HUDSON TOWNSHIP - 409
CHAPTER XIII.*
HUDSON TOWNSHIP—ITS PRIMITIVE ATTRACTIONS—THE FIRST START IN THE WOODS—"OF
MOVING ACCIDENTS BY FLOOD AND FIELD"—ON THE BORDER—THE
EARLY RESOURCES OF THE SETTLERS.
"The sweet remembrance of the just,
Like a green root, revives and bears.
A train of blessings for his heirs,
When dying nature sleeps in dust."
TO form a correct idea of the early history of the Western Reserve, it is essential that it should be viewed through the contemporaneous history of the parent State. The Puritan colony which had been planted in Connecticut some one hundred and sixty years before, had grown to the dignity of a State. Its primitive customs, involving a close union of Church and State, had grown with its growth until the church militant had become the church triumphant so far as it concerned municipal governments and communities. Each town had its ministerial fund, schools were everywhere provided, and a patriotic pride in the individuality of its institutions was the dominant influence with every citizen of the State. The Puritan of the last century was no weakling in his least estate, but at this period he was at the summit of his power. Of a robust nature, physically and mentally, he handled the ponderous themes of the time as the mythological deities did thunderbolts, and in the lowest condition of life counted himself " a hero in the strife." Thus equipped, he was aggressive in every fiber of his being, and pushed his conquests with an imperiousness that abated not a tittle of his earthly or heavenly heritage. It was with something of this spirit that the State maintained her right to the territory embraced by the provisions of her charter, in the midst of conflicting claims and the overwhelming opposition of non-claiming States: But when at last in the interest of harmony, Connecticut surrendered her pretensions, save to the Reserve, and finally relin , quished her jurisdiction to that, she had surrendered only her feeblest power. Her
"Contributed by J. H. Battle.
conquering spirit laid hold of its civilization, and in the hearts of its citizens she rules the Western Reserve today.
The early settlement of the Reserve was an effort to reproduce in this Western wild the honored institutions of the motherland. This was the beginning of the golden period of the Connecticut churches, a period marked by revivals of religion throughout the State, distinguished for their power, purity and permanent influence, greatly enlarging the churches, improving the morals of society, and bringing the people of the State, to a great extent, under the control of religion." It was just at this time also that the Connecticut method of " missions to the new settlements " was cornpleted, which was destined to play so important a part in the New Connecticut; and these civilizing influences combined to leave an impress upon the plastic civilization of the new land that has been crystallized in the culture of today. These influences were early marked, and perhaps nowhere more distinctly than in the region which is now embraced in Summit County. A letter from the Western Reserve to Eastern friends dated 1812, reads as follows: "I like Tallmadge better on several accounts than any other place I have seen. The settlers in this town are much the most respectable of any on the Reserve. There is provision made for the permanent support of preaching, which is not the case in any other town." Another letter dated from Tallmadge in the same year, speaks in the same strain: "I am persuaded that if any of our friends think of going to a new country, they will find none that they will be so well pleased with, either on account of the quality of the land or of the society. I do not think there is in the State of Connecticut a society where there is that attention paid to the Sabbath, and to religion generally, that there is
410 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
here. There are very few who do not attend meeting regularly, and very few prayer's families." There is no question but that the early history of Tallmadge was exceptional in some respects, but of Hudson it was scarcely less true. Its founder, the son of a tailor who taught his children as he plied his trade, grew up to advanced manhood embracing skeptical notions. Caught by the sweeping power of the church movement of this period he was converted, and with the characteristic practicability of the Puritan mind, he sought an opportunity to prove his faith in work. The missionary spirit that had begun to pervade the religious communities of his native State, and the recent organization of the great Land Company. prepared the way which he adopted without hesitation. Zealous in his new found faith. "he wished to do something to repair the injury he had done, and to advance. to the extent of his ability, the interests of that cause which he had early labored to destroy. These were the views that led him to emigrate. * * * * The early efforts and sacrifices of the men who came to Hudson. show that they were actuated by the motives I have ascribed to them. They never suffered the Sabbath to pass by after the settlement was commenced, without religious worship: and by great effort and great pecuniary expenditure, they provided for the enjoyment of religions ordinances among themselves, and sought to promote the progress of religion in this part of our country. It was the first desire of Mr. Hudson's heart to see the day when a church should be organized within the township, and he rejoiced in that day. The next object of desire was that this church might enjoy the labors of a settled Pastor, and he lived to see that day and was glad. Then it was in his heart to see a house erected for the worship of God, and that he saw completed to his great satisfaction. `But. said he. `the college—the college; that was a child of my old age. I never expected to live to see that.' Yet the college was in coincidence with his plans and with his missionary spirit. He spent most of his time in visiting Christian families in all parts of the Reserve, and securing the organization of churches and it was with him a matter of painful solicitude, how the infant churches rising up on the Reserve were to be supplied with able, faithful ministers, in sufficient numbers to meet their wants. The college came in as the appropriate instrument to supply the deficiency."
The site chosen for this enterprise—Township 4. Range 10—was centrally located in the land company's purchase, and contained what has since proven to be among the best farming lands in Summit County. It was laid down in the original survey. however, as a swamp township and was " equalized" by the addition of 10,1)00 acres, situated in the townships of Norton and Chester. West of the central line of the township the land was covered by an almost impassable swamp. which, filled with innumerable springs, gave rise to the Brandywine Creek. flowing in a northwesterly course to the Cuyahoga River and Mud Brook. flowing nearly due south in Hudson but further on in its course. taking a curve ot the westward finds an outlet in the Cuyahoga. A. branch of Mud Brook in the southwest part of the township. known as Powers' Brook. and Tinker's Creek, which flows in a northerly course in the northeast part of the township. crossing back and forth from Hudson to Stratsboro, completes the list of the more important water-courses of the township. None of these, however, were found available in the first years of the settlement for such pioneer industries as the community needed. save the latter stream for a short period. Other water-courses were found which in the changes wrought by the process of clearing and tilling, have become extinct or insignificant. that afforded suitable power for the early attempts at milling and manufacturing. The township is now inhabited by a purely agricultural community. The luxuriant growth of heavy timber which once covered every acre, has largely given way to meadow-lands and grain-fields, save where each farmer's woodland gives token of the grandeur of "God's first temple." The soil in the low-lands of the western part is largely a black muck, rich but saturated with moisture and liable to frost. In the eastern part the surface is more rolling with a soil varying from a stiff, stubborn clay to a clay loam. There is
*Address by Rev. G. E Pierce, D. D.
HUDSON TOWNSHIP - 411
but little regularity in the disposition of these varieties, though in the southern and, north-eastern parts it is said the clay-loam predominates. Eighty years of tillage has wrought great changes in the character of the soil, and the swampy portion of the early township has given place to good farms, and it is estimated that not over one thousand two hundred acres of low wet land remains. Water is everywhere easily accessible. Springs abound in the western part, while in other portions of the township there is no special difficulty experienced in securing good wells: some artesian wells, however, have been sunk. The soil is the chief material resource of the township. though there is an abundance of a fair quality of sandstone which has been utilized in the construction of the foundations of the college buildings, most of the residences, railroad culverts. etc. The chief objection to the stone is its dark color and its lack of weathering qualities. These objections would probably prove no serious obstacle to its general use, if the more desirable stone was not found in the near vicinity which is placed upon the ground here as cheaply as the product of the home quarries can be got ready for transportation. As in most townships of the Reserve. the social and business center is at the geographical center of the township. An early cluster of houses in the southern part of the township on the central road has given name to the road. and across the line in the adjoining township it is designated. in the nomenclature of the map. Darrowville. The early jurisdiction of the township embraced what is now known as the townships of Stow. Boston. Twinsburg. Aurora and Mantua. besides its own territory. As the settlement increased in these townships the jurisdiction of Hudson became limited to the lines of the original survey, which now bounds it on the north by Twinsburg. east by Stratsboro. in Portage County. south by Stow and west by Boston.
