Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 5

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1150

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might do as I pleased, and if I stayed he would use me as he had done. I told him that he had acted in every respect as a brother to me, yet I was much pleased with my old brother's conduct and conversation, and as he was going to a part of the country I had never been in, I wished to go with him. He said that he was perfectly willing.

"I then went with Tecaughretanego to the mouth of the little lake, where he met with the company he intended going with, which was composed of Caughnewagas and Ottawas. Here I was introduced to a Caughnewaga sis- ter, and others I had never seen before. My sister's name was Mary, which they pro- nouneed Maully. I asked Tecaughretanego how it came that she had an English name. He said that he did not know that it was an English name, but it was the name the priest gave her when she was baptized, and which he said was the name of the mother of Jesus. He said there were a great many of the Caughnewagas and Ottawas that were a kind of half Roman Catholics, but as for himself he said that the priest and he could not agree, as they held notions that contradieted both sense and reason and had the assurance to tell him that the book of God taught them these foolish absurdities, but he could not be- lieve that the great and good spirit ever taught them any such nonsense. and, therefore, he concluded that the Indians' old religion was better than this new way of worshiping God.

"The Ottawas have a very useful kind of tents, which they carry with them, mad . of flags, plaited and stitched together in a very artful manner, so as to turn the rain and wind well. Each mat is made fifteen feet long and about five feet broad. In order to erect this kind of tent they cut a number of long, straight poles, which they drive into the ground in the form of a cirele, leaning in- wards; then they spread the mats on these poles, beginning at the bottom and extending up, leaving only a hole in the top uncovered, and this hole answers the place of a chimney. They make fire of dry split wood in the middle, and spread down bark mats and skins for bedding. on which they sleep

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in a crooked posture, all around the fire, as the length of their beds will not admit of their stretching themselves. In place of a door they lift up one end of a mat and creep in, and let the mat fall down behind them. These tents are warm and dry, and tolerab- ly clear of smoke. Their lumber they keep under birch bark canoes, which they carry out and turn up for a shelter, where they keep everything from the rain. Nothing is in the tents but themselves and their bedding.

"This company had four birch canoes and four tents. We were kindly received and they gave us plenty of hominy and wild fowl boiled and roasted. As geese, ducks, swans, etc., here are well grain-fed, they were re- markably fat, especially the green-necked ducks. The wild fowl fed upon a kind of wild rice that grows spontaneously in the shallow water, or wet places along the sides or in the corners of the lakes. As the wind was high and we could not proceed on vur voyage we remained here several days and killed abundance of wild fowl and a number of raccoons.

"When a company of Indians are moving together on the lake, as it is at this time of the year, often dangerous sailing, the old men hold a council, and when they agree to em- bark, every one is engaged immediately in making ready. without offering one word against the measure, though the lake may be boisterous and horrid. One morning, though Le wind appeared to me to be as high as in days past, the billows raging, yet the call was ziven yohohyohoh, which was quickly an- wered by all -ooh-ooh, which signifies agreed. !Te were all instantly engaged in preparing · start, and had considerable difficulties in embarking. As soon as we got into our ca- I )es we fell to paddling with all our might, working out from the shore. Though this sort of canoe rides waves beyond what could be expected, yet the water several times dashed into them. When we got out about half a mile from shore we hoisted sail, and as it was nearly a west wind, we then seemed to ride the waves with ease, and went on at a rapid rate. We then all laid down our paddles. ex-

cepting one that steered, and no water dashed into our canoe until we came near shore again. We sailed about sixty miles that day and encamped some time before night. The next day we again embarked and went on very well for sometime, but the lake being boisterous and the wind not fair, we were obliged to make the shore, which we accom- plished with hard work and some difficulty in landing.

The next morning a council was held by the old men. As we had this day to pass by a long precipice of rocks on the shore about nine miles, which rendered it impossible for us to land, though the wind was high and the lake rough, yet as it was fair, we were all ordered to embark. We wrought ourselves from the shore and hoisted sail (what we used in place of sail cloth were our tent mats, which answered the purpose very well), and went on for some time with a fair wind, until we were opposite to the precipice, and then it turned toward the shore, and we began to fear that we should be cast upon the rocks. Two of the canoes were considerably farther out from the rocks than the canoe I was in. Those who were farthest out in the lake did not let down their sails until they had passed the precipice, but as we were nearer the rock, we were obliged to lower our sails and paddle with all our might. With much difficulty we cleared ourselves of the rock and landed.

