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CHAPTER XXIV.

(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE)

MANTUA TOWNSHIP.

FIRST SETTLER OF PORTAGE COUNTY-FIRST WHEAT-AMZI ATWATER-ELIAS HARMON-OTHER SETTLERS-ORGANIZATION-FIRST BIRTH, MARRIAGE AND DEATH-PRIMITIVE INDUSTRIES- A PECULIAR CHARACTER-ANOTHER QUEER ONE-JUDGE ATWATER'S BEAR FIGHT-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS-BUSINESS, SOIL, ETC.-MANTUA STATION-MANTUA CORNERS-MASONRY-STATISTICS.

MANTUA received the first settler that entered Portage County, anticipating four other townships by about six months. It was originally the property of the "Suffield, Cuyahoga & Big Beaver Land Company," all the members of which, some sixteen in number, lived in Suffield, Conn. This company owned three other townships, but at the drawing the land now comprising Mantua fell to the lot of David, Fidelio and Ebenezer Xing, Jr., and Martin Sheldon, Gideon Granger, Thomas Sheldon and Oliver Phelps, also owned small parcels of the land, and Ebenezer Sheldon afterward purchased a part of Martin Sheldon's interest. It was then known as Town 5, Range 8. The township was surveyed by David Abbott into tracts of 420 acres each, there being forty- two lots. Abbott took two quarter lots, northwest quarter of Lot 29 and southeast quarter of Lot 23. He was a member of the convention that formed the first constitution of Ohio.

The first man to drive a stake, put up a cabin, make a clearing and settle down to business was Abraham L. Honey, which he did in the fall of 1798, and although it has been asserted that a man by the name of Peter French came in the fall of 1798, cleared off some land on the northwest quarter of Lot 24 and put out a small patch of wheat, he also cleared some land on the southwest quarter of Lot 29. After making those improvements he moved to Mentor. That a small crop of wheat was harvested the next season by Rufus Edwards, who came in and took possession of Lot 24, the lot settled upon by Honey, is beyond dispute. How he got possession of Lot 24 does not now

476 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

appear. Honey remained only two or three years in Mantua, when he moved to Hiram and from there to Cuyahoga County. The wife of Honey was a sister of Rufus Edwards, and it is possible that Honey made the improvements for his brother-in-law, .himself settling on a portion of the land, there being plenty of room on 420 acres for three or four families in those times. At any rate Rufus Edwards was the second settler, for in the notes kept by Elias Harmon of those early days he says that just after he came in he chopped for Edwards and hewed for Crooks. Crooks by this appears to have been the third settler, though not a permanent one, as he only arrived at Mr. Honey's on the 12th of June, 1799. David Crooks, the person referred to, settled on the southwest part of Lot 29. He remained there until November, 1799, when he went for his family, who refused to return to Ohio with him. William Crooks died in Aurora, some time in the fifties at the age of eighty-five years. He located in Warren, then at Nelson, next at Penman, and ultimately in Aurora.

Elias Harmon, who can be set down as the fourth settler, was born in Suffield, Conn., in 1773, and started for the Reserve in February, 1799, in a two- horse sleigh, going as far as Pittston, N. Y., where he remained till May, when, in company with Benjamin Tappan, David Hudson and Jotham Atwater, started for their future home—Tappan for Ravenna, then Town 3, Range 8; Hudson for what is now Summit County; Atwater for Euclid, and Harmon for Mantua. After a long, tiresome and perilous trip, partly by lake, partly by land and partly by river, Harmon landed at the clearing of Honey, as stated, on the 12th of June, where he stopped awhile, and then went to the place of Ebenezer Sheldon, who had engaged him before leaving home to help him in boarding and aiding the surveyors in their allotment of Aurora, afterward returning to Mantua with his wife in September, 1799, and settling on Lot 18. One of two or three entries in his diary, shows that the erection of a habitation in those days was .a matter to be accomplished in short order; he says: "July 1, began to, cut timber for our house. July 2, put up and moved into house.

July 3, got timber for floor. July 4, laid the floor."

An entry under date July 15,1799, is as follows:

RUFUS EDWARDS, DR. 

RUFUS EDWARDS, CR.

