USA > Ohio > Portage County > Portage heritage; a history of Portage County, Ohio; its towns and townships and the men and women who have developed them; its life, institutions and biographies, facts and lore > Part 21
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weeding and cultivating.
FARM SERVICE AND SUPPLY
The processor and handler of farm products has been a partner in the development of agriculture. It will be recalled that the first grist mill in the county was in operation a year after the first wheat was sown and that the cheese factory came into being with the dairy. As agriculture has progress- ed from the sowing and reaping of grain by hand, so has the related bus- iness of farm service and supply gone beyond the simple grinding of grain between stones turned by hand or by water wheel. The business whose
Come To The Fair
In addition to the county fair at Ravenna there were a number of local fairs in the county. The Deerfield Fair was started in 1858, with racing and other attractions. It ran a number of years and by 1878 had prospered to the extent that it attracted 10,000 people. This fair was discontinued in the '90s.
Garrettsville had a fair known as the "Highland Union Agricultural Association." Organized in 1859, it originally was intended to take over as county fair when Ravenna was in trouble. It prospered to the extent that in 1872 Horace Greeley, then candidate for president, visited the meeting and deliverd a campaign speech. The meeting drew large crowds from Portage, Geauga and Trumbull counties. This fair was forced to close after the 1890 meeting.
Another independent fair, at Randolph, is still in existence and remains the only county agricultural fair. It was organized in 1858 so that it will soon observe its cen- tennial. Usually held in late September or early October, it has retained its agricultural flavor and has had careful management.
In the 1870s Roostown had a fair which continued for several years. A fair was also held at Mantua during the 1890s.
A fair of slightly different nature is the Welsh Fair, or Horse Fair, held on the first Monday of May at Palmyra. Originally intended for exhibiting horses, it has been in continuous existence for 125 years. Today it is more in the nature of a home coming or reunion of old residents. Palmyra also once had an agricultural fair held for two days each fall but it did not last long in competition with other fairs.
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Harness racing was always a feature of county fairs. This picture was taken at one of the last Ravenna fairs.
forerunner was the primitive mill may now not only be grinding grain but shipping Portage County wheat by the car load, and not only selling the farmer implements but spreading fer- tilizer and lime for him.
Of historic interest is the Williams Brothers' Company in Kent, which was built in 1879 and '80 by the three Williams brothers, Scott T., Charles A. and Lewis. The concern has an elevator of 300,000 bushels capacity and grinds about 5,000 bushels of wheat per day, making a market for Portage farmers. Jim Green entered the company 1901, Dudley Williams 1919, and are its present managers.
The Mantua Grain & Supply Co., founded in 1909 by R. G. Mayhew, then and now its president and gener- al manager, is typical of the diversity of the business of service and supply for agriculture. With two branches in addition to its home plant, the com- pany handles grain, flour, feeds, seeds, fertilizer, tile, cement, fencing and
implements; ships grain in car load lots and does grist work in its plant as well as with portable mills. It also operates lime spreaders.
Illustrative of a specialized service is that offered by the Quality Feed Store of Kent, Roy Pierce, owner, which operates equipment that injects anhydrous ammonia, a liquid fertiliz- er containing 82% nitrogen, six to eight inches into the soil.
The following list of other Portage County concerns that among them offer a wide range of supplies and services is indicative of the spread and growth of this farm related business:
Mayhew Elevator Co., Frank and R. G. Mayhew owners; J. F. Babcock Milling Co., G. C. Shafer, manager; Ravenna Feed Store, Ivan Rickert, owner; Sabin & Corbett, Inc .; Fall & Hawkins and Paul G. Mills, Inc., all of Ravenna; Randolph Feed & Supply Co., C. H. Chance, owner, Randolph; Thomas Feed Mill, Edinburg; Thomas Brothers, New Milford; Paul Feed &
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Supply Co. and Hopkins' Old Water Mill, Bruce Ginther, manager, Gar- rettsville. The Hopkins Mill is on Sil- ver Creek, near the site on which John Garrett built his mill in 1803.
AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS
The first Portage County Agricul- tural Society was formed in Ravenna in the court house in 1825 with Josh- ua Woodard as president. It held a farm products and cattle show on Oct. 18 of that year. By 1830 the society had ceased to meet.
On June 20, 1839, under an act of the Legislature, a second Portage County Agricultural Society was or- ganized in Ravenna with William Wetmore as president. The first fair was at the court house Oct. 20 and 21 in 1841. Several times in the follow- ing years the society was rescused from debt by public spirited citizens. In 1879 grounds northeast of Raven- na were leased and permanent build- ings were erected for the county fair.
