CHAPTER VIII.
ROADWAYS AND WATERWAYS.
When the Western Reserve Land Company sent its surveyors to northern Ohio, there was not a
roadway in that whole region. There were numbers of Indian paths which led from one Indian
village to another, or from river to river, and one or two general paths from Pittsburg- to
Cuyahoga or Sandusky.
THE "GIRDLED" ROAD.
A path on the lake shore had been used by traders, missionaries. and soldiers, and along this
route the first road was built. When it entered the timber, trees were girdled thirty-three feet each
side, and for this reason old letters and papers always refer to it as "the girdled road."
The Indians used the creeks and streams for transportation sometimes, but as their courses were
winding arid consequently longer, most of their travel was done on foot. Heckewelder's map,
drawn in 1796, shows numerous Indian paths ; the one running.from Pittsburg to the Salt Spring
district is the same as given in all early letters and documents mentioning roads and paths. This
path lies at an angle of about forty-five degrees ; north of Salt Springs it turns directly west, and
assumes a northwestern direction until it reaches the Moravian village which in 1780 stood. on
the east side of the Cuyahoga, not far from the mouth.
In many ways this map is inaccurate, but, since the Moravians were vitally interested in and
devoted to the Indians, and knew so much of their lives and habits, we believe that these Indian
paths are correctly depicted.
THE STATE ROAD.
So far as is known, the second road of any distance in old Trumbull county was laid out by
Turhand Kirtland. It started in Poland, followed rather closely the Indian path to Salt Springs,
thence into Warren, and north on what is now Mahoning avenue. In Champion it turned off to the
west above the Poor Farm, led through Southington, Nelson, Park-man, Grand River. Over this
road the Indians walked, the early settlers walked or rode horseback, and the. first stage coaches
rattled over the stones, through the dust or plowed the mud, as the case might be. It was at
different periods known as the plank road, the turnpike, the state road. Today part of it is covered
with macadam, and automobiles fly over it in the races between Pittsburg and Cleveland.
Every mile of this road surveyed by Kirtland is not positively known. For instance, on Mahoning
avenue, in Warren, it ran further to the west than it does now, and this deviation of course was
true in many other places. Makers of roads in those days were apt to follow streams, partly
because the timber was less heavy, partly because the Indians and traders followed streams and
had made paths, partly because such route was less lonely than the heart of the woods, and partly
because roads skirting. bodies of water were drier than those wholly shaded. However, in
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70 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
all early diaries, mention is made of going by road to Young's, then to Salt Springs, stopping at
Quinby's in number 4 (Warren), and very often at Mill's, in Nelson.
The Indian Trail so often referred to between the Cuyahoga river and the Tuscarawas river,
passing near the present site of Huron, was the dividing line between certain tribes of Indians, as
early as 1726, and this line was recognized when the white men first took possession as the
dividing line between the eastern and Western Reserve.
As the common highways have become "good roads" because of the agitation of the bicycle rider
and automobile owner, so did the old Indian paths, because of the settlers, because of the mail
carrier, and because of the necessity of commerce, grow better and better.
The ox-cart was after a time replaced by a stout wagon. In the beginning these wagons had
boards laid across for seats, and canvas tops for covers, and people rode between Pittsburg and
Cleveland in these uncomfortable conveyances.
BETTER COACHES AND LONGER LINES.
A little later the coaches, rather small and uncomfortable, put on between points where travel was
heaviest, were drawn by two horses. In pleasant weather they appeared on time, but in a greater
part of the year they were irregular. An early advertisement in the old papers is to the effect that
"four horses will be used on coaches to insure punctuality." A little later the big stage coach, with
the swinging springs and upholstered interior, with place for the baggage on the back, came into
use. These conveyances were very comfortable in pleasant weather, and many a pleasant hour has
been passed among friends, and many good acquaintances made during stage-coach trips. When
the weather was bad the circumstances were different. The men passengers (women traveled little
in those days) were often obliged not only to get out and walk, but to assist in prying the wheels
from out the half-frozen mud.
All through the Western Reserve may be seen at this day old weatherbeaten buildings, sometimes
which show by the wide porch, the tall pillars, that they were taverns where the stage coach
stopped either for change of horses, for passengers, or for meals. The coming of the stage coach,
announced by the blowing of a horn, was the event of the day in many communities. The drivers
were often men of strong and peculiar characters, about Many of whom strange and 'humorous
tales are told. A mile before a town was reached, the tooting of the horn was begun, and men
would leave their business, children their play or study, and sometimes the women their homes,
to gather around the coach when it drove to the tavern, that they might see who had arrived, who
was to depart, and to learn the news from the outside world.
In the beginning the coach lines were short (about twenty-five miles), but grew in length as the
territory settled. The route was often circuitous, to take in the villages of importance. People
going from Pittsburg to Cleveland came to Warren, then Ravenna, etc. To go five miles or more
out of the direct line was not noticed. It was passengers they were after, and they must be gotten
from hamlet and town. Under the most favorable circumstances the coach between Warren and
Ravenna could be run in three .hours. There are, however, people living in Warren today who
have left Ravenna at eight or nine o'clock in the morning and not reached Warren till after the
darkness had settled down.
As the coach lines became more numerous, people traveled by horseback or wagon from one line
to another, or from their town to a line many miles distant, if they wanted to take an unusual trip.
THE WARREN TURNPIKE.
The following people petitioned the legislature in 1815 to incorporate a company to make a
turnpike road from Warren to points along the fourth range of townships to Lake Erie : Benj.
Lane, Seymour Austin, James Quigley, Isaac Heaton, John Hayes, Jeremiah
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 71
Brooks, Mark Westcott, John Dennison, E. Quinby, Wm. Anderson, Geo. Parsons, Francis
Freeman, Barber King, A. McKinney, Cal-. yin Pease, Elihu Spenser, Hezekiah Knapp, E. B.
Clark, Daniel Bell, Samuel Quinby, Linus Tracy, Mark Leavitt, Elihu Whitney, Leonard Case,
Simon Perkins, Zalmon Fitch, Adamson Bentley, John Leavitt and Thomas Webb.
This request was granted, and the action of this company is on record. Francis Freeman, of
Trumbull county, was the treasurer. Those having it in charge were exceedingly painstaking in
their work, held meetings often, sometimes in Warren, sometimes at the home of Ephraim
Brown, in North Bloomfield, and sometimes farther tip the line. This long, almost straight road
from Lake Erie south through Bloomfield, Bristol, Champion, Warren, was one of the best roads
the Reserve had. Later this was planked at least part of the way. Between Warren and Bloomfield
(fifteen miles) there were ten miles of plank road. Toll gates were established ; one of them was
just north of Warren, in the neighborhood of the present "Poor Farm" ; another one was in
Bristol. The writer remembers to have ridden by the gate in Champion when a child, in the late
sixties, but whether they were exacting toll at that 'time .or not, she can not remember. In 1818
the legislature was asked to allow a road to be made from Kinsman to Cleveland via Bloomfield.