PAGE - 477 - BLANK

PAGE - 488 - PICTURE OF LUTHER RUSSELL

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In the fall of 1799 Paschal P. McIntosh came in and settled on Lot 23. He was a half-brother to Gen. David McIntosh; and came from Haverhill, N. H. The fact of his being here at that early date is shown by the notes kept by Elias Harmon, where he says: "October 21, 1799, helped McIntosh to raise his house." In this year also came Elisha Edwards and Samuel Burroughs. The net year, 1800, brought in a number of settlers, among whom were Moses Pond, who settled on Lot 35, and afterward moved to Mesopotamia; Jonathan Brooks also came, but soon went to Burton and settled. The Windsor family came in this year, Basil Windsor, Sr., being the head. Samuel Pond, who also came at this time, shortly before they moved away, got lost on a trip to Burton and was almost without food for nine days. It was in the winter, and all his toes were frozen off, crippling him for, life. Seth Harmon, John Blair and Jotham Atwater were among the settlers, but the man who more than any other left his impress on the township and county was Amzi Atwater. Jotham and Amzi Atwater came from Hamden, Conn., in the spring of 1800, and settled on 200 acres of the west part of Lot 41, where now is Mantua Station. On the 21st of November, 1801, Amzi married, in Aurora, Huldah Sheldon, daughter of Ebenezer Sheldon, the couple being married by the father of the bride, which was the only official act performed by the old Squire during the first three years of his holding that position. At the first election, on the organization of the county, Atwater was one of the Judges, and the Legislature appointed him one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, which position he held for a long time, filling it with marked ability, impartiality and dignity. He had received a liberal education in his native State, had selected civil engineering and surveying as his profession, and, joining the party under Cleveland, came to the Western Reserve first in 1796. Being of a hardy constitution and determined will, combined with a buoyancy of disposition, he was specially adapted to the life of pioneer and surveyor. He was possessed of great versatility of talent, vigor of intellect, having withal a genial temperament and a fund of quiet humor that made him popular. He was courageous rather than daring, persevering, resolute and of sound judgment, qualities which rendered him useful in those early times. He was very ready with his pen, and wrote many letters to his relatives in the East, entirely in rhyme, covering ten or a dozen pages of foolscap, several of which were published some years ago, but which are too long for reproduction here.

Joseph Skinner and William Skinner came at an early day; also Samuel Moore and his son, who killed the last wild deer in the township in 1845; Moore came with an ox-team from Southwick, Mass., in 1806, bringing his wife and six children; a family of Rays came in at the same time. Quite a noted character in his way came in December, 1812, from Windham, whence he had moved from Nelson, coming originally from Massachusetts. This was Wareham Loomis. He brought his wife and family, and worked afterward for Judge Atwater. During a couple of years, covering the period of the war of 1812-14, there was a comparative stoppage of immigration, but in 1815 and 1816 a large number came in. Chester Reed, with his wife and four children, and three other families came in 1815, and in 1816 Sylvester Reed, in company with twelve other young men, came and settled in different localities; also the Frosts, ,Marvin and James, the latter walking the entire distance from the East, with an axon his shoulder, Capt. William Messenger, with his wife and six children, Jonathan Foster, the Roots, the Sanfords, the Ladds, the Judsons and others. Peter Carlton came in 1811.

March 5, 1810, the County Commissioners issued an order creating the

480 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

township, and shortly afterward an election was held, but the records of the township were destroyed in a fire which occurred in 1815, and the names of the officers elected cannot now be ascertained. At this time Shalersville was included in Mantua, but in 1812 Shalersville was erected into a separate town-ship, and cut off. The name Mantua was given by John Leavitt, in honor of Napoleon, who bad in 1796 captured the city by that name in Italy. In 1806 there were but twenty-seven men in the township, but in 1810, at the organization, there was a population of 234. Elias Harmon was appointed United States Marshal in 1810, and took the census of that year. In his enumeration of Mantua he gives the following names of heads of families and the number of each family: Rufus Edwards, 6; Samuel Moore, 8; Silas Fenney, 8; Moses Pond, 5; Thomas Bright, 6; Franklin Snow, 5; Virgil Moore, 3; Silas Tinker, 5; Elias Harmon, 6; Gersham Judson, 5; James Ray, 10; David Pond, 5; Jotham Atwater, 5; Amzi Atwater, 6; Oliver Snow, 6; Paschal P. McIntosh, 7; Enoch Judson, 5; Samuel Judson, 5; William Rus-sel, '7; John Blair, 9; William Johnson, 9; Ella Wilmot, 2; Basil Windsor, 7; William Skinner, 6, and Seth Harmon 6. The total population was 152 in the fall of 1810; a great decrease within that year. Dr. Jason Moore and Mrs. (Blair) Patterson are the only persons now living in the township who were enumerated in this township. Orrin Harmon resides at Ravenna.

