Sher=
bondy
Hill of Akron, Ohio
by Jeanette E. Sherbondy
July 2007
Sherbondy
Hill was a real place and not just an imaginary invention of our storyteller
ancestors. It was a part of Akron, Ohio. Sherbondys were among the very fir=
st
ten families that settled Akron and they made their mark on Akron history.<=
/span>[1] John and George Sherbondy were early trustees of Portage
Township: John was also Assessor and George was the Director of the Infirma=
ry.[2]
Their brother Peter and sister Rosannah also settled there. Sherbondy
descendants were inventors of a pneumatic tire and cofounders of the Diamond
Rubber Company.
The
first Sherbondys to live there were John Sherbondy (1791-1866) and his brot=
her
George Wallace Sherbondy (1792-1870). George Wallace and John arrived in Po=
rtage
Township with their families in the spring of 1817. "They traveled from
Pennsylvania with only one large wagon for the two households."[3]
Their younger brother Peter Sherbondy (1797-1870) joined them later bringing
with him their father Johann Melcher Sherbondy (1769-1850).
George
Wallace Sherbondy was in the Pennsylvania militia in 1813. From April 23 to
November 8, 1813 he was in Captain William Craig's Company which took part =
in
Perry's victory on Lake Erie. The company was awarded silver medals from the
state of Pennsylvania. "[He] was guarding prisoners on a march up thro=
ugh
Ohio and came back exuberant that Ohio had the finest farming country he had
ever seen. Good land was very high in Western Pennsylvania so when [the
brothers] got the chance to take bounty land in Ohio, they left quickly.&qu=
ot;
Melcher
Sherbondy had been farming in Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County,
Pennsylvania since he had left his father's farm and mill in eastern
Pennsylvania as a young man. His sons had been born near what is today
Smithton, Pennsylvania. The Sherbondys in Akron were descendants of these t=
hree
brothers.
George
Wallace, John, and later Peter with their father Melcher Sherbondy settled =
on a
hill that is now bordered by the intersection of I76 and I 77. It was
originally bordered on the east by the Portage Path that gave the county its
first name. The portage was an important Indian transportation route and la=
ter
Europeans and Americans used it to travel from Lake Erie via the Cuyahoga R=
iver
to the north, then portage to the south to the Tuscarawas River, from where
they could reach the Ohio River via the Muskingum River. The area was organ=
ized
as Portage Township in 1808 and then incorporated into Summit County when it
was created in 1840. Perrin in his =
History
of Summit County tells the story of the portage path:
In the first place, it constituted a portion of the anci=
ent
line of separation between the confederated Six Nations and the Western
Indians. By the treaty of Fort McIntosh, near where is now Beaver, Penn., in
1785, the United States acquired from the Indians all the territory beyond =
the
Ohio River and east of this line. When the great Northwest Territory, inclu=
ding
this and more, was established in 1787, by ordinance of the Continental Con=
gress,
the Governor and three Judges thereof were appointed by Congress. These men
entered upon their duties with headquarters at Campus Martius, now Marietta.
Their first act was to create the county of Washington, July 27, 1788, name=
d in
honor of Gen. George Washington. Its western boundary was the Cuyahoga Rive=
r,
the old portage path, and the Tuscarawas River as far south as the southern
line of the Western Reserve. This was practically the western border of the
United States and so remained until the year 1805.
In
the early days of cars, Sherbondy Hill was famous locally. My uncle Bill
Sherbondy once drove to Akron in search of Sherbondy Hill. He stopped at a =
gas
station to ask where it was and the attendant told him he was on it! He rel=
ated
that people used to test their skills driving up it.
Dawne
Crotts, a George Wallace Sherbondy descendant who still lives near Akron. S=
he
grew up on Sherbondy Hill and remembers when it was a neighborhood of the
Sherbondy families. She says, "The City of Akron has changed Sherbondy
Hill and re-named Wooster Avenue--disregarding the history . . . The origin=
al
Sherbondy house [built by George Wallace Sherbondy] was a log cabin."[4]
Later the house at the top was replaced by a Dutch colonial style house:
The
house was very nice and had very special woodwork and beautiful fireplace e=
tc.
My cousin remembers the house well. I remember the outside as it was standi=
ng
when I went to S[outh] A[frica] (just married) but I had not lived on Sherb=
ondy
Hill then for some time. The house was unfortunately sold before I retired =
as
my great aunt, Delilah Sherbondy Erdley then owned the house and had died. =
The
new owner tore it down and built a rental property. My father was living th=
en.[5]
This
is a photo of Dawne as a baby with her mother and other Sherbondy relatives
setting on the porch of the house. Dawne's great grandfather George H.
