PARIS TOWNSHIP - 505

CHAPTER XXVII.

PARIS TOWNSHIP.

GOOD LAND WITH A BAD NAME-SLOW SETTLEMENT-ORGANIZATION-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS - SOME FIRST EVENTS - NOTABLE HAPPENINGS - MCCLINTOCKSBURG AND NEWPORT-OFFICERS, BUSINESS, RESOURCES AND STATISTICS.

PARIS was originally the property of Lemuel G. Storrs, Henry Champion, Gideon Granger and Thomas Bull, members of the Connecticut Land Com-pany, and is Town 3, Range 6, of the surveys. Up to 1810 it was a portion of Deerfield, but at that time it was placed with Palmyra and formed a portion of that township, so remaining till 1820, nhen Paris cut adrift and has since been sailing along smoothly on the sea of progress without her convoy.

For many years before the truth was ascertained, Paris, or rather Storrsboro, as it was formerly called, had a wretched reputation, and a passage over it was avoided by persons ignorant of the real state of affairs, in many instances set-tlers to other portions of the Reserve going many miles out of their way in order to give the " swamps " of Paris a wide berth. It was commonly reported and believed by many that the entire township was one vast mud-hole, and that to get tnto it WAs sure destruction to wagon and team. As the country is level and the soil chiefly clay, in those early days, when scarcely a foot had trodden the soil, water would naturally accumulate in the lower sections, and it would get muddy, the mud being tolerably deep and sticky, too ; so sticky that, as an old settler remarked, one had to go home and get a shovel to dig himself out of the mud when he got "stalled." He meant his team, possibly. It was pretty bad, and no mistake, but cultivation and drainage have made it second to none on the Reserve as grazing land, whilst all other crops are produced easily. The soil, from the very fact of its original damp nature, is excellent, as it is composed in part of clay and the residue of decayed vegetable matter.

One hardy old Pennsylvanian, from Woodbury, Huntingdon County, ventured Into the badly abused township, bringing his family and settling on Lot 21, on the 20th of June, 1811. This was Richard Hudson, and he resided where he settled till his death, which occurred June 27, 1819, his wife having preceded him one month, she dying May 28, 1819.

The old couple and their family were the only settlers till the following spring of 1812, when their son-in-law, John Bridges, arrived and built a house on the farm of Mr. Hudson. The next year John Young and John Cox, with their fami- lies came in from Huntingdon County, Penn., and located on Lot 13, making four families in two years.

506 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

In April, 1815, a valuable addition was made to the little settlement by the arrival of Chauncy Hawley and William Selby and their families from Sanders- field, Berkshire Co., Mass., who located on Lots 27 and 33. In the fall of the same year came Calvin Holcomb and family from Granby, Hartford Co., Conn., and settled on Lot 21.

In December, 1816, Brainard Selby, Sr., Newton Selby and wife, Thomas B. Selby and Austin Wilson arrived from Sandersfield, Mass. Brainard Selby took up his residence with his son William, who had come the year before. Newton Selby located on Lot 40, and Wilson on Lot 39.

In the summer of 1817 John Smith and family arrived and settled on Lot 27, and in the fall of the same year Justus Wilson and family, • from Sandersfield, Mass., and Rufus Smith from Whitestown, N. Y., came in. Wilson stayed with his son, Austin, and Smith built on the southwest part of Lot 39.

In February, 1818, Stephen Bingham, Sr., Stephen Bingham, Jr., and John W. Whiting came in from Whitestown, N. Y., with their families, and located on the northwest part of Lot 34.

A petition being presented- to the County Commissioners, and granted in the fall of 1820, for a separation from Palmyra and its erection into a township, Storrsboro became such on the 10th of November, when the first election for officers was held. Justus Wilson, Stephen Bingham and William Selby were the Judges, and Rufus Smith and Stephen Bingham, Jr., Clerks. The following were the officers elected : Trustees, Rufus Smith, Justus Wilson, John Smith ; Clerk, Cheney V. Senter ; Overseers of the Poor, John W. Whiting, Titus Stanley ; Fence Viewers, Austin Wilson, Calvin Holcomb, Jr. ; Lister, Bidwell Pinney ; Appraiser, Newton Selby ; Treasurer, Stephen Bingham, Jr.; Constables, Chauncy Hawley, Luther Wilson ; Supervisors of Highways, Newton Selby, John Smith ; Justices of the Peace, Stephen Bingham, Calvin Holcomb. At this election there were twenty-five votes polled, and the name of the township was changed to Paris.

