Richfield Basic History Part 2

This information is from the Combination Atlas / Map Summit Co. , OH  1874

in 1809 the first white settlers came wandering in:  Bob Mays and his wife.  They came to get away from all the Yankees back east.  Mrs Mays stated that she'd rather eat raw potatoes boiled in cold water than live among Yankees.   The second white settler was Henry Mallet.  He started his own mint and manufactured hard currency to order.  Less enterprising neighbors took exception to the practise . They encouraged Mr Mallet to take his business elsewhere by torching his money factory. 

With Richfield all neatly parceled up,   it was pretty easy for four different investors to to get control over the whole place.  The town neatly split along it's major roads:   Streetsboro Road ( Rt 303) running East/West  &   Cleveland-Massillon Rd ( AKA Brecksville Rd ) ( Rt. 21) running North/South. 

Then, when there was some fear of possible Indian uprising,  one of the investors decided to sell out cheap.   Heman Oviatt from Hudson took advantage of the bargain basement pricing and bought the Northwest quadrant for  $5,000 ($1.25 per acre) in the year 1811.  {Lynn's note:  Heman had ten brothers & sisters.  Nine of them moved from CT to the Western Reserve.  Many of them moved with Heman to Richfield.  On the 1834 map; his brothers Nathaniel and Salmon are major property holders.  Heman's son O.M. was a major investor.   Salmon Oviatt had eleven children, two of whom, Uri and Mason, have large tracts.  Among the Non-Oviatts,  several were related by marriage. ex. Everett Farnham was married to Emily Oviatt}

"In the fall of 1811 there was a large increase in settlers, including Denton E. Buck.  He erected the first mill in the township, which consisted of a large oak stump hollowed out on top with a pedestal worked with a spring pole. "  

Land in the center of town was purchased for investment by John Newton.  But when settlers came from the east and saw the high cost for land at the crossroads in the center of town,  they kept right on going.  Many of them settled  a half mile further west,  starting a second town center.   For many years,  East Richfield and West Richfield maintained an informal rivalry. 

"The Indians inhabiting the town were the Wyandots and Tawas, or Ottawas; who, on retreat of Captain George after the battle of Tippecanoe, abandoned the township.  After the conclusion of the War of 1812 a party of 15 or 20 returned to their former homes;  but they were strangers to the land of their birth.  They asked permission of those holding their former homes to erect huts to protect their families. Subdued and broken hearted, they again left for the Far West.  Their homes were desolate, the deer that constituted their food destroyed, and they had to leave the graves of their fathers or starve."