USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Annals of the Early Settlers Association of Cuyahoga County, number I > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43
21
EARLY SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
broke the stillness of the midnight air, startling you from sweet dreams of far off friends, and instinctively causing you to grasp the ever-present weapon of defense. But you have lived to see this beautiful city, with its vast industries, its commercial and mercantile structures, its magnificent private residences, its public school honses, and splendid temples of worship rise and expand over a territory which was but a wilderness when you first beheld it. And you have remained that you might hear the musical monotone of the approaching steamer, and the shrill whistle of the locomotive succeed the gloomy silence of the woods, and the roar of the breakers. The frail skiff, once your only means of crossing the Cuya- hoga, has given place to a bridge of monumental arches which will endure until that river shall cease to flow. And now, in- stead of waiting, as in earlier days, the uncertain and long delayed, though ever welcome arrival of some adventurous neighbor from the east, with news from friends and the old home, you may instantly communicate by telegraph.
Concerning the early occupation of the site on which our city stands, and the scene presented to General Moses Cleave- land and his associates on his arrival here on the morning of the 22d day of July, 1796, I cannot do better than to repro- duce substantially the eloquent and graphic words of our distinguished fellow-citizen, Colonel Charles Whittlesey: "All the party must have felt unusually interested as they
22
ANNALS OF THE
approached the spot. As they coasted close along the shore, overhung by a dense green forest, mirrored in the waters over which they were passing, the mouth of the river disclosed it- self, as a small opening between low banks of sand. The man who controls the party is seated in the stern, steering his own craft, which is gracefully headed into the stream. His com- plexion was so swarthy, his figure so square and stont, and his dress so rude, that the Indians supposed some of the blood of their race had crept into his veins. As they passed into the channel, and the broad river unfolded itself to their view, bordered by marshes, reeds and coarse grass, their anti- cipations must have been somewhat moderated. The flats on the west side and the densely wooded bluffs on the east pre- sented anything but a cheerful prospect. It was necessary to proceed some distance along this shore before there was solid ground enough to effect a landing."
"As the Indians had from generation to generation kept open a trail along the margin of the lake, it is probable that Cleaveland's party, scanning with sharp eyes every object as they moved along the river, saw where the aboriginal highway descended the hill, along what is now Union Lane. Here they came to the bank, and scrambling out, trod for the first time the soil of the future city. While the boat was being un- loaded Cleaveland had an opportunity to ascend the bluff and scan the surrounding scenery. This view must have revived
23
EARLY SETTLERS ASSOCIATON.
his enthusiasm more than the swamps along the river had depressed it. A young growth of oaks with low bushy tops covered the ground. Beneath them were thrifty bushes, rooted in a lean but dry and pleasant soil favorable to the object in view. A smooth and even field sloped gently toward the lake, whose blue waters could be seen extending to the horizon. His imagination donbtless indulged in a pardonable flight into the future, when a great commercial city should take the place of the stinted forest growth which the northern tempests had nearly destroyed. But whatever may have been his anticipations, the reality has outstripped them all. Such a combination of natural beauty, with natural advantages of business, is rarely witnessed." As he gazed with rapture upon the far-off lake and the tortuous river at his feet, well might he have imagined that the time was not extremely distant when all the natural facilities within range of his vision would be utilized by the inhabitants of an enterprising city to be built upon the ground where he stood, and which should perpetuate his name forever. Pardon me for suggest- ing that this association would do a noble and commendable act were it to inaugurate a project for the erection in Lake View Park of a monument crowned with a statue of General Cleaveland, commemorative of his having founded our beauti- ful city. I cannot doubt that our citizens, ever proverbial for liberality, would aid us in the work. I would also most
24
ANNALS OF THE
respectfully suggest that hereafter our annual meeting be held on the 22d day of July-the anniversary of General Cleave land's arrival at the mouth of the Cuyahoga.
7 .- Song-"The Good Old Days." Arion Quartette.
