TOWNSEND TOWNSHIP, Huron County, Ohio from HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO 1879 by W.W.Williams pages 242-252 ORIGINAL OWNERS. [ note: the following list of "sufferers" is abridged. Also included was the amount of loss, by whom classified, and amount classified. This refers to those claims granted in the "Firelands" in 1808 to those in Connecticut whose property had been destroyed by fire during the Revolution. The claims of all of the following were sold to Kneeland Townsend, except those marked with an asterisk, which were sold to Samuel and Abijah Hull ] CLASSIFICATION No.1, SECTION 1. Amos Morriss, Benjamin Pardy, John Townsend, Hannah Russell, Lewis Forbes CLASSIFICATION No.2, SECTION 2. Ezekiel Hayes, Isaac Townsend, John Close, Nathaniel Mix, Ebenezer Townsend, Moses Venters, Jacob and Elijah Pardy, Mary and Lydia Pardy, James Prescott, Jedediah Andrews, Jonathan Brigden or Briglin, Jesse Upson, John Beecher, Rev.Jonathan Edwards, John Beecher Jr, Wm. Brentnall, Samuel Munson, James Alling, Ann Platt, Abrahaan Barnes, Abel Banitt, Stephen Austin, Francis Brown, Samuel Gills, Nathan Beers, John Trowbridge, Elijah Hills, John Robinson, Thankful Thompson, Israel Monson, John Wise, Samuel Austin, Nathan Howel, Benjamin Sanford, Levi Fobes, Stephen Ball CLASSIFICATION No.3, SECTION 3. Ebenezer Sturges, Hezekiah Sturges, Abigail Whittier, Samuel Rowland, Grace Spalding, Daniel Osborne, Hezekiab Parmelee, Jonathan Fitch, Samuel Coudy, Benjamin Brown, Samuel Chatterton, Stephen Brown, Solomon Phipps, Buckminster Brentnall, Wm. Greenough, Jabez Johnson, Mary Kimberley, Jonah Mix, Nathan Oaks, Elijah Painter, Sarah Pomeroy, James Rice, Addonijah Sherman, James Sherman, Wm. Ally, Joseph Trowbridge, Nebemiab Smith, Stephen Ball, Hannah Howe, Sarah Howe, Daniel Osborne, Andrew Rowland, Abiah Alling CLASSIFICATION No.4, SECTION 4. Esther Mansfield, Joseph Bradley*, Phineas Bradley*, Charles Chauncey*, Jeremiah Atwater*, Hezekiab Gorham*, Simeon Joulin*, Amaziah Joulin, Caleb Hotchkiss, Jonah Hotchkiss, David Atwater, Timothy Atwater, Gad Luke, David Gilbert, Timothy Gilbert, Timothy Gorham, Joseph Munson, Abigail Potter, Tilly Blakesley, James Rice, Sarah Pomeroy, James Gillett, Joel Gilbert, Dr. Naphtali Dugget, Timothy Bonticon, Willard Brentnall, Stephen Ball, James Sherman TOPOGRAPHY. The surface of the township is generally level with slight undulations in the second and third sections. The soil is a clay loam, with a mixture of sand in the northern and northwestern portions. The streams gre small, the largest being Rattlesnake creek, a trib- utary of the Huron, flowing through the west part of the township. The name originated from the large number of rattlesnakes that were formerly found along the stream. There are two other branches of the Huron in the western part, and La Chapelle, a tributary of the Vermillion, in the eastern part. The stream is said to have derived its name from a French- man who discovered it, and explored it to its source. Townsend was originally clothed with a magnificent growth of timber, the principal varieties of which were white oak, whitewood, ash, hickory, black wal- nut, butternut, beech and maple. The manufacture of white oak staves was an important industry of this township for many years. The staves were usually marketed at Milan, and so extensive was the business that the product was known there as "Townsend wheat." The following estimate of the value of the primi- tive forests of this township, is made by gentlemen of experience and reliability: Lumber - 15,000 feet per acre,(16,000 acres)=240,000 feet. Wood - 100 cords per acre = 1,600,000 cords. 240,000 feet of lumber, at $16.00 per 1000....$3,840,000 1,600,000 cords wood, at $1.00 per cord........1,600,000 Total ..................$5,440,000 One of the gentlemen above referred to cut from a single tree on his own land: 5,000 feet of lumber, which he sold for...$75.00 2,000 staves, which he sold for ...........60.00 20 cords wood, which he sold for ..........20.00 Total ............ $155.00 EARLY SETTLEMENT. The earliest settlements in the township were made in the north part, in section number three, and George Miller is generally accorded the honor of being the first settler. He removed with his family from Pennsylvania to Milan, (then called Avery,) Erie county, Ohio, in 1809, and remained there until 1811, when he came to Townsend, and took up his abode on lot number five, His log cabin was the first habitation for the abode of civilized people in the township. Mr. Miller was a native of Pennsylvania, and was born in 1765. He married Mary Burdue, of the same State, and had a family of four children, all now dead. He died on his original location, February 7, 1828, and his wife, April 17, 1849, in the seventy-fourth year of her age. Soon after Miller, came William Burdue and family. Burdue was also a native of Pennsylvania, and was born November 26, 1782. March 28, 1809, he mar- ried Elizabeth Blazer, who was born September 26, 1791. In 1810 he removed with his family, consisting of wife and one child, to the vicinity of Milan, then called Indian Village, but remained there only one year, when he moved into Townsend, making his location on lot number four, in section three. He died on this place, October 23, 1834, and his wife, March 29, 1868. They raised a family of seven children, four having died when young. Six are now (February, 1879,) living, as follows : Nathaniel, in Norwalk ; George and W. W., in Townsend ; John, in Kansas ; Isaac, in Fulton county, Ohio, and Ben- jamin, in Indiana. George Burdue, who occupies the old homestead, was born during the residence of his parents near Milan, February 19, 1811. November 20, 1838, he married Susan Hill, of Delaware county, New York. They have two children, viz.: M. W. Burdue, who occupies the original log house built by his grandfather, in 1811, and Mrs. Thomas Riggs, who is also a resident of this township. Soon after their settlement, the family made the acquaintance of an old Indian in the vicinity, and who, subsequently, by reason of the many favors shown him by them, especially by Mrs. Burdue, a woman of much excellence of character, became warmly attached to them. Burdue, having lost a span of horses and a colt on one occasion, was asked by the Indian to show him their tracks. He was taken into the woods, where the horses had recently been, and where their tracks were found. These the Indian carefully measured, with his hand, and then went off. He returned in a few days, and informed Burdue that he had found tracks answering to the description, directing him to the place where he had seen them. Burdue traveled a long distance to the south, until he arrived at an Indian camp. He saw his horses there, but did not make the object of his visit known. He learned, however, before returning, that the Indians would, in a few days, go to Huron - their usual trading place. They passed by his house in a few days, as expected, and Burdue followed them. On arriving at Huron he found the horses, and demanded their surrender, but the Indians refused to give them up unless compensated, - the terms being a small quantity of corn and whisky. These were promptly furnished, and the horses recovered. The old Indian, above referred to, gave other evi- dences of his friendship for the family, the most im- portant of which was the information, shortly after Hull's surrender, that the Indians were preparing to massacre the settlers, and advising the family to seek a place of safety. He enjoined secrecy as to the source of their information, as, he said, if it were known he would suffer death. He then went away, and was never again seen in these parts. The family immediately left for Pennsylvania, where they re- mained until 1816, when they returned to their home. Before leaving, they hid some of their household furniture under the puncheon floor of their log cabin. These they found, on their return, undisturbed, although the cabin itself had been occupied by the savages. The Miller family also went to Pennsylvania at the same time, and remained there until 1817. Orisimus Kellogg and family, consisting of wife and six children, emigrated from Batavia, Genesee county, New York, to the Fire-lands, in June, 1811. They were about four weeks on the journey, arriving in Townsend on the fifth of July. There were, at the time of their arrival, only two families - those of George Miller and William Burdue - in the township. The family lived with the latter until Mr. Kellogg could roll up his cabin on lot number one, the north- west corner lot in the township. He was Mr. Town- send's agent for the sale of his land, and received from him, gratis, one hundred acres, as a compensa- tion for leaving the comforts of his eastern home and settling in the wilds of Townsend. The log cabin, when first occupied by the family, was, indeed, a primitive habitation for the abode of civilized people. It was about twenty feet square, and was without a door, window