USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, (Vol. 1) > Part 32
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After the building of the Presbyterian Clunch at the Center, it was difficult for the ministers to find their way to the house of the Lord through the thinly populated woods of Solon, There was no resident minister. Professor Kenben Nuffing, of Western Reserve College, Hud son, who occasionally preached there, got belated one cool Saturday night in the fall while on his way there, and got completely lost within a mile of his destination. He wandered around for some time and finally became safished that he must wait for daylight. He was a believer in the in- junction that one must keep his feet warm and his head cool in sleeping ;. He had no trouble with the latter proposition, for it was a cold night. But as to the feet. After hitching his house to a free, he cut his comforter in two, wrapped the halves about las feet, put a foot in each saddle bag. where reposed the sermon, and slept in the dryest place he could find. The next morning, much exhausted, he found his way to the meeting house, but was too much used up to preach, He recovered sufficiently. however, to preach in the afternoon, showing the pioneer spirit. It was not until 1810 that Solon was far enough advanced to support a store. The hist store in the town was opened that year by Capt. Archibald Robbins, son of Capt, Jason Robbins, the first settler. Capt. Archibald, the son, came many Years after the father, Capt. Jason. It seems appro- priate here to discuss the dramatic history of this sea captain, son of a sea captain, who was the first settler of Solou, of Capt. Archibald Robbins. who settled down as the first storekeeper of Solon, enamored of its quiet. uneventful but attractive reaction from a life filled with most uncommon
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experiences. Two books in the Cleveland Public Library cover much of this history, one a large illustrated volume of over 600 pages, by Capt. James Riley, under whom Captain Robbins once served as a scaman, and another by Capt. Archibald Robbins himself. In his book Captain Robbins relates that he was born in the town of Wethersfield, Connecti- cut, a pleasant and fertile town situated on the west side of the Connecticut River, that the date of his birth was November 19, 1792. He remained at home until twelve years of age, when he went to Middlebury, Vermont, in which town he relates is situated a university which begins to rank among the first in New England. He thus spent three winters in getting a common school education. At the age of fifteen he was employed as a sailor on a vessel partly owned by his father. On the fourth voyage, which was in 1813, and during the War of 1812, he was captured by the British frigate Surprise and landed at St. Bartholomew, a neutral port. After some time he was returned by a cartel to New York. On a fifth voyage from New Haven the vessel was captured by a British squadron and he was taken to Halifax. He was there about two months but apparently was not confined as a prisoner and took passage on a Swedish vessel for St. Bartholomew, having entrusted to his care certain merchan- dise by merchants of New York. On the return trip he was captured by the British brig Borer and again sent to Halifax. Here he was confined as a prisoner on the island of Melville until the close of the war. After getting home from prison he found himself familiar with only one occu- pation and he shipped as a sailor on a new vessel, the brig Commerce, under the command of Capt. James Riley. The first mate was George Williams, second mate Aaron R. Savage, and the crew consisted of William Porter, Thomas Burns, James Clark and himself. They sailed for New Orleans with a small cargo, the object being to get freight for the foreign market. At New Orleans they took on a cargo of flour and tobacco for Gibraltar. They landed in Gibraltar in just forty-five days. Here they took on a cargo of brandy and wine for New York and were wrecked on the African coast between twenty-six and twenty-seven north latitude. This occurred about 10 o'clock at night, August 28, 1814. It is the details of the wreck and the subsequent experiences of the officers and crew that are set forth in the two volumes mentioned. While the boat lay helpless on a reef, Captain Riley, who had reached shore in a small boat, was seized by the natives, a wild tribe on the Barbary coast. His life was saved by the sending of a bucket full of gold coin from the