To search for a specific name, use the "Find" feature of your browser. In Internet Explorer, click Edit/Find. Type in what you are looking for and click the Find button. Most browsers have this feature. You may need to search a little for your particular browser.
Pages 51 - 60
BARBOUR, Dryden – son of Giles and Mary (Garrett) Barbour, was born in Canton, Conn., April 4, 1815. At the age of 19 he became a clock peddler. He also learned the trade of shoemaker. He was lame from childhood. He was married to Keturah Ann Barber, June 25, 1837, and she died two and a half years later, at Springfield, Ohio. On March 16th, 1843, he married Jane Wilcox, of Canton, Conn. She was a daughter of Zacheus Wilcox and Temperance Case, and a sister of Mrs. Dexter Bacon, as previously stated. They lived in Canton until 1849, when they came to Wakeman. He bought of Phillip Peckham 115 ½ acres of Lot 57, and of M. D. Randall 45 areas of Lot 47, the whole being now the Cahoon farm, south of the village. In 1857 he sold the 115½ acre tract to Barney and Cowdrey, and the next year the 45 acre tract to Lyman Peabody, and removed to Iowa, where he died in 1896.
Their children were: Alice, born June 23, 1844; Dryden, born Oct. 26, 1845, died May 4, 1864; Flavia Ann, born Sept. 22, 1847, m. Charles R. Green and d. Mar. 21, 1883; Henry, born Aug. 1, 1850; Ovid P., born Nov. 27, 1853; Quincey, born June 4, 1856, d. infant.
BARNES, Samuel Russell – native of Connecticut, married Abigail Pierce, of New Britain, the only sister of Amiel P. Pierce, pioneer of Wakeman. Mr. Barnes’ parents separated and his mother came to Wakeman. Her history is to be found with that of John Brooks.
In 1823 Mr. Barnes bought 73 acres of the south part of Lot 26, the Thomas B. Haskins farm. In that year or the next he move here, but first lived in a log house which stood between the site of the Griffin house and the later line of the railroad, then removed to his farm. In 1833 he sold the farm to Isaac Haskins and removed to Vermillion. His wife died and he married, 2nd, Betsy Parsons, a sister of Aaron Parsons, of Wakeman. He died in 1851. He had one daughter, Emily, born Sept. 24, 1822, who married T. J. Whitmore, March 25, 1840, and died Sept. 10, 1896, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Mina Chrysler, where she lived for thirty seven years.
BARNES, William - brother of Samuel Russell, was born March 3, 1805, at Woodbury, Conn. He came to Wakeman with his brother and made his home here until his marriage to Lucy Loveland, of Florence Township, near the home of his wife’s parents, south of the Lyman Scott farm. In 1850, he removed to Batavia, Michigan. In 1855 he bought Joel Wheeler’s farm, just north of Wakeman, next to the Bacon farm, but sold out the next year to Rosanna Carley and returned to Batavia, where he died April 9, 1883. He wife, Lucy Loveland, was born Jan. 2, 1815 and died in November 1894. They had children: Catherine, Sena, born Jan. 3, 1833, died March 25, 1882. Married Hiram Aldrich.
Sarah Maria married December 28, 1833, died about 1914, married,
(1st-Wells,
(2nd- Hughes.
Alfred W. born February 12, 1837, died Dec. 25, 1908,
Gilford " May 27, 1839, " Mar. 8, 1901,
Levi L. " April 19, 1845, " Mar. 9, 1865,
Michel R. " March 23, 1846, " Apr. 17, 1848,
George W. " March 5, 1848, " May 27,1902,
Daniel T. " April 17, 1850, of Bellevue, Mich.
Charles R. Green says of him: "When Joel Wheeler sold his farm in Wakeman before going to Wisconsin, it fell into the hands of Wm. Barnes, the man who had been selling whiskey for so many years in Florence. (See the Whiskey War, page 35). Finding the climate not conducive to his health here, he left for a neighboring state."
