USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Annals of the Early Settlers Association of Cuyahoga County, number I > Part 29
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Among the noted characters in town, and the greatest joker of them all, was Gaius Boughton. who came from the Susquehana river ; he kept a store in a small building in the lot next east of Geer and Walsworth's hat store, any one who did not know him, enquiring for an article which he did not have, he would send the person to the house of some private family to purchase it. One day an essence peddler came along and wanted to sell him some oil of peppermint ; Boughton said he had on hand all he required, but he knew a man who would buy all he had, he was a very queer kind of a man, and would probably say he did not want to buy, and you must stick to him, and he will take all you have ; directing him to the residence of the Rev. Mr. McLane, principal of the old brick academy school, which was on the corner of Bank and St. Clair, now occu- pied by the Hoyt block; in answer to his knock, Mrs. McLane
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came to the door and asked what was wanted; he replied he wished to see the man of the house ; Mr. MeLane come hobbling along and asked him what he wished, the peddler said he came to sell him some oil of peppermint, Mr. McLane declined purchasing and turning to go back to his room, the peddler said, " now old fellow, I know all about you, you may as well buy it first as last." The reply was, "Sarah, bring my horse whip." The peddler left suddenly on a keen run.
In the foregoing narrative I have endeavored to give my early recollections of this beautiful and prosperous City of Cleveland without exaggeration and with the hope that they may possess a historical value worthy of preservation.
INCIDENTS IN THE CAREER OF THE MORGAN FAMILY.
BY ISHAM A. MORGAN.
The time of the exodus from the eastern States, and the early settlement of the pioneers in the wilderness of Cuyahoga county are far in the past. And if the trials and scenes of pioneer life could all be told, the change would appear, viewed in connection with the present and prospective status of our county, almost as marvelous as the stories of the Arabian Nights entertainment. And although the great changes have not been made in a moment as by the magie of Aladdin's wonderful lamp, still, the few left of the early pioneers can but be astonished at the wonderful change they long ago helped to inaugurate.
My earliest recollection is when we were moving to this famed far off land. From memory and from incidents which others made me familiar with near the time of their occurrence, enables me to relate many incidents which were a living reality in the bygone days.
My father, Capt. Youngs L. Morgan, and my mother, with their five children, moved from New London county, Connecticut, to a portion of Cleveland, afterward set off as Newburgh township. John Wightman with wife and two children came the same year
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that we did, but by a somewhat different route. Though he was a noble specimen of New England honesty and thrift, I have never seen his name recorded among the early settlers. As stated in a former number of the Annals of the Early Settlers' Association of Cuyahoga county, we came in 1811. My youngest brother, A. W., was born four years after we came here. Consequently a Buckeye, and the only Buckeye in our family, was raised as long ago as when buckeyes grew spontaneously all along the wild Cuyahoga valley.
We came in a covered wagon, bringing as much household goods, and wearing apparel as the limited means of conveyance would admit of. The team was a yoke of oxen on the tongue, and a span of horses on the lead. One of my sisters, eight years old, rode one of the horses, and guided both, most of the way. The road much of the way from Albany, and especially from Buffalo, was merely a trail through the woods. The brush among the trees only having been cut out. Two other families came in company with us. The party made good progress for those days, being only about three months on the way including two weeks stoppage on account of sickness.
Major Spicer and family, a part of the company, settled in the woods, where Akron city, Summit county now is. James Fish and family, were also a part of the company. James in connection with his brother Moses, were the first settlers where Brooklyn village is. And my father in moving the James Fish family there in the Spring of 1812, crossed Walworth run the first time that is was ever crossed with a wagon or other wheel vehicle.
After Mr. Fish had cut and burned the small timber on a few acres, and girdled the large trees, as the custom was, and had raised some corn, and' wheat, then the next thing was to get it ground at the Newburgh mill, it being the only mill then built and operated in this section of the State. That he usually did, by putting a bag of wheat on his horse, and another of corn, and his stoutest boy on top of the bags, and sending him to Newburgh through the woods by the way of Cleveland. And when he got to the river opposite the foot of Superior street, then after being
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ferried over the river, he went on to the mill, got his grist ground, and returned home the same way.
