James and Catherine Hillman were the first settlers in Young’s town.  James Hillman was a trader who traveled from Pittsburgh up the Beaver and Mahoning Rivers by canoe.  He was the first Sheriff of the eastern half of the Western Reserve, and the Constable of Youngstown township—an ‘artificially created civil township’ that included Poland, Boardman, Canfield, Ellsworth, Coitsville, Youngstown, Austintown, Jackson, Liberty, and Hubbard townships.  It was said that Hillman ‘had no hesitation at taking in additional territory when the occasion demanded.’  So he could be the law whenever and wherever he chose.

Catherine Hillman met her future husband at a corn husking when she was 15.  They danced, he proposed, and they were married that night.  John Young offered her six acres of land in his new town if she would live there.  He knew that other families would buy land from him if there were already settlers living in the area.

Daniel Shehy settled on 400 acres in the east part of the township.  Two years later he married Jane McClain and they had a family of nine children in Youngstown.  John Young gave a town lot to their son John Young Shehy who was named for him.  Their cabin was typical of the first homes that settlers built.

How many different ways did John Hillman earn a living?   If you wanted to sell land on the frontier, how would you advertise?  Would you like to live in a log cabin?  Visit the Arms Family Museum or www.mahoninghistory.org to learn more about the people who settled our Valley. 

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