USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Annals of the Early Settlers Association of Cuyahoga County, number I > Part 33
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EARLY SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.
The " PARISH OF TRINITY " was, at this time, restored to the village of Cleaveland, and religious services were held in the old Court-house. On the 13th of December 1826, the vestry instructed Judge Barber to address a memorial to Rt. Rev. Bishop Chase praying for assistance from the missionary fund to enable them to sustain their Rector.
At the next annual meeting held on the 14th of April 1827, Rev. Mr. Freeman in the chair, the following persons were chosen wardens and vestrymen, viz. :
JOSIAH BARBER, - PHINEHAS SHEPHARD,
Wardens.
CHARLES TAYLOR,
HENRY L. NOBLE,
REUBEN CHAMPION,
JOHN W. ALLEN,
Vestrymem.
JAMES S. CLARKE,
LEVI SARGEANT,
SHERLOCK J. ANDREWS, J
At this meeting, the following resolution was adopted significant of the limited resources of Trinity Parish in 1827, as compared with its condition in 1884 :
" Resolved, That the Rev. Mr. Freeman be appointed an agent, to go to the East for the purpose of endeavoring to raise funds, with which to erect a church in this village."
Mr. Freeman was very successful in this expedition, and Trinity Parish was thus enabled to erect in 1828-9, the first Church edifice that was built in Cleveland. It stood at the intersection of Seneca and St, Clair streets, southeast corner, and the whole cost of the structure was $3,070.
In February 1828, the Parish was incoporated by a special act of the General Assembly, and the names of the corporators were as follows : Josiah Barber, Phinehas 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 the year 1830, the vestry believed themselves so strong financially, that they ventured to call on the Rev. Mr. McElroy to
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be their Rector, and agreed to pay him, for his whole time, at the rate of $450 per annum,
During this last fiscal year, this old Parish of Trinity has raised, by voluntary contribution for Church and charitable purposes, the sum of seventy-one thousand eight hundred and sixteen dollars and sixty-two cents ($71,816.62).
The Parish is free from debt, and has property in possession, worth, at a low estimate, one hundred and thirty-three thousand dollars. It is the mother church of all the Episcopal churches in the city, and has under its exclusive charge a " Home for the Sick and Friendless." that is an honor to humanity.
In the words of the message. first transmitted through Morse's telegraph, I say, with reverence :
" WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT !"
Several other prominent gentlemen were expected to favor the andience with brief speeches, but the lateness of the hour pre- vented.
The exercises of the day were now closed with the song of " Old Folks at Home " by the Home Amateurs and the singing of the doxology, in which the audience joined.
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HISTORICAL CONTRIBUTIONS.
AN INTERESTING LETTER.
HON. HARVEY RICE, President of the Early Settlers' Association.
DEAR SIR :- Agreeably to your request I herewith contribute, as one of the oldest inhabitants of. Cleveland, and a native of the Western Reserve, my mite to the historical collection of our Association. I shall necessarily make myself apparently unduly prominent, but I trust that will be overlooked.
When I attended the last meeting of our Association, I met many whom I knew when they were young, when their steps were light, when their hair was of the original hues, when, imbued with the enthusiasm of youth, they looked forward with a hopeful feel- ing of having a pleasant journey through life. When I looked at that white haired matron, the mother and grandmother of many children, I remembered her well, when a boy, as a young society belle. When I gazed on that stately and venerable gentleman, I could hardly realize that I knew him once as a favored beau, a handsome young man and a first class dancer. When I first met with the esteemed President of our Association, he had a fair young bride, his present wife. The first time I saw the genial face with its kindly expression of the Hon. John A. Foote, he was pre- siding over the meeting of a debating society, in Phoenix Hall, on Superior street, in the Winter of 1838-9. He was then com- paratively a young man and proved himself a good presiding officer, judging by the manner in which he called James A. Briggs, now of Brooklyn, N. Y., to order for some violation of rules of debate. The question under discussion was, " Is Slavery right and justifiable ?" I remember, Mr. Briggs took a high place in my heart by taking the negative position. His opponent was a lawyer by the name of Randall. When I listened to his defence of the in- fernal institution of slavery, my boyish feelings against him were
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akin to those I had subsequently towards a "slave hunter." Young as I was, I am proud to say, I was an intense abolitionist. I im- bibed my abolition sentiment when a lad from a good old Anti- Slavery Aunt, who used to dilate on the cruelty and injustice of slavery. She is still living in Austinburg, a venerable lady of eighty.