It was lucky for the boy in his excursions if he got home before dark, as wild animals were commonly met with on the path after dark. And what made it ofttimes doubly interesting to night travelers, there were wolves to howl, and often not far away. Sometimes when hungry they would follow people who where on horseback, manifesting a strong desire for a meal of horse, or rider. They who never heard the American or gray wolf howl, know but little about vocal music. At least they know but little about the amount of noise a few wolves can make when they get engaged in concert.
Once in particular, I remember. when I was passing through a piece of woods at the approach of night, the wolves began their music but a few roads from me. The result was, if ever I moved lively to a place more desirable for a while, that was the time. Had I waited for them to come nearer and demonstrate their feelings for a lone boy at that time, when the evening twilight began to make them anxious to begin their night revel, I might not at this time mention what I know of their music, and not unfrequently of their too social proclivity with the lone and unarmed traveler who meets them in their native haunts.
When we came to this country, there were many Indians here, but they were generally friendly, and there was but little to fear from them. But when war was declared with Great Britain in 1812, many Indians took side with England. Then the frontier settlements had enemies crafty and cruel, and no one knew when, or where, they were least likely to make their murderous raids, and it was necessary for every family exposed as they were, to be on the alert, for fear of surprise. My father kept a gun and a heavy cane by his bed, as weapons of defence in case of an attack in the night by Indians.
A little previous to Hull's surrender at Detroit, the Indians made a raid at Huron, murdered several, and captured a young man and a woman, and fled with their prisoners. The woman not being able to travel as fast as the Indians liked, they murdered and
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scalped her. and did the same by her then prospective posterity, carrying off a double trophy of their horrible deed. One day not long after that event, the people at the mouth of Huron river discovered parties coming in boats, they were a good deal alarmed, as they supposed them to be British and Indians to be let loose on the almost defenseless settlers. A courier was immediately sent to Cleveland to give the alarm there. Major Samuel Jones of Cleveland got on his horse and scoured the country round, telling the people to go to Doan's Corner, and there would be a guard to protect them as best they could. My brother yoked and hitched the oxen to the wagon, as we then had but one horse. After putting a few necessary articles into the wagon, and burying a few others, all went to Doan's Corner - East Cleveland, where most of the people in Cleveland and vicinity assembled. My father had been ill with a fever, and was scarcely able to be about. he took the gun, which had been brought along, and handed it to my brother Y. L. Jr., who was a good shot, and said to him, " If the Indians come, you see that there is one less to go away."
That night was spent in expectation not the pleasantest. A few men had stayed in Cleveland to watch developments there. In the morning, Capt. Allen Gaylord was seen approaching the encamp- ment, waving his sword, and saying, "To your tents, O Israel, Gen- eral Hull has surrendered to the British General, and our men, in- stead of Indians, were seen off Huron. They are returning to their homes." Thankful were all that it turned out with them to be nothing worse than the inconvenience of fleeing from their homes on short notice under unpleasant circumstances.
Those days were days that tested the nerve and endurance of the fathers and mothers. One night while my father was sick, my mother hearing the tinkling of a bell in the corn-field, worn by one of our oxen, and notwithstanding that the tinkling of a bell was sometimes a trick of the Indians to decoy and entrap unwary ones who were in the search of their cattle, she started out in pursuit of what she was inclined to believe were the trespassing oxen, and by no little effort succeeded in driving them out, and in closing the gap in the fence, saving the growing corn from further destruction.
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After war was over, the people no longer feared molestation, and the latch string was out again for all comers. I don't suppose there are many now who know what a latch string to a log cabin was. It was a string about a foot long, with one end fastened to a latch inside of the door, and the other end put through a hole in door, so that when the door was shut, any person outside wishing to enter, could pull the string, raise the latch, and open the door. In those days the latch string hung out when any of the family were at home. But when all were going away the latch string was pulled in, and everything was then as safe as if locked in a money vault, no one ever molesting anything when the latch string indicated that the family were away. All prided in keeping the latch string out when at home, fraternally entertaining any who might come.
