Lorain City (part 45 of 77)

He married Miss Cynthia Holeomb, in West Huartford, Connecticut, December 25, 1828. Cynthia IT, daugher of Asel and Martha (Flagg) Holcomb, was born in Granby, Connecticut, July 29, 1799. They settled at housekeeping and farming in Chester, Massachusetts. The record of births in the family are as follows: Caroline S., born October 2, 1832; Fordis N., born April 3, 1835; and Sarah E., born May 26, 1838. Cynthia, wife of Silas Miller, died February 16, 1840. The family having moved to York, Medina county, Ohio, the year previous, May 26, 1839.

August 20, 1840, Silas Miller married Miss Lydia Branch, of York, Medina county, Ohio. Lydia Branch, third child of Nathan and Polly (Capron) Branch, was born in Gratten, Tompkins county, New York, January 16, 1810. The birth of children are as follows: Silas F., born June 23, 1842; Herman, born November 9, 1843; Lucinda, born February 18, 1847; Nathan, born June 18, 1849; George, born October 8, 1852.

Fordis N. married Augusta Howe, and settled in Noble county, Indiana, and carries on a mercantile trade. The fruits of this union are four daughters and one son, viz: Oynthia, Carrie, Laurie, Emily and Silas. Augusta, wife of Fordis N. Miller, died March 3, 1877.

Silas Miller. Lydia Miller Photos. By H.M. Platt, Oberlin.O.

Herman, also a soldier, served three years in the United States artillery, suffered as many other soldiers suffered, and contracted a disease (chronic diarrhea), of which he has never fully recovered, and which will, no doubt, be the means of shortening his life. Herman married Mrs. Mary Knapp, of Wellington, February 8, 1868. Evelyn L., only daughter of Herman and Mary Miller, was born July 23, 1871.

'Lucinda married Jerry Whitehead, of Wellington, December 28, 1875, settled in Ogden, Michigan, and her husband follows the avocation of farmmg.

Nathan (the bachelor,) resides with his parents; a youth of enterprise, spirit, and ability, well qualified to keep up with the progress of the age.

From York the family moved to Lorain county, settling in Wellington April 9, 1864, where they now reside, on the farm formerly owned by O. 8. Wadsworth, engaged quite extensively in dairying as well as farming.

Mr. Miller has been an active, stirring man, possessed of a remarkalle memory, retains events, dates, names, and places in mind, as the famed Napoleon. He is known far and near, as his journeyings have taken him into many States. In politics he is a republican, and his general character is good, as his code of morals, as well as those of his family, is most excellent.

Bert B. Herrick And Family

Philo Herrick, second son of Amasa and Polly (Robison) Herrick, and father of Hon. Lucius Herrick, and grandfather of Bert B., was born in Tyringham, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, January 15, 1794. He received his education in the common schools, and developed the character of a model young man. January 1, 1816, he was joined in marriage to Sophia Blodgett. Sophia Blodgett, sixth child of Caleb and Ruth (Lombard) Blodgett, was born in Brimfield, Massachusetts, September 27, 1788. After marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Philo Herrick went to live in Watertown, New York, where he pursued the business of tanner, currier and shoemaker. From there he removed to Hounsfield, same State. Record of birth of children as follows: Loring, born October 5, 1816, in Watertown, Jefferson county; Amasa B., born April 26, 1818, in Hounsfield; Lucius, born November 8, 1820, in Hounsfield; George F., born November 11, 1824, in Hounsfield. In the year 1835 the family moved to Wellington, Ohio (then denominated the far west), and settled on the homestead (see engraving), where a few years were spent in active service to secure the comforts of a home in a pioneer settlement, the children in the meantime securing the best advantages for education provided in the township, ere they separated to work out their future fortunes and establish homes for themselves. June 3, 1844, Loring married Miss M. Bronson, a teacher among the Winnebago Indians, Towa. April 23, 1846, Amasa married Lydia Ann Young, in Rockton, Winnebago county, Illinois. A record of ten births graces this union. George F. Herrick left home for Wisconsin, June 9, 1845; died, September 15, the same year. Lucius Herrick, remaining at home, married, April 15, 1844, Miss Mary KH. Griffith. Mrs. Mary E., wife of Lucius Herrick, died January 15, 1845, leaving an infant son, Luther G., born January 11. April 8, 1851, Lucius Herrick was united in marriage to Miss Harriet HE. Bidwell, of Brighton, Lorain county, Ohio. Miss Harriet E. Bidwell, daughter of Truman and Eveline (Doty) Bidwell, was born October 26, 1827. Truman E. Bidwell was born September 20, 1806; died March 31, 1876. Eveline (Doty) Bidwell, born 1802; died October 27, 1848. Harriet E., wife of Lucius Herrick, died February 28, 1854; Bert B., son of Lucius and Harriet Herrick, was born December 27, 1851. July 3, 1802, Mr. Lucius Herrick married Miss Sarah West, of Elyria, third child of Francis and Fanny West, born in Elyria and educated in Milan and finishing in the academy at Stockbridge, Berkshire county, Massachusetts; is a lady of culture and refinement. July 8, 1862, Luther G. Herrick died. He was a young man universally beloved, possessed of rare talents, and was pursuing a course of study at Oberlin when the fatal hand of disease sapped the current of life. Philo Herrick died March 15, 1866. Mrs. Philo Herrick is still residing at the old homestead - the oldest person in town; is active, wonderfully well preserved for a lady of her years, retaining her memory remarkably well; and it is to her the writer of this sketch is indebted for the principal dates found in this biography.

Since the family of Philo Herrick came to Wellington, Lucius has been identified with the continued progress of the township. Being a representative man, active in business, he has held important offices by the gift of the people of Lorain county. For several years he was county commissioner, and is now representing the county of Lorain in the State legislature. :

Bert B. was united in marriage to Miss Etta R. Wadsworth, December 27, 1877. Miss Etta R. was born in Wellington, April 25, 1858; and is the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. 8. Wadsworth; is a graduate of the class of 1877 of Wellington high school; average school report, for five years, ninetyseven and one-half - first grade; motto, excelsior; aim, to do well. After a short wedding tour, Mr. and Mrs. B. B. Herrick commenced housekeeping on the home farm, March 28, 1878. His father purchasing and removing to a new residence near by, the farm and its belongings fell to the care of B. B. In connection with other business matters in the line of farming, a dairy of thirty or more cows is kept, and the milk manufactured into butter and cheese, at home, and marketed by Mr. Herrick. The excellent advantages for an education, and the opportunities for travel bestowed by a fond parent, have fitted him for an active business life, giving a fair outlook for future prosperity and renown. March 29, 1879, a daughter was born to Mr. Herrick - Ella R. Herrick; christened by grandma, ''the light of the household " - by its parents, Sarah Ethel.

The genealogy of the Herrick family can be traced in a direct line back to one Hric, a Danish chief whe invaded Britain during the reign of Alfred. For particulars, see genealogical history, published by Zedekiah Herrick, giving statistics from 1629 to 1846.

Dr. John W. Houghton

Dr. John W. Houghton, of the Wellington ZAiterprise, is the son of Asa Houghton, deceased, and Clara Cole Houghton. He was born in Batavia, New York, and is now in his forty-fifth year. He studied two years at the University at Delaware, Ohio, taught several terms, protracted his classical-course so as to keep up his musical studies parallel with it, graduating at Baldwin University in 1860, and from a Cincinnati Medical College the same year. In 1863 the degree of A. M. in course was conferred by his Alma Mater.

Soon after graduation he commenced the practice of his profession at Wellington, continuing for ten years when he was obliged to abandon it from impaired health. He has since devoted his time principally to the drug and book trade, established some years previously, until in 1876 he took the additional care and labor involved in the publishing and editing a weekly newspaper, in connection with a job office.

William Henry Harrison Sutliff

This gentleman was born in Erie county, New York, in July, 1815. His father's name was Solomon, his place of nativity being New York State, Genesee county.

The subject of this sketch received a good conimon school education. At the age of twenty he left his father's home and came to Oberlin, Ohio, where he resided for three years., In 1838 he went to Michigan, where he remained thirteen years, except an interval of nearly a year in 1840, which he passed in

Ohio. While in the former State he entered government land. Returning to Ohio in 1852 he made his residence in Carlisle township for two years, when he remoyed to Wellington, where he has since resided.

In 1840, he married Miss Phoebe D. Gott, of La Grange. Mr. and Mrs. Sutliff have been the parents of twelve children, seyen of whom are now living, viz: William H., Charles E., George W., James Alfred, Frederick M., Emily Jane and Franklin P. Mr. Sutliff has held a number of township offices, both here and in Michigan, and is a worthy and highly esteemed citizen.

I was born in Winchester, Virginia, March 18, 1818, of free parents. My father was the grandson of Lord Fairfax, and my mother the daughter of Colonel Nevel, of revolutionary fame. Myself, with my parents and other children, was allowed the privilege of common schools, although denied to other colored people. My father died in 1836, and in the same year, at the age of seventeen I removed with my mother and the rest of the children, six in number, to Illinois, settling in Springfield, where I opened a barber shop. Among my customers were Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, and Edward Baker. November 31, 1837, I was married to Sarah Ann Wigins, of Macdonough county, Illinois, the first colored marriage west of the Illinois river. In 1840, I moved to St. Louis, Missouri, but was arrested for coming into the State without license, and returned to Illinois and became a citizen of Alton, where I remained until 1860, when I removed to Wellington, taking up my residence here in April of 1861. I have eight children, five boys and three girls. My oldest son Jonathan was captured by the rebels in 1861 and kept a prisoner two years. My son Joseph enlisted in company F of the one hundred and twenty-third regiment, but was 'killed at Frankfort, Kentucky. My son James enlisted in Company G, third regiment U. 8. colored heavy artillery, and was discharged March 9, 1865, by reason of expiration of time of service. My children have all received a practical education. My oldest daughter is a gradu_ ate of Oberlin College, is married, and lives in Washington, D. C.

I was forty-three years old when I was permitted to cast my first vote. It was cast for Abraham Lincoln. I can say that I have only been free since I came to this place. Here, thank God, I am in an open field, in pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, and where I intend to spend the remainder of my days.

Situation, Soil And Water Courses

BouNDED upon the north by Russia, east by La Grange, south by Wellington, and west by Camden, lies Pittsfield, township number four, in range eighteen. Its surface, except in the northwestern part, where it is almost a perfect level, varies from the gently undulating to the moderately uneven. The soil is. principally a soft clay, though a clay loam is found in many places, and occasionally, in the northwestern quarter particularly, there appears sandy and gravely loam. A very good article of sandstone appears in the bed of a small creek, half a mile west of the center, and the same geological formation is observable in lot twenty-one, in the northeastern portion of the township. The stone comes to the surface in the latter place, rendering quarrying practicable. This industry, by the way, has been for some time carried on in a small way, though large enough to mect all demands, by V. McRoberts.

