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In
the year 1800 Trumbull county was divided into two election
districts, of which Vernon, Youngstown, and Warren constituted what
was known as the southern district, and the house of Ephraim
Quinby, Esq., at Warren, was made the
[Pg. 369]
Place for holding the elections of the district thus found.
Vernon at this time embraced a large expanse of territory from which
several of the adjoining townships were subsequently formed.
The formal organization of Vernon township as now
constituted was effected in 1806. Previous to the organization
the township was known - locally, at least - as Smithfield, so
called in honor of Martin Smith, one of the first settlers of
the township, and why it was changed to Vernon is not know known.
At the time, however, Mr. Kinsman, of Kinsman township, a
zealous friend of Mr. Smith, however, treated the matter
lightly, and remained in the township upon whose soil he was one of
the first to cast his lot. For the name which it now bears
there is no local circumstance to suggest an assignable reason.
PROPRIETORSHIP.
The original proprietors of the lands now embraced in Vernon
township were Gideon Granger, who owned the entire north
half; Jeremiah Wilcox, the east, and a Mr. Shepherd, the east
part of the south half. From these men the original settlers
made their purchases; the earliest settlements being made on the
northeast part of the Wilcox tract.
LOCATION AND BOUNDARY
Vernon is located in the northeast part of the county
in town six (east), and range one, and is bounded on the north by
Kinsman, east by Pennsylvania, on the south by Hartford, and west by
Johnston. SURFACE FEATURES,
SOIL, ETC.
POPULATION.
[Page 370] -
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
In
the spring of 1798 Thomas
Giddings and Martin Smith, the first white men to
come with in the bounds of the township for the purpose of making a
settlement, paddled up the languid current of the Pymatuning in a
canoe, having rowed all the way from Pittsburg. Their course
in the creek was often obstructed by the accumulation of drift and
logs, and they frequently were compelled to cut away the
obstructions before they could proceed, and becoming entangled in
the drifts they were at times obliged to swim or wade ashore.
The craft which they thus slowly and tediously propelled toward
their destined settlement in the wilds of the Reserve was laden with
bacon, flour, and that other necessary article of consumption - a
barrel of whiskey. They finally landed at a point south of the
present center bridge, on the land now owned by Havilah
Smith, where between two trees they built a fire and probably
remained one night. Here they stored the provisions as
securely as possible and began the exploration of the wilds of the
then dense forests of Vernon. They naturally followed the
course of a little branch whose clear waters flowing into the
Pymatuning led them to suppose that it flowed from a spring of good
water, which was then a very necessary adjunct to a new settlement.
Following the devious and unknown course of the little brook they
found its fountain-head in a spring near the present residence of
Thomas Jennings - lot number two of the Wilcox
tract. The following day they proceeded to the south line
of the township (then marked by blazed trees) at a point near the
present residence of Samuel Merry, and cutting a pole for a
measuring stick proceeded to lay off toward the north what they
supposed to be the land of Mr. Wilcox, of whom they
had purchased. This brought them to the spring above
mentioned, where they concluded to build a log house for temporary
shelter while they cleared a place for more extensive improvements.
They began at once to cut the logs and roll them
together without hewing, and thus constructed a rude building.
The first tree fell before the axe of Thomas Giddings
and was rolled in position as the foundation for the first human
habitation in Vernon. The sides of this building were thus
made of unhewn logs, while the roof was made of thatched brush
and leaves. It now appears that by some means they had either
brought a horse with them, or, perhaps, bought it from a party who
had made settlement south of them in Vienna or over the line in
Pennsylvania, but they had no harness. This necessity,
however, was soon supplied by stripping the bark from an elm tree,
from which they constructed the necessary gearing. Two poles
were then procured and lashed together for shafts, which extended
long enough to drag on the ground, and thus answer for a rude sled
on which the provisions, including whiskey, were dragged from the
first landing place on the Pymatuning to the more secure shelter of
the new house. While they were engaged in chopping in the
clearing the sounds of their axes naturally attracted the attention
of the Indians, who would come to them and invariably ask for
whiskey. Mr. Giddings would tell them that he
had none and would try to appease the appetite of his red neighbors
with bread and such other eatables as he might have, but the
presence of the barrel of whiskey (on which Mr. Giddings
always sat as a guard during these interviews, and on the head
of which the Indians would tap and say “heap full”) was a standing
witness against him, and in this way gave him much annoyance, so
much so that he finally rolled it under a large brush heap and hid
it from view.
