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AUBURN TOWNSHIP
pgs. 2 - 3
The organization of Auburn occurred in 1831. Its
northern part was taken from Goshen, its southern territory
from Salem, Townships. It is essentially an
agricultural section, and contains the village of
Ragersville, laid out by Conrad Rager in 1830.
The place is situated in the south central part of the
township, west of Sugar Creek. Additions have been
successively made by Daniel Zimmerman in 1848,
Conway, Snyder and Allender, same date, and
Levi Sergent in 1851. Lands near the village which
a few years since sold at three to ten dollars an acre, now
command sixty to one hundred.
Among the pioneers were Ellis Hughes, Hugh Hughes,
Lewis Lawbaugh, Willis Butler, and Mrs. Young.
John Garver and John Allender were two who came
very early. Michael Swagler built and ran the
first water-mill in the neighborhood. It was a great
convenience, and, till consumed by fire, was the means of
drawing a great deal of trade to the place. A
steam-mill was erected by Frederick Norning, in 1851,
for Messrs. Neff, Snyder & Carnes,
who have kept it constantly at work, with slight
intermissions for repairs, to the present time. The
flour manufactured there was taken in large quantities to
Dover, by wagons, and from there shipped by canal to
Cleveland.
The first storekeeper in Ragersville was the town's
proprietor, Conrad Rager, whose daughter is known to
be the first child born in the town. Her mother, at
the advanced age of eighty-two, is hearty and active.
Industry and economy find here an illustration. Those
who settled in this section have exchanged their poverty for
comfort, and the numerous pianos found in the people's homes
attest the love of music and a plane of refined taste.
It is recorded as a fact that game became most abundant at
the time the white settlement began. It is thus
accounted for: The whites drove the game across the
Ohio, but, for fear of angering the Indians, did not follow
it. The Indians chastised by Wayne dared not
approach the river, and the game resorted hither in great
numbers. Deer, bear, wolves, turkeys, and wild geese
abounded. In the river here at Tuscarawas were shoals
of the finest fish, - pike, salmon, perch, and sturgeon.
In the woods, bee-hunters found a plentiful supply of honey;
while vipers, copperheads, black rattlesnakes, numerous and
poisonous, kept the mothers anxious for fear of children
being bitten. Hunting was both an amusement and a
source of subsistence. The Mizers, Neffs, and
Millers are spoken of as notables of this class of
settlers. Some of these assert that they had killed
over a hundred deer in a single season. Grapes are
raised, and excellent wine made. There are six
cheese-factories in the township, whose annual production of
Swiss cheese is forty-two tons. Good wheat is raised
upon the farm lands, alternated with clover, of which seed a
large amount is sold.
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