USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Annals of the Early Settlers Association of Cuyahoga County, v. 5 number 5 > Part 8
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put my horse under shelter, making a great fire of dry wood and logs. I seated myself on a bench, my clothes next to the fire, smoking like a coal-pit, then changing to give the other side a chance to dry. A knock at the door for admittance, and another. traveller on foot found a shelter. His story, in short, was that he had been in the same woods, road and storm. He was wet and looking sad, accounting that his experience that night had been awful. His mind was greatly agitated over a solemn spectacle amidst such surroundings of wind, lightning, thunder and storm. He said he had seen a coffin under a fallen tree. We doubted. He. affirmed his sober convictions, denying that he was superstitious .. My relation of the low chest having been put under the tree, evidently soothed his mind. Laying ourselves down on a blanket on the floor, with our feet towards the fire, we spent the early morning hours very comfortably. Next day I got the chests along about seven miles to the Young's place in Middlefield, where the. load was left, footing it home. I told my friend Bushnell it was his turn. I think that tea, when it came into Bartholomew's hands, must have been sold at such prices, that economy would have. dictated dealing out in homeopathic doses.
Thus, in a few weeks from the time I had been accustomed to. the fashions and mode of traveling in the New England States, I was initiated into the backwoods customs and mode of traveling in. Ohio. LESTER TAYLOR.
CLARIDON, Nov. 25th, 1883.
THE CLEVELAND NEWS LETTER OF 1829.
(Special Correspondence of the Leader.)
WASHINGTON, June 27th. - Among the tens of thousands of bound files of papers which are buried away in the crypt of the. Capital building there is one labeled " Ohio, 1829," which contains a number of copies of the Cleveland Independent News Letter. These papers were sent to Martin Van Buren, who was Secretary of State about that time, and they were bound by him for the
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State Department. From this department they somehow drifted to the Congressional Library, where they are now kept hidden from sight about twenty feet below ground.
In 1829, Cleveland, it will be remembered, had less than 1000 . inhabitants, and the News Letter would open its old-fashioned eyes if it could see the papers published in the city to-day. The issue now spread out before me is that of May 9th, 1829. It is a single folio, the pages of which are not so large as those of the Leader, and I see it is headed vol. 2, No. 12. Its advertisement states that its editor is Harvey Rice, and that it is published every Saturday evening by David McLain, at the Printing Office, four doors west of the Franklin House Square, Superior st., Cleveland. Below this come its terms.
Two dollars and fifty cents per annum to "village subscribers, who have their paper left at their doors, payable three months . after the reception of the first number."
" Grain will be received in payment at cash prices if delivered within three months."
" No subscription received in payment for six months unless accompanied by cash."
" Advertisements very conspicuously inserted three times at one dollar per square, and twenty-five cents for each subsequent insertion."
" No paper or advertisement discontinued until settlement is made, except in hopeless cases."
The first page of the paper, with the exception of the very lean head, is given up to advertisements, while the last is devoted entirely to poetry and stories. The news is all on the two inside pages, and there is little in it except quotations from other papers, and a single column of Andrew Jackson editorials.
Over the editorial column is the cut of a printing press much like that of Ben Franklin's at the centennial, radiating rays of light, and over it is stretched a scroll bearing the words, "The News Letter - The Tyrant's Foe - The People's Friend." There are no telegrams, no special letters, no Associated Press dispatches, no . markets, and the tabulated matter is a column headed, " Bank .
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Note Table," which' shows how few cents on the dollar the different issues of State banks are worth. I notice that very few of them are at par. Ohio banks seem to be worth within about five per cent. of their face value, and every bank except one out of the fifteen Maine banks quoted is marked broken.
The advertisements give many hints as to the history of the times.
One shows the editor to be hard up, and says that every sub- scriber on his list owes him at least a dollar and a half.
Another offers "$100 reward for the detection of the person who fabricated a marriage notice, and clandestinely contrived to procure its insertion in this paper last Saturday." Think what an ex- · citement that notice must have caused in this little village of Cleveland of 1000 inhabitants. I can hear the tongues of the gossips wag as I read between the lines.
