USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, (Vol. 1) > Part 11
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The early history of Brecksville is replete with interesting anecdotes. Tom Fitzwater for years played the fiddle for dances and was much in demand. His fiddle box was homemade and resembled a child's coffin. One morning after an all night performance at a dance in which calling off was included as his function in connection with the harmony produced for the occasion, tired and sleepy, his faithful fiddle under his arm, he was "footing it" homeward. His route took him along the tow-path of the canal. Just as the first dim twilight of the morning appeared, he passed the cabin of "Widow Falkner," an aged eccentric character, who lived in a lonely part of the valley. She looked out of the window at the apparition, spied the fiddle box, scented a tragedy, and then with piercing shrieks ex- claimed over and over: "Oh my God what a wretch!" Long afterward Tom was greeted in the store and the blacksmith shop and on the street with "Oh my God what a wretch!" It was suggested that the widow re- ferred to his performances on the fiddle.
Julius Hannum ("Jule") was a practical joker and the life of many occasions. In the days of the Underground Railroad, Carey Oakes had a station at his house. He was strong in his anti-slavery views and harbored escaped slaves and helped them on to Canada. It was his practice to feed and lodge them and as he sent them on to another station, give each one a dollar with his blessing. Jule Hannum blacked up, palmed himself off as a runaway slave and chuckled home with his dollar and his blessing. It is not recorded whether he finally returned the dollar to "Uncle Carey," but the story got out, being too good to keep.
Brecksville was a whig town and a strong supporter of General Har- rison in the days of the log cabin, hard cider campaign. At a great polit- ical rally in the interest of Harrison some one put ipecac in the barrel of cider provided for the occasion. The perpetrator of this act was never found out, but it was generally attributed to John Breck, who later was a strong whig supporter, perhaps by way of atonement. The incident is related in the following lines, which were read before a meeting of The Early Settlers' Association in Cleveland :
The news got dull in harvest time, Most all the reg'lar things were closed, But still serene, in numbers full, We loafers by the counter dozed.
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Well back in eighteen forty's time Sim Joynton turned the evening talk, To when, in presidential year, A campaign took a sudden balk.
Brecksville was strong for Harrison, Van's followers were few but set, Watching the Tipp and Tyler band With vigils we remember yet.
A final rally had been planned To sweep the opposition in And leave Van Buren's following Too dead presumably to skin.
Brecksville was bright on rally night. The campaign cider barrel stood Convenient by the cabin door, Built up of mammoth logs of wood.
And followers of Harrison, Each true and faithful, stalwart whig, Considering the country's weal, Was asked and urged to take a swig.
Around the borders of the crowd The opposition forces strolled As if they contemplated soon To join the Tipp and Tyler fold.
Their interest, it seems, was this : To see how worked the ipecac They'd put into the cider there When Dr. Morgan turned his back.
The meeting grew in magnitude, And time for speaking drew apace, Enthusiasm mounted high Illumining each patriot face.
Oh world, thy slippery turns! the whigs, Who'd worked to throw Van Buren down, Began with unanimity, A throwing up, disgracing town.
With faces pale the patriots drooped, The ipecac had sovereign sway, The rally faded into naught, As fades the glimmering light of day.
The old man mused : It's seventy years, But mem'ry canters easy back To that campaign in forty, when We dosed the whigs with ipecac.
Brecksville has produced many of prominence in various walks of life, who have gone out into fields of usefulness. The most noted I will men-
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tion first, Prof. John N. Stockwell. His biography appears in another volume of this history. At the time of his death, May 18, 1920, at the advanced age of eighty-nine, he was regarded as one of the foremost philosophers and the dean of American astronomers. Gus Heege, who entertained the pupils of the district school as a barefoot boy, with various unusual performances, and who achieved fame and fortune in the char- acter of Yon Yonson on the stage, should be mentioned. Florence Morse (Kingsley), a small child, when her father and mother taught the higher and lower school in the Center district, famous as a writer of books and as an editor of the Ladies Home Journal, deserves special mention. John Wilcox, a successful teacher in the Brecksville schools, sheriff of the county, and at the time of his death, editor of the Cleveland Press; Frank Wilcox, who refused public office, likewise a successful teacher in the Brecksville schools before he engaged in the practice of law in Cleve- land, obtaining an enviable position at the bar. Among the earlier gen- erations, Theodore Breck, who served in the State Senate, as county commissioner, and in other positions of trust, enlarges the list of those who have added greatly to the interest attached to the history of Brecks- ville. Frank Skeels, who was police prosecutor in Cleveland and a lawyer of standing, and Arthur Skeels, a civil engineer of note, both sons of A. K. 'Skeels, who served for many years as justice of the peace, made most creditable records. E. J. Phelps (Ed), prominent in the civic affairs of Minneapolis, Minnesota, always kept up an active interest in the days when he taught school in his native town of Brecksville. Dr. W. A. Knowlton, physician of Brecksville for many years, platform orator of more than local fame, at one time president of the Cleveland Medical As- sociation, now at an advanced age, his wife, Fannie Snow Knowlton, musician and composer, were long identified with the town's activities.
