Souls Searching - Park
Index Page
Bailey Porter
Basham Smiley
Boyd Towslee
Conn Woods
Ferguson Yergin
Finlay Pictures
Hadfield What's New
Marsh Credits
McGuire Links
Niesz Contact
Park Copyright
Obituaries Database
 
Message Forums


THE PARK FAMILY HISTORY



John Park, the father of Mary Park Towslee, was born 1789 and raised in the Susquehanna River Valley in Pennsylvania. He was a farmer by trade. in 1809 he married Sarah Patterson Park, following there marriage, they moved to Beaver County, Pennsylvania. In 1818 John Park and his brother David, each with a family of small children, moved to Congress Township, Wayne County, Ohio. In 1829 John moved to Homer Twonship, Medina County, Ohio, where he became the first settler...the founder of Homer Township. The father of a family of ten, he died July 26, 1865, and is at rest in the Albert Cemetery, Crawford Corners.
Sarah Patterson Park, mother of Mary Park Towslee, was born in 1788 and made her early home in the Susquehanna Valley, Pennsylvania. Little is known of the Patterson family other than the fact that Sarah was one of a family of ten children and that she had a sister, Margaret, who was ever her close companion. She married John Park in 1809, then came to Wayne County, Ohio in 1818, then settled in Homer Township, Ohio in 1829. She passed away in September 1876 and is at rest in the Albert Cemetery, Crawford Corners.
John and Sarah Patterson Park had a family consisting of five sons and five daughters. The four eldest were born in Pennsylvania, five were born in Wayne County, Ohio, while the youngest, Harriet, was born July 14, 1831...the first white child to be born in Homer Township in which her parents were the first settlers in 1829. The family:

James Park, born January 1, 1810
Margaret Park Elmer, born November 12, 1811
David Park, born October 24, 1813
Jane Park Towslee, born June 25, 1815
John Park, Jr., born August 31, 1818
Mary Park Towslee, born March 9, 1821
Joseph Park, born September 13, 1823
Robert Park, born June 19, 1826
Sarah Park Rickel, born June 27, 1828
Harriet Park Wandel, born July 14, 1831

The Park family had moved to "this unbroken territory of Homer Township, Medina County, Ohio". from the northern edge of Wayne County four miles away. The two brothers John and David Park, were inseparable and there wives, Sarah and Margaret respectively, who were also sisters and very close.
Historians have never been able to trace the early relationships and connectins of these pioneer families beyond the fact they both were raised in the Susquehanna Valley, Pennsylavnia and moved to Beaver County, Pennsylvania from where they moved to Wayne County, Ohio in 1818. David and Margaret were the older couple. David was born in 1796. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812 and was wounded a wound from which he never fully recovered. He died in 1848.
The Park homestead, three and one-half miles west of Bridgeport (now Burbank) was located just south of what later was to be laid...the Erie Railroad.
John and Sarah Park, the younger of the two couples, were also the more adventurous; but always the families remained close together. Each mother named her daughter for her sister, and the family names were so interwoven that it was difficult to distinguish to which family an individual belonged. Each had a family of small children with their pioneer homes only one-half mile apart. But they were far from neighbors and surrounded by dense forest. It required stout hearts to brave the perils of the wilderness.
According to tradition, the Parks were the first settlers in the northern edge of Congress Township, Wayne County, Ohio. Each owned a section of land adjoining the other. Beside the flowing spring they built their homes of logs. Children were forbidden to wander far from home because of wild beasts and because of the danger of getting lost. Picking berries in the woods was also hazardous, for the same reasons. The story is told of the member of the Park family who had one bucket full of blackberries and was proceeding to fill another container with the wild berries, when, hearing a noise behind him, turned to see a large bear just finishing the berries in the bucket he had just filled.
Upon arriving at their home site in northern Wayne County, John and Sarah selected the first site three miles west of Bridgeport (later Burbank), for their home. David and Margaret selected their home location one-half mile beyond, toward West Salem, Ohio. The section of 640 acres, owned by John Park in 1818, became divided in later years into the farms of Kime, Byers, Rebman, Stratton, and Niesz. The buldings stood for many years with the house close to the spring on the Niesz place a little southwest of where the barn stood for so long.
It is believed and supported by tradition that the Park families came to Ohio early in the Spring when the snow was still on the ground with Ox teams and sleds and all their possessions, they arrived in Wooster, Ohio, the county seat of Wayne County, where they stopped long enough to procure location instructions and arrange for the necessary titles of ownership. Moving northward, they passed over a well traveled road until reaching the town of Bridgeport (now Burbank). Leaving the highway and turning westward, they followed the road which was a mere trail through the timberlands and continued onward for three miles to the sites where they located their homes. There is somewhat of a mystery as to how these parents provided the necessities of life for a family of children in an unbroken forest.
At this location, three miles west of Bridgeport, five children were born to John and Sarah Patterson Park, increasing the size of their family to nine children. One of them was Mary Park, called "Polly", born March 9, 1821, from whom we are direct descendants.
After having lived eleven years on the Wayne County homestead, the family moved a distance of about four miles into the deepest wilds of Homer Township, Medina County, Ohio to become the first settlers of that densely timbered territory, as was all northern Ohio in 1829. Again they built a log cabin and there, their tenth child, Harriet was born July 14, 1831, the first white child born in Homer Township, Medina County, Ohio.

