David way~ a little history of his life & times

David Way is buried in the 10th row. He died at the age of 79 yrs oldMarch 20,183?

In April 1803, David Way & his family moved to suffield in the northern part of lot 9.The first birth in Suffield was that of a daughter, Rebecca, to David Way, in December, 1803. David Way was a juror in the first murder trial of Portage county. The case was as follows:

"The first murder trial that occurred in Portage County took place at the October term of the Court of Common Pleas, in 1813, whereof Hon. Benjamin Ruggles was President Judge, and Aaron Norton, Amzi Atwater and Samuel Forward, Associates. **John McManus was the defendant in this case, being indicted for the murder of Betsy McManus, his wife, and lived on what was then and since known as the Bell lot, in Ravenna Township. The indictment charged that McManus assaulted his wife while she was lying in bed, soon after the birth of a child, and struck her with a boot-jack, breaking the shoulderblade and one of the ribs upon the right side, making a wound eight inches long and six inches wide, and that he also kicked her. The injuries were inflicted on the 12th of May, 1813, and the woman died upon the 27th of the same month.**

 Benjamin Whedon was the foreman of the grand jury finding the indictment . The following are the names of the jurors before whom the case was tried: Gipson McDaniels, Jr., Palmyra; Isaac Osmun, Boston; Paul Williams, Portage; James McCormick, Springfield; Asher Gurley, Rootstown; William Sprague, Tallmadge; Theophilus Anthony, Atwater; George Walker, Hudson; Jonathan Foster, Mantua; Robert Taylor and David Way, Suffield; William Price, Ravenna. The case was conducted by Peter Hitchcock as Prosecuting Attorney, and by Benjamin Tappan and John C. Wright for the defense.

After a protracted and exciting trial, the defense claiming that the woman died of child-bed fever, the accused was acquitted of the charge of murder, and discharged. McManus is described as a quarrelsome man, who was perpetually in trouble, and indicted for assault and battery several times. He was a volunteer in the war of 1812, and from ailments contracted in that service, died in 1814 or 1815.