The principal stream within the limits of the township is the west branch of Black river, which, entering the territory at the southern line, midway between the eastern and western boundaries, winds a tortuous course toward the extreme eastern corner. Wellington creek flows from south to north along the eastern boundary of the township, and several small brooks diversify the western half of the town.

The original owners of Pittsfield, with the number of lots they possessed, were the following: Elisha Tracey, seventy-five lots; Lewis Devotion, twenty lots; Joseph Barnham, nine lots; Richard McCurdy, twenty-one lots; Samuel Dorrence, twelve lots, Wm. Perkins, thirteen lots; John McClellan, four lots; and J. Ward, six lets - whole number of lots in the township, one hundred and sixty.

J. Ward probably sold out to Simon Perkins, and Perkins sold or gave the tract to the Western Reserve College. Milton Whitney bought the Dorrance tract of one Keeler.

The first white men ever known to have been inhabitants of this township were a man by the name of Baker, and his two sons. As early as 1812 or 1813, they cleared a small spot of ground on the northeast corner of lot ninety-six, and built a log cabin. They yemained here for some time, but fear of the Indians and the British soldiers, who were at that time scouring the country, induced them to leave. The father is known to have gone into the army of the United States, and whether his sons also entered the military service is a matter of conjecture. They remained in the vicinity some time after his departure. It is not improbable that these men made the original survey of the township. A fact pointing to this conclusion was the discovery of a lot of surveyor's instruments in their cabin a number of years after they left. Their names were also mentioned as surveyors in some of the deeds given the first settlers.

In 1819, when the township was surveyed into lots and divided between the purchasers, Milton Whitney became a large owner. He came from the east in the following year, made an examination of his land, and induced a couple of enterprising young men to settle upon it. Thomas Waite, of New York State, originally settled in Amherst township, but, after a short stay, removed into Russia. His sons, Jerry and Thomas, were the first men who went into Pittsfield with the intention of permanent residence. Milton Whitney gave each of them fifty acres of land in lot one hundred and seven, and they took up their abode upon it in the spring of 1821. Jerry Waite died in' Thomas Waite is in his seventy-eighth year, and resides upon almost the exact site of the rude tog cabin which he erected half a century ago.

fifty acres, as remuneration for cutting twenty acres of timber. Both removed from the township before 1830. Chauncey died in Henrietta in 1860. His widow married Lucius Washburn, of Henrietta, with whom she is now living, aged seventy-five years. Henry is in Amherst. About the same time, in all probability, though possibly before, came a man named Smith, and his sons, Charles and Joel, from New York. Joel settled on lot twenty-four with his father, and Charles took up a farm in lot forty-four.

Following the Smiths came John Norton, who settled on lot one hundred and twenty-eight, and who, it is said, built the first frame barn in the township. Norton died some time previous to 1830.

L. D. Boynton, father of Judge W. W. Boyntén, became a temporary resident of the township soon after the Smiths and Norton came in. He built a cabin upon lot one hundred and thirty, but made no purchase of land and remained but a short time.

Samuel Rathburn and two sons, Daniel and George, came from New York State in 1828, the father and younger son settling upon lot sixty-four and Daniel upon lot fifty-seven.

About the year 1830, Wm. Butler and five sons from the Empire State, settled on lot thirty-seven, and, in the same year, came Samuel Wightman, who located on lot seventeen, and Peter Beam and his son Joseph, who took up their residence on lot twenty-five.

William Matcham and his son-in-law, Levi L. Rowell, came to the 'township in 1831. Sullivan Rowell and his sons, John L., James, C. B. and Levi, came later from Granville, Massachusetts, and settled on lot one hundred and nine. The Matchams were from Pittsfield, in the same State. Edward came the year before his father, and settled upon lot one hundred and twenty-five, on the old State road, about one mile south of the center, where he still resides. He married Abigail Tinker, of Rochester township, April 8, 1835.

Peter McRoberts was the first arrival after the organization of the town. About this time settlers came in quite fast, and it is impossible even to name them all. There are in Pittsfield three families of Whitneys, and a circumstance that seems somewhat singular, is that they bear no relationship to each other. Milton Whitney came from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1820, the year after the survey had been made, and, after making arrangements for the Waites to settle, as has previously been related, returned to his home in the east. He took up his permanent residence in this township in 1834. He had five sons, 8. D., Oliver W., Asa W., Henry and Frederick, and two daughters; the first-named son now lives upon lot one hundred and sixteen. Joseph Whitney, the head of another distinct family, came about the year 1833. His sons, Ira E., Cepha, Mark and Augustine, live in Pittsfield, and Loren and Aaron Tl', in Oberlin, and Norman in Florida, Nathan Whitney, the third original settler bearing the same name, but no relation to the other two, came into the township about the same time, and is represented by his son Ira, who lives upon lot seventy-two; another son, Abram, is in Oberlin.

Cornelius Gifford and sons, John Nye, Cornelius F. and Sidney, came about the year 1835. John Nye had one son and three daughters by his wife, Roxy Messenger, of Windham. four daughters, the youngest of whom is the wife of Mark Whitney. Daniel and Sally Wilder came in 1835 from Vermont. Jesse Bradley came about the same time, and settled upon the center road toward the southern part of the township, afterwards selling out to Bethuel Phelps who is the oldest man in the township at this writing, (1878) being in his ninety-second year. William Lucas and sons, William, Ira and Dayid, and his son-in-law, Hiram Welch, came

Cornelius Gifford had alsoabout the same time as the above. David W. Davis came in about the year 1834, and in the following year John Ives moved from Portage county, where he had emigrated in 1815, and settled upon lot fiftyeight. James R. Ward came in 1836 from Vermont, and settled upon a farm of one hundred acres in lot one hundred and three. ILis wife is Lucinda, daughter of Ira Smith. The Worcesters, Samuel, his sons John, James, Frank, Joseph, David and Emerson, were early settlers. Henry is now living on lot seventy-eight, and Horace H., a son of John, on lot seventy-seven. Samuel A, Root came in 1837 with his father, mother and one brother from Massachusetts. He settled upon lot seventy-nine where he still resides, but owns land, also, in lots eighty-two and eighty-three. Jared Watkins and wife came from Morristown, St. Lawrence county, New York, in 1835, and settled on the State road north of the center. In 1842 came R. $8. Sheffield. He lived in Camden a number of years, but has been longest and most prominently identified with Pittsfield township. He married Delia H., a daughter of Jared Watkins. Denis Horton and wife, F. 8. Horton, settled, several years later, upon lot ninety-one. They were from Rutland, Vermont. Gaylord Ferris came in 1834, Orlando Hall came in 1835 from Vermont, and settled in the northeastern part of the township. His wife, Lucetta Hall, is still living. The Proberts, James and Sarah, were from England. Their descendants were Eliza, John, George W., James W., David G., Albert B. and Sarah A. (Mrs. Watkins, of Pittstield). George W. Probert also lives in this town ship, lot seventy-three, and owns a farm of about two hundred acres. James W. is dead, and the other descendants of James and Sarah live in Oberlin.

'Lewis Shaw came into the township in 1847, and settled on lot one hundred and fifty-two or one hundred and fifty-three, but now resides nearthe center. Edward Rogers, a native of England, sixty-two years of age, settled first (1845), in the eastern part of the town, on lot fifty-nine, but removed, several years since, to a comfortable home near the junction of the north and south center and State roads. In 1845 came, also, Joshua West and his sons, Oliver, Washington and Amasa, from Massachusetts.. They settled jn Wellington in 1832, but did not remove to. Pittsfield until the year first mentioned, Oliver West lives at the center; Mrs. Polly, the widow of Washington, with her son, W. West, on the center road, half a mile west of the center, and Amasa is in Henrietta. Carlos Avery came in 1843, and settled on the State road (lot one hundred and forty five) south of the center. Ephraim K. Avery, a Methodist minister, came from Connecticut in 1851, and from the time of his settlement up to his death had much to do with the Methodist church of Pittsfield. His son, Edwin K., and a daughter, Mrs. R. T. Worden, now live in the township, the former upon lot ninety-five, on the north and south road, a short distance south of the center. E. R. Bement, son of Nathaniel Bement, of

LaGrange, came into the township about 1840. Wm. Billings came in 1836; also L. D. Glynn and F. E. Parsons. Erastus Campbell settled on lot one hundred and eleven, the old Remington farm, in 1857, and though not as old a resident as many others, is deserving of mention, because a representative man of the township.

Of the settlers who may properly be called pioneers, those who came into the township before its organization, only two remain to relate the incidents of their early days - Thomas Waite and Edward Matcham. Death has been, for the past few years, fast thinning the ranks, and a very large number have moved away. Mr. Edward Matcham counts upwards of a hundred and fifty heads of families who were in Pittsfield prior to 1840, and who are now either dead or removed to other parts of the country.

Early Incidents

'"'The annals of a 'quiet neighborhood' would not be an inappropriate title for the history of Pittsfield township. It has been said that 'all of history, which is not biography, is the recital of deeds of violence and wrong doing, of rapine and ruin, of bloodshed and of war.' Pittsfield truly has no such history as this. He who asks the oldest inhabitant for thrilling anecdotes of adventure with wild man or wild beast, asks in vain. No romance but the everywhere existing romance of live and love, no tragedy but the oft and ever recurring tragedy of death, has been the cause of sensation or of horror. The dramatic is not here. The history savors only of the honest homespun, of simple, sincere, strong characters, who began bravely in the heart of the forest a hard fight for the comforts and conveniences of life. How well the fight was fought is shown by the condition of the community to-day. One has only to think for a moment, to see that a really vast victory has been won wherever city or village has been made, or where the earth has been dotted with human habitations. Every such place has a history which cannot be put into words - the history of man's efforts and achievements, and more than all, of his joys and sorrows, glad realizations and bitter disappointments - the hidden history of heart and soul.

We have already given the names of those early settlers who bore the brunt of the struggle against the stubborn obstacles to progress which a new country always presents. The duty now remaining to the historian is the presentation of whatever he has been able to glean in regard to early occurrences, and the building up of the social fabric. The pioneers of Pittsfield had but little experience with the Indians, and industrious interviewing fails to elicit description of bear hunt or tale of dangerous adventure with fierce animals.

A few Wyandot and Seneca Indians roamed through the woods, but they had no extensive encampment in the vicinity, and seldom appeared in bands of more

Mrs. George Rathburn had quite a scare soon after she became a resident of this small community. She was all alone in the cabin, one day, when suddenly the doorway was darkened by the form of an Indian who demanded bread, brandishing a large knife fiercely as he did so, and pointing to the bake-kettle which was upon the fire. The woman made her unwelcome visitor understand that he could have some bread as soon as was it done, and he waited in stoical silence until the steaming loaf was turned out; then cutting off a large portion, he gave utterance to the customary grunt of satisfaction, and strode away into the forest as silently as he came.

