History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 110

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104

USA > Ohio > Summit County > History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio > Part 110

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Since the settlement of Green Township, three villages have been laid out within its borders ; these are Greensburg, East Liberty and My- ersville. Greensburg, the oldest of these, was surveyed August 27, 1828, by David Baer, on land belonging to Abraham Wilhelm. This village is located on the southwest part of the northeast quarter of Section 27; it lies consid- erably south and a little east of the township's center. A short time after the village plat was first made and recorded, Wilhelm decided not to establish a town on his land, but, after sev- eral years, the village was permanently located. The place contained only six or eight houses for many years. The tax duplicate of 1846 shows that it then had only ten frame houses, although the plat contained at that time fifty- three lots. When Greensburg Seminary was established, it received a " boom," and a move- ment was made to have the place incorpor- ated, but it is said objection was raised to this by some who were afraid their cows would not then be permitted to graze on the streets, and the movement was squelched. Among the early business of the burg and vicinity were the following establishments : Wilhelm kept an inn a short distance south previous to 1820 ; he also had a stopping-place for the old stage line which ran from Massillon to Middlebury, but

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this four-horse stage was only run a short time over this route and then changed to a road run- ning through Manchester and Canal Fulton. One of the Wilhelms had a distillery just south of the village, previous to 1820, and, after it was discontinued, a Mr. Moulton ran a chair- factory in the same building. John Shick started the first store, about 1836, and also kept the first hotel ; he ran this latter establishment five or six years, and it was finally destroyed by fire ; another was built on the same site, which was run by Benjamin Seiss for about ten years ; it passed through several hands and is now owned by Peter Thornton and run by Jerry Garmon. The present landlord enlisted in 1861 in the Union army, and served faithfully during the war; he then joined the regular army for several years. Jacob Garmon, his father, put up a hotel on the northwest corner, previous to 1840, and this building was also destroyed by fire. John Hunsberger started his mercantile establishment in the village about 1838 ; he was appointed first Postmaster of the place under Van Buren's administration ; when he settled in the village, there were only six houses ; these were two hotels, one pump-factory, Hunsberg- er's residence, and a wagon-shop, which was run by George E. Smith for many years. The pump-maker, Peter Weidman, remained about ten years. About 1840, the first schoolhouse was built in the village ; previous to this the scholars went to school about one mile south. Harry Raefsnider started a tanyard south of the village previous to 1838, but quit after a few years ; then another was established nearer Greensburg by Jacob Kauffman ; this was af- terward sold to John Hunsberger, who trans- ferred it to I. W. France. The first blacksmith- shop was owned by Lewis Denious, and John Wetzel built the first saw-mill. Some thirty years since, a brickyard was established by Adam Leopard. Daniel Bender commenced man- ufacturing and repairing harness as early as 1843.

Many other industries have been carried on for a time in the village and then discon- tinued. The first physician to locate there was Dr. John Thomas, who remained abouttwo years. Among those who practiced there in later years were A. H. Mann, H. Peters, Jacob Musser, Wesley Boden, - Garber, C. A. Perdue, Da- vid Joseph, B. F. Sampsell, Levi Markam, A. M. Weidler, O. E. Brownell, - Parmlee,

Howland, - Reynolds and others. An addition was added to the village by Elias Her- ring, which was surveyed by Henry Beard ; John Switzer afterward added another.

