416 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.
CHAPTER XVIII.
DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP.
BREAKING FIRST GROUND-SETTLERS OF 1800—THE ELYS, DAYS AND DIVERS-A TRIP ON THE MAUM-ING-HARDSHIPS AND PRIVATIONS-GREAT INCREASE - FIRST MILITARY COMPANY-AFTER THE ORGANIZATION-A REMARKABLE FAMILY-SOME EARLY FACTS-GRANT'S TANNERY-SHOOTING OF DIVE HUNTERS AND HUNTING - EARLY PREACHERS AND CHURCHES SCHOOLS, BUSINESS AND STATISTICS.
DEERFIELD, laid down in the surveys as Town 1, Range 6, was one of the earliest settled in the county, and for three reasons, possibly—good land well watered and being in close proximity to the early western settlements of Pennsylvania; for although the very first settlers were from New England, there came in afterward such a sprinkling of Pennsylvanians as to materially alter the character of the inhabitants, for the modes of life of the average Pennsylvania and New England farmers differ in many particulars. Your Pennsylvania farmer, for instance, builds him a big barn, highly ornamented, regardless of what his dwelling may be, while his neighbor from Connecticut takes care first, that his house is comfortable, and then attends to the outbuildings. The original proprietors of the township were Gideon Granger, appointed Postmaster-General in 1800, and Oliver Phelps, both of Connecticut; Phelps owned two-thirds of the land.
In the early part of 1799 Lewis Ely, Lewis Day, Moses Tibbals and Daniel Diver, of Connecticut and Massachusetts, purchased One-third from Mr. Phelps, when Lewis Day, accompanied by Horatio Day, started for his new possessions, in a wagon drawn by horses, arriving in June. Shortly afterward, in July, Lewis Ely came in, he having started a little later than the other two; he, however, was the first settler in the township, as he brought his wife and family, built a cabin and settled down for life. In the fall the two Days and Ely broke the first ground and put out a crop, the Days them going back to their home in the East. Ely, although at the time of his coming being a resident of Connecticut, was born in Massachusetts. He located on Lot 19, a little east of the grave-yard, on the east of the Center. He died in September, 1826.
February 10, 1800, John Campbell, Joel Thrall and Alva Day walked all the way from Connecticut to their future home in Deerfield. The Alleghenies, when they crossed those mountains, were covered with nearly six feet of snow, and they suffered terribly from cold, but arrived safely on the 4th of March. In this same month Alva Day and Lewis Ely went across to Atwater and cut a large tree for the purpose of digging nut a canoe and going to Virginia to procure provisions, as they were very scarce. They launched their log into Yellow Creek and floated it down to the Mahoning, or, as the Indians called it, Ma-um-ing, meaning " the way to the market," where they fashioned it into a canoe. It was some time in April before they arrived at their destination, but after starting back with their supplies, obtained opposite Steubenville, they found they could not get back by water, and returned for an ox-team, only getting back home the latter part of May. In this year
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PAGE - 418 - PICTURE LEWIS M. BLOOMFIELD
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1800, came James Laughlin from Washington County, Penn., bringing his wife and one child, a daughter. He afterward had six sons and five other daughters. He settled south of the Center. Henry Rogers and several others came at the same time. In July Lewis Day, who had returned to Connecticut the year before, came out with his wife, Horatio, Munn, Seth, Lewis, Jr., Solomon and Seba; also the wife of Alva Day, who came out earlier. They came with an ox-team and were over forty days making the trip. Mr. Day came from Granby, Conn., and had been a soldier in the Revolution, being Sergeant of his company. His brother, Asa, was with him, and was killed by the Indians on the Mohawk River, at a place called Stony Arabia. The old gentleman died in 1847, at the extreme age of ninety-three years. He had a been member of the Methodist Church for over sixty years. Horatio, who came out with him in 1799, died in 1852, aged seventy-two years. The wife of Alva Day died in 1838, and Mrs. Lewis Day in 183, from the bite of a rattlesnake.