vessel, but this was only temporary, as the natives were treacherous and attempted to hold him longer, but he escaped by plunging into the sea and returned to the vessel, which was rapidly breaking up. The sufferings of the crew as they attempted to escape in the long-boat are told, how they sailed for seven days, suffering from hunger and thirst, and finally landed on the coast of Africa but farther south. Here they were captured by a tribe of Arabs and made slaves. They were divided up and Robbins became the slave of Ganus. He kept something of a record and fixes the date of the beginning of his slavery at September 8, 1815. This was on the Desert of Sahara. He relates that his master led him off to the camels stationed at a small distance in the keeping of two young women, who afterwards proved to be his sisters. The details of his suffering are most harrowing. He tied knots in a string to keep track of the days. The Arabs were all Mohammedan and their slaves were Christian dogs. After eighteen days as a slave, this free-born son of New England as- sumed to have been converted to Mohammedanism, but it only mitigated in some degree his condition. Williams and Barrett were stolen from their masters by other Arabs but recovered, for it was said a slave was about the only piece of property that an Arab would not give up. The
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slaves were not permitted to have much clothing, but his master per- mitted Robbins to use the colors of the brig. Robbins cut a hole in the flag so that it would slip over his head and form a cloak and said this was the first American flag ever hoisted on the Sahara Desert. Escape was impossible, as death by thirst was as sure as would have been death by drowning in attempting to escape in mid-ocean. Various white slaves would often meet on the desert and Robbins met a Spaniard who had been a slave seven years. Robbins' second master was Mahomet Meaarah and his mistress Fatima. When sold, Ganus had taken off his trousers and the new master expressed the same resentment that the purchaser of a horse might have if the original owner tried to keep the halter. At this time he lived mostly on wild locusts. Meaarah was not a nomad and lived near the ocean. He was next sold by Meaarah to a wandering Arab, whose name was Hamet Webber and went with a caravan. By this time he had learned the habits and language of the Arabs, and to show the adaptability of the New Englander was comparatively happy, except that he was a slave. The previous hardships and privations made his present lot seem exceedingly pleasant. He was sold by Hamet Webber to a chief named Bel Cossim, who already had five black slaves and several wives. This transaction was consummated at a town called the capital of the Sahara. Here he found a shipmate, Porter, who had become the slave of a wealthy merchant and had begun negotiations for a ransom. He was here eleven months. Bel Cossim had been the owner of many white slaves, whom he had held for large ransoms. An Arab of a tribe called Shilluh began negotiations for the purchase of Robbins. Bel Cossim offered to sell for $200, but the Shilluh only offered $150. Bel Cossim said the money was sent for a ransom, but the Shilluh said he only wanted to buy Robbins for his own slave. Cossim came down to $175, but the Shilluh rode off. The Shilluh country was under the dominion of the Emperor of Morocco, and at Mogadore, a seaport town of Morocco, there lived an English merchant by the name of Willshire, who had become very wealthy and used his wealth in freeing many of the white slaves. As soon as he heard of one among the Arab tribes he began negotiations for his ransom. Robbins wrote to Mr. Willshire and to the Spanish Consul at Mogadore. The Shilluh, it seems, was an agent of Mr. Willshire, and he returned and completed the purchase or ransom. He was only negotiating with the thought of getting the best bargain possible. The book of Captain Riley was published in 1817 and was widely read at the time. Captain Robbins' book was published in 1851, after he had lived for many years the quiet life in the new township where he was honored and respected. He followed the sea for many years after the shipwreck and slavery, was in chief command of various vessels. He kept store at Chagrin Falls for a few years and then came to Solon, where he died in 1859 at the age of sixty-seven. Besides his store at the Center, he conducted an ashery where he made black salts and pearl ash, which brought money to the growing township.
