HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY,

BY R. C. BROWN.*

(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE)

CHAPTER I.

PRIMITIVE APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY—THE CLAIMS OF VIRGINIA AND CONNECTICUT—THE CONNECTICUT WESTERN RESERVE—DONATION OF FIRE LANDS, AND SALE OF THE BALANCE TO THE CONNECTICUT LAND COMPANY INDIAN TITLES EXTINGUISHED—ORDINANCE OF 1787—ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST SURVEYING CORPS AT CONNEAUT—THE RESERVE SURVEYED 1NTO TOWNSHIPS -TRIALS AND SUFFERINGS OF THE SURVEYORS—ERECTION OF JEFFERSON AND TRUMBULL COUNTIES—ORGANIZATION OF FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP—PORTAGE COUNTY ERECTED, AND SELECTION OF 1TS SEAT OF JUSTICE—FIRST ELECTION, AND ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY—MINUTES OF THE FIRST MEETING OF THE COMMISSIONERS—ORIGINAL TOWNSHIPS—TAX LEVIES AND COLLECTORS F 1808—FIRST YEAR'S RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES—CHANGES IN THE WESTERN BOUNDARY LINE—PRESENT BOUNDARIES—ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF THE COUNTY—THE PORTAGE PATH—AREAS AND TOWNSHIPS—POPULATION STATISTICS.

THAT is now known as Portage County was, at the time of the coming of the white men, one vast, unbroken forest. The soil, by the annual accumulations of leaves and abundant growths of forest vegetation, was luxuriant, and the trees stood close, and were of gigantic size. The

streams and small lakes swarmed with fish, and the forest abounded with game. Where now are towns and hamlets filled with busy populations intent upon the accumulation of wealth, the mastery of knowledge, and the pursuits of pleasure, the deer browsed and the pheasant drummed his monotonous note. Where now stands the glowing furnace from which, day and night, tongues of flame are bursting, and where the busy water-wheel now furnishes power for numerous mills and factories, half naked, dusky warriors fashioned their spears with e implements of stone, and made themselves hooks out of the bones of animals, for alluring the finny tribe. Where now are fertile fields, upon which the thrifty farmer turns his furrow, which his neighbor takes up and runs on until its reaches from one end of the broad State to the other, and where are flocks and herds rejoicing in rich meadows, gladdened by abundant streams and fountains, or reposing at the heated noon-tide beneath ample shade, not a had been struck against the giants of the forest, the soil rested in virgin purity, the streams glided on in majesty, unvexed by wheel and unchoked by device of man.

Where now the long train rushes on with the speed of the wind over plain and mead, across brook and river, awakening the echoes of the hills the long day through, and at the midnight hour screaming out its shrill whistle in

* Chapters I to XII1 inclusive.

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fiery defiance, the wild native, issuing from his rude hut, trotted on in his forest path, pointed his bark canoe across the deep stream, knowing the progress of time only by the rising and setting sun, troubled by no meridians for its index, starting on his way when his nap was ended, and stopping for rest when a spot was reached that pleased his fancy. Where now a swarthy population toils ceaselessly deep down in the bowels of the earth, shut out from the light of day in digging the material that feeds the fires upon the forge, and gives genial warmth to the poor man's happy home, and to the lovers as they  chat merrily in the luxurious drawing-room, not a mine had been opened, and the vast beds of the black diamond rested unsunned beneath the superincumbent strata where they had been fashioned by the Creator's hand. Civilization had not yet come to disturb the equanimity of the red man as he smoked the pipe of peace at the council fire, and many a bitter struggle was to ensue before he would surrender to his white foe his goodly heritage by the forest stream and deep flowing river, and seek for himself new hunting-grounds in less favored regions.

The first authentic record we find of the white man's claim to this portion of the red man's domain is the Virginia title to the great Northwest Territory acquired through its several charters granted by James I in 1606, 1609 and 1611, without any recognition of the original owners and occupants of the soil. That colony first attempted to exercise authority over its extensive dominions lying northwest of the Ohio River, when, in 1769, the House of Burgesses passed the following act:

WHEREAS, The people situated on the Mississippi, in the said County of Botetourt, will be very remote from the Court House and must necessarily become a separate count as soon as their numbers are sufficient, which probably will happen in a short time be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the inhabitants of that part of County of Botetourt which lies on the said waters, shall be exempted from the payment of any levies to be laid by the said County Court for the purpose of building a Court House and prison for said county.

