USA > Ohio > Mahoning County > History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II > Part 88
USA > Ohio > Trumbull County > History of Trumbull and Mahoning counties with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Vol. II > Part 88
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one, yet at the age of seventy-three he is hale and hearty, retaining all his faculties. Though residing in Cleveland, he retains his old home in Mesopotamia, and says he will as long as he lives, and when he says home it means either Cleveland or Mesopotamia, the meaning of the word depending upon which place is spoken of.
SETTLEMENT NOTES.
Timothy Cox was born in York county, Penn- sylvania, April 12, 1799. His father, John Cox, was of English descent. He removed from Pennsylvania to Ohio with his family in 1805 and settled in Bristol township, where he was one of the earliest pioneers. The family consisted of twelve children, three of whom are living. Mr. Cox was one of the most en- ergetic farmers and pioneers in Bristol, where he died in 1856. Timothy Cox, the only surviving son, remained at home until the age of twenty-one years. He then took a contract to clear forty acres of land, receiving in pay- ment forty acres of wild land. Mr. Cox mar- ried in 1824 Sarah Bonner, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1805. They had a family of ten children - Joseph A .; Ephraim; Mariah A., wife of Martin F. Smith, residents of Mes- opotamia; Harriet, wife of Eben E. Caldwell, resident of Cleveland; Seymour A., killed in battle of Perryville, October 8, 1862; Clarissa P., wife of John Ritter, resident of Washing- ton, District of Columbia; Louisa M., resident- of Mesopotamia ; Aaron P., resident of Cass county, Nebraska; Phebe, wife of Edwin Brig- don, of Mesopotamia; and Enos S., resident of Nebraska. Mrs. Cox died February 12, 1882. Mr. Cox lived in Bristol township until 1865, when he removed to Mesopotamia.
Chauncey Bates was born in Geauga coun- ty, Ohio, July 19, 1835. His father, Wil- liam M. Bates, was a native of Norwich, Con- necticut, the date of his birth being 1808. He came to Ohio and settled on a farm near his present residence in 1829. In 1831 he married Rachel, daughter of Alpheus Winter, one of the pioneers of Mesopotamia township. She was born January 28, 1810. The family of William and Mrs. Bates consisted of five children of whom four are living. Edwin, the oldest son,
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was a volunteer in the One Hundred and Seventy-ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, and died in the hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, in June, 1865. Chauncey Bates, after passing through the common schools attended the seminary at Orwell three terms. He subsequently taught school eighteen winters. He was married Oc- tober 14, 1858, to Eliza H. Hart, a native of Geauga county. They have a family of three children-Frank A., born June 3, 1860; Earl H., born January 25, 1872; and Blanche E., born , January 5, 1877. Mr. Bates enlisted in the United States service in 1865. He has served several years as clerk of the township, and has also filled other public positions. He is a mem- ber of the Congregational church, leader of the choir, and superintendent of the Sunday-school.
Edward P. Griffin, the son of Edward and Leah Griffin, was born in Mesopotamia township, Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1848. He followed farming until 1872, when he took charge of the hotel at Mesopotamia center, where he still con- tinues. He married in 1870 Ella, daughter of Ellory and Saloma Williams. She was born in Mesopotamia in 1852. They have a family of three children, Lulu, Maud, and Walter.
Seba and Jane Ensign, with their family, came to Mesopotamia from Cattaraugus county, New York. They were among the early settlers of the township, settling in the northwest part. Se- ba Ensign, Jr., married Almira Smith, daughter of Edmond Smith, one of the early, and now one of the oldest residents of the township, having been born in 1800. His wife, Polly, is still liv- ing also. Mr. Ensign has been a carpenter and joiner by trade. For the past seventeen years he has been an invalid, being afflicted with dys pepsia, and has endured much suffering, on one occasion going without food for over twelve days. Mr. Ensign has a family of one daughter and two sons, viz: Julia, wife of Irvin E. Brig- den, of Cleveland; Eugene J., in the same city, and Frank, engaged in merchandise in Garrets- ville, Ohio. The latter married Jessie Holcomb, of Cleveland. E. J. Ensign was born in Meso- potamia, June 23, 1850; married Betsey, daugh- ter of Stephen W. Irwin, a well-known and early family of Mecca township. Two children have been born of this union, Leon E. and Carrie Bell. Mr. Ensign removed to Cleveland in 1881, and is now engaged in business there.
