USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of the city of Cleveland: its settlement, rise and progress, 1796-1896 > Part 23
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In 1853, the vessel building interest of Cleveland took a new start, and made rapid and wonderful progress. In 1856, a total of thirty-seven craft was reported, having a tonnage of nearly sixteen thousand. This important in- dustry not only held its own afterwards, but soon grew into a great and remarkable place in the commercial develop- ment of Cleveland. Between 1849 and 1869, nearly five hundred vessels of all kinds, for lake navigation, were built in the district of Cuyahoga, nearly all of which were the production of Cleveland ship-yards. The records of the Board of Trade gave the total registered tonnage in 1884 at 84,295 tons.
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Carrying this marine record back to 1835, the year now under consideration, we note an increased activity along the lake front, as an unwonted emigration to. the west had set in. Cleveland had at that time a population of 5,080, and was daily receiving additions. "Steamers ran from Buffalo to Detroit," says one chronicle,67 "crowded with passengers, at a fare of eight dollars, the number on board of what would now be called small boats reaching from five to six hundred persons. The line hired steam- ers and fined them a hundred dollars if the round trip was not made in eight days. The slower boats, not being able to make that time, with any certainty, frequently stopped at Cleveland, discharged their passengers, and put back to Buffalo. It, sometimes, chanced that the shore ac- commodations were insufficient for the great crowd of emi- grants stopping over at this point, and the steamers were hired to lie off the port all night that the passen- gers might have sleeping accommodations." From March 15th to November 28th, in the year following (1836), nine- teen hundred and one vessels of various kinds arrived in this port, which is certainly a large gain since 1818, when the " Walk-in-the-Water " made her first appearance here.
There was a reason for this sudden tax upon the hos- pitality of the Cleveland hotels, and this increased num- ber of visitors. The spirit of speculation in land was mov- ing men in an unusual degree, and towns and cities upon paper were springing up in all directions. There was a great rush toward the already-opened but undevel- oped sections of the west. Lines of emigrant wagons were seen almost daily, and the means of transportation by lake and canal were severely taxed. This boom, as it would now be called, had struck the Cuyahoga Valley, and the impression, suddenly, came into the minds of Clevelanders that their village had been touched at last by the wand of destiny, and that all the possibilities of a great future lay within her reach. This was, in a sense,
67 " Magazine of Western History," Vol. II., p. 444.
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set in the way of realization, when, in 1836, Cleveland took upon herself the dignity and responsibilities of an incorporated city.
In expectation of this important step, and in an exten- sion of the opportunities for settlement, a number of al- lotments in the outlying districts had been made. On January 12th, 1833, Alfred Kelley had made an allotment of the section lying west of Water street, and immedi- ately south of Bath street. Toward the end of the same year, James S. Clark, Edmund Clark and Richard Hilliard made what was called "the Center Allotment," embrac- ing all of the land in the first bend of the river. In April, 1834, Leonard Case laid out a ten-acre lot, at the southeast corner of the old city plat, and widened the Newburg road (Broadway), from 66 to 99 feet, to cor- respond with the original Ontario street.
John M. Woolsey, in 1834, also added to the lands upon the market, by an allotment of all the two-acre lots south of Superior street and west of Erie street. Lee Canfield, Sheldon Pease and their associates, in November, 1835, allotted the two-acre lots at the northeast corner of the city plat, and laid out and dedicated Clinton Park. In January, 1836, Thomas Kelley and Ashbel W. Walworth laid out the two-acre lots south of Ohio street, and also a large tract of land adjoining the same, and reaching to the river.
Preparations of the same active nature were being car- ried on, with an equal vigor, upon the other side of the river, where there was also a firm belief that manifest destiny foreshadowed important things. We have seen, already, how various enterprising capitalists had, in 1833, purchased a tract of some eighty acres, and laid it out into lots and streets, and known in the local comment and discussion of the day as "the Buffalo Company Purchase." Several allotments had also been made, outside of this section, by various parties owning lands in that vicinity.
Among the members of the Buffalo Land Company were Philander Bennett, Major A. Andrews, Thomas
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Sheldon, N. C. Baldwin, B. F. Tyler, and Charles Wins- low. The purpose the founders of the organization had in mind, was to drain and to improve the lands, locate factories and dwellings, and make that section the chief point upon the Cuyahoga River.
