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This township
was organized Oct. 5, 1818. By the census of 1870 its population was
2,581. The following is the list of officers of the township, as
appears upon the township records:
1822. Trustees - H. Totten, David Garver, Andrew
Moore; Clerk - N. W. Perrine.
1823.
Trustees - George Poe, Henry Totten, Jacob Shellenberger; Clerk - James
Boyd; Treasurer - George W. Howey
1824.
Trustees - Henry Hall, Hector Burns, James Patterson; Clerk - James Boyd;
Treasurer - David Garver.
1825. Trustees
- James Boyd, N. N. Perine, G. W. Howey; Clerk - Squier Pettit; Treasurer
- David Garver.
1826. Trustees - John
Jeffrey, Samuel Sheets, Henry Totten; Treasurer - Hector Burns.
1827. Trustees - John Park, James Carlin, Abram Yocum; Clerk -
Michael Debolt; Treasurer - John Nead.
1828.
Trustees - John Rickel, David Brown, James Carlin; Clerk - David Perky;
Treasurer - Solomon Bonewitz.
1829.
Trustees - Michael Totten, Michael Funk, John Vanosdoll; Clerk - Squier
Pettit; Treasurer - Solomon Bonewitz.
1830.
Trustees - Solomon Bonewitz, James Carlin, Thomas McKee; Clerk - John
Vanosdoll; Treasurer - Thomas McKee.
1831.
Trustees - James Shallenberger, Walter Elgin, George W. Howey; Clerk -
John Shafer; Treasurer - Squier Pettit.
1832.
Trustees - James Carlin, Thoams McCoy, Charles Hoffstetter; Clerk - David
Perky; Treasurer - Squire Pettit.
1833.
Trustees - Joel Fisk, John Jeffrey, Charles Hoffstetter; Clerk - J.
Carlin; Treasurer - Solomon Bonewitz.
1834.
Trustees - Henry Hare, Thomas McKee, John Vanosdoll; Clerk - M. T. Brewer;
Treasurer - David Garver.
1835. Trustees
- Hector Burns, David Weaver, Pemberton Pancost; Clerk - M. Anderson;
Treasurer - David Garver.
1836. Trustees
- James Patterson, George W. Howey, John Jeffrey; Clerk - Frank A.
Warring; Treasurer - David Garver.
1837.
Trustees - John Vanosdoll, Thomas McKee, William Carlin; Clerk - John S.
Lee; Treasurer - David Garver.
1838.
Trustees - Robert Mahan, Sol. Bonewitz, William Gibson; Clerk - David
Carlin; Treasurer - William Carlin.
1839.
Trustees - Jacob Secrist, John Trauger, H. Burns; Clerk - D. Carlin;
Treasurer - William Carlin.
1840.
Trustees - Leonard Crawford, John Dulin, Michael Clouse; Clerk - Neal
McCoy; Treasurer- William Carlin.
1841 -
Trustees - Hector Burns, Thomas McKee, Sol. Bonewitz; Clerk - Matthew
Brewer; Treasurer- David Garver.
1842 -
Trustees - James Reed, J. Brinkerhoff, H. Henderson; Clerk - John
Vanosdoll; Treasurer - D. Garver.
1843 -
Trustees - John Brinkerhoff, Christian Garver, Samuel Kline; Clerk - Saul
Littell; Treasurer - D. Garver; Assessor - Moses Baxter.
1844 - Trustees - John Brinkerhoff, Samuel Kline, C. Garver; Clerk - W. C.
Moore; Treasurer - David Garver; Assessor - David Carlin.
1845 - Trustees - John Brinkerhoff, Samuel Kline, Christian Garver; Clerk
- David Carlin; Treasurer - David Garver; Assessor - Moses Baxter
1846. Trustees - Christian Garver, Samuel Kline, John Vanosdoll;
Clerk - H. A. Powell; Treasurer - David Garver; Assessor- Walter Elgin.
1847. Trustees - John Vanosdoll, Josiah Clinker, Robert Shaver;
Clerk - J. W. Zuver; Treasurer - David Garver; Assessor - David Carlin.
1848. Trustees - Robert Shaver, Sol. Bonewitz, Thomas Beall; Clerk -
Isaac Crane; Treasurer - David B. McCoy; Assessor - Matthew Brewer.
1849. Trustees - Thomas Beall, Solomon, Bonewitz, Mahlon Myers;
Clerk - J. L. Crane; Treasurer - D. B. McCoy; Assessor - M. F. Brewer.
1850. Trustees - Mahlon Myers, John Keeler, William Burns; Clerk -
Samuel Vancleve; Treasurer - D. B. McCoy; Assessor - Matthew T. Brewer.
