HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 147

COLUMBIA.*

PHYSICAL FEATURES.

In the western part of the township the surface is level. In the central and eastern portions it is u undulating, but nowhere rough and broken.

The soil is generally a clay loam, varied in some places by gravel. It is one of the best watered townships in the county. Rocky river flows northward through the township, gathering up in its course many tributaries. Plum creek flows in a nearly parallel direction through the western part of the town. The timber native to its soil was beech, maple, hickory, black and white oak, black and white ash, basswood, elm, sycamore, buckeye, walnut and butternut.

PURCHASE.

Prior to the apportionment by draft of that part of the Reserve lying west of the Cuyahoga river, Levi Bronson, Azor Bronson, Harmon Bronson, Calvin Hoadley, Jared Pritchard, and some fifteen others, formed an association called the " Waterbury Land Company." This company, together with William Law, Benjamin Doolittle, Jr„ and Samuel Doolittle, drew at the fourth draft, April 4, 1807, this township as number five, range fifteen, with two thousand six hundred and fifty acres in the townships of Boston and Richfield, in Summit county, annexed, to equalize it. The draft was in the following proportions: to the Waterbury Land Company, twenty one thousand six hundred dollars; William Law, two thousand eight hundred and fifteen dollars; Benjamin Doolittle, Jr., one thousand five hundred and ninety-two dollars; Samuel Doolittle, eighty dollars. The deed was executed on the 28th day of May, 1807, by John Caldwell, John Morgan, and Jonathan Brace, for the Connecticut Land Company, to Levi Bronson, Calvin Hoadley, Jared Pritchard, Azor Bronson and Harmon Bronson, in trust for the Waterbury Land Company.

*Our thanks are due Ransom Bronson, for information furnished in the preparation of this history.

He has kept a record of early events, for the past twenty years, access to which has been of much service to us.

Pending the negotiation for the extinguishment of the Indian claim to the lands west of the Cuyahoga, the company bought of William Edwards a thousand acres of land in tract two, town eight, range eleven, Euclid, (now East Cleveland), and a number settled there the summer previous to the draft.

SURVEY.

In the summer of 1807 the township was surveyed. A surveyor by the name of Lacey was first employed, but his chain was found to be of an incorrect length and he was discharged. In August of the same year Robert Worden, a surveyor from Columbiana county, was engaged, who, with Levi Bronson, Daniel Bronson, Benoni Adams, and Elias Frost of Euclid, as ax and chain men, set out from Cleveland taking a southwest course until the northeast corner of the town was reached. From this point they proceeded west two and a half miles, thence south a like distance to the center of the township. The party made their encampment here, on the west bank of Rocky river. A daughter of Levi Bronson, afterwards Mrs. 'Oliver Terrell, accompanied the party to do their cooking, to whom must be accorded the honor of being the first white woman that ever set foot on the soil of Columbia.

SETTLEMENT.

In September, 1807, a company numbering thirty-three persons, left Waterbury, Connecticut, for this township. They were, Bela Bronson, his wife and one child; Calvin Hoadley, wife and five children; John Williams, wife and live children; Lemuel Hoadley, wife and three children, his father and his wife's mother; L Lathrop Seymour and wife; Mrs. Parker and four children; Silas Hoadley and Chauncey Warner. Two months afterwards the company reached Buffalo, west of which place there was then no road, and they were compelled to choose between the dangers, at that time of year, of lake navigation and those attending a journey along the beach. The company divided, four families embarking on the

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lake, while the remainder preferred the land route. The little party set sail under a bright sky and with a favoring breeze, but not long afterward encountered one of those sudden gales common at that time of year, which carried them back a distance of several miles, where the vessel went ashore. A week was spent before another start could be made. Arriving in sight of Presque Isle the vessel was again struck by a contrary wind and driven back to a point on the Canada shore under which the voyagers took shelter. They remained here two weeks for a favorable wind, when the journey was resumed.

They proceeded without further reverses until within sight of Cleveland, then a pretentious place of three log cabins, when a violent wind struck their craft, and they were forced to retreat until near the site of the present city of Erie, where they went ashore. They were now thoroughly discouraged with their experience by lake. The season was growing late, and whether to make another attempt by water or undertake the long journey by land on foot was not a pleasant alternative. Calvin Hoadley determined to make another trial, and, with his family, arrived at Cleveland after encountering many experiences similar to those we have mentioned. The most of them, however, determined upon the land route. Bela Bronson, wife and child, were of this party; Mrs. Bronson carrying the child in her arms for a distance of fifty miles west of Erie, ,where they were met by teams with which friends had gone back from Cleveland in search of them. Arriving at Cleveland, the company made a location there, with the exception of Bela Bronson and family, who, with ox-team and sled, pushed on towards Columbia. They were accompanied by Levi Bronson, Jared Pritchard, John Williams, Silas Hoadley, Calvin Hoadley, and five or six others who went ahead and cut a road for them. The family brought along in the sled cooking utensils —with which Mrs. Bronson prepared the food for the company—and camp equipage. Their progress was, of course, slow, eight days being consumed in reaching Columbia. Two days subsequently—on the 7th day of December, 1807—they arrived on lot twenty- seven, where Bronson and family made a location.

The company divided into three sections, commencing simultaneously the erection of three cabins, one for Bela Bronson, on lot twenty-seven; one for John Williams, on sub-lot three; and one for Calvin Hoadley, on lot thirty-four. During the erection of Bronson's house, the box of the sled was turned up against a tree, and under this the family took shelter until their cabin was built. The house was ready for occupancy by Christmas.

In 1810, Mr. Bronson changed his location to the Center, where the cellar of the house in which he resided can yet be seen. He died here in October, 1811. He was one of the ten sons of Seba Bronson. His wife's maiden name was Sally Twitchell. Mrs. Bronson subsequently married Benoni Adams. Two children of this pioneer family are now living—Rev. Sherlock A. Bronson, D.D., who was eight months old at the time of the settlement of the family in Columbia, now an Episcopal clergyman of ability and usefulness, resident in Mansfield, 0., and a daughter Sally, living in Ottawa county., In an address delivered in this township July 4, 1859, Rev. Dr. Bronson gives the following interesting picture of their situation in the winter of 1807:

"Our post office was at Painesville, fifty miles distant; the nearest mill was at Newburgh, twenty-eight miles away; and but little provision could be obtained short of Painesville. That winter my father wrote back to his friends that he was the richest man in town. Ile might have written himself down the greatest nabob of all of Ohio that lay west of Cleveland and north of Wooster, and there would have been none to dispute his claim. For a time, that winter, ours was the only residence in Western Ohio. Gloomy, desolate and lonely as those times were, my mother kept up good cheer, and said she always hoped for better times. Taking into account the time of arrival, late in December, no house ready for occupancy, that in the company was a woman with an infant only eight months old, and the nearest dwelling twenty miles distant, you have before you a rare picture of pioneer life."

The second family that settled in town was that of John Williams, who moved in from Cleveland after spending the holidays with his friends there, arriving January 3, 1808. They took up their abode in the cabin already partially prepared for them on sub-lot three. In L810 he removed to a farm a mile south of the Center on lot forty-eight. Mr. Williams died in the spring of 1813, and his remains lie in an unmarked grave in the Center burying ground. The only surviving member of the family is Mrs. Weaver Harrington, now residing in Eaton county, Mich.

