Medina County, Ohio - Chapter 21, 1881 (part 1 of 2)

Taking the eastern line for a base, where it is crossed by Wolf Creek, the greatest elevation would be near the south line, west of the Center road, as well as the north part of the town near the same road, and reaching the altitude of 150 feet. The township furnishes as many springs as any on the Western Reserve. Its computed number is 127. The streams that go to make up Wolf Creek, the principal stream in the township, are, first, Spruce Run, which rises on Lot No. 32, runs one mile, fed by springs, and forms a junction with the creek fifty rods west Minor streams feed the west side until it receives the waters of Stone Brook, which rises on Lot No. 15, and runs one mile southwest and empties in the East Branch of Wolf Creek. This East Branch receives a slight start from a swamp in Granger Township, but gets its constant flow from spriugs south of the north line. Starting from the junction of the two streams called the East and West Branches of Wolf Creek, which occurs on Lot 52, we find the West Branch receives its largest feeder from Jones' Brook, which rises in Wadsworth, runs three miles north to the main stream. The next is the Young or Case Brook, rising on Lot 66 and running northeast. The third is a small stream starting at the paint mines. Another feeder to the West Branch is the Warner Brook, which rises on Lot 78, runs two miles north and empties. This main or West Branch, like its eastern brother, takes its rise in Granger. Yellow Creek rises in Sharon, runs one and a half miles southeast to the township of Copley, thence to the Cuyahoga River. On the west town line there is a tributary of Rocky River, which rises on Lot 21. "This, with Yellow Creek, contributes to the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The other streams mentioned, together with Paint Creek, in the southwest part of the town, flow into the Tuscarawas River, which helps to swell the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and thence to the Gulf of Mexico. Thus there are several buildings in Sharon, whose roofs contribute to both of the great gulfs of North America. Sharon is drained by its natural formation, in the immediate rise of the land from the numerous creeks to the different table lands. Drainage was provided when the waters receded from this continent.

She soil of Sharon is varied. The western half is blue clay mixed with small particles of shale, which changes as we go eastward to sand and gravel, mixed with petrified shell of ancient deposit. township, there is a greater proportion of sand, with occasional gravelly knolls. The valleys are a compound, sand prevailing. Vegetable decomposition is about 33 per cent of its composition. The valleys embrace one-fourth of the tillable land. The timber is variable ; principally beech in the northwest quarter. The middle tier of lots, north and south, were once celebrated for choice sawing timber. Yellow white-wood, black-walnut, white ash, hard and soft maple, beech and white-oak abounded. The few noble oaks that yet remain are mostly in the east part of the township, and indicate that from four to six feet in diameter was not an uncommon size.

Sharon remains as first surveyed, it being in aecordance with the rules adopted at the commencement of the survey of the Western Reserve, unless natural objects prevented. It is five miles square, divided into eighty lots varying in size from one hundred and ninetyeight to two hundred and thirty-six acres, rendering in the aggregate 17,200 acres of land. The center is in 41? 6' north latitude. The pursuits of the inhabitants are almost entirely agricultural. The soil is adapted to grain and grazing. From 1835 to 1845, it prcduced a great quantity of wheat. The fields were then visited by destructive insects to such an extent that farmers turned their attention to sheep-raising. This was continued until 1868, when the produce of sheep fell to nominal prices, and this industry gave place to cheese-factories and dairying, and also to wheat-raising, which latter has proved successful for a number of years past.

The principal village of the township is Sharon Center, located, according to the fashion of the times, at the geographical center. It contains about forty dwellings, two dry goods, gro- | cery and hardware stores, post office, two black- |

On the north line of the township, near the northeast corner, is the village of Coddingville. This contains a hotel, a grocery, a few dwelling-houses'on the Sharon side, and a blacksmith and wagon shop, dwellings, schoolhouse, etc., on the Granger side. Half a mile west is Troy Corners, which contains a store, hotel, dwellings, and the post office known as Smith's Road.

The principal part of Sharon was owned first by the minor heirs of Hart & Mathers, by which name the township was first designated. This was changed, at the suggestion of Peter A. More, to Gask, the name of his native city in Scotland, and was thus known until 1830, when the name was again changed, by act of the Legislature, to that by which it is now known. The name was suggested by the wife

Seventy-five votes were cast, which resulted in the election of Peter A. More, Samuel Hayden and Charles McFarlin, Trustees; Jacob Rudesill, Clerk; Col. Luther sill. At the election in April, 1832, Amos Ritter, Charles McFarlin and John Boydston were chosen Trustees; David Boydston, Clerk; Luther Fitch, Treasurer.

The lands in Sharon came into market in March, 1829, but there were several squatters as early as 1815. Among these first settlers was one Parmeter, Bridgeman, McConkey, Point, Valland and Green, and, it is supposed, that, as early as 1810, a hunter was living at the forks of Wolf Creek. When the lands were surveyed, in 1827, these squatters, with the exception of David Point and McFarlin, took their departure. They left no available

| David Point was a native of Orange County, | N. Y.; came to Portage County, Ohio, in 1810, | where he married a daughter of John Dunbar, | and moved to what was then called "Hart & Mather," now Sharon, in 1816. He'was a tanner and currier by trade, and the settlers found him a valuable acquisition. As cattle were scarce, deer were slain for their hides as well as their meat, and Mr: Point proved a good tanner. One old settler declares he had a pair of boots made from deerskin of his tanning that had worn for twenty years, and thought that they would yet outlast several pairs of modern tanning and manufacture. Mr. Point lived to the age of eighty-four years. His widow still survives, aged eighty-six years, in full possession of all her faculties. Strictly adhering to the injunction of the Bible, there were born to them fourteen children. Uncle David looked with disdain upon modern families, with a few children "whining for sweetcake and candy." Instead of this, he would say, "Mother, give them children a supper of roasted potatoes and milk; put some leeks on the table so the milk won't taste leeky!"

As the actual settlement of the township did not take place until several years after that of the neighboring townships, the settlers were spared much of the privation usually endured by the pioneers of civilization. They were enabled to obtain supplies from earlier settled neighbors in adjoining towns, and their social customs and domestic manners partook of the character of older communities from the first.

The first child born in the township was a son to Stephen Green and wife, who lived on Lot No. 13, in 1819. The first female was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Point, born in 1818. The first marriage was that of Joseph Willey to Malinda McFarlin, in 1829. They moved to Porter County, Ind., where Willey died in 1856. The first death was that of a child of David Point, in 1822. As there was no graveyard in Sharon at that time, thé burial took place in Granger, near Coddingville. A few settlers assembled to console the afflicted parents. The ceremony consisted of a hymn sung and a short petition to God for consolation to those called to mourn.

The necessity of education was recognized by the early settlers in a schocl meeting held early in the fall of 1822. Among those who thus met were David Point, Abram Valland, Lyman Green and Charles McFarlin. At this meeting, it was resolved to build a schoolhouse, and the site selected was that upon which Link's Tavern now stands. An objection was made to this, however, from the fact that an Indian squaw had been buried there a few years before, and that her spirit had been seen and heard, and the following is what she is supposed to have said: "Brothers, I do not want the place where my bones lie disturbed. My braves tell me this is theirs by inheritance. There was a time when our forefathers owned all this land; now you envy me one small spot. Your forefathers came across the great plains and the Cuyahoga and landed on this our hunting-ground. When they came across the great waters, their number was small. They found friends and not enemies. They told us they had fled from their own country for fear of wicked men, and had come here to enjoy their religion. They asked for a small

The old squaw's grave did not prevent them from building on the place. Tradition says it was better than the majority of schoolhouses at that time. It had a floor made of split chestnut logs, and benches of the same material, similar to extended milking-stools. Here sat the juvenile lords and ladies of the past, some of whom were endowed with faculties to do honor to the farmer's station, while others Stooü at the head of their profession, and, in | the halls of their native State, stood foremost to beat back the inroads of class legisiation. The pedagogue who had the honor of teaching the first school in Sharon was David Holmes. His throne was an elm-bottomed chair. Perched therein, and equipped with a good fernle and plenty of blue-beech "gads," the monarch reigned. The roll of scholars thus assembled in the first school taught in Sharon, in 1822, reached the number of twenty-four. <A few of these lived in Granger, but this township furnished the great majority. Their names were William, Polly, Rhoda and Sally Valland, John Orville, Esther, Moses, Reuben, Mervina, Almina and Wilson McFarlin, Jane, Betsy and Marilla Point, Lyman, Orpha, Dexter and Asenath Green, Myron C., Chester and Tracy Hills. Mr. Holmes married a Miss Codding, of Gran- | ger, and removed to Michigan. He died in | Concord, Jackson County, in that State, in | 1837. |

