Parma City

Parma City

benefit of posterity. This sketch has been prepared in the hope that it will have some value not only as the story of a worthy man, but as a study of life and character.

Chapter Lxxxii Parma

Boundaries - Population and Physical Characteristics - Early Settlement - Benajah Fay - Conrad Countryman - Peletiah Bliss - Walking to Connecticut for a Bride - A Large Accesson - Emerson, Hodgman, Nicholas, Small and Steele - Asher and Benjamin Norton - Rufus Scovil - Samuel Freeman - Early Hardships - Numerous Hunts - Scarcity of Grass - First Birth, Death and Marriage - Roads - The Harrison Procession - An Irate Democrat - Formation of Parma - First Officers - List of Officers - Religious Matters - Free Will Baptist Church--First Presbyterian Church - -St. Paul's Church - St. John's Church - Church of the Holy Trinity.

Parma, one of the youngest townships in Cuyahoga, covers an area of five miles square, being the territory of survey-township six, in range thirteen. Brooklyn township lies on the north, Royalton on the south, Independence on the east, and Middleburg on the west. Of the population of fifteen hundred, reported by the last census, full two-thirds are estimated to be Germans and other foreigners - the former largely predominating, and manifesting their usual energy as thrifty, industrious husbandmen. They concentrate in settlements, have churches of their own, and, although somewhat clannish, are liberally represented in the administration of public affairs.

The surface of the township on the north and west is generally level, but on the east is elevated and undulating. The soil is of a clayey character, and is handsomely productive. Fruit is grown with success, but general farm products are the principal reliance of the inhabitants. Building and flag stones are obtained in considerable quantities, and of an excellent quality; Cogswell's quarry being the most productive. Several mineral springs are also found in the town-

Parma has no streams of any consequence, nor has it any railway communication within its own lmits, although that convenience is near at hand. It contains a strictly agricultural community, and has no village within its borders. Nevertheless, its schools are excellent, its churches are plentiful, and the people generally appear to be in a prosperous condition.

Early Settlement

In the division of the Western Reserve, or by subsequent sale, township six fell to various proprietors - Tuckerman, Cheny, Ely, Blake, Plympton and others, who early endeavored to promote settlement on their lands. In consequence, however, of the gencral impression that it was a swampy and undesirable region the owners found the task a difficult.

tler in Greenbrier, as Parma was called before it was organized. In 1816 he located upon the Plympton tract. His family, consisting of himself, wife and twelve children, journeyed with an ox-team and one horse. Upon his arrival he had to cut a road through the woods to his farm. He opened a tayern in 1819 on the old stage road, in a double log house, opposite the present residence of J. W. Fay, which, as 'B. Fay's Inn," was a famous landmark for many years. Mr. Fay was a man of mark in the new community, served in various local offices, and was always in high esteem as a useful and honored citizen. He built a framed tavern in 1826, and in 1832 replaced it with a brick one, which was the first brick house in the township. He died in April, 1860, aged eighty-five.

In 1817 one Conrad Countryman, a '' Mohawk Dutchman," took up afarm on the Ely tract, in the present townshipof Parma. Countryman lived in the western part, on the line on which afterwards ran the stage road between Cleveland and Columbus. In time he put up a blacksmith shop and a sawmill, in both of which enterprises he was the first in the township. Mr. Countryman's eldest son built a house on his father's farm, and kept '' bachelor's hall" in the immediate neighborhood of his father and the rest of the family. Besides being a miller, blacksmith and all his avocations he managed to keep himself quite busy. He resided in Parma, or Greenbrier as it was then called, until 1826, when, with his family and entire possessions he moved farther west.

Peletiah Bliss, a Connecticut Yankee, traveled afoot in 1818 from New England to Ohio, carrying a pack on his back, and seeking for a location in the boundless west. On reaching '' Greenbrier" he was favorably impressed with it, and accordingly purchased fifty acres of land on the Ely tract, where he built a shanty and soon made a clearing.

Previous to making his western journey Bliss had determined to marry a certain fair young damsel of Connecticut as soon as he got matters well shaped in anew home. So, after laboring upon his clearing a few years, until he thought he had prepared a fitting home for his bride, he set out for Connecticut on foot, living, it is said, upon salt pork during the entire trip. He reached his destination in due time (that is, in due time by that kind of conveyance), married the girl of his heart, and with her returned to Greenbrier; the wedding tour being made in a lumber wagon drawn by an ox-team, owned by Edwin Foot, of Connecticut, who was himself on the way to Brooklyn, Ohio. Bliss resided in Parma until his death. Ile had but one child - a daughter - who moved to Michigan.

The settlement of the township was very slow until late in 1821 when there was an important accession in the families of Asa Emerson, Amos Hodgman, Jesse Nicholas, Joseph Small and William Steele. These families had been neighbors in Maine and in 1817 had removed together to the West; having all settled, though separately, in southern Ohio. They kept up communication with each other and, becoming dissatisfied with their location in that region, they agreed to move north to ''@reenbrier." In 1821 they accordingly entered the township in company.

Emerson, who had a family of nine children, bought seventy-five acres on the Tuckerman tract, having lived for a brief time with Conrad Countryman before effecting his purchase. Emerson was a carpenter as well as a farmer, and resided in Parma until his death, in 1855. Of his children, Oliver, Asa and Lucina (Mrs. Whitney) are still living in Parma.

and a farmer or the Columbus road. Joseph Small bought land on the Tuckerman tract and after a residence there of twenty-five years removed to Michigan. William Steele located on the Ely tract and died two years afterward, whereupon his widow returned to Maine; making the journey, it is said, on foot und alone. Of the members of the families above named, who came in 1821, the only ones now living in Parma are John Hodgman and Asa and OIiver S. Emerson, and they three are the earliest surviving residents of the township.

Asher Norton and family came from Vermont in 1823, and settled in the southeast corner of the township. Mr. Norton lived there until 1863 when he remoyed to Brighton (in Brooklyn township) where he died, Ilis brother Benjamin took up a farm adjoining Asher's about the same time (1823) on which he remained until 1859, when he changed his residence to Brecksville. Rufus Scovill, a brother-in-law of the Nortons, settled near them in 1823, and remained a resident of Parma until his death. Nehemiah 'Toms, who also married a sister of the Norton's, located near the latter in 1823, and there died. Abner 'I', Beals, an early settler in Royalton, removed from that township to Parma in 1825, and, after remaining a short time in the northern part, eventually settled on the Ely tract, on the line of the stage road. Mr, Beals resided in Parma until 1876 when he moved to Michigan, where he died.

In 1825 Samuel Freeman, with his wife, ten children and ahired man, made the journey from Massachusetts to Ohio, via the Erie Canal and Lake Erie, and reached Benajah Fay's inn, in Greenbrier, on the night of Saturday, May 26, 1825 - twenty days after leaving New England. Mr. Freeman bought a piece of land on the Plympton tract, and, while he was building a residence of his own he and his family lived for forty days in the newly-built barn of Benajah Fay. Mr. Freeman became a man of considerable local consequence in Parma. He was the first justice of the peace, the first school-teacher and the first postmaster. He took an active part in forwarding the religious interests of the little settlement, and was

The early settlers in Parma experienced naturally the same difficulties, privations and trials usually encountered by Western pioneers, and bore them with like fortitude. Indians did not trouble them, but savage beasts caused much annoyance, and grand hunts for bears and wolves, in which all the townsmen joined, were frequently resorted to, to get rid of the marauders. Even as late as 1842 the ravages by wolves and bears were very serious, and in that year the people of Parma united in a general hunting party, and spent several days in waging a war of extermination against them.