The centennial of the first settlement was celebrated in 1911. This occasion was made interesting by the presence of a large number of former residents, who came from all parts of the land. Its inception came from the Brecksville Association, an organization of former residents that held its meetings in Cleveland for many years. At this centennial Hon. Paul Howland was the orator of the day. A boulder, product of the Glacial Age, which had been placed in the public square, was dedicated, com- memorative of the first settlement.
CHAPTER VII
BROOKLYN
Before it had a name this township was No. 7 of range 13. It orig- inally included all that part of the present City of Cleveland known as the west side. When organized as a township and christened with a name, its northern boundary was Lake Erie, its eastern the Cuyahoga River, its southern was Parma and Independence and its western boundary was Rockport. Like Cleveland Township it was a lake port. It was separated from Cleveland and Newburgh by the Cuyahoga River and the branches of that stream which flowed through its territory were ex- tremely valuable as furnishing mill sites and power. In the division of the Western Reserve the greater part of Brooklyn fell to Samuel P. Lord and Josiah Barber. From these men the original settlers bought their land. Samuel P. Lord purchased originally from the Connecticut Land Company this tract for $14,092, as shown by the records. The date of this transaction was September 5, 1795. Apparently Barber, a brother-in-law, was taken in on the deal later. The land company divided up by agreement all its holdings among its members in various quantities, for various amounts. The largest sum paid being $168,185, for a tract, by one Oliver Phelps. Brooklyn was primarily the Lord and Barber allotment.
A grassy slope overlooking the Cuyahoga River from Riverside Ceme- tery, and known as Granger Hill, is the spot where the first white man settled. Granger was a "squatter" from Canada. The date of his coming is not known. The term "squatter" should be defined for the information of some, who may not understand. The term is used to define one who enters upon land without legal authority, who lives upon land not his own, particularly new land, without title. Granger was there in May, 1812, when James Fish came as the first permanent white settler. The Grangers and a son, Samuel, remained until 1915, when they sold their loose property to Asa Brainard and migrated to the Maumee Valley. Our interest centers, of course, in the first permanent settlers. In men and their achievements everywhere all history centers. Kipling, master of so many forms of expression, puts it in this simple way: "History, rightly understood, means the love of one's fellow men and the land one lives in." James Fish came from Croton, Connecticut, having purchased a tract of land from Lord and Barber. From there in 1811 with an ox team and a lumber wagon, in which rode himself, his three children, his wife and her mother, he set out for the "Far West." He came with a large party of pioneers destined for the Western Reserve. The only ones besides his family who were headed for this township were his two cousins, Moses and Ebenezer Fish, Ebenezer making the entire journey on foot. They arrived in Cleveland early in the fall, having made the journey in forty-seven days. James Fish decided to stop for the winter in Newburgh, while Ebenezer and Moses remained in Cleveland. Early in the spring of 1812, James built a log house on his property, walking back and forth each day from Newburgh while so engaged, a distance of five miles. This house cost him, exclusive
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of his labor, just $18, and in May of that year he moved the family into the new home. Their log cabin was, like others, a rude structure, and its furniture was in keeping with the dwelling. The bedstead, for there was only one at first, was made by Mr. Fish of roughly hewn limbs and saplings fastened with wooden pins, and instead of a bedcord there was a network of strips of bark. This bedstead is still in the possession of his descendants. In this first home in the wilderness of Brooklyn on May 9, 1814, a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Fish, Isaiah W. Fish, the first white child born in Brooklyn.
