674 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO
PARKMAN.
BY MRS. BETSEY CONVERSE LYMAN.
THE HISTORY OF PARKMAN TOWNSHIP.
That tract of land, originally known as township number six, of the sixth range, in the Connecticut Western Reserve, comprising seventeen thousand, and thirty- six acres, lying on Grand river, near its head waters, was bought in 1797, of the Connecticut Land company, by lot, together with large tracts in other townships, by Samuel Parkman, esq., of Boston, Massachusetts, and General Joseph Williams, one of the directors of the company.
The first survey was made in 1798, by Moses Warren, one of the Land company's surveyors, at which time only the north and south lines of the township were run. The Indian title was not at that time extinct, and some time passed before such a division could be made by the different owners that each could enter upon the full possession of his property.
In the autumn of 18o1, it was visited by Robert B. Parkman, esq., of Cayuga county, New York, acting as the agent of his uncle, in Boston. Again, in 1803, the difficulties being in a fair way of settlement, he made a second visit, and this time the township was surveyed and divided into lots of six hundred acres each, with the intention of subdividing them when actual settlement should commence.
All obstacles being at length removed, on the first day of June, 1804, Mr. Parkman left Cayuga, to begin the settlement of the new township, which had already received the name of Parkman, from its owner. It is the only township of that name in the United States, except one in Maine, which was also owned and named by Samuel Parkman.
Mr. Parkman was accompanied by his wife and infant son, and also by his brother-in-law, Alfred Phelps, then a lad of eleven years of age. The journey was made by land as far as Buffalo, over roads so narrow that, in many places, it was difficult for the wagons to pass, and so rough, from logs and stumps, that Mrs. Parkman often found it less fatigueing to walk, and carry in her arms her infant child, than to ride, while her husband and brother were frequently obliged to clear the road by the use of their axes. This was western New York in 18o4. From Buffalo they took passage in a sloop across Lake Erie, to the mouth of Grand river, and arrived at their port on the sixteenth of the month. Leaving his family there at the house of his friend, Judge John Walworth, who then resided on the land which was afterward the home of Governor Samuel Huntington, he proceeded at once to his place of destination.
The legislature of Ohio having, at their last session, appropriated fourteen hundred dollars towards the construction of a road through the county of Trumbull, which then included Geauga county, and appointed a commissioner to locate it, Mr. Parkman's first object was to secure its location through Parkman, at such points as would best result in benefit to the township. To this end, after leaving Grand river, his first business was to go over the ground with the commissioner, in order to point out to him such land as would justify him in laying it through the central part of the township, offering, if this could be done, to make the road and build the bridges, and great was his disappointment when at length it was so located as to pass only through the northeast corner of the township, and which, at an early day, necessitated the building of a road to meet
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it. This first road is known as the Mesopotamia road, and was laid out in 1805.
The water power on Grand river determined the location of the first settlement, and accordingly Mr. Parkman, as soon as the question of the road was settled, began to fell trees for the construction of a habitation, in the meantime having no shelter but such as the forest afforded. This was a small cabin, located near the river, near what is now known as the Bridge road, and very near the spot now owned and occupied by G. W: Hatch. There were then two or three families in Nelson, and about the same number in Farmington. The men of these townships, with some others from Burton, assisted in putting the logs in place, and laying the roof.
The bread for this "raising" was baked by Mrs. Umberfield, of Burton, and was brought through the woods on horseback, while young Alfred Phelps cooked the pork for the occasion. This, with milk from the cows which Mr. Parkman had brought with him, comprised the feast.
The cabin was without a floor, and contained but one room. A large stump in the center supported one end of a board which served as a table. In five weeks from their first arrival, the cabin was ready to be occupied. The trees were felled for a sufficient space, to render it safe from injury by the falling of others, and thus the family were established in their new abode.
In September, of the same year, the building of a saw-mill was commenced. This was situated nearly on the site of the present flour-mill. It is probable that the men who built this mill came from Warren, as that was then the largest settlement in the county, and all materials, other than those afforded by the forest, were brought from that place or Pittsburgh. The want of a blacksmith caused the work to progress slowly, as every article of iron, either to be made or mended, necessitated a journey to Warren, which consumed a day each in going and returning. Yet, notwithstanding all hindrances, the mill was in operation by the first of November.
In the autumn of this year Mr. Samuel Ledyard, from Aurora, New York, arrived on the ground. This gentleman was brother-in-law to Mr. Parkman, and in company with him, proceeded to clear a second spot of ground and erect a log dwelling. This second cleared spot comprised what is now the western part of the public square, and the house was one of some pretention, as it contained three rooms, and was furnished with floor and doors. This was finished and ready for occupancy by winter, and was the habitation of Mr. Parkman and family for several years, and the temporary home, as well, of all who found their way thither. After a year or two, Mr. Ledyard returned to Cayuga county.
Early in 1805, Mr. Parkman contracted with Zebina Weatherbee, of Warren, to clear and fence one hundred acres of land, paying him in advance fourteen hundred dollars. The receipt for this money is dated January 23, 1805. This contract was promptly fulfilled, and in the following autumn the whole tract was sown to wheat, from which, in the summer of 1806, was harvested one thousand bushels. This was the first wheat grown in the township, and, as there were no appliances on hand for winnowing it, sufficient for two grists was cleaned by rolling it in a sheet, which was sent to Painesville to be ground.
During the clearing of this hundred acres, several temporary cabins were erected on the ground, to accommodate the men employed, and Mrs. Weather- bee, came with her husband, from Warren, to cook for them.
This land, the, first clearing, to any extent, extended northward from the western portion of what is now the public square, and included the space lying between the road running north from the village and that known, as the old Burton road. The first building on this ground was a large frame barn, which stood upon ground now owned by A. W. White, and was probably completed in time to become a storehouse for the first crop of wheat.
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Upon a portion of this land, in November, 1807, an orchard of thirteen hundred apple trees was transplanted. These trees were purchased of Gilbert J. Ferris, of Poland, and were the first fruit trees in the town. A few of them are still standing by the side of the street leading to the Burton road.
In the spring of 1805, Joseph Young and William Bateman came to Ohio, from Herkimer county, New York, and found their way to the new settlement. Mr. Young was by occupation a builder, and found ready employment in the exercise of his vocation. There is extant a bill of carpenter's tools, purchased by him in Pittsburgh, dated November 27, 1805, amounting to L2, 19s., 9d.
Mr. Bateman bought the farm afterwards owned by Judge Phelps, and which is now owned one-half each by William Brown and Andrew Hosmer. This was the first farm purchased in the town. In 1807 he went to New Orleans with the Blennerhasset expedition, but did not join in the so-called Burr conspiracy. He was accompanied by John Dustan, a surveyor, who had come to Parkman not long before.
In 1808, Joseph Young went south as far as Natchez, and while there built a saw-mill for the celebrated Lorenzo Dow. His stay here was of short duration, and, being joined by Bateman and Dustan, in 1809, the three, in company with Dow, made the journey on horseback from Natchez to Nashville, then an almost unbroken wilderness. From thence, Bateman and Young proceeded to Chautauqua county, New York, journeying still on horseback. Mr. Bateman never returned to Ohio, being prevented from doing so by failing health. His death occurred in 1810. His name is perpetuated in the town by a little stream flowing through his land, which is still called Bateman Run.
Mr. Young soon returned to Ohio, and passed the remainder of his life in or near Parkman. In 1874, while on a visit to relatives in Chautauqua county, he died at the age of ninety-four.
Mr. Dustan remained in Parkman after his return from the south till the beginning of the war of 1812, at which time he was, for some time, connected with the army. He varied his occupation as surveyor with that of teacher, and in one of the winters when thus employed during the day, he cleared a piece of land, lying north of the present village, by chopping on moonlight nights. After the close of the war, he emigrated still farther west, and finally settled north of St. Louis, in eastern Missouri.
Some years later, Dow, in some of his journeyings, came to Parkman and preached from a large stump which then stood on land now covered by the mill-pond. He left an appointment to preach again seven years from that day, which, for some reason, he did not fill.
August 1, 1805, was made memorable by the establishment of a post-office, Mr. Parkman being appointed postmaster. His commission was signed by Gideon Granger, then postmaster-general. In the letter announcing this appointment, this passage occurs:
" Inclosed, I transmit to you a blank contract, to be executed, with bond and surety, according to law, by such a man as may contract to carry the mail from Warren to Parkman, from the emoluments to be derived from the post-office at Parkman." These emoluments consisted, mainly in the enjoyment of the franking privilege which, at the then rates of postage, was a matter of some importance to a man of business. In 1815, the income, per annum, had reached the munificent sum of ten dollars and seventy-five cents. He continued to hold the office till 1829. The name of the person who closed with this magnificent offer has not been preserved.
In this month (August, 1805) the birth of the first white child occurred—this was Adaline, the eldest daughter of Mr. Parkman, who grew up amid her primitive surroundings into a woman of uncommon beauty. At the age of eigh-
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teen she was married to Mr. Julian C. Huntington, and removed to Painesville, in which place she resided till her death, in 1834.
In 1805, Robert Wallace purchased the farm lying directly east of the village, which is now owned by N. B. Blair, and built a log house into which he moved with his family. This was the second habitation in the township, and the farm was for many years know as the " Wallace farm." After a residence of ten years he removed to Portage county.
In the meantime, preparations were made for the erection of a grist-mill, which was soon completed. This mill was situated near the saw-mill, a little farther up the stream than the location of the present mill. Millwrights and mechanics were procured mainly from Pennsylvania, which necessitated frequent journeys through the forest on the part of Mr. Parkman, but notwithstanding the obstacles, it was so far completed as to commence grinding before the winter of 18o6, and it can readily be imagined how much this contributed, not only to the comfort and convenience of the settlers in the vicinity, but also to those of the neighboring townships, as, at that time, there was no mill nearer than Warren or Painesville, and no roads, except the paths indicated by blazed trees.
In February, 1806, Mr. Samuel Parkman, in writing to his nephew, congratulates him upon the accession to the settlement of a hatter, a joiner, a blacksmith, and a shoemaker. The hatter was Mr. Frederick Kirtland, who emigrated to Ohio from Bridgeport, Connecticut, in this year, and brought with him the materials necessary for carrying on his business. In September, 18o8, he married Miss Sophia Parkman, a young sister of Mr. Parkman. This was the first marriage solemnized in the township, and as the ceremony was performed by Eleazer Hickox, of Burton, we may infer that at that time no magistrate had been elected in Parkman.
Mr. Kirtland purchased a small farm lying on the south bank of Grand river, nearly opposite the site of the mill, on which, not long after, he built a log house which, for some years, served both as a shop and a dwelling. Some years later he built a frame shop nearer the road, which in time became his dwelling, when no longer needed for its first destination, and in which he passed the last quarter century of his life. He died while on a visit to his daughter at Maumee, in the year 1854.
Mr. Kirtland was a man highly esteemed in the community, and of unimpeachable character as a citizen. Reared among New England influences, he brought to his new home the virtues which are the outgrowth of such an education, and which continued to influence his character through a long life. Quiet and unostentatious in his manners, a man of more than average intelligence, fond of reading and study, he helped to give moral tone to society, such as is always needed, and often wanting in its primitive state. Being a lay reader in. the Episcopal church, he was active in helping to sustain religious worship in those early times, when a visit from a clergyman of any denomination was an event of very rare occurrence.
He held for some years the office of justice of the peace. Mrs. Kirtland died in January, 1857, at the age of sixty-seven, having been a resident of the township for more than fifty years, and having lived more than forty years on the farm which she had helped to redeem from its primitive wildness, and witnessed the changes which successive years had wrought.
No one of the Kirtland family now resides in Parkman. The farm is now owned by Mrs. Sophia Davis.
With Mr. Kirtland there also came from Bridgeport Mr. Joseph Noyes and wife. Mr. Noyes was a gentleman of classical education, a graduate of Yale college, but not being fitted to encounter the privations of a new country, he remained but a few years. His stay is noticeable only from the fact that he
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taught the first school ever taught in Parkman, which could not have been a very large one, or have greatly taxed his intellectual powers, and the only record of his residence in Ohio, is his signature, with that of Mr. Parkman, as a witness to the bond given by Edward Paine, jr., when he assumed the duties of the first clerk of the supreme court for the county of Geauga, which bond is dated on the fourth day of June, 1806.
The joiner spoken of by the Elder Parkman in 1806, was Roswell Scoville. Soon after his arrival, he built a house of scantling, laid up in the form of a log house, in which he lived for some years. This was the third house built in the town, and was situated on land now owned by Capt. W. Halstead, and nearly in front of where his house now stands, and became a place of entertainment for such travelers as found their way thither. It was taken down to make room for the building in which the first store was kept. Mr. Scoville continued a resident of Parkman till about the year 1822.
In the spring of the year 1806, Mr. Daniel Evans and his family, consisting of his wife and four children, were added to the population. They came from Washington county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Evans, being by trade a blacksmith, and the first to work at that business in the town, was considered a person of great importance, especially, as before his coming, all work of that kind could only be procured in Warren.
The shop in which he worked, was situated on the south side of what is now the Public square, on the spot now occupied in the same manner by Martin Hewitt. This, for forty years, held the honorable post of "the village blacksmith" shop, and more than one generation of
"Children coming home from school,
Looked in at the open door,
And watched to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar."
In 1845, it took fire from a burning building near it, and was consumed.
In 1808, Mr. Evans having purchased a farm, east of the center, and built a log house, moved in to it with his family. This house, in time, gave place to a frame one, and was, for many years the home of himself and wife, with a family, as the yews passed away, of ten sons and three daughters, all of whom lived to adult age.
Mrs. Evans was, in every way, a helpmeet to her husband—one of those pioneer women who are invaluable in any community. While faithfully and cheerfully discharging her duties as a wife, and the mother of a large family, she was ever ready to lend assistance to the utmost extent of her ability, in all cases of sickness or need, or to supplement with her larger experience the want of that experience in younger neighbors, and is remembered with gratitude by many, who were the recipients of her unobtrusive kindness.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans continued to reside on this farm for thirty-one years, and saw their portion of the township change from the primitive forest to settled farms, and the privations of pioneer life give place to the comforts of the older States. Theirs was the first farm settled in the township, and, except the small clearing made near them, by Mr. Bateman, and the three or four families near the mills, in what is now the village, no break in thy woods, nor any habitation of man, was near them for miles, while the wolves made night hideous with their howlings, and bears and other wild animals were their terror by day.
In 1839, they removed to Van Buren county, Michigan, and both died, within a week of each other, in 184o. The farm was purchased by Evander Tracy, who owned it till his death. It is now owned by Gilbert Tracy, his son. But two of Mr. Evans' sons settled near him. Silas, who was four years old at the time of his father's emigration to Ohio, bought of General Perkins, in 1835, the farm,
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known as the "Whitementhorn bottom," lying on the south road to Farmington, near the eastern township line, upon which he now resides (1877), aged seventy- four. For some years he has been the only remaining member of what may be called the pioneer band. His eldest brother, Jeremiah, who was eight years old, in 1806, lived in the township for a few years after his marriage, but afterwards removed to Newberry, where he resided many years. He died in Willoughby, Lake county, in 1872.
His eldest sister, Mrs. Moore, died in Parkman, in 1870.
In 1830, Samuel, the fifth son of Mr. Evans, settled upon the farm lying directly west of the State road, at its intersection with the Bundysburgh road, upon which he resided until 1848, when he removed to Troy, where he died, in 1865. This farm is now owned by John Ainslie.
In 1806, Thomas Ainslie, a native of the north of England, but who emigrated to America, and settled near Syracuse New York, determined to try his fortune in the west, and, by a friend, was directed to this portion of the Reserve, He found employment in the flour-mill, which was just then completed. He soon after purchased a lot of' land, lying east of the village, and directly north of the Wallace farm, which long bore the name of "the Ainslie lot," upon which he built a log house, probably rn 1807, which was the fourth dwelling in the settlement, and in which he resided until about the year 1816, when he removed to a larger farm, which he had purchased, in the northeastern part of the township, near the State road, upon which he resided until his death, in 1844. His eldest son, Thomas, who, in 1810, with his sister, made, with their father, the journey from Syracuse to Ohio, on foot, succeeded to his farm, on the death of his father, to which, from time to time, he made large additions, and retained possession of it until his own death, in 1875.
Shortly before his death he divided his land among his children, by deeding to each a portion, which they now hold, and thus the original Ainslie farm is in the possession of the third generation of the family.