Good grass appears not to have been very plentiful in Parma for a considerable time after its settlement, as hay for the cattle had to be brought from Middleburg, little except browse being obtainable in Parma, Baking bread on a board before a wood fire and roasting meat by suspending it upon strings hung over the fire, were two of the customs of those primitive days. For some time the nearest gristmill was in Middleburg. It was not always casy to obtain wheat bread, but "johnny cake," made from corn ground in a home ''stump mortar," did good service in its place. When Moses Towl built a gristmill on Big creek, in Parma, it was considered a great improvement, and Mr. 'Towl was looked upon as a public benefactor.

The first person born in Parma was Lucina, daughter of Asa Emerson. Her birth occurred in March, 1823. In mature life she served with distinction for three years as hospital nurse in the Union army during the rebellion of 1861-65.

The first death in the township was that of Isaac Emerson, a young man of seventeen, who died in the winter of 1823. He was buricd on the Countryman place. The next deaths were those of William Steele and his child, who were buried near young Emerson's grave, on the banks of Big creck. When the cemetery on the Medina road was laid out the remains of Isaac Emerson were transferred thither, but the graves of Steele and his child were undisturbed, and their bones still lie upon the bank of the creck, although the spot is entirely unmarked.

The first marriage ceremony was celebrated at the house of Joseph Small, when his daughter Lois was wedded to Ephraim Fowls, of Middleburg. An attendant upon the occasion states that the event, although a novel one in the township, was an exceedingly quiet one.

In March, 1827, the town was divided into road districts, the first being "two miles in width on the west side of the town and running a line through the town north and south parallel with the west line; _ the second running a north and south line through the town parallel with the east line; the third to include the remainder of the town."

The road now known as the Brighton and Parma plank road was at an early day the Cleveland and Columbus turnpike, over which there was a vast amount of travel, and upon which, within the limits of Parma, there were four taverns. When William Henry Harrison was elected to the Presidency a band of his adherents in Cleveland mounted a canoe upon wheels, and escorted it over the turnpike to Columbus, with much hilarious demonstration. When the procession reached the house of Asa Emerson, in Parma, that worthy citizen, being an unflinching Democrat, was much disgusted with the HIarrison display. He hastily hoisted one of his wife's red petticoats upon a broomstick, and marched defiantly alongside the big canoe, waving his flag and taunting the Harrisonians until the latter were seriously angered, and he thought best to desist, lest they should resort to violence.

In April, 1827, one year after the township was organized, the treasurer reported that he had _ received in cash for road taxes in 1826 the sum of $16.84, and $11.38 in road certificates. The township is believed to have been called Greenbrier before its organization on account of the abundance of that shrub in many places. York street was so named because of the settlement along its line of a community from the State of New York.

As already stated, the township is a purely agricultural one. The only manufacturing enterprises of cither early or late days were the following: William and Dudley Humphrey, who came to Parma from Connecticut in 1836, pursued for fifteen years, or until 1851, the manufacture of clock-cases, in which they set works procured from Connecticut. They then sold the clocks through the country, and during their residence in Parma they carried on quite an extensive business.

Organization

On the 7th of March, Greenbrier, which until then had been a portion of the civil township of Brooklyn, was formed into a separate township and given the name of Parma. The first township election was

- held on the first Monday in April, 1826, at the house of Samuel Freeman, on which occasion Asa Emerson, Jesse Nichols and David Adams were the judges of election; Peletiah Bliss and Oliver Emerson were the clerks. 'The officers chosen were Peletiah Bliss, township clerk; Asa Emerson, Samuel I'. Varney and David Adams, trustees; Benajah Fay and Jesse Nichols, overseers of the poor; Jobn Hodgman and Benjamin Norton, fence-viewers; Peletiah Bliss, treasurer; Asher Norton and Amos Hodgman, supervisors of highways; Peter Countryman, constable. A list of the persons who have served the township as trustees, clerks and treasurers, from organization to 1879, are given below.

Religious Matters

The first sermon heard in Parma was delivered in 1823, at the house of Asa Emerson, by Rev. Henry Iludson, of Royalton, a Baptist minister. Mr. Hudson was also 2 doctor, and having been called to attend at the birth of a daughter of Mr. Emerson, on a Saturday, he remained, and preached a sermon on the following day. A hasty notice was sent out, und the inhabitants gathered in full force at Mr. Emerson's house, and were refreshed with a renewal of their earlier rehgious experiences. Mr. Iudson preached in Parma quite often after that, and, as the early settlers in that township were principally Baptists, he never lacked hearers. Besides Mr. Ifudson, Rey. Mr. Jackson, of Wooster, also preached to the Baptists of Parma, and although thus it will be seen that the Baptists were the only ones who enjoyed early religious worship in Parma, and yet, somewhat curiously, no church of that denomination was ever organized there.

Free Will Baptist Church

This church was organized about 1830, in the southeast corner of the township, with but a handful of members, among whom were David Pond, John Johnson, J. W. Kilburn, Alfred Cleveland and Moses Ware with their wives. David Pond was the first deacon, and Moses Ware the first elder. In 1839 there was a great revival when forty persons were added to the membership, which rose in that year to sixty. Among the early preachers were Elders Randall and Walker, the latter of whom was the leading spirit in the revival just mentioned. The organization never owned a church-building, but used a school-house as a place of worship. Toward 1864, the membership grew small by degrees, and the church was dissolved in that year.

First Presbyterian Church

The first Presbyterian Church of Parma was organized as a Congregational Church November 7, 1835, with fourtcen members, as follows: Samuel, Sarah, Sarah B. and Celinda Freeman, James M. Cogswell, Beulah G. Adams, Catherine Ann Ferrell, Mary H. Cogswell, Descom and Susan Chapin, Frederick and Harriet Cogswell, Catherine Ferrell and Arvin Kennedy. The first clerk was Frederick F. Cogswell, and the first elders, Samuel Freeman, James M. Cogswelland Descom Chapin. At the first meeting it was resolyed '' not to take for a member

On the 10th of January, 1836, the Lord's Supper was administered by Rev. B. B. Drake. The first minister was Rev. Benjamin Page, who agreed to give half his time for $400 a year. After Mr. Page, the ministers were Revs. V. D. Taylor, Phineas Kingsley, C. B. Stevens, J. D. Jenkins, - - Edwards and others. The membership in 1842 was thirty-seven and in 1844 it was forty. In August, 1879, it was thirty-six. The church, although Congregational was attached to the presbytery of Cleveland from the outset, and in April, 1874, it changed entirely to the Presbyterian denomination.

Public worship was held in a township school-house until 1841, when the edifice now used, was erected. The church has had no ordained minister for several years, being in 1879, supplied by Rey. Anson Smythe. The elders in that year were, William J. Marshall, Jacob Bailey and William Cogswell.

This congregation (German) was organized in 1858, and in that year built a brick echureh which is still used. Previous to that date, beginning in 1853, Rev. Philip Stempel, of Brighton, had preached to the German Protestants of Parma occasionally, in schoolhouses.

At the building of the church, the trustees were Michael Hoag, Adam Hahn, George Bauer, and John Huber, the membership being then about twenty-five. The membership in August, 1879, was forty-four. The pastor at that time was Rey. Mr. Kraus, and the trustees were George Bauer, William Keyser, Michael Hahn and Gottfried Klanzinger.

In 1867 a division took place in the congregation of the German Reformed Protestant church of Parma; a portion withdrawing and forming a separate church, of the Evangelical Lutheran denomination, and they built a house of worship in 1868. At that time the membership was thirty-five, but it has been declining latterly, and now numbers but twenty. The first trustees were Michael Meyer, John Koch, and Cottleib Miller; the first minister was Rey. Mr. lFuehr. Rey. Paul Littke is the present minister. The trustees are John Koch, Michael Meyer, and Christian Koch. The deacons are Andrew Hoag, John Sharp and Deitrich Busch.

