(RETURN TO THE MAHONING AND TRUMBULL COUNTIES INDEX)

600 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY addition to this there is a Trumbull County Farm Bureau, a body formed in 1919 to take the place of the Trumbull County Improvement Association, then existing. This new organization is affiliated with the State and National Farm Bureau Federation. The officers of the Trumbull County Bureau are, President, C. F. Kreitler, Lordstown; vice president. W. J. Van Wye, Weathersfield; secretary, D. L. Hower, Howland; treasurer, J. H. Bollinger, Liberty. These officers, with D. R. McConnell of Hubbard and F. W. Mack, Bloomfield, make up the bureau's CHALKER HIGH SCHOOL AT SOUTHINGTON executive committee. The advisory committee is made up' of two delegates from each township. The Trumbull County School system of today is a gradual outgrowth of the primitive schools that sprung up with the settlement of each township. Sometimes the first school was taught in a pioneer home, but in most instances a log schoolhouse of the 20 by 3o feet type common on the Western Reserve was one of the first structures to arise in connection with each settlement. In these earliest schools the teacher was paid directly by the parents of the pupils, or "subscribers," and "boarded 'round:" The district school and the union school systems later came into being and in 1914 the county supervisory system was adopted in Ohio. YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 601 Under this system all the schools outside Warren, Niles and Girard are included in the county school system under County Superintendent J. E. Boetticher, who has most capably discharged the duties of this office since his appointment. The county district is sub-divided into three supervisory districts and nine "4740" districts. A "4740" district is a district with a first grade high school completely centralized, and receives this appellation from the fact that section 4740 of the Ohio school code provides for a separate school district in such instance. Supervisory District No. 1 includes Champion, Mecca, Bloomfield, Mesopotamia, Farmington, Bristol and Southington townships, all centralized. A. L. Carter is district superintendent. Supervisory District No. 2 includes Liberty Township, consolidated ; Weatherfield Township, including the Mineral Ridge and McDonald school districts ; Warren Township, centralized and Braceville Township, centralized. S. W. Partridge is superintendent. Supervisory District No. 3 includes Bazetta Township, Fowler Township, centralized, Vienna Township, centralized, Howland Township, Brookfield Township and Orangeville school district in Hartford Township. C. F. Stewart is superintendent of the third district. The "4740" districts include Lordstown, Greene, Johnston, Vernon, Hartford, Gustavas and Kinsman townships; centralized, and Cortland, Newton Falls and Hubbard village districts. The County Board of Education numbers D. H. Richards, Hubbard ; W. E. Kreitler, Warren ; H. J. Fobes, Kinsman ; L. C. Wolcott, Farmington ; Charles Brooks, Niles. The Trumbull County Health Board organized on January 17, 192o, under the Hughes act with Mayor Thomas G. Blackstone of Girard as president. The other members are, A. B. Case, Greene ; Dr. B. G. McCurley, Cortland ; W. R. Riley, Brookfield ; G. F. Carson, Newton Falls. WEATHERSFIELD Weathersfield Township is one of the historic townships, not alone of Trumbull County and the Mahoning Valley but of the Western Reserve. In a sense it antedates even Youngstown and Warren in occupation, for as early as 1755 it was a gathering place for Pennsylvania settlers who came to extract salt from the springs, or "salt lick," located within its borders. This spot is marked in Lewis Evans' map published in the above year. Hunters from Pennsylvania were also frequent visitors, for the salt lick was a mecca for animals of the forest seeking this necessary product. This famous salt springs, or spring, was located in Weathersfield Township, south of the Mahoning River and about a mile west of Niles. Its presence made the land so desirable that when Connecticut first offered its western lands for sale Gen. Samuel Holden Parsons purchased the tract inclosing it, this sale taking place in 1788. This land was reserved to the Parsons heirs when the eastern part of the Western Reserve was apportioned among stockholders in 1798 and it was not 602- YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY distributed for several years afterwards, although General Parsons himself was drowned at the falls of the Beaver River in 1789, before he had a chance to make a permanent settlement on his lands. Even before his purchase, however, Pennsylvanians had established salt works at the Salt Spring tract. Later a road leading from Youngstown, south of the Mahoning River, was built to this tract, but today the historic springs are out of existence, lying under the roadbed of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The Salt Spring tract has a gory history. Here a storekeeper for Duncan & Wilson, traders, was murdered in 1786 by the Indians. Here occurred the McMahon-Captain George tragedy of 1800 that resulted in the one threat of an Indian uprising in the Mahoning Valley. Here a saltmaker was murdered by Indians in 1804, the guilty men being trailed and brought to trial at Youngstown by Col. James Hillman. In the apportionment of 1798 all Weathersfield Township outside the Salt Spring tract was awarded to James Lathrop, J. P. Kirtland, Turhand Kirtland, Daniel Lathrop, Daniel Holbrook, John Kinsman, Caleb Atwater, Levi Tomlinson and Lynda McCurdy. In 1796, however, Reuben Harmon, Jr., of Vermont purchased So0 acres of land from the Parsons' heirs, including Salt Springs, and in 1797 came to Weathers-field as a saltmaker. He returned to Weathersfield each winter and in 1800 effected a permanent settlement at the salt springs, bringing his family on. He died in 1896, but his family afterward became one of the most prominent in Trumbull County. Actually the salt springs were a detriment to the township since they made much of the land swampy, but at that early day they were considered a great asset and attracted numerous settlers, largely from Pennsylvania. John Tidd and Peter Reel came in 18o1 or 1802, and John Bolen, Miller Blackly, Andrew Trew, William Carlton, Aaron Loveland, Nathan Draper, Robert Fenton, William Dunlap, John McConnell, James Hunter, John White and James White at an early date. A family that contributed much to the early history of Weathers-field Township were the Heatons. There were five brothers of these, Daniel, James, Bowen, Reese and Isaac, but the two first mentioned were the most prominent. They were the original iron makers of the Mahoning Valley, having built a charcoal furnace on Yellow Creek in Poland Township in 1802 or 1893, and mills on Mosquito Creek, in the vicinity of Niles, a few years later. A more complete record of the Heaton activities will be found in the chapter on Niles, the chapter on Industries and a sketch of Daniel and James. Daniel Eaton was probably the leading member of the family and the oddest character on the Reserve in his day. He had pronounced political views, and decidedly original ones too, and that he was a man of ability in spite of his rough ways is apparent from his business career and from the fact that he represented Trumbull County in the State Legislature. In religion he was most unorthodox, even designing a creed of his own, just as he evolved a federal currency system of his own, and was sufficiently liberal in his views that he even permitted Mormon services in his home. The initial letter in his name was removed by the YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 603 Legislature at his request because he said nobody pronounced it anyway. He was open and frank, and, most curious of all for those days, a prohibitionist. It is recorded that on one occasion when he raised a barn he refused to permit whisky to be distributed at the ceremony. Such a revolutionary procedure caused a "strike," which Eaton settled by hiring men to put up the structure, paying them in cash instead of giving them whisky. On the tombstone over his wife's grave he discarded the Christian system of reckoning years and substituted the year of the "U. S." instead of the year A. D. There are no representatives of this family bearing the family name in the township today. Weathersfield was formally organized into a township in 1809 and the first p0stoffice was established about 1825 with Andrew Trew as postmaster. The earliest schoolhouse was located south of Niles. Another school located near Heaton's furnace, later Niles, was taught by Heman Harmon. The village of Mineral Ridge is of comparatively recent origin, dating from the discovery of coal in the early '50s, and it was not until 1860 that there was a postoffice there. With the opening of the mines and the advent of the railroad in 1869 Mineral Ridge became a thriving and prosperous town. Early Welsh residents were responsible for much of this business activity, they being the leaders in all branches. Coal had been mined on a small scale as early as 1835, but the discovery of the famed "blackband" iron ore in 1854 made this industry forge rapidly forward, and for the next thirty years the mines were freely developed. The first store was opened for the miners by James Ward & Co., Ward being the pioneer maker of wrought iron in the Mahoning Valley. In 1859 Jonathan Warner and Capt. James Wood erected the Ashland blast furnace there, using Mineral Ridge coal and the native blackband ore for the production of pig iron. In 1866 the Mineral Ridge Iron & Coal Company took over this stack. This concern later sold out to William H. Brown of Pittsburgh. Later the furnaces were owned by James Ward and by Jonathan Warner, but went out of existence after the panic of 1873. Mineral Ridge has not the activities of its former days but is still an important village with industrial plants, including the Ohio Steel Products Company, a concern whose plant was considerably enlarged in 1920. Chartered as a village in 1871, the municipal charter was surrendered in 1917, and Mineral Ridge is now unincorporated. Mineral Ridge has five churches. The Presbyterian Sunday School was organized in 1858, formed into a church in 1862 and erected a church edifice in 1864, with Rev. B. F. Sharp as pastor. The church now has a membership of 8o, with Rev. T. F. Kirkbride as pastor. The Methodist Episcopal Church was formally organized in 1870 and a church built in 1875. It has now an attendance of 11 1, Rev. P. L. Carter being pastor. The Disciples, or Christian, Church, was founded on January 2, 1870, and a church was erected and dedicated in 1872. Rev. L. E. Hoskins is the present pastor. The Congregational Church was founded in 1856, during the coal 604 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY mining and industrial era of Mineral Ridge, and a church building was erected the same year. This church is attended by Rev. H. R. Hughes. St. Mary's Roman Catholic Parish was founded in 1858 by Rev. William O'Connor of Youngstown, and the parish church, built in 1872, was. completely remodeled in 1899. The parish was attended from Youngstown, Brier Hill and Girard for many years, but is now a mission attached to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church at Niles and is attended by Rev. Nicholas Santoro. Mineral Ridge has an estimated population of 1,200 and has several good stores, including the general merchandise establishments conducted by Byron Williamson, C. W. Brill and Koch and Smith, with drug and delicatessen stores owned by A. L. Johnson and T. J. Thomas. There are two fraternal societies; Mineral Ridge Lodge, No. 497, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Anoka Tribe, No. 60, Improved Order of Red Men. Perry M. Maurer is postmaster of the village. Ohltown, in the southwestern part of Weathersfield Township, was laid out by Michael Ohl, who built a mill there about 1815. Ohl was also the first storekeeper. An oil mill was an early day industry and during the coal mining era Ohltown prospered, and was a trading center for a good part of Weathersfield and Austintown townships. James A. Campbell, president. of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, is a native of this village. The Methodist Episcopal Church at Ohltown was founded in 1838, reorganized in 1870, and has a church building erected in 1907. The church has a membership of 118 and is attended by Rev. P. L. Carter. German Reformed, Presbyterian and Methodist Protestant churches that existed there at one time have gone out of existence. McDonald, on the west and south sides of the Mahoning, is the youngest of Mahoning Valley municipalities. Ten years ago the site of this village was farm lands and picnic grounds, but with the construction of the great mills of the Carnegie Steel Company a busy industrial town sprang into existence. The village has good through railroad connections and has also a Carnegie company line, the Youngstown and Northern, connecting the McDonald and the Youngstown mills. An electric line from Youngstown to Warren, passing through McDonald is about to be built, and when completed this will be actually a Youngstown-Cleveland through line by reason of its northern connections. McDonald now has a population of approximately 1,000, all dependent upon the steel mills. The Carnegie Company has done much work here in the way of housing and caring for its employes so that McDonald is a well-built village. The leading stores are conducted by J. A. Gault, Victor Nesca and Anstrum and Friel while the McDonald Inn, the village hotel, is operated by Mrs. G. L. Sykes. The village officials include, James A. Freed, mayor ; Earl W. Jackson, clerk; John C. Simpson, treasurer; Edgar A. Deibert, marshal ; A. C. Schultz, Harry R. Mercer, Robert J. Mullally, Clorena Miller, P. L. Bates, Ernest F. McDonald, councilmen. M. J. Meek is the village postmaster. The religious bodies comprise the Methodist Episcopal Mission, attended by Rev. C. B. Hess of Girard, and the Union Christ Mission. YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 605 The Weathersfield schools comprise high school and grades at McDonald and at Mineral Ridge, a four-room school at McKinley Heights, two-room school at Summit and four one-room schools. The teaching staff comprises A. E. Sanderson, principal, Josephine Steinhoff, high school teacher, Violet Perks, Rachel Shriver, Nora Huston and Mrs. I. N. Deffler, grade teachers, and Mary Ewing, instructor in music at McDonald; C. W. Harshman, principal; Margaret Campbell, high school teacher; J. C. Woodward, Helen Turner, Matilda Payne and Bertha Stevens, grade teachers at Mineral Ridge ; Mildred Brooks, Alice Criter and Daisy Feight, McKinley Heights ; Lottie Oatley and Mary Kamerer, Summit ; Lura Fenton, No. 7 school; Emma B. Hamilton, No. 8 school ; Jacob Foulk, Ohltown, and Myrtle Bollinger at the remaining one-room building. The present township officials of Weathersfield include, C. R. Holton, Charles S. Mason and H. Williams, trustees ; Arthur R. Thomas, clerk ; James Andrews, treasurer ; George Tief el, assessor. LIBERTY Liberty Township, Trumbull County, lies across the line just north of Youngstown and in early history these two subdivisions are closely associated. Primarily it is an agricultural township, and yet 'at various times other industries have supplanted farming in Liberty. The settlement of the township was not long delayed after Youngstown was founded. The original proprietors of the tract were Daniel Lathrop, Moses Cleaveland, Samuel Huntington and Christopher Leffingwell, none of whom settled on his land, although Huntington located at Youngstown and later removed to Cleveland and was elected governor of Ohio. The first actual settlers in the township were Jacob Swager and Henry Swager, who came in 1798 and located near Church Hill. The Swagers purchased their lands from the original owners, or from their successor, the Erie Company, and were also landowners in Youngstown Township about the same time. Other early settlers were James Matthews and John. Stull, who came in 1798; Valentine Stull, 1799; John Ramsey who came in i800 and John Thorn and William Stewart who came about the same time ; George Campbell, James Applegate and John Dennison, 1801 ; Archie Ralston, 1802; John Nelson, Abraham Nelson, James Tully and John B. Tully, 1804 ; William McClellan and Nehemiah Scott, 1805 ; Robert Walker, Andrew Boyd and Neil McMullen. Early activities in Liberty Township centered to some extent about what is now known as Church Hill. East of here a grist mill, the first industry in the township, was established shortly after I800 ; here James Matthews opened the first public house. The village became known as Liberty, but when a postoffice was established in 1833 a change of name became necessary because there was already one Liberty postoffice in Ohio, and Church Hill was selected owing to the fact that the Presbyterian Church was then being erected on an elevation in the village, making it a conspicuous building and visible for a long distance. Dr. Robert 606 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY H. Walker kept a store at Church Hill about the time the postoffice was established. While Church Hill was an important place even in the early days, it was the discovery of coal and the opening of the coal mines, or "banks," that gave it its greatest impetus. The presence of coal in the township was known at an early date but it was not until 1860 that mining was earnestly begun. In that year the first bank was opened on the Alexander McCleery farm and was worked for two or three years. The Church Hill Coal Company was organized in 1864 and opened a bank at the village. In 1867 a fine grade of coal was discovered on the Peter Kline farm at Church Hill and the next year the Brier Hill Coal Company opened up this vein. Governor David Tod was active in launching this venture, the Stambaughs of Youngstown being associated with him. In the '70s additional "banks" were opened about Church Hill. From 1860 to about 1890 Church Hill thus prospered. It was a place of shops and stores and of much business activity, having also in its latter days ten saloons, which were offset by five churches. With the exhaustion of the coal supply, however, the importance of Church Hill diminished and today it is but