or chimney, and the puncheon floor only half laid. Mrs. Caroline Fay, a member of the family, gives the following account of their flight on hearing of Hull's surrender: "The sad news was announced at my father's dwelling at the hour of midnight of the 8th of July. The elder members of our family arose and set themselves to work immediately, making preparations to flee for their lives. At ten o'clock in the morning we were all ready and commenced our flight from the savage foe which we imagined was in close pursuit. We directed our course for Cuyahoga, Portage county. It had been raining quite hard all of the previous night. After traveling four or five miles we fell in company with four families of our acquaintance. We got twelve miles on our journey by dark, and pitched our tents and partook of our evening meal, and were obliged to spread our beds on the wet ground, and in the morning they were nearly covered with water caused by the rain that had fallen during the night. There we were, in an unbroken wilderness, and an unfrequented road of seventy-five miles to our place of destination. We were obliged to ford all the streams that lay in our path or to stop and cut trees and bridge those that were flooded by the recent rain. We were on our journey eight days and seven nights without seeing so much as a log cabin, expecting every night when we lay down to rest to be tomahawked and scalped before morning by the Indians. Many of the youth of our company were so much fatigued by travel that they could not stand alone when they first rose in the morning. One night we camped near a sugar camp where some one had made sugar the previous spring, and spread our beds on some bark that was lying on the ground. To my astonishment, when I arose in the morning, I saw a blacksnake peeping out his head from under the bed that I had rested upon. On removing the bed the men killed seven large snakes. "There was only one mill on the Fire-lands at that time, and that was situated at the head of Cold creek. It ground grain without bolting. Fortunately my father had returned from there the day but one before we heard of Hull's surrender, with nine or ten bushels of wheat ground. The next day we sifted the whole of it through a common hand sieve. The flour of that grain was nearly all that the whole of the five families had to subsist upon during the journey. We numbered nearly thirty, - children and all. We re- mained at Cuyahoga about six weeks, and then re- moved to Painesville, where we remained until Octo- ber, 1813, and then returned to our former residence. We found our house, and the furniture that we buried before we left, in as good condition as could be ex- pected." Bryant Milliman and family, from Livingston county, New York, moved into the township in the spring of 1816. and settled on lot number twenty- three, in section three. His was the fourth family that settled in the town. A son, Amherst Milliman, aged seventy-three, now occupies the old homestead. The first settlements in the western part of Town- send, were made by Jasper Miles, Benjamin Bailey, and Hezekiah Barber and their families, in February, 1817; These families were from Penfield, Ontario county, New York. Miles settled on lot number ninety-six, in section four. He brought with him from New York about one thousand dollars in money, but instead of paying for his land he bought it on time and used his money in making improvements, being encouraged to do so by Kneeland Townsend, of whom he made the purchase, and who promised leniency in case of failure to pay at the time stipu- lated. The family endured many hardships, toiled hard, and had the farm in a fair condition of improve- ment when the notes for its purchase became due. Townsend demanded payment according to the bond, in default of which the family was ejected, losing not only the money invested, but the results of many years of hardship and toil. The family moved to Milan where they lived about eight years, and then to Berlin, where they secured a home and afterwards resided. Mr. Miles died there in 1849, Mrs. Miles surviving him many years. They were an intelligent family and highly respected. During their residence in Townsend, Mrs. Miles, who had learned the tailor's trade, assisted in keeping "the wolf from the door" by making buckskin pants for the men, taking her pay in any thing that was of use to the family. But provisions were so scarce and high that it required days of hard labor to pay for even a little salt. A load having been brought to Milan in 1818, Mrs. Miles went there after some, and brought home a peck, for which she paid one dollar and twenty-five cents in cash. Hezekiah Barber settled on lot number seventy three in the third section, and Benjamin Bailey in the fourth section on lot ninety-five. Bailey subsequently removed to Berlin.. Soon after the above families arrived, the families of Amaziah Barber, Abijah Barber, Augustus Barber and David Lee moved into the fourth section near the Norwalk line. That part of the township took the name of "the Barber settlement," which name it has since retained. The Barbers were Baptists of the close communion order, and they were very exclusive socially as well as religiously. In bargaining for their land, they endeavored to secure a pledge from Kneeland Townsend, the proprietor, that so-called "worldly people" be kept from settling in that part of the township. There was almost no intercourse between them and settlers in other portions of the township. The children imbibed the ideas of the parents, and kept aloof from other children, and cousins intermarried with cousins. A double wedding of Barbers once came off, the notice of which was published in the Norwalk Reporter, headed "Barber-ous times in Townsend." Amaziah Barber served in both the French and Indian war and the Revolutionary war. He also en- listed in the war of 1812, but his former services were thought sufficient, and he was sent home. It is said that Abijah was the only one of the number who suc- ceeded in paying for his farm, and he was enabled to do so only by the aid of his father, Amaziah Barber, who applied his pension to the extinguishment of the debt. Amaziah Barber died in Townsend in 1834, at the advanced age of ninety-six years. Abijah Barber's location was on lot seventy-four in section three. He finally removed to Branch county, Michigan, where be died. David Lee built, on Rattlesnake creek in 1820, the first saw mill in the township, which he operated for several years. He was unsuccessful in paying for his land, however, and it reverted to the original owner, Lee removing to Clarksfield where he died at an ad- vanced age. Frederick Perring came into the township in 1818, settling in the fourth section. Many years afterward he sold and removed to Branch [note: should this be Hillsdale]county, Michigan, where he subsequently died. There are no descendants of the family now living in Townsend. Samuel Sherman came to Townsend from New York, without his family, in the spring of 1817, and bargained for one hundred acres in the Barber settle- ment. He then returned east and moved out with his family the next year. He lived in this township only four years, when he moved to New London. He resided in the north part of that township twelve years, and then settled in Vermillion. He died there in 1836, aged seventy. Mrs. Sherman survived her husband a number of years, and was seventy-seven at her death. There were twelve children, nine of whom lived to adult age. Three are now living, as follows: Samuel, aged eighty-one, on the Medina road in Norwalk township; Lemuel, in the village of Nor- walk, aged sixty-seven, and Mrs. A. Welch, living with her brother Samuel. Joseph Waldron, from Ontario county, New York, settled in the township of Hartland (then called Can- terbury) in the year 1820. He located on the Hecock farm on Hartland ridge, and after a residence there of three years moved into Townsend, settling on lot number one hundred and thirteen, section one. He lived here until his death in September, 1865. His wife died four years subsequently. They had a fam- ily of seven children, five of whom are yet living. Sanford G. Waldron, the oldest, occupies the farm on which he located in 1839, just south of the old home- stead. Mrs. 0. H. Vantassel and Mrs. Franklin Shineflew also live in Townsend. Edmund lives in Missouri, and Mrs. Sterling Tenant resides in Berlin township. Thomas F. Fletcher settled in the south part of the township on the Medina road, in 1818 or '19. He was a cooper and worked at his trade here. He finally sold and moved to Indiana. David H. Sutton, at an early date, settled on the creek in the west part, but did not remain long. Ephraim Munger came in about 1818, and lived in the west part of town several years. Also, a family by the name of Malony, about the same time. David Goodell was an early settler in the north part, and in different portions of the township, Stephen Heath, Henry C. Westfall, Jeremiah