Wayne Township

Wayne Township

This township is designated as the eighth of the second range of the original Connecticut Western Reserve. Much of the following history of this township is extracted from an address delivered by the Hon. J. R. Giddings, at the semicentennial anniversary of the settlement of the township, held on the 24th day of August, 1853. Mr. Giddings became a resident of the territory now called Wayne when but ten years of age, - this fact, with his retentive memory and very observing mind, eminently fitting him for the position of historian.

In the month of June, 1798, Titus Hayes, then a young man of unusual energy, left Hartford, in the State of Connecticut, with the intention of joining a company of surveyors to be employed on the Reserve in that season. He came by the way of Canandaigua, in the State of New York, with no other companion than a faithful dog ; and with his gun, a loaf of bread, and some salt in his knapsack, he left Erie, Pennsylvania. At a place called Levingston, in Crawford county, he passed the last cabin, and, trusting to his pocket compass, he bore southwesterly, and entered the State of Ohio near the southeast corner of Richmond, passing through the territory now called Andover; he entered this township near the northwest corner; he swam the Pymatuning creek, near the corner of lot 28. His was the first visit of civilized man to the interior of our township. It was then an unbroken wilderness. The dark umbrage of the forest protected the virgin soil from the noontide rays. The cool waters flowed quietly along the beautiful rivulets. All was then quiet, and nature reigned in all her pristine loveliness. In 1799 the township was surveyed into lots of a half-mile square, each containing one hundred and sixty acres. In 1800, by deeds of partition among the proprietors of the " Connecticut land company," the township was conveyed to Oliver Phelps, Esq., of Canandaigua, one of the original members of the company.

First Settlement

In the spring of 1803, Simon Fobes, Esq., of Somers, in the State of Connecticut, contracted with Oliver Phelps for fifteen hundred acres of land in township No. 8 in the second range. The tract embraced one entire tier of lots lying south of and adjoining the east and west centre line. These lots were numbered from fifty up to, and including, sixty.

On the 21st of June of that year, Joshua Fobes and his wife, Dorothy, accompanied by Elias Fobes, a younger brother, of some nine or ten years of age, started from Connecticut with the intention of settling in this township. Their father attended them on their journey, with the intention of seeing them located in the wilderness to which they were emigrating. After one or two days' travel they were joined by David Fobes, a cousin, who shared with them the hardships and privations of that protracted journey. In forty-nine days they reached Gustavus, and for the time being found shelter in the cabin of Jesse Pelton, who had settled at the centre of the township. Soon after their arrival they proceeded to ascertain the situation of their lands. This done, the father returned to Connecticut. Joshua Fobes and David commenced chopping timber and preparing a cabin, but the exposure of the journey affected the health of Joshua so much that he could not remove on to his lands until the 8th of October. The family which moved into the township of Wayne on that day consisted of Joshua Fobes, his wife Dorothy, David Fobes, and Elias Fobes. These four farmers were emphatically the " first settlers of Wayne."

The cabin in which they lived was near the southeast corner of lot 57. Here they spent laborious days and lonely nights. Soon after they had settled in their new home, David Fobes left them and returned to Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Fobes, with the brother, Elias, spent the winter of 1803-4 with no civilized neighbor within less than five miles from their dwelling. They were often visited by Indians who lived in the township, and who occasionally supplied them with venison and bear's meat. They were usually friendly ; but it may not be out of place to say that on one occasion two of them visited the cabin of our pioneers, where they found Mrs. Fobes without company. They became boisterous in their demands for whisky, but she, understanding their habits, refused to furnish it. They drew their knives in a threatening manner ; she had recourse to the weapon most used by her sex (the broomstick), and drove them from the cabin. Their neighbors were a few families in the township of Windsor, some fifteen miles westward, but there was no road by which they could be visited. On the north, their nearest neighbors were at Kingsville, some twenty miles distant, without a road, while on the east there were no settlers nearer than Meadville, Pennsylvania. They had no intercourse with white people except at the south. In Gustavus were two or three families, with, perhaps, as many in Kinsman and Vernon. These constituted their neighbors.

In May, 1804, Simon Fobes, Jr., came into the township, and took up his residence with his brothers, returning to Connecticut in the autumn, and our pioneer family were left to spend the second winter without other neighbors than those heretofore referred to. During the summer of 1804 a wagon-road was opened from their residence to Morgan. This road was occasionally traveled, and our pioneers were at times called on by the lonely traveler, who, in that day, was always delighted to find a cabin amid the dreary wilderness. Early the next season Simon Fobes, Jr., returned to Wayne. He came in a wagon drawn by two horses, which enabled him to bring with him many articles of clothing and other necessaries greatly needed by the family. With him came a cousin, Jabez Fobes, whose father had purchased land here, and the son came to rear a cabin for his father's family. During the winter of 1804 - 5, Titus Hayes and Elisha Giddings removed from Canandaigua, New York, with their families. They came on sleds drawn by oxen, reaching Hartford, in the county of Trumbull, in the month of March. Here they remained during the season, engaged in raising provisions for the next season. On the 8th of October these gentlemen removed with their families to Wayne, and took up their residence on lot 33. Mr. Fobes and family had resided in the township two years before the arrival of another family. Elisha Giddings settled on lot 34. In the autumn of 1805, George Wakeman, from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, purchased lot 85, and began improvements thereon. During the same period Joshua Giddings (father of the Hon. J. R. Giddings) purchased several lots of land in the township. Jabez Fobes erected a small cabin about this time on lot 88. Edward Inman, of Somers, Connecticut, purchased lands here in the same autumn. In the winter of 1805-6, Joshua Giddings, accompanied by his son, Anson P., came from Canandaigua, and commenced improvements near the centre, on lot 45, erecting a cabin and planting a small field of corn. In the month of May, George Wakeman and family, his soniu-law, Henry Moses, and family, settled on lot 85. In the same month the family of Joshua Giddings (consisting of wife, son Joseph, and J. R., the youngest of the family) left Canandaigua, in charge of Nathaniel Coleman, at that time recently married, reached Conneaut on the 16th day of June (the day of the total eclipse of the sun), coming down the old Salt road and across the Pymatuning into the township, and to the cabin on lot 45. Mr. Coleman began improvements on lot 65, where he subsequently settled. About the 1st of July, Edward Inman and family, his son Edward, Jr., and family, settled on lot 86. Soon after this Nathan Fobes took up his residence on lot 88. Soon after this Mr. Giddings inaugu- rated public Sabbath worship. The first meeting was at his cabin on, probably, the second Sabbath in July. In the memoirs of the Rev. Joseph Badger we find that, on the 2d of November, 1806, he spoke at the house of Joshua Fobes; and this sermon he calls the first Sabbath preaching in Wayne."

First Death

On the 8th day of January. 1808, Mrs. Thankful Fobes, grandmother of Joshua Fobes, died at his house. The place of burial was in what is now the cemetery, a little distance from the centre of the township. Mr. Hayes donating the land. There was no clergyman present, the solemn services being conducted by those present. Three days subsequently Simon Fobes, the husband of the before mentioned, was buried by her side in the forest grave-yard. During the year 1808 there was much suffering among the early settlers of Wayne, the wet season of the previous year preventing the raising of crops. Another misfortune befell the settlers, - most of the lands purchased in town were found to have been mort "aired bv Oliver Phelps prior to their sale, and he dying about this time, insolvent. the purchasers were left without a remedy. During this season Messrs. Fobes erected the first saw-mill in the township ; this was on lot 55, the completion of which marking an era in the settlement. The first school-house was erected near the centre of the township, in the autumn of 1809. It was a small log cabin, with windows of oiled paper. Keziah Jones taught the first school in the township ( date not given). Miss Jones became afterwards the wife of Nathaniel Coleman. Mr. Giddings states that he was a member of this school, and that in it he obtained the only common-school education acquired after he was ten years of age. The early settlers were subjected to many privations. Their dwellings were rude and inconvenient ; glass windows were not enjoyed ; the light was obtained usually from the chimney ; the door and window-places filled with oiled paper instead of glass. They had usually but one room, which served as kitchen, dining-room, parlor, and nursery. Their crockery was arranged on shelves in one corner of the house, and under these shelves their iron-ware and cooking-utensils were arranged. It was common in the early period of our settlement for gentlemen to appear at church on the Sabbath barefooted, in clean shirts, pants, and vests, without coats, which were not sometimes conveniently to be had. The ladies were generally in the habit of walking to church barefooted, carrying their shoes and stockings in their hands until near the place of meeting, when they would stop and clothe their pedal extremities, and then walk into the sanctuary. In connection with the difficulties experienced in these early days in getting grain ground, it is stated that " most families were provided with ' samp mortars.' " These were formed by burning a cavity into the top of a stump, and then providing a large pestle six or eight feet in length, suspended over the stump by fastening the upper end to a spring-pole, the lower end being suited to the cavity in the stump below it. The corn being placed in the cavity of the stump, the pestle was brought down on it with such force as to break it in pieces, and a woman or child could pound sufficient for the family - a meal - in a short time. The pioneers met but seldom for social pleasures, but that circumstance added interest to their gatherings. The ladies did not call at four o'clock P.M.. as at this day. They left home in the morning, taking their children with them, and occupied the day in an efficient visit, retiring before the disappearance of daylight. The friendships of that day were strong and uninterrupted. There were no feuds, no contentions, no strifes among them.

