PAINT TOWNSHIP was organized Mar. 5, 1816, and was named so because there was a spring in existence where the village is now located, the waters of which resembled red paint, and imparted its peculiar color to the earth and other objects it touched.  The population in 1870 was 1,418.

THE FIRST SETTLER.

     The first man that settled in this township was Michael Waxler, who emigrated from Harrison county in 1810.  He was emphatically a backwoodsman of the highest development of type, dressed in buckskin breeches, hunting-shirt and moccasins, and usually armed with his scalping-knife, tomahawk and rifle.  As the brave man is proverbially generous, even so was our hero, and many persons shared his hospitality.  He frequently hunted with old Lyon and Bill Harrison, the former an ubiquitous character throughout the county, and pseudo-chief of a nameless tribe of Indians.  It is related of Mr. Waxler that he encamped on e night where Winesburg now is situated, and barely escaped destruction from a gang of wolves which attacked him, and to which he offered stout resistance until morning, having, meantime, killed several and, in true Indian style, scalped them.
     The next earliest settlers at this time were, James Sullivan, John Sprague, David Endsley, Nathan Peticord, James Galbraith, William Vaughn, Elijah Carr, Samuel Shull, Frederick Shull and Jacob Beals.  Among others who came in at an early date, were William Beals, Isaac Goodin, Philip Bysel, Philip Zigler, John Caven, Solomon Fisher, Daniel Zook, Reuben Phouts and Archibald Hanna.
     The first election was held in 1816, and Frederick Shull and Jacob Beals were the candidates for Justice of the Peace for the township.  There were not many votes cast, and the result was a tie, whereupon the aspirants cast lots, and Beals was the winner and was the first Justice of the Peace in Paint township, holding the office for twelve years.  Gabriel Barnhill was the second Justice.*

OFFICERS OF PAINT TOWNSHIP, 1877
 

     The following is a list of the Justices of the Peace for Paint township, with date of commission, since 1830:
 

THE MARTYRED LOVERS OF THE FOREST

     We will mention James Galbraith's legend of the Popolat Rocks in this connection.  These rocks took their name from a young Indian - Prince Oppopolat, or Turkey Gobbler - who was banished from east of the Blue Ridge, in Virginia, by his tribe, before the discovery of America, with Fisfisalee, or Pheasant Tail, with whom he had fallen in love, both of whom lived in their banishment one winter at the Popolat Rocks in Paint township.  Oppopolat suffered death from his own tribe for daring to make a wife of Fisfisalee, a beautiful member of a tribe with whom they were at war.  It was here that he was seized and carried home to meet his unwelcome doom, whilst Fisfisalee accompanied him to the Ohio and three herself into the river.

THE MOST SINGULAR MAN.

     One of the most singular men that ever graced Mt. Eaton was Mr. George Phouts, who got up a political music band in 1840.  He was upbraided for his unwarrantable pretensions to piety, when he asserted it was nothing for him, as he had once been a Brigade Inspector, a Representative, a Master Mason, an anti-Mason, a temperance and anti-temperance man, an advocate of universal as well as partial salvation, a persecuted Christian and an abused infidel, a thrice-broken merchant, sometimes an honest man and sometimes a rascal, and that when he was a lawyer he played aristocrat and democrat at different times.  He preferred like Cesar, to be the first man in the village than the second in the empire; hence wanted Mt. Eaton incorporated, so he could be its Mayor.  He was an ambitious fellow, a phrenological puzzle, and withal a clever fellow, of high talents and varied learning.  He quit Mt. Eaton in disgust in 1853, went to Missouri and died there.

