A history of Cleveland and its environs; the heart of new Connecticut, Part 15

Author: Avery, Elroy McKendree, 1844-1935; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, New York The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 904

USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland and its environs; the heart of new Connecticut > Part 15

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ruary a draft of 150 men was sent to New Lon- don. My captain was sent and I was taken with him as drummer. My captain was sie- pnen Hall of Guilford, father of Gen. Amos Hall, of Bloomneld. This captain that went to New London was the same that 1 enlisted under, but had been promoted to captain or another company. 1 was stationed at Groton Fort till the troops were recalled to join the grand army in the May following, at or near Fishkill. About the first week of July fol- lowing there was a brigade of infantry taken out of the army, Captain Chamberlain was taken from our regiment. 1 belonged to Colo- nel Swift's regiment. The infantry i was put into was commanded by Colonel Meigs. General Wayne commanded the brigade of in- fantry and the lbth of July marched from Sandy Beach, about six miles below West Point Fort, through the woods back of the Highlands about fourteen miles down the river to Stony Point Fort, and on the 16th in the morning stormed the fort, made prisoners of the garrison and captured the contents, which consisted of about 600 men, twelve pieces of artillery, magazine, etc. This brigade lay in the tents until the 31st of December, then it broke up and the troops from the different states returned to their respective regiments from which they were taken. The Connecticut troops were haited in Morristown Wood, New Jersey, where i found my old company. 'This was a very cold and destroying winter, both on account of the severity of the weather and the want of provisions and clothing for the army. About the last of March I was put on the line with a large body of troops at the town of Springfield, where my term of enlist- ment expired. Here I received an honorable discharge from the army and returned home to my father's family in Connecticut in the year 1780, in the twenty-first year of my age. But it was not long before I was drafted in the militia for a short time and my father was drafted also. He being a non-commissioned officer in the household band I thought it my duty to go in his stead. Accordingly I went for him for about two weeks."

On the 20th of December, 1780, Samuel Blakeslee married Phebe Curtis, at Walling- ford. They had nine children: Osi, born November 24, 1781; Samuel, born November 17, 1783; Asenath, born June 4, 1785; Joel, born August 13, 1787; Phebe, born . October 30, 1789; Federal, born January 25, 1792; Gad, born June 13, 1794; Lois Ives, born Octo- ber 12, 1796; John Adams, born June 4, 1799.

CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS

For about eighteen months after his marriage he lived with his father in a part of the old home, and then moved to Colebrook. He had previously taken a farm of new land for ten years from Mr. Isaac Ogden. Mr. Ogden built a fine house and barn and it was the agreement that Mr. Blakeslee should clear and cultivate twenty-five acres, put out an orchard, take care of it, pay the taxes and leave it at the end of ten years. He cleared and finished the other items of the agreement in five years, and was able to buy five acres a mile south, where he built a small house, barn and sawmill. Even after settling down to the quiet vocation of farming his military service was by no means ended. About a year after he located at Cole- brook he was appointed drum major in the Twenty-fifth Regiment of the militia and filled that station ten or twelve years. Subsequently he was chosen lieutenant of the 117 men com- manded by Capt. Samuel Mills, and served one year. On the promotion of Captain Mills he was chosen almost unanimously as captain of the company. A year later he was made cap- tain of a light infantry company, and had charge of this for six years. During this time he sold his farm and bought a much larger and better place in the north part of the town. In the early years of the century he again volun- teered for service in the west against the Brit- ish and Indians, but did not reach the scene of action. He was also appointed to the Thir- teenth Regiment of the Army of the United States, and was stationed at Hebron, and raised a company which joined the regiment at New Haven. During his service with the military of Connecticut he was an adjutant two years, was then appointed first major and two years later became colonel. About that time he was elected a representative to the General Assembly and while in the Legislature resigned his position in the army, which, after considerable delay, was granted. He was re- elected for a second term in the Assembly. About that time he sold his property in Cole- hrook and moved his family to Avon. Ontario County, now Livingston, New York. That was the home of his later years. He left Colebrook .Januarv 26th and arrived at Avon, then Hart- ford. February 12. 1808. His first wife died there November 29, 1812, and on December 11tb he married the widow of John Pearson.

When the second war with Great Britain came on Colonel Blakeslee felt a reviving of the old Revolutionary spirit. He was chosen captain of a company of Home Guards, made up of men exempt from regular military duty.

