Lorain City (part 48 of 77)

William II. Root was the youngest of the two boys. Next and soon came Oliver IMoon, IMilton Garfield, John B. Oarfield, A. R. Dimmick, William Richmond and Willis I^orter. In July and August there came the families of John Day and Jabez Burrell, the first arriving in July, and consisting of twelve persons, and the lattej; consisting of ten. William, the oldest son of John Day, at a later day becaine one of the associate judges of the county. Captain Smith, in the fall, returned to l\lassachusetts, and brought on his family in Rlarcli of 1817. There soon followed the IMoores, Stevens, Ilecocks, James, Arnold and Isaac Burrell. There is no township in the county, unless it be Crafton, and possibly Brownhelm and La Grange, tliat seems to have filled up as rapidly as Siicftichi, in the lii'sl years of its settlement.

Huron County, but it was attaclied to Cuyahoga County for judit-ial antl otlier i)uri)Oses, and so rciiiaiiu'd until 1815, when Huron County was i'ully ori^ani/.cd and assumed control of its own all'airs. Originally, Dover Township emhraecd Avon, and all of Shei'lield and HIack Jtiver townships east of the river. At a later day all of the teri'itory mentioned constituted the Township of Troy, also in Cuyahoga County.

Froni 1815 to 1824 all of Sheffield west of lilack River was attached to the TownsJiip of Black River, as it existed before its territory was reduced to its present limits. That part of Sheffield was then in Huron County. On the first Monday of June, 1824, a petition was presented to the commissioners of Lorain Count}^ wliich had just been organized, praying for a township organization which should embrace its present area - all of Black River Township east of the stream by that name, and so much of No. 6, range 17 (Elyria), as was set off to Enoch Perkins in the partition of that township. The petition was granted and Sheffield was the first township incorporated after the organization of Lorain County.

A special election for townshi[) officers occurred July 10, 1824, and resulted in the choice of the following officers: John Day, Isaac Burrell and A. R. Dimmick, trustees; Nathan Stevens, clerk; JMilton Garfield, treasurer. Jabez Burrell had l)een elected justice of the peace in 181!), while the town was a part of Troy ; was re-elected in 1822, and was still in office at the date of township organization.

In the draft at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1807, what is now known as I'ittstield Township was drawn l)y Ebenezer Devotion, William Perkins and eight others. The iirst white inhabitants were a man by the name of Barker and his two sons. The father cleared a small tract on the nortlieast corner of Lot '.)6 and tliei'e built a log cabin, but early in 1818 he ai)andoneil it for military service and left thx' house and the clearing to his sons. They, al.so, remained for but a short period, and proliably were drawn into the ranks.

Tiicn came a hiatus of a dozen years, bi-okeii, in 181!), by the survey of the township into lots on the i)ai't of miw proprietors. Milton Whilney was one oj' the lai'gest owners of that jx-i-iod. In 1820 lu; caiiie from the iOast, made an examinalion of the hnid, and entered iuto an ai-rangemenl with Thomas and JelVrey Waite, sons of 'JMiomas Waite, then of

Russia, by which they were to settle in town No. 4, range 18, upon his giving- them fifty acres of land eacli. Tiiis he did, and in the spring of 1821 the two Waites moved into the town, and took up their residence tiiere. They were the first j)erjuanent settlers in Pitlslield.

Immediately following the settlement of the Waites, they were joined by Henry and Chauncey Remington, upon a gift of 100 acres''of land to eacli of them by Whitney. The next settler was a minister by Ihc name of Sniitli. Mr. Norton soon thereafter moved into the town, lie built the first frame barn erected therein. The town filled up quite slowly, so much so that there was Init one frame liouse in the town as late as 1834.

The town was early annexed to AVellington for township purposes, and remained so annexed until December, 1831, when, on the petition of the inhabitants, it was detached and incorporated into a township by the name of Pittsfield. JMany of its largest land-owners resided in the ^Massachusetts town of that name. In April, 1832, the selection of towiisliip ofiicers completed its organization as a sei)arate civil body.

J]lyria Township was settled soon after the cessation of the War of 3812. That conflict interrupted settlement in Lorain County, as in every other portion of the Western Reserve. The first settlement of the township was coincident witli the founding of the Village of Elyria. It was not until 181G that the nucleus of the settlement was formed by the arrival of a ^h*. Beach, who located with his family in the western portion of what is now the townsite. The place cannot be said to have been founded, however, until the coming of Heman Ely from West Springfield, Massachusetts. He had purchased of the Connecticut Land ('omi)any about 12,000 acres of land lying around tiie falls of the Black River, and in March, 1817, arrived to take possession of his purchase and prepare for its improvement. Building a dam and erecting a grist and saw mill on the east branch of the river, he set about energetically to lay out the village, which, in his honor, assumed the name of Elyria.

It should be stated that the first persons to arrive on the scene of ihe Vj]y improvemeiils were Ilire(! men whom Ihe .liidge had sent ahead ill .laiiiuiry, 1817. Tliey wen! U'oderick Ashley, hldwiii Uiisii and .lames rortcr. Tlu'y walked Ihi' entire dislance from Massachusells to the Western Reserve, eai'rying axes on their siioulders. When Mr. I'lly arrived in ^lareli tbey had made quite a clearing in the forest for the l)uilding of the town. James Porter, tlie Irishman of tlie party, remained in Elyria, acquired property, })uilt liouscs and died there; his associates, liowever, returned 1o their homes in New England.

The Village of Elyria was soon laid out and some time in the succeeding year, 1818, Mv. Ely moved into his resilience, which he occupied for years afterward - the first frame house erected in tlie village. That residence has heen described as a buiding 45 by 40 feet, two stories, with cellar under the main part; kitchen in the rear; fireplace in every room, and brick oven in the kitchen. No stoves were known at tiiat time. The siding of the house was made from a single whitewood tree cut on the place near a bend in the road. A large barn was built at the same time. Invitations were sent to Ridgeville, and both frames were raised the same day. |

In the fall of 1818 I\Ir. Ely returned to his home in West Springfield, being a passenger on Walk-on-the-AVatcr, the first steamboat which ever ])licd Lake Erie to Buffalo. On October lOtli he married IMiss Celia J^elden, who returned witli him to tlie new Village of Elyria. As tiie Ely home was not then completed, for some time the young couple occupied a log house. Mrs. Ely was a woman of lovable disposition, and it was to the deep grief of her many friends tiiat she did not long enjoy the home which she helped to make. She died in 1827, leaving two sons, Ileman and Albert.

Of the party who accompanied Judge Ely to the site of Elyria, in February, 1817^ was Artemas Beebe, an expert carpenter and builder. The second house to arise on the village site, after ]\Ir. p]ly's residence, was built by I\Ir. Bcelie on the first lot purchased of the proprietor and opposite wliat afterward became known as the Ely homestead. It was a large two-story frame building, with an ell, and was used for many years as tavern and a stage office. In the early times Beebe 's Tavern was the acknowledged center of social life for the entire Village of Elyria, as it was the general stopping place for travelers seeking western homes, and for lawyers and judges, as well as the lounging place of the villagers themselves. The tavern was long what 'may be called the general "news excliang(i," and, in a way, became tiie i)olitical head- (|uarte?\s of the county.

During the first yi-ar of business Air. Heehe had a i)artiier in his tavern venture, but from 1819 to ]8;f5 actively conducted it himself. lu .1820 lie returned to his home in West Si)i'ingfield, Massachusetts, also Judge Ely's old home, where he married an old acquaintance. Miss Pamelia ]\Iorgan, of that place. One of their daughtei*s (the late J\l]-s. Mary Beebe Ilall), who afterward became known in the community as a woman of literary ability and social distinction, not long before her death issued an interesting booklet entitled "Reminiscences of Elyria," wherein she describes the journey of the young couple to their Elyria home, as well as the appearance of the primitive house, in which they counueneed their married life.

"On October 4, 1820," she says, "Air. Heebe was uuirried to Pamelia Alorgan, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, and started for their western home with a span of hoi-ses, and covered wagon filled with all possible articles required for housekeeping (necessities largely) - a big brass kettle to use over the fire for all domestic purposes; brass andirons, candlesticks, warming pan to heat the beds; foot stove to use in riding, or sitting in cold rooms; bed linen and wartirol)e.

"For four long weeks this young couple journeyed on through mud and various mishaps of overturned wagon and contents, and landed in Elyria to begin their home-making in a large and unplastered house. Tiiey were welcomed by Captain Cooley and family, who had occupied the house after it was finished, up to Air. Beel)e's home-coming with his wife. This home contained large fireplaces in all the living rooms and a larger one in tiie kitchen, with oven and crane; a big stone hearth and plent}' of wood to burn, and great back logs for foundations, for fires were always buried at night, as uuitches were not known.

"The arrangement of this home was typical of many others of the early times, with fireplaces and ovens. Occasionally, the ovens were biiill outside under a slu'il, with a ])ig stump used foi' foundation. This big liirplacc deserves a i)assiug notice, and I always feel sorry for ix'ople who nevei" have known how much pleasure is associated with it. A large iron Ijake kettle, with a lid, would be utilized at times in the <'()rnei' ol' the big hearth. What a delight for a child to sit and wateh the process! With live coals from the fireplace under and over, biscuits, gingerhread and johiiny-eake were done to a turn. Once a week the oven would he lieated and filh;d with bread, pies and cake. What antici[)ations of coining good things! Heefstcak on gridiron in i'ront of the lire, with live coals to l)roil it (nev(!r such steak) ; spare ribs or turkey on a cord in front of the fire, turned and basted until fit for a king! IIow pretty a row of apples looked roasting! How nice corn popped, and what fun to crack liickory inits on tlie stone heartli (for it ilid not crack it), and ea1en in the evenings! Baskctsful were gathered and sjircad on the garret floor, making a winter's supply for family and friends. Sweet cider, too. Stomachs were not recognized; one never lieard of appendicitis. There were rhubarb and castor oil in the house, and peppermint iu the lot, if one needed remedies in emergencies.

"In 1835, having ])uilt a house on the corner of Broad street and East avenue, I\Ir. Beebe rented the tavern to George Prior, brother-inlaw of J\Ir. Ely, and moved to this home, which has been the homestead and is still occupied by the youngest daughter. In 18-17 Mv. Beebe completed the Beebe House, at the corner of Park and I\Iain streets. At the time of its building, no town the size of Elyria could boast of such a fine, substantial hotel; an ornament to the town and a creilit to tlie builder, who wished to fui'iiish suitalile acconunodations for the increasing population of town and country. Jt was l)uilt and kept as a temperance house, as long as o\vned by the family, (.iatherings from town and country were entertaineil in the large parlors and dining room; also sleigh rides and ban(iuets. The fourtii floor was the Odd Fellows' Lodge for years. The dancing ball for private parties made this hotel the center of social life."

