THE PURCHASE.

     IN the year 1795 the Connecticut land company was organized, composed of fifty-six individuals, residents of Connecticut.
     On the 5th of September, of the same year, the company received a deed for about three million acres of land lying in the northeastern part of Ohio, and called the Western Reserve.
     It appears from the records of the Connecticut land company that when the division of the land was made among the members of the company, ninety-three townships, east of the Cuyahoga, were drawn in a lottery, and the township of Austinburg, then known as number eleven of the fourth range, fell to Messrs. Austin, Rockwell, Battell, and others, and these parties, in connection with other gentlemen in Connecticut who had drawn adjoining lands, formed themselves into a company, called the Torringford land company.
     After the purchase and this singular allotment of the land, it was resolved by this last-named company to immediately attempt the colonization of their purchase.  This first resolution, however, fell short of its purpose.  The enterprise was committed to Colonel Blakeslee as leader, and preparations were made to set out at once for the region.  It is said that Colonel Blakeslee went so far as to deed his property, and received a title to land in Austinburg in exchange, together with a grant of seventy acres on Grand river, including a mill-site.  It will be discovered from the records of the surveying-party that the township now called Austinburg was designated in the field-notes by the name of "Blakeslee."  The undertaking was abandoned, however, as the prospect of a war with the French, and some fear of Indian disturbances, disturbances, discouraged the party and broke down the enterprise.  Colonel Blakeslee therefore abandoned the property, and afterwards took a commission in the army, which had been called by the order of President Adams, and served until the adjustment of difficulties, in 1801.  He afterwards removed to the west, and settled in Genesee county, in the State of New York.
     About the same time a singular accident befell one of the company, which resulted in a way least expected, but which proved almost providential, at least a blessing in disguise.
     This accident was nothing more nor less than the biting by a mad dog of Judge Austin, who seemed to be the leading spirit in the new company.  The symptoms of the terrible disease of hydrophobia succeeded, nearly baffling the skill of the best physicians.  It was, however, while in this state of anxiety and fear that it was advised by physicians and friends, as a relief, that the judge should, for a time, leave his home, and divert his thoughts from his dreadful disease by travel in foreign lands.  To this he consented, but instead of going abroad he resolved to himself to make a tour to the wild lands in the west, and to open a way for a colony in that region.

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     * Written in most part by Rev. S. D. Peet.

THE FIRST JOURNEY.

     Accordingly in the spring of 1799, Judge Austin, accompanied by Roswell Stevens and his wife, newly married, and three young men, David Allen, Anson Colt, and Samuel Fobes, all of whom he had hired for the purpose, and George Beckwith, his wife, and two small children in company, set out on his long journey, having taken farming tools and a team for the purpose of making improvements.  All traveled together until they reached Schenectady.  Here, however, he put the men and their wives and children aboard a couple of small boats, and himself proceeded with the team by land.  From Buffalo to Austinburg the party were compelled to find their lodging on the bare earth, and to listen to the howling of wolves for their evening serenade.  Their only provisions were those which Judge Austin had crowded into his capacious, but amply-stored, saddlebags.  Such were the difficulties of the route and the delay of the journey, however, that the last two or three days the party was put on a short allowance.

THE FIRST ARRIVAL.

     Having arrived in the vicinity, Judge Austin proceeded at once to Harpersfield, to the house of Alexander Harper, and thence to the landing hoping to find the boat. Not meeting the party there, he then proceeded to the mouth of the Grand river, and up the river to a point near the present site of the village of Painesville.  Here he rode his horse into the midst of the old Indian fort, which is situated on the east side of the river, halted, and looked around at the vast wilderness surrounding him.  It is said that as he thus halted and took a view of the lonely solitude, thoughts of his old home, of his family and friends, and then of the vast and difficult enterprise which he had undertaken, came upon him, and his emotions were so stirred that he actually wept in his loneliness and disappointment.  Returning to the residence of the Harpers’, and here having seen that there were no provisions in the house, and knowing that a single pork rind was all that was left of the provisions in his saddle-bags, he went supperless to bed, too hungry and sad to sleep.
     The moon shone brightly through the checkered forests and into the little window of the humble cabin, but the thoughts of the past and the future crowded thick upon that sleepless pillow. “The setting of a great hope,” says Longfellow, “ is like the going down of the sun.”  The stars came out, and the air seemed purer and heaven brighter, and so this scene was emblematic; and yet another day was coming,- a day of hope and great progress in the midst of this wilderness.
     During the night the family was aroused by the voice of a messenger who had arrived to tell of the safe landing of the boat and its occupants.  Arising from his bed, the judge accompanied the man to the boat and brought provisions back to the house, on which the company and the family made a hearty breakfast, grateful that they had all arrived at last and were able to partake of so bountiful a repast.  With the assistance of his men, the judge afterwards was able to transport his goods and provisions on hand-sleds from the landing to Austinburg.

