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Fowlers Mill (originally Fowler’s Mills) developed around a group of mills built in the 1830s on the Chagrin River. Opportunities from these mills led to Fowlers Mill becoming the commercial center of Munson Township. From the 1830s into the twentieth century, the community expanded with construction of churches, a post office, township hall, stores, hotel, blacksmith shop, schools, and houses built in such styles as Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, and Queen Anne. This type of community center was common in rural, nineteenth century America, but rarely survives with so much original fabric intact. On Mayfield Road, the Disciple Church was built in 1842. East of the church, the brick central school built in 1913 replaced earlier one-room schoolhouses. The gristmill is the only mill standing in Geauga County. The cemetery contains burials dating from the 1830s. The Fowler’s Mills Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
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The Jain Center of Central Ohio was established on May 12, 1991. The foundation stone of the Jain temple, the first of its kind in Central Ohio, was laid down on October 15-16, 2011. The temple was dedicated on July 19-23, 2012. More than 1,000 people from all across Ohio, many other states and India particpated in holy rituals to install deities of Jina (translated as “spirital victors” and God). Following the rituals, the temple was opened for regular worship. The Jain Center is a place for the teaching on non-violence, reverence for life and compassion for all beings. The Jain principle of karma states, “As you sow, so shall you reap.”
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With news of hostilities at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, Ripley men formed one of Ohio’s first military units and established Camp Ripley on what was the 12-acre Ripley Fairgrounds. Chosen as Captain was West Point graduate Jacob Ammen. His unit would be a saving force for Ulysses S. Grant’s troops at Pittsburg Landing raising him to the rank of Brigadier General. Soon barns and buildings became military quarters, and tents dotted the landscape from William Street to Maplewood Cemetery. Camp Ripley, also known as Camp Ammen, served as a regional mustering point and military drilling location. Ripley gained distinction as being the only town in the United States to have soldier’s organizations fighting from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean.
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John “Appleseed” Chapman (b. September 26, 1774—d. March 18, 1845) was the first lessee of this 160 acre tract (NW 1/4, S 20, T 20, R 16), when he secured it for 99 years from the Virginia Military District School Lands on April 10, 1815. This $320 lease complied with the Ordinance of 1785 which stipulated that proceeds from the sale or lease of a 36th of all new land in the Northwest Territory be used to support public education. Perrysville author, Rosella Rice, knew Appleseed. In a history of Ashland County, she wrote, “One of his nurseries is near us and I often go to the secluded spot on the quiet banks of the creek [Blackfork]…with sod never broken since the old man did it.” Attributed as Green Township’s first permanent settler, Abram Baughman’s original 160 acres (c. 1807) adjoined this property to the west.
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On December 21, 1818, The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Ohio granted a Charter to Middlebury Lodge No. 34 marking the beginning of Freemasonry in Summit County. The Lodge was located on Case Avenue, then known as Water Street. Two members of this early lodge had much to do with the pioneer history of Akron, Brothers Amos Spicer and Eliakim Crosby. [Masonic Emblem]
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New Haven, Ohio, was the mercantile center of southwest Huron County during the first half of the 19th century. Residents described immense wagons, or “land schooners,” lined up for miles on the New Haven-Worthington Road traveling from Columbus to the Lake Erie ports. Organized in 1815, New Haven was one of the early townships formed in Huron County and the Firelands. The village was platted, with streets at right angles around a diamond-shaped town green, after the plan of New Haven, Connecticut. When, in the 1840s, New Haven rejected the railroad’s direct route through the village, the Sandusky & Newark was routed to the west and through Plymouth taking with it the shipping business. Subsequently, New Haven began a steady economic decline into a small crossroads village.
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The factory of the C. R. Patterson & Sons Company once stood near here at 138 N. Washington Street. Established in the mid-nineteenth century by the black businessman Charles Richard (C. R.) Patterson and his white partner, J. P. Lowe, the business, originally known as J. P. Lowe & Company, became a successful carriage firm. Patterson became the sole owner in 1893 and changed the name to C. R. Patterson & Sons. After succeeding his father as owner, C. R.’s son, Frederick, became the first known African-American automobile manufacturer. Under his leadership, the company transitioned from building carriages to automobiles, then to trucks and buses to keep up with the changing demands of the transportation industry. (Continued on other side)
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Thirteen African American families migrated to Pebble Township in Pike County in the early 1820s from Virginia. Some of the families were former slaves while others were freeborn people of color. Their farm knowledge and skill helped to make them prosperous, angering some of their white neighbors who began a campaign of harassment. Ten of the original African American settlers eventually moved away, but despite the difficulties with the white population, other African Americans continued to arrive to the settlement. They founded a church, later known as the Eden Baptist Church, built a meeting hall, and organized a school. Several of the families were also involved in the activity of the Underground Railroad. The PP Settlement thrived until the 1950s when, for economic reasons, residents moved to other communities.