INTRODUCTORY
This is the northwestern township of Trumbull county, bounded on
the north by Windsor, Ashtabula county, east by Bloomfield,
south by Farmington, and west by Middlefield, Geauga county.
The surface is more variable than that of most townships in the
northern part of the county, east of the center being low, moist
land, while the western and northwestern portions are high,
arable land, composed mostly of a succession of hills and ridges
of moderate elevation. The soil of Mesopotamia is fertile
and well adapted to grazing. It is also the best wheat
land in this part of the country. The soil, like the
surface, varies much. The Grand River valley is sandy and
clayey. The western portion of the township has but little
clay on the surface, and sandy and gravelly loam predominates.
The principal water-course is the Grand river, which
crosses a small corner of the southeastern part of the township,
and after continuing its windings through Bloomfield, again
enters Mesopotamia north of the center road, and pursuing a
northerly course, passes out a short distance from the northeast
corner of the township. Grand river is only a small stream
in dry weather, but when it and its branches are swollen by
rains it inundates a wide territory. Swine creek, Plum
creek, and Mill creek are the principal streams flowing into the
river. The two former drain the western and southern
portions of the township, uniting in one stream about a mile and
a half south of the east and west center road, and thence
flowing northward about three miles, where they join the river.
A short distance below the mouth of Swine creek, Mill creek
enters the river from the northwest. Numerous springs and
small creeks supply an abundance of water for stock, and the
fertile meadows are excellent pasture lands for the same.
The only village in the township is at the center, and
is about the size of the average “center” throughout the county.
ORGANIZATION.
In 1806 townships number seven in the fifth range, and number
six in the fourth range were taken from the Middlefield election
district and formed a portion of the district of Troy.
Township number seven, in the fifth range, was organized as a
separate election precinct in 1819, and named Mesopotamia—the
name requested in the petition to the Legislature.
FIRST OFFICERS.
At a meeting held in the district of Troy the 7th day of April,
1806, the following officers were chosen: Otis Guild,
chairman; Hezekiah Sperry and Jonathan Higley,
judges of election; Ephraim Clark, township clerk;
William Cox, Gager Smith, and Jonathan Higley,
trustees; S. D. Sackett and Abraham Daily,
overseers of the poor; Griswold Gillette and Alpheus
Sperry, fence viewers; Isaac Clark, appraiser and
lister; Timothy Alderman, appraiser; Joseph Alderman,
Jr., Amadeus Brooks, and William Reed,
supervisors of highways; Griswold Gillette and Samuel
Forward, constables; Ephraim Clark,
treasurer.
After Mesopotamia became independent an election was
held at the center school-house on the 5th day of April, in the
year 1819, and the following officers elected, namely: Otis
Guild, chairman ; Zimri Baker and Moses Bundy,
judges of election; Addison Tracy, clerk; Luther
Frisby, Moses Bundy, and Elisha Sanderson, trustees;
Reuben Joslin and Job Reynolds, overseers of the
poor; John Sanderson and Amadeus Brooks, fence
viewers; Lucius Frisby, appraiser and lister; Linus
Tracy, appraiser; Matthew Laird, Job Reynolds, Zimri
Baker, Noble Strong, Levi Pinney, Anson Hatch, and Guien
Crawford, supervisors; Lucius Frisby, constable;
Luther Frisby, treasurer.
OWNERSHIP.
This township was owned principally by Pierpont Edwards
of New Haven, Connecticut, and his son, Colonel John Stark
Edwards, acted as agent for its sale. After the death
of the latter in 1813, Seth Tracy acted in that capacity.
SETTLEMENT.
The first settlers of this township came mainly from
Connecticut. Some five or ten years after their arrival a
few Pennsylvania families came in. At the time of the War
of 1812 there were about a dozen families in Mesopotamia.
The growth of the township was slow, and not until after 1820
was there any considerable addition to the number of settlers.
The village was also built up very gradually.
