Few Ashtabula County townships have as many historians as the township of Rome. Additionally, family photos, records, news clippings and local correspondents’ columns have been collected and donated to the Jefferson Historical Society.
But the greatest resource for Rome Township history are the three books compiled and written by Rome historian, the late Doreen Crosby Sutliff, a descendant of the first of Rome’s settlers, Elijah Crosby. Sutliff spent years interviewing, compiling and writing Rome’s history and printed them herself under the title, “Images of Rome.” I think one of the drawbacks of not passing on the love of history is that we will not have dedicated historians in the near future who even know their family, town or nation’s history in order to share it with their families or others.
Local historian Norma Waters and I were at an auction in the middle of Jefferson, checking out some local memorabilia. Imagine our surprise when we found several boxes of pictures of Ashtabula County family members dating to the mid-1800s to the 1920s. Almost all of them were identified on the back, which is rare.
The photos accompanying this column include those found at the auction. Between the two of us, we won the bid to purchase all of them. They are all now a part of the Rome files at the resource library of the historical society. If you have unidentified family photos, sit down with the oldest family member still living and get as many marked as you can. Your family will thank you.
Rome Township was once a part of Richfield Township along with Austinburg, Morgan, Jefferson and Lenox. In 1827, the area was changed to Rome. Elijah Crosby came on horseback from East Haddam, Connecticut, in 1805 to check out his land with a young man named Daniel Hall. He selected 55o acres and returned home. The following year of 1806, Elijah brought his wife Phoebe (Church) Crosby. She had prepared for the journey by baking many loaves of bread in a brick oven, then sliced and dried them before pounding them in an iron mortar.
She then took the grounded bread and filled many bags which she packed for the journey. I am not sure what you do to “revive” baked bread, but Phoebe Crosby knew she would need food for her family and did what was necessary.
The Crosby family included eight children with the youngest being only sixteen months. They all were prepared to leave East Haddam and move to Rome in the “New Connecticut.” Even little three-year-old Levi Crosby packed as many apple seeds as he could into his pockets hoping for a future harvest of apple trees.
Traveling through an unbroken wilderness, they came within three miles of their destination only to learn that there the house Elijah Crosby had contracted to be built had never been constructed.
The family had no choice but to share a house with a family in Morgan who took them in. They stayed in the temporary home until theirs was built. It has been recorded that Phoebe Crosby, upon seeing her home, sat down on a block of wood and wept for joy.
Phoebe Crosby soon had another daughter, and shortly afterwards, another son, bringing their brood up to ten. The son was the first white male to be born in Rome and the family received fifty acres of land in his honor from a Mr. Champion.
Eleven children would eventually be born to Elijah and Phoebe, with all of them reaching maturity, which was very rare and the reason there are so many Crosbys in the area. Six of them married and settled in Rome.
The second party of settlers to come in 1806 were William Crowell and his wife and eight children as well as John Crowell and his young bride, Lucy, and David and Prudence Walkley. The stamina and determination of these settlers can be seen in the hardship of just the trip to get here. Coming with teams of oxen from East Haddam, Connecticut, driving them over the mountains to Pittsburgh, then to Beaver, Pennsylvania, to Warren, Ohio, to finally reach Rome, Ohio.
While passing through Warren, Ohio, the axle of one of their wagons broke and Crowell looked around for a quick remedy and finding a stick, mended the wheel and they were on their way. The incident was recorded as having occurred in the location of the future courthouse in Warren.
The first white child born in Rome was born to Mrs. Crowell. The eldest Crowell daughter married Eratus Flower, of Lenox, in the first wedding in Rome and was a joyous occasion with everyone in attendance.
There were many sad occasions also, due to the rigors of pioneer life. Young Lucy (Lord) Crowell had come to Rome just a young teenager and could not adapt to pioneer deprivations. Her health began to fail and she succumbed to consumption (tuberculosis) at the young age of 17, the first death in the township.
Having made the arduous trip over the mountains with Lucy Crowell was Prudence Walkley, wife of David Walkley. She was a kind hearted giving woman loved by young and old. She gave her life to help and save victims of an epidemic of typhoid fever that struck the Rome settlement in the early days. She attending those afflicted with the illness day and night and after one night of caring for a young woman, returned home exhausted.
A messenger came shortly afterwards saying the woman had died and the family needed her help. John Crowell begged his wife not to go but she felt she must.
Jumping on her horse, she quickly reached the patient’s home. A few days later, Prudence came down with the fever and died. At her funeral, it was said nearly all of Rome was there mourning her death.
Several members of the Hall family were early settlers. Dean Hall married Jerusha Gillet, a beautiful singer whose voice was heard at many gatherings. But, after, having four children, her health began to fail and she passed away. Her husband, Dean, was unable to care for the children in the wilderness by himself. He returned to his old home in Millington and married Julia Rogers and brought her back to Rome.
Daniel Hall, the young man who had come with Elijah Crosby in 1805 to check out his land, married the eldest daughter of Elijah Crosby. The marriage pool was not very large in those early days. The couple was unable to have children, so they adopted five needy children and only one of them were related. It would be interesting to know who many of those children survived and have left behind descendants in the area today.
Sylvester Rogers came with his wife and family in 1809. Rogers built a hotel on the “turnpike” road a few years later and the large four-horse stage coaches passed by daily, making a regular stop at Rome. Mrs. Rogers and her daughters took over the care of the hotel and helped it gain a great reputation. Later John Corwell would establish Crowell’s Hotel, bringing some competition to the area.
Two Rome pioneer families lived west of the Grand River. Mrs. Simon Maltby lived in the extreme northern part of the town. There was no way to cross the river except in a crude canoe. Mrs. Maltby would be watching on the opposite side of the river and knew when someone needing transporting over. With her rough canoe, she ferried folks back and forth, bringing a little income to her family.
Mrs. James Allyn lived west of the river, quite a ways from any neighbors. She was known as a “consistent Christian in precept and example” and lived to see two of her sons become pastors.
Some men married their brides before leaving home and shared the journey to New Connecticut. Sometimes, the shock was too much. Henry Brown came from East Haddam, Connecticut in 1809 bringing his bride, Sophia Ladd, to Rome. They made their trip their honeymoon. On the way, their wagon broke delaying the trip for some time.
Upon arrival, Sophia found the area very different from home and could not adjust. She stayed but was always sad and never adjusted. Her husband was a happy, jolly man who promised her she would always have hot water to wash her hands! According to her, he did not fulfill his promise!
Henry Brown was an eccentric man known to make eccentric speeches which did not endear his wife to him. The couple had three daughters, one of whom was Mrs. Helen A. (Brown) Rains. She became a well- known author and poetess. Her work was widely published for 30 years and recognized in many circles. You can find out more about Mrs. Rains online.
Many other settlers came, some early, some later. Some of the families were Chester, Richmond, Cone, Callendar and even later, Douglass and Kampf. Many of these families intermarried and we are fortunate to have some of those family gatherings.
The names and stories are so extensive for Rome, I have not included the early school and businesses for lack of space. But certainly, instrumental in the early days of Rome was the erection of the Rome Presbyterian Church in 1836 by Elijah Crosby. It is still standing on Route 45 north of Route 6.
Next week, we will look at the early settlement of Lenox Township, number 19 of Ashtabula County Townships.
Support authors and subscribe to content
This is premium stuff. Subscribe to read the entire article.
