This Township was organized Oct. 5, 1818.  By the census of 1870 its population was 2,581.  The following is the list of officers of the township, as appears upon the township records:

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     1822.  Trustees - H. Totten, David Garver, Andrew Moore; Clerk - N. W. Perrine.
     1823.  Trustees - George Poe, Henry Totten, Jacob Shellenberger; Clerk - James Boyd; Treasurer - George W. Howey
     1824.  Trustees - Henry Hall, Hector Burns, James Patterson; Clerk - James Boyd; Treasurer - David Garver.
     1825.  Trustees - James Boyd, N. N. Perine, G. W. Howey; Clerk - Squier Pettit; Treasurer - David Garver.
     1826.  Trustees - John Jeffrey, Samuel Sheets, Henry Totten; Treasurer - Hector Burns.
     1827.  Trustees - John Park, James Carlin, Abram Yocum; Clerk - Michael Debolt; Treasurer - John Nead.
     1828.  Trustees - John Rickel, David Brown, James Carlin; Clerk - David Perky; Treasurer - Solomon Bonewitz.
     1829.  Trustees - Michael Totten, Michael Funk, John Vanosdoll; Clerk - Squier Pettit; Treasurer - Solomon Bonewitz.
     1830.  Trustees - Solomon Bonewitz, James Carlin, Thomas McKee; Clerk - John Vanosdoll; Treasurer - Thomas McKee.
     1831.  Trustees - James Shallenberger, Walter Elgin, George W. Howey; Clerk - John Shafer; Treasurer - Squier Pettit.
     1832.  Trustees - James Carlin, Thoams McCoy, Charles Hoffstetter; Clerk - David Perky; Treasurer - Squire Pettit.
     1833.  Trustees - Joel Fisk, John Jeffrey, Charles Hoffstetter; Clerk - J. Carlin; Treasurer - Solomon Bonewitz.
     1834.  Trustees - Henry Hare, Thomas McKee, John Vanosdoll; Clerk - M. T. Brewer; Treasurer - David Garver.
     1835.  Trustees - Hector Burns, David Weaver, Pemberton Pancost; Clerk - M. Anderson; Treasurer - David Garver.
     1836.  Trustees - James Patterson, George W. Howey, John Jeffrey; Clerk - Frank A. Warring; Treasurer - David Garver.
     1837.  Trustees - John Vanosdoll, Thomas McKee, William Carlin; Clerk - John S. Lee; Treasurer - David Garver.
     1838.  Trustees - Robert Mahan, Sol. Bonewitz, William Gibson; Clerk - David Carlin; Treasurer - William Carlin.
     1839.  Trustees - Jacob Secrist, John Trauger, H. Burns; Clerk - D. Carlin; Treasurer - William Carlin.
     1840.  Trustees - Leonard Crawford, John Dulin, Michael Clouse; Clerk - Neal McCoy; Treasurer- William Carlin.
     1841 - Trustees - Hector Burns, Thomas McKee, Sol. Bonewitz; Clerk - Matthew Brewer; Treasurer- David Garver.
     1842 - Trustees - James Reed, J. Brinkerhoff, H. Henderson; Clerk - John Vanosdoll; Treasurer - D. Garver.
     1843 - Trustees - John Brinkerhoff, Christian Garver, Samuel Kline; Clerk - Saul Littell; Treasurer - D. Garver; Assessor - Moses Baxter.
     1844 - Trustees - John Brinkerhoff, Samuel Kline, C. Garver; Clerk - W. C. Moore; Treasurer - David Garver; Assessor - David Carlin.
     1845 - Trustees - John Brinkerhoff, Samuel Kline, Christian Garver; Clerk - David Carlin; Treasurer - David Garver; Assessor - Moses Baxter
     1846.  Trustees - Christian Garver, Samuel Kline, John Vanosdoll; Clerk - H. A. Powell; Treasurer - David Garver; Assessor- Walter Elgin.
     1847.  Trustees - John Vanosdoll, Josiah Clinker, Robert Shaver; Clerk - J. W. Zuver; Treasurer - David Garver; Assessor - David Carlin.
     1848.  Trustees - Robert Shaver, Sol. Bonewitz, Thomas Beall; Clerk - Isaac Crane; Treasurer - David B. McCoy; Assessor - Matthew Brewer.
     1849.  Trustees - Thomas Beall, Solomon, Bonewitz, Mahlon Myers; Clerk - J. L. Crane; Treasurer - D. B. McCoy; Assessor - M. F. Brewer.
     1850.  Trustees - Mahlon Myers, John Keeler, William Burns; Clerk - Samuel Vancleve; Treasurer - D. B. McCoy; Assessor - Matthew T. Brewer.
     1851.  Trustees - John Keeler, Jacob Leatherman, Peter R. Heney; Clerk - J. W. Johnson; Treasurer - D. B. McCoy; Assessor - M. T. Brewer.
     1852.  Trustees - John Keeler, Jacob Leatherman, Peter Eicher; Clerk - D. K. France; Treasurer - D. B. McCoy; Assessor - M. T. Brewer.
     1853.  Trustees - John Keeler, Jacob Leatherman, Henry Herr; Clerk - J. S. Firestone; Treasurer - David Carlin; Assessor - William Lusk.
     1854.  Trustees - Henry Herr, William Smith, John Dulin; Clerk - D. C. Dinsmore; Treasurer - Peter Eicher; Assessor- William Lusk.
     1855.  Trustees - D. Gindlesperger, J. Leatherman, Samuel Herr; Clerk - D. K. France; Treasurer - Peter Eicher; Assessor - William Hoegner.
     1856.  Trustees - D. Gindlesperger, J. Leatherman, D. McCauley; Clerk - D. K. France; Treasurer - Peter Eicher; Assessor - J. W. Hoegner.
     1857.  Trustees - D. McCauley, John Meyers, A. J. Burns; Assessor - J. W. Hoegner; Treasurer - P. Eicher; Clerk - J. Breneman.
     1858.  Trustees - Trustees - D. S. McCauley, Robert Shaver, A. J. Burns; Assessor - J. W. Hoegner; Clerk - M. H. Dodd; Treasurer - Peter Eicher.
     1863.  Trustees - J. W. McVicker, Thoams Howey, Daniel Barnhart; Treasurer - Jacob Leatherman; Assessor - Daniel Gindlesperger; Clerk - D. K. France.
     1865.  Trustee - Samuel Ewing, William Smith, Enoch Moore; Treasurer - Peter Eicher; Clerk - William A. Bonewitz; Assessor - J. W. Hoegner.
     1866.  Trustees - P. R. Henney, W. W. Reid, J. B. Snyder; Assessor - James A. MCoy; Clerk - G. A. Whitmore; Treasurer - Daniel Gable.
     1867.  Trustees - P. R. Henney, W. W. Reid, J. B. Snyder; Assessor - James A. McCoy; Clerk - G. A. Whitmore; Treasurer - Daniel Gable.
     1868.  Trustees - P. R. Henney, W. W. Reid, A. G. Rittenhouse; Assessor - Thomas Ferguson; Treasurer - John Moyers; Clerk - G. A. Whitmore.
     1869.  Trustees - W. W. Reid, A. G. Rittenhouse, Daniel Gable; Assessor - Thomas Ferguson; Treasurer - John Myers; Clerk - G. A. Whitmore.
     1870.  Trustees - Daniel Gable, David Mitchel, James Campbell; Assessor - Ezra Jacobs; Treasurer - John Myers; Clerk - Paoli Sheppard.
     1871.  Trustees - Dan Holtzberg, E. Bonewitz, C. Aukerman; Assessor - Samuel Ewing; Treasurer - John Helman; Clerk - D. Mitchel.
     1872.  Trustees - William Reid, A. G. Rittenhouse, Peter Funnalman; Assessor - Samuel Ewing; Treasurer - Allen Greely; Clerk - David Mitchel.
     1873.  Trustees - Peter Funnalman, William Reid, David Vanorr; Assessor - J. T. Hazzard; Treasurer - Allen Greely; Clerk - William H. Barch.
     1874.  Trustees - William Reid, John Zehner, J. B. Snyder; Assessor - James T. Hazzard; Treasurer - W. R. McClellan; Clerk - David Mitchel.
     1875.  Trustees - David Holtzberg, William Addleman, M. M. Patterson; Assessor - David Baker; Clerk - Allen Greely; Treasurer - W. R. McClellan.
     1876.  Trustees - David Holtzberg, William Addleman, M. M. Patterson; Assessor - David Baker; Clerk - Allen Greely; Treasurer - W. R> McClellan.
     1877.  Trustees - William McKee, Dan. Gable, J. K. Saltsman; Assessor - David Mitchel; Clerk - John Hosler; Treasurer - John Zehner.

