A Brief History of Sharon Township and Sharon Center, Medina County, Ohio
A Brief History of Sharon Township and Sharon Center, Medina County, Ohio |
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Sharon Township Property Owners 1837-1952 Sharon Center and Copley Cemeteries |
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Sharon Township is directly north of Wadsworth in Medina County. It was the last in the Western Reserve to be offered to the public for sale. William Hart and Samuel Mather, partners in the Connecticut Land Company, were the original owners and the township was first known as Hart and Mather's town. For years after Wadsworth was settled land in Sharon was tied up as part of the estates of these two men. A few families settled in the township before the land was available for sale in hopes that they could gain title at a later date. In 1820, when the forth U.S. census was taken there were six families and a total of thirty-four people living in the 25 square miles of the township. The township was finally available for sale in 1828. Peter Moore and George White first surveyed the township in 1829. Moore suggested the name of "Gask" for his ancestral home in Scotland. This name only lasted a few months before the township was organized and the name "Sharon" was selected. Most likely the name was chosen to honor of the town of Sharon in Connecticut and the Biblical Rose of Sharon. Because it was a wilderness for more than a decade after surrounding townships were settled Sharon was a favorite hunting ground in Medina County. It teemed with deer, bears, wild hogs, wild turkeys, carrier pigeons, wolves and an abundance of snakes. The names Wolf Creek and Great Bear Swamp give evidence today of the early condition of Sharon. There is a famous story of a bear from the early years of Sharon. A group of men from Wadsworth began the task of cutting the road north through Sharon Township in 1819. Today the remains of that road are part of County Road 44. Another group was working its way south from Granger and the two groups were to meet in the center of the township. The road was badly needed as an outlet to Cleveland. Several dogs accompanied their masters. A large bear lumbered out of the woods and the pack immediately attacked it. The bear reared up on its hind legs and put up a desperate fight. When Orin Loomis realized the hounds were getting the worse of the battle he ran up and swung his ax with as much force as possible and sunk it in the bear's mouth. Another man ran up behind the bear and struck the bear in the head with his ax and the bear was finished. This may sound cruel to us in this age of enlightenment, but meat was scarce in those days and bear meat was a welcome addition to the diets of those pioneers. The stories of snakes in the township are many. Rattlesnakes were abundant and very large. The swamps and rocky ledges in the township were perfect breeding grounds for rattlers and black snakes. One night Doctor Cassidy of early Sharon was riding in his buggy alone on Medina Line Road. His horse came to a sudden stop when it appeared there was a large log lying across the road in front of him. The horse would not move until the "log" slithered into the ditch. Sometime later a snake skin was found in the woods near by. The snake that wore it was as thick as a man's thigh and 16 to 18 feet long. The skin was hung on a porch in Coddingville and people from all over the area came to see it. Entertainment was scarce in those days. Joseph Fixler told of his experience with a rattlesnake when he was a boy. He wrote, "Rattlesnakes were numerous and dangerous in those early days. On the farm of Uncle Sam Culp was located a rattlesnake's den which was known far and wide, and the den was avoided by all as much as possible. I remember when quite young I was gathering nuts in the vicinity of the den and was in the act of stooping down to pick up a walnut when I discovered a rattlesnake all ready to spring! I was so alarmed that I perhaps jumped ten feet and ran rapidly to the house, secured help and returned with them to the spot. We succeeded in killing the snake which had so frightened me, together with several others, all large ones." Rattlesnakes were extinct in Sharon by the time I came along. But, black snakes and other species were still abundant. I remember once on my grandfather Wall's farm a large black snake slithered across the road into his garden. The road was perhaps fifteen to twenty feet wide. The tail appeared on one side of the road as the head disappeared on the other. The only other time in my life that I have seen snakes of comparable size was when I was stationed in Thailand during the Vietnam War. I visited a zoo in Bangkok that had several large boa constrictors in pens and a pit full of extremely large king cobras. My grandfather would not allow us to kill snakes on his farm. They kept the mouse and rat populations, the main diet of snakes, in check and out of his granaries and chicken coops. There were several varieties of snakes in Sharon when I was growing up. The most abundant were garter snakes. These snakes were small, docile and relatively harmless but their bite can cause a serious infection, something I didn't know at the time. My brother Art and I caught them for sport and I don't remember hearing of anyone bit by one. They lived in burrows in the ground made by other animals. Once we found a nest of them curled up in a withering mass of newborns larger than a softball. Regardless of how harmless they were I wasn't about to stick my hand into that hole in the ground. Other types of snakes I know of were hoop snakes and blue racers. Our grandfather's barn had a chute, or silo, used for fodder to feed the livestock. In a crack in the wall lived a blue racer, a snake of dazzling colors. We loved to jump from the hayloft down the chute where we landed on a soft bed of cornstalks and straw. This fellow would stick his head out of the crack to see what all the commotion was about. Hoop snakes were so named because of a myth