His first lot of goods were placed in a log cabin which stood upon the lot now owned by Dr. Armstrong.  During the same year, however, he erected the substantial buildings which now occupy the lot.
     In July, 1832, Mr. Scott  formed a partnership with Daniel Porter, of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in the goods trade; which partnership was formed for the term of eighteen months, each investing in cash capital of $2500.  At the close of the partnership they discovered that they had duplicated their capital.  Much of their business, however, was dealing in stock, from which a considerable amount of profits were derived.
     As evidence of the integrity of his customers at that time, Mr. Scott says that, during the first four years of his business life in Hayesville, he has no recollection of having lost a dollar by bad debts.  With reference to girls who supported themselves by weekly wages, he generally gave credit when it was asked, and the money was always promptly paid according to promise.
     In 1840 Mr. Scott sold to Jacob Kinnaman the "Armstrong corner," and purchased of Francis Graham, of Ashland, the brick building upon the opposite corner.  Here he continued business until June, 1846, when he disposed of his stock of goods to Messrs. Cox & Higbee, and retired from the business.
     In September, 1857, John and W. W. Scott resumed business at the old stand vacated by the former in 1846, and where they yet continue.
Source: A History of the Pioneer and Modern Times of Ashland County from The Earliest to the Present Date, by H. S. Knapp, Publ. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. - 1863 - Page 290

A Murderer Discovered.

     During the interval which had elapsed after embarking at Black Rock, Mr. Slocum had found a newspaper aboard giving the details of a murder which had been committed in Schoharie County, New York, and describing the supposed murderer.  From certain appearances about one of the passengers who had accompanied the captain to the vessel from Buffalo, and who had given his name as John Smith, and particularly from the circumstance that he and Page were extremely anxious to go ashore at Long Point, (and which was only prevented by the earnest remonstrance of Mr. Slocum, representing that it would imperil the lives of those remaining on board to part with the schooner's only boat,) he had been led to the conclusion that this man John Smith was none other than the veritable John Vanalstine, the murderer of Richard Huddleston, deputy sheriff of Schoharie County. On the return passage, therefore, to Black Rock, so firm was Mr. Slocum in this conviction, that he formed the resolution to arrest the suspected person immediately upon landing at that port; and, accordingly, after the passengers had disembarked, Mr. Slocum induced Page (the companion of Smith, and who was cognizant of his crime and aiding him in his escape) to go to the hotel of Major. Berry, and order dinner for ten of the passengers.  Having thus separated Smith, alias Vanalstine, from his companion, he immediately arrested Smith in the name of the people, and by the authority of the State of New York, as the murderer of Deputy Sheriff Richard Huddleston, and proceeded with him to the jail at Buffalo, where he was lodged, and remained three days—and a Court of Inquiry resolved to detain him until a witness from Schoharie could be obtained to identify the prisoner.  On the sixth day after the court had examined the case, the witness appeared and at once recognized Vanalstine.  Upon confronting his witness, he was so overwhelmed that he fainted.  On the day following, the court delivered the prisoner into the hands of Mr. Slocum, who conveyed him to Schoharie, and transferred him to the hands of High Sheriff Keiser.  The prisoner was put upon trial—convicted and sentenced—and, on the last Friday of March, in 1818, was executed; having previously made to Mr. Slocum, and afterward to the world, a full confession of his crime.

From Black Rock to Uniontown.

     While the events above mentioned occurred, the families of Messrs. Slocum and Palmer remained at Black Rock; and, in January, sat out overland for their Western destination; and in the latter part of March, 1818, arrived at Uniontown—having been about eight weeks in accomplishing this part of the journey.
     Mr. Slocum, on his first visit, had purchased of George Butler one hundred and six acres in section 16, Montgomery Township; and, jointly with Alanson Andrews and George W. Palmer, purchased of William Montgomery, the original proprietor of Uniontown, three acres on the south side of "Montgomery's Run," (a part of the ground being that upon which the dwellings of David Whiting, Jacob Hildebrand, and the shop and dwelling of Mr. Desenburg are now situated.) Upon this purchase they erected a patent distillery—-being the first of that character in this section of the country.  Mr. Slocum's family removed to a cabin on section 16, which had been erected for them by Mr. Butler. Upon this land Mr. Slocum made the first improvement, and there continued his home during a period of about twelve years.
     His family, at the date of his arrival in the country, consisted of his wife and six children, namely: Sarah, Mary, Elizabeth, Lyman, Wealthy, and Ephraim, (the latter now residing upon the farm which his father first purchased and improved.)

Ashland in 1817-1818

     The Hopewell, west of town one and a half miles, was the only church building in the country nearer than Mansfield.
     The nearest physician and store were also at Mansfield.
     There was not, within his knowledge, a schoolhouse in the country; but during the year 1818 a building for this purpose, of log walls, cabin roof, and puncheon floor, inclosing a room in which a very stinted quantity of light was admitted through greased paper windows, and capable of seating very uncomfortably about fifteen or eighteen children, was erected in the vicinity of the present residence of Miss Sarah Jones.  Here the late Lorin Andrews and the elder children of Mr. Slocum and a few others learned the first rudiments of their education.

A Boy Lost.

