In the winter of 1804-05, Edward Scofield, Henry Hulse, and several others entered the township for the purpose of settling here. They settled on land near Walnut Creek. Scofield settled on what is now known as the Pistolozzi farm on the present State Route 5. In a couple of days, he began building a log house on the property. This was the first structure built in the township.
In 1806, Mr. Scofield moved his family from Hubbard, Ohio, to this township. The Scofields had previously settled in Hubbard, to which Edward had driven a team from Connecticut over the mountains and dense forest to the Western Reserve.
Henry K. Hulse and his new bride were the only other settlers to settle in the township with the Scofields. They lived with the Scofields most of the summer, and in the fall, Mr. Hulse built a crude log cabin on the property adjacent to the Scofields.
The settling of the township grew fairly rapidly in the northeast portion, as this was the section that settlers came to make their homes. The south and west portions were slow to settle as this property belonged to the heirs of the residents of Connecticut, not yet of age and therefore could not be sold.
Other early settlers were the John Budd family, who settled south of the Scofield property, Joseph Pruden, and John Godden. Joshua Oatley and Moses Hampton followed shortly thereafter, and these represented the settlers prior to 1811, when William Davis, Sr., arrived.
The next group of settlers included Benjamin Rowlee, Widow Dickson, James Parker, and Moses McMahon with their families.
Although numerous Indians were in the area, most of them had left prior to 1812. Some of them were quite friendly with the white man, particularly Joshua Oatley. As is usually the case, some of the Indians were "used" by the white man, which eventually resulted in confrontations and killings. We have no known record of any killings of the early white settlers of Bazetta.
The Indians buried their braves by digging a small grave and placing the body therein, clothed in war costume and with his implements. A death song was chanted, and they covered the grave with flat stones arranged in the form of an arch. There was such a grave on the Abell farm near Walnut Creek. Even in modern times, relics of the red man are found on many of the farms in the area during the tilling of the soil. This was especially true along Mosquito Creek. Many of our local citizens have precious collections of Indian artifacts which were collected locally.
Source: Historical Collections of Bazetta Township Thomas J. Kachur 1983