The Medina sentinel. [volume] (Medina, Ohio) 1888-1961, 1919-08-08
H|NCKLEY CELEBRATION
A HUGE SUCCESS
A HUNDRED YEARS AGO
REPRESENTED BY SYMBOLS
Descendants of First Settlers March
In Parade Which Attracted Visi-
tors From All Over County.

tOTS FROM All over SOuHIys
The little town of Hinckley, about
half way between Akron and Cleve-
land, rose to the occasion of celebrat-
ing the hundredth anniversary Of the
famous "Hinckley Hunt" by big
majority carrying their somewhat
ambitious program out to the full and
then some.
The result was spectacle not
only thrillingly interesting, but
quite educational to the present gen.
GRAFTON as regards to former life and
times. A spectacle which-difficult as
it is for us to imagine the setting of
the frontier life-it would be much
more difficult for the frontiersman to
conceive That here where, but short
ly prior to their time, the Indian
wooed his dusky mate and the fox
dug his hole unscared; where 45O
hunters from Summit, Medina and
Cuyahoga counties surrounded town.
chip and in Q day killed 800 deer, II
bear and 27 vol es; that here, 100
years later, several thousand people,
in a matter of two or three hours in
horseless machines should be able to
traverse counties and gather in
place which, instead of being howl
ing wilderness, should echo with the
honk Of perhaps 500 automobiles-if
he "peered into the future" at all,
must have staggered backwards
mans imagination of the possible.
By means of such symbols however,
of their age, as their implements,
utensils and costumes, we are able to
assist the imagination in reincarnat-
ing their life and times.
Very instructive, for this purpose,
were perhaps two score most in
genious and graphic floats which il
lustrated also a number of most
dramatic episodes in the history Of
the township.
Conspicuous among them was the
representation of the Indian family
and tepee and the execution in 1906,
on Rocky River Of the Wyandotte
squaw for predicting an eclipse of
the sun. A curious fact about the
case was that unlike the Indians treat
ment of Capt. John Smith under the
same circumstances, they didn't give
the moon time to vindicate her. The
eclipse arrived in June on the time
she had scheduled alright, but in the
meantime she had been hung, in May.
Striking impersonations were the
mail carrier, whose assignment was
once a week from Hinckley to Cleve-
land. He carried also medicines,
went afoot and carried gun, as on
one trip he came near being eaten
by wild hogs.
One foat-the circuit rider with his
saddlebags-represented, in the order
of their organization the different
churches, Methodist 1922, Congrega-
tional 1928, Free Will Baptist 1885,
Benefits Corner church 1889 and Dis
ciple 1870.
"Open faced" or first camp of the
pioneers with it's crude shack of poles
with fire outside.
Pioneer industries, spinning, knit
ing, reeling, apple pairing, etc.
Old mill, with it's over-shot water
wheel in operation. A representation
of the body of settlers organizing as
township in 1925.
The underground railroad-"Negro
Miller" we'll known local character
of the day taking negro refugees to
Cleveland in the center of sacks of
grain. Then there was comprehen-
sive representation Of the societies
and organizations of the day such as
boy scouts, camp fire girls and the
soldiers of the civil and succeeding
wars.
Among the old settlers present were
Mrs. Glenn Babcock and husband, a
great grandson of the first settler in
the west half of Hinckley township.
Their were those present who had
heard from the lips of the Hinckley
Hunters the story Of the bear roast
the night of the hunt when the wo-
men and children joined the festivi-
ties; when the barrel Of whiskey was
brought by ox-team from Richfield,
the head knocked in and the "serve-
self" waiter service followed; and
when, as tradition naively observes,
no one got the worst for it, though
whether owing to the greater integ-
rity of the primitive liquid or the
superior capacity of our worthy for
bears for taking convivial punish
ment, one can only speculate.
A feature of the celebration excit-
ing the greatest interest was the dis
play of relics of early industry and
the close. They were to considera-
BILE extent from the collection of Wade
Johnson, of Spencer, which would be
an extraordinary one even in large
cities. Among them were flintlocks,
which figured in the Hinckley Hunt,
and guns weighing 16 and 40 lbs, Such
curios as a horn spoon, a wooden
scoop-shovel. Also a hackle and other
devices for the hand manufacture Of
flox, which are not mentioned in any
dictionary, for the reason that there
was no one born early enough to be
able to name them.
Among descendants present of John
Bigelow, of Richfeld, a captain of the
Hinckley Hunt, were Park Bigelow,
sheriff of Medina county, also Sher-
man Bigelow, of Richfeld, grand
son; also grandsons of Hinckley Hunt
ters, H. P. Welton, Richfield, and Ell
win Carter, Royalton.
The spirit of the Hinckley Hunters
seems also to have permeated other
residents Of the counties which partic-
ipated in the historic adventure. Me-
dina county, especially, seems never
since to have been without inheri-
tance Of their proficiency and Prov
Continued on page 12)