Road District History

History should be written to make people feel they were there. Most history is written in a sophomoric method of dry facts as if someone will really care. Take the following excerpt from a “History of Barrington” by Arnett C. Lines:


“Cuba Township…The first Town Meeting was held at the home of Noble R. Hayes. His home stood on the south side of Cuba Road, between Harbor Road and the North Western Railroad, and is now the rear part of the Frick farmhouse at the northeast corner of Buckley and Cuba Roads, diagonally across from the old Frick Swiss cheese factory.


John J. Bullock was chosen Moderator at the 1850 organization meeting, 84 votes were cast and the following officers were elected: Philetus Beverly, Supervisor; Noble R. Hayes, Town Clerk; Jacob McGilvra, Assessor; Robert Conmee, Collector; Francis Kelsey, Overseer of the Poor; James Jones, Lewis H. Bute and Harvey Lambert, Commissioners of Highways; Innis Hollister and Robert Bennett, Justices of the Peace; Chester Bennett and Wallace Bennett, Constables. The valuation of both personal and real estate property was $44,750.00 and the tax levied was $672.73.


The settlers had chosen Troy as the name for the new town but when it was learned from State authorities that there was another town in the State named Troy, the, name, was changed to Cuba. L.H. Bute related that he offered the name and it was accepted. The Island of Cuba, then as now, was in the news….”


Dry very dry. Facts need to be recorded. I mean no disrespect to Mr. Lines but you need to make it rock a little.
Stop and think about it this way:


Rockin History of Cuba by Gooch

The time was 1850, people worked from sun up to sun down and Government was harassing them. It must be that government has always been a nuisance even way back then. The State tells the folks who lived around here that they had to form a township. So the people had to walk, or maybe the lucky few could ride to a central location. Keep in mind, there still were Indians around. They probably did it on a Sunday, it was their only day of rest and was religiously honored, except for milking the cows every twelve hours. They worked like dogs in the fields every day and gave up their only free day and got together because some bureaucrat in the State Capitol insisted that this meeting take place. So tired as they were, they did what their government ordered, got together, decided everyone should pay some taxes, ( just like today!) and picked a name for their new Township: TROY.

 

Then they went home the same way they got there (slowly). The cows still had to be milked and the people were bone weary and tired. With a short life expectancy of less than fifty years, they proudly did what their government ordered and went back to the farms satisfied with their days work.

 

Then a while later, a letter arrives from the State Capitol and they learn their hard work was for nothing as someone else liked the name TROY and got it first. No one knows how many people came to the second meeting when a new name was selected. There seems to be little or no information as to whether there even was a second meeting but one historian says the name was “offered “ by Lewis Bute... CUBA. Bute was a newly elected township officer and it’s just as likely that in disgust he “offered” to the state government as opposed to making all these hard working farmers come to yet another meeting. Not a whole lot different than today is it?

 

What’s real interesting from the excerpt above is that we saw that Francis Kelsey was one of the original Township Officers. Now here was a man amongst men. Did you know he was an honest to goodness naval Officer who fought in the war of 1812. His descendants still have original deeds from the Indians for the family farm located of course, on today’s Kelsey road.

 

Francis Kelsey is buried in White Memorial Cemetery on Cuba Road. When you respectfully visit his grave site, stop and think not only of the role he played in making sure America remained independent, but think of the sights he must have had during his life time and the contributions he must have made through hard work in the fields along todays Kelsey Road. You have to wonder how a Naval Officer from the war of 1812 settled here, creating Cuba Township, but he did it... If you go and look, you can find his descendants still living here and they can tell first hand some of Kelsey family History—it sure beats reading it in a book.

 

More to come as I have time................ or maybe you think I should stick to roads.?????????