Jefferson Township

Lgr 3 T 10 Tano

The surveying of land and townships in the English Settlements of Colonial America began early in the 17th century. Among the noted surveyors of the 18th century were : CHRISTOPHER GIST : JAMES HERROD : ISAAC SHELBY and DANIEL BOONE. By 1750 every basic instrument of modern surveying, except for steel tape and solar compass, was in use. THOMAS JEFFERSON and GEORGE WASHINGTON were skilled surveyors. The first Official Surveyor of The UNITED STATES was THOMAS HUTCHINS (1730- 12789). 4=Hetwas appoibnted'3n 1781.--He^"ran^surveys*". of

Gunter'S Chain

EDMUND GUNTER . . . born HERTFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1581, died at LONDON 10 December 1626. He was an astronomer and mathematician. He devised several inventions; that, bear his: names) GUNIERUSODINE . 5. a Logarithmic ruler, which isvoft*qreat value in- the application of logarithms 2.52 GUNTER SeScCAlE C.

. an instrument used in navigation . . . GUNTER'S QUADRANT . . . a portable instrument for ascertaininq theshour"of the day, "thewsun's "azimuth, ere... | and GUNTERYS CHAIN . . i2lahy 1nStrument. used 32n surveying. To EDMUND GUNTER has also been attributed the discovery of the variation of the

OHIO and THE WESTERN RESERVE were "carved out of " THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY . . . The NORTHWEST TERRITORY was the name given by the Continental Congress of America in 1787 to a region east of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER, north of the OHIO RIVER, south andéwest "of THE "GREAT LAKES Fand west of PENNSYLVANIA (see the map upon the following page). The greater part of this territory belonged to ERANGCE'prior. to 1763, when, "by treaty, GREAZISBRITAIN became possessor of all the domain east of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER, in NORTH AMERICA, which had been claimed by FRANCE. The territory west of the ALLEGHENY MOUNTAINS and north of the OHIO RIVER was, in 1774, annexed to the Province of QUEBEC. By the treaty of peace with GREAT BRITAIN, at the close of the Revolutionary War, this region was ceded to the UNITED on ie July 1787, thes" NORTHWEST-TERRITORY' was established by the Continental Congress. A form of government was provided for and the territory was then

The Northwest Territory

The Continental Congress which established the "old" NORTHWEST TERRITORY, and enacted the Ordinance of 1787, and had so wisely provided for its admission into the

COUNTY. He appointed magistrates, established the courts, and arranged for the defense of the Territory against the Indians, and in every way sought to promote the mouth of the KENTUCKY RIVER north to CANADA. The portion east of this line was called "TERRITORY NORTHWEST OF THE RIVER OHIO," and its capital was CHILLICOTHE.

As we have noted, the status of the "old" NORTHWEST TERRITORY was a subject of dispute for several years because of the conflicting claims of ownership ofethe land by NEW YORK, MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT, and

Virginia

This area, officially noted as "The Western Reserve of"connecticut;" was layed'out"with"a" "base bnes along the 41 degree of northerly latitude, from the Pennsylvania western boundary, into TWENTY-FOUR "5 Miles Square" RANGES (East to West) and FOURTEEN TOWNSHIPS (South to North).

When a specific designation within the Western Reserve was referred to, it was done in this manner "RANGE ONE TOWNSHIP FOUR" or RANGE TWENTY THREE TOWNSHIP TWO" etc.

Forty-First Degree North Latitude

In: the days or the NORTHWEST TERRITORY . .. 2 OHIO" Was then a Territoryritselt . . . General ARTHUR ST. CLAIR started it ali" Dy "splitting the Territory TACOMCWO Counties" 4 .X. WASHINGTON COUNTY and HAMILTON -COUNTY (see the map upon the facing page). The land that was to become THE WESTERN RESERVE lay within the limits of

1799 found OHIO TERRITORY made Up' of six' counties'. (1) WASHINGTON and (2) HAMILTON were still there . . - . but from them was carved (3) WAYNE . . . (4) JEFFERSON .