     Justices of the Peace -  Nicholas Perine, 1822; George Poe, 1822; N. N. Perrine, 1825; Henry Hull, 1825; Michael Funk, June 21, 1831; David Park, Jan. 31, 1833; Michael Funk, June 10, 1834; Hector Burns, Jan. 20, 1836; William Carlin, June 2, 1837; John Jeffrey, Jan. 22, 1839; William Carlin, Apr. 16, 1840; Hector Burns, Feb. 1, 1841; William Carlin, Apr. 10, 1843; D. Gindlesbarger, Jan. 13, 1845; David Carlin, Mar. 24, 1846; D. Gindlesbarger, Jan. 1, 1848; David Carlin, Mar. 24, 1849; D. Gindlesbarger, Dec. 17, 1850; David Carlin, Feb. 21, 1852; Solomon Bonewitz, May 8, 1852; Philip Mattison, Apr. 13, 1854; David F. Young, Jan. 25, 1856; G. P. Emrick, Apr. 4, 1856; D. Gindlesbarger, Jan. 8, 1857; Peter Ruff, Apr. 22, 1857; John G. Ford, Jan. 13, 1859; David Carlin, Jan. 9, 1860; Jacob McGlenen, Jan. 21, 1862; David Carlin, Jan. 3, 1863; Dan Barnhart, Jan. 20, 1865; David Carlin, Jan. 1, 1866; R. Summerton, Apr. 13, 1866; Dan Barnhart, Apr. 11, 1868; R. Summerton, Apr. 13, 1869; J. R. Henney, Apr. 13, 1869; Dan Barnhart, Apr. 10, 1871; Jacob Leatherman, Apr. 9, 1872; J. R. Henney, Apr. 9, 1872; J. K. Andrews, Apr. 14, 1874; Henry Herr, Apr. 12, 1875; Enoch Morr, J. F. Simon, Apr. 1877.

     Reminiscences of Congress Township by Hon. Michael Totten and James Carlin -  In 1815 the first families moved into what is now Congress township.  Some time during the first week in February Michael and Henry Totten accompanied George and Isaac Poe, and cut a trail from Wooster to where the village of Congress stands, which at that time was all forest, the lands having not been entered.  We encamped with George Poe, about one-half mile from the village, until we could erect a cabin, which we built on section 27, on the lands owned by John Garver.  When we got our cabin completed, some time during the month of February, 1815, Henry and myself went to Wooster and moved our mother and our sister Catharine (the first two white women in the township) and all the household furniture on a sled from Wooster to our cabin.
     On the first of April following George and Isaac Poe and other families came into the township and settled upon the same section.  The same spring Peter Warner, with his family, moved into the south-west corner of the township.  In 1816 Matthew Brewer and James Carlin, with their families, moved to the same farms upon which they lived till their deaths.
     The next to come were George Aukerman and John Nead, with their families.  After this period emigrants came in so fast and settled in such widely different parts of the township that it would be impossible to trace them, or where they located.  The first white person who died was Mrs. Amasa Warner, and the second my

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mother.  The first school ever taught was by John Totten in the first cabin built.  George Poe was the first Justice of the township.  The first school-house was built in 1819, on the south-west quarter of section 37.  The first year after moving into the township my brother Henry and I cleared five acres and planted it in corn, which we cut off in the fall and put down in wheat, and which was the first corn and wheat raised in the township.  Game was very plenty, and for some time after our arrival it was our chief article of food.  We could ot raise hogs or sheep after our settlement, as they would be devoured by wolves.  One winter we had twelve sheep enclosed in the same lot in which the house stood, thinking they were safe, and that the dogs would guard them, but herd of wolves, during the night, assailed them and destroyed eleven; the remaining and last one escaped, and running into the house, awoke the family, but the hungry scavengers of the woods had fled.  The next day, there being snow on the ground, I pursued them as far as the Harrisville Swamp, in Medina county, but got no opportunity of shooting at them.  Near this swamp were encamped about 30 or 40 Indians.  Among other early settlers of the township were John Jeffrey, Walter Elgin, David Gardner, Jacob Holmes, Jacob Shellebarger, Peter and Samuel Chasey, G. W. Howey, David Nelson, the father of James Grimes, James Boyd, Hector Burns, Samuel Sheets, N. N. Perrine, A. Yocum, John Vanasdoll, Rev. John Hazard and family, Isaac Matthews, and others.
     James Carlin says:  The first couple married in Congress township was Jesse Matteson and Eleanor Carlin, the ceremony by Judge James Robison, and that the first sermon preached was by a Presbyterian minister, Matthews, who spoke with a sword girded to his body.  The first grist-mill was built by Naftzger, where a man named Buchanan was killed, waiting for a grist.  George Howey was the first blacksmith, and Michael Funk the first merchant.  The first physician was a Mr. Mills, and the first carpenter and joiner was Jacob Matthews.

     Daniel Chasey was a native of Saratoga county, N. Y., and with his wife immigrated to Wayne county as early as 1814-15, settling a mile north-west of Lattasburg, on old Appletree Moyer's place.  He died at his son Samuel's, west of Congress village, about 1867.  He married Miss Elizabeth Allen.  Samuel Chasey was born in Saratoga county, N. Y., Oct. 21, 1802, and immigrated to Ohio with his father.  He was married to Selona Warner July 26, 1826, and had twelve children, as follows:  Abner G. Andrew H., Jeremiah, Obadiah and Margaret.  His wife died May 2, 1873, he surviving her until July 15, 1876.

     Thomas McKee was born in Northampton county, Pa., June 22, 1796, but came from Westmoreland when he removed to Wayne county, Ohio, in 1818.  He at once commenced milling for Joseph Stibbs, with whom he remained ten years, during which time, in 1824, he married Anna Brown, daughter of Frederick Brown.  In 1830 he removed to Congress township, on a farm he had purchased there eight years previously, and where he now resides,

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but which in later years was largely added to by other lands.   His wife died Jan. 25, 1851, aged 46 years.  They had ten children, as follows:  Joseph, Mary, Thomas, Margaret, Ephraim, William, John, George B., A. E. and Sindalena.  By industry and good management he has succeeded in surrounding himself with the wealth and comforts of life, and now, in his old age, enjoys the proceeds of a remarkably well-spent life.  He is the firmest of Democrats, and popular with his fellow citizens, having been elected Trustee and to other township offices, and was honored with being made one of the first County Infirmary Directors under the new constitution.

     Jacob Leatherman came to Congress Township Mar. 26, 1842, settling on a farm two miles south west of the village of Congress, land which his father, Peter Leatherman, in early days had entered from the Government, Jacob afterwards purchasing the same from im.  He was married Jan. 16, 1841, to Miss Urith Sherrod.  In 1857 he quit farming and removed to Congress village, there engaging in the dry goods business, and in April, 1864, went to West Salem, where he continued in the mercantile trade until 1869, and where he at present resides, at the same time owning and managing his farm near Congress village.  His life has been an earnest one, and his business career characterized by the strictest probity.  For years he has been one of the most enterprising and leading business men of the township, closely identified with all its projects for improvement, and by dint of unflagging industry and perseverance, aided by good common sense and clear judgment, has secured a competency.  He is courteous in manner and of kindly disposition - will go all lengths to befriend a friend, but, on the other hand, will exert himself just as much to punish a person who has done him an injury.  He is an uncompromising Democrat, taking a prominent part in local and state politics; and as a man, to a great extent, commands the respect and esteem of the community at large.

     John Dulin was born near Wellsburg, West Virginia, and with his wife came to Wayne county in 1834, settling upon the farm now partly owned by Abraham Billhammer, where he died May 21, 1845, at the advanced age of eighty-five years.  Mr. Dulin served one year in the Revolutionary war and drew a pension until the time of his death.  He was married to Miss Sarah Sharp, of

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 Virginia.  His son, John Dulin, came to Wayne county about a year prior to his father and settled on a farm about three miles south-west of Congress, in Congress township.  He was married to Miss Mary Cope, of the city of Dublin, Ireland, and had eleven children.  He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and died February 2, 1861.  His wife died Sept. 26, 1864.  To his daughter, Margaret J., who married C. H. Weltmer, we are indebted for these facts.

