MEDINA COUNTY OHIO - Brunswick: Our Hometown (Part 3) *********************************************************************** 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 - Continued Ralph Strong's Stories At age 85 when Our Hometown was first written, Ralph Strong was still one of the area's most active citizens. He would winter in Florida and be back with wife, Hattie, each summer. Strong told us about the period starting in 1891. Ralph was born that year, the great-grandson of John S. Strong who was sent to the area by the Connecticut Land Bank to survey and sell a section of Ohio known as the Western Reserve, which they owned. He landed in Cleveland by boat and worked his way out to what is now known as Strongsville where he stopped first in 1816. He surveyed the road from Cleveland to Wooster, cut the area into farms and accepted cattle as his annual payments. Each year he drove those cattle to market in Vermont – on foot. The township was surveyed and cut into lots of 160 acres each and sold for $2.50 an acre. The early settlers, basically farmers, were from New England. Strong donated what is now known as The Commons, just like New England towns have, surrounded by the meeting house, church, businesses and log homes. In February 1818, the township was organized and named Strongsville in honor of John Stoughton Strong. He started a gristmill in 1820 along the Rocky River so farmers wouldn't have to go so far to grind their grain. William, his grandson, was a farmer and inventor and wrote stories and articles for farm papers. In 1887 he married Ella Barry, one of 14 children whose home was in the house which is the Neura Farm on Substation Road. Ralph was born four years later. "Father always said that when they married they had a horse and buggy and $25 to start out," Ralph noted. Later, they bought 50 acres of land on the same parcel which is the Strong homestead, the corner of Kingsbury and Pearl Roads. At age six, Ralph became a "partner" in the farm and was given chores to do. Later, four cows were his to milk twice each day. The same year he started school at Strong's Corners, the corner of Sleepy Hollow and Pearl Roads. It was a one room school house, now converted into the home where Bill and Lucy Grant live. "We learned reading, writing and arithmetic and I wouldn't change my eight years in that one room school for any eight years in the best school system of today," Ralph once noted. One day while walking home from school, a big dog belonging to a neighbor came bounding out of his yard and bit Ralph's ear nearly off. The ear was sewn together, burned with a stick caustic and a fresh cow manure poultice placed on it. "Pardon me," said Ralph, "but I laugh now and wonder what the health department would say about that poultice." For years the teeth marks turned white in the summer. But all was well. Strong also noted that the school grounds were completely unsupervised in those days. "It's a wonder someone didn't get killed jumping off buildings with umbrellas for parachutes and turning somersaults in mid-air." In addition, older and larger students then, as today, found delight in roughing up the smaller children. One boy, four years older than Ralph, delighted in beating him up. He was a slow learner so both graduated into high school at the same time. In the first two weeks of school, Ralph used one recess period to even the score since he had since become "handy with the gloves." Strong knocked the former bully on his back in the match and after that was good friends with him throughout his life. The teachers, though not condoning fighting, didn't say anything about the incident and one even patted him on the back. Ralph later went on to become proficient in wrestling with only one senior preventing him from winning the championship. The only athletic competition among schools in those days was baseball. In 1909, Brunswick High had two teams good enough to play two other schools – and beat them both in the same afternoon. The first team beat North Royalton, the second, Hinckley. Corwin Morton was an outstanding pitcher for the first team and headed for professional baseball until he hurt his arm. Harry Brant was Brunswick's best homegrown player and received a tryout with the Detroit Tigers. "Had we had a coach," Strong said, "Harry would have received a tryout when he was younger and probably could have made the team as a regular." However, Rube Marquardt, who later pitched for the New York Giants, moved into Brunswick during his high school years. He received a lot of publicity from the news media of the time for being the highest paid player - $10,000. He was considered bold indeed for trying to get that much money. He had a brother, Frank. Ralph remembered he pitched a game at Brookside Park before the largest-ever crowd to attend a game in Cleveland. The teams were Fisher Foods and Grennan Cakes and over 100,000 persons lined the hillsides to watch. "I like to tell this, though I wasn't in the same class with those two fellows," Ralph remembered. "I pitched my best game at Brookside Park on one occasion. When I pitched, I had terrific speed and was so wild the batter's box was usually governed by how much nerve that batters had." 14 Graduates When he graduated in 1909, there were just seven boys and seven girls in the class. Earl Hadlock and Ralph climbed up on the roof of the old town hall, then on to the cupola and put their class flag on top. (If he had been able to see the ground that night, the chore would have probably failed.) At commencement each student had to give an address. Ralph's father served several years on the school board at about that time. The year 1909 was the year of the big storm. The Strong farm was virtually wiped out. No crops but a few potatoes survived the tornado-like winds and hail eight inches deep. Ralph had started his college work at Western Reserve in Cleveland, but