By 1840 pioneer times seems to have ended and the township of Solon took on the appearance of a cultivated country. Frame houses took the place of log ones, as in other townships, roads and byroads were improved and made more passable. The ox team was still much used, but horses attached to light vehicles were seen and were beginning to be used in the heavy farm work. The wild denizens of the wood had given place to flocks and herds of the farmer. Matches were used instead of the tinder box and the family album appeared on the parlor table with family pictures done in chemicals. A small village grew up at the Center, where the farmers sold a portion of their products ; the market of growing
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Cleveland took more. There was a steam sawmill at the Center before the Civil war, built by John Anderson, which was later owned by John Cowen. Later another was operated in connection with a cheese box factory by Calvin Gilfert. When the Civil war came the first detachment of re- cruits from Solon joined the Twenty-third Ohio, President Hayes' regi- ment, then Colonel Hayes. Each man was presented on leaving with a pistol by the patriotic ladies of Solon. An incident growing out of this presentation of pistols shows with what intense favor these gifts were regarded. Corporal Sheridan E. Bull, son of Lorenzo Bull, was seriously wounded at Antietam. He fell just as the regiment was compelled to give way before a sudden assault of the enemy. He carried one of the pistols which he had marked with his initials S. E. Bull. Seeing the enemy advance, he hastily dug a hole and buried it where he was stretched upon the ground. One of his comrades noticed the act and made a survey of landmarks around the spot. Both men were captured and Bull died in prison from his wounds. The other soldier, named Henry, recovered and was exchanged. Sixteen years later Mr. Henry, then principal of the public schools at Coshocton, Ohio, revisited the battlefield, located the spot where the pistol was buried and dug it up. The rusty weapon was sent to L. S. Bull, who was at that time postmaster at Solon.
An important event in the development of Solon was the building diagonally through the township of the Cleveland branch of the Atlantic & Great Western Railway. The depot, which was built a short distance northwest of the Center, soon drew the village in that direction. In 1878 a narrow gauge railroad was built from Chagrin Falls to Solon. As indicating the growth of the town, at this time Solon Center had four general stores, one drug store, one tin shop, one hotel, two blacksmith shops, one shoe shop and one steam sawmill.
As has been stated, a Congregational or Presbyterian Church was organized in Solon in 1834. This was brought about by Rev. John Seward of Aurora. The first members were Joseph and Amanda Patrick, hus- band and wife; Baxter and Hannah Clough, husband and wife; Samuel and Betsey Gerrish, husband and wife; John Moore, his mother and sister Prudence; Asa and Susan Stevens. husband and wife: R. M. and Nancy Hanford, husband and wife; William Pillsbury and wife and Horace Merry. Asa Stevens was one of the first deacons. Before the frame church was built the meetings were held at the house of Mrs. Morse, northwest of the Center. For eleven years the church had no settled pastor, the pulpit being filled by students from Western Reserve College and by readers. In 1845 the organizer, Rev. John Seward, became the permanent pastor. Rev. James Webster was pastor in the '80s. The Disciples of Solon held meetings in 1840 and November 29th of the following year a church was organized with thirteen members. Among the ministers who have for a shorter or longer time served this church have been : J. H. Rhoads, J. H. Jones. T. B. Knowles, James A. Garfield, H. W. Everest, John Smith. O. C. Hill, John Atwater, A. B. Green and C. W. Henry. Among the elders have been L. S. Bull and H. P. Boynton and C. S. Carver. T. H. Baldwin, M. J. Roberts and W. W. Robbins have served as deacons and F. H. Baldwin, W. W. Robbins and J. J. Little as trustees. The Methodist Church that began holding meetings at the Ledge in 1840, and then in the schoolhouse at the Center, built a house of worship in 1854. Among the pastors have been Reverends Vernon, R. Latimer and Burgess.
