Geographically, the township of Chardon is known as number nine, in the eighth range of townships of the Western Reserve.  It is bounded on the north by Concord, Lake county, east by Hambden, south by Munson, and west by Kirtland, Lake county.  The village of Chardon, the county seat of Geauga county, is situated upon a most pleasant, healthful and sightly elevation, near the southeast corner of the township, about four miles distant from the county line on the north, and four and one-half miles on the west.  That old and popular summer resort, the Little Mountain, is in the northwest corner of the township, and its new and delightful rival, "Bass Lake," (formerly Munson pond,) is about three miles distant from the court house by road, in a south-westerly direction.

PIONEER HISTORY.

     The pioneer history of Chardon, so far as furnished for this volume, is mostly embraced in a series of articles written by Mr. E. V. Canfield, and published in the Geauga Democrat (now Republican), in 1870-71.  These are given below, with such notes and corrections as are necessary to show what deaths, changes of residence, etc., have since occurred.
     Chardon's early history is gathered from papers and manuscripts that have come into my possession, and from conversation with those few who did pioneer duty here in olden time.  My facts and dates will, I think, in the main, be found correct.
     In 1808 Chardon township was unpeopled, for it was an unbroken wilderness.  Within the present limits of Geauga county, there were, at that time, several settlements, the oldest and most important being in Burton, and Bondstown 'now Hambden).  The seat of justice for Geauga county was established in 1808.  Peter Chardon Brooks, of Boston, a man of considerable wealth and liberality, was the original proprietor of the land, and, evidently, wishing to make his middle name immortal, proposed to the commissioners appointed to locate the county seat, to give them the use of the land now embraced in the town plat of Chardon, if they would call it by that name.  Samuel W. Phelps was appointed director of Chardon town plat.  It was nearly four years after this gift was made by Mr. Brooks, before any one took up his residence here.  In 1811, Captain Edward Paine, then of Painesville, with the aid of Samuel W. Phelps, succeeded in getting most, or all, the timber chopped, on the public square.  Gomer Bradley, for a long time a resident of Claridon, and Curtis Wilmot, of Burton, did most of the axe work.  So an opening was made in the heavy timber, the sunlight let in to warm the soil, and hastening the ripening of the fanner's crops, and the forests have gradually disappeared, to give place to grain, and meadow, and pasture.
     In March, 1812, Norman Canfield erected a double log house upon the premises now occupied for a hotel by Benton & Co.  This was the first building of any kind erected in Chardon, and the metropolis could boast one dwelling. In the same month, the family of Mr. Canfield came to occupy their new house, moving from Litchfield, New York, to Bondstown (now Hambden), in 1804, and from there here, as before stated.  Mr. Canfield, soon after moving into his house, opened it for a hotel.  The building boasted of three rooms

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on the ground floor, and one very capacious chamber, accessible by a ladder from the outside, and through the gable end.  Meager as were these accommodations, this tavern, as all such structures were then called, came to be quite a noted place of resort.  In 1818 this tavern was torn down, and Mr. Canfield built a more commodious frame one.  The most of that building is yet standing,* though entirely covered upon its shoulders the Mammoth hall, etc., built by D. W. Stocking.
     Mr. Canfield and his family were the only inhabitants of Chardon until some time in the spring of 1812, when Captain Edward Paine, jr., came with his family, and erected a large log house near the present residence of D. W. Canfield.  This building was built for a court-house, but Captain Paine occupied it for a dwelling-house until the fall of 1812.  So Chardon had more than doubled its population, a thing that sometimes takes cities a long time to accomplish, for it had two families and a court-house.  This court-house had but one door, and but one room.  The fire-place had no jams.  The chimney was made of split sticks laid in mortar.  The floor was laid with wide, rough boards.  There was one window in the east end, and for a while no floor overhead.  The judges occupied a large, split log, or puncheon, supported by blocks, for a seat, and for a desk, for the lawyers, a long, cross-legged table, belonging to Captain Paine, and the only table then owned by him.  Of course, the witnesses, parties and spectators, were provided with very rude and uncouth seats.  The jury retired to a large log for deliberations, but whether this fact ever caused them to get at log-gerheads, and disagree, I am unable to say.

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     * Since destroyed by fire.

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     * Since deceased.

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OLD PERSONS IN CHARDON.

     We are indebted to our venerable friend, N. H. Parks, for the following list of persons residing in Chardon, seventy years old, and over.  Those marked with a * have died since the list was prepared:

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VILLAGE.

TOWNSHIP.

