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518 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY CHAPTER XXV VILLAGE AND TOWNSHIP MATTERS VILLAGE OF NEW BERLIN-SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT-CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES—CANAL FULTON—PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS— INDUSTRIAL, BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL—CHURCHES—SPARTA -CAPT. B. T. STEINER—HARTVILLE—MINERVA-ELLIS N. JOHNSON AND DESCENDANTS— GEORGE AUSTIN, ANOTHER CENTENARIAN. Numerous references have already been made to the smaller villages and towns of the county, but there are several which warrant more extended notices than have been given them. The sketches in this chapter set forth these communities as entities, and they deserve to be thus depicted. VILLAGE OF NEW BERLIN The Village of New Berlin is located in Plain Township, five miles north of the City of Canton. It was incorporated November 21, 1905, has a population of 1,150 and is steadily and rapidly growing in size and improving in the character of residences being erected. There have been quite a number of substantial modern homes built in New Berlin in the last five years. In 1913 waterworks and sanitary sewer systems were installed. The streets are lighted by electricity and the village is also supplied with natural gas for illuminating and heating purposes. W. H. Hoover was the first mayor of New Berlin and served four years. Since that time W. H. Snyder, E. L. Garman, H. W. Lehr and E. C. Schick have been its mayors, Mr. Schick being the present incumbent. He was succeeded January 3, 1916, by F. C. Wise. The principal industries of the village are the W. H. Hoover Company, manufacturers of leather goods, and the Hoover Suction Sweeper Company, its specialty being indicated by the title. These companies employ 350 people and their product is quite generally distributed. The village has good stores carrying complete lines of all kinds of merchandise. The New Berlin Banking Company was organized in July, 1906 with an authorized capitalization of $25,000. HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 519 New Berlin has good interurban railway service by means of the Northern Ohio Traction Company since April, 1902. It has local service between New Berlin and Canton every thirty minutes and to and from Akron every hour. In addition to this local service there are five limited cars to and from Cleveland each day. The service on the part of the Northern Ohio Traction Company is of great convenience and of much benefit to the town. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, whose station is located about a mile from New Berlin, affords railway facilities. SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT The New Berlin special school district was organized in 1883. Among its early board members were J. A. Pierson, D. W. Troxel, Clayton Carpenter, G. W. Sponseller, J. W. Wise, J. O. Krieghbaum and W. II. Hoover. The main part of the present six-room building was erected in 1888 and enlarged in 1900. The building is now equipped with all modern conveniences and appliances and affords the village and community a splendid eleven year course of instruction. The school has an enrollment of 265, employing six teachers and has graduated 205 students, twenty-three in 1915. The following have been its superintendents since its organization : W. T. Harsh, J. A. Syler, D. C. Cooper, L. A. Secrest, C. F. McFadden, L. A. Roush, and W. L. Simpson The village has a commendable pride in this worthy institution which has the united moral and physical support of the community The churches of New Berlin are four in number, three Protestant and one Roman Catholic. The Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church was founded in 1814 and met and worshiped in what was known as the Zion Church until 1905 when a new church building was erected on West Maple Street. Rev. W. J. Ferne is the present pastor. It has a membership of 132 and a Sunday school attendance of approximately 100. CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES The preliminary work of the Christian Church was done in 1857 by Rev. Philo K. Dibble. This work was followed by Rev. John Whitacre of Minerva and John F. Rowe of Akron and Reverend Thomas of Massillon. A little later during the '60s, A. M. Way of Alliance and F. M. Green of Kent rendered assistance. The church was organized by Rev. S. S. Chapman of Canton in the early '70s. In 1877 H. M. Allen of Manchester conducted a revival service, since which time the church has been regularly organized and doing regular work. John Evans and W. H. Hoover have been elders during this time. Rev. U. E. FIootman 520 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY is the present pastor. The congregation has a membership of about 275. The Bible school has an average attendance of about 225. The church property has a value of $25,000 with a seating capacity of 600. One of the oldest and most flourishing Catholic parishes in Stark County is St. Paul's in New Berlin, which is the religious center for more than 100 Catholic families in that part of the county, and services of this denomination have been conducted there almost continuously