     Solomon Fisher, father of Hiram Fisher, of Paint township, was born in Virginia, in the year 1765, and removed to Westmoreland county, Penn, in 1771.  In 1792-93 he attended a meeting to consider the Excise Law, then held in Pittsburg, Penn., presided over by Albert Gallatin, who was born in Geneva, Switzerland, just four years before Mr. Fisher was born in Virginia.  Daniel Bradford was Secretary of the meeting, at which a committee was appointed to draft resolutions expressive of their feelings, and present to Congress an address stating their objections and grievances of the law, and praying for its repeal.  He then removed to Jefferson county, Ohio, near Steubenville, where he lived some ten or twelve years, when he emigrated to Paint township, Wayne county, in 1814, and settled on the farm now owned by his son Hiram, where he died May 25, 1849.  He voted for George Washington when he was elected to the Presidency of the United States the first time in 1788.
     He had fourteen children, and was twice married, six of whom are living.  His son, George Fisher, was one of the first teachers in the township, He was a farmer by occupation, an industrious, prosperous man, and at his death was possessed of considerable wealth.  He took an active interest in local politics and was highly esteemed and respected by all who knew him.  In 1794 he was in the Whisky Insurrection which broke out in the western part of Pennsylvania, involving four or five counties, which at first threatened serious consequences, but which by a union of firmness and lenity on the part of President Washington was soon quelled.  His life was a long and checkered one, full of public and private experiences and bitter trials.  He lived to see his anticipations gratified and a government established by the great Washington, whom by his own vote he aided in elevating to the highest honors of the new-born Republic.
     Hiram, son of Solomon Fisher, was born in Paint township, Sept. 12, 1829, and is a farmer and man of business.  He is alert, active, full of push-ahead-a-tiveness and allows no grass to grow under his feet.  He executes his enterprises with resolution and determination; is a man of integrity, truth and unblemished character.  He abounds in vitality and good humor, and is as full of genial good nature and hospitality as a June meadow is of flowers.  He was married in January, 1856, to Mary E. Fleming, of Richland county, and has ten children.

     David Houmard was born in Canton Berne, Switzerland, Apr. 29, 1802, and removed to America in 1825, reaching New York, after a voyage of forty-four days, July 28, of this year.  He was married, prior to his emigration from Switzerland, to Mary Ann Rosalie, Apr. 15, 1825, sailing June 14, 1825, in search of a new home in the Western world.
     Arriving at the great sea-board city he took passage up the Hudson river to Albany, thence taking the Erie Canal** as far as Lockport,†  when, on account of the unfinished condition of the locks, they had to go six miles by land; thence by canal again to within three miles of Buffalo, which distance they were compelled to walk to the city, and thence to Cleveland via the lake.  Reaching the latter city, then composed of forty or fifty houses, and making observations there for several days, he took his departure for Sugarcreek township, where he arrived Sept. 2, 1825.
     From the time he left home in Switzerland till he attained his destination in Sonneberg, seventeen weeks and one day were consumed - now it takes thirteen days.  His father and mother accompanied him, and their total outfit of baggage, including a wagon, footed in round numbers, 1,765 pounds.  Before leaving Cleveland Mr. Houmard purchased a yoke of oxen, paying therefor $36, which they hitched to the wagon, and in that way they journeyed to Sugarcreek.  He remained but a month in Sonneberg, when he removed to where Abraham Houmard now lives, continuing there till the 10th of May, 1826, when he settled in Paint township, where he has since resided.  Here they purchased 160 acres of land, for which they paid $675.  The first winter they lived in a rude log house, but in the following spring they began to build on the farm where he now lives.  The object of the Houmard family when they abandoned their old country was to settle in Kentucky, about which they heard a great deal, but stopping to see Swiss friends in the Sonneberg settlement they concluded that they liked the place, and dismissed their original project.
     Mr. Houmard is a cutler by trade, and gave his attention to repairing guns, sharpening edge-tools and manufacturing them.  He carries a pocket-knife which he made in Europe fifty-three years ago, which on one occasion he covered when putting on a roof, and which, twenty years afterward, he found upon removing the same.  In this old shop are many antique and quaint tools, many of his own manufacture.  There are grindstones, from the size of a Scotch cake to the nether millstone, and a huge wheel to turn them, and work-benches, various and comic, and bearing the print of antiquity.
     We will briefly describe the house built by Mr. Houmard in 1826:

     The original dimensions of it were 20x30 feet, and it was constructed of logs, not hewed until after the house was erected.  It was composed of two rooms, the second one on the east side being nearly square, and without being filled or mudded.  Here his family, consisting of wife and child, passed the winter of 1826.  The cabin was without a floor, the fire-place was in the center of the room, and, as companions of his family, the cow and calf were wintered in the same room, the cabin being house and stable both.  The milk was kept in white walnut troughs, strained through old garments and clothes, and the churn was made of a hollow cherry tree, with a board nailed on at the bottom.