The two families - the P]lys and the Beebes - have the joint honor of being file central forces around which the infant Village of Elyria marshaled its forces and became fairly established as a growing community.

Altliough the village and the county seat early absorbed many of Die activities and most forceful characters of the township, the history of the latter, as a whole, is given, accoi'ding to the plan of this ciiapter. The fads arc taken fi-om -Iiidgc Uoynton's histoiy.

Eiiocli Perkins, a coiiipan}' composed of T{o<fer Newbury and olliers, .]olui II. Buell and Jonathan Dwij^ht. Tliey also drew tract :i, in the nineteenth range, annexed to the town to cfiualize it. These lands were divided between the owners, at the September term of the Supreme Court, in Portage County, in 1816. The south part of the town, about one-third of the whole, was set off to Justin Ely; the central part to Elijah White; 2,100 acres north of White's to Jonathan Brace; and the remainder to Perkins and Newbury. White conveyed to Justin Ely, and Justin Ely to his son, Ileiiian Ely, who purchased the Praee tract, making him the owner of 12,500 acres, in a solid body.

In 1816 Ileman Ely left his home in West Springfield, :\lassachusetts, to visit the lands of his father, soon to become his, in the above numbered town. In due time he arrived, and took up his abode at the hotel of Capt. IMoses Eldred, in Ridgeville, about two miles east of the river. During the season he engaged Jedediah Ilubbell and a I\Ir. Shepard, of Newburgh, to erect a sawmill and gristmill on the east branch of the river, near the foot of the present Broad Street, and in the fall of that year returned to Massachusetts. The erections contracted for were made during the winter of 1816-17. As stated, in January, Roderick Ashley, Edwin Bush and James Porter arrived from West Springfield, with axes on their shoulders, prepared to grapple with the forest along the Black' River. In February, 1817, Mr. Ely, Artemus Beebe, Ebenezer Lane, Luther Lane, Miss Ann Snow, and a colored boy called Ned, left Massachusetts for Ohio, and in :\Iarch joined the company that came on in the winter. Ebenezer Lane, afterward, and for niauy years, occupied with much distinction a place upon the bench of the Supreme Court of the state.

The party, on their arrival, took up their abode in a log house, built the previous year by ]\Ir. Ely, and the first structure of any kind erected in the town. Previous, however, to its occupancy, and in November, 1810, a family by the name of Beach had located in the western part of the town. George Douglas and Gersham Danks arrived in April, 1817. Pestus Cooley arrived from ^lassachusetts, ]May 28th, having made the entire distance on foot, and on the next day look charge of the mills on the river. There were now at least eleven i)ersoiis on i\w. townsite, and work was at once commenced in earnest.

'I'lic first Irainc building was tlic one occupied duriii;^ the first season for a joiner siioj) and tliereai'ter, for many years, for a store. Edmund West opeiKHl the first store in 1818. Tlie second frame building was for tlie residence of Mr. Ely. At the raising, as was customary in those times, men from many miles away were present, to i)ut tlieir shoulders to tile bent, and assist their neighbor in providing a habitation. All were considered neighbors within a distance of twenty miles. While buildings were being erected the forest was being felled.

Clark Eldred, then twenty yefirs of age, in 1816, upon ]\Ir. Ely's first visit here, entered into a contract with him for the purchase of lot No. 16, two and a half miles west of the river; and during the winter of 1816-17 commenced to clear the ground upon which he spent nearly a life. This was the first chopping in the neighboriiood.

In 1817 the survey of the township and village was commenced by Joshua Ilensliaw, a skillful surveyor, and continued until completed. In the fall of 1817 Ileman Ely and the two Lanes returned to Massachusetts, and spent the most of the winter. In October, 1818, IMr. Ely again visited the East; was made happy while there by his marriage to Miss Celia Belden, returned to Elyria, and directed renewed energies to the development of the town.

The first schoolhouse was built in 1819, of logs, just east of the river; and for years it served the double purpose of a schoolhouse and a church. Not far distant, and in the same year, Cliester Wright erected a distillery, one of the most flourishing institutions of pioneer times. The first village lot sold was to Artemus Beebe and George Douglas, carpenters and builders. The consideration paid was $32. As noted, the Beebe Tavern was erected thereon. INIaj. Calvin Iloadley, of Columbia, in the same year, as one of Mr. Ely's employes, built a Ijridge over the east branch of the Black River.

In May,. 1818, a postoffice was estalilished under tlie name of Elyria, and on the 2;]d of tiie month i\lr. Ely was appointed i)ostmaster, and continued in the office until April, ^H'^'.], when he was succeeded by .lohii S. Matteson.

Elyria is a busy and handsome city, and well worthy of its honor as the eivil and ])olitii'al center of the eoniity. Sueh huildings as tiio eourthouse, the Masonic Temple, tlu; Y. >M. (!. A., the liiyh school, the Memorial Hospital and sovei-al of its chnrches, would ho creditahlc to any city in the state, while the large soldiers' monument in the courthouse square indicates its standing as a patriotic community. Commencing with Judge Ely's mills, first erected on what is now J\lain Street, and the establishment of the first considerable manufactory at Elyria by the Lorain Iron Comjjany iu 18:^2, Elyria has developed her industrial life to a larger extent than most county seats. That statement will become evident in the detailed account which is elsewhere given, and four solid banks stand behind the local industry, commerce and trade. Sucli general statements regarding IClyria are made to fill out the bird's-eye view covering the jjrincijjal events in file seftlemenf and composition of ].,orain County.

TIh! (irst settler of town No. (i, range liJ, lying along Lake Ei'ie and then a part of Huron County, was Col. Henry Brown, from Stockbridge, ^Massachusetts. He was accompanied by Peter P. Pease, Charles "Whittlesey, William Alverson and William Lincoln, who assisted Colonel Brown iii building his house, as did Seth Alor.se and Rensselaer Cooley. ]\Ior.se and Cooley returned to the East for the winter. Alverson, Lincoln, Pease and Whittlesey remained on the ground. In after years iMr. Whittlesey became distinguished not only as a general in the Civil war, but as an arclueologist and historian. He was the founder of the Western Reserve Historical Society and its president for many years. The Township of Brownhelm is named in honor of the leader of the original colony, of wiiich ('olonel Whittlesey was a meml)er in tlie period of his young manhood and obscui'ify. Petei- P. Pease was tin* lirst settler of Oberlin.

Banmiii and Stephen James arrived in Brownlielm Towiiship, and after celeln-atinj^ the J^'oiirth on the sliore, entered upon jjioneer life near the lof^hoii.se of lirovvn. These W(M-e tlie lii'.st raitiilics tliul setth;d in the town. During the same year the Tamilies of Solomoii WhiUlesey, Alva ('urtis, iieii.jamin Baeon and Elteiiezer Scott arrived. In 1818 many otiier families were added, giving hope of a speedy filling up of the town. They were those of Colonel Brown, (Jrandison Fairehild, Anson ('uoj)i'r, Klisiia I'eek, Ceorge Baeon, Alfreil Avery, Knos Cooley, Orrin Sage, John Graham and others. There were other families that arrived and settled in the south i)art of the town, suhsecpiently set otf to Henrietta. Tliey will he named in connection with the mention of that town. The first framed house in the town was huilt hy Benjamin iiacon. The hrst brick house in the county was Ituilt by (Jrandison Fairehild in the summer of 1819.

From February, 1817, until October, 1818, the town was a part of Black River. At the latter date, on the petition of the inhabitants to the commissioners of Huron County, No. 6, in the nineteenth range, together with the surplus lands adjoining west, and all lands lying west of Beaver Creek, in No. 7, eighteenth range (Black River), was organized into a sejjarate township by the name of Brownhelm. Colonel Brown had the honor to select the name. Township officers were chosen at the spring election in 1811), held at the house of George Bacon. Calvin Leonard, Levi Shepard and Alva Curtis were elected trustees ; Anson Cooper, township clerk; AVilliam Alverson, trea.surer; Benjamin Bacon and Levi Shepard, justices of the peace. This perfected the township organization. That part of the present Town of Black River lying west of Beaver Creek was, in June, 1829, by order of the commissioners, detached from Brownhelm, and reannexed to Black River.

The original proprietors of Russia Township were Titus Street and Isaac ]\lills, the latter selling his interest to Samual Hughes before setthnnent actually commenced. In 1817, Thomas Waite moved his family fi-om Ontario C!ounty, New York, and resided in Amherst until th(! spi'ing of 1818, when he moved into Russia Township, taking up a pi(!C(^ of land in its noi'tliwest corner, north of the road leading fi'nin AVebli's Cornel's 1() Henrietta. Tliere, a few years aflerwai'd, he died, llie (ii'st settler in Hie townsiiip.

111 1820 the west road began to be opened, and Daniel Rathburne and Walter and Jonathan Jiuek, with their families, settled in the town iu that year. Jn 1821, the I'aiiiilies ot John i\leCauh;y and Lyruan Wakely were added. Tliey were followed in 1822 by Samuel T. Wightman and Je.sse Smith, witll their families. In 1823, Jolm Maynes joined the settlement, and in 1824, Aleeker, George and Jonathan Disbro, Daniel Axtell, Abraham Wellman, Israel Cash, Richard Rice, James R. Abbott, and Henry and John Thurston took up their abode there. Some of these may have moved in, in 1823. They were soon followed by Elias Peabody, Samuel K. Alellen, Lewis D. Boynton, El)er Newton, Joseph Carpenter and otliers. Whether the first schoolhouse was built just north of Eber Newton's, or near the residence of Alonzo Wright, is in dispute. There was one at each place at an early day.

Until 1833 the southern part of tlie township was unbroken ground and largely dense forest. In the spring of that year, Peter P. Pease, one of the Brownhelm pioneers and the advance guard of the Oberlin colony, erected his log cabin opposite where the Park Hotel now stands and on college ground.

Messrs. Street and Hughes, proprietors of the town, had donated upwards of 500 acres of land to the contemplated Oberlin Collegiate Institute, and had sold to its friends 5,000 acres more at .1<1.50 per acre. The resale of that tract at $2.50 an acre provided the fund that founded the college, and thus was firmly established the most important movement and institution which had originated within the bounds of Lorain County.

