About a year ago the Medina Historical society members decided it was "high time" that the history of Medina county be brought up to date inasmuch as several decades have passed since the last history of the county was written.

Miss Maude Edwards, a Homer high school instructor, became interested in the project and she, with the help of several students, went to work compiling data on the history of that township. As a result a 65-page booklet in mimeographed form was turned out and a copy presented to the historical society.

The Gazette is privileged to run in serial form the new History of Homer township, the first installment of which appears below. The remainder of the book will be published in these columns in succeeding issues.

It might be added that several other townships have or are about to start writing a history of their township. - Ed. note.

Browsing through the few available records of Homer Township and through the little private libraries of the older citizens has been a delightful experience. True it is, that the original papers relative to the township are lost, but thanks to those unselfish researchers of another generation, we find several columns on local history. Especially were we fortunate in having access to the scrap books of the late Miss Retta Zehner, who was for many years the Homer correspondent to the local newspapers. In these scrap books she kept a record of the weekly items.

Delightful as that experience may have been, the greatest enjoyment and most enlightening material has been given to us through conversation with a few of the oldest living residents of the community. From them we gleaned a wealth of information about our neighborhood that we never suspected.

Thus armed, we - namely Bert Jones, Carroll Brinker, Edward zek, and Helen Kristek, under the direction and with the help of our teacher, Miss Maude Edwards, wet about our project with enthusiasm of writing a history of Homer Township.

This was a large theme to tackle in so small a space; and as every painter, who has ever tried to paint a canvas so vast, must be conscious of his inability to say exactly what he would like to say, we are no exceptions.

For many years prior to township organizations the interests of Harrisville and of Homer were un------- and partially identical. In fact, part of the territory which is now included in Homer Township was formerly a part of Harrisville. Shortly after the settlement of the Harrisville people in the swamp basin of that township, ?? of its members penetrated further west and established homes in what is now Homer Township. Arriving?? here they found an occasional rude log hut which had probably been erected by wandering hunters or trappers who are known to have come into this section as early as 1814.

What is now Homer Township was formerly in Lorain county, being ?? named Richmond Township, and was part of Sullivan Township of that county. With the formation of Summit county the eastern tier of the townships of Medina county were set off with the new county organization, and Spencer and Homer were taken from Lorain county, added to Medina county, and made identical in size with the other townships of the county, five miles square.

The surface of the land is slightly undulating, with the ground here and there broken by "spring runs." One of our oldest residents states that the chief reason for the establishing of permanent homes here by the early settlers was due to the abundant supply of unusually good spring water and its easy accessibility.

The chief stream of the township, Black River, flows through the township from west to east. At times bluffs as high as 30 feet add to the scenic beauty of the countryside. The rock is of soft, gray shale.

The clay soil of the township is highly productive and lends itself well to the agricultural pursuits of the people.

As nearly as we can ascertain the first permanent settler was John Park, who moved with his family from Hookstown, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1818 to near Wooster, Wayne county. Later he located in the southeastern part of Homer township. The wilderness was broken and in the course of the coming year they had several acres of land cleared and crops planted. About this time Batchelder Wing moved into the neighborhood with his family. These settlers could not be considered isolated in this settlement. It was only a few miles to the center nearest neighbors, a half dozen at this time was blooming out into a full-grown civic town with its usual pleasures and comforts of life. At this time it formed one of the most important localities of the new County of Medina. It was little more than a mile from the new Park's settlement to their nearest neighbors, a half dozen families who were located in the western part of Harrisville township, in and about that part which is now known as Crawford's Corners.

Within a few years many more families migrated into the new- - - - - - - - - jah Wing, Henry Laughman, Asa Baird, Samuel and Isaac Vanderhoof, Webster Holcomb, Charles and Daniel Perkins, James Stevenson, David Snively, John Douglas, William Finley, George Durk, Solomon Smith, James and Joseph Crawford, Solomon and John Miller, and William Jefferys. All of these families settled closely together in the southeastern part of the townhip.