thought for sure his college days were over after that storm. But an aunt in Albion, Michigan, offered to board him if he went to Albion College, and through her efforts and the sacrifices of his parents, he was able to continue. At Albion he took a three-year businessman's course, preparing to become a CPA. He accomplished that but never planned to practice, he just wanted the knowledge for business reasons. The fellow ahead of him registering for college was Harry Bangham, a senator's son, with whom Ralph became almost inseparable friends. He and Ralph and a girl named Margaret Osborne were able to take additional math work. They were assigned to decide whether the school should put in adding machines – the first – in 1910. They gave a favorable report and they were installed. Ralph had a 7:30 a.m. math class and if the professor would oversleep, he'd call Ralph and he would take over the class of 60. Ralph took part in all athletics but never excelled in any of them. "I always have been proud that when I left I was offered a professorship in math. I turned it down but always regretted it because I could have taught and expanded my own education at the same time." Later, Strong attended law school at Cleveland John Marshall, once again, never intending to practice. Ralph came back to run the family business, known now as Longview Farms, and was very successful indeed. Ralph remembered that all the roads in Brunswick were dirt until about 1907 when a township vote was taken to improve or not to improve the roads. And if so, whether to start with the north-south or east-west streets. The measure passed despite some opposition by prominent people, and it was the north-south roads which won out. "We had no cannons to shoot, but Dennis Johnson and I lugged two anvils out into the circle and put gun powder between them. Then we threw them together to let the town know the election results. "Things went pretty smooth politically...for the democrats could not count 11 votes," he said. Brunswick had no saloons, so anyone who wanted a beer had to go to Liverpool (Valley City). One fellow, Strong remembered, found he could get high on a patent medicine which had a high alcohol content. In those days, ever male citizen had to pay a poll tax in either money or work. All improvements to roads or schools were paid for by assessments to the local citizens. "No state or federal aid," he said. Most men worked on the roads which they used to scrape in April with a road scraper drawn by six horses. "We found the scraper pulled harder from what is now known as Laurel Road north than it did going south of there." Revival meetings were held by the Methodists and usually followed by the other church, known as the Disciple Church. The Methodists would sing, "Will there be any stars in my crown," and the Disciples would sing back, "no not one," he quipped. "We had an ice storm so bad one year that Carl Steck skated all the way to Valley City from the Brunswick Circle." He also noted that there were times when it was so dry in March the roads were dusty...and others when the wagons were axle deep and four horses could barely pull them out. Brunswick had two doctors who made house calls, Dr. Wood and Dr. Hawkins. One also pulled teeth. One fellow told Strong that the doctor pulled a tooth for him while he lay down in the furrow he had just plowed on his land. "I helped to shovel snow from Brunswick to Weymouth one winter so Dr. Would could see a patient there." They had a blacksmith shop which was most important those days to shoe horses and mend broken down equipment. One of the thriving businesses was Gene Miner's blacksmith shop (where Midas Muffler is). Carl Hausman, who was a powerful man, given to putting on fantastic demonstrations of strength. His daughter still lives in Medina. There was a creamery about the place across from the Medina Auto Parts Store on Center Road now. They had a pond and used to cut ice from it for refrigeration in the summer. Rural mail delivery covered Brunswick, part of Strongsville and Hinckley. Louis Peck and Teodor Chapman started deliveries by horse and buggy regardless of weather. "It's unbelievable but true. I saw it myself. A lady named Anna Weneck who lived on Grafton Road owed a bill at the grocery store. She took a postcard and a piece of sloth and with needle and thread, sewed the cloth on the post card with her money inside. I happened to be in the post office when it arrived, money and all," Strong reminisced. There were three grocery stores. Aylard's and Perkins & Morris at the center and Babcock Brothers at Bennett's Corners. They delivered goods on a regular weekly basis to Brunswick Farmers and sent trucks to Cleveland each week with products from local farmers. Eli Pick was the local poultry dealer and auctioneer. According to reports, Eli was in an accident on the Central Avenue Bridge. He was thrown over the railing but held onto the lines until he was pulled back to safety. His only injury was the loss of half an ear. The first two autos in Brunswick were owned by Seeley Stebbins and Jay Livingstone. Stebbins was careful but Livingston, speedy. But Stebbins was first to have an accident, running over a youngster. The child fell down and the car rolled over without touching him, luckily. The Methodist minister of the time bought a car and had a one-door garage until the day he forgot to turn the car off and drove right through the back, tearing out the wall. The town funeral director was George Pitkin. "Pitkin only made one mistake. He dressed a corpse one day, mistakenly putting his own coat on him," Ralph said. "And he never found out until it was too late." The hearse was drawn by two horses, unless it was a muddy spring and then four horses were used. Sometimes even they barely made it through axle-deep mud. He seldom buried bodies the same day as the funeral, but kept the bodies in a brick vault on the