LA GRANGE is township number four, range seventeen.  It presents to one who drives through its territory an appearance of thrift and plenty.  Broad, well tilled fields, huge barns, almost bursting with their store, snug farm houses, and beautiful villas meet the eye upon all sides, and silently attest the wisdom, the energy, and the cultivated taste of their owners.

PHYSICAL FEATURES

THE ORIGINAL PROPRIETORS

THE FIRST SETTLEMENT

was made by Nathan Clark, on the 14th day of November, 1825.  Clark was a native of Harlem, Connecticut, and was married in 1816, to Ann Loomis who came with him to Ohio.  HE settled enar the east branch of Black river, and resided there for some time, but afterward bought lot number fifty-one, upon which he remained until 1855, when he removed to Michigan, in which State he died in 1860.  His first wife died in 1833, and he subsequently married Lucy Barnes.
     As soon as the season of 1826 opened so as to allow journeying over the rough roads, and through the almost unbroken woods, the families of Noah Holcomb, Sylvester Merriam, James Disbrow, Joseph A. Graves, James Pelton, Levi Johnson, Curtis Hastings, Charles Rounds and two sons, Joseph Robbins, David and Asa Rockwood and Henry Townsend came into the township, and each established a rude and primitive home.  Fairchild Hubbard came in November from Brighton, where he had been living for several months.
     There were, in the latter part of the year 1826, seventy persons within the present limits of La Grange, some in the east, some in the west, some at the center and still others in the northern and southern portions of the township.  All however were neighbors.  Men living five miles apart in those days knew more of each other than do many now-a-days who occupy the same city house, and felt more truly friendly concern for each other than exists at present, in most cases, between neighbors whose gardens adjoin.  Half a century ago there was a vast deal of sincerity in the daily greetings of the people, a sincerity which the Ameri-

PORTRAITS OF E. D. MERRIAM, M. D. & MRS. E. D. MERRIAM

RESIDENCE OF DR. E. D. MERRIAM, LA GRANGE, LORAIN CO., O.

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ican of 1879 has met so seldom as scarcely to recognize.
     Although there was now quite a settlement, people who had been accustomed to the more advanced conditions of life upon the farms or in the villages of New York, felt an almost unbearable sense of loneliness.  The comparative isolation in which they dwelt was new to them and their hearts turned fondly back to the old love, to the place of their birth and early life, around which hung the halo of the dearest associations and memories.  At this period, there was scarcely a man or woman in the little colony who would not have gladly returned to the old home, had it been feasible to leave the new without sacrificing everything.  Several did have.  Those who remained overcame obstacles, and in the end accomplished more than their fondest hope had ever painted.  The country, they found, was not all that the first enthusiastic writers had represented it to be.  The soil was of a nature difficult to handle with the rude implements they had; teaming was difficult, on account of the west condition of the undrained ground; and the timber was of extremely large growth, rendering the clearing of the forest a greater task than in many other portions of the country.  There were many hardships to be endured.  Food was at certain seasons hard to obtain.  Leeks grew in abundance, and were for a time about the only edible vegetable that the settlers could procure.  The cows fed upon them, and their milk was tainted by the pungent bulbs,.  Cattle were to valuable to be slaughtered for food; and when game failed, some of the hardy pioneers were driven to expedients which their grand-children or great-grand-children of to-day would fancy they could not endure.  It is related of the children in one family, that in a time when the provision store was low, they obtained their principal substance from basswood buds, which they climbed the trees to get.   MORE TO COME................

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OLD.