Civil government between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers existed only name until 1778, when, after the conquest of the country by Gen. George Rogers Clark, the Virginia Legislature organized the County of Illinois, embracing within its limits all of the lands lying west of the Ohio River to which Virginia had any claim. Col. John Todd received appointment from the Governor of Virginia as Civil Commandant and Lieutenant of the county. He served until his death, at the battle of Blue Licks in 1782, and Timothy de Montbnin was his successor. In 1783 the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act authorizing her delegates in Congress to convey to the United States all the rights of Virginia to the territory northwest of the 0hio River. Pursuant to this act, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arhur Lee and James Monroe, the Virginia delegates, ceded to the general Government, on the 1st of March, 1784, all right, title and claim of soil and jurisdiction to said territory previously held by Virginia. The deed of cession was accepted by Congress on the same day, and the United States thus secured the title of that State to the soil of Ohio.

Another claim, however, still remained to be satisfied, which was more closely connected with the portion of Ohio known as the Western Reserve than the preceding one. This claim reaches back to the fotinding of Connecticut, the original charter of which was granted by Charles II in 1662. It defined the limits of the grant to be "from the south line of Massachusetts on the north to Long Island Sound on the south, and from the Narragansett River on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west," which embraced all the country

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between the 41st and 42d degrees north latitude. These boundaries included not only what is now Connecticut, but also portions of New York and New Jersey, nearly half of Pennsylvania, the northern parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and a strip off the southern part of Michigan, besides portions of Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California. There as a clause, however, in the charter, which excepted from it such territory as was then occupied by prior settlers.

A dispute soon arose between New York and Connecticut as to their boundaries, when the King, in 1664, appointed Commissioners to settle it. They decided that the Maronee River should be the western boundary of Connecticut. With this decision against her, Connecticut neglected for nearly a century to assert her claim to any territory west of New York. In 1681 a charter was granted to William Penn of the territory embraced in the limits of Pennsylvania. This, of course, embraced a large part of the territory included in the charter of Connecticut, and bitter quarrels now sprung up between the two colonies as to their respective rights. In 1753 a company was formed in Connecticut to plant a colony on the Susquehanna River, on lands they claimed as included in her Charter. A purchase was made of the sachems of the Six Nations by this company in 1754, at Wyoming, and in 1774 a township was formed there, called Westmoreland, which sent a Representative to the Legislature of Connecticut. Pennsylvania and Connecticut both sold the same lands, and both agreed to give possession, which caused constant quarrels, and resort was often had to arms to expel those in possession. In 1770 the Legislature of Connecticut sent to England certain questions respecting her title to the lands west of New York. The answers were favorable to her claims, and she determined to enforce them, but the Revolutionary war coming on suspended the controversy.

In 1781 the two States appointed Commissioners to determine the dispute, and an act of Congress was passed granting to these Commissioners full power to act in the final settlement of the conflicting claims. The Commissioners met at Trenton, N. J., in 1782, and after a full hearing decided that Connecticut had no right to the lands in dispute, but that they belonged to Pennsylvania. The State of Connecticut acquiesced in the decision, but still claimed all the lands lying west of Pennsylvania, extending to the Mississippi River. To avoid all future trouble, Connecticut, in 1786, ceded all her lands west of Pennsylvania to Congress, excepting only 120 miles from the Pennsylvania line west, and north of latitude 41̊, over which, however, the United States retained full jurisdiction. This cession was accepted, and the controversy finally settled.

The territory thui confirmed to Connecticut has since been known as the Western Reserve, and lies between Lake Erie on the north, Pennsylvania on the east, the parallel of the 41st degree north latitude on the south, and the eastern line of Seneca and Sandusky Counties on the west. It extends 120 miles from east to west, and averages about fifty miles from north to south, although on the Pennsylvania line its width is sixty-eight miles. The Reserve contains about 3,800,000 acres, and is surveyed into townships, each five miles square. Half a million acres from off the west end of the Reserve were granted by Connecticut in 1792 to the residents of Greenwich, New London, Norwalk, Fairfield, Danbury, New Haven, and other villages of that State, whose property was burned by the English during the Revolutionary war. This grant is called the Fire Lands, because of being donated to compensate for the property destroyed by fire, and includes the five western ranges of townships in the Reserve. Excepting one township in Ashland County, and a small strip at the eastern end of Ottawa, the Fire Lands are embraced in

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Huron and Erie Counties. The entire Western Reserve embraces the counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Trumbull; also the greater portion of Mahoning and Summit, and very limited portions of Ashland and Ottawa.