No other schools were commenced in the | township until 1832. In the meantime, the town had become well settled, nearly all of the lots having been sold. This gave rise to the establishment of the second school, which was located at the center, in a building recently erected for the double purpose of a school and town house. The people could find no authority in law for levying a tax to build a house of that character, and so the enterprise had been | carried out by subscription. This building was a small wooden structure, ceiled within, and supplied with a desk and seat extending along three sides. The scholars were thus seated with their faces to the wall, and their backs to the teacher. The first school taught in this house was in the summer of 1832, Elizabeth Hayden, teacher. The winter term of that year was presided over by Dr. Ormsby, followed, | the next summer, by Julia Hayden. Tlie other school distriets of the township, were formed

|! served a double purpose, the first floor being | used for school purposes, while the upper room | was occupied by the Universalist Society as a | church. The first seven years of the existence

The ruling spirits at the center of the town were generally New Englanders, fully alive to the importance of education, and early conceived the idea of a higher school To this end, a charter was obtained in 1836, for the erection of an academy, which was accomplished during that year. This building also of the academy, was mainly under the direction of John McGregor, a very successful teacher, and under whose supervision the school acquired a widespread reputation. Mr. McGregor was a native of Scotland, and had there become quite a prominent politician, but for the expression of some radical sentiment, he had left old the intervention of Mrs. Caroline Gibbs, he came with his family to Sharon, and took charge of the academy during the winter of 1836-37. In the spring, he was induced to go to Wadsworth to start a school there. Under his directions, the octagonal building in late Mrs. Graves, one mile north of the Center. He bought a farm on Lot 39, two miles west of the Center, on which he lived a short time. He moved to Wadsworth finally, in 1842, settling on a farm on the diagonal road, near Wilson's Corners. His death took place in 1847, from the bursting of a blood-vessel. He was of an eccentric turn of mind, and zealous in any subject he took hold of.

to worship in the same building. He was a very studious man, and under his administration, the school flourished greatly. Many students from abroad were in attendance, and classes were formed in the higher mathematics, philosophy, chemistry, languages, etc. His favorite method of punishment of the smaller scholars, was by dncking in the spring at the bottom of the hill, near the academy. He was an extensive reader of history, and appeared to live more in the society of past ages than in the present. This made him seem to be absentminded, but he was never neglectful of duty. He removed from here to Naperville, Ill, in 1856, but now resides in DeWitt, Iowa.

E. W. Reynolds, a graduate of Western Reserve College, and, perhaps, the most accomplished scholar that ever taught in Sharon, was the next Principal of the academy. The previous interest in this school was fully sustained under him, and many students from abroad came here for instruction. Mr. Reynolds married, while living in Sharon, a daughter of Abel Dickenson, of Wadsworth. His courtship and marriage had been conducted so secretly that the family in which he boarded (Col. Barron's) had no suspicion of the true state of affairs until one morning, while they were at the breakfast table, Mr. Dickenson suddenly came into the room somewhat intoxicated, exclaiming, " Mr Reynolds, you can have my horse and huggy to take your wife to Akron to-day." A thunderclap would not have produced more astonishment in the family than thus to have learned so suddenly that their supposed bachelor boarder was really a Benedick. Mr. Reynolds removed to Cassopolis, Mich., from which place he was elected to the Legislature of that State. An accidental fall from a wagon terminated his life about the year 1860.

The affairs of the academy thus ebbed and flowed until 1851, when the old building was sold to make room for a church the Universalists had resolved to build Another building was fitted up for a high school, just east of the new church, and in this labored for two years, as teachers, Mr. Aldrich and George Rudesill, respectively. The Presbyterian Church had by this time become disused, and was purchased and fitted up for a high school by Isaac R. Henry, and by him used for a few terms. He was succeeded by others, among whom may be mentioned H. H. Mack, W. H. Williams and A. L. Barnard The number of scholars under the latter's tuition rose as high as one hundred and twelve. After this, the school declined,

After the old house went away, there was a lull in high-school interests, but a few embers were still alive, and the townspeople were persuaded to build a house on a plan to serve in a three-fold capacity, so, with school tax, township tax and private subscription, the present house was erected for township, high and common school purposes. The character of the schools throughout the township, however, is not as good as it was in the early days.

The Methodist Church in Sharon was organized in 1832, with James Wilson, Pastor, in charge. The persons that composed the first class in that church were Valentine Waltman (Class-leader), Achsah Waltman, Keziah Waltman, Charles, Irena and Almira McFarlin, George, Susan and Polly Lowerman, Rebecca Smith, Harriet Skinner and Martha More. The church inereased in numbers, so that, in 1842, they were enabled to build their present house of worship. The building committee was composed of William Graves and Valentine Waltman. Like the schools, this society has ebbed

A Presbyterian Church was started in 1833, and served by occasional preachers of that school, until Rev. William Johnson was sent as a permanent Pastor, by an Eastern society in

Connecticut. He was paid $100 a year by the society, the rest of his salary being made up by his scattered parishioners. The church was continued until 1846, when it commenced to decline in numbers, by deaths, removals, and, perhaps, a type of theology better suited to the tastes of the people.

As early as 1830 or 1831, there were elements at work among the people, that indicated that a more liberal association might be collected. Those of such views, compared notes, and found enough strength to put up a building for church and school purposes. This was the formation of the Universalist Society of Sharon. The building was erected in 1836. The first preacher was a Mr. Hull, of New England extraction. He continued their speaker for three years, and was succeeded by occasional preachers, until the arrival of Rev. Alvin Dinsmore, about the year 1840, who continued to sojourn in Sharon for nearly twenty-five years, preaching and teaching. In 1869, this society sold a half-interest in their church building, to the Lutherans, who now occupy it alternately with them. There are two other churches in the township, one of which, Lutheran, is situated two miles southwest of the Center, and the other in the southeast part of the township. The latter belongs to the United Brethren, and is known as Mount Zwingli Church. Both of these churches have cemeteries attached.

The first mercantile establishment was started at the Center in 1833. It was situated on the southeast corner of the public square. It was soon bought out by W. Woolley, and sold by him to Jehial Jaquith. Amos Ritter, from Pennsylvania, started a store on the present site of the Universalist Church, in 1836. He formed a partnership with Isaac. and Israel Beach, but the firm soon broke up, and Ritter removed to Brunswick. The next store opened was by the firm of Patchen & Bentley, which was of short continuance. Allen Howes then entered on a mercantile career, and was, perhaps, the most successful trader that ever operated in town. He ran an ashery, operated by Jacob Fulmer, had an interest in the harness shop, dealt in lumber and building, and did more than any other man in town, to enliven business general. He was the subject of very serious domestic difficulties, brought about by the inconstancy of his first wife, who finally left him. He afterward married Miss Abby Warner, and removed to Chicago, to engage in trade. He has been succeeded in the mercantile line in Sharon, by a long line of merchants, among whom may be mentioned Farr, Chandler, Phinney, Chatfield, Rudesill, Barron and many others.

The first mechanical business started in Sharon was a tannery, by James Hall, just south of the Center, in 1831. He worked a year, and left, and was succeeded by John H. Rice, who started a tannery on the present site of Bowes' mill, in 1835. He did considerable business at tanning, and also, at one time, carrying on the business of shoemaking, Col. Barron working for him in that capacity. Mr. Rice removed to Wisconsin in 1857, in which State his son, Dr. Rice, had achieved distinction as a doctor and politician.

In 1835, James Hazen had a blacksmith-shop at Troy Corners. His shop was built of hickory logs, and, although it had a door, the logs were so far apart that all of the smaller animals were permitted to enter, children included. He was one of the best workmen of that time. Thomas Bender was the blacksmith at the Center in 1846. His insane wife for a long time was the terror of the older people, but a great favorite with the children. They emigrated to Iowa.

Among the early carpenters and joiners were John Burge (also botanical physician), Isaac Beach, Thomas King, Barton Green and William Chapman. Some of their wooden monuments are still standing, in the form of the old academy building, now a wagon-shop ; the old hotel, so long the residence of Mrs. Gibbs; and a few other buildings throughout the township. All of the above are passed away. Mr. Green died in Cleveland, and King in Washington County, Wis.

Until 1833, the people in the south part of town received their mail at Wadsworth Post Office, and those north of the Center, at Granger. In July of that year, a route was established between those points for a weekly mail. This was done on condition that the mail should be carried for what the Sharon Center office would bring in. C. McFarlin took the job for 45 cents per trip - a distance of eighteen miles. The office did not pay the first quarter, but did afterward. Luther Fitch, who enjoyed the two apparently contradictory titles of Colonel and Deacon, was appointed the first Postmaster, in 1833.

Horace Gibbs was Sharon's first cabinetmaker. He made chairs, tables and coffins - the latter at "$1 a foot." He had a turninglathe, on a spring brook, near the residence of Valentine Waltman, where he got out his round stuff. He afterward located his shop at the Center. He was elected Justice of the Peace, which office he held for many years. He married a daughter of John McGregor; moved from Sharon to Medina, where he kept a grocery for a year or two, then moved to Michigan. He afterward went to Kansas, where he died in 1874.

A. B. Root came to Sharon and started a harness-shop in 1842. He has worked continuously at this business over since. For many years, Mr. Root devoted the evenings to teaching vocal music in the different parts of Sharon and neighboring townships. He was the pioneer organist for the churches, and owned the first instrument of that kind ever brought to town. He has raised a family of eight children, no death having occurred in the family except that of Mrs. Root, in 1872. He came to Ohio from Malone, Franklin Co., N. Y.

