History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II, Part 5

Author: Williams (H.Z.) & Bro., Cleveland, Ohio, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland : H. S. Williams
Number of Pages: 726

USA > Ohio > Mahoning County > History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II > Part 5
USA > Ohio > Trumbull County > History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II > Part 5

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The Onion society continued in existence many years. The last recorded meetings bear the date 1833. Many are still living who cannot fail to have pleasant reminiscences of their con- nection with this society.

TEMPERANCE SOCIETY.

In 1832 occurred a general awakening on the subject of temperance. It is said to have originated in sport by a young man proposing to "get up some grand excitement," but as the movement progressed, serious earnestness was the spirit which characterized it. A temper- ance society was organized, and continued in existence some twenty years, and during that period a large number of names were enrolled upon the pledge. Elihu and Elisha Warner, Charles Frethy, and Edmund P. Tanner were especially active members. The better portion of the community aided the organization, and much good work was accomplished. At times an enthusiastic interest was felt. Among those who were wont to address the meetings we notice that the names of the village preachers have a prominent place.

SOLDIERS' AID SOCIETY.

During the war for the Union the ladies of Canfield showed their patriotism by organizing a society for the aid of the soldiers, and through their labors and generosity much valuable ma- terial aid found its way into Federal camps. The

TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO.

society was organized October 30, 1861, and its officers were: Mrs. S. R. Canfield, president; Mrs. E. Newton, vice-president; Miss M. M. Pierson, secretary ; Mrs. J. B. Blocksom, assist- ant secretary , Mrs. F. G. Servis, treasurer ; Miss Susan Tomson, assistant treasurer. For their generous efforts they were blessed by the hearts of hundreds of soldiers.

ODD FELLOWS.

A charter was granted January 18, 1850, to Canfield lodge No. 155, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to the following charter members: William W. Whittlesey, Walter M. Prentice, E. J. Estep, James Powers, and John G. Kyle. The lodge was instituted May 1, 1850, by Most Worthy Grand Master William C. Earl. The first officers were as follow: Walter M. Prentice, N. G .; James Powers, V. G .; E. J. Estep, secretary, and William W. Whittlesey, treasurer. The following were initiated as mem- bers on the evening the lodge was instituted : John H. Mill, Nathan Hartman, Walter Blythe, L. L. Bostwick, and William Schmick.

In 1857 the lodge purchased of William Lynn the three-story brick building on the upper floor of which is their hall. The lower floors are rented for a store, offices, etc. The hall is of ample size, and is fitted and furnished tastefully.

Up to the present writing there have been re- ceived into the lodge by initiation and by card two hundred and fifty members. The present membership is ninety-three. Several former members of this lodge have withdrawn and joined lodges organized in neighboring towns.

The lodge is in a prosperous condition finan- cially and its membership of a high character. The total amount of property belonging to it is valued at $6,500. From the first this organiza- tion has been prosperous. The present officers, elected in July, 1881, are as follow: John Mar- tin, N. G .; J. K. Misner, V. G .; George F. Lynn, secretary ; Hosea Hoover, permanent secretary, and J. Truesdale, treasurer. The two officers last named have held their respective offices for a period of twenty-one consecutive years.

THE OIL BUSINESS.

From 1854 to 1863 the cannel coal of the southeastern part of the township was consider- ably worked for "coal oil." In 1858-59 four large establishments were erected in the south-

eastern quarter of the township for the manufact- ure of oil, at an expense of about $200,000, but the discovery of naturally flowing oil wells drove them out of existence. These establishments were built by Eastern capitalists and for a time the business was carried on "with a rush." The four companies were as follow :

I. The Hartford company; works cost $20,- ooo; the buildings were burned in June, 1860, and rebuilt at an expense of $20,000.

2 The Mahoning company, originally the Buffalo company; cost of works, $75,oco.

3. The Mystic, afterwards the New London company ; cost $18,000.

4. The Phoenix company ; $75,000.

In 1861 the managers of these companies in the order above given were C. H. Parsons, John Wetmore, Mr. Thompson, and A. H. Everett. The Phoenix, the largest of the works, made about seventy-five barrels of oil per week, had thirty-two retorts, and employed thirty-one men. The coal was drawn from the mine by steam- power.

ANECDOTES, INCIDENTS, AND TRADITIONS.

