Author 
 
 Title 
 
 Imprint. 
 
 1G — 47379-8 Ol»o 
 
TH E 
 
 EARLY HISTORY 
 
 O F 
 
 LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 AN 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 BY 
 
 W. W. BOYNTON, 
 
 DELIVERED 
 
 JULY 4, 1876, AT ELY III A, OHIO. 
 
 ISSUED BY 
 LOB'AtS COUNTS AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Fisher d- Smith 6 , Printers, Elyriit, 0. 
 
Ml 7 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED BY 
 
 W. W. BOY1STTOK, 
 
 ON 
 
 JULY 4, 1876, 
 
 AT 
 
 ELYEIA, O. 
 
 Fellow Citizens. — 
 
 In 1748, an Eminent French Writer 
 informed his readers that a prosperous 
 and Great People, having the form of a 
 free government, was forming and 
 rising in the very forests of America, 
 which they were sent forth to inhabit. 
 One Hundred years ago to-day, that 
 great people, cutting loose from the 
 restraints of foreign domination, de- 
 clared that the United Colonies were, 
 and of right ought to be, free and inde- 
 pendent States: an utterance involving 
 immense and weighty responsibilities. 
 That all men were entitled to life and 
 liberty, and to engage in those pursuits 
 that were calculated to secure their 
 prosperity and happiness; that govern- 
 ments instituted among men derived 
 their just powers from the consent of 
 the governed, were propositions both 
 self-evident and self-vindicating, and 
 found the public mind of the Colonists, 
 not only prepared to yield a ready 
 assent to the principles involved in 
 them, but to give battle for their estab- 
 lishment upon the American Continent. 
 
 It is not my purpose to undertake to 
 explore, or trace, the causes which led 
 to the declaration of Independence, and 
 to a pledge of life, fortune, and sacred 
 honor in its support; nor to follow the 
 glorious history of the past hundred 
 years, and note the progress and march 
 of a civilization purely American, and 
 the advancement of a people whose rise 
 and growth, whose ascent into a higher 
 National life, have been the marvel of 
 the world, and unequalled in its history. 
 Interesting and appropriate as this 
 would be to the day and occasion, I 
 am expected to occupy a narrower field, 
 and confine myself to an historical 
 account of the settlement and growth 
 of our immediate neighborhood, to 
 which, for a short time, I bespeak your 
 patience. 
 
 In 1G09, James the First granted to a 
 company called the London Company, 
 a charter under which the entire claim 
 of Virginia to the soil northwest of the 
 Ohio was asserted. It was clothed with 
 corporate power, witli most of its mem- 
 bers residing in the city of London. 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 The tract of country embraced within 
 this charter was immense. It com- 
 menced its houndaries at Point Comfort, 
 On the Atlantic, and run south two 
 hundred miles, and thence west across 
 the continent to the Pacific; com- 
 mencing again at Port Comfort, and 
 running two hundred miles north, and 
 from tli is point northwest to the sea. 
 This line run through New York and 
 Pennsylvania. crossing the eastern end 
 of Lake Erie, and terminated in the 
 Arctic Ocean. The vast empire lying 
 between the south line, the east line, 
 the diagonal line to the northwest, and 
 the Pacific Ocean, was claimed by 
 virtue of this charter. It included over 
 half of the Xorth American Continent. 
 Notwithstanding the charter ot the 
 London Company included all the ter- 
 ritory now embraced within the bound- 
 aries of Ohio, James the First, on the 
 3d of November, 1620, by Royal Letters 
 Patent, granted to the Duke of Lenox 
 and others, to be known as the Council 
 of Plymouth, all the territory lying 
 between the fortieth and forty-eighth 
 degrees of north latitude, and bounded 
 on the east by the Atlantic, and on the 
 west by the Pacific. This description 
 embraced a large tract of the lands 
 granted to the Virginia or London 
 Company. In 1630, a portion of the 
 Same territory was granted to the Earl 
 of Warwick, and afterwards confirmed 
 to him by Charles the First. En 1631, 
 the Council of Plymouth, acting by the 
 Earl of Warwick, granted to Lord 
 Brook and Viscounts, Say and Seal, 
 
 what were supposed to be the same 
 
 lands, although by a very impertect 
 description. In 1662, Charles the. 
 Second granted a charter to nineteen 
 patentees, with such associates as they 
 should from time to time elect. This 
 association was made a body corporate 
 and politic, by the name of the Governor 
 and Company of the English Colony of 
 
 Connecticut. This charter constituted 
 the organic law of the State for upwards 
 of one hundred and fifty years. The 
 boundaries were Massachusetts on the 
 north, the sea on the south, Xaragan- 
 gett river or Bay on the east, and the 
 
 South Sea on the west. The Pacific 
 Ocean was ai thai time called the South 
 Sea. This description embraced a strip 
 of land upwards of sixty miles wide, 
 Stretching from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific, including a part of New York 
 and New Jersey, and all the territory 
 now known as the Western Reserve. 
 
 In 1681, for the consideration of 
 16,000 pounds, and a fealty of two 
 heaver skin- a year, Charles the Second 
 granted to William Penn a charter em- 
 bracing within its limits the territory 
 constituting the present State of 
 Pennsylvania. This grant included a 
 strip of territory running across the 
 entire length of the State mi the north, 
 and upwards of fifty miles wide, that 
 was embraced within the Connecticut 
 charter. .Massachusetts, under the 
 Plymouth charter, claimed all land 
 between the forty-first and forty-fifth 
 degrees of north latitude. In 1064, 
 Charles the Second ceded to his brother, 
 the Duke of York, afterwards .lames the 
 Second, by Letters Patent, all the 
 country between tin' St. Croix and the 
 Delaware. After the overthrow of the 
 Government of " Xew Netherlands," 
 then existing upon that territory, it 
 was claimed that the grant to the Duke 
 of York extended west into the Missis- 
 sippi Valley. 
 
 Thus matters stood at the commence- 
 ment of the Revolution. \ irginia 
 claimed all territory northwest of the 
 Ohio. Connecticut strenuously urged 
 her title to all land lying between the 
 parallels 11 and 42 deg. 2 mill, of north 
 latitude from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 Pennsylvania, under the charter of 
 
 1681, had taken possession of the dis- 
 puted land lying in that State, and had 
 granted much of it to actual settler-. 
 New York and Massachusetts were 
 equally emphatic in the assertion of 
 ownership to land between those lines 
 of latitude. The contention between 
 claimants under the Connecticut and 
 Pennsylvania charters, on the Susque- 
 hanna, frequently resulted in blood- 
 shed. The controversy between those 
 two States was finally submitted to a 
 Court of Commissioners appointed by 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 3 
 
 Congress, upon the petition of Penn- 
 sylvania, under the ninth article of the 
 Confederation, which gave Congress 
 power to establish a Court of Com- 
 missioners to settle disputed boundaries, 
 between States, in ease of disagreement. 
 The Court decided in favor of Pennsyl- 
 vania, and this decision terminated the 
 controversy. The question of the title 
 to lands lying west of Pennsylvania was 
 not involved in this adjudication, but 
 remained a subject for future conten- 
 tion. A party sprung up during the 
 war, that disputed the title of the 
 States asserting it, to lands outside of 
 State limits, and which insisted upon 
 the right of the States by whose common 
 treasure dominion was to be secured, to 
 participate in the benefits and results 
 arising from the joint and common 
 effort for independence. This party 
 was particularly strong in the smaller 
 States. Those colonies that had not- 
 been the favored recipients of extensive 
 land grants, were little inclined to 
 acquiesce in claims, the justice of which 
 they denied, and which could be secured 
 to the claimants only by the success of 
 the Kevolution. 
 
 The convention that assembled in 
 1777 to frame a constitution for the 
 State of Maryland, unanimously re- 
 solved that the very extensive claim of 
 Virginia to the back lands had no 
 foundation in justice, and that to 
 acknowledge the claim would greatly 
 endanger the liberties of the people; 
 and in 1778, she called the attention of 
 Congress to the matter, and made a 
 relinquishment to the United States, of 
 the claims of the individual States to the 
 Western lands, a condition upon which, 
 and upon which only, she would join 
 the Confederation. She insisted as the 
 whole people were engaged in a com- 
 mon cause, having a common end in 
 view — the achievement of national 
 independence — that, if the outcome 
 should secure to the country the vast 
 domain stretching from the Alleghanies 
 to the Mississippi, it should become the 
 common property of those by whose 
 united labors it was thus secured. 
 
 Added to these embarrassments, the 
 
 claiming States encountered a denial of 
 their title to some of the lands claimed, 
 emanating from the very source from 
 which they were supposed to have 
 derived it. George the Third, either 
 repudiating the charters of his Ro} r aI 
 Predecessors, or rejecting the con- 
 struction placed upon them in respect 
 to their boundaries, in October, 1763,, 
 upon the heel of the Treaty of Paris, 
 issued his proclamation forbidding all 
 persons from intruding upon, or dis- 
 turbing the Indians in the enjoyment 
 of, their lands, in the valley of the Ohio. 
 
 There is little doubt that the conflict 
 in the early charters respecting bound- 
 aries grew out of the ignorance of the 
 times in which they were granted, as 
 to the breadth, or inland extent, of the 
 American Continent. During the reign 
 of James the First, Sir Francis Drake 
 reported, that, from the top of the 
 mountains on the Isthmus of Panama, 
 he had seen both oceans. This led to 
 the supposition that the continent, from 
 east to west, was of no considerable 
 extent, and that the South Sea, by 
 winch the grants were limited on the 
 west, did not lie very fur from the 
 Atlantic; and as late as 1740, the Duke 
 of Newcastle addressed his letters to 
 tiie " Island of New England." Hence 
 it was urged as an argument against the 
 claims of those States asserting title 
 to Western lands, that the call in the 
 grants, of the South Sea, being, by 
 mutual mistake of the parties to the 
 charter, an erroneous one — the error 
 resulting from misinformation or want 
 of certainty concerning the locality of 
 that Sea — the claiming States ought not 
 to insist upon an ownership resting 
 upon such a footing, and having its 
 origin in such a circumstance. Popular 
 feeling on the subject ran so high, at 
 times, as to cause apprehension for the 
 safety of the Confederation. In 1780, 
 Congress urged upon the States having 
 claims to the Western country, the duty 
 to make a surrender of a part thereof to 
 the United States. 
 
 The debt incurred in the Revolu- 
 tionary contest, i he limited resources 
 for its extinguishment if the public 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 domain was unavailable for the purpose, 
 the existence <>f the unhappy contro- 
 versy growing out of the asserted 
 claims, and an earnest desire to accom- 
 modate and pacify conflicting interests 
 among the States, led Congress in 1784, 
 to an impressive appeal to the Slates 
 interested, to remove all cause for 
 further discontent, by a liberal Cession 
 of their domains to the general Gov- 
 ernment, for the common benefit of all 
 the States. The happy termination of 
 the war found the public mind in a 
 condition to be easily impressed by 
 appeals to its patriotism and liberality. 
 New York had in 1780, ceded to the 
 United States the lands that she claimed 
 lying west of a line running south from 
 the west bend of Lake Ontario; and in 
 17*~>, Massachusetts relinquished her 
 claim to the same lands — each State 
 reserving the same 19,000 square miles 
 of ground, and each asserting an inde- 
 pendent title to it. This controversy 
 tut ween the two States was settled by 
 an equal division between them of the 
 disputed ground. Virginia had given 
 to her soldiers of the Revolutionary 
 war, ami of the war between France 
 and England, a pledge of bounties, 
 payable in Western lands; and reserv- 
 ing a sufficient amount of land to enable 
 her to meet the pledge thus given, on 
 the 1st of March, 1784, she relinquished 
 to the United States her title to all 
 other lands lying northwest of the < >hio. 
 The lands reserved north of the Ohio 
 lay between the Scioto and Little 
 Miami, and constitute what is known as 
 the Virginia Military District. On the 
 14th <lay of September, 17S<i, the dele- 
 gates in Congress from the State of 
 Connecticut, being authorized and di- 
 rected so to do, relinquished to the 
 
 United States all the right, title, 
 interest, jurisdiction, and claim, that 
 she possessed i<> the land- lying wesl of 
 a line running north from the list deg. 
 of north latitude to 12 d<'<r. and 2 min., 
 and being one hundred and twenty 
 miles west of the western line of Penn- 
 sylvania. The territory lying west of 
 Pennsylvania for the distance of one 
 hundred and twenty miles, and between 
 
 latitude 41 and 42 deg. 2 min. north, 
 although not in terms reserved by the 
 instrument of conveyance, was in fact 
 reserved — not having been conveyed — 
 and by reason thereof was called the 
 Western Regi rve of Connecticut. It 
 embraces the counties of Ashtabula, 
 Trumbull, Portage, Geauga, Lake. 
 Cuyahoga, Medina, Lorain, Huron, 
 Erie, all of Summit except the township 
 of Franklin, and Green; the two 
 northern tiers of townships of Mahon- 
 ing; the townships of Sullivan, Troy, 
 and Ruggles, of Ashland; and the 
 islands lying north of Sandusky, in- 
 cluding Kelley's and Put-in-Bay. In 
 17'.i"), Connecticut sold and conveyed all 
 of the Reserve except the " Sufferer's 
 Land, " to Oliver Phelps and thirty- 
 five others, for the consideration of 
 $1,200,000. These purchasers formed 
 themselves into a company called the 
 Connecticut Land Company. Some 
 uneasiness concerning the validity of 
 the title, arose from the fact that what- 
 ever interest Virginia, Massachusetts, 
 or New York may have had in the lands 
 reserved, and claimed by Connecticut, 
 had been transferred to the United 
 States, and if neither of the claiming 
 States had title, the dominion and 
 ownership passed to the United States 
 by the treaty made with England at the 
 close of the Revolution. This condition 
 of things was not the only source of 
 difficulty and trouble. The Reserve 
 was so far from Conuecticut,as to make 
 it impracticable for that State to extend 
 her laws over the same, or ordain new 
 ones for the government of the inhabi- 
 tants; and having parted with all 
 interest in the soil, her right to provide 
 laws for the people was not only 
 doubted but denied. Congress bad 
 
 provided by the ordinance of 17*7, for 
 the government of the territory north- 
 west of the Ohio; but to adm it juris- 
 diction in the United State- to govern 
 this part of that territory, would cast 
 grave doubt upon the validity of the 
 company's title. It was therefore 
 insisted that the regulations prescribed 
 by that instrument for the government 
 of the Northwest Territory, had no 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 operation or effect within the limits of 
 the Reserve. To quiet apprehension, 
 and to remove all cause of anxiety on 
 the subject, Congress on the 28th of 
 April, 1800, authorized the President to 
 execute and deliver on the part of the 
 United States, Letters Patent to the 
 Governor of Connecticut, whereby the 
 United States released for the uses 
 named, all right and title to the soil of 
 the Reserve, and confirmed it unto those 
 who had purchased it from that State. 
 The execution and delivery, however, 
 of the Letters Patent were upon the con- 
 dition that Connecticut should forever 
 renounce and release to the United 
 States, entire and complete civil juris- 
 diction over the territory released. This 
 condition was accepted, and thereupon 
 Connecticut transferred her jurisdiction 
 to the United States, and the United 
 States released her claim and title to 
 the soil; and thus, while jurisdiction 
 for purposes of government was vested 
 in the United States, a complete title 
 to the soil, in so far as the States could 
 give it, was transmitted to the Con- 
 necticut Laud Company and to those 
 who had purchased from it. While 
 this controversy was going on, there 
 was another Contestant in the field, 
 having the advantage of actual occu- 
 pancy, and in no wise inclined to 
 recognize a title adverse to his, nor 
 yield, upon mere invitation, apossession 
 so long enjoyed. This Contestant was 
 the Indian. During the. war between 
 France and England, which terminated 
 in 1703, the Indians espoused the cause 
 of the French. They entered into an 
 alliance with them, and joined in their 
 battles. At the close of that war, the 
 Mississippi was agreed upon, by the 
 Treaty of Paris, as the boundary 
 between the British and French pos- 
 sessions in America. The claim of 
 France to the domain lying east of the 
 Mississippi, was surrendered to Eng- 
 land. Soon after the close of the Revo- 
 lution, the United States sought by 
 peaceable means to acquire the title 
 from the Indians, to the lands north- 
 west of the Ohio; and on the 21st of 
 January, 1785, concluded a treaty, at 
 
 Fort Mcintosh, with four of the Indian 
 nations or tribes. These were the 
 VVyandots, Delawares, Chippewas, and 
 Ottawas. The section of country 
 between the Cuyahoga and Maumee 
 seemed to belong to the Wyandots ; the 
 region a little farther south, and 
 comprising the section between the 
 Muskingum and the Ohio, to the 
 Delawares. By this treaty, the Cuyahoga, 
 and the portage between it and the Tus- 
 carawas, were agreed upon as the bound- 
 ary on the Reserve, between the United 
 States and the Wyandot and Delaware 
 nations. All east of the Cuyahoga, was, 
 in effect, ceded to the United States. 
 The Indians soon became dissatisfied, 
 and refused to adhere to the terms of 
 the treaty. Instead of resorting to arms to 
 enforce its obligations, the United States 
 entered into further negotiations with 
 them; and on the 9th of January, A. D. 
 1789, another treaty was concluded at 
 Fort Harmar, at the mouth of the Mus- 
 kingum, between Arthur St.Clair, acting 
 for the United States, and the Wyandot, 
 Delaware, Chippewa, Pottowatoma, 
 and Sac nations. By this treaty the 
 boundary line agreed upon by the 
 treaty of Fort Mcintosh was renewed 
 and confirmed, and for the sum of 
 $6,000 to be paid in goods, the Indians, 
 among other lands, relinquished those 
 lying east of the Cuyahoga, to the 
 United States. The consideration 
 agreed upon was paid. 
 