Jefferson Counties

In 1802 we found that OHIO TERRITORY was made up ef seen counties . . . (1) WASHINGTON and (2) HAMILTON were now Made. %aclittle smaller" SEE) WAyNERL 2 US HexMOSst some of her ground . . .4 (4). JEFFERSON. did. she (5) ROSS; ee OUESADAMSE Er so UG) CLERMONT was formed from HAMILTON . . . (8) FAIRFIELD was formed from ROSS and WASHINGTON . . . (9) BELMONT was formed from WASHINGTON . . . and (10) TRUMBULL was formed from WAYNE and JEFFERSON. The WESTERN RESERVE Land now lay within the bounds.of,TRUMBULL-COUNTY. . . fact, .Ghe bounds of TRUMBULL COUNTY and the WESTERN RESERVE were one and

Trumbull Geauga

Party (see the list of members on pages 23 to 25) arrived at SALEM (CONNEAUT) on 4 July 1796, they soon "discovered" an individual named | HALSTED residing nearby. The surveyors were led to his home by the sound of his axe. His cabin was about a quarter of a mile from the PENNSYLVANIA border line . . . on the-OHiOssides.- .. and about. a mile.south of the-"old! SOUTH RIDGE Indian path. He told the surveyors that he had been living there for three or four years . . . subsisting by hunting and fishing, and by cultivating a EE garden patch. He stated that he was originally

The second house that was built upon ASHTABULA COUNTY SOil was that one erected by the CONNECTICUT LAND COMPANY surveyors in 1796 at the mouth of the CONNEAUT CREEK. It was first occupied by the surveyors themselves . . . and then by Judge KINGSBURY and his family during the winter season of 1796-1797. It was later world in the year 1796. It is readily observed from this chart that the internal development of the OHIO TERRITORY land consisted of a few trails that all led to the westward toward the established military post at DETROIT. The outpost is not pictured on the map. The trails were well-defined, having been Ree by the

ENGLISH to the NEW WORLD. One trail traversed the entire length of the WESTERN RESERVE along the shore of LAKE ERIE. A second trail, which runs southward from SANDUSKY, was a favorite Indian trail from the lakes

The "first highway" to be layed out by the CONNECTICUT LAND COMPANY was the famous old "Girdled Road" in 1798. It was given its name because the route it followed through the great forest which covered the WESTERN

The "Girdled Road" ran from the PENNSYLVANIA border through CONNEAUT : SHEFFIELD : PLYMOUTH : AUSTINBURG : HARPERSFIELD : and TRUMBULL TOWNSHIPS in ASHTABULA COUNTY . . . and thence west through THOMPSON TOWNSHIP

. it will be expedient to lay out and cut through from PENNSYLVANIA to CLEVELAND... .. .. .a)road.. . . thegsmadd stuff to be cut out twenty-five feet wide and the timber to be girdled thirty-three feet wide, and sufficient

Temporary roads were usually constructed by the first settlers coming.into a virgin area.- They.usually "cut* a passageway through the forest to their destined place of settlement. In 1800 several residents of CONNEAUT TOWNSHIP "opened" the SOUTH RIDGE ROAD from CONNEAUT CREEK westward to a point just west of present day ASHTABULA, where they met a group of HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP inhabitants who had "opened the road" from their

InMthatusanmesveas..-bessekB004...425.a2Dnopthesoutüxrodd was "cut" from the HARPERSFIELD settlement to WINDSOR by SOLOMON GRISWOLD and his family as they penetrated

Kinsman

The "first" road leading from JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP to AUSTINBURG was "cut" as "a blazed bridle-path" in 1805. It was "opened up" for teams and wagons in the following

A road leading from the mouth of CONNEAUT CREEK southward through the first range of townships was laid out in 1804. Itiwas called the*oldA Salt Road . "t" was

