WOOSTER TOWNSHIP, named after General David Wooster, was organized Apr. 11, 1812, simultaneously with Sugarcreek, Mohican and Prairie townships.  Its population in 1870 was 1,145.  Its civil record appears as follows from its date of organization: 
 

     Justices of the Peace - Robert McClarran, commission dated June 13, 1812; Jacob Schuckers, Dec. 24, 1832; John Larwill, Apr. 2, 1833; Jacob Schuckers, Jan. 4, 1836; Samuel Coulter, Apr. 16, 1836; William Reiter, Apr. 16, 1836; Samuel Quinby, Oct. 25, 1838; William Reiter, Apr. 13, 1839; William McCurdy, Apr. 13, 1842; John Beistle, Apr. 13, 1842; Alexander B. Fleming, Oct. 21, 1842; J. H. Harris, May 24, 1843; William McCurdy, Apr. 16, 1845; Henry Lehman, Apr. 16, 1845; Thomas Williams, Apr. 21, 1846; J. H. Harris, Apr. 12, 1848; Henry Lehman, Apr. 12, 1848; William Reiter, Apr. 12, 1849; J. H. Harris, Apr. 19, 1851; William Reiter, Apr. 21, 1852; George Brauneck, Apr. 13, 1854; J. H. Harris, Apr. 13, 1854; D. H. Holiday, Oct. 21, 1854; J. M. Madden, Apr. 22, 1857; D. H. Holiday, Oct. 30, 1857; C. C. Parsons, Apr. 14, 1858; H. C. Johnson, Oct. 20, 1859; Eugene Pardee, Oct. 25, 1860; J. H. Downing, Oct. 25, 1860; Henry Lehman, Oct. 13, 1861; J. H. Downing, Oct. 22, 1863; A. C. McMillen, Apr. 15, 1864; George Brauneck, Oct. 15, 1866; H. Smith, Oct. 15, 1866; W. W. Humilton, Oct. 15, 1866; James T. Henry, Apr. 13, 1869; S. R. Bonewitz, Oct. 20, 1869; James T. Henry, Apr. 9, 1872; S. R. Bonewitz, Oct. 12, 1872; Mahlon C. Rouch, Apr. 12, 1875 - re-elected Apr. 1, 1878; John R. McKinny, Oct. 20, 1875.

BIOGRAPHIES

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     David Robison, Sr., was born July 12, 1793, near Chambersburg, Franklin county, Pa., and descended from old Scotch-Irish parentage.  In boyhood he was so unfortunate as to lose his father, and when but entering upon his teens he removed with his widowed mother to Columbiana county, Ohio, at so early a period as 1806.  Here he tarried for a short time with her, and then spent a few years at a place called New Lancaster, Fairfield county, where, and during which time, he learned the trade of tanner and currier.  On the termination of his period of service as apprentice he made the experiment of living which forms a part of the usually unwritten history of every young man.  A year or two was thus occupied in Zanesville and Newark.
     The country was now embroiled with Great Britain in its second defensive war.  Many of the ports of the Atlantic seaboard were possessed by the enemy.  They were making destructive incursions into the interior of the county.  Our cities were endangered or actually occupied by the enemy.  The northern frontier was menaced by marshaling armies of the enemy, and the lines on the west and north-west were threatened by mongrel hordes of Red coats and Indians.  Men were needed and called for to check the encompassing legions of British power.
     The voice of duty and the demands of patriotism could no longer be stifled or ignored, and so our young hero, then but nineteen years of age, volunteered in the ranks of the United States army.  Without a commission or hope of promotion, with a musket on his shoulder, he encountered the dangers and vicissitudes of the north-western frontier, the Black swamp perils, serving faithfully the period of his enlistment, and being honorably discharged at the expiration of his term.  He then returned to Zanesville, where he had volunteered.  Here he did not long remain, for in the autumn of 1813, in company with his brother Thomas, sallied forth on horseback to discover, if possible, a suitable location for business.  Visiting Wooster, and being favorably impressed with it, and satisfied with its promising advantages, they jointly purchased property with an eye to permanent settlement.  Their first investment was in a block of lots on the north-west corner of Buckeye and North streets, establishing there what was long and popularly known as Robison's tannery.  Here, and in active application to his trade, he continued until the year 1837, when, with his family, he removed to what was formerly known as Madison Hill, the original seat of justice of the county.

