CUYAHOGA COUNTY OHIO - HISTORY: Mayfield
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Betty Ralph
bralph@HiWAAY.net
March 18, 1999
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About a year ago I transcribed numerous articles on Cuyahoga and Portage
counties, OH, from "Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve"
published under the auspices of the Woman's Department of the Cleveland
Centennial Commission in 1896, edited by Mrs. Gertrude Van Rensselaer
Wickham.  The articles contain many details about the lives of the early
settlers. 
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Mayfield

Mayfield, Cuyahoga county, is situated about sixteen miles 
east of Cleveland.  It has no railway communication within 
its own limits.  The Chagrin River winds through the town on 
its way to the lake.  The scenery along its banks is varied 
and beautiful, especially at that season of the year when 
the foliage of the forest trees have “put on their dress of 
red and gold, for summer has gone, and the days grow cold.”
Every generation has its early settlers, in whose life 
experience all succeeding generations become interested.  If 
we look back into the record of early times we shall 
encounter the surprising fact that less than a century ago 
the township was a vast forest.
The lives of the early pioneers abounded in brave deeds, and 
the women of that period were as brave and heroic as the 
men, and we should rejoice that there is a spirit at last 
awakening by which their memory is to be preserved, for we 
are indebted to them for many of the privileges and 
blessings we not enjoy.  In this way the lessons of pioneer 
life, with its joys and sorrows, its trials and hardships, 
can be gathered up and preserved, and it becomes of interest 
to know the manner in which they lived; to what perils they 
were exposed, the opportunities they had for education and 
social enjoyments, and the difference there must have been 
between the log cabin in the forest and the comfortable 
homes they had left behind them.
In the year 1805 Abner JOHNSTON, Samuel JOHNSON, and David 
SMITH came with their families from Ontario county, New 
York, and made the first settlement in the present township 
of Mayfield.  In the spring of 1806 they were agreeably 
surprised to see three of their old neighbors, with packs on 
their backs, guns on their shoulders, and dogs by their 
sides.  Mrs. Daniel S. JUDD and his two sons.  They had 
started for Portage county, where they intended to settle, 
but having lost their way, they accidentally found their old 
neighbors, and were so well pleased with the country that 
they began a settlement near them, and returned East in the 
fall for their families and personal property.
After their return the first wedding was celebrated in the 
township, the parties being John HOWTON and Polly JUDD.  The 
marriage ceremony was performed by Squire TURNER, of Chargin 
(now Willoughby).
Mrs. Samuel JOHNSON and David SMITH with their families 
moved from the township, and their place was taken by John 
JACKSON, who married Sally JUDD.  In the spring of 1807 
Martha JUDD, who married James COVERT, Sr., came from Seneca 
county, New York, with her husband and one child.  She was 
the daughter of Daniel JUDD.  Mr. and Mrs. COVERT walked ten 
miles to where the man lived who was to bring them to the 
new home in the forest.  Their courage almost failed them 
when they saw his poor horses and wagon, but as they had 
started they decided to come on.  When they reached the bank 
of the Grand River they found the stream so high they could 
not cross with the horses and wagon, so they came across in 
a boat, and walked from there to their new home - a distance 
of twenty miles - carrying their child, ax, and a few things 
in a bushel basket.
Like most of the early settlers, their worldly wealth was 
very limited, consisting of $3 in money, an ax, and a dog.  
After putting up a shanty with a puncheon floor, he went on 
foot to Painesville, bought a peck of poor salt for a 
dollar, carried it home on his back , and with the remaining 
$2 bought two pigs; and thus they began life in Mayfield.  
She was a kind, hospitable woman and an excellent nurse.
She was the mother of many children.  On son yet resides in 
Mayfield.  She endured all the privations incident to 
pioneer life.  The first birth in the township was a girl, 
born in the latter part of 1807 to John and Polly HOWTON, 
who was named Phoebe HOWTON.
