(RETURN TO THE MAHONING AND TRUMBULL COUNTIES INDEX)

250 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. He entered his father's office at Warren, and was occupied with its business until upon the death of his father, some two years afterward, he became one of his executors. During his residence at Warren he appeared occasionally before home audiences as a public speaker, and always with great acceptance In politics he early adopted strong antislavery principles, then not the popular doctrine, and they were always freely and openly advocated. Of an address delivered in 1848, which was published and attracted very considerable local attention, the editor of the Chronicle remarked, " We have listened to the best orators of the land from the Connecticut to the Mississippi, and can truly say, by none have we been so thoroughly delighted in every particular as by this effort of our distinguished townsman." The oration discussed the true theory of human rights and the legitimate powers of human government, and the following extract gives the spirit of his political principles on the subject of slavery : "The object of law is not to make rights but to define and maintain them; man possesses them before the existence of law, the same as he does afterward. No matter what government may extend its control over him; no matter how miserable or how sinful the mother in whose arms his eyes opened to the day ; no matter in what hovel his infancy is nursed; no matter what complexion an Indian or an African sun may have burned upon him, this may decide the privileges which lie is able to assert but can not effect the existence of his rights. His self-mastery is the gift of his Creator, and oppression only can take it away." Without solicitation lie was nominated and elected a member of the Convention that framed the present Constitution of Ohio. His associates from the district were judges Peter Hitchcock and R. P. Ranney, and although "he was the youngest member but one of the Convention, and in the minority, his influence and position were excelled by few." He was one of the Senatorial Presidential Electors for Ohio on the Fremont ticket in 1856. In the intellectual progress of the young about him, and the building up of schools and colleges, he took especial interest. He first suggested and urged the adoption of the conditions of the present "Permanent Fund of Western Resenze College" rather than to solicit unconditional contributions, which experience h‘ proved were so easily absorbed by present necessities, and left the future as poor as the past. In connection with his brothers lie made the first subscription to that fund. MAHONING VALLEY - 251 The wisdom of his suggestion was subsequently shown when, during the rupture and consequent embarrassment under which the College labored, the income of this fund had a very important, if not vital, share in saving it from abandonment, and afterward proved the nucleus of its present endowments. He was always efficient in favor- ing improvements.He was associated with Hon. F. Kinsman and his brother in founding the beautiful Woodland Cemetery, at Warren. The land was purchased and the ground laid out by them, and then transferred to the present corporation. Soon after his return from the Constitutional Convention he became interested in the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad. He was most influential in obtaining the charter and organizing the Company, of which he was elected President, and became the principal, almost sole, financial manager. Owing to prior and conflicting railroad interests, little aid could be obtained for his project in either of the terminal cities, Cleveland and Pittsburg, and the work was commenced in 1853 with a comparatively small stock subscription. A tightening money market prevented any considerable increase of the stock list or a favorable disposition of the bonds of the road, and the financial crisis, a few years afterward, so reduced the value of the securities of this, as of all unfinished railroads, as practically to shut them out of the market. In this emergency the alternative presented itself to Mr. Perkins and his resident directors, either to abandon the enterprise and bankrupt the Company, with the entire loss of the amount expended, or to push it forward to completion by the pledge and at the risk of their private fortunes, credit, and reputations. In this, the darkest day of the enterprise, Mr. Perkins manifested his confidence in its ultimate success, and his generous willingness to meet fully his share of the hazard to be incurred by proposing to them jointly with him to assume that risk, and agreeing that, in case of disaster, he would himself pay the first $100,000 of loss, and thereafter. share it equally with them. With a devotion to the interests intrusted to them, a determination rarely equaled in the history of our railroad enterprises, they unanimously accepted this proposition, and determined to complete the road, at least to a remunerative point in the coal fields of the Mahoning Valley. The financial storm was so much more severe and longer continued than the wisest had calculated upon, that for years the result was regarded by them and the friends of the enterprise with painful suspense. In the interest of the road Mr. Perkins spent the Spring of 1854 in England, without achieving any important financial results. At 252 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. length, in 1856, the road was opened to Youngstown, and its receipts carefully husbanded, began slowly to lessen the floating debt—by that time grown to frightful proportions, and carried solely by the pledge of the private property and credit of the president and Ohio directors. These directors, consisting of Hon. Frederick Kinsman and Charles Smith, Esq., of Warren; Governor David Tod, of Briar Hill; Judge Reuben Hitchcock, of Painsville; and Dudley Baldwin, Esq., of Cleveland, by the free use of their widely known and high business credit, without distrust or dissension sustained the president through that long and severe trial—a trial which can never be realized, except by those who shared its burdens. The president and these directors should ever be held in honor by the stockholders of the Company, whose investment they saved from utter loss, and by the business men of the entire Mahoning Valley, and not less by the city of Cleveland, for the mining and manufacturing interests developed by their exertion and sacrifices lie at the very foundation of the present prosperity of both. Before, however, the road was enabled to free itself from financial embarrassment so as to commence making a satisfactory return to the stockholders, which Mr. Perkins was exceedingly anxious to see accomplished under his own presidency, his failing health compelled him to leave its active management, and he died before the bright day dawned upon the enterprise. He said to a friend, during his last illness, with characteristic distinctness, "If I die, you may inscribe on my tombstone, Died of the Mahoning Railroad;" so great had been his devotion to the interests of the road, and so severe the personal exposures, which its supervision had required of him, who was characteristically more thoughtful of every interest confided to his care than of his own health. He was married October 24, 1850, to Miss Elizabeth O. Tod, daughter of Dr. J. I. Tod, of Milton, Trumbull County, Ohio, and removed his family to Cleveland in 1856. Of three children only one, Jacob Bishop, survives him. Mrs. Perkins died of rapid consumption June 4, 1857, and his devoted attention at the sick-bed of his wife greatly facilitated the development of the same insidious disease, which was gradually to undermine his own naturally vigorous constitution. The business necessities of his road, embarrassed and pressing as they were, united with his uniform self-forgetfulness, prevented his giving attention to his personal comfort and health long after his friends saw the shadow of the destroyer ding upon his path. He MAHONING VALLEY - 253 was finally, in great prostration of health and strength, compelled to leave the active duties of the road, and spent the latter part of the Nvinterof 1857-58 in the Southern States, but returned in the Spring with little or no improvement. He continued to fail during the Summer, P. and in the Fall of 1858 he again went South, in the vain lope of at least physical relief, and died in Havana, Cuba, January 12859' His remains were embalmed and brought home by his who had accompanied him, and were interred at Warren in Woodland Cemetery, where so many of his family repose around biol. A special train from each end of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad brought the Board of Directors and an unusually large number of business and personal friends, to join the long procession which followed "the last of earth" to its resting-place. One of the editorial notices of his death at the time very justly remarks of him: “He was a man of mark, and through strength of talent, moral firmness, and urbanity of manner, wielded an influence seldom possessed by a man of his years. In addition to his remarkable business capacity, Mr. Perkins was a man of high literary taste, which was constantly improving and enriching his mind. He continued, even amid his pressing business engagements, his habits of study and general reading. "Mr. Perkins belonged to that exceptional class of cases in which great wealth inherited does not injure the recipient." An editorial article in a Warren paper, mentioning his death, says : "He was born in this town in 1821, and from his boyhood exhibited a mental capacity and energy which was only the promise of the brilliancy of his manhood. To his exertion, his personal influence, and liberal investment of capital, the country is indebted for the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad. To his unremitting labor in this enterprise he has sacrificed personal comfort and convenience, and, We fear, shortened his days by his labors and exposure in bringing the work to completion. Known widely as Mr. Perkins has been by his active part in public enterprises, his loss will be felt throughout the State; but we, who have known him both a s boy and man, have a deeper interest in him; and the sympathies of the people of Warren With his relatives will have much of the nature of personal grief for One directly connected with them." Said a classmate in the class-meeting of 1862: "Although his name on the catalogue ranks with the class of 1842, 254 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. his affections were with us, and he always regarded himself of oar number. He visited New Haven frequently during the latter part of his life, in connection with a railway enterprise in which he was interested, and exhibited the same large-heartedness and intellectual superiority which won for him universal respect during his college course.” JAMES QUIGLEY was born in Cumberland County, Penn., in 1770, and came to the Reserve in 1809-10. He was conspicuously engaged in mercantile business for a long time, and was also a stock-dealer. He died in 1822. SAMUEL QUINBY, the eldest son of Ephraim Quinby, was for many years one of the prominent men of Warren. He was born in Williamsport, Washington County, Penn., November 27. 1794, and moved to the Reserve with his father in the Winter of 1799. From 1820 to 1840, he lived in Wooster, Ohio, but returned filially to Warren. He was long and prominently connected with the old Western Reserve Bank, and its successor, the First National Bank of Warren. His death occurred February 4, 1874. JAMES REED kept a tavern on the corner of Market and Main Streets, where the Smith block now stands. Mr. Reed must have been here in 1803. BENJAMIN STEVENS is the son of Jonathan Stevens, and was born in Litchfield County, Conn., on the 20th of July, 1788. When he was about fourteen months old his father and mother removed to Luzerne County, Penn., where Mr. Stevens lived until he was twelve years old. At that time his parents returned East to Addison County, in Vermont, at which place he resided until 1816. In the early Summer of that year, in company with a Mr. Edward Flint, he started for the Western Reserve. They came by wagon to Batavia, New York, thence by stage to Buffalo, and the remainder of the, journey was accomplished in a schooner on Lake Erie. They arrived at Cleveland in June, and Mr. Stevens began a horse-back trip down to Chillicothe. Not admiring that part of the country, he retraced his steps and went to Painsville, via Hudson, and very soon thereafter, in July, hearing of a business opening, came to Warren. In due time he purchased a carding-machine of Levi Hadly. Mr. Hadly used this machine during the previous Summer, and a Mr. Thomas Wells was then contemplating the erection of a manufactory for cloth. But Mr. Stevens also bought out Mr. 'Wells's interest in thee MAHONING VALLEY - 255 matter and himself founded an establishment for making satinet and failed cloth. This was the first establishment of the kind in Warren, although site a carding-machine had been in operation in Youngstown. The of Mr. Stevens's building was near the west end of the bridge across the Mahoning River, at the foot of Market Street. On the 31st of March, 1825, he was married to Miss Mary Case, a sister of Mr. Leonard Case, late of Cleveland. The Spring of that year was very mild, and on the wedding day the peach-trees were in bloom. The newly married couple went to live in the house that ,fr. Stevens had built in 1822, and which is now known as the old Stevens Homestead, standing across the river. In that house they lived for forty-five years, until they removed to the present residence on Mahoning Avenue, in 1869. Mrs. Stevens died in 1873, on the 18th of April. Five children had been born to them; Mary and Harriet, now living with their father; Benjamin, who died an infant; Lucy, married to General Opdyke in 1857; and Leonard, who died in October, 1856, at the age of twenty-three. Mr. Stevens has been a member of the Methodist Church for nearly fifty-five years (1876). JUSTUS SMITH came to Warren from Glen Falls, Washington County, New York, in 1810, with a view of making an exchange of property with Royal Pease, who was then a citizen of Warren, and who owned the whole lot upon which the First National Bank stands. An exchange was effected, and Mr. Smith returned East to settle up some business, sending out his family the next year. Took possession of the building vacated by Mr. Pease on the bank lot, and Smith occupied the Pease property until 1815, in which year IVoIr.Sm STlith returned later in company with Jacob H. Baldwin, and on foot. Mr. Smith occupied the Pease property until 1815, in which year he died, leaving a widow and five children. Mrs. Smith then sold her lot to the bank, and purchased the lot on the corner of High a Street and Mahoning Avenue, now owned by Warren Packard. There she lived until 1836, when she sold her property, and passed the remainder of her life with her children. ROSWELL M. STONE came to Warren in 1823, and acquired considerable prominence at the profession of the law. He was elected to