USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of the city of Cleveland: its settlement, rise and progress, 1796-1896 > Part 16
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SUPERIOR
STREET
168
VILLAGE
206
73
78
84
85
3
STREET
163
OF
207
97 )
102
108
154
158
162
210
HURON
STREET
211
116
115
149
153
1814.
216
144
107
124
220
-
STREET
126
133
137
AMOS SPAFFORD'S MAP OF 1801, CORRECTED BY ALFRED KELLEY.
I Buildings in 1814. Buildings of an earlier date. a. Fort Huntington, 1813. 6. Trading-house of 1786. c. Carter's first cabin, 1796. d. Job P. Stiles's first cabin, 1796. e. Surveyor's first cabin, 1796. f. Surveyor's cabin on the hill, 1797. g. Cemetery lot, 1797. h. Jail and Court-House, 1812. i. Kingsbury's first cabin, 1797. k. Carter's house on the hill, 1803.
The different positions of the shore-lines are shown by the dates of the surveys :- 1796, 1801, 1812, 1827, 1831, 1840, 1842, 1846, 1857.
UYAHOGA
1796
₹ 180}
1827
<1796
1801
ONTARIO
ERIE
173
LANE
169
VINEYARD LANE
STREET
CLEAVELAND
IN
OHIO
109
RIPER
ca 25
.198
178
13
.
1846
840
176
THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
In accordance with this law, twelve of the male in- habitants of Cleveland met on the first Monday of June, 1815, and, by a unanimous vote, elected Cleveland's first village official staff, as follows:
President : Alfred Kelley.
Recorder : Horace Perry.
Treasurer : Alonzo Carter.
Marshal : John A. Ackley.26
Assessors : George Wallace and John Riddle.
Trustees : Samuel Williamson, David Long and Nathan Perry, Jr.
Alfred Kelley held his position as Cleveland's first President less than a year, when he resigned, and was succeeded by his father, Daniel Kelley, on March 19th, 1816; and at the annual meeting in June of that year, the latter was unanimously continued in the office, which he held until 1819. The elder Kelley was formerly a resi- dent of Lowville, New York, and served as president judge of the Common Pleas Court of Lewis County; was one of the founders of Lowville Academy, and a useful citizen in many public ways.
The office of president, from Mr. Kelley's term in 1819 up to the adoption of the city charter and election of the first Mayor in 1836, was filled as follows: In 1820, Horace Perry was elected; Reuben Wood succeeding him in 1821. From the latter year until 1825, Leonard Case filled the position; but failing to qualify on his election in the year last named, the recorder, Eleazur Waterman, became president ex officio. There is a blank in the record-book from 1825 to 1828, and an examina- tion of the files of the " Cleaveland Herald " for those years, fails to show that an election had been held. The probability is that Mr. Waterman continued to fill both the office of recorder and president until 1828,
26 Whittlesey, in " Early History of Cleveland," and the " History of Cuyahoga County," compiled by Crisfield Johnson, both give John A. Ackley. Judge Griswold, in his " Corporate Birth and Growth of Cleve- land," from which we have before quoted, gives the name as John A. Kel- ley. A reference to the original record proves that Ackley is correct.
.
177
THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
when he was compelled to resign because of ill-health, re- sulting from an accident. The next entry shows that on May 30th, the trustees appointed Oirson Cathan, president, and D. H. Beardsley, recorder. Mr. Cathan was a well- known painter, and was married to a daughter of Lorenzo Carter. The office was then filled as follows: 1829, Dr. David Long; 1830 and 1831, Richard Hilliard; 1832, 1833, 1834 and 1835, John W. Allen. From the twelve votes cast for Mr. Kelley in 1815, Cleveland had grown to a total of one hundred and six votes for Mr. Allen in 1835. With the close of Mr. Allen's term, the old régime came to an end, and Cleveland entered upon her career as a city.