     Combining his fine memory with his long-kept diary, he makes a very agreeable sort of a French lexicon.  An evening spent with him, if for no other purpose than pour passer le temps, is quite enjoyable.  He has acquired a partial knowledge of the English tongue, and intelligibly addresses himself to conversation.  He practices the courtesies so characteristic of his people, is buoyant, vivacious and full of the gaiete de coeur of the true Frenchman.  He is a relic-hunter and keeper, and possesses specimens that would adorn the shelves of the antiquary.  He has a sword made in 1414; a coin bearing the image of Louis XVI., who was beheaded, the neck of the image bearing a cross-scar, and the crown on the reverse side all cut and hacked, as with knives.  He lives in quiet seclusion upon his farm, a respected citizen, a kind and accommodating neighbor, devoted to his family and strongly attached to his kindred.

     *First French Settlers in Paint Township - David Houmard and family were the first French settlers in Paint township, coming in 1825.  Joseph Perrott was the second, in 1829, and Emanuel Nicolet, in 1830.  In 1834 the immigration became rapid, and many families arrived in the township.

     Elijah Tasker was born in Fairfax, Virginia, 1787;  removed to Ohio in 1820, settling in Paint township, where he lived and died July 4, 1835.  He was married Sept. 7, 1815, to Jancy Jenkins, of Romney, Hampshire county, Va., where she was born Dec. 18, 1797.  When he removed to Wayne county, Reasin Franks, brother of Peter Franks, of Saltcreek township, assisted him in his passage.  Hooking two of his horses into Tasker's wagon, and he furnishing two, the journey was entered upon and successfully accomplished.  Mr. Tasker engaged in farming until his death.   Like other of the pioneers, he and his family felt the pressure of hard times and were witnesses to the hardships and one daughter - the later becoming the wife of William Rogers, of Wooster, and who died Aug. 30, 1876.  His three sons, James William and Isaiah, all live in Wayne county.
     Jan. 9, 1844, the wife of Elijah Tasker was again joined in marriage to Thomas Marshall, a native of Beaver county, Pa., and who removed to Wayne county and settled in Mt. Eaton, in March, 1842.

     MT EATON, formerly known as Paintville, was laid out as early as 1813 by William Vaughn and James Galbraith.  Elijah Carr is said to have built the first cabin in the village, and Samuel Shull kept the first tavern.  The first preacher in the village was Archibald Hanna (Presbyterian), who conducted religious services for several years in a tent in the woods.
     In 1829, through the concerted action of Jacob Beam and James Galbraith, the name of the village was changed from Paintville to Mt. Eaton.  The first election held in Mt. Eaton, under the order of incorporation for special purposes, was on Apr. 4, 1870, three Trustees being elected, and which resulted as follows:  J. B. Westcott, John Schlafly and James Huston, forty-two votes being polled.  At a meeting of the Trustees Apr. 5, 1870, order being polled.  At a meeting of the Trustees Apr. 5, 1870, order being called, on motion of J. B. Westcott, James Huston was nominated as Chairman and Secretary.
     The first order of business was the election of officers, which was determined by lot, the term of service of each Trustee being as follows:  John Schlafly for three years, J. B. Westcott for two years, and James Huston was elected Clerk and Treasurer, and Charles Contris, Marshal and Supervisor.  Present Trustees are John Schlafly, J. B. Westcott and Florian Schafter.
     In 1861, Mt. Eaton Fire Company No. 1 was organized.
     In 1823 James Morrow ran a carding machine by horse-power in Paintville.  In 1827 Messers. Weed & Jones, of Paintville, had an iron foundry in operation.  In 1827-8 Joseph H. White published the anti-Masonic Mirror, a weekly newspaper, in Paintville, which soon expired by lightning, the electric fluid descending the chimney.  In 1831 Colonel William Goudy built the first stream grist-mill, at Mt. Eaton, which was burned down in 1836, rebuilt in 1838, and destroyed in 1839 by the explosion of her boilers.  The result of this catastrophe was the sudden killing of John Murphy, the scalding and mangling of John McDonnel, and the scalding of James Bradly and Jeremiah Nelson, who survived but a day or two.  Joseph Austin was seriously injured but recovered.  One of the boilers was flung fifty yards up a hill, splitting a saw-log in its course, and gashing the frozen earth.
     In 1833 the cholera made its appearance in Mt. Eaton, the contagion having been brought there by Benedict Beaverstine, a Frenchman, who, with his family, and emigrants, and who had a dead child - a cholera victim - with them when they arrived.  The contagion assumed a malignant form at once.  David Boyd, an intoxicated man, with courage engendered of "benzine," strutted up to the wagon to see how a cholera victim would look, was soon attacked and died that evening.  In four weeks twenty-six persons fell victims to the devastating scourge.  It made its appearance about the middle of August.  Drs. Hall and Barber did all they could to stay its ravages, yet the fatality stood as one to ten of the entire population.  James Galbraith was the last victim.  During the prevalence of the epidemic the citizens fled from the village. 
     In 1835-6 Madison H. White published the People's Advocate, a weekly issue, in Mt. Eaton, which, like the Mirror, died for want of support.