 But a short time, however, elapsed 
 before the Indians, with characteristic 
 disregard of their promises, refused to 
 submit to the obligations of the new 
 treaty. They reasserted their title to 
 the lands conveyed*. They declared that 
 both treaties were made, and their 
 assent to them obtained, under the men- 
 ace and constraint of the guns of the 
 forts; and, therefore, were not binding 
 upon them — a conclusion necessarily 
 following if the premises were true. The 
 Government employed every effort to 
 conciliite them, and to secure their 
 observance of their engagements. 
 Peaceful means failing, resort was had 
 to arms. At first the Indians were suc- 
 cessful in their resistance. Generals 
 
HISTORICAL ADD1 1 ESS 
 
 llarmar and St. (lair, who successively 
 encountered them, were drawn into 
 ambush, and defeated with great 
 slaughter. General Wayne, in 1795, 
 with a force of 3500 men, met the com- 
 bined forces of the Indians on the 
 Miami of the Lake, now the Maumee, 
 and after a sanguinary conflict, gained 
 a decisive victory. Nearly every chief 
 was -lain. The spirit of the Indians 
 being completely broken by their un- 
 expected defeat in tins contest, they 
 met Genera] Wayne in council, and the 
 result was the Treaty of Greenville. 
 This treaty was made between the 
 United States and the WyandotS, Dela- 
 ware-, Sbawanoes, < !hippewas,< >ttawas, 
 Pattawatimas. Miami-, Eel Rivers, 
 Weas, Kickapoos, Piankishaws and 
 Kaskaskias. The Indians, submitting 
 to imperative necessity, again yielded 
 their claim to the lands east of the 
 Cuyahoga, and make no further effort 
 to regain them, it, however, for them, 
 was a trying hour. Brought to realize 
 that they must quit forever their hunt- 
 ing grounds, both memorable and 
 sacred to them for the pleasures they had 
 afforded, their bravest and best slain on 
 the field of battle, they threw them- 
 selves upon the ground and bitterly 
 wept, giving unrestrained expression 
 to the wildest grief. 
 
 The Cuyahoga river, and the portage 
 between it and the Tuscarawas, as 
 between the United State- and the In- 
 dian.-, constituted the western bound- 
 ary of the I nited States, upon the 
 Reserve, until July 4, 1805. On that 
 day, a treaty was made at Fort Industry 
 with the chiefs and warriors of the 
 Wyandot, Ottawa, Chippewa, Munsee, 
 Delaware, Shawanoee and Pattawatima 
 nations, by which the Indian title to 
 all the lands of the Reserve lying west 
 of the Cuyahoga, was extinguished. 
 By this treaty all the lands lying be- 
 tween the Cuyahoga and the Meridian, 
 one hundred and twenty miles west of 
 Pennsylvania, were ceded by the In- 
 dians for $20,000 in goods, and a per- 
 petual annuity of $9,500, payable in 
 goods at first cost. And although this 
 annuity remains unpaid, h< u-ause there 
 
 is no one to claim it, the title to the 
 land on the Reserve, west of that river, 
 was forever set at rest. 
 
 During the Revolution, the British, 
 aided by Benedict Arnold, made incur- 
 sion- into the heart of Connecticut, and 
 destroyed a large amount of property 
 in the towns of Greenwich, Norwalk, 
 Fairfield, Danbury, New and East 
 Haven, New London, Richfield and 
 Grot on. There were upwards of 2,000 
 persons and families that sustained 
 ^■Yt'vn looses b} r the depredations of the 
 enemy. On the 10th of May, 1792, the 
 Legislature of that State set apart and 
 donated to the suffering inhabitants of 
 these towns, 500,000 acres of the west 
 part of the lands of the Reserve, to com- 
 pensate them for the losses sustained. 
 These lands were to be bounded north 
 by the shore of Lake Erie, south by the 
 base line of the Reserve, west 
 by its western line, and east by a 
 line parallel with the western line of 
 Pennsylvania, and so far from the west 
 line of the Reserve, as to include with- 
 in the described limits the 500,000 acres. 
 These are the lands now embraced 
 within the counties of Huron and Erie,, 
 and the township of Ruggles, in Ash- 
 land county. The Islands were not in- 
 cluded. The lands so given were called 
 " Sufferer's Lands," and those to whom 
 given, were in 1796, by the Legislature 
 of Connecticut, incorporated by the 
 name of the " Proprietors of the half 
 million acres of land lying south of 
 Lake Erie." After Ohio had become 
 an independent State, this foreign cor- 
 poration was not found to work well 
 here, not being subject to her laws, and 
 to relieve the owners of all embarrass- 
 ment, on the 15th ot April, 1803, the 
 Legislature of this State, conferred cor- 
 porate power on the owners and pro- 
 prietors of the " Half million acres of 
 land lying south of Lake Erie," in the 
 county of Trumbull, called "Sufferer's 
 Land." An account of the losses of 
 the inhabitants had been taken in 
 pounds, shillings and pence, and a price 
 placed upon the lands, and each of the 
 sufferers received land proportioned to 
 the extent of his loss. These land s 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 subsequently took the name of " Fire 
 Lands," from the circumstance that the 
 greater part of the losses suffered re- 
 sulted from lire. 
 
 I have already mentioned the fact 
 that, alter this dedication to the 
 sufferers, and in 1795, Connecticut sold 
 the remainder of the lands of the 
 Western Reserve, to a company, know 
 as the Connecticut Land Company, for 
 $1,200,000. The subscription to the 
 purchase fund, ranged from $1,(383, by 
 Sylvanus Griswold, to $168,185, by 
 Oliver Phelps. Each dollar subscribed 
 to this fund entitled the subscriber to 
 one twelve hundred thousandth part in 
 common, and undivided, of the land 
 purchased. Having acquired the title, 
 the company, in the following spring, 
 commenced to survey the territory lying 
 east of the Cuyahoga; and during the 
 years of 1796 and 1797, completed it. 
 The first surveying party arrived at 
 Conneaught, in New Connecticut, 
 eighty years ago to-day, and proceeded 
 at once to celebrate the twentieth anni- 
 versary of American Independence 
 There were fifty persons in the party, 
 under the lead of General Moses Cleave- 
 land, of Canterbury, Conn. There will 
 be found h. Whittlesey's Earlv His- 
 tory of Cleveland, an extract from the 
 journal, of Cleaveland, describing the 
 particulars of the celebration. Among 
 other things noted by him, was the fol- 
 lowing: "The day, memorable as the 
 birthday of American Independence, 
 and freedom from British tyranny, and 
 commemorated by all good, free born 
 sons of America, and memorable as the 
 day on which the settlement of this new 
 country was commenced, and (which) 
 in time may raise her head among the 
 most enlightened and improved States." 
 A prophecy already more than fulfilled. 
 I shall occupy but a few moments upon 
 the particulars of the survey. The point, 
 where the 41st degree of north latitude 
 intersected the western line of Pennsyl- 
 vania was found, and from this degree 
 of latitude, as a base, Meridian lines, 
 five miles apart, were run north to the 
 lake. Lines of latitude were then run, 
 five miles apart, thus dividing the terri- 
 
 tory into townships five miles square. 
 
 It was not until after the treat}' of 
 Fort Industry, in 1805, that the lands 
 lying west of the Cuyhoga were sur- 
 veyed. The meridians and parallels 
 were run in 1806, by A. Tappen and 
 his assistants. The base and western 
 lines of the Reserve were run by Seth 
 Pease for the Government. The ranges 
 of townships were numbered progres- 
 sively west, from the western boundary 
 of Pennsylvania. The first tier of town- 
 ships, running north and south, lying 
 along the border of Pennsylvania, is 
 range Xo. 1, the adjoining tier west, is 
 range Xo. 2, and so on throughout the 
 twenty-four ranges. The townships 
 lying next north of the 41st parallel of 
 latitude in each range, is township Xo. 
 1 of that range. The township next 
 north, is Xo. 2, and so on progressively 
 to the lake. Ridgeville being in the 
 sixteenth tier of townships from the 
 Pennsylvania line, and in the sixth tier 
 from the base line of the Reserve, is 
 township Xo. 6, in range Xo. 16. Wel- 
 lington is township Xo. 3, in range IS. 
 Elyria township Xo. 6, in range 17. It 
 was supposed that there were 4,000,000 
 acres of land between Pennsylvania and 
 the Fire lands. If the supposition had 
 proved true, the land would have cost 
 thirty cents per acre. As it resulted, 
 there were less than 3,000,000 acres. 
 The miscalculation arose from the mis- 
 taken assumption that the south shore 
 of Lake Erie bore more nearly west 
 than it does; and also from a mistake 
 made in the length of the east and west 
 line. 
 
 The distance, west from the Pennsyl- 
 vania line, surveyed in 1796-7, was only 
 fifty-six miles. That survey ended at 
 the Tuscarawas river. To reach the 
 western limit of the Reserve, a distance 
 of sixty- four miles was to be made. 
 Abraham Tappen and Anson Sessions 
 entered into an agreement with the 
 Land company, in 1805, to complete the 
 survey of the lands between the Firo 
 Lands and the Cuyahoga. This they 
 did in 1806; and from the width of 
 range 19, the range embracing the 
 townships of Brownhelm, Henrietta, 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 < lamden, Brighton, Rochester and Troy, 
 it is very evident that the distance from 
 
 the east to the west line of the Reserve 
 is less than 120 miles. This tier ol 
 townships is gore shaped, and is much 
 less than the miles wide, circum- 
 stances leading the company to divide 
 all south of Brownhelm into tracts, and 
 Use it for purposes of equalization. 
 The west line of range 19, from north 
 to south, "as originally run, bears to 
 the west, and between it and range 20, 
 as indicated on the map, there is a strip 
 of hind, also gore shaped, that was left 
 in the first instance unsurveyed, the 
 surveyors not knowing the exact; where 
 abouts of the eastern line of the " hall 
 million acres" belonging to the 
 sufferers. In 1800, Amos Spafford, of 
 Cleveland, and Almon Ruggles, ol 
 Huron, were agreed on by the two 
 companies to ascertain and locate the 
 line Detween the Fire Lands and the 
 lands of the Connecticut Company. 
 They first surveyed oil" the " half mil- 
 lion acres " belonging to the Sufferers, 
 and not agreeing with Seth Pease, who 
 had run out the base and west line, a 
 dispute arose between the two com- 
 panies, which was finally adjusted 
 before the draft, by establishing the 
 eastern line of the Fire Lands where 
 it now is. Tins left a strip of land east 
 of tiie Fire Lands, called surplus lands, 
 which was included in range 1!), and 
 is embraced in the western tier of town- 
 ships of Lorain county. The mode ol 
 dividing the land among the purchasers 
 was a little peculiar, although evidently 
 just. An equalizing committee accom- 
 panied the surveyors, to make such ob- 
 servations and take such not.s of the 
 character of the townships, as would ena- 
 ble I hem to grade them intelligently, and 
 make a just estimate and equalization 
 of there value. The amount of til 
 purchase money was divided into 10 
 share-, of 3,000 a share. Certificate* 
 were issued to each owner, showing 
 him to he entitled to such proportion ol 
 tin- entire land, a- the amount he paid, 
 bore to the purchase price of the whole. 
 Four townships of the greatest value 
 were first selected from that part of the 
 
 Western Reserve, to which the Indian 
 title had been extinquished, and were 
 divided into lots. Each township was 
 divided into not less than 100 lots. The 
 number of lots that the four townships 
 were divided into, would at least equal 
 the 400 shares, or a lot to a share, and 
 each person, or company of persons, en- 
 titled to one or more shares of the 
 Reserve — each share being one four 
 hundredth part of the Reserve — was 
 allowed to participate in the draft that 
 was determined upon for tin; division 
 of the joint property. The committee 
 appointed to select the four most valua- 
 ble townships for such division, was 
 directed to proceed to select of the 
 remaining townships, a sufficient num- 
 ber, and of the best quality and greatest 
 value, to be used lor equalizing pur- 
 poses. After this selection was made, 
 they were to select the best remaining 
 township, and this township was the 
 one, to the value of which all others 
 were brought, by the equalizing pro- 
 cess of annexation, and if there were 
 several of equal value with the one so 
 selected, no annexations were to be 
 made to them. The equalizing town- 
 ships were cut up into parcels of vari- 
 ous .-i/.e and value, and these parcels 
 were annexed to townships inferior in 
 value, to the standard township, 
 selected in the manner indicated, and 
 annexations of land from the equalizing 
 townships were made in quantity and 
 quality to the inferior townships, suffi- 
 cient to make them all equal in value 
 to the township so selected. 
 
 The lands of Lorain county, that 
 were taken for t lie purpose of equalizing 
 townships of inferior value, were those 
 of Rochester, Brighton, Camden, Black 
 River, and that part ot Henrietta that 
 did not originally belong to Brownhelm. 
 Tract 8, in range lit, being partly in 
 Brighton, and partly in Camden, con- 
 sisting of 3,700 acres, was annexed to 
 LaG range, to equalize it. Tract No. 3, 
 in LaFayette township, Medina county, 
 consisting Of 1,810)^ acres, was annexed 
 toPenfield. Tract 1. in gore I, ill range 
 11, consisting of J,^J"> acres, was an- 
 nexed to Eaton. Tract 2, in gore 1, 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 9 
 
 range 11, consisting of 2,650 acres, was 
 annexed to Columbia; 1,700 acres, in 
 tract 4, in Rochester, were annexed to 
 Huntington; 2,769 acres, in fraction 
 No. 3, in range 11, Summit county, were 
 annexed to Ridgeville; 4,600 acres, in 
 tract 9, in Camden, were annexed to 
 Grafton ; 4,000 acres, tract 7, in Brigh- 
 ton, wereannexed to Wellington ; 4,300 
 acres, in tract 3, gore 6, range 12, were 
 annexed to Russia; 1,500 acres, in tract 
 14, in Henrietta, were annexed to Shef- 
 field ; 3,000 acres in tract 11, in Camden, 
 were annexed to Pittsfield ; tract 3, 
 consisting of 4,050 acres, in Rochester, 
 was annexed to Elyria; 4,000 acres, in 
 tract 2, in Black River, were annexed 
 to Amherst; Bass Islands, No. 1, 2 and 
 Island No. 5, lying north of Erie 
 county, consisting of 2,063 acres, were 
 annexed to Avon; and Kelley's Island, 
 consisting of 2,747 acres, was annexed 
 to Carlisle. After the townships were 
 all made equal in value by the process 
 of tacking and annexation, they were 
 drawn by lot. There were ninety-three 
 townships, or equalized parcels drawn 
 east of the Cuyahoga, and forty-six 
 on the west. The draft of the lands 
 east of the Cuyahoga, took place prior 
 to 1800, and of those west of that river 
 on the 4th of April, 1807. In the draft 
 of the lands east of the river, it re- 
 quired an ownership of $12,903.23 of 
 the original purchase money, to entitle 
 the owner to a township; and in the 
 draft of those west of the river, which 
 included the lands of Lorain county, 
 it required an ownership of $26,087, in 
 the original purchase money, to entitle 
 the owner to a township. The same 
 mode and plan were followed in each 
 draft. The townships were numbered, 
 and the numbers on separate pieces of 
 paper, placed in a box. The names of 
 the proprietors, who had subscribed, 
 and were the owners of a sufficient 
 amount of the purchase money to en- 
 title them to a township, were arranged 
 in alphabetical order, and where it was 
 necessary for several persons to com- 
 bine, because not owning severally a 
 sufficient amount of the purchase 
 money, or number of shares, to-entitle 
 
 them to a township, the name of the 
 person of the company that stood alpha- 
 betically first, was used to represent 
 them in the draft, anVl in case the small 
 owners were unable, from disagree- 
 ment among themselves, to unite, a 
 committee was appointed to select and 
 class the proprietors, and those selected 
 were required to associate themselves 
 together for the purpose of the draft. 
 The township, corresponding to the 
 first number drawn from the box, be- 
 longed, with its annexations for pur- 
 poses of equalization, to the person 
 whose name stood first on the list, or 
 to the persons whom he represented ; 
 and the second drawn, belonged to the 
 second person, and so on throughout 
 the list. This was the mode adopted to 
 sever the ownership in common, and 
 to secure to each individual, or com- 
 pany of individuals, their interest in 
 severalty, in what, before then, had 
 been the common property of all. 
 When a township, by the draft, became 
 the property of several, resort was had 
 to the courts after their organization 
 here, to effect partition of the same. 
 Soon after the conveyance to the Land 
 Company, to avoid complications aris- 
 ing from the death of its members, and 
 to facilitate the transmission of titles, 
 the company conveyed the entire pur- 
 chase, in trust, to John Morgan, John 
 ('ad well and Jonathan Brace; and as 
 titles were wanted, either before or 
 after, the division by draft, convey- 
 ances were made to the purchasers by 
 these trustees. 
 
 Little was know of the south shore 
 of Lake Erie, and the adjoining coun- 
 try, until near the close of the 18th 
 century. It was formerly inhabited by 
 the nation of Indians called the Erigas, 
 or Eries, from whom the Lake took its 
 name. This nation was destroyed by 
 the Iroquois, or Five nations. 
 
