Lorain City (part 20 of 77)

In the year 1833, exchanging real estate, he moved into Lagrange, Lorain Co., Ohio, where his remaining days were spent; days full of work, - work for self and family ; work for his town, his county ; work for the good and the true everywhere.

On the 20th (jf October, 1822, Mr. Johnson married Miss Laura Waite, daughter of Dorastus Waite, Esq., of Champi<in, N. Y., who was to her husband a companion in his every endeavor in the early Lagrange life. She died verj' suddenly, on the 19th of January, 1846, while her husband was at Columbus, Ohio.

Mrs. Laura .lohnson was a woman of singular merit. With gratefulness do her children - now men and women grown - look back to hor kindly care, self-denial, and example that had so much to do in forming the characters that have made them valuable citizens.

On the 13th day of August, 1846, Mr. Johnson was again a husband. May R. Hart, daughter of J. Hart, formerly of Norwich, Conn., becoming the wife. She is yet living at the old home, hallowed by the memories of the past, and mourns the loss of the fond husband who has gone before her.

Mr. Johnson's early life in Lagrange was that of all pioneers - daily toil. His occupation, farmer. His integrity and large common sense .soon attracted attention. Township offices were showered upon him ; fidelity in the duties of such offices drew attention to his merits, local respect soon became general, and in the fall of 1844 he was elected to the Legisla- Une of Ohio from Lorain County, and re-elected in 184.5. So well were the duties of this position performed that the years 1847 and 1848 saw him a member of the Ohio Senate, from the district composed of Lorain and Medina Counties. Returning to Lagrange, there the remainder of his days were passed, each and every da}' made joyous to him by the numerous trusts confided to him by his fellow-citizens.

N. P. Johnson was noted for deep religious convictions and for true manhood. Strong and earnest in his feelings, prejudice was but a flitting cloud over his grand, kind heart. An ardent Whig of the old school, he was never the mere partisan, looking ever for the good. Party was no factor in any moral or political problem to him presented for solution. In 1846, while running for the State Senate, many prominent politicians took open and decided grounds for the repudiation of the State debt. Mr. Johnson took just as decided ground in favor of sustaining the faith and credit of the State. On this issue the people heartilj' sustained him.

Duty and right being to him the uU, he found no difficulty in laboring with voice or pen, as a man and a legislator, for the repeal of the infamous Black Laws of Ohio, although temporary odium followed his eBbrts. Retiring from public life, so far as office was concerned, bis voice and trenchant pen were ever found ready to defend and aid that which he considered the right. This was wonderfully true during the dark years of the Rebellion.

Quick in his decisions, of remarkable mental equipoise, Mr. Johnson was noted as a presiding officer. No one during his life was more frequently called upon in Lorain County to preside over conventions, whether religious, moral, or political.

Honored by all, giving always with no grudging hand of his means, and of the rich experiences of a well-spent life, he died Dec. 29, 1874 True of him is that said of another :

It is not only as a professional man thai Dr. Merriatn enjoys tlie respect and esteem of the eomniunity, in wliieli lie has i)assed nearly all his life, hut also in the many other walks of life in which his general intelligence and rectitude carry him. As a man and citizen, the doctor is hold in high regard, and deservedly occupies an exalted social position.

was born in Herkimer county, New York, January 31, 1817. When he was three years of age bis father removed with his family to Jefferson county, New York, where they remained until 1833, when they eniicrated to Canada, residing there until about 1838, when they returned to "^'ork State, and continued to live there until 1844, when the subject of this sketch moved to Ohio, and settled in La Grange, Lorain county, whither he was followed by his father in 1S4G. lie was boi'n in Connecticut, and during his last sieknes she resided with and was carefully attended by his son. lie died in 1870.

R, B. Monro started in Ohio by working on a farm by the month, whicli he did four years, dui-ing which time he purchased lifty acres of land, paying for it with his earnings. In 1848 he was married to Margaret, daughter of John McGregor. They have one son, James, who resides at home, and also, an adopted daughter. Mr. Monro has held various township offices, among others those of road commissioner and school director. In politics he is a democrat. He is a self made man, and generally considered a worthy citizen, and an upright and honest num.

Brigiitun consists of tract seven, and portions of tracts six and eight, in range nineteen of the original Western Reserve. It is uj)on the extreme west of the county, and is bounded upon the north by Camden, east by Wellington, south by Rochester and west by the township of Clarksfield, Huron county. The soil in the northern part is clay, principally, but in the southern portion a gravelly soil is found. The surface is more uneven than that presented to the eye in must of the southern townships of Lorain county, the west branch of the Black river having cut its way through the territory from a point near the southwest corner of the township to the eastern boundary, whore it emerges about one mile south of the Camden line. Its course is very irregular, and .its stream has left broad and very fertile bottom lands, which are as i;(i(id for the general purposes of farming as any in the county.

The Original Proprietors

of the lands now included in Bi'ighton were Lemuel Storrs, Ephraim Root, James Ross, Peter Brooks, .lohn C!all, William Shaw, George Black and Pennewel Cheney. Tract seven, extending through the center of the township from east to west, and containing four hundred acres, was the property of Root & Ross. It was by them sold to Harmon Kingsbury and others, and was the portion first put into the market for sale to the settlers. Storrs, the owner of tract eight and the several owners of tract six sold to, or exchanged lands with, Tuekerman Brothers, of Boston, Norton and Stocking of Hartford, Connecticut, Frederick Hamlin of Berkshire, Massachusetts, Deming and Alford. Levi Bliss, of Massachusetts, bought out Tnckernum Brothers. The surplus lands upon the west side of the township were originally owned by Goodrich of Hartford, and several others. Brighton is what is known as an equalizing township. Its name was bestowed by Abner Loveland at the time of organization.

were quite numerous when tiie first sei tiers came in and all accounts agree as to their friendliness to, and fair treatment, with few exceptions, of the whites. They were of the Seneca and Wyandot tribes. Befoi'c the time of settlement, these Indians were in the custom of camping upon what they called the "big bottom," upon the farm which is now the property of Leonard H. Loveland, but after the first settlers arrived they seldom had an encampment within the territory now included in the townshij). They traded very frequently with their pale faced brothers, bringing fine venison hams, which they were always delighted "to exchange for bread or ]>ork. Leoiutrd Loveland remembers seeing with them, upon one occasion, a very old, though remarkably well preserved man, who was said l)y the Indians to hiive seen the sun of one hundred and fort_y-five summers. It is probable that this was not far from being correct, for events that the Indian sjioke of as occurring in the

'riio iiioiu'cr 1)1' Urightoii was Alinoi' Loveland, Jr. He ciiterecl tiic forest alone in the fall of 1820, witii the intention of hecoiiiing a perni.inent resident, and built n|)on lot one, in tract seven, the first luiinan habitation, save the lints and wigwams of tlie Indians, in the territory included a few years later in the limits of Brighton. He carried upon his back the poles of which he built his cabin. In tlie spring of 1831, he started for tlie east, bnt a great snow storm made it impossible for liim to pursue his journey, and he stop)>ed in (irafton, wliei'e he I'emained until fall, working for vai-ious settJers. In the fall he again prepared to go to his liouie, but, receiving a letter from his father, saying that he had bought land in Brighton and wanted him to begin clearing it, he went back to the place which he had originally selected ami jirepared for the coming of his father and the family by erecting a log house. In July of 18'>1, came the father, Abner Loveland, Sr. , his wife Lois, four daughters, So])hia, Lovina, ramelui, Minerva and a son Leonard H. with his wife Margaret Whitlock. They made this journey, with an ox team, in six weeks. The Lovelands were natives of Otis, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, Aimer, Jr., the first arrival, ma<le the journey from liruiiswick. New Jersey, upon foot. His wife was I'aima DeWolf, and he had by her five children, three of whom arc now living, Celestia A. in Wellington, (Jort^lia J. (Mrs. I). Reamer) in Oberliu, and Franklin in New York. Abner Loveland, Jr., renu.)Ved from Brighton to Wellington in 1834, and, his wife tlying, ho married some time afterwards, Mrs. Anna Kimmel. He is still living, at the age of eighty-two years, being born in 1796. Leonard H. Loveland still lives iipoi lot one, tract seven, a few rods from the site of the first log house built in the towiishiji, and is eighty-four years of ago. His children, lieside WMiitlock, who died when a babe, were (!ordelia, born Novemlier 12, 1S2I3, and died March ;5, 18.")2, and Kineline Margaret, born March 4, 18.");!. Mr. Ijovelaud, like his brother, is living with his second wife, and he is lier second husband. Her iiiaiilen name was Fanny Allen. tSlic was from Vermont, and her Inisband facetiously claims that she was a connection of Ethan Allen, "the Green mountain lioy." Abner Loveland, Sr., and his wife have been dead for many years. Both were born in 17f;4._^

The Kingsbiirys' arrived after Abner Loveland, Jr., and before all the others of this family. Joseph Kingsbury was the second settler. He was the father of Harmon Kingsbury, before mentioned as one of the original owners of the land. He came early in 1821, from Otis, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, bringing his wife, four daugliters, one of whom died young, and two sons, Solomon and Austin. One of the daughters married Loren Wadsworth, another . Eber W. Hubbard, and Louisa A. married Calvin Roice. Josei>li Kingsbury settled on lot thirteen, Solomon on lot ten, and Austin on lot nine - all in tract seven; which, as has been heretofore stated, was the only portion of the lands offered for sale. Harmon Kingbury was never a resident of the township, but was a frequent visitor. Austin Kingsbury reared a family of six children, of whom Mrs. Orrin Hall (Tjouisa A.) is one. A sister resides in Wellington. William Harvey is in Oberliu.

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.

