50 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. III tory was considered at the time of enacting the immortal Ordinance of 1787, which made no distinction between ceded and unceded lands, but St. Clair's attempt to exercise jurisdiction emphasized the doubt as to the sufficiency of the original Connecticut claim and, consequently, to the validity of the title deeds to the soil itself. The lands ceded and the lands reserved by Connecticut had been claimed by New York and Virginia, and the clouded title was understood at the time of the purchase by the Connecticut Land Company. Connecticut had held the soil by the same title that she had held jurisdiction, and both had been quit-claimed by the state to the syndicate. if the jurisdiction was in the United States, the ownership of the soil was there too. St. Clair's claim to jurisdiction was a menace to the title by which the settlers held their lands. Therefore, they, with great unanimity, denied the territorial jurisdiction and simply laughed when the Jefferson County authorities sent an agent to inquire into the matter of taxation. The agent "returned to Steubenville, no richer and no wiser than he came." Naturally enough, men desiring western lands hesitated about buying in a district where there was no government and where the titles to the lands were clouded, and the men who owned the lands hesitated to sell when payments could not be enforced. Connecticut was indifferent to the controversy and even refused to assert her jurisdiction when the land company importuned her to do 'so. The settlers and the shareholders called for help both from the state assembly and from congress. In February, 1800, the national house of representatives appointed a committee, with John Marshall as chairman, to take into consideration the acceptance of jurisdiction. The report of the committee stated the dilemma of the company in a single sentence : "As the purchasers of the land commonly called the Connecticut Reserve hold their title under the state of Connecticut, they cannot submit to the government established by the United States in the Northwest Territory without endangering their titles, and the jurisdiction of Connecticut could not be extended over them without much inconvenience." The report was accompanied by a bill for the purpose of vesting jurisdiction in the United States and establishing the validity of the Connecticut title to the soil. This bill passed both houses of congress and, on the twenty-eighth of April, 1800, President Adams gave it his approval. The Connecticut general assembly promptly complied with the provisions of the quieting act. In July of the same year, Governor St. Clair issued a proclamation constituting Trumbull County, which was to include the Western Reserve. At that time, the governor of Connecticut was Jonathan Trumbull, a 1800] - IN TRUMBULL COUNTY - 51 son of the original "Brother Jonathan." The first court sat at Warren, "between two corn-cribs" we are told, on the last Monday of August, 1800, at which time the county was organized. In the short History of Cleveland that constitutes the opening chapter of the first city directory (published in 1837), the reader is told that : "To that place [Warren] the good citizens of the then city of Cleveland (for it was even then called a city) had to repair to see that justice was administered according to law, previous to which time, but. few of them were aware that they were subject to any other law than the law of God and a good conscience,. which, if not in all cases effectual, there were a less number of complaints then, than now, of grievances unredressed. " From a synopsis of the record, I quote the following: "Court of General Quarter-Sessions of the Peace, begun and holden at Warren, within and for said county of Trumbull, on the fourth Monday of August, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred, and of the independence of the United States, the twenty-fifth. Present, John Young, Turhand Kirtland, Camden Cleaveland [a brother of Moses Cleave-land], James Kingsbury, and Eliphalet Austin, Esquires, justices of the quorum, and others, their associates, justices of the peace, holding said court." Among the associate justices was Amos Spafford. In the hands of the members of this court rested the entire civil jurisdiction of the county. Among the things done at this five-days' session, the court appointed Amos Spafford, David Hudson, Simon Perkins, John Minor, Aaron Wheeler, Edward Paine, and Benjamin Davidson a committee "to divide the county of Trumbull into townships, to describe the limits and boundaries of each township, and to make 52 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. III report to the court thereof." This committee divided the county into eight townships—Cleveland, Warren, Youngstown, Hudson, Vernon, Richfield, Middlefield and Painesville---- and the court confirmed the action of the committee. The Cleveland township of Trumbull County thus created included all of the present county of Cuyahoga east of the Cuyahoga River, all of the Indian country from the Cuyahoga River to the west line of the Reserve, and three of the townships of what is now Geauga County. Constables for each of the eight townships were appointed, Lorenzo Carter and Stephen Gilbert being thus named for Cleveland township. In September, Governor St. Clair issued a proclamation in accordance with which David Abbott, the sheriff, caused an election to be held on the second Tuesday of October "for the purpose of electing one person to represent the county in the territorial legislature." Under the laws then existing, all elections in the territory were to be held at the county seats, and so this first election in the Reserve was held at. Warren. Colonel Whittlesey gives us this description of it : "The manner of conducting the election was after the English mode. That is, the sheriff of the county assembled the electors by proclamation, he presided at the election, and received the votes of the electors orally or viva voce. It will readily be conceded, that in a county, embracing as Trumbull then did, a large Territory, only a portion of the electors would attend. The number convened at that election was forty-two. Out of this number General Edward Paine received 38 votes, and was the member elect. General Paine took his seat in the Territorial Legislature in 1801." Thus, on the threshold of a new century, the organization of Trumbull County was completed and civil government was established in the Western Reserve. CHAPTER IV THE PIONEERS The difficulties of the journey from the East have been passed over very lightly in this narrative for the reason that they have been described so often that they probably are familiar to most of the readers of this volume. After the weariness of the way came the building of the inevitable log cabin with its improvised equipment, with windows of greased paper, and floor of split logs; sometimes there was a' door made of split boards and with wooden hinges and sometimes the door had to wait, as in the case of him who wrote: "We hung up a quilt and that, with a big bull-dog, constituted the door." Bedsteads, seats, tables, etc., were provided as time and the skill of the pioneers made them possible. Mr. Kennedy tells us that "the first bed on which Heman Ely, the founder of Elyria, slept on his arrival in this section was made of the cloth covering of the wagon in which he came, and filled with straw brought, with the greatest difficulty, from a barn located miles away"; bedsteads made of smooth, round poles and corded with elm bark were more common. Judge Robert F. Paine says that in his boyhood in Portage County "we ate on what we called trenchers, a wooden affair in shape something like a plate. Our neighbors were in the same condition as we, using wooden plates, wooden bowls, wooden everything, and it was years before we could secure dishes harder than wood, and when we did they were made of yellow clay." But these things have been often described and need not detain us long. The omissions of the menu were numerous and many of the makeshifts were ingenious. The famous and heroic Joshua R. Giddings once said : "The first mince-pie I ever ate on the Reserve was composed of pumpkin instead of apple, vinegar in place of wine or cider, and bear's meat instead of beef. The whole was sweetened with wild honey instead of sugar, and seasoned with domestic pepper pulverized instead of cloves, cinnamon and allspice, and never did I taste pastry with a better relish." Appetite is a good sauce. Salt that came from Onondaga, via Buffalo, or from Pittsburgh, sold in Trumbull County for twenty dollars a barrel and many of the pioneers carried kettles to the "Salt Spring Tract," mentioned in - 53 - 54 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. IV the previous chapter, and there made their own supply by boiling down the saline waters. Cane sugar was expensive, but maple sugar soon became a convenient and delicious substitute. Corn bread was a staple article of diet, the appetizing and satisfying qualities of which were rediscovered by many under the pressure of a Mr. Hoover and his potent food administration, to the end that wheat might be sent to "our boys" and our allies "over there." As Lorenzo Carter was not the only one who kept a gun and knew how to use it, an occasional wild turkey or piece of venison graced the rough table and amplified the menu. Prior to the building of a few grist-mills, grain was prepared for kitchen use by pounding—the mortar and pestle process; the mortar was made by hollowing out the top of an oak stump ; the pestle was a rude stone dependent from a spring-pole. Soon came the little hand-mills. "There were two stones about two and a half feet in diameter, one above the other, the upper one being turned with a pole. The corn was poured in through a, hole in the upper stone." It is a matter of veritable history that young John Doan "had two attacks of fever and ague daily. He walked to the house of a neighbor five miles distant, with a peck of corn, ground it in a hand-mill, and then carried it home. He adjusted his labors and his shakings to a system. In the morning, on the ending of his first attack, he would start on his journey, grind his grist, wait until his second spell was over, and then set out on his return." But above the forty-first parallel clothing is necessary as well as is food. Eastern textile fabrics were beyond the reach of the pioneers of the Reserve, for they had little money and practically no market for their produce. But the hide of the occasional deer was readily available for buckskin garments and before long the cultivation of flax was introduced, looms were set up, and then the industry of wife and mother completed the solution of the problem. "Leather was expensive and difficult to obtain; therefore the men went barefoot when they could, while the women carried their shoes to church, sitting down on a log near the meeting-house to slip them on." But, notwithstanding these and countless other hardships and inconveniences, hospitality was in every home and the stranger seldom found a door with the latch-string pulled in. HISTORIC CONSERVATISM Much has been written and spoken to emphasize the fact that the civilized life of the Western Reserve has Puritanic blood in its veins. We often have been told that the early settlers absorbed and assimi- 1800] - SOMEWHAT NON-RELIGIOUS - 55 lated the grand elements of Puritan civilization, land, law, and liberty, characteristics well worthy of our admiration and commemoration. Thus, General James A. Garfield has told us that 'these pioneers knew well that the three great forces which constitute the strength and glory of a free government are the Family, the School and the Church. These three they planted here, and they nourished and cherished them with an energy and devotion scarcely equaled in any other quarter of the world. On this height were planted in the wilderness the symbols of this trinity of powers; and here let us hope may be maintained forever the ancient faith of our fathers in the sanctity of the Home, the intelligence of the School, and the faithfulness of the Church." Still, it is no less true, as stated by another, that "it is not our office, in the light of historic truth, to exalt to the stature of heroes all who carried the compass or chain, or plied the settler's axe in the forests of New Connecticut They did not leave their homes because they were there the victims of intolerance, and could not there follow the dictates of a tender and enlightened conscience. They came here to improve their material condition—to better their worldly fortunes. Like the rest of us, they had an eye to the main chance in life ; but they richly earned and paid a hundredfold for all they received." Still more to the point, we have the statement of Burke A. Hinsdale, once superintendent of the public schools of Cleveland and editor of the Works of James Abram Garfield, to the effect that the first settlers of the Reserve were not as religious and service-loving as we have always supposed them to have been. Dr. H. C. Applegarth assures that "prior to the year 1800, the Western Reserve was a land where might gave right, and where every man was a law unto himself. The tone of public sentiment and morals was very low. Even in 1816, when the population was about one hundred and fifty, there were only two professing