450 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY since most pioneers were anxious about the education of their offspring. A subscription list for the purpose of paying the minister was circulated with the following results : Josiah Wolcott, $30; David Curtis, $8, William Wilson, $10 ; Gad Hart, $12; Zenas Custis Jr., $6; Lewis Wolcott, $7, Josiah Wolcott, $5; Gad Bartholomew, $10; Ezra Curtis, $5; John D. Heath-man, $5; Josiah P. Danford, $8; Dennis Lewis, $10; Jake Bartholomew, 13 cents ; Amos P. Woodford, 8 cents ; Horace Wolcott, $7. The above were all from Henshaw, and the subscriptions received from Bristol amounted to $77.25. The Congregational church at Farmington, like most of the Presbyterian churches of the county, was organized by the Rev. Joseph Badger, on the union plan. The first members were Abiel and Rebecca Jones, Josiah and Nancy Wolcott, David and Elizabeth Curtis, David and Lois Belden, Eunice Hart, Polly Benton, and Rebecca Jones. Later Theodore Wolcott and his wife Rhoda and Gad Hart were admitted to membership. The deacons were Josiah and Theodore Wolcott. The first preachers were Revs. Badger, Leslie, Darrow and Jones. The church was under the care of the Grand River Presbytery. The growth of this early church was slow until 1825. On July 10, 1825, Rev. Luther H. Humphrey baptized forty children. In 1860 the church became Presbyterian and continued until 1874, when it returned to its first organization, Congregational. The first church of this denomination was the pride of the community. It had a steeple. It was built in 1828, continued to be used until 1850. At this writing there are few services held in the church building, which was the second one erected by this organization. Rev. Daniel Miller, one of the first teachers in the academy, organized a church at West Farmington in 1834. It had sixteen men and twenty-three women members to start with. Most of them came from church organizations at the center. It has lived all these years and done very good work. In the fall of 1818, in the log schoolhouse in East Farmington, a Methodist class of seven members was formed by Ira. Eddy, composed of Mr. and Mrs. Eden Wildman and the latter's mother, Joel and Eunice Hyde and daughter. Rev. Eddy, Jacob Baker and "Father" Wilbur were among the first preachers. The first Methodist society was organized at Taftsburg HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 451 by Elder Sweeney in 1825. The members were Clarissa, Arethusa and Anna Bosworth, Jane and Mary Taft, James and Catherine Stull, Mr. and Mrs. Grosbeak. The first meetings were held in the ball room of the State Road Hotel. CHAPTER XXXVI.—FOWLER. SALT MANUFACTURE BY INDIANS.-MRS. ASA FOOTE.- "TYRRELL HILL. "-AN IMPORTANT MANUFACTORY.-THE MORROW, BALDWIN, DOUD, AND ALDERMAN FAMILIES.- CONGREGATIONAL, METHODIST AND CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. Township 5, range 2, was first called "Westfield" in honor of the home town of Samuel Fowler, who purchased this tract in 1798 for less than fifty cents an acre. Later the township took his name. Abner Fowler was the first white man to live there. He was a surveyor by profession and received one hundred acres of land for his services. His wife having died at his home in Massachusetts, he came to this new country, built a log house, and for a time lived alone. He was one of a family of ten children who lived to be from sixty to ninety years old. They were all fathers of families. The house of James Fowler, a son of Samuel, used to stand, within the memory of the oldest settlers, a little south of the center. Authorities differ as to who the first woman resident was. It is recorded that when Alma Barnes was seventeen years old (1800) she came to this township and was the first white woman. But Mrs. C. D. Hayes, in "The Pioneer Women," says that when Levi Foote and his family arrived in 1801, the women of his family were the first. At any rate, Mrs. Foote, and Mr. Foote's mother, Mrs. Thompson, who was a relative of Aaron Burr, were bright women. They located near the center in 1801. Whatever may be the disagreement about the first white woman who made a home here, there is no dispute about the first white child. She was Lydia Foote, the daughter of Levi and Millie, and was born in 1805. There were Indians in the township of Fowler when the white men arrived, but there was nothing unusual about them either in their lives or in the way which they treated the white men. They made salt which they said they boiled from water obtained in Johnston. If this were so, it seems strange that - 452 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 453 no settlers later found any brackish water in that vicinity. They said their product to Colonel Hayes. Salt at this time was often as high as twenty-five dollars a barrel. In 1806 there were living in the township the families of Levi Foote, Lemuel Barnes, J. Fisher and John Morrow. Although the Fowlers were among the early settlers, few if any of their descendants lived out their lives there. Two of Abner's children came to that country, but one moved to Brookfield, and the other died in Hartford. Abner Fowler's mother, who was the widow of Asa Foote before her marriage, was so remarkable a woman as to be claimed by the historians of Vienna, Fowler, and Hartford. She lived to be one hundred years old and was a most remarkable woman in every way. When in Fowler, she shot a wolf, and seemed to have, in every way, the courage of a backwoodsman. Several facts in regard to her life will be found in the Hartford chapter. The year 1806 marked the arrival of seven families from Connecticut. Among these were Elijah Tyrrell and wife, her three brothers (Meeker) and their families, and Wakeman Silliman and wife, all of whom became well known in the history of Trumbull County. They settled in the part of the township which was afterwards called "Tyrrell Hill." In fact, the women of the company stayed at the house of Joel Humiston in Vienna, while the men went on to Fowler to prepare some kind of quarters for them. As these houses were built near the Vienna line, the men were really not far separated from their families. This little community soon had a schoolhouse, and Esther Jennings was the teacher, Wakeman Silliman offering his house for this school. Elijah Tyrrell's house was of unusual grandeur for that time. It was split logs, it had an upper floor, and also a door with wooden hinges. Whereas many of the early settlers were content to eat from boards or chests, his house had crude tables made with cross legs. There was not a nail nor a spike used in the construction of this house or its furniture. Everything was made of wood, and the logs of course were chinked with mud. It was around this then comfortable home that friends and relatives gathered. Mrs. Tyrrell had dishes and spoons, few in number, to be sure, but soon one of the Meekers built a little shop, put up his lathe, and then he made wooden dishes and wooden spoons and forks, so there was plenty to be had. Elijah Tyrrell's father, Asahel, was a soldier in the war 454 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY of the Revolution, and Elijah was in the war of 1812. He was by trade a blacksmith, and had a shop in Fowler. In fact, the men who settled about Tyrrell Hill were all mechanical and this corner of the township was attractive to the pioneer. Later, when Abijah Tyrrell came west and went