USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne county, Ohio, from the days of the pioneers and the first settlers to the present time > Part 24
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1876-Mortimer Munn, Councilman Ist Ward ; J. H. Kauke, Bethuel Barrett, Councilmen 2d Ward; Dan. Dull, Councilman 3d Ward ; R. J. Cunningham, Coun-
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
cilman 4th Ward; Josh. Wilson, Assessor Ist Ward; Robert Coffey, Assessor 2d Ward; Wm. Mann, Assessor 3d Ward; Jac. Somers, Assessor 4th Ward.
1877-H. B. Swartz, Mayor; C. A. Reider, City Solicitor; A. H. Dice, Mar- shal ; G. B. Somers, Street Commissioner ; D. W. Immel, Water-works Trustee, three years; Wm. Nold, Water-works Trustee, two years; Wm. H. Banker, Water- works Trustee, one year; B. J. Jones, Councilman Ist Ward; Bethuel Barrett, Councilman 2d Ward ; D. D. Miller, Councilman 3d Ward; W. A. Underwood, Councilman 4th Ward; Josh. Wilson, Assessor Ist |Ward ; J. S. Duden, Assessor 2d Ward; Jacob B. Koch, Assessor 3d Ward ; Jacob Sommers, Assessor 4th Ward.
1877-George B. Miller, Harry H. Huber, present Police.
WOOSTER POSTMASTERS.
List of postmasters, and the date of their appointment, at Wooster.
Office established, and Thomas G. Jones appointed Postmaster, December 8, 1812; John Patton, November 20, 1818; Ezra Dean, April 14, 1829; Bezaleel L. Crawford, March 26, 1841 ; Jacob M. Cooper, July 22, 1845 ; Thomas T. Eckert, April 36, 1849; George W. Allison, November 24, 1852; Jacob A. Marchand, No- vember 17, 1853-re-appointed April 2, 1856; James Johnson, January 10, 1860; Enos Foreman, April 17, 1861-re-appointed March 17, 1865 ; Reason B. Spink, November 13, 1866; Addison S. McClure, April 19, 1867-re-appointed March 28, 1871, and March 10, 1875.
FIRST FIRE COMPANY OF WOOSTER.
[Extracts from Minutes of Company.]
At a meeting of the Wooster Fire Company, No. I, convened at the house of William Nailer, Esq., on Saturday, the 20th day of January, 1827, Captain John Smith called the company to order, and Samuel Quinby was appointed Secretary.
On motion, it was resolved, That said Company appoint two persons to act as engineers ; six persons to act as ladder-men ; two persons to act as pikemen, and two persons to act as ax-men for said company.
Thereupon Wm. Goodin and D. O. Hoyt were elected engineers; Samuel Barkdull, David Lozier, James Nailer, John McKracken, Calvin Hobart and Ben- jamin Jones were appointed ladder-men ; Wm. H. Sloane and C. H. Streby were appointed ax-men, and I. E. Harriott and - were appointed pikemen.
On motion, Samuel Quinby, Moses Culbertson and William Goodin were ap- pointed a committee to draft by-laws for the regulation of said company, and re- port the same at the next meeting of said company. On motion, resolved, That this meeting adjourn, and that said company meet at the house of Wm. Nailer, on Friday next, at I o'clock P. M.
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WOOSTER.
Friday, January 26, 1827 : Agreeable to adjournment, the members of the Wooster Fire Company, No. I, met at the house of Wm. Nailer, and adjourned to the Court House. Captain John Smith was called to the chair, and Samuel Quinby was appointed clerk of the meeting. The committee appointed at the last meeting to draft by-laws for the government of said company, made report to the meeting, and, after the clerk had read the by-laws, as reported by the committee, they were amended and adopted. On motion, Joseph S. Lake was appointed Clerk, and John Miller Treasurer of said company, and the meeting adjourned.
THE FIRST WHITE MAN WHO DIED IN WAYNE COUNTY.
The first white man who died in Wayne county was Alexander Crawford, brother of Josiah Crawford, the owner then of what is now known as Bahl's mill. Shortly after his arrival in Wooster, his horse was stolen from him by the Indians. He immediately started in pursuit of the savage thieves, going on foot, which was at that time the popular method of travel. He persevered in his search as far as Upper Sandusky, but failing to overtake or cap- ture them, he abandoned the pursuit. On his return he could ob- tain no water to drink, save what lay in pools in the woods and by the roots of fallen trees, and being very dry, was compelled to slake his thirst with this green-scummed and poisoned water. This was in 1808, and his pathway was amid the solitudes and stolid glooms of dense and dreary woods. On his return to Wooster, he was burning with a violent fever, when he found a stopping place, and to him a dying place, under the protecting roof of William Larwill.