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     In 1832 he built what for a quarter of a century was known as Robison's mill, now Wooster mill, which, considering cost and capacity, at that time was considered an enterprise of magnitude.  He was largely interested in merchandising from the time he removed to his farm in 1837 to 1848, not only in Wooster, but in Fredericksburg, Jeromeville, Rowsburg and Ashland.  He was identified with the early banking interests of the county, and was one of the incorporators of the Wayne county branch of the State Bank of Ohio, acting as its President for a period of fifteen years, and until he had made disposition of his interests in the same.
     He was married June 5, 1821, to Miss Elizabeth McConnell, a native of the same county and State of that of her husband, where she was born May 8, 1797.  To this marriage union of over half a century, were brought six sons, William H., John M., James N., David, Joseph and Lyman.  James N. died in Wooster June 23, 1867, and Joseph in Dubuque, Iowa, Apr. 6, 1863.  William H. and John M. now live in the city of Dubuque, Iowa, David and Lyman in Toledo, Ohio.
     He united with the Presbyterian church in 1842.  He could not well have been inclined to membership in any less orthodox religious body than the Presbyterian church, for his early spiritual tutelage was in the laminated faith of the Scotch Seceders; and, moreover, it was in grateful consonance with the inclinations and convictions of the faithful partner of his lengthened years, who in early life espoused this church, and who to-day is a worthy and exemplary member.  He compassed in his enterprises the interests of the community; had enlarged views of business; was clear-headed, penetrative and emphatically practical in all his enterprises and transactions.  His deliberations proceeded from a sound and reliable judgment; he took no steps in the dark, for his sharp perception of situations was "a light to his feet."  He had the ability to analyze things, and feel forward and lay his hand upon the hem of results.  Hence his investments were made with great care, and, as a consequence, they were accompanied with gratifying and substantial realizations.  His life illustrated many solid virtues.   It was a scene of activity and unostentatious, energetic enterprise, rounded in its decline with comforts and crowned with worldly competence.  He died Mar. 1, 1870.

BENJN. JONES

     Benjamin Jones was born in Winchester, Frederick county, Va., Apr. 13, 1787.  He had eight brothers and one sister, John, Sam-

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uel, Elias, Isaiah, Erasmus, Nathan, William, Thomas and Sarah.  From Frederick county the family removed to Washington county, Pa., when the subject of this sketch was but seven years of age.  They lived about a mile from the village of Washington, where his mother died and was buried in the Baptist churchyard there, his father dying when he was between seven and twelve years old.
     At an early age he was, by the terms of an indenture, put to the trade of cabinet-maker, in Washington, for seven years, which time he faithfully and diligently served.  Many, indeed, were the privations and cruel, stinging hardships he endured during those seven years of worse than Hebrew bondage.  His personal wants were sadly supplied, frequently not getting enough to eat, and he was fourteen years of age before he ever wore a new shoe upon his feet.  After his release from the indenture he worked journeyman's work in the village for some time, when he removed to Sharon, Ohio, and built a shop and engaged in business for himself.  A misfortune, however, soon visited him in the shape of a, to him, disastrous fire, which completely used him up, and by which he lost all his tools and effects.  He was consequently compelled to renew journeyman's work, when he abandoned Sharon and went to renew journeyman's work, when he abandoned Sharon and went to Yankee Run, in Trumbull county.  After a short period, an opportunity was afforded him to enter into commercial business with Thomas G. Jones (Priest Jones), which he embraced, and which they prosecuted until just prior to the war of 1812.
     In 1811 he was dispatched by the "Priest" on a tour of observation, with a view to the selection of a place to locate.  He went as far west as and beyond Mansfield, on horseback, through a dense forest, inhabited by Indians, over unbridged and swollen streams, with perils to right of him and perils to left.  On his equestrian scout he first saw Wooster, was favorably impressed with the county, and resolved to locate there.  On his return to Yankee Run, he spoke so flatteringly of the place, that Priest Jones and family, a Mr. Young and family, Betty Scott and himself, all emigrated hither without delay.
     They brought goods to Wooster and started a store, Constant Lake, father of Constant Lake, of Wooster, hauling a load for them.  This was in the winter of 1812-13, and was the first store of importance in Wooster.  It was opened in a wooden building erected by Robert McClarran, near, or where Samuel Geitgey now conducts business.

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     After establishing himself in his new quarters he returned to Brookfield, Trumbull county, Ohio, where he married Hannah Vanemmon, Apr. 1, 1813, the ceremony of marriage being performed by Rev. A. Bentley, Baptist minister, and brother of Benjamin Bentley.  Mrs. Jones was a native of New Jersey, where she was born on Christmas day, 1794.  Her mother died when she was born on Christmas day, 1794.  Her mother died when she was three years old, and father when she was eight, when she was adopted into the family of Constant Lake, Sr., with whom she removed to Trumbull county, and in whose family she continued a member until her marriage in 1813.
     After their marriage in April his wife went to New Lisbon and he returned to Wooster, soon thereafter going to Pittsburg to purchase goods, which trips he made on horseback.  He made two of these excursions after he was married, going and coming, passing New Lisbon, where his wife was, without stopping, until, on his return from the third trip, he stopped for her, and was accompanied by George Hull and his family and Francis Foltz and his family, arriving at Wooster on the 4th of July, 1813.
     The house that Mr. Jones and wife moved into was occupied by seven families, and besides contained a doctor's office - that of Dr. Thomas Townsend.  It was a two story brick, built in 1810 by John Bever, on the Bissell corner, and the first brick house built in the county.  "Priest" Jones and family, Joseph Barkdull and family, a Mr. Richardson, a tailor, and others, besides Dr. Townsend and Benjamin Jones and wife, who had two rooms up stairs, and where they lived two years, were the occupants.  Mr. Jones and his wife, who had two rooms up stairs, and where they lived two years, were the occupants.  Mr. Jones soon afterwards built what was called the "Stump House" so called because they sawed off trees and erected the building upon the stumps.  It stood on the site of the old Arcadome, and the surrounding country was a forest, there being then less than a dozen houses in the town.  In this stump house D. K. Jones, of Shreve, the oldest son of Benjamin Jones, was born, and who, as his mother informed us, "was the smallest child ever born, that lived, in Wayne county."  Here, also, Eleanor Jones was born.
     In 1817 Mr. Jones was removed to the lot on Beaver street, between East Liberty and South streets, known in later years as the McKeal property.  There he lived until 1824, and there Isaac N. and Ohio F. Jones were born.  In 1824 he removed to the property that was known, and will be recollected was the Wooster Hotel, remaining in charge of the same until the fall of 1828, and here