The man who fires the first shot in a great war and he who leads in a conquest of peace is always an object of interest, and as we write of Brooklyn something of the family of James Fish, the first settler, and of his son Isaiah W., the first white child born in the township, comes to mind. We go back to John Fish, who immigrated from England and settled in Connecticut. His son was Capt. Samuel Fish. The son of Captain Samuel was Capt. John Fish. The son of Captain John was Joseph Fish, father of James Fish, the first settler of Brooklyn and grand- father of Isaiah W., the first white child born in Brooklyn. These titles of captain indicate leadership. James Fish, before coming to Brooklyn, married Mary Wilcox, daughter of Elisha Wilcox of Stonington, Con- necticut, and they had eight children, just a fair number as pioneer families were rated. Mary, James, Elisha and Sally were born in Con- necticut and Isaiah W., Lydia K., Joseph L. and John P. were born in Brooklyn. This first settler died in September, 1875, at the ripe old age of ninety-two. Isaiah W. married in 1837 Matilda Gates, who gave him three children, Lucy A., Charles and Buel B. The mother died in 1850. As his second wife Isaiah married Mary A. More of East Cleve- land, by whom he had three children, Mary M., Louisa S. and James.
The first Brooklyn settler had a farm but no money, and while clear- ing and planting he also worked by the day for farmers in Newburgh to keep the wolf from the door. This is speaking figuratively, for his faithful flint-lock kept the actual wolf from the door. He received 50 cents per day and the day's work was not limited to eight hours. His wife, also, besides the housework, earned for the family support by weaving coverlids, which sold for a goodly sum. She found the sale so good that she was unable to supply the demand. Besides being a good hunter of wild beasts, Mr. Fish was a hunter in another way and expended every effort to rid the new country of rattlesnakes. It is related of one of his farm hands that at one time having a narrow escape from a rattler, he exclaimed : "What a smart thing it was in God Almighty to put bells on them things."
Ebenezer and Moses Fish, who came with James from the East, settled upon eighty acres of land in Brooklyn in 1812. Ebenezer located on the north side of what is now Denison Avenue and Moses on the south side. Neither was then married. Their activity in clearing and planting their land was not lessened by the prospect before them of marriage, a home and family. Both worked hard, living together in a log house or shanty, which was on the land of Ebenezer. Being single they were thus more available for military service. Ebenezer was one of the militiamen who guarded Omic, the Indian who was hung in Cleve- land in 1812. Both served in the forces called to guard the frontier during the first year of the War of 1812. Moses was drafted into the regular service, but not being very strong Ebenezer went in his stead and served six months, taking part in an engagement at Mackinaw Island. Returning, he and Moses took up again together their pioneer work of reclaiming the wilderness. When this work had progressed satisfac-
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torily Ebenezer returned to Connecticut, where he married, and six years later returned to Brooklyn. In the meantime Moses had married, finding a wife to his liking here. Both raised large families. Of the children of Moses, Oziah and Lorenzo, both having families, resided in Brooklyn during their lifetime.
We are now to speak of the Brainards. It is impossible to write an authentic history of Brooklyn without giving considerable space to the Fishes and Brainards. The writer inspected an original poll sheet of an election held in Brooklyn in the early days and with two exceptions the list contained only Fishes and Brainards. At one time the town- ship was populated exclusively by Fishes and Brainards. It was a saying in Cleveland in those days that a visitor to Brooklyn would first meet either a Fish or a Brainard, as the case might be.
