Claridon Township, Geauga County

How Claridon Township, Geauga County began

Claridon Township was first visited by prospective settlers Asa Cowles and Seth Spencer in 1810 and permanently settled by Cowles's family on July 4, 1811; the 1879 county history disputes whether an earlier millwright, Stephen Higby, had already built a mill and settled on the border in 1808. Organized in 1806 as part of Burton, the township was known first as Canton and then, combined with Munson, as Burlington, before its inhabitants successfully petitioned the legislature to adopt the name of its post office, Claridon. It holds two genuine entries on the National Register of Historic Places, the Claridon Congregational Church on U.S. Route 322 and the Lot Hathaway House, both reflecting the township's early nineteenth-century Western Reserve settlement. Claridon is a small rural township with 3,103 residents in 2020.

Settled 1808 (Stephen Higby's disputed mill and settlement on the Claridon-Hambden line) or July 4, 1811 (Asa Cowles's family, the settlement the 1879 county history treats as definite); Wikipedia gives 1808 as the township's establishment date, incorporated 1817 (first township election, under the name Burlington, held at Asahel Kellogg's house), by Asa Cowles and Seth Spencer, who first inspected the land in 1810; Cowles's family, Nathaniel Spencer's family, and Elijah Douglass's family made the permanent settlement in 1811.

Where the name comes from

The township was first known as Canton while part of the civil township of Burton, then, joined with Munson, as Burlington. In 1818 or 1819 a post office was established in it under the name Claridon; soon after, its inhabitants petitioned the state legislature to rename the township Claridon to match, which was granted (Munson was separated from Claridon in 1821). Wikipedia's township article corroborates the Canton-then-Burlington sequence but does not explain the origin of "Claridon" itself, noting only that a second Claridon Township exists in Marion County, Ohio.

Before the town

No Native American village, trail, or site specific to Claridon Township is documented in the sources consulted; the 1879 county history states plainly that the settlers found no Indians remaining in the Claridon woods on their arrival, though the surrounding forests had sheltered deer, elk, wolves, and bears that the pioneers hunted and were hunted by in turn.

Timeline

1. 1808 — Stephen Higby is said to build a small grist-mill on the upper west branch of the Cuyahoga and settle there, though other pioneer accounts dispute whether this predates the Cowles settlement.
2. 1810 — Asa Cowles and Seth Spencer travel from New Hartford, Connecticut, to inspect and purchase land on the Holmes tract, guided by settlers from Burton.
3. 1811 — On July 4, Asa Cowles, his wife, their seven children, and the Douglass and Taylor families arrive to make Claridon's permanent settlement, building a cabin on lot 16 that shelters other new arrivals through the winter.
4. 1812 — The township, then called Canton, is visited by prospective settlers Aranda Kellogg, Halsey Spencer, and Truman Pitkin.
5. 1817 — Under the name Burlington, Claridon and Munson hold their first joint township election at the house of Asahel Kellogg.
6. 1819 — A post office named Claridon is established, and soon after residents petition the legislature to rename the township to match.
7. 1821 — The county commissioners sever Munson from Claridon, leaving Claridon as an independent township.
8. 1863 — Claridon's Hall Cheese Factory is established, among the first cheese factories in Geauga County.
9. 1872 — A railroad is constructed through the township, facilitating commerce.
10. 1974 — The Lot Hathaway House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 16.
11. 1974 — The Claridon Congregational Church, on U.S. Route 322, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 13.
12. 2020 — U.S. Census records 3,103 residents in Claridon Township.

Stories

"No tavern, distillery, lawyer, physician"

In notes dated March 7, 1831, Claridon pioneer Ozi Blakeslee recorded with evident satisfaction that the township had, to that date, no tavern, distillery, lawyer, physician, grocery, or grog-shop, and had never levied a township tax. The boast did not last: two of Blakeslee's own sons went on to become lawyers. The remark captures how the township's original Connecticut settlers -- Cowles, Spencer, Taylor, Wells, and their neighbors, many bound by kinship or old acquaintance from New Hartford and Hartford, Connecticut -- prided themselves on a sober, self-sufficient community built without the usual trappings of a frontier crossroads.

Halsey Spencer's broken engagement

Halsey Spencer returned to Claridon in 1814, cleared land, built a cabin, and courted a young woman in Burton. On the day set for the wedding, he arrived at his intended's house full of hope, only to be refused. The rejection broke his mind; for years afterward he wandered the township as a harmless but disturbed man, at times confined for public safety, before living out his life and dying at the county infirmary in December 1873, at eighty-two.

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

Every historic place in Geauga County on the full map

Mostly private wells The water here

• Chardon City75% of residentsGroundwater wells (6 wells)
• Leaders MHP9% of residentsGroundwater wells (5 wells)
• Burton Village7% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Jacques Mobile Home Park, Llc4% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Geauga County Services Center2% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Kimberly Estates2% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Chardon Estates1% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• Scranton Woods0% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Maple Ridge Mhc, Limited0% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Hospitals (1)

Public libraries (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (3)

Money issues on the ballot since 2022: 1 of 1 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Agreed Upon Procedures, 2024 to 2025, released 2026-06-23

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