H(n'ace, John and Joseph Crosby, the latter not of ago, and another brother who died (juite young, came with their mother soon after the arrival of the Halls, from Tyriiighain, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and settled upon lot three. John was married in 1825 to Locitte Sage.

Luke Whitlock came in the spring of 1822, and his brother John, at a later date. They settled upon lot seven. The Whitlocks were from Soxith Brunswick, New Jersey. 1'he family of Luke Whitlock consisted of his wife Elizabeth, a son John, who died eai'ly, Ellen, now Mrs. Augustus Fox, residing near the center, and Jane, who married Koswell Smith, and afterwarils Selden Hall, now living in Wellington. Luke Whitlock died suddenly and among strangers. He was in Pittsburgh upon his way home and was stricken dead upon the street and buried before his relatives, who left for that city as soon as the sad news reached them, had arrived.

Justice Battle, Sr., and wife, and Justice Battle, Jr., and wife were among the first settlers, but the date of their arrival cannot be definitely ascertained. They came from Tyriugham, Berkshire county, Massachusetts and located upon lot sixteen.

first settled in Wellington. On coming into Biigliton he lociitoil u])on lot ten. Ho married a daughter of Joseph Kingsbury, by whom he had three children, - Boughton, now in Clarksville, Eunice, in Avon, and Sarah.

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.

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.

Philip L. Goss, a native of Winchester, New Hampshire, settled on lot seventeen, in 1836, coming from Brecksvillo, Cluyahoga county, where he had resided for a short time. He was one of the substantial, influential men of the town, and always prominent in its institutions until his removal in 1878, to Wellington, where he and his wife, Serena, at present reside with their married daughter, Mrs. Dr. Rust. He has a son, Charles P., in Oberlin, and another daughter, Sarah, who married a son of Dr. Beach, of Pittstield. David Goss, bronher of Philip L., arrived in 1843. His sons, Maurice and Otis, reside in Brighton, and his daughters in Illinois, and Huron county. Ohio.

Smith Stocking and Harry Haws came into the township in 1837, the former settling upon lot fifteen, in the gore, and the latter u])oii the same lot, a little to the north, where D. .Tohnson located two years later. Wm. Bunee and Samuel Lamb took up farms about the same time, upon lot one in tract seven, building houses u|)on the east and west road.

Cornelius Seeley ca.me into Avon in 1831, and originally emigrated from Westmoreland, Oneida county. New York. His wife's maiden name was Rachel Smith. They had fourteen children, twelve of whom lived to maturity. H. S., the eldest, settled in Brighton, on lots thirty-oue and thirty-two, where he now resides. Morrell E., Anna, and Dwight, his childreu, now live in Brighton, the first named upon the Loveland farm.

The earliest settlers of Brighton endured many hardships. Food was for a time exceedingly scarce, and could only be liad in small variety. When the wheat was harvested it was often found full of smut, and as there were no machines in those days for cleaning it, the smut went into the Ijread, making it so black tliat the Indians often refused to eat it. The nearest j)!ace where the pioneers could get a grist ground was at Clarksfield. Leonard Loveland was once pursued by wolves while returning from the mill in that place. These jiests of every new country were very plentiful. 'L'hey were not usually regarded as a source of danger, but of annoyance. They would often surround a settler's cabin and make night hideouH with their horrible howling. Deer were found in the woods in large numbers, and venison was so common upon the tables at which hard working, hungry men sat down, tliat it was looked upon with no more favor than jtork. As many as fifty deer have been seen in a single herd in Brighton. Enormous flocks of wild turkeys wei'e often met with, during the first few years after the woods were invaded by white men, and all kinds of small game was found in abundance, but most of the pionee'rs had too much work to do with the ax and plow to spend their time in hunting. There were few who carried the rifle except when the larder was low.

The first death was tliat of Whitlock Loveland, a nine months old chdd of Leonard II. and Margaret Loveland. He was born .January 2, 1820, and died on the 13tli of October. Tlie burial was upon the clearing maJe by the Lovelands, a few rods south of their log house, and of Leonard Loveland's present honu'. Otiior nieml)ei's of the family now lie by tlie side of the little one for whom the first grave was made. The funeral was attended by only two or three persons beside the family, among them being tlie Rev. Mr. Parmele, a Baptist minister of Sullivan, who s})oke the few words of com fort, and offered the prayer at the grave.

Sometime in ls2o, Albert Niles, then of Wellington, and a native of Berkshire county, Massacliusetts. was married to Sophia., daughter of Leonard il. and Margaret Loveland. The ceremony was performed at jSI'r. Loveland's log cabin, by Squire Ephriani A. Wilcox, of Wellington, and was witnessed by about twenty or twenty-five persons, or the entire population of the township. In the evening, a substantial suj)per was served, all present sitting down to the table, wliicli was more sensibly set than those which gi-oan under the weight of modern marriage feasts. Steaming moats, home-made bread, and wholesome vogetaljles were in al)uudance, but cakes, confections, and ices, with French names, did not have a jjlace upon the board. The young married couple settled in Brighton, upon lot seventeen, tract seven, where they remained for a number of years. Both have been dead for some time.

The first school was tauglit by Paima De W'olf, wife of Abner Loveland, after their marriage, and was held in the log house which they occupied. She gave instruction, to the best of her aliility, to about a dozen children, an(.l received therefor the sum of six shillings per week. This was previous to 1827. In tliat year a log school house was built, about three-ijuarters of a mile east of the center. Polly Warren was the first teacher of the school held in this Ijnilding. The first frame school school house was built in 183(], - the frame being erected l)y the free labor of John Dunbar and his two sons, llosea and Simeon, who took the timber from the woods. It was completed through repeated subscriptions by the citizens, and for several years served as both church and school house, until the Congregational church was built. Brighton is now well abreast of her sister townships in the excellence of her schools, as well as in general improvements.

In the earliest, days of the settlement, the pioneers were obliged to go as far as Liverpool to olitain their mail, or to dispat.cli letters. Afterwards they were able to got their mail in Wellington, and in 1824, or 182.5, they had a. regular mail, carried liy one Bovee. A man by the name of Wyatt carried the first mail that e\er went through the township. He came through on the east ami west center road on his first trip, ilarch 13, 1821.

Alfred Hall went into service as postmaster at Brighton about 1830. He was only nominally postmaster however, for Ransom Foote, the deputy, had the real work to do, and kept the few letters and papers that came to tlie settlers at his house near the center, because Hall lived a mile and a half away. Jefferson Whip]ile is the present postmaster. He was appointed in 187G.

The first store was opened at the center about the year 1830, hy Samuel .Jones who continued in business some time. A large general store is now kept by Whipple & Hall who are the successors of Richmond & Whipple.

William Battle opened the first hotel in 1850, and kept a well conducted temperance house. (Jeorge Peasley now offers food and shelter to the wayfarer and tlic stranger.

The first road of travel tluough the township was the east and west center road. This was laid out in 1819. The north and south center road was opened ten or twelve years later, and the various roads parallel to these two were laid out at different times as the number of inhabitants increased, and there was demand for new means of communication.

The township has but one cemetery, besides the several private burial places where were laid the remains of the first few persons who died in the .settlement. The town cemetery is ujion the west side of the road, just a few rods south of the center. The land was donated by Austin Kingsbury in 184:5.

The Lovelands, father and sons sowed the first wheat in the fall of 1821. They put ii eight acres, and the next summer harvesteil a womlcrful crop. They also planted the first orchard, the tr'cs in which were started from seed brought by them from Massachusetts. Several apple trees were still living, and bore fruit in 1878.

"The township was organized at the spring election of 1823. .Joseph Kingsbury, Avory Hall and Calvin Roice, were elected trustees; Leonard H. Loveland, clerk: Abner Loveland, treasurer; and Abner Loveland, Jr., justice of the ])eaco. There were twelve electors, just about the number of porsons rei|uired to fill the offices in those days. The townsliip belonged to Lorain, as then formed, but, with other townships, remained attached to Medina county, until the organization of Lorain was completed."'* parents' conversion, and, were we able to trace the sequence, should doubtless discover, iu this taking away of life, the initial impulsion in a long series of causes and effects resultant in great good. There is here an illustration of the mysterious means of Providence. Mr. Loveland and his wife were the first persons to experience religion in Brighton. Wiien their cliild died they liogan thinking tliat they. werenot good enough to follow him into tiie future world, and the result was tiiat they accepted the teachings (if the Bible as their guide, and tried to conform their lives to its precepts. Tiie first religious service ever iield in the towushiit was at the grave of tlie little one taken from these parents. Not very long afterwards meetings wore held in the vicinity, and, in 1S33, or the following year, what was known as the Black River circuit was laid out and a Rev. Mr; Coston rode through a number of the townships, preaching wherever he could get together a dozen listeners. As the little clearings in the wilderness became larger and moi-o numerous, the need of religious fellowship was felt by several, and hence, in tlie fall of 1S"27, it came about that the class was organized which was the beginning of of Brighton. The church was organized by Rev. A. Brainard, and the preaching which its members attended during the first year of its existence was by Rev. Henry 0. Sheldon, who was then traveling the circnit which included this point. Meetings were held at Loveland's and at the center, though most frequently at the former place. The constituent members of this church were: Abner Loveland, Lois his wife, Leonard H. Loveland, Margaret his wife, Pamelia Loveland, Minerva Loveland, Elizabeth Whitlock, Erastus Hall. S:ira,h Hall and David Fox. Leonard H. Loveland was class leader. As time wore on, the church received accessions, and it was found that the congregation had outgrown the capacity of a dwelling house, and must have a proi)er place of meeting. Accordiugly, a neat but plain structure, the one now iu use, was built at the center. The frame was erected iu 1850, but on accouut of sickness of the workmen, and for want of means, it was not inclosed until the following spring; when, by the earnest efforts of T. Hall and E. S. Bidwell and others, the work was carried on to completion. It was dedicated, free from debt, November G, 18.53. The present membership is forty-five, and would be much larger, but many residents of the southern part of the township, of the Methodist denomination, attend the church at Rochester station. The present pastor is Rev. E. A. Warner, and the class leaders, 0. Peabody and William Ward. The stewards are D. M. Hall (recording steward), Freeman Green and H. S. Seeley. The follovviug are the trustees of thechureh property: D. M. Hall, Freeman Green, Simeon Dunbar, William Ward and H. S. Seeley.