Rey. Father Quigley commenced in 1872 to hold Catholic religious services at the house of Conrad Rohrbach in Parma, and at the close of that year the congregation included eleven families. In 1873 a church edifice was built upon a lot adjoining Mr. Rohrbach's residence, and there the Catholics of Parma have since worshiped. Conrad Rolrbach was the first trustee, and still serves as trustee, as does John

Gehring. Following Father Quigley as priests, were Rev. Fathers O'Brien, Kuhbler, Zampiel and Fidelius - the latter of whom is the present incumbent, and holds services once a fortnight. The average attendance numbers seventeen families.

The first school taught in Greenbrier was conducted by Samuel Freeman, in his own house, during the winter of 1825. There Mr. Freeman taught his own children - of whom there were not a few - and those of such settlers as deemed book education one of the necessities of life. Parma's first school teacher was a well-educated man for those days, and he so trained his children that after him three of them, Samuel, Jr., Lawrence and Lyndon also became school teachers.

The first school district in the township was set off in May, 1826. In this district was Benajah Fay, Samuel Freeman, Thomas Adams, John Hodgman, Amos lfodgman, Joseph Small, Peter Countryman, Asa Emerson, Jesse Nichols and Peletiah Bliss.

he second school district was set off in December, 1826, in the northeast part of the township. At the same time the southeast corner of the township was made a portion of the fourth school district of Brecksville, and contained Benjamin and Asher Norton and children, between the ages of six and sixteen, was three hundred and ninety. Theamount appropriated for school purposes in that year was $2,000.

Post Office

Samuel Freeman was Parma's first postmaster; after him the office was held successively by William Humphrey, Oliver Emerson and Harry Humphrey. Oliver Emerson was then appointed to asecond term, and has been the incumbent ever since.

Boundaries and Surface - Detroit Street - Rocky River - Early Settlement - John Harbertson - Philo Taylor - The First Road - Daniel Miner - George Peake - Dr. Turner - A Sad Misfortune - Datus Kelley and Others - The Alger Settlement - Rufus Wright - Henry Clark and Others - Joseph Dean's Tannery - Burning of Mills - James Nicholson - Mars Wagar - Eliel Farr - Price French - David Harrington - Jonathan Parshall - First Death, Birth and Marriage - First Justice - Indians - A Great Bear Hunt - An Early Temperance Pledge - Nineteen Voters to Eighteen Officers - First Bridge - A Slender Outfit - -Going to Michigan to Mill - Granger City - Joseph Larwill - Henry Canfield - Township Organization - The First Voters - First Officers - List of Principal Officers - Post Offices - Rockport Methodist Church - The Baptist Church - First Congregational Church - Free Will Baptist Chureh - Rocky River Mission - First New Jerusalem Church - Detroit Street Methodist Church - St. Patrick's Church - German Evangelical Church - German Methodist Church - Church of the Ascension - St. Mary's Church - Schools - Detroit Street Special District - The Rest of the Township - Rockport Christian Temperance Union - The Temperance Sunday School - The Fruit Interest - Burial Places - Railways - Manufactures.

* The early expeditions through Rockport and the wreck of Bradstreet's expedition in that township are narrated in the forepart of the general history of the county.

the survey of the Western Reserve, and lies upon the southern shore of Lake Erie. It contains twenty-one full sections of a mile square each, and four fractional sections, the size of which is reduced by the lake. The township is bounded on the north by Lake Erie; on the south by Middleburg township; on the east by Brooklyn, and on the west by Dover.

The surface of the country is level and the soil is generally productive, especially along the lake shore, where a rich fruit belt contributes largely to the wealth and prosperity of the township. South of that belt, fruit is also considerably cultivated but general farming is more largely followed, and with very profitable results. As a rule, the farmers are intelligent, thrifty and prosperous, their well cultivated and well appointed farms showing their success in life; while their handsome dwellings - which in very many cases might properly be called elegant - testify to the taste as well as the prosperity of the owners.

Detroit street, as the extension of that street into Rockport is commonly called, follows the lake shore from the township line to Rocky river, an avenue of more than ordinary pretensions, and is also a drive much frequented by the citizens of Cleveland. Bordering it on either side are numerous handsome and costly suburban residences, set in the midst of tastefully kept grounds, and presenting on a summer day in connection with the smiling fields, the numerous patches of woodland and the broad expanse of the lake, a scene of beauty seldom surpassed.

Rocky river, a rugged but shallow stream, flows through Rockport from the southern line near the southwestern corner in an exceedingly crooked course to thelake, passing nearly the whole distance between high and abrupt embankments, which at the river's mouth are handsomely wooded, and present a very picturesque appearance. Here also, in summer, people from Cleveland daily resort in large numbers, to enjoy the beauties of nature and to rejoice in the invigorating breezes which are wafted landward over the billowy bosom of Lake Erie.

The first white person to settle in the township of Rockport (so goes an old record by Henry Alger, himself a settler in Rockport in 1812) was John Ilarbertson (or Harberson), an Irish refugee, who, with his family, located in the spring of 1809 upon the east side of Rocky river near its mouth. In the same year, and about the same time, Wm. McConley, who came over from Ireland with Harbertson, settled in Rockport upon a place now known as Van Scoter bottom. Neither Harbertson nor McConley tarried long in their new homes, whence they removed about 1810; Harbertson going to Huron county, where he resided until his death.

In 1808, Philo Taylor, who had moved from New York to Cleveland in 1806, agreed with Harmon Canfield and Elisha Whittlesey, as agents and owners of land in what is now Rockport, to locate in that town- ship. On the 10th of April in that year he landed with his family from an open beat at the mouth of Rocky river. He selected a place on the east side of the river opposite the site of the Patehen House, put up a cabin and began a clearing. By 1809 he had effected material improvements there. At that time, Mr. Canfield, who had verbally agreed that Taylor should have the place, informed him that he would have to select some other spot, since it had been decided by the proprietors to lay out a town near the mouth of the river, and that the lot originally selected by Taylor would be wanted for that purpose. At this Mr. Taylor became exceedingly wroth. He sold his improvements to Daniel Miner, launched a curse against the mouth of Rocky river, and removed with his family to Dover.

Until 1809 there was no highway between Cleveland and the Huron riyer, that whole region being an almost unbroken wilderness. In that year the legislature made an appropriation for a public road between these points, and selected Ebenezer Merry, Nathaniel Doan and Lorenzo Carter to superintend the work. This road crossed Rocky river near its mouth, and was the only one west of Cleveland until 1814 or 1815. Daniel Miner, who bought out Philo Taylor in 1809, came from Ilomer, New York, in that year and occupied Taylor's old improvements. In 1812 he began to build a mill upon what is still known as the ''mill lot." Before it was completed Miner died, in February, 1813. Despite of Canfield's sanguine expectations, the Taylor lot was never employed as a part of the proposed town which indeed never existed save on paper. Miner kept a tavern and a ferry there in 1811. He shortly afterward bought out Harbertson on the same side of the river, and kept tavern in his old house in 1812.

In 1809 the publie highway, above referred to, being completed to Rocky river, one George Peake, « mulatto, and his family were the first to pass over it ina wagon, by which they journeyed from Cleveland to Rocky river, locating on the place lately owned by John Barnum. Peake had been a soldier in the British army, and was in General Wolf's command at the taking of Quebee. Locating in Maryland he had married a black woman reputed to have owned 'a half bushel of dollars." He had settled with her in Pennsylvania, had raised a family of children, and when he moved to Rockport was accompanied by two grown sons - George and Joseph; two others - James and Ilenry - following soon after. The Peakes introduced an improyement in the form of a hand gristmill, which was exceedingly well liked by the few settlers, as grinding had previously been accomplished by means of the ''stump mortar and springpole pestle." George Peake died in September, 1827, at the great age of one hundred and five.

