MEDINA COUNTY OHIO - Brunswick: Our Hometown (Part 2) *********************************************************************** OHGENWEB NOTICE: All distribution rights to this electronic data are reserved by the submitter. Reproduction or re-presentation of copyrighted material will require the permission of the copyright owner. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ *********************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by (This is a compilation of information and newspaper articles submitted by Sam Boyer and transcribed by Gerri Gornik gerrigornik@yahoo.com) http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/medina/history/ July 2002 *********************************************************************** Brunswick: Our Hometown A history of the community And its families As published in the Brunswick Times and Brunswick Sun Times With the permission of "Sam" Boyer, author. Early Families A community is made strong by the character of its people. And that's one of Brunswick's greatest strengths. As a farming community there were no magnificent buildings or glittering lights. But it was a community of special people – families worked hard to make Brunswick a wonderful, friendly place to live. The Benjamin Story In 1835, Daniel Benjamin, a native of Jamestown, New York, came to Brunswick to look over the land. Daniel was part of a proud American family, already established. His father, Martin, was a soldier in the War of 1812. Daniel liked what he was and purchased 160 acres of land on what is now known as West 130th Street between Route 303 and Grafton Road. It cost $2.50 an acre from the Connecticut Land Company. He returned to New York where he wed Eliza Halbeit on January 20, 1836, and then proceeded to the new land by covered wagon. Exactly 99 years, 365 days later, his great-grandson, Elmer Benjamin, married his wife Theora and settled on the same land as his forefathers, where in 1987, they still remain. The first home on the site was a log cabin north of the present Benjamin home. Elmer's son Clayton lived there in a modern home for awhile and there was always a basement water problem. They found the modern building was atop of the spring used at the first cabin site. A frame building was built next on about the same site as the current Benjamin home. It was later turned into a horse barn when the "Big Home" was completed. That home, where Elmer was born, took two years to build. All of it was built by hand including doors and window frames. Daniel took two huge trees to Brooks' sawmill at Bennett's Corners. He traded one tree for the plants made from the other. All the beams are hand hewn and the wood shed, which is now a part of the home, was almost as big as the house – and as solid. It acted as both a wood storage building and a creamery in the summer. Daniel died at age 55, but Eliza, raising eight children, ran the farm and made a go of it. Daniel was more outgoing and fun-loving while Eliza was a strict churchwoman. One night, it's said, Daniel took his four daughters, the oldest of the eight children, to a dance in Hinckley. Eliza was so outraged at the frivolity that the next day she walked to a prayer meeting in Strongsville – many months pregnant. Eliza lived till almost the turn of the century. Eliza brought with her from New York, a clock which was built into a niche in the wall of the big house. It's said that the clock stopped running at the exact moment of her death, and hasn't run since. The Benjamins now own the clock which has wooden gears. On the maternal side of the family, it was great-grandfather Horatio Chidsey who was the "character." At the age of 75, Horatio decided to remarry. His first wife, Jeanette Greenwood, a former schoolteacher, had died. So Horatio took as his bride 25 year-old Alice Crumpler who was related to a former mayor of Strongsville. Horatio worked in Cleveland and became acquainted with John D. Rockefeller, who at one time lived in Strongsville. Horatio described John D. Rockefeller as the most homely man he'd ever met, in addition to being parsimonious. It's reported he ate only crackers and milk. John D. used to visit the Chidsey household, taking only a meal of graham crackers and milk, but always left a generous tip for the missus. Mrs. Chidsey was a teacher at Sherman's Corners School where she successfully succeeded three male teachers who had been bodily ejected by the students. Her approach was to ask the biggest, meanest young man in the school to be her helper. And she never had any trouble while be became a model student. Maternal grandfather J.T. Geckler was president of the Brunswick phone company. As president, he had to haul poles, dig holes, set the poles and wire them up. According to Elmer, Marie Fasoli was one of the last operators of the old system which only operated from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. unless there was an emergency. The operator used to sleep on a couch near the switchboard in the off hours. Dennis Johnson was the only employee of the system other than the operators. He had to maintain the lines, install phones and even collect bills. Elmer's paternal grandparents were Edgar and Mary (Chidsey) Benjamin. Edgar was the seventh child of Daniel and Eliza and was the one who remained to work on the farm. Edgar and Mary had three sons, the middle of which, Clifford, was the one who stayed on the farm. He was Elmer's father. "My father was very upset when we encouraged our son Clayton to go on to school and leave the farm," Elmer recalled. "But we realized that times had changed and the land couldn't support a family any more." Theora came from the Lytle family who moved to Granger from their pioneer home in Geauga County. Her father was a blacksmith who had lost his wife. Her mother, seeking employment after her own widowhood, came to work as a housekeeper and ended up as Mrs. Lytle. They had three children of their own. In 1933, Theora graduated from high school and came to work in Brunswick at Zimmerman's store. Her sister is Mrs. Carl Zimmerman. Elmer paid the utility bills there and attended the same church. And that's how they met. 50 years ago they moved into the home in which they now live. Son Clayton was born in 1939 (the hospital bill was $43 for 10 days and another $50 for doctor's pre- and post-natal care). Nola was born in 1947. Times weren't always easy for the newlyweds. Theora remembers they went to the Berea Fair for an evening in 1938 – and didn't financially recover until after the winter had passed. The Benjamins worked the farm and raised chickens. Elmer had an egg route. Over the years, the Benjamins have found it necessary to sell most of the land, retaining just their property with one of the six homes built on the original land. The workload became too heavy for Theora who is afflicted with arthritis. Elmer couldn't be gone so much, so they sold the chickens (collected ceramic ones instead) and Elmer became an insurance agent and since retired. He and Theora are also notary publics. Elmer has a terrific memory for all sorts of things. Like how electricity came to his part of town: The owners of property there established the Bennett's Corners Illuminating Company in 1920. They hauled and placed poles and installed lines and then turned it all over to the Cleveland Southwestern Company, which was subsidizing the Interurban with its electrical business. It was the only way to gain electrical service. Finally, Ohio Edison was formed to take over the service. He also remembers that West 130th Street was surfaced after his father, Clair Wyman, and Lloyd Harris bugged the county commissioners. They purposely went 41 times to meetings (and who knows how many times they accidentally dropped in?). The last meeting went on until 9:00 p.m. It is said that Commissioner Charlie Scanlon finally said, "We'd better give 'em