History of BERLIN TOWNSHIP [Erie County, Ohio]
by Hudson Tuttle
from HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO
1879 by W.W.Williams
pages 475-489

NAME.

The original name of Berlin was Eldridge, from one of its earliest proprietors. He became unpopular, so much so that in 1832 the people petitioned the commissioners of Huron county to change the name, stating as a reason that they did not desire to perpetuate the name of an unworthy man. It seems the people were mistaken, for those intimately acquainted with Mr. Eldridge remember him as a pleasant gentleman. He purchased the eastern half of the township as a speculation, and the taxes, imposed unequally, rested so heavily on unimproved lands, improvements being exempted, that he was unable to pay his taxes, and was ruined by owning a half of one of the best townships on the Fire-lands. Rumors came from Connecticut that he had been guilty of forgery to redeem his credit, and possibly the innate hatred the settler felt toward the land speculator, was at the root of the popular sentiment. The petitioners suggested Lyme as a desirable name, but as there was already a town by the same name in the county, it then being a part of Huron county, the commissioners objected. It was at the time of the Milan-Berlin treaty. Noah Hill, who always was deeply interested in polities, suggested that, as the county had Milan, it should have Berlin, too, and thus the town was named.

PHYSICAL FEATURES.

The township, as first surveyed, was five mile square, but received additions of territory extending its boundaries to the shores of Lake Erie. The surface is level, except the valleys formed by the streams, from the lake to the ridge, where it rises from fifty to one hundred feet, and then extends southward nearly as level as before. This ridge was once undoubtedly the ancient shore of the lake. It extends through the township from northeast to southwest, and at the "pinnacle" the base of the bluff is sixty feet above the level of the lake, and its slope presents three distinct terraces, or shore lines, at the respective heights of one hundred, one hundred and fifty and one hundred ninety-five feet above the level of the lake. These indicate successive periods of subsidence.

There are indications of salt in many places in the township. There is, in fact, a line of so-called "licks" parallel with the edge. The two most noted among early hunters as the resort of deer, were located on lands occupied by Nathan Tuttle and Ezekiel Sayles. Between these a deep path was worn by the deer. These licks present, during dry seasons, a saline efflorescence crusting the surface. That on the Sayles land was in the valley of the Old Woman creek, and the early settlers dug a pit, into which they sank a section of a hollow tree, and the salt water came in sufficient quantities to allow them to make salt in a small way. Salt then being difficult to obtain, and costly, this was quite advantageous. The belief in the value of this salt spring was so strong in the mind of the early proprietor, Fosdick, that the surrounding land was withheld from sale for many years. At a later day Prof. B. L. Hill, and others, made explorations, but without results, the site of the old spring being obliterated by floods, and they were unable to find it. However, they obtained salt water. The surface formation is almost exclusively of the drift, and in places boulders, often of large size, are thickly scattered.

The soil of the portion south of the ridge is sandy, mixed with fields of loam running almost into clay. The western part, below the ridge, is also sandy, either yellowish or black, and the north eastern portion is clayey, as it is along the shore, which is unequaled. for the production of wheat. There is, thus, the greatest variety of soil, and the farmer is enabled to grow whatever crop he pleases, having soil adapted for all.

There are two streams or creeks in the township, the Chapelle, running through the eastern portion, and the Old Woman creek, which has two branches, the east and west, arising in Townsend, and flowing northward through the centre portion, uniting about one and a half miles northwest of the heights, and emptying into the lake. From this union to the lake, the stream is like a canal, with wide and marshy borders. The name of the latter stream is said to have been given because an old squaw was drowned at its mouth.

There are four small marshes, two of which have been reclaimed, and when land becomes more valuable, no doubt but the others will be also. The surface was heavily timbered, and the forest presented almost an herculean task to the pioneers. Oak was the prevailing growth, plentifully mixed with ash, elm, hickory, basswood, walnut, whitewood, and, along the streams, butternut and sycamore.

VILLAGES.

There are three small villages in the township. Berlinville, on the old State road, in the old times of stage coaches, was a busy little centre, with good tavern, store, and the only post office in the township. Berlin Heights is the largest, and is the natural centre, towards which the people gravitate. It has three stores, an hotel, saloon, several manufactories, a saw and grist mill, three churches and a fine graded school. It is noted for its intelligence and enterprise. Directly north of the Heights, on the L. S. & M. S. Railroad, is Ceylon, a place that started up and grew rapidly for a time. It has two stores, two saloons, an hotel, sawmill and post office,

MAIL FACILITIES.

The mail is carried by hack from Ceylon, on the northern division, via Berlin Heights, Berlinville, East Norwalk, to Norwalk, on the southern Division, giving all these places the advantage of morning and evening mails. The L. S. & M. S. Railroad passes through the northern part of the township, and sends a spur south to the quarries and gravel bed. The advantages of extending this spur to the Heights are so apparent, that it certainly will be done at no distant day.

CEMETERIES.

There are six burial grounds in the limits of the township, two at the Heights, under the control of the township; one at Berlinville; one in the southeast part, known as the Chapel ground; one east of Harper's corners, known as the Peak ground; and one at the mouth of the Chapelle creek, directly on the lake shore, which is being rapidly washed away.

ABORIGINAL RACES.

The Indians were not the aboriginal race. They were preceded by that mysterious people, the mound builders. Interesting fortifications, referable to this prehistoric race, are found on the farm originally owned by Curtis Benschooter, on the summit of the high bank of the creek, and this earthwork has great interest as having evidently been built to protect against incursions of an enemy, who would comeby water from the lake, and traces of works lower down show that at that time the water stood at a much higher level, and the wide marsh was then a bay, opening with a wide mouth into the lake. There were mounds on the farm of Jasen Thompson, with graves, and the present site of the residence of Mr. Henry Hoak seems to have been an ancient sepulcher. He has, in making excavations, brought to light several fragmentary skeletons, one of which has special interest from its remarkable state of preservation and rare peculiarities. It was buried deeper than the others, so that it was enveloped in the clayey subsoil, and hence had been better protected than those enveloped in the loose sand. The skull of this speci- men measures but nineteen inches in circumference, which would almost indicate it was idiotic, and is remarkably low. The arms are of unusual length, the under jaw extremely massive, and the height less than four feet. Yet the individual eviidently was not idiotic, as she had attained all extreme old age, which the idiot savage cannot do.

In 1852, Mr. H. L. Hill, in cutting an oak, discovered three hacks, made by a small ax, and found that there were two hundred eighteen annual rings on the outside of it. This would carry the age of the markings back to the earliest French voyageurs, in fact, much earlier than has been supposed those hardy adventurers penetrated this remote region. Now, the farmer, turning with his iron plowshare the mellow fields, often finds the flint arrow head, the stone ax, the spear point, alike of red man and mound builder, and if of reflective mind may moralize over the decay of races in that dim past, of which these mute weapons only remain.

THE EARLIEST PIONEERS.

A party of adventurers built and launched a rude boat at the mouth of Walnut creek, Pennsylvania, in 1808. They were John Hoak, John McLaughlin, George Miller, Nathaniel Burdue, Benjamin Pratt, Mr. Richie, and Howard. They sailed up the lake in the spring, bringing provisions, farming tools and thirty barrels of whisky. They encountered severe weather and had to cast overboard their whisky, but when the storm subsided, they cruised about and gathered it up again. When they reached the mouth of the Huron river, the sand-bar shut them out, so they had to dig a canal to get their boat in. They selected a field on the Kline and Minus farm, and planted eighteen acres of corn; after hoeing it, they hired an Indian to guard it, while they went after their families. They returned in the fall in their boat, but their families came by land, under the escort of Henry Hoak, father to John Hoak. He was, without doubt, the oldest of all the pioneers, having been born in 1745. He remained until his death, in. 1832, at the age of eighty seven, with his son, and was a most exemplary and pious man. The majority of this venturesome party settled finally in Berlin, in 181O-11, leaving the Huron bottom lands on account of overflows.

John Hoak, who settled on the Kline farm for two years, moved to the farm now owned by his son Henry; built one of the first houses, in 1810. Only four whites were present at the raising of the great logs of which it was constructed, but Silas David, an Indian chief, with his tribe, assisted. They were forbidden, by him, to taste of liquor until the work was done, then they drank and held a pow-wow to their heart's content. One was so riotous they built a pen of rails around him, covered it over and left him till morning.

John Hoak had ten children, only one of whom, Henry, remains in the township. John Hoak, with the remainder of his family living, removed to Lagrange county, Indiana, where he died in 1859, at the age of seventy-three years. He made a kiln of brick, on his farm, in 1812, the first on the Firelands.

The first white settler within the limits of the township was Mr. John Dunbar, unless a Mr. Tillison, who owned the land, which afterwards was the homestead of Curtis Benschoter, preceded him. The Tillison family were very hospitable, and it is said Mrs. Tillison once told a guest if he would not stay to supper she would "knock him down." This rude hospitality showed itself in ways that would offend the more fastidious tastes of the present. One night John Thompson was caught at the Tillisen cabin by a terrible storm. He, of course, did not want to face the storm, and Tillison said they had no spare bed. Mrs. Tillison was adequate to the emergency: "I say, Till," said she, "Tompk can sleep with us," and he did. Another story told of this family made many a hearty laugh around the blazing hearths of the pioneers. The whole family, with their guests, would sit in a circle, and above their heads, suspended by a cord from the rafters, was a jug of whisky. This arrangement saved the trouble of waiting on any one, for the jug was swung round and round, from mouth to mouth, till all were satisfied.

John Dunbar came from the State of New York, 1809, and purchased the farm afterwards known as the Weatherlow farm. His brother, Isaiah, came with him. He soon after moved to the center, on the place occupied by Dr. X. Phillips. The Dunbars disappeared and left no trace.

Perez and Thomas Starr came from Connecticut in 1810, and built a mill on the lands now owned by H. L. Hill. In the autumn of that year, Thomas Starr built a house on the farm now owned by J. S. Lowry. The night before the raising, the snow fell six inches deep, and he feared no one would come, but his fears were vain. In those days the neighborhood extended five miles in every direction, and early in the morning, "old Mr. Burdue" made his appearance, whooping like an Indian, with four gallons of whisky, and soon after, the hands came from Florence and Milan, and after the job was finished, enjoyed the "old rye" in a way which would not be satisfactory to the Good Templars. The Starr brothers kept bachelor's hall for a time.

In 1812, Thomas was drafted into the army; from which he returned, and in February, 1814, married Clementina Clark, of Florence. He moved to the centerpart of the township. Thomas Starr was a blacksmith, and used to go to Huron and Vermillion to work on vessels. He did the iron work on the first deck vessel built this side of Erie. When he returned home at night, he carried torches, not only to show him the way, but to keep off the wolves, which howled around him. His eldest son, William Eldridge, born in January, 1815, was the first male child born in the township.

John McLaughlin, who came with the earliest adventurers, settled on the western border of the township, on the lands adjoining McLaughlin's corners, where he continued to reside until his death, in 1849at the age of seventy-seven years. His wife died in 1838. The only survivor of his family, in the township, is Milton McLaughlin.