But when the alarm came from the west he and his men started toward Buffalo, and as his previous military experience made him a nat- ural leader he was in course of time made lieu- tenant colonel of the New York Volunteers. Thus it happened that he was one of the prin- cipal officers in command at the historic en- gagement known as Black Rock. The chief incidents of this campaign which he noted in his personal record deserve quotation.

"During our stay on parade there had been several unsuccessful detachments sent down to Black Rock. A body of British troops and Indians had landed that evening and lay in ambush. These detachments of militia had been sent down at the flash of a few British guns. A few wounded men fled back into the woods. About 4 o'clock on the morning of December 30, 1813, I was ordered to march my regiment to the Rock and do the best I could but be sure to keep good my flanks. I had never been at the Rock, the night was dark, and I requested a pilot. A brave Sergeant .Smith volunteered his services and led me safely into the field of slaughter. A little be- fore I halted my regiment I met Colonel Cha- pin, who had been unsuccessful with his de- tachment. Of him I got information that a small party of British were landed and were in ambush, and, being by some circumstance convinced that there were but few of them, was very urgent that I should destroy them. We went on until the British fired a few shots on a party of horsemen which was about twenty rods in my front. The regiment was in two battalions, the first commanded by my- self and the second by Major Gardner. In this

situation I called a council of war.

It was agreed best to attack the British and not wait for them to attack us. The plan of operation was this, that I should march the first battalion with charged bayonets and not fire until we had landed our bayonets among the British soldiery, and as soon as I had left the ground Major Gardner was to march his battalion on to the ground that I had left and stand ready to take the second charge in case I failed in the first. I gave my orders accord- ingly. The men being prepared I gave the order shoulder arms. This plan had it been pursued would have been very rash and I would have lost myself and my regiment. At the instant I was going to give the word charge and march Captain Rowlev stepped from the ranks to me and very politely said, 'Colonel, we are willing to fight, but would it not be more prudent to wait a few minutes, it is

CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS

almost daybreak, and then we can better know how to fight and what we are fighting.' I thought his observations good and embraced them and waited for daylight, which soon came.

"While we were waiting some of the artil- lery from both sides of the river began to play. The British threw hot shot, spherical and bomb shells, which made a grand military display. I continued my position for about twenty min- utes, when an express arrived from General Hall for me to return, for the British boats were discovered to be crossing the river above us and to meet them if possible at the water's edge. I immediately wheeled off my regiment by platoons and with a forced march met them a few rods from the shore and poured in such a shower of balls among them that out of three boat loads, sixty men in each, there were but about fourteen left that were not killed or wounded. Here I lost a few men. The Brit- ish and Indians that I had left behind rose from their ambush and followed me to this place. After destroying the men in the boats I faced the regiment about and attacked them in good earnest. These were, according to the best information 1 can get, about 800 British and 200 Indians. A number of brave men joined in the action from other regiments that had been scattered in the night. This attack on the British and their attack on us continued one hour but we being overpowered by num- ber and discipline a retreat became necessary, which was made in much confusion. The Brit- ish set fire to the village of Black Rock and marched to Buffalo, which they pillaged and partly burned and then recrossed to Canada. My men being scattered, the most of them hav- ing gone home, I had no command and stayed at Eleven Mile Creek the next day. The day following, which was the 1st of January, 1814, the British troops came over and destroyed the remainder of Buffalo, but for want of men and ammunition on our part there was but little fighting done and but two or three killed on either side. About 11 o'clock in the evening I set out for home, where I arrived safely in about three days."

That Colonel Blakeslee was a very stanch and cool soldier has abundant evidence. Dur- ing the battle of Black Rock the commanding British officer, about eight rods distant, ob- served Colonel Blakeslee on horseback and or- dered a volley of balls to be fired in his direc- tion, saying, "If that old devil lives we shall lose the day; kill him and the day is ours." His orders were obeyed, but the shot went by

the American colonel except for a minor wound in the foot. Some women who were taken prisoners with the British were asked "what old man that was that fought so like the devil at Black Rock?" The reply was that it was Colonel Blakeslee, commanding a regi- ment of Federals from Ontario County. The British officer, as these women were being re- turned, said: "Give my compliments to the old gentleman and tell him that I would rather fight three democrat regiments than one Fed- eral, for they fight more like devils than men."

