History of Richland County, Ohio : (including the original boundaries) ; its past and present, containing a condensed comprehensive history of Ohio, including an outline history of the Northwest, a complete history of Richland county miscellaneous matter, map of the county, biographies and histories of the most prominent families, &c., &c., Part 65

Author: Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Mansfield, O. : A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 968

USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio : (including the original boundaries) ; its past and present, containing a condensed comprehensive history of Ohio, including an outline history of the Northwest, a complete history of Richland county miscellaneous matter, map of the county, biographies and histories of the most prominent families, &c., &c. > 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).

The following extracts regarding the early history of Mansfield were collected and pub- lished many years ago by Gen. R. Brinkerhoff. Any history of the town would be incomplete without them. They are believed to be authen- tic, as much of the information was gathered more than twenty years ago, when very many more of the early settlers were living than at the present time. Pioneer life in Mansfield did not differ from the same in other places. It was a rough, hard life. but had its bright and shady sides, the same as that of to-day.

The first marriage in the township was that of John Pugh and Fanny Murphy. daughter of Asa Murphy, one of the earliest of the pioneers of Richland County, and, probably, the first hotel-keeper in Mansfield, as he built the first log house, on the site of the Wiler House, and started a "tavern."

The first school in the township. it is sup- posed, was taught by Andrew Coffinberry, com- monly known as Count Coffinberry. Schools

* It will be remembered that the husband testifies to coming here in October, 1800.

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

in those days were sustained by voluntary con- tributions. The teacher drew up an article, and stated the conditions upon which he would teach by the quarter, per scholar. At the end of the term, he would present the article to each subscriber and receive his pay.

The first Justice of the Peace was Andrew Coffinberry, and the first process issued by him was against his brother George, for chopping on the Sabbath. This was the first introduc- tion of Sabbath-keeping in Mansfield. Prior to that, the day had been set apart for hunting, fishing, shooting at a mark and pitching quoits. A Methodist society was organized about this time, which will be noticed hereafter. Much drinking was indulged in by the early settlers, or some of them. In those days, they had not learned to adulterate their liquors, and, although their whisky caused drunkenness, it did not poison, as is the case at present. The settlers on a certain occasion assembled together, and enacted a law, that any man who should get drunk should dig up a stump on the street or public square. The result was that, in a short time, the town was clear of stumps. One morn- ing after the passage of the law, a man by the name of Henry T. Bell was observed work- ing at a stump on the square, and was asked if he was drunk. He replied that he was not drunk, but expected to be before night, and wanted to pay in advance.

For grain and grinding the settlers all went to Fredericktown and Mount Vernon, and horses and oxen were the only means of transporta- tion .* It took two days or more to make the trip, the only stopping-place being at James McCluer's on the Clear Fork, near Bellville. This James McCluer was one of the first Asso- ciate Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of the county.

The first tailor was John J. Foos, who after- ward went crazy because one of the first school- teachers, Miss Eliza Wolf, would not marry * Beam's mill was then in operation, but ground only corn.

him. The first shoemaker was Robert Ekey. The first tan-yard was started by John Pugh ; the first tinner was Samuel Bukias.

The first death in the township was that of Eli Murphy ; he died in a log tavern kept by his father, on the present site of the Wiler House. This differs from the recollection of Henry Newman, who thinks the first deaths were John Coffinberry, son of George Coffinberry, aged seven or eight years, and an infant child of John C. Gilkison. They died in 1810 or 1811.

The first saw-mill was built by Clement and Robert Pollock ; it was a tramp-wheel mill, pro- pelled by three yoke of oxen, and was located a short distance south of the Presbyterian church ; the first carding-mill was built by Robert Pollock, and was propelled by horse- power. If Samuel Martin may be considered the first merchant, Levi Jones was the second ; he succeeded Martin in the little cabin on the northwest corner of the square-the first cabin. Jones brought his goods from Canton, Stark County, in wagons, and dealt principally in whisky, tobacco and groceries. The currency was silver; gold or paper being seldom seen. Coffee was worth 50 cents a pound, and corn 123 cents a bushel.

At the first election, there were not enough electors to fill the offices-some held two. The first road was opened from Mansfield to Woos- ter ; the next, to Mount Vernon. In 1812. a mail route was established between Mount Ver- non and the Huron River, passing through Mansfield. The mail was carried by one Lewis Facer, on horseback. He made the round trip in four days, Mansfield being the stopping- place for two nights.