[Page 493]
PIERPONT EDWARDS,
owner of the township, through his son, John Stark Edwards,
offered to give one hundred acres of land to each of the first
five men who should purchase land, bring their families to this
township and reside here a certain number of years (probably
five); and to each of the first five single men who came and
resided a like period he would give fifty acres. John
S. Edwards visited the township in 1799, and put forth this
offer on his return to Connecticut. He thenceforth resided
upon the Reserve a portion of each year up to the time of his
death (1813). From 1800 to 1804 his home was in
Mesopotamia. Mr. Edwards was a graduate of
Princeton college. From 1800 to 1813 he was recorder of
Trumbull county. Among those who, as the heads of
families, first settled in Mesopotamia were: Hezekiah
Sperry, Otis Guild, Joseph Noyes,
Joseph Clark, and Seth Tracy. Sperry,
Guild, and Tracy remained permanently, and in due
time came into possession of the hundred-acre gifts. What
other settlers received premiums is no longer certain.
In the fall of 1800, Hezekiah Sperry, his
son Alpheus, and his daughters, Martha and
Cynthia, moved in, being the first family. He built
the first cabin, on lot twenty-nine. The following year he
returned to Woodbridge, Connecticut, his former home, and
brought out his wife and the rest of his children. His
cabin was situated upon the present Woodruff farm.
His family consisted of four sons and nine daughters.
Seven of the daughters lived to marry. The sons were:
Alpheus, Hezekiah, Elias, and Lucius,
all of whom lived and died in Mesopotamia. Lucius
never married. The three others reared families, and some
of their descendants are still in the township. Captain
Sperry died in 1833, aged eighty-eight. His wife
died in 1827.
The second arrival was that of Otis and
Lois Guild and their family. They came from Sharon,
Connecticut, to the Reserve in 1800, and after about one year's
residence, came to Mesopotamia, and located on lot forty-one,
near the center of the township. They had eight children,
seven of whom grew to manhood and womanhood. Two sons and
one daughter are still living. The names of the children
were Jerusha, Oliver, Jairus, Albert,
Charlotte, Oswin, Aurelia, first, and
Aurelia, second. The youngest daughters died, one at
the age of two, and the other at the age of eighteen. The
three now living are Oswin, and Mrs. Charlotte Sheldon,
Mesopotamia, and Dr. Albert Guild, Boston.
SETH
TRACY took up seven hundred acres of land in lots lying
near the center. On the four acres first cleared the first
orchard in the town ship was set out about the year 1806, in
rows exactly two rods apart each way. Most of the trees
are still living. They were procured from Detroit by
David Barrett, who made a nursery on Mr.
Tracy's land, and cultivated it until the trees were large
enough to be planted in an orchard. Seth Tracy
was the first justice of the peace in this section, and a very
active man in his day. He died in 1827 at the age of
seventy, and his [Page 494] - wife
when eighty-five. The family consisted of seven children, the
youngest of whom was born in Mesopotamia: Clarissa,
Pamelia, Sabrina, Sophia, Adeline,
Linus and Addison. Clarissa married
Griswold Gillette, and died in Cleveland.
Pamelia married Deacon Horace Loomis,
and resided in Mesopotamia. Sabrina married
Horace Wolcott, of Farmington. Sophia
married Dr. John S. Matson, of Mesopotamia.
Adeline, youngest of the family, married Mr.
Pelton and had one child. She died in Cleveland when a
young woman. Excepting her all lived to rear families.
Colonel Linus Tracy, the only survivor, was
born in Massachusetts, Mar. 2, 1794. He married Betsey
Talcott, a native of Massachusetts, who lived to be
seventy-five. She bore five daughters and two sons, all of
whom are still living, two of the daughters in Mesopotamia and
the two sons. One daughter resides in Madison and two in
Cleveland. Mrs. Tracy died in 1873.
Mr. Tracy, when a young man, entered the store of
William Bell, at Warren, and after a service of six
months went into the store of Judge King, where he
remained five years. In 1818 he bought out Mr.
King and removed the goods to Mesopotamia, where he
continued the business several years. He served as a
volunteer in the War of 1812, six months, and was chosen
corporal. Subsequently (in 1825) he became a colonel of
militia. The manner in which he studied military tactics
was peculiar. While clerking for Judge King
in Warren he procured a manual of military tactics, and had a
hundred wooden figures turned, which he maneuvred upon a board
until he became familiar with all the movements of troops.
He served as lieutenant, major, and colonel of militia. In the
time of the late war he also helped to train military companies.
Both his sons were in the army. Colonel Tracy
is as smart and active as many men who have not half his age,
and is in full possession of all his faculties, with a vivid
recollection of early events. He is one of the oldest
residents of the county.