     John Keeler was born within four miles of Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 20, 1819.  His father came to Wayne county at an early date, bringing his family, and worked for a period on the Samuel Funk farm in Chester township.  He then removed to Galion, Ohio.  John, however, remained in Wayne county, and was married to Hannah Matthews, of Wooster, whose mother was Catherine Poe, sister of Mrs. Kuffel, and daughter of old Adam Poe, the Indian fighter.  After marriage they removed to Congress village, and lived there until Mr. Keeler's death, Feb. 14, 1875.  They had four children, two of whom are dead, one dying when a child.  William, a son, was a soldier in Company F, 102d Regiment, and was killed by the explosion of the steamer Sultana, on the Mississippi river, April 28, 1875.  Sarah C. is the wife of Joseph McVicker.  Thomas B., married to Ida J. Weltmer, is a lawyer in practice in West Salem.

     Congress - This village, originally called Waynesburg, was laid out March 6, 1827, by Philip Gates and David Newcomer, and surveyed by Peter Emery; plat and certificate recorded March 27, 1827, and an be found in vol. 6, page 24, County Records.
     Robert Lowry, a gallant soldier of the Mexican war and the last conflict between the North and South, informs us that Michael Funk, and Elmer Yocum built the first hose in the village of Congress, and that it was situated upon the site of the present Methodist church; that Jacob Hare was the first postmaster, the office being kept on lot No. 5, in the village; that Dr. Mills was the first permanent physician; that George Wicks kept the first hotel, and that David W. Poe established the first tannery in the village.  An Indian died in the house now occupied by the Beard family, and was buried in the old Congress graveyard.  The old Indian and his wife were on a tramp and stopped at Griffith's Tavern, where they got tight and abusive, and the landlord's wife threw a pot of boiling water on him, and he died. 

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     We here reproduce the line of officers of the incorporated village since 1838:
     1838.  Mayor - John Tarr; Recorder - William Rogers; Councilmen - Joe Fish, John Zuver, P. Pancost, R. Summerton, John Potts.
     1839.  Mayor - William Rogers; Recorder - John Tarr; Councilmen - John Rogers, Samuel N., John Stickle, A. Warring, G. K. Hickok.
     1840.  Mayor - R. Summerton; Recorder - A. Warring; Councilmen - M. Funk, John Stickle, John Tarr, William Rogers, G. Boydston.
     1842.  Mayor - David Carlin; Recorder - L. Firestone; Councilmen - David Moore, P. D. Campbell, W. W. Hunter, G. H. Helfer, G. Boydston.
     1844.  Mayor - George Fresh; Recorder - L. Firestone; Councilmen - P. P. Pancost, John Stickel, Eli Wagner, John Keeler, A. Kline.
     1846.  Mayor - David Moore; Recorder - L. Firestone; Councilmen - D. B. McCoy, G. W. Helfer, P. Ross, John Keeler, A. Kline.
     1848.  Mayor - D. B. McCoy; Recorder - D. B. Littell; Councilmen - George Dulin, J. F. Crane, J. Stickle, A. Kline, P. Wagner.
     1850.  Mayor - William Lusk; Recorder - William C. Moore; Councilmen - D. B. McCoy, L. Firestone, D. Carlin, G. S. Dulin, J. Stickle.
     1851.  Mayor - G. K. Hickok; Recorder - L. Firestone; Councilmen - John Keeler, John McCoy, John Stickle, Jacob Fresh, Dan. Helfer.
     1852.  Mayor - G. K. Hickok; Recorder - John Tarr; Councilmen - A. Wieler, G. Seacrist, G. Fresh, I. Fresh, D. K. France.
     1853.  Mayor - R. Summerton; Recorder - W. C. Moore; Councilmen - P. Pancost, J. P. Dorland, J. Brenneman, Dan. Helfer, J. T. Shepperd; Marshal - E. Brubaker.
     1857.  Mayor - P. Pancost; Recorder - I. S. Tarr; Councilmen - J. Leatherman, J. Warner, John Keeler, W. C. Moore, G. H. Helfer; Marshal - J. Lemon.
     1861.  Mayor - John Eliott; Recorder - R. B. Lowry; Councilmen - John Thornby, John Dorland, John Galaher, John S. Tarr, George Fresh, Treasurer - A. Weiler.
     1869.  Mayor - G. M. Michael; Treasurer - G. Galloway; Recorder - J. H. Breneman; Marshal - W. C. Berry; Councilmen - P. J. Brown, Joseph Garver, Joel Good, G. Leiter, H. L. Shepherd.
     1871.  Mayor - G. A. Whitmore; Recorder - George Michael; Treasurer - George Fresh; Marshal - R. Sardam; Councilmen - P. J. Brown, John Shepherd, J. P. Patterson, W. A. Bonewitz, B. S. Burgan.
     1872.  Mayor - G. A. Whitmore; Recorder - G. W. Galloway; Treasurer - George Fresh; Marshal - W. S. Brown; Councilmen - W. A. Bonewitz, B. S. Burgen, P. J. Brown, H. L. Shepherd, J. P. Patterson, R. S. Dulin.
     1874.  Mayor - G. A. Whitmore; Recorder - S. B. Stecher; Treasurer - George Fresh; Marshal - W. A. Bonewitz; Councilmen - P. J. Brown, J. H. Breneman, B. S. Burgan, H. L. Shepherd, A. Weiler, R. C. Dulin.
     1876.  Mayor - Philip Madison; Recorder - R. Summerton; Treasurer - Geo. Fresh; Marshal - R. H. Sardam; Councilmen - J. K. Andres, J. Breneman, J. Lawrence, William Rice, R. C. Dulin, P. J. Brown.
     1877.  Mayor - Philip Madison; Recorder - William H. Carlin; Treasurer - George Fresh; Marshal - John Ward; Councilmen - J. K. Andrews, J. Lawrence, J. Breneman, R. C. Dulin, W. Brown, N. Patterson.

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     David Carlin, son of James Carlin, who emigrated from Ireland to America about 1798, was born in Columbiana county, this State, in 1811.  We extract the following from an obituary, published in he Wayne county Democrat:
     He was, in infancy, brought by his parents to Wayne county.  They settled in Congress township in 1814, which was then an almost unbroken wilderness.  Although in early life he never had the facilities and advantages of a modern education; yet, from his own native strength of mind and love of mental improvement, he acquired, under one of the severest afflictions incident to childhood, which made him a suffering cripple for life, that cultivation of mind which prepared him for life's stern duties, and which enabled him to fill well his place in the world as an active, energetic and highly useful man.
     His neighbors and immediate friends around him, for a long series of years, can attest his worth as a ready helper in their business affairs.  Their confidence in him, as all know, was almost unlimited. Trusts of importance were given him.  Official positions of every description in his township were thrust upon him.  His county placed in his hands the highest and most important trust, that of Treasurer, it had within its gift.  Through all of these, as everyone knows who knew him, he walked the upright citizen, the pure and honest man.  In all his worldly transactions his integrity and honesty were never questioned or doubted.  His death occurred several years ago.