Thomas Waite once killed a full-grown elk upon the farm of Edward Matcham, which, so far as can be learned, was the only animal of the kind that ever fell victim to an early settler's rifle. He shot the stag several times before he brought him down, and finally drove him into the bed of a small creek, where a well-directed shot finished his life. Mr. Waite, otherwise known as '' Uncle Tommy," haa the antlers in his possession many years, and was very fond of the trophy.

Fire And Water

The great ordinance of earth and heaven that makes man and woman one, was first celebrated in the year 1823 or 1824. The bridegroom was Jeremiah Waite, and the bride Clara Smith. The officiating clergyman was the bride's father, the Rev. Nathan Smith. A happy party assembled upon this occasion and a feast was served, of which potatoes are said to have formed the leading luxury. The wedded life began by this couple, was not of the character that fond lovers are wont to picture as their future, for if popular report is to be accredited, the young wife, when the blissful honeymoon had become only a recollection, applied verbal blister to the soul of Jeremiah. He sought advice and consolation from his father-in-law, who briefly and quietly replied to the husband's complaint: ''When your wife throws fire, you must throw water." It was not very long before the practical minded man had an opportunity to act upon the suggestion given him, and as he had interpreted it literally, the result was somewhat startling to the wife. She began one day to pour forth 'thoughts that breathe, and words that burn," and the husband immediately seizing two buckets, started for the brook, back of the house, and filled them. As soon as he returned to the cabin, he dashed the ice cold contents of one pail over the astonished woman, and then explaining that her father told him he must throw water whenever she threw fire, applied the second bucketful to thoroughly quench the embers of her wrath. Cotemporary chroniclers have failed to note, carefully, the result of this phase of the water cure treatment, and so the value of the experiment is, in'a measure, lost to the world.

The first life given, and the first life taken away, must in any household, be incidents fraught with the fullest intensity of joy and grief, respectively, that the human heart can appreciate. And these events occuring in the midst of a small community, newly grown, in a strange and lonely forest country, where individual lines are more closely knit together by the chords of sympathy, than they are in the bustling, selfish, sordid city, bring happiness and sorrow to all, friend, neighbor and kindred. When we mention here the date of the first death that occured in Pittsfield, we place our finger upon a day: in a calender more than half a century old, which brought a vast burden of sad and solemn feeling to every person then in the scattered little settlement. "Mary, wife of Chauncey Remington, died August 18, 1822. Her remains were laid in lot one hundred and eleven, the second farm cleared in the township, and had their resting place there for many years, but were finally removed,

The first log house was the cabin built by the Bakers, - father and sons, - spoken of as the first white men ever known to have come into the township. Thomas Waite built the second. The first framed house was built by a man named Terry, in 1833, on lot ninety-five, and is still standing. The present residence of Edward Matcham is the second framed house still remaining. The first brick house was built in 1851, by Harris R. Sheldon.

The first tavern was presided over by John Sibley. It was upon lot forty-four, upon the old State road. The date of its erection was probably 1832. Horatio Harmon built a tavern not long after, on lot thirtyseven. David H. Ranney kept the first store, in connection with a hotel, south of the center.

Lewis Barnard received the first postmaster's commission, and kept the post office half a mile east of the center. The present postmistress is Mrs. Climena Kingsbury.

The first cemetery laid out is now the resting place of many of the early settlers of the township. It isa well fenced and well kept enclosure; about a quarter of a mile east of the center, and belongs to the town. There is a small cemetery at the junction of the north and south center and State roads, owned by a private corporation, and still another in the northeast corner of the township.

Fugitive Slaves

There was a branch of the '' underground railroad " through Pittsfield. Here, as elsewhere, obstructions were occasionally placed upon the track, for the purpose of stopping trains. We have not the date, and it makes but little difference in the relation of the incident, but any way, during the days when the road was doing its largest business, two fugitive slaves, - aman and a woman, - were arrested in Pittsfield, by persons of pro-slavery feelings, and brought before the bar of justice, which, in this case, was the bar of Squire Asa W. Whitney, and also, it may be said, the bar of Harmon's small but quite popular tavern. A question arose as to whether a justice court was a court of record, the squire having no right to hold the fugitives, if it was not. Squire Clark, an eccen- held, and at the same time to have a little amusement, said in answer to Justice Whitney's anxious query. "Is my court a court of record?" **Why, Squire, you keep a record, don't you? What more do you want to make a court of record?" But the proof that he had power to hold the fugitives was not strong enough to thoroughly convince the justice, and the captives were finally, after considerable discussion, sent to Elyria, where they were placed in the jail, from which they soon after made their escape, much to the joy of their abolition friends, and discomfiture of the sympathizers with slavery. There were in Pittsfield quite a number who held stock in the '' underground railroad."

Raisings And Whisky

About the only thing that the early settlers of the Western Reserve regarded as impossible, was raising a barn or building of any kind without whisky enough to more or less stimulate the muscles that managed to do all other kinds of work without its aid. So general was the belief that a man must drink liquor when engaged in a "'rasin' bee," and so nearly universal was the custom of providing it on such occasions that it was almost a literal impossibility to get a building erected without conforming to the popular prejudice and throwing away principle for policy's sake. There was only one among fifty men, perhaps, upon the average, who had any decided aversion to whisky thirty or forty years ago, but when the majority tried to bend down that man's will, they generally found it too stiff to yield a hair's breadth, though the refusal might cause him a large inconvenience. Edward Matcham was; and is a strong temperance man, and when he built his barn, there were not enough temperance or total absistence men in the crowd which assembled, to raise theframe. He refused to furnish the necessary spirits, and finding him resolute in his refusal, the men dispersed, after partaking of other refreshments. Soon after a neighbor - Ebenezer Parsons - had a raising, the liquor being duly brought forth. The building went up quickly, and then the owner standing upon a beam, made a brief address to his assistants, of which (as the newspapers say) the following is a verbatim report: ''Men, I tell you what it is; we all acted like a lot of fools over at Matcham's the other day, and now I'm going over there for one, and I want all of you that's willing to raise that barn whisky or no whisky to follow me." He started, and one by one the good-natured farmers followed after, strung out in a procession ten rods long. They started slowly, then walked faster to keep up with their leader, and arrived at Mr. Matcham's upon a double-quick, took hold of the work with a will, tugged and pushed, and pulled and lifted with all of their

Just here it is not inappropriate to say that Pittsfield is to-day the equal of any of its sister townships in point of temperance and general morality. There is not at present, nor has there been for the past thirty years any saloon or place for the sale of liquors, ale or beer within the town limits.

The town was early annexed to Wellington for township purposes, and later to other townships for military purposes. In 1831 it was detached upon the petition of its inhabitants, and incorporated as a separate and independent township, the name of Pittsfield being bestowed by Asa Whitney, who, with many other settlers, was from the town of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Judges and clerks were appointed or chosen in December, 1831 - so the record states - and in April, 1832, the organization of the township was completed by the election of officers. Thirteen ballots were cast, and ten officers elected. Neither of the clerks was qualified for his position. One was a legal nonresident of the State; the other not arrived at his majority. Their names were Asa W. Whitney and Edward Matcham. The Judges were George Rathburn, Lewis Barnard and Charles Smith. Following are the officers elected: clerk, George Rathburn ; trustees, Joseph Terry, Samuel Wightman, John Sibley; supervisors, Charles Smith, Thomas Waite; overseer of the poor, Charles Smith; constable, Isaac Butler; fence viewer, George Rathburn; treasurer, Peter Beam. The officers elected in 1878 are the following: clerk, C. A. West; treasurer, Lewis Shaw; trustees, Mark Whitney, E. Campbell, Delos Sanders; assessor, Jumes CO. Clarke; justices of the peace, Richard Mills, Henry McRoberts ; constables, Adam Hanmer, William J. Rogers.

Religious Development

A Methodist class was formed in Pittsfield as early as 1824 or the succeeding year, through the efforts of the Rev. Nathan Smith. Meetings were held regularly and irregularly, and the interest so increased that in the winter of 1831 two services were held once a month by a circuit preacher - the Rev. Wilham Runnels. Rey. Mr. Smith left property, which, upon certain prescribed conditions, was to aid in the erection of a church edifice, but the society did not comply with the conditions, and so lost the benefit of the funds. It was not until many years afterward that this denomination had a house of worship in the town of Pittsfield, and in fact it was not until 1845 that the present Methodist church was ushered into organic being and entered the arena as a part of the sacramental host of God. To the Congregationalists belongs the credit of founding the first of the two churches at present existing.

The Congkegational Church

was organized April 25, 1836, under the'name of the Evangelical Union Church of Christ. This church owes its being to Deacon William Lucas, a goodly and godly man, who, from the first, was unsparing in his efforts to promote the interests of morality and religion. He rode through the then sparsely settled township and personally interviewed the pegple, to discover how many were favorable to the &tablishment of the church, and iafluenced, at one time and another, many men and women to identify themselves with the organization after it had been completed. The Rev. John J. Shipherd, the founder of Oberlin, officiated at the organization of this church, assisted by the Rev. John Ingersoll. There were only nine constituent members, as follows: William Lucas, William W. Lucas, Sarah Lucas, Ann Lucas, Daniel Wilder, Sally Wilder, Joel Wilder, Mary Matcham and Mary Welch. William Lucas was the first deacon of the church, and Joel Wilder was clerk. The Rev. Ira Smith became pastor in 1842 or 1843, and three or four years after the present church building was erected. Previous to that time the society worshipped in various private houses, in school houses and in new barns. Barns were preferred to dwellings or school houses, because larger, and nearly every bari built in the township, prior to cne construction of the first church, has, at some time, sheltered a devout but small congregation, and echoed the earnest voice of the itinerant preacher as it rose in praise or was lowered in supplication. During most of the years intervening between the organization and the time when the first pastor was settled, there was stated preaching, and though the roads were often in an almost impassable condition, and tire farmers had a long distance to come, the congregations were almost always larger in proportion to the population than those that now-a-days assemble to hear popular preaching. The Congregational church has, at this writing, a membership of sixtyeight persons. The pastor is Rev. C. C. Baldwin; the deacons, Oliver West and R. T. Werden; Miss France E. Young is the clerk and treasurer. Of the nine original members of this church, only three or four are now living, and only one resides in the township - Miss Sally Wilder, nearly ninety-nine years old, but still retaining her faculties to a remarkable degree - as bright and cheerful an old lady as can be found in the county, or, for that matter, in the State.