Another settler, in 1806, was Elijah Risley, who was the first person who held the office of justice of the peace. He built a log house west of the village, on the lot now owned by David Grey, and set out the second apple orchard in the township. A few of these trees are still standing on the place, but the greater part of them were transferred by John P. Converse, in 1819, to his homestead, where the most of them are still standing, and are in good bearing condition. In 1816, Mr. Risley removed to Fredonia, New York, where his sons became the head of the once famous Risley seed establishment. He was the grandfather of Olive Risley Seward, the adopted daughter of Hon. William H. Seward, who accompanied him in his journey around the world in 187o. The Risley log house was destroyed by fire in 1828.
On the eighth day of January, 1807, Henry Seymour, the second son of Mr. Parkman, was born. He was the first white male child born in the township, and can therefore rightly be ranked among the pioneers, having grown up with its growth, and taken his part as child and man in the labors and enjoyments of that early period. Having, at the age of eighteen, qualified himself for the profession of civil engineer, he began his career in that capacity on the Ohio canal, then in procees of construction, but after one year, his health not being equal to the endurance of exposure necessary to the prosecution of the work, he was obliged to relinquish the pursuit.
In January, 1829, he went south for the purpose of regaining his health, and remained there, with intervals of return to the north, till 1844, when he returned to his native place, and made it thereafter his permanent residence. During his fifteen years residence in the south, in the pursuit of his profession, as a crayon artist, he made the tour of all the southern States, and long visits in the
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principal cities. Not intending to make a permanent residence in the south, about the year 1831 he purchased the farm known as the " Doty farm," and also the lot of land lying directly west of this, known at that time as the "East apple orchard," which is now owned by De Witt Johnson, and upon which a few trees of the old orchard, planted in 1812 by Mr. Parkman, still remain.
The Doty farm was first settled by Captain Asa Doty, who came to Parkman from Aurora, Cayuga county, New York, in 1815, and soon after purchased this farm. He resided upon it many years, but, after the death of his wife, and the marriage and dispersion of his large family, he made his home, for the remainder of his life, with his son Ezra Doty, who then owned and lived on the farm
lying directly west of Centre creek. This farm is now owned by Edwin McCall. The land of Captain Doty is now owned by Eugene Brewster.
In addition to the Doty farm, Mr. H. S. Parkman, in 1850, having bought the farm lying east of the village, on the north side of the road, known as the "Wood farm," he made it his place of residence.
This farm was first bought by James Wood, about the year 1809, and is, therefore, one of the old settled farms. The house now on the place was built by Mr. Wood, who lived in it till 1829.
In 1866, Mr. Parkman, having purchased and refitted the house owned in his lifetime by Dr. Scott, transferred his residence to it, and there died, in December, 1867, having nearly completed his sixty-first year. He was highly esteemed for his many noble and generous qualities, and in his death many felt that they had lost a friend.
In 1847 he married Miss Mary Morgan, of Newburgh, Cuyahoga county, who still survives him, and is the only person in the town who bears the name of Parkman.
In 1807 Robert B. Parkman built a log house north of the present village, in the north part of the first cleared hundred acres, (on land which is now owned by B. D. Waterman), and resided in it, with his family, until 1818. This was the fourth house built in the town, and during the years of his residence in it, it was the seat of a generous hospitality, and the temporary home of many of the early settlers.
While living here, in 1813, John Walworth, an infant son of Mr. Parkman, died. This event is noticeable as being the first death which had occurred in the township; a remarkable circumstance when we consider how seldom new settlements are exempt from fatal sickness.
The second death of an adult occurred in 1817, which was that of Mrs. Mary Wood, who was the first person buried in the cemetery south of the village, which, not long before, had been set apart for burial purposes.
It is a good criterion by which to judge of the healthfulness of the place, that this cemetery, which contains only about two acres, continued to be the only place of interment within its bounds for more than fifty years.
In 1868, six acres lying north of the village, on the Burton road, were purchased by the town, and set apart for this purpose. This piece of ground has been enclosed, laid out in lots, and tastefully ornamented with evergreens. The descendants of the old families are still interred in the old cemetery, which is kept in good order. But twice since the first settlement, has the town been visited with severe sickness. In 1825, an epidemic dysentery prevailed, which, in a short time, proved fatal to more than thirty persons, mostly children, in several instances taking every child in the family.
Again, in 1846, a very wet season having succeeded a very dry one, Parkman suffered in common with other towns in the vicinity with malarial fever.
This, although it was so general as to leave but few families exempt, proved fatal in but few instances.
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Very early in the history of the town, but at what precise time cannot now be ascertained, a log house stood on the corner south of the Public square, which might be called an appendage to the blacksmith shop, as it was usually occupied by the family, whose head worked in the shop. It was so inhabited for some years, by Ebenezer Eldred, one of the successors of Mr. Evans, and was known as the "Eldred house." The bright light from the ample fire-place, together with the blaze from the shop, illuminated all the space around. Mr. Eldred removed from the town, and the house went to decay, and the place, for some years, was vacant.
In 1845, Marvin Chapin, from Chautauqua county, New York, who had for a few years resided in Parkman, as a merchant, built a store on this site, but the building was destroyed by fire soon after it was completed. In '855, a building of the same size as the Chapin store, was erected by James L. Johnson, the lower part of which, was used by him as a post-office, and shoe store; the upper part was owned by the masonic fraternity, and used by them as a lodge. (Mr. Johnson was postmaster during the administrations of Pierce and Buchanan). In 1861, the lower part of the building was purchased by Frederick Holcomb, who enlarged it and occupied it as a store, till 1867. Soon after this, it was owned and used for the same purpose, by Sherburn H. Williams, and William Halstead, under the firm of Halstead & Williams. In 1872, the building and goods were purchased by John L. Moore, and the business continued by him till 1877. He still owns the store. His successors in the business, are Smith & Philleo.
Not far from 1808, the first frame building was erected. This building stood on the western part of the Public square, near the road leading to the river, on land now owned by Capt. W. Halstead, and was built by Mr. Parkman, for use as a store, and was so occupied by him for several years. Chas. C. Paine, who had been for some time a member of Mr. Parkman's family, was one of the first clerks in the new establishment, and a few years after, a partner with him under the firm of Parkman & Paine.
This was probably at that time the only store within the present bounds of Geauga county, unless we except that of Mr. Hickox in Burton, and continued in operation till 1816. During a part of this time, in order to obviate the scarcity of money, the firm issued private bills of credit, which called out the opposition of the corporation of Cleveland, who had their own bills in circulation, and were not disposed to allow these to come in competition with them. Some of these bills are still extant. The war of 1812 having had an unfavorable influence on business of all kinds, which was felt as well in the new as in the older settlements, both with regard to the scarcity of money and by the prevention of emigration, there was not found sufficient safe business to render the enterprise successful, and in 1816 the firm of Parkman & Paine was dissolved.
In 1810, Ezra Smith, a native of Connecticut, purchased the farm east of the center, on south side of the Farmington road, which was laid out in this year, known as the Ridge or center farm; built a log house and set out an orchard, but dying in 1813, while on a journey in the southern part of the State, the property came into the possession of his brother, James Smith, who lived on it some years, but afterwards removed to a farm opposite to that owned by Gilbert Curtiss, on which he lived till his death in 1828.
The Ridge farm was owned for some years by Emmons Fuller, who built the house now on the place. It is now owned by J. R. Brown. The prospect from this point of land is very fine. As its name implies, it occupies a high situation, and commands a view towards the east of more than thirty miles.
In the same year (1810) Thomas Moore, a native of Pennsylvania, settled on the farm opposite to the Evans place. He built, first, a log house, and after-
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wards a frame one, and owned and lived on the place till his death in 1837. Himself and wife were members of the Methodist church, and in 1816 they, with a few others, united in forming a church of that denomination in that part of the town, and it has continued without interruption since that time, a period of more than sixty years. Their meetings were first held in Mr. Moore's house. Mrs. Moore died in 1868. The farm is owned by their son, Nathaniel Moore, it thus having been in the possession of the family nearly seventy years.
Johnson, the eldest son of Thomas Moore, when he attained manhood, purchased a farm east of his father, on the same road, and still lives on it. Edwin R. Moore, his son, was a member of the One Hundred and Fifth Ohio regiment in the war of the Rebellion, and died of disease contracted in the service.
Amer, another son of Thomas Moore, about 184o purchased the farm adjoining that of his brother on the east, upon which he lived till his death in 1857. It is now owned by his son-in-law, William B. Donaldson. Upon this farm, in 187o, a mysterious tragedy occurred. It the autumn of that year, Milo White and John Bower, friends and army comrades, accompanied by a young man named Dayton, went gunning together, from which Bower did not return alive. The account given by White and Dayton was that Bower, after a time, separated from them, with the agreement that they should meet at a certain point on the Donaldson falm. When the two others reached the rendezvous, Bower was found lying dead, with a bullet wound in his head, and with his loaded gun lying across his body. White was arrested and tried for murder, but no evidence being found against him, he was acquitted. Dayton was unarmed. No light has ever been thrown on the affair.
The farm north of that of Amer Moore, situated on the eastern boundary of the township, was first settled about 1820, by Mr. Chandler, and owned by him till his death. It is still in the possession of the family. His son, Adolphus Chandler, served in the One Hundred and Fourth regiment, in the war of the Rebellion.
In 1810 John Fleming began a settlement on the farm lying directiy east of that of Thomas Moore. This farm was afterwards purchased by Noah Cross, who owned it till his death in 1846. It is now owned by Benjamin F. Tracy.
In the same year his brother, Nathaniel Fleming, settled on the farm now owned by Horace White. Neither of the Flemings remained permanently in Parkman.
In 1812, Lewis Smith, brother of Ezra Smith, emigrated from Middlesex county, Connecticut. Shortly after his arrival in Parkman he entered the army, where he remained six months. After his return he married Mrs. Manilla Stillman, widow of John D. Stillman, who was killed while serving in the army in the war of 1812. About 1816 his father, Benjamin Smith, joined him, and both together purchased a piece of land lying directly west of that of Thomas Moore. In 1817 he built a frame ihouse, in which he resided till his death in 1854. His wife survived him two years. Mr. Smith held for some years the office of justice of the peace. His father and mother lived near him till a short time before their deaths, when they removed to his house and died there, at the ages respectively of ninety-three and eighty-six, in March, 1831, with but the difference of a week in their deaths. The farm is now owned by William Brown. The house has been removed.
In 1812 Nathan Hanchett, a clothier, who had resided for some time in Canfield, Trumbull county, set up, in the upper part of the grist-mill, the first carding machine in the place, and those who came to mill over the rough roads, or through the woods where there were no roads, brought at the same time the family supply of wool to be made into rolls for spinning.
The next year Hendrick E. Paine and Benjamin Lemoine, the latter from
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 683
Plainfield, Massachusetts, built a small mill for carding and cloth-dressing, near the grist-mill, but on the opposite bank of the river. The machinery was purchased at Beaver, Pennsylvania. •
In 1815 Mr. Lemoine sold his interest in the mill to Mr. Paine, and returned to Massachusetts, but eventually made his home in Ohio. He is now living (1878) near Massillon, and is still an active man, though over eighty years old.
Mr. Paine continued the business till 1818, when he removed from the place. He succeeded Mr. Kirtland as justice of the peace, and was the third person who held the office in Parkman.
He is still living at Monmouth, Illinois, with his daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth
Smith.
In 1815 Mr. Hanchett built a mill for carding and cloth-dressing, about half a mile up the river, to which he transferred his business, and which he kept in operation more than thirty years.
In 1817 he purchased a small farm lying contiguous to the river, and which is still known as "the Hanchett place." Here he built a log house near the factory, which, in after years, gave place to the frame dwelling, now standing on the place.
In 1815 he married Miss Jerusha Guild, a daughter of one of the early settlers of Mesopotamia. They remained on their farm in Parkman till 1846, at which time they removed to Mesopotamia, where Mr. Hanchett died in 1855. Mrs. Hanchett's death occurred in 1859. They were both, for many years, prominent members of the Congregational church.
Mrs. Hanchett was one of the orrginal members of the church at the time of its organization in 1823.
The northern part of the Hanchett place is owned by Mrs. Melissa Rood, the southern part upon which the house stands, is owned by John Minin.
In 1812 Alonzo Hosmer came to Parkman with his uncle, Lewis Smith, from Middlesex county, Connecticut, being at that time only fourteen years old, and began, at that early age, the labors of pioneer life.
In 1819 he purchased a farm on the Mesopotamia road, and began the work of clearing it, and bringing it under cultivation. This was the first settlement in that part of the town, west of the State road. Some years later, he added to his first purchase, a lot adjoining it on the west, and extending to the centre Middlefield road, and also a farm lying farther north on the same road, which was first settled by his youngest brother, William Hosmer, about 1830.
(Having sold this land to his brother, William Hosmer, removed to Michigan, where he died in 1848.)
In 1822 he married Miss Asenath Biddlecomb, who fully sustained with him the labors, and shared the pleasures of those early times, and of the following years till her death in 1863. Their first home was the log house common to the time, but which, before many years, gave place to a commodious frame dwelling; under whose roof they reared a family of eleven children, all but one of whom lived to mature age. In 187o he married Mrs. Elizabeth Cooper, who
survives him.
Mr. Hosmer died on the 28th of December, 1876, after a short illness, at the age of seventy-nine, and was buried with Masonic ceremonies on the fast day of the centennial year.
During his residence of sixty-four years in the town as boy and man, he was noted for those qualities which form the staple of American character. With industry, energy, sobriety, perseverance and self-reliance, he laid the foundation of a prosperous life, and built upon it a stable superstructure, thus leaving to his family and fellow-citizens an example worthy of imitation.
As a citizen he was held in high esteem, and his death has broken another
684 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
link which joins the present with the past. But three persons now remain, who were inhabitants of the town when he entered it in 1812.
His family have settled in several of the western States, except two sons who remain in the town, and follow their father's useful and honorable avocation.
Two other sons, Perry and Alonzo, rendered faithful service to their country in the war of the Rebellion.
Soon after the close of the war of 1812, Abner H. Fairbanks, a native of Maine, purchased the farm, directly south of the Owens farm, now owned by Thomas Gilmore, esq.
Mr. Fairbanks was a soldier in the second war with Gseat Britain, and was in the eneagements at Williamsburg,. Chippewa, and Bridgewater. Having received an honorable discharge, at the close of hostilities he turned his attention to the arts of peace, and became a tiller of the soil. He immediately set about the clearing of his land, and early in 1818 he built a log house, which, on the very day of its completion, was consumed by fire. In February of that year he married Miss Nancy McMillen, a ward of Mr. Parkman. The marriage stands thus in the records of the county:
" PARKMAN TOWNSHIP, Feb, 17, 1818.
This may certify, that on the day and year above written, Abner H. Fairbanks and Nancy McMillen set sail in Hymen’s bark. The prospect appeared favorable and the voyage pleasant. I stood at the helm until they got under way. H. E. PAINE. ). P."
Not disheartened by the loss of his first house, Mr. Fairbanks, in the fall of the same year, erected a frame house on the site of the other, and there set up his household, which was destined to continue but a few years. In an epidemic dysentery which prevailed in 1825, Mrs. Fairbanks and three children died in the space of nine days. One child remained, which was adopted by Mr. Park- man, and the bereaved husband and father, in failing health, the next year returned to his relatives in Maine, where he died of consumption in 1827. He held the rank of captain of the first company of militia raised in the town, and afterwards that of major in the Second regiment, Ohio militia.*
In 1814, Henry Norton, a native of Virginia, purchased a tract of land lying directly east of the centre or Ridge farm, upon which he first built a house of hewn logs, in which he lived for some years, but afterwards built a frame house, which still remains on the place, in which he lived till his removal to Claridon, Geauga county, where he resided until his death, in 1858. His remains were interred in Parkman, by the side of his first wife, Margaret Donaldson, who died in 1848. The farm, at his death, passed into the possession of his widow, now Mrs. Pomeroy, of Claridon, who still owns it. Mr. Norton was a soldier in the war of 1812.
In 1815 Nathaniel Moore, brother of Thomas Moore, from Washington county, Pennsylvania, bought the farm lying directly south of the Ridge farm, and settled upon it. In 180 he married Anna, the eldest daughter of Daniel Evans. She must truly hold an honorable place among the pioneers, as, at the time of her father's settlement in Parkman, in 1806, she was six years old. Their marriage was the second solemnized in the township, the ceremony being performed by Frederic Kirtland, then justice of the peace. Mr. and Mrs. Moore continued to reside on the farm upon which they first settled, till the death of the former, in 1861, and of the latter, in 187o. Their farm is now owned by their youngest son, Henry Moore.
