Nighttime pic of The New Haven Odd Fellows Lodge taken July 27…..The historic building has a new owner and the LIGHTS ARE BACK ON!

                                                                                     
                                                                                                                   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

            

The NEW HAVEN OHIO HISTORY LEAGUE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Organization.

Contact Us:

New Haven Ohio History League Inc
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