USA > Ohio > Mahoning County > History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II > Part 43
USA > Ohio > Trumbull County > History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II > Part 43
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ing destroyed by fire he engaged in farming for one year. He was then appointed postmaster at Mineral Ridge, and still manages the office in connection with the drug business. In 1875 Mr. Ohl recruited a company of the Ohio Na- tional guard and was elected captain. In 1877 he was appointed lieutenant-colonel, and 1880 colonel. Colonel Ohl has also held a number of local offices. In 1866 he married Sarah J. Herring, of Weathersfield township. They have five children-Sadie Olive O., William Arthur, Mary Ida, Harry Carlton, and Nellie Herring. Mr. Ohl is one of the charter members of the Mineral Ridge Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows' lodge.
J. T. McConnell, merchant, senior member of the firm McConnell Brothers, of Mineral Ridge, Trumbull county, is a son of William C. and Harriet McConnell. He was born in Weathers- field township, Trumbull county, in 1848. He began business with John Leavitt at Mineral Ridge, under the firm name John Leavitt & Co., and continued in this partnership about six years. In 1878 McConnell Brothers bought out Mr. Leavitt and have since been in the business. They have by far the largest and best furnished store in the village, and their custom is constantly increasing. In 1876 Mr. McConnell married Fannie L. Church, of Canfield, by whom he has two children, Freddie and Willie. He is a member of the Niles Masonic lodge.
W. J. McConnell, junior partner in the above named firm, was born in Weathersfield township in 1852, and began mercantile life in 1878. In 1879 he married Jennie Jones, of Mineral Ridge, and has one child, Blanche.
William Davis, mayor of Niles, Trumbull county, was born in Bilston, county of Stafford, England, May 8, 1817. In early life be began to work in a rolling-mill, and continued until he emigrated to America in 1842. Landing in New York in June of that year, he proceeded to Pittsburg and worked in a rolling-mill from 1842 to 1846. In April, 1846, he moved to Frank- lin, Venango county, Pennsylvania, and there held the position of guide-roller and nail-plate roller until 1851, when he removed to Niles. Here he worked at a heating furnace for James Ward & Co. In 1859 he became superintend- ent of the mill, and continued in that capacity until the death of James Ward, Sr., in 1865.
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He then went to Youngstown to manage the mill of Brown, Bonnell & Co. But having formed the purpose of establishing a rolling-mill in Niles, in company with George and James Harris, Mr. Davis was released from his engage- ment, and the mill, since bought by C. H. An- drews & Co., was erected and operated by Har- ris, Davis & Co. Mr. Davis continued a member of this firm until 1870, when he sold out. He then bought William Fisher's boot and shoe store, and was in that business about three years. Oc- tober 4, 1872, Mr. Davis was thrown from a buggy in Warren, and received a compound frac- ture of his ankle, which compelled him to use crutches for three years. Since 1876 he has been acting as mayor of Niles, and is now serv- ing his third term in that office. In 1839 he married Mary Ann Jones, a native of England, who still shares his home. They have ten chil- dren living and two sons deceased. Names and residences : John M., New Castle, Pennsyl- vania; William W., Canfield; James R., Jeffer- son C., Thomas R., Niles; Alexander M. B., Youngstown; and Joseph M., Niles. Daughters: Mrs. Susie Wood and Mrs. Sarah A. Spencer, Youngstown; Miss Lida Ward Davis, Niles.
Sexton Sykes, deceased, was a native of the State of Vermont, born in 1809. He lived in New York State several years. When a young man he came to Ohio and settled in Green town- ship, now in Mahoning county. He was elected the first recorder of deeds of Mahoning county in 1846 and served two terms. He then went to California and engaged in mining and keeping boarders. He died in Placerville, California, in 1853. He was married in 1836 to Rachel, daughter of David and Elizabeth Gilson, of Columbiana county. She was born in 1809 and now resides in Canfield, Mahoning county, where her home has been since 1846. She is the mother of six children, all of whom are living, viz : Phebe, Niles, Trumbull county; Melissa, married James Lowry, resides in Boardman; Celestia, married James Shorten, resides in Cin- cinnati; Robert, married Anna McIntyre, lives in Holmes county; Loretta, married Daniel Strickler, resides in Salem, Columbiana county; and Raymond G., married Clara Loose, resides in Niles, where he is engaged in the manufacture of iron roofing.
