CUYAHOGA COUNTY OHIO - HISTORY: Parma
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Betty Ralph
bralph@HiWAAY.net
March 18, 1999
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About a year ago I transcribed numerous articles on Cuyahoga and Portage
counties, OH, from "Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve"
published under the auspices of the Woman's Department of the Cleveland
Centennial Commission in 1896, edited by Mrs. Gertrude Van Rensselaer
Wickham.  The articles contain many details about the lives of the early
settlers. 
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Parma

Parma is one of the youngest townships in Cuyahoga County.  
In consequence of a prevailing impression that is was a 
swampy and undesirable region, the early settlers of the 
County avoided this section.  The center of the township 
lies about eight miles south of the Public Square in 
Cleveland.  The township is bounded north by Brooklyn, east 
by Independence, south by Royalton and west by Middleburg.  
It is an agricultural community and contains no village.  
Fully three-fourths of the population are Germans.

The first settlement in the township was made in 1818 by 
Benjamin FAY, Sr., a native of Massachusetts.  He came from 
Lewis County, N.Y., with his wife, Ruth WILCOX, his 
daughters Amanda, Harriet, Huldah, Sophia and Mary, and five 
sons.  A daughter, Mabel FAY, was born to them in 1810.  She 
was the first white child born in Parma.

Mr. FAY and family came by ox team from their home in New 
York.  From South Brooklyn they had to cut a road through 
the woods in order to reach their farm.  In 1819 Mr. RAY 
opened a tavern in a double log house, known as “B. FAY’ 
Inn.”  This was a noted landmark for many years.

Conrad COUNTRYMAN, a Mowhawk Dutchman, accompanied by his 
wife and three sons, young men, reached Parma about the same 
time Mr. FAY did.  They took up the farm afterwards owned by 
Moses TOWL.  In 1821 Mr. COUNTRYMAN erected on the banks of 
the Stony Creek the first saw mill built in the township.  
In this mill, a few years later, his little granddaughter, 
Lucy COUNTRYMAN, was accidentally killed.  Mr. COUNTRYMAN 
also built the first blacksmith shop in the township.

Hezekiah CLARK and his wife, and Captain STONEBRUNNER 
settled on farms near Conrad COUNTRYMAN’s, in 1818, but the 
soon moved to Cleveland.

Pelathia BLISS, an enterprising young man, carrying his pack 
on his back, started on foot from him home in Connecticut, 
seeking his fortune.  He arrived in Parma in 1818, and was 
so pleased with the location that he built himself a cabin 
near Mr. COUNTRYMAN’s, and at once began clearing a farm.  
He had left behind him, in Windsor, Connecticut, a bright 
eyed, intelligent young woman, who had promised to join him 
when he had found a home.  In 1820 he returned and Lucina 
GRANT became Mrs. BLISS.  The wedding journey was taken in 
1821, in a wagon that brought Mr. FOOT and family to 
Brooklyn, and the couple were soon settled in their Parma 
home.  A daughter, Nancy, came to gladden their home in 
1823.  She is now Mrs. Proctor PEARSE, of Bloomingdale, 
Michigan.

In 1820, two hardy and intelligent young men, Asher NORTON 
and Benjamin NORTON, came from Rutland, Vermont, and took up 
adjoining farms on the Independence line road.  With Asher 
NORTON came his wife, Ruth HARRIS, and their daughters Mary 
C., Azuba A., Sophia and Emily R.  Benjamin NORTON was 
accomplished by his wife, Betsey MINER, his daughters Phebe, 
Jane, Permelia, and two sons.  For four years these families 
were alone in that quarter of the township.  Then a brother-
in-law, Rufus SCOVILLE, together with his wife, Roxy NORTON 
and daughter Clara joined them.  Mrs. SCOVILLE had four 
sons.

The children of these families were obliged to attend school 
in Brecksvill as until 1832 there was no school in that part 
of Parma.  In 1826 Nehemiah TOMS and wife Sally MINER, a 
sister of Mrs. Benjamin NORTON, joined the east Parma 
settlement.

There were no further additions to this colony until 1831, 
when Bela NORTON and wife Eliza HOPKINS, their daughter 
Marcia came, also Joel NORTON and wife Annie DANIELS, with 
their daughters Roxy, Mary, Fanny, Betsey and Clarissa.  
Thus it will be seen that to the State of Vermont, and to 
the NORTON family, belongs the honor of having settled the 
Eastern part of the township.  How isolated and lonely must 
have been the condition of these mothers and daughters, 
coming as they did from the intelligence and advantages of 
their New England homes!

