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 7

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 7

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).

PORTAGE HERITAGE

Pippin Lake's Name

Whence came the name "Pippin" for Pippin Lake? In 1835, the P. & O. canal commission published a report in the Ohio Star, referring to the various lakes along the canal route. It speaks of "Lake Pepin, lying north of Brady Lake." Was this the original name of the lake, which may have been corrupted later?

Prof. H. F. Raup, of KSU geography and geology department, in making a study of place names, has found the name spelled "Pippen" as early as 1857 and thereafter spelled "Pepin," "Pipin," "Pippen" and "Pippin." Local spelling for more than 100 years, in papers and local maps, has been "Pippin." Prof. Raup reccommends this spelling. How the lake got the name in the first place is not yet clear. Some think it is a variation of an old Indian name, or of an individual.

Song With Difficulty

In the early church services throughout the county they followed the custom of "lining" the hymn to be sung. As they were without hymn books, church goers did not know the words to be sung. The minister first read the words of the en- tire hymn. He then went back and read the first two lines of the hymn and asked some one to "raise a tune," whereupon these two lines were sung. Two more lines were read and sung and the process repeated until the hymn was finished. Sometimes the choir lost the key, break- ing down entirely. They then sounded a new "tune" and finished the hymn. Later there might be a leader called "tune find- er and time beater", now director.

In the 1830s the Ravenna Presbyterians started to erect a church on the Ravenna public square. A frame was erected. That evening it was taken down by mauraud- ers and hauled away. On the following day a new frame went up. Again it dis- appeared at night. Builders got notice that the Public Square was no place for a church. The building was then erected in another location.

No Road - No Church

It was not always easy for pioneers to get to church, particularly those living at a distance. They walked, rode in ox- carts or stone-boats, rode horses or just walked. Mrs. Charles Dudley of Freedom once rode an ox through the forets to her church. But the brambles tore her skirts to shreds and she issued an ultimatum that unless a road was cut to her home she would attend church no more. There- upon the building of a road was authoriz- ed-now Limeridge Road.

Campbell's Faithful Wife

In the War of 1812, Col. John Camp- bell, founder of Campbellsport, and Charlestown's first permanent settler led a company of Portage County volunteers. In camp at Sandusky, Col. Campbell be- came dangerously ill. His wife Sarah heard about it and rode horseback to Sandusky to be at his side. As he would be incapacitated for some time, she brought him home, leading the horse on which her husband rode all the way from Sandusky to Ravenna.

Flip and Bit Beginning

In Deerfield, about 1810, H. W. Muer- man asked young Jesse Grant why he did not start a tannery, as his father had done. "I have no money," answered Jes- se. "We can soon remedy that," said Mr. Muerman. "Look over my land and pick yourself a suitable location and let me know." In a short time Jesse reported to Muerman, saying, "And how much will this location cost me?" Muerman consid- ered, then answered, "A flip and a bit and a glass of whiskey and it's yours." So that for the fantastic sum of six and one quarter cents young Grant had a deed for one acre of land and a place to start a business. After working at it a few years, he went to Ravenna and oper- ated a tannery there, later going to south- ern Ohio where his son, Ulysses, was born and later became president.

CHAPTER IV

By Trial and Error

The various decades, eras or periods of a county's history or a town's his- tory, differ a great deal in popular mood and aspiration as well as activity and accomplishment. Up to 1820 the general feeling and hope had been to get things organized like they were "back home." That done, people would be on a better footing and in a better position to do a little planning of their own. By that time land was being pretty well taken up and a stable government had been set up- stable but not especially forward look- ing. Log cabins were beginning to dis- appear and frame buildings replaced them. Occasionally, a "mansion" ap- peared, which was likely to be a frame house, a little larger and more ornate than others. At first there was no paint for any buildings, though whitewash might be used. Then paint appeared. Historian Henry Howe, who traveled over Ohio in 1840, later recalled that what he remembered best in the West- ern Reserve were the many "red hous- es and barns" and numerous bar rooms. By 1840 a few brick buildings had been eretced. A fine example stands at Campbellsport today. Porch- es and stoops were beginning to ap- pear on ordinary houses.

