Tags: Silver Lake

William Wetmore was a cousin to Joshua Stow. Wetmore had been a successful businessman in the same town as Stow. In fact, many of the early settlers in Stow would come from the same town of Middletown Connecticut. After a few bad investments Wetmore took the job of Deputy Clerk for the county. It was at this point in 1804 that Stow offered Wetmore the job of being his land agent (realtor) in the new state of Ohio. Wetmore accepted and with his wife and 4 children used a span of horses (two horses that are nearly identical, even in color) and a covered wagon on a overland route that took 42 days to get to the new frontier. One of the first things he did was to hire Joseph Darrow to survey the township in to 90 equal lots. Wetmore built his cabin on the southeast center lot about 20 rods (one rod equals 16 ½ feet) east of the very center of town. For those that know the area, this would be approximately where Walgreens is now, but remember it was also unbroken wilderness. Even though the Indians had long since given up the rights to this land, there were still large numbers around and one (sometimes two) Indian villages on Silver lake. Wetmore kept a good relationship with them and gained their respect by not trying to take advantage of them. When trading with the Indians, he would have them state their terms and he would either accept or reject the deal, never arguing with his neighbors.

Posted on HASC Facebook by Rodney