JOSEPH NOYES arrived in the
township with his family the 6th of July, 1801, and settled a
short distance west of the center. He had received a
liberal education and graduated as a lawyer. Considerable
wealth inherited from his father soon departed from him and he
took to farming in the wilds of Ohio. After residing here
a few years he exchanged farms with Isaac Clark,
of Burton, and went to that township to live.
In July, 1801,
MR. SPERRY
harvested a good crop of wheat upon land which he had improved
the previous year.
In August, 1801, MR.
EDWARDS wrote to his sister, from Mesopotamia, as
follows:
My settlement is doing finely. We have this day had a
lecture delivered by a clergyman. There were about forty
people present. Every part of our country is rapidly
increasing in numbers. You can have no idea of what pleasure is
derived from the improvements that are daily making; every day
brings a new inhabitant; a neighbor opens a new road, raises a
new barn, or begins a new farm. Indeed, the Scripture is
fulfilled where it says, 'The wilderness shall be made to
blossom as the rose. Our country does literally flow with
honey. Bees are beyond calculation numerous. Go into
a cornfield in blossom and you are stunned with their noise.
Trees of them are found in every direction. The rich
variety of flowers which our woods afford it would give you
pleasure to see.
DR. JOSEPH CLARK, the first
practicing physician, settled near the center in 1801, but did
not long remain.
ISAAC CLARK located in 1804, on
the northwest corner of the roads crossing at the center.
His sons were Almon and Isaac. The former
died in this township, and the latter in Bloomfield. His
daughters were Electa and Susan. Electa
married Rensselaer Smith, and lived in
Bloomfield.
GAUGER SMITH settled in 1805 on
the farm where his son Edmund now lives.
THOMAS
BOWYER, the first of the Pennsylvania settlers, located
in the south part of the township early.
JAMES
LAIRD and family, from Washington county, Pennsylvania,
arrived in this township Apr. 15, 1811, making the thirteenth
family in Mesopotamia. They lived in a log cabin on the
spot where Captain C. P. Lyman's house now stands, until
October, 1814, when they removed the present J. H. Laird farm,
lot thirty-nine. Of Mr. Laird's family of ten
children eight came with him, viz: John, Matthew,
Andrew, Margaret, Betsey, Polly, James, and William.
His oldest daughter, Rachel Morrison, moved into this
township with her husband in October, 1811. Josiah, the
oldest son, settled in Beaver, Pennsylvania. Excepting
him, the children spent most of their lives in this township,
and all of them raised families but John and Rachel.
Three, Matthew, James, and Mrs. Betsey Higby,
passed their lives in this township; Matthew
[Page 495] -
upon the old place. Two only are now
living, William, in Cleveland, and Mrs.
Margaret Holbrook in Toledo. John and Rachel
(Chambers) each married, but had no children.
Andrew married Tabitha Parish in 1823, and settled
one and one-half miles north of the center. He reared a
family of four children, now all living. John
resides in Stockwell, Indiana; Orris P., in Mesopotamia:
Maria, single, in Fresno City, California; Mary is
at present in New York city. James Laird, Jr.,
married Catharine Cox for his first wife, and had by her
six children who reached mature years. For his second wife
he married Lorain Joslin, who is still living. By
his first wife his children were Stephen, Josiah,
Ralph, Susannah, Minerva, and James.
All are living but Ralph. Stephen resides is
Mesopotamia, and is a member of the Ohio Legislature for
1881–82—the first Representative ever sent from this township.
Josiah and James reside near Jesup, Iowa.
Susannah (Griswold) and Minerva live at Hart's
Grove, Ashtabula county. Orris P. Laird, the second
son of Andrew, was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania,
in 1829. Six years later his father returned to
Mesopotamia, where Mr. O. P. Laird has since resided.
He was married Sept. 9, 1857, to Betsey I. Atwood, of
Licking county, Ohio. Their children are Louie
(deceased), Marcy C., and Martin W., living.
Both are being educated at Hiram college.
SETH
MORRISON, Laird's son-in-law, came about the same time
with the Laird family, and settled on lot forty-two.
ZIMRI
BAKER, from Vermont, settled south of the center as early
as 1812. None of the family are now in Mesopotamia.