     [Since the above was written, nearly all the persons named have since died.]  A capital hunt, or considered so at the time, occurred at Munson pond.  Captain Edward Paine was commander of the enterprise, as stated.  Previous to the day of the hunt, the township of Munson, nearly the whole of it, was encircled by a line of blazed trees.  At this line, the forces were to meet and form; Chardon on the north line of the township (Munson), Chester on the west, Newbury on the south, and Claridon on the east. Burton, Troy, and Kirtland participated, assisting on the different lines. Nine o'clock, a. m., I think, was the time for forming the lines, which were composed of men and boys, some with guns, some with pitchforks, some with old bayonets fastened on sticks, some with clubs, and some with tin-horns.  The signal for indicating that the lines were formed was the sounding of the tin-horns, which commenced at the northeast corner of the township (Munson), and was taken up by the first horn on the left, and thus continued around the lines to the place of commencement.  Then a second sounding in the same manner was the signal for starting towards the central part of the township, where was another very conspicuous blazed line at the base of a considerable eminence enclosing some eight or ten acres of ground, where all were to halt, and send in careful and accurate marks men to shoot the game, taking special care not to fire into any of the lines.
     The principal object of the hunt was to destroy the wolves, which, at that time, were very troublesome; and there was a goodly number of them, as well as bears, inclosed.  As the lines were converging, they were seen running from side to side to escape, but, coming in contact with men on every side, they would wheel and run in the opposite direction.  Orders were most strict against any person firing his gun in the advancing line.  But the bears and wolves all escaped through a break in the lines purposely made by some hunters, who

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were opposed to killing off the deer in such a wholesale manner.  All the game that was taken was a few deer and one elk.  Samuel Hopson had just moved into Munson, and his family were the only inhabitants.
     Many laughable events occurred in the early practice before magistrates, one of which I will here relate.  It is said that it takes two to make a bargain, and it also requires that number, or a greater, to make a lawsuit.  Two Chardon neighbors had got into a dispute about some dollar-and-cent transaction, and, not being able to settle it themselves by words, concluded to try what virtue there was in law.  So the justice issued the proper paper requiring the defend ant to appear on a certain day; but, by a slip of the pen, made the hour of appearance at one o'clock a. m., or in the forenoon.  The defendant said nothing, but, about the midnight, or an hour before the time set for trial, arose and dressed himself, lit his lantern, and, at one o'clock, was promptly at the house of the justice.  Observing that no preparations were being made for the trial, he awoke his honor from a refreshing nap, and urged the importance of punctuality, and that he open court.  Of course, mutual explanations followed, and it had the effect to finally dispose of the case without any legal contest.  It is said that a Mr. Hurlbut was the first lawyer that became a resident practitioner in Chardon.  He had but little, if any, practice, and died about the time when business opened in his profession.
     In the fall of 1816, one Dr. George Emery located in Chardon, to practice medicine.  Whether he was a graduate or not is unknown, but he assumed the right to bleed, puke, purge and saw bones.  If he hung out a sign that read on it, "Prescriptions carefully compounded," it ought to have been changed to "Prescriptions carelessly confounded."  In those days everybody had to be bled, and especially in the spring of the year.  The medical practice of those days, for the human family, was just about as rational as the practice for doctoring cattle is now; for, when a cow is taken sick, the first act of surgery is to cut off part of her tail, and then bore her horns, for the practitioner knows that the disease must be somewhere between those two points.
     I am unable to say who was the first resident minister in Chardon.  Services were held here at an early day, but by those clergymen who were doing missionary or itinerant labor.  Lorenzo Dow held occasional services, one season, in the bar-room of Norman Canfield.  Elder Hanks (Baptist), Ezra Booth, John Norris and Ira Eddy (Methodists), and Luther Humphrey (Presbyterian), preached here occasionally.  Ezra Booth came here in 1818, and established the Methodist church, or class of ten members.  But the long list of conspicuous dignitaries who have since figured in the schools of divinity, law and medicine, and the growing magnitude of those professions, require a more extended notice, which will be given in some future article.
     Among the early settlers, was James Bronson, coming from Suffield, Connecticut.  Mr. Bronson came, without his family, in 1814.  He was looking for a location, and, when he left home, intended to buy at or near Cleveland, but was induced not to buy there on account of the representations of its unhealthiness.  In 1815 Mr. Bronson sent for his wife, Hannah, and daughter, Lois H., who was then about two years old.  They moved into a log house that stood a few rods west of the present store of Kelley Brothers, upon land that Mr. Bronson had purchased. In about three years he built and moved into a frame house near the same spot, and afterwards built and lived in another one further east, that stood upon the present west side of the public square.  Mr. Bronson made two or three unsuccessful attempts to obtain well water on his premises, but his energy was at last rewarded, for Mr. Holt put down a drilled well, the first of its kind in town, and one of the best.  It is the well now in the basement of Kelley Brothers' store.  Many laughed at Mr. Bronson for his rashness in think

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     * Mrs. Isaiah Rider is since deceased.