In 1815, Napoleon I. surrendered in person to England, and was sent a prisoner to the isle of St. Helena. The news of that event came to New York, and to New London by sailing vessels, then it was published in the Connecticut Gazette, and then the Gazette came by mail on horse-back to Cleveland, where we received it, often taking two months or more to get important news from the old countries, which now would be telegraphed to and published in Cleveland on the day of its occurrence. It was a relief from the monotony and dearth of news which had prevailed. when Logan commenced printing the first paper ever published in Cleveland, called the Cleveland Register. The entire contents of that weekly would fill but little more than one page of a medium size daily of the present time. Yet it was considered a great advance in affairs, indicating growth and prosperity in the little village of Cleveland.
Schools there were to teach the young idea how to shoot after the war was over. But there was no school fund, nor a school law in the State of Ohio till several years later. Our estimable President of the Early Settlers' Association has the honor of being the author of the present school law of Ohio. They of my early age and locality, never had the benefit of the better schools at home which are provided for youths now. In our early days, the
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heads of families clubbed together where there were enough to sustain a school, and youths enough could be got together to make it an object to hire a man to teach the large boys and girls in the Winter, that being the time of year when their work was least required, while the smaller ones went to the Summer school, taught by a woman.
If a family possessed a Webster's spelling-book for spelling, an American Preceptor, or a Columbian Orator, or a Dwight's geog- raphy, which were used for reading books, a Daboll's, or Adams' arithmetic, and a slate and pencil for ciphering, and paper, ink, and goose quills for writing, and possibly a Murray's grammar for such as wished to study grammar, with these it was supposed that the youths were fully armed and equipped for school exercise. Taking the dinner basket filled with the noon repast, they put out for the log school-house, perhaps from one to three miles distant, and the greater part of the way through the woods. And on their arrival there, spent their hours with their teacher in acquiring a knowledge of what was called a common school education.
The Rev. Stephen Peets, whom some of the old inhabitants of Cuyahoga County may remember, taught our school in the Winter of 1814-15. And during the term, he got up an exhibition for the evening of the last day of school. On the road from Newburgh to Cleveland, now Broadway, where you first get a view of the river from the high land, was Samuel Dille's house, which, of course, was a log house. It was large for the times, and in it was a spacious upper room, the length and breadth of the house. There the people of Newburgh and Cleveland assembled and witnessed the performance of the Conjurer, taken from the Columbian Orator ; the dissipated Oxford student, also taken from the same book ; Brutus and Cassius, taken from the American Preceptor; and several other pieces. The various parts were conceded by the critics there, to have been performed in admirable style. After the performance, my father, mother, two sisters, and myself, returned home a distance of a mile and a half on the family horse. Two adults and three plump children, 6 to 12 years of age, might now be considered rather a large load for one horse to carry, and 5 on a
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horse, as 'may be supposed, would now render a cavalcade some- what uncouth in appearance on the broadways of Cleveland. But then people dispensed in part with stylish appearances, and aecom- modated themselves to the necessities of the time. We all arrived home safe and sound, and the horse that carried us, did it apparently without fatigue.
Perhaps that school exibition was where a desire had its origin to excel in dramatic performance several years later by Cleveland young men and ladies, under a tutor of more than ordinary repute. But what a change in that little company since that time .- I re- member the whole soul and ever cheerful Thos. Colahan, the social and generous Sylvester Gaylord, the eccentric yet well meaning Francis Billett, the genial and warm hearted Wm. Skin- ner, the staid friend James H. Elwell, and Lewis Dibble, the ever generous and true to his associates,- he remains with us .- And the ladies - I cannot forget them. And while tears of sadness start in memory of the departed ones of that association, let a warm greeting continue as often as the three or four remaining ones meet, and I would say to all, let the friendship of earlier days be imitated, and the kindly acts of pioneer life inspire the rising generation to kind and noble deeds.