Nathaniel Burdue, or "Old Mr. Burdue," as he was called by everybody, settled near the spring now used by the creamery. While living on the Huron river, he set out one Sunday, with a piece of soap in his pocket, saying he should travel until he found a spring of soft water, and there he should locate. In the afternoon he came to this beautiful spring, and at once decided to make his home by its side. His orchard was the first to bear in this section. Apples were then scarce, and Mr. Burdue watched his orchard with such vigilance that he became associated in the minds of the boys with Cloven-foot himself.

William Fitzgerald came from New York in 1810, accompanied by Joel Simpson, and settled on the farm now occupied by Henry Hine. None of his descendants remain.

Hieronymus Mingus came from New York State in 1811, and Aaron Fox and his wife came at the same time. The eldest son of Mr. Mingus was killed in 1813, in the battle on the Peninsula. The second son, Jacob, lived and died on the farm now occupied by his son, Benjamin. The third son, James, married Phebe Darley, and settled in Townsend, Huron county. He was the Nimrod of those days. Aaron Fox and wife reside in the northern part of the township, on the farm they selected in the wilderness.

John Thompson came from Pennsylvania at an early day, and in 1813 married the widow Hubbard. This marriage was, probably, the first in the township, although the honor is disputed, it being claimed that Lazarus Young and Becky Laughlin have the honor.

In 1811, occurred the first birth and the first death. Milan has claimed Mrs. Millerman as the first child, but Berlin has that honor. Her father, Lazarus Young, was such a moving planet, that it is difficult to decide, but there is little doubt that she was born on Berlin soil.

The [first] death was accompanied with horrible circumstances. The wife of John Dunbar, while her husband was absent, in a state of insanity threw herself into the fire, made of large logs, placed against one side of the house. Her screams brought Mr. Dunbar to the house, and he quickly took her from the flames and placed her on the bed while he could go after assistance, but she wildly ran after him. All that day he shouted for help, not daring to leave her, but not until near night did any assistance come to the terribly afflicted family in their remote cabin. She died that evening, and was buried on the banks of the Old Woman creek, where now is the township burying ground. Mr. Dunbar then lived on the place afterwards occupied by Dr. X. Phillips, and the splendid spring which gushes out from the hill was long known as the "Dunbar spring."

Jeremiah Benschooter was a native of Sempronius, New York, as was his wife, Sally Weatherlow, whom he married in 1808. He came to Berlin in 1811; and settled on lot twenty, fourth section. They had thirteen children: Harry, Milo, Ensign, William, Curtis, Aaron, Weatherlow, Harriet, Delia, Betsey, Jeremiah, Sarah and Mary Ann. Curtis Benschooter passed nearly his whole life on his farm, removing to the Heights in his declining age. He died in 1877, at the age of seventy years. His son, Moses M., resides at Stone's corners, and is one of the most successful physicians in the vicinity.

Othaniel Field came in 1810, and purchased section nine, range six, of Samuel White, who had made considerable improvements, by way of clearing. Field was a Vermont man, and industriously devoted himself to corn raising, so much so that the destitute newcomers gave his place the name of Egypt. Fora long time he kept bachelor's hall, and his eccentric ways still linger in the memories of those who knew him. He, after many years, married, but had no children. He died in 1850, at the age of seventy nine, his wife surviving until 1876.

Stephen Meeker settled on lot ten, section four, in 1811, where he resided until his death, in 1849, having been preceded by his wife by only a few weeks. He worked at blacksmithing, and kept a public house, and for several years held the office of judge. He married Polly Platt, in 1799. They had seven children: Barney, Hezekiah, Edward, Hanford, Grissel, Maria and George T.

Daniel Butler came to Berlin in 1814, from Cleveland, to which place he came from Massachusetts, in 1811. Losing his wife, he returned to Massachusetts in 1816, and married Jemima Bishop. They had six children, and he had two by his first wife. The children by the second marriage were: Amanda, Climena, Lucinda, Daniel, Charles and Harriet, none of whom are at present living in the township. He was an able man, and was the first who held the office of justice of the peace, or, at least, the second. For many years before his death, which occurred in 1854, in his seventy-fifth year, he had been subject to insanity, which had a religious aspect, and caused him to take his own life. He received a revelation to build a house fifty by one hundred feet, for the second coming of Christ, and not being able to build the whole, built a quarter, and thus, for years, his family lived in this most awkward tabernacle. This building lately has fallen in ruins and been destroyed. His son Daniel inherited his father's tendencies, and at last put an end to his own life, in the same manner, in 1861, at the age of thirty-four.

Samuel Reed came in 1815. He was five weeks on the lake, from Buffalo to Huron. He bought the farm now owned by J. S. Lowry, where he lived tillspring, when he went to Milan to work on Merry's mill, his wife working for the workmen. In 1816, he removed to Florence; in 1817, he purchased the lot seven, range two of section two, and made the first clearing on the farm of Juduthan Cobb, to whom he sold it in 1820, and removed to Oxford in this county.

Nathan Harris was born in Berrytown, Connecticut, where he married Betsey Moon, and moved to the then far west, stopping at Perry, New York, and reaching Berlin in 1815. They had eleven children: Thomas, Emma (Mrs. Sanders), Betsey (Mrs. John Meeker), Hiram, Nathan, Anna (Mrs. Storrs). Mrs. Harris died in 1845, and in 1846, Mr. Harris removed to Indiana where he died in 1858.

The war having closed, and no danger to be apprehended from Indians, the tide of immigration poured westward, and the unoccupied lands were rapidly appropriated.

Samuel Lewis came from New York, near Seneca lake, in 1816. He married. Elizabeth Hine, and purchased lot nineteen, section fourth, which remained in his possession until his death, in 1851, at the age of fifty-five. He left a wife, now Mrs. Oliver Peak, and six children: Lyman, Charles, Baldwin, Luther, Clarinda, and Mary (Mrs. Raws), none of whom now reside in the township. They had lost four.

Lewis Jones came from New York, Bushkill, in 1816, and purchased lot seven, range five, and after a few years removed to lot twelve, range six; he, after a time, removed to Wood county. His wife, Hannah Ewiliken, was a native of Ulster county, New York. They had eight children: Levi, now living in this township; Alvah J., Morris, Betsey (wife of Captain Kelley, of Milan), Polly (Mrs. Green, now of Townsend), Gideon, Amos and Hannah.

Aaron Benschoter and wife came from Neversink, New York, in 1816, with their family, William, Daniel, and a daughter who married Oliver Peak. They were middle-aged when they came, and lived to advanced age. William purchased lot twenty-seven, range four, when both he and his wife died, in 1833. Their daughter, Esther, married Joel Fox, and is the only member of the family remaining in the township. Oliver, Alanson and Betsey D., moved to the West. Daniel purchased lot twelve, range eight, and soon after, losing his wife; married Rebecca, daughter of Hezekiah Smith. They had six children: Gardner, Leander, Sheffield, Hoffman, Cordelia and Eliza. Gardner and Hoffman, only, reside in the township, the latter remaining on the old homestead. Mrs. Benschoter died in 1877.

In 1816, Baswell Wood and James Kellogg came from Tolland, Connecticut. James Kellogg settled on lot seven, range one. He had three children: James, Arlica (Mrs. Keeler), Lydia (Mrs. John Anderson). He died hi 1821, his wife, Nancy Wood, several years later. Baswell Wood settled on lot eight, range third, where he resided until his death, in 1851, at the age of eighty-one. He had six children: Andrew, Nancy, Sally (Mrs. Nehemiah Smith), Margaret and Baswell. Mrs. Wood and her youngest child died in 1818. Andrew Wood resided in the township until his death, in 1874, at the age of sixty-eight.

Jared Hine came in 1816 from Litchfield, Connecticut, and purchased lot eleven, range eight, which he made his permanent home. In 1815 he married Betsey Miner, of his native town, and the next year moved to the far off wilderness of Ohio. His land was first settled by Fitzgerald, who sold to Anson Fox, who sold to Hubbard, from whom it was purchased by Mr. Hine. These owners had each made some improvements. Yet the country was then wild enough, and the first night the young couple stayed in their new home they were disturbed by a prowling bear. One night, hearing a scream in the forest, Mrs. Hine, thinking it was her brother was lost, went to the door and blew a horn. Every time she stopped the scream answered nearer, until Mr. Hine, whom she had awakened, thinking it no human voice, told her that she had better come in. It wasa panther; and, although they were secure, the night was passed anything but pleasantly. Mr. Hine was an energetic man and upright citizen, and held the office of justice of the peace for fifteen years. He was the third chosen to that office. He died in 1844, at the age of fifty-six. They had but one child, Henry W., who still resides on the old homestead. In 1817, Jared was joined by his brothers Sheldon, Nathaniel and Charles, and, the next year,Sheldon returned to Connecticut and married Sally Osborne, returning with his brother Amos.

The journey from Connecticut in those days was a greater undertaking than a voyage to Japan would be at present, and consumed almost as much time. They were forty days on the road, driving ox teams. When Sheldon arrived with his bride he found the log house he had left, with all the stores for the coming year, had been burned. This, united with ague by which he was prostrated, was enough to discourage any ordinary man, but these pioneers were heroic in their endurance, and by sheer pluck and perseverance conquered the wilderness.

Sheldon Hine purchased lot eight, range eight, of Joshua Poyer, and resided there until his death in 1854, at the early age of forty-six. He suffered from malarial disease of the new country, and his untiring industry exposed him recklessly to all kinds of weather. He built a saw mill on the Old Woman creek, where he worked night and day, and also a cider mill. The saw mill was not only a great accommodationto the people but of profit to him. He soon became possessed of large tracts of land in various parts of the township. Mrs. Hine still survives, enjoying a green old age. She had seven children: Lucius A., who devoted his life to reform; Horatio S.; Daniel N.; Theodore B., now in Toledo, but still owning the old homestead; Lenian G., now practicing law in Washington, D. C.; Julia (Mrs. S. T. Burnham), now living in Saginaw; Laura F. (Mrs. Powers), now living in Kansas.

Amos Hines purchased lot nine, range eight, where he lived until his death in 1854, at the age of sixtyfour years. He built a saw mill on the Old Woman creek, which was a great convenience to the people. Before leaving Connecticut he married Polly Allen. They had three children: Lorenzo, Allen, and Mary (Mrs. Simms), who only survives. Mrs. Hine still resides in the old homestead, which she keeps in excellent repair. It is an old fashioned Connecticut farm house, the first brick house erected in the township except Judge Meeker's, on the lake shore, which was built first, but before that section became a part of Berlin.

Nathaniel Hine stayed only for a short time in Berlin, removing to Florence where he was drowned in 1826, leaving a wife and three children.