The original purchasers of this township with its annexes, were Nathaniel Norton. of Bloomfield, N. Y.. Birdseye Norton and David Hudson. of Goshen. Conn. There are no means now of ascertaining the arrangement between these partners in relation to this purchase. Nathaniel Norton was a well-to-do farmer in Bloomfield, N. Y., where he had come as an early settler; Birdseye Norton was a wealthy merchant of Goshen, and David Hudson a farmer in comfortable circumstances. but of little cash capital. From such evidence as the old account books of Mr. Hudson afford, it is probable that Birdseye Norton furnished one-half of the capital and each of the others contributing a fourth, Mr. Hudson probably turning in his Connecticut farm to Mr. Birdseye Norton. The land was purchased at 52 cents per acre, but with the equalizing annexes the average cost per acre was reduced to 34 cents. Nathaniel Norton. some time in 1801. disposed of his share. probably to Stephen Baldwin. Benjamin Oviatt and Theodore Parmele. The first draft of the Reserve was made in 1798. and early in the following year. Mr. Hudson started out to explore and survey the land for the company in which he was a partner. His preparations for his new adventure were carefully made. as the following exhibit taken from an old account-book shows:
DAVID HUDSON. BIRDSEYE, NORTON AND NATHANIEL. NORTON TO NORTON & RICHARDS, DR.:
May 11, 1799.
e. s. d.
By 2 sickles. 8s; 2 bells @ 10s .....................................1...........8 ............00
By 1 doz. garden seeds @ 1s 6d...............................................16............ 00
By 1 lb. allspice. 4s: 2 hoes. @ 8s 6d.........................1..............1 ............00
By 1 grindstone. wt. 62 lbs.. @ 7d..............................1 ...........16...............2
By 1 pail @. 5s 6d: 7 1/2 Ibs lead. 9s 4d...................................12 ............10
By 1 comb, 1s 6d; 1 almanack. 1s................................................2 .............6
By 1 ax. 12s: 1 gallon bottle. 5s.................................................17 ............00
By 1 bed-cord. `8s: 1 clothes-line. 6s.........................................14 ............00
By 9 1/2 tbs. dried venison...........................................................7 ...............1
By 693 lbs. pork.........................................................27 ............14 ................3
By 25 Ibs. gammon @ 1s 4d.........................................1 ...........14 ..............00
By 1 carpenter's adze...................................................................14 ..............00
Total.........................................................................L37 ............15 ...............10
The above articles were bought of Thedeus Clapin.
May 13. 1799:
To 4 Ibs. ginger @ 2s 8:: 2 lbs. tea @ 13s 6d .................1 ..........15 ................00
To 6 Ibs. chocolate ( 3s d; to 81 lbs.cheese @ 1s ...........5 ...........2 .................00
To 44 Ibs, chain @ 2s 4d: to 1 1/2 lbs. of chalk @ 9d.....5 ...........4 .................00
To 3 lbs. powder @ 10s; to 3 Ibs. pepper @ 4s 8d...........2 ...........4 .................00
To 281 Ibs. sugar @ 1s Id: to 50 1/2 lbs. nails @ 2 s......20 ...........5 ...................5
To 9 1/2 lbs. leather @ 2s 6d.. . .. .....................................1 ............3 ..................9
To 1 small account book ..................................................................6 ................00
To 1 quire of paper. 2s 6d: I draw-shave. 5s 8d................................8 ...................2
412 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
L. B. d.
To 8 narrow axes @ 16s......................................................6 ..............8 .................00
To 2 bells @ 17s.................................................................................17 .................00
To 1 plowshare, 50s 2d; 1 spider. 7s 6d...............................2 ............17 ...................8
To 2 hoes 07s 14; 1 skimmer, 1s; 1 dipper, 1s 6d ............... ..............16 ...................6
To 2 plane-irons @ Is 8d: 2 chisels @ 3s .............................................8 ...................4
To 1 chisel, 2s 6; 1 doz. awls, 8d; 3 awlhafts, 1s 6d .............................3 ....................8
To 1 spade. 11s: 3 gimlets, is 6d; 3 augers 17s......................1...............9.....................6
To jacknives, 11s. 4d: 1 pincer, is 5d....................................................12 ..................10
To 1 doz. fish-hooks. 3s; 1 line, 4s (used as chalk-line)..........................7.................. 00
To 1 saw. 18s; 2 set teaspoons, 2s 4d......................................1 ..............0 ...................4
To 1 carving-knife and fork, 6s 9d...........................................................6.................... 9
To bushel clover seed...............................................................3 .............4.................. 00
To 12 bushels oats at 2s 6d.......................................................1 ............10 .................00
To 1 bushel and 1/2 peck herd-grass seed ................................1............ 16 .................00
To 1 bushel peas. 10s: 2 sets teacups. 5s 8d .............................................15 ..................8
To 1 razor. 6s: razor-strop. 2s 6d.................................................................8 ..................6
To 1 shaving-box. 2s 10d: 4 cakes soap. 10 d............................................ 6 ...................2
To 3 barrels. 24s: 1 hammer. 4s.................................................1................8 .................00
To 5 first blankets at 32s............................................................8............. 00 .................00
To 3 do @ 16s 8d........................................................................2 .............10 .................00
To 4 1/2 yards tow-cloth @ 3s....................................................................13 ...................,6
To 3 ax-helves @ 1s......................................................................................3 .................00
To 1 trowel. 4s: 1 hasp. 2s ............................................................................6 ..................00
To 100 dollars cash....................................................................40............. 00 ..................00
To 1 set spoons. 3s:2 knives. 1s 8d................................................................4 ....................8
May 15. 1799:
To 31 1/2 gallons whisky @ 18s.................................................12 ............14 ..................00
To 1 barrel .....................................................................................................8 ..................00
Total.........................................................................................£122 ..............4 ....................3
On the same date Nathaniel Norton supplied the following items:
1 set harrow-teeth ....................................................................5 ...............1 ...................4
1 iron kettle.....................................................................................3 ...............4 .................00
3 bushels of salt at 10s: 1 barrel. 6s.................................................1 ............16 ..................00
1 coffee-pot, agreed at 3s...................................................................................3 .................00
90 lbs, bread @ 3d. ... ......................................................................1 ...............2 ...................6
1 hat .................................................................................................................18 ..................00
2 yoke oxen....................................................................................46 ................8 ..................00
34 bushels wheat @ 8s ..................................................................13 ..............12 ..................00
2 yokes and bows, irons. etc.............................................................1 ................6 ....................8
1 cow, 20 dollars...............................................................................8 ..............00 ..................00
7 barrels @ 4s....................................................................................1 ................8 ..................00
2 barrels pork at 18...........................................................................14 .................8 .................00
Transportation to Glerundagut...........................................................7 ................4 ..................00
1 boat. 33 dollars...............................................................................13 ...............4 ...................00
1/2 bushel peas @ 5s..............................................................................................5 ..................00
1 bushel potatoes @ 2s 6d....................................................................2 ...............6 ..................00
1 bag, 4s..................................................................................................................4 ..................00
1 cow. 13 dollar.....................................................................................5 ...............4 .................00
Total ...............................................................................................£125 ..............14 ....................4
These articles, involving an outlay of upward of $700, were principally secured at Bloomfield. This point, at that time, was on the frontier, and the overland pioneer to the far West was forced to depend upon the uncertain guidance of Indian trails and the surveyor's marks. The thoroughfare of Western travel was by the lakes, and Mr. Hudson has left a carefully prepared "traveler's guide " over that route as follows: From Black Rock to Buffalo Creek. three miles; Buffalo Creek to Five Mile Creek, five miles; Five Mile Creek to Eighteen Mile Creek, thirteen miles; Eighteen Mile Creek to Cattaraugus, twelve miles; Cattaraugus to Four Mile Creek, four miles; Four Mile Creek to Fifteen Mile Creek, eleven miles; Fifteen Mile Creek to Chataqua, twenty-five miles; Chataqua to Lowry's, sixteen miles: Lowry's to Presque Isle, sixteen miles: Presque Isle to Walnut Creek. twelve miles; Walnut Creek to Elk Creek. eight miles; Elk Creek to Conneaut. ten miles: Conneaut to Ashtabula, fourteen miles; Ashtabula to Grand River, twenty-six miles: Grand River to Chagrin. ten miles: Chagrin to Cuyahoga, twenty miles; a total of 205 miles. The only public source of information in regard to this country was " Morse's Geography," which represented the latter river as navigable for sloops for forty miles from its mouth.