About the same time that the Congregational church was organized, the close-communion Baptist and the free-will Baptist churches came into being. The former had a very small membership, and the latter numbered nearly as many members as the Congregational church. Both are now extinct. The Universalists also had, for some time, a considerable

The present Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1845, Rev. Hugh L. Parrish officiating. The original members were R. Mills, Edward Rogers, Ann Rogers, John Wilton, Eunice Staples, Cynthia Sheldon, Susanna Stone, Abigail Avery, Eliza McRoberts, Mary Brandyburg, J. Whetan, John Wright, Ann Wilton and Mary A. McClelland. R. Mills was class leader. The first four mentioned in the foregoing list, and also Cynthia Sheldon, are still living and members of the church. The church received several accessions in 1820, and there was a general revival in the winter of 1859, under the preaching of Rey. G. A. Reeder, the then pastor. Many young people, together with the heads of families, were converted. Over sixty persons united with the church at one time, upon a beautiful Sunday morning, the service being held in the maple grove upon the farm of R. T. Werden. to distant states, some lost their lives in the service of their country, and some - many - have died in the service of their chosen Master; and gone to receive the promised welcome, '' Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." At present the church has fifty-four members. Following is a list of the officers of 1878: trustees of the church, R. Mills, E. Rogers, H. A. Cole, G. D. Matcham, Wm. Daniels, J. Newcomb, 8. Jordan; class leaders, R. Mills, H. A. Cole; stewards, D. G. Matcham (recording steward), J. Jordan, E. Rogers.

The first school in Pittsfield was located on lot one hundred and thirteen, and was held in a small log cabin built for the purpose. Miss Minerva Loveland was the first teacher. Edward Matcham began teaching in 183] or 1832 and continued ten seasons, passing at this vocation, as he says, some of the most pleasant and profitable years of his life. His wife, Abigail Tinker, taught in 1833, receiving for her services, the then very fair sum of one dollar per week. Mr. Matcham had ten dollars per month.

There are at present eight regular school districts, and a special district at the cen.er, A handsome brick house was built here in the fall of 1878, and furnished with the latest and most approyed styles of desks and seats. The directors who constitute the board in this special district, are David W. Davis, Mark Whitney, and Bradford Blackmer. Whitney is president; David W. Davis, clerk; and Richard Mills, treasurer. The teacher employed in 1878 was Miss Mary Whitney.

Dr. Daniel Howard was the pioneer physician of Pittsfield. He came into the township in the year 1835, and remained for a number of years, having quite a large practice. Previous to his taking up his residence here, the people made Dr. Eber W. Hubbard, of La Grange, their main reliance, in case the services of a physician were needed. Dr. Evans had a short experience of practice in the township, and was followed by Dr. D. M. Young, who commenced practice in 1845, and continued until his death, in 1870, winning the very general esteem of the people, alike by professional good qualities and his fine traits as a man and citizen.

Dr. C. H. Beech, the resident physician in 1878, was born in New Jersey, in 1812, and came' to Ohio in 1836, having graduated at the Jefferson medical college of Philadelphia. He first located in Wellington, where he remained until 1860, when he left, and spent ten years in various parts of the United States, as widely removed as New Orleans and Long Island.

Cheese Faotory

The cheese factory and creamery now owned by William Crozier, was built in 1869, by J. W. Worcester, It is located upon lot number eighty-three, about one and one-third miles east of the center. It was first operated by E. L. Tucker, and afterward by W. D. Fuller, of whom Mr. Crosier purchased in the latter part of July 1877. The factory has taken, most of the time, the milk of about four hundred cows, and has turned out from five to thirty cheeses per diem, beside a large quantity of butter. The amount of milk received per day has varied from fifteen hundred

The first saw mill was built by Parsons & Whitney, on lot number one hundred and thirty-five, as early as 1835 or 1836, and continued in operation for some time, supplying the neighborhood with lumber. There are at present two mills; one, the property of Ira Whitney, on the center road, two miles west, and the other, owned by Ebenezer Parsons, on lot one hundred and twenty-four. Whitney's mill has been running for about twenty-five years.

the old fashioned necessary evil of corduroy road, made of split rails and small logs laid side by side, like the ties of a railway, but close together. These roadways were anything but pleasant to travel over, but were made because travel in any kind of vehicle would have been almost, if not quite, an absolute impossibility without them. In 1832, there were but

Errata

Elyria to Wellington, crossed the township almost | Wheat, - 431 acres.........66. cesses ae Pesaran 7,718 bushels. ; to He Litt GOREN a oe eee nee aes Re 5,658 directly from north to south, and was the road most Airy me sas Lae i Disco in use. There was a rude, rough road from Russia | Orchards, 821 " ........... ccssecesseesaeeceeeeeeenees 4,511 : . . Corn, oan RCgune Ga ne NNR e Nay aa fea 6 une wn 92,695 township, down through Pittsfield, about half a mile MSAD Whe Gay tee ies muah anddiieeca Mpa 8,255 tons. from the western boundary; and a roadway was chopped | Butter...............c.ccceecseeeeceeeneeeneeeceeaennnneees 28,860 pounds. out, but unfinished, from this to the State road, about Saaueeened Haigschnlwconiniewdvsvinen sitbinnasusvaniniserenanens Pies 5 a mile south of the center. It was upon this road that POPU HOM A TOTO; Foe across cin clary'civiesslelstely'bia's'al t rtare Sipnisin sl WT eve w'slern m) [a ATE St WYO 980 most of the early comers to the township toiled, to Shed wan PReanccn On pay their property and poll taxes. PLAY OH pe sc ysten amen ee tenn ees LES] Wilder alae woueeasesteatese 72 ERRATA.

-On page 103, second column, thirtieth line from the bottom, read Fort Loudon for "' Fort London," On page 103, in the second column, twenty-eighth line, read Yohoghania for *"* Yohoguina."' On page 103, in the second column, fourteenth line from the bottom, read Canasauga for '' Cunasataugee."' On page 105, where the name " Brace" occurs, read Bruce. In the second line from the bottom of the second column, page 106, for ''Gulpin"' read Galpin. In the twentieth line from the bottom of the first column, page 110, read Parmely for '' Purnley."' In the second line from the bottom of the first column, page 111, read John F. Butler for " John M. Butler," On page 131, first column, twenty-second line from the top, read Natural for '' national." On page 246, first column, twelfth line from the bottom, read Congregational for "' congressional."

Source changes here: from A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio; an Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Civic and Social Development. A Chronicle of the People, with Family Lineage and Memoirs, by Wright, G. Frederick (George Frederick), published 1916; 192,193 words in this source stream.

Ohio

An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Civic and Social Development. A Chronicle of the People, with Family Lineage and Memoirs.

Introduction

These volumes might well be called "The Centennial History of Lorain County" for it is scarcely more than a hundred years since the first white settlers came within its borders. It is difficult for the present generation to imagine the conditions which surrounded the first settlers. Then a dense, almost imiienetrable forest of trees of immense size, covered cvci'v acre of tlie territory. 'I'lu; heroism of llie families who plodiled tlu'ir way tliither from New Eiighmd, some on fool, some on horseback, and others in slowly moving carts, occupying more days in tlie journey than it takes houi's now, is woi-tliy of all praise. The rapid ch'aring of homesteads, and establishment of educational and religious institutions, scarcely find a parallel anywhere else in liistoiy.

Industrially, Lorain County was slow in couung to it.s own. C!]evelantl should by good rights have been at the magnificent harbor furinshed by the jn-eglacial channel of Black IJiver. .Much woubl have been saved if the Ohio Canal had crossed the watershed at the head of Black River at Lodi, which is much lower than that at Akron. But she has now found her own.

In these days of the suprenuicj' of railroads, the shortest line coiuiecting the iron mines of the Lake Superior Region and the coal of the Pittsburgh district, runs through the center of the county, and Ihe growth of her manufaetui'ing industries is already phenomenal, and its continuance insured, thus affording to the farmers an unrivalled market for all their products. Li these respects, as well as in her educational institutions, headed by Oberlin College, she is already leading the state. The history of tins growth will comnniiul the attention of all future generations. Tts writing lias been an inspiration as well as a laboi- of love, and it is with regret that we lay our pen down, and turn to less inspiring tasks.

Contents Chapter

The Ohio Shale in Ijorain County - The Waverly Sandstone - Marks or the Glacial Period in the Cuunty - The Lakio Ridges - Soils - Elevations in the County - Natural Gas and Oil 1

Chapter Ii

Native and Migratory Birds - Changes in Varieiies - Water Birds - Songsters - LIammals of Lorain County - Prehistoric Remains - Fishes of the County - Amphibians - Reptiles - Insects 20

Lisii Serve Notice of Possession - Fikst Ohio Company and Agent Gist - Geokge Crogiian - In tue Land of the Dei^a wares - French AND English Clash - The DeluV wares Move Westwardly - The Ottawas and the Wyandots of the Lake Erik IIeoion - J3ouquet's Expedition - Shawnkes Last to Surrender - A Northwest Territory Assured - Lifting of the Indian and State Titles - - Lord Dunmore's Squatters - American System of Land Surveys - Public Lands - Congress Lands - Connecticut Western Reserve - Fire Lands - United States Military Lands - Virginia Military Lands - Ohio Company's Purchase - The Germ of Ohio - Donation Tract - Symmes Purchase - Refugee Tract - French Tract - Canal Lands - School Lands - Other Public Tracts. . .27

The Ordinance of 1787 - Ohio-Michigan Boundary Finally Fixed - First Surveys of Western Lands - How the Reserve Became National Territory - ]\Iilitary and Civil Friction - First Judiciary - Indians at "Last Subdued 49

Chapter Vi Secure Under The Laws

How the Reserve Was Sold - Acreage op the Reserve - Judge Parsons, Pioneer Land Buyer - Washington County (1796) Claimed Jurisdiction - In the Country of Canahogue - ^Wayne County (1796) - Jefferson County (1797) - Lawless But in Name - Trumbull County (1800) Recognized - Period of Civil Complication 55

Chapter Vii County Surveyed And Organized

The Treaty of Fort Industry (1805) - ^Western Lands Surveyed - Surplus Lands of Lorain County - Equalizing Land Values - Four Townships Considered Most Valuable - The Land Duaw-

Jnducemknts Foit Count y-Skat Location - Ijocatkd at J'^fyYiuA - - FiiisT Courthouse and Jail - Civil OitGANizAxioN - First Commissioners' ]\Ieeting - First Official, Document - Judicial IMaciiinkry in Motion - Original Organization of the Townships 62