BARNES, Sheldon - a son of Charles and Cynthia Barnes (natives of Southbury, Conn., but who came to Clarksfield about 1855 and died there, she in 1866), was born at Southbury, March 27, 1798. He was married to Polly Wheeler, Dec. 13, 1824. She was born in 1800, and was a daughter of Johnson Wheeler, of Southbury, and was a sister of Justus Wheeler, of Wakeman, and of Johnson and Oliver Wheeler, of Clarksfield, and of Mrs. Cyrus Dunning, of Wakeman. For her further geneaology, see history of Justus Wheeler, page 190.
Mr. and Mrs. Barnes, with their infant son, came to Ohio in 1826. At Buffalo they took boat for Sandusky or Huron, but the boat was driven back by a furious storm before they reached their destination, and they landed at the mouth of Black River (now Lorain, Ohio). From there they came to the home of Johnson Wheeler, in Townsend, just south of the Parsons corners. Mrs. Barnes and the baby boy rode on horseback and Mr. Barnes walked. They lived with Mr. Wheeler for some time, then moved into a house in Wakeman, near the west line. Mr. Barnes was a carpenter by trade, and his work led him to change his residence quite often, sometimes to other townships. In 1833 he bought of Oliver Wheeler 125 acres of the north part of Lot 58, but sold the north end, 25 acres, in 1835. This left the 80 acres later owned by Elver Phillips. Here they spent the rest of their days, he dying Sept., 16, 1859, and she on Sept. 8,1871.
Their children were George, Rebecca and Victor.
George Barnes, (familiarly known as "Deacon George" to distinguish him from others of the same name, "Devil George", of Clarksfield, and "English George" of Wakeman) was born May 13, 1825, and was married to Elizabeth Sherman, daughter of Peter Sherman, of Wakeman, Aug. 12, 1853, and died Dec. 29, 1898. They lived on a small farm at the northeast corner of Lot 66, but afterward moved to the center road east of Wakeman to Lot 77, on the farm next west of the Peter Sherman farm.
Their children were: Julia born July 4, 1854, married Frank
Haskins,
Jessie " May 31, 1856, unmarried, lived with her mother in Wakeman
Ida Born Aug. 17, 1858, married Fred
Pierce and died
April 17, 1889
Charles " June 4, 1861, married Belle
Barney, and lived
in the village until his death,
Carrie " July 29, 1863, lived in Akron,
unm.,
George " Oct. 4, 1865, lives in Texas,
Mary " Nov. 20, 1867, lives in Akron, unm.
Ray " Sept. 17, 1873, in Wakeman,
Rebecca Barnes, daughter of Sheldon, born Oct. 22, 1827, married Abraham Phillips, of Hartland, in 1852, and died at her home in Wakeman, Dec. 29, 1898. See Phillips history for her further history.
Victor Barnes, born Feb. 17, 1830, married Aug. 12, 1853, Eunice, daughter of Christopher Godfrey, of Clarksfield. He died in Wakeman Oct. 12, 1861, and the wife died July 30, 1904. They had two daughters, Rosa, born July 16, 1855, married, 1st, Harry Harris, 2nd, Eben Marks and lived at Fennville, Mich.; the second daughter was Genevra, born March 5, 1858, married L. B. Wonser, of Wakeman, and the place of their residence is unknown to their relatives.
BARNES, Robert - was born in Virginia in 1796. He served in the war of 1812, assisting in the defense of Washington. He was a painter and glazier by trade and aided in the reconstruction of Washington after its destruction by the British. He came from there to Ohio in 1828. He lived in Columbus until 1856, being engaged in the butchering business. He came to Wakeman in 1856. His son, Samuel T. Barnes, had bought the gristmill property in 1854, and the father came to help him, as he was likely to have trouble with Timothy Baker, the mortagee. They did have some litigation, but Mr. Barnes won out and held the mill, buying out the son. Robert Barnes operated the mill for some time.
