USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Annals of the Early Settlers Association of Cuyahoga County, number I > Part 37
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ARTICLE VI.
At any annual or special meeting of the Association the presence of twenty members shall constitute a quorum. No special meetings shall be held, except for business purposes and on call of the Executive Committee. This Constitution may be altered or amended at any regular annual meeting of the Associa- tion on a three-fourths vote of all the members present, and shall take effect, as amended, from the date of its adoption.
ANNALS
OF THE
Early Settlers'Association
OF
CUYAHOGA COUNTY.
NUMBER VI.
PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
CLEVELAND, O: WILLIAM W. WILLIAMS. 1885.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Astor Len and I' Four Latins 1898.
23447
OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION. 1885.
HON. HARVEY RICE, President.
HON. JOHN W. ALLEN, -
Vice-Presidents.
MRS. J. A. HARRIS,
THOMAS JONES, JR., Secretary.
SOLON BURGESS, Treasurer.
REV. THOMAS CORLETT, Chaplain.
DAVID L. WIGHTMAN, Marshal of the Day.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
GEORGE F. MARSHALL,
R. T. LYON,
DARIUS ADAMS,
JOHN H. SARGENT, M. M. SPRANGLER, WILSON S. DODGE,
SOLON BURGESS.
THE EARLY SETTLERS' ANNIVERSARY, JULY 22, 1885.
The Early Settlers' Association of Cuyahoga county held their reunion, on return of their anniversary, at the Tabernacle, Ontario street, in the city of Cleveland. The assemblage was large, and many new member- ships were secured. The platform in the hall of the tabernacle was decorated with a rich profusion of flowers. The exercises commenced at 11 o'clock a. m. and were of a very interesting character. The open- ing prayer was made by the chaplain, Rev. Thomas Corlett, followed by the song-" Auld Lang Syne"-delightfully rendered by Mrs. Grace Tod Lohmann, of Akron. In addition to this fovorite and gifted song- stress, the German orchestra with stringed instruments was present and discoursed sweet music at intervals in the exercises. The following is the introductory address delivered by Hon. Harvey Rice, President of the association.
ADDRESS.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: This is a day that recalls pleasant memories. We hail its return with joy, because it gives us as a fraternity of early settlers an opportunity to exchange heartfelt congratulations on the score of " old acquaintance " that cannot and should not be forgotten. We have reached the sixth anniversary of our association since its organiza- tion. When first organized the association consisted of less than twenty members. We have now over six hundred memberships. The num- ber has rapidly increased from year to year. The association is com- posed of men and women, early settlers, who have resided within the limits of the Western Reserve for at least forty years, and who are at
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ANNALS OF THE
the time of becoming members citizens of Cuyahoga county, The an- nual fee is but $1. In return the members receive a free luncheon at the reunions, together with a gratuitous copy of the " Annals " published by the executive committee. The object of the association is to gather such crumbs of pioneer history pertaining to the Western Reserve as may be of permanent value, so that " nothing be lost," and at the same time give to the annual meeting of the association such a degree of social enjoyment as shall render its work as delightful as it is useful and praiseworthy. In doing this we not only consolidate old friend" ship, but bequeath to posterity and to the world a legacy that will be appreciated. The pioneer life of the Western Reserve can never be repeated. The men and women who were known as original pioneers possessed not only a high degree of intelligence and enterprise, but ex- hibited a heroism that was absolutely invincible. The plucky spirit of Puritanic blood flowed in their veins. The age in which they lived might well be called the " heroic age" of the Western Reserve. They possessed inventive genius as well as heroism, sought out many inven- tions, rude as they might be, and thus adapted themselves and their needs to circumstances. It was they who conquered the wilderness and bequeathed to us a comparative paradise. Hence it is that every scrap of their history has become not only interesting, but conveys a valuable lesson. It is certain that the Western Reserve has a gigantic destiny, and is endowed with gigantic power. We see what she now is, but who can predict what she will be in the distant future, in the next century, in the next ten centuries ? Show me the prophet who can foretell, and I will show you a man who is " more than a prophet."