a crossroads settlement. It had survived even the construction of the canal and railroad at Girard, but its life blood went out with the abandonment of the mines. Coal mining is today an industry of no great importance in any part of Liberty Township. That this industry once thrived is shown, however, by the large population of Welsh descent. Many natives of this little old world land came between 1840 and 1880 with the opening of the mines in this and surrounding townships, as the Welsh were probably the most skillful and best trained of coal miners. Many of these families later located on farms while even more are found in Warren, Niles and Girard. Liberty Township was originally a part of the civil township of Youngstown, but in 1806 was separately 0rganized with a township form of government. This old-time link is being revived today, not alone industrially, but by the fact that Youngstown is now built up to the Liberty Township line and the southern part of this township is being adopted by wealthy Youngstown people as a residence place and ultimately part of this township will be included in the city. Aside from Church Hill and Girard—the latter being treated in a separate chapter of this work—Sodom, in the northeastern part of the township, and Seceder Corners, in the eastern part, were once thriving villages. Like Church Hill, both these places received their names from church associations. Sodom, so it is related, was so called because an early missionary failed to convert the village to temperance as rapidly as he had expected to and gave up the attempt in despair. The name was given in jest and accepted with customary American lightheartedness and good humor. Seceder Corners received its name from the "Seceder" church erected there. It is often erroneously referred to as Cedar Corners. The first religious services in the township were held by members of the Associated Presbyterian Church—the "Seceder" Church above re- YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 607 ferred to, and so called because it was made up of seceders from the old line Presbyterian Church—about 1803 when the Rev. James Duncan of the Mahoning Associated Presbyterian Church preached to assembled communicants of this creed. In 1805 the Liberty Associate Presbyterian congregation was organized with William Stewart and James Davidson as elders. When the question of a church site selection came up the congregation accepted the offer of a lot by Alexander McCleery, located at a crossroads in the eastern part of the township. Pending the construction of the church building a tent was put up, and even after the erection of a small log church the tent was much used. In 1811 a larger log church was built. In 1836 a frame was built, this being remodeled in 1869. Rev. Duncan acted as pastor of the church until 1815 and Rev. Robert Douglass from 1820 to 1823, both of these serving Poland as well. In April, 1826, Rev. David Goodwillie began a pastorate that lasted approximately fifty years, or until 1875. For a few years he was pastor also at Deer Creek and until 1859 served the Poland church but from this time until his retirement in 1875 he gave all his attention to the Liberty church. In 1858, with the union of the Associate and Associate Reformed churches, the Liberty church became the Liberty United Presbyterian Church, and from this organization sprang the Youngstown church of the same denomination. The Liberty Rural United Presbyterian Church is still a flourishing organization with ninety-two members, under the pastorate of Rev. F. S. Wright. Church Hill once had five churches. The Presbyterian Church was organized in 1832 and the church building was erected in 1832-33, this being the structure from which the village received its name. The Welsh Methodist, Welsh Baptist and Welsh Independent churches came into existence during the coal mining days. The Methodist Episcopal congregation at Church Hill was organized in 1821 by Rev. Dillon Prosser, the initial membership being sixty. A church building, later used as the town hall, was erected the following year and in 1872 the present edifice was completed. The Church Hill Methodist Church is still a vigorous congregation, its membership being Ho. Rev. E. E. Sparks is the present pastor. The Evangelical Association of Liberty Township, of which more extended mention is made in the chapter on Girard, dates back to 1822. At, or near, Girard, too, are located churches of the Methodist Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist, Christian, Roman Catholic and Apostolic Christian denominations. The Methodist Protestant Church of Liberty Township was organized on February 22, 1862, by Rev. Henry Palmer and a church building was erected at Sodom in 1872, services having been held previously in the district schoolhouse. At an early day a schoolhouse was erected near the present site of Church Hill, this school being taught by John Taylor. Another building was put up later east of Church Hill and in 1818 a more pretentious structure was erected. In 1871 a union school building was put up at Church 608 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY Hill, this school being erected jointly by the people of three school districts and opened under the superintendency of William Barrett The Church Hill building now houses high and grade schools, with Earl Mathews as principal, Opechee Johnson, high school instructor, and Bessie Jennings, Mrs. J. Baird, Jr., Elizabeth Thomas, Coral Boyd and Beulah Leeder, grade school teachers. Outside the Girard school district and the Church Hill building the only school in the township is a two-room structure at Holmes Road, taught by Mabel Williams and Cora Shively. The township officials of Liberty are, Walter Morgan, Isaac B. Jacobs and. James S. Rodgers, trustees ; William S. Phillips, clerk; Richard L. Evans, treasurer ; D. D. Jones, justice of the peace. Liberty Township is the seat of the thriving Liberty Grange. NEWTON Lying at the southwest corner of Trumbull County, Newton Township is a favored locality being watered by several small streams and by the east and west branches of the Mahoning River. The flow of the river is rapid here and within the township are the falls from which the town of Newton Falls takes it name. Owned originally by Justin Ely, Elijah White and Jonathan Brace of the Connecticut Land Company, Newton Township was first settled about 1802 by Alexander Sutherland and Ezekiel Hover who located along Duck Creek. The township was at that time a favorite camping ground for the Indians of the valley. Sutherland and Hover built a path from their cabin to the nearest grist mill at Youngstown and s00n after his arrival Hover built a sawmill. About the same time the settlement was made at Pricetown on the Newton-Milton line, some of the settlers residing in each township. Other early settlers along Duck Creek were James Gilmer and family, Thomas Reed, Peter Decourcey, John Sutherland, George Sheffleton, John Mashman, Alexander Mash-man and Jacob Custard. Isaac Hutson and John Hutson located along the Mahoning River. The earliest settlement in the Pricetown neighborhood was made about 1805 or 1806 when Jesse Halliday, Robert Caldwell, William Stanley, Nathaniel Stanley, David Carlile, Daniel Dull and Benjamin Davidson and families located there. At this place Halliday built a grist mill. Later the mills there became the property of John Price and Robert Price, a circumstance that gave the settlement the name of Price's Mills, or Pricetown. Later other industries came, including a foundry, flax mill, woolen factory, sawmill and carding mill and Pricetown became an important trading center and stage stop. Much of the business was on the Milton Township side of the village. Gradually, however, the importance of Pricetown vanished. The Duck Creek settlement was also important in its early days, although it never attained the prominence of Pricetown and Newton Falls. Newton Township was organized in 1808, including at that time Mil- YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 609 ton and Lordstown townships. Benjamin Davison was the first justice of the peace. NEWTON FALLS Judson Canfield, owner of the lands about the small falls in the Mahoning River in Newton Township, proposed a settlement at this point, and in 1806 a town plat was surveyed for him by Ezekiel Hover. John Lane became the first settler at this place and shortly afterwards Bildad Hine and family arrived. In 1808 Mr. Canfield built a sawmill at the falls and two or three years later erected a grist mill. Additional settlers came, larger mills were erected and in 1813 a distinct improvement was made with the building of a bridge across the west branch of the river. Later a woolen mill and foundry were put up and Newton Falls became the trade center of Newton Township. The advent of the ailroad made it still more important. Growth of population in the village was slow, however, and after the middle of the nineteenth century it advanced but little. With age it became a beautiful country village, with shaded streets, stores and country business activity, but far away from city bustle. But within a little more than a year all this has changed. Newton Falls is now the "wonder city" of the Mahoning Valley. Absence of industrial plant sites down the Mahoning River turned attention to Newton Falls in 1919, and almost in a moment the village awakened to find itself in the midst of a "boom." The Akron Maderite Tire and Rubber Company and the Newton Steel Company were formed, the former to build a rubber works and the latter a steel plant at Newton Falls.- Today the erstwhile quiet little village has become a busy industrial center. Its quaintness is partly gone but prosperity has come; it is an odd combination of rural village and manufacturing city with the latter certain to predominate in the end. This transformation was not accomplished without work on the part of Newton. Falls people, however. It was the banding together of energetic residents two years ago and their decision to make their town an industrial center that started the movement forward and showed prospective plant builders the advantages of their location. These are but two of Newton Falls' industries. The Newton Falls Boiler Works was started in 1917 and transferred later to the Hetzel Form and Iron Company. This constituted the nucleus of the Ohio Structural Steel Company, organized in 1919, that has constructed a plant of greatly increased size. Klingensmith and Griffith operate the grist mill, employing a number of men. The Harmony Creamery has a force of a dozen and the Akron-Newton Furnace and Machine Company and the Cleveland Cut Flower Company employ a half hundred each. The Newton Cement Products Company and the Newton Manufacturing, makers of wearing apparel, were incorporated in 1920. The Newton Falls Board of Trade that started the movement for a greater town was reorganized in 1919 under the name of the Board of Trade Improvement Association. It is hardly necessary to add that it is Vol. 1-39 610 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY an active body. Its record speaks for itself, but under its new organization it is equipped to do even greater things. W. C. Bate is president of this organization. Newton Falls has two financial institutions, the First National Bank and the Newton Falls Savings and Loan Association. The officers of the First National Bank are, C. W. Smith, president; Adolph Weiss, vice president ; Henry Herbert, cashier. The savings and loan association officers are, A. W. Hart, president ; W. C. Bate and Frank E. Corey, vice presidents ; C. W. Smith, treasurer ; Rees B. Jones, secretary. The bank has recently erected a splendid new fireproof structure at Broad and Canal, streets. Its old building is used by the Savings and Loan Association. The handsome new community building and school, recently erected at the head of Bridge Street adjoining the old school building at a cost of $125,000 is one of the show places of Newton Falls. It is a most modern structure in every respect, including a great auditorium, gymnasium and other up-to-date features as well as school rooms. The village has good railroad connections, being on the Baltimore Sr Ohio high grade line, with connections to the Erie and Pennsylvania and is also traversed by the C. A. and M. V. electric line. It has a good hotel in the Newton Falls Inn, conducted by Miss Velma Boyd, and recently enlarged to seventy rooms. There are lodges of the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Moose, a Grand Army of the Republic Post and Women's Relief Corps Post. The village has a thriving and exceptionally well-edited weekly newspaper in the Newton Falls Herald, founded in 1881 as the Echo. A few years later it was purchased by Frank Mattes and made the News, and afterwards bought by David Williams, who changed the name to the Tn-Tri-Tri-Coy ws. J. H. Green came into ownership of the paper in 1899 and retained control until July, 1919, when it was purchased by E. R. Smith who made the paper the Newton Falls Herald. Mr. Smith is publisher of the paper with George U. Marvin as editor. Newton Falls became an incorporated village on March To, 1872, at the first election, on April 1, 1872, J. N. Ensign became mayor; LyLyman Soule, Henry Taylor and James F. Porter, trustees ; C. G. Graham, clerk and treasurer ; H. S. Robbins, marshal. The present village officers number, E. W. McClure, mayor ; C. E. Tinker, H. E. Griffith, Samuel Klingensmith, Jay Remaley, Arthur Smith and Frank Smith, councilmen ; C. C. Jarvis, Cal Scott and Charles Finnical, members of the board of control. James Beard is postmaster and Perry M. Robison village solicitor. The village has a municipal water supply from drilled wells of more than ample capacity. Lighting is furnished by the Trumbull County Public Service Company, which furnishes domestic and street lights and power and has two power stations on the Mahoning River here, plants that supply other municipalities of the upper Mahoning Valley as well. Newton Falls, in short, is on the "go ahead." Land sales are being made rapidly, new plats are being opened, grain fields, are becoming home YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 611 sites and farms are becoming industrial plant locations. The population goal is 10,000 instead of the less than 1,000 found two years ago. SCHOOLS Educational institutions in Newton Township date back to about 1812 when a schoolhouse was opened on Duck Creek and a second one at Newton Falls. Miss Collar was the first teacher at the latter school, and Judge Eben Newton was afterwards a teacher here. In later years a good-sized union school building with high school and grade departments was built at Newton Falls. The present village school, described before, was completed but this year. The Newton Falls village school district now has a first grade high school and grade classes under Superintendent J. C. Skaggs, with A. F. Bender as high school principal, Minnie Shaffer and Blanche Turnbull as high school teachers and J. M. Justice, Alice Butts, Bessie Curtis, Mabel Bender, Pauline Hindman, Ethel Barcas and Gladys Sinn, grade school teachers, and Nellie Davis, instructor in music. The school board members are A. W. Hart, president ; Leroy Griffith, Harry Smith, William Snyder and E. R. Conklin. CHURCHES The First Congregational Church of Newton Falls was organized on September 4, 1836, as a union Presbyterian-Congregational Church, the original gathering being held at the home of Horace Stephens, with Rev. John Treat, a Presbyterian minister, presiding. The Congregational form of worship was decided upon. In 1842 a church edifice was erected and dedicated. In 1868 the church became Presbyterian in creed, but in 1879 again became a Congregational body. It is now a flourishing congregation of 180 members. Rev. W. A. Elliott, the present pastor, is one of the prominent ministers of Trumbull County and supervised the county rural church survey in 1919-20 for the Inter-Church World Movement, a great task that was well done. The Christian Church at Newton Falls is an outgrowth of a Baptist congregation, organized in 1820 by Rev. Thomas Miller, Marcus Bosworth being of the founders of this body, its first deacon and later a minister. In 1825 Rev. Jacob Osborn brought the Disciples tenets to Newton Falls, and on March 12, 1828, the church was reorganized and became a Disciples body. The first church building was erected in 1839. This congregation has progressed since that time and is now under the pastorate of Rev. M. J. Grable. The Methodist Episcopal Church at Newton Falls was organized in 1837 by Rev. Arthur Brown and Rev. E. J. L. Baker, the original membership being seven. In 1840 the church membership was greatly augmented by a revival and a church building was put up that year. Until T875 Newton Falls and Braceville formed one circuit, but in that year Newton Falls became a separate organization. Rev. C. L. Warrick is the present pastor. 