Mr. Moore was a soldier in the war of 1812, and also held the office of justice of the peace for fifteen years consecutively. He was one of the early members of the Masonic lodge, and was buried with the rites of the order.
In 1815 Daniel Owen, a native of Connecticut, came to Parkman. He em-
* The Fairbanks farm was owned from 1834 to 86; by Elias Haight.
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 685
igrated to Ohio in 1800, and lived first in Youngstown, Trumbull county. In 1803 he removed to Nelson, Portage county, and was one of the earliest inhabitants of that town. After a residence there of some twelve years, he, by an exchange of property, found it to his advantage to encounter again the labor of clearing new land. His new purchase lay directly east of the Wallace farm, and, previous to the building of his house, he occupied for about three years the one on this farm, from which Mr. Wallace had about that time removed. His first house, a frame one, was destroyed by fire in 1827, but was soon after replaced by another, on the same site, in which he lived till his death, in 1856, at the age of eighty-nine. Mrs. Owen died in 1848.
Mrs. Owen was a woman who won the esteem of all who knew her, for her domestic virtues, but especially her care of and kindness to the sick, by promptly rendering them all the assistance in her power, whenever there was need of her services; at the same time she "looked well to the ways of her household," which in those early times was no sinecure.
Samuel Owen, the eldest son, owns the eastern portion of the old Owen farm, and resides near it. He also owns the farm lying directly north, which was first settled by Justus Ferris, in 1817, who built upon it a log house and set out a small orchard. This farm was owned for some years by Gideon Bentley, and afterwards by his son Nelson, who sold it to Mr. Owen, in 1832.
Mr. Owen's eldest daughter, Mrs. Swift, owns the homestead. Another daughter, Mrs. Dunn, and his youngest son, Rensellear, are also residents of the township.
In 1815, Jacob Gates, from Otsego county, New York, made the first settlement in the northeast portion of the township, on Swine creek, now known as Bundysburgh. He settled on the farm now owned by Cyrus Hurd, built a log house, and began the clearing of the land, but died in 1816. This was the first death of an adult in the township since its first settlement—a period of twelve years.
Harvey Bills, a brother-in4aw of Jacob Gates, came at the same time, and settled on the farm now owned by Mrs. Maria Gates, upon which he lived about forty years. He afterwards removed to Illinois, where he died. He was a soldier in the war of 1812.
Wareham French, another brother-in-law of Jacob Gates, also from Otsego county, New York, and who came to Ohio at about the same time, settled on the farm now owned by Mrs. Lydia Horton, built the house which is now on the place, and lived on the farm about twenty years. He afterwards removed to Farmington, Trumbull county, in which place he died.
William, brother of Wareham French, and who came at the same time with him, bought a farm on what is now known as the Ainslie tract, lying near the State road, and built a log house. After a few years he removed to Middlefield, and finally to Wisconsin, in which State he died.
A third member of the family, Avery French, at the same time made a settlement on the farm now owned by Asahel Reeves, known as the Brace farm, and lived on it till purchased by Josiah Brace in 1837. Mr. Brace built a hewn log house, plastered inside, and said to be the best log house ever built in the township. In 1853 he built a large frame house. He afterwards sold this farm
and removed to the village, where he died, in 1871.
William French, the father of these three brothers, came with his sons, but being advanced in years, he made no purchase of land, but continued to reside with them till his death, at the age of one hundred and four years.
In January, 1816, Ephraim and Moses Bundy emigrated from Southampton, Massachusetts, traveling the whole way with ox-teams. After reaching Buffalo they made the journey mainly on the ice, along the shore of Lake Erie. They crossed Grand river at Harpersfield in canoes, swimming the oxen and pulling
686 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
the wagons across by means of ropes. They remained in Thompson, Geauga county, a short time till they could decide' upon their future location. In a visit to the settlement, which a short time before had been begun by the Gates and French families, they found their brother, Elisha Bundy, who had reached the place, in company with Jocob Gates, a short time before from Otsego county,
New York. This meeting was entirely unexpected, as neither of the parties knew that the other was in the State, till they met thus in the wilderness. They each purchased farms in the vicinity, and gave the name of Bundysburgh to the settlement.
Moses Bundy brought his family, consisting of his wife, four sons and one daughter, at once to their new home—a log cabin of only one room, without floor, windows, or doors. This tenement, with such improvements and enlargements from time to time, as circumstances afforded, continued to be their residence for some years. This farm, though in Bundysburgh proper, was situated just over the township line in Mesopotamia.
About 1820, in connection with Wareham French, he built the first saw-mill in that part of the township, and thus was connected with it in his business. About this time he removed to a farm just over the Farmington line, but still in Bundysburgh, upon which he resided till his death, in 1855. Three of his sons are still living, and are all residents of Parkman.
Elisha Bundy's farm was located directly north of that of Jacob Gates'. This farm remained in his possession, and was inhabited by him till his death, in 1824. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. This farm, together with that of Jacob Gates, was bought, in 1841, by Jabez Stanton, who owned it till 1859. It is now owned by Cyrus Hurd.
Ephraim Bundy purchased the farm first settled by Jedediah Buckingham, in 1818, and lived on it till his death, in 1839. This farm was purchased soon after his death by Joseph Bundy, son of Moses Bundy.
Orrin Gates, son of Jacob Gates, was fifteen years old at the time of his father's settlement in Parkman. Soon after he attained his majority he purchased a farm lying directly east of that of his father, to which, some years after, he added that first purchased by his uncle, Harvey Bills, upon which he lived until his death in 1875, a period of more than fifty years. This farm is now owned by his daughter, Mrs. Vanderslice.
In 1816, Daniel Strong emigrated from Massachusetts, and purchased a farm lying directly west of that of Jacob Gates,. and lived on it till about the year 1836, when he sold it to John Day, and removed to Indiana. In 1843 it was purchased by Joseph Bundy, and now forms a part of the Bundy tract.
William Gates, another son of Jacob Gates, was the first purchaser, in 1828, of the farm lying south of this tract on the State road, now owned by Edwin Bundy, son of Joseph Bundy. It was owned by different members of the Gates family till 1843, at which time it was bought by Joseph Bundy, who transferred it to his son. In addition to this, Edwin Bundy is also the owner of the farm lying southeast of this land, at the intersection of the Bundysburgh and State roads, which was first settled by Anson Parks, and was purchased of him by Luke Ballard, in 1830. Mr. Ballard continued to own and reside on the place till his death, in 1850, and it continued in the possession of his family till purchased by Edwin Bundy, in 1865. Mr. Ballard, his father and mother, who resided with him, and his youngest child, all died of small-pox within a short time. The disease, which was contracted by Mr. Ballard when absent from home, fortunately, did not extend beyond his family. One son, Marshall Ballard, was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, and died in the service.
About the year 1823, William Porter settled in Bundysburgh, and soon after built a flour-mill, which was carried away by a freshet, some years after. It was
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 687
rebuilt, and is still standing, though not in full operation. No one of the Porter family, at present, reside in the place. The homestead is owned by Edwin Baird. The Painesville and Youngstown railroad passes through this portion of the township.
Not long after the settlement of Thomas Moore, his brother-in-law, James Donaldson, a native of Ireland, bought the farm south of that of Henry Norton, upon which he built; first, a log house, and afterwards a frame one, in which he resided until his death, in 1863. This farm is now owned by Marvin Owen son of Samuel Owen. One daughter, Mrs. Nathaniel Moore, is the only member of his family now residing in the township.
In 1815, his brother, Samuel Donaldson, purchased the farm adjoining, and settled on it. He continued to live there until his death, in 1848. No one of his family have permanently settled in the township.
Both James and Samuel Donaldson were soldiers in the war of 1812.
In 1816, Benjamin Moore, brother of Thomas and Nathaniel Moore, purchased the farm lying directly south of the latter, upon which he built ;frame house, in which he lived until 1833, at which time the farm was purchased by Mrs. Maria Bailey, sister of Sherburn and Russell Williams, who owned it until 1855. It is now owned by Marvin Owen.
Mrs. Bailey purchased, and lived for some time on, the farm, on the Burton road, now owned by John Hoxter. She died in 1871, after a long illness, at the residence of her son-in-law, Horace J. Ford.
The farm lying south of that of James Donaldson was also settled in 1816, by Bazaleel Inman, brother-in-law of the Donaldson. After his death, it was owned by his son, Henry, who built a frame house, to take the place of the log one. In 1860, he sold the farm to Joseph B. Cross, who has owned it since that time.
Powers Inman, son of Bazaleel Inman, purchased the northern part of the lot lying east of that of his father, in 1829. It was afterwards owned by Hiram Moore, eldest son of Nathaniel Moore, who built a frame dwelling house non it, and sold it to his brother, John L Moore, its present owner. The lot adjoining it on the east, also owned by John L. Moore, was purchased, by him, of his
father, in 1854.
In addition to these, Mr. Moore is also the owner of the land lying on both sides of the road situated on the eastern boundary of the township; that on the south was purchased of Jacob Perkins, son of General Perkins, in 1852, by Ansel Mattison, and sold, by him, to Mr. Moore, in 1859. That on the north side of the road was first settled by George Henry. It was afterwards owned by Epaphroditus Fuller, who sold it to Mr. Moore, in 1866.
The land lying south of the Powers Inman purchase, was first settled by Harmon Wood. In 1834, it was purchased by Thomas Donaldson, a native of Ireland, who built upon it a frame house, and owned it until his death, in 1872. It still remains in the possession of his family. His son, Archie Donaldson, was for a time a soldier, in the Seventh Ohio regiment, in the war of the Rebellion.
The farm lying east of this was first settled, in 1837, by Nathaniel Moore, son of Thomas Moore, and is still owned by him. In addition to the usual agricultural products, this farm, under the management of its owner, has become noted for its yield of maple sugar, amounting in favorable seasons to as many as twenty-five hundred pounds. In proportion to the number of trees in use, the production is greater than from any other farm in the township, and it is surpassed by none in the quality of the sugar made.
The farm adjoining that of Mr. Moore, on the east, was purchased, in 1841, of General Perkins, by Edward Thorpe, a native of Ireland, who owned it until his death, in 1856. His wife survived him twenty years. Their son, John
688 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
Thorpe, was adjutant in the Sixty-fifth regiment, Ohio volunteers, in the war of the Rebellion. The farm is still owned by their family.
As this part of the township was settled, in great part, by natives of Ireland and their descendants, the name of "Little Ireland" was early given to it, which name it still retains.
In the early settlement of the country, when the forests abounded in game, it was the custom to celebrate Christmas by a grand hunt. At that time, in 1816, Silas Young, of Middlefield; his •son, John Young, James Heathman, John Johnson, and Nathaniel Moore, started on a hunt. Striking the track of a bear, at the head waters of Swine creek, they followed it through the woods, to a large tree, in the northwest part of Parkman, which stood on land now owned by Thomas Young, son of Silas Young, and, thinking the bear had climbed the tree, they decided to fell it.
Silas Young, being on horseback, went home for a supply of food, and returned with a dinner of johnny-cake and dried venison. After satisfying their hunger they began work, and the five men chopped all day. The tree was so large they were obliged to chop around it, and about sunset it fell. They ran to the top, but, much to their surprise, no bear was to be found, and, wearied and disappointed, they returned home.
The remains of this tree are still to be seen lying on the spot where it fell sixty years ago. It was a chestnut, well-proportioned, and entirely sound. The stump measures nine feet in diameter, and the height was one hundred and five feet. The grains, by actual count, number eight hundred and sixty-four, which determine the age of the tree. By adding to these the sixty-two years which have elapsed since its fall, we find that its growth began early in the tenth century of the christian era. Since that time changes, physcical, moral, political and religious, have convulsed the earth, through all of which its growth continued undisturbed. It was more than one hundred years old at the time of the invasion of England by William the Conqueror, and had numbered nearly six hundred years when Columbus gave a new continent to the old world, add when, a quarter of a century later, Martin Luther struck the key note of the Reformation by attacking the sale of indulgences, and was in vigorous growth when our national life began. One cannot but regret that it had not been left to fall at some future time, by natural decay.
Many similar hunts took place in those early times, and the experience of almost every family in contests with bears and wolves, and other wild animals of the forest, if recounted, would make a volume of itself.
The first settlement in the southern part of Parkman was made in 1816, by Asaph Sexton, who purchased a tract of land lying on the road leading north from the center of Nelson, and extending to the township line. In 1819 he sold the greater part of it to Barnet Dixon, who owned it until about 1842. This farm is now owned by Mrs. C. M. Bestor. The southern portion, which Mr. Sexton retained possession of for some years, is now owned by Sanford Smith.
In the same year (1816), Oliver Gavitt, a native of Rhode Island, built the house in the village now owned by Edwin McCall, and which is still known as the "Gavitt house." At the time of its erection it was considered, in style and finish, one of the best houses in the country. The grounds in front were laid out in terraces—traces of which still remain—and the whole surrounded by an ornamental fence. He was an unmarried man, and occupied his house alone; was, by trade, a cabinet-maker, in addition to which he made and sold the first fanning-mills ever used in the township.
Beyond this, he was, unfortunately, a very undesirable inhabitant, and furnished no additional moral strength to the community, but quite the contrary.
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 689
In the fall of 1825, he was obliged to leave the country, to avoid prosecution for forgery, and found refuge in Canada, where he married, and after some years, returned to the United States under the name of Green, and settled in Chicago as a banker, where he became quite rich.
In 1857 he murdered his wife by administering poison, and committed suicide in jail, to avoid a public execution.
About the time he left Ohio, his house was purchased by William A. Hopkins, who owned and resided in it till his death in 1862, and it continued to be the home of his family for some years afterwards. Mr. Hopkins was a millwright, and made that, for the most part, his business. He aided in the construction of most of the mills built on this part of Grand river, and in some of them, was master of workmen. He was possessed of more than ordinary mechanical skill, was a man of intelligence and an upright citizen.
His widow and several members of his family still reside in Parkman. The house has lately been put in thorough repair by its present owner.
About the same time in which the Gavitt house was built, the house which stands on the southwest corner of the public square, on the road leading to the river, which is now occupied as a residence by R. L. Blackman, was constructed.
In 1818 Mr. Parkman moved into it, and continued to reside in it till 1821. It was afterwards occupied by different families till 1832, when it was changed into a store, and used as such about two years, by the firm of Gordon and Kellogg.
The next occupant was Nelson C. Merrill who, in 1837, formed a partnership with Leonard Merritt under the name of Merrill and Merritt, and continued in business till the close of 1838. The successor was Samuel W. Durand, and he was succeeded in 1841 and '42, by the firm of Cumins and Paine, and these, by Archy T. Loveland. In 1845 the building was purchased by J. S. Tilden, at which time the firm of J. S. and A. P. Tilden transferred to it their goods from the Williams store, and continued in business till 1855. Soon after this, in the same year, it was purchased by Dr. John French, and again converted into a building, which form it still retains. In 1819 Mr. Paine built a part of the house on the west side of the public square, which was for a long time known as "the Parkman house," and which is now in use as a hotel, in which he resided till his removal to Chardon about the year 1821, when it passed into Mr. Parkman's hands, and in which he resided till his own death in 1832.
In 1816 Isaiah Davis, of Aurelius, New York, bought a tract of land of about four hundred acres, known on the maps as lots one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, in great lot twenty-two, which embraced all the land lying east of the Garrettsville road, including that of the farm now owned by Henry Elwell. He settled upon this tract, and built the house now owned by Mrs. Griffin, in which he resided till his death, which was very sudden, from apoplexy, and which
occurred in 1822.
Being a member of the Masonic fraternity, he was buried with the honors of that body, this being the first interment of the kind in the town.
Mr. Davis had a family of grown up sons and daughters, among whom the land was divided after his death. That portion lying east of the Garrettsville road, was inherited by Henry B. Davis, who built on it a small frame house, and lived on it several years. In 185o, it was purchased by Graham Thompson, who lived on it till his death, in 1853, and built the house now on the place. It is now owned by Dr. John French, who has resided in the town since 1854, as a medical practitioner.
The farm now owned by Henry Elwell, as well as that owned by James and Henry Linsley, fell to Samuel, another son of Isaiah Davis, who built a log house near the site of the present building, on the Elwell farm, and resided on
690 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY OHIO.
it several years. It was afterwards owned by Calvin Merrit, and some years later, by Stephen Crofferd, who built the frame house.
James Linsley came from Oneida county, New York, in 1836, and purchased the farm upon which he now resides, in 1864.