cemetery grounds until the grave was dug, usually three or four days later. The carpenter in town was Frank Clement who built more than half the homes in Brunswick during that era. He built the Strong family home and the first of four additions to it, in 1910. Local stonemasons, Alfred Clement and Mark Stratford, were well known for their work and their engineering feats, especially the bridge over Route 42 west of Lodi which drew attention from far and wide. Clement was a member of the IOOF and a pinochle player of some repute. His daughter-in-law lives on Grafton Road. John Miller built a barber shop where the brick building on the southwest corner of Routes 303 and 42 is now. The shop was moved to Weymouth where it still stands. Brunswick used to have an outstanding band which played throughout the area including Chippewa Lake. Strong remembered that the drummer, named Huffman, set his drum down during a break, lost his balance and put his foot right through the drum. That same band, no doubt with a new drum, led the parade down Euclid Avenue one year under the name of the Brunswick Oddfellows. In those days, Standard Oil had a pumping station on Boston Road (at the end of Prospect Road). This was a booster station for the giant transmission lines and the township benefited by the taxes for many years. There was a move one time to annex Boston Road to Strongsville which would have taken that revenue from Brunswick. A family named Lockwood stopped the movement. The Electric Interurban Line The electric line from Cleveland to Mansfield was build with a substation at Route 303 and Substation Road. This was welcome transportation for people wanting to go to Cleveland and also for shipping milk from here to Cleveland. The gravel pit came into existence because of the line. That's the pit on Laurel Road west, at Pearl Road, now slowly being filled in. When the Interurban Line was built, a spur was run to what was then only a hill. Then, the gravel was blasted away from the hillside and shoveled by hand and placed in a car. It was then hauled along the line where it was used to fill between the tracks. The work was done by a group of 30 Italian men who lived on the site in a boarding house. Their work, however, was all for naught because they discovered the gravel wouldn't pack down and it all had to be shoveled back out and replaced with cinders. The pit was later enlarged by Minnesota Mining. "The electric line was a fine source of tax revenue for the township but later had to give way to the auto," said Ralph Strong. The powerhouse for the electric lines was on Substation Road and held two large generators. There was a blacksmith shop at the substation where buggies were repaired. Farnum Gibbs sold Gertslager buggies there as well. Material from a church, torn down in Strongsville, was used for the building. The crossing was the scene of several accidents. One night, Ruth Miner and Bernard Ridiker lost their lives crossing the track. There was no ambulance at the time, so Ruth's father had to carry her body on his lap to the funeral director's office. Glenn Kingsbury was also killed by a train three miles south. Perry Freese was crossing with his grain binder when he was hit by the train. It demolished his machine and killed him. Another accidental death occurred there, but of a different nature. Sam Roth worked on a section crew. He stepped into a booth where the phone for the electric line was housed. There was a short circuit and he was electrocuted. A fellow by the name of Bennett ran his grain machine into the side of an electric car, but lived to tell about it. "I suppose I may be the only one who remembers that another group tried to finance an interurban car line out what is now Route 42. They graded for it all the way from Cleveland to just south of my house," said Strong, "when they discontinued their efforts. The Brunswick telephone came into existence and "furnished" a way for women to find out what the neighbors had to say via the party lines. You just had to turn the crank and calls went through the main office which was in the charge of Dennis Johnson. The first exchange girl, I believe was Miss Benjamin," Strong said. "Something I never forgot, and to me it makes sense," Strong continued. "When superintendent of schools Elmer Drake answered his phone he would take down the receiver and say, 'this is Elmer Drake, start the conversation please.'" Something called the Farmer's Institute was held each winter. It lasted for two days and was held in the town hall. There were speakers on agricultural subjects and local entertainment held in the evening. Usually there was a capacity crowd, day and night. Ralph's father built the first round silo in this area, which caused quite a stir at the time. In those days there were no mechanical sprayers so Ralph supplied the "power" while his dad sprayed. They also set out the first grapes in the area, which needed spraying. Ralph remembers driving to Cleveland on a plank toll road from York Road to Cleveland. And on a trip to Akron he saw a boat going through the locks of the canal pulled by a white mule. In his junior and senior years, Ralph hauled potatoes to market in both cities, often staying overnight to catch the early morning buyers. The farmers of the time put in grape vines and each year 3,000 baskets of ret, white and blue grapes were taken to market by the Strongs, Newtons, Barbers, Kinch's and Killian brothers. The produce was taken to the market (others as well as grapes) where grocerymen and hucksters who sold to others would buy the fresh produce. Once, a local farmer named Brant got angry at a huckster and knocked him through a glass window. Thousands of bushels of grain were harvested annually in Brunswick. Threshing machines were owned by Jacob Keller, Calvin Brant, Lyman Pritchard and others. Neighbors would get together and go from farm to farm to thrash the grain. And