into the shop with Asahel, the son of Elijah, their place was one worthy of any manufacturers of this district. They made knives, chains, plows, hoes, axes, scythes, etc. The Tyrrell family made the first scythes manufactured in Trumbull County, and sold all they could make. We have seen that the first birth in the township was that of Lydia Foote. Abner Fowler was the first man to die. Abner Fowler Jr. and Esther Jennings were the first to marry. James Fowler built the first frame house; Daniel Meeker, the first sawmill. Elijah Tyrrell was the first blacksmith, and he also had the first cider mill. In 1819 he manufactured ninety-six barrels of cider. Isaac Smith was Fowler's first undertaker. He was also an early postmaster and justice of the peace. The first justice of the peace was John F. Kingsley, who served fifteen years. The first doctor was Moses R. Porter. The first merchant was Elijah Barnes, who kept store at Tyrrell Hill. Caleb Leonard was an early mail carrier on the Warren-Ashtabula route. Among the early families settling in Fowler, well known in other parts of the country, were the Morrows. When they first arrived in Fowler they had no house, and slept in their wagons. John, as we have said, was the pioneer. His son Robert was the father of James, who married the oldest daughter of Dwight Chapman of Hartford, and of Martha, the first wife of Edwin Bennett, of Warren. Miss Emma Bennett, of Warren, is a great-granddaughter of John Morrow. Sarah Morrow, daughter of John, and wife of William Jones, was among the early teachers. Ephraim Baldwin was also one of the substantial pioneers of Fowler. He married Celestia Wheeler, who came to Fowler HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 455 about 1803. They had ten children, seven girls and three boys. Mr. Baldwin used to take the cheese which Mrs. Baldwin made to Ashtabula and other places on the lake, and exchange it for merchandise. Mrs. Baldwin was left, while he was on these trips, alone with this great brood of children. Besides her own, she cared for two orphan grandchildren. She used to entertain these two little folks telling them of the early times in Fowler, how the Indians used to come to her father's home and how she used to hide behind her mother's skirts because she was so afraid of them. The children and grandchildren of Ephraim Baldwin have been very numerous and a majority of them lived in Trumbull County. In most cases they have been connected by marriage with other pioneer families. Lucy married A. R. Silliman (whose mother was Naomi Tyrrell.) They had a large family of children. The oldest, Alice, married one of the Siglers, of Fowler, and now lives in Cleveland. Mary married C. C. Clawson, of an old Trumbull County family and who at present is county auditor. Olive married a Swager, likewise of Trumbull County, and Carrie married Mr. Fred Stone, the son of Roswell Stone, a very important man in Trumbull County's early history. Darius Baldwin, a son of Ephraim, was for many years a merchant in Fowler, and Henry C. married Justine Iddings, whose family on both sides were among the very first settlers of Warren township. Samuel Doud, with his wife, Lois Garrett, in 1822 came west with their eleven children. They had a wagon drawn by three horses, which held their provisions, goods, etc., while Mrs. Doud and her younger children occupied another cart. Mr. Doud and some of the older children walked most of the way. It took them three weeks to reach Fowler, and here Mrs. Doud and the family stayed two years, while Mr. Doud went on to Vienna and cleared up land, to which the family finally moved. He died in 1849 and Mrs. Doud returned to Fowler, where she spent her last days. Mrs. Doud had a hard experience, without comforts, and having been used to a comfortable home in the east, she became so awfully homesick that they feared she would not live. Accompanied by her husband and a Mr. and Mrs. Nichols, leaving the older children to care for the younger, they set out for a trip to New England. They foupd their parents dead, and so many changes having occurred, they realized their home was really gone, and returned satisfied with the conditions under which they lived. A granddaughter 456 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY of Mrs. Doud, a daughter of Adeline, was one of the very active elderly women of Fowler, a few years ago. Mrs. C. D. Hayes, of Tyrrell Hill, is responsible for the statement that Emily Beach, the daughter of Dr. Harry Beach, was so small at the time of her birth that they could slip a tea-cup over her head, but that she grew with such marked rapidity that she was a woman of more than ordinary size. She first married Mr. Trowbridge, and then Ephraim. Post, who was for years one of the substantial citizens of Cortland. Among the early families of Fowler was that of the Aldermans. Many of their descendants are now in Trumbull County. Timothy had a daughter, Dorcas, who was the mother of L. W. Sanford, a former treasurer of Trumbull County and now residing in Warren. Dorcas had five other children aside from L. W., but he, and Noble F. of Pittsburg, are the only two now living. Lyman Alderman had a son Lewis. Lewis was twice married; first to Annie Hutchins, who had a daughter May. The latter is a dressmaker residing in Warren. Lewis' second wife was Margaret Butts, whose son Homer was possibly the best known of the Aldermans of his generation. He married Ida, the daughter of Darius Baldwin, and thus two Fowler families were united. George Alderman married .Mary Greenwood of the well known Greenwood family, and their youngest child, Homer (a family name), married Gertrude Campbell. This marriage united two of Trumbull County's oldest families also. George Alderman died in 1871, and his wife Mary carried on the farm for some time very successfully. She died the middle of June, 1909. The people of Fowler have always kept a record of the fact that at the time of Perry's victory on Lake Erie, the discharge of the cannon was plainly heard there. In the general history of Trumbull County the author dwelt at length on ax marks found in trees which showed them to be several hundred years old, and marked by men living here before any of the Connecticut Land Company appeared. Most of these marks were in the upper part of the Western Reserve, although there were occasionally those at Canfield and other portions of the south. Elijah Tyrrell in his diary says that in 1821 he felled a tree which had two hundred and five annular rings. This would make the tree standing before the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers. Some scientists now tell us that occasionally trees make two ring growths a year. HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 457 The deprivation and the experiences of the first settlers of Fowler were almost identical with those of other townships. There was the same spinning, the same cooking, the same Indians, the same making of garments, woven and spun by women, as well as the buckskin trousers; the same clearing of land, felling of trees, raising of stock and organization of the county. Rev. Joseph Badger is supposed to have preached the first sermon in Fowler in 1807.