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Pages 21 - 30
The primitive school house has been so well described by a man who was a pupil in it, that we quote it:
" The building was of logs, about 20x25 foot in size. The gables were of logs and the roof of shakes, or boards rived with a frow from an oak tree, and held in place upon the roof by overlaying each course of the roofing with a heavy weight pole. Openings were cut in the logs at appropriate places for the windows and door. At one end a wide fireplace without jambs, capable of receiving wood six or seven feet in length was provided. The fireplace was built of boulder stones picked up in the neighborhood, and served as a foundation for a stick and mud chimney terminating above the roof. In this fireplace were piled large quantities of wood in winter, and the fires served well to heat the room. The door was of rough sawed boards hung upon wooden hinges and held shut by a wooden latch. The windows, while supplied with sash for glazing, were only covered by greased paper for the first term. The building, each autumn during its service, had to be daubed with mud to keep out the cold. The furniture consisted of benches made without backs, from slabs, or the outer cuts of saw logs, supported by legs driven into auger holes. For a writing desk for the larger pupils, a wide board, supported by heavy sticks driven into a log, at the proper height, at one end of the room, did duty. It may be said with propriety that the schools of the Firelands, from the first, though humble in their pretensions, were fostered by and intelligent public sentiment. The Pioneers, though poor and from a poor New England or New York home, were not illiterate. From out of these humble surroundings which maybe said to be typical school environments of the great majority of schools upon the Firelands in their beginning, came pupils armed with that best of qualifications, self-respect and self-reliance. Came also healthy young men and women, taught in the atmosphere of morality and patriotism, to bless society here and in other states." (The school described was located in Clarksfield.)
School books were such as the parents might have or could borrow, and almost any kind of a book would serve, from which to learn the alphabet. One boy had only a leaf torn from an old spelling book, with the alphabet upon it. The older pupils brought some sheets of foolscap paper, a bottle of ink, possibly made from nut galls and copperas water. For his pen he brought some goose quills and from one of these the teacher shaped a pen. The teacher was often interrupted in his work by a request to "mend my pen." The narrow blade of a knife was used, hence the term "pen knife." The young housewife (Mrs. D. Clark) who taught the first school in Wakeman, recorded in her diary, one day’s work. She did her housework, prepared food for six men (anew log house was being built,) went down two or three times to see the raising, kept school and did some sewing. In one week she earned forty two cents by sewing and one dollar by teaching school. Her pupils each brought an ear of corn which was boiled for their dinner. In those days a part of the compensation of the teachers was their board, which they received by "boarding "round." They went from house to house, in turn, and boarded for a period proper, considering the number of pupils sent from each household. There were disagreeable features in this custom, but it was the best the settlers could do, as it would have been hard for many of them to have raised money enough to pay a teacher a sufficient wage to be able to hire his board. The writer’s aunt once taught school in a newly settled part of Clarksfield, and told of some of the disagreeable features of the "boarding ‘round." At one place the log house had but one room, with two beds in it, with curtains around them. When bedtime came and the man of the house had gone out, the wife said, "Now Miss Weeks you can go to bed." She was horrified when she realized that she was expected to sleep in the same room with the husband and wife. The children had, of course, gone into the loft. However, she felt more secure when she saw that the large carpet loom stood between the two beds, and she slept through the night, undisturbed. Another time she slept in the loft, with one of the girls as a bedmate. The itch was prevalent in the school, so to avoid close contact with the girl, she, by a little scheming, managed to keep a sheet between her-self and the girl. In some places the food was almost repulsive to her, as she had grown up in New York City. Sometimes she could not eat the food sent in the dinner basket, so she managed to throw it away, unbeknown to the children.
The teacher’s wages ranged from seventy five cents a week for a girl beginner, to as much as could be raised for an experienced teacher. A writer who traveled through the west wrote the following regarding the schools of the Reserve: "Schools in this part of the country are taught (if kept at all), by females about three months for the summer term, who teach merely the rudiments of reading, writing and plain sewing, and compensation for teaching is made in almost all cases in such articles as the country affords and not in money. In the winter term often men teach the same branches (without the sewing,) with the addition of a little arithmetic."