His son, Porter, lived on the old farm till his family
were grown, when he moved away.
AMADEUS BROOKS, who married a
daughter of Captain Sperry, settled on lot thirty
previous to 1812, and remained a number of years. He moved
to Bloomfield, and thence to Warren, where he died. He was
a man of fine intelligence and a good citizen. Indeed, the
same may be said of nearly every one of the pioneers, of this
township.
As early as 1815 SETH
I. ENSIGN settled one and one-half miles south and a mile
west of the center, where he lived and died. He was an
early teacher in Bristol and a justice of the peace in
Mesopotamia a number of years. His daughter, Mrs.
Parish, still lives upon the farm where he settled.
REUBEN
JOSLIN came here quite early, and settled on lot forty.
He was a carpenter and had worked at his trade in Boston before
coming here.
MOSES BUNDY settled in the
southwest of the township at an early date, and lived and died
here.
ELISHA SANDERSON settled on
a lot thirty-one previous to 1819. His widow, two sons,
and two daughters are still living.
ALPHEUS WINTER married a sister of "Squire ISAAC
CLARK, and settled on lot twenty-five prefious to 1820.
In 1816
JOSEPH EATON and a family
consisting of nine children settled on lot twelve. They
were from Massachusetts.
JOB REYNOLDS, a soldier of 1812
and a native of Rhode Island, located in this township in 1817.
FLAVEL SHELDON, born in Massachusetts in 1791, died
in Mesopotamia in 1832. He married Charlotte Guild,
who is still living, the mother of three children.
ALVA
LAKE settled in this township in 1817. He married
Mary Hogan, a native of Vermont. He was born in
Castleton, Vermont, in 1799.
FIRST EVENTS.
The first birth that took place in this township occurred in
1801, when a daughter was born to this wife of Dr. Joseph
Clark. The child was born in September, 1801, and is
still living. Her name is Charlotte, widow of Flavel
Sheldon. She was the daughter of Otis and Lois Guild.
Sardis Morse, son of Joseph Morse, was the
first male child. His parents were here but a short time.
The first death occurred in the spring of 1802. Mrs.
Joseph Noyes died of consumption. The first wedding
was in 1806, at the residence of the bride's father. The
wedded couple were Griswold Gillette and Clarissa Tracy,
and in addition to “giving away the bride,” the father performed
the marriage ceremony, having recently been elected justice of
the peace. Mrs. Gillette lived to be ninety-one
years of age and died in 1874.
The first frame house, as well as the first cabin, was
built by Captain Sperry. Joseph
[Page 496] - Morse was the first
blacksmith. John Tomlinson made the first
grave-stones from stone found in Mill creek. Some are
still standing. For
several years each settler acted as his own shoemaker, making
and mending boots and shoes for his family. Some time
after the settlement Hezekiah Sperry, Jr., went to New
Haven, Connecticut, and worked a year at shoemaking. He
then returned and went from house to house working at his trade.
He carried his tools with him and made pegs from maple.
His shoe thread was made by hand-spinning.
EARLY SCHOOLS.
In nothing is the progressive spirit of the early settlers more
clearly shown than in the matter of schools. The first
thought of the pioneer, after becoming established in his log
house, seems to have been to provide for the education of his
children. And though the speller, the reader, and the
arithmetic—fortunate boy who possessed all three!—were the only
books used in these early schools, many a pupil, who afterward
be came noted for intelligence and usefulness, received all of
his educational training within the walls of rude log buildings.
The first school in Mesopotamia was taught by Samuel
Forward, in 1803, in a room of Seth Tracy's house.
Samuel Higley, of Windsor, taught the next winter
term, which was followed by a summer school taught by Jerusha
Guild.
The first school-house was built on the northern part
of Seth Tracy's farm in 1806, a few rods
south of the east and west center road. Linus Tracy,
whose own schooling amounted to only about six months'
attendance, taught school in this building in early days, and
was a successful instructor. He has lived to see the most
of those who were his pupils grow old and die and be gathered
with their fathers in the quiet village churchyard.
CHURCH HISTORY.
It is said that
the first sermon ever delivered in this township was preached by
the pioneer missionary, Rev. Joseph Badger.
The first church organized was the Presbyterian in 1817, with
eight members. This organization still lives and prospers
but is now Congregational. Among the early members were
Deacon Zimri Baker and family, Mrs. Silvina Tracy, Mrs.