- No early records, however, have been kept of the first churches. Among the first was a Congregational church. It is presumed that when the congregation was organized, it was on the union plan. Money was raised and a house built in 1836, on condition that other denominations might hold services in it. This organization disbanded after a time because there were not enough people to attend it. Simon Aldrich, Charles Tucker, Henry Sanders, John Morrow and Carrie Barnes, for the sum of twenty-five dollars, purchased the lot on which this house stood. Gideon Waterhouse and his wife Phoebe made the deed. The title was transferred to the Methodist Episcopal church in August, 1873, and since that time the property has belonged to this denomination. In the very early days of Fowler, as early as 1815, a Methodist class was formed of Rev. Alfred Bronson and his wife, Abner Fowler and his wife, Newman Tucker and his wife, and Charles Tucker. Mr. Bronson had settled in Tyrrell Corners in 1812. He later took up the property at the corners which Mr. Stewart had cleared of timber, and upon which he was about to raise a house, when he suddenly left and never came back. Soon after the formation of this class, Rev. Joseph Davis, a local preacher, his wife and several members of the Barnes family, joined. Their first church was erected south of the center and was a small, plain affair. There is preaching every other Sunday at this church. There have been some members of the United Brethren church in Fowler and they had a church in the western part of the town, at Fowler Ridge. Services are occasionally held there by other denominations. The Christian church built a house for services in 1852. Although the congregation has not been large, they have generally held services since. This church is on the east side of the public square, and the Rev. Mr. Derthick, of Cortland, preaches there every other Sunday. CHAPTER XXXVII.—GREENE. CANADIAN IMMIGRANTS.-THE WAKEFIELDS, HARRINGTONS AND OTHER PIONEERS.-CHARACTER OF FIRST SETTLERS.-PIO- NEER INCIDENTS.-EPITAPHS.-R. C. RICE'S REMINIS CENCES .-FORMATION OF THE TOWNSHIP.-CALVINIST PIONEERS.-FIRST CHURCHES.-A BEAR STORY. ATTENDING THE CORWIN MEETING.-THE SCHOOLS OF GREENE.-THE HARRING- TON SCHOOL. In the allotment of land of the Western Reserve Company, Joseph Howland secured the township of Greene, and Gardner Greene, of Massachusetts, secured the township of Howland. They afterwards exchanged, and named the townships accordingly. Mr. Greene sold one-half of the township to a Mr. Parkman. This township was the last settled in the county, litigation delaying the sale. So far as we know there is no deed signed by Greene himself on record in Trumbull County. This trouble was finally settled in 1843 or '44. The part sold to Parkman was the east half of the township. In the early part of 1800 Canada offered 160 acres of land to any man who would settle on it, and a good many people from Vermont and other New England states accepted this offer. When the war of 1812 came, and England exacted of the emigrants that they become British subjects or leave the country, most of them abandoned their newly acquired farms and came to northeastern Ohio. Dr. John Harrington, of Brookfield, Vermont, who married a sister of old Mr. Wakefield, died leaving six children, and one of them, William, was sent away from home and bound out until he was twenty years old. As the boy grew, he realized his master was unfair with him, since he had promised to educate him, but instead had allowed him to go to school only two months. At eighteen he bought his remaining time and went to visit an Uncle Joseph, in New Hampshire. Many years - 458 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 459 after, when Judge Glidden and Mr. Harrington were associated in business in Warren, Judge Glidden learned, while on a visit east, that this great-uncle of Mr. Harrington's was his grandfather. One of William Harrington's sisters had been among the people who had moved into Canada with the homesteaders. Therefore, young William went into her neighborhood and began work. He immediately showed executive ability, and was employed by men in the lumber business, and later had charge of a large body of French-Canadian workmen. He learned to speak French. Seeing the War of 1812 approaching, he sold out his interests and went back to Brookfield, Vermont, where his mother was living with his older brother, John. At this time there was great excitement in New England about the lands in Ohio, and the Harringtons talked of migrating to this country. In the meantime the families of Rice, Merritt, Bartlett and Crane, having the western fever, had settled in western Pennsylvania. They, likewise, sent back word of the fertility of that country, so that finally John Harrington and his wife, William Harrington and his mother, with some others, rigged up a sled, sold off their goods and started for Ohio. When they got to Buffalo they found just a few houses, blacksmith shop, grocery, and a tavern. They also found the snow nearly gone, and they felt sure they could not reach their destination by sled. They were greatly troubled as to what to do, when the Buffalo people told them that many of the emigrants used the ice on the lake. They therefore set out that way. They made all possible speed, since the ice, already covered with water, was fast melting. After some travel, seeing a creek, they decided to run to shore. Their horses, when turned toward land, set off at a furious pace and never stopped until their load was safe, although they had to pull up quite an embankment. The family felt that they owed their deliverance to "Old Baldy" and "Old Eagle" and cared for them tenderly thereafter. What was true of other pioneers was also true of this party. They no sooner were out of one trouble until they were in another. Although they were safely ashore, they did not know whether they were in Ohio, Pennsylvania, or New York. There was not a sign of life anywhere. Leaving the women protected by the sled and blankets, they set out to find shelter if possible. When they had gone five or six miles, what 460 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY was their astonishment to come upon their neighbors and relatives who had moved from their own section to Canada and then into western Pennsylvania. They retraced their steps for those left behind, and when night came down they were all safe under the roof of friends. This was as remarkable an instance as any recorded in this history. The question of migration to Ohio was being discussed among these families, and finally Uncle John Wakefield, Ephraim Rice, Roswell Bartlett, and John and William Harrington came to Trumbull County. They hunted up General Perkins, who they learned was the land agent, and he told them that Greene, which then included Gustavus and Kinsman, was the one township not settled, and advised them to take this. They therefore proceeded to Greene, selected their lots, and Mr. John Wakefield and William Harrington came back to Mr. Perkins, when they were told that they each must deposit $50. Mr. Wakefield had no money. William Harrington had $93, and General Perkins allowed him to pay this on both lots. The five settlers then went back to Greene and built five cabins. All five would work on one cabin until it was done. When these buildings were completed the men returned to Pennsylvania, secured their families and brought them on. The first settlers in Greene were Lydia Wheelock Merritt and her son, about twenty years old, Ichabod, and a younger son, Aaron. They arrived in this township on an April night. They made a bedstead of poles and bark, and