A BRIEF HISTORY OF EARLY SALEM, OHIO In the year 1800 there were approximately 800 families in the Ohio Territory. Salem, the "Quaker City", began to spring to life a year later when Elisha Shooley arrived from Virginia. He erected the first log cabin near where the railroad crosses South Lincoln Avenue, and operated a gristmill and sawmill. Soon, other members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) arrived from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia. They came because they were bitterly opposed to slavery. Many of them were followers of William Penn. Samuel Smith, a New Jersey Friend, bought land and built his log cabin on the southwest corner of what would eventually become Market (Main, State) Street and Range (Depot, South Ellsworth) Avenue. Samuel Davis, another Friend, purchased land on which there was a spring and built a cabin behind where the present junior high school is located on North Lincoln Avenue. The first Quaker meeting (Friends) was held in 1804 at the Davis home. Some of the names of other early settlers included Painter, Boone, Cook, Evans, Hunt, Jennings, Tolerton, Wilson, French, Sharp, Stratton, Hise, Fawcett, Holloway, Gaskill, Cattell, Scolfield, Baum, Blackburn and Flitcraft. They were blacksmiths, cabinet-makers, carpenters, mechanics, brick-makers, tailors, hatters, shoemakers, millers, sawmill operators and farmers. In 1806 a 55-year-old retired clockmaker named Zadok Street arrived with his family from Salem, New Jersey. On April 30, 1806, three years after Ohio had been admitted as the 17th state of the Union, he and John Straughan, a pottery-maker from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, founded Salem, Ohio. The city was named for Salem, New Jersey. Its name comes from the word "Jerusalem", which means "city of peace" (Jerusalem was originally called Salem). There were approximately 100 inhabitants. Various inducements were offered to encourage people to settle here. In 1804-05 the first meeting house, a double log cabin, was built to serve both the religious and educational needs of the community. The town's point of beginning was a cornerstone at the intersection of Market (Main, State) Street and Range (Depot, South Ellsworth) Avenue. At that time it was only the crossing of two Northwest Territory survey lines. The Great Northwest Territory (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota) included an area northwest of the Ohio River, established as free territory from which slavery was forever excluded. Originally, the town was on the corners of four townships - Goshen, Green, Butler, and Salem. Later, a petition for the formation of a separate township of 16 square miles, called Perry, was granted. Zadok Street owned land north of Market (Main) Street (Section 36), and John Straughan owned land to the south (Section 1). The two properties of Street and Straughan combined to make a plat which was laid out into 54 lots, each 60 ft. wide and 180 ft. long. Five streets were planned: Market (Main, State), Water (Green, Second), Dry (Pershing), High (Howard) and Range (Depot, South Ellsworth). Four alleys, all running east and west, were named North, Strawberry, Mulberry and South. North and South alleys set the boundaries for "Original Salem". A document titled "A Plan of Salem in Columbiana County and State of Ohio" was recorded on May 16, 1806. Nathan Hunt purchased the first lots. Zadok Street built his log house of hand-hewed logs on the southwest corner of South Ellsworth Avenue and State Street. The structure was later moved across State Street and a half block west of the corner. He died on October 28, 1807, approximately 18 months after arriving in Salem. John Straughan had actually arrived in Salem three years before Zadok Street. He settled on the northern one-third of Section One, which extended from the southwest corner of State Street and South Ellsworth Avenue to the Georgetown Road. The land was purchased from Job Cook for $453. Straughan's business was farming and real estate, but he also worked in the woolen mill. John and Mary had five children. They conveyed lots 55 and 56 (one-half acre on the northwest corner of Wilson and South Ellsworth) to the Baptist Church for $14. Mary died in 1834 and John moved to Lisbon. The Straughan home, built years later in 1849 after John married Martha Nixon and moved from Lisbon back to Salem, is located at 375 West State Street (now Adamson Veterinary Services). This house was also owned at one time by William Jennings, a brother of Simeon who lived across the street, and by grocery-owner Lindley Tomlinson. In 1807 the town had a Post Office, located on the southwest corner of South Ellsworth Avenue and State Street. It was operated by John Street, son of Zadok, who also opened the first store. Mail was delivered once a week by horse and carrier (originally by foot) from New Lisbon, the county seat, through Salem to Deerfield. The early stage route through this area, from East Liverpool through Wellsville, Lisbon, Salem, Ravenna to Cleveland, was established around 1824. Salem's first bank, Farmers Bank, was founded in 1846, with Simeon Jennings as president. The First National Bank was founded in 1863, with Alexander Pow as president. Salem's first factory, which carded wool, was established in 1844. The first foundry was started in the 1830s by Nicholas Johnson. That is where Thomas Sharp made the first steam engine in 1842. Salem was not incorporated until January 8, 1830. There was a Town Council consisting of a president, recorder, and five trustees. John Campbell was the first president. In 1852 the form of government was changed to a village, and a mayor (Alfred Wright) was elected. This brought on the two-party system. The first passenger train, pulled by an engine called "The Beaver", arrived in Salem on November 27, 1851. Passengers were given a ride to Alliance and back. At noon on January 6, 1852 the track from Salem to Pittsburgh was completed. Soon, passenger trains were running between Pittsburgh and Alliance. Rail transportation contributed much to the future progress of the city. Long before the Civil War, Salem was widely known as the western headquarters of the Anti-Slavery Society. This is where the society's official newspaper, "The Anti-Slavery Bugle", was published. Our town was also a "station" on the Underground Railroad, which gave food and shelter to many fugitive slaves and sent them on their way to Canada and freedom. On August 26, 1845 the 12th annual meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society was held at "Liberty Hall" (still standing at 264 North Ellsworth Avenue). The old town hall, built in 1847, was another gathering place for boisterous anti-slavery meetings. Equally important was the old Hicksite Friends Meeting House where Ohio's first women's rights convention was held in 1850. Surprisingly, no streets in Salem have been named in honor of either of the town's founders - Zadok Street and John Straughan. Records indicate that both men were probably buried at the Old Friends burial ground on South Ellsworth Avenue. |