Mils- paugh, Caleb Knapp, Horatio Thompson, and Joseph Purdy. The first actual settler in the second section, was Johnson Wheeler, who moved from Connecticut in January, 1824. A family by the name of Ellis had previously come on to the ground, erected a log house near the Wakeman line, on lot sixty-two, and partially cleared two or three acres around the cabin, but they had abandoned the premises when Wheeler had arrived, and he and his wife, with the permission of William Townsend, who owned the land, took up their abode in the vacant house. The former occu- pants had left a bedstead made of round poles and corded with bark, and a rude home-made table, which the tenants gladly made use of. In the cleared piece, among the logs and brush, had been planted corn and beans, which remained unharvested, and these also were appropriated by the new occupants. Wheeler a short time after contracted with Town- send for the lot on which he lived, together with the lot (eighty-four) adjoining on the south, agreeing to furnish him, in payment for the same, a certain num- ber of axes, scythes, hoes and other necessary farming implements. In order to the fulfillment of the con- tract on Wheeler's part, a trip to Connecticut was necessary, which he made in the fall of 1825. As- sisted by his brother-in-law, James C. Judson, after- wards a resident of Florence, he made in Litchfield county, Connecticut, during the following winter, the articles contracted for, and returned with them the next spring. They were delivered to Townsend at Sandusky and proved satisfactory. Mr. Wheeler resided in Townsend about seven years, and during that time but one other settler had moved into the section on which he lived. That settler was Lewis Middleton. Wheeler moved to Clarksfield in the fall of 1830, and located near the mills. His energy and public spirit manifested themselves in a number of enterprises. In company with his brother he carried on, during his residence in Clarksfield, a farm, a store, grist mill and saw mill and also built and run a distillery for a short time, but these enter- prises proved financially unsuccessful. In 1835, he sold out and moved to Florence, where he kept a tavern and carried on a grind stone factory for several years. He lived in Florence until 1846, when he removed to Crown Point, Lake county, Indiana. A few years later he caught the excitement about gold in Cali- fornia and went to that State, but remained only a few months, returning to Crown Point, where he spent the remainder of his life. He died September 27, 1870, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. The settlers in the Barber settlement were generally very poor, and lived in the most primitive manner. Mr. Benjamin Benson, writing of their condition, says: "Some of the settlers in this part of the town- ship, were not very fastidious as to what kind of clothing they wore, and some allowed their children to be seen in a state of perfect nudity. The writer once called at a house in this place for some water, when a lad of about twelve years was sent for some. All the clothing he had on at the time was what had once been the arm-holes of a waist coat, but which was of no more service as an article of clothing than if it had been a piece of cotton yarn crossed over his shoulders and tied. And it is a fact that some of the children were provided with but a single garment- that is a shirt or frock of tow cloth for the then cur- rent year, unless they were occasionally assisted by the charity of others. But the most astonishing part of the story is, that this extreme destitution was not the result of vicious habits, or ruinous inebriety, for the most of those in this settlement were considered as correct in their morals, and it might be said, pious. This is no fiction. And if the real condition of some of those people, at the time alluded to, should be related in detail, it would create a doubt as to the truthfulness of the narrative." Although the first settlers in Townsend were among the first in the county, the township was never-the- less much more slowly settled than many others. The land was difficult to bring under subjection, be- ing generally wet and very heavily timbered, and the township was generally shunned by the earlier emi- grants. Many who did take up land, and ran in debt for it, were compelled, after years of hard toil and privation, to give up the struggle, thus losing the improvements they had made. When the land was once cleared and drained, it was found to be very pro- duetive, and in the character of its soil the township now ranks among the best in the county. Nehemiah Ordway came to the Fire-lands from Vermont with his family in the year 1818. His first settlement was on the Comstock place in Norwalk township. In 1824 he settled on lot number one hundred and thirty-seven in the first section of Town- send. In 1832 he sold to James Arnold and pur- chased and settled near the center of town where Harlow House now lives. In 1852 he moved to Bowling Green, Wood county, Ohio, where he died April 19, 1873, aged nearly eighty-five. He was twice married, and was the father of ten children, five of whom are living, and one - Martin - in this township. Among those who came in at a later date were the Arnolds - two brothers, Alfred and James. Alfred Arnold, now almost an octogenarian, and in very feeble health, came to the Fire-lands when a lad of thirteen years with Abijah Comstock, arriving from Fairfield county, Connecticut, in 1810. Comstock was then unmarried, but subsequently he married and settled in the third section of Norwalk township, and young Arnold continued to live with the family until he attained his majority. Not long after their settlement they began to expe- rience annoyances from the Indians. Comstock missed a couple of his hogs, which he subsequently found in the possession of two Indians, who were dressing them near where the seminary in Milan now stands. He demanded their surrender, but the In- dians refused to give them up. Seeing their rifles against a tree a few rods away, Comstock seized them and carried them home, with the intent on of keeping them until the hogs should be restored or paid for. This greatly enraged the Indians, and dire conse- quences were feared by those who better understood the Indian character than did Comstock. An ad- justment of the difficulty, however, was agreed upon through the mediation of an Indian missionary, the Indians promising to husk a piece of corn for Com- stock in payment of the hogs, when the rifles were to be returned. On the day appointed the Indians be- gan the fulfillment of their part of the bargain, men, women, and children engaging in the work. A few hours after, Comstock went out to see how the work was progressing, when he discovered to his amaze- ment that instead of putting it in piles the Indians dropped the corn as they husked it and then pressed it into the wet ground with their feet. Comstock was glad to buy them off, which he did, and to return their rifles to boot. When intelligence of Hull's surrender was received, Mr. Comstock returned to Connecticut. He saw that he was a special object of the animosity of the Indians and believed that his presence would tend to excite them to acts of violence. He instructed young Arnold, in case of threatened danger, to take Mrs. Comstock and baby, then a week old, to Wooster. While the boy was in the woods after the cattle, that same day, an Indian suddenly accosted him with "How Alfred?" It was the Indian Omick, afterwards exe- cuted at Cleveland for murder. The boy had often seen him, but never, as now, in his war paint and feathers. He inquired about Mr. Comstock. The boy said he had gone to Connecticut. He then asked about Mrs. Comstock and, finally, "How papoose?" This question startled the boy, for he knew that the babe had never been out of the house, and the Indian had evidently been lurking about the place. The savage, noticing the boy's agitation, endeavored to reassure him. Taking him by the hair he addressed him thus: "Me no scalp you, Alfred. You good boy; give Injun corn bread. Me no kill you." This emphatic assurance, that his own life was not in jeopardy, did not tend to quiet the boy's fears. He hurried home with the oxen, and informed Mrs. Com- stock of the circumstance in the woods. They decided not to remain in the house another night, and prepa- rations for flight were at once commenced. They got started by evening and, after a tedious journey, ar- rived at Wooster, where they learned that their cabin was burned the night they left, and everything de- stroyed that had been left behind. The family soon went to the block house, where they were afterwards joined by Mr. Comstock. There they remained until after Perry's victory, when they returned to their ruined home. When young Arnold reached the age of twenty-one, Mr. Comstock gave him fifty acres of land in Nor- walk township. He built himself a cabin and kept bachelors' hall for five years, and then