Naturally, there was a great deal of rivalry between the two villages, and this feeling culminated, early in 1836, in a contest, as to which should be the first to don full municipal honors.
A bill had been introduced in the State Legislature for the incorporation of the City of Cleveland. In that meas- ure, it was directed that the village council should call an election for the officers of the proposed corporation some time in April, which was the month for the regular spring elections.
A bill was also introduced, in the same body, for the incorporation of " The City of Ohio," 68 upon the other side of the river. It contained a clause that officers should be elected on the third Monday in March. The bill passed on March 3rd, just two days before that incorporating Cleveland became a law, which was on March 5th, 1836. Thus the west side of the river, both in the date of the law and of the first election, became a full-fledged city before her older neighbor across the Cuyahoga River.
The law described the territory to be embraced within the limits of this new-made city, and declared that "the inhabitants thereof " were created "a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of the City of Cleveland." The limits laid down were as follows:
" Beginning at low water mark on the shore of Lake Erie at the most northeastwardly corner of Cleveland, ten- acre lot number one hundred and thirty-nine, and running thence on the dividing line between lots number one hun-
68 It seems to have been the universal custom from the beginning, to call the corporation across the river, "Ohio City." Yet the fact is, that it was incorporated under the name "City of Ohio," and that name ap- pears in all the council records, from the first page, in 1836, to that in which it is stated that the council adjourned sine die, in 1854, when Cleve- land and the City of Ohio became one.
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dred and thirty-nine and one hundred and forty, numbers one hundred and seven and one hundred and eight, num- bers eighty and eighty-one, numbers fifty-five and fifty- six, numbers thirty-one and thirty-two, and numbers six and seven of the ten-acre lots to the south line of the ten- acre lots, thence on the south line of the ten-acre lots to the Cuyahoga River, thence down the same to the extreme point of the west pier of the harbor, thence to the township line between Brooklyn and Cleveland, thence on that line northwardly to the county line, thence eastwardly with said line to a point due north of the place of beginning, thence south to the place of begin- ning."
The final meeting of the trustees of the incorporated Vil- lage of Cleveland, was held on the 21st of March, 1836, when it was ordered that the election to choose city of- ficers "under the charter incorporating the City of Cleve- land be held in the several (three) wards in said city, on the second Monday of April, 1836." The judges and clerks of said election were appointed, as follows:
First ward : Judges, Richard Winslow, Seth A. Abbey, Edward Clark. Clerks, Thomas Bolton, Henry H. Dodge.
Second ward : Judges, Gurdon Fitch, Henry L. Noble, Benjamin Rouse. Clerks, Samuel Williamson, George C. Dodge.
Third ward : Judges, John Blair, Silas Belden, Daniel Worley. Clerks, John A. Vincent, Dudley Baldwin.
It was ordered also that the election in the first ward should be held in the Court-House; that of the second ward in the lower room of the Stone Church; and that of the third ward at the Academy. While these places were, of course, chosen because of locality and room, it will be noted that the new-born city started off well, hold- ing its first election, as it were, within the visible portals of the law, the gospel, and education.
The election was held in due season, with the follow- ing result :
Mayor : John W. Willey.
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Aldermen : Richard Hilliard, Nicholas Dockstader, Joshua Mills.
Marshal : George Kirk.
Treasurer : Daniel Worley.
First ward councilmen : Morris Hepburn, John R. St. John, William V. Craw. Second ward : Sherlock J. An- drews, Henry L. Noble, Edward Baldwin. Third ward : Aaron T. Strickland, A. M. C. Smith, Horace Canfield.