On the 22d day of April, 1799, in company with Jesse Lindley, William McKinley, whom he had hired as assistants, and Ira, his son of eleven years, Mr. Hudson started for Bloomfield, N. Y. The party was accompanied by a wagon driven by Thaddeus Lacey. who brought his wife and two children. Mr. and Mrs. Lacey were engaged as purveyor and cook for the party, and were in charge of the supplies with which the wagon was loaded. Their route lay toward Albany. where they arrived on the 24th. Here Mr. Hudson hired Joseph Darrow for six months, at $10 per month, to accompany the expedition. terms similar to those on which the others had been engaged. Their course then led through Schenectady, old Fort Schuyler, Onondaga to Bloomfield. Sixteen miles west of Schenectady, Mr.. Hudson, leaving his son and Lindley with the wagon, pushed on ahead with Darrow, making his way on foot to Fort Schuyler on the 29th. where he engaged Jonah Meecham: to Onondaga on May 2, where he added Richard H. Blin to his party, reaching Nathaniel Norton's in Bloomfield on the 5th day of May. Here the little
HUDSON TOWNSHIP - 413
party was detained eleven days, which they employed in further providing for their enterprise in the wilderness. Here Mr. Hudson fell in with Benjamin Tappan, later known as Judge, on his way to his town of Ravenna. Mr. Tappan here bought a yoke of oxen and Mr. Hudson, as will appear in the preceding statement, bought two yoke of oxen and two cows. These animals were confided to the care of Meacham, who assisted by some of Tappan's hired men. brought them safely on the Indian trail through Buffalo, until he found near the lake the west line of the seventh range on the Reserve. This line. the eastern boundary of the present township of Painesville. Concord. Chardon. Monson. Newburg, Auburn. Mantua. Shalersville and Ravenna. they followed due south for more than forty miles. crossing the Grand and Cuyahoga Rivers and striking the Salt Spring Indian trail near the southeastern corner of Ravenna. and thence to their destination. In the meanwhile Hudson had his baggage and supplies transported to Grondigut Bay. where. to his great disappointment. he found his boat in no condition for use. He sent back Eliada Lindley and Farr and Straight, whom he had secured at Bloomfield. and obtained passage in one of Tappan's boats for himself and Darrow. He also had the good fortune to find Elias Harmon here. about to start out with his wife for Mantua. In one of his boats he obtained passage for Blin and McKinley, dividing such of his store as he was able to take between the two boats. This was on the 16th of May. but meeting with bad weather the little fleet did not reach Niagara until the 22d. when to their astonishment they found the river full of floating ice. They proceeded up the river. however. against the united strength of the current and floating ice. and with great effort reached Buffalo Creek on the 26th, where they were blocked up with ice " at least twelve feet high." Happily the ice broke up that night leaving Lake Erie clear, but with so heavy a swell rolling that the expedition was obliged to lay by until the 29th. when for three days the lake was almost at a dead calm. Prompt use was made of these advantageous circumstances, the little party rowing from Buffalo to Elk Creek, a distance of 120 miles in the meantime. On the 1st of June they put out and attempted to continue their journey and ! rowed six miles, but they were obliged to beach their boats at Crooked Creek, and lay wind-bound for several days. " On the 5th," says ' Mr. Hudson, " we put out from Crooked Creek and dined in Conneaut, with a fair wind from the northeast. At 2 o'clock P. M., the wind shifted into the north and blew on the shore with such violence that the boat in which myself and Darrow were, and which was heavily loaded, filled with water before a single article could be got on shore. With most unremitting and violent exertion, we saved our boat and loading, and spent the remainder of the day and part of the next in drying our loading which was much damaged with water. On the 7th and 8th we sailed to Grand River, using the bed blankets as sails: The boat in which McKinley and Blin had taken passage and which was in our company, fared worse, it being stove, and a part of my potatoes went through her bottom. But after the wind had subsided they got her up. and with the help of my nails they so far repaired the wreck that they got her into Grand River with her loading on the same day we got there." This was the destination of Mr. Harmon's goods and as there was no way of securing the transportation of the goods on board. he purchased this boat of Mr. Harmon for 81 and proceeded with his boat, leaving Blin and McKinley to proceed up the river some four miles. discharge Harmon's goods 1 and then to continue the journey to the Cuyahoga River.
Without waiting for his second boat, Mr. Hudson proceeded, reaching the Cuyahoga River on the 9th. where. on the following day, finding that the other boat had not come up. he left Darrow to assist the men up the river. He also took the precaution to lighten Mr. Tappan's boat of a large part of ,his stores, leaving them to be brought on by his newly purchased boat, and proceeded up the river. The season previous to their coming having been very dry, they had proceeded but a few miles when they found the water in places only eight or ten inches deep. and were often obliged to get out, join hands and drag their boats over shallow places. In this way they
*Diary of David Hudson.
414 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
proceeded until the 12th, when they reached such a rapid current that it was impossible to draw the boat any further. Mr. Hudson continues in his diary as follows: "I, myself. went on the land searching for some surveyor's line whereby we could find our township. In this place my men overtook us, and to my great concern informed me that my boat had been plundered the night before of a considerable quantity of whisky. pork. flour and some few potatoes. The men suspected of this villainy was an Indian in the Sandusky tribe. and a white man who calls himself Armstrong. They are two villains. famous in this quarter. and their conduct is not allowed of by their chiefs.
"13th.—We now took a part of Tappan's load into my boat. and by our united strength we got the two boats along slowly up the rapid and shallow' water. I still continuing on the land searching for some town line. In this way we proceeded until the 17th. when. as I had not been able to find any land mark. we determined to take a few days provisions and strike our course in a southeast direction till we could find some clew whereby we could tell what part of the world we were in. It was at this time I most heartily repented having undertaken the expedition. but I must now persevere. I proceeded with my men and Tappan with several of his assistants, and to my great joy found the southwest corner of No. 4. Range 10, at about 11 o'clock one the 17th of June. I immediately went abont making a road, getting our stores up from the river, and in endeavoring to get a road into the middle of the town. In the latter attempt a new difficulty was met. I tried at many places and could find no pass for a road across a swamp which stretched itself from the south line of the town, about three and a half miles. as I afterward found in a northerly direction about one-half mile from the west line. I afterward went across the swamp and found excellent land beyond. In this dilemma. I determined to set my men at work on the west side of the swamp, until the land could be so far surveyed as to find some pass for a road. We found it a work of time and difficulty to get a road across the gullies which lie in No. 4, Range 11 (Boston), but,
by the 25th of June, we got some of our things on."
By a very happy combination of circumstances the cattle, of which the explorers were just now beginning to need, arrived at the lauding on the 18th, just one day after the discovery of the township line. The journey of these men over some three hundred and fifty miles. guided by the tortuous trails of the Indian and the township lines of the surveyor, though a totally a unknown land, was one of the difficulties of which we are scarcely able to appreciate. Their mode of traveling was to secure firmly upon the backs of the oxen several bags of flour and pork. together with two blankets and an as. They waded fordable streams and compelled their cattle to swim those that could not be forded. crossing these streams themselves with their provisions on rafts hastily constructed of sticks. The teams thus happily at hand, rude sleds were constructed and the labor of transporting the goods from the boats to the place where Mr. Hudson had decided to begin operations commenced. In the meanwhile a road had been cut out and a bark shelter erected. The cattle were greatly tormented by the immense swarms of flies that attacked them at all times. nearly driving them mad. It is said they actually killed one of Mr. Tappan's cattle.