612 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY The joint Lutheran and Reformed congregation of Newton Falls was organized in 1835, under the supervision of Rev. F. C. Becker, a Lutheran pastor and pioneer clergyman in what is now Southern Trumbull and Northern Mahoning counties. The first church was built in 1837. This is now a Lutheran body, with Rev. Charles L. Rush as pastor. An Associate Reformed congregation was formed at Newton Falls in the early days and an Episcopal congregation in later years. These organizations, and a regular Baptist congregation, have passed out of existence. The Milton-Newton Methodist Episcopal Church at Pricetown was organized in 1880 and the present church built in 1900. Rev. C. L. Warrick attends this church. The present officials of Newton Township include, G. F. Carson, S. W. Sigler and George B. Shade, trustees ; B. B. Jones, clerk; John Johnson, treasurer`; Robert Scott, justice of the peace. LORDSTOWN Lordstown Township, unlike the remaining townships in the southern-most tier of Trumbull County, is purely an agricultural community. The industrial plants that follow the river and have created busy cities and towns in Hubbard, Liberty, Weathersfield and Newton are missing here. Likewise Lordstown was the last of the Trumbull-Mahoning counties township to undergo settlement, being wild land when farm and villages dotted neighboring townships. It was originally the sole property of Samuel P. Lord of the Connecticut Land Company who drew the entire township in 1798, excepting the Salt Spring tract portion that was rcserved. Lord named the township after himself and decided to hold the ground for advanced prices, although part of the township is said to have been sold in 1806 for delinquent taxes. Previous to this, however, the owner had deeded 5,000 acres to his son, Samuel P. Lord, Jr. This decision of the elder Lord to hold the land for higher prices prevented any settlement until 1822 when Henry Thorn of Virginia located about two and one-half miles east of the center. William Thorn came about the same time and John Tait and Robert Tait settled north of the Center in 1824. In 1826 Thomas Pew, William Moore, Lyman Lovell, Peleg Lewis, John Lewis, Samuel Bassett, Peter Snyder, Leonard Miller, Thomas Longmore, Andrew Grove and James Preston came and settlement thereafter was fairly rapid. About 1830 John Carlton built a sawmill northeast of the Center and a steam sawmill was later built south of this. The first village was located at the Center and is still known by the same name as the township, The first store there was conducted by Burke & Siddell and the first hotel by Jehu Woodward. This tavern stood on the site of the present Neughberger's Inn, a favorite stopping place for automobile parties. Lordstown Township was originally a part of the Township of Newton, incorporated in 1808, but on June 21, 1827, L0rdstown was separate- YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 613 ly organized when a township election was held and the following officers chosen : Peleg Lewis, Samuel Crum and Thomas Pew, trustees ; James Kennedy, treasurer ; Moses Haskell, township clerk ; John Lewis, constable; James Preston and Alexander Campbell, overseers of the poor; Ira Lovell and David Lewis, fence viewers ; Roswell M. Mason, justice of the peace. Lordstown was the scene of much temperance activity during the wave that swept over Ohio between 1830 and 1850, and this sentiment persisted. Forty years ago it was without a saloon, a most unusual record for an Ohio township in 1880. The first school district in Lordstown Township was laid out in 1828 and the first school, a log house, was erected near the Center. About 1830 a school was built at the Center, this being replaced by a frame building in 1840. Much attention was given to education later, and in 1875 the Lordstown Educational Society was organized at the Center to hire and retain competent teachers. Lordstown Township schools are now centralized, with a first grade high school and grade classes. B. R. Jones is district superintendent; Eva Beil, high school principal; Dale Johnson, high school teacher and Olive Moser, Margaret Duerr La-Verne Young and Eleanor Kreitler grade school teachers. An auditorium with a seating capacity of 1,000 is now being added to the Lords-town school. The First Christian Church, Lordstown Center, was organized on March 20, 183a, and was an outgrowth of revival services held in January, 1828, by Rev. Walter Scott and Rev. James P. Mitchell, this being the pioneer religious organization of the township. Rev. John Henry was the organizer of the congregation. In 1844 the first church building was put up, and in 1868 a more modern structure was erected. This church now has a membership of 150. The United Brethren Church, at East Lordstown, was organized in 1855 by Rev. Hiram Knight. In 1860 a church edifice was erected under the supervision of Reverend Excell, the site for this building being donated by Charles Ohl. The church has sixty-five members, Rev. J. E. Porter being pastor. Methodists also held services in Lordstown at an early date, and in 1834 organized a congregation and held services in a schoolhouse, Rev. J. W. Hill being the first minister. They afterwards located at I ordstown Center with the building of a church there. In 1832 a union of Lutheran and Reformed congregations was effected by Rev. P. Mahnenschid and Rev. H. Huett, and a log church was built. Later a frame structure was erected, this being replaced by a second frame building when destroyed by fire in 1848. Out of this union also sprang the General Synod Lutherans and a Methodist Episcopal congregation, who erected a church jointly at Bailey's Corners. This structure later came into the ownership of the Lutherans alone, and the English Lutheran Church came into being. A large frame church was built by this congregation in 1881. The Eden Grange is made up of Lordstown Township agriculturists. Present township officials are, James Dunlap, J. C. Grimm and A. A. 614 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY McCorkle, trustees ; C. S. Fullerton, clerk ; M. J. Kisler, treasurer George Moser, justice of the peace. BROOKFIELD In 1798 Samuel McMullen came to Brookfield Township and located on a tract of 16o acres in the eastern part of the township. Until t time the entire township was the property of Samuel Hinckley who 1 drawn it in the Connecticut Land Company apportionment of January; 1798. McMullen built a cabin for his family. Rev. Thomas G. Jones came in 1802, and other early settlers were Johnson Patrick, Jacob Ulp, Dr. Thomas Hartford, Thomas Thompson, John Briggs, Benjamin Bentley, Anthony Patrick, Ethan Newcomb, Thomas Patten, Samuel Patrick, Judge Robert Hughes, Matthew Thompson, Robert Montgomery, Isaac Flower, Jacob Hummason, Benjamin Jones, William Chatfield, and Constant Lake. Reverend Jones was a Baptist minister and in addition to being a pioneer settler was the first man to hold divine services in the township and likewise the first storekeeper. With his brother, Benjamin Jones, he opened a store in his log cabin in 1802. Likewise he performed the first marriage ceremony, uniting in marriage Samuel McMullen and Elizabeth Chatfield. William McMullen was the first white child born in the township. The usual sawmills and grist mills common in pioneer communities were built and in 1826 John Myers and Franklin Peck constructed a woolen mill. In 1836 Lawrence Smith built a small blast furnace near the Center and opened a foundry where the product of the stack was converted into family utensils. The furnace was operated for but a few years. Although coal was less plentiful in Brookfield Township than in some of its neighboring townships, mining of this product became a leading industry here at one time. The first mine was opened about 1838 by Gen. Joel. E. Curtis, although coal previously had been taken out on a smaller scale. During the active mining days of the '60s to the '80s the industry became far more important but grew steadily of less consequence as the veins became exhausted. Brookfield Township was originally included governmentally with Vienna Township, but on May 14, 1810, was separately organized. The first election was held at the home of Constant Lake when William Cunningham, Anthony Patrick and John D. Smith were elected trustees; Isaac Flower, treasurer and constable ; Jacob Hummason, clerk and lister; Henry D. Gandy, appraiser ; Diament Whittier, Timothy Alderman and Clark Rathbun, supervisors ; Robert Hughes and Benjamin Bentley, overseers of the poor; Johnson Patrick and James Montgomery, fence viewers. Brookfield Center is the political and business center of the township. It is a small rural village. Brookfield Station, a short distance west of the Center is the railroad station for the Center, being located on the Franklin division of the New York Central Railroad. The Pennsyl- YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 615 vania-Ohio Electric Company's line traverses the southeastern part of the township, a section that is reached also by branches of the New York Central and the Erie railroads. The comparatively new village of Masury is located on these roads. This settlement sprang up around the Masurite Company's plant, an industry built to manufacture a special brand of explosive. Later this plant came into the ownership of the Standard Tank Car and Construction Company and this concern has since operated it successfully. Another industry that has sprung up recently in Brookfield Township is oil production. That oil and gas may underlie this township has been believed for some time and in 1920 extensive drilling was started for the former product. The Yankee Run Oil and Gas Company has gone into this industry on a comparatively large scale, having leased i,000 acres in the Yankee Run neighborhood. The first school in Brookfield Township was opened in a cabin on Yankee Run and was taught by Miss Lois Sanford. Several other small schools were opened later at scattered points and the district school system was gradually adopted. The township now has four schools. a high school and grades at the Center, one-room school in the Bell District and modern schools at Masury and Brookfield Avenue. C. E. Hoskinson is principal and Martha Crawford and W. B. Maughman teachers in the high school ; Edith Noland, Nelle Wanamaker, Anna Dzunda, Minnie Kulow, Alice Christy and Norah Hayes grade school teachers at the Center ; Mary ‘E. McKay, Mary E. Cunningham, Freda Jones, Eletta Krehl and Mary E. Offensend teachers at the Masury School; Clara Belle Ison, Lydia Elgin, Mrs. Eva Hake and Clyde Hake, teachers at Brookfield Avenue, T. P. McCorkle teacher of the Bell District School and Winnigene Wood instructor in domestic science in all schools. The earliest of Brookfield religious organizations was the Presbyterian Church, organized on April 2, 1816, although Rev. Thomas G. Jones, a Baptist, had held services in the township probably as early as 1800, and ministered to a Baptist congregation just over the line in Pennsylvania. In 1817 a Presbyterian Church was built and Rev. Thomas Core became pastor of the Brookfield and Vienna churches. The church later languished, and in 1866 the Brookfield Congregational Church was founded. The church building still in use was erected in T870. Rev. Alfred E. Woodruff is pastor of this congregation of sixty-five members. A Methodist Episcopal society was organized in Brookfield at an early date. The Disciples, or Christian Church congregation, was organized on February 22, 1874, by Rev. N. N. Bartlett and held services at first in the town hall at Brookfield, but a church building was erected in 1876. This is still an active country congregation. Brookfield Grange meets at the Center. The township officials of Brookfield include, John S. James, John L. Litman and W. C. Knival, trustees; Glen Hart, clerk ; Robert W. Luse, treasurer; F. M. McKay, justice of the peace. 616 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY VIENNA Vienna Township, originally the property of Urial Holmes, Timoth Burr, A. Hitchcock and Ephraim Root, was surveyed in 1798 by party in charge of Mr. Holmes. Members of this party returned to Connecticut in the fall of 1798 and in the spring of 1799 were back on the Reserve. Accompanying them were Isaac Flowers and Dennis Palmer and families, the first actual settlers of the township. Palmer was a member of Holmes' surveying party of the previous year and it is probable that Flowers was also one of the number. Another member of the party was Samuel Hutchins, who was given 'Do acres of land near what is now Payne's Corners for his work. Here he located, and in 1802 married Freelove Flowers, this being the first wedding in the township. The first white child born in the township was Lavinia Flowers, a daughter of Isaac Flowers and his second wife, ,Bathsheba Flowers. Lavinia Flowers was born in 1801. In 1802 Isaac Woodford and family and Joel Humason, Isaac Humason, Seth Bartholemew, Simeon Wheeler, and Sylvester Woodford and families located in Vienna. They were joined in 1803 and 1804 by Samuel Lowrey, Sr., Samuel Lowrey, Jr., Joseph Bartholemew, Abiel Bartholemew, Isaac Scott, William Clinton and Calvin Munson and in 1805 by John Clark, Sheldon Schofield, Andrew Mackey, James Mackey, Samuel Clinton, Hugh Mackey, William Lafferty, John Hickox, Chauncey Hickox and Darius Woodford. Epenetus Rogers and Jesse Munson came in 1807. Samuel Lowery built the first sawmill in the township on the bank of Squaw Creek and the first store was opened at Vienna Center in 1820 by Isaac Powers. The first school was opened south of Vienna Center in 18̊5 with Miss Tamar Bartholemew in charge. A frame school building was erected at the Center in the following year, Andrew Bushnell being the first teacher in this building. Vienna and Brookfield townships were organized under the name of Vienna in 18̊6 and on March 6, 1806, an election was held at the home of Simeon Wheeler. Isaac Woodford, Isaac Flowers, Jr., and William Clinton were elected trustees ; Robert Hughes, treasurer ; Isaac Humason, constable; Dennis C. Palmer, clerk ; Samuel Hutchins and Robert Hughes, fence viewers ; Joseph Bartholemew, Slevin Higby, overseers of the poor ; Isaac Lloyd, lister ; Isaac Lowrey, appraiser; Joel Humason and Jacob Middleswatch, supervisors. In 1810 Vienna and Brookfield townships were organized separately. For many years Vienna was an important agricultural township, but about 1866 the mining of coal began there on a large scale. Vienna coal was of a high grade and found in plentiful quantities and with the opening of the Vienna branch of the Erie Railroad this industry flourished. The principal operators were the Vienna Coal Company and C. H. Andrews and Company. Several hundred men were employed, busy villages sprang up about the mines and the agricultural community assumed a new aspect. By 188o, however, the best of the mines had been worked out, although mining was continued for some YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 617 years thereafter. With the closing of the mines. Vienna became largely an agricultural township again. The Erie Railroad discontinued its passenger service and finally was abandoned, although the Franklin branch of the New York Central road still cuts across the northeastern corner of the township. 'Brookfield is the railroad station for this township as well as for Brookfield Township, Vienna, as the center village is called, is a country village at a crossroads on main highways and is the trading center of the township. Payne's Corners, on the Vienna-Brookfield line received its name from the Payne family, descendants of Solomon Payne, an early settler in that neighborhood. The pioneer school, as has been noted before, was erected south of the Center in 1805, and in the following year a school was opened at the Center. Later a school was built in the north part of the township and the Murry School in the west part. The "Block Schoolhouse" in the southern part of the township was one of the landmarks of Vienna Township. It received its name from the fact that it was built of hewed log blocks. The original building was replaced in 1858 but the old name was retained and the building was used until the township schools were centralized. The ground on which it stood reverted to heirs of the original owners with its abandonment and the unused building was finally burned down on March 18, 1920. School activities in Vienna Township are now centralized at the Center where there is a high school with J. L. Riggs as principal and Mrs. C. D. Marston as instructor and grades taught by I. F. Mathews, Mazie Meikle and Lucille Kiddie. Vienna Township is in the second supervision district. Simeon Wheeler located at the four corners on the Vienna-Brookfield line in 1802. At that time he owned all four corners, but in 1817 sold the two corners lying in Vienna Township to Solomon Payne, and from this ownership the village of Payne's Corners received its name. This land is still in the possession of the Payne family. The Payne's Corners Christian Church was organized in May, 1858, the first services being held in a schoolhouse. The same year a lot was purchased from Alfred Wheeler, Sylvester Merriam paying for the lot and also giving $50 toward the church building. Henry Lane gave $60, these two being the largest contributors. Matthias Christy was the founder of this church, being assisted by Theobald Miller. Rev. W. P. Murray is now pastor of this congregation. The Presbyterian congregation of Vienna Township is one of the oldest in Trumbull County, having been organized on March 22, 1805 by Rev. Thomas Robbins, the organization meeting being held at the home of Samuel Clinton. Originally this was a union Presbyterian- Congregational body. A church building was put up soon after and in 1810 Rev. Nathan B. Darrow was installed as the first pastor. With a short intermission, he remained until 1828. The old church was destroyed by fire in 1853, and a new building was dedicated on May 3, 1854. In 1871 this congregation became strictly. Presbyterian in creed and is now an active organization. 