The most important enterprise ever estab- lished at Greensburg was the seminary. This educational institution was for a few years in a very flourishing condition. It was, to a great extent, under the control of the Evangelical Association, and, at one time, two conferences of this sect desired to control the seminary, and much bad feeling was occasioned. It was finally re-organized with twenty-six stockhold- ers, at $50 per share, and at another period of its history was conducted in the interest of the Disciples' Church. It was originally started in 1855, with Prof. J. W. Raubalt as Principal, and Miss Jennie Wells as Assistant. The di- rectors at that time were Revs. Abraham Leonard, P. W. Hahn and E. Staver, Alex Johnston and D. Cramer. Prof. Raubalt re- mained two years, and was succeeded for three years by Prof. Barnes, who had assisted Rau- bault one year ; then Prof. Idgins was Princi- pal for one year, and he followed by Profs. A. A. Smith and J. W. Ilahn. Under the Disci- ples' Church management, Prof. Williams had charge and G. F. Burgetts was assistant. Prof. Davis ran the institute for a short time in his own interest. During the time the sem- inary was conducted, many of the young folks of Green Township attended ; these acquired a higher and more complete education than the children of those settlers who did not appre- ciate the value of the institution. During the Know-Nothing movement, quite an influential order of this political secret society was estab- lished at Greensburg, and for a time flourished like a " green bay tree," and then gave way before the "irrepressible conflict" which re- sulted in the rebellion of 1861. The farmer opposed the " middlemen " for a short time by organizing a grange which continued for sev- eral years, but the only secret society of Green Township at the present time is Hadassah Lodge, No. 450, of the I. O. O. F .; this was in- stituted July 9. 1870, by Horace Y. Beebe, with seven charter members, as follows : D. F. Hunsberger, O. E. Brownell, J. P. Snyder, W. P. Hoffert, J. H. Anderson, Stephen Zembrot and C. Intermela. The lodge met for some eight years in a small room back of Hunsber- ber's store. At the present time they have one

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of the finest lodge-rooms in Ohio for a village the size of Greensburg.

East Liberty was laid out on land belonging to John Castetter February 15, 1839. It was surveyed by Henry Beard, and Adam Yerriek assisted in carrying the chain. George An- drews put up the second house immediately sonth of Castetter's, who then occupied the southeast corner of the town; Castetter kept a cabinet-shop there for about fifteen years. George Andrews opened the first shoe-shop. Daniel Lutz started a tannery at an early day, which he sold to Henry Raefsnider and David Thornton ; the latter sold out to the former, and after ten years the business was continued. About 1841, Andrew Kepler built the tavern now owned by Kroft. Several stores have been established in the village during the past forty years ; prominently among these is the establishment conducted by Charles Stroman for some fifteen years. This gentleman taught school for twenty-one terms, was Clerk and Treasurer of the township for many years, took the census for one decade, and was Post- master ten or twelve years; he died May 8, 1879. The first physician who settled in the village was Dr. L. S. Witwer, who remained about six years, and was succeeded for about five years by Jonathan Buchtel. There is some jealousy and strife between the two villages of East Liberty and Greensburg, which is manifested mostly at spring elections. By

general consent, the polls are held at Greens- burg in the fall and at East Liberty in the spring. The result of this is that the town- ship officers are generally "East Libertyites," and this occasionally causes some of those as- piring to these same positions who reside at and near Greensburg to feel dissatisfied with the successful political spring campaigns waged by the sons of Liberty, but in the fall the Greensburgites generally do the "smiling."

Myersville, which is destined in the near future to be the most important village of Green Township, was surveyed by Jacob Mish- ler on the land of J. B. Myers. The plat has not yet been recorded by Mr. Myers. The first house was built by Moses Kroft in the summer of 1876. The next year William Miller erected one, and Curt. Brause and James Riley started the saw-mill. A storeroom was built and Edward Steese opened out a stock of goods, and afterward sold out to William Sweeten, who continued the business from April, 1880, to February, 1881, when he re- moved to East Liberty. The warehouse was erected by Edward Steese in the summer and fall of 1879 ; it is now leased by Hunsberger & Shick ; the first grain was purchased March 17, 1880. The construction train of the Val- ley road first passed over the Uniontown pub- lic Road at Myersville Station August 4, 1879, at 10:15 A. M.

CHAPTER XXVII .*

RICHFIELD TOWNSHIP-DESCRIPTION AND TOPOGRAPHY -EARLY SETTLEMENT - DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIES-VILLAGES-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS-INCIDENTS -THE GREAT SLEIGH-RIDE. ETC., ETC.

TN writing the history of even so small a part of the earth's surface as is contained in one of the Western Reserve townships, it becomes evident that nothing like absolute jus- tice and impartiality can be attained in any history whatever. The truth is, no history absolutely correct in every particular was ever written. To give just the right amount of importance and space to each individual and interest would manifestly be impossible. It might be a curiosity to see a book wherein each

individual was allowed to dictate or write up his own consequence and that of his family ; but such a production would give a very incor- rect idea of individuals and their affairs. Some would be swelled out of all proportion to their real importance in the community, while others, throngh innate modesty, would only occupy a few lines, if they allowed themselves to appear at all.