Returning now to the newly incorporated Village of Cleveland, we see the trustees holding a meeting in Oc- tober (1815), at which a number of streets were laid out, on the petition of John A. Ackley, Aaron Olmstead, Daniel Kelley, Thompson Miller, Matthew Williamson, Amasa Bailey, William Trimble, Levi Johnson, Joseph R. Kelley, Stephen Dudley, John Randall, Hiram Hamter, and Ashbel W. Walworth. After the streets are designated by the numbers of the lots, the record continues :
" And it is further ordered the said several streets in said petition, mentioned and described, shall be severally distinguished, known and called by the following names, to-wit: The first, in said petition mentioned, shall be called ' St. Clair Street,' the second 'Bank Street,' the third 'Seneca Street,' the fourth ' Wood Street,' the fifth 'Bond Street,' the sixth, 'Euclid Street,' the sev- enth, ' Diamond Street .?? ' "
27 " Diamond street " was the designation of the streets on the four sides of the Public Square. Judge Griswold comments as follows: "Euclid street was then established from the Square to Huron street, the space between that point and the old middle highway being in the town- ship. That street in the early days, and for a long time afterwards, was by no means a popular highway. Stretching along the southerly side of the ridge, it was the receptacle of all the surface waters of the region about it, and during much of the time was covered with water, and for the rest of the year was too muddy for ordinary travel."-" Annals of the Early Settlers' Association," No. 5, p. 44.
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THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
In the January following, A. W. Walworth was ap- pointed corporation clerk, and it was officially ordered that the " said clerk shall not issue any amount of bills greater than double the amount of the funds in his hands." The main points of village legislation up to 1836, may be briefly chronicled: In 1816, it was ordered that a tax of one half per cent. be laid on all the lots in the township; in 1817, that "the several sums of money which were by individuals subscribed for the building of a school-house, in said village, shall be refunded to the sub- scribers;" in June, 1818, the first recorded ordinance was passed, declaring that " if any person shall shoot or dis- charge any gun or any pistol within said village, such per- son so offending shall, upon conviction, be fined in any sum not exceeding five dollars, nor under fifty cents, for the use of said village." A number of ordinances were passed in 1820, among which the following may be enumerated: Forbidding swine running at large or butchering within the city limits, except under certain regulations; mak- ing it necessary to obtain the consent of the authorities before any show could be given; forbidding horse-racing and fast driving; making a penalty for the running of geese at large ; and others of a like character. In 1823, an ordinance was passed regulating the planting of shade trees in the streets; in 1825, a tax of one-fourth per cent. was laid on all village property, and a new enumera- tion of property given; in the same year, Canal, Michi- gan, a part of Seneca, and Champlain streets, were offi- cially laid out; in 1828, a tax of two mills per dollar was ordered. Of course, all these things were not done with- out objection and grumbling from tax-payers, as human nature was the same sixty years ago that it is to-day. We find the following illustrative incident in a biog- raphy of the late N. E. Crittenden :
" In his early days in Cleveland, he was chosen one of the village trustees. In 1828, when he held that office, and Richard Hilliard was president of the board, the members gathered one afternoon in an office and voted an
179
THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
appropriation of two hundred dollars, to put the village in proper order. Great was the outcry at this wasteful- ness, on the part of the taxpayers. One of the old citi- zens, who yet lives, met Mr. Crittenden and wanted to know what on earth the trustees could find in the village to spend two hundred dollars on."
The year 1829 saw the purchase of Cleveland's first fire engine. It was bought of the American Hydraulic Company, at an expense of two hundred and eighty-five dollars. The same year saw the establishment of a mar- ket, and the passage of an ordinance regulating the same; and also the return of a large delinquent tax-list. In 1830, a village seal was ordered; it was decided that the stalls of the market must be disposed of by lease; and a tax of one-half mill on the dollar ordered on all city prop- erty. In 1831, Prospect street, from Ontario to Erie, was laid out. It was at first named Cuyahoga street, but be- fore the entry was officially made the name was changed to Prospect. James L. Conger was appointed prosecuting- attorney, at a salary of thirty dollars per annum; and Silas Belden, street and house inspector, at the same sum. Both of these offices were abolished in 1832. In the last-named year, Dr. David Long and O. B. Skinner were appointed a committee to purchase a village hearse, harness and bier. In fear of the approach of cholera, a board of health was appointed, consisting of Dr. Cowles, Dr. Mills, Dr. St. John, S. Belden, and Ch. Denison, to which Dr. S. J. Weldon and Daniel Worley were after- wards added. In July, a tax of two mills on the dollar was ordered. In 1833, River street was laid out from Su- perior street to Union lane, and Meadow, Lighthouse, and Spring streets were also designated. A second fire engine was purchased, at an expense of seven hundred dollars. In 1834, a large number of new streets were laid out.
This rapid résumé covers the chief points of legislation by the incorporated village; meanwhile, the township of Cleveland, covering the outside portions, was pursuing
180
THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
the even tenor of its way, and in its records we meet many names that afterwards became of no small prominence in the history of Cleveland.