But let us drop the prophets and ask what we as an association have done. We have gathered and published in a series of pamphlets, known as " Annals," five hundred and thirty-seven octavo pages of historical reminiscences of pioneer life. These pamphlets have been much sought, and read with interest, and have found their way into many public and private libraries, both in the eastern and western states. The work we are doing has led to the formation of similar associations in different counties of the state, in addition to those that existed at an earlier date. Not long since a "State Archaeological and Historical Society " was or- ganized and incorporated at Columbus, composed of several hundred
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EARLY SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.
gentlemen of the state. This society holds its annual meeting at Colum- bus on the nineteenth of February. Hon. Allen G. Thurman is the president of the society, and A. A. Graham secretary. It solicits mem- berships from every part of the state. Its object is to promote and dis- seminate a knowledge of archæology and history, especially of Ohio- It depends for its support on the annual dues received from its members. It is a promising institution and should be encouraged. It is engaged in a work of general benefit to the public, and should receive aid from the legislative authority of the state. It has its cen- tral office at Columbus.
Another enterprise that deserves liberal encouragement, as it seems to me, has recently been inaugurated at Cleveland. I allude to the MAGAZINE OF WESTERN HISTORY, published monthly by W. W. Wil- liams. Its aim is a meritorious one, and its matter and style of execu- tion highly creditable to the publisher. It is a monthly bouquet of fresh history, if not of fresh flowers. We have already taken some steps as an association relative to the erection of a statue in honor of General Moses Cleaveland, the founder of the beautiful city that bears his name-a city of which we all are proud. A more graceful thing could hardly be done. The project is one which, I believe, is generally approved by public sentiment. It is proposed to meet the cost by soliciting subscriptions. A special committee was appointed at our last meeting for this purpose. But, owing to the financial stringency of the times and the lack of a specific plan of the monument and estimate of its cost, the committee has wisely deferred action. An effort has been made, however, to ascertain the approximate cost of a granite monument ten feet high, surmounted by a life-size and a life-like bronze statue of General Cleaveland. It is believed that a monument of this charac- ter could be erected at the moderate cost of four or five thousand dollars. I would suggest that our executive committee, who are certainly proper persons, be requested to take this matter of the monument in hand, determine the plan, ascertain the actual cost, and with this information present the project to our generous citi- zens, and solicit the requisite subscriptions. If this were done I doubt not the project would receive a cheerful response, and we, in the course of another year, would all have the gratification of
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ANNALS OF THE
seeing an appropriate monument of the founder of our city grace ts central park in association with the Perry monument. Such a monument would be a perpetual lesson to the young, and an honor to the age that erected it. Our association has an object. It combines the useful with the social. It should always have an object, if it would perpetuate itself. There will always be a past and a present. The relics of the past will always be sought by the present. The living present will soon become the dead past. When a century or two has elapsed, we of to-day, with our manners, customs, and habits of life will become relics and curiosities, and the generations of the unborn future will gather such fragmentary evidences of our past existence as they can find, and preserve them in cabinets and historical rooms for the inspection of antiquarians and inquisitive idlers. It is doubtless true that the moral as well as the physical world moves in a circle. Be this as it may, we as a fraternity have much to encourage us in our philanthropic work-a work that affords us much social pleasure in the execution of it. These annual reunions of ours give zest to life. They not only recall the happy days of our youth, but strengthen the ties of early friendships that bind us in age as with golden heartstrings that can never be broken. It is in this way that we may share a degree of heaven-life on earth, and thus catch a foretaste of the purer life that awaits the "just made perfect" in the better land.
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
The chairman being absent, John H. Sargent, a member of the committee, reported verbally that the association is in a flourishing con- dition, and during the past year has received a liberal accession to the number of its memberships. This association is accomplishing its work with all the success that could be expected, while its entire har- mony and cordiality seem to unite its members not only in the interests of a common work, but in the bonds of a common brotherhood.
9
EARLY SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.
REPORT OF THE TREASURER.
CLEVELAND, O., July 22, 1885.
At the last annual meeting of the Society, there was on hand $ 14 00
281 members have paid $1 each. 281 00
57 new members have been admitted 57 00
Making a total of.
$352 00
DISBURSEMENTS.
H. M. Addison-collected five members $ I 25
300 postal cards. 3 00
Money returned to T. Quayle 1 00
Money returned to J. R. Ruple.
I 00
·Brainard-use piano
5 00
Schueren-decorations
25 00
H. Weisgerber-refreshments.
112 50
Postal cards.
5 00
Printing programmes
3 50
Printing Annals
144 00
Ryder-framing pictures. 5 81
H. M. Addison-eighty members.
20 00 $327 06
Balance cash on hand
$ 24 09 SOLON BURGESS, Treasurer.
REPORT OF THE MONUMENT COMMITTEE.
