Brownhelm Township is one of the eighteen townships of Lorain County,

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, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,877. Brownhelm was the first local government of any kind in the United States to elect a black man to public office; on April 2, 1855,

John Mercer Langston John Mercer Langston (December 14, 1829 – November 15, 1897) was an African-American abolitionist, attorney, educator, activist, diplomat, and politician. He was the founding dean of the law school at Howard University and helped create the d ...

, a black man from

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, became town clerk. He later became a United States congressman.

Geography

Located in northwestern Lorain County along the shores of

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, it borders the following townships and cities: * Lorain - northeast * Amherst - east, north of Amherst Township * Amherst Township - east * New Russia Township - southeast corner * Henrietta Township - south * Florence Township, Erie County - southwest corner * Vermilion Township, Erie County - west Parts of the city of

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are located in northern Brownhelm Township.

Name and history

It is the only Brownhelm Township statewide. Brownhelm Township was "founded" in 1816 but judicially established in 1818. Some historians assert that the name "Brownhelm" was derived from the word holm, added onto the surname "Brown", referring to Col. Henry Brown, who founded the settlement in 1816. Alternatively, the name refers to the fact that Brown was "at the helm" of his settlement. The first pioneer-settlers within present-day Brownhelm Township in 1816 were Peter P. Pease (later also being the first settler of

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located about southwest of Cleveland within the Cleveland metropolitan area. The population was 8,555 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin ...

), and Daniel T. Baldwin (who shortly later helped to establish the city of Lorain). Due to the 19th-century practice of excluding single men from the definition of "settlers", these two men were not credited at the time as the first settlers of the township. As a result, modern historians have commonly attributed the "first pioneer-settlement" of Brownhelm Township as being in 1817.

Notable person

* Burt Shotton, former

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player and manager

Government

The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township fiscal officer,§503.24§505.01
an
§507.01
of the

Ohio Revised Code The ''Ohio Revised Code'' (ORC) contains all current statutes of the Ohio General Assembly of a permanent and general nature, consolidated into provisions, titles, chapters and sections. However, the only official publication of the enactments o ...

. Accessed 4/30/2009. who serves a four-year term beginning on April 1 of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election. Vacancies in the fiscal officership or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees.

References

External links

*
Brownhelm Historical AssociationCounty website
{{authority control Townships in Lorain County, Ohio Townships in Ohio