Note: All pictures were included in my schoolhouse history book, “Where Have All the Schoolhouses Gone?” and donated by Vera Sommers and John McMahon.
Husband-and-wife Holly and Hannah Tanner left Scipio, New York, in 1799 to come to the “New Connecticut.” They had signed an agreement to receive 200 hundred acres of land if they moved onto it, cleared at least 20 acres and occupied the land for two years.
On the 15th of May, 1799, the couple came with their two sons, David and Joseph, in a small boat and traveled down Cayuga Lake, longest of the Finger Lakes covering more than 38 miles. At that point, they came through Lake Ontario until they came to the falls at Niagara. The family disembarked at the falls and carried their boat as they traversed along the banks of Lake Erie.
They finally reached the dock at Madison, Ohio, at that time, most likely called, “Harper’s Landing,” so named after the Harper family who had first come the year before. The date was June 16, a month since their departure from New York.
They stayed with a few pioneers who had gone before them and settled in and around the Madison/Harpersfield area for a short time. Mr. Tanner went on to his 200 acres in Trumbull to erect a log cabin with the help of the other pioneers, going back for his family as soon as the cabin was ready.
Tanner chopped down the trees and cleared a portion of land next to his cabin. He raised one crop of wheat and remained almost the two years required to receive his land. He and his family were totally alone without any interaction of a friend or neighbor.
Tanner had become discouraged and the isolation became too much for him. The final straw came when he learned the proprietors of the land had died. This devastating news meant Tanner, most likely, would never own the land after all his hard work. He gave up trying to gain a title and left the state, never to return. Unfortunately, if Tanner had remained a month or two longer, he would have received his title as the proprietors had made such an arrangement with their agent.
The area of Trumbull remained without a soul after the Tanners departed in 1802 until 1818, when Daniel Woodruff came from Williamsfield to homestead. Woodruff had first come from Colebrook, Connecticut, then Williamsfield, and finally to settle in the southeast part of Trumbull. He and his wife had the first white child born in the township in 1819.
The next settler was Isaac H. Phelps, who came with his wife, Eleanor (Gregory), and two sons and four daughters and settled in the southeast of Trumbull. They came from Harpersfield, Ohio. In 1823, he became the first Trumbull postmaster. One of the daughters, Sylvia, married Henry Bryant. She died shortly afterwards and as there were no cemeteries she was buried along the banks of Trumbull Creek. Today, the Trumbull Cemetery is located straight west of the banks of the creek. Trumbull Creek is a tributary of the Grand River. Issac Phelps moved to the center of Trumbull in 1836 and sold his lot to Ebenezer H. Andrews in 1837.
At the age of 15, Elizabeth Marshall married John B. Barnes and moved to Trumbull where they purchased a home near the east line of the township. Several years later, John Barnes died and without a cemetery, he was buried near their home on land his wife gave for a small cemetery. Without a husband, Elizabeth became very resourceful in making a living. She was a hard worker and had a good team of horses. She did all kinds of hard farm work such as logging and clearing land.
She then married Silas Gullis, a widower with several children. They built and kept the first hotel in town called the “Center House.” Unfortunately, it was not a happy marriage. Silas was a bad-tempered man who abused his wife. She was so afraid of him that at night she would sleep on her first husband’s grave in the little cemetery because Silas was superstitious and would not come after her there.
After several years, the couple separated and Silas went elsewhere to live with his young children. After some time, he decided he wanted “Betsey,” as he called her, to take him back and take care of him, which she did. She did not have any children of her own, so she chose to raise his three boys and two girls to maturity. “Betsey” was very loving and highly regarded, especially as a midwife. She had a record of more than a thousand births. In 1863, she chose to marry a third time, an older man named Henry Cogswell, whom she outlived, dying at the age of 94.
In 1819, three settlers came. Obadiah Brown of Tyringham, Massachusetts, Leonard Blackmar of Ontario County, New York and Ezra Griffin. It would take until 1827 before Nathaniel Brown and son John would come from Genesse County, New York.