the women of the house had to feed them all. Single workers would board at the homes of the farmers and eat there, too. Strong remembered that they wore boots so hard to remove they required strong help. For cattle and hogs, the Pierce Brothers of Strongsville were the big area buyers. Walter Folley was the local butcher who worked for Aylard Brothers. Other cattle went to Cleveland stockyards. Strong remembered the town circle was fine as long as horses were the mode of transportation. But autos couldn't negotiate the turns and many ended up in the middle of the circle. Vern Miner put up a sign in the circle which was published in papers as far as California. It said, "Drive like hell, we've got a big cemetery." Surprised at how much he could remember about the past, Ralph noted that someone once said the Strong family would never degenerate because they chose good women. "And I married one – Hattie." A Story from Myrtle Ruf Myrtle Ruf is a local resident, especially well-known for her work with the Brunswick Garden Club and with the Senior Citizens. She reminisced about the days she spent in school in Brunswick after seeing a picture of her former roommates published in the Brunswick Times. The teacher, she remembers, was the first one to come out from Cleveland on the new bus line. A single lady, of course, and school for her was at the center in what is now the Family Pizza building. Myrtle's grandparents traveled west from the east coast in a covered wagon and settled in Huntington Township near Wellington. Sometime after that, they re-settled in Brunswick. They had a daughter, Elsie Newton. When she was eight years old, the family moved to a home on Substation Road at Stop 66. Later they moved to the site where the Inner Circle office building is now located. Elsie married Teho Chapman, who carried the mail in Brunswick along with Carl Usher and Louis Peck. During their early married years, they purchased a farm from Charlie Gibbs. It ran along Carpenter Road almost to the corner where St. Mark's Lutheran Church is located and eastward to where the high school is now situated. For many years the family lived at the Inner Circle home of Mrs. Chapman's parents and rented the farm. They had two children, Myrtle and Howard. Howard later bought the farm and then sold it in parcels. Some of it went to the school and four acres were donated to the First Christian Church. Howard now lives in Strongsville where he is one of the most prominent citizens and active in forming its historical society. The Chapman home is the site of the Strongsville Historical Society and the Baldwin House, built in 1823 where it has been fully restored and furnished. The property also includes the former Miss Gilbert's Academy, a private school established in 1842 moved from its home on Westwood Drive. A log cabin from Hale Farm also graces the property. Howard and his wife Velda, who was the daughter of E. N. Drake (who taught here for several years and was superintendent of Brunswick Schools), have willed their property to the Historical Society. If the names sound familiar, you might recognize two schools in Strongsville named for the couple. Chapman school for him, Drake for her father who returned there after his stint in Brunswick. Mrs. Ruf graduated in 1922, missing the ceremonies at the new high school because of scarlet fever. She was married in 1923 to Harry Ruf. Ruf would pick up milk in his wagon to take back to Cleveland and along the way he would give rides to the local youngsters going to school. That's how the couple met. They moved to Cleveland and then returned to Brunswick in 1940 taking up residence on the portion of the farm remaining along Carpenter Road. They had four children for whom they built homes along Carpenter Road. Mrs. Ruf now lives in one of those small homes, vacated by the larger families of her children. In 1975 she was the grandmother of 16 and the great- grandmother of five. Her sons followed their father in the milk business and helped farm a little – which was nearly impossible, Mrs. Ruf recalls. The property was filled with rocks. Mrs. Ruf is shy when asked to talk about herself, but she is an avid CB radio listener and creates many lovely handworked items. Some of her fellow classmates were Herbert Ridiker, Steve Kling, Clyde Freese, Morris Case, Maude Judson, Ida Chidsey, Marian Brant, John Osterhouse, Paul Rollyee, Fred Gall, Calla Chidsey, Willia and Freda Johnson, Gertrude Hunt, Mildren Kling, Eula Lee Stephenson and Nellie Brant. The Wards "It sure has growed up." That's how 87-year-old Bessie Ward, a lifelong resident, described Brunswick in 1975, shortly before her death. Mrs. Ward, nee Stephenson, was the third generation to live in Brunswick. The first of her family to settle here were John and Margaret Stephenson in the early 1800's, shortly after the first group of settlers. They built a log house which later burned down on 50 acres of land on what is now South Carpenter Road at the corner of Sleepy Hollow. The home which now stands on the site is occupied by Brunswick police officer Leonard Bouman and family. The Stephensons had four children, Charley, Fred, William and Ella. Ella was killed, when, as a toddler, she made her way to the hearth where a kettle was boiling and inhaled steam and boiling water. All of the children were born in the family home. Charley and Fred went on to live in Elyria while William remained to farm the land where he lived and died at the age of 83. He and his wife had two children, Ralph and Bessie. Both were also born in that log house which was added on to, little by little. The children went to the local school on the northeast corner of Laurel and Carpenter. Bessie remembers walking to and from school each day until she was 15 years old because her father didn't believe in hitching up the horses to take kids to school. She went to work picking strawberries for a local