200 - HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY were three hundred feet apart, thus affording vessels a conical opening to facilitate their entrance. The first appropriation made by the government was $12,000, in 1826, and the proposed work was commenced. In 1827-8, to meet the bills incurred by progressive work, an allowance of $2,403.50 was made and the following year $6,940.25. It was thought by this time that Ashtabula had a pretty fine harbor, but the far-seeing ones realized that they had only made a beginning and were determined to keep the work going. They received no further encouragement from the government, so they took the matter up with .the county commissioners who, being alive to the importance of this point of commercial interests to the county, in 1830-1, appropriated for harbor improvements at Ashtabula $7,000, with which two embankments of timber and stone were projected 960 feet into the lake, the outer end being in 14 feet of water. The next congressional appropriation was made in 1838, when Ashtabula and Conneaut were each given $8,000. Ashtabula had become a regular port-of-entry for the passenger steamers that had become a prosperous line of business, and which afforded the only means of easy transportation for people going either east or west, prior to the advent of the railroads. Hotels were erected along, or adjacent to, the wharfs that had been built on the east side of the river, and large warehouses were constructed by several different companies that were engaged in handling and forwarding commodities of every day need. In 1851 Ashtabula received $15,000 for harbor improvements, and in 1854 an allowance was made of $13,000, while Conneaut was given that year $11,500. A report of harbor activities for the year 1851, showed exports valued at $442,389 and imports at $419,105. Ashtabula interests at that time owned ten vessels having a total tonnage of 1,741 and employing 76 hands. Illustrative of one method of handling goods at the docks in those days, we find the following advertisement in the Ashtabula Telegraph of Dec. 31, 1850: "For Sale—The cargo of the schooner Dahlia, consisting wholly of corn and oats, is selling off in quantities to suit purchasers. The Dahlia is moored at the plank-road floating bridge, Ashtabula Harbor, and the master, G. Fargo, attends to all orders on board. Corn in the ear stands at present at 28 cents shelled, 50 cents. Oats, 37 1/2 cents. Mr. Fargo's importation of corn and oats is very opportune, considering the HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY - 201 failure of the crops of so many farmers. There is 'corn in Egypt' and prices are kept within a reasonable range." On July 3, 1852, a storm swept away 200 feet of the east pier. The lighthouse at that time was situated on a crib about twelve feet east of the middle section of the east pier. A foot-bridge connected the crib and pier. After the storm the lighthouse was inaccessible, except by boat, and no light was shown until the seas went down. The pier was rebuilt during the following year. The pier was 14 feet wide, until 1867, when, it having become much the worse from storm ravages, it was again rebuilt, this time 18 feet wide and a 90-foot extension added. In 1868 it was built out three hundred feet farther into the lake, and the west pier was extended to the same extent. The outer ends were then in 12 feet of water. These pier-building activities were always welcomed by a certain class, as they afforded plenty of work in their particular line. These were the owners of "stone-boats", who earned their livelihood by gathering stone from the bottom of the lake and selling it by the cord. They were dependent on building industry for their market and it often became very dull. Ashtabula had quite a fleet of these boats, which were made of the scow pattern and carried from one to five tons of stone. The crew would start out in the early morning and spend the entire day skirting the shore for miles either way from the harbor entrance, wading in water waist deep and picking the stones from the bottom and throwing them into the scow. The pier cribs were weighted down with these rocks. During the summer of 1835 a machine especially built for the purpose was used in deepening the channel in the lower river at Ashtabula, and by fall, there was a depth of water "not less than 7 feet in the shoalest places". That was sufficient for any of the boats of that day. In the fall, a goodly portion of timber for extension of the west pier was on the ground and preparations were about completed for construction of a lighthouse. At the close of the marine season in 1836, the excavation work had formed a channel 12 feet deep at the entrance of the piers and extending up the river 200 feet. Above that depth was 10 feet for 400 feet, then 8 1/2 feet for 250 feet up channel. The next 300 feet gave 10 feet depth and above that point there was from 15 to 18 feet for a mile or more up river. In 1870 the first regular dredging was done by the Dodge Dredging Company. The work of the dredge that was brought here to dig into the shale-rock bottom was marveled at by the people, many of whom spent 202 - HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY their spare time watching its operation. It was necessary, however, to do preliminary blasting in the bottom of the river in order to loosen up the rock for the dredge dipper. For this work large rafts were made with holes here and there through which iron tubes were put down endwise to the bottom and through them holes were drilled some distance into the rock, then the drill was withdrawn and a charge of powder sunk into the hole and exploded. The work of months necessitated the using of many of the iron tubes, the contract for making which was awarded to the local firm of Mann & Noyes. When this contract had been completed there was a channel 60 feet wide and averaging 131/2 feet in depth, and easily accessible for the largest boats on the lake. Major McFarland, of the government harbor forces, pronounced it the best harbor on the lake. It was said that any boat that could cross the St. Clair flats could navigate Ashtabula River for a mile from the lake. The first lighthouse at Ashtabula harbor was built in 1834 or '35 on a crib about 12 feet east of the east pier and some 200 feet from the beach. This lighthouse was put onto a scow and transferred to the outer end of the west pier in the winter of 1874-5. Prior to the building of the first beacon light the only guide a vessel had to the harbor at night was a lantern hanging from the end of a pole on the end of the pier. Up to 1880, the government had expended on river improvements at this harbor $281,653.67, and there was a channel 100 feet wide and from 14 to 16 feet deep. As the marine business grew in volume the vessels grew in size and by the end of the century they had reached such proportions that it was evident that the main river dockage facilities would soon be outgrown. There was great difficulty in getting the loaded ships around the bend and through the bridge, and when they got to the 500-foot length the railroad companies began to figure on other arrangements. The result of this condition and the situation and necessity it produced is found in the wonderful outer harbor of today which embraces over a hundred acres of made land by filling into the lake on both sides of the river, and the expenditure of fifteen millions of dollars by the two railroad companies at interest. All up-river docks have been abandoned since the building of the new harbor, in 1906-07, and subsequent additions. The large ships have grown to a length exceeding six hundred feet HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY - 203 and look like giants beside the ocean steamers that occasionally get into these waters. Evolution of Dock Facilities.