In October, 1821, the little company of pioneers in the 
Western part, or what was afterwards known as the Cleveland 
and Columbus road, was increased by the arrival of five 
families.  They were those of Asa EMERSON, Amos HODGMAN, 
Joseph SMALL, William STEEL and Jesse NICHOLAS; Mrs. Sally 
SMALL EMERSON and Mrs. Thankful SMALL HODGMAN were cousins 
of Joseph SMALL.  Mrs. STEEL was a niece of theirs, and Mr. 
NICHOLAS was a relative of all.

They had been neighbors in the town of Bowdoine, Maine.  
Together they had journeyed with ox teams and horses to 
Wheeling, West Virginia.  After spending a year there, and 
another year near Cincinnati, their hearts had turned with 
irresistible longing to the old home in Maine.  They started 
on the return journey.

On reaching Parma, however, they concluded to locate there.  
Log houses were soon erected and preparations made for the 
approaching winter.  What tongue can tell of the hardships 
and inconvenience suffered by these women on this long 
journey from Maine to Ohio!

Much of the time, especially over the mountains, the women 
and children had to go on foot.  One of the girls, Sally 
EMERSON, suffered all through life from having one shoulder 
higher than the other.  This was supposed to have been 
caused by having been led so much by an older person on this 
journey.  One morning as the caravan was about to move, it 
was found that the baby in the Emerson family was missing.  
At last he was found, nearly smothered under a feather bed, 
which had been accidentally thrown over him.  That boy is 
now Mr. Taylor EMERSON, of Cleveland, the only survivor of 
the EMERSON family.

Lucinda B. EMERSON was the second white child born in the 
township, March, 1822.  Dr. Henry HUDSON, of Royalton, was 
called to attend Mrs. EMERSON at this time.  Dr. HUDSON was 
not only a physician, but an ordained Baptist minister.  He 
was called on Saturday to attend Mrs. EMERSON.

Early the next morning word was sent around for all the 
settlers to gather at the log cabin of Mrs. HODGMAN, and 
there, on that spring morning, March 3rd, 1822, the first 
sermon preached in Parma was delivered by Rev. Henry HUDSON.

In May of that same year occurred the first death in the 
township.  Isaac EMERSON, a young man of 17 years of age, 
was called from earthly scenes.  A grave was made for him on 
the banks of Stony Creek, near the home of Mr. COUNTRYMAN.  
In September, Mr. William STEEL was called away from the 
hardships of pioneer life, and his child soon followed him.  
Mrs. STEEL, like Naomi of old, being thus left a widow and 
childless, soon returned on foot and alone to her old home 
in Maine. 

Abner S. BEALS and his wife, Jane SHEPHERD, came from 
Geneva, N.Y., to Royalton, Ohio, in January, 1821.  In the 
spring of 1825 they removed to Parma.  Mr. BEALS was the 
first settler on the State road in Parma.  He first located 
in the northern part of the township.  The children attended 
school in Brighton, and walked to Sabbath school at Brooklyn 
Center, a distance of 3 ½ miles.  There were many wild 
animals and rattlesnakes in the township then.  One morning, 
Mr. BEALS went out to shoot a partridge and his little son 
accompanied him; suddenly Mr. BEALS heard the boy, who was a 
short distance from him call out “Daddy!  See the big 
hog!”  He turned to see a large bear on a direct line 
between him and his boy.  The father’s hand trembled so that 
he dared not fire until the bear had passed the range of the 
boy.  He tracked the bear some distance by the blood from 
his wound, but lost him amid the rocks of the neighboring 
brook.  At one time, Mrs. BEALS’ little daughter, Julia, was 
going with her sister Eliza to a spring after water.  Her 
kitten followed them and Julia tried to fasten it in a 
hollow log until she returned.  The kitten refused to enter 
the log and Julia stooped to learn the reason.  There she 
saw a great rattlesnake coiled ready to strike.  

To his daughter, Julia, who married Robert HODGMAN and has 
spent 71 or 73 years of her life in Parma, has fallen the 
pleasant task of directing these pioneer records.

Mrs. SMALL was a noted housekeeper.  Everything about her 
log house was “neat as wax.”  The first wedding in the 
township occurred at her house, when her daughter Lois was 
married to Ephraim FOWLES, of Middleburgh.