upon this Mrs. Merritt, then about sixty, slept, with the stars for a canopy. The next day the Wakefield family, and soon the rest of the party, appeared. The pioneer life in this township then began. Up to 1816 not one bit of timber had been cut, not a clearing had been made, nor a road ; in fact, the township was in just the condition that the other townships were in 1799 and 1800. These old settlers were Calvinists and very strict in regard to religious observances. They were a fine people, and lived like one family. C. A. Harrington is authority for the statement that of all those early families, not one child went wrong, so far as he can recall. Today the Merritts, the Rices, the Harringtons, and so on, are the families influential in Greene. Ephraim Rice was a very peculiar man, rather "sot" in his way. He had two brothers, David and Jacob. The first child born in Greene was Deborah Harring- HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 461 ton. Edwin Wakefield, born in 1818, was the first male child. He afterwards became a remarkable minister of the Disciple congregation and was the father of E. B. Wakefield, professor in Hiram College. The first settlers in Greene erected their houses along the east branch of Mosquito creek, but after a time the county built a road east of this pioneer road, and when the new houses went up the settlers abandoned the creek road. The boys living along the Mosquito creek used to trap minks and muskrats. For the former they got 12 1/2 cents apiece, for the latter 25 cents. Now these same minks would bring many times this sum, while muskrats could not be sold at any price. David Rice, who came to Greensburg in 1818, traveled 1,700 miles in thirty days in a horse and sleigh. He erected a grist mill on Mosquito creek. It was a log mill, and the mill of Rice & Martin in Greensburg was the outcome of that mill. The early cooking, like that of other townships, was done in the fireplace, either before the coals, in the ashes, or hanging from the crane. And people visited there as they did in other townships, stopping a day or two, and the occasion was one of hilarity. One time such a party arrived at the home of William Harrington, and just as they appeared a peculiar character in the neighborhood (Mapes), who was a hunter, wandering around in the woods, wearing a coonskin cap with a tail hanging down in front of each ear and one behind, dropped in. Mr. Harrington asked him if he did not think he could go out and shoot a turkey. He replied he thought lie could. He soon returned with the fowl, and in a short time it was dressed, stuffed and hung by a string in front of the fire, to roast. It then became the duty of young Charles to sit and turn it so it would be browned all around. Young Charles was not infatuated with this job, and he noticed that by twisting the string pretty tight it would untwist and twist up again, and allow him to take a little leisure. He had just discovered this wonderful invention and was working it out when his mother, who was overseeing the cooking, informed him that she could not have grease splattering all over everything, so he had to go back to his despised task, slowly turning until lie was nearly roasted himself. It was the habit of the mothers of Greene in the early spring to call up their children on Sunday morning and give them a dose of picra, and every Monday morning a teaspoonful 462 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY of sulphur. This was entirely regardless of the fact whether they needed this medicine. When the mother of William Harrington died people said, "Greene now has no doctor." She was a spry, capable little woman, who had learned some things about drugs from her husband, and more from practice in a new country. Hardly a child was born in Greene during her lifetime that she was not at the bedside of the mother. When she grew older and not quite so fleet of foot, her boys bought her a horse, on which she used to ride at a lively pace whenever she was needed. The first frame house built in Greene was that of William Harrington. At that time whiskey was always used at the raising of any building. Mr. Isaac Morey, the grandfather of Miss Jennie Bartlett, of Warren, had the contract for building this house. Mr. William Harrington decided that he would have no whiskey at the raising. Uncle John Wakefield was making the pins which fastened the beam when the folks arrived for the raising. They were informed that there would be no whiskey served, but they would have plenty of food. Thereupon the men congregated in a spot and appointed a committee to consult Mr. Harrington. He repaired to the place where John Wakefield was making the pins and said that there was a "strike" on. While they were consulting what to do, a man appointed for the purpose came and requested that, since they were not to be furnished whiskey, Mr. Harrington would allow them to buy it for themselves at the store. Immediately John Wakefield spoke up and said, "If there is whiskey, I won't make the pins." Whiskey was therefore forbidden, and the men dropped their work, went a little distance in a field and began to play ball. There were left four or five old men, some boys, and two young men. Mr. Morey said it was not possible to raise the great logs which then were used for the frame with that help. Those present, however, disagreed with him, and the building was raised. The strange part of it was that a little later the chairman of the committee demanding whiskey became a temperance man and afterwards an ardent Prohibitionist. One great joy of a radical is that he lives to see the conservative come to his side. One of the early characters of Greene was Bazaleel Waste. He played the fiddle for the amusement of his friends, and was a shoemaker. He would bring his kit of tools into a corner of a kitchen, where the leather for the family shoes was piled HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 463 up, and here he would stay, boarding in the family, until all the members were shod. One of the interesting places in Greene is the old cemetery. A man named Isaac Sirrine went up to Ashtabula county and brought back his own tombstone, marked, except the date of his death. He said he composed the following original epitaph, but this is too familiar to the readers of this history for them not to know where it came from : "Here at last the old man lies ; Nobody laughs and nobody cries. Where he's gone and how he fares, Nobody knows and nobody cares." After he died his brother James, on reading this, felt rather sorry, and ordered the following cut beneath the verse : "But his brother James and his wife, Emmaline, they were his friends all of the time." This same Isaac Sirrine had three daughters who died of consumption. This is their epitaph: "Strange as it seems, but still 'tis so, Here lies three daughters all in a row ; All cut down right in their prime, The daughters of I. and M. Sirrine." There was a very nice old man living in Greene who had an enormous wen on his head. It was so noticeable that none could see him without remembering him. This is the epitaph upon his gravestone : "Our father lies beneath the sod, His soul has gone up to his God ; We never more shall hear his tread, Nor see the wen upon his head." Among the things most needed and most wanted by the pioneers of Old Trumbull County was salt. We have seen how the brackish water in the Salt Springs district