Clarissa Gillette, Horace and Pamelia Loomis, Jairus,
Laura, and Charlotte Guild, Israel Sheldon, Betsey Laird,
Seth and Rachel Morrison, and
John Crawford. The Presbyterians erected the
first church edifice in 1822, at a cost of about $500. The
house now in use was built in 1843 and cost about $2,500.
The early preachers were Revs. Badger, Stone, Leslie, Cowles,
Osborn, and others. Rev. Randolph Stone was the
first pastor and remained a number of years. He was a talented
man, liberally educated, and possessed great power and
earnestness.
The first Methodist preacher was named Daniels.
A class was formed quite early, but at exactly what date we
cannot ascertain. The Methodists erected a house about
1830, which is still in use, having been twice rebuilt.
Among the early members were Elisha Sanderson and
wife, Matthew and Andrew Laird, John
Easton and wife, Seth I. Ensign, Ira Parker,
Benjamin Smith, and many others. The first
quarterly meeting was held in Elisha Anderson's
barn. Mrs. Sanderson was one of the most
active and influential female members. Elders Mack, Ira
Eddy, and William Brown were among the early
preachers. In 1833 a great revival took place and about
fifty persons experienced religion. Isaac Winans
and James McMechan were on this circuit at that
time.
The Universalists had quite a flourishing church in
Mesopotamia, and built the edifice which is now the town hall.
Wishing to outdo their orthodox brethren they built their church
one foot larger each way than the Congregational house.
Spiritualism and the lack of religious interest destroyed their
organization. BURIAL PLACES.
The first burials were made on a hill north of the center.
Mrs. Noyes, a daughter of Mrs. Guild, and Mr.
Crawford were buried there. Nothing now remains to
indicate their resting place.
The first of Captain Sperry's family who died
were buried on his farm.
The first graveyard for the public was the present one
at the village. It is a pleasant spot in the rear of the
churches and is thickly marked with grave stones. The
first person buried there was the mother of Seth Tracy.
She died in 1818, on the 4th of July.
MILLS, STORES, ETC.
The first saw-mill was built by John S. Ed-
[Page 497] - wards in the northwest of the
township on Mill creek, in 1803. In 1805 a
grist-mill run by water from the same dam, was built.
Fifteen years later Isaac Clark erected a
grist-mill on the same stream, one mile below Crawford's.
In the first mill William Crawford, a brother of
John, was killed by falling between the water-wheel and
the rocks.
The first store in the township was opened in 1818, by
Linus Tracy, who with his brother Addison
carried on the business a few years, then shut up the store
until 1827, when Colonel Linus Tracy erected a new
building for a store, and continued the business. The
first store stood a few rods north of Colonel Tracy's
present residence. Isaac Clark and his son
Almon had a store a short time about 1830. Mr.
Clark built the stone building on the southwest corner,
which, enlarged and remodeled, is still standing.
GRISWOLD GILLETTE
had a small distillery, consisting of a copper boiler, in a log
building near the center, in early times. This was the
only establishment of the kind ever in the township. An
old resident assures us that he made his first-rate article of
whiskey, using only corn and rye in its manufacture.
SETH TRACY gave
George Ives an acre of land on which to set up a tannery.
He began the business about 1818, and carried it on successfully
several years.
DR. D. L. NEWCOMB, from
New York, built and kept the first tavern about 1823. The
present hotel was built by 'Squire Isaac Clark, and kept
for a time by his son Hiram. The old tavern forms a
part of it.
Mesopotamia center was never laid off into lots as a
village. A piece of land fifteen rods wide and one hundred
rods long was donated to the township as a public square, and
around this, buildings have been erected at the pleasure of the
inhabitants.
The first road through the township was laid out along
the west end of the tier of lots fronting on the present road
running south from the Center.
THE INDIANS.
There were a few Indians in and about this township in early
times. An old chief, Pauqua, sometimes came here,
and though a “big Injun,” he did not hesitate to beg food and
drink. Before the War of 1812 all the Indians withdrew
from this neighborhood. After the war a small band
encamped near Grand river, and engaged in hunting. Some of
the settlers visited their camp one day, but found the Indians
absent. They broke some of the kettles in the camp, drew
the image of an Indian on the bark of a tree, shot a ball into
the head of the figure, and returned to their homes. The
Indians then cut the figure of a white man upon a tree, and made
no mark upon it, in token of their friendliness. But the
white men's warning, doubtless, had the desired effect, as the
Indians left soon after.