That old pioneer, George B. Merwin, Esq .- the first time I remem- ber seeing him was in December, 1838, when he was marching with the Cleveland Grays, on their first public parade. He was second lieutenant of that company, and a gay and fine looking officer he appeared. The Grays had subsequently a great reputation as one of the best drilled companies in the Union. It was commanded by Capt. Timothy Ingraham, who, during the war of the rebellion, did some good service for the government. He has since passed away at his home in New Bedford, Mass. The venerable General Sanford, who with his wife were among the old settlers who graced the re-union by their presence, was the first lieutenant of the Grays. The first time I saw him was when he was showing attention over half a century ago to a handsome widow lady, Mrs. Hayward, whom he afterwards married. She is the mother of Col. Hayward, who was a high private in the Grays wlien that company was first organized in 1838. I first knew the colonel when my father occupied his mother's house, which was situated on Superior street, next east of the Excelsior Block. He was a harum scarum lad, full of mis- chief, but withal a good hearted boy. The house of Mrs. Hay- ward was previously occupied by an Englishman by the name of Bennet. He run the only brewery in the place. The first piano I ever heard was owned by him, on which his beautiful black- eyed daughters used to play. He brought it over from England, and it was the only piano in Cleveland in 1832. Just think of Cleveland with only one piano during the early period of our lives. Now there is not a farming town in Northern Ohio, but what has upwards of a dozen, and our city, at this moment, has probably over two thousand! This illustrates most forcibly the great advance we have made in musical culture.
Among the gray-haired gentlemen in the audience, I noticed
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Bushnell White, Esq. He too was a member of the gallant Grays. I saw him first when he accepted on behalf of that company a flag from the late C. M. Giddings, in front of his stone mansion, on the corner of Ontario street and north side of the square. He made an eloquent speech on that occasion, for in his prime he was quite an orator.
I listened with absorbing attention to the interesting remarks of Judge Spalding. I first saw him in 1843, when he called at the Herald office and settled a bill. He was a fierce but intellectual looking gentleman. In his days he was a famous politician, and as a drafter of resolutions at a political con- vention he stood unrivalled - in fact, he was the champion drafter of resolutions. If the different Presidential National Con- ventions had only employed the Judge on a salary to construct their platforms, he would have given them a far better job than any of them ever have had. He can write a resolution in most elegant English and in the most terse style. No wonder the Plain Dealer was wont to call him "The Honorable Resolutionary P. Spalding." The Judge is now eighty six, yet he does not appear to be more than seventy-five. He is indeed a remarkably well preserved old gentleman, and may he live to celebrate his hundreth birthday is my most sincere wish.