for seventy years. Between 1845 and 1848 it was attended as a station from St. John's Church of Canton. On May 20, 1845, the lot containing 11/9 acres was bought, and two years later a church built of brick and costing $2,000 was completed. Its cornerstone was laid by Rev. J. H. Luhr of Canton in August, 1845. Nearly a generation later, in 1872, the church was enlarged, making its length 54 feet and width 40 feet. Between 1848 and 1850 New Berlin was attended monthly from St. Vincent's Church of Akron by the Rev. C. Mouret ; between 1851 and 1854 from Harrisburg, and between 1854 and 1856 from St. Peter's of Canton, and from St. John's of Canton from 1856 to 1875. A priest from St. Peter's of Canton again conducted services during 1875-76, and it was then attended from Alliance, between 1876-77, and from Harrisburg from 1877 to 1882. From 1882 to November, 1896, Rev. J. B. Burkel of St. Peter's, Canton, held services in New Berlin, and at the latter date was appointed the first resident pastor of St. Paul's. Father Burkel did a great deal of constructive work in his parish and continued active in its service until July, 1904. He then resigned and New Berlin was attended as a mission from Canton by Rev. Charles J. Fecht. Father Burkel died November 20, 1904, and on July 8, 1905, Rev. Charles J. Fecht was appointed resident pastor, and moved to New Berlin. On April 15, 1906, the new parsonage was completed and occupied. On October 21, 1909, Father Fecht was transferred to Bismark, Ohio, and was succeeded by Rev. Joseph Gerz, who continues the resident pastor, and under whose administration St. Paul's Church has enjoyed its greatest material and general prosperity. On December 28, 1909, the present site was purchased from Mekel & Howell, giving a frontage of 125 feet and a depth of 200 feet. In April, 1910, ground was broken and the foundation laid for the new church. The corner-stone was placed July 10, 1910, with services conducted by the Rt. Rev. John P. Farrelly of Cleveland. In October, 1910, the pastor's residence, with the remaining lots on South Main Street, was sold, and plans completed for the building of a new pastor's residence on the south side of the new church. On May 7, 1911, divine services were held for the first time in the new church. The main altar is of marble and is a gift from Joseph Dick of Canton, having cost HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 521 $2,700. Although there are many churches in the diocese larger and more costly, there are few better attended and better equipped in every way than St. Paul's. The brick residence of the pastor was completed in June, 1910. The altar was consecrated by Bishop Farrelly on November 3, 1913. The congregation numbers about 125 families, drawn mostly from the farming district about New Berlin. The Zion Reformed congregation was organized October 9, 1881. It has a membership of 393 at the present time and occupies a modern and substantial church building. The Sunday school attendance is approximately 250. Rev. R. S. Beaver is the present pastor. The other pastors who have served this congregation were John H. Beck, John A. Novinger, E. P. Herbruck, I. U. Kunkle, J. P. Stahl, Harry J. Rohrbaugh, H. S. Reichard. The church property is valued at $25,000 and the parsonage at $4,000. New Berlin has quite a number of strong and growing lodges and societies. Naturally, its G. A. R. Post is not included in that class. It was instituted in 1882, with thirty-four charter members, and its membership has dwindled to eight, but, as is the wont of the comrades, as they drop out of the ranks those who remain draw all the closer together. The Knights of the Maccabees (New Berlin Tent No. 28) organized in October, 1887, and have a membership of about ninety. The Ladies of the Maccabees effected an organization in January, 1901. Loyalty Lodge No. 469, Knights of Pythias, was organized in February, 1891, with James Evans, Chancellor Commander, and W. H. Snyder, Keeper of the Records and Seal. It had thirty-one charter members, that number having increased to nearly 160. Charles H. Shaffer is the present Chancellor Commander and C. H. Hall Keeper of the Records and Seal. The New Berlin Grange, which has a membership of over 160, was organized in April, 1899, with F. C: Wise as Master and J. H. Sheets Secretary ; the offices are now held by C. C. Bair and E. R. Mathie, respectively. There are also organizations of the Home Guards of America (New Berlin Home No. 141) and Catholic Mutual Benefit Association. formed in 1905 and 1909, respectively. CANAL FULTON Canal Fulton is located in the northwestern corner of Stark County in Lawrence Township. The town as originally laid out in 1814 was located on the west side of the Tuscarawas River and was called Milan. Later, as it grew in size, it spread across the river and the name was 522 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY changed to Fulton and, with the coming of the Ohio Canal, the word Canal was added to the name in 1830. The first postoffice was established in 1828 with Amaziah Meese as postmaster. This office was discontinued after a short time but was re-established in 1830 with John Robinson as postmaster. Dr. W. E. Moulton is the present incumbent. During the days