In 1816, Barton F. Avery came to Parkman, from Cayuga county, New York. He was, by trade, a chair maker and painter, and for some years held a monopoly in his vocation. In April, 1817, he married Miss Betsy Mown, a niece of Mr. Isaiah Davis, who had accompanied her uncle's family in their emigration to Ohio.
He built a house and shop, in the western part of the village, neither of which is now standing. He held, for some time, the office of justice of the peace, and was postmaster, from 1829 to 1835. In 1835, he removed to Chardon, and was postmaster, also, of that place. In 1834, he was appointed to the post of associate judge in the county, which he held till the office was abolished, under the new constitution, in 1851. He died in 1857. Mrs. Avery died in March, 1879.
His cousin, Austin H. Avery, came with hint into the new country, and made the first settlement on a lot north of the village, now owned by Edwin M. Call, not far from his present residence, but afterwards removed to the village and bought the place now owned by Hiram Young, upon which he built a small house, which still forms a part of the present tenement. Mr. Avery was married in July, 1817, to Artelissa Moses. The ceremony was performed by Hendrick E. Paine, and was the fourth marriage in the town, that of B. F. Avery having occurred a few weeks previous. The story goes, that the bride, who lived in Mr. Paine's family, was busily engaged in her household duties, when the wedding hour arrived, whereupon she wiped her hands, rolled down her sleeves, took her place, and was married, and at once resumed her employment.
Mr. Avery removed from the town about the year 1827, and the place was purchased by Augustus Sayles, who lived on it till 1838, when it became the property of Harry W. Cook, who made a large addition to the house, and opened a hotel, which he continued to keep till 1853.
Mr. Cook became an inhabitant of the town in 1834, and still resides in it. Mrs. Cook, who was an active, energetic woman, and particularly skilled in the care of the sick, died in March, 1873.
Their youngest son, Frederick T. Cook, who has settled in the town, was a soldier in the 105th regiment, in the war of the Rebellion.
The Burton road was surveyed and laid out by Chester Elliott, in 1809, and was the second road located in the town. At this time nothing was attempted, except cutting down the trees, and clearing the ground for a space sufficient to render travel possible.
In 1826, it was "worked," by being let out in sections, and travel upon it rendered comparatively easy.
The first settlement upon this road was made in 1816, in the northwest corner of the town, by Bela Burroughs, who built a log house, and sold it, in 1821, to Russell Smith, who afterwards sold it to Enoch Slitor. It was known for some years as the "Slitor place." After the death of Mr. Slitor, about the year 1830, it was purchased by Harris Gould, who built on it a substantial frame house. This farm is now owned by N. M. Goff.
The farm, on the opposite side of the road, now owned by Homer Burroughs, was settled by a Mr. Shaw, in 1817, who lived on it six years. In 1823, he sold it to Mr. Brockman.
The two lots of land, directly south of the Slitor place, were first purchased in 1817, by Justus Rider. There is no record to show that Mr. Rrder made
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 691
any settlement on his purchase, although the land was deeded to him at the time. About 1838, it was bought by Joseph Holdridge, who cleared the land, built upon it, and owned it for some years. It is now owned by John Hoxter.
The other lot, bought by Mr. Rider, and which was afterwards known as the "Bell lot," was settled by Rev. Tillinghast Green, in 1436, who, not long after, built a frame house, and lived in it till his death, in 1869. He was a Baptist preacher, and for some time, occupied the pulpit of the Baptist church, which then stood on this road, near the corner of that running southwest, not far from his farm. This was a log building, erected in 1825, and was the first church building, of any kind, in the town. It was continued in use, as a church, till about 1838, when it was removed.
Mr. Green's farm, which extends east, to the West Middlefield road, is now owned by his son, Stephen A. Green.
John Pierce was the first settler on the farm now owned by Orrin Maynard, which lies on the opposite side of the road, and directly west of the Rider purchase. In 1838 it was sold by him to Barney Torrey, an unmarried man, who built a small house and resided in it, with two sisters, also unmarried. They were somewhat noted, during the early days of the anti-slavery agitation, as being in sympathy with the Garrisonian abolitionists.
As early as 1818, if not before, the farm now owned by John Jolly was taken up by Uriah Brant, who built a log house and settled on it with his family. Mr. Brant was a teamster, and his large Pennsylvania wagon, with its canvas top and four sturdy horses, was for years one of the institutions of the time, and the medium of conveyance from Fairport of nearly all the merchandise brought into the town. In 1831 he sold this land to Mr. Jolly, and removed to a lot on the opposite side of the road, upon which he built a second log house. This place he sold in 1837 to Elisha Thayer, and removed from the town. Mr. Thayer built the house upon the place, and still owns it.
In 1830 John Brant, the eldest son of Uriah Brant, lost his life by the rupture of a blood vessel, caused by lifting a barrel of salt into a wagon without assistance.
The farm next south of the original Brant settlement was first purchased of the Parkmans by Stephen Gales, who sold it in 1834 to Thomas Young, its present owner. It lies on both sides of the road, and is one of the few farms which have remained without change of owners for more than forty years.
As early as 1818 the farm lying on the west side of the road, and south of that of Thomas Young, was purchased by Noah Packard, who settled upon it at the time of his purchase, and soon after built a small frame house. Being a good farmer, he in a few years brought his land under cultivation. Very soon after the rise of Mormonism, he became a convert to its tenets, and in 1835, having sold his farm to George Burden, he removed to Kirtland, which had then become the Mormon headquarters. He was one of the original "seventy elders" appointed by Joseph Smith, and one of the officers of the bank established by Smith in that place. He removed to Nauvoo at the time of the Mormon emigration thither, and thence to Utah, where he died.
After the death of Mr. Burden, in 1844, the farm came into the possession of his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Gamaliel Warren, and is now owned by their son, Burden J. Warren, except a portion of the southern part, which is the property of a daughter, Mrs. Mary J. Hopkins. Mr. Burden was a soldier in the war of 1812.
A few years subsequent to the settlement of Mr. Packard, the farm south of his was purchased by Hiram Dayton. He also was a convert to the Mormon faith, and sold his farm in 1838 to share the fortunes of its followers. He emigrated with them to Nauvoo, and afterwards to Utah, where he died, and where
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his descendants still live. This farm was purchased of Mr. Dayton, by John Gore, who owned it several years. From 1847 to 1849 it was owned by Henry Pitner, and was sold by him to Joseph Morton, who built a new house in place of the small frame one built by Mr. Dayton, and owned it till his death in 1869, at which time it passed into the possession of his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Warren W. Smith, who now own it. Mr. Morton was a soldier in the war of 1812.
After the sale of this farm, Mr. Pitner removed to the village, where he continued to reside, a part of the time engaged in business as a merchant, until 1867, at which time he removed to Laporte, Indiana, where he died in t868. Shortly after his death his family returned to Parkman, where they still reside, having, since their return (in 1872), erected a commodious dwelling in the village, on the northern part of the land originally owned by John P. Converse.
Mr. Pitner's son, Henry B., was a soldier in the 105th Ohio regiment in the war of the Rebellion.
The land comprising the farm and mill site, on the Burton road, bounded on the north by the road leading west to Troy, now owned by E. L. Bailey and M. A. Hopkins, was taken up as early as 1816, by Horace R. Peck, who occupied it about sixteen years. During this time, in 1828, a Baptist church was organized, of which he was made one of the deacons. They occupied as their place of worship the Baptist church building to which previous reference has been made. They maintained their organization for a number of years, but have now become disbanded.
In 1832 the northern part of this land was bought of Mr. Peck by Orrin Percival, who built a frame house upon it in 1838, and owned it until 1864, at which time it was purchased by Mr. Bailey, who now owns it. In 1875 the Percival house was removed by Mr. Bailey, and its site occupied by a very fine residence.
The southern part was bought, in 1847, by Matthew A. Hopkins, who built upon it a dwelling house and steam saw-mill, which he still owns. Richard, his son, was a soldier in the 25th Ohio regiment, in the war of the Rebellion.
In 1812 Elijah Ford, a native of Plainfield, Massachusetts, emigrated to Ohio. After a stay of a year in Burton, in which time he found a wife in the person of Miss Esther Johnson (who had settled in Burton with her parents in 1801), he purchased, in 1813, a farm in Welshfield, lying on the east line of that township, on what is now the road leading west to the center, and settled upon it, but removed just over the line, into Parkman, in 1819. For some time their nearest neighbors on the east were Mr. Peck, who lived a mile distant, and Nathaniel Colson, who, not long after Mr. Ford's purchase, settled on the farm lying between him and Mr. Peck, which is now owned by Oran Morton. Mr. Ford continued to live on this farm (upon which he built a frame house, and other buildings), till 1837, at which time he bought a farm nearer the village, on the Burton road, at the point which is now known as Ford's corners, and again built a house, in which he resided till his death, in 1855.
This farm is now owned by his eldest son, Horace J. Ford. The old Ford farm is owned by Edward Rice.
In 1820 Mr. Ford was commissioned sergeant of a rifle company, in the Second regiment of the Ohio militia, and rose successively through all the grades to that of colonel of the Fifth regiment. In 1830 he resigned his commission, and retired from the service.
Mrs. Ford died in 1852.
In 1817 Dr. John W. Scott, a native of Vermont, came to Parkman. He was born in Newbury, Vermont, August 6, 1791. His father, John Scott, was a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and settled in Vermont in 1774.
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During the boyhood of Dr. Scott, Vermont was a new State, and the children of her settlers were thrown upon their own resources to which he was no exception. His love of study was fed by the perusal of such books as fell within his reach, and the long winter evenings in that northern latitude gave him leisure, while the blazing fire of pine knots in the ample fire-place was the student's lamp, by which he read and studied.
He began the study of medicine under the tuition of Dr. James Dennison, of Royalton, Vermont, in 1813. In 1816 he entered the medical department of Dartmouth college, from which he graduated in 1817. While in college, he became intimately acquainted with Thaddeus Stevens, who was then in the last year of his college course. Immediately after graduating, he made the journey to Ohio on horseback. At Painesville he met Charles C. Paine who persuaded him to go to Parkman, which had then no resident physician.
Here he settled and entered, at once, upon the practice of his profession, to which he devoted himself with a singleness of purpose, which is a sure precursor of success. With the exception of two years, 1836 and 1838 which he spent in Chardon, his professional labors were confined to Parkman and the adjoining townships. Other physicians came and went, but he remained, and thus his interests, both pecuniary and professional, were identified with the town.
In 1819 he was appointed associate judge for Geauga county, with George Tod, the father of David Tod, president, and remained on the bench several years. This is the only office, except that of school director, which he ever held.
In 1821 he built the house in the north part of the village, in which he lived the remainder of his life. In the same year he married the eldest daughter of Judge Noah Hoyt.
Eight children were the fruit of this marriage, the two eldest of whom died within a few days of each other, of epidemic dysentery, in 1825, and the youngest of the same disease in 1840.
The others, three sons and two daughters, survived their parents.
Dr. and Mrs. Scott passed their whole married life, a period of thirty-one years, with the exception of the two years spent in Chardon, in the same house, in which they began housekeeping in 182i, and in which Mrs. Scott continued to reside till her death in 1859. This place is still known as "the Scott place;" it is now owned by Mrs. Mary Parkman.
Dr. Scott enjoyed, in a high degree, the confidence and respect of his brother physicians. He gave to the study of his profession his deepest thought, and to the practice of it his best energies, while the fatigue, inseparable from it, was lightened in his leisure hours by the love and pursuit of literature. He died, after a short illness, June 16, 1852. In religious belief, Dr. Scott was an Episcopalian; in politics, a Republican. He was one of the earliest members of the masonic lodge, which was instituted in Parkman soon after his settlement, having taken high degrees in the fraternity before he left Vermont.
His brother, Robert W. Scott, joined him in 1820, and bought a piece of land west of the village, on the west side of the old Burton road, at its point of intersection with the east and west road, upon which he built a house, and afterwards a tannery, which he carried on till 1831, when he removed from the place. That part of the property upon which the house stood is now owned by John Browning. But a small part of the original house is now standing, a new one having been built on its site. The tannery has long since disappeared.
In 1817, Junia Blood and family, from Cayuga county, New York, settled on a small farm east of the Davis purchase. Mr. Blood was by trade a cooper, and for some years was the only one of his guild in the township. Soon after his arrival he built a log house and shop on his land, where he lived and wrought for more than forty years. The log house was succeeded by a frame one, built
694 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
by his youngest son, John S. Blood, with whom both Mr. and Mrs. Blood removed to Iowa, where, not long after, they both died. The Blood place is now owned by Hymeneus Bundy.
An important accession to the township in 1817, was made in the person of Sherburn H. Williams, a native of Salem, Connecticut, but for some time a resident of Aurora, New York, which place he left when a young man, to try his fortune in the then far west, of Ohio. Possibly, his acquaintance with the Phelps family led him to Parkman. In this year, also, be began business as a merchant in Parkman. There had been no store in the place since the dissolution of the firm of Parkman & Paine. Shortly after his arrival he built a store on the north side of the public square, which he occupied for about eighteen years. He soon created a business, as he dealt largely in produce in exchange for merchandise, which was shipped to New York and other cities, as
the demands of trade required. He made a specialty of the purchase of cheese, and thus stimulated the production of that article, which went far towards laying the foundation of the cheese manufacture, which has since made Geauga county noted in that particular.
In 1820, Mr. Williams married Miss Harriet Delano, of Aurora, New York, and established his household in a building on the south side of the public square, in which he lived till his death, in 1835, and where his family continued to reside till the death of Mrs. Williams, in 1871, and where, also, as years passed, a family of eight children were born and reared, five of whom lived to adult age.
Mr. and Mrs. Williams were both persons of refinement, and of literary taste and culture, and, with a few other families, contributed largely in forming and giving an elevated tone to the society of the township, which is rare in a new settlement. Their library of well chosen books was made free to all who had taste for reading, and their devotion to the educational interests of the township had an elevating and lasting impression upon the younger portion of the community. To their efforts, with a few others, was due the maintenance, for some years, of an academical and classical school of high order, which was the means of disseminating considerable culture.
Mr. Williams held the rank of major, and afterwards captain, of the Parkman militia company, and was also, for some time, justice of the peace. He succeeded Mr. Avery as postmaster in 1835, which office he held at the time of his death, which took place, after s short illness, November 23d, of that year, at the age of forty-one.
The death of Mr. Williams left to his wife the care of their family of six children, to the rearing and educating of which she devoted herself with all a mother's love. Possessed of a cheerful temper, and even temperament, she discharged the duties of life with firmness, and met its trials with calmness and fortitude. Her mind richly stored by varied and extensive reading, her rare conversational powers and pleasing address, made her a delightful companion to young and old. To these qualities of mind and manner was added a heart which could always find some good in every one, and who, if she had an enemy, would have overcome animosity with simple kindness. Her letters were models of epistolary excellence, and are kept among the treasures of those who were favored with her correspondence. The generation with whom her husband and herself first shared their hospitable 'hearth has mostly passed away, but those of later years, who enjoyed her friendship, cherish her memory with deep affection. She died, at the age of seventy-four, after a short illness, November 26, 1871.
The oldest son, Frederick D. Williams, is the only one of the family remaining in Parkman. Two other sons, Sherburn H. and Russell M., have removed to Kansas, where the latter has been for several years a member of the State sen-
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 695
ate. Christopher M. the youngest son, died in that State in 1864 The only surviving daughter, M., M., resides in California.
About 1827, Russell Williams, elder brother of Sherburn H., entered into partnership with him under the firm name of R. & S. H. Williams, which continued during the life of the latter. The business was continued by Russell Williams till within a few years of his own death, in 1846, the greater part of the time in partnership with Josiah S. Tilden, under the firm of Williams & Tilden. A few years after his settlement in Parkman, he was married, at his brother's house, to Miss Mary Morgan, of Aurora, New York, and the two families, though nominally separate, were always united in mind and heart.
On the death of his brother, Russell Williams succeeded him as postmaster, which office he held till his death, which took place, after a short illness, October 5, 1846. In 1843 he built the large brick house on the south side of the public square, in which he resided till his death, and which remained in the possession of his widow till her own death, in 1859. Mr. Williams was a soldier
in the war of 1812.