About this time David Kellogg with his wife, applied to be taken into Mr. Hudson's employ. He had come out in the service of Mr. Tappan, but for some reason desired to change his service. Judge Tappan afterward took occasion in the public prints to say that Mr. Hudson enticed him away. which is an entirely mistaken idea. The provisions of the Hudson colony were very low, and he had great fears that those already dependent upon him would suffer for lack of supplies. He, however, granted the request, but Mr. Kellogg never became a permanent settler in this colony, though staying for a year or two.
As soon as the first most pressing duties were accomplished, Mr. Hudson set about making a clearing, aided by his four men. The robbing of his boat and the failure of his goods, shipped by wagon, to come on began to give him some uneasiness as to their means of subsistence. He borrowed some
HUDSON TOWNSHIP - 415
pork of a Capt. Stoddard, settled in what is now Northampton, and taking his boat as soon as
unloaded on the 24th of June, proceeded alone down the river in quest of Lacey. Speaking of this trip in his diary, Mr. Hudson says: " I had the misfortune to lose my fire, and being exceeding wet and the night very cold, I experienced the most uncomfortable night I ever felt. I arrived at Cleveland in twenty-eight hours, and, although several boats had lately arrived, I could not get any information concerning Lacey. I had not heard a word from him since I left him on the Mohawk River near Schenectady in April. I was at a great loss what to do, but, on the whole, I thought best to wait a little longer. In three days an opportunity presented of going down the lake, and, after a quick and dangerous passage, I had the good fortune to find my boy, Lacey and the boat." It appears that Lacey had got as far as Cattaraugus Creek with the boat which Mr. Hudson found unfit for a voyage when he left, and was resting there very much at his ease. He had also quite an addition for the colony in the way of several hired men, which Nathaniel Norton had secured to go to the settlement. But of what the settlement needed the most 'they were nearly destitute. " My joy at finding the boat," says Mr. Hudson, " was turned to sorrow on finding that they had but little more flour than enough to last through the voyage, excepting three barrels that belonged to Capt. Austin (Eliphalet Austin, of Austintown). I found myself under the most disagreeable necessity of abandoning my men, who were at work, to their fate. quitting the whole expedition and returning home, or else taking Capt. Austin's flour. After a sleepless night deliberating what was my duty in the trying case, I determined as the least of two evils to take Austin's flour, to dismiss my hands, saving barely enough to manage the boat, pay Austin what-ever his damage might be and prosecute my business. Having written my situation and reasons to Capt. Austin and Esquire Norton, I proceeded on my voyage. In a few days, by rowing in the night and crowding our business, I got to Cuyahoga, and without meeting any further disaster we arrived with all our loading at the landing on No. 4, Range 11, on the 19th of July." It must be remembered that these voyages were made in open boats and were propelled by oars save when a light breeze was taken advantage of to raise a sail rudely constructed out of blankets. The courses of these boats were necessarily near the shore and were completely at the mercy of a brisk wind, and were greatly hindered in their voyages on this account. The present case was a pressing one, and Mr. Hudson made good some of the delays during the day by rowing nights. Among the crew was one Lindley, who declared that he was hired to work by the day and refused to work nights. Mr. Hudson therefore excused his rowing in night voyages, but when forced to lay by in the day-time put him at " chopping wood." A day or two of this experience caused him to surrender unconditionally.
The supplies came just in time, and after getting them into the shelter (which took one hand and the team several days), three days were spent in cutting over the land begun for a wheat-patch. Hitherto the bark shanty which had been hastily erected, on their first arrival, had been their only shelter. Rain had fallen almost incessantly, and with the recent additions the little colony, swelled to thirteen persons, demanded something better for their protection. A log house 16x18 feet was at once erected, and within a week's time the whole party were made comfortable beneath its roof. A day and a half had been spent in the meanwhile in surveying, the only fair weather during the week, but now matters were in a comfortable shape for the time being, Air. Hudson was anvious to get the township ready for settlement. " I now determined," says he, "to crowd the surveying business to the utmost, and if possible get time to survey our annexation, but, in the last week in July, J. Lindley, Darrow, Meecham and Blin were all taken sick, and, in short, there was none save myself that could be called well. For four weeks our people who kept about did little else than take care of the sick. Rain fell in showers about every other day, and in those four weeks we cut three small stacks of poor hay which was much damaged by the rains, and fired and burnt the brush on about nine acres—the rain being such that we could not burn our brush
416 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
any other way than to pull our heaps to pieces and lay them on the fire. My original design was to sow a large piece to turnips, but not being able to burn the land over, I sowed on the 1st day of August a small piece from which we cut the timber and brush the week preceding.
"On the 22d day of August, our people having gradually recovered, we resumed surveying and pressed it closely as possible until the 12th of October, when the business and writing was completed." The settlement so far had been confined to the northeast corner of Lot. 11, but on the 1st of September Mr. Hudson brought his men to the center of the township and began to cut brush and timber on Lots No. 55 and 5& Here he designed to make his home. and " twenty-three days' work" were spent in building a temporary hut and making the clearing for the more substantial cabin. " Sixteen days' work " erected a good log-house on the line of these two lots where Baldwin street now abuts on Main in Hudson Village, and two days were spent " in trying to dig a well." While this work was progressing the surveying party were finishing their work, while another party connected the two clearings with a road: cut out another to the boat landing in " No. 4, Range 11," now called Boston. About the middle of this month they found their store of provision running very low. Supplies were expected every day from Nathaniel Norton, but at this point Mr. Hudson realized something must be done to avert possible distress. He went immediately to Cleveland and purchased of Lorenzo Carter a small field of corn and potatoes for $50, turning in a yoke of oxen as the larger part of the payment. In case of necessity he thought the corn might be pounded up in 1 mortars and sustain the company until relief should come. He hastened back to his station, but having previously heard that Ebenezer Sheldon had made a road through the wilderness to Aurora, and that there was a bridle-path thence to Cleveland, he thought it probable that he might obtain pork for present necessity from that quarter. He accordingly set out on foot and alone, and regulated his course by the range of his shadow, making allowance for change in the time of day. He found the Cleveland path near the center of Aurora, in a dense forest. Thence he proceeded two and a half miles to Mr. Sheldon's cabin, but found he could obtain nothing within a reasonable distance. The next morning he returned to his colony to find that his long-expected boat had arrived, and that there was once more plenty in the camp.