He was twice married, Samuel having been a son by the first marriage. The second wife was Elizabeth R. Fields, born in Athens county, Ohio, Aug. 8, 1820, moved to Franklin county in 1827, and married in 1848. Her children were Nimia
(married Francis Mosher); Morris P., Benjamin (married Sarah Flower and lived in Wakeman); Robert, Alice, beside Albert and Annie, who both died in infancy.
BARNES, George W. – called "English George", was a son of Thomas and Mary Barnes and was born in Berkshire, England, Nov. 18, 1822. His wife, Sarah Heath, was born in Lambourn, Berkshire, England, Nov. 20, 1825. They were married Feb. 24, 1847. In 1852 they came to the United States, living in Cleveland, Camden, Clarksfield, and finally in Wakeman, where they came in 1863. He bought a farm across the road from the Thomas Haskins farm and lived in the Liscomb house while having the house built on his farm. The son, Fred, lives at the old home.
Mr. Barnes died July 10, 1893, and the wife, May 13, 1910.
Their children were:
William born Nov.25, 1848, married Emily Westfall Feb. 26, 1876, died
Oct. 16, 1917
Charles " Feb. 5, 1850, m. Helen Hall Oct. 11, 1871, d. Aug. 12, 1914,
Thomas " Dec. 23, 1851, m. 1st, Anna Barber, 2nd Lulu Gibson, of Camden
and died in Camden,
Elizabeth " Aug. 1853, m. Charles Bacon, and died Sept. 13, 1915
Alfred King b. Feb. 23, 1855, m. Nettie Erswell and died Aug. 23, 1923.
George Born Nov. 18, 1858, m. Alice Brailey,
Edward " July 10, 1862, m. Cora Arnold,
Fred " Nov. 10,1865, m. Mrs. Grace (Eaton) Edwards.
BATES, Henry B. – an Englishman in the English army in Canada, in 1815, deserted from the army and, with Peter Kinsley, swam the Niagara River, under fire, and reached the American lines in safety. We next hear of him in New London, Ohio, in 1818, where, according to history, he married Phebe Hendryx, but the marriage is not on record in Norwalk, but his two later ones are. On June 12, 1822, he married Phebe Root, a sister of the wife of Samuel Parker, of Clarksfield. On April 9, 1826, he married Mrs. Polly Crandall, widow of Ezra Crandall, and lived near Onandagua Lake, N. Y. She was a daughter of Asahel Parker, who came to Florence at an early day. Charles C. Crandall, whose history appears later, was a son.
By the marriage of Mr. Bates and Polly Hendryx, a daughter, Phebe, was born, and the wife died at her birth. The daughter, was brought up by a family in Florence, by the name of Hull, and married Gilead Knapp, of Clarksfield, where she died Nov. 19, 1898.
By the second marriage there were no children, and we have no knowledge as to the dissolution of this marriage, whether by death or otherwise.
By the third marriage there were children:
Mary Ann, born March 10, 1828, married David Potter, died in Wood Co., O. June 9, 1882.
Sarah Ann born Jan. 9, 1829, married 1st, Uriah LaDow, Jr., of Camden. They separated and she m. 2nd, William Sigourney, of Camden, 3rd, Joseph Nelson Twining. She died in 1912, without issue.
William Wellington, born Feb. 1, 1831, familiarly known as "Black Bill Bates" perhaps to distinguish him from Wm. A. Bates, of Henrietta, married Amelia French, Dec. 14, 1855, and lived on his mother’s farm in Camden. He left his wife and entered the army where he received wounds which caused his death. Emeline
Bates born Aug. 11, 1834, married James D. Fisher and died in Norwalk, April 21, 1904.
Betsy Jane Bates, born Jan. 1, 1839, married 1st, - Young, 2nd, – Parks and died in Wood Co., 0hio, Nov. 28, 1910. Henry B. Bates died in Wakeman township Aug. 15, 1848, aged 50 years, and was buried in the Jim Wood cemetery, in Florence. His widow, Polly died in Camden in 1869, at the age of 74.