Mr. Tilden, after the death of Mr. Williams, continued the business in the same building till 1844, at which time he transferred it to the building on the southwest corner of the public square, now the residence of R. L Blackman, which he occupied till 1855, at which time he closed business as a merchant. During a part of this time he was in partnership with his nephew, Abram P. Tilden, under the firm of J. S. & A. P. Tilden. He succeeded Mr. Williams as postmaster, and held the office until 1849. He purchased the "Wallace" farm, east of the village, and built on it, in 1843, a large frame dwelling, in which he resided till his removal to Cleveland, in 1865, where he now [1878] resides. He was a son of one of the pioneers of Hiram, Portage county. In the same year [1865) Abram P. Tilden removed to Chardon, having been elected to the office of county auditor, which office he held during two terms. He is still a resident of Chardon,
The Williams store was occupied from 1846 to 1848 by Cumins & Chapin; from 1849 to 1854 by Edward B. Parkman, who was also postmaster at that time; from 1854 to 1856 by William Sessions; from 1857 to 1861 by Francis & Wells. The present [1878) occupants are Kellogg & Percival.
In 1817, the Western Phoenix (masonic) lodge was instituted by Edward Paine, jr. Among its early members were: Charles C. Paine, Hendrick E. Paine, Isaiah Davis, John W. Scott, Sherburn H. Williams, Abner H. Fairbanks, Barton F. and Austin H. Avery, and Alexander Dunn. Other names, from Mesopotamia, Farmington, Burton, Welshfield, and Nelson, show that it was, at that
time, the only lodge in the vicinity. In this year, a large frame building, designed for a school, and also for a place of religious worship, was built on the east side of the public square. It was of two stories, and the upper part was used, for several years, by the lodge, as their place of meeting. In 1825, the fraternity put up the frame of the building which is now the town hall. The Morgan excitement put a stop to its completion, and the organization ceased to exist. The building was afterwards purchased by the town, and sufficiently finished for school purposes and for religious worship. The upper part is now used for the high school; the lower part is the town hall. The lodge was reconstituted in 1857, and is now in a flourishing state. Their meetings are now held in a room owned by them in the village.
In this year, one of the settlers was Alexander Dunn, from Monroe county, New York, who bought the farm adjoining that of Mr. Fairbanks, on the south. He was a carpenter, and immediately after his arrival, began the building of the school-house and masonic lodge. The work was forwarded with so much dispatch, that the summer school was finished within its wall;. The winter term
696 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
of 1817-18 was taught in it, by Alfred Phelps, and as long as it remained on its first site, a school, with competent teachers, was maintained in it. At the time of its erection, it was a building of much more pretention than any used for that purpose in Cleveland. It superceded a small log building which had, until that time, served as a school-house, and in which, probably, the first school was taught; situated a few rods east of the village, on land now owned by O. C. Smith. In
1825, Mr. Dunn married Miss Betsey Owen, daughter of Daniel Owen, and began housekeeping, in a log house, on his farm. He carried on successfully his double vocation of builder and farmer for many years, superintending the erection of many of the houses in the township, including a tasteful residence for himself, and lived for more than fifty years on the farm which he originally purchased. His death occurred in 1875, in his seventy-ninth year. He was a man of gentle and unassuming manners, and was much esteemed, both as a neighbor and a citizen. He served a short time in the war of 1812. In the formation of the first militia company of Parkman, he was made ensign, and on the promotion of Captain Fairbanks to the rank of major, he succeeded to the
captaincy. His widow, and a son and daughter still reside in Parkman. The
homestead still remains in the family.
Not long after the organization of the militia company, about the year 1822, or 1823, the ladies united in furnishing a flag for their use, by contributing fine linen, of their own spinning, which was woven and made by them, while the painting of the stars and stripes was done by Barton F. Avery. When completed, it was presented to the company by Miss Sophia Doty,* with an address by Mrs. Owen. The presentation speech on this occasion has not been preserved. The
following is the answer of Captain Fairbanks:
" LADIES OF PARKMAN : The officers and soldiers of the Parkman company accept this flag as a memento of your industry and patriotism. We hope and trust we never shall forget at what time, and for what purpose, our gallant fathers rallied around Columbia's standard, nor the mighty virtue which bore them through a seven years' struggle, and enabled them at length, through the blessing of Heaven, to achieve our independence. We will never forget that to their efforts we owe the possession of the best government on earth, the guarding and preserving of which we may confidently promise, so long as our women continue to remind us of our duty, and if our country shall call us into her service, and we shall march under this banner, the remembrance that it is committed to us by our wives and mothers, sisters and daughters, will give courage to our hearts,
and nerve our arms to act as becomes the soldiers of America.
" Ensign: It becomes your duty to take charge of this flag, a present from the patriotic ladies of Parkman. Although, in time of peace it is merely used for parade and ceremony, yet remember, in war it serves as a rallying point for the soldier. Its charge, then, becomes a matter of serious concern, and you are to part with it but with your liberty or life."
This was the first flag owned by any company in the county, and at the next following general training at Burton, the Parkman company marched in advance of the others, carrying the colors.
The farm now owned by A. A. Sperry, in the southern part of the town, was first bought by Lemuel Purdy in 1817, who retained possession of it till 1822, when it was purchased by James McElwaine, from Madison county, New York, who built the house now on the place, and lived in it till his death in 1840.
The year after his settlement, in 1823, the Presbyterian church was organized by Rev. Benjamin Fenn, with ten members, of which he was the first deacon,
* Sophia Doty was a daughter of Captain Asa Doty, and came to Parkman, with her father, in 1815. In 1833, she was married US William H. Stirlman, and soon after removed to Cleveland, where she resided until her death; in April, 1876.
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which office he continued to fill during his life. During this time, in it n till a836, the church adopted the Congregational form of government, which retains. In 1874 they erected a neat and convenient house of worship.
Deacon McElwaine was a man of retired habits, and universally esteemed for his moral worth and uprightness in all the relations of life. None of his family live in the township..
Mr. Purdy, after selling his farm to Deacon McElwaine, purchased a farm lying directly east of that first settled by Mr. Sexton, upon which he lived till about 1840, when he sold it to Lewis Geitner and removed to Michigan. Mr. Geitner built and carried on a tannery for several years. He sold to Orville Smith, who now owns it.
The farm known as the Farrington place was first settled by Barnet Dixon, from Madison county, New York, in 1817. In 1820 he sold it to Samuel Stock barn, from the same place, who owned it till his death in 1821, when it passed into the possession of Joseph There is a rrington, who lived on it till 1870. It is now owned by Frederic Williams this farm. There is a valuable quarry of building stone on this farm.
The farm lying north of the Farrington place was sold in 1817 to Joseph Tidd, who came into the country with Alexander Dunn, but who removed from , the township after a few years. This land is now owned by Andrew Sperry, who also owns the lot lying directly west of it, which was first settled by Abram . P. Cross, in 1820. Mr. Sperry has owned this land since 1835, and built the
se in which he reside.
In 1818, Daniel Earles from Feces, Massachusetts, purchased the fulling house, mill, near the bridge, at the village. This mill was first built in 1813, by Hendrick E. Paine, and was afterwards owned and worked by him for some years. Mr. Earle enlarged the building into a factory for the spinning and the weaving of woolen cloths of all grades introducing ine best machinery then in use. The enterprise in the end was not successful, as the country was not sufficiently advanced in its products and population to furnish the necessary support, and probably lacked prudent management on the part of the proprietor. The failure involved many others in pecuniary loss, in some cases to an extent which was severely felt.
The establishment, in 1827, passed into the hands of Mr. A. C. Gardner, who managed the business with better success. It continued in operation until about 1835.
Mr. Earle left the township in 1830.
In 1818, John P. Converse, a native of Orange county, Vermont, but more recently from Cayuga, New York, became one of the inhabitants of Parkman. Shortly after his arrival in the township, he purchased a lot in the village, containing several s, eral acre bounded on the west by the road running north and south, and on the south by that running east and west, nd extending on the east to a , little stream called Rocky run. On the southwest corner of this lot stood an unfinished house, which he put in order, and removed into it in the spring of There being then no house of pubic entainment in the township and the 1819.
There being then no house of public entertainment in the township, and location being suitable for that purpose, he opened a hotel, which he kept with one or two intermissions, till 1833.
In order to open a market for grain, Mr. Parkman and Mr. Converse, in 1820, built, and for some years carried on, the large distillery which formerly stood not far from the east end of the present bridge, and which was then considered a great addition to the business interests of the township, as it furnished a medium of exchange for commodities in Pittsburg, New York, and, other markets. It continued in operation till 1835, when the building was converted to other uses
698 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
In 1821 they built a saw-mill and a mill for the manufacture of linseed oil, on opposite banks of the river, below the village, near the site of the present bridge, both of which continued in successful operation till about 1837. The oil-mill was then the only one in the vicinity, and created a ready market for flax-seed, producing, therefrom, a valuable commodity, which was always in demand.
In 1823 they took measures for the erection of a paper-mill, on the river, above the oil-mill. At this point the banks were so high that, although the building was one of three stories, the roof only came above the bank. After the foundation was laid, and the frame put up and enclosed, the original plan was changed, and it was finished as a flour-mill. It continued in operation till
February, 1830, when it was destroyed by fire. At the time of its destruction it was nearly filled with wheat.
In felling the timber for this mill, in the spring of 1823, an accident occurred which resulted in the death of Asa Pettis, one of the workmen, the first event of the kind which had ever taken place in the township.
In the fall of 1824, Mr. Converse opened a store in the building first used for that purpose, by Parkman and Paine.
The next year he entered into partnership with his elder brother, Porter Converse, which continued till 1828, when it was dissolved, and the business closed. Shortly after this, Porter Converse removed to Unionville, Lake county, and continued there in business as a merchant some years. He continued to reside there till his death in 1870, at the age of ninety-two.
In 1825 he, with Eleazer Hickox, of Burton, and Isaac Mills, of Portage county, was appointed "to lay out, improve and keep in repair a road leading from Chardon in Geauga county, through Burton and Parkman village, in a direction towards Warren."
The working of this road through Parkman devolved upon him, and was performed soon after the date of his commission. He also, at this time, superintended the putting in good traveling order several other roads in the township. "Whatsoever his hand found to do," was done promptly. Shortly before this, he, with some others, contracted with the post-office department to carry the mail from Fairport to Warren, in a conveyance suitable for the accommodation of travelers, which was the first public conveyance in this part of the county, the mill having previously been carried on horseback once or twice a week. The new line of stages soon became a daily, and the route, one of the main lines of travel from the Ohio river to the lake. His connection with the
post-office department under this and other contracts continued about twelve years.
After the burning of the flour mill in 1830, Mr. Parkman, in 1831, began the construction of the mill which now stands on the river, just below the upper bridge, nearly on the site of the first saw-mill, but dying in 1832 before the completion, It was purchased by Mr. Converse, and finished by him in 1834. In 2839 it was enlarged, and the capacities greatly increased. This mill remained In his possession during his life. It is now (1878) owned by Jesse Pritchard.
(The reader is referred to the biographical sketch of Mr. Converse for further particulars of his life.)
In 1824 Daniel G. Converse, an elder brother of J. P. Converse, from Orange county, Vermont, settled in Parkman with his family. In 1829 he bought the farm on the township line, on the south side of the road leading directly west from the village, which is now owned by John Chapman.
This farm was first purchased in 1823, by Silas Merriam, who cleared a part of it, and set out an orchard, but failing in health, he returned to Massa-
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 699
chusetts, and the place reverted to its original owners. It was long known as the Merriam place.
In 1839 he built the house now on the place, and lived in it till about 1850. In 1855 he removed to Ionia county, Michigan, where he died in 1858. While a resident of Parkman he held for some years the office of justice of the peace, and for a greater part of the time, that of deacon in the Congregational church. He was a soldier in a Vermont regiment in the war of 1812. None of his
family are left in the township.
His four sons, all natives of Parkman, and a son-in-law, served in Michigan regiments, in the war of the Rebellion. Two of them—James H. and Daniel Gilbert, jr.—from the beginning to the end of the war, and were the greater part of the time in active service. One son, Josiah, and his son-in-law, Sherburn Tidd, died in the service.
The farm lying on the township line, directly north of Merrion place, was first settled in 1819, by Daniel Corliss, who built a log house, and owned and lived in it till 1835. It is now owned by Andrew Bennet, who has built upon the place and otherwise improved it.
Shortly after the building of the Hanchett fulling-mill in 1813, a road was open from the village as far as the mill, and was known as the Hanchett road. In 1821 a survey was made to the township line, by Alfred Phelps, and the road opened. Previous to this, a path through the woods was the only means of reaching the Corliss purchase.
In 1818 Elisha Harris, from Chenango county, New York, bought the whole of lot one in great lot twenty-one, and so much of lots two and three, as would make four hundred acres. On the southern portion of this tract he built a log house, and in 1819 moved into it with his family. At that time there was no road leading from the village in that direction. In 1820 the present road was surveyed by Alfred Phelps, and opened sufficiently for travel. This road was, some years later, extended to the township of Mantua, passing through Harrison, and is known as the Rapids road.
Mr. Harris was so fortunate as to possess the means of paying at once for his land, and still more fortunate in being the father of several sons of sufficient age to render him assistance in bringing it under cultivation.
About the year 1825 he sold the northwestern portion, comprising the whole of lot one, to Simon Davis, son-in-law of Isaiah Davis, who emigrated to Ohio in that year, with his family, from Genessee county, New York, and settled on his purchase, first in a log house, which in due time was succeeded by a frame one. This farm continued in the family of Mr. Davis till 1853, and the western portion is still owned by his daughter, Miss Betsey Davis. Mr. Davis died in 1863.
Two of Mr. Davis' sons settled in Parkman. The elder, James Wilson, on attaining manhood, entered into business as a merchant, but died of consumption before he had completed his thirtieth year, leaving a widow and one son, James Wilson, who, with the daughter of the other son, Miss Ellen Davis, are the only descendents of Simon Davis, now residing in the township.
Lovzinski, the third son, was a farmer, and for the last ten years of his life was the owner of the Kirtland farm. He was appointed postmaster in 1864, which office he held at the time of his death, in 1875, and also held that of justice of the peace for fourteen years previous to that event. His widow, Mrs. Sophia Davis, still owns the farm and resides on it with her daughter.
Mr. Harris continued to own the remainder of his land, (upon the southern portion of which he built a substantial frame house), till 1832, when pecuniary embarrassments, occasioned by becoming surety for a neighbor, obliged him to sell it, at which time he removed to Hiram, Portage county, in which place be resided till his death, in 1845.
700 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
Mrs. Harris died at the residence of her youngest son, in Chester,a Geauga county, in 1855. No member of the Hams family now remains in Parkman. Both Mr. and Mrs. Harris were members of the first Methodist church, organized in that part of the town.
In 1832, Captain Augustus R. Baldwin, from Herkimer county, New York, bought all that part of the Harris farm lying north of the road, and which was already furnished with a substantial log house. In 1839, he built the frame house, now on the place, and continued to reside in it for some years. In 1852, he sold this farm to Nelson Richards, having previously made a purchase of a farm lying north of the village, on the Burton road, upon which he built the house in which he now resides. In 1840, he succeeded Deacon McElwaine, as deacon of the Congregational church, which office he still retains. Mr. Baldwin was a soldier in the war of 1812.
Mrs. Baldwin died in April, 1875. She was greatly beloved in her life, and regretted, in her death, by all who knew her, and especially by the members of her own family. She was a woman of rare sweetness of temper, and consistent piety. The law of kindness was ever on her lips, and in her heart.
In 1836, the southern portion of the Harris farm was bought, by David Kester, from Onondaga county, New York, who owned it for some years. This was also purchased by Nelson Richards, and the whole is now owned by John Johnson.
Mr. Kester continued to reside in Parkman, till his death, in 1875. He served for a short time in the army, in the war of 1812.
The farm lying directly west of the Harris farm, was first settled by Warren Bentley, and was sold by him, to Jesse Pritchard, in 1836. In 1839, it was sold by Mr. Pritchard to Lucius T. Cadwell, who is the present owner. In 1840, he built the house in which he has resided since that time.
His son, Theodore Cadwell, owns the farm adjoining this, on the west, which was first settled in 1828, by Luther Sanford, who put up a hewn log house, soon after the purchase. This farm was sold by him in 1833, to George Reed, who built a frame house in 1851, and sold it to Mr. Steel in 1857, of whom it was bought by its present owner in 2861. Mr. Cadwell, since his purchase, has enlarged the house built by Mr. Reed.
The first settlement on the road leading west from the village was made in 1820, by Hiram Harris, one of the elder sons of Elisha Harris, and was located directly north of the original Harris purchase. This land was sold by him in 1822 to Ira Webster, son-in-law of Isaiah Davis.