In 1909 these buildings burned. With Dan R. Hanna of Cleveland subscribing $10,000 and the county raising the balance needed for new buildings, fairs were resumed. (From Harriet Taylor Upton). On Aug. 1, 1932, fire again destroyed the build- ings. They were not rebuilt and the agricultural fair was discontinued.
GRANGE SHOWS GROWTH
The Ohio State Grange was organ- ized in 1872 and during 1873 and '74 twelve subordinate Granges were es- tablished in Portage County by Dep- uty Organizer W. Williamson. In 1955 there were ten in the county as follows: Atwater, 138 members, Ken-
neth Brock, master; Brimfield, 276, R. E. Wertenberger; Hiram, 97, Hugh Hutchinson; Kent, 220, Oliver Wy- mer; Mantua, 127, Roger Winchell; Nelson, 145, Willard Hahn; Paris, 137, Julius Rose; Ravenna, 427, Clar- ence Nething; Shalersville, 56, David Crane; Streetsboro, 163, Herman Tu- dor. C. W. Franks was master of the Portage County Pomona Grange. The deputy for Juvenile Granges in 1955 was Mrs. George B. Towner. The Juvenile Grange in Paris had 14 mem- bers with Lena Henceroth as matron. In Ravenna there were 19 members with Mrs. Dorothy Franks as matron. A Portage County farmer, F. A. Der- thick of Mantua, was master of the State Grange from 1900 to 1908. .
The Grange supports legislation in the interest of agriculture and seeks to uplift the moral, spiritual, educa- tional and social life of its member- ship, which is open to all in the fam- ily over 14 years. The Grange has worked for many reforms, such as women's suffrage and centralized schools, and for such benefits as rural free delivery of mail and improved roads. It offers insurance, including fire, lightning, life, hospitalization and general liability. Information on the Grange was provided by George B. Towner, deputy master of the Ohio State Grange of Brady Lake, Portage County.
The Portage County Improvement Association was organized by prom- inent farmers who met in Ravenna in October of 1912. Recognizing the need for a trained agricultural ad- visor, the Association, in co-operation with the Ohio State Experiment Sta-
Ravenna was once an important potato shipping point. In 1909 M. E. Thorpe, dealer, shipped out 140 car loads.
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tion and the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture, installed H. P. Miller as the first county agricultural agent on Jan. 20, 1913. The Associa- tion began an active program to in- crease production, improve the qual- ity of livestock and lift the standard of farm living. Following Mr. Miller as agents were Chester R. Shumway, James Pendry, Joseph N. Maxwell and Roger M. Thomas, the present agent. The work of the agents is now sponsored by the Agricultural Exten- sion Service in which the College of Agriculture of Ohio State University, the United States Department of Ag- riculture and Portage County co-op- erate.
FARM BUREAU STARTS
To cope with various problems, a basic one being considered the mer- chandizing of farm supplies, repre- sentatives of improvement associa- tions from Ohio counties, Portage in- cluded, met in Columbus in 1918. The Ohio Farm Bureau was formed with county organizations already in being taking the uniform name of Farm Bureau. The Bureau adopted as its purposes the improvements of farm income and rural standards of living.
The Portage County Farm Bureau Co-operative was formed to achieve Bureau purposes pertaining to mer- chandizing. The Co-operative is a dis- tinct organization incorporated un- der Ohio law as a non-profit business "to purchase and sell farm commod- ities." Many Bureau members are also members of the Co-operative. It sells
In 1865 milk was being sold in Gar- rettsville at the rate of 16 quarts for $1.00 by the use of tickets. This figured at between 6 and 7 cents per quart. In Kent about 1893 some dealers sold 16 tickets for $1.00.
feeds, seeds, lime, fertilizer, machin- ery and supplies. Offices of both or- ganizations and the store of the Co- operative are in Ravenna. Stanley C. Bingham is president of the Bureau and Clayton Groves is organization manager. Earl Rufner is president of the Co-operative. Perry L. Green, formerly of Hiram and now of Man- tua, was Ohio Farm Bureau state pres- ident from 1933 to 1948.