—(For the following information, the editor acknowledges help from J. M. Amsden, L. W. Jarvis and J. H. Rice.) The first cargo of iron ore unloaded at Ashtabula was from the schooner Emma Mays, on June 10, 1873. The first shipment of coal from this port was in July of the same year. A cargo of coke was forwarded from here on vessel to Lake Superior on June 10 of the same year. These first cargoes were handled in a crude manner, it being before any definite facilities had been supplied. The ore was shoveled from the hold of the vessel into buckets that were fashioned from large barrels, the barrel being cut through the middle, forming two halves, into which heavy rope bales were tied. A rigging was then fixed up by which the bucket could be drawn up to a level with a staging built over the deck of the vessel from the dock, where the ore was dumped into a wheelbarrow and then wheeled ashore. This improvised "hoist" was operated by horsepower, the horse being on the dock. The loading of coal was accomplished by wheeling it aboard in barrows and dumping it into the vessel's hold. The development of the dock facilities for handling ore and coal has been a wonderful demonstration of the inventive genius of bright minds. From horse-power to steam-power and finally to electric-power machinery the progress has advanced, and Ashtabula Harbor docks had the distinction of being the first on the chain of lakes to adopt electric power. The experiment was so successful that today all leading docks on the lakes have abandoned steam. The first machinery for handling ore and coal consisted of two "Lockport" machines installed just above the bridge on the Pennsylvania side. These were used for both loading and unloading. This rig was merely a boom, one end of which served as a pivotal point and the other end was swung about in the air as required to handle buckets suspended therefrom over the vessel or the car. In the unloading of coal, those days, it took about fifty men to handle it, the coal being shoveled from the car into the buckets and then swung over the vessel's hold and dumped. The railroad equipment was diminutive in keeping with the volume of business. The locomotives were midgets, as compared with the mammoth ones of today and the coal and ore 204 - HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY gondola-cars carried but ten tons. A thousand-ton boat was a "ship". Before the machinery was introduced the coal was unloaded onto wheelbarrows that were on an elevated platform, from which a runway was built on wooden horses out over the vessel and the wheelbarrows were run out on that and dumped. This filling continued until the boat was about half loaded, and would have a pronounced "list", then the boat would be turned around with its other side to the dock and the job finished. The next step after the "Lockports" was the "cranes", that were introduced in the early '90s. The first plants installed had a capacity of handling about 1,000 tons of coal in 12 hours. In 1896 the first improved "hopper" cars made their appearance and a trestle was built over the dock, on which the cars were run out over five-ton pockets, into which their loads were dumped, and from the pockets the coal was run out into five-ton buckets, which were swung over the vessel and dumped into the hold. This was quite an advance in speed, as 3,500 tons could be transferred from the car to the boat in 12 hours. Then came the end-gate gondola-car, which could be run upon a rig like a big teeter, the end-gate lifted and the load of coal dumped direct into the vessel. This was still another advance in way of saving time, but it did not prove practical and was soon abandoned. Eventually the car-dump of today, which elevates the car, turns it up-side-down and dumps its fifty, sixty or seventy tons of coal at the rate of sixty cars an hour, or one every minute. This machine is fed from an inclined track onto which the train of coal is run by a locomotive, after which the cars are handled by gravity to the foot of the elevator, pushed up an incline onto it by a "dog", and after the dumping operation, the cars are run off from the machine down a steep incline, which gives them a momentum that sends them up another incline spur over a "switch-back" and in receding from this they are run off into a siding and made up into the empty train, ready to pull out, before a locomotive is again used. A new plant of this nature is to be built at this harbor for use the coming season, which will represent an expenditure of a million dollars. The facilities for handling iron ore have progressed just as remarkably. Before the invention of the "clam-shell" bucket machines, gangs of men went into the holds and shoveled the ore into buckets, to be hauled out a ton at a time. Today the latest type of unloaders have buckets that HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY - 205 are operated from the end of a tower that drops down into the hold. The bucket is rigged with an extending arm that can be sent out in any direction by the operator, who is in the tower immediately over the bucket, and below the deck so he can see the work. This machine, it is said, will take 98 per cent. of ore out of a ship's hold without any shoveling. The bucket is rated at 15 tons, but has a capacity of 17 tons and will make a round trip in about a minute. Whereas it took from one to three days to unload a small boat, in the early years of the traffic, with the use of the modern dock facilities boats come in after dark and are unloaded, and maybe loaded with coal and gone before daylight. They move so fast that the sailors have little chance to get ashore, and the mercantile interests of the Harbor have been materially affected by this condition during the past few years. The first job of real dredging was done from a scow, with a scoop attachment, which was worked with a team of oxen that was on board the craft. The whole outfit was conceived and built by local residents who appreciated the need of more water in the harbor before the government did. The little old wooden-crib piers of a half-century ago have given way to massive concrete walls along the river that have been extended many hundred feet lakeward and the river entrance and whole lake front harbor are protected by a breakwater nearly two miles in length. One of the modern ideas of transportation is illustrated in Ashtabula by the two great car-ferry ships that ply between this harbor and Canadian points. The chief traffic is in coal, but occasionally a carload of some other nature is transported. 'These steamers are fitted with four parallel railroad tracks in their open holds, onto which a train of thirty-two cars can be loaded and safely carried across the lake, to be switched onto some Canadian railroad. These boats are ice crushers and run nearly all winter and in the rush season: of the summer, with clear sailing, they make two round trips in 24 hours. Flood of 1878. —There were a great many residents of the county who believed that the destructive flood of 1878 was an answer to prayer. That summer had been one of the dryest every known hereabouts and everything was suffering from the drouth. The situation became so serious that in some places meetings were held for the express purpose of praying 206 - HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY for Divine relief. The relief came, whether as an answer to the prayers or as a natural occurrence. It came most precipitously and forcibly, and when it was over large sections of the county lay in waste. It was nothing short of a cloudburst that made a visitation in this section on Sept. 15, 1878. The earth was so dry that it could not absorb the tremendous downpour and the water swept in sheets over the land, seeking for a common level. Rivulets and rills soon assumed the proportions of rushing torrents, while creeks and rivers overflowed their banks and swept away everything in their paths. An old resident of the interior is authority for the statement that there was not a bridge on Grand River that