a road – those s.o.b.'s will come here till doomsday if we don't." Elmer has been active in the community throughout his life, serving on the Medina County Fair Board, as an election official and as secretary of the Kiwanis Club among other accomplishments. The Chidsey Story Few families are as well documented as the Chidsey family. For this story, we were afforded the opportunity of reading The Chidsey Story. a bound volume of over 600 pages chronicling the story which has deep roots in Brunswick history. John Chedsey was born in London, England in 1621. He came to America in 1642 on the ship Hector with many others of the area who felt the constraints of religious persecution. He settled in New Haven, Connecticut, where he became a respected member of the community, landowner and church deacon. Both John and his wife, Elizabeth, died in 1688. They had 10 children. Caleb , fourth son and seventh child is a direct ancestor of our local families. He was twice married – to Anne Thompson and then to Hannah Dickerman. There were three children. Abraham, born in 1699, married three times and had 10 children. Joseph, a fifth son, married Sarah Goodrich in 1769 and had 13 children. Isaac (by now spelled Chidsey) lived from 1775-1834. He married Lydia Van Nearing in Simsbury, Connecticut, and came to Pompey, New York, in 1803. Eleven children were born of this couple, and Norman, the ninth child, was the first to venture into Ohio. After his father's death, Norman brought mother Lydia to live in Ohio. She is buried on the town line between Brunswick and Hinckley. Norman Chidsey walked to Ohio in 1833 where he purchased a large tract of land on the town line. He bought from speculators who swindled him out of his purchase, leaving him broke. The 29 year-old walked back to New York, re-earned the price of the land, walked back and re-bought his land. He married Jane Wilson Eaton in 1826. She had two sisters, Sally and Eliza. Eliza later married John Peebles and also lived on the town line. James Fennimore Cooper as a schoolmate of Jane. She came to Ohio with Norman after the land purchase. Her small son Horatio recalled scaring wolves from the door by shaking his mother's dish towel at them. These pioneers from "York State" lived in log cabins sharing their stores and skills with others less fortunate than themselves. Doctors were almost non-existent. Sickness and the fear of it hung heavy over the new country. Jane possessed a green thumb for the illnesses and accidents that go with pioneering. The following account of life in early Brunswick is written in a history of the Western Reserve. There were midnight knocks on Jane's door: a frightened lad sent to "fetch help" for his mother who had blacked out; a frantic husband whose gently bred wife was sick unto death in a dimly lighted rough cabin. There was membranous croup and 20 other diseases to plague the always over-tired settlers. Jane Chidsey never refused a call for help – all she asked was two minutes in which to dress and collect her herb remedies. Once she took no time for shoes and stockings and ran a half mile saying, "good hagers, how these stones hurt my feet!" but she didn't lose stride. She outran the lad who was Lucien N. Chidsey, and had been sent because his mother Janetta Ruth Chidsey had fainted. The area was still heavily forested. One dark night she lost her way and wandered about until daybreak to find she had been almost home when she first lost the trail. Norman and Jane lived on the South Town Line on what came to be called the Kennedy Farm. One night a message came to the effect that a man living in Hinckley Center was ill and had been told he could not recover. As soon as she could lope off the miles, she was there and after a bit, decided she could save the man if she could get the help of the sort she wished. The men and boys of the settlement were called together. Arms a-kimbo, she said, "If I can have all the fresh killed cat skins I want, I believe we can save this man." The men went out in pairs carrying gunny sacks. One man stood outside the open window to kill the cats while another passed in fresh skins and took out the used ones. After a time, the skins removed from the sick man were black and absorbed poison. By morning, the patient was pain free and shortly was up and about to live a long life. "Wonder drugs?" At any rate, the recover of the man was acid proof of the value of cat skins. At age 72, Jane fell off the platform of a Medina photographer's studio breaking her hip. She insisted on having her picture taken. The photograph is still around and the clenched hands indicate the agony she was suffering. The hip was never set and she spent the remaining 22 years of her life in a wheelchair which she could push about the main floor of the house like lightening. The day before she died at 94 years of age, she hemmed a towel – without glasses. Other children included Charlotte, Truman, Minnie and Eliza. Charlotte married four times and had three children: Sylvester Faulkner, Bud and Georgie Mellinger. Charlotte died in 1886 and her name was Charlotte Chidsey Crum Faulkner Mellinger Fish! Horatio married Janetta Ruth Greenwood, in 1857 and they had two children, Mary (Benjamin) and Lucien. Truman married the sister of Janetta Betsy Ann Greenwood, in 1858, They had nine children: Perry, Elliot, Frank, Loretta (Chappell), Grant, Lyman, Jessie (Peebles), Ida Ruth (Kraver) and Bernice (Tibbitts). Truman's children who all grew to maturity, were well known, active members of our communities. It was Grant who left a deep impression in Brunswick, a man who at age 18 earned enough money to purchase 50 acres of land through hard work. It was the nucleus of the 233 acres that came to be known as Shady Nook Farm. He married Bertha Sprague of Brunswick on June 19, 1901. Grant worked at sugar-making for 80 years, first for his grandfather Norman C., and then for his uncle Phil Kennedy, and then for himself from 1874-1939. The first sap buckets were made of staves and bound together with hickory saplings. Many of them had the letters "E.N." and these initials stood for Ezra Van Nearing, a relative of his grandfather and told that the buckets were made in "York State." Chidsey syrup indicated an honest measure and good quality for many, many years. In 1914, he became interested in pure blood Jersey cattle. As time went on, he developed a herd which attracted the attention of Ohio State University, the American Jersey Cattle Club and journals such as the National Stockman and Farmer, the Jersey Bulletin and Dairy World, the Ohio Farmer and other publications. When Grant was running for county commissioner in 1938, the Medina County Gazette presumed his platform to be: "Jersey cows on every farm and creamlike milk on every table." There was truth in this by line since by long-continued work he had raised the standard of Ohio's Jersey cattle. Individuals of the Shady Nook herd won gold and silver medals and citations at the national level as they were to do again before and after 1939 when Grant's second son, Myron, took over the farm and dairy. A republican in politics, Grant served Brunswick Township as trustee and school board member. He served with distinction two terms as County Comissioner; his unswerving honesty and devotion to duty as he saw it made a deep imprint on Medina County affairs. For a quarter of a century, he was a trustee of the United Brethren Church at Mount Pleasant. Along with a deep sense of personal responsibility, Grant had a built-in sense of humor and fondness for music and dancing. He was a devoted family man and a staunch friend. In a series called, "Medina County and Its People," William N. Osbun wrote: "Throughout the centuries in England and America, the Chidseys were and are noted for outstanding industry and thrift and for their devotion to country and church." Grant's children