Mr. Samuel FREEMAN and Mrs. Sarah BELKNAP FREEMAN, with 
their seven daughters and five sons came from Stonebridge, 
Massachusetts, to seek a home in the West.  They came via 
Erie Canal and Lake Erie, and after a journey of 20 days, 
reached “B. Fay’s Inn,” Saturday night, May 26th, 1825.

Mr. FAY had an unoccupied barn, and on Monday morning the 
FREEMAN family took possession of it.  A fireplace was built 
at one side of the empty mow.  The mother and daughters 
turned the stable into a sleeping apartment.  The father and 
sons took possession of the loft, and the barn floor served 
as a dining room.  Here the family lived for forty days, 
until a house had been erected for them on the farm that has 
ever since been known as “the FREEMAN place.”  Mr. FREEMAN 
was a man of education and culture.  No family did more 
toward building up the religious and educational interests 
of the community.  The first school in Parma was taught by 
Mr. FREEMAN in his own house.  He was the first postmaster 
of the township, and held many offices of trust in church 
and township.  Mrs. FREEMAN was a fitting wife for such a 
husband.  Nearly all her daughters and sons became teachers 
in the public schools, and earnest workers in the church.  
Selemda FREEMAN married Reuben EMERSON and is still living, 
in Lakeland, Minnesota.  Lois FREEMAN became Mrs. Asa 
EMERSON and yet lives amid the scenes of her girlhood in 
Parma.

 Thomas ADAMS and wife settled across the road from where 
Mrs. Fanny INGERSOLL now resides.  He was a blacksmith.  His 
brother, David ADAMS and wife, Buelah PRINCE, purchased a 
part of what afterward became the John A. ACKLEY farm. These 
brothers came from South Amherst, Mass. In 1825.

There was a lull in the settlement of the township from 1825 
to 1830.  In the spring of 1829, Daniel NICHOLS and wife, 
Sibly, with their daughter Betsey and sons, Charles and 
Joseph, came from Bowdoine, Maine.  William GORDON settled 
on the center road near the Royalton line in 1829.  He was 
the first white settler on the Center road.  His wife, Sarah 
SHEPHERD, came to Royalton from Geneva, N.Y., in 1821.  Mrs. 
GORDON was of a happy, cheerful disposition, well fitted to 
find comfort in the midst of the hardships of a new country.

In December, 1829, according the report of the school 
enumerator, there were but 24 house holders in the township.  
During the years 1831 - 1834 inclusive, Parma was rapidly 
settled.  The most of the farms were taken up during those 
years.  Many of these settlers came from the State of New 
York,  Indeed, one road was named “York Street,” because 
of this.

In 1832, John J. BIGELOW, of Richfield, made the brick for 
B. FAY’s new inn.  Mr. BIGELOW was so pleased with the land 
on the Center road, that when his contract was completed, he 
purchased 200 acres, paying for it the sum of $500.

In the spring of 1833 he came with his wife, Phila HUMPHREY, 
and took possession of a little house which had been erected 
by a man who had “slashed” five acres of land for Mr. 
BIGELOW.  Phila HUMPHREY was born and reared in Goshen, 
Connecticut.  From the “land of steady habits” and 
refinement, she came to Richfield, and thence to her Parma 
home.  There was no floor in that home.  The fire-place 
consisted of a flats tone for a hearth and another stone for 
a back.  From these a chimney was built of sticks and 
plastered with clay.

In anticipation of the arrival of a sister from Connecticut, 
Mrs. BIGELOW fitted up a room.  It was a shed built against 
the log house.  It could be reached only from the outside, 
as there was no door between the two rooms.  This room Mrs. 
BIGELOW floored with “culls” or staves that had been 
rejected as unfit for market.  In this room, Fanny HUMPHREY, 
afterwards Mrs. Cyrus INGERSOLL, spent her first night in 
Parma.  Yet this home was the beginning of a beautiful home 
in which were reared two refined and cultivated daughters, 
both of whom were successful school teachers.  They were 
Celia, now Mrs. George DEMINGS, of Cleveland, and Ellen, 
afterward Mrs. Dr. DANIELS, of Townsend Ohio, now deceased.

Mrs. James BROWN, Sr., nee Silence PETTEE, was born in 
Claremont, Massachusetts, 1782.  Her father was a 
commissioned officer in the Revolutionary Army.  He was, I 
think, of Huguenot extraction, and his daughter inherited a 
large portion of the sturdy independence and force of 
character which fitted her for pioneer life.  She came to 
Parma in 1833 with her husband and four children.