Give me the good old days again, When hearts were true and manners plain ; When boys were boys till fully grown, And baby belles were never known; When doctor's bills were light and few, And lawyers had not much to do; When honest toil was well repaid, And theft had not become a trade. 1 Give me the good old days again, When cider was not called champagne; When round the fire, in wintry weather, Dry jokes and nuts were cracked together; When girls their lovers battled for, With seeds from juicy apple's core; While mam and dad looked on with glee, Well pleased their merriment to see.
Give me the good old days again, When only healthy meat was slain; When flour was pure, and milk was sweet,
25
EARLY SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
And sausages were fit to eat; When children carly went to bed, And ate no sugar on their bread, When lard was not turned into butter, And tradesmen only truth could utter.
Give us the good old days again, When women were not proud and vain ; When fashon did not sense outrun, And tailors had no need to dun; When wealthy parents were not fools, And common sense was taught in schools;
When hearts were warm, and friends were true, And Satan had not much to do!
8 .- Life and Character of deceased Pioneers, by F. J. Dickman, Esq.
MR. PRESIDENT :
It was announced a short time ago through our local press that there would be addresses on this occasion by several of our oldest citizens. While I do not claim to have come down to you from a former generation, I am old enough to cherish the memory of our early settlers, and am, perhaps, coeval with many who have seen and talked with some of the pioneers of our county. Some of them died full of years, and we can almost catch the tones of their voice as
26
ANNALS OF THE
they recounted the trials and the raptures of their struggles with the rude forces of nature. To some of them the veil was uplifted before their eyes were closed in death, and they could behold, in a not far distant future, on the banks of our lake, a beautiful and flourishing city, the pride of our Western civilization, teeming with population, adorned with temples of religious worship, endowed with a noble system of schools, alive with the activities of a large and growing commerce, and of manufactures to which all the strong and manly arts pay tribute.
It is not our office, in the light of historic truth, to exalt to the statue of heroes all who carried the compass and chain. or plied the settler's ax in the forests of New Connecticut. But, during the first sixteen or seventeen years following the 22d of July, 1796, when the surveying party entered the mouth of the Cuyahoga from the lake, there came to the Western Reserve, and settled within the present limits of our county, a class of men whose characteristics we may well admire and commemorate. They did not leave their homes because they were there the victims of intolerance, and could not there follow the dictates of a tender and enlightened con- science. They came here to improve their material condition -to better their worldly fortunes. Like the rest of us, they had an eye to the main chance in life; but they richly earned and paid a hundred fold for all they received.
27
EARLY SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
The land, the river and the lake acknowledged their authority, and surrendered to them their treasures only after the greatest patience, perseverance and hardship. He who makes the blade of grass to spring up where it would not grow before, becomes a benefactor of the race. While the earth yields her increase, the city and the town spring up, and with the accumulation of capital come the com forts and luxuries of life, and many of those appliances and institutions which minister to the general happiness and pros- perity. And so it is, as we see the city arise where once was the primeval forest, our thoughts revert to the pioneers, who fell the trees; and till the soil, and seeking to exchange the products of their industry, start into being the village and the town, as the natural outgrowth of their own necessities. The backwoodsmen thus become the founders of our civilization, and, filled with the pride of ancestry, their names and achieve- ments become our most cherished traditions.
It was not until the year 1800 that the right o' jurisdiction over the Reserve was relinquished to the Union by the State of Connecticut. Prior to such relinquishment, there had been no civil government existing or likely to exist in the district. It required, therefore, no ordinary resolution to give up the advantages of State and Federal protection, and incur the risk of unrestrained lawlessness in a wild Western settlement. But we have no record of violated rights of person or of property
.
28
ANNALS OF THE
among the settlers. The same instinctive reverence for law, the same self reliance, patient endurance, industry and thrift, which made him a good citizen at home, characterized the settler when he became a sovereign and law unto himself in the wilderness of the Western Reserve. He was, however, only a type of those who followed his trail, to live under a State organization, and help build up the thriving and well ordered communities on the shores of the lake. As we look around us, and behold on all sides the evidences of unex- ampled progress, we see but the embodiment of the same ideas, habits and principles which governed the daily life of those for whose labors and virtues we would to-day express our grati- tude and admiration.