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Charles Carroll, Joseph R. and Quinby Jones were born.  In the autumn of 1828 he removed to a frame building that stood on the grounds of what is now known as the Metropolitan Boarding House, remaining there until the spring of 1829, when he re-occupied the property on Beaver street, where B. J. Jones was born, Apr. 4, 1834.  Mar. 17, 1836, he removed to his farm, where he lived until his death, which occurred from disease of the heart, after a short illness, Apr. 24, 1861.  His fine brick residence upon the old homestead was built by Henry Lozier in 1840.
     A glance at the records of Wayne county forcibly asserts the value of the life and public services of Benjamin Jones  With its solid and material improvements his name is closely identified.  There was neither flash, dash, brilliancy nor poetry in his composition.  His mind was practical, and when he came into the new country, he addressed himself to substantial enterprises.  He comprehended the wants and necessities of the pioneers and their inconvenient situations, and early directed his energies toward relieving and promoting their best interests.  There were no roads opened up with the exception of the one running from Canton, the streams were unbridged, society had not yet thrown around it the restraints and protection of law, and the question of sustenance was even a problem with the people.
     He Navigates Killbuck - In 1814 he went on horseback to Coshocton, accompanied by William Totten, brother of Michael Totten, of Wooster, to buy flour, bacon, salt, dried fruits, etc., for the early settlement, which he placed on a pirogue, and with the assistance of a few stout men paddled the rude boat to the waters of the Killbuck, and up through the drift of that sluggish stream to the mouth of Apple creek, and thence up that stream to where the covered bridge now stands, near the old Robison mill, in the corporation of Wooster.  This exploit of inland navigation was heralded with acclamation by the inhabitants of Wooster, who rushed to the boat to obtain their supplies.
     He built the first bridge that was ever laid across the Muddy Fork, and constructed the road extending from Reedsburg across the trembling quagmire to what, in past days, was known as "the French Miller" property.  He had sixteen men employed on the contract, and at night one-half the number guarded the other half while they slept.  During this work one of his laborers, named Jones, was killed and literally mangled by the Indians.  There were at this time but three houses between Wooster and Jeromeville.  Several weeks were employed upon this contract, Mr. Jones doing the cooking for his men in the woods, and performing his culinary duties with true aboriginal skill.
     He constructed the first bridge across Killbuck on what is known as the Columbus avenue road.  He aided in procuring the charter for the turnpike running from Wooster to Cleveland, and was a director and stockholder in it.  He exerted himself both in the Legislature and out of it in behalf of the choice of the Killback route for the Ohio canal.

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     In 1816-17 he built the first jail in the county, constructing it chiefly of the old logs of the Block-house erected by Captain George Stidger, in 1812.
     On the 4th of July , 1824, Mr. Jones and wife, then keeping the "Wooster Hotel," roasted an ox and prepared a grand dinner for the occasion, Mr. Samuel Vanemmon, brother of Mrs. Jones, superintending the roast.  The tickets to the banquet were fifty cents apiece, and over three hundred were sold.  The ox was roasted among the elders and brush, to the rear of Lindol Sprague's residence.  On this occasion Congressman John Sloane, Brigadier General Reasin Beall, Judge Ezra Dean, and many other prominent citizens, were present.  John Hemperly carved the ox.  Twelve pigs were also roasted.  After the dinner was over and the ceremonies concluded, Mr. Jones invited the children of the town to a free entertainment.
     He is Chased by Wolves - He went to "Morgan's" on one occasion, down Killbuck about eight miles, for provisions, and among other things, Mrs. Morgan gave him some fresh meat, which she put in a large gourd, of the capacity of half a bushel.  The wolves, scenting the meat, pursued him with fierceness and angry demonstrations, when several times he thought he would have to throw everything away and try to save himself.
     He Captures three Bears - While traveling on horseback, up the Killback bottom, south of Wooster, he captured three cub black bears, and put them in a sack over the saddle.  They proved, however, to be heavier than he had calculated, and hearing the mother of the cubs approaching, he considered it wisdom's better part to throw one of them out of the sack, which he did.  The remaining two he kept awhile, finally giving one away and selling the other.
     He carried the mail from Canton to Mansfield on horseback.  He aided actively in organizing the Agricultural Society, and a colt in his possession took a premium at the fair fair.  In 1815 he was elected Justice of the Peace of Wooster township, and subsequently filled the office of Trustee of the township.  In 1818 he was elected Commissioner of Wayne county, and served in that capacity for three years.  In 1821 he was elected a Representative for the county of Wayne in the General Assembly of the State of Ohio.  In 1824 he was placed on the Jackson electoral ticket as one of the District electors.  He was always an ardent admirer and warm supporter of the gallant old hero of New Orleans, with whom he enjoyed most friendly personal relations.
     He represented Wayne county in the Ohio Senate from Dec. 7, 1829, to Dec. 3, 1832, having been re-elected in 1830.  In 1832 he was elected a member of Congress, and re-elected in 1834.  He was President of the first Jacksonian meeting held in Wooster, and publicly discussed national topics with General Spink in 1840.  The was a general goodness, sunshiny humor, playful, but caustic wit, and broad hospitality about him that attracted and fascinated.  He entertained the first Methodist