The first settlers of Wakeman, having come from New England, it is easy to suppose that the matter of education for their children would early take their attention. Mrs. Clark was the first teacher and opened a school in her home in the old Canfield log cabin. She received but small wages. It is said that sometimes the scholars would each bring an ear of corn to school and she would boil it for them for their dinner. She had for pupils, three Canfield, three Pierce, and one Bristol, children.
In 1820 a log school house was built a little north of where Justin Sherman built his house and Levi Bodwell, of Clarksfield, was the first teacher, being the first male teacher in the township. Levi Platt was next, being followed by Dr. Clark. This building served as a place of worship as well as a school house. As the settlement grew the inhabitants decided that they needed a better school house, so, the 29th of January, 1829, a meeting was held for the purpose of providing for the erection of a frame building. This was to cost $170 to be raised by a tax. The building was to have a chimney. It was built 22 by 26 feet in size, with a genuine shingle roof. On Christmas Day, 1829, the two churches joined in a kind of dedication services. The first election, or appointment, of a school board of which there is a record was in 1828, when Augustin Canfield was chosen clerk, Justin Sherman, Philo Sherman and Samuel Bristol, directors.
In 1827 District No. 2 was set off and it covered about three quarters of the township. A log school house was erected near the center of the township which was replaced a few years later by a frame structure.
Mr. Charles R. Green, a Wakeman boy, who lived in Olathe, Kansas, in the later years of his life, published a pamphlet history of Wakeman doings and settlers, in 1908, and we quote parts of it:
"Next to the church, our fathers cherished the common school. The first school house in town was built on the farm of Augustin Canfield. It was built of logs with a huge fireplace in the north end. This in time gave place to a frame building, and was always called the North school house. It was not only used for school purposes, but for many years, services would be held here on the Sabbath: here for two weeks, and then at the centre school house for the same time. At first it was warmed by a fireplace which was superceded after a number of years by a box stove, capable of taking a goodly supply of three or four foot wood. It was the schoolmaster’s business to take up at night and come early enough in the morning to carry out the ashes and to build up the fire for warming the room in readiness for the pupils. There was an unwritten law that the large girls should takes turns in sweeping the schoolhouse at noon."
In those days schoolhouses were filled to overflowing, for families were large and a walk of a mile and a half, or even two miles was not considered a hardship. Thirty or forty pupils were not an uncommon number to have in a school, and in some districts the number would be sixty or seventy, and sometimes as high as eighty. Blackboards were not much in evidence then. In arithmetic every one worked after a plan of his own, and ciphered, as it was called, as far as they could without regard to what others might do. In was the same with grammar and geography. Reading and spelling were about the only studies taught in classes. It must be confessed that spelling was much better taught in those days than at the present time. The long spelling classes, as they took their places on the floor, each member of which was expected to toe mark (a crack in the floor) would be looked upon as out of date by a school superintendent of today, but they learned how to spell by that old method nevertheless. And the spelling school! The boys and girls of today are to be pitied, for they know nothing of the joys incident to going to a spelling school. Sometimes two or three schools would unite, and then would ensue a struggle for the honor of spelling both schools down. (The writer has tramped many a mile to attend spelling schools. He, eventually, became, next to Steve Carter, the champion speller of his school.)
No history of Wakeman would be complete which omitted a history of the church. The strong Puritan element which was in the blood of most of the early settlers, manifested itself stronger in nothing more than it did in their efforts to plant and sustain the church and school.
With the first settlements of the Western Reserve, the Home Missionary Society sent out its missionaries, who went from settlement to settlement holding religious services and organizing churches. Their places of meeting were at first in the houses of the settlers, afterwards in the log school houses. It was years before they could even begin to talk about building a meetinghouse.
In the records of Huron and Erie counties, the names of Lot Sullivan, True Pattee, Alfred Betts and Joseph Treat, are of frequent occurrence. The first religious service in Wakeman, which was at the house of Augustin Canfield, there were four families present, which included the population of the entire township at that time. The services were conducted by Lot Sullivan. His text was from Matthew 26; 14, 15. The first psalm sung was the sixty ninth, to the tune of Old Windham. This was followed by the 102nd in Mortality, then the 101st in Florida (Dwight’s Collection.)