This night the wind fell and the next morning the lake was tolerably calm and we embarked without difficulty, and paddled along near the shore, until we came to the mouth of the Cuyahaga, which empties into Lake Erie on the south side betwixt Cane- sadooharie and Presque Isle. We turned up Cuyahaga and encamped, where we stayed and hunted several 'days, and so we kept moving and hunting until we came to the forks of Cuyahoga.

"This is a very gentle river and but few ripples or swift running places from the mouth to the forks. Deer here were tolerably plenty, large and fat, but hear and other game scarce. The upland is hilly and principally second and third-rate land; the timber chiefly

HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY

black oak, white oak, hickory and dog-wood. The bottoms are rich and large, and the tim- ber is walnut, locust, mulberry, sugar-tree, redhaw, blackhaw, wild apple trees, etc. The west branch of this river interlocks with the east branch of Muskingum, and the east branch with the Big Beaver Creek that emp- ties into the Ohio about thirty miles below Pittsburg. From the forks of Cuyahaga to the east branch of Muskingum, there is a carrying place, where the Indians carry their canoes, etc., from the waters of Lake Erie into the waters of the Ohio.

"From the forks I went over with some hunters to the east branch of . Muskingum, where they killed several deer, and a number of beavers, and returned heavy laden with skins and meat, which we carried on our backs, as we had no horses. The land here is chiefly second and third-rate, and the tim- ber chiefly oak and hickory. A little above the forks, on the east branch of Cuyahaga, are considerable rapids, very rocky for some distance, but no perpendicular falls.

"The party then built for themselves a 'chestnut canoe' of large dimensions and en- joyed a fine paddling trip down the river. They then skirted the south shore of Lake Erie until they passed the mouth of San- dusky, where they put in on account of the wind having arisen. The narrative contains the following paragraph on profanity, which may not be without a useful lesson even in these regenerate days.

"I remember that Tecaughretanego, when something displeased him, said 'God damn it.' I asked him if he knew what he then said. He said he did and mentioned one of their degrading expressions, which he supposed to be the meaning. or something like the mean- ing of what he had said. I told him that it did not bear the least resemblance to it, that what he had said was calling upon the Great Spirit to punish the object he was displeased with. He stood for some time amazed, and then said: 'If this be the meaning of these words. what sort of people are the whites?' "When the traders were among us these words semed to be intermixed with all their

discourse. He told me to reconsider what I had said, for he thought I must be mis- taken in my definition. If I was not mis- taken, he said, the traders applied these words, not only wickedly, but oftentimes very fool- ishly, and contrary to sense or reason. He said he remembered once of a trader's acci- dentally breaking his gun lock, and on that occasion calling out aloud, 'God damn it.' "Surely,' said he, 'the gun lock was not an object worthy of punishment for Owananeeyo, or the Great Spirit.' He also observed the traders often used this expression when they were in good humor and not displeased with anything. I acknowledged that the traders used this expression very often in a most irra- tional, inconsistent and impious manner, yet I still asserted that I had given the true mean- ing of these words. He replied, if so, the traders are as bad as Oonasharoona, or the underground inhabitants, which is the name they give to devils, as they entertain a no- tion that their place of residence is under the earth."

THE MAKING OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

GEOGRAPHICAL.