The first post office was established on a large white-oak log that lay between the two block-houses, on the public square. Here the pioneers gathered to meet the mail-carrier, get their letters and hear the news. If one of them was so fortunate as to get a news- paper, he immediately read it aloud to all his

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

neighbors, generally from the top of the log or a stump.

When Samuel Hill and Rolin Weldon came, in 1810, they cut a road from the Indian vil- lage of Greentown to Mansfield.

The first doctor was Royal V. Powers. He came in 1815, tore down that immortal first cabin and erected a frame building, about 18x26 feet and one story high. Here he swung his shingle, kept a few drugs and prac- ticed medicine. Powers afterward settled in the vicinity of New Haven, Huron County, and he and his brother David laid out that place. His sister was the wife of Millard Fillmore.

During the autumn of 1812, Gen. Crooks, with 2,000 men, encamped within the city limits. and assisted the new settlement very materially by clearing off about fifty acres of land. They remained until January, and were encamped first on the east side of the square ; but the ground becoming too muddy, they re- moved to the west side, where they cleared off a new camp.

During this winter, a windstorm blew down a tree near where the old court house stood. killing two men belonging to the army. It has been erroneously stated that Maj. Wilson was one of the men thus killed. Henry Newman says that Maj. Wilson died of disease in his father's cabin, and was buried with the honors of war. Mr. Newman describes the funeral, and says Maj. Wilson's father afterward sent money to his mother (his father, Jacob, being then dead), to pay the expenses of his sickness.

Mr. Weldon, who was one of the earliest set- tlers, says, regarding these early times : " John Wallace and I went out one day to hunt bees, about a mile north of Mansfield. On the hill, near the Platt farm, we came on a den of vel- low rattlesnakes. We commenced shooting them, and continued to do so until our ammuni- tion failed. The balance of the snakes crawled into a hollow log, and we then went to work and pried it open, killing the balance with

clubs. When we had finished our work, we piled up and counted the dead reptiles, which were 121, all told. One of them had two heads and three eyes. This one we brought to Mans- field and gave to Dr. Bradley. He * put it in alcohol and kept it several years."

Rattlesnakes were numerous and among the most disagreeable enemies of the pioneers. They were frequently found in their cabins and even in their beds.

Not more than eight or ten families arrived in Mansfield before the war of 1812, and dur- ing that war, few, if any, came. Some time during the war, or shortly after, the Coffinberry cabin, on the North American corner, was taken down and a frame building erected, which was occupied by Samuel Williams as a tavern. He kept a good house for those days and did a lively business. People were coming con- stantly. to look at and locate lands. This hotel was afterward moved to the southwest cor- ner of Mulberry and West Market streets, and thence, some years ago, to the southeast corner of Mulberry and Second streets, where it still remains. and is occupied by Dr. Mera as a dwelling. Henry Roop was the next land- lord after Williams on that corner, and laid the foundation of the present building.

When the war of 1812 was declared, the set- tlers, fearing a general Indian massacre, began the erection of block-houses for their protec- tion. The first was erected at Beam's mill, on the Rocky Fork, where the first settlement was made. Two others were erected on the public square in Mansfield. The first was erected by a company of soldiers, under a Capt. Shaeffer. from Fairfield County. It stood nearly in the center of the west side of the square. The second was built by a company commanded by Col. Charles Williams, of Coshocton. Its loca- tion was a little south of and near the site of the old court house.

These block-houses were garrisoned until after the battle of the Thames. The one on

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

455

the west side was of round logs ; the other was of hewed logs, and was afterward used as a court house and jail.

In 1815, John M. May, the first lawyer, set- tled in the new town. He was born in Conway, Hampshire Co .. Mass .; moved to Washington County, N. Y., and came to Marietta in 1811; thence to Lancaster, Ohio, where he studied law. When admitted to the bar, he came directly to Mansfield, where he continued to reside until his death, in 1869. His son, Man- nel, is his successor in his practice. There were about a dozen families in town when he came. On the east side of the square, a lit- tle north of the present Methodist Church, was a little dwelling-house, owned and occupied by James Moore, then Deputy Sheriff of the county. James McCluer, one of the Judges, lived on the northwest corner of Main and Fourth streets. There was a hewed-log house on the present site of the Wiler House, occu- pied as a dwelling. Andrew Coffinberry lived on the southeast corner of East Diamond and Fourth streets ; Samuel Carrothers* and family, on the northwest corner, and a little below, on East Diamond, lived David Stevens. John C. Gilkisont lived on Main street, a little north of the Wiler House. Rolin Weldon lived on Fourth street, west of Main. John Garrison lived on the present site of the opera building, and, a few years afterward, opened a store. Joseph Cairns had a rough-log house on the MeFall corner, and, soon after, went into the mercantile business. The block-house, on the west side of the square, was used, in 1816, for a school, taught by Miss Eliza Wolf. Many of the original forest trees were standing in the square at that time.