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preacher that visited Wooster, and his house was proverbial for the generosities it dispensed.
     His honesty of purpose and rectitude of conduct in the discharge of his official duties in all the various offices  he filed, gained him the esteem and approbation of his constituents.  He was a patriot, and warmly attached to the civil and political institutions of our country.  So ardent were his feelings for the happiness, prosperity and glory of his native land, that in a conversation with his family a few days before his decease, in remarking upon the situation of our country, he observed that he had lived to see the adoption of the Constitution, which bound the States in union with each other - and under the influence of its sacred provisions this nation had become great and prosperous, and had protected the rights and secured civil and religious liberty to all her subjects; and that before he should be called to witness a dissolution of the Union, he hoped that God in his providence would dissolve his existence.

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dusky, Sept. 17, 1821, with many hopeful anticipations.  But scarcely had they settled in their new home, when Mr. Eichar was taken with typhoid fever and died on the 17th of October, 1821, aged 47 years.  Joseph Eichar, who now resides on the Killbuck farm, west of Wooster, is his son.

     Hugh Culbertson was born in Franklin county, Pa.  His father removed to Westmoreland county, in that State, when Hugh was but four years of age, and settled on a farm.  In the fall of 1809, in company with Major Wilson and his uncle William Culbertson, he made a trip on horseback to Ohio.  They first went to Trumbull county, and thence to Canton, then having but a few houses.  Here they procured the services of a man named Newman to pilot them further west, starting out with provisions to last them a week.  Before returning they respectively selected a quarter-section of land.  Mr. Culbertson chose a quarter immediately south of the present site of Wooster, Major Wilson selecting the quarter-section that Mr. Culbertson subsequently settled on, and now owned by his son, Hugh Culbertson.
     Prior to his permanent removal to Wayne county, Mr. Culbertson made it many visits.  In the war of 18 12 he was drafted, and received the appointment of Quartermaster of the regiment.  The detachment was organized to operate under Harrison in the West, but Mr. Culbertson was soon thereafter taken sick and compelled to return home.  In the winter of 1 822-3 he resolved to move to Ohio, and on the 1st day of April abandoned the old homestead in Westmoreland, Pa. On the 23d of April he landed on the banks of Killbuck.  During that summer they lived in a little log cabin at the foot of the hill, where the road crossed the Killbuck, on the land then of the widow of Joseph Eichar, Sr. In the fall they erected a house upon their own farm. In 1824 Mr. Culbertson bought of Peter Lanterman what was known as the ''old Yankee Smith" place, a David Smith having settled on it in 1810-11; and to guard against disaster from any Smith claimant, or title-holding Smith, had all the Smiths in the county sign the deed.  His farm being of a character best suited to that purpose, Mr. Culbertson at once devoted himself to the production of corn, and cattle and hog-raising.
     In politics Mr. Culbertson was a Jackson Democrat.  He was elected Associate Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Wayne

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county in 1833, a position which he creditably and honorably filled.  
     Judge Culbertson was married about 1802, to Miss Jane Welch, of Lancaster county, Pa., by which marriage there resulted twelve children—six sons and six daughters.  She had long been a member of the Presbyterian church, to which her husband also belonged, and was an estimable Christian woman.  Her death occurred in June, 1850.  For the ten years preceding his death.  Judge Culbertson made his home with his son Hugh, and died there Dec. 20, 1860, aged eighty-one years.
     His son, Hugh Culbertson, of Wooster township, was born Aug. 14, 1818, in Westmoreland county. Pa.  He accompanied his father to Wayne county in the spring of 1823.  He was raised on the farm, and under the direction and management of his father acquired business habits which insured success in his daily transactions.