The early settlers were largely Methodists, and as soon as 
1809 they formed a class of that denomination under the 
charge of the Rev. Mr. DAVIDSON, who is said to have been an 
eloquent and successful preacher.  For many years their 
meetings were held in private houses and in the woods, as 
there was not even a school house for them to assemble in.
The first death in the township was that of Daniel S. JUDD, 
a veteran of two patriotic wars, who died of apoplexy in 
1810.  There were no roads laid out in the township, and for 
a few years there were few newcomers, but the scattered 
settlers kept busily at work clearing around their 
respective cabins.  They were, however, much isolated.  
Fortunately, the country was quite healthy, but there were 
many annoyances.  The bears and wolves committed many 
depredations, and would often come up to the very doors of 
the settlers’ houses in search of food.  They killed sheep 
and other stock.
The war of 1812 stopped even what little progress there was 
before that time, and it was not until 1816 that a log 
school house was erected.  It was used for some years as 
school house, church, and town hall.
In 1816 Nancy COVERT (Mrs. Peter BILSON), her husband, and 
four children came from Seneca county, New York, in a lumber 
wagon drawn by oxen.  She knew many of the hardships of 
pioneer life, and used to have to work out of doors, mow, 
cut grain with a sickle, break flax, spin and weave cloth 
for her children’s clothes.  She is remembered as a very 
cheerful woman and a good nurse.  Two of her daughters are 
living, Polly, widow of Samuel JOHNSON, and Lorinda, wife of 
George PATTERSON.
Julia SMITH (Mrs. Seth MAPES) came to Mayfield in 1815, her 
husband arriving a few days before to prepare a home for his 
family.  She covered and ox cart with canvas, made such 
preparation as she could for the journey, and, with her 
children, came to the new home.  She cared for her little 
ones, and drove the oxen the entire distance, and arrived 
safely, as much to the pleasure as to the surprise of her 
husband.  She was a woman of wonderful courage, kind, and 
hospitable, and lived to be eighty-seven years of age.
Polly SMITH (Mrs. Peter KEESLER) came here from Seneca 
county, New York, in 1816, bringing seven daughters and two 
sons with her.  They came with an ox team and wagon over 
poor roads, and fording unbridged streams.  Their home was 
in a log house in the forest, which they cleared, sowed 
wheat and corn among the stumps, and began pioneer life.  
Their children had to go a long way through the woods to 
school.  She is remembered as a kind woman in sickness and 
trouble.
Abigail ALLEN married Rufus MAPES in 1816; was a descendant 
of Ethan ALLEN, and was born in the province of Maine before 
it was a State; came to Ohio and settled in Mayfield in 
1818.  She was the mother of seventeen children, fifteen of 
whom grew to maturity.  Her husband was a soldier in the war 
of 1812.  She was an excellent nurse, and was indispensable 
to her neighbors and friends in time of sickness and death.  
Brave in time of danger, being often left alone with her 
little children, she would keep fire burning on a stump near 
their cabin all night to prevent wolves from killing their 
sheep.  Being sent for when her father was dying, her 
husband being away from home, she left her older children 
and home, took a colt from the lot that had never been 
broken, saddled and bridled it and, taking her baby eight 
months old in her arms, rode to Willoughby, a distance of 
ten miles, and saw her father before he died.  The golden 
wedding of Mr. and Mrs. MAPES was celebrated in 1868.  She 
was a devoted Christian, an affectionate mother, and very 
kind to everyone.
Margaret McLAY was born in Pennsylvania, moved to Mentor, 
O., and was married to Benjamin WILSON in 1818.  The day 
after the wedding they came here and commenced housekeeping 
in a log house in the forest.  She was a very industrious 
woman, and used to go out in the evening by the firelight of 
the brush-heaps that her husband was burning and spin flax.  
She was very hospitable, and in the good old days, when it 
was fashionable for neighbors to go and spend the evening 
and have supper, her home was the scene of many a joyous 
gathering.  She was very devoted to her family.  Her oldest 
daughter, Pauline, who married Ira HOFFMAN, is one of the 
oldest ladies living here who was born in Mayfield, and is a 
noble woman.