For the next four years after 1800 the population increased at a rapid rate, many settlers coming in not only from Connecticut and Massachusetts, but from Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. In 1802 Ephraim B. Hubbard, a native of Stratford, Conn., who had removed to Dutchess County, N. Y., where he was married, and thence to Greene. County, same State, resolved upon settling in the Scioto Valley, but on his way thither fell in company with a Mr. Penn, who induced him to change his mind and come to this county, which he did, settling in Deerfield, and purchasing a tract of land. He died in 1825 aged sixty-one years. His three sons became prominent citizens, one of hem entering the ministry of the Methodist Church. Many others, whose names are now forgotten, came in this year. In 1803 Daniel Diver came in with his wife and family. He was born in 1752, in Granville, Mass., but the. family was originally from Holland. His sons were Daniel, John and Samuel; and the daughters were Peggy, married to Simeon Card, who came in with the Divers and who died a few years afterward; Mary, married to Rev. Shadrash Bostwick, who came in at the same time his father-in-law did, and who was not only a typical circuit rider of the Methodist Church, but a very excellent physician; Betsey and Josey were two other daughters. In 1804 the population had so increased that a meeting was held for the purpose of forming a military company, which resulted in the selection of Henry Rogers, Captain; John Diver, Lieutenant and John Campbell, Ensign. Campbell afterward became General and Rogers Major. Numerous settlements were made during this year, most of the newcomers being from Pennsylvania. In 1805 John Murray came in and commenced following his trade as a millwright, but there ilia being much to do in- his line, he commenced the study of medicine at New Lisbon shortly afterward. He was a man of considerable education and natural talents, and became somewhat noted, locally, as a physician. A German named Burhans, a miller, from Maryland, came also in this year, as well as One or two from Virginia and Pennsylvania.
April 7, 1806, the township was organized, and the following officers elected: Joseph Hart, James McKelvey and Horatio Day, Trustees; Daniel Diver and David Daniels, Overseers; Amos Thurber and Alva Day, Fence Viewers; Alva. Day and William Bacon, Appraisersi James Carter, Constable; Daniel Diver, Treasurer; Alva Day, E. B. Hubbard, Amos Thurber, Asa Hall, John Vennetta and E. Baker, Supervisors. Lewis Day, James Laughlin and James Thurber were the Judges of the-Election, and Shadrach Bostwick, the Clerk. Several of these officers resided at this time in what are now adjoining townships to Deerfield, and the list includes the first man who settled in
420 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.
Atwater and the first in Palmyra. The township was named in honor of Deerfield, Mass., the birthplace of the mother of Lewis Day, Sr. At a meeting of the County Commissioners in August, 1808, James Carter was made Collector of Taxes for Deerfield, and at the annual election in October, Alva Day was elected Sheriff, Lewis Day a Commissioner, and Lewis Ely, Coroner, four county officers from Deerfield. In 1809 Seth Day, one of the sons of Lewis, Sr., was appointed Clerk to the County Commissioners, and the same year was appointed Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas and Supreme Court; in 1817 he was appointed Recorder, and in 1818 Postmaster of Ravenna, holding the last three offices till 1832, when he entered private business, where he became widely known.
In 1806 came in a large number of settlers, and from various section Moses Tibballs, one of the original four purchasers, came this year and settled on Lot 28. He was from Granville, Mass., and died in 1841, leaving four sons: Alfred M., Aubert L., Francis W. and Seymour S. Either this year or previously, Noah Grant settled in the township. He was the father of James R. Grant, and grandfather of Gen. U. S. Grant. The wife of Noah Grant lies buried in the old cemetery at the Center, but the exact spot has now passed away from the memory of all. James Carter, from Virginia, and Robert and George Taylor, and William Reed, from Washington County, Penn., also came, and quite a number of the descendants of the latter still live in the county. In 1807 the influx increased, and many names appear which of afterward figured in various ways in public and private business of the township and county. Peter Mason came from Connecticut, in company with his brother Stephen, both young men. One of them married a Day and raised seventeen children. The other marricd an Ely. Andrew Pownell and a brother also came about this time, both having families. Also the Hartzells.