     Stephen Henry, Sr. was born in Cecil county, Md., Nov, 23, 1761.  His ancestors came from the north of Ireland, and were second cousins of Patrick Henry, of Virginia.*  From Maryland he removed to Westmoreland county.  Pa., in a two-wheel cart, where he remained some years, when, with his wife and eight children, he turned his attention westward, and reached Wayne county in the spring of 1815-16, settling east of Wooster about a mile, and just east of Mr. Rich's brewery.  There he lived until 1831, when he sold out to David Hess, and removed two miles farther east, to the location of the Henry mill, previously erected.  After some other changes in his residence, he died on the mill property, Aug. 24, 1850, his wife dying Sept. 25, 1836.  He had eight children—Stephen, Joseph, Ann, Stephen, Johnson, Mary, Elisha and Elizabeth.  None of this family are living, and all who came to Wayne county are buried in the graveyard east of the mill, except Elisha, who died in California, Oct. 28, 1862.  His sons Joseph, Stephen and Johnson Henry, were the projectors
and builders, in 1833, of what was long known as the ** Henry mill," and was situated on the main Apple creek and on the State road leading from Wooster to Canton.  James Smith, one of the pioneers of Wayne county, settled near the mill in 1810, and built the old grist-mill half a mile south.
* Stephen M. Henry, of Franklin township, imparted this fact.

     John B. Espy was born in Bucks county, Pa., Dec. 4, 1790.  His father was a Lutheran minister and physician, and received his education in Germany.  He was the surgeon of an Ohio
regiment in the war of 1812, joining the regiment at New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, Colonel Robert Bay, of Washington county. Pa., commanding the regiment.  The subject of this sketch accompanied his father as surgeon's mate.  He was at Sandusky, Malden and Detroit, at which latter place he was discharged.  Mr. Espy removed from Tuscarawas to Wayne county in 1819, and has since resided here.  He lives at present about two miles west of the extreme south portion of Wooster, and is one of the worthy pensioners of 1812.  He has been a member of the Lutheran church for sixty years.  He was married Oct. 10, 1816, to Catharine Tarr, who died Nov. 17, 1872, and had six children, four boys and two girls, and all except one are living.  Isaac Tarr, living in the family of Mr. Espy, was born Mar. 3, 1801, and immigrated to Wayne county in 1818.

     Christian Lawrence was born in Lancaster county, Pa., Jan. 25, 1778 and came to Wooster township, Wayne county, May 24, 1823, settling two miles west of the city of the State road, which farm was entered by Andrew McMonigal from the Government.  He was married Mar. 8, 1801, to Magdalena Ettela of Dauphin county, Pa., where she was born Feb. 22, 1781.  By this married there resulted the following children:  Peter, Catharine, John, Philip, Elizabeth, Jacob, George, Samuel and Daniel.  John, George, Philip and Daniel are at present residents of Wayne county.  After a residence of forty-three years of Wooster township the subject of this sketch died on the farm where he first located, Oct. 3, 1866, his wife dying July 27, 1858.

     John A. Lawrence, son of Christian Lawrence, was born in Middleton, Pa., Jan. 18, 1808, and when but fifteen years of age removed to Wayne county with his father, where in Plain and Wooster townships he has since continued to live.  He was married to Sarah Rouch Sept. 20, 1827, the issue of which union is here recorded:
     Mary A., married William Mowry, and lives in Indiana; George W., married E. Ann Mowry, and lives in Indian; Malinda, married Samuel Roach, died in Indiana, Mar. 31, 1874; Sarah E., married Joseph D. Wagner, and lives in Wooster townships; Margaret, married James E. Kelley and lives in Wisconsin; Priscilla, married Austin McMannis, and lives in Michigan; John F., married Eliza J. Penland, and lives in Indiana; Henry H., married Eunice Maurer and lives in Indiana; Lehanna, married Elmer McMannis and lives in Plain township; Isaiah, married Corinda Casner, and lives in Columbia City, Indiana; Levi A., married Mary C. Biers, and lives in Indiana.
     Mr. Lawrence has a very extensive and thorough acquaintance with the people of Wayne county, and is widely and generally known as a good and useful citizen.  In Plain township, where he lived for a great many years, he established the reputation of a practical business man, pursuing the occupation of surveyor, in conjunction with the management of the farm.  In 1855 he was elected as one of the Trustees of the township, and in 1861 was re-elected.

     In 1838 he was chosen by the popular majority of his party to the office of Surveyor of Wayne county, which office he filled for six consecutive years in a manner creditable to himself and satisfactory to the community.  He is a man of solid, natural sense, of well-sustained Judgment, who, notwithstanding his professional and agricultural pursuits, has not omitted intellectual cultivation and attention to books.  In this respect Mr. Lawrence, perhaps, differs from more notable readers, in that he has an excellent memory, and the faculty, as well as facility, of remembering, digesting and utilizing what he reads.  He is industrious and frugal, and possessed of most remarkable energy and fortitude of purpose.  His vital powers are yet strong, although he has passed his three-score and ten.  He has labored hard, and has been rewarded.  His life has been an active one, and by practicing some of his knowledge of the philosophy of living, he has attained his present age, and has years of activity, comfort and usefulness before him.  He is a born mechanic, and, if he could have interpreted the voice of nature, he would have been a physician.  He has devoted many years to the study and anatomy of the diseases of domestic animals, and is one of the pioneer veterinarians of Wayne county.

     Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence celebrated their "golden wedding' Sept. 20, 1877, on which occasion there were present ten children, seventeen of their thirty-two grandchildren, one great-grandchild and a large number of friends, who assembled at the old home to extend to the aged couple their congratulations, after fifty years of married life.  Through Rev. H. L. Wiles, D. D., the sons presented their father with a very costly gold-headed cane, inscribed with, "Presented to John A. Lawrence by his sons, George W., John F., Henry H., Isaiah E. and Levi B., at his 'golden wedding,' near Wooster, Ohio, Sept.20, 1877."  The daughters likewise gave their mother a pair of elegant gold spectacles, the same being presented by Rev. W. J. Sloan.  After the presentation speeches Mr. Lawrence responded in some very touching remarks, replete with wholesome advice and affectionate gratitude to his children.
     He is a prominent member of the Evangelical Lutheran church of the city of Wooster.

     William Taggart removed to Wayne county, and was married to Lydia Reiter, daughter of William Reiter, of Wooster township, and died in December, 1862.  He had nine children, seven of whom are living, to wit: James, William R., Samuel, Joseph, Amos, Emmet, Isaac, John, Catharine, and one unnamed, that died in infancy.  James Taggart, William Taggart and Joseph Taggart are farmers in Wayne county and are excellent citizens—men of honor, industry and integrity.  Emmet Taggart is a produce dealer in Akron, Ohio, and a shrewd, wide-awake business man.  Isaac Taggart resides in Stark county, and is Superintendent of the Schools in Canal Fulton.
     The subject of this notice was possessed of strong natural qualities of mind, was an intelligent, energetic, enterprising and prosperous farmer, identifying himself with all public improvements, and especially devoted to the advancement of the claims of agriculture.  He was President of the Wayne County Agricultural Society for a number of years, and acted as Delegate to the State Agricultural Convention several times.  He was a man of intellect, well informed in history and politics, was an ardent supporter of the war measures of the Government, a good talker and a fluent debater, and, all-in-all, possessed of rare natural abilities.  He was for many years a member of the Baptist church, was a useful member of community, and was widely known throughout the State.

     John Walter, This well-known citizen was born in Pennsylvania in 1785, and soon thereafter settled in Virginia.  His wife was also a native of Pennsylvania. They were married Mar. 22, 1821, at Martinsburg, Berkley county, Va.  Five years thereafter they removed to Wayne county, where they permanantly resided until their death, a period of about fifty years.  Shortly after their appearance in Wooster they occupied the building on the corner where at present stands the splendid business block of John Zimmerman, Esq.  Here for eight years they kept hotel,

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known by the name of ''Sign of the Swan."  Then they quit business in the town and removed to a farm two miles south-east of Wooster, where they lived until old age and death.  Mr. Walter's family consists of two sons and four daughters.  The eldest daughter, and oldest born of the family, married Anthony Wright, of Wooster; the second daughter, Sarah, in 1854, married the renowned Herr Driesbach, now deceased ; the third daughter, Hannah, married Dr. Benjamin J. Jones of Wooster; the youngest of the family is Miss Belle, unmarried.

     John Reider, was born in Lancaster county, Pa., Oct. 6, 2800.  His father's name was John, and he was a farmer and miller.  He subsequently removed to Dauphin county, Pa., and purchased a mill property, and here young John had full play for his muscle in teaming, and such other work as was to be performed.
     He removed to Wooster township, Wayne county, in 1827, and settled upon the farm now owned by Thomas Carson, purchasing it - one hundred and seventy-six acres - from Oliver Jones, one of the pioneers of 1812.  On his arrival adn settlement in Wooster township, his nearest neighbors were David Kimpton, William Kimpton, John Robison, George Pomeroy, John Sturgeon, Robert Hall, Thomas Culbertson, James Wilson, James Hunter, Thos. Pomeroy, Jacob Loop, Neal Richard and Joseph Power.
     Mr. Reider has been twice married, first to Elizabeth Weltner, of Lebanon county, Pa., who died Oct. 2, 1862, and by which marriage he had eight children; and second to Anna Champ, wife of Henry Bair, deceased, Dec. 31, 1863.  Mr. Reider is a member of the Baptist church, of Millbrook.

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l0th of February, 1809, he was joined in wedlock to Ann Julia Kelly, of Fayette county, of the State of his nativity.
     In the autumn of 1813 he arrived in Wayne county, and entered a quarter-section of land two and one-half miles south-west of Wooster.  In the vastness and silence of the woods he set to work clearing and cutting the timber from about six acres of land, sowing it in wheat, and erecting a cabin of rude logs for a habitation.  He then returned to his home in Westmoreland county, and remained with his family during the winter, and on the 1st day of April, 1814, with all his effects in a two-horse wagon, Alexander McBride bent his energies toward the wild and wooded home of his choice.  His family then consisted of his wife, his two sons, James M. and John, and his daughter Martha.  His faithful and chivalrous wife drove the team, he on foot "keeping watch and ward" of three cows, and on the 18th of April they arrived at their forest destiny, on the west bank of the Killbuck.
     Mr. McBride promptly "seized opportunity by the hair," and sought to make the log cabin as comfortable as possible.  On one side a space was cut for a door, timber was split and laid down for a floor; a huge white oak tree standing in front of the hut was leveled, its parts disposed and erected into a shed for culinary uses, one section of the tree constituting the back wall.  In this frontier, aboriginal style, they lived during the summer.  During the month of November, he made mortar of clay and cut-straw and daubed the chinks between the logs on the outside of the house, cut a square hole on one of its sides for a window, and the ingress of light; constructed an uncouth sash on which was pasted heavy paper, well lubricated with tallow to render it the more impervious to the elements, and admit more light, built a stick and mud chimney on the outside of the cabin, made a door of rough boards which was hung upon wooden hinges and fastened with a wooden latch, made bedsteads out of round poles, and in this style Mr. McBride and family lived for over five years.
     At this time corn was one of the absent, but much coveted cereals. The wheat that had been produced the previous year had all been hoarded away for the seed of the ensuing year.  Provision of all kinds was scant, and the question of subsistence was a problem.  About the middle of June a keel-boat laden with corn, from Chillicothe, arrived and anchored to a tree a few rods above where the covered bridge on the Perrysville road spans the Killbuck.  The news spread through the country like wild-fire, and in a few