Chapter Viii Pioneer Settlement

Indians Adopt First White Settler - Disgraced by Getting Lost in the Woods - Starts for the Buvck River - -Reaches the Lake - Join Wyandots on the Site of Lorain - The Camp at Elyria - Replenishing the Common Larder - Fur-Hunting Expeditions - Return to Civilization - ^Moravian ('of/iny Attempts to Settler- Would Rkti.'kn to Ruined .MusKiN(iUM Villagics - I-'oun'd Pilgeruh (Pilgrlm's Rest) - Ahandon 1'lan of Keturx to the .Muskingum - Ordered to Move On - Three Days in Lorain County - Final Return to the ]\Iuskingum - David Zeisberger, AVould-He Settler - Settlements from 18(^7 to 18P2 - A War Scare op 1812 - Eastern Shipbuilders Driven Wi«t - Lorain's Early Ship-Building Industry - Black River Settlement Becomes Charleston Village - Hearse, First Public Utility - Plowing Out a River Channel - Early' Hotels - Charleston's Lean Years - Scent op the Coming Iron Horse - First Colony of Permanent Settlers - Columbia Township Organized - Pioneer Settlers of Ridgeville - Ridgeville Township Organized - Eaton Township Settled - Civil Organization - The Beebes and Perrvs of Black River - Other Pioneers - Black River Township Organized - -Founding of Lorain City - Early Settlers of Amherst Township - Josiah Harris - As a Political Body - Amherst as a Village - Townships Settled During the War - Pierrepont Edwards Draws Avon Township - The Cahoon Family - Avon Township Created - Pioneer I'''amilies Crowd into Siiefkield - SiikfI''iei,d, 1""'ii{ST Township After County Organized - Pittsfield Townshii' ];)rawn - First Permanent Set'I'i-eus - Township Oiwianizi:i) - Village of Elyrta Founded - The Ely Home. - The Famous Beebe Tavern - The I'^irst Beebe HoMh> - The Bridal Trip - The Old-Time Fiuri CONTPLNTS

I'LAcE - Last 13eebe House, Pride of the Town - Elyria Township Partitioned in 1816 - "Raisings" - Township and Village Surveyed - Postofpice Established - Townsiiip Erected - Elyria City OP Today - Father and Pioneers op JJrownhelm - Township Created and Organized - Settlement of Russia Township - Founding of Oberlin - Russia Township Organized - First Year op Pioneering in Grafton - Township Incorporated - Village op Grafton - Wellington's Original Owners and Settlers - Arrival OF First Family - Township Organization - Wellington Village - Township of Huntington - The Labories and Other Families - Wooden Bowl Factory - Organization of the Township - Penfield Township Rightly Named - Coming of the Penfields - - Fajiilies of Calvin Spencer and Others - Carlisle Township - Pioneer Families Settle - Brighton Township - Henrietta Tov^tnsiiip - Camden Township 74

Chapter Ix Centennial Celebrations

A Centennial Herald - Earlif>5T Record of Lake Shore Region - The Smith Tr-vvels - Relics of French Adventurers - Rising op the Lake Level - vVvon's IMysterious First Settler - Avon Through A Hundred Years - Physical Features - Pierrepont Edwards, Original Proprietor - Permanent Colony Arrives (1814) - - Wilbur Cahoon Pounds First Permanent Family' - Original Cahoon Tract - De-a.th of Wilbur Catioon - Nicholas Young - Lewis Austin - Other Families Join Colony - Elah Park - The Sweet Family - First Setti^er in French Lick Village - The Stickney and Williams Families - First Events - Industries - Religious Matters - Pioneer Schoolhouse - Holy Trinity Church - Cheese- jMaking Abandoned - Curious IMounds Razed - Avon's Patriotism - The Sheffield Centenniai., - Norman Day Describes First Colonists - The Burrells Explore - Wallace, First Temporary Settler - Four Settlers in Winter of 1815-16 - First Woman and Pioneer Family - Arrival of the Day and Burrell Families - Captain Smith and Family - Other Burrei.ls Come - Churches Organize - First Events - Township Organization - Death of Captain Smith - Other Members of the Family - Decease op Pionhusrs - Historic Contributions from Miss May Day - Building the Saw-Mill on French Creek - Grist and Saw-IMill

About 1'ionkkks (JicNKiUi-hY - Two UNsucuKssKuii Inhtitu'I'kjnh - Siiu' BuiLUEKS and Lake Cai-tains - Gold Hunters of 184!)-50 - Judge AVilliam Day, Active Land Agent - The Parks Families

History, 18G5-1915 - First Railroad - De/Vth of Robbins IJurrell - Second Railroad - Fatality to Edward Burreli^ - Woods Leveled for Steel Pl^vnt - First Short Line Street Car - Last OP THE Day Pioneers - First Car over the Electric - Eightieth Anniversary of Congregational Church - Claimed as Founder of RuiuL Free Delivery - Industrial jNIatters - Deaths of 1815-16 I'loNEERs - Golden Weddings - Old Family Relics - Famous Natives - The German Residents - St. Theresa's Catholic Church - Details of the Sheffield Celebration - The Absent Ones - Historic Programme - Huntington's Home-Coming - ]\Iyron T. Herrick, Native Son - Professor F. D. Ward - The Historic Kelsey Band - Plans for a Centennial - The Perry Centenniaij - Local Particii-ation - The Niagara Raised from the Lake Bottom - C«rand Welcome to the Restored Flagship - Perry Relics Exhibited 127

At First, No Educational Fund - Legal Compensation in 1803 - Actual Land Grant in 1834 - The Western Reserve School Fund - Progress of School Laws to 1834 - Foundation op Present System - The Akron Law and Free Gr.4.ded Schools - Teachers' Institutes - Pioneer Schools and Teachers - Mrs. and Mr. Bron- SON - Schools Founded in 1810-20 - The Strut Street School, Brow^nhelm - Pioneer Schools in Elyria and Wellington - Russia Townsphp Schools - Huntington and Amherst - First School in Penpield Township - Present Status op County Education - The County Infirmary - The County Home for Children - Superintendents and ]\Iatrons - Aim: To Provide Permanent Homes - Buir,i)iNGS - Intellectual and Moral Training - Past and Piudsent Management - Tiho County Agricultural Society - First Aorioulturat> Socii^yrv - Town J^^vir at Oberlin - OnHiiN oi'' (I'ooi) Roads JMovement. - (Jountv Society Founded in

Chapter Xi The Bench And Bar

Grand Opening of First Territorial Court - Harrison, Later-Day Big Buckeye - First Court in Lorain County - Grand Jury Purely Honorary - Early Judges and Associates - Associates Abolished - ^Old Bench 2iIoRE Democratic - Philemon Bliss - First Probate Judge - Josiaii Harris - Two Noted President Judges - Woolsey Welles - Delegates to the 1851 Convention - Present- Day Courts - Common Pleas Judges, 1852-80 - Stevenson Burke - Washington W. Boynton - John C. Hale - Early Probate Judges - William F. Lockwood - Lionel A. Sheldon - Charles H. DooLiTTLE - John W. Steele - Laertes B. Smith - Prosecuting Attorneys Previous to 1S80 - Joel Tiffany - John M. Vincent - Joseph H. Dickson - Other Early Prosecuting Attorneys - Pioneer Lawyers, Pure and Simple - Horace D. Clark - Other Fellow Practitioners - A. A. Bliss - Judson D. Benedict - IMyron R. Keith - Joshua JMyers - John V. Coon - "Foreign" Practitioners - Accessions from 1845 to 1860 - Sylvester Bagg - Attained Prominence Abroad - Oberlin Lawyers - John ]\I. Langston - The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Case - Came in the '60s and '70s - J. C. Hill - Roswell G. Horr - Retrospect of the Earlier Bar - Bench and Bar Since 1880 - Common Pleas and Probate Judges - PION. David J. Nye, Veteran Active Practitioner - Hon. Clarence G. Washburn - Leading Members op the Bar - The Bar Association - Notable Cases Within Forty Years 197

Military Matters

Contributions from Oberlin College - Company C, Seventh Ohio Infantry - Fatalities - The Squirreu^ Hunters - Company D, Twenty-third Regiment - Fatalities - Company K, Twentythird Regiment - Fatalities - Regimental History - Company II, Forty-first Regiment - Regimental History - Forty second Ohio Volunteer Infantry - Company E - Regimental History - The One Hundred and Third Infantry - Company F - Company II - Regimental History - The Forty-third Infantry - The Fiftyfourth Regiment - The German One Hundred and Seventh - Other Infantry Bodies - Battery B, Light Artillery - Fifteenth Ohio Independent Battery - Second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry - The Twelfth Ohio Cavalry - Other Civil War Organizations - Fifth Regiment, Ohio National Guard 247

Chapter Xiv Land Routes

Great Indian Shore Trail - The Girdled and State Roads - Early Post Routes - Canals Give Lorain the Go-By - The Old Turnpikes - The Stage Era - Elyria, First Railroad Center - Railroads Crush Side-Wheel Steamers - The Aw^vkening op Lorain - "When the Railroad Came" - The Great Railroad Docks - The Ne\v York Central System - The Electric Lines - IMacadam Roads 280

Chapter Xv Corporate Lorain

I'OHATION AS A ClTV - CoNSElCVlNC PHYSICAL AND JnTELLECTUAL JJeALTII^TiIIO J'^JLTllATION PLAN'l' - TllE I'^JltK I )E1'AIITM ENT - J^AItLY lOpUCA-nONAL I'i'EMH - J;(JUA1n'h J»')lt.S'l' IJNION SciHX»Ii - Sl'KCIAL

Chapter Xvi

The Black River STii.\MuoAT iVssociATiuN - Era of Wooden Ship- Building - The Fishing Industry - Pioneer and Veteran Fishermen - Status op the Present Industry - Lorain's First Iron Furnace - Planing ]\Iill and Stove Works - The Johnson Steel ]\IiLLS - First Great Plant Located at Lorain - Founding op South Lorain - South Lorain as It Is - First Work on the Johnson Holdings - Opening of the Lorain Plant - Operations as the Lorain Steel Company - The National Tube Company - Other Leading Industries - Era of Steel Shipbuilding - Early ImproveiViENTs OP River and Harbor - Development of B. & 0. Terminal - The Harbor of the Present - The Lorain Board op Commerce - Source op Artificial Light and Power - Telephone Service - The Lorain Banks - The City Bank - National Bank op Commerce - The Old Bank of Lorain - The Citizens Savings Bank Reorganized - Cleveland Trust Company, Lorain liRANCii - The Lorain Savings & Banking Company - The Central Banking Company - The Lorain Banking Company - The George Oroszy Banks. . .304

Chapter Xvii Churches Of Lorain

Oldest Existing Church - The ^Iethodists and Lot No. 205 - "Father" Betts and the Presbyterians - The Baptists Hold Early Services - The Presbyterians "at Home" - Methodists OiiGANizE First Church - First Congregational Church - First ^r. E. Church - Church of Christ - St. IMary's Roman Catholic Church - Twentieth Street Methodist Church - St. John's

CiJUKCJi - Cjiurcxi oe THE Nativity - IIungarlvn Catholic Churches - Other South Lor^un Churches - Churches Formed BY Colored People - The First Presbyterian Church - The First Church oe Christ, Scientist - Jewish Synagogue - First English Lutheran - Hungarian ReI'^ormed Church - Trinity Baptist Church 335

