USA > Ohio > Mahoning County > History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II > Part 29
USA > Ohio > Trumbull County > History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II > Part 29
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PURCHASE AND SURVEY.
Previous to the year 1798 Daniel Coit, of the State of Connecticut, purchased from the Con- necticut Land company township number two in the first range, and gave to it the name of Coits- ville. It does not appear that he ever became a resident of the township, but authorized Simon Perkins, of Warren, to act as his general agent.
In 1798 Mr. Coit sent on a party to survey his land and put it in the market. John Partridge Bissel was the chief surveyor and also the sub- agent for the sale of the land.
ORGANIZATION AND FIRST ELECTION.
In 1806, December 4th, the following was given at Warren, Trumbull county :
ORDERED, by the board of commissioners for the county of Trumbull, that number two, in the first range of townships in said county, be set off as a separate township, by the name of Coitsville, with all the rights, privileges, and im- munities by law given to and invested in any township in this State, and the first meeting of said township shall be held at the house formerly occupied by John P. Bissel, in said town- ship.
Attest : WILLIAM WETMORE, Clerk Commissioners pro tem.
The first election was held April 6, A. D. 1807, Alexander M'Guffey, chairman, John John- son and Joseph Jackson, judges of the election. The following officers were chosen : Joseph Bissel, township clerk; William Huston, Joseph Jackson, and William Stewart, trustees; John M'Call and Timothy Swan, overseers of the poor; William Martin and Ebenezer Corey, su- pervisors of highways; David Cooper and John Stewart, fence viewers; James Stewart and Alex- ander M'Guffey, appraisers of houses; Alexander M'Guffey, lister; James Lynn, constable; John Johnson, treasurer.
INTERESTING TOWNSHIP RECORDS.
The records of the township for a few years following its organization show a number of in- teresting facts. Here is one which we copy from Towship Record Book No. 1, page 98:
At a meeting of William Huston, Joseph Jackson, and William Stewart, trustees for the township of Coitsville, at the dwelling house of Joseph Bissel of said town, on April 27, 1808, ordered, that every person subject to pay a county tax, according to the act passed by the Generat Assembly of
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the State of Ohio, December 24, 1807, to kill ten squirrels, and in addition to the ten squirrels, each person to kill two squirrels for each cow and four for each horse; and if a per- son have but one cow she is exempt.
Attest :
JOSEPH BISSEL, Township Clerk.
Same page :
At a meeting of the inhabitants June 27, 1808, voted that the squirrel act be continued to the Ist day of August next, before returns are made to the collector of county taxes.
Attest :
JOSEPH BISSEL, Township Clerk.
There are several records made of warning poor people, likely to become township charges, to quit the township.
TAXES IN 1803.
From ancient records we learn that the entire amount of taxes assessed upon Coitsville in the year 1803, was $14.95. . A copy of the list is given.
COITSVILLE, RANGE ONE, TOWN ONE.
Amount of tax.
Amount of tax.
Augustine, Daniel. . .. $ 0 57
Pauley, James, .$ 0 65
Bissell, Joseph.
71
Robb, Matthew .
Cooper, David.
60
Shehy, Roger. 80
Casper, Cramer.
86
Shields, James 46
Fitch, Andrew 61
Smith, James 20
Given, John.
32
Stewart, William Jr .. 40
Gillan, Matthew
20
Thompson, John Jr ..
8
Houston, William.
6.4 Thompson, George. . 70
Harris, Barnabas ..
40 Weeks, William. . . .
60
Loveland, Amos.
1 56
Wilson, Robert .. ..
32
Meers, James.
20
Wilson, Daniel .. 30
Martin, William
20
White, James. 40
McGuffey, Alexander. .
64
White, Francis
2.4
McBride, Samuel.
40
Welch, James 20
McCall, John
32
Potter, John.
20 Total .$14 95
EARLY SETTLERS.