the Legislature in 1833. EDWARD SPEAR was born in Huntington County, Penn., October 12, 1792. He moved to Warren in 1818. For seven years Mr. Spear was Associate Judge of the Common Pleas, and held the office 256 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. of Justice of the Peace until the time of his death. He was for many years prominent as an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Warren, and also as a Mason . His death occurred on the 31st of January, 1873. HENRY STILES was born in Danbury, Conn., May 6, 1798, and removed to Warren in 1812. He was for many years one of the prominent business men of the town. His death occurred at his residence August 11, 1869. SYLVANUS SEELEY, born in Jefferson, Green County, Penn., January 5, 1795; came to the Reserve in 1802 with his father, Dr. John Seeley, who located in Howland, in 1801. Dr. Sylvanus Seeley served during the war of 1812 as Surgeon's mate to Dr. John 13, Harmon, and was present at the attack on Fort Mackinaw. About 1814 he married a daughter of Col. George Jackson, of Virginia, and practiced in that State for some time. Later, he returned to Warren, and until his death, which occurred in 1840, occupied a high position among the physicians of the Reserve. JAMES SCOTT was born in Carlisle, Penn., March 17, 1774, and moved to the Western Reserve in 1801. Mr. Scott built the jail that stood on the bank of the river, which was burned in 1804. He also had the contract for building the old court-house 1813-16. He died in January 31, 1846. ELIHU SPENCER, a gentleman of culture, came to Warren in 1816, and lived in a house which stood on Liberty Street, on the present site of the building erected by Isaac Van Gorder from the bricks of the old court-house. He died in 1819, leaving a wife and child, who returned to the East, where the son, although dying young, attained some eminence in the literary way. JAMES L. VAN GORDER was born in New Jersey in 1785, and came to Warren in 1803 or 1804. In 1811, having previously married Miss Elizabeth Prior, he removed to Suffield, where he remained for ten years. His death occurred in September, 1858. His wife still survives him (1876). Mr. Van Gorder was for mail years connected with a number of the most prominent flour-mills in the country, and was for twenty years proprietor of the Pavilion Hotel on Market Street; that is, the old "Castle William" extensively repaired. He also built four locks, and made one mile of excavation for the Canal Company, being one of the few who did not "throw up" his contract. MAHONING VALLEY - 257 THOMAS D. WEBB, one of the prominent lawyers of Warren, arrived in 1807. In 1812 he began the publication of a paper known as the 'Trump of Fame, in a building standing on the north-west corner of Main and South Streets. In 1814 Mr. Webb was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for what was then the Eighth District, in which the village of Warren was. He was twice elected to the Senate of Ohio, but once declined to serve. He was remarkable for his great knowledge and research in all cases involving titles to land, and was thoroughly posted in the records of the Connecticut Land Company. He died March 8, 1865. MARK WESCOTT, one of the earliest inhabitants of Warren, lived for many years in a house recently torn down, but then standing on the south-west corner of Pine and Market Streets. ZEBINA WEATHERBEE, a prominent merchant, came to Warren very early, probably about the year 1803. He died young, about 1812, leaving a widow, the sister of the late Mr. Francis Freeman, Mrs. Weatherbee* is now living, at the advanced age of ninety years, with her daughter, Mrs. Marshall, of Erie, Penn. Weatherbee was probably the third person in Warren to engage in mercantile business, as has been previously noted. In 1803 Mr. Weatherbee had a contract to remove the trees felled upon the public square. Warren has nurtured a number of men who have distinguished themselves both at home and abroad. The following names will not soon be forgotten: Gen. Simon Perkins, Judge Calvin Pease, Hon. Leonard Case, Hon. John Stark Edwards, Hon. Thos. D. Webb, Gov. David Tod, Judge Humphrey, H. Leavitt, Mr. Joseph Perkins, Hon. R. P. Spaulding, Hon. Jacob Perkins, Gen. John Crowell, Judge R. P. Ranney, Gen. J. D. Cox, Gen. M. D. Leggett, Hon. John Hutchins, Judge Leicester King. Cleveland is indebted to Warren for many of its prominent and worthy citizens. * Died, July 1876. 258 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, TRUMBULL COUNTY. BY GEORGE A. ROBERTSON. GENERAL FEATURES. THIS township is situated in the northern tier of the county, upon the Ashtabula and Warren Turnpike, and is the southern terminus of the Painesville and Bloomfield Plank Road. Until the opening of the Ashtabula, Youngstown, and Pittsburg Railroad it was especially inland, a journey of sixteen miles, by the turnpike to Warren, being necessary every time it was desired to visit the county-seat or a market town. In order to avoid this journey, which was not the most agreeable at all seasons of the year, the people got into a way of living very much within themselves, shops of almost every kind being established and kept in successful operation. The eastern portion of the township is mostly covered with a tamarack swamp, which, from time immemorial, has furnished a favorite hunting ground and whortleberry patch. Formerly myriads of pigeons roosted here every Fall and Spring; but, for the last few years, they have not been so plenty, owing, doubtless, to the vigorous way in which they have been hunted. In very early times the center was low and marshy, but when the trees were felled away the land seemed to drain itself, and no indication of the former wetness is now to be seen. FIRST OWNERS. The township was purchased in 1814, by Ephraim Brown, of Westmoreland, New Hampshire, and Thomas Howe, of Williamstown, Vermont, of Peter Chardon Brookes, of Boston, the proprietor of large tracts in this portion of the Reserve. Although the purchasers were of nearly the same age, Howe was uncle to Brown, and the two had been raised together in the same neighborhood. The first commercial transaction between them happened when they were under ten years old. Howe rented a hen of Brown for the season, and returned her at the close with half her brood of chickens. SURVEYOR AND FIRST SETTLERS. Soon after their purchase of Bloomfield, they engaged S. J. Ensign to survey it. And in the Winter of 1814-15, Leman Ferry MAHONING VALLEY - 259 and family, consisting of a wife, two sons and four daughters, moved into the township and settled upon land now owned by his son, N. B Ferry. This was the first family. About the same time with Ferry came Timothy Bigelow, Aaron Smith, Jared Green, and Mahew Crowell, and very soon after, Jared Kimble brought on his family. Two or three years after the joint purchase, Howe sold his interest to Brown, reserving only one thousand acres in the southern part. In the Spring of 1815, Willard Crowell, Israel Proctor, Samuel Eastman, and David Comstock came on foot from Vermont. A DOG STORY. By special request, Howe allowed his favorite dog Argus to accompany these men. Very much to their chagrin the dog was missed somewhere in New York and did not again join them. Several months after, Howe drove through; and, on stopping at a wayside inn to rest his horse, was much surprised to find Argus, who manifested his delight in all the ways within his power. Mr. Howe remarked to the landlord that he was glad to find his dog. The landlord insisted, as landlords will, that he had raised the dog from a puppy. Howe thought it would be easy to test the matter of ownership, and, pointing to his cutter, told the dog to take care of it. He then told the astonished innkeeper, that if he could take any thing from the cutter, the dog was his ; otherwise not. The landlord endeavored by coaxing and threatening to obtain possession of a robe or whip, but in vain. Argus, rejoiced at finding his old master, immediately resumed a grateful service to him. When Howe was ready to start, he told his host that be should not call off his dog, but Argus was only too glad to follow, and in the new country was a general favorite, and became famous as a deer and bear dog. FIRST MECHANICS. Aaron Smith was the first carpenter, and built a saw-mill on the Center Creek, and in 1819, he constructed a grist-mill on Grand River for Ephraim Brown, who, shortly after, attached a dwelling. Leman Ferry, Jr., was the first miller, and attended this mill. Milo Harris Was the first cabinet-maker. A man by the name of Green, was the first blacksmith. Comstock opened the first boot and shoe shop. EARLY REMINISCENCES. Mr. Howe removed to the township in 1817 with his family, consisting of a wife, three sons and two daughters. One of the daughters 260 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. and two sons are still living in the township. Mr. Brown had come on the year before. Bringing with him his family, consisting of a wife, three sons, and one daughter, together with Mrs. Harris 1 and Mrs. Proctor. One of the sons and the daughter, together with Mrs. Proctor, are now living in the township. The first male white child born within the limits of the township was Charles Thayer. The first house was constructed of logs by Leman Ferry. The first school was taught by Chester Howard, in 1818. The first school at the Center was taught during the Winter of 1818-19, by N. M. Green. The first resident physician was Benjamin Palmer, who boarded with Mr. Brown. The first death was that of Mrs. Crowell, Mr. Howe's sister. There was no case brought in the Common Pleas Court, from this town, for forty-two y ears after its first settlement. FIRST RELIGIOUS MEETINGS AND CHURCH ORGANIZATION. The first sermon was preached in Ferry's cabin, in 1815, by Rev. Giles H. Cowles, of Austinburg, a Congregationalist minister. Rev. Joseph Badger spoke once or twice at about the same time. The first sermon by a Methodist minister was preached in Thayer's cabin by Rev. Ira Eddy. Meetings were held for some time at the hotel, which was built in 1818. These meeting were conducted on the most liberal basis. Brown, who was a non-professor, would read a sermon ; Kimble, a Congregationalist, or Bigelow, a Baptist, or Ferry, a Presbyterian, would conclude the exercises by prayer, and all would return, as they had come, on foot or in carts, feeling that they had worshiped God as acceptably, I dare say, as we do now, with all our modern conveniences. The Methodist Church was regularly organized in 1818. The Presbyterian Church was organized by Rev, Giles H. Cowles, in 1821, with five members, WILD HOGS. Many interesting incidents of the early time have been gleaned from the children of the first settlers, now old men and women, some of which I will relate. Leman Ferry, for some time, had fifteen or sixteen of the men who had come on alone, to improve their lands, boarding with him, as his was the first family in town. The cows and hogs at this early time had no place to run except in the woods. The hogs, as many of them as could be found, were brought in, late in the Fall of each year, and confined in rail pens to be fattened' But each year a greater or less number of them would escape, and MAHONING VALLEY - 261 thus it came about, in a comparatively short time, that wild and ferocious hogs were quite numerous in the forest ; and they were really, with their huge tusks and long legs, of from four to six years' growth, the most dangerous beasts of the time, with the exception, perhaps, of the wolves and bears. The sport of feudal and Middle Age times was, now and then, revived in a great hunt of these Ohio wild boars, and often some luckless Adonis would find himself too closely pursued for convenience, and be obliged to take refuge by climbing a tree or huge root. Mr. N. B. Ferry tells me that often, when a boy, while searching for the cows through the forest, his dog would start a hog, whose squealing would attract others ; and soon force enough would be summoned to turn upon the dog and himself, and that while he would climb a sapling for safety, the dog would be obliged to use every effort in his power to escape the fury of his pursuers. PURSUED RY WOLVES. One night as Mr. N. B. Ferry, then a boy, was gone longer after the cows than usual, his father started out also in search of them, taking another direction from that pursued by his son. The father was unsuccessful in his search, and, as he had spent considerable time, his return was made in the dark. When within only a short distance of the house he was startled by the baying of wolves very near at hand, and fearing that he would not be able to reach home, he immediately climbed a tree and called out for assistance. His boarders each seized a gun, and hastened to the rescue, and by them the wolves were very easily frightened away. It was afterwards ascertained that the wolves were not at first in pursuit of Mr. Ferry. Jared Green had that day killed a deer and dragged it home. The wolves had found this trail, and were following it with all assiduity when Ferry, having unwittingly taken nearly the same course, they had come after him. TRAPPING A BEAR. One night Howe's cow hid her calf, which had been born during the day, somewhere in the forest, and came home without it. Mr. Rowe directed his boys to fasten the cow till morning, and then follow her, as she would be sure to go directly to the spot where she had Concealed her offspring. The boys did as directed, and after following for some distance, at length came to a clump of bushes, where the cow began to low for her calf. This was the spot where it had undoubtedly been secreted, but it was now nowhere in the vicinity. Blood was found, however, and it was thought some wild beast had 262 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. destroyed it. In fact, the trail was plainly visible where the carcass had been dragged away. Following this trail a short distance they found a portion of the carcass placed between two trees that had fallen across each other, carefully covered with leaves. The boys returned, and related what they had seen to Mr. Norton, who was considerable of a trapper, and he immediately declared that it was the work of a bear. He, accordingly, that night set a trap between the trees. On going to the spot next morning it was found that the trap had been sprung, but the bear had pulled out and gone. The carcass of the calf was gone also, without a visible trail. Norton, who was well acquainted with the habits of the animal he had to deal with, directed that a circuit of some distance be made around the spot where the trap had been, for he declared that the bear, after carrying his load for a short distance, would drag it. In this way the trail was again found and followed to a spot where the remaining portion of the carcass was deposited and again covered with leaves. Here Norton set two stout traps, one on each side of the carcass, and attached heavy clogs to them, so that the bear could move around, and thus not endeavor to get entirely released. Next morning young Howe was at the traps before Norton, and found the ground for many feet around torn up as though a