The exercises of the forenoon were now concluded with a song finely rendered by Mr. Fulkerson, a popular singer of Cleveland. The Home Amateurs, and other singers who had so kindly volun- teered their services for the occasion, were invited by a vote of the Association to partake in the social lunch which was now announced as ready by the blowing of a conch-shell as in pioneer times. The shell was said to have been in use over a hundred years ago. Three long rows of tables had been set under the galleries in the hall laden with substantials and luxuries. The moment the chonch had ceased its sonorous tones, the Association took a recess and seated themselves with invited guests at the tables. All seemed to enjoy the feast, and especially the social chit-chat that accom- panied it.
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AFTERNOON SESSION.
The Association was called to order at 2 o'clock. The public had been invited to attend. The hall, large as it is, was filled. The exercises commenced with the singing of " Auld Lang Syne " by the Home Amateurs, in a style and with a zest that delighted the audience. The Annual Address followed.
ANNUAL ADDRESS.
THE CORPORATE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF CLEVELAND. BY HON. S. O. GRISWOLD.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE EARLY SETTLERS ASSOCIATION :-
At the request of your worthy President I appear before you to deliver your fifth annual address. While I cannot pretend to bring to you anything of personal recollection of the early days, my line of study has made me familiar with some matters which may be appropriately considered on this occasion. The authorities for the facts to be stated by me are in great part derived from the archives of the State, and the public records of the County and City, whichi I have verified by personal inspection. I must also acknowledge my obligation for other facts to that most excellent compilation in regard to the history of Cleveland by our distinguished fellow townsman, Col. Charles Whittlesey. The subject which I have chosen for my address is : The Corporate Birth and Growth of Cleveland.
This place, where the Cuyahoga river empties into Lake Erie, was regarded by the statesmen of the ante-revolutionary period as a strategic point for the command of the' northwest; territory, and the control of the future commerce of the lakes. Immediately after the ratification of the treaty of peace in 1784, the Continental Congress by resolutions passed the 23rd day of April of that year, assumed the control of this vast territory, and on May 25th, 1785, it passed an ordinance for the survey and sale of the land thereof.
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There then existed, however, on the part of several of the States, conflicting claims in regard to their jurisdiction and ownership of the title to this region. The State of Connecticut made large claims to the territory ; but on the 14th of September 1786, that State ceded to the Continental Congress all its rights over this region, reserving, however, the title to all the land bounded sonth by the 41st parallel of north latitude, and north by the line of 42ยบ 1', and extending west between these lines from the Pennsylvania line, a distance of 120 statute miles.
On the 13th day of July 1787, the Continental Congress passed an ordinance for the government of this territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, which is known as the famous ordinance of 1787. In the fifth article of that ordinance, it was provided that not less than three nor more than five States might be formed out of this territory, and the western line of the eastern State thereof was coincident with the present western boundary of Ohio, said line beginning in the Ohio river at the month of the great Miami, and drawn due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada.
A territorial government was immediately organized, and General Arthur St. Clair was appointed governor, and continued to hold the office till Ohio was admitted into the Union. On the 12th of July 1788, the governor, by his proclamation, established Washington County, including all the State east of a line from the mouth of the Cuyahoga river to the Ohio river, and on the 29th day of July 1797 he established the County of Jefferson, which included all the northern part of said Washington County. Although the Conti- nental Congress, by its resolutions and ordinances, assumed juris- diction over all this territory northwest of the Ohio river, the State of Connecticut yielded none of its claims to this reserved tract, described in its act of session of 1786, and proceeded to deal with it as its own rightful territory, and, as is well known, granted the title to the soil thereof to the Connecticut Land Company. The few scattered inhabitants of this district paid little heed to the assumption of jurisdiction by the territorial governor ; they laughed to scorn the tax gatherer sent among them, and he returned to his
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county seat with his pockets leaner than when he started from home. The spirit of those early emigrants is well portrayed by the conduct of the surveying party sent out by the Connecticut Land Company to survey this territory after the conveyance to it by the State of Connecticut. They arrived at the western bound- ary of Pennsylvania and established the point where the dividing line struck the lake, on the 4th of July 1796. and having per- formed this work, proceeded on that day, as was the custom of the whole country, to have a Fourth of July celebration, with federal salutes, dinner, toasts and speeches ; and the second toast on that occasion was the State of New-Connecticut, which was drank with well filled bumpers of good old-fashioned grog. They were actu- ated by the same sentiments and feelings as were their ancestors more than 150 years before, who, finding themselves gathered on the banks of the Connecticut river, and feeling the necessity of an established government, without any permission or authority of king, parliament, royal council, or colonial assembly, adopted a written constitution, the first known in all history, where the ultimate authority was based on the major vote of the people, and under that constitution established a government, and entitled it, " The Commonwealth of Connecticut."