The annual report of the institute for 1834, the second year of its life, has the following: "One and a half years ago, its site was uninhabited and surrounded by a forest three miles square, which has since been taken by intelligent and pious families, which have formed asettlement called Oberlin Colony that will soon prol)ably over.spread the entire tract. This site was chosen because it was supposed to be healthy, eouhl be readily api)roaclied by western lakes and canals, and yet was suffieiently remote from the vices and temptations of large towns, and because extensive and fertile lands could here be ol)taiiied for the manual lal)or (U'liartinent of this Institute and for tlu; settlement of a sustaining colony on better terms than elsewhere. Its grand olgect is the difl'u.sion of useful science, sound moi-ality and true I'cligion, among the growing nudtitudes of the Mississippi valley. One of its ol)jeets was the elevalion of female character, and included witliin its genei-al design

When Hlaek River was organized in February, 1817, by the commissioners of Huron County, tiie lands adjoining the present township of Amherst, on the south, were aiuie.xed to enable the itduibitants to enjoy township privileges. The inhabitants of Russia remained so anne.xed, until June, 1825, at which time, on petition of many of her citizens,, it was detached from Black River l)y tlie commissioners of Lorain County and incorporated into a separate township. The election of township officers was had at a log schoolhouse on the hill near Wright's in the summer of 1825, it being a special election ordered for the purpose of perfecting the township organization. At this election, George Disbro, Israel Cash, and Walter Buck, were elected trustees ; Richard Rice, clerk ; and Daniel Axtell, justice of tlie peace.

The pioneer settlers of what is now Grafton Township also came into that part of the county after the War of 1812 had spent its force and it seemed safe to locate in the region of the great lakes. The township was then attached to IMedina County. Settlement commenced in 1816. In May of that year, from fifteen to eighteen men left Berkshire County, Ma.ssachusetts, and journeyed hither for the purpose of selecting and locating lands for which they either had exchanged or were to exchange, lands owned by them in that state. Among these men were Jonathan Rawsoii, John and George Hibley, Seth C. and Thomas Ingersoll, sons of I\Iajor William Ingersoll and brothers of Mrs. Harriet Nesbit. The selection was made and all returned East, except the Sibleys, and the men employed by Rawsou to remain and work at clearing the forest.

In the fall of that year, IMaj. William Ingersoll moved his family into the town, arriving on November 4th. He settled just east of Kingsley's Corners, on land selected by his sons in the spring. The journey was made with a span of horses, and three yoke of oxen. A small shanty bad been built on tiie land of the Sil)lcys, and upon their invitation il was occupied by the fainily of Major Ingersoll foi- about two weeks, during which time In- and Ihe boys erccled a log house upon land of his own.

Jii tlie iiioiitli of :\lar(;li following, ciimc the families of the Rawsons, ]iou{,'hto)is, Siljleys and Nesl)it.s; and a little later in the same season the j'amili<'s of (Jai)t. William Twrn(!r, Aaron Root, and I'.ildad lieidin ; and Jiot loiif,^ al'Uir tlu; family of David Ashley. An attack was at onee made upon the thick forest, and within twelve months from the arrival of Major Ingersoll, twelve log houses were erected, that gave shelter to jiinety-seven persons. During the following year, additions were made l)y the arrival of many other families.

Medina County was not civilly organized until January, 1818, and on the 25th of the following July its connnissioners incorporated the Township of Grafton. At the first election held in August, 1818, Eliphalet Jones, William Ingersoll and William Ji. Crittenden were elected trustees; AVilliam Bishop, clerk; Reuben Ingersoll, trea.surer; David Ashley, appraiser of property; Grindel Rawson and Seth C. Ingersoll, fence viewers. Previous to the organization of the township, it had been attached to Liverpool for judicial purposes, and in April, 1818, Reuben Ingersoll had been elected justice of the peace at the election held in that town.

The first school was taught by Miss I\Iary Sibley in 1818, in the log house built near the residence of Cajit. William Turner. During the same year a churcii was organized l)y Rev. T. Brooks.

Grafton Village, which is eight miles southeast of Elyria, is a place of about 1,000 people, divided by the line between Grafton and Eaton townships, the bulk of the commuinty lying in the former. Some years ago it was an important center of the stone industry, l)ut the growth of the cement business, and the use of artificial material in the construction of bridges and building, so seriously interfered with the quarrying of stone that only one live quarry remains at that place. That is a branch of tlie Cleveland Stone Company operating under the name of the Grafton Stone Company, and its output consists chiefly of grindstones. The only other considerable business concern of the place is the (Jrai'ton Jjumber and Consti'uction (.'ompany. The village corporation (laics from 1S82.

was organized ])olitically, tlio origin of tlie iiaino is directly traced to one William Welling, a New Yorker, who was of tlie original hand of eiiiigrants. Settlement commenced in ]H\H and lln; township was oi'^'anizcd three yeai's latei-.

lOjiiiraim Jioot anil .James Jioss were the original owners, and they sold the town to Frederick Ilaudin, James Adams, Francis llerrick and Ilai-mon Kingshnry, of Berksiiire County, JMassachusetts ; two of these, Adams and Kingshury, never hccame residents of the town. In the spring of 1818, the settlement of the town was commenced. Epiiraim A. Wilcox, John Clifford, Charles Sweet and Joseph Wilson, of Berkshire County, ^Massachusetts, and AVilliani AVelling, of Montgomery County, New York, reached Grafton in Fehruary of that year, and in ^March following cut their path through to Wellington. They maile an opening to the sunlight at the center of the town, and at once liuilt a log cahin for habitation. They carried a few blankets and bed ticks, filling the ticks with dry leaves. The bedstead was constructed by driving four ci-otched stakes in the ground, laying poles fi-om stake to stake, and placing white oak shakes from pole to pole. Upon this structure they placed their leafy bed, and upon tliis bed their weary limbs. Having provided a ilwelliug they at once conunenceil to clear the forest. As often as once a week two of the luimber went to (irafton, a distance of tell miles, to get their bread baked. The number and ferocity of wild animals made it dangerou.s for one to go alone. There being two, eaeii coiislituled a body guard for the other.

('litford returned to jMassaeliusetts in the following ]\Iay. On July 4t]i, of the same year, Frederick Hamlin arrived, accompanied by the wife of AVilcox, her son Theodore, Caroline Wilcox, and Dr. I). J. Johns. l>efore their arrival, AVilcox had erected a log house on land selected by him northwest of the center, into which he at once took his family. This was the first family that made its advent into the town. Othei's were soon added, among wiiom were tho.se of John llowak, Alaiisoii Tlowak, AVhitman De W^olf, P.enjamin Wadsworth, Silas Hailey, Amos Adams, Judson AVadsworth, James Wilson and Josiaii Bradley.

l''riMlcii(k Hamlin was one of the associate judges in the county, appointed in 1824, upon its organizalion. lie was succeeded in that office by his fellow townsman, Dr. D. J. Jolins.

Tuwnshu' Ouoanization

Tlio townsliip was orgnuy^d in April, 1821. it was then a i)art of Mediiiu County. Ilainliu was elected a trustee; Wilcox a justice of the peace, aud D. J. Johns township clerk. Colonel Ilerrick had been a meniber of the Massachusets Legislature while a resident of Massachusetts. He did not remove here until 1837.

Wellington, as a village, came into historic prominence in the late '50s because of the rescue of a fugitive slave from the hand of a United States marshal and two Kentuckians on his way to his southern owners. In later years it became one of the leading cheese centers of the country, and has developed into a clean, substantial and progressive village of some 2,200 people. It has two banks, a number of manufactories, a handsome town hall, modern water works and electric light facilities, a well-organized school system and churches to meet the requirements of all its residents.

The settlement at Wellingt;)n, or the Center, dates from the first influx of residents as early as 1818-19, but its standing as a leading center of trade and higher activities 1)egins with the construction of the Cleveland, Colunilius and Cincinnati Railroad, chiefly through the persistency and ability of its Dr. D. Z. Johns, in 184!)-r)(). That line gave Wellington control of much of the southeastern part of the county, and the pcniianent growth of the village, which was incorporated in 1855, was assured from that time and l)y that event.

In February, 1818, about the time that IMessrs. Hamlin, Wilcox and Clifford left Berkshire County, Massachusetts, to establish homes in AVellington Township, Joseph Sage, John Laborie and others departed from Huntington, Connecticut, for the town immediately to the south. It was then simply No. 2, range 18, but in 1822 was incorporated as Huntington, in honor of the Connecticut Village.

Joiin liuboric and wil'e (tlie latlei' being llie daughter of .Mr. Sage) weiH' llh! parents of the lirsl rainily that took up its settlement in the (own. They li'j'l in February, IHJH, aceoiupanietl by four boys and ;i gii-1. Tlu'y made tlio route; I'roiii Coiiiiueticnt to Ihulsoii, tlieu in Portai^e county, in four weeiis, travolinj,' tlie whole distance in a sleigh. At Stow tlicy hired an ox team to take thcin tiirou^h, and after six days of severe journey, they reached town No. 1 (yidlivan)., then liaving hut four families - settlers of the previous year - within its boi'ders. On the next day, they moved forward and took ])ossession of a log hou.se tiiat had been built by Henry Chase. Tliere was an opening for a door, but nothing to till or close it; no window nor cliimney. The cracks, or openings between the walls, had not been chinked. They had one neighbor. He had just preceded them in settlement, and was from Eastou, New York. Laborie at once erected a log house, and moved into it, and there lived for some three weeks, without a window, floor or chimney. The bedsteads were made of puncheons, and the beds were ticks filled with leaves. The boys chopped some poles, placed them on the joists above, making a chamber and took up their lodging in the loft. Sage went South, bought some hogs, drove them home, butchered them and salted them down in a trough. The trough cracked, the brine ran out, the salt lost its savor and away went the pork. ,

^Irs. Laborie was not, however, to remain long without female friends from her Eastern home. On the 20th of June, of the same year, the family of Jsaae Sage arrived. In the afternoon of tiie day of their arrival, liiey were feasted on a pot-i)ie, made of the meat of a young bear.

Early in fall, there came the families of Oliver Rising and Daniel Tillotson. Benjamin Rising came with Oliver. The first framed dwelling was built by Reuel Lang.

Benjamin Rising was the first manufacturer of the town. J. B. Lang thus describes his manufactory: "It was a latlie, operated by a spring-i)ole, for turning wooden bowls. A bark rope, attached to a long spring-pole, overhead, passing around the mandrel, which was of wood and attached to a treadle below. The treading on this threw the block around two or three times, and then the pole springing back threw the block back, ready for another 'gouge.' "

In August, 1822, the commissioners of Medina County, to which Huntington then belonged, incorporated the town by the name it now bears. It took its name from Huntington, Connecticut, the former abid-

Penfield Township has an appropriate name, as its first settler was thus dcsig-nated and for several years after he located the majority of its inhabitants were Penfields. liefore it was incorporated under that name it was designated by the surveyors as township No. S, range 17. By the draft it became the proi)erty of Caleb Atwater, who gave it to his six daughters, Lucy Day, Ruth Cook, Abigail Andrews, IMary Heebe, Sarah I\Ierrick and the wife of Judge Cook.

The first exploration of the township b.y persons seeking western lands, was in the fall of 181S, by Peter Penfield and Calvin Spencer, then residents of Kastern New York. TJiey were assisted in their examination of the township by James Ingersoll, of Grafton, after wliich they returned to the East.