Soon after the settlement of Giddings and
Smith, Aaron Brockway, Colonel Holmes
and Mr. Ely came, the former bringing his family, and
his wife was the first white woman in the settlement. The
first permanent cabin was then erected for Brockway in July, 1798,
and was built by Giddings, Smith and Ely, and
stood near the present burial grounds at Vernon center. At the
raising of this cabin beside some men who came up from the
settlement in Vienna, there were six Indians and one white woman.
Martin Smith, after sowing a field of wheat returned
to Connecticut with Colonel Holmes, for his family,
with which he returned the following spring. He was
accompanied on his return by Joseph DeWolf and Paul
Rice, coming by way of Pittsburg and bringing valuable
acquisitions consisting of two horses and an ox team. After
leaving Beaver on the return they were compelled to cut their way
through the woods and underbrush to Vernon.
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At harvest time they cut the
wheat that Smith had sown, and after threshing a grist took
it to the mill at Beaver, which required an absence of nine days,
and before they succeeded in obtaining wheat flour the settlers
subsisted on wild meat and corn pounded in a hollowed stump with a
spring-pole and pestle. In the fall of 1799 Caleb
Palmer and his son Warren, with Dr. Wilcox, and
the family of Joseph DeWolf arrived in the settlement.
The beginning of the year 1800 found only the families of Smith,
Brockway, and DeWolf in the Smithfield settlement.
Afterward immigration may be said to have set steadily in, and the
township soon showed evident signs of general settlement.
In
the spring of 1800 Rev. Obed Crosby
came and his family arrived the following year.
In June of this year Jeremiah Yemans, a lad of about nineteen
years of age, was in company with several other men and boys bathing
in the the Pymatuning, and being unable to swim he got beyond his
depth and sank. He was seen to rise the third time, but there
seems to have been no one there with sufficient courage to go to his
assistance. The alarm that was given brought Martin
Smith to the scene of the accident, and he immediately entered
the water to find the body. After making several dives he
finally succeeded in bringing the body to the shore and it was
carried to the house of his sister, Mrs. Aaron
Brockway. It appears that at this time the arrival of the
first native born settler of Vernon was seriously expected at the
house of Mr. Brockway, and on this account the dead
body of the brother was laid in an out house. That same
evening a very heavy thunderstorm arose, and amidst these
unfavorable circumstances the little stranger was born. But it
was not permitted to live, and the little community was called upon
to attend this double funeral and open the first grave in the new
settlement. The following morning the selection was made for a
cemetery, which was located on the grounds donated by Mr.
Brockway on his farm, about a half-mile south of the center on
the west side of the center road.
The first person born
in the township who lived to maturity was
Zachariah Palmer, who was born in the fall of
1800.
In June, 1800, Abner Moses
came with his children - Abner, John,
and Polly. After them the families of Caleb
Palmer and his son Warren, also Thomas Giddings
after a brief absence, returned to the settlement with his newly
married wife. In 1801 the settlement consisted of the above
families and their cabins ranged along the present center road.
Thomas Giddings lived nearly opposite the present
residence of Havilah Smith, which was then the site of
the cabin of his father Martin. Caleb
Palmer's cabin stood where William Thompson now
resides; Joseph DeWolf where Mr. Fulton's
house now stands; Obed Crosby where A. Woldrof
lives, Abner Moses near the present residence of Dr.
King; and Aaron Brockway where Matthew
Davis now lives. These were all log cabins of the
rudest kind with no floor but “mother earth.” They served as
temporary lodgment for the hardy pioneers until the forests that
surrounded them were subdued and the cleared fields answered in
abundance to their industry, and the old logs were removed and more
commodious residences took their places.
In
the early times Andrew Burns
was the hatter and caaried on his trade east of Joseph
DeWolf, with whom John Langley, then a lad of
ten years of age, worked at scraping the fur from coon, muskrat, and
other skins, of which was constructed some wonderful head-gear for
the gentry of the times, especially for the militia officers, whose
high-cocked hats and waving plumes were startling to behold and no
doubt struck terror to the hearts of their foes at very long range.