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THE FIRST BLOW.

     On the 5th day of June, 1799, the first blow struck by a white man’s axe in the town of Austinburg was struck by Judge Eliphalet Austin himself, the chief proprietor of the lands and the pioneer settler of all.  It shows, however, his in experience in all matters of wood-craft, to say nothing of the ordinary lot of the farmer’s life, that the judge is said to have queried within himself how it was possible to clear the land aud remove such a mass of forest when, as he supposed, wood could not be burned when green.  The experiment proved his mistake.
     The forests in this season of the year presented their loveliest aspect; all nature was dressed in its freshest, brightest array.  The green leaves were crowding every portion of space, covering the soft earth with a canopy of thick foliage.  The luxuriant herbage below grew in great masses, in which the few cattle which had been brought with the party fairly wallowed as they rambled and fed upon its abundance.

THE FIRST CABIN.

     Log cabins were soon erected by the little party.  These were constructed of logs cut from the forest, unhewn and rough.  The roof was made of bark, which had also been pulled from the trees, and held to its place by poles lying crosswise from end to end of the cabin.  One of these rude cabins, the one occupied by Judge Austin and his company, was situated on a spot of ground which is now occupied by the brick building of Mr. Irving Knapp, in the village of Austinburg.  The cabin belonging to Mr. George Beckwith and his family was erected on land near where Grand River institute now stands.  Such was the beginning of the settlement of this village which has such historical importance in the annals of the great west.  It was indeed a small beginning.
     We can imagine the single hut hid away amid the forests, the only one which stood upon the site where the village now stands; and out of sight in the distance across the stream, almost lost amid the dense foliage, was another cabin, on the ground where now stands the academy, with its large, beautiful, and peopled buildings.  It was a scene wild and primitive, such as only pioneer life, a home in the wilderness, could present.  At this time the nearest habitation was at Harpersfield, five miles distant.
     At Conneaut there was also a little settlement, consisting of Thomas Montgomery and Aaron Wright, who had settled at the place the previous year (1798).  A band of Indians, consisting of three or four hundred, was scattered along the streams fishing and hunting, but the forest wildness reigned supreme over hill and valley, and the bear, wolf, and wild deer lurked undisturbed in many a dark hiding-place, and even disputed with the strangers the right to the fruits of the forest and the products of the soil.  At Warren, thirty-five miles south, and at Vernon, forty miles southeast, in what is now Trumbull county, there were also white settlers, seven or eight families having located themselves in the former place at about this time.  A single road led through the dense forest, —that, the one which had been cleared by order of the land company.  This road had been girdled and cleared the previous year by the surveyors.  It ran from the east line of the county, about seven miles south of the lake, across the site of Austinburg, to Little mountain, in Lake county, and from thence to Cleveland.  The road passed by the door of Judge Austin's log cabin, and was the only sign of civilization presented in all the great wilderness.  There was in all the settlements of this region a great scarcity of provisions, and in many cases of even the ordinary comforts.
     Judge Austin and his little company, as soon as they had settled themselves in their new home, at once began the work of leveling the forests and clearing the laud preparatory to sowing the first crop of wheat which should be gathered off from the soil.  The summer was spent also in exploring the land belonging to the various land companies, in searching for mill-sites, and in visiting settlers.  Late in the autumn he started for his home in the distant east, leaving the little company which he had brought with him as the seeds of the colony which was to grow.  Taking his son with him, he set out on horseback by the Indian trail which had been his route to the new forest home.

A COLONY ORGANIZED.

     Having arrived at home and satisfactorily arranged the business of the land company, he proceeded to carry out the project which was in his mind of raising a colony for settlement in the distant west.  In this enterprise Judge Austin was successful.  It was fortunate for his own prosperity and for the village which bore his name that one so capable of devising and executing plans of large moment had set himself at this task.  The principles which lay at the basis of this undertaking were not mere speculation in wild lands, nor the sordid desire to make money.  It was not a band of adventurers, nor selfish, unprincipled money seekers, which were thus gathered by the commanding character and public spirit of this noble man.  Those who were enlisted in the enterprise were men of the like spirit, —men who sought homes for themselves and their families, but who at the same time sought to plant institutions in the new land.  It is remarkable that the character of a place as well as of a country through all time partakes of the spirit and character of those who first settled it.  The foundations of society in the township of Austinburg were laid in such a manner as later generations have had much reason to be grateful, and by men of whom their posterity have no reason to be ashamed.

NAMES OF THE FIRST COLONISTS.