Only a partial record of the children of Col. Samuel Blakeslee can be given. His oldest child, Osi, died suddenly at Chardon, in Geauga County, Ohio. Joel removed from Connecticut to Colebrook, Ashtabula County, in 1819, and died there in 1863, leaving three sons, Samuel, Lemuel and John Adams. Asenath married at Avon, New York, a Mr. Merrill. Phebe married a Mr. Fenn and they lived at Medina, Ohio. Federal married Miss Whaley and lived at Conneaut, Ohio. Gad married a Miss Brown, of Caledonia, New York, and they had a son Frank and a daugh- ter Eliza.

Samuel, a son of Colonel Samuel, and grand- father of the late John R. Blakeslee, of Cleve- land, married Rowhannah Loomis. They had two children, Aurelia, who died in infancy, and Samuel. This Samuel was three months of age when his mother died, and in 1815 the father married the widow of James Applebee, of Franconia, New Hampshire. Her maiden name was Abigail Whitmore, and she had two sons by her first marriage, Calvin and Gillman Applebee.

In 1817 Samuel Blakeslee brought his fam- ily to Conneaut, Ohio, and he spent the rest of his life there. His second wife died in Jan- mary, 1864, and he passed away in the follow- ing May. By his second marriage there were six children : Orville, born November 6, 1816; Amelia, born March 4, 1818; Harriet, born March 6, 1820; Eliza M., born January 13, 1823; Maria A., born in October, 1825; and Chauncey, born in 1826.

Samuel Blakeslee, grandson of Colonel Sam- uel and father of John R., grew up in Con- necticut in the home of his Aunt Aurelia Loomis. September 12, 1835, he married Ma- ria Antoinette Van Cott, of Long Island. They lived at Torringford, Connecticut. They were the parents of ten children: Aurelia Ann, born April 3, 1837, married Warren Booker, had thirteen children, and died Angust 31, 1885; Sara Louisa, born August 10, 1839, mar-

CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS

ried George Bentley, of Goshen, Connecticut, and had six children; Samuel A., born August 7, 1841, and died in 1850; John Rollin (see below) ; Ransom S., born October 2, 1845, mar- ried Elizabeth Meyers, of Charlotte, North Carolina; Martha Elizabeth, born December 18, 1847, died at Torringford, Connecticut, February 25, 1908 ; Charles Samuel, born Jan- uary 19, 1851, died October 9, 1894; Theodore Chauncy, born September 19, 1853, became a resident of Northern Ohio in 1873 and died in Cuyahoga County December 28, 1892; Char- lotte Augusta, born July 10, 1856, married Ed- ward Bronson and lived at Waterbury, Con- necticut ; and George Franklin, born July 21, 1859, has his home at the old homestead in Connecticut. Samuel, the father of these chil- dren, died June 25, 1865, and his widow passed away May 1, 1893.

John Rollin Blakeslee was born at Winstead, Connecticut, September 15, 1843, and died at his home, 11118 St. Clair Avenue, in Cleve- land, November 9, 1906, at the age of sixty- three. He grew up on a farm, had a district school education, and at the age of eighteen enlisted in the Second Connecticut Regiment as a private. He was in the Union army until the close of the war. For about five years after his military service he was employed by A. S. Upson in The Upson Nut & Bolt Company, at Unionville, Connecticut. He then came west to Indianapolis, Indiana, from there went to Youngstown, Ohio, and became permanently identified with Cleveland in 1878. In Cleve- land he went into the machinery business on the West Side, starting in a small shop on the flats. This business was conducted as The Blakeslee Manufacturing Company, but in 1892 he reorganized and incorporated as The Ajax Manufacturing Company. Since 1898 this important Cleveland industry has been located at Lakeside Avenue and East Thirty- eighth Street.

John R. Blakeslee was an active business man for upwards of forty years. In 1904 he sold his interests in the company to his son and Harris Creech, and spent the last two years of his life retired.

John R. Blakeslee was a man of exceptional executive ability, forceful in everything he undertook, and as an individual he contrib- uted no small share to the industrial life of Cleveland. He was not inclined to seek the honors of public affairs. Aside from his two terms of service as mayor of Glenville, an office that was forced upon him by his friends, he steadfastly declined any active participa-

tion in politics. At one time a movement was started to make him the republican nominee for mayor of Cleveland, but that and every other similar movement he completely discoun- tenanced. Ile had many tried and trusted friends, was widely known in the Masonic or- der, but after his business his home was his chief delight. In Masonry he was affiliated with Terion Lodge and was a member of the Roadside Club.