FIRST SUPERVISOR OF HIGHWAYS.
The first supervisor of highways in old Trumbull county was Thomas Packard. It seems strange
that William D. and . J. W. Packard, who were among those responsible, because of their
automobile factory, for the good roads of Trumbull county, should be the great-nephews of this
great supervisor.
In 1848, when Seabury Ford was nominated for governor at Columbus, some of the delegates
going to that meeting had the hardest •coaching trip of their lives. The two youngest members of
that convention were Jacob B. Perkins, of Warren, and Ezra B. Taylor, of Ravenna. They went
part of the way by coach, part of the way by wagon. It was February. Many times they got out and
walked, and, finally, when within eleven miles of Columbus, plastered with frozen mud and dirt,
they abandoned the coach and walked into the capital city.
The first stage coach running between Erie and Cleveland was in 1818.
On September 27, 1827, an advertisement appeared in the Western Reserve Chronicle showing
that the stages, which had been running from Warren to Youngstown, via Brookfield and Salem,
to Erie, were then extended to Dunkirk.
In 1828 the fare on the stage coach from Warren to Youngstown was 50 cents, and from Warren
to Fairport was $1.75. "Now and. Then," in the Chronicle, says that when Paltzgroff,
Shoenberger, Fulk kept the hotel which then stood on the corner of Main and South streets, there
were as many as eight coaches a day running from Ashtabula to Wellsville, and they stopped at
this hotel for meals.
If any reader does not sympathize with the movement to save the American forests, he has only
to study the history of a small portion of the United States to see how the cutting of the timber
affects the size of rivers, consequently transportation, and prosperity generally.
RIVER IMPROVEMENTS.
In 1806 the legislature declared the Mahoning river navigable to Newton Falls ; in 1829,
navigable to Warren. "Flat boats were paddled from Pittsburg as far as Warren in all seasons
easily, except at two or three shoals, where light lifting was needed."
Because streams were larger then than now, and because there were no bridges people properly
licensed ferried across for pay. One of the first persons who plied such a trade was Mrs.
Beckwith, of Ashtabula.
The early settlers soon learned that because of the nature of the soil and the heavy timber,
72 - HISTORY COUNTY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
roads were impassable in some places even in the summer time, and the easiest way to travel was
found to be by stream where it was possible. Therefore in 1807 they decided to take some action
for improving waterways or constructing new ones.
GREAT NAVIGATION LOTTERY.
They determined to improve the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas rivers, thus forming a means of
communication between Lake Erie and the Ohio. They were to dredge, clear and deepen the
rivers, make a road so good between the two that loaded wagons could be driven over it. The
estimated cost for this was $12,000, and the legislature sanctioned it, but did not provide for
taxation, allowing instead the running of a lottery by which the funds could be raised. There did
not seem to be any question about this being the proper thing to do, and the men who had charge
of it were among the most influential citizens. They were Samuel Huntington, Amos Spafford,
John Walworth, Lorenzo Carter, James Kingsbury, Turhand Kirtland, Timothy Doan, Bezaleel
Wells, Jonathan Cass, Seth Adams, Zachias A. Beatty and John Shorb. H. K. Morse, of Poland,
has one of these original tickets of this lottery. It reads :
"Cuyahoga & Muskegon Navigation Lottery. THIS Ticket entitles the bearer to such prize as
shall be drawn against its number (if called for within twelve months after the drawing is
completed), subject to the deduction of 12 1/2 per cent. No. 4472.
(Signed) "J. Walworth, Agent
Board of Commissioners."
There were 12,800 tickets, price $5 each. The first prize was for $5,000; two prizes of $2,500 ;
five prizes of $1,000 ; ten prizes of $500 ; fifty prizes of $100 ; 100 prizes of $50 ; 3,400 prizes of
$10. The Commissioners had great faith in this lottery, and tickets were expected to be sold in
Massachusetts, New York and in local Ohio towns. However, the public did not take much
interest in this matter, and after putting off the drawing from time to time, the scheme was finally
abandoned and the money returned to those who had paid it.
LAKE ERIE AND OHIO CANAL.
As early as January, 1817, a resolution on the construction of the Lake Erie and Ohio Canal was
introduced into the legislature. In 1819 the question was again up. In 1820 a survey was
authorized, and in 1822 the legislature provided for the survey of four routes, one was to run
from Sandusky Bay to the Ohio river ; one from Maumee river to the Ohio river ; one from
Cuyahoga, or Black river, by way of the Muskingum, to the Ohio, and one from the mouth of the
Grand river, via the Mahoning, to the Ohio. The commissioners into whose hands this work was
given, at the following session of the legislature, reported that any of these routes could be used,
but asked for more time to consider which was the most practical. At the session of 1823-24 they
chose the one for the, Scioto Valley, the Licking and upper Muskingum. In the summer of 1824
two routes were determined upon, one from the Maumee river to Cincinnati, and one starting at
the mouth of the Scioto, to Coshocton, and then up to the lake by three different routes. In 1825
the canal commissioners were ordered to proceed on these two routes. When completed the
western one was called the Miami Canal, and the eastern the Ohio. From Coshocton the Ohio
Canal followed the Tuscarawas, cut the old portage and followed the Cuyahoga to Cleveland.
Great preparations were made for the opening of his canal. General Lafayette was in this country,
and it was expected that the first shovel of earth would he lifted by him at the portage summit.
This was the very spot over which the Men of 1799 came, which the earlier settlers had
attempted to make a good road for the carrying of baggage. Two counties received their names
from this spot—Portage anSummit. Unfortunately, General Lafayette had promised to be in
Boston on July 4, 1825, and. the whole
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 73
plan was changed. The first ground was broken July 4, 1825, at Licking Summit. Gov. DeWitt
Clinton, of New York, who had been so interested in all canal projects, raised the first shovelful
of earth, and ex-Governor Morrow, of Ohio, the second. Hon. Thomas Ewing, of Lancaster,
Ohio, was the orator of the occasion. The canal was completed from Cleveland to Akron in 1827,
and in 1830 boats were rnning from Cleveland to the Ohio river.
THE MAHONING CANAL.
The Mahoning Canal was a branch of the Ohio, running from Akron to Beaver. From that point
the river was used to Pittsburg. The residents of Portage and Trumbull counties worked long and
faithfully to secure this canal. Conventions were held in Warren and Ravenna, and in 1826 a bill
for the incorporation of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal was prepared. This was passed by the
legislature in 1827, and was to be effective when the state of Pennsylvania would pass a like one.