In June, 1817, the trustees of the township met for the purpose of devising some means for the increase of reve- nue, and relief was secured by levying a tax of fifty cents on each horse in the township, and half that sum on each head of horned cattle. Many entries are found, showing that various parties had been notified to leave the town- ship, ere they should become a charge upon the public. The township tax in 1821 amounted to $86.02. P. M. Weddell was chosen one of the overseers of the poor, and on refusal to serve was compelled to pay a fine. The indentures of apprentices are entered quite frequently, one of them distinctly stating: " He will cause the said mi- nor to be taught to read and write, and so much of arith- metic as to include the single rule of three, and at the ex- PETER M. WEDDELL. piration of said time of serv- ice, to furnish the said minor with a new Bible, and at least two suits of common wearing apparel." An-
other specified that one, Elizabeth, should be taught to read and write, and the first four rules of arithmetic, and at the expiration of her service be given "one feather bed and necessary bedding, one milch cow, one new Bible, and two suits of wearing apparel." There was no scramble for office, even as late as 1827, when this entry is found : "Be it remembered that Leonard Case and Samuel Cowles, declining to serve as overseers of the poor, after being duly elected for the township of Cleveland for 1827, paid their fines according to the requisition of the statutes. Accordingly the trustees appointed James S. Clark and John Blair to fill the vacancy of said office. They like-
181
THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
wise refused to serve, and paid their fines. The trustees again convened, and appointed William Bliss and Reuben Champion. Reuben Champion declined and paid his fine. William Bliss accepted, and was qualified." It cost just two dollars to decline an office after election or appoint- ment.
The year 1816 was of importance to Cleveland in vari- ous ways, some of which have been suggested in the fore- going. An attempt was made to improve the harbor facilities, by the building of a pier on the open lake. With this end in view, an incorporation called the " Cleveland Pier Company " was formed under authority of the laws of Ohio, " for the purpose of erecting a pier at or near the village of Cleveland, for the accommodation of vessels navigating Lake Erie." The incorporators were: Alonzo Carter, A. W. Walworth, David Long, Alfred Kelley, Datus Kelley, Eben Hosmer, Daniel Kel- ley, George Wallace, Darius E. Henderson, Samuel Williamson, Sr., Irad Kelley, James Kingsbury, Horace Perry and Levi Johnson. The venture could hardly be called a success. Slight works were put up, but with quicksands underneath, and storms overhead, they were of short duration, and before long the waves made their way to the shore without obstruction.
At this time the total assessed value of real estate within the city, including the entire plat surveyed in 1796, was $21,065. A would-be prophet, who visited the village that year, declared that " Cleveland never would amount to anything, because the soil was too poor." He paid sixteen dollars for a barrel of salt and returned to Burke's tavern at Newburg, to spend the night, “ be- cause it was the most desirable place for man and beast.28 "
Several descriptive views of the village at this period, when this hasty traveler thus condemned it, and shook its dust from his shoes in honor of Newburg, have been
28 Statement of Royal Taylor .- " Annals of the Early Settlers' Associa- tion," No. 9, p. 277.
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THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
preserved. Captain Lewis Dibble29 views it from the east : " On leaving Doan's Corners, one would come in a little time to a cleared farm. Then down about where A. P. Winslow now lives (Euclid and Giddings) a man named Curtis had a tannery. There was only a small clearing, large enough for the tannery and a residence. There was nothing else but woods until Willson avenue was reached, and there a man named Bartlett had a small clearing, on which there was a frame house, the boards running up and down. Following down the line of what is now Euclid avenue, the next sign of civilization was found at what is now Erie street, where a little patch of three or four acres had been cleared, surrounded by a rail fence. Where the First Methodist Church now stands, a man named Smith lived, in a log-house. I don't remember any building between that and the Square, which was already laid out, but covered with bushes and stumps."
Noble H. Merwin was a notable addition to the popu- lation of Cleveland in 1816, coming with his family from Connecticut.29ª He purchased of George Wallace the tavern stand on the corner of Superior street and Vineyard lane (South Water street), and also a tract be- tween these two thoroughfares, extending to Division street, now known as Center street. His hotel was later known as the Mansion House. Mrs. Philo Scovill, who became a resident of Cleveland in the same year, after- wards related her impressions of the village on first sight. Many stumps and uncut bushes disfigured the Public Square; its only decoration being the log jail. The land south from Superior street to the river was used as a cow pasture, and was thought to be of little value.
