MEDINA TOWNSHIP
This Township was formed out of the territory of Seneca, from which it was set off in 1837, and the following year was added to it the strip of 9 south 1 east. Medina was first settled May 24, 1834, by Nathaniel W. Upton, who cleared the first land in the town. The next settlers were John Foster and wife, in June following, and between that time and the month of October, same year, John Knapp, Cook Hotchkiss, William Walworth, and William Cavender came into the town and joined their fortunes with those who had preceded them. It is claimed by some that Wm. Walworth built the first house that sheltered white persons in Medina; but we think this an error, and that the honor belongs to either Mr. Upton or Mr. Foster. But the above named were the first to dispute the sway of the “red men of the forest” who so long roamed its valleys. Samuel Gregg and Orrin Pixley were, with Mr. Cavender and Wm. Walworth, the earliest settlers in the northeast part of the Township. Other early pioneers were Newton Dawes, Suffrenus Dewey, Noah K. Green, John Gould, Benjamin Hornbeck, and Lewis Shepardson. Rollin R. Hill was the first supervisor. Mr. Busbnell built a log store in 1835, at Conandaigua, and the first saw mill was erected the same year. The first store in Medina Village was opened for barter in 1835. The first school held forth in a log cabin, at Canadiagua, in 1835. The first town-meeting was held at Medina Village, in January 1836. It is claimed that Medina has the honor of having sent more men to the state Legislature than any other town in the County, and names Lauren Hotchkiss, Ebenezer Daniels, and Artemus Allen, each one term; Philo Wilson two terms, beside office of Judge of Court of Common Pleas; N.E. Green, three terms, and Dr. R. Eibbe a senatorial term. The real and personal property of the town is figured at $1,646,793. The population is about 2000. There are two villages in the Township, with post-offices bearing same names, viz.
Medina, a small village of two or three hundred inhabitants, five miles south of Clayton, on the stage route to Morenci, and seventeen miles from Adrian, in a rolling timbered, well-watered country. The Tiffin River furnishes it good water power. It has two churches, Baptist and Methodist. A large cheese factory is the leading manufacture. It has daily mail.
Canadaigua, a small village in the northeast part of the town, and named after a village of same name in New York (as likewise was Medina), contains about 300 inhabitants. It is on the mail route between Clayton and Morenci, about five miles south of the former and six miles due north of the latter. It is situated on a branch of the Tiffin, in a good agricultural region. It contains a hotel, three saw mills, manufactories of marriages, hay-racks, wagon-felloes, etc
Copyright Ed Van Horn, 2006, Port St Lucie, Florida