OF THE JOHN PARK FAMILY



James Park, eldest son of John and Sarah Patterson Park, was born January 1, 1810 in Pennsylvania, and accompanied his family to Ohio in 1818. He received a better education than most young people of that day and became a teacher in the first school opened in Homer Township, Medina County, Ohio, the Williams District as it was later named. He received seventy-five cents a week and boarded around among the parents of fourteen pupils. The next year he recieved a salary of twelve dollars a month and continued to teach for several years. Later in life he operated a tool shop at his home, at Crawford Corners, made farm implements, wagons, harrows, and sleds. He was twice married . His family was Othello Park, Charles Park, Lewis Park, Ellen Park Stacks, and Irene Park Fair. Irene married Albert Fair and they lived in Red Haw, Ohio. They had a son: John Fair.
Margaret Park, eldest daughter of John and Sarah Patterson Park, was born in Pennsylvania on November 12, 1811. She came with her parents in 1818 and moved with them to Homer Township in 1829. She was married to Philo Elmer of Lodi, Ohio, owner of a hotel and livery establishment known as the "Elmer House". It was a thriving hotel for points east, west, north and south, famous for its fine food and excellent service. A son, Warren Elmer, was Lodi's liveryman for years. Dr. Warren Elmer, Jr., of St. Louis, Missouri, was a grandson.
Jane Park, daughter of John and Sarah Patterson Park, was born June 25, 1815 in Pennsylvania and came with the family to Ohio in 1818, moving to Homer Township with them in 1829. She was married to John Towslee, son of Darius Towslee, on June 12, 1841 and passed away in 1883 leaving no family. John Towslee married a second time, Lauretta Griswold, on May 18, 1846 and moved to a Western state. There are two children's graves in the Albert Cemetery at Crawford Corners. No further records have been found.
John Park, Jr., born August 31, 1818, was the first child of John and Sarah Patterson Park to in Ohio. He was a very active, fun loving lad, full of ambition. When he was eleven years old the family moved to Homer Towhsnip, Medina County, Ohio. He married a Miss Holcomb and they moved to Wisconsin. They had two daughters whose names are not available.
Mary Park Towslee (March 9, 1821 - November 12, 1899) See HIRAM TOWSLEE FAMILY HISTORY.
Joseph Park, son of John and Sarah Patterson Park, was born Septemger 13, 1823 in Congress Township, Wayne County, Ohio. He moved with the family to Homer Township, Medina County, Ohio in 1829. He was a farmer by occupation and owned a home at Crawford Corners. He was married to Mary Dawson, and to them were born two daughters, Cynthia and Verlinda. Cynthia married Hubert Shaw. Verlinda, born December 11, 1866, married Frank R. Byers of Burbank and they had three children, Mary Byers, Carl Byers and Ruth Byers Lance. The son of Ruth is Robert Lance.
Robert Park, son of John and Sarah Patterson Park, was born in Congress Township on June 19, 1826. He moved with the family to Homer Township in 1829 where he grew to manhood. Later, he became a farmer in Loraine County, Ohio. He married Eliza Merry and to them were born two daughters, Anna Park Bartlett and Letta Park Fox. No other information is available.
Sarah Park Rickel, daughter of John and Sarah Patterson Park, was born in Congress Township, Wayne County, Ohio on June 27, 1828. Given her mothers name she was but a babe in arms when the family moved to Homer Township, Medina County, Ohio. She was a quiet patient person, and a devoted daughter caring for her parents in their declining years. She was married to Mathias Rickel who died in young manhood. To them was born one son, William Rickel on Janyary 12, 1857. On November 27, 1883, William married Susan Thorley, to them were born six sons, namely, Claude C Rickel (died 1966), Lloyd C. Rickel, Neal Rickel, Harry Rickel, Park Rickel and Merle R. Rickel. Claude married Nora Butdorf, they had a daughter, Virginia and a son, Gordon. Lloyd married Eva Eshelman, they had no children. Neal married Dorothy Hershey, they had two daughters, Harriet and Norma. Harry never married. Park married and had a son. Merle married Ruth Ekey and they had no children.
Harriet Park, youngest child of John and Sarah Patterson Park, was born on July 14, 1831, the first white child born in Homer Township, Medina County, Ohio. She married John Wandel and moved to St.John, Michigan. Their children were: Mary Wandel Plowman, Frank Wandel, Will Wandel, Sarah Wandel and Catherine Wandel.
These were all new pioneers in a new country of vast timberlands. All the houses were made of logs and some were very comfortable indeed. The Indians, by that time, had moved westward to a point near Detroit, Michigan, though there were many roving bands of hostile tribes who would raid the countryside from time to time. Neither the settler, his family or his property were safe from sudden attacks. In addition to the Indians, there were many wild animals to guard against. This writer recalls Will Rickel relating a hair-raising experience involving an uncle, Robert Park, boiling down maple syrup. Heat for the boiling process was supplied by firewood. During the night the wood burned up and the fire was low. Robert, who was sleeping under some blankets inside the shanty, suddenly found himself under attack by a panther, trying to claw through the blankets. He promptly took his knife and stabbed the animal that had ventured forth into the shanty when the fire went down. Mr. Rickel often talked of the miles of trap lines operated by this same Robert Park and how he built the small blockhouse-type wooden traps for wolves and then collected a bounty paid for each hide. A favorite location of one of the blockhouse-type traps was in the small valley on the northwest side of and across the road from (later became US Highway 42) what was then the property of his sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Towslee, and was later owned by Lorenzo Towslee.