     The names of Deacon Noah Cowles, Captain Joseph Case, his son, afterwards Deacon Joseph M. Case, Adna Cowles, Solomon Cowles, Joseph B. Cowles, Roger Nettleton, Dr. Orestes K. Hawley, John Wright, Jr., Jonah Moses, Daniel C. Phelps, Isaac Butterfield, Ephraim Rice, Calvin Stone, David Allen, and Sterling Mills are all worthy of a high place, and should be highly regarded in the tablet of memory; for they, with Judge Eliphalet Austin and his family, may be regarded as the founders of society in this important community, and as the originators of influences which have extended far to bless the country.  These were all the members of the colony which, under the lead and through the influence of Judge Austin, were to start in the spring of 1800 for a permanent settlement in this far-off wilderness.  They were all sterling men, —persons who had been brought under the firm but beneficent influence of the New England society and of the Puritan religion, men who carried with them, locked up in their own hearts, the attachment to their fathers’ faith, and at the same time an appreciation of the progress which the growing institutions of our country might introduce.

ARRIVAL OF THE COLONY.

     This hardy band of New England pioneers set out in early spring, and after a successful journey, arrived at the spot where still remained in the lonely forests the families who had established themselves the preceding year.   The first effort of the colony after their arrival was to erect houses for themselves.  These houses were indeed humble dwellings.  They were constructed of the timber of the forest, and for the most part contained but a single room.  Riven splints formed the covering of their roof, and split logs or puncheons served for floors; every thing about them was very rude.  But few families belonged to the colony, as the wives and children were left behind until preparation could be made for their comfort.  The colony had, however, laid in a stock of provisions, a good supply of agricultural implements, and Judge Austin had transported about five hundred dollars’ worth of goods, consisting of hardware, groceries, clothes, boots and shoes, and the various implements and articles which might be used in a new country.

THE FIRST STOCK OF GOODS.

     The stock of goods was one of the first that had ever been brought into this wilderness; the only stock which had ever reached this deep interior before having been in the year 1798, transported by way of Pittsburgh, and carried on pack-horses to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, and there stored in a log house, and afterwards transported by water to Detroit, Dennison & Wilson being the enterprising partners who introduced them to the country.  In the year 1802, Mr. Foster established the first regular store in the Western Reserve, in the town of Poland.

A NIGHT IN THE WOODS.

     One incident of the immigration into this town has been narrated which is worthy of a place in history. Early in February of the year 1800 Deacon Sterling Mills, with his wife and four children, —two sons and two daughters, —the youngest a babe in its mother's arms, started for this distant point in the wilderness.   Taking an ox-team and sled, they arrived at Bloomfield, in the western part of New York, near the Genesee river, where they remained until the opening of spring.  At that time they started again, and arriving at Buffalo, the family were put aboard a small boat, which, in company with a number of others, was starting across the lake for the settlement on the Reserve.  The boat made slow progress, but at length arrived at the dock at Madison or Harper’s landing.  The family, accompanied by Joseph M. Case, then sought to make their way by a trail to the Harper’s settlement and to Austinsburg.  Arriving at the settlement at Harpersfield, horses with saddles were procured for Mrs. Mills and the children, and the little party set out through the forest for “Austin’s Camp,” as it was called.  It was late in the afternoon, and night was falling as they started.  While in the midst of the forest night overtook them.  A rain-storm commenced, accompanied with sharp lightning and thunder.  The little company knew not how far distant they were from the settlement, but the darkness surrounded them, and it seemed impracticable for them to go farther.  They had no means of making a fire, no provisions with them, and seemed helpless amid the dangers of the wilderness.  There were wild animals in the forests, and now the flashes revealed only the wildness and darkness of the scene, while the echoes of the thunder rolled through

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recesses, bringing fear to the heart of the helpless mother and the little children.  The party was obliged to stop; and there, with nothing but the furnishings of the saddle to keep them from the damp earth, and nothing but a single umbrella to protect them from the rain which was falling, the little party, huddled together, spent the long and lonely hours of the night until the morning.  The kind-hearted neighbor and friend, however, took turns with the husband in holding the umbrella over the little babe.  As soon as the daylight appeared the party started, and soon arrived at the settlement, their night encampment being but about three quarters of a mile from the hospitable door of Judge Austin’s cabin.

THE FIRST BOAT ON GRAND RIVER.

     The boat which contained the household goods was propelled along the lake shore to the mouth of Grand river, and up that river to Mills creek, where they were landed.  At this point a hut was erected by the men, and the household goods were stored, while the log cabin, a few rods away, was soon in process of erection, and the preparations were made for the permanent residence of the family.

A WOMAN LOST.