The two northernmost townships of Sum- mit County are situated in the very center of the Western Reserve. The full designation of this district is "The Western Reserve of Con- necticut." The connection of the name Con- necticut with land in Ohio, situated six hun- dred miles distant from the state of that name, came about in this way. In the year 1662, King Charles II of England granted a charter to Connecticut, which, after recognizing the claims of that colony resting upon former grants, conveyed to it all the land now occu- pied by it and, in addition thereto, all the ter- ritory lying west of it between the 41st and 42nd North Parallels, or the extent of its breadth, from sea to sea. Thus, the colony of Connecticut had a legal title to all the land lying west of the Delaware River between 41º and 42° 2' N. Latitude, to the Pacific Ocean. Certain terms in the charter excepted from its

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provisions the Hudson valley, which was part of the territory of New York. Had this claim not been abandoned and had Connecticut's title been held valid, she would have possessed nearly two-fifths of the state of Pennsylvania, about one-third of Ohio, a portion of Michi- gan and all the western states whose extent is intersected by those parallels. This claim of Connecticut gave rise, later, to serious dis- putes and much bloodshed and suffering.

The royal ignorance of American geog- raphy, in England, was astounding. Con- flicting grants had been made on a large scale and nearly all the colonies were making claim to parts of Pennsylvania and the western lands. Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey were each trying to obtain possession of the southern part of Pennsylvania. Several of their charters contained conveyances which overlapped. Each colony thought that it was in the right and relied upon the validity of its own royal grant. Nineteen years after making his grant to Connecticut, Charles II made another grant, by a royal charter, con- veying to Pennsylvania the territory she con- tinues to occupy and extending as far North as the 43º N. Latitude. Thus Connecticut's territory was overlapped by one degree and the way prepared for a tremendous contro- versy. Perhaps in justice to the memory of Charles II, it should be said that the bestowal of these lands upon the Penns was made after a report by the Attorney for the Crown, that "The tract of land desired by William Penn seens to be undisposed of by his Majesty, ex- cept the imaginary lines of New England pat- ents, which are bounded westwardly by the main ocean, should give them a real, though impracticable, right to all those vast terri- tories." (The italics are ours. )

CONNECTICUT'S CLAIMS: WESTERN RESERVE.

In 1653, Connecticut began to assert hier rights in a physical way. She took possession of several towns on Long Island which were located within the limits of her claims. She made trouble for the Dutch on Manhattan Island. a readable account of which is con-

tained in Washington Irving's "Knicker- bocker History of New York." Just one hun- dred years later she formed the Susquehanna Company, which soon numbered over 1200 persons. It was organized for the sole pur- pose of taking possession of and colonizing the beautiful Wyoming valley in Pennsyl- vania, which Connecticut exploring parties had discovered three years before. This com- pany purchased for about $10,000.00, from the Six Nations, the Indian title to all the land lying within the Wyoming valley. The attempt at colonization, which followed, gave rise to the "Pennanite War."

In 1762, the first settlement was made and the first massacre of Wyoming came in Oc- tober of that year. Although driven out time and time again, imprisoned, subjected to every kind of maltreatment. and many of them killed, the Connecticut colonists persisted in their purpose. Upon the commencement of the Revolutionary War, nearly six thousand people from Connecticut had taken possession of land in Pennsylvania. On July 3. 1778, occurred the awful massacre of the peaceful

inhabitants of Wyoming at the hands of the combined forces of Indians and British. This was one of the bloodiest, most atrocious and fiendish deeds of which history has made any record. The entire settlement of Wyoming was obliterated. The earnestness of the peo- ple of Connecticut may be seen from the fact that in November of the same year, they returned, in numbers, to possess themselves of this valley of blood.

When the Revolutionary War was over and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which in the meantime had acquired the title of the heirs of William Penn to all the land in dis- pute, could give her attention to the contro- versy ; she appealed to the Congress organized under the Articles of Confederation. She presented a petition on the 3rd day of No- vember, 1781, praying that Congress would adjudicate the claims of the different states to the disputed territories. Congress granted the petition and appointed a Board of Com- missioners, selected by the delegates of Con- necticut and Pennsylvania, to pass upon the

HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY

respective claims. The verdict of the Com- mission was as follows: "We are unani- mously of opinion that the jurisdiction and preemption of all territory lying within the charter of Pennsylvania, and now elaimed by the State of Connecticut, do of right belong to the State of Pennsylvania. We are unani- mously of the opinion that Connecticut has no right to the lands in controversy."