In 1805 occurred one of those mysterious phenomena for which man has striven in vain to account. Archibald Johnston, a settler of 1804, was a man of an intelligent, strong mind, void of bigotry or superstition. He had pur- chased Nathan Moore's farm and was preparing to move onto it. Returning home one evening he saw what appeared to him to be a burning bush, and something in the vision strongly im- pressed him that he would die in just six weeks. He told his friends of his conviction, and no arguments could remove it from his mind. He died upon the designated day.

The old well at the center of Canfield is a land-mark. It was built at the exact center of the township for the benefit of the inhabitants of the town. Mr. J. W. Canfield, while looking over some of his grandfather's papers recently, came across the bill for building the well. There were a large number of items in it, but not a great number of articles were specified. One word occurred with such frequency as to cause Mr. Canfield to remark, "It is astonishing how much whiskey it took to make a well in those days!" The chief items of expense, in fact, were a certain number of gallons of whiskey, followed up by many a line of ditto, ditto.

TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO.

What has been said concerning the wildness of other townships will apply equally well to Canfield in early days. Deer were so numerous that an old lady now living says it was almost as common to see one as it is to see a dog now-a- days. The children were often obliged to be lulled to sleep while the howling of the wolves rang in their ears. Bears were often destructive to stock, though it seems that the young people were never molested by them. James Reed caught a young cub and tamed it. He kept the bear tied to a stake until it was a year old, when it broke loose and escaped.

In the days when the discussion of the slavery question was the all-absorbing topic, Canfield became possessed of a strong anti- slavery element on the one had, and on the other an equally strong pro-slavery party. Of course the bitterest of feeling sprang up between the two, and many hostile, though bloodless, en- counters resulted.

The mobbing of Rev. M. R. Robinson, in Berlin, in 1837, is alluded to in the history of that township. On the morning after his rough treatment he appeared early at the house of Mr. Wetmore, south of the village of Can- field, and knocked at the door. Mrs. Wetmore looked out of the window and saw a startling sight. The figure of a man, hatless, with disor- dered clothing, feathers filling his hair and mov- ing about in the wind, caused the good lady to think, at first, that the devil himself had ap- peared. However, the family aroused, listened to the stranger's story, and at once took meas- ures for his relief. His soiled garments were removed and William Wetmore provided him with a change of raiment. It being the Sabbath he went with the family to church and there made announcement that he would lecture in the afternoon. The story of his treatment got abroad and a large audience greeted him.

During the same year a Methodist preacher named Miller announced an anti-slavery lecture for one evening, in the Congregational church. Many inhabitants of Canfield thought they had had enough discussion of this subject and pro- posed to teach Miller a lesson. The result was a disgraceful scene, of which many of the par- ticipants afterwards became heartily ashamed.

The evening for the lecture arrived and Miller was present with his wife and son. He had not

proceeded far in his speech when he was greeted by a shower of rotten eggs, while hooting and jeering resounded through the house. But this · apostle of justice to all the human race was a man of pluck and could not be silenced in this way. He directed his son to come and stand over him with an umbrella, to ward off the un- savory missiles ; and thus protected he finished his speech. It had been arranged to seize the speaker as he was leaving the house and then treat him to a coat of tar and feathers. The materials, already prepared, were at hand. But Miller walked from the pulpit and passed down the aisle between two ladies, reaching the door in safety. He sprang into the buggy with Mrs. Miller and drove away at a rapid rate. Attempts were made to catch him as he was entering the carriage, but he was too quick for his persecu- tors. A fellow caught hold of the hind end of the buggy as it started away and hung on for some distance, but Mrs. Miller made such good use of the whip about his head and ears that he was glad to desist. The son took to the woods and effected his escape. When we consider that the greater part of the above described scenes were enacted in the house of God, we can form some idea of the public sentiment which then prevailed.

But Canfield was not without a strong body of Abolitionists whose conduct was as heroic as that of the opposing element was reprehensible. Among those who befriended and assisted the persecuted fugitive slaves was Jacob Barnes, now deceased, who resided two miles east of the vil- lage. His house was a station on the under- ground railway. In a large covered wagon which he owned he carried many a load of ne- groes from his house, journeying by night, to Hartford, Trumbull county, where the next sta- tion was located.

A MURDER.

In 1826 occurred an unfortunate affair in which a poor fellow lost his life. Archibald Mc- Lean, a worthless, drunken shoemaker, became involved in a dispute with Adam Mell and stabbed the latter with a shoe-knife. Mell died from the effects of the wound the next day. His death took place in February, 1826. The stab- bing was done in the house occupied by Mell in the village. McLean had his trial, was convicted, and sentenced to the penitentiary for life.

TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

The following sketches of some of the first proprietors of the township of Canfield are principally compiled from information collected and recorded by Hon. Elisha Whittlesey :

NATHANIEL CHURCH

was a descendant of the fifth generation from Richard Church, one of the colonists of Plym- outh, Massachusetts, who, though not a pas- senger in the Mayflower, joined the Pilgrims as early as 1631. It is supposed that he afterwards removed to Hartford, Connecticut, as the name of Richard Church is found there upon the pub- lic monument erected to the memory of the first settlers of the town. Nathaniel Church was the son of Samuel Church, and was born in Bethle- hem, Connecticut, November 16, 1756. His father died when he was but three years old. At a suitable age he was apprenticed to a weaver, but finding his master one difficult to please he deserted his service soon after the breaking out of the Revolutionary war and joined the patriot army. He was wounded in the battle of White Plains and his injuries were pronounced mortal. He recovered, however, though his wounds ever troubled him. He did not rejoin the army, but as soon as he was able to resume his trade as a weaver he went to Canaan, Connecticut, and was there employed by Captain John Ensigu, a clothier. October 4, 1781, he married Lois Ensign, youngest daughter of his employer. She died in about two years, leaving two sons, Ensign and Samuel. In 1793 he was again married, to Dorcas Nickerson, who died in 1799. From this marriage there were also two children, Luman and John. He was a third time married in 1800, to Mrs. Ruth Johns, who bore five children Nathaniel, Frederick, Lois, William, and Ruth. His third wife survived him and died in 1842. Mr. Church was prominently en- gaged in manufacturing and assisted in the erec- tion of a paper mill in Salisbury. This mill hav- ing burned, he retired to a farm on the banks of the Housatonic, where he died November 10, 1837. He was an active and ardent politician and was twice elected a member of the House of Assembly from the town of Salisbury. He was a devoted Christian of the Methodist de- nomination,

Samuel Church, his oldest son, became a dis- tinguished lawyer in Connecticut and chief justice of the supreme court in that State. He was the father of A. E. Church, a distinguished mathematician and a professor in the United States Military academy at West Point.

Ensign Church was born in Salisbury in 1782, and married Jerusha Wright in 1805. He and his wife left Connecticut in May, 1805, and ar- rived in Canfield the 4th of June following. In 1812 he was appointed deputy quartermaster under General Simon Perkins, and was dis- charged in 1813, broken down by fatigue in the service. He died April 17, 1813. He was the father of two children, one of whom died in 1818; the other became the wife of Hon. Eben Newton. His widow afterwards married Eli T. Boughton, of Canfield, and died here in 1869 at the advanced age of eighty-four.

John R. Church, a son of Nathaniel Church, came to Canfield in 1818, and for several years was a successful business man and associate judge. He died April 11, 1868.

GENERAL ELIJAH WADSWORTH

was born in Hartford, Connecticut, November 14, 1747, and removed to Litchfield in the same State previous to the year 1770. Tradition has it that he was a lineal descendant of Captain Joseph Wadsworth who secreted the charter of Connecticut in the famous Charter Oak, in Hartford, on the 9th day of May, 1689. Elijah Wadsworth built and owned the house in Litch- field, which about the year 1790 he sold to Chief Justice Adams, the first chief justice of Con- necticut. This house was subsequently owned and occupied by Dr. Lyman Beecher as his resi- dence during a pastorate of several years. In this house were born Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, and others of the family.

February 16, 1780, Mr. Wadsworth married Rhoda Hopkins, who was born at Litchfield, Connecticut, November 1, 1759, and died in Canfield, June 21, 1832. The fruits of this union were five children : Henry, Rhoda, Fre- derick, Edward, and George. All were born in Litchfield. Henry, born October 11, 1781, died in Bradleysville, Connecticut, November, 1830; Rhoda, born February 17, 1784, married in

TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO.

Litchfield in September, 1802, Archibald Clark, of St. Mary's, Georgia, and died in St. Mary's, August 2, 1830 ; Frederick, born March 7, 1786, died -; Edward, born May 3, 1791, died in Canfield, August 5, 1835 ; George, born April 5, 1793, died in Canfield, August 6, 1832.