It was not often that a beaver was caught, and then
generally by the Indians, and a hat made of this fur brought to the
revenue of the pioneer hatter the sum of $10.
Some
time prior to 1810 Percy Sheldon
came with his wife and one child and settled on the farm on which he
lived and died.
Plumb Sutliff
about the same time took up the farm south and adjoining Sheldon.
Samuel Sutliff also settled on the farm where he lived until
his death in 1840. Dr. Amos Wright
settled on the land south of Plumb Sutliff, now owned
by Ralsa Clark. In 1803 Luther and
Thomas Thompson made the first improvement on the east
side of the Pymatuning, on the farm now owned by James
Brown.
Morgan Banning was also an
early settler on the east side of Thompson. Ewing Wright
settled near the present Baptist church.
[Page 372] -
He was a blacksmith, and also manufactured bells.
The first wedding in the township occurred about 1802
under rather singular circumstances. It appears that Josiah
Pelton, of Killingsworth,
Connecticut, had made purchase of a section of land in Gustavus, and
after a visit to the wilderness he proclaimed that he would give one
hundred acres of land to the woman who would first make her home
there. This offer was quickly accepted by his son Jesse in
behalf of Ruhamah DeWolf of Granby, Connecticut. She
came with her father to Vernon, where the marriage ceremony was
performed by Martin Smith, Esq. She
remained in Vernon till a clearing was made and a log cabin erected
on her farm in Gustavus. The cabin was raised by the men of
Vernon on July 4, 1802. Mrs. Pelton did not move
to the cabin until December of that year, and her husband, while at
work on the farm, brought all his bread from Vernon. On his
visits back and forth he met with many incidents, among which it is
related that at one time he came across a panther in a tree on the
bank of the Pymatuning. He had no gun with him, but leaving
his dog and a “paddy,” made of his hat and coat, to guard the
animal, he returned a distance of about three miles for his gun.
On his return he succeeded in killing the animal, which measured
nearly seven feet.
The first saw-mill was built by Joseph DeWolf
in 1800, on Mill creek, and was located about one mile northwest
of Vernon center.
General Martin Smith
was the first justice of
the peace, in 1800, and his commission was
signed by Arthur St. Clair, and dated at Chillicothe. Titus
Brockway was constable this same year. The marriage of
the latter to Minerva Palmer was the second wedding in
Vernon.
Joseph DeWolf
framed the first barn for
Martin Smith. It was covered with white oak
boards two feet wide, rabitted on the plate. On them was a
cleat four inches wide, fastened with spikes made by the blacksmith.
John Boswell constructed the first loom for Mrs.
Rutledge, sister of Mrs. Aaron Brockway,
who lived where Richard Brown now lives. At the completion of
this structure the neighbors from far and near, especially the
women, gathered to see if the machine would work, as it was
something much needed in the settlement. The timbers for the
loom were hewn out roughly with a common axe, and were sufficient
for the construction of an ordinary house in these days, but it
proved to be a good one, and the garments of the early settlers were
nearly all produced from this rude loom.
SCHOOLS.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Rev. Joseph Badger,
the Connecticut missionary to the Reserve, made the first efforts to
ward the organization of the “Church of Christ in Hartford, Vernon
and Kinsman,” as early as 1802. In the following year, Friday,
Sept. 16, 1803, a meeting was called at the house of Martin
Smith, at which Rev. Badger presided, and the
following persons formed the first organization, namely, Edward
Brockway and Sarah, his wife; Timothy Crosby,
Aaron and Sarah Bates, Titus Brockway,
Plumb Sutliff, Susannah
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[Page 374] -
UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH.
[Page 375] -
OTHER CHURCHES.
THE ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT.
The question of human
slavery in the United States early agitated the lovers of “freedom
and equality before the law for all men,” in Vernon. The
church organizations early incorporated in their creeds the radical
emancipation view of this question. This is especially true of
the Free-will Baptist church at Burg Hill, as a reference to its
records will prove, and, in fact, most if not all the leading
citizens of the locality generally were early champions of the
“bondmen.” The famous “underground railroad” had a good paying
branch through Vernon, and many able and efficient conductors were
located at convenient stations along the road.
The great question has been settled at last, and the
incipient stages of an unparalleled struggle, together with the
actors in them, be long to the past in which they are buried, and
the operations of the “railroad” were shared so generally by all,
that the naming of special ones might be deemed unjust to forgotten
meritorious services of others.