While yet that part of the township which today forms the center where the village of Homerville is now located remained an unbroken foret, settlements had been made in the northeastern part of the township by a group of Pennsylvania Dutch who had come from that state. Among the first of those settlers were Eli Garman, Jonathan Holburn, and John Miller who purchased their lands from Samuel Neal, an eastern land speculator, in the year 1833. Others of their friends soon followed and in a short time this section became one of the most thickly populated districts of the colony.

In the year 1833 the township was organized. The elections was held in the log schoolhouse in the Vanderhoof District. There were only nineteen voters. The election resulted in John Tanner, John Park, and Betchelder Wing being elected Trustees; Webster Holcomb, Constable; Isaac Vanderhoof, Clerk; and Asa Baird, justice of the Peace. The record also shows that the organization provided for an Overseer of the Poor, and "Earmark" Recorder, a Fence Overseer, a half dozen or more Road Supervisors and a Tax-Lister. One might judge that this was a very compatible group of voters, for it would seem that an office was created whereby each might be in a position of authority.

It was about this time that Asa and Osias Baird - the latter of whom had moved from Big Prairie, Wayne county - settled at what is now the center of the township. They were the first settlers in what later became the village of Homerville. Another settlement had also been made in the northwestern part of the township. Since it seemed expedient that the seat of government should be centrally located the next election was held in the log school building at the Center settlement. This was the presidential election in which Martin Van Buren was chosen Chief Magistrate of the Union.

The township from this time forward became more and more thickly populated. Immigrants came in from every district.

The first township assessor in 1835 who traveled over the township to list personal property for taxation reported 7 horses and 42 cattle and the value of personal property was estimated at $1,735.

Nira B. Northrop in his History of Medina County, published in 1862 states that there were fewer mortgages upon the real estate of this township than upon many of the older settled townships in the county.

The Medina County Tax Duplicate for 1940 shows that the value of lands and buildings in Homer Township was $42,812 at that time; the value of personal property, $4,440, and the taxes assessed for that year, $693,511. In the decade from - - - - - - -forward. The Medina County Tax Duplicate for 1943 gives the present valuation of the township as $1,534,180 and the amount of taxed to be collected $19,946.68. It is interesting to note that whereas the value of property has steadily risen the tax rate has decreased. The highest rate of taxation, 22.40 mills, was in 1923. The lowest rate of which we have a record was 10.9 mills in 1898. The present rate, 13.00 mills, is the lowest since that time.

To understand fully the history of a township one must note the trends in population. In 18?8 there were 72 persons - - - - - an almost unbelievable increase in population, the census of 1840 showing an enumeration of 653. Population continued to increase to 1850 when the census figures record, 1,102 people living in the township. From that date forward, strange as it may seem, the population has constantly decreased to 8886. The 1880 census shows a population of 865; the 1900 census reports 764; the 1910 census figure is 753; the 1920 census is 662; the 1930 census 639; and the last census in 1940 records the population as 643. We fine that during the last 25 years the population has remained quite stable.

An event of some importance in the early days of the township was the birth of a daughter to John Park and wife in August 1833. This was the first child born in the township. She was named Harriet.

The first marriage recorded in the township was that of Charles Atkins and Elizabeth Campbell. Many events of a similar nature followed as the settlement grew. Perrin, Battle, and Goodspeed in their History of Medina county published in 1881 give an interesting incident that we are going to quote:

One of the greatest commotions that ever disturbed the equanimity of the Homer people, and one which threatened to create serious disturbances in the colony, was caused by a jubilee indulged in by a number of young people in honor of a wedding. A young couple had been united in marriage in the summer of 1856. The young men of the neighborhood decided to give them the customary "belling." On the night appointed, the boys gathered, twenty or thirty strong, arrayed in fantastic dress, and equipped with tin pans, bells, horse-fiddles, and various other instruments, to make hideous noises. The house of the father of the bride, in which the young couple were staying, was surrounded by the "bellers" in the evening. After darkness had set in, and the tumult commenced, shot-guns were fired, and a live goose was thrown into the bridal chamber. The "belling" was done up in "grand and good old style" as one of the participants related. The event would have been forgotten in a short time and nothing serious would have come of it if the irate father-in-law of the young husband had - -rn vengeance upon the gay troublesome disturbers. On the next day the old gentleman - - warrants of arrest issued - - the young men whose names - - learned. Fifteen or twenty - - "bellers," some of the