SWINE CREEK
It may be of interest to some of our readers to know the origin
of the singular name of this stream. About the year 1802 a
sow belonging to Seth Tracy wandered from his
premises, and for some time the owner could learn nothing as to
her whereabouts. Thinking that the Indians might perhaps
discover her during some of their hunts, he caused the red men
to be notified of his loss, and desired that they would report
to him if they chanced to find the hog.
One evening an Indian came to the house while Mr.
Tracy was away. He poked some ashes out upon the
hearthstone, and drew a winding line in the ashes with his
finger, talking in his own tongue meanwhile, and making frequent
use of the words “coosh-coosh" and “pappoose coosh-coosh,” but
none of the family understood what he was trying to explain.
When Mr. Tracy came home, the Indian again went
through with his talk illustrating it as before. In the
figure drawn in the ashes Mr. Tracy recognized the
course of the creek, and at a certain bend which the Indian
traced very minutely, he was made to understand that his lost
hog was to be found. Mr. Tracy went the next
day to the spot indicated, and there found his missing property
with a fine litter of pigs. Accordingly he named the
stream “Hog creek;” but some one more fastidious in the matter
of names suggested the modification now in use, and it was
immediately adopted. THE
EARLY RECORDS. of the township show
that the system of “warning out” such persons as were
considered likely to become township charges prevailed; and also
that some of the men thus warned out remained and afterwards
became prominent, wealthy, and respected citizens.
[Page 498] IN THE WAR OF 1812
A military company had been formed under the command of
Captain Hill, of Windsor. On the breaking out
of the war a call was made for volunteers. Linus Tracy,
Oliver Guild, Jairus Guild, and Whitney Smith
volunteered; and afterward another call was made, when
Matthew Laird, Elias Sperry, Griswold Gillette, Ebenezer K.
Lamson, Amadeus Brooks, Lucius Sperry, and Isaac Clark
went. Elias Sperry was wounded by the Indians in a
fight on the “Peninsula.” His brother Lucius took
the fever, came home, and died, as did also two of his sisters,
who at tended him and took the fever from him.
STONE QUARRY.
An excellent quality of freestone is found in this township, and
the business of quarrying it
has been carried on quite successfully.
POST-OFFICE.
A post-office was established about 1809, Seth Tracy,
postmaster. Mail was then brought once a week from Warren
by a man who usually traveled on foot. Linus
Tracy became postmaster in 1825 or 1826. Under
Jackson's administration he was turned out, and Isaac
Clark succeeded him. Mr. Tracy again
received an appointment after Squire Clark had
served his term, and kept the office many years.
THE SOLDIERS’ MONUMENT.
This memorial of the brave boys in blue who served in the late
war stands at the south end of the public square. It
is of marble, eighteen feet high, surmounted by the image of an
eagle. On the north side of the base are the words
“Liberty and Union,” on the south, the name of the patriot
president, Abraham Lincoln; on the east the date
of the dedication of the monument, 1867; and on the west, “Honor
the Brave.” It was erected by the citizens of the township
at a cost of $2,500. TOWNSHIP
DIRECTORY.
Mesopotamia center:
General store, Elias Sperry; hardware, C. E.
Holcomb; drug and grocery store, F. C. Peck. A
fire in the fall of 1881, destroyed two stores.
Cheese factories: Highland factory, Pierce &
Caldwell, in the northwest of the township; Davis
Brothers' factory one mile north and a half mile west of the
center; Center Brook factory, Jacob Lepper; Cold
Spring factory, E. C. Cox, center.
Hotel: Eagle house, E. P. Griffin, proprietor,
Center.
E. C. Cox has recently started a
broom-handle factory at the center.
Feed-grinding-mill: Woodford Bros.,
center.