 Charlevoix, in his " History of New 
 France," published in 1744, in speaking 
 of the country south of,and bordering on 
 Lake Erie, says: "All this shore is 
 nearly unknown." An old French 
 map, made in 1755, to be seen in the 
 rooms of the Western Reserve Historical 
 
 2* 
 
10 
 
 HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 Society, in Cleveland, names the 
 country between the Cuyahoga anil 
 Sandusky rivers, as Canahogue; and 
 east of the Cuyahoga, as Gwahoga. 
 This is also the name given to that 
 river which is made to empty into 
 Canahogue Bay ; and the country des- 
 ignated as Canahogue, is indicated as 
 the Seat of War, the Mart of Trade, 
 and the Chief Hunting Grounds of the 
 six nations of the lake. But civil 
 Government was not organized on the 
 Western Reserve until the year 1800 
 The governor and judges of the north- 
 west territory, under the ordinance of 
 1787, in 178S, by proclamation, organ- 
 ized the County of Washington, and 
 included within it, all of the Western 
 Reserve east of the Cuyahoga; and in 
 1796, the year of the first settlement of 
 New Connecticut, the county of Wayne 
 was erected, which included over half 
 of Ohio, all of the Western Reserve 
 west of the Cuyahoga, with a part of 
 Indiana, all of Michigan, and the 
 American portion of Lakes Superior, 
 Huron, St. Clair and Erie to the "mouth 
 of the Cuyahoga." The County Seat 
 of Waynecounty was Detroit. In 1797, 
 Jefferson county was established, ami 
 the Western Reserve, east of the Cuya- 
 hoga, became a part of it, by restricting 
 the limits of Washington. As before 
 remarked, Connecticut and the Land 
 Company refused to recognize 1 lie juris- 
 diction of the United States, prior to 
 1800. The act of inclusion of their 
 western land within the counties of 
 Washington, Jefferson and Wayne, 
 they declared to he unwarranted, and 
 the pow (■>■ of < Jongress to prescribe rules 
 tor the government of the same, they 
 denied; and from the opening settle- 
 ment, in 1 7' >'"•, until the transfer of 
 jurisdiction to the general Government 
 was complete, on the 30th of May, in 
 
 1800, the new settlers were entirely 
 
 without municipal laws. There was 
 no regulation governing the transmis- 
 sion of, or succession to, property on 
 the decease of the owner. No regulations 
 of any kind securing the protection of 
 rights, or the redress of wrongs. The 
 want of laws for the government of 
 
 the settlers, was seriously felt, and as 
 early as 179G, the company petitioned 
 the Legislature of Connecticut, to erect 
 the Reserve into a county, with proper 
 and suitable laws, to regulate the 
 internal policy of the territory 
 for a limited period. This petition, 
 however, was not granted, and for up- 
 wards of four years the intercourse and 
 conduct of the early settlers were re- 
 gulated and restrained only by their 
 New England sense of justice and right. 
 But on the 10th of July, 1800, after 
 Connecticut had released her jurisdic- 
 tion to the United States, the Western 
 Reserve was erected into a county, by 
 the name of Trumbull, in honor of the 
 governor of Connecticut, by the civil 
 authority of Ohio. 
 
 At the election in the fall of that 
 year, Edward Paine received thirty- 
 eight voles out of the forty-two cast 
 for member of the Territorial Legisla- 
 ture. The election was held at Warren, 
 the County Seat. This was the first 
 participation that the settlers had in 
 the affairs of government here. Dur- 
 ing the same year, the Court of Quarter 
 Sessions, a tribunal that did not survive 
 the Constitution of 1802, was established 
 and organized, and by it the county 
 was divided into eight organized town- 
 ships. The township of Cleveland was 
 one, and embraced not only a large 
 portion of territory east of the ( !uyahoga, 
 but all of the Reserve lying west of 
 that river. This spot was once a part 
 of that township. On December 1> 
 1805 , the county of Geauga was erected. 
 It included within its limits nearly all 
 of the present counties of Ashtabula, 
 Geauga, Lake and Cuyahoga. On the 
 10th day of February, 1807, there was 
 a more general division into counties. 
 That part of the Western Reserve lying 
 west of the Cuyahoga and north of 
 township No. I, was attached to Geauga, 
 to be a part thereof, until Cuyahoga 
 should be organized. All of the pres- 
 ent county of Lorain, uorth of Grafton, 
 LaGrange, Pittsfleld and Camden, be- 
 longed to, and was a pari of the county 
 of Geauga, from February 10, 1807, 
 until January 10, 1810. At that date 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 11 
 
 1807, Ashtabula was erected out of 
 Trumbull and Geauga, to be organized 
 whenever its population would war- 
 rant it. Also, all that part of Trumbull 
 which lay west of the fifth range of 
 towuships, was erected into a county 
 by the name of Portage, and all of the 
 Western Reserve, west of the Cuyahoga 
 and south of township No. 5, was an- 
 nexed to, and declared to be a part of 
 Portage. So that all of the present 
 county of Lorain, south of Eaton, Car- 
 lisle, Russia and Henrietta belonged to 
 and was a part of Portage, and re- 
 mained a part of it until January 22, 
 1811. On the 10th day of February, 
 1807, the county of Cuyahoga was 
 carved out of Geauga, to be organized 
 whenever its population should be suffi- 
 cient to require it. On the 16th of 
 January, 1810, the population having 
 become sufficient, the county was de- 
 clared organized. On February 8, 1809, 
 Huron was erected into a county cover- 
 ing the Fire Lands, but to remain at- 
 tached to Geauga and Portage, for the 
 time being, for purposes of government. 
 On January 22, 1811, the boundary 
 line of Huron Mas extended east, on 
 the line now dividing Camden and 
 Henrietta, Pittsfield and Russia, Car- 
 lisle and LaGrange, to the southwest 
 corner of Eaton ; and from there, north 
 on the line dividing Carlisle and Eaton, 
 and Elyria and Ridgevllle, to the north- 
 west corner of Ridgeville; thence west 
 to Black River, and down the same to 
 the Lake. On the day that these lines 
 were so altered and extended, the Legis- 
 lature extended the south line of 
 Cuyahoga county, from the soutwest 
 corner of Strongsville, west to the 
 southwest corner of Eaton; thence 
 north, between Eaton and Carlisle, to the 
 northwest corner of Eaton; and from 
 that point, west between Elyria and 
 Carlisle, to the east branch of Black 
 River, and down the same to the Lake. 
 Here was a conflict in boundaries. The 
 boundary of Huron county included all 
 of Elyria, extending east to Ridgeville; 
 and the boundary of Cuyahoga included 
 within its limits that part of Elyria 
 lying east of the east branch of the 
 
 river. The river was the dividing line 
 between the two counties, in the one 
 act; and the line between Elyria and 
 Ridgeville was the dividing line in the 
 other. This conflict was removed at 
 the next session of the Legislature, by 
 adopting the township line, instead of 
 the river, as the boundary line between 
 the two counties, at this point. This 
 adjustment of boundaries gave to Huron 
 county the townships now known as 
 Elyria, Carlisle, Russia, Henrietta, 
 Brownhelm, Amherst, and all of Black 
 River, and Sheffield lying west of the 
 river; and to Cuyahoga countv, Eaton, 
 Columbia, Ridgeville, Avon, and all of 
 the townships of Black River and 
 Sheffield lying east of the jriver. At 
 that date, 1811, the territory now com- 
 prising the county of Lorain, belonged 
 to the counties of Huron, Cuyahoga, 
 and Portage. 
 
 The county of Huron, although es- 
 tablished in 1809, and extended east of 
 Black River in 1811, was annexed to 
 Cuyahoga in 1810, for judicial and 
 other purposes, and remained so an- 
 nexed, until January, 1815, when it was 
 organized, and assumed control of its 
 own affairs. 
 
 On the 18th day of February, 1812, 
 Medina was formed, and comprised all 
 of the territory between the eleventh 
 range of townships and Huron county, 
 and south of townships number five. It 
 therefore included all of the present 
 county of Lorain, south of Eaton, Car- 
 lisle, Russia, and Henrietta. On the 
 14th day of January, ISIS, that county 
 was organized, and its local government 
 put into operation, it remaining in the 
 interim, from the date of its formation 
 to the date of its organization, attached 
 to the county of Portage, for county 
 purposes. On the 2Gth of December, 
 1S22, Lorain county was established. 
 It took from the county of Huron the 
 territory embraced in the townships of 
 Brownhelm, Henrietta, Amherst, Rus- 
 sia, Elyria, and Carlisle, and those 
 parts of the townships of Black River 
 and Sheffield that lie on the west of 
 Black River; and from the county of 
 Cuyahoga .the townships of Troy, (now 
 
12 
 
 HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 Avon), Ridgeville, the west half of 
 Olmsted, (then called Lenox), Eaton, 
 Columbia, and those parts of Black 
 River and Sheffield lying east of the 
 river; and from the county of Medina, 
 
 < !amden, Brighton,PittsfieldjLaGrange, 
 and Wellington. The county, as origin- 
 ally formed, embraced seventeen and 
 one-half townships, which, until the 
 county was organized, were to remain 
 attached to the counties of Medina, 
 Huron, and Cuyahoga, as formerly. It 
 a\ as, however,organized independently, 
 and went into operation, on the 21st day 
 of January, 1824. In the organization 
 of the county, it was provided that the 
 fust officers should be elected in April, 
 1824; and at that election, that part of 
 Lenox that was brought into Lorain, 
 should vote at Ridgeville, and that part 
 of Brighton, lying in Medina before 
 then, should vote in the adjoining 
 township of Wellington. On January 
 29, 1827, the boundary lines were 
 changed. The townships of Grafton, 
 Penfield, Spencer and Homer, Hunting- 
 ton, Sullivan, Rochester and Troy — 
 Mime of them organized and some not — 
 were detached from Medina, and an- 
 nexed to, and become a part of, Lorain ; 
 and the half of Lenox belonging to 
 Lorain, was >er off to Cuyahoga, to be 
 a part of Middlehnry, until otherwise 
 provided. Upon the formation of the 
 county of .Summit, in 1840, the town- 
 ships of Spencer and Homer were 
 reattached to Medina; and upon the 
 formation of Ashland county, in Feb- 
 ruary, 1846, Sullivan and Troy were 
 detached from Lorain, and made a part 
 of that county. Prior to this, and on 
 tlic 29th of January, 1827, an act was 
 passed, fixing the northern boundary of 
 tin' comity. The mode of forming and 
 organizing the counties had been such 
 as to leave unsettled the northern limit 
 of the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga, 
 
 < iuyahoga, and Lorain. Ami in matters 
 involving the exercise of criminal jur- 
 isdiction oi offenses committed on the 
 lake, in the vicinity of the shore, the 
 question was of too much practical im- 
 portance to he left in doubt. The 
 Treaty between the United States and 
 
 Great Britain, fixed the line running 
 through the middle of the lakes as the 
 dividing line between the two countries. 
 Connecticut had reserved the land 
 between the 41st degree of north lati- 
 tude, and 42 deg. and 2 min. The 
 course and shape of Lake Erie were 
 such that the parallel of 42 deg. and 
 2 min. would cross the middle line of 
 the lake; and adjoining Ashtabtda, 
 that degree of latitude would be south 
 of, and adjoining Lorain north of, the 
 boundary line between Canada and the 
 United States. It was therefore de- 
 clared, by this act, that the northern 
 boundary of these four counties should 
 extend to the northern boundary of the 
 United States. This carried the north- 
 ern boundary of Lorain to the middle 
 of Lake Erie, without regard to the 
 northern limit of the Western Reserve. 
 Before recounting the incidents con- 
 nected with the early settlement and 
 organization of the county, and the 
 townships comprising it, brief allusion 
 should be made to a fact connected with 
 the history of the Reserve, respecting 
 its common schools. By the ordinance 
 of Congress, of 1785, it was declared 
 that section 16 of every township should 
 be reserved, for the maintenance of 
 public schools in the township. The 
 ordinance of 1787, reaffirmed the policy 
 thus declared. The provisions of these 
 ordinances, in this respect, were not 
 applicable to, nor operative over, the 
 region of the Reserve, because of the 
 fact that the United States did not own 
 its soil; and although the entire 
 amount paid to Connecticut by the Land 
 Company, for the territory of the 
 Reserve, was set apart for, and devoted 
 to, the maintenance of public schools 
 in that State, no part of that fund was 
 appropriated to purposes of education 
 here. Here was an inequality of 
 advantages between the people of the 
 Reserve and of the remainder of the 
 State, in that respect. This inequality 
 was, however, in a measure, removed 
 in lso:{,by an act of Congress, which set 
 apart and appropriated to the Western 
 Reserve, as an equivalent for section 16, 
 a sufficient quantity of land in the 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 13 
 
 United States Military District, to com- 
 pensate the loss of that section to school 
 purposes, in the lands lying east of the 
 Cuyahoga. This amount was equal to 
 one thirty-sixth of the land of the 
 Eeserve, to which the Indian title had, 
 before that time, been extinguished. 
 The Indian title to the lands of the 
 Reserve west of theCuj'ahoga, not then 
 having been extinguished, the matter 
 seemed to drop from public notice, and 
 remained so until 1829. At this date, 
 the Legislature, in a Memorial to 
 Congress, directed its attention to the 
 fact, that by the Treaty of Fort Industry, 
 concluded in 1805, the Indian title to 
 the land west of the Cuyahoga,- had 
 been relinquished to the United States, 
 and prayed in recognition of the fact, 
 that an additional amount of land lying 
 within the United States Military Dis- 
 trict, should be set apart for the use of 
 the public schools of the Eeserve, and 
 equal in quantit} r to one thirty-sixth of 
 the territory, ceded to the United States 
 by that Treaty. The Memorial pro- 
 duced thee desired result. In 1834, 
 Congress, in compliance with the re- 
 quest of the Legislature, granted such 
 an additional amount of land to the 
 Eeserve for school purposes, as to 
 equalize its distribution of lands for 
 such purpose, and in furtherance of its 
 object to carry into effect its determina- 
 tion, to donate one thirty-sixth part of 
 the public domain, to the purposes of 
 education. The lands first allotted to 
 the Eeserve, for such purpose, were 
 situated in the counties of Holmes and 
 Tuscarawas, and in 1831, were sur- 
 veyed and sold, and the proceeds 
 arising from their sale, as well as the 
 funds arising from the sale of those 
 subsequently appropriated, were placed, 
 and invested with other school funds of 
 the State, and constitute one of the 
 sources from which the people of the 
 Eeserve derive the means of supporting 
 and maintaining their common schools. 
 This fund is called the Western Eeserve 
 school fund. 
 
 In undertaking to notice some of the 
 events, connected with the early set- 
 tlement of the townships of the county, 
 
 I fully appreciate the liability to error. 
 But very few of the early settlers are 
 left to recount the incidents, privations, 
 and rude pleasures of early life. 
 Tradition is not always reliable, and 
 memory, once fresh and faithful, fades 
 with the approach of advancing years. 
 We venture only a glance, at the early 
 township history, and vouch only its 
 general accuracy. In September, 1807, 
 a company of thirty persons left Water- 
 bury, Connecticut, for the township of 
 Columbia. They were Calvin Hoadley, 
 his wife, and five children ; Lemuel 
 Hoadley, wife, and three children, his 
 father, and his wife's mother; Lathrop 
 Seymour, and wife; John Williams,, 
 wife, and five children ; a Mrs. Parkef, 
 with four children ; Silas Hoadley, and 
 Chauncey Warner; BelaBronson, wife, 
 and child. This company were two 
 months in reaching Buffalo, and in 
 undertaking the journey from there, by 
 the lake, were overtaken by disaster, 
 and thrown ashore Many of them 
 were compelled to make the journey 
 from the spot where Erie now is, on 
 foot, nearly to Cleveland. 
 