The first lawyer who came after Mr. May was Asa Grimes, father of A. L. Grimes. He only lived a few months after his arrival. The next lawyers were Col. William Cotgrave and Wilson

Elliott, who came in 1816. A few years after. James Purdy, Jacob Parker and James Stewart came. The first law student admitted to the bar was Andrew Coffinberry, who studied with Mr. May. In those days, lawyers traveled with the court from county to county. Among those from abroad who attended the courts at Mans- field were William Stansberry,* of Newark ; Hosmer Curtis and Samuel Mott, of Mount Vernon, and Charles T. Sherman, of Lancaster. Curtis was the first Prosecuting Attorney, and was followed by Mr. May in 1816.

In 1815, E. P. Sturges came from Fairfield, Conn., and opened a little store in a log cabin, directly opposite the present site of the Wiler House. Soon after, he bought out Dr. Powers, and that corner, where the first cabin was erected, has ever since been known as the "Sturges corner." A Mr. Buckingham Sher- wood came with him. They soon did a thriving business. The next year (1816), they enlarged their storeroom, and continued doing business together until 1823, when E. P. Sturges' brother, Edward Sturges, Sr., came, bought out Mr. Sherwood, and the firm became E. P. & E. Sturges. Mr. Sherwood went to Newark. The Sturges firm continued to do a profitable busi- ness, made money rapidly, and became wealthy. In 1862, E. P. Sturges died, the firm was dis- solved, H. H. Sturges stepping in and continu- ing the business. It soon became the wholesale dry-goods house of Sturges, Wood & Witter. E. Sturges, Sr., engaged in banking and vari- ous financial enterprises, and in 1869 engaged in the wholesale grocery business with his son, E. P. Sturges, with whom he continued until his death, in September, 1878.

Indians were quite numerous around Mans- field, in its early life, but not hostile until the war of 1812. They frequently came into the village for traffic, bringing game, furs, berries, etc. Huckleberries and cranberries were very

* This gentleman died in Newark, Ohio, January 23, 1873, aged eighty-five.

* Samuel Carrothers died June 20, 1865, aged eighty-five. + John C. Gilkison died June 22, 1856.

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plenty in Ashland County, and the New Haven marshes, as they still continue to be. The In- dians usually came in companies, and when in liquor, as was usually the case before leaving, were very noisy and troublesome. Their cus- tom, however, was to appoint two or three of their number to keep sober while the others were drunk. The squaws, too, would take away and secrete the knives and tomahawks of those who appeared to be getting dangerous. In these drunken frolics their yells could be heard for miles. The yell of an Indian is pe- culiar to itself, and cannot be exactly imitated by a white man. It has a shrill and metallic ring about it, that is wholly unlike any other sound. and could be recognized anywhere, and at any time. The amusements common among the settlers were feats of strength, running, jumping, wrestling, pitching quoits, playing ball, and fist fighting. The crowning day was muster day, as " fun " would be plenty. A great deal of whisky would be drank, and the " more fights the more fun." Different sections of the county seemed to be arrayed against each other, as is the case in all early settlements. The Black Forkers were always boasting their su- periority over the Clear Forkers, and whenever these two factions met there was sure to be a fight, especially when whisky was plenty. The Clear Forkers were happy whenever they were fortunate enough to "clean out " the Black Forkers, and rice rersa.

On one occasion, when Joseph Cairns kept a small store on the MeFall corner, an old Indian chief, by the name of Mooney, threw his toma- hawk, from Miller's corner, at Cairns. It stuck fast in the door frame, within a few inches of Cairns' head.

The first brick house in Mansfield was built on the site of the Opera House Block. It was first occupied by Clem. Pollock, a wheelwright by trade, and a son-in-law of Judge McCluer.