of prosperity of the Ohio Canal and previous to the coming of the railroads to this vicinity Canal Fulton was one of the principal grain markets of Eastern Ohio and grain was hauled to the buyers from as far distant as Mansfield, Ohio, seventy-five miles to the westward, and stored in the warehouses awaiting shipment to Cleveland, and thence to points on the Great Lakes and also southward to Portsmouth on the Ohio River to be re-shipped to Ohio and Mississippi river points. John Robinson and John McCadden were two of the most prominent grain buyers of that time. Some of these old warehouses are still standing and have been converted to other purposes. The present Hotel Porter, of which Carl Yoder is proprietor, is one of these buildings. PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS Some of the original founders and settlers of the town were Abraham Stephens, Richard Porter, Philip Patton, John McCadden, John Robinson, Joshua and Benjamin Bleiler, John Mobley, John Hammer, W. R. Alban and Abraham Hoover. Many descendants of these men are still residents of the town. The town was incorporated about 1838. The town records were destroyed by fire some years ago and it is impossible to secure the exact date on this account. The first mayor was W. R. Alban. A. H. McCadden, the present mayor, was first elected in 1883 and has served eleven terms in this office at different times since that year. John V. Dugan is clerk ; J. W. Lerch, treasurer, and Richard Kirk, marshal of the corporation. The town has a waterworks system, electric light and power, and storm water and sanitary sewerage system. The streets are paved with brick and there are but two short stretches of paving to be completed before it will be connected with both Massillon and Akron by brick roads. Fire protection is provided by a volunteer department of thirty-four men, a steam fire engine, hose carts, fifteen fire plugs and four large cisterns. There are a number of good brick business and office buildings in the business section of the town. There is a first grade high school of which Kenneth Huffman is principal, providing a four-year course. M. D. Morris is superintendent of schools. The enrollment is approximately 300 pupils, There is also a Roman Catholic parochial school. The present population is about HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 523 1,100. During the last two years there have been about twenty-five new modern homes built and at the present time there is a demand for houses to accommodate the increasing population. INDUSTRIAL, BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL The Fulton Pitt Car Works, employing seventy-five men ; The Fulton Drop Forging Company, employing about the same number; the Fulton Tool Company, and the Finefrock Bros. Company, broom factory, are the principal manufacturing concerns. The business men are progressive and serve not only the population of the town but also a large and prosperous farming community surrounding. Among the more prominent mercantile concerns are the Finefrock Bros. Co., home furnishers, The Myers-Brand Co., hardware, farming implements and automobiles; Keller & Sons in the same line of business; Vanderhoof & Bleiler, clothing and gents' furnishings ; Labbe & Hammer, Charles Labbe, and John Mock & Son, boot and shoe dealers; Held & Shilling and I. W. Lerch, groceries and provisions ; F. M. McGrew, druggist; A. H. McCadden, proprietary medicines, stationary and toilet articles; The Persky Co., general store ; C. R. Daily, buyer of wool and raw furs. Drs. Hiram Dissinger and D. K. Jones are the physicians and Dr. W. E. Moulton the dental practitioner of the town: George A. Hoover represents the legal profession. The Exchange Bank Company was first established by E. R. Held as a private bank in 1887 and incorporated under its present name and charter in 1914. E. R. Held is president, E. E. Shilling, vice president and E. J. Nichter, cashier. The Canal Fulton Signal, established in 1874, of which J. J. Hoover is editor, issues a weekly paper with an extensive circulation in the town and surrounding country. The town is served by both the Pennsylvania and Baltimore & Ohio railway systems, the former being built in 1870 and the latter two years later. The former line was originally known as the Massillon & Cleveland Railway and the latter the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling. CHURCHES There are five churches of which the Presbyterian congregation has had the longest existence and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1914. Rev. T. B. Leith is the minister. Rev. J. L. Herron is pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Salem Reformed Church of which Rev. S. J. Flohr is pastor was organized in 1875. The Roman Catholic 524 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY Church and parochial school is known as Saints Philip and James. Rev. Father G. A. Forst is the pastor. Rev. C. E. Meekling is pastor of the St. John's Lutheran congregation. At one time there was a great amount of coal taken from the mines in this vicinity but they are now practically exhausted. In addition to the ordinary farm crops there is considerable fruit raised in the vicinity of Canal Fulton. SPARTA In 1854 a postoffice was