 The greater part of this company, 
 stopped at Cleveland, and remained 
 through the winter. But Bela Bronson, 
 wife and child; Levi Bronson, "John 
 Williams, and Walter Strong, pushed 
 across the Cu} r ahoga, cut their way 
 through the wilderness to Columbia, 
 erected a log house, and commenced 
 pioneer life. They were eight days in 
 cutting their way from Cleveland to 
 Columbia. In the winter of 1807-8, the 
 families of John Williams and James 
 Geer, arrived ; and in the spring and 
 summer of 1808, those who remained at 
 Cleveland during the winter, arrived 
 also. At the apportionment, by draft, 
 in lS07,Levi Bronson, Harmon Bronson, 
 Azor Bronson, Calvin Hoadlj r , and 
 Jared Richards, had formed an associa- 
 tion called the Waterbury Land Com- 
 pany. This Company, Benjamin 
 Doolittle, Jr., Samuel Doolittle, and 
 William Law, drew that township, as 
 Xo. 5, Eange 15, with 2,650 acres in 
 Richfield and Boston, in Summit county, 
 annexed, to equalize it. Columbia, at 
 
14 
 
 HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 the time of its organization, which took 
 place in 1800, was a part of Geauga 
 county. The first election was held on 
 the first Monday of April, of that year, 
 at the house of Calvin Hoadley. There 
 were nineteen voters at the election. 
 Calvin Hoadley, Jared Pritehard, and 
 John Williams, were elected trustees. 
 BelaBronson waselected clerk. Having 
 no use for a treasurer, none was 
 elected. Lathrop Seymour was elected 
 constable; and to provide him employ- 
 ment, in May following, Nathaniel 
 Doan was elected Justice of the Peace. 
 All of Geauga county lying west of 
 Columbia, was annexed to that town- 
 ship for judicial, and other purposes. 
 The jurisdiction of that judicial 
 functionary, covered, in territorial 
 extent, nearly an empire. The plaintiff 
 in the first action brought before him. 
 lived on Grand River, and thedefendant 
 on the Vermillion. It was the case of 
 Skinner v. Baker. The plaintiff had 
 judgment, which was paid, not in legal 
 tender, but in labor. The first school 
 taught was in the summer of 1808, by 
 Mrs. Bela Bronson, in the first log 
 house erected. The first winter school 
 was taught by Bela Bronson, in a 
 blacksmith shop, during the winter of 
 1809-10. In August, 1812, after the 
 commencement of the war, between 
 England and the United States, an 
 event transpired which occasioned 
 feelings of great apprehension and 
 alarm, not only to the pioneers of 
 Columbia, but to the inhabitants of the 
 entire Reserve. Information came, and 
 spread rapidly, that the British, and 
 their allies, weir approaching the set- 
 tlements, with intent to kill ami mas- 
 sacre the inhabitants. A large party 
 bud been seen landing at Huron, which 
 was supposed co be the forces of the 
 enemy. Men, women, and children 
 fled from their homes in terror. As the 
 inhabitants of Ridgeville reached Col- 
 umbia, in their flight, they found the 
 Columbia settlement nearly abandoned. 
 This flight, however, lasted but a short 
 time, when Levi Bronson, returning 
 from Cleveland, brought the news, 
 that the persons landed at Huron, were 
 
 the prisoners that Hull surrendered, at 
 Detroit, to the British. On the return 
 of those who had soughtsafety in flight 
 from Columbia, the Elder Bronson, 
 who bad refused to join them, informed 
 them that "the wicked flee, when no 
 man pursueth." The inhabitants of 
 Columbia, Ridgeville, Middlebury, and 
 Baton, at once joined in the erection of 
 a Block House, just south of the center 
 of the town. This was the fortress, to 
 which to llee for safety, in an hour of 
 danger. Captain Hoadly had the honor 
 of commanding this post. A company 
 was organized to garrison it; but we are 
 well informed that the enemy had not 
 the temerity, to come within reach of 
 its guns. The Captain and his men 
 were mustered into the service, and 
 paid as soldiers of the United States 
 army. Able-bodied men constituted 
 the garrison, while the old men, women 
 and children, were left unprotected, at 
 their homes, to clultivate the soil, and 
 receive the first assault of the expected 
 foe. I believe, however, that the roar 
 ot the cannon, off Put-in-Bay Island, 
 on the 10th of September, 1813, was the 
 first, and the last, beard of the enemy, 
 after these military preparations for 
 defense were made. The first mail, 
 west of Cleveland, was carried by 
 Horace Gun, in 180S. The route was 
 from Cleveland to Maumee. The only 
 houses on the route were one at Black 
 River, occupied by Azariali Beebe, and 
 one at .Milan, occupied by a Frenchman 
 by, the name of Flemins. In 1809, the 
 mail over this route was carried by 
 Benoni Adams, of Columbia. It re- 
 quired two weeks to make the trip. 
 The only road was an Indian trail, 
 along the lake, and the carrier went 
 on foot. There was no postollice, be- 
 tween Cleveland ami Maumee, no way 
 mails, and but lew who could either 
 read or write. The carrier was com- 
 pelled, from its extent, to lodge one 
 night in the Black Swamp. 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 15 
 
 Ridgeville. 
 
 Town No. 6, in the 16th range of 
 townships, (Ridgeville), was drawn by 
 Ephraim Root, a lawyer of Hartford. 
 For a few years after its settlement, it 
 was called Rootstown. In 1809-10, 
 Oliver Terrell, Ichabod Terrell, and 
 David Beebe, residents of Waterbury, 
 exchanged lands by them owned there, 
 for a little over one-fourth of the town- 
 ship of Ridgeville. In the spring of 
 1810, David Beebe, and his sons, David 
 and Loman; Philander and Oliver 
 Terrell, sons of Ichabod; Joel Terrell 
 and Lyman Root, left Waterbury, and 
 after a long journey, reached Ridgeville. 
 These were the first settlers. On the 
 6th of July, of that year, Tillotson 
 Terrell arrived, with his wife and three 
 children. His was the first family that 
 settled in the township. In the summer 
 of that year, David Beebe, Jr., returned 
 to Waterbury, and brought on the 
 family of his father, and the wife and 
 children of Lyman Root. At the same 
 time, Ichabod Terrell, his wife Rhoda, 
 and five children ; his father, and Asa 
 Morgan, Ins teamster, exchanged their 
 Connecticut homes, and comforts, for 
 the untried experiences of frontier life. 
 Oliver Terrell, father of Ichabod, up- 
 wards of eighty years of age, made the 
 entire trip on horseback. They reached 
 Ridgeville in the Fall, cutting\a wagon 
 road from Rocky River to the place of 
 destination. They were two days and 
 three nights, en route, from Rocky 
 River. The company that came on in 
 the spring, had built a- small cabin of 
 logs, of such size, as so few could carry, 
 the roof being of bark, and the floor of 
 mother earth. This cabin was built in 
 the first clearing made, and on land 
 now owned by John Lansbnry. Here 
 all had lived together, and kept bache- 
 lor's hall. Upon the arrival of Tillotson 
 Terrell and family, in the early part of 
 July, he ; ' moved in," and remained 
 until the erection of a log house for 
 himself and family, on the premises 
 now owned by Mrs. Harry Terrell 
 This was not long after his advent into 
 
 the town. About the same time, David 
 Beebe, Sr., built a log house, a little 
 west, nearly opposite the residence of 
 the late Garry Root. These log cabins 
 were an improvement on the one pre- 
 viously built, in one respect, at least: 
 each had a puncheon floor, and an 
 opening for a window. As window- 
 glass was an article not possessed, 
 foolscap paper was employed in its 
 stead ; and while it was a poor instru- 
 ment, to exclude the cold air from the 
 rude dwelling, it was the best means 
 possessed as a substitute, for the ad- 
 mission of light. Joel Terrell, one of 
 the first of the spring company, re- 
 turned to Connecticut in 1810, and 
 remained until 1811, when, with his 
 family, he directed his steps again 
 westward, to his future home. The 
 families of David Heebe, Sr., Lyman 
 Root, and Ichabod Terrell, that came on 
 in the fall of 1810, consisted of twenty 
 persons. They were seven weeks on 
 the way. Two yokes of oxen to a 
 wagon, with a horse as a leader, consti- 
 tuted the motive power, that conveyed 
 them hither. 
 
 Rhoda Ten el, the wife of Ichabod, 
 was a survivor of the Wyoming Massa- 
 cre; and at her death, occurring over 
 twenty years ago, left ninety-one grand 
 children, and a large number of great 
 grand children surviving her. The 
 first school house was erected near the 
 centre of the town, on the spot where 
 the Tuttle House now stands. It was 
 consumed by fire in 1814. The first 
 framed house was built by Major Willis 
 Terrell. The first mill for grinding 
 flour was the offspring of necessity. It 
 was erected near where Tillotson Ter- 
 rell built his log house. It was the 
 Mortar and Pestle. A log about three 
 feet in length, cut from a pepperage 
 tree, set on its end, burned out round 
 in the top, with a pestle attached to a 
 spring pole; these were the sum total 
 of its parts and its mechanism. This 
 was a familiar and friendly acquaintance 
 of the neighboring inhabitants, and by 
 them was kept in constant use, until 
 time and means brought in better days. 
 In 1812-13 Joseph Cahoon, of Dover, 
 
16 
 
 HISTORICAL ADD1 J ESS 
 
 built a grist mill on the small creek at 
 the centre. Capt. Hoadley, of Colum- 
 bia, possessed a hand grist mill; and in 
 the winter of 1S1U-17 a mill was built 
 at Elyria, thus removing the ne- 
 cessity for the further use of the Mortar 
 and Pestle. 
 
 The township of Ridgeville was or- 
 ganized in 1813. At the spring election 
 of that year there were fifteen voters; 
 and they were all at election. Judges 
 of election were provided, and the polls 
 were opened. David Beebe, Ichabod 
 Terrell and Joel Terrell were elected 
 trustees. Joel Terrell was elected jus- 
 tice of the peace; David Beebe, Jr., 
 constable, and Willis Terrell township 
 clerk. A post office was established in 
 181b, and Moses Eldred appointed post 
 master. Up to this date the Cleveland 
 post office was the nearest. Town No. 
 5 in the same range (Eaton), was In- 
 cluded in the organization of Ridgeville. 
 It required a population having ten 
 electors to secure the pri/ileges result- 
 ing from the civil organization ot a 
 township, and where the population 
 was not sufficient in a surveyed town 
 to secure incorporation as a township, 
 two or more towns could unite, and 
 thus secure such privileges. And such 
 union usually continued, until by the 
 increase of population the number ot 
 electors required, to secure individual 
 and independent organization, became 
 residents of the town. Adjoining 
 towns, with less than the required num- 
 ber of electors to secure incorporation, 
 were annexed to organized townships, 
 for the purpose of civil and judicial ad- 
 ministration; and they remained so an- 
 nexed until of sufficient growth to en- 
 title them to separate and independent 
 incorporation. During the continuance 
 of the annexation, the inhabitants of 
 tin- annexed territory were, to all intents 
 and purposes, citizens of the township 
 to which annexed, with the same priv- 
 ileges, and subject to the same exactions 
 as actual residents therein. It will be 
 seen that the practice of uniting sur- 
 veyed towns for civil purposes, and ot 
 annexations for like purposes, were of 
 frequent occurrence and necessity. 
 
 Black River. 
 
 The earliest attempted permanent set- 
 tlement was at the mouth of Black 
 River. In 1787, a few Moravian minis- 
 ters, missionaries among the Delawares 
 and other tribes, with a band of Chris- 
 tian Indians, undertook to make a per- 
 manent settlement at that point. In 
 the spring of that year they removed 
 from Pilgrim's Rest, on the Cuyahoga, 
 to the place contemplated as their new 
 abode. Here they hoped to establish a 
 centre, and plant the seeds, of the Chri- 
 tian civilization of the Indians. Their 
 hopes, however, were not to be realized. 
 They had remained but a few days upon 
 the spot selected, when a message from 
 the chief of the Delawares, command- 
 ing them to depart from the Black 
 River, was received, and at once obeyed. 
 This was the first settlement in what is 
 now the County ; for although tempor- 
 ary anil of but short duration, it was a 
 settlement in fact, coupled with an in- 
 tent to remain. No further attempt 
 was made to settle at the mouth of th8 
 river until 1807. In the survey of the 
 previous year, Black River had been 
 divided into three parts — Gore No. 1, 
 Tract No. 2 and Gore No. 3. It was 
 not drawn as a township, but, as before 
 stated, was used for purposes of equali- 
 zation. Gore 1 was annexed to Olm- 
 sted, Tract '2 to Amherst, and Gore 3 to 
 the township of .Medina. The persons 
 who drew the three last named town- 
 ships became respectively the owners 
 of Black River. The first family that 
 settled in Black River was that of Aza- 
 riah Beebe, consisting of himself and 
 wife. This was in 1807. Nathan Perry, 
 Jr., son of Nathan Terry, of ( 'leveland, 
 both from Vermont, opened a store at 
 Black River in the same year for trade 
 with the Indians. Beebe and wife were 
 in his employment, and he boarded in 
 their family. They took up their resi- 
 dence east of the river, remained a few 
 years, and left. No addition was made 
 to the settlement until 1810. In the 
 spring of that year, Daniel Perry, an 
 uncle of Nathan jr., settled with his 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 17 
 
 family near the mouth of the river. 
 He, also, was from Vermont. His stay, 
 however, was not permanent, as he re- 
 mained bat a few years, then moved 
 to Sheffield, whence, after a short resi- 
 dence there, he removed to Brownhelm, 
 where he spent the remainder of a very 
 useful life. During the same year, 1810, 
 additions were made to the town by the 
 arrival of Jacob Shupe, Joseph Quig- 
 ley, George Kelso, Andrew Kelso, Ralph 
 Lyon, and a Mr. Seely. Some of these 
 soon took up their abode in No. — Am- 
 herst. In the following year, 1811, there 
 came John S. Reid, Quartis Gilmore, 
 Aretus Gilmore, and William Martin. 
 The first named of this company, John 
 S. Reid, was a man of great energy of 
 character, and soon became prominent, 
 as the leading citizen of the town. He 
 was one of the first three Commission- 
 ers upon the organization of the coun- 
 ty, in 1824; and before then, and while 
 Black River was a part of Huron coun- 
 ty, he was, in 1819, a Commissioner of 
 that county. Pie was one of the Com- 
 missioners of Huron county that direct- 
 ed the joint organization of Elyria and 
 Carlisle. He died in 1831. His son, 
 Conrad, has lived in Black River for 
 sixty-five consecutive years, lie and 
 Mrs. Slater, daughter of William Mar- 
 tin, are the only surviving residents of 
 1811. Quartus and Aretus Gilmore were 
 sons of Edmund, who removed to Black 
 River with his family in 1812. He was 
 the owner of a large tract of land in 
 Black River and Amherst. He built, in 
 that year, the first framed barn ever 
 built in the county. 
 
 On the 14th of November, 1811, the 
 township of Dover was organized by the 
 Commissioners of Cuyahoga county. It 
 included within its defined limits the 
 present townships of Dover, Avon, 
 Sheffield, and that part of Black River 
 east of the river; and on the 12th of 
 March, 1812, the territory now com- 
 prising the townships of Elyria, Am- 
 herst, all of Black River west of the 
 river, and Brownhelm, were attached 
 to Dover, for township purposes. They 
 remained so attached until Vermillion 
 was organized, when the towns now 
 
 known as Amherst, Brownhelm, and 
 Black River west of the river, were 
 annexed to that township. On the 
 27th of October, 1818, the township 
 of Troy was organized into a separate 
 township, and included the present 
 towns of Avon, and all of Sheffield and 
 Black River lying east of the river. It 
 will be remembered that Huron county 
 was organized in 1815, and was extend- 
 ed east to Black River, and for a dis- 
 tance, beyond it. At the February ses- 
 sion, in 1817, of the Commissioners of 
 Huron county, it was ordered that 
 township No. 6 (Amherst), and that 
 part of No. 7 (Black River), in the 18th 
 Range, which lay in the county of Hu- 
 ron, with all the lands thereto attached 
 in said Huron county, be set off from 
 the township of Vermillion, and organ- 
 ized into a separate township, by the 
 name of Black River. Thus Amherst, 
 Black River, and Brownhelm, were 
 first organized, as Black River. 
 
 In June, 1S24, the corner of the town 
 lying east of the river was annexed to 
 Black River township for judicial pur- 
 poses. The first election for township 
 officers, for Black River township, was 
 held in April, 1817. The names of all 
 the officers elected are not known. 
 There were two post offices in the town. 
 The Black River post office was located 
 on the South Ridge, now South Am- 
 herst, and the other was named "The 
 Mouth of Black River Post Office," and 
 was kept at the mouth of the river. 
 Eliphalet Redington was the first post- 
 master of the office at Black River, and 
 John S. Reid of the Mouth of Black 
 River post office. 
 
18 
 
 HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 Brownlielm. 
 
 Of Brownhelra, I shall Bay but little. 
 Her "early settlement and history" 
 were, years ago, put into euduring 
 shape by one familiar with the incom- 
 ing and outgoing of her people, during 
 a growth of fifty years. On the 4th of 
 July, L867, at the celebration of the 
 semi-centennial anniversary oi her first 
 settlement, the scenes and incidents 
 connected therewith, were narrated 
 with interesting detail, by President 
 Fairchild, of Oberlin College The 
 town was drawn in the draft by Asher 
 Miller and Nathaniel Shalor. Original- 
 ly i( was bounded south by tracts 11 
 and 15, in range 19. It included nearly 
 one third of Henrietta. In 181(5, Col. 
 Henry Brown, from Stockbridge, Mass- 
 achusetts, entered the township, then 
 known as Xo. G, Range 19, and built 
 the first log house. He was accompa- 
 nied here, and assisted in building, by 
 Peter P. Pease, Charles Whittlesey, 
 William Alverson, and William Lin- 
 coln. Seth Morse and Renessalaer 
 Cooley also assisted in building the 
 house. Morse and Cooley returned to 
 the East for the winter. Pease, Whit- 
 tlesey, Alverson and Lincoln remained 
 here. On the 4th of July, 1817, the 
 families of Levi Shepard, Sylvester 
 Barnum, and Stephen James arrived, 
 and alter celebrating the Fourth on the 
 shore, entered upon pioneer life near 
 the log house of Brown. These were 
 the first families that settled in the 
 town. Dining the same year the fami- 
 lies of Solomon Whittlesey, Alva Cur- 
 tis, Benjamin Bacon, and Fbenezer 
 Scott arrived. In ISIS, many other- 
 families were added, giving hope of a 
 speedy filling up of the town. They 
 were those of Col. Brown, Grandison 
 Fairchild, Anson Cooper, Elisha Peek, 
 ■George Bacon, Allied Avery, Enos 
 < looley, < >rrin Sage, John Graham, and 
 others. There were other families that 
 arrived and settled in the south part of 
 the town, subsequently set off to Hen- 
 rietta. They will be named in connec- 
 tion with the mention of that town. The 
 
 first framed house in the town was 
 built by Benjamin Bacon. The first 
 brick bouse in the count)- was built bj 
 Grandison Fairchild, in the summer of 
 1819. .Mrs. Alverson gathered the chil- 
 dren of the neighborhood together and 
 taught, the first school in the town. Her 
 own house was the school house. The 
 Log school house was built on the brow 
 of the hill, in the fall of the same year, 
 and because of its pretentious dimen- 
 sions, for the times — IS by 22 — the 
 street upon which it stood received the 
 name of Strut street, and bore it lor 
 many years. Grandison Fairchild 
 taught the school the first two winters, 
 receiving his tuition in chopping. La- 
 bor and produce were the currency em- 
 ployed for the exchange of values. 
 Money was very scarce, and nearly all 
 debts, except the one incurred in the 
 purchase of lands, were paid in labor, 
 its products, and those of the soil. 
 