farmer until, at the age of 17, she married Harland Harry Ward, best known to Brunswickians of several generations as "Happy." That was 80 years ago. Bessie's brother Ralph lived in Manua. The couple lived on the corner property at Sleepy Hollow and South Carpenter on the northwest side their whole married live and Mrs. Ward resided there until she died in the small home they had built. Happy worked for many years at the Wagner Pie Company and was a gardener at heart. He loved flowers and birds and many residents can recall passing by the little house with hollowed out gourds full of flowers and bird feed hanging from every possible place and the beautiful gladioli lining the garden. Happy also was a wagon driver when transporting children to school became a vogue. He also helped Wayne Cadnum deliver mail at times. He worked for seven years at the Medina County Fair and would haul home a load of manure each night to richen the earth of his garden. Both Happy and son Bob were firemen in the township. The couple had five children: Harold Edward (deceased); Elma (Bingham); Donald who lives in Oklahoma; Richard and Robert who live in Brunswick. There wer 25 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild in 1975. It was a great tragedy when Happy was killed by a motorcyclist about 15 years ago. He was walking along Sleepy Hollow Road when he was struck down. Before the shock of his death could be overcome, the little home was broken into during the funeral and what few things of value there were, were stolen. But life went on and Bessie lived quietly with her little dog and cat, surrounded by pictures of her large, growing family. She continued to attend Mt. Pleasant Church, the same where she went to Sunday School at age seven. And she remembered what Brunswick used to be: when she played on the "Lytle Farm" which is now a sea of housed called Laurel Creek; when the Chidsey's was the only home for a long, long way on Carpenter Road; when you could walk for miles without seeing another person; the Fourth of July celebrations which were always at home with fireworks set off from the front yard; when the hand dug well spouted cool, fresh water for over 50 years, instead of the reddish-liquid of modern times; when times were more simple and people more trustworthy. The Fuller Story Dr, Samuel Fuller and his brother Edward came to America from England on the Mayflower and settled in New York. Edward died in the first year in the new land and his son, Samuel, was raised by his physician uncle. And so the story of the Fuller Family in America begins. Our story picks up in the mid-1800's with the marriage of Zacheus Fuller to Emaline Briggs. Zacheus died while still in his middle age, leaving Amaline with three children: Lewis, Caroline and Adelade. Those four traveled with other members of the Briggs family, coming from around Sardinia, arriving here around 1840. Emaline shows up in the 1850 census living with a Pierce family north of Brunswick where she was probably a housekeeper. She died in 1896 at the age of 83 and is buried at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. At just about the same time, the Page family was migrating from the Connecticut Valley by wagon train and then by flatboat, arriving in Cleveland. The story goes that, farmers all, they arrived in the Cleveland area, kicked the ground and found it too sandy for farming, so kept going until they came to the fertile Hinckley area. It was there, on the Ridge, that Elsie was born. The Pages, however, were true pioneers and decided after some time to move on to greener pastures. Elsie's choice was to move on or remain behind. She remained and married, on the day after the Civil War ended, Lewis Fuller. The Pages moved on to Iowa and eventually further west. The Fullers had four children: Dora, Gene, Mertie and Earl. They settled on what the modenr-day Fullers call "The Old Place," on Sodom Street (Sleepy Hollow Road) across from Sleepy Hollow Lake on the corner of Shirt Tail Avenue (Carpenter Road). Oh yes, at the time, Laurel Road was called Pompey Street. In 1878 the old house burned down and the family moved further west on Sleepy Hollow Road. Later they built a two story home (one large room on each floor) back on the old farm which had 50 acres of land and then about 10 years later, moved to the farm they purchased on West 130th Street. That was on 80 acres of the original 500 acre Phelps farm. Over the years, Earl Fuller was able to buy and put back together almost the entire farm, 480 acres of it. The farm covered the area from West 130th Street to Carpenter Road south of Sleepy Hollow. I-71 took 35 acres and 20 acres are used for the county sewer plant leaving 425 of the original Fuller Family Farm in the Fuller name today. Of the children of Lewis and Emaline, Dora married Charles Scanlon who was the county commissioner in the 1920s. Their children are June (Wheeler), Thomas, John, Myrtie, Leatha and Zoe. Eugene (Gene) married Lydia Graf of Abbeyville. He bought the property at 1959 Carpenter Road in 1903 where his son, Glenn still lives. There is no record of the age of the home, but the basement is supported by beams which are long logs complete with the bark still on. Gene and Lydia had five children: Ora (now deceased); Gladys (Morton – wife of Vivan); Ethel (Holden); Marian (Schindelholz) and Glenn. Gene died in 1926 when Glenn was six years old and was buried on Glenn's seventh birthday. Lydia died at the age of 96 in 1970. Mertie married Fred Manning of Bennett's Corners and they moved to Akron. They had one son, Eugene. Earl was 39 before he met and married Nellie Ashdown who had arrived in the Brunswick area with her family from England in 1913. In fact, the family lived in the brick building which is now part of the Pine Tree Inn. Consequently, the children of Earl and Nellie are the youngest of the family. Nellie was a youngster when she