made that land valuable. Salt was sometimes made by leeching ashes, which were in abundance because of burning so much timber. This lye was boiled down, and made a brown salt, which was ordinarily called black salt. A good deal of this was made at one time in Greene. The question of transportation of anything in the early days was the question. The residents of Greene hewed out logs, making one end pointed, filled this with salt, hitched oxen to it, and dragged it through the woods to New Lyme, or across the swamps to Bloomfield. They received three dollars per hundred pounds for this product. Sometimes these rude boats were used to carry the women and children to church in, to carry grain to mill, and so forth. Anyone who has ever ridden on a stoneboat, or on the kind of sleds which farmers construct with flat board runners, knows how easy it is to draw these over all sorts of bad roads. Mr. R. C. Rice, the son of Jacob, came to Greene when a 464 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY mere child and lived there until he was elected county recorder, when he bought a home on Washington avenue, Warren, where he now resides. He is a little over seventy years old, but from childhood has been interested in pioneer affairs and really has more information in regard to Greene than people who are much older. He says when he was a child there were about forty log cabins in the vicinity of his home which were more or less dilapidated and unoccupied. He used to try hard to learn who had occupied them, but without success. He says M. M. Cooley, who lives at the Middle Corners, is authority for the story that in the very early history of Greene a boat was lost on Lake Erie. One man at least was saved. As he started to swim from the wreck a box hit him, and he grabbed at it and it really assisted him in his swim to shore. When he reached the shore, and was rested enough to proceed on his journey, he said to himself that instead of leaving the box he would carry it with him. Wandering a little bit farther, he came upon a cabin, obtained food, and after he was dried and rested determined to push on into the country. It happened that a number of the early settlers of Greene had either been sailors themselves, or belonged to sea-faring families. It is supposed for this reason he went to Greene. Either at the cabin where he first stopped, or in Greene, he opened his box, and found it contained twelve hundred pounds, English money. He decided to buy a home for his father and mother and was so pleased with a grove of maple trees which stood on the present Joe Hubbard farm that he bought it and his parents came there to live. His name was Wilbur. Some of these maples, or the remnants of them, are still standing. There were a great many maple trees in the township of Greene and from these the Indians made sugar. They had no kettles, and had not been thoughtful enough to steal some from the Salt Springs tract, as Indians in the lower part of the county did, so they made their sugar in an unusual and primitive way. They gathered the sap, putting it into huge hollowed-out logs, and into this they dropped red-hot stones previously heated in a fire of logs. The stones of that vicinity were smooth pieces of granite rubbed round by ages, and held heat a long time. Mr. Rice, in plowing on his place, at one time turned up a lot of these stones which showed that they had been burned, and later examined the maple trees near by, which showed the scars of having been tapped many years before. HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 465 The Indians were quite numerous at one time in the township of Greene, and people living there today occasionally find pipes, arrow-heads, etc., and Mr. Charles Dennison, who spent his early life in Greene, found a most perfect Indian ax. Two brothers of Ralsa Clark, one marrying Fanny Fell, the other Emiline Chapman, lived in one cabin, while a second cabin was being constructed. They were busy during the day and often away from home. The two young women were thus left in the lonesome spot by themselves. They were both fearless, but one day about noon they saw standing in the road opposite their house an Indian who was considered a dangerous fellow. They could not conceal the fact that the men were away, and they did not know what might happen. Finally, one of the women attempted a strategy. She opened the front door, drew out a table, set it for four, and when the noon hour arrived, went to the door and blew the horn. The result was not what she expected. The Indian seemed to know that no men were near. The other woman said to her sister-in-law, "Since this has not worked, I'll try something else." She therefore loaded the gun, stood in the doorway, pointed it at the red man, let him know she was going to shoot, and he broke for the woods. It took a good deal of courage to face an ugly Indian in a spot which was isolated and alone. As said elsewhere, the township of Greene was composed of Kinsman, Gustavus and Greene. Some difference of opinion on public matters in 1819 caused the separation with the formation of the present Kinsman. Before this, the portion now known as Kinsman had been the place for holding elections. Gustavus then became the place for the transaction of township affairs. In 1820 the same dissatisfaction which had caused the first split caused the second, and Gustavus was made into a township. This act made also Greene a township, and the first election was held at William Harrington's house in 1820. Ebenezer Kee was made clerk, Ephraim Rice, John Harrington and Roswell Bartlett, trustees. David Rice was treasurer; Ephraim Rice and John Wakefield, overseers of the poor. The early residents of Greene were Calvinists. Most of them believed in fore-ordination, election and saint's perseverance. In the early days missionaries went through the township and meetings were held in houses. After a time they were sometimes held in groves and when new buildings, especially barns, were put up, there was often preaching there. These Vol. I-30 466 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY old sermons were long, Calvinistic in doctrine and were almost all of them preached with a kind of drawl in the voice, kind of a singing tone. The mother of John Wakefield was of exceedingly pious disposition. She believed that whatever was sent was for the good of the person afflicted. People living in Greene today say that they have heard her repeat many times: "My life shall forever be Guided by His firm decree; He that fixed and formed the earth Fixed my first and second birth." This second birth referred to her experience in religion. People in this community talked about their first and second birth. They would say their first birth occurred in ____ , mentioning the place where they were born their second birth occurred in , mentioning the town where they were baptised. One of the old preachers was Elder Woodworth, close-communion Baptist. He was bony, tall, had little black eyes set way back in his head. The Methodists went to Greene to start a class and afterwards this became the Methodist church, and Elder Woodworth came there to preach, saying lie was going to "squelch" this new society. He preached from the text, "We are all clay in the hands of the Father." The first church was a log one built in the woods at what was known as "the middle corners." Like buildings were usually put at the center of the town, but