     The Dutch War. - In 1844 a riot occurred in Mt. Eaton, at Stinebruner's grocery, where a French and Dutch dance was in progress.  The English, it seems, were the aggressors in this so-called Dutch war.  Windows were smashed in and knocked out, teeth were violently jarred from unwilling jaws, many were badly bruised and wounded, and some shooting was done.  The civil authorities were invoked, and order was restored without loss of life.

     Postmasters. - The following is a list of Postmasters in Mt. Eaton, from 1822:
 

     James D. Westcott, M. D., was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, Jan. 6, 1817.  His father was a ship carpenter, whom the son assisted in various ways, and with whom he remained until he was seventeen years old.  He read medicine with Dr. J. Welsh, of Waynesburg, Stark County, Ohio, with whom he staid five years, and then went to the Ohio Medical College - old school - under Dr. John Mussey.
     He entered upon practice at Magnolia, Stark county, where he remained year, removing in March, 1837, to Mt. Eaton, where he has continued to the present time.  He was married Mar. 12, 1845, to Amanda Lash, of Stark county, and has had eight children.

     Charles C. Roth, M. D., was born in the Kingdome of Wertemberg, Oct. 6, 1827, and emigrated to America in 1853, landing at New York after a voyage of forty-five days.  He remained in the city in one of the hospitals for eighteen months, upon a small salary, when he removed to Winesburg, Holmes county, Ohio, and began practice with Dr. Peters.  He removed to Mt. Eaton in 1856, which has since been his home. 
     Dr. Roth, studied his profession in Tiibingen, in Wertemberg, and Heidelburg, in Baden, graduating at Tiibingen.  He was in the naval academy at this latter place; was in the Schleswig-Holstein war of 1847, and the Revolution of 1848, and has in his possession a medal awarded him for bravery at Baden, by the Duke of Baden.  He was married May 7, 1857, to Magdalene Miller, of Louisville, Stark county, and has had six children.  The Doctor is a member of the Reformed church of Mt. Eaton.

     William Lucas, a native of Northamptonshire, England, immigrated to America in 1832, the same year settling in Mt. Eaton.  Three years thereafter he married Ruth Geiger, who was the first woman he saw in Paint township; had six children, two sons and four daughters.  He began keeping hotel in 1836 in Mt. Eaton, and, with the exception of nine years similarly spent at other places, he has been in the hotel business in this village.  His wife, so well and favorably known as "Mother Lucas," died in January, 1873.  Robert A. Lucas and wife have charge of the hotel.

     George Mathoit, a native of South France, removed to Paint township and settled in Mt. Eaton in 1837.  He was married to Cecelia Dodez, of Paint township, and died Apr. 20, 1872.  He engaged in the furniture business after his arrival, and continued therein until his death.  A. C. Mathoit, his son, was born Sept. 23, 1842, and, with David Ketterer, conduct and are proprietors of the steam furniture works of Mt. Eaton.

     Gustave Shaffter was born in Berne, Switzerland, June 10, 1837, and came to America in 1858, his brother, Florian Shaffter, accompanying him.  They removed to Mt. Eaton in 1864, and became partners in the manufacture of wagons and buggies.

     James Y. Pinkerton was born in Somerset county, Pa., Apr. 1, 1802.  He removed to Wayne county and settled near Mt. Eaton in 1823 and ever after lived an honored, worthy and esteemed citizen of Wayne county.  He was well and popularly known throughout his township and the county; was elected at different times Justice of the Peace of his township and served in the capacity of County Commissioner to the satisfaction and approval of the public.  He was married to Lydia Beam, with whom he lived for nearly 44 years, and had been an active, ardent and faithful member of the Methodist church for nearly 43 years preceding his death.  Whether as Justice of the Peace, as Surveyor or Commissioner, he endeavored to perform the trusts committed to him with impartiality, fairness and local interests of his neighborhood all his life.  He died at his residence, near Mt. Eaton, Sept. 22, 1875.  His son, Van Buren Pinkerton, occupies the old homestead and is an honorable and influential citizen of the township.