The 4-H clubs in Portage were or- ganized by the County Improvement Association, according to the records, when H. P. Miller, county agent, pro- posed on Nov. 13, 1913, that the As- sociation appropriate $100 as prizes for boys and girls in club work. This youth activity grew and by 1954 proj- ects were completed by 1,033 members of 86 clubs having 139 advisors. The 4-H members select projects such as sewing, dairying, steer raising or vegetable growing, self ownership be- ing urged. Club activities also empha- size development of leadership and appreciation of recreation. Members pledge their heads, hearts, hands and health for club, community and coun- try. The foregoing information was from William B. Phillips, associate county agent.
SOILS AND CONSERVATION
Present soils and land forms of Portage County can be related to bed rock, plant and animal life, climate, flowing waters and a great ice layer of the distant past. Fifteen to twenty thousand years ago, perhaps much longer, the great ice layer crunched its mighty force across this area. The finest particles that were ground from rocks and deposited in still water make up our clay textured land. The somewhat coarser particles are found in the gently rolling to somewhat ir- regular slopes left when the ice cap
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Frank A. Derthick, prominent Grange leader of earlier days, and state dairy and food commissioner.
receded. The coarsest sands and grav- els were left in the steeper sections which were mounds of rock frag- ments ground up and shoved ahead or crowded to one side by the forward movement of the ice mass. Thus we have in Portage County soils ranging from sand and gravel, to the silt and silty clay loams and on to the heaviest clay. This history of soils is from Hor- ton Alger, assistant state conservation- ist in the Columbus office of the United States Soil Conservation Serv- ice
The early settlers found a soil made made fertile by deposit of forest leaves and vegetation through the centuries. Early in the 1900s it was realized that fertility was being dangerously de- pleted by improper rotation of crops, loss of topsoil by erosion of wind and rain on ground left bare and by un-
sound cultivation practises in general.
Forward looking farmers became increasingly aware of the need to re- deem the soil. They kept land covered with soil holding crops or with mulch whenever possible, plowed under crops to add humus and laid tile drains to reduce washing by surface water. The Ohio Experiment Station gave guidance. In 1947 an organized program of scientific soil care was formally launched in Portage County with the opening in Ravenna of an office of the United States Soil Con- servation Service. Fred Aten, a trained conservationist, is now in charge of that office. Conservation counsel is available to any farmer who applies for it. The types of soil are charted on a map, together with crops, fertilizer and drainage best suited to his land. Strip planting and contour cultivation are planned.
In contour cultivation the field is plowed across or around the slope so that furrows form dams rather than channels down which rainfall would sluice away the topsoil. Fields plowed in contour are planted in alternating strips of soil-holding and cultivated crops. First may be a strip of grass, next corn or potatoes, then grass again or some other cover crop. Thus fre- quent "traps" of sod catch soil that tends to wash or blow away from strips necessarily made loose by tilling crops in rows.
THE FARM HOME
Increasing productivity of soil is not an end in itself. Improvement in the standard of living has been an objective of farm organizations and a theme of farm forums. One room log cabins, dimly lit with tallow candles, have become ample residences with fluorescent lights. The spring house where butter cooled and the loaded
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cellar shelves have yielded their stores to electric refrigerator and freezer. The spinning wheel and loom are rel- ics in the museum of village or city where the family parks the car to shop for household needs. The fire- place and the sheet iron stove are cold, but an automatic furnace warms the once chilly parlor. The T-V set fits the corner where the walnut whatnot stood. In the farmyard where small boys yoked calves to sleds and did small chores with their unruly "ox- en", great grandsons stretch their legs to reach the tractor clutch. All this and more has marked the progress of farm family life from the struggle to subsist in early days to a level of com- fort and convenience undreamed of by pioneers.
FARM STATISTICS* LIVESTOCK
1880s
1890s
1910-20
1930s
Horses
8,650
8,740
10,200
5,900
Cattle
26,200
19,800
22,400
27,900
Sheep
44,000
36,400
11,500
4,600
Hogs
7,270
7,230
7,400
15,800
Beginning in the 1940s the count of horses and sheep was discontinued and the method of listing cattle was revised to give the number of milch cows and the total of all cattle.