The Congregational Church

was organized in 183G, and the first meetings were held in the school house east of the center. The original members were: Justice Battle, and his wife Esther, his son's wife Bathsheba, Selden Hall and wife, .Joseph Kingsbury, Austin Kingsbury, W. R. Strong and wife, Philip L. Goss, Serena S. Goss and Peter Dickinson. The first regular minister who preached in this church was Rev. Mr. Kellogg, from New York state. Much of the time, the pulpit was supplied by students from Oberlin. The first deacons of the church were Philip L. Goss and W. R. Strong. The society built a church at the center in 1840. The church now has a membership of thirty-five, the only ones upon the roll who were among the first members being Philip L. Goss and his wife. Rev. D. T. Williams is pastor; Lewis Hart and .Tames S. Jones, deacons. The trustees are] J. Bennett, Otis Goss and Mark Smith; clerk of the church, Lewis Hart; clerk of the society, Maurice Goss, who is also acting treasurer.

There is reason to believe that Brighton is at present an unusually healthful place. It has no resident physician. In the past the men of medicine were not numerons. The few who came into the township remained but a short time each, and none of them became so wealthy from their practice as to be able to retire. Dr. Holcomb was the pioneer practitioner, but did not come in until 1848. He was an excellent physician. After a moderately successful practice, extending through five or six years, he moved away, and his place was taken by a Dr. Gilson, who, after a very short time, was followed by Dr. William Elder, whose practice in the township was concluded in abont three years. Dr. Cannan, now of Camden, practiced in Brighton for a few months.

Industrial Pursuits

Brighton is essentially a farming township. It has no manufacturing interests save those which are commonly found in the townships of Lorain county, viz:

Cheese Factories And Saw Mills

The Brighton cheese factory, owned by Goss & .Jones, is located upon the center road, a short distance, perhaps a quarter of a mile south from the center. It receives the milk of about five hundred cows, which is mostly manufactured into cheese. Only a small quantity of butter is made. The factory was first projected by Goss & Comj^any, in 18G7, and after running a number of years was burned down. The present factory building was erected in the season of 1874-5.

Horr & Warner, of Wellington, have a cheese factory on the town line road, adjoining Wellington, and nearly a mile from the southern boundary of the township, on lot thirty-one. They receive the milk

The Centennial cheese factory, so named fmm the fact that it was started in 187G, is the property of Henry Wood, who also owns the farm upon which it is located. This is what is known as a "full cream factory," and tiie proprietor does not manufacture any butter. Not far from three hundred and fifty cows are milked for this factory. Mr. Wood is a native of CUieshire, England.

The first saw mill was built by a man named Foote, some time previous to 1825, upon the western branch of Black river, and was washed away ijy a frcslict. The next was upon the same stream and was the projierty of Solomon Kingsbury an<l Nelson Converse. There is now one steam saw mill in the townsiiip, owned and rnn by Otis Goss. It is located south of the center, upon lot sixteen.

Temperance

As early as ISoG, Brighton organized a temperance society, with the usual pledge of total abstinence from all intoxicating li<piors (oxce)it wine and cider). Pliilip L. Goss was president of said society. A new impulse was given in the year 1841, under tiie name of the Washingtonian movement. Refurmed drunkards related tlieii- experience in the degi'ading Jiabit of drink, and of tiieir new life in refornnUidu, inspiring with hope tiie fallen, declaring total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks tiie only safeguard of sobriety. First among this class of reformers was one Captain F. Turner. Deacon Pliilip Goss was president. At tlie next annual meeting John V. Wliitlock was elected ])resident. In the summer of 184:3, the county (puirterly meeting was held at Brigiiton, Mr. Cheney, of Elyria, president. The Rev. Ansel Clark, of Huntington, and Mr. Van Wagoner, were the [inneipal sjieakers. At the close of tiie lecture, Mr. N'anWagoner gave a description of how a jierson wiiuld act in a fit of delirium tremens. At the next election, in the year 1845, II. B. Dunbar was elected president of said society. He served five years, and obtained four hundred and thirtv-seven signatures to the jiledge. Djacon Elier .Jones was next president of (he society; and ever since, there has been, and is now, a temperance organization in Brighton. Although it has not been able to entirely suppress intemperance, yet its inllaence lias ke[)t tiie townsiiip free from the unmitigated curse of a saloon or place where intoxicating liquors, witli the exi^eption of cider, could be bought. The selling of eider to be drunk, is not reputable in Brigiiton.

James Whipple

was born in the town of Pomfret, Windham county, Connecticut, March IG, 1811. His father, Charles Whiiiple, was born at North Providence, Rhode Island, April 28, 1779. His mother, Harriet Whipple, was born at North Providence, Rhode Island, November 14, 1786. In the year 1807, they moved to Pomfret, Connecticut; and in 1815, to Westmoreland, Oneida county. New York., where they resided until death. Charles AVhipple died January IG, 18G(), aged eiglitysix years. Hannah Whipple died December G, 18G.3, aged seventy-eight years.

In the 22d year of his age. May 24, 1833, James Whipple came to Brighton, Lorain county, Ohio, having first bouglit in Rrighton one hundred acres of land, known as the Loomis farm. He has at present over two hundred acres. He was married to Melinda Dunbar, November 13, 1839; she was born at Sandy Lake, Rensselaer county. New York, September C, 1819. Her father's name was .John Dunbar, who was born at Bridgewater, Norfolk county, Massachusetts, June, 1777; he was of Scotch and English descent. He lived with his i^arents at Bridgewater until he was sixteen years of age; then he moved with tliein to Grantham, Sullivan county. New Hampshire; and in 1800, he married Sally Annadown, daughter of Josepli and Dorcas Annadown, of Soiitlibridge, Massachusetts; she was born September 29, 177G. He resided at Grantham until Eebruary, 1818, and then removed to Sandy Lake. From there, he removed to Ludlow, Windsor county, Vermont, in 1820; and in 1831, he removed to Minerva, Essex county. New York. He came from Mernava to Ohio, the latter part of May, 1835, and located in Brighton, September, 18'db, where he resided until his death, January 18, 1838, aged sixty-one years. He was a farmer, and his farm lay about three-fourths of a mile north of the center. Sally Dunbar, wife of John Dunbar, died September 22, 1854, aged seventy-eight years. Melinda was sixteen years of age when her parents removed into Brighton. Slie had a common school education. Since her marriage she has always resided on the same farm where they now live They have had four children, as follows: Jefferson C. Whipple, liorn August 18, 1841; Anzonette Whipple, born February 8, 1851; Emma Whipple, born April 2, 1857; Manette C. Whipple, born October iil, 18G1. Emma died June 12, 1859, aged two years, two months and ten days; Anzonette died June 17, 1859, aged eight years, four months and nine days. The homestead is situated one and one-half miles from Brighton. The owner early identified himself with the religions and political interests of the town, bearing his share of the common burdens, and sharing in its general prosperity.

was born in Soutlifiekl, IJerksliire county. Miissaeliusetts, October:!, 1794, and livetl witb bi.s"fatlier,Abiier Lovohmd, until he attained his majority. Ilis education was confined to that of the common schools, but by studing at niglit, wliilo otliers slejit, he qualified iiimself for the honorable calling of teaching, and for two years taught school, with marked success. He then married Margaret V., daughter of Luke and Elizabeth Wliitlock. She was born in Connecticut, June 25, 1794; and died August 18, 1855. This union resulted in three children, one son and two daughters, luunely : Abncr, born January 2, 1S21, in South Brunswick, New Jersey ; died October 13, 1831. Cordelia, born November 12, 1833, in Lorain county, Ohio ; died March 33, 1853. Emiline M., born March 4, 1833 ; died October 30, 1874.

Abner Loveland, father of him of who we write, was born in Connecticut, April 18, 1764. He was married to Lois, daughter of Benjamin Hodge. In 1831 he removed with his family to Ohio. There were si.v children, namely : Dolly, Lovma, Parmelia, Minerva, TiUman E., Loring, Luther, Leonard 11. and Abuer. At Buffalo they took a sister of Mr. Loveland's in their wagon. The brothers and sisters are all deceased, the last brother dying at Wellington, Ohio, March 3, 1879. Abner Loveland died September 6, 1847. He was a man of many excellent qualities, and his death was a sad event in the tlien rather thinly settled country, where he settled, labored and died.

On the 18th, of August, 1855, L. H. Loveland sustained the loss of his wife, which was a sore bereavement to him and the children. For his second wife he married Mrs. Anna Rnlison, widow of James Rulison, and daughter of Moses Allen ; a lady very generally esteemed by her ac(juaintances and friends. Mr. Loveland has followed farming nearly all his life, and has attained tlie dignity of being ctmsidered one of the best j)ractical farmers of Brighton township ; as he is also one of its most substantial citizens. His unswerving personal integrity, and tlio general rectitude of his life, have gained for him an enviable re])utation in the comnumity where he is best known, and where his many ([ualities of head and heart are duly appreciated.