Oliver Ingham came to Sharon in 1834, and put up a shop in which to build fanning-mills. He, together with his father, Judge Oliver Ingham, lived in a dwelling that now forms a part of the Sharon Hotel. Judge Ingham resided in Sharon until 1852, when he went to Montville to pass the remainder of his days with his son, who had preceded him to that township. He died in 1869, aged eighty-five years. He represented his native district in Vermont, in her legislative halls, for a number of years. He was of the old-school politicians ; believed in the infallibility of the Democratic party, and heartily hated the Abolitionists.

There have been erected nine water, saw and grist mills in the township. The first was by J. A. Davis, on Lot 26. This was continued in operation twelve years. The next mill was built by Col. Fitch, near the present residence of William Hopkins, in 1836. The Colonel soon tired of milling, owing to the trouble of keeping his dam in order, and sold out to Myron C. Hills. The mill afterward passed successively into the possession of Joseph Brittain and William Hopkins. The third was built by Millard Wadsworth, on the south branch of Wolf Creek, but did not do much business, and soon left town. He had a log house on the present site of the cemetery. Edward Chandler built a mill on the creek, one mile south of the Center, in 1837. He refused to saw for the usual price, viz., half the lumber, but only for cash, $2.50 to $3 per thousand. The fifth mill was erected on Lot No. 67. The sixth, on the falls, near the residence of Philip Young. Another mill was erected at Spruce Run, about 1850, and one on the East Branch of Wolf Creek, in 1833, by Thomas Smith. Jacob Wade built a grist-mill in 1832, on Spruce Run, two miles east of the center, with an 18-foot overshot wheel. He soon sold out to David Andrews, who ran it for many years. Itis stillin operation, with steam water and power, as a grist and saw mill. "The first steam-mill in town was erected in 1839, by Joseph and Andrew Brown, who afterward sold itto W. Woolley. The next steam-mill was built by Richard Warner in 1852. Other steam-mills have been put up by D. Grill and the Bowes Brothers. The reason of so many mills having been erected in 'Sharon is from the fact of its excellent early waterpower, and its having contained within its borders at least 10,000 acres of sawing timber. Probably half of this timber was destroyed by fire simply to get rid of it. Some of the old settlers bewail the labor they once underwent to burn up immense black walnut trees, which now would be worth more than the present value of their farms. However much credit they were entitled to for clearing up the land, the reflection comes that they rather overdid the matter.

A distillery was started in September, 1830, on a small scale, in the east part of town, by Samuel Arnold. His grinding was done at Wellhouse's mill, in Copley, and in Wadsworth.

The early settlers had very indifferent farming tools. The "bull plow" was made from a twisting beech or oak stick for a mold-board, with strips of band-iron to keep it from wearing. The handle was straight, and terminated with an inserted pin or a cow's.horn. A rough triangular drag, furnished with nine one-and-a-halfinch-square iron teeth, was used. Corn-planting was done by striking the corner of the hoe, or sometimes an old ax, in between the roots of the trees and dropping the seed into the incision. After the corn was up, the cultivation consisted of hacking up the fire-weeds with a hoe.

The Cleveland road, running north and south through the township, a mile east of the Center, was cut through in 1829. This work was enlivened by quite a number of adventures with bears, .a large one being killed with an ax, present site of the residence of George A. Shook. The north-and-south center road was cut through, and partially cleared, from 1829 to 1832. The east-and-west center road was chopped through west of the Center in 1832, but was found to be impassable on account of had to be resorted to. by using the largest logs for abutments, with stringers long enough to span the chasm, covered with poles or puncheons.

road running from the Center east. They commenced to angle just east of the Center, on account of natural obstructions on the center line, and formed a junction with the Copley westcenter road one and a half miles west of Copley Center. Thesurvey was continued to that place, the distance being found to be five miles and thirty-nine rods. The other roads were laid out later, as the needs of the settlers required.

The winter of 1832-33 was very severe, snow remaining on the ground until the last of March. Great numbers of wild hogs perished in the rocks. Some two hundred were counted in two places. These animals, about the year 1829, were the most dangerous enemy the early settler had to contend with, and many stories of personal encounter are related. John Clermont, working for Amos Ritter, was treed near where Charles Wall now lives. He was surrounded by scores of these ferocious beasts, and had to remain on his perch nearly half a day. He had a gun, but the hogs were too numerous to destroy, or be driven away, by shooting. Mr. Andrews, the elder, while hunting near Spruce Run, was driven into a tree-top to save himself from wild hogs. The great hunter of Sharon was William Douglas. He came to the township in 1830, with the Joneses, from Sugar Creek, Stark Co., and the stories of his exploits in hunting bears, deer and bees, have been favorite themes in the township ever since. Half the farms in this region have been scenes of his encounters with wild animals, or of thrilling adventures in climbing large trees for bees and honey. He was the acknowledged champion in all athletic games, especially jumping, even after he had become an old man. He reared a large family, and, in 1850, moved to. Wood County. His last visit to Sharon was in the spring of 1880, when he related the following story: After he was seventy-five years old, he climbed a bee-tree in Wood County, and, at the height of sixty-five feet, stood on a limb to cut it off He lost his balance in this operation, and, to save himself from falling, had to jump for the top of a neighboring elm-tree, which he reached in safety. He used to wonder who would raise bread for the next " generation," as mankind were getting "wiser and weaker ;" but that was before the age of reaping machines.

Some remains of the Mound Builders are found on Lot 47. One, quite prominent, was evidently a receptacle for the dead, long prior to the Indians that were here when the continent was discovered by white men.

On Lot 32, is a gorge in the rocks, through which Spruce Creek runs. The west side is sixty-five feet in height. About sixty feet below the gorge, on the right bank, is "Table Rock." This has been detached from the main rock, and is 40x60 feet in area, and thirty feet thick. Itis reached by means of a rude bridge, and has always been a favorite resort for picnic and pleasure parties.

The township has afforded a great quantity of bog ore. It is in great abundance on Lots 75 and 76. Coal has been mined to a considerable extent in this township, although the main fields extend beyond the township lines, southeast, into Norton and Wadsworth. The nearest coal to Cleveland, geographically, is in Sharon.

paint in the south part of the township, on Lots 65 and 71. Its value as a paint was first discovered by William Blake, in 1844, since which time hundreds of tons have been shipped to the seaboard. Mr. Blake realized a large fortune in this article.

Col. Norman Curtis came from Wadsworth, and settled in Sharon in 1833. He occupied a farm adjoining the Center on the south, and was one of the most influential and respected men of the township. He was Clerk of the township for many years, and a leader in al! educational and moral movements. His son, Loyal Curtis, died while serving as Warden of the insane asylum at Columbus, and George Curtis, another son, a prominent druggist of Janesville, Wis., died a few years ago in the latter city. The Colonel left Sharon in 1858, for Rockford, Ill., where he still lives (1880), at the advanced age of eighty-eight years.

Mrs. Caroline Gibbs was a prominent personage in the settlement of Sharon. She came from Vermont in 1833, with her husband, Milo Gibbs. trouble, he left her, and she carried on the battle of life alone; she was a leader in all matters of a political or publie nature, and did her full share in developing the township; she personally helped to clearoff the publie square ; doffing the dress of the parlor and putting on garments suited to the work, she grappled with the logs and stumps of the new clearing ; she was a great reader and well versed in history and politics ; she was a Democrat in her proclivities ; she removed to Michigan in 1873, and died there in June, 1880, aged ninety-eight years. Her native State was Connecticut.

The north mile-and-a-quarter road was settled by English people who came from Yorkshire, England, in 1832 and 1833. Their names were William Woodward and son John, John and

Metealf Bell, William Waters, George Cottingham and Brunskell, and James Pratt. Coming from a mining country, they were unaccustomed to farming, but soon adapted themselves to the necessities of their surroundings. . Hard work was the lot for thirty years, of all, except two, who were killed by falling timber. They left fine farms and a goodly number of children.

Jacob and Adam Kuder came from Lancaster County, Penn., in 1834, and bought farms on Lots 23 and 14. They were men celebrated for fair dealing, and did much in the settlement of the township. ;

Among the earliest settlers on the Cleveland road was a family of four brothers, Wilson, John, Joseph and - - Lytle. They came from Huntington, Luzerne Co., Penn. Of the four, but one, Wilson Lytle, long survived. He cleared up a farm, and reared a family of sixteen children, a large part of whom are yet residents of Sharon. He died in 1873.

James Reed came to Medina County in 1819 ; settled in Sharon in 1831, on the farm more lately owned by the late R. W. Mills. He also reared a large family of children, some of whom are still resident here. Mr. Reed is yet living.

Capt. Barnabas Crane came to Sharon in 1833. His children consisted of five sons and three daughters. He bought land on the North Center road that had been settled by the Smith brothers. Four of his sons took farms along that road. Their names were Barnabas, Jr., Joseph, George W. and William A. These men have been among the most influential citizens of Sharon. None are now living except George W. Crane. The fate of Joseph Crane and his wife, who were both drowned in Skaneateles Lake, N. Y., at the same time, marked the most tragical and painful incident in the history of the township. William A. Crane removed to Minnesota, where he died. Capt. Crane died in 1856, aged eighty-three years.

