Quirk Scuttled Early
Settlement of Township
​
By Catherine Ellsworth (1976)
Unlike other Ashtabula County townships. where early pioneer settlements disappeared with time, Trumbull has maintained three distinct community sites since pioneer days. Trumbull Center, East Trumbull and Footville function as distinct and separate communities, each with traditions and individual pride.
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There are those who say this individuality may have kept the township from developing in some directions. On the other hand, when the need has arisen, Trumbull has functioned as a unit. Probably the greatest example was during the Civil War when Trumbull provided more men and financial support to the Union cause than any other Ashtabula County township of equal population and financial standing.
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Township Number 10 of the fifth range, Connecticut Western Reserve, was originally east and west into three sections. the south and middle sections were two miles wide, and the north section one mile wide. Samuel Parkman, of Boston, owned the south division, William Tuckerman, Boston, the middle section, and Christopher Starr, the north division, which was sold prior to settlement. It was bought by Fitch and May, with Simon Perkins of Warren acting as their agent.
​
By a quirk of fate, Trumbull became one of the later townships settled, rather than the first. The first attempt was made by Holly and Hannah Turner. Scipio, New York, in 1799.
​
Tanner agreed to move onto 200 acres on the north line, at the present State Road, improve at least 20 acres, and live there continuously for two years. In return, the land would be his by deed. The family made the tortuous journey by land and water to Harper's landing on Lake Erie, arriving June 16, 1799. He cleared the 20 acres, after building a crude cabin, and raised a crop of wheat.
​
Living without neighbors, and enduring the hardships of the wilderness, Tanner became discouraged. One day word reached him of the deaths of the owners of the property.
​
Sure this would cancel the agreement, he moved his family out, with little more than one month remaining of the agreed time. He didn't know the proprietors had left written acknowledgement of the agreement, and the land would have been his.
Quirk Scuttled Early
Settlement of Township
​
By Catherine Ellsworth (1976)
Unlike other Ashtabula County townships. where early pioneer settlements disappeared with time, Trumbull has maintained three distinct community sites since pioneer days. Trumbull Center, East Trumbull and Footville function as distinct and separate communities, each with traditions and individual pride.
​
There are those who say this individuality may have kept the township from developing in some directions. On the other hand, when the need has arisen, Trumbull has functioned as a unit. Probably the greatest example was during the Civil War when Trumbull provided more men and financial support to the Union cause than any other Ashtabula County township of equal population and financial standing.
​
Township Number 10 of the fifth range, Connecticut Western Reserve, was originally east and west into three sections. the south and middle sections were two miles wide, and the north section one mile wide. Samuel Parkman, of Boston, owned the south division, William Tuckerman, Boston, the middle section, and Christopher Starr, the north division, which was sold prior to settlement. It was bought by Fitch and May, with Simon Perkins of Warren acting as their agent.
​
By a quirk of fate, Trumbull became one of the later townships settled, rather than the first. The first attempt was made by Holly and Hannah Turner. Scipio, New York, in 1799.
​
Tanner agreed to move onto 200 acres on the north line, at the present State Road, improve at least 20 acres, and live there continuously for two years. In return, the land would be his by deed. The family made the tortuous journey by land and water to Harper's landing on Lake Erie, arriving June 16, 1799. He cleared the 20 acres, after building a crude cabin, and raised a crop of wheat.
​
Living without neighbors, and enduring the hardships of the wilderness, Tanner became discouraged. One day word reached him of the deaths of the owners of the property.
​
Sure this would cancel the agreement, he moved his family out, with little more than one month remaining of the agreed time. He didn't know the proprietors had left written acknowledgement of the agreement, and the land would have been his.