drove of hogs had been there. The bear had sprung both traps, but soon getting released from one, had gone, dragging the other and the clogs with him. After following a short distance he heard the trap clink against the stones in the creek bottom, near by, and called to ,Norton, who was just coming up. The dogs were set on the trail, and soon were heard to bark. Hastening on in the direction, they found the .bear endeavoring to climb a tree with the trap on one of his fore paws. Hindered by this, and the constant attacks of the dogs in the rear, he was soon brought down by the rifles of the men. He weighed over four hundred pounds, and was well worth all the trouble it had cost to take him. A HUNTERS PRACTICAL JOKE. In their hunting excursions these pioneers cracked jokes of a very practical character upon the new-comers to the town. At one time a large company of men were out on a hunt, during which they camped out several nights, subsisting during the time upon the game they killed from day to day. It had been noticed that one of the company was a great coward, and so it was arranged one night to while away the weary hours by means of a little innocent fun with him. One of the company got quietly outside of the camp, and, as soon as all was MAHONING VALLEY - 263 quiet for the night, began to produce some very strange and unaccountable noises.' The men who were in the secret paid but little attention to the matter, most of them snoring away as if nothing was Happening. But the unsophisticated member of the camp wished he was anywhere else. He very soon raised the alarm by asking what that noise was. As soon as the attention of the men was called to the matter they were alarmed indeed, and decided that it was the howl of a, catamount. The new-comer was now almost frantic with fear, and requested that he be covered with a huge trough that was near the camp, so that the ferocious animal could not get at him. When he found out the joke, some days afterward, he was cured of much of his cowardice. A SLAVE RESCUE. One Sunday afternoon in September, 1823, as the people of this township were returning home from Church, a negro, with his wife and two children, were seen making their way north on the turnpike leading from Warren to Ashtabula. The poor darkies were much worn with travel, being obliged to make their way with all possible haste on foot, and carry the younger children in their arms. The good people of the town immediately supposed that the strangers were escaped slaves ; but to no one in the village was the story then told. At nearly dark of the same day three men, the owner of the slaves, his son, and a supernumerary, rode up to the tavern, and, announcing themselves as slave-hunters, inquired for the objects of their pursuit. On being informed that they were only a short distance in advance, and being very much fatigued by their hard riding, they concluded, on the advice of the landlord, to remain all night. After charging him without fail to call them very early in the morning, they retired. When they were well settled in their rooms the landlord left strict orders for no one in the house to stir in the morning till he called them. So soon as it was noised abroad that the slave- hunters were in town, and so nearly up with the fugitives, the wildest excitement prevailed. Squire Brown was the master spirit, and utilized the willing hands to the very best advantage for the oppressed. He got out his covered wagon and horses, and, as soon Os it was dark, sent on a party of men to overtake and shield theta from danger; and when the danger was past to bring them back to Bloomfield. These men overtook the fugitives in the north Part of Rome, Ashtabula County, about twelve miles north of here. On Inquiring at the house where they were secreted; the owner, with- 264 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. out waiting to reply, ordered them from his premises. Considerable time and argument were consumed in making him understand that they were friendly disposed towards his guests. But at length, an understanding having been arrived at, the family was taken into the wagon and conveyed a short distance south to a tavern kept by a man by the name of Crowell, with a barn standing back in the field, Into this barn the wagon, with its load, was driven, and remained quietly until the hunters came up several hours after and passed on, But let us return to the Virginians and their cheery host at Bloomfield. For some unknown reason—unknown to the slave-hunters at least, all the people in the hotel that Monday morning over- slept themselves. The anxious owner of the slaves was the first to arouse himself and shake off the sleepy god. The landlord was profoundly ashamed of himself, or at least he said so; he did n't know when he had ,been so careless before. But now he was determined to make it all up by increased spryness. Difficulties, however, awaited him at every point. He found and arrayed himself in one boot, but the other was nowhere to be found. It was at last discovered in an out-of-the-way place, and he was now ready to repair to, the barn. The door to the stable was locked, and the key left in the house. Another hunt was now instituted for the key, and the Virginia chivalry were detained ten minutes more in this manner. When the horses were led out it was found that each of them was wanting a shoe, and the hoof of one of them was badly broken into the bargain. The owners were-confident the shoes were all right the night before, or at least they had not noticed their loss. The shoes must be replaced, and the horses were led around to Mr. Barnes, the blacksmith, with orders for him to proceed with all possible dispatch in replacing them. The smith, who was usually at his post by this time in the day, waiting for a job, could this morning nowhere be found until considerable time had been consumed in a vigorous search. But now he could do nothing but bungle. He had trouble in unlocking the door, and then be could scarcely make a fire. He had, at last, not a shoe in his shop; and his last nails were used in a job he performed the Saturday night previous. Nails and shoes must be made, but nothing like hurry was discernible in his whole proceedings. At length, however, the horses were ready, and at about nine o'clock the slave-hunters proceeded on their way. At nearly noon the three men rode up to the tavern in front of the barn in which the wagon bad been driven, and from the cracks in the loft the now happy family saw their pursuers pass on. After a safe time MAHONING VALLEY - 265 had elapsed the wagon came forth from its place of concealment and proceeded southward. About the middle of the afternoon it arrived in Bloomfield again, and the people were led into the dense woods, where men had been sent, under the direction of Squire Brown, and had constructed a temporary hut, where two trees had been thrown up by the roots. This was very easily done by placing a roof over the upturned roots of the trees. Food was carried to the fugitives by night for a short time until the excitement passed by. Then they were brought to a log cabin that had been constructed nearer the center on Mr. Brown's land. About three days after the return of the darkies, the hunters rode up to the tavern on their homeward journey. They found a warrant, issued by Squire Kimble, awaiting their attention. Their offense was that of running the toll-gate on the turnpike a little north of Warren. On passing the gate they had supposed that the objects of their pursuit had taken the State road toward Painsville, and therefore paid the half toll necessary to go by that route; whereas, if they had represented that they were coming to Bloomfield, they would have been required to pay full toll. On application to Mr. Harris for horse-feed, they were told that no slave-hunter's horses could again stand in his stable under any consideration. They then hitched their horses to the sign-post, and proceeded with the constable to Squire Kimble's, where they were fined five dollars each and costs. On their return they found the tails and manes of their steeds wanting as to " hair," and a notice pinned to one of the saddles, which read something as follows : "Slave-hunters, beware ! For sincerely we swear That if again here You ever appear, We 'll give you the coat of a Tory to wear." This latter episode was greatly deplored by those who took the most active part in the rescue. It was entirely at variance with the noble motives which had inspired them. But in all good enterprises, where the emotional nature of whole communities is strongly enlisted, it is almost invariably the case that some unbridled spirits carry the matter to an extreme and cause regret upon the part of the better-principled majority. This was years before the equitable, property-securing, Fugitive Slave law was passed, and it was not at that time a crime against the United States to brand oppression in its true characters and 266 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. make slave-hunters feel that they had no sympathy in the Northern liberty-loving heart. I fear that these Virginia gentry returned to their homes feeling, if not exactly that they had " fallen among thieves," that they had not been treated exactly like brothers. The family remained in the cabin we have mentioned for considerable time, the father working for Squire Brown. They proved to be industrious and well disposed, and no one regretted the trouble he had been put to on their account. At length Squire Brown watched his opportunity and put them aboard a Canada-bound vessel, at Ashtabula harbor, paying their fare to the land of freedom. It was feared after this that they failed to reach their destination, and parties were sent on to ascertain what they could concerning the matter. By this means knowledge was obtained that they reached their destination in due time in perfect safety. The story which has been somewhat often repeated, that the cabin the family occupied was called "Uncle Tom's Cabin," is pronounced by the best authority a myth. It probably arose from the fact that the man's name was Tom. But he was never called Uncle Tom, and, besides, this all transpired nearly a third of a century before the famous work of Mrs. Stowe was conceived, and it would be a very remarkable coincidence if it had been so called. The name may possibly have been applied in later days to the remnants of the but in the woods. "UNDERGROUND RAILROAD." This rescue was the beginning of the "underground railroad," so long the object of detestation by the slave-holders of the borders; and which was the means of assisting very many poor fugitives from bondage on their way to British soil. It was a regular organization. Men were appointed in every town to attend to the matter, and were sworn to assist the refugees in every way in their power. And be it set down to the credit of this whole region that there is not a case on record of a runaway being betrayed. And this seems strange, too, when we consider how much opposition there was, in some quarters, to abolition, and what appeals were constantly made to the cupidity of men, in the form of rewards, etc. Take the case under consideration, where a family was kept during a whole Winter, known to nearly a whole town to be persons for whom a large reward had been offered, and still not the semblance of an attempt made at betraying them. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Law only seemed to strengthen the zeal of these noble men ; and it came about that this MAHONING VALLEY - 267 region was known all over the South. To the slave it was known as a haven of safety ; to the slave-hunter it was known as hopeless ground; and when a runaway was tracked into its limits he was usually given up. NOTE.—The slave rescue recorded above is very variously related by those who have a remembrance of it. The author has taken every pains within his power to harmonize the different accounts. As an illustration of what I mean, I may mention the day of the week upon which the negroes first made their appearance in town. Some say it was on Friday, others on Saturday ; but the best authority seems to indicate the day mentioned. Many other particulars might be mentioned, but this will show the tendency, and, really, they are all rather immaterial. 268 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS HISTORY OF KINSMAN, TRUMBULL COUNTY. COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY REV. H. B. ELDRED. PREFACE. ABOUT 1840, Dr. Dudley Allen, in the early period of his medical practice in Kinsman, in his professional calls among the people, gathered from them and jotted down, in fragmentary form, very many of the incidents of the early settlement of the township which go to make up the material of this history. He did this with a view to their publication by a county historical organization, which he hoped to see perfected, with a central location at the county-seat. Failing in this, his notes were transferred to the Hon. Frederick Kinsman, of Warren, a native of Kinsman, and interested to have what had been so well begun, completed and published, either in a volume by itself or in some form that should make it accessible to the public. Mr. Kinsman spent a good deal of time and labor in furnishing new material; particularly that relating to the extinguishing of the Indian titles, history of the Connecticut Land Company—found in the preceeding pages of this volume—survey of the township, Kinsman family, Esquire Burnham, and many other persons and things. Near the closing period of the writer's pastorate in Kinsman, 1874, this material, unarranged, and much of it in the rough, was placed in his hands, that, with additions of Church history, educational institutions, Kinsman in the war of 1812 and the late civil war, and such other additional material as he might be able to furnish it, might be put into shape for publication. This has been done in the form in which it now appears. If the biographical sketch of Mr. Fobes seems to be of disproportionate length, our only apology is the part he took in the nation's early struggle for liberty, and in the early settlement of the Reserve, and the interest which attaches to his narrative, much of it relating to events never before published. Mrs. Elon Parker, Miss Mary Christy, Mr. L. A. Perkins, and others, have freely given time and labor in aid of the work. Contrary to the first purpose of those who have prepared this history, it now appears along with other matter, which it is hoped will make it all the more acceptable. MAHONING VALLEY - 269 ORIGIN OF THE TITLE TO THE LAND IN KINSMAN DERIVED FROM THE CONNECTICUT LAND COMPANY. THE township of Kinsman is known in the drafts of the Connecticut Land Company as township No. 7 in the first range, containing 16,664 acres, to which was annexed by the Equalizing Board 1,857 acres, lot No. 8, tract No. 2, in the eleventh range, being a part of the land on which the city of Akron is now located. The draft was made in 1798, and is known as draft No. 81 of that series. The amount required to make a draft was assigned as follows : Uriah Tracy and Joseph Coit  - $4,838 61 John Kinsman - 8,064 62 Amount required for draft of standard township $12,903 23 It should not be understood that this was the cost of the land drawn by this draft. The same parties, or their assigns, drew in each of the five drafts which were made to complete the distribution of all the Land Company assets, in the same relative proportion as in this draft, the $12,903.23 being their interest in the $1,200,000 purchase. Major Joseph Perkins, of Norwich, Connecticut, was a joint owner in this township, and in other lands drawn in other drafts. In the division of the Kinsman and Perkins interest, Mr. Kinsman took the township of Kinsman, Major Perkins the Akron and other lands. Kinsman purchased the interest of Uriah Tracy* and Joseph Coit. The first meridian or township line run by the surveyors began at the south line of the Reserve, five miles west from the Pennslyvania State line, and was nearly five and one half miles from the State line at the lake shore, varying so much from a parallel line. This will account for the extra 664 acres in the township of Kinsman. EXPLORATION AND SURVEY OF THE TOWNSHIP. Mr. Kinsman came to Ohio first in 1799. The records show that he was also in the county in 1800. Whether he remained through the Winter of 1799 and 1800 is not known. His first journey to * Tracy was at that time United States Senator from Connecticut. 