were Elbert, Alda (Donahue), Bertha, Viola (Blakeslee), Myron, Amber (Bryenton who died in 1964) and Harold. Grant lived until 1961, the age of 95. At age 80 he was still making maple sytrup and painting his house. The Chidsey tradition was in good hands, however, as Myron took the reins. * * * Myron was born in 1911 and spent his whole life in Brunswick. He graduated from Brunswick High School in 1929 and in the early 1930s took over the operation of Shady Nook Jersey Farm. By the mid-1930s he had completely purchased the 250-acre farm between Laurel and Center Roads on Carpenter Road. In 1932, Chidsey put Brunswick on the map as his champion Jersey, Torono's Fern Lass won a national gold medal. During his long career in Brunswick, Myron saw his farm cut in half by I-71. He went into the building business for about five years, building homes on the old farm. Then he was offered the job of managing BHL Supply, which he did for four years. He later established two corporations, Shadynook, Inc., and I-71, Inc. with attorney (later municipal court judge) Kermit Neely. The latter owns the property at I-71 and Route 303 on which a restaurant and motel are built. Myron joined Lance and Company in 1968 and he and his wife, Helen, drove school buses for over 10 years. Myron met Helen Fauble, daughter of another family steeped in history in the West Richfield area, at a dance at the Weymouth Dance Hall. They were married by Rev. Sellers at the Methodist Parsonage in 1937. Helen's grandfather helped settle Akron and her mother was born in a home in Hinckley which is registered in the national archives. The stone was laid by her Grandpa Gargett as he laid stones for the Akron Perkins Mansion. Myron and Helen are still dancing, by the way. They are on the dance floor several times a week and cut a pretty rug both in square and round dancing. The couple has six children: Nancy, Sally, David, Carol, Anna and Lori. Myron, following in his father's civic footsteps, was elected trustee in 1937 and re-elected to serve 16 years. He was a trustee when the fire department was organized and served as chief for two years, "Because they couldn't find anyone else to take it," he quipped. Myron recalled attending grade school at the corner of Laurel Road in the days of local schools. One year there weren't enough children at this school and he had to walk to Sherman's Corners to attend school. He served on the Brunswick Board of Education for eight year and was president the year his daughter, Nancy, was a senior. He got to present her diploma just as his father had done for him. He is a charter member of the Brunswick Lions Club and Brunswick Chamber of Commerce. He has been on the advisory board of Old Phoenix National Bank, was co-chairman with Al Shirere, of the Brunswick Sesquicentennial Celebration in 1965, was a scoutmaster of Troop 503 in 1933 and served nearly 20 years on the Medina County Fair Board, serving as its chairman in 1970-71. He is a comedian of some note, having performed with the Brunswick Minstrel Company. He served on the Medina County Citizen's Advisory Board on Facilities and on the board of the Medina County Red Cross. Myron remembers that Maude Evans was the teacher at the Pearl Road schoolhouse and if your teacher got angry with you, she threatened to send you to Miss Evans' School. Miss Evans had a reputation for strictness that was unparalleled in the system, it seems. "I think everyone's memory of Brunswick is the same," said Chidsey. "We were a one horse town with nothing but farms and everyone knew everyone else. I think we've lived through a fantastic time of change and I'm happy to have had as much to do with that change as anyone living in Brunswick. It's been interesting and fun – and caused a little grief, too. It was interesting to be on the school board during the big expansion. I saw five elementary schools built and two additions. We used state funds and even federal aid on one building which was unusual...and not easy to get. "Because I-71 split our farm down the middle, it put me in line for progress quickly. When sewer and water came through, we were one of the first to be affected and involved – to say the least." What about the future? Well, in 1976 Chidsey said this: "I think it will be 15 or 20 years of uphill work and don't think we can see what Brunswick is going to look like until then. It's going to be one of the nicest and newer cities in the area because of progress – progress that many other areas have not had. I think we all have to accept progress. We've dragged our feet on almost everything and I've dragged as much as anyone. But we have to look at what's best for the future. There's no way to say we want just a certain amount of progress and then stop." Since retiring he and Helen have done a lot of traveling, seeing virtually all the states, but always coming back to their hometown, Brunswick. And the Chidsey Story Continues Eliza (Chidsey) and Phil Kennedy, hardy Brunswick pioneers, lived their lives on what is known as "The Kennedy Farm." The home, built in 1835 by Norman Chidsey, still stands on West 130th Street. Eliza was born and lived her entire life there, including giving birth to four daughters. The girls, Minnie, Rena, Jenny and Ethel, grew up happily in this small town of the late 1800s, which was a farming community until the mid-1950s. Each of the girls married (at age 24 and on the same day of the varying years) in the family home under the watchful eyes of Eliza, who was growing more and more crippled by arthritis. She spent her last 40 years confined to a wheelchair. Minnie married Freeman Hoff and was the only one of the girls to wander far from home. Hoff became a school superintendent at Mitchell, South Dakota. He used to return at least once a year by train, always wearing black to hide the soot associated with train travel in those days. A story says that Mrs. Hoff used to fool her young nieces by taking them (here in Brunswick) to the top of a hill and pointing to a valley below. "That's Mitchell, South Dakota" she would say, and the gullible youngsters would believe her. Perhaps she believed it herself. Jenny married Dennis Johnson who was well known in the town as the head of the first telephone company. The Johnson's had three children. Homer, who died about 12 years ago, married his neighbor friend Ethel Brant, who still lives in the same home they built before their marriage. Freda married L. Ashley Pelton and lived in Medina. Willia (who helped with our story) married Henry Zuengler. Willia graduated in 1925 as valedictorian of her small class, the first to graduate from the "new" high school, now the south house middle school. She attended Ohio State University and came home to teach, first a year in Valley City and then in Brunswick. She was the home economics teacher and Henry was the instrumental music teacher and band director. He would come to her class for cookies after school, and romance blossomed. The word is that many a young woman was envious of Willia who captured a real prize. And relatives tell us that Henry never forgot he had captured a real gem as well. Henry left teaching to found his own business in Cleveland – right at the beginning of the depression – which took a lot of gumption. He ran a shipping supply business for 25 years until his death in 1960. Henry was a Wisconsin farm boy at heart and after a hard day at work would delight in coming home to putter around the farm on Grafton Road. Willia has remained active in church work and is an accomplished craftswoman. The Zuenglers had two daughters, Sally who resides in San Diego and Sandra Robson who lives on Gary Boulevard. She is a 1954 graduate of Brunswick High School and married Wayne in 1961. They have three children, Jenny, Jessica and John. Sandra also helped with our story of this branch of the Chidsey family, supplying many of the