1851. Trustees - John Keeler, Jacob Leatherman, Peter R. Heney;
Clerk - J. W. Johnson; Treasurer - D. B. McCoy; Assessor - M. T. Brewer.
1852. Trustees - John Keeler, Jacob Leatherman, Peter Eicher; Clerk
- D. K. France; Treasurer - D. B. McCoy; Assessor - M. T. Brewer.
1853. Trustees - John Keeler, Jacob Leatherman, Henry Herr; Clerk -
J. S. Firestone; Treasurer - David Carlin; Assessor - William Lusk.
1854. Trustees - Henry Herr, William Smith, John Dulin; Clerk - D.
C. Dinsmore; Treasurer - Peter Eicher; Assessor- William Lusk.
1855. Trustees - D. Gindlesperger, J. Leatherman, Samuel Herr; Clerk
- D. K. France; Treasurer - Peter Eicher; Assessor - William Hoegner.
1856. Trustees - D. Gindlesperger, J. Leatherman, D. McCauley; Clerk
- D. K. France; Treasurer - Peter Eicher; Assessor - J. W. Hoegner.
1857. Trustees - D. McCauley, John Meyers, A. J. Burns; Assessor -
J. W. Hoegner; Treasurer - P. Eicher; Clerk - J. Breneman.
1858. Trustees - Trustees - D. S. McCauley, Robert Shaver, A. J.
Burns; Assessor - J. W. Hoegner; Clerk - M. H. Dodd; Treasurer - Peter
Eicher.
1863. Trustees - J. W. McVicker,
Thoams Howey, Daniel Barnhart; Treasurer - Jacob Leatherman; Assessor -
Daniel Gindlesperger; Clerk - D. K. France.
1865. Trustee - Samuel Ewing, William Smith, Enoch Moore; Treasurer
- Peter Eicher; Clerk - William A. Bonewitz; Assessor - J. W. Hoegner.
1866. Trustees - P. R. Henney, W. W. Reid, J. B. Snyder; Assessor -
James A. MCoy; Clerk - G. A. Whitmore;
Treasurer - Daniel Gable.
1867. Trustees
- P. R. Henney, W. W. Reid, J. B. Snyder; Assessor - James A. McCoy; Clerk
- G. A. Whitmore; Treasurer - Daniel Gable.
1868. Trustees - P. R. Henney, W. W. Reid, A. G. Rittenhouse;
Assessor - Thomas Ferguson; Treasurer - John Moyers; Clerk - G. A.
Whitmore.
1869. Trustees - W. W. Reid,
A. G. Rittenhouse, Daniel Gable; Assessor - Thomas Ferguson; Treasurer -
John Myers; Clerk - G. A. Whitmore.
1870.
Trustees - Daniel Gable, David Mitchel, James Campbell; Assessor - Ezra
Jacobs; Treasurer - John Myers; Clerk - Paoli Sheppard.
1871. Trustees - Dan Holtzberg, E. Bonewitz, C. Aukerman; Assessor -
Samuel Ewing; Treasurer - John Helman; Clerk - D. Mitchel.
1872. Trustees - William Reid, A. G. Rittenhouse, Peter Funnalman;
Assessor - Samuel Ewing; Treasurer - Allen Greely; Clerk - David Mitchel.
1873. Trustees - Peter Funnalman, William Reid, David Vanorr;
Assessor - J. T. Hazzard; Treasurer - Allen Greely; Clerk - William H.
Barch.
1874. Trustees - William Reid,
John Zehner, J. B. Snyder; Assessor - James T. Hazzard; Treasurer - W. R.
McClellan; Clerk - David Mitchel.
1875.
Trustees - David Holtzberg, William Addleman, M. M. Patterson; Assessor -
David Baker; Clerk - Allen Greely; Treasurer - W. R. McClellan.
1876. Trustees - David Holtzberg, William Addleman, M. M. Patterson;
Assessor - David Baker; Clerk - Allen Greely; Treasurer - W. R> McClellan.
1877. Trustees - William McKee, Dan. Gable, J. K. Saltsman; Assessor
- David Mitchel; Clerk - John Hosler; Treasurer - John Zehner.
Justices
of the Peace -
Nicholas Perine, 1822; George Poe, 1822; N. N.
Perrine, 1825; Henry Hull, 1825; Michael Funk, June 21, 1831; David Park,
Jan. 31, 1833; Michael Funk, June 10, 1834; Hector Burns, Jan. 20, 1836;
William Carlin, June 2, 1837; John Jeffrey, Jan. 22, 1839; William Carlin,
Apr. 16, 1840; Hector Burns, Feb. 1, 1841; William Carlin, Apr. 10, 1843;
D. Gindlesbarger, Jan. 13, 1845; David Carlin, Mar. 24, 1846; D.
Gindlesbarger, Jan. 1, 1848; David Carlin, Mar. 24, 1849; D. Gindlesbarger,
Dec. 17, 1850; David Carlin, Feb. 21, 1852; Solomon Bonewitz, May 8, 1852;
Philip Mattison, Apr. 13, 1854; David F. Young, Jan. 25, 1856; G. P.