     Matthew Pinkerton was born in Somerset county, Pa., May 30, 1817, and removed with his father to Wayne county Apr. 17, 1823.  His father died September, 1860, aged 86 years.  His occupation was that of farmer and stock-dealer, living on the farm for 44 years.  He has held nearly all the offices attainable in Paint township.  He was six years a merchant in Mt. Eaton, has held the office of County Treasurer for two terms, was a stockholder in the old Commercial Bank of Wooster, to which the city he removed in March, 1867.  He issued the currency known as the "Pinkerton Checks" during the war.

     George Kimmel was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, Jan. 27, 1811.  His father was a farmer, and immigrated to Stark county, Ohio, in 1815, settling on the Steubenville road, two miles east of Waynesburg.  The subject of this notice spent his early years with his father, laboring on the farm, going to Canton afterward and learning the trade of tailoring.
     He was married in November, 1832, to Miss Eliza Beals, of Paint township, the same year having removed to Mt. Eaton.  He has had seven children, one son and six daughters, all save two of the daughters dead.  Josephine, wife of David McQuillet, lives with her husband in St. Louis, and Lucy Ann, wife of Samuel Yates, with her husband, resides in Sedalia, Missouri.  When Mr.Kimmel, came to Mt. Eaton there were but four Frenchmen in the village, to-wit:  Emanual Nicolet, Isaac Banly, Louis Dodez and a Mr. Perrott.  Its population then consisted of Pennsylvanians and a few Virginians.  Mr. Kimmel is a farmer, a good citizen, a member of the Methodist church of Mt. Eaton, joining the same in 1834.

     Conrad Haverstock, a native of Switzerland, came to America with his parents, who settled in the State of New York, subsequently removing to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in 1812, and to Paint township in 1817, settling on the farm now owned by Daniel Haverstock, where he lived and died in his 75th year, 1830.  He entered the farm from the Government.  He was married to Margaret Richard, of Bedford county, Pa., and had ten children, all of whom are dead but Daniel, who now lived upon the owns the old farm.  He was a member of the Lutheran church, and is buried in Mt. Eaton.  Daniel Haverstock, only remaining son of Conrad, was born in Bedford county, Pa., Aug. 27, 1806; came to Paint township, with his father, and has pursued the vocation of farmer all his life.  He was married to Rebecca Kiser, of Paint township, and has had ten children, three of whom are dead.  His wife died May 13, 1868.

     Henry Lash was born in New Jersey, Feb. 11, 1801, in Sussex county, near Newton, the county-seat.  His father was a farmer, and of German descent, with whom he remained till the attainment of his majority, when he married Miss Nancy Craven, of Pennsylvania.  He continued with his father, working upon the farm, for about three years after his marriage, when he accepted Greeley's advice and went West, settling first in the woods in Paint township, about two and a half miles from Mt. Eaton, bringing with him his wife and two small children.
     His father, David Lash, had purchased the quarter section, prior to Henry's removal, from Mr. Miller, who had entered it.  In the spring of 1825 it was that Mr. Lash arrived at his home in the woods, destitute of every evidence of civilization, save a log shanty, which he had partly built the fall before.  Before his wife and children could get into it, he had to cut out a door, the windows even not being opened.  The cabin was 18x18 feet, of round logs, clap-board roof, puncheon or split log floor, one window and one door.  Fortunately he had a sash for the window, which he had brought along from New Jersey.
     His father, "moved" him, in a one-horse wagon, all the way from old Sussex, transporting for the youthful pioneer a bureau, bed, etc., and driving two cows.  When his father left him, his son counted in his private exchequer five dollars.  Mr. Lash now went to work to open up daylight around his cabin, and the first season cleared up ten acres of land, although for two or three years he made little or no money.  The first year he could not raise two dollars and a half to pay his taxes,  and had to send home to his father for the money.
     He has had seven children, all, save one, of whom are living, and all having left the paternal mansion.  Mr. Lash, though past seventy-seven years, is yet in good health, and says that notwithstanding their exposure and the abuses they suffered sixty years ago in the wilderness, they had good health and enjoyed themselves.  He is a member of the Presbyterian church at Mt. Eaton, in charge of Rev. Milton Brown, uniting within Rev. Hanna's pastorate, of which organization he has been a member for fifty-five years.
     When he removed to Paint township there were no French inhabitants in Mt. Eaton, the county being settled by Pennsylvanians, etc., etc.  His neighbors were the three Dobbins families, Isaac Peppard, Leonard Craven, and chiefly Presbyterians.  His first wife dying, he was married again to Lucinda Dorland, Sept. 25, 1872.