Another advertisement is for a shooting match. It was dated Cleveland, May 1st, 1829, and states that a $45 Double Barrelled European Fowling piece will be shot for as soon as a sufficient number have subscribed. Shots one dollar each. Off hand fifteen rods ; from a rest twenty rods. The gun may be seen and names ‹ entered at Andrews' gun factory, Bank street.
Below this Orson M. Oviatt advertises that he has received a new stock of dry goods, groceries, hardware, and Spanish sole leather, which he will sell at the lowest prices for cash or pork.
And in another column is a petition for divorce of James Petti- ḷbone from Wealthy Pettibone his wife.
The school advertisements are interesting. T. H. Gallaudet, of Hartford, Conn., advertises his deaf and dumb school there. Since then his son has risen to the top of his profession, and now he ranks in the world as one of the greatest deaf and dumb teachers in it.
The Rev. Mr. Freeman, of the village of Chagrin, announces that he proposes to open a school for young ladies where instruction will be given in reading, spelling, writing, history, arithmethic, ge- · ography, and plain needle work, at three dollars per term of twelve · weeks.
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The St. Clair Female Seminary at Pittsburgh teaches about the same studies at a cost of $100 for board and tuition, and an apothecary's bill at the charge of the parents. It states also that the dress of all the young ladies will be uniform, consisting of two black bombazette frocks and one white one, two black capes and two white ones, two black bombazette aprons, handkerchiefs, towels, combs, brushes, waste-bowls, etc., all at charge of parents.
A medical college advertisement of an institution at Cincinnati states that good board can be had in that city from $1.75 to $2.75 per week.
In another advertisement Cleveland is described as at the june- tion of the Ohio Canal with Lake Erie as the most populous, wealthy and thriving village on the Western Reserve, with the exception of Buffalo. on the Lake Shore. It has direct commu- nication daily with the East, and three times a week with Pitts- burgh, Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, etc., by mail stages, daily sonth by the canal, and almost hourly with Detroit and Buffalo by steamboats and schooners.
Another advertisement states that The Remember Me, a religious and literary miscellany, is for sale at the news office. And another looking very strange for abolition Cleveland offers a reward of $20 for the return of a runaway slave. This I copy in part. It reads : " $20 reward-ran away on Saturday evening, the 9th, inst., a negro man named Frank, aged about thirty-five years, he is five feet eight inches in height or thereabout. Said slave is very black with white teeth, very talkative with those with whom he is acquainted and reserved to strangers. Is fond of making use of high sound- ing words. Will steadily deny being a runaway, but can be easily found out by being cross-questioned. A reward of $20 will be given if taken ont of the State, or of $10 if taken within the State and returned to me. [Signed] SAMUEL TROTTLER,
Lexington, Ky."
If this paper be an index. Cleveland in 1829 was satisfied with very little news. There is vindictive spirit shown in the editorials, and there is no halting between the two parties. All that the Jackson men do is right; all that Clay and the other party propose
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radically wrong. One item states that Andrew Jackson has received a box made of twenty different kinds of wood from some. man, and it gives Jackson's letter of thanks, which must have- covered several pages of foolscap. The Presidents had more time then than now. It also gives the vote of one of the campaigns for- nomination as Senator, in which Leonard Case and Reuben Wood figured, and it states a fact which I had not known in regard to Lafayette's death, viz., that he was buried in a hogshead of earth which his agent procured from Bunker Hill, and forwarded to France. It also contains notices of the " great union canal lottery of Pittsburgh," and gives its drawings, in which it seems that there- are twice as many thousand blanks as there are thousand prizes. June 27th, 1884.
FIRST WHITE CHILD BORN IN OHIO, 1781.
(Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph.)
On hundred years ago, that portion of the West which is now Ohio was partly primeval forest and partly a prairie region, inhab- ited by wild beasts and Indians. The possession of the land was disputed for many years by the French and English, and afterward by conflicting state claims. A large portion of the district known as the "Western Reserve " belonged to the State of Connecticut, till sold by her in 1800. In 1778, a New England company, sent. out by General Putnam, made the first Ohio settlement at Marietta, so called for the French Queen Marie Antoinette, and three years later, April 16th 1781, the first white child was born in the district .. Cincinnati was also settled in 1778. Not until 1794 did General Wayne's victory secure to the colonists peace and safety from the- Indians. In 1802 Ohio became a State, and in 1816 Columbus was- made its capital.