arrived here and helped her family by working at a variety of jobs. She learned to cook "Yankee" food to the satisfaction of everyone and her jobs included picking strawberries day after day. After marrying a "solid Yankee," Earl Page Fuller, they had four children: Harold, who married Althea Kugle, Lewis W. who married Roberta Davidson; Warren who married B. J. Moreland; and Gilbert who married Henrietta Armbruster. The modern day Fullers who have remained hereabouts are active members of the community as were their forefathers when the community was young. Glenn, who married June Cline (a woman who had won some fame as a tap dancer) has three children: Donna Wachtell, Darl and Denny. Glenn graduated from Brunswick High School in 1936 and farmed until he began working part time for the government in 1938. His first paycheck for one day was $4.50. In 1952 he began working full time for the U. S. Department of Agriculture and retired in 1974. Glenn was on the first zoning board of Brunswick Township, writing the first zoning laws; was a trustee for 15 years; was active in the separation of the Hills from the incorporated Village of Brunswick; and was a Hills trustee. He was vice-president of the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, president and regional director of NASCO and on the Medina Hospital Board. Harold had three children. Eugene is a linguistic expert and Bible translator working in the Phillipines. David, deceased, was an associate professor at Taylor University. Elaine lives in Oregon. Lewis and Roberta have four children: Leslie, a vice president with Ken Cleveland Builders, Inc.; Jackie Morlock, a former school teacher who now lives in Westfield Center; Gary, an insurance salesperson who graduated from Bowling Green State University; and Randy, who graduated from Akron University. Both Lew and Roberta have been active in many community projects. Lew was quite a baseball player, beginning at Hinckley in high school and proceeding after and even in the service where he served as a medical technician in Patton's Army. Among his activities: he was Brunswick Postmaster, member of the Chamber of Commerce, a real estate broker and fee appraiser. At 70 he still does some appraisal work and recenly retraced his movements in Europe in the Army. Warren and B.J. are also active. Warren is an insurance agent with Equitable and she is a real estate salesperson. They have four children: Page, a graduate of Kent living in Alaska, Eric, Mark and Leah Pederson who graduated from Miami University. Warren lives on West 130th Street on property just down from the remains of the grandparents' home which had burned down. Gilbert, the youngest, remains the farmer in the family. He has four children: Earl, Amy, Rebecah and Timothy. Earl died in 1961 and Nellie winters in Florida but always returns home in the summer. She corresponds with friends from all around the country. Lew, Warren and Glenn all remember either seeing or hearing about the family swimming and catching fish along Plum Creek on the old farm. Glenn's sister used to swim there and remembers finding bones which were said to be Indian bones – part of the legend of the area which was once called Indian Hill. The Miller Story When Hiram Miller moved to the Brunswick area in 1833, he was a strange new breed of settler. Hiram, one of the foremost leaders in the township upon education matters, believed it was his religious duty to aid runaway slaves. That didn't please his neighbors much – a good many of them being members of the Ku Klux Klan. There was quite an active Klan based in Medina for many years. A historian of the family was Leonard Miller who lived with his wife Helen and three boys, Kenneth, Ronald and Gary, on Catherine Drive. Leonard kept all the information possible about the family history which takes place on West 130th Street, on the Hinckley side, near Laurel Road. It began when Hiram talked his father, Lyman, into moving from their farm and hotel in Henrietta, New York. The Miller's hotel was known as the "Coffee House" and they ran it for 20 years. Lyman was a minuteman in the war of 1812. He was married to the former Celia Wheeler. The Wheelers settled in America in the early part of 1700 in Massachusetts, so the family has long ties in this country. According to the History of Ohio of 1881, here's what transpired in 1833. Lyman and Hiram Barlow Miller, father and son, came to Hinckley in the spring of 1833 from their home in Monroe County, New York, to view the lands in the township. They purchased 650 acres in the western part of Hinckley, returned to their home in the east and in a few months came back with their families to settle. The men had engaged the services of builder Asabel Welton to erect a cabin for them, but Welton was unable to find the exact spot – and he didn't want to make a mistake – so the cabin wasn't ready when the families arrived. The Millers came by Erie Canal to Buffalo, across Lake Erie to Cleveland then by wagon to Brunswick where they hired Thomas James to pilot them through the woods to their new land. Hiram (born in 1807) was married in 1829 to Mariah Deming (born in 1808). The couple had three children, Cordelia, 5; Delight, 3; and Carthusia, 1, when they arrived at the homestead which they had to clear by hand. The Lyman Millers died in the homestead after living to see the unbroken forests blossom into fertile fields. Six more children were born to the Hiram Millers while living in Hinckley. They were Sherman, Marietta, Betsey, Laura, Franklin (who served in the 150th ONG for 100 days during the Civil War) and Harvey T. (who was in the Barber Sharpshooters throughout the war). Harvey was the father of Floyd who was the father of historian, Leonard. Hiram, in addition to being a well-respected citizen on educational matters, was an efficient worker in the temperance cause and was a member of the Meridian Sun Lodge of