In the rural graveyard immediately south of Burg Hill
stands a plain tombstone with this historic inscription:
Mary P. Sutliff (nee Plumb) died Mar. 7, 1836,
aged 23 years. The first secretary of the first Female Anti-slavery
society of Vernon.
On earth the friend of the needy; in heaven Jesus
is her friend.
FLOUR AND SAW-MILL.
The
only flouring-mill in the township is now operated by Ransom
Hull at Burg Hill, and was erected by him in 1874. The
building is a two story frame, 22 x 27, with a basement for
machinery. It has two runs of stone propelled by a
twenty-horse steam engine, and has a capacity of ten barrels of
flour and from three to four tons of chop. The saw-mill was
built by O. Hull & Son, in 1867, and has a capacity of three
thousand feet per day.
VILLAGES.
Burg Hill is the most important point of
general business in the township, and is located on the Atlantic &
Great Western railroad. Old Burg Hill, whose name the new
station retained, is located in Hartford, a short distance south.
The building of the railroad induced the removal to the present
location. Since then the village has gradually increased in
importance and now forms a pleasant and well-to-do community.
Various departments of trade usually found in small villages and at
railway stations are found here. At present the business
directory is one general store, one furniture store, two hotels, one
saloon, one harness shop, one tin store, one drug store, a union
school and two churches.
Vernon center, the former point of trade in the
township, still retains a post-office and the town house.
Since the abandonment of the Presbyterian church, a society of the
Methodist Protestant church has been recently organized.
[Page 376] -
INDIANS.
The early settlers in the valley of the
Pymatuning were often very much annoyed by visits from the strolling
Indians who passed up and down the creek. They never allowed
an opportunity pass for drunken revels when by entreaty or barter
they could procure whiskey. The romantic idea of the Indian
character as the “noble red man ” was not apparent in those who were
known to the settlers of Vernon. “Yankee Jim ”
and “Cadashaway” were two well known Indians who frequently
visited the settlement. It is related of them that they once
killed three elks in this neighborhood and took nothing but the
tongues. The antlers being afterwards found were kept for a
long while in the settlement for ornaments.
THE INDIAN FUNERAL
At one time a tribe of
Indians were encamped south of Vernon and two of their party visited
Martin Smith to procure some whiskey. The old
'squire, after a great deal of persuasion and fair promises that
they would not become intoxicated, at least in the neighborhood,
finally acceeded to their desires. The Indians started homeward with
their much coveted “fire-water,” but on their way forgot their
promise to the 'squire and indulged freely, so much so that they
both become intoxicated, and, as usual, began quarreling, which
resulted finally in a fight in which one stabbed the other to death.
Soon after Asahel Brainard, of Hartford,
came upon the body of the dead Indian in the woods and became very
much alarmed for his own safety, fearing that the Indians would
accuse him of the murder and take summary vengeance. He
reported the case to Squire 'Smith, and soon the
Indians also received word of the murder and speedily apprehended
the criminal. The body was brought in funeral procession by
the tribe to Squire Smith's cabin, and Joseph
DeWolf, at the request of the Indians, made a rude coffin of
puncheon slabs, in which the body was placed. It was then
taken eastward near the banks of the Pymatuning where the grave was
dug. During all this time the author of the crime was present
as a prisoner and self confessed murderer of his comrade, but made
the plea that “whiskey did it;” and was compelled, as a punishment,
to hold the feet of his dead victim in both his hands during the
ceremony of burial. At the grave a general powwow was held,
and quite a number of the tribe were present. The squaw of the
murdered Indian put into the coffin a pair of moccasins, hunting
shirt, his rifle, knives, pipe and tobacco, and finally a lighted
coal of fire for the use of the dead Indian in the “happy hunting
grounds.” After these superstitious rites were performed the
tribe took their departure down the Pymatuning, and the settlers who
had gathered to witness the strange spectacle returned to their
cabin homes.
Time has long since removed all marks of the lone
Indian grave, and the memory of it has now almost passed into the
realms of legends with many stranger though truthful incidents of
the early times in Vernon.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
EDMUND A. REED
[Page 377] -
SAMUEL MERRY
[Page 378 - 381] -
JOHN L. KING, M. D.
NOTES ON SETTLEMENT.