withstood the flood. In numerous places where families occupied houses close beside streams their domiciles were swept away and became part of the general flotsam. A large quantity of live stock of all kinds succumbed to the torrent's strength and many families suffered heavy losses. Probably the most exciting and spectacular point in the county was along the lower waters toward the mouth of the Ashtabula River. For miles up-river the lowlands were inundated and where the valley was broad the expanse of the water diverted the main current and saved the bridges. At the harbor the lowland east of the river was a solid sheet of water rushing straight across to the lake, the regular channel being scarcely discernible. The flood took all small buildings that lay in its path and not a few large ones. There were residing on the flats at that time a number of families comprising quite a little settlement. Among these, all of whom suffered more or less loss as every home was inundated, was Russell C. Humphrey and his family, whose home was close to his limekiln dock that was about where the McKinnon dock now stands. Mr. Humphrey's barn and all small buildings were swept away with contents. His horse was liberated when it became apparent that the flats would be inundated, and the animal made for Fort Hill, where it remained in safety for three days. Mr. Humphrey's loss amounted to several thousands of dollars. Others who had exciting experiences included the families of John Cox, H. I. Patchin, Jerry Mahoney, John Taggerty, James Cullton, Dell McFarland, Charles Way, John Baptiste, John Evans, J. H. Whelpley, Andrew Ellis, George Mack, Webb, and probably others. Most of them foresaw the danger and got away to high land before HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY - 207 the river banks overflowed. There were some, however, who did not think there was to be any great peril and stayed with their homes, in which they had to live in the upper stories for two or three days. It is told of one family who occupied a small house, and whose possessions included two pigs, that the man of the family tucked one pig under each arm and waded to the Columbus Street Hill, leaving his wife and two small children to get out as best they could. The harbor tug Dexter, which was tied at the dock on the east side of the river just above the bridge, was caught with her crew on board by the rising tide and they did not dare "cast off", as there was not another place where they could tie up even if they were able to breast the current. The tug was headed toward the lake and it would have been impossible to turn it about so there was nothing for it but to ride the crest of the flood and hope that the fastening would hold and that nothing that was coming down with the torrent of water would foul the craft and break it loose. It was a very precarious position that the crew were in for a couple of days. From the west side of the river a line was shot over the tug and made fast to a large towline which was fastened to the tug to serve as a holder in case she broke loose. This line was also used to convey food for the crew, it being drawn across in baskets. They subsisted in this manner for three days. The crest of the flood tore away the schooners York State, Jesse and Snowdrop, and an abandoned vessel named Hercules that stood in the upper river and the pontoon bridge that crossed the river at Bridge street. The York State was cast on the beach, broadside to it, almost against the washbank of Fort Hill. The Snowdrop landed at "Hannah's Hill", now known as Woodland Beach Park. The Jesse made the beach farther east and the old Hercules was dashed to pieces. The Jesse was lying at the stave dock just below the bridge. James Jeffords and others of the crew, including a woman cook, were on board when it became apparent that the boat would be carried away. They all got off excepting Mr. Jeffords, who was carried down the river. As the boat neared the lake it was drifted close to the east pier and Jeffords was able to jump off onto the pier, from which he was later rescued by men in a small boat who were able to navigate over the flats, after the water had subsided so that it was not going over the beach. There was a tremendous sea rolling in from the lake and at the height 208 - HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY of the flood, when the huge incoming waves would meet the .outgoing torrent at the mouth of the harbor, the water would leap high into the air. Everything that was washed out into the lake met this crest and the sight was most spectacular and thrilling. Charles Linn, an old-time mariner of the Harbor, was in charge of the Snowdrop, and he and the crew got ashore while the opportunity to do so was good. They forgot, however, Mr. Linn's poodle dog, which went out with the boat, and must have had a rough experience, but the little fellow was found to be all safe and well, when it was possible to get aboard the vessel on the beach. While rushing down the river the derelict Hercules came in contact with the little Canadian schooner St. Andrews, that was taking in a cargo of timber at the Haskell dock next down the river where the Jesse had been moored. A gaping hole was punched through the bow of the schooner, which was broken from its fastenings and pushed along till it in turn fouled the dredge Hercules, that was tied up near the "Old Yellow Warehouse". The dredge was forced back and up onto the bank of the river till it stuck against the big ice house below Point Park. The crew managed to get lines to the vessel and prevented it from being carried out into the lake, but it sank beside the dredge. When the water receded the dredge was left high and dry. John O'Neil's grocery and ship chandlery store stood on the edge of the river at the east end of the old pontoon bridge. There was a vacant space east of that store and next beyond was Nettleton's store. On the opposite side of Bridge street, directly across from the space between the stores, was the Inter-Ocean, a saloon and restaurant. That building was picked up by the flood, carried down between the two store buildings without touching either, and impaled on a spile that stood high out of water at the corner of the Humphrey lime-kiln dock, where it was reduced to wreckage by the action of the water. In the upper river, the family of Joseph Louth resided in a house that stood on the flats across the river from where is now the Ashtabula Hide & Leather plant. The family were routed out about midnight and had to wade for their lives and their home was carried down stream and dashed to pieces against trees. Altogether, the damage resulting from the flood throughout the county was very heavy and fell heavily on many who were not well able to stand their losses. HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY - 209 Burning of the Steamer Washington.