 From February, 1817, until October, 
 1S18, the town was a part of Black Riv- 
 er. At the latter date, on petition of 
 the inhabitants to the Commissioners of 
 Huron county, Xo. 6, in the 19th Range, 
 together with the surplus lands adjoin- 
 ing west, ami all lands lying west ot 
 Beaver creek, in No. 7, 18th Range 
 (Black River), was organized into a 
 separate township by the name of 
 Brownlielm. Col. Brown had the hon- 
 or to select the name. Township offi- 
 cers were elected at the spring election 
 in 1810, held at the house of George Ba- 
 con. Calvin Leonard, Levi Shepard, 
 and Alva Curtis, were elected trustees; 
 Anson Cooper, township clerk ; William 
 Alverson, treasurer; Benjamin Bacon, 
 and Levi Shepard, justices of the peace. 
 This perfected the township organiza- 
 tion. That part of the present town of 
 Black River lying west of Beaver creek 
 was, in June, 1829, by order of the 
 Commissioners, detached from Brown- 
 helm, ami re-annexed to Black River. 
 
OF LORAIN" COUNTY. 
 
 19 
 
 G-rafton. 
 
 Town No. 4, Range 1G, was drawn by 
 Lemuel Storrs. In May, 181G, from 
 fifteen to eighteen men left Berkshire 
 county, Massachusetts, and journeyed 
 hither for the purpose of selecting and 
 locating lands for which they either 
 had exchanged, or were to exchange, 
 lands owned b} r them in that State. 
 Among these men were Jonathan Raw- 
 son, John and George Sibley, Seth C. 
 and Thomas Ingersoll, sons of Major 
 William Ingersoll. and brothers of Mrs. 
 Harriet Nesbitt, whose reminiscences 
 of the town, in its early days, have been 
 so recently, and so happily given to the 
 public The selection was made, and all 
 returned East, except the Sibleys, and 
 men employed by Rawson to remain 
 and work at clearing the forest. In the 
 fall of that year, Major William Inger- 
 soll moved his family into the town, ar- 
 riving on November 4th. He settled 
 just east of Kingsley's Corners, on land 
 selected by his sons in the spring. This 
 was the first family that settled in the 
 town. The journey was made with a 
 span of horses, and three yoke of oxen. 
 A small shanty had been built on the 
 land of the Sibleys. and upon their in- 
 vitation, it was occupied by the family 
 of Major Ingersoll for about two weeks, 
 during which time, he and the boys 
 erected a log house upon land of his 
 own. In February, 1817, the family of 
 William Crittenden arrived. This was 
 family No. 2. In the month of March 
 following, came the families of the 
 Rawsons, Boughtons, Sibleys, and Nes- 
 bits; and a little later in the same 
 season the families of Captain William 
 Turner, Aaron Root, and Bildad Bel- 
 din; and not long after the family of 
 David Ashley. An attack was at once 
 made upon the thick forest, and within 
 twelve months from the arrival of Maj. 
 Ingersoll, twelve log houses were erect- 
 ed, that <?ave shelter to ninety-seven 
 persons. During the following year, 
 additions were made by the arrival of 
 many other families. 
 
 This township then belonged to 
 
 dina county, which was formed in 1812, 
 but as elsewhere stated, for want of 
 population was not organized until 
 January, 1818. From its formation, to 
 its organization, it remained attached 
 to Portage county, where the deeds of 
 the early settlers were recorded. On 
 the 25th of July, 1818, on petition of the 
 inhabitants, the town was incorporated 
 by the name of Grafton, by the Com- 
 missioners of Medina county. At the 
 first election held in August, 181S y 
 Eliphalet Jones, William Ingersoll and 
 William B. Crittenden were elected 
 trustees; William Bishop, clerk; Reu- 
 ben Ingersoll, treasurer; David Ashley, 
 appraiser of property ; Grin-del Rawson 
 and Seth C. Ingersoll, fence viewers. 
 Previous to the organization of the 
 township, it had been attached to Liv- 
 erpool for judicial purposes, and in 
 April, 1818, Reuben Ingersoll had been 
 elected justice of the peace, at the elec- 
 tion held at that town. 
 
 The first school was taught by Miss 
 Mary Sibley, in 1818, in the log school 
 house built near the residence of Capt. 
 William Turner. During the same year 
 a church was organized by Rev. T. 
 Brooks. The pioneer life of the early 
 settlers of Grafton furnish many amus- 
 ing incidents, one of which shows the 
 inventive power of necessity. When 
 Guy Boughton was on his way from 
 Massachusetts, he sold to Heman Ely a 
 double wagon, and agreed to deliver it 
 at town No. 6, Range 17. On reaching 
 Grafton he found there were twelve 
 miles of unbroken forest between his 
 wagon and the place of delivery. One 
 of two wavs must be adopted : he must 
 cut a wagon road the whole distance, or 
 try the navigable capacity of Black 
 river. He chose the latter. He made a 
 raft, launched it, put his wagon on it, 
 shoved off from shore, and in due time 
 fulfilled his contract, by delivering the 
 wagon to Mr. Ely, at the toot of what 
 is now Broad street, in this village. 
 
20 
 
 HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 Sheffield. 
 
 Town \<>. 7, in range 17, Sheffield, in 
 the partition by draft, was drawn by 
 William Hart, of Saybrook. Tract 14, 
 in Henrietta, was annexed to it, to 
 equalize it. Timothy Wallace was the 
 first settler. Previous to Hart's dis- 
 position of the land, and in about the 
 year L812, he agreed with Wallace to 
 give him his choice in lots, if sold by 
 lot, if he would settle and occupy the 
 same. Wallace accepted, entered and 
 improved a few acres on the Robbins 
 Barrel! farm, and finally abandoned it. 
 [n January, 1815, Hart conveyed the 
 township to Captain .John Day and 
 Captain Jabez Burrell, of Berkshire 
 county. Massachusetts. Obediah De- 
 land, Joshua Smith, Joseph Fitch, Solo- 
 mon Filch, Isaac Burrell and Henry 
 Austin, bought in, and became joint 
 owner- with Day and Burrell. In June 
 of that year, .labez Burrell and Isaac, 
 Captain Day and Joshua Smith, came 
 west, and made selections. In the fol- 
 lowing November, Smith and son 
 reached the selected ground, and be- 
 came fixed settlers. They were soon 
 joined by Samuel B. Fitch and As her 
 Chapman, who struck hands with them, 
 built a small shanty, and occupied it 
 during the winter of 1813-1(5. Free- 
 man Richmond and family, took up 
 their abode on lot 2. This was the first 
 settlement of the town by a family. In 
 April following, Henry Root, wife and 
 six children, two boys and tour girls, 
 arrived from Sheffield, Massachusetts, 
 and took shelter in Smith's shanty 
 until the log house was thrown up, that 
 was to constitute their humble habita- 
 tion for the immediate future. 
 
 Wm. H. Root, Esq., still a resident, 
 •and now in the advanced years of a 
 >well-spent life, was the youngest of the 
 two boys. Next, and soon, came Oliver 
 Moon, Milton Garfield, John B. Gar- 
 held, A. R. Dimmick, William Rich- 
 mond and Willis Porter. In July and 
 August, there came the families of 
 John Day and Jazeb Burrell, the first 
 arriving in July, and consisting of 
 
 twelve person-, and the latter consist- 
 ing of ten. William, the oldest son of 
 John Day, at a later day, became one 
 of the associate judges of the county. 
 Captain Smith, in the fail, returned to 
 Massachusetts, and brought on his 
 family in March of 1817. There soon 
 followed tiie Moores, Stevens, Hecocks, 
 James, Arnold, and Isaac Burrell. 
 There is no township in the county, 
 unless it be Grafton, and possibly 
 Brownhelin and LaGrange, that seeni- 
 to have filled up as rapidly as Sheffield, 
 in the first years of its settlement. 
 
 From the organization of the county 
 of Huron, until the organization of 
 Lorain, Sheffield owed a divided 
 allegiance. Originally, Dover embraced 
 Avon, and all of Sheffield and Black 
 River east of the river. At a later day, 
 Avon, and the same parts of Sheffield 
 and Black River, that formerly belonged 
 to Dover, constituted the township of 
 Troy, and they were then in Cuyahoga 
 county. From 1815 to 1824, all of Shef- 
 field, west of Black river, was attached 
 to the township of Black River, as it 
 existed before its territory was reduced 
 to its present limits. This part of Shef- 
 field was then in Huron county. The 
 township was then known as No. 7, 
 range 17. On the first Monday of June, 
 1824, touched with a little ambition for 
 territorial expansion, she laid her peti- 
 tion before the commissioners of the 
 county of Lorain, at their June session, 
 in the first j^ear of the organization 
 of the county, praying for a township 
 organization that should embrace the 
 in extent its present area, all of Black 
 River township east of Black river, and 
 so much of No. G, range 17, (Elyria), 
 as was set off to Enoch Perkins, in the 
 partition of that township. The action 
 before the commissioners resulted in 
 the organization of the township, with 
 her present boundaries. Sheffield was 
 the first township incorporated after 
 the county was organized. Her incor- 
 poration was the first official act of the 
 commissioners at their June session, 
 1824. A special election was ordered 
 for the township officers, and took place 
 July 10, 1824. John Day, Isaac Burrell 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 21 
 
 and A. R. Dinimick, were elected trus- 
 tees; Nathan Stevens, clerk; Milton 
 Garfield, treasurer. Jabez Burrell had 
 been elected Justice of the Peace in 
 1S19, while the town was a part of 
 Troy, and re-elected in 1822, and was 
 still exercising the duties of the office, 
 at the date of the township organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 Avon. 
 
 Pierpont Edwards became proprietor 
 at the draft, in 1807, of town No. 7, 
 range 16, (Avon), together with Bass 
 Island, No. 1, comprising 1,322 acres of 
 land, Bass island, No. 2, 709 acres, 
 and Island No. 5, 32 acres, in Lake Erie, 
 west of north of Sandusky, annexed to 
 the town, for the purpose of equaliza- 
 tion. In 1812, Noah Davis settled on 
 the Lake Shore, erected a log house, 
 remained but a short time and left, 
 never returning. In 1814, Wilbur 
 Cahoon, Lewis Austin and Nicholas 
 Young, made the first permanent 
 settlement of the town. In 1815, Elah 
 Park and others were added. On the 
 27th of October, 1818, the town, together 
 with the annexations herein before 
 stated, was set oft* from Dover, and or- 
 ganized in a separate township by the 
 name of Troy, by the commissioners of 
 Cuyahoga county. It will be remem- 
 bered, that at this date, the river from 
 the point where it passes into Sheffield, 
 north to the lake, was the boundary 
 line between Huron and Cuyahoga 
 counties. A special election was 
 ordered for township officers, to be held 
 November 9, 1818. Eiah Park, John 
 Williams and Lodovick Moon, were 
 elected trustees; Larkin Williams, 
 township clerk; Abraham Moon, treas- 
 urer. In June, 1819, Jabez Burrell, 
 living in the Sheffield district, and Wil- 
 bur Cahoon, were elected Justices of 
 the Peace. 
 
 Previous to 1818, the inhabitants 
 called the town Xeuma, notwithstand- 
 ing it was a part of Dover. In Decem- 
 ber, 1824, upon petition of forty citi- 
 zens, the name of the town was changed 
 
 from Troy to Avon, by the commis- 
 sioners of Lorain county. In 1818, the 
 first school-house was built, near the 
 center of the town, and in the fall of 
 that year, Larkin A. Williams opened 
 the first school to the youth of the lew 
 settlers of the town. 
 
 Elyria. 
 
 Town No. G, in range 17, (Elyria), 
 at the draft, in April 1807, was drawn 
 by Justin Ely, Roger Newbury, Jona- 
 than Brace, Elijah White, Enoch Per- 
 kins, a company composed of Roger 
 Newbury and others, John II. Buell 
 and Jonathan D wight. They also drew 
 tract 3, in the 19th range, annexed to 
 the town to equalize it. These lands 
 were apart; d and divided between the 
 owners, at the September term of the 
 Supreme Court, in Portage county, in 
 1816. The south part of the town, 
 about one-third of the whole, was set 
 off to Justin Ely; the central part to 
 Elijah White; 2,100 acres north of 
 White's, to Jonathan Brace; and the 
 remainder to Perkins and Newbury. 
 White conveyed to Justin Ely, and 
 Justin Ely to his son Heman Ely, who 
 purchased the Brace tract, making him 
 the owner of 12,500 acres, in a solid 
 body. In 1816, Heman Ely, accom- 
 panied by no one, left his home in 
 Springfield, Massachusetts, to visit the 
 lands of his father, soon to become his, 
 in the above numbered town. In due 
 time he arrived, and took up his abode, 
 while here, at the hotel of Captain 
 Moses Eldred, in Ridgeville, about two 
 miles east of the river. During the 
 season, he engaged Jedediah Hubbell 
 and a Mr. Shepard, of Newburgh, to 
 erect a saw-mill and grist-mill, on the 
 east branch of the river, near the foot 
 of the present Broad street, and in the 
 fall of that year, returned to Massachu- 
 setts. The erections contracted for, 
 were made during the winter of 1S16-17. 
 In January, Roderick Ashley, Edwin. 
 Bush and James Porter, arrived from 
 West Springfield, with axes on their 
 
22 
 
 1 1 1 STORIC AL ADDRESS 
 
 shoulders, prepared to grapple with the 
 forest overhanging tin- Black fiver. 
 In February, 1817, Mr. Ely, Artemus 
 Beehe, Ehenezer Lane, Luther Lane, 
 Miss Ann Snow, ami a colored boy 
 called Ned, left Massachusetts for Ohio, 
 and in March, joined the company that 
 came on in the winter. Of this com- 
 pany, Artemus Beehe, venerable in his 
 years, and venerated for a life of great 
 usefulness, i> the only one surviving. 
 Ebenezer Lane, afterward, and for 
 many years, occupied with much dis- 
 tinction, a place upon the bench of the 
 Supreme Court of the Stat.'. 
 
 The party, on their arrival, took up 
 their abode in a log house, near the 
 present residence of lion. Heman Ely. 
 This was built the previous year by Mr. 
 l'.l\ , ami was the first building of any 
 kind erected in the town. Previous, 
 however, to its occupancy, and in 
 November, 1816, a family by the name 
 of Beach took up their residence in the 
 western part of the town. Geoge Dug- 
 lass and Gersham Danks, arrived in 
 April, 1S17. Fest us Cooley arrived from 
 Massachusetts May 29, having made 
 the entire distance on foot, and on the 
 next day, took charge of the mills 
 on the river. There were now, at 
 least, eleven persons here, and work 
 was at once commenced in earnest. 
 The first framed building wa-theone 
 occupied during the first season, for a 
 joiner shop, and thereafter, for many 
 years, for a store. Edmund West 
 opened the first store in 1818. The 
 second framed building was for the re- 
 sidence of Mr. Ely. It is now occu- 
 pied by his soii Heman, as the old home- 
 stead. At the raising, as was custom* 
 ary in those times, men from many 
 miles away, were present, to put 
 their shoulders to the bent, and 
 assist their neighbor in providing a 
 habitation. All were considered neigh- 
 bors within a distance Of twenty miles. 
 While buildings were being erected', 
 the forest was beingfelled. Clark Eld- 
 red, Esq., then twenty years of age, in 
 1816, upon Mr. Ely's first visit here, 
 entered intoacontract with him for the 
 purchase of lot No. L6, two and a half 
 
 mile- west of the river: and during the 
 winter of 1816-17, commenced to clear 
 the ground, upon which he spent nearly 
 a life. This was the first chopping in 
 the neighborhood, in L817, the survey 
 of the township am! village was com- 
 menced by Joshua Henshaw,a skillful 
 surveyor, and continued until complet- 
 ed. ;in the fall Of 1817, Heman Ely 
 and the two Lanes returned to Massa- 
 chusetts, and spent the m ost of the win- 
 ter/" In October, 1818, Mr. Ely again 
 visited the east; was made happy while 
 there [by his marriage to .Mis> Celia 
 Belden, returned to Elj'ria, and directed 
 renewed energies to the development 
 of the town. The first school house 
 was built in 1819, of logs, just east of 
 the river: and for years it served the 
 double purpose of a school house and a 
 house for religious worship. Not far 
 distant, and in the same year, Mr. 
 Chester Wright erected a distillery, one 
 of the most flourishing institutions of 
 pioneer times. The first village lot 
 sold was to Artemus Beebe and George 
 Douglas, co-partners in mechanical la- 
 bor. The consideration paid was *::■„>. 
 The lot is opposite of Heman Ely's. 
 The house standing there was built in 
 1818. It was used by Mr. Beebe for a 
 hotel for a great many years. Major 
 Calvin Hoadley of Columbia, in the 
 same year, being employed by Mr Ely 
 so to do, built a bridge over the east 
 branch of the Black river. 
 
