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 33

Author: Holm, James B
Publication date: 1957
Publisher: [Kent, O., Commercial Press inc.]
Number of Pages: 834

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 33

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The first white child born in the township, March 7, 1813, was John W. Baldwin, son of John Baldwin. The first marriage was that of Sallie Coe to Martin Camp in 1816.

At the first township election 13 votes were polled. In 1815, 13 families lived in Charlestown and soon 13 more came, doubling the population, with more following.

Among the newcomers were Joel Hall, Rolzman Loomis, Joel Dorman, Joseph Steadman, Elisha Wetmore, and James King. Later came Norman Rood and the Knapp families for whom the present Knapp road was named. Of the pioneers, only a few of their descendants live in Charlestown at the present time. Leon Baldwin lives on the Baldwin homestead, built

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Baldwin Home, Charlestown. Built 1818.

in 1818, which has been in the family name since that time. John Willis Baldwin, of the fifth generation, lives in this farm home and with his father, tills the acreage. Mrs. Lula Baldwin Babb lives nearby. Charles Phile, now 90 years of age, lives in south Charles- town in the home where he was born, which replaced a log house. Mrs. Mary Copeland Loomis lives in the old Loomis homestead. Mrs. Ina Kirtland Bellard lives with her son, John Bell- ard, in the home of her great grand- father, Amos Austin, built in 1834. Mrs. Iva Hatfield Hartman lives in the home built by her great grand- father. Gladys Phile Wheaton and Mrs. Merriam Phile Kraft, descend- ants of Jacob Phile, still live in Charlestown.

HOMES PASS AWAY

The so-called Ravenna Arsenal took about 50,000 acres of land in Charles-

town so that farm production was greatly reduced although there was more activity in other lines. Many farm homes passed out of existence then.

Of the Hall family, long active here, Lina Hall lives in Garrettsville; Joel Dana Hall is in Florida; Mabel and Winifred Hall are in California; Ralph Hall is in Delaware; and Carl- ton Hall lives near Warren. Florentine Hatfield, who reached the age of 98, was always active in the civic and religious life of the community. His daughter, Elizabeth, taught school and music for many years. Another daugh- ter, Edith, was a teacher and now lives with her sister, Helen Hatfield Chap- man, teacher in Ravenna schools.

Mrs. Addie Hatfield Parker, teacher in Charlestown and Edinburg district schools many years, and who resided at the old Parker home, moved to

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Charlestown School

Copley, where she lived with her son, Grove Parker, until her death at 87 a few years ago. Mrs. Emma King Fun- alman, descendant of pioneers, now lives in Ravenna. Mrs. Lena Hatfield Hassler, a devoted church worker, now lives in Lakeland, Florida.

Before leaving Massachussetts, the Granville and Blanford Company or- ganized a Congregational church. The members were: Charles Curtiss and wife; John Baldwin and wife; David L. Coe and Almon Babcock. Their first preachers here were missionaries sent out by the Congregational Mis- sionary Society. The first church building was erected in 1829, but burned in 1880 and was replaced by the present beautiful building. When, in later years, the Congregational So- ciety disbanded, the building was used for a while as a school gymnasium. A dwelling now occupies the site.

On Oct. 24, 1859, the Methodist church which still stands atop Charles- town hill, was dedicated. The two churches merged in 1924 and recently the building was re-decorated throughout and Sunday school rooms were added under the pastorate of J. Craig Smith. The Methodist parson-

age was built in 1886.

The first school building was a log cabin, located at the center and Miss Sophia Coe was the teacher. In 1883- 84, six school districts were formed in the township and one room school houses built. At that time 163 pupils were enrolled in the entire Township. Other districts were added and in 1915 there were eight in number. Male teachers were paid $32.00 per month and female teachers got $22.00. In 1915 Charlestown Centralized School was erected a short distance north of the square. It consisted of eight grades and a high school. But in 1950 five townships-Charlestown, Edinburg, Palmyra, Paris and Deerfield-con- solidated into the Southeast District, with a large modern high school now in operation in Palmyra. Each town- ship retains its own grade schools.

FACTORIES ONCE BUSY

Charlestown has had various indus- tries, flour mills in the southern part of the township, and many saw mills in early days when timber was plenti- ful. The first sawmill located one half mile east of the center, sawed the lumber used by the early settlers and

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considerable lumber for the county seat. There was a basket factory at the center owned by Eben Newton, and a coal mine and oil refinery on the John Holden farm.