sidelights her mother was too shy to relate. Sandra was an active high schooler and has remained active in community affairs here. Her children are following the traditions as well. Ethel married O.B. Averill. Rena married Morris Perkins who had the store on the corner at the center of town. It was brand new then and Perkins left it when he was named manager of BHL Elevator. There were four Perkins children: Dorothy (Leyda); Marie (Carlton); Reginald who died in 1961 without having married, and Marion (Wolff). Mrs. Wolff is another who has aided us with our story; and she's a person used to helping others as one of Brunswick's most active women her whole lifetime. Marion graduated from Brunswick High School in 1919 at the Methodist Church, one of a class of nine. She attended college in Tennessee and Baldwin-Wallace and then taught school in Seville for four years. She met young Alwin Wolff of York Township when her father invited all his BHL employees to join them for a swim at the family summer vacation cottage in Lorain. She was 19 when they first met and had never heard of him or his family, despite the fact Wolff was an old York Township name. The Wolff name didn't stay unknown for long, however. They married and after a short time in Cleveland, the Wolff's moved back to Brunswick where Alwin had many interests. He entered the building business and was active there during the boom years of growth. The homes west of Route 42 in the Meadowbrook-Wolff Drive-Blueberry Hill area are often remembered as the Wolff Development. He was active in local and county affairs serving in many capacities. But he was probably best known as Brunswick's third mayor, serving during important years of grown. The coming of water and I-71 opening here took place during his administration. Wolff never took his paycheck for being part-time mayor, but donated the money to the Brunswick Scholarship Fund. He remained a powerful part of the community, even after retiring from the mayor's post, until his death. And Mrs. Wolff was equally active in many areas until suffering a stroke several years ago and moving with her son, Dr. David Wolff and his wife and two children to the Washington, D.C. area. She was a remarkable lady whom, we are told, weighed just over a pound at birth in those days of unsophisticated medical practices. Her innovative relatives, it is said, saved her by placing the baby inside a slightly warmed oven – a homemade incubator. Many local residents still remember the homes of the two girls, Willia and Marion. The Johnson and Perkins homes were torn down to make way for the Cardinal Federal Savings and Loan Building on Route 42. At Christmas Time What was Christmas like in the "good old days" in Brunswick? The days when perhaps a thousand people populated the town and everyone knew everyone else? For Marion and Willia who were born and raised here, Christmas meant a visit to Grandma Eliza Kennedy's house with the rest of the large, close-knit family. The girls would visit on Christmas Eve day to help grandma, who was crippled with arthritis, to help with the cooking. They would fetch the ingredients and Eliza would mix, cut and prepare. There would be a morning church service at the Methodist Church that everyone looked forward to attending. Santa would visit and there was a general feeling of good cheer shared with friends. Santa's gifts would be something small like a brightly colored pencil, but always appreciated. "There weren't many gifts," noted Mrs. Wolff. "And the tree was never put up ahead of time." Mrs. Zuengler added that Sandra always brought the tree to the home the night before Christmas and it was decorated with candles in little holders (probably the reason for having a free tree) and popcorn, cranberries and little gifts. There was no gift wrapping. Gifts might include oranges and nuts, a homemade doll or an old doll in a new outfit, perhaps a sled or skates. Those winter activities were popular because they could be done close to home. "And we all wore long underwear – even the girls, even to school," the women added. Sandra Robson noted that she remembered going to her grandma Jenny Johnson's house for Christmas. It was both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day – and all the aunts, uncles and cousins would gather for the festivities. Now the family gathers at Mrs. Zuengler's. "As each generation grows to large to handle, the festivities 'step down' a generation," the women noted. The Gibbs Family (The Gibbs Family is included here because it was in the original book which this transcription represents. However, a hand-written marginal note reads "found out this was not true. Gibbs family has never done genealogy) Joseph and James Gibbs were on their way to America when they became victims of a shipwreck. They were rescued, but Joseph was taken to New England while James went to Virginia. It was in New England that Benjamin Gibbs was born in 1783. He married Pedee Thayer and they traveled from there to North Royalton in 1821. They had seven children: Clarinda, Clark, Charlie, Hiram, Leonard, Farnum and Alexander. Farnum, born in 1835, is first mentioned in Brunswick history as the minister of the Disciple Church and head of the Ladies Aid in 1873. Reverend Gibbs traveled in his ministry as an evangelist going from home to home and holding services at Hamilton Corners. He helped to establish the Disciple Christian Church in Strongsville and the bell from that tower was brought to the Christian Church when it was located at the corner of Routes 303 and 42 and now rings in the church on Route 303 next to Towslee school. Farnum married Calista Garlock and they had five children: Josephine, Will, Farnum H., Lillian and Earle, who later became a state representative. Lillian would act as a singing evangelist with her father on his mission work. One yearly meeting in Stearns Grove hereabouts found 2,000 people in attendance. It is about Farnum H. and his family to whom we first turn our attention. Farnum was a farmer who hauled hay and potatoes to Cleveland by wagon and raised dairy cattle. He vied with the Chidseys for honors between their Holstein and Jersey breeds. His milk was shipped via the Cleveland Southwestern line. Farnum and his sons also helped haul material by horsedrawn wagon to build up the road bed for the streetcar tracks. Farnum married Clara Freeman and they had one child, Nellie. Clara died shortly thereafter, and Farnum was remarried to Ellen Blakeslee, mother of Elbridge, Calla, Anna, Earle, Esther and Ellen. Gibbs and his son-in-law, Harry Lincoln (Anna's husband), started the Gibbs & Lincoln Grain and Feed Store in 1914 and the boys all helped. They were in business for about 10 years. Holden's Grocery Store was in the lower part of the building after that and Edward started Gibbs Motors in the big garage at the side before moving to Medina where Earle joined him. Farnum eventually traded the farm for commercial property in the city and he looked after it and had an egg route up until two years before his death. Ellen's side of the family were all teachers. She taught at Medina Center, boarding around town with various families of her pupils in light of the meager wages paid. All five of her daughters, three granddaughters and two great-granddaughters taught school. Nellie was in the first Brunswick graduating class in 1900. Nellie married G.R. Moxley, who was stationmaster at the Southwestern as long as it existed. He also collected the electric bills because the Southwestern owned the electric company and ran the baggage room. She taught school four years before the marriage and they lived on part of the Gibbs' family farm. They went to Medina after he retired and he worked as a salesman for a time at the Gibbs Motor Co. At one time, all three men of her family worked at the company and she had 21 white shirts to iron each