 As elsewhere remarked, on the llth 
 day of November, 1811, it, was ordered 
 by the Commissioners of Cuyahoga 
 county that township No. 7 in the 15th, 
 Kith and 17th Ranges, ami all of No. 7 
 in Range 18, east of Black River, viz.: 
 the present town-hips of Dover, Avon, 
 Sheffield, and a part of Black River 
 township, be incorporated into a separ- 
 ate township by the name of Dover; 
 and on the 12th of March, 1812, it was 
 further ordered by the Board, that all 
 that tract of land lying west of the 
 town of Dover, and west of township 
 No. <'. in the Kith Range, and east ot the 
 east line of the fire Lands, so called, 
 and north of township No. ."> in Ranges 
 17,18 and 19, be attached to said township 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 23 
 
 of Dover. This order attached the 
 territory now comprising Elyria, Am- 
 herst, Brownhelm, and most of Black- 
 River township, to Dover. It is how- 
 ever of little value, other than as an 
 historic fact, that the town was so at- 
 tached, as there were no white settlers 
 here at the time to reap any benefit from 
 the connection. In 1815, this relation 
 was severed. The organization of 
 Huron county detached the town from 
 its former connection with territory 
 lying east and north. 
 
 In February, 1817, the township of 
 Black River was ordered organized by 
 the Commissioners of Hur,on county. 
 Their action declared that township Xo. 
 6, and all of Xo. 7, in Huron county, 
 in Range 18, with all the hind thereto 
 attached in Huron county, east of the 
 Fire lands, should be set oft* from the 
 township of Vermillion, and organized 
 into a separate township by the name 
 of Black River. It would seem from 
 this order and description that Elyria 
 was included, as it was attached to Xo. 
 G, (Amherst), and was in Huron county, 
 and lay east of the Fire Lands. On the 
 20th of October, 1819, the township of 
 Elyria, comprisi-ng towns Xo. 5 and 
 in Range 17, (Carlisle and Elyria), was 
 set off into a township by the same au- 
 thority. It was named after its founder, 
 by adding to his name the suffix ria. 
 The two towns remained united for 
 purposes of civil administration until 
 June, 1822. The first election was par- 
 ticipated in by the electors of both 
 towns, and took place on the first .Mon- 
 day of April, 1820. The names of the 
 first officers are not ascertainable. 
 
 In May, 1S18, a post office was estab- 
 lished, and on 23d of that month Mr. 
 Ely was appointed Post Master, and 
 continued in the office until April, 1833, 
 when he was succeeded by John 8. Mat- 
 teson. After the act forming the county 
 had been passed by the Legislature, in 
 1822, and previous to its organization in 
 1824 the question of the location of a 
 county seat became one of no inconsid- 
 erable interest. 
 
 The inhabitants of the three town- 
 hips ot Black River, Sheffield and 
 
 Elyria, were respectively solicitous to 
 secure it. A committee of disinterested 
 persons was appointe 1 by the Legisla- 
 ture to examine into the merits of the 
 rival claims, and into the public conven- 
 ience and welfare, having respect to the 
 future needs of the people, as well as 
 the present. In February, 1823, they 
 made their appearance here, and by 
 Mr. Artemus Beebe were conveyed to 
 Black River and Sheffield, and, after 
 examining the three points, selected 
 Elyria as the Seat of Justice. It is not 
 improbable that a promise by Mr. Ely 
 to furnish a temporary court house and 
 jail, for use until the county should 
 erect county buildings, and to donate 
 $2000 towards the erection ot a new 
 court house, operated as an inducement 
 to the selection made. The county seat 
 selected, Mr. Ely, in fulfilment of his 
 promise, proceeded at once to erect the 
 court house. Lt may yet be seen, per- 
 forming the humble, y«*t honorable, of- 
 fice of a workshop, in the rear of S near- 
 er ct Waldeek's furniture store. It was 
 erected on Cheapside corner, and ussd 
 for the purpose for which it was de- 
 signed until 1828, when the erection of 
 the court house now upon the public 
 square rendered its further use, for 
 county purposes, no longer necessary. 
 
 It was subsequently used for school 
 and religious purposes. The jail was 
 built a short distance south-east of the 
 present Court House. The family of 
 R. W. Pomeroy, Esq., has been for some 
 years confined in it, on 3d street, with 
 tin- privilige, however, to go at large 
 without recognizance or bail. On the 
 22d day of February, 1822, Heman Ely 
 dedicated to the inhabitants of the town- 
 ship the public park, lying between 
 Broad and South streets, and placed the 
 title in Edmund AVest in trust for 
 their benefit. He also conveyed to 
 West in trust for the use of the county, 
 for county buildings, if accepted and 
 used for that purpose, eight rods of 
 ground by twelve, where the Court 
 House now stands, and the remainder 
 of the back square he conveyed to the 
 town for the benefit of its inhabitants. 
 These gifts of Mr. Ely to the town, 
 
24 
 
 BISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 were followed at a Inter, ami more re- 
 cent date, by oue from his son Charles 
 Arthur Ely, the munificence of which 
 i- only equaled by the liberality and 
 large-heartedness which inspired it. 
 The Elyiau Library is a monument that 
 will ever keep fresh in the hearts of 
 the people the memory of its generous 
 and lamented Founder. 
 
 Wellington. 
 
 Wellington, town No. :s, Range 18, 
 Irawn together with 4,000 acres, 
 in Tract 7 in Brighton, annexed to 
 equalize it. by Ephraim Root and dames 
 Ross. They -old tlie tow a to Frederick 
 Hamlin, James Adams, Francis Her- 
 rick, and Harmon Kingsbury, of Berk- 
 shire county, Massachusetts; two of 
 these, Adams and Kingsbury, never 
 became residents of the town. In the 
 Spring of L818, the settlement of the 
 town was commenced. Ephraim A. 
 W ilcox, John Clifford, Charles Sweet, 
 and .Joseph Wilson,of Berkshire county, 
 Massachusetts, and William Welling, 
 Of Montgomery county, X. Y., reached 
 Grafton in February of that year, and 
 in March following cut their path 
 through to Wellington. They made an 
 opening to the sunlight at the centre of 
 the town, and at once built a log 
 cabin for habitation. They carried a 
 few blankets, and bed ticks, filling the 
 ticks with dry leaves. The bedstead 
 was constructed by driving four crot- 
 Ched .-takes in the ground, laying pi les 
 from stake to Stake, and placing white 
 oak shakes from pole to pole. I pon this 
 structure they placed their leafy bed, 
 and upon this bed their weary limbs. 
 Having provided a dwelling, th 
 once commenced to clear the forest. As 
 often as once a week two of the number 
 went to Grafton, a distance of ten miles, 
 to get their bread baked. The number 
 and ferocity Of wild animals made it 
 dangerous lor one to go alone. 'I here 
 being two, each constituted a body guard 
 
 for tit** other. 
 
 Clifford returned to Massachusetts in 
 
 the following May. On July 4th, of 
 
 the same year, Frederick Hamlin ar- 
 rived, accompanied by the wife of Wil- 
 cox, her son Theodore,CarolineWilcox, 
 and Dr. D. J. Johns. Before their ar- 
 rival, Wilcox had erected a log house 
 on land selected by him north-we 
 I In' cent re, into which he at once took 
 hi- family. This was the first family 
 that made its advent into the town, 
 other- were soon added, among whom 
 were those of John Howk, Adanson 
 Howk, Whitman DeWolf, Benjamin 
 Wads worth. Silas Bailey, A mo- Adams, 
 Judson Wadsworth, fame- Wilson and 
 Josiah Bradley. In the spring of 1820. 
 the first school house was opened in 
 the house of John Clifford by Caroline 
 Wilcox, in which she continued to 
 teach, until a log school house was 
 erected on the -pot now occupied by 
 the American House. The school was 
 closed with a grand exhibition, the 
 first entertainment of the kind that has 
 been noted,given west of the Cuyahoga. 
 Frederick Hamlin was one of the asso- 
 ciate Judges in the county, appointed 
 in 1824, upon its organization. lit' 
 was succeeded in that office by his fel- 
 low townsman, Dr. D. J. Johns. The 
 township was organized in April, 1821. 
 It was then a part of Medina county. 
 Hamlin was elected a trustee : Wilcox 
 a justice of the peace, and D. .1 . Johns 
 township clerk. Col. Derrick had been 
 a member of the Massachusetts Legisla- 
 ture while a resident of Massachusetts. 
 He did not remove here until 1837. 
 The town was named after William 
 Welling, one of the first settler-. The 
 then recent achievement of the Duke of 
 Wellington, on the plains of Waterloo, 
 may have inspired a ready acquiescence 
 in the suggested name. Welling subse- 
 quently took up his residence in Medina 
 county. 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 25 
 
 Huntington. 
 
 The town next south, No. 2, range IS, 
 was drawn by Oliver Sheldon, Simeon 
 Gris wold, John Cowles, Benjamin Kent, 
 and others. Tract 4, in Rochester, was 
 drawn with it. Sage, Skinner, Bowles, 
 and others, soon became large proprie- 
 tors of the town, by purchase. In the 
 year that Hamlin, Wilcox, and Clifford, 
 left Berkshire county, Massachusetts, 
 to settle town No. 3, range 18, in the 
 Connecticut Western Reserve, Joseph 
 Sage, John Laborie, and others, left 
 Huntington, Connecticut, for Xo. 2, of 
 the same range. John Laborie, and 
 wife, (the latter being the daughter of 
 Mr. Sage), were the first family that 
 took up its settlement in the town. 
 They left in February, 1818, accom- 
 panied by four boys and a girl. They 
 made the route from Connecticut to 
 Hudson, then in Portage county, in 
 four weeks, traveling the whole distance 
 in a sleigh. At Stow, they hired an ox 
 team to take them through, and after 
 six days of severe journey, they reached 
 town No. 1, (Sullivan), then having 
 but four families — settlers of the pre- 
 vious year — within its borders. On the 
 next day, they moved forward, and 
 took possession of a log house, that had 
 been built by Henry Chase There was 
 an opening for a door, but nothing to 
 fill or close it; no window nor chimney. 
 The cracks, or openings between the 
 walls, had not been chinked. They had 
 one neighbor. He had just preceded 
 them in settlement, and was from 
 Easton, New York. Laborie, at once, 
 erected a log house, and moved into it, 
 and there lived for some three weeks, 
 without a window, floor, or chimney. 
 Their bedsteads were made of pun- 
 cheons, and their beds were ticks filled 
 with leaves. The boys chopped some 
 poles, placed them on the joists above, 
 making a chamber, and took up their 
 lodging in the loft. Sage went South, 
 bought some hogs, drove them home, 
 butchered them, and salted them down 
 in a trough. The trough cracked, the 
 brine ran out, the salt lost its savor, and 
 
 away went the pork. Mrs. Laborie 
 was not not, however, to remain long, 
 without female friends from her Eastern 
 home. On the 20th of dune, of the 
 same year, the family of Isaac Sage, ar- 
 rived. In the afternoon of the day of 
 their arrival, they were feasted on a 
 por-pie, made of the meat of a young- 
 bear. Early in the fall, there came the 
 families of Oliver Rising and Daniel 
 Tillotson. Benjamin Rising came with 
 Oliver. In 1S22, a school-house was 
 built,and Miss LoviuiaLoveland,during 
 that season, taught the first school, 
 having fourteen scholars, some coming 
 a distance of two miles, through the 
 woods. The first framed dwelling was 
 built by Renel Lang. Benjamin Rising 
 was the first manufacturer of the town. 
 J. B. Lang, Esq., thus describes his 
 manufactory: "It was a lathe, oper- 
 ated by a spring -pole, for turning 
 wooden bowls. A bark rope, attached 
 to a long spring-pole, overhead, passing 
 around the Mandrille, which was of 
 wood, and attached to a treadle below. 
 The treading on this, threw the block 
 around, two or three times, and then 
 the pole springing back, threw the 
 block back, ready for another 'gouge.' " 
 In August, 182J, the Commissioners 
 of Medina county, to which Huntington 
 then belonged, incorporated the town 
 by the name it now bears. It took its 
 name from Huntington, Connecticut, 
 the former abiding-place of the Labories. 
 The organization also embraced the 
 territory now within the township of 
 Rochester. An election was ordered 
 for, and held upon, the first Monday of 
 September. Joseph Sage, Henry K. 
 Ferris, and Benjamin Banning, were 
 elected trustees; Isaac Sage, township 
 clerk; and David E. Hickox, treasurer. 
 Joseph Sage was elected the first Justice 
 of the Peace, at a special election held 
 soon after. 
 
26 
 
 HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 Brighton. 
 
 Brighton was first settled in 1820, by 
 Abner Loveland, Jr. lie took up his 
 abode on tract 7. Settler No. 2, was 
 Joseph Kingsbury, who settled upon 
 the same tract, in the early part of 1821. 
 Other families soon followed. Had the 
 territory comprised by the township 
 lines, been surveyed into a township, it 
 would have been town 3, range 19; and 
 it was so entered on the county records, 
 at the date of its incorporation. It was, 
 however, formed by thn Commissioners 
 of Medina county, out of tract 7, a part 
 of tract 6, and a part of tract 8. Lemuel 
 Storrs was the original owner of all of 
 tract 8. He drew it at the draft in 
 connection with LaGrange, to which it 
 was annexed for equalization. Four 
 thousand acres in tract 7, was annexed 
 to Wellington, to equalize it, and were 
 drawn by Ephraim Root and James 
 Ross, in connection with that township; 
 and tract 6, by Peter Brooks, John Call, 
 William Shaw, George Black, and Pen- 
 newel Cheney. Some of these parties 
 sold to, and others exchanged with, 
 Tuckerman Bros., Harmon Kingsbury, 
 Norton, Stocking, Deming, Hamlin, 
 and Alford. Tuckerman Bros, sold to 
 Levi Bliss, of Massachusetts. The town- 
 ship was organized at the spring election 
 of 1823. Joseph Kingsbury, Avory 
 Hall, and Calvin Roice, were elected 
 trustees; Leonard II. Loveland, clerk ; 
 Abner Loveland, treasurer; and Abner 
 Loveland, Jr., Justice of the Peace. 
 There were twelve electors, just about 
 the number of persons required to fill 
 the offices in those days. The township 
 belonged to Lorain, as then formed, 
 but, with other townships, remained 
 attached to Medina county, until the 
 organization of Lorain was completed. 
 The school-house and church soon 
 followed the incorporation of the town, 
 and for the observance of all things 
 that concern the public order, and good 
 morals, Brighton ranks among the 
 highest and foremost of her sister town- 
 ships. 
 
 Eaton. 
 
 Town 5, range 1G, at the Hartford 
 drawing, became the property of Caleb 
 Atwater, Turband Kirtland, Daniel 
 Hoi brook, and ten others. Tract 1, 
 gore 4, in range 11, was annexed to it, 
 to bring it up to full value with the 
 selected town. It was originally called 
 Ilolbrook, and retained that name until 
 1822, from the circumstance that Daniel 
 Ilolbrook was a large owner of its soil. 
 It was first settled in the fall of 1810, by 
 Asa Morgan, Silas Wilmot, Ira B. 
 Morgan, and Kbenezer Wilmot. These 
 were all single men. They came from 
 Waterbury, Connecticut, in the spring 
 and summer, with those who took up 
 their abode in Ridgeville. The} r built 
 a log house, in the fall of that year, on 
 the land longoccupied by Silas Wilmot, 
 ami jointly occupied it, until, by a 
 change in their circumstances, such 
 occupancy was no longer desirable. 
 By agreement, this house became the 
 property of Silas Wilmot. It was the 
 first erection in the town. In 1S12, 
 Silas Wilmot intermarried with Chloe 
 Hubbard, of Ashtabula county. They 
 commenced married life in the log 
 cabin on the Ridge. His, was the first, 
 family that settled in the town. Soon 
 after, Ira B. Morgan intermarried with 
 Louisa Bronson, of Columbia, built a 
 log house, just east of Wilmot's, and 
 there took up his abode. His family 
 was the second that took up its resi- 
 dence in the town. Asa soon married, 
 and settled west of Wilmot's. 
 
 Not long after, the families of Levi 
 Mills, Thuret F. Chapman, Seneca 
 Andress, Meritt Osborn, A. M. Dowd, 
 Dennis Palmer, Sylvester Morgan, and 
 others, were added. The first school 
 was taught by Julia Johnson, daughter 
 of Phineas, then a resident of No. 5, 
 range 10. The organization of the 
 township of Ridgeville, included Eaton ; 
 and the tvvs towns were embraced in 
 one civil organization, until December 
 3, 1822, at which time it was ordered by 
 the Commissioners of Cuyahoga county, 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 27 
 
 on the petition of the inhabitants, that 
 No. 6, (5), ~ange 16, be set off into a 
 township by the name of Eaton. At 
 the spring election, in 1823, the re- 
 quired township officers were elected, 
 the township detached from Ridgeville, 
 and organized for independent action. 
 
 Carlisle. 
 