May 1, 1793. When a young man, he removed to New Jersey, remaining there four years. He came to Ohio in 1820; moved into Wadsworth in 1827, where he taught school and worked at farming until he came to Sharon in 1832. He took an active part in the development of this township, assisting in the surveys, laying out roads, building schoolhouses and churches, and was one of the originators of the Sharon Library and Academy. He moved to Akron in 1842, and returned in 1867. Samuel Hayden, a true pioneer, was from Litchfield, and his wife from Sharon, Conn. They came to Canfield, Ohio, in 1801, where they were married in 1802. During the war of 1812, they moved to Springfield, Summit Co., and back again to Canfield. From there they came to Wadsworth in 1816, being among the earliest settlers of that township. They came to Sharon in 1830, and bought 200 acres of land one mile south of the Center, for $3.25 per acre.

He sold it four years afterward for $10 per acre, and purchased the land now owned by his son Hiram Hayden. His family consisted of his wife and seven children, three of whom are yet living in Sharon.

Among the other pioneers and early settlers to whom Sharon is indebted for much of her prosperity and development as a township, may be mentioned the names of Chatfield, father and sons, Edward and M. A. Chandler, Peter and Richard Amerman, S. W. Beech, Cyrus E. French, David Dyer, E. B. Bentley, David Loutzenhizer, Jacob Fulmer, Daniel and Abiel Briggs, Charles and Isaac Wall, Joshua Hartman, Samuel Carr, John Turner and sons, and many others. They came into a wilderness to make for themselves homes, and by hard work and deprivations they succeeded. And what a glorious heritage they have left for-succeeding generations! Truly, "they builded better than they knew."

RANGER is one of the first settled townships in Medina County. Its territory, for several years previous to the first permanent settlements that were made in this region, formed part of the "stamping" ground of adventurous hunters who roamed through Northern Ohio in the beginning of the century. Several squatters located in Granger Township prior to the year 1815, but they did not remain long, and their names have escaped the memory of the people who came into this country soon after. Under the Land Company's survey, Granger was set apart as Township 3, Range 183. For several years, it was attached to Bath Township, which now belongs to Summit County, until it became a distinct and separate civil organization in 1820.. In natural beauty, Granger surpasses any of its sister townships by the variety of its surface. At the spring seasons of the year, the scenic effects of the hills and mountain knolls in the eastern part of the township are exceedingly attractive and pleasant to the eye. Several of the knolls attain an elevation of over a hundred feet. On one of theelevations, a half-mile east of Grangerburg, formerly stood an ancient fort. It is now almost entirely obliterated, and only an indistinct remnant of the original fortification. It once consisted of a circular trench, with embankment, and was perhaps ten rods across, the northern extremity being now cut off by a public road. A perpetual spring fed a small stream which flowed along the base of the wall. The origin of the fort is entirely shrouded in mystery, and there is nothing to indicate who were its builders and for what purpose it served. It was probably constructed by some aboriginal tribes, as its location and cqnstruction do not contain the military advantages that are sought after in modern warfare.

The conglomerate underlies nearly all of the township, as it lies in the easterly range of Medina County. There are several abrupt ledges in the central part of the township, and several quarries have been opened in these on the farm of Hoel Hatch, is a layer of sand rock, which comes near the surface, and is doubtless referable to the upper layers of Cuyahoga shale.

The surface of the township is divided by a stretch of marsh or swamp land, extending from east to northwest for about five miles, varying in width from fifty rods to threequarters of a mile. Its composition is mostly what is known as *muck" and peat. The waters of several springs gather into these low lands. An artificial ditch extends for some length through the *swamp," and the surplus water is carried into the little stream known as Remson's Brook, which courses through the northwest corner of the township and empties into Rocky River, near Weymouth, in Medina Township. A complete, oval-shaped mound, measuring over three hundred feet in circumference and attaining a height of over fifteen feet, is found near the center of a meadow on the farm of Franklin Sylvester, one mile north of Grangerburg. The owner has put a solid stone wall in its sides, and inclosed the elevated surface with an iron fence, and set the mound apart as a family burial ground. A shaft of blue Quincy granite, twenty feet in height, stands in the center of this remarkable thrown up by a tribe of Indians, for burial purposes, according to their custom, at some remote day. The geographical boundaries of Granger Township are marked on the east by Summit County, on the south by Sharon, on the west by Medina, and on the north by Hinckley Townships. Its area,like that of all the townships of Medina County, embraces twentyfive square miles.

William Coggswell and his uncle, Gibson Gates, were perhaps the first white men whotrod upon the soil of Granger Township. The former has become famous in the pioneer history of Medina County ; and, in these early years, he, being then quite à young man, was known as one of the most intrepid and successful hunters in all the regions about. The two hunters, who were then living in Bath, put up a little cabin on a spot known as Porter's Pinnacle, in the eastern part of Granger, in the winter of 1810, and, in their hunting excursions through the regions west, would stop here for days at a time. From the memoirs prepared by Mr. William Coggswell, who died in Granger on the 28th of February, 1872, we take the following sketches relating to the early settlements. The first is a history of his ancestors :

"William Coggswell, my great-great-grand- | father, was born in Ipswich, England, sixty-two miles northeast of London. He was well edueated in navigation. In 1666, he became the owner of a vessel, and, taking in a company, he sailed for America, landing at Boston Harbor. He remained for a number of weeks, and accompanied part of his passengers into the interior to look for a location. When the ground had been selected, it was named Ipswich, after the ship Captain's native place and the name of his vessel. After making several voyages to and from England, he finally settled in Ipswich, in Massachusetts. Edward, his son, was born April 17, 1685, and died April 17, 1773. Samuel, son of Edward, was born March 1, 1710, uel, and my father, was born November 2, 1748, he died in Granger May 12,1838. Although my father had been deprived of a regular school education, he made mathematics his choice study, and, by continued application in that branch, became quite famous as an almanac compiler in early life. When near life's close, he gave directions as to his burial, requesting Jehial Porter to preach his funeral sermon from the text 'Blessed are they who die in the Lord,' selected the hymn that he wished to be sung, and uttered the following words: 'I am nearly eighty years old, was never at 50 cents' expense for a doctor bill, never lost by sickness a meal in sixty years, but lost a great many meals on account of having nothing to eat. My mother was a daughter of Lieutenant Gibson Gates, who served during the Revolutionary war. She was born in Canterbury, Conn., in 1772, and, during life, passed through many trying scenes and privations. Among these scenes was the bloody massacre at Fort Wyoming, of which she was one of the survivors. She there witnessed the barbaric spectacle of prisoners sacrificed at the stake. One poor fellow had his body and limbs filled with dry splinters, was then fastened to atree and burned to death. Another had a portion of his bowels, after his body had been opened with a knife, fastened to a sapling and was then forced to pass around the tree until his bowels had been torn out, and he fell exhausted and dead on the ground. My mother, in fearful anxiety for the lives of her two young children, and to keep them from the gaze of the red devils, was crouching on the ground praying and weeping. An Indian approached her brandishing his bloody tomahawk. To divert his attention from his bloody purpose, she offered him some bread and beef. The offer had the desired effect. The savage asked where her papooses were; she pointed to where they were hid. The Indian ordered her to take them to a certain corner in the fort and sit down. She did so, and while there thanked

God for her deliverance, and of those with her, and devoutly prayed that God would be a protector to her and her children. The prayer was heard and answered. She lived long and happily after witnessing that cruel massacre. She died in Bath at the age of seventy-two, and is there buried. Four of the survivors who witnessed the Wyoming Massacre, after being long separated during life, are buried within four miles of each other, in Bath and Granger.