Emrick, Apr. 4, 1856; D. Gindlesbarger, Jan. 8, 1857; Peter Ruff, Apr. 22,
1857; John G. Ford, Jan. 13, 1859; David Carlin, Jan. 9, 1860; Jacob
McGlenen, Jan. 21, 1862; David Carlin, Jan. 3, 1863; Dan Barnhart, Jan.
20, 1865; David Carlin, Jan. 1, 1866; R. Summerton, Apr. 13, 1866; Dan
Barnhart, Apr. 11, 1868; R. Summerton, Apr. 13, 1869; J. R. Henney, Apr.
13, 1869; Dan Barnhart, Apr. 10, 1871; Jacob Leatherman, Apr. 9, 1872; J.
R. Henney, Apr. 9, 1872; J. K. Andrews, Apr. 14, 1874; Henry Herr, Apr.
12, 1875; Enoch Morr, J. F. Simon, Apr. 1877.
Reminiscences of Congress Township by Hon. Michael
Totten and James Carlin - In 1815 the first families
moved into what is now Congress township. Some time during the first
week in February Michael and Henry Totten
accompanied George and Isaac Poe, and
cut a trail from Wooster to where the village of Congress stands, which at
that time was all forest, the lands having not been entered. We
encamped with George Poe, about one-half mile from the
village, until we could erect a cabin, which we built on section 27, on
the lands owned by John Garver. When we got our
cabin completed, some time during the month of February, 1815,
Henry and myself went to Wooster and moved our mother and our
sister Catharine (the first two white women in the
township) and all the household furniture on a sled from Wooster to our
cabin.
On the first of April following
George and Isaac Poe and other families came
into the township and settled upon the same section. The same spring
Peter Warner, with his family, moved into the south-west
corner of the township. In 1816 Matthew Brewer and
James Carlin, with their families, moved to the same
farms upon which they lived till their deaths.
The next to come were George Aukerman and John
Nead, with their families. After this period emigrants came
in so fast and settled in such widely different parts of the township that
it would be impossible to trace them, or where they located. The
first white person who died was Mrs. Amasa Warner,
and the second my mother. The first school ever taught was by
John Totten in the first cabin built.
George Poe was the first Justice of the township. The first
school-house was built in 1819, on the south-west quarter of section 37.
The first year after moving into the township my brother Henry
and I cleared five acres and planted it in corn, which we cut off in the
fall and put down in wheat, and which was the first corn and wheat raised
in the township. Game was very plenty, and for some time after our
arrival it was our chief article of food. We could ot raise hogs or
sheep after our settlement, as they would be devoured by wolves. One
winter we had twelve sheep enclosed in the same lot in which the house
stood, thinking they were safe, and that the dogs would guard them, but
herd of wolves, during the night, assailed them and destroyed eleven; the
remaining and last one escaped, and running into the house, awoke the
family, but the hungry scavengers of the woods had fled. The next
day, there being snow on the ground, I pursued them as far as the
Harrisville Swamp, in Medina county, but got no opportunity of shooting at
them. Near this swamp were encamped about 30 or 40 Indians.
Among other early settlers of the township were John Jeffrey,
Walter Elgin, David Gardner, Jacob Holmes, Jacob Shellebarger, Peter
and Samuel Chasey, G. W. Howey, David Nelson, the father
of James Grimes, James Boyd, Hector Burns, Samuel Sheets, N. N.
Perrine, A. Yocum, John Vanasdoll, Rev. John Hazard and family, Isaac
Matthews, and others.
James
Carlin says: The first couple married in Congress township
was Jesse Matteson and Eleanor Carlin,
the ceremony by Judge James Robison, and that the first sermon preached
was by a Presbyterian minister, Matthews, who spoke with a sword girded to
his body. The first grist-mill was built by Naftzger,
where a man named Buchanan was killed, waiting for a
grist. George Howey was the first blacksmith, and
Michael Funk the first merchant. The first
physician was a Mr. Mills, and the first carpenter and
joiner was Jacob Matthews.
Daniel
Chasey was a native of Saratoga county, N. Y., and
with his wife immigrated to Wayne county as early as 1814-15, settling a
mile north-west of Lattasburg, on old Appletree Moyer's place. He
died at his son Samuel's, west of Congress village, about 1867. He
married Miss Elizabeth Allen. Samuel Chasey was
born in Saratoga county, N. Y., Oct. 21, 1802, and immigrated to Ohio with
his father. He was married to Selona Warner July
26, 1826, and had twelve children, as follows: Abner G.