 Carlisle, town No. 5, Range 17, was 
 drawn by Joseph Perkins, John Rich- 
 mond, Tracy, and Hoit, William Eld- 
 ridge, John McClennan, Daniel Tiklen, 
 and Jabez Adams. As before men- 
 tioned, Island No. 6, then called Cun- 
 ningham's, now Kelley's, consisting of 
 2,747 acres, was annexed to it for the 
 purpose of equalization. Those who 
 drew the town, became the owners of 
 that island. The first settlement in the 
 town was made in the spring of 1819, 
 by Samuel Brooks, from Middletowu, 
 Conn. He was accompanied by Phineas 
 Johnson, his wife's father, who assisted 
 in selecting the spot, for their future 
 home, Johnson returned to Connecti- 
 cut. A log house was soon erected, and 
 in it Samuel Brooks took up his abode. 
 This was on the east branch of Black 
 river, in the east part of the town. In 
 September of that year, Hezekiah 
 Brooks, a brother of Samuel, and whose 
 wife was a sister of the wife of Samuel, 
 and both the daughters of Phineas 
 Johnson, Capt. James Brooks and fam- 
 ily, together with the family of John- 
 son, and the family of Riley Smith, left 
 Middletowu, and after the usual tedious 
 journey of about six weeks, with ox 
 teams, reached Elyria. Smith and fam- 
 ily remained at Elyria for awhile, and 
 then went into Carlisle. The families 
 of the Brookses, and Johnsons, pushed 
 forward to Carlisle, and moved in with 
 Samuel, and remained until other dwell- 
 ing places could be provided. At about 
 the same time that this settlement was 
 making in the east part of the town, 
 another was springing U p \ n the west- 
 ern part. The families of Jamison Mur- 
 ray, before then, for some time resident 
 
 of Ridgeville, and Philo Murray, and 
 Philo, jr., had taken up their residence 
 on the ridge, and Obed Gibbs and fam- 
 ily, and Ransom and David had settled 
 further south. Soon after, the families 
 of Solomon Sutliff, Chauncey Prindle, 
 Bennett, Drakely, Hurd, and others, 
 were added. Prindle settled at the cen- 
 tre of the town. Abel Farr, and Abel 
 Farr, jr., and John Bacon, were among 
 the earliest residents of the town. Ju- 
 lia Johnson taught the first school in 
 Carlisle, as she had in Eaton and Elyria, 
 She subsequently became the wife of 
 Edmund West, and resided in Elyria. 
 
 Carlisle and Elyria were, on the 20th 
 day of October, 1819, organized for civil 
 purposes, together by the name of Ely- 
 ria. They belonged to Huron county. 
 This connection was sustained and con- 
 tinued until June 4th, 1822, when on 
 petition of Obed Gibbs and others, No. 
 5, Range 17, was detached from Elyria, 
 by the Commissioners of Huron county, 
 and organized into a separate township 
 by the name of Carlisle. Before this 
 independent organization, a part of the 
 town had adquired the name of Mur- 
 raysville. This was not satisfactory to 
 the inhabitants away from Murray's 
 Ridge Phineas Johnson wished the 
 town named Berlin, after his native 
 town in Connecticut. The people of the 
 Ridge wanted it called Murraysville, 
 and being unable to agree on either 
 name, a compromise resulted in the 
 selection of the name it bears. 
 
 Amherst. 
 
 Amherst, No. G, in Range 18, was 
 drawn by Martin Sheldon, Calvin Aus- 
 tin, Oliver L. Phelps, and Asahel Hath- 
 away. Tract No. 2, consisting of 4,000' 
 acres, in Black River, was annexed to 
 equalize it. Its early history is inti- 
 mately connected with that of Black 
 River, and in connection with the lat- 
 ter town and other adjoining territory, 
 was organized in April, 1817, into a 
 township by the name of Black River. 
 Its incorporation and organization were 
 
26 
 
 HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 Brighton. 
 
 Brighton was first settled in 1820, by 
 Abner Loveland, Jr. lie took up bis 
 abode on tract 7. Settler No. 2, was 
 Joseph Kingsbury, who settled upon 
 the same tract, in the early partof 1821. 
 Other families soon followed. Had the 
 territory comprised by the township 
 lines, been surveyed into a township, it 
 would have been town 3, range 19; and 
 it was so entered on the county records, 
 at the date of its incorporation. It was, 
 however, formed by the Commissioners 
 of Medina county, out of tract 7, a part 
 of tract G, and a part of tract 8. Lemuel 
 Storrs was the original owner of all of 
 tract 8. He drew it at the draft in 
 connection with LaGrange, to which it 
 was annexed for equalization. Four 
 thousand acres in tract 7, was annexed 
 to Wellington, to equalize it, and were 
 drawn by Ephraim Root and James 
 Ross, in connection with that township; 
 and tract G, by Peter Brooks, John (all, 
 William Shaw, George Black, and Pen- 
 newel Cheney. Some of these parties 
 sold to, and others exchanged with, 
 Tuckerman Bros., Harmon Kingsbury, 
 Norton, Stocking, Deming, Hamlin, 
 and Alford. Tuckerman Bros, sold to 
 Levi Bliss, of Massachusetts. The town- 
 ship was organized at the spring election 
 of 1823. Joseph Kingsbury, Avory 
 Hall, and Calvin Roice, were elected 
 trustees; Leonard H. Loveland, clerk ; 
 Abner Loveland, treasurer; and Abner 
 Loveland, Jr., Justice of the Peace. 
 There were twelve electors, just about 
 the number of persons required to fill 
 the offices in those days. The township 
 belonged to Lorain, as then formed, 
 but, with other townships, remained 
 attached to Medina county, until the 
 organization of Lorain was completed. 
 The school-house and church soon 
 followed the incorporation of the town, 
 and for the observance of all things 
 that concern the public order, and good 
 moral*, Brighton ranks among the 
 highest and foremost of her sister town- 
 ships. 
 
 Eaton. 
 
 Town 5, range 16, at the Hartford 
 drawing, became the property of Caleb 
 Atwater, Turhand Kirtland, Daniel 
 llolbrook, and ten others. Tract 1, 
 gore 4, in range 11, was annexed to it, 
 to bring it up to full value with the 
 selected town. It was originally called 
 llolbrook, and retained that name until 
 1822, from the circumstance that Daniel 
 llolbrook was a large owner of its soil. 
 It was first settled in the fall of 1810, by 
 Asa Morgan, Silas Wilmot, Ira B. 
 Morgan, and Ebenezer Wilmot. These 
 were all single men. They came from 
 Waterbury, Connecticut, in the spring 
 and summer, with those who took up 
 their abode in Ridgeville. They built 
 a log house, in the fall of that year, on 
 the land longoccupied by Silas Wilmot, 
 and jointly occupied it, until, by a 
 change in their circumstances, such 
 occupancy was no longer desirable. 
 By agreement, this house became the 
 property of Silas Wilmot. It was the 
 first erection in the town. In 1S12, 
 Silas Wilmot intermarried with Chloe 
 Hubbard, of Ashtabula county. They 
 commenced married life in the log 
 cabin on the Ridge. His, was the first 
 family that settled in the town. Soon 
 after, Ira B. Morgan intermarried with 
 Louisa Bronson, of Columbia, built a 
 log house, just east of Wilmot's, and 
 there took up his abode. His family 
 was the second that took up its resi- 
 dence in the town. Asa soon married, 
 and settled west of Wilmot's. 
 
 Not long after, the families of Levi 
 Mills, Thuret F. Chapman, Seneca 
 Andress, Meritt Osborn, A. M. Dowd, 
 Dennis Palmer, Sylvester Morgan, and 
 others, were added. The first school 
 was taught by Julia Johnson, daughter 
 of Phineas, then a resident of No. 5, 
 range 16. The organization of the 
 township of Ridgeville, included Eaton ; 
 and the twD towns were embraced in 
 one civil organization, until December 
 3, 1822, at which time it was ordered by 
 the Commissioners of Cuyahoga county, 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 27 
 
 on the petition of the inhabitants, that 
 No. 6, (5), ~ange 16, be set off into a 
 township by the name of Eaton. At 
 the spring election, in 1823, the re- 
 quired township officers were elected, 
 the township detached from Kidgeville, 
 and organized for independent action. 
 
 Carlisle. 
 
 Carlisle, town No. 5, Range 17, was 
 drawn by Joseph Perkins, John Rich- 
 mond, Tracy, and Hoit, William Eld- 
 ridge, John McClennan, Daniel Tilden, 
 and Jabez Adams. As before men- 
 tioned, Island No. 6, then called Cun- 
 ningham's, now Kelley's, consisting of 
 2,747 acres, was annexed to it for the 
 purpose of equalization. Those who 
 drew the town, became the owners of 
 that island. The first settlement in the 
 town was made in the spring of 1819, 
 by Samuel Brooks, from Middletown, 
 Conn. He was accompanied by Phineas 
 Johnson, his wife's father, who assisted 
 in selecting the spot, for their future 
 home, Johnson returned to Connecti- 
 cut. A log house was soon erected, and 
 in it Samuel Brooks took up his abode. 
 This was on the east branch of Black 
 river, in the east part of the town. In 
 September of that year, Hezekiah 
 Brooks, a brother of Samuel, and whose 
 wife was a sister of the wife of Samuel, 
 and both the daughters of Phineas 
 Johnson, Capt. James Brooks and fam- 
 ily, together with the family of John- 
 son, and the family of Riley Smith, left 
 Middletown, and after the usual tedious 
 journey of about six weeks, with ox 
 teams, reached Elyria. Smith and fam- 
 ily remained at Elyria for awhile, and 
 then went into Carlisle. The families 
 of the Brookses, and Johnsons, pushed 
 forward to Carlisle, and moved in with 
 Samuel, and remained until other dwell- 
 ing places could be provided. At about 
 the same time that this settlement was 
 making in the east part of the town, 
 another was springing up in the west- 
 ern part. The families of Jamison Mur- 
 ray, before then, for some time resident 
 
 of Ridgeville, and Philo Murray, and 
 Philo, jr., had taken up their residence 
 on the ridge, and Obed Gibbs and fam- 
 ily, and Ransom and David had settled 
 further south. Soon after, the families 
 of Solomon Sutliff, Chauncey Prindle, 
 Bennett, Drakely, Hurd, and others, 
 were added. Prindle settled at the cen- 
 tre of the town. Abel Farr, and Abel 
 Farr, jr., and John Bacon, were among 
 the earliest residents of the town. Ju- 
 lia Johnson taught the first school in 
 < ail isle, as she had in Eaton and Elyria, 
 She subsequently became the wife of 
 Edmund West, and resided in Elyria. 
 
 Carlisle and Elyria were, on the 20th 
 day of October, 1819, organized for civil 
 purposes, together by the name of Ely- 
 ria. They belonged to Huron county. 
 This connection was sustained and con- 
 tinued until June 4th, 1822, when on 
 petition of Obed Gibbs and others, No. 
 5, Range 17, was detached from Elyria, 
 by the Commissioners of Huron county, 
 and organized into a separate township 
 by the name of Carlisle. Before this 
 independent organization, a part of the 
 town had adquired the name of Mur- 
 raysville. This was not satisfactory to 
 the inhabitants away from Murray's 
 Ridge Phineas Johnson wished the 
 town named Berlin, after his native 
 town in Connecticut. The people of the 
 Ridge wanted it called Murraysville, 
 and being unable to agree on either 
 name, a compromise resulted in the 
 selection of the name it bears. 
 
 Amherst. 
 
 Amherst, No. 6, in Range 18, was 
 drawn by Martin Sheldon, Calvin Aus- 
 tin, Oliver L. Phelps, and Asahel Hath- 
 away. Tract No. 2, consisting of 4,000 
 acres, in Black River, was annexed to 
 equalize it. Its early history is inti- 
 mately connected with that of Black 
 River, and in connection with the lat- 
 ter town and other adjoining territory, 
 was organized in April, 1817, into a 
 township bjr the name of Black River. 
 Its incorporation and organization were 
 
30 
 
 HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 for the manual labor department of the 
 Institute, and for the settlement of a 
 sustaining colony on better terms than 
 elsewhere. Its grand object is the dif- 
 fusion of useful science, sound moral- 
 ity and true religion, among the grow- 
 ing multitudes of the Mississippi Val- 
 ley. One of its objects was the elevation 
 of female character, and included within 
 its general design, was the education of 
 the common people with the higher 
 classes, in such manner, as suits the na- 
 ture of republican institutions.'' How 
 well it has accomplished this grand ob- 
 ject, and carried out this general design, 
 its history already written, affords the 
 most convincing proof. Planted in a 
 wilderness, seemingly the abode of 
 desolation, its nearest neighbor three 
 miles away, it struggled on with opposi- 
 tion and derision, until its accomplished 
 work, sdves it rank among the leading 
 institutions of the land. It has gradu- 
 ated upward of sixteen hundred per- 
 sons, and afforded instruction to about 
 seventeen thousand. It has the happy 
 satisfaction of having survived the 
 odium, which attached to its defense of 
 those principles of freedom and equal- 
 ity, which received their crowning 
 triumph, in the issue, and achievements 
 of the late struggle for the maintain- 
 ance of American Independence. 
 
 Pcnfield. 
 
 Township No. 3, in Range 17, became 
 by the draft the property of Caleb At- 
 water. He gave it to his six daughters, 
 Lucy Day, Ruth Cook, Abigal Andrews, 
 Mary Beebe, Sarah Merrick, and the 
 wife of Judge Cook. The first explora- 
 tion of the township, by persons seek- 
 ing Western lands, was in the fall of 
 by Peter Penfield and Calvin 
 Spencer, then resident of eastern New 
 York. They wen- assisted in their ex- 
 amination of the township by James 
 Ingersoll, of Grafton, after which they 
 returned to the East. In 1819, Peter 
 Peufield again came, and selected land, 
 employed Seth C. Ingersoll to erect a 
 Log house upon it, and returned home. 
 
 Ingersoll completed the dwelling in the 
 fall of that year. In February then next, 
 Peter Penlield and Lothrop Penfield ar- 
 rived, and in connection with Alanson, 
 a son of Peter, already on the ground, 
 and who remained during the winter 
 preceding and taught school in Shellield, 
 commenced to open the forest four 
 miles from the nearest inhabitant. In 
 the fall of 1820, or early winter, Tru- 
 man Penfield arrived with his family, 
 the first that came, and moved into the 
 log house built by Ingersoll. In the 
 following March, the family of Peter 
 Penfield, which up to this time, had 
 remained East, arrived, and joined in 
 the occupancy of the log cabin, until 
 another could be erected. Calvin Spen- 
 cer came again in 1821, selected land, 
 engaged Peter Penfield to build a house 
 upon it, and returned to New York. 
 
 In the fall of 1821, Samuel Knapp 
 came, examined the land, made a selec- 
 tion, and returned home, and remained 
 until the fall of 1822, when with his 
 family he took up his abode in the in- 
 fant settlement, upon the lands so se- 
 lected. Other families soon followed. 
 David P. Merwin arrived in 1824. Cal- 
 vin Spencer moved his family into the 
 house prepared for him in the spring of 
 the same year. The family of Stephen 
 K napp arrived about the same time; and 
 the family of Benjamin E. Merwin in 
 1825. The township was organized at 
 an election in 1S2.">, held at the dwelling 
 house of Truman Penfield, having been 
 previously ordered by the Commission- 
 ers of Medina county, of which county 
 the town then formed a part. The offi- 
 cers elected were Samuel Knapp, Samuel 
 Root and Peter Penfield, trustees; Tru- 
 man Penfield, clerk ; Lothrop Penfield, 
 tr asurer. In 182(i, Benjamin E. Mer- 
 win was elected Justice of the Peace. 
 Previous to its incorporation, the in- 
 habits had agreed upon Richland as 
 the name of the town, and petitioned 
 the Commissioners for an order of in- 
 corporation by that name. But the 
 Commissioners ascertaining there were 
 other localities having the name of 
 Richland, rejected the application, and 
 named it Penfield, in honor of the first 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 31 
 
 settler. Previous to the organization 
 of the town, it had heen annexed to 
 Grafton, and in connection with that 
 town enjoyed township privileges, until 
 it was set apart to act under independ- 
 ent organization. 
 
 The first school was taught by Mis s 
 Clarissa Kising, of Huntington, in the 
 private dwelling of Calvin Spencer. 
 The usual facilities for teaching were, 
 however, soon provided by the erec- 
 tion of a log school-house, in the fall 
 of 1828, and a teacher for the winter 
 supplied, in the person of our respected 
 townsman, Geo. R. Starr. 
 
 Sullivan . 
 
 In 1828, the township of Sullivan, 
 "No. 1, range 18, embracing the terri- 
 tory now included in Sullivan and 
 Troy, was organized by the Commis- 
 sioners of Lorain county, and town No. 
 1, range 17, now Homer, was annexed 
 to it for judicial purposes only. 
 
 township by the name of Troy. Upon 
 the formation of Summit county, in 
 March, 1840, Spencer and Homer were 
 severed from Lorain and re-attached to 
 Medina; and upon the formation of 
 Ashland county, in February, 1846, 
 Sullivan and Troy were detached from 
 Lorain, and were incorporated into that 
 county. 
 
 Spencer. 
 
 In December, 1831. the inhabitants of 
 No. 2, range 17, applied for township 
 organization, by the name of Spencer- 
 field. The " field " was dropped, and 
 the town was incorporated by the name 
 of Spencer. 
 
 Homer, 
 In March, 1833, town 1, range 17, 
 previously annexed to Sullivan, was 
 detached and organized into a town- 
 ship by the name of Richmond. Sub- 
 sequently, the name was changed to 
 Homer. 
 
 Troy. 
 
