USA > Connecticut > Incidents of pioneer life in the early settlement of the Connecticut Western Reserve > Part 7
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The Indians who remained at camp, had in the meantime gathered their dead, and with funeral wails, bore them to a pleasant spot, two or three miles down the river, where they buried them beneath mounds or hillocks, composed chiefly of interwoven sticks, grass and sods. They then drove a stake at the head of each grave, and hung upon it a new pair of buckskin breeches.
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In addition to this, they placed a considerable quantity of cooked meat and other food on the graves. When asked the reason for observing these ceremonies, they replied that the Great Spirit, after the lapse of thirty days, would resurrect their dead friends and transfer them to pleasant hunting grounds far away in the North, where they would enjoy peace, plenty and happi- ness forever; and that the breeches were intended for them to wear, and the food for them to eat while on their way to the realms of that distant paradise.
But notwithstanding their sincere faith, it so happened that during the ensuing night after the interment, a high wind prevailed, and in the morning neither breeches nor food could be found. The Indians believed that the Great Spirit had interfered, and that the spirits of their dead friends had started on their long journey to the "happy land," and taken both food and breeches with them. The inquisitive white men of the vicinity entertained a different belief, especially when one of them related the fact that he owned a slut with five half-grown greedy pups, which had been absent during the night and returned in the morning, evidently gorged with an unusual supply of food. He also ex- pressed the opinion that it was the "spirits of the wind" who had stolen the breeches. In this
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solution of the mystery all were agreed except the Indians. It may be presumed, however, that the old dead Chief, George, groaned in "spirit," as he lay in his grave and beheld his new pair of buckskin breeches depart on the gale into the depths of the sky, and that he soliloquized as follows :
"My breeches, O my breeches, I see them straddling through the air, Alas! too late to win them; I see them chase the clouds as if The devil still were in them: They were my darlings and my pride,
My hope, my only riches; - Farewell, farewell, a long farewell, My breeches, O my breeches!"
The first territorial Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace held at Warren, convened on the 4th Monday of August, in 1800. The session was held, for want of a Court House, between two spacious "corn cribs" on the farm of Capt. Quimby. The tribunal consisted of sev- eral Justices of the Peace. It was doubtless a dignified Court. It is presumed that the crim- inals, then and there arraigned, were confined in the cribs, and that most of them, if not all, "acknowledged the corn" without the formality of a trial. It has often been said that justice, in this free country, is brought to every man's door; but it is a rare instance that brings it to his corn crib.
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At the first session of the Court a large amount of county business was transacted, and the requi- site number of officers appointed. George Tod, afterwards Judge, was appointed to prosecute the pleas of the United States. A committee of seven, consisting of Amos Spafford, David Hud- son, Simon Perkins, John Minor, Aaron Whee- ler, Edward Paine, and Calvin Austin, was ap- pointed to divide the county of Trumbull into civil townships, describe their boundaries and. report to the Court. Anohetr committee was ap- pointed, consisting of Thurhand Kirtland, John Kinsman and Calvin Austin, to provide some place for a temporary jail, until a county jail could be built. The committee retired for con- sultation, and soon came into Court and reported that they had procured the southwest corner room in Ephraim Quimby's log house for a jail, until a more appropriate one could be erected. The report was confirmed, and Ephraim Quimby, more familarly known as the "Captain," recom- mended to the Governor of the Territory as a suitable person to keep a House of Public En- tertainment.
The first jury trial which occurred in this court, took place in 1801, at its May term, in the case of the United States vs. Daniel Shehy for assault and battery ; fined $20 and costs, and put under bonds of $100 to keep the peace for a year. This
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territorial court, in August, 1802, granted Lo- renzo Carter, of Cleveland, a license to keep a tavern, fee $4, and appointed George Tod, ap- praiser of taxable property, and ordered that the house of James Kingsbury be the the place, at Cleveland, for holding town meetings and elec- tions.