—One of the calamities of nearly a century ago, in which Ashtabula people were interested because of the local connections, was the burning of the steamer George Washington, which occurred on the morning of June 15, 1838, off Silver Creek, N. Y., on Lake Erie. The Ashtabula Sentinel gave the following account of the disaster: "About 2 o'clock in the morning, of Saturday last, when nearly opposite Silver Creek, the Washington was discovered to be on fire. Alarm was instantly given and every means used to extinguish the flames, but all in vain. The fire originated under the boilers, and so great was the heat, and rapid the flames, that all prospects of saving the boat were soon despaired of. The only alternative was to save the lives of as many as possible. The engine was stopped that the yawl might be lowered, and the melting of connecting rods prevented it from being started. The ropes connected to the rudder were burned, and she became entirely unmanageable ; not, however, until she had made some two or three miles nearer the shore than when the fire was first discovered, which enabled many to swim to the land, who otherwise had perished. At the time the boat stopped, they were about two miles from shore. Two loads might have been carried to the shore in the yawl, had not an accident occurred in letting it loose in the commencement. As soon as they commenced lowering the yawl, the excitement had become so great that it was immediately filled by passengers, and so anxious were they to get loose, that the ropes were cut, and all were precipitated into the lake. Consequently much time was lost in rescuing those who were thrown from the boat—and also in baling the boat. This being done as soon as possible, a full load was taken on shore, and the yawl returned for more, but before it arrived at the burning wreck, all had been forced to burn or throw themselves into the water, and save themselves by swimming or clinging to the floating movables, which had been thrown out for that purpose. The boat picked up such as could not otherwise reach shore, until it was filled, and the second load thus landed. Many Were saved by swimming, being buoyed up by boards. Amasa Savage, one of the prominent men of Ashtabula, who was board the Washington on that ill-fated night, gives the following account of his experience : "I was on top of the wheelman's house, which myself and two or three others had torn off and thrown overboard, after the fire ( 12 ) 210 - HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY had burst out through the ship's promenade deck into her cabin. When about two rods from the steamboat, William Lown swam and got onto the cabin top. But he directly cried out, 'Oh ! my wife and children, and got off, but came back with a child in his arms, and got directly on top of said wheelman's house and there remained until taken off by Captain Brown and put in a small boat, the remainder of us remaining by the sides of the housetop, taking hold of it with our hands. We were in the water probably one hour and a half, and had proceeded about halfway ashore. The first and second mates were both on board said boat until the fire burst out, and likewise the engineer and crew. The mates were both with me on said wheelman's house." The steamboat George Washington was built at Ashtabula, during the winter of 1837-8, under supervision of Capt. Nathaniel W. Brown, and was as stout, substantial and well built as any boat afloat. She was of 900 tons burden and, up to that time, the largest passenger steamer on the Great Lakes. About the first of June, 1838, she was launched and taken to Buffalo to receive her furnishings. This being completed, she started on her maiden trip, with freight and a full load of passengers, for Detroit and intermediate points. It was on the return trip down to Buffalo that she was destroyed, before she had made one round trip. There were on board at the time of the disaster between 75 and 80 passengers. Forty-five of them were taken to Buffalo on the steamer North America, which was passing that way and hove to to offer aid. Twenty-three were known to have reached shore at Silver Creek, and all but five or six of the crew were saved, so it was figured that the number burned and drowned was around 18 or 20, but just how many was never learned. Captain Brown, who was master of the new ship, resided on the Shore road, about midway between the west end of Walnut street and Red Brook, about where the new golf clubhouse is being built. The untimely and appalling fate of the new ship, of whom citizens of Ashtabula and the Harbor were justly proud, and the construction of which had been watched with deepest interest by vessel men, because everything in her makeup was of the latest design and invention, cast a shadow of sorrow from end to end of Lake Erie. There were comparatively few steamers on the lakes in that day, and of this number, the Washington was the largest and best. HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY - 211 William H. Vanderbilt Visits Ashtabula.—The late William H. Vanderbilt, founder of all the Vanderbilt millions, was at one time the biggest railroad magnate in the United States, and his judgment .was considered paramount. When he was the head of the New York Central Lines and its feeders, he made a visit to Ashtabula, when John P. Manning was the local agent for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company. This visitation was in the year 1872, at which time the Harbor branch was under construction. Mr. Manning once related to the writer of this sketch an amusing incident of Mr. Vanderbilt's visit, which is given approximately as told: "You know we were all proud of our new road to the Harbor, and of course the officials of the company were deeply interested, and frequently visited the scene of activities, just to note the progress of the work, for great things were expected for the future. I assumed that Mr. Vanderbilt would be equally interested, and wondered why he had said nothing about it. I finally mentioned the subject to him and said enough to imply that he was not in sympathy with that particular extension of the company's lines. "I tried to impart to him some of my enthusiasm and urged him to run his car down there to see what a wonderful future was promised for the Harbor branch, but it was a long time before I could get his consent to take the trouble to go down. I was certain that he would be interested when he got on the ground and viewed the surroundings, but I was doomed to suffer the utmost chagrin. He gave little heed to matters to which I tried to call his attention, on the way down, and I finally gave up, and silence followed, as he did not appear inclined to be talkative. "When the engine stopped the private car at the end of the line, I ventured to speak again, and discovered, to my dismay, that I had aroused him from a nap. I told him where we were, and he turned languidly, gazed through the windows onto a cat-tail swamp on one side and against a bank of earth on the other, and resumed his pose, saying, disgustedly, `Why did you bring me down here ? Let's go back'." Mr. Manning lived to see the realization of his hopes for the Harbor branch, and it was a source of great satisfaction to him to think that for once the judgment of so great a man as William H. Vanderbilt was at fault. Long years before Mr. Manning passed on, his pet project had helped to make Ashtabula Harbor the greatest iron ore and coal transfer 212 - HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY point in the world. The little piece of sidetrack that Mr. Vanderbilt scorned proved to be, perhaps, the greatest of any one source of revenue to the great railroad which he dominated. An Early Benefactor.—That one of Ashtabula's most progressive, prosperous and generous citizens should die a charge on the county was indeed a sad turn of fate. Such was the experience of Hall Smith, at one time one of the large landholders of the village and actively interested in everything pertaining to the growth and prosperity of the town. In view of the conspicuous figure he cut in the early days of this city, it is but fitting that he receive special mention, and we give a resume of his life and works, taken from an obituary published in the Ashtabula Telegraph of January 24, 1857, that was given at the funeral in an address by the Rev. John Hall. Early in the last century, Hall Smith, being penniless and ambitious to seek his fortune in the new country of the West, borrowed sufficient means to equip himself for a journey and started for the wilds of northern Ohio, where he settled, first, in Austinburg, where he remained until 1809, when he purchased a considerable acreage in Ashtabula and moved to this place and opened a grocery and general store. He conducted a wholesale as well as a retail business, selling goods to merchants of neighboring towns, his trade extending over into Pennsylvania. He dealt largely in farming implements and tools, and prospered. He was very