CHAPTER XIX. BRACEVILLE.
The original proprietors of the lands of this township, who received their titles from the State of Connecticut, were Jonathan Brace, Enoch Perkins, and Roger Newberry, and the deed conveying the lands to these persons is dated April 22, 1799.
On the roth of December, 1800, the above persons associated themselves with Justin Ely, who with Jonathan Brace was proprietor of Newton township, and they together conveyed their several interests to Pardon Brown for the purpose of reconveying the same lands to the grantors, which was done the same day, and the five proprietors above named became joint owners of the soil. At a later period the pro- prietors made a partition of their unsold lands, giving to each one a separate interest in different tracts. In 1802 the township was surveyed into lots or sections one mile square, and by the survey of the Connecticut Land company the township embraced an area of fifteen thousand and four acres of land. The first title deed made by the proprietors to a purchaser was made to Francis Freeman, on November 21, 1803, and is the same land on which Ralph Freeman settled, be- ing the west part of section sixteen, in the south- west part of the township.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
In the spring of 1803, a man by the name of Millan, a "squatter," built a small log cabin on the ledge, on the township line between Brace- ville and Warren. After completing the cabin he left it for the purpose of bringing his family, but during his absence a fire was started in the woods, probably by the Indians, as it was a common thing in those days, especially on the hunting grounds, and the Millan cabin was burned down, and he, hearing of the disaster, never returned. From this incident the town- ship was called Millantown, which it retained until its organization in 1811, when it was named Braceville, after Jonathan Brace, one of the pro- prietors, as before mentioned.
In July, 1803, Ralph Freeman and William Mossman, two unmarried men, came into the township and erected a log cabin on the bank of the Mahoning river near the former residence of Asa W. Parker, now the residence of John Hip-
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ple. Mossman had purchased one hundred acres of land on which the cabin was erected ; Freeman becoming owner of the land deeded to his brother, as before mentioned, in section six- teen. They kept bachelor's hall for more than a year, chopping on their lands. They had one cow which fed on browse, and the milk they kept in a gourd ; during the warm weather the handle of this gourd became infested with maggots, and to remedy the evil they cut it off, thus seriously damaging the usefulness of the vessel. The dishes belonging to the culinary department of this pioneer establishment were necessarily very few, and they partook of their plain fare in the well-known Pennsylvania fashion of "sup and bite."
William Mossman sold his interest in the land to Ralph Freeman and went to Warren, where he married and kept a public house for some years, afterwards moving to near Buffalo. Free- man remained on his farm alone and continued to make necessary improvements, and is there- fore entitled to the honor of being the first pio- neer settler of Braceville.
In 1804 Samuel Oviatt, Sr., of Goshen, Con- necticut, purchased about one thousand acres of land in this township, and his sons, Samuel and Stephen, with their wives, moved into Brace- ville; these two women being the first white women in the township. Their journey was a long and tedious one, being over six weeks on the road, and coming over the Allegheny moun- tains by way of Pittsburg, to Warren, from which place they were compelled to cut a road through the wilderness, thus making the first wagon trail from Warren to Braceville. In this same year Jacob Earle came to the township. The winter of 1804 5 was one of great destitution to the pioneers of this township, there being as yet no mills and little grain. The Oviatt families sub- sisted principally on boiled corn and baked pota- toes and such wild game as they could get, and for an entire week they subsisted on potatoes alone. At one time, becoming entirely destitute of provisions of any kind, just at sunset on a Sabbath evening, while they were reflecting on their destitute situation, as if sent by a kind Providence, a fine turkey gobbler perched upon a tree near their lonely cabin. One of the men seized his gun, and though it was now quite dark, he succeeded in bringing down his game,
and it is safe to say that that one turkey fur- nished ample provision for all Braceville. Mrs. Sally (Storn) Oviatt, wife of Stephen Oviatt, was the mother of the first white child born in the township-William J. Oviatt, who moved from here to Wisconsin.
An incident is related of Mrs. Oviatt, as fol- lows: One day in the absence of the men a large deer came into the "chopping" near the cabin; she seized her husband's rifle and with unerring aim fired and brought down the game, a noble buck. She took an axe and hurried to where the deer lay, to make sure of the capture, and in her excitement, it is stated that she cut the animal's throat on the back of its neck ; at least this is a standing joke on Mrs. Oviatt in the community.