TRAVEL IS DIFFICULT

After the depression of 1818-19 was over, more stores were established. It became easier to buy goods, especially

those from the East. More shops and factories went up but these were al- ways small. The age of industrializa- tion was far away. But schools were established in great number, which pleased settlers greatly. Yet there was no public school "system." Though ac- complishments were not great there was more planning for the future on the part of leaders. They were begin- ning to think of business and bigger things. By this time a system of local roads had been laid out. People could get about better by horseback and wagons and buggies became popular.

The roads, which started haphazard- ly when the county was formed, did not improve rapidly. Even the main highways were often impassable and the by-roads were only such as were actually required as settlers saw it. The main thing was to cut down a few steep grades or build bridges where actually needed. It was a continual struggle to get roads that were useful.

In 1837, Alexander Campbell, the famous Disciple preacher, made a night trip by stage coach from Ra- venna to Hudson. He said the road was in horrible condition and they were on the way all night. Numerous times the passengers had to get out of the coach in order to avoid upsets. Alto- gether, the passengers walked through the mud a total of four or five miles.

PORTAGE HERITAGE

CANAL Is HAILED

In a land bursting with energy and resources, something had to be done about trade and thereby communica- tions. The canal was the thing. The new Ohio canal of the 1820s meant a great deal to Portage County. Actual- ly, the canal passed through the then Portage County but the "cross-out" canal from Akron to New Castle, later on, promised still better days for it traversed the length of the county. Hardly had these canals been complet- ed and put in service, when something else appeared-the railroad. As early as 1837 there was sentiment here for something like the Sandusky affair. It caught the imagination of the people. Along the lake more shipping and the steamboat appeared. The building and operation of the P. & O. canal are dis-

cussed in the chapter on Transporta- tion and in local chapters, as are the railroads. It was these transportation systems that "made" Portage County.

Villages began to take shape, though no particular one took a com- manding lead. In 1840 Portage Coun- ty township populations ranged from 756 in Atwater to 1649 in Randolph.

MORE GERMANS ARRIVE

As stated elsewhere, settlers kept coming in, a few families at a time, and most of them were still Yankees from the East. Possibly the largest single body of migrants came about 1835 when 35 families of newly ar- rived Germans settled in southern At- water and Deerfield townships and in northern Stark County. Little known is the fact that these settlers were sent

Counting The Cost

An interesting account of their trip here from Massachussetts is written in the "Journal and Day Book" by Charles A. Dudley when he and his wife first came to Free- dom in 1835. The first entry in the Journal bears the date of April 22, 1835, and is as follows:

"Arrived in Troy, N. Y., in the evening and put up with friends for the night. April 23-Shipped aboard the 'Isreal Putnam' at Troy for Buffalo down the Erie Canal. May 1- Arrived in Buffalo but the lake was full of ice, were delayed several days. We walked 12 miles and found a steamboat called the 'Buffalo' and put aboard for Ashtabula. Arrived in Ashtabula May 7. Stayed with friends until May 10, then took a stage coach from Ash- tabula to Painesville and on May 11 took another stage coach from Painesville to Chardon, arriving in the morning. From there we walked to Freedom, 25 miles, carrying a small trunk between us."

The last caption in the Journal reads: "We arrived on our piece of land just as the sun sank in the west."

Expenditures of the trip are listed in the Journal:

Cash paid, passage Troy to Buffalo $16.15

Meals on board schooner 4.60 (mostly codfish)

From Buffalo to Ashtabula 4.25

Meals on steamship 2.11

2.50

Stagecoach fare

Total $29.61

As Mr. and Mrs. Dudley had borrowed $30.00 to make the trip out, on arrival they had a balance of 39 cents on which to start housekeeping.

PORTAGE HERITAGE

This is the house where Joseph Smith and Sidney Ridgon had their head- quarters in Hiram. The building still stands today.

here by the Friends Society (Quakers) of Pennsylvania. The Quakers were very active in helping oppressed groups to find new homes in America. In Ohio there were also many Quaker communities, one being in the vicinity of Salem and extending to Deerfield in this county. The old German church on the county line road in At- water was long a landmark and re- minder of this German colony, and the names of many citizens of German descent are still numerous in the sec- tion. Leon W. Kettring's "Transac- tions of the Evangelical Protestant Trinity Church", recently put out, is a rich history of the locality.