     David Rockwood, born in Manchester, New Hampshire, Oct. 4, 1777, married Roba, daughter of Charles Rounds, of Champion, New York, and came to LaGrange in 1826, arriving on the 5th of June.  He was the oldest man in the township when he died, having reached the age of one hundred years one month and twenty-five days.  He died Nov. 28, 1877, having been a resident of LaGrange for over half a century.  The helpmate who came with him had an experience of pioneer life in strange disproportion to his.  She died the year after coming into her new home and was the first person who passed over to the silent majority from the little settlement.  Mr. Rockwood married Polly or Patty Graves in 1828, and she died in 1844.  Two years afterwards me married Mrs. Lindsley of Elyria.  David Rockwood was the father of thirteen children, three of whom live in La Grange.  F. W. Rockwell lives upon a farm in the northwest corner of the township, near the one upon which his father settled.  There are also two daughters - Mrs. Emeline Gott and Mrs. Palina Russel.  There are twenty-two grandchildren, descendants of David Rockwood, and thirty-eight great grandchildren.

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     The one hundredth birthday of this patriarch and pioneer was celebrated by his friends and neighbors, and was a memorable occasion.
     The funeral was held December 2d, four days after the decrease of the centennarian pioneer, and was one of the most impressive ceremonies ever witnessed in the vicinity.  The sermon was preached by the Rev. John Mitchell, before a very large audience composed of the people of LaGrange and the aged friends of the deceased from adjoining and distant townships.  After its conclusion the masonic fraternity, of which Mr. Rockwood had been a member for over seventy years, took charge of the service and conducted their solemn burial rite.  David Rockwood well illustrated the truth of the old saying, that the longest life is to short.  He said upon the one hundredth anniversary of his birth that as he looked back upon his pilgrimage it seemed brief, very brief.
     Asa Rockwood, who came into the country about the same time as his brother David, remained in LaGrange but a short time and then removed to Pittsfield.  John Rockwood, a nephew, came to the township in 1828, and made the first settlement on the street north of the center, on the farm now owned by W. W. Noble.
     David Gott came also, either late in 1826 or in the early part of the following year.
     In 1827 there were a number of additions to the population of the township, prominent among whom was Rev. Julius Beeman, of Otsego county, New York.  He was promised by Goodrichfifty acres of land on condition that he would move into the township and officiate as a minsiter of the gospel for ten years.  He accepted, and after the lapse of ten years, during which he had done good service in the settlement for his religion, received a deed of the property.  He was the first preacher who settled in the neighborhood and the only one for miles around.  His work was not confined to LaGrange, for he rode into all of the adjoining territory and held services in a number of localities at considerable distance from his home.  He died in 1853, at the advanced age of 38ghty, retaining his faculties in a marked degree of excellence to the last.  He was a native of Warren, Litchfield county, Connecticut, and was born Jan. 28, 1773.  He commenced preaching when twenty-eight years old, in Rensselaer county, New York, having been ordained in 1803.
    Calvin Wilcox was another of the settlers of 1827.  He was born Nov. 7, 1796, in Charlestown, Montgomery County, New York, and came to Wellington in 1826.  Two years later he settled at La Grange center, and married Harriet, a daughter of Fairchild Hubbard.  He was a man who held deservedly the high esteem of his neighbors, and through their election held various offices of honor and trust.  He died in 1871.
     Ephraim Lewis and brother, and Noah and Marcus Kellogg came in the same year as the above. Noah Kellogg settled on lot number forty. 
     Hewey Noble came in 1828 from New York, and made the second settlement upon the road north of the center, on the farm owned in 1878 by Mr. Blackwell.  He died upon this place in 1871.
     Russell Loomis now living aged ninety-two years, came in 1829, and took up a farm lying next to one upon which he now lives, which is in lot fifty.  He was born in 1786, in Coventry, Connecticut.  He has one son living in the same house with him, R. N. aged sixty-two years.
     Jeremiah Filley was a noteworthy and eccentric genius, who came into the township in 1830.  It is said that he cleared and caused to be cleared over two thousand six hundred acres of land.  He was a remarkably shrewd man in bargaining, and energetic, wide awake man in the now fast growing community, and a great hunter.

AN INDIAN INCIDENT.