He was sick but a few days, and died in the small office of Mr. Larwill's store, which was situated on the grounds known now as the drug store of Harvey Howard, No. 4 Emporium Block. Mr. Larwill describes his sufferings as being terrible. He had no medical aid. For him "there was no balm in Gilead, there was no physician there."
How, and Where Buried .- Near the present First M. E. church the proprietors of Wooster, William Henry, John Bever and Joseph H. Larwill, had laid out and donated to the town what was called the " Public Graveyard." Here his remains were interred.
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
John Larwill, Benjamin Miller, William Larwill, Abraham Miller, and one or two others dug the grave and buried him. His coffin was made of rough boards by Benjamin Miller and his son Abra- ham, and he was carried to his final repose upon spikes of wood on which the coffin rested. His grave no one can identify. The sombre years have swept over it, and it casts no shadow unless upon some stricken heart. The death-ground holds him, and his sleep is as sweet as if under the granite shaft.
JOHN BEVER.
John Bever, * one of the original proprietors of Wooster, was a native of Ireland, and emigrated to America when quite young. His two brothers, William and Sampson Bever, and his sister Jane, also, emigrated from Ireland, but whether in company with the subject of this sketch, we do not know, and settled in Beaver county, Pa. John Bever settled in Georgetown, in Beaver county, Pa., along about the year 1788. He got into employment of the Government, and furnished supplies for the block-houses kept for the security of the adventurous settlers, on the southern side of the Ohio river, from the invasions of the Indians.
After the State of Ohio was organized, he was employed as a surveyor by the Government of the United States. He surveyed Columbiana, Stark, Wayne, and other counties in the State, and was likewise one of the parties that laid out the county-seats of Columbiana, Stark and Wayne.
With these opportunities presented to him, he secured consid- erable property in the different localities, that in time became very valuable, and, at his death, his wealth was estimated at a quarter of a million dollars in money and lands.
* John Bever, William Henry and J. H. Larwill each owned a quarter sec- tion of land, on which was originally laid out the town of Wooster, and are referred to as the original proprietors of the city. We are able to produce brief sketches of Messrs. Bever and Henry, the latter prepared by Hon. Robert H. Fol- ger, of Massillon, Ohio. No biography of J. H. Larwill appears in this work, and for reasons entirely too frivolous to be mentioned.
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WOOSTER-SKETCHES.
His first marriage was to Miss Nancy Dawson, of Georgetown, about 1790, by which union there resulted five children. One daughter grew to womanhood, and married James L. Bowman, of Brownsville, Fayette county, Pa. Both she and her husband are dead. His first wife died about 1818, and in the fall of 1820 he was married a second time, to Lydia Vaughan, who bore him one child, Henry V. Bever, who now lives in Paris, Edgar county, Ill. She died September 22, 1849, in her 69th year. He built, in connection with Thomas Moore, the first merchant's flouring mill west of the mountains, on Little Beaver creek, and the first paper mill in Ohio; and the second west of the Alleghenies was erected 1805-6, on the same stream. Its proprietors were John Bever and John Coulter.
John Bever * died May 26, 1836, near the State line, in Colum- biana county, Ohio, on what he called his "Springford " farm, and in the house which he had built shortly before his death. He was about 80 years old when he died, and was buried on his farm, which was his expressed wish, about forty rods from his residence. In the year 1855 a land-slide occurred on the face of the hill where he was buried, which badly wrecked the brick wall enclosing his grave, when his son, Henry V. Bever, removed his remains to the burial place of his second wife, on her farm, one mile east of Oneida, Carroll county, Ohio. He was a member of the Episco- pal church, and had been many years prior to his death.
The following extract is copied from the American Pioneer, published by John S. Williams, Chillicothe, Ohio, 1842 :
When orders were given by the Government to the Surveyor-General of the North-western Territory to have a portion of the public lands therein surveyed and subdivided into sections, many applications were made by persons for situations as deputies. Among the number was a young man from the extreme western part of Pennsylvania, who had, without pecuniary means or the facility of instruction, but
* John Bever's father was a German by birth, and our best information is, that his mother was Irish. John spoke the German language fluently. It is claimed that religious troubles caused his father to remove from Germany to Ireland. The Irish invariably spell the name Beaver, and the Germans Bever, pronouncing the E as in ever.