The territorial court, soon after the adoption of the State constitution, was merged in the organ- ization of a system of State courts. The first man, who was indicted by a grand jury in Trum- bull county, after the reorganization of the courts, was Lorenzo Carter, of Cleveland, for assault and battery. The Major, as he was called, was extensively known as an upright and prominent citizen. When arrested and taken to Warren for trial, he was not only astonished, but greatly mor- tified. He was so universally popular at home, that his friends had resolved to protect him when the sheriff came to make the arrest, and in order to effect his object the sheriff was obliged to sum- mon a posse comitatus to aid him. The offense with which he was charged was considered friv- olous in its character. It grew out of a dispute with a neighbor, whose dog, as Carter alleged, had broken into his spring-house and lapped the contents of a pan of milk, for which Carter had summarily chastised the brute. His neighbor, to whom the dog belonged, declared the animal in-
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nocent of the offense, and pronounced Carter a "liar," who returned the compliment by slap- ping his accuser in the face. The neighbor sought revenge by procuring Carter to be in- dicted for assault and battery.
It was supposed by the court and citizens at Warren, from what had been heard of Carter, as a famous hunter and daring frontiersman, that he must be a dangerous fellow ; but when he was ar- raigned in court, his kind expression of face and respectful manners, reversed at once the unfavora- ble impressions which had prevailed in relation to his character. When called in court to an- swer the charge alleged against him, he arose and in a frank manner pleal "guilty." His at- torney, George Tod, then stated the mitigating circumstances of the case, the gross and nnjustifi- able insult which provoked Carter to commit the offense, and the good character he possessed among his neighbors, as a useful and peaceable citizen, and then submitted the matter to the judgment of the court. The court regarding the matter as a trifling offense, fined the accused six cents, and ordered him to pay the costs. This was the first time Carter had been in- volved in a legal proceeding. He returned to Cleveland, and was received by his many friends with a frank demonstration of their congratula- tions. The Major assured his friends that he had "learned a lesson" which cost him a large
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amount of vexation and but little money. His accuser removed in haste from Cleveland, and sought a healthier locality.
Among the first post routes established in the Reserve, was the route from Warren to Pitts- burgh, in 1801. Simon Perkins was appointed postmaster at Warren. The postoffice was kept in a building constructed of logs. The through mail matter was carried in a bag, the key to which was designated by a wooden label attached to it, while the way mail matter was carried, tied up in a handkerchief. The post-boy rode on horseback, traveling at the rate of twenty miles a day, and blowing a tin-horn on reaching the postal stations ; nor was such a thing as a rail- way mail train, traveling at the rate of fifty or sixty miles an hour, dreamed of in the pioneer . philosophy of those days. It would be amusing to see how strangely bewildered those early pio- neers would be, if they could but arise from their dreamless slumbers and behold with what ease we now, by the aid of science, harness the light- ning of the heavens and compel it to carry the news around the globe in less than three min- utes. If they could see this, they would doubt- less believe that the "age of miracles" had not only returned, but that Divine power had been delegated to man to control the elements of Nature, if not to assume the Divine government.
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CHAPTER XIV.
Rev. Joseph Badger, Mission and Career-Exemplary Character of first Settlers at Warren-Ashtabula County-Jefferson, the County Seat-Its Founder and its Eminent Men -- Conneaut, originally an Indian Town-Two White Cap- tives made to Run the Gauntlet-Ancient Burial Ground- The "Chip" and its Record.
THE first Christian Missionary who came to the Western Reserve to preach the Gospel, and to whom allusion has already been made, was sent from' Connecticut. His name was the Rev. Joseph Badger. He arrived in the spring of 1800, and entered at once upon his benevolent labors. He traveled on horseback from one set- tlement to another, through mud, snow and rain' to fill his appointments. For the want of churches, or other public places of worship, he held his religious services in the log cabins of the settlers and in log school houses, as op- portunities offered. He was generally received with a cordial welcome wherever he went. For 134
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some eight years or more he resided with his family at Gustavus, in Trumbull county.
His life was one of varied experiences, and if it could be written, would be of deep interest. He was born at Windham, Mass., 1757. He was liberally educated, and graduated at Yale Col- lege in 1785. He had previously enlisted and served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He was ordained in 1787 as a minister of the Gospel, and took charge, as pastor of a church at Blandford, in his native State, where his ministry gave great satisfaction, and where he remained for fourteen years.