The chairman of the committee, Hon. R. P. Spalding, reported that the committee had taken no definite action in reference to obtaining sub- scriptions for erecting a monument in honor of Gen. Moses Cleaveland, for the reason that the stringency of the times and the want of a specific. plan of the monument and estimate of its cost, led the committee to think its action should be delayed until another year, and then that such action should be taken as the association might deem advisable.
NECROLOGICAL REPORT BY THE CHAPLAIN.
The following are the names of the members of the Early Settlers' association, so far as I have been able to ascertain, who have departed this life since the last annual meeting of our association. Mrs. Mary
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ANNALS OF THE
Adams, Josiah Barber, Mrs. Eliza Harris Chapman, Thomas Davis, Eras- tus F. Gaylord, W. C. Johnson, Mrs. Catharine Lemen, Caleb Morgan, Hon. George Mygatt, W. P. Cook, Mrs. D. W. Lamb, Rev. A. McRey- nolds, Hon. N. P. Payne, Alexander Sacket, T. P. Spencer, Mrs. Louisa Kellogg, F. Weidenkoff, George Angell, Homer Strong, Mrs. M. A. Gayton, Levi Kerr, Mrs. Julia I. Warner, Jonas S. Welch, William Ful- ler, Amanda Ferris, and Charles Crosby, an honorary member.
THOMAS CORLETT, CHAPLAIN.
The report was followed by instrumental music, a sweet plaintive air, rendered by the German orchestra.
RESOLUTIONS.
On motion the following resolutions were adopted :
Resolved, That our present executive committee of five be increased to seven, and that Wilson S. Dodge and Solon Burgess be, and they are hereby appointed additional members of said committee.
Resolved, That said Executive committee be requested to meet with- in ten days and organize by electing a chairman and secretary, and pro- ceed to secure the erection of a monument in honor of Gen. Moses Cleaveland, the founder of the city of Cleveland, to be placed, the city council permitting, in the central park of the city, the pedestal of said monument to be granite, ten feet high, surmounted with a life-size bronze statue of the general, and having first procured a lithograph of the design, with an estimate of actual cost, proceed to solicit subscriptions from the citizens generally to defray the expense, and when a sufficient amount has been subscribed, contract for the monument as herein suggested, and report results to the next annual meeting of this association.
Resolved, That David L. Wightman be and he is hereby appointed Marshal of the Day, of the Early Settlers' association, whose duty it shall be to see that its exercises and arrangements at its annual meetings are conducted in such orderly manner as will best promote the comfort and enjoyment of its members.
Resolved, 'That the secretary be requested to prepare and publish in
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EARLY SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.
the next number of the Annals a complete index to the six numbers of the Annals that will then have been issued, giving page and number.
On leave, H. M. Addison introduced the following resolution which was read and referred to the executive committee. -
Resolved, That this association caused to be prepared an engraved certificate of membership, a copy of which shall be furnished to each member.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS.
On motion the following officers were elected for the ensuing year :
President, Hon. Harvey Rice.
Hon. John W. Allen.
Vice-Presidents, Mrs. J. H. Harris.
Secretary, Thomas Jones Jr.
Chaplain, Rev. Thomas Corlett.
Marshal of the Day, David L. Wightman.
Executive Committee, George F. Marshall, R. T. Lyons, Darius Adams, John H. Sargeant, M. M. Spangler, Wilson S. Dodge and Sol- on Burgess.
WHAT I REMEMBER.
A PAPER READ BY JOHN H. SARGENT.
MR. PRESIDENT :-
The second decade of the present century may fairly be said to form the lowest strata of civilization in Cuyahoga county. Among the upper beds of that formation I find myself.
In the spring of 1818, Levi Sargent stowed himself, wife and four children away in the hold of a little schooner, at the mouth of the River Raisin, now Monroe, Michigan, and ran down to the little hamlet at the mouth of the Cuyahoga.
We came to anchor off the mouth of the sand-barred entrance, and were taken to the shore in lighters. After a short sojourn at the then Grand Hotel of the place, Noble H. Merwin's-where we children had
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ANNALS OF THE
for our playmates, George, Gus and Minerva Merwin, the eldest of whom, George, is still one of us-we domiciled ourselves with " Uncle Abram " on Euclid street, near what is now Bond street-" Levi " (being also a blacksmith) and " Abram " struck their irons while they were hot together on Superior street, near where the Weddell house now stands. It becoming necessary to swarm, we soon after moved into a little red house on Water street, about where the Board of Trade building now stands.