Chapter Xviii Uplifting Forces

The Press - The Black River Commercial - The Lorain ^Monitor - The Lorain Times-Herald - The Lorain Daily News - The Post - Uplh-^ing Societies - Lorain's Young INIen's Christian Association - Woman's Christian Temperance Union - The Sisterhood OF Lorain - Social Settlement Association - Literary Clubs - The ^Iaking op American Citizens - Musical Organizations - Federation of Women's Societies - The Associated Charities - St. Joseph's IIospiTAii - Lodges and Fraternities 349

Chapter Xix Public Affairs Of Elyria

SUI'EUINTENDENT PUBLIC IIiGH ScilOOL BuiLDING ErECTED - COMPLETE Curriculum Adopted - -First High School (Jraduates - Other School Events of the '60s - Board of Education Speaks Its i\IiND - Construction of School Buildings - Manual Training and Technical High Schoot^ - The Social Settlement School - IOnrollment of I'npi[,K and Teachers - The I'umlic liiiiRARV - Protection Against. Fire - Increase in IOlyria's Population - I'uhlic Improvements - The Elyria Ciiamiier of Commerce - (.'ivk; Fm-

Chapter Xx

Pioneer Religious Bodies - Methodism in Elyria - The Head op the Circuit - Becomes a Station - Permanent iCiiurch Building - " New Parsonage - Pastors Who Have Served - Building of the 1'resent House op Worship - Present Status op the Church - The Presbyterian Church - First Congregational Church - The First Baptist Church - St. Andrew's Episcopal Church - St. IMary's Church and Parish - First Resident Catholic Pastor - Death of Rev. F. A. Sullivan - Long Pastorate op Rev. Louis IMoLON - Lesson Given to a Future Pastor - Death of Father Schafpield - St. Agnes Parish Formed - St. John's German Lutheran Church - Other Churches - Elyria jNIemorial Hospital - Grounds and Buildings - The W. N. Gates. Hospital - Past, Present and Future of the Hospital - Its Founding Described by the Chamber op Commerce - The Young ]\Ien's Christian Association - The Young Women's Christian Association - The Masons and Their Temple - The IMasonic Temple Company - Other Fraternities 374

Chapter Xxi Newspapers, Industries And Banks

Newspaper and Railroad Parallei. - The Lorain Gazette - Ohio Atlas and Elyrlv Advertiser - The Elyria Courier - The Independent Democrat - George G. Washburn - The Elyria Republican - The Daily Tele(;ram - The Elyria Democrat - The Lorain Constitutionalist - Frederick S. Reefy - The Elyria Chronicle - Elyria 's Manufactories - The Southwestern Traction Shops - Primitive Industries - The Topliff & Ely Plant - Western Automatic IMachine Screw Company - Elyria Canning Company - The Garford Manupacturing Comi'any - The Willys-

OVKin-AND - COLI'MIUA StKKI, CoMPANY - I'iLYIilA TliON & StKKL COMPANY - TROXKFi Manufacturing Company- - The Amekican Lace Manufactuiuxg Company - Elyria Foundry Company - The Perry-Fay Company - Wortihngton Company and Machine Parts Company - Other Industries - Elyria Gas & Electric Light

Oberlin As An Inspiration

The College a :Modern University - College and Town Pounded Together - Rev. John J. Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart- The IIiST(jRic Elm - Peter P. Pease, First of the Colonists - Erection of Oherlin and Ladies' Halls - First Congregational Church Founded - The Pig Tent and Cincinnati IIali. - Rev. Asa .AIahan, First President - The College in 1845 - President Finney and THE ^Memorial Ciiapei. - Consolidation of Library Associations - Oderlin Students' IMonthly - Presidents Faircihld, Ballantine AND Barrows - The ^Memorial Arch - President Henry C. King The Great Endowment Funds - Other Buildings of the College Plant - Carnegie Liijuary - The Olney Art Collection- Warner, Sturges and Peters Halls - Rice ]\Iemorial Hali^-New Administration I^uilding - The ^NIen's Building - The Academy Buildings - AVarneu and Women's Gymnasiums - Outdoor Sports AND Exercise - Laboratories and Museums - Dormitories for Women - The Faculty - College Administration - INIusical and Literary Advantages - The Student Body - Graduate Fellowships - The College Enrolment - Churches of Oherlin - The First Congregational Church - Christ Protestant Episcopal, Church - First Baptist Church- First M. E. Church - The Rust M. E. Church - Church of the Sacred Heart - ^Mount Zion Baptist Church - The Oherlin ]\Iissionary Home Association - The Oberlin Hospitai. - Westwood Cemetery - Social, Literary and Benevolent Organizations - Village Improvement and Social Betterment - The Oberlin Grand Army op the Republic 420

Village Of Wellington

How Wellington Was Named - Uneventful Twenty Years - The Academy - Progress of the Public Schools - Incorporation op Wellington Village - Public Improvements - Wellington Waterworks - The Herrick Library - Wellington Churches - The First Congregational Church - The Methodist Episcopal Church - The Wellington Church of Christ - The Baptist Church - The Catholic Mission - Tpie Wellington Enterprise - The First Wellington Bank - Big Robbery - Old-Time Dairy Interests - Home OP the Horrs - Wellington as It Is 510

Chapter Xxv Village Of Amherst

Village Pounded - First Quarries Opened - Growth and Consolidation - The Cleveland Stone Company - The Ohio Quarries Company - The Union School - Superintendents - The Town Hall - Public Institutions - The Public Library - The Chamber op Commerce - Water and Sewage Systems - Good Streets and Sidewalks - Other Signs of Progress - The Churches - IMethodism - South Amherst Churches - Amherst Congregational Church - St. Peter 's -Evangelical Church - St. Paul's Lutheran Church - St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church - Salem Church (Evangelical Association) - Episcopal Mission - Lodges - Industries and Banks - Nicwspapers 531

Index

Black River townslii]) organized, 73, 9.') Campbell, H. A., 998 Blakeslee's Old INlill, Carlisle township Canals t;ive Lorain the go-by, 282 fatalities, 253 Conijiany 11, I'^orty-fiist regiment, 255 Congiegationa lists, 380 Congress Lands, 30 Connecticut Land Conii)any, 57 Connecticut Western Reserve, 3C, 40 Consolidation of Library Associations

Oberlin College, 431 Constitutioiuil convention of 1851, 204 Conway, Thomas A., 800 Cook, Lester C, 957 Cook, Minnie M., 057 Coon, .lolin v., 319 Corts, .lohu L., 900 Co\intry of Canahogue, 58 County Board of ICducation, 170 County boundaiies, adjustment of, 07 County Inlinnary, 177 County-seat location, 09 Courts, 198 Cowley, .Tohn, 808 Crehorc, Charles J., 889 (Vehore, Ceorge, Sr., 151 Ci-isp, Ernest J., 005 Cris]), George E., 003 Crisp, Mary L., 004 Crisp, William, 704 Crittciulen, William, 113 ^

Lorain, earlj' shipbuilding industry, 87; founding of, 97; incorporated, 288; lirst school, 291; ])olice department, 291; jjopulation, 292; incorporation as a city, 293; water system, 292; fire department, 294; schools, 295; first union school, 295; frei' jjublic library, 300; commercial and industrial, 304; first iron furnance, 311; industries, 318; banks, 332; harbor, 320; newsjiapcrs, 349; hospitals, 35!S; lodges and fiaternitii's, 359

:\ren's liuilding (view), 449 i\[en's lUiildinu', Olierlin College, 440 Metcalf, Kliab W., 1053 Metcalf, Ceorge P., 210 Metcalf, iVfaynard M., 1050 !Methodist {episcopal Church, Wellington,

Oberlin College, 420; the modern university, 421; and city founded together, 422; lirst cidlege building, 425; I'niversity incoiporated, 427; in 1845, 428; objects of, 430; great endowment fund, 439; buildings, 441; laboratories and museums, 450; fae- llie early ilays, 500 ()l)erlin Ajiriiiiitliral Society, 184 ttbeiliii liaiikiiij,' Company, 50:i Oljerliii Hoard of Commerce, 503 Obeilin Husir.css College, 490 Oberliii Federation for Village Ini|)rovement and Social Betterment, 490 Oberlin f!. A. R., 491 Oberlin Ifospital Association, 480 Oljcrliii Hospital (view), 480 Oberlin Missionary Ifoiije Association,

Old Union School of 1857 (view), 303 Oldest Kxisting Church, 335 Olds, Emma S., 585 Ohnsted, Oeorge, 315 Olnev Art Collection, 443 One Hundred and Third Infantry, 303 One of the I'irst Frame Houses Built in

Ormsby, Caleb (portrait), 532 Ormshy, "Amit Kate" (pord-ait ) , 53:i Onis/v, Ceoi'tie, 33 1 Oros/y, George, Baid<B, 334 Other Civil war oruani/ations, 277 Othei- infantrv bodies, 372 Olteibaeher, il. ('., 002

Retrospect of the earlier bar, 235 Rice :Meniorial Hall, 440 Rice Meinoiial Hall (view), 447 Rice, Robert H., 704 Richey, I'rancis 0., 751 Richmond, Klmer A., 958 Ridgeville, 8

Shellield townshi[) organized, 73; settled, 100; pioneers, 102; first townsliip after county organization, 102; celebration, 139; first colonists, 140; pioneer families, 141; ehurehes, 143, 156, 159; lirst events, 144; organization, 144; decease of pioneers, 145; historic contributions, 146; industries, 147; in the Civil war, 152; lirst railroad, 154; history, 1865-1915, 154; deaths of 1815-16 pioneers, 157; industrial matters, 157; famous natives, 158

Carboniferous

Tlie Permian area is barren of coal. The Pennsylvanian area contains workable coal dejiosits. The Mississijiiiian is Siibcarboniferous and contains the conglomerate exposures of Thompson Lcd^'es, Little Mountain and similar ones in Medina County, and the sandstone deposits quarried at Berea, iOlyria, Grafton, Andierst, Norwalk and Wavorly. Tlio Devonian area contains the slialo deposits cro[)pinj,' out uU along the shore of Lake Krie, and the Corniferous limestone (jmirried at l\olloy Island, Marbloliead, Sandusky, ('oliindms, and intervening areas. Tlio Silurian area covers I'ut-inliay Island and the wiile region to th(! south famous for its oil wells. Tlu) Dtnoniaa area in tlie midst of it, is u rcinruint left by erosion occupying tlie elevated area about Hellcfontaine, Ij^-lO feet above tiile. The Ordovirian area luis been generally known as I^ower Silurian and contains near its ])a.se the Trenton liniestoiK; wliicli is tlio source of the gas and oil Inoiight to the surface in the Silurian ilistrict. The oil and gas of lOastern Ohio is largely <lerivod from the Devonian fornuitjon. The oldest rocks in Olii(< are the Siluiian and Oi'iloviciiin. The newer, overlying rocks iip|i(^:ir in ri^gular order on either side.