After the donation of the Fire Lands, the remaining 3,300,000 acres put upon the market, and in 1795 sold by the State to the Connecticut Company for $1,200,000. This money was invested as a permanent called the Connecticut School Fund, the interest of which goes toward support of common schools in that State. The land company divided amount into 400 shares of $3,000 each, on payment of which a certificate issued entitling the holder to one four-hundredth part of the lands purchased. The company conveyed it by deed of trust to Jonathan Bran, John Caldwell

and John Mayan, to hold and sell for the proprietors. The certificates were all numbered, and then the proprietors drew for their land, similar to drawing a lottery.

Before the whites, however, could take peaceable possession of their lying in the Western Reserve, a title from the Indians was necessary, and was finally accomplished. Through the treaty of Fort Stanwix, consummated with the Six Nations October 22, 1784, the indefinite claim of that confederacy to the soil of Ohio was extinguished. This was followed in January, 1785 by the treaty of Fort McIntosh, by which the Delawares, Wyandots, Ottawas and Chippewas relinquished all claim to the territory lying east of the Cuyhoga River, Portage Path and Tuscarawas River, and south of a line running southwest from Fort Laurens, on the Tuscarawas (the town of Bolivar), to portage between the Big Miami and Maumee Rivers, near the western

boundary of the State. A similar relinquishment was effected with the Shawnees, by the treaty of Fort Finney, January 31, 1786. The treaty of Fort Harmar, January 9, 1789, and that of Greenville, August 3, 1795, re-establish and extended the southern boundary line through Ohio laid down by treaty of Fort McIntosh. All of the Western Reserve lying west of the Cuyahoga River and the Portage Path was secured by a treaty made at Fort Industry (Toledo), July 4, 1805, and thus the last vestige of Indian title to the lands in the Reserve ws forever extinguised.

When the United States had obtained possession of the country north and west of the Ohio River, Congress took the great step which resulted in the establishment of a wise and salutary civil government. On the 13th of July 1787, after a prolonged discussion of the principles and issues involved, there was issued "An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio," which has since been known as “the ordinance of 1787," or the "ordinance of freedom." By this great and states manlike ordinance, provision was made for successive forms of territorial government, adapted to successive steps of advancement in the settlement and development of the Western country. " This remarkable instrument,” says Chief Justice Chase, " was the last gift of the Congress of the old confederation to the country, and it was a fit consummation of their glorious labors." Up to this time the Government, to avoid infringements upon the rights pf the Indians, had discouraged and prevented the settlement of the

lands northwest of the Ohio, but on the passage of the ordinance emigration was fostered and encouraged in every way, and when the settlers went into the wilderness they found the law already there. "It was impressed upon the soil itself, while it yet bore up nothing but the forest."

In June, 1796, the Connecticut Land Company sent out a surveying party to divide the Reserve into townships. It was under the charge of Moses

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Cleveland, from whom the city of Cleveland takes its name. On the 4th of July the party arrived at the site of Conneaut, Ashtabula County, where they celebrated our great national holiday, being the first celebration on the Reserve. The expedition consisted of forty-five men, two women and one child. The work was begun and vigorously prosecuted during the summer and fall of 1796, and the following spring a second expedition came out to finish the survey. Wareham Shepherd; the last survivor of that surveying corps, and Amzi Atwater, who subsequently became Associate Judge of Portage County, were leading members of this party. When surveying at the northeast corner of Palmyra Township, Portage County, July 5, 1797, Shepherd was taken sick with dysentery, and Miner Bickwell, one of their assistants, with a violent fever. They kept on, however, till they got the line run between Braceville Township, Trumbull County, and Windham Township, in this county, when Bickwell became too sick to proceed further. Here was a

trying time. In a wilderness, without medicine, and without skill to use it if they had it, and with no guide but their compass—under such difficulties the bravest heart might well grow discouraged. But "necessity is the mother of invention," and Atwater cut two poles and fastened bark to them so they would hang beside a horse like the shafts of a wagon—one horse following the other so far apart that the sick man could lie lengthwise between them. With bark and blankets they made his bed as comfortable as possible, and by twisted bark ropes fastened it to their pack saddles.