In 1819, Peter Penfield again came, and selected land, emjjloyed Seth C. Ingersoll to erect a log house upon it, and returned home. Ingersoll completed the dwelling in the fall of that year. In February the next, Peter Penfield and Lothrop Penfield arrived and in connection with Alanson, a son of Peter, already on the ground, and who remained during the winter preceding and taught school in Sheffield, commenced to open the forest four miles from the nearest inhabitant.

In the fall of 1820, or early winter, Truman Penfield arrived with his family, the first that came, and moved into the log house built by Ingersoll. In the following I\Iarch, the family of Peter Penfield, which up to this time had remained ICast, arrived and joined in the occupancy of the log cabin, until another could l)e erected.

Calvin Spencei* came again in 1821, selected land, engaged i'eter Penfield to build a house upon it, and returned to New York. In the fall of 18U1, Samuel i\niipp came, examined tlii- land, made a selection and rc'tui-ncd home, and ivniainod tlu'i-e until the fall of 1822, when with liis family he took ui) his ahode in the infant setthuiient, npon the lands so selected. (Jther families soon followed. Diivid I'. Merwin arrived in 1824. Calvin Speiieei' moved his family into the liouse prepared for him in the spring of the same year. The fanuly of Stephen lOiapp arrived about the same time, and the family of Benjamin E. Merwiu in 1825.

The township was organized at an eleetion in 1825, held at the dwelling house of Truman Penfield, having been previously ordered by the commissioners of ^Medina County, of which county the town then formed a part. The officers elected were Samuel Kuapp, Samuel Root and Peter Penfield, trustees ; Truman Penfield, clerk ; Lothro]) Penfield, treasurer. In 1826 Ben.jamin E. INFerwin was elected justice of the peace. Previous to its incorporation, the inhabitants had agreed iij^on Richland as the name of the town, and petitioned the conniiissioners for an order of incorporation by that name. But the conunissioners ascertaining there wei'e other localities having the name of Richland, rejected the application, and named it Penfield, in honor of the first settler. Previous to the organization of the town, it had l)een annexed to (irafton, and in connecMion with that town enjoyed townshi[) privileges until it was set apart to act under independent organization.

C.Vulisle Tuwnsuu'

As has been stated, Carlisle and Elyi-ia were organized together for civil purposes, in October, 1819, under the name of Elyria and as a township of Pluron County. Carlisle was detached and separately organized in June 4, 1822, on petition of Obed Gibbs and others. Previously, a part of town 5 had acquired the name of Murraysville, but that was not satisfactory to the inhabitants who resided any considerable distance from IMurray's Ridge. Phineas Johnson, one of the first two settlers, wished the township named Berlin, after his native Connecticut town. So the citizens compromi.sed by naming the township neither Miirraysville nor Berlin, but Carlisle.

The first settlement of the town was madi' in the spi'ing of 1819, ])y Samuel Urooks, from IMiddletown, ('oiniectieid. lie was aeeompaiut'd by riiineas ffohnson, his wife's fathei-, who assisted in selecting the spot for their future home, -lohnson returned to Connecticut. A log house was soon erected, and in it Samuel Brooks took ui> his abode. This was oil the east hrauch of Black River, in tlie oast part of the town. In September of that year Ilezekiah Brooks, a ])rother of Samuel and Avhose wives were (hiuglitctrs of Pliineas Johnson; Capt. James Jirooks and I'atriily, tofjether with the families of Johnson and Riley Smith, left MiddletowQ, and after the usual tedious journey of about six weeks, with ox teams, I'eached Elyria. Smith and family remained at Elyria for a while, and then went into Carlisle. The families of the Brookses and Jolmsons pushed forward to Carlisle, and moved in with Samuel, and remained until other dwelling ])laces eould be provided.

families of Jamison Murray, before then for some time residents of Ridgeville, and Philo ]\Iurray, and Philo, Jr., had taken up their residence on the ridge, and Obed Gibbs and family, with Ransom and David, had settled further south. Soon afterward, the families of Solomon Sutliff, Chauncey Prindle, Bennett, Drakely, Ilurd and others were added. Prindle .settled at the center of the town. Abel Farr and Abel Farr, Jr., and John Baeon, were among the earliest residents of the town.

Brighton township is a produet of tlie early '20s. Only a few settlers had located previous to its civil organization in 182;i Its pioneer settler was Abner Loveman, Jr., who located on tract 7 in 1820, and

Had tlie territory comprised by the township lines been surveyed into a township, it would liave been town 3, range 19, and it was so entered on tlie county records at the date of its incorporation. It was, however, formed by the commissioners of ^ledina County, out of tract 7, a part of tract 6, and a part of tract 8.

Lemuel Storrs was the original owner of all of tract 8. He drew it at the draft in connection with Lagrange, to which it was annexed for equalization. Four thousand acres in tract 7, were annexed to Wellington, to ecpialize it, and were drawn by Ephraim, Root and James Ross, in connection with that township, and tract 6 by Peter Brooks, John Call, William Shaw, George Black, and Bennewel Cheney. Some of these parties sold to, and others exchanged with Tuckerman Brothers, Ilarman Kingsbury, Norton, Stocking, Deming, Hamlin and Alford. Tuckerman Brothers sold to Levi Bliss, of ^Massachusetts.

The township was organized at the spring election of 3 823. Joseph Kingsbury, Avory Hall, and Calvin Roice, were elected trustees; Leonard 11. Loveland, clerk; Alnier Loveland, treasurer; and Abner Loveland, Jr., justice of the peace. There were twelve electors, just about the numlK'r of persons required to fill the offices in those days. The township belonged to Lorain, as then formed, but, with other townships, remained attached to Jledina County, until the organization of Lorain was completed.

At the June session of tlie commissioners of Lorain County, town 4, range 17, was attached to Carlisle for civil and judicial purposes, and remained so attached until its separate organization, as Lagrange Township, in January, 1827. The first election for township officers was held in April of that year at the residence of Fairchikl Hubbard. Eber AV. Hubbard, afterward one of the associate judges of the Common Pleas Court, was elected towoship clerk; James Disbrow, treasurer; Noah Holcomb, Noah Kellogg and Fairchild Hulibard, trustees, and Eber W. Iluliliard, justice of the peace.

Town 4, range 17, with 3,70() acres in tract 8, range 19, now in Brigiilon ami Camden, was drawn by Henry Ciiampion and Lemuel Storrs, Champion owning two-tliirds and Storrs one-third of the purchase. Cham])ion conveyed his part of the town to liis son-in-law, Eiizur Goodrich, wlio exchanged i)art of it with Nathan Clark, Roger Phelj)s.

On .\ovend)er 14, 1825, Nathan Clark uv.nU'. the first settlement of the town. During the next season the families of Noah Iloleond), Sylvester .Merriam, James Disbrow and Joseph A. Graves arrived for permanent settlement and a new abiding place. In the latter part of the same year, Fairehild Hubbard .moved in from Brighton, where he had rel^^:^ife^:::%^^5^^^^ mained during the reason of 1826. Population so increased, that in the fall of that year there were over sixty i)ersons resident in the town, with more continually coming.

Lagrange is a little village of about 500 people, seven miles northeast of Wellington, on tlie Uig Four line. It i.s incorporated; has a good school, to aeeommfidate which a substantial liuilding was erected in 181)1 and an annex in 1!)15; a ivliahle bank; sevei-al churches aiul other evidences of intelligence, morality and progressiveness.

TTeiirietfa Township was organized from Tirowniielin in 1827, but it was eight years before it ac(|uii'ed its present form, in Novendiei'. 182U, the inhabitants in the soutli part of IJrownlielni, pL'titioiied tlie coinniissionors to taku oil' tlie three south tiers of lots, attaeli them to unsettled lands lying, soutli, and incorporate the same into a township. The i)(;tilioners took oeeawion to say, that it was seven miles from the lake shore to the south line of the towusliip; that there had been but little eomnuinieatiou between the north and south settlements; and that if it was extrouiely inconvenient for a portion of the people to transact the public business of the town. The prayer of the petition was rejected, but at tlie same session of the commissioners it was ordered tliat tracts 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, in range 19, with surplus lots lying west of said tracts, be erected into a township, by the name of Henrietta, and be atttaciied to Brighton for judicial purposes. The townsliip, as thus formed, inchuletl a large part of the present Townsliij) of Camdem, and a little more than two-thirds of Henrietta.

As organized, it was not satisfactory to the inhabitants of tlie south part of Brownhelm, and in February, ]827, upon tlieir petition, two tiers of lots, being over a mile in wiiUh, were iletaclied from the soutli part of Brownhelm, and annexed to Henrietta; and tract No. 9, was detached from Henrietta, ami annexed to Brighton. An election was ordered for townsliip ofiiceis, wliich took place in Ai)i'il, LS27. Calvin J..eonard, Simeon Durand and Smith Hancock, were elected trustees; Justin Abbot, clerk; Joseph Powers, treasurer; Kdwai'd Durand, justice of tile i>eace. In ^March, lcS;{9, lots 86, 87, and 88, wei'e detached from lirowiihclm, and annexed to lleiirietla; and in March, 1835, lots 81, 82, 83, 84 aiul 85, the remainder of the tier, were added.

The fir.st settlement was on the Brownhelm Territory. The first occui)ants were Calvin Leonard, Simeon Durand, Ruloft' Andress, Joseph .Swift, John Denison, Uriali Hancock, Jedediah Holcomb, Aimoii IIolcomb, 0])ed Holcomb, Jo.seph Powers, tlie A))liots and possibly otiiers. They look up their abode there, in 1817, about tlio same time that the Shore Settlement was made. After the organization of the town, in 1827, a postoffice was established on the hill, and 'Squire Aliliot appointed first postmaster.

Tlu' townshiiis of Camden and Rochestcir were organized by the eommissiiiiHis of li'irain (Jounty in March, 1835. Camden Townshij) was carved out of Hrigliton and lleni'ietta. Tim j)r()longation of the line bel wccu Kiissia and Piltslield, west 1o range 20, was its noilheni bomidary, and the extension west to llie same range, of tlie line between Pill.sliclij and Wellinglon, its soiilhern. TrnelH !l and 10, and parl.s of lots 8 and 11, in ranf^'c ]9, tof,'(.'tlii'r with surplus lands lyinj,' west, J'oi-iiiud the material I'or its territorial eoiiijjosition. Tract !), by the dralt at llartford, hceaiiK; aiiiM;X(;(l to (Jrai'loii, and was drawn hy Leiinnjl Hturrs; tract 10, annexed to Dover, hy Neheniiah Hubbard and Joshua Storrs. Tract 11, annexed to I'ittsheld, was drawn hy Henry Champion and Lemuel Storrs. None of the lOth range south of Brownhelin, as originally formed was surveyed into townships, hut was all surveyed into tracts, which were originally annexed to other towns for purposes of equalization.