Avery Hall, father of Selden, came to Brighton, Lorain county, Ohio, in the year 1833, being among the pioneer settlers of that town. He was married in Meriden, Connecticut, December 34, 1800, to Miss Sarah Foster. She died in 1803. He was married a second time in Woodbury, Connecticut, September 1, 1805, to Miss Lucy Bacon. She died October 38, 1853. A few years after, he married, for his third wife, Mrs. Leaeli, - -she only living three years after this marriage. He died at the age of seventy-four, and was buried in Brighton. He had two children by his first wife, viz: Selden, born September 19, 1801; Alfred born May 31, 1803. His second union was blessed with eleven children, viz: Erastus, born July 38, 1806; S.irah, born November 11, 1807; Edwin, born April 9, 1809; Avery, born Feljruary 38, 1813; Lucy, born April 13, 1814; Orrin, born April 5, 1816; Julia, born April 19, 1818; Theophilus, born May 15, 1831; John W., born August 36, 1833; William, born April 11, 1835; Clarissa, born August 33, 1839.

Mr. Selden Hall was born in Meriden, Connecticut, September 19, 1801, and died November 38, 1878. In 1833 he, in company with his brother Alfred, traveled on foot from Meriden, Connecticut, to Brighton, Lorain county, Ohio, preceding his father iind family hy a year. When they reached their destination, they found but four white families in the tovviisliii) to bid them welcome to au unbroken wilderness, where mariv-ed trees were the only guides to distant thoroiighl:'ares. He had come for the purjjose of fanning, and soon settled on a piece of ground onehalf a mile west of the center of the town, built a substantial log cabin, and in 1828, he was married to Miss Emily A. Smith, who lived with her widowed mother and brothers on the old Smitli farm, on tlie town line between Wellington and Brighton.

Under the management of this stirring pioneer, and his worthy wife, this forest home began to put on the look of a thriving homestead. They were the parents of five children, viz: Fidelia N., the eldest, born June 11, 1829, was married December 10, 1840, to Jasou W. Gillett, the eldest son of Octavus Gillett. He came to Brighton with his father's family, when a boy of twelve years. The fruit of this union was three children. The eldest, Anice M., was born September 12, 1847, and was married on tlie twentietli anniversary of her mother's wedding day, December 10, 18G(i, to Howard H. Hall, the second son of Avery Hall. He served his country for more than two years, during the late rebellion, enlisting m the Twelfth Ohio volunteer cavalry, October i;j, 180.3, and mustered out witli tlie i-egiment December 15, 180.5. 'I'hey have one child, Charlie M., born October 21, IST'O. Tlie second daughter, ilinda J., was born August 28, 1851, and was married November 10, 1875, to Robert D. La Dow, youngest son of Abraham La Dow, of Camden. One daugliter came to bless this union, - Maude A., born June 22, 1878. The third child, Octavus M., was born March 3, 1853, and was mai'ried December 10, 1874, to Miss Mary L. Griggs, youngest daughter of John S. Griggs. One daughter was the fruit of this union, - Eda B., born August 0, 1870. The second daughter, Augusta M., was Ijorn February 14, 1832, and was married May 4, 1858, to James M. Jones, formerly of I'ennsylvauia. She died May 14, 1864. At the time of her death, her husband was fighting for his country, being in au engagement on the day of her death. He was a member of the One Hundred and Third regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, served three years, and was mustered out with the regiment in June, 1865. She left two boys, - Willie W., born March 3, 1859, and Frank S., born May 8, 1800. The third child, Lorenzo J., was born February 3, 1836, and was married November 25, 1862, to Miss Redia Griggs, eldest daughter of John S. Griggs. He died December 29, 1860, leaving one child, - Horace E., born September 29, 1864. The fourth child, Louisa C, born March 26, 1842, and was married November 29, 1866, to James M. Jones, the former husband of her late sister (Augusta). They have one child, Emily A., born June 27, 1875. The youngest child, Selden S., was born March 26, 1S43, and was married May 9, ISOO, to Lorinda ]\I., only daughter of Tlieophilus Hall. He also was a faithful soldier of the rebellion, receiving a severe wound in the shoulder, at the liattle of Resaca. Notwithstanding tliis, he served his three years, and was honorably mustered out with the regiment. He was in the One Hundred and Third Ohio volunteer infantry, a regiment whose record Lorain county may well be proud of. Two sons blessed this marriage, - Eber W., born March 21, 1868, and Eddie E., born February 28, 1871.

On April 24, 1807, Emily, wife of Selden, Sr., died from that dreaded disease, cancer, after protracted suffering for more than a year. April 29, 1808, he married Mrs. Roswell Smith, of Wellington. From that time until his death, he resided at the Smitli homestead. He was a faithful husljand, a loving father, a warm friend, and a good neighbor. Many an orphan in need has had reason to remember him with gratitude, for his kindly deeds and fitly spoken words. Early in life he made a jirofession of Christianity, and for the past fifty years he has tried to be a faithful follower of his Master, and died with the full assurance of a glorious immortality, retaining his consciousness to the last. The thanksgiving he had planned to keep with dear ones at home, was spent with loved ones gone before.

Amherst is township six in range eighteen; lies in the northwestern section of Lorain county, a distance of three miles from the lake, and is bounded on tlie north by Black River, on the east by Elyria, on tile soutli by Russia, and on the west by Brownhelm. Its surface is moderately uneven, and it is traversed from east to west by tliree ridges which run the entire length of the lake, the ancient beaches upon which old Erie's waves spent their force in ages of which no man knows the beginning or the end. It is principally in these ridges, the north, middle and south, tljat the Ohio sandstone which has made the name of Amherst world famous, is found cropping out or coming so close to the surface as to make quarrying practicable. In some places along the north ridge, the rock rises in mounds or ledges. These elevations, undoubtedly, were once bare, bleak islands in a vast inland sea - fortresses of rock which have withstood the tiei'ce onslaught of the north winds' advancing hosts of waves, through centuries. In some places the effect of the wave washing can bo clearly seen.

The only streams of water in the township are ]?eaver and Little Beaver creeks, so called, because the early settlers found in them large numbers of beaver. Both streams are small. They run a nortlierly course through the townshi)), and are nearly parallel.

Amherst was drawn by Martin Sheldon, Calvin Austin, Oliver L. Phelps and Asahel Hathaway. Tract number two consisting of four thousand acres in Black River, was annexed to equalize it. In con- 15 nection with the present townsliips of Black River, Brownlielm and Russia, Amherst was in 1817 organized into a township under the name of Black River. . This was by order of the Commissioners of Huron county, issued in February of the above year. The organization was effected iu the following February. Brownhelm was detached and incorporated as an independent township iu 1818, and seven years later the territory, now included in Russia township, was separated. From that time until 1830 the present townships of Amherst and Black River were included in one under the latter name.

When the first settlers came into the township, Indians were (piite numerous. They looked upon the whites as an enemy, but the exhibition of ill feeling was not decided or bold. There was never auy serious trouljle between the ])ioneers, and on the contrary there was an occasional interchange of kind civility, (leorge Disbrow. one of the early settlers of the South Ridge, says that he often had dealings with the Indians, and was on very jileasant terms with some of them. He never drew a rifle upon an Indian but once, and then was not oliliged to fire. There was among the whites general a feeling of distrust to ward their nomadic fellow human beings, and they never felt perfectly secure until the last red man had removed from their vicinity.

Ezeliiel (i. Barnes, a pioneer and celebrated woodsnum, relates an incident that occurred as late as 182(3. There was at that time a growing dislike for the Indians among the young hunters, caused, perhaps, by the fact that the former killed too many of the deer, which the whites regarded as exclusively their own. Young Barnes came to the conclusion that somethinomust be done to cause the Indians to clear the country. He thought the matter over and decided to go to them, tell them in a friendly way of their unpopularity among their white brethren, and drop a hint as to the nature of what might occur if they remained longer in the vicinity. He accordingly went to their encampment and advised the Indians to journey toward hunting grounds farther west, adding that there was such a feeling among the whites that they would be in danger of their lives if they longer remained here. The Indians listened stoically to the story, and Barnes went home to await develcpments. A few days afterward, learning that they still remained in their camp, he got together six or eight young men living within a few miles of his home, and, late at night, the party started into the woods, following a narrow pathway to the Indian hut. Barnes was captain of the attacking army. He desired a bloodless victory, consequently he had all, except one man in whom he had plenty of confidence, load their rifles without ball. He put lead as well as powder in his own gun, and thus forearmed against the savage dogs, of which the Indians were known to have several, the party silently approached their enemy's hut. Contrary to their expectation, the dogs were not aware of their ap[)roach and made no sound. The whole squad approached so close to the little bark structure that they could almost touch it with their long rifles. All was as still as death. The Indians slept as soundly as only people of clear conscience are popularly supposed to. Suddenly, however, they were aroused from oblivion, and rudely, too. The silence of the forest was broken by the sharp crack of eight guns, and eight flashes of fire leaped out against the bark wall of the hut. Tiie little party of adventurers then filed back to their starting place as silently as they had come, and dis- ]iersed to their homes in tin- firin belief that the Indians had been so friglitciied that they would leave the counti-y; and they judged correctly, for. on the following day. the camp was deserted. The Indians firmly believed that the attack iiad Ijeen made by men who wished to take their lives, and it was no more than natural they should have thougiit so, for they found, as they declared, holes in the side of the iiut made by rifle balls. They left for Sandusky, but threatened, before they went, to return with all of their tribe they could get together in that vicinity, and scalp every man, woman and ciiild in the settlement. It was feared by many that the savage threat wc)uld be carried out; but tiie party never returned, and but few Indians were afterward seen in Amherst townsiiip. These Indians were of the Seneca tribe, and belong'ed to the Sandusky branch. Some time before the occurrence related, Mr. Barnes and another young man drove out a small luirty of Indians, following them several miles rifle in band.