Christians in the place, namely, Judge Daniel Kelly and Mrs. Noble H. Merwin. Moses White, who afterward became a useful citizen, and who died in Cleveland at an advanced age, in September, 1881, long hesitated about settling here because the place was so godless. The religious destitution was so great that he called it a heathen land." The records left by some of the early missionaries agree with these statements. PIONEER EDUCATION AND RELIGION As already noted, a schoolhouse was built in 1800 "near Kingsbury's on the ridge road." In fact, we have been assured, almost times without number, to the effect that "it was a characteristic fea- 56 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. IV ture of this transplanted New England life and thought that in the pursuit of material things the church and schoolhouse were not forgotten. As a general thing, as soon as the things absolutely essential to physical life were provided, steps were taken for the support of the gospel and the instruction of the young." The superintendent of the surveying party of 1797 was a clergyman, but we have no record of any exercise of clerical offices by him except at the funeral of David Eldridge and at Cleveland's first wedding. Probably the first sermon heard on the Reserve was delivered by the Rev. William Wick at Youngstown in September, 1799, but in 1800 the, Rev. Joseph Badger, a soldier of the Revolution, an orthodox Presbyterian, and the best known of the early preachers, was sent by the Connecticut Missionary Society as a missionary to the Western Reserve. On horseback he crossed the mountains of Western Pennsylvania in a snowstorm and was at Pittsburgh on the fourteenth of December. After a few days' rest, he pushed on through the woods to Youngstown, where he preached his first sermon on the Reserve. He was at Cleveland on the eighteenth of August, 1801, and lodged at Lorenzo Carter's. As recorded by him on the sixth of September : "We swam our horses across the Cuyahoga by means of a canoe and took an Indian path up the lake; came to Rocky River, the banks of which were very high, on the west side almost perpendicular. While cutting the brush to open a way for our horses, we were saluted by the song of a large yellow rattlesnake, which we removed out of our way." In this way, says Harvey Rice, he "visited, in the course of the year 1801, every settlement and nearly every family throughout the Western Reserve. In doing this, he often rode from five to twenty-five or thirty miles a clay, carrying with him in saddle-bags a scanty supply of clothing and eatables, and often traversing pathless woodlands amid storms and' tempests, swimming unbridged rivers, and suffering from cold and hunger, and at the same time, here and there, visiting lone families, giving them and their children religious instruction and wholesome advice, and preaching at points wherever a few could be gathered together, sometimes in a log-cabin or in a barn, and sometimes in the open field or in a woodland, beneath the shadows of the trees." In the fall, he visited Detroit and found no one that he could call a Christian "except a black man who appeared pious." A little later, he visited Hudson and there organized a church with a membership of ten men and six women—the first church organized on the Reserve. In October, he returned to New England and made arrangements to take his family to New Connecticut in the following year and there to labor at a salary of seven dollars per week. 1801] - LARGE STORIES - 57 THE COMING OF SAMUEL HUNTINGTON As we were told in Gilman Bryant's letter, quoted in the preceding chapter, Samuel Huntington came to Cleveland in this year "and built a hewed log house near the Cuyahoga River." Colonel Whittlesey tells us, more definitely, that he "contracted with Amos Spafford to superintend the erection of a well-built block house of considerable pretensions near the bluff south of Superior Street, in rear of the site of the American House. Huntington was then about thirty-five years of age." He was the adopted son of his uncle, Samuel Huntington, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and governor of Connecticut. The nephew was graduated at Yale in 1785 and admitted to the bar at Norwich in 1793. Thus Mr. Huntington and Mr. Badger became our "first bodily exponents of the law and the gospel." In illustration of the fact that life and travel in the early days were not without bodily danger, Mr. Kennedy has rehearsed a "reputed experience" of each and, with like purpose, I transcribe them here : It is told of Mr. Huntington that, while a resident of Cleveland, he came near being devoured by wolves, as he rode in from Painesville, on the Euclid road. He was on horseback, alone, in the dark, and floundered through the swamp near the present corner of Wilson [East Fifty-fifth Street] and Euclid avenues. A pack of hungry wolves fell upon his trail, and made a combined attack upon horse and man. The former, in desperate fright, made the best possible use of his heels, while the latter laid about him with the only weapon at command—an umbrella. Between speed and defense, both were saved, and brought up in safety at the log-house down near Superior Street. The experience of Mr. Badger was of a similar character. He was urging his faithful horse through the woods of the Grand River bottoms, while the rain was pouring down in torrents, and a place of shelter was one of the uncertain possibilities of the future. There came to him after a time the knowledge that some wild animal was on his trail and, raising his voice, he sent up a shout that would have frightened many of the smaller denizens of the forest. But it had no such effect on the big bear that was on his trail. On the contrary, the brute was aroused to immediate action, and made a rush for the missionary, with hair on end and eyes of fire. The only weapon Mr. Badger had about him, if such it might be called, was a large horseshoe, which he threw at the bear's nose, and missed. Then he rode under a beech tree, tied his horse to a branch, deserted the saddle with celerity, and climbed upward. He kept on for a long distance, found a convenient seat, tied himself to the tree with a large bandanna, and awaited results. The bear was meanwhile nosing about the horse, as though preparing for an attack. The wind came up, the thunder rolled, and the rain fell in torrents. The occasional flashes of light- 58 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. IV ning showed that the horse was still safe, with the bear on guard. And there the poor missionary clung all night, cold, wet through, tired and sleepy ; and there the bear waited for him to come down. But at daybreak he made for his lair, while Mr. Badger worked his way down as well as he could, and rode for the nearest settlement. The stories seem to be rather "large," but Mr. Badger's cloth raises a presumption in his favor, while, Mr. Huntington, although a lawyer, probably would not take undue liberties with the truth. In the spring of 1801, Timothy Doan, a brother of Nathaniel Doan, being "seized with the western fever," set out from Herkimer County in New York for the Reserve, accompanied by his wife and six children. The youngest of these children was John Doan, then three years old; to the sketch of The Doan Family written by this son, John, and preserved in the Annals of the Early Settlers' Association, we are indebted for much interesting and valuable information. They traveled with ox teams and two horses; besides their furniture and household goods, they brought a box of live geese, said to be "the first domesticated birds of the kind ever brought into Ohio." From Buffalo, Timothy and one of his sons pushed on ahead carrying some of their goods on the backs of the horses and oxen ; the road from the Pennsylvania line to the Cuyahoga had been surveyed, "but no bridge had been built over the intervening streams. They pushed through to Uncle Nathaniel's house in East Cleveland and were soon enjoying their first attack of ague." From Buffalo, the mother and the other children made the trip to the Cuyahoga in a rowboat, assisted by an Indian and several white men engaged for that purpose. At the mouth of Grand River, the. boat was capsized and the mother, children, goods, and geese were thrown into the water. But the water was shallow and there were no serious loses. Here the pilgrims were met by Nathaniel and Timothy. Thence the boat was taken on to Cleveland without further adventure, while two horses bore "Uncle Nathaniel," Mrs. Doan, and three of the children overland by way of Willoughby, where 'Squire Abbott had built a mill in 1798, perhaps the first mill in the vicinity of Cleveland. Says John Doan : "We arrived at Uncle Nathaniel Doan's log cabin in April, 1801." For a little more than a dollar an acre, Timothy Doan bought 320 acres in Euclid, and there, on the south side of Euclid Road and about six miles east of the Public Square, he built a log house into which the family moved in November. In this year also came Samuel Hamilton and family; they settled in Newburg. Clevelanders enjoyed unusually good health that season and, Colonel Whittlesey tells us, the year "became notorious, on account of 60 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. IV a Fourth of July celebration and ball. It was held in one end of Major Carter's double log house, on the hill near the corner of Union and Superior lanes. John Wood, Ben Wood and R. H. Blinn were managers. Major Samuel Jones was chief musician and master of ceremonies. About a dozen ladies and twenty gentlemen constituted the company. Notwithstanding the floors were rough puncheons, and their best beverage was made of maple sugar, hot water and whiskey, probably no celebration of American independence in this city was ever more joyous than this." MAJOR SPAFFORD'S RESURVEY In November, Major Spafford made a resurvey of the streets and lanes of the city and "planted fifty-four posts of oak, about one foot square, at the principal corners, for which he charged fifty cents each, and fifty cents for grubbing out a tree at the north-east corner of the Square." In February, 1802, the Trumbull County Court of Quarter Sessions ordered that the first town meeting for Cleveland should be held at the house of James Kingsbury. Of that meeting, we have the following official report: Agreeably to order of the Court of General Quarter Sessions, the inhabitants of the town of Cleaveland met at the house of James Kingsbury, Esq., the 5th day of April, A. D. 1802, for town meeting, and chose Chairman, - Rodolphus Edwards. Town Clerk, - Nathaniel Doan. Trustees, Amos Spafford, Esq.,  Timothy Doan, Wm. W. Williams. Appraisers of Houses, Samuel Hamilton, Elijah Gun. Lister, Ebenezer Ayrs. Supervisors of Highways, Sam'l Huntington, Esq., Nat'l Doan, Sam'l Hamilton. Overseers of the Poor William W. Williams, Samuel Huntington, Esq. Fence Viewers, Lorenzo Carter, Nathan Chapman. Constables, Ezekiel Hawley, Richard Craw. A true copy of the proceedings of the inhabitants of Cleaveland at their town meeting, examined per me, NATHANIEL DOAN, Town Clerk. 1802] - THE LABORER AND HIS HIRE - 61 The officers named were chosen viva, voce; the election of justices of the peace and militia officers had not yet been authorized. In this year, the governor appointed Samuel Huntington one of the justices of the quorum; he had previously commissioned him as lieutenant-colonel of the Trumbull County militia. At the next term of the Court of General Quarter 'Sessions (August, 1802), Lorenzo Carter and Amos Spafford were each licensed to keep a tavern at Cleveland, the fee for each license being fixed at four dollars. At the same session of the court, George Tod of Youngstown was appointed appraiser of taxable property. About this time, Carter and Spafford built, near the western end of Superior Street, the first frame houses in Cleveland, and Anna Spafford opened, in Major Carter's well-known "front room," a school for children—the first in "the city," but antedated by Sarah Doan's school on "the ridge" by two years. Earlier in the year, the Rev. Mr. Badger loaded his family and household goods in a wagon drawn by four horses and, in sixty days, made the journey back to the Reserve, where he bought a piece of land and put up a log cabin at Austinburg, in what now is Ashtabula County. He soon resumed his missionary labors, and organized many churches and schools, although the missionary society reduced his pay to six dollars a week. That year, he again came to Cleveland, where, he says, he "visited the only two families there, and went on to Newburg, where I preached on the Sabbath. There were five families here, but no apparent piety. They seemed to glory in their infidelity." Mr. Badger was later in the employ of the Massachusetts Missionary Society and went to work among the Indians at Sandusky, but in 1808 he returned to Austinburg, and subsequently was pastor of churches of several towns of the Reserve. In his old age he was very poor, as appears from the following letter written to Joshua R. Giddings under date of October 4, 1844: "I hope the Ashtabula County Historical Society will not forget the fifteen dollars remaining due to me. I am in want of it to assist in procuring means of daily support. I am an old, worn-out man, not able to do anything to help myself. I hope the society will not wrong me out of this sum. . . . I am sure if they