Augerburg of today was so called from an auger factory brought from Connecticut in 1848 via prairie schooner, and located on property now owned by Leo Ullajs. Years after- ward a cheese factory operated in this building. There was a shoemaker's shop, and on nearby Knapp Street lived Captain Wyer, an old Nantucket sea farer.

For many years, located on the old Esworthy homestead east of the center, there has been an Antique Shop own- ed and presided over by Orrin W. Dunbar and his wife, Minnie Eswor- thy Dunbar. Mr. Dunbar, who died in 1954 was a master cabinet maker and his work on treasured heirlooms is well known, not only in our own county, but throughout Ohio and ad- joining states.

Elm Hill Farm in eastern Charles- town became the first gladiola farm in this vicinity. National fame was achieved by the owners, Albert and Iva Austin, for the beautiful flowers, many of whom were originated by Mrs. Austin. The Iva Austin Garden Club of Ravenna was so named for this gracious lady. Miss Edith Hatfield also operated a "glad" farm at the center and at the present time Mrs. Elizabeth Strausser and her son Ralph Strausser raise these beautiful flowers and both flowers and bulbs are ship- ped to many states.

Many years ago, in the northern section of the township was born Frederick J. Loudin, a negro child, destined to be one of the great singers of his time. The family later moved to Ravenna where he attended school

and church. He then went to Ten- nessee University, now Fiske Universi- ty at Nashville, where he organized the F. J. Loudin Jubilee Singers. This troupe, twelve in number, sang in many of the churches in Portage County, and later made a world tour which brought fame and fortune. They sang for crowned heads of Eu- rope, were permitted to sing in the Taj Mahal in India, and spent three and one half years in Australia, where they thrilled great crowds. The ac- companist for the Jubilee Singers was Miss Leota Henson, who studied in Leipsic, Germany. She later married Alex Turner, a graduate of Ravenna High School and the University of Michigan, who became an attorney in Detroit. Mrs. Turner, at the death of her husband, returned to Ravenna and died in 1955 at the age of 88 years.

COTTAGE HILL FARMS

Our first Judge of Probate Court was Luther L. Brown, who owned the farm on the southwest corner of Charlestown square, later occupied by his son in law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. S. B. Morris.

Another Common Pleas Judge of later years was Carl Curtiss who was born and reared in Charlestown.

Anor Eckert Headland, born in the northwest corner of the township, was educated at Mt. Union, and went to China as a missionary, a far away place in those days. She died and was laid to rest in that foreign land.

Mention must be made of the fam- ous Cottage Hill Farm, country re- treat of the Hannas, steel and coal magnates of Cleveland. This sits as- tride the Ravenna-Charlestown line. It was Dan R. Hanna, son of Senator Marcus A. Hanna, who in the 1900's lavished much money on the farm and also the community. Many fam-

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ous people were guests at the estate. High black coaches drawn by four spirited horses were often seen on our country roads. He had many beautiful saddle horses, often used by his sons, Mark, Carl and Dan. He also donated the land and built the road connecting old Route 5 with new Route 5 and now called Hanna Road. The Hannas also bought a large acreage north of Charlestown center. Sometime after- ward it was sold to John Pew, 1918, and was operated by his son Wm. Pew. At a later date, 1927, the farm was sold to Congressman Chester Bol- ton, father of Oliver Bolton, present member of Congress, who owned it until the U. S. Government acquired the land for the Arsenal. The original Hanna farm, "Cottage Hill," is pres- ently owned by Frank R. Fageol, chairman of the board of Twin Coach. Mr. and Mrs. Fageol have restored the lovely home and farm to its former beauty.

Much credit must be given to John A. Lowrie, an early Charlestown resi- dent, for the history of this township.

Charlestown men who have gone into law include Albert S. Hall, Judge Carl H. Curtiss; Ansel Curtiss, Cleve- land; Kenneth Kirtland, Akron; Judge Chas. Hall, Vancouver, Wash.

Among those who have turned to medicine are found Capt. Robert King; Frank and Mabel Spalding Bis- hop, California; Elmer Coe, Youngs- town; William Fox, Cleveland; and Bert Coe, Youngstown.

Charlestown has many successful peony growers. Included are Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Austin, R. C. Bellard, Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Strausser, Wendell Strausser, Walter Boettner and Edith and Elizabeth Hatfield. Will Christ- man became secretary of the National Peony Association in Illinois.