Andrew H., Jeremiah, Obadiah and Margaret.
His wife died May 2, 1873, he surviving her until July 15, 1876.
Thomas McKee
was born in Northampton county, Pa., June 22, 1796, but came from
Westmoreland when he removed to Wayne county, Ohio, in 1818. He at
once commenced milling for Joseph Stibbs, with whom he
remained ten years, during which time, in 1824, he married Anna
Brown, daughter of Frederick Brown.
In 1830 he removed to Congress township, on a farm he had purchased there
eight years previously, and where he now resides, but which in later years
was largely added to by other lands. His wife died Jan. 25,
1851, aged 46 years. They had ten children, as follows: Joseph,
Mary, Thomas, Margaret, Ephraim, William, John, George B., A. E.
and Sindalena. By industry and good management he
has succeeded in surrounding himself with the wealth and comforts of life,
and now, in his old age, enjoys the proceeds of a remarkably well-spent
life. He is the firmest of Democrats, and popular with his fellow
citizens, having been elected Trustee and to other township offices, and
was honored with being made one of the first County Infirmary Directors
under the new constitution.
Jacob
Leatherman came to Congress Township Mar. 26, 1842,
settling on a farm two miles south west of the village of Congress, land
which his father, Peter Leatherman, in early days had
entered from the Government, Jacob afterwards purchasing
the same from im. He was married Jan. 16, 1841, to Miss
Urith Sherrod. In 1857 he quit farming and removed to
Congress village, there engaging in the dry goods business, and in April,
1864, went to West Salem, where he continued in the mercantile trade until
1869, and where he at present resides, at the same time owning and
managing his farm near Congress village. His life has been an
earnest one, and his business career characterized by the strictest
probity. For years he has been one of the most enterprising and
leading business men of the township, closely identified with all its
projects for improvement, and by dint of unflagging industry and
perseverance, aided by good common sense and clear judgment, has secured a
competency. He is courteous in manner and of kindly disposition -
will go all lengths to befriend a friend, but, on the other hand, will
exert himself just as much to punish a person who has done him an injury.
He is an uncompromising Democrat, taking a prominent part in local and
state politics; and as a man, to a great extent, commands the respect and
esteem of the community at large.
John
Dulin was born near Wellsburg, West Virginia, and
with his wife came to Wayne county in 1834, settling upon the farm now
partly owned by Abraham Billhammer, where he died May 21,
1845, at the advanced age of eighty-five years. Mr. Dulin
served one year in the Revolutionary war and drew a pension until the time
of his death. He was married to Miss Sarah Sharp,
of Virginia. His son, John Dulin, came to Wayne
county about a year prior to his father and settled on a farm about three
miles south-west of Congress, in Congress township. He was married
to Miss Mary Cope, of the city of Dublin, Ireland, and
had eleven children. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and died
February 2, 1861. His wife died Sept. 26, 1864. To his
daughter, Margaret J., who married C. H. Weltmer,
we are indebted for these facts.
John
Keeler was born within four miles of Philadelphia,
Pa., Aug. 20, 1819. His father came to Wayne county at an early
date, bringing his family, and worked for a period on the Samuel
Funk farm in Chester township. He then removed to Galion,
Ohio. John, however, remained in Wayne county, and
was married to Hannah Matthews, of Wooster, whose mother
was Catherine Poe, sister of Mrs. Kuffel, and daughter of
old Adam Poe, the Indian fighter. After marriage
they removed to Congress village, and lived there until Mr. Keeler's
death, Feb. 14, 1875. They had four children, two of whom are dead,
one dying when a child. William, a son, was a
soldier in Company F, 102d Regiment, and was killed by the explosion of
the steamer Sultana, on the Mississippi river, April 28, 1875.
Sarah C. is the wife of Joseph McVicker.
Thomas B., married to Ida J. Weltmer, is
a lawyer in practice in West Salem.
Congress - This
village, originally called Waynesburg, was laid out March 6, 1827, by
Philip Gates and David Newcomer, and surveyed by Peter Emery; plat and
certificate recorded March 27, 1827, and an be found in vol. 6, page 24,
County Records.
Robert Lowry,
a galant soldier of the Mexican war and the last conflict between the
North and South, informs us that Michael Funk, and
Elmer Yocum built the first hose in the
village of Congress, and that it was situated upon the site of the
present Methodist church; that Jacob Hare was the first
postmaster, the office being kept on lot No. 5, in the village; that
Dr. Mills was the first permanent physician; that
George Wicks kept the first hotel, and that David W. Poe
established the first tannery in the village. An Indian
died in the house now occupied by the Beard family, and
was buried in the old Congress graveyard. The old Indian and his
wife were on a tramp and stopped at Griffith's Tavern,
where they got tight and abusive, and the landlord's wife threw a pot of
boiling water on him, and he died. We
here reproduce the line of officers of the incorporated village since
1838:
1838. Mayor - John Tarr; Recorder
- William Rogers; Councilmen - Joe Fish, John Zuver, P. Pancost, R.
