeremiah Lyman arrived, but did not com- mence their settlement till the 27th; they settled upon Lot 86. On the 15th Col. Benjamin Higley came in and settled on Lot 36. On the 20th Ebenezer N. Messenger, father of Ebenezer O. Messenger, who had been sent on ahead, came in and settled on Lot 82, which his son had commenced to clear. Gideon Bush also came in and settled on Lot 77. On the 12th day of October Deacon Elijah Alford arrived and settled on Lot 57. Nathan Birchard also came in this year, 1811, from Becket, Mass., but not for permanent settlement, as he left his family in the East till he could make a clearing and erect a cabin. On the 30th of June following he moved his family in.

The names of some of the early settlers who came in during the first eight

Reuben

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WINDHAM TOWNSHIP.

or ten years will be given, all of whom are now deceased: Asahel Blair, who drove one of Mr. Birchard's teams, came in 1812; he enlisted in the war of that period and was killed at Black Rock, near Buffalo, in 1814. Dr. Ezra Chaffee also came in this year, was married shortly afterward and removed to Palmyra in 1814. Oliver Eggleston, who afterward removed to Mantua, came in this year. In 1813 Ephraim Seely, son of John Seely, one of the proprie- tors, came in on foot and commenced preparing a home for his father. Erastus Snow, in company with Nathan Snow, Stillman Scott and H. Crane, arrived this year on foot.

January 2, 1814, Dillingham Clark, one of the proprietors who was born in the vicinity of Cape Cod, but who in early life moved west, but still in Massachusetts, came in, and up to the time of his death was one of the most honored citizens of the county. Jacob Earl, a brother of Deacon Robert Earl, and James Snow, father of Erastus Snow, also came this year.

In 1815 John Seely, an old Revolutionary sire, came in, as did also Daniel Jagger, who was considerable of a property holder when he came here, and afterward getting wealthy was a liberal contributor to all worthy objects, giving at one time $100 toward the payment of an organ for his church. Joseph Higley came this year. In 1816 came Joel Bradford, Deacon Robert Earl, William Hobart, Ezra Taylor, and Rev. Joseph Treat, a Congregational min- ister. In 1817 came Joseph Earl, Levi Ellis, Deacon Isaac Clark, Jonathan Foot, Reuben Ferguson, James Robe, Xenophon Wadsworth, and Benjamin Wroth, who soon after went away and returned in 1820. In 1818 came Deacon Henry Bliss, Levi Bush, Joseph Delong, Samuel Foster, Stephen B. Pulsifer, and many others. In 1819 Jason Streator, an erratic genius with a weakness for poetry, 'came and lived till 1838, when he moved to Shalers- ville; also came Nathaniel Rudd and Moses Sanford. In 1820, among a number of others, came William Millikan, a native of Massachusetts, a self-made man of energy and activity, and with great capacity to lead in any move- ment.

March 2, 1813, the township, which had been informally christened Strongsburg, and which, with Nelson, was included in the township of Hiram for election purposes, was set apart and the name changed to Sharon, as Gov. Strong was an unflinching Federalist, and opposed the Government in the war then raging with England, thereby rendering himself extremely unpopular with the settlers on the Reserve. On the first Monday in April following an election was held which resulted as follows: Trustees, Thatcher Conant, Benjamin Higley, Jeremiah Lyman; Overseers of the Poor, Hiram Messenger, Thatcher Conant; Fence Viewers, Levi Alford, Ephraim H. Seeley; Lister and Appraiser, Ebenezer N. Messenger; Constable, . Hiram Messenger; Treasurer, Oliver Alford. On the 15th of November following, Deacon Elijah Alford was elected Justice of the Peace, seventeen votes being cast, and but one ticket was in the field. There was little use for a Conservator of the Peace in those harmonious times, and not a case appeared upon the virgin docket of the old Justice for nearly two years, when, as the best of friends will fall out sometimes, Hiram Messenger sued Thatcher F. Conant for $3, for an otter he had sold him. Messenger discovered a hole, where he saw an otter go in, so he put a stone at the hole and afterward sold otter, stone, hole, etc., for the sum named, but the buyer found nothing, and refused to pay. The plaintiff gained the suit, but the defendant threatening to appeal, the Justice paid the amount. In 1820 the name of the township was changed to Windham. The first child born in the township was to Mrs. Hiram Messenger, October 27, 1811, but it never opened its eyes, dying at its birth. The first living white child was a girl, born

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HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

to Wareham Loomis, August 27. 1812. The first death was that of Miss Lucy Ashley, on the 6th of April, 1812.