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GOLDEN WEDDING.
Mr. and Mrs. Darius Adams, of Collamer, Celebrate the Fiftieth Anni- rersary of their Marriage.
Silver weddings are not infrequent, but the celebration of the fiftieth aniversary of the date when for better or worse two lives were united for life's journey, is more rare, as few husbands and wives are spared until they have passed together the three score years and ten alloted to man.
November 24th 1883, however, was the fiftieth anniversary of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Darius Adams, of Collamer, and a large number of relatives gathered to celebrate with them their golden Wedding. On the 24th of November, 1833, Mr. Darius Adams, then a young man of twenty-three, was united in matrimonial bonds to Miss Mary Doan, daughter of Timothy Doan, who was one year his junior. They were married in that portion of Euclid township which has since become East Cleveland township, and have passed their lives in that locality, Mr. Adams having by his business as a contractor and builder acquired wealth that renders them independent in their later years. Among the guests at the golden wedding, many of whom came from distant States, were Mr. Edwin Adams and his wife, Mrs. Laura Adams, the oldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Darius Adams, Mr. Charles Adams of St. Louis, the eldest son, accommpanied by his wife, Mrs. Sarah Adams, Mr. Charles Taylor and Mrs. Mary Taylor, the second daughter, Mr. C. C. Shanklin and Mrs. Stella Shanklin, the youngest daughter, and Mr. Clark D. Adams, the youngest son, and several brothers and sisters of Mrs Adams, among them Mr. Seth Doan, of Kenosha, Wis., Mr. Norton Doan. Mr. George Doan, and Mrs. Samantha Slade. Beside these were Mr. John Doan, Mrs. Adams' uncle, who, as well as several other of the guests, was present at the wedding in 1833. The relatives gathered at the family residence at 3 o'clock in the after- noon and enjoyed a family reunion, the more pleasant as many of the relatives, by business or other relations, had been prevented from meeting one another for years. When supper was served the
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dishes that were used fifty years ago were among those on the . table, the knives and forks, with handles of horn, especially attract- ing much attention from the younger guests. The bride and groom sat in the same cane-seat chairs that they occupied at their wedding in 1833, these as well as the dishes having been preserved by Mrs. Slade. After spending the evening in an enjoyable manner, recall- ing incidents and anecdotes of the past, the guests whose homes were in the vicinity departed, leaving with Mr. and Mrs. Adams their most earnest wishes that they might live in peace and happi- ness until, on the seventy-fifth aniversary, their diamond wedding could be celebrated.
OUR PRESIDENTS.
The American Presidential line Began in Seventeen Eighty-nine. The roll was led by Washington, Who served two terms, then Adams one ; Jefferson, Madison and Monroe Enjoyed two terms each, although John Quincy Adams had but one. "Old Hickory " twice the honor won ; Van Buren was the next enrolled, One term the office he controlled. Harrison died and left years four For Tyler ; Polk the burden bore ; Zach Taylor died in years scarce two, And Filmore filled the balance due. The next for a full term was Pierce. Buchanan has equal claims to verse. Abe Lincoln, first republican, Was shot as his second term began, And Johnson ruled until came Grant, Who had two terms, Hayes one and scant Four months had Garfield, who was killed And Arthur the vacant office filled.
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A NOTABLE ANCESTRY.
The following from Cooley's Weekly, published at Norwich, Conn., May 18th, 1884, refers to the family of Agent Wightman, of the Humane Society : " A singular fact in connection with the history of the First Baptist Church of Groton, is that for 137 of the years of its existence the pastor has been one of the Wightman family. The Rev. Valentine Wightman was its first pastor, serving forty- two years, ending 1747, when he died. He was succeeded by his son, Timothy Wightman, who served until his death in 1796. John G. Wightman, a son of the above, next occupied the pulpit until his death in 1841, and his grandson, Palmer G. Wightman, was its pastor for the twelve years ending 1875. The first was a descendant of Rev. Edward Wightman, the last Protestant clergy- man who was burned at the stake during the reign of 'Bloody Mary.' The above church, which is located in the village of Mystic, is the oldest Baptist church in the State."