"I was born February 20, 1794, at the great bend of the Susquehanna, N. Y. In 1797, my father, William, sold and removed from New York to Alleghany County, Penn. near Redstone Fort. In 1801, he became the owner of 200 acres of land in Beaver County, Penn., by virtue of a soldier's right. In April, 1802, he moved there. Provisions were then scarce and costly. Often he was forced to leave home and work for means to supply his family. Once, the woods, see what herbs they eat, pick of the same, boil them and eat that with milk.' Having gone forty miles, secured employment, and received his pay in corn, he joyfully returned with his earnings. down, a hole burned in the stump, a spring pole pounded and made ready for use, and in that way fed seven in the family. When ten years old, I was, in the absence of my father, compelled to chop and prepare fuel. shoes to wear in the winter season. To keep my feet from freezing, I heated a board at the fire, carried it out, and then stood on it when chopping. When it became cold, I brought it 4n and heated it again, and in that way made it answer for shoes and stockings. In progress of time, rights to land were often in dispute. It was discovered that my father was one of the unlucky, and had settled on the wrong piece of land. Though he had made an opening, erected his cabin and settled down, as he supposed, for life, he was forced to give up possession, as another soldier's right claimed the land. Becoming acquainted with Judge | Oliver Phelps, then the owner of Granger Township, my father visited that township in 1807, and found it wholly unsettled. Being pleased with the appearance of soil, timber and its other natural advantages, he made a selection of 370 acres in the central part of the township. After he had looked at the land, he returned to Warren, Trumbull County, and contracted with Calvin Austin, agent of Judge Phelps, for the land, and paid the sum asked. Some time thereafter, Phelps became insolvent, his title to lands was seized by creditors and sold. My father, having purchased on contract, was forced to lose what he had paid, and was, for the second time, prevented, through force of circumstances, from being a land-holder. He had not yet removed his family to Ohio, and therefore, after losing his purchase, he continued to reside in Pennsylvania until 1815, when he removed to Columbiana County, Ohio. In 1818, he again came to Granger, bought by article, the lot now owned by J. L. Green, and settled thereon, and for six years struggled through the many hardships incident to first settlers. About the time his article expired, he found himself unable to make payment, owing to want of price for produce. He sold his claim to his sons, William, Samuel and Nathaniel, who continued to reside there and make improvements. In 1824, I became by purchase sole owner; but soon concluded to select another locality, sold my right to land in Granger Township, and moved into Bath.

out of their synagogue. In 1810, in company with my uncle Gibson Gates, and Hezekiah Burdick (two of the first settlers in Bath), I left the home of my father, in Pennsylvania, traveled by way of Vannatt's Ford, on the Mahoning River, to the house of Gates, in Bath. I remained there until the August of that year, when, in company with Gates and John Manning, I started for Granger Township. Our course was through Richfield, by way of L. May's place, thence westwardly to Panther Cave, in Hinckley. We visited that cave in search of game, but saw no panthers. From there, we traveled to where an Indian gallows was standing, in the big bend of Rocky River.

"In 1806, a squaw had been hung there, charged with witchcraft. The squaw had said that there would be darkness on the face of the earth in June, which the Indians decided to be undoubted proof of witchcraft. She was hung in May, and on the 13th of June there was an eclipse of the sun. After viewing the gallows, we traveled on southerly, and, at night, encamped under a ledge of rocks in the northern part of Granger. I at that time carved my name on a beech-tree, which can be seen to-day. After feasting on wild turkey for breakfast, we pursued otir course and came on to the Smith road, in the neighborhood where the Squaw Tavern now-stands. This was my first visit into and through Granger. It was then truly a wilderness ; the marks of the pioneers were few. We shortly after returned to Bath.

"In January, 1813, the War Department found it necessary to build three small gunboats to be used in annoying the larger vessels of theenemy. It had been discovered by Commodore Perry, that small vessels, being more easily and rapidly managed, could do effective service in close contest. The contract for building the boats was awarded to Brimel Robins, of Allegheny, Penn., who selected * Old Portage, on the Cuyahoga River, as the place where to build them. The timber and lumber were furnished by Capts. Rice and Stowe, and sawed in the mill of Francis and Zenas Kelsey, at * Old Cuyahoga Village.' Stewart Gaylord was Superintendent of the boat-yard. In June, the three boats were launched, and were respectively named Tripp, Tigress and Portage. I was employed with others to float them down to the lake, with instructions that when we got them to the 'pinery' we should furnish each boat with masts and spars. While floating down the river toward our destination, we descried a tree that had fallen in the river, and, unless removed, would stop the boats. Being then young and full of life, I attacked the log with an ax, and, when nearly ready to float, I lost my balance | and fell into the water. It was about fifteen feet deep. With vigorous efforts, my ax in hand, I swam ashore. At the 'pinery,' we were detained several days in procuring the necessary rigging for the boats. At that place, I killed a porcupine, which was looked upon as an animal of great curiosity by our crew. When we got to Cleveland, the gunboats were examined by many, and the general opinion was that they were the kind needed. When at Cleveland, I became very patriotic, and wished to enlist under Commodore Perry ; but I decided to go home first, and; after making proper arrangements, to return and become a sailor. My mother, having tested in part the scenes and privations of the Revolutionary war, was opposed to my enlistment, and, with pleadings and rehearsals of war incidents she had witnessed, dampened my ardor, and I finally consented to remain on shore, and not brave the storms of Lake Erie on a small gunboat. In the summer of 1814, I was employed in the salt works at Liverpool, working there until December. When winter had fairly set in, I started for Granger, in company with Daniel Mallet, intending to make hunting our main business for some weeks. We killed large quantities of small game. After some days, we found a long-legged bear in an alder swamp.

When he discovered us, he commenced a retreat. As he passed near me, I fired, but without effect. The two dogs next attacked him, which he-seized, and commenced hugging and biting. I reloaded and fired a second time, the ball disabling his foreleg, when he immediately let go of the dogs, and commenced biting his maimed limb. After venting his spleen upon the maimed limb, in despite of dogs, he came toward me in a very menacing manner. Iretreated rapidly, but reloaded as I ran, and, when fully prepared, wheeled about and fired. The ball took lodgment in the bear's jaw, causing it to hang downward. At this juncture, Mallet came up to the chase from the opposite side of the swamp, and, taking deliberate aim, put a ball in his brain, and ended the race. The next day, we procured a horse, on which we carried to Liverpool the game we had shot during our hunting excursion. In those days, an ax and rifle constituted my chattel property, and it then seemed to me that I had all that was necessary. After staying at Liverpool for some time to complete a chopping contract, I again started for the residence of my Uncle Gates, near the Cuyahoga. At this early date, there were no lot-lines in Brunswick or Hinckley ; therefore, I traveled a course by guess. I had got into the northwest part of Bath when night came on. Wearied and hungry I halted, struck up a fire, peeled some bark with which to make a bed, arranged it in hunter's style, and, drawing my slouch hat over my face, fell into a pleasant sleep. I slept untroubled until morning. When I awoke, I found my bark coverlet beautifully adorned with a covering of snow about three inches in depth. I arose early and left my bed for the accommodation of any one who might need it. I had designed to reach the cabin of Elijah Hale when I left Liverpool ; still I was not there. On my way in the morning, I killed two deer. Upon arriving at Mr. Hale's, I informed his wife that I stood in much need of dinner, supper, breakfast and dinner, as

I had not eaten anything since I left Liverpool. She furnished me with eatables to replenish my empty stomach. In going from this cabin to that belonging to his brother Jonathan, a little w:. further east, I killed a big buck, which I sold to Jonathan for $2. After remaining with the Hales a short timé, I again commenced to and game. In 1815, I had an interview with a bear that to this day causes me to shudder when I think of the hazardous adventure. Isaac Sippey, Dan Willéy, William Ben and myself were felling a tree for * coons, when the barking of our dogs at a distance signalized that they had found game. When we reached the dogs, we found that they were in close combat with a bear,in the hollow of a large tree. I crawled in the length of my body, caught the hind legs of two dogs, and succeeded in dragging them out. I then crawled in a second time, got hold of the leg of the remaining dog, and, by hard pulling, succeeded in rescuing him from the tight grasp of the bear. The dog died soon after being brought out. Soon, the infuriated bear showed his head at the opening, when a blow from an ax, given by Sippey, nearly severed the snout from the head. The bear drew back, but in a very few minutes again poked out his mutilated head, for which Sippey had been watching. A second stroke buried the ax in bruin's head, who then ceased to draw weight, after being dressed, at 400 pounds. During this hunting excursion, we killed twentynine raccoons, one ' wooly nig,' and this bear. "Jn 1816, in company with Sippey, I roamed over portions of Granger, Bath and Hinckley in order to get a supply of honey, hops and cranberries, on which to trade. During our wandering from place to place, we often shot wild game and occasionally a bear. In the fall, the bears were accustomed to visit wild groves where acorns or chestnuts grew, and very often a bullet from the well-aimed rifle of the hunter

"Tn 1818, I became a permanent citizen of Granger. My brother-in-law, Isaac Sippey, and myself, purchased by article the land where C. R. Spencer now lives, on which we paid $160. That summer, we cleared and planted six acres of corn, and a large patch with potatoes. In the fall of that year, I visited the home of my father, and, after a short stay, he and family removed with me to Granger. My father, Sippey and I cut the first opened road from Cuyahoga to Granger at our own expense, and, while thus employed, we camped out many nights. Our only vegetable food was potatoes, roasted, | and eaten with the meat of wild game that we occasionally shot.

* Having lost some of our cattle, Sippey and I concluded to make search for the strayed ani- | mals. While passing through the woods, the bark of the old dog gave notice that he had found some kind of game. When we came to the spot, we descried an animal perched high in a tree, that looked to be of the panther tribe. We had no guns with us, and, to dislodge the animal, we must have recourse to a different mode of attack. Upon a nearer approach, we discovered our supposed panther to be a wildcat of no common size. I proposed to climb the tree and shake the animal off, but was reminded by Sippey that ' pussy's claws were not to be easily shaken off the limb.' I determined to make battle and kill the cat. I cuta club of proper weight, and ascended the tree. When within ten feet of the limb on which 'pussy' squatted, I stopped to take a look at the 'critter.' The green, glaring eyes made me feel uncomfortable, but my position required that I should be courageous. With my left hand, I took firm hold of a limb, and with my right hand I wielded my bludgeon. As I stood watching, the wild-cat made first a few quick shakes with her tail, and instantly bounded

636 HISTORY OF for my face. Instantly I parried off its descent with the club, and sent the animal to the ground. The dog was on hand, and made 'jaw love' to 'pussy.' A hard fight of scratching and biting ensued, until Sippey, with a blow of a club, ended the cat's life.