Leonard Case, who came to the city in the same year, has added a number of details that fit in with the above
29 " Personal Statement," by Captain Lewis Dibble, "Annals of the Early Settlers' Association," No. 7, p. 54.
29@ R. T. Lyon, who was connected with the Merwin family, says that Mr. Merwin came to Cleveland in 1815, and built a log warehouse on the corner of Superior and Merwin streets. His family came on from Con- necticut the next year.
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THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
descriptions. The only streets fairly cleared were Su- perior west of the Square; Euclid road was made pass- able for teams, as was also a part of Ontario street. Wa- ter street was a winding path in the bushes; and Union and Vineyard lanes mere paths to the river. Mandrake lane and Seneca and Bank streets were practically all woods; while Ontario street north of the Square, Supe- rior east of it, Erie, Bond and Wood, were in a state of nature. A passable road ran out by Ontario street and the modern Broadway, to Newburg. The Kinsman road (Woodland avenue) was then altogether out of town.
Cleveland's second brick house was constructed by Al- fred Kelley, in 1816. He was the owner of a piece of land running from Water street to the river, and to the lake on the northward. It was on this property that a story and a half building was erected, at the point where the Cleveland Transfer Company's building afterwards stood. Mr. Kelley intended it for the residence of his parents, but as his mother died before its completion, he and his young bride were its first occupants, and there they remained until 1827. A characteristic incident of the day is related in the home-coming of Mr. Kelley's bride. He was married in the summer of 1817, in Low- ville, New York. He had purchased a carriage in Al- bany, and after the wedding the young couple set out in that vehicle for the new home he had found in the west. They drove to Buffalo, and as the roads had become quite difficult to travel, they decided to come the remainder of the distance on a schooner that was then lying in the har- bor. As she was not yet ready to sail, they drove to Niagara Falls, and on the return found that the vessel had taken advantage of a favoring breeze, and gone on without them. They thereupon concluded to continue in their vehicle. Seven days were occupied in the trip, as the roads were in a fearful condition, and for portions of the distance both were compelled to walk. Upon reaching Cleveland they discovered that the schooner had not yet arrived in port. Their carriage was the first one
184
THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
seen in Cleveland, and was for a long time in demand upon special occasions. It was used by the senior Leonard Case, when he, also, went forth to bring home a bride.
The "apparent lack of piety," of which the Rev. Joseph Badger complained, in one of his visits to early Cleve- land, or some other cause, prevented the citizens of the little village from doing much in the way of organized religious effort. It was not until November 9th, 1816, that the first visible step in this direction was successfully taken, and the foundations laid for one of the great church organizations of the present day.
A little company of earnest persons met on the day named, at the house of Phineas Shephard, " for the pur- pose of nominating officers for a Protestant Episcopal Church " in Cleveland. Timothy Doan was chosen moderator, and Charles Gear clerk; Phineas Shephard and Abraham Scott were elected wardens; Timothy Doan, Abraham Hickox and Jonathan Pelton, vestrymen; Dennis Cooper, reading clerk; and the meeting then ad- journed "till Easter Monday next." On March 2nd of the following year (1817), at a vestry meeting held in the court-house, it was resolved that the persons present were attached to the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, and that they did unite themselves into a congre- gation by the name of " Trinity Parish of Cleveland, Ohio, for the worship and services of Almighty God ac- cording to the forms and regulations of said church." There were present not only the above-named officials, but also John Wilcox, Alfred Kelley, Irad Kelley, T. M. Kelley, Noble H. Merwin, David Long, D. C. Henderson, Philo Scovill, Rev. Roger Searl, of Plymouth, Conn., and others. A few days later, with the Rev. Roger Searl acting as president ex officio, and Dr. David Long as clerk, a second election occurred. The new organization had little more than a name during the three succeeding years; the village was small, the church had no house in which to meet, and was not able to pay a settled minister. Mr. Searl visited the parish at intervals, but for the most
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THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
part the services of lay readers were all that could be secured.
At a vestry meeting held in May, 1820, a resolution was adopted which must have been humiliating to Cleve- land, small as it then was. It was declared: " That it is expedient in future to have the clerical and other pub- lic services of the Episcopal Church in Trinity Parish, heretofore located in Cleveland, held in Brooklyn ordi- narily, and occasionally in Cleveland and Euclid, as cir- cumstances may seem to require."