John R. Blakeslee married Miss Ada E. McDowell, at Cleveland, on February 15, 1872, on her eighteenth birthday. She was the daughter of Robert and Margaret Susanna (Morton) McDowell, her mother still living at the age of eighty-two. Mrs. Blakeslee was born and reared in Cleveland. She is the mother of two children : Edna, the wife of F. S. Burgess, who lives with her mother; and John Robert, now head of the business founded by his father, and mentioned below.

JOHN ROBERT BLAKESLEE, now president of The Ajax Manufacturing Company, one of the most substantial industries of Cleveland, is a son of the late John Rollin Blakeslee, founder of this industry, a sketch of whose career and family appears on preceding pages.

The son was born at Cleveland August 1, 1875, and received his early education in the Bolton School and the Central High School. There were no tastes or inclinations to lead him away from his father's business and on leaving high school he learned the machinist's trade in every detail in his father's factory. To supplement this practical knowledge he at- tended the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland for one year, and then returned to his father's establishment, spending a year in the drafting room.

For about six years he traveled all over the United States, Canada and Mexico, represent- ing the business, and following that for about two years was general manager of the com- pany. In September, 1904, he and Mr. Harris Creech bought the controlling interest in the business from the senior Mr. Blakeslee, and John Robert Blakeslee was then made presi- dent, Mr. Creech vice president and treasurer, offices which they respectively hold to the present time. The secretary is C. K. Dissette and the general manager H. D. Heman. The Ajax Manufacturing Company has an exten- sive plant on Lakeside Avenue and Thirty- eighth Street, and employs about 250 men. Its special lines are the manufacture of hot metal working machinery. The company maintains

CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS

offices also in New York and Chicago. Mr. he was appointed by President Grant as libra- Creech, the vice president, is also president of The Garfield Savings Bank Company, of Cleveland. Mr. Blakeslee is president of The Farrell Brake & Manufacturing Company.

He is a business man of broad interests and has many special relations with his home city, is a member of the Mayfield Club, Shaker Heights Country Club, Cleveland . Athletic Club, Cleveland Automobile Club, belongs to the Zeta Psi fraternity, and in politics is a republican.

October 10, 1900, he married Miss Florence E. Shumway, daughter of George C. and Ellen (Utley) Shumway, both of whom are now de- ceased. Her father was an old and prominent settler of Glenville. Mrs. Blakeslee was born at Glenville, was a graduate of the Central High School of Cleveland and also of the Lake Erie College. Mr. and Mrs. Blakeslee have one son, Jack McDowell Blakeslee, who was born in Cleveland. His recreation from busi- ness Mr. Blakeslee finds in golf, shooting, fish- ing and motoring.

WILLIAM SINTON FITZGERALD, director of law of the City of Cleveland, has been a mem- ber of the Cleveland bar since 1904. He pos- sesses exceptional attainments both as a law- yer and as speaker, and has become one of the recognized leaders among the younger element of the republican party in Northern Ohio.

Both his father and grandfather were sol- diers. His grandfather was David FitzGer- ald, Sr., who was born in Montreal, Canada. In early life he entered the British army, serv- ing as a subaltern with the Forty-fourth Reg- iment of English Infantry. He died when still in the army at Bombay, and was buried in the English cemetery in that city. His death occurred at the early age of thirty- three.

David FitzGerald, Jr., father of the Cleve- land lawyer, was born at London, England, June 8, 1843. He was graduated from Trin- ity College of England, and was qualified as a civil engineer. Coming to the United States in the early '60s, he had been here only a short time when he offered his services to the Union army. He acted as General Bel- knap's adjutant until severely wounded. He was struck in the thigh by a shell and never fully recovered from that wound. However, he lived for many years, though always suf- fering poor health, and he died at Washing- ton, D. C., October 13, 1897. After the war

rian of the War Department Library, and filled that office nearly thirty years. David FitzGerald, Jr., married Miss Esther Sin- ton, who is now living at Cleveland with her only son and child. She was born at Jed- burgh, Scotland, and her father, Thomas Sin- ton, was a contractor and built many bridges in Scotland, where he developed a large busi- ness. He was a native of Scotland but spent his last years in Keokuk, Iowa.