Summerton, John Potts.
1839. Mayor -
William Rogers; Recorder - John Tarr; Councilmen - John Rogers, Samuel N.,
John Stickle, A. Warring, G. K. Hickok.
1840.
Mayor - R. Summerton; Recorder - A. Warring; Councilmen - M. Funk, John
Stickle, John Tarr, William Rogers, G. Boydston.
1842. Mayor - David Carlin; Recorder - L. Firestone; Councilmen -
David Moore, P. D. Campbell, W. W. Hunter, G. H. Helfer, G. Boydston.
1844. Mayor - George Fresh; Recorder - L. Firestone; Councilmen - P.
P. Pancost, John Stickel, Eli Wagner, John Keeler, A. Kline.
1846. Mayor - David Moore; Recorder - L. Firestone; Councilmen - D.
B. McCoy, G. W. Helfer, P. Ross, John Keeler, A. Kline.
1848. Mayor - D. B. McCoy; Recorder - D. B. Littell; Councilmen -
George Dulin, J. F. Crane, J. Stickle, A. Kline, P. Wagner.
1850. Mayor - William Lusk; Recorder - William C. Moore; Councilmen
- D. B. McCoy, L. Firestone, D. Carlin, G. S. Dulin, J. Stickle.
1851. Mayor - G. K. Hickok; Recorder - L. Firestone; Councilmen -
John Keeler, John McCoy, John Stickle, Jacob Fresh, Dan. Helfer.
1852. Mayor - G. K. Hickok; Recorder - John Tarr; Councilmen - A.
Wieler, G. Seacrist, G. Fresh, I. Fresh, D. K. France.
1853. Mayor - R. Summerton; Recorder - W. C. Moore; Councilmen - P.
Pancost, J. P. Dorland, J. Brenneman, Dan. Helfer, J. T. Shepperd; Marshal
- E. Brubaker.
1857. Mayor - P. Pancost;
Recorder - I. S. Tarr; Councilmen - J. Leatherman, J. Warner, John Keeler,
W. C. Moore, G. H. Helfer; Marshal - J. Lemon.
1861. Mayor - John Eliott; Recorder - R. B. Lowry; Councilmen - John
Thornby, John Dorland, John Galaher, John S. Tarr, George Fresh, Treasurer
- A. Weiler.
1869. Mayor - G. M.
Michael; Treasurer - G. Galloway; Recorder - J. H. Breneman; Marshal - W.
C. Berry; Councilmen - P. J. Brown, Joseph Garver, Joel Good, G. Leiter,
H. L. Shepherd.
1871. Mayor - G. A.
Whitmore; Recorder - George Michael; Treasurer - George Fresh; Marshal -
R. Sardam; Councilmen - P. J. Brown, John Shepherd, J. P. Patterson, W. A.
Bonewitz, B. S. Burgan.
1872. Mayor - G.
A. Whitmore; Recorder - G. W. Galloway; Treasurer - George Fresh; Marshal
- W. S. Brown; Councilmen - W. A. Bonewitz, B. S. Burgen, P. J. Brown, H.
L. Shepherd, J. P. Patterson, R. S. Dulin.
1874. Mayor - G. A. Whitmore; Recorder - S. B. Stecher; Treasurer -
George Fresh; Marshal - W. A. Bonewitz; Councilmen - P. J. Brown, J. H.
Breneman, B. S. Burgan, H. L. Shepherd, A. Weiler, R. C. Dulin.
1876. Mayor - Philip Madison; Recorder - R. Summerton; Treasurer -
Geo. Fresh; Marshal - R. H. Sardam; Councilmen - J. K. Andres, J. Breneman,
J. Lawrence, William Rice, R. C. Dulin, P. J. Brown.
1877. Mayor - Philip Madison; Recorder - William H. Carlin;
Treasurer - George Fresh; Marshal - John Ward; Councilmen - J. K. Andrews,
J. Lawrence, J. Breneman, R. C. Dulin, W. Brown, N. Patterson.
David Carlin, son of
James Carlin, who emigrated from
Ireland to America about 1798, was born in Columbiana county, this State,
in 1811. We extract the following from an obituary, published in he
Wayne county Democrat:
He was, in infancy,
brought by his parents to Wayne county. They settled in Congress
township in 1814, which was then an almost unbroken wilderness.