Leonard Clark with his family, accompanied hy his wife's father, Closes Pike, made the lirst occupancy of land now forming the Town of Camden. This was in 1H2'.). The J'ainily livi'd there but a few years before moving West. In ]\larcli, 1S;5;{, the families of William Scott and John Johnston took up their settlement on tract 11. These were the first families that permanently settled, at least in that part of the town then constituting a part of Henrietta. Later in the season, a schoolhouse was "thrown up" by the inhabitants, and Mrs. Johnston gathered the few children and opened the lirst school. Other settlers soon joined, among whom were those of Waugh, Clark, Douglas, AVasid)urn, Cyrenius, Holcomb, AVells, Lee, Wilcox, Smith and Eddy. On the (ith of April, 1835, the first election for township officers was held in the log schoolhouse, and resulted in the choice of Azel Washburn, Robert Douglas and Obed Holcomb, trustees; John Cyrenius, clerk; David Wells, treasurer. Gideon AVaugh was the first justice of the peace.

At the same session that Camden was set apart and organized into a township, lots 1 to 15, inclusive of tract 'S, with all of tracts -i and 5 and a part of tract 6, in range 19, together with surplus lots, 9 to 14, inclusive, lying west of the range, with a jiart of surplus lot 8, were formed into the Township of Rochester. Tract No. 5, was drawn by Uriah Holmes, in connection with the Town of Litchfield, IMedina County; and tract 4, by Oliver Sheldon and others, was annexed to Huntington. The first settlement was made hy Elijah T. Baiuiing, in April, 18;n. Between ]8:{1 and 18:55 Benjamin C. Perkins, William Slicpard, rlohn (Jonaut, John Baird, Samuel Smith, Luther Blair, ffo-sepli IlatHcy, Nchcmiah Tuc.l<(;r, M. W. V\ Kay, lOrastus K'napp, Obijali W. Bahcock, John Peet and others, some with families, were joined to the .si'tllement.

The township was organized on the 6th of April, 1835, by the election of John CoiiMut, Joseph liadley, and NeliciiiiMli Tuckci', trustees; 1\1. \j

Blair, elurk; Benjamin C. Perkins, treasurer. Tiie organization of Camden and Rochester, in March, 1835, completed the organization of the townships of tlie L'litire county.

Rochester is a station and a village of perhaps 300 people on the Big Four line, half a dozen miles southwest of Wellington. It owes it« origin to the old Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, whicli, largely through the energy and influence of Dr. I). Z. Johns, of Wellington, was put througli the southeastern i)art of the County, several miles south of Elyria and Oberlin. The earlier settlement in the township was at the Center, although the postoffice of 1837 was at its southeast comer. But with the construction of the railroad in 1849-50 the postoffice was moved to the Station and not a few residents transferred their interests tliither from the Center. The first store at the Station was opened in 1848.

One ()[' the very few Revolutionary soldiei-s buried in Lorain County is Geoi'ge Fauver, whose remains lie in Butternut Cemetery, Eaton Township. Among his descendants are such men as L. B. Fauver, Ross Fau\'cr, L. 1). llaiidin and Julian Fauver of Elyria and L. A. Fauver, of Lorain; also ]\Iable Ciibsoii, of Oljerlin, and the I\Iunn and Lyons I'aiuilics, of lOaton Township.

Centennial Celebrations

A Centennial IIekald - Earliest Record op Lake Shore Region - The Sjiitix Tiuvels - Relics of French Adventurers - Rising ok the Lake Level - Avon's Mysterious First Settler - Avon Through A Hundred Years - Physical Features - Phcrrki'ont Edwards, Original Proi'Rietor - Permanent Colony Arrives (1814) - WiLiiUR Cahoon Founds First Permanent Faahlv - Orkjinal Cahoon Tract - DivVth of Wilbur Cahoon - Nicholas Young - Lewis' Austin - OTiiut Families Join Colony - Elaii Park - The Sweet Family - First Settler in French Lick YiLLA(iE - 'I'iie Stickney and Williams Famimios - First IOvknts - Industries - Religious IMatters^I'ioneeu Schoolhouse - Holy Trinity Church - Cueese-RIaking Auandoned - Curious Mounds Razed - Avon's Patriotism - The Sheffield Centenniai, - Norman Day Descrihes First Colonists - The Burrkli.s ExplorI': - 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 Burrells Come - Churches Organize - First Events - Township Oi;ganizati()n - Death op Captain Smith - Other ^Members of the Family - Decease OP Pioneers - Historic Contributions PRt)M jMiss ]\Iav Day - ]}uilding the Saw-IMill on French Creek - Grist and Saw-I\Iill - Other IMills - Brick Houses - Settling in a Duck Pond - The Burrells and Hecocks - The Root Family - The Days - Items About Pioneers (lENEiauLv - Two Cnsuccessful Institutions - - Ship Builders and Lake Captains - Gold Hunters of l<s4!)-r)0 - Judge William Day, Active Land 7\(;ent - The Parks Families - Siii:ffield in the Civii, War - ]\Iilton Garfield - Sheffield's

Natives - The German Residents - Hr. Theresa's Catiiomc Church - Details of the Sheffield Celebration - The Absent Ones - Historic Programme - Huntington 's Home-Coming - Myron T. Heruick, Native Son - Professor F. D. Ward - The Historic Kelsey JiAND - Plans for a Centennial - The Perry Centennial - Local Particii'ation - The Niagara Raised from the Lake Bottom - Grand Welcome to the Restored Flagsuu' - Perry Relics Exhibited.

In the years 1914 and 19L5 oeeiirred various historic celebrations of special interest to tlie old I'esidents in the territory and townships bordering Lake Erie. There were honie-eoniings of both families and sections, marking the passage of a century since the pioneers of the lake region in Lorain County tirst planted themselves therein for tlie benefit of the generations whieli were to follow. Some of their descendants yet remained in tiieir tracks, but most of them had ventured into other counties and states.

During tlie early period of tliis eenteiuiial season of celebrations and reminiscences a wortliy herald appeai'ed in tlie columns of the Lorain Times-Herald, with the following message: "The time is a])proi)riate for mentioning tliat the centennial anniversary of the settlement of that portion of tiie Lake Shore lying Itetween iilack River and Rocky River is near at hand, and that people should he gathering their reminiscences for the occasion. Tile townshii)s of Black River, Siietiield, Avon and Dover are comprised within tliese Iioundarics. Eacli of these townsliips will have its own tale to relate aliout the early settlers and their descendants, reciting also matters relating to the life and improvements of the century.

"The earliest record of this i)arj of Ohio belongs in cominon to all llies.' t()wnshi|)s, before their present boundaries were strictly marked. The (iist reference to this lake region hitherto discovered is contained in Chai'levoix' History of New Kranc, piiblished in 17-U. Speaking of 1li(! soiitliern sJHHv of j^nke i'lrie IJic imllini- says: 'All ihi.s ,s||,,iv is nearly unknown. ' There is also an old French map made in 1755 to be seen in the rooms of the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland. This map shows the country west of the Cuyahoga to the Sandusky River, and this region, which includes the northern townsliips of Lorain Comity is designated as the seat of war, the mart of trade and the chief hunting grounds of the six Indian nations of the lake.

"In the spring of 1755 one, James Smith, eighteen years of age, was captured near Bedford, Western Pennsylvania, by Indians from the lake region. He was adopted into their tribe and remained with them until 1760, wlien he rejoined his own people, rose to the rank of Colonel, and wrote an account of his adventures with his Indian friends. His memoir was first published l)y James Taylor, a journalist of Sandusky, in tlie first volume of his history of Ohio.

"Smith first saw Lake Krie six miles west of Black River and tells how he Avas impressed by the roar of thu storm-driven waves. After the storm subsided he, with the Indians, traveled east to the mouth of Black River on the sand bcadi along the shore. lie tt'lls of seeing ii nnmlier of large; (isli which had been stranded on the hea(;li in iiollows in the sand by the foi-cc of llic waves tiial, on I'cceding, iiad left tlicni tlicre. At tile mouth of the river was a eauip or town of tlie Wyandots. Thi'y spent some time at the camp making hunting expeditions as far soutli as the falls of Black River, now Elyria. They found abundance of t?anie - deer, lieai', I'aeeoons, etc. - and loaded tluniiselves witli fur. Tlienee, with ])a(:kK of furs, they took an easterly course ami camped for the winter of 1755-56 on the banks of Rocky River, where they found much provision of game, etc., and in February made sugar. Starting the latter part of i\Iarch the party made their way along the shore of Lake Erie to Sandusky, where was a French trading post. There they bartered their furs for clothes, paint and tobacco and whatever else they fancied. After this they again moved east, this time in cauoes, along the shore, landing at the mouth of the Cuyahoga. They spent the winter of 1756-57 on the banks of this stream and in the spring, making a large chestnut canoe, they had a fine voyage along the south shore of tho lake as far as Sandusky, when, a storm coming up, they landed on Cedar Point. Those who wish to read the further adventures of Colonel Snutli may find them published in Howe's historical collections of Ohio, Vol. II, page 580.

"Here we have a little ray of light thrown on the dark primeval forests of northern Ohio. P\dl of game they were - deer, bear, raccoons, wild turkeys - but we see the Indians 2)ref erring the water route to going too far into the umbrageous wilderness. The lake also furnished them with fish, although Smith relates that they were unskilful fishermen. The country then was claimed by the French who had a trading j^ost at Sandusky.

"As to the subsequent settlement and legal organization of these townships much may be learned from an address delivered by Judge AV. W. Boynton on July 4, 1876, on the early history of the Western Reserve and Lorain County, which must always remain a most valuable foundation for any future history. More details of these early days are, however, very desirable, especially as to the Lake townships. Judge. Boynton speaks of the difiiculty of obtaining accurate information. He says: 'P'ew of the early settlers are left to recount the incidents, privations and rude pleasures of early life. Tradition is not always reliable, and memory, once fresh and faithful, fades with advancing years.' If this were so in 1876, the difficulties now, thirty years later, are correspondingly increased.

"Nevertiielcss, much may undoubtedly be yet collected by those interested in the sid).ject. There are local tales and traditions that no person uiiaidetl could well gather. JMuch may be gleani'd from old deeds, wills and other records, and there is a later history that can be readily recalled.

"111 Avon, I'or instance, there is a graveyartl on tlie shore where 'tlie rude fore fat liers of the liaiiilet sleei>' eluse to tlie sounding hike tiiey loved so well in life. Tradition siiy.s tliis plat was used for burial purposes long before the settlers, wliose deseendants now live there, arrived. And the original graves found in this God's aere were not Indian gi-aves. The story told is that tliey are the graves of Freiieli soldiers or traders who died on tiieir voyages to and fro on the lake.

"A bronze or brass pipe, a reiiiiniseeiice of the Frencii traders, was, some years ago, dug out of a diteh near the bank of tlie lake, it was a cheap thing, evidently made for the trade, in the sliape of a tomahawk. The handle, tlie stem of the pipe, had rotted away, but the fleur de lis, the lilies of France, were conspicuous on the patterned surface of the brass.