     Reminiscences of Royce Summerton.  - Phineas Summerton, my father, was raised near Boston, and was a native of Massachusetts.  His father, for many years, was a sea-going man, engaging in whale-hunting and other pursuits of that jolly old comrade, the sea.  Abandoning that occupation, he removed to the then western wilds of Cayuga county, New York, settling about sixteen miles from Auburn, where he purchased 600 acres of land, and there he died.
     His children were Phineas, Thomas, Kitura and Phoebe.  Father was born in Cayuga county, State of New York, where he married Rhoda Royce.  After the expiration of twenty years after his marriage he immigrated to Kendal, Stark county, where he stopped with a Quaker family named Clay.  Leaving his family with Mr. Clay, he came to Wayne county and entered the north-east quarter of section 1, in Perry township, then in Wayne county, and now in Chester township, and owned by Mr. Jacobs.   He then removed his family from Kendal, and staid with Isaac Matthews, on the farm now owned by Samuel Shoemaker, west of Lattasburg.  With Matthews the family remained until Mr. Summerton could build a cabin, which was 18 x 24, with clap board roof, clay floor, chimney in the end of it, cupboard in notches in the logs, and blankets for a door, as he was too busy with his crops to make one.  Indians frequently came into the house.  Once they came when he was away, and seeing bottles upon a shelf, asked for them, thinking they contained whisky.  He had six children, to-wit:  Hannah, Amanda, John, Taber, Royce and Thomas.  Of this family only Taber, Royce and Thomas survive.  Father, aided by his sons, cleared up his lands, and soon thereafter bought another quarter in Chester township, and continued accumulating  until he acquired six quarter sections.
     But prior to his removal to Wayne county, he had purchased a farm, and his father had given him one.  Selling the one that had been presented to him, he formed a partnership with a Mr. Hungerford, in the saw mill business in the pine country, in connection with which they built a carding machine and cloth-dressing

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factory.  When they were about ready to begin operations, a cloud-burst occurred and the water of the two streams on which their mills were located, rose to the hight of eighteen feet, sweeping mills and everything in its course.  Father and Hungerford, and a hired man, where in one of the mills at the time, and barely escaped.  This accident likely induced him to remove west, where they started in a two-horse wagon, crossing to Buffalo, and then up the lake shore, over roads so bad that, at times, they had to remove the children, from the wagon.  He was a hard working, quiet, industrious man, a member, with his wife,  of the Baptist church in New York, but after his arrival in Wayne county he united with the Methodists.  He and the father of President Fillmore were neighbors and at this time Millard began the study of law.

     Royce Summerton, son of Phineas, was born October 14, 1811, and removed to Wayne county with his father.  He was married Jun. 19, 1834, to Martha A. Helfer, of Ashland county, by which marriage he had two children, viz::  Maria A. and Mary J. Summerton.  The former became the wife of A. M. Beebe, then residing at Cleveland, she ding Mar. 6, 1864.  Mary J. married W. Pancoast, and died Jan. 10, 1861, and was re-married to G. A. Whitmore, Nov. 14, 1864.
     Mr. Summerton remained on the farm until Apr. 1 1832, when he was hired as a clerk in the store of William Spencer, where he remained to Sept., 1833, when his father rented a store-room in Congress village and gave him $1,000, and when he went to New York, City, gave him $1,100 more.  This latter sum, Mr. Summerton says, in three years cost him $3,600.  His father was first a partner with him for three and one-half years, and after that his brother Thomas for twenty-two months.  He went out of the mercantile business in 1838, lay idle two years, then resumed it, and continued in it until March, 1852, when failing health compelled him to abandon it entirely.  He now invested his money in real estate, owning between 700 and 800 acres of land.
     Mr. Summerton is one of the most enlightened and intelligent of the pioneers of Congress township.  He is probably the wealthiest man in it, and has made his money by the reduction to practical application the irreversible and incontrovertible maxims of business.  He is a man of strictest and unrelaxing integrity, of irreproachable life, who for forty-five years, with his wife, has been a member of the Methodist church.

     Taber Summerton, son of Phineas, was born in Cuyahoga county, and removed to Wayne county with his father.  He was married in May, 1831, to Elizabeth Kuffel.  After owning and ex-

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changing various estates he finally removed to his present residence - the farm originally opened up and owned by Samuel Thorley.  He has been devoted to the pursuits of the farm all his life, and has been prosperous and successful in his labors.  He has a family of ten children, and has been a member of the church, with his wife, for forty-eight years.

     Other Reminiscences of Royce Summerton - When father and his family moved into the county there were but five neighbors within a radius of several miles.  Isaac Matthews came in as early as 1814, and the Poes were here and Peter Chasey and his son Samuel. On one occasion, when father and I were coming to Naftzger's mill, with two oxen in the wagon and one horse in front and I mounted on the horse, the wolves gathered in large numbers around us, and I got terribly scared, but father just laughed and said there was no danger.  After butchering day the wolves were troublesome, and on one occasion a large hog was missing for three days, when it returned mangled and fly-blown, having been, as was supposed attacked by a bear.
     In the early days the woods were infested with pea-vines, which crept over the ground and would climb small shrubs and trees to the hight of two and three feet, and in the fall the cattle would eat it and fatten on it, and many of them died and, it was believed, from the effect of this vine.
     In the first log church (Methodist) in Congress Harry O. Sheldon was preaching at a quarterly meeting, and there being a large crowd present, it was difficult for all to be seated.  Joseph Ewing stood up defiantly in the center of the church.  Mr. Sheldon came back to him and asked him to be seated, which he refused, when Sheldon caught him violently on his hip, carried him out and forced him to kneel down while he prayed with him.

C. J. Warner

     Charles J. Warner, M. D., was born in Wayne township, Wayne county, Ohio, Jan. 1, 1836.  His father, Peter Warner, was a farmer and a native of Sunbury, Northumberland county, Pa., with whom the subject of this sketch remained until he was eighteen years of age.  The farm life, we are quite ready to believe, harmonized with the developing manhood of Dr. Warner, and enables us to describe him as a splendid specimen of physical and muscular outline.  While thus engaged, he utilized every opportunity and employed his leisure hours in study and in the perusal of such books as he could make accessible, and which would most benefit him in establishing a foundation for future acquisitions and fields of usefulness.
     He availed himself of such advantages as the common schools afforded, and was diligent and vigilant in his exertions to qualify himself for some honorable and worthy sphere of labor.  Like most of our self-made professional men, he made his first debut to the pubic in the role of teacher, in his nineteenth year, his servi-

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ces being first rendered in the Rumbaugh district, for which he obtained eighteen dollars per month and boarded himself.  In the summer he would attend school, and in the winter teach, and in this line of employment as preceptor and pupil, he assiduously applied himself for five years.  During this time he became a proficient English scholar, and acquired a valuable knowledge of the Latin language.
     It seems that the Doctor, from an early age had conceived the idea of the Divinity, as Dr. Holmes would say, of the Healing Art, and that if Day and Firestone had

"Hurled a few score mortals from the world,"

They had"

"Made amends by bringing others into it;"

And why should not he enter this most honorable profession, and "hurl" and "bring" like them - and like them carve a name, and bare a

"Snow-white arm to wield
The sad, stern ministry of pain."

     In pursuance of his contemplated purpose, in March, 1857, he entered the office of W. C. Moore, M.D., then a practicing physician in Congress village, with whom he remained four years, three as a student, and one in partnership with him.
     He then removed to Homerville, Medina county, Ohio, where he staid two years, and during this time attended a course of study at the Cleveland Medical College, where he graduated in 1862.
     In the spring of this year he returned to Congress, since which time he has resided there.  His tireless and unremittent efforts to prepare and fortify himself for the responsible duties of his profession have been rewarded by a profitable and lucrative practice, and though but a little past forty years of age, he attained a deserved popularity, and compasses within his professional jurisdiction as wide a circuit as any rival in the county.  He was married Sept. 15, 1859, to Mary E. Pancoast, of Congress village, and has had two children, A. C. and Ellsworth, the latter dying Sept. 7, 1863.  After a happy marriage relation of a little over seven years, his wife died, Dec. 8, 1866.
     Of Charles J. Warner it can literally and truthfully be said, that he is in the meridian of his years.  His sun has barely climbed to its zenith; it burns with clear and steadfast ray upon his path without the remotest sign of dipping toward the western sky.