AMANDA FREEMAN & BOMAN FREEMAN

RESIDENCE OF BOMAN FREEMAN, LA GRANGE, LORAIN CO., OHIO


MRS. E. H. SANDERS & E.  H. SANDERS

RESIDENCE OF E. H. SANDERS, LA GRANGE, LORAIN CO., OHIO

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EARLY EVENTS

ORGANIZATIONS OF THE TOWNSHIP

MRS. ALLEN SANDERS & ALLEN SANDERS

RESIDENCE OF ALLEN SANDERS, LA GRANGE, LORAIN CO., OHIO

DELOS M. SANDERS & MRS. DELOS M. SANDERS

RESIDENCE OF DELOS M. SANDERS, PITTSFIELD TWP., LORAIN CO., OH

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Noah Kellogg, and Fairchild Hubbard, trustees; James Disbrow, treasurer; Joseph A. Graves and Nathan Clark, overseers of the poor; James Disbrow and Henry Townsend, fence viewers; Henry Hubbard, constable, Henry Townsend and Nathan Clark, supervisors; Eber W. Hubbard, justice of the peace, Fairchild Hubbard, Joseph A. Graves, and Noah Holcomb acted as judges of election, and Eber W. and Henry Hubbard as clerks.
     Following are the officers of 1878:  M. W. Ingalls, clerk; J. B. Gott, treasurer; A. Ryan, Darius Nichols, and N. T. Wilmot, trustees; L. L. Crane and J. H. Brown, justices of the peace; P. Holcomb and Wm. F. Woolcot, constables.
     The township was given its name by Dr. Eber W. Hubbard, a great admirer of General La Fayette, whose country home in France was called La Grange.

CHEESE FACTORIES, SAW MILLS, ETC.

     The first saw mill in the township was built on the farm of Noah Holcomb, by Andrew Holcomb, and the first grist mill was a very weak one-horse power affair, in the north part of the town, of which one Cross was the proud proprietor.  La Grange has now its full share of manufactories, of various kinds — most of them are in the village.   There is an old flouring and saw mill on the east branch of Black river, two miles east of the center, the property of Bradley Woodmansee, and there are three in the village.
     Of cheese factories, there are three outside of the village, one owned by L. G. Parsons, half a mile east of the old plank road, and two miles and a half north from the center; one owned by George Kelner, two miles northwest from the center; and Crozier & Sheldon's factory, two miles east, and a mile and a half South of the center.
     Joel Curtiss has a cheesebox factory a mile west of the center, and two miles south, which supplies many cheese factories in the vicinity, and some at a considerable distance.
     A small stone quarry, in the northwest corner of the township, is operated by Charles Kelner.

BURIAL PLACES.

     The remains of Mrs. David Rockwood, the first person who died in La Grange, were interred in a small "chopping," or clearing, upon the farm of Deacon Robbins, in the western portion of the township, and rested there for seventeen years, when they were removed and re-interred upon MR. Rockwood's farm.
     The first cemetery laid out was the one on the north side of the road, just west of the center.  Here repose, after toilsome and noble lives, many of the brave pioneers of La Grange.  There are two other cemeteries, one upon the River road, in the eastern part of the township, and one in the northwest corner.  The first burial in the cemetery at the center was a child of Lewis Rounds, aged two years.

LA GRANGE VILLAGE.

     Lying exactly in the center of the township, quartered by the north and south and the east and west roads, built up about an open square, is the well-to-do, progressive little village of LaGrange.  It has a handsome brick town hall, seventy-eight by thirty-eight feet, built in 1875, three churches, a hotel, nearly a dozen stores, several quite extensive manufactories, and as well educated, well behaved class of citizens as any community in the county.

INCORPORATION.