It will be remembered by many of our early settlers that John Wightman settled in pioneer days on a farm located about half- way between the then rival villages of Cleveland and Newburgh, and on the road now known as Broadway. He emigrated from Connecticut, and settled on this farm, in 1811, and was a descend- ant of one of the clergymen who preached in that old church at Mystic, Conn. He was born in 1787, and received a good common school education, married Deborah C. Morgan in 1807, by whom he had eight children. She died in 1827. He married a second wife, Hannah Taylor, of Aurora, by whom he had one son, and died in 1837. His second wife still survives him. He led an honest. and industrious life, and, though often solicited, would not accept a public office, except in one instance he consented to serve as supervisor of highways.
He employed Dr. David Long, of Cleveland, as his family physician, in whose skill he had entire confidence, and named one of his sons by the first wife David Long Wightman, who is our present well known D. L. Wightman, the efficient agent of the " Humane Society" of Cleveland. It hardly need be added that
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our genial fellow citizen D. L. Wightman has inherited an hon- ored name. He certainly deserves great credit for the faithful manner in which he discharged for several years the responsible duties of sheriff of the county, and for some years past the still more responsible duties of agent for the Humane Society - duties to which he is still devoted. There can be no more divine work than that in which he is engaged. He devotes himself not only to the welfare of helpless humanity, but to the relief of the brute creation, that cannot speak in words the miseries which they suffer at the hands of their still more brutal masters. In his devotion to this benevolent work Mr. Wightman discloses the "divinity that stirs within him," and sufficiently corroborates the truth of his divine ancestry, or rather ancestry of divines.
It is to be hoped that the benevolent and humane work in which Mr. D. L. Wightman is now employed. will continue to be appre- ciated and liberally sustained by a generous publie, and that the sphere of his usefulness may be enlarged.
OUR FIRST ATTEMPT AT RAILROAD BUILDING.
BY HON. JOHN W. ALLEN.
Judge Griswold, in his annual address, published in this number of the " Annals," has referred to the difficulty of starting our early railroads, and it may seem a little curious at this day to see to what devices the friends of the Cleveland and Columbus road had to resort to get even the organization of a company in legal shape for its construction.
The original charter required a subscription of $500,000, with a down payment of $50,000 - then a meeting of the subscribers was to be called for the election of officers and the complete machinery of a corporation established. At this time the country was on the highest wave of what was supposed to be prosperity, but it collapsed on a frosty morning in May 1837, and thousands of men who got up rich went to bed bankrupt at night, the country was strewed with wrecks from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico, and they
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were not cleared off for years - nothing could be done with new enterprises and little with old ones. - About 1843-'44 the Whig tariff of 1842 began to bear fruit, and hopes of better times increased, and the people " thanked God and took courage," as did St. Paul when on his journey to Damascus he saw the three tavern signs on his road ahead. - At the session of 1845-'46 applications were made for several railroad charters between the Lake and Columbus, which were granted and the $500,000 requisi. tion for the road of the Cleveland company was reduced to $50,000 and the down payment to five per cent. on that sum, and commis- sioners appointed for all of them. Thus in the Spring of 1846 there were three or four rival projects for a road to Columbus from the Lake, either in whole or part, but none of them were unfriendly to Cleveland. We called a meeting of all the commissioners at Mansfield, and at our request they all agreed to give us six months to enable us to carry out our project, and if we were successful, they would rest quietly as to theirs. We went to work actively in getting rights of way, surveying several lines in whole or part, seeking subscriptions, collecting money by donations for expenses, etc., which we could get more readily than stock subscriptions, which last were mostly subject to conditions. When the limitation granted us was about expiring. we were not in a condition to organize, and the writer of this went to Columbus to consult our friends ; four of the most prominent men made this proposition, that they would take one-half the required $50,000 and be directors, and that the writer should select four men at Cleveland and be président, and that they should provide the other half of said sum, and that a call should be made for a meeting of the subscribers at the earliest day admissible at Columbus, and that on the question of calling for payments the writer should vote with them, and that their checks in the Clinton Bank, for the five per cent., should be held till they were ready to pay them.
