Historical Parma Heights

The Parma Heights Historical Society is looking for living relatives of the early settlers of what is now Parma Heights. The family names of interest are the following: 

Asa Emerson

Jesse Nicholas

Amos Hodgman

Joseph Small

William Steele

All of these people and there families arrived in this area in 1821 along Pearl Road. All of these families were originally from Bowdoin, Maine. 

In 1825, the next family to arrive was Samuel Freeman, from Sturbridge, Massachusetts. They came by way of the newly opened Erie Canal. Samuel Freeman was the first school teacher and first Postmaster. In 1826, Abner Beals and his family arrived from Royalton. One of their four children, Julia Ann, had been the first child born in Royalton. She eventually married Robert Hodgman - son of Amos – Hodgman and became the mother of Mrs Alice Stroud, whose daughters, Winifred and Ruth, lived on Pearl Road near the cemetery land that had been purchased by her great-grandfather, Amos Hodgman, from the Connecticut Land Company. The community honors both of these families with a Hodgman Drive, Stroud Park, and a Stroud Elementary School

It would be very helpful to the Parma Heights Historical Society to hear from anyone who is related or has any information about these families. We are trying to preserve and document as much history as possible. We are currently uncovering a lot of history that we feel, is of interest. Joe Reeves is the President of the Historical Society. He can be contacted at 216-870-4864. 

Bob Stilwell

Retired Manufacturing Supervisor since 2008. I'm a member of the American Legion Post 703 In Parma,Ohio. Active Member of the Parma Heights Historical Society and a School crossing guard for the City of Parma,Ohio. I have lived in Parma Heights for 50 years. This is where I met my wife. We have a son and daughter and 3 grandaughters. Two of our grandaughters are Junior Olympic Volleyball Players. They have won several state, Gold Medals, and a National Championship Gold Medal in Atlanta,Georgia in 2011. We are very proud of all of them. 

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Volume 7, Issue 4, Posted 11:30 AM, 04.01.2015