In February, 1805, Joshua Bradford, with his sons, Joshua, Joel, and William, settled on lot fifteen ; and in the spring of the same year Samuel Oviatt, Sr., and his sons, Edward (and wife), Seth, and Mark, also his two daughters, settled on lot twenty-three. At this time a small tribe of Indians, with their chief, Paqua, had a camp in the forks of the Mahoning river, where they remained until the spring of 1806. This is the same tribe with which General Cleveland held a council near Conneaut in 1796. They were friendly and inoffensive, but some- what annoying to the whites on account of their constant begging for whiskey and powder. They were especially so to the elder Oviatt, who had brought a quantity of powder for the use of his sons in the new settlement.
Early in the spring after the difficulty at Deer- field-an account of which appears elsewhere in this work-this tribe disappeared down the river in their canoes. In searching through their camping-grounds, among other things was found a large iron kettle and other utensils for making maple sugar. The kettle is now kept as a relic, and is supposed to have belonged to General Parsons, who had used it in his operations at the old salt works in Weathersfield in 1789.
FIRST ELECTION OF JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.
The first election for justice of the peace was held April 22, 1812, and Fowler Merwin was de- elared elected, Solomon Oviatt being the oppos- ing candidate. The election was contested and set aside on the ground that the successful can- didate was the only clerk of election. On the
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30th of May following another election was held with the same candidates in the field, resulting in the election of Solomon Oviatt. This elec- tion was also contested and set aside on account of informality. Forty votes were cast. The above are the only cases of contested elections or in which any election was set aside for any reason, whatever, in this township.
On the 4th of July following a third election was held, and the good people of Braceville be- coming wearied of the contest between the two candidates for the office, and determining to have a justice of the peace they went into the election with that kind of patriotism common in early days on 4th of July occasions, embrac- ing all the elements that the day and occasion usually required, and succeeded in electing Rob- ert Freeman as the first justice of Braceville. When the result of the election was officially an- nounced three cheers were given by the crowd, and the newly elected candidate was borne upon the shoulders of the inspired electors, into the school-house, where he made a very laconic speech, of which there is no further report, and according to the custom of the times called in a "jug and grog." This would seem a remarkable mode of procedure in Braceville now, but it was then the invariable rule for the successful candidate in any election to "treat."
Robert Freeman, Esq., lived with his son Ralph, and was affable and courteous in his man- ner, amiable in disposition, kind and generous as a neighbor, and prominent as a citizen. He was chairman of the organization and first election of the township; was one of the first trustees, and held the office of justice of the peace until his death, being the first adult person that died in the township. He was first interred on the Freeman farm, but was afterwards removed and placed in the public cemetery at Braceville cen- ter.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
Robert Freeman, July 12, 1812; Auren Taft, May 1, 1813, three and one-half years ; Edman Oviatt, September 1, 1813, six years ; Philoceles Lewis, May 5, 1819, six years ; Samuel Oviatt, July 22, 1820, six years ; Hervey Stow, August 4, 1825, three years ; Warren Arnold, June 20, 1826 (resigned); Seth Oviatt, September 2, 1826, three years ; William Benedict, August 28, 1828, eighteen years ; Benami Johnson, August 22,
1829, six years; William Griswold, August 2, 1835, two years ; Uriah Merwin, November 10, 1837, six years ; George Lyman, June 16, 1838, nine years ; Franklin E. Stow, May 30, 1846, six years ; Ancil Bosworth, April 5, 1847, three years ; Parker Boynton, April 1, 1850, three years ; Allison A. Preston, May 1, 1852, three years ; Augustus Elwell, October 13, 1857.
CONSTABLES.
Harvey Allen served as constable of Brace- ville from 1820 to 1845 ; he was known as the standing constable of Braceville. He was pleased with the office and made an excellent officer, and might have served his township many years more had he not moved to Wisconsin where he has since died. Jacob S. Smith was elected in 1844 and served seven years. He was an effi- cient officer, and in 1859 was elected com- missioner. John H. Clark served as constable from 1850 to 1860. The people of Braceville do not allow the question of politics to exclude a worthy man from holding township offices, and though the township is largely Republican, Franklin E. Stow as township clerk, and Nathan O. Humphrey as treasurer, each held their re- spective offices nine years, both being Democrats.