He came to the Western Reserve with an earnest purpose. He loved his fellow men, whether civilized or uncivilized, and made un- wearied efforts in their behalf. His labors in the wilds of the Reserve were crowned with a won- derful success. He laid the broad foundations of a Christian morality which still characterizes the population of this entire region of the West. The good fruits of his early missionary labors soon became apparent. Even those who at first scoffed at his efforts, soon became his sincere friends, and in many instances avowed publicly, their conversion to the Christian faith.
In short the Rev. Joseph Badger was the friend of everybody, and everybody his friend. He was a practical man, plain in his style of living,
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and genial in his social intercourse. In many instances he was entrusted with the transaction of the most important business affairs, and always succeeded in giving satisfaction. His fame went abroad. He was often consulted in matters of a governmental character, pertaining to the Western Reserve, by the heads of depart- ments at Washington.
In 1812, Gov. Meigs appointed him Chaplain to the army. He was present in that capacity at the siege of Fort Meigs in 1813, and remained attached to the command of Gen. Harrison dur- ing the war. He then retired to the field of his former labors as a missionary, and for a consid- erable time took the charge of two or more churches, preaching alternately in each. In 1835 he removed from Trumbull county to Wood county, where he lived not only to continue his good work for some years, but to see the fruits of his wide field of labors ripen into a rich har- vest. He died in 1846, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years.
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"His youth was innocent, his riper agc, Marked with some act of goodness, every day;
And watched by eyes that loved him, calm and sage, Faded his late declining years-away. Cheerful he gave his being up. and went To share the holy rest that waits a life well spent."
It will be recollected that Trumbull county, as organized in 1800, embraced within its limits the
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entire territory of the Western Reserve. Her extensive domain since that date has, from time to time, been divided and subdivided into some dozen counties or more. She may therefore be regarded as the mother of a large family of . promising daughters, all of whom are happily settled in life, and of whom she may well be proud. They all seem, like herself, destined to achieve a brilliant future. They have all been bred to habits of honest industry, and have already become rich in "this world's goods," and are still growing richer in the development of their natural resources and by the culture of their mental and moral powers.
The class of men and women, who first settled in Warren and in its adjoining towns, were re- markable for their energy of character and gen- eral intelligence. Many of them came into the. country bringing with them considerable wealth, which they had the wisdom to invest in the pur- chase of large tracts of the best lands and in gener- al improvements. At that early day they consti- tuted the " aristocracy " of the Western Reserve, and gave tone to public sentiment. A score or more of names of distinguished families, who gave distinction to Warren and towns in its vicini- ty, might be mentioned, if it were not invidous to attempt it. Suffice it to say, that their names, their generous deeds, and their exemplary lives
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will never be forgotten, but on the contrary, will ever be cherished and remembered by succeed- ing generations with gratitude and reverent ad- miration.
The county of Ashtabula takes its name from its river. The name is of Indian origin, and sig- nifies "fish river," because the river abounded in fish. This county was organized in 1811, and has now become wealthy. Its population is both enterprising and intelligent. In its politics the county has ever been anti-Democratic. Hence Gov. Wood, in a public speech, applied to it the dusky epithet-" benighted Ashtabula." Its county seat, however, bears the Democratic name of Jefferson.
The township of Jefferson was originally owned by Gideon Granger, of Connecticut, who made the first improvement in it as early as 1804, by procuring ten or twelve acres of its central land to be cleared and sown in wheat. It is on this primitive wheat-field that the village of Jefferson is located. The wheat then raised was excellent, and the town has ever since produced more or less "good wheat " in the quality of its men and women.
Though both the township and village inherit the name of the great patriot, who was not only a philosopher, but the author of the Declaration of American Independence, yet it would seem
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that the shadow of his greatness has had but lit- tle influence in controlling the politics of either the township or village, especially the latter, which has become famous as the home of the late Hon. Joshua R. Giddings and Hon. Benj. F. Wade, the political catapults, who not only threw stones at glass-houses, but shared largely in the work of knocking slavery in the head.