Shepherd becoming somewhat better, Atwater left him with one assistant to run the east line of Range 6 to the lake as best he could, and started for Cleveland with the sick man. They returned back to the northeast corer of Palmyra Township, and then started west on the line between Palmyra and Paris. In this litter Atwater carried Bickwell five days—and a distance of fifty miles. He had a high fever all the time, and his reason but a part of the time. On the fifth day they arrived at the south line of Independence, Cuyahoga County, on the 25th of July, 1797, and Bickwell died about two hours after their arrival. He was buried near the river, on the south line of that town, on the farm subsequently owned by Squire Frazer. He was the second white person that died on the Reserve, David Eldridge, one of the party, being drowned the May previous in swimming Grand River. Upon Atwater's return he found Shepherd at the northeast corner of Nelson Township, and they then ran the east line of Range 8 northward to the lake. This finished the township lines of the Reserve, the eastern line of Portage County being the last one surveyed. The men were nearly all worn out, and sickness prevailed to an alarming extent. Peleg Washburn and William Andrews, two of the company, died in Cleveland, in August, and nearly every man was sick. A man by the name of Tinker, the principal boatman, and from whom Tinker's Creek took its name, in going down the lake in the fall was drowned, together with two others, by the capsizing of their boat. One or two boatloads of sick were sent off early in the fall, and the last of the surveying party left the Reserve the fore part of November, 1797, a sorry, sickly-looking set of beings, the very reverse of what they were in the spring.

Such were the sufferings and trials of those hardy bands of surveyors who prepared the way for the coming of the pioneers, and whose descendants, while enjoying the blessings of the present, can scarcely realize that only eighty-eight years ago such was the condition of this beautiful country. So suddenly and so strangely has the geniis of change and alteration waved its charmed wand over the land, that the unwritten history of those early days is recalled as one remembers a fading dream. We are living in an age of invention and

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machinery. These have largely destroyed the romance of frontier life, and much of the strange, eventful realities of the past are rapidly becoming mythical, and the narratives of the generation that settled the Western Reserve, abounding in rich treasure of incidents and character, are being swallowed up and forgotten in the surging, eventful present.

At the time the first settlement was made within the present limits of Portage County, it formed a part of Jefferson, erected July 29, 1797, and which then embraced all of the territory inside the following boundaries, with the seat of justice at Steubenville:

Beginning upon the bank of the Ohio River, where the western boundary of Pennsylvania crosses it, and down the said river to the southern boundary of the fourth township, in the third range (of those seven ranges of townships that were surveyed in conformity to the ordinance of Congress of the 20th of May, 1785), and with the said southern boundary west, to the southwest corner of the sixth township of the fifth range; thence north along the western boundary of the said fifth range to the termination thereof; thence due west to the Muskingum River, and up the Muskingum and Tuscarawas Rivers to and with the Portage, between the latter and the Cuyahoga River; thence down the Cuyahoga to Lake Erie; thence easterly along the shore of the lake to the western boundary of Pennsylvania, and south with the same to the place of beginning.

Three years passed by, and on the 10th of July, 1800, Trumbull County was erected, partly from territory previously embraced in Jefferson, and included all of the lands constituting the Western Reserve. Its official boundaries were established as follows:

Beginning at the completion of the 41st of north latitude,120 miles west of the west boundary of Pennsylvania, Sand running from thence by a line to be drawn north, parallel and 120 miles west of the said west line of Pennsylvania, and to continue north until it comes to 420, 2' north latitude; thence with a line to be drawn east until it intersects the said western boundary of Pennsylvania; thence with the said western boundary of Pennsylvania south, to the completion of the 41st0 of north latitude; and from thence west to the place of beginning.

In 1802 all the territory now embraced in Portage County, besides a portion of that in Trumbull and Summit, was organized under the name of Franklin Township; but soon afterward other townships were cut off from Franklin, and when Portage County was erected it contained six townships in good runing order. It remained a portion of Trumbull until the 10th of February 1807, on which date the Legislature passed the following act, to take effect and be in force from and after the 7th of June succeeding its passage:

1. Be it enacted, etc., That all that part of the county of Trumbull which lies west of the fifth range of townships be erected into a separate county by the name of Portage and shall be vested with all the powers, privileges and immunities of a separate and distinct county: Provided, That it shall be lawful for the Coroners, Sheriffs, Constables and Collectors of the County of Trumbull to do and perform all the duties which they are or may be required to do, within the bounds of the said County of Portage, before the said division shall take place; and all suits and actions, whether of a civil or criminal nature which shall be pending, and all crimes which shall have been committed therein at the time of said divrsion, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution in the Country of Trumbull, as though no divrsion had taken place.

