When Charles Case and his son, Zopher, settled in Williamsfield in 1803, they found 20 to 30 families of Massasaugas Indians of the Delaware Tribe. One of the Indian camping grounds was in the valley to the west along the stream given the Indian name, "Pymatuning," said to mean "home of the chief with the broken or cracked jaw."
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The Indians were friendly, a very religious tribe that even after the white people settled there, continued holding religious dances and pow-wows.
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One of their modes of worshipping the Great Spirit was described by an early settler. She said the Indians arranged themselves in two lines, women on one side and men on the other, with three or four sitting on the ground with their drums. The drumming was accompanied by chanting as they all swayed to and fro and toward one another and then back again, always keeping time to the drumming.
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"By moonlight or the light of torches in the silent hours of the night and when all nature was hushed?it was indeed very impressive," this early settler was quoted as saying.
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In 1799, the land that was to become Williamsfield was purchased from the Connecticut Land Co. by four men, Samuel Parkinan, John Allen, Elias Brown and Joseph Williams. It was from this early Williams, who as far as anyone can tell, never set foot on his land, that the township received its name.
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The Case family, first white settlers, came from Simsbury, Hartford County, Connecticut, arriving first in Kinsman. After returning from serving in the War of 1812, young Giddings took a part-time teaching position and helped his father on the farm. In 1818, he decided to study law under Elisha Whittlesey of Canfield.
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He was married to Laura Waters, a local school teacher, in 1819. He began the practice of law in Williamsfield in an office made of logs split and then hewn on the inside. Because of the isolation of the township and the small population, he moved his family and office to Jefferson in 1822.
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Giddings served in the House of Representatives for 21 years. He was instrumental in establishing the Republican party and helped to draw up the first anti-slavery platform of the party that ran Abraham Lincoln for president. He ended his life's work as consul general to Canada.
When Charles Case and his son, Zopher, settled in Williamsfield in 1803, they found 20 to 30 families of Massasaugas Indians of the Delaware Tribe. One of the Indian camping grounds was in the valley to the west along the stream given the Indian name, "Pymatuning," said to mean "home of the chief with the broken or cracked jaw."
​
The Indians were friendly, a very religious tribe that even after the white people settled there, continued holding religious dances and pow-wows.
​
One of their modes of worshipping the Great Spirit was described by an early settler. She said the Indians arranged themselves in two lines, women on one side and men on the other, with three or four sitting on the ground with their drums. The drumming was accompanied by chanting as they all swayed to and fro and toward one another and then back again, always keeping time to the drumming.
​
"By moonlight or the light of torches in the silent hours of the night and when all nature was hushed?it was indeed very impressive," this early settler was quoted as saying.
​
In 1799, the land that was to become Williamsfield was purchased from the Connecticut Land Co. by four men, Samuel Parkinan, John Allen, Elias Brown and Joseph Williams. It was from this early Williams, who as far as anyone can tell, never set foot on his land, that the township received its name.
​
The Case family, first white settlers, came from Simsbury, Hartford County, Connecticut, arriving first in Kinsman. After returning from serving in the War of 1812, young Giddings took a part-time teaching position and helped his father on the farm. In 1818, he decided to study law under Elisha Whittlesey of Canfield.
​
He was married to Laura Waters, a local school teacher, in 1819. He began the practice of law in Williamsfield in an office made of logs split and then hewn on the inside. Because of the isolation of the township and the small population, he moved his family and office to Jefferson in 1822.
​
Giddings served in the House of Representatives for 21 years. He was instrumental in establishing the Republican party and helped to draw up the first anti-slavery platform of the party that ran Abraham Lincoln for president. He ended his life's work as consul general to Canada.
Indians First in Pymatuning Area
Indians First in Pymatuning Area
By Lucille Donley (1976)
By Lucille Donley (1976)
Friendly to First White Settlers:
Friendly to First White Settlers:
