Fairfield Township, Huron County

How Fairfield Township, Huron County began

Fairfield Township's first clearing was made in 1816 by a widowed settler named Sample and her nine children, who arrived from Licking County with almost nothing; organized settlement followed through the 1820s, and the township itself was formally detached from Bronson and organized in 1833. It is named for Fairfield, Connecticut, one of the towns British forces burned during the Revolutionary War, whose displaced residents held Firelands land claims. The village of North Fairfield, which grew up at a crossroads in the township's western portion, is covered separately.

Settled 1816 (first clearing, by the widow Sample and her children) / 1833 (township organized), by Detached from Bronson Township; organizing voters included Philip Moffitt, William and Spencer Baker, Isaac De Witt, Aaron Smith, Eliphalet W. Day and Ransom B. Ellsworth.

Where the name comes from

Fairfield Township is named for Fairfield, Connecticut, one of the towns British forces burned during the Revolutionary War, whose displaced residents held Firelands land claims.

Before the town

No Native American village, trail, or site specific to Fairfield Township is documented in the sources consulted.

Timeline

1. 1816 — A widow named Sample and her nine children, arriving from Newark, Licking County, make the township's first clearing on lot thirty-six, section three; the family is so poor the boys go barefoot through a winter of chopping timber, and Mrs. Sample reportedly out-reaps a man in the harvest field the next year.
2. 1817 — The township's first marriage, of Amos Harkness to Martha Sample (the widow's daughter), and its first birth, John Day, both take place.
3. 1822 — The earliest religious organization in the township, a Methodist class of fewer than half a dozen members, is formed; it grows into a church of 105 members by 1879.
4. 1825 — A new state road is cut eleven miles through Fairfield and parts of Ripley and Bronson townships, with local settlers giving their labor toward its construction.
5. 1832 — About 400 people from Norwalk, Greenfield, Monroe, Fitchville, New Haven, Bronson and other townships join Fairfield's residents for a Fourth of July celebration around a 105-foot liberty pole, with a dinner of venison and potatoes cooked in a huge caldron kettle.
6. 1833 — Fairfield Township is formally detached from Bronson and organized, with its organizing election held at a schoolhouse in the third section.
7. 1849 — The union schools of North Fairfield are organized on February 21, with a board of education including George Silliman, S. W. Edwards and Walter Branch.

Stories

Three bears, three shots, two of them wood

In the township's early years, bears, deer and wolves were common in the woods. One day George Eldridge, passing through the northern part of the township near what became the Jennings farm, saw a full-grown bear standing on a fallen tree trunk. He fired, and the bear fell from sight behind the log. Out of lead balls, he reloaded with a slug of beech wood, and when the bear's head rose above the trunk again he fired a second time; the animal dropped again. He loaded a third beech slug and fired once more. Walking up cautiously, expecting to find one wounded bear, Eldridge instead found three dead ones -- a mother and two half-grown cubs -- each having climbed the log in turn after the one before it fell. The old bear weighed four hundred pounds and fed several families; the story was told through the neighborhood for years as either great marksmanship or great luck.

The cobbler who was not murdered

About 1825 a traveling cobbler known as 'Tug' Carpenter, who went house to house through the settlement mending shoes, disappeared after staying at the home of a settler named Wright Blue. When he could not be found, suspicion grew that Blue had killed him, and Blue was arrested and brought before Justice Eleazer Jones on a charge of murder. In the middle of the hearing, Carpenter himself walked into the room, alive and apparently unaware of the trouble his absence had caused. Blue burst into tears of relief, and the case closed as quickly and happily as it had begun.

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

Mostly private wells The water here

• North Fairfield Village100% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Bridges rated poor (1)

Museums, historical societies, gardens and zoos (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2024: 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, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-09-04

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