"During the early settlement. there was a she bear that annoyed the settlement by frequently carrying off hogs, calves and other domestic animals. She was often threatened, and as often pursued. In the winter of 1822, I was hunting in the northwest part of Granger, when I came on her trail, which was known to all hunters by the unusual length of the strides. She was followed by two cubs. I called on Sippey and told him of my discovery, and proposed that we should go in search, and, if possible, bring the lady to terms. The next morning we were early on the trail, intending, if possible, to rid the neighborhood of the old pest. We followed the trail all day, through Hinckley, and, toward evening, discovered dead bees on the snow. We soon found the tree, which we chopped down, and found over a hundred pounds of honey. We scooped out a trough with the ax, and filled it with choice honeycomb, and, night coming on, we encamped there, faring sumptuously on bread (which we always carried with us) and honey. Next morning, we breakfasted early on honey and bread, and then pursued the trail. After pursuing the zigzag tracks for some miles, we came to a large basswood, in which was the bear and her two cubs. Marks about the tree seemed to say that it had been tenanted by the old depredator for years. We concluded we had the 'old gal' in close quarters, and commenced, by sturdy blows, to fell the tree. The tree fell slowly, being impeded by limbs of other trees, of which occurrence the bear took advantage, and made a leap from the tree before it struck the ground. We supposed the 'old sinner' no effect. cubs with his ax. The next day, with horses and sled, we hauled home cubs and honey. The next winter, I was hunting in the north part of Granger, and I had killed two turkeys and a deer, and, after traveling about a mile from where I had hung them up, I came across the same thieving old bear. It seemed as though she knew me, but she did not tarry long. I raised my gun and fired. The ball lodged in her hip, and she made off through the woods. As I pursued, I reloaded, and fired a second time, and broke her fore-eg. When the leg was broken, the bear stopped, sat up and bit the maimed limb, and then was off again. I started in pursuit through the southwest part of Hinckley,into Brunswick, then across Plum Creek, then down the creek, then east into Hinckley, and lastly into an alder swamp. She secreted in the mud and water of that swamp, keeping her head up. I went within proper distance, fired and killed her. This chase was about the hardest and longest I ever ran.

* Uncle Gates and I started one day with the intention of taking a little look for game through the woods. When we were near the north line of Bath, we separated, with the understanding that we would meet at another certain point. I had not gone far when I discovered where a 'coon' had come off a large oak-tree, and had turned back and gone up the tree again. I knew if there was an Indian there, he would contrive some way to get the game without the trouble of cutting the tree. I looked about to see how this could be done. There was a large limb on the oak, about sixty feet from the ground, and not far from the tree was a small hickory, which, if felled, would lodge in the limb. I chopped the hickory, it lodged and made, as I supposed, a safe bridge by which I could reach Mr. 'Coon? But I was mistaken, for, when within ten feet of the limb, I discovered that there was very little oy and that it was sliding down further every move I made. This was a perilous situation indeed, and I saw that something decisive must be done. I first thought of retreating, but I soon found that this would be as bad as advancing, as every move I made, brought the hickory farther off the limb. I, therefore, resolved to reach the tree if possible, and, with several desperate grabs, I did so. I now thought I would make things safe, and I took the top twigs that still held the hickory against the oak, and whipped and tied them around the limb of the oak. I soon discovered the retreat of the 'coon,' and, chopping in, I pulled him out and threw him down to my dog. I descended safely, and, by the time I had reached the ground, my uncle Gates came up. I showed him what I had done, and he declared that he would not have undertaken it for all the land on the Cuyahoga Hiver, from Old Portage to Cleveland. I did not'undertake it for the value of the 'coon,' but because I thought I would not be outdone by the Indians."

Job Isbell, while passing through the woods one day, in the northern part of the township, with his gun looking for game, caught sight of a bear. He crept cautiously near, and, at some distance, fired at Mr. Bruin. He merely inflicted a wound, and the bear, enraged and growling, advanced toward the hunter. With all the agility at his command, Job reloaded his rifle, but, in his haste, throwing in perhaps treble the amount of powder usually needed. He had his charge made safe and was ready to fire, when the bear was but a few feet from him. He pointed the muzzle of the gun directly at the head of the beast and fired. There was a terrific explosion. He found himself thrown back, and sprawling on the ground. The gun had exploded. When he recovered, he found the bear dead before him, weltering in his own blood. He picked up the pieces of his gun and departed for his home to get help and haul the carcass into the settlement.

In the month of October, 1817, James Ganyard, Elizur Hills, Anthony Lowe and Burt Codding, four. farmers, then located near Bristol Ontario Co., N. Y., came out to Ohio, in a carriage drawn by two horses, to view the lands of Township 3, Range 13, in' the Western Reserve, and, if satisfied with the condition of soil and locality, they would then make a purchase. They remained for several days in the locality, viewing the land and inspecting its natural advantages. They stopped at the cabin of one Ezekiel Mott, who had squatted here several years previous, on the southern line of the township. After being well satisfied of the richness of the land and its adaptability for farming purposes, the four prospectors returned to their homes in New York, and purchased, of Gideon Granger, who was the proprietor, three-fourths of the town- | ship, at $4 per acre. They sold their farms in Ontario County to Mr. Granger, in part payment, and together gave a mortgage bond, amounting to over $14,000, on the new lands in Ohio. After the agreement had been made, and before the written contract was signed, James Ganyard transferred his right of proprietorship to John Codding, reserving only to himself so much land as he had paid for. The mortgage given by the purchasers proved of serious difficulty to them in after years. Soon after they had taken possession of the Granger lands, and had commenced making improvements, Congress placed large areas of Government lands, in the counties south of the Reserve, on the market, at less than half the price paid by the Granger settlers. The consequence was that immigration was attracted to these lands, and the Granger people were unable to sell their surplus lands, at even a less price than they had originally paid. In the course of a few years, the mortgages became due. The owners were unable to meet the obligations, and their lands and possessions reverted to the former proprietor. This produced quite a seri- ous obstacle to the first purchasers in the way of gaining unincumbered farms and securing for themselves the reward that they had so well merited, by their toilsome labor in clearing and opening up these lands.

In the beginning of the month of February, 1818, the first train of emigrants started in ox sleds from Ontario County, N. Y. The party consisted of, Elizur L. Hills, with his sisters, Abigail and Marilla; Elizur Wolcott, John Codding and wife, and one child; Festus and James Ganyard, Seth Dye and wife, Richard Paull and wife, and Seth Paull, with his family of two children. They arrived on the new lands in the middle of March. For the first few days after their arrival, they availed themselves of the proffered haspitalities of the cabin of the " Squatter " Mott, and part of them found quarters at the cabin-home of John Turner, over in Copley Township. The men at once set to work, after having placed the stakes for their new possessions, to build cabins for their own use and commenced clearing land. Several cabins were soon erected, and the work for a new and vigorous colony had commenced.

Another party, consisting of Elizur Hills and wife, with seven children; Anthony Low and family, and Burt Codding, left their homes in Ontario, N. Y., and joined their friends and children who had preceded them, in the following fall. All these families settled close together, on lands along the Smith road, in the southeast part of the township, in the vicinity of what is now known as Coddingville. John and Daniel Burt, and James and Festus, all of them young men, came out from Ontario and located in the township, in the southern and central part. The increase in the number of settlers in thetownship now continued. Nathan Hatch came with his family of five :hildren and settled on the west line of the township, on the 24th day of October, 1818. I'he montt of February following this date brougnt Benjamin Burt and his mother, who settled with their sons and brothers, John and Daniel, who had preceded them the fall before. At the same time came Belia Spencer, with his family ; the Widow Amanda Isbell with her child, and James and Amos Isbell, two single young men; James Ganyard, with his wife and two children - two of his sons had already located here the year before - and Mrs. John MeCloud, who lived in the Ganyard family, and Hoel Hatch, whose parents had removed into this settlement the year before. He had remained at the old home in Ontario, N. Y., whence allthese emigrants had come, on account of breaking his leg a few days previous to the time his parents had started for Ohio.