He bought land in Clarksfield May 1, 1828, being then a resident of Clarksfield, and also land in Wakeman the same year. He lived in Wakeman as early as 1833, and as late as April 19, 1837, but was living in Camden Feb. 10, 1838. He first bought in Wakeman 50 acres of the Munger farm and sold it to James Riley. He then bought a part of the Bradway-Whitney farms east of the river. He sold part of this to Charles Crandall and 1838, the remainder to Joel Adams.
The History of New London says: "Henry Burton Bates, said to have been born in Leicestershire, England, a relative of Lord Wellington Bates, was a soldier in the English army in Canada, at the age of 17, deserted, &c." Also: "The first lawsuit in the township was held at the house of Mr. Abner Green – I. P. Case, Chief Justice presiding – Miss Margaret VanDeusen (the daughter of Green’s wife), plaintiff, versus Mr. Henry Bates, defendant. He made no valid defense but settled the controversy by giving to the said Margaret, a horse." (We surmise that the cause of action was a breech of promise of marriage.)
BEECHER, Horace, a son of Cyrenius Beecher, of Florence, was born in Bridgewater, Conn., Nov. 9, 1829. In 1836 he came to Ohio with his parents, the family living in Wakeman for a few weeks before settling in Florence. They lived just north of the Munger farm, in the house east of the road, away back on the bank of the river.
Horace married Fanny M. Pierce, daughter of Amiel P. Pierce, Jan. 1, 1851. They settled on a fifty acre farm in the west part of Lot 62, the farm later owned by his son. Mr. Beecher died there April 10, 1893.
Fannie Mitchell Pierce was born in Wakeman June 18, 1826, and died May 29, 1874. Their children were:
Platt Pierce, born Aug. 3, 1852, died Mar. 31, 1871, unmarried,
Elbert Perry " June, 2, 1855, married Josephine White, daughter of Dr. White,
of Clarksfield, Feb. 15, 1880, died,
Julia E. " Oct. 3, 1857, married John I. Daggett, of Kirtland, O., Nov. 12,
1879,
Hattie A. " Oct. 2, 1871, married Frank Aseltine, of Meridian, Mich.,
Oct. 4, 1889,
Mary J. " Jan. 20, 1865, married Melvin J. Hurst, of Wakeman, Jan. 4,
1890.
BEERS, William – came from Connecticut to Wakeman in May 1824 and first lived west of Dr. Clark’s home, then in "Shelton’s Lane", then on the Clarksfield road, where Elver Clark now lives. Some time after 1837 he removed to Ottawa, Ill. He had a roving disposition, and when his son Lewis was in San Francisco, in 1849, he unexpectedly met his father in the street. In 1850, he removed to Freedom Ill. His wife was Hannah Boyd, a sister of Merritt Hyde’s wife. They had children:
Laura born in 1820, died in 1902, married Thomas West,
Lewis F. born Feb. 19, 1827, died in 1892. He married Dorothy ("Dothy") Percy,
of Clarksfield, in 1841. After her death he married Martha Easterly, and
3rd, Mary A. Hopkins.
He must have lived in Wakeman in 1843, for he lost an infant child here in that year, but the most of his life was spent in Clarksfield.
Harriet, born in 1825, married Charles Bonnell,
Sarah, " 1829, " Cornelius Bye, died in 1898,
Anson, " 1832, died in 1911,
George " 1830, " in 1908, lived in Bronson Township, O.,
Pliny, who lived in the west,
There was a daughter, Eliza, too. All the daughters lived in the west.
(Lewis Beers was the father of ten or eleven children, of whom Perry, the youngest, lives in Clarksfield, and Dell in Lorain, Ohio.)
BELL, Elias - a native of New Haven, Conn., but who emigrated to Pennsylvania, was born Jan. 21, 1780. His wife was Rosanna Smith, born at Hartford, Pa., April 11, 1780. She died Oct. 3, 1854, and he died March 23, 1856.