The date of Ohio's act was January 10 ; of Pennsylvania's, April. Notwithstanding this good start,
nothing was done until 1833, when meetings were again held and the charter of 1827 was
renewed and granted December 31, 1835. Pennsylvania had also renewed its old charter. The city
of Philadelphia was allowed to have $780,000 of the stock, and in less than an hour from the
time the books
MAP OF WESTERN RESERVE, 1829.
First reproduction from the original by the courtesy of the Western Reserve Historical Society.
were opened this was all taken. The whole amount of stock was to be a million dollars, and the
remainder, $220,000, in a few weeks was taken by people in Portage and Trumbull counties. The
stockholders met May 31, 1835, at New Castle. The survey was begun in June of 1835, near
Ravenna. The whole length of the canal from its intersection with the Pennsylvania Canal below
New Castle to its intersection with the Ohio Canal at Akron covered eighty-two miles. Ditches
led from
74 - HISTORY OF. THE WESTERN RESERVE
some of the smaller lakes in western Portage county to the canal. These were known as "feeders."
It was hard work to finance this as the work went on, and the governor of Ohio had to come to
the assistance of the company, but in 1840 it was opened for business clear. through.
For twelve years this was a success, and then the building of the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railroad,
running through Ravenna took much of its freight and passenger trade, and the construction of
the Cleveland & Mahoning Road, running down the Mahoning Valley to Youngstown brought
about its destruction. People would neither ride nor ship goods on a slow line when there was a
faster one, and in 1863 the state sold the stock which it had in the Mahoning branch of the canal
to the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad Company. A few boats ran occasionally after that to
pick up a little business which was off these railroads, but eventually the canal was abandoned. It
was completed as far as Warren, in 1839. This event was properly celebrated.
When the canal was completed to Akron there was another gala day for Warren. Governor Porter,
of Pennsylvania, came with the party, and there was hardly standing room on the packet. The
visitors landed, walked in the deep mud up to the courthouse, where Gen. Simon Perkins read an
address of welcome and Governor Porter and others replied. The party returned to the canal boat
and proceeded to Akron. General Seely; who had been so much interested in the canal from the
beginning, died at Akron on that day.
After the canal was abandoned there was for years more or less water in the bed. This stagnant
water, covered with thick green scum, bred mosquitoes and spread malaria. Old citizens declare
these mosquitoes little by little traveled down from the Cuyahoga river, where they were a pest.
After the canals were drained, or dried up, there was little "shaking ague."
The canoes, the horses and saddle, the stage coaches and the canal were not sufficient to take
care of the traffic and travel of northern Ohio and the railroad naturally followed. The histories of
these are given in the several counties.
HIGHEST POINTS IN THP RESERVE.
Wm. Stowell Mills gives the following able :
Highest point on the Reserve, Silver Creek, Summit county, 1392 feet above sea level.
Claridon, Geauga county, 1,366 feet.
Wadsworth Run, Medina county, 1,349 feet.
Little Mountain, Lake county, 1,323 feet.
Hiram, Portage county, 1,300 feet.
Royalton, Cuyahoga county, 1,272 feet.
Limestone Ridge, Portage county, 1,248 feet.
Andover, Ashtabula county, 1,191 feet.
Mesopotamia, Trumbull county, 1,172 feet.
CHAPTER IX.
FAMOUS MEN OF THE RESERVE.
We often see different dates given as to when Ohio became a state. Ohio was unlike most other
states admitted into the Union. It never was a territory of itself. It was a part of the Northwest
territory, and in 1801 the people living in that part which is now the state, called a convention to
frame a constitution for this district which had set up claim to statehood under the provision of
the fifth article of the Ordinance of 1787. On the first day of November, 1802, this convention
met in Chillicothe, and in twenty-nine days had completed its work. This constitution was not
submitted to the people, but was unanimously ratified by the members of the convention. In
February, 1803, congress passed an act admitting Ohio, and this act went into operation upon the
assembling of the first state legislature of Chillicothe, Tuesday, March 1, 1803. It will be seen
then why some people say that Ohio became a state November 29; 1802, when the constitution
was finished and .ratified ; others, February 17, 1803, when the act of congress admitting it as a
state was passed ; and others March I, 1803, when the legislature assembled and organized.
CIVIL JURISDICTION ESTABLISHED.
Hon. F. E. Hutchins, assistant attorney-general of the United States, in a speech delivered at the
Warren Opera House some years since, said :
"When Connecticut sold to the Land Company, she parted, so far as she could, with all her rights,
jurisdictional as well as to the soil, but whether a state could transfer its jurisdiction over half its
territory to a party of private land speculators and confer upon them governmental jurisdiction,
was a. serious ,question.
"Certainly the purchasers never attempted to exercise any such governmental jurisdiction or to
enact any laws. They made frequent applications to . Connecticut to extend her jurisdiction and
Jaws over the territory, and to the United States to accept jurisdiction, but all were refused. • The
purchasers and settlers repudiated the Ordinance of 1787 as extending to this territory because to
accept it would be to admit a superior title in the United States, which would be fatal to that of
Connecticut and therefore fatal to that of the Land Company, and the settlers.
"Subsequently, in 1800, acts of congress and the Connecticut legislature confirmed the title of
Connecticut to the soil on the Reserve on the one hand, and relieved the United States of all
jurisdiction over it on the other. And then, for the first time in its history, the Western Reserve
came within any civil jurisdiction, and its people were protected and governed by law. But from
the time of this sale by Connecticut to the Connecticut Land Company in 1795, to this acceptance
of jurisdiction, in 1800, the Western Reserve was absolutely without law or government of any
kind. There were no courts, no laws, no records, no magistrates or police, and no modes of
enforcing or protecting land titles, contracts or personal rights. It was a veritable 'no-man's land'
so far as government and law was con-
- 75 -
76 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
cerned. This was a poor place for lawyers, as it always is where the people will behave
themselves without them. It was not even a pure democracy, for there the people meet to enact
laws and enforce rights. Here they did not and could not. Some seventy miles of unbroken
wilderness of forest, lakes and swamps, separated the two settlements at Cleveland and
Youngstown. And yet, so trained in civil government and obedience to law were the settlers that
they felt no need of either. Lands were bought and sold, personal contracts were made, marriages
solemnized, and personal rights respected as in the best governed societies, and all without
government and without law. In the same year (1800) that the Reserve came within civil
jurisdiction, the whole was organized into one county, with the county seat at Warren. There has
never been a case of lynching on the Reserve."