since the west half of Greene was not sold until a late day this church was built between the center and the east line and known as above. There was no fire of any kind in this church and the seats were slabs of logs with legs stuck in. They were built high enough for old people, and children's feet could not touch. It is pretty hard for girls and boys to keep their feet still anyway, but when they are swinging in the air it is especially hard. Mr. C. A. Harrington remembers trying to keep his legs from swinging when he sat in this old church and he also remembers how his mother stopped in the woods and broke a stick and switched him because he had not sat still. The most noted minister this congregation had was the Rev. Crane. As the second generation came on, they rebelled at the Puritanical belief of their fathers and there was a split in the church. Unlike most splits, the older and stricter people went to the spot that is now Kenilworth, built a church, while HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 467 the younger people kept the old log church, and the Rev. Mr. Crane stayed with them. The common term for these two churches were the "old lights" and the "new." The denomination was New England Congregational. At one time, a man named Jenkins came there to preach. He was so beautifully dressed that all the people in town watched him. They wore home-spun, he had broadcloth; he wore a big black silk neckerchief, the ends of which lie pulled out in a picturesque way; he was fat and after he had preached a little while would take off his necktie, lay it on the desk; pretty soon his coat would come off, then his vest; then his collar. When he got a little over half through he would put on his collar, then his vest, then his coat, and then his necktie. The children were perfectly delighted when he began to dress himself. There was one old minister who used to tell such big stories that the people did not believe. He said that when he was converted the roots of the trees cracked so you could hear them a mile ( ?). One of the ministers was a fine singer and he used to sing this hymn : “I love my Jesus, I know I do, And the brethren say they love Him too.'" This had a number of verses in which were mentioned different things which were loved. When it came to the verse: “I love my sistern. I know I do, • And the brethren say they love them too," the men in the congregation would sing this with a long, loud, lusty tone. Even if they appeared serious, there was humor in them after all. The first frame barn raised in Greene belonged to Ephraim Rice, and here preaching was had by Elias Morse. Elias had preached before in Greene and he had not satisfied the people very well, and they had decided that lie was not called to preach. However, as he wanted to come again they got up this meeting for him. He said that lie understood that somebody had said he was not "called" to preach and then he gave an exact description of how he was "called," told where he was, and how God said to him "to go and preach the Gospel," and the devil was near and said, "You can't preach." This he repeated several times, and finally, when he repeated what the devil had 468 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL said, a member of the congregation spoke up loud enough to be heard, "The devil was right." Some of the finest singers in Trumbull County were in Greene. Ephraim Rice sang bass, E. Cobb and Aaron Merritt, tenor. Ephraim Rice had a long Roman nose, little blue eyes, and when he sang he held his book at nearly arm's length, swung it up and down, and beat time with his feet. The children of the old residents inherited much of this musical genius, and Mr. Myrtle Rice, when he was over eighty years, sang so well as to be called upon to sing solos at funerals and on other occasions. We have referred in other parts of this history to the fact that the children of the early settlers of Trumbull County rebelled against the strict teaching and the Calvinistic principles which existed in this locality. It was strange that religious teachers of that time did not see what we now see, namely, that the natural child instinct taught it the Christ principle, and that the parent was the perverted one. Anyhow, all through old Trumbull County we hear over and over again how children lied and begged and grew sick rather than go to church. We also learn, as narrated in several other places, how children behaved while parents were at church. Mr. R. C. Rice when a small child petted one of the cats in the barn until it became quite tame. One Sunday, having this cat inside the house, he lured a wild barn-cat into the living room and set to work to make a yoke for these two cats, expecting to tame them and break them as he would a pair of calves. His brother, older, remonstrated with him, explaining to him that the cat differed in nature from the calf, but to no purpose. He carefully made the yoke, the bows, the pins, and yoked the cats. Of course, they refused to stand, refused to pull, refused to do anything but lie on the floor and scratch and fight. In this fight the yoke broke, and unfortunately the tame cat was free and the wild cat was left with the yoke on its neck. Crazed by this appendage, it jumped into the dish closet, and despite the frantic scat of the boys, did not leave the shelves until most of the dishes were on the floor. The boys gathered up the fragments, put what few were left on the front of the shelves, and sat down sorrowfully, hoping the mother would not notice what had happened. However, dishes were too hard to obtain, money was too scarce, for any woman not to notice such destruction the minute her eyes rested on the shelves. HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 469 Since the older boy had protested against the yoking, he immediately laid the blame on the younger, and told all the story in such a ridiculous way that the mother could not help but laugh, and in that day as in this, when a child has made the mother see the ridiculous, has replaced a frown with a smile, his battle is won. Nearly every old pioneer whom the author has seen has told a bear story. Few of these have been repeated. The following is a little out of the ordinary. When Mr. Rice was a very small boy some of these children went to school as early as three or four years of age, because they were in the way at home. He attended a school taught by Polly Ann Harvey. The seats were of hewn logs, and the back seats had in some places boards so placed as to make a writing shelf. One day in the early spring, it being cold enough to have had a little fire in the morning, the teacher, looking out of the window, saw a bear coming from the thicket. She immediately called to the children that a bear was coming. The door was locked, the windows were put down, the fire, which was not needed in midday, was stirred up, children grabbed their dinner pails, filled the same with water, put them on the coals, the teacher put a poker in the embers and breathlessly they awaited the approach of the bear. Young Rice was too little to know the danger, and climbing upon the writing shelf watched with great interest the approach of the animal. He was thin from his winter sleep, and walked rather slowly. Approaching the house he went to the front where the children usually ate their dinner, excepting to find some food there. Then he began slowly walking around the house. Finally, one