Nathaniel and Lorana (Keith) Brown were married in 1798 in New York and came to Trumbull in 1828, reaching Harpersfield in a wagon. They had to leave their wagon behind and travel the next seven miles through the thick woods to reach Trumbull. It was a drenching rain, and in order to protect her baby, the mother tucked the infant in her apron until they reached their log home. Not only did Mrs. Brown survive the trip, she went on to have nine more children.
It is from the recorded memories of John Brown, son of Nathaniel, that we are able to know the names, dates and events of the lives of those early settlers of Trumbull.
Peter S. Lewis and his wife, Phoebe Smith, and three children came in 1830 to Trumbull in 1831 with an ox team and wagon. They arrived in the middle of December when it was very cold. The couple lost one child but raised four sons and three daughters to maturity.
Nathaniel and Marilla (Wait) Clark, as well as Marilla’s brother, Asa Wait, moved to Trumbull in 1823 and built the first grist mill in town, at first, grinding corn. Isaiah Burgett married Betsey Parker in Harpersfield and moved to Trumbull in 1832, locating in the northeast corner. They built one of the first frame houses on the town line road and reared ten children.
It is amazing the hardships pioneers endured, especially considering many of them came from established homes and towns. Almon Damon and Theodoria Leonard came from Massachusetts with five children in 1836. The bought a farm in the wilderness with the money they had brought with them in an iron teakettle. Each family member worked to clear the land without a team of horses or oxen, rolling the logs and doing all the work by hand.
The daily dangers the pioneers faced make our daily trials seem very small. When Laura (Grant) Chapman left her home in 1849 to visit a neighbor, it must have seemed like an ordinary, cold winter day. Laura had to cross the frozen Trumbull Creek to reach her neighbor and the only way across was balancing a log.
Hours passed and night came with no sign of Laura. Early the next morning, a search party was sent out. For three days, the party searched the woods before they finally found her frozen in the creek, most likely having fallen from the log.
Another female settler who became lost in the woods was Mrs. Abigail (Mather) Stevens. Her husband was an invalid so she supported her family with her skill of weaving. In November of 1848, she was returning from a neighbor’s when she lost her way in the woods. It was growing dark and she knew if she was not found soon, she would have to spend the night in the forest.
The first settlement in the southwest area known as Footville, was made by Orson and Otis Grant in the fall of 1841. By June of 1842, they were joined by Julius and Lauren B. Foot of Morgan Township. The Footville community is named after their family. Other early settlers were Levi Mills and his sister, Mrs. Clark Loomis.
The first log schoolhouse was erected in 1829 with the first teacher being Mehetabel Madison who stood before eight scholars in the summer of 1830. The first school taught in Footville was in the winter of 1842 by Cornelia Ballard to six students.
The Rev. Giles H. Cowles came from Austinburg to preach the first sermon was preached in Trumbull at the home of the first permanent settler, Daniel Woodruff, in 1819. The Methodists met in the schoolhouses for worship until 1855 when they built their first church. It was moved to the north of the center.
The Disciple Church was formed in 1859 with fifteen members, eleven of them women. They built their church at the center in 1874 with the project brought to finish by John Brown.
Issac Phelps was succeeded in his role as postmaster by Josiah Gregory in 1828. He held that position for 20 years when the post office was moved to the center and George Rich took over the position. A second post office was established in 1848. Mail was carried by horseback over the State Road once a week, weather permitting. When the post office was moved to the center, mail was received daily via Geneva and Rock Creek.
George Rich opened the first mercantile store at Trumbull center in 1847 where he sold groceries and notions. Goods were brought from Cleveland transported by teams of horses and wagons. The first doctor was Nelson Eastman, who came in 1842 and settled in East Trumbull.
Soon, larger schools, more stores, mills and cheese factories would appear as the future of Trumbull Township grew and dreams were realized. Today, some of the earliest buildings at Footville are still maintained and in use, a real testament to the value the residents place on preserving their past.