FIRST JUDGES NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
The first judges of the Northwest territory appointed by the president of the United States were
Samuel Holden Parsons, James Mitchell Varnum, and John Cleves Symmes. Of these three,
Judge Symmes is the best remembered because of his claim of a hollow earth, and because of his
connection with the famous Harrison family. He was born in New Jersey, but early emigrated to
this country, where he became a valiant soldier. After army service he devoted himself to a
theory, his own invention, which declared the earth to be hollow, open at the poles, and
inhabitable within. His followers were more in number than it is possible for us of today to
believe, and he even asked congress to make an appropriation to test out his theory. It does not
seem possible that a man who could believe in so foolish a theory, could have been a college
graduate, a delegate to the Provincial Congress, active in framing the constitution of his own
state (New Jersey), delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, and judge of the
Northwest territory.
MARRIAGE OF ANNA SYMMES.
Gen. Lew Wallace, in his life of President Benjamin Harrison, says : "The. wooing and winning
of Anna Symmes by William -Henry Harrison is not without romantic coloring. When Fort
Washington was established at Cincinnati, Harrison was stationed there. Duty called the gallant
captain to North Bend, and he became a guest at the Symmes residence. It was not long until he
succumbed to the black eyes of Miss Anna. She was at the time twenty years of age, small,
graceful, intelligent and by general agreement beautiful. He was twenty-two years of age, with a
reputation well established as a gallant soldier. The two were mutually pleased with each other,
and an engagement followed, which could hardly fail to be satisfactory to the father. The judge,
in fact, consented to the marriage ; but, hearing some slanderous reports of the captain, he
afterwards withdrew his consent. The lovers were in nowise daunted. They resolved to proceed
with their engagement. November 29, 1795, the day appointed for the wedding, arrived. Judge
Symmes, thinking the affair off or declining to be present, rode to Cincinnati, leaving the coast
clear.
"In the presence of the young lady's stepmother and many guests the ceremony was. performed
by Dr. Stephen Wood, a justice of the peace.
"Undoubtedly the father of the bride was a person of great importance at. that time. He was a
high dignitary of the United States government and proprietor of a tract of land ducal in
proportions. The lady was beautiful, young, charming, of Eastern education and manners. The
bridegroom on his side had fought his way to a captaincy, which was a much more influential
argument in that day than this, especially in social circles. With these points in mind, it would not
be strange if a reader, giving rein to his fancy, should picture the wedding as of exceeding
splendor of circumstance. It was the very reverse.
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 77
To arrive at the facts the time and the condition of the people of the region must be considered.
The west was in its densest wilderness. There were no luxuries. To be comfortable was to be
rich. There was no aristocracy. Store goods were scarce and at prices out of reach. Weeks of
travel were required to get to and from the mills. For summer wear the settlers depended in great
part upon the fibre of thistle, a certain species of which, growing spontaneously in the woods, fell
down and rotted in the winter and was gathered in the spring and cleaned and woven by the
women. Indeed, the probabilities are that the company assembled to witness the marriage of
Captain Harrison and Miss Anna Symmes would astonish polite circles of today. They arrived on
horseback, each man carrying a rifle, a powder-horn and a pouch lined with patching and bullets.
Traveling by narrow paths cut through thickets of blackberry and alder bushes and undergrowth
of every variety, each step taken might be into an ambush of Indians. They moved in the mood
and ready for instant combat. A wife, coming with her husband, rode behind him. They
dismounted at the door, as it was winter ; ten to one he wore buckskin for coat and breeches, and
a coonskin cap, while she was gay with plaided linsey-woolsey of her own weaving, cutting and
sewing. Her head was protected from the wind by a cotton handkerchief. Coarse shoes supplied
the place of slippers. The wedding cake was of New England doughnuts. On the sideboard there
were jugs of cider, very hard at that, and whiskey none the worse for its home brewing, and they
-.were there to be drank. The dancing, with which the fete was most likely rounded off in the
evening, was to a fiddle in the hand of a colored artist who knew the plantation jigs as a mocking
bird knows his whistle. The pigeon-wing with which the best dancers celebrated the balance all
was cut with feet yellow with moccasins. Such was in probabilty the general ensemble of the
wedding.
"The bride may have had an outfit of better material. So recently from the east, she may have had
a veil, a silk frock and French slippers. The bridegroom, of course, wore his captain's uniform,
glittering with bullet-buttons of burnished brass, and high boots becoming an aide in favor with
his chief, the redoubtable Anthony Wayne, whom the Indians were accustomed to describe as 'the
warrior who never slept.' Taken altogether, the wedding celebrated at ;Judge Symmes' house that
November day, 1795, cannot be cited in proof of a charge of artisocratic pretension on the part of
the high contracting parties.
"Sometime afterwards Judge Symmes met his son-in-law. The occasion was a dinner party given
by General Wilkinson to General Wayne.
" 'Well, sir,' the judge said, in bad humor, `I understand you have married Anna.'
" 'Yes, sir,' Harrison answered.
" 'How do you expect to support her ?'
" `By my sword and my own right arm,' was the reply.
"The judge was pleased, became reconciled, and in true romantic form happily concluded the
affair by giving the couple his blessing."
FIRST COURT OF COMMON LAW.
Judges Parsons, Varnum and Symmes, or any two of them, constituted a court of common law
jurisdiction. Their commission extended during good behavior. The next lower court was the
county court of common pleas and the general quarter sessions of the peace. The court of
common pleas must consist of three judges, not more than seven, and their jurisdiction was
concurrent in the respective counties with that of the supreme court. The general quarter sessions
of the peace was obliged to hold three terms each year, was limited in criminal jurisdiction, and
the number in each county was determined by the government. "Single judges of the common
pleas and single justices of quarter sessions were also clothed with certain civil and criminal
78 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
powers, to be exercised outside of court. The probate court of each county had the jurisdiction
ordinarily granted to it."
Judge Henry Clay White, in. "Bench and Bar of Ohio," says :
"The expenses of the system were defrayed in part by the national government and in part by
assessment upon counties, but principally by fees which were payable to every officer concerned
in the administration of justice, from the judges of the general court downward."
