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This congregation was founded in Warren November 19, 1803, by the Rev. Joseph Badger, who was serving as a missionary in the Western Reserve for the Connecticut Missionary Society of the Congregational Church. Rev. Badger was assisted at the first communion by the Rev. William Wick of Youngstown and the Rev. Samuel Tait of Mercer, Pa. The first church building on this site was constructed in 1832. The present building was dedicated in 1878.
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The Israel Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized August 23, 1812. According to available records, in 1813 the first meeting in Ohio of the “Special Conferences” called by the Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania was held at the church. Pioneer Lutheran pastors, the Reverends Heineke, Henkle, Huet, and Jacob Leist, met to further organize the Christian Witness on the Ohio frontier.
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Elder Oliver Mears organized on February 8, 1862 in a tent on this spot, then a walnut grove owned by William Lovett, the Lovett’s Grove Seventh-day Adventist Church, first of this denomination in Ohio. A Frame building erected in 1864 served the congregation until 1911 when it moved to its present location in Bowling Green.
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The first permanent settlement in the Marysville area, was founded in 1817 by Revolutionary War veteran Abraham Amrine (1761-1849) and his sons. The Amrines emigrated from Switzerland to Pennsylvania in the early 1700s and, after living in Belmont County, Ohio for 16 years, Abraham purchased 1000 acres here along Mill Creek circa 1817, paying $2 an acre. When Paris Township was organized in 1821, the township officers were elected in Amrine’s home on Newton Pike (now Raymond Road). All seven of his sons, John, Andrew, Moses, Frederick, Jeremiah, Abraham, Jr., and Henry, settled here. Andrew was a Justice of the Peace and leader in the church. Near this site, Henry built a sawmill in 1822 and a gristmill in 1825, which were operated by the family for more than 50 years.
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The 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs opened much of northwest Ohio to white settlement. In return, the U.S. Government granted the Wyandot Nation permanent use of the Grand Reserve at present-day Upper Sandusky. There farming continued, a school was built, and, in 1824, this Mission Church was constructed by Indians and Methodist missionaries. However, the Indian Removal Act of 1830 called for relocation of all eastern Native Americans to areas beyond the Mississippi River. By 1840, all Ohio Indians had been removed except for the Wyandot, who refused to leave, preferring instead to stay upon their beloved Sandusky (now known as Killdeer) Plains. Facing considerable pressure from Federal authorities, the Wyandot Nation in 1842 agreed to relinquish the Grand Reserve and move west. From this site on July 12, 1843, 664 individuals began their week-long journey to awaiting steamboats at Cincinnati. The Wyandot were the last organized Native American people to leave Ohio, settling in modern-day Kansas and Oklahoma. (Continued on side two)
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Union Village, the first and largest Shaker (United Society of Believers) community west of the Allegheny Mountains, was established in 1805. Nearly 4,000 Shakers lived in Union Village, the last living here until 1920. They owned 4,500 acres of land with more than 100 buildings. Union Village was parent to other communities in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Georgia. Shakers were among the most successful religious communal societies in the United States. Believe in equality of men and women, separation of sexes, confession, communal ownership of property, and celibacy helped define their society. The name “Shaker” was derived from the shaking and dancing that were part of their worship. Union Village Shakers were successful entrepreneurs selling herbal medicines, garden seeds, and brooms. They also raised and bred Poland China hogs, Durham cattle, and Merino sheep.
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This block of Main Street overlooks the Geauga County Courthouse, which was built in 1869. The courthouse and the Main Street buildings, together which compose a district that has been entered on the National Register of Historic Places, are excellent examples of the High Victorian Italianate architectural style. Going north from Court Street, the first two buildings were erected in 1873. The Opera House dates from 1875. The jail was constructed in 1868 just after the fire, followed by the new jail of 1874, and the sheriff’s house of 1909. Memorial Hall (now the Courthouse Annex) dates from 1875. Last on the block is the Victorian Gothic Church built in 1882.
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General Hedges was born in Ohio County, Virginia, and taught school in that state before coming to Ohio in 1803. As a Deputy Surveyor, he worked in Ashland, Holmes, Knox, Medina and Wayne Counties, and purchased 19,000 acres in future Richland County. Hedges was one of three founders of Mansfield in 1808. He served in the War of 1812. This unselfish Mason gave land for the Methodist Church, and Hedges School and Park. In February, 1818, he obtained the Deposition for Mansfield Lodge #35, Free and Accepted Masons. [Masonic Emblem]