John Carter, proprietor of the Globe Foundry
and Machine works, Niles, Trumbull county, was born in Niles in 1853 and has always resided in the place. When young he began work in the foundry and machine shop of his father, Thomas Carter, and later succeeded him in the management of his business. Mr. Carter is do- ing a large and prosperous business.
E. I. Moore, book-keeper at Russia Iron mills, Niles, Trumbull county, was born in Niles in 1854, and is a son of Irwin and Mary N. Moore. He was educated at Oberlin college. After finishing his school work Mr. Moore acted as book-keeper and then as cashier of a bank for five years; he then engaged in the drug busi- ness in Niles in company with Dr. Mckinley for one year, then served one year in the bank. In 1879 he was engaged as book-keeper for L. B. Ward, a position which he still holds.
William Spill was born in Thornbury, Eng- lang, November 5, 1822, the oldest son of Wil- liam Spill, Sr., and Ann Brett. The family removed to Wales about 1837, where he worked as tallow-chandler. He was engaged as superin- tendent of coal banks for some three years. He married in 1845, Jane Hanson, a native also of England, and has two sons now living in War- ren, George and Thomas. His first wife died in 1853. He married in 1859 Mary Williams, his present wife, born in Wales in 1822. Mr. Spill came to this country in 1852 and to Ohio in 1854, having lived for two years in Maryland. He first located in Weathersfield township and engaged at his old occupation, coal mining. In 1866 he removed to Mineral Ridge, where, with his son George, he was engaged in merchandis- ing some twelve years. He removed to Warren in 1880 and has since lived a retired life.
Dr. A. J. Leitch, son of Robert and Eliza Leitch, was born near Belfast, Ireland, in 1848, and came to Niles, Trumbull county, Ohio, with his parents in the spring of 1852. He adopted the medical profession, and after a course of reading graduated from the Cleveland Medical college in 1871. He commenced practice the same year in Niles in partnership with Professor H. G. Landis, of the Starling Medical college, Columbus, Ohio, with whom he continued some four years. He then engaged in the drug busi- ness, in which he was engaged until the fall of 1879, when he formed a partnership in the prac- tice of medicine with Dr. A. P. Mckinley, of
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Niles, the firm being Mckinley & Leitch. Feb- ruary 17, 1881, he was united in marriage to Miss Ella M. Ward.
Dr. F. Caspar was born in Strasburg, France (now Germany), in 1816; came to the United States in the summer of 1831 and located in New Lisbon, where he was educated. He studied medicine with Dr. George McCook, of New Lisbon, and subsequently attended lectures at the Jefferson Medical college, Philadelphia. He commenced practice in 1840 at Petersburg, now Mahoning county, and remained there until 1853 when he removed to Canfield, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession seven years. In 1860 he removed to Niles, where he has resided since. In 1839 he was married to Miss Mary Ann Russell, daughter of William E. Russell, a former prominent attorney of New Lisbon. Mrs. Caspar was born in Steu- benville, Ohio, in 1822. To this marriage six children were born, of whom three sons and one daughter survive. Joseph Caspar, the father of Dr. Caspar, was a soldier under Bonaparte, serv- ing three or four years.
Warren Lewis (deceased) was born in Clarks- ville, Pennsylvania, September 12, 1800. He married, November 26, 1829, Miss Hannah M. Bowel, daughter of an early settler in Howland, the family settling there about 1802. After his marriage he returned to his home in Pennsylvania, but subsequently came to Ohio and purchased a farm in Weathersfield township, Trumbull county, where he located and reared a family of six children, named as follows : Henry, Rebecca M., Mary, Charlotte, Jesse B., and Clara, wife of R. G. Sikes. Henry, Rebecca, Mary, and Char- lotte are dead. Rebecca was twice married, first to James M. Robinson, by whom she had one daughter. Her second husband was Jerry Tib- bits. Mr. Lewis died October 24, 1859, and his wife September 28. 1864. Jesse B. Lewis was in the Union army in the war of secession, and was wounded at Atlanta in the right arm, which finally necessitated amputation. He married Miss Ella M. Woodward, of Cleveland, by whom he had one child, Ella E., who died in infancy. His wife died August 13, 1872, and he was again married January 1, 1874, to Miss Frances Lamphear, and has two sons by this marriage, Warren S. and Raymond J. Mr. Lewis occupies the old family homestead.