"The young colony now began vigorous efforts to hew out a home in the woods. Cabins were built, land was cleared on every hand, and the same difficulties that settlers in other regions have met, were confronted and overcome. Immense trees covered nearly all of the land - certainly all of what was first opened - and, though this timber was convenient for building their houses and barns, and making rails for their fences, it had to be cleared from the ground to make way for cultivation. First, when upon the ground, a house was made of logs, and covered with thin boards, riven out of oak blocks, and next floored with thick slabs of split oak; this was called a * puncheon" floor. Then came the clearing, which was done by grubbing out the bushes, and cutting off the smaller trees. The trees were deadened, by chopping a. girdle of notches through the bark. The ground was then ready to be plowed, as well as the rough state of it would allow, and planted with Indian corn, potatoes and pumpkins. In the fall the corn was gathered, and wheat sown where it had stood. The next year, more land was cleared and treated in like manner. But, as the cattle and pigs lived in the torest, and boarded themselves there the greater part of the year, substantial fences - the zigzag rail fence - had to be built around each field ; and this fencing cost nearly as much labor as the clearing. Had they not adopted the plan of deadening the trees, it would have been more than the poor pioneer could have compassed to cut the trees down and remove them from the ground. As it was, the trees stood till they dried up, and the branches dropped off and the trunks fell. The rubbish was cleared up and burned each spring, till it was gone. A man and his wife and daughters would gather and burn brush and build fences on aspring clearing, and they would do it with far better spirits than the ladies of to-day often do their shopping. This was part of the life that befell the Granger settlers. But they bravely encountered all the difficulties that came in their way, as the smiling fields and handsome homes of to-day attest.

From a paper prepared by the Hon. Myron A. Hills, one of the first settlers of Medina County, read before the Granger Pioneer Society, we take the following few sketches which relate to the history of the township :

* Believing that a biography, however short, of the first settlers of Granger, with an incident here and there of early times, cannot but be of interest to the present as well as future generations of the men and women who redeemed from a wilderness the Granger of to-day. I shall confine myself in my sketches to those of the pioneers with whom I have been acquainted. * * * JT will first speak of my father, Elizur Hills. He was born in East Windsor, Conn., March 22, 1768. My mother, Abigail Codding, was born October 2, 1772. Of my father's early history, I know but little, save that at nine years of age he lost his father, and in the employ of others he fared*hard, and was hard worked. He always loved books and read much. I have heard him say, that, at the age of fourteen, during the war of the Revolution, he was very anxious to stand a draft for the army in place of his brother Norman, who, though older, was not as large, and, thinking that size rather than age might determine the issue, he stretched himself to his utmost height, but he failed and became very much chagrined. He came at an early day, among the first there, to Ontario County, N. Y., and bought land at 50 cents an acre. He married there in 1792. * * * To show how men become attached to one another, let me state an incident: In the summer of 1824, my father and mother made a visit from here to Bristol, N. Y., and among those whom they went to see was Capt. David Doolittle, who had served in the war of 1812, on the frontier, as a Lieutenant in the Bristol Light Infantry, of which my father had been Commandant. They called at his house, but he had gone out in the woods for a load of wood. A messenger was sent out with the information that Capt. Hills and wife had called to see him. He had partially loaded his wagon, but, not knowing what, he was doing, he threw out what wood he had loaded, and hastened back to embrace an old friend. * * * J would like, had I time, to give a description of our first journey from Bristol, N. Y., to Granger. After we had journeyed to Buffalo, which was then a small village, we remained there a week, waiting for the new Walk in the Water, the first steamboat that ever plowed the waters of Lake Erie. Weembarked at Black Rock, and, after passing up the lake, we landed at Cleveland, which was then not as large as Grangerburg. The boat anchored a mile from shore, and we were taken on land in a small row-boat. Job R. Isbell, one of our neighbors here now, assisted in the landing. This was the first time that I saw him. He was always cheerful and social, and quite at home where others were afraid and timid. My mother had become sick on the voyage, and she had to be carried ashore on a bed. On the next day after our landing, in the afternoon, my brother Chester, ten years old, Grant Low, nine years and myself eight years, started with Job and Lyman Isbell on foot for the settlement in Granger. After going through the woods for five or six miles, we boys became very much tired. To cheer us up, Job Isbell proposed that we boys shoot at a mark. We did so, and I think it was the first time we boys had ever fireda gun. It set us up some and gave us new courage. We remained that night near Brecksville, at the house of a Mr. Meach, a little way east of what is now known as Coat's Corners. The next morning we struck through the woods. The first place we caine to was the house of old Uncle Farnam, just north of Richfield Center. From there, we passed to Hoadly's Mill, which is now Ghent, and thence across to the Smith road, where Isaac Morse then lived, and from there on to the old homestead in Granger, arriving in the middle of October, 1818. And we were three as tired chaps as ever came into Ohio. I remember well Job Isbell had to keep his brother Lyman in check, that we boys might keep up with them, telling him that we boys were not fullgrown Indians, as he was. As we came in sight of Morse's clearing, Grant Low cried. Job told him he must stop, and not go into town bawling. My brother Chester was barefooted."

The new territory was now in a fair way toward colonization. Rapid advances were made in the clearing and cultivation of lands. There were now a dozen or more farms started through the southern and central part of the township, and life among the settlers became | quite communal. The manner of life among these people was quite simple, and their habits, socially, as well as their political notions, were exceedingly democratic. From necessity, they supplied themselves with clothing, of all the coarser kind. It was the custom of each farmer to clear a small patch every year for flax, which grew best on the virgin soil. From this, he would obtain all the flax fiber that his family could work up. It was prepared in winter time, and made nearly ready for the spinning by the men and boys, but the women spun and wove it. The linen thus made, furnished comfortable shirting, sheeting and outward clothing. The furniture used by these people also was very plain, and a very little sufficed to furnish their.cabins. They had nothing to look at; all was used, and used every day; and they were all civilized and pretty fairly cultivated people.

It was a very constant practice with the early settlers to unite their labor for various purposes, and thereby lighten the labor by united strength. Quite generally this was made the occasion of social enjoyment. If a house or a barn was to be raised, there was a gathering of the forces,such as the Yankees call a bee, or, as the Pennsylvanians termed it, a frolic. One of these barn-raising bees, in Granger Township, was attended with very serious consequences and was the cause of death to one of its citizens. The farmers had congregated to help raise a barn on a farm which is occupied by David Sheldon. Among the number was Lyman Isbell. The work progressed finely until it came to lifting up the upper rafters. A heavy log, forty feet in length, was in progress of being pushed on the building. Through want of necessary precaution, one end of the log slipped the pikes used for pushing, and the log rolled down with great force upon the body of Lyman Isbell, crushing his skull and killing him almost instantly. It caused great consternation among the people, but nothing could be done for the injured man. He was placed upon a sled and conveyed to his home, where his sudden and calamitous death brought grief and desolation. A messenger was sent to the Rev. Henry Hudson, who resided in Bath, to come and preach the funeral sermon on the next day. The messenger returned with the minister the next day, and the obsequies took place late in the afternoon. The fatal event cast a gloom over the colony for several days, as Mr. Isbell had been a man highly respected by all.

the personal adventure of three of her fair daughters, at a very early day of the settlement, must be related. They are two adventures of a similar kind, and occurred at a time not very far apart. The first was that of Sally T. Hills and Polly Low. The two young ladies had left the house of Elizur Hills to go to Anthony Low's, about a mile distant. There was then no roadway, nor even a beaten foot-path to show them the way to go; "blazed" trees alone would indicate the direction toward a settlement. Darkness grew upon them, and they finally lost their way. The night was dark; with bewildered minds they walked on irresolutely, and wandered further away from habitation. Their courage did not entirely fail them, and they walked on the whole night, until almost utterly exhausted. When daylight came, they found themselves as completely *at sea" in the wild woods as they had been in the darkness. Fatigued and hungry by their long march, they sank down on the ground and fell to sleep. When they awoke, the sun stood high in the heavens. "They stárted again, but whither, they knew not. They gave out notes of alarm until their voices failed them, but no responsive greeting reached their anxious ears. On they wandered, until the twilight was again gathering. Knowing well that they could not pass another night on foot walking through the woods, they looked about for a lodging-place. A large, hollow tree soon met their eyes. They cleared the vacant space in the bottom of the trunk, of the refuse that had accumulated, and filled it with dry leaves, gathered on the ground, and then took several large sheets of bark and covered the opening in the tree. Into this they crawled to pass the oncoming night. Their hearts had now almost failed them, and they were losing courage. In hapless despair, they endeavored to sleep, but no sleep would quiet their agitated minds. About this time, they heard the report of a gun not far away, and soon another, still nearer. The girls rushed out and shrieked with all their might. A longdrawn shout came back. The shouting was kept up, a waving light came toward them through the woods, and soon two young pioneers, with guis and a flickering torch, stood by their side. The girls were refreshed with the provisions the pioneer lads had brought with them, and then the homeward journey was commenced. It was midnight before they reached home, as it was about four miles from the nearest settlement where the girls had been found. Great anxiety had been caused in the settlement by the disappearance of the girls. On the second night, all the men and boys had turned out in every direction, with guns and torches and lanterns, to find the missing girls.