CHURCHES.

     Presbyterian Church. - The church of Paintville - now Mt. Eaton - was organized June 20, 1818, with thirteen members.  The Rev. James Adams officiated at the organization.  To date of June 20, 1872, the church has had five pastors and nineteen ruling elders.  The membership at present numbers seventy-eight.  The entire number of members received into the church of Mt. Eaton, from its organization to July 4, 1876, is as follows:  On examination, 243; on certificate, 166; a total of 409.
     Ministers - Archibald Hanna, from May 25, 1820, to 1832; Nathaniel Cobb, from 1837 to 1840;  Philo M. Semple, from 1844 to 1858; Jeremiah Gillem, from 1860 to 1868; Milton W. Brown,  from 1871 to the present time.
     Ruling Elders - William Hunter, June 20, 1818; William Kilgore, June 20, 1818; Rowland Armstrog, June 20, 1818; Alexander Culbertson, June 3, 1824; William D. Pennel, June 3, 1824; Isaac Peppard, June 3, 1824; Matthew Derlim, William Johnson, no date; Christopher Harrold, Nov. 2, 1837; John Edgar, Nov. 2, 1837; Jeremiah Rockwell, no date; David Lash, November, 2, 1837; Joseph Teeple, 1840; David Kilgore; Alexander Thompson, Mar. 11, 1855; Henry S. Lash, Mar. 11, 1855; Jacob Hudson, November, 1868; George Beam, November, 1868; William M. Johnston, 1868.
     The names of the first thirteen organizing members are as follows:  James Kilgore, Margaret Kilgore, Jane McKinney, William Kilgore, Isabella Kilgore, William Hunter, Mary Hunter, Rowland Armstrong, Jane Armstrong, John Anderson, Agnes Anderson, James Galbraith and Sarah Galbraith.

     The first church was a log structure, situated in the present cemetery grounds, and was built about 1820.
     Milton W. Brown, the present pastor of the Mt. Eaton Presbyterian church, was born in East Union township, May 20, 1821, and is a son of John J. Brown.  His father was a farmer, with whom he remained laboring and going to school until he was twenty-five years of age, when he entered Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pa., where he graduated.  He attended the Theological Seminary at Allegheny City, and was licensed to preach in the spring of 1851.  His first congregations were at Hopewell and Nashville, Homes county, coming to Mt. Eaton in 1871.  He was married Dec. 23, 1851, to Sarah Finney, of Hopewell.

     Evangelical Lutheran Church. - The first record of this congregation goes back to 1832, the church being built, however, many years prior to this date, a log house, its site near where the present St. Paul's church now stands.  The members (about twelve families) were mostly Pennsylvania Germans.  Rev. E. Greenewald, took charge in 1832.  In May, 1836, he was succeeded by Rev. J. B. Reck, who was in turn relieved in the summer of 1843 by Rev. Edwin Melsheimer, continuing pastor until Oct., 1846, when Rev. William B. Rally, pastor of St. Paul's church, Mt. Eaton, supplied the church pro tempore.  Here the record of the church closes.

     St. Paul's Church - This congregation of the Reformed Lutheran church originally attended the Evangelical Lutheran.  In the summer of 1842 the new church was built, the pastor, Rev. A. L. W. Begemann, and Rev. David Kammerer officiating at laying its corner-stone.  It was finished in 1846.  In March, 1845, Rev. Robert Kochler became minister of St. Paul's, serving one year.  Rev. W. B. Rally was his successor, continuing until 1851.  The congregation separated into two, a German and French, the former electing Rev. Johann Ackeret for its pastor, while the latter recalled Rev. Kochler.  The congregations retained their common property, creed and name.  Rev. Ackerret served the German congregation until 1868.  Rev. Philip Decker was his successor.  He resigned in 1876, and was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. H. Nau.

