Cherry Valley was originally surveyed into three equal sections running east and west. The largest was Pymatuning in the northeast, Giddings creek in the southwest quarter and Patch Creek flowing from the western part.
The first log house in Cherry Valley was erected in 1817 by Henry Patch and Zebulon Congdon, who cleared a small piece of land in the northeast corner of the most northern part of the township. Their cabin was built next to a creek, which even today is known as Patch Creek. The creek is located between Hare and Creek roads. Their stay was short-lived and soon they moved on to New Lyme.
When the cold month of December 1818 arrived, the family of Nathaniel Hubbard came from New York and moved into the cabin vacated by Patch. The Hubbard family survived the long, lonely winter and had no neighbors until the following year when Nathaniel Johnson and John Feen arrived and settled on lands in the middle of Cherry Valley near the east line.
Later, the Hubbard place would be occupied by the families of E. Beals, the Johnson property by Silas Searl and the Fenn homestead by stepson, Horace Lindsley.
Edson Beals, a Universalist minister, and his wife, Jane Beals, came from Pierpont to Cherry Valley in 1828 and settled on the Creek Road. Their son, Ethner, came with them and married Lucretia Low. Three sons were born to them, Abileno, Josiah and Ensign. While attending Grand River Academy, Josiah died at the age of 22.
A son, Abileno E. Beals, was born in 1848. He married Elrena J. Spellman of Wayne and began homesteading on a farm given to him by his parents and two miles from their farm. The private Beals Cemetery is named after the Beal settlers and is on the land first settled by the family.
In 1823, Josiah Creery would come from Otsego County, New York, to purchase land and build a log house ready for his family by 1825. Later, his oldest son, Track Creery Jr. would take over possession of the lot. Josiah Creery was the settler who suggested the name Cherry Valley for the newly settled land.
Two brothers came in 1829 by the last name of Benjamin. Wooster Benjamin purchased 50 acres in the south-central part of the area and William, his brother, purchased 50 acres adjoining him. In 1830, the brothers erected a sawmill on Patch Creek. The sawmill was the site of the tragic death of both brothers.
Wooster Benjamin was killed in 1835 while making repairs on the mill. William Benjamin was killed while he was coming from the mill back to his house. He was found with his head partially underwater where he fell. It was assumed he drowned while “he was in a fit.” The Benjamin heirs remained in the old homestead.
Jesse Steele and family came in 1816 from Litchfield County, Connecticut and first settled in Andover until 1827 when he moved his family to Cherry Valley. Steele located his farm on the northwest corner of the crossing of Hayes Road and the east and west center roads. The value of salt was extremely high during this time. Steele was recorded as having transported from his place to the lake three bushels of wheat, six bushels of rye and one bushel of corn, which was exchanged for only one barrel of salt. The 25-mile trip took him five days in a wagon with a team. His son, A.W. Steele, would later open a watch and jewelry repair shop in the Steele homestead. Steele heirs lived in the old home for generations.
As the other areas of Cherry Valley were being settled, families began to settle on the Hayes Road in the southern section. The families of Benoni, William and Eli Andrews would make that area their home. On the center road, Francis Webster would locate while on the north in 1830, Noah Sweet would develop 1,423 acres.
James Cornwell, Noah Rowley, Marvin Giddings, Lockwood Lobdell and brothers, Henry and Abel Krum, would settle along Hayes Road in the next few years, clearing the forest and planting the soil. In 1831, Elkanah Crosby and John Williams came from Orleans County, New York and settled in the south-central part of the county.
A familiar Cherry Valley name, Petrie, would begin with the 1832 arrival of Conrad Petrie from Herkimer County, New York. The Tuttle line of Cherry Valley began when Henry Tuttle came from Litchfield County, Connecticut, in 1834.
The first road laid out in the township was the Hayes Road named for Richard Hayes, of Wayne, who was instrumental in 1812 in the construction of the highway that served the community until 1828. At the time, a road building program began with roads leading in all directions, bringing about new businesses.
Dr. William A. Clark, the first physician, and wife, Polly, came from New York to Cherry Valley in 1822 and had seven children. The fourth child, Wesley Clark, born in New York in 1814, came with his parents to a Cherry Valley winter that had dropped 16 inches of snow the night of their arrival. He became an outstanding citizen and married Emily Snow in 1850.
The first real store opened in 1829 by proprietor, William A. Clark, who was also the postmaster. He opened the post office in his home that same year. His wife, Hannah, was the first schoolteacher, leading her students in reading and writing during the winter of 1828-29 in a log house near her husband’s store. Hannah Clark was an expert seamstress and when the reading and writing was done, taught her students, male and female, the fine art of quilting. Many fine quilts came from those quilting classes. It would be wonderful to know if any of those quilts were handed down and stored today in someone’s attic or cedar chest.
The second store was opened by Joel Rice in 1832 and located across the street from Clark’s Mercantile. A millinery shop was opened at Steele’s Corners. Every settlement needed a sawmill and a cheese factory. The first cheese made in Cherry Valley was started by Mrs. John Feen in 1820. Using the milk from only one cow and a crude pressing system, she placed the cheese on a board, putting a piece of wood on top for pressure. At the other end of the wood, she put under the house, then added a weight to the other end of the wood, providing just enough pressure to make her cheese. What an ingenious woman making do with what she had!
Charles E. Petrie would begin a regular cheese factory in 1870, a short distance from the center near his home, where he turned out 25 cheese heads a day from the milk from 700 cows. Squire Randolph had a store nearby.
The first sawmill was erected by Elisha Giddings in 1826. It was located on Giddings Creek, on the south line of the township on the Hayes Road. The first hotel was built by Mr. Scoville. He also built a hotel at the center, which was later occupied by P. Wood.
Dr. Harvey Spellman and Dr. F. G. Spencer would follow Dr. William Clark with doctor’s offices near the center.
The Methodist held the first religious services in 1825 and led by Elder Davis. About 25 pioneers came from Dorset (at that time Millsford) and Andover carrying their rifles over their shoulders for protection from wild animals. The services were held in homes until they outgrew the rooms and moved to the schoolhouse. A Methodist Church was organized by the Rev. Sturgis circa 1840. That same year, Elder C.R. Richmond organized a Baptist Church. The Town Hall was built the same year.
A Cherry Valley man, Horace Lindsley, was born in Oneida County, New York, in 1811 to Abraham and Molly Bidwell Lindsley. His father died shortly after his birth and his mother remarried in 1818 to John Fenn. The family moved that same year to Cherry Valley. Lindsley learned to clear land and fell huge trees, while getting a common school education. As he grew older, he taught school in the winter and farmed in the spring, summer and fall.
He married a girl from Williamsfield, Elizabeth A. J. Warren, in 1842 and had eight children. He and his family hid runaway slaves and became very good friends with John Brown and his sons of Harper’s Ferry fame. One of those hanged after the trial was Aaron D. Stevens who had stayed in their home. Cherry Valley Township is known for its great effort to rescue runaway slaves and its role in the secret organization, the “Black Strings” as well as its efforts to help John Brown and his followers.
Cherry Valley was officially organized on June 8, 1827. The township will be celebrating 200 years since it was organized in 2027. This series seeks to locate the very first settlers in each township and discover where they came from and their impact. Most information is about life before 1850 and taken from the earliest historical accounts available.