618 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY Methodist Episcopal gatherings were held at Methodist Corners, in the southwestern part of the township, as early as 180, and in 1820 Vienna became a circuit with regular attendants. In 1850 a church was built at Vienna Center. A Roman Catholic Church was opened at Vienna during the coal mining days, but languished with the closing of the mines and the removal of much of the population. Vienna Grange is an active farmers' organization. The township officials of Vienna include, Ira Greenwood, L. D. Scott and John Williams, trustees; William Griffis, clerk; Merill Griffis, treasurer; J. B. Hanson, justice of the peace. HOWLAND This township, lying just east of Warren, was drawn by Joseph Howland in the draft of 1798 and was named after him. Howland did not locate here himself, but, in 1799, sold 1,600 acres in the township to John Hart Adgate for $1,600. Adgate, who later became prominent in Trumbull County, serving as its first coroner, came to Howland Township in the summer of the same year, bringing his family with him. Between 1800 and 1803 he was joined by Michael Peltz, John ,Earl, John Reeves, John Daily, James Ward, Jesse Bowell, John Ewalt and Joseph Quigley, all of whom came from Pennsylvania, although Adgate was a Connecticut man. John Williams, Uriah Williams and William Medley came about the same time and William Kennedy, Barber King, Dr. John W. Seely, Abraham Drake, William Wilson, Thomas Crooks and Isaac Heaton and James Heaton came in 1805 and 1806. The two latter were members of the Heaton family, so prominent in early days in Trumbull County. James Heaton remained only a short time in Howland, locating then in Weathersfield, but Isaac Heaton remained and was for many years a justice of the, peace. The first white child born in the township was Samuel Q. Reeves, born on March 10, 1804. The first store was opened at the Center by John Collins about 1831. In 1812 the township was organized into a separate township and voting district, Isaac Heaton being the first justice of the peace and for many years the only one in the township. Pioneer industries were limited to sawmills and gristmills, the first mill of the former kind being built in 1814 by Samuel Kennedy. This was located on a branch of Mosquito Creek. A gristmill was located on the same stream by Septimus Cadwallader in 1815. Located so near the City of Warren, that municipality long ago overlapped into H0wland Township and is certain to spread further into the township with the revival now under way in the Trumbull County capital. Howland Springs, opened as a health resort at an early day, became a popular summer resort and Sunday gathering place for people of Warren and Youngstown during the days of good driving horses and YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 619 smart "rigs." Recently Howland Springs has lost much of this old-time prestige. Coal mining was carried on to some extent in Howland and the quarrying of flagstone also became an important industry, extensive deposits of good stone having been uncovered more than forty years ago. With the industrial growth of the Mahoning Valley the township is destined to become more of a manufacturing district. It is well watered, in fact exceptionally so. The Mahoning River crosses the southwestern part of the township and Mosquito Creek, the largest tributary of the Mahoning, traverses its full length from north to south, running through the middle of the township. The first schoolhouse in the township was opened in 1804 with Ruth Alford as teacher. The number of schools increased until the township was centralized when school work was centered in two buildings, the Center and the Bolindale schools. At the Center is a high school with J. M. May as principal and Bertha Varner as instructor, and grades with Henry Wohlgamuth, Lorena G. Royer, Edna Logston, Mary C. Ferrin as grade school teachers. The Bolindale grades are taught by Alice Cozad, Mary Case, Martha Hazlett and Ralph Zeltman. Adah Sigler is instructor in music for both schools. A $40,000 annex to the Howland centralized school is now being built. Apparently the first religious services in Howland Township were held at the home of John Reeves in 1803, 'a Baptist minister, probably Rev. Thomas G. Jones, officiating. Rev. Joseph Curtis of Warren organized the Presbyterian congregation in' 1815, and in 182o a log church was built in the northeast part of the township, this building serving as a school as well as a church. A Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1821 and the Christian Church in 1828. Many Howland Township residents are now identified with Warren churches. The township officials of Howland are : E. A. King, G. A. Haible and I. McLaren, trustees; A. C. Griffing, clerk; Z. T. Ewalt, treasurer; J. H. P. Payne, justice of the peace. Howland has a farmers' organization in Howland Grange. BRACEVILLE Braceville Township derives its name from Jonathan Brace, prominent member of the Connecticut Land Company and one of the original owners of this township. Associated with him were Enoch Perkins and Roger Newberry. Braceville Township is drained by the Mahoning River and by Eagle Creek, a tributary of the Mahoning. The first settler was Ralph Freeman, who, with William Mossman, located in July, 1803, on land that had been purchased by Francis Freeman, brother of the former. Moss-man in turn purchased land from Freeman. Previously a settler named Milian had located in Braceville but remained only a short time. Within a short time Mossman sold out to Ralph Freeman and removed to Warren. In 1804 Samuel Oviatt, Jr., and Stephen Oviatt, and their wives 620 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY located in Braceville. Jacob Earle came the same year. The first white child of the township was a son, William J. Oviatt, born to Stephen Oviatt and wife. These first settlers underwent the hardest of privations the first winter as there were neither provisions nor mills in the township. In February, 1805, the settlers were joined by Joshua Bradford and his three sons and by Samuel Oviatt, Sr., and his remaining three sons and two daughters. In 1816 the first postoffice was established at Braceville Center and placed in charge of Auren Stowe who remained until 1850. The Center is the chief business point in the township. In 1811 Eli Barnum erected a gristmill on Eagle Creek where Phalanx, now stands, a sawmill being built in connection with this. In 1846 the Trumbull Phalanx Company purchased the Barnum holdings and erected a tannery, bow factory, wagon shop, shoe shop and kindred industries and founded a co-operative community. The settlement became an active place for a time but in 1850 the company dissolved, although the name was retained when the Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railroad, now the Erie Road, built a station and gave it that name. The railroad station, however, is located some distance from the village of the same name. Phalanx is also a postoffice. Braceville Township was organized about 1812 with Robert Freeman as the first justice of the peace. Harvey Allen served as constable from 1820 to 1845, an unusually long tenure of office. Braceville Village, also on the Erie Railroad, is an important freight and trading center for the township with stores and small industries. An event that will long be chronicled in the annals of Braceville Township is the tornado of July 23, 1860, that caused deaths and untold destruction. The occurrence was remarkable, and Northeastern Ohio is usually pleasingly free from visitations .of this kind. The first school in the township was located at the Center and was taught by Harvey Stow. Eventually the number of schools was increased to eight or ten, these being of the plain rural school type, but in recent years the schools have been centralized and include a good hign school as well as lower grades. James Guthrie is principal of the high school with Martha E. Fox as an instructor. The grade school teacners are Madison F. Cook, Lois Buckingham, Jennie Crouch, Hazel M. Guthrie and Vera Gillette. In Braceville Township is found the "Center of the World," so called by Randall Wilmot, who came to Braceville from Pennsylvania about 1845. Wilmot was eccentric, although a man unusually well-informed on public happenings of the day and of a high degree of intelligence, and is said to have insisted that this place was the center of the world. In the stage coach days Wilmot did a thriving business as a merchant and inn-keeper. In his later years he removed to Cortland, where he engaged rn the grocery business, calling this store the "End of the World." The old covered bridge that crosses the Mahoning River at the place where Wilmot originally located is still known as the "Center of the Wor YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 621 Bridge," and is one of the few covered bridges in use in this part of the country. Recently heavy traffrc has been forbidden over it. The first religious organization in Braceville Township was the Bible Christian Church, a body that later passed out of existence. The Congregational Church was organized in 1814, meetings being held in the building that was later the town hall until 1835 when a church was built. This church split later over the slavery question and sold its properties. The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1816, and prominent Methodist missionaries ministered to this congregation. The first church was a log building. This was replaced by a better structure in 1838, this latter building being remodeled in 1874. Until 1875 Braceville and Newton Falls were on one circuit, but since that time have been distinct. The Christian, or Disciples, Church attained much strength in 1869, when a revival was held under the direction of Rev. J. N. Smith, and on January 31, 1869, a church congregation was formally organized. A church was put up in 1874. The township officials of Braceville include, William Gintert, R. M. McConnell and J. T. McGibbon, trustees ; C. R. Davis, clerk ; Robert Jewell, treasurer ; F. E. Mentzer, justice of the peace. HARTFORD Hartford Township, one of the important farming townships of Trumbull County, was originally the property of Ephraim Root and Urial Holmes of the Connecticut Land Company. Their investment was made at the rate of about seventy-five cents an acre, but the first sale of land made by them was to Edward Brockway, who purchased 3,194 acres for $500, or for less than sixteen cents an acre. This was not a profitable deal directly for the owners of the township, but was a paying one in the end as it induced early settlement. In the summer of 1799 Brockway came to the township, accompanied by Isaac Jones and Asahel Brainard. The settlers built a cabin and planted crops. Brainard remained through the following winter, while Brockway and Jones journeyed east and came back with their families in the spring of 1800. Jones settled at Burg Hill and Brainard located south of Hartford Center. In 1800, too, Titus Brockway came as agent for Root. and Holmes, the land owners, and Holmes himself was here at that time. Charles Merry located on the present site of Orangeville about the same time, William Bushnell and Aaron Brockway came in 1801, William C. Jones in 1802, Daniel Bushnell, Capt. Thomas Thompson and Robert McFarland in 1803, and between '1804 and 1806 Richard Hayes, Thomas Bushnell, Asahel Borden, Andrews Bushnell, Asa Andrews, Jehiel Hurl-hurt, Samuel Tuttle, Capt. Alexander Bushnell, Shaler Fitch, Asahel Borden, Jr., Elam Jones, Chester Andrews, Samuel Spencer, Jehiel Hurl-hurt, Jr., William Rathburn, of Connecticut, and John Kepner, John 622 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY Pfouts, Frederick Shull, Michael Quiggle, George Snyder and Jonn S der of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, located in Hartford. The township was named after the city of Hartford, capital of Connecticut, and,. in ,keeping with Western Reserve custom, a village was located at the center of the township, although. Burg Hill was apparently even an earlier settlement.: Jeffrey Bentley built mills near the south line of the township about 1802, although .a mill had been erected at Orangeville a year or two previously by Jacob Loutzenhiser, the founder of that village. Loutzenhiser resided on the Pennsylvania side of the line, however, and his mill was in Mercer County, Orangeville being on the state line., Harriet Merry, born at Orangeville in 18o1, was the first native white child in the township. The first marriage was that of Lim Hayes and Jerusha Bushnell, the ceremony being 'performed on September 11, 1805. The first tavern was conducted at Burg Hill by Aaron Brockway and was opened about 1802. Titus Brockway was the first postmaster at Hartford Center and Erastus Olin in charge of the first office at Burg Hill. James Heslep opened a store at Burg Hill in 1814, while Dr. Daniel Upson was the first physician. Originally Hartford Township was included in the civil township of Vernon, and the date of its separate organization is undetermined, but must have been prior to 1810. Titus Brockway was the first justice of the peace. The first residence at Hartford Center was built by Seth Thompson, Sr., in 1810, and it was almost twenty years later before the village boasted a store and a hotel. Hartford Township played an important part in military affairs in the early days of Trumbull County and also in the War of 1812, when it furnished upward of half a hundred men. The men from this part of the county were enlisted in the Third Regiment of the Third Brigade, the regiment being commanded during the war, as it had been previously, by Col. Richard Hayes, a member of one of the pioneer and leading families of the township. The Jones family, also among the early settlers, also produced prominent men, among these being Asa W. Jones, a prominent Youngstown lawyer and lieutenant governor of Ohio from 1896 to Tw0, who retired from the practice of the law to spend his last years as a farmer and cattle breeder in the Burg Hill neighborhood. Hartford Township is drained by Pymatuning Creek and Yankee Run, both of which are Shenango Valley streams, and is traversed by the Erie Railroad in the extreme northeastern part and the New York Central in the southwestern. The Burg Hill referred to in this chapter was distinct from the Burg Hill station of today. The original settlement was located in Hartford Township, but business activities were removed to the present location in Vernon Township with the construction of the Erie Railroad line. There are three villages in the township, Orangeville, Hartford Center and Brockway, the last named being in the southern part. Orangeville, in the northeastern corner of the township and on the Pennsylvania line, grew to importance with the construction of the Erie Railroad and the opening of the coal mines. It was incorporated in 1868 and R. E. Grey was elected mayor and A. M. Brockway, N. E. Austin, YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 623 E. B. Jones, Dr. A. C. Brainard and S. H. Spear were named councilmen. It is but a small village, located on Pymatuning Creek, but remains an incorporated municipality with stores, a hotel and two flour mills, the Hewitt mill, on the Ohio side of the line, and the Fell mill, on the Pennsylvania side. E. C. Boyd is the present mayor; R. Dabney, clerk; W. H. Langley, treasurer; George Gear, marshal; George W. Powell, F. W. Brockway, Clyde Hodgson, E. N. Hyde, R. H. Morrison, H. P. Fell and E. G. Fell, members of council. Hartford Township has two granges, Hartford Grange and the Union Grange, the latter at Orangeville. In 1804 the first school in the township was taught by a Miss Bartholemew at Burg Hill and in 1805 a frame school building was put up. This was attended by scholars for many miles around, and in addition to being used for a school the building served as a public meeting place and church. In 1827 a two-story brick school was built at Burg Hill and in 1828 a like building was erected at Hartford Center. Hartford also boasted a circulating library before 1810, a novel and much-prized institution in that .day when books were scarce in Ohio. Hartford Township, in fact, had unusual educational facilities in the early days. An academy was opened by John Crowell about 1824 and in 1840 a young ladies' select school was started by Miss Caroline Billings. In 1849 the Hartford High School was incorporated by a special act of the Legislature and opened in September, 1849, with John. Lynch as teacher. In 1871 the old church building was converted into a school and this institution was incorporated as the Hartford Academic. Institute. A special Orangeville Village school district was incorporated in 1868 and a school erected there about that time. It is still a separate district in the third supervisory district with Margaret Hughes and Frank Neal as teachers of the school. Hartford Township outside Orangeville is a "4740" school district, or a township with a first grade high school wholly centralized. Mrs. Lettie Chapman is district superintendent. Marie Ohl is principal of the high school and Thelma Rachel Shaw, high school. instructor, M. M. Fell, Hazel Hawkins, Mildred Baldwin and Twila Bair being the grade school teachers. The school is located at Hartford Center. Early settlers in Hartford found the curious formation known as the "Old Road," the origin of which has never been explained. It is located in the northeastern part of the township and is perhaps a half mile in length and has the appearance of having been thrown up like a highway. Pioneers found it covered with a growth of timber as large as the timber on the surrounding lands, and yet this earthwork was undoubtedly of artificial construction. Boulders and gravel beds foreign to this locality were also found when the white men came, also a number of excavations resembling wells that had apparently been abandoned many years before settlement. Jerusalem Lodge No. 19, Free and Accepted Masons, is a notable Hartford organization. Its first meeting was held on February 15, 1812, under a dispensation granted by the Grand Lodge of Ohio. Under this 624 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY dispensation the following officers were appointed and installed George Tod, of Erie Lodge at Warren, as proxy for Grand Master Lewis Cass : Martin Smith, W. M.; Daniel Bushnell, S. W.; Sam Spencer, J. W.; Joseph DeWolf, treasurer ; Richard Hayes, secreta Sterling G. Bushnell, S. D.; Libeus Beach, J. D.; Thomas McMill tyler. The first meeting was held under this dispensation on May 1812. On January 5, 1814, a charter was granted the lodge. Jerusal Lodge is a thriving one after more than one hundred years of existen and now owns its own lodge building at Hartford. The Hartford Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 18o1 as the Vernon-Hartford Methodist Episcopal Society, but eventually became a Hartford congregation and worshiped in the schoolhouse at Burg Hill until 1836, when a church building was erected at Hartford Center. In 1874 this building was remodeled. The Hartford Methodist Episcopal Church now has a membership of 00, with Rev. William Lloyd as pastor. The Brockway Methodist Episcopal Churcn was formed in 1822 and in 1857 the present church building was put up. This congregation has a membership of thirty and is attended by Reverend Lloyd. The Orangeville Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1837. A small meeting house erected at that time was replaced by a larger church in 1872. Rev. Joseph Badger visited Hartford Township late in 1800, and September 17, 1803, a Congregational Church was organized. A year later this became a union congregation of Congregationalists and Presbyterians of Hartford, Vernon and Kinsman. In 1819 the first church building was erected at the Center, remaining until 1846. Rev. Harve Coe, who was stationed at Vernon, was the first pastor. In 1823 Hartford was organized into a separate congregation. In 1840 the Presby