The First Wedding

In the winter of 1807, Philemon Brockway was married to Sarah, daughter of Nathan Fobes. The marriage was solemnized at the house of her father, and the whole town were invited ; for weeks the event was looked to as one of un- U'ual interest. Fortunately, the weather was good, and the invited guests were promptly in attendance. The attendance of a clergyman could not easily be obtained, and a justice of the peace was employed to officiate. All passed off merrily. The bride and bridegroom were duly congratulated, and saluted with the friendly kiss. The whisky was passed around in earthen bowls and tin-cups. At a seasonable hour the guests departed for their homes, highly gratified with the first wedding, which was long referred to as one of the interesting incidents of the early settlement.

The first township election was at the house of Nathan Fobes. This township contains but one of those works called " ancient fortifications," of which so much has been written and so little known. This work was situated on the west side of the Pvmatuning creek, on lot 89, near the mill. It had the appearance of having been designed for defense. Its parapet-walls were some three feet in height, and on them were found forest-trees of the ordinary size. It was evidently erected by that peculiar people who, for want of a better name, are denominated " Mound- Builders.'' Samuel Jones came from Hartland, Connecticut, in 1811. His family consisted of wife and five children, the eldest of whom (L. H. Jones) still occupies the original homestead on lot No. 28. The first cheese-factory was was located about one-fourth of a mile north of the centre. This was in about the year 1S23, at which time Hari Miner was commissioned first postmaster, - a position which he held for many years. Present postmaster is Samuel Jones, Jr. First mails were carried on foot, arriving at Wayne the latter part of the week.

The first grist-mill was erected in about the year 1820 ; Messrs. Loomis & Brown were the proprietors. The location of this mill was on the Pymatuning creek, in the southeast corner of the township. The first store began business in about 1825, on the Hayes road, some quarter of a mile north of the east and west centre road ; Messrs. Hayes & Sievens proprietors. The present store is at the centre ; Messrs. S. Jones & Co. proprietors. The first resident physician was Luther Spelman, whose location was in the southeast corner of the township; he first began business in perhaps 1823, and continued the practice of his profession until his death, which occurred in September, 1862. J. W. Graham is at present the only physician in the township.

For the record of the patriotic deeds of the citizens of Wayne during the War of the Rebellion, see military history of the county in another part of this volume.

The population of this township in 1870, as shown by the United States census, was eight hundred and seventeen, and the political status is shown by the vote cast for President in 1S76, which the secretary of state's report gives as follows : R. B. Hayes, 191 ; S. D. Tilden, 29.

Statistics For 1877

In connection with the township of Wayne, we find on the first record that " so much of the township of Green as is contained in the original survey of No. 8, in the first, second, and third ranges, is hereby set off into a separate township, to be known by the name of Wayne. The electors of said township of Wayne are directed to meet on the 11th day of April next, at the dwelling of Nathan Fobes, for the purpose of electing township officers. Signed, Richard Hayes, clerk and dated 11 County Commissioners' Office, Trumbull County, Ohio, March 19, 1811." (The township so organized embraced what is now the townships of Williamsfield, Andover, Colebrook, Cherry Valley, New Lyme, and Wayne.) Pursuant to above the electors met as directed, and elected the following officers : George Wakeman, Joshua Giddings, and Ezra Woodworth, trustees; Nathaniel Coleman, clerk ; Thomas Ford, treasurer ; Anson Jones, lister and appraiser ; Elisha Giddings, appraiser ; Titus Hayes and Samuel Tuttle, overseers of the poor; Zopher Case and Joshua Fobes, fence-viewers; David Fobes, Anson Jones, and Albiganee Woodworth, supervisors. The first justices of the peace were Samuel Tuttle and Nathaniel Coleman, whose commissions bear date at Zanesville, September 24, 1811. The following are their successors to the present: Ezra Leonard. Anson Jones, Titus Hayes, Jonathan Tuttle, Simon Fobes, Joshua Fobes, Sr., Nathaniel Coleman, Jr., Simon Fobes, Jr., Flavel Jones, Lovel E. Parker. Anson Jones, C. C. Frick, David Smiley, Richard Hayes, Morris Spelman, Rolliu L. Jones, James S. Cowden, Linus H. Jones, Andrew J. Hatch, and F. A. Kinnear. Among the " archives" of Wayne we find a poll-book of an election for State officers held October 13, 1812, at which time twenty-eight votes were cast. The following are the candidates : Governor, Return J. Meigs ; Member of Congress, John S. Edwards; Senator, Peter Hitchcock; Legislature, Samuel S. Baldwin and James Montgomery ; County Commissioners, O. K. Hawley, Levi Gaylord, Titus Hayes, Moses Wright, and Ezra Leonard. The judges of this election were Samuel Tuttle, Elisha Giddings, and Anson Jones ; Jonathan Tuttle and Samuel Jones, clerks. At the presidential election of 1816, there were fifteen votes cast for presidential electors. Reuben Bates, Jabez Fobes, and Jonathan Tuttle, judges ; Lynds Jones and Joshua R. Giddings, clerks.

The following statement in relation to the early Methodist meetings, formation of the society, etc., is given from memory, the records having been destroyed. The fiist church organization was formed in about the year 1S22, subsequent to which time a camp-meeting was held on the farm of Titus Hayes (now owned by 0. H. Miner). The first meetings were held in dwellings and school-houses, and among the first ministers were Charles Thorn, J. W. Davis, Thomas Carr, and others. The first Methodist church edifice was erected in 1840, at Linden ville. It was a frame structure, and is the same which is now occupied at the centre, it having been moved to that point in 1866. Present pastor, T. D. Blinn ; membership, forty.