John W. Willey, who was then entrusted with the honor and responsibility of serving as the first mayor of Cleveland, was qualified in all ways for that position. He was of New Hampshire birth, and was twenty-five years of age, when, in 1822, he settled in Cleveland, and began the practice of law. He was thoroughly fitted to make his way in a new and growing country. Well learned in the law, of a keen and penetrat- ing mind, a logician by na- ture, and endowed with great eloquence and wit, he soon became a marked figure at the Ohio bar. He served three years as representative and three as senator in the general assembly of Ohio. On his MAYOR JOHN W. WILLEY. election as mayor of Cleve- land, he gave himself earnestly to the peculiar demands of a formative period, paying much attention to the prepara- tion of the laws under which the new city commenced its official life. He was re-elected mayor, in 1837, by a large majority. In 1840, he was appointed to the bench of the common pleas court of Cuyahoga County, which he was eminently fitted to adorn. At the time of his death, which occurred in June, 1841, he was president judge of the fourteenth judicial district. Of the quality of Judge Willey's work for the city, Judge Griswold speaks as follows, in the address heretofore quoted :
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" The act by which the city was incorporated is a most excellently drafted instrument. It shows, on the part of its author, a clear understanding of municipal rights and duties. The language is clear and precise, and through- out its whole length it bears the impress of an educated, experienced legal mind. It was, undoubtedly, the work of the first mayor, and, I may add, for the purpose of furnish- ing the basis of wise city legislation for clearness, pre- cision, and certainty, it will not suffer by comparison with any of the municipal codes enacted since the adoption of the present constitution."
The first meeting of the first City Council of Cleveland, was held in the Court-House on April 15th, 1836. The officers above named received the oath of office, and with them George Hoadly,69 "a justice of the peace for said county." Sher- lock J. Andrews was unanimously elected president of the council, and Henry B. Payne was by a like vote made city clerk and city attorney. At the second meeting, a committee was appointed to con- fer with the councils of Philadel- phia as to the mutual advantages to be derived from the build- MAYOR GEORGE HOADLY. ing of the proposed Cleveland & Warren Railroad to Pittsburg. The presentation of the famous Columbus street bridge to the city was ac- cepted. Glancing rapidly over the proceedings for the next four months, we glean these points of historical in- terest, showing the outward movements of municipal
69 George Hoadly was one of the marked men of his day. He had been a tutor at Yale, and, for some time in his early years, was a writer on an eastern journal. He served as a justice of the peace, in this city, from 1831 to 1846, and, during that time, passed upon over twenty thousand cases, few of which were appealed, and in not one case was his judgment reversed. In 1846, he was elected mayor of Cleveland, and made as good a chief municipal officer as he had a justice. About forty years after his inauguration, his son, George Hoadly, was installed as Governor of Ohio.
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events: The preparation of a law, authorizing a city loan not to exceed one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, was ordered. Fire limits were established on May 4th; wood inspectors were appointed, and it was decreed that "each cord shall contain one hundred and twenty-eight cubic feet." On May 7th, an ordinance was passed regulating the fire department and prescribing that, " The fire depart- ment of the City of Cleveland shall consist of a chief en- gineer, two assistant engineers, two fire wardens, in addi- tion to the alderman and councilmen (who are ex officio fire wardens), and such fire-engine men, hose men, hook and axe men, as are, or may from time to time, be appointed
by the City Council." It prescribes the duties of each official in full, and orders penalties for damaging or ob- structing the department in any way. All members of fire companies were exempted from poll-tax. On the same day, the first theater license issued by the City of Cleve- land was granted to Messrs. Dean and Mckinney, to be in force one year, on the payment of seventy-five dollars. John Shier was appointed city surveyor and engineer. The intersection of Water and Superior streets was des- ignated as a public stand for the sale of wood, and Stephen Woolverton, wood inspector, was directed to locate his office near that point. The Public Square, near Euclid and Ontario streets, was designated for the same purpose, and Inspector Samuel Brown was directed to locate his office in that vicinity. The purchase of a coat, for each member of the Hook and Ladder Company, was ordered. Samuel Cook was elected the first chief engineer of the fire department of the City of Cleveland; Sylvester Pease and Erastus Smith being chosen first and second engi- neers, respectively. On May 31st, a communication from the mayor on the subject of common schools was read, and referred to a select committee of three, consisting of Messrs. Andrews, Hilliard and Hepburn. The street com- missioner was directed to procure a suitable ferry-boat, to carry persons and property across the river at such point as the Council should direct. In the proceedings for June
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20th, the following was agreed to: "That the marshal is hereby directed to prosecute every person retailing ar- dent spirits contrary to the provisions of the ordinance regulating licenses, after giving such person six days' no- tice to procure a license, and also to prosecute every per- son who fails to take out a license within one week after the same has been granted by the Council."