     There are many incidents connected with the arrival and early experiences of this little colony.  It is said that Mr. Mills’ family moved into the log house prepared for them before there was in it either floor, door, window, or chimney.  During this time it is also narrated that Mrs. Mills, one morning whilst the men were away chopping, having need of the tea-kettle, which had been left at the shanty sixty or seventy rods distant, started alone through the woods to bring it, leaving the children in the house awaiting her return.  The day was cloudy, and the path was a dim one.  She lost her way.  When the men returned at noon they found that the mother was absent; she in fact was lost, —lost, too, in a perfect wilderness.  Very naturally their fears were excited.  There was at the time scarcely a single trail or mark of human presence from Buffalo to Detroit, or from Lake Erie to Pittsburgh, by which one who was lost could find direction.  They at once set about to find her, running here and there, shouting, and firing guns as they could.  In the mean time the mother herself, almost frantic with fear and excitement, knew not which way to go, and yet could not bear to stop.  She fled in different directions, fearing even lest every movement should carry her farther away into the forests.  She heard the guns, but could not tell their direction.  At length a conch-shell, which the family had brought with them from the Atlantic coast, and which had previously sounded from hill to hill in the New England home, was brought into use, and now sent out a blast long and loud, which echoed through the surrounding forests.  The sound was familiar.  As the wife and mother heard the familiar note, it seemed like sweetest music it spoke to her of children, of loved ones, and at once she was guided by it to her home, and was soon welcomed by family and friends after a bewildering and painful absence of several hours.

SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS.

     One of the great difficulties of this early settlement was the scarcity of provisions, as nearly all that the families had to eat was transported from a distance.  During the season a small amount of grain was received from western Pennsylvania, and having been ground at a mill in the vicinity, was transported along the lake-shore and landed at Ashtabula creek, and so transported to the settlements.  To Judge Austin belongs the honor of harvesting the first crop of grain in the county, and of securing the first flour from the native-grown wheat.  During this season a large double house had been erected on land near and east of the academy buildings, and near the very spot where now stands the residence called the old Judge Austin house.

THE FIRST HARVEST.

     A log barn was also erected during the same year.  Into this Judge Austin gathered, in July of the year 1800, the harvest of wheat which he had reaped from the land which he had sown the previous year.  It was a crop which his own hand had helped to sow, on land which he himself cleared, and which his own sickle had served to gather.  The harvest was, however, no sooner gathered before the sound of the flail could be heard beating out the grain upon a puncheon floor in the open air, and this was taken to the landing, and then along the lake-shore to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, and again transported to Newburgh, where was the only mill of the whole region.

ARRIVAL OF FAMILIES.

     During the fall, after the labors of the season were over, and suitable preparations had been made for their comfort, a number of these hardy pioneers returned for their families.  Among those who had thus come alone and were now returning were Judge Austin, Deacon Joseph Case, his son Joseph Mills Case, Roger Nettleton, who afterwards settled in Kingsville, Noah Cowles, and Joseph B. Cowles.  The season had been a laborious, but nevertheless a happy and hopeful one.  The forests had been cleared, crops had been sown, houses built, and fruit-trees set out, and now their first harvest of wheat, potatoes, and grain had been gathered.  Early in the year 1801 a number of families arrived from the east, many of them the families of the men who had come the year before, and had returned for them.  Some had come by the water-route, and had brought with them household furniture; others had traveled the distance by land, bringing with them horses and wagons, domestic cattle, provisions, and implements, so by this means the settlement during this season began to assume much of the home-like look.  Judge Austin at this time also brought his family with him, —a family consisting of five daughters and the son who had before attended him.  It is narrated that upon reaching Buffalo the route was considered too difficult for wagons, and accordingly the whole family were placed on horses at Buffalo, and, following an Indian trail, thus made their way across the fords and through the wilderness, having camped two nights in the midst of the forest by the way.  The only incident of especial moment which occurred on this memorable journey was the crossing of a stream where it seemed at one time as if two of the daughters must lose their lives, from the fact that the horse which bore them plunged off the track into water so deep as to overwhelm them.  The presence of mind and ready movement of the father succeeded in rescuing them from their perilous position.  An interesting story is told, however, of one of the daughters, then a little child.  It appears that the route of the party had led through the Indian reservation of the Oneida Indians, and on their way they had stopped among that people.  During the stay the little girl had caught the word which the Indians used when experiencing delight and surprise, and learned to speak it, “C-o-o-wah.”  On the journey she often amused the party by the exact imitation of the Indian accent and attitude in speaking this word.  When the family arrived at the little settlement which was to be their future home, and alighted at the door of the humble cabin, the mother’s heart was swelling with a conflict of mingled emotions.  Just then, however, the sweet little child, catching sight of the little cabin, lifted up her hands in the same wild manner, and, with a loud, merry voice, uttered the novel exclamation, “ C-o-o-wah.”  It was too good; the mother, whose heart had been swelling with mingled emotions, burst into tears, but they were tears of joy rather than of sorrow.  A note of joy and hope and gladness from her own little child had welcomed them all to their home in the wilderness.
     One peculiarity about the settlement of Austinburg is worthy of notice, —the families who composed the colony and who were to be the residents had been accustomed in their New England homes to the habitual worship of the Almighty God, —the God of their fathers and their God.