The first wedding occurred June 11, 1812, when Dr. Ezra Chaffee married Miss Polly Messenger. The Doctor was a man of exceptional ability in his profession, and it was a great loss to the settlement when he moved away in 1814. The next marriage was that of Levi Alford and Miss Edna E. Conant, a daughter of Thatcher Conant. She was a school-teacher of considerable reputation, and when she gave up teaching for household duties her place was difficult to fill.

In 1811, shortly after the first settlers arrived, Dillingham Clark donated a plat of ground at the Center to be used as a burial-ground, but in 1817 the present beautiful location was selected, and the remains of the seven persons buried in the first grounds were transferred to the new cemetery. A singular coincidence in regard to quite a number of the early settlers is that they died at sixty-six years, or thereabout, some seven or eight passing away at that age. Up to 1823 the township was remarkably healthy, but in this year there were eleven deaths. In 1818 a benevolent society was formed for the purpose of rendering assistance to the worthy, as well as for missionary work.

The early settlers of this district, before starting out on their long jour- ney, organized themselves into a Congregational Church, and selected Deacon Elijah Alford, who had held the same position over their church at Becket since 1807, as their Deacon in the New Connecticut. Thatcher Conant was Clerk of the church, and the day after his arrival in the settlement, which was Sunday, the 14th of July, 1811, religious services were held at the house of Alpheus Streator, attended by all the settlers, forty-two in number. On the last day of August following the first sermon was preached at the same place by Rev. Nathan B. Darrow.

The Congregational Society was reorganized under State law, February 25, 1876. T. O. Angel was Moderator; C. F. Jagger, Clerk; E. P. Clark, W. Chaffee, Jason Angel, M. G. Donaldson and William A. Perkins were elected Trustees.

By the spring of 1817 the township had made such progress that the pop- ulation had grown to 203 persons, comprised in thirty-seven families, and they sorely felt the need of a building in which to hold any public meeting, and especially religious services, so a hewn-log structure was reared at the Center, 30x24 feet, and comfortably finished, in which, on the 24th of September, the Rev. Joseph Treat was installed as pastor of the First Congregational Church of Sharon, he having previously received a "call " from the new organization, and which relation he held till October 2, 1827. In 1828, the church feeling the need of a building of their own, instituted such measures that in 1829 a commodious and tasteful building was commenced, and finished in 1830.

The Disciples of Christ, on May 27, 1828, organized a church society, which met in a schoolhouse on the State road, near where it crosses Indian Creek, but in 1834 erected a neat brick building at the Center.

Up to 1843 the Methodists held service, at the houses of the members of that church and other places, but in that year they erected a small building, which was shortly afterward burned down and the following year built an elegant and commodious edifice at the Center. The society was reorganized June 16, 1871, when Bidwell Pinney, J. C. Ensign, William Moore,. F. D. Snow, George S. Belden, C. L. Weed, Royal Buckley, Daniel Stroup, Clark L. Bryant were elected Trustees. James Greer, P. E., was present. In 1884 the work of building a new church was entered upon, and on February 8, 1885, the building was dedicated. The basement is divided into Sunday-school

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WINDHAM TOWNSHIP.

rooms and vestibule. The audience room is arranged much after the manner of the majority at the present time-platform for preacher and singers at end farthest from the doors, and gallery at opposite end from platform. The church is heated by furnaces. It is covered with a slate roof, and cost, com- pleted, about $9,000. The principal contributions were: Amount subscribed, $5,000; amount left by will from Mrs. Seeley's estate, $700; amount donated, $2,134. Among the principal articles and amounts donated are: Moving old church, G. S. Pinney, $50; bell, John Patterson; chandelier, Moses A. Birch- ard; stone, Pinney Bros .; Ladies' Aid Society, $250. The bell weighs about 1,000 pounds.