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     He stands solid six feet high, weighs two hundred and seventeen pounds, is built of substantial material, has a bright, intellectual face, is a man of pleasing manner and affable disposition, of fair complexion, firm and erect carriage.
     He is emphatically a self-made and self-taught man, and one of the most pronounced and enthusiastic advocates of a popular and more diffusive education in the community.  Realizing the obstacles that lie too often in the path of the ambitious youth who aspires to the loftier levels of intellectual culture, and the measureless advantages that accrue from a more general diffusion of knowledge, he places himself to the fore-front of the vast army of educators, and his voice is heard ringing along the line, and mingling with the echo, of "more schools, more and better teachers, and wider diffusion of knowledge, and a greater enlightenment of the masses!"
     Dr. Warner believes with Froude that "
     We ought not to set before a boy the chance of becoming President of the Republic, or President of anything; we should teach him just to be a good man, and next to do his work, whatever it be, as well as it can possibly be done. It is better that a boy should learn to make a shoe excellently than to wright bad exercises in half a dozen languages.
     He believes that all men should be educated, not simply those who contemplate an entrance into the professions, but those as well who are to exert their activities on the lower planes of life.  We extract from one of his published addresses the following, touching upon this point:
     The idea of educating our youths to fill some humble station is entirely ignored, and every boy and girl that has a memory sufficient to contain so much poetry is almost constantly repeating the stanza written by Longfellow:

     Solomon Warner was born Dec. 6, 1807, in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and removed to Wayne county with his father, Peter Warner, in 1816, who died Nov. 14, 1824.  Peter and seven children, to-wit: Peter, Mary, Jonathan, Martha, David, Salome and Solomon.  On his family, but Jonathan, Martha, wife of James Reed, deceased, Mary, who lives with Jonathan, and Solomon are alive.  Jonathan Warner was born August, 27, 1798, in Northampton county, Pa., and was married to Lorainne Pettit, of Washington county, Pa., and has ten children, all of whom are living.
     Solomon Warner is unmarried, and lives in Congress village.  He was a soldier in Company F, 16th Ohio Volunteer Infantry; was in the charge of Chickasaw; captured Sept. 29, 1862; held a prisoner 75 days, exchanged, sent to Camp Chase, and then ordered to New Orleans and discharged, Feb. 2, 1864.  Mr. Warner is possessed of great accuracy of memory, and is an observant, worthy and intelligent man.

     Philip J. Brown was born in Somerset county, Pa., Oct. 14, 1827.  Being left an orphan in early childhood, he was obliged to live among strangers, and at the age of fourteen he was "bound out," in accordance with the custom of the times, for seven years and as indentured apprentice to a blacksmith, of which time, however, he only served five years.  From Pennsylvania he made his way to Virginia, where he followed his trade several years, noted as a skillful mechanic.  Jan. 14, 1850, he was married to Miss Margaret, daughter of John King, of Preston county, West Virginia.  A few years later he adopted the dental profession, which he has successfully pursued for a quarter of a century.  In the spring of 1864, with his wife and two sons, he removed to Wayne county and settled in Congress village, where he still resides.  Dr. Brown speaks several languages with fluency, and being, also, a minister of the Gospel in the German Baptist church, he has formed a wide acquaintance, and his superior intelligence, cordiality and upright character have gained him the friendship and confidence of a large portion of the citizens of Wayne and adjoining counties.

     West Salem was laid out by Peter and John Rickel, June 14, 1834, and surveyed by George Emery.  Plat and certificate recorded June 17, 1834, Vol. 2, page 443, County Recorder's office.  The following is a line of officers since its incorporation, and from 1868:

     1868.  Mayor - D. H. Ambrose; Trustees - E. Eshleman, D. Gable, J. Georget, J. J. Shank, W. R. Huber; Recorder - E. Fritzinger; Treasurer - John Zehner.
     1869.  Mayor - David Mitche; Trustees - John Myers, Ed. Elgin, Dan. Eshleman, O. G. Franks, John Shellhart; Recorder - Edward Fritzinger; Treasurer - John Zehner.
     1870.  Mayor - E. McFadden; Councilmen - John Myers, Dan. Gable, J. W. Read, E. Elgin, D. Baker, P. Bahl; Treasurer - John Zehner; Clerk - E. Fritzinger; Marshal - G. W. Saltsman.
     1871.  Mayor - John Shank; Councilmen - W. D. Humiston, David Jacobs, John Hosler.
     1873.  Mayor - John Shank; Councilmen - C. C. Stouffer, J. P. Bush, Henry W. Morr; Clerk - Allen Greely.
     1874.  Mayor - John W. Read; Clerk - Daniel Eckerman; Treasurer - William R. McClellan; Marshal - William E. Straight; Councilmen - James Cronemiller, A. Hoff, John Shellhart.
     1875.  Mayor - John W. Read; Clerk - Allen Greely; Councilmen - A. J. Gerhart, David Herr, Henry Berry; To fill vacancies - John Barret.
     1876.  Mayor - James Jeffry; Clerk - Allen Greely; Treasurer - John Zehner; Marshal - Joel Berry; Councilmen - John Hosler, G. W. Burns, E. Northrop, Henry Berry, A. J. Gerhart.

     Reminiscences of Mrs. Peter Rickel - it was fifty-five years ago yesterday (October 10, 1877), when Peter and I landed here with our two children, coming from Bedford county, Pa., where he was a farmer.  We settled in the woods near where I now live, built a cabin with puncheon floor and stick chimney.  My first neighbors were Rev. John Hazzard, Mr. Ford and Charles Srile.  Peter, however, had been out here two years before we moved, and entered a quarter of land, on which West Salem is now largely built.  There were no roads then around here, and we

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had a hard time getting the two-horse wagon through.  Peter was born in Virginia Jan. 30, 1794, and died Oct. 7, 1865.  My maiden name was Nancy Rickel, and I was born in old Lancaster, Pa., May 1, 1803.  We had seven boys and two girls, by name, Sophia, Joseph, Michael, Levi, Matthias, George Wesley, Catharine, William and Alexander.  I used to work in the fields, and fainted in the field once while husking corn.  Folks had to work then indeed, and I used to help haul logs, and such things, and now would like to live again in the woods instead of in town, for then I could hear the wild birds sing as in the old days.  John Rickel, who, with Peter, laid out West Salem, was a brother of mine.  He was a native of old Lancaster, Pa., and came to Wayne county three yeas before we did, and some of the town is built upon lands he settled on at that time.  John  was an Albright preacher, and was married to Rebecca Swaysgood.  He had nine children, and died in February, 1860. 

     Joseph Harbaugh put up the first house in West Salem after it was laid out, building it on the spot where McVicker's tavern now stands.  It was an old-fashioned frame, and he paid ten or fifteen dollars for the lot.  Jacob Hyatt first rented it, and died in it three months after he moved in.  James Houston kept tavern in the house afterwards, and his was the first tavern in Salem.  John Reasor put up the second house, building it where Zehner's store now is.  Cass and Emerson were among the first doctors.  William Cass started the first store, without any counter save a bench.  He bought eggs, butter, etc.  Rev. Beer  was an early preacher.

     Orrin G. Franks, the oldest son and child of Abraham Franks, was born in Chippewa township, Apr. 8, 1826, and worked on the farm until sixteen, when he went into the dry goods store of A. & A. Franks, in Doylestown, where he continued until the dissolution of the partnership in 1849, at which time he became a partner of his father, and continued as such until 1861.  He then removed to a farm.  In the spring of 1868 he came to West Salem and entered into the dry goods business, continuing there for two years, after which he went into the stock trade, and then engaged in the boot and shoe business for two years.  He next purchased a half interest in his present business - Bush & Franks, wholesale dealers in butter, eggs, dried fruit, etc., at the same time having an interest in the flax mill.  He was married May 31, 1855, to Anna C. Musser, of Norton, Summit county, and has five sons and four daughters.  Mr. Franks is a representative business man of the county, always on the alert and full of go ahead energy.  He is a prominent Democrat, and held several offices in his native township, where all the great Franks family rank high for capacity and worth.

     Mahlon Moyers is a native of Westmoreland county, Pa., where he was born Apr. 18, 1807.  He immigrated with his father, John Moyers, to Wayne county in Apr., 1819, settling in Plain township, south of Reedsburg, and lived with him until twenty-one,

[Page 826] -
when he branched out for himself, and purchased a farm about one mile south-west of West Salem, Congress township, where he has since continued to live.  He has been twice married, and is the father of fourteen children, ten of whom are living.  His father who died in 1847, introduced the nursery business, and was the first person in Wayne county to grow grafted fruit, a business Mahlon successfully followed until within the last four years.