270 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. the Reserve was made on horseback across the Alleghanies by the way of Pittsburg, in company with Simon Perkins, arriving in Youngstown in the latter part of the Spring of 1799. Here John Young and a few others, from Pennsylvania, had begun a flourishing settle. ment. Mr. Kinsman, Gen. Perkins, and other land proprietors, for a time made their headquarters at the house of Young. It was here he fell in with Alfred Wolcott, a surveyor, whom, with his assistants, he employed to divide the township of Kinsman into sections of a mile square. After getting in readiness the party went to Kinsman, through a wilderness, some twenty-seven miles from Youngstown. On arriving, they erected, as their first work, a log but near the south-east corner of the square, in which to store their supplies and live and lodge, while engaged in their surveys. Gen. Perkins was one of the party and assisted in the surveys. Aaron Brockway, and Warren Palmer with his parents, moved into Vernon, then called Smithfield, in 1798. Gen. Martin Smith and family came in 1799. There were no settlements adjoining Kinsman, with the exception of one just over the State line, in Pennsylvania. The surveyors while prosecuting their work, near the Pennsylvania line, very unexpectedly came upon signs of civilization, in the shape of cows. Not knowing whose they were or where they belonged, they considered them among the lawful game of the wilderness, and gave chase, thinking milk, added to the supplies of their larder, would not come amiss. They had not gone far before they came upon the Mossman settlement, and Mrs. Mossman came out and reproved them for chasing her cows. With a woman's kindness, however, she gave them what they desired, agreeing to furnish further supplies if they would leave her cows undisturbed. Mr. Kinsman spent a part of the time, during the surveys, at the house of General Smith, a little south of the center of Vernon—riding on horseback to Kinsman in the morning, and returning in the evening. On one of these trips, while riding along the bank of the creek, he saw an otter with a large fish flopping in its mouth ; this, by frightening the other, he succeeded in capturing. It weighed seven and one-half pounds, and furnished a sumptuous meal for himself and the family of General Smith on the evening of his return. The surveys of the township were finished in 1799. In 1800 Mr. Kinsman's name is found on the record with the names of others, who formed a county organization at Warren under the Territorial Government, providing a temporary jail, fixing its limits, etc. MAHONING VALLEY - 271 At this time he was undecided as regards the place of his final location. He owned land in different parts of the Reserve. A tract of eleven thousand acres, the north part of the township of Milton (on which was afterward located Price's mills), belonged to him; and the mill-seat there, at one time, was thought to make the location a desirable one. He had also in view a location near the lake, in the vicinity of Painesville, and made examinations pretty extensively before his mind was settled. The land in Kinsman was thought to be of an inferior quality. A tract of about one thousand acres, in the heart of the township, was a prairie, or opening—its soil supposed to be too sterile to bear trees. It was covered with grass and low bushes, and was thought to be nearly worthless. Such was probably the impression made on the first party of surveyors, as in the commencement of their surveys they naturally came upon this tract, the first of the kind they had ever seen. The first appearance of the woods, as seen by Mr. Kinsman in June, 1799, made an unfavorable impression. A June frost had killed the leaves on the trees pretty generally, giving the forest a gloomy appearance, and suggesting doubts whether the cereals and fruits would ripen in such a climate. The view of the equalizing committee is evident from their adding to the township a tract of one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven acres of valuable land in Portage Township, to make it average with the townships of the Reserve. Mr. Kinsman offered two hundred acres of the best of the prairie land to a Mr. Stratton at one dollar per acre, and he began an improvement on the bottom land, near the creek, which took his name. But, after planting a small piece with corn, which he did not fence, be gave it up and went West. But all these first unfavorable appearances and impressions have long since passed away, and the township is now reckoned one of the most desirable and productive on the Western Reserve. That part which appeared upon exploration to be the poorest proved to be the best land in the township. INDIANS AS DESCRIBED BY THE FIRST SETTLERS OF KINSMAN. Before narrating the incidents of the first settlement of the township, a few words regarding the Indians, as known to the first settlers, may not be out of place. At the time of the settlement of the Re- 272 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. serve there were no Indian tribes located upon it. Detached families from various tribes were found in many parts of the territory seeking out and temporarily occupying the best hunting and trapping localities. There are many indications that Kinsman, at some early day, was a place of Indian resort, where their villages and wigwams were as permanently fixed as the nature of their wandering life would allow. The high ground back of Wayne Bidwell's house, the meadow in front of it, and the ground about the springs by the old ashery, showed marked indications of having once been the seat of an Indian village. The first plowing of the land revealed spots darkened with charcoal, showing the places of their camp-fires; many flint arrowheads and stone axes were found; traces of fortifications on the high grounds, and the dancing circle seen on the flats, all conspire to establish this belief. Although there were no permanently resident Indians in the vicinity of Kinsman, after its first settlement they frequently visited it in small straggling bands for the purpose of hunting, trapping, and trading at Mr. Kinsman's store. Furs, skins, and various articles of their manufacture, as baskets, wooden trays, ladles, curiously worked moccasins, sugar, and various trinkets were the commodities in which they dealt. They also brought in the native fruits—June-berries, strawberries, raspberries, whortleberries, cranberries, haws, plumbs, and crab apples, to exchange for milk, meal, flour, bread—always wanting equal measure, no matter what was brought or what was asked in return. Calico, blankets, powder and lead, flints, whisky, tobacco, knives, and some little finery, as beads and the like, comprised their purchases at the store. Some of the Indians were sharp at a bargain. Many could talk broken English, and often showed themselves good judges of the character of those with whom they dealt. They were jealous of their rights, and shy of those whites in whom they lacked confidence. The Indians that came into the settlement of Trumbull County were from different bands. The Senecas, from near Buffalo, came for the purpose of hunting, and continued to do so until 1812. Some came from Sandusky County, Ohio, and Delawares from Tuscarawas County. Also bands came from Canada, among which were some Chippewas, now called the Ojibways, and some who called themselves Massasaugas. One of the principal Indians known at and about Kinsman was Paqua, of whom we give the following extract from Col. Whittlesey's " History of Cleveland," taken from the journal of MAHONING VALLEY - 273 Moses Cleveland, who had charge of the early surveys of the Western Reserve, dated July 7, 1796 : "Received a message from Paqua, chief of the Massasaugas, residing in Conneaut, that they wished a council held that day. I prepared to meet them, and, after they were all seated, took my seat in the middle. Cato, son of Paqua, was the orator. Paqua dictated. They opened the council by smoking the pipe of peace and friendship. The orator then arose and addressed me in the language of Indian flattery. Thank the Great Spirit for preserving me and bringing me there. Thank the Great Spirit for giving a pleasant day;' and then requested to know our claim to the land, as they had friends who resided on the land, and others at a distance who would come there. They wanted to know what I would do with them. I replied, informing them of our title and what I had said to the Six Nations, and also assured them that they should not be disturbed in their possessions ; we would treat them and their friends as brothers. They then presented me with the pipe of friendship and peace—a curious one indeed. I returned a chain of wampum, silver trinkets, and other presents, and whisky to the amount of about twenty-five dollars. They also said they were poor, and as I had expressed, hoped we would be friendly and continue to be liberal. I told them I acted for others as well as myself, and to be liberal with others' property was no evidence of true friendship. Those people I represented lived by industry, and to give away their property lavishly to those who live in indolence and by begging would be no deed of charity. As long as they were industrious and conducted themselves well I would do such benevolent acts to them as would be judged right and would do them the most good, cautioning them against indolence and drunkenness. This not only closed the business, but checked their begging for whisky." Atwater describes Paqua as being not a large Indian, but straight and handsomely built, with a fair and pleasant countenance, and of a lighter complexion than most Indians. The Indians were generally friendly, and gave the whites no trouble, even when intoxicated. Their drunken revels, however, were not infrequent. Buying their whisky in a camp-kettle, the whole company, save one, would surround it and drink to intoxication. The business of the sober one was to see that no mischief was done by them under the influence of liquor, and that they were not defrauded by the whites while in that state. At one time an intoxicated Indian came rushing into Randal's house and attacked him, knife in hand. 274 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. Grappling, they both fell to the floor. Mrs. Randal seized the Indian by the hand; Samuel, his young son, by his hair, and thus they succeeded in overpowering him until he became sober. Some were more peaceable when intoxicated. Old Paqua came in one evening drunk, and stretched himself on Mrs. Kinsman's kitchen-hearth, and would not get up. Mrs. Kinsman coming in with a tea-kettle of cold water) poured some of its contents into his ear. Thinking himself scalded he jumped up and cleared, cursing the white squaw. The Indians learned to swear in English very easily and naturally. Paqua, had with him a boy or half-breed about sixteen years old, whom he called Col. Johnson. He was a perfect model of strength and symmetry, but was wedded to the customs and habits of the Indians. Old Paqua's son David, also a chief, had two daughters that were quite superior to the other Indian women in beauty and manners. One of these married an Indian of the same tribe, Commosand, who never drank nor mingled with others in their drunken revels and dances., For a long time Commosand had no children. One day Commosand and wife came to Mr. Kinsman's ; his son Thomas was then four years old. In true Indian style they adopted him. His euphonic name was Nic-ca-goose (fat otter). For a long time they used to visit him, bringing as presents maple sugar, baskets; moccasins, worked tastefully with colored quills and beads; bows and arrows; and were apparently as fond of him as they afterward were of their own children. Mrs. Kinsman sometimes even had her fears that they might stealthily take him away. Their first papoose was the very picture of innocence. Decorated with Indian trinkets and without an act or note of remonstrance, it remained lashed to its board. Judge Kinsman's name with the Indians was Coc-ca-sin (great stone; ca n't move it). Mrs. Kinsman's was Sin-e-qua, Coc-ca-sin's wife. The Indians had some religious ideas that seem to have been held in common by their race. They believed in the Great Spirit who was good; also in an evil spirit, and a future state. Dancing was one of their religious ceremonies, and there was quite a large circle, near Stratton Creek bottom, tramped hard and smooth by use in this custom. A circle of bright green grass for years marked the spot after it had been abandoned. An effort was made by a Western missionary society, having its directing board at Pittsburg, to educate and Christianize some of the Massasauga Indians. Some thirty, old and young, were collected in the south-east corner of Wayne, where a few huts were erected for their accommodation. Rev. Wm. Mathews was MAHONING VALLEY - 275 placed in charge and a small school opened. In the Fall David, one of the chiefs, and a few others went to Pittsburg, as was their custom, to trade their pelts, and taking the small-pox, spread the disease throughout the colony. The Indians, in their treatment of it, followed their practice common in all disease alike. After sweating the patient he was buried to his neck in wet swamp earth. David and his son soon died. The Indians, however, had the good sense after this experience to call to their assistance Dr. Peter Allen, who treated the other cases successfully. But school and station were broken all skilled in the " healing art." There was one exception to friendly character among the Indians. Omick, a Chippewa, was cross and sulky in appearance, troublesome in his dealings with the whites, and seemed to delight in frightening the settlers by entering suddenly into their houses. At one time Benjamin Allen, of Kinsman, lay sick in his cabin in Rome, and behind