exchanged his farm for a team, harness and wagon. While in attendance at a party a short time after- wards, his team broke loose and ran away, both horses being killed. He sold what remained of his harness and wagon for fifteen years - the total amount of his earnings - for fourteen dollars. He went back to the State of New York, where his father was then living; but, after remaining a year, returned to this county and bought, jointly with Nehemiah Ordway, a part of lot one hundred and thirty-seven, in section one. In 1831, the year following the arrival of his brother, James, Arnold, with his family, consisting of his wife and a son six years of age, arrived from Utica, New York. The family were accompanied by a young lady, who subsequently became the wife of Alfred Arnold. James bought out Ordway's interest, the remainder of the lot was purchased, and the two brothers remained in partnership for six years, when a division was made, Alfred taking the east and James the west half. The former now lives on his original purchase. James resided here seventeen years, when he sold and moved to the center of town, where he bought a farm with the old block house in which William Townsend had kept store. The next year Mr. Arnold erected a framed building in which he opened a store, and continued in merchandise for many years. He now resides at the center, aged nearly seventy-six. Mr. Arnold was the agent of William Townsend for the sale of his land for many years. W. S. Hyde, now living at Collins, came to the Fire-lands in 1823, from Fairfield county, Connecti- cut. He was, for several years, one of the active business men of Milan. He was one of the original proprietors of the town site of the village of Collins, and is the inventor of the "Hyde Cultivator." He has four children, two sons and two daughters. Hiram Boardman came to this township from Massachusetts, alone, on foot, in the spring of 1835. He bought his farm and then returned east for his family, with whom he arrived in June following. He died in Townsend in 1871, aged sixty-five years. E. C. Riggs and family, and a family by the name of Beckwith, settled in 1834, the former on lot fifty, and the latter on twenty-five, section three. Alva Low arrived about the same time. Marcus L. Ward, from Cayuga county, New York, located where he now resides in 1834, and Martin Denman, from Delaware county, New York, about the same time, taking up his abode where his son Cyrus now lives. Amasa Finch and family removed from Pennsyl- vania to Townsend in November, 1836, locating a mile and a half east of the center. He afterwards lived for a time in Clarksfield and in Wakeman, but spent the latter years of his life in this township, where he died, in 1877, aged nearly seventy-eight. His widow now lives near the center. Three children are living. Julia Ann is the wife of S. G. Waldron, of Townsend, of whom mention has been made. Platt W. lives in Clarksfield, and Chauncey in this town- ship. Isaac Trimmer, his wife, and his wife's mother, moved in from Cayuga county, New York, in the fall of 1839. Mr. Trimmer made his location where he now lives, on the west part of lot seventy-five in the third section. His parents, John and Elizabeth Trimmer, came on some years subsequently, but re- mained only a year, when they returned to New York, where he died in 1863. Mrs. Trimmer then came to Townsend, making her home with her son Isaac the remainder of her life. She died January 18, 1876, at the advanced age of ninety-nine years, six months, and fourteen days. She was born on the fourth day of July, 1776, and was one of a family of eleven children, all of whom she survived. Her mother lived to the age Qf one hundred years, and her ma- ternial grandfather reached the great age of one hun- dred and ten. In her father's large family there was but one son, and it sometimes became necessary for the daughters to assist in the work on the farm, and it is said Mrs. Trimmer raked and bound grain many a day and kept up with the cradler. White Sammis moved into Townsend from Cayuga county, New York, in the year 1837. He cleared up the farm now owned and occupied by his family. He died January 2, 1859, leaving a wife and three child- ren surviving him. Mrs. Sammis is still living, well advanced in life. She makes her home with her son Anson. The number of the white male inhabitants of Town- send in 1827, above the age of twenty-one years, as shown by the enumeration made by the County As- sessor for that year, was thirty-five, as follows: George Kellogg. Henry Kellogg. Horatio Thompson. wirnam Burdue. George Miller. David Goodell. Amon Milliman. Bryant Milliman. Stephen Heath. Lewis Middleton. Sheldon Barnes. Nathaniel Calhoun. Johnson Wheeler. John Miller. Edward Mollony. Joseph Purdy. Charles Purdy. Nehemiah Ordway. Alfred Arnold. Thomas Farrand. Joseph Waldron. Jeremiah Milspau. George Milspau. Abijah Barber. Amaziah Barber. Benjamin Bailey. Benjamin Benson. Frederick Perring. Augustus Barber. John Barber. David Barber. Ansel Barber. Amaziah Barber, Jr. Caleb Knapp. Thomas E. Fletcher. EARLY EVENTS. The first wedding in Townsend was that of Dr. Lyman Fay, of Milan, and Miss Caroline Kellogg, daughter of Orisimus Kellogg, of this township. This event occurred at the house of the bride's father, July 21, 1816, David Abbott, Esq., tying the nuptial knot. William and Elizabeth Burdue were the parents of the first white children born in the township. They were twins, were born in the year 1816, and lived only a few months. The next birth was that of Roxena Goodell, daughter of David and Electa Good- ell. She was born June 19, 1817, married Amherst Ordway, January 24, 1838, and died in Wood county, Ohio, May 11, 1876. A birth also occurred in one of the Barber families in 1817. David Sayre, was the first person that died in the township, but the date we are unable to give. The first tavern was opened by Moses D. Fowler, in the southwest part of town, on the Medina road, about the year 1834. On the southeast corner of the cross roads, where the west line road intersects the Me- dina road, stands the old "Blue Fly" erected by William Thompson twenty-two or twenty-three years ago. It was originally painted blue. Some one facetiously dubbed it "the blue fly" and the place has always been known by that name. Thompson kept it as a tavern for five or six years when he sold it to Theodore Williams, of Norwalk, who now owns it. It is now used as a dwelling. EDUCATIONAL. The first school house was built in the Barber set- tlement, about the year 1818. The first school teacher is not known with certainty, but is generally supposed to have been Jasper Miles, who taught a winter school. Miss Polly Barber, (now Mrs. Samuel Sher- man, aged nearly eighty,) kept the first summer school. Lucy Tenant was among the earliest school teachers in the township. She taught in a log dwelling which stood on the farm now occupied by S. G. Waldron, in the southeast part of town. A seminary, called "The Western Reserve Union Institute," was established at Collins, in 1855, chiefly through the efforts of W. S. Hyde. The institution derived its support from the tuition of its pupils, and was not incorporated. It had an existence until about the year 1870, when the building was purchased by the township, and has since been used as a district school. RELIGIOUS. THE BAPTIST CHURCH was organized in Penfleld, New York, in 1816, and consisted of five members, namely Abijah Barber, Benjamin Bailey, Acsah Bailey, Jasper Miles and Betsey Miles, all of whom removed to this township the following year. It was originally called "The Peace Baptist Church," one of the articles of its con- stitution condemning "all carnal wars and fighting, and the use of carnal weapons, in self defence, as un- warranted by Scripture." The members, on removing to this township, kept up their organization, the earliest meetings being held at their respective dwellings. Elder French, a Baptist minister, preached the first sermon in the township. Elder Phillips, of Berlin, was also one of the earliest preachers of that denomination that preached in the township. The first settled pastor was Elder R. W. Vining, who began his labors in 1837. Since Mr. Vining, J. R. Abbott, J. Freeman, F. P. Hall, A. J. Ellis, D. B. Simms, John Kyle, E. R. Richmond, J. P. Islip and S. A. F. Freshney, have successively officia- ted as pastors. The latter's term of service has not yet expired. A church building was erected at the center in 1850, costing about five hundred dollars. The society has at present a membership of fifty-three. Edwin Kinney is clerk ; William Bott and John Teed, deacons ; Edwin Kinney is superintendent of the Sabbath school, which is small, numbering some twenty-five or thirty scholars. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. We are indebted to Rev. George A. Weber, pastor of the church, for the facts in the following state- ment: The church was in existence at Townsend Center in the spring of 1839; how long before that, or by whom organized, can not be ascertained. The first meetings were held in an old red school house a short distance southeast of the center. The building is now used by H. Boardman as a bee-house There were then two other M. E. Societies in the township, one of which met in a school house on the east town line, and the other in a school house (recently burned) about two miles further west. The society at the center had a precarious existence until the completion of its house of worship in 1852, at which time the other classes referred to disbanded, some of the mem- bers uniting with the church at the center and others going elsewhere. In 1849, when the Brothers Burton and Curtiss Fairchild with their wives united, there were only eleven members, themselves included. The names of the other members were as follows A. D. Bryant (leader), his wife and father, Zenas Graham, Alva Brewster and wife, and a Mrs. Vining. Regular services, which had not been previously held, were at once established and have continued, without intermission, until the present. They were held in the school house which then stood upon the site of the present school building at the center, but now stands a short distance further west, and is used by the Good Templars as a lodge-room. The church has grown from that little band of eleven, in 1849, to a present membership of one-hundred and sixty-eight, including thirty probationers. From 1838 to 1841, the following ministers were on the Clarksfield circuit, in which this church was embraced, viz: J. L. Ferris, William Diabro, Thomas Barkdull, W. J. Wells, John H. Curtiss, James Brewster and John 0. Conoway. L. B. Gurley was the presiding elder. The following were the preachers from 1849 to 1860, to wit: Hiram Humphrey, Luke Johnson, John R. Jewett, H. M. Close, Wm. Hustiss, J. M. Wilcox, G. W. Breckenridge, E. H. Bush, James Evans, Jacob A. Brown, Ralph Wilcox and John McKean. During that time (from 1849 to 1860), or at least a portion of it, the society was included in the Florence circuit, and two preachers were constantly employed. The church building was begun in the summer of 1851 and completed, during the pastorate of John R. Jewett, in the fall of 1852, and cost fourteen hundred dollars. The dedication sermon was preached by Edward Thompson, D. D., afterwards bishop. The Sabbath school was organized in the spring of 1853. George Perkins was the first superintendent. The present membership is about one hundred and fifty. George D. Liles is at present the superin- tendent. TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES. A lodge of Good Templars was organized at the center of Townsend in 1867, with about forty mem- bers. The society occupied, for a time, a building which stood on the site of A. D. Smith's shop. The building was subsequently destroyed by fire, the soci- ety losing some two hundred dollars thereby. For seven months succeeding this event the meetings were held in the house of E. Kinney, when the old school house just west of the center was obtained and fitted up for a lodge room and has since been used by the society. TEMPERANCE MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY. The object of this organization is two-fold: to diminish intemperance and to provide a means for mental improvement. The members pledge them- selves to abstain from the use, as a beverage, of in- toxicating drinks. The literary exercises consist of declamations, essays and the discussion of temperance topics. The society was formed in November, 1874, with forty-seven members, and up to the present time five hundred and thirty names have been added to the list of membership. The exercises are held alter- nately in the Methodist and Baptist churches at the center. POST OFFICE. The first post office was established in 1833 or 1834, with Daniel Phillips as postmaster, who kept the office in his house, on lot ninety two, in the first sec- tion. The office was called East Townsend, which name it has retained until the present time, for the reason that there was an office in Sandusky county of the name of Townsend. Phillips' administration was defective in one particular: he failed to account to the government for the receipts of his office, and some three years after his appointment, James Arnold and Nehemiah Ordway, his bondsmen, received a notifica- tion from Washington that the official was then in arrears to the government in the sum of about seven- teen dollars. The amount was paid by the bondsmen, and Phillips was removed from office, and was suc- ceeded by Hiram Boardman, who served for a term of six of seven years. White Sammis was then appointed and held the position three years, when he was suc- ceeded by James Arnold, and the location of the office changed to the center of the township. Mr. Arnold kept the office five or six years, and was followed by Jasper St. John who held the place for a few months only, when John Miller received the appointment. The office was then removed to the railroad, half a mile further north, and continued there some four years, when it was re-established at the center, with William Humphrey as postmaster. He served two years, and was succeeded by James Arnold, who con- tinued until the appointment of the present incum- bent, W. D. Johnson, in October, 1872. The first east and west mail through Townsend was carried, on foot, by a man of the name of Coles, whose trip extended from Akron to Norwalk. At first his mail bag consisted of a large sized pocket book, locked with a padlock of about the size of a silver half dollar, but the first trip he made through Townsend his "mail bag" was entirely empty. An early mail carrier was a man by the name of Waldron, and on one of his trips through the woods he threw the mail bag at a deer, knocking it down, and before the animal could regain his feet he jumped upon it and cut its throat with a pocket-knife. A man by the name of De Bow carried the mail from Norwalk to Medina, back in the twenties. His route passed within twenty or thirty rods of Thomas Fletcher's house, on the creek, south of the Medina road. Fletcher cut a mortice in a large white oak tree, on the road, for the reception of his mail, and made an arrangement with the mail carrier to blow his tin horn whenever his "box" contained any mail. The ar- rangement was faithfully carried out by De Bow, and the sound of his horn became as familiar as the song of the whip-poor-will. PHYSICIANS. The earliest doctors who practiced in the township were doubtless from the surrounding towns. The first resident physician was Dr. G. R. Stanton, who located at the center, and began to practice in 1847. He remained for six or seven years and then removed to Lawrence, Kansas, where he now lives. Dr. Morse came in soon after, but remained only a year, when he removed to Pennsylvania. Dr. Hoyt was an early practitioner of physic here. Dr. Charles Arnold commenced the practice of medicine in 1848, and continued until 1851, when he removed to Mon- roeville. He now resides at Townsend Center, en- gaged in the manufacture of violins. Dr. F. Martin, the present physician residing at the center, moved into the place in the fall of 1851. He is of the regu- lar school, deriving his medical education at Hudson Medical College, Cleveland, where he graduated in 1855. He is at present the only resident doctor in the township, and has an extensive practice. Since Dr. Martin began here, two or three others have started in practice but remained only a short time. ORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIP. The first election for township officers was held, in pursuance of an order of the supreme court, October 15, 1820, at the house of Benjamin Bailey. Jasper Miles, Abijah Barber, and Isaac R. Wright were judges, and Frederick Perring and Royal Munger clerks of election. Township officers were elected as follows: Frederick Perring, clerk; Abijah Barber, David Lee, and Benjamin Bailey, trustees; Thomas F. Fletcher and Isaac R. Wright. overseers of the poor; Royal Munger and David C. Lewis, fence view- ers; Hiram Bailey, appraiser of property; Samuel Sherman, lister; Abijah Barber, treasurer; Royal Munger, constable. On the 15th of November, fol- lowing, an election was held for justice of the peace. There were nine votes cast, all of which were given to Jasper Miles. The poll book of this election, on file in the office of the Clerk of Huron county, con- tains the names of the following electors: Augustus Barber, Benjamin Bailey, Abijah Barber, David Lee, Hezekiah Barber, Frederick Perring, Royal Munger, Hiram Bailey, Elisha H. Sheldon. April 1, 1822, Royal Munger was elected justice of the peace, receiving the nine votes cast. The first record of an election of justice of the peace in the original township record book, now in possession of Sanford G. Waldron, of Townsend, is that of April, 1823, when Oliver Day was chosen to that office. Be- sides those mentioned, Joseph Purdy, Thomas F. Fletcher, Johnson Wheeler, Levi