     The West Salem Press - The first printing press introduced in West Salem was by Dr. Justin Gorget, in December, 1866, who issued a monthly paper called the West Salem Review, devoted to science, literature and local news.  It was published about a year, then changed to Medical Review, which was continued another year, when, owing to his professional engagements, the Doctor suspended it.  The next paper was the West Salem Journal, in 1868, a weekly, neutral in politics, and devoted to general news, edited by John Wicks, of  Medina county, the publication of which was continued two years.  He was succeeded by J. P. Hutton and S. B. McCain, who carried on the paper for two or three months, when the office was sold to John A. Wlbach, who removed the material to Orrville.
     In 1869 F. G. McCauley commenced the publication of a weekly paper named the True Citizen, which he suspended after three months.  On Jan. 1, 1871, Mr. McCauley re-appeared with another paper under the title of the Agricultural Commonwealth.  This was conducted a year,when the name was changed to Buckeye Farmer, an exclusively agricultural paper, which was afterwards changed to the West Salem Monitor, devoted to general and local news, neutral in politics.  In June, 1875, Mr. McCauley sold the Monitor to Messrs. Brenizer & Atkinson, who ran it until June 25, 1877, at which date Mr. McCauley bought it back, and is now publishing the paper with good success.
     Mr. McCauley has made considerable reputation as a young man of ability.  He was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., Jan. 18, 1846, and came to Ohio with his father, David McCauley, in 1854.  Oct. 7, 1868, he was married to Miss Adeline Sherrod, of Congress township, and has three children.

     Reminiscences by J. R. Henney - Adam Henney was born in Cener county, Pa., in 1776, and imigrated to Ohio about 1810, and was the third settler in the "mile strip," in what was then known as Jackson township, located on the Muddy Fork, about two miles north of Salem with his brother Peter, and on this place he lived until his death, which occurred Feb. 9, 1862.  In 1853 Peter went to Henry county, Illinois, where he purchased land and settled his children.  In the winter of 1872 he came back on a visit to his daughter, Mrs. Christena Hines, where he suddenly died, at the advanced age of seventy-six.  Adam and Peter were both members of the Evangelical Association from their boyhood - the former for ten or fifteen yeas filling the position of circuit preacher.
     The small creek that puts into Muddy Fork near where Myers' mill now stands, was named after Captain Wolf, an Indian who frequently visited the house of Mr. Henney.  Near the creek on the north side of Wolf run, on the north line of Peter Henney's farm, now known as Naftzger's , a child of Captain Wolf is buried.

     J. R. Henney, son of Adam Henney, was born in Congress township, Wayne County, Ohio, Aug. 19, 1826, and remained with his father until he was 21 years old.  The first few years  of

[Page 827] -
his life after arriving at manhood were devoted to teaching school, after which he went to the western part of the State and took a position in the dry goods store of R. W. Shawhan, of Tiffin.  Here he remained two years, when, on the 27th of May, 1852, he was married to Miss Lucy A. Clay, and in the spring of 1853, with his wife, immigrated to Henry county, Illinois, where he remained about one year, when he returned to West Salem, and where, after various experiences in mercantile pursuits, he was, on the completion of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, appointed ticket agent at that place, serving in this position about five years.  In 1869 he was appointed postmaster, and has held the position ever since.  Has served several terms as Justice of the Peace.  Mr. Henney has in his possession two German Bibles - one printed at Basel in the year 1736, formerly the property of Abraham Bachtel.  The other was published by Christopher Froshoer, in the city of Zurich, in 1556 - 321 years old.

     Abraham Plank, of the great family of millers, was born in Mifflin County, Pa., Mar. 28, 1807.  His father, Jacob Plank, came to Wayne county with his wife and eleven children in the spring of 1821, settling in Wayne township at the mill property built by Jacob Garver in 1815, from whom, with the mill, which was a small affair, only 30x40 feet, he purchased two hundred and forty acres of land.  Old Jacob and his wife died at his son-in-law's, John Kurtz, two miles west of where he settled when he first came into the county.  The following are the names of their children:  John, Christian, Jacob, David, Jeptha, Abraham, Barbara, Mary, Fannie, Rebecca and Sarah, of whom only Christian, John, Abraham, Mary and Fannie are living.
     Abraham, the subject of this sketch, is a miller by trade, and began milling at the time his father came to Wayne county, and followed that pursuit with great success for forty-five years.  He married Nancy King, of Half-Moon Valley, Pa., and had fourteen children, ten of whom are living:  Benjamin, Samuel, Hiram, David, Albert, Jemima, Melissa, Ellen, Abraham and Levi.  The sons are all millers except David, who is a blacksmith, in Bryan, Ohio.
     The Planks are a remarkable family, more identified with milling interests and running more mills in Wayne county than any other.  Among the earliest in that pursuit, they have handed it down from generation to generation, the business born and bred

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in them, until "Plank's mills" are household words, and their brands of flour always commands the highest figures in the market.

     Silver Lodge Knights of Honor, No. 123, was organized June 19, 1875, the following being the charter members:  E. Fritzinger, John Zehner, C. C. Stouffer, M. D., J. S. Cole, M. D., Uriah Clouse, Z. B. Allee, W. R. McClellan, r. L. Lashels, L. H. Plank, George Musser, A. J. Gearhart, A. Plank, Jr., H. E. Lind, F. M. Atterholt, Robert McKibbens, H. N. Neal, J. K. Saltsman, Ben Meyers, J. A. Case, J. N. McHose - 41 members.  The following are its present offices:  r. L. Lashels, Dictator; J. T. Hazzard, Vice Dictator; F. M. Atterholt, Past Dictator; A. P. Neal, Assisstant Dictator; Allen Greeley, Treasurer; A. F. Dunlap, Financial Reporter; J. S. Cole, M. D., Reporter; D. Mitchell, Chaplain; Uriah Clouse, Guide; O. Chacey, Guardian; Robert McKibbens, Sentinel.

     West Salem Masonic Lodge, No. 398 - This Lodge was organized under a dispensation granted petitioners, Nov. 21, 1866.  Its charter members were, H. P. Sage, Edwin Fritzinger, C. C. Clay, M. H. Dodd, David Ambrose, J. B. Houk, D. F. Young, Enoch Moore, S. W. Signs, Jacob McGlenen, Josiah Buffett, J. H. Morrison, Isaac Haraugh, Israel Moyer and James Lowe.  Its first officers were H. P. Sage, W. M.; J. H. Morrison, Treasurer; M. H. Dodd, Secretary; J. Buffett, S. D.; S. Signs, J. D.; Jacob McGlenen, Tyler.  Present membership, 73.

     West Salem Lodge No. 442, I. O. O. F. - This lodge was instituted June 10, 1870, with the following as charter memers:  John S. Addleman, M. H. Huffman, W. H. Fishack, J. S. Carmack, W. C. Baker, John Keeler and Neal Patterson.  Its first officers were, J. S. Addleman, N. G.; M. H. Huffman, V. G.; W. C. Baker, Sec., and W. H. Fishack, Treas.  The present officers are:  S. A. Aikens, N. G.; J. R. Drushal, V. G.; Amos Best, Sec.; A. P. Meal, Treas., and t. A. Linn, Chaplain.

     Agricultural Society of West Salem. - This organization was elected in 1867, when forms and by-laws for its government were adopted and first offiers elected, as follows:  William Buchanan, President; John Wicks, Secretary; D. Eshelman, Treasurer, and John Zehner, Peter Stair, and Captain Mitchell, Directors.  Its present officers are H. M. Huffman, President; B. Yoxheimer, Vice-President; J. R. Henney, Secretary; John Zehner, Treasurer; John Berry, Marshal; D. Jacobs, Chief Police.

     Rev. John Hazzard - This pioneer Methodist divine was born in Connecticut, June 29, 1778.  When fourteen years of age his parents removed to near Albany, New York, where he acquired a good common school education, and in early manhood was converted and began to preach.  He came to Wayne county in 1818, and first lived in Plain township, in a little log school-house near the residence of the late Daniel Silvers, four miles west of Wooster.  In march following he removed to his own cabin in Congress township, and soon became known throughout the county as preacher, school teacher, farmer and best of men.  As a Christian he was distinguished for his faith, and his transparent character

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and guileless life made him a model.  As a preacher he was both scriptural and logical.  He traveled far and near, and was ever a welcome visitor and friend.  He died near West Salem Jan. 7, 1869, aged ninety years.  Death to him was without dread, and among his last exhortations in West Salem he used the words: "I am soon to leave earth, and am glad of it; all of my early associates have passed on before, but, thank God, I am hard after them!"  His wife was an amiable woman, possessed of rare intelligence, teaching school in the early days, and there are yet living in Wayne and Ashland counties old men and women who received their education from her.  Her piety was of the quality of her husband's, and her life a genuine Christian's life.  They reared an interesting family, who have proved useful members of society.