liberal in contributing to the expense of opening roads and other public benefits, and his name soon became well known throughout a wide territory. His hand was always open to the needy, and when there was anything to be done, while others hesitated, Hall Smith was always at the fore with his influence and money to boost for Ashtabula. In 1807 he married Julia Anna, daughter of the Rev. Joseph Badger, who died two years later. In 1811 he married again, this time the bride being Achsah, daughter of Roger Nettleton, by whom he had three daughters and one son. This wife died in 1823. Descendants of the family are still living in the county. The early needs of the inhabitants in way of mills to grind their grain and to saw their timber was met by Mr. Smith and Nathan Strong, who entered into partnership and built mills near the river at the north end of Main street, where in later years was erected a stone mill that stood within the memory of many residents of today. HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY - 213 In 1815, there being no convenient place in Ashtabula for holding religious and other public meetings, Mr. Smith, together with those other public benefactors of that day, Col. Matthew Hubbard, Deacon Amos Fisk and Philo Booth, Esq., erected a building to supply these wants, which, though not formally, was in fact donated to the public. This building was erected on land which now constitutes a part of North Park, and was for many years used for public meetings and as a schoolhouse, while the upper story was utilized .as. Masonic hall. Later, it was moved across Second (Park) street and fitted up for an academy. It was again moved and was called "Firemen's Hall" for many years. Mr. Smith having been educated a Congregationalist, although not a member of that body; was their first and for many years their principal supporter in Ashtabula. His contributions for religious purposes were not, however, confined to that denomination. Ashtabula is indebted to Hall Smith for the land embraced in the North Public Square (now North Park), which he donated for public use. For several years Mr. Smith enjoyed great prosperity, but at the close of the war, in 1815, he began, with many others, to suffer reverses, due to influences of the strife, and his prosperity turned. In 1827 his affairs reached a crisis. He struggled with the fates for five years more, without being able to retrieve his lost fortunes, and, in 1832, he made the last desperate effort to get back upon his feet. This involved a trip to the East, where he visited Boston, Connecticut and New York points; seeking assistance from his friends of earlier days, in way of loans, but. he was not successful, and the anxiety and worry proved too much of a mental strain. He was found wandering, insane, through the streets of Albany. Friends from here brought him back home. He dwelt with friends here and there for several years, but, finally becoming so bad that it was unsafe to allow him further freedom, it became necessary to place him in confinement until the county almshouse was built, when he became an inmate thereof and there died in January, 1857. Mr. Hall was one of the earliest members of Rising Sun Lodge No. 22, F. & A. M., and that order conducted his funeral services, which were held in the Presbyterian Church in this place. Incidents of the War of 1812 .—In the history of Ashtabula Township written by the Rev. John Hall in 1856 is found the following story relative to the local conditions during the War of 1812 214 - HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY "The War of 1812 was calamitous to he people of Ashtabula, in common with those of the other infant settlements along the south shore of Lake Erie, on the bosom of which floated the British fleet without opposition, during the first half of the war. Their fears were excited by frequent alarms and expectations of invasion by the enemy. The most active and strong men were called frequently out to repel such invasions, while others must go to replenish the army. Drawn away thus from their vocations, their homes, the cultivation of their farms, so necessary to the sustenance of their families, great privations and sufferings were endured. The settlement and improvement of the country were retarded and well nigh suspended. The difficulty of obtaining salt and other necessities from the East, on account of their liability to seizure by the enemy on the lake, and the high prices created by such conditions, was the source, also, of great suffering. "The elder men who were exempt by law from military duty, but had been soldiers of the American Revolution, formed themselves into committees of vigilance and into companies, with leaders, to watch the motions of the enemy, to counsel and to fight, if the shores of Ashtabula should be invaded. These men, possessed of military experience, were useful guards and good advisers. Capt. John R. Read was in command of the regular Company N, of Regiment N, of Ohio Militia, belonging to Ashtabula. He kept his eye upon the movements of the enemy, placed guards, taking alternately out of his company and divisions of some eight or ten men, at the mouth of the Ashtabula. The writer was in one of these detachments. He was chosen to order and marshal the party, and to report their observations and doings. This was in May, 1813. The guards discovered a sail passing up the lake a considerable distance from shore. As it would have been hazardous for our own craft to sail so far from land, we supposed this to be an enemy's boat laden with supplies, and we fired upon her to bring her to. We gained nothing but a return shot from her. "Captain Read's company was called out in June, 1813, during his absence, by Lieutenant Duty, to defend the entrance into the Ashtabula and to guard the United States stores of pork and flour in the barn of Gideon Leet, about a mile up the river, from seizure by the British troops on board the Queen Charlotte and the Lady Provost, then nearby. A party was detached to go up along the lake shore to discover the position of these vessels. It had been reported that they had anchored that morning off HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY - 215 Cunningham Creek, in Madison, and sent a party on shore, who butchered an ox belonging to Mr. Phineas Mixer. Having taken the beef on board, they were said to have weighed anchor and sailed toward Ashtabula. Our detachment consisted of Ira Sweet, Joshua Cone, Lewis Sweet, James Tinker, Fredus A. Sweet, Chauncey Tinker, Willard H. Sweet and other men whose names are forgotten. They were armed with rifles. In passing up along the shore they discovered a man before them hurrying on in the same direction they were going. Not expecting him a foe, they ran to overtake him, and he, perceiving them, ran to escape. When they had thus proceeded about three miles above the mouth of the Ashtabula, to the mouth of a brook running into the lake, the man they were pursuing rushed to the lake and hurried on board a large boat at the water's edge. The boat belonged to the British vessels, which were anchored as near the shore where the boat lay as they could approach. The boat was propelled by six rowers on each side and was armed with a three-pounder. Our men fired into the boat as she was shoving off, and received a shot from the three-pounder in return, which only powdered them with the sand of the beach, and hurt none of them. They fired several times more into the boat as she was hurrying off, with what execution they could not tell. For each of their fires a ball sent from the Queen Charlotte was returned, only to cut off the boughs of trees that hung over their heads. The detachment returned and reported to Lieutenant Duty and joined the rest of the company. The enemy's vessels soon appeared and anchored off the mouth of the Ashtabula, where Lieutenant Duty's forces, augmented by volunteers from neighboring townships, were