Richfield. The History of 1881 goes on to tell about this work in the area of slavery. Prior to the war, he gained an extended reputation from his prominent connection with the underground railroad. Even before the enactment of the fugitive slave law in 1850, he had deemed it his religious duty to use his best efforts in aiding runaway slaves to escape. But upon the passage of the law, believing as he did that Divine approval would sanction its violation and avoidance, he made it a part of his religious duty to assist the frightened and fleeing slaves to Canada. Some residents of his neighborhood were hostile to his movements of humanity, and often sought to discover slaves in his care in hopes of getting the promised reward. But no runaway slave who sought his protection was ever captured. "Why," said he, "Mr. Reporter, I've had as high as five runaways eating at my table at one time for each of whom a reward of $500 was offered. One day, while working in the field, suddenly a gigantic negro rose from the grass in front of me and said, 'Oh massa, can you tell me whar Nigger Miller lives?' 'Why, bless your soul, you poor fellow,' said I, 'I'm Nigger Miller.' 'Oh, massa Miller' exclaimed the delighted slave while his face lighted with joy, 'You look better to me than money.'" Hiram traveled with Joe Mason, a "gifted colored man" to lecture in this and adjoining counties about the sins of slavery, finding mixed reaction and even violent reaction in some places. Miller, for his efforts (says the history) deserves to be classed with such men as "Old" John Brown, Owen Lovejoy and others who fought for years against the degrading and cruel influences of slavery. Members of the family formed an association in 1929 to keep alive the history and tradition of Hiram Miller, and in 1931, a bronze plate was cast and dedicated. In 1948, the 12-foot-square plot of land was deeded to the Medina County Historical Society and can be seen, though often wee infested, just north of the corner of Laurel and West 130th Street on the Hinckley side. The memorial commemorates his help to over 1,000 people. The families of Lyman and Hiram Miller are buried in Townline Cemetery. Harvey is buried in the Bennett's Corners Cemetery. Leonard recalled visiting his aunt, a Widdifield (members of that family still reside here) who ran the telephone company in Brunswick while it was locally operated, and his grandmother, who lived on Pearl Road across from what is now Walt's Pizza. His aunt's first home was on Grafton at Stop 66 of the Interurban. Family stories abound, including that of Robert E. Lee coming to hunt wolves in Hinckley with his brother Seth and staying at the home of Hiram Miller. The Sherman Family There are only a few handsful of people still here who can call the intersection of Route 303 and West 130th Street "Sherman's Corners." But from almost the earliest of Brunswick history, that area was Sherman's Corners. Cornelius Sherman came to Brunswick in the early 1830s from New York State, accompanied by his brother, Moses, a few years his elder. The brothers were coopers by trade. On their way to Brunswick from New York, the brothers stopped of at a not-so- important town on Lake Erie which was then called "Cleaveland." Cornelius and Moses had money and fully expected to accumulate more in this area. And while they were bound for Brunswick they weren't averse to looking around a bit while in Cleaveland. Land agents contacted them and reportedly offered them some choice parcels at $5 per acre. The sandy acreage didn't appeal to them as farmland and they thought the price too high, so they passed up Cleaveland and traveled south where they purchased several hundred acres at a much lower price. The decision might have been regretted later – for the land later became the area of Euclid Avenue. But they seemed happy to convert the densely wooded section of land they purchased to farm areas of great potential productivity. The brothers settled on adjoining farms in east Brunswick Township and became prosperous farmers and leading citizens until their deaths. Neither was satisfied long to live in the log cabins each had built upon his arrival. Cabins were temporary abodes. Back east, Cornelius, for instance, had been accustomed to the better things of life and planned to make the wilderness into something as good or better. He drew plans for a brick mansion and actually constructed it of oven-baked clay bricks, the clay "mined" from a field near Sherman's Corners. Recently, the bog from which the clay was drawn was being tiled to drain off the excess water just east of West 130th Street. This big brick house was on the south side of Route 303 about a mile west of the corners. The building was on a farm known as "Oliver's Landing." Undoubtedly the mansion served as a popular meeting place of the "select" people of that neighborhood during the middle years of the 19th century. Cornelius married Samantha Hier, a Brunswick girl, and the Shermans were sociable folks. With children growing up, there were more than 20 Shermans in the two homes about a mile apart. It has been said the Shermans often held seances as part of the "entertainment" of the day. Cornelius died at age 76 in 1881 and Samantha died in the spring of the same year at 65. They are buried in Bennett's Corners Cemetery. As closely as possible, the record shows 10 or 11 children of this marriage, including Hiram G. Sherman who died in an Army hospital June 16, 1852 at age 22, a victim of the War between the States. Orin Sherman was accidentally killed while hunting rabbits on the Hiram Miller place. Orene was born four months after her father's death and Ruby was three years old. It was Orene and Ruby who supplied the details of this story. "It must have been awful for our mother," they said. If Orene had been a boy, they would have named him Orin. Orin is buried in Bennett's Corners Cemetery with his