Here a log house, containing one room, was built, and here 
she spent most of the remaining years of her life.  She was 
an expert spinner and weaver.  People came from Royalton, 
Brooklyn, and Middleburgh, bringing material for “tow and 
linen” cloth, to be used for table cloths, towels, bed 
ticks and aprons; wool for sheets, underclothing, dresses 
for women and girls, and satinet for the men and boys.  

The coloring was done with the bark from the oak, hickory, 
chestnut, maple and butternut.  Sometime the wool from black 
sheep was mixed with that from white, making “sheeps’ 
grey” which was durable if not handsome.

She was paid 6 ¼ cents per yard for weaving plain cloth, and 
10 cents per yard for “kersey” and “satinet.”  In the 
midst of the labor necessary to the making a home in the 
wilderness, she found time to cultivate flowers.  A sunny 
spot was set apart for poppies, great golden crowned 
marigolds, spicy grass pinks, hollyhocks, where bumble bees 
reveled, and powered themselves with yellow pollen, and one 
queenly damask rose.  Down in a far corner was the chamomile 
bed, whose aromic blossoms made into a pillow, were supposed 
to be a sovereign balm for insomnia, and many other ills.  
There, too, grew dill and horehound, wormwood, mint and 
anise.

Mrs. BROWN was a woman of strong convictions, and they were 
impressed upon the character of her sons.  She was one of 
the earliest temperance workers, also a staunch anti-slavery 
woman.  Her husband and son, James, were among the six who 
voted the first abolition ticket in Parma.

Mr. and Mrs. BROWN were members of the Baptist church in 
Royalton, and used to walk to service, a distance of five 
miles, when they could not take the ox team.

Eunice OLDS and her husband, Samuel ROBB, were the first 
settlers on State road, between the Royalton line and the 
Chestnut Hills.  They came from Webster, N.Y.  In three days 
from the time the first tree was cut, a log house had been 
built, and the family had moved into it.

Openings were left for door and windows, and over these 
blankets were hung.  Only half the house was roofed at the 
time.  About them was the unbroken forest.  Wild deer came 
and gazed in wonder at the inmates of the lonely dwelling.  
Wolves and bears were sometimes seen near it.  

The solitude of the forest was seldom broken by the presence 
of their fellow beings.  They rarely heard from their old 
home, for there were few facilities for conveying mail, and 
when they received a letter they had to pay 25 cents postage 
on it.

With Mrs. ROBB came her mother, Mrs. OLDS, and her daughter 
Lavina ROBB, who married Alonzo CARTWRIGHT, and still 
resides in Parma.  These pioneer mothers were not long 
without the companionship of other women.  Before the year 
1831 had ended, five other families had settled on the State 
road.

From N.Y. came Mr. and Mrs. FISK with their daughters, 
Almeda, Azelia, Lydia and Amanda.  With them came George 
BOYER and his wife, Harriet FISK.

From Duchess County, N.Y. came John JOHNSON and his wife, 
Margaret with their daughter, Mary Ann.  David F. JONES and 
wife, Hannah WEAR came from N.J.  They brought with them 
three daughters, Mary Jane, Caroline and Deborah, and their 
son-in-law, John COOK and his wife, Eliza JONES and 
daughters Debby Ann and Eliza Jane.

Mrs. JONES was the mother of five sons.  One of them, Carlos 
JONES was the founder of the “JONES Home” for orphan 
children.  These women cheerfully bore the hardships and 
inconvenience of pioneer life.  They lived to see the 
unbroken forest changed to cultivated farms, dotted with 
pleasant homes.  Their wearing apparel was entirely home 
made.  It was spun and woven from flax and wool by the 
mothers and daughters of 1831, and cut out and made into 
garments by their own hands, and that without the aid of 
fashion plates.  What a contrast in dress the mothers and 
daughters of 1831 would present beside the woman of 1896!

Miss Clementine PERRY was born in Clinton County, N.Y.  She 
was engaged to be married to Ithiel J. LOCKWOOD.  He 
believed that he could better his condition by emigrating to 
the West.  He reached Parma October, 1830, and purchased a 
farm on the Independence line road.  A year and a half was 
spent preparing a home, and then he returned for his bride.

In the latter part of January, 1832, they started on their 
long and wearisome journey to their new home, in a two horse 
sleigh, leading an extra horse.  They reached Parma in 
February.  On this farm Mrs. LOCKWOOD resided till 1857, 
when she moved to Cleveland.  Three daughters and a son were 
reared in the Parma home.  Mrs. LOCKWOOD died in 1892.