1940s
1945
1952
Milch Cows
16,900
19,900
15,100
All Cattle
27,900
31,700
26,900
Hogs
15,800
13,500
9,400
ACRES IN CROPS
1860s
1900s
1930s
1940s
Corn
12,400
18,100
26,200
27,200
Oats
10,200
22,200
22,700
18,000
Wheat
10,200
20,100
12,300
14,000
Hay
44,000
34,800
29,500
34,600
Potatoes
1,800
8,100
5,300
3,400
(*Figures from Roger M. Thomas, agent, Agricultural Extension Service)
1950 AGRICULTURAL CENSUS FIGURES
Number of Farms 2,930
Average Size of Farms 77 acres
Total Crop Land 123,798
Grain Combines 302
Pickup Bailers 141
Total Acres in Farms 225,602
Average Value of Farms $11,870
Total Wood Land 48,073
Corn Pickers 115
Farm Trucks
1,098
Farm Tractors
2,648
SOURCES OF FARM INCOME, 1953
Dairy
41%
Poultry 17%
Truck Crops
11%
Hogs 7%
Wheat
5%
Cattle 5%
Other 14%
Total Farm Income
$12,007,000
Which Baldwin?
Older Portage County historians and writers have related that the Baldwin apple, a hardy winter variety, was or- iginated by Benjamin Baldwin, an early Suffield resident. The story is that he planted seeds brought by him from Con- necticut with the apple as a result, to which his name was given.
But in January, 1907, Mortimer Ewart of Mogadore published a letter in the Ravenna Republican in which he stated that he had in his possession an old pamphlet called the "Apples of New York." In this it is stated that the apple was named in 1740 for a Col. Baldwin of Woburn, Mass., who originated the apple. In early days it was called the Woodpecker apple, because this bird frequented the trees in hunt of worms which infested them. Readers must judge for themselves the correct answer.
In 1880, Italian section hands on the Erie at Kent rioted because their pay was late. They rushed Paymaster McGuire, who fired, killing one man. The sheriff was called. On the following day the man's pay arrived.
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The Goss General Store
There is a certain nostalgia connected with memories of the old general store, a few of which have been reproduced in various parts of the country. None was more typical than the Goss Brothers store in Edinburg. Let us look at it.
We drive up in our top buggy and find at the hitching rail in front another horse and buggy and a team hitched to a wagon. We tie our horse, take our basket of eggs and crock. of butter, and probably our oil can, and climb the steps, cross the porch and enter the front door. We come into a large room. There are three rows of counters with aisles between them.
We turn into the right aisle to dispose of our eggs and butter. On the first counter is a glass case containing candy and cigars. Behind this, on the shelves, are more boxes of cigars, and candy jars or peppermint and wintergreen drops, hoarhound and licorice, and other jars of stick candy of various kinds. A little farther down are bottles of medi- cines. There are numerous "patent" medicines as well as jars from which prescriptions are filled, for one of the brothers is a pharmacist.
As we go on to the next counter where a clerk, or perhaps Mr. Goss himself, will re- lieve us of our produce, we find a large roll of wrapping paper, a ball of string hanging from the ceiling, a set of scales, farther on a coffee grinder and a bunch of bananas, also hanging from a hook in, the ceiling. Behind this counter are shelves of groceries, many of them also in glass jars from which they are weighed out for the customer. Underneath these shelves are large bins or dumps containing white and brown sugar, beans, coffee, etc., and here, too, a barrel of crackers.
After our eggs and butter have been counted and weighed and our can filled with kerosene for our lamps, we buy the rest of our groceries. Then we may proceed to the other parts of the store. There, in the back, are many kinds of hardware. Do we need a new saw, a few nails, a horse collar, or a plow point? They are all available in this store. Then we walk around to the other side, and there, near the back, are the shoes and boots. On the counter, farther front, are some bolts of calico, and behind, on the shelves, are other materials; muslin, woollen cloth, outing flannel, crinoline and perhaps a piece or two of velvet. There are drawers with buttons, thread, lace and embroidery.
As we pass the center counter, we are tempted by the pretty dishes and glassware, but we have already spent our butter and egg money, so we will have to wait until an- other time. Such a store was the Goss Brothers store. It was open from seven o'clock in the morning (sometimes earlier in summer) until 9 o'clock at night. On bad days and in the evenings, there was always a group of "cracker barrel philosophers" sitting around the stove and discussing the affairs of the state and of the nation.
-Written by Mrs. C. J. Walvoord.
Eagles have seldom been seen in Port- age County at any time. But after the construction of the Akron waterworks reservoir north of Kent in 1915, a pair started to nest there along a secluded shore. Eagles were seen at the Reservoir as late as 1933.
In 1915 the Ravenna Republican re- ported that "Portage County is a minia- ture England as far as good roads are concerned."