established in Sparta and called Pierce in honor of Gen. Franklin Pierce, then President of the United States. The first postmaster was John Croft. Mr. Yant, in an article on the church history of Pike Township says : "Perhaps no part of the county of equal population is more abundantly supplied with religious instruction and moral training than the rural population of Pike. Without having access to actual records it may safely be said that the population of the township furnishes fewer criminals and less litigation than any other township in the county." Sparta, the only village of any note in the township, has been without saloons or places where intoxicating liquors are sold for near a generation past, and this is true of the township for an equal length of time. The people of Pike Township are generally thrifty and intelligent, taking an active interest in their public schools. The Village of Sparta has a good modern school building recently erected, and the course of study includes a three-year high school course. As evidence of the patriotic spirit of the people of Pike Township, we quote from a historic pamphlet by Jacob Smith : "Pike was one of the few townships, not only in the county, but in the state, that filled every quota during civil war without a draft, and kept ahead of every call for troops. When the call was made almost every young man in the township capable of doing something for his country was not only willing but anxious to go and help swell the ranks of those who were so rapidly answering the call of their country in its time of need." CAPT. B. T. STEINER A soldier's monument was erected in Sparta in 1915 by the B. T. Steiner Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. This post is named in honor of Capt. Barnette T. Steiner, regarding whom we quote from a newspaper article by Josiah Hartzell, published August 22, 1889: "Mr. Steiner lived a life that strikingly illustrates the great privileges HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 525 conferred by our free institutions and in his death he showed that he appreciated these blessings in all their priceless value. He was of Pennsylvania German extraction, but passed his school days on a farm near the Melsheimer church. If the neighborhood in which his boyhood was spent was noteworthy for anything, it was for sturdy morality and abounding patriotism. There was about him a gentle air of real refinement. His carriage and conversation denoted the possession of abundant reserve force. Tall in stature, straight as an arrow, of a clear complexion which was lit up with the ruddy tint of health, a face beaming with good humor and quick intelligence. Such was B. T. Steiner, a young man of whom anyone would say, was sure to carve out for himself an honorable career and have plenty of followers." He responded to the first call for troops at the outbreak of the Rebellion. He became captain of Company D of the One Hundred and Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry under command of Col. Seraphim Meyer of Canton. The One Hundred and Seventh formed part of the Eleventh Army Corps and participated in the most sanguinary battles fought by the Army of the Potomac. This regiment entered the battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, 480 strong. When the regiment formed in front of Wiedrich's Battery between three and four hours later, only 269 men stood in line-211 had gone down in battle. Captain Steiner was fatally wounded and died on August 13, 1863. At the funeral there was such a concourse of mourners as had never been seen in old "Pike." HARTVILLE Hartville, situated in the northeastern part of Lake Township, is today one of the most prosperous villages in Stark County. It has a population of approximately 600. It has railroad facilities by means of the Wheeling & Lake Railroad. It is an unincorporated village but the citizens have formed what is known as the Hartville Improvement Association and through this organization take care of the electric street lighting and other improvements. They have a first grade high school, four year course, the diplomas of which are accepted by a number of colleges in this section of Ohio. The F. E. Schumacher Company, manufacturers of screen doors and windows employ 40 to 45 men. In addition to the manufacture of the above articles they also carry a line of building material of all kinds. The Quality Rubber Company manufacture automobile tires. There is one bank and a number of prosperous mercantile establishments among which are, Goetz & Keller, Neff Brothers carrying a complete line of general merchandise ; A. A. Kurtz 526 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY and Brumbaugh Brothers, groceries and meats ; The Hartville Hardware Company and J. A. Ebel & Son, hardware and farming implements ; The Hartville Motor Car Company and the Service Motor Car Company, automobiles and automobile repairing ; H. B. Merkle, clothing and gents' furnishing, and two hotels and auto liveries ; F. S. Brumbaugh, grain elevator and coal yard ; Richards Brothers, flour mills, cider press and coal yard ; J. I. Bishop, manufacturer and dealer in buggies, wagons and farming implements. The town is situated in a rich farming community and the population is