In 1813 the Brainards came in augmented numbers. Oziah Brainard with four grown daughters and four grown sons came. The sons were named Oziah, Jr., Timothy, Ira and Bethuel, of whom Oziah, Jr., and Ira had families. They settled on what is now Denison Avenue and all resided in Brooklyn during life. Oziah Brainard, Jr., built the first frame dwelling in Brooklyn and Asa, his son, raised the first frame barn. Its erection in 1818 was the occasion of one of those hilarious raisings that became common in pioneer days. These occasions, so frequent in those days, were unique in that they combined with hard labor a recre- ation that lightened the burden of pioneer life. Asa Brainard also built the first brick house in the township at what is now the corner of Scranton Avenue and Columbus Street. Here he opened the first tavern in 1825. In 1814 the little settlement of Brooklyn was augmented by the arrival of six families from Chatham, Connecticut, comprising forty persons. The heads of these families were Isaac Hinckley, Asa Brainard, Elijah Young, Stephen Brainard, Enos Brainard and Warren Brainard. These men traded their farms in Connecticut with Lord and Barber for land in Brooklyn, then a part of the Township of Cleveland. The terms of the trade are not recorded, but as told in the local history compiled by Crisfield Johnson in 1879: "All set out for that unknown land on the same day. The train consisted of six wagons drawn by ten horses and six oxen and all journied together until Euclid was reached (forty days after leaving Chatham, Connecticut), where Mr. Hinckley rested with his family while the others pushed on to Brooklyn, whither he followed them within a week.
It appears that the trustees of the Township of Cleveland, to which the territory of Brooklyn then belonged, became alarmed at the avalanche of immigrants just described, and concluding that they were a band of paupers for whose support the township would be taxed started a con- stable across the river to warn the invaders out of town. Alonzo Carter, a resident of Cleveland, heard of the move and stopped it, endorsing the good standing of the newcomers-adding that the alleged paupers were worth more money than all of the trustees of Cleveland combined."
Isaac Hinckley settled with his family in the southwest part of the township, on what is now the Schaaf Road, in the heart of a thick forest, "a mile from anybody," as one expressed it. The first table that was used was made by Mr. Hinckley out of an ash tree. He owned 360 acres of land but had no money to buy flour for the family. He offered to mortgage 100 acres for a barrel of flour. The Newburgh miller pre- ferred the flour to the chance of getting the land, and refused. Flour was a commodity that sold readily, but land was a drug on the market. Mr. Hinckley and his family managed to live notwithstanding the lack of flour at the first. He lived on the farm until his death in 1851 at
MAP OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY. PUBLISHED IN 1826
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WARRENSVILLE ORANGE
FE.FFIEL.
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101\10
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the age of seventy-eight. Asa Brainard located near the site of the present City Hospital of Cleveland on Scranton Road, and Stephen Brainard near there. Amos and Jedediah Brainard and a cousin, Jabin, came from Connecticut in 1814. Jedediah, an old man of seventy, died on the way from the hardships of the journey, but Sylvanus, a married son, who had a family of his own, took charge and the survivors continued the journey to Brooklyn.
Amos located on 300 acres in the south part of the township and Sylvanus and Jabin nearby. Amos had three sons and one daughter, Amos B., William, Demas and Philena. These settlements were made in 1818. George and Thomas Aikens, brothers of Mrs. Amos Brainard, came later. Diodate Clark, who came from Connecticut in 1815, was the first male school teacher in Brooklyn. James Sears came in 1817. Jeremiah Gates, originally from Connecticut but later a resident of Delhi, New York, was an early settler. In 1816 he walked all the way to Brooklyn and examined the prospect here. Satisfied with the outlook, he walked back to Delhi and got married. The lure of the woods in the West and the lure of the girl in the East must have been compelling, for he made the roundtrip journey in six weeks. After his marriage, taking his brother Nathaniel into the party, he returned with his bride by an easier way to reach the promised land. They were driven with horse and wagon to Buffalo, where they took a sail vessel for Cleveland. In 1819 Jeremiah and Nathaniel built a sawmill at a point later known as the five-mile lock on the Ohio Canal. The first sawmill was built by Philo Scoville in 1817 on Mill Creek some distance west of the present Brooklyn bridge. About that time a gristmill and other saw- mills added to the industrial upbuilding of the new territory.
