SHARON CENTER, MEDINA COUNTY, OHIO - MY BOYHOOD HOME


A Brief History of Sharon Township Sharon Center School Classmates 1949-1956 The Story of The Terrible 1890 Sharon Township Tornado

1826 Map of the Western Reserve. Sharon Township colored in green.
The colony of Connecticut was granted a sea-to-sea land grant by King Charles II of England in the latter half of the 17th century. In 1786 it ceded the its claim to the United States its western territory, except for an area south of Lake Erie from the Ohio-Pennsylvania border to Sandusky, which it reserved for itself. Connecticut sold this territory to a group of investors and land speculators that operated as the Connecticut Land Company, which in turn sold plots to settlers.
Sharon Township was known originally as Hart and Mathers Town owned by the heirs of Richard Hart and Samuel Mather of Connecticut. Because of legal disputes between the heirs, land in the township did not come on to the market until 1829, but a few men and families squatted on property a decade earlier. Among them were David Holmes, Abram Valland, Lyman Green, Daniel McConkey, Jason Parmeter, and the families of David Point and Charles McFarlin. Charles Wall and his father Christian purchased property in sections 39 and 42 in Sharon Township about 1830 while they were still living in Chippewa Township, Wayne County. There is no evidence that Christian ever actually lived in Sharon. Charles' brother Isaac D. Wall and brother-in-law Joshua Hartman, husband of Judith Wall, purchased their lands soon after. Brothers Adam and Jacob Kuder, the uncle and father of Abigail Kuder who married Reason Wall, came to Sharon from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1834 and purchased farms in sections 15 and 28. Thomas Frederick, father of Sophia, wife of Charles Wall, was probably an absentee land owner. He lived in Chippewa Township, Wayne County and died there in 1871. We have found no record of his purchase of his land in Sharon.

Sharon Township property owners in 1837; village of Sharon Center red circle Wall family members: Adam Kuder - S.E. 1/4 Section 15 Isaac Wall & Joshua Hartman - S. 1/2 Section 22 Jacob Kuder - N.W. 1/4 Section 28 Christian Wall - W. 1/2 Section 39 Charles Wall - W. 1/2 Section 42 Thomas Frederick - N. 1/2 Section 69

Sharon Township property owners in 1859 Wall family members: Adam Kuder - S. 1/2 Section 14 (brother of Jacob) Isaac Wall - S. 1/2 Section 21 & S. 1/4 Section 22 Jacob Kuder - N. 3/4 Section 28 (father of Abigail Kuder Wall) Charles & Sophia Frederick Wall - W. 1/2 Section 39 Abraham & Sarah Wall Keller - S.W. 1/8 Section 68 Jonathan & Catherine Wall Everhard - E. 3/4 Section 68 Thomas Frederick - N. 1/2 Section 69 (father of Sophia)

Sharon Township property owners in 1870 Wall family Members: Isaac Wall & Joshua Hartman - S. 1/2 Sections 21 & 22 + few acres Section 38 Jacob Kuder - N.W. 1/4 Section 28 Charles & Sophia Frederick Wall - W. 1/2 Section 39 Isaac Wall - N. 1/2 Section 66 Abraham & Sarah Wall Keller - part of W. 1/2 Section 68 Jonathan & Catherine Wall Everhard - E. 1/2 Section 68 Thomas Frederick - N. 1/2 Section 69 (father of Sophia Frederick Wall)

1874 property owners in the village of Sharon Center

1874 Sharon Township property owners Wall family Members: Uriah & Sarah A. Wall Wearstler - S. part Sections 21 & 22 (Sarah the daughter of Isaac Wall, deceased in 1870) Joshua Hartman - part of sections 21, 22 & 40 (father of Eli Hartman by first wife Judith "Julie" Wall) Jacob Kuder - N.W. 1/4 Section 28 (father of Abigail Kuder Wall, wife of Reason) Reason & Abigail Kuder Wall - W. 1/3 Section 32, part of Section 33 Charles & Sophia Frederick Wall - W. 1/2 Section 39 Christian Wall - parts of Section 47 (son of Charles) Abraham & Sarah Wall Keller (& son Christian) - parts of Section 67 & 68 Jonathan & Catherine Wall Everhard - E. 2/3 Section 68 Thomas Frederick - N. 1/2 Section 69 (deceased)

In 1890 a rare and severe tornado tore through Sharon Township on a southwesterly path. As it neared the county line Hughes Franks and his dog were killed and his wife severely injured. Mr. Franks and his dog were the only fatalities. It then tracked east into Copley and Summit County before it disapated. For a more detailed story, click on this link: The 1890 Sharon Township Tornado

1897 Sharon Township property owners By 1897 most of the original settlers in Sharon had passed away Wall family members: Reason & Abby Kuder Wall - Sections 32 & 33 (this is the farm my grandfather owned as I was growing up). Christian Wall (son of Charles) - Section 47 The historic Sharon Center Cemetery where many pioneers are buried is colored in green

1952 Sharon Township major landowners as I was growing up.
My grandparents, Reason Deforest and Winifred Pearl (Tyler) Wall owned the farm in Sections 32 and 33 that formerly belonged to my great-grandparents Reason & Abigail (Kuder) Wall. The farm of George R. Wall, son of Albert and Mary (Wagner) Wall and my grandfather's nephew, was located on the old Christian Wall land in section 47, north of the intersection of County Rd. 44 and State Route 162. My aunt and uncle Jessie (Wall) and Kenneth Mullet and my cousins lived on the eleven acres (grey-green) in Section 34. I believe they rented from George Wall, but I may be mistaken. From 1952 until 1959 my brother Arthur and I lived with our aunt Clara (Wall) and uncle Del Bridgman at 6574 Ridge Road (pink square) in Section 45 next to the Sullivan farm. Across the street from us lived the Stuaffer sisters, Mable and Julia. Stauffer's Hardware and clothing store next to the Lutheran Church and south of the "City" park in Sharon Center was owned by Elno and Blake Stauffer. Elno was my first cousin once removed and the son of my grandfather's sister Mary Sophia (Wall) and Charles Stauffer. Blake was his son. Elno held a variety of important political positions in Medina County until his death in 1978. My grandmother Winnie died on June 4, 1958 when I was fourteen. My grandfather died in Wadsworth on April 14, 1965.

SHARON CENTER, MEDINA COUNTY, OHIO - MY BOYHOOD HOME

Ronald N. Wall

Modified: 12 February 2025