The names of the trustees of the township who have served in the first sixty years of the civil life of the township include some family names known over the county: Samuel Glasier, James M. Hickox, Jarvis
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McConoughy, William Higby, Ralph Russell, S. M. Hickox, J. S. Patrick, Theodore S. Powell, Morris Bosworth, Obadiah B. Judd, Ebenezer Gove, Daniel Morse, Caleb R. Fletcher, Joel Seward, Simeon T. Shepard, San- ford H. Bishop, S. H. Smith, W. W. Richards, L. S. Bull, H. W. Hart, E. Cook, C. R. Fletcher, Simon Norton, Henry E. March, Leander Cham- berlin, William R. Sill, Richard Dewey, Francis Pettibone, Robert Smith, C. R. Smith, W. W. Robbins, Orris B. Smith, Dexter McClintock, Cal- vin T. Reed, Augustus Pettibone, R. M. Hanford, C. H. Baldwin, H. N. Slade, Jaines Webster, Alfred Stevens, Royal Taylor, Jr and J. N. Blackman. Of the clerks who served in the first half century and more we can mention Capt. Archibald Robbins, Joseph G. Patrick, John M. Hart, H. W. Hart, L. S. Bull, John Deady, William R. Robbins, S. B. Smith, L. Chamberlin, G. G. Hickox, Alfred D. Robbins, A. M. Smith, J. M. Hickox, J. S. Chamberlin, W. F. Hale, R. K. Merrill, W. F. Han- ford, F. A. Hale and A. H. Chamberlin. Of the treasurers of the town- ship since its organization may be noted Freeman McClintock, Reuben M. Hanford, Seymour Trowbridge, Asa Stevens, Joel Seward, S. T. Shepard, Capt. Archibald Robbins, J. M. Hickox, John M. Hart, J. G. Patrick, William B. Price, William K. Ricksecker, C. B. Lockwood, Hiram Chapman, R. K. Merrill, A. D. Robbins, E. C. Blackman, L. L. Chamber- lin, R. W. Collins, W. F. Hale, Erskene Merrill and W. C. Lawrence. The present officers of the township are: Justice of the peace, Ralph Blue ; trustees, L. S. Harrington, O. R. Arnold and W. A. Hawkins ; clerk, H. E. Gildard; treasurer, E. D. Rhodes; assessor, C. H. Craemer; constable, C. M. Hickox.
Of some of the early officers some notice biographical would be appro- priate in this connection. Royal Taylor was born in Aurora, Portage County, October 5, 1812. His father, Worthy Taylor, was a native of Blanford, Massachusetts, and was a soldier in the War of 1812. His grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The Taylors came to Aurora in 1806. An uncle, Col. Royal Taylor, was an officer in the War of the Rebellion. Royal Taylor came to Solon in 1843, cleared a farm of 233 acres and was thirty years in the dairy and stock and later in real estate. He married three times. James W. Harper was born in Orange township and was educated in the district schools of that township. He manufactured cheese in Solon for many years. He was the son of James and Sarah Harper, born near Belfast, Ireland. He has eight children. Jacob Strohm was the son of Michel and Barbara Strohm. Jacob was a soldier in the Civil war and came to Solon in 1868. He was appointed postmaster of Solon in 1893. Robert Thompson, another soldier in the Civil war, was born in Solon in 1844. His parents were Christopher and Elizabeth Thompson. The father was from Yorkshire and the mother from Durham, England. They lived in a log cabin for a number of years. James Potter was the son of Thomas Potter, who came to Solon in 1836. He is of Scotch-Irish descent. His log house stood in a small clearing of two or three acres and all about was a dense wilderness. His family consisted of nine children: Eliza, Robert, Jane, Thomas, W. J., Andrews, James, Henry, and an adopted daughter, Angeline G. Potter. James Potter II and Thomas Potter were soldiers in the Civil war. Thomas was a quartermaster and was under Sherman in his march from Atlanta to the sea. Thomas Potter, Sr., besides being a farmer, was a stone mason and worked on the Weddel house when that historic structure was built. For years he worked for William Hutchins doing stone work in the county. He died at the age of eighty-one years. The Morrison family should be mentioned. Perry Morrison and his father, John Morrison, and his mother, Lucy Perry Morrison. Both of Perry Morrison's grandfathers were soldiers in the War of 1812. We
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have already given something of the biography of Capt. Archibald Rob- bins and his father, Capt. Jason Robbins.
One village has been formed from the territory of Solon. It was formed from territory constituting the southwest corner of the township originally and is called Glenwillow. There are two methods under the statute for the organization of villages, one by petition to the county com- missioners and the other by petition to the trustees of the township from whose territory the village is to be formed. In the latter case a vote of the qualified electors residing in the territory, which is to constitute the village, must be taken and a majority found in favor of the project. Under the first method the commissioners must find that the petition contains all the matter required, that its statements are true, that the name proposed is appropriate, that the limits of the proposed corporation are accurately described and are not unreasonably large or small, that the map of the plat is accurate, that the persons whose names are signed to the peti- tion are electors residing in the territory, that notice has been given as required, and that there is the requisite population for the proposed cor- poration, before they make the order. The township trustees, under the law, must receive a petition signed by at least thirty electors of the terri- tory from which the village is to be formed, a majority of whom shall be freeholders. If the village proposed includes territory from more than one township the application must be made to the trustees in the township where a majority of such inhabitants reside. This petition must contain a request for an election. The township, satisfied that all the provisions pertaining thereto have been complied with, or rather the township trus- tees, must order an election for ascertaining the opinion of the voters on the question of forming a village, and, if that carries, then they must order an election for village officers.