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days the owner of the cargo disposed of his Indian treasure at two dollars per bushel, though half of it was mouldered and unfit for use.
     The Stibbs mill at that time was a boon and blessing.  Indians and wolves prowled thickly, and in one instance they audaciously approached Mr. McBride, in bloody pursuit of a pet-lamb that fled to him and cowered at his feet for protection.  Bears infested his premises, and a calf enclosed in a rail pen was devoured by bruin within a mile of the house.  And here, in these lonely labyrinths of primitive woods, the rattlesnake infused his deadly poison into the foot of the rash intruders of his ancient domain.
     We now pass from the adventurer to the adventurer's wife, and introduce several incidents to illustrate the heroic daring of Mrs. McBride.

     One night when the family were in deep slumber in their little cabin, Mrs. McBride had occasion to cough and spit at the back of the bed, when she discovered a hissing, rattling sound, whereupon she speedily aroused her husband, when search was instituted for the venomous visitor, aided by an iron lamp, which had been lighted.  His hissing highness, however, was not just then detected.  The noise soon being repeated, a similar investigation was commenced, and with a quite different sequel.  At this juncture Mr. McBride raised one of the floor-puncheons and detected the reptile.  This he held up, when his wife grasped an iron shovel, with which she caught and held the snake till Mr. McBride cut off its head with a hoe.
     On another occasion when Mr. McBride was out in the surrounding woods in quest of his horses, an enormous black dog, the property of the family, came into the house and lay down on the floor at the foot of the bed.  His daughter Martha, then about one year old, was lying on the bed.  The dog instantly sprang up, frothing at the mouth, and caught and began shaking the bed-clothes.  This necessarily alarmed Mrs. McBride, who suddenly threw out the children and rushed out herself, closing the door after her.  She now resolved to kill the dog, and was immediately possessed of a woman's presence of mind.  Grasping an ax, she opened the door slightly, called the dog, to which response was made in thrusting his head out of the door, when she delivered him such a terrific blow that his head was completely severed from his body.

     It was under such circumstances that Mrs. McBride could rise even above her sex in active courage, and display in defense of her offspring such examples of self-possession and personal bravery as clothe her in a new robe of moral grandeur.
     Husband and wife and long companions in this lower world, they lived to a ripe old age.  Mr. McBride survived his wife a few years and met his untimely death Aug. 20, 1869.  He was the father of fourteen children, ten of whom grew to maturity.  James,

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John, Henry, Alexander, Martha, Maria, Parthenia, Julia Ann, Margaret and Louisa constituted this latter number. 
     In the decease of Alexander McBride his family lost a wise counselor and devoted father, whilst society mourns the absence of one of its intelligent and most exemplary members.  He was one of the very first men to move in the organization of the Presbyterian church, that dates its history from the year 1815, he and Walter Buchanan having been chosen the Ruling Elders.  He was a man of stainless integrity and the very soul of honor.

      Nathan Warner, Sr. was one of the early settlers of Wayne county.  He was a native of the State of New York, where he was born Oct. 31, 1765.  He had removed to Ohio as early as 1799, and located at the Moravian Mission (Gnadinhutten) on the Tuscarawas river, when the nearest mill was seventy-five miles distant.  Here he learned to use the hominy block, and by it and the wild meat he procured by hunting, or from the Indians, his family was kept from starving.  In the fall of 1811 he established himself three miles west of Wooster, on lands which he had entered in 1810, and upon which he had built a cabin and made some improvements.
     The spring after he settled in the wilderness war was inaugurated between England and America.  When the news of Hull's Surrender came he packed his goods and gathered together his family and started for his old settlement at Tuscarawas, but, stopping in Wooster, sleeping in the block house there, and consulting with parties, concluded to return to his cabin and meet the situation.  His cabin being built of hewed logs and a pretty solid structure, he proceeded to convert it into a fort or block-house.  He cut post holes, split heavy puncheons for the door and window shutters, and gathered in all the implements of the farm for weapons, including a large quantity of stones which were taken up stairs to be used in case of attack.  There were but nine guns in the neighborhood, four of which belonged to Mr. Warner and his sons.  His family was considerably alarmed one night by the rapid firing of musketry in Wooster, supposing the town had been attacked by Indians, but a young man named John Logue soon arrived and informed him of the cause of the firing.  A company of soldiers was lying at Wooster, and having received orders to move to the front, discharged several vollies before their departure.  Not long after this Beall's army camped on his farm and upon that of J. A. Lawrence.  At that time he had twelve acres in corn close