MUSIC AND MAIL SERVICE

In the cabins of the Reserve settle- ments children were being born who later would become intellectual and political leaders of the state. The Wades, the Garfields, the Mckinleys, the Whittleseys, the Atwaters, the Days, the Fords, the Kents, the Han- nas and others born then were to be heard from later.

Music was cultivated. Instruments were obtained in one way or another. Bands, orchestras and choral groups were organized and music was as much appreciated then as later. There were even "popular songs." The set- tlers were long to remember the song, "Lorena" with its

PORTAGE HERITAGE

"A hundred months have passed Lorena,

Since last I held your hand in mine, And felt thy pulse beat fast, Lorena, Though mine beat faster, far, than thine."

This song was written by Rev. H. D. L. Webster of Ravenna.

But perhaps the most commonly used songs were the old ballads and lays brought over from Europe by way of the East. Among these were "Bar- bara Allen," "Sweet William," "A Frog Went A Courting," "Billy Boy," "Lord Lovell," "Butcher Boy," "When I Was Single," "Soldier, Sold- ier," "The Jolly Boatman" and others. These are still being sung in the re- mote mountain regions of the East to- day. American popular music was only starting then.

A postal service had been getting under way but at first was not largely patronized. Postage was collected at the end of the route and people did

not always have money enough to pay. When the use of prepaid stamps was adopted, mail was popularized. But through mail service, citizens were at least in touch with the rest of the world. There had been no newspapers. They began to spring up, poor as they were at first. Shipments from the East usually included kegs of nails for building, because "modern" buildings needed nails. The Indians were virt- ually gone by 1820 and soon the Irish and Germans began to arrive when canal building started. There were al- so many English and Welsh newcom- ers.

HANGINGS IN PUBLIC

This was a period, too, when public charities and special benevolent treat- ment for the poor, sick and unfortun- ate were unknown. It was a time when criminals and wrong doers were treat- ed with severity. Punishment for mur- der was hanging and the hangings

Tragic Nathan Muzzy

Early Portage County had its tragedies and tragic figures. Among the latter was Nathan Muzzy. Several townships claim him but apparently he first came to Deerfield early in the Nineteenth Century and at once began to move about the county. A soldier of the Revolution and a Worcester, Mass., man, he had graduated from Dartmouth in 1786 and two years later was licensed as a Congregational minister. But something went wrong. He was deeply affected when disappointed in love and before long went to Marietta, Ohio, leaving the ministry for carpentering. Not long after that he came to Deerfield.

At Randolph he erected a log house and soon after that built the first clapboard home in the settlement. To expedite his work he simply burned the first cabin to the ground and used the puncheons for the new structure. In front of the new house he erected a gate with high posts and an arch overhead. On this he carved the name, "Emma Hale", the girl who had rejected him. Though there were no fences along the gate, he went through the gate every time he left the house. He also carved or wrote the word "Emma" on trees and buildings.

Nathan worked in Rootstown, Ravenna, Shalersville and Palmyra. In his advanced years he became a pauper, but Palmyra people took him and cared for him until his death. He was buried in Palmyra. Muzzy Lake in Rootstown township was named after him. But, apparently, he was never able to forget his beloved Emma Hale.

PORTAGE HERITAGE

were conducted in public by local sheriffs. Such an affair was a holiday -an important event, and something not to be missed. For that reason old historians made much of the various criminal events and executions.

The first hanging in Portage Coun- ty came in 1814, the victim being Henry Aungst, a wandering German who had been convicted of peddler Epapthras Matthews near Campbells- port. The gallows had been erected on South Sycamore St., Ravenna, not far from the present court house. The militia had been called out and there was a crowd of 1800 present which represented most of Ravenna's popula- tion, plus many others from outside.

At these public hangings there was an air of enforced gayety. Women and children were present. There was a sort of irresistible curiosity to see a man die. But it was a grewsome job not relished by the sheriff and his deputies. More than one of them was overcome by the work. At the hang- ing of David McKisson of Hudson in 1838, a band was present and played "Bonaparte's March Over The Rhine." McKisson had been convicted of the murder of his sister-in-law. For this execution a gallows had been erected on South Prospect St., Ravenna. It was a bitterly cold winter day and for many years thereafter there was an expression around Ravenna," cold as the day when McKisson was hung." The last public hanging in Portage County did not come until 1865 when Jack Cooper was executed for the mur- der of John Rhodenbaugh. Later, all executions were taken care of at Co- lumbus by the state. The last man

hanged for a Portage County crime was Charles (Blinky) Morgan at Co- lumbus in 1888.