Calvin Hoadley followed closely after Williams, arriving in the first part of March of the same year, and commenced life in the Columbia woods in the house previously built on lot thirty-four. In the summer of 1809, he built a grist mill on Rocky river, south of the Center, the first mill in the county. He afterward built a grist mill and also a saw mitt, on the same river, on lot twenty-one. Captain Hoadley was a man of great energy of character, and became one of the most prominent men of the town. He was a son of Lemuel Hoadley, S., who raised a family of eight children. Calvin was the second child and oldest son. He was a carpenter by trade. His wife's maiden name was Marian Terrell. They raised a family of five children. A daughter, the only living representative of the family, resides in Berea, O.

Early in the spring of 1808, the following additions were made to the settlement: Lemuel Hoadley, Sr., and Lemuel Hoadley, Jr, on lot forty-seven; James Geer, on lot thirty-five, south part; Lathrop Seymour, on lot eleven; Jared Pritchard, on lot thirty-one; Silas Hoadley, on lot twenty-nine; Isaac Frost and his two sons, Elias and Lyman, on lot twenty-eight; Nathaniel Doan, on the north part of lot thirty-five; and Benoni Adams, on lot fifty.

The Hoadleys were originally from either Salem or Plymouth, Conn. Lemuel Hoadley, Sr., was the father of eight children. Mary, the eldest, became the wife of Asahel Osborn. Of Calvin we have already given a brief history. The next was Lemuel; he was a colonel in the war of 1812. Sally married Zephaniah

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Potter. Lemuel was a mechanic, and much of his life was engaged in the erection of mills; he built most of the grist mills in this region of country. He removed to Brecksville in 1812, and built the first mill in. that town; and two years subsequently be went to Bath and erected mills there. In 1819, he .settled in Olmsted, Cuyahoga county, and erected for himself the pioneer mill in that township, and also built the first frame house there. In 1824, he exchanged his farm and a mill in Olmsted for a farm in Ridgeville, west of the center of the town, and took up his abode there. In 1832, he sold out and moved back to Olmsted, and with his son-in-law, John Barnum, built a saw-mill at the mouth of Plum Creek, and laid out a village there. In 1838, he removed to Chillicothe. He married Chloe Tyler.

He was known everywhere as Major Hoadley, a title which he acquired, it is said, on the journey from Connecticut. The company would sometimes be' obliged to construct a bridge across a swollen stream, and Mr. Hoadley was so perfectly at home at such work that his companions gave him the honorary title of "major," which he ever afterwards bore.

Luther was also a colonel in the war of 1812, and died in the service. David, a carpenter by trade, died in Connecticut. Urania married Riley Whiting, an extensive clock-maker of Winsted, Conn.

In 1810, James Geer changed his location to the north part of the township, exchanging his original purchase with Calvin Hoadley, for land on lot twenty-one. Here he established a rude tannery, using sap troughs for vats, and an axe to pulverize the bark. He also followed shoemaking, having learned the trade of his wife, formerly Mrs. Mary Parker, whose first husband was a shoemaker.

Of some of the other settlers mentioned, no knowledge can now be obtained of their later history.

Nathaniel Doan was a man of more than average ability, and was a leading man in the settlement. He was the first justice of the peace of the township. lie subsequently removed to Cleveland.

Benoni Adams was at that time a single man, but in 1810 he married Mrs. Sally Bronson, widow of Bela Bronson, and settled at the Center. In 1808, Mr. Adams carried the mail on foot from Cleveland to Maumee. The only habitations of white men on his route were those of Nathan Perry, at the month of Black river, and a Frenchman at Milan. Two weeks were usually consumed in making the trip. He lost his way on one occasion, and failed of reaching the end of his journey within the required time, and his pay was withheld for that trip. Sometimes the streams were swollen to such a degree that he was compelled either to travel a long distance to find a place through which he could wade, or to construct a raft with which to cross. His route lay through the Black Swamp, the passage of which, from its extent, could not be made in a single day, and he was obliged to spend a night in the woods, usually making his bed on the trunk of a fallen tree. Says Dr. Bronson, whose mother subsequently became the wife of Mr. Adams: have heard him say he has traveled the swamp when the water was half-way to the knee, and he was obliged to break the ice the whole forty miles."

During the same year, Seba Bronson, Sr., and his two sons, Seba and Daniel, moved in from Ashtabula county. The elder Bronson settled on sub-lot four, Seba, Jr., living with him. Daniel located on the north part of lot thirty-six.

In 1812, Seba Bronson, Jr., removed to Liverpool, Medina county, remained a year, and then returned to Columbia. In the spring of that year, it is said, he dug out a canoe, and journeyed down the river to the lake, thence to the mouth of Sandusky river, thence up that river, to Lower Sandusky (now Fremont). There, in an opening in the forest, he planted a piece of ground to corn, under the protection of Fort Stephenson. After harvesting his crop, he returned to Columbia, residing there until his death, in 1851, aged seventy-five.

In 1809, Roswell Scovil, Horace Gunn, Timothy Doan, Daniel Bunnell, Zephaniah Potter, Wm. Hoadley, Noah Warner, Marcus Terrell, and Joseph Burke joined the settlement. Scovil settled on lot thirty; Gunn on lot The latter carried the first mail west of Cleveland, in 1808. In June, 1809, he married Ann Pritchard, daughter of Jared Pritchard, which was the second marriage in Columbia. Timothy Doan located on lot twenty-nine, buying out Silas Hoadley, who returned to Connecticut. Bunnell drew, by draft, lot one, which he exchanged with Samuel Pardee for land in Olmsted. Potter settled on lot —. He was a doctor—the first in the township. Hoadley settled on lot thirty-five, south part, but returned to Connecticut in 1811. Marcus Terrell settled on the northwest corner of lot thirty-nine. Warner, in 1811, removed to Liverpool.

Joseph Burke was the earliest settler in Euclid. He came from New York, in 1798, traveling from Buffalo to Grand river in an open boat. Leaving his family there, he came on to take a look at the wilderness, in which he thought of settling, and after making a selection at Euclid, returned for his family. He resided in Euclid eleven years, and then removed to this township, locating on lot twelve. He died July 4th, 1814. His widow removed to Michigan, and died there in 1832. Of their large family of fourteen children, only two are living: Ira Burke on the old homestead, aged seventy-five, and Mrs. Sophia Louder, residing in Illinois. A little daughter, four years of age, while in the woods with her brother, who was making maple sugar, wandered away and was never found. The generally accepted theory as to her fate is, that she was carried away by Indians seen in the vicinity a day on two previous.

Silas Burke settled on the south part of lot twelve, in 1809.