Of the merchants at the Center, Warren Coe, Jessie Coe, Vernon Sly, E. W. Burkey and Wilbur Hall will be remembered. Blacksmiths would include Wallenstein Brown, Harrison Hatfield, Robert Shilliday and Ernest King.

WAS AVIATION EXPERT

Carl Kirtland became secretary- treasurer of the M. A. Hanna Co. in Cleveland, and Ralph Percival became a banker in Vancouver, Wash.

In the field of aviation, John A. (Jack) Boettner made a name for him- self as a Goodyear balloon and blimp pilot. He participated in national and international races and for some years was commander in chief of Goodyear blimps. He was a Ravenna High grad- uate of 1912.

In educational work, Minnie Mar- tha Hall, daughter of Billings and Fanny Hall taught in the old Western Reserve Academy at W. Farmington; then for 27 years was head of the Eng- lish Dept. of Genesee Seminary, Lima, N. Y. In 1913, she visited Europe, the gift of the class of '14. She was a sister of Lina Hall, of Garrettsville. A broth- er, Joel Dana Hall, was in Y.M.C.A. work in New York, Michigan and Kentucky, and with the Moody Bible Institute, Chicago.

Payson L. Curtiss, after graduating from Oberlin, entered the ministry. He served Mid-West pastorates and for 18 years was pastor of the Gar- rettsville United church. He died in California.

Burton Curtiss, son of Austin and Amelia, for many years taught manual arts and engineering in California schools. Rose Morris Ritchie was a well known teacher of speech in col- leges in the Mid-West.

In 1938, a gymnasium and more

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class rooms were added to the school building at the Center.

The first graduating class was in 1917, and the last in 1950. Many hundred graduates obtained higher education elsewhere, and went on to success.

A "select school" operated in the basement of the Congregational church in the winter of 1892-3. There were evening singing schools and lit- erary societies. Today, we find 4-H clubs, Boy Scouts, Grange, Red Cross, Farm Bureau and others.

Serving with American forces in Europe was Lieut. Col. Edward Hart- man, son of Edward and Iva Hartman Hatfield. He is a veteran of the Air- borne Division in World War II.

A Charlestown boy who has reached a high place in engineering and chem- istry in his country's service was Ralph E. Hall. His education was ob- tained in Charlestown, Ravenna High, Ohio Wesleyan, Ohio State Universi- ty and University of Chicago. In 1918, he was a captain in the Chemical Warfare Service. Since then he has been at Carnegie Tech, The United States Bureau of Mines and director of Hall Laboratories, Pittsburgh. He is a Phi Beta Kappa and has won many honors in his field. He retired in 1950.

ONCE HAD CANAL POST

Older Charlestown residents were particularly proud of Col. Albert Hall, who was born about 1831. Educated in law, he was four years prosecuting attorney of Ashtabula. He entered the Union army as a private, but because of bravery and skill rose rapidly in rank. He participated in five battles, but died of fever at Murfreesboro in 1863. His body was sent home and given a public funeral with an enorm- ous crowd present.

Mabel Agnes Spiers, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Emmanuel Spiers, has been in educational and library work over many years. She graduated from Wooster college and took other work at Columbia and Western Reserve. She taught in Warren and in Eastern colleges and also did work for the government. She is now librarian at Tampa University, Tampa, Fla.

Nowhere else in the county were changes in transportation methods better indicated than in Charlestown. In the days before the whites came, the Indians followed their great trails up through Campbellsport. Early set- tlers cut roads which generally fol- lowed it. Over these the old stage coaches went and the ox-carts and men on horseback. When the P. & O. canal was constructed there was a wave of activity. Almost forgotten now is "Breadport," as it was locally known. Here farmers brought their wheat for shipment east on the canal. Thousands of bushels were sent out. In season, farmers wagons loaded with wheat waited their turn to unload in a . line that stretched for miles over the nearby hills.

Following the canal, of course, came the railroad. The present B. & O. generally follows the line of the old canal and when the road was re-built, electric trolley lines used the old right-of-way for a number of years. Then came the era of improved roads with their roaring procession of cars, buses and trucks, going over much of the same route the Indian had used 150 years previously. It is possible for a person to stand in one spot and visualize all this without too much ef- fort, while overhead he may see and hear passing aircraft, also a means of travel.

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Charlestown Memories

By CHAS. O. PHILE

As it has been requested that I contribute something for the new history of Charles- town Township, Portage County, I will try and fulfill that difficult task.