2. That the courts for the said County of Portage shall be holden at the house of, Benjamin Tappan, until a permanent seat of justice shall be established.

3. That all that part of the Connecticut Western Reserve that lies west of the Cuyahoga River and south of the township numbered five, shall be annexed to and become a part of the county of Portage: Provided, That the money arising to the county from a tax on land, within the said district, shall be appropriated by the Commissioners of Portage County, and expended in laying out and making roads and erecting bridges, within the boundaries of said district, west of the Cuyahoga.

The act also authorized the appointing of Commissioners, under the law establishing seats of justice; to fix upon the place for 'the county seat of Portage County. The Legislature appointed Robert Simison, Samuel Hunter and Rezin Beall, who made their report to the Court of Common Pleas of

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Portage County at its first session, August 23, 1808, having selected Ravenna, which had been laid out by Benjamin Tappan the previous spring, as the seat of justice for the new county. There is a well authenticated tradition that Aaron Olmstead, the original proprietor of the present township of Franklin, was very desirous of having the county seat located on his land, and in the summer of 1807 came out from the East, and with John Campbell, of Campbellsport, selected a site for public buildings a little north of the upper ceme. eery in the city of Kent. Olmstead made arrangements with Campbell for the latter to use his influence with the State Commissioners in favor of this location, and to promise that he (Olmstead) would donate the land and erect a Court House at his own expense, if the Commissioners selected that site for the county seat of Portage County. He then returned to the East, where he soon afterward died, leaving no provision for carrying out his soromisesi and under a will previously executed bequeathing all the unsold lands to his grandchildren, the proposed site could not be donated for county purposes. It is generally believed that had it not been for Olmstead's death, the seat of justice would undoubtedly have been located on the Cuyahoga River, at Kent, instead of Ravenna, and consequently the boundary lines of Portage County would be much different from what they are to-day.

Though the act erecting Portage County was passed and went into effect in 1807, the new county remained attached to Trumbull for one year longer. On the 8th of June, 1808, an election was held, and Abel Sabin, Joel Gaylord and Lewis Day elected Commissioners; Alva Day, Sheriff; and Lewis Day, Coroner of Portage County. On the same date the Commissioners met for the purpose of organizing and putting the wheels of local government in motion. On the first page of the Commissioners' Journal the following record is made of this important event in the county's history:

In conformity to an act of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, entitled "An Act establishing Boards of County Commissioners," the Commissioners in and for the County of Portage met at the house of Robert Eaton*, in Ravenna, on Monday, the eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight. Persons present, Lewis Day, Joel Gaylord and Abel Sabin, Esquires, Commissioners of said county, who, having produced certificates of their being duly elected as such, and having taken the necessary oaths required by law, proceeded to discharge the duties of their said offices, in pursuance to the above recited act.

The Board of Commissioners proceeded to fix and determine on a suitable person to do and perform the duties of Clerk to the said Board. Whereupon it was considered that Abel Sabin, Esquire, one of the Commissioners, was a suitable person to discharge the said duties of Clerk, and accordingly was appointed thereto, and accepted the same.

The Board of Commissioners in and for said county appointed Elias Harmon, Esquire, Treasurer of the county aforesaid, for the year ensuing; who, having accepted the said appointment, entered into bonds in the sum of three thousand dollars, with for his sureties, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office, and took the oath prescribed by law.

Ordered by the Board of Commissioners in and for the County of Portage, that the sum of two dollars be allowed as a bounty for each and every wolf or panther -killed, over the age of six months, within said county, and the sum of one dollar for each wolf or panther, under the age of six months, killed within the term of one year, in the county aforesaid, to be paid out of the County Treasury, on the order of the Commissioners, in conformity to the statute in such cases made and provided.

Portage County at hat time possessed but six organized townships, viz.: Franklin, Deerfield, Aurora, Hiram, Springfield and Hudson. The two last mentioned then included the ten townships taken from Portage in the erection of Summit County, in 1840, also the present townships of Randolph and Suffield in this county. Franklin Township embraced the present townships of Franklin, Ravenna, Charlestown, Brimfield and Rootstown. Deerfield Town-

* This house stands abott two and a half miles southeast of Ravenna, and since 1815 has been the Thompson homestead.

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ship then included Deerfield, Atwater, Palmyra, Paris and Edinburg. AuroraTownship embraced Aurora and Streetsboro; and Hiram Township covered the territory now known as Hiram, Mantua, Nelson, Shalersville, Freedom, Windham and Garrettsville.