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
by his own application and industry during the recess from labor, acquired a knowl- edge of surveying.
Clad in a hunting shirt and moccasins, the usual habiliments of the backwoods- man of the day, he presented himself personally to General Putnam, at Marietta, O., and made known his desire to have a district to run out. The General replied that there were so many applications he was afraid he could not gratify him, and that he could give no decisive answer for some time. "Sir," said the applicant, " I have come a considerable distance, and am dependent altogether upon my own exertions for my support. Have you any work for me to do by which I can get a support until you can give me an answer ?" "Yes," answered the General, "I have some wood to cut." "Sir," answered the young man, "I can swing an ax as well as set a compass!" and doffing his hunting shirt, went at it with full vigor, the General occasionally looking out to see how he progressed. The job was com- pleted. "Sir," again said the applicant, " have you any drafting or platting in your office that I can assist you with ?" " Yes," said the General, " I can give you some of that to do." In due time the plat was completed and handed to the Gen- eral, who examined it carefully, and with apparent surprise, alternately looking at the plat and the applicant, thus responded : "Young man, you may go home ; you shall have the district you desire, and so soon as the necessary instructions are made out I will forward them," which was complied with, and so satisfactorily executed to the department by the young surveyor that at subsequent progression of surveys three districts were awarded to him by General Mansfield, the successor of Putnam. The young man thus represented as presenting himself was the late John Bever, Esq., formerly of Georgetown, Beaver county, Pa., and who has stated to the writer of this article that that incident was probably the foundation of the ample fortune acquired in after life and possessed at the time of his death, in 1836.
WILLIAM HENRY.
Among the pioneer settlers of the counties of Wayne and Stark, no one is entitled to more honorable mention than the late Judge William Henry.
When the "New Purchase" came into the market, after the treaty of Fort Industry, on the 4th day of July, 1805, the first surveying party, on the lands now included in the tenth range and extending to the sixteenth range, inclusive, was composed in part of the late Hon. Messrs. Joseph H. Larwill, John Larwill, John Harris and William Henry, then young men who had come to the frontier, as the West was then called, to find a fortune. They have all passed away, leaving the memory of a good name.
301
WOOSTER-SKETCHES.
The "New Purchase " included the lands west of the Tusca- rawas branch of the Muskingum river, those east having been included in the treaty of Fort McIntosh, made on the 21st of Janu- ary, 1785. A glance at the county maps shows the territory sur- veyed by the young men above named, all west of the tenth range being in the now county of Wayne; the tenth range, in Stark county, including the western portions of the township of Franklin, now in Summit, and Lawrence, Perry and Bethlehem, in Stark, and the whole of Tuscarawas and Sugarcreek.
In addition to being one of the original proprietors of the city of Wooster, it so happened that Judge Henry, when the lands west of the Tuscarawas river, in the now township of Perry, in Stark county, came into market, entered fractional section six, upon the south end of which is now built portions of the second and third wards of the city of Massillon.
The older citizens of Massillon who were acquainted with Judge Henry from the time of his coming to Ohio, having passed away, but little can be traced of his early history beyond the fact that he was a native of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and that his appear- ance in the district now embraced in the counties of Wayne and Stark was with the surveying party, already referred to, in 1807, from which period to 1814, during which both counties were erected by acts of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, he resided in the Tuscarawas Valley, in a log cabin, which is well re membered by the writer, as standing where now is erected the sta- tion buildings of the Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley and Wheeling Railway Company, in the third ward of the city of Massillon; and also in the toll house of the toll bridge, which crossed the Tuscarawas river at the present crossing of Cherry street. Judge Henry was largely interested in the toll bridge company as a stock- holder, the bridge being erected on the great territorial road run- ning west from Pittsburg.
In 1814 he was elected a member of the House of Representa- tives, in the State Legislature, for the counties of Stark and Wayne, and served his constituency most acceptably, ever after-
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
ward declining a re-election and mingling little in politics-the offices he held always sought him, instead of his seeking the office.
The acquaintance of the writer with Judge Henry commenced in 1818, and continued until his death. After his term of service in the Legislature, he was elected Associate Judge for Stark county, and as such was highly esteemed for his uprightness and integrity of character. At the period above named, 1818, he was a successful merchant in Kendal, now the fourth ward of Massil- lon, where he continued for many years, removing from there to the brick building erected by himself, near what is now the west end of Cherry street bridge, remaining there until he sold out his possessions in the Tuscarawas Valley, and removed to Brookfield, in Tuscarawas township, where he engaged largely in the mercan- tile business and in the merchant milling. On closing out his in- terest there, which passed into the hands of his son-inlaw, C. B. Cummins, Esq., he removed to Wooster, where he continued to reside until his death.