Having completed their surveying on the 11th of October, and got affairs well under way to make comfortable his family. and such colonists as he might bring back with him, he started on the following day with his son Ira, Meacham and Darrow for Connecticut. They went down the river in the old Harmon boat, intending to transfer to the strong boat which Lacey had brought when he came, but on arriving at the mouth of the river he found the boat borrowed without leave and gone to Detroit. It was late in the year and any delay would only bring nearer the season of the year when such navigation was impossible or extremely hazardous, and they proceeded on their way in the old wreck. There was no tar at hand with which to "pitch" the seams, and it proved so leaky that it required one hand most of the time to bail out the water. and so weak that it bent considerably in crossing the waves. During their passage the weather was generally cold and boisterous: three different times they narrowly escaped drowning by reason of the darkness of the night or violence of the wind. Referring to one of these narrow escapes from both the wind and darkness, Mr. Hudson writes in his diary: " This salvation has determined me never in future to put into the lake in a dark night." Lying wind-bound at Chataqua for several days, they eked out their scanty stock of provisions by living on boiled chestnuts. They arrived at Gerundagut on the 31st of October, whence their journey to Goshen was by land. Mr. Hudson in the middle of November, found his family well and anxious to hear of the land which was to be their new home. No time was spent in idling, however, and by the 1st day of January, 1800, he had made his arrangements to leave with his family, his native State with all its tender and endearing associations, for the wilderness where he had known so much anxiety and hardship. " Thus," says he, " ends
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the eventful year of 1799. filled with many troubles, out of all of which hath the Lord hath delivered me." His stay at his old home had been a busy time for him. He had settled accounts with the Norton brothers; had sought among his old friends and acquaintances for colonists: and had his own affairs in his old home to settle as well as to provide supplies for the one to which he was about to move his family. His accounts for the first year are interesting to read over and vividly illustrate the character of the man and the enterprise. Among the items of expenditures are the following: April. 1799, "paid $3 for an excellent dog which we lost in Schenectady:" May, " lent Mr. Bacon $5 for agreeing to pilot May, for which he gave his note, which note I lost with all my minutes and observations on the Cuyahoga in wading the stream:" "paid Mr. Holly for twelve bushels seed wheat, $18;" October, " Gave Mr. Kellogg as a present to support him-self and family. they being sick. $3: " October 19. "Gave as a gift to Mr. Berion, of Conneaut. he and his family being sick and in distress. $1 :" November 16. " Returned to Goshen. expended in returning $9.75." The whole account reaches some $ 300. which does not include the unpaid balance of wages due his help. and which was applied on the land which each purchased, nor the supplies which had been brought from the East. On the credit side, Mr. Hudson shows tools and materials still in possession of the proprietors to the amount of $350.90; surveying instruments. $33; "nine acres of wheat on the-ground calculated at $20 per acre. $180: sundry other articles not here enumerated, $36.91:" making a grand total of $600 worth of property for little more than an equal expenditure. In raising recruits for the new colony, his efforts had been marked with excellent success. It is said that he offered a bounty of forty acres to the first one to volunteer, and Ruth Gaylord, whom Rev. John Seward calls "an ancient maiden" received the land, which afterward she gave to her niece, the daughter of Elijah Nobles. Among the party that were prepared to return with Mr. Hudson and his family, were Samuel Bishop with his four sons, David, Reuben, Luman and Joseph, Joel Gaylord. Heman Oviatt, Dr. Moses Thompson, Allen Gaylord, Stephen Perkins, Joseph and George Darrow, William McKinley and three men from Vermont by the names of Derrick, Williams and Shefford. ' The women in the company were the wives of Messrs. Hudson, Bishop and Nobles, with Miss Ruth Gaylord and Ruth Bishop. The six children of Mr. Hudson completed the party that started for the New Conneeticut. Among these names will be noticed those of some who went out the preceding year. Darrow returned with his brother, Joel Gaylord and Heman Oviatt went out to view the land with the intention of taking their families thither if the situation proved favorable. Mr. Bishop. with his son-in-law Elijah Nobles, alone hazarded everything on the single cast of the die. The three men from Vermont were evidently acquaintances of Lacey, through whom they had probably learned of this settlement, and was desirous of trying their fortune. They probably did not stay long as no mention is made of them in any of the old papers of Mr. Hudson.
In January, 1800, Mr. Hudson started, with his family, on sleighs, from Goshen for Bloomfield, N. Y., the place of rendezvous. Here he occupied an empty cabin of Eber Norton's during the winter, employing his time in preparing for his journey by the lakes. He procured four boats, in addition to the Harmon boat, which he thoroughly repaired, and loaded them with supples, including window-glass for his cabin put up the preceding fall, a large quantity of woolen and linen cloth, peach and apple seeds, garden seeds, additional tools, and a supply of groceries in-tended to last his family for a full year—the whole reaching a cost of some $2,000. The balance of the party secured three boats for their transportation, and all was completed on the 29th of April. " The next night," said Mr. Hudson, " while my dear wife and six children, with all my men, lay soundly sleeping around me, I could not close my eyes. The reflection that those men and women, with most all that I held dear in life, were now to embark in an expedition in which so many chances appeared against me; and, should we survive the dangers in crossing the boisterous lakes, and the distressing sickness usually attendant on new settlements, it was
418 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
highly probable that we must fall before the tomahawk and scalping-knife. As I knew, at that time, no considerable settlement had been made but what was established in blood, and I was about to place all those who lay around me on the extreme frontier, and, as they would look to me for safety and protection, I almost sank under the immense weight of responsibility resting upon me. Perhaps my feelings on this occasion were a little similar to those of the patriarch, when expecting to meet his hostile brother: but, after presenting my case before Israel's God. and committing all to His care, I cheerfully launched out, the next morning, upon the great deep." The little fleet experienced little difficulty coming up the lakes until they reached the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. The wind on this day was rather high, and Mr. Hudson, in attempting to enter with his boat, missed the channel and stuck fast upon the bar. In this perilous situation, the boat shipped considerable water. and the occupants must have inevitably all been drowned had not a mountain wave struck the boat with such power as to float it clear of the obstruction. On reaching a point within two miles of their destination, darkmess coming on. they were obliged to stop for the night a little north of Northfield, at a place called the Pinery. They encamped on the banks, which were somewhat low. During the night, a tremendous rain set in, which had so raised the river by daybreak that it overflowed its banks, and was on the point of floating off the very beds on which they were lying. Everything was drenched, many finding themselves without a dry thread upon them, and here they were obliged to wait five days before the water had so far subsided as to allow them to force their boats against the current. On the sixth day, May 28, they reached the landing place near the Boston line. Here Mr. Hudson left his family and the crew to look after the unloading, and hurried to visit the people he had left in the clearing, whom he found in good spirits. Before leaving Bloomfield, Mr. Hudson had secured some hogs, fourteen cows, a bull and a horse, which, with a yoke of oxen belonging to Mr. Bishop, were intrusted to the care of Elijah Nobles to bring through the wilderness by the route by which the cattle had been brought the preceding year. These arrived about the time the boats were unloaded, but Mr. Hudson, busy in arranging for the large accession to the colony, did not take his horse to the landing after his family for several days. When he arrived, he found his family suffering from the persistent attacks of the gnats and mosquitoes that infested the woods at this season, and his wife, who had cheerfully borne all the trials of the journey hitherto, was now very much discouraged. A change to more cheerful surroundings, and a fairly comfortable house, wrought a great change in her feelings, and she nobly seconded the efforts of her husband. The work of transporting the goods from the boats to the settlement on wooden sleds, over eight miles of hilly woods-road, was no slight undertaking. and it was several days before it was accomplished. After all the persons belonging to the settlement had collected, Mr. Hudson led them in rendering thanksgiving to the God of mercy, who had brought them safely to their desired haven. Public worship on the Sabbath, which had been discontinued in his absence, was resumed. In relating the fact, Mr. Hudson said: I felt, in some measure, the responsibility resting on first settlers, and their obligations to commence in that fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom, and to establish those moral and religious habits on which the temporal and eternal happiness of a people essentially depends."
Once settled in their new quarters, the little community was at once a scene of bustling activity. Joel Gaylord selected and purchased 640 acres lying in a square piece on the southwest corner of the public square; Dr. Moses Thompson, who had been promised by Mr. Hudson 550, in medicine, if he concluded to settle here, selected for his father and brothers eight and a half lots, of 160 acres each, four of them forming a square mile of land adjoining the southeast part of the public square; Heman Oviatt selected a site south of the village about a mile, adjoining the Thompson property; a large elm tree standing on the road line to the farm now owned by Philander Ellsworth, which sprang from a riding-whip which Mr. Oviatt brought on one of his trips to Pittsburgh, and carelessly stuck in the
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ground there, "marks the vicinity where he erected his cabin in this year. Dr. Thompson made some clearings and planted a crop on three lots, and all found plenty of work to do. Darrow bought in the southern tier of lots, near the central road, and in July, Ebenezer Stone, of Boughton, Ontario Co., N. Y., came out and bought Lot 70. Notwithstanding the frequent rains, the season on the whole was very favorable for the crops, and there was an abundant harvest of potatoes and turnips and wheat.