made up largely of retired farmers. There is about 1,000 acres of land in the vicinity given over to the raising of celery and onions and the majority of these crops are shipped to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and during the season there is an entire car load shipped by express every day to the markets in that city, besides the shipments to other points. During the last two years there have been twenty-five new modern homes erected in the village and real estate values are high. The Quality Rubber Company recently opened a new allotment in the neighborhood of their factory and sold between 40 and 50 lots. Some of the original settlers are Joseph Schollenberger, Michael Nidy, Henry Goetz, Peter Keller, Joseph Moore, W. J. Keiser, the latter still living. George Austin, who recently died at the age of 106, was a resident of the village for about sixteen years prior to his death. MINERVA Minerva is a prosperous village lying partly in the southeastern corner of Stark County and partly in Carroll County. It is located on the Sandy River or creek, at the junction of the Pennsylvania and the Lake Erie, Alliance and Wheeling (New York Central) lines. The village was laid out by John Pool and John Whitacre, in 1835, the prime object of its birth being to compete with Paris in the northern part of the township. Mr. Whitacre built the first house on the plat, and in 1836 completed a grist mill on Sandy Creek. Bennett Perdue opened the first hotel; John Christmas and John Pool opened stores; then a postoffice was established, of which Mr. Pool had charge, and Minerva was considered well on the road to villa gehood. At a later period in its history came the churches, the Fair Grounds and the Minerva Monitor, the agricultural and the newspaper enterprises being founded in the early '80s. The Masons and the Odd Fellows also HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 527 organized about that period, while in 1879 the village was formed into a special school district and a large schoolhouse erected over the Carroll County line. Minerva has continued to grow substantially, if not rapidly. Besides the village school in Carroll County, a new high school building was completed in Stark County territory during 1916. The Christians, or Disciples of Christ, were the first to organize in the village, and still maintain a church, with Rev. J. C. Reed as pastor. The Methodist Church, on the Stark County side, is in charge of Rev. G. W. Huddle- son ; the Lutherans, also in Stark County, are under Rev. C. N. Larrick, and the Presbyterian Society is supplied from Alliance. The strongest lodges are those which represent the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and the Junior Order of American Mechanics. The largest industry at Minerva is operated by the Highland Milk Condensing Company, controlled by Pittsburgh capitalists. Cox & Son are proprietors of a planing mill and lumber yard. A small flour mill is conducted by the Minerva Milling Company and several specialties are turned out by the Minerva IIardware Manufacturing Company. There are also a bank (the Minerva Savings & Trust Company) and a number of well-stocked general and special stores. ELLIS N. JOHNSON AND DESCENDANTS There are many interesting facts associated with Ellis N. Johnson which cause his name to be given prominent mention in any history of the locality around Mount Union, where he was the first or one of the first settlers. He belonged to an old Washington County, Pennsylvania, family, in which region he was born April 1, 1789, during the first administration of George Washington as President and soon after the establishment of the Union, and his life was prolonged for one hundred years five months and fifteen days. He died September 15, 1889, during the presidential administration of Benjamin Harrison. He was reared on a farm, and even before reaching his majority served as deputy sheriff. When a young man, during the first decade of the nineteenth century, he married Dorcas Moffat. Soon after his marriage he left the rugged district of Washington County and came into the new State of Ohio, making the journey with wagons and three horse teams. After reaching Salem he had to practically blaze his way for thirteen miles into Stark County to the vicinity of the present Village of Mount Union. He and his father, Caleb, bought 160 acres, the northeast corner of which is at State and Union streets in what is now the center of Mount Union Village. The price paid for that land 528 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY was $2.25 per acre. His brother Simeon also acquired an entire section about half a mile further south. So far as can be ascertained, these were the first permanent settlers in that vicinity. The first home was one of the typical rude log cabins, but later Mr. Johnson replaced it with a brick house, having assisted in making the brick himself, and this old dwelling is still standing as a venerable landmark on the northwestern corner of the 160 acres. That old home, in which Mr. Johnson lived and died, is now owned by his daughter, Mrs. Becky Miller, who is more than eighty-three years of age and the last of the first seven children of Ellis Johnson. The Johnson farm was situated on