The Bell families came to Wakeman about 1831. Elias bought 50 acres of the east part of Lot 77 (Edgar Tood farm) in 1834. He sold the north part of this to Joseph Dodd in 1835, and the south 20 acres to I. and K. Todd. Elias and Martin,
with their families removed to New Haven, Indiana.
Elias Bell had children:
Minerva born June 29, 1803,
Levi " Aug. 2, 1805, d. New Haven, Ind., Sept. 18, 1890,
Martin " Aug. 1, 1807, d. at Vesta, Neb., Dec. 23, 1896,
Lucy " Nov. 23, 1809,
James " Nov. 25, 1811,
Dennis " April 21, 1813, d. in Neb., April 1889,
Freeman " July 30, 1815, d. Milton, Iowa, May 17, 1893,
Harriet " Oct. 3, 1818, d. Ann Arbor, Mich. Aug. 3, 1874,
Amanda " May 22, 1821,
Elias and Rosanna, June 20, 1823,
Ambrose born Nov. 30, 1825.
Minerva married, 1st Simeon (or Sidney) Brown, 2nd, Amos Pierce, of Wakeman. Lucy married George Thompson, in Hartford, Pa., in 1832. They once lived in Monroeville, Ohio.
Martin married Polly Miller in 1836, and 2nd, Dorcas, her sister.
Harriet married Joseph Kemp in 1840.
James married Avalina, daughter of William Bentley and went to Indiana.
Martin Bell, in 1831, bought 30 acres of Lot 87, where the Todd school house used to stand. He lived in a log house east of the corners but sold the farm to George Todd in 1838, and bought 115 ½ acres of the east part of the Cahoon farm. He was unable to pay for it and sold it back to Peckham in 1840 and moved to Florence township, and later to New Haven, Indiana.
MARTIN BELL’S record is as follows: Born Aug. 1, 1807, at Gibson, Penn., married Mary Miller, March 20, 1828, at Lennox, Penn., She was born at Clifford, Penn., Nov. 1, 1809. They had children:
William L. born Dec. 26, 1829, at Ridgefield, Penn.,
Mary J. " Jan. 12, at Wakeman, as were all the rest of them,
Julia " Dec. 5, 1832, m. Cyrus E. Briant, of Birmingham and d.
South Whitley, Ind., Feb. 7, 1922,
George W. " Oct. 22, 1835,
Samuel D. " Sept. 29, 1837, died March 9, 1838,
Frances E. " Nov. 4, 1839, m. William Telfer, and lived a year,
Wilson S. " Nov. 10, 1841,
Theresa O. " July 17, 1845, m. William Telfer, 2nd wife,
James Monroe " Sept. 1841, d. July 25, 1850 in Allen Co., Ind. This
indicates that Bell moved to Ind. 1849.
After the death of Mr. Bell’s wife Mary (Polly) Miller, he married her sister, Dorcas (Ostrander) Miller.
BENTLEY FAMILY.
Daniel Bentley had children, William, Charles, John, Benjamin, Daniel, Harriet and Betsy.
BENTLEY, William, son of Daniel, was born at Nine Partners, Dutchess county, New York, Nov. 30, 1783. He was married on June 26, 1809, to Lydia Parker, a daughter of Asahel Parker (later an early settler of Florence). She was born at Greenfield, Montgomery county, New York, June 28, 1788.
The had children:
Asahel, 1st, born April 18, 1810, at Richmond, Ontario Co., N.Y. died April
11, 1811, at Sparta,
Anna Mariah, born Feb. 2, 1812, at Sparta, Ontario Co.,
N.Y., died at Adams, Ind., Oct. 9, 1841; married Elias Shafer,
Dec. 19, 1829. They lived just south of Mr. Bentley’s but
removed to Indiana.
Samuel, born Feb. 14, 1814, at Sparta, died April 25, 1841,
at Parkman, Ohio; married Louise Bentley,
Morgan, born Sept. 16, 1816, at Sparta, died Jan. 17, 1843,
at Adams, Ind., married Harriet Whitney,
Avalina, born April 19, 1819, at Farmington, Ontario Co.,
N.Y. married James Bell and died in Indiana.