prepared to oppose them, should they give battle or attempt a landing. Our men, partly exposed and partly concealed by trees and bushwood, and some of them being dressed in Indian blankets, and rushing to and fro among the bushes, our forces appeared, doubtless, to the enemy, as it was intended that it should, more numerous and formidable than they were in reality. We soon had the pleasure of seeing our enemies sailing away toward the Canada shore, leaving us unhurt, and our military stores safe, which we had resolved to consume by fire, rather than to see them fall into the enemy's hands." Many Ashtabula residents of the present day can recall "Fort Hill", which was leveled off a few years ago and used in filling for the lake front improvement east of the river. This hill was like a wart on the landscape, 216 - HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY an irregular circular elevation but a few hundred feet in its circumference on the ground level and standing high above the water, with only a narrow beach between. The top gave a commanding view of the open lake. There is an old historical story to the effect that, on an occasion like the one above related by Rev. Hall (and possibly the same), the comparatively small number of men succeeded in making the enemy believe that there was a large military force on shore, by the clever ruse of encircling this hill, single file. There were not enough to form even a single line around it, but they would march solid across the front, visible from the lake, and when out of sight at one end would run around the back face and catch up with the rear end of the procession, thus keeping the line complete at all times. The result was soon realized, as hoped; and the two enemy ships in the offing decided to not attempt a landing. A personal experience of the Rev. Hall is related by himself as follows : "On the 18th of March, 1813, the writer, with his horse and sleigh, accompanied by Mr. Silas Foote, was transporting a load of groceries from Norfolk, Conn., for Mr. Hall Smith, of Ashtabula. I stopped my team in Buffalo, near the barracks, in which some 300 United States troops were quartered, leaving the team and load in care of Mr. Foote, while I should go a few rods to transact some business at Pratt's store. This occupied but a few minutes. Coming out of the store, I saw the load piled up in the street and Foote standing by the goods, but the team and sleigh were gone. Turning my eyes toward the barracks, I saw the team and the men, who appeared to be non-commissioned officers, were seating themselves in the sleigh. I stepped up and asked what they were doing with my horse and sleigh. They answered, 'The British are coming on the ice from Fort Erie, to take Buffalo, and we, with our fellow soldiers, are called out by the colonel to meet and drive them back.' Well, said I, if you are going to battle in the sleigh, you need a skillful and patriotic driver to lead you to victory ; will you receive me in that capacity ? 'Yes, jump in and drive off,' said they. I was glad to do so for the safety of my horses. We proceeded about three miles, half-way across the lake, toward the fort. The English troops left the ice, on which they were only exercising, and fled to the fort when they saw us approaching. We met our men who were in advance of us, returning. My men joined them, and I drove back to Buffalo. As we were preparing to reload, the colonel stepped up and said, 'You can not take these goods, unless you get some responsible man to pledge for you HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY - 217 that you will not convey them to the enemy.' A merchant, Mr. Grant, answered, 'I know Mr. Hall, and am well acquainted with Hall Smith, to whom these goods are consigned. I pledge myself that they shall be taken to him at Ashtabula, and not to the enemy.' I was allowed to proceed homeward with the merchandise." Tragedies of Passing Years.—The growth and development of Ashtabula from the arrival of the first settlers to the present day has been attended by many calamities of tragic nature, one of which, the disaster of 1876, which is the subject of an article by itself, made Ashtabula famous the world over. The unnatural deaths of George and Samuel Beckwith, depicted under head of "Tribulations of First Family", were followed by others fully as tragic. The Rev. John Hall reviewed some of the early day occurrences in his history, written in 1856, as follows : "The launching of the Superior in the summer of 1816 furnished the first general mourning in the community. The launching was successfully accomplished and was cheered with shouts of exultation and rejoicing, which were soon to be turned to wailings and heart-rending cries of distress. From among the great multitude on the shore, collected from surrounding townships, a great many men, women and children, and even mothers with infants in their arms, were excited to rush on board the vessel. They were moved to run across the deck, back and forth from side to side, to rock it violently. The vessel being without ballast and several sailors being aloft, high up the masts, the empty hull could not balance the swinging and rocking weight above. One rock too many proved fatal, The vessel was overset and the tall masts came over and beat the creek shore. The mixed multitude on board were all precipitated into the water at once. Men and women were struggling, sinking and gasping, presenting an appalling scene to the men on shore, who plunged in and drew the drowning ones ashore, hastening back again and again to rescue others, and well-nigh drowning themselves in their efforts to save others. By the favor of Heaven the women and children were all saved, the babies all floating on the water and being picked up. The men also who were on the deck were all saved, but the seven young men who were up the masts were all drowned, being held under water by the spars and rigging. The next big shock to the community was the burning of the steamer Washington, particulars of which are found in a story by itself. 218 - HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY The Ashtabula disaster occurred on Dec. 29, almost midway between Christmas and New Year. The next serious accident that shocked the community happened on Christmas day, in 1906. A street car loaded with happy souls was picked up on the Lake street grade crossing of the L. S. & M. S. Railway by a west-bound flyer. In the twinkle of an eye sorrow and excruciating pain took the place of happiness, and nineteen persons were taken to the hospital. One-half of the street car was dragged and thrown against the end of the depot building. When the locomotive stopped, in front of the passenger station, two unconscious and badly injured women were found in the debris on the pilot. They were Mrs. Clayton Jenkins and Mrs. James Whelpley. No one was killed outright, but how any escaped death was a miracle. One of the injured died a few days after the accident. Since 1889 there had been more or less agitation looking to a subway at this point, and but a month before the accident plans had been ordered drawn and submitted for consideration. Following this calamity there was no time lost and the subway was soon realized. There were 13 passengers on a car going toward the city on the evening of Dec. 16, 1912, when a train crashed squarely through the center of the street car, instantly killing seven women and one man. The shock to the community is indescribable, and the effect was sorely felt in the Christmas trade and throughout the holiday season. Subway agitation was immediately started and has been going on ever since. At this writing plans are drawn and full agreements have been reached between the railroad companies and the city, but the property damages threaten to still further postpone the work that might save many lives. On Christmas Eve, 1922, a party of five men, in a sedan, with all openings tightly closed, started across the river on Bridge street and did not notice that the draw stood open. At a good rate of speed the automobile went onto the bridge approach and plunged into the river. Four of the occupants were drowned. On Nov. 2, 1906, when Henry Starkweather, a prominent citizen and contractor, was doing some work about the J. & F. Main street crossing, he was struck and killed by a train. That started agitation for a subway at that point, where there had been several bad accidents, but it took another one to bring decisive action. HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY - 219 On May 29, 1909, a P. & O. car coming into the city from Jefferson stalled with the front vestibule on the north-bound track. A train was coming through the cut from the south, and Motorman George Whelpley, realizing that he might not be able to back the car away, warned the passengers, and they all got off from the rear end, the last one just as the engine ploughed its way through the vestibule. Motorman Whelpley remained at his post and was instantly killed. That quickened the subway project and it was not long before that grade crossing was eliminated. Ashtabula Bridge Disaster.