GENERAL MARTIN SMITH, was
born in Connecticut in 1762; removed to the Reserve in an early day
and was among the first settlers of Vernon township. He was a
soldier in the Revolutionary war. He followed merchandising in
an early day and was also by occupation a surveyor. He was
grand master Mason and in early times the Masonic lodge held their
meetings in his house. He married Sarah Kellogg, born
in 1763, and had a family of eleven children. They were
prominent members of the Presbyterian church and their home was the
usual stopping place of the pioneer preacher and missionary.
He died in Vernon in 1853; his wife July 22, 1834.
HARVILAH SMITH, son of the
subject of the preceding sketch, was born in Vernon, Trumbull
county, Ohio, Jan. 3, 1801. said to be the second white child
born in that township. His birthplace was on the farm where he
still lives near the center of Vernon. His memory is still
quite good and he retains a vivid recollection of the experiences of
pioneer life. He says he can well remember when a small boy of
lying awake in bed at night listening to the wolves tearing the bark
from the logs of the cabin. Of the four hundred acres
comprising the Smith homestead there is not a field in which he has
not assisted in clearing it of the native forest. He married,
in 1824, Hannah Clark, born in Connecticut in 1802, and who
removed to Vernon in 1813. They have children as follows:
Erastus, Eliza, Julia, Alexander H., Charles H., Lottie, and
Hannah.
LUMAN HOBART, son of
Martin and Chloe (Jennings) Hobart, was born in Pennsylvania
in 1812, February 7th. His father was a native of
Massachusetts, born Oct. 13, 1779, and his mother a native of
Vermont, born in 1783. They settled in Vernon, Trumbull
county, Ohio, in 1834, on the land now owned by Isaac Morford.
Ten years later they removed to Michigan, and in 1855 removed to New
York State, where they died. They had a family of eleven
children, their names all beginning with L, viz:
Lorin, Lyman, Lester, Luman, Lucy, Lemuel, Lois, Lucius, Leonard,
and Lewis; one died in infancy. Martin Hobart
was a commissioned officer in the War of 1812. Luman Hobart
came to Trumbull county with his parents in the fall of 1834, and
has always since resided in Vernon township. He married, July
4, 1837, Rebecca Splitstone, born in Vernon July 11, 1818,
and has a family of six children: Mary L., born in
1838, now wife of A. Brockway, residing in Mercer county,
Pennsylvania; Oscar F., born 1840, married, Mar. 7, 1872,
Elvira Mifford, of Oneida
[Page 382] -
county, New York, and has two
children, Idelma R. and Sylvia J.; Clinton,
born 1842, married Marilla Johnston, of Pennsylvania;
Thomas C., born 1844, married Lizzie Storier of Vernon;
Dudley, born 1846, married, Oct. 16, 1872, Lydia Bates,
of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and has three children, Sadie L.,
Albert C., and Ella May; Lima O., born 1850, married
J. V. Bates, of Pennsylvania. Three of the sons, Oscar,
Clinton, and Corwin, were members of company G, One
Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio National guard, served four months
and were discharged with their regiment. In 1852 Mr. Luman
Hobart made a trip to California, being one hundred and nine
days in reaching San Francisco, owing to sickness and other
drawbacks, and followed mining about two years near Grass valley.
On his homeward trip in October, 1854, when out about twenty-four
hours the vessel struck a rock and sank. There were a large
number of passengers aboard and many lives were lost. Mr.
Hobart fortunately saved his life, but lost nearly all of his
effects.
JOHN LANGLEY. This venerable
gentleman is one of the oldest residents of Trumbull county, as he
was one of its earliest pioneers. His residence in the county
spans a period of over eighty years. He was born in Baltimore
county, Maryland, July 29, 1791. He came to Trumbull county in
1801, and lived with his uncle, Andrew Burns until he was
twenty-one. He was drafted in the army in the War of 1812, and
served three months under Captain Fobes, when he was
discharged on account of sickness. He then began the
improvement of his land, situated east of the center of Vernon.
He put up a hewed log house, and barn, and in 1814 put in a small
piece of wheat. In 1816 he married Mary Waldorf, who
came with her parents to Hubbard township in an early day. She
died in Vernon December 28, 1871. Mr. Langley is the
father of two sons and two daughters, viz: John W., George
W., Rhoda, and Lucinda. John W., born Oct. 11,
1817, married Ellen Millikin, and has four children.