terians withdrew from the union but in 1852 the plan of the union was again adopted. The Baptist Church was organized about 1816, and on May 1, 1830, a Disciples Church was formed from this, locating at the Center in 1853. The Baptist Church was reorganized in 1835 and erected a building at Orangeville in 1845. The United Brethren Church was originally a Pennsylvania organization, locating at Orangeville in 1872. Township officials of Hartford include, D. S. McElrath, A. V. Bates and Edgar Mott, trustees; A. D. Banning, clerk ; R. J. McDowell, treasurer. FOWLER Originally the sole property of Samuel Fowler of Westfield, Massachusetts, this township was settled by Abner Fowler, a brother of the owner, who had received 100 acres of land at the center of the township in return for his work in surveying the land. Fowler, a widower, came alone and built a cabin at the Center. In addition to being a pioneer settler he was a land agent and had much to do with bringing early homesteaders here. He died at Fowler in 1806, his death being the first in the township. YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 625 In 1801 Levi Foote and family of Westfield came to Fowler and located near the Center. Here their daughter Lydia, the first native white child of Fowler Township, was born on July 5, 1805.. Settlement of the township up to 1805 was slow, those locating here in the first five or six years after .the original settlement was made numbering Lemuel Barnes, John Morrow, Hillman Fisher, the Drake family and Abner Fowler, Jr., in addition to the elder Fowler and Foote. In 1806 Chester Fowler, and a Connecticut party that included Elijah Tyrrell and wife, Clarissa Meeker, Justice Meeker, Daniel Meeker, Lyman Meeker, William Meeker, John Vaughn and Wakeman Silliman located near what is now known as Tyrrell Hill. It received its early name of. Tyrrell's Corners from the Tyrrell family. Esther Jennings was another of this party, and John Kingsley and Matthias Gates were early settlers. Others who came at an early day were Seth Perkins, Enoch Perkins, Richard Houlton, Joseph Pittman, Solomon Dundee and Abraham Farrow. After the War of 1812 immigration was more plentiful. A sawmill, gristmill and machine shop were located at Tyrrell's Corners soon after the Connecticut settlers arrived there and this made the settlement a most important one as many implements used by the pioneer farmers were manufactured here. The first store in the town-drip was also opened at Tyrrell's by Elijah Barnes and stores were opened later at McClurg and at Fowler Center. The first wedding in the township was in August, 1807, when Abner Fowler, Jr., was united in marriage to Esther Jennings. Fowler Township was originally part of the Township of Vernon, created in 1800. Subsequently it became part of the smaller Township of Vernon, and in 1807 was separately organized. John Kingsley was the first justice of the. peace. Fowler Center and Tyrrell, the latter on the Fowler-Vienna line, are both thriving villages. Nutwood Station, about three-quarters of a mile east, is the railroad point for Fowler Center. Nutwood and Tyrrell are both located on the Franklin Division of the New York Central Line that passes through the eastern part of the township. Fowler Township is an agricultural section with its trading centers at the above villages. The first school in the township was opened in 1806 in Wakeman Silliman's cabin, with Miss Esther Jennings. afterwards Mrs. Abner Fowler, Tr., as teacher. This school was for the benefit of the children of recently arrived Connecticut settlers and it was 1814 before a township school was built. This school. located about a mile south of the Center, was taught by Miss Polly Nichols. The previous winter Newman Tucker had taught a school in the home of John Vaughn. Fowler Township schools are now centralized, H. T. Finsterwald being principal of the high school. Frances Houston high school teacher, Madlean Clark, Myrl Groves. Edna Bascom and Alberta Cratsley, grade school teachers and Mrs. Daisy Currie instructor in music. The Methodist Episcopal Church of Fowler was organized in 1815 by Rev. Alfred Bronson, with a membership of seven. A small church was built south of the Center, but in 1873 the former Congregational Vol. 1-40 626 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY Church building was purchased and has since been used as a Methodist Church. The congregation has 100 members, Rev. William Lloyd being pastor. The Christian Church was organized in 1832 and for some years services were held in private houses and other quarters but in 1852 a church building was erected. The congregation now has a membership of about sixty-five Rev. Joseph Badger preached in Fowler Township in 1807, and a few years later a Congregational Church was formed. A church building was put up in 1835 that was built by popular subscription and was open to other creeds. Eventually the Congregational organization disbanded and the church building passed into possession of the Methodists. The United Brethren followers organized in the western part of the township in 1840. Township officials of Fowler are, William Bettiker, W. M. Cleland and W. G. Tyrrell, trustees ; H. W. Scheiddiger, clerk; W. A. Gale, treasurer ; John Cratsley, justice of the peace. BAZETTA Edward Schofield, later a member of the Legislature from Trumbull County, was the first settler in Bazetta Township, locating here in 1804. John Budd and family came the same year. The settlement of Bazetta Township was made but slowly. The above settlers, with Henry K. Hulse, Joseph Pruden, John Godden, Joshua Oatley and Moses Hampton were the only residents on the township in 180. Shortly afterwards came William Davis, Benjamin Rowley, the Dixon family, James Parker and Moses McMahan and families. Edward Schofield had built a gristmill about 1812. In 1816 Samuel Bacon and family moved from Warren to land he had purchased in Bazetta Township, including the Bentley & Brooks sawmill site. The Bacon family increased their holdings and in. 1829 Enos Bacon opened a store at the settlement. With considerable foresight the ground was platted into lots and a healthy settlement resulted. Originally this was known as Baconsburgh, but with the completion of the Erie Railroad branch through the township became Cortland. Cortland, the only village in the township, was formally incorporated in 1874. The township lies in the Mosquito Creek Valley, this stream traversing it from north to south almost through the middle of the township. Its chief tributary is Confusion Creek, so called from the fact that in the early days Benjamin Rowley, Henry Hulse and a companion were lost in the woods near here and in their many attempts to get out invariably returned to the creek, turning in a circle as those do who are not trained woodsmen. The Erie Railroad, or the Shenango division of that road, crosses the township from northeast to southwest. The usual custom of Western Reserve settlers in founding the leading settlement at the center of the township was not followed in the case of Bazetta Township. Cortland is in the extreme northeastern YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 627 part of the township and has remained the business center of thecommunity,, its early predominance being strengthened with the construction of the railroad, for Cortland is located on the Erie Line. It is a pleasing village, with a good business center, pretty residences, small rural industries, good stores, a hotel and a financial institution in the Cortland Savings and Banking Company. The Cortland Steel Tube Company is about to begin the erection of a plant for the manufacture of pipe. This company was organized in August, 1920, with a capital of $50,000. Cortland originally had two newspapers, the Gazette and the Era, and now has a thriving and well-edited weekly in the Cortland Herald, an independent Democratic paper published by C. C. Hadsell and Son. On the incorporation of the village in 1874 Asa Hines was elected mayor; W. W. Post, clerk ; E. A. Faunce, treasurer ; John Young,marshal;; A. S. Gilbert, R. D. Larned, J. H. Post, M. Bacon, M. Craft and A. G. Miller, councilmen. The village officers for 1920-21 are, H. L. Hutton, mayor ; D. D. Kellogg, clerk; G. L. Sigler, treasurer; W. H. Wechbacher, marshal ; F. D. Thoyer, L. E. Post, A. 0. McLaughlin, John Wannamaker, R. D. Kelloff and George McKelvey, councilmen. Cortland is also the seat of Union Grange, the township organization of farmers. Klondike is a small settlement in the northern part of the township. The first school in Bazetta Township was opened about 1810 on Walnut Creek, this original structure being replaced by a better building in 1814. With the settlement of the township better schools were established, especially at Cortland Village. The Cortland High School, a pioneer among rural high schools, was established by a special act of the Legislature and opened for the September term of school in 1877. An unusually well-equipped and well-located school building had been constructed and the Cortland school has ranked high since that time. Under the county school system Cortland Village is a school district of itself, with A. L. Bascom as superintendent. The high school, now a first grade institution, is under Lena Johnson, as principal and Hazel Workman as instructor, with Christa Craft, Hazel Ensign, Grace Durr and Vera Veits as grade school teachers. The founding of other high schools in adjoining townships has made the high school a home institution, although originally it was a place of higher instruction for youths of surrounding parts of Trumbull County. Outside Cortland there are four one-room schools, included in the third supervision district under Superintendent C. F. Stewart. These schools are taught by Ethel Fink, Mrs. Edythe Leonard, Mrs. Verna Caldwell and Dollie Cozad. The Cortland Disciple, or Christian, Church was founded as a Baptist organization in 1818, Edward Schofield, first resident of the township, being one of the leaders. About 1832 the congregation went over to the Disciples creed, and in 1835 erected a church building at Cortland. This structure was remodeled in 1875. The- congregation now has a membership of 225. Rev. G. Webster Moore is pastor of this church. The Methodist Episcopal Church at Cortland was organized in 1820 628 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY and the same year built the first church edifice. This was replaced by a large brick edifice in 1880. The church has an attendance of 275, Rev. Dustin Kemble being the pastor until his death in November, 1919. A Presbyterian Society was organized on March 10, 1841, with J. W. Headley as moderator. This organization was formed under the plan of the union and a church built at the Center. The United Brethren organized at an early day in the township. Township officials of Bazetta include, Harry A. Grub, F. F. Baldwin and Burke Oatley, trustees ; C. K. Abbott, clerk ; C. M. Wildman, treasurer ; H. H. Roe, justice of the peace. CHAMPION This township was divided among ten stockholders in the Connecticut Land Company draft of. January, 1798, but by successive purchases became the sole property of Henry Champion in December 1798. The township was slow in filling up with settlers as the owner held much of it for higher prices, and it was not until his death, twenty-five years after the land had been apportioned, that rapid settlement began. The first permanent settler was William Rutan of Pennsylvania, who came in 1806. John Rutan, his brother, came shortly afterwards but did not remain long. Asa Lane and William Woodrow came in 1807 and Andrew Donaldson, William Croninger, John Chambers and Stephen Reeves about the same time, or a little later. Yet in 1826 when the actual survey and opening of the township for settlement was ordered there were only four families in Champion, the Wo0drow, Chambers, Donaldson and Rutan families. It was 1828 before the family of Edward Pierce, the fifth one in the township, came from Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. Up to this time Champion Township was forest and swamp, the haunt of deer, bears and wolves, although the Mahoning River Valley to the south was a thickly settled neighborhood. Champion Township was organized in December, 1831, and at an election at the home of William Woodrow on December 26 the followrng township officers were chosen,: John Chambers, Benjamin Ross and John Woodrow, judges ; William Woodrow and Joseph Cook, clerks; George Foulk, William Rutan and William Woodrow, trustees ; Henry Ratan, clerk ; Joseph Cook, treasurer ; Samuel Pierce, constable; Frederick Myers and Edward Pierce, overseers of the poor ; John Thompson, Samuel Booth and Taylor Bradfreld, fence viewers ; Joseph Pierce, supervisor; William Woodrow, justice of the peace. Sabina Lane, born in 1807, was the first native white child of the township. The first sawmill in Champion was built by William Durst on Young's Run, but no attempt was made to start a gristmill. Champion Township lies on the watershed land and for this reason has no large streams or waterpower, although the land is not especially high, much of it in fact being originally swamp land. Isaac Lane conducted the first inn about 1845, Thomas Hood 0pened a store about 1850 and a postoffice was established about the same time with John Harper as post- YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 629 master. This was later discontinued, although eventually a postoffice was located at Champion with the building of the railroad. Champion Center is about three-quarters of a mile west of the railroad station, located on the P. Y. and A. division of the Pennsylvania System. It is a small village. State Line is a railroad station in the western part of the township on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Champion is entirely a farming community and its industries are only those relating to agriculture. In 1839 the commissioners of Trumbull County purchased 200 acres of land in the southern part of Champion Township and a county infirmary site. Later 150 acres were added and today the county has a fine institution on these, surrounded by a county reservation. Originally the township was heavily timbered with valuable woods but little cutting is done now. The woods and swamps made the township a favorite hunting place even after big game has disappeared from surrounding townships. The first school in Champion was taught about 18.15 in a log building, with Catherine Church as schoolmistress. This school was abandoned as the population was too sparse to support it and for some years pupils were sent to schools in nearby townships. A brick school, built in 5830, served the township for many years and later other schools sprang up, hut gave way a few years ago to the centralized school at Champion Center. Frank Morris is principal of the high school here and Lillian Moore and Julia J. Lawyer high school instructors, the grade school teachers being. Nana Woodworth, Lucile Rich, Mildred Crooks and Marjorie Downs. In 1838, on request of members of the Presbyterian denomination, Rev. W. O. Stratton was sent to Champion to organize a church. No organization resulted from this visit, but on November 18, 1839, a congregation was formed under the supervision of the New Lisbon Presbytery. Rev. William McCombs was the first visiting pastor. A church, built in. 1842 and dedicated in 1843, is still in use. This congregation has sixty-five members, Rev. Stanley Bright being the present pastor. The United Brethren Church was organized about 1855. Early services were held on the Champion-Bazetta line, but in 1878 a modern church building was erected. Rev. C. Lee Hoffman is the present pastor, the church having an attendance of 110. The Champion Disciples, or Christian Church, was organized in the early '90s and the present church was built in 1893. The church has ninety-one members. A Methodist Episcopal congregation was organized in Champion in the early '40s, and in 1848 built a church in the western part of the township. This congregation was replaced about 1870 by one organized at Champion Center where a church was built in 1875. Champion Township is the home of Champion Grange. The township officials include, W. H. Downs, E. E. Durst and A. B. Lenney, trustees; F. R. Boyd, clerk ; J. H.. Kerr, treasurer ; L. W. Pierce, justice of the peace. 