On the 28th of October of this year, occurred the first native accession to the settlement. On this date, a daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Hudson, and, notwithstanding the lack of professional aid, with the attendance of the women of the settlement, mother and child prospered finely. The heroine of this occasion, and the eldest born of the county, was Anna Maria Hudson, later the wife of Harvey Baldwin, who now lives in a vigorous old age. to rejoice in the results of her parents' pioneer labors. Two weeks later, another event occurred which served to vividly impress upon these people the stern reality of frontier life. Milo and 'William, two sons of Mr. Hudson. were sent to drive the hogs out where they could find plenty of nuts to feed upon. The path they followed was very rough, and Milo, who was barefooted, experienced a good deal of pain in trying to travel in it. His brother. finding that he did not need his assistance, sent him back and proceeded on alone with his charge. In returning, Milo left the path to walk upon the leaves in the wooded part to avoid the "hubs," and inadvertently strayed too far and became lost. A slight snow had fallen, and it was a chilly autumn day. He looked about him for some clew to his whereabouts, and, seeing a clearing at some distance, ran toward it only to find that it marked the site of a swamp. The return of William and the absence of his brother at once excited alarm, and the men rallied out with horns, guns and bells to find the lost boy. He heard the signals of those in search, but, deluded by the appearances of a clearing made by the various swamp lands, , he only got farther away, until, night coming on. worn out with the anxiety and exertion of the day, he prepared to pass the night in the wilderness. Raking a pile of leaves beside a great log, and wrapping his bare feet in his jacket, which he had taken off for the purpose, he burrowed deep into the leaves and fell asleep. The hunters could not thus easily lay aside their cares. The unsuccessful search caused them to redouble their exertions during the night, and Mr. Hudson, with a father's anxiety, offered a reward of $40 to stimulate a search in Which the keenest interest was already enlisted. The search was continued without avail until 11 o'clock the following day, when the boy was found still asleep, his hair fringed with frost and his toes slightly frosted, but otherwise unharmed.
It was some years before .the danger of being lost in woods was overcome by the number of settlements. As late as 1809, a little girl of Eben Pease, eight or nine years old, was lost. She was sent on an errand to Benjamin Oviatt's, about two miles north of the center. She got there safely, but on her return, mistaking a cow-path for the trail, she wandered off and was lost. Not returning by dark, her parents became alarmed, and, going to Oviatt's, learned she had left there early and was probably lost. The neighborhood was rallied out in search. Guns and horns were brought into requisition, but it was 10 o'clock the next day before she was found by Richard Croy. She was found asleep on a log, with her feet wrapped in some aprons which she had taken to bring home.
The following spring brought the families of Joel Gaylord and Heman Oviatt, who came in wagons by the overland route, bringing with them Benjamin Oviatt, John Bridge and James Newton. Their wagons were the first that ever penetrated the wilderness in this part of the Reserve, and these pioneers were obliged to chop their way through the woods for miles. A little later in this year came Eliada Lindley, John Oviatt, William Boughton, Aaron Norton, Ezra Wyatt, James Walker, Deacon Stephen Thompson with his sons, Abraham, Stephen, Jr., and Moses, and his sons-in-law, George Pease and Bradford Kellogg. In the same company came George Kilbourne and William Leach. Dr. Moses Thompson had expended his patrimony in
420 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
prosecuting his medical studies, but his father proposed to give him a lot of land if he would investigate the Hudson settlement and, if favorably impressed, move the family out to it. After coming out with Mr. Hudson and selecting the land, he returned on foot to Goshen, carrying his provisions in a pack at his back. He made the 650 miles in eleven and a half days, helped to do the haying, and, returning with his father's brother's family, as well as his own. He secured some apple seeds from some pumace at a cider-mill in Reading, Penn., and the first apples from this seed. were the admiration of the little folks, who had never seen an apple before.
His land was situated northwest of the village, on what is known as the Northampton road, where he lived until the day of his death. He was the earliest doctor in the township. and had a practice that took him over a territory a hundred miles in extent. He retired from his practice in 1815, to engage in business. Christian Cackler came here in the spring of 1804. together with his father and eldest brother, settling on a part of Lot 10. in the southeast corner of the township. They came from Pennsylvania. bringing a horse and a yoke of oxen. and such supplies as could be packed on a horse. Coming to Ravenna, they found a few residents, and a road marked out and partly underbrushed to Hudson. Here they came, selected their land, and, going to the site, put up a temporary shelter. Four forks were driven into the ground, and upon them were laid poles. upon which a covering of bark was laid. The same material supplied the floor and the sides of this hastily constructed tabernacle. Beds made of leaves and covered with blankets completed their household arrangements, and they proceeded at once to clear their lands for their spring crops. It was then the 10th of May, but they put in about three acres of corn, and cleared off another piece in time to sow some wheat. Provisions were hard to procure, and were obtained by working for their neighbors. In his published reminiscences, Mr. Cackler says: " In September, my father and brother went back after the family, 1 and left me in care of the shanty until they should return. I was then only twelve years old. They left for my use a small loaf of bread, an old rifle that carried an ounce ball and some powder and bullets, that I might kill squirrels for meat. They thought they would be back in three weeks. It was a trying time for me. I could get along very well through the day, but when night came, I was lonesome indeed. I would build a big fire and roll myself up in my blankets so that I could not hear anything, and there remain until morning. I managed so about two weeks. My loaf began to get veiy small, and I had to make my allowance still smaller to make it hold out. Three weeks expired and nobody came. The fourth passed: my bread was gone and squirrels furnished my only food. The fifth passed, and found me without bread or bullets. I managed to kill some squirrels with gravel-stones, but the most of those I shot at escaped without serious injury. I stayed there until the sixth week began to drag its slow length along, when one afternoon in the cabin, to avoid a heavy thunder shower, I fell asleep, and awoke to find it growing dark. The fire had gone out, and everything was so saturated with the rain that I could not relight. While tinkering with the fire, I was startled by the howl of the wolves in the near vicinity. I seized my gun loaded with stone, and, wrapping my blankets about me, sat down to defend myself against the wolves. I sat there until morning without a visit from the wolves, and then I left the shanty to care for itself, and went over to where Harry O'Brien lived, about three miles distant, and remained until our family came back, which was not long." Others came from time to time to gladden the hearts and share the burdens of the little frontier community. It is not ; possible, at this time, to learn all the particulars of their coming, or even of their names. Among those who came during the first fifteen years of the colony were David Hudson, 1799; Thaddeus Lacey, 1799; R. H. Blin, 1799; William McKinley, 1799; David Kellogg, 1799; Joseph Darrow, 1799; Jonah Meacham. 1799; Jesse Lindley, 1799; Samuel Bishop, 1800; David Bishop, 1800; Joseph Bishop, 1800; Luman Bishop, 1800 ; George Darrow, 1800; Allen Gaylord, 1800; Joel Gaylord, 1801; Heman Oviatt, 1801; Stephen Thompson, Sr., 1801;
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Abraham Thompson, 1801; Stephen Thompson, Jr., 1801; Dr. Moses Thompson, 1801; John Bridge, 1801; James Newton, 1801; George Pease, 1801; Eben Pease, 1801; William Leach, 1801; George Kilbourne, 1801; Bradford Kellogg, 1801; Amos Lusk, 1801; John Oviatt, 1801; Eliada Lindley, 1801; William Boughton, 1801; Ezra Wyatt, 1801; Aaron Norton, 1801; Robert Walker, 1801; John Walker, 1801; James Walker, 1801; Robert Walker, Jr., 1801; George Walker, 1801; Elisha Norton, 1802; George Holcomb, 1802; Nathaniel Farrand, 1803; Robert O'Brien, 1803; John O'Brien, 1803; Charles Miles, 1804; Rev. David Bacon, 1804; Henry Post, 1804; Zina Post, 1804; Jonathan Williams, 1804; Christian Cackler, Sr., 1804; Owen Brown, 1805; Benjamin Whedon, 1803; Marmaduke Deacon, 1805; Daniel Johnson, 1809; William Chamberlain, 1809; William Chamberlain, Jr., 1809; Nathaniel Stone, 1810; Samuel Hollenbeck, 1810; Gad Hollenbeck, 1810; Joseph Kingsbury, 1810; Elisha Ellsworth, 1810; Dr. Jonathan Met-calf, 1812; Augustus Baldwin, 1812; Frederick Baldwin, 1812; Dudley Humphrey, 1812; Ariel Cobb, 1813; Gideon Mills, 1814; Chauncey Case, 1814; Harvey Baldwin, 1814; Rev. John Seward, 1814. Most of these persons came from Litchfield County, Connecticut, or Ontario County in the State of New York. The larger proportion were married, and some brought into the country large families, that intermarried, so that few of the earliest families remained unrelated in this way. "David Hudson brought in a family of six children—Samuel, Ira, William, Timothy. Milo and Abigail. Ira Hudson married Huldah Oviatt; William married Phoebe Hutchinson; Milo married Hannah Rogers; Abigail married Birdseye Oviatt. Samuel Bishop had a family of five sons and four daughters: Timothy married Rebecca Craig; David married Miss Kennedy; Lnman married Rachel Gaylord; Reuben died single; Joseph married Miss Hollenbeck; one of the girls married Stephen Perkins; one, Elijah Nobles; one, Samuel Vaile; and one, Gad Hollenbeck. Joel Gaylord brought with him three sons and four daughters: John. Daniel, Harvey, Sally, Olive and Betsey; Sally Gaylord married William Leach; and afterward a John Ford; Olive married George Darrow; Betsey married William McKinley; and Nancy married William Chamberlain." *