could see my helpless condition, unable to get out of my chair without help, they would not withhold that little sum. It's honestly my due." Mr. Badger died at Perrysburg, Ohio, in 1846. CHAPTER V ROUNDING OUT THE FIRST DECADE When Edward Paine took his seat in the territorial legislature in 1801, he found that body discussing the question of a state government for Ohio. The opponents of the somewhat arbitrary governor, General St. Clair, succeeded in sending .Thomas Worthington to congress and, largely through his efforts, that body authorized a convention to form a state constitution if the people of Ohio so desired. This enabling act, approved on the thirtieth of April, 1802, provided "that the inhabitants of the eastern division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio be, and they are hereby, authorized to form for themselves a constitution and State government, and to assume such name as they shall deem proper, and the said State, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union upon the same footing with the original States in all respects whatever." The act fixed the number of representatives from each county, elections were to be held "on the second Tuesday of October next," and the delegates then elected were "authorized to meet at Chillicothe on the first Monday in November next." Samuel Huntington was elected as one of Trumbull County's two delegates; for nearly half the session he was the only representative that Trumbull County had in that body. The convention met as prescribed on the first day of November, chose as its president Edward Tiffin of Chillicothe, a local preacher and physician and a brother-in-law of Thomas Worthington, and completed its labors on the twenty-ninth. The constitution then and thus framed clipped the veto from the functions of the governor—a direct effect of what was felt to be an abuse of that power by the territorial governor. The famous Ordinance of 1787 for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River provided that "if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two States in that part of the said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan," and the enabling act of 1802 designated such a line as the northern boundary of the proposed state. But the convention modified this boundary line by adding the following: "Provided always, and it is - 62 - 1802] - OHIO BECOMES A STATE - 63 hereby fully understood and declared by this convention, That if the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan should extend so far south that a line drawn clue east from it should not intersect Lake Erie, or if it should intersect the said Lake Erie east of the mouth of the Miami River of the Lake, then, and in that case, with the assent of the Congress of the United States, the northern boundary of this State shall be established by, and extending to, a direct line running from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan to the most northerly cape of the Miami Bay, after intersecting the due-north line from the mouth of the Great Miami River as aforesaid ; thence northeast to the territorial, and by the said territorial line to the Pennsylvania line." This important proviso was destined to breed trouble with Michigan and, in fact, three decades later led to an armed invasion of northwest Ohio and the seriocomic incident known in history as "The Toledo War." But, on the whole, the Ohio constitution of 1802 was a workable, sensible, and satisfactory creation and remained as the organic law of the Buckeye State until the second constitution was framed in 1851. Adopted formally by the body that built it, it was not submitted to the people for ratification. It has never been definitely determined just when Ohio was admitted to the Union, but a congressional act of February, 1803, recognized the fact of her admission in these words : "whereby the said State has become one of the United States of America." A constitution having been adopted and Ohio having taken her place as the seventeenth state in the Union, her first legislature met at Chillicothe on the first of March, 1803. Courts were created and election laws were passed; new counties were organized and state officers were chosen. Edward Tiffin became the first governor of the new commonwealth, and Samuel Huntington took his seat as one of the first judges of the Ohio supreme court. In the same spring, "the inhabitants of the Town of Cleaveland met at the house of James Kingsbury, Esq., for a township meeting, and proceed and chose, Amos Spafford, Esq., Chairman. Nathl. Doan, Town Clerk. Amos Spafford, Esq., James Kingsbury, Esq., and Timothy Doan, Trustees. James Kingsbury, Esq., and James Hamilton, Overseers of the Poor. Rodolphus Edwards and Ezekiel Hawley and Amos Spafford, Esq., Fence Viewers. Elijah Gun and Samuel Huntington, Esq., Appraisers of Houses. James Kingsbury, Esq., Lister. 64 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. V Wm. Elivin, James Kingsbury, Esq., and Timothy Doan, Supervisors of Highways. Rodolphus Edwards, Constable." FIRST JUSTICES OF THE PEACE In June, the electors again met at the same place and chose Amos Spafford and Timothy Doan as justices of the peace. On the eleventh of October, the voters of the township of Cleveland met at the house of James Kingsbury. "When met, proceeded and appointed James Kingsbury, Esq., Timothy Doan, Esq., and Nath. Doan judges, and Rodolphus Edwards and Stephen Gilbert clerks of the election." They were "sworn in by Timothy Doan, Justice of the Peace." Benjamin Tappan was elected senator; David Abbott and Ephraim Quimby were elected representatives in the general assembly. This Benjamin Tappan had come to the Reserve in 1799 and settled where Ravenna now is. According to the manuscript of the Rev. Thbmas Barr, as quoted by Colonel Whittlesey, this was "a healthy year, marked by increased emigration." Under date of this year, Harris' Journal of a Tour mentions Cleveland as "a pleasant little town, favorably situated on the borders of Lake Erie, at the mouth of Cuyahoga River." 1802] - THE FIRST MURDER - 65 LEADING BUSINESS MEN At this time, the leading business men of Cleveland, other than Major Amos Spafford, who kept the tavern, were David Bryant, David Clark, Elisha Norton and Alexander Campbell. The building of Bryant's distillery has already been noted; the other three "kept store" for the settlers and traded with the Indians. Campbell, a Scotchman, "saw that here was a good place to traffic with the stoic of the woods. He built a rude store a little further up the hill; near the spring, but more towards the junction of Union and Mandrake lanes [see Spafford's map, page 59]. . . . The same spring afterwards supplied the tannery of Samuel and Matthew William-son's establishment, on lot 202, the vats of which were directly across River Street." In this little cluster of cabins around the distillery under the hill the principal traffic of Cleveland was carried on. "Here the red man became supremely happy over a very small quantity of raw whisky, for which he paid the proceeds of many a hunt. If anything remained of his stock of skins after paying for his whisky, the beads, ribbons and trinkets of Mr. Campbell's store absorbed the entire stock. Here the squaws bartered and coquetted with the trader, who in their eyes was the most important personage in the country. Here the wild hunter, in his dirty blanket, made the woods ring with his savage howls, when exhilarated with drink." Whatever one may think of David Bryant's business and commodity, one must judge him and them by the accepted standards of his day and not by those of today. We have no reason to think that these New England pioneers were dissipated men, and even the Indians, "upon the whole, seem to have been moderately well behaved." Still it is on record that the first murder committed within the limits of this city was caused by overindulgence in strong drink. The traditional story is to the effect that one Menompsy, a medicine-man of the Chippewa or of the Ottawa tribe, had prescribed professionally for the wife of a certain Big Son of the Seneca tribe, and that the patient had died. In the dusk of an evening in 1802 or 1803 (the exact date is uncertain), Big Son and Menompsy, "somewhat elevated by the fire-water of Bryant's still," had an altercation. Big Son claimed that his wife had been killed and threatened to kill the medicine-man, but the latter claimed that he bore a charmed life and could not be hurt. "Me no 'fraid," said Menompsy "as they walked out of the store [Campbell's] and took the trail that wound up the bluff, along Union Lane. "The Senecas were encamped on the east side of the river below Carter's and the Chippewas and Ottawas on the west side, partly up the hill. Vol. I-5 66 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. V As they went along the path, Big Son put out his hand as though he intended a friendly shake, after the manner of white men. At the same time he drew a knife and stabbed Menompsy in the side. The blood spurted from his body, which: Carter tried to stop with his hand, as the Indian fell. 'Nobsy broke now, yes, Nobsy broke,' were his last words. In a few minutes he was dead. The Chippewas took up the corpse and carried it to their camp on the west side. Major Carter knew full well what would happen unless the friends of Menompsy were appeased. During the night, the valley of the Cuyahoga echoed with their savage voices, infuriated by liquor and revenge. The Chippewas and Ottawas were more numerous than the Senecas. In the morning, the warriors of the first named nation were seen with their faces painted black, a certain symbol of war . . . The murder of Menompsy was compromised for a gallon of whisky, which Bryant was to make that day, being the next after the killing. One of the stipulations was that the body should be taken to Rocky River before it was 'covered,' or mourned for, with the help of the whisky. Bryant was busy and did not make the promised gallon of spirits. The Chippewas waited all day, and went over the river decidedly out of humor. They were followed and promised two gallons on the coming day, which reduced their camp halloo to the tone of a mere sullen murmur. But Carter and his party well knew that in this suppressed anger there was as much vengeance as in the howlings of the previous night. They fulfilled their promise and, upon receiving two gallons, the Chippewas and Ottawas took up the corpse, according to agreement, went to Rocky River and held their pow wow there. Carter did not sleep for two nights, and few of the residents enjoyed their beds very much until the funeral procession was out of sight." THE LOCAL MILITIA Early in 1804, Captain Elijah Wadsworth of Canfield was made major-general of the fourth division of the Ohio militia, which division embraced the northeaster'? part of the state. In April, General Wadsworth divided his district into two brigade districts, the second of which embraced Trumbull County. This brigade district was subdivided into two regimental districts, which, in turn, were divided into company districts, the fourth of which consisted of the township of Cleveland. The several companies were ordered to choose their own officers. That. the election of the fourth company was not in the nature of a love-feast appears from the report and the consequent remonstrance. The report, with its remarkable orthography, is as follows: 1804] - A REGRETTABLE REMONSTRANCE - 67 To Elijah Wadsworth Maj. Genl. 4th Division: Agreeable to General orders, the Qualified Electors of the fourth Company district, in the second Brigade, of the fourth Division of the Ohio Militia ; met at the house of James Kingsbery, Esq., at eleven o'clock forenoon, and maid choice of three Judges and a clerk, and when duely sworn preceded and made choice of Loranzo Carter Captain, and Nathaniel Doan Lieutenant, and Samuel Jones Ensign for sd Company given under our hands and seals at Cleveland Trumble county; this seventh day of May one thousand eight hundred and four. James Kingsbery, Nathaniel Doan, Benjamin Gold, Judges of the Election. The remonstrance is as follows: To Elijah Wadsworth, Major General of the 3d Division of Militia of the State of Ohio: Sir :—We, the undersigned, hereby beg leave to represent that the proceedings of the company of Militia, on Monday, the 7th day of instant May, in choosing officers, in our opinion, illegal and improper. Firstly. By admitting persons under the age of eighteen years to vote, and Secondly. By admitting persons not liable to do military duty to vote. Thirdly. In admitting men to vote who did not belong to the town. Fourthly. By not comparing the votes with the poll book at the close of the election. We also consider the man who is returned as chosen Captain inelagible to the office. Firstly. By giving spiritous liquors to the voters previous to the election. Secondly. On account of having frequently threatened to set the savages against the inhabitants. All which charges we consider proveable and able to be substantiated by good and sufficient witnesses. We therefore beg leave to request that the appointment of officers in the township of Cleaveland may be set aside, and the said company led to a new choice. Thadeus Lacey, William W. Williams, Rodolfus Edwards, Amos Spafford, Joel Thorp, Robert Carr, James Hamilton, Abner Cochran." The fact that Judge Kingsbury's name was misspelled