     In the year 1820, a son of James Durfee, aged about eight years, whose family then resided in Jackson
Township, near what was then the Wayne and Lorain County line, (being the farm now owned by John Buchanan,) became lost in the woods.  The child was in charge of his uncle, David Souls, and had been placed to guard an opening in the fence.  A rain coming on, and becoming impatient by reason of the protracted absence of his uncle, it is supposed that the child undertook to find his way home, in which effort he became lost.  After a faithful search of about twelve days by the people of the whole neighborhood, aided by others from remote townships, the hope of recovering his body was abandoned.   Subsequently some remains of his hair, bones, and clothing were found in the forest, near the present town of Perrysburg, within a distance of two miles of his father's house.  These relics explained the little sufferer's fate.  His body, when either living or dead, had been attacked and devoured by wolves.

How Justice was administered.

     It is no reproach to the first and most prominent officers of Montgomery Township that they were illiterate — unable even to read or write— as they had had little or no opportunities of education, having
spent their boyhood in a wilderness that had never been reached by the schoolmaster. It was, therefore,
the fact with regard to Robert Newell, Esq., (one among the earliest of the settlers, and whose cabin was burned by the Indians during the war of 1812, as elsewhere related,) that he could neither read nor write, and of course never kept a docket.  So satisfactorily, however, and with such an even hand did he dispense justice, upon principles of strict equity rather than law, that his official acts were indorsed by a re-election.  Floyd Eddy, his son-in-law, and Jacob Kline, elected as constables, were also equally illiterate. In most cases, Squire Newell would refuse absolutely to issue summons, fixing up and enforcing on summary but equitable terms a settlement of issues among neighbors; but this could not always be done.  In one instance, Andrew Clark demanded summons on Martin Mason, for balance of pay claimed for constructing a mill-race, and the squire, after protracted efforts to bring the parties to a settlement, was unable longer to defer an "issue of summons."  Accordingly he called upon Constable Kline, and, presenting that "civil" functionary with a strong buckeye club, notified him that that was his authority for bringing Mason, dead or alive, into "Court,"—to call upon said defendant, and if he showed any symptoms of unwillingness to obey the summons, he was to make such vigorous use of said club over the head and shoulders of defendant as would induce him to respond and accompany him.  Defendant, however, readily obeyed the summons, and the litigants appeared before his honor.  The squire demanded, first of the plaintiff, then of the defendant, a full statement from each of the matter at issue; which demand having been complied with by the statements of the parties, he gave judgment as follows: Mason shall pay to Clark two bushels of corn; Clark being a poor man, and having no horse, you, Mason, shall deliver the corn at his house.  Forever after this you are to be good friends and neighbors, and if either shall ever fail in the least particular to obey this order, I will have the offender before me and whip him within about 'a inch' of his life.  As for myself I charge no fees.  Not so with Constable Kline; his charge being a quart of whisky, which plaintiff and defendant will see is brought into Court as promptly as possible, for the use of all present."

Religious Sects and Political Parties.

     In the early days, there were no religious sects of political parties.  It was emphatically an "era of good feeling."  When word was given out that a preacher would hold a meeting at either a private or a public house, it was attended by all the neighbors, far and near—the men appearing often with their rifles, which would be stacked in a corner of the room—and no particular inquiry would be made as to what denomination the preacher belonged.  The clergymen, however, who mostly visited the country were Presbyterians and Baptists.  At this juncture of time, also, and up to the period of the second contest between Adams and Jackson, in 1828, there were no party divisions.  The officers, county and township, generally received the unanimous support of the electors.  When there was anything like a contest, it was more on personal grounds, and determined more on the question of personal popularity, than any other.

Settlement of Montgomery Township, etc.

     The date of the settlement of Montgomery Township may be said to have commenced about the year 1818, the settlers prior to that time being very few in number.  From 1818 until about 1821, the year 1818, the settlers prior to that time being very few in number.  From 1818 until about 1821, the township had received considerable accessions to its population.  Squire Newell was the largest landholder, he being the owner of one thousand acres; the next largest was a Mr. Lanterman, of Trumbull County, (father-in-law of Luther M. Pratt,) who was the owner of about nine hundred acres, embracing what is now known as the "Tunker Settlement."  Under the laws of Congress in force at that time, no one could enter less than a quarter section, and very few of the original settlers entered more than that quantity.  These quarters were often divided and sometimes subdivided by the original purchasers, and sold to other settlers, which had a strong tendency to promote the density of the settlement, and develop the resources of the country.
     Mr. Slocum and his neighbors often spent six days in the week in attending cabin-raisings and log-rollings.  On some of these occasions, he would travel five and six miles distant from his home.  These gatherings had a powerful tendency to create and cement the ties of social friendship, and every one considered it a point of honor to obey the invitation of a neighbor to attend a "raising" or "log-rolling."
     The bears were the great enemy of the swine, but after they had become so far exterminated as to permit the introduction of hogs, the mast of the forest afforded them food in sufficient quantity to fatten, with the aid of very little or no corn.  The owners would kill them, as their wants required, by shooting in the woods.  This practice, as may be supposed, gave rise to some ill feeling and litigation, as men would sometimes mistake their neighbors' hogs for their own.  Deer and turkey were abundant in the forest.   No man who was the owner of a gun and understood its use, need be out of a supply of the best kind of wild animal food.  Since Mr. Slocum's residence in this country, he never knew a case of severe suffering for want of food. There was always sufficient in the country, coarse though it may have been, to sustain life and health; and if a neighbor was in want, ample relief was promptly offered as soon as the circumstances became known.  Equality, fraternity, truth, and charity were virtues more honored in the observance than in later times.
     Mr. Slocum died at his residence in Ashland, on the 17th of April, 1862, at the age of eighty-two years.
Source: A History of the Pioneer and Modern Times of Ashland County from The Earliest to the Present Date, by H. S. Knapp, Publ. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. - 1863 - Page 205