In August, Mr. Andrews resigned his position as presi- dent of the Council, Dr. Joshua Mills being elected in his stead. In October, formal action was taken for the re- pairing, or replacing of "the town pump near the court- house." Henry B. Payne resigned the position of city clerk, and George B. Merwin was elected to that office.
Leaving, for a time, the general story of Cleveland's ad- vance and development, we will follow her official muni- cipal record during several succeeding years, touching upon salient points only. In March, 1837, it was ordered that the mayor should be paid five hundred dollars for his services during the year, while each member of the council was awarded one dollar for each session of that body he had attended. The second city election, that of 1837, resulted as follows: MMayor, John W. Willey ; Trcas- urer, Daniel Worley; Marshal, George Kirk ; Aldermen, Joshua Mills, N. Dockstader, Jonathan Williams: Coun- cilmen, George B. Merwin, Alfred Hall, Horace Canfield, Henry L. Noble, Edward Baldwin, Samuel Cook, Samuel Starkweather, J. K. Miller, Thomas Calahan.
At the first meeting of the second City Council, on March 20th, Joshua Mills was elected president; (). P. Baldwin, city clerk ; Canfield & Spencer, city printers; and W. J. Warner, street commissioner. A great deal of small business was disposed of during the first month or so, one item of which was the appointment of a special commit- tee to "inquire into the expediency of lighting Superior street from the river to the Public Square, and how many lamps will be necessary, and the expense of lamps, lamnp- posts, oil, etc., and the best method of defraying the expense satisfactorily to the citizens." A resolution was
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adopted approving of a scheme for the publication of a city directory. Another resolution was adopted, which declared that each individual who may have license to sell liquors in the city shall be permitted to sell "at the race course for five days, commencing on Tuesday, the 6th, provided each individual, before selling, pay the city treas- urer ten dollars." During this year, some progressive steps were taken, showing that Cleveland had begun to emerge somewhat from the village influences that had hampered it in the first year of municipal rule. On June 5th, Mr. Hall offered a resolution which declared that " for the erection of a market or markets, the purchase of grounds whereon to build school-houses, and the erec- tion of school-houses, it is expedient for the city to bor- row on the good faith and credit thereof, the sum of fifty thousand dollars, for a term of years, at six per cent. an- nual interest, by creating that amount of stock, pro- vided said stock shall not be sold under par."
This measure was laid on the table for a time, but was finally taken up and passed. At the same time Mr. Canfield's ordi- nance for the establish- ment of common schools was also passed. During the year a number of steps MAYOR NICHOLAS DOCKSTADER. were taken, carrying these important measures into execution.
At the election of 1838, Joshua Mills was elected mayor; Alfred Hall, N. Dockstader and B. Harrington, aldermen; George C. Dodge, Moses A. Eldridge, Herrick Childs, Leonard Case, B. Andrews, Henry Blair, Thomas Cala- han, Tom Lemen, and M. Barnett, councilmen; Samuel Williamson, treasurer; and George Kirk, marshal. At the organization of the Council, on March 19th, N. Dockstader
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was elected president. No city clerk was chosen at that session, because of the multiplicity of applicants, but, on the 22nd, A. H. Curtis was elected. The cost of carrying on the city, at that time, can be seen from a report of the Council finance committee, in which it is stated that the probable amount required for general purposes for the year would be $16,745, exclusive of that needed for the support of the poor. The amount to be collected from licenses and debts due the city would be $4 500, leaving a tax of $12,265 to be levied. Help was extended by the city in a material way to the first railroad effort that had assumed any formidable form. Permission for such action having been granted by the Legislature, Mr. Dockstader, in January, 1839, offered the following resolution, which was adopted :
" That the board of commissioners designated to ex- ecute the wishes and directions of the City Council and citizens of Cleveland in regard to the construction of the Cleveland, Warren & Pittsburgh Railroad, be respectfully requested to subscribe for and take up so much of the stock subscribed by our citizens, for the purpose of secur- ing the charter of the railroad, as will amount to two hun- dred thousand dollars, and that, in conjunction with the directors of said railroad, immediately take measures to procure a sufficient amount of subscription to construct said road from Cleveland to the Pennsylvania line, and then to borrow the aforesaid two hundred thousand dol- lars on the credit of the city."
