USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Annals of the Early Settlers Association of Cuyahoga County, v. 5 number 5 > Part 2
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On the west side of Water street, near the brow of the hill, was the tavern of Phineas Shepard, built by Major Carter for a block house, and afterwards covered with clapboards ; on the south cor- ner of this street and St. Clair was the residence of Judge Samuel Williamson, his brother Matthew had a tannery at the foot of Union Lane, Mrs. Major Carter lived in a house on the brow of the hill north of St. Clair. On the light-house lot lived John Burtis, whose business was lightering freight to and from vessels, which generally anchored about a mile from shore. The mouth of the river was sometimes nearly choked up by drifting sand driven in by the north- west and north-east gales every Fall and Spring. I have waded across the mouth of the river many times. One Fall, late in the month of November, a bear was seen to cross the mouth of the river, there being about three inches of snow on the ground, he was tracked by some sportsmen as far as Doan's brook, but not seen. The last house on the west side of Water street, was the brick residence of Alfred Kelley, this the last old landmark on the 2
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street was taken down about twelve years ago; I have seen two acres of wheat growing between the house and bank of the lake, the corners of the fences were filled with stumps and elder bushes, quarter-mile scrub races were sometimes run on this street.
Dr. Donald McIntosh lived on St. Clair adjoining Nathan Perry's garden, and kept a tavern, called the Navy Hotel. Capt. Levi. Johnson lived in a house on the corner of Water and Lake streets, north of this was the residence of William G. Taylor, built about 1831 ; he came from Michigan, a lawyer by profession, and connect- ed himself with the notorious counterfeiters James and Daniel Brown in a scheme to purchase a ship at New Orleans with count- erfeit United States bank notes, go to China and purchase a cargo of tea ; they were all arrested at New Orleans, and committed to prison, where Dan Brown died, Jim and Taylor were released by a writ of habeas corpus, had a trial and were discharged, as it was not proved that they passed any counterfeit money. The house was owned and occupied by the late Deacon Stephen Whittaker ; a few rods north of the house under a chestnut tree, that eccentric per- son Lorenzo Dow preached a sermon one Sunday afternoon in July, 1827, he sat at the roots of the tree during the delivery of his discourse, his first words were, " Well, here you all are, rag, shag and bobtail," he made a prayer and sang a hymn unaccompanied.
At the foot of Superior was a log warehouse occupied by Jabez Kelley, used for the manufacture of soap and candles ; Uncle Jabe, as he was called, was a peculiar character, and had a habit of winking his eyes and snapping his fingers very often, partic- ularly so when mellowed by a little wine at a Fourth of July celebration, he would rise, drink to every toast, wink his eyes, snap his fingers and shout, "Glory to God !" There was a small frame warehouse at the foot of Lighthouse street, owned and occupied by Capt. Levi Johnson, he had a small schooner, and in 1825 built the first steamboat of two hundred and fifty tons on River street, called the "Enterprise." There was a ferry at the foot of Superior street kept by Christopher Gunn, the boys named him " Old pistol," price of ferrying a shilling for a team, sixpence for a footman.
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About the year 1830 Superior street was graded froin the west line of Bank to the river, the cutting at the Atwater building was twenty-one feet, Robert Cather, who kept a tin shop, was con- tractor.
The first church, built in 1828, was Trinity Church on the south- east corner of Seneca and St. Clair, a commodious frame building that was destroyed by fire about the year 1853.
During the Winter of 1821-2, my father built a schooner of forty-four tons at the foot of Superior street, she was launched in March 1822, and was enrolled in the District of Cuyahoga Sept. 11, 1822, under the United States Revenue Laws, her chain cable was made by a blacksmith named Daniel Jones, an excellent work- man; in order to test its strength it was fastened to a butternut tree near the residence of Capt. Johnson and pulled upon by twelve yoke of oxen. After several heavy strains it parted, but was thought by Capt. Belden, her first master, and several other vessel men, sufficiently strong to hold her in the heaviest gale. When she was launched, I stood on the heel of her bowsprit, and as she touched the water, christened her by giving her my mother's name, " Minerva," and broke a gallon jug of whisky over her bows, as was the custom on similar occasions in those times, as she slid on her wage, Uncle Jabe Kelley jumped on board from the roof of his factory ; she was dispatched to Mackinac loaded with provisions for the garrison on that island, and made the round trip in four weeks, which at that time was regarded as a wonderful achieve- ment. The same Winter Philo Taylor built the schooner "Pru- dence," 39 tons, on the side hill on the Newburgh road, near mother Colahan's cabin, about half a mile from the Public Square.
When she was launched, so steep was the declivity, that a stream of fire issued from under her bows, and she went across the river and stuck fast in the mud, requiring the strength of the crowd who had assembled to see the launch, to pull her off.
Near the cabin a spring of most excellent water came out of the bank.
John Burtis built the schooner " Lake Serpent," 25 tons, the next Winter, across the river near Columbus street.
