The township in which Champion was located derived its name from General Edward Paine, native of Connecticut who was a heroic officer in the American Revolutionary Army and one of the first settlers in the northeast pocket of Ohio. Later the town's appellation was changed to that of its township. 

Samuel Huntington, governor of Ohio from 1808 to 1810, lived in Painesville and died there in 1817. One evening, during his later years, while traveling to Cleveland from the east on horseback, he was attacked by a pack of wolves. 

Only the fleetness of his horse and the forceful blows from his umbrella, which he used to fend off the wild creatures, saved his life.