the State Road, and from the northwest corner of his land its founder laid off a portion of the Village of Mount Union and had a tavern there. For a time he was mayor of Mount Union, and one of the wide awake and progressive citizens of that early community. Both he and his brother were surveyors, and in that capacity their services were required to lay off the Village of Alliance two miles further north. Other brothers came to Stark County. Job owned 160 acres to the north and now including the site of Mount Union College, but he subsequently disposed of his holdings and returned to Pennsylvania. Caleb had a farm half a mile further east, and lived and died there. Mr. Ramsey and Mrs. Miller are among the owners of the old Caleb Johnson farm. Neither Caleb nor Job left children. During the course of his active lifetime Ellis Johnson acquired land' until his possessions aggregated 400 acres. Soon after coming here he set about to clear up and cultivate his farm. At first he only girdled a few trees around the house, but eventually had more than half his land in cultivation. Much of his time was devoted to surveying, and his work included the marking out of more than fifty miles of wagon roads and railways. Like many of the pioneers Mr. Johnson was a skillful woodsman and hunter. His ardor for the chase was such that on one occasion he unhooked a horse from a team he was driving, and mounted the harnessed animal in order to chase a fox. In the early days he killed a great many deer, bear and other wild game. His highest record was thirteen deer with fourteen shots, which indicates that he was an unsurpassed marksman. He kept his faculties to extreme old age, and did not entirely relinquish his business cares until overwhelmed with the weight of his years. In politics he gave a vigorous support to the great whig leaders, and when that party went out of existence in the early '50s he joined the ranks of the republicans. He was one of the early HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 529 advocates of temperance, and frequently made speeches in behalf of that cause. Though reared in the Quaker Church, he was never a member of any religious society. His first wife, who died when Mrs. Becky Miller was twenty-two months old, had seven children, named as follows : James, who lived at Lisbon, where he died in old age ; Betty, who married William Davidson, a millwright at Mount Union, and died when past seventy ; Caleb, who was postmaster at Mount Union seventeen years, also in the grocery business, and died past eighty ; Ellis N., Jr., who spent all his life in Mount Union and died in old age ; John, who was proficient in the use of tools and in mechanical pursuits and died at the age of sixty-four in Mount Union ; Job, who died in early age ; and Rebecca. About 1835 Ellis N. Johnson married for his second wife, Mary Ann Graves. They were united in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and Miss Graves was at that time about twenty-five years of age. She had been a teacher in Pennsylvania, and among her scholars was James G. Blaine. Mr. Blaine had a great faculty for remembering names and people, and on one occasion when he passed through Alliance, at the height of his fame, he recalled the fact that his old teacher lived in that vicinity. She became the mother of five children, as follows : David, mentioned below ; Mary, widow of William F. Galbreath of Alliance; Dorcas, who married William Teeters, both living at Mount Union on a part of the old farm ; Charles F., who also occupies a part of it ; Ella, wife of Lee C. Grimes, a commercial salesman, lives on a part of the family homestead at Mount Union. Ellis N. Johnson during his lifetime gave to each of his sons forty acres. The son David Johnson, the oldest of the children by the second wife, was born December 16, 1837, in the old brick homestead, and spent his entire life at Mount Union. chiefly as a farmer. TIe was a republican and interested in all public affairs. In 1872 he married Elizabeth Scott, who died without children, and on December 18, 1890, he married Anna. B. Waugh who was born in Wellsburg, West Virginia, and came with her parents to Mount Union. From early boyhood David Johnson showed a talent for the violin, and though he took but few lessons he acquired by self study and practice a proficiency both in general music and with his special instrument, and for half a century was in great demand as the "fiddler" at all the parties around the country. His violin bore the date of 1741, and was an old Italian instrument with beautiful inlaid work, and around the border was inscribed the words "Whilst living I was in the woods for God, but dying I passed away into a sweet death." 