Harmon Bronson, one of the members of the Waterbury land company, visited the reserve, as early as

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1805. In that year he came from Waterbury, Connecticut, to Cleveland, on foot, by way of Albany and Buffalo, and returned by way of Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York, walking almost the entire distance. In 1809, he. again came to Ohio, also on foot, this time. for the purpose of settlement. He was a carpenter and joiner, and on his arrival at Cleveland, engaged at work for a Mr. Murray, for when he built a log house near the mouth of the Cuyahoga, on the east side of the river, and about where the government piers are now. His family, then consisting of a wife and three daughters, and his mother, (his father, Seba Bronson, Sr., having come to Columbia three years previous), came on soon afterward on a little vessel called the "Ranger," Captain Hathaway, landing at the mouth of the river March 15th. Other members of the company, and their families, came at the same time. Mr. Bronson made a settlement in Columbia, erecting a house on sub-lot four.

At the breaking out of the war of 1812, when it was generally feared that this part of the State would be overrun by Indians, Mrs. Harmon Bronson, with her three girls,—the oldest about thirteen,—and an infant son less than a year old, started from Cleveland in September, 1812, with a horse, saddle and bridle, and took her little family back to Waterbury, the heroic mother walking the entire distance. It required four weeks to make the journey.

She remained in Waterbury until late in the fall of 1815, and then set out in a lumber wagon for Ohio. At Bloomfield, in the State of New York, her funds run out, and she hired out her two eldest daughters at fifty cents a week each, while she worked for her board and that of her two younger children. About the 1st of March, 1816, the journey was resumed, and the family reached Columbia in the latter part of that month.

Mr. Bronson kept a store in Columbia from 1816 to 1820. He removed to East Cleveland in December, 1821, and lived there until July, 1824, when he moved into Boston township, then Portage, now Summit county. He died December 18th, 1853. He was the seventh of the fourteen children of Seba Bronson, Sr., all of whom lived to mature age and were married. Azor and Bela died in Columbia, in 1811, October 5th and 13th, respeotively. Harmon was the last survivor of the family. His birth, marriage and death occurred in the same month and on the same day of the month—December 18th. He was seventy-nine years old at his death. His wife survived him four years and two months, and was something over eighty. Two of his family are now living—his second daughter, now seventy-eight years old, and the youngest child, a son, now sixty-seven— both residing in Peninsula, Summit county. From the latter, Mr. H. V. Bronson, we have obtained the facts here given.

David Eddy, born in New Jersey, came to Ohio while yet a single man, in the year 1804 or 1805. He made a location in Euclid, Cuyahoga county, and erected a cabin there. The following year his father and mother, with a son named Timothy, came on and took up their abode in the primitive habitation already prepared by David. Caleb Eddy, the father, spent the remainder of his days here, but David soon pushed on further west, and joined the infant colony in Columbia. He "stuck his stakes" on lot forty, and built his log house on the bank of Rocky river. In the early winter of 1814 he married Elizabeth Shirdine, of Washington county, Penn., and about two years subsequently began pioneer life in the little cabin previously mentioned. Eddy was a member of the militia, and was an occupant of the block house. His life was one of many hardships and of arduous toil. He died, on the farm on which he first located, October 21, 1853, and his widow about a year afterward, October 6th, 1854. Their children were four in number, two boys and two girls, viz : Jesse, Enos, Susannah and Eunice. Jesse married Caroline Chamberlain, daughter of John Chamberlain, of Rochester, Lorain county. He, Jesse, is now living there. His wife died February 5th, 1855, leaving two children, Mary E. (Mrs Myers,) and Hattie E. (Mrs. Mann). Enos married Cynthia Bradford, now deceased. Susannah married Myron Bradford, and both are dead. Eunice married, first, Hiram Bradford, and afterwards Samuel Hanley, with whom she is now living in the township of Rochester.

In 1810 Levi Bronson moved in from Euclid and took up his residence on sub-lot three, the first location of John Williams. Of him Rev. Dr. Bronson bears the following testimony:

" My father became interested in the lands of Cotumbia by purchase of his brother Azor, but both died before deeds were given or paymeut fully made, and matters were left in an unsettted state, and after a while became entangled with other land matters. These have since been a prolific source of strife, and a rich field for lawyers. * *

* * I deem it my duty to bear witness to the unyielding integrity, public spirit and self-sacrifice of Levi Bronson. When alt the land in Columbia would not have sold for more than enough to pay the taxes, he borrowed money, worked on the road, turned and twisted every way to save the property of his father and his deceased brother for their heirs."

In regard to other arrivals this year we mention the following: Asahel Osborn and Marshall Culver, his son-in-law, the former on the south part and the latter on the north part of lot thirty-seven. They came from Salem, Connecticut. Osborn married Mary Hoadley, daughter of Lemuel Hoadley, Sr. He was a man of good natural ability, and of local influence.

Timothy Eddy cleared a piece of land on lot seventeen, sowed it to wheat, and then returned to Euclid to live; James and Walter Strong chopped off a piece on lot fifteen; Samuel Hitchcock settled on lot forty, purchasing of Calvin Hoadley.

Asa Robertson made a beginning on the west part of lot one, then removed to Liverpool, Medina county, where he made a permanent location, Samuel Heacock also arrived in 1810, and located on lot thirty- six, but returned to Connecticut the following year.

John Adams, father of Benoni, with his wife, five sons and a daughter, left Waterbury, Connecticut, for Columbia, in the fall of 1811, and moved in with

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Benoni, on lot fifty. Adams having sold his farm for twenty-five hundred dollars, and taken his pay in blocks at five dollars a piece, must turn his property into cattle and the cattle into money, which took up the time until October.

He brought his wife and boys, with some of the household goods, with a team and wagon, a young man by the name of Marshall Bronson accompanying the family with a team and wagon of his own, with which he brought a part of their good's. The daughter, who was a child of a former wife of Mr. Adams, and a cousin of Bronson; rode with the young man. In consequence of a violent snow storm they remained several days at a tavern a few miles west of Buffalo. The next house on their route was Mack's tavern, eighteen miles distant, the road to which was along the beach until within four miles of the tavern, when it lead away from the lake through a dense forest. This is the road the collector of historical facts so frequently hears spoken of by early settlers as the "four mile woods."

It was December, too late to travel along the beach with safety, as there were many rocky cliffs whioh extended out into the lake; and to get by them, the emigrants usually drove into the water. In attempting to pass one of these points, Adams' team became ,frightened at the dashing of the waves, and refused to go, and he was obliged to cut them loose from the wagon in order to save his wife and children. After much difficulty, they succeeded in reaching the shore, and proceeded in the direction of the tavern, Adams evidently thinking that Bronson, who was ahead, had got through in safety. Not so, however: he had become involved in a situation more perilous than that from which Adams and his family had escaped. The wheel of his wagon caught fast in the seam of a rock, and the horses, in their struggle, became entangled in the harness and were thrown down; and Bronson, almost paralyzed with cold and fear, could not release them.. His situation would have appalled the stoutest heart. The roar of the angry waves, the horses struggling beneath them, and the cries of his companion, coupled with his utter powerlessness to aid her, filled him with frantic terror. He determined to go for help. Reaching the shore with great difficulty, he hurried to the tavern and gave the alarm. Several men started for the scene of distress, meeting Mr. Adams and family on the way.