     Jacob Fraze was born in New Jersey 1772, and was a millwright by trade.  From New Jersey he removed to Westmoreland county, Pa., thence to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and thence to Paint township, Wayne county, 1822, to where his son George now lives.  He had visited the county prior to this, however, and in 1821 had built what was known as Grable's grist and saw mill, for which he received 105 acres of land, and on which he settled Apr. 1, 1822.  When he took possession of the farm its whole improvement consisted of an unchunked, undaubed, unfinished cabin, scarcely a tree felled, and not a root or grub taken out.  On this farm, Mr. Fraze remained, cultivating it, and by turns working at his trade, until his death, in February, 1833.  He was a capital mill-wright and master of his craft, and was known far and wide, and was often known to hide when persons would call at his house to get him to repair their mills.  He was of German origin, and an excellent German as well as English scholar.  He was married in 1827 to Rachael Willard, of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and had three children.

     George Fraze, the only son of Jacob Fraze, was born Apr. 1, 1821, at Putnam's Mill, Stark county, Ohio, and came to Paint township with his father, where, with the exception of three years, which he spent in acquiring the trade of wheelwright and chairmaking, he has since resided.  He was married Mar. 4, 1846 to Sarah Adams, of Paint township, and has had eleven children, nine of whom are living.  His son John is a graduate of Mt. Union, and of the Law College at Ann Arbor, and is practicing law at Akron, Ohio,.  Mr. Fraze is one of the most intelligent men of his township, progressive and enlightened in his opinions, and characterized by his ready co-operation in useful and important enterprises.  He possesses a cool, calculating mind, is stern in his convictions, and has the ability to fortify and defend them.

     Eli Brown was born on Brandywine creek, Lancaster county, Pa., and was of Quaker, Dutch and Irish parentage.  He emigrated to Sugarcreek township, Wayne county, in 1810.  He was a school teacher and surveyor, and for ten or twelve years gave attention to surveying, meantime entering six quarter sections of land in Paint township.  So, preferring the farm to the compass, he settled on the premises now owned by Mrs. Sarah Brown, mother of Charles H. Brown.  He died Apr. 28, 1839, having had six children, two sons and four daughters.

     Charles H. Brown was born Apr. 22, 1825, and was early introduced to the monotony and drudgery of the farm life.  He went to school to his father, and after his death the principal oversight of the farm devolved upon him.  He remained with his mother until 1850, having the entire disposition and management of the place upon him, when, on the 22d of Oct. of this year, he was joined in wedlock, by Rev. Archibald Hanna, to Nercissa Galbraith.  Mr. Brown has three children - one son and two daughters.  He is a stirring, wide-awake business man, full of activity, and in the prime of life.  He is a farmer, stock-dealer, speculator, according to circumstances, a man of honor, character and reputation.

     WEST LEBANON is a small village, three miles northeast of Mt. Eaton, and was laid out in 1833 by Philip Groff and Rev. William Butt.  Frederick Bysell, it is claimed, built the first house and kept the first tavern and postoffice.  Mr. Joseph Harry, who came to Paint township in 1824, and who now lives in West Lebanon, is of opinion that Isaac Stine built the first cabin, on lot 21, in the village, and that the first Postmaster was Adam Zarling.  The office was established, he says, in 1835.  Philip Groff, one of the founders of the village, was a native of West Lebanon, Lebanon county, Pa., and hence, in memory of his native town, called it West Lebanon.  John Hoke is the present Postmaster, and was appointed Jan. 1, 1868.  James Kilgore was the first postmaster in what was called East Lebanon, in Sugarcreek township, in 1833.  Michael Hawn, a Revolutionary soldier, born 1741, and died 1844, aged 103 years, is buried in the Lutheran graveyard at West Lebanon.
     Evangelical Lutheran Church - The first church was built in 1831, and prior to this there existed no organization.  It was erected under the auspices of the Llutheran and Reformed bodies.  The first minister was John Reck; first members, Matthias Siler, Philip Reihaole, Peter Shilling, Phillip Sidle, etc.  Rev. Bordner is the present minister, dispensing the English service.  Membership between thirty and forty.
     Church of God - The Church of God in West Lebanon was organized in 1857 by John Oberlin, John Grameling, Moses Grow and others.  Rev. John S. McKee, was here at the time of the organization, assisted by Rev. Martin Beck.  The services of this body were first held in the Lutheran church, and afterwards in the village school-house until the new church was erected in 1865.  Rev. M. Beck, a gentleman of great liberality, and remarkable intellectual ability, donated the ground for the church edifice, and not only that, he actually assumed the role of carpenter and builder, for which service and labor he received but a partial allowance.  Rev. Beck becamae the successor of McKee, and continued in the pastorate for three years.  Rev. Lewis H. Silvy succeeded Mr. Beck; then came Rev. Alexander Wiley, Rev. Simeon Lilly, Rev. Henry Linn and Rev. A. Long, the present minister.