The quorum which is often noted in the early accounts of the history of the Western Reserve
consisted of five justices of the peace chosen from the county justices who were appointed by the
territorial government. This .quorum was required to meet three times a year (that is, every four
months) and was called the "Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace." It is often called "The
Primitive Court of the North-West Territory." Most of the diaries and books of the early
surveyors and first settlers contain lively descriptions of the first court of quarter sessions for
Trumbull county. It was held between two corn cribs on Main street, near the spot where the Erie
station now stands, in 1800. August 25 chanced to be a pleasant day, so there was no need of
shelter. Some of the diaries call this spot the "Public Square" or "Common." As many men
attending this session had to come on horseback, or on foot, court was not called until four
o'clock in the afternoon. It lasted five days, and Calvin Pease, one of the most capable and
brilliant men of that early time, reference to whom occurs in several places in this history, writes
as follows
"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 1800, and of the
independence of the United States the twenty-fifth. Present, John Young, Turhand Kirtland,
Camden Cleveland, James Kingsbury, and Eliphalet Austin, esquires, justices of the quorum, and
others, their associates, justices of the peace, holding said court. The following persons were
returned, and appeared on the grand jury and were empaneled and sworn, namely : Simon
Persons, foreman (undoubtedly misprint for Perkins) ; Benjamin Stowe, Samuel Menough,
Hawley Tanner, Charles Day, Ebenezer King, William Cecil, John Hart Adgate, Henry Lane,
Jonathan Church, Jeremiah Wilcox, John Partridge Bissell, Isaac Palmer, George Phelps, Samuel
Quinby and Moses Parks. The court appointed George Tod, esquire, to prosecute the pleas of
United States for the present session, who took the oath of office. The court ordered that the
private seal of the clerk shall be considered the seal of the county, and be affixed and recognized
as such till a public seal shall be procured. The court appointed Amos Spafford, Esq., David
Hudson, Esq., Simon Perkins, Esq., John Miner, Esq., Aaron Wheeler, Esq., Edward [certainly
Edward] Paine, Esq., and Benjamin Davis, Esq., a committee to divide the county of Trumbull
into townships, to describe the limits and boundaries of each township, and to make report to the
court thereof."
FIRST PRACTICING LAWYER.
Although Judge Parsons was, so far as we know, the first lawyer to take up land in New
Connecticut and to discharge his duties as a judge, John S. Edwards was the first to really
practice his profession. He was a graduate of Yale College, and was admitted to practice in 1799,
being twenty-two years old. His father had obtained the township of Mesopotamia in the
distribution of the land by the Connecticut Land Company, and young Edwards came into that
unbroken district to prepare a settlement. His granddaughter, Louisa Edwards, of Youngstown,
still owns a farm in Mesopotamia. His son says :
"What other persons preceded him or went with him, or how long he stayed, or what he
accomplished, I am not informed, but I have understood he was especially glad when he got
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 79
a few trees cut down and let in the sun. I know of no incident but only of his first night in
Warren, to which he refers in after time with amusement. The place was the floor of a cabin,
crowded with emigrants, and somewhat promiscuous."
He returned to Connecticut that fall, but came back in the spring and practiced law, which, of
course, must have been such law as would pertain to drawing of papers necessary in the buying
and selling of land, the making of land contracts, etc., since there were no courts. When the
county seat was established, Governor St. Clair appointed him recorder of Trumbull county, and
this office he held until the time of his death in 1813. He lived in Mesopotamia until he moved to
Warren, The following is a quotation from his journal, dated February 4, 1804:
"We have been, as it were, for about six weeks shut out from the world, during a greater part of
which time the snow has been from two to three feet deep and the creeks and rivers almost
impassable. Our mails have been very irregular. I live as formerly, but, having a stiller house and
my business bet ter arranged, am able to pay more attention to my books and have, for the last six
months, spent all my leisure time at them, and shall continue so to do. Law business is generally
very much increasing, and my share of it in particular. Though I live very much out of the way of
business, I commenced for the coming court as many suits as either of my brethren. [Probably
means Tappan and Tod.] I have not as yet moved to Warren, but still have it in contemplation.
Our country is rapidly improving. The prospects of the settle, ment about me seem to brighten.
Next spring we elect our militia officers from a brigadier general down. The public mind begins
to be considerably awakened at its near approach, and there will be a vast deal of heart-burning.
As I shall seek for no promotion in that line, and of course shall not receive any, I shall remain an
idle spectator of the scene."
On June 15, 1809, he says : "The business of my profession alone is sufficient to support me
handsomely, independent of my recorder-ship, and I have the satisfaction to believe that mine is
the best of any of my brethren."
On October 17, 1808, he writes : "The multiplicity of my employment and the constant attention
which I am under the necessity of giving to my business leaves me but little leisure. * * * In my
profession am very successful, having much the largest share of the business within the circuit."
January 22, 1810: "I have every success in my profession which I have a right to expect. I am
able to do considerably more than support my family, and the style of my living is equal to that of
any of the people about me. I am not in the way of receiving any of the honors of office ; and
whether I could gain them if I wished I do not know, having never made the experiment."
In this Mr. Edwards was mistaken. In 1812 he was elected a member of congress to represent the
sixth district. This was the first congressional election after the division of the state into districts.
At that time the district was composed of the counties of Trumbull, Ashtabula, Geauga,
Cuyahoga, Portage, Columbiana, Stark, Tuscarawas, Wayne, Knox and Richmond. He did not
live to take his seat.
Mr. and Mrs. Edwards were both strong and unusual characters, and were so closely identified
with all the early life of this district that those interested will find much which is of interest in
regard to them in the Trumbull county chapter.
HON. BENJAMIN TAPPAN.
A few months after Mr. Edwards arrived in New Connecticut Hon. Benjamin Tappan appeared.
En route he had many vicissitudes and misfortunes, under which most men would have
succumbed ; some boats belonging to his party were thrown upon the lake shore in a storm, his
first load of goods put in camp was stolen while he was transporting a load to the present site of
Ravenna, one of his oxen was
80 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
killed by being bitten by insects, and he found himself in a new country without food or money.
He was born in Massachusetts, had a good education, was admitted to the bar. In 1800 he
returned to Connecticut and married Miss Nancy Wright, a member of a distinguished family and
herself a strong character. He was attorney in many important cases of the early times, and was
admitted to the Ohio bar at the same time that Huntington, Edwards and Tod were. He traveled
back and forth from Ravenna to Warren, attending court, and was, one of the lawyers in the
McMahon case. In 1803 he was chosen to represent Trumbull district in the Ohio senate, and
served one year. Portage county was formed from Trumbull in 1807, and the act erecting this
county designated his house as-the place of holding the first court. It is a tradition, not wholly
verified, that when the proper officers proceeded to his house on the morning court was to open
they found it burned to the ground. So the court of this county, like that of its mother, Trumbull,
was first held with the trees and the skies as a cover. Mr. Tappan's life from beginning to end was
eventful, but after the year 1808 its narrative does not belong in Trumbull county history. He
was, however, aide-de-camp to General Wadsworth in the war of 1812, judge of the fifth Ohio
circuit, United States judge for Ohio, and United States senator from 1839-45. He was a good
linguist and compiled "Tappan's Reports."