Church Organizations

The first church organization in Wayne was Congregational, formed in 1816. Previous to this, for some years, regular religious services were held on the Sabbath at private houses, prominent among which were those of Joshua and Levi Fobes, at the centre, and at the house of Benjamin Ward, on the Hayes road. These services were conducted by Simon Fobes, a soldier of the Revolutionary army, consisting of two services, of a sermon read at each, with prayer and singing, in accordance with the usual form of those days, which practice continued until 1816. At this time an effort was made to establish more permanently the institutions of the gospel. The citizens of Wayne and Williamsfield united in building a place of worship. Neither township was much settled, except in the contiguous halves of each, and both were ufider one township organization. A large house was built of logs, piled one above the other, and covered with " shakes" - much like barrel-staves, except being less in thickness - from three and a half to four feet in length. These were laid loose upon poles or " ribs," which ran across the building, for their support, and were held in their places by poles as weights. The crevices between the logs of the sides were " chinked" with wood and mud, making them quite formidable against the blasts of winter. A floor of boards covered about one-half of the room, while the remaining portion was the bare earth, except logs, hewed upon the upper side, to support a floor, when the finances might justify the outlay. These logs were used as seats, and made a substantial and solid sitting. In winter a fire was built upon the ground near the centre, the smoke very tardily making its exit through the crevices in and around the roof, but often tarrying sufficiently to cause tears, without the aid of eloquence or pathos. After about two years a floor covered the whole area. A gallery was erected at one end of the building, which accommodated a choir as aristocratic, but much less exclusive, than those of more modern times. In this humble building the citizens and their families assembled in mass, holding two services each Sabbath, conducted by deacons, notable among whom were Ezra Leonard, Norman Wilcox, and Calvin Andrews. Occasionally a missionary would spend a Sabbath with them. The first minister employed by the church was Rev. Alvin Coe, for a term of four Sabbaths; afterwards, one by the name of Bowen, as a candidate for settlement; but he did not prove to be acceptable. Early in the summer of 1819 we were visited by Rev. Ephraim T. Woodruff, in the capacity of a missionary of the " Missionary Society of the State of Connecticut," who labored with us several weeks, when arrangements were made with him to settle with us as our minister, and labor as such one-half of his time, at a salary of two hundred dollars per year, which was to be increased ten dollars per year until it reached two hundred and fifty dollars. He was installed as pastor in August, 1819, and returned to Connecticut for bis family, which consisted of his wife and six children. He returned with his family in October, and settled in his log house, which had been provided for them in his absence, perfectly surrounded by forest, with no building nearer than half a mile, except our lonely-looking forest church. One-half of Mr. Woodruff's time was spent as a missionary among the destitute churches in this part of the Western Reserve, making, usually, tours of two weeks each, and thus alternating in his home and mission labors. He was a laborious, persevering, and efficient man, both as a pastor and as a citizen. Three services on the Sabbath was the rule, two at the church, and at evening in some quarter of his parish, usually at some school-house. He exhibited much zeal in the interests of education, and made a specialty of visiting each school twice in each session, giving notice of the intended visit on the Sabbath previous. Those who were most benefited by and ap2ireciated his services are on the shady side of life, and look back with grateful recollections of Rev. Ephraim T. Woodruff. To attend church was the general rule of almost the entire population, and the difference in attendance between deacon and preaching meetings was small.

Our religious interests were harmonious and prosperous until the winter of 1831, when our house of sacred memory was destroyed by fire. A recollection of that humble building calls up some of the most enjoyable occasions of our lives. Would that we could transmit such recollections to posterity ! Now without a house of worship, our pastor was equal to the emergency. He had a building of logs, which had been used for " all work," which was immediately appropriated. A part of the upper floor was taken out and the choir perched upon the remainder, with heads in frequent contact with the poles of the roof, while the mass were seated below. But this state of things could not long continue. A house, or houses, must be built. The people upon this side of the creek thought it time that interest called for a house nearer home, and the main part that that interest centred upon the Hayes road. To this those upon the centre road demurred, uniting their influence with those upon the east side and Williamsfield, awaiting a more favorable opportunity for building at the centre. The Hayes road interest started forward, hewed and drew timber to the spot, when, in a maze of doubt, the work was suspended. Those on the east side, with West Williamsfield, encouraged by this suspense, united their efforts and built the house now occupied by Mr. Lewis D. Roberts, which stands nearly upon the same spot occupied by the log church. In this state of things, regular religious services were established at the school-house on the Hayes road, north of the centre line, and kept up with regularity from Sabbath to Sabbath, with preaching about one-half of the time. In October, 1832, a Congregational cburch was organized with twenty-nine members, twenty-two of whom were from the former church, and all were livin'1- east of the north and south centre road. This state of things continued for about two years. In the mean time, those on the centre road and west remained members of the original church of " Wayne and Williamsfield," but, uniting their efforts with others of the township, commenced the building of a house at the centre, which was undenominational, stimulated by a " Centre" interest. In this state of things the project of a house on the Hayes road was abandoned, and an arrangement made to take the house at the centre. A Congregational society was organized in the spring of 1835, which was duly incorporated under a special act of the legislature, which has, as such, taken all the financial responsibility in building and supplying preaching, with the incidentals consequent thereto. In November, 1834, those living upon the centre road withdrew from the mother church and united with the new organization known as " The First Congregational church of Wayne." Our Sabbath services were continued at the school-house near Mr. Hari Miner's until 1838, which was ordinarily sufficient to accommodate all who wished to attend, by providing extra seats, which was done to the full capacity of the room, the house at the centre not being sufficiently completed. In May, 1840, we find this record of the doings of " The First Congregational society of Wayne" :

" Resolved , That the building committee be instructed to proceed forthwith to finish the pulpit and slips ; also the stairs leading to the gallery, if the funds hold out."

In the mean time, the house was used as our place of worship, notwithstanding its unfinished state. The house was finally finished, when the plastering proved defective and commenced falling off, which sometimes occurred at their time of service, which occasioned some to speak facetiously of "sitting under the droppings of the sanctuary." Again we were fitted up, enjoying our church, until 1865, when it was moved from its former foundation, which put it in a very unsatisfactory condition, involving much expense proportionately to its original cost, which was not fully overcome until 1868, when it was nicely fitted up, frescoed, and made one of the most neat audience-rooms of a country township. In this condition we continued to enjoy it until December 16, 1872, when it was destroyed by fire. Thus were the expectations of many, who supposed they had made their last effort at church-building, buried in ashes. Through the favor of our Methodist friends we were offered the use of their house in the mornings, which we continued to do for one year, uniting the two Sabbath-schools in one, which was continued for one year, when we withdrew and held our meetings in the academy at Lindenville during the year 1874, and until in February, 1875. Owing to differences of opinion as to the location of the new church edifice, nothing was accomplished until 1874, when a subscription was raised and a contract entered into by the building committee, composed of Messrs. Orlando P. Fobes, Stephen W. Bailey, and Winthrop F. Pelton, with Mr. Sherman Kinney as builder, in the season of 1874, which contract was very satisfactorily fulfilled. The house was completed and furnished, and dedicated as a place of worship, in February, 1875, at a cost of something over six thousand four hundred dollars. We are now accredited with having one of the best and most pleasant audiencerooms in a country township. The present church membership is about one hundred and ten, including all ages from early youth to old age, the oldest member being in the last half of his ninety-seventh year, viz., Samuel Jones, and being the oldest man in the township. About thirty years ago the church of " Wayne and Williamsfield" changed their location to West Williamsfield, which includes one of the three north and south streets through this township, and about onefifth of our population, which has given occasion to speak of them as living " with bodies in the town of Wayne, but souls in Williamsfield." This branch includes Mrs. Rebecca Wilcox, now in her ninety-ninth year, and the oldest woman in the township.