My father and mother were married and moved on a farm about two miles south of Charlestown Center, the first of May, 1850. They lived in a log house for some time be- fore the present house was built. The old canal was in operation at that time. There was a good warehouse here and the name of this place was called Breadport. There being no other shipping point near, wheat was hauled from different townships south of the canal. and teams would stand for half a mile south to unload flax. Sometime later the ware- house burned. The canal current was so strong that partly burned shingles were carried to a meadow next to my father's barn and set the hay on fire. I have been told that a steamboat sailed down the canal blowing its whistle, and a man by the name of Shriver, who lived about a mile away, thought the railroad train had run off the track. The canal not only transported grains and other farm produce, but also coal, building ma- terials, etc. James A. Garfield, later to become President of the United States, once drove mules along the tow path of the canal. The canal ceased its operation about the year 1865.

There is a place one half mile south of canal on the townline road between Edinburg and Charlestown (called Cable Line Road now) which is called Bloody Corners, so named because of a bloody fight which took place at that spot when the ground was covered with snow. I remember of two water power saw mills. One was southeast of Edinburg, now Route 14, the other was east of Bloody Corners at Silver Creek. These mills were what were called up and down saws. People who lived in that section said the saw went up one day and down the next.

There was a schoolhouse at Bloody Corners, also a church and a dwelling house. The church was of the United Brethren denomination; the pastor's name was Watson, a powerful preacher, under whose ministry my father was converted. Later he became Presiding Elder of this section, sometimes preaching at New Milford and at Four Corners, now known as Yale. Rev. Watson was visiting in our home one day and he and my oldest brother, Wallace Phile, were driving through the river with a team and wagon, when they saw many fish trying to get over a little riffle (a shallow place in the water). They got a bucket, waded in, and caught a bucketful of fish with their hands.

In 1880 a railroad was built following the canal most of the way from Akron to Youngstown. It was called Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Toledo Railroad, and did a thriving business for some time running excursions from Charlestown to the Glens at Cuyahoga Falls and from Akron to Youngstown, sponsored by the McKelvey Dry Goods and De- partment Store. There were many wrecks on this railroad due to the many curves.

The first regular passenger train was run over this road March 4th, 1884, my seven- teenth birthday. It was now owned by the B. & O. R.R. Later they built a double track line from Ravenna to Warren, south of Charlestown, using the old line for local freight and some time later we had excellent electric service, over the old right of way when it was abandoned.

One rainy, cold night in 1901, three men got off a freight train at Charlestown Sta- tion, and slept in my father's barn which was near the railroad. When I went to the barn in the morning to feed the sheep, I climbed the ladder into the hay mow and stepped on these men. They left, going down the track to a small freight house, where they built a fire outside to keep warm and remained there all day. That night, my wife and I, return- ing from a visit with friends about 10:30 met two of these men near Ledge Hill. It was a bright moonlight night with a little snow on the ground. The third man had been seen at Edinburg in the evening. During the night the Goss store was broken into. After

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entering, they opened the main door from the inside, which set off an alarm in the Goss home. Mr. Goss, with his clerk, Will Baker and John Davis, started toward the store, shooting a revolver and yelling "Thieves and robbers." The men came to the door and fired, the bullet hitting the corner of the store. Then one man stepped out, aimed and fired, killing Mr. Goss.

The sheriff and officers enroute to the scene in a horse and buggy, saw two men run into a field, as they approached. They returned to Ravenna and started on foot down the B. & O. R.R. track. Near Campbellsport they halted a man and questioned him. He told of sleeping in a barn, but got cold and left and agreed to show them the barn, which he did, all walking over three miles back down the railroad track. They then went to an old building some distance away where the other two men had been seen the night before. The building was searched, the men found and were marched to Ravenna in the middle of the road. I was in Ravenna nine different times as a witness when the men stood trial. The men were convicted and sent to the penitentiary. After about five years, they were released. And that's the story of the Goss murder, which some readers may remember.

When the railroad was being built there was a boarding house on my father's farm, across the old canal from the sugar house, down in the woods. The camp was on both sides of the railroad. One day, when the railroad men were not working, they were playing cards in the boarding house, and a couple of men got into a fight. The boss told them to get out and go to the barn. I was probably 15 or 16 and I was gathering sap and I had to cross the site for the railroad. As I crossed the right of way, I saw the men going to the barn.