RELIGIOUS BEGINNINGS.

     On the arrival of the first party in the year 1800, even before their families came, these devout men did not forget to acknowledge their dependence on the Almighty, whose are the forests and whose hand had woven the verdant roof and erected the lefty column of the great temple which they were inhabiting.  "The groves were God's first temples," - in the midst of the solemn stillness they seemed to worship when none but God was near.  During the first season there were but three families in all this neighborhood, and they scattered at a distance from one another, yet this little colony gathered regularly every Sabbath in the same place for the purpose of worship.  Though there was no pastor or church in all the vast territory, yet devout prayer was lifted to God; singing, reading of Scripture, and reading a sermon were the regular exercises of the Sabbath eve amid these men's surroundings.  On the arrival of the families, in the spring of the second season, religious exercises were again established, and were never permitted to cease for a single Sabbath, and have continued for all the years which have since elapsed.  Judge Austin's house was generally the place of meeting until the increase of the inhabitants rendered the place too small, and then his barn was occupied for the purpose.  Meetings were also held in these early days at the house of the excellent deacon, Sterling Mills, who lived in the south part of the town, and whose house was regarded, on account of roads and weather, at the time as more convenient for those in the neighborhood.

FIRST SERMON.

     In August of this same year the first sermon ever delivered in the county or in the Reserve was preached by the Rev. Joseph Badger, of Blanford, Massachusetts.  This devout, excellent man had been sent out by the Connecticut missionary society as the pioneer missionary and general evangelist.  It is one proof of the liberality and ecclesiastical comity of the Congregational denomination that at this time the society which sent missionaries into the west did not ask the question to what denomination that at this time the society which sent missionaries into the west did not ask the question to what denomination a man belonged.  Though itself a Congregational society, and receiving Congregational funds, it frequently made appropriations to

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Presbyterian churches and to the support of Presbyterian pastors.  Rev. Mr. Badger was a very useful man.  His visit to the village of Austinburg was the beginning of an era in the religious character of the region.

CHURCH FORMED.

     On the 19th of October, 1801, Mr. Badger preached in Austinburg.  We quote from his journal.  "There being a small number of professors in the place who were desirous of being instituted into a church, a meeting was appointed for Thursday, October 24, and a church was formed, consisting of ten males and six females."  This was the first church formed on the Reserve.

FIRST ROADS.

     We have stated that the site of the village of Austinburg was located on the road which had been girdled and partly cleared by the first surveyors, in 1798.  Other roads, however, soon became necessary, as the arrival of families from various directions, and the settlement of other neighboring towns, required the opening of these lines through the wilderness.  It will be remembered that after the first settlement of the town no wagon had made its appearance, and that the only access was on horseback or by boat.  It was during the first winter, that of 1800, that the men who remained at the camp, while Judge Austin returned, cut a road through the woods from Austinburg to the Ashtabula Creek.  This road intersected the old girdled road at Austinburg, but in following years was extended from this place to Morgan, and so through New Lyme, across a corner of Colebrook, to Wayne, and from Wayne, through Gustavus, Kinsman, and Vernon, to Poland.  This was called the "old Salt road."  Other roads were afterwards cut out to Harpersfield and Jefferson.  This was the first which was traveled to any extent through this town.

EARLY NAVIGATION.

FIRST SAW MILL.

A SAD INCIDENT.

     Mr. Q. F. Atkins narrates the following sad story:
     Two travelers on their way south were arrested in their journey in the month of August, 1804, by high water in the Mills creek.  Captain Joseph Case, ever ready to help the wayfarer on his journey, determined to assist them in crossing the creek.  For this purpose he went with them a short distance to his canoe.  Stripping their horses of saddles and baggage, the strangers holding their horses by the bridles, led them into the water upon the lower or down-stream side of the canoe, one at the bow and the other about the middle of it, in which position they held them, while Captain Case paddled the canoe to the opposite bank.  Their horses safely over, one of the strangers remained with them, while the other returned with their benefactor for their saddles and baggage. While crossing with these, the man with the horses saw Captain Case go over the side of the canoe with his arms upraised in a tremulous manner, grasping the paddle.  The man in the canoe, looking towards the shore, did not witness this sad catastrophe.  Mr. Lucius Badger says of this event: “ I stood by the side of my father, Rev. Joseph Badger, upon the bank of the stream, viewing its maddened current, and watching the progress of the canoe approaching the shore, propelled through the foaming stream, when, to my utter amazement, I saw Captain Case fall from his seat into the stream on the upper side of the canoe.  As soon as the canoe struck the shore my father sprang into it, and both paddled with all their might to save him from a watery grave.  The current was so strong that when he rose he rose nearly half his length out of the water, raising his hands towards heaven as though supplicating Divine assistance.  When the canoe arrived alongside of him, one man threw down his paddle to seize hold of him, but at that moment he sank like a stone.  Thus was the community deprived in its infantile state of one of its most useful citizens, the church deprived of its most efficient member, and his family bereaved of an affectionate father and pious counselor.  The death caused a gloom over this region, and has been dwelt upon as one of the sad incidents of this early day.”