GEORGE TOD.
George Tod came to New Connecticut in 1800, about the time of Mr. Edward's arrival. He was
born in Suffield, Connecticut, in 1773 ; graduated from Yale in 1797; he taught school, read law,
and was admitted to the bar in Connecticut. He married Miss Sallie Isaacs in 1797. She was a
sister of Mrs. Ingersoll, whose husband was governor. Two of his children, Charlotte and
Jonathan, were born in Connecticut. He was appointed prosecuting attorney at the first term of
court held in Warren, Trumbull county, in 1800. He was identified with almost every important
act connected with the settlement of the new country. He was township clerk in 1802-03-04;
senator from Trumbull county for 1804 and 1805 ; again in 180 and 1811. In 1806 he was
appointed judge of the supreme court of the state to fill a vacancy, and the next year was elected
by the legislature to the same place. He was lieutenant-colonel in the war of 1812. He held the
office of judge of the court of common pleas from 1815 to 1829, and a few years -later held the
office of prosecuting attorney for one term. He was sixty-eight years old when he died in 1841.
He was prosecuting attorney at the time of the indictment of Joseph McMahon for murder.
The Western Reserve had not yet been organized under the name of Trumbull when a tragedy
occurred which is always recorded in any detail account of the doings of the people in this part of
the country.
KILLING OF "CAPTAIN GEORGE."
Joseph McMahon, a trader and somewhat of a wanderer, with his wife and children, lived in
several different places in and ad joining Warren. At that time the Indians were very numerous in
this part of the country, but gave the settlers little real trouble unless they were under the
influence of "firewater." McMahon was not of the same moral standing as were most of the other
settlers in Warren. He was here in 1797, possibly earlier. In 1800 he lived at Salt Springs, and in
July he, with two other white men, was engaged in making salt. .The old Indian trail and the
traders' path from Youngstown to Sandusky led by this spring. Indians, having been in
Youngstown, became intoxicated enough to be quarrelsome, and on their return stopped at Salt
Springs with their squaws and papooses. A carousal was begun in which McMahon and the two
white. men joined. Bad blood was soon evident, and the Indians drove the white men away. After
the man had gone the Indians began to tease McMa-
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 81
hon's wife, and threatened to kill her and her children. The matter was talked over with the
Indians who were encamped near them, and apparently a satisfactory agreement arrived at.
McMahon returned to work at Mr. Storer's. However, the Indians again became abusive and
struck one of the McMahon children with the handle of his tomahawk. As this had been going on
for four or five days, Mrs. McMahon again became alarmed, and started out to meet her husband.
Again they stayed all night at the Storer's, and the matter was talked over. On Sunday McMahon
came into Warren for consultation with the settlers, and about thirteen men and two boys
returned with him to Salt Springs. Mr. Quinby led the party, and, when a little distance from the
Springs, halted, expecting to leave the rest of the party while he went on to see the Indians. This
he did. He talked with Captain George, a Tuscarawa, and Spotted John, a Seneca, who was partly
white. They laughed off the matter, saying that the white men drank up all the Indians' whiskey
and then would not let them have any of theirs, but agreed to do them no further harm. They
agreed that McMahon and his family could return and would not be molested. McMahon had not
obeyed orders, had not halted, and when Mr. Quinby saw him coming and tried to stop him, he
would not heed. Going on to Captain George., he asked him,. "Are you for peace or war?
Yesterday you had your men; now I've got mine." A tomahawk was sticking in the tree and
Captain George raised himself from his position, seized it, apparently to sink it in McMahon's
head. McMahon was too near to shoot, but, jumping back, fired, hitting the Indian in the breast
and killing him. McMahon, greatly excited, seeing the Indians spring for their weapons, called on
the whites to shoot, and Storer, seeing that Spotted John was aiming at him from behind a tree
where he, his squaw and papooses were hiding, fired. "Storer's ball passed through Spotted John's
hip, broke a boy's arm, passed under the cords in the neck of
Vol. I-6
his girl and grazed the throat of his squaw." All was immediate confusion. The whites beat a
hasty retreat, the two boys who had come with McMahon ran a distance of nearly three miles
without stopping. The Indians buried the bodies—or, rather, half buried them —and departed,
leaving the wounded squaw and her children. They locating their camp near Newton Falls. The
wounded woman immediately set out for the residence of Hillman, who seemed to be the friend
of all in distress, and covered the nine miles in an hour and a half. Both Indians and white men
were greatly astonished over what had happened. None of them expected it, unless it was
McMahon. The white men had gone with him believing he had been badly treated and found that
he was an aggressor. He was arrested, and taken to Pittsburg for safety. A little later, as the
rendezvous had been on the Storer place, there was some talk of arresting Storer. Having learned
of this, he disappeared. In talking with Leonard Case, Sr., whose mind was very fair and judicial,
Storer said he had gone to Salt Springs with the intention only of settling the difficulty. "He had
suddenly found himself in imminent and instant danger of being shot, without any possible
means of escape. He had shot to save his own life." Storer, like many other citizens of this
region, did not know that the United States had assumed legal jurisdiction over this territory, and
not knowing by whom he would be tried, feared to stay. He was a gentleman, and never ceased to
regret he had been drawn into this affair. He left Warren, after a few years' stay. "On Monday,
Mrs. Storer mounted her two horses with her three children and what goods and clothing she
could carry and started for her former home in Washington county, Pennsylvania, alone, except
that Mr. Mills of Nelson, overtook her on his way to Beaver, and accompanied her as far as the
latter place. The rest of her property was left to such care as a few friendly neighbors could give
it."
James Hillman, who knew and understood
82 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
the Indians as well as he did the whites, acted as peace maker, and finally persuaded the Indians
to take up their hunting, and the whites who had gathered at Quinby's to go back to their homes,
and there was no further trouble. In September these men were tried at Youngstown before
Justice Huntington. Return J. Meigs and Governor St. Clair attended. George Tod acted as
prosecutor, while McMahon was defended by John S. Edwards, Benjamin Tappan, Ravenna, and
Mr. Sample, of Pittsburg. McMahon was found not guilty. The stories told by diaries, letters and
word of mouth differ somewhat. We have rather been taught to think that McMahon should have
been hung. Leonard Case says :
"The writer has heard that (McMahon's) verdict severely criticised, but he has no doubt that it
was in accordance with the law as generally applied to murders—the evidence being as there
given. Moreover, those jurors would have compared favorably with the jurors selected to try like
cases at the present day. Joseph and John Filles, two young men, who were at the Salt Springs
during the fracas, some three days afterwards stayed at the house of the father of the writer. They
both made a statement to us, which was never given in evidence, which would have been
material to show George's motive. It was this : During the drunken scrape George several times
said that he had killed nineteen white men and wanted to kill one more to make an even number.
