1781 -

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• Birth	22 Nov 1781	Willington, Tolland County, Connecticut
  Gender	Male
  Person ID	I12543	Brainard (Brainerd) / Foster / Fish
  Last Modified	11 Jul 2004 00:00:00
  Father	David HINCKLEY, b. 24 Feb 1754, Willington, Tolland County, Connecticut
  Mother	Ann MERRICK, b. 19 Sep 1756, Willington, Tolland County, Connecticut
  Family ID	F5355	Group Sheet
  Family	Susannah DAVIS, b. 3 Jan 1783
  Married	10 Feb 1806
  Children	1. Susan Harris HINCKLEY, b. 12 Apr 1807, Willington, Tolland County, Connecticut   2. Ann H. HINCKLEY, b. 16 Feb 1810, Willington, Tolland County, Connecticut   3. Eber Davis HINCKLEY, b. 10 Jul 1812, Willington, Connecticut   4. Sophronia HINCKLEY, b. 13 Oct 1816   5. George Washington HINCKLEY, b. 22 May 1825
  Family ID	F5933	Group Sheet

• Notes

  HIRAM TOWNSHIP The principal original proprietor of this Township was Colonel DanielTILDEN, and it was after several unsuccessful attempts in the thatdirection, on the part of the proprietors and others, that a settlementwas effected. The proprietors were all Freemasons, and while at a lode,one evening, Colonel Tilden proposed to call the Township Hiram, incommemoration of the King of Tyre, which was unanimously agreed to. Among the attempts at settlement may be mentioned that of Joseph METCALF,-one of the proprietors, -who died in New York in 1803 on his way to theTownship. Also, in the same year, Levi CASE, another proprietor, set outfrom Connecticut to visit his new Township, but got no farther than thelake-shore in the State of New York, where he was found standing againsta tree, frozen to death. In 1802 or 1803 a man by the name of WILLIAMS went into Hiram and made asmall improvement west of the Center, but soon left. About the same time,Abraham HONEY, from Mantua, went in and put up a hut on the farmsubsequently owned by Miss T. NORTON. But he also soon left. The first permanent settler was Christopher REDDING, who with his sons,John, Richard, and George G., and daughter Eleanor, came in about theyear 1804, and located one mile south of the Center. Ezra WYATT was intown about the same time. In 1805, Cornellius BARKER, Wm. FENTON, and Jacob and Samuel WIRTarrived, Baker settling on what was known as the "Hinckley Farm;" Fentonand the Wirts, one mile south of the Center, carrying on the Redding farm. The first couple married in the Township was Gersham JUDSON of Mantua, toPeggy REDDING, in 1804, by Judge ATWATER. The first birth was that of Edwin BABCOCK, March 2, 1811. His mother wasSabrina, daughter of Colonel TILDEN. The first death was that of Mrs.. William FENTON, who died in March 1811,leaving an infant son, John. The first grist-mill in Hiram was built by Lemur PUNDERSON, at theCayahoga rapids, in 1807, for a Mr. LORD, of Connecticut. It was carriedoff in the fall by a flood. In 1808 the dam was rebuilt, and a saw-millput in operation. At the organization of the County in 1808, Hiram included Mantua andNelson partially settled, Windham, and Freedom unsettled, andShalersville, which had but one family, that of Joel BAKER. In June, 1813, Benjamin HINCLKEY arrived from Connecticut and settled onLot 39, known as the Hinckley Farm. He came with a yoke of oxen and aspan of horses, and was forty days on the road. He taught the firstschool in town, commencing December 13, 1813, and closing February 22,1814. The school-house stood half a mile south of the Center, on the westhalf of Lot 33. The school comprised nineteen scholars. Mr. Hinckley alsoset out a row of maple-trees, half a mile in length, but he side of theroad next to his farm, which work will be a lasting monument to his goodtaste and beneficence. No Document history of the Township prior to 1820 can be found. In April, 1820, Thomas f. YOUNG was elected Clerk; previous to this Geo.C. REDDING was Clerk. In 1831 the Mormons, under Joe SMITH, made as unsuccessful attempt toeffect a permanent settlement in the Township, as account of which willbe found in the Country history proper. In 1850 an Eclectic Institute, under control of the Disciples, wasestablished in this town. This was the foundation of the interest which,in 1867, took the name of HIRAM COLLEGE, a history of which appears inthe Country history. In 1873 Hiram Township stood fifth in the Country in the manufacture ofcheese, producing three hundred and ninety-one thousand eight hundred andfifty pounds. BENJAMIN HINCKLEY, Hiram township, A native of Connecticut, was born November 22, 1781; his wife SuannahDAVIS, was born in Connecticut, January 2, 1782. In the year 1813 theycame to Ohio; at this time they had three children: the settled on thefarm now owned by his son E.D. HINCKLEY. Mr. Hinckley was one of the mostprominent men in his town; besides having held various offices, he taughtthe first school ever organized in this town, and did so for many years,giving unqualified satisfaction to the inhabitants; it can thus be saidof him that he first unfurled the standard of civilization and educationthe Township of Hiram. "Tis education forms this common mind; Just as thetwig is bent the tree’s inclined." This good and useful man died May 8, 1835, in his fifty-fifth year. Hiswife died January 8, 1878 at the extraordinary age of ninety-one. E.D. Hinckley, son of Benjamin and Suannah was born July 10 1812, inTolland Country Connecticut; came here with his father when but one yearold; his advantages for an education were fair; he was bred a farmer;when a young man, from thirty-six to forty-two, he taught school. In 1848he noticed a gradual failure of health consequently he gave up farmingand engaged as insurance agent for the Ohio Farmers’ Insurance Company;commenced November 10, 1848, and has continued at it ever since. Hisbusiness qualities render him an expert agent; during his term of officehe has insured some seven million dollars; worth of property; every losshas been paid and not one dollar paid out for litigation; it is abouttwenty-six years since he began. March 15, 1888 he was united in the holybonds of matrimony to Miss Nancy JOSLIN, of Ohio. As a result of thisunion nine children have been born whose names are here given, viz; JohnB, Harriet S., Bester R., Ann L, Ann, Nancy E., Eber P., Mary A., andHenry. Ann L. Died October 20, 1845 aged thirteen months; Harriet died;Bester R died in service; he belonged to the 42d Regiment, OhioVolunteers. Although it is hard for a father to part with a son in theprime of life, - to have our flesh and blood stricken from its accustomedplace in the society of home, - yet when they die so nobly, and for sucha glorious cause as did young Bester R., we should entertain thesorrowful, yet uncomplaining, feelings of Cato (so admirably expressed byAddison) when speaking over the dead body of his son, who had perished onthe ensanguined field for Rome and the Romans: "Thanks to the gods, my boy has done his duty. Welcome, my son! Here set him down, my friends, Full in my sight, that I may view at leisure The bloody corse, and count those glorious wounds. How beautiful is death when earned by virtue; Who would not be that youth? What pity is it That we can die but once to serve our country!’ etc.