The promoters of the colonization of Brooklyn, Richard and Samuel Lord, and Josiah Barber, came as permanent settlers in 1818 and selected the northeastern part of the township for residence, near the mouth of the Cuyahoga. A small volume in the county clerk's office in Cleveland includes two records once required by law, a record of free Negroes and of wolf scalps, for which bounties were paid under the state law. The records in the first half of the book are under the caption, "Record of Black and Mulatto Free Persons," and show that from July 24, 1832, to July 27, 1837, the period covered by the book, 401 free Negroes were registered in this county. It seems that this provision was necessary to prevent such persons from being otherwise carried south to slavery. The first name in the book is that of 'Thornton Kinney, who is described as being light colored, five feet nine and one-half inches tall, twenty-one years old, with a scar on the forehead. He was registered in 1832. He was transferred to the free list of Chicago, Illinois, but came back to Cuyahoga County July 27, 1837, when he was again registered, but under the name of John Kinney. The last person registered, number 401, is Jesse Burwell, "About forty-nine years old, with a scar on the forehead and another above the left eye." The date of registration is March 15, 1834. The record of wolf scalps in the second part of the book, kept under the law which provided a bounty of $4.25 to be paid by the state upon receiving a warrant from the county clerk showing that the wolf scalp had been delivered at his office, began in 1838. The book shows that bounties on nine wolf scalps had been paid. The last entry is for a wolf shot in Brooklyn Township by Epaphras Barber, Jr., September 12, 1846. This wolf was shot near what is now the western terminus of the Superior Street viaduct. Epaphras Barber, Jr., was the grandson of Josiah Barber, who figures so largely on the pages of Cleveland's early
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history, a history in its early stages so closely identified with the Township of Brooklyn.
Edwin and William Foote were early arrivals in the new township. Ansel P. Smith came from Connecticut in 1830 and set up the first wagon shop, later in company with Timothy Standard, an old sea captain, he opened the first store in Brooklyn, just north of the present Brooklyn bridge. John Thorne, a Frenchman, had the first blacksmith shop in town. In this distinction he must share the honors with Asa Ackley, a miller, who opened a blacksmith shop on Walworth Run in 1814.
As the population increased from the first settlement in a geometric ratio, it becomes impossible in the limits of this history to mention only the very early arrivals. These, however, are most interesting in Brook- lyn, as they and their descendants remained, perhaps in a larger per- centage than those of any other part of the county as fixed inhabitants. As the forest trees gave way to productive farms and gardens, the family trees remained, so unlike the savage nomads who preceded them. These names will be recognized as ancestral by a multitude of the present resi- dents of Brooklyn and Cuyahoga County.
Brooklyn Township was organized in 1818 and originally contained all of the territory of Cleveland west of the river excepting a farm owned by Alfred Kelly. When the meeting to organize was held, Capt. Oziah Brainard proposed the name of Egypt "because, like Egypt, so much corn was raised here," but his name was rejected and after considerable discussion the name Brooklyn was adopted, not, as was averred, to honor Brooklyn, New York, but because the name "sounded well." As the records were destroyed by fire, the names of the first officers cannot be ascertained. Out of this territory brought under the township organiza- tion in 1818 have developed many municipalities, which have grown in wealth and power to be finally turned over to Greater Cleveland. Ohio City, West Cleveland, Brooklyn Village, South Brooklyn or Brighton have been formed from its territory, developed and annexed to Cleveland, Lindale and Brooklyn Heights Village, so formed, still exist as separate municipalities, and yet the passing of Brooklyn Township is not yet completed, in small acrea it still exists. A portion of the original terri- tory, in the southeast corner, constitutes the present township. The officers are George J. Robinson, F. O. Wittich, H. W. Bredenbeck, trus- tees ; U. G. James, clerk ; F. H. Vogel, treasurer ; August Lang, assessor ; Charles Brenner, justice of the peace, and Robert Lainge, constable.
Before leaving the subject of the original township to discuss, in brief, the municipalities that have been formed from its territory, an incident in connection with the Battle of Lake Erie, showing how vital to their welfare the settlers deemed the success of Commodore Perry in that battle, may be of interest. At the time of the battle James Fish was cutting logs on his farm and the roar of the cannon could be distinctly heard. Thinking of the possible result and how they would lose their hard earned homesteads should victory be against Perry, he became so nervous that he quit work and entered the cabin where the women were engaged in household duties. They knew. nothing of the desperate con- test that was raging so close to them and exclaimed: "How it does thunder !" "Yes," replied Fish, "but it's home-made thunder."
At some time in our history, and this may be an appropriate time, we wish to digress for a little and speak of a characteristic feature of nearly all histories, particularly those that treat of pioneer life. Most of these histories are written by men and seemingly they have been somewhat partial to their own sex, giving women a subordinate place. Now that
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