Andrew McRoberts (deceased) was born in Ireland in 1804. In 1832 he married Miss Mary McClure, by whom he had eight children, viz: James, John, and Georgiana, who were born in Ireland, and Caldwell, Mary Ann, Jordan, Helen, and Rachel, born in Mahoning county. In 1837 Mr. McRoberts purchased a farm of fifty acres in Austintown township, Mahoning county, where he made settlement. He re- moved to Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, in 1852, where he resided until his death, in 1863. His widow is still living, and resides in New Castle, Pennsylvania. James, their eldest son, married, October, 1858, Miss Laura M. Draper, by whom he had four children, as follows : Ida, Alice, John, and Mary. His first wife died May 31, 1870, and he subsequently married Miss Isabella White. He was in the service during the war of the Rebellion nine months. He now resides on the old Draper homestead near Niles.
Samuel H. Stillwagon, only son of Josiah and Jane Stillwagon, was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, in 1850. He came to Weathers- field township, Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1865, the farm now owned and occupied by him being purchased by his uncle, William Milford. June 11, 1872, he was married to Miss Kittie Hake. They have had two children, Freddie and Millie. The latter died April 21, 1880. Mr. Stillwagon is the owner of two hundred and eighty-nve acres, the home place comprising nearly two hundred. Himself and wife are members of the Disciples church. His father died February 29, 1852. His mother still survives, and resides with him.
John R. Thomas, manufacturer of fire-brick and iron, Niles, Trumbull county, was born in Aberdale, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, in 1834. In 1866 he emigrated to America. While in Wales he was engaged in the manu- facture of fire-brick, a business which he has followed nearly thirty. years. In 1866 Mr. Thomas went to California, returned thence to Wales, and in 1868 came to Youngstown. He has since resided in that place and in Niles. Mr. Thomas is connected with two of the leading in- dustries of Niles, being a member of the Thomas Furnace company, and the Niles Fire-brick com- pany. In 1855 he married Margaret Morgan, a native of Brynllor, county of Carmathen, South
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Wales, and has five children living, viz: John M., of Albany Law school, New York; Thomas E., William A., Margaretta and Mary Ann, of Niles. Mr. Thomas is a member of the Masonic order. In politics he has always been a Repub- lican. He is one of the successful and honored manufacturers of the Mahoning valley.
E. E. Ferris was born in the town of Buck- ingham, Ottawa, Canada, September 28, 1842. He came to Trumbull county, settling in Weath- ersfield township, in 1869. He married Sep- tember 8, 1875, Miss Savilla Moser, and pur- chased, where he now lives, in 1876. He owns altogether one hundred and forty-four acres of land.
C. W. Brieder, hardware merchant, Niles, Trumbull county, was born in New York city in 1849. When fifteen years of age he began learning the printing business in Youngstown. This he followed about three years, and then be- gan the hardware business, which he still con- tinues. In 1871 he moved to Niles. In 1873 he married Lizzie L. Sheible, of Niles. Mr. Brieder is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
C. W. Thomas, merchant, Niles, Trumbull county, was born at Clark's Cove, near Pitts- burg, in 1857. He has followed clerking and dealing in merchandise. He was in business with his father, D. C. Thomas, in Newburg, Ohio, in 1872-73. In December, 1873, Mr. Thomas came to Niles and was in business with his father until 1877, and has since been in busi- ness for himself. In 1880 he married Miss F. E. Talbitzer, of Niles, by whom he has one child-Carl D.
S. A. Russell, merchant, Niles, Trumbull county, was born in Huron county, Ohio, in 1851. He was employed upon a farm until eighteen years of age, then entered a grocery store in Elyria, Ohio, as clerk, and remained three years. In 1873 he came to Niles and learned the drug business, clerking for W. L. Gaston & Co. Then for four years he clerked for James Crandon, grocer, and in 1881 engaged in the same business for himself. In 1875 he married Miss Lena Scheible, of Niles, and has two children-Leroy and Hattie. He is doing a good business.
C. W. Porter, druggist, Niles, Trumbull county, was born in Austintown township, Mahoning
county, in 1850. In 1867 he engaged in the drug business for E. A. Smith at Warren, and contin- ued there until 1871, then was in the same busi- ness in Meadville, Pennsylvania, until 1874. In 1875 he began the same business in Niles and still continues to follow it. Mr. Porter was mar- ried in 1879 to Miss Ella Leslie, of Niles. He is prospering finely in his business.