The mother and children were conducted back to the house by one of the party, while the father returned with the rest to the relief of his daughter. But it was too late—her lifeless body was found in the water, carried to the tavern, and buried in Mack's garden. Some time after, a passing missionary, on request of the family, preached a funeral discourse. The team of Bronson was drowned, and his wagon a complete wreck. Another was constructed out of the parts as' they floated ashore, and then turned into cash. The other wagon, which was without serious damage, was also sold, and a sled purchased. A few articles were gathered up as, they floated ashore, and the surviving family resumed their journey. Arriving in Euclid, friends induced them to remain there till the following spring, when they moved into Columbia. A son of Mr. Adams is yet living in Olmsted, nearly eighty years of age, and preserves a clear recollection of the painful disaster.

Another prominent arrival in 1811, was the family of Azor Bronson. They left Waterbury, Conn., in June of that year. They experienced a tedious time getting through Cattaraugus swamp. Night overtook them in the "four mile woods," while yet a long distance from Mack's tavern, at Cattaraugus creek, to which they were making, and they were unable to proceed. Leaving the mother and children in the wagon, which was buried to the axletree in mud, Mr. Bronson went to the tavern for help. The ever-accommodating Dr. Mack, with a lantern and accompanied by a couple of friendly Indians, returned with Mr. Bronson for his family and assisted them to the tavern. In Middleburg, Cuyahoga county, their wagon broke down, and wife and children were thence carried to Columbia on the horses. They arrived at the center of town July 4, 1811. Mr. Bronson died the next year after his arrival. Ransom and Albert Bronson, residing in Olmsted, Cuyahoga county, aged seventy-three and seventy-six respectively, are the only surviving members of the family.

Samuel Pardee also moved in, in 1811, settling on the south part of lot thirty-six, and kept a tavern, the sign of which was a pair of deer's horns.

Jonathan Vaughan became an inhabitant of the township during this same year. The following year, he, with his brother Richard and E. Hickox, entered the service of the government and aided in cutting a road from Sandusky to Maumee. This was in war time, and the men, some three hundred in number, cut the road under the protection of a military guard. Vaughan was afterwards stationed for a time in Fort Stephenson. He subsequently married a daughter of Calvin Hoadley and settled in Middleburg, Cuyahoga county, residing there until 1834, when he purchased an interest in the Hoadley Mills, and returned to Columbia.

About this time also, Noah Terrell and Thomas Osborn came into town. Terrell was a valuable acquisition to the settlement, being skillful in the manufacture of every kind of wooden dishes, such as milk- bowls, trenchers, cups and saucers, salt-cellars, pepper boxes, and little kegs which took the place of pails. Being a Terrell, he was of course a hunter, and supported his family to a great extent by his gun. He subsequently removed to Ridgeville, where his daughter Harriet was soon after born. She was the first child born in that township.

Osborn settled on the farm first occupied by Bela Bronson. He was a blacksmith, and carried on his trade in that early day under difficulties which would be thought insurmountable in this. This pioneer blacksmith went on foot through an unbroken wilder-

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ness to New Lisbon, Columbiana county, a distance of about one hundred miles, to obtain his material, which, having paid for in labor, he then lugged home on his back. His untiring industry was eventually rewarded by a handsome competency.

B. Pritchard came into the town in 1813.

Reuben Lewis moved in from New York State in 1814. He established in that year the first tannery worthy of the name in the county. It stood on lot thirty-four, on which also the first milt in the county, the grist mill of Captain Hoadley, was built.

Adna Warner bought out Benoni Adams, on lot fifty, and became a settler in 1814.

Ephraim Bigelow became an inhabitant of Columbia in 1816, settling on lot twenty-eight, and Amos Richmond, the same year, on lot twenty-nine.

Julius and Albert Bronson settled on lot twenty- three, on the north and south parts respectively, in 1817, and Thomas G. Bronson on lot eighteen the same year. Gideon Richmond located in 1818, and Sylvanus, the following year, on lot fifty.

Simeon Nichols arrived with his family in about the year 1820. He was also a Waterbury man. He started in the winter, and, when he got into the State of New York, the snow was so deep as to make traveling with a wagon difficult. He therefore bought a sled, placed his wagon on the top of it, and thus resumed the journey. All went well until he arrived at what was then called the "Holland purchase," in that State. This was a newly cleared piece of land, and he could not pass among the thick stumps with his wagon; he therefore cut off the axles. He traveled without further impediment until he arrived in the eastern part of Ohio, when the snow left and he was obliged to provide himself with new axles. He arrived in Columbia in early spring and settled on lot forty- seven.

Nichols was an industrious and respected citizen. He held the office of justice of the peace for a number of years, and was a leading member of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Merritt Warner came in the same year, and located on the same lot.

We can but but briefly mention subsequent settlers. Heman Terrell on lot twenty-eight; Miles Seymour rented the farm of Timothy Doan, in 1821; William Adams on lot four hundred and ninety-one; Abner Martin (and his distillery) on lot forty-seven. Solomon Hancock on lot twenty-seven, in 1822; Manly Hitchcock on lot forty-four; Hiram Richmond on lot twenty-six; Asa Jewett on lot sixty-four, in 1823; Sterling Goddard on lot seventy-six; James Mattison on the same lot; William Brown on lot seventy-four, in 1829; Amos Curtis on lot seventy-seven; Samuel Hoadley on lot twenty-one; Elihu Morgan on lot forty-seven; Ransom Bronson on lot thirty-nine, in 1825; Anson A. Goddard on lot sixty-three, in 1826; John Cole on lot eighty-eight; Simon and John Crockers on lot ninety, in 1828; S. H. Frink on lot twenty-two, in 1831; David Chamberlain on lot seventy-nine; John. McCreery on lot forty; Wakeman Beers on lot sixty; John Chamberlain on lot sixty; Seth and Bina Wood on lot sixty-one; Stephen Sabin on lot forty; Ezekiel Olcott on lot fifty-nine, in 1832; Samuel Gaylord in 1835.

Among the later settlers are: Abel Goodwin, from New London county, Connecticut, who arrived in 1828, and located on lot eighty-eight. He died in June, 1841. Elisha and Richard Harrington, originally from Vermont, came to Ohio in 1815, settling in Cuyahoga Falls. They came to Columbia, Elisha in 1834, and located on lot eighty-six, and the latter in 1837, on lot fifty-seven. Elisha now lives on lot seventy-five, and Richard on his original purchase. Norman T. Beers, from the State of New York, located in 1832, where the widow of Marcus Nichols now resides. He died April, 1878, and his widow now lives on lot fifty-nine. Joseph Osborn became a settler in 1837, on lot fifty-seven. He now resides with his sou Andrew, on the old homestead, and is eighty-four years of age—the oldest man in the township. William Brown located on Plum creek, in 1827.

CHURCHES.

In regard to pioneer christianity in Columbia, Rev. Dr. Bronson says:

"The Bronsons were Episcopalians, and when they came to Ohio, they brought their prayer books with them. When they reached here they used those books, though they had no minister. My father gathered around him, as soon as he had neighbors, as many as he could and read the service and a sermon. When the grave closed over him, my grandfather took It up. When he passed away, Levi Bronson coninued it; and after his death, it, for a while, devolved on me."