Charles Hine purchased lot eight, range eleven, the farm now owned by L. S. Chapin. He was twice married, but was childless. He died in 1855, aged fifty-six years. His second wife, a few years since, married Mr. George Butler, of Milan. Oliver Peak was born in Starksburg, Vermont, in 1797, and came to Berlin in 1817. He had previously married Mary Benschoter, daughter of Aaron Benschoter. He purchased lot eighteen, section four, which he always retained. They had five children: Daniel, George, Mary J. (Mrs. George Douglas, now of Toledo), and Amy. George is the only one now residing in the township, being one of the most influential and enterprising farmers.

Oliver Peak came into the wilderness with little means, but by industry and economy amassed considerable wealth, and had the satisfaction of seeingall his familv more than usually prosperous. His first wife died, and he married the widow of the late Samuel Lewis with whom he lived till his death. He, for many years, was justice of the peace, and was an upright, honorable and patriotic citizen.

Reuben Brooks came with Mr. Peak from New York, and for a time both held the same lot of land. He afterwards purchased lot seventeen where he resided until his death, about 1860. Only one son, Absalom, is now a resident of the town.

Hezekiah Smith was born in Waterford, Connecticut, in 1776, and married Rebecca Miner, of that place. Their son, Paul C., came to Berlin, and settled on lot seven, range two, in 1817, and the next year Mr. Smith with his family came and settled on lot ten, range one. He built a frame house which was one of the first. He resided on this farm until his death in 1829, at the age of sixty three, and his wife died in 1834, aged sixty three. They had eleven children: Paul C., Turner M., Nancy, Rebecca, Maria, Nehemiah, Patty (Mrs. Benjamin Smith), Hezekiah, Theodore, Henry and Emeline. Turner M. purchased lot ten, range two, where he resided until his death. Before removing from Connecticut, he married Anne Whiteman. They had three children: Gurdon, and Lucas, now residing in Minnesota, and Horace who is a progressive farmer, still holds the homestead, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation, and where he says he shall remain until he dies. He has made a speciality of Herefords, and has a splendid herd.

Daniel Reynolds came from New York in 1817, and settled first on lot nine, range eleven, and then on lot twelve, range eight, where he remained until the death of his wife, Phoebe Thorn, in 1846, at the age of sixty-one years. He had four children: Isaac T., Rachel (Mrs. Hiram Judson), Jane, and Polly (Joseph Tucker). He died in Milan in 1876, at the advanced age of ninety-one years.

David Walker came from Connecticut in 1817, and located on section five, range two. They were industrious, as they were obliged to be to support their family of eleven children. As he was located on one of the main thoroughfares he opened a hotel, and soon after became postmaster.

Norman Walker, his brother, came two years later and bought a farm near David's, but it seems he could not withstand the climate and died. His daughter married Elsworth Burnham, and her mother resided, until her death, with them.

Joshua Phillips came from Lima, New York, in 1817 with his wife (Rebecca Smith), whom he married in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He was an elder in the Baptist church, and added preaching to his clearing away the wilderness, farming, and working at masonry. He purchased lots ten and eleven, range six, and opened the first quarry. They had seven children: Zalumna, Zebah, Joshua, Rebecca (Mrs. J. S. Lowry), Xenophon, Solomon, and Eliza (Mrs. T. C. Chapman). Zalumna was thoroughly identified with the business interests of an early day, having a store at the heights, and for a time held the office of judge and sheriff, and was once sent to the legislature. This store was built on the site now occupied by the town hall. It was then a dense forest, and Mr. Phillips paid Prentice K. Loomis seventy-five cents to cut down the trees where he intended to build. J. S. Lowry was the builder, and for many years was regarded as highest authority in architecture. Xenophon, for many years, practiced medicine with marked success, and acquired quite a wide fame for his treatment of climatic diseases. In after years, throwing up the practice, he became a voracious reader and enthusiastic disciple of Parker and Emerson. It is to his industry that we owe many of the personal facts of this portion of the history of our township.

The story of the trials of the Phillips family illustrate the hardships endured by all early settlers. They moved from the log house on the Chapelle creek where they stopped a short time, to the house Mr. Phillips was preparing. It was not yet finished. It was ten by twelve feet square, made of chestnut logs, split in two through the middle, and notched together at the corners. The floor was made of split logs, and at one end a wide space was left to build a fire. On one side a doorway was cut through, but windows there were none, and at that time none were needed, for the roof had not yet been laid on. The first day of January, 1818, a warm sunny day like May, the family moved into the new house. The tall tree tops of the interminable wilderness closed over its roofless walls, and in the interstices the stars shone down on their slumbers. Before morning a storm came up, a cold sleety rain, and the weary father broke his wagon box in pieces to make a temporary roof in one corner under which his household huddled together till the storm had passed.

Mr. Phillips brought three horses and a cow with him, but two of the horses soon died, not being able to bear the exposure and coarse food; all they had was a coarse grass which grew on the wettish lands in branches, and this kept green all winter, and the snow rarely ever was deep enough to prevent grazing. Sometimes elm and basswood were cut down to allow the cattle to feed on the tender branches. After the death of the horses, the one left and the cow mated, and it seemed that they were so lonesome in the wilds that their affection for each other was affecting to behold.

One day when Mr. Phillips was on the prairie working at masonry to earn the wheat to feed his family, the mother sent Zalumna and Zebah for game. They were gone until late in the afternoon, returning without the least success. The former says he never can forget the disappointment of his dear mother, for they had nothing but potatoes, and she baked some for their supper and they ate them with salt.

In 1817, Noah Hill came and purchased lot seven, range seven, of Nathan Smith, a Methodist preacher. He returned to Tioga, Pennsylvania, for his family, and the next year came and made a permanent settlement. He was of Connecticut birth, as was his wife, Sukey Butler. They have had eleven children: Horace L., Edwin I., Elihu P., Benjamin L., Mary Aim, Rachel, Henrietta, Hester C., George S., Noah, Sarah C. and Sterling U. It can be said that this widely connected family, by their sturdy New England ways, industrious habits and liberal ideas, have made a deep impression the character of the township. Noah died early, and Sterling was killed at the age of twelve years by the falling of the old Parmenter bridge. Edwin and Horace are farmers, and Elihu has retired from his farm and is living at his ease. He served one term as State senator, in 1852-3. Benjamin was an eminent physician, a professor in the Cincinnati Eclectic College, and author of standard works on surgery. He was State representative for one term, and died in California, where he had gone for his health. George is a successful physician.

Noah Hill, for many years, was justice, and was well known for his integrity of character. Before coming here, he worked at ship building, and helped build the brig "Commerce," which the famous Captain Riley lost on the coast of Africa. He early saw the evils of intemperance, and for the last thirty years never tasted a drop of any alcoholic drink, not even indulging in lemonade, which, he used to say, he refused out of spite. When the old Congregational church was sold, he purchased it by subscription, and refitted it, making of it a "Free Discussion Hall," and by that noble act making the future character of the towns-people. This hall was destroyed by fire, but not before the people saw the necessity of a free place of meeting, and the town hall, in 1867, took its place. He died in 1864, at the age of eighty years. His wife still survives, at the age of ninety five.

Timothy Tennant came from Auburn, New York,in 1818, and settled on lot three, range seven, where his son-in-law had began improvements the year previous. His wife was Temperance Pomeroy, of Connecticut, and he was born in Lyme, in the same State. They have had twelve children: Sophia (Mrs. Soper), Charles P., Daniel, Sterling, Henry, LucyAnn (first wife of Edwin I. Hill), Fanny J. (wife of H. L. Hill), Caroline (wife of R. M. Ransom), Clarissa (Mrs. Glenn), and Eliza.

Daniel Tennant came into Berlin, in 1816, when fifteen years of age. He carried the mail, soon after, from Berlin to Fremont, weekly, Wolverton, the contractor, bringing it from Cleveland. He married, in 1833, Caroline Bennett, by whom he had two children. Charles, the only one living, resides on the old homestead, which is one of the premium farms. His wife dying, he married, in 1858, Mary Ann Blain, of New York, and in 1873 retired from the farm to the Heights. Mr. Tennant was a blacksmith, and brought his anvil with him. His rule of business was never to disappoint a customer. He died in 1845, at the age of seventy-five, and Mrs. Tennant, who survived him eight years, died while on a visit to her daughter, Mrs. Glenn, in Tiffin.

Thomas Stephens settled, in 1818, on lot eight, range four, where he resided until his death, in 1835. He was the second justice of the peace, and a good teacher. He taught in the old log school house at the Heights. He left a wife and two children: Lucinda (Mrs. Steen), and Polly, the first wife of William Poyer. Out of school he was the premium swearer of the town, but in school, nothing would bring swifter or severer punishment than an oath.

Nathaniel Thorp came from Hebron, Connecticut, in 1818, with Moses B. Burnham, and in 1822, purchased lot eight and nine, range one. He has been twice married, by his first wife having four children, only Jeremiah is now living, residing on the old homestead. Mr. Thorp had the reputation of being the hardest working man in the township. He died in 1854, aged sixty-two years. Moses and Elsworth Burnham purchased lot three, range six.

John Wetherlow and George Whitney came, in 1819, from Seneca county, New York, and purchased lot ten, range seven. This was the lot on which the first improvement in the township was made, by John Dunbar. Mr. Weatherlow died in 1837, leaving a wife and five children: Lucy (Mrs. A. Halbite), Caroline (first wife of Captain L. Case), Samuel, William and John.

Jonathan Cobb came in 1819, from Tolland, Connecticut, and bought of S. Reed, lot seven, range two, where he resided until his death, in 1837, at the age of thirty-six years, He made, for the time he lived, great improvements; built the first framed house yet standing, a mill, and was an energetic business man. He left a wife and three children: Ahira, Ralph L., and Sally (Mrs. Elihu P. Hill).

Oliver Pearl came from Connecticut in 1819, and settled on lot two, range two, and resided there until his death in 1835, where his widow, now in her eighty-sixth year, still resides with their son Addison. They have had ten children, five of whom are now living: Oliver, Ancil H., William, Emeline, Albert, Marilla, Addison, Harriet, and Jerome.

Thomas and Titus Daniels came from Chenangocounty in 1819, the former settling on lot three, range two, and the latter on lot three, range three, on which they remained.

Cyrus Call came in 1819 as a pioneer Baptist misionary, and contracting to settle as resident pastor, retained that position for ten years. In 1820, he moved his family from Lake county, and purchased lot seven, range five, where he resided until his death in his eighty-eighth year. His wife was Sally Cross, whom he married in New York State. They had nine children: Polly (Mrs. Middleton), Essex, Sally (Mrs. Hanes), Jo, Carlo, Harriet, and Dana C.

David Butler came to Delaware county from Lennox, Massachusetts, in 1805, and in 1820 to Berlin. His wife was Abigail Barr, of Massachusetts. He purchased lot five, range twelve, where he resided until an advanced age.

Hiram Judsoncame from Woodhury, Connecticut, and purchased lot seven, range eleven; in 1821, a valuable tract reserved on account of the supposed salt spring. In 1825 be married Rachel Reynolds, and has since remained on this farm. They had three children: Elizabeth, Mary, and William. The latter remains on the old homestead. Mrs. Judson died in 1861. Mr. Judson is well preserved at seventy-nine years.