     West Salem School Building - This was completed in 1877, at a cost of $35,000, and is decidedly the finest school building in Wayne county, outside of Wooster.  The structure is brick and stone, 102 feet long, by 75 wide, and 40 feet high, with additional steep roof and tower.  It contains eleven rooms, which for convenience and beauty of arrangement can not be excelled, all filled with modern school furniture and desk-seats for 350 pupils; also a large hall having capacity for 700 persons; a library, founded in 1874, containing four hundred choice volumes.  The building is situated on an eminence in the eatern part of town, in a lot containing four acres, which is tastefully adorned with many varieties of evergreen and forest trees.

     Prof. F. W. Atterholt, who for the last four years has had charge of the above schools, is a native of Columbiana county, where he was born Dec. 19, 1848.  He graduated at Mt. Union College, in the summer of 1870, and that fall was made Superintendent of the Columbiana schools, where he served for three years.  In the autumn of 1871 he was one of the proprietors and the editor of the Independent Register, of Columbiana, Ohio.
     He was married Dec. 31, 1872, to Miss Mary E. Beard, of Columbiana, a lady of culture, refinement and education, and at that time a teacher in the public schools of that place.  He gaught one year in the Medina Normal school, when he was chosen Superintendent of the West Salem public schools, which, under his management, have made marked progress, and now rank with the best in the county.  Mr. Atterholt is a ripe scholar, a man of fine personal appearance, and a polished gentleman.

     Justin Georget, M. D., was born in Mountusaine, in the north of France, June 23, 1830, and with his father, in 1840, immigrated to America, and then removed to Canton, Ohio, where he died.  After various peregrinations he entered the United States army remaining one year at Governor's Island, when he was transferred to West Point Military Academy, where he continued four years. 
     He read medicine with J. P. Bairick, of Massillon, graduated, and, after a series of removals, came to Congress village, and

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thence to West Salem, in the winter of 1866, where he is now engaged in practice.  Dr. Georget is a man of thorough education, both in and out of his profession, a man of intellect, and emphatically a man of ability, force and originality.

     J. S. Cole, M. D., is a native of Allegheny City, Pa., born Feb. 19, 1836, and attended Vermillion Institute, at Haysville, Ashland county, Ohio; afterward read medicine with Dr. Glass, and graduated from Cleveland Medical College.  He began practice in Reedsdburg, Ashland county, and moved to West Salem in 1873.  He is married to Ruth A. Smith, daughter of James B. Smith, of Ashland.  Dr. Cole is an efficient man in his profession, and is a skillful and successful practitioner.

     ADAM POE, THE INDIAN FIGHTER
"The dusk and swarthy foeman felt the terror of his might."
"The forest aisles are full of story."

     Adam Poe whose name si familiar the world over with every reader of American border warfare, was born in Washington county, Pa., in the year 1745, and died Sept. 23, 1838, in Stark county, four miles west of Massillon, at the residence of his son, Andrew Poe.  He was twice married, and by the first union had but one child, a daughter, named Barbara, who married a Mr. Cochrane of Pennsylvania.  His second marriage was to Betsey Matthews, a widow lady, and a native of Ireland, who came to America when but twelve years of age.  She had a brother named William Matthews who was a Presbyterian preacher.  They were married in a fort in Western Pennsylvania.  His second wife died Dec. 27, 1844.  By this second marriage Adam and Betsey Poe had ten children, to-wit:  George Andrew, Thomas, Isaac, John, Barney, Adam, David, Catharine and Sarah.

     George Poe, eldest son of Adam Poe, came to Wayne county in 1812, bringing with him his wife and children.  He lived in Wooster three years and removed to Congress township in 1815, locating one-half mile south of the present village of Congress.  Prior to his removal there he had entered a half section of land, which he improved and cultivated several years, but sold it to John Yocum, father of Rev. Elmer Yocum.  He was the first Justice of the Peace in Congress township.  He then went to Crawford county, Ohio, near Bucyrus, where his wife died, her maiden name being Betsey Roberts.  There he was married a second time to Letta Campbell, a former acquaintance in Columbiana county, Ohio, after which he removed to Michigan and died.

     Isaac Poe came to Wayne county in the spring of 1812, with his brother George, stopping in Wooster for a few years, and removing to Congress township Apr. 1, 1815.  He had previously entered a quarter section of land, upon which a portion of the village of Congress now stands, where he lived three years, and then sold his farm to David Garver and Lawrence Rix.  He then bought the John Lawrence farm, in Plain township, from Hon. Benjamin Jones, lived there a year, and sold it back to Mr. Jones, who sold it to Christian, father of John Lawrence, Esq., of Wooster township.  From the Lawrence place he emigrated to Kentucky, thence

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to near St. Louis, on the American Bottom, in Illinois, where he died.  He was married in 1804, to Jane Totten sister of Hon. Michael Totten, of Wooster, at Adam Poe's house, on the west fork of the Beaver, in Columbiana county, Ohio.  They had five children.

     David Williamson Poe came to Wayne county with his father, Adam Poe, when a boy, and with him removed to Congress township.  He started the first tannery ever established in Congress, which occupation he followed for several years, when he purchased a small farm not far from Cleveland.  He afterwards, in company with one of his sons, went to Kansas to look at land, and by means of exposure, or accident, both were frozen to death.  Hon. Joseph Poe, member of the Ohio Legislature, from Cleveland, is his son.  Thomas Poe resided for a time four miles north of Congress village, in Wayne county, but returned to Pennsylvania.  His sons live in Georgetown, Beaver county, Pa., and are said to be owners of vessels plying the Ohio river, and very wealthy.  Catharine Poe was married to Jacob Matthews of Wooster, a partner of Robert McClarran, one of the first carpenters, and the first Justice of the Peace of the county.  She died in Congress, and is buried in the graveyard there.

     Sarah Poe, the wife of Adam Kuffel, the youngest of the ten children of Adam Poe, is the only survivor of the family, and lives in Congress village, Congress township, Wayne county.  She was born July 15, 1791, in Washington county, Pa., and was married in Columbiana county, Ohio, at her father's house, to Adam Kuffel, a native of Washington county, Pa., in 1809.  He was born Apr. 15, 1788, and died Mar. 14, 1868.  They removed to Congress township in 1825, and settled on the farm now owned by John Howey.  The following are the names of their children:  Elizabeth, Catharine, Sarah, Diantha, David, Nancy, Adam, Mary Ann, Isaac, Matilda, Samantha and Wesley.  Taber Summerton of Congress township, is married to the eldest daughter.
     After leaving Pennsylvania Adam Poe removed to the west fork of Little Beaver, in Wayne township, Columbiana county, where he entered several quarters of land.  From Columbiana he removed to Wayne county in 1813, bringing with him his wife and youngest son, David and his daughter Catharine.  He first settled in Wooster, his family living on North Market street, and he following the business of shoemaking for three years, on the corner where Dr. Robison had his office, being then nearly seventy years old.  He was a tanner by trade, and an excellent shoemaker.  He then removed to Congress township, and purchased sixty acres of land from his son, George Poe, and there he lived for nearly twelve years, when, growing old and infirm, he removed to Stark county, where, with his son Andrew, he died, as above stated.  He was a member of the old Lutheran church.
     Mrs. Kuffel relates the following as the circumstances of his death:  A great and enthusiastic political meeting was being held in Massillon.  The crowd hearing that Adam Poe, who had killed the celebrated Indian, Bigfoot, lived but a few miles distant, dispatched a delegation after him.  When he appeared upon the ground he was wonderfully lionized and made the hero of the day.  He was caught and carried through the crowd on the shoulders of the excited multitude.  "It was a big day," says his daughter, and old as he was, being past ninety, "he had as much pluck as any of the boys."
     That day of excitement, however, sounded the death-knell of the mighty borderer, the iron-nerved heroic Adam Poe.  He returned from the political meeting prostrated, enfeebled and sick, and soon thereafter died.  A son of Andrew Poe, at whose house Adam died, hurried to the residence of Mrs. Kuffel, at Congress, to inform her of the dangerous illness of her father.  She received the news about