Although in early life he never had the facilities and advantages of a
modern education; yet, from his own native strength of mind and love of
mental improvement, he acquired, under one of the severest afflictions
incident to childhood, which made him a suffering cripple for life, that
cultivation of mind which prepared him for life's stern duties, and which
enabled him to fill well his place in the world as an active, energetic
and highly useful man.
His neighbors and
immediate friends around him, for a long series of years, can attest his
worth as a ready helper in their business affairs. Their confidence
in him, as all know, was almost unlimited. Trusts of importance were given
him. Official positions of every description in his township were
thrust upon him. His county placed in his hands the highest and most
important trust, that of Treasurer, it had within its gift. Through
all of these, as everyone knows who knew him, he walked the upright
citizen, the pure and honest man. In all his worldly transactions
his integrity and honesty were never questioned or doubted. His
death occurred several years ago.
Reminiscences
of Royce Summerton. - Phineas Summerton, my
father, was raised near Boston, and was a native of Massachusetts.
His father, for many years, was a sea-going man, engaging in whale-hunting
and other pursuits of that jolly old comrade, the sea. Abandoning
that occupation, he removed to the then western wilds of Cayuga county,
New York, settling about sixteen miles from Auburn, where he purchased 600
acres of land, and there he died.
His children
were Phineas, Thomas, Kitura and Phoebe. Father
was born in Cayuga county, State of New York, where he married
Rhoda Royce. After the expiration of twenty years after his
marriage he immigrated to Kendal, Stark county, where he stopped with a
Quaker family named Clay. Leaving his family with
Mr. Clay, he came to Wayne county and entered the
north-east quarter of section 1, in Perry township, then in Wayne county,
and now in Chester township, and owned by Mr. Jacobs.
He then removed his family from Kendal, and staid with Isaac
Matthews, on the farm now owned by Samuel Shoemaker,
west of Lattasburg. With Matthews the family remained until Mr.
Summerton could build a cabin, which was 18 x 24, with clap board roof,
clay floor, chimney in the end of it, cupboard in notches in the logs, and
blankets for a door, as he was too busy with his crops to make one.
Indians frequently came into the house. Once they came when he was
away, and seeing bottles upon a shelf, asked for them, thinking they
contained whisky. He had six children, to-wit: Hannah,
Amanda, John, Taber, Royce and Thomas.
Of this family only Taber, Royce and Thomas
survive. Father, aided by his sons, cleared up his lands, and soon
thereafter bought another quarter in Chester township, and continued
accumulating until he acquired six quarter sections.
But prior to his removal to Wayne county, he had purchased a farm, and his
father had given him one. Selling the one that had been presented to
him, he formed a partnership with a Mr. Hungerford, in eh
saw mill business in the pine country, in connection with which they built
a carding machine and cloth-dressing factory. When they were about
ready to begin operations, a cloud-burst occurred and the water of the two
streams on which their mills were located, rose to the hight of eighteen
feet, sweeping mills and everything in its course. Father and
Hungerford, and a hired man, where in one of the mills at the time, and
barely escaped. This accident likely induced him to remove west,
where they started in a two-horse wagon, crossing to Buffalo, and then up
the lake shore, over roads so bad that, at times, they had to remove the
children, from the wagon. He was a hard working, quiet, industrious
man, a member, with his wife, of the Baptist church in New York, but
after his arrival in Wayne county he united with the Methodists. He
and the father of President Fillmore were neighbors and at this time
Millard began the study of law.
Royce Summerton, son of Phineas, was
born October 14, 1811, and removed to Wayne county with his father.
He was married Jun. 19, 1834, to Martha A. Helfer, of
Ashland county, by which marriage he had two children, viz::
Maria A. and Mary J. Summerton. The former
became the wife of A. M. Beebe, then residing at
Cleveland, she ding Mar. 6, 1864. Mary J.
married W. Pancoast, and died Jan. 10, 1861, and was
re-married to G. A. Whitmore, Nov. 14, 1864.
Mr. Summerton remained on the farm until Apr. 1
1832, when he was hired as a clerk in the store of
William Spencer, where he remained to Sept., 1833, when his
father rented a store-room in Congress village and gave him $1,000, and
when he went to New York, City, gave him $1,100 more. This latter
sum, Mr. Summerton says, in three years cost him $3,600.
His father was first a partner with him for three and one-half years, and
after that his brother Thomas for twenty-two months.
He went out of the mercantile business in 1838, lay idle two years, then
resumed it, and continued in it until March, 1852, when failing health
compelled him to abandon it entirely. He now invested his money in
real estate, owning between 700 and 800 acres of land.
Mr. Summerton is one of the most enlightened and
intelligent of the pioneers of Congress township. He is probably the
wealthiest man in it, and has made his money by the reduction to practical
application the irreversible and incontrovertible maxims of business.