Gen. Bierce, of Akron, published in 1854 a small volume of "reminiscences." His labor must have been great, and his reward small.

* Contributed by Dr. A. E. Ewing and S. R. Oviatt.

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From his book many items in this sketch are taken and duly acknowledged. Where his words have been copied, quotation marks are used; but, in some cases, his facts are given without such credit. Of Indian history, treat- ies, etc., Gen. Bierce says : "By the treaty of Fort McIntosh in 1785, the Cuyahoga River, Portage Path and Tuscarawas River were the western boundary of the United States. This was confirmed by what was called ' Wayne's Treaty,' made at Greenville, August 3, 1795 ; the chiefs of twelve tribes were present and ratified it. The land on the west side of the Cuyahoga was not purchased until 1805, when the United States acquired it by the treaty of Fort Industry, on the Maumee. This fort was on the land of a Wyandot chief by the name of Ogonst, who, with his tribe, hunted on the grounds between the Manmee and Cuyahoga, in connection with the Miamis, Pottawatomies, Delawares, Shawanese, Ottawas and Senecas. There was also a small band of Mingos on the west bank of the Cuyahoga, being a part of the Cayugas, but formed a distinct band." Here follows in Gen. Bierce's book some further par- ticulars, which will be found in fewer words, and with a trifling error or two corrected further along in this chapter.

The township of Richfield is known as Town 4, in Range 12, and may well be considered one of the choice townships in the Connecticut Western Reserve. Its estimated value in an early day as a township was adjudged above the average. A strip of land, designated as " Tract 7," about seventy-two rods in width east and west, and extending the whole length of the township from north to south, containing about seven hundred acres, was cut off the east side of the township and annexed to the town- ship of Boston, thereby placing the geograph- ical center about thirty-six rods west of the centers of other townships in the same range.

The surface of the land in Richfield, from a point about a mile northeast of the center, in what is called "Furnace Run Valley," to the southeast corner of the township, is very broken and hilly, but the township generally exhibits a rolling and undulating surface, pos. sessing a rich and fertile soil, and consisting of a gravelly loam, with a clay subsoil, producing good crops of both grain and grass, and distin- guished likewise for its fine fruits. The extreme altitude of the township is about eight hundred

feet above Lake Erie, and 1,365 feet above tide water at New York, giving to it a circulation of pure air, free from miasma or any malarial influence. One of the old pioneer physicians, Dr. Rawson, after forty years' practice, said that he never knew a case of fever and ague that originated in this township. Richfield is bounded on the north by Brecksville Township, in Cuyahoga County ; on the east by Boston Township ; on the south by Bath Township, and on the west by Hinckley Township, in Medina County. It abounds in springs of pure water well distributed, and two considerable creeks, viz .: a branch of Rocky River, which flows for a mile or two through the west part of the township in a southerly direction, then enters Medina County and Furnace Run, which rises in the northwest part of Richfield, flows south- east and empties into the Cuyahoga River at Everett, in the southwest part of Boston Town- ship. The name of Furnace Run was obtained through the discovery of iron ore in the valley bordering it, and the probability of the erection of a furnace in the immediate neighborhood. When first seen by white men there were in the west and south parts of the township a heavy growth of beech, maple, hickory, ash, black and white walnut, interspersed with large oaks of the different varieties, while nearly all the eastern part was covered almost exclusively with white oak.

When the Western Reserve was conveyed to the State of Connecticut, and, in turn, by the State to the "Connecticut Land Company," Richfield, in "the draft," became the property of five or six proprietors or land speculators. Col. Benjamin Tallmadge owned the northwest quarter, which was designated as " tract one ; " Capt. John Smith, tract two, and a fraction north, in southwest quarter ; Edwards & Green, tract three, in south and southeast part of the township; Uriel Holmes, a tract in the north- east quarter, and J. Wilcox tract six, in the east part. The northwest quarter, or tract one, containing 4,000 acres, was sold in 1811, by Col. Tallmadge to Capt. Heman Oviatt, for the sum of $5,000, who, soon after, had it re-sur- veyed into quarter-sections by Alfred Wolcott, the father of Hon. A. Wolcott, of Boston Township. For this service he received fifty acres of land, and was allowed to take his choice of any fifty acres in tract one. He chose a lot near where John Comstock now