Sherbondy (b. 1864) is sitting on the porch steps with his second wife and =
with
his niece Irene Levine Deacon, Dawne's mother. Dawne Deacon (Crotts) (b. 19=
11)
is the baby on her lap. Dawne's cousin Belle Snyder (Martine) is the little
girl sitting on the top step between George and his wife.[6]
The picture must date to about 1912.
![](3D"SherbondyHillhtml_image002.jpg")
=
Perrin
in his 1881 History of Summit Count=
y
states that "of the [first] nine families [of Summit County] only three
persons are now living, Avery Spicer, his wife and Enos, son of John
Hawkins.” However, the Sherbondys were numerous and their offspring
are =
at
the present time occupying most of the land originally purchased by their
ancestors. John Sherbondy was elected Trustee of Portage Township fifteen y=
ears
in succession; he was also Assessor for many years; he died March 22, 1866,=
at
the age of 76; Rosannah his wife died August 12, 1852; they were the parent=
s of
fourteen children, six died before maturity, eight raised [their own] famil=
ies.[7]
Sher=
bondy
homes are marked and identified on an old map of Portage Township from 1874.
You can view the map on the Sherbondy Hill web page. The property of Levi
Sherbondy is located at the top and southwest of it are the homes of John
Sherbondy, Uriah Sherbondy, and Ruben Sherbondy. To the southeast are the
properties of M & C Sherbondy, David Sherbondy, and George Sherbondy.
Farther east is the land of another Sherbondy. On the southern edge, south =
of
Wooster Avenue are the lands of Uriah Sherbondy and George Sherbondy. Uriah=
's
plot is on the border between Portage Township and Coventry Township.
The
lands to the east of Levi Sherbondy's belonged to Joseph Perkins, a descend=
ant
of Colonel Simon Perkins. Col.Perkins established a sheep and wool business=
in
1844.
To c=
arry
out his plans, he employed a sheep expert to stock his large farm, just wes=
t of
Akron, with several thousand head of the best fine-wooled sheep that money
could buy. The expert he employed was John Brown, the man who was destined =
to
become a world-renowned [knowned] abolitionist . . . As time went on, Brown=
won
the reputation of being one of the best judges of wool in the United States=
. .
. . Coming to Akron in 1844, John was provided with a frame house just sout=
h of
the Perkins mansion and moved into it with his wife and many children.[8]
The history of John Brown =
and
the Sherbondys is intertwined. Dawne told me that once when John Brown was
being pursued, George Sherbondy hid him in his haywagon. One of John Brown's
sons married a Sherbondy woman. In 1847 Jason Brown married Ellen Sherbondy,
Peter Sherbondy's daughter.
Dawne
Crotts told me that the house on Sherbondy Hill was at the top of the hill.=
It
was given to the city by the Sherbondys to be a school. Ex-sherif Samuel A.
Lane writing about the early school in Akron, stated that there were several
separate school districts including "the Sherbondy neighborhood."=
[9]
This
must be the same school called Portage Twp. School District No. 3 in a scho=
ol
census for 1834. It was an "enumeration of white unmarried youth betwe=
en
the ages of 4 & 21" which included several Sherbondys. The list of
names are the fathers or guardians and the corresponding numbers indicate h=
ow
many children he had in the school. For John Sherbondy there were 5. For Ge=
orge
Sherbondy there were 5 and for Melcher Sherbondy there was one. Other surna=
mes
in that school at that time were Root, Nash, and King.[10]
In 1836 John Sherbondy had 4 children in the same school, Peter Sherbondy h=
ad 2
and George Sherbondy had 4.[11]
The same school district in 1838 had children of George Sherbondy: Salina,
George H. and Peter. Peter Sherbondy had four: John, Wesley, Melkiah and
Eleanor. John Sherbondy had three: Reuben, John, Jr. and MaryAnn Sherbondy.=
[12]
The
school was also used as a church later. The Sherbondy Hill Church of Christ=
was
organized on 1 February 1891 and as of July 1891 there were 21 members and =
100
Sunday School scholars, under the leadership of Rev. Wellington Besaw.[13]
The Sherbondys of Sherbondy Hill
The
original Sherbondy in America was probably born in France and was known as =
Jean
Cherpantier and then as Johann and as John Sherbondy by the time he died. He
settled initially near Stroudsbourg, Pennsylvania where he married Maria
Catharina Bossert. They had several children. The eldest was Johann Melcher
Sherbondy, born in 1768 in Hamilton Township, Northampton County [now Monroe
County] Pennsylvania and died on the 15th of December of 1850 on
Sherbondy Hill, Ohio. In the early 1790's Melcher and his wife Anna Maria w=
ere
farming in East Huntington Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. They
had eight children, John, George Wallace, Jacob, Catherine, Peter, David,
Rosannah, and Sarah.
