Morgan Township, Ashtabula County

How Morgan Township, Ashtabula County began

Morgan Township is named for John Morgan, who bought the land from the Connecticut Land Company in 1798; Timothy P. Hawley surveyed and platted it into 100-acre lots and became its first active settler in early summer 1799, after completing a north-south road into the area. Nathan and Asa Gillett arrived with their families in 1801, and the township detached from the original Richfield Township to organize on its own in 1819. Ashtabula County's first Teachers' Institute convened at Rock Creek, within the township, from November 1 to 6, 1852. The township today holds the village of Rock Creek and part of the planned lake community of Roaming Shores in its southeast corner.

Settled early summer 1799 (Timothy P. Hawley, first active settler), platted 1798-99 (surveyed by Timothy P. Hawley into 100-acre lots), incorporated 1819 (organized, detached from Richfield Township), by Timothy P. Hawley; land bought from the Connecticut Land Company by John Morgan in 1798.

Where the name comes from

The township is named for John Morgan, a Connecticut landowner who purchased the township from the Connecticut Land Company in 1798.

Before the town

In 1852, a resident named Spencer Harvey discovered flint arrowheads and other stone implements in the township, a find the 1924 county history suggests may mark the site of an ancient conflict -- though it names no nation, gives no precise location beyond the township, and offers no professional excavation or dating. It is a settler-era surface find and local speculation, not an established archaeological site.

• Spencer Harvey arrowhead find (other) — Morgan Township, precise location undetermined, undetermined, discovered 1852 (conneautohio.us)

Timeline

1. 1798 — John Morgan, a Connecticut landowner, purchases the township from the Connecticut Land Company.
2. early summer 1799 — Timothy P. Hawley, who has surveyed and platted the township into 100-acre lots, brings his family and becomes its first active settler, after completing a north-south road.
3. 1799 — Timothy Hawley of Farmington, Connecticut, having surveyed the township into 100-acre lots and broken a north-south road from Austinburg to Trumbull County, receives three lots and a mill site on the creek in return for agreeing to build a sawmill within a year; he later serves as postmaster, justice of the peace and clerk of courts of the county.
4. 1801 — Nathan and Asa Gillett arrive with their families from Connecticut.
5. 1801 — Nathan Gillett and his household of ten arrive from Connecticut and build an 18-foot-square log house of eight logs, chinked with split timbers and clay, with an elm-bark roof and oiled-paper windows; it later becomes the township's first schoolhouse.
6. 1802 — The township's first religious gathering is held at John Wright's home.
7. 1808 — The township's first grist mill is built.
8. 1811 — Stephen Knowlton builds the township's first frame house.
9. 1818 — Dr. Isaac Weed becomes the township's first resident physician.
10. 1819 — Morgan Township organizes independently, detached from Richfield Township; a Presbyterian church also organizes this year, building its church in 1829.
11. 1821 — The township's first tannery opens.
12. 1822 — A Methodist Episcopal church organizes in the township.
13. 1849 — Rock Creek, within the township, incorporates as a village.
14. November 1-6, 1852 — Ashtabula County's first Teachers' Institute convenes at Rock Creek.
15. 1852 — Spencer Harvey discovers flint arrowheads and other stone implements in the township.
16. 1867 — A cheese factory opens in the township.
17. 1874 — A Disciple church organizes in the township.
18. 1966-1967 — Development Services Incorporated builds Lake Roaming Rock partly across Morgan Township's southeast corner, becoming part of the village of Roaming Shores.

Stories

Hawley's bargain

John Morgan bought the township from the Connecticut Land Company in 1798 but sold it before long to another eastern land company, which sent Timothy Hawley of Farmington, Connecticut, to survey and plat it into 100-acre lots. For his work the company gave him three lots and a mill site on the creek, on condition that he build a sawmill within a year. Hawley broke a north-and-south road through the township from Austinburg to Trumbull County, went home, and in the early summer of 1799 brought his family back as the township's first active settler. He stayed several years, serving as postmaster, justice of the peace and all-round prominent citizen, until he was elected clerk of courts of Ashtabula County and moved to the county seat for the rest of his life.

The Gilletts' cozy house

Nathan Gillett and his family of ten came to Morgan in 1801, and the 1924 county history says they had an unusually cozy home. It was 18 feet square, built of undressed logs eight high, with the gaps between the logs stuffed with split timbers and plastered with clay. The roof was long strips of elm bark laid on poles, with every opening plastered tight, and three windows two feet square were glazed with oiled white paper. A mud chimney finished it. After a few years the Gilletts built a bigger log house nearby, and the first one became the township's first schoolhouse, with Miss Diantha Wilcox as first teacher. Until a grist mill was built in 1808, residents hauled grain to Austinburg over forest roads where a team of oxen could cover only a few miles a day.

Local history sources: conneautohio.us · en.wikipedia.org · roamingshores.org · archive.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Roaming Shores Village55% of residentsLake Erie
• Rock Creek Village37% of residentsLake Erie
• Aqua Ohio - Village of Jefferson8% of residentsLake Erie
• Dfc Mobile Home Park0% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)

Hospitals (1)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (4)

Money issues on the ballot since 2019: 3 of 3 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

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

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