630 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY SOUTHINGTON This township was originally the property of Solomon Cowles, William Ely, Ephraim Robbins, Joseph Borrell and William Edwards, but eventually came into the ownership of Cowles, Ely and John Bowles before any settlement was made. It was in 1805, seven years after the first partition was made, that a party of Litchfield, Connecticut, residents took up their homes in Southington.. Included in this assemblage were Luke Viets and wife, James Chalker, Roderick Norton, Horace Norton, then but a child, and David Viets, father of Luke Viets. James Nutt followed them in 18o6 and in 1807 he was married to Polly Viets, this being the first wedding in the township. Seth Hurd, Smith Hurd, Henry White and wife, Joseph Rice and Elisha Brunson came in 1808 and Joshua Osborn and Charles May and families in 1809. The first white child born in the township was James Chalker, Jr., born May 30, 1807. His death on October 8, 1808, was also the first death in the township. Other families came between 1810 and 1820, and in 1834 there was a heavy immigration of "Pennsylvania Dutch." Southington Township has no creeks or waterpower of any importance and for this reason there were no early gristmills in the township. Samuel Haughton built a small sawmill in the north part of the township and another one was built on Dead Run, but these industries were launched some years after the founding of the township. Luke Viets, who was the leading figure in the township in early days, built a tannery that ran for a number of years. A Mr. Ackley was the first storekeeper and James Hatch was the first postmaster, although there was no postoffice in the township until about 1825. Southington Township was organized on June 12, 1817, with the election of the following township officers : Joshua Osborn, Seth Hurd and Roderick Norton,. trustees ; Lemuel Frisbie, clerk ; James Chalker and Elisha Brunson, overseers of the poor ; Gilbert Osborn, constable; Jay Hurd and Leonard Osborn, appraisers ; Jay Hurd, lister; Levi Ormsby and Joseph Rice, supervisors ; John James and Elisha Walden, fence viewers ; Joseph Rice, treasurer. James Nutt was the first justice of the peace. Southington Township is purely agricultural and dairy country with no large villages. Southington Center is the political trading point for the township and Delightful is a small village in the southeastern part of the township. Both of these are on the Parkman Highway that is to be made a high grade improved road between Cleveland and the Mahoning Valley, and with this improvement both will become more important centers. Stroup is a station on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, that passes through the northeastern part of the township, although State Road, in Champion Township, is the railroad station for much of Southington. The absence of any large streams in the township is due to the fact that Southington is on the watershed between the Mahoning Valley and YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 631 Lake Erie. The greater part ot the township drains northward into the Grand River. The first school in the township was built about ten years after the earliest settlement was made. It was located southeast of the Center and was taught by James Nutt, who was also the first justice of the peace in the township. Nutt was a prominent and useful resident in the early days, but ended his life by hanging himself when he succumbed to despondency in his later years. School classes were also held in the home of Joseph Rice, a leading citizen of early days, and in 1825 a school building was erected east of the Center, this being replaced later by a brick building. Recently the several rural schools have been centralized at the village where there is a high school and three grade class rooms. M. G. Viets is principal of the high school, Ivan Herner, Esther McConnaughy and Helen McClelland, grade school teachers. Centralization of schools in Southington was hastened by the action of Newton Chalker, resident of Akron but a Southington native, who, in 1905, offered to purchase land and erect a highs school at his own expense if the people of the township would centralize their grade schools and erect a building for them, and also maintain the high school after it was built. Naturally this offer was gratefully accepted. Mr. Chalker thereupon purchased twenty-two acres of land at the Center, enough to furnish not only a site for schools but to provide a park and playgrounds as well, and in 1906-07 built one of the finest rural high school structures in Ohio. A banquet hall, library room and auditorium are features of the building. On the same school grounds the township has erected a fine brick building for the centralized schools. The stately monument at Southington to Civil war veterans was also a gift from Mr. Chalker. The Disciples faith predominates in Southington Township, there being two active churches of this denomination. The origin of this creed was in a Baptist congregation, founded at an early day and that worshiped in the Union Church Building near the Center. Later a church edifice was erected north of the Center. In 1828 most of the congregation went over to the Disciples' teaching. The present church building at Gwillington was erected in 1878. The congregation has a membership of 150, Rev. S. B. Culp being pastor. Another Disciple Church was organized in 1840 and a church built in 1860. This congregation has a membership of seventy-five, with Rev. A. P. Holden as pastor. The United Evangelical Church was organized in 1852, largely through the efforts of Dr. J. C. Bowman. The first church was built in 1854, a second one in 1872 and the present building in 1902. The congregation was formally organized as a church in 1894, and its meeting house is located at Delightful, in the southeastern part of the township. Rev. P. F. DeVaux is the pastor of this congregation of eighty members. The Union Church Building at the Center was built upon a two-acre tract donated by William Ely in 1817. Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians worshiped here, all three denominations also holding serv- 632 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY ices even before the construction of this building. Later a Presbyterian Church was built on the site of the Union Building. The first Methodist Episcopal Society in Southington was formed about 1820 and meetings were held at the homes of Joseph Rice and Luke Viets and at the t SOLDIER'S MONUMENT AT SOUTHINGTON ship schoolhouse until the erection of a church in 1838. The Reformed and Lutheran church members formed a joint congregation in 1837 and built a church the same year, this being replaced by a better edifice in 1856. Rev. Peter Mahnensmith was the first pastor of the Reformed Church and Rev. F. C. Becker the first Lutheran minister. Southington Grange is the farmers' organization of the township. YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 633 The officials include, Howard Snively, Edward Baxter and R. A. Osborn, trustees; W. H. Harshman, clerk ; B. H. Hurd, treasurer ; L. J. Hurd, justice of the peace. VERNON Thomas Giddings and Martin Smith were the pioneer settlers of Vernon Township, reaching there in 1798 after a trip from Connecticut to Pittsburgh, and a canoe ride from Pittsburgh by way of Pymatuning .Creek that flows through this township. Their boat was laden with ample provisions and the usual barrel of whisky. Their journey brought them to the south line of the township where they built a log house on land they had purchased from Jeremiah Wilcox, one of the original owners of the township. This was but a temporary ,structure. Soon afterwards Aaron Brockway and family and two other settlers came and a permanent cabin was erected for the Brockways. In the spring of 1799 Smith brought his family on from Connecticut and Joseph DeWolf and Paul Rice accompanied him. Caleb Palmer came in the fall of the same year and Rev. Obed Crosby and Abner Moses in i800. Percy Sheldon, Plumb Sutliff, Morgan Banning and wingg Wright were also early settlers. The first wedding in the township was that of Jesse Pelton and Ruhamah DeWolf. Josiah Pelton of Killingsworth, Connecticut, father of Jesse Pelton, had offeredT00o acres of land in Gustavus Township to the first woman who would make her home there, and won a daughter-in-law as a result. The first birth in the township was a child that came to Aaron Brockway and wife but it died soon after birth. Joseph DeWolf built a sawmill on Mill Creek near the Center in 1800. The original civil township of Vernon was created in August,18000, and included at that time Greene, Mecca, Gustavas, Johnston, Fowler, Vienna, Brookfield, Hartford and Vernon townships in hatt is now Trumbull County and Andover, Wiliamsfield, Cherry Valley, Wayne, New Lyme and Colebrook townships in Ashtabula County. Martin Smith was at that time named justice of the peace for this township and Titus Brockway, constable. Vernon Township as now constituted was organized in 106.. Vernon is an agricultural township and a most thriving one. It is drained by the Pymatuning Creek and has railroad connections in the Leavittsburg branch of the Erie road and the. New York Central branch line from Ashtabula to Youngstown. Vernon Center is the political center of the township as well, and Burg Hill, on the Erie road, the chief railroad station. Both are small villages. Burg Hill is located some distance north of the original settlement of Burg Hill, the latter having been a Hartford Township village. The first school in Vernon Township was opened in 1802, with Miss Electa Smith as teacher. Later district schools were established and a graded school was founded at Burg Hill. Vernon Township schools are now centralized, with a first grade high school at Vernon Center. A. H. Troxell is the township, or district, superintendent, Emma G. Meyers, 634 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY principal of the high school; Julia Clarke, high school instructor, and Lucy Meikle, Olive Bascom, Emily Dorman and Glora M. Wysner, grade school teachers. Rev. Obed Crosby, a settler of 1800, was a Methodist minister, and in 1801 he organized a Methodist society consisting of himself, his wife, Ewing Wright and Eunice Bushnell. This, it is said, was the first Methodist Episcopal Church organization on the Western Reserve. The congregation met at Reverend Crosby's house and at the home of Col, Richard Hayes, in Hartford Township, until 1809. After that services were held in schoolhouses until a church was put up in Hartford Township. This was a Vernon-Hartford congregation. About 1816 a Vernon Township class was formed, this class afterwards using the church at the Center. The Burg Hill class was organized in 1866 and a church erected there in 1872. The Vernon Methodist Episcopal congregation was organized in 1879, reorganized in 1897 and a church was erected at Vernon Center the same year. It now has seventy-five members, Rev. W. H. Norman being pastor. A Congregational Church was organized on September 16, 1803, under the plan of the union and a brick church was built at Vernon Center in 1825. This was later allowed to fall into decay. The Baptist Church was organized in 1840 and a small church built that was replaced by a structure at Burg Hill in 1871. The United Brethren Church was organized about 1860 by Rev. Silas Casterline and a church erected the following year in the southwestern part of the township. The Disciples Church was organized in 1870 and a Universalist congregation about 1880. Township officials of Vernon include, E. R. Crocker, J. D. Everitt and W. C. Jewell, trustees; D. L. Hum, clerk ; H. G. Smith, treasurer. JOHNSTON Johnston Township was drawn by practically the same shareholders in the Connecticut Land Company who drew Canfield Township in Ma-honing County. It was surveyed by Nathaniel Moore in 1802 and named for Capt. James Johnston of Salisbury, Connecticut. The first settler was Capt. James Bradley who was accompanied by his wife and their three sons. Leaving Salisbury, Connecticut, in June, 1803, they reached Canfield, where they stopped for a few days and journeyed on .to Johnston, locating on a farm a slight distance west of the Center. The Bradleys were alone in the township for a year when they were joined by Jared Hill and James Skinner who put up a sawmill in the summer of 1804 in the northeastern part of the township. The sawmill was opened in 1805 and a gristmill added soon afterwards, Hill and Skinner having previously married at Canfield. In 1805 Zebulon Walker, Daniel Hine, Erastus Carter, Howard Fuller and Benjamin Andrews and families and Augustus Adams, Josiah Finney and a youth named Breman located in the township. They were joined in 1806 by Daniel YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 635 Hine, Sr., David Webb, William McKay and Morris Smith. An early settler of about 1804 was a Mr. Jaqua. The wedding of his daughter, Charity Jaqua, to Solomon Brainard, in 1896, was the first marriage in the township. Johnston Township was originally part of the civil township of Vernon and was not separately organized until 1816. At the first election, held on October 9, 1816, Samuel Hine, Jr., David Jackson and John Jackson were named trustees, and Jared Hill, clerk. The township responded well to the call for men in the War of 1812, although sparsely settled at that time. When the call for men came in that year to repulse a rumored approach of British by way of Lake Erie, JOHNSTON TOWNSHIP CENTRALIZED SCHOOL irtually all the able bodied men in the community responded. This was a false alarm that stirred the greater part of the Western Reserve. Johnston Township has no large waterways, the chief stream being Sugar Creek, a tributary of the Pymatuning. It is reached by both the Erie and the New York Central railroads. Latimer, in the extreme southeastern part of the township, is located on both these railroads. Johnston Village is a small settlement but does a thriving agricultural trade. Corinth is located on Sugar Creek in the northeastern part of the township. The first school in the township was taught in Zebulon Walker's house by Miss Elizabeth Hine, afterwards Mrs. Thaddeus Bradley. A schoolhouse and church was later erected at the center and gradually district schools were established throughout the township. These are now centralized, Johnston having a first grade high school and grade 636 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY school classes with H. G. Drinkwater as superintendent. William Treloar is principal of the high school, Ruby Schaad, high school teacher, and Elmer Groppenbacher, Edna Bixler, Mrs. Clawson and Mary Kistler, grade school teachers. The first religious services in Johnston Township were held at the home of Daniel Hine about 1806. Open services were held for some time and were variously addressed by Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational speakers. The Methodist Episcopal congregation was formally organized in 1812, and Rev. James McMahan, a circuit rider, was probably the first attending minister. This congregation now has 100 members, Rev. F. C. Landfear being pastor. The Johnston Congregational Church was organized on October 16; 1814, by Rev. William Hanford of the Connecticut Missionary Society. A log schoolhouse was the first meeting place. A frame church was built about 1830 and the present church was erected in 1894. The congregation now has about forty members. Rev. W. G. Morris is pastor. The officials of Johnston Township are, 0. A. Tyrrell, G. M. Bascom and S. J. Elder, trustees ; L. A. Sadler, clerk ; Warren Clapp, treasurer; Lee Sadler, justice of the peace. Ideal Grange of Johnston Township is a flourishing organization. MECCA Mecca Township, traversed by Mosquito Creek, is almost entirely farming territory and contains rich agricultural land. Its settlement was somewhat later than that of most of its sister townships, the land remaining in its primeval state until 1811 when Joseph Dawson removed from Poland Township and located in the eastern part of the township. Mecca Township is unique in that its first settler came from another part of Ohio rather than from New England, Pennsylvania or the South. John Rose, father-in-law of Dawson, located in Mecca in 1813, and by 1820 the residents included Lemuel Hickock, Peter Row, Samuel Phillips, Sylvester Taylor, Martin Daniels, Joseph Phillips, Daniel Tucker, Joseph Headley, Joseph Barstow, Seymour Hunt and two other settlers, Ballard and Sturgis by name. The first mill of which there is any record was built in 1834 on Mosquito Creek, the miller utilizing a dam that had already been built by beavers. As Mecca Township was heavily timbered, lumbering became at one time a prominent industry here. In 1867 the firm of J. F. Klumpp erected a sawmill and planing mill and turned out plow beams and sawed lumber in great quantities. Later the firm built another mill in the southwestern part of the township. The first store was opened at East Mecca by Babcock & Bradley. Daniel Sheehy, Jr., of Youngstown was a merchant here for some time. Lemuel Hickock was the first postmaster. The first tavern was kept by Isaac Powers. The first white child born in the township was Nancy Dawson. Dr. Isaac D. Powers was the first resident physician. YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 637 West Mecca owes its origin to the "Mecca Oil" boom of the early '60s. The presence of oil was known at an early date but it was considered a disadvantage until professional oil men precipitated a boom. Immediately the neighborhood went oil crazy. Land soared to unheard of prices, a new town was laid out and saloons, gambling houses and everything else that goes with an oil discovery afflicted Mecca. The boom collapsed in the early days of the Civil war, West Mecca returned to sanity and the "Oil Diggins" vanished. The oil business thereafter was carried on in a rational manner. The diminution of enthusiasm was not due to disillusionment regarding the quality of the oil as "Mecca Oil" became famed for its high grade. It was merely that the oil deposits were never great enough to warrant the frenzy that beset this part of the township for a year or two. Gas has also been discovered in the township, and in its early days it was heavily timbered with a fine growth of hardwoods. The entire township is drained by Mosquito Creek, a stream that flows through its length from north to south. Much of the land is swampy but has been generally well drained and is fertile and productive. Mecca Township was originally part of Vernon Township, later part of the civil township of Greene and was separately organized in 1821. East Mecca and West Mecca are small villages, located, as their names would imply, on main highways east and west of the center. They are about the same size. The first schoolhouse in the township was located at East Mecca with Salome Fuller as teacher, this building being used for religious as well as educational purposes. Later a school was built at West Mecca and also schools in other parts of the township, but later these were centralized until now the only schools are located in the two villages. Grades only are taught here, Mecca Township having no high school. The instructors at East Mecca are Aaron Russel, James Moser and Helen Hogan ; at West Mecca, R. S. Kettlewell, Frank Benton and Myrna Byham. The pioneer religious organization of Meccca is the Congregational Church, established on December 6, 1822, by Rev. Ephraim T. Woodruff. John Rose, Friend Buttles, Sterling Adkins, Mary Adkins, Ruhamah Tucker, Orilla Hickcock, Almira Buttles and Eunice Rose were the original members. A frame church was erected, this being replaced by a church at East Mecca, built by the Congregationalists and Free Will Baptists. The present church was built in 1857. The congregation now has a membership of about sixty-five. The Free Will Baptists organized a church in 1832, uniting with the Congregationalists, as above stated, in building a church at East Mecca. The Baptist Church was organized on February 13, 1833, and in 1841 reorganized and put up a church at East Mecca. A Methodist Society was in existence at East Mecca as early as 1837 and in 1838 was removed to West Mecca. The Disciples, or Christian Church, was organized on March 22, 1851, and a church building was dedicated at East Mecca in i868. Township