Rev. James Rowland writes thus of Mans- field when he came in 1820: "Mansfield, in

1820, numbered about two or three hundred inhabitants. The houses were few and far between. There were a few tolerably good frame buildings, and one brick house on the lot where H. R. Smith's store yet remains. , H. R. Smith's Opera Block now occupies the site of that brick house, or nearly so. It did not stand on the street, but back some distance. The second brick house was the Hedges dwelling, on the northeast corner of the square, still standing, and the third was down on East Market street-it is also standing. There was no building bordering on the east side of the public square, except a round-log cabin used as a butcher's shop, and standing where now stands the brick building of E. Hedges, Esq. The greatest number of houses and shanties were on West Diamond street, and the next greatest number on East Diamond street. There was a log house on part of the present site of the Wiler House, kept by the jovial and enterpris- ing John Wiler, for his own benefit and that of the emigrants, to this county and further west. There were two dry-goods stores ; one on the northeast corner of the square, kept by Sturges & Sherwood, and one a little further north, by Robert McComb. In 1821, there was but one physician, A. G. Miller, until, I think, about the close of that year, when his brother. G. B. Miller, came to this place. They were associated in practice, and were highly es- teemed as citizens and physicians."

He thus describes the old court house : " In 1820, about the center of the public square, a little south from where the present court house stands, there was an edifice about 30x20 feet, and two stories in height. The lowerstory was constructed of hewed logs, that had been originally used in another part of the town for a block-house. The second, or upper story, was frame work, and the house was weather-boarded on all sides, both above and below. The stairway leading to the entrance of the second story, was outside the building. on the north side, and the building

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

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was not painted either inside or out. This edifice served for various purposes, and was a kind of an omnium gatherum (this last word is not to be found in any ancient Latin diction- ary). People of all denominations, except the Methodists, who had a small frame church in the northeast part of the village as early as 1820, worshiped in the upper story. There, too, the county courts were held, and public meet- ings generally. On the east and west sides of this room were fireplaces, and a stove right in the center, and often in the coldest weather, by reason of the flues drawing downward instead of upward, the fuel had to be carried out or the fire quenched. or the inmates suffered by smoke. In that room, I preached every alternate Sabbath for two or three years. The Judge's bench was on a slight elevation above the floor. and the fixtures in front of it, and the appearance around the bar, were in perfect harmony with the appearance of the room and house. The lower story was divided into three apartments ; the west half being used as a jailer's residence, and the south apartment of the east half as a cell-a close. tight place-where criminals were confined, and were said to suffer considerably sometimes by the rats ; the north part of the east half was a place of confinement for perse- cuted debtors.", Mr. Henry Newman, still liv- ing at Bryan, Ohio, adds the following regard- ing this : " The hewed-log block-house was built in the fall of 1813, about three rods east of the main street, in the direction of the old court house. The logs that formed the under story were dovetailed ; the under and upper floor laid with hewed logs. The under story, after the war, composed the first jail ; the upper story projected eight inches on every side, and was large enough for a court house for the county. It had one twelve-light window, 8x10 glass, on the gable end (north end), and port-holes above and below." It may be added that the lower part of this edifice was of double logs, with a space between filled with stones ; at least such is the

evidence of several old settlers, though Judge David McCullonh, still living on East Market street, and who came in 1822, thinks this a mistake. He says the logs were nicely hewn, and laid very closely together, but the wall was not double. Mr. Rowland says maple sugar was from 4 to 6 cents per pound ; land from $2 to $6 per acre ; wheat 373 cents per bushel, and wood from 75 cents to $1 per cord.

Mrs. Mariah H. Smith, still living in a log house (weatherboarded over), on South Main street. came to town in 1823, and moved shortly afterward into that same house. She says the old original Wiler House was moved up on South East-Diamond street, where it still remains. There was a small block-house at that time on South Main street, on the south side of the run, where Roop's, and afterward Ritter's, tan- yard was located. Jacob Newman's cabin was further up the hillside, where Mrs. Ritter now lives. Andrew S. Newman, son of Jacob New- man, the first settler in Richland County, died January 31, 1872. He was born in Richland County in 1811, and always resided in Mans- field. She remembers attending the Methodist Church on Water street, near the big spring, and that she went through the hazel brush to get to it. There was a carding-mill where the water- works are now located, which carded the wool that was spun and woven into cloth by the settlers for their clothing.