530 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY Mrs. Ellis Johnson died September 18, 1889, three days after her husband, and the funeral, services being held for both at the same time, was visited by the largest concourse of people who ever assembled in Alliance. Professor Clark of Mount Union College conducted the services with a familiar talk. They were at first laid to rest in the cemetery which Mr. Johnson had donated, but their bodies were subsequently removed to the Mount Union Cemetery, half a mile further south. Rebecca Jane Miller, the youngest child and the last survivor of her father's children by Dorcas Moffat, was born on the old homestead in Mount Union, was educated in the district schools, and at the age of sixteen began teaching in her home district. Among her pupils William Stallcup recalls that she was the first teacher from whom he learned anything. She later attended the seminary, and taught in the public schools. She continued to teach for about eighteen years, part of the time in Pennsylvania, where she was granted a life certificate, though for the most part her work was done in Stark County. Her brother, Ellis N., started a normal school at California, and she taught mathematics there for a time. In 1861 she married John F. Miller, of Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Mr. Miller was a graduate of the University of Michigan, and was admitted to the bar and practiced at Ann Arbor three years. He had also taught school in Pennsylvania and in Stark County, and soon after their marriage they located on a farm south of the Claremont Children's Home. In 1874 Mr. and Mrs. Miller removed to their present estate, which is a part of her uncle Caleb 's farm. The quarter section as entered by Caleb was bounded on the north by the State Road and on one side by the county line. His old homestead was on the State Road half a mile east of Mount Union. Mrs. Miller when she bought thirty-six acres of this farm about forty years ago paid $104 per acre. Her home is about one mile south of Main Street. Mr. Miller died in 1878, leaving four children : Frank E., a farmer ; Charles Eugene, who died at the age of nineteen; Mary Luella, who died at nineteen ; and Jennie Belle, who lives at home with her mother. Left with four small children and with a large debt, Mrs. Miller at the death of her husband had to face life with clear eyes and a calm courage. What she has accomplished is a high tribute to her energy and ability as a business woman. As her main dependence she began cultivating her land in truck gardening, and developed that into a prosperous business. She even sold lightning rods for a time, and on the basis of her previous experience was in demand as a teacher, although cares of motherhood kept her from that vocation. With all her responsibilities Mrs. Miller has been a great factor in the community life, always ready to assist in HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 531 any emergency, and few women have lived more actively, and made their lives more directly beneficial to the world about them. GEORGE AUSTIN, ANOTHER CENTENARIAN After the death of Mr. Johnson in 1889, probably the first citizen of Stark County to reach the century mark was the late George Austin of Hartville, Lake Township. The following was written by a resident of the village, shortly before his death : "Hartville people see George Austin, nearly 101, the oldest man in Stark county, walk through town morning, afternoon and evening. A cabinet maker by trade, he is still working each day, making foot stools, jardiniere stands and other household articles. He moves about as spryly as a man of seventy. "Mr. Austin is by no means a stay-at-home. He still enjoys attending fairs and celebrations. Recently he was a central figure at a picnic of pioneers at Lake Brady, and in the past year or two he came to Canton several times, one to address a Sunday school. Last October his one hundredth birthday was the occasion of a celebration by villagers of his home. "Mr. Austin is a no-tobacco and no-liquor centenarian. He has lived an ordinary life, finding enjoyment in his work as a carpenter. A sideboard in his own home, and several others like it in other Hartville houses, are the result of his labor. His eye-sight is dulled and he is able to read only the larger headlines in newspapers. He is a hearty eater. "In 1830 he carried mail from Ravenna to the postoffice in Canton which, he says, then stood on the site of The Courtland. He made the trip on horse-back or in a light wagon with leather springs. There were postoffices along his route at Randolph, Hartville and at Wise's mills, south of Hartville. The country was still over-run by animals, which often scampered off the road at the approach of the mail carrier. "Mr. Austin cast his first vote for Henry Clay. He was an antislavery man and voted for Lincoln. "His parents lived in Hartford, Conn., where he was born in 1808. In 1810 the family traveled overland to Little Rock, Arkansas, where the elder Austin was in command of a fort during the war of 1812. After the father's death, the mother emigrated to Ohio, taking up a home at Charleston, Portage county, where George Austin learned the carpentering trade. "In recent years the old man changed his residence to Hartville, where he lives with relatives. He has a working room in a down-town 532 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY shop. Besides his tinkering, Mr. Austin finds enjoyment in visiting with townsmen, and attending church. He is a Congregationalist, but since there is no church of that denomination in Hartville, he is a worshiper at the Reformed church. "Mr. Austin's one hundred and first birthday is on October 26. It is expected that the villages will arrange another 'birthday party' for him." |