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132 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Amusing stories were told by the pioneers of the makeshifts necessary
in the early days, and in the light and comfort of later times
they were sometimes heard to say, "Ah, those happy days of primitive
simplicity Avhen all family pride was forgotten in general friendship
and kindness of personal attachment." Could any amount of conventional
elegance compensate for the hearty hospitality related in an
old history Avhen a visit Avas gotten up by the ladies to call on a neighbor
who lived at a distance? The hostess at once began preparations
for tea. She had but one fireproof vessel, an old bake-oven, and of
course it Avould take some time. Some pork was fried in the kettle
first to get lard, then cakes were made and fried in the lard, then
shortcakes were made and baked in it, then it Avas used as a bucket to
draw water, which was afterward heated in it and the tea made in it.
The first house Avas built by Seth Harrington in 1817. The first
child born in the township Avas Ann Furguson, daughter of George Furguson.
The first death Avas that of a man named Standish Wood.
There were no undertakers on the Firelands then, and the bereaved
Avere obliged to see their loved ones buried in rudest simplicity. The
first funeral was an instance of the extremity to Avhich the early settlers
Avere reduced. The coffin was made from the boards of a wagon box,
and those that Avere not used at this time were kept for another occasion.
When the wagon box Avas at length used up, Seth Harrington
and George Sprague made several coffins from oak trees, split into
puncheons and dressed doAvn to look like boards.
The settlers had to go to Cleveland for their mail until a route Avas
established between Cleveland and Detroit, passing through Groton.
John Paxton carried the mail in 1814. AfterAvards Groton people
depended on the Bloomingville postoffice. Groton postoffice AVIIS established
in 1854, with Rev. Zar Patch, a local preacher of the Alethodist
Episcopal Church, as the first commissioned postmaster. The postoffice
is now at the center of the toAvnship. %
The first magistrate was elected in 1816, and as Squire Richey has
lived in history in connection with a story told of a young couple he
met while riding over the prairie, Avho were going to his house to be
married. The justice dismounted and performed the ceremony on the
spot.
The first physician was Dr. W. Hastings, who commenced practicing
in the early part of 1810. After the War of 1812 he moved to Knox
County, Ohio, where he Avas elected member of the Legislature. He
returned to Groton with his family in 1815. They had eight children,
all sons. The doctor continued his practice until his death in 1864, at
the age of eighty-nine.
The beginning of Groton's school system Avas a school taught by
Elijah Fleming in 1818, and was supported by subscriptions that
amounted to $14 a month.
Among the early settlers whose names deserve a place in the history
of Groton Township are Amos McLouth, Samuel Bemiss, Charles
Rash and Worthington Nims.