There came Jacob, John, George H., William, Abraham and Joseph Hartzell, from Northampton County, Penn. George H. Hartzell, the leader of the company, and the patriarch of the entire connection, had come out in 1806 and made a large purchase bf land for himself, his numerous family, and two sons-in-law, John Quiet and Frederick Lazarus. George H. Hartzell had a family of twelve children, eight boys and four girls, and his eldest son John had twelve children; George, Jr., had a family of eleven children; the daughter who married Lazarus had ten children; William had ten children, and so on; George, Jr., was eighty-four; John, eighty; Christena, wife of George, seventy-four; Lazarus, eighty, and his wife seventy-eight; William seventy-eight years old, and so on.
Hartzell. Senior, called together his own family and organized a congregation on his own account. He was not a preacher, nor even an Elder, but he read from the Scriptures and instructed his flock.
In 1800 Lewis Ely gave a plat of ground east of the Center to be used as a burying ground, and the first person buried in it was a good Indian; he was a little boy, and they say "all good Indians die young." Two young men made him a nice little coffin and stained it with the juice of maple bark. The next, and the first white person, to die was Betsey Rogers, who died from the effects of the bite of a rattlesnake. She was the daughter of Henry Rogers. The first marriage occurred in April of this year, and the parties were John Campbell and Sarah Ely. They were married by Squire Calvin Austin, of Trumbull County, the nearest official to them who could tie the knot. The groom was known in after years as Gen. Campbell. The first birth occurred August 22, 1800, when the wife of Alva Day bore him a child, whom they named Polly. She became the wife of Jeduthan W. Farnum. In this year
DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP - 421
Lewis Day was appointed Postmaster by Postmaster-General Gideon Granger. In the fall of 1801 James Laughlin finished a grist-mill on the Mahoning, which was a great convenience, as up to that time the inhabitants had to go to Youngstown to get their milling done. In this year, April 12, the next child was born, a daughter, to. John and Sarah Campbell, and whom they named Anna. 'The next wedding was probably that of John. Diver to Laura Ely, in the spring of 1804. He immediately settled on Lot 30 and opened a public house, which was the first tavern in the township, and where there is still one kept called the Diver House. " Uncle John," as he was familiarly called, kept this tavern forty years. About 1805-06 Burhans, the German, built a rude mill on the Mahoning, about one mile below Laughlin's mill, but not a vestige of it now remains. The land tax of resident owners in 1808 was $48.78. In 1808 Alva Day, Cromwell and Walter Dickinson and Charles Chittenden cut out and bridged the road from Old Portage to Range 17, west of Medina. John Diver, whose character resembled very much that of Jabez Gilbert, in Palmyra, ins, like Gilbert, one of the earliest mail contractors and carriers on the Reserve. Diver had the first contract for carrying the mail from New Lisbon to Mansfield, by way of Canton and Wooster. He was in the business over forty years, and it is said that no obstacle, however forbidding, ever prevented him from keeping to the letter and intent of his contracts. Following Indian trails when the savages were hostile and swimming swollen streams at the dead hour of night were common occurrences in the early days. In the latter part of 1811 a company of men was raised for the purpose of offering themselves to the Government when hostilities would commence with the British or Indians, and John Campbell was elected Captain, Alva Day, First Lieutenant, and Lewis Day, First Sergeant. When they were called into service in July, 1812, Campbell was sick, and Lieut. Day took his place. They were first ordered to Lower Sandusky, and from there to Detroit to re-enforce Hull. While at River Raisin they were informed of the surrender of Hull, and were told by a British officer that they were included in the surrender. Several of them who were sick were sent to Malden, where Lewis/ Day died. Lieut. Day was elected in 1815 a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, which office he held for fourteen years. Deerfield, not only in the early times, but latterly, has furnished many men who have made their marks in the history of the county in the various walks of life.
In 1801 James Laughlin erected a grist-mill, the first on the Mahoning River. It was also he first water-power mill in the county.