LOCATION-SURFACE FEATURES-POPULATION.
Braceville township is located in the south- western part of the county-town four north, and range five west, and is bounded on the north by Southington, east by Warren, south by New- ton, and on the west by Portage county.
The soil consists generally of sand and clay, productive of the ordinary cereals and superior quality of hay, and the surface generally rolling, is well adapted to all kinds of agricultural pur- suits and grazing. The timber is of the general order, and varieties commonly found in this sec- tion of the State-oak, maple, etc.
The Mahoning river takes its winding zig-zag course from the central part of the south line, and flowing westward across the southeast corner, enters Warren township from section six, north of the central part of the west boundary line.
The northern part of the township is drained by Eagle creek and its tributaries, which takes its rise in the extreme northwest, and flowing in a southeasterly direction and crossing the west boundary in the north part of the township, and enters Warren where it empties into the Ma- honing.
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The Atlantic & Great Western railroad extends from east to west almost directly through the center, making the main station at Braceville. The Cleveland & Mahoning road enters about the central part of the west line, and takes a northwest course through the township, with a station at Phalanx, directly north of Braceville.
The Narrow Gauge extends through the central part of the township from north to south, con- necting the stations Braceville and Phalanx, thus affording ample railroad facilities.
The population of the township is almost en- tirely rural, there being no incoporated towns, nor extensive manufacturing interests to collect communities of any considerable size.
Braceville center is the most important point of trade and local settlement, and has two churches, two small stores, a post-office, a wagon and smith shop, a town house, and a number of dwellings.
The township does not vary materially in the census reports of the past thirty years. In 1860 it was 1,049 ; in 1870, 958, and according to the last enumeration (1880) was 1,019.
POST-OFFICES.
Since the day of railroads, telegraphs, and other means of communication, the post-office loses some of its importance to the public, but in early times, when the mail-carrier was the only means of communication, its importance was well known and appreciated. In 1816 the first post-office was established at Braceville, of which Auren Stow was appointed postmaster, and on the ist day of January the first mail for Brace- ville was received. The first postmaster served until 1850, when he was succeeded by Franklin E. Stow, who served until he was succeeded by G. C. Reed, who was followed by Isaac Ingraham, after which F. E. Stow again took the office, which subsequently passed to the hands of the present postmaster-Seth Lee.
SCHOOLS.
The people of this township early sought means for the proper education of their chil- dren, and as early as Braceville had any organiza- tion whatever she had a school. The first regu- larly organized school in this township, and among the first in Trumbull county, was taught by Hervey Stow at the center of Braceville, and though the township has not been able to sup-
port schools of higher grades than the common district schools, yet these have been supplied from time to time with ample facilities for an or- dinary district school education, and the town- ship now supports eight schools, situated in vari- ous localities of convenience throughout the township.
A TERRIFIC TORNADO.
The year 1860 will ever be remembered by the people of this locality as the year of the tor- nado. On July 23d of that year a tornado, of which the following is an account left among the papers of Franklin E. Stow, visited Braceville :
In the fore part of the day the clouds indi- cated rain, with a gentle southwest breeze. About Il o'clock A. M. the wind lulled away and it be- came extremely hot and sultry. The first indi- cation of an approaching storm, about 12 o'clock, was observed in the excited state of the clouds. Two dark clouds were seen rapidly approaching each other, one from the north and the other from the West; they came together and instantly a dark body was seen to fall rapidly toward the earth, about one mile northwest of Braceville Station, on the farm of Heman Rood, where the work of destruction commenced. The stoutest trees were twisted off and scattered like wisps of straw, rocks torn from their beds, fences swept away and scattered in every direction. The storm raged, whirling and roaring, and moving in a southeast direction with great rapid- ity. The first building in its course was Dr. Manly's farm house, occupied by Gillette Griffin, which was torn to atoms. In the house were Mrs. Griffin, two children, and Mrs. Charles Mason; it was thrown six rods over a wood-pile seven feet high, and while the building was mov- ing Mrs. Griffin jumped out and had her collar bone broken. Mrs. Mason and the children were buried in the ruins, the former having her skull fractured and was otherwise bruised ; the children sustained but little injury; one of them, however, was so entangled in the ruins that it could not be extracted until the frantic mother ran to the station for help. Next was the house of Charles Mason, about twenty rods distant from Manly's, which was torn to fragments ; the heavier timbers were scattered over a space of two acres, while the lighter materials were scat- tered far and wide.