David Butler settled on the western limits of the township in 1822. He had a family of twelve children, none of whom now reside in the township. George, for many years, was a farmer, and well known as a farrier. He now resides in Milan, his daughter, Mrs. William E. Squire, remaining on the homestead.

Cromwell Tillinghast and wife came to Berlin in 1827, purchasing the tract of land on which they have since remained. They have four children Mary (Mrs. Leman Hine, of Washington, D. C.); ____(Mrs. Fred. Otis, of Chicago); Oliver C., who married Miss Lizzie Reynolds, and remains on the old homestead, and Charles, residing on the Otis place. Two other brothers came from Connecticut at nearly the same time, George and William, and the Otis family came the same year. Joseph Otis purchased the farm of John Thompson, built a saw mill above the Parmenter bridge, and added greatly to the business of the section. Of his family, the three sons, James, Frederick and Edwin, after farming for some years, removed to Chicago, where they have become identified with the business interests of that city, and the daughter, ______ (Mrs. Sherman), resides in Norwalk.

Eliphalet Harris may be ranked with the pioneers of Berlin, although he first settled near Portland, now known as Sandusky. He was born in 1795, at Flushing, Long Island. He came, with his wife, a native of Glastenburg, Connecticut, in 1816, to the present site of Sandusky, then a marsh, covered with ducks and geese. He established the first tannery in the county of Huron; taught the first public school and singing school in the county, and assisted in setting up the first press, from which the Clarion was printed for many years, and as deputy sheriff, assisted in the first public execution, that of three Indians. He was a hard-working man, as the clearing of two farms testify, and the story of his struggles with privations and hardships, would make a volume stranger than fiction. On his first farm, near the city, he was one day briskly chopping. His large family were destitute and hungry. There was no meat, and little bread. He could do nothing for them, and chopped away with harder blows to over come his feelings. Suddenly, he saw a large bear mount a log in the clearing and look at him. It was but the work of and a lucky shot laid bruin dead. Bear steak was the first meat the Harris family ate in Ohio. Mr. Harris had a family of twelve children, only two of whom are residents of the township, William and Daniel. He died at Berlinville, 1857, aged sixty-two. Mrs. Harris died at Norwalk, Ohio, 1876, aged seventy-six.

Nathan Tuttle came from Sempronius, New York, in 1832. He married some ten years previously, Moriah Monroe from Massachusetts. He purchased a portion of the "fraction" and of portions of contiguous lots, about a mile directly west of the Heights. They are still living at the ages of seventy-nine and eighty years, well preserved after the hardships they have endured. Of their four children, J. M. is at Norwalk, having an elevator there; Lucy is the wife of Henry Hoak; David is in Wakeman, and Hudson resides on the homestead. He married in 1858, Miss Emma D. Rood. They have three children: Rosa, Carl and Clair.

Robert Douglass came from Scotland to Canada, where after residing eighteen years, he removed to New York, and after three years, in 1833, he came to Berlin, purchasing a tract of land on the shore, where he resided until his death. His family consisted of eight children: Agnes, Margaret, George, Mary, Isabella, James, Betsey and Letitia. George became an active business man, and for some years before his removal to Toledo, where he now resides, handled a large amonnt of real estate in this adjoining townships. James is now the only member of the family in the town. He married Cornelia King in 1857, and resides on a farm adjoining the old homestead, a part of which he also owns, and is a leading farmer and fruit grower. In 1874, he ran for state representative on the democratic ticket, and although the ticket was lost by two hundred and forty majority, he was elected by thirty-three votes, and re-elected against about similar odds in 1876.

L. B. Chapin came from Connecticut in 1841, and purchased a part of the Mulinick lot. He was a man of culture, and had practiced law. He set a good example by his thorough farming, and well kept farm. He died in ____. Leonard resides with Mrs. Chapin on the old homestead, and L. S. on the farm once owned by Charles Hine. Leonodus, the only other surviving child, resides in the west, and is actively engaged in railroad building.

T0WNSHIP GOVERNMENT.

On the first day of April, 1817, the first town meeting was held in Thompson's mill. A strange assembly of only thirteen rough men in grotesque costume, patched and mended until the fabric could not be distinguished, or of enduring buckskin, with coon skin caps and fawn skin vests. They had concluded that the township needed a government, and they did not wait for the State to supply them, but felt fully competent to make such a government themselves. The judges were not troubled to count the votes, as every voter was elected to office; and some had two. The following is the list of township officers: John Laughlin, Samuel Reed and John Thompson, trustees; Henry Brady, clerk; John Hoak, treasurer; Daniel Butler, constable; Lybeus Storrs, lister and appraiser; Chnstopher Brubaker and Thos. Starr, path masters; John Hoak and S. S. Reed, fence viewers; Heironymus Mingus and Christopher Brubaker, poor masters.

The new government was afraid of the poor tax, and at once proceeded to "warn Rachel Taylor to depart the township of Eldridge." Who Rachel was, or when she was expected to go in the wilderness, is not stated, nor whether the officers were satisfied with a show of authority and allowed her to remain.

The population rapidly increased, so that, when in 1826, the trustees first divided the town into school districts according to the law passed the preceding year, there were eighty-nine families then in the farm districts.

FIRST EVENTS.

The first postmaster was Jeduthan Cobb, in 1820. The mail was then carried on horseback from Cleveland to Lower Sandusky, now Fremont, by Robert Wolverton. He afterwards ran a sort of coach or hack, carrying the mail and passengers.

After Walker built his hotel, or tavern, as it was then called, Mr. Beebe secured the contract for carrymg the mail. He ran a line of stages through on the telegraph road, and the coming and going of these ponderous vehicles was quite an event in the monotony of the life of those days.

The wide territory to the north of Berlinville, which has now two post offices, then had none, and it was a great convenience when an office was granted at the center. This office gave the present name to the place, for, as there were so many Berlins, some other name had to be given to avoid confusion, and Berlin Heights was suggested by the high lands, overlooking the lake, on which it was situated.

Elihu P. Hill was the first postmaster, succeeded by William Pearl, and by Jesse S. Davis, who has retained the position for the last twelve years.

The first hotel was built by David Walker, on the old Walker farm. The second was erected at Berlinville, on the site of the present one, by David Coulter. It was built of hewn logs. He sold to Geo. Roberts, father of George Roberts of Milan, who sold it to Harry Walker. Each owner added improvements.

The next was built near, or on, the site of Mr. Grumman's house and store, of logs, by Calvin Higgins, who started a tannery, the first in the township and the last.

The first hotel at the Heights was the present House, erected by Mr. Jesse I. Davis in 1855, and occupied, except for a short interval, by him since that time.

The first school in the township was taught by John Leland, in the winter of 1811-12, in a house on the Fitzgerald farm, now Henry Hine's. It would probably be a great curiosity at the present time. This school was soon suspended on account of the war, the people leaving with their families for places of safety, Cleveland or Pennsylvania. It is said that the panic was so great, that in January 1814, only four families resided in the township. And yet the Indians were always friendly, and no instance of their depredation is recorded in the township.

The second school house was built of logs, covered with "shakes," on the farm of Daniel Butler, in 1815, and the school was first kept by Sophia Case, and afterwards by Mr. Brady and Mr. Dunn.

The third school house was built near the Burdue spring, east of the Heights, in 1818. This house would now be a great curiosity. It was sixteen feet by twenty, and the logs of which it was built were of all lengths,some running out many feet beyond others. The roof was shakes held down by heavy poles. The floor was made of logs split through the middle. The seats were made of the same, without backs, and the writing desks were of the split slabs, supported by pins driven into the log wall. There were three windows, but as there was no glass, strips were placed across the openings and greased newspapers placed over them. The fire place occupied the whole end of the building, and the only limit to the size of the sticks was the strength of the boys to bring them in. There was not a board or a nail in the house. This school was opened by Thomas Stevens, who received ten dollars a month, paid in work on his farm or produce, and by way of gratuity, an occasional "bee" of chopping, hoeing, husking, etc. From this small beginning, the township has made great advance in the intervening sixty years. The central district, in 1874, erected a school building at a cost of thirteen thousand dollars. This school is graded, and the higher grade has been taught from the beginning by Mr. Job Fish, whose popularity has never waned, but constantly increased. There are now ten school houses in the township, valued at twenty-six thousand four hundred dollars, and the annual expenditure for school purposes is three thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. The central district supports, besides the main school, one at the "East End," at a cost of one hundred and seventy dollars per year, in a building costing five hundred dollars.

CHURCHES.

THE FIRST CHURCH.The Methodists held class meetings even earlier than 1812, in private residences, and had occasional preaching from Nathan Smith, Mr. Westhich, Dennis Goddard, ___ Walker, and later, William Pattee. At one of these meetings the following resolution, which is a most excellent article of faith, was adopted:

"WREREAS, Our lots, by Divine Providence, are east in this wilderness land where we are destitute of the preached word, destitute of an able shepherd to take us by the band, and believing it is our duty, as pro fessed followers of Christ; and also; feeling it to be our desire, and esteeming it to be our highest privilege on earth to do all we can to the declarative glory of God, the advancement of the Redeemer's cause in the world, and the good of souls; and believing that it will most conduce to this glorious end to form ourselves into a conference state, in brotherly compact, and thereby mutually strive to maintain the glory of God, keep the Christian Sabbath, watch over one another in love, and be helps to each other in our pilgrimage journey, and finding ourselves to be in union in sentiments; we, therefore, the: undersigned, do hereby this day agree to unite in brotherly compact,in the best of bonds, for the purpose above named. March 4, 1818."

This document is in the handwriting of Joshua Phillips, and is signed by him, Robert Wolverton, P.G. Smith, Levi Fuller, Fanny Smith, Rebecca Smithand Luther Harris.

In the following October, some of these met at the residence of Perez Starr, in Florence, with others from that township, and were organized by Elder Warner Goodale into the Baptist Church of Berlin. This organization held its meetings at private residences in Berlin and Florence. Elders French, Hartwell, Hanks, Tucker, Abbott, Rigdon, and Call, preached occasionally.

The first settled minister of the gospel in the township, and in fact between Cleveland and the "Indian Land," was elder Call. He settled on the farm where he always resided, lot seven, range five, in 1820. He married, before moving from New York State; Miss Sally Cross. Their family consisted of nine children and, including great grandchildren, his descendants number one hundred. He died in 1861 at the age of eighty-eight, and his death was soon followed by that of his wife at the age of eighty.