THE ARRIVAL OF REV. JOSEPH BADGER.

was an event in the history of Austinburg.  As he came with his large family, he brought an accession to the society of the place.  His home was located in the south part of the town,  near the residence of Deacon Mills.  He began to labor for the church, but was frequently absent for months at a time.
     Mr. Badger says, . . . "It became necessary on my arrival in this wilderness to provide bread for my family.  (In this small settlement the people had the previous season raised considerable wheat, corn, and some potatoes, and in the winter of 1801-2 a small mill for grinding was erected, adjoining Mr. Austin's saw mill.  Got flour at the mill, coarse enough, but served well for bread.  Meat was more difficult to be had.  Hearing of a barrel of pork at Painesville, I sent a man with a dray to haul it through the woods, thirty miles; paid twenty silver dollars for one hundred and seventy pounds; it was the whole hog, feet, head, snout, and ears.  I procured two cows, which furnished plenty of milk.  Our pasture was large, without a fence, sometimes the creatures rambled out of hearing for a day or two.  Notwithstanding our long and tedious journey, we had obtained such supplies as made us comfortable, and had much to be thankful for, although sometimes our prospects were very dark.  About this time it was necessary to extend my missionary labors to other parts of the Reserve.  I had only made such arrangements as to shelter my family from the storm and supply them with bread for about two months.

THE GREAT REVIVAL.

     During the year 1804 a remarkable revival occurred in the place.  This revival was attended with singular physical exercises.  They are spoken of in the general history.  By the means of this revival a large number were added to the church, and the whole community was much affected.  The whole number admitted at the time was forty-one, and the Lord's supper was administered to sixty-two persons.  Among those who joined by profession were Eliphalet Austin, Thomas Montgomery, Q. F. Atkins, Henry L. Badger, Juliana Badger, et al.  In a single day

DEA. JOSEPH MILLS

OLD CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH,
(BUILT IN 1815.) AUSTINBURG CENTRE, ASHTABULA CO., O

RES. OF THE LATE REV. G. H. COWLES, (BUILT BY HIM IN 1815.)
AUSTINBURG, CENTRE, ASHTABULA CO., O.

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the church was increased to six times its original membership.  It continued, however, without regular preaching.  Mr. Badger supplied as he could, but had appointments at Conneaut, Harpersfield, and other places.

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.