To Amos Loveland belongs the honor of having made the first permanent settlement in the township. He was a Revolutionary soldier and served three years. He came to Coitsville in the spring of 1798, joined the surveying party and spent the summer assisting them. In the fall he returned to his home in Chelsea, Orange county, Vermont, having purchased all the land in Coitsville situated on the south side of the Ma- honing-a tract of four hundred and twenty-six acres, mostly level, rich, and fertile. In December, 1798, with his wife and six children, he left Chelsea for his new home. Mr. Loveland started from Vermont with two sleighs loaded with bed- ding, furniture, farming utensils, etc., each sleigh being drawn by two horses They traveled in
this way until they reached the Susquehanna, which they crossed on the ice at Whitestown ; the snow disappearing soon after, Mr. Loveland traded his sleighs for a wagon, transferred his goods into it and continued his journey. April 4, 1799, he arrived with his family upon his farm. They began housekeeping in a small log cabin which he had erected the previous year. This cabin was about eighteen feet square ; it had no glass windows, and its door was made of clap- boards with two sticks across, two of them being hinges fastened by wooden pins. Not a nail had been used in the construction of this dwelling. A puncheon or split log floor covered about half the ground included within the log walls. There was no upper floor, and no chimney except a stone wall built up about five feet to keep the fire from the logs. In this cabin, of course with the addition of some improvements, the family lived six years, and then erected a larger and more convenient one.
During the first year the family depended largely upon the results of hunting for their food, with occasional supplies obtained from the few neighboring settlements. Mr. Loveland cleared up his farm and resided upon it until his death, which occurred at the age of ninety. Mrs. Love- land died when ninety-three. Her maiden name was Jemima Dickerson. The Lovelands were the first family in the township, and to them were born the first inale, as well as the first female child born in Coitsville. Cynthia Loveland was born in June, 1799, and died in 1815. Her brother David, born a year or two later, was the second child born in the township. He spent the whole of a long life upon the old homestead, and his heirs still own some three hundred acres of the original farm. Elizabeth Loveland, one of the daughters, became the wife of William McFarlin and the mother of six sons and six daughters. She died June 16, 1881, aged ninety years, ten months and nine days. She enjoyed the distinction of being a resident of the Western Reserve longer than any other person, having re- sided continuously in the Mahoning valley over eighty-two years.
John P. Bissel, the surveyor of 1798, pur- chased a farm including the center of the town- ship, made a clearing, and built a log-cabin. In 1 800 he emigrated from his home in Lebanon, Connecticut, with his family, consisting of three
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sons and six daughters, and settled on his pur- chase. The family remained in Coitsville until 1805 or 1806 when they removed to Youngs- town in order that the children might have better school advantages. Mr. Bissel was the first acting justice of the peace in Coitsville. He died in 1811. His daughter Mrs. Mary Kyle resided upon the old homestead from the time of his father's death until her own. She died in 1880, in the eighty-third year of her age.
Asa Mariner, then a single man, was one of the surveying party. In 1798 he purchased a farm a little northwest of the center of the town- ship, upon which he settled in 1800. He mar- ried Sally Beggs and reared a numerous and respectable family. This couple lived to a good old age, honored and respected. Mr. Mariner was a member of the Disciple church, his wife of the United Presbyterian. The old farm is still in the possession of two of the sons, Major James Mariner and his brother Ira.
Rev. William Wick was a pioneer of Coitsville. He was a native of Long Island, New York, but came to this county from Washington county, Pennsylvania. September 1, 1799, he preached a sermon in Youngstown, said to have been the first sermon preached on the Reserve. About 1801 he purchased a farm on the State line which is now occupied by the Beggs family. Mr. Wick was ordained a preacher of the gospel by the Presbyterian church and installed pastor of the congregations of Youngstown and Hopewell, now Bedford, Pennsylvania. All the Coitsville Presbyterians of the old school attended his church. He continued in his relation as pastor until death called him home in 1815. He was a very popular preacher and was instrumental in persuading persons of moral and religious char- acter to settle in Coitsville. During his pas- torate he preached fifteen hundred and twenty- two sermons and solemnized sixty-nine marriages. He was the father of eight sons and five daugh- ters. Of this family eleven lived to mature age. Some of his sons attained some eminence in the political world. William was Secretary of State in Indiana and James a judge of the court of common pleas in Mercer county, Pennsylvania. The family were noted for being fine singers and proficients in penmanship.