About 1804-05 there came to the township and settled near the Center a man named Noah Giant. He had a wife and a son, latter named Jesse, and soon after coming started a small tannery a fourth of a mile west of the Center on the site of the present tannery owned by H. W. Muerman. This old tanner, as stated elsewhere, who also followed shoe-making, was the grandfather of the great General who gave the Rebellion its quietus and restored the Union, and whose name will go ringing down the ages as one of the ablest Captains of the world. Noah Grant did considerable work for the Indians and was, consequently, well known to most of them in the southern part of the county, and, being familiar with his dusky customers, possibly drank with them sometimes.
The correct account of Diver's murder as near as it can now be gathered, is, in a nutshell, about as follows: John Diver had traded a mare and colt to Rickshaw, an old Indian, for an Indian pony, and who got the best of the trade will never now be ascertained, but that Diver cheated the Indian is not reasonable from the fact that they were on good terms afterward, several months elapsing from the time of the trade till the shooting. Besides, the wary character of the Indian and his knowledge of horse-flesh, precludes any probability of his being
422 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.
cheated in that kind of a trade. It is said, however, that Nickshaw became dissatisfied because the mare would not " eat sticks "—browse—in the scant undergrowth, not being raised on that kind of food, as the Indian rarely feeds his horse. The truth of the matter, no doubt, was that the treacherous and revengeful nature of the savage prompted him to get even with Diver, not because the mare was not a good one, nor that he was cheated, but that she was not suited to Indian modes of living, for he never asked Diver to trade back. He being an old man and not quite sure of his aim, employed John Mohawk, a young buck, to shoot his fancied aggrievor; so, on the night of. January 22, 1807, Mohawk watched his opportunity and sent a ball through the temple of Daniel Diver, the brother of John, he being mistaken for hie brother. He was shot between where the monument now stands and the blacksmith shop. The bullet destroyed the optic nerve and rendered the victim blind for life; he afterward raised a family. A. party was collected who followed the Indians, who immediately fled into Richland Township, in what is now Summit County, where Nickshaw and his squaw were killed. Big Son, the chief, and several others were captured and brought back, tried and acquitted; Mohawk escaped. It was a case of proxy all around,. for neither Daniel Diver nor Mohawk had anything to do with the affair, except as shooter and " shootee."
In 1802 Henry Showell preached the first sermon in Deerfield Township, In 1803 Rev. Shadrach Bostwick, who married a daughter of Daniel Diver, came to the settlement with his father-in-law, and from that time made hie home in the township when not engaged in ministerial duties. He was one of the very early circuit riders of the Methodist Church, and was a man peculiarly fitted for the arduous duties of the position. His endurance was wonderful, and, although not having much culture, his sermons were powerful, and just what was suited to the primitive ideas of the pioneers. He, of course, preached the first sermon in Deerfield, and the next was, doubtless Rev. William Showell. Rev. William Swayzey, also, was an early preacher- of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he would get so excited that he would jump down from the pulpit and rake his hearers over the coals from the floor,. The first church society organized in the county was the Methodist, about 18011 or 1804, and consisted of the Lewis Day and Lewis Ely families; their first church edifice, however, was not erected until 1818, when a frame building was "put up " on the southwest corner of the square. The next was in 1835, by the same denomination. The present substantial structure was dedicated. July 26, 1874, and is an honor to the taste, piety and liberality of the Meth odists of the township. This edifice cost $8,000, and is handsomely finished and furnished. The present pastor is Rev. J. W. Moore.
In 1818 Rev. Bruce organized a Presbyterian Church of the Old School, and, they erected a small building on Lot 11, but it afterward passed into the hands of another branch of the church. Rev. Beers also preached here, The Disciples of Christ organized a church in 1828. They have a very nea little church now, with Rev. Pierson as pastor. The Deerfield Free Presbyterian Church was incorporated in 1853. John, F. and L. Hartzell were elected Trustees, Caleb Steel, Treasurer, and Jacob Shutz, Clerk.
The first school taught in the town was presided over by Robert Campbe somewhere about 1803. The house stood on Lot 20. In the followi statistical review is shown the present condition of the Deerfield schools Total revenue, $2,600; total expenditures, $1,924; eight school buildi valued at $3,500; average pay for teachers, $30 for males and $22 for females pupils enrolled, 102 boys and 101 girls. The schoolhouse at Deerfield Center is a commodious and substantial building.