In 1811 Doctor John Turner, a brother-in-law of Daniel Miner, came from the State of New York and located on the farm afterwards owned by Governor Wood. 'T'wo years afterward, while the doctor and his wife were away from home, their residence was burned to the ground and their two children were destroyed with it. After this calamity the family removed to Dover. While the Turners lived in Rockpert the newcomers were Jeremiah Van Scoter, John Pitts, Datus Kelley and Chester Dean' a brother-inlaw of Kelley. Van Scoter located upon the place now known as Van Scoter's bottom, and after remaining a year removed to Iluron county. Mr. Kelley occupied the place now owned by George Merwin. In 1834, with his brother Ira, he bought the now famous Kelley Island.

On the 7th of June, 1812, Nathan Alger, with his wife and sons - Henry, Ilerman, Nathan, Jr., and Thaddeus P. - and his son-in-law, John Kidney, all xfrom Litchfield county, Conn., settled upon sections twelve and thirteen, and founded what is to this day known as the Alger settlement. Two days later, Benjamin Robinson, afterwards son-in-law of Nathan Alger, came in from Vermont and took up a place in that settlement. Nathan Alger, Sr., died January 21, 1813, being the first white person who died in the township. Samuel Dean, with his sons Joseph and Aaron W., moved into the township in 1814. Samuel Dean died in 1840, aged 85; his son Chester died in 1855; Horace B. Alger and Dyer Nichols came in during the fall of 1812.

Benjamin Robinson, above referred to, was a famous hunter, and much addicted to a roving life; priding himself, indeed, upon his Indian habits. Tle became eventually an industrious member of the Alger settlement, but in his old age fell into evil ways, paid the penalty, and died in poverty at the age of ninety. :

Rufus Wright, a soldier of the war of 1812, removed in 1816 from Stillwater, N. Y., to Rockport, and bought of Gideon Granger three-quarters of an acre of land, now occupied in part by the Patchen House, on the west side of Rocky river, near its mouth. He paid $3800 for it, evidently sharing Granger's belief that there was destined to be a great city near the natural harbor at the mouth of Rocky river. Wright put up a framed tavern of considerable size, and from 1816 to 1853 the house remained in the possession of the Wright family, passing in the latter year to Mr. Silverthorn. As the Patchen House, it is a remodeled and improved structure. still containing, however, a portion of the old building. A part of the old tavern is now used by the widow of John Williams as a residence, a little south of the Patchen House. Mr. Wright built half of the first bridge at that point, kept a ferry there for some years, and assisted in cutting out the first road west of the river.

About the time of Wright's settlement, Henry Clark, Jolin James, Charles Miles, and Josoph Sizer came into the township, and between the years 1816 and 1820 Clark and James were also tavern keepers on the west side. The first tavern kept in the township was, as already recorded, the one opencd by

Daniel Miner, to whom the court of common pleas of Cuyahoga county issued a license in March, 1811, renewing it in 1812, and also granting a license to keep a ferry. This tavern was only a log cabin, eighteen feet by twenty-four, and stood on the east side of the river, near the end of the present bridge. For some years after Miner's death his widow carried on the tavern, previous to which, for a brief period, Moses Eldred, who located in the township in the spring of 1813, kept the stand.

Joseph, a son of Samuel Dean, who settled in Rockport in 1814, built and carried on the first tannery in the township, on the north ridge, where Lucius Dean now resides. In 1815 Joseph Larwill - afterwards the founder of Granger City - built a mill near the mouth of Rocky river, but before he put it in operation it was burned to the ground. A similar fate befell a mill which was built on the same spot in 1818 by Erastus and Charles Johnson. In 1817 Datus Kelly built a sawmill in section sixteen, on the creck that crosses the north ridge.

James Nicholson, at the age of twenty, traveled in 1803, afoot, from Barnstable county, Connecticut, to Trumbull county, Ohio, whence, after a residence of fifteen years, he moved, in 1818, to Rockport, where he had purchased two hundred and seventy acres of land. Upon a portion of that land his son, Ezra Nicholson, now lives. Of James Nicholson's two children, who came with him, a daughter - Mrs. Elias Paddock, of Olmstcad - is still living. Upon his arrival he put up a log cabin, and at that time was the

In 1826 he erected a framed house a little west of where Ezra Nicholson now lives, and shortly afterward opened it as a tavern, Mr. Nicholson resided in Rockport until his death, which occurred in Rockport, when he had reached the age of seventy-six.

Mars Wagar, with his wife, Keturah, moved from Ontario county, New York, to Cleveland in 1818, and in 1820 proceeded to Rockport, where he had purchased one hundred and sixty acres of Jand, in section twenty-two, from Francis, son of Gideon Granger. He died in Rockport in 1841, leaving a widow and several children, the former of whom still lives on the old homestead, at the age of eighty-five. Her sons, Adam M. and Israel D., are prominent citizens of Rockport.

In April, 1819, Eliel Farr, a farmer and surveyor, with his sons, Aurelius, Eliel, Jr. and Algernon, came into Rockport from Pennsylvania, and settled upon section sixteen. Price French left Ontario county, New York, in 1818, and settled in Indiana. He moved from there to Rockport in 1828, with his wife and six children, and located upon the place now occupied by Ezra Nicholson. He disposed of that portion of the farm to James Nicholson, and afterwards occupied: the place where his son, A. G. French, now resides.

Dayid Herrington, who went to Middleburg, Ohio, from Otsego county, New York, in 1821, settled two years later in Rockport, upon the place now occupied by his widow. William and Mary Jordan located in 1827 upon the ' Jordan place," on the Dover plank road. Mrs. Jordan still resides upon the old homestead, surrounded by her children.

Jonathan Parshall moved from New York to Rockport in 1821, purchased an acre of ground of Mars Wagar, and put up alog cabin near the house of the latter. Parshall was a house-carpenter, and also taught school a few weeks in Rockport, but he was not very industrious, and in the course of time, being unable to pay even for his acre of land, he was dispossessed of it.

Early Incidents

Mention has already been made of the fact that Nathan Alger, Sr., was the first person to die in the township. The first white child born in the township was Egbert, son of Philo Taylor, who was born in November, 1809. Addison, son of Datus Kelley, was the second, born in June, 1812, and the third was Philana D., daughter of Henry Alger, born in December, 1812. 'The first couple resident in the township, who were married, were Benjamin Robinson and Amelia Alger, who were wedded in Cleveland November 5, 1812, by George Wallace, Esq. 'There was no wedding in the township until January, 1814. Chester Dean, of Rockport, and Lucy, daughter of Abner Smith, of Dover, were united by George Wallace, Esq., at the house of Datus Kelley. Visitors to this wedding came from miles around upon ox-sleds, and the occasion, so says tradition, '* was one of great merriment."

The first justice of the peace was Charles Miles, who was elected June 24, 1819. In that year, at a State election, but thirteen votes were polled in the township.

Previous to 1812, Indians used to rendezvous in numbers at the mouth of Rocky river, and on an island in that stream they buried several of their dead. Upon that island, too, they left their canoes during the winter, while they went into the interior for game. Upon returning in the spring, they were in the habit of building a fire at the head of each grave on the island. 'The Indians were friendly to the whites before the war of 1812, but on the outbreak of that conflict, many of them joined Tecumseh, and none of them ever returned.

