Brighton, Ohio

The next settlers, after the Kiiigsburys, were the Halls. Avery Hall and wife, and their grown-up sons, Alfred and Ori'in, with Selden, who was of age soon after coming into the country, emigrated from Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in 1822. Other children in this family were: Lrastus, Sarah, Edwin (now in Eiyria), Theophilus (in Litchfield), Julia (in Perrysburg), John and William. Avery Hall, upon arriving, settled upon lot two, and his son Alfred on lot six. Selden afterward settled on the same lot; he married a daughter of Luke Whitlock, and removed some years after to Wellington, where he died in 1878. Orrin Hall settled on lot nine, where he still lives. Alfred Hall removed to Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Soon aftei' the Halls arrived, a man named ]5ailey came into the Bcttlement, but made no ]>urcliase of land, and remained but a short time. Another squatter came at the same time, but like Bailey left no mark upon the jieople among whom he had a brief residence, or upon the map of Brighton township.

Passage source: History of Lorain County, Ohio, published 1879.

There wei-e sevei-al who arrived in the townshii) soon after tlic lirst settlement was made but wlio could not be called settlers. Among these was Elijah Fox, a worthy man from Berkshire county, Massachusetts, who came in 1833 and l)oarded for some time with Leonard H. Loveland. He took up land a number of years afterwards. His son E. S. Fox now resides upon lot eight, in tract seven. David Fox, the aged father of Elijah, was a Methodist exhorter of considerable ability. Daniel Smith came to Brighton in the latter part of 1S31 or early m tiie following year and worked for Joseph King«bury.

Passage source: History of Lorain County, Ohio, published 1879.

Of tiie later settlers we can only speak Ijriefly. After the organization of the township and after the land in tracts six and eiglit were put into the market, the number of inhabitants rapidly inreascd. There being no land but that in tract seven, - the center tract, ^ offered for sale until 183.3, many were deterred from coming into Brighton from apprehension that it would not for many years become a well settled township. It wa»s this fear that led Abner Loveland, the pioneer, to sell out his land and remove into Wellington. It was liought by Daniel Clark, of Litchfield, Connecticut. Albert Niles came into tlic township between the time of organization and the year 1830. He owned altogether and at different times fifteen farms. - Fisk settled about the same time as Niles. Loren Lovi^land a brother of Leonard H. and Abner, came in a little later. Dr. Eber W. Hubbard and his father wlio were among the first settlers in La Grange, were residents of this township for a few years, and resided on the Kingsbury farm. James Whipple, of Whitestown, New York, came and locateil on lot twelve in 183;5. Erasmus ,Tudd and wife settled as early as 1833 on lotsix, and brought u]i a family of five children. They were from Litchfield, Connecticut. Isaac Everson settled in the summerof 1833, upon lot twenty-one. Henry Converse, his wife and five ehil dren became residents in 1833, settling upon lot ten. His childreu were Nelson, Lucinda, Harrison, Maria and Emma (Mrs. Jacob Wheeler, of Rochester). Nelson was drowned in the Black river, Jiaving been swept over his saw mill dam in a dug out. He is said to have been a phenomenal swimmer, and his drowning could only be accounted for upon the supposition that he was hurt in some way by his fall. Octavus Gillitt settled upon lot sixteen in the gore, m 1830, and his brother, (reo:ge, near him soon after. Jolin Dnnbar, his son, Simeon, and Harriet, the wife of the latter, came from Wayne county. New York in August, 1835, :ind located upon lot eight in tract seven, .lames Humphrey, his wife and three children settled about the same time upon the same lot. They were from (I real Barrington, Massachusetts.

Passage source: History of Lorain County, Ohio, published 1879.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Brighton Township - it names this place 18 more 18 times.