Barney Harris, the first blacksmith in Coits- ville township, came from Washington county,
Pennsylvania, and settled on section eleven pre- vious to 1802. He brought up ten children, three sons and seven daughters. George, the only son now living, resides with his family in Iowa. Three daughters with their families still in this vicinity. Mrs. Harris was a daughter of Andrew Poe, noted for his encounter with an In- dian near Georgetown, on the Ohio river. Mr. A. B. Wilson, a grandson of Barney Harris, re- sides on the old Harris farm. David Wilson came from Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1803 or 1804. He had two sons and three daughters. Of this number only one son, David, is now living -- a resident of Bedford, Pennsylva- nia. Mr. Wilson was a wheelwright by trade. In early years the little spinning-wheel was an indispensable article in every household, and Mr. Wilson engaged in its manufacture, and for many years gave employment to several men in his shop, where he made wheels, reels, and coffins. The improvements made in spinning machinery as time progressed destroyed one branch of this business, but he continued the undertaking bus- iness for many years. Mr. Wilson erected a grist-mill to be run by ox-power, but after a few years' trial it was pronounced a failure and aban- doned. He erected a brick house in 1815, which is still occupied by his descendants.
Alexander McGuffey and family moved from Washington county, Pennsylvania, to Coitsville in about the year 1800. His father and mother, who were natives of Scotland, also came with him. The family were zealous Presbyterians. Alexander was a farmer, and settled near Sand Hill. His son, Rev. William McGuffey, became widely known as the author of a series of school books known as McGuffey's Eclectic Readers. William was brought to Coitsville in infancy. His mother-an excellent woman-used to de- light in recounting the hardships they endured during the first years of their residence here, and how she used to place William in a sugar- trough while she assisted her husband in clearing up the farm. William received his common school education in Coitsville, the writer of these sketches being one of his school-mates. Our school-house was a cabin built of round logs, sit- uated at the corners of the farms now occupied by Thomas Brownlee, Rev. H. S. Boyd, Al. Wil- son, and Ambrose Shields. William McGuffey afterwards taught school in the same place. He
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began the study of the dead languages under John McCready, who taught a select school near Pulaski, Mercer county, Pennsylvania, in 1817; completed his college course and graduated from the college at Oxford, Ohio. He was licensed as a preacher by the presbytery, but was never the settled pastor of any congregation. Instead, he devoted his life to the advancement of edu- cation. He died in his seventy-sixth year at the residence of his daughter in Dayton, Ohio. But his memory will be long perpetuated by his works. William McGuffey was a man of genial temperament, a pleasant and affable speaker.
David and Rebecca (Armstrong) Cooper set- tled in the township in 1800. Five of their children still reside in Coitsville. He was a na- tive of Maryland; his wife of Pennsylvania. Mr. Cooper was a member of the surveying party of 1798.
James Lynn settled early on section eleven. His farm is now the Dalby farm. About the same time with him John Johnson settled on section ten.
Sampson Mocre, about 1802, settled on sec- tion ten. He lived and died in this township, and brought up his family here. None of his sons became settlers of Coitsville.
William, James, John, and David Stewart came here at different dates. All were early settlers. David settled west of the village. William, James, and John took up farms in the northwestern quarter of the township. David Stewart, son of William, lives on his father's old place. Robert Stewart, son of William, lives on section three. John and James set- tled near William. Mr. Rush owns a part of James' farm, and the Grays a part of John's.
Thomas Early was among the first settlers in the western part of the township. The Fitch family, elsewhere mentioned, were among the early settlers on the Mahoning.
David Brownlee, his parents, and his sister Margaret, were early settlers near the south line of the township. John Brownlee, who lives near the Pennsylvania line, is a son of David. The family consisted of ten children, of whom three sons and one daughter are still living, John being the oldest.
Matthew Robb was an early settler on the William Price farm. He afterwards sold this and built where Mr. McCartney lives.
Daniel Augustine, a sober, industrious, honest German, settled in the township in 1802. His family is still well represented in this township. It is related of him that he was once offered $15 for a cow which he had for sale. He re- fused the price; said that $13 was all that she was worth, and all he was willing to take.
William Bell was an early settler in the north- east of the township, lived and died here. Some of his sons remained for a time, then moved away. One, John Mason Bell, lived upon the old place until his death.
In the same neighborhood was Ebenezer Co- rey, whose family are all gone from the town- ship.
A man named Thompson was an early settler on Ambrose Shields' farm. He sold to Timo- thy Swan, who lived and died there.
Joseph and Mary (Goe) Beggs, natives of Ire- land, settled in Coitsville, west of the village, in 1802. Their son, James Beggs, Esq., born June 17, 1799, is still a resident of the township. Jo- seph Beggs was a soldier of 1812.