of the girls discovered that one of the small panes of glass was broken. She therefore took her small shawl and stuffed it in the crack. Around came the bear, and when he either saw or smelled the shawl, he made a dive for the window, and at the same time uttered a vicious growl that frightened the children almost to death. Grabbing the shawl, he ran with it, tearing it to pieces. At this time he was at the back of the house, and the children inside were getting dreadfully frightened. Then it was that a young man with his dog came walking down the roadway. The teacher called to him that they were besieged by a bear, and he called, "Wait a minute," and disappeared. His dog did not follow him, but, like the bear, knowing of the feeding place of the children, repaired to the front of the schoolhouse. The bear, having fin- 470 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY ished the shawl, started on its walk, and encountered the dog. Before the latter realized it, the former had cuffed his ears, and then a race began. Around the house went the dog, with the bear after him. The latter was the more dangerous, but the former was more fleet of foot. The children in watching this race forgot their own. fear. The bear, weak from want of food, kept losing ground, and finally the dog made a dash for home through the woods. The young farmer, upon reaching home, got his gun, and accompanied by his brother, also armed, repaired to the return path of the bear, and shot it near the schoolhouse. Then the children bravely opened the door, and viewed the remains. School, of course, was dismissed, for how could children multiply or spell after such a dangerous adventure: In fact, it was several days before the school resumed its normal tone. The Greene citizen best known to the public is Mr. Fenelon Rice, grandson of David Rice. For many years he was at the head of the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin and really built up that branch of the college to its present condition. Fifty years ago there was a tailor shop, wagon shops, two shoemakers, two tanners, carding mill, and all sorts of like stores at the center of Greene. Now there is a single store. One year Mr. Harrington and his father went to Kinsman to sell a load of wheat. They got thirty-one cents a bushel. Just as they were driving away, Mr. John Kinsman, the merchant, brought out a great roll of something white and told them it was cotton cloth. This was the first they had seen. They asked the price of it and found that it was fifty cents a yard. They bought one yard to take home to show their family. It therefore took a bushel and three-quarters of wheat to buy one yard of cloth. In the campaign of 1840, when everybody was so excited, the Wakefield boys and the Harrington boys were very anxious to come to town to the Corwin meeting. After much consultation, the fathers decided they could come. They got two ox carts and a driver for them, and the boys in the greatest excitement hurried to the woods, made a log cabin, on which they tacked coonskins, and at midnight, before the meeting, they left Greene, with old Ben Lewis driving the oxen, and the boys, with some girls of the family, inside the cabin. Mr. Harrington says that the women of the family and neighborhood got so interested in this cabin that they made a nice flag for them HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 471 and the boys put up a flag-pole on the cabin. They met with no misfortunes until they started to ford a creek whose bed was rather uncertain, and the cabin game near landing in the water. However, they righted themselves and had no more trouble till they got this side of Baconsburg (Cortland), when the branches of a big tree were so low that they could not get under without breaking the flag-pole. However, there was a way around this, for they let down the fences, drove through the field, and arrived in Warren safely and on time. The boys in this cabin were Frank Rood, Charles Harrington, Edwin and Sidney Wakefield (and two girls). They reached Mecca at daylight. This day was the most wonderful of the boys' lives. They heard Tom Corwin speak and saw all this wonderful procession. It was said that one log cabin was drawn by twenty pairs of oxen. The speaking was in the northeast corner of the park, and there was a picture of Van Buren hanging near, to which Corwin referred now and then. The first schoolhouse in Greene was, of bourse of logs, and stood a mile north of the corners, while the second was a frame building. The latter was on the road near the south cemetery. Among the first teachers were Roswell Bartlett, William Harrington, James Bascom, Rhoda Rice, Mary Evans and Charlotte Bascom. Each fall the patrons of the schools would get together and plaster up the cracks of the logs of the first schoolhouse with mud or whatever they could get, and then the school would begin. The teachers were paid in produce. A Miss Bascomb, who afterwards married William Harrington, received, among other things, a log chain for her services. Her son, C. A. Harrington, who was longer identified with the Greene schools than any one other person, used to receive his pay half in money and half in store scrip. He used to board around, and most of the places were very comfortable. Some places, however, were pretty bad, and when it was his turn to board there he used to walk home every night, six miles and a half, and back in the morning. Although Mr. Harrington was a successful school teacher, lie never was taught either grammar or arithmetic in a school. His father being lame, was not able to do hard farm work, and he made ox yokes and ax helves for the community. Winter evenings he would have his bench at the side of the fireplace. The bits of wood which fell from his knife Charles would pile into 472 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY the fire, and thus, lying on the hearth by the blaze of this wood, he taught himself algebra. After a time he went to school one term at Farmington and another term at Austinburg. Finally he saved enough money to go to Oberlin. There he took Latin and Greek and the higher studies. He had laid by a sufficient sum for his books and tuition, and earned his board by selling wood in Oberlin. As he was about to graduate he learned that he would have to take Hebrew. He knew nothing about this. He made up his mind that since he was not going to be a preacher, it was foolish to spend the time on this study, and so he went home expecting to return and graduate the next year, when it was proposed to make Hebrew optional. Upon his return to Greene, someone suggested that he teach school. He therefore had some handbills printed, giving the time and place of opening. When the morning arrived he was surprised to find twenty-nine scholars waiting, and by the end of the term he had fifty. He taught for several years. His school grew until it numbered two hundred. The scholars were in different houses and he was the superintendent, board of education, and everything else connected with school management. This experience served him well in after years when he was a member of the Warren school board. His early school in Greene was so well known throughout the county that both M. D. Leggett and J. D. Cox, superintendents of the Warren schools, visited it for their own instruction. Among those early teachers were Lauren Coleman, Lewis Harrington, Dwight Kee, and Elder Bates. This