These little gatherings were for several years the substitutes for the meetings they used to attend in the church on the hillside in their far away Connecticut home.
The first Congregational church was organized at the house of Amiel Pierce by Dr. Betts and Joseph Treat, October 25, 1822. The following persons were examined and admitted to church membership:
|
Justus Minor Sally B. Hendricks Electa Pierce Harmon Clark |
Barzilla S. Hendrick Mary Barnum Ruth French Sally Sherman |
After the church was organized, up to April 9, 1829, nine others were added to the church. On that day the Rev. Xenophon Betts was ordained pastor of the church. Mr. Betts was an excellent pastor. During the eight years of his ministry here, the church was greatly blessed, forty five members being added. Not only did this little flock increase in numbers under his care, but it became so rooted and established in the old orthodox New England doctrines in theology, that it carries the impress to this day (1908). The Sabbath was respected, and young and old were expected to go to meeting, as it was called, every Sunday. Many of the first settlers used to walk to Florence and back, for their Sabbath service, a distance of four miles. On one occasion, Lemuel Pierce and his brother, were going this way leading their sister, Ann, when they walked over a rattlesnake without seeing it until they were safely past.
There were two services every Sunday, one in the forenoon and one in the afternoon, and often a five o’clock sermon in the afternoon, as a fitting close of the day. At noon, while the fathers were gathered in groups eating their lunch, and discussing the theological points in the sermon, the mothers in a group by themselves were supposed to be talking on subjects especially appropriate to the Sabbath. The children were gathered into Sabbath school classes.
The first church was built by the Episcopalians, near the centre of the town in 1840. The church was organized by Joel Wheeler, and thirty three others, under the title of St. John’s church, Wakeman. Father Bronson, as he was called, was the rector for many years, - succeeded by Rev. C. Lewis. Edward Irvine was the last rector.
The M. E. Church was formed in December, 1828. Betsy Sherman, Anna French, Phedima Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Tomlinson, were the members. Philo Sherman was the first class leader. The church was formed by the Rev. True Pattee. There was no spark of bitterness between the different denominations of the place. At first the Methodists would occupy the centre school house alternately with the other church. Or it would be the Congregational in the forenoon and the Methodists in the afternoon.
After the new meetinghouse was built, the Methodists for many years conducted the service in the afternoon once in two weeks.
The Second Congregational church was a division in the First church. The Second church is emphatically a child of Oberlin. Oberlin college was founded in 1833, about the time of the first anti-slavery agitation in this country. The foundation principle of Oberlin, to quote A. C. Hall in his history of the church was opposition of all kinds of evil, especially to intemperance and slavery. The first theological students of Oberlin came from Lane Seminary in Cincinnati, because anti-slavery discussion was forbidden there. They were a noble class of young men.
About this time Pres. Finney came to Oberlin. He brought a large tent with him, which was used as place to hold protracted meetings. The church in Wakeman gave Pres. Mahan an invitation to come here and hold a series of meetings. In the fall of 1835, the tabernacle, as it was called, was brought and set up on the four corners, a mile west of the centre, on the farm then owned by Bela Coe. Pres. Mahan and the Lane Seminary students conducted the meetings. Numbers were converted, the people became acquainted with Oberlin students and acquired a taste for Oberlin theology and preaching.
In the following fall, Mr. Betts resigned his charge here and removed to Lyme.
To supply the pulpit recourse was had to Oberlin students. They frequently made their journey from Oberlin to Wakeman on foot through an almost unbroken forest, and carrying their satchels in their hands. In the meantime the branch between those who were imbued with the Oberlin theology and the old school, as they were called, was daily widening. Wm. Russell came here and preached two years, between 1843 and 1845. It was hoped that he would be able to heal the breach between the two factions in the church. The subject of building a new meeting house began to be agitated, but who should preach in it, that was the question. Mr.
