The NEW HAVEN OHIO HISTORY LEAGUE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Organization
About Us:
The New Haven Ohio History League was established in the summer of 2019 for the purpose of collecting, preserving, interpreting and sharing the rich history of the Village of New Haven which is located in New Haven Township in southern Huron County Ohio. Why New Haven, you may ask? While today the Village is a small, close-knit, bedroom community, it was the very center of commercial activity in the decades following its establishment in the early years of the 19th century. As one of the first settlements in the newly created “Firelands” frontier, it’s location on the main road leading to the shipping ports of Lake Erie made it a thriving community of thousands catering to long wagon trains of grain and other goods streaming north through it’s main street. The Village had many mercantile establishments, a tannery, foundry, shoemakers, taverns and a whole host of economic activity catering to the flood of travelers and freight haulers. New Haven was the primary destination for goods and supplies for many miles around. Unfortunately, in the 1840’s, it’s citizens decided to not contribute funds to the construction of the new railroad and the Village was passed by. It had lost it’s gateway to the future of America. Soon, as trains overtook the movement of freight, New Haven went into decline.
New Haven’s storied past is well documented in biographies and books telling of the settlement and growth of the Firelands region. Our goal is to bring that incredible story to the world and share the life and times of its early settlers who braved a wild and difficult existence on the American frontier. Swamps, impassible forests, rattle snakes, disease and hostile Native Americans were just a few of the daily challenges for the brave men, women and children who dared venture west. We are their descendants.
EARLY SETTLERS
Are you descended from our earliest New Haven settlers? We would like to hear your story! Many of these folks are buried in our local cemeteries, and others moved on to other parts of the frontier. Some returned back east to more familiar, less difficult lives.
New Haven was the first township settled within the territory of Huron County. Caleb Palmer was the first pioneer to settle in New Haven in 1811, before the war of 1812. He was a surveyor, and as such, had traveled the forests in this area some years before. He bought land in the township in 1810, and settled there with his wife and two children in 1811. Two men, Woodcock and Newcomb, came about the same time, but neither remained long in the township. Jonathon Chapman, also known as "Johnny Appleseed", lived for a time with Caleb Palmer and his family, beginning in 1811, and lived there for much of the time during the war of 1812, except for times of pilgrimage to other parts of the country.
The settlement increased rapidly beginning in 1814. Among those early pioneers were the following, with date of arrival shown for each:
Reuben Skinner 1814 Josiah Curtiss ca 1814
James MacIntyre ca 1814 David Powers ca 1814
Samuel B. Carpenter ca 1814 John Barney ca 1814
Samuel Knapp ca 1814 Martin M. Kellogg ca 1814
Inscho Family ca 1814 Henry Barney ca 1814
Royal N. Powers ca 1814 Chisim May ca 1814
Calvin Hutchinson ca 1814 William Clark ca 1814
Jacob Speeker ca 1814 Joseph Dana ca 1814
John Albertson ca 1814 Gorge Shivel ca 1814
Matthew Bevard ca 1814 Prince Haskell ca 1814
George Beymer 1815 William York 1815
Stephen Stillwell 1815 Luther Coe 1816
Ezekial Rooks 1816 William Ellis 1816
Isaac Powers ca 1816 Rouse Bly 1816
Joseph Darling ca 1816 John Myers ca 1816
Benjamin West ca 1816 Gasper Smith ca 1816
Matthew Smith ca 1816 John Middleton ca 1816
Henry Granger ca 1817 Benjamin McFarland ca 1817
David Dow 1817 Enos Rose 1818
Thomas T. Mulford 1819 Enos Ayres 1819
William B. Moore 1819 Henry Moore 1819
Judge Ives 1820 Richard Frisbie ca 1820
Are you descended from our earliest New Haven settlers? We would like to hear your story! Many of these folks are buried in our local cemeteries, and others moved on to other parts of the frontier. Some returned back east to more familiar, less difficult lives.
New Haven was the first township settled within the territory of Huron County. Caleb Palmer was the first pioneer to settle in New Haven in 1811, before the war of 1812. He was a surveyor, and as such, had traveled the forests in this area some years before. He bought land in the township in 1810, and settled there with his wife and two children in 1811. Two men, Woodcock and Newcomb, came about the same time, but neither remained long in the township. Jonathon Chapman, also known as "Johnny Appleseed", lived for a time with Caleb Palmer and his family, beginning in 1811, and lived there for much of the time during the war of 1812, except for times of pilgrimage to other parts of the country.
The settlement increased rapidly beginning in 1814. Among those early pioneers were the following, with date of arrival shown for each:
Reuben Skinner 1814 Josiah Curtiss ca 1814
James MacIntyre ca 1814 David Powers ca 1814
Samuel B. Carpenter ca 1814 John Barney ca 1814
Samuel Knapp ca 1814 Martin M. Kellogg ca 1814
Inscho Family ca 1814 Henry Barney ca 1814
Royal N. Powers ca 1814 Chisim May ca 1814
Calvin Hutchinson ca 1814 William Clark ca 1814
Jacob Speeker ca 1814 Joseph Dana ca 1814
John Albertson ca 1814 Gorge Shivel ca 1814
Matthew Bevard ca 1814 Prince Haskell ca 1814
George Beymer 1815 William York 1815
Stephen Stillwell 1815 Luther Coe 1816
Ezekial Rooks 1816 William Ellis 1816
Isaac Powers ca 1816 Rouse Bly 1816
Joseph Darling ca 1816 John Myers ca 1816
Benjamin West ca 1816 Gasper Smith ca 1816
Matthew Smith ca 1816 John Middleton ca 1816
Henry Granger ca 1817 Benjamin McFarland ca 1817
David Dow 1817 Enos Rose 1818
Thomas T. Mulford 1819 Enos Ayres 1819
William B. Moore 1819 Henry Moore 1819
Judge Ives 1820 Richard Frisbie ca 1820
Contact Us:
New Haven Ohio History League
PO Box 25
New Haven, Ohio 44850-0025
Telephone: (419) 668-0787
Email: info@newhavenohiohistory.org
Also check out our Facebook page: Memories and History of New Haven, Ohio and the Surrounding Area