The first school in the township was taught gratuitously in the house of Alpheus Streator by his daughter Eliza, and Rebecca Conant, daughter of Thatcher Conant, in the winter of 1811-12. They taught alternate weeks. Miss Streator married Mr. Cochran, of Aurora, in 1823, and Miss Conant mar- ried Leander Sacett, of Tallmadge, in 1822, and went to Maumee as a mission- ary. In the fall of 1812 a log schoolhouse was erected on Lot 86, near where the stone schoolhouse was afterward erected, and Dr. Chaffee taught school the following winter, having about twenty scholars, there being then thirteen fam- ilies in the township. From this time on schools were maintained. An edu- cational association was formed in 1834, for the purpose of affording better facilities for instruction in the higher branches, and accordingly an academy building was erected and in 1835 chartered by the Legislature, a school being opened in the spring of that year as the " academy," by John F. Hopkins.

In 1824 a library association was formed, and about 100 volumes collected and placed in charge of one of the members. Not much interest was taken in the project and it went down, but in 1851 a new association was formed and regularly chartered, since which time it has been quite successful, having now about 500 select volumes.

The statistics of schools are as follows: Windham schools, revenue in 1884, $2,855; expenditures, $1,940; number of houses, 8, valued at $5,000; teachers' average pay, $36 and $24; enrollment, 92 boys and 78 girls.

Windham Special School District, revenue in 1884, $5,054; expenditure, $4,734; two schoolhouses, valued at $6,178; average wages of teachers, $40 and $65; enrollment, 49 boys and 62 girls. Population in 1870, 865; in 1880, 1,029; in 1884, 1,100 (estimated).

November 6, 1813, Jacob Earl and Benjamin Yale erected the first frame building in the township. It was a saw-mill, located about half a mile south- west of the Center. April 16, 1814, Nathan Birchard erected the first frame barn, and April 11, 1816, the same gentleman erected the first frame dwelling- house. In this year from an orchard set out by Ebenezer N. Messenger, peaches were raised, and in 1818 some apples were taken from trees grown from seeds brought from Massachusetts seven years before. In June, 1817, Deacon Isaac Clark arrived, and July 11 he opened a stock of goods in a log- house at the Center. They were valued at $500, and he sold calico at 60 cents per yard, cambric at 80 cents and fulled cloth at $1.75; tea was $1.50 and pepper 50 cents per pound. The first Postmaster was Dillingham Clark, appointed in 1818, and he had his office at his house on the State road. In 1820 Thomas Lee, a blacksmith, opened for business on Lot 54. In 1825 & distillery was started, but it did not last long. In 1829 Henry E. Canfield opened a cabinet shop in the house of Col. Benjamin Higley. In 1824 the first regular practitioner of medicine, Dr. John S. Matson, came in, and set- tled, but Windham was too healthy for him, and he left in a few months.

The Atlantic & Great Western Railroad runs from east to west across the

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HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

township, and the Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Railroad, runs across the northeast corner. The former has a station near Windham Center and the latter at Mahoning. They are both now a portion of the system of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Road.

Earl-Millikan Post, No. 333, G. A. R., was organized June 29, 1883, with the following named original members: B. F. Lovett, C. W. Hoskins, W. W. Ran- dall, I. N. Wilcox, H. C. Hastlerode, O. L. Earl, G. A. Merwin, W. H. Dor- worth, G. S. Pinney, P. R. Higley, T. O. Angil, H. B. Walden, E. S. Wood- worth, F. C. Applegate, F. D. Snow, J. A. Snow, L. L. Kinney. The names of Commanders are B. F. Lovett and C. W. Hoskins; the names of adjutants, P. R. Higley, G. A. Merwin, T. O. Angil; names of members other than orig- inal members, W. A. Higley, J. S. Chapman, H. D. Walker. The present number of members is twenty.

Portage Lodge, No. 456, I. O. O. F., was organized July 25, 1870, by W. Chaffee, who has been D. D. G. M. for four years. This lodge is one of the most prosperous in the district.

Windham Center .- Two general stores, Higley & Bosley, J. B. Harrison & Co .; hardware and furniture, H. J. Noble; drug store, E. S. Shaw; tin-ware, H. A. Wadsworth; carriage shop and furniture, J. W. Furry; saw-mill and pail factory, Hunt Bros .; basket factory, wagon, blacksmith and barber shops; physicians, Dr. F. C. Applegate, Dr. B. B. Loughead; dentist, E. S. Shaw; Postmaster, B. A. Higley. There are two stone quarries open northwest of the Center.

There is at the Center a Methodist Episcopal Church, with Rev. H. S. Jackson, pastor; Congregational Church, Rev. T. R. Jones, pastor. An excel- lent high school is taught in a fine new building that cost $6,000; Prof. Duane Tilden, Principal. At Mahoning Station M. G. Donaldson is Postmaster, who also is station agent and runs a coal yard. A beautiful soldiers' monument stands at the Center, which was erected in 1866 at a cost, of $1,100. It is twenty-one feet in height, and is exquisitely wrought from white Italian mar- ble. Windham furnished thirty-eight soldiers for the Union during the Rebellion, sixteen of whom were either killed or died.

Township Officers .- Trustees, John Keller, Samuel Yale, Joseph Birchard; Treasurer, D. W. Bosley; Assessor, P. R. Higley; Clerk, J. W. Furry; Con- stables, M. D. Higley, P. B. Higley; Justices of the Peace, L. B. Reed, J. B. Harrison.

The statistics for 1884 are: Acres of wheat, 961, bushels, 10,917; buck- wheat, 8, bushels, 86; oats, 767, bushels, 22,028; barley, 6 acres; corn, 310, bushels, 4,563; meadow, 2,073 acres, 2,770 tons of hay; clover, 27 acres, 39 tons of hay, 14 bushels of seed; flax, 26 acres, 254 bushels of seed; potatoes, 64 acres, 14,910 bushels of seed; home made butter, 52,273 pounds; cheese, 5,100 pounds; maple sugar, 13,862 pounds, syrup, 9,438 gallons, from 36,227 trees; honey, 300 pounds, from 30 hives; eggs, 4,216 dozen; orchards, 213 acres; apples, 4,277 bushels, peaches, 63 bushels, and pears, 25 bushels; wool, 13,388 pounds; milch cows, 570; stallions, 1; dogs, 109; acres cultivated, 5,357; in pasture, 4,835; in wood-land, 2,694; waste land, 40; total, 12,926 acres. The population in 1850 was 813, of which number 310 represented the youth; in 1870 the number was 865, and in 1880 1,029. The estimated popu- lation at present is about 1,200.

PART IV.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES,

ATWATER TOWNSHIP.

E. D. BAITH, member of the firm of Baith & Jackson, merchants, Atwater, is a native of Atwater Township, this county, born in 1854, son of Amos and Mary A. (Kump) Baith, natives of Mahoning County, Ohio, who settled in Atwater Township, this county, in 1850. They reared a family of five chil- dren, all of whom are now living: E. D., Hattie (wife of L. C. Porter), Ella (wife of E. R. Spires), Albert and Anna. Our subject was brought up on a farm and followed agricultural pursuits until 1883, when he purchased the interest of Brush and Alden, of the firm of Brush, Alden & Butler. In 1884 Mr. Jackson succeeded Mr. Butler, and the firm became Baith & Jackson. They carry a general stock of merchandise worth about $10,000, and do an extensive business. Mr. Baith is a member of the Congregational Church.

MRS. E. H. BEACH, P. O. Atwater, was born February 6, 1817, in Dur- ham, Greene Co., N. Y .; daughter of Eliakim, Jr., and Frances Stannard, natives of Connecticut, born May 16, 1786, and March 22, 1790, respectively. They were the parents of nine children, viz .: Adaline, Antoinette, Harriet, Lucinda M., Edward, Lucy, Platt, Mary, Eliakim. Mrs. Beach's grandpar- ents were Eliakim, Sr., and Bethia Stannard, of Puritan stock, both natives of Connecticut, former born August 31, 1753, and latter born July 15, 1759. Lucinda M., our subject, was twice married, on first occasion November 26, 1843, to Ransom Hinman, born in Greene County, N. Y., in 1813, and who, when but a child, came with his parents to this county, where he passed the remainder of his life, dying December 22, 1857. Our subject afterward, May 1, 1861, was united in marriage with E. H. Beach, also a native of New York, born in Victor. Mr. Beach came to this county in 1861 and is highly respected and favorably known in this community.