suggests that someone else wrote the report and its signatures, while the fact that the remonstrance ascribed General Wadsworth to the third division of the state militia instead of the fourth, and the general tone of the document seem to indicate an intensity of bitterness that the successors of these early settlers of New Connecticut must regret. There is nothing to show that General Wadsworth made any inves- 68 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. V tigation of the charges... Captain Carter held the office to which he had been elected until the following August when he was made a major of militia. All in all, Mr. Kennedy's comments on this unfortunate incident undoubtedly contain the essential truth. He says: "Viewing the charges against him [Carter] in the calm light of this later clay, and from what is known of the man, we must set down the second charge as the hasty and ill-considered action of disappointed men. That Major Carter may have been a little free among the electors with the products of the still across the way—he was an ambitious man, and those were convivial days—we do not doubt; if the objectors had drank and voted upon the same side that day, we should have heard nothing upon that point. But that Lorenzo Carter ever, for a moment, held an idea of acting the part of Simon Girty--of inciting the red man to deeds of violence against the white, we cannot for a moment believe." CLOUDED TITLES TO INDIAN LANDS It will be remembered that Moses Cleaveland, while on his way to the Reserve in 1796, bought the Indian claims to the lands east of the Cuyahoga River, but the titles to lands west of the river, the holdings of the Connecticut Land Company and the Fire Lands alike were still clouded. Negotiations looking to the quieting of the Indian claims to these lands led to an agreement to hold a council at Cleveland in 1803. The council was to be held under the auspices of the United States government. The New York Indians sent an interpreter with twenty-five or thirty delegates. In June, they were here as were also representatives of the general government, the Connecticut Land Company, and the Fire Lands Company, but the western Indians, influenced it is said by certain parties in Detroit, failed to appear. After waiting a few clays, the commissioners who were in attendance, "being well assured that the Indians would not .meet them in treaty there," put their dignity in their pockets and journeyed westward. A formal council was finally held somewhere, perhaps at the Ogontz Place near Sandusky, perhaps at Fort Industry on the Maumee, seven or eight tribes being represented. On the Fourth of July. a treaty was signed, by the terms of which the Indians surrendered all claims to all the lands of the Reserve. On the way back from the council, William Dean wrote a letter that was addressed to "The Hon '1 Sam '1 Huntington, at the mills near Cleave-land." Judge Huntington had recently "abandoned his hewed log 1805] - AN INDIAN TREATY - 69 house, the most aristocratic residence in Cleaveland city and removed to the mills he had purchased at the falls of Mill creek." As compared with Cleveland City, Newburg was then much the larger settlement. Mr. Dean's letter was dated "On board the sloop Contractor, near Black river. July 7, 1.805." It announced the making of the treaty "for the unextinguished part of the Connecticut Reserve, and on account of the United States; for all the lands south of it, to the west line. 'Air. Phelps and myself to pay about $7,000 in cash, and about $12,000 in six yearly payments of $2,000 each. The government pays $13,760, that is the annual interest, to the Wyandots, Delawares, Munsees, and to those Senecas on the land forever. The expense of the treaty will be about $5,000, including rum, tobacco, bread, meat. presents, expenses of the seraglio, the commissioners, agents and contractors." Mr. Dean intimated "some intention of making a purchase of considerable tracts of land, in different parts of the Reserve, amounting to about 30,000 acres; I beg of you to inform me what I should allow per acre, payments equal to cash; and address me at Easton, Pa. From thence, if I make a contract, I expect, with all speed, to send fifteen or twenty families of prancing Dutchmen." According to a statement by Abraham Tappan; the Indians, iii making sale of their lands, "did so with much reluctance and, after the treaty was signed, many of them wept. On the clay that the treaty was brought to a close, the specie in payment of the purchase money arrived on the treaty ground. The specie came from Pittsburgh, and was conveyed by the way of Warren, Cleaveland, and the lake shore to the place where wanted." It was in charge of an escort of half a dozen, including Lorenzo Carter, "all resolute men and well armed. The money and other property as presents to the Indians was distributed to them the next day after the signing of the treaty. The evening of the last day of the treaty, a barrel of whiskey was dealt out to the Indians. The consequent results of such a proceeding were all experienced at that time." In the following mouth, Abraham Tappan and a Mr. A. Sessions (Amos, Anson or Aaron) made an offer to measure off for the. Fire Lands Company the half million acres at the western end of the Reserve and to survey and lay off into townships the lands between the Fire Lands and the Cuyahoga. The offer was accepted and, at the middle of May of 1.806, the work was begun; it was vigorously pushed forward to completion. The annual military election was held in May with Lorenzo Carter, William W. Williams, and William Erwin acting as judges, and 70 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. V Rodolphus Edwards as clerk. Thirty votes were cast ; Nathaniel Doan was elected as captain, Samuel Jones as "leuftenant," and Sylvanus Burk as ensign. The captain and the lieutenant received twenty-nine votes each and the ensign twenty-four ; we have no record of any remonstrance. EARLY MAILS AND POSTMASTERS For two years after 1801, a fortnightly mail came via Youngstown to Warren, the county seat and western terminus of the mail route. Subsequently the route was extended, via Ravenna and Hudson, to Cleveland and thence along the old Indian trail via Sandusky and Toledo to Detroit. From Cleveland, the route ran via Painesville and Jefferson back to Warren. But in June, 1805, Gideon Granger, the postmaster-general, who was interested in lands on the west side of the river, visited Cleveland and made his famous prophecy that "within fifty years an extensive city will occupy these grounds, and vessels will sail directly from this port into the Atlantic ocean." Soon after this, Elisha Norton became the first postmaster of the future queen city of the lower lakes and the metropolis of Ohio. In the same year, John Walworth of Painesville, a native of Groton, Connecticut, became collector of the newly established district for the south shore of the lake—the district of Erie it was called. When Postmaster Norton gave up his office and moved into another county, as he soon did, Mr. Walworth was appointed his successor (October 22, 1805), sold his farm on the Grand River, and bought 300 acres in what is now the heart of the city, the region between Huron and Erie (East Ninth) streets and the river. In April, 1806, he brought his family to Cleveland. Colonel Whittlesey tells us that Mr. Walworth "at first occupied the upper part of a frame building on the north side of Superior street near Water [West Ninth] street." In 1809, his family moved from this building to their home on the Walworth farm, Pittsburg street, and a small frame office was erected south of Superior street, where the American House now stands (Nos. 639-649 Superior Avenue, West), "and was regarded as a novelty with metropolitan suggestions." For the first quarter of 1806, the receipts of the Cleveland post-office aggregated two dollars and eighty-three cents. For the corresponding quarter of 1918, the receipts of the Cleveland postoffice amounted to $1,314,893.48. The postmaster and collector was soon appointed by President Jefferson as inspector of revenue for the port of Cuyahoga and, in 1806, Governor Tiffin made him associate judge of the court 1805] - END OF THE FIRST DECADE - 71 of common pleas for a term of seven years "if he shall so long behave well." Thus Judge Walworth's little office housed the local authority of the city, the county, and the nation ; it soon accommodated also the solitary attorney and the only physician in the place. In this last year of Cleveland's first decade, Samuel Dodge, who had married a daughter of Timothy Doan, built his log cabin on Euclid Road and was named by the township trustees as a juryman. Judge Kingsbury put up the frame of a house that was finished in the following year, the lumber being sawed in a mill newly built for him and the brick for the chimney being made on his own land; "part of the upper story was finished off in a large room in which dances were held, and also Masonic communications, the Judge being a zealous member of the mystic order." In the same year, David Clark died, the eleven-year-old son of Major Carter was drowned at the mouth of the river, and the schooner "Washington" cleared at the port and sailed into the lake, the last that was ever heard of ship, cargo or crew. By this time, the unorganized settlement at the mouth of the Cuyahoga, although numerically smaller than Newburg, "was becoming a place large enough to be recognized by the world at large." Its further growth being assured, it will not be necessary to follow it with the minuteness of detail that has been given to the first germinations of the seed planted by General Cleave-land ten years before. BEGINNING OF CLEVELAND'S SECOND DECADE A letter written in 1860 by John Harmon of Ravenna gives some interesting glimpses of Cleveland at the beginning of its second decade. He says: "I first visited Cleaveland, that part now called 72 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. V Newburg, in August, 1806, a boy sixteen and a half years, and spent some ten days, perhaps more, in the family of W. W. Williams. During my stay there, I. formed some acquaintance with those of the neighborhood, especially with those young men or youths of my age, among whom were the Williams,' the Hamiltons, the Plumbs and Kingsburys, the Burks and the Guns. The Miles' had not then arrived. We' attended meetings in a log barn at Doan's Corners once or twice, to hear the announcement of a new sect, by one Daniel Parker, who preached what he called Halcyonism—since, I believe, it has become extinct. We bathed together under the fall of Mill Creek, gathered cranberries in the marshes westward of the Edward's place, and danced to the music of Major Samuel Jones' violin at his house, afterwards the residence of my old friend, Captain Allen Gaylord. Judge Huntington, afterwards Governor, lived then, I believe, at the place afterwards occupied by Dexter or Erastus Miles. Newburg street was opened previously, from the mill north to Doan's Corners, and was then lined with cultivated fields on both sides, nearly the whole distance from Judge Kingsbury's to the mill. But much dead timber remained on the fields. There were some orchards of apple trees on some of the farms, and Judge Kingsbury's orchard bore a few apples that season, which' was probably the first season of bearing. The Judge had a small nursery of apple trees, and there was a larger nursery of smaller trees on Mr. Williams' place." In the latter part of the same letter, Mr. Harmon reminds us that, even then, Newburg's rival was known as "Cleaveland City." As indicated in this letter, Samuel Huntington was then living in Newburg. His hewn timber mansion on the rear of the lot on lower Superior Street was too near the malarial "stagnant pool" and so he bought the Williams' grist and saw mill at Newburg and moved to that vicinity. In the following year, he moved to his large estate near Painesville. In 1808, he resigned as a member of the Ohio supreme court and was elected as governor of the state. NATHAN PERRY COMES One of the most important arrivals of this year was that of Nathan Perry, Sr., and his family. He had come to Ohio in 1796, and had bought, at fifty cents per acre, a thousand acres of land in what is now Lake County. He also secured five acres in "downtown" Cleveland, the section bounded by the present Superior and St. Clair avenues and West Sixth (Bank) and West Ninth (Water) streets, and a larger tract, later known as the Horace Perry Farm, near 1806] - IN GEAUGA COUNTY - 73 the intersection of Broadway with what was long called Perry Street, the East Twenty-second Street of today. He made a further invest-. ment at Black River, twenty-five or thirty miles west of the Cuyahoga. In this year, Geauga County was set off from Trumbull County and included the greater part of what is now Cuyahoga County. The legislative act was dated on the thirty-first of December, 1805, and was to take effect on the first day of March, 1806. The new county was organized as a civil body by establishing a court of common pleas and a board of county commissioners. The court held its first meeting on the first Tuesday of March, the judges present being Aaron Wheeler, John Walworth, and Jesse Phelps. The first meeting of the board of commissioners was held on the sixth day of the following June. Although the Ordinance of 1787 