OF THE DAVID PARK FAMILY



Brief mention is made of the David and Margaret Patterson Park family. Because of the close kinship and association, we add this touch. Their family consisted of Adam Park, Joseph Park and David Park, Jr.. Records are incomplete but a few represenative names related in one way or another to the Park families, are listed: Bliss, Billman, Edwards, Kime, Eshelman, Whitmore, Underwood, Simcox, Shoemaker, Kauffman, Cooper, Chamberlain, Lowe, Lee, Moore, Dague, Flickinger, Wood and Stevens.
David and Margaret Patterson Park are at rest in the Congress Township Cemetery, Wayne County, Ohio. Also known as the Jeffries Cemetery.
In closing the chapters on the Park families, we point out that in the late 1920's an annual John and David Park Family Reunion was initiated and held at the Crawford Corners Community Hall (later the Harrisville Grange Hall). It is believed that this annual family reunion has continued down through the years and continues to be held today.

THE PATTERSON ANCESTORS



Very little information is available regarding the parents of Sarah and Margaret Park. Their parents lived near the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania and apparently were farmers. We have been told that during Indian uprisings and attacks the family would go to the "blockhouse" within the "stockade" at night for protection. They worked in their fields during the daytime.
There is a legend of an "Aunt" who was stolen by the Indians...a beautiful and precious child of two and one-half years...who in later life became the wife of an Indian chief. When the Iroquois were moving westward, she was permitted to visit her people who begged her to stay, but her interests and her family were among the Indians and she preferred to live among them.
William Rickel, grandson of Sarah Patterson Park, remembered his mother telling of the incidents of her girlhood. In going to the market, she had to make her horse swim the river. In addition to the articles of trade to be kept dry, she was often obliged to take a little child with her on the perilous journey.