The little settlement thus dropped in the woods, like a pebble in the ocean, seemed lost in the vast expanse of wilderness that stretched, with interminable proportions, from the frontiers of Western New York along the lakes to the great West. By the treaty 1785 with the savages, the Cuyahoga River was made a part of the dividing line between the territories of the contracting parties. Eight miles to the east of this national boundary, separated from the civilized world by hundreds of miles of wearisome, hazardous journey on land or sea, were a little handful of resolute men, with their wives and children, while on its western bank clustered the strongholds of the merciless savage, whose barbarous warfare had written the history of the Northwest in letters of fire and blood. None felt the seriousness of the situation, and the crushing weight of responsibility which it brought, more keenly than the heroic founder of this colony. He knew the jealous watchfulness with which the natives marked the coming of each accession to the white colony; the sentiment of reckless indifference to the rights of others which possessed that class of hunters and trappers which hang about the outskirts of advanced settlements, and, to prevent the contact of these antagonistic elements, and to smooth the natural, inevitable asperities of the situation, was his constant care from the beginning. He was constantly engaged in Indian conferences, entertaining them at his house and giving them presents, and to his upright dealings and judicious management may be credited the harmonious relations and commanding influence of the community with the natives. The Seneca, Chippewa and Ottawa tribes had villages in the vicinity of the Hudson colony, and were frequently found among the whites on trading or begging expeditions. Stigwanish, the chief of the Seneca village, was on intimate terms with his new neighbors, and was a frequent and welcome visitor at Mr. Hudson's cabin. He was a large, muscular man, standing straight as an arrow, nearly six feet in height, with a stern expres-
* Reminiscences by Christian Cackler.
422 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY. .
sion of countenance and a keen black eve. He is represented, by all who knew him here, as well disposed toward his white neighbors, and upright in his dealings, strongly discountenancing anything in his followers which was likely to provoke trouble. His people had cornfields on the river bottoms near where the village of Cuyahoga Falls now stands, which they cultivated for years. On one occasion, having reason to fear an attack from another tribe, he requested his white friends to build him a fort near the falls of the river. which they did, though. happily, it was never needed for the purpose of defense. Heman Oviatt, with a shrewd eye to business, early established a trading-point at his cabin, about a mile south of the site of the village. This was a place of great attraction to the Indians, who gathered here in considerable numbers. exchanging the furs they secured by trapping and hunting for trinkets of various kinds. powder, lead and whisky. The latter was in the greatest demand, and a scale of prices. according to Christian Cackler's account, was established, as follows: Coonskins, a half-pint of whisky; buck-skins, one pint: bearskins' four quarts. Mrs. Oviatt soon acquired their language' and gained quite an ascendancy over their "untutored minds." Before giving them any considerable amount of whisky, she was in the habit of demanding their guns, tomahawks and knives, which they surrendered to her until they got sober, as they invariably got " kok kusi." One of these orgies, as described by Cackler, was as follows: "They were of the Ottawa tribe, and there were about fifteen or eighteen of them. They were provided with a deerskin suit, like a little boy's suit, all whole, but open before, and supplied with openings for legs and arms. When put on, it was tied in front. It was ornamented around the arms and legs with fringe some three inches three inches in length, to which was attached a variety of animal claws, such as those of the turkey, coon, deer, bear, etc. One would put on this suit, and jump, hop, and kick about in a sort of Indian ' Highland fling,' while two others furnished the inspiration by patting and humming. The success of the performer seemed to depend upon his ability to get the greatest possible amount of
clatter out of the claws attached to the fringe. When tired, he would doff the garment, take a drink of the whisky provided, and give place to another Terpsichorean artist. In this way, each one would try his agility, and gradually get beastly intoxicated. This they kept up two days. Before the proceedings began. however, they placed all their weapons in the hands of their squaws, who were quiet spectators of the scene. At the end of two days. all save two of the squaws who were assigned to the charge of the papooses. got gunk, and exhibited all the worst phases of this degrading revel." It was hardly to be expected that the free use of whisky in this way should always result so harmlessly to the general interests of the community at large. The women and children could never learn to look upon the savages with any degree of equanimity, and the natives were not slow to perceive this. Occasionally. an ill-disposed fellow, inflamed by whisky. would frighten a woman if he found her unprotected in an isolated cabin. On one occasion. a party of Indians came to the cabin of Marmaduke Deacon. situated where his son now resides. and, finding his wife alone with her children, approached her in a threatening manner. making some demand in their own language. Not able to understand their utterances. she provided them with a generous supply of provisions. They still maintained their menacing attitude. when she secured and gave them every cent of money there was in the cabin. and, finding them still unsatisfied. she left her children and proceeded. through the snow, to the cabin of O'Brien. who lived some distance away, for more to satisfy their demands. She reached her destination, but the fright, added to the exposure, was too much for her feeble strength, and she never left alive. dying of quick consumption in a few weeks. This circumstance aroused the revengeful disposition of a certain class of the whites, who, known as "Indian haters," became Indian slayers whenever occasion offered the chance of escaping the penalty of their acts. Jonathan Williams, who came in with Christian Cackler, Sr., in 1804, was one of this class. " George Wilson," a son of Stigwanish. was a quarrelsome fellow when under the influence of liquor, and had several
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serious misunderstandings with the whites. One time, when feeling particularly surly, he happened at the cabin of " Old Mother Newell," on Paines' road, near the town line. She was alone, and, noticing his approach, she took the precaution to bar the door. Denied admittance to the cabin, which had but one door, he put his gunbarrel through the opening between the logs, and satisfied his ugly disposition by forcing her, with threats, to dance in the middle of the floor till, tired of the sport, he went away. He had scarcely left before Mrs. Newell, on the watch for some passerby, saw Williams coming along the trail with his gun on his shoulder, as usual. She called him, and related the circumstances. Williams waited only to hear the story, and pushed on after the Indian. Williams' character was not unknown to the natives, and, finding him on his frail, Wilson left the road and struck through the woods hoping to avoid an encounter. Williams gained upon him slowly but surely, and, when in vicinity of a piece of "honeycomb swamp," taking advantage of a moment when the Indian was off his guard, he shot and killed him. Drawing his body into this piece of swamp, he thrust it out of sight. sending, also, the Indian's rifle down with him. The mysterious disappearance of Wilson created a great commotion among the Senecas. and great effort was made to discover the whereabouts of his remains and the cause of his final taking-off. The Indians suspected what the whites did not learn until years afterward, and Williams was obliged ever afterward to be constantly on his guard against surprise. It is said, on another occasion while hunting while there was a light coating of snow on the ground, he lost for awhile his bearings, and found himself following his own track in a circle. He observed, in coming upon his own trail, the track also of a moccasined foot, and, with a hunter's instinct, recognizing his pursuer, he took to a tree and shot him as he came again following the trait.