The power and whirl of the wind is shown in
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the fact that the first of these houses was taken to the south and the other to the northeast. The course of the storm was southeast, through Manly's woods, crossing the railroad, and into the woods belonging to F. E. Stow, upturning the strongest oaks, twisting and whirling the trees in every direction. Passing through the woods it struck with its greatest force the rail- road station-house and an adjoining grocery store of Lucius Wood, the station agent. These buildings were raised several hundred feet high, and were revolved together, grinding and burst- ing into thousands of fragments, that were borne by the winds into regions unknown. The station- house contained several tons of freight. A box of hardware, containing bolts, buckles, etc., was strewn over the ground for a distance of half a mile; a bolt was found over half a mile distant driven into a tree to the depth of an inch; a two- pound weight was found over half a mile away; pennies and quarters were found in many places, and a hand-saw was carried over a mile distant. Opposite the station stood the dwelling and grocery of George Smith. The dwelling was raised from its foundations, carried several rods, and dashed to pieces. Mr. Smith was absent, but arrived home in time to give his family warn- ing of the approaching storm. They immedi- ately fled from the house, and when the storm came he clung to the woodpile; his son John held to a stump, and while clinging there for his life the violence of the wind would throw him off his feet, and he was repeatedly struck and badly bruised by falling rails, limbs of trees, boards, etc. Charles Moren fled from the grocery and took shelter under the station-house, and as it raised from its foundations he was stunned by falling debris, and was afterward picked up sev- eral rods distant.
Mrs. Jeremiah Galvin, living a few rods from the station, ran out with her umbrella to meet her little son but was overtaken by the storm and a limb or a rail was driven against her with such force as to carry her several rods and crush her skull, causing instant death. ` A freight car loaded and standing on the track was thrown a distance of sixty feet and totally wrecked. An- other car was carried five hundred feet and dashed to atoms. The large brick house and frame barn of Mr. Wood were unroofed. Money packages from the express office amounting to
$700 were given to the winds and never found.
Continuing onward in its mad career, upturn- ing and crushing the forest trees like reeds for a distance of two miles, it next spread devas- tation on the farm of Jesse Benedict, uprooting and destroying a large orchard. Among the trees of this orchard was the first tree planted in the township, having stood the blasts of fifty-five years. Deep furrows were plowed in the hard- est ground, unripened fields of oats were mowed as with a scythe, and potatoes in the ground, hills, and all, were taken off to an unknown market by the swiftest express. Mr. Benedict's house and barn were unroofed and otherwise damaged.
The large frame dwelling of William Benedict was unroofed and shattered, the west side was pierced with rails and boards, presenting the ap- pearance of having been bombarded with cannon. The chambers of the dwelling were rifled of clothing, a bureau and chest with their contents were carried completely away and never found. Two feather-beds and a pair of woolen blankets were picked up seven miles away. The gale then visited the Mahoning river, following the channel for nearly a mile, filling the stream with trees and branches, and sucking up the water and whirling and dashing it into foam and spray against the banks, and killing a great number of fish, from the minnow to the pike weighing sev- eral pounds. Leaving the river it tore up the orchard of Asa W. Parker, unroofing his house and barn. The dwelling of a German family named Kramer, in which were five persons, was demolished. Kramer and a small child were slightly injured, the wife had her collar-bone broken, and John Carpenter was thrown some sixty feet from the dwelling into a pile of stone and rubbish and severely injured. Continuing in the same direction through a corner of War- ren and Lordstown, throwing down and unroof- ing buildings and doing great damage, it spread consternation and wild alarm through- out the whole country. At a distance of about fifteen miles from the beginning the wind rose gradually higher in the air, appearing like a dense cloud filled with branches of trees, leaves, shingles, boards, etc. Passing a little south of the village of Niles and over Girard, rising higher and higher, spreading wider, but moving slower the further it went, scattering the accumulated
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