The first white men, who came to the Western Reserve with a view to reside, settled within the present limits of Ashtabula county. They were emigrants from the Eastern States, and accompa- nied the surveying party led by Gen. Cleaveland. They landed, in connection with that party at the mouth of Conneaut creek, on the 4th of July, 1796. The name of Conneaut was given to the creek by the Indians, and signifies in their lan- guage "many fish."
The town of Conneaut is said to be the oldest town in Northern Ohio. Its citizens are enter- prising and intelligent, and do honor to the prim- itive stock from which they are mostly descended. When the forefathers of the town first arrived, they found its site occupied by twenty or thirty Indian cabins, which presented an air of neatness and comfort quite remarkable, and which indi- cated the attainment of a considerable degree of civilization. These Indians were known as the Massauga tribe. Their chief was a man of noble
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bearing, dignified and sedate, and possessed of unusual native talent. He seemed born to command. There were but few white men who could excel him in debate, or in the application of a shrewd and forcible logic. Ilis tribe had occupied the site of Conneaut from time imme- morial. It was a section of country that. fur- nishred them with an abundant supply of fish and wild game-a "lodgment in the vast wilder- ness" to which they had become patriotically at- tached. They were a bold and brave tribe, and loved war as well as their native forest home.
This tribe sent a band of their bravest warriors to the field of battle in 1791, which resulted in the defeat of Gen. St. Clair. On their return they captured two young men, who were strag- glers from St. Clair's army, and brought them to Conneaut, where they were confined for some time, and finally made to run the gauntlet, re- ceiving kicks and blows at every step as is custo- mary on such occasions. The Indians then held a council, and determined that one of the cap- tives, Fitz Gibbon, should be spared, and that the other, whose name is unknown, should be consigned to the flames and be burned to death. They then tied him to a tree, and piled fagots and other combustibles about him, and were pro- cerding to apply the torch, when a young squaw touched with sympathy, if not impelled by a
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still tenderer passion, sprang from the crowd and implored the chief to spare the life of the vic- tim. Her pathetic appeal, her wail and her tears overcame the heart and the resolution. of the chiof, and thus secured the release of the young captive from his imminent peril. If we could trace the sequel of this affair, it is quite probable it terminated in an "affair of the heart," and perhaps in a long and happy do- mestic life, spent in the wilderness.
From evidences which appear in the eastern part of the village of Conneaut, such as ancient mounds, artificial terraces, and elevated squares of level land, over which forest trees, large and aged, had grown prior to the visit of the survey- ing party in 1796, it would seem that this locality had been occupied by a pre-historic race of the human family. Of this fact the evidences are quite, irresistible, and have been accepted by sundry antiquarians as conclusive. In excavat- ing some of these mounds in the year 1800, human bones of gigantic proportions were dis- covered in such a state of preservation as to be accurately described and measured. The cavities of the skulls were large enough in their dimen- sions to receive the entire head of a man of modern times, and could be put on one's head with as much ease as a hat or cap. The jaw- bones were sufficiently large to admit of being
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placed so as to match or fit the outside of a modern man's face. The other bones, so far as discovered, appeared to be of equal proportions with the skulls and jawbones, several of which have been preserved as relics in the cabinets of antiquarians, where they may still be seen.
The grounds where these bones were found are limited to an area in the form of an oblong square, containing about four acres, and bear marks of having been surveyed into lots by lines running north and south, resembling in their general aspect, a modern Christian cemetery. There are many depressions here and there, in the surface of this ancient burial place, which unmistakably indicate graves. The number has been estimated from two to three thousand.
In connection with this marvel the early white settlers discovered tracts of land in the vicinity, which, though covered with a dense forest, ex- hibited traces of having been once occupied by a civilized race, who must have disappeared many centuries before this extensive region of the great Lakes was known to history. Who they were, and what they were, can only be conjectured by the landmarks which they have left behind them. The gigantic dimensions of these bones refute the idea that they were descended from any of the European races known to the Eastern conti- nent, but indicate that there was in the early
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ages a "race of giants on the earth," who have long since become extinct, like the mastodon, the sanrian, and many other huge animals be- longing to the remote geological periods, whose fossil remains are now their only record.