NELSON BENJAMIN, farmer, P. O. Atwater, was born in Greene County, N. Y., September 15, 1814, son of Richard and Jerusha (Clark) Benjamin, natives of Connecticut, who were among the early settlers of New York State, where they both died. The subject of this sketch is the only living child born to this couple. He came to this county in 1846 and began the work of his life without means, but possessed of untiring energy and perseverance. He cleared the farm, consisting of 175 acres, where he now resides and which is finely improved. Mr. Benjamin was married, in his native county, to Miss Adeline Stannard, born May 20, 1811. Their generation is as follows: Platt, married to Nellie Baldwin (have seven children: Addie L., Frances S., Pearl R., Mabel G., Ray L., Chester and Josephine); Frances, wife of Amos Whitten, residing in Boston, Mass. (have the following children: Chester H., Edgar B., Charles N. and William M.); Cyrus, married to Jerusha Blakesley (have three chil-

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

dren: Bertie S., Mamie and Freddie L.); Amos, married to Josephine G. Whittelsey, resides at home.

LUTHER BUTLER, retired farmer, P. O. Atwater, was born in North Branford, Conn., in 1801; son of David and Betsey Butler, who were among the pilgrims of 1827 to Atwater Township, this county, where they located on land now occupied by our subject, and there lived to the close of their lives. Of thirteen children born to them, seven survive. The subject of this sketch served seven years as Drum Major in the militia, and took an active part as drummer in the Presidential Campaign of 1884, joining in most if not in all the torch-light processions and parades, and he is ever happiest when in the ranks beating the drum. He was married, in 1830, to Miss Eliza Jones, by whom he has the following children: Lyman W., Lucius F., Susan S., and Henry W., married to Weltha Wintersteen (they have two children: Albert H. and Arthur W.) In 1880 Mr. and Mrs. Butler celebrated the fiftieth anniver- sary of their wedding day, when there were present, besides other guests, thir- teen grandchildren.

W. W. CLEVERLY, farmer, P. O. Atwater, is a descendant of one of the pioneers of Atwater Township, where he was born in 1835; son of William and Eliza Cleverly, natives of New York and Maryland, respectively, who were the parents of six children, five of whom are now living (the oldest being dead): W. W .; Eliza, wife of J. E. Garrison, of Junction City, Kan .; Fannie, wife of E. Ellison; Abbey, wife of William Ripple, of Warsaw, Ind .; and Frank. Mr. and Mrs. William Cleverly located in Atwater Township in 1831, settling on land now owned by Charles Bradley, Jr., and both died in the township. Our subject was married, in 1861, to Miss Lydia, daughter of John Webber, of Deerfield Township, this county. By this union were born five children: Chase, Charles, John, Florence and Bertie. In 1862 Mr. Cle- verly settled on his present farm of 107 acres, which was then wholly wooded but he has cleared about sixty acres, has erected a fine commodious brick residence, and is making other improvements.

THORNTON DOUTHITT, farmer, P. O. Atwater Center. was born in Edin- burg Township, this county, October 11, 1831; son of Daniel and Rachel (Pum- phrey) Douthitt, the former born in Pennsylvania, the latter a native of Huron County, Ohio, and who joined the early settlement at Edinburg. They were parents of twelve children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the third. Daniel Douthitt, in the latter part of his life, removed to Hardin County, Ohio, where he died in February, 1881, Mrs. Douthitt dying in 1849. The subject of this sketch was brought up on a farm with scarcely any educational advantages outside the severe discipline of labor, which taught him economy. Honesty, perseverance and regular habits, giving him a vigorous constitution, combined with a natural ambition to achieve success, seconded by excellent judgment, have caused him to more than equal his greatest anticipations. Neither early habits nor later indulgences have weakened him in body or mind, using neither strong drink nor tobacco. He married, February 16, 1852, at Atwater. Ohio, Miss Matilda Ann Siddall, second child of Mahlon and Eliza- beth (Gould) Siddall, of Atwater, Ohio. Mrs. Douthitt was born April 1, 1831, and in all the laborious undertakings of her husband has borne her equal share, acting nobly and truly a self-sacrificing part. She is a kind friend, affectionate mother and good wife; their home being ample and suffi- ciently ornamental to dispense to a large circle of friends that free-hearted hospitality for which they are justly noted. She (Mrs. Douthitt) has borne our subject five children: Andrew M., born April 20, 1853, admitted to the bar, but engaged in teaching (has two children: Bertha Ann and Dudley M.);

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History of Portage County, Ohio, Part 65

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