ALEXANDER CAMPBELL AT WORK

By 1820 virtually all present Port- age townships had churches organized. Usually, services were first held in homes or any convenient building. Services were sometimes in the Ra- venna jail or court house, in order to have a meeting place at all. Various denominations were represented, though Congregationalists predomin- ated. Erection of church buildings us- ually did not come rapidly and in summer time, meetings were some- times held in the open air. A great wave of religious interest was begin- ning to sweep over Ohio and the camp meeting was a manifestation of it. Paris township historians tell of "bush meetings" as early as 1817. It is probable, though, that Portage Coun- ty was not quite so much affected by the revival spirit as some other parts of the state, although the Disciples be- came very active through the initiative of Alexander Campbell. More about Portage County churches is related in a separate chapter.

It was a period, too, when peddlers began to appear, carrying their goods on their backs from house to house. Or they might bear stocks of tinware and household needs in one-horse wa- gons. But money was still scarce and often a deal had to be a "swap" with produce being traded for goods. There were also wandering clock repair men, or tinners, shoe makers, letter writers, singing instructors and others.

Dressed up men wore wide beaver hats, with tight pants and frock coats.

PORTAGE HERITAGE

Dr. Isaac Swift, early Ravenna merch- ant and physician.

Women's skirts were pretty full and long and madam's outfit usually in- cluded a parasol. Women began to pay attention to hair styles.

Newspapers came in 1825.

FINES PAID IN LIQUOR

Justices of the peace had been func- tioning from the first but now there was one in every township. They had, or thought they had, extensive powers. In Aurora, Harriet Perkins was sued for saying something derogatory about Thankful Bissell. Squire Forward found her guilty and rendered judg- ment against her for one gallon of whiskey.

In this period there also came into existence a type of enterprise that had much to do with Portage County pros- perity for the next seventy-five years

-the cheese industry. Settlers brought with them from the East the type of implements used there for cheese mak- ing. This is an age-old business, fol- lowed in various fashions. But the Portage County maker first used a tub placed on the floor. There the curd was stirred, then placed in various shaped receptacles. Later a square vat was set up on timbers for easier hand- ling, and still later, tin-lined larger vats were installed with an attachment for heating. Cheese made here was of a kind later known as "York State."

CHEESE GOES SOUTH

In Aurora, cheese makers discovered that there was a market in the South for northern cheese, and for several decades dealers went South with cheese regularly at a profit and of course Portage cheese was also shipped elsewhere, anywhere it could be sold. Cheese making was first an individual enterprise-later a co-operative affair. Still later, dealers had their own fac- tories scattered over the county and the farmers sold their milk outright directly to the dealers. It was well in- to the 20th century when the demand for fluid milk from the nearby cities was strong enough to cause the tide of milk to go that way. The cheese press then became a thing of the past.

The height of Portage cheese mak- ing was in the '60s and '70s. In 1870, the production amounted to 3,822,988 pounds, after which there was a slow decline. In several years Portage led cheese production among Ohio coun- ties, and hundreds of thousands of pounds of butter was turned out at the same time.

PORTAGE HERITAGE

In 1880 there were 40 cheese fac- tories in the county.

MORMONS ARRIVE

Coming into the new country were men and women of various beliefs and ideas, some of which were new and unorthodox. Sometimes there were clashes and hard feelings. About 1830 there came to Hiram Joseph Smith, the later noted founder of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, popular- ly known as Mormon. With him was Sidney Rigdon, pastor of a Mantua Disciple Church who had embraced Mormonism. Some called him the brains of the movement. These men secured many converts for their faith and there seems to have been little doubt that Hiram was marked as the church's center. The Mormons taught a form of communism and opposition arose. Some of the new converts with- drew from the church. Smith and Rid- don lived in homes on what is now Pioneer Road. On a winter's night in 1832 a band of men broke into their homes, seized Smith and Rigdon, and tarred and feathered them. The inci- dent was of historical importance. Smith and Rigdon soon left for Kirt- land where a colony was established, and from which the sect was driven away, with Smith later killed by an Illinois mob. While here the Mormons had not yet openly advocated polyg- amy as was done later by Brigham Young, a later leader.