Calvin Holcomb refused to accept the office of Justice with its multiplicity of duties and heavy emoluments, preferring to attend to his farm, and Squire Bingham, therefore, had it all his ;own way. In 1822 a suit was brought for assault and battery against Samuel Hudson by Jarvis Holcomb.

In 1817 a religious event of much importance for that early day occurred. Richard Hudson, who was a Methodist, in connection with some others of the same denomination, assisted in a camp-meeting held upon his place. Quite a large number of persons were present, and several ministers conducted the services. It might be more properly termed a " bush meeting," as they are called in some sections, and lasted only a couple of days.

In 1835 the first church, the Welsh Congregational, was organized by Rev. David Jenkins, and consisted of the following persons : Richard Morris, Mary Morris, Robert Roberts, Elizabeth Roberts, William Probert, Maria Probert, Edward Morris, Ann Morris, John Morris, Mary Williams and Widow Probert. The organization has remained intact ever since, and they now have a tasteful and commodious church edifice at the Center, which has been erected forty years. The congregation is large and composed almost entirely of Welsh, the services being mostly conducted in that language. There is a fine Sunday school also, connected with the church. Rev. David Davis has been pastor for over thirty years. Welsh Independent Congregational Church of Paris Township, at Newport, was reorganized and elected D. N. Evans, John Rees and Samuel Jones Trustees February 8, 1850.

There is a Baptist Church with a large Sunday-school, of which Rev. A. J. Morton is pastor.

At McClintocksburg there was formerly a United Brethren Church, but with the decay of that embryo city it disappeared in the general wreck, and now there is no society of that kind in the township.

PARIS TOWNSHIP - 507

Of the early ministers who preached for the settlers may be mentioned Revs. Joseph Treat, Nathan Darrow, Congregational, and Revs. Robert Roberts and Shadrach Bostwick, Methodist.

The first school taught in the township was at the house of Richard Hudson in the summer of 1819 by Miss Betsey North. It was entirely a private school for the benefit of the children of " Uncle " Richard, but a couple of the boys of Chauncy Hawley were admitted. The first public school was taught in the winter of 1819-20 by Daniel Leavitt, of Trumbull County, in a log-schoolhouse erected on the northwest corner of Lot 34. It commenced with twenty-five scholars. The present condition of the schools is shown by the following statistics : Revenue in 1884, $2,669; expenditure, $1,447.48; six schoolhouses valued at $3,600; average pay of teachers $30 and $23; enrollment, eighty-four boys and seventy-six girls.

In 1812 Richard Hudson set out the first orchard in the township, and in 1814 gathered some apples from it, which was the first cultivated fruit grown here. In March, 1813, William Bradford, of Braceville, Trumbull County, married Betsey Hudson, daughter of" Uncle "Richard Hudson, and Squire John McArthur tied the knot. In the spring of 1814 Mrs. Susan Cox, wife of John Cox, died. The first child born in the township was Elijah Hawley, which event occurred October 11, 1815. This gentleman, who is still living, was the fourth son of Chauncy Hawley, who first settled with William Selby. on Lot 33, but afterward moved to Lot 27, where he lived till he died June 14, 1846. His son, Elijah, still occupies the homestead. The first roads established through the township were laid out in June, 1817, one from Palmyra, and one from Charlestown, through to Newton Falls. The first saw-mill was erected by Alexander and Titus Stanley, on the Mahoning River, near where the road crosses it at McClintocksburg. The first frame building, a barn, was erected in 1819, by Calvin Holcomb, on the southern part of Lot 21, and the first frame dwelling-house was erected in 1823 by Gains A. H. Case, at the Center, and it still stand; there, but was removed from its orig-inal place some years ago. In 1827 William Case commenced keeping tavern at the Center, but he died the following year' when the business was continued by his widow, who, in 1832, married again. "Aunt Cretia," as she was called, was a very strong-minded woman, and a zealous champion of Gen. Jackson and Dem-ocracy. She used to say that, "Although my husband is dead, thank God he lived ' to vote for 'Old Hickory." In 1828 a postoffice was established and Thomas B. Selby appointed Postmaster. The office was in the house of William Selby, on the northeast corner of Lot 33. A weekly mail was run to Warren. A tannery was operated in the early times in the south part of the township by Patrick Davidson, and hats were manufactured by Chauncy Hawley. There was also a chair factory, a basket. and pail factory, and a small foundry for making hand irons, flat irons, etc.