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Afterwards the schooner "Macedonia " was built on the farm of Sam'l Dille, about two miles out on the Newburgh road, was brought in on wheels, launched at the foot of Superior street, and after- wards purchased by the late John Blair.
The celebration of the completion of the Ohio canal between Cleveland and Akron took place on the 7th July, 1827. It was considered a very important event for the future prosperity of Cleveland. My father went to Buffalo and purchased the canal- boat Pioneer ; she was towed up by the Walk-in-the-Water, taken around Case's point, the tow-path cut and put into the canal. The lower ship-locks being made larger than ordinary canal-locks to allow vessels to pass through to a dry dock which had been con- structed near where the stone mill was afterwards erected. A large party of ladies and gentlemen went up the canal several miles and were met by a boat from Akron, named, Allen Trimble, in honor of Gov. Trimble, who was then in the Executive chair.
The Governor, the Canal Commissioners, and a large party of ladies and gentlemen were on board ; each boat was provided with a small swivel, salutes were exchanged and loud cheers were given, the hills echoing back the joyful sound, as the general congratula- tions took place.
Among those on board the Pioneer, was Horace Perry and wife ; he was very much opposed to the canal, and said it would greatly increase the taxes in the State and do great injury to his farm, which was about two miles out on the Newburgh road, by separat- ing the meadow land from the high-land.
In some way Mrs. Perry's leghorn hat got off and fell into the canal, he exclaimed : "There, I knew the d- canal would be the ruin of me, there goes my wife's bonnet which cost thirty dollars." An elegant banquet was prepared by James Belden, and served under a bower in the garden of the Mansion House, in the evening there was a grand ball in Belden's assembly room, the managers were C. M. Giddings, H. H. Sizer, William Lemon, S. J. Andrews, J. W. Allen, our worthy Vice President, who is the only survivor.
At the foot of Bank street there was a star-shaped stockade Fort, built of chesnut puncheons, capable of holding two hundred men, this was built during the war of 1812; it was named Fort
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Hungerford by the soldiers, owing to the very polite attention shown by the commanding officer to a widow of that name, who lived near by.
It was said that Gen. Harrison, on his way to the forts on the Maumee river, came to this fort, having, I believe, the reputation of being as gallant as he was brave, called upon the widow one evening ; some of the boys, seeing him go there, placed a pail of soft soap at the back door and knocked at the front door ; the General made a hasty retreat, and, as the saying is, put his foot into it.
I have seen the broken chesnut puncheon coffins of the poor fellows who died there, projecting from the bank of the lake as it caved down from them, their martial cloaks were army blankets.
Inflation, or the rag baby currency, had early friends in Cleve- land. In one of the early years after my arrival here, small change became very scarce ; silver dollars were cut into nine pieces, half dollars into five, pistareens, worth eighteen and three quarter cents, into two, and each piece passed for a shilling.
To relieve the wants of the people, the township trustees passed an order to issue and issued one hundred dollars in shin-plasters, as they were called, of the denomination of six and a quarter, twelve and one half, and twenty-five cents, the bills were signed by Daniel Kelley, President, and Horace Perry, Clerk of the Board of Trustees.
It was pretty cheap living in Cleveland in those early days, and for some years after ; the price of flour was from two to two and a half dollars per barrel, eggs six pence per dozen, butter eight to ten cents per pound, corn thirty cents per bushel, wheat fifty cents, oats fifteen, and whiskey twenty to twenty-five cents per gallon.
In those times four and six horse covered wagons, from Stark and Wayne counties, loaded with pork, flour and whiskey, filled Superior street from the Atwater buildings to the Public Square, the men slept in their wagons and generally brought their pro- visions and horse feed with them, and tied their horses to the pole of the wagons.
I have seen my father roll a barrel of salt out of the ware-
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house and receive in return two barrels of flour and one dollar in money.
In the early agitation of the temperance movement, its friends thought that a temperance 4th of July celebration would have a beneficial influence upon the question ; arrangements were accord- ingly made, and committees appointed to carry it out. Col. Tim- othy Ingram was selected for chief-marshal, the late Geo. A. Bene- dict and myself, assistants, an oration was delivered in the stone church, a procession formed and marched to the table under a bower on the Public Square. The day was very warm, in the afternoon the leaves on the branches overhead having withered, the liot sun came pouring through upon the table, and to add to the discomfort, the ice water had given out, one of the toasts, exciting my patriotism, I said, "now gentlemen, all fill your glasses and drink to this very patriotic toast ;" the late Richard Winslow, one of the early and most respected citizens, took the vinegar cruse and mixed some vinegar with the water; Col. Ingram read the toast at the head of the table, Benedict read it in the centre, I voiced it with emphasis at the foot; all arose and drank. Mr. Winslow, who stood near me, exclaimed, "Slops by Java, Mr. Merwin ; " what benefit to the cause was gained by this celebration, its friends have never informed me.
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. McLane 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 magic 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 musie, 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 deelared 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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