"Traditions about the lake levels are interesting and, if well looked into, may even now prove of value. Some of the old settlers now dead used to say that the lake was much lower when the first settlements were made ; that the sand-bar now existing a short distance from the bank, but now always under water, was then, in ordinary weather, above the waves, and that between the sand-bar and the bank was a narrow strip of water. When tiie sea rose it would wash over the bar and throw fish into the water behind tiie bar where, when the sea went down, they would l)e trapped and could be easily caught. This may have been so. Fish were more abundant, and Smith seems to corroborate the tradition when he says he saw the sands covered witii fish after a storm, and the gray and bald eagles feasting on them. These old settlers also told how the water afterward rose, and ascribed the higher level to the building of the wing dam on the Niagara River at Black Rock to impound water for the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal was completed in 1825, but the dam may have been built later. Jf tiiis was the real cause of the higher water we can see the effect on our lake shore property if the recently proposed dam across the Niagara River to raise the lake level be ever constructed.

"This tradition about the sand bar also relates tiiat before there was any road on tiie bank, tliis bar was used as a road and that the U. S. mail was carried upon it. .Judge Boynton states that the /ii-st mail west of Cleveland was carried by liorace (Jiin in LSOH, and that there were only two houses on the route over at Black River and one at i\lilan. Ill 1809, he continues, the mail over this route was carried by Beiioni

Adams, of Coliiinbia. Tlie only road was an Indian trail along the lake and the carriei' went on loot. We have s('<mi tliat tlit'ic was an Indian trail aluny the sand heaehes.

"The first settler in Avon on the lake shore is said to have been one Noah Davis. He eanie in 1812, did not remain long, went away and never retnrned. lie was here two years het'oi'e any one is known to liave settled on the ridge anil appears to iiave been tlie Moses Clcaveland of Avon. One wonders what beeame of him. Is there any way of finding ont his origin or his destiny? Like the man in the iron mask, the first settler on the lake shore in Avon, we fear will ever remain a mystery.

"As the time for the eeiitennial celebration ai)i)roaelie.s, j)eople in each of tiie townships ought to be interested to recall incidents of the past, either of persojiaJ experience or of what they have been told l)y their fathers. Using as a foundation the atldre.ss of Judge Boyiiton, it will no doubt be possible to obtain a fairly complete and accurate history of each of the lake townshijjs of Lorain County."

^lention has already been made of the (Jahoon family, representing a prominent pioneer force in the early settlement and development of Avon Township and the county as a whole. Horace ,]. Cahoon, the grantlson of Ihe family pioneer, Wilb\ir, who brought the original members into the lake I'egion of Lorain County in 1814, is himself a native of Avon Township in his seventy-eighth year. Four generations of the family have contributed, both in public and private service, to the upbuilding of the county, and it is very appropriate that Horace J. Cahoon should have been a])pointed historian of the centennial celebration organized by the desceiulants of the original settlers of Avon Township and held September 10, 1914. Upon that occasion he read the following historical i)a[)er :

''Pi(;rpont Edwards hecame proprietor at tlie draft in 1807 of Town No. 7, Eange IG, togetlier with Bass island No. 1, eomprising 1,322 acres; iiass Island No. 2 of 700 acres and Island No. 5, 35 acres, in Lake Erie, west and north of Sandusky, annexed to the town for the purpose of equalization. Previous to 1818 the inhabitants called the town Xeuma, notwithstanding it was a part of Dover. On organization the township was christened 'Troy' and continued to be thus known until December, 1824, when upon the petition of forty citizens the name was changed to 'Avon' by the commissioners of Lorain county.

"Early in the history of the Western Reserve a road was established from Cleveland westward along the shore of the lake. Over this mail was transported as early as 1807. Through tiie township of Avon, this road passed very near the bank of tlu; lake and here, where is now a succession of tasty cottages and beautiful villas, Noah Davis, in the year 1812, made a settlement, the first in the township. He erected the first log house, but where it was located, or who composed his family, we have been unable to ascertain, as he only remained a short time, removing from the township in less than one year.

"Two years passed before another attempt at a settlement is made, this time by men of great courage and a fixed determination to make themselves permanent homes in the wilderness. How well they have succeeded, the finely kept farms, their substantial residences, skirting the line of the settlement (the Ridge road) liear ample evidence.

" In the summer of 181-1- Wilbur Cahoon and family ; Nictholas Young and son William; jjciwis Austin and family; l<)|)hraim Keycs and family; and two brothers, Spink and Reuben Coo[)er, with Iheir wives, took liieir departure from IMoiitgomery county. New York, for Ohio - the objective l)oint being township No. 7 in llie IGlii Range. The cavalcade consisted of five horses, four yoke of oxen and tliree cows. Arriving at Aslital)iila, Keyes and llu; brotliers Cooper, decided to remain there for a time. Th(; other three families eaitie on and early in the fall retaehed the end of th(; Ridge road at Barney Halls in Dover townshif), Cuyahoga county. Here the families remained until a road had been cut along the suuniiit of the ridge to Section 11, in which the greater portion of the lands selected hy Mr. Cahoon were situated. Soon a log house was constructed on this section, the first liuilt ])y a permanent settler, and into this the family of Mr. Cahoon soon moved.

"]\rrs. CahooJi was formerly ]\Iiss Priscilla Sweet of Rhode Island. Their children were: Susan, who married Ilarley .Alasou, January 1, 1820; Jesse S., who married Macena jMoore, November 30, 1831; "Wilbur, Jr., who married Thirza Moore, April 6, 1826; Ora B., who married Jane T. Jameson, Deceud)cr 10, 183-1; Orra, the next child, who )uari'i('(l Henry Titus; Huldah, who died in 1826 in the sixteenth yeai- of her age; ^Melissa M., wlio married John C. Steele in 1833; and Ijeonard, who married IMary Titus, November 14, 1848.

"Wilbur Cahoon purchased his land of Orrin Ensign (who had surveyed the township and reeeived in payment certain tracts, lying in dijferent sections of the township), paying therefor in eastern lands. The description of the lands conveyed is as follows: Premises lying in Township No. 7 in the 16th Range of townships, in the Connecticut Reserve (so called) in the State of Ohio, to wit: The north half of Lot No. 3 estimated at 328 acres; 188 acres on the west side of Lot No. 6 and 170 acres in Lot No. 11, south of lands deeded to Elias Cady in said lot by the State of Connecticut, extending through the whole length of said lot east and west and etjual wiilth, each tract to be dividetl by parallel lines with the lines of the lot from which the same is taken, containing 686 acres, more or less, being the same land once conveyed to the said Wilbur by the said Orrin and the same Orrin not having on record his deed of the same land, as the law requires, has taken a new deed and makes this conveyance to the said Wilbur on condition that the former or first conveyance by deed of said land is null and void and of no effect to the said Wilbur conviyed by the said Orrin. "Warranty Deed Signed by Oi'i'in lOnsign

" Wilbur (Jaiioon did not live to witiu-ss tlic (-oiriplctioii of llic (ii'st frame house in tiie township. Sudch'uly and swiftly cauie the pale uiessenjxer; while in full health he was stricken down with apoplexy and in one brief hour had passed on. This was in the year 182G. Tiie wife and mother survived him many years, dying in 1857.

"The land of Nieliolas Young consisted of one lumdrod acres in Section 22; afterwards owned by Di: N. S. Townslu-nd. U])on this a log dwelling was constructed during the sunnijer of 1815 by himself and his son William. AVhen ready for occupancy Mv. Young returned east for his family, with whom he arrived in October. He exchanged his farm in Section 22 for land in Section 15, at the center, upon which he remained until 1835, when he disposed of his property and removed to Wisconsin.

"Lewis Austin settled on fifty acres of land in Section 27, then owikhI by Waterman Sweet and now the property of the heirs of William Ilurst. Mr. Austin's family were a wife and seven children, none of whom renuiin in the township.

"The summer of 1815, the throe families "who remained at Ashtabula joined our little colony. Ephraini Keycs was originally from Tyringham, ]\las.sachnsotts. Tie settled on the west side of Section 11. His ramily were a wife and three children, none of whom remain in the township.

"^Messrs. (.'oojier became the owners of tiie entire lands contained in Seel ion 1. Spink Coopei- and wil'e both died about 18;{.'5, leax'ing no children. The wife of Keiiben Cooper died soon alter settling in Avon, and he married a young wife !)y whom lie iiad two children. In June, 1821), li(! and family were returning from an adjoining township and while attempting to cross Ulack U'iver (then swollen to an unusual

"Three brothers, Abraliain, Oliver and Lodowicli I\roon, reached Avon at about the same period the Coopers did and a short time after another brotlier, Amos Moon, arrived, (,'olonel Al)raham Moon married Tlierissa Durand in 1819. Hhe was a native of Esse.\ county, New York, but had located in Henrietta, this county, prior to marriage. Colonel JMoon purchased three hundred acres of land in Sections 1 and 2. He erected a double log house and in time planted an orchard of five huiulred trees covering a space of ten acres. He died in September, 1831. His family con.sisted of three sons and one daughter.

"Elah Park, whose place of nativity was Tyringiiam, Bei-kshire county, Massachusetts, married Elizabeth ]\Ioon of the same place. He settled on Section 21 in Avon township in the fall of 1815. Mr. Park was a prominent public man, and held many positions of honorable distinction, beginning with the office of justice of tlie peace, to which he was many times elected. He was recorder of Lorain county from 1841 to 1843, and state representative from 1846 to 1848. He died in Avon October 22, 18C6. Mrs. Park died iMarch 14, 18C!).

"Waterman Sweet (a bi-other of Mrs. Priscilla Calioon) came from Norway, Herkimer county, New York, to Avon in the year 1817, arriving on July 18th. He located on three hundred acres of land in Section 27. With ]\lr. Sweet came his aged father and mother, Jes.se and Huldah Sweet, a widowed si.ster, who married Daniel Wilco.K, and his own family, then a wife and three children, William, Colvin and Laura. Four children were born subsequently to his locating in Avon : Eliza, Henrietta, Cinderella and Mary Ann. Waterman Sweet died November 14, 1S72, and ]\Irs. Sweet July 28, 1843.

"John Steele was the first, settler in French Creek Village. He came in 1817, his log house was erected on the site of the present Catholic ehnrcli, lie snbseipienlly moved to Aniher.sl.

"Adam Miller and Gaston Young were the first i)t'rnianent settlers on tile lake shore. ]\Ir. iMiller loeated on Seetion 6, i\Ir. Young moved into the Davis eat)in. Of other settha's along the siion- we find that Josei)h Moore from iMiddh^town, (>)nne('ti(Mit, settled on Section lb. .iohn Mast in, lOdmonds, Oolhy, JJritton and otiiei-s were early settliu'S in this loeality, hut we are uiial)le to learn anything furtiier of them.