     The Congregational church of Austinburg was organized Oct. 24, 1801.  It consisted of ten male and five female members.  This was the first church organized on the Connecticut Western Reserve.  The names of the members are as follows:  William Harper, Betsey Harper, Abraham Bartholomew, Zerah Cowles, Erastus Austin, Sally Atkins, John Wright, Jr., David Wright, Moses Wilcox, Alexander Harper, George W. Hawley, Lydia Battell, James Montgomery and Mary, his wife, Edmund Strong and Anna, his wife.  Noah Cowles and Sterling Mills were the first deacons.  Rev. Joseph Badger was the first pastor, commencing his labors in the year 1802.  He preached also regularly at Conneaut, Harpersfield and Morgan.  He was for a time the only missionary in the county, and was often absent from his family and the people.  During the first year the church was deprived of two valuable members, Mrs. T. R. Hawley and Joseph M. Case.  In the fall of 1803 great religious interest was manifest.
     For several years the church was deprived of regular preaching, as Mr. Badger was so often absent, but Sabbath services were punctually continued.
     In the year 1810 the Rev. Giles H. Cowles was called to the pastorate of the united church of Austinburg and Morgan.  Previous to this time a society had been organized, and "it was voted that Austinburg and Morgan unite for three years in one society, to be known by the name of the Richfield Ecclesiastical society, for the purpose of hiring the preaching of the gospel."  September 27, of the dame year, another organization took the place of it, called the Austinburg Congregational society, but composed of citizens of Austinburg, Morgan, and Rome, or towns 9, 10, and 11 of the fourth range.  At this meeting ninety-two persons signed the compact by which they agreed "that we will pay such tax as shall be agreed by a vote of a majority of the members present at the annual meeting, to be assessed on such personal property as shall be listed, or made  subject to taxation for county purposes, and the value of the improved part of our farms and buildings that are not listed.
     At a meeting held at the house of Deacon Sterling Mills, in October, 1810, it was “voted unanimously to give the Rev. Giles H. Cowles a call to settle with us as our minister.  Voted that we give Rev. Mr. Cowles $200, payable in produce, annually, for one-half of his time.”  The Rev. Mr. Cowles was installed over the church in October, 1811.  The society continued to raise the salary by assessments and taxation for many years.  In the year 1816 a revival of religion was enjoyed by the church, at which time a large number of the young people of the congregation united.  The church continued to meet in the log building which was erected at the centre until the year 1824, when they began to occupy the frame building, although it was in an unfinished condition.  Rev. G. H. Cowles resigned in 1830, and in the same year Rev. Henry Cowles became the pastor.  During this pastorate there occurred another revival of religion.  This began with a “four days’ meeting.”  Such meetings had been held in other places, but this church was the first to introduce them into northern Ohio.  They were commenced with considerable doubts and anxiety, but proved a source of great blessing.  Neighboring pastors came together, and persons from many of the towns surrounding assembled.  Rev. Henry Cowles says, “The revival of 1831 doubled the membership of the church in one day.  When I went there, September, 1830, there was but one unmarried member in the church.  No revival had been enjoyed since 1816.  A generation of young people had sprung up with no professed Christians among them.  It was greatly to their advantage that the religious elements all worked together, all Congregational.  Other denominations had no religious footing there during my pastorate.  I think their first good church building was in advance of any other on the Reserve, - earlier, better."
     In the year 1841 the church moved to a new house of worship which had been erected at the north end, where the village now is.  An unhappy division occurred here, and a large number of the members returned to the old house of worship at the centre.  This was during the pastorate of Rev. M. Avery, subsequent to the resignation of the Rev. Henry Cowles.  The withdrawing party employed for a time the Rev. Henry Burton as supply, and soon after built another house of worship in the village.  Services were held in this church building until it burned, since which time the two congregations have been united in worship in the sanctuary first built at this place.
     The pastors who have served the church are as follows:  Rev. Joseph Badger, 1801; Rev. Giles H. Cowles, 1811; Rev. Henry Cowles, 1830-35; Rev. S. W. Burrett, 1835-38; Rev. Sereno Streeter.

CHURCH BUILDINGS.

     The original proprietors of Austinburg appropriated a lot of land of one hundred and sixty acres to the purpose of sustaining the church.  After the arrival of the Rev. Mr. Cowles, in 1811, eighty acres of this land were given to the first minister.  On this land Rev. Mr. Cowles erected the house which still stands.  The first house of worship erected in the township was on this land, in 1810.  It was a log house, covered with long oak shingles, and having a floor of puncheon or split logs, a chimney made of sticks and mud, and a door with wooden latches and hinges.  Previous to this time meetings had been held in private houses, Deacon Sterling Mills' and Judge Austin's general being the place.  On unusual occasions the barns belonging to Deacon Mills and Judge Austin were occupied.  It is also stated that a log hut at the centre was used alternately for the accommodation of strangers and families who were emigrating to the place, and as a house of worship.  This first log meeting-house was the scene of many interesting exercises.  The inhabitants of the town always found it a place where they were sure to meet one another at least once a week.  Some ludicrous things are told of it, however, owing to its rude construction.  It appears that Rev. Mr. Cowles had a fine drove of hogs which suddenly disappeared.  Nothing could be found of them, though the hired men were sent far and near, and the family had about given up, and supposed that they had been destroyed by the bears.  On Sabbath morning, however, as the reverend pastor went to the sanctuary early for devotion, approaching the door, he head a grunting within, but the door was fastened.  The hogs had got inside, and had rooted the puncheon floor against the door, and the stone hearth in every direction, and had made the primitive sanctuary the place of confusion.
     In 1824 the first frame church building in the county, or on the Reserve, was erected in this place.  It was at the centre, just opposite the log church spoken of.  It was modeled after the Norfolk meeting house in Litchfield county, Connecticut.  It was a solid white-oak frame, very high, and when finished had a gallery on three sides.  It had a tower in front, a circular belfry, and a tall spire, and although built while the country was new, was a very stately and handsome edifice.
     Mr. Joseph Mills has given a description of the erection of the building.  He says the raising of the building commenced Monday morning, and continued throughout the week until late Saturday afternoon.  It was raised with tackles and guy-poles, with block and pulleys attached.  The services of an "old salt" were procured to erect the affair, by the name of Ebenezer Church.  When the last timber was laid in its place, Church climbed to the top of the spire, taking rope with him and when at the top, one hundred and five feet from the ground, he drew up a bottle of whisky, which, with three cheers for the new church, he threw as far as he could.  Betsey Cowles, however, says that at the time of the raising the leaders resolved that there should be no whisky drank, as was the custom in those days.  Accordingly, they prepared an abundance of provisions and good coffee for the occasion.
     Mr. Mills says, "The frame church was raised in September, and barely inclosed; and there, without stoves to warm us, without wrappers or drawers, cloaks or overcoats, we used to go to church and continue through two services each Sabbath.  The house was not seated, but ordinary benches without backs were used for a long time.  The church was furnished in a neat and appropriate style in 1824, and dedicated to God with solemn exercises, and our pastor, Rev. Giles H. Cowles, preached the dedication sermon, in which he said this church, properly cared for, will stand long down into the millenium period.   I was myself leader of the choir.  We sang on the occasion, "old Denmark':