     A. M McMillen, M. D., was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, near Steubenville, in 1816.  His father was a mill-wright and farmer, with whom the subject of this sketch remained during his earlier years.  After preparing himself for the school-room he began teaching, and for eight years devoted himself to this employment.  He read medicine in Canal Fulton with Dr. Howard, and graduated at the old Medical College of Cleveland.  He began practice at West Lebanon, in 1849, continuing there until his death which occurred May 4, 1874.  He was married in the spring of 1849 to Rebecca Neeper, of Lancaster county, Pa., by which union there were eight children.  He was a member of the Presbyterian church of Mt. Eaton.

     D. H. McMillen, M. D., a nephew of Dr. A. M. McMillen, was born in Stark county, Ohio, near Greenville, Oct. 13, 1848; read medicine with his uncle and graduated from the Cincinnati College of Medical Surgery in June, 1874.  He began practice with his uncle in July, 1874, and continues the same in West Lebanon.  He was married Jan. 6, 1876, to Miss J. A. Braden, of Sugarcreek, township.

     Abraham Bales, father of Jacob Bales the grandfather of Solomon Philip and Daniel Bales, came to Wayne county in the fall of 1811 on horseback, and then seventy-five years old, from Lebanon county, Pa., and entered all the land between Solomon Bales' and West Lebanon - 993 acres; buying in addition to this a quarter section in Stark county.  He died with his son, Caleb Bales, in Wayne county, at the age of eighty-eight.  These 993 acres were divided among nine children, Jacob receiving the 145 acres where Daniel Bales now lives.

     Jacob Bales was born in Lebanon county, Pa., 1787, and removed to Wayne county in 1812, locating on the farm now owned by his son Daniel.  He was married Oct. 5, 1812, to Sada Bowers, of Lebanon county, Pa., and died Mar. 11, 1871, having had born to him nine children, three sons and six daughters.  He had seven brothers and one sister, all of whom are dead.  Caleb was his youngest brother, and died in Sugarcreek township during the summer of 1876.  Jacob lived fifty-nine years upon the old homestead, and during that time not a death occurred among the members of his family, which was composed of nine children, although three have died since his death.  His wife died June 2, 1874, and at the time of his death he had eighty-six grandchildren.
     He was Justice of the Peace of Paint township for a great many years, and was old time Whig and an active politician.  He had many a spirited contest in the local elections of Paint, notably with James Pinkerton, whom he successively defeated until the "labeled bottles" entered the canvass.  He was a member of the Methodist church for over twenty years, subsequently uniting with the United Brethren congregation of West Lebanon.  When Mr. Bales came to the country he found it a bleak and dreary waste, infested with Indians, bears and wolves.  For several years he lived without meat, and as coffee commanded an exhorbitant price it was a delicacy seldom relished and only indulged, as Daniel Bales says, "when there was a birth in the family."  Mt. Eaton had no existence when he penetrated the wild woods; Massillon was barely dreamed of then, and Canton but a cluster of cabins.  He took his first wheat to New Philadelphia, and traveled twenty-three miles to get his flour.
     He was a whole-souled, generous man, lived a sincere and pious life, his house being recognized as "the preacher's home," having entertained fifty-six ministers while living there.
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     * During the incumbency of James Galbraith, and about 1829, the name of the office was changed from Paintville to Mt. Eaton.

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     *There is some dispute as to the matter of the first Justice, some claiming that Barnhill was first.
     ** Mr. Houmard says they were the first European emigrants that passed the great Erie Canal.
     † Here Mr. Houmard narrowly escaped death.  Parties were blasting rock, and they called to him to run, as a fuse was being lighted, but not understanding a word of English, disregarded them, when he was thrown down and wonderfully stunned.

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