The Congregational Church was organized by Rev. A. H. Betts and S. B. Sullivan in 1823, with nine members. A. H. Betts preached occasionally until 1829, when Everton Judson preached one-third of the time for two years; then F. Barber preached for one year, Joseph Crawford for two years, and in 1840 was succeeded by J. C. Sherwin, who remained until 1851. He was very active and successful, and was dearly beloved by all the community. He was succeeded for a short time by James Scott, who was followed in 1852 by G. C. Judson, who remained about one year. John Parlin followed until 1854, when F. A. Demming was installed and remained until 1857. He was then suc- ceeded by F. M. Cravath, who remained until 1863, when he entered the army as a chaplain. T. B. Pen-field occupied the desk for 1864, and George Candee from 1865 to 1869. Sidney Bryant remained but a few months, and J. C. Thompson took his place andremained one year, and was succeeded by Henry Brown, whose ministry was very short. In 1871 Levi Loring accepted of the call and remained until 1874. A. D. Hail followed, remaining until 1878, when he departed to Japan as a missionary. N. S. Wright is the present stated supply. Nathan Chapman was the first clerk of the church. Francis West retained that office for thirty years. This church, from its formation, was congregational, but for reasons which, in its infancy, were thought best for union and success, it became united with the presbytery and remained in such union until 1865, when it withdrew and united with the Ohio N. C. Association. Since its first organization, about three hundred have united with the church, but death and removals have reduced the number to about sixty. The first deacons were John Fuller and Jonas Matthews, elected in 1835. The present edifice was erected in 1845.

The Baptist Church was really founded and sustained until 1833, by Elder Joshua Phillips, when at his own request he was dismissed. In 1833, Elder Algood was secured to preach one-half the time; in 1837, Elder Wood preached one half the time, and in 1838, Elder P. Latimer was secured. In 1839, he became a settled minister. Under him the first great revival occurred. In 1840, H. C. Sylvester took Latimer's place, and was succeeded in 1842 by Elder Warren, under whose ministry aided by Elder Weaver, a celebrated evangelist, the most wonderful revivalever witnessed in the township, took place. It was not only the greatest but the rest, and all efforts appear to have no appreciable effect in producing like results. In 1844,Elder Blake was called by the church. In that year the first Sabbath school was organized. Blake was succeeded in 1845, by Elders Storrs and Bloomer; followed in 1847, by Henderson; 1848, by Wilder; 1851, by Willoughby. During his yearly ministry the church struck on the rock of slavery. By a vote of seventeen to two, it declared holders. Since that time it has not wielded the influence of its early years.

The Methodists built a chapel in the eastern part of the township in 1837, and in 1850 one in the western. This division was a great inconvenience, and the western was sold for a school house, and, in 1870, a brick edifice erected at the Heights. On account of the itinerant system adopted by that church, it would be difficult to give a list of preachers who have occupied the pulpits of that sect.

PHYSICIANS.

The first physician was Dr. George G. Baker, who came from Connecticut in 1822. He remained but a short time, removing to Florence, and from there to Norwalk, where he remained and became identified with the interests of that important town. He was very successful in treating the malarial fevers, which were not well understood by the early practitioners, and his ride extended over a wide territory. The early settlers still speak of him in terms of heartfelt gratitude, and perhaps no physician has since attained as strong hold on the confidence of the community.

Physicians from neighboring towns came at the early call of suffering, and as it ever is, in new countries, the quack flourished apace. Among the names of the early doctors of medicine, a fuller notice of whom belongs to the history of other townships, are: Drs. Guthry, Harkness and Fay. Daniel Butler also practiced, and David Butler dealt in roots and herbs. Xenophon Phillips began practice in _____, and for many of years held almost a monopoly. He was a gentle, unassuming man, and had remarkable success in malarial fevers. His methods were not orthodox, a combination of electrician, botanic, Thompsonian,and common sense.

Berlin is noted for its healthfulness, and physicians have a proverbial hard time within its limits. After Dr. X. Phillips retired, Prof. B. L. Hill and Dr. Geo. S. Hill gained a wide practice. At present there are three physicians in the township: M. M. Benschoter, at Stone's corners, began practice in 1862, and recently, Dr. Eldridge, Allopath, Dr. Collier, Homeopath, have established themselves at the Heights

Lawyers never received a fat living in Berlin. T.C. Chapman has, for many years, transacted the legal business of the community.

THE FIRST GRIST MILL.

The sufferings for the want of mills to grind the corn and wheat were not the least the pioneers werecalled upon to endure. The nearest mill was at River Raisin, and thither, in boats, they carried their grain. It is related that in one of their expeditions they stopped for the night at one of the Sister Islands. The wind was very high, and the boat broke from its moorings and drifted far out into the lake. It was a terrible prospect for those hardy men, left alone on desert island, and the entire yearly supply for their families irretrievably lost. Some of them sat down and wept like children. The wind changed, and in the morning the boat drifted back, and they went on their way rejoicing, but they always referred their deliverance to the hand of a merciful providence. Such long journeys were not often undertaken. The primitive Indian method of pounding grain in a mortar, was adopted, or, at best, hand mills used. This was followed, in Milan, by a horse power mill, and at length the proprietors of Berlin, Eldridge, Fosdick and Miner, through their agent in Cleveland, J. Walworth, to improve their property; built a mill, in 1810, just above the Parmenter bridge on the Old Woman creek. It was the first grist mill on the Firelands. This mill was twenty by twenty-five, built of logs, and had one run of stone. To the pioneers, who had so long beaten their grain in mortars, or ground it in hand mills, no mill could make better flour. The Starr Brothers and Mr. Seymour built it, and soon after its completion, John Thompson, who built the old Parmenter house, the second frame house in the township, purchased it, and was patronized by a wide territory. The stream, dammed in its forest fastnesses, then ran the mill nine months in the year. The rain-fall was no greater than at present, but now the forests are removed, ditches opened, and the stream sweeps down in almost irresistible floods, and scarcely for a single moment in the year is there water sufficient to turn the mill wheel.

This John Thompson was a character. He was a giant in stature; had been a wild youth, but had reformed. His fingers were drawn up and he could not straighten them. When the boys came into the mill, to wonderingly gaze on the strange wheels while their bags of corn were being ground, they would ask him how his hands came so fashioned. He would say to grab toll, and illustrate it by taking out of the hopper. "Old Man Burdue" and his family were very superstitious, and Thompson delighted to make them believe he was a wizard. The mill was locked with an old padlock that needed a key, for the trouble was to make it keep together, but in his hands it became burglar proof, for he had made believe it was bewitched. The Burdues and many others were often half terrified when Thompson would walk up to the mill door, make three waves of his hand, muttering to himself, then shout "open," as he struck the door with his fist, and the lock would fly apart. Burdue had bought a new scythe, and one day while using it Thompson came along. He wanted to buy it, for a new scythe was difficult to obtain. The old man would not sell. "Very well," said Thompson, "it shall never do you any good." Soon Burdue laid down his scythe and went to another part of the field. Thompson seized the opportunity, and with his knife cut the edge completely off. The old man returned and resumed his mowing. The scythe would not cut. He used the whetstone over and over again, but it would not cut the grass. Then, in despair, he threw it down, crying, "just as I knew it would be. Thompson's spell'd it!"

The difference between the millers of our day and this pioneer, is as great as between the steam mills they run and the old log mill with its crude wooden water wheel.

If Burdue was superstitious, he was a strong and determined man. A good story is told of him and Mr. Eldridge. He had purchased a lot of land, where now the creamery stands, of the latter, made a partial payment, and bound him to give a deed when he received one hundred bushels of wheat, then worth two dollars per bushel. The next year when Eldridge came to look after his lands, Burdue was ready with his wheat, worth thirty-seven cents per bushel, and eager for his deed. Eldridge explained that it would be ruinous, and endeavored to put him off. But the "old man" was not to be thwarted. He told Eldridge that he "must make up his mind to give him the deed, or he would never leave town alive." Those who knew him were sure that he would keep his word, and Eldridge became so fully assured that he made the deed and left the almost worthless wheat.

BERLIN INDUSTRIES AND PRODUCTS, ETC.

The first quarry was opened by Joshua Phillips on the land now owned by J. M. Stahl. He had sold the land to Eldridge, reserving the use of the quarry for one year, in order to get out stone for himself ahouse. Elder Phillips made that year a busy one, for he quarried stone, and had teams haul them out, and for many years, had stone to supply the demand. It was not, however, known that the ledge of sandstone which crops out northeast of the Heights, and forms a grand escarpment, was one of the most valuable in the State. It remained for George A. Baillie to develop this fact. The enterprise was a great one for one man to undertake, as the strata dip from the escarpment, and over twenty feet of strippings had to be cleared from a wide area before the desirable quality of stone could be obtained. The wonderful gravel-bed contiguous, tempted the Lake Shore Railroad to extend a branch from a point east of Ceylon, overcoming the heavy grade by skillful engineering, into the very heart of the quarry.

The stone has been found everything to be desired. It is practically inexhaustible, and the strata are from six inches to eight feet in thickness. By General Gilmore's tests it will bear a crushing force of 14.250 per square inch, and E. E. Myers, the well known architect, says: "He regards it as one of the best sand stones he has ever seen or used. It withstands the strongest acids; heat and cold, and grows harder, and of finer tone by age and exposure. Mr. Baillie shipped in 1878, four hundred car loads, mostly to New York.

Mr. J. S. Lowry began a few years since, working anew the quarry on the farm originally ofH. Hammond, and with sufficient outlay this, too, will furnish an inexhaustible supply.

In an early day grindstones were manufactured to a considerable extent, and a wide local demand supplied, but although the grit is good, the business has long been discontinued.

DAIRY PRODUCTS.

Berlin has not been devoted to dairying, and little attention was given to the factory system established in townships on the eastern portion of the Reserve. Under the influence of Melvin Stone, the Berlin creamery was established in 1877, with a patronage of two hundred and fifty cows. It had the advantage of an abundant spring of water which flowed from the earth at a temperature of ___. This factory brought the art of butter making up to a higher standard than possible to be obtained even by experts, with the conveniences which a farm house supplies, and of course a higher price is obtained for the article, ranging from seven to fifteen cents per pound. This increase in price more than covers the entire cost of manufacture and sale. The patronage of the creamery for 1878 was three hundred and forty cows, an increase of ninety, and not withstanding low prices, the business was entirely satisfactory.

The Berlin fruit box manufactory was established in 1863, and has been a leading interest. It was first run in connection with the sorghum business, began the year previous, and which was continued until 1866. In the year 1864 ten thousand gallons of sorghum syrup were made. The manufacture of apple barrels was also a part of the business. In 1866, six thousand were made. In 1868, the box business had so largely increased that all other interests were closed out. Additions and improvements in buildings and materials have been constantly made and the product increased until now eighty thousand feet of timber are annually required, and employment given to twenty five persons. Samuel Patterson has been connected as leading partner and business agent with the firm from the beginning, and its success is due mainly to his enterprise and inventive genius.

FRUIT GROWING.