Mr. Mills was re-elected mayor in 1839; Samuel Will- iamson was again made treasurer, and Isaac Taylor, mar- shal. John A. Foot was elected president of the new council, and James B. Finney, city clerk.
During the life of this body, Moses Kelley was appointed city attorney ; a great deal was done in the direction of giving Cleveland better school facilities, as will be else- where shown; the city market house on Michigan street was built and accepted, and L. D. Johnson appointed mar- ket clerk. An effort was made in the direction of temper-
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ance reform, and the action concerning the same we tran- scribe in full from the records of January 29th, 1840: " Mr. Barr's preamble and resolutions on the subject of licenses was called up. Mr. Foot submitted the following as a substitute: 'That the committee on licenses be in- structed to report an ordinance for the suppression of dram shops.' Mr. Rice proposed striking out the words 'dram shops,' and inserting 'the sale of ardent spirits without license in the city,' and report at the next meet- ing of the Council. Mr. Foot accepted the amendment." At the next meeting the following occurred : " The same committee ( on licenses ) also reported an ordinance for the suppression of the sale of ardent spirits in less quan- tities than one quart. Mr. Kelley moved to strike out 'one quart' and insert ' fifteen gallons.' Mr. Barr moved to lay it on the table. Lost. The question was then taken upon Mr. Kelley's amend- ment, and lost. Mr. Hill- iard moved to amend by striking out the words 'one quart' and insert the words 'one pint,' which was also lost. Mr. Kel- GEORGE A. BENEDICT. ley moved to insert 'a pound of bread,' and was decided out of order. It was, finally, on motion of Mr. Rice, committed to the same committee for re- vision."
That was the last heard of the liquor question for that year, at least, as no further action had been taken when the new Council came into power. At the election of 1840, Nicholas Dockstader was elected mayor; Timothy Ingraham, treasurer; and Isaac Taylor, marshal.
Dr. Mills, who for three years held the office of mayor, was an efficient official, an estimable man, and a well-
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known physician. He was born in 1797, and came to Cleveland about 1831. He practiced medicine here, and at one time kept a drug store on Superior street. He died on April 29th, 1843. In speaking of his character and record, the " Cleveland Herald " ( May Ist ) said : "His eminence as a physician, his usefulness as a citizen, his character as a man, have secured to him an enviable reputation, while the frankness, the generosity, the no- bleness of his heart, have won the lasting love of all who knew him."
On the organization of the Council of 1840, William Milford was chosen president ; J. B. Finney, clerk ; George A. Benedict, city attorney ; and J. A. Harris, city printer. Among the proceedings of the year we find instructions to street supervisor to " prepare and seed the southern half of the Public Square in a suit- able and proper manner;" au- thorization of the same official to " procure some suitable per- son to sink the public wells, so that they shall contain at least three and one-half feet of water, provided the expense shall not exceed thirty-five dollars." On May 6th, Mr. Foot's ordinance concerning the liquor question was taken JOSIAH A. HARRIS. up and passed, after much discussion. It was entitled "an ordinance to regulate taverns, and to prohibit the sale of ardent spirits or other intoxicating liquors by a less quantity than one quart." It was provided, further, that no licensed tavern keeper should give or sell ardent spirits to any child, apprentice, or servant, without the consent of parent, guardian, or employer, or to any intox- icated person. It was during this year that the Public Square was finally enclosed with fences-fences that it took great trouble and long discussion to remove in later
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years. In February, 1841, the following salary list was agreed upon : City marshal, three hundred dollars per annum ; city clerk, four hundred; street supervisor, four hundred ; treasurer, two hundred; market clerk, one hun- dred. At a later date, the salary of the mayor was fixed at one hundred dollars per year.
Mr. Dockstader, whose official life closed with the end of this official year, will be remembered by the older resi- dents of Cleveland, as a business man who gave his time freely to the public when he could be of service, but who by no means made office-holding the purpose of his life. He was born in Albany, N. Y., on January 4th, 1802, and came to Cleveland when but twenty-four years of age, in 1826. He soon after went into business, and was the leading hat, cap and fur dealer in the city, until his retire- ment from active business in 1858. He died on November 9th, 1871 ; was a man of ster- ling qualities, and strict busi- ness and personal habits.
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