A great 'bear hunt" was organized in 1820, and the command entrusted to Joseph Dean, a famous Nimrod of the time. The line of the hunt reached from Rocky river to Black river, and included a small army of hunters. Of bears they got few, but the catch of deer was abundant. The hunt wound up with a grand jollification whereat whisky played an important part, as in truth it invariably did in all public, and many private events of the time.

Whisky drinking was exceedingly popular and doubtless pernicious. At all events so thought Datus Kelley, who at a township meeting in 1827 astonished the company by presenting a temperance pledge for signatures. There was a storm of opposition, and a loud outery against what was called Kelley's onslaught upon liberty, but despite such a beginning, Mr. Kelley persevered in his purpose and eventually succeeded in gaining many adherents to the cause.

At the first township election but nineteen voters lived in Rockport and as there were eighteen offices to fill it was remarked after the election that every man in the township either held an office, kept a tayern or owned a sawmill.

The first bridge across Rocky river near its mouth was built in 1821, by subscriptions, Rufus Wright paying about one-half the expense. There was a great gathering at the raising of the bridge, which consumed a week. When it was accomplished, Captain Wright invited-all hands to his tavern, where the whisky jug passed merrily around and where the event was celebrated in so hilarious a manner that even the *"'Squire" himself danced a jig on a table umong tumblers and bottles, while the rest of the company cheered his efforts by singing Yankee Doodle.

A sketch of the early experiences of the Algers, written by Ilenry Alger, narrates that when he reached Rockport, June 7, 1812, his personal property consisted of an axe, an old French watch, part of a kit of shoemaker's tools, a bed and seven cents in cash. As he had borrowed ten dollars to pay his way to Rockport, he was in no mood to idle away his time, but began at once to put up his log cabin, and furnished it with a "'catamount" bedstead, a shoemaker's beneh and two stools. With that outfit he und his wife set up housekeeping. The only kitchen ware they had at first was an old broken iron tea kettle which young Alger happened to find on the lake shore. In the fall of 1812 Mr. Alger went thirty-six miles west of Painesville and threshed wheat for Ebenezer Merry, receiving every tenth bushel for his labor. This shows plainly enough that breadstuffs were very scarce and high at that time.

In 1813 Mr. Alger went to Cleveland to get salt, and for fifty-six pounds of that commodity he worked nine days for 8. 8. Baldwin, and then carried it home afoot on his back. In a similar way he obtained flour - by chopping timber for Capt. Hoadley of Columbia. Ife chopped an acre of timber for one hundred pounds of flour, and carried the latter home on his back - a distance of ten miles.

When Philo Taylor first settled in Rockport, in 1808, he went to mill in an open boat to the river Raisin, in the State of Michigan. The corn mills in Rockport at that early day were hollowed stumps for mortars, in which the grain was ground with what was called the spring-pole pestle. In 1810 a mail route between Cleveland and Detroit was established through Rockport. The mail, which weighed six or seven pounds, was carried on foot in a valise, by three men, stationed along the line.

Granger City

side of the river, and also a tract on the west side near the mouth, where, with Gideon Granger, John Bever and Calvin Pease, he laid out a city, which was called Granger, in honor of Gideon Granger, « large land owner in Rockport and other parts of the Reserve. A sale af the lots was widely advertised, and on the appointed day a great number of people were assembled from a considerable distance. Lots were sold at high rates; some bringing $60 each; the excitement ran high, and Larwill & Co. felt assured of a fortune.

The first cabin built upon the site of the new city was put up by Charles Miles near where the Patchen House now stands, and in 1816 John Dowling, George Reynolds and Capt. Foster also erected cabins. In the same year, John James, of Boston, bought ont Miles, who then located on the farm afterwards owned by Goy. Wood. James, who had brought out a small stock of goods, opened a store, and also a tavern, both of which he carried on until his death in 1820.

In 1816, too, as already stated, Rufus Wright built a tavern there, and there were also several other settlers in the new city at that time, including Asahel Porter, Eleazer Waterman, Josephus B. Lizer and Henry Canfield, the last of whom built what was long known as '' Canfield's old store." Mr. Caufield came from Trumbull county, Ohio, the home of his father, who had bought considerable land in Rockport. One day he met at his store a lady who had journeyed wone, on horseback, from Connecticut to Royalton, to visit her sister. He fell in love with her at first sight, married her shortly afterward, and moved with her to a farm east of the river, now owned by Collins French. Ue lived there but a short time, however, before returning to Trumbull county.

One Fluke, a German, and a potter by trade, came from Wooster and settled in Granger City in 1817, and began to make brown earthenware. Shortly after that Henry Clark came along and opened a tavern, and one Scott moved from Painesville to join Larwill in the erection of a mill. They had got up the frame of a dam when winter set in, but in the spring the floods washed it entirely away. This deeply discouraged Mr. Larwill regarding the future of Granger City, and he abandoned the undertaking in disgust.

The city struggled on a short time after this, but. all kinds of business were soon abandoned there, and even the few scattered cabins were speedily deserted by their inmates.

Rockport was formed as a civil township in February, 1819, and on the first Monday in the following April it held its first election at Rufus Wright's tavern. Those who voted at that election were Rufus Wright, Asahel Porter, Henry Canfield, Samuel Dean, Chester Dean, Joseph Dean, Dyer Nichols, Daniel Bardin, John Kidney, John Pitts, John James, Chas. Miles, Erastus Johnson, Charles Johnson, Josephus B. Sizer, Datus Kelley, Jas. Nicholson, Benjamin Robinson and ILenry Alger.

John P. Spencer

Jonathan Spencer, the father of our subject, was born at East Greenwich, R. I., Dec. 6, 1778. He married Miss Mollie Jones, a native of the same town, who was born Nov. 27, 1781. In 1803 he emigrated to Brookfield, Madison Co., N. Y., where he purchased a farm. He was a tanner and currier by trade, and in later years a shoemaker. He resided in that State until 1834, when he came to Olmsted Falls, Cuyahoga Co., where he died Feb. 7, 1837. His wife's death occurred Feb. 10, 1835.

John P. Spencer was the second son and child of a family of eight children of this worthy couple. He was born at Brookfield, Madison Co., N. Y., May 24, 1805. His education was limited to what could be procured at the district school. In early life he assisted his father. At the age of twenty-one he left home and was employed on the farm for four seasons, in the winter teaching school. In 1830 he left Brookfield and came to Ohio to seek his fortune. He selected one hundred and twenty-five acres of fertile land (which was at that time an unbroken forest) in the southwestern part of Rockport, with the intention of making it his home. On the 13th of March, 1832, he married Miss Electa M., daughter of Junia and Hannah (Ingraham) Beach. To this worthy woman should be attributed an equal share of the success which has attended them. 'They now have the means to obtain the comforts and enjoyments that a life of industry and prudent forethought will secure. 'Their home is known for its hospitality, and the unfortunate are never turned away unaided.

Mr. Spencer added to his landed possessions, so that at one time he owned two hundred and twentyfive acres, but he has made such liberal distributions of property to his children, that he has now remaining only his original homestead.

Mrs. Spencer was born in Norfolk, Litchfield Co., Conn., May 21, 1811. They have six children, all of whomare living: Henry B., born June 24, 1833; is unmarried, and lives with his father. Mary R., born March 25, 1835; was married Nov. 27, 1853, to James A. Potter. Hannah L., born Jan. 17, 1837; was married Feb. 2, 1860, to Francis W. Mastick. Amos B., born Jan. 21, 1839; was married March 21, 1861, to Miss Nellie Mastick. John W., born June 30, 1841. During the war of the Rebellion he served as a volunteer for three and a half years in the 15th Ohio Battery. He was married Dec. 24, 1866, to Miss Deborah Goldwood. Frank J., born Sept. 16, 1849; was married Nov. 25, 1872, to Miss Lou Palmer.