Chapter

TiiK Ohio Shale in Lorain County - The Waverly Sandstone - ]\L\rks OP THE Glacial Period in the County - The Lake Ridges - Soils - Elevations in the County - Natural Gas and Oil.

The lowest rocks underlying the whole of Lorain County belong to the Devoniiui formation whieh occupies about the middle portion of the geological scale. They consist of soft shales with occasional thin Ijcds of limestone.

Their outcrop can be studied all along the lake shore from Avon Point to the vicinity of Lorain ; but to better advantage in the gorges of Black River l)elow Elyria, and of Vermilion River where it runs through Henrietta and Brownhelm townships. The total tliickness of these shale dei)Osits is several hundred feet, and tliey are evidently composed of sediment which settled upon the bottom of a deep sea, for the ])artieles are exceedingly fine and the fossils both of plants and animals are marine. Specimens of these shales, between Elyria and Lorain, from which an elVort was made to nuuuifacture brick, were found by Prof. A. A. Wright to contain, in addition to the particles of clay which form the bulk of the deposit, from ten to twenty per cent of carl)Onaceous matter, consisting in part of tlie spores of alga? such as float around in tlie Sargasso Sea in the Allaiilic at the present time. So great was llie amount of eai'lionaccous mattci' that the bi'ick were burned to a crisp and rendered so nearly useless that tlieir manufacture luul to be abandoned.

to result from the slow distillation of their carbonaceous material. Indeed, Trofessor Newberry, before tlie tliseovery of i)etroleum, estimated that oil could be distilled from the Ohio shale at a cost of 25 cents a gallon, so that it is possible for us to look forward to this source of lieat when in the distant futui'e otlier sources shall fail.

These sh.ales belong to tlie .same age as tiie Old Red Sandstone in Scotland, in which llugii ]\Iiller discovered remains of the remarkable jjlated iish which lie called Ttericlitliys. But fifty years ago, Prof. 0. N. Allen of Oberlin ami Mv. J. Terrell of Sheflield found on the beach west of Avon I'oint portions of the skeleton of a fish similar to the Pterichthys; but it was so much larger that Professor Newberry named it Dinichthys Terelli (^ten-ible fish), after j\Ir. Terrell, wlio later found much more perfect specimens at Lake lireeze, three miles east of Lorain. A still larger number of specimens wei'e found by Doctor Clark of Perea along the outcrops of Rocky Rivei-, ami earlier, sj)ecimens of allied species had been found by Rev. II. Ilertzer at Delaware, Ohio. The most valualile specimens have been taken away from the state. Harvard ami Columbia universities each paid $1,2U() for nearly i)erfect specimens, while Mr. Woodward of the British Museum obtained the whole collection of Doctor Clark in lierca and took them over to London, where they are displayed in most ell'ective manner on the walls of tlic Devonian I'oom in the British Museum. But Oberlin Colle<,'e was able to I'etain a goodly iunui)er of separate jiortions of this remarkable fish, the sight of which will well repay a pilgriiiuige to that town.

One of the most interesting specimens taken to the British IMuseum was the imj)i-ess of a shark's skeleton with the 1)0iies and scales of a small fish in the pit of the shark's stomacli where the monster had pi'C- .served it to tell its strange tale. Prof. A. AVright and E. AV. Claypole on examination determined that this little fish belonged to a species of which no other specimen had eome to light. On a recent visit to the British Museum 1 asked Professor Woodward about this specimen. In answer he promj)tly took me to the place where it was exhibited upon the walls. Lorain County visitors to London will find it worth while to study this collection of Lorain and Cuyahoga fossils now in a foreign land.

The top mend)er of these shales is of a red color which can be easily detected, and forms a guide to the Bei'ea Sandstone wliich innnediately overlies it and is of such great ecoiloniica] value. This poi-lion is caHed lirdlord Shale fi'om file town wlier'c its nu'Sl typical oufcr(i|) occui's. It lias a thiekncss of alioiit 100 feet. This slialr is \\\'\\ shown at the N'illage (if flench CiH'ck in Avon Township, in the gorge of Black River at I'^lyria, in the I'ailroad cut between lOlyria and Ainhersl, in the (iiiarries

Tills ovorlios the shale deposits everywhere in the eoiiiity south of Elyria and Amherst. It was originally ealled "Waverly Sanilstone" from a townin the southern pail of tlie state in the Seioto Valley where it was extensively (piarrietl on the opening of the Ohio Canal. It is now more widely known as the " Berea Crit," or "Amherst Sandstone." The sandstone appears all along from Berea to Berlin Heights and Norwalk. It rests uneonformahly on the Bedford Shale. This appears very elearly in the west fork of Black River at Elyria where it is evident that tile surface of the Bedford Shale hail suffered much water erosion before the material of tlie sandstone was deposited.

This unconformity helps to explain some of the remarkable things connected with the deposits of sandstone so valuable for (luarryiiig purjioses at Brownhelm, Amherst, Elyria, and farther east at Berea, whicli ill many respects are the most remarkable in the world, both for their extent and for the ([uality which gives them economical value. As to (piality we note that the sandstone is remarkably free from everything but pure silica (sand), the eementiiig matei'ial being silica. Secondly the sand grains are remarkably sharp so that the finest grindstones in the world are manufactured from this - the absence of cement preventing the stone from glazing over and losing its cutting power. Thirdly, the mjis.ses of sandstone are remarkably free from fracture which would destroy its value for building i)urposes, while it is three or four times as strong as brick to resist pressure. Fourthly, the extent of the deposits combining these (pialities is uiieiiualled. In the stone (piarries at South Amherst the thickness of the deposits combining the above qualities i.s from 100 to 175 feet.

But the deposits are not of uniform value over the county. On the other hand ]\Ir. AV. G. Burroughs (see article in Economic (ieolouy, Xo]. 8, No. 5, Aug., 1918) has shown that the stone valuable for (piarrying Js found tilling channels which had ])eeii eroded in the surface of the liedroi-d Shale, and that it bad been l)rought in by streams fi-om the; northwest. These channels in the I'.edl'oi'd Shale secured both the inassivrncss of file deposils and Ihcir IVeedoin from fiadure niid also proli'cled Ihe grains of sand IVoni being rolled smool h hy Ihi- waves on the shore. 'I'lie tpiai'ries opened at I'llyria, (iral'fon and \Vellingl(ni, while cxrellenl for ordinary building i)Ui'|)oscs, are lacking in some of llieso eleiiicnls which give special value to the Amhcrsl. Stone.

Tlie relation of theso sliale and sandstone strata (the only stratified I'ocks in the county) is interesting and important. Tiie strata are not perfectly horizontal, but dip toward the southeast. In conse(iuenee wells have to be bored down 1,000 feet to strilce the Corniferous limestone which crops out at Sandusky. Beyond the limits of the county, toward the south and the southeaat there is a vast covering of Subcarboniferous and Carl)ouiferous strata. These appear in striking precipitous ledges of conglomerate at Little Mountain, Thomson and Nelson ledges, and in the gorge oi Rocky River east of Medina, rising to an elevation of 1,200 feet above the sea; while still farther to the southeast at Wadsworth seams of coal appear. Such is the dip of these strata that borings in the regions where coal is found would have to descend more than 1,000 feet to reach the sandstone of Lorain County. The outcrop of Ohio Sliale underlying the sandstones of the county extends eastward clear across the state, and through Erie County, Pennsylvania, and far into the State of New York, increasing in thickness througii the entire distance. AVest of Lorain County the outcrop of these strata extends to Jierlin Heights and there turns southward, reaching the Ohio River a little west of the mouth ot' the Scioto and, appearing in Kentucky, forms a circuit arouml the J'>lue Crass region.

The ag(! of the rocks already (lesci'ibed must be esliiiiated in millions of years, the lowest estimate !)eiiig l(),()l)(),(;()0 or 12,000,000. After these strata had been ilei)osite(l in the bottom of the sea, they were elevated and sul)jected to a long period of erosion both by running streams and by the action of the waves which dashed against the shore. This period contiinied through all Tertiary time and is to be estimated as at least 2,000,000 years. Towards the latter part of the Tertiary period the land .stood much higher than now so that the rivers cut gorges, or indeed we may call them canyons, of great depth in the overlying strata. The Cuyahoga River had cut a channel 500 feet lower than its i)reseiit bottom, and uuist have found an exit to the ocean mueli l)elow that depth. The i)reglacial gorge of, Rocky River was at least 200 feet below its present level, as also were doubtless those of the lower i)art of Black antl Vermilion rivers. But these conditions in oui' county have been alinost completely disguised by the inHuenee of the (ilacial pei'iod, during which the aeeumulation of snow ami ice over the regions to the north of us was such that a vast glacier slowly crept down, (hunming up the di'ainage of the St. Lawrence River and i)onding up the water befoi-e it until it poured over the various low i)asses into the Mississippi Basin. Prominent among these water weirs is that from the ]\laumee into the Wabash at Fort Wayne, that froni the Sandusky River through the Timoelitee Pass into the Scioto, that from Vermillion River

.Slowly creeping southward during the Glacial period the ice filled (he hed of Lake Erie, and rose till it surmounted the watershed between the fireat Lakes and the j\Iississippi, which in Huntington and Rochester

View looking north tliroiijj;!! the outlet of tlie luejilacial gorge just below the jniictioM ot tlio east ami west liraiiclies of Ulack Kivcr in (.'ascaile t'ark, I'llyriu. Tlio roiky masses on either side have fallen off from the clilts ami erept in toward tlie tenter of the stream. In the liatkground apiiears the preglacial valley which passes southward west of tlie west hrancli. In the i>i('ture this pregla<ial valley is seen to he filled with glacial niatejial wliere the roik had heen eroded away. Sandstone strata apjiear at the surface a little distance lielow the jiictiire.

in the south part of Lorain County is fully 500 feet ahove Lake Erie. Pressing still farther soutliward the glacier's front reached Millcrshurg ill Holmes County and jiushed a loop down the Scioto and ]\iiami valleys as far as Cincinnati, where it crossed the Ohio and rested on the highlands of Kentucky a few miles south of tli;\t city. 1 have in llie museum al Oherlin 'a red jasper conglomerate bowlder, three feet in diameter, whieli must liave been jiicked up by the ice north of Lake Huron and carried over the watershed into tlie Mississippi Valley and deposited in I'oone ('ounty, Kentucky, seven miles south of Cineiiniali,

The fact i& that during the Glaeial period the conditions of Greenland existed all over the nortliern part of the United St^ites and over all but the southeastern quarter of the State of Ohio. In the center of Greenland the ice is now a mile and a half tliick, and under its own weight is slowly pressing outwards on every side along lines of least resistance. In New England we know that the ice was a mile deep because it dropped Canadian bowlders on the top of Mount Washington. Considering the low degree of the plasticity of ice it must have been a mile deep over Lorain County in order to move over the watershed to tlie soutli as far as the central and southern part of the state.