it Abner Hall, his companion, was chopping. Old Omick came stealthily into the cabin, and motioning to Allen to lie still, crept up to the side of the cabin, and through an opening between the logs fired off his rifle and set up a deafening yell. Allen was frightened, and Hall rushed into the house, ax in hand. Omick laughed, and seemed much pleased when he saw how badly they were scared. When the fright was over he pointed to a tree some forty rods distant, on which was a mark at which he had fired, and told Hall to try his old French musket, that was hanging in the cabin, at the same target. Hall fired and made a better shot than the Indian. At this Omick took the gun and struck it down on the floor with a force that started all its bands, and then with many curses threw it away, exclaiming, " Too noisy ; too noisy." In the year 1800 a larger party of Indians made an encampment on the bottom-lands in Kinsman than were seen in the township afterward. They broke into the cabin, which Mr. Kinsman had erected in 1799 for his surveyors, and appropriated camp kettles and such articles as had been stored there for future use. Captain William Mossman, just over the Pennsylvania line, in his old age, used to relate with great humor, in presence of his wife, an incident which occurred soon after they began housekeeping in their log cabin. It was during the above encampment that a stout and resolute appearing. Indian came to his cabin with the skin and quarters of an elk which /he had killed the only one which Mr. Mossman ever 276 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. knew of having been killed in that vicinity. Mr. Mossman bargained for the skin, and the Indian supped with him and spent the night. As was common in those times, the same room, with a bright fire on the hearth, was kitchen and both sitting and sleeping room, Mr. M. motioned his visitor to occupy the floor before the fire, than which no better bed was desired. The bedstead on which Mr. and Mrs. Mossman slept was in one corner of the room, made of poles fastened into the logs. Before this Mrs. Mossman's place of sleeping had been in front, but that night, says Mr. Mossman, she took to the logs, his construction being, that in the event of treachery, he would be the first to be killed. She, of course, dissenting from his view of the matter. The son of Old Omick, called "Devil Poc-con," visited Washington and returned dressed in a military suit, and from that circumstance received from the settlers the name of "Tom Jefferson." Afterward he, with two other Indians, killed two trappers, Buel and Gibbs, while asleep at Pipe Greek. David was taken by the whites, tried, condemned, and sentenced to be hung. Old Omick went to see the Governor to obtain, if possible, a reprieve. He was unsuccessful, and returned to Cleveland greatly enraged. The Indians offered to shoot Poc-con, or kill him in any other way, if they might save him from a disgraceful death by hanging. Nor was "Tom Jefferson" disposed quietly to yield to this method of execution. But by a liberal supply of whisky on the appointed day, his opposition was overcome, and be died without resistance, launched into eternity while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. The authorities took this course for fear of the excitement likely to be produced on the Indians by the unyielding struggles of the criminal. But Omick swore vengeance. The closing scene of the execution is described by Mrs. Dr. Long, of Cleveland, in Whittlesey's "History of Cleveland:" "All the people from the Western Reserve seemed to be there, particularly the doctors. I remember several who stayed at our housesi Among them was Dr. Allen, who recently died in Trumbull County; Dr. Coleman, of Ashtabula County ; Dr. Johnson, of Conneaut ; and Dr. Hawley, of Austinburg. When Omick was swung off the rope broke, and they were not sure that he was dead, but a storm was coming on and his body was hurried into a grave that had been dug near the gallows. "The Public Square was only partly cleared then, and had many stumps and bushes on it. At night the doctors went for the body MAHONING VALLEY - 277 with the tacit consent of the sheriff. Omick was about twenty-one years of age, and was very fat and heavy. Dr. Long did not think one man could carry him.. Dr. Allen, who was very stout, thought he could. He was put upon Dr. Allen's back, who soon fell over a stump and Omick on the top of him. The doctors dared not laugh aloud for fear they might be discovered, but some of them were obliged to lie down on the ground and roll around there before they came to the relief of Dr. Allen. It is said that Dr. Towne, of Hudson, was the recipient of the skeleton of Omick, or Poc-con." Colonel Whittlesey, in his history, seems to confound Poc-con, the son, who was executed, with Omick, the father. "Old Omick" was frequently spoken of and known to the first settlers in Kinsman, and it is said by them, that soon after the death of Poc-con, he left, and was found against us in the war of 1812, at the battle on the Peninsula, near Sandusky. This last, however, is doubtful. At the beginning of the war of 1812, the Indians all left this part of the country and never returned to Kinsman, with the exception of a few under the lead of " Old Phillip," who was here as late as 1820. About 1820, a company of Chautauqua Indians, some seventy-five in number, with teams going West, camped at Kinsman nearly two weeks, waiting for the recovery of a sick companion. They spent the time in making brooms and baskets, were partially civilized and very quiet, showing no disposition to make use of intoxicating drinks. An Indian was buried in the sugar camp on the south part of the John Kinsman farm. The spot was covered since the writer's recollection with a log pen. He died of consumption. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. FACE OF THE COUNTRY. The general appearance of Kinsman is level rather than hilly and broken. At the same time the water-courses make very considerable depressions in its surface, and there are gradual' elevations which reach varying heights. The eastern line of the township in its whole length runs along the dividing height of land between the valleys of the Shenango and the Pymatuning, and is from two hundred to three hundred feet above the bed of those streams. A somewhat lower elevation, called " The Ridge," begins nearly a mile west of the center of the township, and runs north into Williamsfield, affording fine locations for fruit orchards and beautiful views of the Pymatuning Valley and eastern slope of the township of Gustavus. 278 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. STREAMS. The only considerable streams of the township are the Pymatuning, Stratton, and Sugar Creek. The first and longest rises about ten miles north-west, in the township of Cherry Valley; enters the town near its north-west corner, and runs through the whole length of the township, passing out near the center of its south line. It is a sluggish stream, with .a serpentine channel and low banks, that are frequently overflowed, widening the stream in some places to a quarter of a mile or more. Its bordering interval land, though to some extent swampy, is mostly of a superior quality. The creek retains its old Indian name, and is fed by numerous springs and small streams along its course. Stratton Creek takes its name from Stratton, the first settler on its banks. It is a clear and rapid stream, fed mostly by living springs, and affords valuable water power. It enters the township near its north-east corner, and unites with the Pymatuning near the south line of the township. It has an eastern branch, which unites with it a mile and a half above its mouth. The banks of the creek are bluff, with but little interval land until near its junction with the Pymatuning, where the finest bottom-lands of the township are found. Sugar Creek is a clear, rapid, but less durable stream, having its rise south in the township of Johnson, and running north enters Kinsman near its south-west corner, and unites with the Pymatuning about midway between its upper and lower bridges. It has one mill- seat upon it, and is bordered with valuable groves of the sugar maple, from which circumstance it takes its name. SOIL. There is quite a variety of soils in different parts of the township. Along the Pymatuning bottom-lands is the rich alluvial; bordering these on the east, and covering nearly a third part of the township, is sandy loam, and this again shades off into the clay loam; all of which is productive, and all available land except a narrow strip a part of the way along the Pymatuning. TIMBER. When the township was first entered by the surveyors and earl)" settlers, it was covered with a heavy growth of timber, with the exception of a tract called " The Prairie." This was covered with MAHONING VALLEY - 279 scrub oak six or seven feet high. It is said that a man on horse- back could take in at a single view nearly the whole plain of a thousand acres or more. Bordering on this tract south and east the oak prevailed, although mingled with it were the ash, linden, hickory, etc. On the higher grounds, along with these varieties were the valuable chestnut, poplar, elm, and in some parts the beech, maple, and sycamore. These latter were found more especially along the streams, and higher and more clayey parts. In the south part of the township, in section twenty-three, west part, was a grove of white pines, of about twenty-five acres, probably the largest grove of the kind on the Reserve. GAME. The Pymatuning was famed for the abundance of its otters, mink, and musk-rats; also its ducks and wild geese. The woods abounded in deer, elk, wild turkeys, partridges, quails, etc., which were much depended on by the first settlers for table supplies. Besides these were the common gray wolf, black bear, occasionally a panther, several varieties of the fox, the raccoon, possum, porcupine, down to the many common varieties of small game. The streams abounded in fish, especially the white sucker, which were taken in large numbers during the Spring season. ANTIQUITIES. That part of the township commencing near the mouth of Stratton's Creek, skirting along the east bank of the Pymatuning, and west bank of Stratton's Creek, first regarded of so little value, was a beautiful alluvial bottom, on which the first settlers noticed the evident signs of an old Indian cornfield. Further up the land rises into an undulating surface of deep gravelly loam, which undoubtedly had been burned over by the Indians for a hunting ground. Freed from timber, the elk and the deer, in the grazing season, would come out from the dense forest on either side, to feed on the open grass plat and plain, and thus could be approached and presenting a fairer mark for the Indian. Bordering on the open prairie, on the farm now owned by Wayne Bidwell, Esq., upon the high ground in the rear of his house, were the remains of what was supposed to have been an old Indian fort. The lines of an embankment and ditch were clearly defined and were often noticed by the early settlers of the town. In the vicinity of this fort flint arrowheads and stone axes were frequently found. So late as 1866, Mr. Plant in plowing up an old field on his farm (a part of the prairie), 280 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. struck a nest of arrow-heads, which were undoubtedly lost or buried there by the Indians. Until the war of 1812 the Indians made their yearly visits to this locality, where they spent weeks in hunting, fish, ing, and trapping. Spots of earth, dark with intermingled charcoal, were found near the old fort, showing what was evidently an Indian camping-ground. The head-waters of the Pymatuning were marked with a very permanent beaver-dam, which had been abandoned by its occupants before the settlement of the country by the whites. KINSMAN FAMILY. We now come to the first settlement of the township of Kinsman. Before entering on this part of our narrative some account of Mr. John Kinsman, the sole proprietor of the township and the leading spirit in its early settlement, together with a limited record of his family, will not be. uninteresting nor out of place by those who have made, or may hereafter make, their home in the town that bears his name. The ancestors of Mr. Kinsman, on his father's side, are traced from the time of their leaving England, embarking in the ship Mary and John, at Southampton, landing at Boston, settling in Ipswich, Mass., as one of the Puritan fathers, in 1634. From that time the geneological record is traced by regularly executed recorded wills of the ancestors of Mr. Kinsman down to and including the last will and testament of his father ; and whatever of history is shown links them with the patriots of their day and generation. The ancestry of his mother is traced from John Thomas, who came over from England in the ship Hopewell, 1635, a boy fourteen years of age, under the special charge of Gov. Edward Winslow, of Plymouth, from whom sprang an honorable and patriotic line of descendants. The name of Mr. Kinsman's mother was Sarah Thomas, sister of General John Thomas, of the American Revolution, one of the generals first appointed by the Continental Congress. Mr. John Kinsman was the son of Jeremiah Kinsman, a thrifty farmer of Lisbon, Conn. Here he lived, working on his father's farm, and receiving such education as the schools of that day afforded, until he was of age. At the breaking out of the Revolution, 1776, being then twenty-three years old, he enlisted in a company of Connecticut militia, destined to take an active part in the bloody and disastrous battle of Long Island. MAHONING VALLEY - 281 The latter part of March, 1776, the British troops evacuated Boston, and sailed for Halifax. Washington, in the mean time, not knowing their destination, and believing that New York would be their next point of attack, withdrew the main body of his army to that and began preparations for its defense. Just before the Dec- city, of Independence General Howe made his appearance in the vicinity of New York, and landed his troops on Staten Island without opposition. But it was the purpose of Howe to approach the city by way of Long Island. This had been foreseen by Washington, and he had sent over a corps of his army, nine thousand strong, which took their position opposite the city behind intrenchments that had been thrown up under the direction of Greene. Soon after the landing of the British on Staten Island Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, inspirited by a letter from Washington, making known his weakness and inability to defend New York with the force he then had, called together his " Council of Safety," and immediately ordered the raising of nine regiments, of three hundred and fifty men each, which were sent on to New York to aid in its defense. It was under this call of Gov. Trumbull that John Kinsman enlisted, and receiving the position of Ensign in a company belonging to Col. Huntington's regiment, arrived in New York in time to take part in the battle of Long Island. The forces of Gen. Howe on the Island, twenty thousand strong, were separated from