Wayne Institute

was incorporated during the year of 1845-46, and was generally known as Wayne academy. The arrangements for building were made in 1845, but were not car- ried into effect and the building completed until the autumn of 1846. The building was erected by an association of stockholders. The stock being divided into shares of five dollars each, Sylvester Ward being the largest stockholder, Deacon Calvin Andrews the second largest. The building committee were Sylvester Ward, Calvin Andrews, C. C. Wick, and Samuel Jones, Jr. The officers of the association in 1847 were C. C. Wick, president ; Joshua Fobes, Jr., vice-president; Sylvester Ward, T. E. Best, H. F. Giddings, and J. T. Miner, trustees. Joseph B. Barber was president during 1848 - 49, and took an active interest in the welfare of the school. Of the officers above mentioned at this date (1878) but three are living, C. C. Wick, H. F. Giddings, and Joshua Fobes. The school was in session from four to six months during the year, with from forty to eighty pupils in attendance each term, and flourished from its commencement until 1864-65. The following is an imperfect list of its principals and assistant teachers : Miss Catherine Coleman has the honor of being the first teacher who taught in the academy, and did much towards developing a love of study in the minds of the young people of that day. Miss Coleman was assisted by Miss T. Arnold, and taught during the winter of 1846 - 48. Mr. T. X. Haskell - assistants, Miss Sarah C. Austin and Miss S. E. Lattimer - taught from 1848 till 1850. Mr. G. H. Collier - assistant. Miss Lee - taught from 1850 to 1852. After these the school was taught by Miss Abby Barber, who received her early education at this institute, afterwards graduating at Oberlin. Miss Barber died March 28, 1857, loved and respected by all who knew her. Miss Flora A. Krum, another former pupil, taught successfully in the academy. Miss Krum was a graduate of Willoughby Female seminary, and for several years assisted her husband, Mr. Edwin Regal, who was principal of the Normal school at Hopedale, in this State. Among the teachers of whom we have no record of the time when they taught are Mr. Clark ; Mrs. Branch, assisted by Miss A. Niles, taught during the fall and winter of 1854-55 ; Thomas Roberts, in the fall of 1856. During the interval between 1856-61, Arthur Case, Andrew Braden, and L. D. Kee were the teachers. Mr. Braden enlisted for the late war, and was promoted to captain in the One Hundred and Fifth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. L. D. Kee was also a captain in the same regiment, several of his former pupils enlisting with him. Captain Kee was killed in action at Perryville, Kentucky, October 8, 1862. The following is a partial list of the names of professional and business men who were once members of Wayne academy: Professor of Music, Ezra Geer (graduate of Oberlin) ; Will C. Chamberlain (graduate of Oberlin). Lawyers, George C. Sturgis, member of the West Virginia house of delegates; Claudius B. Parker (graduate of Oberlin), member of the bar, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Doctors, Frank H. Geer, Henry C. Hart, N. C. Brooks, Aurora Giddings, Joseph Simons. Ministers, George W. Andrews, Talladega college, Alabama, Thomas Roberts, Darius Woodworth, Harvey Webb. A majority of the pupils in the academy were the sons and daughters of farmers ; the sons, many of them, chose the calling of their fathers, and are numbered among our most intelligent and influential citizens. The above catalogue of names is, of course, very imperfect, and is no just measure of the good work which the institution has accomplished.

July 4, 1856, Lysander Fobes was killed at the centre by the premature discharge of a piece of ordnance, with which they were celebrating our national independence.

Drayton Jones was fatally injured by falling through a scaffold and against the cylinder of a thrashing-machine ; was so horribly mangled that death soon ensued. Cannot obtain the date.

Biographical Sketches Dr. Luther Spelman

whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Granville, Massachusetts. July 27, 1779. His father's name was John Spelman, who married Miss Damaris Rose, of Granville, Massachusetts. Dr. Spelman studied medicine with Dr. Harvey, of Massachusetts. He married, in 1804, Miss Anna Vail, of Morristown, New Jersey, a lady of Quaker descent. The father was a cook for General V ashington while his army encamped at the above-named place during the

War of the Revolution. Dr. and Mrs. Spelman emigrated to Deerfield. Portage county, in 1808, where they remained in the wilderness for one year, when they removed to Youngstown, Mahoning county, Ohio. In 1812, Dr. Spelman was appointed a surgeon in one of the militia regiments of Ohio, but was not able to go to the frontier, and performed duty at home in making examinations for exemptions from the service. He was an old schoolmate of Titus Hayes, of Wayne, and, on account of the friendship existing between the families of those named, he was induced to remove to Wayne, Ashtabula County, in 1823, where he commenced the practice of medicine. In 1823, Dr. Spelman was elected one of the associate judges of Ashtabula County, being associated with Judges Moffit, Wood, and Burchard. Dr. Spelman practiced medicine in Wayne and in the adjoining townships for the long period of forty years. He died in Wayne, September 3, 1863, aged eighty-four years, and his wife died in the same town, March 12,

1870. The children of Dr. L. and Anna Spelman were Corintha, born in New Jersey, January 12, 1807, who married Benjamin F. Palmer, of Williamsfield ; she died in Williamsfield, February 20, 1846. Sarah, born in New Jersey, April 28, 1808, who married J. Anson Giddings, of Wayne. Charles, born in Deerfield, Portage county, Ohio; died in Williamsfield, Ohio, January 6, 1875. Sidney, died at the age of ten years, at Petersburg, Columbiana county, Ohio, where the family had resided for some time. Mary, born at Youngstown, Ohio, in March, 1814, married William J. Colby, of Cherry Valley, Ohio. Harvey, born at Petersburg, Ohio, June 19, 1816, who died at Rome, Ohio, in 1877. John and Henry, twin brothers, were born at Petersburg, Ohio, January 30, 1818. John married Miss Fidelia Hart, a daughter of Captain Jerry Hart, of Wayne. John Spelman died in Wayne in 1842, and his wife Fidelia died in Wayne, June 14, 1842. Henry Spelman married Miss Abigail Loomis, of Williamsfield. He died in Cherry Valley, Ohio, February 27, 1867. Morris, born in Petersburg, Ohio, December 31, 1820, has been a school-teacher in Wa3'ne and Cherry Valley, and served for six years as a justice of the peace in Wayne. July 5,

1871, he married Mrs. Rose Coulter, of Crawford county, Pennsylvania. Their only child, Samuel A. Morris, was born in Wayne, May 6, 1875. Franklin, youngest son of Dr. L. and Anna Spelman, was born in Williamsfield, Ohio, October 22, 1824, died in Wayne, April 2, 1852. Jane, youngest daughter, born in Williamsfield, Ohio, February 18, 1828, married A. T. Woodworth, of Wayne, May 26, 1847.

The Jones Family

Among the many worthy citizens of Ashtabula County, none stand higher in the estimation of his acquaintances than Samuel Jones, Sr., of Wayne township, at this date (1878) in his ninety-seventh year. Upright in business, cheerful and hopeful in manner, of sound judgment, and of irreproachable morals, he enjoys the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens when the frosts of ninety-seven winters have left their impress upon his head, visible in the silver which crowns it honorably and becomiugly. He was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, June 29, 1781. May 11, 1803, he married Miss Deborah Hayes, of Hartford, Connecticut. Both of these were school-teachers in their native State of Connecticut. Mr. Jones' father's name was Samuel, and his grandfather's, Israel. His mother's name was Ruth Ackley. He was a member of a family of three sons and four daughters. Elijah Jones, one of the brothers, was a member of the Connecticut legislature, and Lucien C. Jones, a nephew, was a member of the Ohio senate in 1872. Deborah Hayes' family was composed of four sons and three daughters. Her father, Titus Hayes, was a soldier in the army of the Revolution. Her family suffered from exposures and necessities incident to that struggle. All of her brothers - Richard, Titus, Linus, and Lester - were soldiers during the War of 1S12, Richard being colonel of the regiment that marched through Ashtabula County for the frontier during that war. Mr. and Mrs. Jones, with five small children between the ages of one and seven years, left Old Connecticut for the New on September 10, 1811, and in ten years from that very day they started on a visit to their native State of Connecticut in company with Hon. Jonathan Tuttle, of Williamsfield. On their arrival at the place now known as Kelloggsville, they were met by Mrs. Jones' brother Titus - afterwards known as Hon. Titus Hayes - with a team of oxen. They pursued their way through the forest, a rude road having been cut, part of it being but a little more than a blazed-tree path, over brush, across logs, fording streams, and, what was worse, getting through the mud, Mr. Hayes carrying the second son, Flavel, a boy of five years, across a stream by taking hold of his coat-collar with his teeth. They arrived, at the close of the second day, at the house of Mr. Zadoc Steele, in Andover. Near the close of the third day they arrived in sight of Mr. Hayes' cabin, accomplishing the journey from Kelloggsville to Wayne in three days. A few months after their arrival in Wayne they settled upon lot 28, where they continued to reside until after the death of Mrs. Jones (September 5, 1863) ; since which he has lived with the families of his children.

Mr. Jones was well pleased with the new country after he settled upon his own land, and was never homesick ; but his wife used to stand in the door of their cabin looking towards the east with tearful eyes. Mr. Jones was drafted for service for the War of 1812, but was excused by Dr. Peter Allen, on account of lameness caused by cutting his ankle. In the late Rebellion, all of his grandsons who had arrived at sufficient age, with a single exception, were in the service for long or short terms, and nearly all met with the casualties of war.