establishing the territory northwest of the Ohio River required that schools and the means of education should be encouraged, and the Ohio constitution of 1802 reiterated the requirement and further declared that "no law shall be passed to prevent the poor in the several counties and townships within this State, from an equal participation in the schools, academies, colleges, and universities within this State, which are endowed, in whole or in part, from the revenues arising from the donations made by the United States for the support of schools and colleges; and the doors of the said schools, academies, and universities shall be open for the reception of scholars, students, and teachers of every grade, without any distinction or preference whatever, contrary to 74 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. V the intent for which the said donations were made," nothing had yet been done for the support of schools by local or general taxation ; in other words, the Ohio common-school law had not been enacted and such schools as existed were provided by private means. The schools kept by Miss Sarah Doan and Miss Anna Spafford have been mentioned; now came a more "ambitious endeavor" to teach the young idea how to shoot. Asael Adams, aged twenty, a native of Canterbury, Connecticut, came to Cleveland and, in October, 1806, entered into contract as follows : Articles of agreement made and entered into between Asael Adams on the one part and the undersigned on the other, witnesseth, that we, the undersigned, do agree to hire the said Adams for the sum of Ten Dollars ($10.00) a month, to be paid in money or wheat at the market price, whenever such time may be that the school doth end, and to make said house comfortable for the school to be taught in, and to furnish benches and firewood sufficient. And I, the said Adams, do agree to keep six hours in each day, and to keep good order in said school. Mr. Kennedy, from whose work I have quoted this contract, tells us that this log school house stood near the foot of Superior Street and that, among its patrons were Samuel Huntington, James Kingsbury, W. W. Williams, George Kilbourne, Susannah Hammil, Elijah Gun, and David Kellogg. One of the school houses of that period has been thus described: "A log-cabin with a rough stone chimney ; a foot or two cut here and there to admit the light, with greased paper over the openings ; a large fire-place ; puncheon floor; a few benches made of split logs with the flat side up, and a well developed birch rod over the master's seat." CHAPTER VI GETTING SETTLED The year 1807 was well marked by the last division of the Reserve lands, the drawing for which was made at Hartford, Connecticut; Samuel P. Lord and others drew the township later known as Brooklyn which then extended along the west bank of the Cuyahoga River to its mouth. The Brooklyn lots were soon surveyed and put upon the market. In the same year, a grand scheme for an improvement of the route that the Indians from time immemorial had followed from Lake Erie to the Ohio River made its appearance. The Cuyahoga and the Tuscarawas rivers were to be cleared of obstruction and deepened where needed and the intervening portage path was to be made passable for wagons. It was thought that the improvement ,could be made for about twelve thousand. dollars and an appeal was made to the Ohio legislature which authorized "The. Cuyahoga and Muskingum Navigation Lottery" for "improving the navigation between Lake Erie and the river Ohio through the Cuyahoga and Muskingum, "—an easy way, it was thought, for raising the needed funds. At that time, such lotteries were in good repute and very much in fashion. The list of commissioners who were .to manage the lottery included the names of such prominent Clevelanders as Lorenzo Carter, Timothy Doan, Samuel Huntington, James Kingsbury, Turhand Kirtland, Amos Spafford, and John Walworth. The scheme formulated by the commissioners provided for the sale of 12,800 tickets at five dollars each. The resultant $64,000 was to be distributed in 3,568 prizes varying in value from ten dollars to five thousand dollars each, all prizes subject to a deduction of one-eighth. But the public did not buy more than a quarter of the tickets offered, the money that had been paid in was returned, the drawing was declared "off," and the scheme was abandoned. NATHAN PERRY, JR. When Nathan Perry came to Ohio,. his son, Nathan, was placed in the camp of Red Jacket, the famous and eloquent chief of the - 75 - 76 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. VI Wolf Tribe of the Seneca Indians. Here the boy became familiar with the language and peculiarities of the red men. In 1804, Nathan Perry, Jr., opened a trading station at Black River for the purchase of furs, etc., from the Indians ; in 1808, he moved to Cleveland and built a store and dwelling at what is now the northeast corner of Superior Avenue and West Ninth (Water) Street. He became one of the leading merchants of the city ; his daughter married Henry B. Payne, later a member of the United States senate—whence the names of the Perry-Payne building on lower Superior Avenue, and what was, in the seventies, known as "Payne's Pastures," and through which Payne Avenue now runs. In the same year, came "Uncle" Abram Hickox as successor to Nathaniel Doan who had moved "into the country" out Euclid way. The new village blacksmith established himself on the north side. of Superior Avenue, where the Johnson House later stood, just west of the Rockefeller Building of today, and "soon become a local celebrity in his way." He afterwards built a small shop at the corner of Euclid Avenue and Hickox (now East Third) Street which was named for him. In 1808, Major Carter built the "Zephyr of thirty tons burthen" for the lake trade, the beginning of the ship-building industry of Cleveland. In April of the same year, a batteau that was carrying a party on a fishing trip to Black River was upset by a sudden squall half a mile off the shore near Dover Point and four persons were drowned. CLEVELAND AND HURON HIGHWAY In 1809, the Ohio legislature appropriated Money for the building of a road from Cleveland to the mouth of the Huron River and 1809] - SENATOR GRISWOLD - 77 the work was done under the supervision of Lorenzo Carter and Nathaniel Doan of Cleveland and Ebenezer Murray of Mentor. This Cleveland and Huron highway followed the ridge near the bank of the lake, was later called the Milan State Road, and still later the Detroit Road; its initial stretch is now known as Detroit Avenue. The mail between Cleveland and Detroit weighed from five to seven pounds and was carried in a satchel by a man who went on foot and traveled about thirty miles a .day. After the beginning of the War of 1812, the United States mail between Cleveland and Detroit was, carried on horseback until about 1820 when the stage-coach supplanted the pony express. At this time, the eastern mail between Cleveland and Warren was carried alternately by the two sons of Joseph Burke of Euclid, "on horseback in summer when the roads permitted and on foot the rest of the time." Going, their route ran through Hudson and Ravenna; coming back, it ran via Jefferson, Austinburg and Painesville. According .to the formal report of Collector Walworth, the value' of the goods sent from the port of Cuyahoga to. Canada from April to October, 1809, was about fifty dollars; the day of direct exportation from Cleveland to Europe had not yet arrived. AMOS SPAFFORD AND STANLEY GRISWOLD In this year (1809), Amos Spafford was elected as a representative from Cleveland, Geauga County, to the state legislature. He was soon appointed collector of a new port of entry in the spring of 1810, and removed to Perrysburg, a few miles up the Maumee River from Toledo. He held his office until 1818 when he died. Among the additions of the year was Stanley Griswold, a native of Connecticut, a graduate of Yale, a school teacher, and an .eloquent popular preacher. He was an ardent admirer of Thomas Jefferson who was then regarded by most of the New England clergy as little less than an atheist and, in 1797, on account of alleged heterodoxy, was excluded from the association of ministers of which he was a member. He soon abandoned the pulpit and became editor of a Democratic newspaper in New Hampshire. In 1805, President Jefferson made him secretary of the territory of Michigan under Governor William Hull and collector of the port of Detroit; he had some trouble with the governor, removed to Cleveland and took up his residence at Doan's Corners. Without loss of time, his familiarity with practical politics led him into public service. We find him acting as clerk of the township of Cleveland in place of the accus- 78 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. VI toured Nathaniel Doan, and when one of Ohio's senators unexpectedly resigned his seat in the national legislature, Governor Samuel Huntington appointed his friend, Stanley Griswold, to fill out the unexpired term. On the twenty-eighth of May, 1809, Mr. Griswold wrote from Somerset, Pennsylvania, to James. Witherell, a letter showing that although he had lived here hardly long enough to be called an Ohio man, he had learned something of the possibilities of Cleveland and the expectations of its leading citizens—expectations that were built on the faith in the future that has made Cleveland what it is. For such reasons, I here insert the letter as printed by Colonel Whittlesey : Dear Sir :—Passing in the stage to the Federal City, I improve a little leisure to acknowledge your letter from Jefferson, Ohio, of the 16th instant. In reference to your inquiry (for a place for Doctor Elijah Coleman,) I have consulted the principal characters, particularly Judge Walworth, who concurs with me, that Cleveland would be an excellent place for a young physician, and cannot long remain unoccupied. This is based more on what the place is expected to be, than what it is. Even now a physician of eminence would command great practice, from being called to ride over a large country, say fifty miles each way. There is now none of eminent or ordinary character in that extent. But settlements are scattered, and roads new and bad, which would make it a painful practice. Within a few weeks Cleveland has been fixed 'upon by a committee of the Legislature as the seat of justice for Cuyahoga county. Several respectable characters will remove to that town. The country around bids fair to increase rapidly in population. A young physician of the qualifications described by you, will be certain to succeed, but for a short time, if without means, must keep school, for which there is a good chance in winter, till a piece of ground, bring on a few goods, (for which it is a good stand,) or do something else in connection with his practice. I should be happy to see your friend. I am on my way to the Federal City, to take a seat in the Senate in place of Mr. Tiffin, who has recently resigned. Very truly your obedient servant, Stanley Griswold. After the expiration of his senatorial term in 1810, Mr. Griswold became United States judge for the Northwest Territory and held that office until his death at Shawneetown, Illinois, in 1815. LEVI JOHNSON Another important and a more permanent addition to the' population of Cleveland was Levi Johnson, who soon became the master builder of the time and place. He built for himself a log cabin 1809] - LEVI JOHNSON - 79 on the Euclid Road near the Public Square, and for others the old court-house and jail on the northwest section of the Square. According to an account published by the Early Settlers' Association, "he built the first frame house in Cleaveland, for Judge John Walworth, where the American House now stands." About 1811, he finished for Rodolphus Edwards, the long famous "Buckeye House" that stood at what is now the intersection of Woodhill and Buckeye roads. This old landmark had been building for several years, most of the boards being sawed by hand from logs that were supported so that one of the two men who worked the saw stood on top of the log while the other stood under it. The house was torn down in 1872. "In 1813 or 1814, he built the schooner 'Ladies' Master,' near his residence, which was hauled to the foot of Superior street by ox-teams of the country people, where she was launched. In 1817, he built the schooner 'Neptune,' on the river, near the foot of Eagle street, which was altogether in the woods. In 1824, he built the first steamboat constructed in Cleveland, the 'Enterprise,' just below the foot of St. Clair street:" He died in 1871. 