Russell intimated plainly, if they could not be united in building the church, they had better divide. The matter was discussed, and a resolution passed to give letters of dismission to those who wished to leave for the purpose of forming a new church. The following persons at their own request received letters of dismission:
| Augustin Canfield | Reuben Hall |
| Amos Clark | Lemuel B. Pierce |
| C. C. Canfield | Leverett Hill |
| Alvan Hall | Kneeland Todd |
| Rufus J. Bunce | Isaac Todd |
| Mary Bunce | Eunice Pierce |
| Electa Pierce | Betsy Hall |
| Esther Hill | Mary E. Canfield |
| Caroline C. Burr | Minerva Pierce |
| Susan L. Pierce | Ruth A. Clark |
| Sophia Wheeler | Juliette Travis |
The letter was granted to these persons in a body, Aug. 30, 1844. The next day, August 31, a new church was organized in the centre school house with the above named persons and the addition of Cordelia Hall, who brought a letter from the church in Edinburgh, Ohio. Kneeland Todd, Juliette Travis and Susan Pierce for some reason were not present and did not unite at that time. Amos and Minott Pierce were the first to unite on profession.
The first minister of the new church was Jeremiah Butler, an Oberlin student.
In the spring of 1845 the foundations of the new church were laid, just across the road from the Episcopal church. (Where the house of Charles Clark, Jr. stands.) It was completed so that it was dedicated in the forenoon of Oct. 2, 1845.
Rev. Henry Cowles preached the sermon, and in the afternoon Wm. H. Westervelt was ordained and preached for us one year. The list of pastors is as follows: Westervelt; Wm. Clarke; Minor W. Fairfield; James Van Wagner; Prof.
Henry Peck; Henry S. Bennett; Joseph Edwards; S. Lee Hilyer; Levi Loring; Edward B. Payne; Rev. C. C. Creegan.
In a few years the church became too small for the congregation, and galleries were put in. A new church of brick was built, and was dedicated on Jan 1, 1879. (The old church building was purchased by Charles S. Clark and removed east of his house and used for a seed corn warehouse.) Of the first twenty members only eight were living at the time of the dedication. The church membership at this time was 282.
Mr. Ceegan was succeeded as pastor by A. G. Upton, then Mr. Meek, Mr. Pound, Rev. Charles Gleason. At this time the church celebrated the Jubilee year with Rev. Minor W. Fairfield, who had preached here forty five years before, to preach the sermon. Of the first twenty members, C.C. Canfield was the only one left. Owing to the infirmities of age, he had not attended church for some time, but on that day he was present, but he died the following spring.
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The First Congregational church never had a building, but held services in the school house.
The Protestant Episcopal Church was incorporated as St. John’s Church, of Wakeman, by act of legislature of Ohio at the session of 1838-9. The church was organized by Rev. Anson Clark (brother of Dr. H. M. Clark) on Aug. 14, 1837, with the following members: Joel Wheeler and wife, Lucius Tomlinson and wife, Lester Farrand and wife, Peter Sherman and wife, Eliza M. Redding, Laura Wheeler, Sala Todd, Martin Bell and wife, George Todd, Hermon M. Clark (all of Wakeman) Cyrenus Beecher and wife, Ezra Sprague and wife, Joab Squire and wife, James C. Judson (all of Florence), Starr Hoyt, of Clarksfield, Aurilla Masters, Ezekiel W. Arnold, Mary Arnold, Phebe Burgess, Louis Markham, (probably of Camden). Joel Wheeler and Jabez Hanford were elected wardens; Cyrenus Beecher, Peter Sherman and Starr Hoyt, vestrymen. Justin Sherman was later chosen secretary. Justin Sherman donated a lot (as he did afterward for the Congregational society); and a building was erected in 1840. This stood for years until it was purchased by Frank McKellogg and moved to Shelby to be used for a clothing store, and John Kirschner erected a house on the site.
Rev. Anson Clark was the first rector of the church, followed by Thomas Barrow, J. Rice Taylor, Abram Bronson, E. D. Irvine, Charles F. Lewis and G. W. Williams. Much of the time the church was without stated preaching and services were conducted by lay readers, Cyrenus Beecher, J. E. Hanford, John Kilch and others.