wife who was Martha Jane Hurd from another local family. Grandpa Sherman gave Martha and Orin 50 acres of land when they married, part of the Sherman farm, where two others were born in addition to the girls – Mable and Floyd. One thing that stands out in Ruby's memory is the day the house burned down. She was in her first year of school, and the teacher, Wade Holden allowed the youngsters to go out to watch the fire. Baby Orene was asleep upstairs and Mrs. Sherman ran up the stairs to get her and ran to the Benjamins for help. The neighbors saved a few things including an organ that Mrs. Sherman had since she was a girl. "Oh, how beautiful our old Sherman's Corners once was," they said. "It will never be the same. A horse watering trough and pump for our buggy and wagon horses to drink their fill [in the middle of what is now the intersection] and four very large maple trees on each corner of the roads. The lovely big brick house." Ruby and Orene lived in Deland, Florida, the last we heard. They were the last few remaining descendants of a noble Brunswick family. The Eyssen Family When Elmer and Clara Eyssen moved into their farm in 1927, they discovered a diary 135 years old. It surely was brought along with the Tillotson family when they settled here in the early 1800s, as they were the only other owners of the property. On the property was also a 60 foot well which Elmer consequently set out to repair. In the early days of the community, the family's food such as butter, eggs and milk were stored in the well to keep them cool. And travelers would stop along the Wooster Pike (Route 42) and drink from the well, resting their horses beneath the big tree just north of what is now the Apple Farm Restaurant. That tree, one of the oldest in Brunswick, had to be torn down in 1986. Water from the well was pulled up in a bucket for drinking and other uses. The foundation of the old farmhouse is now the foundation of the ice cream shop which was also the original apple house. Elmer and Clara came to this place on the advice of a doctor. Oldest son, Robert, now a prominent surgeon in Tennessee, was just under three pounds as a newborn and was having a tough time making it. The doctors said, "If I were you I'd turn him loose on someone's farm and let him go." The following Sunday, they drove out and saw a small sign and purchased the farm that day. The other place they looked at, asking price $11,000, is now the Cleveland airport. Robert flourished, evidenced by the fact that when he attended Western Reserve University he was heavy-weight wrestling champion. A second son, Donald, was 16 years old and on a scouting trip when he took a dive into the water, hit a rock and died from a broken neck. Both boys helped take care of the farm. With a hired hand they tore down 13 old buildings and farmed. The youngest son, Bill, also helped when he was old enough. Now his is owner of the farm. Elmer was a sales manager, vice president and director of the Bingham Company, the largest wholesale hardware supplier in the country. He retired after 35 years with the firm. The farm was a part time occupation for him. It started as a general farm with cows, chickens and horses. In fact, there is one area in which chickens had been raised for many years. Elmer had it plowed over. Thinking it was okay, he planted squash there. The 52-pound squash that resulted was displayed in the town grocery store, it was so unusual. It started a "contest" of sorts among farmers of the community who brought in their largest vegetables for display. Clara, on the other hand, was a city girl who learned all about country life. She would dress chickens (not kill them, though) for sale, cleaned eggs and picked fruit for sale in Cleveland. When the family decided it would build a new home down on the ledge (the extension of Stony Hill), Elmer looked at 13 large chestnut trees which had grown on the property and been killed by blight. He presented the plans of his home to a Medina firm which took the lumber of the trees and cut it into the lengths needed to build the entire house including doors and cabinets. As payment, the company took the wood from the rest of the trees. That was built shortly after Donald's death in the early 1930s. Until then, the family had lived in what was essentially a garage, complete with potbelly stove. The farm has 91 acres. Elmer owned another 110 acres across the street. The cold storage barn which stood there was moved behind the present apple house and holds 8,000 bushels of apples. But the story of the 110 acres is also interesting. A man came to Brunswick and bought the land, placing hundreds of hogs on it. Then he contracted for all the garbage from Cleveland to be hauled out to the farm (100 loads a day) for the hogs to consume. Eyssen remembered how hard he fought the hog farm, virtually without support from the area. He placed a sign in his front yard which said, "Welcome to Medina County, home of the garbage-fed hogs." Court cases followed. The finale was heard in Judge Frank Lausche's court. Elmer felt the deciding factor came when one of the truck drivers admitted that the garbage included animals such as dogs and cats – and the hogs ate them. Eyssen remembers the Brunswick case stopped the garbage feeding of hogs throughout the county. When the owner of the property died afterward, Eyssen bought the land using it only for his storage barn. An avid golfer till the age of 81, Elmer was on a golf trip to Mansfield when he learned about raising apples and shipping them. He came home convinced he should get into the apple-growing business. There were some old Baldwins on the place which he trimmed back to grow and began by planting several varieties. And that's the story of how Mapleside Farms began. Now it is one of Northeast Ohio's biggest success stories with Bill and Jane Eyssen and their family all involved in the many phases of the business.