Fred. J. Church, merchant, Niles, Trumbull county, was born in Canfield, Mahoning county, in 1854, son of Darius and Electa Church, and a descendant of Nathaniel Church. Mr. F. J. Church was educated in Canfield and at the age of nineteen began the mercantile business with his father. In 1878 he removed to Niles and became a member of the firm McConnell & Church. In 1880 this firm was changed to Church & Coffee, who have the largest store in Niles.
A. B. Cook, druggist, Niles, Trumbull county, Ohio, was born in Chardon, Geauga county, in 1856. His father, A. Cook, and his grandfather followed the drug business. Mr. A. B. Cook commenced working in his father's store in Chardon in 1871, and continued until 1878, when he removed to Niles and began business in part- nership with his father under the firm name of Cook & Co. Mr. A. B. Cook conducts the bus- iness and is successful. He was married in x88 1 to Miss Mary Wagstaff, of Niles.
Hiram Dunlap, fifth son of James and Cath- arine Dunlap, was born in Brookfield, Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1819. In 1848 he married Miss Lydia Van Wye, the result of which union was three children, one son and two daughters, as follow : James A., Emma J., and Lydia C .- James heing the only survivor. Mrs. Dunlap died September 7, 1854, and he married for his second wife Miss Amanda Hartzell, by whom he had seven sons, viz: Franklin H., Willie L., Edward H., Elmore W., Henry G., Thomas J., and Ferdinand C., all living but Thomas.
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CHAPTER III. HARTFORD.
This township was known under the surveys of the Connecticut Land company as number five, first range, in the Connecticut Western Re- serve. It was called Hartford, after the State capital of the same name. According to draft book, page 225, draft seven-three was drawn by Urial Holmes and Ephraim Root. This draft drew all of Hartford township, containing seven- teen thousand three hundred and seventeen acres of land. The Connecticut Land company executed a deed April 22, 1798, to Root and Holmes for a consideration of $12,903.23, being less than seventy-five cents per acre.
The township was surveyed into lots by Raphael Cooke. It was bounded on the east by the Pennsylvania State line ; on the north by Smithfield, afterwards named Vernon; on the west by Westfield, afterwards named Fowler ; and on the south by Brookfield.
According to Stowe's map of Trumbull county in 1800, numbers four and five in range one and two, and also numbers six, seven, eight, and nine in range one, two, and three, were known as Vernon.
Elections were held at Burg Hill, number five, for this territory of Vernon, which is now divided into sixteen townships, lying in Trum- bull and Ashtabula counties.
Burg Hill, located in the north part of the township of Hartford, may have received its name from the fact that it was the business point and place for elections and militia musters for many years early in the century.
The earliest records to be found show that a separate township organization must have been in existence in 1811. Elam Jones was elected township clerk at the April election of that year.
Legal papers bearing date as late as 1814 were drawn in some cases, as if the names of Vernon and Hartford were both used to desig- nate this township.
The deed of Holmes and Root to Titus Brock- way, drawn in 1803, in which they reserved one acre of land for a "green," on which to build a " meeting-house," speaks of the township as " Hartford." In a deed of Edward Brockway to his son Titus, drawn in 1802, the township is called Vernon, " in the territory of the United States, northwest of the Ohio river."
The first deed by said Urial Holmes and Ephraim Root was made September 23, 1799, to Edward Brockway, conveying 3,194 acres and a fraction of land, being lots seven, eight, fifteen, sixteen, twenty-one, and twenty-two, for a con- sideration of $50c, being less than sixteen cents an acre. According to tradition he exchanged his farm of two hundred acres in Hartford, Connecticut, for nearly one-fourth of the town- ship, and perhaps this formed a part of the consideration in addition to the amount men- tioned in the deed. A number of others ex- changed their farms for land here.
GENERAL FEATURES.
The soil is clayey through the central portions, but becomes less so as you approach the princi- pal streams-Yankee run on the west, and Pyma- tuning in the northeastern part of the township. The first named takes its rise in the marsh and runs in a southern direction in the western part of the township, until it meets the Little Yankee, which runs nearly east from Fowler to its junc- tion with the main stream. Near the south line it runs to the east, crossing the Brookfield and Hartford road at Burnett's mill, and a short dis- tance further leaves the township.