In 1801-2 a road had been formed that led southward from the! mouth of #" ASHTABULA*' CREEK". ja. actually St' wash the ASHTABULA HARBOR area . . . and the "CREEK" should have been designated as a "RIVER" . i . to the SOUTH RIDGE ROAD and then southward to AUSTINBURG . . . here it was to tcrnoss. 7 heOld. Girdiled Road fw. Sand 0 om souuh

Warren

CLEVELAND: . (oe. vida'AUSTINBURG C FL XC HARPERSEIBLDG 7. and PAINESVILLE. The man on foot was soon replaced by a "post rider" . . . and eventually by the great stage permanent European settlers" within the limits of what is now ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO. At the time of their arrival there were only 15 families residing within the limits of the WESTERN RESERVERT 2 of these families were at YOUNGSTOWN . . f three at "the

Colonel ALEXANDER HARPER Mrs. ALEXANDER HARPER JAMES A. HARPER WILLIAM A. HARPER ELIZABETH HARPER MARY HARPER ALEXANDER HARPER Junior ROBERT HARPER

Betsey Gregory

HARPERSFIELD, NEW YORK, on 7 March 1798. They arrived at their place of settlement on 29 June 1798. Colonel HARPER died "of the fever" in September 1798.

Ar was early in the spring of 1799 that ELIPHALET AUSTIN led another group Or scttiers from their homes in CONNECTICUT to the forests of the WESTERN

The "problem immediately facing the "Errstosettlerss into what was to become ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO, was how to keep starvation away from their door. It was never too difficult to escape from the Diting cold of the winter . . . fire wood was plentiful and near at hand. The first year was found to be the hardest. Usually nosgrain could be-raised for that first winters supply. The settlement sites were few and scattered. The dense forest made mutual assistance quite difficult. The blunt truth of the matter ws, those who had feculd not or would not share what they had "neum CIEN Llaw f

Before that the nearest place where grain could be ground was at ELK CREEK in PENNSYLVANIA. . . a distance of 16 miles from the settlement on CONNEAUT CREEK. We know ELK CREEK better today as GIRARD, ERIE COUNTY, in PENNSYLVANIA. Many ASHTABULA COUNTY residents made

During the time of early settlement . . . and up to the close: of the War of 1812 . . . the-people of =the area "surfered'greatly" from the lack of facilities to converts theirygrain into flour. Iniecentairn Seasons 20f the year, the forests and streams supplied much needed Subsistence . . . but even these articles ot foodicoutd

The greater!part of these "new arrivals" were £rom the NORFOLK, CONNECTICUT, area. Mo of them, as you ek noted, came to ASHTABULA COUNTY without their tSETTIes. They spent their summér and early fall clearing; the land and erecting cabins in which they might live. Certain of them were heading back to CONNECTICUT before

First Transients

The "first" people to purchase land within what is now ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO, with the view of settling upon that land were : Colonel ALEXANDER HARPER

B Ezra Gregory

B EZRA GREGORY These men all resided at HARPERSFIELD, DELAWARE COUNTY, NEW YORK. They all "sat down" in HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP, ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO. To HARPERSFIELD goes the honor

To CONNEAUT TOWNSHIP goes the honor of having "the first emigran tymin dtes. HALSTED. Wercean .disesuntsthe 1796 Surveying Party 7232. and Mr. andiMrs. "JAMESZKINGSBURVNI AN Au (they ;were,sllsactusfly transients, «a... ..We find.that.a man named TITUS HAYES

ASHTABULA COUNTY land. He settled down for a while at CONNEAUT . . . but we later find him down in WAYNE TOWNSHIP. I do not know just when he made the "move"

George Beckwith

Andover Township : ZADOC STEEL, 1808 Ashtabula Township : THOMAS HAMILTON, 1801 The first family into the township was that of GEORGE BECKWITH. Cherry Valley Township : NATHANIEL HUBBARD, 1818 DENMARK TOWNSHIP : PETER and PHOEBE KNAPP, 1809 Geneva Township : THEOBALD BARTHOLOMEW, 1802 Harpersfield Township. : Colonel HARPER, 1798 Hartsgrove Township : GEORGE ALDERMAN, 1822 Jefferson Township : MICHAEL WEBSTER, 1804 Kingsville Township ELDAD and SAMANTHA HARRINGTON,