After the war of 1812 the population steadily increased, and 
we find the names of MAPES, RICHARDSON, GRAVES, GLOGE, 
FRANCISCO, and OVEROCKER.  In 1819 a new township was formed 
and named Mayfield.  The first town meeting was held in June 
of that year, twenty voters being present; of those thirteen 
were elected to fill various offices.  There could not be 
found a more accommodating kind-hearted people than 
inhabited the town at this time; if a neighbor was in 
trouble or sick, all were ready to minister to his wants; if 
there was to be a logging bee or a barn to be raised, they 
would come many miles to assist in the work.
Sally COVERT, nee POTES, was noted for being an excellent 
cook, and they used to send for her to cook the dinner for a 
logging bee or barn raising, she being the only young lady 
that could cook and season a pot pie made in a caldron 
kettle.  She was also one of the early school teachers, was 
a beautiful woman, and is still living in her Western home.
Lucinda SHELDEN came with her husband, Pleg SHERMAN, Sr., 
and children from North Adams, Mass., in 1824.  She was the 
mother of a large family of boys and two daughters.  Her 
daughter, Phoebe, married James COVERT, Sr.  Sarah married 
Hiram EGGLETON, and is living in Michigan.  Mrs. SHERMAN 
died at the home of one of her sons in Michigan.
Hannah KNOWLTON, Mrs. GRANT, came from the East with her 
son, Halsey GATES, in 1826, and to Mayfield the following 
spring.  She was one of the pioneer women who could card, 
spin, and weave cloth and blankets, spin flax and weave 
linen.  One of her great-granddaughters has a white woolen 
coverlet that she made for her mother, embroidered with 
colored yarn that she spun and twisted, as fine as the split 
zephyr we use now;  it is a very nice keepsake to be handed 
down from generation to generation as a specimen of the work 
done by our pioneer grandmothers.  One of her seven children 
lived to be eighty-two years old.
Lucy Ann BRALLEY, wife of Halsey GATES, was born in Delaware 
county, New York, came here in 1826.  They bought their land 
of the Connecticut Land Company in its wild state, built a 
log house and commenced housekeeping in the forest.  Mr. 
GATES brought with him the gearing of a sawmill which was 
completed the next year, and the year following he erected a 
grist mill.  He helped survey the first road from GATES’ 
Mill to Cleveland, established the first mail route between 
those places, and carried it the first year at his own 
expense.
Mrs. GATES raised a family of eight children, the first 
three of whom were cradled in the sap troughs.  In 1834 they 
erected a fine frame hotel, which is used now as a dwelling 
house.  She was a very genial landlady, a consistent 
Christian, and gave liberally to all works of charity.
In 1829 Laura SHERMAN (Mrs. Samuel DEAN) came from North 
Adams, Mass.  She started to cross the river when the water 
was high, with two of her children, in an ox-cart.  When 
they reached the middle of the stream the cart tipped over, 
and she and the children came very near being drowned.  He 
husband caught her by her hair, and lifted her out.  She had 
a child under each arm.
In 1843 there was a tornado.  It blew her sick child through 
a window about twenty rods from the house.  It took another 
child, two and one-half years old, carried him up out of 
sight, and when he came down, she caught him in her arms.  
Her seven children all were hurt, except the one that 
crawled under a straw stack.  It took the house up and 
turned it over on one side of the roof.  The report was 
current that her husband had a great amount of money in 
gold, and people came for miles around to search for it.  It 
demolished the school house, but the teacher, seeing the 
storm coming, dismissed the school, and none of her pupils 
were hurt.  Mrs. Anthony SHERMAN (nee ALDERMAN) was rolled 
over and over on the ground, her husband took their little 
boy, put him in a hollow place in the ground, and lay down 
over him to keep the wind from blowing him away.