The pioneers at an early day were determined to have orchards, and began to plant trees before the ground was cleared of the forest. Canada was the nearest place where apple trees could be obtained, and, in 1812, John Hoak and Mr. Fleming, of Huron, crossed the lake and returned with a boat load of trees. Some of these are still growing in the orchard of Henry Hoak and the old Burdue farm. Three pear trees on the farm of Mr. Hoak from this shipment are of monstrous growth and still vigorous, being quite unlike the weakly stock we now endeavor to keep alive by constant doctoring. One of them is seventy feet in highth, and measures eighteen inches above the ground, eight feet seven inches in circumference; another, somewhat less tall, measures over seven feet. They rarely fail to bear, and yield from thirty to fifty bushels of pears each. Some of the old apple trees are still vigorous, and one of these measures over nine feet in circumference. From this small beginning, Berlin has become famous for the perfection of its various fruits, and the skill of its horticulturists. The proximity of the lake prevents damaging frosts, and the soil is well adapted for the apple, peach and grape.

COMMUNISM.

Berlin Heights, it one time, became widely known on account of a socialistic or Free Love society Organized there. Only a single citizen of the township became identified with this movement, this agitation being drawn from widely remote States. They added to their restlessness and impatience with existing customs and usages, more than ordinary intelligence.

It was some time after the first gathering that a community was established. The first, called Point Hope Community, was commenced in 1860, had about twenty members, and lasted less than a year. The second, called the Industrial Fraternity, commenced, in 1860, with twenty members, lived about six months. The third, the Berlin Community, or Christian Republic, commenced in 1865, had twelve adult members and six children and lived about one year.

So far as testing communism was concerned, the attempt was an utter failure. The drifting to this section of so many individuals, who, to use their own phrase, were "intensely individualized," and who remained after the complete failure of their schemes, has had an influence on the character of the town. They engaged in fruit growing, have multiplied the small farms, and added to the prosperity and inteliectual life of the people. From the beginning their honesty never was questioned, however mistaken their ideas.

Johnson's Cyclopedia makes a strange blunder, when it says that a flourishing community of Spiritualists is located at Berlin Heights. It refers, of course to the socialistic society, which was not spiritualistic in any sense of the word. Spiritualism does not teach communism in any form, and some of the most zealous opposers of the socialists were among the spiritualists. It is true that some of the socialists claimed to be spiritualists, and others claimed to believe in various church doctrines, and some were atheists.

The Berlin people are noted for tolerance, but it may be presumed that the socialists, with their strange ideas, did not always find their paths strewn with roses, and the citizens still retain fresh in their memories, how, when Francis Barry attempted to mail a number of the obnoxious "Age of Freedom", twenty Berlin women seized the mail sack in which he had brought it on his shoulder to the office, and made a bonfire in the street. The following journals were successively started by the socialists and ran brief careers: "Social Revolutionist", conducted by J. S. Patterson, 1857; "Age of Freedom", commenced in 1858, Frank and Cordelia Barry and C. M. Overton, editors; "Good Time Coming", 1859, edited by J.P. Lesley and C. M. Overton; the "New Republic", 1862, edited by Francis Barry; "The Optimist" and "Kingdom of Heaven", 1869, Thomas Cook, editor; "The Principia", or Personality", 1868, >b>N. A. Brown, editor; the "New Campaign", 1871, C. M. Overton, editor; "The Toledo Sun", moved from Toledo to Berlin Heights in 1875, by John A. Laut.

Besides these, two local newspapers were published for some time: "The Bulletin", by W. B. Harrison, commenced in 1870; and the "Index" by F. J. Miles, commenced in 1875.

In 1851, the Ark of Temperance was established in Berlin, and perhaps nothing excited a greater and more permanent influence over the morals and intellectual culture of the people. The Sons of Temperance excluded women, and hence failed. Mr. S. 0.Kellogg conceived the happy idea of establishing an order wherein the sexes should be equal. The result of his thinking was the "Ark," of which the Good Templars is a faint imitation. The movement was a great success. The organization at one time numbered over eight hundred members. The grand ark began establishing subordinate arks, and had the matter been pushed there was no reason why it had not become as wide as the country. For many years the ark at the Heights was maintained, and to the attractions of the impressive ritual was added not only social, but a high order of intellectual life.

SOLDIERS OF BERLIN.

The following is a complete list of the soldiers who are dead, furnished by Berlin in the defence of the country, and from it something may be learned of the sacrifice of life and money made in the holy cause of liberty by this township:
Revolution - Orley Benschoter, Hieronomus Mingus, Aaron Van Benschoter.

War of 1812 - Russell Ransom, Nathaniel Griffin,
Ephraim Hardy, Prosper Carey, George Whitney
Joshua Phillips, P. T. Barber, Jacob Mingus,
Nathaniel Burdue, H. Dunbar, T. Miller.

War of the Rebellion - Wm. Lowry, Sam. McGurkin,
Richard Mulleneaux, Curtis Mullenaux, Myron
Rice, George Burgess, L. L. Hardy, D. D. Stage,
W. A. Keith, Spafford Penny, J. Woodward, Osro J.
Lowell, J. Hall, J. Daniels, Elisha Jenkins,
W.Swartz, Diodot Ransom, George Johnson, S. Seeley,
C. A. Graves, E. Huffman, E. Hardy, Fred Huntley,
James Smith, P. K. Loomis, Geo. L. Fowler, Horace
Hill, John Laughlin, J. Smith, H. Smith, Darius
Smith, Charles Elwood, Henry Elwood, Aaron Hall,
Lucius Smith, Dan'l Weatherslow; Oliver Benschoter,
Frank Bemis, William Bellamy.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

[note: a portrait of Almon Ruggles was included with the following bio.]

HON. ALMON RUGGLES.
Few, if any, of the early pioneers of this country, are more deserving a place in history, and none filled more prominent and important positions, or had more varied and interesting experiences, than did the subject of this sketch. He came to this country from Danbury, Connecticut, to survey the "Sufferer's Lands," so-called, in 1805. His first surveys were made under orders of his principal, and proved unsatisfactory to the committee, and he was then chosen by the committee as chief, and the survey was made the second time, to the satisfaction of all concerned. In this survey he called to his aid Judge Wright, of New York, who had charge of one branch of the work. In addition to his salary, he was permitted to select one mile square any where on the lake shore, within the limits of the Firelands, at one dollar per acre. He selected the land, a portion of which is now owned by his only surviving son, Richard Ruggles, on the lake shore, in the township of Berlin. The beautiful grove, known as "Ruggles' Grove," was spared by his order, and is now a fit monument to his memory, and in sight of which his ashes repose.

He was an expert swimmer. When it became necessary to cross a stream he could not ford, he would tie his wardrobe into as small a bundle as possible, cross the stream with them, and return for his compass.

His father was Ashbel Ruggles, a descendant of one of three brothers who came from Scotland, but just what year is not known. His mother was a Bostwick. Almon was a twin. His brother Alfred died in infancy.

His father was in indigent circumstances when he was a boy, and he went to live with an uncle, who was a Presbyterian deacon, and very parsimonious. He refused to give young Ruggles an education, or to even give him an opportunity to acquire one. He obtained his first book by catching wood chucks, tanning the skins, and braiding them into whip-lashes for the market. As Providence helps the man who helps himself, so this young man was prospered. Six months was the sum of his school days, yet by application, he fitted himself for teaching, and taught in an academy for some time. The very obstacles to be overcome, gave him that energy and strength of character which ever after characterized his public and private life. He was a self-made man in the best sense of the word. His own early struggles with poverty, gave him active sympathies with the poor pioneers of this country. All regarded him as a friend, and many of them depended on him for support in all emergencies He had a store of general merchandise, and trusted all those who could not pay. It is said of him that he might have been very rich, had he been disposed to grind the face of poverty. He preferred to live more unselfishly, and merit the confidence and respect of his fellows. He not only encouraged the early settlers with material aid, but with cheerful looks and kind words. He was always jolly, and enjoyed fun, and all enjoyed his society. He represented this senatorial district in the State legislature in 1816-17-19, when the district consisted of the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga, Portage, Cuyahoga and Huron, and in 1820, when it consisted of Cuyahoga and Huron. He was associate judge for several years, under the old constitution. His ability, his integrity, his knowledge of the country and people, eminently qualified him for the places he filled, and it is said of him, that in all his public life, no official misconduct stained his record, or cast a shadow on his character. He was an earnest worker in the whig party, and a personal friend of General Harrison.

He was twice married. His second wife was a widow, Mrs. Rhoda Buck nee Sprague. He has two living children: Mrs. Dr. Phillips, of Berlin Heights, and Richard, who married , of Berlin. He lives on the homestead. Charles married Miss Mary Douglass for his first wife, and Miss Julia Mallory for his second. He was a member of no church, but was equally liberal with all, opening his dwelling for meetings and for the entertainment of the ministers. He was too large a man for wrong doing, and too liberal and kind to treat any with incivility. Such a life never ends, so long as grateful children and grandchildren walk in its echoes Such men can walk fearlessly and confidingly down into the great future to meet whatever awaits them there. He passed in to the "Beyond," July 17, 1840, in the sixty-ninth year of his age.

[note: a portrait of MR. and MRS. P.B.BARBER was included with the following bio.]

REV. PHINEAS BARKER BARBER was born in Greenwich, Washington county, New York, June 22, 1793. At the age of nineteen, he enlisted as a soldier in the war of 1812 with Captain Cook, in the New York militia, and was honorably discharged. The command of Captain Cook did efficient service, and suffered much. At the time of his decease he was drawing a pension for service rendered during that war.

In 1815, at the age of twenty-two, he purchased his first farm in Lock, Cayuga county, New York. June 3, 1819, he was united in marriage with Orpha Morse, daughter of Judge Morse, of the same county, by whom he had seven children, five of whom are living.

In 1830, he came to Ohio with his family, and settled in Berlin, where he lived until his decease. June 26, 1836, his wife died, and, on the 20th of June, 1837, he married Roxana S. Heath, who survives him. He was converted to christianity at the age of twenty three, and entered 'the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at the age of twenty-six, and from that time until his death was a zealous worker in the vineyard of the church.

His ministry commenced in Ohio, at a time when he could stand in his own door and shoot deer and other game, which he frequently did. In those days, he traveled through the woods on foot to fill his appointments, and preached in churches, school houses and private dwellings. He preached in nearly every township in Erie and Huron counties, and had two or more preaching places in each township.

To the fulfillment of his duties as a minister, he brought a cultured and cheerful. mind, rare energy of character, industry, economy and hospitality. His liberality knew no bounds but an empty purse. These traits of character were crowned with love for God and humanity. His piety and courage, as well as his faith and hope, are conspicuous at every stage of his history. During the fifty-eight years of his ministry, he never received a dollar for preaching, and he supported his family by hard labor on his farm. He was unflagging in his energies and untiring in his labor of love. No embassador of Jesus Christ ever sounded forth his messages with more faithfulness or fervor.

His endurance was wonderful: He preached every Sunday, and his appointments were from five to twenty miles apart. He also attended, on an average, three funerals each week, and uniformly suffered with the sick headache after preaching. He pressed forward, sowing the seed for future harvest, in obedience to what he conceived to be his duty. He planted in the morning, and in the evening withheld not his hand exerting a wide influence.

