OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Tidbits of Ohio -- Part 61 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgenwebarchives.org ************************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 July 20, 2005 ************************************************************************** +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Ohio And Then They Went West Know Your Ohio Tid Bits - part 61 by Darlene E. Kelley notes by S. Kelly [ ] +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid Bits - part 61. Stow, Ohio Township In 1796, Joshua Stow, a stockholder/ surveyor from Middletown, Connecticut who was a representative of the Connecticut Land Comapny and commissionary manager on the first expedition of the Western Reserve, claimed and purchased his land in Ohio known as Town 3, Range 10, which he called " Stow Township." for the sum of $14,154. All this land was surveyed, divided into counties, the counties into townships, the townships into sections. Stow Township was the first part of Trumbull county, then of Portage, and finally of Summit County. Joshua Stow was a very thrifty man, a brother of Jemima Kelley who had married Daniel Kelley, second " president" of Cleveland Ohio. He often came to his township and spent a good deal of his money in developing it, but he never lived there. All in all, he made 13 trips on horse back from Middletown, Connecticut, (where his home was located), to Stow in its development. In July 1804, he brought to his township his cousin, Willam Wetmore Sr., to be his agent. William Wetmore brought with him his wife, Ann ( Ogden ), and four children, William Jr., Edwin, Clarissa, and Henry. Along with them in this frst colony were Capt. Gregory Powers and wife and large family; Thomas Rice, his wife and daughter; Titus Wetmore and younger brother of William Wetmore Sr.; John Campbell and a boy apprentis of age 18/19 by the name of Josiah Starr, after traveling for 42 days in covered wagons from Connecticut. They bought land in various parts of the township and cleared it, with William Wetmore building the second log cabin in Stow township. They lived on lots 25, 35, and 36, which surrounded the present intersection of Darrow Road [ Rt 91 ] and Kent Rd [ Rt 59 ]. Wetmore harvested Stow's first wheat crop during the summer of 1805. There was no wheat mill in the township. A nearby resident Bill Lappin, made trips to Newberg ( near Cleveland ) to have the wheat ground and for the exchange, Lappin received a share from the harvested crop. Betsey Walker was born in 1804, and Mrs. Gregory Powers died in 1807. In 1808, the new township was organized with the election of officers, and William was elected Justice of the Peace, performing in 1808 the towns first marriage of John C. Singletary of Streetsboro to Miss Harriet Powers, daughter of Capt. Gregory Powers. The war of 1812 brought with it the division of Stow neighbors. Titus Wetmore was the towns recorder and first Post Master. He reports that approximately 500 Native Americans lived along the banks of the Cayahoga River and Stows Pond. The relationship between the Stow residents and the Native Americans, for the most part, is believed to have been a peaceful one. However, when the war broke out, the Native American Indians left to fight with the British, forcing the settlers to flee or fight. It was the Indians' belief that if the British won, they'd be able to reclaim their land. Stowites, well acquainted with wartime, as at least four of them were veterans of the Revolutionary War, ( Isaac Steele, Charles Wooden, George Darrow, and Gregory Powers ), decided to fight. They chose this option again during the Civil War -- at least 104 males from Stow Township served in the Union Army. During the War of 1812, William Wetmore was appointed commander for troops stationed at Old Portage. [ This was the Northern Portage Path, at the Cayahoga River.] Acting as agent for Joshua Stow, he gave permission to Francis Kelley and Isaac Wilcox to build a dam across the Cuyahoga River and erect a sawmill. It is said lumber from this mill was used by the army to build ships at Portage for use against the British. [ The dam washed away long after this.] Through the years names have changed in Stow and Monroe Falls. For instance, Crystal lake was once known as Cochran's Pond. Silver Lake was once known as Stow Lake or Stow Pond, was approximately a mile in diameter and from 75 or 80 feet deep, and has no outlet but is fed by numerous springs at its bottom.. When first founded, the water was very pure and the lake became a favorite place for bathing, boating and picnics. Stow consisting of what is now Monroe Falls, Silver Lake, Cuyahoga Falls, and Stow. In 1825, Mr. Wetmore as agent for Joshua Stow, started the development of the town of Cuyahoga Falls. The two now owned jointly 210 acres in the southwest corner of Stow Township. The actual development work was supervised by Wetmore's two sons, Willam Jr., and Henry. They employed men and constructed a dam near the present Stow Street, a grist mill, saw mill and linseed oil mill. Late in 1826 a paper mill was built, and the first in the state to make paper on a cylinder. On the occasion of Edwin Wetmore's 21st birthday ( 1823 ), parents William and Anne gave him a 95 acre plot of land in the village of Silver Lake, along an upscale suburban street, Kent Road. It was then the farm that helped sustain his family and in 1820, Edwin had already built a 2 story Connecticut style farmhouse on this property. The house, with modifications, stands on one acre, and stands today. [In the early Twentieth Century, the Wetmore farm was subdivided into a neighborhood known as Paradise Park. This tree-lined neighborhood stretches from the Wetmore house and now is the present site of the Stow-Monroe Falls Public Library, and runs several blocks. Today we have Wetmore Park and Wetmore Aveue located by the Holy Family Church, as reminders of Stow's first settled family.] William Wetmore Sr., passed away on October 27, 1827 at Stow and is interned in the Stow Cemetery. ++++++++++++++ Today the city of Stow is located is located in Summit County and is approximately 30 miles southeast of downtown Cleveland, Ohio and 8 miles northeast of Akron. It is now the third largest City in Summit County. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid Bits continued in part 62.