In contemplating the life and character of our early settlers, their principles and motives of action, it will ocenr to you that the firmest guaranty of private honor and good faith in all our business transactions may be traced to the ordinance of 1787 for the government of the pioneers of the Northwest territory, and to the wisdom, sagacity and justice of its New England author, Nathan Dane of Massachusetts. In the multiform engagements of business you feel that you will be secure against any and all legislative action by which the obligation of your private contracts might be impaired. This safeguard peculiar to our American Constitutional law found its way into our Federal Constitution from the clause in that memor-
-
29
EARLY SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
able ordinance which provided that no law ought ever to be made or have force in the Northwest territory that would in any manner, whatever, interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements. It would be difficult to measure the vast in- finence which has been exercised on the security of property by the operation of this wise and effective provision. Its in- corporation with our organic law is a monument to the wisdom, honesty and probity of New England. It gives us assurance that in the midst of party strife, and with the most hostile faction in the ascendant, a stern regard to private rights will characterize our State legislation. I have especially referred to this provision in that famous ordinance as illustrating the noble ideas and principles which lay at the foundation of the government of our Northwest territory, and which emanated among the progenitors of those whose memory we celebrate to-day.
One of the tests of the character of a people lies in the extent to which they utilize the gifts of nature around them. At an early day there were among the settlers of our county men of large forecast and comprehensive views of internal improvement, who clearly discerned the commercial import- ance of the mouth of the Cuyahoga. The great natural routes known to the early geographers and statesmen did not escape their penetrating glance. A scheme was formed for improving the navigation between the lake and the river Ohio through
30
ANNALS OF THE
the Cuyahoga and the Muskingum. The project failed, but it was the foreshadowing of a grander enterprise which will always be connected with the enterprise and sagacity of a master mind that illustrated the early history of Cleveland. It was the concurrent testimony of skillful engineers that, in connecting the lake with the river Ohio, the navigation of the beds of small rivers was inferior to the canal as a mode of commercial intercourse. The great publie work, therefore, which now traverses our State and opens a direct water com- munication with the Gulf of Mexico, could not long be delayed. The canal has succumbed to the railroad, and is no longer perhaps the necessity it once was; but, as a potent agent for the development of the resources of our State, it will ever be regarded as one of the noblest achievements, and its originators and builders will have a lasting elaim upon the gratitude of our people. When the Erie Canal was com- pleted and the inland seas of the West were conducted in proud triumph, to the bosom of the Atlantic, it was proclaimed that the name of DeWitt Clinton would be transmitted to suc- eeeding generations and cherished as a possession forever. Let us not then, on this occasion, forget the name of Alfred Kelley. In the prime of his manhood he cast his lot with the people of our city, and was in the forefront of every enterprise for the public good. During the construction and until the completion of the Ohio canal, he was the acting commissioner
31
EARLY SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
and resided in our midst. He was a man of capacious mind, of unconquerable will, of untiring energy, and of unfailing power of endurance. He seemed eminently fitted for the Her- culaan task which he undertook; and in the selection of him for the arduous work, it proved in the end that fortune had smiled upon the State. In the city of Columbus, to which he removed from Cleveland, he exerted his great powers in other fields of public labor; and, as State Fund Commissioner, saved our State from the dishonor of repudiation; and as a profound master of finance originated a banking system which remained in successful operation for twenty years. In alluding to his life and labors, we would not be unmindful of the signal merits of others who were engaged with him, and wrought faithfully and at the same time, and in the same public service; but his name belongs to the history of Cuyahoga county, and we would recall the lincaments of his character as we would revive in memory the cherished images of those who once belonged to our own household.