The first organized church society was of the Episcopal faith, some time in the year 1809, Bishop Chase officiating in its organization. The following named were the constituent members: Seba Bronson and wife, Bela Bronson, Levi Bronson and wife, and John Williams and wife. A meeting house was built on the east side of the river, on sub-lot three, as late as 1835 or '36.

METHODISM.

The first Methodist services held in town were at the house of the widow of Joseph Burke, in about the year 1818. They were conducted by Rev's Messrs. Goddard and Booth. The following year a society was formed, by Rev. Mr. Goddard, of the following members: Calvin Hoadley, Julius Bronson and wife, Mrs. Joseph Burke and her two sons, Allen and Orrin, and Mrs. McConkey. Julius Bronson was appointed leader of the class. The church building at the Center was erected in 1830, and was the first house of worship in Columbia. This society is at present under the charge of Rev. J. W. Thompson. It has a membership of sixty. The Sabbath school has a membership of some seventy scholars. Frank Snell is superintendent.

There is also a Methodist Episcopal society at West View, the church having been erected in 1844. Services are held every alternate Sabbath by Rev. J. W. Thompson.

HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 153

THE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH OF WEST VIEW. —This church was formed April 1, 1843, with sixteen members, as follows: Ransom Bronson and wife, Moses C. Baker and wife, Jane Baker, Clark Hoadley and wife, Cornelius Smith and wife, Calvin Hoadley, Calvin R. Hoadley and Edwin Hedgins (all of whom seceded from the Methodist Episcopal church of West View because of its alleged indifference with regard to the question of human slavery) and Jesse Eddy and wife, Clarissa and Jane Bronson. Of this number only Ransom Bronson remains. The church building was erected in 1845, costing about one thousand dollars. The dedicatory sermon was preached by James Langdon. Jahial Porter and John McCloud were the first regular preachers. The existing membership is fifty-five. William B. Moody is pastor. The two churches unite in a sabbath school, which has a membership of forty-five, with J. M. Geer as superintendent.

CONGREGATIONALISTS.

A Congregational society was organized about the year 1820 by Rev. Mr. Shaber of Richfield and was composed of the following members: Boltis Ruple, Marshall Culver and wife, Mrs. Mary Osborn, Mrs. Roxana Nichols, Sterling Goddard and wife, William Brown and wife. Sterling Goddard and Boltis Ruple were appointed deacons. This society never erected a house of worship.

BAPTISTS.

The First Baptist Church of Columbia, located at the Center was organized May 12, 1832, with nineteen members, as follows:- John Stranahan, John Cole, Robert Fuller, Abel Goodwin, from the Baptist church in Liverpool, Medina county; Simeon Crocker, Jeremiah Chamberlain, who had letters from a church in the east; Mary Goodwin, Amelia Crocker, Clarissa Crocker, Nancy Bigelow, Margaret Chamberlain, Prudence Stranahan, Olive Goodwin, Betsey Cole, Mary Cole, Constant G. Cole, William Cole; Robert N. Fuller, and John Cole, Jr. Elder James Hovey officiated as moderator; Abel Goodwin was chosen clerk. Of the constituent members, two only, William Cole and John Cole, remain. The erection of the building was commenced in 1841, but was not completed until 1848. The church has at present a membership of one hundred and four. Rev. L. Yarnell is pastor, N. N. Cole, clerk, and John Cole and Cyrus Ives, deacons. A Sabbath school was organized in 1847. The officers and teachers at present number eleven; scholars, eighty-three; superintendent, N. N. Cole.

SCHOOLS.

The first school was opened by Mrs. Sally Bronson, in her own house, in the summer of 1808. The number of her scholars was ten. The following winter her husband, Bela Bronson, taught a school in Lemuel Hoadley's blacksmith shop. Rev. Dr. Bronson, son of these pioneer educators, speaks as follows in regard to the opportunities afforded for acquiring an education more than rudimentary:

" My own experience will illustrate the difficulty of obtaining anything beyond what the district school afforded, 1n 1824 I set out to obtain an education. An old Latin grammar was found and studied under the instruction of Rev. Luke Bowen of Strongsville. After a while a dictionary was needed. We sold a cow for eight dollars and with this sum I mounted a Norse and rode more than a hundred miles in a fruitless search for a Latin dictionary. This ted to my going to Tallmadge and studying with Elizur Wright, Esq., where I could have the use of a dictionary. There I remained three months, working two days in the week for Francis Wright for my board, and two days in the month for his father to pay my tuition. After this I found the required book and a teacher nearer home."

A private school was taught at the house of T. G. Bronson by Rev. C. P. Bronson, in 1825. The first school house in town was erected in 1817, on lot thirty-six. From the report of the clerk of the board of education for the year ending August 31, 1878, we present the following statistics:

Number of school houses, 7

Valued at $4,500

Amount paid teachers $1,388

Number of scholars     247

EARLY EVENTS.

The first white child born in Columbia was Sally Hoadley, daughter of Lemuel Hoadley, Jr. This interesting event occurred September 26, 1808. She became the wife of Albert Terrel, who now lives in Ridgeville. On the 17th of October following Calvin Geer, son of James Geer, was born, and his was the second birth in town. Mr. Geer is yet living, and resides in Olmsted. In the spring of 1809, Marcus Terrell married Dillie Doan,----Esquire Nathaniel Doan, the bride's father, performing the ceremony. This was the first marriage. The next was that of Horace Gunn to Anna Pritchard, in June of the. same year. The first death was that of a child of Lathrop Seymour, in 1809. It was buried on Nathaniel Doan's farm, east of the center. The first adult death was that of Mrs. Chloe Tyler, mother of Mrs. Lemuel Hoadley, in August, 1810. She was buried in Benoni Adams' orchard. The old burying ground was laid out in 1811. The first interment was that of Azor Bronson; the next that of Bela Bronson.

The first post office in town was established about the year 1817. The first post master was Thomas G. Bronson, who kept the office in his house. The name selected was the Indian name for Rocky river, " Copokah." In the papers sent from Washington the word was mis-written Copopo, and the error was never corrected. The postal route extended from Cleveland to Liverpool, a man by the name of Mallett being the first mail carrier. He received fifty dollars per year, making the trip on foot once a week.

Harmon Bronson, in the fall of 1816, built the first frame house in Columbia, on sub-lot four. The first frame barn was built by Tin othy Doan, in 1826. The first brick house was that of Simeon Nichols, on lot forty-seven. Harmon Bronson brought the first mercantile goods into town in 1816. He kept his " store " in his house on the hill, half a mile

154 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO.

east of the center. He also, the year following, brought the first cast iron plow ever seen in these parts. In 1819 the first bridge that ever spanned Rocky river, was built half a mile south of the center. The first doctor was Zephaniah Potter, who began to dispense jalap and calomel in 1809. In 1812 Potter was town clerk, and while his wife was out in the woods with her servant one day, gathering grapes, his house burned to the ground and the town records were destroyed. The deed was supposed to have been committed by Indians, out of revenge, Dr. Potter having assisted Dr. Long, of Cleveland, in dissecting the body of the Indian Omik, who was hung there for the murder of two men in Huron county a short time before. The present doctor is Asahel Culver. The first shoemaker was Mrs. James Geer. She was the widow Parker, mentioned as one of the original party from Waterbury, Conn. She remained in Cleveland the first winter, and while there married James Geer. Her former husband was a shoemaker, and Mrs. Parker, in emigrating to this country, brought his outfit of tools with her. She made shoes for the women, but the work of making boots, which were entirely sewed in those days, was too irksome for her, and after teaching her husband the trade she resigned the work to him. Lemuel Hoadley constructed the pioneer fanning-mill of Columbia.