"Alhin Stickney made the trip from Cornwall, Vermont, to Ohio, in 1815, traveling the entire distance on foot. lie remained in Madison, Lake county, until the year 1817, when he removed to Avon. lie settled on one hundred fifteen acres in Section 22. His wife was ]\Iiss Clarissa Moon of Avon. They ilied iipoii this farm, she on ]\Iay 3, 18G6, and he on February 17, 1807. Three children were born to this union: Solomon R., Sarepta R. and Sidney A., tlie latter being 'the only survivor, and now in his eighty-fourth year.

"Larkin "Williams and family, of a wife and eight children, came from Berkshire county, ]\Ias.sachusetts, in the fall of 1817. He settled on the ridge east of the center. John Hurlingame came from Rutland, Vermont, to Ohio in the fall of 1822, locating on one hundred acres of land in Section 7 directly on the bank of Lake Erie.

"Joseph B. Jameson, wife and three children, settled in Avon in 1824. Their location was on the ridge, some one half mile east of French Creek. The eldest eliild, Jane T., married Ora B. Cahoon.

"The first marriage occurred in the fall of 1816, the parties most interested were AVilliam Richmond and ]\Iiss Rhoda, adopted daughter of Reu1)eu Cooper. Joel Terrell, Esq., of Ridgeville Township made the twain one flesh.

"The first doctor to locate in Avon township was Heman, son of Larkin Williams. Dr. Williams is spoken of as a gentleman of fine ability and superior professional attainments. lie was also the first postmaster of Avon townshif), said offi(!(^ being established in 1825.

"TIk; first death was Lydia iM., daughter of Larkin Williams, January 11, 1818. Sh(i requested that ber burial might be under a chestnut tree (a favorite resting place of hers) on the knoll on the site of the present cemetery at the center of Avon township.

"Samuel Carpenter opened the jiioneer store in Avon at French Creek in 182-1 or 1825. Tliis venture does not appear to have been a success as he soon closed out and removed from tlie township.

"Tlie iirst blacksmitli in Avon township was a man named Cheeney. He removed from the township pi'ior to 1818. Adolph Cai'lick succeeded him in 1818 or 1819.

"A distillery was erected at French Creek <juite early in tl)e settlement b.y two men from Dover township, Cuyahoga county. Tliis was in operation for only a few years.

"In the year 1818 a special election was ordered for townsliip officers to be held November 9th, at which time the following persons were elected : Elah Park, John "Williams, and Lodowieh JMoon, ti'ustees ; Larkin Williams, clerk; Abraham ]\Ioon, treasurer; James B. Fitch and Tyler "Williams, constables. On June 22, 1819, Jabez lUirrell and AVilbur Cahoon were elected justices of the peace.

"The first saw-mill was erected on Section 11 in llie fall of 1815 ))y Wilbur Cahoon. The waters of Frencli Creek were utilized to propel tlie rude macliinery of this mill, which was in operation full fifty years. Another saw mill was erected on the same stream Ijy Messrs. Jameson & Ileminway Brothers in the year 1824. This mill was in operation for many years. In the summer of 1818 Wilbur Cahoon built a grist mill near the saw mill above mentioned, tlie water propelling which being supplied from the same pond. There were two run of stone. This mill was finally abandoned in consequence of a scarcity of water.

"The first religious service in Avon township was held at the house of Nicholas Young immediately after a settlement was commenced by a local preacher of the Baptist church named Jashar Taylor, then residing ill Dover township. A cliurch was not formed however until the year 1817. In elune of that year KUU'V llartwelj from the JOast lield meetings at the housi! of AVilbur Cahoon a few times and traveled westward. Returning some two or three months later, he found that the seed sown on his first visit had brought fortli fruit, the result of wliieh was tliat the following persons were fonned into a church: Nicholas Young and wife, Jared Jiarr of Avon, Jashar Taylor, Atwell and wife of Oovcr, Dean Alexander and wife of Koekjjort. la 1818 a log sclioollionse was built at the center and in this regular services were iield. The lirst ordained minister to settle in Avon was the liev. John Tuttle, who remained until his death, some four years.

"In the year 1826 or 1827 a large block meeting house was built. In it were held meetings of all denominations. This was burned in 1837. The present Baptist church was built iu 1839 or 1840. The first class of the M. E. church was organized as early as 1820. This class was composed of Keyes Carpenter and wife, "Waterman Sweet and wife, I^lphraim Keyes and wife, Amasa Chapman and wife, Elah Park and wife, AVillis Potter and wife, AVilliam Richmond and wife, and Mrs. Polly and ]\Iary Cooper, wives of David and Reuben Cooper. Keyes Carpenter was class leader. Rev. IMr. Smith, a local preacher, organized this class and was the first minister of tiiis denomination to locate iu Avon.

"Tile first school lious(! in Avon township was erected in tlie summer of 1818. The material of whieh it was constructed was logs and the site was at the center of tlie township. The suljsequent fall Larkin A. Williams began teaching in this building. There were twenty-five children in attendance, mo.'^tly from the fanulies of Gaboon, Cooper, Williams and Steele.

"Among tlie first settlers of East Avon were several families who were natives of Bavaria, Germany. The following named persons formed what is now known as The Holy Trinity church : Jacob Mueller, Paulus Faber, Peter Schwartz, John Nagel, Peter Bierinacher, Simon and Adam Zeh, Nicholas ]\rotsh, Peter Kraus, John Nagel, second, and Peter Seheit. The first church was erected in 1843 and was a sul)- stantial frame structure, 30x40 feet in size, and stood on what is now the cemetery. This church building has long since passed out of existence and lias been replaced l)y a very pretentious and modern church building wjiicli stands on i)aiM of llm land formei-ly owned by Dr. N. S. Townshcnd. There is also another veiy modern church at French Creek, but of this we have been unal)le to pi'ocure dala nei-essary for history. There was at once time ([uitc an extensive Congregational cluii'cii in Avon. This lui.s long ceased lo be.

"Tliu first clieese factory was erected on Section 28 about 1865 by Messrs. .Jameson, Snow & Phelps. It was not a succes-s and was discontinued after one season. The French Creek factory was l)uilt in Marcli, 1875, by Wilbur and Josepli Cahoou on Section 11. This was operated for a number of years, but was finally discontinued for lack of patronage.

"When tlie settlement was made in Avon there was on the west bank of Frencii Creek in Section 11 quite a remarkable endjankiiient. Jt was constructed of stone, circuhir in form, of some six or eiglit feet in lu'iglit and perhaps four rods in diameter. Tiie stone were of snudl size and were not reguhirly laid, but were simp!}' piled up. Further down the creek was an iuunen.se mound of stone, the most remarkable feature of wiiicli was that it was composed of snudl sized 'cobble head' stones and was located in a portion ol' the township wliei'e this kind of stones do not abound. On the ridge, where now stands tiie Methodist Episcopal churcli tliere were a luunber of mounds. These, on being opened, were found to contain human bones. These were leveled to the eartli, and the stones comprising the fortification were drawn away as re(juired, until notiung now remains to nuirk the spot.

"]\lany remember the early days of 1861. Sumter had fallen. The Soutliern Confederacy was formed; the Soutli had organized a formitlal)le army; secession was unnnstakal)ly resolved ui)on. So appalling Avere these events that tin; Nortii stood awiiile paralyzeil anil awe stricken. Then came our president's call for seventy-five thou.sand men. Everywhere throughout the northern states there was a hearty response - nowhere was it heartier tiiau upon the Reserve of Northern Ohio. Avon took a gallant part in this first outburst of northern patriotism; and during the entire period of the war there was no time when she was found faithless to duty. AVherever danger lurked thickest there we find the Avon boys. IMany, very many never returned; their lives went out as a sacrifice, and l)eneath the skies of the sunny South, where the groves of the magnolia and the orange shed an undying i)erfume - the spot perliaps unmarked and unknown - they 'sleep the sleep that knows no waking.' "

On the fiftieth aiuiiversary of tlie settlement, held on the I'Mh of November, 1865, Norman Day read his historic and original address covering the period up to that time. Mr. Day's paper was re-read at the centennial anniversary, and Mrs. G. L. Cuddeback presented the history of the township from 1865 to 1915. The "Early History of Slieffield Township," prepared by Miss jMay Day, adds many interesting items to tlie paper originally written by Norman Day. Tlie material facts in these three articles are therefore given in the following paragraphs and present a complete history of one of the mo.st interesting and sul)stantial of the lake townships.

In January, 1815, (Japt. Jabez Bui'i'cll and Capt. -lolin Day, of Shcl'tichl, licrkshire (-'ounty, ^Massachusetts, purchased of (jen. Win. Hart, of Saybrook, Connecticut, townsliip No. 7, in tlie 17tli range of townshij)S, Connecticut Western Reserve, State of Ohio, now Shel'tield, Lorain County. After the purcha.se by Burrell and Day, Obadiah Deland of Slieffield, Capt. Josliua Smith, Col. Joseph Fitch, and Solomon Fitch of New Marlborough, Berkshire County, Isaac Hurrell, of Salisbury, Herkimer County, State of New York and Henry Austin of Owasco, Cayuga County, became partners.

The two Burrells, Day and Smith, explored the township in June, and selec'tcfl lots for themselves and friends. About the (ii'st of October, Captain Smith and his oldest son, Douglass, then a lad seventeen years of age, left l\lassaehu.s(1ts with a yoke of o.\en and horse and necessary tools for clearing and cultivating a new farm. .After starting, Cajitain Smith left. Douglass to pursue the tedious Joiinicy alone, while lie went to Sacketl.'s Harbor to visit friends, but overtook him again before li(^ got to Oiiio. On tile eleventh duy of Novi'iiiber, they arrived at Wilbur (Gaboon's, in Avon. The ne.\t day being Sunday, tliey rested, and on the Ihirleenlh day of November, 1HI5, they followed down l''rench

J'revious to the purchase of tlic townsliip ))y BurrcU and Day, about 1812, (jcncral Hart made an arrangement witli a young man, Timotliy Wallace, to commence a settlement, by which he was to have a choice of lots, provided Mr. Hart sold the township by lots, lie selected lot 65, now owned by Robbins Burrell, improved a few acres, built a small house and then abandoned it. The cause was supposed to be fear of the Indians. Nothing more is known of his history. Captain Smith's nearest neighbors were John S. Reid and Daniel Perry, at the mouth of the river, four miles, Cahoon, of Avon, five miles, and JMoses Eldred, of Ridgeville, seven miles distant. For comfortable lodgings, they spent some of their nights at the mouth of the river, and some at Cahoon 's.