The men who brought their household goods to the Western Reserve eighty years ago found an environment far different from what they would find to-day in one of our newly-orga- nized territories. Railroads are now penetrating the continent to the farthest settlement. Labor saving machinery and almost every article of comfort may be placed now, on the shortest notice, at the door of the settler's cabin. The products of his
32
ANNALS OF THE
labor now find a profitable market, and he is not unfamiliar with the sight of money. . The savage, too, once so formidable, will soon cease to be an object of terror to him. So far as physical causes can operate, his character can be subjected in only a com- paratively slight degree to novel influences. But our own pioneers were subject to other conditions, and to many trans- forming agencies. Taking no account of ancestral traits or na- tural tendencies, they could not, from the necessities of their situation, fail to wax independent in spirit, fearless in danger, tenacious in their opinions, persistent in their undertakings, and thrifty in their habits. If they had not been affected by their surroundings, they would have been an exception to the general law which governs the rest of mankind. It is well said by Buckle that physical agents powerfully influence the human race; that they have originated the most important consequences in regard to the general organization of society, and from them there have followed many of those large and conspicuous differences between nations which are often ascribed to some fundamental difference in the various races into which mankind is divided. In studying the character, then, of our early settlers it becomes of interest to know the manner in which they lived, what their occupations were, to what perils they were exposed, what was the drift of their thoughts, what, if any, opportunities they had for education, what were their pastimes and social enjoyments, what, in fine,
33
EARLY SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
was the difference between their new condition and that which they had left behind them. Our pioneer records thus become attractive and fraught with instruction, and are no longer musty and repulsive chronicles, and you gather up the leaves that would otherwise perhaps be scattered. You learn of the dreadful suffering's of James Kingsbury and his family, during the first winter after their arrival at Conneaut. Major Lorenzo Carter is the mighty hunter, and the terror of the bear. He it was who dwelt in the log house, on the slope from Superior street to the harbor. The sight of weakness and oppression can draw "iron tears" down his cheek, and the fugitive from slavery, on his way to the land of promise beyond the lake, feels his helping hand. His maxim was, not to give an insult, but when he received one, the giver usually bowed beneath his sturdy stroke. His influence with the Indian was unbounded, for he was known always to do justice to him. Judge Huntington, on his way from Painesville on horseback, while floundering after dark through a swamp at what is now the corner of Wilson avenue and Euclid street, is attacked by a gang of hungry wolves and barely escapes. For two or three months the only way in which the Doane family were supplied with food was for young Seth Doane, who had two attacks of fever and ague daily, to walk to Kingsbury's, five miles distant, with a peck of corn. grind it in a hand mill and bring it home upon his 3
34
ANNALS OF THE
shoulders. In the morning after his first attack of ague was over, he would start on his journey, and having obtained his meal, he would wait until the second attack on that day was over and then set out on his return. In the year 1802 the Rev. Joseph Badger, a soldier of the revolution, writes that he had preached on the Sabbath in Newburg, that there were five families there but no apparent piety, and that they all seemed to glory in their infidelity. These few brands, however, we are assured, were afterwards snatched from the burning. During the same year the first village school was held in Major Carter's house, and Anna Spafford was the teacher. Economy in those days was counted among the Christian vir- tues. Three Western Reserve boys left home for Connecticut to get their education, with fifteen dollars among them, and reached New Haven with twelve still in their pockets. One frugal young man, wishing to visit the ancestral home in New England, bought him a cow, and trudging at her heels with his book, lived on her milk and what he got in exchange for it, and sold her at an advance when he reached his point of destination. In 1809, Stanley Griswold informs his friend in Vermont that Cleveland would be an excellent place for an enterprising and skillful young physician; that the country around bid fair to increase rapidly in population ; that a young physician, well qualified, would be certain to succeed; but, for a short time, if without means, he must keep school in
35
EARLY SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
winter, till a piece of ground, bring a few goods for sale, or do something else in connection with his practice. The next year the physician came, and the attorney also entered his appearance. The fur trade grows into a lucrative branch of business, and Nathan Perry, filled with the mercantile spirit, masters the Indian dialect and lays the foundation of an ample fortune. The river holds out its inducements for honest gain, and Noble H. Merwin, crossing the mountains, becomes the founder of our city's commerce, and builds the good schooner " Minerva"-the first vessel registered at Washington from the district of Cuyahoga. But let me not detain you any longer with these fragmentary incidents and details of our early history.