 In June, 1835, all of the 19th range, 
 south of Rochester, together with the 
 surplus land lying west, was detached 
 from Sullivan, and organized into a 
 
 LaGrange. 
 LaGrange, town No. 4, range 17, with 
 3,700 acres in tract 8, range 19, now in 
 Brighton and Camden, was drawn by 
 Henry Champion and Lemuel Starrs. 
 Champion owning two-thirds and Storrs 
 one-third, of the purchase. Champion 
 conveyed his part of the town to his 
 son-in-law, Elizur Goodrich, who ex- 
 changed part of it, with Nathan Clarke, 
 Roger Phelps, Noah Holcomb and James 
 Pelton, for lands owned by them in 
 Jefferson county, New York, where 
 they formerly resided. The three last 
 named, in the fall of 1825, visit the 
 ground to form a judgment of its merits 
 for farming purposes, and returned 
 home. Goodrich, also, exchanged lands 
 with David Rockwood, Asa Rockwood, 
 Fairchild Hubbard, Joseph Robbins, 
 Sylvester Merriam and Levi Johnson. 
 On November 14, 1825, Nathan Clarke 
 made the first settlement of the town. 
 During the next season, the families of 
 Noah Holcomb, Sylvester Merriam, 
 James Disbrow and Joseph A. Graves, 
 arrived for permanent settlement, and 
 a new abiding place. In the latter part 
 of the same year, Fairchild Hubbard 
 moved in from Brighton, where he had 
 remained during the season of 1826. 
 Population so increased, that in the 
 fall of that year there were over sixty 
 persons, resident in the town, with more 
 continually coming. 
 
 At the June session of the Commis- 
 sioners of Lorain county, 1824, La- 
 Grange, then known as town 4, range 
 17. was attached to Carlisle for civil 
 and judicial purposes, and remained so 
 attached until its separate organization 
 in 1827. Immigration had been so 
 
32 
 
 HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 rapid, and of such number-, during the 
 eighteen months succeeding the advenl 
 of the first family, as to necessitate an 
 independent township organization. 
 lii January, L827, ir was detached from 
 Carlisle and incorporated into a town- 
 ship by the name of LaGrange. The 
 first election for township officers was 
 held in April of that year, at the dwell- 
 ing house "i Fairchild Hubbard. Eber 
 W. Hubbard afterward one of the 
 associate judges of the Court of 
 CommOn Pleas, was elected town- 
 ship clerk; .Tamos Disbrow, treas- 
 urer: Noah Holuomb, Noah Kellogg 
 and Fairchild Hubbard, trustees, and 
 1-dier W. Hubbard, Justice of the 
 Peace. 
 
 Henrietta. 
 Henrietta was organized during the 
 same year. In November, 1S2(>, the 
 inhabitants in the south part of Brown- 
 helm, petitioned the commissioners to 
 take oil' the three south tiers of lots, 
 andattach them to unsettled lands lying 
 south, and incorporate the same into a 
 township. The petitioners took occa- 
 sion to say, that it was seven miles from 
 the Lake Shore, to the south line of the 
 township; that there had. been but little 
 Communication between the north and 
 south settlements; and that it was ex- 
 tremely inconvenient for some part of 
 the people, to attend on the public busi- 
 ness of the town. The prayer of the 
 petition was rejected; but at the same 
 on of the commissioners it was or- 
 dered that tracts 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 1 1, 15, in 
 range 19, with surplus lots lying west 
 of said tracts, be erected into a town- 
 ship, by the name of Henrietta, and be 
 attached to Brighton for judicial pur- 
 is. This township, as thus formed, 
 included a Large part of the present 
 township of Camden, and a little more, 
 than two-thirds of the present town- 
 ship of Henrietta. As organized, it 
 was not satisfactory to the inhabitants 
 in the south part of Brownhelm, and 
 in February, ^-7, upon their peti- 
 tion, two tiers of lots, being over a mile 
 
 iii width, weredetached from the south 
 part of Brownhelm, and annexed to 
 Henrietta; and tract, Xo. 9, was de- 
 tached from Henrietta, ami annexed 
 to Brighton. An election was ordered 
 for township officers, which took place 
 in April, L827, Calvin Leonard, Simeon 
 Durand and Smith Hancock, were 
 elected trustees; Justin Abbot, clerk; 
 Joseph Powers, treasurer; Edward 
 Durand, Justice of the Peace. In 
 March, 1830, lots SG, 87, 88, were 
 detached from Brownhelm, and annexed 
 to Henrietta; and in .March, 1835, lots 
 81, 82, 83, SI and 85, the remainder of 
 the tier, were added. The first settle- 
 ment was on the Brownhelm territory. 
 The first occupants were Calvin 1. 
 ard, Simeon Durand, Ruloff Andress, 
 Joseph Swift, John Denison, Uriah 
 Hancock, Jedediah Holcomb, Almon 
 Holcomb, Obed Holcomb, Joseph 
 Power-, the Abbots and possibly others. 
 They took up their abode there, in 1817, 
 about the same rime that the Shore set. 
 tlement was made. After the organiza- 
 tion of the town in JS27, a postoffice 
 was established on the hill, and 'Squire 
 Abbot appointed first postmaster. 
 
 Pittsfielrt. 
 
 The first white inhabitants of No. 4, 
 range IS, now Pittsfield, were a man 
 by tin 1 name of Barker, and his two 
 sons. He cleared a small spot on the 
 northeast corner of lot '.'<;, and there 
 built a small log house. This was as 
 early as 1813. Barker enlisted and 
 went into the .Military Service of the 
 United States, in the war of 1812. His 
 two sons remained a while, and left. 
 Some surveyor's instruments were 
 found in their cabin, a few yeai-- after. 
 In the Draft at Hartford, in 1807, the 
 town was drawn by Hbenezer Devotion, 
 William Perkins, and eight others. 
 
 Tract 11, in Camden, range L9, consisting 
 
 Of :!,< 00 acre-, was annexed to the low n, 
 
 to make it equal in value to the others 
 to be drawn. In 1819, the township 
 was surveyed into lots, and divided 
 between those who had purchased it. 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 33 
 
 Milton Whitney became a large owner. 
 In 1820, he came from the East, made 
 an examination of the land, and en- 
 tered into an arrangement with Thomas 
 and Jerry Waite, sons of Thomas Waite, 
 then of Russia, by which they were to 
 settle in town No. 4, range IS, upon his 
 giving them fifty acres of land, each. 
 This he did, and in the spring of 1821, 
 the two Waites moved into the town, 
 and took up their residence there. They 
 were the first permanent settlers in 
 Pitts held. 
 
 Immediately following the settlement 
 of the Waites, they were joined by 
 Henry, and Chauncey Remington, 
 upon a gift of one hundred acres of 
 land to each of them, by Whitney. The 
 next settler was a minister by the name 
 of Smith. Mr. Norton, soon thereafter, 
 moved into the town. He built the first 
 framed barn erected in the town. The 
 town filled up quite slowly; so much 
 so, that there was but one framed house 
 in the town, as late as 1834. The town 
 was early annexed to Wellington, for 
 township purposes, and remained so 
 annexed, until December, 1831, when, 
 on petition of the inhabitants, it was 
 detached, and incorporated into a town- 
 ship by the name of Pittsfield, taking 
 its name from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 
 where many of its land-owners resided. 
 In April, 1832, the selection of town- 
 ship officers completed its organization 
 as a separate township. 
 
 Camden. 
 
 In March, 1835, an order incorporat- 
 ing Camden township, was made by the 
 Commissioners of the county. The 
 prolongation of the line between 
 Russia and Pittsfield, west to range 20, 
 was its northern boundary, and the ex- 
 tension west to the same range, of the 
 line between Pittsfield and Wellington, 
 its southern. It was carved out of 
 Brighton and Henrietta. Tracts 9, and 
 10, and parts of lots 8, and 11, in range 
 19, together with surplus lands lying 
 west, formed the material for its terri- 
 torial composition. Tract 9, by the 
 draft at Hartford, became annexed to 
 
 Grafton, and was drawn by Lemuel 
 Storrs. Tract 10, annexed to Dover, 
 by Nehemiah Hubbard and Joshua 
 Storrs. Tract 11, annexed to Pittsfield, 
 was drawn by Henry Champion and 
 Lemuel Storrs. It has before been 
 remarked, that none of the 19th range, 
 south of Brownhelm, as originally 
 formed, was surveyed into townships, 
 but was all surveyed into Tracts, which 
 were wholly originally annexed to 
 other towns, for purposes of equaliza- 
 tion. Leonard Clark, with his family, 
 accompanied by his wife's father, Moses 
 Pike, made the first occupancv of land 
 now forming the town of Camden. 
 This was in 1829. This family lived 
 there but a few years before moving 
 West. In March, 1833, the families of 
 William Scott, and John Johnston, took 
 up their settlement on tract 11. These 
 were the first families that permanently 
 settled, at least in that part of the town, 
 then constituting a part of Henrietta. 
 Later in the season, a school-house was 
 " thrown up, " by the inhabitants, and 
 Mrs. Johnston gathered the few chil- 
 dren, and opened the first school. Other 
 settlers soon joined, among whom were 
 those of Waugh, Clark, Douglas, Wash- 
 burn, Cyrenius, Holcomb, Wells, Lee, 
 Wilcox, Smith, and Eddy. On the Gth 
 of April, 1835, the first election for 
 township officers, was held in the log 
 school house, and resulted in the choice 
 of Azel Washburn, Robert Douglas, and 
 Obed Holcomb, trustees; John Cyrenius, 
 clerk; David Wells, treasurer. Gideon 
 Waugh was the first Justice of the 
 Peace. 
 
 Rochester. 
 
 At the same session, that Camden was 
 set apart and organized into a township,, 
 lots 1, to 15, inclusive of tract 3, with 
 all of tracts 4, and 5, and a part of tract 
 6, in range 19, together with surplus 
 lots, 9, to 14, inclusive, lying west of 
 the range, with a part of surplus lot 8 r 
 were united, and formed into the town- 
 ship of Rochester. Tract No. 5, was 
 drawn by Uriah Holmes, in connection 
 
:;i 
 
 HISTORICAL ADDRKSS 
 
 with the town of Litchfield, Medina 
 county; ami nan I, by Oliver Sheldon, 
 and others annexed to Huntington. 
 The first settlement was made by Elijah 
 T. Banning, in April, 1831. Between 
 1831, and 1835, Benjamin ('. Perkins, 
 William Sbepard, John Conaut, John 
 Baird, Samuel Smith, Luther Blair, 
 Joseph Hadley, Nehemiah Tucker, M . 
 W. 1". Fay, Erasius Knapp, Obijah W. 
 Babcock, John Peet. ami others, some 
 with, ami some without, families, were 
 joined t<> the sell lenient. 
 
 The township was organized <>n the 
 6th of April. 1835, l>y the election of 
 John Conant, Joseph Hadley, and Ne- 
 hemiah Tucker, trustees; M. L.Blair, 
 township clerk; Benjamin ('.Perkins, 
 treasurer. The organization of Cam- 
 den ami Rochester, in March, is;!."), and 
 Troy in June following, completed the 
 organization of the townships of the 
 entire county. At the organization of 
 the county, there were not to exceed 
 ten organized townships. At the spring 
 election, L824, Asahel Osborne, John S. 
 Reid, and Benjamin Bacon, were elect- 
 ed ( lommissioners for t he county ; Sher- 
 man Minott, auditor; ami Josiah Har- 
 ris, sheriff. In the fail of the same year 
 they were re-elected. At this election 
 there were three hundred ami thirty- 
 two votes cast. The first term of the 
 Court of Common Pleas was held on 
 the 24th of May. 1824, by Hon. George 
 Tod, President of the Third Circuit, 
 and Moses Eld red, Henry Brown, and 
 Frederick Hamlin, his associates. Wol- 
 sey Wells, the only resident attorney, 
 was appointed to prosecute the ideas of 
 the State, ami also clerk of the Court 
 for the time being. He served as clerk 
 only one day, when Ebenezer Whiton 
 was appointed and assumed the duties 
 of the office. Edward Durand was ap- 
 pointed surveyor for the county. Court 
 continued its session for three day- and 
 finally adjourned. 
 
 At the ftrsl -••--ion of the Commis- 
 sioners, Edmund West was appointed 
 County Treasurer; and at the next ses- 
 sion, John Pearson was appointed < ol- 
 lector of State ami County taxes. This 
 completed the official organization of 
 
 the county. Literary and educational 
 societies sprang up at an early day, and 
 supplied the means for mental culture 
 and improvement In 1828, the Lorain 
 County Library Society, was incor- 
 porated. Heman Ely, Reuben Mussey, 
 and others, were incorporated by the 
 name of the " Elyria High School," in 
 18.'H. This school flourished for some 
 time, under the Superintendence and 
 tuition of the Rev. John Montieth. In 
 1834, John Montieth, and his associates, 
 were incorporated by the name of the 
 " Elyria Lyceum. " In March, 1835, 
 Daniel L. Johns, and others, were incor- 
 porated by the name of the *' Wellington 
 Social Library Company." These were 
 private corporations. These societies, 
 and others of a similar character, served a 
 good purpose, and were well supported 
 until a more general diffusion of the 
 means of education and mental culture 
 obviated tne necessity of their continued 
 existence. 
 
 The time I have consumed, reminds 
 me that 1 am wearying your patience. 
 1 will detain you but a moment longer. 
 One of the most pleasant features of 
 tiiis day's celebration, is the coming 
 together, and the warm greetings, of 
 old friends. It is like the reunion of 
 the family at the Golden Wedding, 
 where gratulations are interchanged, 
 and the recollections and pleasures of 
 youth are revived. We are happy in 
 having with us, so many, then young, 
 whose immediate ancestors were the 
 ones, who, upwards of a half century 
 ago, exchanged their homes, in New 
 England, for a life in this far-off land. 
 They were the advance-guard of the 
 Km [lire of the West. Little do we, of a 
 later day, know of their trials and 
 sufferings; little of the self-denial, the 
 self-sacrifice, the longing for homes left 
 behind, and the society of former days, 
 of those, who pioneered the way, to this 
 New Land of promise. Their hardships 
 were ii. n those oi the battle-field, but 
 those incident to a life, at the outpost of 
 civilization. The most of them have 
 gone to the rewards of a work well 
 accomplished. Many of them are still 
 here, survived to witness the Centennial 
 
OF LORAIN COUNTY. 
 
 35 
 
 Anniversary of their Country's Inde- 
 pendence, ana to join in its acclama- 
 tions; enjoying the fullest and freest 
 civil and religious liberty, surrounded 
 by a thickly populated community in 
 the enjoyment of like ireedom, with 
 the promise of its continuance forever. 
 But, as we look back to the day when 
 they first made their advent here, and 
 note the intervening progress of events, 
 and the great growth of the people, and 
 of the things which denote their pros- 
 perity and happiness, whatchanges have 
 been wrought! The same sky above, 
 and the same earth beneath, are still 
 here. The same rock-Dound rivers, and 
 the same beautiful blue lake expanding 
 upon the North, are also here. But 
 what else, that has not undergone 
 change? The dense forest has melted 
 away, and its savage inhabitants, are 
 gone. The land then in the wildness 
 of nature, is covered with cultivated 
 and fruitful fields, with thriving and 
 growing villages, with cities of great 
 wealth and architectural beauty. There 
 is one, but a short distance away, whose 
 surpassing beauty is equalled only by 
 the splendid promise of its future. 
 There are facilities for carrying, for 
 transit, and intercommunication, that 
 bring remote neighborhoods into friend- 
 ly intercourse and seeming proximity. 
 There has been an accumulation of 
 industries, and industrial products, sur- 
 passing all expectations. Institutions 
 of learning, spreading a knowledge of 
 the arts and sciences, and affording the 
 means of high intellectual culture and 
 scholarship, long since sprung forth, 
 and found a welcome habitation and 
 seat, in this New England of the West. 
 These are some of the Iruits of that 
 energy, and courage, brought hither by 
 
 the Pioneers of that early day. The 
 germ of New England culture, those 
 influences that soften, elevate, and 
 refine her social life, were brought. 
 They brought the Bible, the church, 
 and the school — the inevitable attend- 
 ants, and sure security, of an enlight- 
 ened future. Some of them brought 
 what DeTocqueville names, as the 
 surest guaranty of equality among men 
 — poverty and misfortune. But good 
 neighborhood, common sympathy, and 
 fraternal regard, mitigated the rigors 
 of the one, and supplied* the needs, and 
 necessities, of the other. They brought 
 with them a deep love of Liberty, an 
 immovable trust in God, a Patriotism 
 inspired afresh by the glories and 
 achievements of the Revolution; and 
 accepting, yet defying, the hardships 
 and privations that threatened, they 
 came, bearing aloft the Emblem of their 
 Country's Liberty, and led forth to this 
 benighted wilderness and wild, the 
 advancing hosts of civilization. 
 
 Let us, my friends, rejoice in the 
 example, in the courage, in the patri- 
 otism, and worth, of those hardy 
 Pioneers. Let us rejoice that we are 
 the honored recipients of the blessings 
 they secured and transmitted. Let us 
 rejoice in the happy and glorious 
 future, of which the present is so lull 
 of promise. And above all, let us 
 rejoice in a country, whose progres, 
 during the century, up the highway of 
 nations, commands alike the wonder 
 and the admiration of the world ; and 
 whose crowning glory, is, that before 
 the century's close, it extended the asgis 
 of its protection, and imparted the full 
 fruition of its liberty, to the humblest 
 citizen of the land. 
 
k