On the platform I noticed one of the Vice-Presidents of our Association, Mrs. J. A. Harris. She is a fair sample of the noble Pioneer women of the past. She was a worthy helpmeet of her husband when he tackled the Cleveland Herald in 1837, and for years was struggling to make the venture a success. He boarded nearly all of his employés, which was a custom in those good old
days, in order to keep down expenses. It was my fortune to be one of Mr. Harris' apprentices, and I boarded with him along with the rest of the boys. I can testify to the kindly care Mrs. Harris used to exercise over "her boys," and to her great popularity among them all. The absence of her husband from our gatherings makes me feel sad, for I know of none who would have enjoyed meeting with the early settlers more than he. I first made his acquaintance in the Winter of 1838-9, nearly forty-six years
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ago, when he was seated at the "Old Round Table," in his office in the Central Building, then located on the present site of the National Bank Building. I had then commenced learning my trade. that of "the art preservative of all arts." Mr. Harris was a man of extraordinary industry. He was editor of the Herald, and his own city editor, reporter, commercial editor, financial editor, mailing clerk and book-keeper. In those days the Herald was considered a great newspaper, and Mr. Harris a great editor. The expense of publishing, the Herald, including everything, did not exceed eighty dollars a week. The hand-press turned out only 240 impressions on one side per hour, equal to 120 sheets printed on both sides. The news was received by mail carried in the old- fashioned stage coach. They had no 'telegraphic news, no special dispatches, no special correspondents, no staff of editors, and no lightning presses. Now, for the purpose of showing the contrast between the Herald when I first knew it and the papers of to-day, I will compare it with the Leader as a sample. My apology for doing so, is that I am familiar with the cost of running it and with its details. The weekly cost of publishing this last named paper ranges from forty-two hundred to forty-five hundred dollars a week. Its presses have turned out during the Garfield funeral 500 papers per minute printed both sides, pasted, cut and folded. Its staff consists of one editor-in-chief, one managing editor, a writing editor, news editor, commercial editor, financial editor, railway editor, city editor, telegraphic revisor and eight reporters. In addition the Leader has two correspondents stationed at Washing- tion, who are considered members of the staff. Scattered all over the country are nearly two hundred correspondents, who are paid for every piece of news they send. Instead of waiting for a stage- coach to arrive with a later batch of newspapers, from which to cull our news, as Mr. Harris used to do, the night editor will receive a dispatch from say New York as follows : " Several failures in Wall Street, Great excitement, How many words ?" The reply would be, perhaps, "Send one thousand." A dispatch from Cin- cinnati will be received saying for instance : "A riot brewing. It promises to be a serious affair. How many words ?" The reply
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EARLY SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.
would be, "Send full account." Our Boston correspondent may send as follows : " Beacon street terribly excited. A girl of wealth and culture eloped with her father's coachman. How many words ?" The answer may be, " Four hundred." It is in this man- ner the great modern dailies gather the news by telegraph from all parts of the Union. Also by means of the associated press news from Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. Yet in spite of the difference of circulation being in favor of the modern paper, as compared with that of the Herald forty-five years ago, Mr. Harris as editor, was considered a far greater man than your humble servant is as editor of the Leader to-day ! In fact Mr. Harris, was considered the biggest man in the city. Editors have rather degenerated in the estimation of people. compared to what they were forty years ago.
I served Mr. Harris as an apprentice off and on for several years. I was not a very good apprentice, I am sorry to say, for I had a proneness for quarrelling and fighting with some of the boys in the office, and as a result I was discharged three different times and taken back each time. But I revenged myself on the "old man," as we used to call him, by employing him years afterwards to edit the Leader. Two of Mr. Harris' apprentices - my fellow apprentices - have risen to prominence. One of them, Dr. J. C. Reeve, has become an eminent physician, and he now lives in Dayton. The other, George K. Fitch, is the editor of the San Francisco Bulletin, and part owner of that paper, also of the San Francisco Daily Call. He stands high as a citizen and journalist. To show the great regard he had for his old employer, years ago, when he was over here on a visit, he presented Mr. Harris with a magnificent gold watch as a memento of his friendship. Mr. Fitch can be claimed by us as one of the early settlers, for he resided in this city from 1842 till 1847. While visiting him at his home in San Francisco, last year, he referred to Mr. Harris in terms, I might say, of affection. Would that this veteran journalist could have been with us at our last meeting. How he · would have enjoyed the occasion, for he had been himself an old settler, and he had such a reverence for the early pioneers. But he
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is gone. How I mourned his departure for the other side of the river. How sadly the old residents of Cleveland missed J. A. Harris, after he had left us forever ! A kinder-hearted and better man than he never lived.