Mr. Webster resided on this farm-first in a log house, then in a frame one-till 1846, when, having sold it to Deacon A. Waters, he removed to Chardon, where he still lives. He was a soldier in the war of 1822.
Not far from the time of Mr. Webster's settlement in Parkman, a small Methodist church was organized, of which himself and wife were members, and of which he is the sole survivor.* They met, in the early times, at the houses of the members, but, after the building of the Town hall, it was occupied by them at stated times for public worship.
Their numbers having sufficiently increased, they, in 1842, built a church in the western part of the village, on land donated for this purpose by General Perkins. In 1858, by an exchange of lots, the church was removed to the opposite side of the street, and re-fitted; and again, in 1874, it was almost entirely re-built, in modern style. It is the largest and most costly church edifice in the township.
The Webster farm is now owned by Royal Burton, except the western part,
* Mr. Webster died at Chardon, In 1877.
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO- 701
which was purchased, in 1845, by Hardin Bennet, of Cayuga county, New York, who owned it till his death, in January, 1877.
The land lying between the Merriam and Webster farms was purchased, in 1830, by Harvey Carter, who settled on it immediately, and has since owned it. In 1840 he built on it the frame house in which he lives.*
Mr. Carter bought his farm of Mr. Parkman, and the ownership has remained unchanged for more than forty-six years.
The farm lying north of Mr. Carter's, and east of the Corliss place, was purchased by Nelson Davis, the eldest son of Simon Davis, in 1831. After having cleared a portion of it, he sold it, in 1834, to Joseph Stockwell, of whom it was bought, in 1844, by Joseph Knight. Mr. Knight built a frame dwelling house and remained on the place till 1853, at which time he sold it to William Benton, who again sold it, in 1866, to its present owners, Mr. and Mrs. John Chapman. The house built by Mr. Knight has been removed, and a new one built in its place by Mr. Chapman.
The farm adjoining this on the east was purchased in 1839 by John Groves, from Cayuga county, New York, who some years previous had settled in the township. In 1840 he erected a frame dwelling, in which he lived till 1845, at which time he exchanged with Seymour J. Curtiss, for the lot, and the house built by him a short time previous, which is now owned by A. W. White.
Mr. Curtiss, who had been for some years a resident of the township, continued to own this farm till 1852, at which time it was purchased by Frederick D. Williams, who still owns it. About this time Mr. Curtiss removed to the southern part of the State, where he died, some years after.
Mr. Groves continued to be a resident of Parkman till 1854, at which time he removed to Indiana, where he died, in 1873. Both himself and wife were active members of the Methodist church.
About the year 1819, Zachariah Hosmer, the father of Alonzo Hosmer, from Middlesex county, Connecticut, settled on a farm on the center road, lying west of the Bateman lot, upon which he lived till his death, in 1856, at the age of ninety-four. Mr. Hosmer was a soldier in the war of the Revolution. This farm is now owned by his son, Andrew Hosmer, who has resided in the town since his father's settlement in it. John B. Hosmer, son of Andrew Hosmer, served in the navy during the war of the Rebellion, and died of disease contracted in the service.
Another son, Sylvester Hosmer, made the first settlement on the road leading north to Middlefield from the center, and near the northern boundary of the town,. by the purchase of about three hundred acres lying on both sides of the road, upon which he built, in 1853, the first steam saw-mill ever erected in the town. In 1852 he built a brick house, in which he resided till his death, in 1859. This farm is now owned by his two sons, Chester A. and Perry J. Hosmer.
In 1818, Gilbert Curtiss and Larrea McCall, brothers-in-law, from Middlesex county, Connecticut, purchased each a farm, lying contiguous to each other, near the center of the town, upon which they lived for more than forty years. The McCall farm, when first purchased, was bounded on the east by the Mesopotamia road, but in 1825 it was increased by the purchase of the lot of fifty acres, lying on the east side of this road, which was part of the farm settled in 1820, by Benoni Buck, and sold by him to Mr. McCall shortly before his death. The remaining fifty acres of the Buck farm, now owned by Samuel Ohl, remained in the possession of his family till 1829, when it, was bought by Harvey Dunn, brother of Alexander Dunn, who, some years after, removed to
* Mr. Carter died February 19, 1879. The farm remains with his family.
702 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
Illinois. Mr. McCall retained possession of his farm till 1867, at which time it was sold to George Minturn, its present owner. Mr. McCall died in 1868.
Mr. Curtiss continued to reside on his first purchase, which lay directly west of that of Mr. McCall, till 1864, when he sold it and removed from the town. He now resides in Connecticut. The farm is now owned by Benjamin Blair. None of Mr. Curtiss' family have settled in Parkman. Both himself and Mr. McCall were soldiers in the war of 1812.
In October, 1819, Mr. Seth Smith came to Parkman, from Madison county, New York, and purchased land on the southern boundary of the township, on which he built; first, a log house, and some years after a frame house, for the abode of himself and family. Mr. Smith had a family of seven sons, four of whom settled in the vicinity, and gave the name of Smithville to that part of the township; a name which it still retains.
Ransom, the eldest son of Seth Smith, came, with his younger brother, Marsh, the year before their father, and purchased the land lying between the two roads; Marsh Smith taking that lying on both sides of the western road, which is now owned by Sandford Eddy, upon which he resided more than forty years. About 1871, he removed to Chardon, where he still resides. While living in Parkman, he was several times elected to the office of justice of the peace, and also to that of auditor of the county. Ransom Smith died in 1833. Two of his sons, Alonzo B. and Norman Decatur, with their families, still live in the township. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was a member of the first militia company organized in the township.
This farm is now owned by his brother, Sanford Smith, who still lives on his original purchase, on the Nelson road, not far from the southern boundary line. His family have all settled near him.
In 1838, Mr. Seth Smith sold his farm to Julius B. Upham, and for the remainder of his life lived with his sons. He died, in 1855, at the age of eighty-four.
Mr. Upham built the house, and resided on the place until his death, in 1864. It is still in the possession of the family.
The farm lying directly east of that now owned by Orville Smith was settled in 1820, by Dorrance Williams, who lived on it for some years, when it passed into the possession of Alonzo Brown, who sold it, about 1849, to Dexter Merritt, who owned it until his death, in 1874. The farm is still in the possession of Mr. Merritt's family.
The farm lying directly south of that of Alexander Dunn was settled in 1821, by David, father of Dorrance Williams, who owned it for some years, when it was purchased by Orrin Merritt, who owned it until his death, in 1873, and whose sons are the present owners.
About 1819, Seth Phelps, esq., of Aurora, New York, the father of Mrs. Parkman, and of Alfred Phelps, purchased a part of the Evans place, upon which he settled with his family, and continued to reside till his death in 1826. He was a man advanced in years at the time of his settlement in Parkman, but still in the possession of vigorous health and strength.
He was a pioneer of Cayuga county, having settled shortly after the close of the Revolutionary war, through the whole of which he served immediately under General Washington. He held for some time the office of judge of the supreme court in Cayuga county.
His son, Alfred Phelps, who, it will be remembered, accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Parkman to. Ohio in 1804, remained a member of their family till he grew up to manhood.
He early learned surveying, and also studied law with Mr. Parkman, carrying on both branches of business simultaneously.
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 703
Just before the opening of the war of 1822, he returned to Cayuga county, and at its beginning entered the army as lieutenant, serving under General Van
Rensellaer.
At the battle of Queenstown he was wounded, and taken prisoner, but was released on parole, and returned to Cayuga county. Soon after the close of the war, he returned to Parkman, and entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1820 he married Miss Ann Tousley, of Aurora, New York. A few years later, he built the house in the western part of the village, now owned by Alonzo Bundy, and continued a resident of the town till 1827, at which time he removed to Chardon, and thereafter his history is connected with that town.
Two younger sons of Judge Seth Phelps (Alexander Hamilton and Horatio Nelson), who accompanied their father to Parkman, and grew to manhood there, settled in Michigan.
Still other settlers in 1817 were Allen and Abner Richmond, brothers from Vermont. Soon after their arrival, Allen Richmond bought a lot in the village, north of the original purchase of J. P. Converse, upon which, in 1826, he erected the frame dwelling now owned by D. R, Travis, and owned it till 1834, at which, having removed his residence from the town, it was purchased and
owned for some years, by Rev. Nathaniel Cobb.
Abner Richmond bought several acres of land lying directly east of Mr. Converse's purchase. In 1828 he built a frame house, in which he resided till 2835, when he removed from the town.
From 1839 to 1851 it was owned by Capt. Whitehead Halstead, from Dutchess county, New York.
In 1867 the place was purchased by Orlando C. Smith, by whom the house has been enlarged and refitted, and who still owns and resides in it.
In 1820 Mr. Augustus Sayles, of Chautauqua county, New York, came into the town for the purpose of entering into business. He was by trade a millwright, and as he found a fair opening for the exercise of his vocation, he removed his family to the place in 1821. About the year 1822, in company with Judge Noah Hoyt from Oneida county, New York, and Ebenezer White, he built a large forge on the river, at the foot of what is known as Forge Hill, (to which it gave the name), which was an important addition to the business advantages of the town.
Not long after its completion, Mr. Sayles withdrew from the partnership, and the business was carried on by the other partners till 1824, when Judge Hoyt removed to Chardon, and Mr. White remained sole owner. He continued it in operation till 1833, when it was carried away by a freshet, and was never rebuilt. Mr. White continued to reside in Parkman till his death in 1850.
His son, Mr. E. C. White, and three daughters are still among its inhabitants.
In 1823 Mr. Sayles built the house now owned by Mrs. Maria Burt, which he occupied as a residence for several years. In 1827 he removed for a short time to Garrettsville, but returned to Parkman, and resided there till his death, in 1848. He was a man of very industrious habits, and proficient in his particular calling, of quiet and retiring manners, and a valued citizen.
His wife survived him several years. She died at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Hillman, in Bristol, Trumbull county, in 1866. Mrs. Hillman, who was for many years a resident of Parkman, is the sole survivor of their large family.
William B. Young, brother of Joseph Young, came to Parkman at about the same time, and from- the same place as Mr. Sayles. He was both a carpenter and cabinet-maker, and worked a at both occupations as occasion served. In 1826 he built the house on the lot directly south of that of Dr. Scott's, which is now owned by Dr. Chase. Soon after he married Miss. Charlotte Ford, sister of Elijah Ford, and began housekeeping in this house, which continued to be
704 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
their residence for many years. In 1843 he removed to Farmington, Trumbull county, where he died in 1848.
Mr. Young was a prominent member of the Methodist church, and was very highly esteemed in the community. After his death his family returned to Parkman, where they resided till 186o, at which time Mrs. Young removed to Cleveland, where she died, at the residence of her eldest son, in 1867. None of the family have settled in Parkman.
Two brothers of William Young settled in the township some years after. Elisha, who came in 1836, and is still living there; and Walter, who came in 1839, both from Chautauqua county, New York. Walter Young died in 1865. He served in the army during the war of 1812.
With Mr. Sayles also came Martin Mitchell, a millwright, who worked at his trade in and about Parkman for many years. He afterwards removed to Chardon (and was for some years the owner of " Mitchell's mills"), where he died, May, 1879.
Samuel, the eldest son of Robert B. Parkman, who, it will be remembered, was an infant of a few months old when his father first built his cabin in the depths of the forest, and was therefore the first white child who entered the township, had grown up with the passing years, and had received his education, as many others have done, by the diligent use of such books as his father's not very extensive library afforded, aided by the influences of a home of more than ordinary culture and refinement. At the age of sixteen, having learned surveying, by studying by the fireside, and with little teaching, he accompanied Mr., Otis Sprague to Medina county, and for several months was engaged in a survey of that county, camping in the woods, and taking his share of the discomforts and privations of the expedition.
In November 1825, he left home for the purpose of establishing himself as a surveyor, and directed his course to Steubenville, and from thence, in the same month, he made a journey to Washington on foot, for the purpose of obtaining a government contract for surveying. Failing in this, he returned to Steubenville in the same way, making thus a foot journey of five hundred and forty miles.
He immediately proceeded, by way of the Ohio river, to Shawneetown, from there making another journey, of seventy miles, on foot, to Saint Louis, where he remained some months.
In August, 1826, he went, on a surveying tour, to Fort Osage, three hundred miles up the Mississippi river, where he was dangerously ill for some time without even the commonest comforts of civilized life. As soon as he recovered sufficient strength to travel, which was in the spring of 1827, he returned to La Fayette county, Missouri, where he remained about two years. He here engaged in farming, and, at the same time, held the office of postmaster, at Pettit Saw Bluffs, on the Missouri river, two hundred and forty miles above St. Louis.
In the summer of 1829, having fully recovered his health, he joined the fur company of Smith, Subletz, Jackson & Company, in an expedition to the Rocky mountains. This company was a competitor with the Hudson Bay Company in the fur trade, and in this expedition they penetrated to the sources of the Lewis and Clarke rivers.
The expedition was pecuniarily a successful one, and was replete with experiences, at once novel and interesting, although not without its share of hardship and exposure.
In one of his expeditions he ascended to heights never before trodden by the foot of the white man. Of this journey he says: "I have traveled twelve hundred miles through the Indian country, forded many large rivers, and ascended many high mountains, whose tops are covered with perpetual snow. I have, during the summer, felt the extremes of heat and cold, of hunger and thirst,
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 705
traveling one time five days without food." This long fast was broken by wilds food pr at prepay a daughter-in-lw of Daniel Boone, who then lived in the wilds of western Missouri. He 'speaks of himself as having killed sixty-five buffalo, and relates that at one time, being in advance of his party, on surmounting a bluff, he unexpectedly found himself confronted with a herd of many thousands. How he extricated himself from the dilemma we are not in' formed. This long journey was performed on horseback, but the return was made on foot, the horses being used in conveying the furs which they had obtained.
Returning to St. Louis in the autumn of 1830, he was engaged during the winter of 1830-31 in arranging the notes, and making maps of the route through which they had traveled. At the same time he prosecuted the study of the Spanish language, in preparation for a visit to New Mexico, which he had then in contemplation, and which was carried out in the spring of 1831.
Having formed a partnership with Mr. Smith, the leader of the Rocky mountain expedition, for the purpose of carrying on a trade with New Mexico, the party, consisting of seventy-three men, with twenty-four wagons, began their journey. In crossing what was then known as the Great American desert, they traveled three days without a drop of water and without seeing a trace of vegetation, facing a wind from the sand plains of the south, which he speaks of as being "as parching as a siracco." Here, the senior partner, Mr. Smith, having left the caravan to search for water, which was then the most desirable object on earth, was attacked and killed by the Comanches. After the death of Mr. Smith, the entire charge of the business was in Mr. Parkman's hands.
They reached Santa Fe on the fourth of July, 1835 and remained there one year, during which time he made a journey across the country to Upper California.
Visiting the city of Chihuahua on business, in the fall of 1832, he found himself in the midst of the revolution headed by Santa Anna, which proved disastrous to his enterprises. In 1833, he visited the City of Mexico. Here he made the acquaintance of a party of English gentlemen who were interested in silver mining, and accepted the post of superintendent of a silver mine in Guanajuato, and ultimately was appointed general superintendent of the mines of the State. He continued to reside in this city till the close of his life, in 1873, a space of forty years, during all of which time he was engaged in the mining and assaying of silver. He married a Mexican lady, of Spanish descent, and left a large family of sons and daughters
In the fall of 1825, Timothy M. Burt, from built a tannery on a lot east of the village, now occupied by the cheese factory, and commenced business in that line, which he carried on extensively for several years. In 1828 he married the youngest daughter of R. B. Parkman it and having purchased the house built by Mr. Sayles, began housekeeping in the same and year. This was his residence till his death, from consumption, in 1834, is still occupied by Mrs. Burt. Mr. Burt was a man of active business habits, and irreproachable in all the relations of life. He was a prominent member of the Presbyterian church, a man universally respected, and whose early death, in his thirty-second year, made a void in the community not easily filled.
In 1825 the frame of the present town hall was erected by the Masonic fraternity, for their use as a halL After standing some time unenclosed, it was taken in hands by the town, and so far finished that the lower part could be used for school purposes. Being built in two rooms, which were soso used for arranged that they could be thrown into one for religious meetings, they were several years. The first school taught in the building was in the summer of 1831.
706 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
In 1834, Dr. Scott, S. H. Williams, William B. Young, and John P. Converse, entered into an agreement with each other to sustain an academic school for a term of years, for the benefit of their own families and those of others who should choose to avail themselves of its advantages. The rate of tuition was low, and these gentlemen bound themselves to supply all deficiencies in making up the salary of the teacher.