John Johnson, from Mercer county, Pennsyl- vania, settled in the eastern part of the town- ship in 1803. He married Jane Caldwell, of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and brought up a family of nine children. Only two are now liv- ing, Samnel in Iowa, and John in this township. David Johnson, one of his family, died in April, 188 г.
James Shields, a native of Ireland, came to Coitsville in 1802 and purchased a farm of two hundred and thirty acres east of the village. The same year he married Margaret Walker. He died in 1854 aged eighty years. He reared three sons and five daughters, all of whom settled in Coitsville and had families, except one daughter who died young. All of the original family are now dead excepting John, the oldest son, and James, the youngest. The latter resides in Loveland, Colorado. James Shields, Sr., built and operated the first distillery in the township. It was erected in 1803. He operated it for a few years, but not finding the business profitable, sold out and thenceforth devoted himself to em- ployments more useful and beneficial. Ammi R. and Prudence (Burrows) Bissel settled a little north of the village in 1806. Their son, Partridge Bissel, born in 1803, is still a resident of the township. Ammi Bissel was a brother of John
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TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO.
P., and came from Vermont. He was the father of five sons and two daughters. He was the first carpenter in the township, and was energetic and active in his work. He was a good neighbor and an honest man.
The Widow McFarlin (nee Margery Anderson) came to this township from Ireland about the year 1804, with a family of four sons and two daughters, all of whom married after coming here. Isabel, the oldest, married James McGill; Mary married Robert McKean, settled in Ells- worth and died there; Alexander settled south of the center of Coitsville. He was accidentally killed by the falling of a tree. He had seven sons and two daughters, most of whom settled in this vicinity. William settled on the top of the hill on the Hazelton road. He reared a large family. Eleven children arrived at years of ma- turity. But one son is living, Anderson, at Coits- ville. Four of his daughters are living, viz: Mrs. Lydia Mahan, Liberty, Trumbull county ; Miss Jemima McFarlin, Niles; Mrs. Matilda Price, Coitsville, and Mrs. Lavina Harris, Youngs- town. Andrew settled in the southern part of the township, but later moved to Indiana and died. He had a large family. His sons are all dead. Several daughters are living in Indiana. James settled on the road leading west from the village and died there. He had several chil- dren, none of whom remain.
The first shoemaker, Stephen Allerton, came from New Jersey, and settled south of the cen- ter, early in this century. He was honest and a good neighbor, but intemperate in his habits.
The first tailor was John Potter, a very early settler. He was a good citizen, and a strict Presbyterian. His farm was on the Hubbard and Lowell road. He had a large family, but not a branch of it remains here at the present day.
The oldest man in this township is Alexander Beggs, born in Ireland about the year 1789. He settled in Coitsville in 1822.
The first marriage ceremony was performed about 1803, uniting Ebenzer Corey and Polly Thompson in the bonds of wedlock.
The first death was that of an infant son of John P. Bissel, and occurred in 1801.
HARD TIMES.
The year 1811 brought hard times for many of the pioneers of Coitsville. Mr. Bissel died
in that year. His financial affairs were found in a bad condition, which brought disaster to many of those who had purchased their lands from him. Some had paid for their lands, received their deeds, and were, consequently, safe. Others who had not got their lands paid for and received their titles were caught up. No matter how much they had paid, all fared alike and re- ceived a small percentage on the money which they had paid. The land had to be re-purchased or abandoned. It was supposed, had he lived to settle up his own affairs, the result would have been different. Another cause of discourage- ment was a series of very rainy seasons, which flooded the low, flat lands, and caused them to be unproductive. This caused a bad report to be put into circulation concerning the town, and many emigrants to pass us by. Again, the War of 1812 was upon us, and many of the men subject to do military duty were drafted or vol- unteered, and went into the service. There were few left at home except women and children, old men, cripples, and invalids.
Farmers, who had spent years of hard labor upon their lands, were asked to give them up. At many a fireside there was dejection and de- spondency. Some men abandoned their claims and left. Others exchanged their tarms for other property; but a majority withstood their difficul- ties and trials. Many of those who had lost their lands made new contracts for them, and succeeded, finally, in retaining them.
