Newspaper article:Page 4 of Wooster Daily Record,published in Wooster, Ohio on Saturday, March 9th, 1940 - The Daily Record March 9 1940
- Article title
- Early Wayne County History
- Newspaper title
- The Daily Record
- Date of publication
- 1940/03/09
- Author
- Harry B. Stapler
- Page number
- 4
- Organization
- Canaan Township, Wayne County, Ohio
- Chester Township, Wayne County, Ohio
- Chippewa Township, Wayne County, Ohio
- Clinton Township, Wayne County, Ohio
- Congress Township, Wayne County, Ohio
- Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County, Ohio
- Wooster Township, Wayne County, Ohio
- Mayor of Wooster
- Burbank, Ohio
- Shreve, Ohio
- Village of Congress
- Dalton, Ohio
- Doylestown, Ohio
- Industry
- Public Administration > City and County Administration
Full text
"Editor's Note: In a series of articles of which this is the tenth the Daily Record is presenting historical sketches of Wayne County. Another will appear Monday.
Among the original four townships formed in Wayne County was Wooster Township, organized in 1812 and named after General David Wooster.
In Wooster Township occurred the "market-house mob" incident. The first markethouse in Wooster was erected on the southwest side of the public square in 1833 Supported by 14 columns of brick each about two feet square, the building was 75 x 40 in size. Stalls of this "temple of mutton and soup bones" were between the columns.
The nuisance of a livestock market in the shopping district began to draw much comment from the citizens. The town authorities when petitioned, refused to remove it, and as a result it narrowly missed 'purification' by fire at the hands of an incendiary.
Finally, 14 years after the advent of the market, a group of disguised first citizens of the town assembled at the market house late one night armed with axes, hooks, rope and tackle, and a strong pulling horse. The building was assailed from all sides after the horse had collapsed the columns. Complete wreckage greeted the dawn.
A reward offered by the Mayor of Wooster resulted on no arr3ests, although the perpetrators were known to many. The crime was consider a "public improvement."
An early settler, Isaac Notestine, said of Canaan township, 'Wheat and flour were often hauled to Cleveland from there, and hogs were driven to Cleveland likewise. Wooster was the nearest point of trade, but it was poor place to sell produce of any kind."
The township was organized in 1819. Incorporation of Burbank followed in 1868, when the name was changed from Bridgeport.
Clinton Township was named for Governor DeWitt Clinton], and was formed in 1825. The first school house in the township was a small one room log cabin erected by the settlers. A teacher received seventy-five cents a week for her services at the Newkirk schoolhouse.
What is now Big Prairie was first looked upon as an impassable swamp; it was soggy, wet, full of ponds, dangerous to cattle.
Shreve came into existence with the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne, and Chicago R. R. Named after Thomas Shreve, it was incorporated in 1858. Original name of Shreve was Clinton Station.
The first sermon preached in Congress Township, formed in 1818, was that made by a Presbyterian minister, a Rev. Matthews, who spoke with a sword girded to his body.
The Village of Congress, originally called Waynesburg, was laid out in 1827. According to history, an old Indian and his wife were on a tramp and stopped in Congress at Giffith's Tavern, where they got drunk and abusive. The landlord's wife threw a pot of boiling water on the Indian to quell him. He died as a result and was buried in the Congress Cemetery.
Adam Poe nationally famed Indian fighter, lived on sixty acres of land in Congress Township in his later years.
The great growth of chestnut trees in that region resulted in naming this township Chesnut, but upon its organization in 1816, the name was changed to Chester Township.
New Pittsburg was the first town laid out. Twenty-two years later in 1851 West Union was surveyed. The name of this village was later changed to Lattasburg.
Sugarcreek was one of the original four townships of the county. Along with Wooster, Mohican, and Prairie it was formed in 1812.
The limits of present day Dalton formerly embraced three villages: Middletown, Dover, and Sharon. Their existence ceased with the formation and incorporation of Dalton, the latter done in 1856.
Twelve years after the forming of Chippewa Township in 1815, William Doyle laid out Doylestown. The post office remained about a mile south of the town until 1874 and was known as Chippewa instead of Doylestown.
In early days Doylestown was renowned for its agricultural manufacturing plant. Here Cline, Seiberling and Co. made Excelsior and Empire Reapers and mowers, as many as a thousand a year. This was regarded as about the most reliable manufacturing firm in Northern Ohio, according to historians."