This school was continued uninterruptedly for seven years. The majority of the teachers were advanced students from Western Reserve College, and one of them was a graduate of Yale.
Since the establishment of graded schools, the upper part has been fitted up for the higher school, while the lower part is used as a town hall.
In 1844 the members of the Universalist society built a church north of the town hall, on a lot of land donated for that purpose by General Perkins. The building has of late undergone extensive repairs.
WEST MIDDLEFIELD ROAD.
The first settlement on what is known as the west road to Middlefield, was made in 1818, by Joseph Terry, who purchased a farm lying on the east side of the road, and having the township line for its northern boundary, and continued to own it till 1841. It is now owned by Jeffrey Silvernail.
The second settlement was made at nearly the same time, with that of Mr. Terry, by William Potter. This land did not lie on the Middlefield road, proper (indeed, at that time, did not lie on any road), but was situated a little to the west of it, and is now bounded on the south side by a road running southwest to the Troy line. Mr. Potter built a log house, by a spring, on the place, in which he lived till 1840.
It is now owned by Israel Pitkin, who also owns the lot lying north of it, which he purchased in 1841, of Lewis Pickett. This lot was first settled by James Carhart.
The house was built by Mr. Pitkin. Except the purchases made by Mr. Terry and Mr. Potter, no settlement was made on this road for some years.
It was, for a time, known as "the negro settlement;" from the fact, that two colored families began a clearing south of the Terry purchase. The next owner of this land, was James Jones, who sold it in 1845, to Franklin Smith, who again sold it in 1860, to Otis B. Newcomb, its present owner.
In 1835, the farm, now owned by A. C. Touse, was settled by James Jones, while the lot directly south of it, and east of the Potter place, was bought by his son, Wheaton, and was on that account, known as "the Jones settlement." That part settled by the elder Jones, was afterwards owned by Clark House, who sold it to its present possessor. The lot settled by Wheaton Jones is owned by Warren Newcomb.
The farm lying directly east of the Terry place, was also settled in 1835, by Gideon Peckham. It is now owned by J. W. Gates.
The first settlement south of the Potter place, which .also extends east to the road, was made in 1836, by Orman and Otis B. Newcomb. The next year, Orman Newcomb sold his claim to his brother, who is the present owner, and by whom the dwelling house, on the place, was built.
In addition to that purchased of Franklin Smith, Mr. Newcomb also owns the lot directly south of it. These two lots were the original negro settlement.
Selah Newcomb, his son, was a soldier in the 105th regiment in the war of the Rebellion, and died of wounds received at the battle of Perryville.
In 1838, Hiram Pickett first settled on the farm directly south of the negro settlement, which he sold, in 1842, to Jackson Robb.
Soon after his purchase, Mr. Robb erected a frame dwelling, which he occu-
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 707
pied, with his family, till 186o, at which time he removed to Cuyahoga county, where he died, a few years after. This farm is now owned by the heirs of Harvey Rice.
The first settlement on the farm directly south of this was made in 1838, by Thomas Cudjew. It was bought of him, the next year, by Orman Newcomb, who still owns it. Mr. Newcomb built the house in which he lives, which occupies the site of a house also built by him, which was burned in 186s. His son, Frank Newcomb, was a soldier, in the One Hundred and Fifth regiment, in the war of the Rebellion.
South of this is the farm owned by James Brown. The northern part of this farm was first settled, in 1838, by William Hammill, who sold it, in 1843, to Levi Patchin. The southern part was settled, in 1841, by Hercules Young, who built a frame house on his purchase. These two lots were bought by James Brown, in 1850.
At the same time, his father, Thomas Brown, bought the farm adjoining it on the south, known as the Percival farm, which was first settled by James Percival, in 1835, and who sold it, a few years later, to Henry D. Scott. Mr. Scott made an addition to his purchase, and sold the whole to Mr. Brown, who owned it until his death, in 1866. It is now owned by his son, Thomas Brown. Thomas Brown, Sr., was a soldier in the war of 1812. His son, Reuben Brown, was a member of the Second Ohio cavalry, in the war of the Rebellion, and died in the service.
The road to Middlefield, which runs directly north from the village, and lies between the centre and the west road, was the last one opened in the township. The first settlement on it was made by Philo Hinckston, in 1838, and lies on the northern boundary line, on the east side of the road, upon which he built a log house. In 185o, Mr. Hinckston sold his interest in the property to Ransellaer Owen, youngest son of Daniel Owen, who built upon it a frame house, and still owns it.
The lot directly south was settled in 1842, by Chester Foote, who built the house, and owned it until 1866, when it came into the possession of its present owner—Miss Polly M. Town.
In 1839, Ethan Payne first settled on the land lying on the west side of the road, now owned by William H. Wells. He built on it a log house, and owned it until 1849. It was purchased by Mr. Wells, in 1862, who built a frame house on the place soon after his purchase.
The farm south of this was first settled, in 1847, by James McLeod, and owned by him until his death, after which it remained in possession of his widow, who sold it, in 1870, to John L. Moore, who now owns it. Both Mr. and Mrs. McLeod died in California.
The farm next south of this was first purchased by Jackson Robb, in 1852, and sold by him, in 1857, to Stephen K. Parkhurst, who has since owned it. The lot next south was also a part of the land originally purchased by Jackson Robb, and descended to its present owner, Mrs. Martha Whitcomb, as one of the heirs of Harvey Rice.
The land now owned by Burt and Burnham Tinker was first settled—that on the east side of the road by Andrew Foote, in 1839, and that on the west side by Joshua Newell, in 1837. Newell sold, in 1842, to Samuel W. Durand, who again sold it 1847 to Benjamin Tinker, who deeded it to his two sons, Burt sold it, and Burnham. In 1848 the Foote place was bought by DeWitt Wright, who sol in 1858, to the brothers, Tinker, who have, since their purchase, built the houses in which their families reside.
The land next south of the Tinker purchase, on the west side of the road, was bought, in 1838, by Stephen K. Parkhurst, and was the second settlement
708 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
on this street. * Mr. Parkhurst still owns it. In 1856 he built a brick house in which he has since resided.
Mr. Parkhurst also owns the land opposite his first purchase, lying on the east side of the road, which was first settled in 1841, by William Scott, who built upon it a substantial block house, and sold it, in 1843, to Calvin Baird. In 1848 it was bought by G. W. Hatch, who sold it, in 185z, to Lewis C. Todd, by whom it was owned till his death, in 1863, and who left it, by will, to his daughter, Mrs. Catharine Chapman, of whom it was purchased by Mr. Parkhurst, in 1866. In addition, Mr. Parkhurst bought at the same time, of Mr. Chapman, the lot lying south and adjoining the other, which was first settled in 1842, by Charles Baird, and which was owned for some years by Leonard Waterman, son of Ira Waterman, who was one of the early settlers of Parkman, and who was an inhabitant of the township from 1819 till his death, in 1841. Leonard Waterman, after the sale of his land, removed to the village, where he resided till his death, in July, 1877. Another son, B. D. Waterman, has settled and built on the northern portion of the first cleared one hundred acres. A daughter, Mrs. Baird, has also settled in the township. Her son, Edwin P. Baird, was a soldier in the Fifth regiment, New York heavy artillery, in the war of the Rebellion. Ira Waterman was a native of the State of Vermont, and was a soldier in the war of 1812.
In addition, Mr. Todd purchased the farm lying south of Mr. Parkhurst's, which was first settled by John Kingsbury about 1848, who built upon the place soon after. Mr. Todd, during his occupancy, represented the county during one term in the State legislature. About z860 the farm was purchased of him by Daniel B. Hosmer, eldest son of Alonzo Hosmer, who sold it in 1869 to Arthur A. Jones, its present owner, and removed to Kansas. Mr. Jones was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion. He was for a time confined in the prison at Andersonville, and narrowly escaped death in the blowing up of the " Sultana," on the Mississippi river.
The farm south of this, lying near the north part of the village, was first settled by William Lamb, a native of the north of Ireland, about the year 1836. Mr. Lamb had been a resident of the township some years before his purchase. He built upon it first a small frame house, which he afterwards enlarged, and in which he resided till about the year 1867, when, having sold his farm, he removed to California, whither several members of his family had preceded him, and where he died, about 1870.
This farm was purchased, in 1868, by Norman D. Smith, and is now owned by him. He also owns the land already referred to as having been cleared by Mr. Dustan in 1809, by chopping on moonlight nights, while engaged in teaching during the day. The "second growth" of timber on this land includes a very fine sugar camp. Mr. Smith is a son of Ransom Smith, one of the early
settlers in the southern part of the township. He held the rank of lieutenant in the One Hundred and Fifth regiment, in the war of the Rebellion.
After the sale of his land on the Middlefield road, Mr. G. W. Hatch, in 1855, removed to the village, where he has since resided. He held the office of postmaster in the early part of the Lincoln administration, and his name is on the records of the patent office, between the years 1843 and 1875, as the patentee of several useful and profitable inventions. In 1873 he built a tasteful residence very near, if not on, the spot where the first trees were felled, and where Mr. Parkman built his log cabin in 1804. His eldest son, Horace Hatch, was a soldier in the Fifth New York heavy artillery, in the war of the Rebellion, and was wounded at Harper's Ferry. Two other sons, Americus and Augustus,
* Mr. Parkhurst died in April, 1878. The farm remains in the possession of his family.
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 709
were members of the One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Ohio regiment, and both died in the service in Virginia.
Parkman sent about one hundred men into the army to assist in putting down the Rebellion, and the patriotic women, during the four years of its continuance, maintained an efficient organization as a branch of the Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio.
We have now brought to a completion the record of the settlement of the township. It is a noticeable fact that the farms, with very few exceptions, are cultivated by their owners. Although there are some clay soils in the level and eastern portion of the township, the—average soil is a sandy loam, well adapted to fruit culture and grain raising.
As the town became settled, the attention of agriculturists was turned to dairying. At first, as was customary, the cheese was made on the farm and sold by the makers, as with other farm products. As time passed on, Parkman, like many others on the Reserve, developed into a dairy township, and now ranks among the first in the county in the amount and value of its cheese and butter
products.
In 1863 Messrs. Budlong and Stokes, from New York City, erected a large cheese factory in the eastern part of the village, and began the manufacture of cheese in large quantities. The enterprise was from the first successful, and nearly every farm contributed to the supply of milk. In 1867 the factory was purchased by Orlando C. Smith, who, since lthat time, has conducted the business. A smaller factory, owned by a joint stock company, in the eastern part of the township, is also in successful operation.
In the manufacture of maple sugar, both as to quality and quantity, Parkman surpasses every other town in Geauga county, as the county does every other in the State, and will compare favorably, in this respect, with any town in the United States.
In addition to the maple, chestnut, hickory, and other kinds of timber, grow in fair proportion. In the southeastern portion of the township once grew large quantities of black walnut, but its value was not appreciated in time to save it.
The soil is generally productive. Very little waste land will remain when properly drained.
On the south side of Grand river, in section twenty-three, near the Dunn farm, was once an Indian burial place, from which human bones, arrow heads, pottery, etc., have been extracted.
The height of the township above the sea level is one thousand three hundred and fifty feet. There are points near its west line two hundred feet higher. The surface rock along this line is the carboniferous conglomerate, and from its quarries are taken fair building stone. This line is also the watershed between the Cuyahoga and Grand rivers, and upon it the characteristic chestnut timber preponderates.
Besides the carboniferous conglomerate, rn sections eleven, eighteen, twenty, and seventeen, a sand rock, without pebbles, overlies the black slate or shale of the coal measures, and in section five (Bundysburgh) and in sixteen (on the Thrope farm) are quarries of Berea grit. J. S. Newberry, State geologist, estimates the thickness of the carboniferous conglomerate at one hundred and seventy-five feet, yet it is entirely worn through by the action of Grand river, in its course below the village, down stream, a distance of three miles.
A natural lake, of considerable size, once occupied the site of the millpond, near the village, which is shewn by the stratification of the rocks of the gulf.
In sections eighteen, nineteen, and twenty-three, in the valley of the river, the rocks are planed and striated in a southwesterly direction, an exhibition of the magnitude and power of those immense fields of ice which, in a former
710 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
period of the earth's history, but after the close of the carboniferons era, brought down from the northern heights all the clay, sand and gravel which overlies our rocks.
MILITARY ROSTER.
SOLDIERS IN THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION WHO HAVE LIVED AND DIED IN
PARKMAN.
Seth Phelps,
Zachariah Hosmer,
Reuben Curtiss,
Jonas Carter.
WAR OF 1812.
Alfred Phelps,
Augustus R. Baldwin,
Benson Smrth.
Thomas Brown,
Nathaniel Moore,
William B. Young,
Lama McCall,
Walter Young,
Samuel Donaldson,
Hardin Bennett,
James Donaldson,
Joseph Day,
Elisha Bundy,
Joseph Morton,
Lewis Smith,
George Burden,
Abner H. Fairbanks,
Isaac Mead,
Alexander Dunn,
Marlin McClintock,
Ira Webster,
David Kester,
Ira Waterman,
Henry Norton,
Russell Williams.
PARKMAN ROLL OF HONOR IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.
SEVENTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
James Benson,
William Cromwell, wounded at Antietam.
Stewart S. Curtiss.
Archie Donaldson.
Theron C. Haight, died of wounds received at Cedar Mountain.
TWENTY-FIFTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Silas M. Hopkins.
Richard Hopkins.
TWENTY-NINTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY,
Horace Woodin.
Sylvester Hyde.
FORTY-FIRST OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Thomas Bundy.
Laertes Bundy.
Marshall Ballard, died in hospital.
Mortimer Coltain, killed at Shiloh.
Alvin Foote, died of wounds.
Perry Foote.
Aronzo Hosmer, wounded at Shiloh, Chickamauga and New Hope Church.
Harmon Hinckston.
Eugene Latimer.
Joseph V. Moore, killed at Orchard Knob.
Loren C. Walters.
Milton Worden.
SIXTY-FIFTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
John Thrope, adjutant.
ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Adolphus Chandler
Henry Thompson
Edgar Gray.
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Carl Beardsley, wounded at Mission Ridge.
Adonus Blood.
Frederick T. Cook, sergeant.
Stephen H. Crofford.
Michael Cooney.
Frank Fales.
Laomi Foote.
Marcus Hobart.
Allen L. Johnson, sergeant.
Henry Morton.
Edwin R. Moore, died of disease contracted in the army.
Charles W. McClintock, killed at Perryville.
Edwin W. McElwaine, wounded at Perryville.
Selah W. Newcomb, died of wounds at Perryville.
Frank Newcomb.
Henry B. Pitner, sergeant.
Wallace B. Payne.
A. Pierce.
Charles Riley.
N. Decatur Smith, lieutenant.
Marsh Smith, jr.
John Saddler,
William Tully,
Sherburn H. Williams, captain.
Rollin A. Watters.
Harrison Waller.
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 711
ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-SIXTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Jerome Newman, died in hospital at Camp Chase.
ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-SEVENTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Alvin Williams.
ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SEVENTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Americus Hatch, died in hospital, near Fort Fisher, N. C.
Augustus J. Hatch, died in hospital near Fort Fisher, N. C,
John Farrington.
SECOND OHIO VOLUNTEER CAVALRY.
Reuben Brown, died in hospital near Columbus, Ohio.
Alfred Daniels.
Martin Rice
SIXTH OHIO VOLUNTEER CAVALRY.
Lucius Hollenbeck.
TENTH OHIO VOLUNTEER CAVALRY.
Demetrius Peffers, supposed killed in North Carolina.
FOURTEENTH OHIO LIGHT ARTILLERY.
Floyd Farrington, wounded at Shiloh.
TWENTY-FIRST OHIO LIGHT ARTILLERY.
Isaac Parker.
FIFTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
Edwin P. Baird.
Byron Bosley.
William Champlin.
George P. Dayton.
Jerry H. Evans.
Anasa Elwell, died of disease contracted in the army
Horace Hatch, wounded at Harper’s Ferry.
George Harshman.
Allie Harshman.
Simon Percival.
John Waterman.
NINTH OHIO LIGHT ARTILLERY.
Theodore Bancroft, wounded at Shiloh,
J. Gordon Durfee.
Willis Burroughs.
Charles P. Hopkins.
Leroy Simmons.
NAVY.
John B. Roamer, died of disease contracted in the service.
Perry S. Hosmer.
Russell M. Williams.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
ROBERT BRECK PARKMAN
was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, May 21, 1771. He was the eldest son of Alexander Parkman, who was a native of Westboro, Massachusetts and a soldier in the war of the Revolution.