80 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. VI CREATION OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY By a legislative act of February, 1807, the counties of Portage, Ashtabula and Cuyahoga were authorized ; under this act, Cuyahoga was to "embrace so much of the county of Geauga as lay west of the ninth range of townships." The boundaries were fixed as follows: "On the east side of Cuyahoga River, all north of town five and west of range nine; on the west side of the river, all north of town four and east of range fifteen." The boundary lines of the county have been several times subsequently changed; it did not acquire its present limits until 1843. As appears from Stanley Griswold's letter, already quoted, Cleveland had been fixed upon by a committee of the legislature as the county seat. One of these commissioners sent to Abraham Tappan, a bill for his pay for services rendered in this matter. As preserved for us by Colonel Whittlesey, this communication reads as follows: Columbiana County, Ohio,} October, 1809. Dear Sir :—T have called on Mr. Peaies for my Pay for fixing the Seat of Justis in the County of Cuyahoga and he informt me that he did not Chit it. Sir, I should take it as a favour of you would send it with Mister Peaies at your Nixt Cort and In so doing will oblige Your humble Sarvent R. B**r. Abraham Tappin Esq. A Leven Days Two Dollars per day, Twenty two Dollars. The judicial existence of Cuyahoga County dates from May, 1810, when the court of common pleas was organized with Benjamin Ruggles as presiding judge and Nathan Perry, Sr., Augustus Gilbert and Timothy Doan as associate judges. The first session of the court was held in June, in a new frame building that Elias and Harvey Murray had recently built for a store on the south side of Superior Street between the Public Square and Seneca (now West Third) Street. The store had not then been opened, but it soon "became one of the local mercantile features" of Cleveland. In The Belch and Bar of Cleveland, Mr. F. T. Wallace tells us (1889) that at the June session of the court "Alfred Kelley appears in the second case on the docket, on behalf of Ralph M. Pomeroy vs. James Leach. Suit on a note of hand dated October 27, 1808, 'at Black Rock, to-wit, at Cleveland,' for $80, and in another sum of $150. This case was continued one term, and then discontinued by settlement. And now, in the third case, the famous old pioneer, Rodolphus 1810] - IN CUYAHOGA COUNTY- 81 Edwards, was chosen defendant in the suit of one John S. Reede. It was an appealed case from Justice Erastus Miles' court, by the plaintiff, the justice having decided that the plaintiff had no case against Edwards. The plaintiff failed to prosecute his appeal, and the old pioneer was decreed to 'go' with judgment for his costs, $8.54. R. B. Parkman was defendant's attorney." The judges appointed John Walworth as county clerk and "Peter Hitchcock of Geauga" as prosecuting attorney. The prosecuting attorney received fifteen dollars for the term's work; his successor was soon appointed. A board of county commissioners, to which were transferred the fiscal and administrative duties that had previously been performed by the court of quarter sessions, a sheriff and other officers were elected for a two years' term as provided for by the constitution and the laws of the state. The county commissioners were Jabez Wright and Nathaniel Doan; the sheriff and surveyor was Samuel S. Baldwin; the treasurer was Asa Dille. Under the judicial system then in operation, the Ohio supreme court held annual sessions in the several counties; the first session for Cuyahoga County was held in August, 1810. John Walworth was given still another office, clerk of the court, and Alfred Kelley was admitted to practice in the said court. At the November term of the court of common pleas, the said Alfred Kelley was, on motion of Peter Hitchcock of Geauga, chosen as prosecuting attorney. The centennial of the organization of Cuyahoga County was the occasion of an elaborate six-days' celebration at Cleveland in October, 1910. FIRST TANNERIES In 1810, Cleveland had a population of only fifty-seven persons, while Cuyahoga County had about fifteen hundred. About this time, Major Carter built a warehouse on Union Lane (see Spafford map, page 59) "showing that business was growing down in that section of the village ; and Elias Cozad built out at Doan's Corners the first tannery operated in Cleveland, and this was followed by a like structure erected by [the brothers 1 Samuel and Matthew William-, son, either toward the end of this year or the opening of 1811." This Samuel Williamson was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, came to Cleveland in 1810, and carried on the tanning business until his death in 1834. Having served as an associate judge of the court of common pleas, he was, in later life, called "Judge" Williamson. The oldest of his seven children also bore the name Samuel and was two years old when the family came to Cleveland. Vol. I-6 82 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. VI The son was graduated from college in 1829, studied law in the office of S. J. Andrews (of whom we shall soon hear more), and was admitted to the bar in 1832. He retired from general practice in 1872 to accept the presidency of the Cleveland Society for Savings. He served as a member of the city council, the board of education, and the state senate and occupied many other positions of trust. He lived to be the oldest resident of the city and died in 1884.* PIONEER LEGAL MATTERS At the November term of the court, one Daniel Miner was prosecuted for "not .having obtained such license or permit as the law directs to keep a tavern, or to sell, barter or deliver, for money * See Biographical Sketch. 1810] - THE FIRST PHYSICIAN - 83 or other article of value, any wine, rum, brandy, whisky, spirits or strong drink by less quantity than one quart, did, with intent to defraud the revenue of the county, on the 25th of October last past, sell, barter and deliver at Cleveland aforesaid, wine, rum, brandy, whisky and spirits by less quantity than one quart, to-wit, one gill of whisky for the sum of six cents in money, contrary to the statute, etc." The defendant pleaded guilty and was fined twenty-five cents. In further illumination of public sentiment on the liquor question and the irritating iterations of legal phraseology, we are told by Mr. Kennedy that, in its first few years of existence, the court "saw Ambrose Hecox charged with selling 'one-half yard of cotton cambric, six yards of Indian cotton cloth, one-half pound Hyson skin tea, without license, contrary to the statute law regulating ferries, taverns, stores, etc ;' Erastus Miles prosecuted for selling liquor to the Indians; Thomas McIlrath for trading one quart of whisky for three raccoon skins; and John S. Reede and Banks Finch for engaging in a 'fight and box at fisticuffs.' The indictment declared in solemn form that 'John S. Reede, of Black River, and Banks Finch, of Huron township, in said county, on the 1st day of February, 1812, with force and arms, in the peace of God and the State, then and there being, did, then and there with each other agree, and in and upon each other did then and there assault and with each other did then and there wilfully fight and box at fisticuffs, and each other did then and then strike, kick, cuff, bite, bruise, wound and ill-treat, against the statute and the peace and dignity of the State of Ohio.' " DR. DAVID LONG The year 1810 was further made memorable in Cleveland annals by the arrival of several persons who were destined to play important parts in the development of Cleveland and Ohio; among them were a doctor and a lawyer. As indicated in the letter written by Senator-elect Griswold, already quoted, " Cleaveland would he an excellent place for a young physician and cannot long remain unoccupied." The vacancy did not long endure for now Dr. David Long, who had been graduated in New York City, arrived in June, 1810. There was then no practicing physician nearer than Hudson or Painesville. He "hung out his shingle" on the little frame office that had been built for Mr. Walworth and soon secured an extensive practice. In an interesting magazine article on Pioneer Medicine on the Reserve, Dr. Dudley Allen tells us that "Dr. Long 84 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. VI was a public-spirited man and interested in whatever concerned the welfare of the community. He was a successful candidate for the office of county commissioner at a time [1826] when the location of the court-house greatly excited the interest of the county. One commissioner favored Newburg and another Cleveland, and the election of Dr. Long determined its location in Cleveland. He was engaged in various business enterprises, but a contract for building a section of the canal proved to be an unfortunate business venture, though it was of great importance to the commercial interests of Cleveland. In 1836, Dr. Long removed from Superior Street to a "farm on what is now Woodland Avenue, but was then called Kinsman Street. Here he built the first stone house occupied by the late Erastus Gaylord, and afterward the house still standing [1886] on the corner of Woodland and Longwood avenues, in which house he lived till the time of his death, September 1, 1851." In 1810] - THE FIRST LAWYER - 85 1811, Doctor Long married Julianna, the daughter of John Walworth. In 1833, their only daughter, Mary Helen, married Solomon Lewis Severance. She was the mother of Solon L. and Louis H. Severance, two of the most prominent and successful men of later Cleveland. In the year of his marriage, Doctor Long became the first president of an anti-slavery society, the secretary of which was S. L. Severance. It is easy to imagine that in the long evenings of the preceding winter, Mr. Severance and Doctor Long discussed the wrongs and sorrows of the southern slaves until it was time for the doctor to go to bed and leave the young folks to talk over other matters. Although Samuel Huntington was a lawyer, he did not practice his profession in his brief stay here; Cleveland's first active lawyer was Alfred Kelley, magnum women. Alfred, the second son of Daniel Kelley, was born at Middlefield, Connecticut, on the seventh of November, 1789; his mother was Jemima, a sister of Joshua Stow, one of the thirty-five original members of the Connecticut Land Company and commissary of the surveying party that Moses Cleaveland led to the Reserve in 1796. In 1798, the family had moved from Middlefield to Lowville “in the wilds of New York" (then Oneida, now Lewis County) and there their worldly affairs had prospered; in the words of the family historian, "Judge Kelley's circumstances came to be what would in those days be called comparatively easy." He was generally called Judge Kelley. This Daniel and Jemima had six sons, the oldest of whom was Datus. "It is not a matter of surprise," says the historian just mentioned, "that the prominent connection of their uncle with the purchase of a vast territory in the far west should engage the young men's attention in the strongest manner. Datus caught the western fever first and, in 1810, made the journey on foot to Cleveland, Ohio, or New Connecticut as the Western Reserve was then popularly called. He returned to Lowville that year, however, without having decided upon a location. In 1810, Alfred removed to Cleveland. In 1811, he was followed by Datus; in 1812, by Irad, and early in 1814 by Reynolds," the younger brothers. The parents appear to have given to each of their sons a thousand dollars with which to seek their fortunes in the West and gradually to have disposed of their property in Lowville preparatory to their own removal to Ohio and the long cherished reunion of the family there. Alfred Kelley had entered the law office of one of the judges of the supreme court of New York in 1807 and there remained until the spring of 1810, when he came to Cleveland on horseback and in company with his uncle, Joshua Stow, and Dr. Jared P. Kirtland, of whom 1811-12] - VERBAL MAP AND CENSUS - 87 we shall hear more. At the November term of the newly constituted court of the newly organized county of Cuyahoga, Alfred Kelley was, on the twenty-first anniversary of his birth and, on the motion of Peter Hitchcock, as already recorded, made public prosecutor, an office that he held by successive appointments until 1822, when he resigned to become canal commissioner of Ohio. As we have seen, the promising young man had appeared as counsel at the June session of the court; we shall probably hear of him again. In September, 1814, the father, Judge Daniel Kelley, and his wife, left Lowville and, by land and water, made their way to Cleveland, leaving their son, Thomas, at school in the East. In October, the judge wrote to Thomas and, referring to "our arrival at Buffalow," added : "We were obliged to stay in that uncomfortable place on account of head winds until Tuesday afternoon, the 4th inst., when we all embarked on board of a schooner and set off, with a gentle 86 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. VI breeze, for Cleaveland." But the gentle breeze gave way for storm and sickness so that the family landed at Erie and made the rest of the journey by land. Near the end of the year, he further reported to Thomas that "we have been keeping house by ourselves about 12 days, are pretty comfortable as to house room, etc. . . . Irad returned from Buffalow yesterday with some goods. . . . Their store and house is nearly finished. They move into it this week." Thomas was at Cleveland by June, 1815, but his mother died in the following September, four days after the death of her son, Daniel. After her death, Judge Kelley and his sons, Alfred, Irad, and Thomas made their home with one of the younger brothers, Joseph Reynolds Kelley, until 1817, when Alfred married and his father went to live with him. He died in 1831.