Mrs. Elizabeth Grant, formerly Carothers, who still lives on Fourth street, came in 1815. Her statement is interesting, but as it is a repe- tition of what has already been written, it is not given fully. She says that on the south- west corner of West Market and Mulberry streets was a pottery, where crocks, etc., were made, kept by a man named Locke, an unele of “ Pe- troleum V. Nasby." She has now in her pos- session some of his pottery ; she has also a small tub made by the first cooper-a Mr. Maxwell, who kept a shop near the big spring. This Carothers family was- one of the earliest in

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town, and, in some respects, a remarkable one. They are all now living except Rebecca, who died in November, 1879, and with this excep- tion, and that of the father and mother, no death has occurred in the family for seventy- four years. These children were born very near each other, the youngest being now sixty, and the oldest seventy-one.

Mr. James Purdy, still living on West Mar- ket street in the eighty-seventh year of his age, and in full possession of his mental faculties, came to Mansfield in 1823. He was born in Hopewell, York Co., Penn., July 24, 1793. The following are a few of his personal recollections. He has always been prominent in the town and city, and, in the active period of his life, identi- fied with its material growth and prosperity : "When Gen. Hedges laid out the town, he donated a square of ground on each corner of his plat for public purposes. This square was equal to three lots. The one on the southwest corner (where the First Ward Schoolhouse is now located) was donated to the Presbyterians for a graveyard. This graveyard was aban- doned many years ago, most of those buried having been removed to, and reburied in, the present cemetery. The square on the southeast corner was donated to the town for a grave- yard ; and those on the northeast and north- west corners, for school purposes. One of the first schoolhouses was erected on one of these -the one on the northeast corner, where the soap works now stand. At that time, Robert MeCombs* kept a store on the southwest corner of Third and Main ; Hugh McFall opposite, on the northwest corner; a Mr. Ewing, opposite the North American, and Sturges and Sherwood on the Sturges corner. There were three hotels -the Wiler House, the Williams House (on the site of the North American) and a small

*Robert McCombs was born February 17, 1797, in Washington Co., Penn., and came to Mansfield in 1817, engaging in the mercan- tile business. Retiring from this business in 1842, he became in- terested in railroads, and was a Director of the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad until his death, April 20, 1865.

house kept by a widow lady one door south of . McComb's store.

"In 1816, a bank was started opposite the North American on Main street. It was called a bank, but never had a charter, and closed up in a few months, but lasted long enough to ruin most of its stockholders. The next bank was started in 1846, by Messrs. Patterson & Co., on the west side of the square, on the spot where the Farmer's Bank is now located. It did business a good many years, but was not permanent. The first permanent bank was started by Mr. Purdy himself, in 1847. The lawyers were May, Coffinberry, Purdy and Burr. May had a little 8x10 frame office on the southwest corner of Market street and the public square. There was quite a frog pond in front of his office. It was called Lake May. It was occupied extensively by frogs in sum- mer, and used by the boys in the winter for a skating-rink.

"James Moore was Sheriff, and also a Cap- tain of militia. Harry Wilcox was Sheriff after Moore. The doctors were Bradley, R. V. Powers, two brothers by the name of Miller, and Dr. Sweney, before the arrival of Dr. William Bushnell in 1828. Ellzey Hedges was Justice of the Peace.

"There were two tanneries, one kept by John Pugh, on Main street just below the site of the City Mill. and the other by Edward Grant, on the run, west side of South Main street. Three hatters were here-John Mann, the first one, on Main below the Wiler House; Nattie Bryan, in the hollow on South Main, and Henry Bell, near the southwest corner of the square. The cabinet-makers were James Smart, a little be- low the Wiler House; Jacob Lindley, on the northwest corner of West Market and Walnut, where the Baptist Church now stands ; and Samuel Wolf, on the southeast corner of West Market and Mulberry, where Mr. John Wood's dwelling stands. Lindley afterward, about 1830, built a brick tavern on his lot and called

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND. COUNTY.

it the Mansion House, kept by himself. In the winter of 1827-28, there were 270 people. men, women and children, in the town. by act- ual enumeration.

" The early settlers were without transporta- tion for their grain, part of which was worked up into whisky by a few small distilleries, and sent by way of Sandusky to Detroit. and sold to the Indians to assist in their civilization. Furs, pelts, gentian, smoked venison hams and rags were taken in trade by Mansfield mer- . chants and sent to Pittsburgh in four-horse wagons. Jerry Jaques, Jim Downs. Tom Cantwell. Sam and John Creigh were the teamsters in those days." Mr. Purdy gives much other valuable history, which will be found elsewhere in its appropriate place.

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Author: Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848- Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Mansfield, O. : A. A. Graham & co. Number of Pages: 968

Author: Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Mansfield, O. : A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 968