But the Filles left for the Ohio, and were not at the McMahon trial."
Storer was acquitted. Thus the first important trial on the Western Reserve, like the last one,
created differences of opinion among the residents of the community, and judges were accused of
unfairness.
GOVERNOR SAMUEL HUNTINGTON.
Among the early lawyers most familiar with the Western Reserve was Samuel Huntington. He
was the nephew and adopted son of Gov. Samuel Huntington, a signer of the Declaration of
Independence. Like most of the first lawyers of the new country, he was a graduate of Yale, and
had been admitted to the practice of law in his native state. Tn 1800 he came to Ohio and lived at
different times in Youngstown, Cleveland and Paineville. He held numerous offices, was a state
senator from Trumbull county, judge of the supreme court and governor of the state. In 1801 he
removed from Youngstown to Cleveland, although he was obliged to come to Warren through
the woods to attend court. He was perhaps the most fortunate in a financial way of any of the
lawyers of his time. His house, built at Cleveland, was the most spacious and comfortable of any
of the homes on the Reserve. He kept servants and had a governess for his children. He was
finely educated in other directions than law, speaking French fluently. He had had advantage of
travel and foreign study. He was a mem ber of the convention which formed the state
constitution, and for nearly half the session he was the only representative that Trumbull county
had in that body. In spite of all these advantages, he still had to endure the hardships of the
ordinary frontiersman. He rode his horse through swamps, swimming streams. carrying his law
books with him. When these .early lawyers went in some directions then were obliged to take an
extra horse upon which they packed not only their books, their clothing, but provisions for
themselves and thei horses as well, because the Indians could n be depended upon to provide
even horse fee As there were no bridges, and as the strewn were much fuller in those days than
now, early ministers and lawyers, in buying hors had to be assured that the animals were go
swimmers. Many of these early profession men ran great danger from flood, Indians and wild
animals. Judge Huntington once foug a pack of wolves within what is now the r Bence portion of
Cleveland with an umbrel. and owed his deliverance to this implement and to the fleetness of his
horse. A great po Lion of his life was spent in Trumbull county.
84 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
ASTRONOMER SETH PEASE.
It will be remembered that next to Augustus Porter, the ranking surveyor and the only astronomer
who accompanied Moses Cleaveiand's party was Seth Pease. His reports are in the possession of the Western Reserve Historical
Society, and much of the. valuable information which we have came from him. He did not settle
permanently in New Connecticut.
JUDGE CALVIN PEASE.
The brother Calvin Pease, who was born in 1776 and came west in 1800, was one of the best
beloved and able attorneys of that time. There is no record that he received a college education,
as did most of his associates, but Gideon Granger, who was postmaster-general under Jefferson,
married his sister, and he was a student in Granger's office. Although he was not admitted to the
bar until October, he was appointed first clerk of the court of quarter sessions held in August in
Warren. He was elected president-judge of the court of common pleas of the third circuit, which
included Washington, Belmont, Jefferson, Columbiana and Trumbull counties. He was not quite
twenty-seven when he was elected, yet judiciously discharged the duties of his office. In 1816 he
entered upon his duty as a judge of the supreme court. At one time the legislature passed an act
providing that "justices of the peace should have jurisdiction in civil cases to the amount of $50,
without the right of trial by jury." The supreme court held that this was in conflict with the
constitution of the United States, which declared "in suits of common law when the value in
controversy shall exceed $20, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved," and also of the state
constitution, which declares "the right of trial by jury shall be inviolate." This decision
created a great deal of discussion, and so incensed were the members of the legislature
that charges for impeachment were brought against Pease and Tod. There were
three counts against Pease. The trial was had in the senate chamber of the capitol, eminent
attorneys serving, and the judges were acquitted. From that day the right of the supreme court to
pass on the constitutionality of laws has seldom been even questioned. Judge Pease was a senator
in 1812, He was full of wit and humor, and when attending court, as well as at home, was playing
pranks on his fellow lawyers. It is said that he used to take the crutch of Thomas D. Webb, when
the lawyers were away from home at court, and in the night hobble into the rooms of the other
attorneys, play pranks of all sorts in such a way that the persons teased believed Webb to be the
aggressor In spite of this vein of humor, he was exceed ingly dignified on the bench. Judge
Thurman says of him :
"One of the finest specimens of manhood ever saw was Calvin Pease, then chief judge of the
supreme court, dressed in a way that would make a dude faint, the most perfect dress I ever saw
on a man, and the nicest ruffles on his shirt bosom, looking the very beau-ideal of a gentleman of
the olden times. By his side sat Peter Hitchcock. Now what a team was that ! Woe unto that man
who had a bad cause and tried to palm it off onto them. What great men they Were! Hitchcock <
was on the bench much longer than Pease, though Pease achieved a wonderful reputation and a
deserved one, so much so that Thomas Ewing once said to me, that of all the judges he had ever
appeared before, in his opinion Calvin Pease was the greatest."
"When Gen. Simon Perkins was wanting a name for his new town, which was set upon a hill, he
appealed to Mr. Olcott for one that should be significant, but upon which Judge Pease could not
pun. 'Call it Akron, since it is on a summit,' said Mr. Olcott, and the suggestion was accepted.
Later General Perkins laughingly boasted to Judge Pease that his town had a name that could not
be punned upon, namely, Akron. 'Akron, Akron,' said
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 85
Judge Pease. 'Oh, Acheron !' Now, Acheron in heathen mythology is the name of a river in hell."
ELISHA WHITTLESEY.
Miss Virginia Reid, a great-granddaughter of Elisha Whittlesey, prepared the following at the
request of the Author :
Elisha Whittlesey was born October i9, 1783, in Washington, Connecticut. His father was a
descendant of John Whittlesey, who came to this country from England about 163o.
In Elisha's early boyhood he worked on his father's farm and attended the district school. One of
his early teachers was the Rev. Jeremiah Day, who was afterward president of Yale College.
In 1792 the. father of Elisha sold his farm and bought another in Salisbury, distant about thirty
miles. This was a long journey in those days, and the thought of such a separation was so painful
to both the Whittleseys and their friends that special services were held in the church, and on the
day of their departure the "Farewell Anthem" was sung by a weeping crowd, as the wagons were
about to start.
While Elisha was still quite a young boy he was sent to Danbury to stay in the family of his older
brother Matthew and go to school. The clay he reached Danbury was wet and gloomy, and, wet
with the rain and spattered with mud, he says he was homesick for the first and only time in his
life.