the Americans by a range of thickly wooded heights running across the Island, the roads and passes of which were very imperfectly guarded by about twenty-five hundred men. On the morning of the 27th of August the British, having either captured or avoided the American patriots, easily took possession of these heights, and were seen advancing to the attack. Putnam, being told that the picket which guarded the approach to the coast-road had been driven in, ordered Stirling, with two regiments nearest at hand, to advance beyond the lines and repulse the enemy. The regiments chosen for this desperate service were the large and well-equipped ones of Delaware and Maryland. These were followed by Col. Huntington's regiment, to which Kinsman belonged, under the lead of Parsons, a brigadier. Says Bancroft, "About where now runs the Nineteenth Street, in Brooklyn, he (Stirling) formed his line along the ridge from the left of the road to the woods. On the height inclosed within the cemetery, and known as 'Battle Hill,' two field-pieces, all that he had to oppose against them, were placed on the south side of the hill so as to com- 282 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. mand the road and the only approach for some hundred yards, lie himself occupied the right, which was the post of greatest danger. Atlee and Kichline formed his center. Parsons commanded the left. The American center, and the troops further east, were early out. flanked by a column under Clinton, that came on the Jamaica road, and were repulsed with great loss. The contest being over at the east and at the center, Stirling, with his regiments near the bay, still retained his position with great bravery. But the whole British army were now free to engage in the attack. Many fell upon the field, and a large proportion of his men were taken prisoners, among them John Kinsman. For an extended account of the battle of Long Island the reader is referred to Bancroft, Vol. IX, and Hildredth, Vol. III, and other American histories. Much more than one-half the loss of the British fell upon the troops that successfully encountered Stirling. After the battle we find in Independent Chronicle, printed at Boston, September 9, 1776, the following : "A list of the names of officers that are prisoners with the enemy and have, by flag of truce, sent for their baggage and cash," of "Col. Huntington's regiment," "Ensign Kinsman." And from the Continental Journal and Weekly Advertiser, printed at Boston, May 8, 1777, "Fishkill, April 20, to the printer: " HEADQUARTERS, MORRISTOWN, April 10, 1777. " Sir,—His Excellency General Washington desires that the following gentlemen may be informed, through your paper, that they are exchanged and at liberty to enter into the service again. " I am, etc., G. JOHNSTON, A. D. C." Among the gentlemen mentioned was "Ensign John Kinsman." Thrust into one of those prison-ships, in New York harbor, of detestable memory, a standing reproach and disgrace to the British name, Mr. Kinsman for some time suffered from close confinement: impure air, filth, vermin, and hunger nearly to starvation. His health was greatly impaired, and he never entirely recovered from the effects of his imprisonment. By some means he, with two of his companions, Charles Fanning and Anthony Bradford, were after a time released from the prison-ship on parole, and allowed to mess in a room in the city of New York, in the mean time officiating alter- nately, in weekly periods, as their own cooks. After the parole he was kindly treated by the British officers. MAHONING VALLEY - 283 While in New York he acquired a knowledge of the hatting business that induced him, immediately on his release and return home, to embark in that business. He at once established a shop, placed in it an experienced workman, Mr. Capron, as foreman, purchased a stock of goods, and devoted his time to the care of the store, furnishing the shop, and making sales of the products. He supplied the army largely with hats, and the trade generally proved to be successful, and was continued in Connecticut, with his farm operations, until after the war. In 1792 he was married to Miss Rebecca Perkins, daughter of, Capt. Simon Perkins, of Lisbon, Conn. In 1797, having been elected to represent his native town in the State Legislature, the office was continued to him by successive reelections for three years. It was here that he became acquainted with many of the officers and stockholders of the Connecticut Land Company and familiar with their operations, and concluded to become one of the proprietors of the Company. It was also about this time that he first entertained the idea of a removal to Ohio. His first trip to the Connecticut Western Reserve was in 1799. He came out to explore the country, and to see and survey some of the lands that had fallen to him in the drafts of the year previous. That year he aided in the survey of the township of Kinsman. And from this time his life and business were very intimately connected with the early history and settlement of the township. His was the ruling spirit of the settlement. His age, experience, enterprise, wealth, and more than all, perhaps, his practical sound judgment, gave him an influence in the affairs of the town which no other individual could pretend to exert. While naturally firm and decided in his purpose, he was conciliatory in his treatment of others, eminently kind in his feelings, and lenient as a creditor. His first office in Ohio was that of Justice of the Peace under the Territorial Government. Local justices were associated to form the courts called Quarter Sessions. He was one of those who assisted in Constituting the government of the first and subsequent county organizations, providing for county jail, and fixing its limits, etc. Under the State government, in 1806, he was appointed one of the Associate Judges of the county. Also held the office of postmaster from the time of the first establishment of an office in the town to the time of his decease. His own increasing business, as well as that of many others, now 284 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. called for increased facilities of trade and commerce, and was the occasion of the establishment of the Western Reserve Bank--the first corporation of the kind in Northern Ohio. Mr. Kinsman was one of its principal projectors, and much the largest subscriber to the stock of the company, taking one-fifth of the $100,000 capital. He did not live, however, to see the organization completed. His business life was one of great activity and toil, riding often on horseback to Connecticut, New York, and Philadelphia, to purchase goods, also over many parts of the Reserve, looking after settlements and sales of land, occasionally camping out nights. Besides, the building of mills, attention to his store, and the clearing and improving of a large farm, brought upon him exposures and cares, greater than his somewhat impaired constitution was able to bear. He died August 17, 1813, aged sixty years. He died intestate, leaving a large estate, for that time, which was administered upon by his brother-in-law, Gen. Simon Perkins. Mr. Kinsman lived and died in the house which he built on the south side of the square near where the store and warehouse of Kay & Burrill now stands. A few years after his decease, the house took fire in the middle of the night and burned to the ground. The family afterward occupied the old Sutliff House, a little east of the one burned, until John Kinsman, the eldest son of the deceased, built the house now known as the "Kinsman Homestead," which . was occupied by the family until by death, marriage, or otherwise, their homes were changed. The widow, Mrs. Rebecca Kinsman, remained there until her decease, May 27, 1854, aged eighty years. Mrs. Kinsman was a woman of decided and devoted Christian character, of strong mind, and of large heart. She was active in promoting the religious culture of the place both in word and deed. She gave, freely and largely to benevolent objects; was a liberal benefactor of Western Reserve College in its earlier years, assisted largely toward the building of the Presbyterian and Congregational house of worship, gave the parsonage and grounds to be occupied by the minister of the society, and contributed generously toward an endowment for his support. Her liberal hand, kind advice, and ready relief to those who were in need have often been gratefully remembered and acknowledged. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Kinsman, when they left Lisbon, a Connecticut, consisted of the following children; namely, John, aged ten years; Joseph, aged nine years; Sarah, aged five years, died January 13, 1807; Olive Douglas, aged three years. MAHONING VALLEY - 285 John, the eldest of the children, soon took the place of "pater-familias" in the household, living in the old homestead which he built. He was married April 28, 1846, to Jane W. Cass, widow of John Jay Cass, and died February 4, 1864. He was identified with the early settlement of the Western Reserve from his youth ; and having uncommon energy and business capacity, he soon became connected with many of the public and business interests of the day, and devoted much of his time and means to the development of the resources of the country, and administered largely of his advice and means to the wants of those around him. In his extended business large credits, for provisions and supplies, freely given to relieve the wants of the early settlers, at a time when such credits were deemed absolutely necessary to their success. Joseph, after remaining with his father in Ohio, assisting in the store few years, returned to Connecticut, fitted himself for college at the academy at Colchester, and entered the freshman class at Yale College, 1816. After three years of close application to study his health gave way, and he was advised by his physician to go South. He spent the Winter in the West Indies at St. Thomas and St. Croix, returning with the return of Spring. He died of consumption, June 17, 1819, and was buried in the old cemetery at Norwich, Connecticut. His age was twenty-four years. Olive Douglas, in 1812, was sent to Norwich, Connecticut, to attend the school of Miss Lydia Huntley, afterward Mrs. Sigourney. From there she went to Hartford, afterward to Litchfield, where she finished her school education under the instruction of Mrs. Pierce. While in attendance upon Miss Huntley's school for young ladies, the intelligence of her father's death was received. An only daughter, she was a favorite of her father's, and his death was to her a great affliction. Returning from school in 1819, she rode on horseback from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to her home. Unaccustomed to this mode of travel, the journey was so severe that it produced a spinal affection, from which she never recovered. She married George Swift, Esq., son of Hon. Zephaniah Swift, Chief-Justice of Connecticut. He was a graduate of Yale College, commenced the practice of law in Warren ; occupied, for his first residence, a house on the corner of Main and Franklin Streets, where the Anderson block never stands. In 1823 he removed to Kinsman, purchased a farm and 286 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. built a house upon it, which is now occupied by David Bracken. He continued the practice of law for some time, but in the latter part of his life devoted himself mainly to the farm. He was a great reader and an accomplished scholar, very agreeable and instructive in conversation ; was elected a representative to the State Legislature; was a devoted Christian, and aided much in the religions exercises, and the building up of the Church to which he belonged. He died March 14, 1845, of cancer. Mrs. Swift died June 24, 1835, of spinal affection. Thomas was the first of the family born in Ohio, August 20, 1804. He was one of the most extensive farmers in Northern Ohio. His lands, comprising about two thousand acres, were located in the townships of Kinsman and Gustavus. The fine quality of its soil, well watered by springs and spring-brooks, its good timber, and well -arranged farm buildings, made his farm one of the most attractive in the State. It was mostly under fine cultivation; a part being devoted to dairy purposes, the number of cows ranging from sixty to eighty each year; the balance to promiscuous farming. His large and well-bred Durham herd constituted at all times a prominent and attractive feature of his business. His life as a citizen of the town numbers. more years than any one that has prceded him, and at his death he was the oldest native inhabitant. His life, from childhood to old age, has been peculiarly marked by kindly relations with all with whom he had to do. Buoyant in spirits, with a strong mind abounding in wit and humor, he drew around him a circle of friends ; while his marked integrity, consistent Christian character, and a modesty that withheld him from any aspirations for fame or official position, rendered him prominent as a counselor and adviser with his neighbors and friends. Frederick Kinsman, the only surviving member of the family, now resides at Warren Ohio. EARLY SETTLEMENT. In 1801 Mr. Kinsman determined to locate in Kinsman. In the Spring of 1801 he started from Connecticut in company with Mr. Ebenezer Reeves, whom he had employed to begin improvements in the township. By agreement, Mr. Reeves was to receive twenty dollars a month during his absence from home, and forty dollars as a bonus, provided he did not like the country; but if he was pleased he MAHONING VALLEY - 287 was to exchange his land in Norwich, Connecticut, for land in Kinsman. This exchange was made in the Winter of 1801-2. Quite a company of young men from Connecticut accompanied Mr. Kinsman on his journey. Among them were Simon Perkins, Calvin, Pease, John S. Edwards, George Tod, Turhand and Jared Kirtland, Josiah Pelton, and Ebenezer Reeves. Probably a merrier set of men never crossed the mountains and found their way through the wilderness than this company in 1801. The Messrs. Kirtland came in a wagon; the others were on horseback The company usually put up over night at the same the same place. They soon organized into a society called "The Illuminati." Al were titled, and in addressing each other the titles were frequently used. To illustrate the use to which the society was put, and show the wit and humor with which they beguiled the tediousness of their journey, a single case will suffice. Mr. Kinsman was the only one of the company possessed of a hired man. Pease set up a claim to the right of property in this man Reeves. Kinsman resisted, and employed counsel to defend his rights. Pease instituted proceedings to recover the property. The case was brought before one of the titled dignitaries of the "Illuminati" and called for hearing from night to night as they pursued their journey. Profound arguments on the case were made, and a lengthy and learned decision was at last given confirming the title to the property in Mr. Kinsman. The party continued together as far as Youngstown, Ohio, where they separated, a part going to Warren, Mr. Kinsman and Reeves to