* CLEVELANDERS OF 1811-12 Before passing to the story of more stirring events, it seems worth while to reproduce what Mr. Kennedy calls "a combined verbal map and a census" of Cleveland and Its Environs at this period. In one of the Annals of the Early Settlers' Association, Mr. Y. L. Morgan says : The following, to the best of my recollection, are the names of men who lived in what was then Cleveland, in the fall of 1811 and spring of 1812. Possibly a few names may be missing. I will begin north of the Kingsbury creek, on Broadway : The first was Maj. Samuel Jones, on the hill near the turn of the road ; farther down came Judge John Walworth, then postmaster, and his oldest son, A. W. Walworth, and son-in-law, Dr. David Long. Then, on the corner where the Forest City House now stands, was a Mr. Morey. The next was near the now American House, where the little post-office then stood, occupied by Mr. Hanchet, who had just started a little store. Close by was a tavern, kept by Mr. George Wallace. On the top of the hill, north of Main street, Lorenzo Carter and son, Lorenzo, Jr., who kept tavern also. The only house below on Water street was owned by Judge Samuel Williamson, with his family and his brother Matthew, who had a tannery on the side hill below. On the corner of Water and Superior streets was Nathan Perry's store, and his brother, Horace Perry, lived near by. Levi Johnson . began in Cleveland about that time, likewise two brothers of his, who came on soon after; Benjamin, a one-legged man ; and I think the other's name was John. The first and last were lake captains for a time. Abraham Hickox, the old blacksmith; Alfred Kelley, Esq., who boarded with 'Squire Walworth at that time ; then a Mr. Bailey, also Elias and Harvey Murray, and perhaps a very few * See Biographical Sketch. 88 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. VI others in town not named. On what is now Euclid avenue, from Monumental Square through the woods to East Cleveland, was but one man, Nathan Chapman, who lived in a small shanty, with a small clearing around him, and near the present Euclid Station. [East Fifty-fifth Street.] lie died soon after. Then at what was called Doan's Corners lived two families only, Nathaniel, the older, and Maj. Seth Doan. Then on the south, now Woodland Hills avenue, first came Richard Blin, Rodolphus Edwards, and Mr. Stephens, a school teacher; Mr. Honey, James Kingsbury, David Burns, Eben Homer, John Wight-man, William W. Williams, and three sons, Frederick, VVilliarri W., Jr., and Joseph. Next, on the Carter place, Philomen Baldwin, and four sons, Philomen. Jr., Amos, Caleb and Runa. Next, James Hamilton ; then Samuel Hamilton (who was drowned in, the lake), his widow, and three sons, Chester, Justice and Samuel, Jr., in what was called Newburg and now Cleveland. Six by the name of Miles—Erastus, Theodore, Charles, Samuel, Thompson, and Daniel. Widow White with five sons, John, William, Solomon, Samuel, and Lyman. A Mr. Barnes, Henry Edwards, Allen Gaylord, and father and mother. In the spring of 1812, came Noble Bates, Ephraim and Jedediah Hubbel, with their aged father and mother (the latter soon after died) ; in each family were several sons : Stephen Gilbert, Sylvester [Sylvanus?] Burk, with six sons, B. .B. Burk, Gaius, Erectus, etc.; Abner Cochran, on what is now called Aetna street. Samuel S. Baldwin, Esq., was sheriff and county surveyor, and hung the noted Indian, John O'Mic, in 1812. Next, Y. L. Morgan, with three sons, Y. L., Jr., Caleb, and Isham A. The next, on the present Broadway, Dyer Sherman, Christopher Gunn, Elijah, Charles and Elijah Gunn, Jr.; Robert Fulton, Robert Carr, Samuel Dille, Ira Ensign, Ezekiel Holly, and two sons, Lorin and Alphonso, Widow Clark and four sons, Mason, Martin, Jarvis, and Rufus. In another of the annals, Isham A. Morgan, one of the three sons above mentioned, helps to fill out the description. He says : A few houses of the primitive order located along Superior street between the river and the Public Square, with here and there a temporary dwelling in the bushy vicinity, gave hut a slight indication that it was the beginning of a future large city. I remember when there was no court house in Cleveland, nor a church building in Cuyahoga County, nor a bridge across the river from the outlet to Cuyahoga Falls. The outlet of the river, at that time, was some 120 yards west of where it is now (1881), and was sometimes completely barred across with sand by storms, so that men having on low shoes have walked across without wetting their feet. A ferry at the foot of Superior street, consisting of one flat-boat and a skiff, answered the purpose to convey over the river all %Who desired, for quite a number of years. . . . The first water supply for extinguishing fires in Cleveland was a public well eight feet across, with a wheel and two buckets, situated on Bank street near Superior. In those days nearly every family had a well at their back door, of good water for every purpose except wash- 1811-12] - DATUS KELLEY - 89 ing. To supply water for washing, when rain water failed, Benhu Johnson, a soldier of the war of 1812-14 (who lost a leg in the campaign and substituted a wooden one), with his pony and wagon, supplied as many as needed, from the lake at twenty-five cents a load o two barrels; and Jabez Kelley furnished the soap at a shilling a gallon, made at his log soap and candle factory, located on Superior street, near the river.. . . Where Prospect street is now, next to Ontario, was the old cemetery, surrounded by bushes and blackberry briars. Outside of the cemetery, west, south and east, the forest rood in its native grandeur. On Ontario street, a little south of the old cemetery, was a large mound, supposed to be the work of the Mound Builders of prehistoric times. It stood several years after we carne, before it was made level with the surrounding earth." KELLEY'S ISLAND In 1810, Datus Kelley, the elder brother of Alfred Kelley, had visited Cleveland and returned to his home at Lowville, New York ; in 1811, he came out again, returned to Lowville, and, in August, married Sarah Dean. Soon after this he removed to Ohio with his wife and accompanied by one of his brothers and by a brother and a sister of his wife, "Like many modern bridal couples, they visited Niagara Falls on their wedding journey, which was made by team to Sackett's Harbor, boat to Fort Erie, team to Chippewa and 'the schooner Zephyr, 45 tons burthen' from Black Rock to Cleveland, where they arrived about the middle of October. Datus and his bride kept house in a new warehouse at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River during the first week or two after their arrival and pending the selection of their farm." The farm that h.e finally bought cost him $3.18 per acre; it lay about a mile west of Rocky River and extended from the North Ridge road to the lake. Here his nine children were born. In 1833, he and his brother, Irad, bought the western half of Cunningham's (now known as Kelley's) Island in Lake Erie at a dollar and a half per acre. Other purchases followed until they owned the whole island, about three thousand acres. At that time, the island was covered with valuable forests of cedar. Hither Datus Kelley removed with his family in 1836, and spent the rest of his life in developing the material resources of the island and the social, moral, and civic activities of its inhabitants. He cleared the land of its cedar forests, introduced the cultivation of the grape and peach, opened limestone quarries, and became the patriarch of the community. He died in 1866 and was buried on the island to which he had given his name and the best part of his life work. He merited the obituary eulogy that said : "Few men have been so loved by 90 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. VI a whole community. A fitting monument has been erected in the hearts not only of kindred, but of many who for years have looked to him as to a father. The island today mourns the founder of its prosperity ; it mourns its Patriarch who has gone to sleep by the side of his beloved wife ; it mourns the benevolent patron of liberal institutions; it mourns the father and friend from whose lips have fallen so many words of wisdom and kindness." At the present time (1918), "The Patriarch" is worthily represented in Cleveland by his grandson, Hermon Alfred Kelley, one of the most prominent attorneys of the city, to whom I am much indebted for information relating to Alfred and Datus Kelley. In later years, the island was much sought by scientific visitors who were interested in the glacial striae grooved in the surface of the limestone rock—a storehouse of "specimens" that were removed by eager collectors. Today it is the chief source of supply of the Kelley Island Lime and Transport Company, and famous for its vinous product of which Mark Twain once said : "You can't fool me with Kelley Island wine; I can tell it from vinegar every time—by the label on the bottle." At one time, the vats of the Kelley Island Wine Company had a capacity of half a million gallons. CHAPTER VII "CLEVELAND CITY" BECOMES A VILLAGE In 1812, came the second and last war with England. "Although actual hostilities never touched the city and no force of the enemy appeared at its gates, the center of the war upon the lakes and in the west was near enough to keep it in hourly fear, and to make the port of Cuyahoga an important base for supplies, and a point for the gathering and moving of troops." Of course, "no one could tell at what moment a British warship might anchor off the harbor and knock the little town to pieces, or a band of Indians creep in by night and give the settlement to fire and death," and so there was no lack of apprehension and turmoil. A small stockade, named Fort Huntington in honor of the recent governor of Ohio, was built on the shore of the lake near the foot of West Third Street and served nobly "as a guard-house for soldiers who were under arrest." Congress declared war in June and, in August, came news of General Hull's disgraceful surrender of Detroit (August 16, 1812). At any moment, the victorious British and their Indian allies might come sweeping along the southern shore of Lake Erie with Hun-like devastation and massacre such as soon fell to the lot of settlers at Frenchtown (now Monroe) on the River Raisin in Michigan. At Cleveland, the excitement rose to fever heat and calls for aid were sent in all directions with the warnings. Concerning the panic caused by the news of the surrender of Detroit, a letter written by Alfred Kelley says : "Information was received at Cleveland, through a scout from Huron, that a large number of British troops and Indians were seen from the shore, in boats, proceeding down the lake, and that they would probably reach Cleveland in the course of the ensuing night. This information spread rapidly through the surrounding settlements. A large proportion of the families in Cleveland, Newburg (then part of Cleveland), and Euclid, immediately on the receipt of this news, took such necessary articles of food, clothing and utensils as they could carry, and started for the more populous and less exposed parts of the interior. About thirty men only remained, determined to meet the enemy if they should - 91 - 92 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS [Chap. VII come, and, if possible, prevent their landing. They determined at least to do all in their power to allay the panic, and prevent the depopulation of the country." In an article printed in the Annals of the Early Settlers' Association, Isham A. Morgan says: "One day the people at the mouth of Huron River discovered parties comjpg in boats ; they were a good deal alarmed, as they supposed them to be British and Indians to be let loose on the almost defenseless settlers. A courier was immediately sent to Cleveland to give the alarm there. Major Samuel Jones, of Cleveland, got on his horse and scoured the country round, telling the people to go to Doan's Corners, and there would be a guard to protect them as best they could. My brother yoked and hitched the oxen to the wagon, as we then had but one horse. After putting a few necessary articles into the wagon and burying a few others, all went to Doan's Corners—East Cleveland, where most of the people in Cleveland and vicinity assembled. My father had been ill with a fever, and was scarcely able to be about; he took the gun which had been brought along, and handed it to my brother, Y. L. Morgan, who was a good shot, and said to him, 'If the Indians come, you see that there is one less to go away!' That night was spent in expectation not the pleasantest. A few men had stayed in Cleveland, to watch developments there. In the morning, Captain Allen Gaylord was seen approaching the encampment, waving his sword, and saying; ' To your tents, oh Israel! General Hull has surrendered to the British general, and our men, instead of Indians, were seen off Huron. They are returning to their homes.' Thankful were all that it turned out with them to be nothing worse than the inconvenience of fleeing from their homes on short notice under unpleasant circumstances." By reason of their dread of the British and their red allies, many families abandoned their homes and returned to the older states more remote from the international line. They who remained became accustomed to the din of war-like preparation. THE WAR OF 1812 AT CLEVELAND At this time, there were two companies of militia near at hand, one in Cleveland and one in Newburg. The Cleveland company had about fifty men; Harvey Murray was captain, Lewis Dille was lieutenant, and Alfred Kelley was ensign. The full