Glenwillow Village was formed by petition to the trustees and vote of the resident voters. J. D. Davis, S. Orchard and C. A. Roselle were the township trustees.
The petition was filed December 18, 1913, and contained thirty-seven signatures. W. O. Avery was named as agent of the petitioners and the number of residents in the proposed village was stated to be 150. An election was held and the vote was for the village. Village officers were elected in 1914 as follows: Mayor, W. O. Avery; clerk, A. Balder; treasurer, J. W. Davis; councilmen, Frank Parmelee, S. D. Stolifer, L. D. Yonker, William Knox, W. E. Sheets and L. C. Wills ; marshal, August Arndt ; board of education, J. D. Davis, George Haster, William McGregor, Amanda Balder and Hattie Avery, being officers of the board for the separate school district of Glenwillow. In this new village was located the Austin Powder Company and a large number of the signers of the petition were employees and officers of that company. The present officers of the village are: Mayor, W. O. Avery; clerk, A. Balder; treasurer, E. A. Snyder; assessor, Ed Boose; justice of the peace, Arthur E. Smith; councilmen, T. C. Wells, William McGregor, F. Parmelee, Henry Koch, George Haster and John Resabek.
The district schools of Solon are now all abolished and the centraliza- tion that is practically accomplished throughout the county is completed. The schools are in one building at Solon Center. There are eleven teachers employed and 250 pupils enrolled. The superintendent is J. J. Deets. In the graduating class of the junior high school, which includes the seventh and eighth grades, this year there are fourteen and in the graduating class of the high school there are twelve. The special school district of Glenwillow has two teachers and an enrollment of forty-five. Although not yet officially accomplished, Glenwillow schools are soon to become a part of the Solon schools and are already under the supervision of J. J. Deets.
EARLY SETTLERS AT THE LOG CABIN
CHAPTER XVIII
CHAGRIN FALLS
The township of Chagrin Falls, one of the smallest in the state, is so closely allied with the Village of Chagrin Falls that it is difficult to separate them, although the township was formed some years before the political organization of the village. It is not one of the originally surveyed townships of the Western Reserve, but was formed in March, 1845, from parts of Solon, Orange, and a portion of territory from Geauga County. The village was not recorded as such until January, 1858, when the plat was recorded in the office of the county recorder. Chagrin Falls is seventeen miles southeast of Cleveland on the Chagrin River. The river here has a fall of 150 feet and thus furnishes excellent water power. The name Chagrin was originally applied to the river, then to the present Village of Willoughby in Lake County, and then with the word "falls" added to the township and village of Chagrin Falls. Local histories differ as to the origin of the name. Harvey Rice in his book on Moses Cleveland relates that Moses Cleveland and his surveying party entered this river supposing it to be the Cuyahoga and finding it more shallow than he had expected and what with sand bars and trouble and delays he was much perplexed, and finding it another than the river looked for, named it Chagrin as an expression of his chagrin at his mistake, but on maps issued before the Revolution this river is distinctly named Chagrin, from an Indian name "Shagrin" and in another record "Shaguin," mean- ing clear. On Evans' map, published in 1755. it is called the Elk River, this no doubt from the presence of elk about its borders, a few remaining when the first settlers of Solon came, as we have related.
