The first inhabitants of what would become Denmark Township were the Seneca Indians. In 1798, the hunting grounds were plentiful for the Senecas. They hunted undisturbed and even in harmony with the white settlers until the War of 1812 when they withdrew from their annual trips except for brief hunting expeditions for a few years. Then they were forced to give up their land and move west, as was true of all Indians living or hunting in the Western Reserve.
It was late in the afternoon of July 7, 1809, that Peter Knapp, son, Nickolas, and wife, Phoebe, of New York, finished carving a path to the area that would become Denmark Township. Knapp had purchased his land from Gideon Granger to start a new life in northeast Ohio.
When he and his wife arrived, they immediately began to cut down small branches which they sharpened and drove into the ground in a spot next to a creek which became known as Peter’s Creek. The location was just east of the center line of Denmark on what later became John Dibble Sr.’s land. From their covered wagon they took the cover material and drew it up over the poles, then fell exhausted into a sleep, most likely, after such effort! Soon the work of building their log house began, and so began the first Denmark Township settlers.
Two years later, Phoebe Knapp gave birth to a daughter, Laura, who would grow up to marry William Brockett of Saybrook Township. Laura was the first white child born in Denmark and would soon be joined by sisters Peggy, Chloe and Lovina.
The Knapp family would expand their community by September of 1809, just two months later, when brother, Daniel, and Elihu Knapp would join them. Elihu Knapp brought his wife and large family of three girls from Windham, New York, Polly, Sally and Rachel, who recorded some of their adventures to be published in a history of pioneer women who came to Ashtabula County 1809-1850.
The girls were out gathering nuts one day when they heard a crunching noise and discovered a large black bear was on the other side of the bush also gathering nuts! Needless to say, they gave up their gathering and made haste to home!
The three girls were at home alone one night when their parents were gone. The wolves were especially active that night, and the howling was unbearable. Many of the pioneers have written up the awful howling of wolves in those early days. From inside their cabin, the girls could hear the wolves circling the family sheep who were kept in high log pens. The sound of the wolves trying to leap over the high logs was terrifying. The sheep were in great distress. All night long the blood curling howls were heard by the three girls who, most likely, were holding on to each other inside. The written account does not tell us if any sheep were lost, but the girls never forgot the encounter, and the story was shared for generations of Knapp family members.
The following spring, Denmark experienced its first death when little Rachel Knapp, youngest child in the Knapp family, died of unknown causes. Life was so hard and the dangers and disease were so great, death was an expected visitor at even an early age. Little Rachel was the first to be buried on the Knapp land, which became the Denmark Cemetery.
The following year of 1810, Philip Goff and his wife, Chloe Cole Goff, of Durham, Connecticut, made a seven-week trip by covered wagon to reach Denmark Township. They brought their three daughters, Chloe, Sally and Mercy. Two years later, in 1812, the eldest, Chloe, married William Morrison, of Geneva. Social life in our county in 1812 was extremely limited. Wedding invitations went out to everyone who lived in the area – at that time about 40 people. Unless you were sick, you did not miss the event!
Sally Goff married John Claflin and Mercy married Giles Ives. Mercy stayed at the Ives farm until her death in 1889 at nearly 100 years old.
In 1811-1812, a great influx of pioneers came from the east with the last names of Dibble, Platt, Sackett, Palmer, Williams, Barkers, Boomhowers and Harvey. With so many daughters among the first settlers, the selection for marriage would seem small, but soon Submit Barker married Harmon Knapp, Sr. Abigal Barker married Philip Goff, Jr. Polly Barker married Alanson Williams.
The Boomhower daughters numbered three, Sarah, Sophronia and Catherine. One of them married Solomon Griggs, for whom the Denmark community of Griggs Corners is named. He built a home there and ran the post office from his front room. About 1825, Daniel Palmer and his sister, Sarah, came from Grafton County, New Hampshire. Daniel married Sally Knapp, daughter of Peter and Phoebe, and one who survived the night of the “wolves.” Daniel and Sally had a son they named Daniel K. Palmer, Jr. who lived to a very old age and supplied the names, dates and events of the Denmark Township pioneers as he was the last one living.
William Crooker and his family established the first tavern, sawmill and grist mill on the Ashtabula Creek. There were several Crooker daughters, including Belinda who married a Ward and Nancy, who married a Warner. A son, Harvey Crooker, married Nancy Strong, of Ashtabula. Another daughter, Elizabeth, married a Sill and Lucy and Adelaide married a Dibble. When Lucy died, Dibble married her sister, Adelaide.
Ebenezer and Miriam Williams came in 1820 from Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Ebenezer was a chairmaker by trade and established a chair factory on the bank of Peter’s Creek in 1834. The couple had five sons and five daughters. Olive, the oldest, married Asher Wright and in her old age became a paralytic, dying in 1874.
Ira and Deborah Spencer Harvey came from Massachusetts circa 1820s and endured greater hardships than most. First, three of their children died one right after another, then the father, Ira, died. Deborah Harvey, the wife and mother, was so grieved she walked down to the Denmark Cemetery every night just to be near them. She lived a long life afterwards in Denmark Township.
Folks began to worship together in Peter Knapp’s home but soon ran out of space. The Baptists organized the first church in 1812. All denominations met together in homes. Finally, in 1832, a meeting house was built on Peter Knapp’s land, serving as a church, school and town hall.
The Giddings Church was built to house all denominations. It burned down in 1919 but stood adjacent to the town hall. The church was rebuilt and was once known as Denmark Community Church. Today, it has been saved from destruction by loyal, faithful community members and renamed Amazing Grace Memorial Church and is a testament to community unity and strength!
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church once stood on Route 167 just east of the Route 193 intersection and served the Swedish community in the township. A Methodist Church once stood on the southwest corner of Route 167 and Stanhope-Kelloggsville Road. A United Brethren Church once stood on the northwest corner of Traxler and Stanhope Kelloggsville Roads.
As the little community of pioneers grew, so did the need for a school for all the children. Twelve students were taught by John Dibble’s son, Obed, in the winter of 1812-13, and in the winter, Patience Baldwin stood at the blackboard. They say necessity is the mother of invention, and that certainly proved true in the daily life of the pioneers. Students made a crude boat and pulled the younger students in the winter over the snow to reach their school. It was not unusual for one’s lunch to freeze on the way to school!
Denmark Township is at the corner of four townships, Sheffield, Dorset, Pierpont and Jefferson. Small settlements grew up within the township. Steamburg extended for a mile and a half on Stanhope-Kelloggsville Road from “Crooker’s Stand” (South Denmark Road) to what is now Kyle Road. Steamburg got its name from the dream of real-estate promoter, Abel Meade. He envisioned steamboats navigating down the east branch of Ashtabula River from Lake Erie, according to research done by the late Paul Hakala, county recorder. The dream never came true, and Steamburg did not flourish.
But when hopes were high for that dream, Sam Johnson built an 11-room house in 1850 that was grand for that time. It included a basement, attic and cupola. It was a far cry from the simple log house first built by Peter and Phoebe Knapp just forty years earlier.
The Swedes, Nels P. and Tilda Nelson and children, Harry, Albert, Ida, Mary and Betty, came to Denmark in 1877 and cleared the land for their home. They raised five children and left a lasting mark on Denmark Township for many years. Harry Nelson was constable for many years. Denmark’s only store operated for many years as a general store and post office when it opened at the corner Route 193 and 167. The building has changed in appearance and owners over the years and still stands today in disrepair.
Denmark Township is the 20th in this series of the 28 original townships settled in Ashtabula County, Ohio. There are now 27. Next week, you will read of Saybrook Township.