school ran until the war broke out, when the young men went into the service, and the schools generally were more or less disorganized. In most townships there were academies, but Mr. Harrington's school took the place of such institution. His scholars are scattered in many parts of the United States, and in his travels and those of his friends they are very often run upon. Some years ago Mr. Harrington was visiting relatives in Minnesota, and in driving he became very thirsty. Getting out of the carriage to procure a drink, he discovered a large patch of melons. His thirsty condition made this fruit particularly attractive. Going to the house, he asked if he could buy some of the melons. The housewife replied, "No," but she would give him all he wanted. As he was leaving she watched him pretty closely, and then asked, "Aren't you Charles Harring- HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY - 473 ton ?" And when she found she had guessed right, she told him she was one of his old pupils. Captain Beeman, who taught school in West Farmington at one time, was a West Pointer. He brought up his scholars after West Point training. Every boy who entered the schoolroom had to salute when he came in. Every girl had to curtsey. When they stood up in the class the teacher would say, "Attention. Manners," when the boys must fold their arms and the girls piously crossed their hands. When school was dismissed the command, "Attention, Manners, March," was given. During the present century the schools of Greene have been centralized, following the example of Gustavus after that township had adopted the plan a year before. The residents voted to bond the township for $8,000, and the district schoolhouses and their lots were sold for $2,000. The new brick central schoolhouse cost, furnished, $8,200, and is a modern two-story building, equal in all respects to the average city schoolhouse. CHAPTER XXXVIII.—GUSTAVUS. PELTON FAMILY.-THE GILDERS.-CALVIN CONE.-OTHER EARLY FAMILIES.-JOHN BROWN JR.-A GREAT INVENTOR -PHYSICIANS.-SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS. -RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. Township 7, range 2, was named for Gustavus Storrs. whose father, Col. Lemuel Storrs, surveyed and numbered the lots of the township in 1800. The first settler was a ship carpenter and a farmer, Josiah Pelton, of Killingworth, Connecticut. He purchased the land in the east and came out to look at it in 1800. He stayed all summer, and, not needing his horse, turned it out to pasture. Never did any horse have a better summer vacation. He grew fat and sleek and wild. He preferred his new home to his old one, and when his master sought him for the home-going trip, it was necessary to lasso him in order to catch him. He made the journey carrying part of the time his master and part of the time .a missionary who was returning home. Upon reaching Connecticut Mr. Pelton offered one hundred acres of land to the first woman who would promise to make Gustavus her home. His son Jesse had a sweetheart in Granby, Connecticut. Her name was Ruhamah DeWolf. She came with her father's family to Vernon and stayed there until January, 1803. In June (1802) a cabin was erected by Mr. Pelton, Indians as well as white men helping to construct it, and they were married in September, her husband, before this, having lived alone in the cabin. Mrs. Pelton, by virtue of complying with this agreement, owned the one hundred acres of land in Gustavus. However, the deed was made out to her husband, as were most deeds of like nature of that day. In fact, at that time women did not own their own clothes, and although they wore skirts, these skirts belonged to their husbands. If they met with an accident, such as breaking a leg, their husbands brought suit, and any money recovered belonged to the husband. Today women in Gustavus, in Trumbull - 474 - years on the same farm. The son, John C., married first Elizabeth Pew, of Warren, and then Mary Ernest, of Braceville. One of the best remembered citizens of Lordstown was Isaac Bailey, who settled in the township in 1829. His first log cabin stood where the cooper-shop. later was, near the crossing of the Miller and Newton Falls road. This spot was known as Bailey's Corners and has ever since held the name. His wife was Rebecca Weaver, and she and he carried their first baby to Canfield to have it baptized. They reached the church at ten in the morning and walked home the same day, making a round of thirty miles. The women of Lordstown apparently did more outdoor work than the women in the northern part of the county. Mrs. Bailey used to shear all of the sheep, running from twelve to fourteen head a day, beside doing her own house work. She used to help in the harvest field, keeping pace with the men. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kistler lived in the same house with the Baileys, used the same fire for their cooking and the same implements. 540 - HISTORY OF TRUMBULL COUNTY Among the earlier settlers of Lordstown were the Packards and the Fulks. Thomas Packard was the first road supervisor of Trumbull County and lived in Austintown at the time he was appointed. Mrs. Packard was Julia Leech, of New Jersey. They began their married life in Austintown, moving to Lordstown in the early '20s. Their home was in that part of the township known as. ``Woodward Hill," and William was the first postmaster Lordstown ever had. Their son, Warren Packard, had in his possession papers issued to his father from the general postoffice dated 1837. Mr. and Mrs. Packard had nine sons and four daughters. Most of them grew to adult age, Warren, Jack, John, Ellen (Mrs. Campbell) and Mary being well known to the people of Trumbull County. Mr. Warren Packard was one of the successful business men of the city, and Mary, the youngest, was one of the best teachers the Warren schools ever had. She was also employed in the schools of Washington where she achieved quite a reputation as an instructor. "Grandma" Packard, as she was familiarly known by the present citizens of Warren, was in her early days an ardent Presbyterian and for many years rode her horse to Warren, accompanied by one of the older children, to attend the Presbyterian church. Her later days she spent on Monroe street in Warren in a home provided by her sons, and cared for by her daughter, Mary. Her grandchildren living in Warren are W. D. and J. W. Packard, Gertrude Alderman and Irene Loveless. Thomas Duncan, like many other residents of Lordstown, came from Austintown, his father having lived in Washington county. John Duncan was one of the very first settlers of the county, reaching Austintown in 1799. The family came to Lordstown in 1837, where they lived north of the center for many years. Thomas Duncan had ten children. He married Susan Leech of New Jersey. He was justice of the peace for nine years, and an ardent Democrat. Leonard Woodward, of Pennsylvania, settled in 1831 on the farm where his son later lived. He was a carpenter by trade and married Ann Moherman of Austintown. They had a large family of children, some of whom became interested in progressive questions and stood for their principles. Mrs. Woodward was a. quiet, gentle woman and an expert spinner. Mr. Woodward was justice of the peace for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Grove were among the early settlers who had to put up with the inconveniences belonging to a much