week. Their children were Clara (Porter), Geraldine (McNeal), John and Elbridge. Calla always lived in Brunswick, marrying Harry Vaughn who was one of the early mail carriers here. She taught for three years before marriage. Her daughter, Kathryn Buschow still lives in Brunswick as does Kathryn's son, Bob, and his family. Kathryn is an active volunteer in the community. Her relatives say that Calla was probably the most even-tempered person they ever met, along with mother Ellen. "She never had a bad word about anyone," they relate. Elbridge married a Brunswick girl, Edna Woodward. Her family lived in what was later called the Riddell House on Pearl Road. They were both born on the same day in Brunswick and have twin sons, Jim and Joe. Elbridge worked for a while in the store here, went to Wooster Business College and worked at the courthouse. He then went to work for Old Phoenix National Bank and was there for many years, eventually working his way up to president. He was president when the first branch was built in Brunswick. Anna taught school for two years and then married Henry Lincoln, who was a Bostonian. He was a musician in Cleveland with the early Cleveland Orchestra and played cello and clarinet. He actually made cellos and violins and after the store closed, moved to Medina where he worked for Permold and was later self-employed. Eddie married Mabel Deuble and founded Gibbs Motor Co which was in business for 37 years. He was a graduate of Balwin-Wallace College. He suffered a tragic death at the age of 37. His boat overturned in Lake Erie and he drowned saving two others. Earle married Winifred Barnes, a schoolteacher, after he graduated from Hiram and went into business with Eddie selling Oldsmobiles and Chevrolets in Medina. He still lives there. Esther taught six years in Hinckley, married Russell Kinton and taught for one more year. Kinton worked at Midland Ross for 38 years and farmed in between. They lived in Brunswick all their lives and part of their land was sold for Brunswick Hills Golf Course. Their two children are living in Iowa where son, Phillip, is a minister. Ellen, the "baby" of the family was 22 years younger than Calla, so often suffered jokes at the hands of her nephews who were her own age and attended school at the same time. She is a graduate of Hiram College with master's work at Columbia. She taught for 39 years at Fairview Park High School (and never missed a day in all that time). She developed the home economics department in the junior and senior high schools there and retired in 1973, turning her job over to one of her own students. Miss Gibbs co- authored a book, Your Home and You, for junior high school use in 1960 and it was revised in 1965 and is still in use in the United States and Canada. She is extremely active in church affairs, following the pattern of her famous ancestor, the Reverend Farnum Gibbs. She is historian of the First Christian Church, the descendant of the disciple congregation. The church was first located at Brunswick Westview Cemetery and then moved to the corner of Routes 303 and 42 in 1916. The new church was built in 1962. The Gibbs family held reunions for many years until there were just too many to house in one place. There used to be 65 members within 65 miles. Many of their mother's family came to Weymouth from Connecticut and were part of the festivities. Cousins of Ellen's father still meet though there are now hundreds of them. They decided 98 years ago that unless they met yearly, no one would ever know their relatives...and so it continues. It has been a long time since Farnum first began his trek through Brunswick leaving a mark and a family which has given much to the community. The Other Gibbs Branch In the mid-1800s, Elecs and Clark Gibbs came to Hinckley where they set up a mill on Ridge Road north of Hinckley where the river crosses. There they had a water- powered grist mill and blacksmith shop. When Elecs returned from fighting in the Civil War, he met a neighbor girl whose name was Green. He married her and went to live on the Ridge where she lived. In 1870, Charles G. Gibbs was born at Hinckley Ridge. Two years later, the family came to live in Brunswick on newly acquired land on what is now Center Road west of Brunswick center. The 80-acre farm had a creek running through and the family home was built that year near the road in the middle of the farm, now located just east of the East Brunswick Professional Center. The home still stands though it has been remodeled and additions made since then. Charles met and married Mary Lantsbury from Carlisle Township in Lorain County. Leonard Gibbs was born in 1907 when the family was living near the center of town where the telephone company is now located. In 1916, grandpa Elecs died and the family moved into the Gibbs family home. Elecs and Charles farmed the land for many years. They were the first property owners in the area to utilize drain tiles to move water from the fields. Charles was the first in the area to plant sweet clover, coming from his interest in bees. He kept several beehives throughout his life. He was the first in the area to use an electric fence. Leonard recalls that his dad kept pigs on the farm – all nice and tidy inside a neat little fence to the amazement of other farmers. He became a franchised dealer for the fence, and when he would visit the county fair, he would set up a small, electrified pen for a pig to the delight of fairgoers who had never seen such a thing. And it sure helped sell the fences. Leonard and his brother Alvin grew up in the neighborhood where they were born. They attended elementary school in the building at 1246 Pearl Road which is now a pizza shop, and high school in the first part of the South House middle school as they began to centralize school facilities. He graduated in 1926. He married the late Laverne Dunn (daughter of John) and built a home on the family farm, across the creek. He and his dad built the charming little home where he and his wife Esther now live. Brother Alvin moved to Columbus where he lived until a few years ago. He now lives in Sun City, Arizon. After graduation, Leonard worked for R. W. Strong and then in Cleveland for the Cleveland Talking Machine Company, distributor of Victrolas and records, in the shipping department. "Then came hard times," Leonard said, as he recalled trying to make a go of it during the depression. "I came back home and began farming," he said. He started small and gradually grew as a dealer in dressed chickens and eggs. He had a retail route in Cleveland and only missed two Saturday delivery dates in 25 years on the route. He remembers his customers with fondness as he dropped eggs and dressed poultry at their doors. "If I didn't sit down with them for a few minutes and visit, they would be upset," he said. At one home he would knock and walk in. If the lady wasn't in, there would be a note on the kitchen table with the order and instructions, "Lock the door when you leave." In 1942, Gibbs was appointed township clerk and was elected to that post in 1944, 1948, 1952 and 1956, serving until 1960. He began that work when Walter Reutter retired from that job. Then in 1950, "The township trustees decided we had to have zoning, so I was appointed zoning inspector." By the 1950s, business was starting to decline so Leonard was looking for some part time work. They needed school bus drivers, so in 1955 he became a bus driver and drove until 1970. He also served a few months as a trustee to fill an unexpired term until illness forced him to resign. When the Old Phoenix Bank opened, Leonard worked there as a custodian and retired in 1972. "Brunswick has grown so fast, I even get lost," he chuckles. He noted getting lost trying to cut through Eagle Oakes from Substation Road just recently. "I can remember driving up Center Road and never seeing another