Steam saw-mills: Sperry & Wilcox, center;
A. R. Harshman, sawing-, planing-, and shingle mill, west
of the center; Bridgen & Holcomb in the southeast
of the township are sawing lumber for handles; and in the
northeast of the township Watson is sawing for Kirk &
Christy, of Warren.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
ROSWELL A. BUTTON - 498
WILLIAM LAIRD - 500
SETTLEMENT NOTES:
TIMOTHY COX was born in York
county, Pennsylvania, Apr. 12, 1799. His father, John
Cox, was of English descent. He removed from
Pennsylvania to Ohio with his family in 1805 and settled in
Bristol township, where he was one of the earliest pioneers.
The family consisted of twelve children, three of whom are
living. Mr. Cox was one of the most
energetic farmers and pioneers in Bristol, where he died in
1856. Timothy Cox, the only surviving son, remained
at home until the age of twenty-one years. He then took a
contract to clear forty acres of land, receiving in payment
forty acres of wild land. Mr. Cox married in
1824 Sarah Bonner, who was born in Pennsylvania in
1805. They had a family of ten children — Joseph A.;
Ephraim; Mariah A., wife of Martin F. Smith,
residents of Mesopotamia; Harriet, wife of Eben E.
Caldwell, resident of Cleveland; Seymour A., killed
in battle of Perryville, Oct. 8, 1862; Clarissa P., wife
of John Ritter, resident of Washington, District
of Columbia; Louisa M., resident of Mesopotamia; Aaron
P., resident of Cass county, Nebraska; Phebe, wife of
Edwin Brigdon, of Mesopotamia; and Enos S.,
resident of Nebraska. Mrs. Cox died Feb. 12, 1882.
Mr. Cox lived in Bristol township until 1865, when
he removed to Mesopotamia.
CHAUNCY BATES was born in
Geauga county, Ohio, July 19, 1835. His father, William
M. Bates, was a native of Norwich, Connecticut, the date of
his birth being 1808. He came to Ohio and settled on a
farm near his present residence in 1829. In 1831 he
married Rachel, daughter of Alpheus Winter, one of
the pioneers of Mesopotamia township. She was born Jan.
28, 1810. The family of William and Mrs. Bates
consisted of five children of whom four are living.
Edwin, the oldest son, [Page 501] -
was a volunteer in the One Hundred and
Seventy-ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, and died in the hospital
at Nashville, Tennessee, in June, 1865. Chauncey Bates,
after passing through the common schools attended the seminary
at Orwell three terms. He subsequently taught school
eighteen winters. He was married Oct. 14, 1858, to
Eliza H. Hart, a native of Geauga county. They have a
family of three children—Frank A., born June 3, 1860;
Earl H., born Jan. 25, 1872; and Blanche E., born
Jan. 5, 1877. Mr. Bates enlisted in the United
States service in 1865. He has served several years as
clerk of the township, and has also filled other public
positions. He is a member of the Congregational church,
leader of the choir, and superintendent of the Sunday school.
EDWARD GRIFFIN, the son of Edward and Leah Griffin,
was born in Mesopotamia township, Trumbull county, Ohio, in
1848. He followed farming until 1872, when he took charge
of the hotel at Mesopotamia center, where he still continues.
He married in 1870 Ella, daughter of Ellory and
Saloma Williams. She was born in Mesopotamia
in 1852. They have a family of three children, Lulu,
Maud, and Walter.
SEBA and JANE ENSIGN with
their family, came to Mesopotamia from Cattaraugus county, New
York. They were among the early settlers of the township,
settling in the northwest part. Seba Ensign, Jr.,
married Almira Smith, daughter of Edmond Smith,
one of the early, and now one of the oldest residents of the
township, having been born in 1800. His wife, Polly,
is still living also. Mr. Ensign has been a
carpenter and joiner by trade. For the past seventeen
years he has been an invalid, being afflicted with dyspepsia,
and has endured much suffering, on one occasion going without
food for over twelve days. Mr. Ensign has a family
of one daughter and two sons, viz: Julia, wife of
Irvin E. Brigden, of Cleveland; Eugene J., in the
same city, and Frank, engaged in merchandise in
Garretsville, Ohio. The latter married Jessie
Holcomb, of Cleveland. E. J. Ensign was born in
Mesopotamia, June 23, 1850; married Betsey, daughter of
Stephen W. Irwin, a well-known and early family of Mecca
township. Two children have been born of this union,
Leon E. and Carrie Bell. Mr. Ensign
removed to Cleveland in 1881, and is now engaged in business
there.
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