—On the evening of Dec. 29, 1876, occurred at Ashtabula what was, up to that time, the worst disaster and holocaust in the history of the United States. Old residents who witnessed the awful scenes of that night, nearly 50 years ago, still shudder at the thought of the terrible experiences of the victims. Lake Shore train No. 5, the Pacific Express, hauled by two locomotives, was ploughing its way westward through one of the worst blizzards that had ever swept this section. The passengers, snugly ensconsed in the comfortable coaches and sleepers, were whiling away the tedious hours in their own chosen ways of killing time, reading, playing cards, visiting, relating anecdotes and otherwise enjoying themselves, little thinking of the dire calamity that lay just ahead, as a result of which so many were to never arrive at their destinations. It was the typical cosmopolitan crowd of travelers that was, is and always will be found on trains. The happy bride and groom, the young mother snuggling her restless and tired infant, the bluff man of business who did not know there was any one else on the train, the active youngsters who kept the aisle floor warm with the patter up-and-down of their little feet, the student coming home from school or returning thereto, the husband or wife returning home from extended absence, and for whom a loved one was awaiting the arrival ; everybody happy in the enjoyment of the mid-holiday time. In the twinkling of an eye all this serenity was changed. There was a sudden stoppage of the train, then a crash, followed by the sickening swerving of the cars, a sense of falling, and then all was chaos, with the screams of the dying, mingled with the sounds of the grinding of steel and wood as they crumpled together in a common mass, and the roar of the storm that drove the snow in a blinding swirl. Immediately the scene 220 - HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY was illuminated with tongues of fire that shot out from the wreckage in all parts, and in a very few minutes the whole country round was lightened from the flames that were licking out the lives of scores of unfortunates. The scene of this calamity was where the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (now the New York Central) railroad crosses the Ashtabula River, a few hundred yards east of the depot. In the station just ahead of the train passengers were waiting to fare forth on their journeys ; wives, husband or other relatives were waiting for the train to arrive that was bringing home the loved ones. There was eager expectancy and happy anticipation. The screaming of the wind and storm outside was unheeded by those in the warm waiting rooms ; they were intent only on the coming of the train that was then some time behind its schedule. Then came the sound of the locomotive whistle, barely audible through the howling elements ; then flashed into view, scarcely discernible, the headlight of the engine as it came around the bend in the track. Travelers gathered their baggage and everybody muffled up and rushed out into the storm to meet the train that never arrived. Suddenly those in waiting heard a crash and the lights of the train coaches disappeared from view. Then came the agonizing wails from human throats, and in a minute those at the station realized what had happened. The bridge had collapsed and dropped the train with its precious burden into the river at the bottom of the chasm, 82 feet below the level of the rails. There was a sudden rush toward- the scene and, for a time, some hope that part of the train had escaped, as the locomotive headlight was still in view. But this hope was soon dispelled, for they arrived on the brink of the gorge to find that it was the first of two locomotives that were hauling the train that had escaped and stood with the engine on the track, while the tender hung over the abyss. What saved this locomotive from the fate of the rest of the train was the breaking of the iron coupling device that attached it to the other engine. What caused it to break can only be conjectured. It has been maintained that the weight of the train and trailing engine was too great for the link and pin to withstand. Again it is surmised that the engineer of the head locomotive, noting the sudden retarding and stopping of the train, and, looking out, realizing the awful thing that was happening, impulsively applied more power and that that added strain caused the break. HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY - 221 In either event, those who were on the first engine had just cause to be thankful. The second engine was dragged backward into the mass of wreckage and lay pointing in the opposite direction from which it had been headed. There were no telephones in those days, and it was necessary for some one to drive through the storm and deep snow to the city, a mile away, to notify the firemen and summon doctors. The snow lay nearly three feet deep on the level and it was with great difficulty that the hand-power fire pump of that day was dragged to the scene. By the time it had arrived the fire had passed its fiercest stage and was subsiding, leaving a tangled mass of steel that extended the entire distance of 150 feet which intervened between the abutments that had supported either end of the bridge. Hundreds of citizens had gathered at the scene, in the meantime, and worked strenuously to subdue the flames by fighting the fire with snow, but tons of snow had made little impression. With the arrival of the firemen, under the direction of F. W. Blakeslee, who was fire chief at that time, the work of rescue was of uppermost importance, as there were still some who could be gotten out of the wreckage alive. Justice could not be done, through word-of-mouth relation, to the many acts of heroism that were performed that night. Chief Blakeslee and officials of the railway who were present at once assumed command of the situation and detailed certain dependable 'men to assist the firemen in the rescue work, while idlers, who were there merely to satisfy their curiosity, were ordered out of the valley and had to be content with viewing the wreck from the track level, or slopes of the hills on either side. But comparatively few of those who had gone down with the train came out of the wreck alive. For those who were so fortunate, there was no hospital to which they might be taken, but there was no lack of such refuge and care as were available. Many private homes were open to the victims and the owners or tenants were unstinted and untiring in their efforts to allay the suffering of their charges thus suddenly thrown upon their hands. The several hotels in the vicinity of the depot were soon filled and telegraphic calls were sent to all adjoining towns for