The writer for himself agreed to this offer, came home, and his associates here assented, and at the meeting called, the records and papers showed a full compliance with the law, the officers were chosen, a corporation was formed and out of these devices grew 7
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this road of great and immediate importance to Cleveland. The requisitions of the law were not complied with in spirit or fact, but we made a good show on paper, nobody was hurt, nor was it meant that anybody should be. As a matter of fact the subscriptions and the Columbus checks were never paid specifically, but the makers aided in other ways, and what finally became of their subscriptions and checks never was known; but probably they were put in some packages where they should not have been put, by accident, and now repose among the old packages of papers in the company's office.
In the light of much later events it is obvious that we were decidedly verdant as railroad managers. In our ignorance and honest simplicity we supposed it took money to construct railroads, and that the money must be furnished by the projectors, and so it was at that day. We should have employed printers and engravers, run a line or two, got estimates from some county surveyors, ascertained that the cost would be, say five million dollars, issued ten millions in bonds and used half in replenishing our own pockets, then issued as large an amount of common stock, and divided that, finished the road after a fashion, declared one or two liberal dividends, run the stock up to a high figure, and then sold out, and if we could have swindled a few banks, so much the better, and then emigrate to Canada or some other safe locality.
THE FARMERS' INN.
In the days of the early pioneers Paul P. Condit, of Euclid, was known far and near as the popular landlord and proprietor of the " Farmers' Inn." This inviting home of the weary traveler was located on the Lake Shore road leading through Euclid from Buffalo to Detroit.
There is much in the character and career of Mr. Condit, that is not only interesting, but exemplary and worthy of record. Yet the want of space in these pages forbids amplification. Mr. Condit was born at Morristown, N. J., in 1784, and soon after com-
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pleting his education, and arriving at the age of manhood, visited friends in Euclid, and liked the then "far west " so well that he concluded to remain. He engaged in business with Enoch Murray, a merchant at Euclid, and was employed for some time in trans- porting goods for his employer from Pittsburgh on pack-horses - the usual method adopted in those early times. In 1816, he married Phebe Mellrath, a young lady of Euclid, who possessed just the amiable, patient, and yet efficient traits of character, that are requisite in a wife destined to share the trials and hardships of pioneer life. In 1819, Mr. Condit purchased S5 acres of land at $3 per acre, on which he erected the "Farmers' Inn." He and his wife took charge of the inn, or tavern as it was sometimes called, and soon gave it a wide reputation for good cheer and ample fare, and the result was, that inn received a liberal and a profitable patronage. It was for many years the favorite resort not only of travelers, but of social parties from the region round about. The frank and pleasant manner in which guests were received at the inn, and the generosity with which their wants were supplied, were subjects of remark and general commendation. Mr. and Mrs. Condit remained in charge of this inn for thirty or more years, and in addition to the care of providing for its numerous guests, raised a family of children, five of whom still survive. Mr. Condit died in 1851, at the age of 67 years. He was a gentleman of unblem- ished character, who enjoyed the confidence of the public and the respect of his fellow citizens. For some years he held the office of postmaster at Euclid, and also that of assessor. Whatever he undertook to do, was faithfully done. He has left an honorable record, and his memory will long be cherished.
Mrs. Condit, who still survives him, is now 87 years of age. She enjoys excellent health, and is still possessed of sound mental powers. She has performed in her day a great work, and is in fact a remarkable woman. She was born at Morristown, N. J., in 1797, came to Euclid in 1807, when but a child, with her father Andrew McIlrath, who settled here. It was at his house that the first church in Euclid was organized. It was a Presbyterian Church, and consisted of but twelve members when organized. Mr.
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Andrew McIlrath was a devout man, and did not think there could exist a wholesome state of society without the aid and influence of a church and the promulgation of the Gospel. He furnished an ancient silver-plated tankard, which had been brought over from Scotland, and also plated cups which he purchased at Pittsburgh for the communion service. Andrew was elected deacon. This church still survives the many trials and vicissitudes through which it has passed - a landmark of the pioneer days.
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