It is said of him, that he married more couples and administered spiritual consolation to more of the sick, and preached more funeral sermons than any other man who ever lived in his field of labor. He lived in the affection and confidence of his people and neighbors. He held various offices of trust, and, at one time, lacked but ten votes of being elected representative of his county in the State legislature; and, onone occasion, was nominated for State senator. He improved and beautified his home with his own hands, built his own house and barns, and assisted in build- ing the old Berlin Chapel, in 1835, and various other churches.

He was a Christian gentleman, never trifling, yet always cheerful, and fond of relating pleasant anecdotes. He was a great reader, and had few equals as such in the general literature of his time. His doctrinal habits and modes of thought followed him to the end. The character of this war worn pioneer was one of the purest and brightest history records. In short, his life presents an instance of self sacrificing devotion to his conviction of right and duty, of which history has but few parallels. His long and useful life was full of labor and adorned with love. On the 2d day of May, 1877, at the age of eighty- four, he escaped the thraldom of his earthly body, and entered upon the spiritual inheritance provided for all the redeemed.

ROXANA S. BARBER was born in March, 1810, in Kingwood, New Jersey, on the Atlantic coast. Her father was Richard Heath, light horseman. In those days of military ambition, the New Jersey militia powdered their wigs and presented a gay appearance. She came to Geneseo, New York, in 1827, and to Florence, Ohio, in 1835. The family landed at Huron in November of that year. There being no mode of conveyance in the country at that time, they walked from Huron to Florence, where they purchased a farm. June 27, 1837, she was united in marriage to Rev. Phineas B. Barber, with whom she lived until his decease, a period of forty years, enduring the hardships of a pioneer life, and doing double duty, while her husband was from home, in the work of the ministry. The wives and mothers who suffered the hardships of pioneer life, who faced danger, want and suffering with such unfaltering trust and Christian fortitude, will never, can never, be appreciated, not even by grateful children, until they put on the glorious robe of immortality, and their reward will not come until they enter the glories of the upper sanctuary. Twochildren were the fruit of this union. Carrie C. married Newton Andress in 1863; lives at Berlin Heights. Phineas B. deceased in 1869. Mrs. Barber resides with her daughter, Mrs. Andress.

BENJAMIN SUMMERS. [note: this bio appeared opposite page 479. Also included were portraits of Benj. and Julia B. Summers.]

Benjamin Summers was of Revolutionary ancestry. His parents were from Newtown, Fairfield Co., Conn., where his ancestors had lived for three generations. His grandfather, Benjamin Summers, was the son of Samuel Summers, and was one of a family of nine sons and three daughters. His ancestor, Benjamin, served with distinction in the old French war. He was too old for general service during the Revolution, but was active in getting recruits; was in command of a company of Silver Gray Minute Men, and was out in the service at the time the British were chased to their shipping after the burning of Fairfield, Danbury, and Norwalk.

Mark Summers, the father of Benjamin, was born May 21, 1765, at Newtown, Conn., and in 179_ fixed his home among the rough hills of Middletown, Delaware Co., N. Y. Here his son Benjamin was born, May 21, 1801. In his ninth year he was sent beck to the old family home at Newtown, that he might attend school; thither, also, his parents soon after removed, in order to educate their children. They remained there seven or eight years. In the mean time Benjamin had acquired "a good common school education, and a couple of years in Latin, mathematics, and surveying."

In the fall of 1817, Mark Summers and his family removed to the West, arriving at their home on the FireLands,Nov.17, 1817, after a journey of forty days in the wilderness, pitching their tent in Vermillion township. The land which he had purchased, three hundred and forty acres, lay in Jessup (now Florence) township. It was a little too far in the woods, and to be nearer to neighbors they bought a half-lot in Vermillion, which spot became the permanent home of the family. One inducement to buy the half-lot was that there was a clearing of two or three acres and a dwelling house thereon. The house was a log hut of one story and one room, and they "moved in with the family already occupying, making in all fifteen in one room, and most of the time two hired men in addition."

Benjamin taught the district school part of the winter of 1819, and occasionally afterward. In the winter of 1824-25 he clerked in a store in Milan, and was married to Miss Olive Stevens, of that place, recently from Sheffield, Mass. She lived but a short time after their marriage. Mr. Summers married his second wife, Miss Julia Burr, April 4, 1827. She, also, like his former wife, had had the advantages of a New England education.

Mr. Summers' health was never very firm, he being afflicted with rheumatism, which partially disabled him for years. He succeeded, however, very well in business, and soon became a leading man in his community; filled various offices, was justice of the peace three terms, and in the winter of 1837 was, by the State Legislature; elected associate judge of Huron County. Mr. Summers was a Whig, and the Legislature by which he was elected was Democratic. The office was unsolicited and unexpected by him. Judge Summers took his seat at the March term, 1837. At the Legislative session of 1838-39, the Democrats, being in power, set off to Erie County what is now its eastern portion, and thus Judge Summers was, as claimed by the Democrats, legislated out of office, he, by the change in county lines, being no longer a resident of Huron County. Various legal questions were raised; but Judge Summers and Judge Choate, of Milan, whose case was similar, continued to act as associate judges of Huron County. The case was taken to the Supreme Court, where a difference of opinion existed. After some two years a political change gave the Democrats a majority in the Supreme Court, and Summers and Choate were ousted. At the solicitation of his party friends, Judge Summers consented to be the Whig candidate of his district for representative in the Legislature. He was elected in 1844, and reelected in 1845, and was by his friends asked to be a candidate for State Senator in 1846, but declined the nomination. It "did not pay" in any sense, and he very touch disliked the cabaling, intrigue, and "tin-pan" which seemed most inseparable from, or, at least, too much practiced in, political life. From this period Mr. Summers was a prominent man (to whom the "widow and the orphan" came for advice and counsel), but preferred private life, was successful as a farmer, keeping up with the times in his reading and observation of men and things. His health seemed firmer, and he realized the ease of competence and the happiness of home. Realizing the benefits of an education, he gave to his children such advantages as were in his power. He was among the early members of the Firelands Historical Society, filled various offices in the same from time to time, was one of its efficient supporters, and furnished various contributions for its magazine.

His temperament was nervous-bilious, and he suffered much from nervous headaches, which interfered with his labors and literary pursuits. He had a great thirst for knowledge, and read everything within his reach; had a general knowledge on most subjects, without confining himself to any one line of thought. His farming was after the style of his reading. He delighted in improvements, was fond of introducing new and superior fruits, grains, vegetables, ornamental trees, etc. He did not confine himself to one production. When his curiosity and ambition were satisfied with producing the finest and greatest variety of peaches, he turned his attention to the culture of grapes, and so on. The money value of a thing was not its chief value to him. He was not visionary, however, or reckless, but cautious, and commonly succeeded in whatever he undertook. Though not a read lawyer, he had a pretty good knowledge of legal principles, and his views on legal questions were much respected and sought after by his neighbors and friends. He was just, punctual, and forbearing in his dealings and intercourse, firm where duty required, but yielding where no principle would be sacrificed; hence he was the uncompromising enemy of slavery and every pretext for oppression, a reliable friend, a rather "inconvenient enemy," an accommodating neighbor, and kind and indulgent in his domestic relations. For many years he was a consistent and active member of a Christian church, but was naturally somewhat skeptical on some points of orthodoxy, and for a time seemed to delight in controversy on these points. In later years he disliked this controversy, and earnestly sought to return to the faith of his earlier manhood. Advancing years enfeebled the health of himself and wife. They sold the old homestead and removed to Berlin Heights, where they resided two or three years until the decease of his faithful wife, who had been a true helpmeet for forty-seven years, on Nov.19, 1874. By this event his home was broken up; his health also gave way, and for ten months he was an intense sufferer. These last months were spent with his children, "far away' from the Fire-Lands," and they learned to know him better and reverence his character more and more as the days of his pilgrimage drew to a close He departed this life, in the full vigor of his intellectual faculties, at the residence of his daughter, wife of Rev. G. H. Hartupee, D.D., at Mansfield, Ohio, Aug.11, 1878, in the seventy-fifth year of his age.

MILTON MCLAUGHLIN. [note: this bio appeared opposite page 482. Also included were portraits Mr. and Mrs. Milton McLaughlin.]

The grandparents of Mr. McLaughlin came from Ireland, with their family of eleven sons, and settled in Georgetown. Pa. The date of their immigration is uncertain, but it must have been over a century ago. John, one of the oldest of this large family, married Elizabeth Hoak, sister of John Hoak, and after a few years joined the party of adventurers who left Walnut Creek, Pa., for the Huron River. He removed from the bottom lands of the river to Milan, then an Indian village, and remained there two years. He became greatly attached to the Indians, and they to him. He was an excellent hunter, and they admired his dexterity. His children played and were one with the Indian children. When his little son, Benjamin, was taken sick he was doctored by the Indian medicine man, and, when he died, was buried by the Indians after their custom.

Mr. McLaughlin was fortunate in maintaining the most friendly relation with the Indians, and never but once broke with them. Once, while hunting, he shot one of their dogs for a wolf, and narrowly escaped the vengeance of its owner.

In 1810 he built a small log house on Lot 8, which has since been known as the McLaughlin place, and moved there with his family. It was a desperate struggle for existence; want and disease were continually near at hand. The children, unacclimated, were the greatest sufferers.

Henry, one of the oldest, succumbed to fever, and was buried on the high bank of Huron River. While here, news came of Hull's surrender, and the settlers fled for their lives, expecting the Indians would rush down upon them. Mr. McLaughlin and family started for the old home in Pennsylvania, with such provisions as they could carry, and on horsebock or on foot pursued their way through the interminable forest to Mansfield. His rifle was his dependence for support, and they camped wherever night overtook them. Soon after they reached their destination, on Christmas day, 1813, the weary mother gave birth to a son, who is the subject of this sketch. After two years the family returned.

In 1814 they built a hewed log house, near the Corners, on the same farm, where he resided until his death. He was passionately fond of hunting, and very pious; a quiet, taciturn man, who shrank not from labor. There was no fruit except wild crab-apples and frost grapes; turnips were used for fruit, and sometimes the children would go into the woods and search for ground nuts or wild potatoes for their dinner.

Their sugar was made from the maple, and queer tastes were established by familiarity with Indian diet. They cooked their meat in the syrup.

This section was heavily timbered. Oaks which made seventy-five rails to the cut, and four hundred years of age, were common. Vermin abounded. In one fall Mr. Milton McLaughlin killed seventy-five opossums, several hundred squirrels, and twelve deer, besides wild turkeys and 'coons which he did not count. Where the schoolhouse now stands, his father killed a bear. The children in this interesting family were as follows, - Katie, Henry, John, Nancy, Benjamin, Annie, Betsey, Milton, and Belinda. As corn was pounded into meal in a mortar made in a stump hollowed out by fire, the feeding of such a family was no ordinary task.