car all the way to Brunswick. Maybe one would pass me...and maybe not. Now I have trouble getting out of my own yard." Leonard wonders what his father would say if he saw Brunswick the way it is today. Leonard talks about his joint venture in the East Brunswick Professional Center. "Paul Munyon came to me one day and talked about this plan for a professional office complex. I guess you could say I was land poor at the time. I thought to myself that dad would have been proud of something like this on the old farm – so we got together and this is what happened," he proudly notes. In the lobby of the center is a display case of Indian artifacts found on or near the family land. While his dad was farming, he would discover arrowheads and ax heads and other handmade stone tools. His father was always a great whittler, Leonard explained. In 1941, Charles broke both legs in an auto accident and took to whittling nearly full time. A board displaying a variety of his work hangs in the Gibbs' living room and shows fantastic woodworking ability. It also sports several prize ribbons, the first one in 1939 from the Columbus Hobby Show; a second in 1941 from the Cuyahoga County Fair and one from a 1946 Brunswick Garden Club show. Chains whittled from one long piece of wood; rattles made from a single piece of wood with a perfect little ball rattling around inside; forks and other utensils all beautifully handworked are delight to see. A proud name, Gibbs. With a proud tradition in Brunswick. The Waite Story It was March 19, 1855, when Henry Wait purchased 125 acres of land from S.W. Kelly in Brunswick. Henry had come from Strongsville to farm this land on what is now known as North Carpenter Road between Grafton and Boston Roads. Henry's property contained a log cabin, two barns and a sawmill. He married a widow, Helen Blakeslee Hurd, who had two children. They had three children of their own, Frank, Agnes and Jesse. Sometime during the next years, an "e" was added to the last name, forming the more familiar Waite name of Brunswick. Later, the small barn was converted to a home with two bedrooms downstairs and a loft upstairs. That sufficed until a larger home, which still stands, was built. Its hand hewn and partly sawn beams can be seen in the basement. Of the children, Frank married Alta Cartwright; Agnes married Clare Benjamin and Jess, who was just four when his father died, married the source of our information for this story, Mamie Codding, the adopted daughter of Spencer and Alvira Codding, also of Brunswick. Both Jesse and Mamie were students at Brunswick Schools where they met. Jesse went on to work at his sister's grocery store in North Ridgeville. His records show that he worked 46 hours a week at 20 cents an hour and received his room and board. A good record keeper, his books take us back to the turn of the century when you would have found these commodities: canned goods, 10 cents each including corn, tomatoes, peas and pumpkin; tea cups, 4 cents apiece; crackers, 5 cents a pound; curry combs, 15 cents; whip crackers, 2 cents; oil cans, 3 gallons for 45 cents or 5 for 55 cents; salmon, 15 cents a can, 2 for 25 cents; coffee, 13 cents a pound; baker's chocolate, 25 cents; Cream of Wheat, 15 cents; currants, 12 cents; citron, 20 cents; cocoanut, 24 cents a pound; butter (St. Clair) 8 centers and (Erie) 11 cents; cocoa, 25 cents. In 1905, Jesse worked for Jake Keller on the thrashing machine for $1 a day and ran the family farm which he bought in 1908 from his brothers. Jesse also worked on the Buckeye Pipeline during the time of installation getting $4 per day for himself and a team of horses. For many years, the money from Keller helped the family finances. Mamie, when she went to high school, boarded with her aunt at the center of town because it was too far to travel each day. Some of the boys would ride their horses into town each day to attend school, housing them in the stables of the Methodist Church. Mamie, who graduated in the class of 1906 recalls those days. There were two rooms on the main floor of the school, the old town hall building which was on Route 42, with the floor upstairs used for meetings and entertainments such as the Grange, Farmer's Institute, etc., who would hold their meetings there. During recesses, the boys would play "duck on the rock" or baseball. In good weather, the girls would walk around the circle at the center. During inclement weather, they would have musical entertainment with everyone singing. The class of 1906 was the first senior class to hold a junior-senior banquet. It was held in the school-town hall and was prepared by the girls who brought items cooked at home from their farms, while the boys each paid 23 cents to offset costs. Menu included baked ham, fried chicken, potato salad, homemade rolls and butter, cake, ice cream and lemonade. A sense of humor prevailed even than. The girls laced the lemonade which was to go to the boys with salt instead of sugar and had a merry time as they took the first gulp. Entertainment including singing "What do you do with a Drunken Sailer," "Jumbo Thru the Window," "Farmer in the Dell," "Drop the Handkerchief," and "Spin the Platter." Other forms of entertainment included plays and dances. After a square dance which ended at midnight, all would leave for home in horsedrawn buggies. When she was just a youngster, Mamie and her mother would attend town plays. There were also husking bees, oyster and chicken suppers to go. After her graduation, Mamie went to Medina where she took a test to teach. One could receive a certificate for one to five years of teaching according to the results of the test. And to get paid, you had to go to the township clerk with your certification to pick up your wages. Mamie began teaching at Linseder's Corners (Marks and Center) and boarded with Mr. and Mrs. Weiss and Walter and Mable Harrington. Mamie remembers a 10- inch snow on October 10 during those first years in which she still walked to school. A week's board was $2.50 and a good pair of shoes, an absolute necessity, was $3. Each teacher was her own janitor, stoking the stoves and sweeping floors with sawdust and disinfectant. A common water pail was used until that time, when children were urged to bring their own cups to avoid exchanging germs – but they still exchanged chewing gum and saved it each day by sticking it to the under side of the desks. The third year she taught in her home district, Goodman's Corners, where she could stay at home and was able to afford to hire someone to start the fire each morning for 15 cents. Ina Williams would come in to start the fire. One morning the leg of the stove fell off nearly causing havoc until a passerby was hailed to give aid. Seats were double and all rustic at the school. There was always a "scrabble," Mamie said, to see who would get the best desk. If someone was caught shoving, he stood in the corner holding his books till recess. Subjects included reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, grammar, spelling, physiology and history with five minute recitations and five minute question-answer periods. School was in session for eight months to accommodate farming families. In 1909, Jesse and Mamie were married and Mamie found she could make more than her $40 a month in wages by raising chickens. She used the proceeds from her enterprises (selling pullets and eggs for 9 cents a cozen) to fix up the house. The Waites had five children: Kathryn, born in 1911 has her own business in New York City; Harold, born in 1912 died of diphtheria at age nine; Ralph was born in 1914 and is a land developer in Florida; Charles was born in 1916 and lived on the family property; June was born in 1931 and lives in Strongsville. The boys were both excellent athletes in school, playing basketball and baseball for the town team. Charlie was catcher and Ralph was