Yankee run is said to have been so named by the Indians because they found the body of a white man at the forks of the stream. Mill brook rises in the north central portion of the township, and runs north into Vernon. The Pymatuning was first called Smith's creek, after General Martin Smith, later Venango, the latter name appearing in old deeds which were made out by pioneer proprietors early in the century, and also in maps of a similar date. For many years it has been called Pymatuning. By some this is supposed to be an Indian name, by others it is claimed to be of French origin. This stream furnishes the water-power which has been so long utilized at Orangeville. Hewitt run rises on the farm which bears the same name, and the larger stream in that vicinity was known on early maps as Brockway run, named after Edward Brockway, the pioneer settler, and as its course nearly all lay within lands purchased by him, it should still bear his name. They are both trib- utaries of the Pymatuning. Mccullough run rises in the central and south central portion of the township. The two branches unite on the farm of T. A. Bushnell, and run thence nearly
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due east to the State line. It was named after a pioneer settler who resided near its mouth.
In the west central portion of the township is a sandstone ridge known as the ledge. It ex- tends for some distance from north to south, be- ing an abrupt precipice of rocks, of varying height, with some small caves. At different places the rock appears to show the action of water, as if it had at one time been the bank of a stream, and near the road a rocky ravine ex- tends a short distance from east to west. It has been a favorite local resort for school pic-nics, and is not entirely devoid of interest to older persons who have not been accustomed to the rocks and hills of New England, or some sımi- lar region. Across the run to the southwest, on the McFarland farm, a similar formation occurs, but of less extent. This stone has been quarried for many years, and is quite valuable for building and bridge purposes.
The land at Burg Hill is a circular knob or knoll comprising some fifty or more acres, and rising to an elevation of perhaps fifty feet above the general level, and is noted for the large num- ber of springs near its base. The hill itself ap- pears to be composed of conglomerate rock, with a thin covering of surface soil. Since the building of the railway the post-office and the store have been moved a little north to the sta- tion of the same name, within the township of Vernon. It is now sometimes called Old Burg Hill, and was formerly the residence of Colonel Richard Hayes and his three sons, Seth, Alvin, and Richard.
There are a few things of local interest, which since the first settlement of the township have been to some extent objects of curiosity to our citizens. The first to which we will refer, is known as the old road. It is located near the center of the northeastern part of the township, perhaps a mile or more west of Orangeville. It is nearly a half mile in length, and its general direction is from northeast to southwest. A por- tion of the road, or whatever it may have origi- nally been, varies but little from a straight line; the remainder is more winding, but retains the same general course. It has the appearance of having been at some time thrown up like a turn- pike. At some points it seems as if the depres- sion was still visible which was made by the re- moval of earth in constructing.
The embankment is generally the highest on the southern portion, which is also the highest ground, and as you go to the northeast the land gradually descends, and at a short distance from the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio railroad, it entirely disappears. At one point, south of the Orangeville road, it resembles a railroad embank- ment where it has been cut through by a stream of water. The first settlers found it covered with forest trees as large as at other places. Tra- dition says that whenever deer were started by hunters in that vicinity, they always made for the old road, if possible, and used it as a runway during their flight.
It seems to us it must have been of artificial construction. It could hardly have been a forti- fication, however, and it does not seem to meet any of the requirements of military science. A gentleman who has resided in the vicinity some seventy years, informed the writer he had heard it suggested that it was made as a boundary line between two Indian tribes, but it would seem to have been constructed by a more civilized race.
A boulder of large size, sometime in the his- tory of the world, took up its residence in this vicinity, and is another of our few local curiosi- ties. There are many others of the same class, but so much smaller as to receive but little atten- tion. It is located near the top of Brockway's hill, on the south part of the farm formerly owned by the late Calvin Cone, and has been variously estimated to weigh from seventy-five to one hundred tons. It is surrounded by material which has evidently formed, at some period, part of the rock itself, but from the action of the ele- ments has been reduced in size.
There are a few places in the township where we find a bed of gravel, resting upon the ordi- nary surface soil, and having all the appearance of being artificial, but no possible reason can be assigned for their construction, and no similar material is found in the vicinity. One bed that has been carefully examined, on A. P. Kepner's land, is some forty feet in diameter, about three feet deep in the center, growing thinner as you approach the circumference or outer edge. It certainly shows no correspondence to drift de- posit, and cannot well be classed as kames.
On the farms of Luther and John Fitch, and also on the farm of William Rathbun, at the time of settlement were quite a number of exca-
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vations very similar in general appearance. They resembled wells, which having been dug and left for years had partially filled up. In early days they were so deep in some cases as to require fencing to protect stock from danger. They were known in the neighborhood as "old wells." No examination has been made to de- termine their original purpose.
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