Asahel, 2nd, born Aug. 2, 1821, at Florence, Ohio, married
Phoebe Patterson April 14, 1844, at Jackson,
Ill., moved to Indiana and died there,
Norton L, born Sept. 25, 1823, at Florence, Ohio, died Jan. 6, 1850, at Elyria,
O., married Harriet Parker
William, Jr. born March 2, 1826, at Florence, died Mar. 30,
1847, at Wakeman,
Herrick P., born June 13, 1829, at Florence, died Feb. 22, 1870, at
Wakeman, married Margaret Barnum, of Clarksfield, Oct. 20,
Feb. 18, 1910.)
Miranda, born Aug. 9, 1831, at Wakeman, died –-
Mary Jane, born Oct. 19, 1834, at Wakeman, died Mar. 2,
1912, married Sheldon Munger. See his history
for children.
John Bentley, son of Daniel, also married a daughter of Asahel Parker. Possibly Parker and John Bentley, of Florence, were his sons.
William Bentley lived in Ontario county, N.Y., until about 1820, when they removed to Florence, on the Butler Road, near the John Bentley home, then about 1830, removed to Wakeman.
In 1833 Benjamin Bentley bought the north half of Lot 41 (north of the Erastus French farm), later owned by Sheldon Munger.
William lived here on the farm which he inherited after the death of his brother, Benjamin. When we note the early death of a number of the children, ages from 21, 27, 29 to 41, we are shown the effect of an inherited tendency to consumption in this family.
Herrick P. Bentley obtained the deed of his father’s farm in 1853, but later bought a farm in Lot 49, on the road toward Clarksfield (Jess Hayes farm), and lived there until his death.
He had children: Arthur, who married Hattie Denman, and removed to Oregon, where he died; and Ida May born July 26, 1855, died Dec. 21, 1896, in Norwalk, Ohio, married Sept. 3, 1878, Charles R. Butler.
BETTS, Rev. Xenophon – A Congregational minister, came from Connecticut in 1828, and was the first settled pastor of the church in Wakeman. He spent the most of the first year here at the home of Justus Minor. The next year he went back to Connecticut and married a wife. They lived for two years at Mr. Pierce’s house.
In 1834 he bought four acres of land of Nathan Downs, on the north side of the village and moved into a house there. In 1837 he sold this to James Wilson. In 1834
they lost their two children, Elizabeth, aged two, on the 3rdof August, and Samuel aged four, on the 12th of the same month. They were buried across the road, west from Dr. Clark’s. In 1836 they removed to Lyme, in Huron Co., Ohio, where the wife died a few years later. He died May 28, 1871, at the age of 71.
On Dec. 11, 1867, when Mr. Betts was a resident of Vienna, Trumbull Co., Ohio, he made an address before the Firelands Historical Society, at Wakeman, giving his recollections of Wakeman during his eight years residence. It is so very interesting that we will take the space to copy it in full, but first we quote a part of Charles R. Green’s sketch of Mr. Betts.
" Perhaps no one person has left a more lasting influence upon the community, than the first pastor of the Congregational church, Rev. Xenophon Betts. He came here about eleven years after its first settlement. At that time there were about thirty families in the township, and two school districts, the north western and the one at the centre, each having a log school house."
At the time Mr. Betts came here there were two churches organized. The Congregational church had fifteen members, and the Methodists a class." "The first Sunday after Mrs. Betts came, the meeting was at the centre school house. As the roads were very muddy, the family (Mr. Minor’s) including the minister and his wife, rode to Meeting in an oxcart. Of course this was reported back to the friends in Connecticut, and her family drew their own conclusions as to what kind of a place Ohio must be, where people went to church in an ox cart. Mrs. Betts was brought up amid the refinements and conveniences of an eastern home, she had lived much in New York City. She was the oldest daughter of a motherless family of children, and her character early matured and strengthened under this discipline.