In a few years the dark cloud broke and passed away. The fields yielded good crops, and there was an abundance of food for man and beast. The war terminated, and the Coits- ville soldiers came home without the loss of a man, it is believed. If there had been mourn- ing there was now rejoicing. The claims for the re-purchased farms were liquidated, the fee sim- ple titles on record, and soon every farm had its occupant, and vacant lots were no more to be found in the township.
HIGHWAYS.
The first public highway laid out in this town- ship is the east and west road, known as the Mercer and Youngstown road. It is one-half mile south of and parallel to the east and west center line. It was established and opened in 1802. Soon after that date the road known as the Yellow Creek road, leading from Poland vil-
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TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO.
lage to Hubbard, was opened through the town- ship. In 1827 the Youngstown and Mercer road became a post-road from New Bedford, Pennsyl- vania, westward.
ENCOUNTER WITH A BEAR.
Patrick Thompson, in 1803 or 1804, was re- turning home from Youngstown, and stopped at J. P. Bissel's to transact some business which detained him until near evening, when he pro- ceeded toward home. When he arrived on the farm of Josiah Dalby, near the State line, he discovered a cub bear in his path. Determin- ing to make its acquaintance, and it offering no violent opposition, he took it up in his arms. It, however, soon became dissatisfied with his nursing, and with loud cries notified its mother ; she, being within hearing distance, hastened to its rescue with mouth open and bristles up. Thompson seeing that a fight was imminent strove to get rid of his new acquaintance. But cub refused to break up friendly relations so abruptly and clung to his arm with a regular bear hug. After some effort he loosed its grip, and to use his own language, he "threw the little devil into its mother's face."
The battle now began, and Thompson seeing his danger of defeat attempted to climb a tree near by, but as often as he began to ascend the bear would catch him by the feet and pull him back, and with such energy did she make her attacks that she tore the bottoms from his shoes, and so lacerated his feet that he was ever afterward a cripple, although he lived many years after this event. Up to this time victory seemed to be on the side of the bear; a few more crunches at his feet and she would have had it all her own way. But fortunately, at this juncture, Mr. Thompson obtained a large splinter, and again making the attempt to climb the tree she again made for him. He made a drive at her with the splinter, and luckily sent it deep into one of her nostrils. She then resolved to have a truce until she could get rid of the splinter; she would strike it with one paw, then with the other, until she effected her purpose. By this time friend Thompson was high in the tree, and neither party was disposed to renew the fight. Bruin soon retired with a sore nose. Thompson be- came faint from loss of blood. It was now in the night. A heavy rain commencing to fall, he
squeezed the water from his linen hunting-shirt into his mouth, which revived him somewhat. His hallooing was heard at the house of the Rev. Mr. Wick, and they came to his relief. When they arrived the bear and her family had left. This was the only known encounter with a wild bear in this township.
THE STRUTHERS TRAGEDY.
In February, 1826, Miss Drucilla Struthers left her father's residence in Coitsville for the purpose of going to the post-office at Poland village, where she expected to get a letter from her affianced lover, then residing in Washington county, Pennsylvania. Her younger sister, Emma, accompanied her down to the Mahoning river, which was very high at that time, intend- ing to ferry her across, and then return home. The skiff in which they were to cross was fastened nearly opposite the mouth of Yellow creek, and directly opposite to the present village of Struth- ers. The young ladies were daughters of John Struthers, who settled in Poland township in 1799, held the office of sheriff of Trumbull county, and other responsible offices, and was well known and respected by the pioneers ot this county. They were sisters of the Hon. Thomas Struthers, who was the proprietor of the thriving village of Struthers.
When the young ladies came to the bank of the river Emma laid off her shawl and bonnet on the shore, and they embarked on their fatal voyage. Emma was good with an oar, and prac- ticed in rowing and managing a skiff.
At this point the known history of their lives ends. It is involved in mystery that can not be unraveled. No human eye saw them on their fatal voyage, as they were not spared to relate the events of that awful hour, of what happened or befell them ; why they were unable to propel their craft across the stream ; what were their feelings and actions when they discovered their dangerous and helpless situation ; how many plans they devised to regain a landing; how hope and despair alternated each other in quick suc- cession ; how their terrors increased as their dis- appointments were repeated ; and as they ap- proached the dam over which they were soon to be precipitated how their souls sank within them, when they beheld the foaming waters beneath them and hope gone; what thoughts agitated their souls as they made the fatal descent, their
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