pitcher. He played both football and baseball at Ashland College and was picked up by the Welch, West Virginia, team to play baseball. Then he went to Canton and finally to Miami for the Boston Red Sox where he injured his arm. Meanwhile he married a West Virginia girl, Lalah Collier in 1939, teaching for some time before going into real estate. He has two children. Charlie graduated from high school and worked on the farm developing a herd of milk cows. He enlisted in 1941 and came home a staff sergeant in 1945. He married the former Ethel Heymeyer who was assistant postmaster and lived in the family home until his family outgrew the apartment. They built a home just south on the farm. When the farm was cut in two by I-71, it left the buildings on one side and 67 acres on the other, making it necessary to go around the road to reach the farm. He had switched to feeding cattle in the meantime and conditions became so bad he went to work for Ohio Nut and Bolt. They had four children, three of whom were married within six weeks of each other. Kurt is a farmer and also raises sheep now. June married Fred Krouple and had four children. Mamie spent each Sunday with June's family until she was into her 90's and Ether took her shopping. At 90 she was still active with the Garden Club, Senior Citizens Club, Bennett's Corners Methodist Church and its Women's Society, and would go once a month to Southwest General Hospital where she sewed and put in more than 500 volunteer hours. She and three friends, Mary Rogers, May Biesch and Estelle Clement would get together four times a year and have dinner out. Mamie traveled all over the U.S. including Hawaii and Alaska, missing just three states. The Freese and Keller Families When Bernice Freese and Bert Keller were married in September, 1913, it marked the union of two of the area's oldest families. The Keller story starts in Klein Ingersheim, Germany, where John Jacob Keller was a burgomeister. His son, David, born January 19, 1777, emigrated from Germany and came to Valley City in 1832. From there, a whole line of Kellers in the Medina Country area was fostered. David's son, Martin, born in 1825, had two wives. Johanna Bart who died in 1857 and Christine Weber. Martin and Christine had a son, Fred, who is the direct ancestor of the Brunswick area Kellers. Fred had nine children: Bert, Joe, Harley, Royal, Fred, Irene (Hogue), Rose (Fenn), Velma (Tibbitts) and Ella. The whole family lived in the home on Substation Road which is now owned by the Neuras (oddly enough, home for several of Brunswick's old families). The boys were mostly farmers. Harley, whose home is on Pearl Road near Grafton, dealt in livestock his whole life. Royal, who lived for years on Pearl Road, was the determining factor in naming Keller-Hanna Drive. The Hannas lived at the other end of the road. Irene ran the restaurant in the center of Brunswick for years before moving to Medina. Rose was a teacher who lived in Medina and Velma lived in Hinckley. Bert, after marrying Bernice, bought a farm now known as the Sutherland Farm at Grafton and Substation where the family grew to include Bessie and Forest. Forest resided on Kimmich Drive in Brunswick and his twin sons Roger and Richard lived on Substation Road. Forest married the former Hazel Morton. Other Kellers also still reside in the Brunswick area. Bessie always kidded her family that she would never change her name. And her childhood prediction came true – she married Paul Keller, no relation, and for years lived in the former one-room school house at Marks and Center Roads. In 1975, the Kellers moved into a new home in Valley City where Bessie is a part-time Latin teacher. They have one son, Leonard, and he has two children, Erich and Gretchen who are the eighth generation of Kellers in this area. Now for the Freese side of the family. In 1795, Abraham and his son, John Freese, explored the land now known as Brunswick for the Connecticut Land Company. They were to "observe the condition of the land." They returned again in 1817 to settle here. The land was part of the Connecticut Western Reserve grant from King James I of England to the Plymouth Company on November 3, 1630. Abraham, the surveyor of this land, also brought with John (who was the first Medina County recorder) another son, Bill William and his wife Sally. Bill William Jr. was born here in 1826 and married Tryphena Tillotson. From that marriage came two children including Henry, born in 1861, father of Bernice, born in 1893. The last Freese remaining in this area was Fern (Besticover), wife of Clyde, who lived on Center Road until the 1870s when she moved to a senior citizen's home in Elyria. According to Bessie, who was our historian for this story, Fern had an original deed from King James still in the family's possession. Tryphena's sister, Sarah, who lived on land now known as Mapleside Farms, was the first school teacher in Brunswick. There has been a member of the Freese lineage teaching school in each generation here – including Bessie, the sixth generation. Abraham and John both taught here. John, in the second schoolhouse a quarter mile west of the center. Abraham in the third school, a hewed log building which also served for governmental purposes. The first school was on the line between Liverpool and Brunswick at what is now Marks Road. Bessie has a reminder of a "teacher's duty" from an 1855 mandate which belonged to her mother. The duties included: "To prevent students from using vulgar language; to prevent wrangling among scholars" and if a student used tobacco, he had to provide his own spit box. Bert was a trustee for 18 years and son Forest also served in that capacity. The family belonged to the Christian Church, but when Bernice married she didn't attend too often because she recalled having to walk the whole way from her home, along the carline to Route 303 and up to the "Gibbs Church" (Reverend Gibbs was the minister) at the center of town. Each generation of Freeses and Kellers in Brunswick attended school here in a variety of places and obviously took their schooling seriously. Bessie was graduated from the town hall which wasn't even built when her mother graduated. Mother had attended a school near stop 66 of the Interurban. Bessie recalls there were six students who attended all 12 years together at the town hall. Her dad drove the "kid wagon," the equivalent then of a school bus. They were Evelyn Strong, Kathleen Morton, Virginia Fritz, Glen Fuller, Howard Dunn and Bessie. A visit to Brunswick cemeteries finds the faded stones reminding us of the early Freese and Keller settlers – those who helped form, in its earliest stages, what we call Brunswick. The Brant Family In 1875 Columbus Brant arrived in Brunswick from Chatham in southern Medina County. The 21 year-old who had been born in Jackson, Pennsylvania, began a new life and made a mark on the history of Brunswick. When he first came to this area, Columbus began working for local farmers, helping to plant and harvest crops. Meanwhile young Hattie Williams of Hudson also arrived. Her mother had died when she was just a baby, and Hattie had been raised by relatives. Now she was earning her own keep by doing household work in Brunswick. It was love – and in 1879, Hattie and Columbus were married. They lived in a house located next to where the Old Phoenix Bank center branch is now located. Columbus kept a livery with horses and buggies for travelers who needed transportation. And those people who were traveling could be boarded at the Brant home and well fed by the young bride. The couple had eight children: Lottie, Carl, Harry, Florence, Edna, Marian and Nellie. Only Edna and Florence survived in 1976 to give us a picture of life with the Brant family. After several years of running the livery and boarding house, the couple and their children moved to a farm east of the center