Mr. and Mrs. Jones united with the Congregational church in Wayne previous to the year 1819. Mr. Jones, when called upon to aid in any worthy benevolent enterprise, asked only one question, - What is my part? or, What ought I to give for this? and cheerfully and liberally responded. Benevolence was Mrs. Jones' crowning virtue, and it can be truly said of her, "She hath done what she could."

Very few men have lived a long life, more respected as useful and influential citizens, than " Uncle Sam," as he was familiarly called. He was no aspirant for office or places of distinction ; did not encumber his mind with the provisions of the statute-book, except as necessary in the ordinary transactions of business, and sometimes as supervisor or township trustee. Yet in matters of public improvement and the promotion of the common interests of the community, and in the adjustment of differences where interests came in conflict, the judgment of no man was more readily accepted and approved than his.

Linus Hayes, oldest son of Samuel Jones, was born in Barkhamstead, Litchfield county, Connecticut, February 5, 1805, and came to Ohio with his parents in the fall of 1811. The winter following a school was taught in a part of the dwelling occupied by Titus Hayes, of which Linus and a younger brother, Flavel, formed the first class. His opportunities for education then were confined to the common schools of the district, with a finish of a few weeks of private instruction in the old log meeting-house of sacred memory. In December, 1824, he commenced teaching a common school, the same employment being pursued for eight consecutive winters, and in each spring returning to the labors of the farm. After this, not satisfied with the monotony of farm life in winter, the teaching of "singing-schools" furnished the needed stimulus to keep the mind in action, which was followed for several consecutive winters in different parts of Ashtabula and Trumbull counties. These services were fully appreciated. Although his qualifications as teacher were greatly below what are required in these later days, yet they were much beyond what could often be found in any " home-made" Ohioan.

In the spring of 1826 he commenced cutting down the forest upon lot No. 66, where Mr. D. T. Beardsley now resides. November 11, 1827, he married Miss Mary P. Phelps, who died September 15, 1828. This bereavement caused him to change his plans for a home, and by the advice and an arrangement with his father, he changed his location, and settled upon the north part of lot No. 28, where he has continued to reside since his second marriage. January 20, 1830, he married Miss Eliza Seager, an orphan, formerly of Ontario county, New York, who died January 15, 1840. She was the mother of one child, Deborah Elizabeth, born May 21, 1837, and died November 23, 1839. October 28, 1840, he married Mrs. Lucy Ackley Rowe, widow of Dr. Albert G. Rowe, who died at Corydon, Indiana, September 10, 1838, aged twenty-nine years. The husband and wife were formerly from Hartford. Trumbull county, whose children were Cornelia Ann, born March 25, 1835, who married David Smilie, of Wayne, February 7, 1856. Their children are William Albert, born December 21, 1858; Emily Lucy, born January 19,1863; Linus David, born October 21, 1870 ; Ralph Bliss, born January 22, 1877. The step-son, Albert Gallatin Rowe, was born April 7, 1839, and was a respected member of the Congregational church of Wayne. He enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Infantry in the autumn of 1862, and after nearly two years of faithful service was mortally wounded while on the skirmish line near Kenesaw mountain, Georgia, June 14, and died at the field hospital, June 16, 1864. He was highly respected by his officers and beloved by his comrades. He was buried in the National cemetery at Marietta, Georgia, in grave numbered seven hundred and eighty-two. The children of Linus H. and Lucy A. Jones were : Flavel Erasmus, born in Wayne, December 23, 1841 ; served three months in the Eighty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; he has been a school-teacher, and is a surveyor and farmer by occupation ; he married Miss Sylvia A. North, September 15, 1863, who died March 13, 1865, leaving an infant daughter, Sylvia North, born March 8, 1865. February 24, 1869, he married Miss Mary A. Hezlep. Their children are Charles Hezlep, born January 11, 1870; William Cowdery, born October 3, 1871 ; Benjamin Samuel, born November 30, 1873. 1 Linus Brainard, second son of Linus II. and Lucy A. Jones, was born February 26, 1844 ; married Miss

Rhoda M. Woodworth ; June 20, 1866, enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventyfirst Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was in the battle at Cynthiana, Kentucky. Their children are Katie Maria, born April 30, 1867 ; Mabel Elizabeth, born November 20, 1868 ; Albert Rowe, born September 26, 1870 ; Franklin Palmer, born July 27, 1877. Willie, third son of Linus H. and Lucy A. Jones, was born December 1, 1850; died September 11, 1854. Mary Caroline was born October 18, 1855, who married Emery F. Treat, of Colebrook, June 15, 1876. Their only child, Willard Hayes, was born in Austinburg, Ohio, August 18, 1877.

Except as a teacher, the active life of Linus H. Jones has been spent in his own township. He was for many years teacher and leader .of the choir of the First Congregational church of Wayne, and has served in various offices of the township, such as clerk, trustee, assessor, captain of the militia, and justice of the peace, and for many years has been connected with the school interests of the township, and now, at the age of seventy-three years, would be looked upon as an old man but for the greater age of his father.

Flavel, second son of Samuel Jones, was born in Barkhampstead, Connecticut, February 16, 1806; died in Wayne, June 9, 1842. October 27, 1833, he married Miss Orrilla Hart, who married S. P. Burton, November 1, 1853, and died at her residence in De Witt, Clinton county, Iowa, January 29, 1868, aged fiftyeight years.

Calvin C. Wick, Esq., of Ashland, Ohio, an old friend of Flavel Jones, says, " Probably no man in my history retains such a hold on my memory as Flavel. He was my friend and my adviser. We had great confidence in each other. He was the only man I ever found who was unselfish, and was actuated in all he did by right motives. His intelligence was far in advance of his day. Sound on all public questions, he investigated them thoroughly and intelligently, and had he lived would have no doubt filled important positions in the State and nation."

The children of Flavel Jones are Ellen, born in Wayne, December 22, 1835. Rollin Lucien, born in Wayne, February 5, 1839 ; was an apprentice to the printing business with James Reed, Sr., of Ashtabula, Ohio. August 26, 1861, enlisted in Company C, Twenty-ninth Regiment Ohio Infantry, served during the war, and participated in the battles of Port Republic, Virginia, June 9, 1862, where he was taken prisoner by the enemy, and was held at Lynchburg and Belle Isle, Virginia, until September 7, 1862 ; Chancellorsville, Virginia, May 1, 2, and 3, 1863 ; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1, 2, and 3, 1863 ; Dug Gap, Georgia, May 8, 1864; Resaca, Georgia, May 15, 1864; New Hope Church, Georgia, May 25, 1864; and was seriously wounded in an assault upon the enemy's intrenchments at Pine Hill, Georgia, June 15, 1864; promoted to the office of captain while at Savannah, Georgia, January 6, 1865 ; discharged at Cleveland, Ohio, July 22, 1865. He is a member of the International Typographical Union, Giddings post, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Masonic fraternity. January 1, 1867, he married Miss Lucy C. Palmer, of Vernon, Trumbull county. Children, - Rollin Flavel, born in Vernon, Ohio, May 7, 1869 ; Lovisa Margaret, born in Wayne, Ohio, June 23, 1877. Edward Herbert, youngest son of Flavel Jones, was born in Wayne, Ohio, December 25, 1840. Enlisted August 30, 1864, in Company I, One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Ohio Infantry, and served to the close of the civil war. June 11, 1873, he married Miss Hannah Wright. Their children are Orrilla Hart, born in Wayne, August 20, 1874; Hayes Wright, born in Wayne, August 21, 1876 ; Harriet Belle, born in Wayne, August 21, 1876.

Statira, eldest daughter of Samuel Jones, born in Barkhampstead, Connecticut, May 25, 1807, maried Lovel E. Parker, January 29, 1830 ; died May 23, 1869.