Soon after the close of the war he removed, with his family, from Leicester to Westmoreland, Oneida county, New York, being one of the pioneer settlers of that town. His son, Robert, was his father's chief assistant in the labors of the new settlement.
In 1792, soon after attaining his majority, Robert B. went to Cayuga county, and began the study of law, teaching school at the same time, in order to defray his expenses. He also, while studying, dealt in real estate, and was so far successful that he became the owner of considerable. land in and about Cayuga. He was also justice of the peace during some part of his residence
712 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
there. By too close application to study and business, his health failed, and he returned to his father's home, in Oneida county, where he remained two years. During this time, in 1797, he made his first visit to the Western Reserve, for the purpose of exploring the tract of land which his uncle, Samuel Parkman, of Boston, had purchased of the Connecticut Land Company, and which now constitutes the township of Parkman. This journey, for the benefit of his health, was performed on horseback. He then returned to Cayuga and resumed his law studies, and, at the same time, was actively engaged in forwarding the building of the first bridge across Cayuga lake, giving to the enterprise both time and money. This bridge was completed in 1799.
Early in 1800, Mr. Parkman was admitted to the bar, and began at once the successful practice of his profession. In 1803 he again visited Parkman, for the purpose of making a survey of the township, as well as to make himself familiar with its capabilities, with a view to future settlement. At this time he passed an examination before the supreme court, and was admitted to practice law in the State of Ohio. When about to return to Cayuga, he was marred, May 29, 1803, at the house of Judge John Walworth, at Grand River, now Painesville, to Miss Lucy Phelps, second daughter of Judge Seth Phelps, of Aurora, New York. Their bridal journey to Cayuga was made on horseback. He, with his wife and infant son, returned to Ohio, for permanent settlement, in June, 1804, and, within five weeks after reaching Judge Walworth's house at Grand River, they were settled in their floorless and doorless cabin in Parkman, with the stump of a large tree in the center for a table. This cabin gave place, before the close of the year, to a larger and more comfortable house, and, at the same time, Mr. Parkman entered with ardor upon his duties as the agent of his uncle, in forwarding the settlement of the township, laying out roads, building mills; having, in short, the whole management of the business. At this time, and till 1824, at which time occurred the death of Samuel Parkman, he had the whole care of his land on the Reserve, comprising some forty thousand acres, located in Geauga, Cuyahoga, Portage, Lorain, and Medina counties, and so faithfully did he execute his trust, that during the whole time no word of dissatisfaction of his management was manifested, but, on the contrary, the letters of the elder Parkman always expressed great deference to his opinion, and confidence in his judgment and integrity.
The first winter of his stay in the new settlement was cheered by the arrival of his brother-in-law, Samuel Ledyard and wife, from Aurora, New York, and the two families lived together with no neighbors nearer than Burton and Nelson. Warren, sixteen miles distant, was their nearest post-office, but for want of roads, could only be reached on horseback, and communication with the outer world was held only at long intervals. Captain Edward Paine, also a brother-in-law of Mr. Parkman, writes to him about this time, "You say you have no news to communicate. I think it must be on account of your retired situation."
As settlers came into the town, his doors were always open to them till such time as they could provide a home for themselves. He was their counselor in trouble, their physician in sickness, their guide and faithful friend always ; and many a discouraged and homesick settler had reason, in after life, to bless the memory of the man, whose influence saved them from loss, and in the end, secured for them comfort and independence.
In 1805, on the establishment of a post-office, Mr. Parkman was appointed postmaster, and held the office till 1829. His commission was signed by Gideon Granger. In the letter announcing this appointment, Mr. Granger adds this clause:
"Inclosed I transmit to you a blank contract, to be executed with bond and
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 713
security according to law, by such a man as may contract to carry the mail from Warren to Parkman, from the emoluments to be derived from the post-office at Parkman." As there were then but two or three families in Parkman, these "emoluments" could not have been any great source of wealth. The name of the person who enjoyed them, cannot be ascertained. Ten years later, in 1815, the annual income of the office was ten dollars and seventy-five cents!
Immediately after the creation of Geauga county, at the session of the court in June, 18o6, Mr. Parkman was appointed prosecuting attorney, and continued in the office till 1817.
In 1807 he conceived the project of building a road between the Cuyahoga river and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum, as well as the clearing of those rivers of all obstructions, in order to establish direct communication between Lake Erie and the Ohio river, with Cleveland and Marietta as termini. For the purpose of raising funds for this enterprise, and also, to enlist capitalists in the undertaking, he visited Albany and New York in x 8o8, but did not succeed in his mission.
Meanwhile, his family was increasing. In 18o5, the year after his settlement, his eldest daughter, Adaline, afterwards the wife of Julien C. Huntington, of Painesville, was born. She was the first white child born in the town, and died at Painesville, of consumption, in 1874.
His second son, Henry Seymour, a sketch of whose life is given in the body of the history of Parkman, was born in January, 1807, and died in December, 1867. He was the first white male child born in the town.
Edwin, his third son, born in 1808, died of consumption in 1828. Lucy Maria, the second daughter, who was born in 1810, was married in 1828, to Timothy M. Burt, and is still living (1878), in Parkman, the sole representative of her father's family, in the town. John Walworth, born in 1812, died in 1813. His was the first death which had occurred in the nine years, since the first settlement of Parkman. Robert Breck, his youngest son, was born in 1815.
In 1819, Mr. Parkman was appointed probate judge, but held the office but a short time, as the performance of his duties was quite impossible in the midst of his other engagements. His law practice was constantly increasing, and extended to all parts of the Reserve, where courts were established.
His early associates in his profession, were J. S. Edwards, Peter Hitchcock, and Samuel W. Phelps; the two latter, with himself, were the first who practiced in the courts of Geauga county.
During all these years, he was "in labors abundant." Occupied, as he was, with his business, and with the cares of his family, which included every settler, all of whom looked up to him, as to a father, he was the constant recipient of letters from those who had relatives somewhere in Ohio, or absent debtors, of whom they wished information, and other cares. These were all attended to, as far as possible, and the correspondence thus entailed would fill volumes.
In 1820 Mrs. Parkman died, after a long and distressing illness, of consumption. She was, as before stated, the daughter of Judge Seth Phelps, of Aurora, New York, and was born in that place October 7, 1783, where the greater part of her early life was passed amid the-comparative refinements of that State. Her first visit to Ohio was made in 1799, at which time she was the guest of her relative, Judge John Walworth, of Grand River, at whose house she remained till her marriage in 1803. She accompanied her husband at the time of his first settlement in Parkman, and was the first white woman ever in the township. A true wife for a pioneer, she cheerfully bore her part of the burdens and endured the discomforts of those primitives times, and united with her hulk band in making her house a home for all comers, to whom she dispensed a cheerful and graceful hospitality, and thus, for sixteen years, and for the greater
714 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO.
part of the time in failing health, she fulfilled the duties of a wife and mother, and also met the additional, demands upon her time and strength to which her husband's position subjected her. Shortly after her death he thus wrote of her: "To her husband she was an excellent companion; to her children an affectionate mother. She was warm in her attachment to her friends. Hers was a life of sickness, particularly during the last seven years, but yet a life of unceasing industry. The preparations for the hour of her departure, which she saw steadily approaching, stimulated her in the exercise of her remaining powers to be useful to her family, and her last moments presented to her friends a most perfect blending of the concerns of both worlds. To the acute distress which in her last moments she experienced she submitted without a murmur, considering it as the chastening of a Father, whose grievous afflictions are for the best good of His children, in the full belief that He would watch over and take care of her family, and that in His own good time all would meet in a better world." She died August 9th, in the thirty-seventh year of her age.
In 1823 Mr. Parkman married Mrs. Mary Burt, of Onondaga, New York, who survived him, but died, in 1848, from lockjaw, in consequence of a fall.
Mr. Parkman's characteristics can be described in a few words. He was possessed of a cheerful temperament, which no disappointments or reverses of his own were ever able to disturb; he was firm, without being obstinate; hopeful, without being over-confident, and thus was admirably fitted for the position which he occupied, as the leader of a new settlement.
He was attacked by sickness when absent from home on business, and died, at the age of sixty-one, after a long illness, at Orwell, Ashtabula county, March 21, 1832. He lived long enough to witness much good result to others from his exertions and sacrifices, to see many places in the wilderness become fruitful fields, and prosperity follow in the train of honest industry. The memory of "a good name, which is rather to be chosen than great riches," is the legacy which he left to his children, and, to the township, to which he gave the strength of his early manhood and mature age.
In 1824 Mr. Samuel Parkman died, and his ownership in the unsold land of the township passed to his son, Dr. George Parkman, whose vrolent death, in 1849, at the hands of Professor Webster, is still well remembered.
The agency remained unchanged during the life R. B. Parkman.
In 1835 General Simon Perkins, of Warren, became the owner, by purchase, of the Parkman interest, and thus was closed all relation with the family who gave their name to the township.
JOHN PHELPS CONVERSE.
John Phelps Converse, one of the early settlers of Parkman, was the seventh son, and eleventh child, of Israel Converse, and was born at Randolph, Orange county, Vermont, January 27, 1792. The Converse family had its origin in the province of Navarre, France, under the name of De Coignieres.
During the later part of the reign of William the Conqueror, Roger and Robert De Coignieres emigrated to England, and settled in Durham. Upon the rise of the Reformation in France, the De Coignieres became Huguenots, and were both, by allegiance and religion, adherents of Henry IV. Immediately after the massacre of St. Bartholomew, in which many of the family fell, Pierre De Coignieres, with his wife and two children, escaped to England, and settled in Essex, where, in the course of time, the name, following the English pronunciation, became Conyers, and has been so in England ever since.
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 715
In 1630, Edward Conyers, with Sarah, his wife, and two sons, sailed from England in the fleet with Winthrop, and settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts. During the passage, by dropping a part of the y, the name was changed to Conuers, which soon became Conyers. Just when the final e was added to the name does not appear. Some branches of the Converse family have not yet
adopted it.
Some time between 1735 and 1737, Josiah, the fifth in descent from Edward Conyers settled in Stafford, Connecticut, in which town was born, August 7, 1743, Israel Converse, the father of John Phelps.
At the beginning of the Revolutionary war, he entered the army as second lieutenant in one of the regiments of Connecticut troops, and the same year was raised to the rank of captain. He continued in active service till the close of the war, and was discharged with the rank of colonel. In 1787 he removed with his family to Randolph, Vermont, and was one of the pioneer settlers of that township, and where his son, John Phelps, was born as above stated.
By the death of his father, which occurred in his fifteenth year, the subject of
our sketch was left to fight the battle of life as best he might, but to one of New England birth and training this condition was not formidable. He was born with the instincts of a pioneer, and had in early childhood, to use his own words, "determined to settle in some country where wheat would grow."
While still quite young, he served for a time with a brother-in-law, who was a merchant in Montreal, but afterwards returned to Vermont, and was engaged in a store with his elder brother, and in attending school. In 1812 his health not being good, he left Vermont in search of that milder clime, and first pitched his tent near Utica, New York, and was engaged for the two years following in teaching. Among the names appended to a recommendation given him as a teacher during this time, is that of Noah Hoyt, afterwards for many years an honored resident of Chardon. The friendship, begun at that time, was afterwards renewed when both became settlers, and for a time neighbors in their new
home in Geauga county.
In 1816 Mr. Converse married Miss Betsey Collins, of Whitestown, New York, daughter of Gen. Oliver Collins, who survived their marriage but one year. She died in February, 1817, leaving an infant son. Shortly after this event, Mr. Converse made his first visit to Ohio, taking the journey partly on account of his health, which was not good, and in part to ascertain its business prospects with a view to future settlement, and as the Western Reserve was then the center of attraction to those whose faces were turned towards Ohio, he naturally made it a point in his journey. At this time he visited Parkman for the first time, where he remained some weeks, and while there, became acquainted with Miss Hannah B. Parkman, the youngest sister of Mr. Parkman, to whom he was married in July, 1818, at Westmoreland, Oneida county, New York. While on this visit to Ohio, he went up Erie as far as Detroit. Immediately after his marriage he removed to Parkman, and permanently settled there, and became, at once, one of its most active and untiring business men. In connection with Mr. Parkman, he built mills of different kinds, which are mentioned in detail in the history of Parkman. The construction of these mills gave employment to mechanics of various kinds, and when completed, and in use, it can easily be seen how much they contributed to the business facilities and growth of the town.
Shortly after his arrival in Parkman, Mr. Converse purchased an unfinished house which he put in order, and moved into with his family. This house stood on the northeast corner, at the crossing of the roads, in the village, and was his residence for fourteen years. Attached to his house were several acres of land, on the eastern part of which, in 1843, he built a commodious
716 - HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY OHIO.
and substantial house, in which he resided during the remainder of his life, and which is still in the possession of his family.
In 1824, Mr. .Converse, with others, contracted with the post-office department to carry the mail from Fairport to Poland, Trumbull county, in a conveyance suitable for the accommodation of the traveling public, which was, ere long, enlarged into a daily four horse post coach. Previous to this, the mail had been carried once a week on horseback.
The route lay through Painesville, Chardon, Burton, Parkman, and Warren, and prior to the construction of railroads, it continued to be the main line of travel for the section of country through which it passed. These contracts were renewed and extended, till the route reached Sandusky, Monroe, and Detroit. The prosecution of this business involved many journeys to Washington, and a residence there of weeks, and sometimes months, during which, time, he became acquainted with Henry Clay, and other leaders of the opposition, in the time of the Jackson administration.
In 1832, the year of the frrst appearance of the cholera in the United States, he was dangerously ill with it, at Monroe, Michigan, but being unacquainted with the forms of the disease, he was unaware of his danger, and thus recovered.
In 1833, the first mail ever carried across the territory of Michigan, was taken by him to Chicago, then only a trading post, with three or four houses, in the vicinity of Fort Dearborn, and thus he became a second time a pioneer. He was present, when the land, upon which Chicago is built, was purchased of the Indians, and their title extinguished, and foreseeing the results which the advantages of the situation would ultimately produce, he determined to transfer to it, his interests and his residence, but a serious illness caused a change in his plans, and their final relinquishment.
He closed his connection with the post-office department, in 1836, after twelve years of service, in which time he had overcome all the difficulties of the route, and literally "made straight paths for the feet" of those who should succeed him. At this time, his health was much impaired by long exposure to the malarial atmosphere of a new country.
He represented the county in the State legislature in the sessrons of 1842 and 1843, and in 1846 was appointed one of the associate judges of Geauga county, and remained on the bench until the office was abolished, under the new State constitution of 1851. In 1863, he was appointed assessor, under the internal revenue law, but resigned the place, on account of failing health, in 1864.
He endured a severe domestic affliction in the death of his wife, which occurred in August, 1859. She was the youngest daughter of Alexander Parkman, and was born in Westmoreland, Oneida county, New York, September 25, 1793, being twenty-two years younger than her brother, Robert Breck. She had been a longer resident of Parkman than her husband. Her first visit was made in 1814, at which time, in company with her brother, she made the entire journey from Odeida county to Ohio on horseback. They passed through Buffalo while it was still smoking from its burning by the British troops and Indians. She was a woman of intelligence and energy of character, and in her own sphere faithfully and promptly discharged the arduous duties which devolved upon her in the various relations of life in which she was placed.
In 1862, Mr. Converse married Mrs. Rebecca. Holmes, of Cleveland, who survived him, but who died instantly, of apoplexy, in September, 1877.
Mr. Converse always took a deep interest in all matters pertaining to the public welfare, both as regarded his own neighborhood and that of the country at large, and was ever ready to give to such his hearty support. He gave an ardent adherence to the government in the war of the Rebellion, and rejoiced with all good patriots in the overthrow of slavery. In politics, he was a Whig
HISTORY OF GEAUGA COUNTY, OHIO - 717
of the Giddings and Wade school. He was a delegate to the Buffalo convention of 1848, at the time of the organization of the Free-soil movement, which culminated in the Republican party, to the principles of which he gave his unwavering support.
He was kind and affectionate in his domestic relations, and for the last twenty-five years of his life he was a member of the Congregational church. His death occurred, after a long and painful illness, February 21, 1865.
His family consisted of four children. The eldest, Oliver Collins, the son of his first wife, was born at Cayuga, New York, January 18, 1817, and died at Parkman in 1839. His three daughters, children of his second wife, are still living. The two eldest, Mrs. B. C. Lyman and Miss Amelia Converse, reside at the homestead in Parkman; the youngest, Mrs. Harriet C. Tilden, in Chicago.