Mr. and Mrs. Spencer are now nearing their fifty years of married life. Their children are living on farms, all within a mile of them. Their grandchildren are growing up around them, and their declining years are made happy and pleasant by the satisfaction of knowing that their posterity are worthy citizens of the town of their birth. '

Upon arriving at the age required in his native State to perform military duty, Mr, Spencer was elected to fill an office in the company to which he belonged, and afterwards received a commission as ensign from Martin Van Buren, then Governor of New York, which he held until he removed to Ohio. Politically, Mr. Spencer originally belonged to the Democratic party, but upon the breaking out of the war he becamea Republican. Though never seeking the emoluments of office, yet he has, in years past, filled positions of trust in the township with honor and integrity, and is frequently consulted by his neighbors and friends, by whom his advice is thought worthy of respect and consideration.

The chairman of the meeting was Charles Miles; the judges of election were Asahel Porter and Datus Kelley. he officers chosen were Henry Alger, Rufus Wright and Erastus Johnson, trustees; Henry Canfield, clerk; James Nicholson and Samuel Dean, overseers of the poor; Benjamin Robinson and Joseph Dean, fence-viewers; Joseph Dean, lister.

The first book of township records has been lost, and the list of those who haye served the township as trustees, clerks and treasurers, can be given only from 1832 to 1879. For that period it is as follows:

Post Officer

The first postmaster in Rockport was probably a Mr. Goodwin, who, about 1827, kept an office at Rocky river, on the old stage route. In 1829 the stage route was changed so that it passed over '* [log Back Hill," and crossed the river about a mile and a half above the mouth. Then Calvin Giddings, living on Hog Back hill, was appointed postmaster. After a while Giddings moyed across the river and took the post office with him. About 1834 the office was returned to the mouth of the river, and Rufus Wright, who then kept tavern there, was appointed postmaster. The office remained at Wright's until about 1852. Abraham, Philip and Frederick, sons of Rufus Wright, being successively postmasters there. In 1852 the office was removed a mile south, where Herman Barnum kept it a year, being succeeded, in 1853, by Benjamin Phinney, who kept a store there. Ife retained the office until his death in 1864. The office wus then again returned to the mouth of the river, where John Williams was the postmaster until 1865. Another change then took the office up the river about two miles, to the house of Andrew Kyle, who continued to be the postmaster there until 1875. This year the office was removed northward to the store of B. F. Phinney, who has been the incumbent since that time. A post office was again established at Rocky river in 1877, at'the Cliff Ilouse, with William Hall as postmaster. He was followed by A. T. Tan Tassel, and he by James Starkweather; the latter being the present incumbent.

Horace Dean, who kept store there, was the first postmaster at East Rockport. After his time the incumbents have been O. W. Ilotchkiss, William B. Smith, Jacob Tagardine, Adam Wagar and Joseph ILowe, the latter being the postmaster during the present year, 1579.

Rockport Methodist Episcopal Church

The Methodists residing in Rockport, on the west side of the river, enjoyed irregular worship in schoolhouses and private residences until 1847, when a house of worship was erected about a mile and a half west of the mouth of Rocky river. The first clase was organized in 1828. William Jordan was the leader; the other members being Dyer EHaton, Mrs. Mary Jordan, Whiting, Bennett, Philena Alger, Sarah Doty, Polly Jordan and Sallie Usher. The organization took place in William Jordan's log

The first preacher was Rey. Henry O. Sheldon, a mest industrious laborer in the moral vineyard. Upon the erection of the church building, in 1847, the trustees were John D. Taylor, John Barnes, Henry Rauch, Benjamin Lowell and Sidney Lowell. The church membership is now fifty. The leader is C. S. Giddings, who is also the secretary of the society. The present trustees are S. H. Brown, Mark Able, C. 8. Giddings, F. MeMahon, Ira Burlingame, C. N. Wise and Charles Cuddeback. The present pastor is Rev. John McKean.

Baptist Church

This body was organized May 27, 1832, with the following members: Gideon Watrous, Royal Millard, John Dike, Fanny Watrous, Amelia Robinson, Sarah Herrington, Anna Millard, Lydia Dike and Fannie M. Nichols.

In 1838 a dissension arose, when several members withdrew and organized a new church on the opposite, or west, side of the river. The dissenters engaged Rey. Moses Ware as a settled minister, but their separate organization lasted only ashort time. About 1842 they returned to the mother church.

The latter received from 1832 to 1847 one hundred and twenty-five members, but in the last named year the congregation had so far declined in strength that regular worship was abandoned. A further lapse of two years, failing to disclose any(tenewed vitality, the few remaing members met on the 20th of February, 1850, and formally voted to dissolve the organization. A commodious meeting-house had been erected by the society, being completed in June, 1846. This house of worship - long known as '' the Tabernacle" - has, since 1850, been given over to free public use for religious worship, public entertainments, etc., and has for many years been in active demand, especially on Sabbath days. The Buptists gathered from time to time, after 1850, for worship in the tabernacle, and had frequent preaching about 1860 and afterwards, but no reorganization of the church has been effected.

First Congregational Church

This church was organized in 1835, but very little can be said touching its early history. Its existence was limited to a few years, and the records of those years are lost.

The chureh was revived and reorganized, however, on the 24th of July, 1859, when Benjamin Mastick, Russell Hawkins, Lydia Hawkins, Louisa Trisket, Mary C. Kinney, Silas Gleason, Labrina Gleason, Andrew Kyle and Susannah Kyle comprised the number who were received into membership. The first deacons under the reorganization were Ezra Bassett and Silas Gleason, and the first pastor was Rev. N. Cobb. His successors were Revs. J. B. Allen, E. 'T. Fowler, O. W. White and E. H. Votaw, the latter being the pastor in charge in July 1, 1879, when the membership was thirty-five.

In October, 1869, the chureh dissolved the connection which it had previously maintained with the Presbyterian organization, and was taken into the Sullivan, Ohio, Congregational Association. 'The church building now in use was erected in 1861. The present trustees are L. A. Palmer, William Andrews, and A. Barter; the deacons, William Andrews and A. Barter; the clerk, B. Barter.

The Free Will Baptist Church

A Free Will Baptist church was organized in Rockport about 1840, and in 1843 included the following members: Obadiah Munn and wife, John Warren and wife, Jeremiah Gleason and. wife, Joseph Coon and wife, Prosser Coon and wife, J. M. Plimpton and wife, Thomas Alexander and wife, Israel Kidney and wife, James Kidney and wife, Sarah and Joseph Hall.

Elder Reynolds, the first minister, preached uwatil about 1847. He was succeeded by Elder Prentiss but afterward returned and preached a second term. After him Elders Beebe, Pelton and others supplied the pulpit. After worshiping in school-houses until 1846, the congregation built a church on Hilliard avenue, opposite where the Good Templar's Hall now stands. At no time very prosperous, the society declined materially in strength for two or three years previous to 1858, and in that year was dissolyed. The The church building served until 1877 as a place of worship for various denominations, when it was purchased by Mr. F, Wagar, who removed it to his farm and converted it into a store-house.

This was not regularly organized until January 5, 1879, although a house of worship was built in the winter of 1877 and '78 and dedicated June 16, 1878. The original members were James Cannon and wife, J. ©. Cannon and wife, William Southern and wife, Joseph Southern and wife, Peter Bower, Miss Ella Woodbury, Miss Lou Atwell. James Cannon was chosen trustee; and Elder J. C. Cannon, who was the first preacher, continues to occupy that relation. The membership on the 1st day of July, 1879, was thirty-seven.