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to the encampment, just in roasting-ear time, Mr. Warner proposing to them to help themselves.  The officers told him if he extended that privilege they would take it all, whereupon the corn was guarded, and what they wanted they purchased of him at six cents per dozen.
     He died May 12, 1844, Mr. Warner embraced religion in early life, joining the Moravian church, but after his arrival in Wayne county he united with the Methodists.  For twenty years his house was a preaching place, where the first society in that section was formed, and was kept up until the old log church was built, to which place services were removed, and when another small society united with them, which had been raised at Peter Warner's, a short distance west of Jefferson.  Among the earliest settlers in his neighborhood were John Lawrence, David and Azariah Smith, Ebenezer Warner and a Mr. Loag.  The first school was built by John Lawrence, on the Thomas farm, just north of the garden and in the orchard.  It was a double cabin, in one end of which Lawrence lived, and in the other school was taught; the first teacher was William Whitmore, specimens of whose drawings and penmanship are yet in the neighborhood.

     Joshua Warner, son of Nathan, was born in Northampton Co., Pa., July 29, 1798.  When but two years of age he removed with his father to Tuscarawas, and thence to Wayne county in 1811.  He remained with his father on the farm until his death.  His father and boys cut out the State road the length of their land, the Killbuck bottom being almost impossible to cross, they fording the stream slightly north of the bridge at Joseph Eichar's. The family helped to build the present road across the bottom, which is almost wholly underlaid with logs.  Bears, panthers, wolves, deer and rattlesnakes were in abundance.  A portion of Beall's troops encamped at the spring at his late residence.  He distinctly remembered Captain Anderson and Captain Blackburn.  Blackburn was a splendid man, and staid with his men on his premises for two weeks.  A portion of the soldiers encamped upon the residence of Benjamin Mycrantz, husband of Sophia Silvers.  Mr. Warner was of opinion that an artillery company moved in conjunction with Beall's army, and that it passed south of Wooster, crossing the farms occupied by William Wallace and James Lusk, etc.  A soldier named Ezekiel Bascomb died at his house, and in his last hours was waited on by a Mr. Coon.  He was buried upon a knoll at the forks of the road, south of Hugh Culbertson's.  The block

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house in which for two week the neighbors gathered at night and slept, was 24x30; it still remains, and is occupied by the family of the deceased, though it has been handsomely repaired and converted into a comfortable residence.
     The first school-house built in Plain township was south of the house of the late Daniel Silvers, at the curve of, and north of the road, on an open lot, and the first teacher was Judge William Goodfellow.  The Methodists organized a society at his father's house as early as 1812, and in 1814 Rev. John Chord and William Odell were circuit preachers, and it was likewise the first Methodist organization in Wayne county.  Quarterly meetings were also held there by distinguished divines like Adam Poe, Bigelow, Christie, Finley, and others.  His house was the nucleus of ministers and pious men; he entertained everybody that came; hung the big kettles on the crane; cooked for all of them, and when the beds were full, spread coverings on the floor for his guests.
Amasa Warner was married to Miss L. Foreman, and she and her child were the first persons buried in the Warner graveyard.  The father of Joshua Warner deeded these grounds for interment, first for the family burial, but subsequently for the public.  Ebenezer Warner and his son Nathan are buried in the old graveyard on the old Benjamin Jones farm; the son, but fifteen years of age, was killed by skids falling upon him at the Jones barn.  Sacrilegious vandals for the last several years have been growing wheat and corn over the bones of these honored pioneers.
     Mr. Warner was twice married—first, to Margaret Smith, Apr. 24, 1828, who died about six years thereafter; second, to Roseanna Edmonds, Apr. 12, 1842.  He left nine children and three grandchildren.  His family are all members of the Methodist church.  After a lingering and painful sickness, he died Tuesday morning, Dec. 18, 1877, in his eightieth year.
     The life of Joshua Warner* was a sermon of itself, uttered in

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* David E. Warner, of Wooster, a relative, has a family Bible printed in London, MDCCXII.  Ichabod Warner, the ancestor of the great Warner family, immigrated to America with two brothers, in 1690, but of them and their descendents, nothing is known.  A family record holds the dates, birth and members of Ichabod's children.  He was married about 1711, his first child being born Dec. 10, 1712. He would be the great-great-grandfather of David E. Warner, to whom this relic descends.  It descended to his father, Samuel E. Warner; to his father, Ezra Warner, born 1762; to his father, Daniel, born 1714.  David E. has presented over two hundred curiosities to the University of Wooster, such as a black bear, from the Cascade mountains, Oregon, a large seal, from the Columbia river, one of the revolvers found upon Captain Jack, when captured, Chinese guitar, etc.

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