In 1828 there was an outbreak of Mormonism in the township.  
Quite a number of the inhabitants were converted to that 
faith; several families were broken up, and some of their 
members moved away to Salt Lake.  Sally JACKSON, who was 
born in Mayfield, was one of the early school teachers.  She 
and her sister, Eliza, went with their parents to Salt Lake.
The first framed school house was built at Mayfield center 
in 1830, and was used as school house, church, and town 
hall, elections being held in it until 1848.
Harriet WILSON was born in Phelps, N.Y., in 1808.  At the 
age of sixteen she married David McDOWELL, and energetic 
young man of Phelps, and in 1830 they moved to Mayfield with 
their three children and their household goods.  They made 
their way through the forest where were only narrow roads 
and blazed trees to mark the route to their new home - a log 
house - which they soon left to live in the dwelling house 
and store, built by WAITE and McDOWELL - the first store in 
Mayfield.  In 1833 her husband and brother, Frederick 
WILSON, built the first hotel, and she was the first 
landlady, and by her kind, cheery disposition, won many warm 
friends; she was hospitable in manner, witty in 
conversation, and given to deeds of kindness - nursing the 
sick and relieving the wants of the poor.  She was left a 
widow in 1843 with six children to care for.  In 1847 she 
married Egbert JOHNSON, by whom she had one daughter, at 
whose home she died in 1879, and is buried near her hold 
home in the Willson’s Mills Cemetery.
Caroline SANFORD came from Genesse county, N.Y., with her 
husband Caleb RUSSELL, in 1830, knew many of the hardships 
of pioneer life, and was the mother of two sons and four 
daughters.  She was one of the brave mothers whose sons gave 
their lives to save the country they loved.  Two daughters 
survive her, Emily, who married Benjamin FISH, and Harriet, 
who married Loren CURTIS.  Mr. and Mrs. RUSSELL were members 
of the Methodist church for many years.
Sally RATHBUN (Mrs. Samuel WHITING) came from Pittsfield, 
Mass., in 1831, was one of the settlers in this part of 
town, could spin, knit, and do all kinds of work done by the 
women of that time; was one of the members of the early 
Presbyterian church, and was an efficient church worker and 
kind woman.
Margaret MIDDAUGH (Mrs. Elijah SORTOR) came from Seneca 
county, N.Y., in 1831.  She was one of the pioneer women who 
suffered many privations in the new home and used to weave 
in order to buy seed corn to plant.  When she rode on 
horseback, she would carry two and sometimes three children.  
She raised a family of ten children and lived to be eighty-
eight years old.  Mr. and Mrs. MIDDAUGH celebrated their 
fiftieth wedding anniversary with a golden wedding, to which 
relatives and cherished friends were bidden.  Such 
privileges come to but very few in life.
Sally SORTOR, nee JONES, came to Mayfield with her parents 
and was the mother of ten children.  A very kind-hearted 
Christian lady, one of her daughters said she could not find 
language to write of her mother that could express what she 
was to her, and that her childhood years were full of little 
errands of sympathy and good things for the sick and needy 
sent by her mother.  She was a Christian mother and still 
lives in the hearts of her children and friends.
The first physician in the township was the Dr. A.L. DILLE, 
who settled at the Wilson’s Mills in 1834.  He married Jane 
BOOTH, of Mentor, O.  He died some years ago and was taken 
to Mentor and buried by the side of his father.  Mrs. DILLE 
went to Michigan to live with her sister and died there.
Dorcas WAKEFIELD, nee RUDD, came from Watertown, N.Y., in 
1834.  It took sixteen days and nights on Lake Erie before 
they reached Cleveland.  Her first home was a log house 
without any floor, a shake roof, and no door or window.  
They used to hang a quilt at night at the opening and would 
wake up mornings in the winter and find their beds covered 
with snow.  She was a tailoress and supported the family by 
sewing.  An excellent nurse, she took care of her family, 
who were ill with typhoid fever, without the aid of a 
physician.  She was much beloved for her amiable, Christian 
character.