William Sinton FitzGerald was born at the City of Washington October 6, 1880, and was educated in the public schools there, grad- uating from high school in the class of 1897. He then entered the law department of the Columbian University at Washington, where he completed the course and received the de- gree LL. B. in June, 1903. The following year he continued a post-graduate course and was awarded a Master of Laws degree.

Admitted to the bar in the District of Co- lumbus in 1904, Mr. FitzGerald in the same year came to Ohio and was admitted to the Ohio bar. He practiced law in Washington until October, 1904, and since that date has practiced at Cleveland. His thorough qual- ifications as a lawyer, together with the in- creasing experiences, have brought him many of the more substantial successes of the able lawyer. He served as one of the two county examiners whose duty it was to examine all contracts wherein the county was interested. He was appointed to this position by the Court of Common Pleas, to which his reports were made. He also served as special coun- sel for the state to the attorney general of Ohio. Mr. FitzGerald was appointed director of law of Cleveland under the Davis admin- istration, and began his official term of two years on January 1, 1916.

Mr. FitzGerald was orator of the day at the Mckinley day banquet January 29, 1906, and at the fifth Mckinley banquet on Jan- uary 29, 1908, he acted as toastmaster. Among the guests at that banquet was President Wil- liam H. Taft. His powers and talents as a public speaker have made him widely known. He has been a delegate to several county and state conventions of the republican party and in 1907 served as chairman of the Cuyahoga County Republican League. In the fall of 1912 he was elected a councilman from the Eleventh Ward, and during his two terms of service in that position was minority leader in the council.

Mr. FitzGerald and his mother reside at

CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS

the New Amsterdam Hotel. He is a member of the University Club, and the Tippecanoe Club, the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, the Cleveland Automobile Club, belongs to the Lawyers Club Obiter, is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa. In religion he is a Presbyterian.

STANLEY L. McMICHAEL, secretary of the Cleveland Real Estate Board, was born at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, December 9, 1879, son of Charles P. and Annie L. Mc- Michael. His father as a young man was one of the 48,000 Canadians who enlisted in the Northern Army at the time of the Civil war. After serving in the ranks for some months he was attached to a cavalry command sent to suppress Indian uprisings in the Black Hills of the Dakotas, and until his death in 1912 he was a pensioner of the Grand Army of the Republic. At different times he was engaged on an extensive scale in the laundry and dairy business.

Stanley L. McMichael received his educa- tion in the public and high schools of Hamil- ton and at the age of seventeen became asso- ciated with The Crystal Palace Concert Com- pany of London, England, in the capacity of reader and entertainer, touring a consider- able number of the Canadian provinces for several years. Having acquired some news- paper experience during the summer months, he went in September, 1901, to Windsor, On- tario, to become city editor of the Windsor Herald, filling the position for some time. until accepting a place on the editorial staff of The Detroit Tribune. Later he was on the staff of The Detroit News. but removed to Cleveland in December, 1905, to join the staff of The Cleveland Plain Dealer, with which publication he was connected in various edi- torial positions until November 1, 1911.

At that date Mr. McMichael was appointed the first regular secretary of the Cleveland Real Estate Board. During his term as sec- retary of the board Mr. McMichael has seen it grow in membership from a little than 100 to 700, making it the second largest real estate board in the world. The board is con- sidered one of the most aggressive in the coun- try, and Mr. McMichael is unusually well known as a representative of the real estate business in the City of Cleveland as well as generally throughout the country.

He was responsible for the formation of The Canadian Club of Cleveland in 1915 and was its first president. He is a Mason, having Vol. II-6

become affiliated with Palestine Lodge No. 357 of Detroit in 1904 and has continued his membership in the same lodge ever since. He is a member of The Cleveland Rotary Club, The Council of Sociology and The Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, 'as well as various other organizations.

He organized the secretaries of real estate boards into an association in 1914 and was its first president. He was also an organizer of The Cleveland Secretaries Association, made up of secretaries of public and semi-public organizations.

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A history of Cleveland and its environs; the heart of new Connecticut, Part 15

Author: Avery, Elroy McKendree, 1844-1935; Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Chicago, New York The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 904

Author: Avery, Elroy McKendree, 1844-1935; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, New York The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 904