John=
(b.
1791) and George Wallace (b. 1792) were the eldest. They were the ones who
settled Sherbondy Hill first. Jacob (b. 1794) was a private in the Pennsylv=
ania
militia during the 1812 war, in regiment 137 (Marlin's Regiment). Catherine=
(b
1796) married Alexander Reagan and stayed in Pennsylvania. Peter (b. 1797)
joined his brothers at Sherbondy Hill and later brought their father Melche=
r to
Sherbondy Hill as well. David (b. 1799) was a contractor, farmer, Methodist
pastor and justice of the peace and lived out his life in Pennsylvania.
Rosannah (b. 1801) went to Ohio also. On July 10, 1828 she married Ezekiel
Charles Parker in Portage County.[14]
Sarah (b. 1806) probably lived in Pennsylvania all her life.
The =
old
map of Portage Township shows the following Sherbondy residences: Levi
Sherbondy's is at the top. Below him, from west to east are John Sherbondy,
Uriah Sherbondy, Reuben Sherb=
ondy,
[Ephraim ?] and east of them =
from
top to bottom are M & C
Sherbondy [Melchiah and Celina], David Sherbondy, George Sherbondy, and Mary
Ann Callender [Mary Ann Sherbondy, widow of Amos Callender]. Below them on =
the
other side of Wooster Avenue which borders their land on the south, lies the
property of George H. Sherbondy and Uriah Sherbondy.
John Sherbondy's Children
John=
Sherbondy
(was born on 19 March 1791 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, married
Rosannah Ritchey (1792-1852) in Pennsylvania apparently, and had eight
children, many of whom were active in Akron civic life.[15]
Their first son was Ephriam Sherbondy, born in 1812 in Pennsylvania. He mar=
ried
Elizabeth Edwards on the 10th of August 1846 in Logan County, Ohio. In the =
1880
census for Summit County, Ephraim is 69, a farmer and his wife Elizabeth is=
54.
They had nine children[16]:
Amanda, Wallace, Justus, Ada, Eunice, Rosa, John, Jennie (Giney), and Lida
(Lydia).[17]
"Ephraim . . . received a very meager education in his youth. He worke=
d on
his father's farm until 20; then at the carpenter's trade for fifteen years,
during which time he was employed repairing the canal for the State."[18]
In 1881 Ephraim owned "some 24 acres of land, and has been a farmer si=
nce
he left the Ohio canal."[19]
John=
's
second son was Uriah, born in 1813 in Pennsylvania. He was a farmer in
Sherbondy Hill, figuring in the 1840 census and the 1880 census. Uriah was
appointed to fill a vacancy as township trustee in 1879. His wife was Eliza=
beth
West (b. 1818), also from Pennsylvania. They were married on October 20, 18=
36
in Portage Township. They had two daughters, Louisa (1839-1890) and Charlot=
te
(b. 1860).
John=
's
third son was Levi Sherbondy, born in 1814 in Pennsylvania, died in 1900. He
was a farmer. He appears as the owner of the house at the top of Sherbondy =
Hill
in the old map of Portage Township. He married Elizabeth Smith (1819-1870) =
on
December 28, 1842 in Summit C=
ounty,
Ohio. They had six children: Charles (b. 1843), Sara (abt. 1844-1920), Home=
r,
Esther (b. 1851). Joseph P. (b. 1860) and Thomas (b. 1858-1941).
Reub=
en
Sherbondy was born on Sherbondy Hill in January of 1825 and died in 1904. H=
e was
a farmer and in 1856 he served as assessor of Portage Township.[20]
He married Caliste Mist on December 23, 1847 in Summit County. They had eig=
ht
children: Walter J. (b. 1848), Frank (b. 1848), Sarah (b. 1853), Alice E. b=
orn
1853), Joseph (b. 1858), Reuben J (b. 1861), William (b. 1864) and Edward L.
(b. 1867). In the 1880 census two of his sons were working in the rubber sh=
op,
Joseph and William. Reuben's sons, William, Walter J. and George F.[21]
worked for Goodrich Company and later formed their own rubber company. Gris=
mer
in his history of Akron wrote:
&=
nbsp; Something
entirely new in the way of competition began developing in the early spring=
of
1894--and right next door to the Goodrich plant. Diamond Match had begun to
move its plant to Barberton and a group of Akron men rented one of the
abandoned buildings and started a rubber company. The Diamond Rubber Compan=
y,
it was called.