     The growth of "the corners," or the center, had been a slow and steady one through many years, but the size of the little village increased so fast during a few years prior to 1875, that the people began to think of having a corporation government, and accordingly petitioned for a charter in the year mentioned.  The first election was held April 8, 1876, and the choice of officers resulted as follows:  Mayor, J. E. Willard; clerk, D. D. Gott; marshal, P. Holcomb; councilman for one year, A. Ryan, G. H. Robbins and Wm. Hopkins; for two years, D. Holcomb, E. L. Gott and O. Dale; and treasurer, D. L. Gott.  In 1876, the councilmen elected were:  A. Ryan, Wm. Hopkins and Chas. Kelner.  The officers elected in 1877 were:  Mayor, E. W. Clark; clerk, A. A. Cragin; marshal, Horace Knowles, Jr.; councilmen, O. Dale, J. C. Willard and George Whitney; treasurer, C. C. Manville; and street commissioner (appointed), Rufus Knowles.  The office of mayor was made vacant by Clarkes departure from town, and at a special election, L. L. Crane was elected to fill the vacancy.  In 1878, three councilmen were elected; Chas. Kelner, N. Marcey and J. B. Hastings.

THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY.

of La Grange shows a stalwart growth form a small beginning.  The people of this township, however, were of good material for the leaven of religious feeling to work in.  The efforts of the early preachers were warmly seconded by the early settlers, who had come from a part of the country in which churches had long been established.  Thee was from the first a feeling favorable to the organization of the institutions of religion.  Something has already been said of the labors of the first preacher, Rev. Julius Beeman, and a few facts in regard to his son-in-law, Rev. F. R. Freeman, who was a strong and influential minister, and a few facts in regard to his son-in-law, Rev. F. R. Freeman, who was a strong and influential minister, will not be inappropriate in this connection.  He was born Oct. 6, 1805, in Worcester, Otsego county, New York, and was married, by her father, to Lucy Beeman, in October of 1826.  In 1828, he came to La Grange, where he remained until 1850.  He cleared two farms, set out two orchards, and shared nearly all of the hardships of pioneer life.  It was while in the midst of these labors and trials that he entered the ministry.  Up to the time of his departure, Mr. Freeman preached almost uninterruptedly in La grange,

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Pittsfield and neighboring townships.  He was one of the seven men in La Grange who voted for Birney, abolition candidate for the Presidency, and was a member of the Buffalo Convention of 1848, whereat was formed the free soil party.  Mr. Freeman is the only person living, all of the number who were upon the deck of the first steam packet in the world - the Cleremont - before, during, or just after the great trial from New York to Albany.  He was a child two years of age at the time, and was carried on board of Fulton's famous steamboat, upon her arrival at Albany, by his father.  Mr. Grumans age is now seventy-four years, and that of his wife seventy.  His home, at the present writing, is and has been, since 1850, in Illinois.

THE BAPTIST CHURCH

was organized as early as 1828, only three years after the first settler came to the township.  It might, perhaps, be called the first fruit of Rev. Julius Beeman's labors.  May 13th there assembled eighteen persons who were the consistent members of the church, - Julius and Charlotte Beeman, Charles and Lydia Rounds, Hannah Pearce, Noah Holcomb, Sr., Eunice Holcomb, Polly Hastings, Noah Holcomb, Jr., Alice Holcomb, Wm. Case, Alfred Stilwall, Phebe Stilwall, Laura Herrick, Joseph Robbins, Joseph A. Graves, Jerusha Graves and Asenath Morgan.  Deacon Robbins is the only one of the original members now alive.  The places of worship were two log school houses, one in the eastern and one in the western portion of the township.  Services were held in them alternately for the accommodation of members living in their neighborhood.  The present pastor of the church is the Rev. S. Jones, and the deacons are Thomas Perkins, Joseph Robbins and D. L. Gott.  Mrs. L. M. Noble is clerk and Mrs. Helen Gott, treasurer.  The church building now in use is at the center; it was built in 1850.  David L. Gott, W. W. Noble and Wells Chamberlain are the trustees.

METHODISM.