Miss Louisa SAXTON and Miss Alma PRINDLE, of East Charlotte, 
Vermont, married two brothers, James WALLING and Ransom 
WALLING.  In the spring of 1832, soon after their marriage, 
the husbands came to Parma to find homes for their wives.  
The young wives waited until fall and then came on to join 
their husbands.  The log houses that had been prepared to 
receive them had been built on the Royalton line, a half 
mile from any road.  The only way to reach their homes was 
along a path marked by blazed trees.

The men worked on their farms in the summer and at their 
trade as coopers in the winter.  Her for 18 years they dwelt 
side by side.

In 1850 Mrs. Ransom WALLING’s home was traded for a farm in 
Royalton, at a point which has since been known as 
“WALLING’s Corners.”  Here Mrs. WALLING resided for many 
years.  After the death of her husband she moved to 
Cleveland, where she died in 1892.

Mrs. Louisa WALLING moved to Wisconsin in 1852 and died 
there.

Somewhere in New England, I think in Vermont, Polly 
HASTING’s life began.  Her parents removed to Batavia, N.Y., 
where she married John PARRISH.  Here three sons and four 
daughters were born to them.  In 1834 they came to Parma and 
settled on the Independence line, in the neighborhood of the 
NORTONS and LOCKWOODS.  Their’s was a Christian home.  Mrs. 
PARRISH reared her children in the fear of the Lord.  Her 
sons were faithful Christian men.  Hugh L. PARRISH became a 
loved and honored minister of the M.E. Church, and was at 
one time Presiding Elder.

Mrs. Polly PARRISH was not permitted to reap the fruit of 
her seed sowing.  From her Parma home, about 1845, she was 
called to be forever with her Lord.  A moss covered stone, 
in the little cemetery on Independence road, marks her last 
resting place.

No reminiscences of the pioneer women of Parma would be 
complete that did not speak of “Aunt Jane KILBORN.”  She 
and her husband, Joseph KILBORN, “Uncle Joe” as he was 
familiarly known, came to Parma in 1833, and settled on the 
State road.  Here they spent the remainder of their days.  
Mrs. KILBORN was of a bright and happy disposition.  She won 
the friendship of old and young, because of the friendliness 
of her nature and kindness of her disposition.  She reached 
the age of 84 years, and yet she never grew old in heart.

Her maiden name was Jane MACH, her birthplace, White Hall, 
N.Y., and she was married at Penfield, N.Y., in 1827.  Her 
home in Parma became the favorite resort of young people, 
and she retained her love for them to the end of her life.

Mrs. KILBORN was an earnest Christian.  She was one of the 
original member of the Free Will Baptist Church, organized 
in the school house in that district, about 1834.  
Associated with her in church work were a number of faithful 
Christian women.  Among them were Mrs. Jane BEALS, Mrs. 
Margaret JOHNSON, Mrs. Lois POND, Mrs. Chloe BUNKER, Mrs. 
Polly WARD and Mrs. Maria CLEVELAND.

The minister in those early days resided at a distance, and 
came Saturday in time to attend the Saturday night prayer 
meeting.  He remained till Monday and was entertained in the 
homes of these women.  Then, many who attended church 
resided at a distance.  They were invited to the homes of 
these women who feasted them with the “meat which 
perisheth,” as cheerfully and faithfully as the minister 
had broken to them spiritual food.

Miss Mary Huntington DeWITTE was born in Norwich, Conn., in 
1813.  She was reared amid the culture and refinement of 
that city.  In 1832 she was married to James M. COGSWELL, 
then a merchant there.  The following year they concluded to 
seek a home in the West, and came to Parma.  Although it had 
been 15 years since the first settler had built his log home 
in Parma, the country was yet comparatively new.

It seemed an uninviting and incongenial spot in which to 
build a home for a cultured and refined young woman of 20.  
But such women were needed to counteract the influences of 
an opposing nature, always to be found in a new settlement.  
It is beyond human power to estimate the elevating and 
ennobling influence of Mrs. Mary COGSWELL upon the 
community.

The Parma Congregational church was organized November 7, 
1835, with a membership of 12 persons.  The sisters in the 
church were Mrs. Mary COGSWELL, Mrs. Sarah FREEMAN, Mrs. 
Susan CHAPIN, Mrs. Harriet E. COGSWELL.  The Misses Sarah B. 
FREEMAN, Selenda FREEMAN and Catherine FERRELL.  Of the 
original members only one, Mrs. Selenda FREEMAN EMERSON, is 
now living.  Mrs. Mary COGSWELL and Mrs. Harriet E. COGSWELL 
both passed from the church militant to the Church 
triumphant, in 1895.

