Orwell Township, Ashtabula County

How Orwell Township, Ashtabula County began

Orwell Township was the very first Western Reserve township drawn in the Connecticut Land Company's 1798 lottery, but its high land price of five dollars an acre discouraged settlers for nearly two decades; A. R. Paine, arriving from Stillwater, New York in April 1817 (Wikipedia gives 1815 and the initials A. H.), is remembered as the first permanent settler, with his nearest neighbor three miles away in Bloomfield. Originally called Leffingwell for early owner Christopher Leffingwell, the township organized under its present name in 1826 -- reportedly for Orwell, Vermont, the home of an early settler -- in a vote so thin that organizers were said to have padded the eight-voter turnout with two temporary bridge workers to meet the legal minimum of ten. Orwell Academy, opened in 1851 under principal Jacob Tuckerman, drew up to 150 students at its peak and made the township's namesake village a regional educational center.

Settled April 1817 (A. R. Paine, first settler; Wikipedia gives 1815), incorporated 1826 (organized as Orwell, renamed from Leffingwell), by A. R. Paine, first settler; organized under trustees Joseph and Solomon Chandler and Alanson Spaulding, clerk Lyman Richards.

Where the name comes from

The township was first called Leffingwell, for Christopher Leffingwell, one of its original Connecticut Land Company owners who platted it. In 1826 it was renamed Orwell, after Orwell, Vermont, the home of an early settler.

Before the town

A few Native families remained in the township after white settlement began, drawn by the area's good hunting. The 1924 county history names two individuals specifically: a man remembered as "Captain Phillips," described as inoffensive and industrious -- likely the same leader remembered in neighboring Monroe Township's history as "Old Captain Philip" -- and another man known locally only as "Indian Joe," whom settlers characterized as having a bad reputation. Local tradition holds that Indian Joe disappeared into the woods on January 1, 1822, in pursuit of a hunter named Sylvester Hill after a dispute over bears, and was never seen again; this account, recorded only in a settler-authored local history, should be read with that source's limitations in mind.

Timeline

1. 1798 — Orwell is the first Western Reserve township drawn in the Connecticut Land Company's lottery, its original owners including Moses Cleaveland, William and Joseph Williams, Jabes and Ashael Adams, and Joseph Howland.
2. April 1817 — A. R. Paine arrives from Stillwater, New York and becomes the township's first settler, building its first house and barn.
3. 1820 — Rev. Giles H. Cowles preaches the township's first sermon at Alanson Spaulding's home.
4. 1822 — Miss Lydia C. Walcott teaches the township's first school, to about a dozen pupils; a Methodist Episcopal Church organizes the same year.
5. 1826 — The township formally organizes as Orwell, renamed from Leffingwell, in a vote reportedly padded with two temporary bridge workers to meet the legal ten-voter minimum; a post office named Orwell begins operating the same year.
6. July 4, 1830 — More than 300 township residents turn out for a work bee to improve the road through the Grand River bottoms.
7. 1837 — Congregational and Baptist churches organize in the township, the Congregational body formed by members withdrawing from a joint Orwell-Colebrook society.
8. 1850 — The Cleveland and Orwell Express stage line, run by Phillips & Bigelow, begins weekly service at a fare of $1.50.
9. 1851 — Orwell Academy opens under principal Jacob Tuckerman, eventually drawing as many as 150 students and making Tuckerman a prominent county educator.
10. May 31, 1856 — The Orwell Agricultural Society organizes under president Col. George A. Howard, going on to hold well-attended annual fairs.
11. 1874 — A cheese factory opens in the township, becoming an important local commercial hub.
12. 1880 — A town hall and Odd Fellows' Hall are built.

Stories

Two votes short

By 1826, Orwell Township -- still called Leffingwell at the time -- had enough residents to want its own government, but state law required at least ten voters to organize a township, and a careful count turned up only eight. Rather than wait another year or two for population growth to close the gap honestly, the organizers, according to the 1924 county history, found two temporary workers who happened to be in the area building a bridge and enlisted them to vote, pushing the tally to the required ten. The maneuver worked: the township organized in 1826 under its new name, Orwell, with Joseph and Solomon Chandler and Alanson Spaulding as trustees and Lyman Richards as clerk. It is a small story, but a telling one about how casually some of the Western Reserve's civic infrastructure was actually assembled -- a legal threshold met not through years of patient growth but through two men who happened to be passing through with tools and time on their hands.

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

Mostly private wells The water here

• Orwell Village97% of residentsGroundwater wells (6 wells)
• Roaming Shores Village3% of residentsLake Erie

Private schools (2)

Bridges rated poor (1)

Museums, historical societies, gardens and zoos (1)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2023: 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 2025-08-05

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