Chapman and White Sammis, were some of the early justices of the peace. At the election for sheriff of Huron county, held in Townsend, December 6, 1820, thirteen votes were cast, of which Benjamin Abbott received six, Asa Sanford five, and Platt Benedict, two. The first election in the township, for State and county officers, was held October 9, 1821. There were thirteen votes cast for State senator, which were given for Ebenezer Merry. Fourteen votes were cast for representative in state legislature, of which Ly- man Farwell received thirteen and David Abbott one. Enos Gilbert received thirteenvotes for sheriff and David Gibbs, one vote. Platt Benedict received twelve votes for auditor: Robert S. Southgate had twelve votes for county commissioner, and James Strong, six; Luke Keeler had ten votes for coroner and Amos Woodward, six. The different settlements in Townsend were so separated from each other that election days were the only occasions on which they met together. Men and boys attended the election as a holiday, bringing their rifles with them to shoot at target. As but few votes were polled and but little excitement, politically, pre- vailed, they had plenty of time to engage in sports. At the presidential election, when Jackson was elected president, there was a grand wrestling match between the two political parties. It was a close con- test, but the administration party prevailed, who regarded the result as significant, and the affair came very near ending in a general fight. It is said that if Milford's whisky had not given out, blood would undoubtedly, have been spilt. A substantial, two-story brick town hall was erected in the summer of 1870, at the center, costing four thousand five hundred dollars. The plan was drawn and the building erected by E. Kinney, architect and builder, living at Townsend center. William Towusend, one of the original proprietors of the township, put up a block house at the center, in which he opened a store in 1822 or '23. It was furnished from his store in Sandusky, which he estab- lished in the winter of 1819-20, bringing his first goods from New Haven, Connecticut, in a sleigh. A store was subsequently kept here a short time by Kneeland Townsend, brother of William Townsend, and still later by James Arnold, who continued in merchandise for a number of years. There are two villages in the township, of nearly equal size, called Townsend center and Collins, the latter situated on the railroad, half a mile north of the center. At Townsend center there are two chuches, two stores, one millinery shop, one black- smith shop, one school house, one saw mill, one bee- house, one violin manufacturer and one architect and builder. At Collins there are one general store, one grocery, one tin shop, one millinery store, one hotel, two blacksmith shops, one wagon shop, two shoe shops, one harness shop, one broom factory, one pump fac- tory, and one saw mill and bending works. MILLS AND MANUFACTURES. The pioneer mill of Townsend was established by William Burdue. He brought with him from Penn- sylvania a pair of small mill-stones, and set up a hand mill for grinding grain. The rude contrivance was a great convenience to the early settlers, who were thus saved many miles of travel, through dense woods to get their milling done. The first saw mill in this township was built by David Lee, in 1820. It was located on lot seventy- three, in the fourth section, on Rattlesnake creek. There are, at the present time, three saw mills in operation. The mill near the center was erected by James Arnold, in the winter of 1848-9. When com- pleted, he sold it to William Humphrey, who operated it until his death, in 1874, when it passed into the hands of George Bargus, the present owner. The saw mill of L. V. McKesson was established by Cyrus Minor, in 1856. He operated it for five or six years, when he sold to James McCullough, who, a year subsequently, moved the machinery away. A man by the name of Funk afterwards bought the building and fitted it up for a grist mill, which he carried on for three years, and then removed the machinery to Mt. Vernon. THE COLLINS PUMP COMPANY The original building of this factory was erected by W. S. Hyde and Pruden Alling, in l857, who engaged in the manufacture of the Hyde cultivator, of which the said Hyde was the patentee. They carried on the business for one year, when a suspension resulted, occasioned, principally, by the hard times of that period. In 1866, the building and ground were pur- chased by Isaac McKesson, who subsequently formed a partnership with M. M. Perkins in the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds. Afterwards, Cyrus Denman bought a half interest with McKesson in the property, and they, in addition to the business then in operation, began the manufacture of pumps. Subsequently, J. C. Shaw became a partner of McKesson, and they are now the owners of the property. The works are run by an engine of twenty-horse power, and the factory possesses facilities for an extensive business. UNION BENDING WORKS. The Union Bending Works were established in 1852, by Hemmingway & Humphrey, in the saw mill near the center, and having passed through several hands down to 1866, came into the possession of Smith & Ellis, who began the business in its present location and carried it on for one year, when it passed into the hands of William G. Alling & Co. These parties continued the business but one year. Isaac McKesson then became proprietor of the business, with his son, L. V. McKesson, as superintendent. Soon after this another copartnership was entered into between Mon- trose & McKesson, and was conducted under this firm name for one year, when Montrose sold out, and the firm was succeeded by McKesson & Ellis, who contin- ued the business for six months. Mr. Ellis, then went out and Isaac McKesson took his son, L. V. Mc- Kesson; into partnership, under the firm name of Isaac McKesson & Son. This arrangement continued for one year, closing with the year 1871. On Janu- ary 1, 1872, L. V. McKesson bought of Isaac Mc- Kesson, his share in the business, together with all the buildings, machinery, etc., and has been, since that date, sole proprietor of the Union Bending Works, making numerous improvements and additions, both in machinery and buildings. A large, new warehouse, thirty by sixty feet has been erected in which to store felloes. The capacity of the works has been enlarged to a considerable extent. Formerly the utmost ca- pacity was, in the manufacture of felloes, from forty to fifty set, steamed and bent, per day; and in sawing lumber, from two thousand to twenty-five hundred feet per day. At this time they have facilities for steam- ing and bending one hundred set of felloes per day, and for sawing from four to six thousand feet of lum- ber. The sawing, ripping, and planing are done in the basement story; the steaming, bending and pack- ing felloes is done in the second story of the mill building. Within the year past a turning shop has been added, and quite lately has been enlarged and improved. Neck-yokes and whiffletrees are the spe- cialties in this department. All kinds of bent work for wagons, buggies, sleds and cutters is made, requir- ing, for these alone, from twelve to fifteen hundred feet of the best hickory and oak lumber per day. >From fifteen to twenty men are employed about the works, and on some occasions as many as fifteen teams and teamsters are employed to get logs to the mill. A side track is laid from the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern depot to the mill platform, so that cars can be run in and loaded at the mill. The following is a list of personal property subject to taxation in a portion of Townsend, as taken in May, 1826, by John Miller, deputy assessor: [note: the following list is abridged. Also included was the "Aggregate Value" of both categories.] Names. Horses, Mules, Neat Asses. cattle. Thomas E. Fletcher .............. 1 Amaziah Barber .. 1 ............ 4 Augustus Barher ................ 3 Horatio Thompson ................ 4 Caleb Knapp ....................... Hezekiah Barber ................. 2 Benjamin Bailey .. 2 ............ 3 Abijah Barber .... 1 ............ 5 Stephen Heath .... 1 ............ 1 Bryant Milliman .. 1 ............ 8 Niram Milliman ................. 4 Lambert Schaefer ................ 1 George Miller .... 1 ............ 7 William Burdue .................. 3 Amon Milliman ................... 1 George Kellogg ... 1 ........... 