I would that at this gathering I could point in fitting terms to the lessons which the pioneers of the Western Reserve and their descendants have read to the world within the past seventy years. In all the stirring events of peace and of war, that have risen to National importance, they have borne a conspicuous part. With but little outward enthusiasm, the current of their feelings and convictions has run deep and strong, and their latent ardor of soul has known no diminu- tion. They have occasionally been called impracticable, and have been slow to compensate, reconcile and balance; but it is because they have regarded it a low and groveling policy to prefer expediency to right, and have feared the maxim that
36
ANNALS OF THE
in public affairs we should "join compliance with reason and sacrifice to the graces." Whenever any great measure has appealed to the moral sense, even though in feeble terms. it has been easy to determine where they would take their stand. Though they may at times have seemed to be a peculiar people, they have always been zealous of good works. Such an element in the mass of our national interests is not incap- able of imparting a healthy tone to public sentiment and of extending its salutary influence to the farthest extremities. With such depth of conviction and earnestness of purpose in the line of duty, those who have gone forth from our Western Reserve to try their fortunes in other regions, have carried the talisman of snecess, and have reflected the lustre of their triumphs upon the place of their origin. They are found in the halls of legislation; among the officers of the army and the navy; among the ornaments of the bench and the leaders of the bar; among eminent divines; among the votaries of science; in the walks of literature; and, wherever there is an appreciation of intellectual and moral worth and of the high- est traits of manly character, there you will find them in the foremost ranks of their fellow men. And as often as the day shall come around for the annual convention of this Associa- tion, a proof of your own elevated standard of excellence will be afforded in the high estimate which you shall place upon their many ennobling characteristics.
37
EARLY SETTLERS ASSOCIATION.
9 .- Hymn written for the occasion by Harvey Rice.
(Tune : Old Hundred.) Arion Quartette and Audience.
Still pilgrims in a favored land, Who long have lingered on the way, How blest to meet and grasp the hand, And erown with joy our festive day !--
And tell of years whose scenes return, Like shadows on our pathway cast: And catch from living lips that burn The fleeting memories of the past.
And while we trace from whence we sprung. And early friendships fain renew, Still let us dream that we are young, And, though a dream, believe it true!
Nor days forget when first we heard Life's battle-ery, and sought the field ; When lofty aims our bosoms stirred, And faith had armed ns with her shield.
'Twas courage, then, with youthful zeal, That led us onward, flushed with pride: 'Tis years, now ripe, that make us feel How swiftly glides life's ebbing tide !
38
ANNALS OF THE
Yet while we here prolong our stay, We'll keep our pledge of love and truth ; And when we pass the darkened way, Ascend and share immortal youth !
10 .- Announcement of Members who have died within the past year. By Rev. Thomas Corlett.
DECEASED MEMBERS.
Within the past year the following members of our asso- ciation have died: First, our very estimable Vice President, the Hon. Sherlock J. Andrews. Judge Andrews was born in Waterbury, New Haven county, Conn., November 17, 1801. and moved to Cleveland in 1825. He died at his residence in this city on the 11th of February, 1880, full of years and honors, and with but little abatement of the natural force of his vigorous character.
The next member who has died is Judge Seth A. Abbey. He was born in Watertown, New York, in 1798, came to Cleve land in 1830, and moved his family in 1831. He, too, died in this city March 15, in a good old age, respected and honored of all who knew him.
The third member of the Association who has died during the past year-and you will understand this society is only about six months old as yet-was Mrs. Elizabeth Spangler, who was born in the State of Maryland, 1790. She moved to
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.