that they could take their tails in their mouths and roll like a hoop. Almost all wild game was gone from Sharon by the close of the nineteenth century. This was largely due to the popularity of ring hunts in the early days. Men and boys in the hunt would encircle an area and drive any wildlife within the circle towards the center. Experienced marksmen would shoot the animals suitable for meat or those considered a menace. Not many decades passed until all the bear, wild turkeys and pigs were extinct in the township. The last ring hunt was held in the western portion of Wadsworth and Sharon Townships in 1835. The extinction of large game in Sharon may be unfortunate, but we should not be too harsh in our judgment of hunters in those early years. Wild game was an important source of meat and the bears, wolves and carrier pigeons were destructive to the farmers whose livelihood was threatened by them. The bears were said to attack domestic pigs, wolves loved lambs and carrier pigeons could strip a farm of all its grain in a very short time. The carrier pigeons that nested in the Copley swamp east of Sharon are said to have flown in flocks a quarter mile wide. They were so numerous that often the birds in the rear of the flock landed on those in front crushing them while they fed. The birds were also considered delicacy and were hunted to extinction by the early 1900's. Joseph Fixler described the last ring hunt in the township, "The news came down to the south part of the valley of the Styx, that bears and wolves had destroyed some sheep and pigs, and it spread like wildfire. A great hunt was organized with every man and boy requested to join. I was one of the party. There were between 400 and 500 gathered together. They started at the confluence of the Chippewa bottom. The men and boys were arranged ten feet apart and every four rods was a captain and they marched north through the dismal valley of the Styx. We started early in the morning and came back to Wilson's Corners and passed around the Great Bear Swamp. To make a long story short, no bear came out." Land in Sharon was quickly snapped up when it was finally put up for sale. Our immigrant ancestor Christian Wall was among one of the earliest pioneers to buy land there, purchasing a piece of land on lot 38 in 1830. His son and my two times great grandfather Charles Wall first bought land in the southeastern part of the Township in 1831, which I have been unable to locate, and was one of the earliest pioneers in Sharon Township. Six years later he purchased land on Lot 42 just south of his father's lot. Charles is credited with locating and cutting the road through the woods from the Montville Township line to Sharon Center, the western part of State Route 162. Once a hunter was chased up a tree by wild hogs on Charles Wall's place not long after the first settlers arrived in township. Charles possessed the first wagon in Sharon. In the early days a wagon was considered a great luxury and was only used on Sundays. Charles paid thirty-five dollars and gave seven good three-year-old steers in exchange for the wagon. On January 29, 1859 Orren B. Chatfield made an entry in his diary. He wrote, "I went to Mr. Wall's to a venture attended by nearly 300 people. They wrestled and jumped and sold whiskey and had a good time." This event was held either at Charles Wall's farm or at his brother Isaac's place near by. |
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Christian Wall sold his farm just south of Doylestown in Wayne County and moved to Wadsworth about 1840. His first wife Catherine (Baughman) died in Chippewa Township, Wayne County about 1837 and Christian married her sister Magdalena, widow of Jacob Feller of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, that year. The couple lived in Wadsworth Township and there is no evidence that Christian ever took up residence on his farm in Sharon Township. After Christian died in 1853 his widow Magdalena made a quit-claim deed to his heirs, many of whom who lived in Sharon. Christian's will mentions his land and crops on his farm in Sharon Township. After the death of Christian, Charles bought his father's land on lot 39 from the other heirs. He apparently sold the land in Lot 42 in 1859 to Isaac Ebbert and moved his family to his father's old farm where he spent most of his later years. In 1881 Charles purchased six acres of land south of Sharon Center located in sections 45 and 46. His wife Sophia died there in 1886 and Charles remarried to (Mrs.?) Harriet Luke. He died in Sharon Center on January 10, 1893. Charles, Sophia, and three of their children who died young are buried in the Sharon Center Cemetery directly south of town. |
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Early Sharon settlers, Jonathan and Catherine (Wall) Everhard, photo from Roger Houglan family. |
Abraham and Sarah (Wall) Keller, photo from Roger Houglan's family. |
Coddingville straddles State Route 18 (Medina Road once known as Smith Road). On the south side of the highway in Sharon Township, across from the intersection of County Road 173 and Coddingville Road, stood the old Coddingville dancehall building. It started its existence as a tavern and inn for drovers hearding livestock to market in Akron. In the beginning Coddingville was named Copperstown because of the many coppers (barrel makers) that had shops there. Dances were held in the Coddingville dancehall until the early 1950's. The dancehall looked much like this picture when I was a youth in Sharon. Today a large house is in this location that bears a strong resemblence in size, foundation and structure to the old dancehall. It is my guess that it is what is left of the original building. This picture was published in EARLY SHARON TOWNSHIP, published in 1981 and compiled by Ruth Ensworth and Helen Vaughn. |
| Photos from EARLY SHARON TOWNSHIP, published in 1981 and compiled by Ruth Ensworth and Helen Vaughn. | ||
The building on the far right was the Universalist Society church built in 1851. It became the city hall in the 20th Century and still stands today. |