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HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

lives. The name Richfield seems to have orig- inated from a weed which grew here in great abundance, in an early day, and which was very nutritious and greatly relished by stock. It was called by some " ox-balmn," but more gen- erally known as "rich-feed," and, by a very slight corruption, it became " Richfield." This name was given to the township at the time of its organization in 1816, by the Commissioners of Portage County. For two years after the organization of Richland, it included what is now the township of Bath. The first officers elected for Richfield, in April, 1816, were as follows : Daniel Keys, Nathaniel Oviatt and William Jourdan, Trustees ; John Bigelow, Clerk ; Isaac Welton, Treasurer ; Jared Barnes and John Farnam, Overseers of the Poor ; John Bigelow and Isaac Hopkins, Constables ; John Farnam, Jason Philips, Isaac Welton, Elijah Hale and John Holmes, Supervisors. In the year 1818, the township of Bath was set off from Richfield, leaving the boundaries of the latter as they are at the present day.

The first white man to settle in what is now Richfield Township was Launcelot Mays, who came here in 1809, and was followed, in 1810, by Jared Barnes, Daniel and John Mallet (father and son), with their families. During the same year, a daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. John Mallet, which was the first white child born in the township. In 1811, Nathaniel Oviatt, of Goshen, Conn., came to this town with his family, performing the journey with oxen and cart the whole distance. The same year, also, Enoch D. Buck, Mr. Nelson, Jason Philips and Ben Payne arrived, with their families. In 1812, the first death of a white person occurred, that of Polly Payne, who died at the age of eighteen years and three months. She was a sister of the venerable John Payne, who; at the age of eighty-four years, is still living in the town. The first couple married was William Carter and Miss Betsey Mays. They were married by Alfred Wolcott, a Justice of the Peace, in 1812. Al- fred Wolcott and Lernan Farnam were the two Justices of the Peace for the territory now comprising the townships of Richfield, Bath, Boston and Northampton from 1812 to 1816, when, upon the organization of the township of Richfield, Isaac Welton was elected Justice of the Peace, his commission (now in the hands of I. T. Welton) bearing date July, 1816.

In 1812, Amos and Johnsey Barnes also settled in the township. Judge Isaac Welton came in 1812, cleared off the ground and sowed six acres of wheat. He then returned to Con- nectieut on foot, and moved back here with his family in 1813. John Farnam and family came also in 1812, and located north of the center, on what, with its numerous additions, is called the " Farnam Domain," and is owned by Ever- ett Farnam, who is still living, at the age of fourscore years. At about this time, and for two or three years following, we find Amos and Jonathan Searles, Timothy Hurlburt, Moses Worden, Jacob Spafford, John Bigelow, Ste- phen Welton, Elijah Welton, Bildad and Israel Hubbard, Stephen Pixley, John Wilcox, Na- than Carpenter, Daniel Moulton (father of Col. Moulton, now of the Treasury Department), Earl Moulton, William West, Reuben Cooley, Alvin Cooley, Newcomb Carter, Bradford Stur- tevant, Salmon Oviatt, Elijah Ellsworth, Augus- tus Adams, Birdsey H. Oviatt, Samuel Robin- son and John Newton, as settlers in Richfield Township, nearly all of whom came from Con- necticut and Massachusetts. Vigorous in mind and body, and with willing hands, they came prepared to battle with the wild beasts of the forest, and have succeeded in leaving to their descendants the beautiful homes they to-day enjoy.

[The following narrative, which scarcely be- longs in the history of Richfield Township, is given herewith, as illustrative of pioneer life, and, at the request of the writers of the chap- ter on Richfield, many of whose citizens are descendants of the "captives " mentioned. The narrative was originally published in the Litch- field (Conn.) Enquirer in 1833, and in the Ohio Observer in 1846 .- Historian.]

Soon after the "French and Indian war," Mr, Nathaniel Carter removed from Killingworth to Cornwall (Conn.), where he purchased a farm and resided for some years. But, as the tide of emigra- tion was at that time setting from New England toward the pleasant and fertile valleys of the Dela- ware and Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, early in 1763, Mr. Carter, with some of his hardy neighbors, began to make preparations for removing thither, The accounts which they had received of that country had filled them with glowing anticipations, though they were by no means unmindful of the fact that the life of a pioneer was one of hardship and peril. Mr. Carter's family at this time con- sisted of a wife and six children-Jemima, the eldl- est daughter, having a short time before been mar- ried to Mr. John Bates, of Warren. The other

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children were Nathan, Sarah aged eleven years, Elizabeth eight, Nathaniel six, and an infant.