The disputes, however, as to the jurisdiction of this territory, were settled in a wise and prudent manner ; the first Congress of the United States, at its first session, passed an act, approved August 7th, 1784, ratifying the ordinance of 1787, and continuing in force the territorial government, and by an act passed at the first session of the sixth Congress, approved April 28, 1800, authorized the President of the United States to accept for the general government the session of jurisdiction of this territory west of Pennsylvania, commonly called the Western Reserve of Connecticut, and by said act confirmed the title to the soil in the State of Connecticut, and authorized and directed the President to issue a patent to the Governor of that State for the territory embraced within the boundaries aforesaid. On the 10th of July following, the Governor of the territory, by his proclamation, established the county of Trumbull, which substantially embraced
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within its limits all of said reserved tract. The Connectieut Land Company after its purchase took immediate steps to have its land surveyed, and in 1796 sent out a surveying party, at whose head was General Moses Cleaveland, to perform the work. As before stated, this party arrived and established at the lake a point in the line of the boundary between this reserved traet and the State of Pennsylvania. It does not fall within my purpose to give any his- tory of that survey, and I refer to it only in connection with the laying out of this city. The plan of the survey was first to estab- lish the dividing line between the tract and Pennsylvania, then to establish the southern boundary line, being the 41st parallel of north latitude, then to lay off on this line ranges of townships containing 25 square miles, the ranges numbering upwards west- wardly, and the townships northwardly. That portion of the surveying party, whose duty was to run the southern boundary, having proceeded on that line sixty miles westwardly, being the west line of the 12th range, then ran the west line thereof north to the lake, and arrived here at Cleveland on the 22d day of July, 1796, where nearly the whole party were reunited, and furnished with supplies, which they greatly needed. You have well chosen this same day of the month as your anniversary day. When this party running the west line had arrived at the north line of the sixth township of the 12th range (Independence), they found the course of the Cuyahoga River, which passed centrally through that township, then bore substantially a due northerly course to the lake, and in accordance with instructions of the Company, the west line of this range was not further prolonged on its course, but they went eastwardly to the river for the rest of the distance, mak- ing the Cuyahoga River the west boundary to the lake, and the next township, which was Cleveland, therefore, according to the survey, became the seventh township of the twelfth range, although a small strip near the lake was on the line of the townships num- bered eight. When General Cleaveland examined the situation, with the prescience of a leader of men, he saw that this pla- teau at the junction of the river and the lake was the true site for a city, and he directed his surveyors to lay out here a plot for 3
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the same. In his judgment here was to be the capital of the State of New-Connecticut, which was to arise and grow on this reserved wilderness. The actual surveying work was done under the direction of Augustus Porter, assisted by Seth Pease and Amos Spafford as principal surveyors. The area selected contained about 520 acres, and was divided into two acre lots, 220 in num- ber, with streets, alleys, and public grounds. There was first made a rough field map on which these lots. streets, and grounds were marked and laid out, but a more perfect and complete map was made by Seth Pease and finished before the 1st of October of that year. On this old field map, there was written in fair hand, as well to perpetuate the General's memory, as the event itself, " The City of Cleveland." In the spelling, the letter "a" in the first syllable always used by the General himself, was omitted, which letter was not used in the English District of that name, called by the old Saxon invaders Clif-londe, which was the origin of the cognomen, and it has generally been omitted by the family to which the General belonged. There was a resurvey of the plot by Major Spafford in 1801, who had assisted in the original survey. The clearing away of the forest and other causes had destroyed many of the posts and monuments originally set and marked, but he had before him the original minutes and survey, and no sub- stantial change was made by him in the lots or streets.
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