By the treaty of 1805, the Indians were removed from the near neighborhood of the whites, who were rapidly pouring into this country, but they still continued to come back in squads to their old haunts, to trade or hunt. In 1806, Stigwanish, with his sons, John Bigson, John Amur, his sons-in-law, Nickshaw and Wobmung, and others of their family, came to their old camps in Deerfield. During their stay, Nickshaw traded his pony with a settler by the name of John Diver. The Indian felt aggrieved, and complained to some of the leading settlers, and endeavored to trade back with Diver, without success. Nickshaw felt that he had been cheated, and agreed, with Mohawk, to shoot Diver. Until this horse trade, there had been the kindliest relations existing between the parties, and no fears were entertained that the disagreement would cause a rupture. The young men called at Daniel Diver's cabin soon afterward, and sought to get his brother within their grasp by strategem, but failed. A little later in the same evening, Daniel, in going out to placate the Indians, was shot so as to blind him—a wound which did not prove mortal—and fled, supposing he had killed the one with whom they had had the difficulty. A party of settlers at once started in pursuit. Their camp, some three miles distant, was found deserted, but, following their trail along the great Indian road from the Ohio River to Sandusky, they crossed the Cuyahoga River, where Kent now stands, and the center road of Hudson, about a mile south of the village, thence across the Cuyahoga again near the site of Peninsula, in Boston Township. The trail entered Hudson on Lot No. 10, and passed within sixty rods of Cackler's cabin, and the pursuers, under the lead of Maj. H. Rogers, reached this cabin about 1 o'clock in the morning. It was a clear, cold night in the latter part of December of 1806: the moon was shining with peculiar brightness upon the earth, lightly covered with snow, giving the pursuers every facility. When they arrived here, however, some of the party were nearly frozen, and a number of them went no further. Rogers got Christian Cackler, Sr., his oldest son and Jonathan Williams, to accompany him in continuing the pursuit. " They went to Hudson, got a new recruit, and followed on to near the west part of Richfield. Here the Indians had stopped, built a fire, stacked their arms, tied their ponies, and lain down with their feet to the fire. Most of them had pulled off their moccasins. When Rogers and his men saw the
424 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
fire, they scattered and surrounded the Indians, some of whom were in a doze, and some asleep. As they were closing up, Nickshaw and Mohawk sprang up and ran off barefooted. They closed in on the rest, and, it beginning to be light, Rogers wanted somebody to go after Nickshaw, and George Darrow, of Hudson, and Jonathan Williams, volunteered to go. The Indians' feet began to bleed before they got a mile, when they sat down on a log, tied pieces of blanket on their feet, and then separated. Darrow and Williams followed one of them, who proved to be Nickshaw, and whom they overtook in about three miles. He looked back, and, seeing them, gave a whoop and increased his speed, and they after him like hounds after a fox. In about a mile they overtook him, and asked him to come back, but he would not. Darrows said he thought he would clinch him; but, when he made the attempt, Nickshaw would put his hand under his blanket as though he had a knife. Darrow thought he would get a club and knock him down, but Mr. Indian could get a club and use it too. They got out of patience, and Williams fired his gun over Nickshaw's head, to let him know what was coming if he did not yield. This did not make the desired impression, and Williams loaded his gun and killed him by a second shot. They placed him under a log, covered him with brush and old chunks, and came back to Hudson."* The whites returned with Bigson and his two sons, who were committed, by the Justice of Deerfield, to the jail at Warren. A squaw belonging to them was allowed to escape, and, it is said, perished in the snow. The killing of Nickshaw, however, it was thought was unwarrantable, and, fearing the consequences of such an act if allowed to pass unnoticed, David Hudson, Heman Oviatt and Owen Brown mounted their horses and brought in the body of the dead Indian. The matter was brought before the proper legal authorities, but the investigation came k a lame conclusion, and finally ended in a "hoe-down," where whisky was plenty, and a collection of $5 for Williams as a reward for the deed. Bigson was finally set at liberty, and remained near the settlements for years.
*Cackler's Reminiscences.
The affair occasioned no further trouble, although it occasioned considerable uneasiness amongst the settlers for a time. The Indians either acquiescing in the judgment of the 1 whites, or realizing their inability to successfully cope with the settlers, made a virtue of necessity and passed it by without notice.
The year 1806 was a marked one in other respects, to both the whites and Indians. A full eclipse of the sun occurred on 17th of June, much to the terror of the untutored savage, and greatly to the injury of the crops of the whites. The Indians were greatly frightened by the event, and, though it had been in some cases foretold by some of the squaws ( how they learned of the fact has never been ascertained), it was not believed, and the women were executed as witches. When the event occurred, therefore, they were greatly frightened, and, forming in a circle, and marching around in regular order, each one fired at the evil spirit that was threatening the destruction of the world. Happily for one "brave," he discharged his gun just as the shadow began to move off. and he was created a chief on the spot for his bravery and the great service he had performed for the natives. The whites, though less affected by the phenomenon, were hardly less seriously affected by its effects, if the reminiscences of Mr. Cackler are to be relied upon. He says: " The day of the great eclipse was a beautiful, warm day; we were hoeing corn the second time, with only shirts and pants on, but, after the eclipse was off, the weather was so much colder that we had to put on our vests and coats I to work in. There were frosts every month that summer; no corn got ripe, and the next spring we had to send to the Ohio River for seed-corn to plant. The next summer was the hardest time I ever saw. There was no grain in the country. My father and Adam Nighman went to Georgetown, on the Ohio River, for flour; they had no money, but took a rifle and pledged it for flour, and I guess they never redeemed it."
A good rifle was a valuable piece of property to the first settlers. Next to his ax and plow, he depended upon it for support in subduing the wild land in which he reared his cabin home. The vast forests abounded with
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game, which at first was his principal dependence for sustenance, and later his greatest annoyance and damage. Elk, the common deer, bears, wolves, panthers, with otters, beavers and raccoons infested the country and preyed on the crops and stock of the early community with comparative impunity. Bears came right into the settlement, and, seizing a hog, carried it, struggling and squealing, to the woods, and destroyed it before the aroused settlers could prevent. Wolves attacked stock, killing calves and yearlings, and frequently assailed travelers, though generally with no serious results. Squirrels, raccoons and blackbirds, in their attack upon the grainfields, were hardly less troublesome, and all the available children of the community were pressed into the service of protecting the growing crops from their depredations. As the settlement became less dependent upon game for food, the disadvantages of this abundance became more apparent, and organizations were made, much against the wishes of the professional hunter, to drive it out of the country. The township of Streetsboro, on the east of Hudson, was not settled for years after its neighbors, and offered a secure retreat for the animals that played such havoc upon the stock of the pioneer settlements. The communities which suffered most from this state of affairs determined. in 1819, to rid themselves of these unpleasant neighbors. A committee was appointed, which marked off thirty or forty acres a little south of the center, into which the game was to be driven. The settlers of Hudson came in on the west, of Franklin on the east, and of Aurora on the north. In describing the hunt, Cackler, who was an old hunter, says: " When the ring closed up, there was the greatest sight I ever saw. There were over a hundred deer, and a large number of bears and wolves. As they ran around the ring, the guns cracked like a battle. The deer came in great herds, forming a splendid sight with their large antlers, and, as they came toward the ranks, the hunters made wide gaps and let them out, closing in again to keep the bears and wolves. When we thought all dead, a wounded wolf came limping along a few rods from the line, calling out a perfect shower of bullets. A Hudson man, with another of the band, standing near each other, fired at the wolf when he fell dead. Both claimed the scalp, which then was worth $7, not a small sum for that time, and began a struggle for it that ended in a bout of fisticuffs. When finally the Hudson man was conquered, the wolf's scalp was gone. The proceeds of this hunt, when brought together, comprised over sixty deer, seven bears and five wolves. A large number of the wolves escaped, and many of the slaughtered animals were picked up and carried off by those who had not joined in the hunt, but enjoyed the game. The larger game grew rapidly scarce after this. The hunters of Hudson frequently went to the region of Sandusky Bay, the swamps of the Huron and Portage Rivers, and secured furs and plenty of game, but the lawlessness of the people who congregated at these points, and the dangers of lake travel, made it a hazardous undertaking, that scarcely remunerated the hunter for his risks and hardships.