While looking over the audience at the last meeting of our Asso- ciation, I could not help feeling sad, for there were many familiar faces missing. I realized then, how many there were whom we loved, respected and esteemed, who had "gone to that bourne whence no traveller returns." It brought to my mind the stately form of my respected uncle, the late Judge Samuel Cowles, who died in 1837. It made me think of my departed brother Giles, who died in 1842. He was only twenty-three years, but he was a young man of extraordinary ability. At the age of eighteen he was a partner in business of the late Orlando Cutter, and when their store was burned in 1837, he caught cold, which settled on his lungs and eventually carried him away. Some of the familiar faces which graced the gathering, brought up before me my honored parents, and my brother, the late Judge Samuel Cowles, of San Francisco. This brother studied law in the office of Andrews, Foot and Hoyt, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. In 1852 he and his law partner, E. B. Mastick, Esq., went to California. My brother died in 1880, and Mr. Mastick is still living, a prominent lawyer of San Francisco. As one of the trustees acting under the will of Mr. James Lick, he has charge of the construction of the largest telescope the world has yet seen. The object glass of the largest now in existence is twenty-eight inches in diameter. That Mr. Mastick is overseeing will be thirty-six inches in diameter, and it is calculated it will bring the moon to within twelve miles of the earth. But I have departed from my theme.
My mind wandered back in the past, and I thought of many good men and women, early settlers, who have gone to their final earthly homes in the Erie street and Woodland cemeteries. I made a draft on my memory and brought to mind the names of the following early settlers who lived here forty to forty-five years ago, who are now sleeping in those cemeteries :
T. P. May, Dr. David Long, Jolın Blair, Buckley Stedman, Rev.
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EARLY SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.
Dr. S. C. Aiken, W. J. Warner, Leonard Case, sen., William Case, Leonard Case, jr., N. C. Winslow, Richard Winslow, H. J. Winslow, Thomas Jones, sen., H. L. Noble, John L. Severance, who lies alone in his grave in Southampton, England ; Solomon Severance, Varnum J. Card, Ex Post-master Aaron Barker, Judge John W. Willey, the first Mayor of Cleveland; Ex-Mayor Joshua Mills, George Hoadley, the father of the Governor ; John M. Woolsey, George C. Dodge, J. F. Hanks, Richard Hilliard, Ex-Mayor Nicholas Dockstader, Gov. Wood, Ex-Mayor W. B. Castle, Judge and Ex-Mayor Samuel Starkweather, Ex-Mayor Nelson Hayword, Ex-Mayor H. M. Chapin, Orlando Cutter, A. D. Cutter, Henry W. Clark, Col. Clark, his nephew who was killed during the rebellion ; Judge H. V. Wilson, Judge Sherlock J. Andrews, Judge John Barr, Elisha T. Sterling, Ahaz Merchants, S. A. Hutchinson, A. S. Hutchinson, George A. Benedict, Editor Herald ; Hon. Edward Wade, J. F. Clark, Alexander Seymour, Prof. J. P. Kirkland, Prof. H. A. Ackley, Prof. John Delamater. Prof. Jehu Brainard, P. M. Weddell, Peter P. Weddell, Wm. McGaughey, Judge T. M. Kelley, T. H. Beckwith, Lewis Handerson, Dr. Robert Johnston, Benjamin Rouse, Rev. Dr. Levi Tucker, Captain John Perry, Nathan Perry, Oliver H. Perry, Edwin Stair, John Stair, Benjamin Stair, Prof. Mendenhall, latterly of the Cincinnati Medical College; the two Proudfoot brothers, A. M. Perry, William