The first orchard was set out by John Williams a short distance north of Copopo. J. Warner erected in the fall of 1812 the first cider-mill, near the block house. The first tavern was kept by Samuel Pardee, in 1812, in a log house on lot thirty-six. Rev. Mr. Hyde, a Presbyterian, was the first resident minister. The first blacksmith was Lemuel Hoadley, Sr. His shop was built in 1808, on lot forty-seven.

THE MILITIA.

In the year 1810, a company of militia, composed of men from the townships of Columbia, Ridgeville, Eaton, and also Middleburg in Cuyahoga county, was organized. The following are the names of the members:

Calvin Hoadley, Lemuel Hoadley, Jr., Elias Frost, Daniel Bronson, Bela Bronson, Jared Pritchard, Levi Bronson, Lathrop Seymour, Samuel Potter, Eli Hickox, Warren Fassett, Marcus Terrell. Asa Robertson, Joseph Burke, Marshall' Culver, Zephaniah Potter, Eri Hickox, Clark Hoadley, Jared Hickox, Noah Warner, Roswell Scovil, Ebenezer Wilmot. 1ra B.Morgan, Oliver Terrell, Philander Terrelt, Tillotson Terrell, Leverett Terrell, Wyllis Terrell, David Beebe, Loman Beebe, Lyman Root, Truman Walker, Amos Wilmot, Whittlesey Hill, Sylvester Morgan, Asa Morgan, Richard Vaughan, Ephraim Vaughan, Jonathan Vaughan, Ephraim Fowls, John Fowls, Abram Fowls, Benoni Adams, Samuel Hitchcock, Timothy Doan, Alten Burke, Silas Burke, Chauncey Warner, Horace Gunn, James Geer, Thomas Osborn, Baird Pritchard, Samuel Pardee, David Bunnell, David Eddy, Lyman Frost, Samuel Beebe, Sheldon Wooster, Jno. Hanley, Samuel Hickox, Adna Warner, Aaron Warner.

In the election of offrcers, Calvin Hoadley was chosen captain; Lemuel Hoadley, lieutenant; Lathrop Seymour, ensign; Elias Frost, first sergeant; Samuel Potter, second sergeant; Daniel Bronson, third sergeant; Bela Bronson, fourth sergeant; Capt. Levi Bronson, first corporal; Capt. Samuel Hickox, second corporal; and Jared Pritchard, third corporal.

After the selection of these." old soldiers" as corporals, young Eli Hickox stepped up and said: "I'll be the fourth to carry the jug for the old men," and was thereupon elected fourth corporal. Joseph Burke was drummer; Marshall Culver and Zephaniah Potter, fifers.

Captain Hoadley's commission, a copy of which lies before us, bears date October 25, 1810, and is signed by Samuel Huntington, governor.

The intelligence of Hull's surrender produced a feeling of the gravest apprehension among the inhabitants; and when, shortly afterward, the information was circulated that a large party of men, ragged and dirty, and some with blankets around them, and handkerchiefs on their heads, were seen landing at Huron, the wildest excitement prevailed. They were believed to be British and Indians overrunning the country, and the people of Columbia, and those of Ridgeville and Eaton also, sought safety in flight. Every wagon, cart and sled was loaded, and a general exodus made for Hudson—an older settled town, then. under the protection of the forces of Gen. Wadsworth, who was stationed at " Old Portage." Men, women and children, cattle, sheep and hogs, marched along in promiscuous confusion.

Roswell Scovill, having no other means of conveyance, tied a feather-bed on to an unbroken pet colt, placed his wife and babe, then three weeks old, upon it, and thus took them in safety to Hudson, a distance of thirty miles. The first night, some of them encamped on the ridge between Brunswick and Strongsville; some to the east of that ridge; while others took up their quarters in the old log house of Silas Burke. Uncle Oliver Terrell could not be induced to enter the house, but preferred the exposure of a lodgment on the ground to the more dangerous one, as he believed, in the house. Sentinels were placed to observe the approach of danger, and every preparation made to prevent surprise. That same night, however, Levi Bronson, who, to obtain more definite information in regard to the report, had gone to Cleveland, arrived with the cheering information that the party supposed to be British and Indians, were Hull's paroled prisoners, and the people thereupon returned to their homes.

On their flight, believing their homes would be pillaged and burned, they concealed many of their household goods in the woods, hiding them in hollow logs, in the thick brush, and in other places where they believed them safe from the supposed invaders. When they returned, many valued articles, which they supposed were effectually concealed, lay on the ground in plain sight, while others of but little worth or use were so securely hid that it was impossible again to find them.

After the return of the fugitives, Capt. Hoadley, to re-assure the people, called out the militia, and immediately afterward received orders from Gen. Wadsworth to proceed with his company to the defence of Cleveland. This the doughty captain peremptorily

HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO - 155

refused to do, and thus leave the people without protection in time of danger. He was therefore not court-martialed for disobedience of orders, but directed to establish "frontier military headquarters" in Cokumbia, and the erection of

THE BLOCK HOUSE,

so long a historical landmark of this exciting period, was accordingly begun, under the direction of David Beebe, of Ridgeville. Its location was a short distance south of Copopo, on the east side of the river. The building Was some thirty-five feet square, two stories, the upper projecting over the lower story two feet on the sides, with a row of port-holes in each story. While in course of erection the militia occupied the house of Mrs. Azor Bronson near by. The fort was garrisoned for about three months. The company was furnished, by the United States government, with new rifles, which were brought by Sylvester Morgan, and two others on horseback, from Cleveland, About one-half of the company afterwards became substitutes for drafted men, and served under Gen. Harrison.

Until Perry's victory on Lake Erie, in September, 1813, the red coat and the scalping knife haunted the settlers in visions by day and in dreams by night; and a rumor, however improbable, would cause immediate flight to the fort.

In the spring of 1812, Benoni Adams, while in search of some cattle, spied Joseph Burke as he was getting over a brush fence some distance from him, and it occurred to Adams to have a little sport. Evidences of Indians in the immediate vicinity had recently been seen, and, when Adams gave a shout in imitation of the Indian's warwhoop, Burke darted off like a deer for his house. Adams, seeing his fright, and fearing the consequences of his joke, called after him to stop, but that only frightened Burke the more. Arriving at his house, he apprised his family of their danger, and, with their youngest ohild in his arms, Mrs. Burke following with the rest, set out for the fort, Burke yelling " Indians !" all the way. The alarm spread rapidly, and many ludicrous scenes were enacted.

Mrs. Azor Bronson, then a widow, lived a short distance from the fort, and the family of Noah Warner lived with her. Mrs. Bronson, on hearing the alarm, collected together a few things, and, seizing an old musket that had neither lock nor stock, with which to defend herself, started for the fort; while Mrs. Warner took a kettle of beans from over the fire and followed, in her terror forgetting her babe in the cradle.