In the account of the early settlements we will refer to the territory now included in Chagrin Falls township and village. In the month of May, 1815 immediately after the War of 1812, Serenus Burnet brought his wife and small son Stephen and located on the west side of the Chagrin River about two miles north of the present village of Chagrin Falls. He built a log house and became the first resident. Their nearest neighbors were in the Covert neighborhood, near Willson's Mills, in the present township of Mayfield. For nearly a year after the family came Mrs. Burnet did not see the face of a white woman. Mr. Burnet had bought a fine farm con- sisting mostly of river bottom land. He paid only $2 an acre but the owners felt that they had made a good sale as for a long time the Bur- net's were the only residents in the valley. In fact this part of the valley settled up slowly in the next ten years. Between 1820 and 1825 Jacob Gillett, Caleb Alson, and James Fisher, came with their families and settled in the neighborhood. It was not until 1826 that any settlement was made in the vicinity of the present village. Then John Woodward and Benjamin Carpenter built a dam across the river and at one end built a small log gristmill. The stones were drawn by eight yoke of oxen from an older mill in Orange Township. The condition of the roads can be inferred from this incident. In 1827 Gen. Edward Paine, who owned the land in Chagrin Falls west of Franklin Street undertook to build a bridge across the river at the falls. He put four stringers across but the work was never com-
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pleted. The stringers remained and were used for foot passage. This was found very convenient by hunters and others who did not fear to undertake the precarious passage. The falls were then flowing over shelv- ing rock which has since been blasted away. Busy with clearing their farms the early settlers, who were not capitalists, gave little attention to the conservation of power in the river. In 1831 Rev. Adamson Bentley, a Disciple minister of local reputation, then forty-six years of age, bought a large tract of land at the junction of the two branches of the river. He moved to that point and began active operations. He built a sawmill and a gristmill a little below the forks. To these he added a carding machine and cloth dressing establishment and began the industrial life of the settle- ment there which took the name of Bentleyville. For over twenty years Bentleyville flourished and seemed likely to be the principal business center and village of this section. But in 1833 two other villages were started on the Chagrin River, one of which in the passing years has drawn to it the business of the others and become a flourishing, enterprising, exclusive, in its location, and most interesting town, Chagrin Falls. In 1833 the part of the present village east of Franklin Street was in the Township of Russell in Geauga County. The part west of that street was in Orange and a small part in the southwest corner was in Solon. The land in Geauga County was owned by Aristarchus Champion of Rochester, New York, that in Orange by Edward Paine, the founder of Painesville, but then living in Chardon, Geauga County. In this year of 1833 one Noah Graves, a Massachusetts yankee, observing the excellent water power here and on the lookout for a good investment spotted this as the site of a future town and bought two hundred and ten acres from Gen. Edward Paine. For this he paid two thousand dollars, considered a big price and a large real estate transaction in those days. Dr. S. S. Handerson was connected with Graves in the enterprise. These men then began as did Moses Cleveland, at the mouth of the Cuyahoga, by laying out a city. Streets and lots were laid out in regular order and the lots placed upon the market, then they made preparation for building mills. This was the logical procedure, for the home and the mill are closely associated, one can not exist without the other. No houses were built on the present site of the village till 1834, when Noah Graves, Dr. S. S. Handerson, Chester Bushnell, Napoleon Covill, and Ebenezer Wilcox, all having families, built and settled in the new city. Another family was added in October of that year, that of Henry Church. It may be said in passing that Mr. Church remained in the town during his life and at the time of his death was the oldest person in the township of the original pioneers. At the start only three families had frame houses, those of the promoters, Graves and Handerson, and that of Ebenezer Wilcox. Mr. Wilcox lived in the home of his brother-in-law, Mr. Graves, Coville lived in a log house, while the residence of Julius Higgins, nearby was designated as a shanty. In that year of 1834 Chester Bushnell built a frame barn, or a combination of barn and tavern. It was two stories. He lived with his family in the upper part and accommodated guests there and stabled horses below. This site was later occupied by the Union House. The residence part of the town established, the industrial life began. Noah Graves built a dam across the river that year and the following year a sawmill went up. Henry Church countered and opened a blacksmith shop, the first in the town. His partner was Luther Graves, a nephew of Noah, who came to town with Mr. Church. Thus the town forum and news exchange, as well as a most necessary industry was estab- lished. I. A. Foote came to the village in the early part of 1834. When he came there were only two frame houses built, those of Graves' and Hart's. There was no bridge across the river, except Paine's old stringers.
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