A similar event happened to Anna Wolcott (now the wife of Uncle John McCloud) in the summer of 1820. She was then a young girl of eighteen, and served as a domestic in the family of Samuel McCloud. On a Sunday afternoon she started alone through the woods to visit the family of Belia Spencer, several of whose children were sick. The two families lived about two miles apart. The girl lost the direction and wandered off to the north. «Night overtook her alone in the woods, not knowing where she was and whither she was going. After wandering about nearly all night, she sank down exhausted by the side of a hill, giving up in despair. The screech of an owl and the rustle of leaves would start her every little while, intensifying the keen anxiety of her mind. Soon daylight brought encouragement, and she started to find her way out of the wilderness. Soon the tingle of bells attached to cattle, which then ran at large through the woods,arrested her ear. She was soon near them, and, with her approach, the cattle leisurely started off. Following close behind them, she soon reached a place of habitation. The cattle had led her home. Her absence had not caused any excitement, as McCloud sup-

Jesse Perkins, a worthy young man, came into the settlement in the fall of 1818, and was taken sick when living at the house of Mr. John Turner, then in Copley, dying there in April, 1819. His remains were taken back to Granger, and were interred on the farm of Anthony Low, near the *Smith road." His was the first grave dug in the township.

Nathaniel and David Goodwin moved with their families into Granger a few years after the first colonization of the township had been made. They had been living near Strongsville, in Cuyahoga County, for some years, when they purchased tracts in the central part of the new township - lands which are now owned by Franklin Sylvester and J. L. Green - and made permanent locations on them. The two young men soon became conspicuous in the affairs of the settlement by their industry and perseverance in cultivating their land and the interest they displayed in all public matters.

Stephen Woodward, who, with his brother, was located at Old Portage, in Portage County, where they together worked a farm, came into the Granger settlement in 1819, and sought the hand of Abigail, oldest daughter of Elizur Hills, in marriage. He gained the conseat of the girl and her parents, and the ceremonies took place in November of that year. The young husband took his wife to his home in Portage County. In September of the tollowing year, he died, leaving his young wife a widow. On the 24th of October, just a month after her husband's death, she gave birth to a child, now S. B. Woodward, a prominent lawyer of Medina. The following year she returned to her parents in Granger, and continued to live with them until she died.

The 2d day of August, 1818, proved a very eventful day in the Granger colony. In the forenoon of that day a son was born in the family of Hiram Low, and he was named Ham- ilton. In the afternoon of the same day, a daughter was born to Nathaniel Goodwin. These were the first births that occurred in the township.

A resort that became quite famous in its way in the early days of the colony was the Burt house or " lodge," which stood on the spot now covered by the attractive residence of Mr. Ozro Burt, in the little hamlet of Grangerburg. It affords a picturesque illustration of the life that was led by our forefathers, who had come out here from their homes in the East with noble purposes, intent to rear new homes and transform the wood-covered regions of the West into fruitful and productive fields. Some of the pioneers are still in our midst, and they recall, with vivid and joyful recollection, that which to us to-day must seem like a life of toil and hardship.

But a few years after their arrival and location in Granger Township, the wife of John Burt died and left him a widower. His brother Benjamin, then being still a young man and unmarried, they two together left their first settlement, near the southeast line of the township, and moved into the locality where now stands the village of Grangerburg. They erected a double log cabin, quite pretentious in its way in those days, being somewhat in advance in its architectural make-up of the few cabins that were scattered about the township. The two together kept bachelor's hall, but not just in the sense that we understand it to-day - a life of indolence and laziness. They followed their occupation of clearing and cultivating the land with industry and perseverance. They were both trim good housekeepers, and, being of a sociable and hospitable turn of mind, their little cabin home soon became the rendezvous of the settlers in the township. There was always cheer and entertainment for man and beast at the Burt cabin. The hunter and trapper, and the journeying emigrant who was looking for comfort and food. And still nobler purposes than giving mere comfort and social entertainment did this little open cabin serve for several years. The building was used for a private day school during the winter of 1821, and Mr. John Burt, an intelligent and enterprising young farmer, taught the young "ideas " of the colony how to shoot. During the same time, 'Calvin Putnam organized a singing class, which held its session twice a week in the Burt house in the winter months. Itinerant ministers, who were then passing to and fro between the different settlements in Eastern and Southern Ohio, frequently stopped here, and religious services were held, at which most of the settlers attended. A foot-path, known in the early days of the Ohio settlements as the " Preachers' Path," from the fact that it was used by the ministers in passing from colony to colony, and had been cut through the woods for that purpose, ran a little distance west of the Burt cabin, in Granger Township. It was soon made, after it had become known, a regular stopping-place by the traveling ministers of various denominations who passed through Northeastern Ohio in the pioneer days and dispensed the word of God to all who were willing to listen.

After a few years of bachelor's life with his brother Ben, John Burt remarried, and he brought into the Granger household, to manage and preside over its domestic affairs, his newly acquired wife, whose maiden name had been Lucinda Hammond, and whose home had been in Copley. The good cheer of the household continued, and, if anything, it rather increased with the coming of the pleasant and 'sweet-tempered young wife. In 1825, the brother Benjamin returned to the old home in New York, where he remained for several years, and, in 1829, was married to Nancy P. Hatch, of Ontario County. The following year the young couple removed to Ohio, and took up their permanent abode in Granger, among their friends and relatives.

Francis Young, with a family of three children, and Robert Green, with a family of eight, left their home in Columbia County, Penn., in the spring of 1820, and moved into Ohio. They moved in a train of three wagons, drawn by horses. They first stopped at Springfield, which was then in Portage County, where they left their families with their wagons and household goods, and pressed on westward on horseback to prospect the land and find good locations for homes. The two prospectors passed through the southern part of Medina County into Huron and Seneca and Sandusky, but did not find any land suitable to their desires. On their return journey, they stopped overnight at the Burt house, in Granger. They related their travels, and told of their mission in trying to find suitable and well-watered land, on which to locate. Mr. Burt told them that he could, perhaps, accommodate them with just the kind of land they were looking after. He took them out the next morning to show them the tracts of land in the township that were for sale. On the same day the two together made a purchase of 240 acres of land in the eastern part of the township. They then proceeded to Springfield, and, in a few days, returned with their families and goods, and at once set to work to build homesteads on the newly acquired lands.

Harris Reed is another of the settlers, who came with his family into the township at an early day. Like most of the Granger people, he came from Ontario County, N. Y. He had first moved with his. family to Sandusky County, further west, and had settled there for several years. In 1825, he bought a tract of land in Granger Township, and settled permanently in alocality in the eastern part of the township, which is now distinguished as Reed's Hill.

hall. It was conducted by the Rev. Francis Green, a Close Communion Baptist Minister, from Geauga County. He was a peculiar character, a sort of Peter Cartwright, crude, direct and forcible in his arguments and exhortations, and he soon wrought public excitement up toa high pitch. People flocked in from every direction, and the church was crowded daily. During the services on a Sunday afternoon, the floor of the church suddenly gave way, and the people that crowded the church were hurled in a mass into the basement below. A scene of confusion and wild excitement followed. There was at first a vast scramble to get from out of the debris, and when all had got out and the interior had been cleared, it was found that there were a number more or less seriously injured. Chester Ambler, a young man, had one | of his legs broken, and an old lady named Elsa Wilder had an arm broken, and received a contusion on the head. No deaths resulted from this accident. The catastrophe took place while the revivalist minister was in the midst of his "fire and brimstone" exhortations. The pulpit was not carried away with the floor, and remained intact. Viewing the mass of scrambling beings below 'him in the pit, the minister, at first amazed and horrified, shouted out in the might of his voice, "The great day of His wrath is come, and who will be able to stand it?" and "Such is a fair sample of the burning pit of hell!" These remarks, and the manner in which he treated the accident, caused an intense feeling against the preacher. The meetings were at once discontinued. Several years later, the church was destroyed by fire.

Eliza Young, a young lady whose parents were residing in Sharon, was teaching school in 'the fall of 1842, on the Smith road, in Granger. After school-hours on a Friday aft-. ernoon, she rode home with Isaac Van Orman. A heavy storm was blowing. Passing along the road, one of the heavy oak trees that had been girdled a number of years previously, suddenly fell before the wind, striking the carriage, killing Mr. Van Orman instantly, and injuring Miss Young so that she died a few days later.

Under virtue of the military provisions of the Ohio' State laws, a militia company was organized in Granger in 1819. At first, the townships of Sharon, Copley, Bath and Granger, ing part of the regiment allotted to -Medina County. Annual drills were held, the place of holding them alternating between the different townships. A few years later, the Granger people formed a company of their own. John Burt was elected Captain ; Daniel Burt, Lieutenant, and Nathaniel Goodwin Ensign. The annual drills of these home soldiers formed an event of great interest to all the inhabitants. The exercises generally continued for a number of days, and furnished frolic and excitement for young and old.

The Fourth of July, 1826, the semi-centennial anniversary day of American Independence, forms a red-letter day in the history of Granger Township, on account of the observance of this national fete day by its people. The people congregated from far and near; from Medina, Hinckley, Sharon and Bath. Several military companies from these townships came in full force, and they, together with the Granger company, went through the different military evolutions, making a grand and very impressive display. The housewives had brought provisions along, and a grand banquet was held in the open woods. The Declaration of Independence was. read, and a Fourth of July oration delivered by Mr. Moses Bissell.