Previous to 1841 there were several families of the Swedenborgian faith in Rockport, James Nicholson and Mars Wagar being leading believers. Rev. M. McCarr, of Cincinnati, was invited to come out and form a church, whieh he did on the 4th of September, 1841, in a school-house near Rocky river. The first members were W. D. Bell and wife, Osborne Case, James Nicholson and wife, I. D. Wagar and wife, Delia Paddock, A. M. Wagar, Boadicea and Diantha

Lewis Nicholson

The ancestors of this gentleman were from Massachusetts, and removed in the early part of this century to the unsettled country of the West. Hailing from a State that early had the reputation of producing men of education and culture, in removing to other localities they carried the same characteristics with them. Our subject's father, James, was born at Chatham, Barnstable Co., Mass., April 16, 1783. When four years of age his father changed his residence to Connecticut. Arriving at the age of manhood he emigrated to Trumbull Co., Ohio, where he was married, May 5, 1812, to Miss Betsey Bartholomew, who was born at Waterbury, Conn., Nov. 9, 1793. In 1818 he removed to Rockport, Cuyahoga Co. At that time there was but one house between his residence and the west bank of the Cuyahoga River. He was engaged in agricultural pursuits, and ended a peaceful life Nov. 11, 1859. His wife survived him nearly a score of years, but departed this life Jan. 8, 1879.

Lewis, the second son of the above couple, was born in the town of his father's adoption, Feb. 6, 1820. His education was limited to what could be procured at the public schools, with two terms passed at an academy located at Kirtland, Lake Co., Ohio.

After leaving school he determined to devote himself to the vocation in life pursued by his father, and accordingly purchased a farm of one hundred acres in Rockport, which is the same on which he now resides. In 1850 he embarked in the nursery business in connection with farming, and has given much attention to that branch ever since.

Mr. Nicholson has been twice married. Sept. 8, 1840, he married Adelaide, daughter of Adnah Van Horn, of Rockport. She was born May 11, 1820, at Providence, R. I.; for nearly a quarter-century she was his companion, but passed away Dec. 10, 1870. Becoming tired of his lonely life, he married, Sept. 1, 1874, Miss Amanda Sears, a native of Delaware Co., N. Y., who was born Feb, 29, 1828.

Mr. Nicholson is one of the true sons of the soil, who in all things is conscientious and unpretending, and not ambitious above his vocation in life, in which

Thayer, James Newman, Jane KE. Johnson, Susanna Parshall, Mars Wagar and wife, James Coolahan and wife, Asa Dickinson and wife, Richard Hooper and wife, Matilda Wagar, Mary Berthong and John Berry.

The first trustees were W. D. Bell, James Nicholson and I. D. Wagar. The first ordained minister was Rev. Richard Hooper who had been a Methodist preacher in Rockport, and who is said to have been suddenly converted, at a camp meeting, to the new faith. He was ordained directly after the organization just mentioned, and labored vigorously four years as the pastor. Succeeding him the ordained ministers have been Revs..W. G. Day (who preached ten years), L. P. Mercer, D. Noble, John Saal, and Geo. L. Stearns, the present incumbent, who was ordained in 1876. The church membership now 'numbers about forty.

The society worshiped in the Rocky River schoolhonse until 1848, when the present house of worship (remodeled and improved in 1878) was built. The trustees now are Ezra Nicholson, A. M. Wagar and Alfred French.

Incidental to the religions experience of James Nicholson and Mars Wagar it is said that upon their awakening to the new faith they, with their wives, rode in a two-horse wagon all the way to Wooster to be baptized into the church.

Detroit Street Methodist Episcopal Church

About 1850 a small band of '' Bible Christians" used to worship occasionally in the Free Will Baptist church and continued to do so for three or four years. The first class contained sixteen members; its leader being Mark Tagardine. Rev. Richard Roach, of Cleveland, used to come out and preach for them, as did others whose names cannot now be recalled. Members of the denomination known as the United Brethren also had meetings in the Baptist church at that time, and after the Bible Christians discontinued worship, the Wesleyean Methodists formed a class with Mark Tagardine as the leader. Their first minister was Rev. Mr. Crooks.

Later, the Wesleyans gave place to a Methodist Episcopal class of twenty members and of that, too, Mark Tagardine was chosen leader; the Rev. Mr. Jewett of Berea preaching the first sermon. A church edifice known as the Detroit Street M. E. Church was built in 1876, at which time Rev. Mr. McCaskie was the pastor. After him Rev. Wm. Warren took charge. The present membership is one hundred and twenty-five. The class leaders are James Primat, John Webb, Stephen Hutchins and Mark Tagardine, and the trustees are Archibald Webb, James Bean, Jos. Parsons and Peter Clampet.

This church, which has a house of worskip in the southern part of Rockport, is an Irish Catholic organization. Previous to 1852 its members were able to enjoy only irregular service. In that year the church building now used was dedicated by Bishop Rappe, at which time about thirty families were included in the congregation. 'The priest first placed in charge was Rey. Lewis Filiere, who also preached at- Olmstead Falls and Berea. He served about ten years and was followed by Rey. Fathers Miller, Ludwig, Hyland, Quigley, O'Brien and Kuhbler. Father Kuhbler, the present incumbent, has charge also of the German Catholic church of Rockport. The church of St. Patrick is moderately prosperous and has a congregation of sixty families.

German Evangelical Church

In 1851 Rey. Philip Stemple, a preacher of Brighton, was invited to visit Rockport and to organize a German Protestant church, about fifteen families being anxious to join the proposed organization. Mr. Stemple organized the church and for fifteen years afterward preached in a school-house, once in three weeks, to the German Protestants of Rockport. By 1867 the organization had grown quite strong and numerous, and in that year a commodious brick church was built at a cost of about $5,000, besides labor contributed by the members of the society. Rev. Franz Schreck, from Wisconsin, was the first pastor after the completion of the church. The present pastor is Rev. Wm. Locher and the congregation contains about thirty families. The first trustees of the church were Peter Reitz, William Mack and Annacher. The present trustees are Henry Brondes, Frederick Brunner and George Zimmer.

The German Methodist Church

This was organized in 1847, and in 1851 the present church edifice was built. Valentine Gleb was the first class-leader, and William Mack, John Mack and Henry Dryer were the first trustees. Between 1847 and 1851, Revs. Messrs. John and Klein were the preachers, and a school-house was the place of worship. After the building of the church the preachers were Rey. Messrs. Buldaff, Reicher, Berg, Weber, Detter, G. Nachtripp, Reiter, C. Nachtripp, Buhdenbaum, Heidmeyer, Snyder, Nuffer, Nast and Borgerdeng. Latterly the church organization has lost much of its membership and has for some time been without regular preaching. . The present trustees are Valentine Gleb, Jacob Knopf, Henry Dryer, Michael Neuchter, and Bartlett Stocker. Valentine Gleb, who was in 1847 the first class-leader, still fills that office, in which he has served uninterruptedly since

This edifice which bears the above name, is a chapel of Trinity parish of Cleveland. It was opened for worship in 1875, and was consecrated on Ascension Day, 1879, by Bishop Bedell. Rev. J. W. Brown, D.D., of Trinity, is the reetor, and Mr. Charles iP: Ranney, of Cleveland, is the lay reader in charge. The

This German Catholic organization worships in a fine brick church edifice in the German settlement, close to the southern line of the township. The first church building, a plain framed structure, was completed in 1854, when about fourteen families attended services. The congregation includes now thirtythree families. Fathers Graessner, Kuhn, Miller and Kuhbler, with others, have served the church since its organization. The brick edifice, now in use, was built in 1867, at a cash cost of about $8,000, - although its actual value - by reason of volunteer labor, was much more. The present trustees are George Betts, Jacob Ammersback and Mehurad Nicholas. The officiating priest is Father Kuhbler.