After the close of the war small bands of Indians occasionally returned to the Columbia hunting grounds. The last of them was a small party. that encamped one winter on the bank of the river opposite the block house, in which, that same winter, Samuel Potter taught school. In the spring they went south, and only an occasional Indian was afterwards seen.

During the first years of the settlement there were seasons of great scarcity of food. Such a season occurred in 1809. Whole families lived for many weeks at a time without bread and other necessaries of life. This season the people were reduced to such extremities that provisions had to be imported. James Geer and Seba Bronson, Jr., dug out a canoe and in it went down Rocky river, thence to Cleveland, where they engaged a man named Johnson, with his boat, to go with them to the river Raising, now Monroe, Mich., after provisions. A terrific storm overtook them and they came near being lost. Their progress was slow, the journey so prolonged, and the people reduced to such a degree of want for food, that on the return of the party with provisions, a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God was observed.

The year 1811 was also a dismal one for the pioneers. A fever prevailed extensively, resulting in the death of nine members of the little community. Azor Bronson was the first and Bela Bronson the next; soon after followed Mrs. Pardee, three children of Ashael Osborn, and three of John Williams. Whole families were sick at the same time, and there were not enough left in health to attend the sick. The dead were interred in coffins made by Captain Hoadley, out of planed whitewood slabs, and blackened with a mixture of basswood charcoal and milk.

CIVIL ORGANIZATION.

At the time of its organization, this township was a part of Geauga county. At the election of officers, held at the house of Calvin Hoadley, Nathaniel Hoadley was called to the chair, and Bela Bronson appointed secretary. Township officers were chosen viva voce, as follows: Bela Bronson, clerk; Calvin Hoadley, John Williams and Jared Pritchard, trustees; Lathrop Seymour, constable. In May following, Nathaniel Doane was elected justice of the peace.

"All of Geauga county lying west of Columbia was annexed to that township for judicial and other purposes. The jurisdiction of that judicial functionary covered, in territorial extent, nearly an empire. The plaintiff in the first action brought before him, lived on Grand river, and the defendant on the Vermillion. It was the case of Skinner vs. Hulburt. The plaintiff had judgment, which was paid, not in legal tender, but in labor."* The labor was performed by the defendant for Calvin Hoadley and Nathaniel Doane, which paid the judgment.

Mrs. Sally Brown, in honor of being the first white woman that settled in town, was accorded the privilege of naming it. She selected that of her native township, "Columbia." At the time of the organization, there were twenty voters in the township, as follows: Lemuel Hoadley, Sr., Lemuel Hoadley, Jr., Calvin Hoadley, Jared Pritchard, Horace Gunn, Nathaniel Doane, Timothy Doane, Job Doane, Lathrop Seymour, Isaac Frost, Elias Frost, Lyman Frost,

* Judge Boynton.

156 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO

James Geer, John Williams, Bela Bronson, Seba Bronson, Sr., Seba Bronson, Jr., Daniel Bronson, James Strong and Walter Strong.

The officers of the township, in 1878, were as follows: B. B. Adams, clerk;. R. J. Bastard, Jr., and C. E. Perkins, justice of the peace.

GRIST MILL.

The first manufacturing establishment ever built in the county was the rude log gristmill of Calvin Hoadley, built in the summer of 1809. Its location was on the east bank of Rocky river, on lot thirty-four. The captain built a dam across the creek on that lot, about where the present road intersects the creek, and carried the water to his mill by a ditch some fifty rods in length. The mill-stones of this pioneer establishment were made out of a couple of "hard-heads," by Lemuel Hoadley. The mill was crowded with business, but it soon came to an inglorious end. The great drawback was its failure to run in dry weather, and the first freshet carried away the dam. The enterprise was abandoned, and a location was selected on the same river, on the north line of the township, on lot twenty-one. Here he erected, in April, 1811, another log mill, and the same year a saw mill. These mills, in that early time, constituted a center of as much importance as a great city does to-day. " Hoadley's Mills" were known far and wide. In 1816, the log grist mill gave way to a frame. This old mill, built over sixty years ago, is still in operation, and has undergone but little change, although the familiar, smiling face of the miller has long sinoe disappeared.

For sixty years the mill has stood,

For sixty years the dashing flood

Has turned the wheel with roaring sound

Through foaming waters, round and round.

Sixty years, and overhead

The same broad roof of blue is spread;

But in the meadows bright and green,

The stranger’s children now are seen.

SAW

A saw mill was built by Reuben Lewis in about the year 1814, a half-mile south of the center. A man by the name of Olmsted made the running gear and set it in operation. When the water was let on, the wheel turned the wrong way, and before the slight defect could be remedied, a freshet washed a channel around the mill and swept it away.

There are at the present time one grist mill—the old mill of Capt. Hoadley—now owned by O. Van Hise, and two saw mills, those of O. Van Hise and Brown & Brother.

THE COLUMBIA CHEESE FACTORY,

the only one in the township, was built in 1867. It is located at the center, and is owned by W. B. Follansbee. The number of cows supplying the factory is about three hundred. Average daily consumption of milk during the season of 1878 was from six to seven thousand pounds, making twelve cheese per day, of forty pounds each, and seventy pounds of butter. B. B. Adams, of the center, is at present conducting the enterprise.

The only store in Columbia is that of R. J. Bastard & Son, who carry a general stock of merchandise. The post office is in their store—R. Bastard, P. M.

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS FOR 1878.

Wheat, 517 acres 7,487 bushels.

Oats,   883 " 35,166 “  

Corn,   1,014 " 36,095

Potatoes, 93 " 9,123    "

Orchards, 173 " 2,025 " 

Meadow, 2081 " 2,155 tons.

Butter   50,575 pounds.

Cheese 188,100          " 

VOTE FOR PRESIDENT IN 1876.

Hayes 174

Tilden 54

At the time of the Jackson campaign, there was but one Jackson man in the township, and he did not vote.

156A - RANSOM BRONSON.

Mr. Bronson is a worthy descendant of an old and honored family. He was born in Waterbury, Conn., Sept. 11, 1805. He traces his lineage back to John Bronson, who emigrated from England to the United States in the year 1636. He settled in Hartford, Conn., but afterwards removed to Farmington, where he died in the year 1680.

His son Isaac was one of the earliest settlers in Waterbury, Conn., whence came the first settlers of the township of Columbia.

The successive descendants, in the line of ancestry, were as follows : John Bronson, Joseph Bronson, Seba Bronson, and Azor Bronson, the father of the subject of this sketch. He was one of a family of fourteen children, nearly all of whom emigrated to the West, as did also their parents.

He was one of the five trustees of the Waterbury Land Company, and was therefore one of the original owners of the Soil of Columbia. He emigrated to the township with his family, consisting of his wife and four children, in the summer of 1811, arriving at the place of destination on the 4th day of July. He located on sub-lot 11, but before the completion of his house he was stricken down by a malignant disease, which was so fatally prevalent in the infant settlement at that time.