The fact that a race of gigantic men once ex- isted on this continent, is verified by the frequent discoveries of human bones, in several of the Western States, as well as elsewhere, which are very much larger than the skeletons of any race of men known to the historic ages of the world. In the remote age of the mastodon and saurian, both plant life and animal life assumed in many instances, huge proportions, and in all probability included in successive ages huge men who, as well as huge plants, were doomed to disappear from the face of the earth after completing the allotted period of their destiny, in order to make room in accordance with the progressive law of Nature, for new developments, possessing more of the mental and less of the physical in their composition and organization.
In 1829, a tree of the forest near Conneaut was cut down, and a chip which was cut from near the heart of it, bore upon its face the gash of an axe, which it had evidently received at a period when the tree was comparatively but a sapling. In counting the annual rings in the trunk of this tree, which were formed outside of the chip in
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the subsequent growth of the tree, it was found that the number aggregated three hundred and fifty, indicating pretty conclusively that three hundred and fifty years had elapsed since that chip received the blow of the axe which had thus left its mark upon it. If we deduct from the year 1829, the number of annual rings which were counted, it will give us the year 1479, as the year in which the chip received the cut from the ancient axe-a period which extends back to thirteen years prior to the discovery of America by Columbus.
It is generally conceded that there was at some remote period a race of aborigines, occupying portions of our Western wilds, who had acquired the art of manufacturing edge tools of copper, and of so tempering them that they would cut about as well as our modern steel implements. It is therefore quite probable that some one of these Conneaut giants, when living, struck this tree in its infancy with a copper hatchet, inflict- ing the gash still apparent on the chip, and then stayed his hand and concluded to "spare that tree," for some reason which can never be known. Whoever "did the deed" has certainly left behind him an interesting record of his work, which, though inscribed on the tablet of a "chip," may endure perhaps in antiquarian his. tory when prouder memorials, sculptured in
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marble, have crumbled into dust. It is evident the "chip," if not cut from the "old block," was cut by a descendant of the "first man," Adam, and ought at least to be regarded as one of the footprints of the past, to which Longfel- low alludes-
"Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Secing, shall take heart again."
CHAPTER XV.
Harpersfield and its first Settlers-Threatened Famine-Two Heroic Young Men -- One breaks through the Ice -- Deacon Hudson-Church at Austinburg -- Its Wonderful Revival -Antics of its Converts-Infaliibility of Judge Austin- His Decision as to Church Membership.
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A SETTLEMENT was made as early as 1798, at Harpersfield, in the county of Ashtabula. The adventurers consisted of three families, that of Alexander Harper, William McFarland, and Ezra Gregory, all of whom emigrated from the State of New York, and located in the township of Harpersfield, which derives its name from its original proprietor, Alexander Harper. They arrived here in June, after suffering many hard- ships and privations on their long journey. The vessel, which they had chartered to bring their household goods and supply of provisions for the ensning winter, was unfortunately lost in a storm on the Lake, with its entire cargo.
The season had so far advanced when they ar-
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rived at their new home, as to preclude the pos- sibility of clearing land and growing crops to fur- nish them with supplies for the coming winter. In all, there were twenty persons, who must be fed, or die of starvation. They erected for themselves log-cabins, and commenced to clear off the land, which was densely covered with a gigantic growth of forest trees. With the fish and wild game which they caught, they managed to live comfortably until winter, when they found that their corn and other provisions were nearly exhausted. The snow fell to great depths, and the cold became intensely severe. In fact the rivers and smaller streams were so frozen and covered with snow as to become invisible, while the blazed routes of travel were rendered almost impassable by wind-falls of timber and snow- drifts. Thus barricaded in the midst of a vast wilderness, these isolated families began to de- spair, when they looked upon their surroundings and appreciated the fact that their stock of pro- visions was already reduced to a few remaining quarts of corn. Feeling that starvation was lit- erally " staring them in the face," they resolved to prolong life as long as possible, and from day to day parched a part of the corn, allowing to each person but six kernels. In a few days this little store of corn became nearly exhausted. It was impossible, in the midst of the blockade, to
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