Mrs. Mary COGSWELL was a woman of earnest faith and fervent 
spirit.  Upon her and her husband devolved, for many years, 
the duty of entertaining Bible agents, visiting ministers, 
and strangers connected with church work.  Cheerfully and 
hospitably was this performed.  She loved the Sunday school, 
and was a earnest teacher there, until her advanced years 
compelled her to resign her work.

She was quiet, retiring, and somewhat reserved in manner.  
Only when “the books” are opened on the great judgment day 
can it be known what was wrought by this earnest, consistent 
life.

Mrs. Harriet DENISON COGSWELL, wife of Frederick F. 
COGSWELL, and sister of Amos E. DENISON, came from 
Stonington, Conn., in 1834.  They purchased a farm of Jacob 
COUNTRYMAN on York street.

Mrs. COGSWELL was a great collector of natural curiosities 
and of Indian relics.  Her father was a sea captain and had 
brought her strange things and beautiful shells from many 
parts of the world.  She had added to these until she had 
one of the finest private collections to be found.  She 
delighted in exhibiting this collection to all who visited 
her.  The many strange things she had to show them, and her 
motherly ways, won the hearts of children.  Her sympathetic 
ways and conversational powers won a large circle of friends 
whom she delighted to welcome at her home.  It might be 
truly said of her “She had not an enemy.”

Mrs. Lydia PALMER WHITNEY, whose nephews, Dwight PALMER and 
Charles PALMER, were so known in Cleveland, came to Parma in 
1836.  Her home was over three miles from the Congregational 
church.  But she and her husband at once connected 
themselves with that church and were rarely absent from its 
services.  Ill health prevented her from taking as prominent 
and active a position in society as she was qualified to 
fill.  But those who had the privilege of seeing her well 
ordered home found in her a warm hearted, helpful friend.  
Her home contained more books than were to be found in most 
families; these were freely lent to her sick friends, and 
helped to brighten many hours of pain.

Mrs. Sally WEAVER TOPPING and her husband William TOPPING 
came from Bainbridge, N.Y. in 1834.  In those pioneer days 
school teachers “boarded around,” but had one place called 
home to which they could always go, when necessary.  Mrs. 
TOPPING’s mission was to make a home for the teacher, and 
well did she perform this mission, as many a weary, homesick 
teacher could testify.  Her daughter, Harriet TOPPING 
HITCHCOCK, to whom we are indebted for many helpful hints, 
now resides in Grinnel, Iowa.

Mrs. Moses OVIATT (Electra SPAFFORD) was a granddaughter of 
Thomas CHITTENDON, the first governor of Vermont, her mother 
being Electa CHITTENDON, who, with her husband, Jacob 
SPAFFORD, settled in Richfield, O., 1818.  Here the 
daughter, Electa, was born.  She married and moved to Parma, 
1840, and for nearly a half century the OVIATT homestead was 
noted for its liberal hospitality.  Mrs. OVIATT was one of 
the most amiable of women, and her whole life was 
characterized by kindly words and ministrations.  Her four 
children, Martin, Herbert, Sarah and Martha, are all 
residents of Cleveland, and her granddaughter, Mr. C.M. 
OVIATT, is well known in the literary circles of that city.

Mrs. Barzilla SNOW (Polly GRINNELL) was a native of 
Massachusetts, near Boston.  After her marriage she lived 
for a number of years in New Haven, N.Y., and in 1833 
emigrated with her husband to Parma, where she died 1855 in 
about the seventieth year of her age.

Mrs. SMITH possessed unusual gifts of mind and heart.  She 
was a devoted mother, a kind neighbor and true friend.  She 
reared a family of eight sons and three daughters, who, one 
and all, ever dearly loved and deeply cherished the memory 
of their noble mother.  To the latest hour of her life she 
was a great reader, and could readily converse on the 
leading topics of the day.

But two of her children are now living, Leander, a resident 
of Parma, and Vira Ann, Mrs. Lyman MOUGHTON, who lives near 
Leavenworth, Kas.

     Mrs. Julia A. HODGMAN
                  Historian

Parma Committee - Lucy A. WARD, Parma; Martha OVIATT 
HOWLETT, Cleveland; Jane REYNOLDS BROWN, Elyria; Nancy BLISS 
PEARSE, Bloomingdale, Mich.; Mrs. Harriet TOPPING HITCHCOCK, 
Sedgwick, Kan.