He is a man of strictest and unrelaxing integrity, of irreproachable life,
who for forty-five years, with his wife, has been a member of the
Methodist church.
Taber Summerton,
son of Phineas, was born in Cuyahoga county, and removed to Wayne county
with his father. He was married in May, 1831, to Elizabeth
Kuffel. After owning and exchanging
various estates he finally removed to his present residence - the farm
originally opened up and owned by Samuel Thorley.
He has been devoted to the pursuits of the farm all his life, and has been
prosperous and successful in his labors. He has a family of ten
children, and has been a member of the church, with his wife, for
forty-eight years.
Other
Reminiscences of Royce Summerton - When father and
his family moved into the county there were but five neighbors within a
radius of several miles. Isaac Matthews came in as
early as 1814, and the Poes were here and Peter
Chasey and his son Samuel. On one occasion, when
father and I were coming to Naftzger's mill, with two
oxen in the wagon and one horse in front and I mounted on the horse, the
wolves gathered in large numbers around us, and I got terribly scared, but
father just laughed and said there was no danger. After butchering
day the wolves were troublesome, and on one occasion a large hog was
missing for three days, when it returned mangled and fly-blown, having
been, as was supposed attacked by a bear.
In
the early days the woods were infested with pea-vines, which crept over
the ground and would climb small shrubs and trees to the hight of two and
three feet, and in the fall the cattle would eat it and fatten on it, and
many of them died and, it was believed, from the effect of this vine.
In the first log church (Methodist) in Congress Harry O. Sheldon
was preaching at a quarterly meeting, and there being a large crowd
present, it was difficult for all to be seated. Joseph Ewing stood
up defiantly in the center of the church. Mr. Sheldon
came back to him and asked him to be seated, which he refused,
when Sheldon caught him violently on his hip, carried him
out and forced him to kneel down while he prayed with him.
Charles J. Warner, M. D.,
was born in Wayne township, Wayne county, Ohio, Jan. 1, 1836. His
father, Peter Warner, was a farmer and a native of
Sunbury, Northumberland county, Pa., with whom the subject of this sketch
remained until he was eighteen years of age. The farm life, we are
quite ready to believe, harmonized with the developing manhood of
Dr. Warner, and enables us to describe him as a splendid specimen
of physical and muscular outline. While thus engaged, he utilized
every opportunity and employed his leisure hours in study and in the
perusal of such books as he could make accessible, and which would most
benefit him in establishing a foundation for future acquisitions and
fields of usefulness.
He availed himself of
such advantages as the common schools afforded, and was diligent and
vigilant in his exertions to qualify himself for some honorable and worthy
sphere of labor. Like most of our self-made professional men, he
made his first debut to the pubic in the role of teacher, in his
nineteenth year, his services being first rendered in the Rumbaugh
district, for which he obtained eighteen dollars per month and boarded
himself. In the summer he would attend school, and in the winter
teach, and in this line of employment as preceptor and pupil, he
assiduously applied himself for five years. During this time he
became a proficient English scholar, and acquired a valuable knowledge of
the Latin language.
It seems that the Doctor,
from an early age had conceived the idea of the Divinity, as Dr.
Holmes would say, of the Healing Art, and that if Day and
Firestone had
"Hurled a few score mortals from the world,"
They had"
"Made amends by bringing others into it;"
And why should not he enter
this most honorable profession, and "hurl" and "bring" like them - and
like them carve a name, and bare a
"Snow-white arm to wield
The sad,
stern ministry of pain."
In pursuance of his
contemplated purpose, in March, 1857, he entered the office of W.
C. Moore, M.D., then a practicing physician in Congress village,
with whom he remained four years, three as a student, and one in
partnership with him.
He then removed to
Homerville, Medina county, Ohio, where he staid two years, and during this
time attended a course of study at the Cleveland Medical College, where he
graduated in 1862.
In the spring of this year
he returned to Congress, since which time he has resided there. His
tireless and unremittent efforts to prepare and fortify himself for the
responsible duties of his profession have been rewarded by a profitable
and lucrative practice, and though but a little past forty years of age,
he attained a deserved popularity, and compasses within his professional
jurisdiction as wide a circuit as any rival in the county. He was
married Sept. 15, 1859, to Mary E. Pancoast, of Congress
village, and has had two children, A. C. and Ellsworth,
the latter dying Sept. 7, 1863. After a happy marriage relation of a
little over seven years, his wife died, Dec. 8, 1866.
Of Charles J. Warner it can literally and truthfully be
said, that he is in the meridian of his years. His sun has barely
climbed to its zenith; it burns with clear and steadfast ray upon his path
without the remotest sign of dipping toward the western sky.
