In writing the following history I find myself laboring under great disadvantage, from the fact that nearly all the first inhabitants of the town are either dead or removed beyond my knowledge.  Consequently I have to rely on the recollections of those who came at a later period, and on my own memory while residing in Chester, near the line between the two townships. And, from the fact that the early township records are lost, I here beg the indulgence of the public for the many mistakes which may occur in this attempt to write a history of our township, which covers about half a century of time.
     Some time after the memorable battle on Lake Champlain, which occurred Sept. 11, 1814, three men came from the vicinity of Meadville, Pennsylvania, severally named Crary, Hotchkiss, and Beane, and contracted with Lemuel Punderson, of Newbury, who was acting as agent for Street, who resided in one of the New England States, for tract No. 3, in township No. 8, in the

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PUBLIC ROADS

SCHOOLS

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RELIGIOUS MEETINGS, ORGANIZATION OF CHURCHES, ETC.

FRAME BUILDINGS, ETC.

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ACCIDENTS.

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SUICIDES.

     The first suicide of which I have learned was that of a Mrs. Foster, who took her own life by hanging herself with a skein of yarn.  They were residing on the farm now owned by Lorin Eldridge; but the date of this occurrence I have not been able to learn.  The next was that of Mrs. Francis Hazen, in the spring of 1854.  She had been deranged for some years, and was laboring under the impression that a time of great scarcity was existing or near at hand, and that it was necessary to be very sparing in the article of food.  She had lived very sparingly for a year or more, and finally concluded to do without any food.  I have been informed that she lived as many as fourteen days without tasting

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food more than once, and then in a very small quantity.  The third was that of Arthur Parlin, a young man residing in Chardon.  Some time in the summer of 1858, he disappeared from his home in Chardon, and was seen by some one going towards Munson pond.  Search was made for him, but he was not found for some weeks.  At length some men who were fishing on the pond, discovered his body in the pond, with a stone tied to it.  It is supposed he tied the stone to his body, and then paddled a canoe out to where the body was found, and threw himself overboard.  The fourth was that of Orson Young.  He was a single man, about fifty years of age, having been unable to labor for a number of years, in consequence of a spinal complaint.  He had some property at the commencement of his disability, which was nearly expended.  He remarked to some one not long before his death, that he had about enough left to bury him decently.  He went to the house of C. P. Brainard, proposing to stop awhile with his family, but the first night he hung himself with a handkerchief to the top of his bedroom door.  This occurred in March, 1865.

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MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

 

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TORNADOES

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REMARKABLE SEASONS, ETC.

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HUNTING

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DEATH OF JOHN L. KELLEY.

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the grounds tastefully and convenient for the visiting clubs, and people generally; and for their courtesy and attention through the day, by their committees, both ladies and gentlemen, and by all, individually and collectively.
     The officers, as reported, are: H. P. Bond, president; and Charles Harper, vice-president.  The officers in the ladies' department are: Mrs. E. F. Hovey, president; Mrs. D. Hazen, vice-president; Mrs. William Martin, secretary.

REMARKABLE BIRTHS.

     I think it was some time during the warm season of 1835 that Mrs. Leonard Sweat, residing on the State road, from Chardon to Ravenna, gave birth to four children near the same time, but none of them survived, and all were buried in the same coffin.

POPULATION.

     I have not been able to obtain correct statistics of the population of but one of the decades since the settlement of the township.  The population did not increase rapidly till about 1830.  From that time till 1840, I think it more than doubled.  In that year, the census, taken by O. P. Brown, esq. gave our numbers at one thousand two hundred and sixty-eight.  Take county having been setoff, left Munson the second township in population in the county, Chardon
only outnumbering it.

STATISTICS OF ELECTIONS.

     The earliest township record that I have been able to find, is for 1836.  At the presidential election of that year, the following vote was given: For William Henry Harrison, 110; for Martin Van Buren, 51.  Two years later, at the State election, Joseph Vance, Whig, had 39 votes; Wilson Shannon, Democrat, had no votes for governor. Two years after, in 1840, at the State election, Wilson Shannon had 124 votes for governor, and Thomas Corwin, Whig, had 119.  At the presidential election in November of the same year, William H. Harrison had 121 votes, and Martin Van Buren had 120.  At the general election of 1848, for governor, John B. Weller had 79 votes, Seabury Ford had 71, and Salmon P. Chase had 11 votes.  At the presidential election in 1860, Abraham Lincoln had 172, Stephen A. Douglas had 35, and John Bell had 2 votes.  At the general election in 1863, John Brough had 174 votes for governor, and Clement L. Vallandigham had 15 votes.  At the presidential election in 1864, Abraham Lincoln had 156 votes, and George B. McClellan had 23 votes.  At the election for State officers in 1867, R. B. Hayes had 142 votes, and A. G. Thurman 33 votes.  For the constitutional amendment, 127 votes; against it, 49.

MILITARY ROSTER.
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WAR WITH MEXICO.
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     All of the above served in the Nineteenth Ohio Volunteer infantry.  Capt. Paine's company.
     John A. Phelps and George Smith, regiment not known.

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     * Prepared by O. Miner, and revised by George E. Moore, esq.

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MORE TO COME.... 8/22/2022