Milton McLaughlin was cradled and bred under such conditions and surroundings. He became a hard working, persevering, determined man, with a good bit of the silent, undemonstrative habit, as would be expected from such conditions. He married, Nov.28, 1837, Mary B. Krom, of Ulster Co., Pa., formerly of New York City. In consideration of paying certain debts, his father gave him a part of the old farm. These debts amounted to more than the land was worth, but he struggled through. When he moved from his father's house he carried his household goods on a wheelbarrow. He worked on his farm during the summer, and in the ship-yard at Milan during the winter. He was a sawyer, and helped to saw the timber for the locks on the canal. He often made $4.40 per day, while the average wages were but $1.50 per day. His efforts were admirably seconded by his wife, and, by perseverance, industry, and attention to business, he has gained the title of West Berlin banker, though he says he never had a dollar given him.

The fruit of this marriage are Ransom, born June 9, 1839, married Sarah Springer, Aug. 8, 1860, resides in Milan township; Nancy T., born June 16, 1842, married, April 14, 1868, to Wm. Squire, of Milan, died April 10,1875; Jane, born Jan.23, 1843, married George Hooper, and resides in Michigan; William F., born Feb. 5, 1849, died a soldier, in South Carolina, March 2, 1865; Willis, born June 29, 1859; and Bertha E., born March 14, 1868.

Of his father's family, he is the only surviving son. It is said of his sister Nancy, now Mrs. Sands, when a small girl she went after the cows, and while gathering wild grapes, too tempting to pass, became lost. She was so completely turned around that, when she was told the right way by a man she met near Old Woman Creek, she would not believe him, and kept on her own way. The neighbors hunted for her all night without success, but the next day Henry discovered her track on the bank of the creek, and followed it, finding her in Florence, eight miles away, where she found shelter in a rude cabin.

Mr. McLaughlin was reared a Methodist, but is now eclectic in religion, and from remarkable phenomena in his own house became a believer in Spiritualism.

In 1858 he built a large brick residence, and is now prepared to enjoy the fruits of his long and patient toil. He has been an eye witness of the numberless changes of sixty years, which have converted the trackless wild into fields laden with harvest; instead of deer and bear, the horse, ox, and sheep; instead of blazed trees to mark the line of travel, good, broad highways; streams have been bridged; towns, villages, and beautiful homes have been built. In short, the "desert has been made to blossom as the rose."

Some faint idea of this change may be seen from this fact: in 1827, John McLaughlin paid $270 for his one hundred acres of land, and paid a tax on the same that year of $8.10. The same land is now valued at $10,000, and in 1876 the taxes were $85.96.

HUDSON TUTTLE. [note: a portrait of MR. and MRS. HUDSON TUTTLE was included with the following bio.]

The city which decorates a park with fine statuary does mere to elevate the standard of public morals and correct taste than does the erection of a score of costly churches. The life of one sincerely honest, pure, and consistent man in a community, who is not an idolater to mammon, and who has a heart to feel and an intellect to work for public weal, with the moral courage to combat error on all occasions and under all circumstances, does more to educate mankind up to higher planes of thought, and modes of life and culture, than does the endowment of a public school. Such a man is the subject of this sketch. He was born in 1836, in a log cabin on the farm where he now resides, and where he has always lived. His parents came to Ohio in 1830, purchased a tract of woodland, and from the forest carved out the home now owned by Mr. Tuttle.

His opportunities for acquiring an education were exceedingly meagre. His entire school days did not reach quite fourteen months, and his school attendance was interrupted by sickness and long vacations incident to country schools. At the age of sixteen he became a medium. His mediumship began with moving of tables and other objects, but rapidly culminated in a highly sensitive and impressional state, in which he always writes and usually speaks. He was a frail, sensitive, and reticent boy, and even now shrinks from notoriety or prominence. Brief as were his school days, frail as was his boyhood, sensitive and reticent as was his youth, modest and retiring as is his mature manhood, few men of his age and opportunities are so widely and favorably known in this country, and among the scholars in Europe. His first work, "Life in the Spheres," was written and published while he was yet in his teens.

While the public was wondering over this strange story of the "Beyond," he was preparing the first volume of the "Arcana of Nature." We are told that the manuscript for this volume was three times written and indexed before it was acceptable to the intelligences dictating it; and each time he was instructed to burn it and try again, be unhesitatingly obeyed.

Though weary with physical toil, when his guides came he was at once refreshed, elastic, happy, and wrote far into the night. The first volume of the "Arcana of Nature" was published in 1860. Two editions were soon exhausted. It was at once translated into German, and the advanced minds of that country saw in this work a solution of the problem for which the thinking world had been so long looking. In the preface of this work, Mr. Tuttle says, with characteristic modesty: "For years I have been led through the paths of science by invisible guides, who have manifested the earnest zeal of a father for a feeble and truant child.

From these invisible authors I draw the concealing veil, and to them dedicate this volume."
The writer well remembers how the world stood aghast when this work appeared. All who knew or had seen this country boy were amazed. Some praised, but more ridiculed and condemned. A farmer boy, without books, education, apparatus, and with none of the appliances of the schools, nor even cultivated surroundings, launches upon the world a work at once philosophical and profound, commencing with the construction of the atom, and ending with the laws of spirit life.

The ideas it contained of evolution antedated Darwin by two years, and his ideas of force were greatly in advance of the science of the time. The second volume of the "Arcana" soon followed, and in 1866 he published "Origin and Antiquity of Man," said to be a work of great merit.

About the same time, in conjunction with his wife, he published "Blossoms of our Spring," a poetical work containing, as its title implies, their early poems. His next works were "The Career Of the Christ Idea in History," "Career of the God Idea In History," and "Career of Religious Ideas; Their Ultimates the Religion of Science," which followed each other in quick succession. Next came the "Arcana of Spiritualism," a manual of spiritual science and philosophy, wherein he condensed the study and best communications of fifteen years of mediumship.

In 1874, Mr. Tuttle and wife published a volume of "Stories for our Children," supplying them with mental food free from theological dogmatism.

Among the many tracts he has written, the most notable are, perhaps, "Revivals, their Cause and Cure," and "Origin of the Cross and Steeple."

To all this literary labor must be added his editorial duties and continuous contributions to the press, both reform and secular. For years he has written, on an average, one review each week. He has never entered the field as an itinerant lecturer, yet calls from the various societies fully occupy his leisure time. All this literary work has been accomplished outside of the ordinary routine of business.

He has a productive farm of between two and three hundred acres, with orchards and vineyards, which receives his personal supervision. Few men in this country raise better crops, or have a better knowledge of soils, and the best methods of culture. The farm, of course, must receive his attention during the day, and his literary labor is mostly performed at night.

In 1857 he was united in marriage to Miss Emma D. Rood, a lady of rare poetic and artistic talent. They are bound together by the ties of a common belief, and, in the highest and best sense of the word, are helpmeets to each other. Their home is a centre of reformatory influence in Northern Ohio. Their generous and cordial hospitality seems unbounded.

Mr. Tuttle is yet a young man, comparatively, and only the initial chapter of his biography can be written. His has been a strange education, and one of special significance to those who accept Spiritualism.

The writer of this biography has quoted largely from a sketch of the life of Mr. Tuttle in the "World's Sages, Infidels, and Thinkers," and he regrets that the space allotted in this history will not justify a more extended one.

MRS. EMMA TUTTLE, the subject of this sketch, was the daughter of John Rood, Jr., and Jane A. Miller. She was born in Braceville, Trumbull Co., Ohio, in 1839, on the farm where her mother passed her childhood. Her father was a native of East Canaan, Conn., and came to Ohio in 1836. Her mother was a native of Ohio. She was educated at the Western Reserve Seminary, at Farmington, Ohio, a Methodist institution. She was reared in that religious faith, and was a member of the church in her native town until just previous to her marriage, when she withdrew her connection with that body, having embraced the doctrines of Spiritualism.

The public literary labors of Mrs. Tuttle commenced in the cause of her new faith, but in later years have widened and become more general, as the versatility of her powers developed, and her dramatic work has been entirely of a literary character.

She is the author of two volumes of poems, "Blossoms of our Spring," an early production, as the title implies, and "Gazelle," a story of the Rebellion, published anonymously. "The Lyceum Guide," a book for the use of Sunday schools organized after the plan of Andrew Jackson Davis, was edited by her, and she was the principal contributor. It was a work of great merit, and has been universally praised by critics who comprehended his system taught. It had a wide sale. The plates of this work were destroyed in his Boston fire, but the demand for the book is such that it will soon be republished. The demand for a work of this kind, for the use of lyceums, is, we are informed, about as staple as the machinery for an ordinary Sunday school.

Mrs. Tuttle is deeply interested in children's progressive lyceums, and says that a working organization of this kind is one of the most charming places for instruction for both old and young. With its orchestra, banners, marching, calisthenics, recitations, discussions, and lectures, it is never monotonous, and cannot fail to interests and instruct. She has been a faithful and zealous worker in this field of labor, and says she has received great benefit personally.

Mrs. Tuttle is, perhaps, better known to the general public in Ohio through her songs and her dramatic readings. Her lyric compositions have been set to music by eminent composers, among whom are James G. Clark, of New York; Prof. Bailey, of Michigan; Felix Schilling, of Philadelphia; H. M. Higgins, E. T. Blackmer, Miss Emily B. Talmage, of Chicago; and Dr. E. L. Perry, of Milan, Ohio. Among the more popular of these compositions are "My Lost Darling," "The Unseen City," and "Beautiful Claribell."

She has rare poetic genius, and is a constant contributor to all the leading reformatory journals, and frequently to the secular press. She has had a thorough education as an actress and dramatic reader, having finished her course under the renowned Prof. T. F. Leonard, in Boston. Critics say of her: "She has no superior in her rendition of 'The Maniac,' by Lewis; nor In the heroic compositions of Macaulay, as 'Horatius at the Bridge,' and the tragic story of 'Virginia,' which she gives in Roman dress. Comic and serio-comic she renders with equal credit, but she does not fully relish them.

Her intensely, morbidly, sympathetic nature is, undoubtedly, the secret of her versatility and complete adaptability to the characters she represents. With the necessary study for presentation, she so completely enters into the subject as to become in spirit the person she represents.

Desirable as is this quality, it is not without its tortures, in her case, at least, for she informs us that it attends her in every-day life as well as on the stage. The suffering or abuse of either human beings or animals is often the cause of serious illness, because of her sympathy, which she cannot quiet or put away. She is a zealous advocate of kindness to animals, as all who have ever shared the hospitality of this family well know, and she says she will never submit to any abuse of them on the Tuttle farm. No servant can remain with them who will ignore their needs and rights. It is a part of her religion to regard the wants and needs of animals, and, aside from the real pleasure it gives, she says "it pays well." With her own hands she often cares for the needs of her dumb friends, and takes solid pleasure in their grateful friendship.

Her life is one of continuous activity and usefulness Her charities like her sympathies, are on a generous scale, and her hospitalities are measured only by her physical strength. It would be our pleasure to write a more extended biography of this cultivated and gifted lady if our space would justify.

Three bright and promising children crown the union of Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle, -- Rose, Carl, and little Clare; and the more sacred duties of mother are not neglected by Mrs. Tuttle, amid all her literary and domestic cares.