After a journey of nine weeks on the ocean from England, 
Hannah LEUTY, her husband, John NEVILLE, and two little boys 
landed at New York.  The children were very sick on the 
water, and she hardly knew whether they would live to see 
land or not.  Her first home was a poor log house, but she 
lived to exchange it for a beautiful home and see Mayfield 
change from a wilderness to a nicely settled township.  She 
saw her children grow to manhood and womanhood and become 
useful members of society.  She was a devout Christian and 
church worker and by her works will she be remembered.
Rhoda ARNOLD (Mrs. Lemuel SOUTHWICK), with her husband and 
children, became residents of Mayfield in 1834.  They came 
from Albany to Buffalo by canal and from there to Cleveland 
on the steamer Walk-in-the-Water, the first vessel propelled 
by steam that traversed the waters of Lake Erie.  She is 
spoken of with respect and kindness by all who know her.  An 
only daughter, Lydia, who married Benjamin SHERMAN, was a 
lovely woman.  She was found by the bedside of the sick and 
among those who had need of her gentle voice and helping 
hand, was a devoted mother, kind neighbor, and “Aunt 
Lydia,” as she was called, will long live in the memory of 
those who knew her.
Mrs. John HOLMES, nee Betsy WARE, made the journey from 
Connecticut in a lumber wagon drawn by an ox team.  She had 
two daughters, Harriet, who married William SOUTHWICK.  
Maria married Buell ALLEN and is still living in Youngstown.
Achsah SHERMAN, who married Lyndon JENKS in 1825, came to 
Ohio from North Adams, Mass., in 1834, bought the JENKS 
homestead the following year, and lived there until her 
death in 1893.  She was one of the active, useful women of 
her time, was active in church work, and had great decision 
of character and energy.  After sixty years of age she took 
woolen rolls, spun and colored the yarn, and made a suit of 
clothes for each of her three sons.  A typical pioneer woman 
and a worthy helpmeet, she endeared herself to the whole 
community in which she lived and her children “rise up and 
call her blessed.”
Arethursa PORTER, with her husband Luther BATTLES, and eight 
children started from Herkimer, N.Y., in 1834 to their long 
talked of home.  There was a small log house on their land, 
but no roads, and but few improvements had been made in the 
neighborhood.  Here they commenced the long, weary struggle 
for life anew.  She sacrificed one of her sons at the shrine 
of liberty.  She was a kind, Christian woman and had great 
love for her children.
Chloe HOWARD (Mrs. William APTHORP) was born in Stockbridge, 
Mass., in 1808.  Her father served as drummer boy in the 
year of 1812 and died at Sackett Harbor.  She was trained to 
spin, weave, and knit, was married in 1835, and in 1838 came 
to Mayfield.  She ate the first meal and spent the first 
night at Condit’s tavern, Euclid road.  She remembers the 
cups and saucers used then as being like those of her mother 
at home.  Soon after they went to their farm of one hundred 
acres of unbroken timber land in the northwest part of 
Mayfield and bought and paid for it with their united 
savings.  In a log house her son and daughter were born.  It 
is needless to say she knew what pioneer life meant.  She is 
eighty-eight years old, well, hearty, and above all cheerful 
and glad to see her friends.
Names of women who were members of the First Presbyterian 
Church:  Mrs. Anna STRONG, Mrs. Lucius STRONG, Mrs. Samuel 
WHITNEY, Mrs. HUMPHREY, Mrs. Daniel WILLIAMS, Mrs. Lyman 
RUSSELL, Mrs. Daniel SHEPARD, Mrs. Ralph TYLER, Mrs. Milton 
RUSSELL, Miss Maria BECKWITH, and Mrs. Tabitha TYLER.  Their 
influence for good is felt at the present day.  Meetings 
were held in the school house at the center of the town on 
one Sunday and at State Road Corners the other.  After some 
years the meetings were discontinued, some of the members 
having moved away.  There is but one denomination now in 
Mayfield, the Methodist.