containing 80 acres, a house and barn. The farm is located where Stearns Street, Cherry Lane and Neura Youth Center now sit. The children grew up there and "It was just grand growing up in Brunswick," according to Edna, Mrs. Harley Keller. Mrs. Keller noted that "Everyone knew everyone else...our parents never worried about us or if something had happened if we were late. If an event was late, our folks knew that we could walk home safely or that someone would drop us off." She also noted, "We have to grow up with the times, but it was just lovely then." The children all grew to have interesting lives. Lottie married a school teacher from Coshocton named Lee Butler. Brother Carl lived in Brunswick his whole life. He remained single and farmed and cased oil wells. For seven years, he and Ethe Wyman ran a creamer east of Brunswick which would now be located on Route 303 east of the center. All the local farmers would haul their milk there and the men would manufacture butter for sale. Harry, a World War I veteran, was a professional ballplayer for 16 years. He played at Grand Rapids, Joplin and Chattanooga before being called up to play for the Detroit Tigers. After his retirement from baseball, he settled in Rockford, Illinois, with his family where he was the town electrician. Florence married a blacksmith, John Indoe of Medina. Mrs. Keller always lived in Brunswick. She attended school in the building on Route 303, now Family Pizza, and at the old town hall, leaving in her junior year to help support the family. She worked at many jobs including a household worker, making electric lights in a plant in Warren and as a dressmaker in Berea. She worked at the telephone exchange in Medina and lived with the parents of former judge C. B. McClure. When her mother died in 1917, she came home to keep house for the younger children and her father. She married Harley in 1919. Harley was a buyer and seller of farm stock and their residence is a small farm near Grafton Road on Pearl. The Kellers have two children: Leland and Beatrice Albrecht. Leland works for the Sanitary Engineers Department and hauls water – an occupation he started as a hobby as a boy. He is a World War II veteran and has six children. Beatrice is a supervisor at Wolf Envelope Company in Cleveland. The elder Kellers, in 1975, had three great- grandchildren. Edna was a 50-year member of the Rebekah Lodge, an honorary member of the Brunswick Garden Club and remembers starting the first Ladies Aid Society at the Brunswick United Methodist Church. She belonged to the Alpha Circle. The Brants are symbolic of the hardy pioneer family that helped to settle the wilderness then known as Brunswick Township, and who helped shape its future. The Mortons and Clements Several Mortons arrived in New England via the Mayflower. Among them, George and Julianna who had their last child on the trip to New England. George's line of descendants follows from Plymouth Rock right to Brunswick when Omri Morton, financed by his family to make a new home in "the west," arrived here from Whately, Massachusetts. He was 30 when he made the trip. He settled on Grafton Road on the property which is known as Pumpkin Ridge. Omri (an old family name still carried in the middle names of many Mortons) married Selecta Carpenter of Strongsville shortly thereafter. They had seven children: Edwin, Mary, Ellen, Bradley, Phesis, Alexander and Marcus. Marcus, born in 1859, was the best known of the family, attending the Hinckley Academy of Advanced Learning, which he operated from 1870 to 1880, organized by a Mr. Lytle. An inveterate writer of beautiful Spencerian script, and keeper of records, his record book tells of his first excursions into the world of teaching. "March 16, 1880. The first term of school I ever taught was at sub district three, Hinckley Township, Medina County, Ohio, commencing November 11, 1879, and ending February 27, 1880. There were 25 scholars in attendance. (Everything was lovely.)" Marcus' second term was at Brunswick from November 10, 1880, to February 26, 1881, with 27 pupils. He was paid $20 per month. Expenses, however, were proportionate to pay with (according to his records) feed at $1.14; shoes at $1.75 and shirts at $1.50. It was also evident that Marcus was in love – pages are filled with the name of Amy Clement. Her family lived in the Howe-Benbow area of Strongsville. The Clements had come by sailing boat to the area in 1834 and Amy's grandfather's home still stands on Benbow Road. Marcus and Amy (a twin) were married June 8, 1882. For 31 years Marcus taught school. He organized the Strongsville High School and was a contemporary of Edwin N. Drake. He supervised elementary school at North Royalton and taught at Hinckley. He would often study from two or three a.m. until time to go to school. He taught Latin. Marcus also held a local preacher's license and was a "Free Methodist," a sect very strict in their beliefs. The children, it was said, would come home from a fiery hellfire and brimstone meeting afraid to sleep. The church was held at Bennett's Corners and disbursed about 1913. Marcus and Amy had seven children: Bessie (Ball); Iona (Baisch); William; Wade; Jenny (Behner); Vivian (or Mike as he was better known), and Mary (Rogers) who lived next door to brother Vivian on West 130th Street. Will was a carpenter, Wade a farmer and all the sisters married farmers. Vivian worked at BHL Elevator for 21 years and then ran a wholesale and retail egg route for 15 years. He met his wife, Gladys Fuller, while they were still in high school, but it wasn't until 1932 that they were married and Gladys was forced to quit teaching because they didn't allow married women teachers in those days. Gladys (whose family also came over on the Mayflower) had graduated at age 15 and attended an advanced school in Medina with such people as Maude Edwards for whom the Brunswick Middle School is named. She began teaching at age 18. And following the change in rules, resumed her teaching career in Brunswick where she only retired as the veteran substitute teacher a few years ago. She advanced her education at Kent State University and was a Jennings Scholar. They had a son, Ron and a daughter Barbara (Mueller) and nine grandchildren. Vivian and his daughters kept the family history which includes accounts of many interesting happenings recorded by Marcus. One of the best is about a famous wolf which had caused a great deal of trouble to local farmers. "April 30, 1888. 339 men came out to hunt the wolf, which was killed. A committee of eight men was appointed to take action in regard to the wolf and it was decided to hold a picnic at the caves of West Bennett on the 9th of June. The wolf was given in charge of Eli Shook to be stuffed and brought to the picnic. "The picnic was held on June 9th. There were on the grounds about 4,000 people. Two brass bands and one of martial music. The speech was made by Reverend N. S. Sage of Brunswick. The wolf was sold for $21.50 to James Bartlett of Strongsville." Morton notes that the wolf was, for many years on display in the Strongsville Library. Imagine, 4,000 people at a picnic! There are also letters from Mortons who have now scattered across the nation, and Clements for many years. Uncle Edwin wrote from his Civil War encampments to grandfather Omri, for instance. He later died there of yellow fever. One relative wrote regarding another who had become governor of Pennsylvania stating, "If everyone knew him as well as you and I, I doubt he would have attained this office." A Morton also signed the Declaration of Independence and several have reached high political office according to the papers. "We want to tell the truth," Vivian told us. "The first Morton in America got run out of Plymouth. He was hard to get along with." That image has obviously been overcome by the generations of Mortons which followed.