Simeon Sheldon, Lister, in 1825, stated in the Western Courier that up to June 11, 1825, there had been 38 marriages, 369 births, and 22 deaths of three years old and upward, and 45 deaths under three years. They took 41 news-papers from 11 different:presses, and 10 religious periodicals from 5 different presses. In the earliest days, when there was no mill nearer than Burton, the little crop of wheat raised had to be husbanded with great care, and there was so little of it that it could all be sent off to mill at once. Rufus Edwards on one occasion collected all the grain and took it in a canoe to Burton, and had it ground, but arriving late at night he left it in the boat, intending to get it as soon as daylight appeared, but when he went for it the next morning he found that some prowling Indians had carried it all off. It was all the flour there was in the township.

In 1803 the men of Mantua, Hiram, Aurora and Nelson Townships were organized into a militia company, with Ezra Wyatt, Captain, and Rufus • Edwards, First Lieutenant. On his removal to Hudson Edwards was elected Captain. He began the erection of a distillery on the Honey farm, but never opened one there.

The enlisted and drafted men from Mantua in the war of 1812 were Enos, Zaeheas and John Harmon; James Ray, Mark Moore, John A. Smyth and Zenas Judson's substitute were in Campbell's company. The drafted men were Eleazer Ladd, David Pond, Horace Ladd, John Gardner and Virgil Moore. During this troublous time the "Fourth" was celebrated with eclat at Rufus Edwards' house. This was the first regular celebration here. The first child born in the township was Eunice, a daughter of Elias Harmon, who made her first appearance in this world of trouble July 16, 1800, being the second child born in the county. She married Simeon Sheldon, and raised a family. The first male child was Horace, born to Moses Pond in 1803. The first wed-ding took place also in 1803, when Rufus Edwards married Letitia Windsor, Amzi Atwater, at that time Justice of the Peace of Hudson, performing the ceremony. The first death was that of Mrs. Anna Judson, who had but recently been married, and just moved in with her husband. She had arsenic given to her through mistake, which caused death in a short time. This occurred July 2, 1804, and the next was during the winter of 1806, when Jacob Blair was killed while assisting in the raising of a house.'

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The deaths in Mantua from 1799 to January 1, 1825, were as follows: Enoch Judson's first wife in 1804; Wareham Loomis' child, two years old, in 1805; Jacob Blair, killed at a " raising" in 1807; Mark Moore died in 1812; Samuel Judson's wife in 1813; Ichabod Payne in 1813; Melissa Reed in 1816; Enoch Judson's second wife died in 1816; Amzi Atwater, son of Amzi, Sr., in 1810; Caleb, son of Rufus Edwards, about 1817; Leonard, son of Lorenzo Chapin, in 1818; wife of Basil Windsor, Sr., in 1818; Martha, daughter of Seth Harmon, in 1820; Franklin Snow's first wife in 1820; Lorenzo Chapin's second son, Leonard M. in 1820; Persia, daughter of Dan Ladd, Jr., in 1822; Ezekiel Ladd in 1822; Ezekiel Squires in 1822; Zenas Kent, Sr., in 1822; Caleb Carlton, Sr., in 1823; Thomas Mayfield, Sr., in 1823; Basil Windsor, Sr., in 1823; Polly, daughter of Silas Penney, in 1823; Mr. Bacon in 1824; and Harvey, son of Jotham Atwater, in 1824.

In 1799 Rufus Edwards constructed a hand grist-mill, which he opened in October of that year. A small building called the tannery was established by Moses Pond in 1802, and continued until 1812, when Dan Ladd, Jr., built a house and established a regular tannery. Pond, having no tools, had the hides finished at Burton. It was he who brought the first sheep into the township, and also apple seeds.