officials of Mecca include, Clint Irwin, J. Dabney and J. Hayden, trustees ; W. R. Ellston, clerk ; Guy Irwin, treasurer ; L. B. 638 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY David, justice of the peace. Mecca Grange is a flourishing agriculturalists' organization. BRISTOL In 1802 William Sager and William Barb, residents of the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, visited this township with a view to locating. They selected land for their future homes and on the return trip to Virginia, stopped at Youngstown and purchased this land from Alfred Wolcott, who had been given 160 acres of ground in payment for his services in surveying the township. Wolcott had been employed by Nathaniel Gorham and Worham Parks, original owners of the land. Before Sager and Barb returned to the Western Reserve a permanent settlement had been made in Bristol Township by Andrew Baughman, a brother-in-law to Sager, who arrived in 1804 and built a cabin on Baughman's Creek in the northern part of the township. Baughman was accompanied by his family. In 18̊5 Sager and Barb came to Bristol with their families and in that year Sager and his wife became the parents of Jacob Sager, the first white child born in the township. John Fansler, John Hammon and wife and Jacob Norton came in 18̊6. These immigrants were Virginians of German blood, Bristol Township being unique in Western Reserve history in that it was founded by southerners. In 1805 Aaron Fenton came to Bristol. John Cox came the same year, Emmor Moore in the same year, or a year later, while William Cummings, John Cummings, Thomas Cummings, James Cummings, Joseph Cummings and their sisters, Betsy, Anna, Folly and Sally and Robert Miller arrived about the same time. Bristol Center, or Bristolville, became an active village only after the stage road between Lake Erie and the Ohio River was opened in 1828. Samuel Swetland was the first storekeeper there and Lyman Potter the first tavernkeeper. The postoffice was established about 1825 with Gideon Sprague as, the first postmaster. It was 1870 before a postoffice was established at North Bristol. Industries were scarce at this time, although a sawmill and grist mill had been built as early as 1806 by Abraham Baughman on Baughman's Creek. The civil township of Bristol was organized in 1807, and at the first election in 1808 Lyman Potter was elected justice of the peace; Abraham Baughman, John Martin and William Wilson, trustees ; John Cummings, clerk ; William Reed, constable ; Robert Miller and George Barger, overseers of the poor ; Thomas Martin, treasurer ; William 'Cummings and Abraham Daley, fence viewers ; Emmor Moore and Henry Baughman, supervisors ; Joseph Cummings, lister of property Bristolville is the political center of the township, but the railroad station is located at Bristolville Station on the Pennsylvania line, about three-quarters of a mile to the east. Bristolville Station also has a post-office under the name of Spokane. North Bristol, on a main highway north of Bristolville, is a small village that dates back almost as far as the center settlement. This village was affected by the temperance wave that struck Ohio in the YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 639 '50s, or a little later, and on one occasion the women of the village attacked a saloon that had just been opened there, carried out the barrels and bottles of intoxicants and poured the liquor into a mill pond. The incensed proprietor of the saloon brought suit for damages against the township and the women. The suit was heard in the Methodist Church and was famed for the array of legal talent that appeared to fight the case. Among these were John Hutchins. afterwards a member of Congress ; Jacob Dolson Cox, later a noted Warren lawyer, major general in the Civil war and governor of Ohio from i866 to i868; William Augustus Otis Forrest, a famous trial lawyer; Robert Wilson Ratliff, later an able Warren lawyer and colonel of the Twelfth Ohio Cavalry in the Civil war. The first school class in the township was a family affair, members of the Sager family being taught in the winter of 1810-11 by Gabriel Sager. A year later a schoolhouse was built at North Bristol by the Sager family. The Sager school was a German-language one. The first English-language school was taught in 1812-13 by Seth I. Ensign, the schoolhouse being a log cabin north of Bristolville. A log schoolhouse was built shortly afterwards at Bristolville. The one-room schools later built in Bristolville Township were eventually centralized at Bristolville, where there is a high school with C. H. Allwardt as principal and Beatrice Hurd and Beulah Mahan as high school teachers. Nancie Ellwood, Adelle Davis, Mabel Caldwell and Hilda Gaines are the grade school teachers. The early Virginian settlers 0f Bristol township were Mennonites in religion, and in 1810 they organized a school in which instructions were given in German, and also organized a Mennonite Church society. Both organizations were short-lived. Methodist Episcopal services were held in Bristol as early as 1809, and in 1818 a Methodist Episcopal Society was organized by Dr. Ira Eddy, with John Norton and wife, John Hammon, Sarah Hammon, Magdalena Cline and Margaret Cline as members. Meetings were held in various places until 1845 when a church edifice was erected at Bristolville. This building was rebuilt in 1881. The Bristolville church now has a membership of 300, Rev. J. P. Wiseman being pastor. The Christian Church had its origin in a society of Bible Christians, formed in 1820, the congregation eventually joining the Christian, or Disciple, denomination. Services were held at Bloomfield and attended by Bristol Township members until 1868, when the present Christian congregation at North Bristol was organized and a church building, erected. The church now has 165 members. A Presbyterian Church was organized in the township at an early day, and on June 14, 1817, a Presbyterian-Congregationalist Church was formed. In 1845 a modern church Was built. Eventually this became a Congregationalist organization. The Dunkards organized a church in 1866. Township trustees of Bristol include, Mike Horch, S. P. Seeley and C. A. Clyborn, trustees ; H. W. Hillman, clerk ; C. J. Shaffer, treasurer ; W. H. Messick, justice of the peace. 640 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY FARMINGTON Farmington Township, lying in the Grand River Valley, was originally owned by Joseph Borrell, William Edwards, Samuel Henshaw, Joseph Pratt, Luther Loomis, David King, John Leavitt, Jr., Ebenezer King, Jr., Timothy King, Fidelio King and Sylvester Griswold of the Connecticut Land Company. Lewis Wolcott, who came in the spring of 1806, and Zenas Curtis, David Curtis and. Elihu Morris, who came in the summer of the same year, were the first settlers in Farmington Township. Josiah Wolcott and other members of the Wolcott family, Gad Hart, Dennis Lewis, John Young, Daniel Taft, Orin Taft, Capt. John Benton, Eben Wildman and Chauncey. Brockett were other early settlers. Farmington Township was settled slowly and it was after 1825 before it attained any great population. The first marriage in the township took place on December t, 1808, when Miss Nancy Higgins was wedded to Lewis Wolcott. The first white native of the township was Caroline Wolcott, born September 12, 1808. William Wilson opened the first tavern in 1810 and Farmington had the unique record in early days of being a township of temperance taverns. The first store was apened at the Center about 1825 and at West Farmington in 1834. Dr. Abiel Jones, minister and doctor, was the first physician. In 1831 Farmington postoffice was opened at the State Road, but in 1847 was removed to West Farmington. In 1834 a postoffice was established at the Center with Daniel Wilcox as postmaster. The first sawmill was built about 1816 by Josiah Wolcott. Farmington Township was organized on July 4, 1817. Theodore Wolcott was elected clerk ; David Belden, Orin Taft and John Benton, trustees ; Gad Hart and Jacob Bartholemew, overseers of the poor; Joseph' Wolcott, Gad Bartholernew, fence viewers ; Erastus Wolcott and Ezra Curtis, appraisers ; Ezra Curtis, lister, Whitney Smith, Zenas Curtis and Joseph Wolcott, supervisors of highways; Erastus Wolcott, constable ; Horace Wolcott, treasurer ; Josiah Wolcott, justice of the peace. Farmington Township lies in the Grand River Valley, the headwaters of the river being, in fact, in this township. This stream, together with Coffee Creek, Branch Creek and other waterways gives it a liberal water supply. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad crosses the township in a northwesterly direction. Farmington Center is a small place, the business activities of the township being centered largely in West Farmington, on the Baltimore & Ohio road, about a half mile west of the Center. West Farmington has a population of perhaps boo, with general merchandise stores con-, ducted by C. E. Stevens & Sons, C. C. Creaser and J. H. King; a hardware store conducted by H. W. Wilcox, drug store by E. A. Bowles and a meat market and grocery by J. Townsend & Sons. Industries include the Harmony Creamery Company, grist mill and feed and coal yard, conducted by J. H. Elwell ; D. Maranhout basket works ; Never-Slip Wire Stretcher Company plant, machinery firm of B. W. Huntley, Stand- YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 641 and Oil Service Station, West Farmington Auto Shop, and blacksmith shops operated by Ralph Hurd and F. B. Harshman. The Luther Hotel is the village inn. Fraternal and other organizations include Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 333, Pythian Sisters No. 185, Woman's Relief Corps No. 104, Western Reserve Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; Eastern Star Lodge No. 44, Maccabees Lodge and Farmington Grange. West Farmington is the postal headquarters of the township, Jessie B. Little being postmistress. The village officers for 1920-21 include, F. S. Hart, mayor ; R. A. Little, clerk ; C. E. Stevens, treasurer ; F. S. Hart, assessor ; H. H. Reynolds, treasurer ; C. C. Creaser, John Townsend, Elton D. Stevens, Ralph Hurd, Orris Newcomb and W. L. Erdice, councilmen. The first school in Farmington Township was opened at the Center about 1816 and was taught by Miss Almira Hannahs. Soon afterwards a school was located at West Farmington. Early educational interest, however, centered in the Western Reserve Seminary. This institution was founded as the Farmington Academy in 1831 and was located in a West Farmington building afterwards used as a hotel. In 1849 a substantial three-story building was erected to care for additional needs and the school became the Farmington Normal. In 1854 control was transferred to the Erie Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church with the understanding that the school should be open to pupils of all denominations and the institution became the Western Reserve Seminary. Although it had periods of reverses the school in the main flourished under this arrangement, having well equipped library and laboratories, dormitories and an excellent literary course. For many years it was a most valuable educational adjunct. The seminary building was destroyed by fire in 1900. In more recent years higher education in Farmington Township has been provided in a high school in connection with the centralized school system, Beulah Eason being principal of this school and J. Z. Sloan and Lucille Hurd, instructors. The instructors of the Farmington grade classes are, Burnece Wade, Lucille Woodford, Burdell Taylor, Mabel Gates and Mabel Reynolds. The Congregational Church at Farmington Center was organized on October 8, 1817, by Rev. Joseph Badger and had an initial membership of eleven. The congregation was organized on the Union Congregational-Presbyterian plan, became wholly Presbyterian in 1860 and wholly Congregational in 1874. The first church building was put up in 1828 and the present one in 1844. Rev. Hiram F. Thompson is the present pastor of this church. A Congregational Church at West Farmington was organized on April 12, 1834, from the Farmington Center congregation. The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1818 and in 1830 a frame church was built at the Center. Subsequently congregations were formed at West Farmington and in the southeast part of the township, these being united now in one flourishing congregation of ninety members with Rev. I. R. Griffith as pastor. The Christian Church was Vol. I-41 642 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY founded in 1830, and in connection with the Methodists erected a ch building at the Center in 1874. The present township officials of Farmington are, J. R. Linville, Sutliff and H. R. Hathaway, trustees ; R. A. Little, clerk ; C. E. St treasurer. KINSMAN Kinsman Township, lying in easterly Trumbull County, is watere by the Pymatuning, Stratton and Sugar creeks and is in rich farming territory. It apparently was a favorite camping ground for the Indians before the .advent of the white man and scattering parties of Indians visited here as late as 1820 after they had deserted most of the Reserve east of the Cuyahoga River. This township was drawn by Uriah Tracy, Joseph Coit and John Kinsman, in 1798, but the last named eventually purchased the interests of his partners, although not until after sales of land had been made to David Randall, Ebenezer Reeves and Martin Tidd. In 1799 Kinsman came to the Western Reserve and at Youngstown retained Alfred Wolcott to survey the township for him. During the summer he built a cabin where the town of Kinsman now stands but did not remain as a settler. In 1801 Kinsman and a party numbering Calvin Pease, Simon Perkins, George Tod, John S. Edwards, Ebenezer Reeves, Josiah Pelton, Turhand Kirtland, Jared Kirtland and others, came to the Reserve and Kinsman and Reeves came on to Kinsman's Township. They built a cabin here but in the fall returned to Connecticut, leaving John Cummings, John Matthews and Isaac Matthews at Kinsman. In 1802 Kinsman and Reeve came back to Kinsman Township to remain, but a few months previously, David Randall, Martin Tidd and Tidd's son-in-law, James Hill, Pennsylvanians, came on from Youngstown and settled on land they had purchased from Kinsman. In 1802 also came Paul Rice, Alexander Clark and Urial Driggs; in 1803 came Capt. Charles Case, William. Tidd, John Wade, John Little, Walter Davis, Isaac Matthews, John Matthews, Betsy Matthews, Robert Laughlin, Peter Yeoman, George Gordon Dement, George Matthews, Joseph McMichael, Joshua Bidwell, Henry Bidwell, William Knox ; in 1804, Plumb Sutliff, William Scott and William Matthews, and between 1805 and 1810 many more families. In 1802 John Kinsman opened a small store in the township and the same year James King built a sawmill for Kinsman. The mill dam built in connection with this industry caused several years of controvers since there was considerable typhus fever and other diseases in the ea days of the township and it was believed that the stagnant water impounded bred this sickness. The mill dam remained, however, until 1806, but not until after attempts had been made to wreck it and John Kinsman had whipped one of those implicated in the attempt. In 1806 a sawmill was built on Stratton Creek and later a grist mill was put up on this same stream. The first birth, or births, occurred in the township in 1802 when twin YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 643 daughters were born to David Randall and wife. The same year the rst wedding took place when Robert Henry was united in marriage to Betsey Tidd. Kinsman is the northeastern most township of Trumbull County, bordering on Pennsylvania on the east and Ashtabula County on the north. The territory is generally level and thoroughly tilled, although Kinsman was originally covered with a good growth of timber except in one cleared spot of 1,000 acres, known as "the prairie," that had evidently been an Indian planting ground. Kinsman Village, the one town in the township, is located southeast of the Center and has a population upwards of 1,000. It is one of the most attractive-appearing towns on' the Western Reserve, with its well-shaded streets, neat homes and clean business district. It has a number of good stores, a good financial institution in the Kinsman bank that does a large business with residents of the surrounding country and a live weekly newspaper in the Kinsman Journal. In 1919 the Kinsman Board of Trade was organized to bring industries to the village and to make Kinsman even a more important place than it is now. G. H. Platt is president of this organization ; A. G. Birrell, vice president ; J. A. Root. secretary and treasurer. With good railroad connections and an ample ater supply the proposal to make Kinsman an industrial village should be realized. The railroad stop is at Kinsman Station, some distance out of the village, this being the postoffice station too, under the name of Farmdale. The first school in the township was opened about 1805 when Leonard Blackburn taught a class in a log cabin on the Yeoman farm. The first schoolhouse was built on Stratton Creek and was opened on January f, 18o6, with Jedediah Burnham as the first teacher. Burnham was for many years one of the leading residents of the township, serving as a captain in the War of 1812, as justice of the peace for more than twenty years and as collector and assessor of the township for years. In 1820 a frame school was built at Kinsman Village and was taught by Daniel Lathrop, afterwards a minister. Kinsman Academy was organized in 1842 and the academy building erected in 1842 on land donated by John Kinsman. It was later remodeled and became a most useful institution for Kinsman and surrounding townships. Kinsman Township schools were eventually centralized and the township now has a first grade school and constitutes a school district by itself, with I. Clifford Roll as superintendent. E. Gordon Boster is principal of the high school and Isabel Bacon high school teacher. The grades are taught by Pauline Sigler, Harold Wilson, Gertrude Bates, Lois Wilson and Mildred Giddings. Frank Simpkins is instructor in music. The Union Congregational-Presbyterian Church at Kinsman was founded in 1830 and the first church built in 1833. This congregation now has a membership of 235. The Methodist Episcopal Church at