Judge Henry was closely identified with the growth and pros- perity of that portion of the Tuscarawas Valley in Stark county for more than thirty years. He may be said to be one of the founders of the Methodist Episcopal church in that locality, and of which he was life-long an active and worthy member. He was a man of strong will, rarely surrendering his judgment, when once his mind was made up, to that of any other person. Being a man of an order of talents and education far above mediocrity, he was so recognized and respected in all business and social circles. As a merchant no man's integrity stood higher. In the city of Mas- sillon he was one of the first to embark in merchandizing in 1827, while yet the ground plat of which was covered with the leafy honors of the forest, as a member of the firm of A. McCully & Co., and a few years later in the well known firm of J. Robinson & Co., at Fulton, in both of which firms his name was a tower of strength, and a synonym for the commercial integrity which marked the history of his entire life, and in both of which firms he was emi-
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WOOSTER-SKETCHES.
nently successful. At his death he left no surviving family, ex- cept his second wife, his first wife and all his children having gone before.
Of Judge Henry it may be well said he was a representative man, a representative of the class of men who, in the early settle- ment of Stark and Wayne counties, endured the hardships of forming new settlements and communities ; but of that class it must be said that they laid the foundationsof civil and religious liberty, and succeeding generations are reaping the benefit of their labors.
JOHN LARWILL.
John Larwill was born in Deptford, County of Kent, a Parlia- mentary borough and naval port of England on the Thames, three miles south of London Bridge, in what is London now, on the 27th of September, A. D. 1792.
He descends from sterling old English stock, both on the paternal and maternal side. His parents immigrated to America in the year 1793, when the subject of this sketch was but a year old. They embarked in a sail vessel, and after a tedious passage of ten weeks, in which they were shaken by tempests and adverse gales, landed at Chester, ten miles below Philadelphia, where unfortu- nately they were quarantined for several weeks, on account of yel- low fever, which so disastrously prevailed that year as well as in 1 798.
The family, on their arrival, consisted of three boys, Joseph, William and John, and two daughters, Julia R. and Mary B. Lar- will. After landing at Chester they proceeded to Philadelphia, where they remained three or four years, removing from there to Pittsburg in 1798. A somewhat patriotic incident was related to the writer by Mr. Larwill, which transpired soon after their arri- val at the latter place, which we here introduce :
In the month of December 1799, a novel but rather impressive ceremony occurred in the city of Pittsburg. All the school chil-
* Died since this was written.
1
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
dren of the city, and among them Mr. Larwill, then a youth of seven years, were organized into a column and marched to the Court House, to attend a sham funeral of General George Wash- ington, who had died on the 14th of the same month. Mr. Lar- will remembers it as being an exciting and affecting demonstra- tion, and as having for its object the solemnization of the great event upon the juvenile mind.
The family remained in Pittsburg until the year 1802, when they removed to Columbiana county, Ohio, settling at Beaver Bridge, one mile from the mouth of the Little Beaver, near the State line, but in the spring of 1804 going to what was then called Fawcettstown, now known as Liverpool, in the aforesaid county.
His father, W. C. Larwill, was appointed first Postmaster in Fawcettstown, retaining the office for ten years, or until 1814, when he removed to Wooster. Though his residence was in Wooster, he died in Wheeling, Virginia, with his daughter, Mrs. Julia R. Fawcett, wife of our former townsman, John Fawcett. His death occurred November 12, 1832, having attained the age of eighty-five. He had been admitted to the bar in 1803, in New Lisbon, General Beall being clerk of the court ordering his exam- ination.