Wlii'ii the climatic conditions changed and llu; ice front receded to the north a most interesting condition of things existed in the noi'th(!rii part of our .state. While the ice was melting back from the southern shore of Lake Erie and still ol)structed the drainage to the east, a lake was foruK^d in front of the ice, ttie water rising to the level of the lowest ])ass into the Mississij)))! Valley, which was from the Maumee into the Wabash at Fort Wayne, Indiana. This pass is 76.'{ feet above tide, or approximately 200 feet above Lake Erie. Through this pass there is a di.stinct abandoned river channel as wide and deep as that of the Niagara below Buffalo, leading from the IMaumee Valley into that of the Wabash. Evidently this was the outlet of the drainage l)asin of Northern Ohio, while the ice was melting Ijack to open .some lower channel. Naturally the water rose to a height of twenty feet or more aI)ove tile bottom of the channel so that there was a shore line formed all across the State of Ohio at approximately 200 feet above the i)resent level of the lake. This must have continued for several, perhaps many, centuries resulting in the throwing up upon the margin a sand and gravel l)eacli, su{;h as is found upon the shore at tlie present time, and along the bar where sliallow water is found a short distance from tlie sliorc. Thus there originated what is called the south, or 200-foot, sand ridge facing Lake Erie through all the northern counties of Ohio. Tliis ciiii lie traceil at that level from Coniicaut to I'^ort Wayne, whei'c on the dthci' side of llie oiillct spoken of it turns nortliwcst passing through Adiiiiii, IMichigan. In Lorain (homily it is well (h-veloijcd in Kidgeville and i'^aton towiisiiijjs wliere it is known as liutternut Ridge. This pas,ses tlirough the northwest corner of I'-aton Townsliip reaching the west branch of lihick Rivor in Carlisle, about five miles south of lOlyria. On the west side of llie river it appears a-^'ain runninj,' north and south past llie (-ounty inlirniary, following tiu; line of a l)ay wliirh set up into the Valley of liiaek Jiiver. Here it is known as Murray Ridge;; Init near where the Amherst Road from Elyria crosses the northern division of the Lake Shore Railroad, the ridge following the same level continues westward tlirough South Amherst ami Brownhelm, entering Erie County at Birnungiuun.

When the ice front had withdrawn over iNIichigan a little north of Port Huron, an outlet for the pent-up waters of this glacial lake was opened across what is called the tliumb (a peninsula separating Saginaw Bay from i'ort Huron) into the headwaters of Grand River at Maple Rapids whence it ran into the glacial lake occupying the south end of Lake Michigan, and thence through the depression occupied by the Chicago Drainage Canal into the Illinois River. This outlet in due time lowered the level of the glacial lake about fifty feet ; when a series of beaches, or ridges, roughly parallel to the 200-foot ridge was formed at an approximate level of 150 feet above the lake. When the ice front had receded still further beyond Saginaw Bay, an outlet into (J rand River lifty feet lower still was opened at an approximate level of 100 feet above the level of Lake Erie. This gave rise to a still lower lake ridge approximately 100 feet above tlie present level.

The lilO-foot ridge is well sliown all across Lorain County, and is known under the name of IMiddle or Center Ridge. It enters the county at the northeast corner of Ridgeville and is followed by the main travelled road to Elyria, where for a space it is interrupted by the Valley of Black River. It begins again in the northwest corner of Elyria Township, and runs north to within two miles of Lorain, where, turning southwest, it passes through North Amher.st and Brownhelm, and on westward through Birmingham and Berlin Heights. This ridge is everywhere well marked, and like the other ridges was used from the earliest settlement of the county as a natural roadway, free from the nuul which characterizes the most of the surface.

The 100-foot ridge, also, ejttends clear across tlie county, being known as the north ridge. This is a continuation of the Euclid Avenue and Detroit Street Eidge which passes through Cleveland. It enters the county from Dover in the vicinity of Avon (!enter, passing tiirougli Avon and, entering Slieffield, crosses Black Kiver near tiu! (iai'lield lionicstrail, and like tlie pi'eceding, curving down to within two miles of Lorain, licnds soutiiwest tiii-ough Nortli Amiierst and lirowniielm to the lOrie Countv line in Vermilion.

The Town of IJidgeville is especially lavored with lake ridges. Sugar Kidge, ill the soutliwest corner of the towiislii]), is only a f(!\v feet hi^dicr tliaii Middh' Ifidj^n', and owes ils roniialioii to the n<'"<'''"l I'^vei of Ihe fomitry. Chcsliiiit Hidgc, in tli(; Koiilheast eoriier ol' tlu; tovviisiiij), is only tc-n feet lower than Hiitternut Jfiilge, and parallel to it. This is a continuation of Coe Kidge which appears west of Rocky Kiver and runs through the southeast corner of Dover and the northeast corner of Olmsted. Tliere is also in the northeast corner of Amherst and in Brownhelm what is known as Whittlesey Ridge, which is a few feet lower than the north ridge.

As already said these sand ridges furnished the original settlers with the best available roads. The sandy character of the soil along them has also been favorable to the cultivation of garden truck and small fruits, as well as for attractive building sites for the suburban population which in increasing numbers is overtiowing from the growing x-ities.

The soil of the county is varied and adapted to every kiud of agriculture. All that portion of the county wiiicli is soutii of tiie 2()0-foot lake ridge consists of tlie direct glacial deposit or "ground moraine" produced by the grinding up of the shale which crops out all along the shore of the lake. This grist was mixed in due proportion with debris of tiie sandstones which outcrop a little fartiier to the .south, and with a smaller amount of limestone which came from the bed of Lake Erie and from Ontario together with an abundant sprinkling of granitic material which the ice brought from farther nortli in Canada. This deposit is of great depth, probably averaging fifty feet over the southern part of the county. Sixty or seventy i)er cent of it consists of ground np shale, which forms the tenacious clay whicli makes the roads so nearly impassable when frost is coming out in the spring. 1 have seen wagons stalled in this mud in one of the principal streets of Oberlin, the wheels settling down to the hubs. According to a reasonable estimate this clay is seventy-five feet deep in Oberlin. A correspondent, writing from Oberlin to a New York paper, said that he did not doubt this statement for he knew that it was 21/2 feet deep, so that he could easily take the other 721/0 feet on faith.

Though this clay soil is somewhat difficult of cidlivatiou, when i)roperly treated it yields the best of results. It is specially adapted for grazing, and produces abundant liarvests of small graiiks. At fre(|U(;nt intervals over tliis region tliere are extensive beds of peat or muck

AVateifall on tlie west brancli of Black Eiver in Cascade Park, Elyiin, sliowiug the Waveily samlstone over which the water phinf^es ami into wliicli it lias worn a gorge aliont twenty feet in (le|ith. At the left is a cave formed liy the erosion of the soft Bedford shale. The talus on either side obscures the underlying strata of Bedford shale.

Waterfall on (>ast fork of Black ]{iver in (!ascad(! I'ark, l''lyria. 'I'he Wavorly sandstone strata held are projcMting over the Bedford shale wirnli has been removed by the back lash u\ the water.

oec-upyiug what are known by glacialists as "kettle holes" where masses of ice were originally buried and after melting left depressions without any outlets. The shallow and smaller depressions of tliis kind have been lilled up with ck-cayed vegetable grovvtii liirnisbing beds whieh are favorable for cultivation of oinons and celery. About tliree miles southwest of Kipton one of tliese kettle holes is so large and deep that it is only partially filled with peat, so that there is left a pond of water in the middle covering several acres. The peat deposit, however, has encroached upon it to a considerable distance all around the edge. By drainage, also, the level of the water has been somewhat lowered. The principal service of the county ditches has been to furnish drainage for such depressions in the county.

Just south of the ridges, also, lower areas occasionally occur which were at first swamps where rich vegetable mold had accumulated, making most valuable land. Ditches across the lake ridges, however, have had to be dug to drain such areas. In several instances where these ditches have penetrated the lake ridges, fragments of trees liave been found buried fifteen or twenty feet below the surface, showing that forests gi'ew upon the shore of the lake while the ridges were being formed. The most of these fragments appear to be of sycamore trees.

Everywhere north of the north ridge the level is less than 100 feet above the lake. Between the middle ridge and the north ridge the general level is between 100 ami 150 feet above the lake, and between the middle I'idge and the south ridge the general level is between loO and 200 feet. These level areas were lake bottoms during the successive stages of the recession of the ice. South of the upper ridge, some of the levels are as follows - Elyria on the 150-foot ridge is 730 feet above tide; OIhtUu is nearly 100 feet higher or 827 feet above tide; Kipton, 30 feet higher, is 857 feet aljove tide (a level which at Collins in Huron County rises to 900 feet) ; Wellington is 856 feet above tide, or 30 feet iiigher than 01)erlin, while at Huntington Center the level is 970 feet al)ove tide, rising to 1,015 feet one mile south and to 1,100 feet on the line between Lorain and Ashland counties. Farther .south in Sullivan the land rises to an elevation of 1,200 feet, or 827 feet al)ove Lake Krie. The 1 .OOO-foot level is reached at Lilclilield. easl ol" Penliehl wiiieli is for tile most jjai't on a h'vel with Weliiiiglon, 855 feet above tide. The level of Lagrange corresponds closely to thai in Oherliii and i'itlslicid, being about 825 feel aliove tide, but eastward liirou^^h (Jral'loii it rises

Gas sjjrings have long been known in various parts of the county. When 1 was in college in 1857 Professor Allen used to take his classes over to the Gaston Farm a mile or two southwest of South Amherst to see a burning gas jet which came out of the ground just east of the road. ]n Siiel'tield in the Valley of Black River near Curtis' JNIill, a mile south of the Center, there was also a jet of gas wliich gave a brilliant flame when lighted. Evidently these jets came from the carbonaceous matter wiiicii we have said formed such a large portion of the Devonian Shale wliich covers the northern part of the county to a great depth.

Aftei" the iliscoveries of natural gas in Western Pennsylvania wells lu'gaii to l)e l)ored in the county about 1,000 feet to the bottom of the shale, from which deptli a small but steady supply of illuminating gas was usually obtained, in nuiny cases this was sufficient to furnisli light for the house and to do the cooking, and in some eases to provide all tile heat which was necessary to warm the iiou.se during winter. Sucli wells were specially successful in Ulack Kiver, Sheffield, lOlyi'ia, Ivu.ssia, Carlisle, I'ittslield, and Lagrange townshij)s. iu I'ittslield and Ijagrange the supply of gas from this .source was more abundant than in tile other townsliii)s.

Later a luucli larger supply of gas, with occasional small quantities of oil, was found about 1,000 feet lower down in what is called the "Clinton sand." This is just below a thick and tleiise dcpo.sit of limestone which had evidently confined the gas and kept it in pockets uiuler consideralile pressure.