Almira, second daughter, was born in Connecticut, September 27, 1808 ; married Horace F. Giddings, December 15, 1833. Children, - Frederick Merrick, born in Cherry Valley, Ohio, October 29, 1834, who enlisted iu Company I, One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Infantry, in the autumn of 1862 ; was wounded in action at Perryville, Kentucky. October 8, 1862 ; died of disease at Murfreesboro', Tennessee, April 21, 1863, aged twenty-eight years. He was a young man of unusual intelligence and popularity, and his death was greatly lamented by his comrades and numerous friends. Albert C., born March 15, 1838, married Miss Sarah Ellen Stanley, September 18, 1860. Their children are Horace Edwin, born August 14, 1861 ; Almira E., born April 27, 1866 ; Stanley Albert, boru November 5, 1868; Claude W., born August 13, 1877. Statira Eliza, only daughter of Horace F. and Almira Giddings, was born March 3, 1840 ; married Henry S. Simpkins, May 16, 1861. Children, - Frederick Merrick, born September 22, 1862; William Herbert, born October 1, 1864; Ernest J., born March 30, 1868 ; Frank A., born June 8, 1870 ; Carlton H., born January 4, 1872 ; Roy Howard, born May 29, 1873.

Anson Jones, third son of Samuel Jones, was born in Hartland, Connecticut, March 31, 1810. He was married to Miss Fanny Barber, November, 1838, who died January 3, 1865. June 7, 1866, he married Miss Margaret Jane Beatty, of Mercer county, Pennsylvania. His children are Ilanuali Barber, born August 17, 1840, who married William B. Sruilie, of Wayne, October 30, 1860. Roderick Merrick, born August 5, 1842, who enlisted in August, 1S62, in Company I, One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served to the close of the war, and was captured twice by the enemy, being paroled once, and making his escape at the second capture. January 17, 1867, he married Miss Charlotte R. Wilcox, of Wayne; their only child, Fanny, was born January 19, 1S73, and died in Wayne, July 19 of the same year. Emma Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Anson Jones, was born September 23, 1854 ; married Charles H. Smith, of Wayne, March 26, 187 6. Their only child, Walter Anson, was born in Wayne, in June, 1877.

Emily J., youngest daughter of Samuel Jones, married Dr. Thomas E. Best, October 22, 1839, who served in the War of the Rebellion as surgeon Fortyfourth Wisconsin Infantry, and died at Agency City, Iowa, October 5, 1877. Her children born in Wayne were Hannah P., graduate Lake Erie female seminary, and now a teacher at Burlington, Iowa, born July 29, 1841 ; E. Swift, born October 31, 1842, who, at the outbreak of the Rebellion, enlisted in the Second Wisconsin Infantry, was severely wounded and taken prisoner at first battle of Bull Run, and confined in various prisons nearly a year, - leaving the service, was admitted to the bar in 1S64 ; Deborah Jane, born February 4, 1S46, died June 12. 1851 ; Edward Thomas, born January 17, 1848, died August 27, 1849. The family removed to Wisconsin in the spring of 1849, settling at Portage City, where the following children were born : Edward Thomas (2d), born February 22, 1850, printer, publisher of Chariton, Iowa, Leader; Samuel Jones, born August 23, 1853, died September 3, 1853 ; Almira Fanny, bora September 10. 1854. died June 20. 1S55 ; Charles Jones, bora January 4, 185S, now editor Agency Citv, Iowa. Independent. In the spring of 1866 the family removed to Iowa, settling at Agency City, where they now reside, except as stated above.

Samuel Jones, Jr., was born in Wayne. Ohio, December 6, 1822 ; married Miss Samantha L. Fobes. who died January 9, 1866. February 21, 1867, he married Miss Sophrona Beckwith, of Colebrook, Ohio. He was a farmer until February, 1867, when he commenced merchandising at the centre of Wayne, the firm-name being Jones & Way, then S. Jones & Son. He was commissioned postmaster at Lindenville, Ashtabula County, Ohio, January 14, 1871, by Hon. John A. J. Creswell, postmaster-general, and has served his township in that capacity to the present time. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. The children of Samuel Jones, Jr., are Estella Theresia, born in Wayne, Ohio, September 11, 1851 ; married Elmore H. Wilcox, of Colebrook, Ohio, December 23, 1869. Their children are Lilean, born December 17, 1S70 ; Perry Hyde, born March 23, 1872 ; Maud, born March 14, 1874. Willis Edwin, oldest son of Samuel Jones, Jr., was born in Wayne, Ohio, September 28, 1853 ; married September 29, 1877. Miss Sarah G. McXeilly, who was born in Ellsworth, Ohio, April 20, 1856. Jennie Lucinda, youngest daughter of Samuel Jones, Jr., born in Wayne, January 19, 1871. Ralph Hayes, youngest son of Samuel Jones, Jr., born in Wayne, September 1, 1875.

Nathaniel Coleman

Nathaniel Coleman, whose portrait appears in this work, was bora at Chesterfield, Massachusetts, January 19, 1779. His great-grandfather was an officer during the old French and Indian wars. His father, Deacon Nathaniel Coleman, was one of that band who, disguised as Indians, boarded the British tea-ships at Boston harbor, and threw the tea into the sea. At the battle of Bunker Hill his father was one of the band stationed on a peuinsula, then called " Horseneck," to intercept the landing of men from a British vessel. As the lamented General Warren passed he approved of their position, and, smiling, passed up the height to the fort. They saw him but once after, and that was when he fell. Mr. Coleman's father died May 17, 1837, in Wayne, honored and revered, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. Nathaniel Coleman, at the age of twentythree years, left his home in Massachusetts, and settled in Canandaigua, New York, where he married Submit, only sister of Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, June 4, 1804. In company with Mr. Giddings' family they moved to Wayne, Ashtabula County, in June, 1806. They entered upon the Western Reserve at Conneaut. on the day of the total eclipse of the sun of that year-. Just as the sun was becoming darkened they stopped to cook their food, and also observe the eclipse. As they kindled a fire, an eagle alighted on a projecting rock that overlooked Lake Erie, and folded its wings as if to repose. They might have brought it down with their trusty rifle, but they talked of the incident as an omen of success, and left it there in peace. They cut a road through the south part of Williamsfield and Wayne to the Pymatuning creek, and theirs were the first teams that crossed the creek in Wayne, near where the South bridge now stands.

Mr. Coleman's wife died in Wayne, January 21, 1809. In January, 1810, he married Miss Kezia Jones. Her father died in Somers, Connecticut, in 1804. Her mother, like other early settlers, wishing to see her family settled around her, and not being able to purchase high-priced land in New England, came to Wayne, in 1807, with her children, consisting of three sons and four daughters. One of the sons was among the soldiers surrendered by General Hull, at Detroit. Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, in his address at the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the Settlement of Wayne, in 1853, stated that Miss Keziah Jones taught the first school in Wayne township, commencing in the spring of 1809, where he obtained the only school education that he received after he was ten years of age. A kind mother and grandmother, a generous neighbor, she passed away February 19, 1862, aged seventy-eight years.

In the War of 1812, Nathaniel Coleman joined Captain Joshua Fobes' company, Colonel Richard Hayes' regiment, and marched to Cleveland, and from there to Camp Avery, near Huron. He was appointed quartermaster of his regiment, an office not free from peril, as much of their meat consisted of wild game, or cattle and hogs found running at large in the forest. He filled the office with credit and approval, and by activity and industry was often enabled to relieve the suffering, or take their place in the ranks. The first settlers were certainly men and women of great enterprise and resolution to break away from the comforts of old established communities, and go hundreds of miles beyond the borders of civilization into a wilderness, to enter into the hardships and privations incident to a new country. With such people he was associated in the early efforts to form an enlightened community and cultivated society on the Western Reserve. He was chosen one of the first justices of the peace in and for the territory now embraced in the townships of Wayne, Williamsfield, Andover, and Cherry Valley. His first commission was dated in July, 1811. He served in that capacity for twentyone years. He even labored to obtain amicable settlements, and was slow to render decision. On deciding he clearly defined points of law, and in his decisions was very firm. If he was ever a leader in council, he did not appear to be such. Retiring, unassuming, yet observing, if he spoke, attention watched his lips ; if he reasoned, conviction seemed to close his periods. He early became engaged as agent in the sale and surveying of lands, and observed closely the quality of the soil, timber, surface, and streams, and was often consulted by settler's and purchasers who wished for immediate information. His life has been peculiarly marked by kindly relations with all with whom he associated. Of a generous nature and strong mind, not void of wit and humor, he drew around him a circle of friends, while his marked integrity, consistent Christian character, and a modesty that withheld him from a desire for official position, rendered him prominent as a counselor and adviser. He died July 22, 1868, in the ninetieth year of his age. One who was intimately acquainted with him, and knew him well in his declining years, has observed that his desire for life seemed to recede parallel with his failing organism, until they seemed to go out together without a struggle.