Matters were left in this shape until the fall of 1826, when the Rev. Silas C. Freeman, of Virginia, became rector of the parish, on a salary of $500 per an- num, with the understanding that thechurch of the same denomination ITISA at Norwalk should employ him one-third or one-half of the time, pay- ing their pro- portion of the five hundred dollars.
TRINITY CHURCH, 1828.
Under this new arrangement, the Parish of Trinity returned again to this side of the river, and services were held in the court-house.
In 1827, Mr. Freeman was appointed an agent to go east, for the purpose of raising funds for the erection of a church building. Such success attended his efforts, that in 1828-9 Cleveland saw the erection of her first church building, which stood on the southeast corner of Seneca and St. Clair streets, and was built at a cost of $3,070. In February, 1828, the Parish was incorporated by special act of the general assembly,
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THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
the names of the corporators being as follows: Josiah Barber, Phineas Shephard, Charles Taylor, Henry L. Noble, Reuben Champion, James S. Clarke, Sherlock J. Andrews, Levi Sargeant, and John W. Allen, who were then wardens and vestrymen. In 1830, Rev. Mr. McElroy became rector, giving his whole time to Trinity, for which he was to receive an annual salary of $450. The growth in membership and influence thereafter was steady; in 1853, a large stone house of worship was begun on Supe- rior street, near Bond street, which was completed and consecrated in 1855.
Cleveland not only saw its first church society organized in 1816, but also its first bank.
There can be found in the rooms of the Western Re- serve Historical Society, four record books of medium size, bound in a heavy brown leather, with pages here and there discolored by time and wear, but with each entry so legible that it seems to have been made but yes- terday. On the fly-leaf of the largest the story of the four is told as follows:
" This ledger, with the two journals and letter-book, are the first books used for banking in Cleveland. They were made by Peter Burtsell, in New York, for the Com- mercial Bank of Lake Erie, which commenced business in August, 1816,-Alfred Kelley president, and Leonard Case [Sr.] cashier. The bank failed in 1820. On the second day of April, 1832, it was reorganized and resumed busi- ness, after paying off its existing liabilities, consisting of less than ten thousand dollars due the treasurer of the United States. Leonard Case was chosen president, and Truman P. Handy, cashier. The following gentlemen constituted its directory : Leonard Case, Samuel William- son, Edward Clark, Peter M. Weddell, Heman Oviatt, Charles M. Giddings, John Blair, Alfred Kelley, David King, James Duncan, Roswell Kent, T. P. Handy, John W. Allen. Its charter expired in 1842. The legislature of Ohio refusing to extend the charter of existing banks, its affairs were placed, by the courts, in the hands of T. P.
SOON 77#03M
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SUPERIOR STREET, 1846.
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THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
Handy, Henry B. Payne, and Dudley Baldwin, as special commissioners, who proceeded to pay off its liabilities, and wind up its affairs. They paid over to its stock- holders the balance of its assets in lands and money, in June, 1844. T. P. Handy was then appointed trustee of the stockholders, who, under their orders, distributed to them the remaining assets in June, 1845. Its capital was five hundred thousand dollars. The books were, prior to 1832, kept by Leonard Case, cashier. [Presented to the Historical Society of Cleveland by T. P. Handy, January, 1877.]"
This pioneer bank of Cleveland, which had so severe an experience in its early days, but made a record so hon- orable in conclusion, was incorporated August 6th, 1816. The following named gentlemen signed the articles of in- corporation : John H. Strong, Samuel Williamson, Philo Taylor, George Wallace, David Long, Erastus Miles, Seth Doan, Alfred Kelley. It opened for business in a building standing at the corner of Superior and Bank streets. Its president, Alfred Kelley, we have met before; its cashier, Leonard Case, left his per- sonal impress upon Cleveland in many ways, while his son, the second Leonard Case, has forever linked the name of his family with that of Cleveland by his princely benefactions.
Mr. Case was born in West- moreland County, Pennsyl- vania, in 1786, and in 1800 accompanied his father to LEONARD CASE, SR. Trumbull County, Ohio, where the latter located on a farm near Warren. A severe illness, in 1801, left the son a cripple, and seeing that his career as a farmer was over, he turned his attention to the study of surveying. In 1806, he became connected with the land commissioner's office in Warren, and while there took up the study of the
188
THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
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