Baughman Township, Wayne County

How Baughman Township, Wayne County began

Baughman Township, in eastern Wayne County, is the only Baughman Township in the United States; it was organized March 5, 1816 and named for John Baughman, an early settler on Baughman Hill whose family came about 1810. Its villages are Marshallville, surveyed in February 1817 for James Marshall and incorporated in 1866, and Burton City, platted as Fairview in 1850, and part of Orrville reaches into its west. The Ault-Weygandt Farm is on the National Register, and the township holds Fox Lake and the once-dismal Newman's Creek Swamp. The township had 4,799 residents in 2020.

Settled c. 1810 (John Baughman family on Baughman Hill), incorporated 1816-03-05 (township organized), by John Baughman (early settler; township namesake).

Where the name comes from

Baughman Township was named after John Baughman, grandfather of John W. Baughman of Wooster, who was the township's first white settler.

Before the town

The 1878 county history says that before settlement the Newman's Creek Swamp, the 'Dismal Swamp' or 'Shades of Death' running from Orrville east across the township to the Stark County line, was a retreat for wild animals from the Indians, 'who made it a lurking place, and a fishing and hunting resort'. Solomon Baughman recalled that when his family arrived about 1810 'Indians, bears and wolves were plenty', that some Indians spoke English and warned of a coming war, and that the family had 'a good many Indian scares' without harm. No village, mound or named person is recorded. Wayne County as a whole has a recorded Delaware (Lenape), Wyandot and Shawnee history.

• Newman's Creek Swamp ('Shades of Death') (camp) — Newman's Creek valley, Baughman Township, from Orrville east to the Stark County line, before settlement, c. 1810 (archive.org)

Timeline

1. 1810 — John Baughman's family settles on the east side of the township, on the farm known as Baughman Hill; Solomon Baughman recalled a cabin 12 by 12 feet with a bark roof and many Indian scares.
2. 1811 — David Foreman and his family, Irish-born Protestants from near Philadelphia, move to Baughman Township; his son John Foreman, who commanded a militia company, improved what became the Vankirk farm.
3. 1814 — On April 19 the Harkins and Porter families, Irish emigrants by way of Pennsylvania, settle in the township; John Baughman was among the few settlers there before them.
4. 1817 — Robert Taggart settles in the township, entering 160 acres on which part of Orrville was later built.
5. 1837 — Marshallville has a post office by 1837, with Jacob Schilling the first of the postmasters the county history lists; ten houses stood in the village when Martin Weimer arrived in 1834.
6. 1843 — The Marshallville Presbyterian Church is organized on January 19; St. Michael's Catholic Church is built by Ambrose Halter in 1849, and an Evangelical Association church about 1848.
7. 1850 — John Brinkerhoff surveys Fairview on December 14 (plat recorded January 28, 1851); its post office is called Baughman and later Burton City.
8. 1854 — The Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad is completed as far as Millersburg and A. A. McIntyre becomes the first ticket agent at Marshallville.
9. 1858 — Benjamin Coe builds the Burton City flouring mill, with a capacity of forty barrels a day; a woolen mill run by Isaac Vanguilder and, from 1862, J. J. Eichenberger, also operated there.
10. 1866 — Marshallville is incorporated on February 10.
11. 1870 — The township's population is 2,067 in the 1870 census.
12. 1874 — On June 9 the steam grist-mill of C. G. Binkley blows up, killing George W. Henshaw of Wooster at once and Binkley a few hours later.
13. 2002 — The Ault-Weygandt Farm on Back Massillon Road, northeast of Orrville, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 14.
14. 2020 — Township population recorded at 4,799 (per Wikipedia's township article) across 36.3 square miles.

Stories

The Shades of Death on Newman's Creek

The lowlands along Newman's Creek, from Orrville east beyond Baughman Township's east line, were the wildest and most dismal ground in the county when it was first settled. They were called the Dismal Swamp and the Shades of Death, and for a long time only fearless backwoodsmen hunting game and fish went in. The swamp was covered with trees, alder, willow and brush, with low marshy spots where the best cranberries grew, a creek alive with fish, and wild potatoes in quantity enough to supply settlers for miles around. Before settlement, the county history says, it was a safe retreat for wild animals from the Indians, who used it as a lurking place and a fishing and hunting resort. Even after the township was settled it harbored bears, panthers, wildcats and wolves, with beavers and otters in the water.

The Baughmans on Baughman Hill

Solomon Baughman of Dalton remembered how his family came to the township about 1810: they rode out on horseback with some clothes and tools, built a 12-by-12 cabin without a chimney and with a bark roof, and later hired a wagon to bring the family. His father's advice for buying a farm was to get one with sugar trees and a spring, and the Baughman Hill farm had thirty-seven springs. Indians, bears and wolves were plentiful; some Indians spoke English and told them a big war was coming, and part of the family went toward Canton for fear. When the Indians got drunk, he said, they were dangerous. The township took the name of the family.

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Orrville City77% of residentsLocal groundwater wells (Wayne County)
• Marshallville Village12% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Dalton Village8% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Heritage Green Condominium Assoc1% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Millborne Mobile Home Community1% of residentsGroundwater wells (1 wells)
• Little Chippewa Estates1% of residentsGroundwater wells (1 wells)
• Lincoln Terrace Estates0% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Glenridge Mobile Home Park0% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Mount Eaton Village0% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Shale and injection wells (1)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (3)

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Agreed Upon Procedures, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-07-24

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