Mrs. David LAW, nee Alice WILLIS, came from Ireland in 1835.  
Her husband built a log cabin in the forest, and they 
settled down in agricultural pursuits.  She was the mother 
of five sons and four daughters.  Mr. and Mrs. LAW lived 
only a few years after coming here.  The daughters grew up 
lovely women.  Alice married Gideon HENDERSON, afterwards 
Howard ALLEN; Jane married Wales HENDERSON; Mary, Horace 
TIBBITTS, and Martha, Mr. GREGORY.  Two of the sons made 
Mayfield their home - John LAW, deceased, and Mr. Robert 
LAW.
Esther COLLINS was born in Brandon, Vt., moved to New York 
when quite young, was a schoolmate of Stephen A. DOUGLAS’ 
father and mother, was married to George WILLSON, whose 
father was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.  She left a 
nice home in the East, and came to live in a log house in 
the woods in 1836.  Her husband, returning to his old home 
to visit, was taken sick and died there.  After a few years, 
she went to live with her son, Frederick WILLSON, and spent 
the remainder of her life in his home.  She used to knit 
stockings and mittens for the soldiers.  She lived to see 
her great-grandchildren.  She had a remarkable memory, and 
we all loved to listen to her stories of the Revolution and 
“the olden times.”  She lived to the advanced age of 
ninety-four years.  Jane (WILSON) SORTOR, her youngest 
daughter, was one of the early school teachers at Mayfield 
Center.
Eliza HENDERSON came with her parents from Columbia county, 
New York, to Orange township in 1833, and was married to 
Frederick WILLSON in 1836, and came here.  Together they 
shared the joys and sorrows of life for many years.  She was 
the mother of nine children, and lived to see six of them 
consigned to their last places of rest.  Two of her sons 
enlisted in the war for their country, and both gave their 
lives in its defense.  She had an innate love for the 
beautiful was very fond of flowers, and is spoken of with 
love and respect by all who shared her society or enjoyed 
her hospitality.  She was a great lover of home.
Hannah PRATT (Mrs. Luke WASTE) came from Washington county, 
New York, with her husband and two children in 1837.  They 
first settled in Willoughby, and came to Mayfield in 1840.  
She was a very kind-hearted woman.  She bore the noontide 
toil and heat, and at eventide, with tired, folded hands, 
waited for the summons which should open unto her the 
morning of eternal day.
Fidelia TAGGART, wife of Lyman RUSSELL, was born in 
Blandford, Mass., came to Mentor in 1831, and to Mayfield in 
1838.  She was a very hospitable woman, and made a home for 
the pioneer preachers who held services in the log school 
house and barn.  She lived a beautiful home life with her 
family, and although an invalid many years of her life, was 
always cheerful and very grateful for any little kindness 
shown her.  She died on the sixty-third anniversary of her 
wedding, aged eighty-four years.
Harriet HOLISTER was married in Bennington, Vt., in 1829 to 
Ruel CUTLER, moved to Kirtland, O., in 1840; two years later 
she came to Mayfield.  She was left a widow at age of forty, 
with eight children to care for.  She managed, by industry 
and frugality, to keep her children together until they were 
old enough to take care of themselves, giving them all the 
education possible.  She lived to see two sons (who served 
in the civil war) and her three youngest daughters pass away 
with that dread disease, consumption, in less than five 
years time.  When seventy-five years old she went to live 
with her daughter, Mrs. STRAIGHT, in Michigan, but in one 
short year her remains were brought back and interred a 
short distance from where she had spent so many years of her 
life.
Sylvia SKINNER was born in Kirtland, O., in 1817, and was 
one of the first school teachers at Little Mountain, and was 
married to Amherst PINNEY in 1842.  She used to spin and 
weave cloth for her children’s dresses, also coverlets and 
woolen carpets,  She was kind and hospitable to every one.  