It is probable that this award was made on grounds of policy only. Connectient's elaims in law were well founded and her rights, therefore, were superior to Pennsylvania's, but the conflicting claims of the other col- onies, particularly Virginia, New York and Massachusetts, were bringing the young na- tion to the verge of civil war. It is not alto- gether improbable that a compaet was made with Connecticut to reimburse her in some other way, by land located elsewhere, in return for her surrender of Pennsylvania settlements she had made. There are many who believe that she was allowed to retain her title to the Western Reserve on this account. This traet contains more land than the parent state itself, and now has a larger population. Thisktas what Connecticut received as a balm for "ffer feelings, so rudely wounded by the decree of the Trenton Court, as the Board of Commissioners was called.

One of the greatest problems before the new American nation was the settlement of the land claims made by the different states composing it. Congress made an appeal direct to the states that all elaims to western lands, or any territory lying outside the boundaries of the respective states, should be eeded to the general government, for the benefit of all. This appeal succeeded. In 1780, the state of New- York granted to the United States all her right, title and interest in and to all western lands. In 1784, Virginia did the same. Massachusetts followed in 1785. On the 11th day of May, 1786, the state of Con- nectieut relinquished all her right, title, in- terest, jurisdiction and elaim to all lands and territories lying west of a line 120 miles west of and parallel with the western boundary line of the state of Pennsylvania, but she ex-

pressly reserved from her conveyance all the land lying between 41° and 42º 2' North Latitude, and bounded on the East by the west line of Pennsylvania, and on the West by a line parallel with the west line of Penn- sylvania and 120 miles west of it. This re- served land contained 3,366,921 aeres, as a subsequent survey showed. This was nearly 200,000 acres more than the parent state con- tained. It embraced what is now the coun- ties of Ashtabula, Lake, Geauga, Trumbull, Cuyahoga, Portage, Medina, Lorain, Erie, Huron and parts of the counties of Maho- ning, Summit and Ashland. The popular designation of this tract was soon established as "The Connecticut Western Reserve." On September 14, 1786, Connectieut made a dleed to Congress of the possessions and in- terests enumerated in her offer and duly re- served the lands which Congress agreed should remain in her name.

In 1792, Connecticut set aside half a mil- lion acres of land, being the extreme western end of her reserved territory, for division among those who had suffered by incursions of British soldiers and their Indian allies during the Revolution. Most of those who had suffered in this way had met their losses owing to the British having burned several Connecticut towns. For this reason, the traet of half a million acres which was at first called the Sufferers' Lands was afterwards given the name of "The Fire Lands," which is retained to this day.

Connecticut determined to sell the balance of her land in the Western Reserve. In May, 1795, the Connecticut legislature, in session at Hartford, passed a resolution providing for the sale of all land in the Western Reserve, except the Fire Lands. The legislature ap- pointed a committee, who eventually sold the lands offered, for the total sum of $1.200,- 000.00. Forty-eight different deeds were made to as many different grantees. In the same year these forty-eight buyers formed the Conneetient Land Company. The Company was composed of some of the best and most prominent men in Connecticut.

In May. 1796. General Moses Cleaveland

AKRON FROM WEST OF THE CANAL-1853

AKRON FROM WEST OF THE CANAL-1904

THE CAMPUS-HUDSON

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led an expedition of fifty-two persons, for the purpose of making a survey of the lands just purchased. He was a veteran of the Revo- lutionary War, a lawyer by profession, and a graduate of Yale. It was on this surveying expedition, in July, 1796, that Cleveland was founded and the site surveyed into city lots. On July 10, 1800, Congress made the whole Western Reserve one county and gave it a government. It was named Trumbull County, of the Northwest Territory, being so named in honor of Jonathan Trumbull, who was then governor of Connecticut. Warren was made the county seat.

ORGANIZATION OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

Summit County is one of the counties forin- ing the southern half of the Reserve. All but its two southernmost townships, Green and Franklin, lie within the boundaries of the Western Reserve. These townships are six miles square, while the others of the county are each five miles square. In 1833, a few citizens in Akron, which at that time was situated in Portage County, began to agi- tate the question of forming a new county, with Akron as its nucleus. Ravenna was the county seat of Portage County, and it was a long and difficult trip there. Akron had grown very fast and began to covet the advantages of being the seat of govern- ment of the county. The new county project of course had the support of all the villages adjacent to Akron and of all the farmers liv- ing in that vicinity.