The notorious Wm. G. Taylor, also from "River Raisin," came soon after and built a palace, for those times, on Water street, overlooking the lake.
Orlando Cutter dealt out groceries and provisions at the top of Superior lane, looking up Superior street to the woods in and beyond the public square, and I still remember the sweets from his mococks of Indian sugar. Nathan Perry sold dry goods, Walsworth made hats, and Tewell repaired old watches on Superior street.
Dr. Long dealt out ague cures from a little frame house nearly opposite Bank street, at first ; but not long after from a stone house that stood a little back from Superior street, about where Baldwin's store now is. His daughter Mary, now Mrs. Severance, we have still among us ; his son Solon died young. These, with his ward, Catharine Phelps, were among our schoolmates, in a little two-roomed schoolhouse, standing on St. Clair street, where the central fire department now is. This house sufficed for the whole town, both sides of the river
The "Ox Bow, Cleveland centre," was then a densely wooded swamp. Alonzo Carter lived on the west side of the river, opposite the foot of Superior lane. He was a great hunter ; with his hounds he would drive the deer onto the sand spit between the lake and the old river bed, where they would take to the water, when Carter's unerring aim would convert them into venison.
Brooklyn township was originally owned by Samuel P. Lord of Connecticut, and his son-in-law, Josiah Barber, came at about that time to occupy the land. He built a log house on what is now the corner of Pearl and Franklin streets. This log house gave way about 1825 to the first brick house west of the river-my present residence.
Josiah Barber became one of the men of mark in the new settlement.
13
EARLY SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.
He was one of the fathers of the Episcopal church, especially west of the river. He also established there its first manufactory-a distillery- and was elected successively justice of the peace and judge of the court, and in company with his brother-in-law, Richard Lord, gave the village of Brooklyn, now the West Side, its first boom.
Levi Sargent " Greelyized " and crossed over to Brooklyn in 1819, and built there its first smithy, and one of the first frame houses on Pearl street, near Franklin. Himself and his wife lived to the good old age of eighty-four. A son was born to them in 1819, on Water street. Of their five children only one has died, our lamented sister Mrs. Eliza Harris Chapman, who has passed away since our last meeting, in her eightieth year. You would hardly find a better record of longevity in all New England.
The land along the old river bed was a marshy and wooded swamp, and I well remember my father killing a bear near the site of the pres- en't water works.
Walworth Run was a little mill stream of crystal waters. Chapman and Foote built a paper mill on it, opposite where Monroe street ceme- tery now is. A carding machine stood just below " The Wooster Turn- pike," now Pearl street, while lower down was Kelley's flouring mill. The carding machine afterwards fell into the hands of Elijah F. Willey, a Baptist clergyman, who turned it into a brewery. When we look back and see that the leaders in religion were the introducers of strong drink, while now they are the leaders in its suppression, we can take courage, and have some hope yet for this soiled world of ours.
Tom A. Young and Philo Scovill were back in the forests of Big Creek with their saw mills.
These are the recollections of a lad from four to nine years of age- it would not be strange if they were a " little off" in some particulars, but they are very vivid in my memory and seem as of yesterday.
From 1823 to 1833, Cleveland's progress is a blank to me.
In the winter of 1823, a Mr. Harris from Boston, a little settlement up the river, took Asa Foote, my mother and myself, in a two horse sleigh, from here to Vermont, in the remarkably quick time of two weeks to the Hudson river. My grandfather claiming me, I remained with him until 1833, when a severe attack of the western fever carried me off-or
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ANNALS OF THE
rather brought me back to Cleveland. How great had been the change in that ten years ! When I left, the Walk-in-the- Water puffed solitary and alone upon the lake, awaking the echoes with her signal gun off our literally land-locked river. Returning, I found the lake alive with steamers and white winged messengers, able to range along the river docks with great warehouses ready to receive and give them freight. The river was alive with packets, line boats, and scows, which passed freely between the waters of the two gulfs. Water was king. The land lubbers had few rights the jolly tars were bound to respect. A single bridge, a bridge of logs, had taken the place of the old time ferry. From that little float bridge to the viaduct, the "bridge war " was constant and at times vindictive.
A new set of men had come to the front, of whom Leonard Case, Peter M. Weddell, May and Barnett, Richard Hilliard, Irad Kelly, N. C. Baldwin, Tylers and Folsome may be taken as samples. It took twenty years to submerge this strata of humanity. The flood that then came was not a flood of water-it came on rails of iron, o'er hill and dale.