The first Methodist class was formed in Dec. 1828, by Rev. True Pattee, a circuit preacher, the members being Philo Sherman, Betsy Sherman, Lucius Tomlinson, Charlotte Tomlinson, Phedima Smith and Anna French. Meetings were held in the school houses, alternating with the Congregationalists, until the latter erected their church building, when the Methodists were given the use of the building on Sunday afternoons. This class was eventually disbanded. The present M. E. Society was organized June 16, 1872, and their building completed in 1873. (It is the present Grange Hall). The first members were J. M. Whiton and wife, William Denman, Samuel Webb and wife, M. E. Wattles, E. M. Bell, E. F. Squire, A. P. Phillips and wife, Hiram Hurd, J. M. Cahoon, Mary M. Harris, George Randall, Harriet M. Randall, Edward Denman and wife. The early pastors were C. L. Hanawalt, D. R. Moore, E. Hayes, J. A. Kaull, C. D. Patterson, G. E. Scott and Hiram Royce.
St. Mary’s Catholic Church was organized in 1868 by the Irish inhabitants, Rev. Fally, of Norwalk, officiating at the meeting for organization. The following year the present church edifice was completed.
POST OFFICE.
The first settlers were necessarily obliged to go or send to, probably, Florence or Norwalk for their letters. In 1832, Isaac Todd and Cyrus Minor had a petition prepared asking for an extension of a mail route from Grafton, in Lorain County, to go through Wakeman to Norwalk. This was granted and the inhabitants turned out and cleared the underbrush for a path from Wakeman to Grafton. The first carrier made the trip once a week on foot. On his first trip he stopped at Isaac Todd’s, which was the first house west of Lagrange. His mail bag was a large leather pocket book and was empty, but he had to make the trip anyhow. The first postmaster in Wakeman was Justin Sherman and his commission was dated Dec. 7 1832, the post office being kept in his house. Merritt Hyde was commissioned July 7, 1840, and he kept the office in his house. On Nov. 9, 1841, Justin Sherman was again commissioned and he kept the office in his store in the village, until May 24, 1845, when Lester T. Farrand took the office. The appointments since then have been: E. J. Bunce, Dec. 4, 1849; L. T. Farrand, May 6, 1853; Hiram Hosford, July 8, 1856; J. L. Curry, April 15, 1861; C. F. Lewis, Dec. 11, 1862; C. E. Minor, July 9, 1866; Wm. H. Pierce, Dec. 11, 1871; H. J. Baldwin, May 4, 1874; J. J. McMann, Sept. 8, 1885; Wm. H. Pierce, Nov. 9, 1889; J. J. McMann, Nov. 3, 1893; F. D. Pierce, Oct. 12, 1905; James L. Murray, Mar. 28, 1914, &c.
Having given the local history of the Wakeman post office, a little general history of posts and postage will not be amiss, we think. We quote some passages from an old encyclopedia, of 1834:
"Posts; one of the most effective instruments of civilization, to be ranked with printing and the mariner’s compass."
The name of posts is said to be derived from the Latin positus (placed), because horses were put at certain distances, to transport letters or travelers."
"Traveling merchants and butchers (who ride about in the country to buy cattle) used to take charge of letters."
In the English colonies in North America, a post office was projected as early as 1692. A patent was laid before the Virginia Assembly for Making Mr. Neal postmaster-general of Virginia and other parts of America. The assembly passed an
act in its favor, but it had no effect. In was impossible to carry it into execution on account of the dispersed situation of the inhabitants. The first office in the colonies was established in 1710 by an act of parliament, "for establishing a general post-office for all her majesty’s dominions." The postmaster-general was to be "at liberty to keep one chief letter-office in New York, and other chief offices at some convenient place or places in each of her majesty’s provinces or colonies in America." After the Revolution, the constitution gave congress the power of establishing post offices and post roads.
"There is at the seat of government of the U. States a general post office under the direction of the postmaster-general, who in appointed by the president, and appoints two assistants and such clerks as may be necessary for the performance of the business of his office. He establishes post-offices and appoints postmasters at all such places as appear to him expedient on post roads established by law."