Rev. James Price of Palmyra was an eloquent and popular preacher. He stud- ied while working as a miner and preached in the mines, and it is said he had preached in nearly all states of the union. When preaching in Palmyra more people often came to hear him than the church would hold and some had to stand outside. In summer weather, he preached near an open window, first talking to those inside, then turning to those outside and talking through the window.
CHAPTER XIII Education In Portage County
The successive steps in the develop- ment of a public school system in Portage County constitute a moving drama. In the first place, settlers wanted education for their children. This first was made possible in scat- tered and primitive schools which taught only most elementary branches -Reading and Writing and Arithme- tic-but it was a long time before the schools were either "public" or a "sys- tem." First schools were privately or- ganized.
Nevertheless the pressure of the people was always present, which moved legislators to set up laws, au- thority and taxes for school support, schools that were open to all children, and in the end, compulsory atten- dance.
Naturally, the first effective public schools were established in the towns, each of which was a district. In the townships, local districts were grad- ually established so that by the end of the 19th century each township had from four to ten local districts. Few townships had high schools, and these were weak.
At this point something new came along. This was the idea of consoli- dating the local township districts in- to a stronger, single school with a high school. Its usefulness was made possible by the plan of transporting children to the central school by means of buses. Portage County had some of the earliest of these consoli- dations in Ohio, and in time all town- ships used the plan. By still later laws, several townships could unite and
form one single, strong district. The transition from the little one-room frame school building with the plain- est of conveniences, to the million- dollar building of greatest comfort and finest equipment really has been an extraordinary thing. And where the one-room teacher taught only a few subjects, the high schools offer a whole curriculum, and some subjects were not even dreamed of a few decades ago.
NO EARLY SUPPORT
Despite the early zeal for education in the Western Reserve, schools here actually had less public financial sup- port than in other sections because the Connecticut Land Co. supposedly had provided for education here, but which turned out otherwise. But grad- ually both Congress and the state leg- islature passed successive laws that righted matters. Even in the legisla- ture there was chicanery and crooked- ness in providing help by sale of "school lands." Among the early resi- dents who worked mightily for better school laws was Caleb Atwater who in 1822 was one of seven so-called new school commissioners, but who is said to have done most of the board's work.
In 1824, more local help, financial- ly, was obtained through sale of "school lands", but not much. Under a new law school tax money was di- vided evenly among all counties in the state-a procedure through which Portage County paid out more than it received. An 1825 law authorized or-
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ganization of local districts and set up boards to examine qualification of teachers. Laws in 1829, 1830 and 1831 barred negroes from schools but au- thorized hiring of woman teachers for spelling, reading and writing if women were acceptable to patrons.
The most important law of all came in 1853 which actually set up the framework of the modern schools. Local boards were required to estab- lish schools and attendance was com- pulsory. Superintendents were pro- vided for, various grades classified, a five-day school week provided, as were teachers' institutes and school enumeration.
First schools usually were one room
log buildings with oiled paper win- dows and open fire places. There were puncheon seats and pupils faced the wall from their seats. There were benches, not desks. The Bible was a text book. An English reader and Webster's Speller were used. Text books in arithmetic spoke of pounds, shillings and pence, instead of dollars and cents. Strong disciplinarians were wanted as teachers. Pay for teachers was a few dollars a month, often paid in produce and even whiskey. Many teachers "boarded around."
PROMPTLY QUALIFY
But if the courses of study were weak, so were the qualifications for
Fifty Years In Rural Schools
P. B. Tomson
Colorful and unusual was Phineas Butler Tomson, a native of Shalersville who taught dis- trict schools in and near Portage County for more than fifty years. He taught variously in nine Port- age townships and in Mahoning and Stark Coun- ties as well as in Michigan. He kept a list of all the boys and girls who had been his pupils and had a total of over 1,300 names, many of whom he kept in touch with regularly. It is said that Tomson, in going into a new district, would re- port a few days ahead of time and personally, without charge, tidy up the school house and grounds, even to papering and carpenter work. He had few rules, governing mainly by his per- sonality. For years Tomson school reunions were held in various places. In 1898-99 he was principal of the DePeyster school, Kent, but he liked district work better. He commenced teaching in 1878 and continued without missing a year, up to 1928. His own education had been gained in the Shalers- ville Academy "select school", and at Mt. Union college. In addition to his regular school work he sometimes held an evening writing school once a week. About 1930 he wrote and issued a small book called "Fifty Years in The School Room." In his early years Tomson "boarded around" with patron families. He never married.
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