Kinsman was founded in 1832 and a small church building was put up soon afterwards. The present modern structure was erected in 1917. The Kinsman church has 176 members, Rev. J. H. Ellis being pastor. Reverend Ellis also attends 644 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY the Methodist Episcopal congregation at Farmdale, organized in lat years. This church has thirty members. The officials of Kinsman Township include, F. A. Roberts, W. Sawdy and N. W. Thompson, trustees ; L. G. Bidwell, clerk; R. Wallace, treasurer ; G. H. Griswold, justice of the peace. Kinsm Grange is the farmers' organization of the township. GUSTAVUS This township was drawn originally by eight members of the Connecticut Land Company but in 1800 became the property of Lemuel Storrs. Storrs, in 1800, sold a tract of more than five thousand acres to Josiah Pelton, having previously visited the township himself, surveyed it and named it Gustavus in honor of his son. Anxious to see a settlement made, Josiah Pelton offered too acres of land to the first woman who would locate in the township. The offer was accepted by Ruhamah DeWolf who wedded Pelton's son, Jesse Pelton. They came to Gustavus in 1802 and a cabin was erected that summer although the bride remained with her parents at Vernon until December. Elias Pelton located in Gustavus in 1802 also, and his daughter, Barbara Pelton, was the first white child born in the township. Soon after Josiah Pelton, the father, came with his remaining four sons. In 1804 the township population was increased by the settlement of Obediah Gildersleeve and family, Thaddeus Selby, Calvin Cone, Asa Case and Dosey Case. John Lane came in 1805. Other early settlers were Jehiel Meacham, a blacksmith, Joseph Hart, Riverius Bidwell, Aaron Lynn, Lemuel Newton, William Linsley and Rufus Beman. The first store in the township was opened at the Center by George Hezlep in 1828. Josiah Pelton built the first sawmill. A postoffice was opened between 1825 and 1828 with Riverius Bidwell as postmaster. This was located in the southern part of the township, but on protest of the inhabitants the postoffice was transferred to the Center and Rev. Joseph Badger was made postmaster. Previous to opening of stores in the township trading was done at John Kinsman's store in Kinsman, this being a gathering place for many miles around. For some years Gustavus Township was part of Greene Township, but in 1821 was separately organized. At the first election, on September 11, 1821, Ithemur Pelton, Asa Case and Rufus Beman were elected trustees ; William Roberts and Abraham Griswold, overseers of the poor ; Ithemur Pelton and Walter W. Thornton, fence viewers; Jehiel Meacham, Jr., and Lester Waters, constables ; Joseph Hart, treasurer; Thaddeus Selby, clerk; George Moses, lister ; Marcus Andrews, Zenas Pelton, Thaddeus Selby, Joseph Hart, Harvey Pelton, Solomon Waters and Oliver Crosby, supervisors. Gustavus Township is on the watershed between the Mahoning and the Shenango valleys, the eastern part draining into Pymatuning Creek and the western part into Mosquito Creek. The township has no large waterways of its own. A branch of the New York Central Railroad runs YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 645 through the eastern part of the township from north to south but Kinsman is the township railroad station. Gustavus Village is located in the center of the township and is the chief town. Dilworth is located at a crossroads in the south part of the township and Barclay in the east part. All are rural villages. Gustavus is the seat of Gustavus Grange and also of Gustavus Lodge, No. 442, Free and Accepted Masons. The first school class taught was in the home of Elias Pelton by Roxy Brockway who tutored the Pelton children. In 1809 a school was opened in John Lane's barn with Sally Wakeman as teacher. The first schoolhouse was built on the Riverius Bidwell farm in 1813. Esther Bidwell was a teacher here. Gustavus Academy was organized in 1841 and incorporated in 1843. A two-story brick academy building was erected and in 1844 the school was opened with Franklin B. Hough as principal. For many years it remained as a creditable house of learning. Gustavus' schools now have a high standing also, the township being in a school district by itself with a first grade high school. M. M. Dray is the district superintendent, Hope. Logan principal of the high school and Helen Rodgers, high school instructor. Fred Puck, Winifred Braden, Reba Herrick and Laura Cowden are the grade teachers. The Gustavus Methodist Episcopal Society was first organized in 1809 with several members of the Pelton family among the charter members. The Methodists of Gustavus generally worshiped at Kinsman until a log church was built north of Gustavus Center. In 1857 the church was reorganized, the present church being built the same year. This congregation now has to0 members. Rev. F. C. Landfear being pastor. Rev. Thomas Robbins was the pioneer clergyman of the township, preaching at the home of Jesse Pelton. Later visits were made by Presbyterian and Congregationalist ministers and on April 27, 1825, a Congregational Church was formed by Rev. Joseph Badger and Rev. Ephraim T. Woodruff. Later this became a Presbyterian Church, but in 1852 split on the slavery question and a separate Congregational Church was formed. The Congregationalists erected a church building of their own and the Presbyterians erected a church at the Center. Township officials of Gustavus are, Ben Lobaugh, E. Partridge and R. E. Krahl, trustees ; D. W. Braden, clerk ; S. L. Stull, treasurer. GREENE. Originally the property of Joseph Howland of the Connecticut Land Company, this township passed in 1811 to the ownership of Gardiner Greene, from whom it took its name. It is drained by Mosquito Creek and by a tributary of the Grand River, being located therefore in both the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence basins. Except for Lordstown, Greene Township, was the last of Trumbull County subdivisions to undergo settlement. It was in the spring of 1817 that John Harrington, William Harrington, John Wakefield, Eph- 646 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY raim Rice, Roswell Bartlett and Ichabod Merritt came to the township with a view to locating there. The outlook being favorable, they pur chased three sections of land from the owner, the transaction being arranged through Gen. Simon Perkins of Warren, land agent. Merritt, Rice and Wakefield built cabins for themselves that spring and the remaining purchasers put up homes soon afterwards. In the fall of 1817 Ebenezer Kee located on land near that owned by the three original settlers. Settlers in 1818 were David Rice, and Ephraim Kee. J. B. Spring, H. P. Higgins, James Bascom and C. P. Hayford came in 1819. In 1821-22 David Rice and Noah Bowen built a grist mill on Mosquito Creek and a year later a sawmill was constructed on Merritt Creek by H. P. Higgins and Samuel Hayford. Rice and Bowen also built a sawmill in connection with their grist mill in 1824. This first Rice and Bowen grist mill was built of logs, but in 1845 this was replaced by a frame mill that is still standing. Steam power was substituted for the waterwheel in 1862 and the mill was operated until 1908 by Myrtle L. Rice and Clark and Charles Rice. This mill site is one of the beauty spots of Northern Trumbull County. The first white child born in the township was Deborah Harrington, daughter of John Harrington and wife, born in March, 1818. The first marriage was that of Charlotte Bascom and John M. Jestin, this wedding taking place in March, 1821. Greene Township was originally part of the civil township of Vernon. Later Kinsman, Gustavus and Greene were organized into the township of Greene, at a still later date Gustavus and Greene were organized as Greene Township, and finally in 1820 Greene Township was organized as it is constituted at present. The first election was held on September 4, 182o, when Ephraim Rice, John Harrington and Roswell Bartlett were elected trustees ; Ebenezer Kee, clerk ; David Rice, treasurer; Ephraim Rice and John Wakefield, overseers of the poor ; W. A. Bascom, constable ; William Harrington, David Rice and Ephraim Kee, road supervisors ; Wyman Wakefield, fence viewer. Roswell Bartlett was the first justice of the peace. Early trading was done at villages in nearby townships and the trip was made through almost pathless woods. Later a trading center sprang up at the crossroads in the eastern part of the township, now Kenilworth, but later Greene Village at the center became the business as well as the official headquarters of the township. Mosquito Creek runs through the township from north to south and drains the greater part of the territory, Mud Creek being its chief tributary. A small part of Greene, however, lies in the Grand River Valley. Greene occupies a peculiar position in Trumbull County townships as it has no railroad line within its borders. The first schoolhouse in Greene was built near the present site of Kenilworth. This log building was soon replaced by a frame structure at the crossroads near the south cemetery. Greene never followed the example of some of its neighboring townships by starting an academy YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 647 but private schools for the higher branches were taught by Rev. S. D. Bates, Charles Harrington and Lawrence Coleman. Greene Township schools are now thoroughly centralized, the township being in a district by itself with Ernest C. Gray as superintendent. Wallace Love is the principal of the high school, a first grade institution, and Mrs. Bertha Sheldon high school teacher. The grades are taught by Lois Thomas, Ellen Wolcott, Elva Davis and William White. Greene has a union church in the Federated Churches of Greene Township, organized in 1917. There are ninety church members affiliated with this organization, services being held in a building put up by a former church congregation in 1870. The Pentecostal Church was organized in 1919 and has twenty members. Rev. R. D. Wise is pastor. The first church in the township was built largely through the efforts of Amzi Churchill, the congregation being Congregationalist, or Presbyterian, in creed. In the '40s the Presbyterians built a structure later known as the Hubbard Church. The Methodists organized in 1825 and put up a church at the East Corners. A Baptist congregation was organized in 1831, and a Christian congregation formed in 1850. Greene Township has a farmers' grange in the Royal Grange at Kenilworth. The township officials are : M. B. Horton, J. L. Jackson and R. W. Rowles, trustees; J. F. Liddle, clerk ; E. W. Smith, treasurer ; U. W. Sloan, justice of the peace. BLOOMFIELD Bloomfield Township, originally the property of Peter C. Brooks and Nathaniel Gorham, adjoins Ashtabula County and lies in the valley of the Grand River. Here also was located the famed Tamarack swamp, once a favorite resort of hunters and an impediment to agricultural development, but whose terrors have been removed. The early owners apparently made no effort to dispose of their lands so that it was not until 1815 that a settlement was made in Bloomfield Township. The swampy nature of part of the township was perhaps responsible for this backwardness. The first settler was Leman Ferry of Brookfield, Vermont, who reached the township in February, 1815, being accompanied by his wife, two sons, three daughters and a hired man. In the dead of winter a cabin was erected and the family prepared to set out crops. Shortly afterwards came Ephraim Brown of New Hampshire. Another visitor in 1815 was Thomas Howe who located permanently in Bloomfield in 1817. In the sprrng and summer of 1815 Willard Crowell, Matthew Crowell, Israel Proctor, Samuel Eastman and David Comstock came on from Vermont and Jared Green and Cyril Green located in the township. Lewis Clisby arrived the same year, Jared Kimball and Amasa Bigelow in 1816, Aaron Smith in the same year and Thomas Howe, Hezekiah Howe and Asa Works in 1817. The first white child born in the township was Harriet Crowell and the first marriage was that of John Teed and Jemima Bigelow. Squire Ephraim Brown, long a leader in Bloomfield Township affairs, 648 - YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY opened the first store in 1816 and was the postmaster when a post was established at Bloomfield Center in 1817. Squire Brown also ducted the first tavern and operated the first sawmill, an industry bu Grand River in 1817. Leman Ferry operated the first grist mill o same stream in 1819. Bloomfield Township was organized in 1816 and the first electi was held on April 9, 1817. Jared Kimball, David Comstock and I man Ferry were elected trustees; Cyril Green, clerk ; Mayhew Crowell an Timothy Bigelow, overseers of the poor ; Leman Ferry, Jr. and Lewi Clisby, fence viewers ; Jared Green, Jr. and John Weed, appraisers Jared Green, Jr., lister ; Jared Kimball, treasurer; Samuel Teed, con stable; Mayhew Crowell and Leman Ferry, supervisors. Bloomfield Township was the scene of the slave rescue that is given in detail in another part of this work. Anti-slavery sentiment was strong in all Trumbull County townships for three decades before the Civil war, and "Underground' Railroad" stations flourished. Here, too, temperance agitation that resulted in nationwide prohibition almost a hundred years later may be said to have had its birth, temperance societies being organized soon after 1830 when temperance was almost unheard of—almost ungodly in fact. Bloomfield Township is well watered, in fact its chief drawback was the excessive water in its swamp country. This low lying ground is chiefly in the valley of the Grand River, which stream runs through the western part of the township, and in the northeastern part. Numerous creeks traverse this low area, Baughman's Creek being the larges aside from the river. The Ashtabula branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad System runs through the eastern part of the township. North Bloomfield, located about half mile west of the actual center of the township, is the chief village, being the trading place as well as the governmental center. It is a rural village of singular beauty, with a square, good business houses and attractive residences. Lockwood, on the Pennsylvania road, is the railroad station for North Bloomfield and the greater part of the township. Bloomfield township has no grange but has a Masonic lodge in Rural Lodge No. 328, Free and Accepted Masons. The first school in Bloomfield was taught in a log building on Leman Ferry's farm, Chester Howard being instructor. This was in the winter of 1817-18. A schoolhouse was built at the center soon afterwards. Later schools were built throughout the township and in 1879 a select school of three grades was opened at North Bloomfield, giving the township excellent educational facilities. The township's schools are now centralized and located in supervision district No. 1. G. H. Adams is principal of the high school and Lola McFarland instructor. The grades are taught by .Pauline Patterson, Lillian Spellman, Nellie Douglas and E. Virginia Venn. The first religious services in Bloomfield were conducted by Rev. Giles H. Cowles in Leman Ferry's cabin in 1815, and in 182r Rev. Cowles organized the Presbyterian Church. Later this became a Congregationalist body and, in conjunction with the Methodists, built a church YOUNGSTOWN AND THE MAHONING VALLEY - 649 structure in 1836. The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1818 by Rev. Ira Eddy. The original church built by the Methodists and Congregationalists was replaced by a larger building in 1857, and in 1875 this became the property of the Methodists alone. The Disciples, or Christian, Church was organized about 1830 by Benjamin Alton. On October 19, 1836, a more formal organization was formed by Marcus Bosworth and in 1849 a church was built at Bloomfield Center. In 1875 the Congregationalist body became part owners of this building. Subsequently the structure was remodeled and much improved. Bloomfield Township officials include, J. W. Mitchell, R. J. Craig and G. T. Veney, trustees; 0. A. Huntley, clerk ; B. A. Russell, treasurer ; John S. McAdoo, justice of the peace. MESOPOTAMIA Mesopotamia Township lies in the Grand River Valley of Northern Trumbull County and was originally the property of Pierpont Edwards of the Connecticut Land Company. His son, John S. Edwards, later one of the leading men of Trumbull County, visited the township in 1799, and on his return the elder Edwards offered a bonus of 100 acres of land in Mesopotamia to each of the first five men who would purchase land, bring their families to the township and reside there for a fixed number of years, also fifty acres each to the first five single men who would settle in the township. In 1800 Hezekiah Speery, his son Alpheus and daughters, Martha and Cynthia, were the first settlers under this arrangement. In 1801 Otis and Lois Guild and their family, Seth Tracy and family, Joseph Noyes and family and Dr. Joseph Clark came. Unlike most of pioneers Tracy and his family made the journey from Massachusetts by way of the northern, or Lake Erie, route. Isaac Clark was a settler of 1804 and Gauger Smith and Thomas Bowyer came in 1805. A dozen other families came before 1820 and after that year settlement was fairly rapid. The first native white child in the township was a daughter born to Dr. Joseph Clark and wife and the first wedding was that of Griswold Gillette and Clarissa Tracy. John S. Edwards built the first sawmill in the township, on Mill Creek, in 1803 and in 1805 a grist mill was added. The first store was opened in 1818 by Linus Tracy and his brother Addison Tracy. Dr. D. L. Newcomb built and operated the first tavern in 1823. In the War of 1812 Mesopotamia Township sent eleven men from its small population. Linus Tracy, Oliver Guild, Jairus Guild and Whitney Smith going on the first call and Matthew Laird, Elias Sperry, Griswold Gillette, Ebenezer Lampson, Amadeus Brooks, Lucius Sperry and Isaac Clark on the second. Elias Sperry was wounded in the Battle of the Peninsula and Lucius Sperry died of fever contracted in the service. Mesopotamia Township was separately organized in 1819. At the election on April 5 of that year Luther Frisby, Moses Bundy and Elisha Sanderson were elected township trustees ; Addison Tracy, clerk; Reu-