She had peculiar reasons for gloomy thoughts of Ohio. Her family was near neighbor of the Seymour family, one of whose sons was killed by the Indians near the Huron river. The change from a well ordered home surrounded by friends, pleasant society and abundant religious privileges, to a solitary home in the forest, shut in by the woods in every direction from neighbors, must have been a trial to her devotion.
The first night of their stay was spent with the family of Bela Coe. The house was of course a log one. This itself was a curiosity to Mrs. Betts. Before retiring she examined minutely every nook and corner of the room. The window was set deep in its frame work of logs, no doubt looked like a frail barricade against the wild beasts and Indians with which the forests around were associated in her mind."
Extracts from Mr. Betts’
address at Wakeman.
"But while tradition has the advantage of being living history, it has
also the liability to die, if neglected, and to become erroneous if not fixed
by the written record, during the age of the original actors in the scenes.
For that reason it is desirable that incidents of early settlement should be
gathered and recorded before the generation is passed away. For this reason
I have accepted the invitation you have so kindly extended to me to come and
contribute my offering towards the early
history of this place. Although not a pioneer in the sense of breaking up the forest, I was, in the providence of God, the first pastor of the first church which was organized in the settlement. The forest had been opened about eleven years before I saw it. I then spent eight years in the midst of you, somewhat intimately connected with persons, with families, with the community, and with the changes and progress of the settlement. If I may be enabled to draw a map, physical and social of the settlement, as it was when I came, and when I left, it may make a standpoint from which I may look back and make some remarks respecting that which had already transpired, and look forward to some things, which have taken place since I left. It must all be liable to the imperfections of frail humanity, and the errors of the memory of an old man. But such as it is, I cheerfully give my experience and observation.
It is now about thirty nine years since I first came to this settlement. I was a missionary of the A. H. M. Society, and was directed here by my brother, Rev. A. H. Betts, the Pioneer of the churches in our connection in this region. The settlement had then been opened a little more than eleven years. There were about thirty families, mostly on the north west quarter of the township. ----- A company in Southbury purchased the north west quarter and a tier of lots adjoining on the south west quarter, and thus this portion was opened for settlement before the remainder of the township. For some reason the proprietors did not put the other portions into market, but very sparingly, for a long time. This delay was very trying to the few settlers who had come in and they were not careful about sparing the lands for non residents from any taxes, which the laws would warrant for the improvement of the township, in roads, or school houses, or any thing else, which was needed. At the time I came, the settlement had been regularly organized with township privileges. It was divided into two school districts, the north west and the center, each having a log school house. There was some form of military organization extending to the settlement. I have occasion to remember this, from the question coming up with regard to my liability to do military duty, and the Col. of the Regiment, Cyrus Minor, offered to get for me if I wished, a chaplain’s commission. I did not accept, nor did I ever do military duty here.
There were also two churches organized here, the Congregational church, at that time having about fifteen members, and a Methodist class, the number of which, at that time I am unable to tell.
Taking the families as they were at that time, I shall pass over them in their order by roads, thus giving a geographical and personal map of the settlement as it then was, adding such incidents as my own observation and experience may suggest, or such traditionary recollections as may spring up in my mind.
Beginning at the north west, following the road south, the first family was Mrs. Buck, with her son Ebenezer Warner. Mrs. Buck was formerly the wife of Abraham Bronson. Her son, Ebenezer Warner was subsequently a magistrate and a member of the State Legislature. (See page 184.) From this family, while it bore the name of Bronson, were probably the first two funerals in the place, viz; Mrs. Hendrick, the mother of Mrs. Bronson, and Mr. Bronson himself, shortly after. (page 79) These were probably in the latter part of 1820 or the beginning of 1821. The house stood where C. C. Canfield’s now stands, or near that site. The end of the house, after the family left it was a bonfire, in sport without spite.
End of pages 51 - 60
Pages 61 - 70 (Coming Soon)
Transcribed by Lowell Dunlap