     The new and elegant edifice was built during 1877.  It is a fine structure, fronted by a large tower at the northeast corner, which is surmounted by a belfry and steeple, also with a tower at the northwest corner, and with two entrances near the back end.  It is furnished with gothic stained windows and pilasters, or false pillars, on the side, and stone caps surmounting.  The interior contains a commodious audience-room, a large gallery in front and an orchestra in the rear of the pulpit.  The audience-room is finely frescoed, and memorial tablets are inserted into the sills of the windows.  There is a small basement-room below.  The house is an imposing one, very commodious, attractive, and is an ornament to the place.  Its cost was seventeen thousand dollars.

     Schools. - The first school in Austinburg was taught by Miss Betsey Austin, afterwards the wife of Dr. Orestes K. Hawley.  It was in a log barn, which stood west of the old homestead of Judge Austin, now belonging to the institution, and known in 1850 as the King house.  The teacher received nothing for these services, which were rendered in 1801.  The first school-house was built in the autumn of 1802; was located on the little rise of ground west of the dwelling-house of Mrs. Sally B. Austin, in or near the orchard, which is west of the small stream.  It was made of plank notched togeter at the end, with a mud-and-

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stick chimney.  The second school-house was built of logs, and was situated on the east side of the turnpike, a little south of the orchard, on the farm of James Selleck, and nearly opposite his residence.  This was built in 1806.  The third was also a log house, and was situated near the present residence of Seth Walkley, a little west of it.
     The first frame school-house was built and situated on or near the place now occupied by the red school-house, north of Mills creek.
     First teachers. - Miss Betsey Austin was the first teacher in the town.  Among the early teachers at the north part of the town were Clarissa Cowles, Fanny Forbes, Dr. Hawley, Chauncey Hawley, Joel Austin, Florilla Austin.  At the south part of the town were, first, Nancy Wright, now Mrs. Harry Loomis, of Eagleville, Lucinda Atkins, Diana Atkins, Noah Smith, David Wright, and  Josiah Brown.

GRAND RIVER INSTITUTE.

MORE TO COME

HARDSHIPS OF EARLY SETTLERS.

PICTURES OF EARLY TIMES.

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METHODIST CHURCH.

DISCIPLE CHURCH.

CHEESE-FACTORIES.

AUSTINBURG CHEESE FACTORY.

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at Mechanicsville, owned by L. B. Woolever, opened in the spring of 1878.  Mrs. Chas. Spencer has an interest in this factory and makes the cheese.

MANUFACTURES.

AUSTINBURG VILLAGE.

BUSINESS HOUSES.

     F. A. Barnes, drugs, dry goods, and groceries; George A. Pulis, dry goods and groceries; E. C. Miller, drugs and notions; J. H. McClure, hardware; W. S. Orcutt, boots and shoes; F. Shepard, planing mill; D. S. Alvord, wagon-manufactury; H. G. Shipman and M. E. Scoville, blacksmiths; J. C. Shepard, livery.  The hotel at this point is at present under the able management of H. G. Shipman.  F. B. Pierce has a saw- and grist-mill in the northeast part of the township, located on a small stream which flows into Grand river.  Simon Reed operates an extensive brick-kiln at the village.  F. A. Barnes is postmaster at this point, the office being located at his store.
     There is a flourishing post of the Grand Army of the Republic in this township, organized in January, 1878.

TOWNSHIP OFFICERS FOR 1877.

     L. J. Parker, Geo. M. Chapman, and Orlando Payne, trustees; S. McCullough, clerk; w. S. Orcutt, treasurer; T. L. French, assesssor; S. F. Vanhouser and F. Whitney, constables; and Geo. M. Chapman, Thomas Gillis, and J. B. Bartholomew, justices of the peace.  There are eighteen supervisors of roads and highways.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

GILES HOOKER COWLES.

JOSEPH B. COWLES.

LYSANDER MIX COWLES.

REV. J. B. BARTHOLOMEW.

ABIAL WILLIAMS HOWARD.

DEACON JOSEPH MILLS.

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