But as this fossil is getting out of its bed, I will close with
SONG OF THE CUYAHOGA.
Four score-twice forty years ago, The bounding buck and timid doe Roamed undisturbed by civil man; The prowling wolf, and savage clan Mid tangled swamps, and forests wild,
Their prey they sought, their time beguiled; Our crooked, turbid river crept,
Where nature smiled, and quiet slept, In Cuyahoga.
The cat-fish, sturgeon, muscalunge, With beaver, otter, sport and plunge, In Cuyahoga's sluggish waters, Bucks and squaws and dusky daughters, No deadly filth-nor fetid oils, No sewage foul, nor poisoned soils
Repelled from floating in the flood, Or sporting on the banks of mud Of Cuyahoga.
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EARLY SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.
The white man came, the red man went, His time had come, his day was spent, Before the ringing axe the forest fled, Before the whites, the savage sped- By hunter's trap, by rifle's crack, The timid game was driven back, And thus the old was done away, And thus began the new born day Of Cuyahoga.
A full decade was thus consumed, And thus civilization bloomed, Thus went the savage men and game, Thus our earliest settlers came. The next decade, with progress slow By strongest hearts, and hardest blow, These men of iron, with firm intent, In making homes and names they spent In Cuyahoga.
A single steamer plowed the lakes ; A single ferry crossed the river ; The doctors fought the ague shakes, And fought the miasmatic fever. No bridge across the river's flood, No piers to guide its muddy waters, No bottom to the roads of mud, Few schools for sons and daughters In Cuyahoga.
The next ten years were busy years, Bridges were built, and harbor piers Sent through the serf protecting arms, 'Till shoals no more the sailor harms. His goods he lands on ample docks, His inland boats find lifting locks, The Tuscarawas seeks the lakes, While to the gulf our river takes- Our Cuyahoga.
For ten years more, but little change Was wrought-was done but little strange; The country grew, the city grew, And commerce grew the country through.
-
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ANNALS OF THE
And far away was heard the shriek Of steam. And men began to speak Of iron roads, and rushing trains, Of increased trade and ample gains In Cuyahoga.
But ten years more jogged on the same, Before the locomotive came, On rails of iron, with breath of flame. Since then, my friends, I need not name All the marvelous wonders wrought By giant steam and giant thought, By the startling lightning's flash, By clash of arms, by cannon's crash ; Since then, my friends, you've seen the fall And rise of men and hopes-you know it all In Cuyahoga.
The association now adjourned till 2 o'clock P. M., and partook refreshments in a social way, which were served in the hall of the Tabernacle in fine style by the Weisgerber Brothers.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The assemblage was called to order at the appointed hour, when the following exercises took place in the order in which they are here pre- sented, interspersed with songs by Mrs. Lohmann, in alternation with in- strumental music by the German orchestra.
ANNUAL ADDRESS-THE WESTERN PURITAN.
BY HENRY C. WHITE, ESQ.
Mr. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
Historic sympathy has become a great moulding force in our modern life. Nothing in intellectual growth to-day is more manifest than the development of the historic sense and sentiment-the tendency to his- toric philosophy. The inductive methods of thought-the best gift of
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EARLY SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.
Science to this age-are being wonderfully applied in the field of hu man action and human phenomena. The modern historian is no longer the plodding chronicler, simply running the chain of narrative across the arid plain of human annals. He ascends an eminence whence he holds in survey the whole race as a unit. History is therefore ceasing to be merely annalistic-ceasing to be merely national-and is becoming the science of civilization. Historical thought is being massed in far-reach- ing, vast, century-spanning generalizations.
In no country has the revival of history been so sudden and marked as in America-in no other locality as in the older west. The causes of this revival with us are not far to seek. We have completed our first cycle, have passed the first invisible milestone set in the pathway of history ; we have added the first unit in the problem of existence- our first century has been completed. We have established the fact of self-government. We have come to the period of national retrospect- ion, and the American mind is busy with its past. Fortunate for our country is it that, in seeking its genesis, we do not grope amid the shad- ows and myths of tradition. We possess a complete volume of written history. Measuring progress in great epochs, celebrating the nativity of peoples and institutions, is a sure way to inculcate knowledge of the past. We have passed the centennial of national independence, we approach the centennial of constitutional government ; and to us these mighty anniversaries should be mounts of transfiguration, on which lofty heights we view our glorified country clad in the shining gar- ments of Justice, Freedom, and Peace.
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