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The old Spencer Town Hall at 112 N Main Street, a brick building constructed in 1898.
The old Spencer Town Hall at 112 N Main Street, built in 1898. It served as village hall for exactly a century (1898-1998), and has been home to the Spencer Historical Society ever since. Photo by Roseohioresident, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Local History · From Spencer Village

The $50 in lumber that bought Spencer its name

On February 18, 1832, 21 men gathered to organize a township. Calvin Spencer offered $50 in lumber toward a schoolhouse if they would name it after him. They did.

Published 2026-08-05 · 2 min read

Spencer isn't named for its first settler. Spencer's first settler, John P. Marsh, arrived in 1823 from Vermont. His wife Clarissa rode from Harrisville on horseback with one child in her arms and another behind her on the same horse.1 When the settlers organized the township in 1832, they suggested naming it Marshfield or Marshtown for him.

Marsh said no. He was gracious about it. He said the name Marshfield “was not suitable for a township so rolling, and far from what the name implied.” So they were back at zero for a name.2

That's when Calvin Spencer, who owned the mills at the earlier river-side hamlet called Blue Mills, proposed to give “$50 in lumber to build schoolhouses if they would give his name to the township.” The 21 men present agreed. On February 18, 1832, the township was named Spencer.3

The village came later. The post office was established in 1849 and took the township's name. So Spencer Village is, in effect, named after Calvin Spencer's $50 in lumber.4

The center of the village today is still recognizable at four cardinal downtown corners: bank, market, restaurant, tire shop. In the middle stands the brick town hall built in 1898. It served as the village hall for exactly a hundred years, from 1898 to 1998. When the village government moved out, the Spencer Historical Society moved in. It's still there today. Their meetings are the second Monday of every month at 7:30 PM.5

Calvin Spencer's mills burned in 1879. The village that carries his name is still going.

Footnotes

  1. John P. Marsh, first settler, 1823, from Vermont. Perrin 1881, pp. 555-556. Clarissa's horseback journey from Harrisville with two children is from the same primary source.
  2. Marsh's refusal of the “Marshfield” naming. Direct quote from Perrin 1881, p. 556.
  3. Calvin Spencer's $50 in lumber and the February 18, 1832 organizing vote. Perrin 1881, pp. 556-557. The 21-vote count and the schoolhouse-in-exchange-for-name arrangement are both direct from the primary source.
  4. Spencer post office established 1849. Documented in Wikipedia's Spencer, Ohio entry.
  5. 1898 town hall, 100-year civic use (1898-1998), current home of Spencer Historical Society. Documented on Visit Medina County and on Wikimedia Commons.

Sources

  • Perrin, W.H., Battle, J.H., & Goodspeed, W.A., History of Medina County and Ohio (Chicago: Baskin & Battey, 1881), Chapter XVI (Spencer Township), pp. 555-569. Public domain. archive.org
  • Wikipedia, “Spencer, Ohio.” en.wikipedia.org
  • Wikipedia, “Spencer Township, Medina County, Ohio.” en.wikipedia.org
  • Back To Spencer, Medina County, Ohio (Facebook, quoting History of Medina County, Ohio 1948). facebook.com
  • Medina County Economic Development, Village of Spencer. medinacounty.org

The 1832 organizing vote and Marsh's declined-honor are direct from Perrin 1881, one of the two 19th-century compendia of Medina County history. The brick town hall at 112 N Main Street is still there.

Medina Homes Guide · Verified 2026-08-05