Doctor Eliakim Crosby was the prime mover in this matter, as he was in every laud- able enterprise. The energy and versatility of the man are worthy of remark in any his- tory of Summit County. He was the most indefatigable of all the founders of Akron, or of all who have wrought for her welfare and advancement. He made an offer to give $2,000.00 toward the erection of the new county buildings, if Akron should be made the county seat of the new county. The proposition encountered much vigorous op- position. especially on the part of Ravenna

citizens. For six years the projectors kept at work, trying to arouse sentiment in favor of the project and especially trying to get the representatives from the counties interested to present a bill in the legislature for the creation of the new one.

At last it was accomplished by means of a political deal. The Whigs of Akron and vi- cinity voted with the Democrats of Portage County and succeeded in electing two repre- sentatives from Portage County who were pledged to the creation of the new county. The new State Senator for the district was Colonel Simon Perkins, who was in favor of the project. The legislature convened on the first Monday in December, 1839, and a bill was introduced by Hon. Rufus P. Spalding, the new representative, providing that the townships of Twinsburg, Northfield, Boston, Hudson, Stow, Northampton, Portage, Tall- madge, Springfield and Coventry in Portage County ; Richfield, Bath, Copley and Norton in Medina County, and Franklin and Green in Stark County, be erected into a separate county, to be known by the name of "Sum- mit." In order to restore the constitutional area to Medina County, the bill transferred Homer and Spencer townships from Lorain to Medina County. It provided for the col- lection of taxes, the maintenance of suits at law, the continuance of officials in office until the election of their successors and that Franklin and Green townships should not be taxed for the erection of county buildings during a term of fifty years after the passage of the Act. It stipulated the first election for officers of the new county should be held on the first Monday in April, 1840. and that courts should be held in Akron until the county seat was located. This was to be done by commissioners to be appointed by the State.

The name "Summit" expressly given as the name of the new county, was obtained from the summit level of the Ohio canal, which level begins in the south part of Akron. It ex- tends from Lock one to New Portage. This long stretch of canal without a lock, being lo- cated upon the very highest land along the

HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY

whole length of the canal, was called Summit Level. It is probable that the name was se- lected by Dr. Eliakim Crosby, Colonel Simon Perkins, or Judge Rufus P. Spalding. The last named probably drew up the bill.

With the introduction of this bill, began one of the hottest legislative battles of the ses- sion. A powerful opposition arose at once. If the bill passed, Medina, Lorain, Portage and Stark counties would lose some of their best townships. The constituents of the legis- lators representing these counties were op- posed to it to a man. These legislators were, therefore. fighting for personal prestige as well as principle. They enlisted the support of the legislators of all other counties which had been threatened with a like fate. A strong lobby went to Columbus to work against the bill. Not a stone was left unturned in a search to find weapons to bring about its defeat. The opposition brought all possible filibustering tactics into play. They moved postpone- ments, laying on the table, referring to com- mittees, amendments, adjournments and every parliamentary device allowed by the rules of procedure. The ground was fought inch by inch.

The result was a splendid victory for the new representatives. It reflects much credit upon their skill and sagacity. On Feb. 6, 1840, the bill passed the House of Represent- atives, thirty-four votes being cast in its favor and thirty-one against. The margin by which success had been won was very small. On the 28th it emerged triumphant from a battle in the Senate, equally as fiercely contested. Here the vote stood 19 in its favor and 15 against it. On March 3, 1840, it was signed by the Speaker of the House and the Presi- dent of the Senate and became a law.

The legislature then appointed James Mc- Connell, of Holmes; Warren Sabin, of Clin- ton, and Jacob Williard, of Columbiana, as a Board of Commissioners to establish a county seat for the new-created county. Sum- init was put in the Third Judicial Distriet. with Ashtabula, Portage and Trumbull and into the Fifteenth Congressional District of

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Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 5

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1150