The resident land tax levied August 23, 1808, was as follows: Franklin Township, $46.83; Deerfield, $48.'78; Aurora, $38.17; Hiram, $36.31; Springfield, $34.97; Hudson, $81.71. The personal property tax levied on the same date was: Franklin Township, $35; Deerfield, $48.90; Aurora, $12.30; Hiram $23.40; Springfield, $26.60; Hudson, $55.60. The following Tax Collection

were also appointed at the same time Arthur Anderson, Franklin Township; James Carter, Deerfield; Oliver Forward, Aurora; Isaac Mills, Hiram; Timothy Culver, Springfield; George Darrow, Jr., Hudson.

The entire receipts of Portage County from Jane 13, 1808, to June 17, 1809, were $3,247.71, of which amount $2,227.52 was the tax on lands lying west of the Cuyahoga River, which, by a clause in the act of erection, were annexed to this county. The expenditures during the same period were $2,355.56, of which $1,125.35 were expended in laying out roads and building bridges in the territory west of the Cuyahoga, in compliance with the clouts attaching said territory to Portage County. Thus, the total receipts of this county, from the territory lying between the Tiumbull County line and the Cuyahoga River, were, during the first year of its organized existence, $1,020.19; truly a very insignificant sum with which to meet its financial wants.

By an act passed January 22, 1811, the west line of the eleventh range of townships was designated as the western boundary of Portage County; and on the 18th of February, 1812, Medina County was erected and attached to Portage for judicial purposes, where it remained until its separate organization, January 14, 1818. The west line of the eleventh range continued to be the western boundary of Portage until the 29th of January, 1827, when the following survey was established:

Beginning on the south line of the Connecticut Western Reserve, at the point where the middle of the Tuscarawas River intersects the same; thence northerly, following the middle of the said Tuscarawas River, to the range line between the eleventh and twelfth ranges, as run by the Connecticut Land Company; thence north on the course of the range line last aforesaid, to the north line of the township numbered four; thence east on the north line of number four, in the eleventh range, to the middle of the Cuyahoga River; thence down the middle of said river to the north line of the township numbered five, in said ranges.*****

No more changes occurred in the boundary lines of Portage County until the erection of Summit, March 3, 1840, when its two western tiers of townships were cut off in the formation of the new county, establishing the west line of the ninth range as the western boundary of Portage, and thus its boundaries have since remained. It is bounded on the west by Summit County, on the north by Geauga, on the east by Trumbull and Mahoning, and on the south by Mahoning and Stark, the last mentioned boundary being also the southern line of the Western Reserve.

Portage County received its name from the fact that the old Indian Portage Path, between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas Rivers, was, originally, within its limits, though now in Summit County. This historic path was a part of the boundary established in 1784, by the Treaty of Fort McIntosh, and remained the dividing line between the whites and Indians until 1805, when the treaty consummated at Fort Industry established the western line of the Reserve as the north and south boundary between the two races in Ohio. The Portage Path left the Cuyahoga River at the village of Old Portage, about three miles north of Akron, thence ran westward up the hill about half a mile to the high

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ground, where it turned south and ran about parallel with the Ohio Canal to *ear Summit Lake; thence took the low ground nearly south to the Tuscarawas, which it struck a mile or more above the New Portage. The whole length of the path was, according to the survey made by Moses Warren, in 1797, eight miles, four chains and fifty-five links.

As the county increased in population new townships were organized, and prior to the erection of Summit County, in 1840, Portage contained thirty townships, with a combined area of about 740 square miles of territory, or 73,600 acres. The erection of Summit, however, left Portage County with ut twenty townships (Garrettsville has since been formed from Hiram and Nelson), and an area of 490 square miles, or 313,600 acres, including streams and lakes; but the report of the Secretary of State for 1881 gives 312,487 acres as the amount of land contained in this county. Its present townships are Atwater, Aurora, Brimfield, Charlestown, Deerfield, Edinburg, Franklin, reedom, Garrettsville, Hiram, Mantua, Nelsoln, Palmyra, Paris, Randolph, venna, Rootstown, Shalersville, Streetsboro, Suffield and Windham.

The population of the county and the several townships by decades, since 1810 and 1850 respectively, is given in he following tables: County-1810, 2,995; 1820, 1,095; 1830, 18,820; 1840, 22,965; 1850, 24,419; 1860, 24,208; 1870, 24,584; 1880, 27,500.

TOWNSHIPS.

* Organized from Hiram and Nelson July 6, 1874.