Rates of postage – 1834. On a single letter, composed of one piece of paper, for any
Distance not exceeding 30 miles - 6 cents,
above 30 and not exceeding 80 - 10 cents,
above 80 and not exceeding 150 - 12 1/2 cents,
above 150 and not exceeding 400 - 18 3/4 cents,
above 400, 25 cents
In those times there were no envelopes, but the letter, probably written on a sheet of foolscap paper, was written in such a way that the sheet could be folded, about the size of an ordinary envelope, with the ends tucked together, and sealed with a little sealing wax wafer. On the address side, the post master wrote the amount of postage, and that was not paid where posted, as now, but by the recipient before delivery. It sometimes compelled the addressee to wait some little time before getting his letter, until he could raise the amount of postage.
One old man told the writer that when he was a boy, living at Whitefox in Clarksfield, his mother was expecting a letter from he folks in the east. She put six dozen eggs in a basket and sent the boy on foot to Clarksfield Hollow, where he was to leave the eggs at the store and go up the hill to the post office, and if the letter was there he was to go down to the store and get the egg money, then go to the office and get the letter, all of which he did. He walked some eight miles, carrying a basket of eggs half the distance, no light weight for a boy, climb the hill a couple of times, return to his home with nothing but a letter to show for his trip, the six dozen eggs produced only the 25 cents needed for the postage. Postage stamps did not come into use in this country until 1847, and probably envelopes at the same time. This date marks the establishment of prepaid postage.
ENUMERATION.
In 1829, the county assessor listed the following as the white male inhabitants, over twenty one years of age, in Wakeman; Samuel Bristol, Augustin Canfield, Justin Sherman, Aaron Parsons, Garry B. Hyde, Gershom Shelton, Elisha Sheldon,
Philo Sherman, Barzilla S. Hendricks, Merritt Hyde, Justus Minor, Ichabod T. Norton, James Wilson, Amos Clark, Bela Coe, Enoch Johnson, Amiel P. Pierce, Woodward Todd, Harmon M. Clark, Samuel B. Barnes, William Beers, Asahel Buck, Erastus French, Sheldon Smith, Isaac Hill, Marshall Johnson, Marcellus Booth, Chester Manville, William Barns, Silas French, Lewis Patterson, Cyrus Minor, Harry Smith. Thirty three in number.
Wakeman had a population of 702 in 1840, and 1450, in 1880.
At the election held in Wakeman on the 10th day of October, 1837, the following men voted: Burton French; Justin Hill, William W. Rose, James Riley, Peter Kirkendall, Joel Adams, Jr., William Bentley, Martin Bell, Orrin Lewis, Bela Coe, Reuben Hall, Joel Wheeler, Hermon M. Clark, Chester Manvel, Nelson Bristol, Amos Clark, Leverett Hill, Lucius Tomlinson, Jabez Hanford, Marcus French, Joel Adams, Sr., George Hinman, Isaac Bunce, David Heald, Marshall Johnson, Samuel Bristol, Phillip B. Sergeant, Merritt Hyde, Peter Sherman, William Beers, Hazen H. Hill, Nathan Downs, Charles Hill, James Wilson, David Manvel, Nathaniel Daniels, William Collingwood , George Tillinghast, Cyrus Strong, Joseph Haskins, Minot Pierce, Lewis Luce, Joel Cary, Rufus Bunce, Guyon Miller, John Bennet, John Thompson, Joseph Dodd, Justus Wheeler, Addison Fay, Leonard Batterson, Justin Sherman, Isaac Sherman, Justus Minor, Calvert C. Canfield, Erastus French, Isaac Haskins, Amiel P. Pierce, Henry T. Peck, Augustin Canfield, Orrin Delano, Isaac Hill, David Smith, Lemuel B. Pierce, Isaac Todd, Kneeland Todd, Sylvester Hill, Philo Sherman, Jesse E. Hanford, Joseph Washburn, Freeman Bell; seventy one in number.
End of Pages 21 - 30
Transcribed by Lowell Dunlap