The first settler in the territory now included in the bounds of Aniiierst township, was Jacoii Sliupe. He came into Black River in the year 1810, and a year later moved to a iwint on Beaver creek, about a mile and a half mnth of the ])resent village of North Amherst. He was of Dutch or German descent; was born in Pennsylvania in the year 1778, and conse- (piently was thirty-three years of age when, in 1811, he made the first clearing in the township. lie built, in 1813, the first mill in the county i>t Lorain. Previous to this time the settlers in Black River had been compelled to carry their grist, either to Chagrin P'alls, forty-eight miles distant, or to Huron River, thirty miles west, in either case making a journey of three days" duration In 1815 Mr. Shupe started the first distillery, and was quickly followed by some of the other settlers who came into the neighborhood. Mr. Shupe Avas the father of eleven children, who were born in the order in which their names are here given: George and John, who died very young; Louis, also dead; Peggy, wife of Stephen Gunn, of Michigan; Polly, Betsy, William and Catharine, all dead; Ann, now a resident of Grand Haven, Michigan; Harriet who is still living in Missouri, and Isaac, fifty-four years of age, at the ])resent writing a resident of Amherst village, in which (lot twenty-five) he owns a farm of forty-five acres. Jacob Shupe, the pioneer, was a somewhat peculiar man, very active in his habits, energetic and untiring. His life was cut short by accident. When he was fifty-four years of age, he was killed, while engaged in repairing his mill, by the fall of a heavy stick of timber. This was in 1833. His wife survived him until 1870, dying in her ninetyfirst year.

Reuben Webb and family came in the year 181-1 or 181.5, and settled in the locality now known as Webb's corners, but for some time lived near Jacob Shupe's for the sake of society. Adoniram Wcbl) was a son of Reuben, and he in turn had a son named Reuben, and a daughter who married George Bryant, a native of England, who came to this country in 1830. and, settling in Amherst, took a farm upon the south ridge, or what is now known as the telegraph road. Reuben Weill) died in \S,--liK and Adoniram not many years later.

Chiliab Smith, of Tyringham, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, arrived in Amherst in October, 1815, bringing his wife and five chddren. He had three sons and two daughters, Warren, David, Sylvester, Lucia and Florinda. They are all dead but Sylvester, who lives at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and the only descendants of the old pioneer living within the county, are three children of David Smith, Mrs. Wm. Annis, of South Amherst, and L. P.. Smith and Miss. L. E. Smith, of Elyria. Chiliab Smith, on coming into the township, settled on the south ridge road, about four miles west of Elyria, and there kept the first tavern in the vicinity. He died in 1847, and his wife in 18-i4.

Roswell Crocker came from Oneida county. New York, and settled on lot number forty-four. He had three sons and five daughtei's, all of whom, with the exception of Eliza Ann, afterwards the wife of 0. Barney, were born in the township. She was born while the family were on the road, in New York State, only one day's journey from their starting place. Mr. Crocker lived in the township for twenty-seven years, and then went to Lake county, where he died in 1808, aged seventy-one. His sons, Alonzo and L )renzo, are now residents of the township.

Caleb Ormsby came from Becket. Berkshire county, Massachusetts, in 1817, or the following year. He built a log house at the corners, now North Amherst, upon the exact spot where now stands the residence of J. M. "Worthington.

Stephen Cable came also in 1815. He had been living before that in Ridgeville. He took up the land lying about the corners, at one time known as IIulbert's corners, si.x miles west of Elyria. He kept a log tavern which afforded a temporary home to many of the settlers who came into the county later.

The Oustines, - father Federick, and seven sons, Daniel, Frederick, George, Heuiy, John, Michael and Philip, - arrived at about the same time as the above iianied settlers. Tliey came into Ainlierst township from 15iifTalo. but were origiiiallj' from Canada. Tliey left that country to avoid impres.sment into the army, and abandoned a property of considerable value. Several of the sons went into the Ignited States' army, and in consideration of their services the family was granted by Congress a tract of laud lying in the utn-tlnvest ]iart of the township, and consisting of nine hundred acres. This action on the jiart of the government was suggested by Mr. Wiiittlesey, then a congressman.

The Oustine family Inirying ground is upon a sandy knoll at the end of a rocky ridge. Here are buried a numlter of the family in surroundings fit to guard the long last sleep of the pioneer. The place is lonely and romantic. All about seems serene and stately. and no sound is heard but the laughing of the wind in the ancient trees that overshadow the little group of graves.

Ezekiel Barnes, of Worcester county, Massachusetts, came to Amherst township in 1817, with his wife, a son-in-law, and eight children. lie settled on lot forty-three, and afterwards bought a portion of lot \ forty-four. He was born in .January, 1770, and died in his ninety-first year, ISIiO. His (children were Ezekiel (}., Sardins D., Palina, Fanny, Amanda, Lovina D., Juliette and Charlotte. Palina married Koswell fh-ocker, and is still living. Fanny married David Smith, son of Chiliab Smith. She i.s the niother of three children, L. B., Livonia, and Lovira E., the latter now in Elyria. Livonia married William Annis, a son of,Stephen Annis, and is the mother of six children; Adelbert, living on the farm adjoining his fathers', and five daughters, two of whom are married. Amanda Barnes married Warren Smith, who afterward joined the Mormons and was killed in the raid on Nauvoo. She is now living in Salt Lake City.

Ezekiel G. Barnes, born in 1799, is still living. He has resided on lot fifty-seven, on the middle ridge, for forty years. Mr. Barnes has four children living in Amherst: Gilbert H., Louisa, (Mrs. J. Gawne), Gardner Monroe, Henry, and S. N., the latter on a fine farm in lot forty-five, middle ridge road. Mr. Barnes was, in his younger years, a great hunter, and was known through a wide stretch of country as "Nimrod," more people probably recognizing him by that title than by his name. The first season that he began hunting he killed, beside small game, eight or nine deer. The next season he had so improved in woodcraft and marksmanship that eighty-three were brought to earth by his rifle, and the third season he killed, incredible as it may seem, one hundred and twenty-five of these animals.

The most notable man who arrived in 1818, was Josiah Harris. He was a remarkable and truly great man - great not alone in ability, tact and enterprise, but in justice, purity and honesty. Much of that which is admirable in the institutions and the people of Amherst, is so from the result of his labor and example. His history is written upon the township, and his strong personality seems still to pervade the scenes among which was passed his busy, manly life. He was, during a long life, the object of universal respect, and his memory is revered by all who know him. No man in the township cxertc^d a wider or more ]>otent influence for good; no man was more active in promoting the best interests, niaterial and moral, of the community. No man was longer or more closely identified with its growth and improvement, and no man, living or dead, has a larger share of the po])ular appreciation and admiration, than .Judge Josiah Harris. He was born in Becket, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, November .30, 1783, and died March 2(i, 18G7, aged eighty four years. He made journeys to Ohio in 1814 and 181.5, purchased laud, and in 1818 came to Amherst, arriving July 2, and immediately began the work of building a log hut upon Beaver creek. Mr. Harris was elected justice of the peace in 1821, and served for thirty-six years. He was the first sheriff of Lorain county, served seven years as associate justice, being appointed in ]8'29; was a member of the general assembly of Ohio in 18-.'7, representing Cuyahoga county; represented Lorain and Medina counties in the House, and afterwards was elected to the State Senate from the same district. .Judge Harris was probably the oldest postmaster in the United States. He was appointed by Postmaster-general Meigs, back in the twenties, and held the office continuously to the time of his death, (over forty years) except when in the legislature. .Judge Harris assisted in various ways the development of the country. He was agent for a number of eastern land owners, and in this capacity he was enabled to do many a kind turn for the new comers. He gave them the best terms that he could, aided them in selecting good locations, and was liked by all, because every purchaser knew that he was in no danger of any oppression in default of payment on account of sickness or misfortune, as Ions- as .Judge Harris stood between him and the owners. 'As a magistrate he urged the settlement of suits, and through his counsel parties litigant often left the court with all ill feeling removed, and their cause amicably adjusted. The children of the Judge were four in number. Josiah A., the eldest, w'ho was for many years the editor of the Cleveland Herald, is now dead; Loring P. is in Texas; Milo is a leading and influential citizen of North Amherst, and Emeline 0. is living in Philadelphia. A notable fact in regard to the Harris family, is that three of its members have held the oflice of sheriff of Lorain county. Judge Josiah Harris was the first sheriff; his son, Josiah A., held the office at a later period, and Milo Harris was sheriff in 1861.

Eliphalet Redington, or Captain Redington as he was generally called, came to the township in February, 1818, became widely known, took a prominent part in many public affairs ; led an active life and exerted a strong influence in the community. He was a native of Berksliire county, Mitssachusctts, but came to'Amhei-st from Trumbull county, where he had resided for a short time. He was one of the committee appointed l)y the legislature to locate the road leading from the Miami of the lake road to Elyria. Eliphalet Redington settled on the South Ridge road. He had four children, Myra, now dead, who married Thompson Miles ; Ransom, also dead, who married Pamela Manter ; Tcrsa, who married Addison Tracey, and A. TI., whose wife is Jane Bryant. Mr. A. 11. Redington's home has l>een most of the time in South Amherst, though since 1875 he has been a citizen of Klyria.

Stephen Johnson and his sister Abbie, also came into the township and settled in this locality, not far from the time of the above named pioneers. Among others who came in the same or following year, may be named Israel Cash, Thompson Blair and Jesse Smith, Elisha Foster and his sons Elisha and Leonard, and Daniel Cornwell,

Elisha Foster was born in ]?i'atllet>oro, ^"ermont, ' in I7ti.j, and originally, upon coming to Ohio settled in Avon, then in Cuyahoga county, in the year 1810. He bought land in the locality now known as Foster's corners. Elisha, Jr., took up one hundred and twenty acres near his fathei-, and Leonard took the farm now owned l)y Eiihraim Towne. Daniel Cornwell bought a farm now owned by James Nichol. He was untloubtedly the first shoemaker in the township. Jesse Smith remained but a short time, and then moved into liussia townshij), where his son Loren now resides.