     A Methodist class was organized in the east part of town in 1833, the members being Stephen Cottrell and wife, Mrs. Bunt, her son and his wife, Peter Gott and wife, and Mrs. James Pelton.  Peter Gott was class leader from the first and for many years.  After a time, as the population in the settlement increased, it was thought advisable to hold meetings at the center.  Mr. Munger's house was most commonly used, but a log school house across the street near where the Woolcott house now stands, was sometimes the place of meeting.  Rev. Mr. Morey, a circuit preacher, occasionally was present and gave the little class encouragement.  The first quarterly meeting was held in Munger's barn, there being no church edifice at the time and that being the largest building available.  This meeting, we were told, was largely attended and very satisfactory.  It was conducted by a Rev. Mr. Petty.  The Methodists began building in 1839, upon a lot donated by Mr. Munger, a church, which was completed the following year.  C. Noble made and presented the sash.  Peter Gott, Carey Hastings, Otis Hastings and Nathaniel Smith were the principal financial pillars of the church at this time and contributed most of the means used in the erection of the small building.  The old church is now in the rear of Robbins & Gott's store, and is used as a warehouse.  It gave place in 1875 to a handsome wooden structure of Gothic architecture, thirty-eight by seventy-five feet in dimension, which cost about seven thousand dollars.  The pastor in 1878 was the Rev. G. L. Hannawalt; stewards, F. V. Sheldon, Geo. A. Whitney, Walter Dale, H. A. Wilcox; recording steward, Henry Wilkins; trustees, R. Knowles, W. C. Butler, E. R. Hulburt, S. G. Humphrey, R. C. Hasgins, E. Blackwell, H. A. Wilcox, F. V. Sheldon, George Smith.
     The first protracted meeting was held at Elder Beeman's, and continued two or three weeks.  Services were held every morning, afternoon and evening, and a great many conversions were made.  Of the founders of Methodism in La Grange, two only still remain at that place.  Peter Gott and Polly, his wife, live in the village, full of years, and beloved and esteemed by all.

THE CONGREGATIONALISTS,

though they were third in the order of organizing a church, built the first church edifice in the township.  There is now no church of this denomination in the town.  The constituent members of the Congregational church organized in 1834, were Nathan P. Johnson and wife, Calvin Wilcox and wife, William Dixon and wife, Sylvester Merriam and wife, William B. Dixon and Mehitable Robbins.  Services were held at the house of Calvin Wilcox, and Rev. Mr. Talcott, of Wellington, for a time, supplied the pulpit.  Rev. Mr. Eells, of Oberlin, was the first pastor.  The society built, in 1835, a house which they used alternately with the Baptists until the latter denomination erected a church of their own which they invited the Congregationalists to share with them, neither church being strong enough to support weekly preaching.  This relation continued until the Disciples built, when the Congregationalists purchased a half interst in their meeting house.  The old Congregational church was bought by the town in 1853 and made into a school house, after which it became a feed store, and then a hardware store, finally disappearing in a neat building erected by Dr. Merriam.  The Congregational society lost some of its members who were best able to sustain the church, through their removal from town, and those remaining being unable to keep up the church organization and work, it became extinct.

THE FREE-WILL BAPTISTS AND THE DISCIPLES.

     The Free-Will Baptists and the Disciples have had churches in La Grange, but neither denomination is now alive.  The Disciple Church was organized by Calvin Smith in October, 1853, and the first pastor

R. B. MONROE & MRS. R. B. MUNRO

RESIDENCE OF R. B. MONRO, LA GRANGE, LORAIN CO., OHIO

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was Rev. S. R. Willard.  The society built, in 1854, a house in which the Universalists now worship, and in which the Congregationalists still have an interest.  The trustees were D. M. Adams, O. Billings, D. Gott, Jr., R. Fulton and H. Freeman.

THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH

was organized May 19, 1861, its first officers being the following:  Deacons, Elisha Saxton, David Gott; clerk, J. H. Brown; trustees, D. T. Parsons, Horace Sanders, J. H. Brown.  The first pastor was the Rev. H. R. Nye.  The officers for 1878 are:  Trustees, Allen Sanders, D. H. Gott, J. L. Rowell; clerk, J. H. Brown; treasurer, Maria Hastings.  The church has, at this writing, no pastor.

SCHOOLS.

     Throughout the Western Reserve the church and the school have been, from the days of the first settlement, almost inseparable, yet distinct institutions.  They have sprung into being from one mother an done motive - the desire to perpetuate in the west the good influences of the older eastern States.  Almost invariably the pioneers have taken measures for the mental advancement of their children at the same time they have established the church in which they shall receive their moral education.  It was so in La Grange; the same year that witnessed the building of the first church, logs were hewn for two school houses, one in the eastern and one in the western part of the township.  This was in 1828, only three years after the first settler came into the county.  The first teachers were Henry Hubbard and Polly Greeves  After them came numerous others of all degrees of ability; most of them, however, but poorly qualified to teach.
     A farmer from an adjoining township, anxious to get a school for his daughter, mentioned, as a strong recommendation, the fact that she had been part of a term to a high school.  But, in those days, there was not as much required of a teacher as now, and the pay was considerably less than the young men and women of today receive for "teaching the young ideal to shoot."  Male teachers received from twelve to sixteen dollars per month, and young women three dollars per month. 
     There was a steady advancement in the quality of the district schools, and it culminated at the center about 1868, in the establishment of the union school system, which has since been in vogue.  A two-story brick building was erected in that year at a cost of about three thousand five hundred dollars, and a small frame building put up in 1877.  F. V. Sheldon, Dr. Geo. C. Underhill and Geo. E. Freeman were the members of the school at that time, and Dr. Geo. N. Snyder was the first superintendent.  At present E. D. Merriam, D. L. Gott and H. C. Wilcox, constitute the board, and Dr. Snyder is again superintendent.  His assistants are John Handyside and Emma Rawson.  The school has three departments: the primary with fifty-five pupils, the intermediate with twenty-four, and the high school with forty-four, making a total of one hundred and twenty-three.

F. AND A. MASONS

     LA GRANGE LODGE, No. 399, was organized on the 13th, of November 1867, with the following charter members:  Harlow P. Sage, Elizur G. Johnson, Martin Stroup, Orrin P. Robberts, Edson Hastings, Elijah Hastings, Joseph E. Hastings, Reuben Curtice, Harvey Bartholomew, Silas Stroup, David L. Gott, Louis L. Craine, George C. Underhill, Albert Foster, George Foster, John B. Hastings and Edward L. Gott.  The first officers were:  Elizur G. Johnson, W. M.; John B. Hastings, S. W.; Martin Stroup, J. W.; Albert Foster, Treasurer; Harvey Bartholomew, secretary; Orrin P. Robberts, S. D.; Elijah Hl Hastings, J. D.; George Foster, steward; Louis L. Crane, tyler.  In 1878 the following were the officers: G. B. Chamberlain, W. M.; Edson Hastings, S. W.; George Foster, J. W.; H. B. Crozin, treasurer; D. P. Crowser, secretary; H. J. Wilkins, S. D.; J. E. Hastings, J. D.; A. Foster, A. W. Nichols, stewards; S. Stroup, tyler; D. L. Gott, George C. Underhill, F. V. Sheldon, finance committee.  The Lodge has a handsome room, thirty by sixty feet, in the third story of the brick building erected in 1865.  Robbins & Gott occupy the lower portion for a store. 

PHYSICIANS.