The family was left at his death in peculiarly unfortunate circumstances. The mother had four young boys—the oldest only thirteen—to care for in the uncleared forest, with no available means to clear the land of the debt resting against it, or even to put the uncompleted house in a condition for occupancy. She moved into a house belonging to Nathaniel Doane, which she occupied until her marriage to Reuben Lewis, some three years after the death of her first husband.

Instead of ameliorating her condition by this marriage, as she evidently expected to do, it was rendered infinitely worse by the unkindness of her husband, both to herself and children. After an unharmonious union of four years a separation ensued, Mr. Lewis removing from the township.

During this time the boys worked out at whatever they could find to do, and thus supported themselves, and for a time were kept together with their mother.

Ransom, at the age of eleven, took up his abode, under contract, with Marshall Culver. One day he thoughtlessly cut down Some of the trees in his employer's growing sugar-bush. Culver was greatly offended, and refused to keep the boy longer. The lad regarded this as a great misfortune, but it really proved a blessing in disguise, for he was immediately after placed under the care of Samuel Hitchcock, to whose teaching and influence he attributes much of his subsequent success in life. He was trained by him in habits of industry and economy.

Dec. 4, 1833, Mr. Bronson was united in marriage to Mrs. S. H. Frink. His mother subsequently made her home with them, and died at their residence in Columbia, in the year 1851, aged seventy-seven.

156B - MRS. RANSOM BRONSON.

Mr. Bronson's occupation has been that of a farmer, and by good management, untiring industry, and frugal habits he has accumulated a fine property.

He has held various township offices, such as trustee, justice of the peace, etc. He was elected to the former office when twenty-two years of age. He was formerly a member of the MethodiSt Episcopal Church, but at the organization of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of West View, which was the result of a division of the former church on the question of slavery, became one of the charter members.

His first wife died in 1877, and Dec. 25 of the same year he married the widow of Aaron J. Chapin, with whom he is now living at West View, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio.

Mrs. Bronson is the daughter of Moses and Almira (Smith) Adams, who were born in Schoharie Co., N. Y., in the year 1805; the father, Aug. 7, and the mother, April 26.

About the year 1849, Mr. Adams removed with his family to Riceville, Pa., where he has continued to reside up to the present time.

They had a family of six children,—two boys and four girls. The oldest daughter died in Joliet, Ill., in 1878, and a son, John Q. A. M., died when young.

Mary L. (Mrs. Bronson) was born in Stockton, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., Aug. 6, 1832. July 6, 1853, she was married to Aaron J. Chapin, of Riceville, Pa., and became the mother of four children, as follows : Ida E., born April 20, 1854 ; John Q. A. M., born July 6, 1856 ; Olive M., born Sept. 9, 1857 ; Elmer D., born April 15, 1861.

Ida married, in the year 1870, Lindsey Anderson, and is now residing at Harvard, Ill. The two sons, unmarried, also reside there. Olive died March 19, 1859.

Mr. and Mrs. Chapin first settled in Canada, where they remained about a year, thence removing to Iowa. After a reSidence there of three years they moved to Minnesota, and two years subsequently, back to their former home in Riceville, Pa.

He was a cabinet-maker, and was a skillful workman. Mr. Chapin served four years in the war of the Rebellion, being a member of Company D, Twelfth Pennsylvania Cavalry. He died in Canada, in the year 1871.

During her widowhood, Mrs. Bronson resided mostly at Titusville, Pa., but retained her home in Riceville. Though encountering many difficultieS, by industry and frugality she maintained herself and children, whom she gave also a good education. She looks back to that period as one of great usefulness.

156C - JESSE EDDY

JESSE EDDY was born in Washington Co., Pa., Dec. 15, 1814. He was the son of David and Elizabeth Eddy, and lived at the home of his parents until he became of age.

David Eddy came from Pennsylvania about 1806, and erected a log cabin for his father, Caleb Eddy, in Euclid township, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio. He spent a part of his time in Columbia township, Lorain Co., until his marriage with Elizabeth Sherdine, of Pennsylvania, March 4, 1814. The following year (1815) he brought his wife and settled in Columbia township, remaining there until his death, which occurred Oct. 21, 1853. His wife survived him about one year, she dying Oct. 6, 1854. They had four children, as follows, namely :

Jesse, born Dec. 15, 1814; married Caroline Chamberlain, Jan. 30, 1837 ; had issue-Mary E., who married Cephas Myers; Susan Josephine, who died in early childhood ; Hattie E., who married James M. Mann ; both now reside in Rochester township.

Enos Eddy, born Dec. 1, 1816 ; married Cynthia Bradford ; died May 11, 1847.

Susannah Eddy, born March 24, 1820 ; married Myron Bradford ; died Aug. 21, 1851.

Eunice Eddy, born Feb. 22, 1822 ; married-1st, Hiram N. Bradford ; 2d, Samuel Huntley. Her children were Eddy, Sylva E., Viola S., Henry O., of whom Viola died Oct. 1, 1862 ; Sylva married Dr. M. H. Miller ; and Henry married Miss Ella Storrow.

Caleb Eddy was born in the year 1754, in Morristown, Morris Co., N. J. He married a Miss Brown. Their children were Timothy, born March 4, 1781 ; David, born Feb. 1, 1783 ; Elizabeth, born Dec. 9, 1784, still living in New Jersey in her ninety-third year.

Caleb Eddy married for his second wife a Widow Jones, and had by her four sons and two daughters,-Esther, born Aug. 9, 1789 ; Caleb, Jr., born Sept. 25, 1791: Sarah, born Sept. 4, 1793; Phebe, born Dec. 12, 1797; Samuel, born Nov. 24, 1799, still living in Bristol township, Kenosha Co., Wis. ; Isabel, born Sept. 20, 1804.

About the year 1790, Caleb Eddy moved into Washington Co., Pa., where his last five children were born. He went from Pennsylvania to Euclid, Ohio, about the year 1807, and was among the pioneers of Cuyahoga County. He died there about the year 1819. His widow afterwards married a Mr. Blinn, and died at Euclid. Caleb Eddy followed his trade, that of a blacksmith, most of his life, giving little attention to farming.

Jesse Eddy, as before stated, remained at home until he was twenty-one. He was occupied as a farm laborer, renting lands for a year or two after his marriage, when his father gave him twenty acres. He subsequently purchased ten acres more, making a total of thirty acres. These he exchanged for sixty acres of woodland, and on this he built a log cabin, and commenced life in real earnest by carving for himself a home.

He succeeded in clearing up and cultivating these sixty acres, upon which he lived until 1870, when he removed to Rochester township.

His wife died in the old home, Feb. 5, 1855. She never had a strong constitution, but was full of energy and ambition. Her death was deeply mourned by her husband and friends.

Mr. Eddy has had various offices of trust bestowed upon him by his fellow-citizens. He was postmaster at Rochester Depot for four and a half years, and bears the reputation of having been its most efficient officer. During his term he registered nine hundred letters; the smallest amount having been fifty cents, the largest, seven thousand dollars, in bonds, which went to Fort Collins, Col. He has also held other trusts, all of which he filled faithfully and well.

He became a member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in the year 1843, and is still in communion with that denomination.

In politics he is a staunch Republican, having affiliated with that party in its organization, prior to which he was an old-line Whig.