Eliza, oldest daughter of Nathaniel Coleman, was born in Wayne, May 28, 1807 ; married Sylvester Ward, February 22, 1828. She died in Wayne, February 22, 1872. Her children were Orcutt Reed, bora December 23, 1828 ; Erasmus Darwin, born June 17, 1832 ; Calvin Coleman, born May 18, 1836, died March 20, 1837 ; Eliza Sarepta, born May 6, 1S39 ; Sabra Matilda, born May 20, 1842, died in 1S46 ; Flora Maria, born September 11, 1S48. Submit, second daughter, born October 10, 1810 ; married David Hart, of Wayne, January 6, 1836 ; died May 6. 1839. Her children were Henry C., bora August 11, 1S37 ; Salmon, born March 16, 1839. Nathaniel, Jr., oldest son of Nathaniel Coleman, was born June 13, 1812; married Miss Mary A. Latham, of Wayne, November 28, 1839. Their children were Nathaniel Latham, born in Wayne, November 10, 1842, enlisted in the autumn of 1864, as sergeant in Company K, One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Ohio Infantry, died at Cumberland hospital, Nashville, Tennessee, December 1, 1864, and was buried in the United States cemetery, in grave numbered ten thousand and fourteen, aged twenty-two years and twentyone days; Jennie, born February 5, 1846, married Truman L. Creesey, of Cherry Valley, in April, 1864 ; Zally, born September 19, 1853. Rachel, third daughter of Nathaniel Coleman, born August 11, 1S14, married William H. Hoisington, of Oberlin, January 28, 1845 ; their only child, Sophia Naomi, was born in Parkman, Ohio, March 22, 1846. William, second son of Nathaniel Coleman, born October 25, 1816. died January 13, 1819. Kezia C.. bora in Wayne, October 4, 1819, married Stephen W. Bailey, of Parkman, Ohio, November 19, 1846. Their children were Russell Williams, born in Parkman, Ohio, December 5, 1847, died in Wayne, September 29, 1854 ; Florence Maria, born March 26, 1856, married Kirtland Dillon, of Colebrook, Ohio, May 3, 1876, - their only child, Russell Ernst, born in Wayne, June 25, 1877. William, third son of Nathaniel Coleman, born in Wayne, November 4, 1822, married Miss Emily Phelps, of Cherry Valley, Ohio, March 13, 1851 ; children, Albertus A., bora January 8, 1852, died in Wayne, September 23, 1854 ; Oliver William, born July 20, 1S53; was born at Farmington, Connecticnt, October 17, 1777, and was the youngest son of Timothy Woodruff, by his first wife, Lucy Treadwell, sister of John Treadwell, one of the governors of Connecticut. He graduated at Yale college in 1797. Rev. James Murdock, who, in 1848, wrote a work entitled " Brief Memoirs of the Class of 1797," says in his preface to that work : " The Claes of 1797 is distinguished for the longevity of its members, twenty-four out of thirty-seven, or about two-thirds of all that graduated, being alive after a separation of half a century." He also says : " It was distinguished for the uniform good scholarship of its members." Among its graduates are such well-known names as Henry Baldwin, judge of the United States supreme court ; Lyman Beecher, D.D.; Judge Thomas Day, official reporter of the supreme court of Connecticnt; and Horatio Seymour, Sr. Mr. Woodruff, after finishing his theological course as the pupil of Rev. Charles Backus, D.D., of Somers, Connecticut, and teaching the academy at Stonington one year, was ordained pastor of the church in North Coventry, Tolland county, Connecticut. His health failed him in 1817 so much that he resigned his pastoral charge, and he took a commission from the Missionary society of Connecticut to labor on the " Connecticut Weetern Reserve in Ohio." He, however, stopped for one year at Little Falls, Herkimer county, New York, and taught an academy. He arrived in Wayne, Ashtabula County, in April, 1819, and became the first pastor of the church, settling upon a tract of land which he purchased from Issacher Jones, of Connecticut, all heavily timbered, and upon which the sound of the woodman's axe had not been heard ; but with the generous aid of such stout hands and hearts as were possessed by Nathaniel Coleman, Samnel Tuttle, Jonathan Tuttle, Norman Wilcox, Joseph Ford, Deacon Eira Leonard, Samuel Jones, Deacon Calvin Andrews, Simon Fobes, Titus Hayes, Elisha Giddings, and Joshua Giddings, he soon erected a log house, in which his family, consisting of his wife and sister and six children, were made as comfortable as any of his congregation. He preached one-half of his time in Wayne, while the remainder was spent in missionary work and in the distribution of Bibles all through the wilderness for more than fifty miles in every direction from his home. On that same spot he died, on the twenty-sixth day of November, 1859, at the age of eighty-two years. On his death-bed, being in great pain, he said to his youngest son: "This is a rough road to travel, but its roughness has elevated spots, from which I see 'the city1 beyond."

Mr. Woodruff was married Oct. 7, 1801, to Sally Alden, orphan daughter of Jonathan Alden, a lineal descendant of John Alden, the pilgrim of Plymouth Rock of that name. She died in 1829. In 1832 he married Susan Porter. He had no children by his second wife. His oldest daughter, born in 1804, was the wife of Hon. Seth Hayes, of Hartford, Trumbull county. She died in 1850. Phoebe married Dr. T. J. Kellogg, of Girard, Erie county, Pennsylvania. Jonathan Alden, a graduate of Hamilton college, and Presbyterian minister, died Sept. 12, 1876, at Imlay City, Michigan. Harriet died in 1828, at the age of eighteen years. Charlotte Maria, who married J. B. Clark, of Kelloggsville, Ashtabula County, removed to Michigan, and died in 1871. Samuel Ebeneier, born March 31, 1817, is an attorney-at-law, and with his son, Thomas S., constitutes the firm of S. E. A T. S. Woodruff, attorneys-at-law, Erie, Pennsylvania, and in which county the senior partner of the firm has practiced his profession for thirty-four years.

The first meeting-house in Wayne was erected in 1816. A grave-yard was opened upon the rraot of land purchased, as before mentioned, by Mr. Woodruff. The meeting-house was in dimensions twenty-eight by thirty-six feet, built of logs hewn only on the inside. A board pulpit, ascended by five steps, stood at the north end; a singers' gallery, six steps high, of the same material, extended across the south end, with wings about ten feet along the east and west sides. A hearth of rough cobble-stones, about six feet square, in the centre of the building, without either chimney or stove-pipe, was the only fire-place previous to 1825. At first most of the seats were slabs without backs ; but they were crowded with true, faithful worshipers every Sabbath-day. They were not of the fair-weather kind. At the right of the pulpit sat the elder Deacon Leonard. He generally selected and read the hymns : he was a noble man, six feet in height, with flowing white hair, knee- and shoe-buckles, faultlessly clean, white bosom, rich, sonorous voice, and one of the best of readers. In the west wing of the gallery Elisha Giddings was the leading bass singer ; in the centre, Captain Levi Leonard led the tenor, assisted by his nephew, Marvin Leonard, son of the deacon, and who, some time after the death of his father, which occurred in 1829, became a deacon of the church. Linus H. Jones was one of the prominent members of the choir, composed of about twenty persons. The music was of a high order, on account of the heart and soul it possessed. This meetinghouse stood on the identical spot where the Rev. George Roberts, a subsequent pastor, lived immediately before his death. It was burned down about the year 1829. This church was highly prosperous, and its membership was increased to more than two hundred.