In 1810 William Russell purchased the distillery apparatus of Gersham and Samuel Judson, and erected a building in which he made whisky until the spring of 1817, when he sold the farm, cabin and distillery to George and William P. Young. Orrin Harmon remembers Russell's whisky in connection with sheep-washing days, before the manufacturer moved to Pennsylvania. In 1818 Young failed, and Russell then re-purchased his property, which he sold to Ezekiel Ladd .in 1821. In 1822 Ladd died, when Russell resumed possession, and ultimately sold it to Patrick Ray. This Ray was one of the seven sons of James Ray. In 1819 Hezekiah Mooney and Dr. Ezekiel Squires erected a distillery. In 1819 Joseph Skinner built a distillery for which he made the machinery himself. This was burned in 1824, and the same year he erected a new distillery near his grist-mill, on the northwest corner of east half of Lot 30. This grist-mill was built in 1820.

Thomas G. Washburn established an ashery, near the public square at Mantua Center, in 1818, and continued it for about ten years.

The first saw-mill was erected by the Dresser family in 1818, on the north line of the county, and the nest mill, a grist, was erected by Joseph and William Skinner, shortly after 1820. It was on the Cuyahoga, where the diagonal road to Garrettsville crosses that stream.

In 1821 David Ladd built a brick kiln; but in the fall he secured a glassblower named Jonathan Tinker, rented his brother Daniel's tannery (erected in 1812), and began the manufacture of bottle glass December 1, 1821, under the title of the Mantua Glass Company, continuing here until 1823, when he moved the plant to Kent, where he built a factory. Noah and Noble Rogers settled south of Mantua Center in 1825, and erected a tannery on a lot bought of Oliver Snow. In 1829 they sold to Elias Converse, whose sons now operate it.

The first tavern was built and kept by Jotham Atwater, about one mile north of Mantua Station. It was a log building, and was for years a noted tavern stand. A brick building was afterward erected at the same spot, but has since been modeled into a dwelling, and is now occupied by Lewis Turner: There were two pail factories, one owned by Charles Bates, and the other by Joseph Skinner, and the ware made by Skinner was first class. It is claimed that he invented the process of turning pails and other hollow ware, The

482 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

manufacture of cheese from the earliest times has been a source of great revenue to the township, and the raising of fine potatoes has also been an industry that has grown to large proportions.

Dr. Ezekiel Squires was the first physician in the township, having, with hisl family, settled there in 1815. Subsequently Drs. Whipple and Pierce came in, the latter leaving the medical field open to Whipple until 1828, when Dr. Edwin Cowles came. In 1825 Dr. Whipple lost all his children during the epidemic of that year.

Daniel Bidlake was the first blacksmith, early in 1815. The people bought him an outfit, for which he paid by easy installments.

Alonzo Delano opened out at Mantua Corners in 1829, as successor to Joseph Skinner. In 1826-27 Childs had a store at the Corners, while Orrin Harmon taught school there.

Calvin White opened the first store at the Center in June, 1835. the wife was Sabrina Harmon. Mr. White died in January, 1848, and his wife died in October, 1849.

In 1814 the first bridge over the Cuyahoga on the Center road from Mantua to Hiram, was built by Rufus Edwards, the county contributing $100. That bridge is standing still. Orrin Harmon states "it's the same old jack-knife, with a number of new handles and new blades."

In the spring of 1816 the first colored people came to Mantua. They were Benjamin Sharpe and wife, Lucy and Thomas Hughes. Flora, a colored woman in the employ of the G-arretts, formerly a slave of Mrs. Garrett, mar-ried Hughes, also colored, in 1818.

Samuel Sanford, who settled in Mantua in 1817, and died September 27, 1858, was the last survivor of the Revolutionary war veterans who settled in this county.

Mark Moore suffered so much while in the hands of the British in 1812, that on his return to Mantua he died, and was the fourth person buried in the cemetery one mile and a half south of Mantua Center.

Elizabeth Kent taught the first school at Mantua Center in the winter of 1815-16.

W. A. Smith established the manufacture of pails, butter-tubs and cheese-boxes, besides operating a saw-mill and planing-mill at Shalersville. On removing this industry to Mantua he erected the buildings now devoted to the several branches of his manufactory. The capacity of the saw-mill is 10,000 feet; the machinery is valued at about $8,000. The works stand on six acres of land just east of the railroad station at Mantua. This industry gives employ-ment the year round. I portable steam saw-mill is also operated. H. A. Tur-ner is in charge of the saw-mill, and F. H. Heins in charge of the pail factory.