Jonas Stratton came in 1S1'.». He was born in New Hampshire in 1791. He settled near Webb's corners. His children were H. D wight, Lemuel B., Amanda and Lucy. Dwight married Pamela C. Bryant, and Lucy became the wife of 11. B. Bryant, and thus was foi'med the association of families which was really the beginning of a partnership which became celebrated through the length and breadth of the United Sates. Bryant & Stratton's commercial colleges and their system of book keeping are known every where.

Nathaniel Bryant, senior, was born in Eastingtou, Gloucestershire, England, in the year 171:9. He came to America in 18"29, and settled in South Amherst with his son, John Bryant, in 1830. He died in South Amherst in 18:).5. His children were John, born in Sussex, England, in 1789. Mary (Mrs. Gilman), born in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, in 1795. Robert (Rev. IK. Bryant), born in Coventry, England, in 1797. Nathaniel, Jr., born in Coventry, England, in 1799. John Bryant was married to Pamela Collins in King Stanley, Gloucestershire, England, in 1813. Pamela Collins, wife of John Bryant, was born in King Stanley, England, in 1787, and was the daughter of John Collins. She died in Amherst, August 24, 18G4. John Bryant's children were: George, born in King Stanley, England, November 1, 1814; Jane, born June 1, 1816; Ann, born in 1819; John C, born in December, 1821; Henry B., born in April, 1824; Pamela C, born in 1820. This family came from England to America, in the fall of 1829, and remained in Philadeliihia during the winter. Moved to Norwalk, Ohio, m the spring of 1830, and thence to Amherst in the fall of the same year.

Elias Peabody settled in the extreme southwestern corner of the township in the year 1819. He was born ill 1791, in Middleton, Massachusetts, and is still living, being in his eighty-seventh year at this writing. His residence is now in Russia township.

Ebenezer, Joseph L. and Daniel G. Whiton all came to the township before 1820. Ebenezer and Daniel settled in 1817, and Joseph L., though buying in 1818, did not come to reside continuously until 1832. The farm which he i)urchased was in lot forty-seven, which is to-day the only undivided lot in the township, and the property of his sou, Joseph L. A daughter, Mrs. M. W. Axtell,. is also a resident of Amlnn'st. Joseph Lucas Whiton was born in Lee, Massachusetts, in the year 1799. His wife was Lovina Wright, of Springfield, Massachusetts. Mr. Whiton was one of the prominent men of the township and county. He served seven years as an associate judge; was a justice of the peace for twelve years, and was a memljcr of the legislature in 1851 and 1852.

Ebenezer Whiton came to Amherst in 1817, the month of June, and removed to Elyria in 1824, in which year he was aj)pointed clerk of the court. He served in this otlice and that of recorder until his death in 1834. Mr. Whiton and wife, Samantha, were both from Lee, Berkshire county, Massachussetts. Mrs. Whiton died December 13, 1878, aged eighty-four years. She died in St. Charles, Minnesota, of which place she had been a resident since 1855.

Harvey Redington purchased lot thirty-two, of Cable, in 1819, and sometime during the following year settled upon it. One of his children had a very narrow escape from death when the family was crossing Rocky river, on the way to Amherst. One of the wagon wheels went off the bridge, and the sudden jolting movement threw the baby from the wagon. The shawl in which it was wrapped fortunately caught upon some blackberry bushes, and the little one was thus saved from being dashed to pieces in the bed of the stream below. Redington was a justice of tlie peace from 1822 to 1845, and the docket kept during the early years of his service sliows that people were not more slow then than they are now in going to law. Sums of less than one dollar we frequently sued for. There are some entries, however, of a nature not usually met with iijion justices' records in late years. For_ instance, the ancient docket shows that complaint was made by William D.

was born in Westmoreland Co., Pa., July 17, 1823, and is the second son of John and Nancy Kendeigh, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, as also was the grandfather of Samuel, Henry Kendeigh, who was born in Lancaster County, in that State, in January, 1796, and died Aug. 13, 1836. The name as formerly used in Pennsylvania was Kentisch or Kintigii, and is of German origin.

In the year 1824, Henry Kendeigh, the father of him of whom we write, emigrated to Ohio, and settled in the town of North Amherst, Lorain Co., in the spring of that year. The farm upon which he located was situated about four miles southwest of Black River. He remained there about three years, and then moved on to the place now occupied by the widow of his eldest son, John J. Kendeigh, where he continued to reside until his death, in 1835 or 1836.

Samuel Kendeigh spent the early years of his life as a mechanic, aiding in tlie construction of buildings in the vicinity of his former home. On the 27th of January, 1854, he was married to Jane C, daughter of Joiin R. and Esther Striclvler, of Fayette Co., Pa. Six children have been born to them, namely, - Charles D., Milo, Esther Ann, Jennie, Lula, and Lottie (the last two being twins), all living. Shortly after marriage he purcliased a farm containing one hundred and fifty acres in Henrietta township. Upon this he remained about seven years, clearing the land and making improvements. He subsequently exchanged the farm for mill property in North Amherst, which he owned and managed for about eighteen months with reasonable success, and tlien traded it off for the well-known Younglove farm in Elyria township. At the expiration of a year and a half he sold out and moved to North Amherst; and from tiience on to the Peter Rice farm ; and from there to his present farm, which is pleasantly located about seven miles west of Elyria. His place is a very comfortable one, and has commodious and well-arranged outbuildings, as shown in the illustration of it on another page of this volume. Mr. Kendeigh also owns a farm of ninetyseven acres (adjoining the famous quarries of Haldeman & Son), which, owing to the superior quality of grindstone and building rock, is very valuable. He also possesses a farm of one hundred and thirteen acres in Russia township. Mr. Kendeigh is a selfmade man, and the very fact of his accumulating so extensive a property as he at present owns, speaks well for his enterprise and business sagacity. The aggregate of his landed possessions foots up three hundred and thirty acres, including some valuable village building lots.

Edsoii against Asaliel Craiidall iind Mr. Lambert for ])rofauG swearing. Anotlier entry shows a fine of two dollars imposed for Sabbath-breaking. The family of the Iledingtons consisted of ten cliildren, as follows : Nancy (Mrs. Jolin Frost), Ransom N. (on the old lionu'stcad), Lorinda {Urn. Wm. Ilurlliiii't). Fjoiiisa (Mrs. JJiMiudage), Ilarmonie (Mrs. Noaii KUlred), Henry II. (in Cambridge, Iowa), Myra (who was fatally injured by a fall), Terris.?a (Mrs. Joshua Simmons, of Iowa), Mary Ann (Mrs. Westley Morris, of Illinois), and Alfred J. (of Camden township).

Jesse Cutler came into the township about 1830 and settled on lot forty-two, but remained only a shoi't time. Eli Wallace and G. Gillett arrived aliout tlie same time.

Joseph Quigley came in 1S23, purciiased lanil in lot four, taking a deed of the pioneer Shupe, and immediately erected a log house, where the present stone residence of his son George W. now stands. He was from Washington county, Pennsylvania, originally, but had been for eleven years a resident in Black River. He was born in 1777. His son George W., and wife Anna W., witli three children, are resident at this writing upon the old place.

Abram Rice, of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, came into the settlement in the fall of 183:i, and took up one hundred acres of land now owned by Benjamin llildebrandt and Conrad llageman, but a year or two later removed to a farm a half mile north of Weblvs Corners. He had seven sons and seven daughters - Daniel, Samuel (dead), Mary (Mrs. 0. P. Kdner), Ann E. (Mrs. Hiram Wilbur), 'John S., Melissa (dead), Adaline (Mi's. VVm. Pearl), Margaret (Mrs. I. G. Hazel;., Nancy (Mrs. G. R. Barney), Susan B. (Mrs. J. K. Hazel), Abram G. (dead), Westley C, Ciiarles C, and George W.

Induced by his brother-in-law, Abram Rice, John Kendeigh, Sf. , and wife Mary, came from Lancaster county, Pennsyhania, in 1822. He made the journey of three huiidi-ed miles in fourteen days, driving a Hock of sheep. He [)urchased north of the corners aiu] east of Shape's mill, but afterward went to the southern part of the township, where he purchased land in lots ninety-one and ninety-two, upon wliieh he resided to the time of his death.

Henry Kendeigh, Jr., arrived in 1823, and after a short residence in the northern part of the township, purchased one hundred and three acres of land at Kendeigh's corners, for which he paid three dollars ]ier acre. His son .lohn was three years of age when he came into Amherst. The father died in 183G, leaving his widow, Nancy, seven children to provide for. She brought up the family, and died, at a rii>e old age, in 1871. Samuel Kendeigh, liis wife Jane C, and six children, now live on lot sixteen. His father settled on lot ninety-five.

George Disbrow and his wife Caroline, came from Greene county, New York, in October, 1834, and took up their residence upon lot ten (South Amherst).

Mr. Disbrow brought with him two ox teams, and though well prejiared to begin life as a pioneer farmer, he chose to follow his trade, which was that of a blacksmith. He was one of the first trustees of Russia townsliii). George Disbrow and wife were both living in 1878, aged respectively seventy-eight and seventy-three years.

Nicholas Stanton and wife, Jemima Traverse, born in Becket, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, were among the arrivals of 1824. They settled upon the west side of Beaver creek, but afterward sold out to one of the Oustiues, and bought east of the present village of North Amherst.