&=
nbsp; Frank
Reifsnider, a former Goodrich salesman and at that time secretary and manag=
er
of the Globe Sign Company, was the key man in the new company. Associated w=
ith
him were three other Goodrich employees--George, William and Walter Sherbon=
dy,
members of an old Akron family, and a deputy county auditor, Park B. Johnst=
on.
The Sherbondys had invented new types of single tube pneumatic tires and
Reifsnider had succeeded in getting their inventions patented.
&=
nbsp; Diamond
Rubber was incorporated on March 26, 1894, with a capitalization of $50,000=
and
on the following day officers were elected: Reifsnider, President; George F.
Sherbondy, vice-president; Johnston, secretary and treasurer, and Walter
Sherbondy, superintendent."[22]
John=
's
next child was Sarah Sherbondy, born in Ohio, married Jacob Smith and died =
in
1889 in Copley, Summit County, Ohio.
John
Sherbondy, Jr. was born in 1827 in Ohio as well. He married Eleanore Austin=
on
December 31, 1850 in Summit County. He was a farmer and he died in 1906. Th=
ey
had five children: DeWitt Clinton Sherbondy (1856-1937), Austin J. (b.1858),
Zureka (Zuleika) born 1865, Eleanore (Nora) born 1868 and Amelia, born in 1=
871.
Mary=
Ann
Sherbondy was born in 1832.
Homer
K. Sherbondy was born on October 2, 1836 in Akron and married Catherine M. =
Bort
from New York. They married on August 22 1857 in Bureau County, Illinois and
had six children: Byron (b. 1859), Florence (b. 1861), Genevieve (b. 1866),
Adalade (b. 1867), Marguerite Myrthle ((1875-19430 and Warren Eugene (b. 18=
75).
His wife must have died because Homer married his second wife on April 27, =
1876
in Summit County, Ohio. He must have taken her west with him. He died in Des
Moines, Iowa on May 23, 1909.
George Wallace Sherbondy's Children
George
Wallace Sherbondy (1797-1870) married Esther Tarr in Westmoreland County and
they had four children: David (1814-1882), Selina (1821-1896), Mary Ann
(1822-1873) and George H. (1823-1895). The eldest, David, was born in
Pennsylvania on June 6, 1814. He was a farmer, married Elizabeth Smith
(1821-1913) in 1840; and they had four children: Celina (1840-1930), Sophia
(1842-1915), Francis David (1848-1921), and Curtis Charles (1853-1911).
Selina Sherbondy, George Wallace Sherbondy's second child, was born on August 10, = 1821 and married her cousin Melkiah Sherbondy on April 24, 1840. Melkiah was the= son of Peter S. Sherbondy. They had four children: Mary Ann (d. 1869), Easter (1849-1920). Ella (1855-1929). Martin B. (1860-1882) and Mattie (b. 1861).<= o:p>
Mary
Ann Sherbondy was born in 1822 and died on August 13, 1873. On 6 March 1845=
she
married Amos Callender. In the 1880 census, she is a widow, age 62.
George
H. Sherbondy was born in 1823 and died on 9 October 1895. He was a farmer a=
nd
married Delilah E. Cahow. They had five children: Delilah (b. 1851), George=
H.
(b. 1864), Nettie (b. 1867), Laura, and Elsie (d. 1921). Peter Sherbondy's Children Peter
Sherbondy was married twice and had many children. His first wife was Martha
Reagan, who died in 1841. Their children were Melkiah, Alexander Wesley, Jo=
hn,
Ellen, Esther, and Peter S. Sherbondy. Melkiah
was born on January 10, 1818 in Pennsylvania and died on the 20 of January =
1882
in Ohio. Like his uncles he was a farmer and active in civic affairs. He wa=
s a
trustee for Portage Township in 1858.[23]In
1870 he was a juror for the final hearing of the trial of Vendruth Washburn=
for
the murder of Charles Peoples.[24] He married Celina (Selina) Sherbon=
dy,
his first cousin. She was the daughter of George Wallace Sherbondy. They had
five children: Mary Ann (d. 1869), Easter (1849-1920), Ella (1855-1929), Ma=
rtin
B. (1860-1882) and Mattie (b. 1861). Peter's
next child was John Sherbondy who was born about 1822. His wife was Christi=
na. Peter's
fourth child was Ellen Sherbondy, born 22 October 1827 in Westmoreland Coun=
ty,
Pennsylvania and died on 15 August 1895 in Akron. She married Jason Brown, =
one
of John Brown's sons. Jason was born on 19 January 1823 in Hudson, Ohio and
died on December 24, 1912 in Akron. The couple was married on July 11, 1847=
in
Summit County, Ohio. Their children were Austin (1851-1855), Charles O.