The chief obstacle to Mr. Woodruff's usefulness as a pastor was the bronchial complaint that had compelled him to leave Coventry. This affected his utterance so much as to make it difficult at times to be heard by a large audience; yet, it is doubtful if his efficiency and usefulness as a pastor were much affected for many years ; yet it detracted somewhat from his popularity as an orator, though his success and reputation as such fully sustained the character ascribed to him by an eastern cotemporary, " He was an excellent pastor." He continued in the pastoral relation of the original church until about 1835, when the infirmities of age, and the consequent failure of his vocal powers and hearing, induced him to resign, and attend church as a listener, often standing in a leaning position upon the front of the pulpit, so that his dull ears might not fail to catch each word that fell from the lips of the epeaker. In a letter to his son Samuel, dated December 7, 1856, he says : "On the Lord's-day I get out with my family, without fail, and attend to my Bible-class of aged members, who gather together with great regularity, with the simplicity of little children, to receive instruction. I wait upon them with great delight." In further addressing his son in regard to his hope, confidence, and appreciation of the great refuge, as he was nearing the end of his days upon earth, in closing, he says :

Among the former residents of the township of Wayne no family is more kindly remembered or associated with stronger ties of friendship and appreciation, than that of Ephraim T.

All of the children of Simon Fobes (3d) were born in Wayne. The oldest, Simon P., born January 2, 1815, married, October 10, 1837, Miss Catharine A., daughter of William and Amanda Fitch, of Wayne. Their children were Orlando Perkins, born in Wayne, June 17, 1838; married Miss Nancy L. Bingham, of Ellsworth, Mahoning county, Ohio, November 24, 1861. Their children were Hettie, born June 18, 1863, died in Wayne, February 20, 1867 ; Bertie Bingham, born December 21, 1865, died in Wayne, March 16, 1872 ; Bessie Sylvia, born March 22, 1869 ; Emily B., born October 13, 1874.

Ferdinand Francis, born in Wayne, July 10, 1842 ; enlisted August 12, 1862, in Company I, One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; died of disease at Murfreesboro', Tennessee, September 4, 1863. Lucius Lee, born October 9, 1844, married, October 15, 1868, Miss Margaret Ann McGranahan, of Wayne, who died September 27, 1877. Sylvia A., born December 29, 1846, married Albert C. Crosby, of Rome, Ohio. Their children are Lucy Amelia, born in Wayne, October 27, 1871; Katie E., born in Rome, September 16, 1873; Willie Fitch, born in Rome, November 25, 1874. Charles Fitch, fifth son of S. P. and C. A. Fobes, born in Wayne, July 6, 1852 ; married, March 2, 1878, Miss Rebecca F. Calahan, at Sacramento City, California. Their residence is now at Walnut Grove, California.

Dr. Abial J., born January 29, 1818, married Miss Louisa Alford, of Windham, Portage county, Ohio. Dr. Fobes died at Kingsville, Ohio, April 1, 1851, and his wife died April 8 of the same year, and at the same place. William, born July 14, 1822, was a surgeon in the army during the late civil war, and is now a resident of Flint, Michigan. In 1849 he married Miss Romina Jennings, of Pierpont, Ohio. Lucy A., born February 12, 1825, married Frederick B. Fitch, of Brighton, California, May 1, 1856. She died at her home in California, December 1, 1877. Francis, born February 26, 1827, married Miss Cordelia Hopkins, of Pierpont, Ohio. Lois Lamira, born December 14, 1829, married Dwight Coe, of Hartford, Ohio. She died January 1, 1869. Maria Sylvia, born October 28, 1834, married Edmund Snow, of Ashtabula, Ohio, January 2, 1858.

Elliott Seeley, born in Wayne, April 2, 1855 ; Minnie Viola, born March 26, 1860, married Daniel L. Horton, of Wayne, January 31, 1877. Francis, youngest son of Nathaniel Coleman, was born in Wayne, July 20, 1827 ; married Miss Mary R. Miles, of Weymouth, England, January 8, 1852 ; children, Alphonso Miles, born in Wayne, May 17, 1854; Clifton Royal, born August 16, 1855; Carrie, born January 19, 1862.

The Simon Fobes Family

Members of six generations from this family are buried side by side in the cemetery at the centre of Wayne. The first death among the early settlers of Wayne was that of Mrs. Thankful Fobes, who died January 8, 1808 ; and three days later the funeral of her husband, Simon Fobes, took place. These aged people were married March 24, 1748. The husband was a native of England, and was a captain in the service of the English government. Their family consisted of eight children, - four sons and four daughters, - named Thankful, Joshua, Bethiah, Simon, Nathan, Ellis, Eunice, and one who died in infancy. Simon Fobes (2d) was born April 5, 1756. He was a soldier in the army of the Revolution, and fought in the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, and afterwards joined the expedition under General Benedict Arnold against Canada, and was engaged in the assault upon the city of Quebec, where he was taken prisoner of war. After suffering almost incredible hardships, he escaped from the British on the 18th of August, and reached his home on the 30th of September, 1776. He afterwards served as ensign in Colonel Levi Wells' regiment, and in April, 1780, accepted a lieutenant's commission in a matross company, and was stationed at Fort Trumbull, Connecticut. Continental money having so far depreciated in value that a lieutenant's pay would not provide his clothing, he resigned his commission and returned to his father's farm. But for his resignation he would, in all probability, have been in Fort Griswold, where Colonel Ledyard and sixty of his men were massacred by the British, under Benedict Arnold, after they had surrendered. Simon Fobes married Miss Elizabeth Jones, of Somers, Connecticut, an only daughter of Benjamin and Eliza Jones, descendants of some of the earliest settlers of that place. Their children were : Joshua, born in Somers, Connecticut, January 20, 1781, who was a captain in Colonel Hayes' regiment during the War of 1812 ; was the first settler in the township of Wayne, and died in that town September 16, 1860. Simon, born in Somers, Connecticut, August 16, 1783 ; was an ensign in Captain Joshua Fobes' company in 1812; married Miss Sylvia Huntley, of Pierpont, Ashtabula County, who died in Wayne in December, 1842. An old acquaintance of Simon Fobes (3d) says of him, " He was one of the most respected citizens of the township. He served many years as a justice of the peace, with credit to himself and satisfaction to his fellow-citizens, being esteemed as judicious and reliable. He stood as one of the pillars of sound morality and virtue, a much-respected and honored member of the Congregational church, serving for many years in the capacity of deacon, and was regarded by all as one of the most perfect examples of consistency, which gave him an influence in his community surpassed by but few." He died in Wayne February 8, 1861. Levi, third son of Simon Fobes (2d), was born June 24, 1786 ; died September 11, 1787. Levi (2d), born June 30, 1788 ; died in Wayne, November 5, 1869. Betsey, born July 3, 1790; married Rev. Nathan Darrow ; died in Vienna, Trumbull county, Ohio, December 31, 1822. Elias, born in Somers, Connecticut, February 5, 1792, who was a soldier in Captain Joshua Fobes' company, in the War of 1812, and was in the skirmish with the Indians on the Sandusky Peninsula. Aaron, born February 2, 1797 ; died in Kinsman, Ohio, March 16, 1877. Benjamin, born June 14, 1799 ; died December 28, 1802. Chloe, born May 19, 1802.

William Kiddle

This gentleman was the youngest of three, the children of Richard and Jane Kiddle, of Long Sutton, Somersetshire county, England, and was born on June 29, 1837. He came to America in 1858, landing at Bedford, Canada, July 31 of that year. On August 10, same year, he arrived in the township of Wayne, and located in the southeastern corner of the township. He is by occupation a wagon-maker. His first purchase of land was but a part of his present fine estate. He has now some four hundred acres of land, and is largely engaged in dairying and the raising of Durham cattle. In 1860 he returned to England, where he remained some five months. On the 23d day of April, 1861, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary, daughter of Hezekiah and Caroline Platt, who are at present both deceased, as are also his parents. The result of this marriage has been a family of five children, - three girls and two boys. Prior to the birth of his children (1869), he again returned to England, with his Yankee bride, and remained on this visit some two and one-half months. A fine view of his farm is given in connection with this sketch.