When the first news of the battle of Bunker Hill reached Litchfield, Mr. Wadsworth volun- teered to go to Boston, but for some reason went no further than Hartford, and thence returned to Litchfield, where he assisted in raising Sheldon's regiment of light dragoons, and served in that regiment during the whole of the Revolutionary war. Sheldon's regiment was one of the first squadrons of horse that jomed the revolutionary army, and was with and under the immediate command of Washington, and had frequent and at times almost daily skirmishes with the enemy. Frederick Wadsworth, in a biographical sketch of his father, says:

Sheldon's regiment or that part of it then in actual service, was at West Point when Major Andre was taken prisoner, and General Arnold made his escape. I have often heard my father narrate the circumstances of the capture, trial, and execution of Andre. He always spoke enthusiastically in his praise, but did not give his captors that credit for disinter- ested patriotism which history awards to them. My father was one of the guard set over Major Andre the night after his capture. I never could understand why Arnold was not secured. I have heard my father say that after Andre was taken, Major Jamison, one of the majors of Sheldon's regi- ment, was ordered by Colonel Tallmadge who then had command of the regiment, to take a squadron of horse, sur- round Arnold's house, and not suffer him to leave it; this duty was performed by Major Jamison so far as to surround Arnold's house, but still he was permitted to make his escape.

Mr. Wadsworth entered the service as a lieu- tenant, but before the close of the war he held a captain's commission. Captain Wadsworth was one of the earliest members of the land com- pany which purchased the Western Reserve from the State of Connecticut in 1795. He was one of the original proprietors of the townships of Canfield and Boardman in Mahoning county, Johnston in Trumbull county, Conneaut in Ash- tabula county, Palmyra in Portage county, and Wadsworth (named after him) in Medina county.

He spent the summers of 1799 and 1801 on the Reserve, and attended to the surveying of Salem (now Conneaut), Palmyra, Boardman, and Johnston, returning to Connecticut in the fall of each year. In 1799 he succeeded Nathaniel Church as the agent of the proprietors of Can- field township. His services in establishing the 5

first mail route upon the Reserve in 1801 are fully detailed elsewhere.

The spring and summer of 1802 Captain Wadsworth likewise spent upon the Western Reserve; then returned to Connecticut, and on the 15th day of September of the same year left Litchfield with his family, in a wagon drawn by two horses, leading one extra horse. Twelve days before he started he sent Azariah Wetmore ahead with a wagon and his yoke of oxen. He overtook Wetmore before arriving at Pittsburg, and they continued in company until they reached Canfield on the 17th of October, Cap- tain Wadsworth and family having been thirty- three days on the way, and Mr. Wetmore forty- five. Thenceforth until his death, Canfield was his home.

Captain Wadsworth was postmaster in Can- field from 1801 until his resignation in 1803, and was again appointed postmaster in 1813. At the first general election after Ohio became a State, the second Tuesday in February, 1803, he was elected sheriff of Trumbull county. At the session of the Legislature of 1803-4, the Legis- lature divided the State into four military divis- ions and elected him major-general of the fourth division, which comprised all the territory south of Lake Erie to the south line of Jefferson county. It required great exertion to organize the militia in this vast district. War was de- clared by the United States against Great Britain on the 19th of June, 1812, and on the 16th of August General Hull at Detroit surrendered the Northwestern army to the British. By this sur- render the whole northwestern frontier was ex- posed to incursions from the enemy. The fourth division embraced the entire northwestern frontier of the State, the Cuyahoga river being then the limit of frontier settlement. News of Hull's surrender was brought to General Wads- words on the morning of August 21st by Charles Fitch of Ellsworth, who had been at Cleveland on business, and hearing of the disaster returned express. General Wadsworth sent expresses to his brigadier-generals to detail troops from their respective commands for defending the frontier, and ordered Captain James Doud and his com- pany of cavalry into the service. The remainder of the day was spent in obtaining the ammunition on sale in Canfield and neighboring towns, and making preparations for a tour of military duty.

TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO.

Sunday morning, the 22d, General Wadsworth, with Elisha Whittlesey, one of his aides, and the above mentioned company of cavalry, left Can- field about 10 o'clock tor Cleveland, where they arrived the next day about 4 o'clock P. M. On the 24th of August he sent Governor Hunting- ton express to Washington with the first authen- tic and reliable account of the surrender of Gen- eral Hull.

Immediately after this General Wadsworth took up a position at old Portage, on the Cuya- hoga, six miles north of the present site of Akron, in readiness to meet the enemy at that point with a detachment of his command. Soon after we find him at Camp Avery, near where Milan, Erie county, now is. He soon received orders, however, from Governor Meigs and from the Secretary of War to protect the frontiers, and to organize a brigade of fifteen hundred men from his division, put them under the com- mand of a brigadier general, and report them over to General Winchester or other officer commanding the northwestern army. This was completed the following November, and under the command of Brigadier-general Simon Per- kins they were reported to General William H. Harrison, at that time commanding the North- western army. General Wadsworth then retired from the service and returned to his home in November, 1812.