The building known as the Goddard Foundry is one of the old industrial structures of this portion of the township. It is now operated by Ed. God-dard as a foundry and cider-mill.

The Centennial Mills were founded by John Frost and Peter Kines 1876, in buildings where the Hancock Basket Factory was carried on previously. There were three run of buhrs in use until 1881, when ten sets of rollers were introduced. The capacity is seventy-five barrels per day, employing four men annually. The value of buildings and machinery is $10,000. John Frost & Co. are the present owners. The mill does custom and merchant work. H. 0. Kitselman has been the miller in charge since 1880.

National Transit Company of Bradford, Penn., established pumping works at Mantua, with Fred. Tinker in charge. C. H. Rider is the present Super-

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intendant. There are two powerful engines; the line of five-inch pipe from Hilliard, Butler County, Penn., to Cleveland is about 104 miles. At the Mantua works the oil is contained in a large reservoir, of 12,000 gallons capacity, from which it is pumped into the reservoir at Cleveland, thirty-one miles distant. A. P. Carlton's carriage and wagon shop was established in 1880; the present shop was erected in 1884. The work of the shop is mainly repairs, giving employment to two men.

George Allen was engaged in wagon and carriage work for a number of years prior to 1880. His shops have been rented since that time, and are now occupied by Emery Simpson as a horse-shoeing establishment.

The first hotel was built by Amzi Atwater, and first established as a hotel by Lewis Turner about the time the Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Railroad was completed to this point. Shortly after this Homer Frost purchased the house, then sold to Austin S. Beecher, who built the present Cuyahoga House in front of the old Atwater House, now conducted by H. T. Barnum. The house is the property of J. T. Spink.

The Mantua House was built by D. Santori, who conducted it as a hotel until rented to IL S. Sage about a year ago.

L. S. Turner established a livery at Mantua Station in January, 1885. The buildings cost about $2,000. In this building is Russell's photograph gallery and G. W. Franklin's harness shop.

Theo. Burnett, who was the pioneer of livery business here, died about two years ago, since which time the business has been carried on by J. H. Ditto & Sons.

Mantua Station.—This flourishing little town has about 700 population, and is on the site of an old settlement, but was laid out more extensively about the time the Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Railroad, now a branch of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad, was built by Darwin Atwater. It grew rapidly, and is:now an exceedingly live village, having a good class of buildings and progressive citizens. It is a large shipping point for potatoes, cheese, onions, some cattle and sheep, and considerable garden truck. There are large shipments of potatoes, one dealer alone handling about 50,000 bushels during the season. Another provision shipper placed upon the cars during last spring an average of 300 calves per week. Great quantities of pails and other wooden-ware are also shipped, and in the matter of cheese Mantua stands as one of the leading points on the Reserve, there being three large factories for that product in the township, besides being the shipping point for the greater part of three other townships.

The business at the Station is as follows: Smith's pail and wood work factory, which employs about twelve hands; Smith's lumber yard; Centennial Flowing-Mills, Frost & Knowles; general stores, Bowen & Sons, A. A. Gilbreath; drugs, O. P. Hays, C. W. Brainerd; groceries, S. Beecher, Kyle & Davis, Ditto & Sons; livery stable, Ditto & Sons; hardware, A. Barber; tinware, W. Westpeaker; millinery, Mrs. Mettle Smith; furniture. F. Bard; clothing, Choeker & Muncy; dealer in hides, pelts, etc., Will Croft; dealer in produce, W. H. Bradley; shoes, Philip Baldinger; foundry, Ed. Goddard; cider-mill, Ed. Goddard; Mantua House, C. H. Sage; Cuyahoga Hotel, H. T. Barnum; Taylor House, A. H. Taylor; carpenters; blacksmiths; restaurant; barber shop; physicians, Dr. George C. Way, Dr. Erwin; dentist, Dr. A. A. Carlton; lawyer, Cheny Ingle; Postmaster, Cheny Ingle; there is a fine Opera House.