5 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. [ note: also included with the following bio was a portrait of Dr. Edgar Martin. ] DOCTOR EDGAR MARTIN was the eighth child of Gilbert Martin and Hannah Washburn, and was born in Fitchville, Huron county, Ohio, October 10, 1826. He came to Townsend in 1851; and commenced the practice of medicine. He married Miss Mary Jane Chapman, of Townsend, in 1853. They have four living children: Marie, Fred D., May and Edgar G. Fred. D. Martin is a physician, and lives in Colton, Henry county, Ohio. The other members of the family are at home. Doctor Edgar Martin, the subject of this sketch, took his degree from the Cleveland Medical College, in Cleveland, Ohio, in the year 1856, after five years of practice, and he has been in almost constant practice of his profession ever since, in Townsend and the adjoining townships. His professional success may be easily inferred from his extended ride and his very busy life, - having had over twenty-five years of practice. He was elected justice of the peace in 1859, and has held the office continuously since that time - twenty years. He was commissioned lieutenant in the One Hundred and Twenty-third Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the early part of the late war, and was soon promoted to a captaincy in the One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was elected to the State legislature in 1873, and served in that capacity two years. In early life Doctor Martin was an abolitionist, and in 1852, voted for John P. Hale for president. He has been a staunch republican since the organization of that party. The repeated expressions of confidence, by his party, and his prominence in political circles in town and county, give better proof of his unswerving patriotism and real merit than anything the writer can say. The doctor springs from a Quaker ancestry which will explain, to some extent, at least, his pronounced anti-slavery convictions in his early manhood. To properly estimate such a character, we must bear in mind that the church, society, and the two great political parties were intensely pro-slavery, and all alike ready to rend the man who had the temerity to stand and talk, and vote for human rights. "To remember those in bonds as bound with them," created the bitterest antagonisms as well as social ostracism, and was considered sufficient cause for personal abuse and cruel persecutions in many cases, both in the church and out of it. This fact will add a special luster to the early manhood of Dr. Martin. [ note: the following bio appeared opposite page 244. Also included were portraits of Martin and Sally Ann Denman. ] MARTIN DENMAN, the subject of this sketch, was born in Neversink, Sullivan Co., N.Y., April 16, 1806, and was the seventh child of William Denman and Ann (Boreman) Denman. His parents were natives of Kent Co., England, and were married in Hadeom, in said county, June 24, 1790. Martin Denman married Sally Ann Washburn, in Wawarsing, Ulster Co., N.Y., Jan. 20, 1830. In 1833 he immigrated with his family to this county, and purchased over four hundred acres of land in the township of Townsend, one hundred and fifty acres of which are still owned by the family. The only improvements on the land originally purchased by him was a clearing of five acres and five acres of slashing. His remarkable energy and good judgment, as well as his sterling courage, will appear when it is known that his health was never firm, having inherited a pulmonic trouble; but feeble as was his health, stimulated by the very difficulties to be overcome, in the shape of a frowning forest, and especially the wants of a growing family, he pressed vigorously forward, conquered the forest, and carved therefrom a beautiful home and a handsome competence for his family. His life shows what industry, economy, integrity, and determination will accomplish. His education was limited to such as the common schools of his native county could furnish. He made a profession of religion in early life, and was a prominent and active member of the Methodist Church until his death. In politics he acted with the Republican party, but cast the second Abolition vote ever deposited in this township. So bitter was the feeling against him, on account of this practical application of Christianity, that his neighbors refused to hold his horse - who would not suffer himself to be tied - while he deposited his ballot. He was obliged to find a stable where he could secure his fastidious animal, when, with that courage and determination which characterized his life, he went fearlessly forward in the discharge of duty, and that, too, when men of less courage and less principle would have succumbed to prejudice and popular opinion. What his hands found to do he did with all his might. This quality, as well as his patriotism, was, perhaps, never more apparent than during the late war, when active, clear-headed, large-hearted men were needed to collect hospital supplies and clear the township of draft, and thereby save the few remaining young and able-bodied men to plant for future harvests. Here his real worth was apparent. He was untiring in his devotion to his country, and unflagging in his energies to provide for the wants of those who took their lives in their hands, and went forth to do battle for the maintenance of constitutional liberty and human rights. On the 23d day of January, 1872, from an attack of typhoid pneumonia, having, we may truly say, fought his good fight and finished his course, death came to bring the new birth. We cannot speak of the end of such a life, when those who knew him best, and were nearest to him in his earth-life, still live in the echoes of that life, making an immortality in whose glory they stand. Mrs. Sally Ann Denman was the tenth and youngest child of James Washburn and Judith Griffin. The family consisted of seven girls and three boys. Of this large family but two are living, the subject of this sketch and one sister, Mrs. Golden, now living in New London, Ohio. Her brother, Joseph Washburn, was one of the earliest settlers of Fitchville township, and is said to have donated the lands for the church buildings of that place. Mrs. Denman's parents were Quakers, but at quite an early age she united with the Methodist Church, and has ever since been a member of that body. Too much can hardly be said for the mother, who, in addition to the task of rearing a family, could courageously meet the trials incident to, and inseparable from, a pioneer life in a new country. Having turned her back on the scenes of her childhood, with its pleasant memories and luring charms, with Christian fortitude and unfaltering faith in God, she went hand in band with him who had promised to love and cherish her, meeting her trials with that calm resignation so befitting a trusting soul. By her aid and good management, her faithful husband was enabled to see the fruition of his labors in the acquirement of a competence for the support of those who survive him. Two daughters and one son were the fruit of this marriage: Julia Ann, married Philip Hawxhurst, May 4, 1854, and settled in Fitchville, this county; she passed to a higher life, Sept.11, 1867. Harriet, married Horace S. Brooks, May 5, 1879, and settled in Huntsville, Logan Co., Ohio. [ note: the following bio appeared opposite page 246. Also included was a portrait of D.S.Humphrey. ] DUDLEY S. HUMPHREY was the eighth child of Dudley Humphrey and Polly M. Sherman. He was born in Goshen, Conn., Nov. 21, 1814. His early life was spent among the hills of New England. In the winter of 1834-35 he, with his brother William, engaged in a lumber speculation which resulted in the purchase of a large number of clocks. To dispose of these clocks, the brothers decided that the West offered the most inviting and promising field not only for the sale of their clocks, but for future enterprises. During the year 1835 they came to Ohio and settled in Parma, near Cleveland, where they remained about fourteen years. Their first venture in the lumber business having proved remunerative, together with their natural fitness for the business, both of them having a taste for mechanics, they again embarked in the lumber and clock business, built a water, afterward a steam, saw- mill in Parma, and developed a large trade. Our subject married Mabel F. Fay, of Parma, Ohio, March 10, 1847, by whom he had five children: Mina S., married A. D. Scott, of Wakeman, and is now living in Hartland. Harlow, Dudley S., David, and Linnie are unmarried and live in Townsend. The scarcity of timber in Parma induced the brothers to come to Townsend, which they did in the year 1849, and purchased a large tract of land. They built mills and opened business on a large scale. During the partnership of the brothers they built over forty steam and water saw-mills through the West. They were the first to introduce and use the "Mulay Gang-Saws," and "Cone Pulley-Feed." In January, 1851, while working with a circular siding-saw, an accident occurred which resulted in the amputation of his right hand. Serious as was this accident, press of business, ingenuity, and ambition made the better use of his remaining hand, as well as the machinery; in fact, he is said to have handled tools and machinery more skillfully with one hand than most persons would with two. In 1855, Mr. Humphrey moved to the southeast part of the township, where they owned a tract of land and a mill. He divided his attention between