At this time Mr. Comfort Mygatt lived in Danbury and was the father of a very charm-. ing little
daughter, Polly. One day Polly was cooling home from school in her father's sleigh when she saw
Elisha struggling along through the snow. She persuaded the- man who was driving to stop and
take him in. Mr. Whittlesey said to the end of his life that he fell in love with Polly at that
moment, and it is certain that the boy and girl friendship thus formed ripened in after years into a
very happy marriage.
In 1803 Elisha commenced the study of law, and in the March term of 1805 he was admitted to
the bar. His first practice was in New Milford, and was of short duration, for at that period he met
two gentlemen from Canfield, Ohio, and upon conversation with them the young lawyer decided
to cross the Alleghanies and establish himself upon the borders of the great west. This at that
time meant a long and difficult journey, and before he left he persuaded Polly Mygatt that this
would make a new and unusual wedding trip. They were married on the 5th of January, 1806,
although Polly's father had some doubts as to the wisdom of trusting his daughter to Elisha
Whittlesey, who, he, felt sure, would never amount to much.
They set out on their journey the 3rd of June, 1807, and reached Canfield, Ohio, the 27th of the
same month. The record of the trip, written afterward by Mr. Whittlesey, presents a most natural
and life-like picture of the country and the manner and custom of the people. He concludes with
this sentence : "The journey was ended on the 27th of June, in a clear day, and the sun set as
regularly in the west as at Danbury."
Miss Jessie Bostwick accompanied them, and when they were within a short distance of Canfield
she and Mrs. Whittlesey insisted on stopping for a little while that they might arrange their hair
and put on their new bonnets, brought with them from Connecticut for that purpose. They wished
to enter the town in state, and were much surprised to find that it consisted only of a little group
of log houses, with but very few people to witness their impressive entry.
For the first year the young couple lived in the same house with Mr. and Mrs. Cook Fitch, and so
limited were their supplies that they had only four chairs for the two households, so that it
required some management to seat guests.
On one occasion, after the birth of Mrs. Whittlesey's first child, she and Mrs. Fitch were alone in
the house, each with her baby..
86 - HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
in her arms, when a party of drunken Indians came and demanded food. Neither woman dared to
be left alone with the Indians, nor to lay down her child, so they went back and forth together,
carrying the babies and bringing food until their disagreeable guests were satisfied. After the
Indians left Mrs. Whittlesey was still more anxious, for they took the road toward Warren, and
she knew her husband must be returning home that way. Fortunately, however, they did not meet,
and he reached Canfield in safety.
Mr. Whittlesey was admitted to the bar of Ohio by the supreme court, then sitting at Warren, in
what was called the Graeter House. He practiced his profession with great energy from that date
until he went to Washington in 1841. He attended to his farm also, taught the district school for
several years and at a later period received a number of law students into his office, some of
whom have since been among the most distinguished of our public men.
In 1810 General Elijah Wadsworth appointed him his aide-de-camp, and in 1812 he entered into
the service of the United States in the war with Great Britain. He was later appointed brigade
major and inspector under General Perkins, and remained in this position until the troops were
discharged in 1813.
The first civil office held by Mr. Whittlesey was that of district or prosecuting attorney for the
county of Trumbull. He had many amusing experiences in his rides about the country, and that
those were not the days of race suicide is proven by the fact that one morning when he stopped at
a farm home he was greeted by the news that the mistress of the house had just presented her
husband with her twenty-first child. Mr. Whittlesey himself became the father of ten children, all
but one of whom survived him.
In 1820 and 1821 he was elected representative in the state legislature.
He was first elected to the congress of the United States in 1822, and was seven times thereafter
returned to his seat by his constituents, until in 1837 he resigned. During a great part of this time
he was chairman of the committee on claims. This committee was one of the most important of
all the committees of the house, requiring a clear head, a deep sense of equity, the strictest
probity and the most patient industry.
In 1822 he formed a law partnership with Eben Newton, which continued until he was appointed
by President Harrison auditor of the treasury for the postoffice department. He did much good
work in this office, which he held until 1843.
In 1847 he was appointed general agent of the Washington Monument Association, which office
he resigned in 1849, when he was appointed by President Taylor first comptroller of the treasury.
He held this office through the Taylor and Fillmore administrations, but resigned when President
Pierce was elected, as they were of opposing political parties; but the president was so strongly
impressed with the value of his services that he insisted on his remaining in office. Upon the
election of President Buchanan he again presented his resignation, which was accepted.
In May 1861, he was again appointed comtroller by President Lincoln, and on this occasion
many commendations were issued by the public press, in one of which the writer says:
"The president of the United States has recalled to the office of comptroller of the treasury the
Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, of Ohio, and that distinguished scholar and statesman has accepted the
post of honor and responsibility assigned to him. He is a remarkable and most wonderful man. It
was he who redeemed the postoffice department from absolute chaos. He is endowed with talents
which most admirably fit him for the office of comptroller, through whose hands every claim
against the government of the United States, real or unfounded, must pass. No just claim was
ever rejected by him and no unjust one ever succeeded in obtaining access to the national
treasury. Even the famous Gardiner claim was not allowed by him, and only suc-
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE - 87
ceeded for a time because of the interference of a congressional commission. If he had remained
in his place during the last administration he would have unquestionably have saved the country
many millions of dollars which were stolen by the desperadoes who had found their way into the
cabinet."
"And the very highest compliment," says another writer, "was paid to him in the fact that those of
more lax and careless political and financial ethics long derisively styled him the `watch dog of
the treasury.' "
In 1855 Mr. Whittlesey suffered a great loss in the death of his beloved wife, who had been his
constant and devoted companion, so during his later years he was a lonely man. On January 7,
1863, he attended to business as usual, had an interview with the president, went to Georgetown
to attend to some affairs there, and returned feeling somewhat fatigued, as he had not been in his
usual health for a few clays. As was his custom, he wrote in his diary before retiring for the night,
and as he laid aside the pen he was seized with an attack of apoplexy. .A servant, hearing a slight
sound in his room, went to his assistance, but he was past mortal help. His 'son reached him in a
few moments, but so brief was the time of his passing that the ink was not yet dry on the last
words he had written when all was over.
In the patriotic devotion of his life, no man of his generation surpassed .him. He loved the
church, he loved his country and glorified as a Christian statesman in all the triumphs of one and
in all the prosperity of the other. His name shall not be altogether forgotten. "The memory of the
just is blessed, and the righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance."
FAMOUS MEN 0f THE RESERVE.
The following table showing who have been governors of the state from the Western Reserve,
how long they served, etc., is properly inserted here :
