4.

Growth-and Some

Decline-of the Churches

During the early years of colonization the Mennonites and Amish had to face the task of pioneers. Each community had to lean heavily on its own resources. In Mahoning and Columbiana counties there were, as late as 1850, no towns of more than 3,500 people. In 1830 Cleveland was a village of scarcely 1,000 inhabitants. In the northwestern part of the state (Hancock County and the area to the north and west) the census of 1830 reports only 3,000 persons and several of the counties were still unorganized.'

Much of Ashland County, for example, was an unbroken forest of large timber. The first settlers in Allen County had no roads worthy of the name.' The Indians had scarcely left the country, one tribe departing in 1833. Being a part of the "Great Black Swamp" region, the area lacked drainage. Mosquitoes infected the air and malaria threatened pioneers in their rude cabins. Even when these primitive communities did produce crops, the markets were slim and distant. A Peter Bechtel of Ashland County drove to Sandusky with twenty-four bushels of wheat. The trip took seven days and he received only three shillings for his produce.'

Life in the Colonization Period

That many of these early communities were to prosper economically and even in time become some of the state's leading agricultural areas was due to a tradition of thrift and to the numerous artisan skills which these people brought with them. The willingness to forego comforts, the spirit of mutual aid, and the solidarity of family life-all these combined with religious zeal and the determination to build communities in the wilderness of the young state.

For a summary and description of the Mennonite churches of the early decades we are indebted to the writings of Menno S.

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