Zophar Case, 1804

That s- tne Way itvgoes t". "T some" VOU WL 6... « Some lose 2/7 + eaccouncssoLten: ditrers.-s. T AO dos you Sustadonet know what is REALLY that which took place of a Certainty, was, .not'present-at-cthemtlfirst®

We have seen that before ASHTABULA COUNTY, State of OHIO; 'came into"beding on 22 January FILTER the land . f$'7aT] Tayingawienim the mie The WESTERN RESERVE . . . had once been a part of (1) WASHINGTON COUNTY, Territory of OHIO . . . of (2) JEFFERSON and (3) WAYNE COUNTIES, Perritory Of Ohio .W A. of (A) TRUMBUBE-COUNTY "Territory and State of ONTO . .

Few of the ASHTABULA COUNTY Townships have been known by their present name throughout the period of settlement: since the land was ordered surveyed into its 5 MILE

Andover, Massachusetts

ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP - The area was once called RALPHVILLE, but took the name ASHTABULA from the ERIE Indian word that meant: "many"fishi"- The Indians called the ASHTABULA RIVER by that name.

AUSTINBURG TOWNSHIP - was named for Judge ELIPHALET AUSTEN the first. settler i the area. In the field notes of the first surveying party the Township was designated as BLAKESLEE for Colonel BLAKESLEE, one of the original a owners.

, CHERRY VALLEY TOWNSHIP - It was originally a part of ANDOVER, and was detached as an individual township The toe. + ere wes Grvel cs name see JOSIAH CREERY» for the large number of cherry trees that were growing on the +creek Bani.

Harton Connecticut

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP - It was given its name by GIDEON GRANGER Junior. He named it for President THOMAS JEFFERSON, in whose Cabinet he had served as Postmaster General.

KINGSVILLE TOWNSHIP - It was first known as FOBES DALE, in honor of Captain WALTER FOBES, one of the first Settlers. It was later called NORWICH. While the name of the Township was in dispute, a traveler, who was just passing through, offered four quarts of whiskey to the towns people if they would name the town in his honor. The man's name was KING, the citizenry complied.

NEW LYME TOWNSHIP - Was first known as LEBANON. The name was changed by an act of the Legislature in 1852, at the request of many of the early settlers, who were from LYME, CONNECTICUT.

ORWELL TOWNSHIP - Was oso RI apart of ROME; and was known as LEFFINGWELL, in honor of the first owner of the land, CHRISTOPHER LEFFINGWELL. On 4 July 1826 it was detached from ROME as a separate Township and named ORWELL.

PIERPORT TOWNSHIP - Was a part of DENMARK until 1818 NER it was detached and named in honor of PIERPONT EDWARDS nU owned nose of the surrounding aha?

ROME TOWNSHIP - Was known as RICHFIELD until 1828. PIOGCEIOOIIy, "allot ASHTABULA "COUNTY Was called IICUIPISDDOUntristhe*reorcganrzation of 1811.

SAYBROOK TOWNSHIP - Previous to its organization, the area was knows WEST MATHERSTOWN. Detached from AUSTINBURG in 1816, it was then called WRIGHTSBURG. In 1826 the name was changed to SAYBROOK. Many of the early families there were from SAYBROOK, CONNECTTEURS

SHEFFIELD TOWNSHIP - The Township was first known as EAST MATHERSTOWN. In 1820 it was organized as a separacelrowmenie and the name changed to SHEFFIELD. Many of the early settlers came from SHEFFIELD, CONNECTICUT. | |

WILLIAMSFIELD TOWNSHIP - It was named for General JOSEPH WILLIAMS who owned a large share of the surrounding lands Inv levi that Township was "a part"Oft TRUMBULL COUNTY. That is when ASHTABULA COUNTY was organized, HEL Ts