George W., born April, 1820, married in 1844 Margaret
Millikin, born Dec. 29, 1821, in Ireland, and has a family of
four children, viz: Jasper, born March 10, 1846, married
Movilla Fell and has two daughters; Emery, Apr. 1,
1850, married in 1875 Ellen Biggins, born in England in 1854,
and has two children, Flora and Willie; Alfred, Mar.
1, 1855; Lucinda Dott - his sister's daughter - born Feb. 3,
1866. Rhoda Langley, the third child of John and Mary
Langley, was born July 25, 1824, died July 4, 1861.
Lucinda, born Dec. 20, 1831, died Mar. 10, 1866. Mr.
Langley, the subject of this sketch, was present at the first
quarterly meeting held by the Methodist Episcopal church in Trumbull
county. The presiding elder as Jacob Gruber, and the
meeting was held in the barn of Obed Crosby.
FRANCIS HAYNES, son of Asa
Haynes, Jr., was born in Connecticut, Dec. 24, 1811, and came to
Ohio with his parents in 1817, the family settling in Vernon
township, Trumbull county. Colonel Haynes was born in
Connecticut Mar. 29, 1791, and married in 1810, Sarah Rice,
born in the same State the same year. They had three children:
Francis, Eliza J., and Sylvia. Colonel Hayes was
an associate judge for several years. He died Jan. 28, 1879,
his wife Apr. 28, 1857. Francis Haynes married in 1835,
Mary A. Davis, born July 19, 1812, in New York. They
have a family of five children, viz.: George F., Orlando
W., Mary L., Amaret A., and Fayette M. The three
sons served in the late war. Asa Haynes, Sr., the
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, settled in Vernon in
1818. They raised a family of ten children, all of whom lived
to raise families.
WILLIAM E. CHAPMAN, son of Erastus and Lydia (Leonard) Chapman,
was born in Vernon, Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1827. His
grandparents, William and Sylvia (Smith) Chapman, of
Connecticut, came to Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1805, and settled in
Vernon township. They had a family of four children:
Erastus, Fanny, Electa, and Sylvia. Erastus
the father of William E., was born in Connecticut in 1794,
came to Ohio with his parents, and subsequently married Lydia
Leonard, born in Massachusetts in 1799, and had eight children.
Erastus Chapman died in Vernon in 1869. William E.,
was born in Connecticut in 1794, came to Ohio with his parents,
and subsequently married Lydia Leonard, born in Massachusetts
in 1799, and had eight children. Erastus Chapman died
in Vernon in 1869. William E. Chapman was married in
1848, to Charlotte Clark,, born in 1829, and she died in
1857. He was again married in 1859 to Mary A. Sheldon,
born in 1838. He had two children by his first marriage:
Erastus C. and William R.
RALSA B. CLARK
was born in Hartford county, Connecticut, in 1796, and came with his
parents
[Page 383] -
to Vernon, Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1814. His father,
Eber B. Clark, was born in Connecticut in 1774, and his
mother, Wealthy A. Holcomb, in 1775; she died in 1861.
They had a family of eleven children. Ralsa Clark was
united in marriage in 1823 to Dorothy B. Holcomb, born in
1799 in Connecticut. They have had eight children, four of
whom are living. Mr. Clark, now one of the most wealthy
farmers of the county, started in life a poor man; his prosperity
and success are the result of his industry, foresight, and economy.
Laura S., a daughter of Mr. Clark, was born in Vernon,
Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1839, married in 1860 Jasper D.
Mattocks, now a resident of Toledo. They had two children,
a boy and girl.
JOSEPH P. WILLIAMS
was born in
Vernon township, Trumbull county, Ohio, Jan, 18, 1818. His
parents, Asmond and Mary (Sheldon) Williams, removed to
Vernon in 1815. Asmond Williams was born in 1790 and
his wife in 1789. He died in 1865 and she in 1869. They
reared a family of nine children—four are living. Joseph P.
married Vienna Proper, who was born in Venango county,
Pennsylvania, in 1822. She died in 1865. He is the
father of three children: Sarah U., Amanda B., and Joseph P.
Mr. Williams is a farmer and dairyman.
ALFRED F.