They clinched each other. One grabbed the other's upper lip with his teeth, and the other got hold of the lower lip of the first. One had half of his lip bitten clear out. The other one didn't do as good a job, and only bit the lip partly off. There were two doctors at Edinburg, so that both men started for Edinburg for help to get their lips sewed in. The doctor who attended the man who had his lip bitten partly off said, "A man must be a brute to bite a person's lip like that." The patient replied, "That's right I bit the other fellow's lip clear out ."

I did not see the fight close up as it was a little below the crossing where the barn was located.

Years ago before the coming of the auto and good roads, protracted meetings for several weeks had a prominent part in the winter program of many churches. They were one of the few events that drew the whole community together. They were always well attended. The local church took on renewed life for a time at least. Some lives were completely changed. Others, who were more demonstrative, had to be converted over again each winter.

We are living in a fast age today, a great change from ox carts and canal boats to automobiles and airplanes. People now, when they cannot find a place to park, don't stop to consider way back,

When Noah sailed the waters blue, He had his troubles, same as you, For forty days he drove his ark, Before he found a place to park.

I stated in the first of this article that my parents lived in a log house until the present one was built. I was born, reared and still live in this place. I was 90 years old on the 4th day of March, 1957, and am still feeling fine.

James A. Garfield is said to have been the country's only left-handed president. Though he was an accomplished man, the story that he would write in English with one hand, and in Latin with the other, both at the same time, is set down as a bit of pleasant exaggeration.

CHAPTER XXIII

Deerfield

BY TOM JAMES

When Ohio decided to settle and develop the Western Reserve, it was necessary that brave, sturdy and cour- ageous men and women leave homes, families and friends back in some New England state and strike West- ward into the wilderness and terri- tory heretofore uninhabited by white men.

Among those willing to make the necessary sacrifice, suffer the physical hardship that one would be called upon to face, were Lewis Ely, Lewis Day, Moses Tibbals and Daniel Diver, of Connecticut and Massachusetts. So ardent were they in their desire to reach the land beyond the Alleghenies that they approached the Connecticut Land Co. in regard to lands available for purchase and settlement.

This effort on their part revealed land laid down in surveys at Town I, Range 6, was obtainable and was good land, being in close proximity to the early western settlements in Western Pennsylvania. This particular land was owned by Gideon Granger, ap- pointed Postmaster General in 1800, and Oliver Phelps, both of Connecti- cut. Phelps owned two-thirds of the land. In the early part of 1799, Day, Ely, Diver and Moses Tibbals pur- chased one-third from Oliver Phelps.

Lewis Day, accompanied by Horatio Day, started at once for his new pos- sessions, in a wagon drawn by horses, arriving in June. The next month Lewis Ely came in, having started a little later than the other two. He was, however, the first actual permanent

settler in the township, as he brought his wife and family, built a cabin and settled down for life there. This was the start of Deerfield.

In the fall, the two Days and Ely broke the first ground and put out a crop, the Days then going back to the East. Mr. Ely located on Lot 19, a little East of the graveyard and East of the village center. Mr. Ely died in September, 1826.

GO FAR FOR PROVISIONS

On Feb. 10, 1800, John Campbell, Joel Thrall and Alva Day left their homes in Connecticut and walked to their future homes, arriving in Deer- field March 4. Soon after arrival, Alva Day and Lewis Ely went to Atwater and cut down a large tree, with which to build a canoe to go to Virginia after provisions. They launched their log on Yellow Creek, floating to the Mahoning, a river known to Indians as "the way to market." On the Ma- honing they made a canoe. In April they reached their destination, where they learned that it was impossible to return by water with their supplies, so they returned for ox-teams, finally bringing in their supplies in May.

In 1800, also, came James Mc- Laughlin, wife and daughter from Pennsylvania. Later the family had five other daughters and six sons. Mr. Mclaughlin erected a grist mill along the Mahoning, south of the center, in 1801, the first water power mill in the county. The old mill stood until 1942, when, with other buildings it

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Friends Church at Deerfield

was torn down to make way for the area flooded for the so-called Berlin Reservoir.

In the same year (1801) Lewis Ely donated a plat of ground East of the Center for a burial ground. The first burial was that of a young Indian boy. They made him a coffin stained with the juice of maple bark. The grave was marked with a large, colored stone, of the "nigger head" type, and can still be seen there today, near the monument to Deerfield's first settler, Lewis Ely.

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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 33

Author: Holm, James B Publication date: 1957 Publisher: [Kent, O., Commercial Press inc.] Number of Pages: 834

Author: Holm, James B
Publication date: 1957
Publisher: [Kent, O., Commercial Press inc.]
Number of Pages: 834