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Note: In Sept. 1813, Luther Battles, then living in Morkimor County, NY, was called into military service to guard the frontier next to Canada from Sacketts Harbor to Plattsburg, during the war with the British. He served 2 months and was paid a bounty of 160 acres of land in Michigan and $8 per month for the last 8 years of his life.
The History of the Battles Family (typescript) "After Luther's father's death, Luther, his mother and sisters moved to Herkimer County, New York. Luther, the oldest child and only son, now about 17, with his sisters, worked out and in this way supported themselves and their mother. At the age of 18, Luther was converted and joined the Methodist Church. In September, 1813, all the able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45, in the counties of Jefferson, Lewis, and Herkimer, New York were called to guard the frontier next to Canada from Sacketts Harbor near Ogdensburg to Plattsburg. The British had moved a large force along this line and were making a great effort to land their artillery upon the beach. When not drilling, these soldiers spent their time cutting the timber, felling it in all directions where there was any chance to land, until they had cut the timber on thousands of acres and in this way prevented the troops from landing. Luther Battles was a member of this military force and served nearly two months when he was honorable discharged. For said military service he received a bounty of 160 acres of land in Michigan and a pension of eight dollars a month the last eight years of his life. He articaled, as they called it, 66 acres of land in Herkimer, New York, at the age of twenty-three years. By this means he had plenty of time to pay for said land but did not get a deed for the same until it was all paid.
"Soon after his marriage, Luther Battles built a small house on the land which he had "articaled", and his mother and sisters lived with him. In the Spring of 1834, Luther Battles sold his land in Herkimer and went to Albany to get a deed. At this time, he had not entirely paid for it. His business settled, he started with a span of horses and wagon to look for a farm in Trumbull County, Ohio. Luther left his team with his brother-in-law, forty miles south of Buffalo, and walked to Dunkirk, where he took a steamship to Ashtabula, Ohio. Again on foot, he went to Rome township. The land was level, wet, and not at all to his liking. Luther changed his plans, went to Kirtland, and from there to Geauga County, Ohio. He was directed, by a friend from Herkimer, to Mayfield. He bought 109 acres of land from Malanckton Miller for eight hundred dollars case and the value of one horse. Only twelve acres of this land was cleared. Six of this had already been sown to wheat. Mr. Miller agreed to plant one-half acre of potatoes, and two acres of corn. A caldron kettle and one-fourth interest in a fanning mill were thrown into the bargain.
"Luther Battles left twenty dollars with a Mr. Stannard with which to buy a cow, then returned to Herkimer for his family. On May 26, 1834, he started with his wife and eight children for his new home in the West, as it was then called. They came on the Erie Canal, then just completed, to Buffalo. Here he left his family and went for his team which was at his brother-in-law's home. Returning, he shipped most of his household goods on a schooner for Fairport, Ohio. Packing the rest in his wagon, he was soon on his way again for Mayfield, a distance of two hundred miles, which they traveled in five days. The last night of their journey was spent in Kirtland. The place was full of Mormons or "Latter Day Saints", as they called themselves, who were just moving into the place. It was with difficulty that they secured one bed and supper. They had one bed in the wagon, so they got along well. The next morning as soon as it was light they again resumed their journey, and ate their first breakfast in Mayfield, at the home of Henry Stannard, who lived on the County Line Road between Chester and Mayfield, or Geauga and Cuyahoga Coounties. The Methodist Church, "East Hill", stood on the side of the old house."
".... As soon as the family was settled, Luther Battles drove to Fairport for his goods and found that the schooner had encountered a gale and had been driven back. When they got their goods nearly two weeks later, they found to their dismay that they had been wet and the bedding was ruined."[2]
moved to Mayfield Twp, Northeast Ohio (Western Reserve) in 1834
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