There was a road through the town on the lake shore, the road leading from Cleveland to Huron, and a wagon track from Ridgeville to the old fishing ground, at the upper end of the Big Bottom, where men and boys came from Ridgeville and Columbia every spring to catch fish. They were taken in the night in great abundance, while running over the ripi)le, with a torch maile of hickory l)arks and a spear. It was rare sport and furni.shed one of the necessaries of life. In a few days after the arrival of Captain Smith and son, they were joined by two young men from their native town (New Marlborough), Samuel ]5. Fitch and Asher Chapnuin. These four men soon built a rude shanty where they spent the winter of 1815-16, shut out from the outer world, dependent upon their own resources for amusement and enjoyment. Captain Smith was a humorous, jovial man; enjoyed a joke, and was fond of a good story, well calculated to amuse himself and companions in their seclusion.

fn F('I)i-uary, 1816, Fi-ecman Richmond settled on lot 2, now owne<l by Josepii Townsliend. Mrs. Richinond wa.s Hk! first r(!male settler. On the tiiii'd day of Ai)ril of this year, Henry Root and wife and si.x eliildren arrived from Sheflield, Massachusetts. The children's names weie Aaron J., Wm. Henry, Julia Aiui, Jane, Frances and Mary. They

Soon after the arrival of Mr. Root and family, Oliver Moon, from Avon, State of Kgw York, located on lot 11; Milton Garfield and John B. Cartield, of Tyringham, Massachusetts, on lots 73 and 74; A. R. Diminick on lots 75 and 7(j; Wni. Richmond on lot 2, with his brother Freeman, and Willis Potter on lot 1.

On the 27th of July, Captain Day and family arrived. Their names were William, Rhoda, .Maria, John, Norman, Fanny, James, Lydia, Kellogg and Frederick; and Fdmond A. and JCieanor, horn in Ohio.

On the nth of August, Captain liurrell and family of eight children, anil Solomon Weeks, a young man who had been an apprentice to Captain Jiurrell, arrived by way of tiie lake, on tiie .schooner Black Snake, and came up the river on Keid's ferry scow. Their names were Julia, Saraii M., Roliliins, liyman J., Soloma, Jabe/. L., Hli/.a and ]\Iary Ann.

JNlessrs. Burrell and Day shii)ped their heavy household goods and farming utensils at Schenectady, on a small, half decked schooner of about tiftecn tons burthen, called the Fire Fly, built there by Anon Ilarmond, of New .Alarborough, j\Iassachusetts. lie sailed up the ^Mohawk, locked by the Little Falls; and thence by the Rome Canal into Wood Creek; down AVootl Creek into Oneida Lake; then down the outlet and Oswego River to Lake Ontario. At t^ueenston he unloaded and drew her out; loaded her on cart wheels, drew her by Niagara Falls to Chil)I)ewa and launciied ; then drew her cargo and reloaded; then ])roeeeded through the lake and uj) Black River to the mouth of French Creek, and landed her cargo of salt and goods on the I>ig Bottom.

In the fall of ISUi, Captain Smith went to IMassacluisetts for iiis family, and returned in March, 1817. In his family were eight childi-cn: Douglass, Isaac, Rachel, Elea/.er, Harvey, AVarren, Caleb and licnel. Aiicl Moore eame li-om New MarIl)orougii with Captain Smith, and settled on lot 50 with three ciiildren : Lorinda, Lovina and Abigail. In h'eliruary of this year, Henry Austin and wife, from Owasco, Stat(> of New York, settled on lot 81, and Nathan Stevens and wife, from New Marlborough, on lot 81. In June, Davis Heacoek and I'lraslus

Ileaeock selected lots 85 and 86 and conimeDcod improving tlieiii, keeping haclielor's hall. About the same time Samuel iMunson connueneed on lot, 72.

On the 5tli of July, James Burrell, from Hloomtield, New York, arrived and settled on lot 61). His children were JIarriet, Cyla, Aliuoran and Alva J. Arnokl Jiurrell and wife eame from Binghamton, New York, liis first residence was on lot 68.

Isaac Jiurrell, one of the proprietors, from Salisbury, New York, arrived on the 28th of February, in his family were six children: Eunice, Hiram, Jane, Augusta, Mary and Charlotte. In the spring of this year, Daniel Perry, who came from Vermont to the mouth of Black River, in 1810, sold his farm there and luoved into Sheffield with a family of nine children: Polly, Harvey, Sophia, Alexander Hamilton, Koyal, Julius, Lester, Bushrod and Williams, and located on lot 22. The Fleming family are old residents but not properly pioneers. In the winter of 1816, religious meetings were conunenced at the house of Cai)tain Burrell, which consisted in reading a sermon, singing and prayer by ]Mr. Ilanchett, of Kidgeville, then working for Captain Burrell, for there was not at that time a male profes.sor in the settlement. Whatever of moral and religious princii)le hangs about the native population of Sheffield is due to the intiuenee of pious pioneer mothers, in the si)ring of 1816, Alvan Coe preached the first sermon. About the first of June, Eev. Jesse Ilartwell, a Baptist elder from New lAlarl- Ijorough, on a mis.sionary tour to the western part of the Reserve, held ]iieetings on his way out and when he returnetl. In July, Mr. Treat, of Windham, and Mr. Seward, of Aurora, Portage County, visited the settlement as missionaries.

In the fall of this year (1817) Alvan Hyde, a young man of talent and pit^ty-^son of Reverend Doctor llydc, of Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts - was commis-sioned by the Berkshire Missionary Association to ])reach in the new settlements on the Resen-e. He chose for his (ii'ld of labor Dover, Slieffield and Ridgeville, alternately. The setth^'s of Slieffi,.!,] jiiid Dover wen; fi'oin Berkshire Coniity. The cliureli at Dover was formed in his native town by iiis father, before lliey left in ISll. Mr. Hyde's labors, and the sudden death of Captain Smifli, made a deep impression on the infant settlement; a revival followed' and some were boj)efully converted.

Oil the 1st of Miiy, 1818, Rev. William AVilliams, a luissiouaiy from the (.'omieclieuL J\li.s.si()iiai'y Society, as-sisted hy Mv. Hyde, I'onned a Coiigre{,'ational Chureii. The members were Natiiau Stevens and wife; Mrs. Mary liurrell, wife of Capt. Jabez Burrell, and their daughters Julia and Sarah M. ; Mrs. Martha Smith, wife of Capt. Joshua Smith, and Douglass their son; Henry Root, Preston Pond, Wm. Day, Wm. Sniith, Samuel B. Fiteh and Daniel Perry, thirteen in number.

The tirst school was taught by Dr. Preston Pond, from Keene, New Hampshire. The sehoolliouse stood on the brow of the hill north of the center schoolhouse.

The tifst white child born in the town was Maiy Ann Austin, August 20, 1817; died November 15, 1831, in the Town of Skaneateles, Onondaga County, State of New York.

The first couple married were Samuel IMunson and Phila Tyler, by Ebenezer Whiton, Esq., December 17, 1818. IMr. Muuson died August 6, 1820. Mrs. Munson married Mr. Rooks, and died at Niles, Cayuga County, New York, July, 1862.

When Dover was organized it included Avon and Sheffield to Black River, which was then the dividing line between Cuyahoga and Huron counties. The west side of the river was in Black River Township. In 1818 Avon was organized with tlie name of Troy, including the east part of Sheffield. Jal)ez Burrell was elected justice of peace, June 22, 181!), and re-elected August 13, 1822. The first act of the Lorain County (Commissioners, at their first .session, in June, 1824, was to organize the Town of Siieffield. The first town meeting was held July 10, 1824. The officers chosen were Nathan Stevens, clerk; John Day, Isaac Burrell and A. R. Dimmick, trustees; Milton Garfield, treasurer; and Jabez Burrell and Henry Root, poorma.sters. Nathan Stevens was the first magistrate after the town was organized.

Captain Smith, the first .settler, was the fir.st to die. He fell a victim to the ague and bilious fever, and died suddenly September 2f), 1817. Tile infant settlement was shocked as the thrilling news spread from house to house: "Captain Smith is deail!" Deacon James, of lirowii- helm, officiated at the funeral, giving out to be sung the good old runeral pieces, "Hark from tlie Tombs" (tune. New Durham) and the ninetieth Psalm, "l^ord. What a Feeble I'ieee" (tune, Florida). It was a solemn tlay, and tlie death of Captain Smith was deeply lamented. A burying ground was selected on the bluff near French Creek Bridge, where he was then buried, but being afterwards abandoned, in 1848, his bones were disinterred and deposited in the Ridge Cemetery.

]Mrs. Martha Smith, widow of Captain Smith, was married January 16, 182G, to General Isaac Hall, of Pompey (now La Fayette), Onondaga County, New York, where she lived to a good old age, and died Octol)er 18, 1859. Douglass remained in Slieffield, and died Marcli 16, 1862. Lsaac lives in Hopkinsville, Iowa. Rachel married Ceorge W. Cotton, and died in Elyria, September 21, 1859. ]\Ir. Cotton died March 28, 1865. Eleazer died in LaFayette, New York, January 23, 1849. Harvey died in Newton, Calhoun County, Michigan, October 5, 1852. AVarren lives in ]\Iiehigan. Calel) died in Delhi, Delaware County, Iowa, l\Iarcii 14, 1861. Reuel lives in Logansport, Indiana. Samuel B. Fitch settled on lot 62. In Septend)er, 1818, he married Dolly Smith, of his native town, New Marlborougli. She died May 6, 1845. Mr. Fitch married a second wife, Miss Nancy Willard, of Pawlett, Vermont. She died Noveml)er 4, 1860. Mr. Fitch died September 15, 1861. Asher Chapman, the last survivor of the four who spent the winter of 1815-16 in the wilderness, first settled in Avon where Doctor Townshend now lives, moved to Amherst, then to Wisconsin, and finally died in IMichigan in the early part of the present year, 1865. Freeman Riclimond and Willis Potter live in Amherst. William Richmond lives in LaGrange. Mrs. Richmond, the first female settler, died in the summer of 1819.

Henry Root died April 6, 1829. ]\Irs. Root died February 11, 1859, at tile advanced age of eighty-seven years. Captain Aaron Root died September 13, 1865. Francis died Septenil)er 6, 1862. IMary (.Mrs. Fitzgerald) died December 4, 1859. Wm. H. and Julia Ann (:\Irs. Noniian Day) are in Sheffield, and Jani' (Mrs. Harvey Austin) is in Monroe, Michigan. Oliver Moon and wife, and ,John li. ({arlicid and wil'e are living on llie farms where they first localed. (lolonel Milton Garlield died Novendier 5, 1862. His widow is still living in Sheffield. Mr. Diinmiek lost Iiis wife in l\lay, 182!); married again, movi-d to

"(Japtain -John Day died Oetoher 8, 1827. Mrs. Day died Oetober U, 1854. Rhoda Maria died October 10, 1825. These three deaths occurred each on Llonday morning, and they were severally buried on the day of the State election. Frederic died August 11, 1840. Of the nine survivors eight are residents of Shetilield, and one (Kellogg) is in Denmark, Iowa.