company roster is printed in Kennedy's History of Cleveland. While the refugees were gathering at Doan's Corners as above described, preparations were being made for defense if the enemy made an attack. General Wads- 1812] - IN WAR TIME - 93 worth called all of the militia of his division into the field and arrived at Cleveland on the twenty-fourth of August, accompanied by a mounted escort. Colonel Lewis Cass, then on parole, arrived at Cleveland that day on his way to Washington to make his indignant report of the surrender of Detroit. On his way to the national capital, Colonel Cass was accompanied by Samuel Huntington, once a resident of Cleveland but now of Painesville. Mr. Huntington bore a letter from General Wadsworth to the war department, stating that he had called out three thousand men and was in need of arms, ammunition, equipment and rations. Later in the month, General Simon Perkins of Warren arrived with additional troops. Most of the troops were soon sent further west to build block-houses and to protect the people leaving only a small guard on duty at Cleveland during the somewhat quiet winter that followed. The first city directory of Cleveland (published in 1837) says that "During the years of the war there was much bluster, coming, going and parading, ups and downs, anxiety and carelessness in Cleveland. But when the war was over, the city was found not much the better or worse. Many, however, became acquainted with its pleasant location and its advantageous situation, which otherwise probably would have remained ignorant of them." Cuyahoga was now a county and Cleveland won in its struggle with Newburg for the prestige that generally goes with the seat of justice. Therefore, in this year of alarms, the county commis- 94 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS [Chap. VII sioners made a contract with Levi Johnson, the master builder of that day, for the building of a combined court-house and jail on the northwest corner of the Public Square. The building was two stories high, with a jail and a living-room for the sheriff on the ground floor and a court-room above. According to another account, "at the west end, lower story, was the jail, with debtors' and criminals' grated windows in front; east end, upper story, the court-room. At the landing of the inside staircase a fireplace, sizzling green oak wood, feebly struggled to warm the institution." The building was not completed until 1813; in it, after that date, "justice, according to the high Cuyahoga standard, was administered for some fifteen years." The court-room also became the scene of many social gatherings, and to it the annual town meetings for election and other purposes were transferred from the residences of citizens in which they had been held—generally "the house of James Kingsbury, Esq." THE FIRST MURDER AND EXECUTION In this year also came Cuyahoga's first trial, conviction, and execution for murder, an incident on which much good ink has been spilled. In brief, there was an Indian whose name is variously given as O'Mic, O'Mick, Omic, and Poccon the son of old O'Mic. Whatever his name, he was implicated with two other Indians in 'the murder of two trappers near Sandusky, Huron County being then attached to Cuyahoga for judicial purposes. One of the three Indians committed suicide "and another was let go because of his youth." The murder was committed in April and, with charming disregard of the law's vexatious delays, the trial was held before the end of the month. The court sat in the open air under the protecting shade of a tree at the corner of Superior and West Ninth streets, with Alfred Kelley as prosecuting attorney and Peter Hitchcock as counsel for the defendant. The trial was short, the verdict was "guilty," and the sentence was death by hanging on the twenty-sixth of the following June. The gallows was built by Levi Johnson on the northwest section of the Public Square; the grave and coffin were beneath it. Mrs. Dr. Long says that "all the people from the Western Reserve seemed to be there, particularly the doctors,"— and the doctors got the body. "After the religious services were over," wrote Elisha Whittlesey who was there, "Maj. Samuel Jones endeavored to form a hollow square so the prisoner could be guarded on all sides. He rode backwards and forwards with drawn sword, and epaulets flying, but he did not know what order to give." He 1812] - THE EXECUTION OF O'MIC - 95 finally acted upon the suggestion of someone who told him to ride to the head of the line and double it around until the front and rear met. Perhaps the major had lingered too long at Lorenzo Carter's tavern. The details of the execution were dramatic, O'Mic made vigorous resistance, "seized the cap with his left hand which he could reach by bending his head in that direction, stepped to one of the posts and put his arm around it. The sheriff approached him to loosen his hold and for a moment it was doubtful whether O'Mic would not throw him to the ground ;" Major Carter had to ascend the platform to give his diplomatic aid to Sheriff Baldwin. We have the assurance of Mr. Whittlesey that "finally O'Mic made a proposition that if Mr. Carter would give him half a pint of whiskey he would consent to die. . . . Mr. Carter, representing the people of Ohio and the dignity of the laws, thought that the terms were reasonable and the whiskey was forthcoming in short order," old Monongahela, we are told. When O'Mic had finished the beverage, the order was given to go ahead. But the Indian again grabbed the post and demanded more whiskey. This was brought and, as he drank it, the trap was sprung. After the platform had been dropped, it was "doubtful whether the neck had been broken, and to accomplish so necessary a part of a hanging, the rope was drawn down with the design of raising the body, so that, by a sudden relaxing of the ropes, the body would fall several feet and thereby dislocate the neck beyond any doubt; but when the body fell, the rope broke. . . . The body was picked up, put into the coffin, and the coffin immediately put into the grave." A terrific storm then came up with great rapidity "and all scampered but O'Mic." The sequel of the story was recorded by the wife of Doctor Long as follows: "The Public Square was only partly cleared then, and had many stumps and bushes on it. At night the doctors went for the body, with the tacit consent of the Sheriff. O'Mic was about twenty-one years of age, and was very fat and heavy. Dr. Long did not think one man could carry him, but Dr. Allen, who was very stout, thought he could. He was put upon Dr. Allen's back, who soon fell over a stump and O'Mic on the top of him. The doctors dare not laugh aloud, for fear they, might be discovered, butt some of them were obliged to lie down on the ground and roll around there, before they came to the relief of Dr. Allen.." CAPTAIN STANTON SHOLES AT CLEVELAND Major Jessup, U. S. A., arrived in the spring of 1813 and took command cif military affairs at Cleveland; in May, came Captain Stan- 96 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. VII ton Sholes and his company of regular troops. Probably I cannot do better than to let Captain Sholes tell his story in his own way. In 1858, he wrote to the secretary of the Cuyahoga County Historical Society, saying : Sir :—With a trembling hand I will state to the Society, that about the 3d of May, 1813, I received orders from the War Department, to march my company (then, at Beavertown, Pennsylvania) to Cleveland, Ohio, to aid in the defence of this frontier and to establish a military post. On the 10th, I, with my company, arrived at Cleveland, and found Major Jessup and two or three companies of militia, called out some months before. I halted my company between Major Carter's and Wallace's. I was here met by Governor Meigs, who gave me a most cordial welcome, as did all the citizens. The Governor took me to a place, where my company could pitch their tents. I found no place of defense, no hospital, and a forest of large timber, (mostly chestnut) between the lake, and the lake road. There was a road that turned of between Mr. Perry's and Major Carter's that went to the point, which was the only place that the lake could be seen from the buildings. This little cluster of buildings was all of woods, I think none painted. There were a few houses further back from the lake road. The widow Walworth kept the post office, or Ashbel, her son. Mr. L. Johnson, Judge Kingsbury, Major Carter, N. Perry, Geo. Wallace, and a few others were there. At my arrival I found a number of sick and wounded who were of Hull's surrender, sent here from Detroit, and more coming. These were crowded into a log cabin, and no one to care for them. I sent one or two of my soldiers to take care of them, as they had no friends. I had two or three good carpenters in my company, and set them to work to build a hospital. I very soon got up a good one, thirty by twenty feet, smoothly and tightly covered, and floored with chestnut bark, with two tier of bunks around the walls, with doors and windows, and not a nail, a screw, or iron latch or hinge about the building. Its cost to the Government was a few extra rations. In a short time I had all the bunks well strawed, and the sick and wounded good and clean, to their great joy and comfort, but some had fallen asleep. I next went to work and built a small fort, about fifty yards from the bank of the lake, in the forest. This fort finished, I set the men to felling the timber along and near the bank of the lake, rolling the logs and brush near the brink of the bank, to serve as a breastwork. On the 19th of June, a part of the British fleet appeared' off our harbor, with the apparent design to land. When they got within one and a half miles of our harbor it became a perfect calm, and they lay there till after noon, when a most terrible thunder storm came up, and drove them from our coast. We saw them no more as enemies. Captain Sholes further tells us that, in July, General Harrison visited the station accompanied by "Col. Samuel Huntington, Paymaster of the army and ex-Governor of this state," and other mem- - 99 - 98 - CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS - [Chap. VII bers of his staff; that after a three days' inspection, "the General and suite left Cleveland as he found it, to return to the army, then lying at the mouth of the Maumee River. After General Harrison left there was nothing worthy of note." When, in September, Oliver Hazard Perry was winning his famous battle of Lake Erie, the sound of the guns was heard in Cleveland and soon came the cheerful tidings that "We have met the enemy and they are ours." But the battle was fought outside the limits of Cleveland and Its Environs and its story is familiar to all Americans. But if the reader of this volume desires. full and accurate information as to the details and results of Perry 's victory, he can find what he wants in the ninth chapter of the eighth volume of Avery's History of the United States and Its People. CLEVELAND VILLAGE INCORPORATED In 1814, Levi Johnson built the schooner "Pilot," in the woods near the site of the opera house (Euclid Avenue and East Fourth Street). With rollers under the boat and twenty-eight yoke of oxen on the tow line, the "Pilot" was pulled to the foot of Superior Street and was successfully launched in the not yet oil-smeared water of the Cuyahoga River. In October, Newburg was made into a separate township and thus James Kingsbury, Rodolphus Edwards and other important persons were taken out of Cleveland. On the twenty-third of December, the Ohio general assembly passed "An Act to Incorporate the Village of Cleveland in the County of Cuyahoga." The new village thus created included "so much of the city plat of Cleveland, in the township of Cleveland and County of Cuyahoga as lies northwardly of Huron street, so called, and westwardly of Erie street, so called in said city plat as originally laid out by the Connecticut Land Company, according to the minutes and survey and map thereof in the office of the recorder of said County of Cuyahoga." At this time, it is said that "the town had thirty-four buildings, one being constructed of brick, and thirty families, including one hundred and fifty persons," and that Brooklyn has six families and a. total population of forty. In February of this year, Major Lorenzo Carter died and was buried in the Erie (East Ninth) Street Cemetery. On the first Monday of June, 1815, twelve of the male inhabitants of the village met and, by unanimous votes, chose officers as follows : President, Alfred Kelley. Recorder, Horace Perry. Treasurer, Alonzo Carter. Marshal, John A. Ackley. 1815] - THE VILLAGE ORGANIZED - 99 Assessors, George -Wallace and John Riddle. Trustees, Samuel Williamson, David Long and Nathan Perry, Jr. The village trustees met in October and, on petition of a baker's dozen, laid out a number of streets, "to be distinguished, known and called" St. Clair Street, Bank Street, Seneca Street, Wood Street, Bond Street, Euclid Street and Diamond Street. The last named street ran around the four sides of the Public Square; the others on the list retained for many years the names thus assigned. St. Clair and Euclid are now called avenues, Bank is West Sixth, Seneca is West Third, Wood is East Third, and Bond is East Sixth. Huron Street is now Huron Road, and Erie Street is now East Ninth Street.