Mantua Corners.—General stores, C. H. Ray, J. W. Foster & Co; grocery and notions, Mrs. Frazier; Postmaster, C. H. Ray; Dr. S. K. Wilcox.

The township is high and rolling, especially in the southern portion, and unsurpassed for fruit-raising and dairying, it standing next to Aurora in the

484 - HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

manufacture of cheese. It is well watered, and the soil is a sandy loam, making it splendidly adapted to the production of potatoes, where the finest in the world are raised.

Methodist Episcopal Church of Mantua was organized in September, 1807, by Rev. R. R. Roberts, with Paschal P. McIntosh and wife, Basil Windsor, Rufus Edwards and Asahel Mills. The first building was erected in 1820-21 at the Center, 24x32 feet. This log-house was used for eighteen years, when a new meeting-house was erected. This house was burned, and the same year a third Methodist Church building was erected. The old pastors were Joshua Windsor, 1810, Henry Ferris, John L. Ferris and Joseph Ferris, William Bump, Milton M. Moore, H. H. Moore and Albert Reed. In 1825 Paschal McIntosh, one of the founders, was dismissed, owing partly to his hostility to the United States, In 1815 he returned to Mantua, and his children were the first who had the whooping-cough in the county.

The Congregational Church of Mantua was organized by Revs. Seward and Darragh, May 31, 1812. The first members were Daniel Ladd and wife, Joel Walter and wife, of Shalersville, William Russell and wife, Daniel Ladd, Jr., and wife, Eleazer Ladd and wife, Eunice Harmon, the grandmother of Orrin Harmon, Lois Atwater, mother of Judge Amzi Atwater, Mrs. Eunice Moore and Mrs. Sally Pond.

In 1816 a brick church was erected at Aurora Center for this society. Jus-tus Parrish and others supplied the brick. Previous to 1816 this society held meetings in the first schoolhouse.

The Baptist Church was founded at Mantua in 1809 by Elder Jones, the meeting being held near the Judson cabin. The first persons baptized were Oliver Snow and wife, Jotham Atwater and wife, and Rufus Edwards and wife, Mr. Edwards leaving the Methodist Church. Those persons were baptized in the Cuyahoga near Judson's. John Rudolph and William West were also members. In 1826 Sidney Rigdon, subsequently Joe Smith's Lieutenant, was preacher to this society. In 1827 Sidney Rigdon left the Baptist Church and organized Al Caaipbellite or Disciples Church, and succeeded in taking almost all the mem,bers of the old Baptist Church with him.

Disciples Church of Mantua was reorganized July 6, 1850, P. N. Jennings, D. Atwater and Edwin Sandford were elected Trustees, and C. D. Wilber, Secretary.

The Universalist doctrine was preached at Mantua by Rev. Reuben Jones, from 1815 to 1831, when he died.

Mantua Association of Spiritualists was incorporated July 9, 1881; Samuel S. Russell, Joel B. Gilbert, Reuben 0. Halsted, David M. King and Henry Cobb, members.

Camp-meeting Association of Spiritualists of northern Ohio was organ-ized October 2, 1881, with Ira Lake, President; A. Underhill and Mrs. Amon, :Vice-Presidents; Mrs. Sarah Rockhill, Alliance, Mrs. M. A. Merrill, Recording Sec. ; Silas Crocker, Treasurer; Samuel Fish, Melon; Reuben Hal-stead, Mantua; Mrs. Mercy Lane, Braceville; Frank 1VIaloy, Hudson; Jesse Erwin, Alliance; Frank Rily, Warren; M. V. Meller, New Lynn, and Lewis King, Cleveland.

The Catholic Church was built at Mantua Station in 1872-73, under contract with the congregation, by Squire Fair. The building cost about $1,000, and the altar, pews and furnishing, about $1,500. The congregation numbers about 150 members.

Union Church.—The first Protestant Church building at Mantua Station is that now known as the Union Church, which is open to all Christian denom-inations for religious service.

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The first school was taught in the winter of 1806-07, at the house of Amzi Atwater, by John Harmon, and the next one was in the summer of 1807, the teacher being Patty Cochran, from Aurora, who afterward became the wife of Ebenezer Sheldon. The school was near where Rufus Edwards had form-erly lived. In 1808 John Harmon opened a school in Amzi Atwater's house. There is at present a fine graded school at the Station, in charge of Prof. Will-iam Thomas, in addition to the district schools in various parts of the township.