He husband was from Mesapotamia, and people going from the 
eastern townships of Geauga and Trumbull to Cleveland used 
to stop and stay all night them.  They called it the half-
way house.  She died quite young.  Her three daughters 
survive her.  
Sally PEASE (Mrs. Selden MINER), who came with her husband 
and children from Hebron, Conn., in 1843, was a bright, 
capable woman.  Her daughter Clara (Mrs. Leroy WHITING) has 
been a worker in the Sunday school for many years.  A young 
lady in her class says:  “She is one who will never grow 
old, for she is so in sympathy with young people.”  Melissa 
(MINER) AIKEN was a noble Christian woman, interested in all 
works of charity and love, and although an invalid a good 
share of her life, her hands were never idle.  Many will 
remember her “cheerful countenance, which doeth the heart 
good like a medicine.”  Truly may it be said of her:
“The sweetest lives are those to duty wed,
Whose deeds, both great and small,
Are close-knit strands of one unbroken thread,
Where love ennobles all.”

Mr. and Mrs. Welman BRAINARD came from Brooklyn, O., in 
1843.  He was one of the pioneer preachers.  Mr. William 
LEUTY deeded him five acres of land for a home if he would 
come here and organize and superintend a Sunday school.  
Many are indebted to him for the good seed sown in their 
hearts in their youth, and the Book of Life will the shining 
record tell.  Mr. and Mrs. BRAINARD were respected and loved 
by all who knew them.  They lived a long, useful life, and 
celebrated their golden wedding.
The first church edifice was erected in 1842, and has since 
been replaced by a larger one.
Among the early teachers we find the names of Ann STRONG 
(SNOW), Eleanor STRONG (WHITING), Hannah BROWN, Jeannette 
EGGLESTON.
Harriet BRAINARD (nee BATTLES) was president of the 
Soldiers’ Aid Society which did so much good during the 
civil war for the sick and wounded soldiers “and to it 
belongs the great and lasting honor of being the first 
society of women organized for the noble work of bearing a 
people’s love to a people’s army.”
Lucinda MILLER (Mrs. Henry HIGGINS) came from the East to 
Augurn in 1844, rode the entire distance in a lumber wagon 
with her husband and three children, was fourteen days on 
the road, then moved to Newburg, and came from there to 
Mayfield.  She was a member of the Disciple Church a great 
many years, was an excellent nurse, cultivated and loved 
flowers, and was a great reader.  Her daughters who came 
with her were Helen, who married Dr. WASTE, and Rosina, who 
married Greer PAGE.
Mayfield was the birthplace of Mary A. SORTOR, who grew up 
to be a useful and influential woman, was a successful 
school teacher, and taught for some time here in the 
Cleveland schools, and while there was instrumental in 
organizing a mission school.  She was married to Mr. A.D. 
McHENRY in 1873 and they went as missionaries to India, and 
spent eight years in that noble work.  She came home broken 
down in health, and died six weeks after her return.
Irene SHEPARD was born in Mayfield in 1841.  She married Dr. 
CHALLIS, and for a number of years they were missionaries in 
Bulgaria, where they did a grand work.  They have returned, 
and are living in Michigan.
Mrs. Selden MINER (Sally PEASE) came to Mayfield in 1843, a 
widow.  Some of her sons lived here, and after their father 
died, one of them went back for the mother and her two 
daughters, Mrs. Clara MINER, who married Leroy WHITING, and 
Melissa MINER, who married Ashahel AIKEN.
May the shadows of time deal gently with the few who are 
left.
Mrs. David GILMORE
Chairman and Historian

Committee - Mrs. Clarinda LAMOREAUX, Mrs. Nellie MINER, Mrs. 
Sarah RUDD, Mrs. Ida RUSSELL, Mrs. Clara WHITING, Mrs. Laura 
STRAIGHT, Miss Florence LAW, Mrs. James COVERT, Mrs. Hattie 
KEESLER