Leaving Waterbury in September 1807, the first group of thirty-three pioneers reached Cleveland in late November. While most of the new settlers wintered over in Cleveland, a hardy few set off for the township.
With a sled pulled by oxen, Jared Pritchard, Levi Bronson, John Williams, Silas Hoadley, and Bela Bronson, with his wife Sally, and their eight month-old son Sherlock, set off through the winter landscape, made the trip in eight days. While the men bushwhacked a road through the forest, Sally cooked for them long the way. The trip was completed in eight days.
Three cabins were built by Christmas; and it is said that the only shelter the young Bronson family at night until work on their home was completed was the box of the sled turned up against a tree. Sally Bronson, that first summer, set up school in her cabin. She had ten students.
"Mrs. Sally Bronson, in honor of being the first white woman that settled in town,
was accorded the privilege of naming it. She selected that of her native township, "Columbia."
(All quotations are taken from the out-of-copyright History of Lorain County, published by Williams Brothers, 1879.)
Sally called it Columbia, in honor of her Connecticut hometown.
Ohio Historcial Marker:
Near Columbia Station in Lorain County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Columbia Township, reads;
Founded in 1807 Columbia was the first continuously inhabited settlement in Lorain County. Harmon, Levi and Azor Bronson, Calvin Hoadley, Jared Pritchard and others formed the Waterbury Land Company to buy the township from the Connecticut Land Company. In 1808, Sally Bronson named the township and became its first teacher. In 1809, the first church society was formed and Hoadley built a log gristmill beside the Rocky River. A militia company was organized in 1810 and a two story blockhouse was constructed for protection during the War of 1812.
With a sled pulled by oxen, Jared Pritchard, Levi Bronson, John Williams, Silas Hoadley, and Bela Bronson, with his wife Sally, and their eight month-old son Sherlock, set off through the winter landscape, made the trip in eight days. While the men bushwhacked a road through the forest, Sally cooked for them long the way. The trip was completed in eight days.
Three cabins were built by Christmas; and it is said that the only shelter the young Bronson family at night until work on their home was completed was the box of the sled turned up against a tree. Sally Bronson, that first summer, set up school in her cabin. She had ten students.
"Mrs. Sally Bronson, in honor of being the first white woman that settled in town,
was accorded the privilege of naming it. She selected that of her native township, "Columbia."
(All quotations are taken from the out-of-copyright History of Lorain County, published by Williams Brothers, 1879.)
Sally called it Columbia, in honor of her Connecticut hometown.
Ohio Historcial Marker:
Near Columbia Station in Lorain County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Columbia Township, reads;
Founded in 1807 Columbia was the first continuously inhabited settlement in Lorain County. Harmon, Levi and Azor Bronson, Calvin Hoadley, Jared Pritchard and others formed the Waterbury Land Company to buy the township from the Connecticut Land Company. In 1808, Sally Bronson named the township and became its first teacher. In 1809, the first church society was formed and Hoadley built a log gristmill beside the Rocky River. A militia company was organized in 1810 and a two story blockhouse was constructed for protection during the War of 1812.
Leaving Waterbury in September 1807, the first group of thirty-three pioneers reached Cleveland in late November. While most of the new settlers wintered over in Cleveland, a hardy few set off for the township.
With a sled pulled by oxen, Jared Pritchard, Levi Bronson, John Williams, Silas Hoadley, and Bela Bronson, with his wife Sally, and their eight month-old son Sherlock, set off through the winter landscape, made the trip in eight days. While the men bushwhacked a road through the forest, Sally cooked for them long the way. The trip was completed in eight days.
Three cabins were built by Christmas; and it is said that the only shelter the young Bronson family at night until work on their home was completed was the box of the sled turned up against a tree. Sally Bronson, that first summer, set up school in her cabin. She had ten students.
"Mrs. Sally Bronson, in honor of being the first white woman that settled in town,
was accorded the privilege of naming it. She selected that of her native township, "Columbia."
(All quotations are taken from the out-of-copyright History of Lorain County, published by Williams Brothers, 1879.)
Sally called it Columbia, in honor of her Connecticut hometown.
Ohio Historcial Marker:
Near Columbia Station in Lorain County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Columbia Township, reads;
Founded in 1807 Columbia was the first continuously inhabited settlement in Lorain County. Harmon, Levi and Azor Bronson, Calvin Hoadley, Jared Pritchard and others formed the Waterbury Land Company to buy the township from the Connecticut Land Company. In 1808, Sally Bronson named the township and became its first teacher. In 1809, the first church society was formed and Hoadley built a log gristmill beside the Rocky River. A militia company was organized in 1810 and a two story blockhouse was constructed for protection during the War of 1812.
With a sled pulled by oxen, Jared Pritchard, Levi Bronson, John Williams, Silas Hoadley, and Bela Bronson, with his wife Sally, and their eight month-old son Sherlock, set off through the winter landscape, made the trip in eight days. While the men bushwhacked a road through the forest, Sally cooked for them long the way. The trip was completed in eight days.
Three cabins were built by Christmas; and it is said that the only shelter the young Bronson family at night until work on their home was completed was the box of the sled turned up against a tree. Sally Bronson, that first summer, set up school in her cabin. She had ten students.
"Mrs. Sally Bronson, in honor of being the first white woman that settled in town,
was accorded the privilege of naming it. She selected that of her native township, "Columbia."
(All quotations are taken from the out-of-copyright History of Lorain County, published by Williams Brothers, 1879.)
Sally called it Columbia, in honor of her Connecticut hometown.
Ohio Historcial Marker:
Near Columbia Station in Lorain County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Columbia Township, reads;
Founded in 1807 Columbia was the first continuously inhabited settlement in Lorain County. Harmon, Levi and Azor Bronson, Calvin Hoadley, Jared Pritchard and others formed the Waterbury Land Company to buy the township from the Connecticut Land Company. In 1808, Sally Bronson named the township and became its first teacher. In 1809, the first church society was formed and Hoadley built a log gristmill beside the Rocky River. A militia company was organized in 1810 and a two story blockhouse was constructed for protection during the War of 1812.
Inscription
Inscription:
SALLY TWITCHELL
Wife of
BENONI ADAMS
DIED
July 1, 1865
Aged 82 Yrs
Gravesite Details
This Columbia Center Cemetery is the area of Bela and Sally Bronson's cabin clearing. It is over looking the Rocky River Valley. Many pioneers from Waterbury, Connecticut are buried here.
Family Members
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See more Bronson Adams or Twitchell memorials in:
- Columbia Center Cemetery Bronson Adams or Twitchell
- Columbia Center Bronson Adams or Twitchell
- Lorain County Bronson Adams or Twitchell
- Ohio Bronson Adams or Twitchell
- USA Bronson Adams or Twitchell
- Find a Grave Bronson Adams or Twitchell
Records on Ancestry
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