One of the earliest school masters - although "he scarcely merited the dignified appellation of teacher - was Jonathan Parshall, a house-carpenter, who lived on a small piece of land adjoining Mars Wagar. He was not over intelligent, nor was he an especially industrious citizen, but it appears that he considered himself fitted to instruct the tender youth and in the year 1829 taught a few scholars in the back part of Mr. Wagar's house. The neighborhood _ tradition is that Parshall was a decidedly poor.teacher, and that his experience in that line lasted but a few wecks. ~ In 1830 a log school-house was built nearly opposite where Hzra Nicholson now lives, in which the first teacher was a lady from Olmstead. The brick structure which replaced the log house not long afterwards, is now used by Walter Phelps as a dwelling.

Rockport now enjoys an excellent and liberal system of public education. There is a special sehool district which extends from Rocky river east to the township line, and is composed chiefly of residents on Detroit street. This district manages its own school affairs under the act of 1871, and has three fine brick school-buildings. One contains a graded school, for which a new house, to cost $6,000, is to be completed by January 1, 1880. The other two buildings

Apart from this special district, the amount raised for the support of township schools in 1879 was $1,900. The township contains cight school-houses (seven of them being of brick) valued at $19,500. The total number of children of school age is six hundred and thirty-three.

Societies, Etc

good work, and now is in a flourishing condition with thirty members. The officers are S. H. Brown, president; James Potter, Mrs. 8. H. Brown and Mrs. H. Crossley, vice presidents; Miss L. Jordan, secretary; Mrs. J. W. Spencer, treasurer; Miss Annie Hutton, corresponding secretary. The business meetings are held in the Methodist Church, on the west side of the river.

There is a similar ofgatitzation' on the east side of the river known as the Temperance Sunday School. Meetings are held each Sabbath in the tabernacle, and the members are very zealous in behalf of the temperance cause. 'The organization is under the direction of a managing committee. Strong temperance movements were set on foot in Rockport in 1867, and resulted in the organization of two lodges of Good Templars, which after a brief era of prosperity ceased to exist in 1878.

The Fruit Interest

Fruit growing is one of the most important and remunerative industries in Rockport. The region especially devoted to it is that contiguous to Detroit street between the township line and Rocky river, whence large supplies of all the kinds of fruit raised

Dr. J. P. Kirtland was one of the earliest, if not the earliest, to engage to any extent in fruit culture in Rockport, setting out a number of various kinds of trees in 1850. Not long afterward Lewis and Ezra Nicholson and others began a liberal cultivation of fruit. The business developed rapidly and in a short time assumed considerable proportions along the line of Detroit street, and engaged the attention of all the dwellers upon that thoroughfare.

According to the published statistics, the value of fruit sent to Cleveland from Detroit street in 1867 was $10,000, while in 1872 it was no less than $50,000. Fruit culture is by no means a losing business elsewhere in the township, but the peculiar characteristics of the soil on the northern ridge makes that the most profitable locality.

Burial Places

The first graveyard laid out by white settlers in Rockport occupied the site of the Cliff House. Here, it.is said, were buried the bodies of a number of sailors drowned off the "point" in 1812. Henry Alger was buried there as was also Daniel Miner, two of the pioneers, but their bodies were afterward removed elsewhere. Traces of this burial ground remained until the erection of the Cliff House obliterated them.

who was found dead in the woods - supposed to have been murdered. Rockport now has several cemeteries, many of which are very neatly kept and beautifully adorned.

Three lines of railway, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis and the Rocky River Railroads, traverse Rockport, the two former passing diagonally across it from northeast to southwest, and the latter, running due west from the township line to Rocky river, one of its termini. This latter road was built to accommodate the tide of pleasure hunters which flows in great volume in the summer season to Rocky river and to the lake shore in that vicinity.;.It is also a very great convenience to people residing along its line, and from them derives no inconsiderable part of its support.

The manufacturing interests of Rockport are very few. William Maile on Detroit street began in 1861 to manufacture drain tile and common brick. The brick business he soon gave up, but for seven years after 1861, he made about three hundred thousand drain tile annually. In 1869 he resumed the manufacture of brick, in connection with the tile business, and at present - in June, 1879 - he is making drain tile and Penfield pressed brick, employing three hands.

Mr. John W. Spencer is extensively occupied in the western part of Rockport in the manufacture of tile and brick, in which he engaged in 1874, with his brother, F. J. Spencer. The latter retiring in 1877, J. W. Spencer has since carried on the business alone. He employs four men, and manufactures annually two hundred thousand drain tile and one hnndred thousand brick.

Israel D. Wagar

Mars Wager was a son of Peter and Lucy Wagar, and was born in Saratoga county, New York on the 23d day of September, 1791. He was well educated having studied at the academies at Lansingburg and Troy, New York, being not only proficient in mathematics, but also well versed in several languages. In 1813 he removed to Phelps, Ontario county, New York, where he was married on the 31st of December, 1816, to Katurah, daughter of Adam and Anna Miller, a native of New Jersey, born July 13,1794. Two years after his marriage he emigrated west and finally settled in Rockport in 'November, 1820, where he became one of the most enterprising settlers. He resided there until his death, which occurred on the 30th day of August, 1841. He was not an aspirant for political honors, but was a staunch Whig in the political contests of those days. He was a leader in the Swedenborgian church, and was much esteemed as a man anda Christian. He left a widow who still then just attained his majority, having been born in Avon, then called Troy, Lorain county, on the 21st day of February, 1820. His early life was passed like that of most of the sons of pioneer families, in assisting to clear off the heavy timbered land, and converting it into a productive farm. Being prevented by reason of his father's limited means, from recelying a classical education, he obtained such as could be procured at the district schools, together with a short academic course, the whole 'supplemented by very thorough self-culture. On arriving at the age of manhood he traveled in the West and South teaching school and familiarizing himself with the manners and customs of the people of those sections. Returning after a time to his home in Rockport, he turned his attention to farming and fruit growing, which, in connection with buying and selling real estate, have been his occupations since that time. Through his own industry, perseverance, foresight and economy, aided in all respects by his most estimable wife, he has accumulated wealth sufficient for all his wants, and now enjoys in comfort the fruits of his labors.

In 1876 his love of travel and desire for information again took him from his home, this time to Great Britain and the continent of Europe. He remained abroad several months, not traveling merely as a sight-seer, but filling his mind by close observation with useful knowledge of those countries and their inhabitants.

On the Ist day of January, 1843, Mr. Wagar was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Michael and Isabella Pile, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, September 7, 1822. They have had eight children, whose names and the dates of whose birth are as follows: Laura M., born October 12, 1843, now the wife of Dr. CG. D. Ashley, of Meadville, Pennsylvania; Adah I., born March 14, 1846, now the wife of M. G. Browne, a lumber dealer in Cleveland; John M., born August 1, 1848, at present engaged in trade in Texas; Jessic A., born January 31, 1851, now the wife of George E. Loveland, paymaster of the Cleveland and Pittsburg railroad; George E., born April 26, 1853; Alta E., born September 3, 1855; Caroline D., born May 9, 1858, and Charles Willard, born October 27, 1860. The four last named are still living at home.

Born and brought up in the Whig party, Mr. Wagar yoted and acted with them until 1856, when he joined the Democrats, and has since co-operated with them, filling numerous town offices, including that of justice of the peace.

Mr. Wagar is a type of the American farmer, congervative in his ideas and opinions, a close observer of human nature, possessing shrewdness, good judgment and business tact, by means of which he has placed himself and family beyond the reach of want. At the same time-he is fully recognized in the commuunity where he lives as an excellent parent, neighbor and citizen. His religious faith, like that of all the rest of the Wagar family, is Swedenborgian, but is broad, liberal and comprehensive.