Key from red school house moved to Strongsville Township from Liverpool Township
Key from red school house moved to Strongsville Township from Liverpool Township
Beebetown has the distinction of being located in four townships and three counties. The first purchase of land was on the Columbia corner in 1811, but no settlement was made.
In 1823 Abram Beebe, with his wife Dorcas and nine children came from Canandaigua, New York, with an ox team. He purchased 50 acres on the Liverpool corner for $165.50 and built a log house southeast of where the present house stands. The next year, 1824, Hollis Newton, with his wife and year-old child, Mrs. Newton being a daughter of Abram Beebe, made the trip from New York state with an ox team in 17 days. He purchased the farm now owned by C. H. Newton, for $3.00 per acre and paid for it by cutting the road from Newton's corner to Hardscrabble at 62 1/2 cents a day.
HOUSE WITHOUT A CHIMNEY
Elder Russell Gilmore, Truman and Frederick Walker, and Elijah Bennett came soon afterwards. Mrs. Frederick Walker and Mrs. Bennett were sisters of Mrs. Abram Beebe. Elijah Bennett lived on the farm now owned by Mrs. Brandow (first house south of Kepsta's or second from Wilbert Taylor's). One morning he shot five deer on the now Edwin Morton farm, before 11:00 A.M. and gave his brother-in-law Ebenezer Fuller, half of the meat for the use of his rifle. Mrs. Beebe's brother, Ebenezer Fuller, with his wife who was a sister of Hollis Newton, and eight children arrived also by the ox team route in October, 1826. He purchased the Strongsville corner, where they found a log hut which had been built by hunters. It had no chimney or fire place. In this they lived the first winter, building their fire on the ground, the smoke escaping through a hole in the roof. He later built the first frame house in this neighborhood, which is still standing, although remodelled, now the Harley Fuller home. Their oldest son, Ebenezer Fuller Jr., when about ten years old, started for East Mills with a bag of corn on the horse in front of him. It slid off and he had to come back about two miles to Mrs. Steele's, the Todd place, to get somebody to help him put it back on the horse.
Obadiah Newton lived on the Baisch, now Brackney, place. His child was the first person buried in the cemetery. Rodric Beebe, Ben Beebe, and two men by the name of Perkins lived on the road one-half west of the town line. Rodric Beebe brought apple and pear seeds from New York state and started a nursery. Some of the trees are still alive and bearing fruit.
CHURCH ORGANIZED
On the diagonal road, which ran from a little west of the corners to the river road, in a house on the farm owned by James Miller, Elder Russell Gilmore organized the Columbia Free Will Baptist Church on February 12, 1826. The name was later changed to the Liverpool F. W. B. Church and afterwards to the Beebetown F. W. B. Church. The charter members were Russell Gilmore, Truman and Ann Walker, Elijah and Nancy Bennett, John and Marian Ann Fuller, The names of those who united the first year were Thomas Williams, Lois Bennett, Frederick and Rachel Walker, Jeduthan and Lucy Freeman, Luther and Catherine Gilmore, Sophia Burk, Sylvander Beebe, Ann Perkins and John a and Ann Heath. Meetings were held in the homes and the school house for sometime. In 1834 a two-story log meeting house was built, the upper story being used for a school house. At this time Warner Beebe was given a license to preach, and about this time the names of Erastus and Betsy Ensign appeared. He being one of the deacons. As for salaries, at one time Elder Walker received $3.62 1/2 and Elder Pelton a good donation for one fourth of the time. Elder Randall $37.50 for one-fourth time and Elder Wilder $50 for half time.
THE FIRST SCHOOL
The first school was called Dist. No. 2 Liverpool, the old log school house being at the west end of the Brandow farm. Here in the winter of 1831-32 Warner Beebe started an evening geography school, turned it into a prayer meeting and had a revival.
The school meetings were usually held in the houses but November 3, 1838, they met in the woods. Some of the first directors were Martin Terrill, Erastus Ensign, Hollis Newton, Warner and James Beebe, and Lot Hancock. In 1838 Ella Wilmot taught three months for $15 a month teaching six days in a week. In 1840 Harriet Cole taught for $1 a week. In 1841 the first summer school was taught by Eliz. Vaugn. In 1842 $20 was raised to pay for the use of a school house site and a frame building was erected on the L. D. Frisbie farm opposite the Morton farm. Here the younger boys were punished by being made to crawl thru a pile of logs on the other side of the road. One boy got stuck and they had to get a man with a yoke of oxen to pull the logs away, so he could get out. In 1848 the building was moved to the farm of Ebenezer Fuller in Strongsville where it was used until 1874, when the present building was erected. Hiram Torbet was the first teacher in the new building receiving $40 a month.
LYCEUM ORGANIZED
The Beebetown Lyceum was organized in 1867 by S. P. VanDyke with 36 male members and 16 females. This was kept up for seven years. Some of the questions debated were: "Resolved, that in-temperance has done more harm to man than war;" "Resolved, that electricity is more beneficial than steam;" "Resolved, that woman has more influence over man than money." The ladies edited a paper called "The Garland". Beebetown has had two cheese factories, one run by Mr. Lock, the other I. G. Lewis. Mr. Lewis also had the first store and was the first postmaster. Nelson Hawkins had a black-smith shop where Mr. Schnell's horse barn now stands and Jerry Cole and A. Newton had one on Burn Lockwood's corner. Later Dan Sartwell had one west of the corner.
Beebetown has also given to the country quite a number of preachers and school teachers.
[NOTE: Under HOUSE WITHOUT A CHIMNEY, Mrs. Brandow's farm (on Marks Road) was later owned by the Bagowitz family and is still standing in 2009. The Harley Fuller house is no longer standing. The Brackney farm (on Grafton Road) is now Fred's Tree farm.]