Lemen, Tom Lemen, Philo Scoville, Benjamin Harrington, formerly post-master ; J. W. Gray, Editor Plain Dealer and formerly post-master ; N. A. Gray, Melancton Barnet, Deacon Whitaker, Deacon Hamlin, Dr. Henry Everett, Wm. J. May, George May, A. W. Walworth, Deacon Fox, H. B. Hurlbut, Milo Hickox, John Gill, Harmon Kingsbury, Elijah Bingham, Silas Belden, Nelson Monroe, Deacon W. A. Otis, Capt. Sartwell, Charles M. Giddings, N. E. Crittenden, George Worthington, Thomas Brown, formerly Editor of the True Democrat ; Judge Solomon Stoddard and his three Sons, Charles G. Aiken, J. F. Taintor, Charles Bradburn, Judge Thomas Bolton, Moses Kelly, J. M. Gillette, Elijah Sanford, Capt. Moses Ross, David Morrison, sen., Henry Gaylord, Aaron Stickland, Joseph Ross, Seth A. Abbey, Dr. W. A. Clark, Samuel Raymond, Woolsey
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Welles, Richard Lord, Samuel Williamson, Robert Williamson- Rev. Dr. S. B. Canfield. Rev. Dr. Bury, E. F. Panderson, Rev. Wm. Day. James H. Kellogg, Edward Baldwin, Joseph Sarjeant, W. D. Beattie, Horatio Ford, J. H. Crittenden, Charles A. Shepard, Edward Shepard, O. E. Huntington, Edward White. James Houghton, N. M. Standart, Dr. B. S. Lyman, E. C. Ronse, J. L. Weatherly, Dr. Terry, D. L. Beardsley, Gen. D. L. Wood, Augustus Merwin, J. M. Hughes, I. N. Halliday, Judge Reuben Hitchcock, Erastus Smith, Jacob Lowman, S. Brainard, Henry Mould, Henry J. Mould, Prof. J. Lang Cassel, C. Stetson, J. B. Bartlet, Hon. Franklin T. Backus, Judge J. P. Bishop, Deacon Moses White, Henry Seaman, Sylvester Ranney, Horatio Ranney, - Seaman, of Seaman & Smith ; Wm. Mittleberger, Wm. Sholl, John B. Waring, Darwin Severance, Col. Lawrence, Gov. J. W. Fitch, Daniel W. Fiske, J. E. James, the old sexton of the Stone Church; Uncle Abram Hickox, Levi Bauder, John Wills, Win. Milford, Herrick Childs, Oscar A. Childs, Judge Josiah Barber, Deacon S. H. Sheldon, Joel Scranton, Marshal Carson, S. S. Coe, Renben Champion, Zalmon Fitch, Grant Fitch, Wm. J. Brooks, - Gardner, of Gardner & Vincent ; J. R. Stafford, Dr. C. D. Brayton, J. H. Gorham, Isaac Taylor, Henry S. Stevens, M. B. Scott, John H. Guptil, R. H. Blackmer, Capt. L. A. Pierce, James S. Clark, Henry F. Clark, Lientenant Allen Norton, E. W. Andrews, B. L. Spangler, Capt. Levi Johnson, Thomas Richmond, Gurdon Fitch, John Outhe- waite, T. C. Floyd, James B. Finney, Dr. Amos Pierson, Ambrose Spencer, J. C. Woolson, Judge Joseph Hayward, Judge Q. F. Atkins, Capt. D. Howe. Morris Jackson, Mar- shal S. Castle, Daniel M. Haskell, Uncle Jenkins, the vener- able bachelor, who used to ride a white horse; Uncle Nelson, sexton of Trinity Church ; Dr. P. Mathivet, Wm. Fiske, Capt. J. C. McCurdy, George Tolhurst, S. L. Bingham, Charles A. Dean, George A. Stanley, George W. Stanley, N. Brainard, Dr. Ed. Kelley, John R. St. John, Prentiss Dow, John G. Stockley, Elisha Taylor, Lyman Kendall, C. W. Heard, Anson Hayden, Dr. M. L. Wright, Judge Whittlesey, C. L. Camp, Seth T. Hurd, Dr. A. Underhill, Dr. Weston, Thomas Umbstaetter, David Hersh, Henry
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E. Butler, Deacon A. Wheeler, Stephen C. Whitaker, Joseph S. Lake, James E. Craw, Samuel Foote, John E. Cary, Stephen S. Clary, - Brewster, the school-master ; Carnarhan Aiken, Son of Rev. Dr. Aiken, who died at sea ; Robert Parks, Israel P. Converse, - Barstow, - Kingsley, who was drowned at Sandus- ky, brother of H. C. Kingsley ; Harmon Handy, Rev. Joseph Breek, Flavel W. Bingham, Aaron Clark, Dr. Thomas G. Cleveland.