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nine o'clock, and being then forty-seven years of age, mounted a horse and rode through the darkness and over uncertain roads, reaching her father's in time only to see him, to whom this world had no terrors, succumb to the King of Terrors and the Terror of Kings.
     The terrible encounter of the Poe brothers - Andrew and Adam - with the stalwart chief Bigfoot, occupies a conspicuous page in the annals of our border strifes.  It should contribute a most interesting feature to the history of Wayne county, that we are able to furnish with extraordinary accuracy the brief sketch of the brother, Adam, who for over twelve years was a citizen of our county.  His sons were among the earliest of the pioneers of Congress township, and made the first improvements in that section, and he was a pioneer of 1813 in the town of Wooster.
     The critical reader of our State and border history will perceive in the exploits of the brothers Poe with Bigfoot, the most palpable contractions, incongruities and transpositions.  Even as good an authority as McClung, in his "Western Adventures," published in 1837, substitutes the name of Adam for Andrew, and that prince of brilliant historical muddlers, John S. C. Abbott, in his recent History of Ohio, contradicts himself in the most inexcusable manner on the pages where he seeks to describe the contest.
     Royce Summerton and Michael Totten, whose sister was married to Isaac, son of Adam Poe, confirm the statements of Mrs. Kuffel.  These gentlemen deride and flout the idea of this use of Adam for Andrew.  Adam Poe himself wondered that narrators of the occurrence could be led into such mistakes, and he was  often heard to say, "Why, Andrew was wounded in the hand, struck with the little Indian's hatchet, but you see no wound or scar on mine."
     The statement, as furnished by Mrs. Kuffel,* and the corresponding testimony of his neighbors, who intimately knew him, and held daily and weekly intercourse and conversation with him, is sufficient, in our judgment, to settle for all time the question upon which historians have been divided.

     Mrs. Kuffel's Statement of Adam and Andrew Poe's Celebrated Fight with Bigfoot.  - A body of seven Wyandots made a raid upon a white settlement on the Ohio river near Fort Pitt, and finding an old man in a cabin, killed him, stole all they could and withdrew.  The news of the murder spread rapidly, and my father, Adam Poe, and my uncle, Andrew, together with half a dozen neighbors, began pursuit of them, determined to visit sudden death upon them.  They followed the Indians all night, but not until morning did they get closely upon them, when they discovered a path, or trail, leading to the river.
     My uncle Andrew, who, like father, was a strong man and always on the lookout, did not directly advance to the river, but left his comrades and stealthily crept through the thicket to avoid any ruse of the Indians, and, if possible, surprise them.  He at once detected evidences of their presence at the river, but not seeing them, he quietly crept down to its bank with his gun fixed to fire.  He had not far descended when he spied Bigfoot and a little Indian with him, both of whom had guns, and stood watching along the river in the direction whence the remainder of the party were.  He (Andrew) now concluded to shoot Bigfoot, and fired at him, but his gun did not discharge its contents.  The situation instantly became terrific.
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NOTE:
* Mrs. Kuffel is in full possession of her faculties, lives by herself, does her own work, and delights to dwell upon the exploits of her father and uncle.  She wonders how the names have got mixed, for, says she, "It was Andrew that wrestled with Bigfoot, and went into the water, but it was father (Adam) who shot him."

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     The snapping of the gun alarmed the Indians, who, looking around, discovered Andrew.  It was too late for him to run, and I doubt if he would have retreated if he could, for he was a great wrestler, and coveted conflict with the Indians.  So he dropped his gun, and bounding from where he stood, caught both the Indians and trust them upon the ground.  Though he fell uppermost in the struggle he found the grip of Bigfoot to be of iron, and, as a consequence, the little Indian soon extricated himself, and instantly seized his tomahawk and advanced with fatal purpose toward Andrew.  To better assist and aid the little Indian, who had the tomahawk aimed at the head of Andrew, Bigfoot hugged and held him with a giant's grasp, but Andrew, when he struck at him, threw up his foot and kicked the tomahawk out of the little Indian's hand.  This made Bigfoot indignant at the little savage, who soon repeated his experiment with the tomahawk, indulging in numerous feints before he delivered the main blow, which Andrew parried from his head and received upon his wrist.
     Andrew now, by a desperate endeavor, wrenched himself from the clutches of Bigfoot, and seizing the gun of one of the savages shot the little Indian.  Bigfoot, regaining his perpendicularity, got Andrew in his grasp and hurled him down upon the bank, but he instantly arose, when a second collision occurred, the issue of which threw them both into the water, and the struggle now was for the one to drown the other. Andrew finally caught Bigfoot by the hair, and plunged him in the water, holding him there until he imagined he was drowned, a conclusion in which he was sadly mistaken.  Bigfoot was only playing off and soon recovered his position and was prepared for a second encounter.  The current of the river had by this time borne them into deep water, when it became necessary to disengage themselves and seek to escape immediate destruction.
     A mutual effort was at once made to reach the shore and get possession of a gun and close the struggle with powder and lead.  Bigfoot was a glib swimmer, and was the first to reach the bank.  In this contingency Andrew wheeled about and swam further out into the river to avoid, if possible, being shot, by diving strategies.  The big chief, lucklessly to him, seized the unloaded gun with which  Andrew had shot the little Indian.  Meantime, Adam Poe, having missed his brother and hearing a gun-shot, inferred he was either killed or in a fight with the Indians, and hastened toward him.  Adam now being discovered by Andrew, the latter called to the former to shoot Bigfoot.  Unfortunately Adam's gun was empty as was the big Indian's.  The strife now was between the two as to which could load quickest, but Bigfoot in his haste drew his ramrod too violently form the gun thimbles, when it escaped from  his hand and was thrown some distance, but which he rapidly recovered, which accident gave Adam the advantage, when he shot Bigfoot as he was in the act of drawing his gun upon him.
     Having disposed of Bigfoot, and seeing his brother, who was wounded, floating in the river, he instantly sprang into the water to assist him, but Andrew desiring the scalp of the great chief, called to Adam to scalp him, that he could save himself and reach the shore.  Adam's anxiety for the safety of his brother was too intense to obey the mandate, and Bigfoot, determined to not let his scalp be counted amongst the trophies of his antagonist, in the horrid pangs of death, rolled into the river, and his carcass was swept form the eye of man forever.  Andrew, however, when in the stream, made another narrow escape from death, as just as Adam arrived at the bank for his protection, one of the number who came after him mistook Andrew in the water for an Indian, and shot at him, the bullet striking him in the shoulder, causing a severe wound, from which he, in course of time, recovered.

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     So that it was my uncle Andrew that had the wrestle on the bank with Bigfoot, and the struggle with him in the river, and it was my father, Adam Poe, who shot Bigfoot when he came to shore.  The wound that my father received, he got in the fight with the body of six Indians who were overtaken, five of whom were killed, with a loss of three of their pursuers and the hurt done to my father.
     The locality of the Ohio river where the struggle occurred is in Virginia, almost opposite to the mouth of Little Yellow creek.

     He has a Terrible Fight with Five Indians and Whips them * - While living on  this side of the Ohio two Indians crossed the river, both of whom were intoxicated, and came to Adam Poe's house. After various noisy and menacing demonstrations, but without doing any one harm, they retired a short distance, and under the shade of a tree sat down and finally went to sleep.  In the course of two hours, and after they awoke from their drunken slumber, they discovered that their rifles were missing, when they immediately returned to Poe's house, and after inquiring for their guns and being told they knew nothing about them, they boldly accused him of stealing them and insolently demanded them.  Poe was apprehensive of trouble, and turning his eyes in the direction whence they came, discovered three more Indians approaching.
     Without manifesting any symptoms of surprise or alarm, he coolly withdrew to the house, and saying to his wife, "There is a fight and more fun ahead," told her to hasten slyly to the cornfield near by with the children, and there hide.  This being accomplished he seized his gun and confronted the five Indians, who were then in the yard surrounding the house, and trying to force open the door.  He at once discovered that the two Indians who came first had not yet found their guns and that the other three were unarmed.  So he dropped his gun, as he did not want to kill any of them unless the exigency required it, and attacked them with his fist,  and after a terrific hand to hand encounter of ten minutes, crushed them to the earth in one promiscuous heap, and having thus vanquished and subdued them, seized them one at a time and threw them over the fence and out of the yard.
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     *This adventure has never been given to the public before, and comes from his daughter.

END OF CONGRESS TOWNSHIP

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