Freeman Richmond settled in Black River in 1824, or the succeeding year, but the date of his settlement ill Amherst was considerably later. George Dudley and Roswell Cune were in the township by this time, or soon after.

Royal Barney, wife and family, of Ellisburgh, Jefferson county, New York, settled on lot forty-five in 1825, it having been purchased the year jirevious. Upon their arrival, they were welcomed by Judge Harris, and the tanzy bitters bottle was l)rought forth to cement the newly formed friendshij). The Barney family lived in the log school house, near the corners, until they could build a house upon their own land. The sons were Orimel, Edson and Royal. Orimel is still a resident, and a respected one, of North Amherst, where he has been engaged in various callings and enterprises. He was station agent upon the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad for twenty-one years. In 1834, he married Eliza A. Crocker.

Salmon Johnson came into the settlement in 1827, first taking up his residence upon lot seventeen. His son, Alvah T., one of the jn'ominent men of the township, now lives upon lot sixteen. Addison Tracey settled upon the South ridge in 1820 or 1827.

Captain Stanton Sholes, born in Groton, New London county, Connecticut, in 1770, also settled in the town in 1827. He had been a captain upon the sea and in the war of 1812; had kept hotel in Pittsburgh, Akron, Medina, Elyria and Black River; and was quite a num of afFairs, active and somewhat eccentric. He purchased fifty acres of land in lot twenty-three, and liecoming a citizen, took a prominent part in the puljlic and social life of Amherst until 1833, when he removed to Rock Island, Illinois. He died in Columbus, Ohio, in 1805.

Ephraim Towne, a native of Massachusetts, but for twelve years a resident of Willoughby, Lake county, Ohio, with his wife, Almira Mitchell, settled on lot forty-three, taking seventy-five acres, in 1838. The Townes, with several of their children, are still residents of Amherst at this writing.

During the same year, James Jackson and wife came from Vermont. Three of their children, James, Michael and Louise, reside in the township, and Michael is proprietor of the Henrie House at North Amherst.

about one hundred and forty acres, in lots ninety-four and ninety-five. Mr. Rice is a descendant of tlie old stock, his parents coming into tlie town in \S2'J. John B. and Peter Rice were also early setllers. A Mr. Norton came either in 1828 or the following year.

In 1830, the setUoment liegan to increase quite fast, and so many families came in that it is impossiijle for the historian to present a record of tlicm all. Among tliose who arrived about this time may bo nu'ntioiicd Orjum Winton, Eli L. Seeley, Willis Potter, John and Ilorace Steele, Homer Tyrell, Wesley Perkins, Benjamin Bivcns and Irad Aiken. Tyrell was a native of Massachusetts. He settled on lot fifty-six, but afterwards removed to the village of North Amherst, where he remained until IS?'), when ho went to Cleveland. Eli L. Soeley came from t!onnectieut. Benjamin Bivens was quite a prominent man in the community. He served for quite a time as justice of the peace and in other official capacities. A son, Lyman, still lives in the township. Wesley Perkins was born in ISO."), in Orwell, Vermont, and, upon coming to Amherst, opened a shop, in which foi' manv years he pursued his fi-ade of wagon nrikiiig - also sjiending much time nursing the sick.

Willis Potter was a native of Pi-ovidence, Rhode Island. He took up a farm adjoining that of E. Towno, in lot forty-two. His fainily consisted of himself, wife and fhirtecn childi-en. Three of the five who arc still living reside in Amherst: W. P., Sylvestei'. aud Kli/.abeth Moore. Among those who cam(» soon after 1S:J0, were (he Beklens, M. B. ;iud Iliram. They were born in Berkshii'c county, Massachusetts, and came west at the solicitation of their uncle. Captain Stanton Sholes. Hiram cauie to North Amherst, then known as the Corners, in l!s3'.t, hut refuiMied home, and did not come with intention of permanent residents until 1833. Ho purchaseil lot foi1v in Brownhelm, but Captain Sholes made him a ]iresent of fifteen acres of land in lot ninety-seven (Amherst), on condition that he woulil Imild and live thereon. Later he moved into the village of North Amherst. His children living are Lucy, Mattie J., Ellen C, Hattie S., Hiram and Hnlsoy. M. B. Belden came in 1834, and took land mi lots ninety-seven and ninety-eight. He has four cliildren living: Eli/a A. (Robertson), Prudence A., Rollin B. and Clarissa.

John B. Robertson was a prominent arrival in 183-1. He was born at Ballston, Saratoga county, New York, in 17!i7, and came to Ohio in 1820. On coming to Amherst he settled on lot sevenry-sevcii, on the middle ridge, where he resided most of the time until his death, which occurred in 1875. He was a. ]iolitieian of (H)nsiderable influence; democratic in ])rinciple. He was a member of the first legislature of Nebraska, in 18.5(i, and in the following year was appointed by President Bucliamin as agent ammig tlie Oimiha Indians. In 185!) he returned to Amherst. His family consisted of his wife. Temperance Foot, of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and five children: Sarah M.,

Theodora IL, (died in 1874, near Omaha), John B. Jr., who was a farmer until 18G5, and for the past six years has been marshal of North Amherst village, Frank Nelson, and M. L.. now the wife of Parks Foster, of Elyria.

Among those who came at a still later day thnn those settlers wiio are named in the foregoing, we mention Elam Fairchild, of C!onnecticut, who settled in South Amherst in 1841; E. P. Fi-ink, whose mother came with six children, in 1832, from New York State. They owned laml, first in the Shupe farm, then in the Onstine tract, and E. P. and his wife, .\urelia, now live on lot si\t v-three.

Codfrey and Sarah Fowle were early settlers u])ou the south ridge, oi- telegraph road, on lot eighty-seven. They had nine chililrcu: Henry, Eli/.aboth, Catha- I'iuc, Sarah, ALirgaret, Codfrey, Jacob, Mary K., Philip J., and (roorge. J.icob now lives on lot seventy-tiiree, and Philip J. on lot eighty-eight.

Lyman Cole took nj) his residence on lot ninety-one in 1854, and Henry Robinson several years later, on lot ninety-two. Both were from New York.

Joseph Trost, a native of France, came in 1853, and has been, since 18G5, foreman of the Wilson & Hughes stone quarry. We mention him as a re]iresentative foreigner, aud one of the very few of his nationality resident in the townshij).

An ap]ilication was made to the legislaturf^ for the seiiarate organization of Black river, in 1829, and on the 12th of .January, 1830, an act was passed incorporating the townshi]). aud the act further ])rovided that township number six in range eighteen, should be detached, and remain separate from fractional township numl'er seven, aud be known as Amherst.

In April, 1830, the first election was held at Daniel Whiton's house, on the middle ridge. Following are the officers who were at, that time elected: clerk. .Tosiali Harris; treasurer, Stanton Sholes; trustees, Salmon Johnson, Royal Barney, David Smith; consta- Ijles, Alvali T. .Johnson, Shedrich Moore; overseers of the poor, Royal Barney, Stanton Sholes.

The officers of 1878 are the following: clerk, John Utile; treasurer, William Brown; assessor, Anton Stiwald; trustees, Joseph Whiton, Henry Clans, Joseph Robbins; justices of the peace, Jacob Hildebrand, E. II. Ilinmai), William H. Plain; constables, John B. Robertson, Orriii Storv.

First Events

Tlio lir.st iiianiugo, according to tlio testimony of several old settlers, was that of Aretus Oillniore and Ora Weljl), an adojited dangliter of Adonii'am Webb. This conple wei'o nnited by Jolm S. Reid. The date we have been unable to ascertain. The service that united Abel Garlicli, a stone eutter of Cleveland, and Betsy Ferris, is said by some to have been the first ever celebrated, but the greatest weight of authority attests the priority of the marriage of the first-mentioned couple. The latter-mentioned marriage took ])lace, according to the best recollection of Exekiel G. Harnes, in IS:M or 18;il.

The elements of the pathetic and the grotesqr.e were strangely mingled upon the occasion of the first burial in the township. A very young child of the Webbs sickened and died soon after tiiey settled in tlie place. They were living at the time near Jacob 8hu|)e's, in the northern jiart of the township, but owned land in the southern part, upon which they intended to take up their permanent residence, and naturally desired that the child should be buried tlici'e. The distance to the Webb clearing was four miles. Old man Shupe took the child in its tinyeofliu, in front of him, upon his horse, and followed the trail through the woods to the jihieeof burial, whistling ;dl the way, and, it is alleged, to the tune of Vaii- L'cfl Dijodlv. The body of tlie child was consigned to mother earth, and this was the beginning of the little burying ground lying upon a gentle slope, at the right-hand side of the South Ridge road, as one goes I toward Heiirietta hill. Others of the family have long been sleeping by the side of the little one whose rude burial occurred more than half a century ago.

The first child born in the township was Betsey, daughter of Jacob Shupe. She was born in 1811, was twice married, the first time to John T. Clay, and then to one Musselman; she died in 1878, in Michigan.

Alon^o and Lorenzo, sons of Roswell Crocker, were the tirst twins born in the township. They are both living - the oldest men born in Amherst. They wore liorn ill Ajiril, 1819. Captain John S. Reid, of Black liiver, promised to name a vessel of his, about to be launched, after the twins, on condition that tlieir mother would take them on board and remain there with them until the vessel was in the water. Mrs. ( 'rocker took the babes to Black River and accepted Captain Reid's offer, but became afraid at the last moment and refused to comply with the condition the caiitain had imposed.