There are others who were prominent, but they are beyond the reach of my memory. The foregoing list comprises some of the best known citizens, who lived in Cleveland forty to forty-five years ago, when it had only an average population of about ten thousand. Now our city has a population of about twenty-one times that number. Can it now show twenty-one times the number of citizens comprising the list I have given of equal standing ? I doubt very much if it can, when to this list should be added the names of carly prominent citizens who are now living. Among the dead of the early settlers are these legal lights : Andrews, Hitchcock, Wade, Kelly, Bolton, Backus, Stetson, Starkweather, Williamson, Wilson, and Bishop. Can our bar to-day, consisting of ten times as many members nearly all modern settlers, match that array of legal names in standing ? Among the scientific names, which have added to the social quality of Cleveland forty years ago, are those of Kirtland, the Agassiz of the West, Delamater, St. John, Ackley, Mendenhall and Cassel, none of whom are now living, and I will add the names of Prof. H. L. Smith, of Hobart college, Geneva, N. Y .; General Charles Whittlesey, the well known geologist, who both are living and who were residents of Cleveland forty years ago.
The clergy of Cleveland forty and forty-five years ago had a galaxy of names noted for their profoundness, ability, learning and eloquence. There were the Rev. Dr. Aiken, pastor of the Old Stone Church ; Rev. Dr. S. B. Canfield, of the Second Presbyterian Church ; Rev. Dr. Levi Tucker, pastor of the Baptist Church ; Rev. Dr. Perry, of St. Paul, and Rev. Lloyd Winsor, of Trinity. Besides these I can add the name of that famous Millerite clergyman, Rev. Mr. Fitch, a man of great learning, sincerity and eloquence, and who honestly believed that the world would come
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to an end in 1844. Intellectually he was a great man. Can the clergy of Cleveland to-day produce an equal number of names of equal ability ?
This brings to mind that Cleveland forty years ago, or more strictly speaking thirty-eight years ago, had a lecture bureau of her own, and instead of importing lecturers from outside of her limit, the bureau drew on her home talents and the lectures delivered were fully as interesting as any of those of the foreign lights. Dr. Aiken gave a lecture on the history of the Greek Church, Dr. Canfield on the Life and Times of Oliver Cromwell, Rev. Lloyd Winsor on the French Revolution, Dr. Terry on Charles the First, Edward Wade on the Convention that formed the Constitution, Albert G. Lawrence, on Sir Walter Raleigh, John B. Waring on some commercial subject, Prof. H. L. Smith on chemical science, Prof. St. John on a theme which I have forgotten, George Bradburn, who afterwards became one of the editors of the True Democrat, now the Leader, dilated on his experience in England, - in those days it was considered a great thing to have been to England, - and James A. Briggs, delivered a lecture on " The Greatness of our Country," or something to that effect. Mr. Bradburn in his lecture took occasion to put our country sadly at a disadvantage in comparing her with the greatness of England. He was followed shortly afterwards by Mr. Briggs, who made a sort of an indignant reply to Mr. Bradburn. That gentleman had the misfortune to be deaf and sat on the platform, where he could hear. The burden of Mr. Brigg's address was decrying the claims set up by Mr. Bradburn of the superior greatness of Brittannia as compared with our country, and while dealing out his sarcasm he would look at that gentleman and bow to him. Mr. Bradburn received the salutation in an immovable manner. Mr. Briggs afterwards became editor of the same paper, the True Democrat, that Mr. Bradburn subsequently edited.
The lecture which created the most interest was that delivered by the Rev. Dr. Canfield, on Oliver Cromwell, in which he made an able defence of that great soldier and statesman from the bitter attacks of the adherents of the Church of England. He quoted
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