In 1956, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints bought the house on Pioneer Road, still standing, in which Joseph Smith lived, with the expectation of making it a church shrine, or monument.

John F. Haymaker, first white child born in Franklin Township.

SWAMPS ARE DRAINED

After the land was taken up the farm minded population was faced by another natural condition which stood in the way of full crop raising, and good farm organization. It was the presence of numerous swampy sec- tions, especially in the more level parts, but extending more or less over the entire county. Portage is well ele- vated but conditions made swamps. Thousands of century-old trees, with heavy undergrowth of bushes and grasses, kept grounds wet and held water throughout the year, a sort of impenetrable swamp, where wild life abounded. For years Brimfield town- ship was known as Swamptown. Free- dom, Windham, Paris and other town- ships had the same situation. It was not quite so bad as the famous great "Black Swamp" of Northwestern Ohio, but it presented the same diffi-

PORTAGE HERITAGE

culties. Drainage was necessary and trees and brush had to be removed as well. Ditches were gradually con- structed but it was many years before all fertile land could be made ready for use. The so-called "muck land" found throughout the county repre- sents the remnants of the once exten- sive swamp lands. But after drainage was effective, fertile soil was sure to be found. Ditching started out to be individual enterprise, but often ditch- ing would do no good unless a neigh- bor was like minded. Wise state laws set up ditch districts to enable owners to improve their holdings. They are still in operation today, though not of- ten used, yet ditch operation is neces- sary in many places. Considerable ditching was done through the W.P.A. during the early 1930s. Perhaps the fact that early ditching was done en- tirely by hand labor explains why it was not more rapidly pushed at first. But such conditions might be all right for the construction of canals, contrary to those in the sister state of Pennsy- lvania, where they insisted on bring- ing their canals right over the moun- tains.

COUNTY FAIR BEGINS

Outside the few small mills and fac- tories, Portage was long a purely agri- cultural country and good land was always wanted. Farming was a job done mainly by human muscle and horse and ox assistance. The yoke of oxen was a common sight, perhaps

the usual thing. The grub hoe was followed by the wooden plow, then the iron pointed affair. Grain was reaped with sickles and scythes; later the cradle and reaper. Binding of sheaves was a hand affair. Threshing with the flail was hand work. The cross-cut steel saw was at first a rarity. Crude utensils made painfully by hand, became the early promise of a thousand better tools later on.

But with all the drudgery of farm work, farmers were thinking of some- thing better. In 1825 the first agricul- tural fair was organized. Joshua Woodard was first president; Elias Harmon and William Coolman vice presidents. The first fair was held in October of 1825 and for a hundred years afterward was an important in- stitution in county life.

Life was still hard and rough, par- ticularly for the women. Home mak- ing for great grandmother was one of never ending hard work and this re- quired much time and energy. She kept stoves going, baked all the bread and pastries, prepared and canned fruits and vegetables, preserved jellies and jams, smoked meats. She cleaned her house with a rough broom and mops (after she had floors). She made and mended clothes for the entire family and this included the rough clothing of the men, doing it without the aid of a sewing machine or labor saving devices. Sometimes this meant making clothes for a dozen people.

The old explanation for the heavy use of whiskey in early days was, "Corn is the only successful crop here. There is no market for corn, so we make it into whiskey. There is no market for whiskey so we drink it." But about 1830 the use of too much whiskey resulted in the first temperance organization.

PORTAGE HERITAGE

She rose early in the morning and cooked three big meals a day. Ap- petites were strong, food was usually abundant but physical activity of all hands demanded heavy feeding. For breakfast she served hot biscuits, fried potatoes, salt pork, ham, eggs, fried mush with molasses. Noon and eve- ning meals required two kinds of meat, three or four vegetables includ- ing potatoes, gravy, two kinds of bread, cheese, jellies, relishes, apple- sauce, pie and cake, with milk, coffee or tea.

WOMAN'S LOT IS HARD

Many steps were required to prepare a meal. She went to the cellar for canned fruits and other supplies. To the smokehouse for cured meats, and she baked her own pies and pastries. Probably she had to go to the well for water often, using a sweep or wind- lass. Soft water was obtained from the rain barrel at an outside corner of the house, or in later days, a cistern. The country woman's hard lot did not ease greatly until the end of the century.

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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 7

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