the mill and farm. In 1860 he returned to Townsend Centre and remained until 1863, when he returned to the farm on the townline road, and gave his attention to its improvement and embellishment. He was an enthusiastic admirer of fruit - and forest - trees, as the large orchards and many shade-trees on the farm will attest. He planted out over five miles of maple-trees along the roadway, which gave the name of Maple Street to the road so improved. His admiration for shade-trees will he seen from the following circumstance: In opening a public highway on one side of his farm, a number of thrifty maples stood in what was to be the centre roadway. The supervisor attempted to cut them down, but our subject defended them so vigorously that the supervisor was forced to desist at the time, and, to make the protection complete, served an injunction on the supervisors, which was made perpetual by the courts. More than four hundred of his friends and neighbors joined him, it is said, with affidavits in defense of the trees. These trees still stand as monuments to the memory and fidelity of him who so nobly defended them. His school-room education ended with his thirteenth year, as the financial condition of his parents was such as to oblige the sons to commence their business life early. He was temperate in his habits and industrious always, - as might be expected of a New England boy,- which may explain the force and vigor of his later life. He took a deep interest in the welfare of others, and in building up for the comfort of those who were to follow. Was public-spirited and generous to a fault. It has been said that he and his brother William did more to relieve the township from draft during the late war than all the rest of the township combined. His education, like his brother's, was self-acquired for the most part, and few men in the country read more, and fewer still were more successful in business. In 1872 he indorsed paper for some manufacturers in Wakeman, and in 1878, when the financial crash came, these manufacturers failed, and he to save himself took the mill property, which required a still greater outlay of money. He never recovered this loss, as prices declined with the demand for manufactured goods as well as grains and stock. He gave generously to all church organizations seeking aid, but his belief and sympathies were with the Universalists. He was a man of great courage, fine presence, and wonderful nerve. When he met with an accident requiring a surgical operation, - he broke a leg two or three times badly, lost a toe and a hand, - he refused all anesthetics, preferring to be in perfect command of his senses during the painful operation. He died of typhoid pneumonia, Oct.19, 1876, after an illness of several months. His wife, who so nobly sustained him in his efforts, still survives him. She was ever faithful in seconding the efforts of her husband, and is a loving and affectionate mother. The two older sons, Harlow and Dudley S., though up to the time of the death of their father unaccustomed to care and responsibility, with a courage and determination rarely equaled, have shouldered the indebtedness of the estate, and hope, by application to business and strict economy, to discharge the incumbrances. [note: the following bio appeared opposite page 247. Also included was a portrait of Wm. Humphrey. ] WILLIAM HUMPHREY was born in Goshen, Conn., Oct. 13, 1812, and was the seventh child of Dudley Humphrey and Polly M. Sherman. He married Sarah A. Bierce, of Cornwall, Conn., April, 1834. By this union were born four children: Emma Louisa, married Joseph Hyde, an extensive farmer, and lives in the northeast portion of the township. Sarah Alice, married George Pargus, farmer, fruit-grower, and manufacturer of lumber, and lives near Collins' Station, in the same township. Delia Lucretia, married W. B. Johnson, a merchant, at the centre of Townsend; she died June 15, 1869. Willie, died in infancy. Mrs. Humphrey died Nov. 18, 1854. Our subject married his second wife, Miss Sarah M. Hyde, of Wakeman, Ohio, June 28, 1855, who survives him. At an early age the subject of our sketch manifested unusual mechanical skill and ingenuity, and during his business life invented many improvements in machinery; among which is what is still known as "Humphrey's Direct Action Steam-Mill," also the "Humphrey Double Action Pump." In 1835 he removed from Connecticut to Parma, Ohio, where, with his brother, Dudley S. Humphrey, he engaged in the manufacture of clocks, lumber, etc. In 1840 the two brothers came to Townsend, purchased a large tract of land, and commenced lumbering on a large scale. They built mills and plank roads, and furnished employment for a large number of men. What was an almost unbroken forest in 1849 is now adorned by two thriving villages, broad cores of pasture, meadow, and orchard lands. He was president of the Centre Plank Road Company, and was One of the principal movers in the enterprise; in fact, was the animating force in completing the work. The lumber manufactured by them was, to a large extent, sent to an Eastern market through Milan as the nearest shipping-point for water transit; hence they became the inset extensive patrons of the plank road. He soon became the largest lsodholder in the township, and continued to be up to the time of his sudden demise. He was cool, self-reliant, and always in full command of his forces, no matter what the emergency. When, Os was frequently the case one of his mill-men would meet with an accident requiring surgical skill, like the crushing of a hand or the breaking of an arm, he was the first man sought for; when, with pocket- knife, needle, splints, and bandage, with steady nerve and ready judgment, he would dress the wound so acceptably that the surgeon would seldom change it. He went boldly forward with business enterprises where many of large experience, even, would hesitate and doubt. His judgment on all business matters in which he had the management was clear, decided, and came by intuition apparently. In every sense of the word he was a large-hearted, broad-gauged man, of prepossessing appearance, attractive and genial in manner, - with strangers as well as friends. He scorned a mean or dishonorable transaction, and was incapable of doing a mean thing himself; and despised it in others. Combined with his other social qualities was the rare trait of equanimity of temper and forbearance, even under strong provocation, remembering the injury only to render some kind office to the offender when in need, which was frequently the case. This quality seemed to be recognized most fully by all who knew him. Not only his business, but his charities and his sympathies were on a broad and generous scale. He would always prefer to lose a debt than distress a poor, industrious man. He was a peacemaker of his neighborhood, and, no matter what the press of business, would attentively listen to the misfortunes and trials of others, and, like a father, freely advise those who sought his kindly offices. The estate of his father having been absorbed by indorsements for friends in the early life of our subject, he knew all about poverty, and struggles, and misfortune, and his kindly sympathies were developed in that school of experience which alone seems fitted to make men Godlike, and gives them active, intelligent sympathy for the unfortunate. To his immediate family he was a tower of strength and a fountain of love. As a neighbor, kind and obliging. As a citizen, liberal and patriotic. His biographer finds a pleasure in writing of one who was endeared to a whole community by so many amiable qualities, and who was so entirely self-made. His school-room education ended with his twelfth year. Few men with a classical education were more prosperous in business. His education was practical, and acquired in the school of experience. Politically, he affiliated with the Democratic party, but was said to be in active sympathy with the maintenance of constitutional liberty, and untiring in his labors for the comfort of soldiers during the late war. He was nominated by his party for representative, August, 1865, at a time when his party was in a hopeless minority, and of course was not elected, though he ran ahead of his ticket. He never was a member of any church organization, but treated all with respect. His religion was to do good to his fellow, - to help those in want. In short, he was one of those few noble souls who could rise above church, creed, and formulated dogma, and reach that higher principle from which it is possible to know God by discovering the Almighty in the soul. He met his death, Nov.23, 1874, by the breaking of a scaffolding, while engaged in repairing the roof of his dwelling-house. The fall broke his skull, causing his death within a few hours, and he was unconscious most of the time until death released him. -------------------------------------------- "Notice: the above material is Public Domain (no copyright)."