The first male child born in the township waf 'n all probaliility a son of Stephen Cable, but this car A be alisolutely afflnned. The first acre of tindjer cut in the township fell under the blows of Roswell Crocker's axe. He was engaged to cut it by Judge Harris, and the amount of pay agreed upon was four dollars. The work was performed so satisfactorily, and so (piickly, that the Judge made Mr. Crocker a

The first saw mill, the first grist mill, and tlie first distillery were luiilt iiy .lacob Shupe. It is ]>robable, too, that l_)y his hand was sowed the first wheat that turned to gold under the summer's sun in Amherst. The firil log house was built liy .Jacoli Sliiqie, and he undoubtedly built the tirst frame house. The first brick house was erected by one of the Oustines, and is still standing in North Amherst village, just west of Beaver creek, dwelt in by Ilalsey Belden. Chiliab Smith is thought to have built the second frame house; and (laptaiii Redington is generally accredited with the erection of the tirst frame building at South Amherst. 'J'he first school house was a small log structure upon the North ridge. Caleb Ormsby planted the first orchard, where the house of James M. Worthington now stands.

(rame was not so alnindant in Amherst, as in s(.)me of her sister townships. Deer were very plenty, and a few of the early settlers killed largo nundjers of them. All kinds of small game were found, but bears were not by any means common. Several were killed in the early tlays, and one was slaughtered as late as 1830. by Theron Wliite. It pursued .James Jackson, about half a mile, at a somewhat leisurely run, but sutficiently fast to nudic him exert all of his powers of pedestrianism.

Among the wild beasts to he found in the woods, the "shack" hogs were more feared than any other, animals, except Bruin. They were very ugly customers to meet in droves, and if the hunter did not take gooil care of himself, he was liable to receive terrible wounds from their long, sharp tusks. A small herd of them once drove Michael Jackson and two other boys, Isaac and Joseph \V'hel[)ley, to take refuge in a tree, and kejit them there half of 'the night.

Deer, as has been before said, were killed in great niimiiers during the first ten or fifteen years after the township was settled. It has already been I'elated that E/ekiel G. Barnes shot many of them. Other hunters did nearly as well. After 1825, or 1830, but few were seen, though there are several instances of their lieing found still later. Dr. Samuel Strong disjiatched one which, after running along the road for some time in front of his house, finally got its leg fastened in a. log bridge. Royal Barney had a terrible encouutiu- with a s])ike buck, upon the middle ridge, and came very near being worsted in the encounter, the animal turning at bay. He succeeded in getting hold of the hind feet of the buck, iiowever, and kee])iiig ujion the op])osite side of a small sapling, worried him until he lost strength, and then cut his ham strings and killed him. Mr. Barney came out of the struggle an almost completely used up man.

Sometimes luiiits were engaged in with great .lutici- ]);itions, and tlie results were very small; and adventures jilanned wliieli ended ludicrously enough. Something of the kind was within the experience of Rosvvcll Crocker. He had lost several sheep, or supjiosed that he had, and finally, with careful preparor tion and all due precaution, a ti-ap was cunningly set to capture the hear or wolves wliicli had committed the depredation. The next morning one of his own fine fat hogs was found in the trap enduring the torture as coolly as could be expected of an animal supposed to love ease and comfort.

Rattlesnakes were very numerous in tlie stone ridges, and were often killed by hunters and others who happened to go near their favorite haunts. They were much dreaded Ijy the settlers. It is related of a man by the name of Putnam, a brother-in-law of one of the Redingtons, that when he first came to the settlement he stepped upon a rattlesnake, and was so frightened that he returned to New York, and remained there forty years before he again ventureil into the western wilds.

Lost In The Woods

On one occasion Ezekiel G. Barnes, while upon a hunting exhibition, found himself at night a considerable distance from home, resolved to camj) out in the woods. His doing so was the cause of a life being saved. The silence of the forest was broken by a ci'y which sounded like a woman's voice, and evidently was borne from a quite distant ])oint. The young hunter lighted a torch at his little camp fire, and started through the dense wood in the direction from which the sound came. He had ]>rocceded alioufc half a mile, when he discovered a woman on horseback. She had lost the trail, and, afraid to descend from her horse on account of wolves, was in great jjcrplexity and distress, and, as may be sujiposed, was overjoyed at Mr. Barnes' appearance. The woman was Mrs. Porter, of Elyria, the mother of Samuel Porter, of North Amherst. She was on her way, when lost, to Jacob Shupe's, to get one of his daughters to assist in caring for her sick husband. Barnes went with Mrs. Porter to Shupe's house, and then returned with her to p]lyria, acting in the capacity of guide, ])hilosoi)her and friend.

An Early Fouiitii Of July Celemkation

Orimel Barney relates a pleasant incident of 1827, the first Fourth of .July celebration held in the settlement. Preiiarations were made for an out-door meeting u})on Independence I>ay, and as the weather was fine the few settlers who assembled had a very pleasant social time. The meeting was held on the farm of Daniel G. Whiton, and there were present nearly all of the settlers then resident in the township, with their families. The dinner was a substantial meal of venison, with turkey, wild grape puddings, iron-wo d bark coffee, and was washed down with occasional draughts of Ohio whisky, which was doubtless necessary to take away the taste of the peculiar variety of coffee used.

A Spirit Medium

Whisky was in the beginning of the settlement a legal tender or a circulating medium. Notes were made payable in whisky upon condition that the corn crop pi'oved good, and payable in hickory nuts if the corn cro|) should be poor. Not long after Jacob Shupe started his distillery several others were put in operation, and one locality had so many at one time that it was dubbed " Whiskyville" - a name which it retains to this day. Nearly all of the whisky manufactured was for home consumption, and was often given in payment for a day's work or in exchange for various commodities. The liquor had at least one merit. It was an honest article. The equivalent in money, for a gallon of whisky, was from a shilling up to twenty cents, and even two shillings. The distillers after Jacob Shupe were Michael Oustine, Ste- ])hen Gunn, Nathan Edson, Lewis Shupe, Elias ilann, .John Hildebrand & Snider, and Ira Tillotson.

The Eakly Temperance Society

The first temperance meeting was held in the summer of 1833. being gotten up by Captain Stanton Sholes. A society was formed of which he was made president. Dr. Samuel Strong, vice-president, and Di: John Quigley, secretary and treasurer. There were fifteen members. One of them - Wesley Perkins - Being sick sometime after the organization of the society, sent to Orlum Winton's for whisky. Winton happened to be out of the required article, and thinking it would be a g(jod joke upon the newly fledged total abstinence man, sent him a bottle of spring water. Judge Harris, on learning of the trick, reproved Mr. Winton, and getting his own jug filled, took it to Perkins' house, where, soon after, another friend arrived bringing a bottle of wine and other delicacies, intended, jirobably, to counteract the effect of the water, in case the sick man had I'aslily drunk of it.

Mormonism

In IS.'Sl, or []w, following year, Mornionisni made its api)earance in the community, and gained from forty to fifty adherents. One of the jireachers was a man named Fuller, and the arch-ai>ostle, Rigdon, also labored in this field. They preached in ])rivate houses; iield meetings quite frequently, and at one time aroused a considerable excitement. A few of the converts made joined in the westward heigera, but most of them became lukewarm in the faith, or relapsed altogether into the old manner of life and way of tliinking.

The church history of Amherst, could it all be produced, would make a bulky and interesting chajiter. The zeal of the peojile for organizing churches

Geokge Bryant

George Biyaiit was born at Stanley, Gloucestershire, England, and is the eldest of a family of six children of John and Pamelia (Collins) Bryant, of Gloucestershire, who emigrated to this country in company with his brother's family and others in the year 1829, landing in New York on the 29th day of November of that year. They went from New York to Philadelphia, at which latter place they remained until April, 1830, when they returned to New York, and proceeded thence up the Hudsou River to Albany, in a packet commanded by Captain Littk'john. At Albany they took passage on the Erie Canal, and after a week's travel arrived at Buffalo. After a sojourn of a few days in the then infant Lake city, they embarked on the schooner " Young Lion," bound for Sandusky, where they landed in the early days of ISIay, 1830. From Sandusky they proceeded to Norwalk, and on the 8th day of October, just one year from the time of leaving their home in the old country, they settled in the present town of Amherst, and one year later purchased the farm now owned and occupied by George Bryant, whose name heads these lines.

On the 5th of January, 1837, Mr. Bryant married Adeline Lodoisk, daughter of Adinirum Webb and Deidamia Moore, of English ancestry, though Americans by birth. This niarria2:e was blessed with eiglit children, of whom five are living, namely: Mary D., wife of James Redford, of Hays City, Kan.sas ; George W., married Sarah Howard, lives near the old homestead; Parniclia C, wife of George Caiup, of Laport, Lorain Co., Oiiio; Elmer C, married

Hainiali Kelley, and resides in South Amherst; Charles C. lives with his parents; Ellen T., wife of Darius Plumb, she died May 10, 1863 ; Fernando D., died Feb. 18, 1841; Dorliska, died Sept. 11, 1841.

Soon after his marriage Mr. Bryant commenced clearing land, and cleared ninety-one acres on the farm now owned by Lyman Cole. On the 16th of February, 1865, he moved on to the farm he at present occupies, and has continued to improve it ever since. He now has a well-cultivated and productive farm, upon which are comfortable buildings. He is one of the pioneers of Lorain County, an<l a good practical farmer. He is now sixty-four years of age, and his wife is sixty-two, and they have lived together forty-two years.

In the year 1836, John Bryant, father of the subject of this sketch, erected u residence on the present site of that in which the latter now resides, and while on his way from Pittsburgh, whither he had gone to purchase windows and doors, the house was destroyed by fire. He rebuilt in 1837 the hou.se now occujued by his son George.

Mrs. Bryant is a member of the Congregational Church of Amherst, with which she formerly united in 1864. Mr. Bryant is a man of great personal integrity and general worth, and a firm believer in moral manhood. Himself and wife are both liberal supporters of all enterprises tending to the public good or the advancement of the community in which they have lived so long, and in which they are so highly respected and esteemed.