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THIS township is designated
as the eighth of the second range of the original Connecticut
Western Reserve. Much of the following history of this
township is extracted from an address delivered by the Hon. J. R.
Giddings, at the semi-centennial anniversary of the settlement
of the township, held on teh 24th day of August, 1853. Mr.
Giddings became a resident of the territory now called Wayne
when but ten years of age, - this fact, with his retentive memory
and very observing mind, eminently fitting him for the position of
historian.
In the month of June, 1798, Titus Hayes, then a
young man of unusual energy, left Hartford, in the State of
Connecticut, with the intention of joining a company of surveyors to
be employed on the Reserve in that season. He came by the way
of Canandaigua, in the State of New York, with no other companion
than a faithful dog ; and with his gun, a loaf of bread, and some
salt in his knapsack, he left Erie, Pennsylvania. At a place called
Levingston, in Crawford county, he passed the last cabin, and,
trusting to his pocket compass, he bore southwesterly, and entered
the State of Ohio near the southeast corner of Rich- mond, passing
through the territory now called Andover; he entered this township
near the northwest corner; he swam the Pymatuning creek, near the
corner of lot 28. His was the first visit of civilized man to the
interior of our township. It was then an unbroken wilderness. The
dark umbrage of the forest protected the virgin soil from the
noontide rays. The cool waters flowed quietly along the beautiful
rivulets. All was then quiet, and nature reigned in all her pristine
loveliness. In 1799 the township was surveyed into lots of a
half-mile square, each containing one hundred and sixty acres. In
1800, by deeds of partition among the proprietors of the “
Connecticut land company,” the township was conveyed to Oliver
Phelps, Esq., of Canandaigua, one of the original members of the
company.
FIRST SETTLEMENT
FIRST BIRTH IN THE TOWNSHIP.
Page 244 -
rated public Sabbath worship. The first meeting was at his
cabin on, probably, the second Sabbath in July. In the memoirs
of the Rev. Joseph Badger we find that, on the 2d of
November, 1806, he spoke at the house of Joshua Fobes;
and this sermon he calls the first Sabbath preaching in Wayne."
FIRST DEATH.
FIRST WEDDING.
THE FIRST POST-OFFICE.
STATISTICS FOR 1877
CHURCHES
The
following statement in relation to the early Methodist meetings,
formation of the society, etc., is given from memory, the records
having been destroyed. The first church organization was
formed in about the year 1S22, subsequent to which time a
camp-meeting was held on the farm of Titus Hayes (now
owned
Page 245 -
by O. H. Miner). The first meetings were held in
dwellings and school-houses, and among the first ministers were
Charles Thorn, J. W. Davis, Thomas Carr, and
others. The first Methodist church edifice was erected in
1840, at Linden ille. It was a frame structure, and is the
same which is now occupied at the centre, it having been moved to
that point in 1866. Present pastor, T. D. Blinn;
membership, forty.
CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS.
WAYNE INSTITUTE.
Page 246 -
CASUALTIES.
July 4, 1856, Lysander
Fobes was killed at the centre by the premature discharge of a
piece of ordnance, with which they were celebrating our national
independence.
Drayton Jones was fatally injured by falling
through a scaffold and against the cyllinder of a thrashing-machine;
was so horribly mangled that death soon ensued. Cannot
obtained the date.
MANUFACTURERS.
Steam saw-mills, A. J. &
D. W. Hatch, west of the centre, William Remicks,
northwest corner of the township. C. C. Fitch, heading
and stave-works, west of centre. Cheese-factories, C.
Oatman, F. B. Miner, T. J. Fobes, and Messrs. Hart & Chapman.
Grist-mill, located in southeast part of township, on Pymatuning
creek, Messrs. Walworth & McGranahau.
BIOGRAPHIES.
DR. LUTHER SPELMAN.
THE JONES FAMILY.
SAMUEL JONES, SR. *
NATHAN COLEMAN
REV. EPHRAIM TREADWELL WOODRUFF
THE SIMON FOBES FAMILY.
WILLIAM KIDDLE
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