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Deerfield Center Business.—General store, Isaac Wilson & Son; drug and grocery, J. G. Preston; wagon shop, Charles Mertz; harness, H. P. Hoover; blacksmith, Elmer Miller; hotels, Bartlett House and Diver House; physician, Dr. H. M. Ogilbee; Postmaster, N. L. Wann.
Yale.—Postmaster, Hiram Farham; wagon and blacksmith shop; steam saw-mill. Deerfield Station—warehouse, John S. Wilson. Benton 'Depot— warehouse, Bosworth & Shafer. Grist and saw-mill water-power, one mile south of Deerfield Center. Steam, saw and grist-mill, three miles southeast of Center. Steam saw-mill, two miles northeast of Center. Tannery, one- fourth mile west of Center. Tannery on southern line of township. Cheese factory, two miles southwest of Center. Town mill, two and one-half miles southeast of Center. Gunsmith, two miles northeast of Center.
Township Officers.—Trustees, C. M. Smith, F. D. Tibbals, Ely Day; Clerk, James Forsythe; Treasurer, H. P. Hoover; Assessor, 0. P. Mowen; Constables, H. N. Hutson, James Watson; Justices of the Peace, J. H. Hoffman, C. S. Tibbals.
Portage Oil Company was organized April 4, 1865, at Deerfield, with the following named members: J. S. Cowden, W. C. Wharton, Reuben H. Orvis, John McConry, N. N. Wann, A. T. Bacon, Samuel Diver, C. Ruel, W. Pickering, E. W. Gray, Isaac Williams, Albert Ruel, D. W. Goss, Adam McCrossen, F. Hartzell, Daniel Hartzell, Joseph Waggoner and Solomon Hartzell. The object of organization was to dig or bore oil wells. The capital stook was placed at $500,000. The history of the "oil craze " of that time tells the story of this enterprise.
Deerfield Agricultural Society was organized at Deerfield February 6, 1874, with Charles 0. Betts, Harmon D. Hutson and Charles Parham members. This was a society for the diffusion of useful knowledge, of which the ladies of the township were honorary members.
The township is one of the best in the county, all things considered. The land is excellent, and it is well watered, the Mahoning River and its tributaries affording ample irrigation for the southern and western portions, whilst numerous small streams supply the balance. The soil is mostly a clay loam, and the land lies handsomely. Considerable wool is grown, in addition to a large surplus of the ordinary farm products. The Cleveland, Youngstown & Pittsburgh Railroad passes through the township. A beautiful monument stands at the Center, erected to the memory of the gallant boys in blue who so nobly marched and bravely fell that their country might live. Deerfield sent eighty-six soldiers to the field, and fifteen of them were killed or died in the service.
The statistics of Deerfield for 1884 present many interesting facts: The number of acres of wheat, 1,030, bushels, 17,037; 96 bushels of rye; 176 bushels of buckwheat; 28,760 bushels of oats; 1,280 bushels of corn (shelled); 70 bushels broom corn; 1,846 acres of meadow, 2,702 tons of hay; clover, 426 acres, 654 tons of hay, 145 bushels of seedi flax, 21 acres, 270 bushels of seed, and 23,100 pounds of fiber; 43 acres of potatoes yielded 5,808 bushels; homemade butter, 55,055 pounds; home-made cheese, 4,000 pounds; 4,247 pounds maple sugar, and 2,815 gallons of syrup from 17,605 trees; 941 pounds of honey from 98 hives; 24,242 dozen of eggs; 2910 acres of apple orchard produced 4,047 bushels; 238 of peaches gave 32 bushels; 6 bushels of plums; wool, 30,037 pounds; milch cows, 412; stallions, 4; dogs, 104; killed 2 sheep; died of disease-10 hogs, 130 sheep, 12 cattle and 7 horses. Acres of cultivated land, 5,935, of pasture, 5,076, of woodland, 2,664, of waste land, 211; aggregate, 13,886 acres. Population in 1850 was 1,371, including 591 youth; in 1870, 1,025; in 1880, 985; in 1884 (estimated), 1,000.