a compendium of facts about Ohio history
by Dan Chabek
Platt Benedict Founded Ohio's Norwalk
Platt Benedict, known as a man of many virtues, came from that strong and rugged stock called the western pioneer. He journeyed to Ohio early in the 19th Century and founded Norwalk, the Huron County seat. The trip with family via ox cart from Connecticut took seven weeks.
Benedict built a log cabin in the wilderness in 1817 and got along well with the Indians. His wife once commented:
"We gained the friendship of those denizens of the forest, and they brought us many, many presents in their own crude way."
Many of the early settlers thereabouts came from the Connecticut city of Norwalk, and that is how the Ohio town got its name. The eastern Norwalk was burned by the British red-coats during the Revolutionary War.
© 1998 Dan Chabek