In the year 1831 John Morgan, of Wales, came into the township, purchased a pert of Lot 32, and erected a log-cabin. From this humble beginning the countrymen of Morgan have come in from time to time, and have so increased that the population is now about two-thirds Welsh. Through the inducements of the first settler, who wrote to the old country about the cheap lands in Paris Township, these thrifty people have come and gradually drained and improved the country till it is now one of the finest grazing spots in the county. There is not an acre that cannot be cultivated, add whilst wheat does not do very well, corn can be raised in abundance, but dairying is the main resource. Some of the finest cattle are raised here. The people are noted for their honesty, industry, economy and religious devotion.

In 1835 a man named McClintock started a town on the east and west road near the crossing of the Mahoning, which bid fair to become a fine little town during the canal days, but when that water-way began to run down so did the

508 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

town, and now, in these post-canal days, desolation reigns supreme in McClintocksburg.

Newport was also laid out on the canal about the same time as McClintocksburg, flourished for a while and then retrograded, but since the building of the Pittsburgh, Cleveland & Toledo Railroad, in the bed of the old canal, it has taken an onward move, several buildings having lately gone up, and a store is about to be opened.

In this year, 1835, Isaac Hopkins came from Pittsburgh and opened the first store at the Center, ran it one year, and then sold out and left. In 1839 the first grist-mill was erected by two Englishmen, William Philpot and Philip Price, on Lot 24, where Newport now is.

Township Officers.—Trustees, H. A. Chapman, Smith Busey ; Clerk, Joseph W. Jones ; Treasurer, Richard Morris ; Assessor, William B. Phillips ; Constables, John A. Evans, T. C. George ; Justices of the Peace, Michael Jones, Edward Roberts.

At the Center there is a general store kept by Samuel Evans. Miss Winnie Morton is Postmistress. There is a cheese factory near the Center, operated by John R. Thomas.

The P., C. & T. R. R. runs across the township, and affords shipping facilities for the various products. Paris will be found to possess considerable mineral resources after the proper development has been effected. Already, and in fact for many years past, fine quarries of freestone have been opened, furnishing an almost unlimited supply of material for building and flagging. It can also be used for grindstones. The township is well watered by the Mahoning River and its tributaries. Paris furnished forty-nine soldiers to the war for the Union, ten of whom lost their lives in the service.

The present statistics of Paris Township are as follows : Acres of wheat, 659, bushels, 7,658 ; buckwheat, 11 acres, bushels 30 ; oats, 694 acres, 21,291 bushels ; corn, 494 acres, 2,088 bushels ; meadow, 2,188 acres, 2,860 tons of hay ; clover, 2 acres, 2 tons of hay and 4 bushels of seed ; flax, 3 acres, 20 bushels of seed and 1,000 pounds of fiber ; potatoes, 16 acres, 839 bushels ; butter, 51,011 pounds ; maple sugar, 2,134 pounds and 1,517 gallons of syrup from 8,037 trees ; 375 pounds honey from 32 hives ; 14,687 dozen of eggs ; 5,057 bushels of apples, 21 of peaches and 1 of pears from 209 acres of orchard (1883) ; 16,279 pounds of wool ; 598 milch cows ; 4 stallions ; 88 dogs ; killed, 13 sheep, and injured, 22 ; died of disease, 11 hogs, 274 sheep, 24 cattle and 8 horses; acres cultivated, 4,223 ; in pasture, 6,806 ; in woodland, 2,339 ; waste land, 65; total, 13,433 acres. Population in 1850 was 1,019, including 470 youth ; in 1870, 691; in 1880, 666; in 1884 (estimated), 650.