WALDORF, son of John and Elizabeth Waldorf, was born
in Vernon, Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1818. His grandfather,
John Waldorf, Sr., was a native of New Jersey, born 1750,
and came to Ohio in 1802, and died in Hubbard township, Trumbull
county, in 1810. He had a family of six children. His
son John, Jr., father of the subject of this sketch, was born
in New Jersey, in 1789, and died in Vernon in 1876. They had a
family of thirteen children, of whom four are living.
Alfred F. was united in marriage in 1842 to Annis l.
Wadsworth, daughter of Henry and Laura Wadsworth, born in
New York State in 1823. Mr. and Mrs. Waldorf have a
family of six children, as follows: Laura A., John H.,
Gertrude, Emma, Ada M. and Ida M. (twins).
Eugene is dead. Mr. and Mrs. Waldorf are members of
the Free-will Baptist church.
GEORGE K. PELTON was born in
Gustavus, Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1818. His maternal
grandfather, Joseph DeWolf, was born in Hartland,
Connecticut, in 1762, and settled in Vernon township, Trumbull
county, one mile south of the center, in the spring of 1800.
He came out a short time in advance of his family, who followed with
an ox team. On the way one of the oxen died, and the cow,
which they were bringing with them, was yoked up in his place and
the journey completed in this way. Joseph DeWolf
married Sarah Gibbons (born in 1764), and had a family
of thirteen children. He was a soldier in the war of
independence, serving through the whole struggle. As a pioneer
he battled not only with the forests of Vernon, but frequently with
the wild beasts as well. On one occasion he had quite an
adventure with a wounded deer. On going up to cut its throat
it sprang up and at him, knocking him down. On regaining his
feet he ran for a log that lay up some distance from the ground.
Whenever the deer would spring at him he would roll down under the
log and the deer would land on the other side of the tree, and he
would then roll back and climb upon the log. This proceeding
was kept up for some time, finally wearing the animal out, but not
without himself receiving many bruises. Mr. DeWolf died
in Vernon in 1846, and his wife two years later. They were
highly esteemed by the entire community in which they resided so
long. Their oldest daughter, Ruhamah, was born in
Connecticut in 1783 and became the wife of Joseph Pelton,
a native of Saybrook, Connecticut, and died in 1872. Mr. Pelton
served in the War of 1812. They had eleven children.
George K. married in 1848 Mary A. King, daughter of
William King, of Kinsman. She was born in 1821 and died in
1874. Two children is the result of this union—Myra and
John S., both at home.
IRA CASE, son of
Abner and Hannah Case, of Barkhamstead, Connecticut, was born
Mar. 15, 1782, came to Ohio about the year 1805 and settled in
Vernon, Trumbull county, where he lived until his death which took
place May 25, 1837. His wife was Ursula, daughter of
Uriah and Mehitabel Hyde, born Jun3 10, 1786, in Lyme,
Connecticut, died in October, 1864. They had a family of seven
children, namely: Julia, born Aug. 10, 1808, married
Norris Hum [Page 384] -
phrey, and died Jan. 26, 1870; Imri, born Mar.
4, 1810; Uriah N., born Aug. 26, 1811, of Orangeville;
Hannah M., born Mar. 6, 1813, wife of George Fell
(second), of Vernon: Eveline, born July 12, 1819, died about
1860; Lucy C., born May 7, 1821, died in 1879; George S.,
born Apr. 1, 1826, of Vernon. He married Mary Hoagland,
of Brookfield, born Oct. 15, 1836. They have had five
children, as follows: Ida L. born July 27, 1856, died
in Colorado July 14, 1880; Jesse H., born Dec. 7, 1858;
Mary E. born Mar. 26, 1862; Cora D., born Dec. 5, 1865,
died Sept. 5, 1866; Minnie D., b. Aug. 26, 1869.
JAMES M. DICKERMAN,
son of
Isaac and Ann Dickerman, was born in Massachusetts in 1826; came
to Ohio in 1854 and settled in Bloomfield township, Trumbull county.
Later he moved to Vernon township and at present is proprietor of
the hotel at Burg Hill. His wife Harriet was born in
Massachusetts in 1828. In 1862 he enlisted in company B, One
Hundred and Fifth Ohio volunteer infantry, and served nine months.
END OF CHAPTER IX - VOL. II - VERNON TWP.
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