William Henry

Irish-born William Henry arrived in Stark County about 1805 with a team surveying the Canton-Wooster Road. Among the first to purchase land west of the Tuscarawas River, Henry built a brick house near the Cherry Road ferry crossing, kept a store, and owned stock in the toll bridge which replaced the ferry.

When the first Tuscarawas Township election was held, Henry was elected justice of the peace and treasurer. The election and the birth of Henry’s child occurred simultaneously in Henry’s home. In 1808, he founded Wooster; in 1831 he laid out West Massillon on the west bank of the river; and in 1835, he founded East Brookfield a mile further west.