Mantua Township Schools.—Revenue in 1884, $3,225.83; expenditures, $1,916.37; eight school buildings valued at $3,600; average pay of teachers, $34 and $26; enrollment, 96 boys and 73 girls.

Mantua Special District.—Revenue, $1,650.33; expenditures, $1,281.39; one schoolhouse valued at $2,500; average pay of teachers, $60 and $37; enroll-ment, 43 boys and 57 girls.

Mantua Lodge, No. 533, A. F. & A. M.—There is a very flourishing lodge of the brothers of the "mystic tie," and although of but recent organization has a membership of over fifty. The lodge was chartered and organized in the fall of 1883, and the following were the charter officers and members: G. D. Smith, W. M.; E. M. Frost, S. W.; G. W. Franklin, J. W.; A. A. Barber, C. H. Thompson, C. E. Ryder, Edgar Chapman, C. H. Bowen, A. H. Kyle, G. T. Mattison, S. P. Vaughn, L. L. Reed, S. E. Coit, C. R Ray, R. 0. Hal-stead, G. F. Hinckley, A. S. Beecher, E. L. Hine, Myron Richards, M. B. San-ford, C. W. Brainerd, D. Washburn, J. Byron, James and William Bowen. A. A. Barber is the present Master.

Bentley Post, 294, G. A. R., named in honor of one of the soldiers of Man-tua, was organized February 21, 1883, with the following members: C. H. Ray, Myron Richards, N. A. Curtiss, A. M. Bishop, M. E. Haskin, G. W. Flemming, M. W. Chapman, IL M. Murry, A. C. Fish, J. B, Hinman, Warren Bowers, C. M. Stroud, George Yeagley, T. M. Esty, A. M. Erwin, M. D., G. G. Striker, M. C. Sweet, C. A. White, F. El. Adams, Edward Stiverson, James Flemming, C. A. Bartholomew, S. C. Rice, F. P. Bard, George Hurlbut, Charles Crawford, Henry Briggs, H. F. Smith, S. C. Crane, C. S. Steward and 0. W. Folsom. The members who have joined since that time are S. A. 'Udall, Robert Crawford, Edgar Chapman, W. IL H. Wheeler, Nelson S. Bartholomew, J. F. Schoville, L. Winchell, W. C. Ensign, C. H. Maggs, A. B. Crane, A. H. Button, T. W. Anderson, William Ferrall, Edwin Smith, Henry Langston, Henry Barthold, H. S. Sheldon, John Hass, F. A. Derthick, Merrit, Dutton, J. T. Spink, A. R. Houghton, H. 0. Snedeker, Henry Green, A. W. Mills, 0. W. Truman, Charles Duncan, Sylvester Force and J. B. Shaffer. The first Commander was A. M. Erwin, who served until succeeded by F. A. Derthick in 1885. G. G. Striker is Adjutant, and Edgar Chapman, Quartermaster.

The statistics of Mantua for 1884 present the following figures: Acres of wheat, 923; bushels, 7,128; of buckwheat, 29 acres and 60 bushels; of oats, 677 acres and 24,132 bushels; of corn, 512 acres and 2,161 bushels; of meadow, 2,228 acres and 3,288 tons of hay; of clover, 65 acres and 93 tons of hay and 6 bushels of seed; of potatoes 383 acres, yielding 42,637 bushels; pounds of home-made butter, 40,065; pounds of cheese, 476,450; pounds of maple sugar, 17,957, and gallons of syrup, 3,385 from 20,155 trees; pounds of honey, 1,727 from 98 hives; dozens of eggs. 16,591; 5,889 bushels of apples, 12 of peaches, 1 of cherries, and 3 of pears, from 323 acres of orchard; 4,164 pounds of wool; 1,233 mulch cows; 1 stallion; 87 dogs; animals died of disease, 7 hogs; 48 sheep, 17 cattle and 4 horsesi acres cultivated, 5,734: pasture, 6,345; wood-land, 2,972; waste, 281; total, 15,332. Population in 1850, 1,383, including 436 youth; 1870, 1,126; in 1880, 1,150; in 1884 (estimated), 1,200.