He stands solid six feet high, weighs two hundred and seventeen pounds, is
built of substantial material, has a bright, intellectual face, is a man
of pleasing manner and affable disposition, of fair complexion, firm and
erect carriage.
He is emphatically a self-made
and self-taught man, and one of the most pronounced and enthusiastic
advocates of a popular and more diffusive education in the community.
Realizing the obstacles that lie too often in the path of the ambitious
youth who aspires to the loftier levels of intellectual culture, and the
measureless advantages that accrue from a more general diffusion of
knowledge, he places himself to the fore-front of the vast army of
educators, and his voice is heard ringing along the line, and mingling
with the echo, of "more schools, more and better teachers, and wider
diffusion of knowledge, and a greater enlightenment of the masses!"
Dr. Warner believes with Froude that "
We ought not to set before a boy the chance of becoming President of the
Republic, or President of anything; we should teach him just to be a good
man, and next to do his work, whatever it be, as well as it can possibly
be done. It is better that a boy should learn to make a shoe excellently
than to wright bad exercises in half a dozen languages.
TO BE CONTINUED UPON REQUEST.....
Solomon Warner was born
Dec. 6, 1807, in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and removed to Wayne county with
his father, Peter Warner, in 1816, who died Nov. 14,
1824. Peter and seven children, to-wit:
Peter, Mary, Jonathan, Martha, David, Salome and Solomon.
On his family, but Jonathan, Martha, wife of James Reed,
deceased, Mary, who lives with Jonathan,
and Solomon are alive. Jonathan Warner
was born August, 27, 1798, in Northampton county, Pa., and was married to
Lorainne Pettit, of Washington county, Pa., and has ten children,
all of whom are living.
Solomon Warner
is unmarried, and lives in Congress village. He was a soldier in
Company F, 16th Ohio Volunteer Infantry; was in the charge of Chickasaw;
captured Sept. 29, 1862; held a prisoner 75 days, exchanged, sent to Camp
Chase, and then ordered to New Orleans and discharged, Feb. 2, 1864.
Mr. Warner is possessed of great accuracy of memory, and
is an observant, worthy and intelligent man.
Philip J. Brown was born
in Somerset county, Pa., Oct. 14, 1827. Being left an orphan in
early childhood, he was obliged to live among strangers, and at the age of
fourteen he was "bound out," in accordance with the custom of the times,
for seven years and as indentured apprentice to a blacksmith, of which
time, however, he only served five years. From Pennsylvania he made
his way to Virginia, where he followed his trade several years, noted as a
skillful mechanic. Jan. 14, 1850, he was married to Miss
Margaret, daughter of John King, of Preston
county, West Virginia. A few years later he adopted the dental
profession, which he has successfully pursued for a quarter of a century.
In the spring of 1864, with his wife and two sons, he removed to Wayne
county and settled in Congress village, where he still resides.
Dr. Brown speaks several languages with fluency, and
being, also, a minister of the Gospel in the German Baptist church, he has
formed a wide acquaintance, and his superior intelligence, cordiality and
upright character have gained him the friendship and confidence of a large
portion of the citizens of Wayne and adjoining counties.
West Salem was laid out by Peter and John Rickel, June
14, 1834, and surveyed by George Emery. Plat and certificate
recorded June 17, 1834, Vol. 2, page 443, County Recorder's office.
The following is a line of officers since its incorporation, and from
1868:
1868. Mayor - D. H. Ambrose; Trustees - E.
Eshleman, D. Gable, J. Georget, J. J. Shank, W. R. Huber; Recorder - E.
Fritzinger; Treasurer - John Zehner.
1870.
MORE TO COME......
Reminiscences of
Mrs. Peter Rickel - it was fifty-five years ago
yesterday (October 10, 1877), when Peter and I landed .........
Orrin G. Franks,
the oldest son and child of Abraham Franks, was born in .....
Mahlon Moyers
is a native of ....
The West Salem
Press - The first printing press.......
Reminiscences by
J. R. Henney - Adam Henney was born in.....
J. R. Henney,
son of Adam Henney, was born in Congress township, Wayne County, Ohio,
.........
Abraham Plank,
of the great family of millers, was born in Mifflin County, Pa., Mar. 28,
1807. His father......
Silver Lodge Knights of
Honor, No. 123, was organized....
West Salem
Masonic Lodge, No. 398 - This Lodge was organized
under a dispensation granted petitioners, Nov. 21, 1866.
.......
West Salem Lodge
No. 442, I. O. O. F. - This lodge was instituted June
10, 1870......
Agricultural
Society of West Salem. - This organization was
elected in 1867, .....
Rev. John Hazzard -
This pioneer Methodist divine was born in Connecticult, June 29, 1778.
When fourteen ..... START ON 829.
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