(1853-1927), an infant who was born and died in 1859, and Frank J. (1862-18=
75). Esther
Sherbondy was born on April 20 in Pennsylvania and died on 14 April 1891. S=
he
married Nelson C. Hawkins on January 30, 1853 in Summit County. They had two
children: A Wesley (1854-19280 and Walter N. (b. 1858). Walter, an employee=
of
Goodrich Rubber, was one of the founders of the Diamond Rubber Company.[25] Peter
Sherbondy's second wife was Mary and they had the following children: Hiram,
Harrison, George, Emaline and Henry. Hiram
Sherbondy was born on May 31, 1836 in Ohio and died on December 7, 1897. He=
was
a farmer. He married Louisa Sherbondy, the daughter of Uriah Sherbondy and
Elizabeth West. Uriah was a son of Peter's brother, John; so Hiram married =
his
first cousin once removed. Their children were Henry Nelson Sherbondy
(1858-1934) and Milton Jay Sherbondy (1862-1934). Hiram was a Portage Towns=
hip
Trustee in 1872, 1873, and 1877 and an assessor in 1876 and 1881 (Perrin
1881:328-329). Hiram "was born on a farm on Sherbondy Hill, Summit Cou=
nty,
Ohio, and died in his native county, on his own farm . . . Shortly after his
marriage he settled on a farm of twenty acres, in Copley Township, which he
devoted to truck gardening, and found a ready sale for all his products at
Akron. [Doyle 1908:933] Hiram's
son, Harry Nelson Sherbondy (1858-1934) was written up in the Centennial History of Summit County, O=
hio
and Representative Citizens: &=
nbsp; Harry
Nelson Sherbondy obtained his education in the public schools of Akron, lea=
rned
the carpenter trade and was employed as a wood-worker until 1905, in the
meanwhile paying some attention also to farming. In 1906, he resigned his
position as foreman with the manufacturing concern with which he had long b=
een
connected. It was with regret that he separated himself from employers and
co-workers, between whom and himself existed the most cordial feelings. He =
had
commenced to realize, however, the great possibilities of agriculture and m=
ade
the decision to devote his future energies to that line. He purchased his
present farm and has met with success. He grows corn and wheat to market, a=
nd
hay, corn and oats for his own use. He feeds eleven head of cattle which he
sells to local butchers, and carries milk from the farmers of this section =
to
the Pure Milk Company of Akron. All his activities are in a prosperous
condition. &=
nbsp; Mr.
Sherbondy was married to Mrs. Charles Thomas, of Cleveland. Her maiden name=
was
Flora Bright. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Sherbondy have one son, Milton LeRoy
[Sherbondy]. &=
nbsp; Politically,
Mr. Sherbondy is a Republican and on numerous occasions has been sent as a
delegate to county conventions. He has served in the office of trustee of
Portage Township. Fraternally, he is an Odd Fellow, belonging to Nemo Lodge,
No. 746.[26] Peter
Sherbondy's next child was Harrison Sherbondy, born in February 1838 in Ohio
and died on Dec, 6, 1906. He married Mary Elizabeth McDoughall in 1862. George
Sherbondy was born in April 1841 and was a butcher. He married Lida Augusta
Kidder, who was born in Ohio but her father was born in Vermont and her mot=
her
in New Hampshire. They had a daughter Agnes Phebe, born in 1863. Emaline
Sherbondy was born in November 1843. She may never have married. In the 1880
census she is living with her brother Henry[27] Henry
Sherbondy was born in October 1844 and died in 1919. He married Mary M. Wer=
ts
on June 24, 1873. They had two children who died very young, Frank and Maud=
. Sherbondy Hill Today In
2006 a Part of the old Sherbondy Hill was dedicated as a park named Sherbon=
dy
Field. Here are two views of part=
s of
Sherbondy Field. These three photographs were taken by Barbara Crotts, the
daughter of Dawne Crotts. We are always looking for =
more
information about Sherbondy Hill.
Please send us your stories, articles and photos of Sherbondy Hill a=
nd
photos and information of the people who lived there. Thanks! Sherbondy Family Associati=
on www.sherbondy.org
&=
nbsp; Peter's
second child was Alexander Wesley Sherbondy, born 12 October 1819 and died 3
December 1904. He married Rebecca Ann Buckman and they had no children.![](3D"SherbondyHillhtml_image004.jpg")
=
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=
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=