doctors. After all who were alive had been taken out, the toilers rested from the strenuous work, care being taken, however, to see that none of the quick had been overlooked. Bodies of such of the dead as had been freed from the wreckage were properly cared for, but it was not until next 222 - HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY morning that the general work of recovering the remains could be undertaken, because of the extreme heat from the still seething mass of steel. In that day railroad cars were heated by stoves. When the train toppled over into one heap of twisted cars, the stoves were overturned and the result was the fire that finished the work of destruction of property and life. During the night all freight that could be placed elsewhere was removed from the freight house and that building was converted into a morgue, to which the remains were carried as they were removed from the wreckage. The water in the river was less than two feet deep at the scene of the wreck, yet it was discovered that several of the passengers who had been caught in the wreckage had been partly submerged and thus mercifully drowned, before suffering the horrible torture from the fire that had consumed such portions of their bodies as were out of the water. In many instances only fragments of humanity were found, and these were placed with others that were disclosed in their immediate vicinity and laid out on the boards in the freight house to be viewed later by relatives and friends of the victims. The sorrow and anguish of the survivors, who came from all parts of the country hoping to find some evident remains of their loved ones, was pitiful in the extreme. There were in the freight house nearly a half hundred bodies, or portions of bodies, that had been burned beyond any chance of recognition, but which afforded an opportunity for identification through jewelry or other bit of adornment or wearing apparel. A bystander recalls one incident that well illustrates how the bereaved relatives would grasp at even the slightest thing recognized. A young merchant residing in Buffalo had escorted his mother to the depot and put her on the ill-fated train to go to visit another of her children in Cleveland. This son was one of the anxious ones who arrived early on the scene and he had gone from one slab to another till he had examined the remains on every one in the building. Not satisfied with that, he was making the rounds again and had come to the board beside which the man who relates this story was standing. Suddenly there was a cry from the Buffalo man and he threw himself upon the charred corpse that lay on the slab, while tears of thanksgiving rolled from his face, because he had found the earthly remains of his mother and would therefore be able to see them laid tenderly away, instead of always having to carry the burden of feeling HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY - 223 that they remained in the wreckage to be dragged away to some unknown spot, or to be swept down the stream when the ice should go out in the spring. The evidence of identity had been through a small bunch of hair on the back of the head, that had been lying in the water and was therefore preserved. About it was tied a piece of narrow black tape, which the son said he had put there while aiding his mother to get ready for her journey. Just how many souls were snuffed out in this horrible holocaust will never be known, but from the best sources obtainable, the list issued by the railroad company at the time, it was estimated that the number of fatalities would reach close to 100, while the names of about 70 survivors were learned. The list of the lost included George Kepler and A. H. Stockwell, of Ashtabula, and G. B. Stowe, of Geneva. One noted personage who was known to have lost his life was P. P. Bliss, at that time one of the best known and best loved evangelists in this country. He and his wife were passengers, and their remains were never known to have been recovered. It is probable that they are resting with others of the "unknown dead" in Chestnut Grove Cemetery. The list of persons known to have been on the train and who were never afterward accounted for included the following: The Rev. Alvin H. Washburn, Mrs. H. M. Knowles and child, David Chittenden, Cleveland, Ohio ; Mrs. James D. Marston and child, Charles Rossiter, Mr. and Mrs. Philip P. Bliss, D. A. Rodgers, Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Hall, Chicago, Ill. ; Mrs. Emeline Truworthy, Mrs. Emma Coffin, Oakland, Calif.; George W. Kepler, A. H. Stockwell, Ashtabula ; Mrs. C. M. Marston, Waterville, Maine ; Mrs. L. Moore, Hammondsport, N. Y. ; a child and nurse of Mrs. W. H. Bradley, California ; Frank A. Hodgkins, Bangor, Maine ; Philip McNeil, Nottingham, Ohio ; George A. Purrington, L. J. Barnard, Buffalo, N. Y.; Henry G. Rogers and wife, Springfield, Ohio ; Johnathan Rice, Lowell, Mass. ; Henry Wagner, Syracuse, N. Y.; Frederick W. Morom, Clayton, Mich.; Frederick Shattock, Millersburg, Ohio ; Misses Charlotte N. and Martha R. Smith, Rondout, N. Y. ; Misses Ellen and Mary Austin, Omaha, Neb.; G. H. Spooner, Petersham, Mass. ; William F. Wilson, Boston, Mass.; Dr. A. W. Hopkins, Hartland Four Corners, Vt. ; Joseph H. Aldrich, Des Moines, Iowa ; J. C. Cramer, Gloversville, N. Y. ; R. Osborn, Tecumseh, Mich. ; Mr. and Mrs. C. Bruner and two children, Gratiot, Wis. Notwithstanding the fact that only two or three of the victims were 224 - HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY known locally, the final disposition of the remains of the unrecognized dead was an occasion for general mourning and an elaborate program of ceremonies in which half the town participated. All work was suspended, stores were closed and there was a general cessation of normal activities in the community. Last rites were held in two churches, the Methodist and the Episcopal houses of worship, which were crowded to the doors during the ceremonials. Every possible chance had been given for the identification of unrecognizable remains. The charred bodies and portions were kept in the freight house for inspection of interested persons and from time to time portions of them were identified and taken .possession of by relatives. The big funeral was not held until Jan. 19, 1877, at which time there were still 19 coffins to be disposed of. Conveyances bearing the remains from both churches combined in one procession, which was over a mile long. It was headed by a marshal and civic organizations, the Ashtabula militia and battery companies and hundreds of citizens joined in the parade. The railroad company had purchased a lot in Chestnut Grove Cemetery, wherein the coffins with their unknown but precious burdens were laid away for all time. The railroad company defrayed all expenses of the burial of the unknown dead, and paid to friends of the dead, and to survivors, nearly a half million dollars in damage claims. The following eminently worthy citizens constituted the coroner's jury, who were impaneled the day after the disaster and set immediately at work on their investigations : H. L. Morrison, T. D. Faulkner, Edward G. Pierce, George W. Dickinson, Henry H. Perry and F. A. Pettibone. Justice of the Peace Edward W. Richards was acting coroner, and Theodore Hall was counsel for the jury. After deliberating on what information they were able to obtain during a period of over 60 days, the jury returned a verdict that placed the entire responsibility for the disaster upon the railroad company. They contended that the cause of the collapse of the bridge was due to defective construction ; that the fire that consumed the wreckage and, presumably, caused many deaths, resulted from the company's failure to observe the law, which stipulated that heating apparatus in coaches must be so constructed "that the fire in it will be immediately extinguished whenever the cars are thrown from the track and overturned".