Kinsman, and Pelton to his purchase in Gustavus. This year Mr. Kinsman commenced building a. double log cabin on Section No. 23, east of the Vernon road, and a little east of where Patrick M'Gaffy now lives. When it had reached the height htof six or seven feet, however, it was abandoned, and another erected and occupied, between the creek and the store of Kay & B Mr. Barnes, of Fowler, was engaged as a hired hand, and his two daughters as house-keepers for the workmen employed in making improvements for a farm, and Mr. Powers, with his two sons, Abraham and Isaac, of Youngstown, who that year began the erection of a saw-mill a little south of where the covered bridge now stands. The daughters of Mr. Barnes, however, soon became homesick and discontented, and left. Their place was supplied by James Hill and Wife, of Youngstown, who remained through the Summer. Mr. 288 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. Reeves and the men with him were employed in clearing and cultivating the land and constructing a mill-dam, which, however, was swept away by a flood the following Spring. The work on the mill, commenced this year by the Messrs. Powers, was completed the next year by James King, from Pennsylvania. Mr. Kinsman and Mr. Reeves returned to Connecticut in the e Pall of 1801. John Cummings, John and Isaac Mathews, sons of deacon Wm. Mathews, were engaged to remain through the Winter to clear land, and had charge of the place and improvements generally, During that Winter Mr. Reeves exchanged his Norwich farm for about eight hundred acres of land in Kinsman. This was the first sale of land to settlers of the township, and the only one of the year. It was made by Mr. Kinsman and his original associate proprietors, Afterward Mr. Kinsman purchased the interests of his associates and became sole proprietor. In the Spring of 1802 Mr. Kinsman returned to Ohio. Mr. Reeves and family left Norwich, Conn., the last Monday in May, with an ox and horse team, and arrived in Kinsman on the 30th of July. Mr. Ebenezer Reeves was a native of Long Island. While young he emigrated, with his father, to New Jersey. During the War of the Revolution, by reason of constant annoyances from the British and Tories, he sold his farm in New Jersey and removed to Norwich, Conn., where his friends, driven from Long Island by the same cause, had already located. He received, in payment for his farm, Continental money, which ultimately became worthless on his hands, He was a lieutenant in the army of the Revolution, and, although afterward in moderate circumstances, he could never be prevailed upon to apply for a pension, to which his services entitled him. At the time of Mr. Reeves's emigration to Kinsman his family consisted of two daughters and one son—he having, previous to this time, buried two wives. His daughters, Deborah, afterward Mrs. Plumb Sutliff, and Hannah, afterward Mrs. John Andrews, came with him. His son, Jeremiah, remained at Norwich until 1803. Mr. Reeves and family were the first emigrant settlers in Kinsman, from out of the State; and when they left Norwich supposed that they would be the first permanent settlers in the township; but, on meeting Mr. and Mrs. Young, of Youngstown, on their way, they learned that already three families had preceded them. In the Fall of 1801 Mr. Kinsman had made a partial contract with David Randall, Martin Tid, and his son-in-law, James Hill, to remove with their families to Kinsman in the Spring of 1802. After' MAHONING VALLEY - 289 ward they concluded to accept the offer of Mr. Kinsman to give them, land in Kinsman in exchange for theirs in Youngstown; and in April the three families started at the same time from Youngstown. Randall and Tidd each had a wagon and team. At Vernon, then Smithfield, Randall broke the axle of his wagon, which detained him one night. Tidd and family, with Hill and wife, continued on to Kinsman, so that they were the first persons that entered the township with the view of permanent settlement. At this time Mr. Kinsman commenced the rebuilding of the mill, employing King as mill-wright. In the course of the year it was finished and put in operation. He also, at this early period, had provided himself with a small stock of goods, with which to supply. the needs of his workmen and the first settlers. Mrs. Andrews says there were about eighteen men employed; and at one time herself, sister, and seventeen men were sick with the measles in the log cabin. Mr. Reeves this year located his land, six hundred and eighty- five acres, in the east part of section 17, and adjoining one hundred and fifty-five acres near the saw-mill, known as the Sutliff Farm, and at present a part of the Kinsman homestead. He afterward exchanged a part of the six hundred and eighty-five acre tract for the Reeves and Andrews Farm, where Mr. Wayne Bidwell and John Christy now live. Mr. Reeves erected a log house north of the road, and opposite the Sutliff frame house, where he lived until he built his frame house in 1807. This was located just in front of Wayne Bidwell's house, and was the first two-story frame house built in the town. Here Mr. Reeves spent the remainder of his days. Further on we shall notice more at length the prominent part that he and his family had in the first settlement of the township. Tidd, in exchange for sixty acres of land in Youngstown, took one hundred acres on the hill north of the Seth Perkins Farm, where he lived and died. Randall located on the Seth Perkins Farm, where he remained but a short time. The Winter of 1802-3 he occupied the log cabin near the saw-mill, and in the Summer of 1803 he located on the John Allen (now Isaac Allen) Farm. Here he planted an orchard, whose fruits, if not the best, were the first raised in the township. Randall exchanged this farm, in 1806, with John Allen, for land in Williamsfield. After a short stay in this new location he removed to Richmond, Ashtabula County ; from there again to Williamsfield, 290 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. and thence back to Kinsman, where he bought land and built a saw-mill on the farm now owned by Charles Wood, on Strattan Creek, From Kinsman, when advanced in life, he removed, with his sons, to Michigan, where lie died, aged seventy-two years. Tidd and Randall deserve more than a passing notice as being among the best specimens of those once called "the frontier settlers They were from the Wyoming Valley, Penn., were possessed of strong and hardy constitutions, muscular powers, inventive and active minds, but without cultivation. Reared as they had been amid the soul-stirring events of border warfare in that far-famed valley of Wyoming, they were well calculated to encounter the dangers, endure the hardships, and engage in the enterprises of a frontier settlement. Danger was the element in which they had grown up and lived; so that, with rifle in hand, true to its mark, neither the whoop of the Indian nor the howl of the wild beast had any terror for them. Tidd, at the time of the Wyoming massacre, lived a little below the settlement of Wyoming. His house stood on a high bluff, immediately on the bank of the Susquehanna, eight miles below Jackson's Ford, and two miles below Wyoming. Some of the family are reported to have seen the dead bodies as they floated down the river after the fatal massacre by the Indians. His house was at one time used as a block-house, and, at the time of the massacre, was a refuge to which the surrounding inhabitants fled for safety. After leaving Wyoming Tidd removed to Westmoreland County, Penn., thence to the banks of the Ohio below Pittsburg, and, in 1798, —came to Youngstown. He, with his family and his nephew, Captain Hillman, are reported to have found their way to Youngstown in the first covered wagon that ever entered the place. His daughter, Betsey (afterward Mrs. Robert Henry), nine years of age, was for a time employed as help in the family of Judge Young. Tidd was honest and honorable in his deal and intercourse with neighbors, but did not like restraint in matters where he deemed his rights infringed upon, however the law might be against him. locating the Mercer road by his place, in Kinsman, he violently opposed it. When the surveyor was running the line for its location across his premises, as the chain was drawn across a log, he seized his hatchet and cut it in two; and thus defied their farther action, and is said to have succeeded in turning the line of the road so that it avoided his farm. Superiority of strength, agility, and an unerring aim in the use of the rifle, were considered no mean accomplishments in a frontiers MAHONING VALLEY - 291 man. Matches for shooting, ball playing, wrestling, and boxing, were frequent pastimes with them. Generally a small amount was staked on the issue, at least enough to pay for the whisky drank, and perhaps a supper. The successful individual not only gloried in the title of " Bully " which he received, but the community around were in full sympathy with him. Many anecdotes are related of a class of fearless "first settlers," some authentic and some doubtless apocryphal. The following of Tidd is vouched for by those who knew him well. While living in the Wyoming Valley he was arrested and confined for some offense committed during the violent and angry disputes which arose between the Pennsylvanians and the Connecticut " Yankees." Before this he had had some bantering with a big, burly Irishman. One morning this " Bully," as he was called, came into the village where Tidd was confined, daring the best man in the town to combat. No one coming forward to accept the challenge, and not liking to own beat, they had recourse to the prowess of Tidd. The Irishman, remembering the former banter that had passed between them, demanded a chance to give him a " clip." The " Bully," settlers, and all, rushed to the place of Tidd's confinement, and demanded his release. Never was champion, flushed with success, more eager for the encounter than was this Irishman. Tidd was invited to come out and take a round, then urged, then offered his liberty. He, however, remonstrated; when his antagonist dared him, called him a coward and the like. Even his friends began to doubt his courage and ability successfully to contend with the boasting bully. He was released, however, and brought into the ring. At the first onset he was knocked to the ground. But Tidd at length rallied in very self- defense, and with one blow on the head of his antagonist put an end to his life. Tidd was justified in the judgment of his townsmen; no arrest was made, nor was he again returned to confinement. He commonly avoided all reference to the deed. Once, when at a "wake"* at Wesby's, being under the influence of "liquor," he admitted it, and discussed the affair freely. After the settlement began to put on more of the appearance of civilization, Tidd is said to have declared frequently that he would * An Irish " wake" was a gathering of men and women of the neighborhood at the house of a deceased person to watch the corpse, the first night after the decease. The night was spent in different ways, according to the wishes and habits of the family of the deceased. Generally whisky was furnished by the family and used freely by the Watchers. Its effects were often disgraceful uproar and confusion. The custom was very frequently observed among the first Irish settlers. 292 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. leave Kinsman if he could; but that he had become old, and his children was unwilling to go with him. "For," said he "I have always thought it time for me to be off when law and Gospel came into the place." Tidd's life and character were generally those of a sober, kink-hearted, and loyal man. He was not quarrelsome, nor was it his habit to controvert the opinion of his neighbors, whether in religion or otherwise, as the above expression might seem to indicate. He died in a good old age, kindly cared for by his family and neighbors. RANDALL. Randall after leaving the Susquehanna, lived first on the Monongahela, then at Becket's mills, afterward down the Ohio near Marietta and the mouth of the Muskingum River. This location he abandoned about 1800, and came to Youngstown. His removals from place to place, always on the frontier, together with his trapping and hunting manner of life, brought him very early and frequently in contact with the Indians. His treatment of them differed widely from that of most of his class. By his kindness and the uprightness of his deal in his intercourse with them, he always won their confidence and esteem, which, as we shall soon see, enabled him successfully to act the part of mediator when war between the Indians and the first settlers seemed inevitable. Commonly the " frontiers men" cherished a deadly hatred toward the red man, occasioned by his treachery and frequent massacres of the whites. Killing an Indian for injury and insult was regarded with no more compunction than the shooting of a wolf. As illustrative of this feeling toward the Indian we give below Mrs. Randall's account of the part taken by her husband in the M'Mahan difficulty with the Indians, related after the death of Captain Randall. In 1800 two men by the name of Joseph M'Mahan and Richard Storer became offended at some Indians who were camping at the "Salt Springs," now in the township of Weathersfield, and shot a chief, whose name was Tuscaro or Spotted George, and a half-breed, James Jameson, and wounded a squaw and papoose. The Indians were greatly enraged and threatened vengeance. Captain Hillman, nephew of Tidd, and David Randall were sent by the settlers to, If, possible, pacify the Indians. It was considered a .perilous undertaking. But as George's squaw had, since the occurrence, visited Randall's house, and the Indians had always been on friendly terms with him, it was supposed that Randall would be received with more confidence than any other one. They went to their camp unarmed; MAHONING VALLEY - 293 but as they entered, seeing a couple of tomahawks lying on the ground, they took the precaution to seat themselves within the reach of these weapons, thinking they might have occasion for their use. At first they were received very coolly; but after holding a long talk with the Indians, and making them fair offers and promises that the murderers should be punished, they were persuaded to continue at peace with their white neighbors and wait the action of the law. Storer fled; but M'Mahan was taken prisoner and carried to Pittsburg for confinement. It was thought necessary that he should be escorted back to Youngstown for his trial by a file of United States soldiers, fearing that an effort might be made by the inhabitants to rescue him, as M'Mahan, in their estimation, had done nothing wrong. This crime of M'Mahan was the occasion of the first criminal court ever held in what is now Trumbull County, then Jefferson County. B. J. Meigs, Benj. Ives, and Gov. St. Clair, were present. George Tod was Prosecuting Attorney, assisted by Gilman and Backus. Benj. Tappan, assisted by J. S. Edwards and Mr. Semple, was counsel for the defendant. Calvin Pease and Titus Brockway, of Hartford, acted as constables. M'Mahan claimed