On a beautiful morning in the spring of the year above mentioned, this family (except the married daughter), together with two other families from the same neighborhood, took up the line of their journey to the "land of promise." After a tedious tour, marked with the usual vicissitudes and advent- ures of such a journey, they arrived in safety at the forks of the Delaware, where they remained a short time, and ultimately settled on the Lacka- waxen Creek, in Wayne County, about twelve miles below the site of the present town of Bethany. They advanced about fifteen miles beyond any other white settlement, cleared a small spot near the bank of the stream and erected a building of logs, in which the three families resided. Here they passed a few months in apparent security, en- gaged in various employments to improve the safety and comfort of their new residence. The tall trees immediately before their dwelling they had in part cleared away, some grain and garden vegetables were growing near by, while around the doorway a few flowers, transplanted from their dear native New England, were budding and blossoming-add- ing variety and beauty to the scenes of their wil- derness home. While some were laboring, others carried the muskets and ammunition, acting as sentinels, that they might seasonably be apprised of approaching danger, Every day seemed more prom- ising of future happiness and security, and added something to their little stock of comforts. The wild scenery had become familiar to their view, and an agreeable interest had associated itself with most of the objects which were embraced by the little horizon, formed by the tall and unbroken forests which stretched away to an almost inter- minable breadth around them.

One day in the latter part of September, when the inmates of this little settlement were occupied in their usual pursuits, Mr. Carter, with his eldest son and one or two others, being engaged in building a house a short distance in the woods, and the man whose business it was to act as sentinel having gone a few rods out of sight of the house to examine some traps, the Indians, who had been secretly watching for their prey, uttered their savage war- whoop, and rushed upon these defenseless women and children. At this moment, Mrs. Carter and her daughter Elizabeth were a few yards from the door engaged in picking corn for dinner, Elizabeth, seeing them before the war-whoop was given, and knowing from their peculiar appearance that they were banded for war, turned to her mother and gave the alarm, but her words were scarcely uttered before she saw that beloved parent turn deadly pale, and the next moment she beheld the toma- hawk buried deep in her skull. The Indians, twelve in number, then rushed into the house, where were the elder females, one of whom was confined to the bed by illness, a daughter of the same woman aged sixteen, who was also ill; the in- fant daughter of Mr. Carter and five other children. One of the Indians seized the infant and dashed its brains out against the logs of the house; and the two sick women were instantly put to death with

tomahawks. The man who had gone to examine the traps, hearing the shrieks of the sufferers, hast- ened to their defense, but had only time to dis- charge his gun once, before he received a death- blow from the hands of the assailants.

The Indians, having selected such of their cap- tives as they supposed could best endure the hard- ships of savage life and taken the scalps from those they had killed, and also having taken the clothing and utensils which they thought would best serve their convenience, they set fire to the house, and then hurried off to their encampment a short dis- tance from thenee, on the opposite side of the creek. The captives were three children of Mr. Carter (Elizabeth, Sarah and Nathaniel), Mrs. Duncan, and three children belonging to the other family. At the encampment they found about 200 Indians, principally warriors. Several large fires were burn- ing, around which the Indians began to regale themselves with roasted corn and other refresh- ments, which they had brought from the white settlement. After having freely indulged them- selves in exultations at their recent success, and, night approaching, they secured their captives with cords and stretched themselves on the ground around the fires. Sarah, the eldest of the three children of Mr. Carter, appeared perfectly distracted by the circumstances of her situation. She continued cry- ing and calling for her father to come and rescue her. The Indians several times appeared deter- mined to silence her screams with the tomahawk. At length, when they had become buried in sleep, Sarah obtained a small brand from the fire, with which she barely succeeded in burning the cord which bound her to the savages, but leaving her hands still tied together. In this situation, and surrounded by the midnight darkness, she suc- ceeded in finding a canoe, and loosing it from its fastenings, in which she reached the opposite bank, and, finally, found her way back to the smoking ruins of her recent home, where she gave way to the most violent lamentations. Though her cries were distinctly heard at the encampment, she was not pursued until morning, when she was re-taken.

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History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 110

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848- Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1104

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104