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An undated photo looking towards the Methodist Church |
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The Wallis store and Post Office (1890's?). I believe |
Sharon Center Public Square looking south towards the Lutheran Church |
The Sharon Supply Store sat on the south-west side of the public square. Based on the 1897 map of property owners and the 1880-1900 U.S. census I believe it was owned and operated by Milton L. Rudesill. |
The 1880 census taken in the village of Sharon Center lists these occupations other than farmer, farm laborer, day laborer, or servant: |
1890 Veterans Schedule. The 1890 general population census was destroyed in a fire in Washington D.C. The Veterans Schedule was saved. The following Veterans are listed living in Sharon Center: |
The 1900 census taken in the village of Sharon Center lists these occupations other than farmer, farm laborer, day laborer, or servant: |
| The 1900 census occupations Sharon Center continued: _________________________________________ Henry A. Grubb, Hardware Salesman Henry E. Grubb, Mail Carrier Joseph H. Waltz, Stone Mason Hattie Jones, Nurse Frank E. Caskey, Painter Charley C. Caskey, Sawyer Crate Factory Silas Caskey, Stone Mason William Converse, Cabinet Maker Clarise Woodward, School Teacher Milton Stone, Shoemaker James H. Cassidy, Physician Thomas R. Cassidy, Physician Milton L. Rudesill, Merchant James Waltz, Merchant Frank E. Haight, Cheesemaker Frank F. Bowes, Hardware Dealer Edna Bowes, Weaver James H. Hazen, Merchant Benj. Cunningham, Engineer Crate Factory Milton Snyder, Blacksmith Clifford McConkey, Drygoods Clerk William H. Ager, Traveling Salesman Charles H. Waltz, Carpenter Arthur Rood, Nailer in Crate Factory Luella M. Lytle, School Teacher Jim W. Bowes, School Teacher Ben Bowes, Tinner Bertha Bowes, Dressmaker William E. Waltz, Carpenter |
The 1900 census occupations Sharon Center continued: |
The 1900 census occupations Sharon Center continued: |
Sharon Center once had its own train depot. |
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The Reason and Abigail (Kuder) Wall family of Sharon Center ca.1907. Mary Sophia Wall (right) married Charles Stauffer and Elno Stauffer of Sharon Center was one of her three children. |
My grandparents family in 1934 in front of their farm house on Hatch Road. |
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The old two-story, two-room school house in Sharon Center built in 1896 for $5,000 stood until 1965 when it was destroyed to make room for a parking lot. The older high school students were taught in the north (left) room. Elementary school students in the south room. My brother Arthur attended first grade in this school in 1949 and several of my aunts, uncles, and my father attended school in this building for some of their classes. |
Teacher Reason Deforest Wall, my grandfather, and his students in the school in the early 1900's. |
This is a picture of my grandfather Reason Deforest Wall's |
My father Vivian Arlie Wall in front of his parents Reason D. and Winifred (Tyler) Wall farm house ca.1927 |
The old farm house burned down in 1928 and the house that now stands was built on the original foundation. |
This picture taken in the 1970's is how the farm house looked when I was a boy in the 1950's. The foundation by the telephone pole was the garage and between the garage and the house was a windbreak of tall shrubs and cedar trees that wrapped around to the back of the house. |
This barn was built sometime in the early 1900's. The original barn was blown down in the 1890 tornado. The corncrib is on the right and the old blacksmith shop is on the left next to the road. The grassy area in the foreground was where my grandmother had her vegetable garden. |
Looking north from Brudett Road looking towards the farm on Hatch Road. The long, low building in the center was the chicken coop. This is the last photo I took that shows all of the farm buildings. |
January 1996, the house my brother Arthur and I grew up in 1952-1959 belonged to my foster parents Uncle Del and Aunt Clara (Wall) Bridgman. The large evergreen behind the garage was planted by Art and me in the mid 1950's as a tiny sapling handed out at school for Arbor Day. |
War Veterans Monument in the center of the public park erected in the early 1900's, looking west. |
January 1996, The Veterans Monument looking north. This side contains the names of Sharon WWII soldiers. |
January 1996, the original Stauffer's Store building looking south from the Sharon Center park. In the 1950's it was owned and operated by Elno and his son Blake Stauffer, as a general store carrying hardware, clothing, footware, sporting goods, etc. Elno was the son of Charles Stauffer and Mary Sophia Wall making him my first cousin once removed. The post office was in a small section on the east end separated from the store. |
Jan. 1996, looking south in the park towards Stauffer's and the old bank building (now the U.S. Post Office) |
Looking south from the park towards Wadsworth. The house I grew up in is at the bottom of the hill on the right (not visible in this photo). |
The Stauffer family purchased this store on the north-east side of the circle. In the 1950's it was a grocery store. The cafe on the west end used to be Mr. Vanke's barber shop where we always had our hair cut. Today (2020) this is a western tack and boot shop.
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View north along State Route 94 in January 1996. The steps to the bandstand are on the far left. The steeple to the Methodist Church can be seen |
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November 2019 View of Sharon Center looking south. The steps on the left by the flag pole lead up to the old town hall, in the 19th Century
it was the |
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Sharon Center Town Hall. This building was used for |
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Ronald N. WallModified: 12 February 2025 |