that his act was in self-defense, and thus justifiable homicide. Most of the citizens, however, supposed him guilty of murder as well as other outrageous conduct toward the family of Spotted George. It was almost impossible to impanel a jury at that time. Many were "challenged." Isaac Powers, of Youngstown, and Fowler, of Poland, were the last to fill the panel, who were said to have considered the prisoner guilty of murder, but at last acquiesced in the opinion of their associates and acquitted him. It is said of Governor St. Clair that he thought M'Mahan ought to have been hung for his looks if for nothing else. A few families in addition to those already named settled in Kinsman during 1802. Paul Rice and mother located on what is now the Webber Farm. Alexander Clark located on the Parker Farm and. Uriel Driggs a little east of Driggs Hill. This year Sally and Phoebe, twin children of Mr. and Mrs. Randall, were born, the first white children born in the township. When arrived to years of maturity the first married R. Brown, the second Charles Woodworth, both of Williamfield. With these children Mrs. Randall spent her last days, living to a good old age, loved and respected by all who knew her. This year Mr. Kinsman, as Justice of the Peace under the Territorial Government, united in marriage Robert Henry and Betsy Tidd, 294 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. it being the first marriage in Kinsman. General Martin Smith, Justice of the Peace, officiated at the second marriage—Zopher Case to Anna Randall. Randall and Case both lived in the house of Mr. Kinsman through the Winter of 1802-3, employed in tending the saw-mill, hauling logs, etc. Mrs. Randall, when the men were away at the Pine woods for logs, tended the mill, sometimes spinning at the little wheel while the log moved through. In 1846, relating her adventures, she said it was nothing to set the saw, but it was rather hard to tread back the carriage with her feet. 1803. In 1803 Charles Case, father of Zopher Case and grandfather of Professor Case, of Gustavus, came to Kinsman, and resided in one of Mr. Kinsman's houses, assisting his son in tending the saw-mill. He afterward removed to Williamsfield, where he died. Captain Charles Case made himself useful by giving gratuitous instruction in singing, thus affording an innocent pastime to the early settlers, some of whom keenly felt the loss of society and privileges which they had formerly enjoyed. Wm. Tidd, nephew and son-in-law of Martin Tidd, settled on what is now known as the Alexander Wade Farm. John Wade, father of Captain Wm. Wade, and brothers began improvements on the Wm. Wade Farm. John Little located on the Little Farm. Walter Davis on the Davis Farm. Joseph Murray, a carpenter, lived a bachelor in the Davis family. Isaac and John Matthews and their sister Betsey located where now stands the brick farm-house of Thomas Kinsman. Robert Laughlin commenced this year on the Seth Perkins Farm, George Matthews located on his farm on the Ridge. Joseph M'Michael came from South Carolina and settled on the farm occupied afterward by Andrew Christy. George Gordon Dement came and probably thought it no sin in located in the south-east part of the town on the Burns Farm, those anti-temperance days to erect a whisky distillery. This was and was in operation in 1804. Peter Yetman and son occupied the south-east part of the Seth Perkins Farm. MAHONING VALLEY - 295 Joshua Budwell and family, and his son Henry, a single man, occupied the Jedediah Burnham Farm, and planted an orchard. A single man by the name of Wm. Knox commenced on the Esquire King Farm. Five children were born in the township this year, and it is related that seven calico dresses were presented to the natives by Mrs. Kinsman—two to the Randall twins born the year before, one to Martin, son of James Hill, one to James, son of Robert Henry, the first two boys (cousins) born in the township, one to a daughter of Robert Laughlin, one to a daughter of Zopher Case. Who the other was does not appear. September 16,1803, the Congregational and Presbyterian Church of Vernon formed by Rev. Joseph Badger, afterward known as the Vernon, Hartford, and Kinsman Church. 1804. In the Spring of this year Mr. Kinsman made arrangements for moving his family to Kinsman. It consisted of himself and wife and four children—John, Joseph, Sally, and Olive. Mr. Kinsman was fifty-one and his wife thirty-one years of age. Having by means of his saw-mill provided lumber for building, he engaged some mechanics and others to accompany him to his new home and aid him in erecting a house and other buildings for the comfort of his family. Among these were Chester Lewis and family, together with Mrs. Manning, his mother-in-law, and her son Samuel. Lewis had lived with Mr. Kinsman and worked on his farm in Connecticut. He drove an ox team, taking his family and such goods and farming utensils as he could conveniently carry. Miss Louisa Morse, afterward Mrs. Isaac Meacham, and Miss Eunice Morgan, afterward Mrs. John L. Cook, were of the company. Cook and Jahazael Lathrop were carpenters. Joseph Coit, nephew of the former joint proprietor, came as clerk for the store. Mr. Kinsman's moving outfit consisted of one two-horse wagon carrying the family, two four-horse wagons for household goods and supplies, one four-ox wagon driven by Lewis, and two riding horses. They came by the way of Fishkill, Lancaster, Beaver, and Youngstown. Mr. Kinsman on the way purchased a small stock of goods, which were placed in charge of Coit. General Perkins, brother of Mrs. Kinsman, married that year, and came with his wife to Ohio, overtaking the Kinsman party at Beaver, 296 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. from which place they traveled together to Youngstown. The part arrived in Kinsman in July, after a journey of seven weeks. When Mr. Kinsman left Ohio in 1803 he left quite a number of workmen making things ready for the arrival of his family next Summer. Some of these, along with other inhabitants of the town, he found on his return sick with fever and ague and in some cases bilious fever. FOURTH OF JULY. On his arrival, Mr. Kinsman found that the Fourth of July had not passed unobserved by his patriotic tenants and the first settlers. Two years previous Hartford had been the place of celebration; but on the 4th of July, 1804, arrangements were made in Kinsman to celebrate, which were characteristic of the times, ample, and every way worthy the place and the occasion. The inhabitants, old and young, assembled at Mr. Kinsman's log cabins, then occupied by Zopher Case and his father. The ladies were to prepare the dinner, but the men were to provide the game. Boys and men all took to the woods, promising to return in a short time with supplies. The women waited minutes, then hours. Poor chance, thought they, for a Fourth of July dinner. At length Mrs. Case started out into the woods to see what she could find. On going a little way she discovered a turkey killed by the party hanging on a bush, a little further on a rabbit, then six wild ducks. Returning to the house with her game, active preparations began for the dinner. After a time strange noises began to be heard. The screaming of boys, squeaking of ducks, and the hallooing of men, announced the arrival of the party. A mile or more up the Pymatuning a large flock of young wild ducks was found, not old enough to fly, but plump and fat. These were driven down the creek until near the house, when they were caught and killed to the number of about eighty. Rare sport, a rare dinner, and fine times for all. After abundant supplies for the dinner, a large surplus remained to each family. Hot whisky stews enabled them to drink their patriotic toasts with suitable enthusiasm. Nor did the ladies fail to drain their bright tin bumpers. And never did Erebus draw his sable curtain around a more jovial company. To a late hour both old and young tripped it lightly over the cabin floor to the mellow strains of Randall's fiddle. The music and dancing of those days partook somewhat of the primitive style and was quite unfettered by modern rules of art. Log cabins were erected for the Kinsman family and their attendants, and lumber and material to a considerable extent got in readiness MAHONING VALLEY - 297 for building a frame-house, barn, and out-houses. Mr. Kinsman began work vigorously in the line of building and improvements with the aid of carpenters and others whom he brought with him. The saw-mill not having been worked during his absence as efficiently as lie had hoped, operations were somewhat retarded through a lack of lumber. However, a frame story and n half house was begun that season and a part of it made available for use, but it was not finished until the next season. It was intended for both store and dwelling-house, and stood where the present store and warehouse stand. The old corn-house that stood so long near the store is said to have been built the same year. Several of the family after their arrival were taken sick with the prevailing fever and ague. Thomas Kinsman was born this year, August 20th. John Tidd died April, 1804, of hemoptysis, aged thirty-two, the first death in the township. His was the first burial, and the place chosen became the "Old Cemetery," on the corner near the church. Deborah Reeve, of Kinsman, was this year married to Plumb Sutliff, of Vernon, then Smithfield, by Rev. Thomas Robbins. After the wedding ceremony and entertainment the party, among whom were Dr. Wright; Miss Thompson, afterward Mrs. Seth Perkins ; Tensard Dewolf, of Vernon, and others walked down to the millpond, and, by turns, rowed out into the pond in a canoe, or "dug-out." One of the parties that had gone out became alarmed at the rocking of the boat, and by their fears so increased the motion that it upset, and they were only relieved by those on shore going to their assistance. William Scott moved into the township and settled on the Scott Farm on the ridge. Plumb Sutliff came to Kinsman also, and, two years after, in 1806, erected the second frame house in the township, on the bank of the creek, a little east of the store, which is yet standing, though in a dilapidated state. Deacon William Matthews came this year from Georgetown, Penn., near the mouth of the Little Beaver, and located on the Jacob Ford Farm, where Mr. Charles Burnham now resides. On account of sickness, produced by the mill-dam, he remained there only about a year, When he removed to a location on the Center road, where he lived until his death, in 1834, aged eighty-three years. The name of Deacon Matthews should be remembered and cherished, not only by his descendants, but by all the inhabitants of the township—especially by all those who are interested in its moral and 298 - HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. religious improvement. In this regard his influence was greater, and entered more deeply into the structure of society than that of any other of the first settlers of the town. He early established religious meetings and assemblies of worship on the Sabbath. When there was no clergyman present, as there was not, except occasionally, until 1813, he always conducted the meetings. His attendance at Church was a fixed habit. It mattered not what was the state of the weather or the roads. Whether hot or cold, wet or dry, mud or snow, he was there in his place, prompt at the hour of service. His venerable appearance, as he officiated, always commanded respect. His meek and unostentatious manner and the fervency of his spirit gave all who knew him confidence in the reality and sincerity of the religion he professed. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1808. ill the war of the Revolution he served as a private three years; and in the latter years of his life drew a pension for this service. With the avails of a farm of one hundred acres and his small pension he was enabled to spend his last years in quietness and religious reading and meditation—his entire thought and conversation seeming to be occupied with the subject of religion. The Kinsman store of general supplies was continued with increased supplies, and, although small in the amount and variety of its goods, compared with stores of the present day, it was not less important, being the only one in the vicinity, drawing custom from Youngstown, Warren, Ashtabula County, even to the lake on the north, and Pennsylvania on the east. The bottom and prairie land of the town was so easy of cultivation, and free from roots and stumps, that Kinsman was famed for its early and abundant production of grain, and became quite a place of resort for supplies; so much so that, by the early settlers of Ashtabula County, it was called their Egypt, to which they resorted with their sacks to buy corn. 1805 This year there were thirty families in the township, namely: Chester Lewis, Wm. Scott, George Matthews, Uriel Driggs, Paul Rice, Wm. Matthews, Jacob Ford, Walter Davis, John Little, Wm. Knox,* Joseph M'Michael, John Wade, George Gordon Dement and brother, John Neil, Robert Neil,* Robert Henry, James Hill, Peter Yetmen, Martin Tidd, Capt. David Randall, Ebenezer Reeve: Thomas Gillis, boarding his brothers, John and William, who com- * Single. MAHONING VALLEY - 299 menced building a saw-mill and grist-mill on Stratton Creek, soon after they came; Stephen Splitstone, Capt. William Westby and three sons, James,* John,* and Ebenezer; Wm. Christy, Andrew Christy,* James M'Connel, John Brekin and sons, David* and Ezekiel ;* Thomas Potter, Leonard Blackburn, Samuel Tidd, John Kinsman, Isaac, John, and Betsey Mathews, Joshua Budwell; Charles and Zopher Case were citizens of the town in the early part of the year, but probably removed to Williamsfield in the Fall; David* and Elam Lindsley, carpenters, on the Brocket Farm; Michael Mathews on the Bennet Farm, Alexander Clark. There were but few mechanics among the settlers at this time. James Hill and Walter Davis were shoemakers, Capt. D. Randall cooper, Wm. Christy and Martin Tidd blacksmiths. Tidd made the cow-bells; David and Elam Lindsley, Joseph Murray, John L. Cook, and Jahazel Lathrop, all single men, were carpenters. While David and his brother, Elam Lindsley, were clearing land on their farm, in felling a tree, a limb struck David, and produced a severe fracture of the thigh. The case was treated by Drs. Wright, of Vernon, and Hawley, of Austinburg. The broken pieces, however, did not unite, and amputation became necessary. The limb was taken off by Dr. Wilson, of Meadville, at the house of Henry Budwell, with a common hand-saw and Mr. Kinsman's carving-knife. Mr. Burnham reports the young unmarried men and women of the town, as follows, in 1805: MEN. Henry Budwell, Wm. Matthews, Anthony Blackburn, Isaac Matthews, Samuel Randall, James Matthews, Henry Randall, Alexander Matthews, David Randall, Jr., Levi Matthews, Andrew Christy, Thomas Matthews, Jeremiah Reeves, John L. Cook, James Westby, Samuel Manning, Jahazael Lathrop, Martin Tidd, Johon Gillis, Charles Tidd, Alexander Wade, Joseph Coit, John Matthews, Jedediah Burnham. WOMEN. Hannah Reeves, afterward married to John Andrews. Louisa Morse,  “ Isaac Meacham. *Single.