At the beginning of the war General Wads- worth was sixty-five years of age, with a consti- tution which had been hardy, robust, and vigor- ous, but at that time considerably impaired. His anxieties and exertions greatly injured his health, and it was never good afterwards. In the sum- mer of 1815 he had a shock of the palsy which paralyzed his left side and rendered him almost entirely helpless until his death. He died De- cember 30, 1817, aged seventy years, a veteran of two wars, a hero of the "times that tried men's souls." In the Revolutionary war he lost the little property he had previously accumu- lated, and returned with nothing save a quantity of Continental currency, which soon became worthless. The only reward he obtained for his services in the War of 1812, except the approval of his conscience, was a judgment against him for $26,551.02 for purchases he had made to subsist his troops. To the honor of Congress and the Nation, however, this judgment was dis-

charged by an act of Congress, but not until he had been dead for years, as the act was passed March 3, 1825.

HON. JUDSON CANFIELD

was born in New . Milford, Connecticut, January 23, 1759. He was the second son of Colonel Samuel Canfield, an officer in the Revolutionary army and a member of the Connecticut State Leg- islature for twenty-six sessions. Colonel Canfield was distinguished by great energy of character and clearness of intellect. He died in 1799 in the seventy-fourth year of his age. Judson Can- field was educated at Yale college and graduated therefrom in 1782. Two years later he was ad- mitted to the bar, and in 1786 he settled in Sharon, Connecticut, where he successfully pur- sued his profession. The same year he was mar- ried to Mabel Ruggles, daughter of Captain Ruggles, an officer of the Revolution and a man distinguished for high moral character and re- finement.

Mr. Canfield was a member of the popular branch of the State Legislature, from the town of Sharon, at almost every session, from 1802 to 1809, when he was elected a State Senator for each successive year until he removed from the State in 1815. >From 1808 to 1815 he was also an associate judge of the county court for the county of Litchfield.

After his removal to Ohio he devoted himself mainly to farming and disposing of his lands. He died February 5, 1840. His children were Henry J., Julia, Elvira, Elizabeth H., and Caro- line Elena.

Henry J. Canfield was born January 4, 1789, died November 27, 1856. He married Sally R. Ferris in 1825; she died January 23, 1881. The children of this union were two, Julia E. and Judson W. Julia married D. C. Ruggles, and died in 1857.

THE BEARDSLEY FAMILY.

Curtis Beardsley was the fourth son of Cap- tain Philo Beardsley, a Connecticut soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was born in Kent, now New Preston, Litchfield county, Connecti- cut, March 1, 1797. March 10, 1816, being

TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO.

then but nineteen years of age, he was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Hanford, who was one year younger than himself. The tenth day of the following April this youthful couple left their native State for their future home in the ncw West. In company with Mr. Beardsley's brother Philo, in a wagon drawn by two horses and a yoke of oxen they journeyed from Connecticut to the Western Reserve, arriving in Boardman May 4, 1816. The following day, which was Sunday, they spent with Josiah Beardsley, a brother, at his home in that township. On Mon- day they reached Canfield, and took up their abode in a little log cabin with puncheon floor and without a pane of glass. The land taken up by Mr. Beardsley was uncleared, but he at once set to work, and during the first season cleared ten acres and sowed it to wheat. For his seed wheat he was obliged to pay the enor- mous price of $2 per bushel, but when harvest time came he found that he could not get three shillings per bushel in cash for his grain.

Hard and untiring labor, strict economy, and wise management were practiced by both hus- band and wife, and in due course of time they found themselves in the possession of a pleasant home and a fine farm. Children came to bless and encourage them in their work, and kind Providence smiled upon their efforts. Mr. Beardsley became a prominent and honored citizen of Canfield, enjoying during his long life the highest respect and esteem of friends and neighbors. December 6, 1876, he passed peace- fully from this life to the life above.

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History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II, Part 5

Author: Williams (H.Z.) & Bro., Cleveland, Ohio, pub Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland : H. S. Williams Number of Pages: 726

Author: Williams (H.Z.) & Bro., Cleveland, Ohio, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland : H. S. Williams
Number of Pages: 726