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The very first settlers of Kingsville, were all
squatters. Most of them came from western
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Pennsylvania with very little or no money at all. Most
of them probably knew they were squatters |
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when they settled the area but more than likely they
may not of had a choice for various reasons, |
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mainly being all of them were very poor.
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Eldad Harrington was the very first squatter who had a
reputation as a great hunter and fisherman.
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He came to Kingsville from western Pennsylvania in
the late summer of 1803. He erected his |
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cabin on the bottom lands of the Conneaut River near
the bend of the stream. In 1805, Harrington was
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followed by seven other squatters and their families.
Most of these families hoped they would be able to
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earn enough money to buy their land. Sometimes they
would sell their improvements to the land to buy |
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their own land and start over. This was a common
practice in the Connecticut Western Reserve |
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for early settlers. The names of these early
settlers or "squatters", as labeled by many
earlier |
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historians were Israel Harrington, Elijah Lewis,
Andrew Stull, Daniel Tolbert, Leonard and Michael |
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Widener, a Mr. Blackman and a Mr. and Mrs. Blackamore,
all of whom where from western |
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Pennsylvania. Mr. Blackamore was a soldier in the
Revolutionary War with the Continental Congress. |
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In the early years of Kingsville, even though the
Indians had "sold" their lands, they had been
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granted
the right to hunt and fish on their former lands by the
treaty of
Greenville. Kingsville had an
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abundant wildlife and fish as did the rest of
Ashtabula Township. By the end of the War of 1812, most |
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Indians had left the Connecticut Western Reserve.
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The first settler who was a land owner in what we now
know as Kingsville - North Kingsville, was |
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Captain Walter Fobes who came from Norwich,
Massachusetts in 1805. Fobes' life was
short
lived
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as he died in 1816. Kingsville at one time was known as
Fobes' Dale after the first land owner in the
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township that settles there. For a short while,
although not officially, Kingsville was called
"Fobes'
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Tale". The settlers of early Kingsville did not like
the name that their town was being called by |
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substituting the "D" for a "T'. The settlers
finally got together and renamed their
township, |
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Norwich after the town that Captain Walter Fobes came
from.
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The name "Norwich" was short lived. A traveler who
was just passing through "Norwich" heard |
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heard about the controversy of renaming the township
which had become
known as "Fobes' Tale". |
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Unlike
Ashtabula, the people of Kingsville must have been more
easily influenced with the power of |
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whiskey just like the Indians of the Connecticut Western
Reserve.
An inintinerant named King
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suggested that the town be named after him. In return,
King would give the people four gallons of whiskey |
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The people agreed and Kingsville was born.
The township of Kingsville was organized in 1810 and was |
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the
first township created from Ashtabula Township. |