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THE GREAT FIRE.

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THE REBUILDING OF CHARDON.

     On the Monday following the fire (July 27th), a meeting of citizens was held at the town hall for the purpose of consultation, and the adoption of such meas-

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THE CENTENNIAL YEAR. *

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acterized his every act.  He was no dissembler; what he said he believed, and what he believed he acted upon, without fear of criticism.  As judge, or as attorney, no opinion was ever given by him until he examined the question to the fullest extent; and when given, was most invariably correct.
     For more than twenty years, in all matters pertaining to the interests of the public, and the duties of county officers, his opinion was regarded as almost a finality upon all legal questions of public policy. It may be truthfully said that Judge Milton C. Canfield was one of the most useful and worthy men that Geauga county ever produced.
     Hon. O. P. Brown, to whom allusion is made above, was also, for many years, a leading citizen of Chardon and Geauga county, holding many honorable positions.  He was a man of large heart and brain, an able lawyer, a fluent and forcible writer, and an eloquent speaker.  He was one of the most zealous and efficient supporters of the anti-slavery and Union cause—first as a Free-soiler, and finally as a Republican. Removing to Portage county, he became a prominent and nearly successful candidate for congress, was elected to the State senate, and subsequently probate judge, and held the latter office until compelled to resign it in consequence of the painful illness which caused his death, when in the meridian of his life, and the midst of his usefulness and promise.
     We will state, in conclusion, that most of the last portion of this history has reference to the centennial year, which will explain what might otherwise seem inaccurate, as some changes have since occurred.
     A new Odd Fellow's hall was erected over the north end of Randall block, in the summer of 1879, F. C. Conley, contractor. Its dimensions are about forty-five feet front by sixty-six feet deep; and it is one of the most commodious and tasteful halls of its class in the State.
     The old Chardon house, which had stood for over sixty years, was destroyed by fire on the night of Mar. 3, 1879, with all the adjacent buildings, involving a loss of about twelve thousand dollars.  The fire was undoubtedly the work of an incendiary. No lives were lost, but eight horses, three cows, two calves, and three hogs perished in the flames.  It was a great calamity to the entire community.  The enterprising proprietors, Benton & Co., immediately opened a temporary hotel in the town hall and an adjacent dwelling house, and, with the aid of the citizens, devoted their energies to the project of rebuilding.  As the result, on the 17th of June following, a contract was made with George A. Brakeman, of Painesville, for the erection of a new Chardon house, to occupy the site of the old one.  Work on the same was commenced at once, and the new hotel, complete and furnished, opened to the public October 11th. It is, indeed, a credit to the place, being a fine, three-story brick edifice, with a frontage of seventy-two feet on South street and eighty feet on Water street and the public square.  The harmony of its architectural design, and the beauty of its finish, adds much to the attractiveness of the town, and is an honor to the enterprising proprietors, Messrs. Benton & Baldwin.

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MILITARY ROSTER.

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MISCELLANEOUS SKETCHES.

HON. LESTER TAYLOR.* - 320-325

JUDGES HORACE AND ELI T. WILDER - 325-326

JAMES HATHAWAY - 326-327

ALBERT GALLATIN RIDDLE - 327-337

ARTHUR HENRY THRASHER - 337-340

L. E. DURFEE, ESQ. - 340-343

I. N. HATHAWAY - 343-344

*D. W. CANFIELD - 344-345

*ORRIN SMITH FARR - 345-347

HON. HENRY K. SMITH - 347-348

HENRY F. CANFIELD - 348-

EDWARD PAINE, JR. - 348-346 349

ELEAZER PAINE - 346 349

RALPH COWLES - 346 349

WILLIAM KERR - 346 349

WILLIAM K. WILLISTON - 350

MARSH SMITH - 350-351

ABRAM P. TILDEN - 351-352

DANIEL JOHNSON - 352-353

NOAH POMEROY - 353-355

MOSES PARSONS - 355-356

JULIUS O. CONVERSE - 356-358

SPENCER L. WADSWORTH - 358-359