Mr. John Larwill came to Wayne county as early as 1807, and while his father was yet living in Fawcettstown. He packed pro- visions on horse-back to his brother, Joseph H. Larwill, and his assistants, who had preceded him, and who, under the manage- ment of John Bever, were then running the county off in sections, for the United States Government. Whilst making one of these trips, John Harris, subsequently of Canton, Ohio, overtook Mr. Larwill in the Sandy Valley, now in Stark county, and desiring work, was permitted to take the place of John Taggart, a member of the company who grew frightened and panicky concerning the Indians. To illustrate the difficulty of making it, a boy not fifteen years old then, had to cut a tree across one of the streams to car- ry his burden over, and was compelled to swim his horse. After delivering his cargo he remained but a week with his brother, then
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WOOSTER-SKETCHES.
in camp on what was called Madison Hill, for a few months the seat of justice. After Joseph Larwill had completed his survey, in the early part of 1808, he returned to Stark county, William remaining here. In the following year, or 1809, John Larwill re- turned again, bringing with him a cow and two calves, and assisted in clearing the grounds at the angle of the streets where he now lives, and putting it in corn, the first planted in Wayne county. The grass for his cattle he cut on the meadows now owned by Hugh Culbertson, the first grass mown in Wayne county.
Rattlesnakes, copperheads and other varieties of venomous rep- tiles, were thick as Bible frogs, or leaves in Vallambrosa. The use of the primitive "leggins " was the only guaranty of protection. Bears and wolves were plentiful, and turkeys and deer were seen by hundreds. A Mr. Benjamin Miller, father of the first white child born in the county, and hotel-keeper, frequently visited the "lick" in front of the residence of Henry Myers, and killing a deer, would have venison served at breakfast for his guests. His tavern was located on the spot where Thomas Power has his dry goods store, and that building is now used for a rear appendage to John Hanna's present residence. And this was the first frame dwelling-house ever built in Wooster, with the exception of one made with a broad-ax and drawing-knife principally, erected proba- bly a little while before this, by William Larwill, in which he kept a few articles, chiefly to trade with the Indians, such as powder, lead, tobacco, blankets, etc.
In 1809, John Larwill returned to Fawcettstown, and engaged as an apprentice in a paper mill, near the mouth of Little Beaver, Columbiana county, Ohio. In this capacity he served three years and a half, when he returned to Wayne county, in 1813, since which time he has resided here.
In 1814, Mr. Larwill went to clerk for "Parson " Jones, in the dry goods business, staying with him six months. He then en- gaged with his uncle, Edward Jones, of Pittsburg, received a sup- ply of goods, and opened a store at the grocery corner now owned by Daniel Black ; and so muddy and swampy were the
20
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
streets that log walks had to be laid to some distance east of where the Public Square now is, for the accommodation of the people. Remaining about a year with his uncle, the business was closed out. In 1814, Joseph and John Larwill brought on a load of goods from Philadelphia, for the transportation of which they paid $14.00 per 100 pounds, and sold out the same in what afterwards was the parlor of William Larwill's house. In 1818, they and Thomas Watson and Thomas L. Girling, of Philadelphia, formed a part- nership under the business style of Larwill, Girling & Co., their rooms being on the corner where Mr. Larwill lived thirty years, and now owned by Benjamin Bowers. This partnership existed for a space of five years, when it was dissolved, Girling taking the goods and John Larwill the outstanding accounts. At the end of three years, spent chiefly in collecting, Mr. Larwill, in 1826, en- tered the dry goods business, in the frame building adjoining his then brick residence, where he continued till 1862.
We subjoin a schedule of prices of the earlier time as recol- lected by Mr. Larwill, in 1818 :
Coffee per pound. 621/2
Tea per pound $3 00
50
Coarse muslin, per yard.
50
Calico, per yard. 50 to 95
Nails, per pound 18 to 20
Iron, per pound
16
Salt, per bushel.
4 00
Indigo, per ounce
1 00
Powder, per pound.
1 00
Common keg tobacco, per pound.
Other things in proportion. Transportation was $10.00 per hundred from Philadelphia, and $3.50 from Pittsburg, brought in wagons. It took thirty-five days to make the trip from Wooster to Philadelphia. The teamster obtained one-half of his pay for the trip before he left here and the remainder at the city. To the city he carried the furs and skins of bears, beavers, otters, coons, deer, together with dried venison-hams, and such other commodities as
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WOOSTER-SKETCHES.
were staples of exchange, and then brought back with him goods and wares for the dealers.
At that time a saddle of mutton could be purchased from the Indians for a quarter of a pound of powder.
While Mr. Larwill never sought politics as a means of self-pro- motion, or personal agrandizement, he, nevertheless, was tempted, at times, to mingle in its turbulent waters, but with the steady purpose, at all times, of subordinating the politician to the man. He abhorred the petty strifes, nasty jealousies and sinister tactics of political wars. He was a puppet in the hands of no man or men, and when promoted to honors, did not permit himself to be carried passively around the circles of public policy without the exercise of an independent presiding will.
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