     The pioneer practitioner of medicine was Dr. Ebes W. Hubbard, oldest son of Fairchild Hubbard.  He was born in Steuben, Oneida county, New York, in the year 1800, and graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Fairfield, Herkimer county, the same State.  He came to La Grange in 1826.  Dr. Hubbard had quite and extensive practice and enjoyed the thorough confidence of the people among whom he lived, as is attested by the fact that he was many times elected to important offices.  He was the first clerk of the township; was three times elected justice of the peace; became associate judge in 1831; was elected as representative three terms - 1835, 1836 and 1837.  In the last mentioned year he was appointed bank commissioner of the State, and in 1843 was made commissioner of the Ohio Canal fund.  Dr. Hubbard married Honor Kingsbury of Brighton, and was the father of six children.  He resided for many years in Elyria, and in 1853 removed to Staten Island, where he died in 1872.
     Dr. Spencer was the next physician in town.  He was followed by Dr. Julius Beeman, and then came Dr. Jonathan Gibbs.  Other physicians who came at an early day, were Doctors George C. Underhill, James R. Pelton and E. D. Merriam.  Pelton remained until about 1870.  Doctors Underhill and Merriam are still in practice, as are also doctors George N. Snyder, ___ Park, M. W. Ingalls.  Charles W. Higgins and ___ Green, each remained but a short time

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     Dr. Underhill is the senior physician of the town.  He came in 1842, and has been in constant practice in the village ever since, with the exception of two years, when he was in the army as surgeon of the Eleventh Cavalry.  He is a native of Vermont, and a graduate of Willoughby (Lake county) medical college.  His age in 1878 was fifty-eight years.  Dr. Underhill, it is said, was the first physician in the part of the county who used quinine in cases of typhoid fever and inflammation of the lungs.  He began to use this medicine in the first mentioned disease about twenty-five years ago, and in the latter as many as thirty years ago.

POST OFFICE.

     Calvin Wilcox was the first postmaster.  He had the office for about twenty years, and kept the few letters he receved at his house where they were called for not, daily, as at present, but once a week or fort-night.  George Wilcox succeeded his father.  David Gott was postmaster for a number of years.  hon. Nathan P. Johnson was postmaster for fourteen years.  His daughter, Mrs. E. M. J. Noble, was appointed to the office when he died, in 1873, and is the present postmistress.

MANUFACTORIES, BUSINESS HOUSES, ETC.

     The first tavern was built and kept by J. K. Pelton.  It was situated a few rods west of the center, upon the north side of the road.  Pelton also built the Woolcott House in 1846, and Daniel Pelton built another hotel on the north side of the square, still standing but unoccupied.  The present proprietor of the Woolcott House is William F. Woolcott.
     Among the most important of the industrial pursuits in the village is the cheese factory and creamery of Butler, Crozier & Sheldon, which daily manufactures into cheese or butter, the milk of about five hundred cows.
     The wood bending and grindstone turning establishment of Whitney Bros, James and George, is a manufactory of considerable extent.
     A. Odell has a manufactory from which are turned out washing machines and clothes wringers.
     There are three saw-mills, Sheldon & Colemen's, W. C. Butler's, and Behner & Butler's, the latter also a cheese box factory.  Ewing & Benschoter have a planing mill.  Carriage making is carried on by Behner Bros., and A. Ryan; the first named firm also has a foundry.
     The following is a list of businesses houses, etc.:
     Robbins & Gott, general dealers;
     F. V. Sheldon, and D. P. Crowner, groceries;
     M. W. Ingalls, and George N. Snyder, drugs;
     Cragin & Knowles, hardware:
     C. C. Manville, clothing, boots, shoes and men's furnishing goods, etc.;
     L. L. Craine, harness;
     F. Sweeney, meat market;
     Mrs. A. E. Stewart, and Mrs. Grace Bartholomew, millinery;
     Smith & Sheldon and A. Ryan, Blacksmithing.

STATISTICS.

     The following are the statistics for 1877, showing the amount of the most important productions of the townshp, also a population for 1870, and the vote for president in 1876:

VOTE FOR PRESIDENT IN 1876

Hayes ..... 99
Tilden .... 163

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

E. D. MERRIAM, M. D.

NATHAN P. JOHNSON

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R. B. MUNRO

END OF LAGRANGE TOWNSHIP